I'm revisiting this one, because I felt like I could have taken some more time with it and give some more detailed feedback. It was one of the first submissions I reviewed in the Jam. Now that I've gone through them all, I wanted to come back and reread it with all that I've learned over the course of the last week and half about the Havoc Engine. 

My initial thoughts are similar to when I first read it. I really like the little bit of intro text we get regarding the setting, and I also like that you've kept it concise. One of the really nice things about the Havoc Engine is that the world is the players' oyster. You've given enough detail to give them a launchpad, but not so much that they're rereading your doc to make sure that what they invent is still in line with the fiction they started with. 

I had highlighted that the characters were my favorite part of this submission, but I didn't give enough credit to how much I love the idea of performers being center stage. There were a handful of games that made that choice in this Jam. The others mostly stayed in the Punk genre, which made it really easy for them to explain why these performers were willing to engage in violence to meet their goals. I think you had a much tougher path to walk in that sense & I think you've done well. I can understand how the act of performance in this setting is an act of rebellion and how that can escalate into further acts of rebellion as the imperial powers work to stop it. 

The Charmer is one of a handful of wholly unique characters I've read so far in the Jam. I love how well it ties into the fiction. The charmer is not someone who can be anywhere. They're someone who comes from this place and their uniqueness is exactly what makes them an interesting and fun character. 

I think the stats have a ton of character. As generic stats, I do wonder if they have enough spread to cover any action. It helps that they tend to address the why instead of the how of the actions characters can take. Here's how I read it:

• Shade for when they're trying to do something in a way that obscures their actions. 
• Smith for when they take an organized approach
• Skew for when they're trying to change reality
• Spirit for when they're trying to project force of personality
• Swift for when they're trying to get something done quickly

I like the stats a lot, but I do feel that it may feel a bit awkward to determine which attribute fits some actions. An example of an action that I wouldn't know how to classify is: A player looks to make up a bunch of secret pamphlets containing anti-imperial messaging and providing instructions for the occupied peoples to reclaim their heritage and rise up against the imperial forces who have stolen their home. Would that be:

• Shade - because they're making the pamphlets in secret
• Smith - because they're trying to conduct a coordinated information sharing campaign with lots of people at once
• Skew - because they're changing hearts and minds

This is an occurence that every TTRPG has and I'm sure something like this would be resolved at the table quickly, and probably the stat used would be the one the player is highest in, but I do feel that these stats probably have a higher likelihood of overlap. I have been trying to think of actions that I think don't have a clear stat to use, but I don't have a very clean example, which maybe just goes to show me that it's not as big of an issue as I think it might be.

I really like the relationship between stage as a resource and the interruption pool. I think the spendable resource being the performers ability to gain audience and that being the thing that the GM targets, rather than the performers themselves. That all feels very thematic to an imperial regime more interested in choking out competing power rather than stomping it out, in order to avoid creating martyrs. 

I think you did a good job of putting all the storytelling tools in the toolbox for the GM, without holding their hand or forcing them to tell the story you thought would be best. I think you could definitely write a more direct adventure if you'd like, but you've done enough to let GM's tell their own stories with the system. 

Great job!