Our first session (using QS v2; where is v3? I’m seeing mention of v3 here, but not on the Kickstarter updates) was tonight. A Lurk, a Hound, and a Whisper. I think the most difficult aspect of our game was finding a way into the narrative. In part because we were parsing and struggling with the mechanics, but also because they chose the Deception Plan for Bazso’s job.
Detail the method of deception: they determined that they were going to frame the Lampblack ally The Fog Hounds with the Red Sash heist, and arrange for the Red Sash ally the Inspectors to catch those clues and make the frame stick. I determined that because they chose the Deception Plan, we weren’t dealing with the Infiltration or the making off with the loot, just the framing. The resulting experience was that we really struggled with the creation of Scene. (An Infiltration Scene seems well known, as does an Assault Scene. But Deception, Occult, and Social scenes seemed more tricky to envision for us.)
I set up three Clocks: Successful Disguise (4-segments), setting up the Witnesses (8-segments), and securing the Loot (6-segments).
The Hound took point on Disguise, saying they were going to Murder some Fog Hounds and take their clothes and gear. The Danger for the Risky move was that they’d be seen and tracked. The effect roll beat the Disguise Clock and the player took 4 Stress to avoid the danger.
The Whisper monitored the comings and goings outside of the place where the Red Sash treasury was stashed, studying the traffic/activity of the Fog Hounds and Inspectors in the area, setting up the Lurk. It was a Controlled action.
The Lurk decided to case/structure a route that would capitalize on the Whispers’s observation. I made it a Desperate move, b/c of the Red Sash defenses. Things went badly, and the Lurk took stress to avoid being captured by the Red Sashes, ducking into a vent in the building. Instead of abandoning the approach, he continued. He managed to case/structure a route, but had to avoid getting captured again. The Whisper intervened, taking two Stress for the Lurk, getting pummeled for bumbling in the way and interfering with their capture of the Lurk, who got away.
The Whisper then did a Flashback to when he forged a note detailing a plan to lift the treasury. A Controlled move, he succeeded without danger or obstacle.
The Hound then did a flashback of planting the note with the plan on an Inspector by slipping it into the Inspector’s pocket while he frequented a favorite brothel.It had a small Effect.
Finally, the Lurk did a Risky move to Deceive a Fog Hound into being in the wrong place at the wrong time, running the danger of tipping the Fog Hounds off that something was up. He overreached and critted on the Effect roll, overcoming the Witnesses Clock. By this point, lots of Stress has been distributed, as they had all worked to avoid consequences.
We have a bunch of mechanics questions (the main one of which I’ve since found — ‘how do you conduct Leading a Group Action when the people in the squad lack any pips in the relevant Action?’). But the main issue was that the entire sequence was talked through without any sense of place, other people, or objects. It was almost entirely a mechanical endeavor, though we embellished a bit on how specifically the Actions, Effects, and Resistances took place. We just never had a good picture of the descriptive elements, even as we built out the larger relationships.
Does marrying a descriptive narrative to the mechanics get easier over repeated play sessions?
