Bitter Fruit

Based on Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

Nobody cares. The police and the politicians line their pockets with the proceeds of villainy, looking the other way when they're not engaging in their own graft and vice. Justice is treated like a commodity to be bought and sold by the rich and powerful. But though all seems lost, there is hope in the shadows. Mysteries who hide themselves behind masks and capes, who serve higher ideals with fist and gun, and will prove to the superstitious and cowardly lot that the weed of crime bears bitter fruit.

Introduction to the Basics

Style

The most important aspect of a crimefighter is style. Not only are you operating outside the law, but you are trying to make the criminal element afraid of you. You cannot do that as a flesh and blood human being. You must become something more. That means a costume, a name, and maybe even a gimmick.

Cloaks, capes, and long coats are useful for a number of reasons. They can disguise your physical build, quickly go on over the top of street clothes, and baffle opponents into missing their target when they open fire on you. Not to mention a number of other, more impromptu uses: parachute, garrotte, and so on.

Likewise, a mask does a lot to keep your two identities separated. Large ones conceal the entire face, small ones (like domino masks) are distractions that stop people from remembering what you actually look like. They can incorporate motifs in their design or structure, to lend weight to a gimmick. They divorce your crimefighter identity from humanity itself, making you more of a symbol than a person.

Choice of color is important. Black and grey, though seeming to be the best choice for work in the shadows, are not the only colors available for use. Even brighter hues, like white or yellow, can be incorporated into the crimefighter's costume to strike fear into the hearts of criminal scum. Sometimes you want to be hidden, but other times you will want to be seen — and remembered.

When it comes to your name, tie it in to your gimmick and your costume. Go for something simple and evocative: the Silver Specter, the Cheshire Cat, the Raven, Miss Midnight, the Gray Ghost, the Valkyrie, Black Cat.

Facets

There are six facets to any crimefighter, and they are Agility, Cunning, Force, Grit, Menace, and Nerve.

Agility is a crimefighter's ability to move unharmed and unhindered, letting bullets pass through empty air, and making impossible bounds from rooftop to rooftop across alleyways and side-streets.
Cunning is the intellect and animalistic instinct of a crimefighter, letting them bait their opponents into making crucial mistakes as much as it allows them to deduce the motives behind a crime.
Force is the willingness of a crimefighter to get physical, with fists or with firearms, and put the hurt on anyone who dares make a mockery of justice in their town.
Grit is a crimefighter's endurance, their inner reserves of strength that let them keep going with broken bones and blood loss, letting them sweat out poisons and run on little to no sleep for days at a time.
Menace is the terror that a crimefighter inspires into the scum and thugs they are forced to deal with, indulging in their reputation as some kind of otherworldly force in order to intimidate lower-tier hoodlums.
Nerve is a mixture of fearlessness, arrogance, confidence, and audacity that all crimefighters must have to push themselves into doing dangerous things. It transforms them from regular human beings into daredevils practically eager to dive through flame or swim with sharks in order to pursue justice.

The maximum for any facet is +3, and the minimum is -3. Most will be -1 to +2.

When creating a crimefighter, pick one of the following sets of scores and assign them to your facets however you wish:

+2 +2 +0 +0 +0 -1

+2 +1 +1 +0 +0 -1

+2 +1 +1 +1 -1 -1

Moves

Basic Moves

Assist
When you assist a fellow crimefighter, roll+Nerve. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7–9, hold 1. Whenever that crimefighter makes a move, you may spend 1 hold to give them +1. You can only spend 1 hold per roll.

Brawl
When you engage in a fight with a pack of thugs, roll+Force. On a 7-9 you deal -1 Morale. On a 10+, you also choose one:

• You break some bones and knock out some teeth. Take +1 forward to Interrogate.
• None of the thugs lay a finger on you, they're clumsy and uncoordinated. Take +1 forward to Evasion.

Evasion
When you disappear into the shadows or dodge out of harm's way, roll+Agility. On a 10+, you successfully get yourself to safety. On a 7-9, you also choose one:

• Any nearby pack of thugs thinks that you are fleeing and gains +1 Morale.
• You overexert yourself trying to find cover. Take -1 forward.

Gunfire
When you open fire on a pack of thugs, roll+Force. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7–9, hold 1. As you empty your magazines, spend your hold to do one of the following:

• Kill a thug or two from the pack, -1 Numbers.
• Your shots scare them, -1 Morale.
• You force them into cover or hiding.

Interrogate
When you extort information from a thug, roll+Menace. On a 10+, they sing like a canary and tell you what you want to know. On a 7-9, they have a condition, such as you letting them go free, in exchange for what they know. On a 6- they won't say a word to you.

Take It
When you power through some serious pain or hardship, roll+Grit. On a 10+, choose three. On a 7-9, choose two.

• You take action — do something, no matter what would prevent you
• You push through — move somewhere else, in spite of the odds
• You don't give them any information or openings to work with
• You don't take a debility from pushing too hard

Special Moves

Duel
When you engage a foe one-on-one, you can choose to inflict debilities on them with a roll of 10+. On a roll of 7-9, you can still inflict a debility on them, but must take one yourself if you choose to do so.

Plan
When you spend time coming up with a scheme, you gain preparation. If you prepare for a day or two, 1 preparation. If you prepare for a week or longer, 3 preparation. When your preparation pays off spend 1 preparation for +1 to any roll. You can only spend one preparation per roll.

Recuperate
When you do nothing but rest in comfort and safety, after one week of rest you remove one debility of your choice. If you're under the care of a doctor you heal a debility for every three days of rest instead.

Set Ambush
When you're hiding in the shadows and someone comes within range, roll+Nerve. On a 10+ you get the drop on them and leave them completely at your mercy, you take +1 ongoing until they give in, surrender, or die. On a 7–9 they're off-balance but not completely, you take +1 forward. On a miss your ambush fails entirely and your intended target takes +1 forward.

Tail
When you follow someone, roll+Cunning. On a 6-, they know you're following them, and may try to lose you or lead you somewhere else. On a 7-9, you follow them until there's a significant change in their direction or mode of travel. On a 10+, you also choose 1:

• Gain a useful bit of information about your quarry, the GM will tell you what.
• Get into a good position to get the drop on them. Take +1 forward to Set Ambush.

Debilities

During the course of their exploits, crimefighters will inevitably take injuries. These occupational hazards are called debilities and are received when particularly dangerous or lethal circumstances occur, such as taking gunfire or being hit by a truck.

Bleeding: You have a very serious cut somewhere, more like a hole really, and your blood is winding up on the outside at a somewhat alarming rate. You can't hide so well, leaving a trail for all to follow.

Broken Ribs: Some of your most vital bones have been shattered, and whenever they move it's like knives twisting inside you. Every time you get 6- on a roll, take -1 forward.

Burns: You have been the victim of a fire, or electrocution, or a severe encounter with acid. Until you get medical attention or a minimum of a week's rest, you'll carry the marks around with you for all to see.

Busted Limb: One of your limbs is dislocated or broken. You take -1 to any action that would require the use of that limb. You can take this debility up to two times.

Choking: You cannot get enough, if any, air into your lungs. Until you can breathe again, take -1 ongoing to all rolls. If you roll a 6- while choking, take an additional -1 forward.

Poisoned: You've been dosed somehow with some kind of toxin that's now coursing through your bloodstream. Unless you have an antidote, you must roll+Grit every hour/day (depending on the strength of the poison) to see if you can stay alive. On a 10+, your body is fighting it effectively, take +1 to the next time you roll against the poison. On a 7-9, you are barely hanging in there. On a 6-, you die.

Stunned: You're caught off-balance for a moment, reeling from the shock of some immense blow. The next roll you make counts as a 6-. The next roll made against you counts as a 10+. This debility is removed after its effects are resolved.

Temporary Blindness You cannot see properly, if at all, for a brief period of time. Your other senses are still as sharp as ever, but without eyesight you might miss critical details.

Temporary Deafness You cannot hear properly, if at all, for a brief period of time. Your other senses are still as sharp as ever, but without your hearing you might miss critical details.

You can only have each debility once, unless stated otherwise. If you're already Choking and something else starts Choking you, you just ignore it.

Debilities are hard to heal. Your best bet is getting somewhere safe and spending a few days recovering. Of course, debilities are both descriptive and prescriptive: if something happens that would remove a debility, that debility is gone.

Don't let debilities limit you. A specific poison can have whatever effects you can dream up. Poisoned is just a convenient shorthand for some anonymous toxin vat you just happened to fall into.

You can have a maximum number of debilities equal to 5+Grit. If you take any more than that, roll+Grit. On a 6-, you die. On a 10+, you gain +1 to your next death check.

Cards

A crimefighter's cards are their areas of expertise. Each card has a face value, which is a move that you automatically have for choosing that card. All the other moves listed under that card must be chosen specifically. When you make a crimefighter, pick up to five cards you think best apply to that crimefighter. Then pick additional moves from those chosen cards until you have a total of 10 moves.

Assets

Face Value: Lair
By default, your lair consists of a hidden, enclosed dwelling area large enough to house up to two people semi-comfortably, along with basic amenities such as a bed and storage space. Spending any time in your lair restocks your utility belt's pouches. Then, choose 2:

• your lair is much larger and can house up to a dozen people comfortably if necessary.
• your lair contains its own crime lab that is kept fully-stocked.
• your lair has many secret tunnels connected to it, allowing for quick, unseen movement around the city.
• your lair has a sparring dojo with exercise equipment like weights and a punching bag.
• your lair contains a microfiche library of newspaper articles and other important data.
• your lair contains a medical station equal to any typical hospital in the country.
• your lair has holding cells that can contain up to three prisoners.
• your lair can double as an armored bunker, and can withstand multiple large bomb blasts.

Annex
You have a second, ancillary lair somewhere else in the city, for when you cannot reach or use your original lair for any reason. Build it like your original lair, but only choose 1 addition from the list. You can take this move multiple times, getting a new annex each time.

Fortune
You can choose 2 additional extras for your Lair. In addition, you can choose 1 additional extra for your Wheels, and 1 additional extra for your Annex (or Annexes), if you have these moves.

Phantom
Your civilian identity is nothing more than a convenient fiction, it is not who you are or who you were. It might not have even existed before you invented it. If your civilian identity is ever revealed, you can abandon it, but must spend a minimum of one month concocting a new one. Anything you do in your civilian identity may pull suspicion down on it, because of its fraudulent nature.

Wheels
You have a vehicle of some kind, custom-made or heavily modified, that can transport you around the city. Your lair gains a garage add-on where this vehicle is kept and can be maintained.
Choose a look:

• Brutish
• Makeshift
• Sinister
• Sleek

Choose 2 extras:

• Armored. This vehicle's plating cannot be penetrated by anything short of artillery rounds.
• Disguise. This vehicle outwardly resembles a common motor vehicle of generic make, and isn't easily noticed.
• Loaded. This vehicle is carrying a mounted machine gun or similar weaponry. Roll +Force to use. On a 10+, any other vehicle on the road is brought to a stop. On a 7-9, those inside suffer -1 Numbers.
• Remote control. You can pilot this vehicle without being in the driver's seat via a handheld device.
• Reserves. Spending any time in your vehicle restocks your utility belt's pouches.
• Scanner. This vehicle can listen in on the police frequency.
• Twin engines. This vehicle is faster than anything else on the road.
• Wagon. This vehicle can carry a significant number of prisoners.

Deduction

Face Value: Investigation
When you spend uninterrupted time (one hour or so) surveying an area, roll+Cunning. On a 10+ ask the GM 3 questions from the list below. On a 7–9 ask 1. Take +1 forward when acting on the answers.

• What happened here recently?
• What can I tell about who was here?
• Is there anything here that stands out as odd or out of place?
• Does anything here contradict first appearances of what happened?

Analysis
When you use your lair's crime lab to analyse evidence, take +1 forward when acting on the results.

Perspicacity
When you engage someone in conversation in your civilian identity, roll+Cunning. On a 10+, hold 4. On a 7–9, hold 2. So long as you are talking, you may spend hold to choose an option:

• Determine whether or not the immediately previous statement was a lie or the truth.
• What emotion they are really feeling at that moment.
• If they have any discernible habits, quirks, or tics when speaking.
• How someone else reacted to what they just said.

Vigilance
When someone else gets the drop on you, roll+Cunning. On a 10+, you were expecting this action, and take +1 ongoing when dealing with it. On a 7-9, you were genuinely caught unaware but quickly spot an opening you can exploit, take +1 forward.

Martial Arts

Face Value: Mastery
When you brawl using only your bare fists, take +1. If the enemy's Numbers are 5 or less, take +2.

Death Touch
When you would deal -1 Morale while brawling, on a 7-9 you can choose to deal -1 Numbers instead. On a 10+, you can choose to deal -1 Numbers in addition to -1 Morale.

Escapism
When you use evasion to break free from bonds or restraints, take +1. If only your hands are bound, take +2.

Flow
When you would roll +Force in a brawl, you can choose to roll+Agility instead.

Vitality
When you would remove a debility, roll+Grit. On a 7-9, you can choose to remove 2 debilities instead. On a 10+, you also gain +1 forward.

Mesmerism

Face Value: Command
When you would otherwise interrogate a thug, roll+Nerve. On a 10+ you can give them a single command that they will carry out without question. On a 7-9, they will still carry out a single command, but choose one of the following:

• They are slightly disorientated and cannot carry out their task efficiently.
• They have an exceptionally simple mind, and will repeat the command out loud over and over in a monotonous drone as they do it.
• They will have no memory of anything they did the moment the task is complete.

Cloud
When you use evasion to become hidden from sight, take +1. On a 10+, anyone making eye contact with you at the time believes you simply vanished.

Meditation
When you spend uninterrupted time (an hour or so) in quiet meditation, choose one:

• You ignore all debilities until your next miss.
• Take +1 ongoing to all Mesmerism moves until your next miss.
• Take +2 forward to Cunning.

Read
When you use interrogate to extort information from a thug, take +2.

Suggestion
When you make a statement phrased as an innocuous question, such as "Shouldn't you be getting going?" or "Isn't that an urban legend?", roll+Cunning. On a 10+, they accept your suggestion and go along with it. On a 7-9, they accept but are doubtful, and may change their mind later. On a 6-, your target dismisses your suggestion but does not notice you were attempting to influence them.

Network

Face Value: Informant
You have a criminal associate you can call upon for word from the underworld at any time. When you push them for information, roll+Menace. If you pay your informant off, take +1. On a 10+, your informant tells you as much as they knows. On a 7-9, your informant tells you as much as they know, but is worried by their continued association with you, and you cannot make this move again for at least one week.

Accomplice
You have a trusted associate, such as a butler or close friend, who helps you out in your operations. If you have a lair, they reside there while you are out fighting crime. Choose two:

• Your accomplice is medically trained and counts as a doctor when you are recuperating.
• Your accomplice is an experienced driver and/or pilot.
• Your accomplice carries a weapon and is trained in its use.
• Your accomplice has no known ties to your civilian identity or your crimefighter identity.
• Your accomplice can easily provide alibis for your civilian identity that won't be questioned.
• Your accomplice has mechanical/engineering expertise, and can produce devices and repair machinery, given the right tools and resources.

Then choose one:

• Your accomplice has greater concern for your welfare than your crimefighting.
• Your accomplice is an aged crimefighter now retired, who constantly pushes you hard to be better.
• Your accomplice is a legal minor.
• Your accomplice cannot leave the lair or their place of operation.
• Your accomplice is romantically attracted to you.
• Your accomplice must work diligently to hide their connection to you and your activities in order to keep their job or social standing.

Officer
You have a connection, willing or otherwise, in the police department. When you need your connection to do something for you, such as steal evidence or tamper with an investigation, roll+Nerve and mark off a use. Your connection regains one use per week, to a maximum of 5 uses. On a 10+, your connection comes through. On a 7-9, they hit upon a complication decided by the GM, such as becoming a suspect for the crimefighter's civilian identity, or blackmailed by a corrupt cop.

Specialist
You know of a lot of experts in their chosen fields. When you need to find a specialist in a given subject (mathematics, engineering, biology, etc.), roll+Cunning. On a 10+, you know of someone who can answer your questions. On a 7-9, there is a complication decided by the GM, such as the specialist secretly being in the employ of an arch criminal, or kidnapped.

Sharpshooting

Face Value: Armament
You have a specialized weapon (or pair of weapons), a cut above the usual firearm. It might not even be a firearm at all, but another type of ranged weapon, like a crossbow or a set of boomerangs. Choose two:

• Your gun is intimidating in design. The first time you draw it in front of a pack of thugs, -1 Morale.
• Your gun is lightweight and easily concealed. You can carry it without anyone noticing in your civilian identity.
• Your gun is extremely accurate to an extraordinary degree. You get +1 to trick shots.
• Your gun makes very little noise when fired, allowing you to stay hidden while still shooting.

Choose one:

• Your gun uses an uncommon type of bullet that has to be ordered specifically.
• You need more time than is usual to reload your gun.
• Your gun is an heirloom tied to your civilian identity, provided someone gets a good look at it.
• Your gun is something two-handed, like a shotgun or a rifle, and cannot be used effectively in enclosed spaces.

Barrage
When you use gunfire against a pack of thugs, you can obtain 2 additional hold in exchange for -1 forward.

Precision
When you use gunfire against a pack of thugs, take +1.

Trick Shot
When you make a trick shot to hit a specific small target like a lever, rope, or a gun in someone's hand, roll+Agility. On a 7-9 you make the shot, accomplishing what it was you set out to do. On a 10+, you also choose one:

• The trick shot is so impressive it strikes fear into the hearts of those watching. -1 Morale.
• Nobody notices you shoot the gun at all, allowing you to stay hidden.

Shroud

Face Value: Shadow
When you use evasion to become hidden from sight, you can make other moves without revealing yourself. You will still reveal yourself on a miss.

Abduct
When you grab a thug from a pack and haul them into the shadows, roll +Force. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7–9, hold 1. Whenever you make a move, spend 1 hold. Once you're out of hold, you must choose to release, kill, or knock unconscious the thug at your mercy.

Echo
When you are hidden from sight, roll +Menace. On a 7-9, you call out in an intimidating manner and cause -1 Morale on nearby thugs. On a 10+, you also choose one:

• Several of the thugs flee in terror, -1 Numbers.
• The thugs fire wildly into the darkness, missing you entirely but depleting their ammo. Take +1 forward to Force.

Stalk
When you use tail to follow someone from a distance, take +1. If it is night, take +2.

Utility Belt

Face Value: Pouches
Your belt's pouches contain a collection of useful mundane items such as antidotes for common poisons, a small flashlight, handcuffs, etc. When you rummage through your pouches for some useful mundane item, you find what you need and mark off a use. You can only use your pouches 8 times before they need restocking during downtime.

Bandolier
Your pouches have 12 uses, rather than 8.

Bug
You have a listening device that broadcasts on a short-range radio frequency. To use it, expend a use from your pouches, and roll+Cunning. On a 10+, you place it with uncanny accuracy, letting it remain undetected. On a 7-9, choose one:

• The placement was less than ideal and it will not get clear reception.
• Someone is going to notice the bug, but only after you hear what you need to hear.

Forensics
You have a forensics kit that allows you to effectively dust for fingerprints and pick up clues without tampering. To use them, expend a use from your pouches, and Investigation only takes 20 minutes of uninterrupted time, rather than one hour.

Grappling Gun
You have a grappling gun. To use it, expend a use from your pouches, and roll+Agility. Take -1 if you are attempting to carry someone with you. On a 7-9, you rapidly ascend to the rooftops. On a 10+, nobody saw how you did it or where exactly you went besides "up".

Smoke Bombs
You have smoke bombs. To use them, expend a use from your pouches, and get +2 forward on Evasion.

GM

How to GM

Agenda

Your agenda makes up the things you aim to do at all times while GMing a game of Bitter Fruit:

• Make the world seem dark and unreal
• Fill the characters' lives with crime
• Play to find out what happens.

Everything you say and do at the table (and away from the table, too) exists to accomplish these three goals and no others. Things that aren't on this list aren't your goals. It is not your agenda to make the players lose. It is not your agenda to decide what happens to their characters. It is not your agenda to lead them into dead-end situations.

Your first agenda is to make the world seem dark and unreal. For the world to be real would mean a world without crime lords and costumed crimefighters, where you cannot leap from rooftop to rooftop and make your way from one side of the city to the other. Your world needs to be fantastic — but also dark. This is not a nice and pleasant world you are trying to create. You are out to create a crime-riddled metropolis that is crying out for outlandish vigilantes to save it.

Thus comes your second agenda, to fill the characters' lives with crime. The life of a crimefighter must be full of crimes to thwart. Without crime, what is there to fight? So do not give them respite. Bank heists, jewellery store robberies, theft, vice, and murder. The crimefighter should not need to go looking for crime to fight, they should be adrift in a sea of villainy that needs their constant attention. Without them, the city would break down into utter chaos.

This is how you play to find out what happens. You're sharing in the fun of finding out how the characters react to and change the world you're portraying. You're all participants in a great adventure that's unfolding. So really, don't plan too hard. The rules of the game will fight you. It's much more fun to see how things unfold.

Moves

Whenever everyone looks to you to see what happens, choose one of these. Each move is something that occurs in the fiction of the game — they aren't code words or special terms.

• Bring in some thugs
• Separate them
• Put someone in a spot
• Turn their move back on them
• Give them a debility
• Offer an opportunity, with or without cost
• Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask
• Reveal an unwelcome truth
• Show signs of an approaching threat
• Take away their resources
• Enact a scheme

Never speak the name of your move (that's one of your principles). Make it a real thing that happens to them: "You dive behind cover to evade their gunfire, but you find your own guns have jammed. You need a moment to get them working again, but they're closing in on you right now. What do you do?"

No matter what move you make, always follow up with "What do you do?" Your moves are a way of fulfilling your agenda, part of which is to fill the characters' lives with crime. When a bunch of thugs get the drop on them, or a close ally is kidnapped, crimefighters react or suffer the consequences of inaction.

You make a move:

• When everyone looks to you to find out what happens
• When the players give you a golden opportunity
• When they roll a 6-

Generally when the players are just looking at you to find out what happens you make a soft move, otherwise you make a hard move. A soft move is one without immediate, irrevocable consequences. That usually means it's something not all that bad, but it can also mean that it's something bad, but they have time to avoid it. A soft move ignored becomes a golden opportunity for a hard move.

Hard moves have immediate consequences. Getting a debility is almost always a hard move, since it means an effect that won't be recovered without some action from the players.

When you have a chance to make a hard move you can opt for a soft one instead if it better fits the situation. Sometimes things just work out for the best.

Opponents

Thugs

Thugs come in packs, because the criminal element likes to outnumber their victims. Very rarely will you find a single thug undertaking a job, except maybe something low-scale like a mugging or a purse-snatching.

Packs of thugs are represented by two facets: Numbers and Morale. A pack's Numbers is how many members are in it, and their Morale is their willingness to fight back. Generally they are the same number, as thugs find comfort in having backup. A crimefighter's moves can deplete both these facets.

Once a pack's Numbers reaches 0, all the thugs are dead. They cannot be effectively interrogated, but they are no longer capable of committing crimes, or most things that require a pulse for that matter.

A pack at 0 Morale, however, is still alive but utterly broken. They have no will to continue committing crimes, at least at this moment, and any attempt made to interrogate them takes +1 due to their nervous state. Interrogating thugs before their Morale has dropped to rock bottom is sometimes a must for crimefighters, if time is of the essence.

Packs of thugs have a small number of moves that they can use during encounters with crimefighters:

• Pile On: The thugs are trying to bring down a brawling crimefighter the only way they know how, throwing warm bodies at the problem until sheer weight of numbers brings the masked vigilante to their knees.
• Move In: The thugs have their sights on a crimefighter and are pushing in with intent to ice 'em once and for all, putting that crimefighter into a desperate situation.
• Spread Out: The thugs are searching high and low, peering into every shadow, for some sign of a crimefighter that they know is hiding somewhere. If something doesn't stop them somehow, they might find 'em.
• Getaway: The thugs are ready to make a break for it, with or without their loot. If the crimefighter doesn't stop them now, there might be a chase scene in the near future.

Masks

Sometimes freelance, sometimes in the service of an archcriminal, masks are a cut above the usual thug. They will hide their identities behind disguises and gimmicks, much like archcriminals. But they do not have the resources or the cunning of the true archcriminals. For that reason, their identities are sometimes uncovered, especially if they've ever been arrested.

Masks are more concerned with schemes like bank heists, rather than the grandiose plans of archcriminals. But their skill and ability are second to none, which make them dangerous. Quite often they have fighting prowess equal to crimefighters. But at heart, they are still thugs.

Like thugs, masks have Morale, but rather than Numbers they have Endurance. Anything that would deplete Numbers will deplete Endurance. The typical mask has between 2 to 3 Endurance, and will rarely have anything higher than 5. Morale, on the other hand, can easily reach double digits. Masks have boundless self-confidence that stems from their capability as criminals.

Because of this confidence, a mask cannot be interrogated at all until their Morale is at 0. However, they will know much more than a typical thug, especially if they are in the service of an archcriminal.

Masks have a small number of moves that they can use during encounters with crimefighters:

• Get'em, boys: The mask summons a pack of thugs.
• You'll answer to me: The mask incites +1d6 Morale in a pack of thugs.
• I'll break you: The mask engages a crimefighter in a brawl. The crimefighter takes -1 ongoing so long as the mask is brawling with them.

Archcriminals

Archcriminals are the top of the underworld food chain. They sit at the center of their criminal empires like poisonous spiders in a web spun from deceit and misery. The thugs of the city answer to them... sooner or later. They are elusive and secretive, hiding their true identity behind masks or disguises much in the same way that crimefighters do.

Because they hide themselves away, they are unlike thugs and will rarely engage physically with crimefighters. But if they do, it is never a brawl, it is a duel instead. For they are the dark counterparts to the crimefighters, possessing the same strength of will and sharp minds, but without the adherence to justice and order.

Vanquishing an archcriminal is difficult. First of all, many of them have their agents within the law, corrupt cops and bribed judges, that puts them above the system. Even if they were to be sentenced, there is no guarantee that they will remain imprisoned while their faithful lieutenants roam free. Not that killing them is any easier; if a body cannot be found, it can be expected that they are not truly dead, having duped everyone in some clever way. But a body isn't perfect evidence either, because a good archcriminal keeps doubles on hand to sacrifice for their own benefit.

However, as GM you do not want to overplay these cheats. Keep in mind two principles: that crime does not pay, and that the players should not feel ineffectual. If the same archcriminal keeps appearing and getting away, it will imply that nothing the players do will ever change the world they're in, that no matter how hard they try, the same villain will keep plundering the city and murdering indiscriminately. Instead, build up an archcriminal to be a great threat, have them escape a few times, and then let them go down in flames during a climatic showdown. The true end of an archcriminal is a fantastic spectacle for both players and GM. If you liked the archcriminal's gimmick, you can always have a copycat or a relation show up — much later on.

Archcriminals have a small number of moves that they can use during encounters with crimefighters:

• I anticipated this: The sudden intrusion of a crimefighter on a regular heist reveals that this was, in fact, a trap! A trap that's now been sprung!
• I'll leave this to you: The archcriminal summons a mask.
• Just what I wanted you to believe: When the archcriminal's secret identity is revealed, it wasn't the real archcriminal, but a phony!
• Clean this up, boys: The archcriminal summons a pack of thugs.
• Until next time: When backed into a corner, the archcriminal makes an attempt at a daring escape, such as leaping onto a passing rope ladder dangling from a biplane.
• A dark mirror: The archcriminal mimics the effects of a crimefighter move.