Campaign Progression#

Modern CQB is designed as a linked anthology rather than a flat series of unrelated raids. The squad changes because of what it survives, what it fails to secure, who it brings back alive, and how the city reacts to its methods. A clean operation should open future options. A messy one should still move the story forward, but on worse terms.

Between-Mission Sequence#

After each mission, resolve the following in order:

1. Medical
2. Intel Review
3. Faction Reputation
4. Gear Refit
5. Escalation

This sequence should be fast. It exists to turn the consequences of the last room into the pressures of the next one.

Medical#

For each Downed operator, roll a recovery result:

• 1-2: out next mission
• 3-4: returns with a scar; starts next mission Suppressed
• 5-7: returns ready
• 8: returns ready and gains one veteran perk

Keep veteran perks small and memorable:

• +1 Control on Arrest actions
• ignore the first Suppressed result each mission
• +1 Attack die on Overwatch attacks
• +1 Guard die while shielding civilians or hostages

Medical results should remind players that every room costs something, even when the team technically wins.

Intel Review#

For every major evidence marker secured, gain 1 Intel point. Intel is the campaign currency that represents useful truth: logs, names, maps, insider testimony, compromise chains, relay addresses, and all the connective tissue that turns one raid into the next.

Spend Intel between missions to:

• reveal one room at setup
• identify one hostile leader marker
• reduce one trap count
• add one alternate entry point
• learn which room holds the real objective

If the team keeps killing its way through sites but never secures proof, the campaign should feel blinder and worse informed.

Faction Reputation#

Track Faction Favor for the roster being played. This is not public popularity. It is internal confidence, political cover, and the willingness of command or patrons to keep giving the team useful tools.

• gain Favor for clean arrests, live rescues, and disciplined extractions
• lose Favor for civilian harm, friendly fire, or failed containment

At 2 Favor, unlock a faction utility package.
At 4 Favor, unlock a faction veteran slot or mission edge.
At 0 or less, command oversight removes one roster option next mission.

Different factions should feel this pressure differently. NFP fears scrutiny. NIS fears quiet political displeasure. Blue Mercy fears contract pressure. Null Halo fears becoming the answer to the wrong kind of room.

Gear Refit#

After each mission, choose one refit outcome:

• replace lost common gear
• promote one operator to veteran status
• add one new specialist item to the squad stash
• harden the roster against the hostile faction just fought

Refit is intentionally limited. If the team can recover everything after every mission, the campaign loses texture.

Escalation#

Hostiles learn. Patrons panic. Sites harden. This is represented by Escalation.

After each mission, raise Escalation by 1 for each of the following that occurred:

• the anchor target escaped
• major evidence burned
• the raid ended loud, public, or politically damaging

At higher Escalation:

• Charter Wardens upgrade locks, cameras, and fallback plans
• Followers deepen their ritual defenses, soft-front infrastructure, and civilian shields
• Latchwork shifts civilians and cash earlier
• Marrow Wake pre-wires exits, dead switches, and sacrificial lanes

Escalation should never feel like arbitrary punishment. It is the setting reacting to what the team already showed it.

Campaign Failure and Recovery#

The campaign should bend, not break, after one ugly mission.

• a failed mission still reveals one clue unless the team is wiped
• a catastrophic raid adds permanent city pressure, media heat, or political oversight
• a clean follow-up operation can pull the line back under control

The anthology works best when success changes the terms of the next breach rather than ending the story outright. Even a disaster should create a next move.