Sinjin "Saint" Blakely's page

That sounds good to me, Kiradia. Working on expanding his network of contacts it is.

For the next job, we made a decent amount of coin on the last one. If we could do something to improve our rep I'd lean toward that rather than just straight money.

Wouldn't a doctor room in the tower be a Crew upgrade? That's part of my problem, I can't decide if things I'm thinking about would be long-term projects or Crew upgrades.

One example would be the medical room in the HQ. Or an alchemy lab or tinkering workroom.

Another thing I was thinking of was trying to expand his network of contacts in the medical/trades/wealthy but not noble class of working folks. Or, alternatively, he could work on expanding his network with smugglers and other shady folks through his cousin. That could be a bonus to Consort or something like that, but networks and contacts also go to Crew and reputation, don't they?

Okay, 2 xp- do I need to fill up all the boxes in an XP track (Insight, for example) before I get another specialty point (Tinker)? Or do I just put the points straight into Tinker or Wreck or whatever it is I want to level up?

And when do we get another Special Ability?

For Downtime, are there any particular long term projects that would be helpful to the group? I'm open to suggestions.

I'm enjoying the story and setting a lot. Not sure I'm contributing as much as I could be- in the videos there was a lot of bartering with Devil's Bargains and taking stress to give an advantage to other team members- but I'll get the hang of the rules as we play more.

I'm not sure what I should say for Saint's XP. He didn't really do anything related to his role or skills. Thoughts?

I'll need to look over the sheet to figure out what XP Saint might have gained. He didn't do a whole lot, so I don't think it will be a high number.

Saint hustles over to help Ophelia. "Here. Lean on me." The young man looks at Guts and Fog. "Let's get out of here."

Yup, I hadn't seen any updates for a couple of days.

Saint frowns and shakes his head. He'd moved as far away from the little ghost girl as he could while still staying in the room. "I'm not giving it any of me, either. Wouldn't she be better off... at rest, anyway?"

"Dammit, I hate spooks." Saint shakes his head and makes a superstitious warding symbol his cousin had taught him. A man of science, he knew spirits were real but also that his methods couldn't touch them. "Let's search the room and get out of here."

Saint nods. "A lady's jewelry box, I would think. And no one locks their jewelry box." He follows Guts, trying to put his feet in exactly he same spots as the more experienced sneaker.

Untrained Prowl: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4 Uh... whoops? We've got the Three Stooges trying to break into a house back here.

Saint could dose the dog with something to get it not to bark. Would that be a modifier to the Prowl check or another roll altogether?

Saint frowns at the dog and crow. "I've never liked dogs."

How so, Guts? Pre-packed alchemy item? Dusky's by himself while the rest of the team breaks in, right? I'd be glad to take a stress to help out if we can think of something.

Saint will have 5 items- Fine Tinkering tools, 2 alchemical bandoliers, a blowgun (fluffed as a hand-crossbow) & darts, and burglary gear. With the Thief's Rigging that's a Load of 3, right?

Saint nods. "I'm ready. Point me at the back door and it'll be open in a second."

Ha ha. Totally missed that Clawtree thing. Oh, well.

Cassim laughs at Dusky. "Hadrathi?! I think I can curse well enough in it..and maybe understand a word here or there. Saint might know more than me though." He glances over to the doctor in training.

"I never had much learning in..well...anything."

Saint snorts. "Whereas I've had enough for both of us. It's not all it's cracked up to be, I assure you." He nods at Dusky and responds in the same tongue. "I speak it fairly well. Not as well as I read it, but well enough."

"You ought to find a nice girl like that." Ophelia teases Saint, watching the serving girl walk away.

Saint snorts and shakes his head, smiling ruefully. "Between classes and this..." he gestures vaguely "business of ours, I barely have time to eat, much less court a girl." He chuckles, smiling as he thinks of his many interested aunts and their suggestions. "But you know my family. It's not the first time I've heard that. Not even the first time I've heard that this week."

She wipes a tear from her eye and clears her throat. "Do you think there's something to this merchant on Farrier Lane?" She asks Saint quietly. "Leviathan Blood diamonds are of some interest to me regardless, but I do not want my own... interests to force our direction."

The young man's smile fades as he remembers Ophelia's situation and he nods, his thoughts coming back to their current mission. "I'd think so. That certainly sounds like something odd enough to be what our client is looking for."

*****

Later, at the Tower, he lays with his feet propped up on an old stone table. He tells the others what he found out and listens to what they did in turn. Sitting up with a gleam in his eye, he glances around. "We should stake out Mahu's home. We may be able to figure out if he bought the jewelry for a woman or not. I feel there's a few different ways we can go about it..maybe if we know, roughly, where the item might be, we can have Dusky provide a distraction as an interested buyer while the rest of us sneak in and take the thing?"

"I agree. No point breaking into a man's house if he doesn't have it there." His attention moves back towards Dusky, giving him a small nod. "Perhaps you can pose as an authenticator, posing that there has been some issue with a delivery that came in and fakes were being smuggled in. I could go with as well, maybe stake the place out and learn where the best places to get in could be."

He looks to the rest of them, looking towards Saint and Whisper respectively. "If things go well, perhaps there will be wards or fine locks you can help us get past. Anyone else got any ideas, suggestions?""

Saint nods at Guts. He had shared what he and Ophelia found out at the cafe and listened as the others shared their findings. "We could ask around about this Mahu person, see if we can figure out what he might have bought it for. But it sounds like this man Clawtree is after our prize, too. It makes me wonder if he has a consignment like we do."

"We may need to be a bit more direct." The young man nods at Fog. "If Clawtree finds Mahu before we do, there's no telling where this thing might end up. A break-in seems like the fastest way to do it."

Is Jorro's shop on Farrier Lane?

If I'm interpreting it right, Saint/Ophelia picked up on why the jewelry might be special, Fog found what it might look like (the marked diamond?), and Guts/Dusky found who Jorro sold it to. Is that right, Kiradia?

Consort: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 1) = 9 1 die of Consort, 1 die for having a Trade background, 1 for being in Nightmarket

Saint smiles at the serving girl. He wasn't particularly familiar with Iruvians but he knew Nightmarket fairly well. "My aunt and are doing some shopping and thought we would stop in for some refreshments." Given how well dressed Ophelia was, it was a decent enough story.

Is there anything in particular Iruvian cafes are known for?

Well, in Ophelia and Saint's defense, they are still standing right there, just getting ready to leave. I think we're all just really excited to play. :)

Saint nods at Ophelia. "Of course, Mrs. Walker. Let's be on our way."

Sorry, I don't post on the weekends.

A nondescript young man who only looked out of place due to the cleanliness of his clothes rather than the cut or material, Saint has his nose buried in a book, lit by the light of an electroplasm powered hand-lamp set on the table. An electroplasm hand-lamp that he had repaired himself; he is rather proud of his skill with all manner of devices, though his reputation in the underworld has more to do with his skill with blood and bone.

He looks up and nods at Fog. "I can ask around. I don't know about the immigrant community, but they might know a few jewelers." In spite of his apparent lack of attention, he has clearly been listening. The young man closes his book over a silk ribbon of a bookmark and stands, stretching.

"Miss Ophelia, we might be better served pooling our efforts. I think I know someone to talk to, but you might be more convincing as someone looking for a piece of jewelry."

Saint looks in the direction of the door Guts had just left through. "Someone might want to go with him. An extra pair of eyes could be useful, watching Jorro's shop."

Saint can use Consort to try to find information about this jewelry. Since it's a Trade person, I think he'll get a bonus die to his check.

OT, but in case anyone hadn't heard of it, Taboo on FX with Tom Hardy haa a feel very much like the Blades in the Dark setting. It's not about thieves, per se, but it does involve the pre-Victorian underworld- thugs, whores, urchins- and there is a strong supernatural element. It's dark and dirty and spot on for the feel of the game.

And there is a heist and a super-shady chemist in episode 4. It's good stuff.

Thanks, Fog, I appreciate it.

I'm thinking, at the end, to have 1 coin go to the Hive, 1 coin to go to the Dimmer Sisters, the Wraiths can suck it, and I'm fine with our relations with the Blue Coats and the Gray Cloaks.

This is what I was thinking. Having one faction at +2 and one at -2 sounds good to me.

Kiradia, Saint's extra point goes into Tinker, giving him a total of 3 dice. I'm not quite sure where he learned to pick locks and crack safes, but he's pretty good at it.

His Prowl is 0, though- how much of a problem might that be?

So, this might be asking a lot, but I noticed on the Leech sheet there's a bunch of alchemy items at the bottom of the page. Is there any way somebody could excerpt the descriptions of those things from the PDF for me?

I'm for Professional, too.

And Six Towers, if you weren't already counting me.

Double post.

@Dusky: Cool, thanks for the explanation. Thief's Rigging sounds good to me, and Burglary makes sense, especially for a beginning crew. Starting as burglars and eventually getting asked to covertly obtain information makes sense. I'll vote Thief's Rigging and Burglary, too, then.

@Ophelia: If she's in her mid-30s she's probably about 10 years older than Saint. I'm figuring low 20s for somebody who's studying to be a doctor. Same for Eckerd- they grew up together, so low 20s for him, too. I can definitely see Ophelia and Riven knowing his parents, though. Family acquaintances sounds good to me, maybe even friends? His parents might be another 10 years older than Ophelia, but mid- to late-40s isn't too far off from Ophelia's mid-30s. Apothecary/doctor/lawyer/professor types would all be well off but not noble, so I could see them running in the same social circles.

That would be an interesting hook for Ophelia. Saint's been running a side business out of his dad's back door for extra cash; maybe Ophelia caught wind of it and asked if he thought there was any way for her to make some extra money, too. I could see that if she's starting to get desperate.

I thought our Rep was Professional, not Daring?

I understand Quarters and Secure. What does Thief's Rigging do?

Between Espionage and Burglary, I feel like Espionage has more long term possibilities, opening us up to political shenanigans. It seems to me that Espionage could encompass Burglary missions but the reverse isn't true. Then again, I don't have the rules so maybe it's not as flexible as that.

I'm fine with Six Towers.

I think a name should occur organically, too, but I honestly like The Long Shadow.

@Ophelia, any input on how Ophelia might know these guys? Though they're not all BFFs or anything, the guys all have friends in common and may have worked together in the past. What about Ophelia?

My suggestion was that she might know Saint's parents, but that doesn't get her into the shady side of things. We're using Eckerd for a lot of connections, but it might make sense if she's delving into talking to spirits that Ophelia might have contact with Eckerd and/or Fog's source for news of the newly dead. Thoughts?

For upgrades and special abilities and such, I don't have a lot of information about the various things. From a story perspective, along with our deal broker contact we could probably use a Patron to justify us being in the Espionage game. Everybody Steals seems like a better SA to start with, but Patron makes sense from a non-mechanical viewpoint.

Workshop sounds like something Saint would be interested in, and a Boat seems like a stealthier way to get around the city than a Carriage, and Gear and Tools both sound good, but I'm not sure if there are mechanical reasons to get one over the other. Basically I'm saying I don't really have insight into the Crew upgrades, so I'm good with Dusky's list.

Guts Now, the question would be…how would Fog even know of Guts? Sawtooth could be the answer. I’d envisaged Ceres as being a fair hand with a needle but maybe not a full-on doctor type. At least not initially. Possibly after her falling out with Fog, she decides to go more “legit” and seeks to become a real doctor. Sawtooth could be a mentor or teacher of hers.

Sinjin I actually think the best tie here would have been via Fog’s morbid vice. His vice purveyor is a mortician’s assistant who informs him of the newest noble-rumors on the very sick, nearly dead, suicidal or, in many cases, the recently deceased. I don’t know if a Vice Purveyor and another player’s friend can be the same person but it could be one of Blakely’s assistants?

This is interesting. Guts has a medical-type friend, Sawtooth, and Fog has a medical-type friend, Ceres, and Saint is a Physicker and the Victorian equivalent of a med student. And they're all shady to a greater or lesser degree. It would make sense that Saint, Ceres, and Sawtooth all know each other. Probably Eckerd, too, since his job is to procure bodies who otherwise can't legitimately get one.

And it makes sense to me that Fog at least knows Eckerd well enough to use him as a source. Maybe they use the same sources to find out about the recently dead (soon to be buried, in Eckerd's case).

Sorry if it seems like I'm harping on backstory, I'm just trying to figure out why these people would trust each other enough to work together in a dangerous profession.

Just based on the most popular options, we are looking at this kind of crew:

Shadows, who are Professional, with a lair in an old crumbling abandoned Watch Tower overlooking the Docks, hunting grounds
in Nightmarket far away from the lair you keep your stash hidden in, a preference for Espionage, and the BLANK special ability.

I'm good with this. Everybody Steals would let Saint boost his Tinker to 3- no trap is too subtle, no lock too tough to stop this guy.

I kind of wonder how a bunch of nobodies get into the espionage game, though. Does anyone have something in their background that hooks us in?

Saint, Guts, Dusky, and Fog look like they sorta know each other through mutual friends and maybe having worked together a time or two via said mutual friends.

For Ophelia- Riven was a professor at an academy. Could he have been a professor in a medical school? If so, he could have been Saint's professor. Oh, wait, he was a lawyer. Should've kept reading.

Still, he (or both Ophelia and Riven) could have known Saint's parents professionally or personally- Saint's mom is a doctor and his dad is an apothecary. They're tradespeople, but well off, and could have run in the same circles as Ophelia and Riven. There's some possibilities there.

Here's Saint's alias. I'll get a profile up for him asap.

I was looking forward to being Smugglers, but Shadows works for me, too. I can't see Sinjin going from helping his cousin steal corpses to sell to medical schools to teaming up with a gang of assassins. Bravos or Hawkers could work for him, but it looks like we're so far all in agreement on Shadows.

For linking these guys all up, I could see Guts having been some extra muscle for corpse-digging a time or two and/or Guts having used Eckerd as a way to get rid of inconvenient bodies.

Dusky seems easy to plug into a Shadows crew. He's a small time grifter, keeps an eye out for opportunities and could've worked with Saint and Eckerd at some point in the past- selling body parts or organs, probably.

Fog seems like kind of a loner? Maybe he worked with Dusky, who pulled him into this group when it became clear we didn't have a second-story man? Saint might have a bit of a rep as a street doc- maybe Fog's friend Ceres wasn't available or couldn't fix something and she reached out to Saint for help?

And maybe I'm just terrible at searching, but I don't see Ophelia Walker. What's her background? How does she plug into the crew?

So, I'm planning a trip to NYC the weekend after new year's to celebrate my graduation and one of the things I think would be cool to do is actually take my PFS stuff and play a game with new people. Is there somewhere with a weekend game in the city that I could get to from Penn Station? Not sure where I'll be staying yet but that's where I'm arriving. Not opposed to subway travel and a bit of walking, but I'm trying to plan everything now because the last 3 trips I was gonna go on fell apart and BY DESNA NOT THIS ONE.

So, I don't really care if people respond or not. Probably not even going to check back, but I just feel that this needs to be said.

Screw Mi-go, and the Visitant in particular.

15 charges of invisibility on a wand, 3 attacks that automatically get a grapple attempt on hit, hit AGAIN on a successful grapple, and apply 2d6 sneak attack dice EACH. Then ability score damage on all 3 of those grapples. Then the ability to summon monster 4 in a level 3-4 dungeon.

This son of a gun could have one-shot our barbarian if it jumped him from invis. Our swashbuckler gets caught in its triple death grip. A) HOW does one creature grapple 3 times? I have two hands but I only grapple once while using both of them. B) What kind of bullshit AC does this thing have that a swashbuckler can't knife it while it's flat-footed with bless and a DEX of +4? C) What does it freaking do to my body that I need a Resurrection spell instead of a Raise Dead at level freaking four? D) Our spellcaster was useless because this thing has immunity to cold, resist electricity and fire 10, and DR 5/slashing. That's one of our biggest sources of damage and this thing is largely immune to an entire party member.