Your first investigation This is an original solo journaling and deduction game inspired by card-based mystery roleplaying. It is not an implementation of the published Caught in the Rain rules.
Create an investigator. Choose a genre, background, bond and trait. Your strongest attribute is 2; others are 1. Power is force and endurance, Insight is perception and intuition, Method is preparation and technique.Begin an investigation. Inspect uses the blue die + danger (one per four pressure). 1–3 starts at Locate; 4–5 at Infiltrate; 6+ at Infiltrate with a threat. Gold is not used for Inspect.Play each stage. Infiltrate → Locate → Acquire → Escape. Infiltrate is skipped for quiet entries; Escape only happens with a threat. Choose an attribute appropriate to your story before each check.Test an attribute. Blue + gold + effective attribute. 10+ is clean; 7–9 costs 1 fatigue and 1 pressure; 6 or less costs 1 fatigue and 2 pressure. This alpha moves forward even after failure, with consequences.Acquire clues. Gain 3 cards on a clean success, 2 at a cost, or 1 on failure. The game never changes the sealed answer.Uncover truth. Verify evidence spends your two oldest clues to clear one person. Any two cards form a set in this alpha; ranks and suits do not affect spending.Manage yourself. Every 3 fatigue reduces each attribute by 1 (minimum zero). Your trait adds +2 to one check before it is exhausted. Rest recovers 3 fatigue and 1 pressure and refreshes your trait. Obligation recovers 1 fatigue and 3 pressure and gives a roleplay prompt. Both use one scene and are available between investigations.Finish the case. There are 18 scenes. At 12 pressure, after scene 18, or when clues run out, finish the current investigation, then use remaining clues and choose exactly three people for a final theory.The two stacks Truth: 12 face cards plus both Jokers, 14 total. Three are sealed; the other eleven can be revealed. Jokers represent two unusual contacts and follow the same rules as face cards.
Clues: 40 cards, A–10 in four suits. Spent clues go into their own discard area. Neither deck reshuffles during a case.
Example turn At Acquire, you choose Insight, your strongest attribute. Blue 4 + gold 3 + Insight 2 = 9. Gain two clues, one fatigue and one pressure. A threat now requires Escape. You can verify the two clues to clear one person. Journal how the evidence supports that discovery.
Genres have one scenario each with randomized hidden participants and decks. Continuing creates a fresh case using the same scenario and character; it does not generate new prose. Export your journal before moving on if you want an archive.
Begin investigating