The Abacus
In the Golden Age, the bosses had guys to cook the books and crunch the numbers. Nowadays, there ain’t nothing left to crunch but the bones and no books left to burn, let alone cook. But there’s still bosses and there’s still those that owe ‘em.
And there’s still fucking fools who think they can get away without paying. But the boss's accounts gets balanced, even if payment is a hunk of bloody flesh. They send a man for it - calculates what needs to be done, which buttons to push, where to apply leverage to get those fuckers stamped “PAID IN FULL.”
That's the Abacus, here to collect.
To create your abacus, choose name, look, stats, moves, boss, and Hx.
Names:
Joe, Gray, Moss, Pierce, Case, Jules, Mirth, Rain.
Adams, Bach, Carter, Evans, Young, Thomas, White, Price.
QED, Once, Boss's Man, Mirror, Thirteen, Pi, Carver.
Looks:
Man, woman, transgressing, or ambigious.
Formal wear, vintage wear, casual wear, signature wear, or luxe wear.
Concealed face, sharp face, stern face, scarred face, striking face or featureless face.
Slender hands, subtle hands, steady hands, clean hands, dancing hands, strong hands.
Tall body, wiry body, gaunt body, crippled body, hard body, or fit body.
Stats:
Cool+2 Hard-1 Hot-2 Sharp+2 Weird+1
Cool+2 Hard0 Hot-1 Sharp+1 Weird+1
Cool+2 Hard+1 Hot0 Sharp+1 Weird-1
Cool+2 Hard+2 Hot-2 Sharp+1 Weird-2
Boss:
By default, your boss, Summit, is powerful, ambitious and ruthless.
Choose 2:
Patient, Honourable, Flexible.
Whichever one you didn't pick, that's what the boss is not.
Also, choose 1:
* Your boss runs a business. Target: rivals & deadbeats.
* Your boss runs a city. Target: soapboxes & troublemakers.
* Your boss runs a flock. Target: heretics & unbelievers.
Gear:
You get:
* 1 precision weapon.
* At your option, 1 punishment weapon.
* Oddments worth 5-barter.
* Fashion suitable to your look, including at your option a piece worth 1-armor (you detail).
Precision weapons:
* Silenced 9mm (2-harm close hi-tech)
* Sniper rifle (3-harm far loud hi-tech)
* Garrote (3-harm intimate)
* hidden knives (2-harm close infinite)
Punishment weapons:
* Machette (3-harm hand messy)
* Scalpel (3-harm intimate)
* Smg (2-harm close area reload loud)
* Shotgun (3-harm close messy)
Hx:
On your turn, choose 1, 2 or all 3:
One of them knows you from before you started working. Tell that player Hx+2.
One of them has seen you do your last job. Tell that player Hx+1.
Tell everyone else Hx0. You don't keep public, but everyone knows who you work for.
On the others' turns, choose 1 or both:
One of them has something that belongs to your boss. Whatever number that player tells you, write Hx+3 instead.
Everyone else, whatever number they tell you, give it +1 and write it next to their character's name. It's your business to know these things.
Moves:
Served cold - when you take your time to settle a score, roll +cool. On a 10+, hold 2. On a 7-9, hold 1. On a miss, they get 1 hold on you. Spend your hold one-for-one to do the following:
* You catch them where they're alone or vulnerable.
* They don't know you're there until you show yourself.
* It doesn't take you until next session.
Like a Ghost - when you appear from nowhere to inflict violence, roll +cool. On a 10+, you get your shot off before getting spotted and inflict harm as appropriate. On a 7-9, one of them notices you - either hightail it or trade fire.
Aware - roll +cool instead of +weird to open your brain.
Making it count - any time you inflict at least 2-harm, you can choose to also cause some lasting pain or break something important.
Lethal - whether using a weapon or not, always inflict at least Cool-harm, before armour. If there's a weakspot you know of, ignore that armour and do ap-harm instead.
Thorough - when you methodically hurt someone to learn about them, roll +cool. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 1. Spend your hold 1-for-1 to ask questions:
* What weakness does your body exhibit?
* What are you hiding from people you trust?
* What would you die for?
* What do you usually do to dull the pain?
Special move:
When you have sex, they get 2-hold which they can spend as if they had the Served Cold move.
Advancement:
Retire as a threat.
Get a new Abacus move.
Get a new Abacus move.
Get a move from another playbook.
Get a move from another playbook.
Get a gang, and Leadership.
Get 2 gigs (detail) and Moonlighting.
Hard+1.
Sharp+1.
Weird+1
Cool+3.