The Dossier
3 min read
Part two of the handbook. One card per feature, written as the file the police keep on you, or the file the family keeps on the city. This is where the exact rules and formulas live. Every number comes straight from the game.
Part one, the basics in plain language, is in the handbook.
Jail and arrest
What it is
Behind bars your work stops, but the clock keeps ticking. You end up in jail in two ways: through the bust chance before a job (from 70 heat) or after a failed job at high heat. What you can't do in jail is the same as in the hospital. A bribe costs the same in jail and in the hospital. An arrest or a failed job sets the time until you get out.
Where to find it
The detention bar above the game. On Street you see it right away when a job goes wrong.
How it works
With jail after a failed roll, first the card's energy goes and then 40 more. The bust-chance arrest only takes 40, or the rest if you have less.
Busted by the bust chance: the job doesn't happen. You lose 40 energy, or the rest if you have less. You're locked up for a while; the jail page shows exactly how long. Your heat drops by 35. No fine.
Jail after a failed job: the card's energy is already gone, and 40 more comes off. You're locked up for a while on a different clock from the bust. Your heat drops by half, but never by more than 35. You do pay the regular fine of a failed job.
In jail these are frozen: crimes, attacks, travel, chopping, Cars, Marketplace, the casino and withdrawing cash. You can't manage your own casino table either, not even the limits. Cars and Marketplace stay closed until you're free. Still open: Forum, Handbook, Dossier, Messages and the jail page with minigames (Higher/Lower and Catch the soap). Scores count for the leaderboard; they do not shorten your sentence.
A bribe costs $750 plus $25 per second you still have to sit, at least $1,000 and at most $20,000. Your family's Jail bribes upgrade makes this cheaper. In the hospital you always pay full price. The button shows the price of this moment and drops with the clock. You never pay more than the amount that was on the button.
The toast for an arrest from the bust chance starts with 'The cops already had their eye on you'. The toast when the roll fails and you still go to jail starts with 'Failed and arrested'.
Worked bribe example: the button shows the price of this moment — $750 plus $25 per second you still have to sit, within the limits above.
Costs, returns and limits
An arrest (bust chance before the success roll) and jail after a failed job each have their own clock. How long you still have left is on the jail page. Only bribing your way out takes 20 heat off; serving the time does not. The longer you still have to sit, the more a bribe costs.