IT EMERGENCY! You play recently-trained IT emergency officers. Your job is to go out to customers who have an IT problem and fix it. These customers couldn’t solve their problem using the online help database, the web chat helpdesk, or the phone helpdesk. Their problem is therefore difficult, and they are likely angry. Your mission is customer satisfaction. And if the customer doesn’t come away satisfied, you don’t get paid. You’ve started this job in the last week. You have been thoroughly trained and issued a uniform, a van, spare parts, some basic tools and a laptop. One other thing. This is the week the world went to hell in a handbasket. The previously mundane world has suddenly become a lot more complicated. Magic has become real, or the dead have started walking and talking. The training didn’t cover this, but it should be fine. IT Emergency is for 3-4 players. WORLD CREATION Agree together: - Where is the game set? - What is the company you all work for? - What the broad nature of the weirdness is in your game? CHARACTER GENERATION For your character, choose: - A name. - Background (e.g. age, prior occupation, education, country of origin, appearance, ethnicity, gender). - A key relationship from outside work, and a Situation (see below) regarding that relationship that is currently Under Control. Whatever you pick you’ll have the same basic skills and the same basic equipment and the same job to do. You’ve only met your fellow officers in the last week, but you’ve formed an impression of each. Say what it is. MUNDANE AND FANTASTIC The current player (i.e. whoever is currently having a scene) plays their officer. The person to their right is the Mundane GM, and is in charge of everything else in the normal world. The person to their left is the Fantastic GM, and is in charge of everything weird. STRUCTURE OF PLAY The game alternates between work phases and R&R phases, as follows: - AM shift (work) - Lunch back at base (R&R). There’s no GMs or Situations here, just a chance for the officers to interact. - PM shift (work) - Evening (R&R) Everyone gets one scene in each phase. ROLLING THE DICE When the game calls on you to roll the dice, you roll one white Mundane six-sided die and one black Fantastic six-sided die (or whatever colours you prefer). Possible configurations of each die include: - Success, if you rolled a 4+ on the die. - Failure, if you didn’t. - Explosion, if you rolled a 6 on the die. - Dominance, if the die rolled equal to or higher than the other die. The particular rule you’ve triggered will tell you which of the above apply. If a rule doesn’t mention a configuration, that means you ignore it for this roll. SITUATIONS A Situation is an ongoing problem of some kind, which could be Mundane or Fantastic. It might not be a problem for the IT emergency officer, but it will probably become their problem one way or another. A Situation can be at one of three levels: - Under Control. - Causing Difficulties to someone - Out Of Hand. When a new Situation is introduced it is Causing Difficulties by default. Moving a Situation towards the bottom of this scale is called escalating it, moving it towards the top is called de-escalating it. Situations can only be introduced or their level changed if the rules call for it. Whenever the rules call for a GM to introduce a Situation at a particular level, they can always opt to escalate an existing Situation to that level instead. TIME At the beginning of a scene, put a die where it is visible to everyone and set it to 1. When the rules call for you to increase the time die, set it to one higher. If it reaches 6, time has run out and you must return to base. The player says how they extricate themselves from any current Situations, and the scene ends. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION The Mundane GM decides whether the customer was satisfied at the end of a scene. Use your judgement, but indications that a customer might not be satisfied include: - You left a Situation Out Of Hand - You didn’t solve the technological issue you were called out for Indications they might be satisfied include: - You de-escalated one or more Situations. Optionally, the Mundane GM may decide to issue a commendation from the customer. Only do this when an officer has truly gone above and beyond, successfully. Officers receive performance pay in proportion to their satisfied customers. Commendations may lead to increased pay or promotion. THE RULES At the start of any scene, the Mundane GM may introduce a Situation that is Causing Difficulties. Whenever you roll the dice, you are using up precious time. Increase the time die by 1. When you first investigate a technological problem, roll the dice. The Mundane GM will tell you what the problem is and how your character can solve it. In addition, whichever die has dominance, the appropriate GM introduces a Situation of that type that is Causing Difficulties. If a die rolls an explosion, choose: the Situation is Out Of Hand, or introduce two Situations that are Causing Difficulties. When an officer wants to address a Situation, they say how they’re doing it and the Mundane GM decides if it can work; if there’s something else the officer needs to do first; and if there’s any other important consequences to that course of action. When the officer commits to the action, increase the time die by 1 (more if it seems like a particularly lengthy action), and trigger any other relevant rules. If an officer takes an action, ignoring a Situation that is Causing Difficulties, the relevant GM can escalate the Situation. If an officer takes an action, ignoring a Situation that is Out Of Hand, the relevant GM can say how that Situation is interfering with their activities, and rule that their action fails. When you address a Situation using charm, deceit or persuasion, roll the dice: - Mundane success: de-escalate the Situation; - Mundane explosion, set it to Under Control. - Otherwise, escalate a Situation or introduce a new Mundane Situation - If Fantastic is dominant, escalate a Fantastic Situation or introduce a new one. When you address a Fantastic Situation on its own terms, roll the dice: - Fantastic success: de-escalate the Situation; - Fantastic explosion, set it to Under Control. - Otherwise, escalate a Situation or introduce a new Fantastic Situation - If Mundane is dominant, escalate a Mundane Situation or introduce a new one.