DMRaven's page

That's some solid advice for map sizing, thank you! I'd prefer to only use gridded maps for the actual battle maps instead of having regions or dungeon maps. It'd leave more room for improvising stuff mid-scene in an area.

Round length is good to know. Knowing how long a normal fight lasts, before getting too much system-experience, is helpful for first adventure setups.

Why would you say a fight is hard to design around secondary objectives? Specifically in regards to PF2? I'd prefer to design most/all battles around a main objective that isn't just 'defeat everything on the map.' It may be slightly off-kilter but I'm hoping to kind of run the game just like a Lancer session.

So, for example, a first adventure might be something simple like finding a farmer's lost kid. And the first combat may be the area the kid went missing which has a bunch of goblins trying to hide evidence of kidnapping. So PCs would need to control 2-3 zones that hold various evidence (tracks, clothing, whatever) that can help them find the child before the goblins eliminate that evidence. Zones could be 10x'x10' or 15'x15' areas on a 50'x50'ish map for that 'mid-range.

Based on your advice, I could give it a, say, a 4 round limit. Each round PC's get a Victory Point for each zone that has no goblins in it and at least one PC in it. Each zone with a goblin and no PC in it earns the NPC's a victory point. At the end of 4 rounds, whoever has the most victory points 'wins.' If PC's lose, we'd go into a narrative beat as they have to possibly retreat (too many goblins show up) or otherwise figure out a solution as goblins run away/scatter.

I've run a lot of different games and am hoping to try out Pathfinder 2e for a longer adventure series (10-12 sessions). However, I'm trying to either collect or identify PF2e-specific resources for a number of different things and...not being very successful. Hopefully the forums can help!

Map Sizing
What are the ranges for a 'good' battle map size? Or even the considerations to take into mind? I'd assume the map size changes as characters level up and get access to more movement abilities. However, where would I look for any recommendations about that? Without 'trying it first,' how do I know if a battlemap that's 60' by 60' is okay or too big or too small? In what kind of situations does the map need to be significantly bigger or smaller (i.e. all melee characters so aim on smaller side of map size, etc)?

Secondary Objectives
The Gamemaster's guide has a brief section on secondary objectives. I'm coming from a GMing background with systems that don't usually have 'kill all foes' as the combat objective. What existing Adventure Paths, modules, third-party compilations, or homebrew compilations exist that show off examples of secondary objectives in use? Are there any solid recommendations for how long of a turn limit is too long or too short? I'd like to have an idea of whether (for example) a battle where PCs need to hold a hill for 8 rounds is going to drag or battling for control of 4 zones, 20' apart, for 6 rounds is too many zones, too close together, or for too many rounds before attempting to run it.

Average Turns per Encounter
Any resources or suggestions on how long a fight can be expected to last? I've heard 3-5 rounds before, presumably that's for an average 4-person fight against APL. How much (ish) does that change with 5 players or APL+1, etc? I know a lot of this is subjective since there are thousands of different PC configurations that can impact it, but I'm curious to know what the game's expected averages or general GM's experiences on those are.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions/recommendations/etc from experienced PF2e GMs!

20-year-old me thought GURPS was frickin awesome. 47-year-old me would probably be driven to drink by GURPS. :-)

Agreed. The math and complexity in GURPS makes Pathfinder look like an amateur.

Darn...missed the last Masks game that came up too. It's great to see people playing other games on these forums. I love the Paizo forum structure over other websites and would like to play in some PbtA games.

Thank you for the feedback, Kiradia, Vrog.

I would like to run another heist at some point with Blades to get a better handle on the rules, but there are other things on my list I'd like to get to as well!

Once life settles down a little, I am plotting a game of Microscope followed by either Torchbearer or Dungeon World set in the setting made by the Microscope game. Are there any games either of you are interested in playing in? I've got a mess of games I've never run/played in that I'd like to mess with and plan to continue running occasional one shots in different systems here.

I'm going to close this campaign up tomorrow. Thank you for playing! I'm actually surprised at how quickly a single heist + downtime goes by.

We're still waiting on Downtime actions for Bell and Shadow.

The NPC factions have begun making progress toward their own goals while the crew's reputation remains unchanged. Among the right circles, however, Lydra has made sure people know you are out there and you're doing good work. No details, but enough to raise your street Rep slightly.

As mentioned in the Recruitment thread, we are rapidly coming to a close. I wanted to test out the system and see how a heist was run as well as get a taste for the downtime rules.

I know in the future to keep the GM section handy and open while running the game, it helped a lot when I felt the game was getting stuck in a rut (right before Bell saw the ghost, the guards started causing trouble, etc).

I have a few questions for you all as we draw to an end, if you don't mind.

1) How did you feel about the game's handling of Position + Effect on actions?

2) How did you like the flashback mechanic?

3) Did you feel encouraged to make certain risky decisions through the gameplay?

3a) Would a campaign tab table of what gives XP have helped with making certain RP decisions?

4) How did you feel about the overall flow of action, mainly the lack of turn orders?

For Crookeds downtime activity I'm just going to say that he read his old military journals and history books for insight training not sure how to put that in a narrative context. Also I assume we're just going to do the same coin split that was mentioned earlier.

Are you doing that for both of your actions?

Whisper XP

You addressed a challenge with knowledge or arcane power. I'd say I addressed a challenge with arcane power when I slammed the Captain's ghost into the Hollow that was grappling Bell. So at least 1xp for that.

That action somehow slipped my mind! Yes, definitely Xp for that.

You expressed your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background. I'd also say that I expressed Vlaire's drive to get the job done when she willingly and readily set herself up to be a whore to kill the Captain. It shows how Vlaire cares more about the job than her own personal discomfort with being treated less than a high class lady.

I'd count this, especially since I tried to ask a few questions about her feelings on the matter and Claret said she was uncomfortable.

Contend with challenges above your current station. Since the Captain was Tier II, we definitely contended with someone stronger than us. I dunno if the guards would be considered dangerous opposition but at least 1xp right?

I missed that section, you would definitely get +1 XP for that.

So +3 XP for the crew instead (murder, strange, difficult tier opponent)

So I was going to post this in the main chat but I felt it'd be too wordy and I didn't want to clog it up with OOC talking.

So the Spider gains XP whenever he uses conspiracy or calculation to overcome his challenges. I think I did that quite a few times, a lot of it through flashbacks. Setting up Vlaire as the minx that'd get the captain's attention, making sure the right "equipment" arrived at the room for the assassination, then having Masia go off and try to drug the one guard with a quick slip of the drink. I'd like to push for 2 XP but if you guys think differently, that's cool by me. :D

I read it as getting 1 XP for completing a heist/challenge with that. If you can get more than that, then definitely!

Now I wanted to check for the "express your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background" trigger. You have it that it has to be expressed in the mission but the character sheet says that it just has to be expressed. I think that'll be pretty hard to trigger than since most character development seems to happen in downtime and freeplay honestly. I don't think Smiles had shown any of these things regardless, maybe his early interactions with the group showcased his somewhat gentlemanly nature?

Oh I think its definitely possible to do this during downtime, I was just tallying stuff up from during the heist. The rules described giving out XP after one during the downtime phase.

As for Crew XP, I think we definitely hit the bolstering of the
"Strange" reputation. Ghosts appeared and stalked through the building, a captain was found naked and dead surrounded by bondage gear. I think that should at least be 1 XP.

When you describe it like that, you definitely get a boost from being Strange!

As for our drives, conflicts, goals, and nature of the crew? I think we showcased a bit of a conflict or schism in the group. There are the "truly strange" members of our group; Bell, Shadow, and Vlaire. I feel like Crowl and Masia are using the group's strangeness to their advantage more than indulging in it. So maybe 1 XP?

I don't think there was enough actual interaction between crew members for this. Crooked and Smiles had some conversation but there wasn't really a lot on drives or conflicts there.

Advancement
Don't forget to do the following:
If you made a desperate action roll, mark 1 Xp for the action you rolled. I believe that's one XP on Insight for Crooked, one XP on Prowess for Smiles (which he already marked I believe), and..I think maybe Bell got one too?

Your crew gets +1 XP for successfuly executing a murder.

Everyone gets +1 Xp if they used their background, beliefs, drives, or heritage during the mission (I'd say Bell played on his religious fears to get one. Not sure if anyone else really did).

Crooked, you get an Xp if you addressed any challenge with violence or coercion. I'm not sure you managed this, unfortunately, since you used deflection and finesse for the most part.

Shadow/Bell, you get an Xp if you address a challenge with stealth or evasion. I'd say Shadow definitely managed this by sneaking up on the guard from behind. I'm not sure about Bell though.

Smiles, you get an XP when you address a challenge with calculation or conspiracy. I'll say that using Crooked to drop the drug counts for this.

Claret, you gain an XP when you address a challenge with knowledge or arcane power. I don't think the occult was really used in this heist though.

Feel free to suggest things if you think I missed anything. If I didn't then I believe we're looking at:

Smiles: +1 prowess, +1 anything
Crooked: +1 Insight
Shadow: +1 anything
Bell: +1 anything (maybe one for a desperate action, need to read back when we have a moment)
Claret: +?

The Crew: +1 for Murder.
Page 49 also says you get Xp if you "tangled with high tiers or more dangerous opposition or express the goals/drives/inner conflict/ or nature of the crew I'd say you get +1 for challenge above your station.

In what way do you think the crew did (or did not) express goals, drives, inner conflict, or the essential nature of the crew?

Back to the Red Lamp

Smiles gets a few flashed frowns from the Madame when she enters the room, but she leaves him and Jeren be. His friend finds himself tangled with the blonde Shadow had taken upstairs not too long ago. The two enjoy their night of women and drink.

Later, Jeren grumbles to himself as he moves among documents, a pen in hand. He makes a few marks here, and there, throwing the investigation off the new crew's scent. Damn Crowl...you better not get me in trouble for this.

Lord Scurlock's Manor

Claret enjoys a few days at the manor, taking part in her vice and mixing it with some practice training. The old vampire has many questions about the mission, what they did, and who they killed.

How much information does Claret give him?

-------------------------------------
The Graycloaks

Through a rumor here and there while at the Brothel, Smiles finds out that the Gray Cloaks have started to move on Six Towers and build a presence there. Six Towers Clock: 1d6 ⇒ 5 2/8

The Lampblacks continue to build toward a war with the Red sashes War clock: 1d6 ⇒ 4 2/8

The Leviathan Hunters are dissatisfied with the Bluecoats investigation into Alric's death. It was loud and violent and they suspect was a message from certain nobles. They begin looking into the matter themselves...Who killed Alric?: 1d6 ⇒ 5 2/6

No changes to the crew's status as no one knows who did the job...yet.

That sounds pretty reasonable, we've already established that Lydra does contracts for a lot of different criminal types.

She happens to know of physicker who will help but not ask too many questions. He's an Iruvian named Andalo who happens to reside in Silkshore.

Extra heat it is then! It's only +1 so it's not too bad.

Downtime
Between scores each PC has time for 2 downtime activities. For those without the book the activities are.. (There are rules for each of these, but this is a brief description.)

Acquire Asset - Gain temporary use of an asset such as a special item or set of common items, a cohort, a vehicle, or a service (transportation, legal representation, use of a warehouse, etc).

Long-Term project - Start a project clock for a long term project. An example would be investigating the Hallow's tattoo, finding a way around the tattoo, or something else.

Recover You recover from wounds. You go to a healer and they roll, marking a number of segments (1-3) on your healing clock. When you fill your healing clock, you reduce each instance of harm on your sheet by one level. So injury 2 becomes 1 and injury 1 goes away. Your healing clock has 4 segments.

Reduce Heat - Reduce your heat somehow, possibly by consorting with a friend who is a Bluecoat.

Train You can spend time in training and mark xp on the xp track for an attribute. If you have the appropriate crew traijning upgrade, you instead gain +2 xp.

Indulge Vice You indulge in your vice and relieve stress. you roll dice equal to your lowest attribute (prowess, etc) rating and clear stress equal to your highest die result.

NPC factions also get downtime...*evil smile*

Re: Rep:

You gain 2 rep, but then 1 extra for each tier above the target was. For some reason I thought you started on tier 1, not 0! Oops. I mainly wanted the group to get rep equal to their tier +2, so it'll still be 4 rather than 5.

Entanglement

After a score, messiness doesn't disappear. Being a criminal is difficult and comes with all sorts of complex community interactions. We roll for entanglement, rolling dice equal to your wanted level. Since its 0, we roll twice and take the smaller die.

Entanglement: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3

1! Gang trouble or questioning..okay well Shadow made it real easy to figure out which of those to do.

For those without the book: Questioning: The Bluecoats grab an NPC member of your crew or one of the crew's contacts, to question them about your crimes. Who do the Bluecoats think is the most vulnerable?

Madame Tesslyn gets taken in for questioning. Fortune: 1d6 ⇒ 4
The fortune roll determines how much extra Heat the team will acrue. Alternatively, someone can sneak a bribe to those Bluecoats costing 2 coin to prevent the extra heat.

Smiles doesn't think he drew any attention. Heat goes up by one...

...but he did.

The crew escapes successfully. No one was arrested, at least not yet. They reconvene in the cluster of rooms beneath the city's streets. Claret has poured cups of wine for all. Crooked looks pleased with himself. Bell is in the corner checking his amulets and realizing he may have lost one. Shadow's mind is on the curves of the woman he left in the room, Sarah, he thinks her name was. Or maybe Margaret. Or possibly Belle. He can't be sure.

Smiles slips in after the rest and wipes a hand over his brow, a bag in hand. Lydra had left payment beneath a pre-arranged location under some roof tiles. There's a very loud clang as he drops the bag on the table and coins spill out of the top.

+6 coin

The Gray Cloaks lay claim to Silkshore. Since you ran a score in their territory, they likely expect your crew to occasionally pay a tithe to them as a result. Nessa, the leader of the Gray Cloaks, would be expecting 1 coin in tithe (Crew tier +1 = 1]

Rep Gain
I didn't establish a tier for the Captain..but I'd say he was around Tier III so I'll say you get 4 Rep from the score against them.

Heat

The score was loud and chaotic. If Bell had managed to use his Silence potion, it would have been a much more contained situation (2 Heat). Unfortunately, Claret's gunshots caused plenty of havoc as well as the guard's screaming from Shadow's pepper spray. +4 Heat.

Additionally, Smiles attempts to cover the group's tracks backfired and resulted in +1 heat for a total of +5 heat.

When heat reaches 9, you gain a wanted level.

Smiles shrugs off the sword wound, taking only a small gash. Wound lowered one level to level 1!

No stress from the flashback/paper grab.

Upstairs; Red Lamp

Claret reaches into the dead man's spirit where his soul is slowly detaching from flesh. Not sure what she's doing, she forcefully rips it out and tries transferring the spiritual energy to the hallowed guard. A very confused ghost is suddenly hurled across the room and slams into a blinded and confused hallow.

There's a flash of bright light from the hallow's chest which radiates up along his neck in intricate, occult symbols. Alric's ghost lets out a soundless shriek, his mouth opened in pain. His eyes look confused and disoriented as his spectral form begins to rapidly decay.

The hallow, barely able to see, is even more disoriented and lets out a hiss of pain. The tattoo seems to be hurting him somehow.

I don't think his life essence could be used as a weapon normally, but the hallows are...different. Claret takes advantage of that. Keep in mind, the guard is fairly incapacitated at the moment. His face is a mess of mucus, snot, and red rashes. His tattoo is inflicting pain, he's already on his back from tumbling over Bell.

Bell grabs Claret and flips through the window, his gloved hand snaking around the rope as he rappels down the building into an empty alleyway.

Presumably, Shadow follows shortly after, clambering quickly down Bell's rope before retrieving it. It doesn't take long for them to meet back up with Smiles and Crooked, making a (somewhat) safe getaway.

Smiles, that'll be a Consort roll. Let's say that on a success you reduce/prevent some Heat? I'm going to say the murder heist was fairly chaotic, so 4 Heat. If you succeed, you can reduce it to 2.

Despite the series of unfortunate events, as the guard is tangled with Bell he keeps his head. He plants a firm foot into the hallow and pushes him backward, managing to roll to his feet and standing by the window.

Your rolls HATE you.

Should have had this start earlier, but I'm going to start a project clock here: Blue Coats Arrive starting at 2/4 as a consequence to Bell's roll.

Bell rolls and smashes his gun where the potion had been, but his cloak brushed the potion and rolled it along the floor. He finds himself in a bad position, closer to the flailing, cursing, blinded guard. As he tries to extricate himself from the situation, the guard steps backward and trips over Bell. The two tumble to the floor in a whirling grapple, the hallow grabbing and shouting. Bell feels one of his amulets knocked free--and as if the amulet had been protecting him just a smidge,
he immediately then loses his pistol in the brawl. Bell finds himself now tangled with the guard in a desperate position.

For shadow:
To resist harm, you roll either Prowess, Insight or Resolve. You roll Insight for consequences from deception or understanding, Prowess from consequences of physical strain or injury, and resolve for consequences of mental strain or willpower.

Since the harm is physical "Deep cut to arm" you would roll Prowess. Your prowess score is equal to the number of actions you've trained in within prowess. In your case, that's 3d (1 for Prowl, Skirmish, and Finesse).

So you roll 3d and take stress equal to 6 - the highest die you roll. Resist rolls always succeed, but you are rolling to see how much stress you acquire. Usually a resistance roll reduces the severity of a consequence. So in your case it would go from harm 2 to harm 1.

Ghosts come from spirits and both the guards are Hallows, who lack spirit.

Keep in mind he's not dead, just unconscious.

Smiles holsters his pistol and frowns, crouching down next to Crooked and helping him turn the hallow over. Together, they discover the glow is coming from under his shirt. Smiles cuts the shirt open, curious.

Scrawled over the man's chest is an intricate, eldritch tattoo of some kind. The ink in his skin seems to glow with a faint, pale white light which is rapidly fading. The entire tattoo is ice cold to your touch, although the rest of the man is warm.

He gives a groan as you investigate the odd markings. He should be out for a few minutes more, if Crooked remembers right about the drug used.

Electric lights! Probably a couple of lamps and an overhead light. Sorry for the slow response!

Bell leaps backwards away from the swinging axe but his foot catches on the bed covering Claret and Alric and thrown to the side. He stumbles backward as the guard swings his weapon around and down, the blade cutting into Bell’s hand and knocking the silence potion free. You get placed in a desperate position, take Cut Hand level 1 harm and lost the silence potion (can retrieve it from the floor)
Shadow’s grunt causes the guard’s head to swing around and receive the jar’s contents in his eyes. Shadow’s fortunately saved Bell from another brutal attack but Bell’s slip-up means the commotion only gets louder. Simultaneously there’s a loud gunshot in the room and the guard lets out a wail of pain from his eyes and mouth. Spittle and mucus instantly begin flowing down his face which turns a bright red and he begins flailing wildly with his axe while covering his face with the other hand. The wild movement catches Shadow on the arm, cutting deeply into flesh. Bell’s no longer in a desperate situation.

I’m going to assume you try to avoid the consequence. It’ll be a Harm 2 – Deep cut to arm.

In the corner, a brief flash of light ends Alric’s flailing as a bullet crunches through his skull.

Claret, Alric is dead and gone. You have made the message clear. The guard is blind and flailing wildly. Bell is on his back by the still open window and Shadow is in front of the guard. You have no idea where Smiles and Crooked are. Do you escape out the window, slip by and flee out the door or do you attack the guard?

Bell, your hand is bloodied and you lost your silence potion. Alric is dead and the guard is hampered. Do you flee out the window, retrieve your silence potion, or attack the guard?

Shadow, the guard is disabled and the target is dead. Do you flee or do you fight the disabled guard?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Red Lamp, Exterior

Crooked follows the ghost and finds his companion standing over an unconscious guard. They exchange a careful look as the ghostly figure moves into the alleyway toward Smiles. Fortune: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Ouch.

The ghost moves to the guard and passes a ghostly hand through the hallowed’s skull. Smiles’ tenses, expecting the ghost to move into the guard and get back up—possibly causing more trouble. However, instead, there’s nothing but a whisper and the ghost vanishes from sight. A cold wind blows along the two killers’ backs. Whether the ghost died, fled, or something else is unknown. As it does, you hear a loud gunshot from the brothel as well as plenty of confused screaming and a few shouts for Blue Coats.

Crooked spies a faint white glow from under the unconscious guard.

Crooked, Do you investigate the glow, see what happened upstairs, or flee the area?

Crooked, Red Lamp Interior

As the hallow follows on Smiles' footsteps, you feel a faint cold wind blow through the room. A misty, vaguely humanoid form floats through one wall and moves through the room. There's quite a few curses and spiritbane charms being slung around necks. The shape seems to have no interest in those here, however, and follows behind the chasing sailor.

Smiles, Red Lamp Exterior

There's an unconscious sailor, a dark alley, and no one immediately around to see you.

Except, that is, of the vague mist-shape that comes around the corner and is gradually coalescing into a young woman.

Oh damn! I nearly forgot about the ghost!

Smiles scrambles from his chair as the growling guard approaches. The guard lashes out with his sword, scoring a deep wound across Smiles' back as the lithe man dashes through the brothel and out the front door.

There's a scream and a few shouts. A bouncer with a thick wooden cudgel looks hesitant to intervene with a leviathan hunter's crewman bearing a weapon...and he seems to be leaving anyway. The bartender shouts for Blue Coats while a few gamblers duck their heads into nearby bosoms to avoid the trouble.

The Red Lamp's door bangs open a second time as the guard rushes after the crew's spider. Catching but a glimpse of the man's cloak as he turns a corner, the guard hurries after. He finds his steps slow, his mind foggy.

"Come..come back here!..I'll..I'm going to..you'll." He shakes his head and steps around the corner, coming face to face with Smiles with a drawn pistol. The sword hangs slack in his fingers and the man sways, taking a drugged step forward.

"You...you'll.." He slurs out one more time before falling face first onto the cobbles. Smiles suspects, from the splash of blood and the faint moan, that the sailor won't be pleased when he awakes.

Yeah, I'm playing in and running one simultaneously! It's working out -amazing.-

Lights are still on, no chance to turn them off. As a random, it seems like Blades has electricity? Or at least that's how I interpreted some of the things in the book. The Lamplighter's guild no longer has work because electric street lamps. Now, this doesn't mean every establishment has electricity or that there is a comprehensive street-wide public system. Just that streets and many businesses/richer homes will have it.

Bell sees the guard coming and tenses, about to move out of the way. Go ahead and roll/dictate your action!

Shadow, you can go ahead and roll 2 dice + the effect level! We'll say you are starting with Risky position and Great effect. Your cloak is muffling your footsteps (somehow?) and you have a perfect opportunity to spring your assault on the opponent.

Oh! I like that. Now I imagine you all working to kill Alric but leave the two guards alive and incapacitated.

So..yeah! Pepper spray (or something suitably equivalent) for..let's say 2 stress. It'll count as an Unusual Weapon type thing, 0 load.

Crooked, that sounds good. So enough to chase out the door...but not much else.

Crooked,

I'm waiting to figure out Smiles before I post for you too. What I'm planning is Smiles taking a level 2 harm as consequence (desperate position) and escaping out the door and into a side alley (probably reducing the harm by 1 level with a resistance roll).

The guard will then come bumbling down the alleyway. Drugged, emotional, and face to face with a concealed pistol.

Alternatively, I'm not sure if he'll even make it to the door. How quickly should the potion work?

Bell flips into the room and lands dramatically on one knee. He flexes his fingers, shaking his head and glad he remembered to wear gloves today. A pair of deep slashes through the gloves will need to be repaired in the future. He looks up to find Claret plunging a finger-long hairpin through the Captain’s throat. A strangled choke comes out and the Captain pushes her frantically off, blood rapidly pouring out and onto the bed. His forceful push smashes Claret back into a nightstand nearby and he kicks at her hand, knocking the hairpin away. She finds herself disarmed, and taking level 1 harm: Bruised.
You don’t need to roll for putting out lights, but Claret’s roll is going to impede that anyway.

Between the sound of Bell flying through the window, which even being open caused a bit of sound, and the Captain’s sudden change in tone from moan to gasping, frantic wails, the guard outside reacts fairly quickly.
”Captain!” The hallowed cries out in shock as he smashes the door open. ”What the hell did you do to him?” He can see the blood covering the floor, the bed, Claret, and the Captain. He can also see the bloody hairpin that’s been knocked from her hands. A naked axe is in the guard’s hand and he starts rushing forward, holding it in both hands as he comes at Bell. It’s not readily apparent that Claret was involved (as she has no weapons in her hands from being disarmed. If you resist, this could affect his reaction.).

Bell, the guard is coming right at you with a weapon What do you do?

Claret, Alric is bleeding out quickly but help has come. You are disarmed (or not). Do you make sure Alric stays down or go help Bell?

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shadow hears the sound of a door crash down and a shout echo from down the hall. He knows, it’s time. He also hears the sound of commotion coming from downstairs.
Shadow, do you go downstairs or do you rush into the room…where the guard has his back turned to the door?

Okay! Back on track. Hopefully.
First, on Shadow's request..I'm not sure how to handle this. From what I understand in the lore, Hallows are just like people, but without a spirit. The only real impact this seems to have is letting them become possess vessels and be made into vampire bodies. I'm having trouble envisaging anything spirit-focused that would incapacitate a hallow other than ghosts...but essentially the impact of ghosts on the Captain's guards is mysteriously absent.

As a result, I'm reluctant to provide a flashback benefit here. Shadow could get something, but something that significant would cost stress...and at the same time it would end up having a Limited impact due to the guard's mysterious nature. I don't really feel comfortable giving stress for something of limited effect. I think the idea has merit, but as a long-term project sort of thing as opposed to a flashback opportunity. Feel free to provide alternative viewpoints of course!

Second, for Smiles, I want to clarify how I saw the scene. The guard was with weapon out, practically moving on top of Smiles. Smiles scrambles out of the chair and flees into the alleyway, pulling out a weapon as he does so. Sound about right? This is essentially a violent scene where the drugged guard (giving you say..an increase effect on actions? until he just passes out anyway) was about to attack Smiles. He wouldn't have had the ability to just walk away but it would have been more of a controlled flee.

I'll wait to confirm this before moving the action to the street and determining consequence for Smiles.

Sorry for the lack of posting the last couple of days, I should be able to get something up tomorrow or Tuesday. Unfortunately the dreaded combination of multitude of high-priority work projects, flu-riddled child, and graduate exams struck simultaneously.

Crooked successfully re-directs the hallow's attentions. The guard turns to Smiles and growls, drawing his blade and moving swiftly toward the hapless thief who was still seated. Desperate position

Bell flips over the ledge and his feet move through the open window. Unfortunately, it rained last night and the roof was slick. He slashes open his hands along the slick top, the rusted, metal gutter cutting into his palms.

Consequences: Suffer Harm 1: Cut Up

That is helpful! I looked at it a bit this morning and plan to run some in the background while I do other things. Thank you!!

Ooh, I love that approach. I'll say that's actually rolling to avoid a consequence. Make an Insight roll, if you succeed you don't take the penalty and Smiles does instead!

Sorry, Bell! Didn't have time this morning for a full post and just put up what I could. So, to answer your questions: Devil's Bargain Accepted and a resounding yes! That imagery sounds quite distracting.

You'll be getting +1d from the bargain. You're using a Risky position, adding a +1d to Claret's roll.

Bell's paranoid looks glance from figure to figure in the street. One standing still seemed to be looking up, but Bell didn't see the woman hanging out a window he was speaking to. Another was simply gazing at the sky waiting idly for his companion while another was trying to hide the exhaustion on her face as she had to explain to yet another drunk that she wasn't for sale.

However...there was something off about the last. A thin figure who seemed almost like the others, but not quite. Her hair was too wispy for the lack of wind. Her clothing was from last year's styles and her feet...well..she simply had none.

Bell quickly scrambled away as he realized the figure was looking up, staring straight at him. As he moved backward, he saw her start to move toward the brothel the crew were in.

Downstairs, Crooked and Smiles
Okay, we'll say that you're taking a risky action with standard effect here.

Smiles' toast brings a few groans but a few other sailors are here and they give out drunken cheers. The Hallowed looks confused for a moment and hesitantly looks over to Smiles, giving Crooked time to move over and slip the serum into the drink before the guard salutes Smiles' and downs his beer. However, looks down and his eyes widen.

Somehow, you're not sure how, but he realizes something was wrong with his drink. He looks up and meets Crooked's wide eyes as the thief is about to slip past. The old man realizes he's been made.

A hand closes over a leather-wrapped hilt and the sound of steel starts to be drawn. "What did you give me, old man?" The sailor growls.

Things don't look good, I'm going to say Crooked is in a Desperate position.
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Upstairs, Claret
I'll say you're still in a Controlled position, but your effect is standard. The hairpin isn't the most effective weapon, but you have an ideal target (normally would be limited effect but you're in a perfect position to use it so standard). I'll offer a Devil's Bargain for a bonus die here...Claret can get a better hit on the Captain but her hairpin gets stuck in a bone. Regardless of how successful she is, she loses the item and it will add a die to a fortune roll later by Blue Coats to look for evidence.

Oh! Ghosts would totally have a reason to go haunting around a Hollow right? Bell is going to get a visitor. Time to pull the Think Off Screen move..

Right..being too passive here. A brief read of the GM section and I've got some ideas.

Shadow; The Unidentifed Woman's room

Shadow looks over his shoulder to the door, the sound of voices is outside but he can't quite make them out. He takes a step toward it and suddenly finds a hand on his arm. "What are you doing here then? And what am I supposed to do, just sit here?"

If he looks back, the woman's painted lips are pursed in curiosity. Her blonde hair rests around her shoulders in a series of large, smooth curls. Shadow briefly wonders how long it must have taken to get her hair that way and how she keeps it that way after a client.

"You can't just ask a girl for something and then not explain, yah know?"

Does Shadow have any experience at the Docks, with Skovlanders, or anything of that sort?
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Bell & Rooftops

People never look up. That's what Darmot said once. However, Bell always looks up. There's some misty, low clouds in the dark sky above reflecting the electric street lamps and the occasionally buzz from the electric field surrounding Doskvol.

No one ever looks up. But what if someone did? What if someone was looking up right now? What if it wasn't just a someone..what if it was a Possessed, or a spirit? Or someone like Claret who just isn't quite right?

What if, Bell, what if?

Trying to play on Bell's paranoidness a bit here.

Alright Murder is turning out to be fairly difficult to thoroughly engage the entire party. Especially when ya'll are rolling well without any real complications/consequences popping up. It's definitely something I see as a problem for playing Assassins as an entire crew.

Any suggestions?

---_Edit: Some questions to help me come up with a few ideas and to help us all get better into character.

I suppose I don't -need- you to roll a 4 or 5 to throw a complication out there, but.

Questions, try to answer these from first-person and feel free to do so in the [u]Gameplay[/u] thread.

Bell: did the two of you and Claret establish a signal for you to intervene and come in through the window? If not, Bell, what would make you move through the window?

Also for Bell: You're perched on a rooftop and people don't generally look up...but what if one does? That might be fun...

For Smiles, how do you think the Madame will react when/if she finds out your murdering someone in her brothel?

For Claret: How do you feel about the Captain now? What do you think of your crew-mates that they've made you the point-woman on this aspect of the job?

For Shadow: Do you trust this stranger, the blonde-haired Skovlandic prostitute? What will you do to her if she tells the Blue Coats?

For Crooked: You already see Smiles' ambitions, how does it make you feel to have him setting you up to do the real work of sneaking some drugs?

That sounds right to me. Alric turns his head and Vlaire sees his gaze about to fall on the pin that had slipped from her fingers. She reaches up and nudges his gaze, distracting him with lips as her hand wraps sheet over the item.

Shadow, you can't hear what's said through the doors, but you can tell someone is speaking.

If Crooked doesn't have something up by tonight, I'll roll for his action to work with Smiles and dose the drink.

I'd agree that breaking it works. I'd say if you drink it then its centered on you, so you don't need to break it if that's your intention. A bit of both.

I don't think it'd penetrate walls or anything like that, it'll be constrained by thick wood and such.

Unfortunately, even bound, plenty of activity occurs. "Is that the symbol of a deity?"

Now, Claret succeeded on her roll so she achieves a controlled position risk action. Alric's guard is down! He is feeling quite comfortable with the situation. If his guard wasn't down, his reaction would be quite different. However, you've just opened up one of Alric's pet projects--Conversion.

It's amazing, and a little perturbing, that the Captain can keep up his activities while..waxing poetic about the benefits of dedication to the Church of the Ecstasy of the Flesh. He actually sounds to be a little too interested in the conversation making him quite vigorous. It seems converting poor god-worshipers is one of his life goals.

His guard is down but he's proselytizing quite loudly. The Captain is well distracted and makes an ideal target at this time..unfortunately his loud preaching ending abruptly could lead to further complications.

"...I don't particularly want to get involved with the Blue Coats, ya know? But.." She frowns, giving you a sidelong glance. "I suppose so though. A'right then, but nothing bad better come of this. Yer up to no good and that I can tell. The Madame don't want any trouble in here."

[ooc]Shadow, you rolled a 4 so you succeed in your action but with a consequence. In this case, you don't know what that consequence is yet.[/b]

First die rolled and no devil's bargain so we have limited effect? Sounds good!

Also, Bell, adding them to your alias/sheet is fine! And thank you for the bargain suggestion. I felt I could run a later favor easier than a tag a long though.

Basics of the die roll: You roll between 1 to 4 dice, generally. You do not do any math and are not rolling successes (not really). Instead you take the single highest roll and determine the action from there. A roll of 1-3 means your action goes wrong and something bad happens. A roll of 4-5 means your action goes off but something bad happens. A roll of a 6 means your action goes off and nothing bad happens.

Additionally, from what I understand, you cannot get a +1die from both the Devil's Bargain and a Push. You can choose to Push to gain +1die and also take a Devil's Bargain (I like Smiles' suggestion as it lets me add a complication later on) for increased effect. I'll say your position is Risky, it's a brothel and crime is prevalent in the district. Your effect is limited, however. She'll tell the Blue Coats what you want but if they push too hard, she'll give in as she has no loyalty to you. If you take the Devil's Bargain...we can go ahead and say instead she's got some kind of attitude toward authority as it is and won't give up your name in hopes she can call in that favor later.

Oh! Shadow, I'll offer you a Devil's Bargain.

You can get +1 die on your Sway roll to convince the woman to lie to the Bluecoats, but it'll cost you 1 coin. ...I don't even know if you start with any coin?