Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

It all started when three of that plucky band of thieves calling themselves the Gaffers headed out to relieve their stress through their various vices. The Hound found himself kicked out of his favorite restaurant for running a massive tab, the Whisper paid a great deal of coin to cover the costs of a sybaritic orgy, and the Lurk wound up in the dust-dens of Nightmarket. And then they realized that between the three of them, they’d blown all the profits from their last venture.

Hoping to make some coin, the Whisper accepted a job from her lover, Lord Scurlock. A particular alchemist he patronized had been less than forthcoming with the expected results of his research and the ancient lord was impatient.

What followed was perhaps the most stupendously failed Gather Information roll ever.

Spying on the alchemist’s workshop from the rooftops, the Hound saw little except zealous guards and a window left ajar. Hoping for more, the Lurk slipped through, accepting the bargain that the window would be closed the next time they came. A series of poor rolls escalated the situation from Risky (as he precariously balanced on the rafters) to Desperate (as he dove into a bin of unknown chemicals) and beyond (as he attempted to convince the guards that he was a ghost). With the help of some well-timed aid by the Hound (in the form of distracting fireworks set up in a flashback) he was able to escape with a nearly full load of stress and an 8-point “exposure to powdered leviathan bone” recovery clock.

The actual score went far more smoothly, despite the extra guards laid on by their earlier failures. The Whisper used her Ghost Key to open a spirit path, and while the Lurk lit up like a beacon, attracting packs of foul spirits, the Hound was able to fight them off with his electroplasmic pistol rounds while the Whisper turned them on each other. Using the weak spot created by the concentrated leviathan bone they were able to slip back out of the ghost roads inside the facility.

Some stealth got them into the catwalks, where they were forced to knock out a suspicious guard. Turns out that unconscious or sleeping people are easy prey for possession, which is why everyone wears spiritbane charms, but the guard is easily divested of his and the Whisper’s ghost ally takes the body downstairs where it convinces the other guards to go out front for a smoke.

After all of that, the safe was comparatively easy, and the alchemist’s ledgers and notebooks were theirs. The alchemist is unhappy, to say the least, but Lord Scurlock is pleased…

The group has rolled exceptionally poorly on all their development rolls and been forced to choose between coin and hold each time. I guess keeping such a low profile has its issues…

Next time, though, it sounds like they’re going to run into some serious opposition in the form of another criminal gang. Maybe the Fog Hounds, who they framed for the job they pulled against the Red Sashes?