Any goals for non-criminal factions? My group is starting to get involved w/ some of the other factions (notably The Reconciled, Inkrakes, and Cabbies) and I think I should start having those factions progress towards “goals”. However From their short description I’m not entirely sure what motivates them?
Anyone else done some faction stuff w/ these groups? Thoughts/Ideas?
(The crew owe Salia “a favor” in the future, which sounds cool (probably just a random roll on a score table?) but i’m not sure how to approach it as a benefit for that faction)
Thanks!
You can always consider what a group ultimately wants/what they’re reason for existing is then the lengths the leaders of those groups are willing to go for it. Add into that who they’re connected to, both positively and negatively, and how secretive they are and you should be set. Another consideration is could the person hiring your crew have any ulterior motives that might nudge one goal ahead of another.
Well the Unseen have the Ink Rakes as their enemy which says something about them right there. They are all about finding the big scoop — in this case who the Unseen are.
Also I’d assume that the Ink Rakes are likely a bunch of different groups. Ink Rakes in general are a Tier II but if you want to really “read the fine print” and detail out their motivations you are likely dealing with a separate newspaper publishers—some would be Tier II and others Tier I or 0. The biggest goal would be to topple the other newspapers either through getting the best scoop or even physically threatening their newsboys.
As for the Cabbies, there may be different Cab companies battling it out. Either that or they may have it out for the Gondoliers. Also as for goals hauling people is a good gig but if you can you’ll make serious scratch getting contracts with smugglers also hauling illicit goods.
BTW I recommend you listen to The Dollop podcast on Owen Kildare. It talks about the life of a Newsie kid. It was a hard violent life being a newsie. http://thedollop.libsyn.com/92-owen-kildare
The way I described the game world included that it’s like in our real-world industrial revolution.
There’s not enough resources to go around – even if you have a stable job, basically everyone is still poor and hungry. Human labour is plentiful, life is cheap, and that means that unless they need something very specialised, employers can pay a pittance and still find plenty of people willing to take the job.
The upshot is that there’s always someone hungry to take your place, you have to constantly fight to keep your current position. They work long hours, they don’t eat or sleep enough. Everyone’s life sucks. And because of that, everyone is a criminal if the opportunity presents itself.
Plenty of people are just trying to get by, but when their job doesn’t pay enough for them to eat properly, very few people will pass up the chance to grab a profit.
This infects the entirety of society – the people willing to do what it takes to grab that profit are the ones that thrive, so many of the people at the top – while not needing to behave in a criminal fashion, they got there by behaving in that way. It’s their habit, it’s what has served them well, and it’s what will keep them in power.
With this attitude, I take it for granted that the cabbies will be involved with smuggling goods, the consulates will be playing games of bribery and extortion, the upper class are living off the blood of the lower class, and nobody prospers without some level of dirt on their hands.
And when I assume that all the groups are – in some way – behaving criminally, I find that helps inspire ideas about what they might be up to, and inspire possible plots or scores. Add to that, the individuals in the groups will be looking for personal opportunities that the group itself might not be aware of, and that opens more opportunities both for plots, but also for PCs to bribe for information, flip an “inside man” and so on.
That random cabbie that you hail? He might not be willing to smuggle for you, but he sure will know someone who is. And is probably not above giving a name in exchange for some slugs. But he might also give YOUR name to the Bluecoats, if he thinks there’s something in it. Oh, and the cabbies are enemies with the gondoliers, so maybe it’s not money that’ll motivate him to smuggle things for you – after all, those wooden oars the gondoliers use are rather heavy, and there have been a few “random accidents” where cabbies have been found with their heads bashed in. Not that we’re assuming that any given gondolier is willing to murder – but at least a few of them are. Neither the cabbies nor the gondoliers are criminal groups, but it (in my game) it looks like they’re both willing to engage in criminal activities. That’s just a necessity of running a large scale business in this city. Otherwise, you’ll be wiped out.
Plenty of other groups with their allies/enemies list also imply stuff that they might be doing – for example, the Red Sashes description: “Several members of the Red Sashes are the sons and daughters of Iruvian nobility and diplomats in Doskvol. … Their families are powerful and will commit significant resources to punishing anyone who harms their children.”
I bet that impacts the sorts of things that the Iruvian Consulate is running around trying to achieve. Is the consulate trying to shut down the Red Sashes before things get out of control? Or supporting them because that’s their paycheck? Or trying to avoid getting dragged into things, but bailing the noble brats out of jail and paying ransoms, and convincing other gangs to hold back on lethal force during conflicts? Or are different people within the consulate trying to do different things?
An Ink Rake crew campaign sounds amazing.
Here is some reflection I did on what might motivate a crew, and some of it could be repurposed for other factions.
https://plus.google.com/113881370051836623777/posts/XSMfGYdgR8C
Also, every faction is getting money from somewhere and giving money somewhere else. For legit businesses taxes are brutal, and they probably have to manage payoffs to various criminals as well.
Sometimes a “customer” of an extortion racket or protection racket might want to trade the jerks that are oppressing them now for jerks with a lighter touch, inviting some criminals to take advantage of them if they will in exchange eliminate the current oppressors who are cutting too deep or offending their victims needlessly.
Likewise, nobles have these ridiculous games for wealth and prestige that are murky and layered. They trade pieces, promote players, and sacrifice whole businesses as part of inscrutable strategies, or just out of foolishness sometimes.
David Perry totally! Just writing about it made me want to play/run one. Maybe as a straight newspaper publisher or maybe as a spy crew that sells secrets and sells lies, and who has the cover of a newspaper entity.
Also could play a smuggler operation that has the front of a cab company.
awesome feedback, thanks everyone. I’m feeling in a better space to attempt this now. 🙂
Colin Fahrion Whenever the Dollop gets into 19th century New York it always sounds like some super good BitD fodder.
What about including some of the same sorts of non-criminal goals that the PC crew might have?
What if the Cabbies wanted to improve their relationship with the Gondoliers so they could provide a better service of travel across the city (for who or whatever needs transporting, whether legal or illegal, moral or immoral) and in doing so create a monopoly. The players could either end up enlisted to help broker peace or interfere to keep the alliance from forming or insert themselves in the middle somehow.
What if the leader of the Inkrakes, or a high level editor, decided that they just wanted to produce the best and cheapest newspaper in town and to get it to most/all of the city? That could be a genuine attempt to improve communication in the city, a way to spread secret messages, lies and propaganda or it could be a way for them to make money in order to fund further goals.
Just some ideas I had. If you want the whole of your Doskvol to be sinister, make the motives more insidious or openly selfish/evil. If you want things to be more nuanced or unclear, you could have a mixture and then drop rumours to inform and mislead the players about everyone’s motives (they are rumours after all, not all will be right).
What about including some of the same sorts of non-criminal goals that the PC crew might have?
What if the Cabbies wanted to improve their relationship with the Gondoliers so they could provide a better service of travel across the city (for who or whatever needs transporting, whether legal or illegal, moral or immoral) and in doing so create a monopoly. The players could either end up enlisted to help broker peace or interfere to keep the alliance from forming or insert themselves in the middle somehow.
What if the leader of the Inkrakes, or a high level editor, decided that they just wanted to produce the best and cheapest newspaper in town and to get it to most/all of the city? That could be a genuine attempt to improve communication in the city, a way to spread secret messages, lies and propaganda or it could be a way for them to make money in order to fund further goals.
Just some ideas I had. If you want the whole of your Doskvol to be sinister, make the motives more insidious or openly selfish/evil. If you want things to be more nuanced or unclear, you could have a mixture and then drop rumours to inform and mislead the players about everyone’s motives (they are rumours after all, not all will be right).