Actual Play – Inspector Lomond no more (8/30/2016)

GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Karen Twelves, Eric Fattig, and Adrienne Mueller
System: Blades in the Dark, Quickset Rules v.7

48 hour Ritual Binge

We started with a recap from last session. What did those 48 hours of blackout possession look like?

Stras/Hoxen, under Elke’s supervision, gorges self on food for 48 hours. Jadvyga/Nyryx is escorted around town by Hix, who, at some point during those 48 hours, drops off – and Jadvyga has a tattoo.

Nyryx did tell lot of stories about Elke as a child, and of her mother as a child…

The Crew has Ambitions

Ogre comes in and dumps coin and weapons on our table – from the Dimmer Sisters. Elke pockets a nice curved blade. Jadvyga, Elke and Hix discuss whether we’re technically a gang. Ogre asks (on behalf of others) to go raiding with Harland. Elke and Jadvyga say no. Hix has a quiet word with him on his way out and says go for it; protect Harland. (Jadvyga feels special that she had the ritual done? And also a little tingly/sore on her back.) New Path of Echoes folks aren’t as accepted in gang as the originals, and resentment is palpable. )Original student patrol: Ogre, Bazran, Vey, and Volette. New members from the Path of Echoes are Ring, a Tycherosi ghost, Wester and Lynthia).

[This was my version of gang trouble, with the crew causing trouble (entanglement) by being unreliable. In this case unreliable because they wanted to go help Harland fight. I realized afterward that this didn’t really pose a problem for the DSS, so I probably should have hit them a little harder].

The Score – Ruin Inspector Lomond’s life

Remember that first job offer that Coro proposed to kill Inspector Lomond? Well, now that Elke had some time to think about it, she decided it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. The would’t kill him, that would be awful. But they could get him fired so security on the Deadland Scavengers could lax again.

In a very heist-y manner is started with Jadvyga. She found Lomond, flanked by Spirit Wardens and several other Bluecoats watching over the transfer of goods from the scavenger’s small barge in Silkshore onto an armored carriage. Finding him however, looked suspicious, especially when she went into a Grinders owned tavern and asked out loud “Anyone know where Inspector Lomond is, I have a sandwich to deliver to him?” She got the information, but not without a few people getting the wrong ideas [People think the DSS are snitches 1 tick of 4, which was a step down from the beating she was going to get instead].

On the shore she pretended to ask for directions and then bumped into him when scavengers would have bumped her with their heavy loads, thus lifting his ivory inlaid tin, which later opened to find a ragged old commendation written from a previous commanding officer to his current commanding officer Brannon Coleburn. She also found two tickets to an opera and instruction that he was to take the night off!

Digging up dirt about Captain Coleburn

Hix talked with her friend, Officer Jeren about what Coleburn is like and who he’s married to. Syra Wathan, a devilhunter from Severosi. She notably did not take his game. The two live in Brightstone. Jadvyga’s friend, Roslyn is a noble who lives in Brightstone as well.

Jadvyga asked if she could arrange for Lomond to have a private meeting with her, with the intent of starting a forbidden tryst out in her husband’s beloved garden.

Spectral Coercion

With a meeting set up, the DSS waited out side Lomond’s house planning for Nyryx to possess him the moment he walked out the front door. However, what they didn’t expect was two spirit wardens, vibrating through the ghost field like a electric power plant, to come pick him up in the morning [Engagement Roll – Mixed outcome – Tougher than it looks].

Elke, found the ghost of a Lambpack, still pinned to the wall where a Red Sash impaled her, and send her to the scene in order to distract the Spirit Wardens, while Jadvyga carried Nyryx in her as close as she could and then exhaled his vaporous presence right into Lomond’s face. Though Lomond saw her moments before his possession, the plan otherwise worked flawlessly [Devils bargain to get in close to Lomond, but a crit on her prowl roll, and Lomond completely failed to resist possession by Nyryx.] Nyryx/Lomond pulled out an electroplasmic round and scratched the phosphorus tip against his bandoleer igniting it with a green flame. He fired and the ghost from his blunderbuss and just nearly missed. Leaving the two Spirit Wardens to capture and destroy the ghost, he dashed off to wine and dine Syra.

Open Mouth – Insert Foot

The plan got revised somewhat whey the realized how little love was shared between Syra and her husband the captain. Instead of trying to seduce her and be caught in the act, the instructed Nyryx to offed her and offender he he did. He spoke about the ways ghosts played tricked on Severosi ghost hunters and what a generally incompetent group the Silver Nails and other hunters were. He almost pushed it too far, as the next time the DSS saw Nyryx/Lomond his own blunderbuss, loaded with flaming electroplasmic ammunition was pointed at his head. Syra suppressed her old instincts though, and vowed that Lomond would pay dearly for his insults [Since they didn’t actually finsh the score, we made a fortune role based on Nyryx’s quality. It was a Crit! Lomond is fucked!]

A new bartering chip

Instead of going back to Corro to get paid out, the decided to hold onto this news until they could use it as an in. Wheels upon wheels within the Society.

New characters of note in Doksvol

Lomond (now ex-Bluecoat): Paranoid, Obsessed, Persistent. Was looking for a lost treasure from the Deathlands. Now, trying to figure out what the hell happened to him and how he made such a horrible enemy of Syra Wathan.

Brannon Coleburn (Bluecoat Captain): Wiry, Arrogant, Sophisticated. Seeks infamy as the Devil in Blue. Methodology: Study his opponents. Enjoys gardening. Political marriage with Syra Wathan.

Syra Wathan (Ex-Severosi Bounty Hunter): Scarred, Professional, Vengeful. Once a bounty hunter of great renown, Syra has parlayed her previous fame into social capitol and now huts down her enemies through political means.

What Rocked

I love watching the crew come to the realization of how horrible they are, but also, what a horrible person you have to be to get ahead. Nobody wants them to succeed and nobody is giving them hand outs. Yes, they are students, but they are still scoundrels!

The last thing Lomond remembers before his life turned to hell was Jadvyga’s face. Should he survive Syra’s wrath, he’ll have some vengeance of his own.

What could have improved

I’m not really sure how to play out plans that involve getting other people to do things for them. Typically I have the PCs roll their own actions to do the convincing or the setup and then I make a fortune roll to see how well the NPCs does. So far that has worked in the characters favor (I’ve rolled pretty well), but I think there would be a pretty big disappointment if I flopped and the NPC failed completely, or made matters worst, though that seems like it’s a very possible outcome in most of these cases. I imagine there is a better way to tackle this but I haven’t figured it out.