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Nice! The game was born from my desire to play as detectives in the world of Blades in the Dark, if you are curious about the lore I would check that game out.

Currently I have plans to use these rules to develop another game in a original world, but I'm not sure when that will happen.

As an Edit player, I love this! Would be cool to be able to use Utility according to CAT instead of just manifesting things the size of a small room every time, for example.

There is a community built module for Foundry already: https://github.com/diabeatz96/cain

That sounds rad! I was thinking, someone must have done something like this before, glad it could be useful.

CAIN is 100% a narrative game. If you have played ICON, it is kind of JUST the narrative part of that game. By which I mean this isn't like Lancer at all, it's a game about investigating a mystery and using weird powers creatively to solve problems in a freeform way. There isn't combat but a conflict scene instead, much more open ended with talismans representing progress on certain tasks, including executing monsters.

The most "crunchy" part of the game are the powers. They aren't as open as FATE aspects, they have certain restrictions, but at the same time they require the table to work together to reach a consensus about how they can be used in the current narrative context.

Anyway, I would say this is more of a vibes based game, much more writer’s room style than wargame. The table needs to work together to tell a story about trauma and dehumanization while using cool powers to do weird shit.

When you strike anything, be it a talent or approach you have, you can't use them for the rest of the investigation. For example, if you strike the "Become the labyrinth" talent, instead of just marking stress and gaining a clue when you hit the streets, you are forced to make a risk roll. During Downtime you can use your xp to clear those strikes before moving to another case.

Maybe slash would be a better word for it since are you supposed to make a marking in the sheet? I don't know. I will make it more clear in another version but I hope that helps for now!

Made a character sheet in google docs if anyone wants to play online and use it, just make a copy and edit on your own! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lfxmpF0k8aK3rGPUXzfsJf7SQGERD-tYxG4UNyPHQU8/...

EDIT: Made a GM sheet too: https://docs.google.com/document/d/106-nc5OJ_saQl1hGQylGEHl4kVQoH2iEKB2E7Uw6DAs/...

EDIT 2: Here is a Talisman guide if you are using Roll20: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJPRPgN2C6hhGbxvevbmYoM7KTqmQbIiNW-bMTpNPJw/...

Thanks for all the feedback! Here are some thoughts.

You got the defeated part right, once you are in weak hold and fill your stress clock, you are open to be defeated and taken out.

Good catch on the consequence, I will be changing that to make the intention more clear!

The system was built with the idea of playing short but dramatic seasons of play. So when you start a new season you activate factions relevant to the situation, usually those with negative and positive status as part of character creation. RAW you play a turn every time the players finish a score, or you know they are going into downtime at some point in the next session. The main reason is so you can manifest the actions in play through their contacts and offer new opportunities for scores in free play.

Now, this is often how I do Blades. Big scores and even bigger downtime, each phase often taking one session +. I believe some people do more phases in less time, so it's easy to change that if you think less turns would make more sense.

Can't wait for this game!!!