Signal Bleed

The Hours · player reference
Sheet 1 of 9 · v0.2
Port Vespers · keep this where everyone can see it

The core roll

When a move tells you to, roll 2d6 + a stat. Never otherwise.

10+You do it. Clean.
7–9You do it, but — a cost, a complication, a choice.
6−The GM says what happens instead. It's worse than you thought.

You don't roll to see if something is interesting. You roll to see what it costs.

The stats

EDGE — speed, violence, nerve.
WIRE — machines, systems, the cable, cold competence.

FACE — reading people, leverage, lying well.
VEIL — the part of you that notices what shouldn't be there.

Basic moves

Push Through (+EDGE)
Act with force, speed or nerve under real threat.
10+You do it, and you're clear. 7–9You do it, but choose one: you take Harm · you leave something behind · someone sees you do it.
Read the Wire (+WIRE or +VEIL)
Study a place, a system, or a person for what's underneath. Say which stat and why.
10+Ask two. 7–9Ask one. 6−Ask one anyway — then the GM asks what you're now afraid of, and you answer honestly.
What here is a lie?
What's about to go wrong?
What time is it really?
Who has already been here?
What here doesn't belong to this world?
Concrete and unexplained? Take a Clue.
Work Someone (+FACE)
Lean on them with leverage, charm, or a very good lie.
10+They give you what you want. 7–9Most of it, and one: they want something first · they'll remember this · they tell someone. 6−They were already working you.
Jack In (+WIRE +STATIC)
Interface with a system that shouldn't still be running — a dead node, a length of cable nobody opened, something wet where it should be dry.
10+You get what you came for. Take a Clue. 7–9You get it, but choose one: mark Static · something on the other end has your name now · advance the Bleed. 6−Mark Static. The GM says what came ashore with you.
Take a Sounding (+VEIL +STATIC)
Open yourself deliberately to what's under a thing. Hold the object, work the channel, stand in the water and listen. Once per scene, no more.
10+Take a Clue and ask one question from Read the Wire. 7–9Take a Clue. Mark Static. 6−Mark Static, and it answers a question you didn't ask.
Theorize (+Clues − Depth)
Name what's really happening. Anyone can build the theory; one person rolls.
10+Your theory is true. It is now what happened. 7–9True, but you were wrong about one thing — and it's the thing that matters. Everyone marks Static. 6−Wrong, and the truth is worse. The Bleed fills. Theorize again later with new Clues.
THE OFFER. Anyone at the table can offer a specific complication for +1 to a roll about to happen. Take it or refuse, freely. If you take it, it happens whether you succeed or not.
"+1 if the Landing logs your badge."
"+1 if you go back down without a tender."

End of session

Did we learn something true about the Stand? Everyone marks XP. · Did someone act on their Dark Secret in the open? They mark XP. · Did anyone burn a Bond? They mark XP.

Three XP: raise a stat by +1 (max +3) · take a move from another playbook · heal a burned Bond by making it about someone new.

Signal Bleed · the hours · referenceNo bottom found
The Splicer
Landing personnel · cert.
Playbook · Sheet 2 of 9

You opened a length of cable that hadn't been opened since 1903, and the traffic on it was current.

Name / call sign
Look
sleepless · burn scars on the fingertips · Landing lanyard they never hand back
Stats — suggested spread
EDGE
+1
WIRE
+2
FACE
0
VEIL
+1
Static — soundings taken. It only goes deeper.
1
2
3
4
NO BTM
Add Static to VEIL and to anything touching the other side

Take a Symptom each mark. Unlock a Static Move at 1, 3 and 5. At 5 you are observed — take your Moment, then the GM takes you.

Harm
Winded Wounded Wasted

You may always mark Static instead of Harm. Say what your body does that a body shouldn't.

XP

Moves — take both

Deep Splice
When you open a line nobody is supposed to open, take a Clue automatically before you roll Jack In.
Cold Hands
When you're working and something horrifying happens, you may ignore it entirely for one exchange. Then it's worse.

Static moves

Unlocks at Static 1
Traffic Memory
Once per session, ask the GM "Where have I heard this before?" They answer truthfully, even if the answer is impossible.
Unlocks at Static 3
The Tap
You have already been on any line you can name. Say when you put it in. Mark Static.
Unlocks at Static 5
Termination
You do not need a deck. You are a landing point.

Dark secret — GM reads privately

What came up the wire during the outage that you never logged, and who has started asking about it?

Bonds — two. Burning one stops a Static mark. Once each.

______ has seen my hands shake and said nothing.
I have read ______'s traffic. They don't know.
Signal Bleed · the splicerThe line was live
The Registrar
Vessel registry · clerk no.
Playbook · Sheet 3 of 9

Eleven thousand ships fly this flag and not one of them has ever been here. You know why. You typed it.

Name
Look
good linen in bad humidity · four phones · never sits facing away from a door
Stats — suggested spread
EDGE
+1
WIRE
+1
FACE
+2
VEIL
0
Static — soundings taken
1
2
3
4
NO BTM
Harm
Winded Wounded Wasted
XP
Who owes you
Who you owe

Moves — take both

A Plate on the Door
Once per session, declare that you know someone here and what they owe you. It's true. The GM decides what you owe them.
Paper Trail
When you dig through records — manifests, filings, the brass-plate companies — roll +FACE instead of +WIRE for Read the Wire.

Static moves

Unlocks at Static 1
The Other Ledger
You can see what a person is most afraid of losing. You cannot turn this off.
Unlocks at Static 3
Leverage
+1 ongoing to Work Someone against anyone whose secret you learned this session. The knowledge sits in you badly.
Unlocks at Static 5
Agent of Record
You may negotiate directly with it. It files.

Dark secret

Which vessel did you flag that you shouldn't have, and what is still aboard her?

Bonds

I got ______ off a manifest and never told them what it cost.
______ is the only person I've never lied to. Yet.
Signal Bleed · the registrarForty minutes and a fee
The Operator
Harbour radio · watch
Playbook · Sheet 4 of 9

Channel 11 has a duty supervisor nobody has met. She is unfailingly helpful. You have been talking to her for nine years.

Name / call sign
Look
one ear always uncovered · dead man's jacket · listens to the wrong side of the room
Stats — suggested spread
EDGE
+1
WIRE
0
FACE
+1
VEIL
+2
Static — you start at 1
1
2
3
4
NO BTM

You begin play already able to use your first Static Move.

Harm
Winded Wounded Wasted
XP
Voices on the channel, and whose they were

Moves — take both

The Open Channel
You can Take a Sounding on anything that carried a person's voice — a handset, a black box, a chair in a watchroom somebody sat in for twenty years.
Second Watch
When you first enter a place, the GM tells you one thing about it that isn't visible.

Static moves

Unlocks at Static 1 — you have this now
Take It
When someone else would mark Static, you may take it instead. Describe what you pull out of them.
Unlocks at Static 3
Call and Answer
Once per session, put one direct question on the channel. It answers. It always answers.
Unlocks at Static 5
Station
You are the channel now.

Dark secret

Whose voice comes through most often, and what did you fail to do for them?

Bonds

______ doesn't believe me and I need them not to.
I have heard ______'s voice on the channel, and they are still alive.
Signal Bleed · the operatorIt always answers
The Diver
Saturation ticket · med.
Playbook · Sheet 5 of 9

They rebuilt you for a pressure the body was never meant to hold. You are grateful. That's the part that worries people.

Name
Look
visible ports and seams · joints that click · moves like it costs something
Stats — suggested spread
EDGE
+2
WIRE
+1
FACE
0
VEIL
+1
Static — soundings taken
1
2
3
4
NO BTM
Harm
Winded Wounded Wasted

Rated for Depth: trade Harm for Static freely — and take +1 forward when you do.

XP
Your gear — what it is, what it was for

Moves — take both

Rated for Depth
You may always trade Harm for Static, and when you do, take +1 forward.
Procedure
When you run the full procedure over a piece of equipment — checks, strip-down, the things you say while you do it — treat it as Take a Sounding, and you may do it twice in a scene.

Static moves

Unlocks at Static 1
The Body Wasn't Made for This
Ignore one Harm box permanently. Something in the rebuild takes over the job.
Unlocks at Static 3
Buddy Breathing
Clear all Harm from another person. You mark Static. They dream about you afterward.
Unlocks at Static 5
Saturation
You don't come up anymore.

Dark secret

Who was on the other end of your line, on the dive you don't talk about?

Bonds

______ has seen what the pressure did.
I am keeping ______ breathing with something I shouldn't have.
Signal Bleed · the diverRated to four thousand
The Inspector
Marine casualty · file
Playbook · Sheet 6 of 9

You determined a cause. You signed it. The wreck has not accepted your finding.

Name
Look
still dresses like it · one thing they never handed back · tired in a specific way
Stats — generalist, or swap to +2/+1/+1/0
EDGE
+1
WIRE
+1
FACE
+1
VEIL
+1
Static — soundings taken
1
2
3
4
NO BTM
Harm
Winded Wounded Wasted
XP
The first wreck — what you found, what you left out

Moves — take both

The Casualty File
You worked a wreck like this before. Once per session, state one thing you learned then. It's true now.
Pressure
When you question someone who is more afraid of you than of what they're hiding, take +1 to Work Someone. Judging that correctly is the hard part.

Static moves

Unlocks at Static 1
Under Observation
You always know when you're being watched. Now you also know by what.
Unlocks at Static 3
Reopen the Finding
Name a Clue the group discarded. It's back, and it means something else.
Unlocks at Static 5
Cause Determined
You finally understand the first wreck. You may not tell anyone.

Dark secret

What did you leave out of the report, and who countersigned it?

Bonds

I have a file on ______.
______ knows what I did and hasn't used it.
Signal Bleed · the inspectorFinding not accepted
The Salvage
Declared total loss · claim · settled
Playbook · Sheet 7 of 9

You went overboard on the eleventh. They paid out on the nineteenth. You walked up the wharf on the twenty-second.

Name
Look
correct but unconvincing · blinks on a schedule · the scar that didn't come back with you
Stats — suggested spread
EDGE
+1
WIRE
+1
FACE
0
VEIL
+2
Static — you start at 2
1
2
3
4
NO BTM

You are already halfway down. Play like someone who knows it.

Harm
Winded Wounded Wasted
XP
Things you remember that haven't happened

Moves — take both

Declared a Total Loss
The first time you'd be Wasted in a session, you aren't. You come to somewhere else, wrong. Mark Static.
The Interval
You remember things that haven't happened. Once per session, describe one, and the GM works it in.

Static moves

Unlocks at Static 1 — you have this now
Not All of Me Came Up
You may leave part of yourself somewhere. It keeps watching. You keep receiving.
Unlocks at Static 3
The Log of Those Days
Ask the GM what you were doing during the eleven days you were missing. They answer.
Unlocks at Static 5
Recovered
The right one surfaces this time.

Dark secret

Who filed the claim on you, and what did they ask you to do about it?

Bonds

______ was on the wharf when I came back.
______ treats me like I'm the same person. I let them.
Signal Bleed · the salvagePaid out on the nineteenth
The Watch
Tide Watch · Low Town ledger, vol.
Playbook · Sheet 8 of 9

Nobody was ever from here. Your family has been from here for a hundred and forty years anyway, and somebody has to keep the list.

Name
Look
work clothes and a good pen · known by everyone on the stairs · tired and unhurried
Stats — suggested spread
EDGE
+1
WIRE
0
FACE
+2
VEIL
+1
Static — soundings taken
1
2
3
4
NO BTM
Harm
Winded Wounded Wasted
XP
The list — what the neighbourhood needs doing this week
Cross one off instead of marking Static. It doesn't get done. Somebody notices.

Moves — take both

The Ledger
You keep the records the Administration lost. Once per session, state one fact about a person or place in Low Town or Windward. It's in the ledger, so it's true.
Phone Tree
When you need bodies, hands, or witnesses, say who you call. They come. The GM says what it costs them to come.

Static moves

Unlocks at Static 1
You Hold the Line
When you would mark Static, you may instead cross a task off the list — something the neighbourhood needed. It doesn't get done. This is unlimited, and it is not free.
Unlocks at Static 3
Everyone Shows Up
Clear all Harm from everyone present. Describe who came and what they brought.
Unlocks at Static 5
The Wall
You stop being a person and start being a place people go.

Dark secret

What did the Watch decide, that you carried out, that you have never told anyone?

Bonds

______ isn't from here and I vouched for them.
______ has been on my water list since before they could walk.
Signal Bleed · the watchSomebody has to keep the list

GM Screen

Signal Bleed · The Hours
Sheet 9 of 9 · v0.2
You do not know the answer either. Keep it that way.

Agenda

  • Make the chain feel used up and lived in.
  • Make the unknown genuinely unknown — including to you.
  • Be a fan of these people, right up until they're gone.
  • Play to find out what it costs them.

Principles

  • Ask questions and build on the answers.
  • Address the character, not the player.
  • Sensory detail over exposition. Never explain the Stand — describe what it does to a room.
  • Name every NPC and give them one want.
  • Never decide what's really happening. Decide what's strange.
  • Everything on the Hours was brought here by somebody, for money.
  • It is unfailingly polite. Every offer is generous.
  • The water comes from below. Nobody built a wall that helps.

Your moves

On a 6−, or whenever they look at you.

  • Reveal an unwelcome truth.
  • Show a sign of the Stand.
  • Take something away — a contact, a room, a record, a body part.
  • Put someone from Low Town in it.
  • Make an Offer.
  • Advance a company clock, and say how they noticed.
  • Have it be helpful. By name.
  • Announce off-screen badness — a ship, a shipment, a shift that didn't report.

Signs of the Stand (d6)

1Every clock in the room agrees, and all of them are wrong by the same amount.
2The surf stops. Not quietens — stops. For as long as it takes to notice.
3Standing water is tilted, very slightly, toward something.
4A count comes out at eleven when there are nine of you.
5Someone repeats, word for word, a thing you thought thirty seconds ago — and apologises.
6A door, a stair, a corridor that is on the plan and has never been there.

Symptoms (d6, on each Static mark)

1You are eleven minutes ahead of every clock on the island, and you can prove it.
2You've stopped hearing the surf. It's still there. Everyone else hears it.
3Standing water tilts slightly toward you.
4You know the name of the ninth hour. It hurts to hold.
5There's a day missing and you can feel the edge of it, like a seam.
6Someone at work has started calling you by a name nobody gave you, and correcting themselves, and doing it again.

Rolled a duplicate? It gets worse. Say how.

The five rings

You cannot advance a Ring until you've landed one Terror and one Temptation in it.

1 · NormalA job. Money, a client, a deadline. Exactly one detail is wrong, and nobody comments on it.
2 · First SignThe wrong detail isn't isolated. Something is repeating.
3 · EscalationPeople start lying to them specifically. Something is now being helpful.
4 · RevelationThe rules are visibly broken. Theorize usually happens here.
5 · DissolutionConsequences. Who is observed. What the Port doesn't remember by morning.

The clocks

The Bleed — six segments. The hour arriving at this location. Advance on a missed roll that touched the other side, a 7–9 choice that says so, a new Ring, or any hard move you want made visible. When it fills, it arrives. Not a monster — an event. Something becomes true that cannot be untrue.

The Aperture — eight segments, the season. Eight islands were named. The last three segments are the ones that were never on the chart. Advance when a case ends, when someone is observed, on a failed Theorize, and whenever the Tide Watch loses a record.

Writing clues

A Clue is a hole in the world, not a piece of a puzzle you've already solved. Eight to twelve per case, on cards, face up.

GOOD — The tower's water usage tripled after the last tenant left.

BAD — People are living in the flooded lobby. (explains itself)

GOOD — Her last transmission was logged four minutes after the vessel went down. It's a description of the vessel going down.

BAD — She could see the future. (that's a theory, not a clue)

Prep, twenty minutes maximum

  • A job — who's hiring, the deliverable, the deadline.
  • One wrong detail. Never explain it.
  • Four or five locations: a name, a smell, one person there.
  • Five to seven NPCs: name, want, secret. Two are lying about unrelated things.
  • Eight to twelve Clues on cards. Depth 3.
  • No solution. If you have one in your head, throw it out — you'll steer toward it.
Signal Bleed · gm screen · the hoursDecide what's strange, not what's true