External Containment Bureau
A downloadable game
External Containment Bureau is a game of paranormal investigation and bureaucracy using a lightweight, hackable version of the Forged in the Dark design framework. You play as trained agents of the External Containment Bureau, an organization tasked with the study, identification, and containment of paranormal phenomena. The Bureau authorizes agents to make use of these phenomena to give yourself incredible powers (so long as the proper forms are in order). But take care: using paranormal energies inches you ever closer to joining the ranks of the paranormal yourself. Will you transcend humanity in the line of duty? Play to find out.
If you enjoy media like Control, Fringe, The Magnus Archives, Men in Black, SCP Foundation, or X-Files... you'll love External Containment Bureau!
- Written by Eric Brunsell and Michael Elliott
- Edited by Lexi Antoku
- Art Direction by Justin Ford
- Art by Julianne Griepp
- Production and Layout by Eli Kurtz
- ePub formatting by eskur
Your Purchase Includes
- Screen-friendly, hyperlinked PDF
- Print-ready PDF
- ePub format for e-readers
- Kindle format
- Fillable and print-friendly character sheet PDFs
- Print-friendly Mission Debrief Questionnaire for GMs
- REDACTED MATERIALS: Guide to hacking with the ECB license
- Mission template for the Affinity design suite
Quickstart Materials
If you want to try out the game before buying, we've got a FREE quickstart keeper document available through Google Sheets. Just click the graphic below:
Included in the Quickstart...
- A summary of all the rules you need to play
- Character sheet tabs for up to four players
- A GM tab with summary info on all player characters and a sample mission
The Quickstart makes use of some of Google Sheets' advanced features to automate your experience in exciting ways. Click around on the various tabs and try it for yourself!
REDACTED MATERIALS
Ten indie designers contributed to the REDACTED MATERIALS Jam in Oct-Nov 2021. Follow the link above for setting hacks, new mechanics, and over a dozen missions ready to play with your game group.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $20 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
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Community Copies
Each copy of External Containment Bureau you buy here on Itch.io helps someone else grab a free copy if their budget doesn't enable them to pay the listed price. If you're unable to budget for a copy of External Containment Bureau priced as listed, please claim one of these free copies for the community.
These copies are paid for by folks who pay full price for ECB. For every copy sold, we add one copy to the community pool.
Download demo
Comments
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Hi there. I have written a few missions for ECB, in Spanish though. If you are interested, you can take a look at https://davrivas.itch.io/memorandum-ignoti. If you prefer not to advertise third party projects in the comments feed, please let me know and I will delete this comment as soon as possible.
This is great! I have just added your missions to the Redacted Materials list I keep over on my storefront. Your missions all sound really cool! It's great to have some missions in Spanish too.
Are there mechanics in this game like the Crew and Turf mechanics from Blades in the Dark?
hi! A GM debrief sheet is mentioned in the book to keep track of PCs answers. I could not find it. Could you help me with that please? Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!
Hey monkeyEcho, thanks for bringing this to our attention! Turns out we never made that sheet, so I've just thrown something together and added it as part of the download packet here.
Let me know if you get a chance to use it in play! We hope it's helpful.
Thanks! Not sure if I can get my table to play it but I will let you know!
We finally had an opportunity to get ECB on our table and had a blast! A mix of experienced “Forged in the Dark” vets and someone starting from square one and it was still easy and intuitive to step into for all.
Despite walking in with a mess of clues the Theorize roll tanked which honestly made for a much more exciting experience!
Thanks for all your hard work on this and for keeping the Redacted Materials adaptation guidelines so flexible!
Huh. I had a similar idea for a game myself a long time ago. I guess great minds think alike!
Ran it systemless for my friends. Mostly based on the Laundry Files by Charles Stross and Warehouse 13.
Hey, I’m struggling a little to understand how Clues are supposed to work. I assume they are information that is supposed to be fed to the players as they investigate. Should the GM be saying “this is a capital C clue” for these, for when it comes to the Theory Roll, or should the list of clues be played close to the chest?
Backed on Kickstarter, super cool and a great way to play a supernatural setting
So glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for letting us know. Been on any cool missions?
Ah, already sold out at EF! Any chance you'll be printing more?
Hey. This looks great! Love it overall. Would it suit running Delta Green modules?
I haven't been able to find a link to the "print-friendly character sheet". There's a fillable character sheet (ECB Character_Sheet_Fillable v2.pdf), but that's made for online use, as trying to print it out as is leaves some fields with the word "Select" when they should be blank. Nor is a character sheet included with the files after purchasing. Have I missed a link somewhere?
Hey weavejester, thanks for your patience this past month! We took kind of a long holiday break here at Mythic Gazetteer.
We didn't realize the fillable PDF creates those artifacts when printed. Thanks for pointing it out! I've just uploaded a fresh version of the character sheet that should print just fine. Pretty sure you'll get a product update about it but wanted to let you know personally too.
Happy gaming!
- Eli
Hey, no problem. Thanks for the update!
I really like the idea that the players are part of constructing the phenomenon. It takes a lot of work off of my plate as a GM, and it gives me the freedom to give the players a bit of what they're looking for. I hope that if I run this again, I get a chance to use the NPC's to greater effect.
So glad you had a fun time! The collaboration around the "canon" of the phenomenon is one of my favorite parts as well. And I feel like NPCs are a part of ttrpgs that always benefit from more time at the table. It takes a few sessions to get to know them but when you do? The payoff can be wonderful.
Happy gaming!
will you ever give the option for a POD copy?
Books will be available in limited quantities soon.
Zine copies are available (and on sale today!) at Exalted Funeral: https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/external-containment-bureau-pdf?_pos=1&_...
Also, every digital purchase comes with a file that's ready to print at your local copy shop.
Any chance we can have the ECB Mission Template in a different type at some point? :o Like Indesign?
Good question! We're looking into this but we probably won't have anything ready before the end of the Redacted Materials jam. All the same... keep your eyes peeled!
I know it’s been a while since this request was tossed out but wanted to second it. Even just a PDF version of the template to fill by hand/form fillable would be great if that’s not too arduous a thing to assemble.
Hey there, I'm working on a horror-bureaucratic solo ttrpg and I'd like to include something based on your Paperworks and Obfuscate system.
Would it be possible with proper credit ? Can we talk about it ? Don't wanna be a thief or a rude prick soooooo ^^
Absolutely! We've got a license for just this sort of thing. You can check out the details here:
http://mythicgazetteer.com/redacted-material
Awesome, thanks !
Hi! Love what I'm reading though I am confused about one gameplay element.
On page 39 it talks about paperwork and reprimands, and that when you get your fourth reprimand you're out of the bureau. How can one get to a fourth reprimand though if every time you complete paperwork you're bound to clear up one reprimand (and due to the nature pf the system it's very unlikely you'll have more than one reprimand)
Am I missing something important here? Are loose ends the deciding factor in getting 12 paperwork in one session?
Thanks for the feedback! It is difficult to get multiple reprimands but not impossible. If players leave paperwork hanging about and don't pursue the appropriate downtime actions, all it would take is a few bad die rolls and one bad mission to start racking up paperwork and therefore reprimands (which is also contingent on the preferences of the players, which consequences are dished out, what the genre is, etc). We also didn't want player characters to become unexpectedly unplayable due to office politics. Getting a 4th power is a much showier, dramatic exit from the game. But the threat of reprimands means there are consequences, no matter how rare they may seem.
Also being removed from the Bureau could just be a plot development that makes sense in the story of your game, or the result of a complication during an action roll.
Thank you for the response it cleared things up!
Hi Myhic, the idea is really neat and it seems it will lead to hours of fun. However there are a couple of things missing:
Cheers!
Thanks for the feedback. This was a small project we did for Zine Quest this past year so a lot of what you're describing is outside the scope of our work. We love those kind of tools but our goal was to create something simple enough get by without them. That said, we're still working on a guide to hacking the game, which will include some of what you're looking for.
Let us know if you get a chance to play!
You should make it clear what is and what it not included / what level of experience is expected from the customer. If you're selling it for $5 and it doesn't have some of the above, it wouldn't bother me too much. But for $20, I'm expecting a complete game. I have BiD and a bunch of FiD hacks, but I haven't played or run any of them yet. This could have been the one I decided to try running as the setting looks really great, but with so much missing, as a new GM I have to start somewhere else. Reluctant pass. :(
Rest assured, argel1200, ECB is a complete game. Our playtesting process showed that it achieved our goals of being lightweight, easy to learn, and easy to run, so it's not the kind of game that requires a lot of supplementary material.
If you haven't already, I recommend checking out the ECB quickstart packet. It's a free look at the game with everything you need to play a one shot (or start a campaign, really). In particular, each character sheet has rules references within easy reach. You can find the quickstart here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/2/d/1O_LNk3pV1qVn__n1l1TAVbLkf-ZYK__t4DQT...
Happy gaming!
- Eli
I think this is pretty great! I love how well this boils down a lot of the concepts from FitD and uses only what is truly necessary. It's going to make picking up and playing with a group really fun. I personally can't wait to run a one-shot or two with this soon!
So glad you're digging it! We really tried to make a lightweight game that uses our very favorite parts of the FITD framework.
Let us know how your game goes! Nothing better than hearing about folks playing our games.
The link in the demo is not clickable for me
Do you mean the Quickstart Keeper graphic? If you're having trouble with that you can try this direct link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1O_LNk3pV1qVn__n1l1TAVbLkf-ZYK__t4DQT...