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