"It's gotta be an accident. This guy, he's not reasonable. We got no problems with the other partners. They understand the way things are. The way they gotta be. This guy, he's a hardnose. He gets shot or something, maybe the other partners get the message, maybe they spook and run to the federales. You know how it works." "I know." "You pull this one off, there's a place for you with us. I told you this before." I kept my face neutral. The way they taught me. In the place where I was raised. The man in the white silk shirt watched me, waiting. I waited too. Another thing they taught me. He shrugged his shoulders. "Half now, half when it's done?" he asked. "Yeah." I held my hand out for the cash. - excerpt from "Mad Dog" by Andrew Vachss (from Born Bad)
The Four Suits Explained Tools Spades are used for doing mechanical tasks, like hot-wiring a car, rigging a trap or picking a lock. Mneumonic: Spades are tools. Emotions Hearts are used for emotional tasks, like discerning truth from lies, resisting seduction or persuading someone to help you. Mneumonic: Emotion is symbolized by a Heart. Violence Clubs are used for committing acts of violence, be they with knives, guns or fists. Mneumonic: Clubs are weapons. Resources Diamonds are used whenever you wish to fence goods, bribe a cop or locate information. Mneumonic: Diamonds are valuable.	Sex & Violence Sex & Violence is a roleplaying game set in the grimy, gritty world of crime fiction (especially those found within Andrew Vachss's "Burke" series of novels and Frank Miller's Sin City). The City is a dark and dirty place where crime runs rampant. Hookers and junkies lurk in the alleys like rats, the Mob runs City Hall and the cops are either corrupt or burned-out. The characters are con men, pushers, thieves, call girls and hustlers. But being on the wrong side of the law doesn't make you a bad guy. It just makes you more careful. Characters (Part I) The guidelines for making a characters in Sex & Violence are very specific. First of all, all characters must fall into one of the following archetypes. Each archetype has both a corresponding character in the Burke novels by Andrew Vachss and a corresponding "strong" card suit. The strengths and weaknesses associated with those archetypes are only examples and should not be regarded as mandatory (they are a way to define your character and bear no relevance in terms of the game's mechanics). A character's "Angle" is his occupation (or specialty, as it were). Angles could fit each and every archetype. For instance, Wesley (a hitman) from the Burke novels is more like the Magician or the Survivor than the Warrior. Wolfe (an attorney) might seem like the Survivor at first, but her behavior and spirit are that of a born Warrior. Rule 1: CHOOSE AN ARCHETYPE The Survivor (Diamonds) Embodied by Burke, the Survivor relies on himself to get through each day. Despite this, he is far from being a lone wolf. He surrounds himself with a safety net of hidden cash, supplies, contacts, favors and bribes. Strengths: self-reliance, vigilance. Weaknesses: paranoid, driven. Angles: Hustler, investigator, bookie, "old school" cop (retired), ex-convict   The Warrior (Clubs) Embodied by the likes of Max the Silent and Flood, the Warrior is a battle-scarred fighter and a seeker of inner peace. Honor is second to glory, and a true Warrior knows that the greatest fight is against oneself. Strengths: fearless, deadly. Weaknesses: honor-bound, proud. Angles: bodyguard, hired killer, martial artist, amateur boxer   The Fool (Hearts) Embodied by both the Prof and Michelle, the Fool is both a charlatan and a storyteller; a weaver of lies and a speaker of truths. Few can trick one who lives by trickery... Strengths: underestimated, experienced. Weaknesses: over-confident, visible. Angles: Street preacher, sex worker, mystic, panhandler, gypsy cab driver   The Magician (Spades) Embodied by the Mole, the Magician is secretive and enigmatic, perhaps touched by a benign kind of madness. He is happiest when left to his own devices and relies on his knowledge and intellect to guide him along his chosen path. Strengths: rational, inventive. Weaknesses: tactless, zealous. Angles: boxman, hacker, counterfeiter, underground mechanic, chemist   Rule 2: CHOOSE A CRIMINAL BACKGROUND Second, the character must have a street-level, criminal background. No Mafia wiseguys or white-collar criminals. Cop characters (rogue or otherwise) are only allowed if the character is: a former cop, an undercover cop, or intimately connected with another character (ie: a sexual or familial relationship)   Rule 3: CHOOSE A REDEEMING QUALITY Third, despite a societal status as a "bad person," the character must possess a redeeming quality that keeps him from sinking so far down into the gutter that he can't pull himself out. This means a driving passion, close-knit ties to a family (biological or self-made), or some inner code of honor or virtue.   example: Nico Greer's characteristics Nico Greer is a young cop, on permanent disability from a shoot-out with men working under the auspices of a major druglord in the city. He's pissed-off, cocky and bitter about being "gimped" by the perps. He's a Warrior bad-ass type now working (against direct orders of course!) to find the guys who wrecked his leg and his career. Despite being a total bitter, bad-ass vigilante type, he's a good cop in his heart and will bend, but not break the law. One dramatic high-point for this character will be when he gets the opportunity to exact his vengeance. What will he do? Characters (Part II) For this stage of character creation, each player should have a deck of ordinary playing cards (52 cards, no Jokers). Remove the so-called "face cards" (a Jack, Queen and King of each suit) from your deck and place them in front of you. Set aside the remainder of the deck. The face cards represent your character's abilities; their fields of expertise. In Sex & Violence, there are only four areas we're concerned with. These are listed in the sidebar to the left. As you can see, each area is associated with a particular suit. As the main characters of a gritty crime drama, the characters in Sex & Violence are extraordinarily skilled in their fields of expertise. Choose one field where you wish your character to be the "best of the best." Now, place the King, Queen and Jack of that suit in front of you. Place the other cards aside (these are no longer needed for play). If you wish for your character to excel in two fields, you may do so my sacrificing your King - remove it and replace it with another Queen of a chosen suit. If you wish to excel in three areas, you lose both your King and Queen and may replace them with two Jacks of any suit. You may not be proficient in all four areas. example: Nico Greer's fields of expertise I decide that Nico is going to excel in the fields of Violence (Clubs) and Emotion (Hearts). He will end up with the following four cards: Queen of Clubs, Queen of Hearts, Jack of Clubs, Jack of Hearts. During the game, this collection of cards is called the character's sideboard. Playing the Game So now you're ready to play the game. Every player (except for the Game Master) should now have a set of three to four cards face-up in his or her sideboard, as well as a deck containing all the numbered cards and the four aces. Each player should draw ten (10) cards from their own deck. This is called your hand and should be kept hidden. You may discard either your highest card or your lowest card and draw a replacement. This discarded card is then shuffled back into the deck and play may commence. The reasons for discarding your lowest or highest card is explained in the section called Stacking your Deck. example: my hand After drawing my ten cards, I have the following hand: Spades - A, 2, 4 Hearts - 9, 10 Clubs - A, 6 Diamonds - 4, 7, 7 I decide to get rid of that 10 and draw again. I draw a 3. The 10 is shuffled back into the deck and I'm read to go. Play progresses in typical RPG fashion. That is, until a contest occurs. Contests Whenever you want to perform an action that deals in any of the four fields of expertise, the GM will ask you to bid a number of cards. The total of these cards is then compared to the top card of your deck (aces count as 1). If your total is higher than the drawn card, then you perform the action as you see fit. If the total is not higher, the GM will inform you of the consequences. In the event of a tie, the outcome of the action becomes unknown or inconsequential. Depending on your level of expertise, you may bid from 1 to 4 cards at a time: No expertise (no appropriate face card): Maximum bid of 1 card from you hand Jack-level expertise: Maximum bid of 2 cards from your hand Queen-level expertise: Maximum bid of 3 cards from your hand King-level expertise: Maximum bid of 4 cards from your hand Expertise is not cumulative. If you have (for example) the King, Queen and Jack of Clubs and you're performing an act of violence, you may bid a maximum of 4 cards, not 9 cards ( 4+3+2). After bidding, the bid cards are discarded (regardless of the outcome) If any of the bid cards are of the same suit as that of the action, you may re-draw that many cards. Otherwise, your hand will remain short until you have time to replenish it. When the action has been resolved, you may re-shuffle the discarded cards back into your deck. Replenishing your Hand You may re-draw cards back into your hand at any time by flipping over a face card from your sideboard. Flipping a King allows you to draw 4 new cards. Flipping a Queen allows you to draw 3 new cards. Flipping a Jack enables you to draw 2 new cards. In place of re-drawing, you have the option of flipping a face card to restore all flipped cards from your hand or restore a flipped face card of lesser value (in other words, flip a King to unflip a queen, jack or all cards from your hand). You may also replenish your entire hand by appealing to your character's archetype. After performing a pre-defined task (determined by your character's archetype), you may draw the top card from the deck. If this card's suit is the same as your archetypes, keep that card and draw again. Continue until your hand is back up to 10 cards or until you draw an unrelated suit (this card is kept but you may not re-draw). The task needed for each archetype is as follows: The Survivor: Go see a contact for advice or assistance. The nature of this meeting is up to you. The Warrior: Meditate; reflect on present events the place you feel most at peace. The Fool: Teach someone a lesson (the nature and spirit of this lesson is up to you). The Magician: Spend time in the place where you do your best work and accomplish something, no matter how trivial, as long as it relates to your work. You may appeal to your archetype in this way once per game session. Flipped Cards If a card has been flipped, it is "unavailable" -- you are considered not to have that card in play at all. If the flipped card is part of your hand, then that card's "slot" is still counted as part of your hand, even if it's not usable. Flipping is further covered in the section called Mayhem. Kings are the only cards that cannot be restored during the game. These are only unflipped at the end of a game session (provided that your character isn't in the middle of some action at the end of the session). Stacking your Deck At any lull in the action (but no more than once during a scene), you may exchange any of the cards in your hand for an equal number of cards from your deck. The catch is that for every card you draw equal to or below 5, you must announce some factor that is affecting your character negatively. If the drawn card is above 5, you must announce some factor that is affecting your character in a positive way. Flipped cards may not be exchanged in this manner. Mayhem Fight scenes use the same system as normal contests. The difference is, that when the player's bid is compared to the top card, the difference becomes a number of "wounds" that are inflicted on the losing party. You may also split your bid to take on more than one opponent at a time. For every wound you receive, flip over the highest card in your hand (GM-controlled opponents are assumed to be able to survive up to ten wounds). You may cancel all wounds incurred during a single attack by flipping a face card, so long as you meet the following criterion: Spades: You may cancel the attack if you are using a weapon of some kind. Hearts: You may cancel the attack if your redeeming quality comes into play. Clubs: You may cancel the attack if you have fought your opponent before. Diamonds: You may cancel the attack if your archetype is the Survivor. If you run out of cards to bid (and you cannot flip any face card to cancel the attack), your character dies. Sex & Violence Aces can represent complications that are introduced during scenes of intense passion - sex and violence, to be exact. To use an Ace, bid it as normal during a contest and announce the card's function -- the Ace also counts as a 1, as usual. The card's function is determined by its suit and the nature of the contest. Sex Ace of Spades: Conception. Your partner will become pregnant. Playing an Ace has no effect if either particpant is sterile or the partner is of the same sex. Ace of Hearts: True Love. Your partner falls in love with you (or is simply infatuated). Ace of Clubs: Vow. If your life is at risk, your partner vows to safeguard it with his/her own. Ace of Diamonds: Accomplice. Your partner decides to assist you in any "hands free" way (ie: shelter, money, equipment) but won't actually take part in your plans. Violence Ace of Spades: Bullseye. This attack cannot be cancelled with a face card. Ace of Hearts: Intimidation. Defender must match bid with all Hearts or back away from the fight with no more damage done to either side. Ace of Clubs: Lethal blow. Defender must double the bid or die instantly. Ace of Diamonds: Lucky blow. Attacker adds the top card of his deck to the attack.