I have to share a few moments from yesterday’s Connoisseurs game…

I have to share a few moments from yesterday’s Connoisseurs game…

I have to share a few moments from yesterday’s Connoisseurs game…

So, Sapphire (the sardonic, hard-drinking Lurk) and Jack (the Spider who’s look is a mix of Eric Draven and Joker…with a mind close to both!) are hired by Bazso to steal the Red Sashes’ war treasury (I like that suggestion, even for Assassins), being as they performed their task of murdering the Iruvian consulate contact perfectly (yep, like that one, too!).

So, before the hiest, Sapphire wakes to a Red Sash plunging a dagger towards her. She blocks the blade, taking a slight cut to her forearm, then proceeds to stab the assassin in the lung, disabling her enough for questioning. Unfortunately, the dice decided the Red Sash died of shock before Sapphire could have words. Shortly after, Jack arrives and decides to behead the Red Sash and bundle her head in the sash…

Cut to the job, all the way to the Red Sash vault, where they get in with nary a hitch (the engagement and action rolls went so well!), steal the treasury and prominently display the head! Part of me was thinking, “What the…?” and another was “Oh! Oh, that is SO ballsy!”

The next score…

They’re taking turf by way of killing a certain Red Sash “officer” who runs that piece of the Red Sash pie. A Desperate engagement roll removes the crew’s scale advantage, since there are now two Red Sashes and two Cabbies, in a cab. One flashback (Jack does what’s needed to get a costly grenade) later and Sapphire’s Commanding their new thugs to charge the cab. One gets hurt and is incapacitated while the other shears two legs off of one of the two goats. The cab’s limping along, improving Jack’s position so he can mount the cab just long enough to dodge a bullet and toss in the grenade…

The target dives out as the grenade detonates and is graphically wounded. Sapphire, who has quite a personal beef with the man, walks up, looks him in his one good, hate-filled eye and shoots him in the head. She then turns to the shocked onlookers and calmly explains that the Connoisseurs are now in charge. Jack tips his hat, smiling and the thugs follow as their bosses escape.

So, they’re freaking violent! lol They’re at a Wanted level and because of their shenanigans (coupled with some fortune rolls highly in their favor) the Red Sashes are now Tier 1 weak. The war goes on…

I noticed the extra time consequence isn’t listed anywhere save the GM reference page.

I noticed the extra time consequence isn’t listed anywhere save the GM reference page.

I noticed the extra time consequence isn’t listed anywhere save the GM reference page. Was this consequence removed as a listed option?

Damn, U’Duasha is freakin’ awesome!

Damn, U’Duasha is freakin’ awesome!

Damn, U’Duasha is freakin’ awesome! I finally got around to reading it and love it. It feels so exotic while keeping the feel of Blades. John’s writing (as well as anyone else who pitched in) brought every facet to life in my mind (love the Gualim!). I will definitely have to give the crew a reason to travel there!

What are the between the Special Edition Final/Final #2 and the Special Edition Pledge Download?

What are the between the Special Edition Final/Final #2 and the Special Edition Pledge Download?

What are the between the Special Edition Final/Final #2 and the Special Edition Pledge Download? I haven’t had the chance to look over them closely.

Since Dishonored is a huge influence on Blades and both are pure awesomeness, I wanted to share my pointless victory!

Since Dishonored is a huge influence on Blades and both are pure awesomeness, I wanted to share my pointless victory!

Since Dishonored is a huge influence on Blades and both are pure awesomeness, I wanted to share my pointless victory! 🙂

POTENTIAL BLOODLETTERS SPOILERS!!!

POTENTIAL BLOODLETTERS SPOILERS!!!

POTENTIAL BLOODLETTERS SPOILERS!!!

So, in Ep 7-2, at around 47:40, Arcy wants to make a desperate Command roll vs Baz. John mentions that it’s only possible due to the past six sessions culminating in the crew being Tier 2 with a reputation for murder, but that if it was the first session it would be a project. This confuses me.

If it’s the first session, could Arcy not make a Desperate Command roll vs Baz with zero effect, provided she resisted anything sent he her way? AFAIK, Tier only affects effect, not position.

Do friends and contacts grant a +1d to downtime rolls?

Do friends and contacts grant a +1d to downtime rolls?

Do friends and contacts grant a +1d to downtime rolls? I ask because I’m watching Bloodletters, ep 7 and Oskarr gets a +1d to Quellyn’s quality to heal him. However, I’m spacing where that rule comes from, or has it been changed?

Oh, the whole “It puts the ‘love’ in ‘love-iathan’..” had me laughing my ass off. Kings to Stras!

Oh, another bit for John, Sean, Adam and/or Stras: since Arcy and Oskarr were running around hurt, were those harm penalties not mentioned because they wouldn’t have impacted the score at the party or were they accounted for already?

Need some advice from the Blades crew!

Need some advice from the Blades crew!

Need some advice from the Blades crew!

So, played today and some things popped up. Some are rules questions and some are “How do you handle it?”. I’m pre-apologizing for any lack of coherance, as I’m rushing to see John Wick 2. 🙂

Anyway, here goes:

1) How does/should faction status, friends and contacts interact with gaining assets? The way I see it, they should, if only a +1d. In our game tonight, I went with Doll Consorting with the Dimmer Sisters (+2 status) in order to get loan of a spirit minion.

We could’ve gone with an extra DTA, but I didn’t want them to be drained of coin (a Tier 0 crew can go broke getting decent assets). I figured there needed to be some benefit to buffing the +1 with the Sisters up to +2.

2) How do you handle gear, heat and rep if an NPC faction retaliates between scores? Do you make them track loadout? Do you account for heat if fools get smoked? Does the crew get rep?

We used the fiction (they were at a recently acquired claim, ready for the blowback) to account for loadout, but I decided the only heat that might drop is from DBs and consequences. As far as rep goes, I said you don’t get a boost for holding a claim you stole. The bennie’s the claim and it’s boost; a crew’s expected to hold their shit (that’s why you get rep in the first place, when you first stole it).

3) A biggie was if, after getting attacked, there should be some free DTAs. I went with “No” to keep the mechanical structure coherent, saying it’d be rep or coin if they wanted to use DTAs. My fictional reasoning was that such blowback’s are expected and if a crew can’t deal, it loses money or face.

4) I for some reason remember hitting Trauma not only clears your stress, but you return healed. If I’m correct, could somebody give me a reference?

5) If you fill an ability track mid-session from desperate rolls, do you upgrade an action rating right then and move on, or are you capped until the session’s end? We went with the latter, but I’m not sure what’s a better way to do it.

Well, that’s it for now. Thanks, everyone!

Benjamin Herder’s thread about his Leech’s grenade launcher got me wondering: What other “Jindoshian” inventions…

Benjamin Herder’s thread about his Leech’s grenade launcher got me wondering: What other “Jindoshian” inventions…

Benjamin Herder’s thread about his Leech’s grenade launcher got me wondering: What other “Jindoshian” inventions have groups created or want to create?

In ours, the Lurk wants a collapsing compound bow and arrows. That’s the base idea. He’s tossing around arcane arrowhead designs like Garret has in Thief (who wouldn’t want those?). There’s also the idea of having the bow contain a ghost and it doesn’t fire physical arrows, but instead electroplasmic arrow-shaped shards of the ghost, in all its rage, essentially shaving off bits of the once-soul with each shot. They would pierce most non-warded armors and instead of physical wounds, the arrows rip through the target’s soul, leaving blackened wounds akin to frostbite. For ghosts it would be as if they were struck with an arcanely-enhanced ghost weapon. We’re still figuring out details, such as what the magnitude would be*.

They also want true silencers (rune-covered tubes attached to the barrels) that suck the muzzle flash and report into the ghost field. On the other side, it’s loud and flashy, so anyone who happens to be attuned will definitely notice. One balancing penalty we thought of is each silencer counts as 1 load, due to the size. In any case we love the idea of a crew wearing darksight goggles thwip-thwipping a gang of scumbags in the dark!

There’s also a set of boots and gloves that allow for Spiderman-like movement, but that’s only a fledgling idea.

We have ghost grenades (trapped, pissed off spirits are released), the Crowkiller hull and lighteater armor (lights dim as it sucks away illumination).

(Forgot this!) *Is there a cap on magnitude when figuring quality?

Under the downtime actions for NPC factions one of the options reads, “Gather information on the PCs (may be…

Under the downtime actions for NPC factions one of the options reads, “Gather information on the PCs (may be…

Under the downtime actions for NPC factions one of the options reads, “Gather information on the PCs (may be opposed by a PC roll)”.

This is a resistance roll, correct? If not, how would you handle this?