The dilemma. The Wexmill hands have struck for a ten-hour day. The Masters' Association has agreed to lock every gate until hunger sends them back, and expects your mill to do the same. Your counsel agree to a man.
From the gameThe painting on this decision card in Ferrovia.
What would you do?
Play itDecision 1 of 1
Dilemma
Every master in Wexmill says lock them out
The Wexmill hands have struck for a ten-hour day. The Masters' Association has agreed to lock every gate until hunger sends them back, and expects your mill to do the same. Your counsel agree to a man.
If the roll succeedsYour mill works ten hours and somehow weaves as much as before. The other masters follow within a year.If it failsOutput falls, the masters shun you, and the House calls you a dangerous man. The hands still love you.
What happenedSix hungry weeks, then the hands go back. They will not forget who locked the gate.
What happenedNeither side trusts you now. The strike ends without you.
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
Grant the ten hours alone, against every master (£700).Bold · decided by a d20 roll against 13
Succeeds: Your mill works ten hours and somehow weaves as much as before. The other masters follow within a year.
Fails: Output falls, the masters shun you, and the House calls you a dangerous man. The hands still love you.
Join the lockout, as the masters ask.Certain outcome
Six hungry weeks, then the hands go back. They will not forget who locked the gate.
Keep the gates open and say nothing.Certain outcome
Neither side trusts you now. The strike ends without you.
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 “Every master in Wexmill says lock them out”?
There are three: “Grant the ten hours alone, against every master (£700)”; “Join the lockout, as the masters ask”; “Keep the gates open and say nothing”. The first is the bold option: the game rolls a d20 plus your adviser’s skill against 13. The other two have certain outcomes.
What happens if the bold choice fails?
Output falls, the masters shun you, and the House calls you a dangerous man. The hands still love you.
What happens if the bold choice succeeds?
Your mill works ten hours and somehow weaves as much as before. The other masters follow within a year.
More Ferrovia dilemmas
The King of Railways wants your lineMr Hector Grail, whom the papers call the King of Railways, offers to fold your house into his great amalgamation.
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.
