Blood on Silk: Episode 1: New Arrivals
So we finally had game tonight and my poor players just couldn’t seem to get a good roll for the life of them.
I updated their sheets to v.8.1 and got everything situated. We talked about how they met, how they were recruited, everything like that. They did a little more creation, coming up with the look of their drug at least. It is this pearl-colored bouillon cube with an almost rainbow iridescence to it. You can shave it onto your food, mix it in with hot tea, or suck on it like a gumball. Eating it is the only way to imbibe it…for now. At higher tiers, they’ll have better possibilities.
The group met Djera, the leader of the Hive who represented herself as “just an associate” of it, at a warehouse at the docks after receiving an invitation to arrive. Despite everyone trying really good ways to learn more about her, the highest roll was a 2. During the interaction with her, the highest one was a 3. Needless to say, the group was over their heads and easily played along to her tune throughout their conversation.
Impressed by their ability to move so effectively, she saw an opportunity to try and recruit them so she could apply pressure on the Crows by striking at the gangs that made them the most money. Wanting to see how they acted, she hired them to assault a Red Runner outpost in Silkshore that they used for a gambling den as well as a drug workshop. I rolled the building table to find out what businesses were there and the 1st floor was a ruin, the 2nd and 3rd were a gambling den, the 4th as a workshop ran by some neutral engineer, and the 5th floor was their drug den. It worked really well and gave a good idea of what was going on.
The group accepted her offer of 3 coin and began to gather information the best they can. The Lurk tried to sneak in and consort with the gamblers and gangers and just ended up not being able to do so. Another 3 was rolled. The Spider tried to find out what other toes they would step on by really messing with the Red Runners and got a 5 finally. I gave him limited effect and said that they owed money towards a gang in Crow’s Foot, but who he wasn’t sure.
The Cutter decided to kidnap a guy and question him about the location, getting a 6 on his prowl. He was able to learn that the place was locked tightly thanks to some good locks they had and their main lieutenant, named Ezra the Claw, was the one who had the keys. Her two second-in-commands, Vinz and Drogo, also had keys to the 5th floor. There was also a laundry shaft through the building to the 1st floor but it was dangerous to go there. Getting that information required a Devil’s Bargain, where the goon slipped out of his hold and yelled for help. Resisting that, the Cutter gave him a swift kick into the canal and escaped nice and cleanly.
Intrigued by the news that there was something in the basement, our Whisper sneaked in and investigated what could be there. A murder victim, stabbed and left to die in a fire that ruined that floor, rose to the occasion. Again I used the random tables and I came up with this destructive spirit. Electroplasmic electricity arced off of his burning, ghostly body and he demanded that she explain why she reached for him. She tried to convince him to attack the people up above but he told her that they had the place warded against his intrusion, all while he continued to stalk her.
The ghost offered a deal that if she carried him in via possession, he’d attack them with all his wrath. Rather than trust the mildly insane and dangerous ghost, she opted to try and escape. She got out with mild burns on her leg when he almost caught her but was caught out by a large crowd on the street. She convinced the Runners that interrogated her that she was “just trying to get a hit in some privacy” but talk would spread of the strange woman who met the ghost below and that netted the group a + 1 to Heat.
The group started to try and do their planning but they got wrapped up in old habits and it was getting late. People were trying to find the best plan rather than taking a plan and going with it. I was able to corral the cats that were my players into at least settling on an Assault plan and moving from there. Over the week, they’ll send me messages with questions for me to think about.
I’m expecting this, knowing my players, to become and wonderful shit show with plenty of heat, bodies, and a fierce reputation. They are an Ambitious group of Hawkers, after all. I’m going to instill a “No Phones At The Table” rule because people were getting too drawn into their mobile devices and not joining into ideas and discussions.
Overall though, it was a fun first session. It was neat to basically not roll any dice and just narrate what happens. I really look forward to what shenanigans they pull next.