Detective: L.A. Crimes
Detective: L.A. Crimes Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Welcome to the LAPD
L.A. Crimes is an expansion for Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game. It has the same concept and uses most of the base rules, with a few changes depicted in this rulebook.
The Investigative Team still works together and shares all Stress, Authority, and Skill tokens. You still will not be able to go through the entire deck, so you will need to deduce your answers. Every case consists of 36 cards - a cover and 35 "lead" cards. Remember what you learned before, it is always good to cast a wide net on your case - no single card provides an answer to the case.
Components
- The game board (double sided)
- 5 Character Tiles
- 3 Case Decks
- Rulebook
Enter this code when instructed by the Antares website: (a code entry box is printed on the rulebook page)
Setup
Set up the game following the same steps as in the base game, but make sure to use the game board, character tiles, and case decks from this expansion. Treat the Police Station as your new Headquarters - this is where you will be starting each day, including the first day of your first set up. Set aside the Technology Skill tokens - these will not be needed in this expansion unless you are specifically instructed to use them.
NOTE: A Wild Skill token can be used as a substitute for the three remaining Skill tokens: Research, Questioning, and Perception.
Important: There are 5 Special tokens (01-05) in the base game. This expansion will often ask you to place a Special token on the board for different purposes, and in rare cases you might run out.
If this happens, use any replacement marker (this can be a token from another game, a coin, etc.). Special tokens should be unlimited.
Overview
Your time is still limited by the number of days stated in the introduction to each case. Although it is the LAPD in the '80s, you will still be using the Antares website - the website appearance will change slightly after choosing the L.A. Crimes campaign. As in the base game, you will use the site as usual and file the "Final Report" in an attempt to answer questions related to the case, which will determine your final score.
Important: L.A. Crimes does not contain a casebook - all of the introductions to each of the cases will be available on the Antares website and all of the files will be downloadable as PDF files, ready to print if you want a hard copy.
Daily Activity
During each workday, players still perform actions as one team, discussing and deciding what to do next together. In addition to all of the actions you may take from the base game, you may now also:
- Take Stress tokens to perform an action specified on a card
- Make a decision now
- Assign surveillance
There's a small change to the Write a report action. You can now perform this action ONLY in the Police Station, which has been indicated on the game board.
REMINDER: Once the day ends, you and your team still have to perform each and every one of the following steps:
- Move the Day marker to the next day on the Day tracker
- Reset the Time tracker to 8:00 AM
- Move the IT marker back to the Police Station
- Sort notes and discuss what you have learned that day
- Write down all possible leads to keep track of what is available to you
Three Basic Rules
The three basic rules from the base game: Clues, Time, and Location stay intact. The database on the Antares website will be used as usual, as well as the General knowledge. You can still use Google maps, Wikipedia, or any other source of data you may need. Please keep in mind that though we are still using the mechanism of 'Breaking the fourth wall' and you will occasionally be instructed to check Google maps, the streets and locations you will find may have looked drastically different in the past. Sometimes our aim is for you to simply get familiar with where a certain place is, or to see its location and distance in relation to other locations. As for the information found on the internet, we have only used information that would have been known at the time.
New Game Board
You are the detectives working at the Los Angeles Police Station, that is why you will always start every day there unless instructed otherwise. Also, since Los Angeles is the second most populated city in the US, we can distinguish two different field areas, Downtown, and Suburbs. There is also a Laboratory. It may not be as advanced as you would like it to be, but it gets the job done. Moving between these locations works the same as it did in the base game. The game board is double-sided; for the first two scenarios you will be using the side with the usual Time track (1), then flip the board and use the other side for the third scenario (2).
New Actions
All of the new actions described below can be found on the Lead cards. These cannot be performed until revealed.
Take Stress Tokens to Perform an Action Specified on a Card
Sometimes you will be presented with an option to do something off the books. Something that, if you were to get caught by your boss, wouldn't play out nicely. These actions will always generate some Stress tokens, so be careful. If you get too much attention and your stress hits the limit for the case, you might be forced to write up the Final Report before you learn all the facts.
Make a Decision Now
This action will always have at least two options to choose from. When having to make a decision right away, choose the option before continuing to any other actions on the card. Some of these options will generate Further Leads, so if you choose this option, write the Lead down and you can visit it at any point in the future, as with any typical Further Lead - note, this Lead is only available if you choose this option. Additionally, decisions will sometimes generate a new option of assigning surveillance to the person or location described.
Assign Surveillance
In times when there are not many cameras on the streets, you will sometimes need an extra set of eyes to help you gather the information you need. Assigning an officer to run surveillance will usually cost at least 1 Authority token - their report will be found on your desk the next morning.
#playtestingtip
Since it is the '80s and not everyone may remember those days, it is a good idea to set the mood for the game! Find a playlist on Spotify or YouTube with music from the era and play it in the background at a volume that will not disturb any conversations. It really helps the overall experience!
Working Hours
Whenever you need to place a Special token on a specific space on the Time track, always count from your current hour forward.
NOTE: Some of the actions will contain a new term called working hours. Only the hours from 8 AM to 4 PM count as working hours. Sometimes this might mean that a marker gets placed two days away or will not be able to be placed with the time remaining in the case.
EXAMPLE: It is 1 PM and your team has revealed a card that tells you to place a Special token on a space 6 working hours away. This means you count the 3 hours starting from 1 PM until 4 PM and then continue again from 8 AM counting 3 additional hours, placing the Special token on the 11 AM space. The token will be reached at 11 AM of the next day and the card will let you know that you will read a FILE upon reaching or passing the Special token on the Time track.
Important: Some cards may require you to place the Special token 8 or more working hours away. In these situations the token could end up on a space meant to be one or two days away, meaning the Time marker will pass this space once, before resolving the Special token on the second encounter. In such cases either remember this is the situation, or place another Special token on the space as a reminder that you have to complete a full day first and resolve the action once you reach that space again.
New Investigators
In L.A. Crimes we have a new set of investigators, each with unique abilities described on their tiles. If you have any questions about how they work, please refer to the FAQ on the Antares website.
Adjusting Game Difficulty
New on the Streets - Making the Game Easier
You can choose this difficulty if you lose a case and want to replay it or if you think you just need a hand. When choosing this mode, you can add three more hours to the last day before you tackle the Final Report. Keep in mind that the additional hours will not add any Stress tokens, even though the time marker moves into the overtime spaces.
Fearless Detective - Making the Game Harder
As opposed to the New on the Streets difficulty, you can face a challenge by reducing your last day of the case by two hours. When you move the marker past the newly established time limit on the last day, add the appropriate amount of stress tokens to your Token pool.