At our live event in March, we unveiled a new mechanic for Murder Inc. characters: Leverage. This social currency represents influence within the Organization. In this post, we'll clarify the nature of Leverage and explain how it functions.
First, it's important to note that Leverage is different from Favor. Its primary purpose is to persuade the Organization to gather intel on specific targets, with a secondary use in Master Criminal Influence Action Request Modules, which we'll discuss later.
Leverage operates through a bidding system that requires at least two characters(to encourage collaboration IG and OOG) pooling their resources to Bid an amount of Leverage on a Target, representing expending sway to push for investigation of the Target by the Org. The story team then evaluates whether the bid amount has reached the Target Number for intel on the Target. If not, we'll present you with options such as receiving information with complications, overbidding the original target number for better results, or withdrawing your request without wasting your Leverage. Target values will range from 1-5 for trivial targets up to 40-50 for highly secretive and formidable threats.
Primarily, Leverage is employed to gather intelligence and secondarily to equip characters during Master Criminal Influence Action Request Modules. For instance, spending 5 Leverage could provide one useful item for a mission while 40 might significantly enhance your team's gear.
Murder Inc. characters accrue Leverage each month they attend an event – one point per rank of Criminal Influence (1-4, with the Inner Circle Professional Focus Achievement counting as 4), plus one additional point for local Murder Inc Family Society Membership. Note that these optional local Family memberships are distinct from the three mandatory MI branches like Silenced Knell and Adherents of Betrayal that characters must choose from to join MI. Leverage carries over between months.
At live events, you track your own Leverage amount using poker chips distributed by Ops. These chips represent various levels of influence within Murder Inc., with different colors indicating different tiers of Leverage. This poker chip phys rep is an abstraction whose meaning is only known to Murder Inc. characters – think of showing a chip as noting how much sway you have in the Organization. 1-5 Leverage will get you a blue chip, 6-10 a green chip, 11-15 a white chip, and 16-20 a red chip, after which Leverage caps at 20 and we encourage you to spend it! There's only so much influence a single person can have, but together the Organization can move mountains.
Occasionally, characters may earn extra Leverage through successful engagement in gameplay mechanics or plot events. We've designed this system to enable players to direct MI plots by selecting targets and storylines, encouraging a more player-driven experience this season.
So, pool your Leverage, collaborate with your Organization allies, and see you in the field!
The writeup for Leverage may be found on our Local Custom Mechanics page here: https://www.dystopiarisingco.com/local-custom-mechanics
Secure your tickets for the May event here: https://www.dystopiarisingco.com/blog/2023/5/1/ghosts-of-the-past-tickets-now-on-sale