Finally managed to GM a game of this last week, and now finally had time to sit down and write it up.
Finally managed to GM a game of this last week, and now finally had time to sit down and write it up.
Our as of yet unnamed band of thieves is mostly a group of street toughs specializing in robberies, shakedowns and other non to subtle crimes. They consist of Gene Smedly, Cutter and fairly impulsive hothead, Lester, Veteran of the Skovian wars addicted to opiates, Skannon, raised in Duskwall but ethnically Severos and obsessed with their ghost hunting horses. There is also the group Whisper, “Prophet” who’s player missed this session.
They decided to represent their negative relations with both the Lambblacks and the red sashes that the previously operate in both territories pretending to be in their gangs. Thus it was Lyssa and the crows that offered them their first job. After some minor pleasantries asking about their new hunting grounds she segued into them returning the favor by pulling a job for them. The Sashes were expecting a shipment of high quality blades to be delivered by some of Ulf Ironborn’s lackeys, she also knew the Lampblacks had caught wind of this and were setting up an ambush, since anything coming from the direction of the docks was going to run through their territory.
The party decided to get some more information, resulting in Smedly ending up in a warehouse holding underground fight matches, after exchanging some flirting and promises of drinks his lover Marlene mentioned she overheard some drunks bragging about pulling a smuggling job and how it was their way “in”. They plotted the most likely course from that particular pier and, after donning their old lampblack disguises, set their ambush about a block before the black’s ambush. Getting the cart proved easy, Lester popping the driver with his rifle before Smedly and Skannon finished the other two guards off. They then smeared some blood into a sash looking pattern to cause some confusion
Unfortunately for them the commotion caused one of the other ambushers to come investigate, and they just caught him zipping behind a corner, Skannon set off with the cart as the opposing gang tried to push a wagon in front of them, he clipped the cart badly enough to injur one of the horses, frightening the other and getting themselves caught up. Gene cut the injured house free as Lester force the Lampblacks to keep their heads low, with some more well armed thugs appearing just as they freed the cart, and tried to take pot shots at them, after a mercifully brief exchange of gunshots they managed to get away, Skannon driving the horse and cart off the street and right into the canal!
And the conveniently flashback induced boat they had waiting. The boat and cart were both horribly damaged, but they managed to slip into the waterways under crows foot and eventually find their way the safehouse the crows told the to bring the Goods to. A few coin and the small share of the shipment they managed to negotiate later and it was into downtime. Their earlier ruse worked on all involved parties except the Sashes, who knew they didn’t steal their own shipment (and off screen lost a messenger trying to explain that to Ulf). They managed to work out that is was “those jerks” and next session will start with playing out the reprisal entanglement by the Red sashes.
Overall I loved running this, everyone I game with is a bit crazy so the improv friendly rules was a godsend. Only real problem I had was they all seemed terrified of taking a devil’s bargain and some of them didn’t understand the concept of clocks and that there were multiple was to deal with any given obstacle.