The Tinker's Hammer Bundle

A complete RPG system for exploring institutional complicity and moral compromise

What happens when your professional competence becomes someone else's weapon?

The Tinker's Hammer Bundle contains everything you need to run stories about ordinary people trapped in extraordinary systems—where being good at your job might be the most dangerous thing you can do.

This isn't your typical spy thriller. There are no heroes here. No villains either. Just skilled professionals discovering that their expertise has been captured by institutions that use competence to enable harm.

What You Get

Power, Corruption & Lies

The Experience - A complete 2-hour espionage scenario where players gradually discover they're not investigating terrorism—they're committing corporate espionage against an innocent family business. Includes extensive safety tools and cultural sensitivity guidelines for handling mature themes responsibly.

The Tinker's Hammer

The System - A complete RPG built around the Will death spiral. As characters make morally compromising choices, their professional effectiveness degrades. Features negotiated expertise, institutional leverage, and stress-driven breakdown mechanics that model how systems overwhelm individual choice.

A Box of Nails

The Applications - Twenty-five scenario frameworks spanning history (Potsdam Conference), contemporary issues (pharmaceutical fraud), and speculative fiction (Vatican politics, first contact disasters). Each "nail" shows how professional expertise enables different types of institutional betrayal.

Bundle Guide

The Roadmap - How the documents connect, design history from concept to completion, and guidance for using each component alone or together.

This Game Is For You If...

✅ You want RPGs that explore moral complexity rather than provide power fantasy
✅ You're interested in how ordinary people become complicit in harmful systems
✅ You enjoy Le Carré-style psychological thrillers over action-adventure spy stories
✅ You want mechanics that model psychological pressure and institutional control
✅ You're looking for frameworks to run stories about corporate corruption, government overreach, or academic compromise

This Game Is NOT For You If...

❌ You prefer clear heroes vs. villains narratives
❌ You want tactical combat and equipment lists
❌ You're looking for escapist power fantasy
❌ You avoid games that require emotional engagement with difficult themes

Key Features

Moral Complexity Over Action Scenes - Violence represents failure, not success. The real weapons are leverage, information, and institutional pressure.

Innovative Mechanics - Will degradation spiral, negotiated expertise system, and replacement protocols that model how institutions maintain control.

Universal Applicability - Core mechanics work for any setting where professional competence enables systemic harm: corporate consulting, academic research, legal practice, medical ethics, government service.

Responsible Design - Extensive safety tools, cultural sensitivity guidelines, and content warnings for handling mature themes at the table.

Complete Package - Scenario, system, frameworks, and guidance. Everything needed to run compelling stories about institutional betrayal.

Sample Scenarios

The Mombasa Files - Corporate operatives discover their "terrorism investigation" is actually economic warfare against a legitimate African shipping company.

The Conclave Protocol - Cardinals choosing the next Pope while managing scandals, personal ambitions, and theological conflicts.

The Pharma Papers - Research scientists manipulating clinical trial data to secure approval for profitable but dangerous medications.

The Optimization Engine - Management consultants implementing efficiency measures that destroy local communities while maximizing shareholder value.

Design Philosophy

"The opposite of evil isn't good—it's thinking." - Hannah Arendt

The Tinker's Hammer explores the "banality of evil"—how ordinary people enable atrocities through thoughtless compliance with institutional procedures. This isn't about monster characters doing monstrous things. It's about competent professionals discovering that their expertise has been weaponized by systems larger than themselves.

The game succeeds when players understand that every professional victory is a personal defeat, every institutional loyalty is a betrayal of humanity, and every competent action serves an incompetent system.

Contents & Technical Details

4 PDF Documents (approximately 120 pages total)

• Power, Corruption & Lies (34 pages)
• The Tinker's Hammer System Reference (11 pages)
• A Box of Nails Scenario Companion (14 pages)
• Bundle Guide & Design History (4 pages)

System Requirements: 2d6, paper, pencils, and moral courage

Player Count: 3-6 players including GM Session Length: 2-4 hours Complexity: Medium (accessible to experienced roleplayers)

Content Warnings

This material explores mature themes including:

• Economic violence and corporate exploitation
• Psychological manipulation and institutional coercion
• Cultural representation and power dynamics
• Moral complicity and ethical compromise

Extensive safety tools and facilitation guidelines included. Recommended for mature tables with experience handling complex themes.

About the Creators

Created by The Grey Ledger Society and the CGCG Helix—a collaborative design process using multiple AI models to explore themes of power, corruption, and institutional capture. This project represents a new approach to game design: using artificial intelligence not to replace human creativity, but to push thematic exploration beyond conventional boundaries.

License & Community

Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

You're free to:

• Share and redistribute in any format
• Adapt, remix, and build upon the material
• Use for commercial purposes

We encourage hacks, adaptations, and community extensions. The hammer is precise—find your own nails.

Get Started

New to these concepts? Start with Power, Corruption & Lies for the full experience.

Ready for campaigns? Dive into The Tinker's Hammer system mechanics.

Looking for inspiration? Browse A Box of Nails for scenario frameworks.

Want the complete journey? Read the Bundle Guide for recommended paths through the material.

The most subversive thing your operatives can do isn't complete their mission efficiently—it's refuse to stop thinking about what their efficiency enables.

Download now and discover how precise your hammer really is.