Everyone in the Realm, from the lowest citizen to the Empire itself, is governed by the **Table State**, a freelancer’s term for the status quo. Those who wish to improve their station can either play honestly and risk losing everything or hire a Fixer. A Fixer has connections, information, and resources but needs capable crews on the ground to execute a **Parlay**, a multi‑step gambit that shifts the Table State in the benefactor’s favor. Parlays often involve illegal acts; *violence, theft, blackmail, interrogation*, so they remain secret to avoid attracting the [[The Sentinels]] Enforcers and Inquisitors. The Tellers record every outcome in The Ledger; a crew’s worth depends on reputation, and a Fixer’s value rests on their track record. Each Go All In session acts out a leg of a Parlay, setting in motion the events that cause the Parlay to hit and allow all parties to reap rewards from insider knowledge and the shift in the Table State, benefiting the benefactor(s), fixers, and freelancers alike. The following section explains how freelancers execute gigs with operational autonomy while fixers design, contract, and support their crews from a top‑down perspective. ## Beats Build Scenes A beat is the game’s smallest structural unit, a single moment, event, decision, or realization that can shift a character’s emotional state or propel the plot forward. Multiple beats together form a scene; sequences of scenes make up the entire story. Beats are intentionally flexible: freelancers may transition from one type into another while retaining full autonomy over how they achieve a scene's objectives.