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Running sounds just fine.

Would anyone like my last assist?

Okay so, Min is down to 2 Stress. I'd rather not pick up Trauma and crash out before we're quite done here...

That said, I could still spend 1 Stress to give one of you guys an extra die. Don't hesitate to ask if you think you'll need it.

Min's not a melee fighter unless things have gotten truly, truly desperate. And I want to use some of my other Actions!

So: Tinker 2d6 ⇒ (6, 4) = 10 -- going to push myself, just 2 Stress left.

TBC, Min is making sure that when/if the bodyguards do show up, we'll either have increased effect against them, or a better position. He's willing to join the fight against Hutton if there's absolutely no other option, but he's a Whisper, so he defaults to support actions...

Ooh ooh!

This sounds like a pretty mission-critical roll. So, Min is totally willing to spend his second and last Foresight roll to give Casia an extra die.

Casia, are you good with that?

(Edit: I did a post setting up the Foresight, but feel free to ignore it if you think we should use that die some other time.)

I'm around. Vacation with family last few days, and a nine hour drive tomorrow, but will try to get something up.

Thematically I like the ghost thing. How many dice can you get on it?

Press on anyway? Or do something about it?

What could we do?

You can resist with Prowess.

I have one die in Prowess -- and only 4 Stress left. So that's a 1/3 chance of me leaving the heist right there.

Anyone else? Casia, do you want to try? (It's fine if you don't.)

Are we waiting on Casia's Survey roll, or something else?

Now seems like a good time for Casia to do that Survey roll (with an extra die, or better effect, from Min's flashback).

Wow, that cost 3 stress. Ouch. Min is now down to 4 out of 9 Stress, and we haven't even started the proper heist yet.

Still... not separated.

Okay, Min will try resisting with Resolve.

3d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 3) = 7

I like it! And thanks for the recommend, I haven't encountered that author but the work sounds good so I will look out for it.

It came out in 1980, and is considered a minor classic. It's very odd, though, and not to everyone's taste -- it's long, deliberately slow-moving, and rather "literary". I like it a lot, but YMMV.

I like it! And thanks for the recommend, I haven't encountered that author but the work sounds good so I will look out for it.

It came out in 1980, and is considered a minor classic. It's very odd, though, and not to everyone's taste -- it's long, deliberately slow-moving, and rather "literary". I like it a lot, but YMMV.

Tangent: in his fantasy novel _Little, Big_, author John Crowley came up with a very cool method of divination. You start with the standard Memory Mansion, which is an actual thing that people have used since the ancient Greeks, and that thousands of people are still using right now. But Crowley's wizard, the excellently named Ariel Hawksquill, allows her mind to drift a little so that the images may change just a bit. So, wandering through her memory mansion, she may find that the ballerina is now a gymnast, or the Grecian column is now a steel girder. And she can use these changes as omens or portents, to learn about things that are past, or passing, or to come.

Anyway: flashback complete. Min /thinks/ he has a good route out of here, and all Cassia has to do is follow directions and scout for obstacles or surprises. Of course, Augus' maps may have been flawed, things may have changed, you name it.

Hey, remember that Min's nemesis is an architect? [rummages] "Enemy: Augus, a master architect. I humiliated him and he hates me. You might not think a master architect would be a frightening nemesis, but Augus is very wealthy, very well connected, and very vindictive. Mind, rumors of him building a death maze are probably exaggerated."

Okay, so... part of Augus' stock in trade is that he designs buildings with secret passages and hidden rooms. And he also has access to maps for many -- not all, but many -- of the passages beneath the city, so that his wealth clients can always have ratlines as well as safe rooms.

I haven't fleshed out Min's relationship with Augus, but I think he exposed something nefarious -- maybe by publishing plans for something unpleasant that he was planning to build. So Min must have gotten close to him. Which suggests that (Min being Min) he'd either have copies, or have the key details memorized.

So I could maybe do a flashback to dictating the plans? That seems like it would be 1 Stress, no roll, though of course the GM is the judge of that. And then it would give Casia either another die or increased effect?

I like it. Casia, are you up for that?

Hey, a win's a win. Don't forget the 1 xp for making a Desperate roll!

Okay then, forget swaying these dopey cultists. I think Attuning the ghost is the way to roll here, and I think Jonah is the guy to do it.

Jonah gets 2 dice, +1 for the Survey, and +1 for Min's Foresight. That's four dice, which should get us /some/ sort of result. (I assume this is probably a Desperate roll, yes? Those are the ones I want to invest Foresight in.)

Well, I like Jonah's proposed "Sway cultists, then Attune ghost" idea.

I'm ready to drop one of my Foresight assists on one of these rolls. If we're going with that, give me a quick heads-up and I'll write into it.

When in doubt, go through the Action list.

Insight: it doesn't seem like there's time to Study or Survey the situation -- although if we can, more information would be good to have. I suppose the failure mode there would be "while you're standing there studying the creature, bad stuff happens". DM, what do you think?

Meanwhile Hunt and Tinker aren't obviously relevant (though goodness knows, clever players can always come up with something).

Prowess: Skirmish is the obvious one here, although Wreck is up there too -- just commit mayhem and figure out what next afterwards. We're spotted, that's fixed, so it doesn't seem like we can Prowl our way out. Finesse... eh?

Resolve: Okay, Attune leaps to mind as the way to deal with this obviously magical situation. Jonah is the tank here; Min could throw an assist and/or use Foresight. However, if someone has two dice in Command, barking orders at the cultists seems possible (maybe combining it with an Assist action to impersonate, I don't know, a rival spirit or something?)

Consort is another one that probably takes too long. But Sway -- maybe a fast-talk to convince the cultists that we're reinforcements / here to help / whatever?

Team, what think you?

[braces for Stress and Harm]

Team, remember Min has Foresight -- twice / heist, can assist a teammate without paying Stress. Hey, it's an extra die.

My friend is a Bluecoat archivist. Not sure I see an obvious way to use him. Research of some sort? How might that help here?

Okay, so it looks like we've gone with Stealth as our approach. We have the standard 1 die, +1 for Second Story. Should we get (or lose) any dice beyond that?

Min likes Deception, Stealth, and Social approaches. Occult would normally be fine but, yeah, maybe not just now. Assault is not his thing, though he can fight if cornered.

Do any of us have contacts or other resources that could potentially be leveraged for an extra die on the Engagement roll? I have the Bluecoat archivist that I can chat with...

Nice. I don't see a role for Min in this specific scene, but I like this.

Okay, so I guess the next step would be the actual heist. I think the standard setup is, we discuss it in general terms, then we decide on an approach, pick load, and then make the engagement roll. Of course, the GM can add to or amend that in all sorts of ways.

The general outline was, there are these two factions that we sharply dislike, so let's set them at each other's throats -- although (if I understand correctly) our priority is crushing the Grinders. Fair summary?

Okay, so... we've completed the pre-heist activities? Fantastic!

What now?

I'm not sure where we are at this point. Are we ready to move to an actual resolution of all this set up?

There were to be 4 pre-heist actions -- everybody does one, and everybody assists on one. 2 of the 4 are complete, and Finraeth is about to write #3. So #4 (which is yours) is about to begin.

1) Min with Finraeth assist: alerting Silver Nails to the Grinder "danger". Done.

2) Casia with Min assist: framing Nails for assassination attempt on Grinder leader. Done.

3) Finraeth with Jonah assist -- in progress.

4) Jonah with Casia assist -- still to do (but you could probably start on it).

On the plus side, you're doing a setup action, not just saying "I assist" and paying a point of Stress.

IOW, you eat that consequence, but I think you don't spend that Stress point.

Well woo darn dang!

I'm really sorry, 2023 has already got away from me!

No worries! Just hoping that all is well with mother and child, and also with you.

With Resolve? Casia?

Bwahahahahahaha!!!

Oh, wait. You were serious, weren't you?

Yeah, no. I'll pass on that roll. :)

With no dice... yeah, the odds are you'd end up eating 4 or 5 Stress. That's half your Stress track, and the proper heist hasn't even started yet.

That said, if we're playing this straight (and we should), then Min and/or Jonah should be casting as per normal. Min in particular likes Weaving as a setup action. So, good chance this will come back to bite us at some point. But then, "something we did is coming back now to bite us" is pretty precisely how this game works!

Niiiiiice.

Success! But with some consequence...

There was no discussion of position and such, but I would guess Risky / Standard? Is that the default?

Prowl, or maybe Finesse? Would be two dice either way.

You can use my Assist for a third die, or for increased effect. And of course, a DB if you want to go that route.

I have nothing to add. It's good stuff; carry on!

Thanks, man.

And Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays) to all you scoundrels. Thanks for inviting me along!

First part posted. Gonna give Min a chance for any input before moving on.

Done!

So I've set the parameters of the sorts of magic Min can work. (Or the sorts he prefers to. He could maybe throw a fireball if he were cornered and desperate, but he might die of embarrassment from the sheer vulgarity.) My thought here is that he can put some sort of enchantment on the knife -- maybe one that convinces the next holder of a particular fact, or induces a general paranoia. But I'm open to whatever Casia thinks would be helpful to her narrative. For that matter, Min doesn't have to do anything magical at all -- if Casia wants to fit him in some other way, by Consorting or whatever, that works too.

So, back to you!

I don't think we did? But the general goal is to incite a war between the Silver Nails and the Grinders -- much easier than taking on the Grinders (a higher tier gang) alone, and we have reason to dislike the Nails too.

So, whatever serves that goal. A failed but plausible / convincing assassination attempt could do, especially if we can make it look like the Nails were behind it. If we don't want to go that route, a clumsy interrupted search of his house could do; or, an attempt to frame him with the Bluecoats or another gang, but obviously coming from the Nails; or... whatever we think might work!

Min is backup here. He's ready to spend 1 Stress for an assist. (He won't use the Zuben disguise now, though -- no need for it.)

Min has dots in Hunt, Study, Attune, Finesse, Consort, and Sway. So... there are lots of ways he could plausibly be helpful, from casing the joint in advance to providing some minor bit of magical cover to acquiring some piece of damning evidence to plant. Cas, up to you.

So the next scene could be any of:

Casia -- Hutton's house. Backup: Min.

Jonah -- Magical confusion / false flag attack. Backup: Casia

Finraeth -- Mayhem, details TBD. Backup: Jonah.

Min -- Web of rumors. Backup: Finraeth.

Outcome: success! The Silver Nails now believe, or are inclined to believe, that the Grinders will make a sudden move on them -- somewhere, somehow, and related to their Darklands expeditions. This isn't enough to start a war, but it lays the foundations for one. They should be (we hope) looking over their shoulders, sharpening their blades, and ready to strike first at any perceived false move by the Grinders.

Well, hey. I admit I was braced for the worst there...

Okay, GM Sarah, what happens now?

Right! Sway roll! Here... we... go!

3d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 4) = 15

DM_DM wrote:

-- Zuben the Merchant is compromised and cannot be used for two heists (this one and the next one). Creating a new identity is possible but would be a downtime activity and at least a six-clock.

I like this one, but instead it's going to be a Fortune dice roll whnever you use this Zuben persona in future. On a 4-6 you're fine, but on a 1-3 someone sees through it, with al the bad stuff that means.

My only qualification here is that I should be able to add dice to the Fortune roll somehow -- perhaps I can roll the gang's Tier and/or my Stash level (yeah that's a long way off...) instead of a single die? Up to you.

Anyway: Okay! So I'm going to spin a story about how the Grinders want to move on the Darklands -- we know the Silver Nails are super sensitive about that -- and are going to make a strike against the Nails, either outside the Walls or within. I'm very deliberately leaving some details vague, so that the Nails (and my fellow PCs) can fill them in.

Right, one Sway roll coming up...

Ugggh Sway not Consort? Well, it is what it is. Devil's Bargain [furrows brow] Okay, here are some possibilities. If you like one, pick it and let's go forward!

-- Whatever the other outcome, the Nails are annoyed at my presumption -- and by extension, my companion's as well. -1 from the Nails to the Dusk Mites.

-- The stress of this encounter will force Min to chain-smoke some Dream Smoke. He'll suffer Level 1 Harm (Slightly Stoned) for the rest of the heist, meaning reduced effect on anything involving mental focus or concentration.

-- To make his merchant persona convincing, Min is throwing around coin he doesn't have. He loses 2 Coin from the next payoff. Or, if you want to randomize it, maybe treat it like indulging a vice -- he loses [6 minus his worst Resistance, but at least 1] Coin.

-- Zuben the Merchant is compromised and cannot be used for two heists (this one and the next one). Creating a new identity is possible but would be a downtime activity and at least a six-clock.

Okay so: Min is spinning a yarn based on the well-known Silver Nails obsession with the Darklands. He's going to present some "evidence" for this; I think this is plausible given that (1) Spiders generally are either forgers or have easy access to good forgery, and (2) he has some time to prepare. You mentioned downtime activities; if you have no objection, I'd say those downtime activities consisted of carefully preparing faked evidence.

I'm looking at a Consort roll, 2 dice + Finraeth's Assist -> 3 dice. I think this starts at risky-standard, but I think it could conceivably be pushed to desperate for increased effect. If it works, the Silver Nails believe me, and are predisposed to conflict with the Grinders. (Actually fomenting that conflict is up to the rest of the team. How to abstract that is up to GM Sarah, whether with a clock or however.)

If things go pear-shaped, possible bad outcomes / consequences could include "the Nails believe me, but word leaks to the Grinders that I've narked on them". Or, "the Nails believe me, but word leaks out generally that Zuben is a snitch, compromising his usefulness". Or "the Nails first decide to beat the crap out of Zuben and Finraeth for telling them a nonsense story, but then upon consideration decide there might be something to it". Or whatever the deranged imagination of GM Sarah can come up with.

If the roll just fails, full stop, I think "Zuben and Finraeth get Level Two or Three Harm from being in a bar full of angry Severosi fighters" is pretty plausible, along with possibly "and the Dust Mites are now at -1 with the Nails" if the GM is feeling vindictive.

That's my take on it; what think you, team?

I also had a Real Life Event that knocked me out for a few days. Will be back to a post a day for the next few days, or until this scene resolves.

Going to pause here: I assume Finraeth is with me (mayhem is a possibility, and I also want him as corroboration). He'd be giving an Assist for 1 Stress.

Finraeth, confirm -- you good?