I’m running a game tonight with my crew of Hawkers. They’ve been at war with the Rail Jacks for a couple sessions now but nothing’s happened yet (they’re laying low and trying to put together a peace plan). I’d like to lure them out into a trap.
Any ideas how the Rail Jacks might trap someone within the city? Strategies, tactics, locations, etc? Planning to randomly generate a few scores for inspiration but I won’t be able to do that until my lunch break and well, I can’t stop thinking about this right now.
Do the Hawkers get anything in/out via rail?
My first instinct was to have a meeting where the RJs could kidnap/ambush the Hawkers, and get them out of Doskvol. Not only would they have to contend with the RJs, but also the Death Lands.
Maybe a rare (think the Hawkers sell) needs a crew to move it, and the meeting is literally at the rail station to inspect it.
Put the word out there’s Coin for information. Have the Rail Jacks talk to one of the crew’s “frenemies.” Once the frenemy and Rail Jacks get cozy, the frenemy can lure them into a trap. Maybe by compromising one of their real friends/contacts.
Great ideas, thanks!
The Hawkers deal in poisons (“and other alchemicals”) but they stole a crate of “Quickbane” potion from the Rail Jacks that forces ghostly depossession. They had to steal it because their friends (the prostitutes of Silkshore) were dealing with a lot of unexplained possessions but the potion has close to a 50% mortality rate. Stealing the potions put them at war with the Rail Jacks, but the Hawkers are working on a formula to improve the potions, offer them back to the Rail Jacks, and thereby make peace.
What a wrench I will throw in their plans when they get a tip-off about a perfect ingredient for their formula that’s just showed up at a rail line in Nightmarket… whether it’s from a consequence, a poor engagement roll, or a clock, my goal is now to kidnap them and dump them in the Deathlands.
Some fun gear from Ghost Lines that could be used in an ambush:
– They could ambush you in an industrial area where you’re surrounded by tall metal walls; the rail jacks use their magnetic boots to run along the walls and get the drop on you
– They could use smoke bombs since they have spirit goggles to see through smoke
– They could use a choking gas of some kind, since they all have breather masks
– They could use spirit flares to blind you, like flashbangs
– An Anchor in a heavy encounter suit could tank the group, wrestling targets with their electro-field.
– They could use lightning-web throwers to entangle the targets
– They could smash a spirit bottle in your midst to unleash an enraged ghost from the deathlands as a distraction
And it’s a buzzer beater from Tim Denee! Just sat down to play. Thanks much!
If the players want a peace plan, I wouldn’t refuse them. But I would try to make it a high stakes fun time!
Maybe they find out the RJ want something, but not the heat/wanted level from doing the score.
My default answer is this post on pepairing a heist by giving it 3 zones.
Not sure if that would work when you are trying to lure a crew out of hiding to ambush them.
games.nightstaff.net – Prepping Scores for Blades in the Dark – Nightstaff Games
Tim Denee Do update us with how it goes!
Of course! I just made a write up here:
plus.google.com – BLADES IN THE DICE DOJO The Eye and Pestle: Penultimate Peril Our Skovlande…
Long story short, one of the characters suffered his first Trauma (although that player had another character who suffered the entire group’s first Trauma in the previous session…) and the other two characters were one Stress away from doing the same. They managed to survive the Deathlands and squeak out a promising negotiation with the Rail Jacks to set themselves up for our final session. Every roll was Desperate, so every player got at least one Advancement tonight.
What a session!
Eli O’Sullivan Kurtz Nice write up, sounds like a great session.