GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Karen Twelves, Eric Fattig, and Adrienne Mueller
System: Blades in 68′
Ankayat Autodome
The PA blared “CITIZENS OF DOSKVOL! The winner of the Ankayat Trophy is Blaze! But that’s not all we have for the night! Another set of racers is lining up now to compete for glory and so much more!”
Val Gallo was in a race with Hurricane! Was he going to try and drive her off the road? Did he rig her car to explode? What is even happening here. The Dirt Barons needed to get on the track to find out.
Nav had her disguise kit on her and with minimal effort, Delta looked like an autopod hull mechanic, Paolo looked like a racer, and Nav looked like a pit crew lead!’
That was all they needed to get them through the throng of fans, but actually getting on the track meant passing by Ankayat Corp Security. Paolo has such confidence however (he was born to race) that they not only let the Barons pass, they escorted them right to the track [Success on a Risky/Great Consort]
How to Make Enemies and Aggravate People
Paolo and Nav approached Val, already strapped into a racing autopod, checking all his instrumentation. As soon as he saw them he shouted “You shouldn’t be here. Go away. I’ve got to do this!” Paolo tried sweet talking him and tried to talk him down from whatever half thought out plan he was enacting. Val seemed undeterred.
Meanwhile Delta approached Hurricane in her racing autopod and said “I. Must. Inspect. Autopod.” He made no effort to convince Hurricane that he was “supposed” to be doing this, and just hoped he could get under the car and find any bombs attached before she could do anything. Unfortunately, she reacted faster than he expected. Quickly a tow hook was strapped to Delta’s frame and he was yanked out from under the car by a pit crew’s crane rig. He looked immobilized as he was held in the air but the rig, but nobody knows Delta’s frame like he does. He hung there biding his time [Failure on a Risky/Standard Wrench roll. Consequence resisted]
Back at Val’s ride, Nav decided to just be blunt and ask “Val. Did you plant a bomb under Hurricane’s autopod? Are you going to try and kill her?” That seemed to the final straw to push him to telling the truth. “No! Of course not. We’re racing. If I win I get the Storm Surge!” There was a pause “If she wins, she gets the Veil. Now both of you get the fuck out of here. I have a race to win!” Hurricane is a daredevil pilot and by all accounts a great racer. Val is the son of a crime boss with good taste in fashion. This wasn’t going to be a race, it was going to be a decimation. Paolo tried as he might to convince Val to let him take his place, but it wasn’t happening, so Nav pulled Paolo’s concealed pistol from his belt and shot Val with a tranquilizer. He wasn’t going to listen to reason and the race was starting soon! [Mixed result on a Risky/Standard sway roll that turned to violence with the Devil’s Bargain: Nav pissed of Val enough that he told the truth but he’s never speaking to her again…and the consequence that he’s big mad at Paolo… consequences they could live with]
Start your Engines
Quick as they could, Nav and Paolo pulled the limp body of Val out of his racer and Paolo jumped in. Just as the whistle blew he took off!
Under the Hood
For this race I decided to create three 4-tick progress clocks to represent the three laps in the race. Whoever filled the last ticket first one the race. I advanced Hurricane and Nala by making fortune rolls for them. I also make fortune roles for all the other drivers to see how they were doing.
I also created a 4-tick repair clock for Paolo. Because these were cars meant to be pushed to the very edge (and because I wanted the pit crews to be involved) I ticked the clock every time Paolo made another move. Devil’s Bargains (pushing the car past it’s limits) and consequences (failing or damaged systems) could push this clock up faster. The deriver can stop a pit stop anytime, but once it’s full the autopod needs repairs and can’t progress without them. I wanted a little risk and reward balance where pushing your car could help you but there was a chance you’d go to far and your pit crew would need to run out to get you, slowing them down.
When the crew worked on the car they removed ticks from the repair clocks and could provide other benefits like morale boosting, getting the car a good start, etc. The pit crews could (and did) mess with each other to try and sabotage their competitors, which allowed Nav and Delta to stay busy while Paolo was on the track.
A thing I learned in this race…there’s not one, but two dominant actions when racing. Finesse and Wreck, or as we liked to call it Fast and Furious. Command (to stare down a driver) and Consort (to make it clear this wasn’t personal with friend Naya) worked as well, but those were the main two.
Fun Moments of the Race
- Paolo immediate flooding the autopod engine with plasmoleum to blaze ahead out of the gate [Devil’s Bargain to tick the repair clock an additional time as well as adjusting the default position and effect from Risky/Standard to Desperate/Great and getting a success!
- Delta laying down so that Paolo could drive over him (on ramps) and immediately repair the car (which was at that point on fire). Many fire extinguishers used!
- Nav trying every means possible to sabotage the Dorji Kon and the SCORPION Syndicate pit crew including trying to steal their tools, shooting a mechanic with a tranq dart, and picking a fist fight (with Blaze at her side).
- Paolo, at the finish line realizing that Hurricane was going to make it there before him, and so smashing Nala’s pod, which then hit Hurricane’s pod and slowed her down just enough to make it, the crashing the moment he got past the finish line [Mixed success on a Desperate/Limited Wreck roll, but limited success was all he needed!]. Paolo ended that score with a broken collar bone (from before), burns that melted his racing suit onto his body, and impaled! [He was also deadlocked and took “I can’t back down” as his deadlock, which I love].
- Nav pulling the gun from Paolo’s belt and shooting Val with a tranquilizer to get things move [She deadlocked Sharp, which was Searing originally but eventually changed that to Blunt. Nav isn’t in this to make friends…at least not with folks like Val].
- Delta giving Paolo a literal shove back onto the track that gave him just the advantage needed to get ahead [Using Powerhouse to perform a feat of extreme strength!]
- The entire team thoroughly pissing off the Ankayat Corporation with all of their shenanigans, but somehow still coming out on top. It’s good to win!
Thoughts
Though I liked the intricacies of the race mechanic, between Paolo racing and Nav and Delta trying to support him, it took the entire session to finish the score and the scoundrels were ground to a pulp (all of them had harm, they all deadlocked a key, and nearly all of their gear was used). As cool as I wanted the race to be I probably should have made it a separate score or handled it with a single action roll.
I was delighted that the saved the Veil and found themselves in the precarious position of winning the Storm Surge…and along with it the SCORPION Syndicate’s further ire!
