12 thoughts on “Crazy question: Why is the Cove only rated 1 in criminality?”

  1. Even with codes and such (the only rule mentioned is against murder), the entire place is rife with criminal behavior (or should be). Say I want to figure if the crew can offload contraband, buy drugs, sell slaves, or whatever criminal tomfoolery they wish, I roll the rating as a Fortune pool. As it is, it’s a pirate den that’s got less criminal behavior than the capital. That strikes me as odd.

    My disconnect probably stems from my interpretation of what the ratings mean.

    Edit: This is what I’m basing it on. “Crime at the Cove is rampant, but by Banshee’s decree no murder is allowed. Those needing to settle blood-feuds resort to kidnapping and killing folks outside the Cloud.”

  2. Reminds me of Demons vs. Devils in AD&D, former being Chaotic Evil, later being Lawful Evil (ranking / ryhming etc.). So, those pirates are more devils and less demons… maybe? 😉

    You can’t just go and be evil, you have to learn at the “evil academy(TM)” to to the right kind of evil. Somebody fetch me a white cat, Bond will be here any minute. 🙂

  3. I see the ratings as prompts as to how prevalent the listed things are. In Blades, if you go to Dunslough and want to use, say, Compel to summon a ghost, the GM might roll the Occult Influence rating to determine the likelihood of it happening as you want. In S&V, if you’re on Warren and need your freshly-severed hand cloned or a cybernetic replacement, the GM might roll the Tech Level rating to see if either can happen. That’s how I see the Cove, too, but with crime.

    The reasoning for the Cove’s low rating could represent a lack of diversity in criminal organizations, in which case, that makes sense.

  4. The Cove is a tricky one. Generally when we say “Crime” we mean illegal activities outside the scope of local law, specifically by the syndicates or rebel groups.

    The Maelstrom are a coalition of ships, all who are tied through the Banshee. Most captains run tight ships (even if they’re pirates) and while there may be plenty of drugs, and mystics around every corner, there isn’t a whole ton of unsanctioned behavior in the scope of the place.

    So yeah, if the crew wants to offload goods you might be better rolling the Maelstrom rating for your fortune roll in this instance. I know it’s a little weird, but there is no other locations that’s controlled by a non-Hegemonic faction.

    If you want to do something the Banshee probably frowns upon (say selling slaves, which isn’t her jam) then you’d need to find a contact outside the maelstrom. Then the new rating is probably a good fortune pool.

    Does that scan?

  5. Stras Acimovic, it makes sense. Since a PC is a “cousin” to Banshee, it didn’t really come up in-game, but did at the table. As a quick thought, since the Cove is pretty much in line with the Maelstrom, might it mirror their rating? If the Maelstrom ever went up, the Cove would, too.

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