Keystone Crimewave

The residents of Keystone can't decide who are the bigger menace, the crooks, or the cops!

This is a rough draft. It focuses primarily on game rules; it contains very few examples to help illustrate those rules. Setting is largely ignored and the glossary is incomplete. Overall organization is rough and likely needs significant tweaking.

This first draft only includes the rules for the first of the three described play modes - the all crooks game. The other two play modes will be added at a later time.

Keystone Crimewave is a lighthearted collaborative storytelling game about clumsy crooks and cloddish cops and their attempts to pull off or prevent capricious capers.

Play collaboratively as either crooks trying to pull off a spectacular caper, or as cops trying to catch a gang of crooks before they pull off a caper and skip town; or play competitively in teams of crooks and cops working to pull off or prevent a caper.

There is a great wealth of inspiration to be had from movies both old and new. Here are some favorites:

• Disorganized Crime: (1989)
  
• The Big Hit: (1998)
  
• A Fish Called Wanda: (1988)
  
• Nuns On The Run: (1990)
  
• The Ladykillers: (1955/2004) The 2004 version, starring Tom Hanks and Marlon Wayans, is a remake of the original that starred Peter Sellers and Alec Guinness.
  
• The Maiden Heist: (2009)
  
• Blue Streak: (1999)
  
• Fun with Dick and Jane: (2005)
  

• Police Academy: (1984)
  
• The Naked Gun: (1988)
  
• Hot Fuzz: (2007)
  
• Super Troopers: (2001)
  
• Kindergarten Cop: (1990)
  
• The Pink Panther: (1963)
  
• My Cousin Vinny: (1992)
  

This game has three modes of play, depending on the particular preferences of the group.

• Mode 1: The players' characters are all crooks working to pull off a caper. The cops, if they show up at all, are merely non-player characters. This mode emulates a typical caper movie, where the focus is on the crooks.

• Mode 2: The players' characters are all cops working to apprehend a bunch of crooks who are rumored to be working on a caper. The crooks are non-player characters. This mode emulates police comedy movies, where the focus is on the cops gathering evidence and chasing down the crooks before they can get away with their caper.

• Mode 3: The players are split into two teams; one team are crooks, the other team are cops. The crooks' players develop the caper; and the cops' players work to prevent that caper from coming to fruition. This mode works best with an even number of players; but it can still be played if numbers are uneven.

Keystone Crimewave is designed for 3 or more players, all of whom share equal responsibility and authority in the game.

As a player you will play one character, either a crook or a cop, depending on the mode of play chosen.

Here's what you need to play the game:

• Six(6) sided dice. You need six dice; three of one color, and three of a different color. The rules herein use black and white as the dice colors; but any two colors will do, so long as you identify which color represents Action and which color represents Hassle. If desired, each player can use their own set of dice.

• Trait tokens. You will need two such tokens for each of your character's Traits; it's best to have eight tokens per player. Any kind of tokens will work - poker chips, coins, beads, jube jubes, or anything else of the sort.

• Hassle Trigger tokens. You will need one such token for each of your character's Traits; it's best to have four tokens per player. These tokens must be distinct from the Trait tokens; and it is best if they can be marked with their corresponding Trait's trigger. If they cannot be marked, they should be distinct from one another so as to be easily identifiable.

• Hassle tokens. You should have four to six tokens per player. These tokens must be distinct from both the Trait tokens and the Hassle Tigger tokens. Any kind of tokens will work - poker chips, coins, beads, jube jubes, or anything else of the sort.

• (Optional) Caper/Enforcement Points Tokens. If desired, you may have another set of tokens to track Caper points and Enforcement points. They should be distinct from all other tokens being used. Since Caper points and Enforcement points are simple cumulative points values during play, you can easily track them with pen and paper.

• Pencils or pens, and paper.

Examples presented in this book are set in the fictional town of Keystone in the current era. You can set your game in the town of Keystone, or you can choose a different town or city. Details of the town of Keystone are presented in Appendix A.

Discuss the setting in which you'd like to play; everyone should be part of this discussion. It's important that everyone be comfortable with the era and location chosen for the game. Do you want to set the story in modern day Keystone, or 1930s Chicago, or 1990s London, or some other setting? Any era, any location is viable; so long as you've got crooks trying to do something illegal, and cops - or an appropriate analogue thereof trying to stop them.

Once you've decided on the setting, discuss the scope of the game. The scope relates primarily to the levels of law enforcement that may be involved in the story. For example, a story set in 1960's New York City might involve just the New York Police Department, or also might involve the FBI. The scope you choose may affect the caper, the characters you make, and the story that develops during play.

Once you've decided on the setting and scope, you're ready to proceed to character creation.

The following are many of the game's terms and phrases and how they are defined in the context of the game.

Caper Point:

Enforcement Point:

Hassle Token:

Hassle Trigger Token:

Trait Token:

Create your characters with the group, just before play. Your fellow players may provide inspiration for traits for your characters.

Think of what kind of crook you want to create. When you've got some ideas in mind, start putting the pieces together by following the steps below.

• Step 1: Give your crook a name and a nickname. Something like Joey Gallagher a.k.a “the Mustache”, Sally “Boom Boom” Franks, or Russell “Pinkies” McKay is suitable. Explain how or why your crook got their nickname. Your crook's nickname represents an idiosyncrasy that sometimes gets them in trouble.

• Step 2: Give your crook a specialty.

• Step 3: Give your crook up to four Traits. Traits can be almost anything, from Skills and Talents, to Connections, or even Objects. Traits provide +2 to any white die (or +1 to any two white dice)during dice rolls.

• Step 4: Each trait comes with Hassle Potential. For each trait, describe how the Trait often gets your crook hassled, and tag it with one of the following triggers; pick each trigger only once.
  • any white pair (WP),
  • any black pair(BP),
  • a straight run in either color(SR).
  • a specific value in both white and black (specify the value, BW#).

• Step 5: Finish off the creation of your crook by providing a brief description of your crook's appearance and personality, and listing a bit of gear often carried or accessible by your crook.

Think of what kind of cop you want to create. Keep the discussed scope in mind when determining the police force to which your cop is affiliated. When you've got some ideas in mind, start putting the pieces together by following the steps below.

• Step 1: Give your cop a name and a rank. Something like Deputy James Cousins, Inspector Nancy Lansing, or Sheriff Delia Lannister is suitable. Provide an idiosyncrasy that sometimes gets them in trouble.

• Step 2: Assign your cop to a department; or if more appropriate, detail the departmental studies your cop focused on while in Police Academy.

• Step 3: Give your cop up to four Traits. Traits can be almost anything, from Skills and Talents, to Connections, or even Objects. Traits provide +2 to any white die (or +1 to any two white dice) during dice rolls.

• Step 4: Each trait comes with Hassle Potential. For each trait, describe how the Trait often gets your cop hassled, and tag it with one of the following triggers; pick each trigger only once.
  • any white pair (WP),
  • any black pair(BP),
  • a straight run in either color(SR).
  • a specific value in both white and black (specify the value, BW#).

• Step 5: Finish off the creation of your cop by providing a brief description of your cop's appearance and personality, and listing a bit of gear often carried or accessible by your cop.

The game starts with the crooks planning their caper. There are three steps to planning a caper; they are:

1. Determine the type of Caper,
2. Determine the Caper's complexity,
3. Create the Master Plan.

Decide, as a group, what kind of Caper you wish to pull off. Do you want to do a bank robbery, a kidnapping, a fraud scheme, or some other kind of caper?

The caper's complexity influences the length of game play, and informs the scope of the caper. A mere liquor store robbery shouldn't be very complex; conversely, an attempt to steal the Hope Diamond from the Smithsonian Institute should have a very high complexity.

The minimum Complexity is equal to the number of crooks in the game, and increases by that same increment. There is no explicit upper limit to a caper's complexity; but a complexity greater than 20 will likely make the caper unbearably long. (The upper limit will need to be verified via playtest).

The Master Plan outlines a critical path of tasks to pull off the caper. During play, the tasks of the Master Plan must be accomplished sequentially to progress the caper towards completion.

Each point of complexity becomes one phase of the Master Plan; and each phase contains one critical task that must be accomplished by a particular crook. You must divide phases of the Master Plan equally among your crooks.

You will formulate the Master Plan in a turn based fashion to allow an opportunity to contribute.

Determine who will start formulating the master plan by die roll; highest result on a die starts. As the starting player you are the Planner for the current phase of the Master Plan; the player to your left is the Commenter.

As the Planner, list the Master Plan's current phase number, briefly describe the critical task of this phase, and choose which crook will be responsible for completing that task. A short phrase, or few words is all that is needed as a task's description. Tokens can be useful in tracking how many tasks a crook has been given in the Master Plan.

As the Commenter, briefly describe an element relating to the task the Planner has described. The element described is intended as color or flavor to provide a seed for narration during play. The element can be virtually anything; it can be an object or structure in the area, it can be a detail about the location involved in the task, it can an NPC that is usually present in the task's situation, or it could even be a past event.

Once you've planned and commented on the current phase of the Master Plan, proceed to the next phase. If you're the Planner, you will sit on the sidelines until your turn to be the Commenter comes around again; you may offer suggestions and inspiration to the Planner and Commenter during planning phases that you are in neither role. If you're the Commenter, you take the role of Planner; the player to your left becomes the Commenter.

Proceed to plan and comment on this next phase of the Master Plan.

Repeat the process until all phases of the Master Plan have been planned and commented.

Once you've mapped out your Master Plan, you're ready to begin play.

Keystone Crimewave is a turn based game. This means that every player gets equal opportunity to contribute to the developing narrative.

A turn consists of the process of setting a scene, announcing an action or series of actions, and resolving the scene for one player;s character.

The game is divided into Rounds. One Round ends when every player at the table has taken one turn.

Usually, the order in which you take your turns during play isn't important. Some times, the developing narrative will suggest that your turn should come before others'.

When there is no clear need for your turn to occur before the others', feel free to take turns in circular fashion around the table, or by drawing cards and going in order of card value, or by any other determining method you all agree upon.

During your turn, you will announce your character's intended actions, and will set the scene.

If your character is currently hassled, the supporting players may describe how the hassle affects your character during this scene.

With the scene set and your character's actions announced, you introduce any of your character's Traits you want to use to support your character's actions, setting any hassle trigger tokens.

Roll the dice, apply modifiers from Traits, then resolve the scene.

At the beginning of your turn, set the scene for your character. Include whatever details you desire. The supporting players may add or change one detail of the scene. When you set the scene, you must pay respect to the events involving your character or the location(s) in question that have taken place so far.

If your character is currently Hassled, the supporting should narrate how the Hassle is still affecting your character coming into the scene.

For the crooks, pulling off the caper is their goal; and achieving the tasks on the Master Plan is how they do so. Each task of the Master Plan must be achieved in sequence.

In any Round, the first uncompleted task of the Master Plan becomes the Round's Focus Task. If your crook is assigned to the Focus Task, you must directly address the Focus Task while setting up the scene and the actions your crook is attempting.

In any Round, if your crook is not assigned to the Focus Task, your actions do not directly affect the progress of the caper. However, you can still improve your overall chance of success in pulling off the caper and getting away.

In addition to accumulating Caper Points (or Enforcement Points if your luck runs that way), you have two options during your turn. You can assist the crook responsible for the Focus Task, or you can prepare for your own upcoming Focus Task.

If you choose to assist another character, you may gain a Trait token or a Hassle token. If your dice results indicate 'Goal Achieved' you gain a Trait token that is immediately given to the Focus player. The Focus player must use that Trait token during their turn or lose the token.

If your dice results indicate that your character gets hassled or that an existing hassle continues, then you gain a Hassle token. The Hassle token is saved until your character next turn as the Focus character at which time it is applied to the dice roll.

If you choose to prepare for your upcoming Focus Task, you may gain a Trait token or a Hassle token. If your dice results indicate 'Goal Achieved' you gain a Trait token that you can save for your next turn as Focus player. You may accumulate Trait tokens gained by preparation. You must use any such Trait tokens during your next turn as Focus player or lose them.

If your dice results indicate that your character gets hassled or that an existing hassle continues, then you gain a Hassle token. The Hassle token is saved until your next turn as the Focus player at which time it is applied to the dice roll. Such Hassle tokens may accumulate.

After you've set the scene, you may decide to use one or more Traits to improve your character's chance of success without being hassled.

When you use one of your character's Traits, set that Trait's bonus tokens nearby; they will be used after you roll the dice. Also, set that Trait's Hassle trigger token in front of you to indicate that the trigger is active. A Trait's Hassle trigger remains active until the Trigger is rolled, the dice roll indicates that your character gets hassled anew, or the caper ends; whichever comes first.

A Trait cannot be reused while its trigger is active.

You resolve your scene by rolling six dice, 3 of one color, and 3 of a different color.

After you've rolled the dice, sort the dice into pairs of one white die, and one black die, starting with the highest rolled value of each color, and working to the lowest.

Check your character's active Hassle Triggers versus the rolled dice. If the dice are showing any of the active Hassle triggers' conditions, your character gets Hassled, and gains two Hassle tokens. If your character is already hassled, the hassle continues; your character still gains two Hassle tokens.

If you've chosen to use one or more Traits, modify the values of the white dice you've rolled. Place each Trait token under or near one white die; that token represents a +1 to the value of its corresponding die, to a maximum value of 6.

If your character has accumulated any Hassle tokens, modify the values of the black dice you've rolled. Place each Hassle token under or near one black die; that token represents a +1 to the value of its corresponding die, to a maximum value of 6.

Examine each modified white/black dice pair; retain the highest of the two dice. If the dice are tied; the black die is retained. Set aside the die not retained.

From here on, the values of the dice no longer matter; return any used Trait tokens to their respective Traits on your character's record sheet and set any used Hassle tokens aside.

Reference the tables below to determine how the scene will resolve.

Finish off the scene by narrating what your character does based on the result of the roll. If you character gets Hassled, or an existing Hassle continues, then the supporting players narrate the Hassle and how it affects your character.

When you roll a Trait's Hassle trigger, your character automatically gets Hassled, regardless of the actual values on the dice. Return the rolled trigger's corresponding token to your character's record sheet.

When you get Hassled, be it by rolling a Hassle trigger or by being indicated on the results table, you gain two Hassle tokens that will apply to your roll during your next turn.

Caper points and Enforcement points are separate pools of points used to determine the how, and in some cases, when the game ends. Both points pools start at 0 at the beginning of play and accumulate upwards.

An Enforcement Points Target equal to three times the number of phases in the Master Plan provides an indicator for one endgame condition.

There are two endgame conditions:

• The crooks achieve the last critical task of the Master Plan, or
  
  
• The cops accumulate enough Enforcement points to meet or exceed the Enforcement point target prior to the crooks achieving all tasks of the Master Plan.
  

The end of the caper will resolve as described below, based on the relationship of the completion of the Master Plan, and the accumulated Caper points and Enforcement points:

• Master Plan Completed, Caper Points greater than or equal to Enforcement points: The crooks pull off the caper and make their getaway. If the Enforcement points target has been met or exceeded, the crooks still make their getaway, but just barely. You should probably end the game with an exciting getaway chase scene.

• Master Plan Completed, Enforcement Points greater than Caper points: The crooks pull off the caper; but they are apprehended by the cops before making their getaway. If the Enforcement Points total is below its target, then the crooks are let go during their trial, either on a technicality or some other argument that casts doubt on their culpability.

• Enforcement Point Target achieved prior to Master Plan Completed: The cops apprehend the crooks before they pull off the caper in its entirety.

If ever there was a center of misfortune and ineptitude in the universe, the town of Keystone is it; particularly as it relates to criminals and police forces.

No town seems to attract as many bumbling crooks as Keystone. Sadly, the town also seems unable to hire competent police officers. Whether the calamity that befalls Keystone is due merely to bad luck or to individual ineptitude, nobody knows.