The dilemma. A furnace collapse has stopped every blast at Crane Iron & Steel. Your council is unanimous: seize their customers while they cannot pour. Tobias quietly suggests lending them your own furnacemen instead.
From the gameThe painting on this decision card in Ferrovia.
What would you do?
Play itDecision 1 of 1
Dilemma
Crane's furnaces have gone cold
A furnace collapse has stopped every blast at Crane Iron & Steel. Your council is unanimous: seize their customers while they cannot pour. Tobias quietly suggests lending them your own furnacemen instead.
If the roll succeedsCrane is pouring again in weeks. Old Crane sends you a cast-iron gate with your initials worked into it.If it failsYour men cannot save the old furnace. Crane is grateful, but your own works fell behind.
What happenedIron is dear in Ashmoor and your order book is full. Crane will remember.
What happenedCrane rebuilds slowly. Neither house says a word to the other.
No right answer.
In the game the roll is d20 plus your adviser’s skill. Here the bonus is a flat +2.
The options and what happens
Lend Crane your furnacemen for a month (£500).Bold · decided by a d20 roll against 12
Succeeds: Crane is pouring again in weeks. Old Crane sends you a cast-iron gate with your initials worked into it.
Fails: Your men cannot save the old furnace. Crane is grateful, but your own works fell behind.
Take their customers, as the council says.Certain outcome
Iron is dear in Ashmoor and your order book is full. Crane will remember.
Neither help nor harm.Certain outcome
Crane rebuilds slowly. Neither house says a word to the other.
About this card
This is one of 8 hand-written dilemmas set in Ferrovia (1846, the height of the railway mania), one of three ages in Be a CEO, a business strategy game where you run a trading house. Each dilemma has one bold option, decided by dice, and safer options with certain outcomes. The text above is the card exactly as it appears in the game, with the amounts it showed on the first day of a new game.
Questions
What are the options in “Crane's furnaces have gone cold”?
There are three: “Lend Crane your furnacemen for a month (£500)”; “Take their customers, as the council says”; “Neither help nor harm”. The first is the bold option: the game rolls a d20 plus your adviser’s skill against 12. The other two have certain outcomes.
What happens if the bold choice fails?
Your men cannot save the old furnace. Crane is grateful, but your own works fell behind.
What happens if the bold choice succeeds?
Crane is pouring again in weeks. Old Crane sends you a cast-iron gate with your initials worked into it.
Written by the Mantar Tech team from the game’s own data and text. Be a CEO is in closed alpha, so numbers and cards can change. About the art: much of it was made with AI tools and then selected and edited by hand.
