SECRET CIRCLE
You know a secret. You are one among a select few.


Your city is troubled. Overrun with crime, alien invasions, mutants, and monsters, your once great metropolis stood on the brink of destruction. Then, the Heroes arrived.


You are not a hero. Yours in not the crusade to fight the evils of the world. You are the confidant, the friend, the lover. You stand by a Hero’s side (and occasionally get kidnapped) to provide the emotional and moral support that your hero needs. 


You know who they are when they take off their mask. You may fear who they become with they put it on, but you believe in them, care about and even love them. You don’t want them to destroy who they are inside by becoming one of the monsters they fight.




INTRO
This is a game for three to five players. One player takes the role of the Hero and fulfills many of the GMish duties that the game requires. The other players take the role of someone close to the Hero who know their secret identity and cares about who they are when they take off their mask.


This is a game about people dealing with someone they care about who has decided to do something dangerous and illegal but, ultimately, intended to help others. It is also about the toll of dealing with the Hero and the ramifications of their work.




SETUP
First, decide who will play the Hero and who the confidantes. If you are so inclined, the Hero can be a rotating role played by everyone at the table. 


Second, create the Hero. Do you want to play a preexisting Hero or someone in that mold? Do you want to create an amalgamation of heroes that you are familiar with? Do you want something new and different that you haven’t seen before?


Third, once you’ve sketched out your Hero, create your confidantes. 




HERO
The Hero is defined by their Drive, Convictions, Compassion and Violence. 


Drive tells you why the Hero puts on the mask. Great power requiring great responsibility, parents killed, and what have you. 


Convictions tell you the Hero’s boundaries: how far will they go to accomplish the mission and what lines will they not cross?


Compassion and Violence are a continuum from 1 (Compassion) to 10 (Violence). The Hero starts at 5, slightly more Compassionate than Violent.




CONFIDANTES
A confidante is defined by their Desires and Concerns. They also have Sway.


Desires are what the confidante wants from the Hero. Often they want love, respect, or friendship. 


Concerns are what the confidante wants for the Hero. Often they want the Hero to be safe, less violent, mindful of bystanders, or concerned about public opinion.


Sway measures how much influence the confidante has over the Hero. A confidante’s Sway begins at 4. Typically, Sway is used when one or more confidantes attempt to convince the Hero to do or believe something they don’t want to. In that case, the confidante rolls a d6 and adds their Sway in an attempt to beat the Hero’s current Violence rating. If the confidante succeeds, the Hero is brought around to their point of view, for now. If the confidante fails, the Hero does, or believes, what they want and the confidante’s Sway is reduced by one.


Beyond these particular concerns, each confidante player should also determine who their confidante is and what they do in the city. Confidantes often have jobs that put them at odds with the Hero and their activities. Jobs like: reporter, police detective or commissioner, or medical professional.




PREP
Before each round of scenes, determine what craziness the Hero is currently dealing with. Choose for yourselves or roll on the tables below:


Threat
1. One of the Hero’s recurring villains is back again. Who?
2. A new alien/creature/mutant is invading. What?
3. Public outrage is high. Why?
4. The authorities are hunting the Hero. Why?
5. Two or more previously unrelated villains have teamed up against the Hero. Who?
6. 



Situation
1. Someone has been kidnapped. Who? 
2. The Hero recently lost the first exchange with the Threat.
3.  




PLAY
Play is accomplished through a series of scenes. Scenes can be determined by the GM/Hero or by the table as a group. Regardless of how you determine a scene, make sure that you take turns so that each confidante has a turn.


Scenes are played out between the Hero and one or more confidantes, between multiple confidantes without the Hero, or between a confidante and one or more secondary characters who aren’t privy to the secret (this can include the current Threat).


At the end of each scene, based on how the confidante(s) in the scene feel it turned out, move the Hero one number lower, toward Compassion, or higher, toward Violence. I the confidante(s) in the scene tried to convince the Hero of something and failed, that should almost always move the Hero higher, toward Violence.




END GAME
If the Hero reaches 1, they retire as a Hero (for the moment) leaving the mission to others. If the Hero reaches 10, they become obsessed with the mask and mission.