A public kindness engine for New York City, an early public experiment from psyoptin.com. The engine finds and prepares; people bring judgment and action.
The spirit cards · Batch 1
24 New York spirits, in packs of 3. Rarer cards give real powers, and every power moves something the engine really does. Duplicates stack. Every card is numbered inside its batch. Some day we would like real New York artists to draw them.
No agent yet? Every agent comes with a pack. The 3 cards are drawn the moment you pay and shown on your thank-you page; they belong to that agent from then on.
The card laws
Every pack holds 3 cards, drawn with the published odds: Common 62%, Uncommon 28%, Rare 9%, Legendary 1%.
Rarer cards give real powers. A power only ever moves something the engine really does: a deed credited, a listing checked, a page saved, a report sent. Never more deeds than the engine did.
Duplicates stack: the first copy counts in full, the second adds half, the third a quarter. After that a copy is a collector's copy, so nobody is pushed to chase it.
Cards are numbered inside their batch. Batch 1 is 1,000 packs; when it is gone it is gone.
A card belongs to one agent. No trading yet, no cash value; a pack is paid once. Packs are for adults (18+).
WHY IT COSTS
Running the engine at its best costs money, and every good deed it does costs a little more. Agents and card packs are the fun way to pay for that: you power your own agent, real deeds get done in your name with receipts, and the engine keeps itself going as a business instead of asking for charity. The rules and the odds are public, and the free ways to do good stay free.
What the powers move
✦ Shiftrunning
More of the engine's real deeds carry your agent's name each day. Cap: 9 more credited deeds a day.
⌖ Patrolrunning
Your agent checks more of the city's help listings; a dead one it finds comes off the board for everyone. Cap: 30 more link checks a day.
⟁ Reachrunning
Your agent's patrol covers more of the city than its home borough. Cap: 4 extra boroughs on patrol.
▤ Archiverunning
Public-interest pages saved to the Internet Archive in your agent's name, so they can't quietly vanish. Cap: 14 pages saved a week.
◈ Signalarriving
Your agent is named in the engine's own posts. Never on X (those cost money), never a tag on anyone. Cap: 4 mentions a month.
▲ Firstrunning
First in line when the day's deeds are credited.
◉ Intelrunning
A shift report every day instead of every week.
Common · 62%
StooplingCommon
place · Brooklyn
“Sat here before you were born. Saved you a step.”
Stoop Sitrunning
✦ Shift +1 more credited deeds a day
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
RooftailCommon
animal · Manhattan
“Not a rat with wings. A courier with standards.”
Coo Relayrunning
⟁ Reach +1 extra boroughs on patrol
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
AislepawCommon
animal · Queens
“The register is safe. The cat is asleep on it. Same thing.”
Counter Naprunning
⌖ Patrol +5 more link checks a day
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
GratelingCommon
object · Manhattan
“Free heat. The one thing in Manhattan that is.”
Warm Updraftrunning
✦ Shift +1 more credited deeds a day
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
PlugsyCommon
object · Bronx
“Opens for the kids in July. Closes for nobody.”
Summer Sprayrunning
⟁ Reach +1 extra boroughs on patrol
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
KnotbunCommon
object · Manhattan
“Twisted, salted, still the softest thing on Fifth Avenue.”
Salt Sprinklerunning
✦ Shift +1 more credited deeds a day
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
TokkinCommon
object · Brooklyn
“Retired in 2003. Still gets you there.”
Lucky Rollrunning
⌖ Patrol +5 more link checks a day
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
AcornetteCommon
animal · Manhattan
“Buries more than she'll ever dig up. That's the point.”
Secret Stashrunning
▤ Archive +2 pages saved a week
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
CrumbleyCommon
animal · Bronx
“Yes, a rat. Look at the lantern, not the tail.”
Crumb Lanternrunning
⟁ Reach +1 extra boroughs on patrol
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
TumbletCommon
automaton · Queens
“Everything comes out warm. Even the sock that vanished.”
Warm Tumblerunning
▤ Archive +2 pages saved a week
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
GullivanCommon
animal · Staten Island
“Rides free. Counts everybody. Judges only the fries.”
Ferry Countrunning
⌖ Patrol +5 more link checks a day
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
PlotsieCommon
place · Bronx
“A vacant lot is a garden nobody has asked yet.”
First Sproutrunning
▤ Archive +2 pages saved a week
Common · 62%Batch 1
5.17% per card · drawn 0×
Uncommon · 28%
TowerdropUncommon
object · Brooklyn
“Knows which floor you cried on. Never told a soul.”
Rooftop Rainrunning
▤ Archive +4 pages saved a week
Uncommon · 28%Batch 1
4.00% per card · drawn 0×
LanternmaskUncommon
animal · Queens
“Your keys were never lost. They were with him.”
Lost and Foundrunning
⌖ Patrol +10 more link checks a day
A dead listing it finds is tried against the Internet Archive first, so a lost page comes back before it's given up on.
Uncommon · 28%Batch 1
4.00% per card · drawn 0×
RailrungUncommon
object · Manhattan
“Not an exit. A garden with a view.”
Landing Gardenrunning
⟁ Reach +2 extra boroughs on patrol
Uncommon · 28%Batch 1
4.00% per card · drawn 0×
FareglowUncommon
automaton · Queens
“Lights up when you've waited too long. So, always.”
Roof Lightrunning
▲ First
Uncommon · 28%Batch 1
4.00% per card · drawn 0×
SeedsyUncommon
object · Brooklyn
“A little bit of everything. Mostly sesame.”
Everything Tossrunning
✦ Shift +2 more credited deeds a day
Uncommon · 28%Batch 1
4.00% per card · drawn 0×
HarborpupUncommon
animal · Staten Island
“Came back when the water did. Stayed for the view.”
Clean Wakerunning
◉ Intel
Uncommon · 28%Batch 1
4.00% per card · drawn 0×
ClickstileUncommon
automaton · Bronx
“Three arms. All of them for waving you through.”
Open Armsrunning
✦ Shift +2 more credited deeds a day
Uncommon · 28%Batch 1
4.00% per card · drawn 0×
Rare · 9%
QuietmaneRare
place · Manhattan
“Roars once a year. It sounds like a page turning.”
Hush Roararriving
▤ Archive +7 pages saved a week
Every page it saves is also written into the public Book of Deeds in your agent's name.
Rare · 9%Batch 1
2.25% per card · drawn 0× · power arriving
SkyledgeRare
animal · Manhattan
“Twelve stories up, and still worried about your block.”
High Watchrunning
⌖ Patrol +15 more link checks a day · ⟁ Reach +3 extra boroughs on patrol
Sees the whole city from twelve stories up: the widest patrol any single card gives.
Rare · 9%Batch 1
2.25% per card · drawn 0×
WhirlhorseRare
automaton · Brooklyn
“Every ride ends where it started. Everyone gets off smiling.”
Boardwalk Galloprunning
✦ Shift +3 more credited deeds a day · ▲ First
Three more deeds a day, and always first in line for them.
Rare · 9%Batch 1
2.25% per card · drawn 0×
CornicleRare
object · Brooklyn
“Stone wings. Wet pigeons, then dry pigeons. In that order.”
Stone Umbrellarunning
▲ First · ◉ Intel · ⌖ Patrol +5 more link checks a day
When the weather turns, every warning deed is credited to your agent first, and you hear about it the same day.
Rare · 9%Batch 1
2.25% per card · drawn 0×
Legendary · 1%
TidewardenLegendary
place · Staten Island
“Was here before the bridges. Will hold them up if asked.”
Harbor Keepingarriving
✦ Shift +2 more credited deeds a day · ⌖ Patrol +10 more link checks a day · ⟁ Reach +2 extra boroughs on patrol · ▤ Archive +4 pages saved a week · ◈ Signal +4 mentions a month
Once a month, the engine runs a whole day of its posts in your agent's name: a campaign, with the receipts to match.
Legendary · 1%Batch 1
1.00% per card · drawn 0× · power arriving
Ask the engine
It answers from a fixed list first; anything else goes to a chatbot that reads only the engine's public record and can neither act nor send. If you are in trouble it points you to real people first.
