Thanks for the clarification. I'm kind of thinking most of her body is gone, but he's got some of it (her head probably) preserved in formaldehyde or other embalming fluids ala Futurama. I was kind of thinking I could go full Frankenstein here and have a goal of reanimating her by gathering needed body parts. (Just another aspect of the obsession with death and the futile attempts to conquer it brought on by his experiences in the war and capped by Nataliya's death.) If that's all too gruesome, I'm also fine just having the body disposed of in the usual canal fashion.
Nope, morbdi and creepifying I got no problem with. And I think chaing your special ability is senseible: the downtime-only ones are powerful in the long run, but you probably want some "oomph" right now.
@Darele - Spiders are like the "force multipliers" of the game, if you play one everyone will end up thanking you at some point for saving their sorry behinds :)
@Everyone - if you like the mechanics of this game systerm and were wondering what if BitD, but like Reanaisance-style court intriugue instead? then you might want to check out this Kickstarter. As and when it comes out, I will definitly be looking to run and/or play it!
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@Darele - Spiders are like the "force multipliers" of the game, if you play one everyone will end up thanking you at some point for saving their sorry behinds :)
Word.
I've put a crew sheet together with some suggestions. I've gone for Second Story (because you can never have too many dice on the Engagement Roll) along with the Shadow Rigging and Secure Lair upgrades. My proposed name is The Dusk Mites because we may be small and insignificant now, but one day we shall be mitey indeed. Oh yes.
Feel free to amend any or all of this!
Sorry Atlass - if anyone drops I will page you :)
WW, that is the most awsesomely terribel pun. I do't know whether to be jealous or go looking for that *batman slaps robin* meme.
I've put the crew sheet up into the campaign header so everone can find it.
I'll have my backstory figured out today - sorry, backstories take me a long time in general and I'm getting a kicking at work for pretty much a whole year now but it has been particularly bad lately :)
I don't have any issues with the crew playbook. It seems like most everyone is an agreement about being Shadows and having a tower lair. For reputation, daring or professional sounds good.
@Sarah the GM, thanks for the heads up about the Kickstarter. I've backed the project.
OK, backstory first pass is done! I'll likely do a second pass and clean things up a bit.
TL;DR: Lolo is a former crew chief on a shipwright's crew. She and her crew were part of a union being formed when the owner of the drydocks she worked for had a haunted ship towed to port. Her crew (including her husband) largely perished in the ensuing mayhem, and the survivors are blacklisted.
Lolo has a daughter to raise, and desperate for coin, an old friend turned her onto the crew. I have this right now as a bartender in her neighborhood, but it could be a PC if one of y'all has a laborer or sea/ship-focused background.
More progress, as you can see in the profile! I plan to have her ready to go by the end of the weekend.
@Lolo, looking good. Lots of heartbreak on this crew arldeady, dead husbands, sisters and so on. Lots for me to work with.
Do you have toughts on the dead Bluecoat? (again "no idea, let's find out in play" is an ok awsnwer)
How old is the daurhgter? Do they live together?
@Darele - looks good so far, I'm looking forward to the rest :)
I'm going to do some more worldbuilding to keep us moving.
The key contacct for you is Lady Adelaide Phroiag. Her son went to university with Finraeth, and he has stayed with the family a few times. She's also friends with Darele from way back when and gave her a plaace to stay when her family disowned her. They're on good terms. It was her famly that owned the Pegasus although she had no idea it was haunted or that it would be used in the way Jelsya did. She's given the suriviors a few Coin and used Lolos' services a few times.
(Lolo and Jonah, can you fdnind some way to tie your backstories together somehow so you know each other? You don't haev to be Best Frends EVA but some link would be useful. Tx)
A couple of monthse or so befreo New Year, Lady Phroiag's son Brannon got in trouble with the Bluecoats. Nothing serious, but enough that he could go to prison for a month or so. Lady Phroiag hired Finraeth, Darele and Lolo to extract the evidence fom a Bluecoat watchtower where it was being stored. Finraeth brought Casia along and Lolo brought Jonah. the job went well - one complciation wich I'll get to below - and you've stuck together since, doing some minor jobs. Enough to get you some turf around your lair, but nothing major. Bazso's job offer is the first serous action.
The old watchowoer you hvae claimed is on the edge of Lampblack territory and was in the process of being cclaimed by another gang, the Grinders (former dockwoerkers from Skovlan with a mean reputation). They don't like you because you pushed them out of the area, but the Lampblacks are pleased with you because you stopped their territory being taken by the Grinders.
You take +1 status with the Lamps, and -1 Status with the Grinders.
The favour you did for Lady Phroiag was noticed by the Red Sashes, who have freidnds in the nobility. You take +1 status with the Red Sashes. Unfotunoatly, while you were "retreeiving" the evidence from the Bluecoats, one of them ran into you while you were on the job and you ended up killing him. (My guess is that the Cutter or Hound did it, but it's up to you) Teh Bluecoats do NOT like you. You embarressed them and killed one of their own. You are at -2 status with the Bluecaots.
The Crows are neutral right now, 0 Status. You gaeve them some Coin as tribute but only the bare minimu. They've no reason to like you or dislike you.
Questions?
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The building was SUPPOSED to be empty. The one guy working there late caught them by surprise, there was a shout and his gun was pointing at Casia as she worked the safe.
Finraeth hasn't killed. He's no stranger to the use of force but killing seems unnecessary to him. Mostly. He'll gladly kill Desmona when he catches up with her. But there's no reason for this guy to die. He lunges forward for the gun, trying to disarm him. But coppers are tough, and Finraeth gets an elbow to the face for his troubles. But he's tougher than he looks and he stays on his feet, wrestling with the Bluecoat until there's a detonation as the pistol goes off and Finraeth staggers back, blood all over his hands...
But it's not his. The Bluecoat is down on the floor, screaming, with a bloody wound in his stomach - a scream that's quickly cut off as Lolo steps forward and puts a precise bullet cleanly between his eyes. As Finraeth looks at her blankly, she shrugs. "I've seen wounds like that. He'd have lingered for days, kid. Days. Trust me, it's what I'd want. Now, let's move, eh?"
Feel free to suggest changes, especially Lolo if you don't like the way I puppeted your PC
@GM, are we ok to post in gameplay now that most of us have put our character together?
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It was half past Silver Hour and raining in Doskvol. It was always raining in Doskvol. Rained so blasted much the locals had over forty different words for the stuff. Showers, sprinkles, downpour, drizzle, warm rain, cold rain, heavy rain, light rain, soaking rain. The stinking list went on and on, just like the bloody bone chilling rain. A wry, rare smile crosses Jonah’s face at the newly added descriptor. He’d clearly gone native.
Cigarette smoke coiled up from the ashtray, a ghostly gray serpent wending its way toward the water and smoke stained ceiling. He slides his mug out toward the big woman who leaned on the counter like it was the last thing keeping her upright.
”Refill.” A soft voice, but not weak. Just quiet, pitched low. A voice that said don’t make me shout. People die when the shouting starts.
The proprietess of the Grinning Gizzard managed to leverage herself upright and lumber down to his end of the counter. Her black circled eyes managing a glare at the only other two people unlucky enough to stumble into the Gizzard on her way. The pungent aroma of black java that had been sitting on the stove for hours mingled in his nose with the cigarette smoke like a pair of young lovers.
”You gonna order anything else or just nurse that cup all night?” She says. Her voice rough, raspy from years of smoke both kitchen and tobac.
”Nothin’ else worth ordering in this dive.” He replies with another grin.
Her cheeks go red, ripples of fat roll into a feral grin. ”Then why you keep comin’ in? “
”Glutton for punishment. Payin’ for past sins. What other reason is there, Stel?”
She snorts. Sounds like a moose sneezing. Not attractive, but nothing about Estelle Poranza really was. Except she really did make a good traditional Skovlander eel and mushroom spiced pie.
”Don’t know why I even let you into the place.” She adds, starting to pace back up the counter.
Jonah’s reply is cut short when the bell over the door rings. The sound of cascading water pouring out of the broken gutter splatters into the room along with a drenched woman and her child. The woman’s a looker, Skovlander. The red hair is a dead giveaway. But it isn’t her that Johan’s eyes focus on. It’s her daughter. She’s a near spitting image of Naty at that age. Hair in braids, eyes full of curiosity. Face a bit thinner than Naty’s, like everyone these days, there was never enough to eat, especially for those who lost the war. He peeled his eyes away, not wanting to cause offense. She wasn’t Naty, but the reminder had his heart pounding and palms sweating.
Stell eyes the newcomer like she does with everyone. An appraising eye that always seems to know if there’s enough coin to make it worth her time or not. Apparently her sixth sense for destitution tingled somewhere inside that overworked heart. Her eyes went cold and hard. Her jowls sunk downward.
”This ain’t no charity house. No slugs, no grub.” She says.
For a moment the newcomer looks to argue. A fire burns in her eyes. A mother looking to make sure her daughter survives. The others in the diner simply duck lower into their soup. All except for Jonah.
”Hold up Stell. It’s on me.” He says dropping the last of his silver on the counter and waving the woman over. She gives him a wary look. Smart, for it’s rare that anyone does anything for free in Doskvol. But Jonah is the picture of politeness and a hot meal isn’t something to pass up.
”Name’s Jonah.” He says trying to put on a disarming smile. ”And before you ask, I don’t want anything. I just don’t figure anyone should escape here without trying Stell’s pie.”
”My name’s Fiona.” The little girl pipes up with a bright smile. So like Naty’s. ”Can we have pie mama?” She adds hopefully.
Busy day today (Jess and I are going whale watching this afternoon). Just wanted to pop in for a point of order: her name is not Darele, it’s Dareia (pronounced like da-RAY-a). I went with greek since it looked like many of the place names are greek in origin
Oh, sorry. I knew I was going to get someonet's name wrong at some point. I'm dyslexic (which is an eveil word to make someone spell). But am I teh only one who thinks that the i in that name looks liek an l?
But am I teh only one who thinks that the i in that name looks liek an l?
Nope - I too thought it was Darela so I'm glad to have it corrected!
Hope the whales turned up on schedule (as a biologist, I'm a firm believer in the Harvard Law of Animal Behaviour*). What sort were you hoping to see?
*"Experimental organisms, under carefully controlled laboratory conditions, will do what they damn well please."
No problem! My wife is dyslexic, too, so I understand. It’s an odd name (part of why I picked it). You can always call her Sweet Dary if you prefer!
As for whales, it’s my first time going whale watching so I have no idea what to expect! Heck, first time on a boat, really. Our friend gave us tickets as a thank you for helping him recover from surgery. Jess has been before, and they are generally the expert on nature/animal stuff. I
Whales remind me of the Douglas Adams quote "there were some who argued that we should never have left the trees inthe frist place. There were otehrs who argued that even the trees ahd been a mistake, and we should never have left the oceans."
@GM, are we ok to post in gameplay now that most of us have put our character together?
I missed hthis yeasterday, sorry. I'm going to say yes, but roleplay only please until everyone's ready. No dice rolls (unless you want to Resist based on the spoiler). In fact, could we try keeping dice rolls out of gameplay and just use it for narrative? Tehre aren't nearly as many rolls as in D&D/PF and they tend to inveolve more discussion both before and after the roll. I think discussion is the best place to do that. If it doesn't work then we'll revisit.
Also, we haven't discusse posting rate and expectations. I have days whe I can post a lot and days when even 1 post is oging to be difficult. I assume that's probalby true of most of us. Please don't be the one who slows the game dwon too much, or the one who posts twice as much as everyone else. I want regular posts and a decent pace but I also dont' want anyone to be put off.
Logging in to find seven new posts = great, this game is moving along and i'm excicted to see what's happened and get my own post in.
Logging in to find twenty-seven new posts = FML
1 Stress to see through Baszo's sales patter.
EDIT: I see that the Mites' name has been used in gameplay, which makes it officially canon :)
EDIT II: I've been rethinking the upgrades we should take. I still like the Shadow Rigging (more gear is better) but instead of the secure lair I suggest we go for Underground Maps and Pass Keys to help us with getting around the city more easily/stealthily.
So not only did I not see any whales, I spent 75% of the trip vomiting in the cabin. My balance is still a little wonky even now. Just letting y’all know I’m going to be dragging a bit today.
Oh, poor you! I hope everyone was sytmpathetic. Seasesikcnes can be nasty. Taek your time, we'll still be here when the world stops spining :)
Do you have toughts on the dead Bluecoat? (again "no idea, let's find out in play" is an ok awsnwer)
How old is the daurhgter? Do they live together?
GM, Lolo doesn't know who the Bluecoat is. She's tried to figure this out (someone with weapons like that must have been important) but hasn't had any luck to date. I figure it is a good way to add a complication later.
As for her daughter, I picture her old enough to be a complication. :) 14, 15 somewhere in there. Old enough to be willful and making her own decisions, despite her mother's consternation. They do live together, though she's a bit of a latchkey with a dead dad and a mom out and about at strange hours.
EDIT: Actually, I just read Jonah's take and I like it so much more. So she's younger, probably 10? @Jonah, I think your story of how Lolo and Jonah meet is perfect - thank you for putting that together!
So not only did I not see any whales, I spent 75% of the trip vomiting in the cabin. My balance is still a little wonky even now. Just letting y’all know I’m going to be dragging a bit today.
Good luck getting back on your feet, Dareia!
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Here's how it goes down...
Finraeth, I like it. Lolo would definitely put a guy out of his misery. Here's her perspective:
Finraeth does the right thing, lunges for the gun, but even if it was the right thing it was a low-percentage play, and the other kid's on the floor in a few seconds, gut-shot, screaming, twisting in his pooling blood.
And I'm seeing my past, clear as a bottle of vodka. When the trouble went down on the Pegasus our welder made it off, but he was burned bad, and the blast sent a chunk of hull through his gut. The burn looked bad, but it was the shrapnel that killed him. Died over seven days, physikers couldn't do a damn thing, welder - Curth was his name - whimpering and screaming the whole time, depending on how much opium was in his system.
So I put a bullet in the bluecoat. And Finraeith, he's in shock, face as blank as a freshly painted wall. So I had to play it cool. "I've seen wounds like that. He'd have lingered for days, kid. Days. Trust me, it's what I'd want. Now, let's move, eh?"
Doesn't mean I didn't shake for days.
Okay! Dareia should be ready now I believe.
Note: she mentions she thinks "The Dusk Mites" is a dreadful name. I, the player, think it's perfectly suitable but she, the character, thinks it lacks nobility and prestige and has likely made a habit of commenting as such. I've known many people who tend to insert their grievances into their characters' mouths and I try to avoid that. I try to keep that stuff direct and face-to-face (or direct message to direct message as it were).
Before anyone asks, yes, Dareia is a trans woman (just like her player). Since this game takes heavy inspiration from Dishonored, I was inspired by one of my favorite minor characters in Dishonored 2, Mindy Blanchard, in that regard. I generally don't come up with deadnames for trans characters--it's not their name, after all--unless it will actually come up. If you need it, GM, I'll come up with one and message it to you privately.
As for her daughter, I picture her old enough to be a complication. :) 14, 15 somewhere in there. Old enough to be willful and making her own decisions, despite her mother's consternation. They do live together, though she's a bit of a latchkey with a dead dad and a mom out and about at strange hours.EDIT: Actually, I just read Jonah's take and I like it so much more. So she's younger, probably 10? @Jonah, I think your story of how Lolo and Jonah meet is perfect - thank you for putting that together!
I tihink you've *totally* dodged a bullet there. I can remmber my teenage self and she was horrible ("you're not oging out like that!" was practiclaly my *ringtone*), I would have ahd a lot of fun throwning her at you!
@Jonah - can you give me a Resist roll please
@Lolo - can't tell from your post if you saw thru the 'sales patter' but if you did pls can you also give me a resist roll.
@Everyone else - BitD is based a lot moer on giving PCs permission to do stuff and it can take some geting used to. E.g. in PF I would have set up a Senese Motive DC to tell you Bazso was hiding something and if you failed the roll, then sucks to be you. In BitD, *you* get to decide whether or not you succeed on the Senes Motive roll. The Resist roll is about how much stress you take in the process.
Taht goes for anything I inflict on you in the game: Blluecoats are tough, and the pistol hits the side of your head. The world goes black as you fal unconscnious. You open the lock, but feel the sting of a poison needle trap. The asssasin steps out from teh dark and stabs you before you know what's going on. The alarm goes off an you hear the shout of the guards as they run towards you. The ghost is utterly terrifying - as it materliases, you're on your feet and running for your life.
For any and all of these, you get to tell me "Nope. Don't think so. I'm Resisting that." You make the roll, take the amount of stress listed and the narrative changes. Of course, you only have 9 stress to play with. So the game changes from "can you do that? Let's see if you hit the DC" to "you can *toatally* do that, waht price are you willing to pay?"
Sometimes, only 1 of you will need to make the roll, like to spot a trap or stop an alarm going off. Other times, all of you will need to roll, like in the present case where Bazo is laying on the 'charm' - you need to dceice individually whether your characcter falls for it or not. I will try to be clear which is which, but do always ask if you wanat to know more.
@Dareia - it looks like I was writing my post while you were writing yours :)
I like your character, the story is sad but hopeufl as well if that maekse sense? I've never heard the word "deadname" before but I can guess what it means and the answer is no it won't come up in play.
Just so you know, everythign outside the city is deathlands, the lightnint towers are the onlly protection against the ghosts and monsters out there. I think your story still works if you're from the farmlands around Barrowcleft, growing up in sight of but miles from the glamourous districts of Nightmarket and Silkshore. If you want to be from truly out of town, let me know and we can work something out :)
Your resist roll is absoltye right, although your character sheeet has mixed up your attributes and your XP. If you look at the other character sheets, hopefully you'll see what I mean. You start with 0/6 XP in each of your attributes.
ALSO, your post has reminded me about pronouns and i should have done that at the strat of the game. Sorry! I use she/her. My current assumption is that Casia, Lolo and Dareia are all using she/her and Finraeht & Jonah are using he/him. If that isn't right please let me know, as well as the pronouns you use for yourselves.
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Barrowcleft works for me! I'm still working on understanding the ins-and-outs of the setting. As soon as I made the Dishonored connection a lot of things started clicking for me.
I'll fix that editing error with the XP!
Dareia and I are she/her only. I used they/them for Riven, Dareia's alchemist friend, because it doesn't give any in the book and I thought hey, why not.
(Tangentially related, I often talk about my wife who uses they/them. They still prefer gendered terms like "wife" though b/c, in their words, "I want people to know we are gay.")
(Tangentially related, I often talk about my wife who uses they/them. They still prefer gendered terms like "wife" though b/c, in their words, "I want people to know we are gay.")
They sound awesome XD
Finraeth and I are both he-him, like the discreet cough of a particularly deferential valet.
@Lolo, that's great. With a 10-year old daughter, it seems like Lolo would be a fair bit older than Finraeth and that comes across brilliantly in your post :)
@GM, I've found a sheet of clocks which will probably come in handy at some point...
Oh, shiny!
I know you are 8 hours behind so I will give Casia some more time to post before I move us along.
Also, could I get some ffeedback on how helpful my posts explaining the rules are? If you're reading them and going "yep, know this arlready, thanks" then taht's great because it means I can stop typing them :)
(FYI, my next rule-post would be about Flashbacks cos we're about to haeve one in gameply)
I'm still working on understanding the ins-and-outs of the setting. As soon as I made the Dishonored connection a lot of things started clicking for me.
I'm not famlmilar with that at all but I'm glad it works for you :)
He/him for myself and you're correct that Casia is she/her.
Getting a post up now. Sorry, it was a busy weekend. Got my first board game gathering since the beginning of last year. Woo-hoo!
Taht sounds great! What baord games are you into?
Also, it looks like I need a Ressit roll from you as well :)
0 Stress
Taht sounds great! What baord games are you into?
Quite a wide range - from fairly simple (Coup, One Night Werewolf, Settlers) to complex/long (Advanced Civ, Twilight Imperium IV, Magic Realm, Roads & Boats) and all manner in between.
This weekend we played Nemesis and Mare Nostrom: Empires.
We range all over the board game spectrum depending on who's playing, how many there are of us, and how much time we have.
I appreciate the rules discussion GM, please continue. I still don't have my copy of the rules (grrr) which shipped ten days ago. I do have a PDF, but I try not to read too much on screens b/c most of my work happens on screens. I've been reading the setting and class stuff and haven't yet gotten to the mechanics.
So, to roll a resist, I roll insight. Do I choose a dice pool from any of the skills/attributes in insight? I see Casia rolled two dice so I assume so?
Note that I figure Lolo doesn't exactly believe Bazso, but she also doesn't really care. She's sure he's got an angle, but she's more interested in hearing what the job is and putting some food in her daughter's stomach than whether her life is going to be more complicated by taking the job. So I didn't intend to roll resist to begin with, but I don't know if that is a good reason to not roll? Basically, she's skeptical of Bazso's motives, but desperate enough to chalk them up as a problem for future Lolo to deal with, whatever the consequences may be.
I also have a question: if only one of us does the Resist, can they then pass that information to the others? Or would anyone who wants to use that info have to make the Resist roll?
Note that I figure Lolo doesn't exactly believe Bazso, but she also doesn't really care. She's sure he's got an angle, but she's more interested in hearing what the job is and putting some food in her daughter's stomach than whether her life is going to be more complicated by taking the job. So I didn't intend to roll resist to begin with, but I don't know if that is a good reason to not roll? Basically, she's skeptical of Bazso's motives, but desperate enough to chalk them up as a problem for future Lolo to deal with, whatever the consequences may be.
I guess this is kind of what I was thinking for Jonah as well. He's not going to just naturally trust anybody like that and doesn't like people who blow lots of smoke up his backside which was pretty obviously being done. But he wasn't planning to be outright dismissive or hostile either. In fact he wants the work so he doesn't really care about there being other offers made to other gangs or not. Thus, just a wait, listen, and don't say anything stupid stance.
Guess I'm a little fuzzy on what I'm actually resisting. If not resisting means I need to be Bazso's best buddy and fall for every word he says hook, line and sinker, then yep, I resist. But otherwise I probably wouldn't.
I think the same might be true for the Resolve resist. To make sure I understand, if I resist, then I know that something is squirrelly with her guard and we're meeting outside her usual place. If I don't then I'm mentally blinded and taken in by the bling and am not suspicious or on guard at all and have to accept the offer before knowing what it is. Is that correct? Because again, I'd probably just wait to see what the actual offer is, especially since this is before the meeting with Bazso so this would actually be the first offer of work and I'd be really interested in what it was even if she does have a jumpy guard.
Thanks for the quesitons, I will try to clear things up.
These NPCs are leaders of Tier 2 gangs. YOu are Tier zero. They are a lot more powerufl than you, and tehy are *good* at what they do.
Bazso is very, very good at being charming. But it's not magic. Think of it more like him having a high Diplomacy roll, you aren't instantly going to be best buddies or go along with everthing he says but you're going to be a lot more likely to give him the beneift of the doubt, and you might want to be his friend in return.
The Insight roll is to resist that schmooze and realise that you are but one of many pawns he is currently trying to influence.
Mylera is well connected, very influential and not above using her authority like a blunt instrument - summoning you with an armed guard and an invite, a clear display of her wealth and power in the top room, that sort of thing. Think of it like an intimidate roll. You aren't going to autmotically do what she orders, but you mgith think twice about crossing her.
The Resolve roll is to resist that with the force of yuour own personality and not be overawed, and realise that perhaps this display is a mask and that she might not be quite as powerful as she is tyring to shwo you.
@Finraeth - great question :) Yes, the smart play is for jsut one of you to take the stress and pass the info on. Of course, that means nobody else can use that info until it's been passed to them. Also, you are reckless scoundrels and daring (it says so on your crew sheet) criminals who've killed a policeman already and will almost cerrainly kill again. It's possible you dont' always act in your best intresets and take the smart play?
@Lolo - your INsight/Prowess/Resolve is based on the number of actions you have points in, rather than the number of points. If you have Finess, Prowl, Wrck of 0 and Skirmish 4 you only have a Prowess of 1, you're jsut not that well-rounded.
Hope that meakes sense?
I tihink you've *totally* dodged a bullet there. I can remmber my teenage self and she was horrible ("you're not oging out like that!" was practiclaly my *ringtone*), I would have ahd a lot of fun throwning her at you!
As for her daughter, I picture her old enough to be a complication. :) 14, 15 somewhere in there. Old enough to be willful and making her own decisions, despite her mother's consternation. They do live together, though she's a bit of a latchkey with a dead dad and a mom out and about at strange hours.EDIT: Actually, I just read Jonah's take and I like it so much more. So she's younger, probably 10? @Jonah, I think your story of how Lolo and Jonah meet is perfect - thank you for putting that together!
Haha, yes, that was basically where I'd thought it would go by writing a teenager into Lolo's life. Lots of room for complications :)
@Lolo - your INsight/Prowess/Resolve is based on the number of actions you have points in, rather than the number of points. If you have Finess, Prowl, Wrck of 0 and Skirmish 4 you only have a Prowess of 1, you're jsut not that well-rounded.
Hope that meakes sense?
Ahhhhhhh, that makes a lot of sense. So with the resist - insight roll, Lolo would roll three dice, b/c she's got points in three actions (hunt, survey, tinker).
For the resist-resolve roll in the flashback, she'd roll 1D, as she only has points in 1 action (sway). (She's not going to resist that one, FYI)
Thank you for the clarification!
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@Finraeth - great question :) Yes, the smart play is for jsut one of you to take the stress and pass the info on. Of course, that means nobody else can use that info until it's been passed to them. Also, you are reckless scoundrels and daring (it says so on your crew sheet) criminals who've killed a policeman already and will almost cerrainly kill again. It's possible you dont' always act in your best intresets and take the smart play?
Understood. I have 2 Resolve so I will try to resist. Plus, it's personal. I'm not going to be overawed by some gang aristocrat, Finraeth has hobnobbed with the genuine article.
Ha. Zero stress!
And obviously Casia won't be resisting at all.
Resolve? What's that?
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GM: Thanks for the clarification. Given Jonah's desperate need for money and the obvious power differences I doubt he'd resist either one. He'd just maintain his usual skeptical and/or cynical attitude honed from life in a loosing military.
But I'll take the 3 stress since I already rolled that one and the whole thing probably triggers memories of that briefing right before that particularly horrible incident when his squad got decimated in Macho Grande. :)
Dareia won’t resist as I imagine she quite likes Mylera and has often enjoyed her establishments for what they are
And obviously Casia won't be resisting at all.
Resolve? What's that?
"And that, in a nutshell, is the root cause of your current problems, dear sister." :P
I will hold ont the Macho Grande incicndent for later use!
I'm happy to keep doing questions here and I will post a bit about Flashbaciks later on but I will hold off on posting in gameplay for another 24 horus or so to let everyone poast without feeling rushed.
OK, rules dicsussion part I've-lost-track: Flashbacks.
Plannning sucks, let's face it. Whether you do it in-character, which is time-consmuing, or out of character, there's always a bunch of stuff you prep for that never happens and it eats into the time you could be spending actually playing. BitD does away with that. It assumes your characters do the planning and leets us cut straight to the action.
At any point during a score any player can say "Wait up. I planned for this." They explain what they did and we cut to a scene where that happened. If it's a complicated plan, it might need an Action roll. If it's a plan with a lot of moving parts, you might haev to pay some stress as well, and/or possibly some Coin or some Rep.
You can't use a flashback to chane what's already happened. Bazso and Mylera are here talking to you, so you can't flashback to an assaination attempt on them. If you're surrounded by guards, you can't flashback to have them taken out. But you could flashback to a session where you Consorted with them the prevouis eveing and tried to bribe them. Or maybe you slipped something into their drinks so they'll be easier to fight. Or mabye you set a bomb to go off and get their attention urgenltly somewhere else. Or mabe getting caught was all part of the plan because it gets you into the building you want to go to and you have a key to the room they're going to lock you inside.
Dareia favors the Lady, for reasons obvious and otherwise. Here are reasons that are yet to be enumerated:
1. Baszo’s brand of strongmaning is effective at the underworld, but Dareia’s ambitions are greater and he would ultimately be a liability, one that could make disentanglement very messy at that
2. Baszo is dangerous, and worse, unpredictable. Part of Playing the Game to Dareia is making sure it runs according to plan. The fewer chaotic elements the better.
3. If Dareia was to be made aware of the Lady’s more precarious situation, she would actually consider that a point actually in favor of helping her as opposed to against. Offer someone a hand when are down, and they will never forget you. Offer them a hand when they are upright and they will never remember you. It offers a stronger long-term position.
4. Following 3, helping a weaker party defeat a stronger party prevents the latter from growing so strong as to be dominant. An even playing field benefits everyone, particularly the small fries digging their way up from the bottom.
5. The Lady Klev is upfront. She did not even pretend that we had a choice to come. Yes, she’s not being upfront about her power situation, but that is also her business. She does not seem the type to piss on us and tell us it’s raining, while Baszo absolutely seems the type.
So it seems like we could actually do both of these jobs. Accept the amulet from Mylera. Hold it (in some kind of lead lined container and hidden away so it can't do to us whatever she has planned for Beszo) and then do the job for Beszo. When/if we succeed at robbing the opium for Beszo then we've an opportunity to plant the charm in his safe when he needs to pay us.
Our first encounter in Baszo's office (the one we're at now) gives us a chance to case the place, maybe find the safe, look for opportunities for distractions, find out if he has an assistant who might know the combination or key, plant some backup equipment if we need it, etc.
Then we steal the drugs, hopefully without the Red's knowing it was us. Get back into Baszo's office under his good graces and figure a way to slip the charm into the safe. IF we don't get caught, there's no real reason to suspect us. After all we're just lowlifes and couldn't possibly pull off that trick especially since we just did a bang up job for him. We're on his good side.
IF we don't get caught stealing the drugs, Mylera has no reason to suspect us and we're still in her good graces for dropping the charm into Baszo's lap.
And we get coin for both missions and potentially weaken the both of them in some form or fashion.
Just a thought. Lot's of if's and chances for things to go wrong I'm sure. But hey, we're Daring right? :)
I think we should do both: run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. It's what daring scoundrels should do.
EDIT: ninja'd by Jonah!
Otherwise, I favour Baz for almost exactly the same reasons as Dareia, but in reverse if you see what I mean.
Baz is a simple soul. If he turns against us we'll see him coming. Klev is more complicated and we wouldn't necessarily know when we've outlived our usefulness.
I do NOT like that pendant. That is baaad juju and there's no upside to messing with things you don't understand. "Steal a bunch of drugs" is a much simpler score.
Doing both certainly is a kind of daring, but the better part of valor is discretion, and discretion is Dareia’s job :)
Doing both sounds short-sighted to Dareia. If anyone finds out, it also paints *us* as the unworkable third party who cannot be trusted, even if we somehow manage to finagle getting both payouts without either finding out about us. We’ll get double the rewards this time, but then who would want to hire us again? Don’t get me wrong; the “Yojimbo/Fistful of Dollars/Red Harvest/that one episode of pokemon” scenario is fun, but Sanjuro was just there to take out the gangs and get out. We have to live with these people after!
Lastly, Dareia would rather not betray Adelaide the first chance she got. She does not have an issue with betrayal *per se*, but the potential long term benefits would need to be greater for someone who has done right by her before. You can burn any bridge, but you can only do it once. And do it enough time and people stop letting you near bridges or selling you flammable materials.
OF *course* youd thik of doing both. Because appaenlty ppalyers won't stay on the railroud you set out for them, even when you given them a choice of 2 different tracks.
To be clear, that'a joke: you definitly *can* do both. I'm not going to say what you should/shouln't do, espcially since not everyone has posted. But there's a couple of things that have been said that I want to adress.
Hold it (in some kind of lead lined container and hidden away so it can't do to us whatever she has planned for Beszo)
Taht might work. You don't have a lead linec container right now, but it might work if you did. i wonnder where you would find one?
If anyone finds out, it also paints *us* as the unworkable third party who cannot be trusted, even if we somehow manage to finagle getting both payouts without either finding out about us.
That's not quite right. If you said "sure we'll do this job" and took the money ad didn't, THAT wolud be bad and nobody work with you again. But in this case you're taking money and doing the work. It might not be sensible for lots of other reasons, and maybe the Lampms and the Sashes migth have trouble trusting you again, but it's unlikelyl anyone else would care. There's a lot of gangs and they work for a lot of diferent people.
You're palying criminals. Nobody trusts you taht much anyway.
That’s fair. I was under the impression these were like *the* two big gangs of the area, so that helps add context. I still oppose doing both but less so.