A Hard Goodbye
Overview
A Hard Goodbye is a collaborative crime drama played in three acts. The game is about people living a dangerous life, stuck in a vicious cycle of regrettable actions and spilled blood. It is also about the Organization that the characters serve, and the people who want to free them from this life of violence.
	In Act One, we get to know the PCs by seeing what their life is like in the organization. We learn more about their Hooks and their Outs. Hooks give a sense of why the characters have stuck with the Organization. Outs are the people who give PCs a reason to get out of the Organization before it’s too late. Act One culminates in a tipping point for each PC -- a concrete action that catapults them into the most important decision of their lives.
	In Act Two, we turn up the heat. PCs have to choose sides as the actions from Act One come to a head. As the Organization puts pressure on the PCs to uphold their vows, the Outs promise escape and peace. Act Two ends with each character’s fate made clear: freedom, death, or resignation to a life of crime.
	Act Three is our epilogue. We learn about the ultimate results of Act Two’s climax. PCs, Outs, and the Organization itself all receive closure in Act Three.
What You Will Need
	A Hard Goodbye requires the following:
•	3 or 4 players, yourself included
•	Pencils and paper
•	Six black and six red 6-sided dice (other colors will work -- just make sure the colors are easily distinguishable from each other)
Organization Creation
	Everybody begins the game by working together to create an Organization that they can really care about. Think about what makes you scared, sad, or angry. Make sure that you can’t mistake the Organization for a good thing -- it is a human gristmill that takes in people and grinds them down to bones and blood for its own selfish wants.
	This is your chance to decide on the setting for the game. You might play in the world as we know it; a cyberpunk dystopia; a darker take on Sherwood Forest. Once you have agreed on a setting, get everybody on the same page by establishing your Organization’s Modus Operandi. This is the primary way in which the Organization rears its ugly head. Some examples include:
•	Harassing and buying out poor residents to get property for cheap
•	Recruiting terrorists through underground fighting clubs
•	Blackmailing politicians to gain power in the city council
•	Making a shipment of expensive cars disappear in 60 seconds
•	Assassinations for the highest bidder
	Next, come up with two Threats to your Organization. Threats are any outside groups that threaten to harm the Organization’s business or even its very existence. Some sample Threats include:
•	Government bodies like police, investigative bureaus, or zoning boards
•	Other criminal organizations like rival gangs, old-blood mobsters, or trouble from overseas
•	Social change like proactive citizens, better drug education, or rampant poverty

	Come up with a brief Vow that every member swears when joining the Organization. This may have been accompanied by a toast, a curtsey, or the intermingling of blood between slit palms. Examples of Vows include:
•	“Blood in, blood out.”
•	“We’ll gut any sonofabitch in our way.”
•	“For the greater good.”

	Finally, assign your Organization its two Attributes: Stability and Power.
	Stability represents the Organization’s ability to keep its inner turmoil under control. If this stat ever becomes 0, the organization collapses completely. Power represents the ability of the Organization to threaten and act based on raw resources. Divide twelve points between the two Attributes, with a minimum of 4 points in each.
	The attributes will say a lot about your Organization -- low Stability and high Power might mean that the Organization is on the ropes, lashing out with brute force to make up for poor leadership, while one with high Stability and low Power might be growing its outward-facing legitimate businesses, restricted in its actions by heightened public attention. Talk about this with the rest of the group to help paint a clear picture for everyone.

Character Creation
	Characters in A Hard Goodbye are made of several components:
•	A Hook: This is what the Organization holds over your head.
•	An Out: This person represents your escape from the Organization.
•	Three Attributes: Fear, Determination, and Trust.

	To create a character, first think of an High Concept. This should be no more than a few words. You might be “The Getaway Driver,” or “The Vicious Wetworker” or “The Boss’s Daughter.” Hell, maybe you’re “The Boss.” Think of anybody with deep ties to the Organization and the way that it operates.
	Next, give your character a Hook. This is the deep-rooted hook that the Organization has you on. Think of something that is hard to shake. Your Hook might be “My sister’s medical expenses,” “an outlet for my aggression,” or “a  place where I belong.”
	Your Out is the person who can turn this all around for you. Think of who the Out is and what they represent to your character. It might be “Franky, the doctor who found me bleeding in the gutter,” “Julia, who wants me to leave the syndicate to elope with her,” or “Mathilda, who I took in when her parents were murdered.”
	Finally, assign your Attributes. You have 7 points to divide between Determination and Trust with a maximum of 5 points in either Attribute. Your Fear is equal to the difference between the two. This will result in a Fear of 1 or 3.
•	Determination represents your will to act against all odds. Characters with high Determination will take heavy risks in order to escape the circle of violence, or to brutally get the job done.
•	Trust is the reputation the character has gained in the organisation. Someone who does their job well, knows the right people, or can’t afford to mess up will have a high Trust score.
•	Fear is the level of apprehension you have about acting in your own best interest instead of the Organization’s. You might be worried about what the Organization will do to you or your loved ones, or you might be concerned about betraying the people whose trust you’ve earned.
	If you haven’t yet, give your character a name and think a little about what they look like. Once everybody has ironed out the nitty-gritty details, go around the table to introduce yourselves. You are ready for Act One.
Act One
	In Act One, we get to know the PCs and their current situation. Each character will be given an assignment by the Organization. This is a chance to play to discover. Ask each other questions about your characters, the Organization, your Hooks and your Outs during this part of the game.
	Begin by giving an Assignment to the player to your left. Your goal is to help them come up with an interesting moral dilemma to frame the start of the game with. This should be an open conversation -- ask questions about the character, and what direction the player might want to take the story in. The player has the right to veto an assignment if it isn’t something that interest them.
•	Some examples of Assignments include:
•	Kidnap the mayor’s daughter
•	Run a rival gang out of town
•	Get a shipment of guns across the border

	Once everybody has an Assignment, pick a player to take the first turn. This is the current Active Player. The Active Player gets to set the pace for their scene, calling on other players to take the roles of various NPCs as needed. You can call on players to act as their own characters, as Outs, as representatives of the Organization, or other meaningful people to interact with.
	As the Active Player, your goal in Act One  is to drive your character headlong into a moral dilemma. This can take one of three forms:
•	Taking on your Assignment
•	Connecting with your Out
•	Confronting another PC
	You have a lot of narrative power as the Active Player, but you can delegate that as much as you please. For instance, if you want the scene to focus on taking on your Assignment, you could consult the player to your right to help you steer the scene.

	When you have identified your interesting tipping point, it is time to break out the dice and have a Conflict. Each conflict is listed as [Attribute A] versus [Attribute B], with some using multiple Attributes. Take a number of black dice equal to the Attribute(s) listed before ‘versus.’ This is representative of what your character is attempting to do. Then, take a number of red dice equal to the Attribute(s) after ‘versus.’ This is your opposition in the form of your inner turmoil, resistance from other characters, or the power of the Organization itself.
	Roll all the dice you picked up, then organize them from highest to lowest. Compare the highest black result to the highest red result. In the case of a tie, move on to the next highest. If black rolled higher, your character succeeds. If red rolled higher, your character failed. In the case of a tie (same number of black and red dice rolled, all the exact same numbers), pick up the dice and roll again.
	You can earn one re-roll by bringing your Need into your Conflict. If a Need is brought into the Conflict in a meaningful way, it entitles you to one rerolled die of your choice (your own or an opposing die). You must take the second result. Examples of invoking Need include:
•	Discovering that your Out can provide for your Need in a way that the Organization can’t
•	Taking on an Assignment related to your Need
•	Being frank and open with another PC about your Need
	You can only gain this re-roll once. If a re-roll from your Need results in a complete tie and re-roll of all the dice, you can not invoke it a second time.
	After determining success or failure, explain to the group what happened to your character. If you chose to take on your Assignment and failed, what went wrong? If you confided in your Out and succeeded, what did they do that helped to steel your resolve to leave the Organization?
	Finally, record the Effect of your Conflict. Each conflict has a listed Effect for success and for failure. This is a permanent change to your character, the Organization, or another PC.

Conflict Types
The Assignment
You’re going to get this job done. There’s no turning back now. The terror of what will happen if you fail is a constant buzz in the back of your skull.
Roll: Fear versus Determination
Effect: If you succeed, take +1 Trust. The Organization gains +1 Stability. If you fail, take +1 Fear and -1 Determination.

A Way Out
You take some time to get in touch with the person who can take you away from all this.
Roll: Determination versus Trust + Fear
Effect: If you succeed, take +1 Determination and -1 Fear. The Organization takes -1 Stability. If you fail, take -1 Trust or -1 Determination, your choice.

Open Up
It’s too much to take on your own. You open up to somebody else within the Organization at your own risk.
Roll: Your Trust versus the other PC’s Trust + Fear
Effect: If you succeed, take +1 Trust and -1 Fear. If you fail, take -1 Trust and +1 Fear.

Wrapping Up Act One
After everybody has completed their Act One scenes and conflicts, consider your current stats and the results of your Conflicts. This should paint a clear picture of the direction your character will be headed in with Act Two.
(Hi Final Writer! I got as far as finishing Act One. The Act Two things below are what the First Writer had down. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do to finish up the game. Good luck!)

•	Scenes during act 2
•	Type                                    Roll                                    Dice                  Effect                          Critical failure
•	Accuse PC              PCs trust vs opponent’s               d4                 Loser trust -1,               Trust -2, Stability -2
•	                                Trust                                                                     Stability -1,
•	                                                                                                              winner trust +1                     
•	Restore order        Stability + Trust                           d6                  Win: Stability +1,          Stability -2 (Min 1)
•	                                – Determination    vs                                        Trust +1,
•	                                 Opponent’s Determination –                        Opp Determination -1
•	                                 Fear
•	Exploit Power       Power – Determination             d6                Win: Stability + 1,           Power -1, Stability -1         
•	                                vs opponent Fear                                            Opponents Fear + 1
•	Betray                   Trust + Determination – Fear     d4               Win: Determination +1    Fear +2, Stability +1  
•	                               Vs higher of stability and power                   Lose: Trust -1, Fear +1
•	Find aid                Determination - fear                   d4              Win: add Saviour                 Other PCs may use                            
•	                                 Vs stability + power                                     Lose: Fear +1                       assassination                       
•	Assassination     Power + trust – fear                    d4                Win: Saviour Dies              Other PCs may use 
•	                             -determination                                                Lose:  Fear + 2, trust -1      assassination
•	                                        Vs
•	                           Opponent determination 
•	                                   – 2x Fear