Ok, so that just happened
I had, a couple of sessions ago, informed the crew, the Speaks Easys (Easys for short) about a heist of a Leviathan Hunter ship, it wasn’t meant to lead to anything, just something that happened as another crews Crit roll on their Faction Clock. But the crew ran with it, decided that these ships are a vital part of Duskwall and that they should offer their services to retrieve the stolen items and improve their relationships with this faction.
After a number of Gather Information rolls the crew find out that the most likely crew to pull this off was the Grinders, now the Easys already have a -2 status with the Grinders from crew creation (The Grinders were pissed off that the Easys were using the Underground maps and passkeys). The Slide with the Cutter bodyguard go to visit the Captain of the ship to find out what was stolen. The Captain tells them that most of it is easily replaced but some personal items were taken that he would like back. A couple of paintings, a statuette, a small chest and the Captains Astrolathe (an item I made up which is essential in navigating the Void Sea) the ship had its own but this Astrolathe had been a part of the Captains stateroom since the ship was commissioned. The Captain was willing to pay the group 5 COIN for the Astrolathe and one COIN each for the other items as well as one COIN just for bringing anything back (The Slide rolled a crit on his haggle roll)
Now the crew had a quandary, 10 COIN is a lot of money but is it worth risking a War with the Grinders? In the end the money won out so they cased the Grinders turf and found their HQ, an old abandoned Warehouse, the Whisper used his Arcane Eye ritual to case the inside of it so I put the map of the interior I made earlier on the table. The Leech quietly Wrecked a ventilation shaft in a darker area and they all got in unseen (Engagement roll 6)
Inside the warehouse I put 4 Grinders playing poker at a brightly lit table and a guard patrolling the upstairs gangwalk where other doors could be seen. The Lurk snuck up to the gangwalk to set up the Cutters sneak, then Skirmish to quietly take the guard out. The Slide and the Whisper then group prowl up as well with the Leech keeping an eye on the poker players. First two doors upstairs are unlocked and lead to storerooms/offices where they find the paintings, statue and chest, they COULD walk out now with 5 of the 10 COIN secured but again, money talks.
At the final door they could hear voices talking so the Whisper takes stress to run his Arcane Eye ritual again getting the layout of the room, nearly filling the Poker Players see you clock. Inside the room are the three leaders of the Grinders, Hutton, Sercy and Derret as well as the Astrolathe. The Slide disguised himself as the guard, opened the door and quickly said that the Easys had been spotted nearby (Sway, crit) Derret rushes out the door and takes 2 of the poker players with him leaving Hutton and the cripple Sercy in the room.
The Lurk uses Ghost Step to phase through the wall to attack Hutton from behind while the Slide and the Cutter burst through the door to help. The Lurks Silence Potion made the fight quiet enough not to attract the other two poker players remaining.
Now comes the WTF bit, if the crew left with the loot leaving the Grinders behind, then war was a definite, however the crew did not want to attract any HEAT or ruin their rep by killing them either (5 scores in, they have caused no deaths nor are they planning any either). So they knock them out, smuggle them out of the warehouse and take them to the Leviathan Ships Captain, another critical Sway and they convince him that these two are responsible for the thefts so perhaps they would like to “volunteer” for the next Leviathan Hunting expedition.
So now the Grinders are left leaderless, only Derret of their top 3 remaining and I see him more as a muscle man not a brain, so what happens now to the Grinders, do you think they are still a force in Duskwall, will they retreat back to Lockport? The Easys were in and out of the Warehouse and the only people in the Grinders who know it are now out on the Void Sea (possibly in the Void Sea now) The crew are next planning on taking the Secret Pathways claim and want it to be from the Grinders as well so in how much disarray do you think the Grinders are in, I believe it is feasible that Derret suspects the Easys and will be enraged. I would like to see what ideas the hive mind here has
Sounds like the Grinders lost two leaders, but not the bulk of their strength, got humiliated, and are left with a single man in charge who (a) needs to show their strength, (b) is presumably indisputably in charge, and (c) isn’t the brains of the operation.
That doesn’t sound like a retreat situation; A and B say they’re going to hit back, and C suggests the easys might have a way of tripping him up.
Just make sure he’s not stupid. He might bit be the criminal brains, but if he’s the leader of the muscle, he should still have tactical intelligence. I’d ask myself, what does he not know and understand about their business? Why isn’t he “the brains”? Once you know that, you’ll have an idea of the answer to C, and what happens next.
I listened to some of the Bloodletters pod cast lately and what I’ve learned there from John Harper (and want to incorporate in my game as GM): If you don’t know, make a fortune roll.
Is Derret intelligent and ambitious enough for trying to make it alone? Will the Grinders go long or not? Roll and see what the dice say.
Is there someone else in the ranks of the the Grinders how sees his/her chance for a promotion? Fortune roll it.
Maybe even that: Are the two Grinders really on board of the ship or did they manage to escape? Maybe one of them was killed and comes back as a ghost (–> nice entanglement btw). Fortune roll it.
Will Cousin X come over from Imperial city to fill the vaccum in the power structure? Will he know who’s done it? … ok, I think I made my point 🙂
The great benefit for me is, that I don’t tell my usual stories all over again and again. I surely have a preference for a specific type of story and maybe sometimes I tend to think “nah, I cannot do this”, but hey, if the fortune roll brings a 6 or crit then the anser is “yep, I do it anyway.” It’s the unexpected element I like here, like your players who wanted to bild a full story on a short remark about a faction clock. Cool!
BTW Cool score, will steal some ideas from it. Thanks for sharing it.
Well I ended up rolling Derrets Command (3 dice) to see how much control he has and he nailed it, 3 sixes so now the Grinders and cohort are lead by Derret however he acknowledges that he is weak in planning so has sent to Lockport for a replacement tactical officer. So the Grinders are going to be brutal thugs but will not be able to advance their clocks for a month or so. Plenty of time to find this upstart crew of Shadows and beat them into the ground.