TEXT: A WORLD OF
  ADVENTURE FOR
  CJ Thompson
  Almbrecht 
  after dark
  
  This adventure was made awesome thanks to our Patreon patrons at patreon.com/evilhat—thanks folks!
  INSIDERS
  __skwrl__
  Adrian 
  Arias-Palomo
  Andrew Turbott
  Andy Arminio
  Arjun Comar
  Arlo B Evans
  Ben Mullen
  Bob Ross
  brian allred
  C.K. Lee
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  M Thompson
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  and 
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  Zach
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  ADVENTURERS
  A Person
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  Creative Play 
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  eric
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  jestr
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  Jose A. 
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  Lester Ward
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  Luca Agosto
  Maia S
  Manfred
  Marc Kevin Hall
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  Mark Chu-Carroll
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  Michael Bradford
  Michael Brewer
  Michael D. Ranalli Jr.
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  MirrorKhaos
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  Mook
  My Humble Assault
  myrandomscribblings
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  Simon Brunning
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  (Mortaine)
  Stephen Figgins
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  Ville Lavonius
  Vladimir Filipović
  waelcyrge
  William Hutton
  William Johnson
  William McDuff
  Zeb Walker
  
  ALMBRECHT 
  AFTER DARK
  A WORLD OF 
  ADVENTURE FOR
  WRITING & ADVENTURE DESIGN
  CJ THOMPSON
  DEVELOPMENT
  ED TURNER, 
  ROB DONOGHUE, 
  & CARRIE HARRIS
  EDITING
  JOSHUA YEARSLEY
  PROJECT MANAGEMENT
  SEAN NITTNER
  ART DIRECTION
  BRIAN PATTERSON
  LAYOUT
  FRED HICKS
  INTERIOR & COVER ARTWORK
  JOYCE MAUREIRA
  
  An Evil Hat Productions Publication
  www.evilhat.com • feedback@evilhat.com
  @EvilHatOfficial on Twitter
  facebook.com/EvilHatProductions
  Almbrecht After Dark
  Copyright ©2019 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and CJ Thompson.
  All rights reserved.
  First published in 2019 by Evil Hat Productions, LLC.
  10125 Colesville Rd #318, Silver Spring, MD 20901.
  Evil Hat Productions and the Evil Hat and Fate logos are trademarks
  owned by Evil Hat Productions, LLC. All rights reserved.
  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval 
  system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, 
  mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the
  prior express permission of the publisher.
  That said, if you’re doing it for personal use, knock yourself out.
  That’s not only allowed, we encourage you to do it.
  For those working at a copy shop and not at all sure if this means
  the person standing at your counter can make copies of this thing, they can.
  This is “express permission.” Carry on.
  This is a game where people make up stories about wonderful, terrible, 
  impossible, glorious things. All the characters and events portrayed 
  in this work are fictional. Any resemblance to real people, declining 
  empires, poorly understood arcane energies, corrupt politicians, 
  revolutions industrial or otherwise, or shadowy and mysterious 
  reflections of reality is purely coincidental, but kinda hilarious.
  
  CONTENTS
  A City on the Edge ........................................................................... 2
  The World at Large ................................................................................... 4
  Happenings in Almbrecht ........................................................................5
  Almbrecht’s Big Issues .................................................................... 8
  The Conspiracy ............................................................................................8
  The Crisis ........................................................................................................9
  Creating Characters ....................................................................... 10
  High Concept ............................................................................................... 11
  Phase Trio..................................................................................................... 13
  The Roles ..........................................................................................16
  Labor Organizer ........................................................................................16
  Politico .......................................................................................................... 17
  Soldier ...........................................................................................................18
  Spy ..................................................................................................................19
  Thaumaturge .............................................................................................20
  The City of Almbrecht ...................................................................24
  Manufactories ............................................................................................ 25
  The Works ................................................................................................... 27
  The Lord Protector’s Keep ...................................................................28
  High Street ..................................................................................................29
  The Docks and the Haymarket ...........................................................30
  Cheapside ................................................................................................... 32
  The Closes................................................................................................... 32
  The Temple of Enduring Light ............................................................33
  The Supernatural ............................................................................ 35
  The Dreamworld .......................................................................................36
  Tying the Dreamworld to Almbrecht ................................................36
  Dreamwalking ............................................................................................ 37
  The Jacks .................................................................................................... 37
  Fleshing Out Almbrecht ................................................................42
  Adding Crises ............................................................................................42
  Using Stress Tracks .................................................................................45
  Deepening Secrets and Conspiracies...............................................46
  Using Secrets to Move the Plot ..........................................................48
  
  A CITY ON THE EDGE
  The city of Almbrecht crouches over the murky waters of the Alm. Grimy sandstone 
  tenements lean together conspiratorially over the city’s winding Closes, back alleys 
  you can take from the thaumaturges’ Works, to the docks, to the High Street, 
  to Cheapside—provided you don’t get lost. Power—political, commercial, and 
  cultural—has accumulated in the city over the centuries. And both the quest for 
  power and the exercise of power create secrets, which many would prefer to remain 
  that way. When you find yourself in possession of knowledge someone doesn’t 
  want you to have, you have to rely on your unique connections and awareness of 
  the city to survive, even as the larger Empire slides further into chaos.
  In Almbrecht After Dark, the players enter a world undergoing massive social 
  changes and currently in the throes of what might be a revolution. Military leaders 
  and revolutionaries struggle for control in the wake of the emperor’s disappearance. 
  Almbrecht, a provincial capital and significant port city, has been spared the worst 
  of the violence wracking the countryside. The city’s relative safety, however, means 
  that refugees have flocked there, looking for work and stability. The populations of 
  the already overcrowded slums have swelled, and concerns around infrastructure, 
  like plumbing and food distribution, have only grown more urgent. The Council 
  of Three Sevens, the traditional ruling body of Almbrecht, has voted to disband 
  2
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  and cede power to a single Lord Protector under murky circumstances. And 
  now, as the city sweats through a blistering summer, citizens report nightmares 
  of needle-fingered creatures spreading like a nighttime plague. Tensions are rising, 
  and the people of Almbrecht need answers.
  Fortunately, answers have a way of making themselves known—at least to 
  some people, some of the time. As players, you will navigate Almbrecht as a team 
  of Secret Keepers, citizens who have come to possess one or more potentially 
  dangerous or powerful pieces of knowledge about events in Almbrecht. You can 
  choose to play as scheming politicos, hard-working labor organizers, inventive 
  thaumaturges, experienced veterans, or other concerned citizens trying to make 
  their mark on an ancient, complicated city. There are as many ways to understand 
  Almbrecht as there are people living there, and each Secret Keeper will have a 
  unique relationship to the city. What, or who, you know may make all the dif-
  ference as you work to save Almbrecht—or change it to suit yourself.
  Inside this book you’ll find suggestions on how to assemble the city your PCs 
  will explore and investigate; potent, story-driving secrets for your PCs to learn 
  and share; fun and challenging roles for your PCs; ways to escalate Almbrecht’s 
  troubles and complicate your PCs’ lives; and the real issues driving Almbrecht’s 
  difficulties.
  3
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  The World at Large
  The Empire of Imlan has pushed to expand its boundaries and economic influ-
  ence for the last thousand years. Almbrecht fell within those boundaries a few 
  hundred years ago, around the same time Imlan began to call itself an empire 
  rather than a kingdom. Now, however, this patchwork of old and new territories 
  threatens to come apart at the seams. The Upheaval is the name generally given 
  to the current unrest—unless you’re calling it a Glorious Revolution or dismissing 
  it as the misguided actions of a few disloyal troublemakers.
  The bureaucracy needed to sustain a large and growing empire offers many 
  opportunities for corruption, and a series of scandals involving several high-level 
  politicos over the last twenty years has badly shaken the people’s faith in the 
  fundamental sovereignty of the Imperial Edict. An inexperienced and unpopular 
  emperor failed to restore faith in the structures of the state, and now he’s disap-
  peared under mysterious circumstances. While no one has claimed responsibility 
  for his death, no one expects him to return to the throne anytime soon.
  In the sudden power vacuum, various military leaders and revolutionary fac-
  tions vie for control. A few quiet voices in Almbrecht have long advocated for 
  a return to independence from Imlan, and with the emperor’s presumed death 
  they’re getting louder. Others in Almbrecht want to stay in the Empire, either 
  due to economic concerns or because they believe they’re more secure as imperial 
  subjects. And then there are the Reds, militants calling for a complete restructuring 
  of the political and economic system. They have their followers in Almbrecht too.
  The True Believers
  Led by Evender “The Red” Martisson—two parts charismatic revivalist, three 
  parts master strategist—the True Believers are committed to lifting up the work-
  ing masses of Imlan, from the farm laborers to the workers in the manufactories, 
  whether those workers want it or not. Skeptics maintain that the Reds talk a good 
  game, but are wrecking the countryside like every other faction.
  The Ironsiders
  Having lived their lives in service of Imlan’s military conquests, these men and 
  women seized the opportunity to wield the power of Imlan’s standing army and 
  navy when they realized the emperor couldn’t stop them. Servicemembers are 
  mostly retained through promises of future power and rewards once enough of 
  the Empire is brought back under their control, and through threats of being 
  shot if they try to leave. Some might say this is an unsustainable way to run a 
  military—but they’d run the risk of getting shot too.
  Loyalists
  These folks think that Imlan should stay Imlan, regardless of the emperor’s ability 
  to do his job. Many of them have taken up arms to defend their villages and farms 
  from the other factions, although rumors are flying as to which sections of the 
  Imlan military are still fighting for the Empire, and which are fighting for their 
  own profit. In the Upheaval, the truth often depends on who you ask—and the day.
  4
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Happenings in Almbrecht
  Recently, Almbrecht’s traditional Council of Three Sevens was replaced by Jorren 
  Arsbright, voted in by a majority of the Council as Lord Protector. The Council 
  has already granted the Lord Protector a broad range of powers. Most importantly, 
  she has the ability to unilaterally issue executive decrees to more effectively protect 
  Almbrecht during the Upheaval.
  Bandits and marauders threaten even large, well-armed merchants’ caravans, 
  and make traveling alone or in small groups extremely dangerous. Refugees have 
  flocked to the security of Almbrecht’s walls, and Jorren has ordered repairs on the 
  fortifications as well as improvements to the city’s infrastructure to handle the 
  additional demands of a swelling population. Dangerous roads also mean that 
  accurate information about the Upheaval throughout the rest of Imlan has slowed 
  to a trickle, and wild rumors and speculation circulate instead.
  Edicts of the Lord Protector
  By now, the Lord Protector has issued various edicts in response to the new stresses 
  on the city of Almbrecht. They can include but are not limited to the following:
  • Increased recruitment and powers for the City Watch
  • Seizure of goods from merchants who price-gouge or smuggle in violation 
  of the Lord Protector’s declaration of emergency
  • Barred entry or exit through the city gates after dark without a writ of 
  passage from the Lord Protector herself
  • Curfew after midnight for anyone not on essential business
  • Market regulation, including directing thaumaturges to shift production 
  to only medically and industrially necessary products and selling those to 
  the population at cost
  • Imposing rations
  • Restricting free speech and press and right to assemble to crack down on 
  both labor organizers and xenophobic mobs
  As you can imagine, not all of these changes are popular, and there’s a lot of angry 
  talk in some quarters about so much power being vested in one person. As the 
  game goes on, the Lord Protector may issue more edicts to reflect the raised stakes.
  5
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  What’s the Council of Three Sevens?
  Even when it existed as an independent kingdom, Almbrecht was never an abso-
  lute monarchy. The power of the king—or queen, at various points—was always 
  checked by a council of important citizens, usually seven from the nobility, seven 
  from the clergy, and a third group of seven whose composition has been disputed, 
  but may have been farmers or traders.
  The exact nature of the Council’s powers has shifted somewhat over the centuries, 
  but in general a monarch would need their approval for any major decisions, such 
  as declarations of war, changes to taxation, or shifts in relationships with other 
  nations. Rulers usually worked with members of the Council to try to guarantee 
  enough support for a measure to pass, but obviously there would have been plenty 
  of opportunities for backroom deals and sudden reversals.
  When Imlan incorporated Almbrecht and its territory into the Empire, the 
  Council was allowed to remain as the local government—with the emperor serv-
  ing in the place of a king—but with its powers much reduced. With the emperor 
  gone, a reasonable person might expect the Council to make a bid for power, so 
  it’s all the more curious that they chose now to disband and invest a single person 
  with the powers of the Lord Protector.
  Who’s Jorren Arsbright?
  Jorren is a native daughter of Almbrecht, although she’s studied in the capital 
  city of Imlan and traveled widely throughout, and beyond, the Empire. She 
  hails from one of Almbrecht’s oldest families, but earned her own reputation as 
  a clever, unorthodox strategist during her time as an officer in Imlan’s imperial 
  army. Once she returned to Almbrecht, she began to gain political influence by 
  building alliances with other noble houses and powerful merchant families, as 
  well as popular support among the middle and lower classes of Almbrecht—not 
  a typical move by someone of her standing. There was widespread speculation 
  that Jorren would be invited to join the Council once a seat became available. Her 
  appointment as Lord Protector is an unprecedented step in Almbrecht’s political 
  history, shocking both outside observers and many within the city itself. Then 
  again, these are strange and shocking times.
  6
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Jorren Arsbright
  ASPECTS
  High Concept: Lord Protector of Almbrecht
  Trouble: There Might Be a War On
  Other Aspects: The Bluest Blood; Always Has 
  a Plan; Commanding Presence 
  SKILLS
  Superb (+5): Contacts, Resources
  Great (+4): Deceive, Rapport, Will
  Good (+3): Empathy, Fight, Notice, Provoke
  Fair (+2): Athletics, Investigate, Lore, Physique, 
  Shoot
  STRESS
  Physical [1][2][3]
  Mental [1][2][3][4]
  Social [1][2][3][4]
  CONSEQUENCES
  Mild (2):
  Mild Social (2):
  Moderate (4):
  Severe (6):
  7
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  ALMBRECHT’S BIG ISSUES
  Before creating characters, everyone at the table will collaboratively come up with 
  Almbrecht’s big issues, one crisis and one conspiracy.
  The Conspiracy
  A conspiracy is essentially a current issue from Fate Core, but one which isn’t widely 
  known or acknowledged. You might feel the consequences of a conspiracy, but 
  you don’t know about the cause of your difficulties—until you start unraveling 
  them. Here are some examples to get you started:
  • A manufactory owner covering up on-site deaths or injuries—especially 
  if you know the people who have been injured or killed
  • A member of the Council skimming manufactory output to sell for them-
  selves or to help finance one of the insurgent factions in the Upheaval
  • Plans to demolish or build over parts of Cheapside to build additional 
  manufactories or housing for merchants and gentry
  • Planned strikes or strike-breaks to deal with labor unrest in the manufactories
  • Corrupt thaumaturges selling banned coercives or devices which cause 
  harm without leaving visible marks, especially if the buyer can be traced 
  back to powers within the city or one of the insurgent factions
  • Plans by a disaffected member of the Council—or a senior Lightbringer, 
  or even the Lord Protector herself—to open the gates of Almbrecht to 
  one of the insurgent factions in the Upheaval
  “CONSPIRACY?”
  We’re using the word “conspiracy” here a little loosely. You can 
  make your conspiracy a faction of former Council members plotting 
  to overthrow the Lord Protector, which reflects a pretty traditional 
  use of the word. But your team could also work out that Cheapside 
  residents are getting sick as an unintended consequence of thau-
  maturgic run-off in the Alm. Conspiracies aren’t widely known, and 
  there are costs both to exposing them and to letting them persist, 
  but they may or may not be intentionally hidden.
  8
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  The Crisis
  A crisis, just like an impending issue in Fate Core, is a problem that has just started 
  to appear on the horizon, but which will make life in Almbrecht harder for the 
  majority of citizens if it comes to pass. Or at least harder for groups of people 
  the PCs care about. Here are some examples:
  • Food Shortage: Diminished trade and disrupted harvests have severely 
  cut into the amounts of food reaching Almbrecht. Money provides some 
  buffer, but even High Street is starting to feel the pinch.
  • Labor Strike: Workers at one or more of the big manufactories are strik-
  ing for safer working conditions. This can worsen existing shortages, and 
  raise tensions between workers and other citizens.
  • Conscriptions: Various factions in the Upheaval are running short of 
  willing troops. The swelling population of Almbrecht offers many potential 
  “volunteers”, many of whose disappearances the Watch seems content to 
  ignore.
  Players, if you need more examples—and are willing to risk spoiling some 
  plot—you’ll find them in “Adding Crises” (page 42).
  Collaboratively, decide which section of the city this crisis affects more deeply 
  than others—this area is known as the crisis location. A crisis aspect is only 
  present during scenes in which the PCs are in its crisis location.
  9
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  CREATING CHARACTERS
  Your characters are Secret Keepers, a team 
  of citizens searching for what really makes 
  Almbrecht tick, who have crossed paths before 
  and have probably helped each other out of a 
  jam or three. You’re savvy, colorful characters in 
  your own right, who know where your hopes 
  for the city overlap—and what you’re willing 
  to do to protect your visions and the people 
  you care about.
  A certain level of trust binds you together—
  except under extenuating circumstances, a 
  Secret Keeper wouldn’t sell another Keeper 
  out to their enemies—but you may well come 
  from different backgrounds and have different 
  ideas about what most needs changing.
  Creating your character is much the same 
  as creating one in Fate Core.
  You get a high concept, a trouble, and 
  three aspects from a modified phase trio. Your 
  high concept is made up of your social class 
  (page 11) and role (page 16).
  You start with one skill at Great (+4), two 
  at Good (+3), three at Fair (+2), and four at 
  Average (+1). The skill list has all of the skills 
  from Fate Core, although Drive and Shoot 
  both reflect the level of technology available 
  in this setting, and it also includes the new 
  skill Thaumaturgy (page 20).
  You get three free stunts and a refresh of 3. 
  Your role gives you access to some stunts, and 
  you can always access these two:
  • Like the Back of My Hand: Because I 
  know my home turf, I get +2 to losing 
  a tail in my part of the city.
  • Look into My Eyes: I get +2 to Rapport 
  when convincing someone to believe 
  me, but only when I’m lying about 
  my reason for being in a specific place.
  In addition to physical and mental stress 
  tracks, you also get a social stress track, which 
  starts with two stress boxes and increases with 
  your Contacts rating, as in Fate Core.
  10
  
  High Concept
  The first part of your high concept is your social class. There are effectively four 
  social classes in Almbrecht—low, middle, upper, and elite—but your character 
  must start as low, middle, or upper class.
  The second part is your role. Choose one of the following:
  • Labor organizers, who dodge union breakers and bosses in Almbrecht’s 
  manufactories to unite workers and improve conditions.
  • Politicos, who maneuver between landed gentry, newly rich merchants 
  and manufactory owners, and members of the Council to advance their 
  own visions for the city.
  • Spies, who sift through the movements of Loyalists, Ironsiders, and 
  revolutionary factions for vital information to relay to their side, or sell 
  to the highest bidder.
  • Soldiers, who engage in the active conflicts of the Upheaval, as well as 
  the subtler struggles in Almbrecht itself.
  • Thaumaturges, who mold mysterious forces to craft a future worthy of 
  their dreams and ambitions.
  You’ll find more information on all the roles, as well as the stunts they give 
  access to, in The Roles (page 16).
  Examples of high concepts include Low-Class Organizer Searching for 
  Answers, High-Class Officer with a Debt to Pay, and Middle-Class 
  Merchant’s Daughter with a Thaumaturgy Problem.
  Social Class in Play
  Almbrecht is a city of many parts, and different characters will know the city 
  in different ways. As you create your character, think about how their class and 
  profession might impact their access to and knowledge of different parts of the 
  city. Did they grow up in Almbrecht and know it like the inside of their eyelids? 
  Or are they a recent newcomer? A thaumaturge might be able to navigate the 
  Works while still half-asleep, but not know which part of the docks the boats go 
  in—unless they’re from a family that’s traditionally worked as longshoremen. But 
  that probably means they can’t walk into a social club on High Street—unless 
  they’re there on business, and use the tradesmen’s entrance.
  Think about how a PC’s social characteristics will help and hinder them in 
  different places, and how you can use them to tell a compelling story together. 
  If PCs share many characteristics of class and profession, think about what parts 
  of the city they typically live and work in and their relationships in those spaces. 
  The goal is not necessarily to create a group of PCs who have nothing in common 
  in their backgrounds, but to reflect the many ways the PCs might move through 
  a city as old and complicated as Almbrecht.
  11
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  CLASS AND OPPOSITION
  Interactions with the class above or below your own may feature some difficul-
  ties, increasing your opposition to social actions by +1, unless there’s an aspect 
  representing moderating circumstances, such as Professional Relationship or 
  Old Family Friends. In contrast, interacting with someone of the same class 
  may give you +1 to your roll.
  Trying to interact across multiple class levels creates more significant impedi-
  ments—this is as true of a high-class PC trying to get information out of a 
  recalcitrant manufactory floor supervisor as it is of a middle-class merchant’s 
  daughter trying to bargain with a member of the Council. This may add +2 to 
  opposition to social actions—unless, again, you have an aspect which mitigates your 
  class status, like Servant in the Lord Protector’s Household or Respected 
  Veteran Whose Reputation Precedes You.
  You’ll want to discuss as a group how much you’d like to have class affect opposi-
  tion to social actions. While doing this may raise the stakes and add realism, you 
  do still want to be having fun. Class doesn’t need to affect opposition all the time, 
  either—some NPCs may care more about class than others.
  DEGREES OF SUCCESS
  Succeeding on social actions may mean that you accomplish your objective, but 
  are noticed as wildly out of place, while succeeding with style may mean that you 
  succeed discreetly. There may also be times when it’s good to stand out, although 
  that’s often a matter of opinion.
  Remember too that your PC’s class will affect how they respond to an aspect 
  like Rough and Tumble or Painstakingly Well-Groomed. A good balance 
  to keep in mind as you build your team is that a mixture of classes will give your 
  characters access to different social spaces and resources, and more similar back-
  grounds may make collaboration in different environments easier. No matter what 
  you choose, secrets will be an important element binding your team together, so 
  don’t worry too much about getting just the right mix.
  12
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Phase Trio
  Beyond your high concept and trouble, you’ll have three other aspects defined 
  with a phase trio, like in Fate Core. At least two of the phases should take place in 
  or center on Almbrecht. You’re also looking to weave encounters with the other 
  PCs into these events, as normal.
  Phase One: Your Awakening
  You saw or experienced something that opened your eyes to the way power 
  actually works in the city. Maybe you were one of the few workers to escape a 
  manufactory fire that could have been prevented by safer working conditions. 
  Or you got thrown in lock-up for protecting another PC from some carousing 
  Council members’ sons. Newcomers and the residents of Cheapside typically get 
  the shortest, sharpest end of this particular stick, but people from a variety of 
  backgrounds can understand this legal discrepancy. You saw the way that power 
  and class affect how the law is applied—or isn’t. And now you can’t unsee it.
  Aspects from this phase can be as straightforward as I Know Arech’s Got My 
  Back or I Always Know Where the Exits Are, or may set you up for higher 
  stakes, like I Can’t Work for the Mehndelssons Again or Watch Captain 
  Terrich Has It In For Me.
  Phase Two: Your Goal
  You have some sense that Almbrecht, or the world, could be improved. You’re an 
  action-oriented Fate protagonist—what are you going to do about it? This aspect 
  can stem from your awakening aspect, or may originate in your background. You 
  may decide Everyone Deserves Clean Water after your family’s row house is 
  contaminated by industrial run-off. Or that Ardrik Revner Must Pay after your 
  brother is arrested for trying to form a union at Ardrik’s manufactory.
  Phase Three: Your Secret
  Any city with a memory as deep and convoluted as Almbrecht’s contains a wealth 
  of secrets. Some people can’t help but be drawn to those secrets. Some secrets 
  are as simple as where a rich lord keeps the keys to his lockbox. Others are much 
  bigger and more dangerous.
  Your first two phases set you on the dim and dangerous path to uncovering 
  Almbrecht’s conspiracies. But now you’ve found something concrete. It’s clearly 
  just a piece of something much larger. You’ll need the help of your fellow Secret 
  Keepers to continue unraveling this mystery.
  We’ve included handy lists of possible secrets tied to the many parts of Almbrecht 
  throughout The City of Almbrecht (page 24).
  Most if not all of your secrets will help your team start untangling Almbrecht’s 
  starting conspiracy. In games with more than four players, some of the PCs’ secrets 
  could tie into the starting crisis. If you dig deep enough during play, you can pick 
  up more secrets, helping you untangle Almbrecht’s conspiracy and mitigate its crisis.
  13
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  HOW DO YOU BUILD A SECRET?
  A secret, by definition, isn’t widely known. But even more than that, its obscurity 
  is intentional. Who benefits from this staying a secret? Do they gain an advantage 
  from this secret? Or would they be harmed by it coming to light? And who’s being 
  harmed by this secret? If a secret doesn’t hurt anyone by staying a secret, there’s 
  less impetus to reveal it, and you lose energy to drive the plot forward.
  First, a good secret grounds the action in a specific location in Almbrecht, like 
  Cheapside or High Street.
  Second, it gives the PC a hook related to their backstory or personality. After 
  all, how a PC learned their secret may matter almost as much as what it is. Did 
  your charismatic spy charm an unexpected scoop out of a contact? Or did your 
  bull-headed thaumaturge burst into a high-level Guild meeting?
  Third, it reinforces the kind of story that your group wants to tell. Do you want 
  to play a campaign centered on righting wrongs and improving conditions for 
  the working classes of Almbrecht? Or are you roguish politicos and thaumaturges 
  looking out for your own necks and not much else? What you care about will 
  inform your secrets.
  For example, if your group’s contacts and secrets are focused on the thauma-
  turge Works, then including a secret about a Council member smuggling goods 
  out through the docks may not make much sense—unless those goods are made 
  in a thaumaturgic workshop your group is familiar with. And in this case, you’d 
  likely figure that out by reviewing missing inventory at the workshop or by talking 
  to your established connections, not by overhearing a Council member’s crony 
  talking about the smuggling over breakfast at a local inn.
  FOCUSING SECRETS
  You can lengthen or shorten your campaign by adjusting how much your secrets 
  relate to the starting crisis and conspiracy. For a one-shot, the PCs should focus 
  on a conspiracy related to one location, group, or person, with their secrets giving 
  them access to meaningful, distinct information. For shorter campaigns of three to 
  four sessions, more overlap in secrets will help concentrate the action, while you 
  can fill out a longer campaign by having the PCs on the track of multiple conspira-
  cies or crises, letting them shift focus between different plotlines in Almbrecht.
  As a group, you’ll want to carefully consider how much information your 
  characters withhold from each other. The PCs will work together better if they 
  trust each other and are more transparent with their secrets and goals. Though 
  there are multiple ways to handle this, the easiest way is probably for all players to 
  know each other’s secrets, and collaborate around them during character creation. 
  This method makes sense given your characters’ shared experiences of Almbrecht, 
  and it can make them simpler to compel during play.
  Please note, just because the players know each other’s secrets doesn’t mean 
  that the characters do. If other PCs didn’t discover your character’s secret during 
  the phase trio, they may have suspicions or guesses about your character’s history 
  and motivations, but working through the gap between assumption and reality 
  can provide powerful story moments among the PCs as your campaign progresses.
  14
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  INVOKING AND COMPELLING SECRETS
  To reflect the importance of revealing a secret at the right moment, you start with a 
  free invocation on your secret. As a group, you can also decide whether the GM can 
  invoke or compel secrets before they’ve been revealed to others outside the group.
  GMs, you’ll want to strike a balance in invoking the PCs’ secrets against them. 
  They are aspects, after all—and hopefully ones that provide a lot of juicy hooks 
  for action. Depending on how open your group is in creating their secrets, your 
  ingenuity may be tested trying to invoke players’ secrets without giving them 
  away. Invoking them is, however, strongly encouraged.
  15
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  THE ROLES
  Labor Organizer
  Building the World
  Conditions in Almbrecht are ripe for change. Characters 
  with a background in Cheapside or the manufactories 
  may be driven to bring their neighbors or fellow workers 
  together to push for better working or living conditions. 
  Organizers typically have relatively high Contacts but 
  low Resources.
  If you’re interested in playing this role, consider how a 
  well-intentioned manufactory owner’s daughter might be 
  received differently by the community she’s trying to help 
  than someone from that community. Of course, the manu-
  factory owner’s daughter probably has a higher Resources 
  rating than the typical organizer. She’ll also face a different 
  response from the manufactory owner or the strikebreakers 
  than someone who grew up in Cheapside would.
  Give special consideration to who your organizer 
  knows—good connections are essential to successful 
  organizing. It might include a sympathetic watch cap-
  tain or manufactory overseer, other influential members 
  of their community in the rowhouses or on the workfloor, 
  and clergy or even members of the upper classes who 
  are interested in improving conditions for Almbrecht’s 
  working poor.
  Work as a group to construct appropriate contacts for 
  the length of campaign you want to run. Having one or 
  two high-value contacts makes sense for a one-shot, while 
  a broader network will help sustain a longer campaign.
  Organizer Stunts
  • Command the Room: Because I know what to do 
  when all eyes are on me, I get +2 to use Provoke 
  to overcome a social obstacle when I’m the center 
  of attention.
  • Friends in High Places: Because I have at least one 
  high-class social contact, I get +2 to using Contacts, 
  but only in high-class settings.
  • They Know Me Here: Because I’ve established 
  relationships in a specific community, I get +2 to 
  use Rapport to win over people there and in similar 
  low-class settings.
  16
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Politico
  Plotting and Planning
  Just because the Council of Three Sevens 
  ceded power to the Lord Protector doesn’t 
  mean they aren’t still hard at work behind 
  the scenes. Members of Almbrecht’s political 
  class might be involved in any side of the 
  conflicts between landed gentry and manu-
  factory owners, relations with factions in the 
  Upheaval, responses to organized labor and 
  refugees, and relationships with the Temple 
  of Enduring Light.
  Politicos are Almbrecht’s movers and shak-
  ers—some prefer the spotlight, and operate a lot like 
  how we think of contemporary local politicians. Others 
  are more like policy analysts, examining the social and 
  economic trends emerging in Almbrecht—and Imlan at 
  large—and offering their advice to those who will listen. 
  The trick is getting someone influential to pay attention. 
  Of course, some are taking advantage of the new, exciting 
  technology that is cheap, widespread printing, using it 
  to bring their case to all the citizens of Almbrecht. Or at 
  least to those who have the leisure time and education 
  necessary to read. You may want to play as a politico 
  if you like moving between settings and classes in the 
  city, figuring how to pull strings from behind the scenes.
  Politicos can have contacts spanning the breadth 
  and depth of Almbrecht. Depending on the areas your 
  group is focused on, your politico may rub elbows with 
  manufactory owners or labor organizers, Lightbringers, 
  City Watch captains, heads of thaumaturgic workshops 
  or Guild members, or the representatives of former 
  Council members. You have lots of opportunities to 
  access secrets—and to make sure secrets reach the right 
  ears when you choose to reveal them.
  Politico Stunts
  • A Little Bird Told Me: I ignore class penalties 
  when I roll Contacts to find a friend or ally.
  • Greased Palms: Because I’ve already bribed the 
  right person, once per session, I can declare that 
  I have access to a space or information I wouldn’t 
  otherwise be able to, as long as that access depends 
  on the loyalty of a single lackey.
  PLAYING AS A 
  COUNCIL MEMBER
  GMs, think very carefully before 
  allowing a player to run as a 
  member of the Council. They’re 
  a powerful, mysterious force in 
  the world, and make more sense 
  as possible antagonists or sources 
  of secrets—or high-value allies to 
  win over—than as an intimately 
  known quantity.
  17
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  Soldier
  Unhealed Wounds
  Soldiers may be active members of Imlan’s army or 
  navy, or fighting for the Reds, Ironsiders, or loyalist 
  factions, or veterans of any of the above. They’ve 
  seen combat, and have both valuable skills and still-
  healing scars. War is terrible, and recent advances 
  in manufactured technology and thaumaturgy have 
  made it deadlier. Repeating cannons, chemical gre-
  nades, and communications technologies have all 
  seen rapid innovation during the current conflict. 
  Among the refugees fleeing the violence and insta-
  bility of the Upheaval are survivors from various 
  militias. Tensions in the city have risen as various 
  citizens feel more loyalty to different factions and 
  resent the presence of veterans from other groups.
  Returning soldiers carry wounds seen and unseen. 
  Though improved thaumaturgic quickpatches and 
  poultices mean that fewer wounded soldiers bleed 
  out or die of infection, the medical resources avail-
  able to help these soldiers when they return from 
  the field are sparse, and finding and holding onto 
  work while recovering can prove difficult. There 
  are some advocates pushing for relief funds to 
  assist returning soldiers, but there’s tension about 
  which factions should receive help from those funds. 
  Beyond physical injuries, returning soldiers report 
  insomnia and nightmares. While some have attrib-
  uted these nightmares to the “sleeping sickness” 
  plaguing Cheapside, others believe they stem from 
  what soldiers have seen and experienced in battle.
  Soldier Stunts
  • Against All Odds: Because of my combat 
  experience, I get +2 to Fight when defend-
  ing friendly characters against a larger or 
  more powerful group of opponents.
  • Follow My Lead: Because I can lead a team 
  in a fight, I get +2 to Notice when directing 
  my teammates in combat.
  • Stand Behind Me: Because I want to pro-
  tect my team, once per session I can give 
  each friendly character a free boost on a 
  defend action.
  18
  
  Spy
  Flying by Night
  The Upheaval has created an abundance 
  of opportunities for spies. Shifting alli-
  ances between rebel factions, loyalists 
  to the Empire, and those just looking 
  to survive the mess yield a wealth of 
  information that’s both highly sought 
  after and dangerous to purvey. As the 
  Lord Protector tightens limits on travel 
  through the docks and as the country-
  side becomes too dangerous to travel 
  across, it’s easy to feel the walls of the 
  city closing in, especially if you’re used 
  to being able to slip away from trouble 
  under cover of darkness.
  More than almost any other role, 
  spies will have access to a wide range 
  of secrets, including ones that matter 
  outside the walls of Almbrecht. They’re 
  also uniquely positioned to get infor-
  mation from outside Almbrecht that 
  may be more rather than less true. If 
  you’re looking to run a longer campaign 
  that explores more about the larger 
  Upheaval, spies are a great choice.
  Spy Stunts
  • Nose to the Ground: Because 
  I’m used to getting informa-
  tion out of people, once per 
  scene I get +2 to Notice when 
  asking someone about one of 
  my secrets.
  • The Way the Wind Is Blowing: 
  Because I still have connections 
  outside the city, once per ses-
  sion I can create an aspect with 
  one free invoke that defines or 
  modifies the world outside the 
  city. It lasts until at least the end 
  of the session.
  19
  
  Thaumaturge
  Creating the City
  You can think of thaumaturges as essentially what happens when you give engineers 
  low-intensity magic. The Thaumaturges’ Guild is one of the most powerful in 
  Almbrecht, although they’re not as highly respected as you might expect. Hazardous 
  byproducts, unintended explosions, and their nearly universal professional brusque-
  ness do not win popularity contests in Almbrecht any more than they usually do 
  elsewhere. However, people do respect the effectiveness of the medical products, 
  non-burning lamps, and weapons which the thaumaturges produce.
  The Thaumaturgy Skill
  Characters with the Thaumaturgy skill have most likely studied thaumaturgy in 
  a workshop, and can build or repair thaumaturgic devices. The complexity or 
  power of the devices they can work on successfully—meaning, without breaking 
  them—increases with their skill rating. Characters with a high skill rating may 
  also be able to invent new thaumaturgic devices—after properly registering their 
  blueprints and patents with the Guild, of course—or reverse-engineer devices 
  they haven’t learned how to make themselves.
  O
  Overcome: You may encounter thaumaturgically locked or bonded doors 
  or items that you want to use. Thaumaturgic understanding is needed 
  to activate or bypass the scribing locking a door thaumaturgically, or to engage 
  certain thaumaturgic engines. You can also reverse-engineer some thaumaturgic 
  devices, especially if you have a related stunt.
  C
  Create an Advantage: Because thaumaturgy works primarily by adding 
  or modifying the thaumaturgic aspects of an item, this is where the skill 
  really shines. You might add Improved Range to an aetheric resonator, or Fast-
  Acting to a pain-relieving quickpatch. Alternatively, you could scribe Failing 
  Seam onto a water reserve tank to help douse a fire in a manufactory.
  A
  Attack: Someone with a thaumaturgy stunt related to pepper boxes, gre-
  nades, or similar items could use them as weapons in attacks.
  D
  Defend: Thaumaturgically augmented armor never took off like other lines 
  of products, but that shouldn’t stop players from considering it. Additionally, 
  a room could be scribed to “jam” aetheric resonators, and an agent or artefact 
  might also help defend against Jacks. So, thaumaturgy isn’t used to defend against 
  most attacks, but it can be used to create and augment defensive items.
  To modify, build, bypass, or reverse-engineer any thaumaturgic device, you 
  need at least Average (+1) Thaumaturgy. If you have a lower rating, you can still 
  use thaumaturgic devices, but only as they’re designed to be used.
  You can take ranks in Thaumaturgy even if you don’t have the thaumaturge 
  role—a manufactory owner’s daughter might have Average (+1) or Fair (+2) 
  Thaumaturgy, even if she’s more of a politico, due to time spent learning from 
  the thaumaturges at her mother’s manufactory. However, only a thaumaturge can 
  increase their Thaumaturgy rating beyond Fair (+2).
  20
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Thaumaturge Stunts
  Thaumaturges can take stunts representing the 
  models or categories of thaumaturgic products 
  they’ve studied and spent time building—or 
  deconstructing, where appropriate—giving them 
  bonuses to do so. For example:
  • Quickpatches: Because I’ve focused on 
  building quickpatches, I can build them 
  on the fly without specialized equipment 
  or resources, and I get +2 to Thaumaturgy 
  to modify, repair, or create them.
  Categories for thaumaturgic specializations 
  include but aren’t limited to incendiaries (can 
  include pepperboxes and grenades, depending 
  on how much knowledge your group has of 
  those technologies), quickpatches and medici-
  nals, aetheric resonators, and industrial machines.
  You can of course play as a skilled general-
  ist—more points in the skill, but no stunt—or 
  try playing as a thaumaturge who only makes 
  a few types of thing well—fewer points in the 
  skill, but with one or more stunts.
  Thaumaturgy in the Public Eye
  Everyone knows that thaumaturgy is powerful 
  but unpredictable. Goods produced using the 
  same thaumaturgic method, or “scribing,” and 
  made of the same materials don’t always react 
  consistently—and are sometimes downright haz-
  ardous. This is why the supervision and rigorous 
  testing of the Guild is critical to thaumaturgy’s 
  continued viability as a source of mostly reliable 
  goods. Buy from the black market, and you don’t 
  really know what you might get. Moreover, the 
  unpredictability of results suggests something 
  more than the merely material affects the process 
  to a considerable degree.
  Historically, this unpredictability prevented 
  much practice of thaumaturgy in large popula-
  tion centers. Through multiple centuries of trial 
  and error, scribing has advanced to a level of 
  predictability that profit-minded entrepreneurs 
  couldn’t resist combining thaumaturgy with up-
  and-coming mundane technologies.
  21
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  How Does Thaumaturgy Work?
  The short answer is, even the thaumaturges don’t really know—they just know 
  that it does. Mostly. As the discipline of thaumaturgy evolved over the centuries, 
  practitioners found that some combinations of elements and symbols called “scribes” 
  produced inexplicable but tangible changes in the world. It’s just inconsistent 
  enough to fall outside the purview of natural science, while still seeming to obey 
  some underlying principles. We just don’t know what they are.
  In terms of professional demeanor, thaumaturges tend to think of themselves 
  more like engineers than wizards, despite the sometimes arcane and unpredictable 
  nature of their work. How, then, do they maintain public confidence in their 
  products? In some part, they don’t. A bad experience with a quickpatch may turn 
  someone off thaumaturgic goods for life—assuming they survive the ordeal. But 
  this is what makes the Guild’s work so critical: ensuring a measure of civility 
  and unity between different workshops, negotiating rates and access to materials 
  with the government of Almbrecht, and, above all, guaranteeing an acceptable 
  margin of safety and reliability in goods produced under Guild auspices all keep 
  thaumaturgy “safe”—and secretive—enough to sell.
  Common Thaumaturgic Goods
  Here are some examples of the goods produced in the workshops that earn thauma-
  turgy a grudging respect from much of the citizenry. To reflect their thaumaturgic 
  nature, these products are represented by aspects, like Experimental Quickpatch 
  or Black-Market Pepper Box.
  Feel free to expand on this list with additional medical products, such as ban-
  dages with thaumaturgically derived antibacterial resistance, or more innovations 
  spurred by the Upheaval.
  • Aetheric Resonators: Communications technology has advanced dra-
  matically in response to the Upheaval. Once keyed to each other, these 
  resonators allow for voice communication over distances of a few hundred 
  yards to a few miles, provided there aren’t sources of significant thaumaturgic 
  interference in the way. Of course, anyone sufficiently familiar with this 
  technology may be able to pick up signals attuned to other resonators—but 
  there’s no telling who might notice unwanted eavesdroppers.
  • Agents: Single- or limited-use powders or potives that allegedly protect 
  against supernatural threats. While rumors of dangerous dreams aren’t 
  widely believed, these are the more affordable types of thaumaturgic 
  protection available for those feeling nervous, or perhaps predisposed to 
  bad dreams for other reasons.
  • Artefacts: Fancier, more expensive gadgets that are supposed to protect 
  against supernatural dangers plaguing sleepers. Generally, they’re priced 
  out of range for anyone who doesn’t live on High Street or in a similar 
  neighborhood.
  22
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  • Chemical Grenades: These come in a variety of compositions, and can be 
  designed for non-lethal incapacitation—or not. There are rumblings about 
  the Guild and the Council—or the government of Imlan, depending on 
  who you listen to—discussing regulations on what can be put in these, as 
  the Upheaval shows no signs of abating and various factions struggle with 
  the balance between ethics and efficacy in warfare.
  • Coldchests: Food preservation has become increasingly important as 
  populations rise in urban centers and conflict threatens harvests and trade. 
  Coldchests are just that, boxes that use thaumaturgy to keep food—or 
  whatever is stored in them—from spoiling for a few days to a few weeks, 
  depending on the strength of the scribing.
  • Pepper Boxes: Simple handguns with rotating barrels, usually three. They’re 
  one of the products carefully regulated by the Guild, as they represent a 
  significant increase from earlier personal weapons in potential fatality. 
  Citizens must appeal to the Watch for a license to carry a firearm, and the 
  license is only good for a specific weapon, which you then receive from 
  the Guild. Obviously, it’s possible to get pepper boxes extra-legally, but 
  they may not function as safely as Guild-sanctioned weapons, and being 
  caught with an unauthorized weapon carries hefty costs—depending, of 
  course, on who you know.
  • Quickpatches: You can purchase these in a variety of compositions. Fast- 
  or slow-acting, they can suppress bleeding, numb pain to prevent shock, 
  or gradually release pain-relieving substances. When successfully applied, 
  a quickpatch allows the recipient to rename a consequence and begin the 
  healing process almost immediately without rolling, but it doesn’t change 
  how long it takes for that consequence to clear. Of course, quickpatches 
  are sold that purport to address a whole range of other ills, but may be 
  under investigation by the Guild.
  • Repeating Cannons: Larger artillery, capable of firing up to three rounds a 
  minute. They are stationary once set up and require team loading, but are 
  of large enough caliber to damage structures, never mind a human body.
  • Unburning Lamps: In a city with lots of wood structures, reliable, afford-
  able illumination that doesn’t use fire would be a potentially revolutionary 
  invention. The most recent innovation is lamps small enough to carry in 
  your hand. Unfortunately, they’re currently too expensive to be widely 
  accessible—and with the shortages imposed by the Upheaval, that doesn’t 
  look set to change anytime soon.
  WHY AGENTS AND ARTEFACTS?
  Many thaumaturges will tell you their belief in the unseen extends only to 
  the mysterious forces that dictate whether a set of scribing will work—or 
  malfunction spectacularly. A few workshops have started selling potions, 
  powders, or more expensive talismans that are supposed to relieve suf-
  ferers of the “sleeping sickness.” Professionalism—not to mention Guild 
  oversight—requires that the products work, but most thaumaturges attribute 
  the nightmares and illness to mundane, rather than supernatural, causes. 
  A few, however, acknowledge that there may be more mysteries in play 
  here than just the arcane powers at the heart of thaumaturgy.
  23
  
  THE CITY OF ALMBRECHT
  Almbrecht nestles a crook in the coastline above a cold and choppy sea. It’s grown 
  over and around the hills surrounding the mouth of the river Alm as centuries 
  have passed. Almbrecht’s historians estimate that people have lived on the spot 
  for close to two thousand years, although they’ve spoken different languages and 
  crossed that cold, hungry sea in waves. History has a weight in Almbrecht that 
  can oppress newcomers, until they get used to walking down the same streets as 
  people who’ve been dead a thousand years.
  The city is built mostly of sandstone, mined from the quarries nearby. Attempts 
  at grandness have been made in some of the civic buildings and nicer homes, but 
  there’s only so much that can be done to mask the fact that the city has been build-
  ing atop itself for about a dozen centuries. Wander down any of the switchback 
  cobblestone streets—or try navigating the Closes, if you’re feeling daring—to 
  Cheapside, and you’ll find tenements of staggering depth and complexity, as 
  residents have built higher and deeper in order to make space for themselves and 
  their families in this seething metropolis.
  Admirers of the city have described it as breathtaking—and that’s more or less 
  true. Plumbing ranges across about a thousand years of technological advance-
  ment, depending on which neighborhood you’re in. There are channels down 
  the center of the streets in Cheapside you’re ill-advised to step in, although some 
  reformers have been trying to implement more sanitary forms of waste disposal, 
  with mixed results. In the fanciest houses, you can get either purely manufactured 
  flush toilets, or thaumaturgically augmented waste disposal systems. In between, 
  there are chamber pots and centralized waste collectors which use thaumaturgy 
  and chemicals to render waste into something useful, à la biofuels. Basically, some 
  places smell pretty bad, while others smell less bad. The Works reek of gunpowder, 
  ammoniac, and various peculiar compounds aflame—some intentionally, others 
  not so much. There’s baking bread, spices and cooking meat in the Haymarket, 
  the smells of animals and feed, and over everything else, the salty smell of the sea.
  Almbrecht is ultimately what you make of it. The people who live there are 
  deeply human. Many of them know that they live in the midst of history, though 
  they don’t always agree on what that history means. They are the polluted water 
  of the Alm, and the choppy hunger of the cold North Sea, the roaring furnaces 
  of the manufactories, and the cold, clear light of the unburning lamps. Secrets 
  fuel the monstrous, convoluted engine of the city’s heart, and it’s possible that by 
  carrying those secrets, you can drive it forward into a new and extraordinary future.
  THE SECRETS OF ALMBRECHT
  Throughout this chapter, we describe various ideas 
  for secrets (page 13) that the PCs might know 
  or uncover throughout the districts of Almbrecht.
  24
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Manufactories
  The manufactories are essential to Almbrecht’s financial well-being, even as they 
  pose environmental dangers and create hazardous conditions for their workers.
  The Means of Production
  While steam-engine technology is developing rapidly due to collaboration—as 
  well as espionage—between manufactories in Almbrecht, water and manpower 
  are still widely used. Textiles, early machining tools, flour, and lumber are all 
  produced in Almbrecht’s manufactories. A handful of foundries remain in the 
  city, although they’re at risk of being supplanted by metal goods produced in 
  up-and-coming manufactories.
  The oldest manufactories are nestled against the Alm to take advantage of the 
  waterway, and the warren of ancient sluices and water wheels can quickly prove 
  hazardous to anyone sent down there who isn’t sure of their way. Even so, this 
  network may prove useful for going between manufactories or to the Closes.
  The Cost of Progress
  Industrial engineers are making exciting advances in steam technology, but 
  sometimes attempts to increase the steam pressure of new mechanisms result 
  in hazardous explosions. And that’s ignoring the atmospheric impact of smoke 
  and chemical byproducts from the manufactories and foundries. Workers in 
  the manufactories frequently report breathing trouble and worse injuries. Some 
  manufactory owners provide on-site medical aid for workers and their families. 
  Others do not.
  Loosening Chains
  Some manufactory workers are pushing to organize into unions. These efforts have 
  been met with a range of responses from the owners and the wider population of 
  Almbrecht. In general, no owner has sanctioned the formation of a union, and 
  some have tried to violently repress efforts at organization. Some manufactory 
  owners hire newcomers to the city, knowing they’ll take lower wages. Beyond 
  that, vocal factions of native Almbrechters often resent newcomers being hired 
  into these jobs and may be less willing to form unions with them. Nevertheless, 
  these efforts at organization seem to persist.
  What Now?
  Players can get involved in these storylines by supporting or opposing workers 
  trying to unionize; they may be engineers who want to work in a manufactory; 
  they may be hired by a rival manufactory to spy on products and techniques 
  under development; they may come from a family which owns a manufactory 
  and have a vested interest in which labor-management techniques are—and are 
  not—successful.
  25
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  Ideas for Secrets
  Secrets in the manufactories can pertain to products under development, either 
  a new product or an established agent engaged in corporate espionage; access to 
  rare materials made scarcer by the stress of the Upheaval; smuggling materials in or 
  finished products out to various factions; or the conditions experienced by workers.
  You may discover who’s trying to organize a union at one of the manufactories, 
  and decide to support them—or sell them out to the manufactory owner for a 
  reward, to repay a debt of your own, or for a favor down the line. You might find 
  some correspondence about issues with an unstable thaumaturgic or chemical 
  compound, perhaps coinciding with a new bout of illness among the workers at 
  that manufactory.
  Examples: The Union Organizers Are My Cousins; Stash of Rare Materials 
  Hidden in a Sub-Basement; The Owner Owes the Watch Captain a Favor
  Imbliss Mehndelsson
  Scion of a wealthy family of manufactory owners, Imbliss knows good business 
  when she sees it. Determined to make her mark on the city and ensure her family’s 
  prosperity in the brave new world of thaumaturgically augmented manufacturing, 
  Imbliss is willing to pay for the very best engineering talent Almbrecht has to offer. 
  But she has high expectations, and her employees respect that their comfortable 
  facilities depend on them reliably producing the exceptional.
  Imbliss Mehndelsson
  ASPECTS
  High Concept: Scion of a Wealthy Family of Manufactory Owners
  Trouble: Cutthroat Competitors
  Other Aspects: Extremely Loyal to Her Own; High-Demand, 
  High-Reward Management Style; Cutting-Edge Fashion Sense
  SKILLS
  Great (+4): Resources, Will
  Good (+3): Contacts, Empathy, Rapport
  Fair (+2): Crafts, Deceive, Lore, Notice
  Average (+1): Athletics, Drive, Investigate, Thaumaturgy
  STRESS
  Physical [1][2]
  Mental [1][2][3][4]
  Social [1][2][3][4]
  CONSEQUENCES
  Mild (2):
  Moderate (4):
  Severe (6):
  26
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  The Works
  You thought the manufactories smelled bad. Almbrecht has a reputation as a city 
  that at least tolerates eccentrics and free thinkers, and is one of the larger cities 
  with a significant thaumaturgic population. Given this, the Works—an area of 
  Almbrecht given over to thaumaturgical workshops—has grown up in the last 
  hundred or so years.
  Intermarried with Almbrecht’s development of mundane technology, thauma-
  turges in the Works produce a range of technical, medical, and pharmacological 
  goods. Simple handguns—and the quickpatch you’d want after being shot to slow 
  bleeding and numb the pain—are both produced by thaumaturges, a seeming 
  conflict of interest their critics stubbornly insist on bringing up. But in general, 
  thaumaturges are appreciated for their utility, if not their near-universal profes-
  sional brusqueness.
  How Do You Become a Thaumaturge?
  Like any other skilled trade, thaumaturgy is theoretically open to anyone who 
  can convince someone to teach them. In practice, some people seem to display 
  more of a knack for this type of work, but that knack shows up across all lines of 
  class or place of birth. Individual thaumaturges take on students and train them 
  in their specialties, and the rivalries between workshops can be fierce.
  Who’s In Charge Here, Exactly?
  Maintaining some semblance of professional unity over all this is the Thaumaturges’ 
  Guild. A roughly democratic body, the Guild represents the thaumaturgic profes-
  sion when negotiating prices with the Council and manufactory owners—and now 
  the Lord Protector. They’re also responsible for ensuring the quality of products 
  sold under Guild auspices, investigating consumer complaints, and suppressing 
  black-market thaumaturgic goods.
  What Now?
  With the Upheaval looming ever closer, rumors say that the Lord Protector is 
  negotiating with the Thaumaturges’ Guild to improve city defenses. Stories 
  circulate about stockpiles of thaumaturgic elements stored deep beneath the city, 
  in case any of a number of factions lay siege to Almbrecht—but they are notice-
  ably vague on specifics. Furthermore, a craze has developed among some wealthy 
  patrons for thaumaturgic agents and artefacts which are supposed to ward off 
  various supernatural threats.
  27
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  Ideas for Secrets
  You could find out that one of the workshops is making prohibited coercives—
  truth serums, uncutting knives, markless cudgels, etc.—in violation of the Guild’s 
  ethical regulations. This is even more damning if you discover the buyer is a 
  manufactory owner looking to break strikes, or a member of the Council or City 
  Watch looking to arm the newly empowered city guard. You might have found 
  out the location of one of the rumored stashes of rare and valuable thaumaturgic 
  materials hidden in the city. Or you might be approached by a junior apprentice 
  who’s developed a new device which would destabilize the market for a rival 
  workshop—or an unaffiliated manufactory, since those products aren’t regulated 
  by the Guild if they don’t have thaumaturgic components—and you realize that 
  the competitor’s market share won’t be threatened if the Guild never receives the 
  new device or application for review.
  Examples: Secret Blueprint for an Upgraded Aetheric Resonator; 
  Selling Banned Uncutting Knives; Sudden Increase in the Use of a 
  Rare Thaumaturgic Component
  The Lord Protector’s Keep
  In what some see as a worrisome trend, since her election Jorren has refurbished 
  the ancient castle that dates back to when Almbrecht was the capital of an inde-
  pendent nation. Theories abound as to why the Council elected Jorren to the 
  post of Lord Protector—almost unanimously, although the details of the vote 
  aren’t widely known.
  Some citizens complain—but not loudly—about this shift in the city’s balance 
  of power. But in many ways, Jorren seems more responsive to the issues afflict-
  ing different classes in the city than the Council has been historically. She holds 
  regularly scheduled public audiences and has issued mandates prohibiting price-
  gouging, and is beginning to improve infrastructure in Cheapside in response to 
  the influx of new residents. There are even rumors of plans to implement a new 
  form of government representation, something called ward aldermen, but Jorren 
  has refused to confirm these reports. Also, she still appears to be working closely 
  with many of the known members of the former Council of Three Sevens. In any 
  case, she seems to understand that her power depends on keeping not just the 
  elites but also the merchants, craftsmen, and lower classes all relatively satisfied.
  Ideas for Secrets
  Any additional insight into the Lord Protector’s plans for the city would constitute 
  a powerful and potentially dangerous secret. This could include negotiations with 
  the leaders of Imlan; plans for securing the city from invasion or unrest; further 
  executive orders which will impact life in the city; or new deals being struck with 
  manufactories or thaumaturgic workshops.
  Examples: Secret Grain-Trade Agreement with Reds-Held Territories; 
  Plans for Eminent Domain in Cheapside; Arming the City Watch with 
  Pacifying Gas Grenades
  28
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  High Street
  So called because it runs up a ridge in the center of the city, High Street has since 
  time immemorial housed the city’s wealthiest and most powerful citizens, because 
  you-know-what runs downhill. Currently, the richest merchants and manufactory 
  owners jockey for available space, to the chagrin of landed gentry who regard 
  them as classless usurpers. Of course, these households depend on a virtual army 
  of servants and specialized tradesmen, so people from a variety of backgrounds 
  travel to High Street on legitimate business.
  As Above, So Below
  In a city as old and compacted as Almbrecht, it’s hard to maintain absolute physical 
  boundaries. The Closes—hidden back alleys—wind into and under High Street 
  and the rest of the city. Some peek out between back doors of fine houses. Others 
  are architectural relics winding between cellars, gradually buried as the residents 
  of High Street built homes on top of older foundations. Why someone wealthy 
  enough to live on High Street would leave a potential entry for thieves or other 
  dangers into their cellar is anyone’s guess.
  Seeing and Being Seen
  The City Watch spends much of its time and manpower here—even though 
  many are quick to point out the need is arguably greater in the crowded streets 
  of Cheapside—and anyone who looks like they don’t have legitimate business on 
  High Street is quickly asked to move along. That being said, looking “legitimate” 
  is often a matter of how you carry yourself or who you’re seen with.
  Ideas for Secrets
  You may have discovered the identity of one of the more secretive members of 
  the Council who lives on High Street. Or you may have found out that a “secret” 
  cellar entryway to the Closes is used fairly often—and why, if you’re particularly 
  good at finding things out. Even something as seemingly straightforward as the 
  location of a valuable object or important document is a useful secret.
  Examples: A Council Member Lives Here; Well-Used Door off the Closes; 
  Where My Lord Keeps His Lock Box
  29
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  The Docks and the Haymarket
  Almbrecht’s ports have proved central to its prosperity and relative safety in the 
  Upheaval so far. The city has remained able to trade for needed supplies overseas, 
  even as the Upheaval renders land routes unsafe. Moreover, no faction has been 
  willing to risk their own supply chain or the ill will generated by attacking such 
  a large, important population center.
  Historically, the docks have offered plenty of opportunities for illicit dealings, 
  if you know the right people. But the Lord Protector has been keeping a closer 
  eye on them to prevent smuggling, as stocks of most supplies have begun to run 
  low. There is also concern about potentially dangerous goods or persons entering 
  the city, so surveillance has increased. The docks are also sites of labor unrest, as 
  dockworkers push for better working conditions and the representatives of the 
  Merchants Guild try hiring recent arrivals to keep wages low.
  Next to the docks, the Haymarket is the primary market square of the city, 
  where most classes meet and mingle—although with varying degrees of acknowl-
  edgement. Some may come for work, some for leisure, but almost everyone in 
  Almbrecht has some knowledge or experience of this space.
  This space is unique in Almbrecht in how various classes and professions mingle. 
  Taverns play host to musicians, and troupes of actors perform everything from 
  Temple-sanctioned morality plays to bawdy popular entertainments. It is the 
  mass market for most thaumaturgic and manufactured goods as well as staples 
  like foodstuffs for humans and livestock. Booksellers, cartographers, and clerks all 
  serve clientele in a city more literate than much of its surroundings. It’s another 
  place where your connections can get you most things, if you know the right 
  person. Or where you might come to figure out who the right person to know is.
  30
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Ideas for Secrets
  Many secrets here have to do with the movements of people and goods, both 
  legal and otherwise. You might happen to know which of the Lord Protector’s 
  dock inspectors or watchmen is still taking kickbacks to allow smuggling. Or you 
  might discover that a high-level thaumaturge has been meeting frequently with 
  dock inspectors or merchants in recent weeks. Through your “research” in the 
  offices of a prominent shipping company, you might uncover discrepancies on 
  the manifests of a series of vessels in the last three months. Or your dock-worker 
  connection might have tipped you off as to when a shipment of supplies for a 
  rebel or military faction is arriving in the city. These secrets might focus more on 
  the Upheaval itself, relating to the movement of conscripts and weapons, or on 
  the shortages troubling the city more generally.
  Examples: Cheerfully Corrupt Port Official; Mismatched Manifests; 
  This Merchant Captain Owes Me a Favor
  Finneas Orlack
  If not one of the most prosperous innkeeps in the Haymarket, then certainly one 
  of the most well-known. Running a congenial if rowdy common room, and a 
  number of profitable backroom games, Finneas has been known to toss out any 
  drunk who runs off too much at the mouth, without much regard for their name 
  or station—and he does it himself. It’s earned him a few enemies, but a good 
  many more admirers. If you’re looking for something or someone who keeps out 
  of the way, there’s a good chance Finneas has at least heard something about it. 
  He may even be willing to tell you—for a price.
  Finneas Orlack
  ASPECTS
  High Concept: Rough-and-Tumble Innkeep
  Trouble: Earned the Ire of a Council Member’s Son
  Other Aspects: Not Ashamed of His Roots; Knows Trouble When 
  He Sees It; A Damn Fine Bartender
  SKILLS
  Great (+4): Contacts, Rapport
  Good (+3): Empathy, Notice, Physique, Resources
  Fair (+2): Athletics, Deceive, Fight, Provoke, Will
  STRESS
  Physical [1][2][3][4]
  Mental [1][2][3]
  Social [1][2][3][4]
  31
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  Cheapside
  The city’s historic slums, downhill from High Street—and the Lord Protector’s 
  keep, for what that’s worth. Here, the majority of the new refugees have found 
  themselves competing for already scarce lodging and amenities. Lacking room 
  to expand outward, the buildings grow taller, denser, and deeper. Cheapside has 
  always been described as a warren—particularly by those who don’t live there—
  but the recent increase in population has people living on top of each other, and 
  delving into ancient cellars to find a place to call home.
  Cheapside residents face significant health and safety concerns, due to lack of 
  access to clean water and sanitary waste disposal. In most parts of Cheapside, that 
  means a gutter down the center of the street. (Children are taught not to splash in 
  puddles here.) As you might imagine, Cheapside has been a long-simmering site 
  of social unrest, both positive—like pushes for reform in oversight, construction, 
  and social programs—and detrimental, as in xenophobia and violence.
  Ideas for Secrets
  Cheapside is where the gap between the city’s governing principles and how power 
  is actually wielded will be most glaringly obvious, and it’s where many of the city’s 
  conspiracies will come to light—the trick is getting the resources to solve the 
  problems that erupt. Your friends and neighbors may have given you information 
  on a gang operating in Cheapside which plans to attack recent arrivals. Or you may 
  belong to a group which is trying to organize for better conditions in Cheapside, 
  or help form unions of manufactory or dock workers, and you’ll have to contend 
  with all the risks such plans entail. You may discover that all the workers in your 
  family’s manufactory are getting sick due to the thaumaturgic byproducts leaking 
  into Cheapside’s water supply—from your family’s manufactory.
  Examples: Runoff from the Miserick Foundry Poisoned This Well; My 
  Neighbor Is a Community Organizer; “Almbrecht First” Is Planning a 
  Raid on This Rowhouse
  The Closes
  Not a specific place so much as a network of narrow, winding passageways between 
  parts of the city. The Closes are maintained by ancient law as public through-
  ways, even though the city has grown over and around them. Those who know 
  the Closes can make quicker, more confident getaways or can track others more 
  effectively across the city, and can turn up in unexpected places at unexpected 
  times. The Closes are an old part of Almbrecht built over by newer, nicer parts 
  of town. But that doesn’t mean that no one lives there anymore. The Alm flows 
  down here, separated from the sky for almost a century, and some of Almbrecht’s 
  oldest memories are waiting here, for those brave enough to look.
  32
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Ideas for Secrets
  Many of the secrets you could learn are about the movement of people or goods 
  between different parts of the city. You could learn the route used by a group of 
  smugglers, or that there’s traffic of a suspicious volume or nature to a particular 
  door at the end of a formerly quiet Close. There’s potential for smuggling, espio-
  nage between manufactories and workshops, hidden caches of thaumaturgic or 
  mundane supplies, and meetings of sympathizers to various factions active in 
  Almbrecht. Witnessing or learning about a murder, especially of someone who 
  had no obvious business being in a place like the Closes, is a good start. You 
  might even live in the Closes if you can’t find another place to live—or if you’ve 
  been forced into hiding but can’t escape the city.
  Examples:  Disgraced Thaumaturge Living in Hiding; This Nobleman’s 
  Body Definitely Shouldn’t Be Here; Secret Meeting Place for Reds 
  Sympathizers
  The Temple of Enduring Light
  The Temple of Enduring Light became the state religion of Imlan a few hundred 
  years ago. Like in any organization that claims authority over their fellow travelers’ 
  spiritual well-being, you have some who join the clergy out of a sincere desire 
  to help others, and some who join because they are tempted by the prospect of 
  power. In Almbrecht, this means you may have a few senior clergy or local priests 
  working to promote better conditions in Cheapside and the manufactories—and 
  others working behind the scenes with or against the Lord Protector and the 
  members of the former Council of Three Sevens.
  Whose House Is This?
  The Temple is monotheistic, and most orthodox interpretations of its Precepts 
  tend to support a top-down, hierarchical form of society. There are a variety of 
  sects, with sometimes violent clashes of opinion. Broadly, the Temple promotes 
  peacefulness and stability among its adherents—but what good religion hasn’t 
  had a power-crazed mystery cult or two?
  The Precepts of Enduring Light hold that Creation arose out of primordial 
  Darkness, and that the sacred Light of Order is present in every living thing. Or 
  at least, that’s how it looks on paper. A common theological debate is whether 
  that light is distributed equally amongst all people, or if some parts of the world 
  hold more light and are consequently more blessed than others.
  The Temple encourages peacefulness, charity, and humility as expressions of 
  the love the Light has for itself as it permeates creation. However, in actuality, 
  money, class, and the age of your family name all come to bear—at least in some 
  parts of the Temple. There are radical elements in the Temple who maintain that 
  the Light is everywhere and with everyone. These tend to be the Lightbringers 
  you find out in Cheapside, working to improve living conditions. They find that 
  it’s most effective try to work with these communities, rather than around or on 
  behalf of them.
  33
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  Ideas for Secrets
  Temple politics is always fertile soil for secrets. With the right focus, you could 
  also learn more about conditions in Cheapside or the manufactories, or even 
  begin to encounter people suffering from alleged attacks by supernatural beings 
  known locally as Jacks. Some priests claim to have found ways to ward off Jacks, 
  but as the attacks themselves aren’t confirmed, this claim is viewed sidelong by 
  many outside the Temple as well as within it.
  Examples: These Senior Lightbringers Support Jorren Arsbright; Unsafe 
  Conditions at a Mehndelsson Manufactory; Unwaking Sleep in Cheapside
  Everrett Minrys
  A radical Lightbringer who has worked primarily in Cheapside since coming to 
  the city. He preaches and helps relay food and medicine to the people who live 
  there, giving them hope and a sense of worth. Many people are very loyal to 
  him—and he’s got serious reservations about Jorren. He’s savvy enough to not 
  be openly antagonistic, but is deeply skeptical of the centralization of power and 
  has refused to lend her his endorsement.
  When his parishioners report cases of “sleeping sickness,” fevers and nightmares 
  and unwaking sleep, he listens. He delves with a few others into more mystical 
  aspects of the Precepts, and comes back with exercises he claims can protect people 
  from some of whatever is out there. Some people adopt them and claim they help, 
  but none of this is widely accepted outside the communities that already believe 
  in Everret and his preachings.
  Everett Minrys
  ASPECTS
  High Concept: Unkempt Holy Man
  Trouble: Temple Superiors Question His…Everything, Really
  Other Aspects: Walks the Walk; Sincerely Faithful; Skeptical 
  of Authority
  SKILLS
  Great (+4): Lore, Rapport
  Good (+3): Empathy, Notice, Will
  Fair (+2): Athletics, Contacts, Investigate, Provoke
  Average (+1): Crafts, Deceive, Physique, Stealth
  STRESS
  Physical [1][2][3]
  Mental [1][2][3][4]
  Social [1][2][3]
  CONSEQUENCES
  Mild (2):
  Moderate (4):
  Severe (6):
  34
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  THE SUPERNATURAL
  In general, most people believe in some level of magic. 
  There have been stories about dangerous entities to 
  encounter in your dreams for time out of mind, even if 
  they’re sometimes dismissed as superstition or the byprod-
  uct of overworked or uneducated imaginations in the 
  modern day. But the recent stories of attacks have been 
  numerous enough to heighten public anxiety. Symptoms 
  of “sleeping sickness” include vivid nightmares of needle-
  fingered creatures, fever, and, eventually, unwaking sleep. 
  Why these symptoms occur remains a mystery. But their 
  impact is becoming undeniable—whether these Jacks, 
  as they are called, are real or not, the harm suffered by 
  victims of the sleeping sickness is tangible.
  There are lots of explanations floating around as to 
  what the Jacks are. Some believe they’re a form of mass 
  hysteria brought on by the Upheaval and resultant stress 
  on resources and living space in the city, or by the condi-
  tions in Cheapside and the manufactories. Some mutter 
  darkly about conspiracies to promote unrest, spread by 
  opponents of the Lord Protector—or her supporters. A 
  few even think they’re real.
  No one has identified a pattern to where the sleeping 
  sickness is reported to have occurred. One rowhouse may 
  be fine, while in the one next door no one sleeps soundly. 
  Some thaumaturges sell artefacts that purport to ward off 
  Jack attacks, although mostly at prices only affordable to 
  denizens of High Street. A few Lightbringers also claim 
  to have developed spiritual exercises to protect against 
  Jacks—and other non-material threats—but again, they 
  are not generally believed.
  SHOULD WE GO DEEPER?
  Your group might want to add Jacks if that sounds 
  like another fun set of secrets to delve into, to 
  heighten the fear and tension or to add or confirm 
  a supernatural dimension.
  The remainder of this chapter contains more 
  specifics on the rules of Jacks and their world, 
  so if you’re not keen on spoiling yourself, stop 
  reading here.
  35
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  The Dreamworld
  Jacks operate in another part of reality we’ll call the Dreamworld. The Dreamworld 
  is always present, you’re just closer to—and more susceptible to the actions of—its 
  denizens when you’re dreaming.
  Agents and artefacts are tools you can bring from the waking reality of Almbrecht 
  to the Dreamworld to help maintain your focus and find your way—to help you 
  remember that you are, in fact, dreaming—and defend yourself when needed. GMs 
  and players, you’ll need to discuss whether thaumaturgic agents or artefacts only 
  help in creating advantages or can actually be used as weapons in the Dreamworld.
  Everret Minrys (page 34) and some of the other Lightbringers have explored 
  parts of the Dreamworld, and can also offer PCs a set of exercises as tools to help 
  them understand the Dreamworld and move through it. Those exercises will be 
  steeped in the philosophy and language of the Temple of Enduring Light, but do 
  offer deeper insight into the creatures that live in the Dreamworld.
  Tying the Dreamworld to Almbrecht
  The Dreamworld represents a massive potential resource. As a group, think about 
  who in Almbrecht might know about it, and who would want to exploit it. The 
  ability to meet and exchange information covertly across massive physical distances, 
  especially with the Upheaval cutting off conventional routes for information, is 
  just one possibility. So is the ability to harm your enemies via their dreams, if 
  you could convince—or coerce—the Jacks to do it for you. Who knows what a 
  thaumaturge might be able to do if their scribing could somehow tap into the 
  energy of the Dreamworld—assuming it doesn’t already? Senior Lightbringers 
  and thaumaturges would have access to the right kinds of knowledge to enter the 
  Dreamworld. But politicos, spies, and military leaders would all have reasons for 
  wanting to use the Dreamworld.
  You can also make the Dreamworld relevant to events on the ground in Almbrecht 
  by asking the players to protect important NPCs from Jackdreams, or to go after 
  and try to retrieve people who’ve been sent into unwaking sleep. Stress from 
  Jackdreams may also heighten tensions in the city, or undermine efforts to organize 
  a strike or defend the city from siege. Agents or artefacts produced outside Guild 
  supervision would still fetch a healthy profit on the black market. And if they 
  don’t work, will the buyers necessarily be in any condition to demand a refund?
  It’s also worth considering why Jacks have begun attacking the city. Maybe 
  humans are just prey for them. Or maybe living conditions in the city have pro-
  voked some kind of widespread psychic trauma that’s drawn their attention. Perhaps 
  some very powerful, very secret form of thaumaturgy has been harming them by 
  drawing energy from the Dreamworld, and the attacks are actually self-defense. 
  This is deliberately left open-ended; you can pick an answer that suits your world.
  36
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Dreamwalking
  Jacks invade dreams and harm humans while they’re asleep, inflicting mental stress. 
  If a PC has a dream invaded by Jacks and ends up taking harm from them, that PC 
  may get a dreamwalking aspect. Alternatively, PCs can use thaumaturgic agents 
  or artefacts, or Lightbringer exercises to help them navigate the Dreamworld. A 
  dreamwalking aspect gives you the ability to move volitionally and find, direct, 
  or defend others in the Dreamworld. Without a dreamwalking aspect, all you 
  can do is defend.
  “Distance” is much less linear in the Dreamworld and doesn’t map directly onto 
  the physical world in a meaningful way. If you’ve gone in search of someone who’s 
  been taken by unwaking sleep, your connection to them is much more important 
  than how far away their unconscious body is. Places may look similar to “real” 
  locations—or even be related, in some mysterious way—but their relative posi-
  tions are much more fluid, and moving between them takes an applicable roll.
  GMs, you may ask players in the Dreamworld to roll Will (as an expression 
  of focus or mental strength), Physique (ability to escape bonds of an individual 
  dream and move freely), or Rapport (connection to their target), as appropriate, 
  when they want to move around or affect the Dreamworld. Players, if you can 
  figure out justifications to use another skill, feel free.
  As players delve into the Dreamworld, they may find that some of the entities 
  that live there are disposed to help them, while others pursue their own agendas, 
  or may offer assistance—but only for a price.
  The Jacks
  Jacks have different stats if a PC encounters them with or without a dreamwalking 
  aspect, because their ability to understand them will be fundamentally different. 
  GMs, you can even choose to have Jacks turn out to be a couple different varieties 
  of creature, which PCs can perceive more clearly once they have a dreamwalking 
  aspect.
  We’ve included stat blocks for both “seen” and “unseen” Jacks below. Note that, 
  though we give examples of unseen Jacks, a PC’s perception of their appearances 
  will be largely informed by what they’ve heard about Jacks and what’s frightened 
  them. The stat blocks give examples based on common conceptions of Jacks—
  creatures with needle fingers. Their shape, size, whether their eyes glow—or are 
  a deep, bottomless black—all depend on the dreamer.
  37
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  Unseen Jacks
  Bad Dream
  ASPECTS
  High Concept: Hungry, 
  Needle-Fingered Swarm
  Other Aspects: Hard to Keep 
  Track Of; Chittering
  SKILLS
  Good (+3): Fight
  Fair (+2): Provoke, Physique
  Average (+1): Deceive, Athletics, 
  Notice
  STUNTS
  Strength in Numbers: Because 
  Bad Dreams are used to having 
  the advantage of numbers, they 
  get a +2 to Deceive rolls in con-
  flicts when they outnumber the 
  PCs by at least two to one.
  Unwelcome Here: Because PCs 
  who are unfamiliar with the 
  Dreamworld are more likely to 
  be disconcerted by Jacks, Bad 
  Dreams get a +2 to Provoke rolls 
  once per scene against a char-
  acter without a dreamwalking 
  aspect.
  STRESS
  Physical [1][2][3]
  Mental [1][2]
  CONSEQUENCES
  Mild (2):
  Moderate (4):
  Worse Dream
  ASPECTS
  High Concept: Noisy, Needle-
  Fingered Relentlessness
  Other Aspects: Happy to Trick 
  You; Their Bark Is as Bad as 
  Their Bite
  SKILLS
  Great (+4): Deceive
  Good (+3): Fight, Provoke
  Fair (+2): Notice, Physique, Will
  Average (+1): Athletics, Crafts, 
  Notice
  STUNTS
  Persistence Is Key: Because it’s used 
  to targeting prey over multiple 
  nights and getting inside their 
  head, a Worse Dream gets +2 to 
  one Provoke roll per scene against 
  a dreamer it’s encountered before.
  Don’t Blink: Because it relies on 
  its wiles above even its strength, 
  once per scene a Worse Dream 
  gets +2 to Deceive against a 
  dreamer who already took stress 
  or consequences from them 
  during that scene.
  STRESS
  Physical [1][2][3]
  Mental [1][2][3]
  CONSEQUENCES
  Mild (2):
  Moderate (4):
  Severe (6):
  38
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Nightmare
  ASPECTS
  High Concept: Peering, Needle-Fingered Ravenousness
  Other Aspects: Alarmingly Curious, Curiously Alarming;  
  Too Clever by Half
  SKILLS
  Superb (+5): Notice, Provoke, Will
  Great (+4): Deceive, Fight, Investigate
  Good (+3): Athletics, Crafts, Physique, Stealth
  STUNTS
  The Enemy Within: Because Nightmares are unnervingly observant of most 
  other lifeforms, they get a +2 to Deceive rolls if they’re trying to convince 
  a dreamer of something they already want to believe.
  You’ve Already Lost: Nightmares are scary stuff. If a Nightmare succeeds 
  with style on a Fight roll against a dreamer, the dreamer also takes one 
  mental stress.
  STRESS
  Physical [1][2][3]
  Mental [1][2][3][4]
  CONSEQUENCES
  Mild (2):
  Mild Mental (2):
  Moderate (4):
  Severe (6):
  39
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  Seen Jacks
  Grey Whisper
  ASPECTS
  High Concept:  
  Searching Restlessness
  Other Aspects: Insubstantial; 
  Vaguely Winged; Never 
  Completely Quiet
  SKILLS
  Great (+4): Empathy, Fight
  Good (+3): Deceive, Notice, Will
  Fair (+2): Athletics, Crafts, 
  Physique, Lore
  STUNTS
  Wait, What’s That?: A Grey 
  Whisper can roll Notice against 
  Good (+3) difficulty. On a suc-
  cess, it gets to create a setting 
  aspect with one free invoke.
  We Never Said That: If something 
  a Grey Whisper says makes PCs 
  suspicious or hostile, the Grey 
  Whisper can add +2 to a Deceive 
  roll to alter the dreamers’ per-
  spective on what was said.
  STRESS
  Physical [1][2][3]
  Mental [1][2][3]
  CONSEQUENCES
  Mild (2):
  Moderate (4):
  Radiant Wind
  ASPECTS
  High Concept:  
  Unfocused Brightness
  Other Aspects: Almost Too 
  Bright to Look At; Amused 
  by Peculiar Things; Usually 
  Distracted
  SKILLS
  Superb (+5): Will, Empathy, 
  Notice
  Great (+4): Fight, Lore, Provoke
  Good (+3): Physique, Investigate, 
  Crafts, Deceive
  STRESS
  Physical [1][2][3]
  Mental [1][2][3][4]
  STUNTS
  Let It Go: If a dreamer can earn a 
  Radiant Wind’s sympathy and 
  convince it to help, and the 
  Radiant Wind succeeds on an 
  Empathy roll against Good (+3) 
  difficulty, the dreamer may clear 
  a mild or moderate mental con-
  sequence caused by other Jacks.
  Leaves on the Wind: Once per 
  scene, the Radiant Wind can 
  give a defensive boost to each 
  cooperative dreamer.
  CONSEQUENCES
  Mild (2):
  Mild Mental (2):
  Moderate (4):
  Severe (6):
  40
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Unblinking Reflection
  ASPECTS
  High Concept: Grinning Uneasiness
  Other Aspects: Looks Just Like You—If You Let Them; Doesn’t 
  Seem to Blink; A Disquieting Number of Teeth
  SKILLS
  Great (+4): Deceive, Rapport
  Good (+3): Notice, Fight, Provoke
  Fair (+2): Stealth, Physique, Will, Athletics
  STUNTS
  Made You Look: If an Unblinking Reflection assumes a dreamer’s appear-
  ance by succeeding on a Deceive roll against Good (+3) difficulty, it 
  gets +2 to its next attack roll.
  Now You See Me, Now You Don’t: If an Unblinking Reflection concedes 
  a conflict after taking at least two consequences, it can roll Stealth to 
  help it get away with limited additional harm.
  STRESS
  Physical [1][2][3]
  Mental [1][2][3]
  CONSEQUENCES
  Mild (2):
  Moderate (4):
  Severe (6):
  41
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  FLESHING OUT ALMBRECHT
  Almbrecht is a complex place where 
  a lot happens. Because of this, you 
  can use Fate’s Bronze rule to represent 
  Almbrecht as a character.
  Adding Crises
  As your game goes on, you can add more crises. While your group may develop 
  new crises on their own, we’ve provided a set of roughly escalating crises below 
  if you want to get running quickly. You can add these crises to raise the stakes in 
  Almbrecht and add challenges for the PCs to work on, depending on their values 
  and motivations. Feel free to alter the details of these stories to tie them more 
  tightly into your PCs’ backstories.
  Be careful of adding too many crises at once, as doing so would test even expe-
  rienced groups. For a one-shot, we recommend keeping the one starting crisis. 
  For longer campaigns, where players are building up relationships and resources 
  in the city, introducing more crises as the story progresses can deepen the story 
  and challenge your players to interact more with the world as they work to find 
  solutions to their own plotlines and to the challenges faced by the city as a whole.
  It’s important to think about how multiple crises happening at the same time 
  would cross-pollinate—what additional complications arise out of the combina-
  tion of stressors? Would native Almbrechters angry about recent immigrants 
  disrupt attempts to distribute supplies in Cheapside to alleviate a food shortage? 
  Ex-Council members might be more than willing to play their own games while 
  the Lord Protector negotiates with a hostile faction laying siege to the city. Paranoia 
  about Jackdreams could very easily derail attempts to organize a strike, if the 
  dreams were widespread enough. Consider how one of these tracks completing 
  might add stress on another track.
  Crisis One: Strike at the MehndelSSon Place
  Your friends and neighbors in Cheapside are organizing to push for better working 
  conditions at the Mehndelsson manufactories. How will the PCs respond if the 
  owners bring in strikebreakers—or if the Lord Protector sends the City Watch to 
  intervene—and people you know are injured or killed? What might the PCs be 
  willing—or compelled—to do to keep their friends and family safe? If the strike 
  isn’t broken, what does the city start to run short of? Consider how a low-class 
  organizer will respond differently from a high-class politico.
  PLAYERS, BE WARNED
  This chapter is mostly useful for 
  the GM, and you may spoil your-
  self if you read on.
  42
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Crisis Two: Gone, but not ForGotten
  The Council of Three Sevens hasn’t gone away. While a majority were apparently 
  convinced to cede power to a single Lord Protector to more efficiently respond 
  to the threat of the Upheaval, that doesn’t mean everyone agreed with the deci-
  sion. Moreover, not everyone may have gotten what they felt they were owed 
  out of the bargain.
  PCs with a background in High Street, or who work as politicos or spies, may 
  have ways of interacting with, or being discovered by, motivated members of the 
  former Council. If approached by someone who wants to shift the balance of 
  power in Almbrecht back toward the Council, or toward a faction in the Upheaval, 
  what will the PCs choose? Will they remain loyal to the Lord Protector? Or work 
  against her? What might inspire—or ensure—their loyalty? Are the known factions 
  really the ones at play here? These are murky waters, so swim carefully.
  Crisis Three: not WelcoMe in alMbrecht
  Cheapside is already crowded, and some native Almbrechters don’t look kindly 
  on the additional competition for limited food and work from recent arrivals. 
  Not to mention the short supplies of essential thaumaturgic elements. It’s all too 
  easy to see power-hungry politicos making hay out of people’s fear and distrust of 
  strangers, prompting attacks on anyone perceived as “not Almbrechter enough.” 
  How do PCs choose to involve themselves? How familiar are they with the dif-
  ferent sides of this conflict? What will they do when riots break out? How might 
  the middle-class spy feel differently about this than the low-class veteran?
  Crisis Four: i FouGht the laW, You knoW the reSt
  As tensions rise in the city, the Lord Protector’s edicts become more restrictive, 
  and those daring folks looking for answers wherever the truth may take them 
  will likely end up on the wrong side of the Watch. How are the PCs hampered 
  by having specific members of the Watch on the lookout for them or for their 
  friends and families? Is it harder to reach out to “respectable” contacts? Alternately, 
  what allies might their actions earn them? Remember, there are folks with enough 
  money and power who consider themselves above the law, as well as outside it. If 
  the Lord Protector restricts freedom of speech or assembly, how does that impact 
  the PCs? Might they have to go into hiding or find ways to protect their family 
  members from harassment by the Watch? Or will they try to work with the Watch 
  or earn the Lord Protector’s favor?
  Crisis Five: We’re under SieGe
  Eventually, someone decides Almbrecht is too ripe a fruit to leave unplucked. 
  The Ironsiders—or the Reds, or someone else, if you prefer—lay siege to the city. 
  How does the Lord Protector respond? How do the citizens respond? Are the 
  PCs in a position to organize a defense of the city? Or are they sympathetic to the 
  faction attacking and will try to broker a peace—or push the city to surrender?
  43
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  Crisis Six: We’re runninG out
  Food, clean water, medical or thaumaturgic supplies—all of these are essential 
  to keeping a large city like Almbrecht from going over the edge. But trade is 
  dwindling, between the Upheaval and the rumors surrounding the Jacks, and 
  rationing only goes so far.* Expect rioting, hoarding, and black markets despite 
  the Lord Protector’s emergency edicts. A shortage of thaumaturgic supplies will 
  make citizens increasingly fearful of Jackdreams, and probably increase panic in 
  the city in a way that material shortages might not immediately. Do PCs try to 
  help alleviate these shortages by trying to keep the peace? Find alternate sources 
  of supplies? Manipulate the markets to their own ends?
  * There have also been advances in medical and food-preservation technology, in response to both 
  military and civilian needs. While these have helped to alleviate some of the stresses around food 
  and medicine in the city, the growing population and fractured supply lines caused by the Upheaval 
  are stretching the city’s resources to their limits.
  Crisis Seven: theY’re GettinG StronGer
  Reports of Jack attacks are increasing in frequency, and the ill effects on sleepers 
  seem to be getting more severe. Panic is rising. PCs could investigate reported 
  methods of resisting or warding off Jacks, and spread that knowledge—or use it 
  for themselves. This may mean going to the Lightbringers who’ve been working 
  to combat the “sleeping sickness” in Cheapside, or to the thaumaturges selling 
  artefacts and agents. Are these methods of protection genuine? Self-interested 
  fraud is always a possibility when markets are hot, but the price of failing to 
  deliver on promised results is starting to rise dangerously.
  This crisis should probably be a mid- to late-game break, as it will further stress 
  the social networks of Almbrecht, limiting people’s ability to work outside the home, 
  to care for afflicted family members and neighbors, and to respond to other crises.
  44
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  Using Stress Tracks
  Adding stress tracks to Almbrecht itself is a good way to keep an eye on bad—or 
  good—things that await the PCs. You can give a track as few as two boxes or 
  more than eight. A track with fewer boxes will simply happen sooner than a track 
  with more boxes.
  These tracks are useful at many scales. You can set up a track for how alert the 
  guards are at a mansion as easily as you can for how close a manufactory workers’ 
  strike is to turning violent. In general, a small-scale track, like the guards or the 
  mood of patrons in a pub, can be affected by a roll, while a large-scale track, like 
  an organization of some size or a movement, can be affected by a scene, and a 
  huge-scale track, like the city’s overall stability, can be impacted by the session.
  You can even mark multiple stress boxes if something the players did—or failed 
  to prevent—was especially impactful. If they’re working to prevent an outcome, 
  you can also set up a counter-track to track their progress, either with negotiating 
  with the union and bosses at the manufactory, or garnering additional supplies 
  to ease shortages. Using this method, you can create relatively complex dynamics 
  with fairly simple tools.
  Stress and Crises
  You can attach stress tracks to crises to show how close they are to going over the 
  edge. Filled stress tracks can introduce new crises, and new crises can add stress 
  to other tracks.
  Think about the stress you’re introducing with each crisis as a dial you can 
  adjust. Do you want your PCs to feel like they’re just managing to marshal their 
  resources and connections in time to stay ahead of the city’s problems? Or do you 
  want to force them to make hard choices about who and where they’re choosing to 
  help? Remember that players play games to feel empowered and challenged—it’s 
  important to give them choices that feel and actually are meaningful.
  When the players are in a crisis location, you can invoke the crisis to justify 
  adding story details. Let the players know that their actions during the scene 
  could make the crisis better or worse, and through the scene you’ll decide how 
  their actions add or remove stress from the relevant tracks and counter-tracks. 
  Likewise, NPCs in the scene might be able to attack a crisis stress track directly, 
  if the crisis is on a smaller scale. Even if the PCs fail to mitigate a crisis, their 
  failure should still contribute plot.
  How Much Do You Say?
  You probably don’t want your players to be aware of all the stress tracks in play. 
  There are lots of secrets beyond what the players know, and it makes sense that 
  their actions will have consequences they’ll only gradually become aware of. Even 
  so, giving them some insight into the progress they’re making—even if it’s done 
  with narrative, rather than by telling them an exact number of boxes—can affirm 
  their decisions and hint at which directions to move in.
  45
  ALMBRECHT AFTER DARK
  
  One action might add stress in the short term, but if players choose to intervene, 
  could ultimately improve conditions. For example, in a game focused on intrigue 
  and working conditions in the manufactories, you might have the Lord Protector 
  impose mandatory ten-hour shift limits for workers. As you can imagine, various 
  parties would respond to this measure differently. Some workers might support it, 
  while others oppose it. There would be debate as to who should get hired into the 
  new positions, and how all of this should affect wages, given that there’s something 
  suspiciously like a war on. This creates more directions for your team to move 
  in, and will probably increase stress in the short term, but also contains possible 
  resolutions that may improve some conditions your PCs care about, and which 
  could ultimately remove more stress from the track than it added.
  Monitoring the stress tracks against your team’s actions and goals should tell 
  you if you want to keep building challenges for them to work through, or if you 
  want to ramp up the tension to a big climax. If you do opt to go big, consider 
  what happens if your team fails. How do you play through catastrophic failure, if 
  the city falls to invasion or various members of the team are imprisoned, banished, 
  or otherwise incapacitated?
  Deepening Secrets and Conspiracies
  Or, what’s really going on around here?
  Almbrecht is a multifaceted place where a lot happens beyond what the PCs are 
  aware of. The city can and will continue to generate new secrets on its own, and 
  with a little digging, the PCs can pick up more secrets that will help them unravel 
  conspiracies and mitigate crises.
  As you’re adding new secrets for the PCs to discover, consider the following 
  questions:
  • How can your players get access to new secrets in ways that feel appropri-
  ate to their characters?
  • How do the new secrets tie into the secrets your PCs already have and into 
  the big issues of Almbrecht?
  • How can the characters use the new secrets to try to resolve the conspira-
  cies that they’re part of? Put another way, how does knowing a secret make 
  them better at solving the bigger puzzle?
  Here are some inspirations for creating new secrets to tie into crises and 
  conspiracies.
  The Emperor
  The uncertainty of public knowledge around the emperor’s current condition is 
  intentional. You can choose whether the emperor is alive or dead, and whether 
  and how much you want this plot arc to interact with the story. An imprisoned 
  emperor—or one who chose to go missing—when he is widely presumed to be 
  dead is rich fodder for plot, if you’re running a longer or more political game. 
  How do the PCs gain access to those secrets? Are there loyalist members of the 
  Council in Almbrecht who know the emperor is actually alive?
  46
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
  The Lord Protector
  Jorren Arsbright favors one of the insurgent factions in the Upheaval. So did 
  a majority of the Council, but they didn’t want to risk openly supporting this 
  faction and being seen as betraying the Empire. They elected Jorren so that sup-
  plies and personnel for various factions could travel more-or-less freely through 
  the city, while still paying lip service to the Empire. If the Loyalists successfully 
  quash the Upheaval and suspect the role Almbrecht played, Jorren can be hand-
  ily scapegoated and executed as a traitorous usurper. Why volunteer for the role 
  of Lord Protector? Jorren’s no fool—she understands the stakes she’s playing for. 
  She’s a woman of ambition and vision, and is willing to take on the risk in order 
  to give the rebel faction much-needed access to supplies and volunteers. There’s 
  certainly also some appeal to being able to control and leave your mark on one 
  of the oldest, most important cities in the Empire.
  The Council of Three Sevens
  Almbrecht is not a democracy. While the people who live there are commonly 
  referred to as citizens, they have wildly varying degrees of influence on how the 
  city is governed. The citizens with the most influence belonged to the Council. 
  Historical records conflict as to who comprised the original Council, and the 
  compositions of the Sevens have changed over time, in response to significant 
  economic and social shifts. It’s rumored that at one point farmers and laborers 
  comprised one of the three Sevens, although other sources list nobility, merchants, 
  and clergy.
  Prior to the appointment of the Lord Protector, the manufactory owners pushed 
  to increase their influence among the merchants’ Seven. Various members of 
  the merchants’ Seven and the Thaumaturges’ Guild had either been proposing 
  restructuring or redistributing the seats, or supplanting the clerics’ Seven. As you 
  can imagine, the various machinations involved in these power struggles provide 
  fruitful grounds for plot. Each Seven has a few members who are more publicly 
  known and accountable, while others are much more private, to the point where 
  citizens not on the Council don’t really know who they are. The groups represented 
  by each Seven have their own methods for electing members to their Seven. But 
  in most cases, a lot of it has to do with power, wealth, and connections.
  Factions in the Upheaval
  One or more factions works at smuggling supplies and volunteers—or conscripts—
  through the city. What influence do they have with local merchants or former 
  members of the Council? Who’s interested in letting them move unimpeded 
  through the city?
  An Independent Almbrecht
  Almbrecht is not the capital of the Empire, or even its second city. It was, however, 
  at one point the capital of an independent kingdom subsumed in the Empire some 
  hundreds of years ago. It has a deep history, and while many Almbrechters count 
  themselves as loyal citizens of the Empire, many others envision an independent 
  future for Almbrecht—or at least a more equitable relationship to the Empire. 
  They may have that opportunity, in the Upheaval.
  47
  
  Using Secrets to Move the Plot
  Once your group has built their secrets, consider who wants this information to 
  stay secret, and what they’re willing to do to keep it from coming to light. Simply 
  threatening PCs with violence or death can offer the opportunity for a series of 
  minion fights and exciting chase scenes, if that’s the swashbuckling story your 
  group wants to tell. But how would your PCs respond to an offer to help reach 
  their ultimate goal? Or the promise of a better life for their family? Would they 
  be tempted? Alternatively, what motivation would threats against their family or 
  a fellow Secret Keeper produce?
  Feel free to talk this over as a group if you’re not sure what the answer might 
  be. Consider the characters’ backstories and goals. But remember, GMs, you also 
  want to be able to throw them some surprises too.
  What compels a given PC to keep their secret? Are they just waiting until 
  the opportune time to share it? Are they blackmailing someone with it? Might 
  someone they care about be harmed by revealing it?
  Ultimately, the Secret Keepers will have to decide what to do with their secrets. Is 
  it enough to solve the problems of their immediate families or neighborhoods that 
  pushed them into action in the first place? To restore Almbrecht to pre-Upheaval 
  levels of security and prosperity? Or does resolving their secrets entail changing 
  Almbrecht from the ground up, and possibly its relationship to the Empire?
  You’ll want to work with the players to meaningfully address their characters’ 
  secrets as conspiracies and crises unfold in and around Almbrecht. Here are some 
  possible outcomes—or just complications—along the route:
  • The PCs fail to prevent hostile factions from coming to power inside the 
  city and working to eradicate the Secret Keepers, and one or more of them 
  have to go into hiding.
  • Almbrecht falls to siege or internal unrest.
  • The PCs effectively leverage their secrets or perform favors to accrue politi-
  cal and social capital and begin using that power to achieve their goals.
  • They earn the favor of the Lord Protector and direct her toward governing 
  the city in line with their goals.
  • The PCs depose the Lord Protector and either re-empower the Council or 
  bring about a new form of government.
  48
  FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/FATE (fudge) [multi]/World of Adventure/WOD 40 - Almbrecht After Dark.pdf