Hi guys,
I’ve got a first game coming up soon, and I’ve got a few questions:
* What are the intended implications of different Load Levels? The book doesn’t seem to specify beyond describing them, so I assume it’s a bit up in the air, but I’d really like some guidelines on the matter. Higher levels mean more Heat? Less favorable starting positions? Etc.
* My group in particular will be playing an Assassins crew, and they elected for the No Traces special ability. Given that death automatically results in an increase in Heat, does that mean they can’t get any benefit from the second part of this ability without also having Crow’s Veil?
* Are all clocks intended to be player facing?
That’s all for now, but I’m sure I’ll think of more later. 🙂
📌
1: Different load levels typically are up in the air but mostly effect position and effect. Swimming with a heavy load is likely difficult, while schmoozing at a party in heavy is asking for disaster. Medium may attract more bluecoat attention while light might make it easier to blend into the crowd. Your players can of course play it off and if they roll well enough, ignore the penalties. Just muscling their way through the water or playing off the extra gear as a new fashion trend.
2: The whole “Death causing heat increase” is like most things, flexible in blades. In the case of No traces, so long as they leave no trace, you can consider the heat zero. If the butler obviously shot his lord, or the shoddy construction of his manor caused the statue to fall, there is no heat to be spread.
That rule is primarily for death with traces, even if there are no direct links. A guard falls off a building or is stabbed by his friend… And the noble’s prized treasure is missing reeks of foul play.
3: For the most part they should be, but I do keep a few “Long term surprise” clocks hidden. Anything directly involved with the current mission should probably be visible.
In regards to 2, I respectfully disagree that leaving no traces when killing leaves no heat. For one, that’s what Crow’s Veil (assuming the crew does the killing) does and allowing the crew to wiggle the fiction to say quiet deaths don’t generate heat seems gamey in a bad way. Also, killing, whether found/witnessed or not, generates heat simply because somebody somewhere will notice something. Heat from killing covers all the minutiae of ghosts, deathseeker crows taking flight, rumors, witnesses, evidence, etc., all in one nifty package. It’s a brilliant mechanic.
As far as what would hurt using No Traces, be flexible. The crew paid for the ability so be lenient. That’s not to say they can show their asses in a blood-soaked death-orgy spanning the city and say, “No, brah. No traces. We’re good”, but I would lean in their favor if they’re trying to be quiet. Our general rule is above +2 base heat cost, we start getting more stringent. Modifiers don’t count. Another thing is they’re taking a rep hit, so that bennie is a smoother getaway.
If you really want to make killer ninjas, get No Traces, Crow’s Veil and Slippery (from Shadows). Those aren’t the only abilities to be stealthy but they’re beastly and awesome.
Personally I would argue the opposite for No heat being gamey. If they think on their feet and generate a way in which the death appears natural or accidental, they ought to be rewarded. The fact that they were unseen, unheard, and unaccountable but got punished anyway because of rumor and speculation, especially if its a personal mission as opposed to a job. I feel of all of them Crow’s Veil is more gamey as it makes less sense. If a person is killed in their bed, or the body is found later, and no bells rung. No crows flew. It would be very suspicious.
I can understand rumors being passed around on an accidental death and someone saying “Well it might have been X”, but in terms of both rumor and bluecoats knocking, No bells would cause far more scrutiny and larger action on the side of investigators and Spirit Wardens because somethings messed up.
The primary effect I promote for Crow’s Veil is that it delays response in mission. When the bells start tolling and the crows start arriving it adds a ticking clock. If the guards have noticed things out of place and are wary, at the sign of bells they may kick into high gear. Yes I’ll still give them the heat reduction (as my group can be rather gamey at times) but I feel the ability to avoid heavy response is better.
This is however, only my take on things.
As an aside, because we are apparently all a bit stupid and missed this. No traces states, when you END downtime with zero heat, take +1 rep. Meaning, so long as the crew uses downtime actions to reduce heat to zero, its fine if the generate some in mission.
Remember that you can reduce heat during downtime and the trigger is “When you end downtime with zero heat,” so if they generate heat automatically by assassinating someone, they can then reduce that heat and get the bonus from No Traces. So they will simply have to spend a downtime action to tie up loose ends like the spirit wardens or ghost of the victim or what-have-you.
Admittedly in the downtime action economy an extra action costs one rep, but then you’re basically reducing heat for free.
A bit to consider is that keeping an operation quiet and using No Traces isn’t just about Heat, it’s about preventing blowback while still getting rep. Murder is a pretty quick way to go to war and some clients want it to seem like an accident. No Traces allows for your crew to do a job they’re not pinned for, but be so good they still get rep for it. That’s bad-ass!
Heat isn’t your crew being caught, it’s the countless things happening off-screen that makes the law turn an eye your way and doesn’t care how super-ninja careful you were. That’s how I see it, at least.
A problem with haggling over the Heat economy can lead to breaking it completely. If you let well-crafted murder result in no +2 Heat for killing, why wouldn’t other modifiers apply? “Yeah, we killed a high-born noble in Brightstone, but we were super-careful so we shouldn’t get Heat”. That doesn’t sit well with me.
The trick isn’t to avoid Heat entirely, it’s to manage it, high or low. Unless getting Wanted levels are the crew’s thing, shoot for low-Heat scores and/or using downtime to reduce any accrued Heat.
As an aside, don’t sweat Wanted levels, either. They’re great for generating scores to pin your crimes on an enemy.
Most importantly, have fun. Try different things, do what works for your group and know that the game is tough as nails and can take a ton of tweaking.
About clocks:
Of course you can create clocks just for your personal book keeping, but if you want a clock to create tension and have an impact on the characters/players, definitely put it out on the table.
That a player knows how many ticks would fill up a clock is just a substitute for the character being competent and living in the world.
About load:
It’s about how much a character is prepared for the score, how suspicious looking he is and how much he is hindered.
It can affect the position and effect level of an action roll. For example: with heavy load running might be less effective, or entering a pub like the leaky bucket might even be risky. And climbing might even get desperate.
I’ve been trying to have load have an impact beyond how much can be carried, such as the above suggestions. This makes the rigging crew advances more meaningful to me.
Ben Liepis what I always try to emphasise because I got it wrong myself at first:
Load does NOT describe how much can be carried! It describes how much was brought to the score at the beginning.
You can of course pick up stuff while being on a score, but that adds to the load you originally chose (no matter how many items you actually ticked so far). That’s why there is encumbered load in the rules (page 57).
But, to be honest, most of the time it will not make a difference in actual play. After all, the whole point of the rules about load is to make bookkeeping as unimportant as possible 🙂
Jörg Mintel, good point. A better way to describe load is “The amount of gear you brought” not a maximum carrying capacity.