Yeah, one of the perils of improv like this is that people can be left dangling a bit - my bad. I'm aiming to wrap this session zero up in the next few posts so we can get to the meat of the game; thanks for bearing with me :)
Ok, in the interest of moving to the actual game I'm wrapping session zero. Anyone who wants to continue posting for 8 Gennaio is free to do so (and I will post in response if needed), but I will move us forward a few days and start Season One tomorrow.
A bedraggled, filth stained piece of hand embroidered butterfly wing falls free of the single remaining thread attaching it to the tattered garment. Amazingly, it seems this garment had suffered a fate even worse than that of her New Year's gown
OK, we are definitely not just leaving that one hanging!
That last courtesy of Calliope whose fury over the loss of what was apparently her blouse and not Kyra's
I'm going to let Kyra have the last word on that, given that we previously established it was hers rather than someone else's. I'm generally fine with re-writing and retconning things but I'd prefer to do it with buy-in from the players concerned.
Sorry, I could have sworn Kyra had posted something about the shirt actually belonging to her mother early on, but now I can't find it. I'm fine with it just being Kyra's, I was actually trying to circle it back to what I thought she had posted.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ah, in that case the confusion is between Lady Calliope (one of the key NPCs of House Bastien) and Calista (Kyra's mother).
In hindsight, I probably should have come up with a different name for Calliope in order to avoid this sort of confusion, but there is precedent for NPCs with confusingly similar names.
I can change Calista's name to avoid confusion. I picked it means "very beautiful" and because it's similar to Calistria.
And the shirt is Kyra's, but her mother wanted to borrow it as well and got angry when she found out that Kyra had already loaned it to Sasha.
In hindsight, I probably should have come up with a different name for Calliope in order to avoid this sort of confusion, but there is precedent for NPCs with confusingly similar names.
You should see the game where the party consists of Viv, Vy and Von!
Ah, in that case the confusion is between Lady Calliope (one of the key NPCs of House Bastien) and Calista (Kyra's mother).
In hindsight, I probably should have come up with a different name for Calliope in order to avoid this sort of confusion, but there is precedent for NPCs with confusingly similar names.
Yep, it seems I was doubly confused (this does not come as a surprise). Both between Calliope and Calista. And the fact that Calista wanted to borrow it as well, not that she owned it.
I think I may need to start a quick google doc to try and keep all of the NPC's straight.
I think I may need to start a quick google doc to try and keep all of the NPC's straight.
In a game like this one where NPCs are the bread and butter and get created on a whim and whistle, I highly recommend that we have one of these that's editable by all of us.
"I would in particular caution you about discussing this with those of your little group who think that being discreet is about how many knives you can conceal under a ball-gown."
Elisabetta wouldn't be caught dead in a ball-gown, I'll have you know!
And if someone's asking ... six. Actually seven, but the last one is fairly small and would only be effective in very specific circumstances.
A spreadsheet or some other document to track the NPCs makes a lot of sense. I'm happy to put one together, but if you've made a start then pls send me the link and I will post it up top for people to see and edit :)
Also, if anyone would like to have significant pasts with significant NPCs that's fine (I aspire to be a "Yes, and..." GM rather than a "hard no" GM) but I would appreciate a heads-up in advance :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I had some time so I put together an NPC listing. I've put the link up top, should be editable by all of you but let me know if not. We're already at almost 30 named NPCs, not counting the late unlamented Petey.
Seems like a couple of Gather Information rolls might be in order to get started on our task. Some possible questions might be:
What is a problem or challenge that Corvetto is dealing with? What, if any, help would Bastien be the best suited to provide?
Our resource strengths are in Transport and Intelligence, so we perhaps focus on any rumors of them needing to move goods/people or find out something or find someone. Our sphere of influence being the Canals also points to a possible Transport job. Our other 'strength' is being generally on good terms with the general populace. Are they looking for a popular agitator? Criminal? Or maybe they want something smuggled through the city without the population knowing or with plausible deniability should the effort be discovered. Making House Bastien be the ones to deliver a task that would potentially generate the ire of the populace could certainly suit their needs.
We've a contact in the canals, Aurelio the Information Broker, perhaps one of those with a good Consort or Sway could see what he knows?
There are also a couple of potential 'leads' based on our session 0. That Corvetto carriage in the Twist. Could there be a connection? Maybe a Survey, Hunt, or Consort action to try and track the carriage down or where they were going/coming from in such a hurry?
Then there is the Bountiful Beauty. We've some evidence of smuggling. Maybe Corvetto wants to deal with that, but that didn't really happen until after the ball and after Constantin got ill, so probably not related.
Another thought, might be to quietly question the healers/servants sitting with Constantin. Using some guise of insuring House security or something to find out what Constantin has said throughout the day and night. Most of it will be rubbish, but something might stand out as a clue?
Finally, Lucretia might also know something. I'd guess Cesare wouldn't really want us talking to her directly in order not to have a potential failure used against him in their power struggle. But could their father have told his sister and she's holding back? Maybe to swoop in at the last moment to save Bastien but to knock Cesare down a couple of pegs.
Sorry for the long speculative post, but trying to contemplate some starting points.
All of this ^^^ is good thinking and it makes me inordinately happy that someone's been paying attention to my posts, but we're still in the prologue - I promised you a triumvirate of tasks and so far I've only delivered one.
Unfortunately, given my current workload any update will have to wait until tomorrow or possibly Friday :(
Feel free to keep the conversation going in either prologue - just be clear in your post what date/meeting you are speaking at please :)
Adding in Giovanni the decrepit private secretary and Tommaso* the First Prince's ambitious consigliere takes us to 30 named NPCs in 50 posts of gameplay.
*Violetta's not the only one who takes inspiration from historical figures
@Luciana & Violetta: just checking you saw the spoilers addressed to you in my post on the previous page of the gameplay thread.
I hit a bit of a mental slump recently, so I'm afraid I have not seen much of anything. I will do what I can to remedy this, though. :)
Thanks for checking in, it's appreciated. I'm struggling with a bad cold, so it may be a day or two before I can post very much.
I tried to edit but missed the window. Violetta will go and visit Lucretia to get the third task before she visits Giovanni, but she assumes that the entire Hand need not go, thus giving everyone their marching orders. :)
If that's a problem please say so/overwrite me.
"We can feedback then. If you need me before then I'll be in the Pocket." Where else does a hand go when it's at rest? It's a slightly silly nickname for their small house within Bastien's much larger complex but it serves its purpose well enough
I love this!
Right, I'm back. Thanks for bearing with me and thanks Violetta for keeping things moving.
I would suggest that you all attend each of the briefings, if only to avoid giving your bosses the idea that you are snubbing them. I'm going to post that now, and will write more here anon.
One of the key things that distinguishes this game from Blades in the Dark is that in BitD you are just focused on doing the next score, and whatever happens after that can take care of itself. In Court of Blades, you are provided with three separate tasks at the start of each social Season; and in each social Season, you may run three Errands (the equivalent of scores in BitD).
So far so good, you may be thinking: we have 3 Errands, we have 3 tasks, it's a simple fit, right? Not so fast. After each Errand, when we go into Downtime, I will roll for possible entanglements which represent matters arising from the previous Errand; and the city will respond to your actions, changing in ways that you may need to take action to overcome, necessitating its own Errand. Thus, you will never have enough time to accomplish all that you wish; and this is by design.
There is therefore no real prospect that you will be able to accomplish all three of the tasks to which you have been assigned, although obviously it would be ideal if you can manage it.
What you need to do instead is decide which of your three tasks is the primary goal for this social Season; and which is the secondary goal. Whether you choose to do that in-character or out of character is up to you.
Well I think Lucretia's is our tertiary goal. It's definitely the least important. Honestly I'd like some more information before deciding between the other two - if one can be acted on much quicker than the other then it should be our priority...
So I respectfully request that we get our initial information (or lack thereof) and decided one primary goals over dinner tonight. Violetta may well try and run them both more or less simultaneously anyway. No point learning how to Xanatos Speed Chess if you don't have at least two plans ongoing!
@WW: you say we're not meant to manage all three tasks, but you can bet your ass and your donkey too that Violetta will try!
Can I ask what more you would need to know in order to decide on which is your primary and which is your secondary? There's no right/wrong answer here, it's about what direction you guys want to go in - or which sounds more fun.
Sasha is all for trying to do both the Corvetto and Baker's Guild errands. If pushed to prioritize one of the two, she'd lean toward figuring out the favor for the Corvetto. Simply because failing to deliver a favor and ending up on the bad side of the Corvetto would worry her much more than having to find another way to placate or win back the Baker's Guild.
WW: Assuming we are going to go for both errands and following Violetta's suggestion to track down Tomaso and Luther, do we begin with knowing what either of the men look like? If not, then she'd look to Gather Information to figure out who Luther is. It should be possible to contact him through the Bank. Probably by disguising herself as an ship's captain who is representing a group of investors looking to finalize a trade deal with some Ibericans. Her investors are very cautious and a stickler for contracts and rules, thus the need for an arbiter. Luciana could play one of the wealthy investors unless she has another angle to work. (Skulk) With Luther identified, they could then set up surveillance to see who he meets with, where he goes, where he lives, does he have an office at home or outside of the Bank, vices, debts, or connections that could be leveraged, etc. (Survey or maybe Hunt).
That's the general direction. Starting with Luther first as she'd prefer not to risk any notice from Corvetto agents at this early stage and hoping Luther could possibly lead her to Tomaso.
@Sasha - I put some information on Tommaso in Luciana's spoiler but she hasn't checked in for a few days. Briefly, Tommaso is the First Prince's right-hand man, someone who came up from the Twist with nothing and got there the hard way. Charming, ruthless and brutally intelligent, he is one of the most powerful people in Ilrien. The issue is not so much do you know what he looks like, but can you get an appointment with him.
As for Luther, he is reasonably prominent at the Bank of Brass & Bone. I will leave it to you whether anyone in the Gloved Hand would know him or maybe would know someone who moves in his circles - otherwise your suggestions for identifying him look good to me :)
Can I ask what more you would need to know in order to decide on which is your primary and which is your secondary? There's no right/wrong answer here, it's about what direction you guys want to go in - or which sounds more fun.
A sense of which one matters more would help. My first thought is that getting the Corvetto's onto a good footing matters most but that's just instinct. That one also has a time limit on it seemingly, so again it seems like its priority one.
Basically I'd like to know how urgent the baker's guild is. If the land is going into court in two days or something similar then we need to move quickly and its priority one. If its tied up in wrangling and we have time then that's easier and it becomes the second choice.
For me right now its:
1. Corvettos for Cesare
2. Bakers Guild for Caliope
3. Al-Mari for Lucretia
If nothing we find out before dinner suggests that that's incorrect then that's what she'll propose.
In terms of urgency, neither is more urgent than the other: both primary and secondary objectives need to be completed by the end of the social season.
As for which one matters more... all I can really say is what you know already, which is that your ultimate goal is to supplant House Corvetto, for which you will need allies (such as the Guilds); but for now, Corvetto is at the top of the tree so you want to avoid their enmity for as long as you can.
Apologies for my inactivity of late – I have been juggling, and generally failing to keep up with, a variety of things, compounded further by the aforementioned mental/creative slump. I’m really hoping to get caught up on everything ere long, but I also know better at this point than to make any promises.
@Luciana - thanks for checking in to keep us updated, I think we've all been there so no judgement!
@Kyra - I like that idea, I think you can definitely get away with that as a cover story for a while at least. Are you basically just looking around to gather information (probably Survey)? Or are you looking to talk to people and get more involved (probably Consort?)?
Definitely talk to people. The fictitious party is a pretext for Kyra to stick her nose into people's business via gossip. So Consort/Sway to gather information, if that makes sense.
Hi all, unfortunately I've been called away with work at the last minute so I'm going to be travelling most of this weekend. I'll try and get a post up Sunday evening (UK time) but it might not happen.
Apologies for the slow posting rate, this game is not going at a pace I had hoped for. Hopefully you're all still engaged and having fun.
For what it's worth, I am trying to catch up on the game and the ten unread posts staring me in the face. It looks like I may really need to lean into Luciana's lack of political sophistication to compensate for my being personally daunted by all these new developments, alas!
I don't mind a slower pace. Just started a new job, so I have less time and brainspace than before. :D
Sorry, travel and workload cost me more days than I planned. Revisiting this now.
OK, Kyra, you have a Gather Information roll using 2d of Consort so let's see how that goes
a 6! Full success.
I will write that up now :)
Anyone else who wants to do anything, let me know.
Sasha would be implementing her plan to tail Luther to find out possible leverage opportunities or if he tends to keep important papers at home. I'm guessing either a Skulk (2d) or Survey (1d) Gather Info.
Skulk sounds better for this, I think.
a 5, no equivocation from the dice there! That's partial/limited. I will write that up now.
I'm happy to provide advice on what to do if anyone's stuck, but I'm waiting on you guys to give me some direction on where you're going.
I propose:
1. A thorough recon of Lucien's house/servants etc is carried out.
1b. We find out as much as possible about Lord Ambrose.
2. We break into Lucien's house, based on whatever information we can find out about it. Then if we're really lucky we'll find some information on Ambrose's debts as well as the details of the Corvetto/Bastian deal.
So Sasha and Elisabetta roll Skulk/Survey?
Kyra and I (and Luciana if she's around) roll for Ambrose.
Then we can move onto a breaking/entering scene.
-------------------------------------------------------
GM: Curious if we are still in the Free Play phase or if we are moving into the Errand phase and need an engagement roll? Don't we need to select a specific errand and the basic plan? Sounds like Stealth for Cesere's errand. Maybe Social or Deception for Calliope's?
@Sasha - we are still in free play/gather information. You will know when we are moving to an Errand because either you guys will tell me (in-character or ooc) that you have a plan to accomplish your goal (meaning that we need an engagement roll to start the Errand); or (if I think things have stalled) I will say something like "sounds like you guys have enough information to be going on with, if you need more info we can always flashback to grab it. What's your plan?"
@Violetta - recon/break in of Luther's house is doable as part of gather info for sure. It's not the Bank but there's still a lot of security, even for retainers with Tier 2 resources such as yourselves. I think this is difficult enough that it's going to take several action rolls (not fortune rolls); which means you may face Consequences if things don't go smooth. That shouldn't stop you but I'm just letting you know. But you're the daring retainers of the House whose motto is They Said We Could Not - you're up for a little danger, right?
I think you can do this with 3 Risky Action rolls, or 2 Desperate Action rolls. Let me know what you want to go for.
Also, if anyone needs a reminder on Fortune rolls, Action rolls, Risky vs Desperate, or other rule queries then speak up and I will do my best to elaborate.
Then if we're really lucky we'll find some information on Ambrose's debts as well as the details of the Corvetto/Bastian deal.
The fact you don't know a lot about Lord Ambrose is enough to tell you that he's not important enough to be doing side deals with one of the Bank's major fixers. There won't be anything on him at Luther's private residence.
[dice=Study vs. Ambrose]2d6
That's a gather info roll without a lot of context. What are you doing fiction-wise?
Kyra could Sway/Consort other Blue Devils to get more info on Ambrose, although they're not usually her scene.
Violetta will pour over documentation - there must be genealogies and histories of notable (or otherwise) families.
Equally if there are any social events he's likely to be at then she can go and study the man himself, that would be preferable but the first one is probably easier and more immediate.
As I remain incapable of mustering the drive needed to catch up on this game, let alone make any posts, I think it's past time for me to formally withdraw.
Thanks for having me, and my apologies for being little more than dead weight.
I'm sorry to hear that Luciana - I've been there too so I understand how it goes. I really enjoyed reading your posts, and I hope life gets better for you very soon.
Violetta will pour over documentation - there must be genealogies and histories of notable (or otherwise) families.
Equally if there are any social events he's likely to be at then she can go and study the man himself, that would be preferable but the first one is probably easier and more immediate.
Absolutely, there are lots of archives although that may not tell you much about the person himself. There's always a social gathering though (this is Ilrien!) so I will think about where you might overlap.
@Kyra - I don't see you as having much (anything) in common with the Blue Devils, who are basically posh football hooligans with duelling swords. I think it would be difficult to gain their confidence enough to get them to open up to you. let me know if you have any ideas on how to make it work.
Sorry to see you go, Luciana, but you need to do what's best for you.
+1 to what GM WW said. :)
Take care, and best of luck with everything!
I'm reasonably sure I'm waiting on you guys to tell me what you're doing next, but if you want a hint/nudge/push then let me know.