Any tips on starting a crew that’s not focused on Crow’s Foot? I did character/crew creation for a group of Hawkers last week, and they picked Barrowcleft as their sales area/hunting ground.
The two big ideas for conflict that are bubbling around my head are 1) Barrowcleft isn’t tolerant of the criminal element. The crew paid off the Bluecoats with their starting coin, but perhaps the crew might inspire some local vigilantes. 2) criminal elements in Silkshore might not appreciate new competition in a adjacent neighborhood they didn’t think they had to worry about.
Lot’s of AP here from my Charterhall Crew (all students trying pose as legit while smuggling). seannittner.com – Tag Archives: doskvol spectral society
Thanks Sean Nittner, I’ll be sure to take a look!
The book has some instructions for creating a starting situation of your own, so I’d look to those. From memory, it’s basically “pick two factions, put them at odds with each other and pick a third faction that can stand to profit from the conflict. Then have one of the factions approach the Crew with a job offer.”
Thomas Berton, I saw that. The issue I’m having is figuring out which factions would be at play in Barrowcleft and Silkshore.
I’m having the same problem. Well, problem might be a strong word to use, but since I’m lazy I would appreciate more direction on this.
The faction information seems a bit inconsistent in that some factions are placed very explicitly in certain areas, some are not placed at all, and some are more implicitly placed by some reference. Maybe I’m missing something?
Royne Borrud, I feel like the higher a gang’s tier the less tied to one district they are, so tier I & II gangs are given fairly explicit spheres of influence while tier III+ gangs are assumed to have their fingers in a lot of pots. Presumably, districts like Silkshore have their own lower tier gangs that just aren’t described in favor of focusing on Crow’s Foot and the Docks.
Royne Borrud Much of this ambiguity seems like a deliberate invitation to fill in the blanks yourself, especially for the lower tier folks like G. Michael Truran says. Ulf Ironborn can (and I think should because he’s BEAST) be placed in whichever district that makes him most relevant to your PCs, for example.
G. Michael Truran Charles Simon Both very good answers.
Like I said, this is more a question of me being lazy than any form of slight on the game. I also want to avoid contradicting ‘canon’ where I can. It would probably have helped me if there were more explicit information on where factions are placed, or which factions are deliberately not placed, and the reason behind it. As is I feel I have to go hunting throught the entire book to sniff out the full picture…
Royne Borrud I had the same thoughts when I was trying to work out who was where, but at the end of the day, your group can retcon anything you want or just make your own truth. I say just pick two same/similar level factions that most interest you, work out why they might be fighting and then pick a third one you also like to be involved somehow. If you later find out something in the book contradicts what you’ve come up with, in your world, either the book is wrong (why might things have changed in the city since what was previously known?) or you can retcon thing (you said the crew had their lair in one district, but it should have been another. Maybe this was a fake lair or maybe it actually did take place in the correct district).
G. Michael Truran Non-criminal, low tier factions you could use are The Brigade, Cabbies, Cyphers, Ink Rakes, Railjacks, or even The Dimmer sisters or The Weeping Lady I suppose, with The Gray Cloaks and The Lost being (mostly) anti-criminal factions. A few of those don’t have full crew write-ups in the book, so more work, but more freedom. Higher level factions for later on include The Sparkwrights, Unseen, Inspectors, Gondoliers and Foundation.
Perhaps, as an example for low level, The Brigade are well-respected in the district, but have been operating protection rackets in another area. The Lost have been investigating and shutting down some of their operations which is causing conflict. The leader of The Lost wants to know whether your crew will help take them down or whether you’re in league with them. The Foundation see potential in the area, but the current conflict means their investors are more hesitant than normal. They’d prefer the Brigade to be brought in line so that only the right buildings are being burnt, but equally would prefer the Lost to keep their noses out of Foundation business when people need to be disappeared. However, knowing the residents of the district are very anti-criminal, they will not get their own hands dirty. Besides, the Foundation are much too powerful to be getting involved in such petty squabbles. Alternative opener is a member of the Foundation asking you to remove one or both of the factions from the area, but as subtly as possible (might be good for a Shadow crew for example).
If your crew are Hawkers, maybe a transport option would be more interesting. Perhaps the Cabbies have been moving shipments for the farmers in the area, but they’re getting highjacked by The Grinders who are either trying to get a foothold in the district, to fill their coffers, or just cause problems for the Cabbies. The Hive are interested in seeing the Cabbies removed, as their loss would leave a vacuum that could be filled by the Hive’s own network, but if the Grinders grow too strong, they could start troubling the Hive’s business.
The only problem I can see is that the Grinders might be too obvious a choice to target, though I suppose that isn’t inherently a problem. Besides, your players might side with the Grinders for the same reason that Hive sort of do; they might produce a vacuum that the crew can fill. Also it gives them additional stuff to sell.