Band of Blades: The Road to Skydagger Keep (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

I am new to this correct me if I am wrong.

No, you've got the right idea.

Flashback
The squad had gone to gather the casks and Drift had moved away from the rest of the team, these places reminded him of things best left forgotten. Something about how Sonia says "process" causes Drift to look away. His eyes alight on the neck of a bottle sticking out of a straw filled crate, Fire Oil, he is sure of it, how could he forget the way it is bottled. Without being sure why he carefully moves over and pulls the bottle out and slides it into his sack.

My Goal would be to have a bottle of fire oil to throw at this thing, I think I would be willing to push myself. What is my position?

Okay. You get the Fire Oil -- and since this flashback has Potency, I'll say it's one that Old Gurgles adulterated with a drop of Stuff. So it should do... something.

Chucking oil at the thing will be a Wreck roll. You have two dots in Wreck, so you can roll two dice. You can make a Devil's Bargain or push yourself (2 Stress) to add a third die, improving your chances.

Okay. You get the Fire Oil -- and since this flashback has Potency, I'll say it's one that Old Gurgles adulterated with a drop of Stuff. So it should do... something.

Chucking oil at the thing will be a Wreck roll. You have two dots in Wreck, so you can roll two dice. You can make a Devil's Bargain or push yourself (2 Stress) to add a third die, improving your chances.

Can I throw in an assist from the tower by providing fire support?

Poor Old Hans! Forty-two years guarding this bridge, man and boy. And now... it's over.

"I.. I see," he quavers. He passes a trembling hand across his forehead. "I.. I knew this day might come. My son, he marched away. A squire to one of Vlaisim's knights, he was. Service of the Chosen. He, he never came back. I..." Suddenly he seems to pull himself together, standing up straight. Tears run down his wrinkled cheeks, but his voice is firm. "Those bastards won't have my bridge!"

"Well done. Nothing that died in good service died in vain."

As the others of the unit assure that the dog will be seen to, a thought strikes Attero. "Why don't you come with us? You're a good man. Obviously you know how to handle yourself in the face of adversity. We can always use good men in our ranks. There is nothing for here.

And even a man who has nothing can still have Fai--"

His words are cut off as he sees Silver suddenly ambushed.

Ummmm, can I attack it from where I am?

Can I throw in an assist from the tower by providing fire support?

Sure. Of course, if you're doing that, then you're not leading the two Rookies to their next destination. So they're going unsupervised, with just Hans.

(Hm: how would we handle that? Group roll for the two of them, I guess, but who gets the Stress?)

Do I get to know the Devil's Bargain before I make the decision? I am leaning towards that.

Do I get to know the Devil's Bargain before I make the decision? I am leaning towards that.

Yes. You can offer me one (I have to agree that it's reasonable), or you can ask me to generate one for you (same, you have to agree).

The thing moves towards you, walking on its knuckles like an ape. The eyes are sewn shut, but it clearly senses your presence. As it approaches, you can hear a faint mutter of voices coming... from it?

"What the devil do you mean to sing to me, priest, you are out of tune. Tomorrow, at sunrise, I shall no longer be here. A party! Let's have a party. Tell them all I'm very sorry. A certain butterfly is already on the wing. I'll show you that it won't shoot. Damn the whole world and everyone in it but you, Carlotta. The bastards tried to come over me last night. I have a little neck."

There are many voices, all different, all at once. They buzz in the air around the thing like invisible bees.

Nothing comes to mind, what is your offer.

Doyen One Eye wrote:

Can I throw in an assist from the tower by providing fire support?

Sure. Of course, if you're doing that, then you're not leading the two Rookies to their next destination. So they're going unsupervised, with just Hans.

(Hm: how would we handle that? Group roll for the two of them, I guess, but who gets the Stress?)

Perhaps Zardani guides the wrecking crew to its next location? Alternatively, they can be taking their time, and basically end up waiting for One Eye to catch up.

DM_DM wrote:

Doyen One Eye wrote:

Can I throw in an assist from the tower by providing fire support?

Sure. Of course, if you're doing that, then you're not leading the two Rookies to their next destination. So they're going unsupervised, with just Hans.

(Hm: how would we handle that? Group roll for the two of them, I guess, but who gets the Stress?)

Perhaps Zardani guides the wrecking crew to its next location? Alternatively, they can be taking their time, and basically end up waiting for One Eye to catch up.

I can do that.

Nothing comes to mind, what is your offer.

Okay, here's one. You were stealing the fire stuff, right? Old Gurgles and Sonia may have had plans for that, and it was official Legion supplies. So, we can start a clock for "Silver Drifting Seems Sketchy" -- we roll for ticks, and when it's full, you've gained a reputation for being light-fingered or otherwise untrustworthy.

Now: when I offer clocks as Devil's Bargains, you COULD just tick it once and then forever ignore it. But that's not really consistent with the spirit of the game. It's more fun if you go back to the well until, whoops. So if you don't like this particular clock, think of one you might like better!

I can do that.

Okay, then Zardani: if you want to try a group Maneuver roll, then Tabita has 1d +1d for Ravens = 2d, while Monica has 2d +1d for Ravens = 3d. So you would roll YOUR Maneuver, and then roll for each of them. All of you get the best roll, but you take 1 stress for every failed roll. Clear enough?

(Also, I said upthread that Hans gave you +1d to Maneuver. Incorrect; he gives +1d on Rig or Wreck rolls. You get the +1d from the Silver Ravens special squad ability.)

"Well done. Nothing that died in good service died in vain."

As the others of the unit assure that the dog will be seen to, a thought strikes Attero. "Why don't you come with us? You're a good man. Obviously you know how to handle yourself in the face of adversity. We can always use good men in our ranks. There is nothing for here.

And even a man who has nothing can still have Fai--"

His words are cut off as he sees Silver suddenly ambushed.

Ummmm, can I attack it from where I am?

If you have Shoot or some other way to attack at range, sure.

Note that you have three rookies with you, and at least one is a good shot. If you lead them in a group action, you'll get Scale. (And probably take some Stress, but that's life in the Legion.)

Meanwhile: Clop clop clop. The horsemen are approaching the bridge.

Black Oak Knights.

I will accept the Silver Drifting Seems Sketchy Clock.

I end up with Wreck 2 + DB + One Eye.

Wreck: 4d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 6, 4) = 15

These guys were the knights of Vlaisim, greatest warrior of the Chosen. When he fell and became the Broken known as Render, they went with him. They chose him over the Kingdom and over humanity itself. They're still living men, though many now have strange mutilations, and some of them have been granted terrible powers.

They're the Black Oak Knights. Traitor bastards.

I will accept the Silver Drifting Seems Sketchy Clock.

I end up with Wreck 2 + DB + One Eye.

[Dice=Wreck]4d6

A clean success! You whip the flask out and fling all its contents over the thing in a single fluid motion.

For a horrible moment, nothing seems to happen. Then...

Seeing One Eye climb back up to assist Silver against the oncoming enemy, Leon rushes forward.

"Tabita, Monica, with me. Hans, a hand of you please. Let's get these other charges planted quick like."

Looking back at brother Attero and rest of the squad, "Give us some cover, ya?"

Without waiting for a response he hustlez off, already hearing sounds of combat starting.

Leon, Manuver: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8
Tabita, Manuver: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3
Monica, Manuver: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 4) = 12

So, two mixed success and one fail?

The surface of the bridge beneath the thing seems to bubble and fizz, spitting sparks. The sparks ignite the oil, and in a moment the thing is bathed in a sheet of fire.

Furthermore, the stuff seems to have somehow softened the surface of the bridge. The thing sinks into it, like a cow in mud.

Seeing One Eye climb back up to assist Silver against the oncoming enemy, Leon rushes forward.

"Tabita, Monica, with me. Hans, a hand of you please. Let's get these other charges planted quick like."

Looking back at brother Attero and rest of the squad, "Give us some cover, ya?"

Without waiting for a response he hustlez off, already hearing sounds of combat starting.

[Dice=Leon, Manuver]2d6
[Dice=Tabita, Manuver]2d6
[Dice=Monica, Manuver]3d6

So, two mixed success and one fail?

You get one stress due to Tabita's struggles (poor girl}, and you suceed, but there are consequences. They'll be described, and you will have a chance to resist the consequence(s) by making a resistance roll, which will likely give you more stress. Life is stressful in the Legion.

The surface of the bridge beneath the thing seems to bubble and fizz, spitting sparks. The sparks ignite the oil, and in a moment the thing is bathed in a sheet of fire.

Furthermore, the stuff seems to have somehow softened the surface of the bridge. The thing sinks into it, like a cow in mud.

Can One Eye, his One Eye looking through his fine Bartan lenses, look at the thing and do a Research roll, attempting to recall what I might know of this thing's weaknesses for a sniper shot? If so, let me know Position/Effect or whether it is a Fortune roll.

It screams.

"clasp my hand dear friend the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood fix your hair it's a mess are you sure it's safe I am just going outside and may be some time don't give up the ship hold my beer"

Take Level Two Harm: Violently Disoriented. You may, of course, choose to resist.

I do not have a way of shooting it. =( And by 'Alisa is a good shot' I presume that means she has 2 dice in shooting? That's fair odds.

Attero glares balefully where the vile undead thing is now on fire, but is making a terrible cacophony instead of dying.

"Aron, Jughead. Make the final steps on the barricade and prepare to recieve a charge.

Alisa. That thing is making too much noise. End it's struggles by shooting it with guns."

Aterro turns away from the struggle on the bridge, having done all he could, and stares over their hasty ramparts at the Chaos Knights bearing down on them.

Alisa Shooting!: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 6) = 12 =3

Se

Without waiting for a response he hustlez off, already hearing sounds of combat starting.

[Dice=Leon, Manuver]2d6
[Dice=Tabita, Manuver]2d6
[Dice=Monica, Manuver]3d6

So, two mixed success and one fail?

Two mixed successes and a fail. So:

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Damn it, Tabby!"

"It's not my fault! It's all yucky!"

The two have reached the second tower, by descending the suspension cables and then rappelling up again. But it's fast and clumsy, and they've both taken Level 1 Harm: Bruised and Contused.

The fail: your heart nearly stops as Tabita falls right off the cable web, flailing wildly. She recovers at the last moment (but you notice her cask of Stuff has come loose again). You take one Stress.

Oh yes: Silver Drifting Seems Sketchy 1d6 ⇒ 6 Yikes, three ticks on the clock! So it's 3/6.

So, two mixed success and one fail?

You get one stress due to Tabita's struggles (poor girl}, and you suceed, but there are consequences. They'll be described, and you will have a chance to resist the consequence(s) by making a resistance roll, which will likely give you more stress. Life is stressful in the Legion.

Correct. You can let the rookies take Level One Harm each (which by itself is nbd), or you can Resist and eat some Stress.

You can't Resist the Stress from leading the group action -- that's fixed.

Can One Eye, his One Eye looking through his fine Bartan lenses, look at the thing and do a Research roll, attempting to recall what I might know of this thing's weaknesses for a sniper shot? If so, let me know Position/Effect or whether it is a Fortune roll.

Research, Controlled / Standard.

I do not have a way of shooting it. =( And by 'Alisa is a good shot' I presume that means she has 2 dice in shooting?

Correct. It's very unusual to encounter a Rookie with more than two dots in anything!

"Alisa. That thing is making too much noise. End it's struggles by shooting it with guns."

"Shoot a monster with a gun, you say? The day is looking up, darlings." Alisa lifts her long gun, breathes in, breathes out...

BOOM

Critical!

Hot damn a perfect head shot. She just blew about a quarter of its head right off, in a spray of black fluid. And it's staggered! It stumbles!

But it's still kicking.

"SKRIIIIIIIII farewell my friends I go to glory I'm sorry for everything shoot straight you bastards don't make a mess of it mother where are you mother freedom at last man holy simplicity f*!# that gator"

"Tighten it up you two. Tabita, secure that barrel!" Leon barks at the rookies, his heart finally falling back into place from it's brief jump into his throat at Tabitas near disastrous fall.

"Let's get these things planted."

I'll need them to have some luck on their own, I have no wreck or rig.

I'll need them to have some luck on their own, I have no wreck or rig.

Well, why don't you just roll the dice for Tabita. She gets 2d Wreck +1d for old Hans yelling instructions up from below = 3d.

Now, you can decide whether you want her to push it (2 Stress on her) or give her an assist (1 Stress on you) or trade position for effect (it's Risky / Standard right now... Desperate gives more ticks on the clock, but a failed roll would probably kill her) or just roll straight.

3d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 2) = 12

Leon holds in place and tries not to cringe as Tabita sets the charge with the help.of instructions hollered from below by Hans.

no whammy no whammy no whammy STOP!

Doyen One Eye wrote:

Can One Eye, his One Eye looking through his fine Bartan lenses, look at the thing and do a Research roll, attempting to recall what I might know of this thing's weaknesses for a sniper shot? If so, let me know Position/Effect or whether it is a Fortune roll.

Research, Controlled / Standard.

One Eye looks at the monster through his alchemical eye.

Research: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8

3d6

Leon holds in place and tries not to cringe as Tabita sets the charge with the help.of instructions hollered from below by Hans.

no whammy no whammy no whammy STOP!

Heh.

Destroy the Bridge clock 6/10

One Eye looks at the monster through his alchemical eye.

[dice=Research]2d6

Ohhh crap it's Eater.

Are there more than one of Eater? Unclear. Eater is a Hound, which is an undead that Render's people use for scouting and tracking. They're blind, but have incredible senses of hearing, smell and touch. (It's said that they smell the breath of the living, so that holding your breath can help you hide from them -- for a bit.)

But Eater is much worse than an ordinary Hound. It's bigger, smarter, and tougher. And there's something particularly horrible about it: they say it feasts on the dying -- absorbing some of their essence, gaining some of their intelligence and skill, and speaking with their voices.

Succeeding in properly planting the charges, well, watching Tabita do it, Leon urges the rookies to keep moving with a wary eye to the yelling, shooting and explosions further down the bridge.

"Well done, let's keep moving. Just a bit yet and we can get this thing done and get the hell out of here."

Another manuver to the next place?

"Damnation." One Eye pulls out the flare gun, and shoots the yellow shell, signifying the presence of an abnormal, infamous undead.

He then takes out his rifle and lines up a shot on Eater.

Can I take a shot, using the research roll as my setup? I'd also like to take a Devil's Bargain related to some prepping of my shot to load extra black shot to my shot. Either using up my Gun Repair Kit or using up extra black shot from my inventory. Let me know position and effect

Another manuver to the next place?

Yup.

The Black Oak Knights are readying a charge. Eater is screaming and flailing. The wind sings in the cables.

Silver Drifting, you probably want to Resist, and then... well, if you don't want to be trapped between the BOKs and Eater, then a Maneuver roll is probably in order -- either running around Eater while it's partly immobilized and distracted, or jumping off the side of the bridge. Oh, or you could attack Eater. That would probably get you killed, but it is on the menu.

"Right then, let's get moving!" Leon barks as he leads to the next spot.

I'll lead again.

Leon: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 6) = 8
Tabita: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9
Monica: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 6) = 9

Sweet success

The Black Oak Knights are readying a charge.

And my master plan is nearly complete! I'd like to use a Wreck roll to blow up the mine I made beforehand. Can I take a DB related to my aforementioned prepping? Can I have used up my WREKTing kit?

Sweet success

Despite their bickering -- and Tabita's constant whimpers of revulsion -- the two Ravens move as an effective team, climbing down the second tower and then very quickly up the third.

Now: initiative is pretty free-form in BoB. That said, Silver Drifting is about to fall behind the narrative; i.e., the Black Oak Knights are charging, and we can't adjudicate Brother Attero's mine because they'll pass Silver's current position first. Will he still be there, or is he getting out of the way, or what? So, if he doesn't pop up shortly, feel free to make a suggestion about what he should do; otherwise, I'll bot him.

Well okay: I think that first he'd try to Resist the insanity from the thing's screaming, and then he'd try to GTFO, since Eater is partially immobilized right now and the Black Oak Knights are about to charge.

Comments and input welcome; otherwise I'll roll that in a little bit.

surely what I'd do

3d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 1) = 12

Again Leon watches as Tabita expertly sets the charges with the shouted instructions from old Hans.

3d6

Again Leon watches as Tabita expertly sets the charges with the shouted instructions from old Hans.

Holy socks! You guys are rocking this INCREDIBLY fast!

Destroy the Bridge clock 9/10

haven't really had contact with the enemy yet, can't wait to see Brother Attero do his thing, one eye too.

surely what I'd do

One issue: it's a Resolve roll, and Silver has no dots in Resolve. So he's going to eat some serious Stress. I'd say that both mechanically and in RP terms that's still better than taking Level Two Harm in the middle of a combat, but...

Okay, well here goes... resist! Roll two, take the lowest, subtract that from 6! 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9

Oh that's actually pretty good! Only 2 Stress!