WORK: THE OFFICE

OK, BOSS. Time to step in. Play something

loud and thumping while you set the
scene. Make us a killhouse with a few
dozen mooks. Drench it in blood and neon.
When it comes time to act, stop the music
abruptly.
KILLERS-When the BOSS stops the music,
slap the table. Whoever slaps first gives
out initiative to their killer friends.
This slap repeats every new breached
room. There are 2 combat phases: Move and
Roll. In Move Phase, your turn is 5
seconds in real time. The BOSS says
((Your name)) GO and turns the music
back on. He times you. You can do as many
moves as you have time to say during your
turn. Choke and hesitate and your
character does too so stay in it.
A Move Phase sounds like: I JUMP THE
DESK AND KILL AND GRAB HIS GUN AND AND
SHOOT THE OTHER or I JUMP OUT THE
WINDOW TURN AROUND AIM AT HIM
BANGBANGBANG or even if you're right in
front of a bunch of people KILL KILL
KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL. Just remember:
Use a little caution and use your team.
That guy screaming KILL better have good
MURDER because he needs to roll for ALL
of them and take ALL the penalties if he
fails. Every move gets its own roll.

The Killer with the most kills is ok.

Everyone else gets The Interview in The
Dark Room. The BOSS asks questions like:
What happened in there? What did you do?
Do you like hurting other people? Did you
pull your weight? Why should we keep you
around? Roll +COOL to lie. If the BOSS
says you flunk, they take you out back
and shoot you in the head. The guy with
the least kills is looking at a TOUGH
INTERVIEW. Anyone who killed or downed a
fellow Killer is going to have to talk
fast not to die in the doorway. Everyone
who lives goes into the next mission with
a new, extra HOOK. So now you have two.
You can have as many hooks as you can
live to collect.

BEFORE WORK: THE COMMUTE

Your KILLERS are driving to work, playing

cards, something. This is the last moment
of calm. Get in character. Play some
oldies on the radio. You all know each
other, or are at least familiar. Have a
conversation before the job. Talk about
anything except work. Foot massages;
tipping; family life.

After the move phase is the untimed Roll

Phase; the BOSS tells you what to roll
and the DC. Use d6. Add your stat to the
roll. Once per job you can use your HOOK
creatively to turn a FAILURE into a
SUCCESS, if you justify it. You're a vet
and the coke is flashing you back. This
guy looks like your wife's killer.
SUCCEED your roll and you do what you
wanted to do. If you killed, keep track
of it.
FAIL and something goes wrong. BOSS
decides. Maybe you flop over what you
wanted to vault, maybe you lose a weapon,
maybe you get shot. Maybe they SUPPRESS
you so you can't move and on your turn
everyone goes BANG BANG BANG BANG while
you're trying to talk. If you're hurt
bad, roll +COOL. This is called the
FUCK ROLL. The first time it's against a
2, then it goes up by 1 every time. Fail
and you can't act for the rest of the
room and you get -4 kills and you take -1
to everything next room. Fail 3 FUCK
ROLLS and you are DEAD. The FUCK ROLL
doesn't reset until the mission ends.
TO STOP YOUR FELLOW KILLER'S TURN, yell
NO! during his Move Phase, but ONLY IF
YOU GO AFTER THEM IN INITIATIVE. Roll for
it. You give up your turn this round and
can only try to stop them. You can NO!
a NO!. Only 1 NO per person per room.

HEY BOSS:

WEAPONS
Pick your weapon to start. Nothing fancy;
a fire axe, a knife, a bat or something.
It's not a gun unless you're a
professional. They fire as fast as you
can say Bang, but you have to say who
you aim at.
Weapons operate how they would IRL. The
BOSS uses his judgment. So a shotgun
blasts big holes in cover. A katana
slices more people than a pen-knife
would. Guns have different magazine
sizes, usually 6 to 12.
For automatic weapons you can go
Brrrrrrrrrrt and empty the clip. That
counts as 5 shots (resolved at random by
the BOSS) in a cone in front of you and
gives a +2 to SHOOT for ALL of them. Make
sure your friends aren't in the way.
There is no way to reload. Find a new
gun.

The roll phase is your kingdom. Bad guys

get no turn. They move when a Killer
fucks up, chokes, or when it makes sense
to (Are they ignoring the guy with the
fuckoff MG? Remind them. If everyone's
going NO they're vulnerable). Raise the
stakes, present a challenge, or use what
Vincent Baker calls a Hard Move, which
means just straight up hurt them and
demand a FUCK ROLL. Ever play Apocalypse
World? PLAY APOCALYPSE WORLD. If a killer
does something great with COOL or GO!,
give out +1 or a +2 bonuses on MURDER or
SHOOT. If you demand a reaction as a
result of a roll, you may want to resolve
it now instead of next move phase. When
deciding the DCs, be fast and use this
guide:A 1 anyone could do so don't even
call it.
A 2 takes a little skill. Vault a desk.
A 3 is something you train to do. Kill an
unprotected human.
A 4 is something cool. Shoot a guy thru
cover.
A 5 is badass. Kill a lot of guys with
one swing. Sprint thru a hail of bullets.
A 6 is superhuman. Break cuffs, spinning
backflip kick someone's head off.
Go above 6 at your discretion if it's
really nuts.

4.

Fuck Roll is:

3.

Ammo:

2.
1.

Hook:

AFTER WORK: THE INTERVIEW

Sometimes there are people you're not

supposed to kill. Weird, I know. We call
them Friendlies. If you kill them,
everyone gets -2 kills, unless you've got
voices in your head. Then you don't but
everyone ELSE does. You may want to
reduce that to a -1 in games with a lot
of friendlies. Some BOSSES will give more
kills at their discretion for fancy
executions. These BOSSES are SICK. Bad
guys don't have stats, but make them
memorable. You may want to plan rooms
ahead of time. BE QUICK.

STATS
Here are the kinds of things
you can do with your stats:
--MURDER: Slice, Hack,
Mutilate, Use the
environment to kill
--GO!: Haul ass, Quickdraw,
Take cover, Do a sick
stunt, Hide, Sneak, Avoid
pain
--SHOOT: Aim, Throw, Shoot,
Accurate killing
--COOL: Resist SUPPRESS,
Find a weapon, Think, Look
around, Take a hit, Lie
If you want to talk to them,
you're a pussy, but use
+COOL. Also it takes up real
time, so be fast.

Stats:
Name:
Write your name, stats, hook,
and whatever other shit here.

You are a professional. You can use 2

weapons at a time and can start with
GUNS.
You're on drugs or something. You get a
+1 to all FUCK ROLLS and failing gives
-2 kills.
There are voices in your head. Friendly
kills don't hurt your total and you can
kill barehanded.
You're a vigilante. Scream an insult or
taunt in Move Phase and get +1 to 1 roll
in Roll Phase.

Everyone has a +2,+1,0,-1 to assign. The

stats are MURDER, GO!, SHOOT, COOL. MURDER
is hurting people. GO! gets you places.
SHOOT is aiming and firing. COOL is keeping
your head. You have a mask. Describe it.
Write your name and stats and shit in the
margins or the last page, messily. Sketch
yourself. You are a badass psycho. Tell
everyone why. Are you a former boxer? An
ex-cop? Bionic legs? Murdered your family?
That's your HOOK. It makes you special.
Next pick one reason you like to kill.
CIRCLE IT.

KILLERS

They're inside! They have weapons! So do you!

Paint the walls! Kill!
ONE PLAYER IS BOSS. EVERYONE ELSE IS KILLERS.

THIS GAME

IS CALLED
MERCILESS.

HELL VICE