Entanglements 
Whenever your crew makes a move, the conspiracy makes a counter-move. To reflect this, after each mission, you roll dice to find out which entanglement comes calling.
Initially the conspiracy will just be trying to find out about the crew and warn them off. As the threat posed by the crew grows, the conspiracy responses become more and more direct and dangerous.
After payoff and heat are determined, the GM generates an entanglement for the crew using the lists below. Find the column that matches the crew’s current heat level. Then roll a number of dice equal to their threat level, and use the result of the roll to select which sort of entanglement manifests. If threat level is zero, roll two dice and keep the lowest result.
There are other forces besides the conspiracy who might be used to create entanglements. An entanglement might be a rival agency looking to throw their weight around (and demand some intel), a local law enforcement officer making a case against your crew (but ready for a bribe), or even the attention of a vengeful ghost.
| Heat 0-3 | Heat 4-5 | Heat 6+ | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Crew Trouble or The Usual Suspects | 1-3 | Crew Trouble or Questioning | 1-3 | Flipped or Interrogation |
| 4-5 | Rivals or Surveillance | 4-5 | Reprisals or Double Cross | 4-5 | Dark Bargain or Show of Force |
| 6 | Cooperation | 6 | Show of Force | 6 | Direct Attack |
Bring the entanglement into play immediately, or hold off until an appropriate moment. For example, if you get the Interrogation entanglement, you might wait until a PC seeks out stability, then say the police picked them up at a traffic stop.
Entanglements manifest fully before the PCs have a chance to avoid them. When an entanglement comes into play, describe the situation after the entanglement has manifested. The PCs deal with it from that point—they can’t intercept it and defuse it before it happens. The purpose of the mechanic is to abstract a lot of the complex stuff happening in the backgrounds of the characters’ lives in order to generate trouble for them. Entanglements are the cost of doing business in the spy world—a good crew learns to roll with the punches and pick their battles.
The entanglements are detailed on the following pages. Each has a list of potential ways for the PCs to be rid of it. If you want the entanglements to be a momentary problem for the crew, stick to the suggested methods to resolve them, and move on to the next part of downtime. If you want to dive in and explore the entanglement in detail, set the scene and play out the event in full, following the actions and consequences where they lead.
Cooperation
A friendly agency or government asks you for a favor. Agree to do it, or forfeit 2 intel. If you don’t have any friends, you avoid entanglements right now because, honestly, you’re already in trouble.
Crew trouble
One of your crew members causes trouble due to their flaws. You can lose face (forfeit an asset or contact), make an example of them, or face reprisals from the wronged party.
Dark bargain
The conspiracy approaches a member of the crew with a tempting offer. Accept their bargain, use leverage to redirect their attention (forfeit 3 intel), or deal with it another way. A typical bargain will have the conspiracy offering to fulfill an agent’s drive, offering to protect the agent or someone they care about, directly paying off the agent or crew, or offering to eliminate some rival or enemy of the crew.
Direct attack
The conspiracy moves directly against your crew. The GM will use your threat level to determine what this looks like, but expect an attack by forces at least equivalent to your own. Use your resources to anticipate and neutralize by using intel equal to your threat level +3, sacrifice an agent (this clears your heat), or fight them off with a defense mission.
- Threat 0 - Hired killer or probing attack
- Threat 1 - Threaten crew safety or frame agent
- Threat 2 - Kill source of stability or haunt agent
- Threat 3 - Lure or hunt agent
- Threat 4 - Destroy crew
Double cross
Skip the engagement roll next mission and go straight to desperate! The GM will reveal how you’ve been compromised - it may have been a trap, there might be a double agent in your crew who tipped off the conspiracy, or maybe the conspiracy has managed to set you against one of their other enemies. You can anticipate and neutralize the double-cross by using intel equal to your threat level +3, or sacrifice an agent (this also clears your heat).
Flipped
You discover the conspiracy managed to subvert someone in your network (a contact, patron, source of stability, etc). They serve the conspiracy - whether that is due to loyalty or fear is the GM’s call. This may be a new development (in that they’ve just now been subverted) or the GM might reveal they’ve been working with the conspiracy for some time.
Interrogation
Another agency rounds up one of the PCs to question them about the crew’s activities. How did they manage to capture you? Either pay them off with 3 intel, or they beat you up (level 2 harm) and you tell them what they want to know (+3 heat). You can resist each of those consequences separately.
Some players really hate it when their character gets captured! Just tell them that this is completely normal for a spy. You spend time getting captured, questioned and harassed by various agencies. It’s not the end of the world. But now that you’re here in the interrogation room, what kind of person are you? Do you talk? Do you stand up to them? Do you make a deal?
Questioning
An agency grabs an NPC member of your crew or one of the crew’s contacts, to question them about your activities. Who do they think is most vulnerable? Make a fortune roll to see how much they talk (1-3: +2 heat, 4/5: +1 heat), or call in some favors with 2 intel.
Roll 2d for a normal person to see how well they keep quiet. If they’re an experienced underworld type or some kind of tough, give them 3d or 4d instead. If they’re soft or if they have some loyalty to the country or agency involved, give them 1d or 0d.
Reprisals
A faction within the conspiracy or an enemy agency makes a move against you (or a friend, contact, or source of stability). Divert their attention (costs 1 rep and 1 intel per threat level), allow them to mess with you or yours, or fight back and show them who’s boss.
Rivals
A neutral agency throws their weight around. They threaten you, a friend, a contact, or your source of stability. Forfeit (1 rep or 1 intel) per threat level, or stand up to them and risk the possibility of turning them into an enemy.
While this can be due to conspiracy manipulations, it’s far more common to be the result of politics (needing to be “seen to do something”, for example); accidental inteference (a mission that compromised their unrelated investigation) or actual rivalry for assets and/or intel.
Show of force
The conspiracy attacks indirectly, depriving you of needed resources. Give up an asset or contact, or else deal with a counter-operation (your next mission will be a defense mission).
Surveillance
One or more agencies are closely watching your every move. Every downtime activity will generate +1 heat until your next mission. You can spend 1 intel each activity to distract the watchers. Some activities can avoid generating heat if you have an appropriate claim or crew upgrade. For example, the Workshop upgrade allows you to work on most long-term projects from your headquarters, which would avoid the heat associated with surveillance.
The usual suspects
An agency grabs someone in the periphery of your crew. One player volunteers a friend or contact as the person most likely to be taken. Make a fortune roll to find out if they resist questioning (1-3: +2 heat, 4/5: level 2 harm), or pay off the agency with 1 intel.