# Cold City tags: #game/rpg/cold-city ![[Cold City 2E (cover).jpg]] ## Summary Welcome to Berlin, 1950. The war is over, but the rubble remains warm, the spies are ubiquitous, and a few Nazi scientists—unburdened by things like "human rights" or "sanity"—left behind experiments that the laws of physics would prefer to ignore. In _Cold City_, you play as members of the Reserve Police Agency (RPA), an international team of "specialists" tasked with hunting down these occult monstrosities and rogue technologies. Of course, the "international cooperation" is a polite fiction. While you hunt stitched-together horrors in the U-Bahn, you also dedicate significant energy to sabotaging your teammates to satisfy your national masters. It is a game of noir atmospheric dread where the monsters are predictable, but your British colleague’s sudden interest in your briefcase is anything but. ## Die Resolution Mechanics _Cold City_ utilizes a contested pool of d10s. When a conflict matters—whether it involves shooting a ghoul or, more likely, professionally gaslighting a fellow agent—players build a dice pool. ### The Resolution Process: 1. **Base Pool:** You begin with dice equal to the relevant Attribute: _Action_, _Influence_, or _Reason_. 2. **Traits:** You add a die for every positive Trait that applies. Negative Traits either subtract a die or, in the 2025 edition, add to the opposition's pool. 3. **Agendas:** If the action furthers your _National Agenda_ (what your country wants) or your _Secret Agenda_ (what you personally want), you add more dice. 4. **The Roll:** Both parties roll. You do not sum the totals; you look for the highest single die. If your highest die beats theirs, you win. 5. **Consequences:** The margin of success (how many of your dice exceed their highest die) determines the level of success, ranging from a "narrow victory" to a "complete blowout." ### The Trust Mechanic: Trust is the game's mechanical centerpiece. You assign a Trust score to every other player character. When they assist you, you add your Trust in them to your pool. However, if they betray you, they add the Trust _you_ gave them to _their_ pool. It is a system that mathematically rewards you for being a gullible fool until the moment your "partner" uses your faith to bury you. ### Dice Groups (2025 Edition): The 2025 edition introduces "Dice Groups" for the GM (referred to as _Control_). Instead of generating stats for every stray monster, Control pulls dice from thematic groups: _Internal Enemies_, _External Enemies_, _Monsters_, _Berlin_, and _The Cold_. This shift prioritizes narrative pacing over tedious bookkeeping. ## Edition Changes _Cold City_ has two primary incarnations: the original 2006 release and the comprehensive 2025 revision. - **The Original (2006):** Published by Contested Ground Studios, this was a lean, focused indie title. It established the Trust mechanic and the core RPA setting but relied on more traditional, albeit lightweight, NPC stat blocks. - **The Second Edition (2025):** Published by Handiwork Games and reimagined by Malcolm Craig (now a senior lecturer in Cold War history), this edition leans heavily into academic research and period authenticity. - **Mechanical Overhaul:** It replaces complex NPC stats with the streamlined "Dice Groups" for Control. - **Setting Depth:** It expands the lore of occupied Berlin, utilizing in-world documents and updated historical footnotes. - **Visual Evolution:** It trades the minimalist 2006 look for evocative, murky art by Paul Bourne and Jon Hodgson that captures the "impending betrayal" aesthetic. ## References - [Cold City & Hot War Product Page - Handiwork Games](https://handiwork.games/cold-city-hot-war "null") - [Cold City Second Edition - DriveThruRPG](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/538635/cold-city-second-edition "null") - [Cold City & Hot War Kickstarter (2025) - Geek Native](https://www.geeknative.com/171661/cold-city-hot-war-kickstarter-brings-two-scary-ttrpgs-back-to-life/ "null") - [Interview with Dr. Malcolm Craig on the 2025 Editions - Old Men Running The World](https://oldmenrunningtheworld.com/hot-under-the-collar-for-the-cold-war-dr-malcolm-craig-on-his-classic-rpgs-redone-for-2025/ "null")