Author: George Pitre

So after much discussion, we finally started up what is now going to be our ongoing Blades in the Dark game centered around a wily group of thieves known as the Oath Breakers.

To start off, I had each player present pick a playbook in secret after taking a moment to explain to the completely new players what each one was about and some of the basic mechanics. (We were using the rough draft of the new Quick Starter, so I was upfront that until the full draft was out, some things would feel a bit janky as I filled in the gaps as best I could.  When the playbooks were revealed we had a Cutter, a Shrike, and a Lurk. Crew creation fleshed that out to a Shrike who had been an Imperial Scout during the war of Skovlan Unity, a Cutter who had been some sort of soldier but didn’t talk about it, and a Lurk who had worked as a Spy and informant in Iruvia. With that established, they quickly noticed they all had some connection to both the military and breaking trust/promises, so the crew quickly became the Oath Breakers. Finishing up with the factions list, they had a passing good reputation with the Police and inspectors and were generally looked down upon by the various consulates.

After a brief discussion, the Oath Breakers decided that they wanted to be a new and relatively unknown crew looking to capitalize on the turmoil in Crowsfoot. They were out to claim some territory and didn’t care who they pissed off in the process. Yazabay, the Lurk, arranged a meeting with an old friend at the theater to gather some leads on the perfect target. One that was important enough to send a message, but not important enough to bring down the hammer. Her friend didn’t disappoint, and told her about a flop house used by the Red Sashes for some of their low ranking enforcers to call home. 

The Oath Breakers retreated to their lair, a hidden section of sequestered sewers (not sure what it is with my players and the sewers), to come up with their perfect plan. After a brief debate, it was decided that they would infiltrate the house through an old servant entrance, incapacitate or murder a good number of the occupants, and ransack the place.

With Yazabay secreted into a delivery of meat (we described this as various cuts of disgusting fish) and the Cutter and Shrike posed as the butchers making the delivery until she opened the door. With the plan made, we rolled for engagement and rolled horribly. The crew elected for the Lose Initiative and Unexpected Threat options. This meant that if the insertion worked, but that the guards locked the delivery in the pantry accidentally, and that an outside force would become involved at some point (at this point I decided the Lampblacks were going to make a move on the same house, but kept it a secret.)

Trying to roll to pick the pantry lock from the inside, Yazaby elected to take the devil’s deal that she would break her picks with the risk being that she might be heard. She rolled well, and made her way to open the door where the rest of the crew was waiting. After letting them in, she took point and lead a group Prowl to find some guys. Another great roll, and the crew found themselves silently sneaking up on a group of four Sashes in a drunken stupor. Seeing the opportunity for what it was, the Shrike took point with the Cutter following behind with their minds set to Murder. Yazaby assisted the Shrike by throwing her vial of silence potion (we decided it would work like a sound muffler for a short time if she smashed it) and away they went. The risky roll quickly led into a desperate roll. Ultimate the Oath Breakers succeeded, but suffered the drawback of the guards from earlier remembering their faces.  This was when a small squad of Lampblack decided to burst in, and witness the aftermath of the bloody work. The Cutter steps up to point, covered in viscera, and backed up by the Shrikes bluff that backup is on the way (his assist), to command the Lampblacks to get out of their turf unless they want the same. The Lamblacks back down, but the roll isn’t perfect and the end result is some negative standing toward the Oath Breakers. With the house secured, they have claimed the Turf and the score is over.

Moving on to the fall out from the score, the crew only made the base rep and coin from the job, generated 4 heat due to how loud the job got, and also have a crooked cop (most likely on the Sashes payroll) starting to look into them. To celebrate the crew indulged their various vices, but it seems the Shrike over indulged and got lost (the player will be making a Whisper for the next session)

Overall it was well received. The guy playing the Shrike had been a cutter in my first attempt at the game, and is 100% sold on it. The girl playing the Lurk also had a blast and messaged me this morning to make sure I was aware of that (her husband is also super into it after playing the Hound in my initial game). The Cutter enjoyed himself, but was not as SUPER enthusiastic as the others. Next session we should have another player, and hopefully the full release of this version of the Quickstart.