The campaign is concluded! We decided upon an unorthodox way of finishing things and while it did not work perfectly in my opinion, it created some interesting results. We decided to use Fiasco to create an aftermath for the campaign. These were the rules I came up with on the spot (that didn’t work):
– Every time you get a 1-3, take a black die.
– Every time you get a 6, take a white die.
– Only the leader of a group action takes the die.
– You can take a Devil’s Bargain to just take a black die.
So, to provide some background: the Dark Roots have been pottering around Duskwall for about six months now, during which time a revolution has been brewing among the working classes and especially the Skovlanders. But different factions are divided between a fearsome brute called Ulf Ironborn and an apparent moderate called Brynna Skyrkallan, the charismatic head of the Skovlan Consulate.
However, after making a Ghost Contract with Ulf Ironborn to bring Brynna Skyrkallan’s head to him, the Spider found out Brynna wasn’t a moderate after all. Some fast-talking and thirty flintlocks found the Dark Roots aboard The Blooded, a refurbished Leviathan Hunter vessel. Once they were out at sea, she revealed her intentions. Together with an expert on Leviathans and a former Leviathan Hunter Whisper, she was going to bind a Leviathan, take it back to Duskwall and use its power to exterminate the nobility.
We opened up on the first part of the plan, the commandering of a crew of Leviathan Hunters. Brynna’s plan was to talk them into joining her cause, but first she wanted the crew to plant bombs on their ship as insurance. So, they rowed out there to do just that, rolling a Crit on their Engagement Roll, so there was no one deck when they arrived. Flashing back to creating these alchemically-based but supernaturally-triggered explosives, unfortunately the latter did not go so well, so once they began to placement the Whisper noticed the presence of another below deck and it had noticed something as well.
So, they continue, but soon hear the hatch on the deck of the ship open with a thud and…boom, the Whisper on the ship accidentally triggers the explosive, sending the crew flying into the inksea. In this chaos and danger, our Whisper hears the eldritch screams of the Crawling Chaos inside its mind, offering it protection. The Whisper accepts, so the Deep Ones rise. They pull the Spider beneath the water while the Cutter tries to climb onto the Leviathan Hunter vessel and the Leech flees.
Wulf, the Cutter stares down the Whisper only to find a Leviathan Hunter’s electric sword slashing across his chest having blinked up from the deck below. They engage in a fierce contest reflecting an earlier climactic fight in the series, Wulf’s blood boiling with the rage essence vial, seeing the face of the Akorosi Captain who ordered his village burned in the Unity War.
Meanwhile, the Spider begins to pull himself free from the Deep Ones, the Leech continues to flee and with the aid of the Deep Ones, the Whisper swims back toward the Blooded, brimming with the power of the Crawling Chaos. The Spider begins to climb the side of the Leviathan Hunter with Deep Ones close behind, only to find one slipped ahead of him in a fierce conflict with the Whisper who attacks it with spirits. The Spider unleashes a palm pistol shot which distracts the Deep One and allows the spirits to possess it, before turning on the Spider, grabbing him and bringing its fish-like mouth dripping with ichor to his as the spirits seek to travel.
Then we did aftermath. Wulf and Diablo, the Spider, rolled the most, so they got the most dice, so they got the highest results. Although to be honest, they also rolled a preposterous amount of 6s. Meanwhile, the Leech rolled a few and ended up with an average result while the Whisper only rolled twice in the whole game and got the second to worst result.
In retrospect, I would have likely taken a more Fiasco format for the final session with the rules of Blades in the Dark but a scene-like structure.
In any case, the aftermath painted a tale of Vizard, the Leech, managing to get back to Duskwall alive and with the Dark Roots mostly intact.
Diablo, with a considerably better result, began by having his Ghost Contract power further imbued by the spirits, its magicks fighting off possession, before he got his arm chopped off. Eventually he got back to Duskwall, lead the Dark Roots from victory after victory, ultimately conquering the Crow’s Foot, then renamed the Dark Root.
Wulf, with the best result, was immediately impaled through the chest by a Leviathan Hunter sword, only for his death in battle to be honoured by Fenris. Imbued by the power of his God, Wulf’s dying moments were of great power and violence, slaying most of the crew of the Leviathan Hunter ship before he fell. After that, he was made a vanguard angel of his God, guiding the Skovland people toward reconstruction after the Unity War.
Finally, with the worst result, Shadow’s one white die lead it back to the Blooded, to destroy the 100 gallons of whisper blood on board necessary for the Leviathan Binding ritual before slaughtering most of the people on board including Lord Scurlock, the man who had kept it as a bloodslave for years. Then, the Deep Ones took Shadow below the waters. Made the Avatar of the Crawling Chaos, Shadow would rise again eventually, but it was not yet the moment.
We adored our time with Blades in the Dark from the first version we played to the last. Thanks to John Harper for creating such a great game. I’m sure we’ll come back one day to fight over the Dark Root again, hoping that it isn’t yet time for the Avatar to rise.
