Credits Contents

Written by Morgan Davie and Malcolm Craig Primer....................................................................................... 4

Illustrated by Paul Bourne, Jon Hodgson and Scott Purdy
Graphic Design and Layout by Paul Bourne
Map by Gregor Hutton
Converted by Morgan Davie
Proofread by Jacob Rodgers, Gregor Hutton and Morgan Davie
©2020 Handiwork Games Ltd, all rights reserved
www.handiwork.games
Introduction........................................................................... 16
Mire End................................................................................ 16
The Troublemakers................................................................. 17
Setup...................................................................................... 18
Running the Mission.............................................................. 19
Mission Environment............................................................. 20
Map........................................................................................ 21
NPCs.................................................................................22-23
Pregenerated Character Sheets..........................................24-31

This work is based on Blades in the Dark (found at http://www.bladesinthedark.com/), product of One Seven Design,
developed and authored by John Harper, and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Welcome to
The City.
A sepia tone world lit by guttering gas lamps and flickering electrified
filaments. Stinking canals radiate out through The City, thick with the
detritus of untold millions of lives. Dank alleys wind between corroding
concrete tower blocks; wide boulevards swarm with peddlers, traders,
thieves, and marks.
Welcome to
The City.
A world of contrasts and contradictions. The citizens live their lives in a
tangle of technological obscurity. In crumbling brick tenements, they crowd
round dim televisions and crackling talkboxes. In the factories, workshops,
mills, and mines, they toil and strain with rusting, decaying machinery.
Above them all, the Trusts stand like gods, islands of privilege in a sea of
fish oil, flaking iron, and reeking gas.
Welcome to
The City.
A world of pain, fear, longing and hatred. Where petty
authorities eagerly enforce inhuman regulations, where
precious secrets are betrayed for a good pair of shoes, where
desperate people cripple each other for a dull shilling while
crowds shout themselves hoarse. Yet light, life, love and hope
manage to raise their voices, occasionally heard above the
clamour of darkness. Through all the evil and wreckage, some
still retain a sense of decency and community.
Welcome to
The City.
A world of superstition, folk tales, wild religion, and
unchecked rumour. The Shift and The Bombardment
are apocalyptic legends from the dim past, feeding the
nightmares and fantasies of current generations. Some pray
to gods for salvation, others find solace in vice. In hidden
places, black rites are carried out, for reasons as varied
and labyrinthine as The City itself. Folk heroes and villains
stalk streets and minds. Ticktock Man, The Leaper, and Iron
Lady, all contribute to the second city, the city carried on the
tongues and in the heads of its citizens.
Welcome to
The City.
A world of strangers and beings who do not belong. The Shifted,
strange entities, only whispered about in pubs and speakeasies, lest the
very mention of their name summon them from the dark. Twitching and
creaking through the backstreets in their bloodstained rags, chittering
incomprehensibly. Whispering maddening dreams in the night. As
insubstantial as mist, clouds of unreason. Assassins and kidnappers,
looming figures cast in black cloth and pale flesh.

Welcome to The City.

You will never forget The City.
But The City will forget you.
The City seems limitless to someone standing at the intersection of Fish
Wynd and Changegate in Folly Hills, looking across the swirling breadth
of the Grand Canal to Mire End. The world of the average citizen is both
vast and circumscribed. The seemingly never ending, never escapable
expanse of The City is subconsciously present in millions of heads. Yet the
majority of those millions seldom travel more than a handful of miles from
where they are born, live, and die.

Of course, many have no wish to travel beyond their native burgh, despite
the distant excitements offered by the clicking, clacking, clanking railways
and the ponderous, wallowing ringships. The life of cramped decaying flat,
bobbing waterborne market, and dangerous unhealthy work is replicated
endlessly throughout The City. Days come and go with predictable
monotony in Folly Hills, Mire End, Burningfell, Dreamingspires, and
innumerable other burghs.

The City is — according to the most popular belief — a vast circle. From
the bottomless depths of Basin at its centre, the concentric ring canals
spread out like ripples. And like the spokes of a wheel, the eight huge
lateral canals thrust out towards ever more sparsely populated and ruinous
regions. So wide are the main canals that bridges are scarce, mostly
dedicated to carrying the iron rails of the main lines. Flat bottomed ferries
ply their trade across the expanses, carrying people to their workplaces,
herds of dogs for the abattoirs, and crates of fish for the markets.

Electricity, gas, and burning fish oil power The City in a filthy, reeking
miasma. Mudlarks and barrowmen gather shit and piss from septic tanks
and latrine pits. Their stinking cargoes will fertilise plants, tan dogskins, and
manufacture sparklock powder. Children swim the dirty canals to tend nets
of bulbous, gawping fish as the adults defend their precious farms with
club and knife.

Injustice and inequality are The City’s hallmarks. The Trusts — nebulous
entities controlling crucial aspects of everyday life — exert some kind of
power over almost everyone. Religions — the Third Church of God the
Architect, the Mortal God Church, and many others - dictate the morality
of millions more. Criminal syndicates inveigle their way into communities:
drug dealing, moneylending, pimping, and killing.

There are those for whom these injustices and inequalities are challenges
to be met and overcome. Whether it be getting the lights back on in a
tenement block, freeing the enslaved, ridding a community of predatious
criminals, or taking down corrupt petty officials, there are those who
choose to fight for a better future.

Will you join the fight?

Introduction
This short mission for the new edition of a|state is intended for a
GM who is familiar with Forged in the Dark games such as Blades
in the Dark. Players do not need to have any prior knowledge.
The new edition of a|state is about a group of determined locals
who agree to stand together and help their community. Gameplay
regularly zooms in to focus tightly on specific missions like this one.
This mission adapts a classic short scenario from the original a|state.
The whole mission can be completed in an hour or less. You can easily
expand it for a longer experience, and notes to do so are included.
16 a | s t a t e - N i c e ly, D o n e
Mire End
Mire End is a forlorn place: miles of brick and concrete tenements,
all slowly disintegrating. Water covers the streets, the drainage
systems destroyed long ago. The damp and rotting lower floors
of most buildings are left empty. Denied help by the powerful
Three Canals Metropolitan Area (TCMA, sometimes just ‘the
Three Canals’) from across the Green Canal, Mire End is a place
of crime and apathy. There are few jobs aside from menial work in
neighbouring burghs. As a result, many in Mire End rely on crime
to survive. Petty shopkeepers sell stolen goods, and young toughs
collect protection tithes for the Hohler Gang. The Provosts across
the canal take a dim view, but there are always customers for the
black markets of Mire End.
The
Troublemakers

Janus Kripitsch – Lostfinder

Lostfinders seek what is lost or hidden. They work not so much for money as for community
goodwill. They are grateful for a hot meal, a blanket or perhaps simply a favour owed.

Kripitsch is Mire End’s Lostfinder. Typically waterlogged and sodden, he is both respected and
well-liked in the burgh. He dislikes violence, preferring to resolve conflicts by other means. There
are rumours of a romantic attachment between him and feared Ghostfighter Jane Card.

Jed September – Activist

Activists work towards political and social change. Some use direct action, others write tracts and
pamphlets, more are street corner orators and public speaking firebrands.

September is a man with a mission. He believes the people of Mire End are only a canal width away
from a much better life, and campaigns relentlessly to get the huge Three Canals Metropolitan Area
to incorporate Mire End. He despises those who brutalise ordinary people and is fundamentally an
idealist, though sometimes a naive one. He appreciates the help he gets from Teacher, although he
is often exasperated by her inconsistent morals.

Jane Card – Ghostfighter

Ghostfighters are stealthy knife fighters. They are known for extreme competence with hand-to-hand
weapons and a willingness to put their lives on the line. Many work as bodyguards.

Card is a figure of fear to many criminals in Mire End. Although a hard and uncompromising woman,
she is principled and loyal to her friends. Card sees violence as a means to an end and will not hesitate to
use her skills to protect those she cares about. Rumours abound of a romantic attachment between her
and Janus Kripitsch, the burgh’s Lostfinder, but few dare enquire directly on this point.

Pendleton Teacher – Sneakthief

Thieves are thick on the sodden ground of Mire End. Some are thugs and extortionists, while others
are specialists like lock-pickers and confidence tricksters.

Teacher is a charming crook who helps herself to the pockets of others. She is not a thug, and
is capable of much kindness, humour, and even a touch of honour. Still, she sees no immorality
in helping herself to anything she finds with her ‘talents.’ She often helps September, whom she
considers a brother.

a | s t a t e - N i c e ly, D o n e 17
Setup
Reports of child slavery in Mire End have led the group to investigate
a woman named Hosanna Nicely. Nicely makes her home in a
tenement on the turf of the terrifying Hohler Gang. Before going
further, agree together what lines you will hold when presenting
this situation in the game. For example, many groups keep violence
against children entirely off-screen. Use the safety tools you prefer.
Gathering Information
The group attempt to learn more about Nicely’s operation before
they make their move. For simplicity this is handled with a single
action roll, which also introduces new players to the rules for
taking action. If you wish to expand the mission, spend more time
on gathering information. Decide how the characters first hear of
Nicely’s operation, perhaps by looking for a lost child. Go into detail
as the characters investigate the situation, using fortune and action
rolls as appropriate, and allowing position-for-effect trades and set-
up actions. Move to the mission section when they are satisfied with
their preparation.
Preparing for the action roll
Find one character to lead this effort. They should describe how
their character will scout the tenement, and based on this, the player
chooses an action rating for the task. (The obvious one is Survey.)
Then you set position and effect. As a default, surveying the tenement
is risky, and the effect is standard.
Next consider bonus dice, going through each of these in turn:
• One other character can choose to assist. They must say how
they assist. They give +1d or +1 effect but they also take 1 stress.
(Only a Trusted character can assist on a roll.)
• Next, offer a devil’s bargain on this roll: for +1d, the character
transgressed against a Hohler Gang member during the
investigation, and the gang member will be out for revenge. The
mission gains +1 noise.
• Only if the devil’s bargain is refused, ask if the player wishes to
push themselves. If so, they take 2 stress and gain +1d. (You can’t
get a devil’s bargain and push, it’s one or the other.)
Roll a number of dice equal to their chosen action rating plus any
bonus dice acquired, and take the highest single result.
Resolving the action roll
Give the character information appropriate to their effect level.
Consequences can be avoided or reduced with a resistance roll. If
the roll is 6, they succeed with no problems. (If they roll two 6s that’s
a critical success, so give them information from a higher effect level
as a bonus.)
If the roll is a 4/5, the roll succeeds but there are consequences:
18 a | s t a t e - N i c e ly, D o n e
• If the action roll was Risky, they have reduced effect. Give
them information at one effect level lower.
• If the action roll was Desperate, they also take a complication:
Garsey Hatchett senses trouble and sends a gang member to
check in on Nicely. The gang member is with Nicely when the
mission begins. The mission gains +1 noise.
If the roll is 1-3 they fail. They get no information, and there are
consequences:
• If the action roll was Risky, they lose the opportunity: they
cannot survey the tenement, and have to begin the mission
without additional planning time.
• If the action roll was Desperate, they also take a serious
complication. Garsey Hatchett knows something is up and he
takes a personal interest. He sends a gang member to check on
Nicely, while he observes from a neighbouring tenement. The
mission gains +2 noise.
Limited effect
• Word has got out that Hosanna Nicely is keeping children in
the tenement. (See the Mob Riot clock.)
• Nicely makes her money supplying gas and water pipe fittings.
• The tenement is in the turf of the Hohler Gang. The local boss
is a skeletal psychotic named Garsey Hatchett, a man with
whom it is best not to mess.
Standard effect
• Nicely is working over a dozen children to death on various
machines in a makeshift factory in the tenement. The children
live in chains.
• There are three guards, armed with knives, clubs, and perhaps one
firearm, who have been with Nicely for some time.
• Nicely can be reasoned with, but some say her grip on reality is
questionable.
• The Hohler Gang consider Nicely’s business a useful asset.
Great effect
• The front door is kept locked, but there is a back door that can be
accessed through a flooded cellar.
• Nicely’s three guards are fairly loyal to her, but they are bullies,
with the weaknesses of bullies.
• Nicely regards herself as the benefactor of the children.
• The Hohler Gang see Nicely herself as unreliable and expendable.
Making a plan
There are four plans available to the characters, each with a detail
they must provide.
• Assault (Detail: the point of attack: where will they strike?)
• Deception (Detail: the method of deception: what will they
claim to be?)
• Stealth (Detail: The point of infiltration: how will they get in?)
• Social (Detail: The social connection: how will they build
rapport?)
Once a plan is chosen and detail provided, begin the mission.
Running the mission
The angry mob
Put a 6-clock on the table and label it “mob riot”. Explain to the
players an angry mob is approaching. If the clock fills, the mob will
charge the tenement, and kids could die.
Tick the mob riot clock as a consequence when characters delay or
when events agitate the mob. When it fills, the mob will begin an
assault. They will likely smash through the front door and attack
anyone they see. Nicely’s guards might shoot at them out the
windows, or even inside. Children are likely to die in the ensuing
frenzy. The players can try and resolve things before the mob break-
in, or they can face it head-on to calm it down or otherwise divert it.
Track this effort with a new 6-clock. Freeing the children into the
crowd gives 3 ticks on the clock, as a few happy reunions take place.
Engagement roll
Make an engagement roll. Start with 1d for sheer luck, and apply
a 1d advantage (or disadvantage) if you determine the plan’s detail
strikes a vulnerability (or a point of strength).
Evaluate the result based on the PC’s chosen plan and detail and the
description of the tenement.
• On a critical, the first step of their plan works like a dream. Skip
ahead to the next step. Even here, their initial actions in the
mission are controlled.
• On a 6, the plan unfolds smoothly and their initial actions in
the mission are controlled.
• On a 4-5, begin at the first moment of risk in the plan. Their
initial actions in the mission are risky.
• On a 1-3, the plan goes wrong straight away. Perhaps a lookout
sees them coming, and now armed thugs are at the windows to
hold them off. Initial actions in the mission are desperate.
Begin!
When you are ready, describe the situation the characters are in
based on the engagement roll. Mention the noise from the impatient
mob, rapidly approaching.
Assault
Nicely and her cohorts are furious at being discovered and will react
violently. If they are subdued the children can be easily freed. This
approach will also bring swift attention from the Hohler Gang.
Deception
Nicely is savvy, but also somewhat deluded. She thinks she is doing
the right thing here, enriching herself but also providing shelter for
lost children. Deceivers who play into her delusions will find an
easier path to persuading her that they are trying to help her.
Stealth
The room is so small that stealth is unlikely to solve every problem,
but the PCs might achieve some successes before the alarm is raised.
The children must be freed, of course; if the main chain on the walls
can be released, then the children’s manacled legs can be unfastened
from it and they will be able to escape.
Social
Nicely is quite willing to negotiate with the PCs and, once it is
pointed out, will be in mortal terror of the approaching mob of
Mire End locals. She is not a fighter by nature and would prefer to
resolve things through more devious means. If offered the chance
to escape the mob through the rear exit, she might well take that
deal.
Progress Clocks
Here are some suggested clocks that might be useful during the
mission:
• Overpowering Nicely’s thugs: 8-clock to put them down.
• Persuading Nicely to give up: 6-clock to get her to change her
course.
• Smashing the machines: 4-clock to wreck any of the huge
machines.
Consequences
Here are some suggested consequences for partial success and failure
results:
• Mob riot: Tick the mob riot clock if it makes sense to do so.
• Harm: Nicely and her thugs are relatively well armed, the
Hohler Gang even more so.
• Worse position: The standing water conceals some deep holes,
and the machines are unstable and full of hooks and edges, all of
which can make the simplest actions suddenly difficult. Nicely is
unpredictable, and her mood swings can make everything harder.
• Complication: A child can be used as a hostage by one of the
guards.
• Complication: The PC gets caught up in the mess of chains.
• Complication: The PCs efforts are noticed by people who will
talk. +1 Noise.
• Serious complication: The tenement is damaged and a wall
begins to collapse, threatening to crush the trapped children.
(Start a 4-clock.)
If Garsey Hatchett is nearby thanks to a poor Gather Information roll,
then you have these additional options:
a | s t a t e - N i c e ly, D o n e 19
• Complication: Garsey Hatchett and his crew start taking
potshots at the troublemakers from the neighbouring tenement.
• Serious complication: Garsey Hatchett and some of his gang
surround the tenement and set out to teach the troublemakers a
lesson they won’t forget.
Conclusion
Nicely and her crew (and, if applicable, Hatchett and his crew) can
be dealt with any way the group determines. If the children are freed,
there will be tearful reunions and the group will be the heroes of the
hour. For a moment, they have brought some hope to Mire End.
Expanding the mission
Some options for expanding the mission:
• If not already there, Garsey Hatchett hears about the mob and
turns up to forcefully dissuade them.
• Mixed into the mob of angry parents are violent opportunists
looking to make bigger trouble.
• Nicely’s teenage “childcatcher” is present. She makes a break for
it in the mayhem. Do they chase her? Is she redeemable?
Mission environment
The tenement
The three-storey tenement is timeworn and covered with fungus. The
peaked roof sags and bears many holes in its battered surface.
• Lower two storeys have crudely bricked windows.
• The sturdy front door is locked.
20 a | s t a t e - N i c e ly, D o n e
There is also a rickety, small back door at the tenement’s rear, but
it can only be reached through a flooded cellar. It is unlocked and
unguarded.
Inside the tenement
A large open area, two storeys high. No internal walls remain.
• Rusting, whining machines stand on piles of bricks.
• Dog-fat candles in iron brackets. The smell is awful.
• Much of the floor is flooded.
• Tables and bunk beds (for Hosanna and her thugs) at one end
of the room.
The children are here, under guard.
• Fourteen children work the machines. The manacles on their
ankles tether them to heavy chains looped around each machine.
• Hosanna Nicely monitors her children. She genuinely believes
she is doing these children a favour. She is deluded.
• Wandering the room are three heavy-set men, prodding at the
children with iron-shod staves.
• Depending on the Gather Information roll, there may be a
spindly, mean Hohler Gang observer, treated with deference by
the heavies. (If anyone took the devil’s bargain, this happens to be
the gang member they upset.)
If characters observe activity in the tenement, they may see or hear
Nicely viciously beating a ragged child about the head and shoulders.
She throws the child into the water and gives them a solid kick. The
child was caught stealing food from other children.
NPCs

Hosanna Nicely
Tall, cadaverous, deluded, suspicious, nervous
Equipment: Small Revolver (ill maintained), Large Knife, stave

Hosanna Nicely is a woman firmly in the grip of her own delusions. Having kidnapped and
enslaved numerous children from Mire End, she firmly believes that she is actually doing some
good. Her belief is that she is teaching these children a trade, giving them somewhere to live,
and setting them up for their future. In truth, she is extracting labour from the poor waifs with
little thought for their safety or comfort.

Niceley’s Three Thugs

Brutish, craven, strong, shocked, ugly
Equipment: Coshes, Small Knives, One Small Revolver between them

Strongarm men and associates of Nicely, their prime concern is making money and
acting in a brutal manner towards the children. They know the characters by reputation
and are not intimidated, at least at first. They are prototypical bullies; quite happy to
take their anger out on defenceless children or fearful locals, but less than keen to go
toe-to-toe with people who might be able to dish out a severe drubbing.

The Children
Emaciated, cowed, wounded, frightened
Equipment: Chains, Small Tools

The children have been working in Nicely’s workshop for anything between a week to a season.
Those who have been there longest have seen other children die of malnutrition, disease, injury, or
physical violence.

22 a | s t a t e - N i c e ly, D o n e
 Garsey Hatchett
Skeletal, vengeful, unpredictable, violent
Equipment: Sawn-off shotgun, Garotte, Hatchet [nominative determinism at work here]

Tall and painfully thin, Hatchett’s dead eyes are set deep in dark sockets, permanently blackened
as the result of childhood diseases. What passes for fine clothes in Mire End drape across his
wire-like frame, failing entirely to hide the angular, bony caricature of a man. Hatchett is, by any
reasonable standard, a deeply ill man. He has an enormous capacity for brutal violence in the
service of maintaining his perceived status.

Hatchett’s Crew
Keywords: Preening, Arrogant, Stupid, Vicious
Equipment: Knives, Swords, One Sparklock Shotgun, One Small Nailbomb

Key members of Hatchett’s Watermark Crew, they are just as concerned about jostling
for favour and avoiding Hatchett’s displeasure as they are about dishing out beatings.
They lack their leader’s brutal cunning or absolute lack of empathy. They are, however,
not to be underestimated, despite their many and varied flaws.

The Mob
Keywords: Angry, Scared, Vengeful, Unpredictable
Equipment: Bricks, Oil Lamps, Domestic Knives, Some Tools (sledgehammers, etc.)

Enraged by seasons worth of child disappearances and having gathered enough courage, this large
group of locals is determined to take matters into their own hands. A misheard remark, a subtle
provocation, or simple frustration and anger could set them on a destructive and possibly deadly
rampage.

a | s t a t e - N i c e ly, D o n e 23

Jed September
activist
Activists work towards political and social change.
Some use direct action, others write tracts and
pamphlets, more are street corner orators and public
speaking firebrands.
September is a man with a mission. He believes
the people of Mire End are only a canal width
from a much better life, and campaigns relentlessly
to get the huge Three Canals Area to incorporate
Mire End. He despises those who brutalise
ordinary people and is fundamentally an idealist,
though sometimes a naive one. He appreciates the
help he gets from Teacher, although he is often
exasperated by her inconsistent morals.
He trusts Pendleton Teacher.
Fine cudgel: Sometimes you need to clear a path
to safety.
Fine medical kit: A combined first aid and
infections kit of fine quality.
Tin Megaphone: Make yourself heard. Get +1d
on rolls when you address a crowd.
Pamphlets: Get the message out there. You get +1
effect on rolls to influence a large group.
Streetwriting gear: Paint, pump sprayer, brushes
and other material to leave a large message where
everyone can see it.
jed september
NEW RULES activist
guns
If you pull a gun, people scatter. Knives and sticks
are fair game, but a firearm is always shocking.
Even so, they are easily acquired.
Firearms are available to every character in
their standard items loadout. Most common are
sparklocks, which use an electric spark to ignite
powder and need to recharge between shots. A
well-resourced soldier or criminal might have a
revolver with a cartridge, slightly safer to use. The
City’s best-equipped forces use magnetic weapons,
but if you ever see one of those, it will probably be
pointed at you.
Effects and
Consequences
Guns are powerful. GMs should consider their
potency both physically and psychologically when
setting effect levels.
They also increase risk. Sparklocks create clouds
of smoke, and are prone to jam or explode. Stray
shots in the crowded city can easily cause mayhem.
A gun in hand is frightening, even to the person
holding it.
When you use a firearm, the consequences
generated from any 1-3 result are worsened. Take
an additional minor complication, or change harm
to severe harm, or similar.
 Activist: Consort +2, Care +1, Wreck +1

Mire End Playbook: Street healer: Care +2, Prowl +1, Tinker +1
Stalwart
BURGH People’s Voice: Consort +2, Command +1, Wreck +1
ac t i v i s t A battler & community inspiration Priest: Care +2, Study +2
Jed September
NAME ALIAS Special abilities playbook
Scruffy, handsome, idealistic, relentless, illiterate
x Expertise: Choose one of your action ratings. When you lead a group action insight
LOOK/KEYWORDS using that action, you can suffer only 1 stress at most regardless of the number of
HUNT
failed rolls.
Drudgery Labour x STUDY
Dedicated: Due to your devotion to your work, during downtime, you may give
ORIGIN UPBRINGING SURVEY
yourself or another crew member +1 downtime action.
TINKER
Obligation (the September family)
Leader: When you Command a cohort in a dangerous situation, they continue
Vice/Purveyor PROWESS
when they would otherwise break (they’re not taken out when they suffer level 3
harm). They gain +1 effect and 1 armour. FINESSE
Mastermind: You may expend your special armour to protect a teammate, or to PROWL
SKIRMISH
STRESS TRAUMA push yourself when you gather information or work on a long-term project.
x WRECK

x Orator: You have a gift for speaking in a way that hits home. You get +1 effect
when you rally an audience, or seek to influence with inspiring or agitating words. RESOLVE
x CARE
Personal Stash: You always manage to keep a little cash aside for yourself. You only COMMAND
HARM HEALING need to spend 1 coin to achieve a lifestyle quality one level higher, and you get +1d x x CONSORT
when you roll to access cash.
NEED project x x SWAY (Expertise)
3
HELP clock Physician: You know how to recognise and deal with injuries and ill health. Those
you help get +1d to their healing treatment rolls, and you get the same on rolls to
ARMOUR USES BONUS DIE
2 -1D know what is needed to cure a sickness.
Armour
Vandal: You know how to break things swiftly and memorably. You get +1d when
LESS Heavy Push yourself (take 2 stress) -OR- accept a devil’s bargain.
1 you roll to damage a structure in a way that will get noticed.
EFFECT Special +
Veteran: _________________________________________________________
LOAD Light(3) Normal(5) Heavy(6)
RULES REFERENCE Veteran: _________________________________________________________

PLANNING & LOAD GATHER INFORMATION A Blade or Two A Backup Weapon

Choose a plan, provide the detail. ‣ What do they intend to do? A Pistol An Unusual Weapon
Choose a load limit for the operation. CONTACTS AND FRIENDS items A Large Weapon Tool Kit
‣ How can I get them to [X]?
Armour Wrecking Gear
Assault: point of attack ‣ What should I look out for? ▲ Miss Scrivener, accountant Fine cudgel
Break-in Gear Climbing Gear
Deception: method Forster Marchmont, mudlark Fine medical kit
‣ What’s the best way in?
First Aid Kit Navigation Tools
E. Detseted, pawnshop owner Megaphone
Stealth: entry point ‣ Where can I hide here? Warm Clothing Survival Kit
▼ Cornelius Seton, actor Pamphlets
Social: connection ‣ How can I find [X]? Infection Kit Lamp
Streetwriting gear
Transport: route ‣ What’s really going on here?

teamwork xp

Assist a Trusted teammate Protect a teammate ‣ Every time you roll a desperate action, mark xp in that action’s attribute.
‣ You addressed a challenge with influence or insight.  At the end of each session, for these three items, mark
Lead a group action Set up a teammate ‣ You expressed your beliefs, drives, origin, or upbringing.  1 xp (in your playbook or an attribute) or 2 xp if that
Share stress with a Trusted teammate ‣ You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.  item occurred multiple times.

Jane card
ghostfighter
Ghostfighters are stealthy knife fighters. They are
known for extreme competence with hand-to-hand
weapons and a willingness to put their lives on the
line. Many work as bodyguards.
Card is a figure of fear to the criminals of Mire
End. Although hard and uncompromising, she
is principled and loyal to her friends. Card sees
violence as a means to an end and will not hesitate
to use her skills to protect those she cares about.
Rumours abound of a romantic attachment between
her and Janus Kripitsch, the burgh’s Lostfinder, but
few dare to enquire directly on this point.
She trusts Janus Kripitsch.
Llife: An exquisitely dangerous knife, fine quality.
Ghostfighter’s Coat: Long coat with metal plates.
The coat provides Armour.
Ghostfighter’s Glue: Adhesive for sealing wounds.
Reduces a level 2 knife wound (or similar) to level
1, as long as the row is not already filled.
Gutties: Special footwear for moving quietly and
without trace, fine quality.
Pill bottle: Large glass bottle of combat drugs.
J a n e ca r d
NEW RULES ghostfighter
Your characters form an uncertain alliance. Who
will earn your trust?
trust
There are five teamwork maneuvers, but two
of them, assist and share stress, are restricted to
characters who trust each other. If you don’t have
trust, you can only help each other using the set up,
protect, and lead a group action maneuvers.
Trust is always mutual. It takes a downtime action
to establish trust between two characters. Once
they trust each other, they can assist each other
and share stress.
Trust also makes you vulnerable. When there is
trust, one character can force the other to take the
protect action on their behalf.
Either character can break trust at any time, but
not swiftly enough to save them from performing a
forced protect action.
share stress
This teamwork maneuver is only available when there
is trust between the two characters.
When someone you trust is hitting the limits of
their stress, you can help. Through words, actions,
or just your presence, you reassure them of your
continued support. They clear one point of stress,
but you take two points.
 Ghostfighter: Prowl +2, Hunt +1, Finesse +1

Mire End Playbook: Ganger: Hunt +2, Prowl +2

WArrior
BURGH Cripplecut Champion: Finesse +2, Care +1, Sway +1
GHOSTFIGHTER A dangerous & intimidating fighter Soldier: Command +1, Wreck +1, Consort +2
Jane Card
NAME ALIAS Special abilities playbook
Tall, muscular, principled, uncompromising
x Battleborn: You may expend your special armour to reduce harm from an attack insight
LOOK/KEYWORDS in combat or to push yourself during a fight.
x HUNT
Dispossessed Religious STUDY
Ambush: When you attack from hiding or spring a trap, you get +1d.
ORIGIN UPBRINGING SURVEY
TINKER
Faith (Third Church Home for Unwanted Children)
Belter: You can push yourself to do one of the following: perform a feat of physical
Vice/Purveyor PROWESS
force that verges on the superhuman—engage a small gang on equal footing in close
combat. x FINESSE
Bodyguard: When you protect a teammate, take +1d to your resistance roll. When x x PROWL
you gather info to anticipate possible threats in the current situation, you get +1 x x SKIRMISH
STRESS TRAUMA
effect. WRECK

x Fearsome: Your capacity for physical violence is deeply unsettling. When you
Command anyone who isn’t down to fight, take +1d. RESOLVE
CARE
Reflexes: When there’s a question about who acts first, the answer is you (two x COMMAND
HARM HEALING characters with Reflexes act simultaneously). CONSORT
NEED project SWAY
3
HELP clock Scarred: Ignore penalties for level 1 and 2 harm when you’re involved in a fight.

ARMOUR USES BONUS DIE

2 -1D
Armour
Vigorous: You recover from harm faster. Permanently fill in one of your healing
LESS Heavy Push yourself (take 2 stress) -OR- accept a devil’s bargain.
1 clock segments. Take +1d to healing treatment rolls.
EFFECT Special +
Veteran: _________________________________________________________
LOAD Light(3) Normal(5) Heavy(6)
RULES REFERENCE Veteran: _________________________________________________________

PLANNING & LOAD GATHER INFORMATION A Blade or Two A Backup Weapon

Choose a plan, provide the detail. ‣ What do they intend to do? A Pistol An Unusual Weapon
Choose a load limit for the operation. CONTACTS AND FRIENDS items A Large Weapon Tool Kit
‣ How can I get them to [X]?
Armour Wrecking Gear
Assault: point of attack ‣ What should I look out for? ▲ Father Guy Herbert, Orphanage Llife
Break-in Gear Climbing Gear
Deception: method Hoop and Dandy, street urchins Ghostfighter’s Coat
‣ What’s the best way in?
First Aid Kit Navigation Tools
Stealth: entry point ‣ Where can I hide here?
▼ Flash Valentine, local gang leader Gutties (boots for sneaking)
Warm Clothing Survival Kit
Valentin Brady, loudmouth thug Pill bottles
Social: connection ‣ How can I find [X]? Infection Kit Lamp
Ghostfighter’s Glue
Transport: route ‣ What’s really going on here?

teamwork xp

Assist a Trusted teammate Protect a teammate ‣ Every time you roll a desperate action, mark xp in that action’s attribute.
‣ You addressed a challenge with violence or intimidation.  At the end of each session, for these three items, mark
Lead a group action Set up a teammate ‣ You expressed your beliefs, drives, origin, or upbringing.  1 xp (in your playbook or an attribute) or 2 xp if that
Share stress with a Trusted teammate ‣ You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.  item occurred multiple times.

Janus Kripitsch
Lostfinder
Lostfinders seek what is lost or hidden. They work not
so much for money as for community goodwill. They are
grateful for a hot meal, a blanket or perhaps simply a
favour owed.
Kripitsch is Mire End’s Lostfinder. Typically
waterlogged and sodden, he is both respected
and well-liked in the burgh. He dislikes violence,
preferring to resolve conflicts by other means.
There are rumours of a romantic attachment
between him and feared Ghostfighter Jane Card.
He trusts Jane Card.
Investigation kit: Magnifying glass, other fine
tools. Take +1d on rolls to identify and analyse
small clues.
Local Map: A detailed, mostly-accurate hand-
drawn map of a burgh.
Mess kit: With this kit you can better catch,
forage and prepare a sanitary meal when on a
journey. Take +1d on any rolls involved in staying
well-fed and healthy.
Quality Spirits: Finding the good stuff is tricky in
the City, but you know the way. These spirits are +1
quality.
Surveillance gear: Binoculars and portable hide.
Take +1d on any rolls where you set up a spot to
watch a location from a distance.
J A NUS KRIPITS C H
NEW RULES lostfinder
Characters use twelve actions to overcome
obstacles. One is new to a|state.
Care
When you Care, you provide support, encouragement
and medical assistance to those who aren’t doing well.
Nurse a dog back to health. Help a refugee find a
place to live. Wrap a messy wound while a battle
rages. You could try emotionally connecting with a
journalist so he doesn’t write a hit piece (but Sway
might be better).
GM QUESTIONS:
• Who here needs your help?
• What can you do to ease their discomfort?
Caring responds to hurt, and in The City no-one
stays fine for long. When people get shot, stabbed
or worse, they need Care. Use Care for any attempt
to deal with pain, injury and sickness.
You can also Care to connect to people on an
emotional level. Consort is good when no-one
is hurting, and Sway is great when you need to
persuade someone, but with Care you might be
able to ease someone’s worries and point them to a
better path.
 Lostfinder: Survey +2, Care +1, Sway +1

Mire End Playbook: Nomad: Skirmish +2, Prowl +1, Finesse +1

WAYFARER
BURGH Antiquities Hunter: Survey +2, Tinker +1, Wreck +1
lostfinder A hunter & traveller
Janus Kripitsch
NAME ALIAS Special abilities playbook
Heavyset, reserved, compassionate
x Talk it out: You get +1d to rolls when weapons are drawn but you try to resolve insight
LOOK/KEYWORDS the situation through honest talk.
x x HUNT
Drudgery Apprenticed STUDY
Antiquarian: When you gather information about folktales, legends and old history,
ORIGIN UPBRINGING x x SURVEY
you get +1d to your roll and +1 effect.
TINKER
Pleasure ( Jopp Lane Operatic Society Theatre)
Daredevil: When you roll a desperate action, you get +1d to your roll and you also
Vice/Purveyor PROWESS
take -1d to any resistance rolls against consequences from your action.
x FINESSE
Driver: When you make any action roll for driving, piloting or controlling a vehicle, PROWL
SKIRMISH
STRESS TRAUMA you get +1d.
WRECK
Figure of respect: The community’s affection for you makes them ready to dig deep.
You get +1d to your roll when you ask a favour from your community. RESOLVE
x CARE
Harmony with the city: You may expend your special armour to resist a COMMAND
HARM HEALING consequence of surprise or mental harm (fear, confusion, losing track of someone) CONSORT
or to push yourself when reading a situation or tracking a quarry.
NEED project x SWAY
3
HELP clock Know your way: You know how to get places safely, and how to fit in at your
destination. You get +1 effect on all journey rolls, and +1d to resist any consequences
ARMOUR USES BONUS DIE
2 -1D involving a breach of etiquette.
Armour
Heavy
x Scout: When you gather information to discover the location of a target, you get +1
LESS Push yourself (take 2 stress) -OR- accept a devil’s bargain.
1 effect. When you hide in a prepared position or use camouflage you get +1d to rolls
EFFECT Special to avoid detection.
+
Veteran: _________________________________________________________
LOAD Light(3) Normal(5) Heavy(6)
RULES REFERENCE Veteran: _________________________________________________________

PLANNING & LOAD GATHER INFORMATION A Blade or Two A Backup Weapon

Choose a plan, provide the detail. ‣ What do they intend to do? A Pistol An Unusual Weapon
Choose a load limit for the operation. CONTACTS AND FRIENDS items A Large Weapon Tool Kit
‣ How can I get them to [X]?
Armour Wrecking Gear
Assault: point of attack ‣ What should I look out for? ▼ Tobias Glym, black marketeer Investigation kit
Break-in Gear Climbing Gear
Deception: method Valentin Brady, criminal simpleton Local map
‣ What’s the best way in?
First Aid Kit Navigation Tools
Bysom Bacco, nebelweed dealer Mess kit
Stealth: entry point ‣ Where can I hide here? Warm Clothing Survival Kit
▲ Jaimes Barrowmaker, dog racer Quality spirits
Social: connection ‣ How can I find [X]? Infection Kit Lamp
Surveillance gear
Transport: route ‣ What’s really going on here?

teamwork xp

Assist a Trusted teammate Protect a teammate ‣ Every time you roll a desperate action, mark xp in that action’s attribute.
‣ You addressed a challenge with exploration or pursuit.  At the end of each session, for these three items, mark
Lead a group action Set up a teammate ‣ You expressed your beliefs, drives, origin, or upbringing.  1 xp (in your playbook or an attribute) or 2 xp if that
Share stress with a Trusted teammate ‣ You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.  item occurred multiple times.

Pendleton Teacher
sneakthief
Thieves are thick on the sodden ground of Mire End.
Some are thugs and extortionists, while others are
specialists like lock-pickers and confidence tricksters.
Teacher is a charming crook who helps herself
to the pockets of others. She is not a thug, and
is capable of much kindness, humour, and even
a touch of honour. Still, she sees no immorality
in helping herself to anything she finds with her
‘talents.’ She often helps September, whom she
considers a brother.
She trusts Jed September.
Fine break-in kit: lockpicks, chisels, etc. of fine
quality.
Soot coat: this coat provides basic camouflage
in the streets and alleys. Take +1 effect when
sneaking around outside.
Light climbing gear: a rope and hook made for an
expert at getting where they aren’t supposed to be.
Hand flash: this miniature flashlight gives just
enough illumination to get where you need to go.
Barter sweets: cigarettes, pills, and other things
people crave - your pockets have what you need to
make any deal more convincing. Take +1d when
trying to seal a deal.
P e n d l e to n T e ac h e r
NEW RULES sneakthief
Heat from law enforcement is just one small aspect
of the difficulties that face troublemakers like the
characters.
Noise and Attention
Over the course of the mission, the group may
draw attention to their corner of The City. This is
measured by Noise. Sometimes Noise will build
up during play as consequences. Also, at the end of
the mission, the GM will evaluate how smoothly it
went for the group and assign noise as a result:
0 Noise: Smooth and quiet
2 Noise: Contained
4 Noise: Loud and chaotic
6 Noise: Wildly exposed
If Noise reaches 9, the corner gains a level of
Attention. Otherwise, it will slowly drop away over
downtime.
trouble
After the mission is complete, make a roll using
Attention level. (If attention is zero, roll two dice
and keep the lowest.) This indicates a Trouble that
will appear during downtime.
6: Murder: A friend or contact of the characters is
found dead. Who is the victim? Who is responsible?
4-5: Debt: One character’s close friend is
unexpectedly and severely in debt. Who to? Who
made this happen?
1-3: No trouble for now, but the Hohler Gang is
watching...
 Sneakthief: Finesse +2, Sway +1, Wreck +1

Mire End Playbook: Artist: Study +2, Finesse +1, Wreck +1

WASTREL
BURGH Burgh Mudlark: Hunt +2, Tinker +1, Skirmish +1
SNE A KTHIE F A SCRABBLER & SURVIVOR Urchin: Prowl +1, Skirmish +1, Wreck +1, Care +1
Pendleton Teacher
NAME ALIAS Special abilities playbook
Casual, tidy, sly, curious
x Infiltrator: You are not affected by quality or Tier when you bypass security insight
LOOK/KEYWORDS measures.
HUNT
Lower middle class Corporate STUDY
Ex-Mikefighter: You have an uncanny ability to sense what’s happening around
ORIGIN UPBRINGING x x SURVEY
you. You suffer one fewer stress when you resist the consequence of being surprised,
ambushed, or otherwise caught out. TINKER
Gambling (Folly Hills Dog Track)
Gutterhard: You are able to keep going even when the air is dirty and there’s
Vice/Purveyor PROWESS
nowhere to rest.
x x FINESSE

Mule: Your load limits are higher. Light: 5. Normal: 7. Heavy: 8.

x PROWL
SKIRMISH
STRESS TRAUMA
x WRECK

x Shadow: You may expend your special armour to resist a consequence from
detection or security measures, or to push yourself for a feat of athletics or stealth. RESOLVE
CARE
Street uses: You give allies +1d to crafting rolls when you help source materials, and COMMAND
HARM HEALING to healing rolls when you help find special ingredients. CONSORT
NEED project x SWAY
3
HELP clock Tough as nails: Penalties from harm are one level less severe (though level 4 harm
is still fatal).
ARMOUR USES BONUS DIE
2 -1D
Armour
Word on the street: Down at street level, word spreads quickly. You give +1d to
LESS Heavy Push yourself (take 2 stress) -OR- accept a devil’s bargain.
1 engagement rolls for any intrusion into your corner.
EFFECT Special +
Veteran: _________________________________________________________
LOAD Light(3) Normal(5) Heavy(6)
RULES REFERENCE Veteran: _________________________________________________________

PLANNING & LOAD GATHER INFORMATION A Blade or Two A Backup Weapon

Choose a plan, provide the detail. ‣ What do they intend to do? A Pistol An Unusual Weapon
Choose a load limit for the operation. CONTACTS AND FRIENDS items A Large Weapon Tool Kit
‣ How can I get them to [X]?
Armour Wrecking Gear
Assault: point of attack ‣ What should I look out for? ▲ Cam Derr, mechanic/wingship racer Fine break-in kit
Break-in Gear Climbing Gear
Deception: method ‣ What’s the best way in? ▼ Sgt. Cruden, transit militia Soot coat
First Aid Kit Navigation Tools
Garland Woolf, bookie Light climbing gear
Stealth: entry point ‣ Where can I hide here? Warm Clothing Survival Kit
Tobias Glym, black marketeer Barter sweets
Social: connection ‣ How can I find [X]? Infection Kit Lamp
Hand flash
Transport: route ‣ What’s really going on here?

teamwork xp

Assist a Trusted teammate Protect a teammate ‣ Every time you roll a desperate action, mark xp in that action’s attribute.
‣ You addressed a challenge with stealth or endurance.  At the end of each session, for these three items, mark
Lead a group action Set up a teammate ‣ You expressed your beliefs, drives, origin, or upbringing.  1 xp (in your playbook or an attribute) or 2 xp if that
Share stress with a Trusted teammate ‣ You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.  item occurred multiple times.
Cult favourite role-playing game a|state is back in an exciting new edition.

• Legendary game setting The City returns, loaded with mesmerising and
unsettling detail. The new edition of a|state is Forged in the Dark. Experience
The City through intense, fiction-first role-playing.

• Create your own corner of The City and protect it from the powerful factions
who want to tear it down.

• Choose from seven playbooks, including the lethal Ghostfighter, the savvy
Mapmaker, and the dogged Lostfinder.

• Encounter the Shifted and other strange mysteries of The City, a closed
environment you can never leave.

You will never forget The City… but The City will forget you.
Find out more at www.handiwork.games/games/astate