Is it safe to talk? Look, we don’t have much time here so let’s cut to the quick. As soon as we part ways, you don’t know me anymore, comprende? Once you’re in, you’re in. This is the long game. You can never revisit your old life, never let it find you. You are who this file says you are and nobody else. Get this down cold and never—never—break character. I’m not shitting you. The lazy days of your training are a distant memory. You may die under this identity and it probably won’t be because of old age.

Here’s the deal. Work your way to the top. You know who we’re after. Get yourself in good however you must. As far as G*d’s concerned, you’re one of them. You understand the implications of that, yeah? When they say jump, you touch cloud. Now, when you have something good—and this may take years—then you call this number. Someone will answer. We’ll go from there. If you’re ever in danger, well, you probably won’t have a chance to make a phone call. Alright, we’re done. Good luck out there.

* The [REDACTED] character option is one of the two Kickstarter-exclusive Archetypes given to backers who pledge $60 or more as a special thank-you for their support!

You? You’re just passing through. You know better than to put down roots. You learned the hefty price of attachment when she/he/they paid for what you did. Or let you down when you needed her/him/them the most. Or she/he/they turned on you just to save their own skins. Or you left because you couldn’t risk getting anyone involved in something you couldn’t get her/him/them out of. No, you? There are no picket fences and yellow bi-levels in your future.

You blow into town for the work. You do the occasional odd thing: mostly fixing and building. While you’re in town, sure, you have some fun. Find a girl or two to mess around with. But you don’t let them close. Never let them close. You keep your defenses—and your latest conquest—up all night. You’ve been through enough bad shit in your life already. Now, you’re just looking for fun. Sorry for you, that fun always has a cost.

Sometimes the locals just can’t get the job done. Maybe it’s competence. Maybe it’s confidence. Maybe the target is too sensitive to use someone who can be tied to someone else. Some situations are delicate. That’s when those in charge bring in the big gun, an outsider, someone who can get it done and get out quickly. Someone deniable without the baggage that seems to drag down everybody else in this town. But it’s never that simple; no job is. Any job that went down easy was either done wrong, has consequences you ain’t seen yet, or was a million-to-one fluke. If I was you, I’d bet on the first two.

You’re probably ex-military, formally trained, but maybe you grew up in the trade. You worked your way from rifle to knife, honing your craft with every contract. You’ve got blood on your hands but so what. Everybody in this town does—or will soon. The stains on your skin just happen to belong to people who made enemies of those powerful enough not to have to do the dirty work themselves. Some say you don’t have a soul. You know that’s not true. But unlike the saps you can turn yours off when you need to.

No, that’s not some strangely-named character option. I know a lot of different archetypes have flown past your screen these past few weeks so I wanted to collect all the information into a single post so you can take a look at any you may have missed or forgotten about.

What Are Archetypes?
I talked about that in this post. In short:

Archetypes provide you with a basic idea, a special ability, edges and hindrances either specific to the Archetype or that would be good fits for it, and some suggestions as to where to go from there.

How Many Will There Be?
The Streets of Bedlam corebook is currently slated to include thirteen Archetypes: Badge, Boss, Dogface, Drifter, Hitter, Monster, Pusher, Regent, Saint, Samaritan, Snoop, Valkyrie, and Wannabe. One last option, Citizen, gives players a base to build their own character from scratch.

Every backer who pledged $10+ or more to the Kickstarter gets two more via pdf: Sawbones and Ingenue. Backers who pledged $60+ get those two archetypes plus a pdf with two more: Trouble and [Redacted]. Later releases will likely include more but the core set covers a lot of ground and the four Kickstarter-exclusives offer even more.

Which Ones Have We Talked About?
Here are thumbnails of each of the ten Archetypes that have been revealed. Click on each snapshot to get to the post that includes more details about each.

So What Now?
Just because the Kickstarter ends today doesn’t mean the updates to this website will cease. I’ll continue to preview the remaining Archetypes along with Shawn’s excellent illustrations for each as well as deeper content, including book previews (when we get that far). The Kickstarter is just the beginning. April’s coming quick, and Shawn and I still have a bunch to do!

People in Bedlam have a predilection for getting into the kind of trouble that causes physical harm. While the civilians have the option of top-of-the-line medical care, men and women who come close to their fates while taking down a rival crime boss or intercepting the delivery of, say, delicate goods would rather not have to explain how they came about their injuries. So their bosses call you in. You do the work and do it well. You may even have a degree in medicine, though less often do you have a license to practice it. Piecing together shattered legs, (finding and) fixing teeth, digging out bullets, and gluing knife wounds closed is all part of a day’s work.

Come night, your unique skillset is sometimes called upon to extract information from particularly resistant individuals. Amazing how a little internal persuasion can loosen the lips of even the most willful individuals. Very few can do what you do but, as your employers often remind you, you can be replaced. So you walk your thin red line and do what is asked and needed of you. You’d say you’re no miracle worker but, let’s face it, some days that’s exactly what you are.

* The SAWBONES character option is one of the two Kickstarter-exclusive Archetypes that were unlocked when pledges hit $5k. This archetype, along with the INGENUE character option, will be sent to all backers who pledge $10 or more as a special thank-you for their support!

Sure, folks want private lives but you really think those in control can be trusted behind closed doors? Without the public eye staring down on them, can you imagine just how much more crooked those scumbags would be? Somebody’s gotta be the watchdog, kid, or this entire junkyard will be swimming with rats. Of course, your work isn’t always noble. You take the occasional cheating husband or celebrity upskirt job but, hey, those pay well and help fund your more, y’know, magnanimous work.

On the high side, you go to the papers with your findings. You blow cases wide open and unite the citizenry against a common enemy. There are those times where you take what you know to those who can benefit from it. Those with vested interests in certain lesser-known details. Surely that’s the exception, right? Or you leverage those lovely negatives to get what you need from those you might expose. You wouldn’t call it “blackmail” so much as, well, okay. Maybe that is what you’d call it. But without folks like you, Bedlam would be even further down the shitter than it already is. Far as you’re concerned, you’re one of the good guys. Even if those cheating husbands would disagree.

Cops got it rough in Bedlam—no two ways about it. Seems even the good ones go bad eventually. You could say the turn is a matter of time, or opportunity, or maybe it’s just the product of exhaustion. You can’t swim against a torrent of shit forever. Hell, some cops dive under immediately. Sad truth is there’s good money doing that. And respect. And power. That’s how promotions are earned, how you get a seat next to the Mayor at the annual banquet. Other cops fight the good fight, as long as they can, until they see they’re going nowhere and buckle. All it takes is a gentle nudge sometimes. Still, some cops unwittingly step into servitude. Maybe they make a mistake that needs covered up by someone in power or get into the kind of trouble only a person of means can correct. Debt is one of the worst things in Bedlam. The badge is not a shield against all attackers.

Some cops though, they stick to the straight and narrow. Change the system from within? That’s not how a door gets knocked down. You put on your big boots and you kick that wood until it splinters. You do that, you best be careful. You never know whose door you’re cracking open there or what you might see on the other side. Carrying a badge in Bedlam means you have to make some hard choices. First one: How honest can you afford to be?

The criminals in Bedlam don’t talk to nobody. Except you. You’ve got ins with the major families, the syndicates, even a couple with the white-collar crooks. You’ve got a mainline to the dirt other people need, and those other people? They pay you well for what you know. But you’re aiming a gun with two barrels, pal. All that intel you’re scrounging is a bullseye on a bulletproof vest, you understand. That’s why you only move in circles that protect you, talk to people you trust.

The criminals in Bedlam don’t talk to nobody. But you, you don’t talk to nobody. What you know is your ticket to better things. Those connections you’ve made are worth more than gold. Well, wait, how much gold we talking about? It’ll have to be a lot because the names you’ve heard, the faces you’ve scanned, the deals you’ve seen go down, are worth good money. And if a potential buyer isn’t willing or able to pony up your asking price, you’ll find somebody who will. Cuz, pal, on these streets, there’s always someone willing to pay more.

The third full week of Streets of Bedlam comes to a close in fine style.

Here’s what’s been going on the past week:

Kickstarter
The Kickstarter hit 200% funded this week! We’re less than $1.7k away from the $8k milestone! Hitting that unlocks a fifth standalone adventure “Eli Mendoza is a Dead Man” for the first supplement. This will change Four-Story Drop into Five-Story Drop!

Reveals
This week on the site, we looked at the REGENT archetype as well as the Kickstarter-exclusive TROUBLE. Next week, I’ll post two new Character Types/Archetypes including the Kickstarter-exclusive Archetype SAWBONES which you unlocked for all $10+ backers when the pledges hit the $5k milestone.

I also talked a bit about the game’s Interrogation rules. Next week, I’ll dive into my main cinematic contribution to the Savage Worlds system: Roles.

Interview/Press
Jodi Black from Beautiful Brains Books & Games gave me the honor of being a guest host on this past Thursday’s online chat. I talked about Streets of Bedlam, Little Fears, Kickstarter, and much more. It was great to sit down with everybody and I’d love to do it again. If you missed it, you can read the transcript when it goes live (I’ll post a link!).

The guys at the Out of Character podcast over at PulpGamer.com shined a light on the Streets of Bedlam Kickstarter. Thanks, guys!

Tyson from Apathy Games had some very nice things to say about the Streets of Bedlam Kickstarter. Thanks, Tyson!

The thread over at Pinnacle’s official SW Licensees forum is going strong. The Savage World community is a great group of folks. I encourage you to stop by and join the discussion.

Be sure to follow the official @StreetsOfBedlam Twitter account for early previews of what’s to come.

Thanks, everybody, for another great week!

Trouble. You’re either in it or causing it. It’s not that you necessarily mean to. Half the time, it finds you. At least, that’s your take on it. Trouble comes in ages young and old, sizes big and small, male and female alike. How it shakes down is folks are attracted to you, your looks, your style, that hint of innocence on your face. Some people just aren’t alive unless they’re saving somebody. You’re not a pretty princess, some damsel-in-distress, but you’ll play the role. For a moment, you give their life purpose, you fill some hole in their sad existence. Sometimes you’re the center of their universe and sometimes you’re their dirty little secret. Sometimes you’re both. All that is fine by you.

You focus on yourself because you’re the only one who really cares about you. The adoration others heap on you is nice but it’s fleeting. Either you’ll get bored or they’ll get distracted. Sure, you’re in the prime spot now, but every time you wake, you’re one day older. You know you’ll have to use what you have while you can to get what you need. You’re not into tying yourself down though you’ll take the benefits while they’re offered. Every relationship is an affair, every friendship is fleeting, and every connection you make will ultimately end in heartbreak. You’re just making sure it’s you who delivers the bad news. Nobody’s breaking your heart, that’s for sure.

* The TROUBLE character option is one of the two Kickstarter-exclusive Archetypes given to backers who pledge $60 or more as a special thank-you for their support!