GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Karen Twelves, Eric Fattig, and Adrienne Mueller
System: Blades in 68′
We picked up with three revisions to last session:
- Blue Baths are in New Horizons (not Six Towers)
- Paolo left a card for The Dirt Barons when the entered (we didn’t have one for the Barons last session but we did now).
- The consequence for getting a 1-3 on the attempt to drug Sedrick was that he switched the drinks and would have drugged Paolo, except Delta noticed the effervescence in Paolo’s drink and knocked it out of his hand [resisting the consequence]
Sedrick and Paolo exchanged a few biting words and some veiled accusations were made but before they could escalate Karstas entered from a back hallway to meet his guests. As the door swung open Nav could faintly hear the sounds of an electroplasm fusion generator behind him.
Establishing Prompts
In my opinion one of the coolest bits of tech in Tomb Raider are the establishing prompts. The create an instant history between PCs and NPCs and help build relationships to develop and interrogate in play. One the drive home before game I was stuck in traffic and thought of a few questions to ask. These aren’t as well crafted as the very well thought out prompts in TR, but I thought they would create some connective tissue between the PCs and the NPCs. That part failed (we didn’t create any backstory between the scoundrels and the NPCs) but we did get a bit of worldbuilding out of it.
Delta – Karstas is in reflective jumpsuit and wearing a mask. He could be any member of the Mirror House. How do you know it’s really him? Answer: the particular frequency of his wristwatch battery is unique and matches the frequency detected when meeting him in previous encounters.
Nav – Karstas and you were both going after the same score once: military supply line information. Who ended up getting it and is there a dept to be paid? Answer: Nav did, but she was with a partner that fumbled the job. Karstas may have a grudge, but if he does it’s with the partner.
Paolo – You once saw Sedric give a guest lecture at Charterhall University. What about his story reminded you of your childhood, and did you connect with him after the speech about it? Answer: A storying about falling out of a tree. They didn’t talk afterward.
Next time I’ll try to ask questions that are better at building connections.
An Awkward Situation
Sedrick was there to get back the Alluvium, but he was also afraid of something and kept looking nervously at the door.
Karstas wanted to buy the Alluvium he heard was on the market, but didn’t want to hurt his relationship with the Tomorrow Project, who claimed it was theirs. Also, he wanted to know what happened during the anomaly.
The Dirt Barons wanted to sell the Alluvium without making enemies…or at least worse enemies of the Tomorrow Project.
Paolo laid on the charm and convinced Karstas they should have a private meeting while also conveying with a sly nod that he could tell Sedrick was preoccupied with something and that he’d hear him out later. [Critical Success on a Risky/Standard Consort Roll – The extra effect was a lead with Sedrick, a possible score they could go on]
Karstas explained to Sedric that it would it would compromise his scientific integrity not to investigate this anomaly further. Though Sedrick didn’t like it, this wasn’t his turf and he couldn’t call the shots. He grumbled and pullet out a cigarette to smoke while Karstas led Paolo and Delta into the changing room, and then to the baths.
Nav and Sedrick had a brief, barely-acknowledged-each-other exchange and then Nav slipped behind the swinging doors into the back area where she head the strange sounds before.
The Baths
Karstas and Paolo comfortably disrobed and entered the baths. A private place to talk where everyone knew weapons would not be brought. Delta stood to the side holding the goods.
The baths are surrounded in a blue light that cast the whole room in a soft and soothing blue. Another patron sat in an old stone bath and seemed in a state of total relaxation. As Paolo stepped in, he felt his pains and worries slip away.
“We have something you’d like. There’s not reason for you not to take it off our hands.”
“There is a reason. I’m confident it’s stolen and I know who from.”
“Ahhh…but no one can prove it was.”
“That is true, and that’s what fascinates me the most!”
[Success on a Controlled/Standard Sway roll with a Devil’s Bargain that Karstas could study the effect of the anomaly on on Delta. Two more ticks on the “Find a Buyer” clock]
Meanwhile Delta was trying to figure out why all of their recording equipment wouldn’t work. Audio was garbled and full of artifacts, video was distorted beyond recognition. They figured there was a resonance dampening field operating in the area but would need to get to the machine itself to learn more. As Delta adjusted their sensors the Mirror House operator figured figured out they were the cause of the fluctuations and Delta will likely not be allowed back into the baths proper in the future [Mixed success on Controlled/Limited study roll. Consequence was that the operator noticed what was going on]
Behind the Scenes
As Nav navigated the corridors around the baths themselves she saw the apparatus surrounding them, sure enough it was a device similar to the B.L.U.E. array. It was creating “genuine” daylight but one tuned to be a soft and relacing light. The stones that the baths were built from looked ancient and covered with strange runes. She pulled out a compact camera and started taking pictures.
She couldn’t access any controls for the device so she delved farther toward the back of the building.
Alluvium and Secrets to the Highest Bidder
In the Baths, Karstas asked to see the Alluvium itself and marveled at Delta’s ability to hold it without adverse effects. Delta had agreed to let Karsta’s study their internal chronometer and resonance deterioration.
Karstas still wore the mast (and nothing else) in the bath, which Nav thought (from the other side of the wall) must be so damp underneath, but it was working for Paolo, who suggested they drink to the deal, knowing he was the only one in the room who could drink.
Control Center
Nav came to the end of of the curving hallway and saw another set of double doors. Through the window in the door she could see a control room with a single Mirror House technician operating a complex machine. They seemed to be tuning the machine and attempting to compensate for some interference. As they struggled Nav took more pictures from outside the window. She saw security cameras that had images of the outside, reception area, and anteroom. There she saw Marlow had entered and was talking with Sedrick.
At the back of the small room was a large door. She took the chance that it wasn’t locked and slipped inside behind the distracted operator and opened the door. As soon as it opened a horrible sound of an engine trimming came through and the operator pulled off the headphones he was wearing and turned to see who was coming out of it, but Nav was already through. He called down through a comms device “did one of you just come through?” and everyone was a bit confused. [Mixed success on a Risky Prowl roll. Consequence was 2 ticks on a 4-tick Alert clock. They were all watching for Nav now.
She heard the load roar of an engine and saw curving steps leading down. As she made her way she suddenly felt an invisible resistance, pushing back her back up the steps. She had to struggle to move down the steps and then suddenly tumbled and found herself upside down, only still standing on the steps, now leading up to the machine above. [Success on a Prowess Fortune Roll to catch her balance as gravity inverted under her feet].
As she came up the steps she found (and heard) a gigantic machine operating in a large domed room made of ancient stones. The electro plasm fusion generator was operated by several scientists. Further in the room she saw several baths. Most were empty, one had two figured that seemed to disappear as the stepped out of it, and one looked to be relacing with several mirror house scientists surrounding him. Everyone in the bath looked to be made up of strange psychedelic colors and that wisped and flared ad the edges making it hard to determine where the man began and ended.
One scientist was waring a giant helmet and was reciting things that sounded like confused ramblings “I see… now it’s gone…bench under a tree…and Iruvian woman…I cannot confirm the identity…”
Nav decided this was some Weird Shit (TM). She took more pictures and then got out of there!
On her way out, back at the bottom/top of the stairs, she first hesitated, then burst out the door and as the operator looked left, she dodged right through the swinging doors in to the hallway. [Miss on a Controlled Prowl Roll, followed by a Success on a Risky one!]
Regrouping
Back in the changing room Karstas saw that Sedrick and Marlowe were waiting outside and thought no good could come of another encounter with all three crews together. He revealed that one of the lockers had a secret back that opened into a passage way, but it was clear that Delta wasn’t going to fit.
After some negotiations, the gave Karstas the the Alluvium and he offered them 5 stacks when then next met up…he still wanted to study Delta. [Without a roll, I finished off the “find a buyer” clock. There were two ticks left and them letting Karstas take the Alluvium with only a promise of payment, plus his fascination with the Alluvium was enough for me justify wrapping up the deal without calling for another role. Effectively Standard effect (with no action roll) based on the fiction].
Instead of changing into his clothes, Paolo put his street clothes in Delta’s now empty internal storage compartment and strutted out into the ante room in his robe and slippers. He nodded to the two Tomorrow Project Members, “Gentlemen”.
Marlowe nearly went for his gun and demanded they return the stolen canister but Delta followed up with a simple verbal utterance “We. Don’t. Have. The. Alluvium.” Marlowe was bitter, but he didn’t want to start shooting people in the Blue Baths, he’d have to hold onto this grudge for now [Mixed success on a Risky/Standard Command roll with an assist from Delta. I created a 6-tick clock called “Tomorrow Project as War” and would have added two ticks, but Paolo resisted with his “Smooth” ability by marking Mojo so I only added 1 tick to the clock. Gotta admire that swagger. And in a bathrobe even!”
Quickly Nav regrouped and three of them caught a cab back to the Velvet Veil.
First Crew Business complete!
Aftermath
A new element of Blades in 68′ is the unwind phase where one player describes how the crew as a whole unwinds together and everyone clears 1 stress.
Nav described them all in the base gossiping with each other and sharing all the things they learned. Apparently Karstas knew of one more Tomorrow member named Lord Dalmore!
Payout, Rep, Heat, Clocks, Harm, and Trouble
As with Blades in the Dark, we did the payout, rep, and heat, faction clocks, but then there was a new mechanic for Harm and Trouble!
- Payout was 5 stacks (determined by a Sway fortune roll that Paolo made). 2 paid to the Gallo family as a ward boss [that should have only be 1 stack. We’ll fix it next session]
- Rep went up by 4 (two for the score and two more because the crew tier difference)
- Heat was 4 (plus one they gained during the score) for being loud and chaotic (the anomaly was noticed by a LOT of people), but it wasn’t on hostile turf or with someone they were at war with, and nobody died.
Faction clocks advanced first based on what happened on the score, and then based on how active the faction was based on a Fortune Roll:
- Mirror House – 1 tick on their “Dominate the Alluvium Trade” and 1 tick on “Discover Anomalies” clocks based on getting the canister and getting to study the effect of the anomaly on Delta. Then two more ticks on the Discover Anomalies based on their faction actions (fortune roll)
- Tomorrow Project – I advanced a clock I haven’t revealed yet, but then reduced it a tick based on the lost Alluvium.
- Bluecoats – I put one tick on the “Patrol Hulls replace riot cops” because of the prevailing pro-hull sentiments. (we discussed this more during downtime)
Harm as of version Playtest Draft 4.7 doesn’t cause dice penalties though it may affect position and effect if it’s applicable. However at the end of the score, everyone who has harm rolls dice equal to the cumulative level of harm
- Delta was unaffected by the dislocated elbow joint.
- Paolo needed self-medication for his broker collar bone (Indulge vice is required during downtime and the first time it’d done, it’s at -1d)
- Nav was shaken by her cuts and scrapes (-1d on the next Engagement roll)
Trouble is a new mechanic in Blade in 68′. It’s similar to entanglements but has a progression so light trouble can turn to heavy trouble if it isn’t addressed. There’s also trouble for the district the crew is in which may or may not affect them, but it just describes how people in the area are getting along.
- Crew Trouble: We rolled nothing this time around. Good for them!
- District Trouble: We rolled a disappearance. I decided Val went looking to get Little Gallo back and hasn’t returned.
Personal Business
The crew went about attending to their personal business
- Nav went out to a fine art museum with Ankhayat and took several change of clothes. They took multiple pictures and together concocted out of a single afternoon as full week’s worth of leisure activities Nav could report back to her family to show she wasn’t doing spy stuff! While she was there, however Lenaya from the Anixis Field Unit (the Iruvian spies) showed, gave Nav a meaningful glance, and then disappeared in the crowd. It was a single there was a job for Nav if she wanted it. Spies always pick the worst time to show up [Indulging Obligation Vice, also a lead on a score]
- Paolo took in a show at the Veil and watched an amazing performance by Three Fingers who scowled inexplicably when he saw Paolo in the crowed (Paolo forgot his relationship with Three Fingers, but the singer most definitely hasn’t). Later at the roulette table Skavo the Shark tapped out the dealer and took over for a bit. He shooed the other patrons and told Paolo the situation with Val. “Dossani is patient and thoughtful most of the time, but with both of her sons gone, she’s liable to do something reckless. We need to find Val, and hopefully with him Little Gallo soon, or we’re going to have trouble.” As if the mood couldn’t be brought down more, Three-Fingers showed up and cursed Paolo up a storm “You two timing, thieving, woman-stealing, cur.” What should have been a fun night out did little for Paolo’s mental wellbeing [Only 1 street recovered during Indulge Vice, also a lead on a score]
- Delta went ON PROGRAM and got a recall message sending him to the Golden Hand HQ, an amusement part on the docks. At the gates were older Charlie unit taking tickets. In the back there were autopods being worked on, gold bars being moved, ultraplasm stored in secure containers, and a lab that Croc came out of coved in a pock marked exposure suit that he toss into the incinerator once he got it off. Delta harm was repaired by Croc “Demons! Who was your operator? How could they treat you like this? Wait, why is your chronometer off?” Croc asked questioned but didn’t expect answers. He threw Delta’s old chronometer in waste bin and installed a new one. When Croc was gone Detla retrieved the chronometer to share with Karstas. Once repaired, Delta was put to work. Croc led them into the secret lap where they found Croc working on a massive ultraplasm bomb. Very volatile until it’s casing is complete. Incredibly damaging once it’s done. Delta found once again that their recording equipment didn’t work, but this time it was simply that the recording would not engage, no matter how they tried. [Recover to remove passing harm, ON PROGRAM activity. The GM is supposed to decide what the action is but Golden Hand had several uses for their Hulls so I gave Adrienne a choice. Also a lead on on a score from Karstas when Delta dropped off the internal chronometer, which we didn’t play out]
- After the work was done Delta fastened themselves into in industrial recharging station [Recover 5 Drain].
- Nav got out the first aid kit and patched herself up in the base [Removing passing harm]
- Paolo felt the night was still young and so he caught up with with is friend Una Bell and then went to Brightstone to gamble at the Plaza Imperial, the hotel that Catton works at and often buys intel off the Barons (to the chagrin of his boss, the Scorpion Syndicate) [Indulging Vice]
- Delta decided to spend one of the recently earned stacks to start scrounging sparts for their own industrial generator so one day they can recharge without having to go to the Golden Hand. Croc didn’t stop them, but he did take notice of Delta picking up pieces from salvage. [Long term project (10-tick) to build an Industrial Generator, I also started a 4-tick “Croc suspects Delta” and put tick on it]
- Paolo also felt flush enough to spend some stacks. This time to get heat off the crew. He went to Lomond’s pub on the corner of Banner and 6th Street in Charterhall, Bluecoat bar just around the corner from the precinct. He got a few looks when he entered, clearly not a Bluecoat, but they weren’t going to turn away his stacks. He found Sergeant Vran retelling the story of what happed to other Bluecoats “There I saw it in the blur, it was me as a grandfather and the kids were the spitting image of my Vera…I had that bastard dead to rights—” He was just holding up the cravat when Paolo yanked it out of his hand “Ah, I knew i misplaced that somewhere.” Vran wasn’t happy to see him but since Paolo came on his own terms and it was clear a bribe was involved, the other Bluecoats scattered so the two could talk. Vran took the money and agreed to lose some of the paperwork, but they got into deeper conversation about Hulls taking away work from Riot Coats. He pointed to some sad sops at the bar that had clearly been drinking all day because tin cans replaced them. Despite Paolo owning (he assumed Paolo owned Delta) a hull, he offered him a payout if he could find “iron clad” evidence that Hulls were unsuited to take the jobs of Bluecoats.” [Reduce Heat, also a lead on a score]
The friends, rivals, enemies, and associates that spent time with the Dirt Barons:
Crew Business
We ended the session with the Planning Meeting phase of crew business. Normally ever player pitches a potential job, but we had several that cropped up during the session so we started by writing those down and it was already four potential jobs, plus one more that Adrienne thought of, getting the “Shadowy Fixer” claim. We then rolled Dirt Barons tier (0D) and added the tier of the client or mark to get the payouts. They were mostly very similar, see if you can spot the exception:
- Lenaya (Anixis Field Unit) wants to find GRD-9, the Hull the Barons saw in the middle of the student protest. He’s supposedly the only witness to a crime [4 stacks]
- Sergeant Vran (Bluecoats) wants damning info about the Hull Directive [4 stacks]
- Skavo (Gallo Family) wants to know what happened to Val Gallo [4 stacks]
- Karsta (Mirror House) wants Palace Undersecretary Bowman to take a bath in the Blue Baths [11 Stacks, boxcars on 0D is still 6, plus a tier 5 target]
- Shadow Fixers might be found at the Gallo Family (Skavo) or SCORPION Syndicate (unknown but Catton could help point the way [We’ll know the reward once they pick a faction to steal from]
- Secrick (Tomorrow Project) also has a potential job, but we didn’t talk to him.
Much as the 11 stacks looked tempting, the crew wants to do right by their ward boss so they’re going to take the job to find Val. Excited to see how that goes next session!
Business Cards
Tim made these cards and the are so cool. I printed them out and I drop them every chance I get!
Playtest Feedback
- Fun session!
- Lots of procedures to remember after a score.
- We really liked the unwinding scene
- Trouble engine seems like its going to be cool (we like that trouble can escalate)
- The downtime actions were tight. Because everyone was low on stress/drain and had harm, most downtime actions were taken addressing those. They had to pay 2 stacks for to work on other stuff.
- Felt like the Downtime action was pretty individual and the wanted more opportunities to engage with each other (but looking at the rules, I should have given the +1D for working with another PC as well, not just NPC friends and contacts so I think that will be better next time).
- So far we’re liking the Harm rules including the complications and narrative positioning.
- I think there’s a version of the game where I only advance faction clocks when the PCs get involved, but for now if a faction was active (in this case Mirror House and Tomorrow Project) they get a fortune roll to advance their clocks, otherwise they just advance based on what happens in the game. I’m liking it.
Things for next time
- I overcharged for the Tithe. Barons get 1 stack back
- Oh shit, I had so much fun offering Nav weird thing after weird thing in the Blue Baths. I really hope they round up an Intellectual and a Paranormalist to review those pictures. Not for the future, they will need Quality 3 (Tier 3 or 3 dots in Wrench or Attune respectively) to make sense of the pictures.
- So excited to see how the search for Val goes. It’s going to be a good chance to explore more of Silkshore in game! (I’m glad we picked the score as it gives me some time to write up some NPCs, rumors, clues, etc)
- I’ll remember to bring index cards!
