Threadcutters
A downloadable game
They say nothing is truly dead until all memory of it is gone.
As the last survivors of the Fifth World, you are responsible for keeping alive the memories of the world you used to know – and also dealing out death at the command of the Arcana of Centro.
They taught you the secrets of reality, trained you to a standard so elevated it seems superhuman, and blessed you with their particular magic, all to turn you into weapons against which there is no defence.
And one of them has a job for you.
The Game
There once were five worlds, but now there are four. At the top of each world there are four rulers, the Court, who wield their vast power and influence in the service of their own agendas. But four of these rulers have managed to step beyond even what they're allowed to do, and the people really running the show don't mess around when it comes to putting people in their place.
In Threadcutters, a GM-driven TTRPG for about 3-5 players, you and some friends will tell the story of a group of elite occult assassins under the patronage of one of the Arcana of Centro, tasked with the elimination of powerful individuals who nevertheless managed to step out of line. You've got the skills, you've got the superspy gadgets, and you've got the sorcery -- but these are still the hardest targets you'll ever face.
But there's more here than meets the eye: a conspiracy that goes right to the top. Are you going to do anything about that? Can you do anything about that?
Let's find out.
The Four Worlds
The world of Coins looks a lot like the one we already know: smartphones, cars, capitalism. But there's a world behind the world, where spies and criminals and the ultra-rich wage their own quiet wars for dominance. Money and information rule the shadows, and the Court of Coins rules the money and the information.
Cups looks a lot like our world as well, although a few decades into the past. Heavy industry pumps pollutants into the water and atmosphere, violent crime rules the streets. But quite apart from the metaphorical monsters in boardrooms and alleys, there are literal monsters on the prowl. The contents of nightmares hunt beneath the neon lights, and the Court of Cups are their terrible masters.
In Swords there is no truth but conflict, and no virtue but might. Workers toil in brutalist factories to make guns and bullets for the eternal wars that grind back and forth between their city states, and scurry home at night to avoid the attention of the colourful bravos, duelists who embrace the might-makes-right principles of this world.
Wands is unlike the others: a world of green forests and golden corn, of fairy tales and legends, where gunpowder is inert, romance is treasured, and matters of honour are settled with cold steel. The fey rule this world openly as its Court, and all others are merely background characters in the stories they tell.
The Arcana
Separate from -- they would say "above" but that's an open question -- the four worlds live the Arcana. Each wields vast personal power and influence, and although some can play at normalcy quite well, all are inhuman creatures with inhuman concerns. From their domain of Centro these entities rule everything with a light touch. It's the Arcana who trained you to be what you are, who empowered you to do what you do, and who deploy you to kill without question as part of that 'light touch'.
The Mechanics
Threadcutters uses a combination of diceless, narrative mechanics (taken from the LUMEN system by Spencer Campbell) to tell the story of how the players find their target, set them up, or otherwise get into position for the hit, followed by a quick burst of turn-based tactical combat to actually do the deed. Each hit should fill one game session of 3-4 hours, and you'll do four or five over the course of a full playthrough, making for a short campaign with a definite end point.
To get through the narrative portion of each hit characters can rely on their own resources -- their weapons, gadgets, and occult mastery -- or they can pull from the Deck of Fate, a collection of Tarot cards assembled at the beginning of the hit, and see what Fate has in store for them. Their patron Arcana give them various special powers which can also be used to overcome the impossible odds.
Once the showdown starts, the game changes to a handful of tokens on a tight grid. Characters take turns moving and acting, using their innate skill at murder and any gifts their patrons have given them, and after every turn the target gets to respond. After every player character has taken a turn, the battlefield shifts; players will have to adjust their tactics on the fly to keep up with changing events.
Sixteen possible hits are detailed in the book, covering three stages of narrative progression and rules for a showdown against the target including several different battlefield shifts to make the player-characters' lives difficult.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $20 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Comments
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Does anything break if the GM simply picks out one patron Arcanum and four targets?
I notice that if the GM simply determines targets randomly, there is a chance that only three, two, or even one world will be played in: which can be disappointing.
I also notice that if there are supposed to be obstacles equal to the total number of Approaches plus +33% to +50%, then it is possible for the PCs to simply solve obstacles using their Approaches and then use their Blessings for the rest, completely bypassing the Deck of Fate. Is this intentional?
Can the GM use the same shift more than once? Esther Marlowe's Predictable suggests that the GM can use the same shift more than once, but this becomes game-breaking with defensive shifts like Gloria Fitzroy's Financial Revenge or León Gallo's Game Face. Indeed, if the GM spams León Gallo's Game Face, he cannot actually be defeated.
To answer your questions:
1. No, nothing breaks if you just pick the targets.
2. Not all blessings are one-shot problem solvers. Some just open up opportunities that you wouldn't otherwise have, like The Devil for instance, which just tells you terrible secrets about people.
When I ran it +33% to +50% was enough obstacles, but if your group have all picked up easy-solve blessings then you might want to up that number a bit. Essentially, you want to force the players to think a bit about what they're doing rather than just spam win buttons.
3. My intent was that each shift should be used once -- a bunch of them don't make sense if they're used more than once -- but that you need room for reuse on some of them in case combat goes on for more than 4-5 rounds. In hindsight Financial Revenge and Game Face should definitely also come with the 'don't use this more than once' note that's attached to Predictable, just for clarity.
This is a great framework for a short and exciting supernatural heist/assassination game. Each session is a hit that starts with a fun and easy narrative-first system that let's players be magic and awesome - and then make hard choices. Then once the party gets to the target, there's a simple and satisfying tactical system for the showdown. All of the targets are fun and different, with the Kings being really out-there and fresh. One is a mastermind who makes the whole session into a game of "that's what could have happened".