In Too Deep Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • A. City Setup
  • B. General Setup
  • C. Player Setup
• Overview
• On Your Turn
  • 1. Hook
  • 2. Gain Grip
  • 3. Perform Actions
  • 4. Complete a Story Crime
  • 5. Ditch and Draw Cards
• Other Rules
  • Gaining Evidence
  • Filing Evidence
  • Gaining Boosts
  • Tolerance
  • The Sentinel
  • Blockades
  • Completing a Side Crime
• End of a Chapter
• Resolving a Chapter
• Endgame
• Final Scoring
  • You Won... But What Does It Mean?
• Echo Mode - Solo Rules for In Too Deep
  • Echo Setup
  • Echo's Turn
  • Echo Filing Behaviour
  • Boosts, Grip, and Zones
  • Chapter Resolution & Game End
• Criminal Skills
• Zone Powers
• Boost Tiles

Components

• 8 Zone boards — these form New Dawn City.
• 1 Syndicate board — front for 1-4 players, back for 5 players. Has assignment slots, chapter slots, and chapter end info.
• 1 Chapter marker
• 9 Dossiers
• 2 Blockades
• 1 Evidence board — front for 1-4 players, back for 5 players. Has a Boost wheel and an Evidence pool (2 players use ten slots, 3 players use fourteen, 4 players use seventeen, 5 players (on back) use all twenty).
• 72 Evidence tokens — twelve each of six types: Financing, Location, Ringleader, Tactics, Timing, Weaponry.
• 6 Assignment tokens
• 8 Item tokens — Asset type (Psycodes, Cash), Electronics type (Scrambler, Crackbox), Transport type (Coupe, Birdseye), Weapon type (Gundroid, Blaster).
• 38 Boost tokens — many different types; see the back page for effect details.
• 72 Dilemma cards — each has a Corruption value and an Endgame benefit.
• 49 Story Crime cards — seven cards in seven Storylines. Each Storyline has three Level-1 crimes, three Level-2 crimes, and one Level-3 crime. Cards show Storyline and level info, a 4+ player indicator, a Story title, Crime Criteria, Effects, a Crime Criteria diagram, a Restrained Approach, and a Reckless Approach.
• 21 Side Crime cards — these share many features of the Story crime cards, but they have no Storyline or Level info, and only one Approach.
• 5 "Console" player mats — each has a Grip track, a Corruption Well, Hook slots, a Memory area, and a Tolerance port.
• 10 Criminal standees — insert each standee into its plastic stand to form the Criminal's pawn. The ten Criminals are: the Fixer, the Persuader, the Dronejack, the Ghost, the Smuggler, the Scourge, the Disruptor, the Mechanic, the Jumper, the Sprinter.
• 10 Hook tags
• 50 Grip discs — five for each Criminal.
• 10 Player aids — each front displays a Criminal and describes its Criminal Skill. The backs feature useful game information.
• 1 Sentinel
• 6 Heat markers
• Solo Mode components — the remaining components are for Solo Mode only; details in Echo Mode below.

Setup

A. City Setup

1. Set up the Zones randomly to form the octagonal city.
2. Randomly place one Item in each Zone.
3. Place the Sentinel in Downtown.
4. Place one Blockade on the clockwise edge of Downtown, and the other one on the opposite side of the city.
5. Decide which Criminals you are going to use (five for 2-3 players, six for 4-5 players). You can select the ones you want, or you can draw random Player Aid cards from a shuffled deck to get a random group, as each Player Aid has a different Criminal on the back.
6. For your chosen Criminals, place their pawns into random Zones, one per Zone and none with the Sentinel.
7. Place their hook tags in the void in the center of the city.
8. Place Heat markers in the Heat slots of these Zones: Three Heat in the Blocks, two Heat three Zones clockwise, and one Heat three Zones further clockwise.

B. General Setup

Prepare your Story Crime decks. We recommend using only five storylines in each game (you may try to use more, but it becomes harder to make storyline progress).

There are seven storylines in the game, so you will need to remove two. Shuffle the Level-3 Crime cards and draw two cards. Each one has a code in the top left, which includes the letter that refers to its storyline (A, B, C, etc). These are the two storylines that will not be in your game; remove them from the game. Go through your Level-2 and Level-1 decks, and remove all cards from those two storylines as well. (For example if you drew storyline D and F cards from the Level-3 deck, you'd remove all D and F storyline cards from the Level-2 and Level-1 decks as well.)

If you are playing with fewer than four players, search your Story Crime decks for all cards with a 4+ symbol on the top right corner (there are two per storyline). Remove those marked cards from the game.

1. Separately shuffle your Level-1, Level-2, Level-3 and Side Crime decks into four face down draw piles near the city.
2. Shuffle the Dilemma cards into a facedown deck.
3. Place the Evidence board near the city, with the correct side up for your player count.
   • A. Mix the Evidence tokens into a facedown supply.
   • B. Draw 4 Evidence to place face up on the plank.
   • C. Place Evidence tokens face down into the large pool, filling the slots designated for your player count.
   • D. Shuffle the Boost tiles into a face down supply.
   • E. Draw three Boosts to place face up into the slots of the Boost wheel.
4. Place the Syndicate board near the city, with the correct side up for your player count.
   • F. Shuffle the Assignment tokens face down.
   • G. Place three random Assignments face up in the Assignment slots.
   • H. Place a number of Dossiers (5/7/9/9 for 2/3/4/5 players) on the Chapter slots marked with your player count or lower.
   • I. Place the Chapter marker on the first (topmost) space of the Chapter track.
5. Make supply piles of Intel chits and Tolerance tokens.
6. Put the Player Aid cards matching your Criminals Criminal-side up near the city.
7. Leave a space on the table for a storyline display. It's empty now, but players will add completed Story Crimes face up into a row here.

C. Player Setup

1. Take a Console. If you are playing with fewer than 5 players, no player may use Console V.
2. Take 1 Grip disc for each Criminal in play; place your Grip discs on the starting (leftmost) space of your Grip track.
3. Take 1 random Evidence token from the supply and keep it face down in your Memory. You may always peek at Evidence in your own Memory.
4. Take 3 Intel from the supply into your Memory.
5. Draw 1 Side Crime and 1 Level-1 Crime into your hand.
6. Take a leftover Player Aid card if you want one, and keep it info-side up for the length of the game.
7. Pick a start player.

Clockwise after the start player, players 2 and 3 each randomly select one of their Grip discs to advance one space on their Grip track. Players 4 and 5 each randomly select two of their Grip discs to advance one space on their Grip track.

Overview

In Too Deep goes in turns. You spend your turns seizing and improving control over the Syndicate Criminals, and putting things in place for them to commit crimes in several nefarious storylines. The goal is to get close to the Syndicate, gather valuable Intel on their general activities, and piece together Evidence of both the Final Plot and the Chapters that lead up to it. The more you push your moral boundaries along the way, the more Dilemmas you'll accumulate. Dilemmas offer tempting rewards, but also dangerous corruption.

The game is divided into three Chapters. At the end of each Chapter (when the Evidence pool runs out), you'll earn rewards or penalties for how well you contributed to the Chapter's investigation. Each of you then secretly banks half of the Dilemmas you've gathered, trying to strike a balance between the rewards you desire and the amount of corruption you're willing to risk.

At the end of the game, the least-corrupt among you earns a bonus. The most-corrupt player has gone In Too Deep, and will suffer a major penalty... if the final plot was foiled. All players score Intel for their Grip progress, Evidence collections, and other rewards from their Dilemmas, then the player with the highest score wins!

Remember, it's not you committing crimes. These are determined Syndicate operatives that would be engaging in these acts anyway, and your presence in their minds only nudges them towards one behaviour or another. Even so, it's going to be a moral struggle to be involved in their transgressions; it's up to you how you conduct your mission, and how close you're willing to go to the edge of right and wrong in the pursuit of your goal. If you're not careful, you may even find yourself rooting for the Syndicate to succeed.

Take note: the New Dawn Police Force isn't aware of our activities; operations of this sort are not in the domain of regular law enforcement. Police presence (Heat) in the Zones makes things difficult for Criminals to operate, Blockades curtail movement, and robotic Sentinel units roam the city... With luck you'll be able to turn these factors into advantages instead of obstacles.

On Your Turn

Your turn consists of five steps, then play passes to the next player clockwise. Perform these steps in order:

1. Hook
2. Gain Grip
3. Perform Actions
4. Complete a Story Crime
5. Ditch and Draw Cards

1. Hook

You may hook (at most) one Criminal, bringing it under your control. If you already control at least one Criminal, you may opt to skip this step; if you currently control zero Criminals, you must hook one.

To hook a Criminal, take any hook tag (from the void or from another player's Console), and place it on the topmost empty hook slot of your Console.

• If you take from another player, you must pay them 1 Intel. (If you can't pay, the player gains Intel from the supply instead). The player you took from must slide any remaining tags up into their topmost hook slots so that there are no gaps.
• If you hook your third Criminal, draw a Dilemma from the deck into your hand. (Trying to split your concentration between several minds at once is mentally fatiguing; there is a Dilemma symbol in your third Hook slot as a reminder.)
• Before you hook a Criminal, you may freely unhook from any Criminal(s) you wish, returning their tags to the pool and sliding any remaining tags upward in your hook slots to fill gaps.

Hook example: You already control the Jumper. You draft the Persuader away from another player, paying them for the disrupting their investigation.

2. Gain Grip

Gain one Grip with each of your hooked Criminals, advancing each Grip disc one space on the Grip track.

Gain Grip example: You gain one Grip each with the Jumper and Persuader.

• You do gain Grip with the Criminals you control even if you didn't hook a new Criminal this turn.

Gaining Grip improves your control over your hooked Criminals.

• If your Grip with a Criminal is in the Skill range (or higher), you become capable of using that Criminal's unique Skill (see Criminal Skills below).
• If your Grip with a Criminal is in the Stamina range, you may spend units of Grip to gain extra actions with that Criminal, retreating the Grip disc one space on the track for each extra action you take.
• Grip can be lost (by spending it for actions, or from other game effects). If your Grip with a Criminal moves down below the Skill or Stamina range, you lose the benefit of that range until you regain enough Grip to reach it again.

There are faint scoring values on the Grip track. At the end of the game you will score points for the lowest Grip disc on your track… keep that in mind!

With the current Grip, you have access to the Skills of both the Jumper and the Ghost while you are hooked into them. The Ghost disc is in the Stamina range, which means you could spend a Grip to get an extra action with that criminal specifically... doing so would move the disc down out of the Stamina range.

3. Perform Actions

You have two actions to spend on your turn. All of the actions below may be performed with any Criminal you are currently hooked into. You may split your actions among your hooked Criminals however you wish.

• Move
• Pick up an Item
• Use a Zone Power
• Use a Criminal Skill
• Gain 1 Grip

The point of all these actions in the city is to arrange things to match the criteria on your Crime cards... while all the other players are trying to do the same thing! Two actions doesn't seem like very much... but don't worry! As the game progresses, you'll get better at squeezing more out of your turns. Lifting your Grip up into the Stamina range with a few Criminals will allow you to extend your turns, and Boost tokens are a great source of free actions if you can get your hands on them!

Free Actions

• You may complete any number of Side Crimes from your hand (see Completing a Side Crime below).
• Dropping an Item never costs an action. You may freely drop any Item you are carrying so that it becomes loose in the Zone.
• You may obtain spendable Boost tokens during the game in a variety of ways. Boosts give you extra capabilities (see the back page for details). During this step of your turn you may spend any number of Boosts for their benefits. Spending a Boost does not cost an action, but the Boost is discarded.

Move

Shift to an adjacent Zone. Criminals may not normally move through Blockades. When Criminals move, they bring any Item they are carrying along with them.

We often use the term shift. This specifically describes moving something to the next Zone clockwise or counterclockwise, as opposed to moving something freely to any location.

Pick Up an Item

If there is a loose Item in your Zone, you may pick it up (place the Criminal pawn on top of the Item to indicate that it is held, but make sure the Item protrudes so that it can be easily identified). A Criminal may hold one Item at a time; when you pick up an Item, any held Item is automatically dropped.

Remember, dropping an Item is a free action.

Use a Zone Power

If your current Zone has zero Heat (Heat represents police presence), you may activate the Zone power. Using these powers draws police presence to the Zone: take one Heat token from each of the three Zones that do have Heat, and place all three of them in your Zone's three Heat slots. Then resolve the Zone's power (see Zone Powers below).

Use a Criminal Skill

If your Grip is in the Skill range with a hooked Criminal, you may use their unique skill. Many (but not all) of the Criminal Skills will cost you an action to use (see Criminal Skills below).

Gain 1 Grip

You may gain one Grip with any Criminal you are currently hooked into.

Action Example

You have two actions to spend. You are currently hooked into the Persuader and the Jumper, with the amount of Grip shown. With your first action you have a variety of options:

• Move example: You could shift the Jumper one Zone in either direction, or you could shift the Persuader to Skyport. Notice that you can't move the Persuader to Downtown, as there is a Blockade in the way!
• Pick up an Item example: The Jumper could pick up the Scrambler Item in her Zone. The Persuader is already carrying the Birdseye in his Zone, but you could drop it as a free action if you want.
• Use a Zone Power example: The Persuader could use the Zone power of the Parish (which would gain you a Tolerance token). Doing so would cause Heat to cycle into the Parish from the three Zones that currently have Heat. Notice that the Jumper can not currently activate the Blocks power, as there is Heat there.
• Use a Criminal Skill example: Your Grip is in the Skill Range with the Jumper, but not the Persuader. You could use the Jumper's skill (and fly her across the city to the opposite Zone).
• Gain 1 Grip example: You could gain one Grip with either the Persuader or the Jumper.

4. Complete a Story Crime

If the board state meets the conditions of a Story Crime in your hand and all required prerequisite crimes have been completed in its storyline, you may complete one Story Crime from your hand. There are a few steps to completing a Story Crime:

A) Check Prerequisites

The very first thing you should do is reveal the card you want to complete, and check the storyline display to confirm that the prerequisite crimes (if any) have already been completed. Each storyline has crimes in the Level 1, 2, and 3 decks.

• Level-1 crimes have no prerequisites.

• Level-2 crimes require at least one Level-1 crime from that storyline to have been completed by any player.

• Level-3 crimes require at least one Level-2 crime from that storyline to have been completed by any player.

• Multiple Level-1 and Level-2 Crimes in each storyline may be completed. You may complete an earlier crime even if later crimes in the storyline have already been completed.

• If a needed prerequisite is not completed, you must immediately take the Crime back into your hand, and proceed to Step 5: Ditch and Draw Cards.

You want to complete Take it for a Spin in the Deadly Force storyline. It's a B2 crime, so there must be at least one B1 in the display. You check, and yes, someone completed a B1 earlier. So far so good!

B) Confirm Criteria

Read the card aloud and verify that every part of the Crime's criteria text is currently satisfied. If any part of the criteria is not satisfied, you must immediately take the Crime back into your hand, and proceed to Step 5: Ditch and Draw Cards.

Criteria clarifications:

• If the criteria don't mention something, then that thing has no bearing on the crime's completion. All that matters is that a literal reading of the crime criteria is true.
• Similarly, if the crime doesn't specify an exact amount of something, it's okay if there are more of that thing than the bare minimum mentioned (for example if a Crime required you to be in a Zone with two Items, it would be okay if there were three or more).
• YOU refers to any Criminal you are currently hooked into. Sometimes the "you" might refer to multiple Criminals at once (for example, if a crime required "you" to be in two different Zones, you would therefore need to be hooked into two different Criminals, one in each Zone).
• ALONE means that no Sentinel and no Criminals (other than the specific single Criminal acting as "you" in this instance) are in the Zone. Your Criminal does not count as "alone" even if the only other Criminals in the Zone are ones you are hooked into.
• ALONE WITH ___ means that you must be alone as described above but with the exception of the specific mentioned other entity.
• TOTALLY EMPTY means no Items, Criminals, or Sentinel in the Zone. The Zone may have Blockades and/or Heat markers.
• A LOOSE Item is one that is not currently held by a Criminal. A HELD Item is one that is currently being held by a Criminal. If a crime does not specify loose or held, then the Item may be either.
• When an Item TYPE is mentioned, the Item may be either one of that type.
• The OPPOSITE Zone is the one directly across the board.

According to the Crime criteria, you must be holding both the Coupe and the Blaster, and the Sentinel must be in the same Zone as at least one of them. You currently control the Mechanic and the Ghost, and they are holding those Items. The Sentinel is in the same Zone as the Coupe. Everything is in place!

C) Effects

Many crimes feature magenta instruction text that describe a consequence of completing the crime. You must follow those instructions.

The Crime says that Items in the Sentinel's Zone must be dropped, so your Ghost drops the Coupe.

D) Choose and Resolve Your Approach

Each Story crime has two Approaches; Restrained and Reckless. Read both Approaches aloud, and announce which one you will resolve.

The Restrained approach in the green window on the left is a more cautious and careful choice. You will gain less Intel and fewer tempting but risky Dilemmas, but you'll be able to file more Evidence with greater control.

The Reckless approach in the red window on the right is a more callous and villainous choice. You will gain more Intel and more corrupting Dilemmas, but you sacrifice your command over the Evidence that is needed to foil the plot and build a strong case.

Whichever Approach you choose, you must gain the displayed rewards from left to right.

• Gain the indicated amount of Intel from the supply into your Memory.
• Draw the indicated number of Dilemma cards from the deck into your hand (shuffle the discards if the deck runs out).
• Gain the indicated amount of Evidence into your Memory (see Gaining Evidence below).
• File the indicated amount of Evidence (see Filing Evidence below).

You must decide whether to "Wait for a Lone Target" or "Attack in Public". Taking stock of the general situation, you think that now is a good time to push the envelope a little... so you decide on the Reckless Approach. This gets you 8 Intel from the supply and three Dilemmas into your hand. Then you draw two Evidence tokens into your Memory, and file one piece of Evidence.

E) Display the Crime

Add the completed Crime card to a face-up storyline display of completed Crimes. This display is shared by all players; players check this display to confirm prerequisites.

The display is a row of card columns, each dedicated to a particular storyline. Lay higher-level cards in the storyline over lower ones (and tuck lower ones under higher ones), so that only the top banner of lower-level crimes remains visible.

You add the completed Crime to the shared display. Now that there's a B2 in play, it's possible for players to complete a B3 Crime!

F) Unhook

Return all of your hook tags from your Console to the void.

Finally, you unhook from all your Criminals.

5. Ditch and Draw Cards

First, you may discard any number of Crime cards (Side and/or Story) from your hand, returning them to the bottom of their relevant decks. Then, if you don't have at least one Side Crime and at least one Story Crime in hand, you may draw cards to reach those minimums. When drawing a Story Crime, you may draw from any Level deck you wish.

• Remember that you may not complete a Story Crime of a particular level if nobody has yet completed a prerequisite… so it's up to you to decide when the risk of drawing from a higher deck is worth it.

Finally, take any Crime cards that you gained during your turn (which should be sitting face down beside your Console) into your hand (Crime cards gained during the turn are always placed face down beside your Console until this moment).

After this step, your turn is over. Play passes to the next player clockwise.

• If you realize at any point before your next turn that you have fewer than the minimum of one Side and one Story Crime in hand, you may draw cards as needed to reach the minimums (but may not discard any).

You end your turn holding only a Side Crime, which means you could draw a Story Crime... but from which deck? Level 1s are always safe, and there are four storylines eligible to complete Level-2s right now... you could even press your luck and draw a Level-3, as there are two storylines with a completed Level-2!

Other Rules

Gaining Evidence

Whenever you gain any amount of Evidence, take it from the Evidence board into your Memory. You must choose the first token from among the four face up options on the plank, and all subsequent tokens (if you are gaining multiple tokens at once) from the large face down pool.

• Keep your gained Evidence face down in your Memory; you can peek at them any time, but you don't want other players to see what you have.
• If there are not enough tokens in the pool for you to take, take the ones you need from the supply.

After you are done taking all of your Evidence, reveal a random token from the pool and move it face up to the plank.

• If you notice at any point later that the plank is not full because someone forgot to do this, immediately refill it from the pool.
• If there are not enough tokens in the pool to refill the plank when it is supposed to be refilled, this means that the end of the current Chapter has been triggered (see End of a Chapter below).

You have just gained three Evidence. The first one must come from the plank... you can choose any one of the Timing, Weaponry (x2) or Location tokens available. The second and third tokens must come from the facedown pool. When you are done, fill the empty spot in the plank from the pool.

Filing Evidence

Evidence tokens may be filed from your Memory to one of two areas on the Syndicate board: to the Chapter or to the Final Plot. When filing multiple Evidence tokens, resolve each filing as a separate process.

• Filed Evidence does not need to be a token that you gained immediately prior; you may file any Evidence token from your Memory.

Filing to the Chapter

If you have Evidence that matches one of the current Assignments, and there is at least one Dossier remaining in that row, you may file the Evidence face up into the Dossier's slot and claim the Dossier into your Memory. Otherwise you may not file to the Chapter.

If you had a Location or Tactics Evidence token in your collection, you could file it to the Chapter as there are still Dossiers remaining for those Assignments. There is a Ringleader Assignment too, but since no Dossiers remain in that row, you may not file there any more.

Why file here? Dossiers will earn you rewards if the Chapter ends complete, or protect you from penalties if the Chapter ends incomplete (see End of a Chapter below). The Assignments and Dossiers reset at the beginning of every Chapter, with escalating rewards and penalties as the game progresses.

Filing to the Final Plot

You may file any Evidence token into the Final Plot area. Evidence filed here must be face down. There are three bonus slots in the Final Plot area; if you file into a bonus slot, immediately gain the slot's bonus.

• Gain 1 Boost (see Gaining Boosts below).
• Gain 1 Tolerance token (see Tolerance below).
• Gain 1 Grip (with any Criminal, regardless of Hook status).

You could file any Evidence token face down to the Final Plot. There are still two empty bonus slots, so you could file to one of them and claim either a Boost token or gain 1 Grip.

If you file into the Final Plot but not into a bonus slot, place your token face down into your own locker. Each player has their own marked locker in the general area with a letter code matching the one on their own Console; there is a public locker too where face up Evidence will accumulate. You may freely peek at the Evidence in your own locker, but not at face down Evidence anywhere else.

Why file here? Firstly the bonus slots are nice. More importantly though, Evidence filed here (by all players together) will determine whether the Syndicate's plot has been foiled at game end. If the plot is foiled, the most corrupt player will suffer a large penalty… so any player who thinks they won't be the most corrupt should certainly hope to foil that plot!

Additionally, the Evidence filed here will create the endgame scoring values; the more tokens of a particular Evidence type there are in the Final Plot, the greater the value of that symbol type in your collection.

Gaining Boosts

Boosts are tokens that give you a benefit or trigger an effect. When you are awarded a Boost, select the one you want from the Boost wheel and take it, along with any Intel chits that are in its sector. Then add Intel from the supply to the next sector clockwise on the Boost wheel, and draw a new Boost from the stack to go face up in the empty slot. If the Boost stack ever runs out, shuffle the discard pile.

If the token is blue, save it in your Memory; you hold on to it however long you like and then spend it for its benefit during your own turn. If it is pink with a lightning-bolt symbol, it activates immediately; resolve it and discard it into a discard pile (see Boost Tiles below for details on the various Boost benefits).

You take the indicated Boost plus the Intel that was in its sector. This causes Intel to be added (from the supply) to the next sector clockwise. Then you refill the empty Boost slot.

Tolerance

Tolerance tokens increase your ability to process the strain of the mission, subtracting from your current corruption value. Tolerance tokens go into the port at the bottom of your Console. Each one applies the displayed negative value to your corruption. Tolerance tokens are not spent, they apply their effect passively.

Tolerance is gained in increments of 2, and there are several denominations of Tolerance token. Make change with the token supply as needed, to track your Tolerance accurately. It is okay to keep more than one token, in the event that you go above 10 Tolerance (the highest denomination).

You currently have 4 Tolerance, and you gain another token. You discard the 4 token from your port and install a 6 from the supply instead!

This corruption-reduction is useful in two instances: When resolving a corruption challenge from the Blocks Zone power, and at the end of the game when determining who is most or least corrupt!

The Sentinel

When you shift the Sentinel by any means, move it one Zone in either direction.

• The Sentinel can move through Blockades.
• Each time the Sentinel shifts, it can escort one Criminal (plus whatever that Criminal is carrying, regardless of the Criminal's hook status) along with it, even through a Blockade. The Sentinel can escort a different Criminal with each shift of a multi-shift movement, if you want.
• There are a number of ways to move the Sentinel, including Zone powers, Boosts, and Criminal Skills.

The Sentinel is in the Towers. You spend a Boost that gives you three Sentinel/Blockade shifts. You shift the Sentinel twice into The Blocks, then a third space back into Zinbazaar, escorting the Persuader and the Cash he's holding through the Blockade.

Exploiting the Sentinel is a very handy way to move Criminals that you don't currently control, and also to bypass those pesky Blockades!

Blockades

Blockades sit on the edges between two Zones, and prevent Criminals from passing through them. When you shift a Blockade by any means, move it to the next edge in either direction that doesn't already have a Blockade on it. Blockades cannot occupy the same edge. If a Blockade is moved towards an occupied edge, it skips that edge and proceeds to the next one.

Shifting this Blockade once would move it either one edge counterclockwise, or two edges clockwise.

Completing a Side Crime

If at any point during the Perform Actions step of your turn, the board state meets the conditions of a Side Crime in your hand, you may complete it as a free action. You may complete multiple Side Crimes during your turn. Completing a Side Crime is very similar to completing a Story Crime, with the following differences:

1. There are never prerequisites.
2. If you realize the criteria haven't been met, take the Side Crime back into your hand and continue your turn.
3. There is only one Approach, with one set of rewards. Sometimes the rewards include Boosts, which are gained in the usual way.
4. Completed Side Crimes are discarded, not displayed. If the Side Crime deck ever runs out, shuffle the discards to form a new deck.
5. Important: You DO NOT Unhook from any of your Criminals when you complete a Side Crime.

Completing a Side Crime is largely similar to a Story Crime but with a few key differences. Their risks and rewards are pretty minor, but the big advantage is that completing one doesn't force you to unhook from your Criminals.

End of a Chapter

When the face-up Evidence plank needs to be refilled but there is no Evidence in the pool to do so, the end of the Chapter is triggered.

• If it is currently Chapter 1 or 2, resolve the Chapter at the end of the active player's turn.
• If it is currently Chapter 3, finish the active player's turn and then every other player gets one final turn; then resolve the Chapter.

In the period between a Chapter End triggering and resolving, continue to refill the plank from the supply as needed. Evidence that would normally be drawn from the pool for any reason is drawn from the supply instead.

Resolving a Chapter

The top right of the Syndicate board displays the steps to resolving each Chapter—just follow the arrow. Chapters 1 and 2 are essentially identical; Chapter 3 skips several of the steps.

1. Check for Success (All Chapters)

• If no Dossiers remain on the Chapter grid, the Chapter investigation was a success. Players with Dossiers earn the displayed reward for each Dossier (Chapter 1: Gain 2 Intel / Chapter 2: Gain 3 Intel / Chapter 3: Gain 4 Intel). Players without Dossiers suffer no penalty.
• If any Dossiers remain on the Chapter grid, the Chapter investigation was a failure. The player (or tied players) with the fewest Dossiers suffers the displayed penalty (Chapter 1: Lose 2 Grip / Chapter 2: Lose 3 Grip / Chapter 3: Lose 5 Intel).

2. Refresh Assignments (1 & 2)

Shuffle all 6 Assignment tokens, and place three random ones face up into the Assignment slots.

You've got these three Dilemmas in your hand from the first Chapter, and you'll have to bank two of them. You decide that it's early in the game and you'll have time to be careful later... so you bank the higher-corruption cards and discard the single Financing symbol. In future Chapters, you'll try to build on these banked cards to create valuable scoring sets.

3. Refresh the Chapter Grid (1 & 2)

Discard all of the filed Evidence tokens from the Chapter slots back to the Evidence supply. All players return all Dossiers to the Chapter slots appropriate for the player count.

4. Bank Permanent Corruption (All Chapters)

Each player does this. Look at the Dilemmas in your hand, and choose half of them (rounding up) to bank face down into the Corruption Well on your Console, adding to other Dilemmas you may have banked earlier. Discard the ones you don't bank into a shared face down discard pile. Do not let other players see your banked or discarded Dilemmas.

See Final Scoring below to learn how the different Dilemmas score.

You may always peek at the cards in your Corruption Well (including while making the decision about which ones to bank from your hand), but be sure to never mix up the ones in your hand with the ones in your Well.

What should you bank? Each Dilemma has a corruption value and an endgame scoring benefit. At the end of the game the most corrupt agent will go In Too Deep and suffer a big penalty if the plot is foiled, so you want to be careful… but if the plot isn't foiled there is no penalty—it's possible that even a very corrupt player could get away with it!

The rewards on high-corruption cards are better than on low-corruption cards, so you have to balance the amount of corruption you think it's safe to take, and the rewards you think will benefit you best. The player who has accumulated the least corruption at the end of the game will receive a significant scoring bonus, so keep that in mind as well.

5. Refresh the Pool (1 & 2)

Shuffle the Evidence supply (including the tokens that just came off the Chapter slots). Fill any gaps on the plank face up, and refill the pool with face-down tokens just like during Setup.

6. Clear the Bonus Slots (1 & 2)

Flip any Evidence currently in the Final Plot bonus slots into the shared locker of the final plot face up (freeing those slots up to be filed into next Chapter). This gives everyone a little bit of shared information about what Evidence is building up towards foiling the plot!

A Ringleader and two Location Evidence tokens are revealed at the end of the Chapter. Add that knowledge to your hidden tokens in your locker that you can peek at, and you can start to get a sense of how the case is developing!

If you just finished Chapter 1 or Chapter 2, move the Chapter marker down one space on the Chapter track, and continue playing with the next player in turn order.

If you just finished Chapter 3, proceed to Endgame.

Endgame

The game is over... time to discover whose efforts have paid off! Prepare for final scoring by following these four steps in order:

1. Score Grip
2. Find Out Who Went In Too Deep
3. Check if the Final Plot Was Foiled
4. Set Evidence Scoring Values

1. Score Grip

First, gain Intel for the lowest Grip disc on your Grip track. The track bears faint numbers to remind you of that scoring value.

Many of your Grip tokens are quite high, but the Mechanic lagged behind... the value of its space is 12.

2. Find Out Who Went In Too Deep

Who was the most corrupt agent? Reveal your banked Dilemma cards, total their corruption, and subtract your Tolerance to get your final corruption score. Compare your final corruption score with the other players.

• The player with the lowest final corruption gets a bonus: Gain 5 Intel for every other player with higher final corruption.
• The player with the highest final corruption has gone In Too Deep, and will suffer a penalty... but only if the final plot was foiled (see below)!

It is possible for multiple players to tie for least and/or most corruption. All tied players receive the full benefits/penalties of the status. If all players have the same corruption, they are all considered to be In Too Deep and treated accordingly; in that case there is no reward for lowest corruption.

With these Dilemmas and Tolerance tokens, your corruption score is 24. If that's the lowest, you gain Intel for each more-corrupt player! If it's the highest, you went In Too Deep!

3. Check if the Final Plot Was Foiled

Reveal all of the face down Evidence tokens in the Final Plot, and group them by type (it no longer matters which lockers tokens are in). For the plot to be foiled, there needs to be at least 3 tokens of x Evidence types; x is based on player count:

• 2p: 3 types
• 3p: 4 types
• 4p: 5 types
• 5p: 6 types

This graphic on the Syndicate board is a reminder of how much Evidence is needed to foil the plot for different player counts.

• If the plot was foiled, the In Too Deep player immediately loses Intel equal to their final corruption score.
• If the plot was not foiled, the In Too Deep player suffers no penalty.

In a 3-player game, we need at least four Evidence types with least three tokens in the Final Plot... and there are! Ringleader, Weaponry, Timing, and Location all have three or more. The plot has been foiled! The In Too Deep player immediately loses Intel equal to their Final Corruption!

4. Set Evidence Scoring Values

Stack the Evidence tokens in the Final Plot by type. Place the tallest stack (or stacks) in the leftmost scoring bracket, then the next-tallest stack (or stacks) in the next bracket, and so on. This determines the value of the players' Evidence collections (the tokens in their Memory and the symbols on their Dilemma cards).

If the brackets are full, any "leftover" Evidence types with at least one token in the Final Plot go into the rightmost (worth 1) bracket.

Proceed to Final Scoring!

Ringleader and Weaponry have the tallest stacks, so those types are worth 4 each. Location and Timing have the next-tallest, so they're worth 3 each. Tactics is next-tallest so is worth 2 each. No Financing Evidence at all appeared in the final plot, so they are worth zero.

Final Scoring

Add the value of your Evidence tokens and Dilemma benefits to your score, in the following categories:

Evidence Collection

Reveal your Evidence collection. With luck, you will have built a collection of symbols that has high scoring value.

Score each type of Evidence in your collection by counting the symbols of that type on your tokens and Dilemma cards, then multiplying the total by the scoring value for that type.

If there are no tokens of a certain symbol in the Final Plot, that type has no value in collections.

Evidence types: Tactics, Ringleader, Timing, Weaponry, Financing, Location.

We recommend calling out a scoring bracket value and the types in it, then having all players add their scores for those types. (For example, call out "Ringleader and Weaponry symbols score four each".) Work your way from most-valuable to least in the scoring brackets. This will help everyone to score all types correctly.

Your Evidence collection is composed of these tokens in your Memory and symbols on your Dilemmas. According to the Evidence values we established in the example on the previous page, your collection is worth: 2 Ringleader × 4 = 8, 3 Weaponry × 4 = 12, 1 Timing × 3 = 3, 0 Location × 3 = 0, 5 Tactics × 2 = 10, 1 Financing × 0 = 0 ...for a total of 33.

Dilemma Intel

Score the Intel values displayed on your Dilemmas.

Wanted Posters

Count the number of unique Wanted Posters on your Dilemmas (ignore any duplicates). Multiply that number by itself to find their score value.

Your collection includes four unique Wanted Posters. Four multiplied by itself is 16.

Sentinel Sigils

For each set of exactly three Sentinel Sigils, score 20 Intel. Sets of fewer than three Sigils do not score. It is possible to score more than one set.

You didn't get a set of three Sentinel Sigils. Sadly this card is worth 0, but at least it didn't contribute to your corruption!

The player with the highest score wins the game! In the event of a tie, the tied player with lower final corruption is the winner; if that's also tied, the victory is shared.

With these Dilemmas and tokens, you add a total of 50 to your score. Will it be enough to make your casefile the one that unlocks the Syndicate's secrets?

You Won... But What Does It Mean?

If you weren't In Too Deep and the plot was foiled... The Syndicate slinks away from New Dawn City, defeated... the program is a complete success! You are promoted to run the division, and you pledge to guide it with wisdom and integrity.

If you were In Too Deep and the plot was foiled... Your spiral into darkness almost destroyed your case, but in the end your dubious tactics paid off. New Dawn City is bruised but not beaten. Next time you may not be so lucky.

If you weren't In Too Deep and the plot wasn't foiled... Sadly it's too late for New Dawn City... but your casefile is a gold mine of information on the Syndicate's inner workings. The next time they make a move to expand, we'll be ready!

If you were In Too Deep and the plot wasn't foiled... You have gone over to the Syndicate. The city is under their sway, and you have a thick file of the Agency's methods and technology to hand over. You will be richly rewarded in their new regime.

Echo Mode - Solo Rules for In Too Deep

"Echo" is the Agency hacker that developed the Hook Program. Echo Mode is an artificial intelligence that simulates her infiltration style and provides a challenging opponent for you to compete against when playing solo. Good luck… you're going to need it!

Echo Setup

Set up as if for a 2-player game (treating Echo as player 2), with these exceptions:

• Use only four Criminals instead of five as normal for a 2-player game.
• Shuffle the Echo deck and keep it face down near Echo's Console, with the dice nearby.
• Place the Echo board near the deck, with the side up pertaining to the difficulty level you desire. Place the Progress marker on the start of the Crime track. Randomly place unused Grip discs (matching the Criminals in your game) into slots A, B, C and D; this will establish which Criminal corresponds to which letter for your game.
• Deal one Level-1 Story Crime card face down to Echo, and no Side Crime card.
• Place an unused Grip disc randomly on one of the Blockades to mark it.

Normal difficulty has values 1, 2, and 3 on the progress chart in the bottom left. Hard difficulty has only 2 and 3.

Echo's Turn

Flip the next Echo card face up. The card will generate Echo's behaviour for her turn, following these steps in order:

1. Echo hooks the indicated Criminal, and gains Grip with it (if she hooks your Criminal, she pays you 1 Intel as usual).
2. Echo moves that Criminal, ignoring Blockades. Roll the black die and consult the movement chart to see how it moves.
3. Echo affects other board elements by rolling both dice (white die determines which thing, black die determines how it moves using the movement chart; ignore Blockades for movement of Criminals and Items; a held Item is moved by Echo). Do this once in the first Chapter, twice in the second, three times in the third. Echo will never affect the same thing twice in a turn; if she ever duplicates a white-die result during a turn, reroll it until a unique result is achieved.
4. Roll the black die to see how far to move the Progress marker on the Crime track; the Echo board has a chart which shows what the die result means. If Echo doesn't reach the milestone matching her current Story level, she gains the rewards shown on the Echo board. If she does reach her milestone, return the Progress marker to the start of the Crime track and then:
   • a. Check the Echo card to see which Approach Echo takes (restrained or reckless). Echo unhooks from her Criminals, then reveals her Crime card. Echo earns the rewards indicated on the card for the relevant Approach.
   • b. Place the completed Crime card (criteria do not actually need to be met) in the Storyline display.
   • c. Echo draws a new Crime card face down. She will draw Level-1 Crimes until all storylines have a Level-1 in the display, Level-2 Crimes until all storylines have a Level-2 in the display, and Level-3 Crimes thereafter.

The movement chart indicates 1-3 Zones clockwise or counterclockwise for moving the indicated Criminal or Item; moving the 3-Heat group to the indicated Zone (ignore black die); moving the marked or unmarked Blockade as indicated; or moving the Sentinel.

Echo Filing Behaviour

Echo always gains Evidence from the pool, never the plank. Echo's Evidence always stays face down during the game, even when filing to the Chapter. Check the card to see whether she files into the Chapter or the Plot. When she files into the Chapter, she files into the highlighted row; if that row has no Dossiers left, she files to the Plot instead. When filing to the Plot, Echo always files into the topmost bonus slot available, and gains the reward indicated. If no Bonus slots are available, she files to her locker. Echo may not file to two bonus slots in a single turn. When Echo is supposed to file a second Evidence in a turn, she always files to the Final Plot.

Boosts, Grip, and Zones

• When Echo gains a Boost, she takes the one with the most Intel on it (if tied, you choose), gains the Intel, and discards the Boost without activating it.
• Whenever Echo gains Grip with an unspecified Criminal, she advances her lowest Grip marker. Whenever she loses Grip with an unspecified Criminal, she chooses her highest Grip marker. In either case if there is a tie, you choose.
• When Echo cycles Heat into a Zone on her turn, if the indicated Zone already has Heat in it, cycle the Heat instead to the next Zone clockwise that has no Heat. Echo only triggers some Zones' powers when she cycles the Heat in; she ignores the powers of other Zones. At the Parish she gains a Tolerance token. At Riverside she gains one Evidence. At Ion Heights she gains one Boost.

Chapter Resolution & Game End

Chapter end is triggered by the player as normal, or when Echo needs to gain Evidence and there is none in the pool. Echo gains/loses Chapter rewards/penalties just like a live player. To bank Echo's Dilemmas, shuffle her hand, randomly bank half (rounding up) into her Corruption Well face down, then discard the rest.

Treat the end of the game and all final scoring as if Echo were a human player. Echo will not reliably build a very good Evidence or Dilemma collection, but she makes up for it with relentless progress during the game, accomplishing the equivalent of at least a Side Crime on every single turn. Can you beat her?

Echo with Two Human Players! Try having Echo join you in a 2-player game, setting up as if for a 3-player game! Her presence adds a tricky wildcard element that fleshes out the straightforward 2-player experience. The only change is that you will use five Criminals instead of only four. To accommodate this, at the end of each of Echo's turns you must cycle the Grip discs on the Echo board as shown so that she can affect all five. After her turn, the disc that's off the board circles around into slot A and pushes every other disc one notch to the right.

Criminal Skills

For all these Skills, nearby means in the Criminal's Zone or in an adjacent Zone. A Blockade is nearby even if on the far edge of an adjacent Zone.

• Disruptor — The Disruptor may shift a nearby Blockade or Sentinel. The first time this is done in a turn it is a free action, then it costs one action per shift.
• Dronejack — The Dronejack may spend an action to shift or pick up one nearby loose Item. The ability ignores Blockades completely.
• Fixer — The Fixer may spend an action to activate the power of a nearby Zone that has no Heat. The ability reaches through Blockades.
• Ghost — The Ghost ignores Blockades while moving, and is always considered to be Alone for Crime-completion criteria.
• Jumper — The Jumper may spend an action to move to the opposite Zone.
• Mechanic — When controlling the Mechanic, you may consider her carried Item to be the other Item of the same type for Crime-completion criteria.
• Persuader — The Persuader may spend an action to shift one nearby Criminal one Zone. The ability reaches through Blockades but can not move the affected Criminal through one.
• Scourge — Once per turn, the Scourge's controller may gain Grip with a nearby Criminal other than itself as a free action.
• Smuggler — The Smuggler may pick up loose Items in his Zone, and may steal Items from other Criminals in his Zone, as a free action.
• Sprinter — The Sprinter may spend an action to move to any Zone that is reachable without crossing any Blockades.

Zone Powers

• The Blocks — You may pick a rival to challenge. Both of you reveal your Dilemmas in hand only and compare the total corruption (including Tolerance). Higher total loses. Loser pays 2 Intel to winner, secretly chooses one Dilemma to discard face down. You may choose to not challenge. Challenger and target must both have at least one Dilemma in hand to challenge. Challenger wins ties.
• Downtown — Make up to three shifts with the Blockades and/or the Sentinel. You may split your shifts up however you like among the Sentinel and the two Blockades.
• Ion Heights — Claim one Boost from the Boost wheel, or draw one card from any Crime deck and place it face down by your Console without looking at it until the end of your turn.
• The Parish — Gain a Tolerance token from the supply.
• Riverside — Gain one Evidence or File one Evidence. Follow the normal process for either.
• Skyport — Move one Criminal (along with any held Item) from its current location to any Zone. Hook status and starting location of the Criminal is irrelevant.
• The Towers — Choose two options, or the same option twice: Shift one Criminal (may not pass Blockade); Shift one loose or held Item (may pass Blockade); Peek at two face down Evidence (in Pool or Final Plot); Shift one Blockade or Sentinel once.
• Zinbazaar — Swap any two Items. Either or both may be loose or held; a loose Item swapped with a held Item itself becomes held.

Boost Tiles

• Swap any two Items. Either may be loose or held.
• Move one Item. To any Zone, may be loose or held, arrives at destination loose.
• Swap Item with Criminal. Item may be loose or held, hook status of Criminal irrelevant.
• Swap any two Criminals. Hook status irrelevant, they bring held Items.
• Move one Criminal. From any Zone to any other Zone, hook status irrelevant, brings held Item.
• Shift Sentinel/Blockades. Up to the number shown. May split up shifts between Sentinel and Blockades as desired.
• Swap hook tags. All tags you control for all tags a rival controls. Do not gain Grip.
• Discard a Dilemma. From your hand or your Corruption Well.
• Draw and discard Dilemmas. Draw two from deck into hand, discard two from hand; discards may include drawn cards.
• Challenge a rival. Same rules as the Zone power of the Blocks.
• Lock a Hook tag. Place on a hook tag you own. No rival may hook that Criminal until you unhook by completing a Story Crime.
• Peek at two Evidence. Face down in Pool or Plot.
• Peek at two Evidence, then take one of them. Face down in Pool or Plot.
• Take one Evidence. Face down in Pool or Plot.
• Reveal one Evidence. Face down anywhere in Plot, into the public locker.
• Draw Side Crimes. Number shown; keep them face down beside your Console until turn end.
• Gain Grip. Amount shown. May split how you like among any Criminals, hook status irrelevant.
• Move all Heat from any one Zone. To Zone with zero Heat.
• Gain a Tolerance token. From the supply.
• Hook a Criminal. Follow the usual rules; gain Grip as normal.
• Gain Actions. One action per symbol.