Stealth plans and The Engagement Roll
“Don’t make the engagement roll and then describe the PCs approaching the
target.” (p128)
The Billhooks have sent their man to pick up their monthly take from Sgt. Velk’s fighting pits in Dunslough. The crew’s Lurk is going to sneak up on the Billhook bag man and switch his bag (the one with the pit’s profits) with an identical-looking one with counterfeit coin. It’s another Stealth plan by a shadows crew. All I know for sure is that the engagement roll was “Desperate.”
I’ve handled their Stealth plans in different ways but I’m never entirely satisfied with the results. I’m supposed to open the Score cutting straight to the action and the main thing I can think of for Stealth plans is… PC(s) approaching the target. And in the case of a Desperate engagement, they’re maybe 3/4 of the way towards having their “sneak mode” blown, because someone’s watching the situation pretty closely.
How have you variously handled opening engagements in Stealth plans?
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You’re in position to make the switch, when you realise that there’s:
– A chain attaching it to the Billhook’s wrist
– A charm on the bag
– A different bag from the one you expected!
If you’re going to get engaged, you owe it to them to be present in the moment.
I like the charm idea. Get the Whisper involved in a Flashback maybe?
Whatever I’ve gone with, I’m in the habit of starting with a clock with 1-3 segments marked depending on the position. Do others do that?
Keep the thoughts coming! 🙂
There’s an unforeseen complication, and the situation is not what was expected during planning. The Billhook’s bag man is accompanied by a heavy entourage, the street is blockaded by a Bluecoat checkpoint, and/or ghostly interference is disrupting the district. Basically, throw left-field problems at the players that force them to adapt on their feet.
The important take-away from that text is that the PCs are facing their first obstacle after the engagement roll. They might still be a far from their final target, depending on the situation. But they’re not, like, approaching the district that the target is in, or approaching the building from a few blocks away, free and clear to just “do whatever”.
The engagement roll throws them into the first obstacle.
So, maybe this bag-man has a gang that shadows him for security, all spread out across a few blocks. You’ve spotted a likely lookout/whistle-girl and she’s eyeing you suspiciously.
Maybe the problem isn’t with them being stealthy, but the target is much heavier guarded than they thought.
Maybe another group spots them, and the crew is negative standing with this group. The crew is ambushed while trying to sneak.
To me, a disconnect is that it seems less a Stealth plan than an Assault or Deception (or even Occult, depending on your method) plan. I would strain to describe a point of entry for swapping out a bag of coin being carried along a route, you know? For the other types of plans, no problem.
On my way to work, my wife and I discussed this situation and damn if we didn’t come up with some crazy-fun things. Kudos to Matthew Gagan for bringing sharing this. It really had my brain a-chugging with ideas. 🙂
The cut gets taken out of the proceeds from the fights that night and put in a bag in a secure place. The bag man receives the bag at the end of the night after the fights are over. Security relies primarily on people not knowing the bag man has a bag of coin and on the Billhooks’ bloody reputation. The stealth switch was to take place before the bag man got the bag. 🙂
Thanks for the ideas. I ended up having Coran, Rufus and Silas on hand to pick up the proceeds rather than the usual situation the crew had scoped out where it was previously only Rufus. Coran & Rufus are inside the fighting pit, Silas on guard outside with his death dog Marrow.
We opened on the thick-necked bull of a Billhook, Silas, poking the Lurk Phan in the chest, having recognized him from the dockyard days, before Phan could get into position to do his stealthy switch. Phan was pinned up against a coal bin and behind schedule for the grab.
“Oi! Look at the way dis focker’s dressed! Puttin’ on airs! Fight’s closed to the likes of you, salt boy… shuffle off!”
One critical success later, Phan has run off having delivered a quick kick to the undercarriage & left Silas on the ground breathless before he could deliver the command word that would have put the death dog at Phan’s throat.
Phan subsequently got into position with the help of the Cutter & made the switch.
A fun session. The gang got to take out the Leech’s balloon for the first time: a possessed Sgt. Velk got sky grappling hook-kidnapped and taken over the lightning barrier to the deathlands. (no death inside Doskvol = no death crow/ Spirit Warden dispatch & no extra Heat…)