Category: Blades in the Dark: Actual Play Reports

We’ve done 2 sessions with a new group of Hawkers called the Devil’s Gambit.

We’ve done 2 sessions with a new group of Hawkers called the Devil’s Gambit.

We’ve done 2 sessions with a new group of Hawkers called the Devil’s Gambit. They’ve taken Ghost Market as their first crew ability, and their basic enterprise is proffering tactile gambling and gaming, and um… other things to touch… to ghosts without them draining all their energies away.

I’d like to post the two scores we’ve run, to see what kinds of things, rules or otherwise, I could do differently, and to ask questions about certain things. We’re really trying to focus on the “don’t plan before” thing, so I’m interested to hear peoples’ takes on that. So:

First session: The crew has been seeing their ghost clientele diminish beause the Wraiths have set up something like theirs, but better for some reason. They decide they can’t let that stand, so I put it to them, “what do you do?” They’re not sure yet, so they do some info gathering. They find that the Wraiths have found a way to administer drugs to the ghosts- something having to do with “the ghost breath”. They’ve tracked their drug runner-boy to his connection on a bridge to Crow’s Foot, where he meets another runner from the Red Sashes. They hear the name Templeton in connection with the operation, and Loop (Wraith top-brass) is on the premises of the operation.

So they decide that they’re going to stop the runner and swap his load out for fake shit, making the ghosts’ next highs be lackluster at best. We decide it’s a Deception plan, with the Method detail being it’s a stop-and-frisk done by the gang’s buddy, Laroze the Bluecoat.

Questions:

• Was any of this crossing over to what can be done with flashbacks? How do you guys draw the line?

• What makes Gather Info rolls different than other actions? Do consequences happen if the rolls are bad? Does the effect level chart on page 37 correspond to the 1-3, 4/5, 6 mentioned in the example on the previous page?

So the engagement roll turns up Risky, no big deal. They see the runner make his connection on the bridge and he turns back.

– Laroze sidles up to him, I make a fortune roll, and it’s critical. She’s got the boy face down on the ground, his heavy satchel is tossed to the side.

The Slide rolls up, swapping the fake drugs for the real payload while Laroze keeps the boy busy with some mild police brutality. Still risky. He rolls a 4/5 he makes the swap but the boy makes eye contact. The Slide quickly sidesteps suspicion by moving the satchel closer to the boy, telling Laroze that she should really lay off kids in the street that haven’t done anything wrong. I consider that a “good idea” and don’t ask for a roll.

– The Leech does a flashback to see how well they did producing a fake drug. It was a 4/5- it looks and feels right- the consequence being that they couldn’t tell for sure.

– Laroze lets the kid off on a warning, and we end the session.

I’d like to see what y’all think, and if there are any suggestions or alternate ways to do things. The above scenario was pretty short and smooth. I’ll post the second session in a minute.

The Tutors, our crew of psychedelic Hawkers just had their final session for Season One. Here’s the recap:

The Tutors, our crew of psychedelic Hawkers just had their final session for Season One. Here’s the recap:

The Tutors, our crew of psychedelic Hawkers just had their final session for Season One. Here’s the recap:

During the regular operations meeting, Books sped through her usual overview to get to the most important topic: the Duskwall City Council was considering the legalization of psychedelic drugs. She talked briefly about the implications of such a move and where the council members were leaning.

The Tutors debated the issue and decided it was better for the gang if the drugs remained illegal; legal drugs would mean lower margins and potential regulatory issues. Then Star, of the Unseen, appeared and indicated that the Unseen were also opposed to the legalization; he then briefed the group on the motivations of the council members and possible ways to influence the vote.

After careful consideration, the group focused on discrediting Lord Clelland. He was an advocate for legalization and considered psychedelics to be a vehicle to transcendence and enlightenment; he wanted the entire city to use them.

Lord Clelland had been organizing salons where he would discuss philosophy and introduce new members of the city elite to the drugs. Lysette finagled an invitation for the group and they arrived at Clelland’s mansion with some extremely potent drugs that enabled users to see the ghost field. The group persuaded Clelland to use their drugs for the salon and all present began an extremely rough trip.

The Tutors had arranged for a spirit to show up and play the role of Lord Clelland’s ancestor. The spirit was a horror to look at, especially under the influence of the drugs, but the Tutors convinced Lord Clelland that it was actually his ancestor and that working with ancestor spirits was the only way for him to continue down the path toward enlightenment.

After the trip ended, Clelland expressed his gratitude to the group and asked for another batch of the drugs. He was hosting the City Council a few nights hence and planned to spike their drinks; once they had seen the Truth, they would surely vote in his favor.

The Tutors provided the drugs but also notified the Ink Rakes that something scandalous was about to go down. Finally they ensured that there would be ghosts present that would terrify the Council members and alert the Spirit Wardens.

The night of the event, the crew set up across the street to watch through the window as the plan unfolded. Midway through the evening, Lord Clelland brought out a special decanter, poured the council members glasses and made a toast. The drugs took effect almost immediately and several of the council members began to freak out when the first ghost appeared. However, Lord Dunvil ran to his valet and took a lightening hook and bottle from his bag; he confidently snared the spirit in the bottle and summoned Spirit Wardens to lock down the house. The Tutors left the scene just as the Spirit Wardens were carting off the council members for interrogation.

The Ink Rakes ran wild with the story and the entire city was rapt with the scandal. House Clelland lost their seat on the City Council and psychedelics stayed illegal. The recent events served to stoke curiosity about the drugs and the Tutors benefited as psychedelics became a popular obsession among the trendier cliques of Duskwall; business soared.

Yesterday we had our.

Yesterday we had our.

Yesterday we had our… fourth? session. The crew got deep into the Belt of Fire to scavenge the Wyrm-Runner, an ancient warship from the days before the Ur-gates were discovered.

We had a cool session with the group fighting off a rival scavenging party on a dead ship, struggling to get the power back on to transport it to the local pirate den and discovering the ship is actually possessed by the Dragon, an ancient way-creature.

By the end they recovered the full ship, payed their debt to (and bought off None from) Nisa and left the Belt of Fire having struck a secret bargain with the Dragon.

Also we picked up a new crewmember!

#ScumAndVillainy #DragonReborn

In which The Prestige incite chaos, as usual

In which The Prestige incite chaos, as usual

In which The Prestige incite chaos, as usual

So, through some dastardly blackmailing and a none-more-goth mist-drenched midnight meeting in Ankhayat Park, The Prestige (my players’ crew of assassins and cleaners) managed to convince Milos Brogan, a jealous commander in the Imperial Military, to brutally murder industrialist Adric Strangford, who was being guarded by a squad under Brogan’s direct command (Strangford is an inner-circle member of the Hive, with whom our PCs are currently at war, so the Hive are pulling strings for extra protection).

Unfortunately, Brogan and his boys messed it up a bit, leading to a brutal slaughter out in the open, dubbed in the broadsheets as ‘The Turnbull Street Massacre’ (the result of some interesting fortune rolls). Some tabloid rags are also speculating that Brogan is the Brightstone Butcher, a serial killer The Prestige invented to cover their tracks. Now, there’s a huge investigation and court case going down in Duskwall, along with much ballyhoo and public outrage, not least because, as well as being a celebrated military man, Brogan is married to Lucella Rowan, the daughter of Elder Rowan, the patriarch of the Church of the Ecstasy of the Flesh.

And all this because The Prestige accidentally came across evidence of infidelity on Lucella Rowan’s part and decided to use it to their advantage, pointing Brogan at whoever they wanted by lying to him about who Lucella’s lover actually was (Lucella’s actual lover was one Branon Farros, a minor noble in the employ of the Hive whom the PCs knocked off a few sessions beforehand). They’ve got heat coming their way big time, even though (and somewhat because) they tried for the hands-off approach.

Goddamn, I love this game.

The Porcelain Dolls: Session 63 (April 26 2017)

The Porcelain Dolls: Session 63 (April 26 2017)

The Porcelain Dolls: Session 63 (April 26 2017)

The Red Lamp Tramp Clamp (Part 2):

Madame Tesslyn speaks directly to Constance, identifying her as the leader of the robbers. She incorrectly guesses that they are working for Ulf Ironborn. Constance says that he is working for them.

They begin some very tense negotiations. Veiled threats are made. Tesslyn agrees to leave the Skovlan refugees alone, in exchange for her life. For the trouble she’s caused, she’s prepared to let the Dolls have the money in the upstairs safe. In addition, she’s prepared to pay them handsomely for any information on Ulf Ironborn’s whereabouts. Constance asks why he’s so important. Tesslyn is reluctant to speak on it at first, but Constance reminds her who’s holding the weapons. Tesslyn says that Ironborn is in possession of a particular item, the Hand of Kotar, and he’s been unwilling to part with it at any price. Moira has heard the name, but Shade knows a bit more about it. Kotar was a powerful figure in Akorosi myth, long before the cataclysm. There are lots of conflicting stories about what he was and what he could do, but they all tend to agree that the Hand, Eye, and Heart of Kotar are all incredibly powerful artifacts.

Constance is not thrilled about the idea of someone getting hold of something so powerful, so she agrees to assist Tesslyn in acquiring the Hand, but insists that her people be allowed a chance to examine it first. Tesslyn agrees. Constance also states that she wants to buy Penelope, gestures to the sack of money that Kamali has retrieved from the safe, and asks Tesslyn to name her price. Tesslyn retrieves a small coin purse from the bag, hands it to Constance, and tells her to put the rest back. Constance questions Penelope’s value, and Tesslyn assures her that she’s getting a bargain. At this point Kobb indirectly threatens Penelope (suggesting that maybe neither party she have her), Tesslyn reacts instinctively, making an arcane gesture that cuts off Kobb’s air supply, but only for a moment.

In response, Constance attacks and knocks Tesslyn out. She then tells Kobb to take Tesslyn upstairs and stage a suicide by hanging. Shade accompanies him to dress up the secret room to look as though the hanging were part of a summoning ritual gone wrong. He draws a ritual circle, places implements and material components, and a chair in the center, upon which Madame Tesslyn is balanced with a noose around her neck. Once the rope is tied off on the side, Shade kicks the chair out, and she drops, her neck snapping instantly. Kobb vomits into a bucket, while Shade proceeds to rip Tesslyn’s spirit from her body using the lightning hook and promptly bottle her.

Constance informs Penelope that she will be working for the Dolls now. In return, Penelope asks that Constance leave the brothel to Margaret. Constance has Kamali draw up a forged bill of sale from Madame Tesslyn to Margaret (Kamali is not happy with her work, but they’re pressed for time). Constance addresses the gathered employees of the brothel, including Margaret. She gives them the official cover story, that Madame Tesslyn signed the establishment over to Margaret, packed a bag, and left the city for parts unknown. She makes sure they understand.

Aftermath:

Rep: 3.

Coin: 8.

Heat: 5 total (2 base, +1 for well connected, +2 for killing).

Entanglement: Interrogation. Keel comes to Constance and says that the Bluecoats have picked up Drav along with a slew of other business owners in the Docks, and are questioning them in relation to some suspicious figures hanging about in the Docks, shortly before the business with the food poisoning. Constance spends 3 coin to get him released.

Downtimes:

Constance reduces Heat (by 2), Heals the quicksilver poisoning, and reduces Stress (giving out 1 Coin to the folks of Nightmarket).

Kobb reduces Heat (to 0), reduces Stress (down to 4), and works on the Marian project, completing it. He takes her out to dinner at a lavish restaurant, followed by an attendance of a play. When he escorts her home, they have a moment on the front step, where she confesses that she trusts him, and kisses him on the cheek.

Kamali trains Insight (gaining her an advance in Study), and works on the Kazima project (completing it). She shows Kazima her research notes, and Kazima tells her they have much to discuss. She also works on a better forgery of the bill of sale for the Red Lamp (2 of 4).

Shade reduces his stress, trains resolve (raising his Attune to 3), and heals.

Gears works on projects (the Big Idea, and the Eye/Mind Device). He also gets 2 free project slices, which he divides between the Big Idea, and the Eye/Mind Device.

Moira begins investigating what happened to Nyryx (completing it). She discovers that Nyryx, as a member of the Reconciled, was attempting to help Jezelle when he got nabbed, reportedly by the Dimmer Sisters.

The Moon’s Daughter and the Pint and Hound earn a total of 10 Coin.

Constance pays 3 Coin to Lyssa as tribute. Lyssa warns Constance about the dangers in crossing the Circle of Flame.

Notes:

Things were going so well, and one errant comment knocks the whole enterprise off balance (no pun intended).

#dontmesswiththedolls

The Porcelain Dolls: Session 62 (April 19 2017)

The Porcelain Dolls: Session 62 (April 19 2017)

The Porcelain Dolls: Session 62 (April 19 2017)

The Red Lamp Tramp Clamp (Part 1):

The plan has changed. Carrying out an assassination quietly and discreetly would require more legwork than one day will allow. Instead they will stage a robbery while Madame Tesslyn is there, pretend to bungle the job, and kill her in the process. They plan to hit the place hard and fast, a nice simple stickup job. They discuss how to deal with Madame Tesslyn, and Constance assigns the task itself to Kobb. He is not thrilled with the prospect.

Gears will cover the sewer entrance with some of the Lampblacks. Shade and Moira will cover the back door with the rest of the Lampblacks, and everyone else will go right in the front door.

Engagement roll is 5, so default Position is Risky. The crew surrounds the place, and on the agreed-upon signal, Constance, Kobb, Boots, and Gloves enter via the front and Constance makes their intentions clear. They gather everyone from all the rooms and congregate them in one of the sitting rooms off of the front entryway. The madam, Margaret, sees what’s happening, and quietly asks everyone to cooperate. The Complication is that Madame Tesslyn herself has not yet arrived.

Constance has Margaret lead her and Kamali into the office, where Kamali makes a show of attempting to open the safe. Constance and Margaret leave her to it.

Shade, Moira, and Flint are by the back door when some of the wards go off inside, and four ghosts swarm out and attack the group. Shade compels one of the ghosts, and commands it to attack one of the others, while Moira manages to get a lightning hook around the neck of another one.

Kamali decides that the safe is noticeably below par in comparison to the rest of the defenses, so she suspects it’s a decoy, and starts prowling around the place to look for valuables. After not too long, she finds a secret room on the second floor that contains a much more elaborate safe.

Constance is keeping everyone together, but other than that she allows them to make themselves comfortable.

Kobb makes a show of being more nervous and jumpy than he really is, but ends up overselling it, and Margaret picks up on it. She attempts to convince Constance that they’ve taken on more than they can handle, and they should simply leave, and everyone will forget all about the incident. Constance is having none of it, and threatens Margaret, who promptly faints.

Shade is able to hook one of the ghosts as it takes a swipe at Flint. The ghost Shade compelled attacks the other free one. Moira wrestles with the ghost on the end of her lightning hook, and it manages to break free, yanking the pole out of her hands. He promptly takes off running, presumably to alert reinforcements.

Kamali deftly opens the safe, and finds lots of cash inside. She makes a quick sketch of the upstairs, denoting the location of the safe, and heads back downstairs.

Constance sends Kobb into the other room to retrieve a replacement for Margaret at the front desk. A dark-haired Severosi girl named Penelope volunteers. She reveals that she used to work at a bank, and this is not the first time she’s been in this situation. He brings her to the front to man the desk and turn away anyone that shows up looking for services. Kamali returns from upstairs and delivers her sketch to Constance.

The compelled ghost has managed to subdue the fourth one, and Flint makes short work of it, forcing it into a spirit bottle. Shade commands the compelled ghost to pursue the fleeing one. He then manages to bottle the ghost he had on the hook. Moira and Flint both take off after the two remaining ghosts.

The bell chimes as the front door opens, and two off-duty Bluecoats enter, obviously quite inebriated. One of them launches into a barely coherent story about how his buddy just got promoted, so they’re there to celebrate. Penelope gives them a story about how the establishment is currently undergoing renovations and thus closed for business, and in any case the two of them are clearly far too drunk to properly enjoy their services properly anyway. She recommends an inn nearby where they can sleep it off in comfort. Boots accompanies her as she leads to two men outside.

Constance notices Kobb drinking from a flask, and they discuss his anxiety regarding carrying out her instructions and shooting Madame Tesslyn in the head when she arrives. It is apparent that Kobb has never killed anyone (and possibly never even raised a hand to anyone). She tells him he doesn’t have to shoot her, as there is another way. When Penelope and Boots return from outside (without the two drunk Bluecoats), Constance asks her to fetch a sleeping pill.

Moira has spent 9 years with the Eels, and if there’s one thing you learn living with street urchins, it’s how to run faster than anyone else. She manages to get a hold of her errant spirit hook and give the pole a good yank, which brings the fleeing ghost up short. Flint tosses her a bottle as the compelled ghost begins to come to his senses, just in time to get hooked by Flint. Together they bring both ghosts down into the bottles, which are kicking and smoking as they clamp the lids shut.

There’s another 20 or so very tense minutes, during which Penelope is able to turn away several potential customers (all of which were thankfully less enthusiastic than the Bluecoats).

Finally, the door opens, and a severely dressed woman with pale skin and auburn hair walks in. Penelope immediately rises to her feet. Constance brings everyone into the front room, and Madame Tesslyn sees the weapons, just as the door opens and her two bodyguards enter.

Kobb draws his pistol and fires at one of the guards, but unfortunately misses by a mile. The man charges forward in response, but Constance interposes herself and unleashes Glorious Visage. The guard that Kobb shot at is rooted to the spot, completely transfixed by Constance. The other guard scrambles madly for the door behind him. Kobb, who managed to shield his eyes, attempts to intercept the second guard, but he’s too far gone, and even a pistol placed against the side of his head won’t deter him from attempting to flee.

The rest of the room is in a similar state. Penelope, the other girls, and the erstwhile clients are all backing away, cowering in terror, or attempting to retreat. In fact, the only one who seems unaffected by all this is Madame Tesslyn herself, who stands quite still with a somewhat amused expression on her face.

“Impressive. My turn.”

Notes:

An assassination morphed into an armed robbery, which then morphed into a hostage situation. Can’t wait to see what it morphs into next.

#dontmesswiththedolls

We finally had our third Scum & Villainy session.

We finally had our third Scum & Villainy session.

We finally had our third Scum & Villainy session. Due to scheduling issues we ended up with a two-part downtime between the second and third sessions.

Second session:

– The crew arranges a rendezvous with the Yaru in Brekk to deliver the box.

– Ct. Flex decides to ignore the meeting and reach out to Hicks, an old friend of hers, to better understand the box.

– The crew lands on Indri to visit Hicks’ Shop of Curios and after a tense research learn that the box connects to an unknown reach far off in deep space, and that they’re not the first ones to carry the artifact: it already left a trail of six spaceships destroyed in its path.

– Thugs from the Cobalt Syndicate assault the show. Die and Pikey blow up the shop while Hicks helps them escape through some underground passages.

– The Stardancer darts through the automatic spaceport, dodging heavy blaster-fire by using the power of the Way. They escape, with Hicks’ shuttle attached to the landing bay.

– Pikey remembers his days of piracy to find Censer, a cove hidden in the Belt of Fire. The crew ends up pawning the rover to buy access into the hideout.

Third session: we had some last minute player drops, but my girlfriend came to the rescue like a champ, creating a weird jellyfish, hanar-like mechanic to support the scoundrel and pilot:

– Nails goes out to look for a mechanic to repair the failing jumpdrive and damaged smuggling compartment and reaches out for Triv to ask for a trusty mechanic nearby and gets a hold of Nisa, owner of the best repair shop in town.

– Pikey follows his luxurious vice and buys a beautiful, trained space-peacock in the black market. Unknown to him, the bird carries a tracking device.

– Nails get Nisa into the ship where Pikey sexes-up a discount and work-as-payment for the repairs.

– Nisa sends her best mechanic, None, a jellyfish alien she has under indentured service to repair the Stardancer. None pleads the crew to help it escape from its imprisonment.

– Nisa assigns the mission for the crew: they must recover a derelict spaceship deep in the Belt of Fire for her. Pikey convinces her to lend them None for this job, with the intent of helping it escape.

My players just got one of them engaged to a minor noble for political reasons.

My players just got one of them engaged to a minor noble for political reasons.

My players just got one of them engaged to a minor noble for political reasons. the catch – said player wasn’t there. He is going to find out he is engaged when the bride will swing the lair’s door and demand to know if they are the ones who burned down the local church (they where) and where her dear vampire groom is (right here, say hey!)

#Sepia

Session 2 of the Glitter Ponies – The fire of the dockers.

Session 2 of the Glitter Ponies – The fire of the dockers.

Session 2 of the Glitter Ponies – The fire of the dockers.

So I wanted to post the second session my group of smugglers, who decided to name themselves the Glitter Ponies had.

As with before its about a group of six, made up of various workmates working with me in the tech industry and due to that people are often late or cant make it.

Operant – Cutter – Terrence

Ghost – Lurk – Charlie

Grandma – Cutter – Patrick

Drake – Spider – ANtonio

Crow – Whisper – Nicko

Professor – Leech – Nick

The scene opens at the boat house, the crew boat (which is counted as a cohort with the flaw of distinct), the Millennium Dolphin clearly in shot with a mural across it of the professor along the theme of the mural on Kreigger’s van from archer (either like: http://simhq.com/forum/files/usergals/2015/06/full-93-105180-18emyuph3tmzwjpg.jpg or https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c1/30/e2/c130e2cd13a3b153b074f06c5fd46e17.jpg we are not sure). With the words “The Professor’s totally leggit science vessel” printed along the top.

We cut to the crew discussing the raid on the derailed train that they decided on last night. Crow and Professor are no where to be seen and the crew are worried.

Grandma, “Im not saying it’s a bad idea to go into the deathlands which are filled with ghosts and demons with no whisper or leech, but those dockers messed with us I want break some of their heads.”

Without the characters who do the spooky stuff the crew was starting to have second thoughts about heading into a wasteland filled with ghosts and demons. Also only the Professor could drive his boat as is was finicky and miss behaved without him at the wheel.

The crew remembered dockers trying to shake them down as the complication last session and decided they wanted to kick their heads in instead. They decided to knock over a docker import holding imports.

Ghost, “I know this Tycheros guy, another displaced noble with fled with us with us out of Tycheros to avoid the mob, good guy, he might be able to help us.”

Cut to Drake, “Yeah I can help you out I know just the guy.”

Drake and Ghost’s families fled Tychoros when their noble families ended on the wrong side of court politics, flying to duskvol for their lives. The two struck up a friendship and although side immigrating to duskvol their lives have taken different turns they have never lost contact.

Drake’s contact was August, a senior architect. years earlier August was competing with another architect Jonny. Drake used his connections with the other nobles to spread rumors that Jonny was a pediphile, making August a shoe in for the role. August has owned Drake ever since.

Drake met his August, in a fancy restaurant (for which he made August pay) to get information about the Dockers holding warehouses..

He crit his consort. so I asked him what kind of success he wanted from that. We decided the August not only had the blue prints, he also bitterly complained that they “Ruined the beautiful flow of my building by forcing those awful secret rooms into the floor above throwing the energy of the whole place off”.

Not happy with just the plans Ghost went to prowl to observe the ware house. He noticed that there are no standard guards just a group of dockers smoking and talking around each of the entrances. He also noted that where ever a shipment came in, there would be a rush of chaos as the dockers bring stock into the clear house.

The crew decided this would be the best time to strike.

Just as they were about to start the player who plays the whisper arrived, the crew decided to stick to the new plan.

The plan was to load up crates with false tops hidden in the bottoms, oily rags and over the top they spread a coin worth of treasure.

They would then enter we a shipment came in claiming to be sent it to put the treasure in the back room (as they knew exactly where the secret room was).

Setting up some kind of fire to cover their tracks.

The crew got inside the warehouse with no problems, However when they started heading up to restricted area at the top of the stairs. They were confronted by the overseer, who wanted to know who they were and why they were there. The crew told him that the ‘captain’ told them bring the stuff in. They convinced him, but I started a clock as they told a devils bargain that he would find this ‘captain’ and confirm their story.

From there they found the secret room quickly.

Crow wanted to atune to find any spirit essences, I made a fortune roll “where the bodies are buried”, to see if there are any angry ghosts as a result of the dealings. I got a six. So I said there were which would make the attune a desperate roll, if the desparate consequence being they would wake the angry ghosts who would try and posses the whisper. The spider, Drake used his foresight ability to give another dice saying that he had looked into the history of the place and found rumors that an entire crew of sailors had gone missing around here while the warehouse was being built and the rumors are they construction was used as cover for their mass grave.

Crow then made his atune roll and found a crate of spirit essences.

The crew grabbed the spirit essences and looted what coin they could find, starting a small fire.

Crow decided he wanted to ‘help’ the fire. He poured the entire contents of his oil lamp on the fire. Again I rolled a fortune roll, “burn baby burn” I got a six. The result was the fire flared out singeing (level 1 harm which the crew resisted) the entire crew and setting the fire to be out of control.

After than the crew started to try and sneak out. It all went well until they where noticed by a door guard. The Operant tried to bluff his way past, taking the devils bargain that the guard would remember him.

We succeeded with the consequences that after they got past that he would notice there was something strange with the crates and follow them to investigate (with a gang of thug in hand).

The Operant went to resist this, unfortunately maxing his stress. As mechanically he couldn’t be in the encounter, but the resist meaning they were free to go, I ruled he threw his create of treasure at the guard and ran off leading them on a chase.

As a result of this the Operant is now paranoid that people are after him. As an interesting side note after the score Terence, the player who plays the Operant then commented I’m starting to think this game is too easy (despite the fact that he all ready had one trauma by the second session)

To reduce heat the crew framed the guard (setup action prowl and then sway to convince the blue coats it was him). The dockers caught up with him, tortured him and his family to death. The guard couldn’t give up who his follow conspirators where (because he was framed) but as he recognized the Operant he gave him up before he died.

The blue coats then to questioned the Operant who broke down into a paranoid gibbering mess bribing them with three coin to just leave him be.

Conclusions:

Even though everyone is still learning the system I think everyone had fun.

The players started to show an interest in a wider story and getting to know more about the world.

I plan on starting faction clocks and added extra depth to the world to make it more of a breathing living thing that my players are interacting with.

Lessons learned:

If you dont care about trauma and just burn through stress apparently it is easy.

Stressing to the players that they are in control and I will respond to them leads to some fun roleplay.