Success! Well worth taking that bargain :)
So, the "follow the silver thread" clock is at 2/4; the "Kohanna arrives" clock is at 2/6.
I will post accordingly.
Sorry, been pretty swamped so far this week.
Going to just use Survey to keep following the thread and subtly mark a path for the others to follow.
One more tick on the clock, you're at 3/4 now!
I have an idea for a complication - based on Jonah's excellent post - but it's an "adds drama" one rather than "makes your mission more complicated." My thought is that the Ghost Field emanations mean that Ranna sees some things in the mirror too, some truthful scenes from her own past and then a few scenes of the Dusk Mites (Jonah watching as Lolo* shoots Hutton's daughter dead, Finraeth taking on the Silver Nails, Casia stabbing Hutton to death while dressed in the Nails' costume) that make her realise that the Mites were far more involved in taking down the Grinders than she'd previously realised.
What she is seeing is true, but the Ghost Field presents it in the worst possible light - maybe creating an expression of glee on Casia's face as she kills Hutton, for example, or making it look as though Jonah is encouraging Lolo to murder Hutton's daughter when in fact it was a kill-or-be-killed situation and Jonah was just a witness.
Thoughts? I'm assuming that nobody has straight-up sat her down and told her the truth - if they have, this scene loses its impact completely and I will think of something else.
*I know Ranna won't know who Lolo is, but Jonah's presence on the scene should make it clear that she is/was another member of their crew.
I really, really like that idea. I feel like Ranna would need to Resist with either Insight or Resolve to not completely freak out if she saw all that in the mirror, so assuming everyone else is okay with this GM please do roll that for me.
I'm not sure what you mean - the Resist roll doesn't govern whether you pass/fail, it sets out how much stress you take for succeeding. Whether or not Ranna freaks out is up to you; unless I've misunderstood what you were getting at.
Glad you like the idea though :)
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I just feel like she should take some stress for this. Maybe she's resisting Level 1 Harm (Extremely F!$~ing Traumatized)?
Also, this is something I love about this game. I am actually arguing that my character should have a mechanical penalty even though the GM never suggested it.
I just feel like she should take some stress for this. Maybe she's resisting Level 1 Harm (Extremely F~+$ing Traumatized)?
Also, this is something I love about this game. I am actually arguing that my character should have a mechanical penalty even though the GM never suggested it.
I have previously noted this phenomenon... :)
OK, resisting level 1 Harm it is - I think trauma is resisted with resolve in this case although your resolve and insight are the same so it doesn't really matter
And you're safe :)
EDIT: do you want me to set the scene with a post in gameplay, or do you want to take it from here? I'm good either way.
If you have something in mind and want to set the scene, go for it. Otherwise I'll get something written up in a few hours. (Right now I have to go do some actual work grumble grumble.)
I had some time in hand so I wrote something - feel free to take it and run with it :)
@Cas/Luce - I've included you in the fun but don't feel you have to make a Resist roll
@Jonah: is it just the mirrors that you marked with your chalk that are affected, or is it all the mirrors in the building?
Not marking the mirrors specifically, mostly just indicating direction or turns to take at intersections. Marks might be near a mirror but could also be on the floor, wall, a tabletop. Mixing it up so it isn't as obvious or easy to track outside of our own crew. At least that was the intent.
Luce is trying to charm her way into the information she needs - I'm thinking that the request for a stimulant is common enough that it's a consort action, but if sway makes more sense to you then just ignore the last dice. :)
I agree that's probably a common request, but I'm not chilled about having a kid working in the Silver Staff even if it's just menial duties. I'm going to up-age them a bit - a gangly, still-youthful, 18 year old.
The complication is that they'll tell you where to go, but they don't have the key so they will go and find someone to meet you there - they're being super-helpful, see? :D
You can Resist that with... actually, I'm not sure. Why don't you tell me how you Resist it (assuming you choose to Resist)?
The other complication is lost time, so another tick on the "Kohanna arrives" clock, now at 3/6
You can Resist that with Prowess, moving fast.
Np boss. Apologies, I have high tolerances where real world things come in. (Child labor in victoriana England, sad but true).
Couldn't resist with Sway? Basically lie to his face and say 'oh don't worry, I've already been given a key'? Or is that too specific?
That works - Sway is covered by Resolve, so that's what we'll roll
No stress for you! This time...
Do you want to resist the "Kohanna arrives" clock as well?
Anyway, that fills the "follow the silver thread" clock so you are there! I will post accordingly :)
Not going to resist the other clock I think. Don't want to take the risk.
Ranna has fine wrecking tools, which come with vials of acid. How do people feel about using some on the lock to get us through? (Or we could pick it I guess, which would probably have a better outcome but feels less cool.)
That could work - like I said, think "bank vault" type steel door.
Also, feel free to continue any conversations you were having via spoilers, I wanted to keep the game flowing but don't let that interrupt the drama :)
Could we gain the benefit of both Casia's 'Fine Lockpicks' as well as Ranna's 'Vials of Acid'?
Hoping that would improve upon Casia's 1 die in Tinker. :)
Using the acid works for me.
I just noticed Ranna's 3 dice in Tinker.
Casia hands over her lockpicks to the far superior Tinker-er.
Hmm... I think Tinker is about taking things apart (knowledgeably - just smashing is probably Wreck). Using acid to take off the lock-plate without damaging the lock mechanism underneath sounds like Tinker. Picking the lock mechanism once it's exposed sounds like Finesse - deft, close work with fine movements.
Also, this guy is higher Tier than you are so you're looking at limited effect on your action rolls here.
Would the Infiltrator special ability apply in this case?
If that ability applies it would help Casia with the actual lock-picking (since her finesse is higher), but not Ranna with the Tinker roll to get the lock-plate off. I'm guessing this would be a risky roll, could Ranna trade position for effect to make it a desperate roll with a standard effect? (Maybe she uses more acid, doing a better job of getting to the lock at the cost of increasing her chances of injuring herself?)
@Casia - yes, it does.
@Ranna - sounds reasonable to me
Anyone else want to chip in with anything?
Jonah could Survey the door for any alchemical or arcane traps or alarms. Maybe to help improve our position? I've only got one die in Survey, but he could use his fine spirit mask in the process since we're looking for something that would potentially have an arcane resonance. I think the 'Quality Implements/Tools' crew advance stacks with the 'Fine' gear on the character sheet, so that could put Jonah at Tier 3. Let me know if that isn't correct.
I can offer the free assist from Foresight - otherwise I'm pretty useless, this isn't my strength. I need people damn it!
I guess I could slip off and try to cause some trouble so that Kohanna gets held up?
Or... I have blueprints as a gear option. If my contact inside could have told me about this beforehand then I could have arranged for blueprints of the vault door itself? Maybe make the lockpicking job easier?
Not sure if that's using my gear or a flashback or what?
Jonah - that works, puts you on equal Tier so full effect.
Luce - that works too, blueprints take up 1 load and let's say a zero stress flashback using sway to persuade one of your contacts to get hold of the specs and talk you through them. Plus of course you can use Foresight to assist someone - given Jonah only has 1 dot in Survey he'd probably be a good choice.
Since this is a desperate roll and Ranna's doing okay on stress she'll push herself for an extra die. Three should be sufficient, but she's failed on three dice before.
...Okay, all of her sixes have officially been used. Do not expect any success from her for the rest of the score.
I'll get her part written up shortly.
... and here's Casia's Finesse roll using her fancy lockpicks ...
Okay, yeah ...
The circle is always turning.
I'll post for Casia once Ranna posts.
OK so I need to do a post with the flashback for the blueprints for Casia and the foresight help for Jonah.
I'll try and get that done soonish so Casia can post.
Well, that was a lot of 6's.
The balance is now restored...
Wow, back-to-back crits! Not sure that happens very often in this game. Been busy to day, apologies for lack of posts. I'll get us going again tomorrow.
So, a critical success means you get what you want plus a bit extra. Let's say that Ranna and Casia between them manage to take off the lock-plate and get the door open in such a way that the plate and lock mechanism can be replaced with no sign you were there. Unless anyone examines the door closely, once it's shut it will look completely secure.
You also both completely bypass the mechanical trap mechanism I had planned - you spot it and disarm it before it can go off.
However... Jonah fails to spot the magical trap that was in place. Because you rolled a miss, one bad thing happens that you can't Resist and another consequence happens that you can choose to Resist.
The consequence you can Resist is that the magical trap triggers an alarm - a loud, bell-like sound rings out through the entire building and brings guards running!
You can opt to Resist this with Insight - spotting it just in time and bypassing the ward (it's a pretty standard enchantment, the sort you've seen before).
The bad thing you can't resist is that Jonah's attempt to bypass the trap (whether successful or not) takes up valuable time. Two more ticks on the "Kohanna arrives" clock, now at 5/6.
I'll go ahead and try to Resist with Insight which is at 3d6.
So you're fine :)
Alarm doesn't go off, but Kohanna is getting perilously close...
So... splitting the party?
Luce could split off from the rest and look to cause a scene of some sort - which would hopefully slow down Kohana and give the rest of the group time to make their exit...
Or is that suicide in this sort of game?
IC we know Kohana's coming but not how close. Personally I vote we all head inside and start grabbing stuff as quickly as possible.
Splitting up isn't necessarily suicide in this game at all - but Ranna's correct. I will give you a post where the door opens to reveal its riches later today :)
Sorry, work has hit me hard today. Post tomorrow.
A few quick points to forestall obvious questions
1) This is a game about drama and decisions, playing to find out who your character is. It is NOT a d20-based game of encumbrance ("if I drop 20 lbs of that, can I take 20 lbs of this instead?") or logic puzzles ("I take the goat across first and leave the wolf with the lettuce."). Please take the dilemmas I have presented you with at face value.
2) Ranna - like all scientists and engineers since forever - has (one assumes) built in some redundancy to what she is giving you. One of Casia/Jonah/Ranna could - probably - 'cheat' on the deal and she would still have enough to keep her clinic running smoothly. Of course, you don't know that, and you certainly aren't about to collude in-character unless you have a means of communicating that Ranna can't perceive (this is BitD so I'm not ruling it out).
3) The high-value stuff Ranna is giving you is worth 4 Coin. Each person who gives in to Ranna's request and takes the bottles of carbolic instead will mean that the loot is worth 1 less Coin (so if all three of you give in, you still get 1 Coin).
4) This isn't about dice rolls. There's no easy way out of this that can be resolved using an action roll or taking on stress to resist.
Hopefully that answers the obvious questions but I'm sure there are questions I haven't thought of.
"No," she says out loud. "This is a debt paid."
Casia begins to gather the bottles of carbolic phenol.
Proud of you, sis :)
Ranna's asking Luce if she'll carry the less-effective painkillers instead of the valuable stuff. It'd be the same trade as the carbolic phenol, (Coin for medicine), which I hope is okay and not skirting the moral dilemma.
That works! Coin for medicine is ok.
Right, you've all done the full Scott Pilgrim and unlocked the power of friendship (TM), meaning your total take from this score will be 1 Coin.
Well done everyone, some great roleplaying! Moving us on.
So you've done the Break-in and the Heist; now you need to do the Getaway.
Since we've already established that Luce had blueprints of the vault door, maybe she has blueprints of the whole building? They didn't help earlier because she wasn't sure exactly where she was, but now that we have a solid starting location in the vault she could plot out an alternate escape route.
Yup, that works. IIRC, Luce got a critical success when she did that flashback reconnaissance so I'm going to say that no further flashback is needed. Of course, planning out a route in advance and actually running it under pressure are two different things, so I think it needs an Action roll.
Luce - I would accept Study or Survey, but if you have an alternative idea I'm listening :)
If people have other ideas please suggest them; this was just the first one to pop into my head.
If Luce, (and everyone else), want to move forward with the blueprint plan Ranna will Assist. She was trying so hard not to look at the mirrors while they were lost that the route she took is burned into her mind. Meaning she could look at the blueprints and say "Oh hey, we just passed through there and that corridor is completely empty, let's go that way."