Tag: Adam Schwaninger

The Shark!

The Shark!

The Shark!

#glowinthedark

The shark (like loan shark) is the talking playbook. Formed entirely from the idea of “who would actually be good at living in Bartertown?” as well as the “high Charisma, never fire a shot” Fallout build. Also, the other playbooks so far have been pretty solidly actionactionaction. Needed to get some lying in there with the vehicular manslaughter and death-by-rube-goldberg. The Shark’s a team player – sort of. There’s not an “I” in team but there sure as shit is an “I” in WIN.

The Shark probably has the most abilities taken straight from the regular Blades playbooks, but they just fit. Didn’t end up seeing a need to mangle them when they worked already.

Everybody’s Buddy: Pay 1 stress to reveal an old friend or contact. Choose two of the following: they’re effective – they’re loyal – they’re free

Trust Me: When you interact with someone you haven’t yet lied to, you get +1d.

Takes One to Know One: You can always tell when someone is lying to you.

Hoarder: At the end of each downtime phase, you earn +2 stash.

Let’s You and Him Fight: You get +1d when you participate in a group raid action or when you take a setup action that leads to violence for someone else.

Connected: During downtime, you get +1 effect level when you acquire an asset, gather info, or reduce friction.

Frenemies: You get +1d to engagement rolls against factions you have positive status with.

Blather: As long as you keep talking to someone, they give you their undivided attention.

#glowinthedark

#glowinthedark

#glowinthedark

The Junker

This one’s for all the Bruce Spence fans out there. 🙂

The Junker should probably feel Leech-y, although instead of the set effects provided by the bandoliers and alchemicals, the playbook has a Tempest knockoff called MacGyver that uses a combination of stress and “scrap”. Scrap takes load, but the idea here is that you can scrounge up some more if you have time to spare and that you’ve got limited “shots” beyond stress if you’re in a dust-up.

I don’t have much experience with Tempest, though, so is having a scrap prerequisite redundant given the stress cost?

Anyway, here are the abilities. I also worry that Blackfinger steps on the toes of Percussive Maintenance – do you see situations where you could have both and use both?

MacGyver: You can hack together surprising effects from random-seeming scrap. Take stress equal to the magnitude of the results (0-6).

Percussive Maintenance: When you thump something that’s not working, pay 1 stress to make it start working.

Organic Mechanic: You know proper surgical techniques take finesse, not butchery. You may use finesse to treat wounds instead of hack. When you do this, your patients get a free recovery action each downtime.

Mechromancer: You gain potency when you create, repair, or destroy vehicles, robots, and drones. If you’re building one from scratch, it has +1 quality.

Blood, Sweat, and Gears: You know every weld, screw, and wire like they are your own flesh. When you use things you’ve personally modified or created, add +1d.

Boom Shakalaka: Sometimes it’s easier to destroy than create. When you use explosives, choose an additional effect: increased scale – terror – precision – potency

Buried Treasure: You know where to look for the good stuff. When you scrounge for assets, you get +1 effect level.

Blackfinger: As long as you are personally attending to a mechanical or electronic device, it will keep working.

What’s the best part about playing a Leech?

What’s the best part about playing a Leech?

What’s the best part about playing a Leech?

Is it the sweet bandoliers, like a steampunk Chewbacca?

Is it breaking the setting using downtime inventions?

Is it the free medical care?

Don’t be shy! Profess your love for this versatile playbook here. Also, if there was something you’d change about it, I guess comment on that too. 🙂

#glowinthedark

#glowinthedark

#glowinthedark

A quick follow-up to my Driver playbook – here’s the Reaper.

The Reaper is about killing shit and not getting killed in return. It’s a pretty bread-and-butter playbook, but the primary examples I’m using as inspiration are Furiosa, Wez, Ironbar, and Rictus from the Mad Max films. There’s a bit of standard 80s action hero in there too as well as a splash of slasher villain.

That Had to Hurt: When other foes see you kill an enemy, describe the poor bastard’s gruesome end. You gain potency against these enemies.

Ayatollah of Rock’n’Rolla: When you squander ammo, your ranged attacks gain +1 scale. You may take this ability a second time; this mitigates the requirement to waste ammo.

Blaze of Glory: When you mark a trauma you may retaliate against any and all enemies within range. Say how you bring ruin to your foes before they take you down. You may mark a trauma prematurely to use this ability.

Roadkill: When you attack from a vehicle, you gain +1d. If you are using personal weapons, your attacks gain potency against vehicles.

Last One Standing: When you’re outnumbered in close combat, you may spend 1 stress per additional effect: increase scale – adjust your positioning – increase effect

Brute Squad: When you lead a group action in a raid, you may count 6s across different rolls as a critical success.

Walk it Off: When you suffer harm, treat the penalties and recovery time as if it were one level lower. Level 2 harm only applies less effect and heals with a single downtime action, for example, and level 1 harm has no effect other than taking up a harm slot for the session.

Not Today: When you make a resistance roll against physical damage, you may appear to die (fall off a vehicle, disappear in an explosion, etc.) only to reappear in a location of your choosing with a +1d to your next action.

#glowinthedark

#glowinthedark

#glowinthedark

The Driver playbook!

It’s been a while since I posted a new playbook. I had jumped over to flesh out the actual rules hacks for a while. In contrast to the Leftover, which can branch out a few different ways with its abilities, the Driver is laser-focused on vehicles.

Need for Speed: When you face a challenge using speed and precise driving, you gain +1 effect level. Pushing yourself only costs 1 stress in these situations.

Witness Me: When you sacrifice your custom ride in order to accomplish something, say why you’re willing to do that. Pay any additional costs set by the GM and describe how you succeed.

Maximum Overdrive: You get +1d when ramming smaller vehicles. If you’re running over pedestrians, your attacks also gain +1 scale.

Fast and Furious: You can make your vehicle do things it shouldn’t be able to do. You are able to find conveniently-placed rubble to ramp off of, half-buried wrecks to get you up on two wheels, make astounding jumps without blowing out your tires, and burst through obstacles that should shred your vehicle.

Tank Girl: You have special armor against collisions and crashes, plus anyone in a vehicle you’re driving (including you) gains +1d to resistance rolls against collision damage.

Beat the Snake: When there’s a question about who acts first, the answer is you (two characters with this ability act simultaneously).

Car Surfer: When you leap between or clamber over moving vehicles you never fall off.

Eleanor: When you name your custom ride, you may choose an additional edge and mitigate one flaw.

HEEST COMPLETE!

HEEST COMPLETE!

HEEST COMPLETE!

Last night the three Dead Setters who showed up to play (Teatime the Whisper, Richter the Spider, and Deemo the Leech) discovered several things:

1. Being at war kind of sucks when you have downtime plans. Teatime had to indulge his vice because he’s the founding member of Trauma Club (“You’re not supposed to talk about Trauma Club!”), which meant he had to spend coin to reduce Heat (they were 8/9) that would have otherwise gone into his stash, or been used to advance his own plans. Deemo and Richter were similarly stifled. They did spend money to reduce Heat down to 3, and they considered a plan that wouldn’t involve murdering people this time.

2. Slippery (the Thieves ability) is pretty sweet. Also, claims can be easy come, easy go – the Red Sashes made a play against the gambling den the Setters claimed last session, and rather than start another war with a Tier II gang, they just let the Sashes have the den. This was better than 1) a war, and 2) the Arrest entanglement that was on the table as well.

3. Richter was a former Inspector. He was sold out by his partner/apprentice, Jennah, in his backstory. Turns out although Richter was taking money from the Hive, Jennah had been bought by the Unseen. Richter doesn’t have proof, though, although he recently completed a LTP while he was in prison so that if he does get Jennah on the hook for something that lands her in jail, her life becomes his to toy with.

To that end, and to possibly put an end to their war, the gang decides to bait a hook for the remaining Crows and let the Inspectors in on it. Pull an Enemy of the State ending.

4. I discover that when it comes to these social/deception scores, it’s pretty hard to figure out when to go to the engagement roll because so much of the plan making sense hinges on the fake story you want to sell. So the guys are working through what they want the Crows to believe, and we’re all making this shit up as we go because I had no preconceived notions about Jennah working for the Unseen or anything like that before the game started.

Anyways, the “score” (if you could call it that) comes down to Richter trying to plant rumors of a big score in the Strangford mausoleum* and failing forward all the way from Controlled to Desperate as some Crows take his disguised ass out of a bar and try to intimidate (and then torture) the truth out of him. He finally convinces them he’s the groundskeeper there and there really are valuables underneath. Meanwhile, he’s already tipped off the Inspectors that the Crows are seeking to rob a prominent member of society. This was mostly all done in flashback too.

5. When the score feels shaky, just roll on the friggin’ demon table. There certainly was something in the Strangford crypts – Ahazu, the Heart’s Desire. The Crows accidentally release a demon, a collection of mirror-silvery orbs that appear to be made entirely of cutting edges. The thing(s) cut into and then envelop some of the Crows, like when Neo takes the pill in the Matrix and quicksilver runs over his body. These attempt to pull the other Crows into loving embraces, but because whatever these things are cut whatever they touch, just end up with ribbons of meat and severed bones. The Inspectors arrive at the carnage and the few surviving Crows are more than happy to be arrested at this point. The Inspectors pull out, Teatime avoids the demon’s notice thanks to his demonbane charm and hella good resolve resistance, and Richter hides in a sarcophagus.

Ahazu’s many forms walk slowly out into Duskwall unopposed.

Did Lord Strangford even know this thing was down there? Was it how he came to power? What did it promise him? Did he somehow get the upper hand and trap it?

This was a shaky session heist-wise (the “score” was tricking Inspectors into arresting Crows for something they didn’t do, but since they ended up consorting with demons it worked out really well *), but plot-wise it was really nice to start some threads involving larger factions (Leviathan Hunters, Inspectors, the Unseen) and getting into demon stuff. Our game has felt increasingly tied into the Tier II criminal gangs as of late, and branching out felt good.

#heestcomplete

* Why would anyone have a mausoleum in Duskwall? They burn the bodies! Well, we decided that the rich and powerful have skeletons crafted (sometimes from precious materials) just so they can display their family heritage in crypts.

* For relative values of “really well”.

#glowinthedark

#glowinthedark

#glowinthedark

I’m almost done my first custom playbook for my Mad Gamma Max Fallout World hack, “Glow in the Dark”. I’ve got a question though.

I’ve got a playbook that could have a power armor suit (while not necessary to the concept, it’s a staple of the source media), and another playbook that doesn’t make much sense without a car. Would you expect these benefits to take a special ability dot? Be an option in the items list? Be given freely? A combination? Something else?

I’m not sure I have an equivalent to these assets for all the playbooks I have in mind, either, so there is that.

#glowinthedark

#glowinthedark

#glowinthedark

Playbook Special Abilities: The Leftover

The Leftover is the Vault Dweller, Charlton Heston man or woman out of time. They come from literally another place and time or perhaps are just sequestered away in an enclave. Maybe they just found a fancy suit and are lucky enough to look the part.

My inspiration here was the “token human leader” role in so many shows and films, and as such the abilities are hard to pin down. I ended up focusing most on interacting with prewar technology, but I’m open to suggestions. The two abilities I’m pretty solid on (the gist of if not the mechanics) are Trusted User and Wrong Guy Wrong Place Wrong Time, because I love me some Die Hard and my other inspiration was that the Leftover’s whole deal is they’ve just been thrown into hell, a maniac world that doesn’t make sense but they keep on ticking.

Pasted here in case the image is hard to read:

O Trusted User: You know the Words of Passing and the Maidens’ Names. Pre-war security systems, robots, and AI do not consider you hostile unless you attack first. You get +1d to hack friendly systems.

O Good As New: You know the dinglehopper is really a fork. When you use hack to repair something, you get +1d effect level.

O History Buff: You gain potency when you get a read on locations that incorporate pre-war features or when you gather information using pre-war methods.

O Pearly Whites: You’ve got all your teeth! Gain +1d in situations where your appearance would play a major role.

O Untouchable: The Glow doesn’t want you. You get special armor vs. mutant powers and radiation. When you roll a critical using untouchable, clear 1 stress.

O Wrong Guy Wrong Place Wrong Time: This isn’t even your world, but the wasteland can’t seem to get rid of you no matter how bad it gets. When you accept a devil’s bargain, you get an additional +1d.

O Engineer: Provided you have the materials, you can build claims that require advanced technology.

O Inspirational: When you lead your gang, they continue to fight even when broken. They gain potency and 1 armor.

OOO Veteran: Choose a special ability from another source.

HEEST COMPLETE! (and arson averted)

HEEST COMPLETE! (and arson averted)

HEEST COMPLETE! (and arson averted)

The Caw Caw Bang Fuck I’m Dead Caper was the Dead Setters’ attempt to find and finish off Crows boss Lyssa, whom they had grievously wounded in the previous operation, allying with Vampire Roric and his new Buzzards against his previous gang.

We started with downtime, as most everyone was full of stress and they were carrying a significant amount of coin. Keeping things in heist time would be too risky. They were officially at war, however, so accomplishing what they wanted during downtime proved fairly expensive.

And I forgot to roll entanglements. I had a whole list of NPC faction clocks to roll for and advance and I completely blanked on consequences for the PCs. Their +2 allies in the Gray Cloaks and Dimmer Sisters helped stymie the search efforts of the Bluecoats and Spirit Wardens, respectively. Roric made meager progress gathering the fracturing Crows to his name, while Lyssa’s new second, Deacon (a Whisper), proved more effective at retaining loyalty.

Which was ironic, because when the Dead Setters tracked Lyssa down to a convalescent bed in a Crows-owned tavern/gambling den, Deacon was there burning her corpse with electroplasm.

#ilearneditbywatchingyou

Also, the guys rolled a 3 on their engagement, so their initial plan of “bust in the place rolling heavy after seeding the gambling parlor with our thugs” turned around on itself. Deacon’s Crows were ready to spike the Dead Setters’ thugs’ drinks in the basement, and Deacon had a second treacherous plan – set fire to the tavern, bar the exits, and unleash bound spirits to wipe out the Dead Setters, no matter the cost to his own men!

None of his BS worked, of course. Teatime the Whisper went Venkman on the vengeful spirits and got a crit. Deemo the Leech used frost oil on the fire. I was using a tug of war clock, and a 6 on her Tinker roll managed to bring the fire down to nothing. With my direct threats and my environmental hazard defanged, it was a simple matter to rally the thugs in the basement and Command them against the Crows down there.

Meanwhile, Raven the Hound took off after Deacon. She too rolled a crit on her Hunt check to track him – the Crows usurper had to cross a wide thoroughfare and Raven had a clear shot at his back. She ripped off her everpresent goggles, revealing her Tycherosi mark – glowing red eyes. She rolled a 6 next, and with her Marked Target and fine weaponry, she felled the enemy whisper, emptying her brace of pistols into him.

Deacon was being watched by a bodyguard spirit, and I had planned for it to interrupt Raven’s attack. However, she rolled a crit on her Hunt check to catch him, and I figured that was worth getting her shot off first. So Deacon died, and then his bound spirit (which might have been a lesser demon or something? I’m keeping it vague for now) attacked Raven. A spirit entity wrapped two ragged black wings around her and it plunged a crow-like beak/syringe/mouth into her soul through the top of her head.

Or it would have, had she not rolled a 5 to resist. She came away with level 1 harm “Marked”, and 1 stress. Sadly, that was enough to Trauma her out.

We were out of time, so Raven feels the cold embrace, feels something pulling at her soul, and then the pressure releases as her bond with the Deathseeker Crows (established in previous sessions) summons the birds to her aid. They swarm Deacon’s entity and drive it off as Raven succumbs to darkness.

The Crows are in upheaval. The war is not yet won, but victory is within the Dead Setters’ grasp. They gain a claim (gambling den), since Deemo put out the fire as quickly as possible. They’re sitting at 8/9 Heat, though, with 1 Wanted already. They also made enough Rep to advance, although I was wondering this:

If a crew is normally Tier 1/Firm Hold and advances their Tier during wartime, can they even do that? Would you advance their Tier as if they were normal, then apply wartime penalties again? In our case it’d raise to Tier 2 / Weak Hold, then wartime would drop them back to Tier 1/Weak Hold, right?

#heestcomplete