Beyond the Veil

Game Master MCKhaos

I think so Na-Zo. 3 xp total.

okay, I'm going to take +1 sad, and also, I forgot to use the holiday level, so I'll take Gaze into the Abyss

Out of character for a moment, are we all clear on what is going on here? Or have I just managed to confuse everyone?

Not remotely. I know (ish) what's going on in MY storyline. Those...things...that are harassing Na-zo may have something to do with corrupting Umi's neural jack?

yo, Bastian, would you mind ging a TL&C:DR on your storyline?

Lews is being held against his will by IA, whose personification avatar is seemingly omniscient. The jacks might be able to mind-slave people.

IC-ish Question for Rache: If a person's actions are controlled, and they give a gift, to whom is the resulting Giri owed? (Lews gave LaChessa a jack, but he's controlled by something that isn't human. Does she owe Lews, or IA?)

The Veil, my Safehold had ways ino everyone's spaces, even if they've taken pains to secure them, can I use it to get into Nosrettap's IA's place, and if so, what do I have to roll to do it?

The Veil. this question is still hanging.

Depends: if you are controlled and give something away that belongs to you, Giri is owed to you by both the controller and receiver. If you’re controlled and you give away something the controller gave you to give away, Giri is only owed to the controller.

Deeper question: how are AI treated in society? Do they have rights? Are they citizens? That will determine if they can hold and give Giri.

How advanced is Ai? Is android civil rights "over"?

All the great promises of, and warnings about, AI in the first few decades of the 2000's proved to be massively overhyped. True thinking machines have not been achieved (other then the apparatus if we have one), and most corps have decided that the technological hurdles are insurmountable, much like faster than light travel. Some corps are still trying.

I think AI might be supposedly fictitious. this might be an Onomastic thing, like Coil, or she is secret. we'll find out soon!

She's clearly an elevated mollusk.

Anyone read/hear Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky?

Na-Zo wrote:

The Veil, my Safehold had ways ino everyone's spaces, even if they've taken pains to secure them, can I use it to get into Nosrettap's IA's place, and if so, what do I have to roll to do it?

The Veil. this question is still hanging.

Yes. No rolls. Can you travel anywhere, or just residences?

Three cheers for Bastian’s post describing the mission’s footage final cut. Serious effort there and it was a joy to read.

So pretty much on point, just missing a few of the more (potentially) alarming connections.

I think that is a session end for the triad.

Remind me of any session open moves again? We will prob start with you all together discussing the IA situation.

Na-Zo wrote:

Na-Zo wrote:

The Veil, my Safehold had ways ino everyone's spaces, even if they've taken pains to secure them, can I use it to get into Nosrettap's IA's place, and if so, what do I have to roll to do it?

The Veil. this question is still hanging.

Yes. No rolls. Can you travel anywhere, or just residences?

Not quite anywhere. It has to be unobserved by consciousness. you see, the observer effects the nature of the world, via quantum entanglements and uncertainty and... okay, look, it's magic, and one of the rules of this magic is no one can be looking where you appear.

Thank you, it was fun to play editor.

The Fates see through a single eye.
Explored but not tested or resolved. This one will be the hardest to pick up on, but I still really like what it represents. We'll get to something they'll disagree on soon I think.

Telepresence is a safer alternative to Cyberwear.
There was a moment I think when Na-Zo popped into her cubical while she was in her chair, but nothing serious. If anything this was confirmed. Cyberware leaves your meaty goodies vulnerable to hackers.

Suffering is the source of all evil.
Lews has been through hell, but he's a victim here. This one was tested.

1 xp total?

As for moves...

QUARTERLIES: At the beginning of the session, or whenever you have completed your mandatory contracts from the board, roll+capital. On a 10+, the board assigns 3 mandatory contracts, all of your choosing. On a 7–9, the board assigns 2 mandatory contracts, 1 of your choosing.
On a miss, the board assigns 3 contracts that the MC will choose. The board then gives you funds for every contract up front and expects that it be done in the amount of time described by the MC.

TPS REPORTS: When you do not complete
a contract by the deadline given by the board, roll+capital. On a 10+, the board is displeased but you describe the circumstances and they allow you clemency. On a 7–9, the MC crosses out one of the agendas of the board for next game of their choosing. On miss, you cross out one agenda on top of whatever the MC tells you.

Did I break our other game?

LaChessa: 1 xp sounds right.

Did you complete any of your current mandatory contracts. It looks like 3 is the max and I think you had 3.

No Start of sesh moves.

Hey, guys, I'm doing GoD at Pax East this year. I have to pick two games I'm willing to run one-shots of, and I'm trying to pick a second game. here's my list:

Inverse World: we're right next to the pathfinder section, and a few people are playing DW, so strait DW didn't seem a good choice, but airships and mechsuits and all that is probably still fresh and fun. (This is the sure one)

Apocalypse World: This is probably my best game, and I have been taught to one-shot it by the best, but someone is already running it, it's fairly well known, and i think others might be doing it.

Psi-Run: designed for one-shots, obscure-ish, very different feel to IW, low prep-time, but little opportunity for prep

The King is Dead: intrigue, romance, swordplay, war, all for the sake of claiming the crown. not technically out yet, but the designer told me it should be ready for a con-run or three at least by Pax.

KPFS: hilarious, simple, fun, likely to get me kicked out of the con or something

Burning wheel: it's nice enough, another type of "different fantasy. I kinda know how to run it, and no one would be nuts enough to try it, so I'd be unique! and my phone has a calculator function.

M<3, Masks, BitD, Uncharted Worlds, The Veil, the Sprawl, Urban shadows: considered and rejected for varoius reasons.

anything I'm not thinking of that would work?

I'd vote for PSI-Run.

My start of session move:

BOUND: Whenever you begin a session without
a task involving the enforcement of Giri that’s been
broken, choose one from the following and the MC
will work this task into the fiction as appropriate:
„ Infiltration or assassination
„ Retrieve or deliver
„ Lobby or sabotage
„ Safeguard or endanger

I think that Lobby or Sabotage sounds interesting to me for this go-round...

I like both Lobby and Sabotage. I'll think about that. Can you talk a bit more about how you learn about a Giri debt? Can you decide on your own that a debt exists. For example, can you decide, based on information given to you by Trophy, that Allison Inverness owes Giri related to her treatment of Lews?

Short version. Is there a legitimate way to tie your giri obligations into the larger story about IA? Or should it be something completely unrelated?

I also forgot that this game doesn't require you to physically be together at any point in time. So the next session will start whereever. Looks like Na-Zo is going in after Lews.

From a writer's room perspective, what is your next general goal? Free Lews?

Bastian, I think you may have satisfied the Mandatory Contract "Seeking Answers." Do you agree?

I think that it's very possible I've fulfilled "Maintaining Appearances" by upholding business as usual, as well as by placing Trophy in danger without getting her totaled.

"Seeking Answers" seemed to ask why IA targeted OH, which I don't know the answer to. Unless it was just because Lews had a grudge. I may just be being dense though.

Bastian, agreed. You resolved Maintaining Appearances, but have not resolved Seeking Answers.

Go ahead and roll your session move please.

Poor Na-Zo! No ninja jacket, and now rolling a 4 inside the heart of the beast.

Sorry, I missed your question!

Typically someone comes to Kosto Corp. with an issue they need resolved. However, IA is in CLEAR violation of their giri responsibilities to Lews. Even if Alison can't owe Giri herself, the company has an obligation to protect their employees and not enslave them. The consequence for violation is exile or punitive violence, which would certainly qualify the destruction of the rogue AI.

If IA has any human leadership, they've either violated Giri accidentally with a mistake that harmed another (Lews) or purposefully unleashed a rogue AI and visited an injustice on society. It honestly doesn't matter, since the consequence for either is disfigurement or death.

It doesn't PAY like a private giri restitution, but it's still a vital service provided by Kosto Corp.

So yes. Rache can fold in to the current plot line.

Apologies all, I haven't been in a good head space of late. This isn't dead, promise.

While we wait for this game to start up again, if anyone is interested in exploring some similar themes (haves vs. have nots, responsibility to society vs. responsibility to the individual, very tall structures containing multiple cities) I invite you to check out my game of Spire. Drow freedom fighters liberate their mile-high city from the hands of their High Elf oppressors.

Recruitment thread here

We are back! Everyone mark xp for your patience.

Bastian, in your next gameplay post could you kindly loop Rosto into the situation in the fiction?

So, I've been learning Blades in the Dark for a live game, and I want to suggest that we adopt a Blades mechanic (not specific to blades), for the Executive's mandatory contracts.

Progress clocks. So, I'm kind of thinking as follows:

1. The more complex the contract, the larger the clock, and the more cred.
2. I'm leaning towards racing clocks ... so there would be two clocks for each contract. One is a timing clock ... when it is full then your time has run out. The other is your progress clock, when it is full then you've satisfied the contract. So you can fictionally justify increases in the progress clock, while I would then have the option to use 7-9 or 6- moves to increase the timing clock.

I think this might be a good way to track the contracts. What do you think?

You know I love Blades.

1. I like it (though, it probably won't effect me)

2. This is a mechanic way older than BitD. it's straight up OG PbtA. or in other words, the PbtA system is absolutely able to handle this with 0 problems.

Awesome, that gives me something to work with mechanically as far as clearing these contracts.

Ok, testing something:

●○○○○

EDIT:

So I think this is the way to do clocks. I can put them in the "The Veil"'s stat bar.

Contract:

Progress: ●○○○○○

Time: ○○○○○○○○

2. This is a mechanic way older than BitD. it's straight up OG PbtA. or in other words, the PbtA system is absolutely able to handle this with 0 problems.

Very true. But with Blades John Harper went ... "Clocks for all the things!" and finally defined it for me in a way that clicked.

In fact, I may go a bit clock happy. I want a clock for, for example, "IA Studying Onomastics." It would have one tick for Na-Zo's last fail roll.

So Bastian, in recognition of the fact that at my core I am the laziest GM you've ever met, and that I'm dropping clocks on you mid run, I'd like to offer you the opportunity to set the current state of your clocks for each of your contracts (progress and deadline).

You tell me how far along you are on progress, and on deadline. It looks like the URL links on my stat line are long enough that I can't fit anything else. You can keep the clocks on your char sheet if you like.

I'll also put it on you to suggest when a tick should be added to a progress clock. And we'll discuss whenever I think to add a tick to a deadline clock.

Open to other ideas as well.

EDIT: Also just realized that I should ask if anyone is actually using the Google Sheet linked in my stat line.

I am

I haven't checked the sheet in a bit, but that may just be since things have slowed down. It's just as accessible as the paizo profiles, and I prefer using them as a GM. I think I would prefer to update one or the other though.

How do we want to increment clocks? By 1-2-3 steps, or by single steps? I like the flexibility of 1-2-3 steps, because it allows you to increment the deadline clock by 1 or 2 on an appropriate 9-6 roll, and 2 or 3 on a 6-. I also believe in prescriptive as well as descriptive progress, if time happens to pass, or progress is made without a roll, we might elect to mark a tick. Eight is probably a healthy standard length of a clock...

For finding info re: IA attacks, the clocks are likely a step longer than standard, and we've probably got two ticks on progress and two in deadline. The rolls I made there weren't great.

Lux is probably a step shorter, and empty.

Revenge is a standard clock, and I think it's just got two ticks in the deadline side.

To save space, we could always use these characters: ▀▄█░ possibly -
Lux: ░░░░░░
Revenge: ▄▄░░░░░░ or [▄▄------]
Intel: ██░░░░░░░░

Or fill in cells on a spreadsheet... Just throwing out ideas.

It is a bit hard for me to read the version you put up Bastian. I think the dots are easier on the eyes.

I did a thing on the sheets.

Looks great! Let's just use the sheets version. You don't need to keep it in your stat bar.

I like the sheets because it keeps an edit record, so I can tell if I've updated it already.

I added a new sheet to the google sheet called "Veil Clocks." There is only one currently, but I will be keeping any new clocks I make public.

Still alive out there?

I live. You know that feeling when you put off something for so long that you are too embarrassed to functionally address it. Then the feeling snowballs?

That’s me. Apologies.

How was everyone feeling about this game. I fear I lost the thread a bit.

I love this game so much. It's addressing things about modern society that I'm really interested in.

I like this game, especially with the relaxed pace giving me a while to consider how I want Na-Zo to react

also,, kinda love Na-Zo

I'm here, it may take a bit for me to remember what's going on, but I do like LaChessa's non-missions of catastrophic distraction.