CREDITS

EDITOR: Smart Max Corporation Ltd

GAME DESIGN:
Cedric Lemitre, Christophe Madura
GRAPHIC DESIGN:
Jeremie Lhostis, Christophe Madura
GAME BOARD DESIGN:
Christophe Madura, Geoffrey Stepourenko
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Viktor Bauer,
Frederic Bisseux, Sebastien Boudaud, Allan
Carrasco, Murat Celebi, Gregory Clavilier,
Thomas David, Sophie Ehrsam, Gabriel
Feraud, Jacques-Alexandre Gillois, Yannick
Hennebo, Victor Martins, Thomas Michelin,
Stephane Nguyen, Guillaume Noblet,
Sebastien Picque, Edgar Skomorowski,
Rmy Tremblay, Romain Van Den Bogaert
RULE BOOK 5
 0
INTRODUCTION

A
s you open this booklet echoes a gloomy,
thirteenth stroke of midnight... And there
you are, transported to the year 1888, in
London!
No historian has ever dared to imagine the
Victorian capital the way she offers herself to your
gaze. Emanating night and day its nauseous breath
of coal, filth and cheap opium, London is a monstrous
creature that lives, breathes and feeds upon the bodies
and souls of her weakest inhabitants.
Fantastic setting of a ruthless struggle for power
7
between the bold aristocrats of the Club, the sinister
necromancers of the Cult, the genius Steamlords of the
Mechazylum, the vengeful freaks of the Pit, the exal-
ted gypsies of the Wheel, the mysterious Opiumancers
of the Dragon and the enigmatic emissaries of the
Embassy, London yearns for her sovereign. Since
the infamous assassination attempt in Buckingham
palace, she took refuge at Oberons court, leaving a
gaping hole in the all-mighty monarchy.
Enter the smog now and join the ranks of these
extraordinary Ladies and Gentlemen, intrepid enough
to challenge Londons nights...

This chapter will help you take your first steps

in Smog, the Thirteenth Hour. If youre already
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

familiar with miniature boardgames, you can

now skip to the next chapter (1. BASICS).

0 . 1 OVERVIEW
Smog, the Thirteenth Hour is a miniature board
game for two players or more set in the 1888
Victorian capital, the theatre of fierce fights
between the most extraordinary characters.
Characters of Smog, the Thirteenth Hour are
ideally materialized on the board by minia-
tures from the Smog, a Victorian Fantasy range
published by Smart Max. Each miniature from
Smart Max represents a fantastic character
from the Smog universe. For more information
8
about our little madnesses, visit www.smart-
maxstore.com
If Smog, the Thirteenth Hour is your first minia-
ture experience, imagine a weird chess game
where each piece is a unique character, with
dreadful fighting skills and likely to cast magic
spells. Each of these pieces is played turn after
turn, until a player claims victory.
More than a game, Smog, the Thirteenth Hour
is an open door on your own imagination. After
assimilating the rules, youll be able to create
your own original adventures as well as design
your own extraordinary Ladies and Gentlemen.
 INTR O D U C T I O N

0 . 2 GOAL
Most of the time, eliminating all of your oppo-
nents miniatures or a large proportion of them
will bring you victory. The scenarios proposed in
this booklet present different set-ups, including
variant rules and particular victory conditions.

0 . 3 O P E NING THE BOX

Smog, the Thirteenth Hour contains the following
materials:

8 Profile Sheets printed on playing cards

8 playing cards with 8 character silhouettes,
8player counters, 8 miscellaneous counters.
9
88 playing cards, called Action cards.
Theyre sorted into 3 types:
-- 36 Close Combat cards
-- 26 Marksmanship cards
-- 26 Ether cards
6 blank Profile Sheets printed on playing
cards
A full-colour map as an introductory game
board
The game box itself with an Initiative track
and a Hand track printed inside the lid.
This rule booklet
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

Profile sheets
Characters from Smog, the Thirteenth Hour have
individual proficiencies and abilities, summed
up on their Profile Sheet. Each character has his
dedicated sheet, where the following characteris-
tics are printed: Inspiration, Action Points, Life
Points, Close Combat, Marksmanship, Ether,
Talent and Prestige.
Jack Mk IV

Action point (AP)

3

6
Inspiration (INS)
10
7 100 4
TALENT
Clockwork Mekanism
Before the Main Phase ends, once all characters ac-
tivated, you can sacriice 3 of Jack Mk4's LP : he Close Combat (CC)
immediately takes 1 additional Active Phase.

Prestige Ether (ETH)

Life Points (LP) Marksmanship (MS)

Talent
 INTR O D U C T I O N

Character Silhouettes
For your convenience, to help you discover the
game immediately, some character silhouettes
are included in the box, replacing the necessary
miniatures to be used on the board. They are
marked with a little triangle pointing toward the
front of that character.

11

The eight characters playable with this box are:

Miss Ticklenott, an impetuous and intrepid

young Lady, always ready for adventure
(The Club).
Cornelius Fauchelevent, her skilled and faith-
ful but mysterious French butler (The Club).
Professor Sawbone, a renowned archaeo-
logist back from his long journey in Africa
(The Club).
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

M ister H onk , a particularly clever and

emancipated giant gorilla, with a certain
taste for fashion (The Club).
Jack Mk4, an automaton created by a mad
scientist and fan of entomology; a real abo-
mination (Mekazylum).
Doctor Proteus Treves, a misunderstood
genius, banished to the depths of the unde-
rworld (The Pit).
Divio Juckal, who made a horrible deal with
Mother Nature and became a bloodthirsty
werewolf (The Wheel).
Piotr Goodenough, mere shadow of himself,
a desperate zombie longing for conscious
past (The Cult).
12
Action cards
The 88 Action cards are the core of the game
system. The Action cards are used by players
to make their characters do things. They all
have 2 distinct parts, with 2 distinct names. The
upper part is the Action part, the lower one is
the Reaction part. There are 3 different types of
Action cards:

Close Combat cards, to attack & defend in

hand to hand combat.
Marksmanship cards, to fire ranged weapons
& dodge shots.
Ether cards, to cast or counter spells.
 INTR O D U C T I O N

Perfect Attack Perfect Fire Perfect Spell

Draw 1 CC card then play another Attack ; Draw 1 MS card then play another Fire ; Draw 1 ETH card then play another
opponent characters can parry neither opponent characters can dodge neither the Spell ; opponent characters can counter
the Perfect Attack nor the Attack played Perfect Fire not the Fire played directly neither the Perfect Spell nor the Spell
directly afterwards. afterwards. played directly afterwards.

Perfect Parry Perfect Dodge Perfect Counterspell

Your character parries the opponents Your character dodges the opponents Your character counters the opponents
attack. Draw 1 CC card. fire. Draw 1 MS card. spell. Draw 1 ETH card.

Close Combat Card Marksmanship Card Ether Card

The map
The play mat printed on the poster represents
the night view of a few dark streets in the White
Chapel district. Some building interiors are also
visible, as well as doors, windows and some
13
street lamps.

The Counters
At the beginning of the game, each player will
receive the 2 counters of his or her League.

The Lid
The 2 tracks printed inside the lid, where each
player will place a counter of his or her own side,
are the Initiative track, to know whose turn it is to
play, and the Hand track, to indicate how many
Action cards a player can have.
 1
BASICS

T
he previous chapter put you in contact
with the game and its features. Here
are the necessary concepts for unders-
tanding the game rules. They are defined in a
more technical language. Reading the rules
thoroughly in the indicated order will help you
assimilate them simply and easily.
Before starting a Smog game, players have to
select a Set-up that comes with its victory condi-
tions and special rules (Chapter 7).
Players then install the game and deploy their
15
forces on the board (Chapter 2). When playing
your first game, follow the instructions of The
Thirteen Strokes of Midnight.

The game is made of a succession of Game

Turns (Chapter 3). Each game turn has 3 phases:
first a Draw Phase (to get new cards), a Main
Phase divided itself into as many Active Phases
as there are miniatures (to fight!), and an End of
Turn phase (to manage some game effects).
During their Active Phase (Chapter 4), a cha-
racter will move, fight in hand to hand, shoot
with guns, cast spells, etc... by spending Action
Points.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

Attacking in close combat, firing with a gun or

casting a spell are actions solved with the Action
card system (Chapter 5). To defend themselves,
characters will too use these Action cards.
The rules presented in the booklet are desig-
ned for a 2 players game. Rules for 3 or 4 players
games slightly differ (Chapter 6).
At the end of these rules follow a FAQ section,
a Glossary and a Summary of the major game
elements on the back cover.

1 . 1 O F T HE CHARACTERS
Character: in Smog TTH, a character is a human
or inhuman entity, represented on the board by
16
a miniature whose abilities are summarized on
a Profile Sheet. During the characters Active
Phase, he or she is called the Active Character.

Miniature: a miniature represents a character of

the Smog universe. On the board, it occupies one
square and faces one of latters sides. A minia-
ture is placed on the board during the Approach
(2.3) and leaves the game when the character
it represents is eliminated, usually because the
character lost his or her last Life Point.

Profile: should they be a melancholic zombie,

a plenipotentiary from outer space, a young
and pretty Opiumancer or a psychopathic
 BASICS

Automaton, each Smog character is defined by

a set of numbers called Characteristics, has a
unique proficiency called Talent and a value
called Prestige that represents its overall power.
The whole of those parameters defines the pro-
file of a character. A characters profile is printed
on a Profile Sheet.

League: each player leads a group of characters

of his choice called his League. Smog TTH is desi-
gned to confront Leagues gathering up to half a
dozen characters.

CHARACTERISTICS
The characters of Smog have 6 characteris-
17
tics: Action Points (AP), Close Combat (CC),
Marksmanship (MS), Ether (ETH), Life Points
(LP) and Inspiration (INS). The characteristics
define each characters aptitude to face the dan-
gers of Londons nights.

The Action Points (AP): this characteristic tells

how many actions (movement, CC attack, spells,
etc...) a character can accomplish in a turn during
his or her Active Phase (3.2).

The Close Combat (CC): a character with such

a characteristic has weapons or physical abilities
that enable him or her to attack opponents in
hand to hand. A characters CC represents the
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

power of their blows, i.e. the amount of Life

Points an opponent character loses when hit in
Close Combat.

The Marksmanship (MS): a character with such

a characteristic has weapons or similar capabili-
ties that enable him or her to attack opponents
from a distance. A characters MS represents
the power of their shots, i.e. the amount of LP a
target character loses when hit by the characters
Fire.

The Ether (ETH): a character with such a cha-

racteristic possesses supernatural abilities to
heal wounds, pass through walls, suffocate their
18
enemies, summon fantastic creatures, etc... The
higher their ETH characteristic, the better the
character will both cast and counter Spells.
For aesthetic purposes, CC, MS and ETH values
of 0 are not noted on a profile sheet. So if theres a
little star printed on the Profile Sheet, it means the
character has a 0 in this slot. A character cannot
take an action if he has 0 in the related characteristic.

The Life Points (LP): this characteristic indicates

at any time the health level of a character. When
they lose their last LP, they are out of combat
and the miniature is removed from the game
board. A character can never have more LP than
his initial LP value.
 BASICS

The Inspiration (INS): the Inspiration cha-

racteristic determines the tactical possibilities
brought to his League by a character. By adding
up together all the INS characteristics of the cha-
racters of your League, you obtain the maximum
number of Action cards that you can have in
hand at any time.

THE TALENT
Each Smog character has a unique ability called
Talent. The effect and conditions of use of a
Talent is described on their Profile Sheet. The
Talent of a character allows him or her to do
things that no other character will ever be able
to do, so pay good attention to them!
19
THE PRESTIGE
The prestige represents the valour acquired by a
character during his or her adventures, battle after
battle and feat after feat. Characters with higher
Prestige are relatively more powerful than ones
with lower Prestige. Prestige values are essenti-
ally used before the battle while forming your
League. During a game, it is generally not used.

1. 2 O F T H E GAME BOARD
The game board represents the place where
the action occurs. Miniatures are deployed on
this board at the beginning of the game and
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

move around on it. They leave the board when

losing their last LP. The game board is divided
into squares.

Walls, doors, windows: most of the squares are

bordered with walls, doors and/or windows.
For aesthetic reasons, some of them do not seem
to extend to the whole length of a side. Still,
for game purposes, a wall, door or window
always extends completely over the border of
its square.

Orientation: a miniature on the board occupies

one and only one square at a time. Hence, two
miniatures cannot occupy the same square. The
20
front of the miniature must face one of the four
borders of its square, thus defining the minia-
tures orientation.

Contact Zone (CZ): the Contact Zone of a

miniature defines all the squares that a cha-
racter can potentially attack in Close Combat.
Every square that shares a common border with
a miniatures own square is in its CZ. But the
CZ does not extend through wall borders nor
window borders, still it does extend through
door borders.
 BASICS

Line of Fire: a Line of Fire between a firing cha-

racter and their target is necessary to be able to
attack from a distance with an MS card. The firer
must see his target.
Draw an imaginary line between the centre of
the square of the firer to the centre of the square
of his or her target; if this imaginary line does
not cut through any door or wall, then a Line
21
of Fire exists. It is possible to shoot through a
window: window square borders do not block
any Line of Fire.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

Miniatures do not block any Line of Fire either.

Friendly and opposing miniatures are ignored
when drawing a Line of Fire: in constant action,
characters offer no protection to the other cha-
racters that they could partially or totally hide.
When the shooter opens fire, they are considered
absent: only the firer, their target and the scenery
are taken into account.

Visual Field:A characters Visual Field contains

all the squares where he can potentially interact
with Ether cards.

A character in the Contact zone of any oppo-

nent has an extremely limited Visual Field,
22
reduced only to the characters in his own
Contact Zone.
A non-active character (a character whos
not being actually activated) has a Visual
Field that extends to the 180 in front of
him, and contains all the squares that can
be reached with Line of Vision. A Line of
Vision is exactly like a Line of Fire except
that it is not blocked by doors.
An active character (who is being actually
activated), if in no enemy Contact Zone, has
the same Visual Field as a non-active charac-
ter except its extended to 360.
 BASICS

1 . 3 O T H ER CONCEPTS
Each player has to keep in mind two very impor-
tant values that evolve during the game: they are
the Initiative and the Hand. To easily update
23
these numbers, each player uses his or her coun-
ters on the Initiative track and the Hand track.

Initiative: The Initiative is equal to the total

of AP characteristics of all the characters in a
League; only count APs of inactivated characters
still in play. The Initiative diminishes each time a
character ends his or her Active Phase.
The player with the highest Initiative is called
the Active player. During the Main Phase, the
Active Player activates one character of his or
her choice.

The privilege of experience: If both players

share the same Initiative at the beginning of the
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

game, the one born closer to 1888 become the

Active Player.
If both player share the same Initiative score
during the game, the Active Player remains the
same.

Hand: determined at the beginning of each game

turn, a players Hand is equal to the total of the
Inspiration characteristics of all the characters in
his or her League; only count characters still in
play at the beginning of a turn.
The Hand indicates the maximum number of
Action cards a player can have in hand, at any
time. Moreover, the Hand can never exceed 13
cards, and if during the game this limit number
24
should be overcome, the player should imme-
diately discard enough cards to get back to 13
cards in hand.

Counters
Counters are used to indicate the value of the
Initiative and the Hand on their track.

1 . 4 T H E I MPERIAL EDICT
Endowed with an iron will and extraordinary
powers, Smog characters are exceptional beings,
able to bend and break the rules by which
London commoners must abide.
 BASICS

When an Action card or a Profile Sheet

breaks a rule of this booklet, the effect of this
card or sheet always prevails.

Examples:
A character can normally be activated only once
per game turn (see Chapter 3 and 4). Still, when
Jack MkIVs Talent Clockwork Mekanism is
used, the player can activate his psychopathic
automaton a second time during the same turn!
A character with an MS score equal to 0 cannot
normally use MS cards to Fire at an enemy.
But with the help of the Queen of Hearts Ring
artefact, a character gains 1 in MS and thus can
attack from a distance!
25
A player cannot normally have more than 13
cards in hand. Thanks to the Fortune Telling
spell, he or she draws 4 cards and discards 2
(assuming the character casting that Spell has
2 in ETH), and then find themselves having 15
cards in hand. Yet, Fortune Telling does not
make a players Hand higher, so the player must
discards two more cards to come back to the nor-
mal maximum hand size of 13.
 2
GETTING STARTED

2 . 1 P R EPARATION

P
lace the game board between players
on a flat surface. Sort the Action cards
depending on their face: Close Combat,
Marksmanship and Ether. Make three separate
face-down decks with them: a CC deck, an MS
deck and an ETH deck. Leave some empty space
next to each deck for its discard pile.
Each player now takes the counters of his
27
League, one for the Hand track, another for the
Initiative track.

2 . 2 SET-UP
At this point, Players choose a Set-up, as defined
in Chapter 7. For your first game, The Thirteen
Strokes of Midnight is recommended, respecting
Her Royal Majestys choice: one player takes
the silhouettes of Miss Ticklenott and Mister
Honk, the other player takes Jack 4 and Piotr
Goodenough.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

2 . 3 T HE APPROACH
Players take their miniatures in front of them,
along with their Profile Sheets. Then they cal-
culate their Initiative to determine the Active
Player (it is the sum of all their characters AP)
and calculate their Hand (the sum of all their
characters Inspiration).
Before the first game turn, players must now
deploy their miniatures on the board:

The Active Player announces which charac-

ter he or she intends to deploy.
Then he or she draws as many cards as the
Inspiration of this character. he or she can
draw those cards from any deck, but must
28
first announce how many cards he or she
wants do draw from which deck.
He or she places then the chosen character
on the board in an empty square of their own
deployment zone, as defined in the set-up.
Finally, he or she diminishes their Initiative
score by as many points as the PA value of the
character just placed on the board, and moves
his or her Initiative counter down the track.

Now an Initiative change is checked, and the Active

Player will repeat the above steps. Remember that
the Active Player changes when their Initiative gets
lower than his or her opponents.
 GETTI N G S TA RT E D

Example:
Thomas and Alice begin a Smog game that takes place
around Mad Hatters Park. Thomas has an Initiative
score of 23 and Alice 17. So Thomas goes first and
decides to deploy Proteus Treves.
This character has an Inspiration value of 3, so
Thomas can draw 3 cards; he announces his inten-
tion to draw 1 Ether card and 2 MS cards then draws
them. Proteus Treves has 6 AP, so he places the
monstrous doctor of the Pit in his deployment zone
and reduces his Initiative score by 6 points, moving
accordingly his Initiative counter on the track.
Now Thomas and Alice both have an Initiative
score of 17, so Thomas is deploying the next minia-
ture on the board. If Proteus Treves had had 7 AP,
29
the Thomas Initiative would have dropped to 16, thus
letting Alice become the Active Player and deploy her
own first miniature.
 3
GAME TURNS

A
Smog game is structured in game turns.
After the Approach ends, game turns
will follow one another. During each
game turn, players will draw new Action cards,
move all their characters and make them fight.
Once a turn ends, a new one begins.
At the beginning of the turn, before doing
anything else, players update their Initiative and
Hand scores. Each player adds up the AP value
of his or her characters still on the board and
adjusts the counter on the Initiative track. In the
31
same way, each player adds up the Inspiration
value of all his or her characters still on the
board and adjusts the counter on the Hand track.
Then the game turn is split up into 3 Phases as
follows:

First the Draw Phase is resolved; players get

rid of the cards they do not wish to keep in
hand then draw new cards.
During the Main Phase, Active Phases fol-
low one another during which players can
move their characters and make them fight,
shoot and cast spells.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

Finally, an End of Turn phase takes place;

some persistent effects are resolved and
players check if victory conditions are met.

3 . 1 D RAW PHASE
During this game phase, players draw the
Action cards they will use during the Main
Phase. Starting with the player with the lowest
Initiative score, each player follows these steps:

First of all, the player can discard up to 3

cards from his or her hand.
Then he or she declares how many CC cards
he or she wishes to draw, and draw those
32
cards but cannot look at them yet.
Then he or she does the same thing with the
MS cards, announcing how many he or she
wants to draw and drawing them without
looking at them either.
He or she does the same again with Ether
cards.
Finally, he or she looks at their cards.
At no point during the Draw Phase a player
can have more cards in his or her hand than
their Hand score indicated on the Hand track.

Skip the Draw Phase of the first game turn,

players already have in their hands the cards
they drew during the Approach.
 GAM E T U R N S

A soon as a deck is empty, the discard pile of this

deck is shuffled and a new deck is thus built. If it
does not contain enough cards, the player draws
cards until the deck is empty, then the discard
pile is shuffled into a new deck and the player
draws the cards he or she misses.

Example:
At the beginning of the 2nd turn, Lena has the lowest
Initiative score, shes not the Active Player. Her cha-
racters give her a Hand score of 12. Her League is
made of a bully, two characters with ranged weapons
and two Etheromancers.
She has 4 cards left in hand, and decides to get rid
of 2 of her Fire cards that she estimates to be inappro-
33
priate to the tactical situation, leaving her 2 cards in
hand: she can now draw a maximum of 10 cards. One
of her distance fighters being engaged in close combat,
she announces her intention to draw 5 CC cards, 2
MS cards and 3 ETH cards. Lena then draws those
cards, for a total of 12 cards in hands; her maximum.
With a higher Initiative, it is now her opponents
time to draw cards.

3 . 2 M AIN PHASE
The Main Phase is made of many Active Phases
following one another. The Active Player (the
one with the highest Initiative score) plays the
first Active Phase.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

The Active Player designates one of his or her

characters: that character becomes the Active
Character. Once chosen, the Active Character
takes an Active Phase, during which his or her
AP are spent to move, attack, fire or cast spells.

Each character can only take one Active Phase

per game turn.

Once the Active Phase of a character ends,

the Initiative of the Active Player is reduced by
a number of points equal to the AP value of the
character he or she just activated, moving down
the counter on the Initiative track. The player
with the highest Initiative becomes (or stays) the
34
Active Player and a new character becomes the
Active Character.
Active Phases follow one another until every
character in play has been activated once. The
Main Phase then ends.

3 . 3 E ND OF TURN
This short game phase concludes the game turn.
Its purpose is to resolve any persistent effects
generated during the Main Phase and check
victory conditions.

Resolution step: some cards or character s

Talents may have over time effects. These per-
 GAM E T U R N S

sistent effects are indicated with the card being

placed as a reminder next to the affected charac-
ters sheet.
During the resolution step, the Active Player
applies the eventual persistent effects generated
by his or her own characters one by one, remo-
ving the reminder cards and putting them in the
appropriate discard pile if necessary. Then the
other player repeats the same procedure with his
or her own persistent effects.

Examples:
1. Miss Ticklenott is armed with a mysterious gun
that spits a corrosive substance. When she wounds
an opponent from a distance with a Fire, the MS
35
card is placed on the victims Profile Sheet as a
reminder. During the Resolution step, that cha-
racter loses 1 LP unless his or her player discards
an ETH card. The MS card used as a reminder is
then put in the MS decks discard pile.

2. During her Active Phase, Liminatsa Bls could

successfully cast the Opiate Torpor spell on
opposing Sergeant Hyde, diminishing his AP
characteristic for the duration of the turn. As a
reminder, the ETH card was placed next to the
victims character sheet. At the End of Turn, the
reminder ETH card is put back in the appropriate
discard pile and the effect of the Spell stops.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

3. Major Dreadful ran out of ammunition while

firing with his gun. The Empty! card was
placed next to his character sheet as a reminder.
This effect is permanent, so it is not removed
during the Resolution step.

Victory step: if a player is in position to claim

victory as indicated in the Set-up, he or she can
do it now and at no other moment. If nobody has
won yet, the End of Turn ends.
Once the Resolution and Victory steps taken,
the game turn ends and a new one starts.

36
 4
ACTIVE PHASES

D
his or her Active Phase, a character
uring
can spend as many Action Points as its
AP characteristic. Each action costs a
certain amount of AP:

Move action (4.1) 1 PA

Close Combat action (4.2) 1 PA
Fire action (4.3) 1 PA
Clear action (4.4) 3 PA
Reload action (4.5) 1 PA
Ether action (4.6) 1 PA
37
Except for the Move action that can be taken as
many times as the characters AP allow him or
her to, a character can take each of those actions
only once per turn.

Once all their Action Points spent or whenever

the Active Player wishes, the Active Phase of the
character ends.

4 . 1 M O VE ACTION
Subtle tactical moves to take advantage of the sur-
roundings are of vital importance for those who aspire
to survive Londons turbulent nights.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

All characters are able to move. Moving costs

1 AP but does not necessitate spending Action
cards. A character can only move in one of the
8 squares around him, adjacent or diagonally.
During his or her Active Phase, a character can
take as many Move actions as his or her AP
allow.
Furthermore, a character can pass diagonally
between two characters of his or her League
or between a character of his or her League
and some terrain feature (a wall or a doorstep for
example), or between a character of his or her
League and an opponent character. It is also
possible to move between two squares separated
by a door.
38
However, a character cannot pass diagonally
between two opponent characters nor between
an opponent character and a terrain feature. It
is also impossible to move between two squares
separated by a wall or a window.

4.1.1 Engagement
The engagement is a move into an opponents
Contact Zone that allows to engage him or her
in Close Combat. That move is only possible if
the Active Player has at least one CC card left
in hand and if the character will have at least 1
AP left after his or her move. The Active Player
must spend this characters next AP to play a CC
 ACTI V E P H A S E S

card and attack one of the opponents he or she

engaged with.
When engaged by an opponent, a character
must immediately be reoriented to face the new-
comer, except if he or she is already engaged in
Close Combat.

Entering CZ without engagement: a character

can move into a square in opposing Contact
Zone(s) without having to do an engagement.
To do so, before the character moves, the Active
Player must discard one CC card. Then, when
entering the square, no opposing character will
be turned to face the newcomer, as there is no
engagement.
39
4.1.2 Disengagement
The disengagement is a move out of a close
combat, to leave the opponents Contact Zone(s).
When announcing a disengagement, the Active
Player discards one CC card per opponent his or
her character is engaged with, then moves the
miniature. Disengagement cannot be used to
directly enter an opposing Contact Zone again:
the disengaged character must first move to a
square out of opponents CZ.
Once the Active Character is disengaged, the
character(s) he or she was engaged in CC with
can be reoriented by their player(s). They have to
face an adjacent opponent if there are any.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

If the Active Character cannot be moved, he

or she is considered cornered. That character
cannot disengage. A character is cornered when
hes totally surrounded by walls, windows,
miniatures or board edges.

4.1.3 Orientation
During a Move action, as long as the Active
Character is not engaged in Close Combat, he or
she can be reoriented by his or her player.

4 . 2 C L O S E COMBAT ACTION
Very few are the foolhardy that wander around White
Chapel at night without a strong cane or a well shar-
40
pened blade.

For 1 AP, a character can take a unique CC

action during his or her Active Phase. To do so,
the Active Character must be engaged in Close
Combat and the Active Player must have at least
one CC card in hand. When such conditions are
fulfilled, the Active Player can play a CC card.
A character with a CC value equal to 0 cannot
take any CC action.
There are two types of Close Combat: the duel
and the mle.

A duel is a Close Combat between only

two characters. Their miniatures are in each
 ACTI V E P H A S E S

others Contact Zone, and face each other.

If a character engaged in a duel is removed
from play, his or her opponent can immedia-
tely be reoriented.
The mle is a Close Combat between a cha-
racter and at least 2 opponents. The minia-
ture of the former is in the Contact Zone of
both his or her opponents, and face one of
them. The opposing miniatures are all facing
him or her.

When an Active Character with numerical

advantage in a mle attacks with a CC action,
he or she can play any CC card and yet consider
that it is a High, Straight or Low Attack, whate-
41
ver the text on the card.

Whatever the orientation of a miniature in a

mle, a character can attack the character of his
choice amongst those in his or her Contact Zone.
Such a character engaged in a mle is immedia-
tely reoriented to face another opponent if the
character in front of him is removed from play.

Example:
Allans Baron Mantes and Little Alice characters both
are in Close Combat with Victors Canopic Beast.
Allan becomes the Active Player, and he knows that
only a head wound can defeat the monstrous zombie-
crocodile because of its Sacred Pin Talent. Allan
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

only has Straight and Low Attacks in hand, but he

still can attack to the head with a High Attack due to
his numerical advantage. Allan thus plays a Straight
Attack announcing that it is a High Attack. If Victor
wants to save his Canopic Beast, he must now parry
this High Attack.

4 . 3 F IRE ACTION
Even though prohibited, firearms are very popular.
Amongst the weirdest and rarest ones, those using
Ether are particularly sought-after... at least by those
who can afford them!

For 1 AP, a character can take a unique Fire

42
action during his or her Active Phase. To do so,
the Active Character must have Line of Fire to
his or her target and the Active Player must have
at least one MS card in hand. In these conditions,
the Active Player can play a MS card.
A Character with an MS value equal to 0 can-
not take any Fire action.
A character engaged in Close Combat cannot
take a Fire action either.
Deadly but unreliable, ranged weapons
remain basic and often experimental, so it is
not rare that they stop functioning or run out of
ammunition in the heart of battle. When his or
her weapon is Jammed or Out of Ammunition,
the MS characteristic of a character is reduced to
 ACTI V E P H A S E S

0, thus preventing him or her from shooting with

a Fire action.

Firing at a character engaged in close combat:

Smog characters are Ladies and Gentlemen who
never use their ranged weapons toward allied
characters engaged in Close Combat. Taking a
Fire action against a character engaged in duel
or in a mle with a character of your League is
forbidden.

4 . 4 C L EAR ACTION
Clearing a jammed weapon costs 3 AP and
requires that the Active Player discards 1 MS
43
card. The reminder Malfunction MS card is
then removed from the profile sheet and goes
to the MS deck discard pile. The character s
weapon now functions normally again, he or
she recovers his MS characteristic, and can take
a Fire action if he or she did not already this turn.
Clearing a jammed weapon is not a Fire action.
A character cannot clear a Jammed weapon
more than once per turn.

4 . 5 R E L OAD ACTION
Reloading a weapon costs 1 AP and requires
that the Active Player discards 1 MS card. The
reminder Empty! MS card is then removed
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

from the profile sheet and goes to the MS deck

discard pile. The characters weapon now func-
tions normally again, he or she recovers his MS
characteristic, and can take a Fire action if he or
she did not already this turn. Reloading a wea-
pon is not a Fire action.
A character cannot reload a weapon Out of
Ammunition more than once per turn.

4 . 6 E T HER ACTION
Ether mastery is a rare gift. That is, on the surface,
because flaunting such dispositions has a tendency to
drastically shorten your life line. Especially if youre
not as good as you pretend to be...
44
For 1 AP, a character can take a unique Ether
action during his or her Active Phase. To do so,
the Active Character must chose a target in his or
her Visual Field and the Active Player must have
at least one ETH card in hand. In these condi-
tions, the Active Player can play an ETH card.
Etheromancers can target themselves with
Spells.
A Character with an ETH value equal to 0
cannot take any Ether action.
 5
ACTION CARDS

A
ction cards are the core of Smogs com-
bat system.

5 . 0 T H E A C TION-REACTION
P R INCIPLE
Action cards are almost exclusively used when
a character performs a CC action, a Fire action
or an Ether action. Each card is divided in two
45
parts: an action part (Attack, Fire or Spell) on the
upper half of the card and a reaction part (Parry,
Dodge or Counterspell) on its lower part.
The action part is played by the Active Player,
whose character has to spend 1 AP to take an
action as we have seen in the precedent chap-
ter. But the reaction part can be played by both
active and inactive players, as an answer to an
opponents action or reaction; a reaction does not
cost any AP to be played.
Action cards can be played one after another
until no player wants to play any more, and are
then resolved according to the cards.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

5 . 1 CC CARDS
CC action: when a character takes a Close
Combat action, the Active Player plays a CC
card. The upper half of the card indicates where
the Attack is located (High to the head, Straight
to the chest or Low to the legs).
The opposing character can defend: his or
her player then plays a CC card as an answer
to the Attack. He or she plays the reaction part
of the card (lower half), which has to indicate
the corresponding High, Straight or Low Parry
location. If he or she does, the Attack is Parried,
causing no LP loss.
If the opposing character doesnt defend,
either because he or she can not or does not want
46
to, the attacked character loses an amount of LP
equal to the attackers CC value.

Riposte: the riposte is a particular reaction that

follows an opponents Attack. Some CC cards
allow a riposte in their reaction part.
A riposte has a double effect: first it is an effec-
tive defence that can Parry (High, Straight or
Low as indicated on the card) an Attack; second,
it allows an Attack in return! As it is an Attack,
the Active Player can defend too, and play
a CC card using the reaction half. If he or she
also plays a riposte, then the opposing riposte
is parried and a new Attack is launched. That
 ACTI O N C A R D S

succession of ripostes has no other limit that the

available cards in the players hands.

Counter-attack: the Counter-attack is a particu-

lar reaction that follows an opponents Attack.
Some Action cards allow a Counter-attack in
their reaction half.
Attempting a Counter-attack is risky, as a
defender trying to Counter-attack will do an
Attack before the original Attack of the Active
Player is resolved. If the Counter-attack is not
Parried, then the first Attack will be, but if the
Counter-attack is Parried, then the original
Attack will not! As for ripostes, it is also pos-
sible to try a Counter-attack against a Counter-
47
attack. As long as players have cards to play and
Counter-attack, they can play them in reaction
to one another.
As soon as a Counter-attack is parried, the
preceding attack is not, causing the character
that tried to Counter-attack to lose LP.

Example:
File X spends 1 PA to attack Mekali and plays a
Straight Attack.
Mekali answers with a Counter-Attack (a High
Attack in reaction) on File X. For now, File Xs
Attack is not resolved.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

File X gets a chance to defend and he too answers

with a Counter-Attack! Thus neither the first Straight
Attack nor Mekalis High Attack are yet resolved.
Mekali then plays a High Parry & Riposte.

The first effect of this defence is to Parry File

Xs Counter-attack. As a consequence, Mekalis
Counter-attack played before is not parried, and
File X loses an amount of LP equal to Mekalis
CC characteristic. As Mekalis Counter-Attack
was not parried, the initial Straight Attack
played by File X at the beginning is now parried!
The second effect of Mekalis High Parry &
Riposte is a High Attack against File X. And
the latter doesnt have the appropriate Parry! He
48
loses again an amount of LPs equal to Mekalis
CC characteristic.

This example shows clearly that there is a risk in

each attack, and that Attacks dealt in reaction can
be extremely dangerous: File X has been hit twice by
Mekali yet the former was the Active Character!

Some CC cards generate other specific effects

beyond Attack, Parry, Riposte and Counter-
attack. These additional effects are directly des-
cribed on the cards.
 ACTI O N C A R D S

5 . 2 MS CARDS
Fire action: when a character takes a Fire action,
the Active Player plays an MS card. The upper
half of the card is used, indicating the range of
the Fire. This range must be superior or equal
to the distance between the firer and his or her
target.
The targeted character can avoid the ranged
attack: his or her player plays a MS card in
answer to the Fire card, but uses the reaction
part (lower half) which indicates if the Fire is
Dodged or not.

If the Fire is Dodged, the target does not lose

any LPs and the Active Phase continues.
49
If the Fire is not Dodged, the target loses as
many LPs as the firers MS value.

Extended range: if a target is particularly far,

the firer can extend the range of his or her Fire:
the Active Player discards as many MS cards as
he or she wants, adding up their range value to
the original MS cards range. Only the range of
these additional MS cards is used, no text nor
any other effect applies.

Some MS cards generate other specific effects

beyond actually hitting the target or avoiding a
Fire with a Dodge. These additional effects are
directly described on the cards.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

5 . 3 ETH CARDS
Ether action: when a character takes an Ether
action, the Active Player plays an ETH card. The
upper half is used, describing the effect of the
Spell. Each Spell is particular and its effects are
detailed on the ETH card itself.
An opposing character who has the original
Spell caster in his or her Visual Field can try to
weave a Counterspell: the player attempting
the Counterspell then plays an ETH card as an
answer to the Spell, but uses the reaction part
of the card (lower half) which indicates if the
opponents spell is Countered or not.

If the Spell is Countered, nothing happens

50
and the Active Phase continues.
If the Spell is not Countered, then the effect
of the spell is applied, as described on the
ETH card.

Ether mastery: if the ETH characteristic of the

designated character to attempt the Counterspell
is strictly inferior to the ETH of the Spell caster,
the Counterspell must be reinforced; the player
of the character attempting the Counterspell
must discard 1 ETH card per point of difference
between the ETH values of the Spell caster and
Counterspell weaver.
If a player doesnt have a Counterspell in
hand OR if confronted with a stronger opponent
 ACTI O N C A R D S

he or she cant reinforce the Counterspell OR if

no character has the original Spell caster in their
Visual Field, then no Counterspell is weaved and
the Spell effects are applied.

Example:
Victors Ambassador Nail attempts to suffocate
Marks Mei Leung with a Deadly Curls of Smog
Spell.
Mei Leung has Ambassador Nail in her Visual
Field. Mark plays Objection but the Ambassador
(ETH 2) is more powerful than the young and pretty
Opiumancer (ETH 1). Mark then discards 1 ETH
card (2 - 1 = 1) to reinforce her Counterspell, foiling
the mysterious Plenipotentiarys Spell.
51
Artefacts
Some ETH cards have an Artefact in their reac-
tion half. An artefact is generally an item created
by Etheromancers, like a potion, an elixir an
amulet, a talisman, a sacred weapon, a little
Automaton... Even if present in the reaction part
of the ETH card, playing an artefact counts as
an Ether action and costs 1 AP. Nonetheless,
Artefacts cannot be Countered as they are not
Spells.
All characters can play artefacts, even those
with an ETH value of 0. Once an Artefact is
played, the ETH card is placed next to the Profile
Sheet of the Active Character.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

Examples:
1. Liz plays the Elixir of the Faeries on her Divio
Juckal. The impetuous lycanthrope spends 1 AP
then places the Artefact card next to his Profile
Sheet. The Artefact has a negative effect as long
as it is in play (-1 to Divios Inspiration) but Liz
knows that henceforth, she can sacrifice it anytime
and send the card to the ETH deck discard pile,
allowing the werewolf to regain 3 LP.

2. Lena plays the Queen of Hearts Ring on her

Cornelius Fauchelevent. Miss Ticklenotts faithful
butler spends 1 AP and Lena places the Artefact
card next to Cornelius Profile Sheet. The MS
value of her character immediately increases by 1
52
point. Lena can choose to discard the ring at any
time restoring Cornelius original MS characte-
ristic and allowing her to draw one card from the
MS deck.
 6
3 AND 4 PLAYER RULES
Privilege of experience: during 3 or 4 player
games, rules are the same, except that occasio-
nally, multiple players might be eligible to do the
same thing at the same time. In these situations,
the privilege of experience (see 1.3) applies
and the oldest of the tied player decides who
goes first.

Example
John, Paul, George and Ringo are playing a Smog
game. During the approach, John, Paul and George
53
both have an Initiative score of 31, Ringo has only
29. Because hes born in 1940 before Paul and George,
John decides that he will go first and place his Jaybee
the Ripper (AP 4) on the board, diminishing his ini-
tiative to 27 on the Initiative track. Paul and George
are still tied, so the privilege of experience applies
again and Paul (Born 1942, George is born 1943)
decides that George will place a miniature on the
board. He couldnt have chosen John or Ringo because
theyre not Initiative-tied with him.

Firing at a character engaged in close combat:

Remember this rule (4.3)? Well, Smog characters
are really Ladies and Gentlemen, so no character
is allowed to Fire at a target if the latter is enga-
ged in close combat, regardless of the adversary.
 7
SET-UPS

7 . 0 S E T- UP SPECIFICS

A
llset-ups are based on the following
model:

SET-UP NAME
Synopsis: a short introduction to define the
atmosphere.
55
Assembling a League: here is indicated how
many Prestige points players are granted to
choose their characters and build their League.
Her Royal Majestys choice is the recom-
mended exact list of characters that players should
use for their first games; their Profile Sheets and
silhouettes are included in the game box.

Deployment area: with or without the help of

a little plan of the introductory map, here are
described the squares allowed for deployment
during the approach.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

Victory conditions: here is explained the objec-

tive of the game.

Special rules: some set-ups include special rules

that affect the whole game.

7 . 1 T HE THIRTEEN
S T R O K E S OF MIDNIGHT
Synopsis: when you wander by night too far and too
deep into the White Chapel district, when the smog
is thicker than a blood pudding, when your thoughts
are blurred by the toxic capital, you never know who
you will meet at the next corner... upon the thirteenth
56
stroke of midnight.

Assembling a League: players agree on a

Prestige limit and build secretly their League.
No one can have more than six characters nor
less than two. Two hundred is a fair Prestige
limit for this set-up.
Her Royal Majestys choice: Miss Ticklenott
and Mister Honk, opposed to Jack 4 and Piotr
Goodenough, whos talent is active as long as
Jack Mk4 is alive even though there are no other
Cult members on his side. Note that the good
guys get the benefit of the League bonus of The
Club, and no one gets any High Prestige draw-
 S E T- U P S

back, as the two opposing sides are worth the

same amount of Prestige Points.

Deployment area: the deployment area of a

player is made of all the squares on one border
of the map except the two in each corner. His
opponent follows the same rule but on the oppo-
site side of the map. The first player to place a
miniature on the map during the approach
determines which map border is his or hers, thus
the opposed border is his or her opponents.

Victory conditions: eliminate at least half of the

Prestige value of the opposing League to claim
victory. If both players are in position to claim
57
victory at the end of a turn during the Victory
Step, then the player with the highest Prestige
value League on the board wins. In case of a tie,
the privilege of experience rule applies.

Special rules: no special rules for this set-up.

Instead, here are the possibilities of a game
variant with 3 or 4 players. Only the deployment
area will differ, as indicated on the plan (ABC for
3 players, 1234 for 4 players).
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

7 . 2 THE THRILL
O F THE HUNT
58
Synopsis: it is crucial to capture an old enemy. He is
a key figure who has the information you absolutely
need! It is not time to get a blind revenge or payback.
Something big, something awful and ugly has already
started, and you want it to stop!

Assembling a League: one player is the hunted

and chooses 1 miniature. The opponent is the
hunter and can choose as many miniatures as
he or she wants with a total Prestige value of 3
times his opponents.
Her Royal Majestys choice: Divio Juckal
is hunted by Miss Ticklenott, Cornelius
Fauchelevent and Mister Honk.
 S E T- U P S

Deployment area: the hunted player can place

his miniature in any square on one of the two
short borders of the map. The hunter places his
or her miniature in any squares on the opposing
border.

Victory conditions: the hunted wins if he can

escape or if he kills all the hunters characters.
The hunter wins by capturing the hunted.

Special rules:
Bad situation: the hunted player must place
his or her miniature first during the approach,
even though hes very unlikely to be the
Active Player at the beginning of the game.
59
Capture: the hunters are trying to capture
their prey alive, so each time damage is
inflicted to the hunted character its reduced
to 1 LP loss no matter the conditions. When
the hunted should lose his last LP, his AP is
permanently diminished by one point ins-
tead. If the hunted has no more AP to lose
that way, he is instantly captured and the
hunter wins.
Escaping the herd: in order to escape, the
hunted character must be standing in a
square adjacent to the border of the map
at the opposite side from where he or she
began the game. If in such a position during
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

the Victory step, he or she escapes and the

hunted player wins the game.

7 .3 T R A P P ED BY THE SPIRITS
Synopsis: it was probably not such a good idea to have
a little spiritual experience around the Ouija board...
at White Chapel in the middle of the night! Some trea-
cherous spirit warned the enemies, and now theyre
waiting for you hidden in the smog.

Assembling a League: one player is surrounded

and chooses 1 or 2 miniatures to assemble his
or her League. The opponent then chooses any
number of miniatures for twice the total Prestige
60
value of the surrounded opponents.
Her Royal Majestys choice: Professor
Sawbone and Mister Honk are trying to survive
from Jack Mk4, Divio Juckal and Doctor Proteus
Treves.

Deployment area: the surrounded characters

must be deployed in squares leaving at least 3
empty squares from the border of the map. The
opponent can deploy his or her characters in any
square on the border of the map. No character
can be deployed with a Line of Fire to an oppo-
sing miniature nor less than three squares away
from any opponent.
 S E T- U P S

Victory conditions: if during the victory step of

the fourth turn there is still a surrounded charac-
ter alive, the surrounded player wins the game.
If all surrounded characters are eliminated
before that, then the opponent wins the game.

Special rules: no special rules for this set-up.

7 . 4 T H E ASSAULT
Synopsis: this is too much! Now its time for a final
clash. Everyone grabs their best weapon and gets
ready for the fight, because there is only one way to
find out who will dominate the White Chapel district,
and you dont want to be on the losing side.
61
Assembling a League: players secretly assemble
a League of 4 to 8 characters with a total Prestige
value of between 200 and 300. Players can agree
on a higher range for total Prestige value (for
example 400 to 500), though over 500 Prestige
value Leagues might lead to a long and encum-
bered game.
Her Royal Majestys choice: All 4 Club cha-
racters against all the other 4 characters.

Deployment area: the first player to deploy a

character during the approach chooses a border
of the map and can place his or her miniature on
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

any square on that border. The opponent must

deploy on the opposite border squares.

Victory conditions: players only win by totally

annihilating their enemies. When only one
players miniatures remain on the board, then
he or she wins the game.

Special rules:
Traitor! (optional rule): before assembling
their League, players can agree that there
might be a traitor on one side. After players
reveal their League to each other, the player
with the higher Prestige value is betrayed
by one of his or her own characters! The
62
Approach is then played normally but
before the first turn begins, the betrayed
player proposes two of his miniatures and
his opponent chooses one of them as the
traitor. That character then becomes part of
the other League.

Her Royal Majestys choice: Piotr Goodenough

becomes the traitor.
 S E T- U P S

7 . 5 H I G H PRESTIGE
D R AWBACK
In addition to the set-up rules, if players Leagues
have different Prestige value at the beginning
of the game, these modifications apply for the
remainder of the game:

During a 2, 3 or 4 player game, a player

with the least Prestige value augments his
or her Hand by 2 points, with an effective
maximum of 15.
During a 3 or 4 player game, the player(s)
whose League are of a lesser Prestige value
than the player(s) with the highest Prestige
63
value have their Hand score augmented by 1
point, to a maximum of 14. This rule doesnt
cumulate with the precedent one.

Whatever the conditions, if all players Leagues

have the same Prestige value, the Hand size is
not modified.
 GAME SUMMARY

SET-UP
Choose a scenario
Check special rules and victory conditions
Assemble a League

A PPROACH
First calculate Hand and Initiative (place coun-
ters on tracks) then

Highest Initiative League chooses 1 miniature

Place miniature on deployment area
Announce types and draw cards equal to
characters INS
Move down Initiative counter on track
Check for Initiative change
Repeat until every miniature is deployed.

G AME TURN
First Calculate hand and Initiative (except turn 1)

Draw Phase (reversed Initiative order)

Discards up to 3 cards
 Announce and blind draw CC cards
Announce and blind draw MS cards
Announce and blind draw ETH cards
Look at drawn cards

Main Phase / Active Phases

Highest Initiative League chooses 1
miniature
Activate chosen miniature
Move down Initiative counter on track
Check for Initiative change
Repeat until every miniature is deployed.

End of Turn
Resolve persistent effects / Remove remin-
der cards
Check victory

A CTIONS
Move action 1 PA Unlimited
Close Combat action 1 PA Once per turn
Fire action 1 PA Once per turn
Clear action 3 PA Once per turn
Reload action 1 PA Once per turn
Ether action 1 PA Once per turn
 F.A.Q.
CC cards specify Attacks and Parries to the head,
chest or legs, is it different from High, Straight or
Low Attacks?
No. A High Attack aims the head, a Straight
Attack the chest and a Low Attack the legs.

The Enraged Riposte specifies that the oppo-

nents Attack is not parried, but the rules says
that a riposte is first a Parry then an Attack. Does
this card allows me a parry anyway?
No. As indicated in the Imperial Edict, when
67
a card rule contradicts the basic rule, the card
rule always apply. When playing the Enraged
riposte, your character does not parry and
thus looses LP, then he is granted an Attack
with CC+1.

Does the Ambushed Fire allows my character

to fire at someone whos firing at him?
No. Ambushed Fire is only played during an
opponents Active Phase to Fire at a character
that takes a Move action. Your character must
have the moving character in his Line of Fire,
as any other Fire.
 SMOG - R U L E B O O K

My character only has 1 LP left and is attacked in

CC, can I play a defensive fire?
Yes. The Defensive Fire is resolved first, like a
Counter-attack, and the opponent can play a MS
card in reaction to Dodge the Defensive Fire.

Where can I find reminder cards?

There are no such cards. But when one of the
following card is played successfully, place it
next to the Profile Sheet of the affected charac-
ter as a reminder:

Malfunction as a Jammed weapon

reminder
Empty! as an Out of Ammunition
68
reminder
Distortion as an ETH = 1 reminder
Aegis of Absinthe as an LP + X reminder
Vigour of Absinthe as a CC + X reminder
Opiate Torpor as an AP - X reminder
Phantasmagoric Alley as a Ethereal
reminder
Chimaeras Vivacity as an AP + X
reminder
Artefacts as a reminder of themselves
 CONTENTS
0. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . 7
0.1 OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
0.2 GOAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
0.3 OPENING THE BOX . . . . . . 9
1. BASICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.1 OF THE CHARACTERS . . 16
1.2 OF THE GAME BOARD . . 19
1.3 OTHER CONCEPTS . . . . . 23
1.4 THE IMPERIAL EDICT . . . 24
2. GETTING STARTED . . 27
2.1 PREPARATION . . . . . . . . . 27
2.2 SET-UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.3 THE APPROACH . . . . . . . 28
3. GAME TURNS . . . . . . . 31
3.1 DRAW PHASE . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2 MAIN PHASE . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.3 END OF TURN . . . . . . . . . . 34
4. ACTIVE PHASES . . . . . 37
4.1 MOVE ACTION . . . . . . . . . 37
4.2 CLOSE COMBAT
ACTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.3 FIRE ACTION . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.4 CLEAR ACTION . . . . . . . . 43
4.5 RELOAD ACTION . . . . . . . 43
4.6 ETHER ACTION . . . . . . . . 44
5. ACTION CARDS . . . . . 45
5.0 THE ACTION
REACTION PRINCIPLE . . . . . 45
5.1 CC CARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5.2 MS CARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.3 ETH CARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
6. 3 AND 4
PLAYER RULES . . . . . . . . 53
7. SET-UPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7.0 SET-UP SPECIFICS . . . . . . 55
7.1 THE THIRTEEN
69
STROKES OF MIDNIGHT . . . 56
7.2 THE THRILL
OF THE HUNT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
7.3 TRAPPED
BY THE SPIRITS . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.4 THE ASSAULT . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.5 HIGH PRESTIGE
DRAWBACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
GAME SUMMARY . . . . . 64
SET-UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
APPROACH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
GAME TURN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
ACTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
F.A.Q. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67