Eighth and final session of our playtest / beta (see prior sessions here https://plus.google.com/109896206941346348750/posts/4RDXc2ug28g). The Blackstone Outfit pulled off the biggest heist of their careers, then promptly vanished from the city.
Gameplay notes:
* I was happiest with how this heist came off as a game element: almost zero planning, going straight in. I described the target (an armored carriage going between the Duskwall Mint and the Bluecoats HQ) and checked with the players for when they wanted to act. Generous use of flashbacks created a neat little “plan” ex post facto.
* Question on the setting: are the rifles in the setting muzzle loaders? Lever action? Bolt action?
* Question on gang actions: if a gang takes action and provokes a consequence, who resists with stress and how?
* We decided this would be the last session, since we don’t want to make any more updates to character sheets until the final version comes out. We also hit a good stopping point in the fiction.
As for the events themselves:
The Blackstone Outfit took advantage of the ongoing Iruvian Crisis to rob the overworked Bluecoats. They targeted the Bluecoats’ payroll, robbing an armored carriage as it headed to the Bluecoat HQ and taking only a few bullet wounds in the process.
Back home, the Outfit’s Lurk was assaulted by an Iruvian fire demon encased in enchanted armor (an Inevitant) – the Lurk had been the last person to handle the green mask that they’d planted to frame a copper. Meanwhile, the Whisper and the Cutter were surprised at their clubhouse by Baszo Baz, who had kidnapped Lyssa’s second-in-command and meant to strike at the Crows that evening. (The progress clocks With Friends Like These and Success Breeds Enemies had filled at the start of this session)
Unwilling to take a swing at the Crows, the Outfit murdered Baz to prove their bona fides to Lyssa’s second. They then waited until the Inevitant arrived so it could set their clubhouse on fire, leaving Baz to “die” in a fire rather than by knives. Unable to kill the Inevitant, they fled to a leviathan hunter staffed by the Cutter’s family. The hunter sailed into the ink-black sea, return date unknown …
Guns: The game currently doesn’t specify. I might leave it that way. I usually describe them as muzzle loaders or occasionally as simple breech loaders.
Gangs and Resistance: Only PCs can roll resistance. If a PC is there, they can use the Protect teamwork maneuver to take the blow for the gang instead. Otherwise, gangs suffer whatever befalls them.
John Harper : that makes sense re: gangs and resistance.
And thank you again for putting in the work on these Quickstart packets! The games have been a lot of fun. My players were literally covering their faces and groaning when Baz forced their hand against the Crows (“why did he do this to us? We liked him!”). We’re looking forward to the finished product.
I just read thru all 8 of your posts as I think about running this myself, and I have to say thank you for all the work you did. These were super fun to read and I learned alot about the game from them.
Wade Jones : you’re quite welcome! Thank you for the encouragement.