voidheart-symphony

Voidheart
SymphonY

Copyright 2021 UFO Press Limited.
ufopress.co.uk

CrEdItS

Writing and layout Art

Minerva McJanda Cover art by Adrian Stone

Additional Writing Playbook and Chapter art by Marie Enger.

Adira Slattery, Blue Maelstrom, All other art created by Minerva McJanda
Charlie Ann Page, David Morrison, using photos from Unsplash.com,
Declan Winterton, Eleanor Hingley, Erika provided by the following users:
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Dedicated with love to my beautiful wives, bea and arby mcjanda

ROWAN, ROOK
AND DECARD

CoNtEnTs

Chapter 1: Chapter 3: 76 Chapter 5: 198

Overture 4 The Rebels The Architect 200
201
Welcome to the Age of Playbook Anatomy 78 Your Agenda 202
Oblivion 6 Changing Things Up 84 What to Say 206
The Playbooks 86 Principles 210
How This Works 7 Reactions 219
Running a Game
How to Use This Book 8 The Authority 89 Dark Feudalism
The Captive 95
Core Rules 10 The Harlequin 103
The Heretic 109
Game Setup 14 The Icon 115
The Inhuman 121
Inspirations 24 The Penitent 127
The Provider 135
Chapter 2: The Watcher 141 Chapter 6: 224

Rules of the City 26 The Castle’s
Terrors

Vital Statistics 28 A Kingdom of Hungry
Shadows 226
Universal Moves 35
Qualities 228
The Investigation 36 Chapter 4:
Making Your Vassal 230
Everyday Actions 40 Covenants 146
Enforcers 256
City Moves 44
Minor Covenants 148
Keeping Yourself 49 Major Covenants 149 Chapter 7:
Together
ThE CiTy YoU LiVe In 278
Delving Into the Castle 54 The Fool 152

Exploration Moves 60 The Magician 154 Steel City Punks 282
Bandit Country 288
Bloodstained Combat 62 The Oracle 156 Windy City Gothic 292

Confrontation Moves 64 The Gardener 158

Weapons 68 The Auteur 160

The Aftermath 70 The Sage 162

Retaliation 73 The Lovers 164 Chapter 8:

Peace and Quiet 75 The Chariot 166 VoIdHeArT aNd tHe

Strength 168 TaRoT 296

The Hermit 170 Tarot Transposition 298

Wheel of Fortune 172 Scenario Spreads 299

Justice 174 Reading tips 305

The Vagabond 176

Death 178

Temperance 180 Move Summary 306

The Devil 182

The Tower 184

The Star 186

The Moon 188

The Sun 190

Judgement 192

Making Your Own
Covenants 196

ChApTeR 1

OvErTuRe



WeLcOmE tO tHe AgE oF ObLiViOn

There’s a wound in the world, and nobody cares. If they have to
step over rough sleepers as they walk to work, if the rich grow richer
while children starve, if authorities destroy lives not just through
negligence but through malice… isn’t that just the way of the world?
You don’t have the luxury of thinking that way. Maybe you’re a
second-class citizen, forced to work yourself to the bone for the
money to live. Maybe you have to hide your truth, for fear of what
would happen if you were exposed – or maybe you’re out, and are
living with those consequences every day. Maybe you just can’t
close your eyes and ignore the suffering.
But mainly it’s because you’ve seen the wound: a strange border
between this world and another, tucked away in backstreets and
disused stairwells. Through the wound you’ve seen glimpses of the
castle – a nightmare world of twisting halls and terrible monsters.
Through these wounds the taint of the void seeps out, sickening
and twisting those unfortunate enough to live nearby. And the castle
conforms to the will of the biggest predator in the area – twisting a
shard of itself into a reflection of their desires, blighting their enemies
and victims and bringing them fortune whether they realise it or not.
But, if people are causing pain with unearned power, what’s new?
You’re used to fighting for respect, survival, your safety, the safety
of your community. You’ll dive into that wound, steal its power,
and see how that predator topples when the void abandons them.
And what then? Will you go back to the daily grind, putting out the
fires that spread while you were focused on your shadow war? Hold
close to those dear to you, and form new connections? Or rest and
heal, preparing for the next time? Because the wound is still there,
and as long as someone is profiting from the suffering of others the
void will have plenty of Vassals to empower.

play Voidheart Symphony to…
…tell stories of desperate people fighting back with occult power.
…tear down tyrants and bigots, and ask what should take their place.
…jump between a grounded city and a vibrant otherworld.
…grow and change as you steal power and realise truths about yourself.

HoW ThIs WoRkS

Voidheart Symphony is a cooperative storytelling game for 3 to 6
players, who will build characters and tell their stories together.
Most of the players control a rebel: someone who has seen the
occult power lurking behind a petty tyrant in their community,
and has made the decision to fight back. For now, their only
weapon is that drive to take a stand – but as the void seeps into
their heart and they form strong and lasting bonds with
confidantes, they'll gather extraordinary powers.
One player is the Architect. They're here to keep track of the
setting, provide resistance and challenge to the characters, and
make sure all the players get an equal chance to shine. They’re also
there to portray supporting characters, voicing them in
conversations and giving the players someone to play off of. It’s a
role with a different set of responsibilities, detailed in Chapter 5.
The game unfolds through Investigations. Each begins with a new
Vassal making your community worse with the castle’s power. This
power flows from a shard of the castle, a segment of its realm placed
under the care of this Vassal and shaped around their psyche. You'll
delve into this nightmare realm, use what you learn there to probe
their weak spots and ruin their plans in the mortal world, and
eventually strike them down and take their power – using it to heal,
protect and expand your territory. All while trying to avoid suffering
irreparable harm to your health, finances, and relationships.
Between Investigations, you'll rest up, grow up, and look for your next
target. The castle is far bigger than one Vassal, and it is always hungry.

This is a political game
All works of art are political, but I’m being clear here: this game is
rooted in my anger at the state of the world, and my need to push
for change. There’s no extradimensional void aiding real-world
predators – capital, privilege and white supremacy are more than
enough – but if we want a better world we’ll need group
solidarity, community accountability, individual empowerment,
and a dream of a better way, just like this game’s rebels.
This is also a personal game, centred in my own particular
history and experiences. It’s plausible something in this book
unintentionally excludes or snubs your own experiences; if so,
I’m sorry for that, and promise to listen if you want to talk.

HoW tO UsE ThIs BoOk

Chapter 1: Overture gives you the basic setup for the game – its key
pitch, dice mechanics, and a setup procedure to get your game started.
Chapter 2: Rules of the City gives the core rules for Voidheart
Symphony: procedures for investigation structure, day-to-day life,
clandestine action in the city, supernatural adventure in the castle,
and the downtime between investigations.
Chapter 3: Rebels introduces the nine playbooks you’ll pick from to
build out your Voidheart Symphony character. There’s an overview of
what goes into a playbook, guidance and insights into each option,
and suggestions for how to change them to suit your home game.
Chapter 4: Covenants details the ways your rebel’s web of contacts
help them fight their revolution. You’ll find details for how to spark
new relationships, how to fan those flames into a major ally, 21
different relationship types with associated powers and example
characters, and guidance for writing your own Covenants.
Chapter 5: The Architect gives particular advice for the player
managing the world and portraying the rebel’s antagonists. It has
advice on how to run moment-to-moment play, how to launch and
manage and finish up a campaign, and how to set up antagonists
for your game. It’s mainly for the player who’ll be taking on those
responsibilities, but the game works best when everyone at the
table plays towards the Architect’s agenda and principles.
Chapter 6: The Castle’s Terrors is a bestiary of all the terrible things
you might face in the twisting halls of the castle. Minions, enforcers,
vassals and their Avatars, complete with examples of each.
Chapter 7: The City You Live In is about the key supporting
character of your story. Here you’ll find discussion of what makes
a good location for your game, three example cities, and ideas for
how to set your game in places other than the modern day.
Chapter 8: Voidheart and the Tarot closes the book with a
discussion of how this book uses the tarot. Differences between this
game’s arcana and the standard set, advice on interpreting cards,
and a procedure for prepping investigations with a tarot spread.

For PbtA Veterans
If you’re familiar with other games in the Powered by the
Apocalypse family, you’ll know how much of this works already.
Here’s a quick primer to how Voidheart Symphony differs:

• Altered Rolling Mechanics: In the castle you’ll be rolling
2d6+stat like normal, but in the city you’ll be checking against
gauges – rolling under a trait representing societal pressure.

• Split-World Gameplay: The mundane city and the supernatural
castle use different moves, different character traits, different
rolling mechanics! If the number of basic moves is intimidating,
don’t worry – you’ll only be using some of them at any one time.

• Piecemeal Playbooks: Your core archetype is important, but a
large chunk of your character will come from your covenants:
relationships with NPCs that grant you a set of moves so long
as the relationship is well-maintained.

• Team Effort: Voidheart assumes the players are all on the same
side and bought in to working together. While they may
disagree on which actions should be taken to wage revolution,
the rebels should only very rarely be at odds or come to blows.

• Structured Storytelling: Voidheart places certain structures
around your story – the game is divided up into Investigations
and the Peace and Quiet between them, and each Investigation
is divided up into a couple of actions per day as you race a
ticking clock. It’s within those actions – whether it’s
comforting a friend, breaking into an office or facing down a
slavering demon – that you move into the free-flowing
conversation that defines PbtA play.

CoRe RuLeS

Moves and The Conversation

Voidheart Symphony draws on Vincent and Meguey Baker’s Apocalypse
World, which means that as you play you should pay most attention
to the conversation that’s happening at the table. As a roleplaying
game you play it with words, building a story together and working
to see what happens to this world. Most of the time you’ll be talking
without using any rules – the players describe the actions their
rebels are taking, the Architect describes how those actions change
the situation, and the conversation continues.

Sometimes events in the ongoing conversation will activate a
discrete chunk of rules (a move). Each move has an in-fiction
trigger – something your character has to do in the story for the
mechanics to start up. Once a move’s triggered, it’ll tell you what
dice rolls or choices you have to make, and what the consequences
are for the game mechanics and for the story you’re telling.

It’s vital to note that moves aren’t here to be your only path to
success. You can make a big impact without triggering any moves
by building on elements already established in the story. For
example, if someone’s already let you in their office you don’t need
to roll Connect for access; and if you’ve put a pillar between yourself
and a fire demon you don’t need to roll Dodge to avoid their flames.
Other times you may want to use a particular move, but be unable
to: if you’re up on a stage in front of a crowd, your ability to hit the
trigger for Pass Beneath Notice will be severely limited.

Simply put: everything starts and ends with the story you’re telling.
Moves are just here to make sure particular moments of your story
trace genre-appropriate arcs.

The Architect’s role

The Architect doesn’t make moves, but instead has reactions. These
are specific ways to guide the story towards Voidheart Symphony's
themes and create a fun experience. The Architect never rolls dice,
and instead uses reactions in response to the players’ actions:
when a player rolls a miss, when everyone looks to the Architect to
say what happens next, or when the players do something with
already established consequences (a ‘golden opportunity’).
Each Architect reaction is a way of raising the stakes, shaking up
the situation and providing adversity. Check out p. 206 for more
details on these.

ThE cOnVeRsAtIoN: ArChItEcT aNd pLaYeRs dIsCuSsInG wHaT’s hApPeNiNg
nOw, tHe fAcTs oF tHe sCeNe, tHe rEaCtIoNs oF tHeIr cHaRaCtErS eTc.

A pLaYeR dEsCrIbEs aN aCtIoN tHeIr PlAyErS lOoK tO tHe ArChItEcT
cHaRaCtEr oR HoUsE iS tAkInG. tO sEe wHaT hApPeNs.

HaS iT bEeN eStAbLiShEd YeS
tHaT tHiS aCtIoN wOuLd hAvE

iMmEdIaTe rEpErCuSsIoNs?

No

No Is tHiS a mOvE?
YeS

Is tHeRe a rOlL?
No YeS

RoLl tHe dIcE. MiSs
HiT

MaKe mOvE rEsUlT cHoIcEs. ArChItEcT mAkEs a
rEaCtIoN, fOlLoWiNg tHeIr
GrOuNd tHe rEsUlTs iN tHe aGeNdA aNd pRiNcIpLeS.
fIcTiOn.

SpEnD HoLd. GeT HoLd.

Dice Mechanics

In Voidheart Symphony, the way you resolve moves depends on
whether you're in the city or in the castle.
In the city, success depends on overcoming the pressures that
society's systems are placing on you – represented by Stress
Gauges (p. 28)-. When you turn to dice in the city, you make a
check against one of these gauges. To do this, roll two six-sided
dice, and compare them to the ticks in that gauge:
• If both dice are higher than the ticks, that's a strong hit.
• If only one die is, that's a weak hit.
• If neither dice are, that's a miss, and the Architect will make a

reaction.
If a result talks about 'any hit', that's a strong hit or a weak hit.
Milli has evidence that a doctor at the hospital is using patients as her
personal test subjects, and is trying to get the hospital administrator to
listen. But Milli’s a high school student, and is having issues getting him
to pay attention. She keeps pushing, and so triggers Make A Stand (p.
44). She has 2 ticks in her Blood gauge, and when she rolls the dice she
gets a 2 and a 5 – a weak hit.
She decides that the administrator can’t dismiss what she says, and will
look into the doctor. The Architect says that the administrator will cause
problems for Milli as he calls security to escort her out, and won’t focus
only on her – the hospital’s security guards will be on the lookout for
other troublemakers too.
In the castle, you're cut free of those fetters, and only have your
own skills to draw on – represented as Castle Stats (p. 30).
When you trigger a move in the castle, you'll be asked to roll +Stat.
That means you roll two six-sided dice, add the named stat to the
result of both dice, and get a result based on that final number:
• If the sum is 7 or above, that's a hit.
• If it’s a 7-9, that’s a weak hit; if it’s 10+, that’s a strong hit.
• If the sum is 6 or less, that's a miss: unless the move sets out what

happens on a miss, the Architect will make a reaction.

Dice ChEcK aGaInSt… RoLl +
Odds
1 2 3 4 5 -1 0 1 2 3

StRoNg HiT 69% 44% 25% 11% 3% 8% 16% 28% 42% 59%

WeAk HiT 28% 44% 50% 44% 28% 33% 42% 44% 42% 33%

MiSs 3% 11% 25% 44% 69% 59% 42% 28% 16% 8%

Milli is facing down the rogue doctor's nightmare Avatar – a looming,
gaunt figure wielding a syringe dripping noxious chemicals. As the
Avatar summons hordes of orderlies to hold Milli down, her player
describes how she plants her staff in the chest of an orderly and uses it to
vault over the horde and out of danger. That triggers Dodge (p. 66), so she
rolls two six-sided dice and adds her Wands stat. With a 6 and a 3 plus
her Wands of 1, that's a 10 – a strong hit. She avoids the danger, and
picks that she's separated from her allies.

Occasionally, specific effects might make things harder – or easier
for your character. These come in two different forms:

AdVaNtAgE

When you're benefiting from Advantage, you roll an extra die and pick
the highest two for your result.

For example, if you rolled three dice and get 2, 4 and 5 you'd discard the 2.
A check in the city would be left with 4 and 5; a roll in the castle would be
left with 9+stat.

DiSaDvAnTaGe

When you're suffering from Disadvantage, you roll an extra die and
discard the highest die.

For example, if you roll three dice and get 1, 5 and 6, you'd discard the 6. A
check in the city would be left with 1 and 5; a roll in the castle would be left
with 6+stat.

These effects don’t stack – even under multiple sources of Advantage,
you still only roll three dice. Any amount of Advantage cancels out
any amount of Disadvantage, with the result that you roll normally.

These effects can be fleeting or lasting; fleeting effects are used up
the first time they take effect, while lasting effects keep affecting
the specified rolls until a condition is met.

GaMe SeTuP

To get your game of Voidheart Symphony started, follow these steps:

1: Discuss Expectations

Are you planning one session, a short run, an ongoing campaign?
Make sure you’re on the same page about the time commitments.

How do people feel about antagonism between characters? Will
you disagree with each other only briefly, sometimes come to
blows, hold long-running grudges, or play it by ear?

Are there any topics and themes that people don’t want touched
on, or even mentioned? Voidheart Symphony is a game about
people pushing back against those oppressing them and
benefiting from their misery. This can easily go very dark, and
it’s important to respect the comfort of the actual people in your
group over the desires of fictional characters. If there’s a specific
topic you don’t want to address in the game, let the others know.

It’s helpful to set up an anonymous way to collect lines (topics
they don’t want to even exist in your story) and veils (things they
don’t want to see onscreen). Also, encourage an environment
where everyone is empowered to ask that a particular thing not
happen or be reversed; formal safety tools like the X Card or
Script Change are great for this.

What does your enemy look like? The Architect’s chapter gives
a few different ways Vassals can be organised – as a conspiracy,
as an informal zeitgeist, as feuding factions, etc. The precise
details are in their hands, but this is the other players’ chance to
say if any of those structures don’t appeal.

What does your city look like? Are you in London, Tokyo,
Buenos Aires, a fictional city? Is it the present, the recent past,
the near future? What sort of tensions is it under – rich v poor,
established v immigrant, blue collar v white collar? There are
more questions to go into if you like, on p. 22.

2: Pick Playbooks

Everyone except the Architect picks a rebel playbook (p. 34) that
fits their basic idea for their character. There’s no doubling up –
each of you is unique in what you add to the group. As you pick
your playbook, read out its blurb to let the group know what its
deal is, or summarise it in your own words.

Draw a relationship map: write everybody’s character names in a
loose circle in the centre of a shared sheet of paper. You’ll use this
map to track your characters, supporting cast, and key locations,
and remind you of the links between them. If you’re playing
online, I recommend Google Draw or kumu.io for this.

3: Your First Foe

The player characters have a common enemy – a Vassal of the castle, a petty
tyrant profiting from your suffering and encouraged by otherworldly evil.

Each rebel playbook has a question for you to answer about the
Vassal. The default order is alphabetical – from Authority to
Watcher – but use what works for you. Go round the table,
answering these, and filling in any extra details you want covered.

4: Dive Into Darkness

Your characters have, together, found a gate: a door, alley, loose floorboard, etc.
leading to the castle shard tied to the Vassal.

Each rebel should pick their Particulars – the things an audience
would first notice about them, even if there's a deeper truth. Also
pick their role in the Crew, noting the moves that particular
Covenant grants, and ask the linked question to the group.

Relationship map: Note the details of this link down.

Architect: Describe the scene when the rebels cross this threshold.
Give them space to play out their initial interactions with each other.

AlIcE rElIeS oN KeS’ Alice the Provider AlIcE iS aLwAyS
lOcAl kNoWlEdGe (Gardener) tHeRe fOr CoNrAd

Kes the Heretic In a CoMmItTeD Conrad the Icon
(Magician) ReLaTiOnShIp (Lover)

5: Facing the Vassal

Your rebels have journeyed through this castle shard to the Avatar’s place
of power, ready to kick the tar out of them.

Normally your rebels would need to learn the shard’s strange
geography and investigate the Vassal in the city for ways to make the
Avatar vulnerable – for your first delve, we're jumping right to the end.

Architect: Pick three of these Qualities to define the Avatar.

Arcane Commanding
The Avatar can shapeshift and use The Avatar has hordes of minions.

supernatural forces. Mob a rebel and isolate them.
Lash out with crimson fire. Place a wall of minions between the
Summon walls of boiling blood.
Break: Twist into a strange form Vassal and the rebels.
with new movement abilities. Break: They pick up the mob's

weapons for their own use.

Armoured Dark
The Avatar has potent defences. The Avatar controls poison and shadows.
Send an attacking rebel flying back. Teleport from one shadow to another.
Redirect an attack to hit another rebel. Disappear in a cloud of choking poison.
Break: Shed encumbrances and
lunge for the closest rebel. Break: Blind the rebel who
struck the darkness away.

Bestial Dramatic
The Avatar is aggressive and twisted The Avatar is devoted to style, grace

into an animalistic form. and acclaim.
Leap across the arena. Dazzle a rebel.
Hit with devastating force. Travel at impossible angles.
Break: Call in a mob of animals Break: Beg for mercy,
to shelter the Vassal. perhaps as a feint.

Check out Confrontation Moves (p. 64) to see the rules governing
this fight. The rebels don’t have signature weapons yet, so just
treat whatever improvised weapons they use as flavour for their
actions. Whenever a rebel uses a stat they haven't used before,
they assign one of these values to it: +1, +1, 0 and -1. As you fight,
remember that your Crew Covenant gives you a Castle Move!

6: The Aftermath

This battle will have one of two outcomes:

If the players defeat the Vassal: The Vassal is out of the picture
– fired, arrested, or forced out of the city. The castle shard's
heart shatters, and as the Void notices your surprising power
this place reforms into a Hideout. Each rebel gains a rank of
Void and names one item or object that would make them feel
empowered, dangerous or free – it manifests in this room.

If the Vassal defeats the players: The Vassal completes their
plot, and moves onto bigger things. The rebels wake up in the
broken fragments of the Vassal’s shard, saved from death by the
nascent will of the World. Each rebel gains a rank of World and
names one item or object that would make them feel secure,
cared for or serene – it manifests in this room.

With your new rank, pick an Advance of the appropriate type. Also
pick your gear, signature weapon and Castle Form, and describe
your transformation! You’ll have this form and gear whenever
you’re in the Hideout or a castle shard. The rebel that struck the
final blow – or was the last to fall – describes a location significant
to them that becomes your crew’s gateway to their Hideout.

Relationship map: Write down this location and link it to this final rebel.

The Crown and Raven, A Pub.
Hideout entrance.

WhErE sHe wOrKs

Alice the Provider
(Gardener)

Kes the Heretic Conrad the Icon
(Magician) (Lover)

Location Ideas
A Library A Cafe A Public Park A Shopping Mall
A Train/Bus/Metro Station A Funfair An Abandoned Building
A Graveyard An Arcade A Tenement Block A Diner
A Nightclub An Underpass A Boardwalk A Bar

7. Back to Reality

With your first battle done it’s time for each player to look at their rebel’s
personal life, using the prompts below for guidance.

Revisit your Particulars. Is there anything you want to change here?
Also consider what other things might be apparent about your
character. Markers of religion, experience, ethnicity, disability,
identity –anything that helps you flesh them out. Page 23 has some
questions that may help with this. Once you've decided your look and
given your character a name, sum it up to the rest of your group.

Decide your Role. Pick if the castle would see you as a Delinquent,
Prodigal, or Traitor, and decide and the specific thing you do with
your days. Make sure to fill in the first empty box of the Stress
Gauge you get a black mark in (see p. 29 for more on black marks).
Relationship map: If you weren’t the one to decide on the hideout, place
down a location according to your playbook.

The Crown and Raven, A Pub.
Hideout entrance.

Alice the Provider
(Gardener)

Kes the Heretic Conrad the Icon
(Magician) (Lover)

StUdYiNg fOr tHeIr dEgReE PeRfOrMs tHeRe eAcH FrIdAy

University library The Red Deer,
a live music club

Stress Gauges. These are the issues on your character’s plate at the
start of your game. Each playbook has a fixed starting set – two
particular gauges with two ticks, and three gauges with three.

Note that the Black Mark you gained from your Role adds onto
these, meaning that you'll end up with [2, 2, 3, 3, 4] or [2, 3, 3, 3, 3]
according to your Role category and playbook.

Pick Contacts. These Architect-controlled characters may not take
up arms in the castle, but they’re still a part of your revolution. Each
contact linked to you is a significant relationship – a Major Covenant.
Write this Covenant down on your sheet under your Crew Covenant.
Relationship map: Pick one of the contacts from your playbook, give them
a name, and put them on the relationship map with a link to you.

The Crown and Raven, A Pub. Claudia, critically ill Mentor
Hideout entrance.
DeAtH

Alice the Provider
(Gardener)

Kes the Heretic Conrad the Icon
(Magician) (Lover)

University library StAr The Red Deer,
a live music club
SuN
Echo, Upcoming singer
Rasheed, Union Organiser

Build a Community. Complicate the map some more, to ensure that
you’ve got a well fleshed-out social context around your rebels.
Relationshipmap: Each player draws a link from any existing contact or
location to a new contact. Then, each player draws a link from any contact back
to them as a Major Covenant. Give that relationship an arcanum – either one of
the remaining contact arcana on your sheet, or one of your choosing.

City Hall The Crown and Raven, A Pub. Claudia, critically ill Mentor
Hideout entrance.
NeW MaYoR
ToWeR Alice the Provider AuTeUr
Mayor Cambell (Gardener)

PoLiTiCaL Kes the Heretic Conrad the Icon
RiVaLs (Magician) (Lover)

University library OrAcLe The Red Deer,
a live music club
Rasheed, Union Organiser Echo, Upcoming singer
Daniel, Bartender

8. The Next Investigation

Make sure you’ve answered any urgent questions you have about
the character’s mundane lives. Once you’re done? It’s time to see
what brings them back into contact with the castle.

As a group, answer the questions in Growing Shadows (p. 36). These
will set up who in your relationship map your next target is hurting,
how powerful they are in the city, and how you get confirmation
that supernatural powers are at work. Each rebel also rolls The Grind
(p. 37) to set up the mundane worries in their lives.

The Architect draws a new Vassal clock – a six-step tracker
marking the Vassal’s progress hunting down the rebels (p. 38) –
and then your investigation begins.

This time they’ll need to run through a full investigation:
investigate the Vassal, dive into their shard to learn their deepest
secret, and disrupt their plans in the city – all while dealing with
the challenges of their life in the city.

This Game is Yours
As a designer, I have a responsibility to present to you the best rules
I could design to hit the play experience I’m aiming for. But also, as a
designer, I have the humility to know that I'm a co-designer with
each and every play group – each play group does their own design
work actually bringing the game to the table. I write the sheet
music, you’re the orchestra that stages the performance.

Approaching your game through the lens of a designer can be
really empowering, but it can also be nerve-wracking. Some
players may be there to understand and experience the original
designer's intentions, and others may understandably want to
just play the game ‘out of the box' without any tinkering. That's
how we interact with video games and board games, after all.

With that in mind, I wrote this game to be as functional as
possible as-is. That said, don't feel shy about tinkering with the
rules to suit your players. The structure of tabletop roleplaying is
much more of a mix of freeform social interaction and
performance art than those other games. Lean into that freedom
as much as you’re comfortable with, and know that I as the
designer am cheering you on. Test out changes, see what breaks,
fail fast and explore new horizons!

Game Setup Quick Reference
1 Discuss expectations and desires for the game.
2 Pick playbooks. Write character names on the relationship map.
3 Answer your playbook’s question about your first Vassal.
4 Pick particulars and crew covenant. Answer questions about your

relationship with the other rebels, and note them on the map.
5 Fight your first Vassal. If you win, get a rank of Void; if you

lose, get a rank of World.
6 Pick your first advance, and detail your signature weapon,

castle form and gear.
7 Answer questions about the hideout; put its location on the map.
8 Revisit your particulars; decide on your role, and put a location

linked to it on the map; fill out your starting stress gauges.
9 Pick a major covenant from your playbook’s list, and add the

associated contact to the map.
10 Draw a link from any location or contact to a new contact.
11 Form a major covenant with any covenant on the map. Pick its

arcanum, and draw a link between you and them on the map.
12 Work through Growing Shadows to set up your next target.

QuEsTiOnS aBoUt tHe CiTy

Who are the most powerful blocs in the city?
Old money, new money, predatory capital, faith communities, unions,
suburban professionals, landlords, reactionary movements, …

What agenda are they pushing?
How do they exert their influence on the city’s governors?
What are the powerful particularly failing to provide to us?
Accessible nutrition, affordable housing, reliable employment, social mobility,
tolerance and acceptance, liberty and security, social security, disability access, …
Which groups are especially denied this?
How do these group intersect with other marginalised
groups – and with the privileged groups?
What brings us together?
Parades, festivals, holidays, sports events, days of mourning, …
Who do these public celebrations still exclude?
What industry employs most of the people here?
Manufacturing, farming, mining/drilling, utilities, IT, finance, transport,
distribution, tourism, education, research, …
Which is on the rise? Which is in decline?
What sort of professionals does the industry attract?
What costs does the industry levy on its labourers?
What outside force is threatening everyone here?
Climate change, austerity, national policy shifts, dying industries,
domination by a larger neighbour, …
Which local groups are agitating for action?
What are its leaders doing instead of taking action?

QuEsTiOnS fOr ReBeLs

In what ways are you different from the norm?
Faith, ethnicity, disability, neurodivergence, sexuality, weight, age, class,
education, language, gender expression, …

Which of these do others ignore or refuse to see?
Which of these do you hide, if you need to?
Which of these are impossible for you to hide?
Which of these do you refuse to hide?
What compromises have you made in order to survive in this world?
People you’ve hurt, evils you’ve tolerated, quirks you’ve suppressed, …
Are there any compromises you’re not aware you made?
What would you be if you didn’t have to compromise like this?
Who’s most important to you?
Partners, dependents, friends, relatives, neighbours, …
In what ways are they different like you?
In what ways are they different unlike you?
Was there a point where your life was harder than this?
Living with deprivation, abuse, illness, stress, over-policing, …
What marks do you still carry from that time?
How has your background made life easier for you?
Class, race, health, inherited wealth, connections, …
Are you conscious of these privileges?
What obligations are you expected to act on in return?

It’s alright to play a character who experiences a form of
marginalisation you don’t personally deal with, but please:
• Treat the trait with nuance, respect, and empathy.
• Read people’s personal accounts of their relationship with it.
• Remember you’ll get some things wrong, and accept critique.

InSpIrAtIoNs

These works were on my mind while I was making this game. Take
a look, and they might inspire ideas of things you can bring into
your own campaign of Voidheart Symphony!

Aesthetics

• The Invisibles by Grant Morrison. A collection of messy weirdos
wage a mystic war against the oppressive forces controlling
society, but to truly win they have to work out what a better
world even means to them and whether the methods they’re
using could ever get them there.

• Persona 5 by Atlus Games. Defiant teens use an occult backdoor
into the minds of their city’s monsters to bring them low.
Glitzy, stylish and extremely cool, though not as revolutionary
or intersectional as I’d have liked.

• The World Ends with You by Square Enix. Kids find themselves in a
looking-glass version of Shibuya, forced to fight monsters and
play cruel games to survive. The game is rigged and the stakes
are extreme, but by trusting each other and soaking in vibrant
culture of their city they might just be able to survive.

• Sayonara Wild Hearts by Simogo. A neon-pop journey through
the tarot as a heartbroken young woman faces down corrupted
arcana and finds a path to love. Each arcanum would make a
killer vassal/castle shard pair, and the soundtrack is incredible.

• DmC: Devil May Cry by Ninja Theory. A brash young hoodlum
discovers the demonic corruption behind his city’s institutions,
and begins fighting back. Particularly relevant to Voidheart is the
shifting between the muted, oppressive city and lurid, violent
limbo plane where the city’s masters shamelessly revel in their
corruption and where your hero is empowered to strike back.

• Psychonauts by Double Fine. A young kid with the power to dive
into other’s minds discovers a terrible conspiracy at psychic
summer camp. Mainly in this list for the incredible variety of
inner worlds on offer, to mine for castle shard inspiration!

• Silent Hill by Konami. These games (particularly Silent Hill 2) are
masterpieces of psychological horror, as this town and its
horrid residents torment the protagonist with their inner
demons. The series is a lot darker than Voidheart runs by
default, but it’s a great source of aesthetics for the Enforcers
formed from a Vassal’s psychological frailties.

• Various music. This playlist (ufopress.page.link/music) was on
repeat for most of the writing process. There’s a broad range –
Rage Against the Machine, Janelle Monae, The Indelicates, Ezra
Furman and more – but it’s all somewhere in this book.

Politics

• Revolutions by Mike Duncan. A podcast examining the many
political revolutions that have shaped the modern world. I’d
particularly recommend season 3 (France), 4 (Haiti), 7 and 8
(the revolutions of 1848 and the Paris commune) and 10 (the
Russian revolution, still ongoing).

• Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber. A brilliant, easy-
reading examination of anthropology and cultural myths about
debt and finance. Its key argument – that the default state of
humanity is communal living and that private wealth and
mathematically exact debts were imposed by violence to suit
hierarchy – resonated strongly with me when writing this book.

• What is Communist Anarchism? by Alexander Berkman. Written in
1929, this manifesto remains sadly timely even today. Clear, direct
and passionate about the urgent need to rethink our world.

Game Design

• Apocalypse World by D. Vincent and Meguey Baker. The Powered by
the Apocalypse (PbtA) movement has been deeply important to
my career as a game designer, and I’m forever grateful to
Vincent and Meg for the games they’ve made and the
community they’ve fostered.

• Spire by Rowan, Rook and Decard. The Resistance System’s stress
gauges are an incredible way of making social pressures on
your character feel real.

• Masks: A New Generation by Magpie Games. Masks gives the
emotional stakes of your characters a key focus in its design,
and our conditions system was a big inspiration.

• Blades in the Dark by One Seven Design. The downtime/gather
information/score pacing of Blades in the Dark and its focus on clocks
to track time were inspirational for Voidheart’s Investigations.

• Ironsworn by Shawn Tomkin. Voidheart’s dice system in the city
was inspired by Ironsworn’s, as an effective way of tying PbtA-
style dice rolls to a gauge that changes through a session.

• Orchestra of Oblivion and Choir of Souls by Theodore Lucas Rivera.
These Rhapsody of Blood supplements were a fertile source of
ideas for character abilities, and Theo’s been a great help in
putting together this game.

ChApTeR 2

RuLeS oF tHe CiTy



ViTaL StAtIsTiCs

So, you’re rebels – ordinary people who have taken it upon
themselves to oppose the insidious forces of the castle, and have
found strange power in the process.

But what does that actually mean, and how is that represented in
the system? Well, your rebel is measured in four different
categories – the pressures they face in the city, the strengths they
bring to bear in the castle, the covenants they hold onto, and the
potency they accrue as their revolution unfolds.

Pressures in the City

Your rebels spend most of their time in the mundane world – the
streets and buildings of this city. They’ve only recently become
aware of the castle’s intrusions into this world, and they must
contend with the frailties of their health and the demands of their
everyday obligations as they push it back.

Stress Gauges

You have five gauges tracking your rebel’s well-being:

Blood. How much strain your mental and physical health is
under. The more ticks, the closer you are to incapacitation
through sickness, stress, or exhaustion.

Lack. The precarity of your social situation. The more ticks,
the closer you are to homelessness and deprivation.

Infamy. Are you famed, tolerated or reviled? The more ticks,
the more you risk becoming shunned by society.

Heat. How aware hostile elements are of your interference in
their activities. The more ticks, the closer the Vassal (and the
rest of the castle’s minions) are to finding out your identity.

Fealty. The depth to which the castle has penetrated your
subconscious. As you accumulate ticks, you grow more likely
to see others only as resources to exploit for your own benefit
– and lose all care for community, kindness, and joy.

Gaining and reducing stress

Each gauge is 6 ticks long, with more ticks meaning more problems.

When an effect tells you to tick a gauge, put a mark in the leftmost
empty box.

When a gauge hits 6 ticks, you’re taken out – in hospital, prison,
on the run, swayed to the Vassal’s side. Until the rest of the group
deals with the problem, you automatically miss any check with the
affected gauge and have lasting Disadvantage on all other gauges.

When you refresh a gauge, remove a tick from it.

Black Marks

Each gauge starts with a single black mark. Your very existence as a
rebel strains your health, finances, reputation, and faith in humanity.
This black mark can’t be removed while the castle’s influence is still
defining and constraining human society in your city. In order to heal
it, you’d need to change the world so much that Voidheart Symphony is
an inappropriate system for this new world. See p. 217 for suggestions!

When you receive another black mark, shift any existing ticks one
step right, then fill in the leftmost box in a way that makes it
clearly different from the ticks (e.g. a different colour). You’ll gain
a starting black mark from your Role, and may get more from taking
a position in the castle’s hierarchy (p. 72), failing to deal with a dire
crisis (p. 75), failing to stop the Vassal (p. 72), and more.

Black marks count as ticks for the purposes of checks, and can
only be removed by effects that specifically say they remove them.

This rebel has accumulated a few stress ticks and an extra black
mark in Lack. When asked to make a check, they’d need to beat
3 in Blood, 4 in Lack, 2 in Infamy, 2 in Heat, or 3 in Fealty.

Blood ⬛☒☒◻◻◻
Lack ⬛⬛☒☒◻◻
Infamy ⬛☒◻◻◻◻
Heat ⬛☒◻◻◻◻
FeAlTy ⬛☒☒◻◻◻

Your Strengths in the Castle

When you dive through a breach into a castle shard suspended in
the void, you no longer act by struggling against the fetters of
society. Instead you can take direct, dynamic action, empowered
by your soul and your desires. While in the castle, you use these
stats, rated from -1 to +3:

Swords: Your ability to take direct action against your foes.
When exploring, you use it to smash through obstacles and
face down hordes. In fights, use this to get in their face and
throw them off-balance.
Coins: Your ability to make use of the world around you.
When exploring, use it to find your way through and assess
your surroundings. In fights, use it to spot openings and help
your allies exploit them.
Wands: Your ability to be quick-thinking and creative.
When exploring, use it to find safe refuge from the castle’s
inhabitants and move quickly and gracefully. In fights, use it
to dodge away from blows and use trickery and guile.
Cups: Your ability to open your heart to the world around you.
When exploring, use it to bond with the castle’s inhabitants.
In fights, draw on it to help your allies and appeal to your
opponent’s better natures.

The Covenants you Cherish

Covenants are the core social drivers of Voidheart Symphony.
They're the bonds that hold your ragtag group of rebels together,
and the outside connections they can call on when they're in
trouble, or need to blow off steam.
You track your most important connections on your character
sheet. Each covenant is in one direction: they’re the benefits your
character gains from the relationship with the other character.

Covenants come in three forms:
Minor Covenants. Fleeting connections, people whose
hearts you have touched only briefly, good friends you
haven’t had an opportunity to spend time with lately.
Major Covenants. Truly important connections that are
directly tied to your revolution, knowingly or otherwise.
Each has an arcanum that gives its general tone, and three
moves the covenant grants you:
▶ A hangout move for when you spend time with them.
▶ A city move to use in the mundane world.
▶ A castle move to use in the otherworld.
Your Crew Covenant. This shows what your rebel provides for
the others, or maybe the person you’re becoming with their
help. This offers city and castle moves too, but other rebels
trigger its hangout move when they spend time with you.

You can turn Minor covenants into Major ones by Checking In with
them and helping them with their problems. When they become
Major for the first time, assign them an arcanum.
You might fade Major covenants by acting selfishly, letting time pass,
or hitting the covenant’s betrayal trigger. When they’re weakened,
you lose access to their City and Castle moves until you intensify
them again by Checking In with them or hitting their nurture trigger.

Committed Covenants

If a covenant is Committed, your rebel is dedicating energy to
keeping the relationship strong. When you fade a Committed
covenant, it goes from intense to bright, still giving you access to
City and Covenant moves until it’s faded a second time. You can
commit to covenants as a World Advance, or by stealing the
castle’s resources with Rivers in the Desert (p. 70) and solving your
contact’s problems with them.

Your Crew Covenant is always Committed, and like all Major
covenants you can’t use its City and Castle moves while it’s faded.

The Potency You Have Taken

Finally, there’s the way your powers grow as your revolution
unfolds. Unlike Vassals, whose power is granted by the castle and
lasts only as long as they fulfil its wishes, your mystic strength is
earned, or stolen, or cheated. However your rebel conceives of this
power, it’s theirs. And nobody can take it from them.
As you fight back against the castle in the shadow world and in
the city, you’ll build an attunement to two fundamental forces:

The World is the city you live in, but it’s not the
bricks and the wires and the tarmac. Or, it’s not just
those – it’s also the history and culture and
community that makes the city its home, the
beautiful singular thing that only exists in this

place and this moment and should be cherished.
You build your attunement with it by building
strong relationships with others, by taking time
to help and protect your community, and by
giving up your power over others and freeing

them to help as they see fit.
World is ‘you matter’, a hand reaching down to
pull others back up to their feet.

The Void is the realm of primal hunger and
isolation that spawned the castle. It’s empowering
and isolating in equal measure, giving power that
demands you set yourself apart from others. You
build your attunement with it by using your
power as a weapon, by taking your enemy’s
strengths for yourself, and by using others as
tools to wage your revolution.
Void is ‘I matter’, fists raised up in defiance
against a hostile universe.

Raising Potency

Certain moves will tell you to markVoid or mark World. When you do
this, mark a box in the appropriate track on your character sheet.
If this takes you to 5 in either track, you...
1. Increase your rank in the matching attunement (World or Void).
2. Clear out both tracks.
3. Pick one of your playbook’s advances from that attunement.
4. Elaborate on your rebel’s castle form (p. 83).
As your attunement to both forces grows, you can channel the
tension between them into greater power – increased stats in the
castle, Shadow Moves to exploit, and useful facilities emerging in
your group’s hideout. Each type of rebel has a particular menu of
advances to pick from here (see p. 83).
There’s a limit: if you’re already at 3 ranks in the relevant
attunement, you still clear out the tracks but you don’t increase your
rank or gain an advance. Instead you trigger Overwhelmed by the
World or Overwhelmed by the Void as appropriate (p. 49).
Void and World can fall in rank as well as grow. Sometimes you
may even seek this out to avoid getting overwhelmed, spending
time to Let Go (p. 42). When their rank drops, you erase an advance as
the power ebbs out of you.

The Conditions You Suffer

Whether you’re fighting monsters or facing the daily grind, your
state of mind can make all the difference.
When you’re told to mark a condition, pick one of these.
Sometimes the Architect will recommend that you mark a specific
condition, particularly after a miss, but it’s always your choice.
Each condition makes certain moves harder, and guides your
character’s mental state:
Angry: Get lasting Disadvantage on Pass Beneath Notice and Dodge.
You’re seeing red, and crave confrontation.
Callous: Get lasting Disadvantage on Connect and Stand With Me.
Trying to help will just pull you down with them.
Cowed: Get lasting Disadvantage on Vent and Strike.
You’re nobody special. What the hell are you doing here?
Overwhelmed: Get lasting Disadvantage on RebelEyes and LineItUp.
The horror of all of this is too much to process.
Scared: Get lasting Disadvantage on Make a Stand and Reach Out.
Will you die here, or will you live to see everything you love destroyed?
If you mark all five, you lose your ability to control your own story.
The Architect says how you leave this scene, and which gauge you
tick. You’ll return in a later scene, with one condition healed.
To heal a condition, you might...
• Let Your Hair Down to shake it off.
• Encourage a rebel to Stand With Me in battle.
• Spend downtime with another rebel – Check In in the city, or

Find Shelter in the castle.
Player Comfort is Paramount

If the character has to grapple with something they don't want to
be feeling, that's in-genre and working as intended. But if the
player is confronted with their character feeling something the
player doesn't want them to be feeling, that's a metatextual
problem which I’d encourage you to solve with metatextual tools:
X-Card the condition, pause/rewind, or even rewrite these rules
to add alternate costs instead of marking a condition.

UnIvErSaL MoVeS

These moves are always available to you, no matter what realm of
existence you’re in.

TaKe A RiSk

When you do something risky that isn’t covered by another move,
you do it, and the Architect will say what consequences unfold.

If there’s something you want your rebel to do that isn’t explicitly
covered by any of the other moves, you don’t need to roll
anything – follow the fiction and keep momentum going.

HeLp OuT

When you help another rebel take action, say what you do, and if your
crew covenant is Intense or Bright give them fleeting Advantage. You'll
share in the consequences of the affected move, good and bad.

EvOkE tHe CoVeNaNt

If you're desperate after rolling the dice, say which Intense Covenant
you call on for aid. Fade the covenant, and re-roll one of your dice.

If it's your Crew Covenant, the others say which rebel steps up
to help you out; the Architect says how they’re placed in danger.

If it's a Major Covenant, the Architect says how they lend
unexpected help to you but open themselves up to retaliation.

What happens when you call on a Major Covenant in the castle?
It’s up to your group, according to the tone you want:

• The Contact is briefly summoned into the shard, directly lending
their Covenant-empowered assistance but risking injury.

• The Contact’s mindscape invades this shard, warping its
geography but risking mental trauma.

• You get a vision of the Contact confronting the Vassal in the
city, disrupting the shard but risking social consequences.

HaRd LeSsOnS

When you roll a miss in the city, mark Void as you reach for its aid.

When you roll a miss in the castle, mark World as you’re reminded
of your vulnerabilities.

ThE InVeStIgAtIoN

Most of your time in Voidheart Symphony is spent in an investigation.
Each investigation goes through the same overall arc:

1. You set up your target and your current living situation with
Growing Shadows and The Grind.

2. You go day by day, tracking the growing pressure on the rebels
and playing through their actions.

3. You either defeat your target and reap the rewards of Rivers in
the Desert, or fail and suffer the impact of Darkness Falls.

4. You face reprisals from the castle’s Retaliation, and then see
snapshots of your rebels’ life during Peace and Quiet.

GrOwInG ShAdoWs

To find your next target, decide together:

1. Which contact is your target already hurting? The Architect uses
this connection to put the Vassal on your relationship map.

2. Are they controlling, demeaning, punishing, compromising,
or exploiting their victim? The Architect says what form the
vassal/victim relationship takes, and the Tier the Vassal is at.

3. Which rebel first investigates them? The Architect says how
you get confirmation that supernatural powers are at work.

4. Where’s their power base in the city? Draw this location on
your relationship map. The Architect says what form the
entrance to their shard takes.

The player’s choice in step 2 sets the stakes of the investigation, and the
Architect’s sets the difficulty. A husband poisoning their spouse is
controlling; a manager making a worker’s life hell is demeaning; a
CEO strong-arming farmers into selling to clear space for a pipeline
is exploiting. While a high-tier Vassal will tend towards institutional
violence and a low-tier one will likely hurt those close to them, it’s not
inherently linked: a powerful CEO (Tier 3) can be an abusive parent,
and a beat cop (Tier 1) can harm people through enforcing unjust laws.

When they have time to prep, the Architect should plan out the
Vassal’s goals and resources. For help with this, see p. 230 for in-depth
advice and p. 299 for a random creation method using tarot cards.

The entrance to a Vassal’s shard should be…
• Liminal, a threshold to cross. Archways, mirrors, elevators.
• Publicly accessible, even if the rebels look out of place there.
• Unknown to the Vassal – it is, cosmically, a blind spot to them.

ThE GrInD

At the start of an investigation, check against your worst gauge.
On a hit, there’s trouble incoming - write down a crisis tied to
this gauge. On a weak hit it starts the investigation imminent;
on a strong hit it starts quelled.
On a miss, the crisis is dire. If it’s imminent at the end of the
investigation, you’ll take a black mark in this gauge.
So long as a crisis is imminent, you have lasting Disadvantage
on all checks against the associated gauge.

You can quell the crisis by putting in work with Wolf at the Door, by
using Rivers in the Desert, or by taking some other action the group
things was dramatic enough to resolve the issue. While it’s
quelled, it isn’t causing active problems even if it’s still a presence
in the back of your mind.
But those that oppose the castle find that security is hard to
maintain. As a reaction while the rebels are in the castle, the
Architect can make the crisis imminent again and describe how
the castle’s systems act to erode your hard-won victories.
At the investigation’s end, you clear the board – it’s time to look at
other issues in the rebels’ lives. If crises are still imminent at this
point, they become long-term problems: a tick or black mark in
the associated gauge. See Peace and Quiet (p. 75) for more details.

Example Crises
Blood You’re sick, you can’t sleep, you’re over-stressed.
Lack Eviction threats, healthcare costs, malnutrition,

your car’s busted, student loans are coming due.
Infamy Criminal allegations, malicious rumours, you can’t meet

clothing standards, your past shame is coming to light.
Heat Harassment campaigns, being watched, tanked credit

score, threats to your employer.
Fealty You lashed out and need to make it right, you can’t enjoy

a cherished activity, you’re alienated from society, you’re
having to pass as something you’re not.

The clock

Your investigation is a race against time. As you investigate them,
the Vassal is also working to find you and make your lives miserable.
This Pressure on the rebels has three states:

• Passive: The Vassal isn’t aware of the rebels at all. This is the
default starting state.

• Alert: The Vassal is aware the rebels are out there causing trouble
for them, though likely doesn’t know their true identities.

• Hunting: Your identities are known and the Vassal is coming.

To track their escalation from Passive to Hunting, you use the
Vassal’s clock – a wheel divided up into 6 segments.

DaIlY PrOcEdUrE

At the start of each day, the Architect marks a segment of the clock.

• If Pressure is at Alert, each rebel must then tick a gauge.
• If Pressure is at Hunting, each rebel ticks two different gauges.

When the clock’s full, the Architect erases its segments and
increases Pressure. If any Enforcers are still intact, one breaches
into the mundane world (see p. 256).

If the pressure’s already at Hunting, the rebels pick one:

▶ Targeted Strike. The Architect attacks a rebel directly,
maxing out one of their gauges.

▶ Imperilled. The Architect picks a contact to wound, imprison
or exile, taking that Covenant out of action unless the rebels
rescue them.

▶ The Vassal’s plan is completed. Trigger Darkness Falls.

The rebels can always choose to trigger Darkness Falls and give up
an investigation instead of ticking the Vassal’s clock.

What’s a day?
The easiest answer is 24 hours, of course, but that’s not always
narratively appropriate. A sustained campaign to unseat the
mayor could be measured in weeks; a panicked dash to save a
kidnapped friend could tick the clock every few hours. Adjust
what counts as a “day” as suits your pacing and threat level.

Daily Actions

Even when you’re fighting supernatural menaces, your regular life
won’t wait. There’s two broad categories of things you can do:
Everyday actions and Rebel actions. Each day, every rebel can
perform two Everyday actions, or one Everyday action and a
Rebel action. These actions can be taken in any order.

EvErYdAy ReBeL EvErYdAy

+ oR + oR +

ReBeL EvErYdAy EvErYdAy

Everyday Actions
See to the Wolf at the Door (p. 40), forestalling a crisis.

Check In (p. 41) with another rebel or a contact.
Look after yourself and Let Your Hair Down (p. 42).
Realise you’ve taken on too much and Let Go (p. 42).

Read the Wind (p. 43) to get a sense of the city.

Rebel Actions
Pursue a particular goal in the city: investigate the Vassal, meet a
covenant’s need, hunt down an escaped castle entity, etc. Follow

the fiction and trigger City Moves (p. 44) as required.
Dive into Darkness (p. 54) to raid the Castle.

You can take the same action as another rebel to team up,
performing the action together.

EvErYdAy AcTiOnS

Each of these moves plays out a single scene from your rebel’s
everyday life, showing how they cope with the strain of mundane
life and their clandestine activities. It’s only if things go very
wrong or weird that you might trigger City Moves (p. 44).

WoLf At ThE DoOr

When you do what it takes to keep the wheels turning, quell a
crisis – yours or someone else’s.

Pick how you do this, and what it costs you:
▶ You put in the work. Mark a condition, and say what you

do and how it gets to you.
▶ You call in a favour. Fade an NPC covenant, and say how they

help you out and draw the castle’s attention in the process.
▶ You ask for help. Ask the other rebels for assistance. If one

of them agrees, they say what they do to help out and
mark a condition.

Millie’s recently been fired. She spends the day trawling the internet for
new job postings to apply to and puts together a shortlist. She marks
cowed, describing the dehumanising feeling of desperately twisting
yourself to suit the needs of capitalism and win its favour.
Rowan’s crisis is that they’re having to hide their true gender and
pronouns from their family, and it’s really getting to them. They turn to
their Hermit covenant – an online community of trans and NB folks – and
describe how their friends send them surprising and affirming gifts of
clothes and accessories that help them feel more themselves. But there’s a
cost – Rowan’s player fades the covenant and describes how the
community doesn’t have the resources to help the next few eviction crises.
Austin needs to sell some works at an upcoming art fair in order to make
rent, and he can’t find the time he needs to make art he’s happy selling.
Carlos wants to help him, and for his action declares he’s going to help
Austin with house maintenance and groceries so that the artist can focus
on painting. He asks the other rebels who else wants to help out, and
Clara volunteers: she has a van, and can drive Carlos around on these
chores, so Austin quells his crisis. But she’s doing this while also
delivering packages for her regular job, and marks overwhelmed.

ChEcK In

When you meet with a Minor Covenant, the Architect will tell you
what pressing need of theirs you can meet to win their trust.
If you do it, mark World and make them a Major Covenant. If they
don’t have an arcanum yet, assign one now.
For a range of example needs, check p. 194.
When you meet with a Major Covenant, trigger their Hangout Move.
If the covenant was faded, mark World and intensify it.
When you meet with a rebel, you trigger their Hangout Move and
they trigger yours. Then, you check against Fealty.

On a hit, pick one of these; on a strong hit, pick twice:
▶ One of you heals a condition.
▶ One of you intensifies your Crew Covenant.
On a miss, say what goes wrong and pick one:
▶ One of you fades your Crew Covenant.
▶ One of you marks a condition.

Cameron is on a date with a security guard xie hit it off with while acting
as a distraction. As the conversation flows along, the Architect checks the
need table on p. 194 and draws the two of Coins. The guard, Tom, shares
that he’s working nights on the security job and days at his family’s
garage, and it’s killing him. If Cameron can find a way to balance his life,
xie’ll win him as a Major Covenant (with an arcanum) and mark World.
Danielle, the Watcher, is spending her evening getting high and watching
movies with Rebecca, the Heretic. Danielle triggers the Hangout Move of
Rebecca’s crew covenant, the Magician: Rebecca spends the evening
talking through a programming problem, incidentally teaching Danielle
some basic computer hacking. Rebecca triggers Danielle’s Hermit move:
as Danielle vents about an upcoming conference stealing departmental
resources, Rebecca notices that one of the conference’s VIPs is tied to their
investigation. As the evening winds down, Danielle checks against her
Fealty of 3 and gets 2, 4: a weak hit. She decides she heals angry, as
relaxing with her girlfriend has soothed that frustration.

LeT YoUr HaIr DoWn

When you Let Your Hair Down, say what you do to blow off steam
or find comfort and check against Lack.

On a hit, mark World and heal a condition.
On a strong hit, pick one:
▶ You see someone unexpected. Draw a new link for an NPC

on the relationship map – to this location or an NPC here.
▶ You make a new friend. Gain them as a Minor Covenant.
▶ It’s particularly healing. Refresh a gauge.

Peter’s really feeling the effects of that last castle delve, and decides to shell
out for a stadium ticket to go see his team play. He checks against his Lack
of 4 and gets two sixes – a strong hit! Cheering in the stands, he feels more
connected to others and heals callous, and the other fans will remember
his face as one of them – he refreshes Infamy.

LeT Go

When others are depending on you but you rest instead, lose a
rank of your World affinity and heal a condition. The Architect
will say if the consequences are truly as dire as you feared.
When you could use your power and authority but give it to
someone else instead, lose a rank of your Void affinity and heal a
condition. The Architect says what unexpected thing they do with it.

Ryan’s been running himself ragged dealing with rebel investigations and
his chronic fatigue has robbed him of any energy to pay bills or perform
chores around the house. He decides to let go and spend the day resting,
healing scared and losing a rank of World (and its associated hideout-
boosting advance). The Architect describes his husband’s initial anger at
the state of the house giving way to concern when he sees the state Ryan’s in.
They spend the evening bonding over takeaway, but there’s a look of worry
in his husband’s eyes that doesn’t go away over the coming days.

ReAd tHe WiNd

When you step back to get a sense of the city, set a scene of your
rebel going through their daily life.

Pick a detail for the Architect to introduce into this scene as
you play through it:
▶ A new way your target’s hurting people.
▶ An unexpected meeting with an NPC.
▶ A sense of the overall mood of the city.
Get fleeting Advantage when you act on the scene’s events.

Clara’s player decides she wants a new angle on the case, so she picks ‘a
new way your target’s hurting people’ and frames a scene of Clara going
along to her regular dialysis appointment at a health clinic. As she’s
hooked up to the machine, she chats with the nurse about her commute
here – the Architect adds in that their target (a city councillor) is cutting
funding for public transport, and the nurse is worried it’ll make it harder
for patients to get to the clinic or otherwise get about the city.

What should I do?
If you’re unsure what to spend your time on, maybe consider...
• If a crisis is imminent for yourself or others, Wolf at the Door.
• If you want to heal conditions and take a chance on an

interesting encounter, Let Your Hair Down.
• If you need to dump World or Void ranks, Let Go.
• If you only have a few intense Covenants, Check In.
• If you want the Architect to give you leads to follow up on,

Read the Wind.

CiTy MoVeS

MaKe a StAnD

When you Make a Stand to force someone to pay attention to you,
check against Blood.

On any hit, choose two:
▶ They don’t cause you immediate problems.
▶ Your words shake them.
▶ They spend some time focused only on you.
On a weak hit, it gets personal: mark a condition.
On a strong hit, you can choose to mark a condition to pick all
three options above.

Angus spots the crew’s target as she walks from her office to her car, and
springs into action. He shouts allegations at the Vassal, hoping that this
public setting will make the things she’s done stick. Angus checks against
his Blood of 2 and gets a 2 and a 4 – a weak hit. He decides that the Vassal
can’t dismiss what he says and won’t stick around and cause problems,
but gets in her car and quickly leaves. His pulse pounding in his ears,
Angus marks angry.

PaSs BeNeAtH NoTiCe

When you attempt to Pass Beneath Notice, check against Infamy.
On any hit, you do it long enough to get what you wanted,
but it costs you.
On a weak hit, pick 2; on a strong hit, pick 1:
▶ You have to leave this situation right now, or be discovered.
▶ Someone notices you, and they’ll keep an eye out later.
▶ You get separated from allies or pulled out of position.

Priya is hiding in a bathroom in her college, waiting for admin workers to
go home so she can look through files in the student office. As she sneaks
out into the hallways, she checks against Infamy and gets a weak hit. She
picks that someone notices her and she has to leave right now; the
Architect describes a security guard spotting her slipping into the student
office on the cameras, giving her only a few minutes to search.

CoNnEcT

When you try to Connect with somebody by...
…convincing them you’re worth their time, check against Infamy.
…making the Vassal’s threat clear, check against Heat.
…putting up a false front, check against Lack.
On a hit, they’ll give you a chance to make your case. They’ll
answer a few questions or do a minor favour that doesn’t risk
their own standing.
On a strong hit, also pick one:
▶ They reveal far more than they normally would.
▶ They help you access a restricted location or valuable item.
▶ You hit it off; add them as a minor covenant.

Miguel’s trying to blend in at a gallery opening the Vassal’s husband is
attending. He spots the husband and tries to engage him in conversation,
making up a fake name and credentials at the local Uni’s art department.
A check against Lack yields a weak hit; Miguel’s appearance is pretty
shabby and the husband is unconvinced, but gives Miguel a chance to ask
a few questions and maybe expose some crucial information.
Strange long-fingered shadow-imps followed the rebels out of the castle on
their last delve, and Clara wakes up in the middle of the night to see one
crouched on her windowsill. Thinking quickly, she remembers the organ
music that filled the shard and pulls up similar music on her phone.
Holding it out to the imp, she tries to keep its attention and use gentle
movements to make it feel safe. The Architect wasn’t expecting this tactic,
but thinks this probably falls under ‘convincing them you’re worth their
time’ and asks Clara for an Infamy check.
Separated from his friends, pulled out of his wheelchair, held at gunpoint:
Austin’s in a tight spot. Desperately he tries to convince the gunman that
he’s in danger too, that the Vassal will want to tie up loose ends. He checks
against Heat and gets a strong hit! The gunman gives him time to make
his case, and Austin also picks that the gunman reveals far more than
they normally would – Austin needs all the leverage he can get.

ReBeL EyEs

When you spend time looking for information, say what you’re
trying to find out and check against Heat.

On a hit, you’ll have a clear idea how to get the information,
but the Architect may give you one or two of these costs:
▶ It’ll take until later today/tomorrow to get it.
▶ You’ll have to expose yourself to danger to get it.
▶ You’ll have to tick a gauge to get it.
▶ You’ll need _____ to help you get it.
On a weak hit, you’re watched too. The Architect picks
someone in this scene, and one thing they uncover:
▶ What your true affiliations are.
▶ What you’re after right now.
▶ What’s causing you pain.

Millie managed to get herself hired as a temp worker at the Vassal’s
company, and is trying to find out what he’s planning by eavesdropping on
board meetings. She checks against Heat, but she’s currently
overwhelmed so has Disadvantage. Thankfully discarding the highest die
on 4, 5,5 still yields a strong hit, and the Architect tells her she can definitely
get the information so long as she exposes herself to danger by loitering
near the boardroom. She nods and prepares to Pass Beneath Notice.
Rebecca’s decided to hack into a research conference’s database to find out
where a particular VIP is staying. A Heat roll yields two 1s, so she
grimaces and decides to Exhaust the Covenant with her girlfriend
Danielle and use her researcher credentials to get access and roll another
dice. That one’s a 4, so she gets a weak hit. The Architect tells her that she
has access, but that information’s not in the database yet: she’ll have to
check back in tomorrow morning. As for the weak hit downside, the
Architect suggests that maybe when Rebecca next goes for a coffee break,
the weight of putting her partner in danger shows on her face and her co-
worker Liam (a minor covenant) corners her and asks if everything’s OK.
Rebecca’s player agrees, and they start playing out that scene.

VeNt

When you Vent out the Void’s power within you, choose the
effect(s) you’re evoking and check against Fealty:

• You terrify everyone present.
• You conceal your identity from all onlookers.
• You call on a strength you’d have in the castle.
• You perceive something you couldn’t otherwise sense.
• You shrug off anything that would hurt you.
• You call on your playbook’s unique Vent effect.

On a hit, you do it, but it resists your control. Pick one backlash
on a strong hit, or one per effect evoked on a weak hit. Each
backlash may be picked multiple times.

On a miss, the Architect picks as many backlashes as they like.
It’s up to them if your effects still go off.

Backlashes

The darkness changes some part of your form as it leaves you.
A quirk of fate inflicts suffering on one of your Covenants.
One of the effects is flawed and only part-way successful.
The departing shadow will hunt you next delve.
A nearby animal or object gains smarts and malice.

Cameron’s been caught on the fire escape outside a Vassal’s apartment,
mid-break in. With the Vassal drawing a gun and a henchman charging
at xir, Cameron decides to draw on the power of the void to protect xirself.
For effects, xie picks ‘you shrug off anything that would hurt you’ and ‘you
call on a strength you’d have in the castle’, drawing on xir Heretic ability
to step from shadow to shadow. Checking against Fealty xie gets a 1 and a
6, a weak hit. Xie picks the backlashes that ‘the darkness changes some
part of your form’ and ‘a nearby animal gains smarts and malice’ – the
Architect decides that xir shadow stays behind, and will start hunting
through the city to get revenge on Cameron for leaving it behind.

A shadow haunting you on your next delve can be run as an
Enforcer. Give them one Quality for each time that backlash was
picked between delves.

Violence in the City

It’s always possible that your rebels will find themselves facing down pain and
injury in the city, or even inflicting it themselves. There is no ‘hurting someone’
move in the city, because the act of violence is messy and uncontrollable – and
your rebels have plenty of tools to de-escalate through hiding, making
emotional appeals, or calling on the void’s power to resist harm.

If players are the ones inflicting harm, it falls under Take a Risk: they do it,
and the Architect says what consequences unfold. Here’s some ideas, at
varying levels of severity.

• There are witnesses: Tick Infamy, you need to get away, start a crisis
related to your growing reputation for violence, etc.

• Violence stains you: Tick Fealty as you get used to hurting others for your
goals, mark Callous, etc.

• Revenge is coming: Tick Heat, start a crisis as they enact reprisals, tick
up Pressure, mark Scared, etc.

• You get hurt: Tick Blood, trigger Weight of the World, start a crisis as you
need treatment, etc.

It’s up to your play group to decide what role violence has in your
revolution – there are no easy answers, and far wiser people than I have
spilled ink on justice vs vengeance, institutional vs individual violence,
peaceful protests vs ‘riots’, on and on.

I’d simply request that you never get comfortable with inflicting pain and
suffering on people, no matter who they are, and work towards building a
society where everyone matters and everyone keeps each other’s needs in mind.

KeEpInG YoUrSeLf ToGeThEr

These aren’t moves that you intentionally trigger – they’re here to
help you take stock of the story you’re telling, and kick in
consequences when things go particularly wrong.

OvErWhElMeD bY tHe WoRlD

When your World affinity would increase but it’s already at 3,
instead of increasing it pick one:

• Collateral damage. One of your Covenants joins the fight and
invades the castle, wholly unprepared for what they’ll find
there. Unless you rescue them, they’ll soon be lost to you.

• Back Away. You become overwhelmed by all the many voices
crying out for aid. Your World affinity drops to 2, and the
Architect will remove the Committed state from a covenant or
hit you with an extra crisis as you fail to meet your obligations.

• Retire from the rebel life. You become an Architect-controlled
character helping the city through purely mundane means;
make a new rebel.

OvErWhElMeD bY tHe VoId

When your Void affinity would increase but it’s already at 3,
instead of increasing it pick one:

• Devoured heart. Lose a Covenant, permanently – they just
don’t mean anything to you any more.

• Outpouring darkness. Your Void affinity drops to 2, and your
own inner demons spring out of you to haunt the world.

• Claimed by the void. You become an Architect-controlled
monster that stalks the halls of the castle and the void beyond;
make a new rebel.

WrAp Up

At the end of each session, take stock of what happened – this is a
good time to check if you’ve hit any covenant’s nurture or betrayal
triggers. Each rebel says what made the biggest impact on them:
• You made a difference to someone. MarkWorld, say how you feel

different afterwards, and intensify your covenant with them.
• The crew helped you. Say which rebel went the extra mile, and

they heal a condition.
• You focused on your own battle in the castle. Mark Void and

shift a point between your castle stats (max +3, min -2).
• You focused on your mundane life. Say one thing you cherish

about it, and refresh a gauge.

If you’re playing in a setup without discrete sessions – play-by-
post, for example – I’d recommend setting another trigger for
this move. Maybe one a week, or every 100 posts, or whatever
suits your pace. As a yardstick to help you calibrate, this move is
meant to trigger 1-3 times within each investigation to make
sure you think back through the events so far.