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Stop the Line

How to stop the line in Comrades & Chollimas: the simultaneous vote, tie rule, the meeting, the cut, what each outcome costs, and how to call it well.

Stop-the-line is how the table says: “we think this hire is the operator, and we want to act.” Anyone can call it. It costs both tracks. The vote is plain, the meeting is short, and the cut needs a reason.

When you can call it RULED

Any player on either side may stop the line, once per stage per table. In both-chairs mode each table has its own call.

It costs both tracks: Payoff -1 and Exposure +1 DEFAULT, whichever side calls. The cost is paid at the call, and the call is spent even when no accusation follows.

TipCall it with a reason

Say what control is missing, or what behaviour, process or money fact the file shows. “Contract developer’s payee name does not match, and no ID check is on file” is a call. “I just do not like it” is not.

Step 1: the vote RULED

  1. The IM says “On three.” Everyone counts together.
  2. On three, each player points at one hire, or folds their arms to abstain.
  3. Most fingers wins. A lone finger wins if nobody else points.
  4. A tie: each tied pointer says one sentence, then the vote runs again.
  5. No accusation if there is a second tie, if everyone folds, or if nobody points.
  6. An abstainer may not change their vote on the re-vote. On the re-vote, anyone who pointed may change where they point, including the tied pointers.

In both-chairs mode the cell also votes, and may deflect at an innocent hire. When the Company calls, the cell’s fingers join the same tally as the Company’s. When the Comrades table calls, the Company table’s fingers join one combined tally and the IM does not point.

NoteWhy the vote is simultaneous

If people point one by one, the second player follows the first. A simultaneous vote means every player commits to a read before hearing anyone else’s. It also makes it easy to see who held back.

Step 2: the meeting RULED

The picked hire is the suspect. The IM, in persona, questions the cell:

  • 3 yes or no questions (DEFAULT), answered by the cell. No timer.
  • The cell may argue and deflect.
  • In Company-only play there is no cell. The Company writes the 3 yes or no questions, and the IM answers as the suspect hire from pre-written card lines, never improvised. A decoy gives its harmless reason. The operator gives its cover.
  • A meeting question that has no card line gets “the file does not say”, and still counts toward the 3.
  • If you are on the Company side, you listen and decide. The meeting is not a trial. It is a chance to test whether the story holds up.

A bench result or a video can open a meeting. They cannot decide a cut.

Step 3: the cut RULED

To cut:

  1. The Company names one control that would have stopped the move, or shows the human cost. When the IM plays the Company, the IM cites the control the case card lists for the clue.
  2. The cut gate is met DEFAULT: the hire has 2 revealed clues from 2 different record types, process and money (a device fact counts as process). Money clues are not available before stage 2, so no cut can happen before then. Without the gate you get the meeting only.
  3. Finance & Legal uses Approve-cut, which does not roll.

Video alone gives only the meeting. A cut removes that hire’s keys.

A stage 1 call is a meeting only. No money clue exists before stage 2, so a stage 1 call can never end in a cut. It still costs both tracks and is spent. Treat it as a deliberate price for 3 card-line answers. DEFAULT

What a cut does DEFAULT

If the hire is… Then…
The operator Payoff freezes at its value at the moment of the cut, the ending is read from that value, and the case ends at the end of the round.
An innocent hire (wrongful offboarding) Exposure +2. The stage ends now and the next one starts. That hire is gone (two hires remain). The clue tier resets to noisy.
An innocent hire, in stage 3 Exposure +2, and the case ends at once. The operator counts as not cut, and the debrief begins.

If a cut and Payoff 9 land in the same round, the cut wins RULED.

If you are in the Comrades’ chair

You may call stop-the-line too, once per stage, and it costs both tracks the same way. In the vote, the cell votes as well and may point at an innocent hire. If the Company then cuts that hire, it is a wrongful offboarding and Exposure rises. In the meeting you answer the IM’s questions as the cell and may argue and deflect.

When the IM plays the Company against your table:

  • The IM calls the Company’s stop-the-line once per stage, when the tier reaches clean, and accuses the hire carrying the most clues. If two or more hires tie for most clues, the IM does not call that round and checks again in the next. If the IM-played Company has made no call for 2 rounds in a stage and hires still tie, the IM shuffles the tied hire cards face down and draws one to accuse. The cut gate still applies. The call costs both tracks like any call.
  • The cell cannot vote down the IM’s own accusation. It argues and deflects in the meeting.
  • If a Comrades player calls instead, the Comrades table alone votes and the IM does not point. A tie for clue leader counts as no clue leader, so the call picks a hire and no cut follows. The IM-Company cuts only if the picked hire is the clue leader and the cut gate is met. Otherwise the call is spent and no cut happens.
  • A first call ends the stage only through a wrongful offboarding or by cutting the operator. A second call in the same round after a first that did not end the stage is valid, paid and resolved after the first.
  • When a move the IM plays is blocked and its reserve move is blocked too, the IM-played side takes no rolled action that round.

In both-chairs mode, if both tables call in the same round, the table the IM visited first resolves first. A second call in that round is void and unpaid if the first call ended the stage. If the Comrades table calls, the Company table’s fingers join one combined tally and the IM does not point.

Play it honestly. The fair-play rules below apply to you as much as anyone.

“Fire them” and other scenario cards

Some case files carry a scenario card that says “fire them before legal and evidence are mapped”. That is a case card, not a rule. The rule remains: name the control or show the human cost, and let Finance & Legal use Approve-cut.

Calling it well

TipBefore you call
  • Can anyone at the table name one control or one fact in the file, and are there 2 clues of 2 types on this hire?
  • Which hire does it point at, and which hires would also match?
  • Have we spent our lookups on the right hires?
  • Is this stage 1? Then the call is a meeting only and still costs both tracks.
  • Is the tier clean, or are we reading noise?
  • What does a call cost? Payoff -1 and Exposure +1 at the call, even if nobody is accused, and +2 more Exposure for a wrongful cut. In stage 3 a wrongful cut ends the case.
WarningFair play at the vote

Judge the process, not the person. Never point at a hire because of what a name, accent, face or nationality suggests. The case cards have no such fields on purpose. If a teammate reasons from looks, ask: “What does the file show?”

Phrases for the vote

  • “I am pointing at hire 3 because the payee does not match.”
  • “I abstain. I have not seen enough yet.”
  • “My one sentence on a tie: the ship-to address changed after the ID check.”
  • “We have a control to name: no ID check before the laptop shipped.”

What happens next

After a cut that ends the case, or after the last stage, the table goes to the endings and the debrief. A stage that ends early from a wrongful offboarding moves straight to the next stage, except in stage 3, where a wrongful offboarding ends the case at once.

Quick reference

Stop-the-line in one box

  • Any player, either side, once per stage per table.
  • Cost: Payoff -1, Exposure +1, paid at the call. The call is spent even with no accusation.
  • Vote on three: point at a hire or fold arms. Most fingers wins.
  • Tie: one sentence each, vote again. On the re-vote anyone who pointed may change, an abstainer may not. Second tie, all fold, or nobody points: no accusation.
  • Meeting: 3 yes or no questions to the cell.
  • Cut: name a control or show the human cost, the cut gate is met (2 clues, process and money, not before stage 2), and Finance & Legal uses Approve-cut, which never rolls.
  • Operator cut: Payoff freezes, the ending is read from it, the case ends at the end of the round.
  • Stage 1 call: meeting only, no cut is possible, both tracks still paid.
  • Wrongful offboarding: Exposure +2, stage ends, tier resets to noisy. In stage 3 the case ends at once.

What next