Crooked Laughter (10/10/2026)

GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Raidin Quintana, Morri The Pernicious, Eliza Williams, Karen G
System: Blades in the Dark: Dagger Isles

I was delighted to run Dagger Isles again for BATSCon 2026 (if that link goes down, this one should work). The event is in its second year. Locally Rooted, Community Minded, Free to Attend. Very cool.

I started the game off by asking everyone to do introductions with their name, pronouns, and an anti-colonial or revolutionary thought. I’m not sure how much these infuse the game, but I love what I heard: Fuck AI, productivity is a lie, Gay Socialism, and I want to be able to own my own business. Good stuff!

The Pitch

Here’s the pitch I put in the event listing.

The Dagger Isles, an archipelago the Empire once colonized and now seeks to consume. As the leviathans recede from our world, desperation for power from Imperial City has amplified the attacks on your home, but they have also exposed a weakness. Now is the time to strike. Now is the time to restore the Dagger Isles to the children of Sky Mother and Sky Father!

The Situation

A year ago, an Imperial spectrologist discovered that electroplasm could be mined from the ground, from the very God Beast that formed the isles when they fell from the stars a millennia ago.

The Ministry of Preservation—granted governance over all supplies deemed critical to the empire—displaced many homes and sacred sites to build an excavation site. They constructed a massive drill, larger than anything used before, and bored into the land itself to extract the blood and bones of the Gods Beasts, which they refined into their coveted electroplasm.

The drilling stirred the God Beast in its slumber and it Dreamed a storm off the coast Biranagan, Capitol of the Dagger Isles. As the first spark-powered train carrying electroplasm entered the void gate, the volatile cargo exploded, causing damage all the way through the void gate and into the heart of Akoros, the Imperial continent.

When the gate open a train emerged that was battered by the torrents of time. Everyone onboard was dead, and the train itself was pocked and rusted as though it had traveled for a century in the void sea.
Since then shipments have halted as spectrologists examine the damage, but the drilling and the harm to your homeland continues. Several of your companions, identified as insurrectionists, have been imprisoned under suspicion of causing the explosion, and the storehouses of electroplasm continue to grow.

This is your opportunity. For now, all reinforcements are being sent by ships, which are slower than the trains, and risk the possibility of attack from other rivals. Before the void gates are restored you can make your move.

Scoundrels of Biringan

I gave the pitch for all of the playbooks and after some back and forth we got the following currently or soon-to-be criminals who bucked the yoke of the empire.

• Bato Tan, the Inkfist. Alias: Fangs-At-Sunset. A killer on call for her datu Bones-At-Their-Feet. They’re small but built like a brick. Recently they killed a rival merchant’s son as a reprisal for killing their cousin Crooked Laughter. Basilio, the physicker on hire for her datu is trapped his job and hates Bones-At-Their-Feet and everyone else who works for him, including Bato Tan. Look: 5ft, sturdy, brick, tight braid, fang tattoos on cheek, bone tattoos on fingers, scaled snake eating the sun, snapping turtle. (Raiden)
• Luningning “Lunnin” Virk, the Sarong. Alias: They-Who-Laugh-First. An ex-imperial conscript who learned to be a keeper of truth and lies from the spirit of another Sarong they have captured in a though essence vial. Adorned in brilliant woven cloth, one earing, a few tattoos, and feathers in hair (Morri)
• Anwylla “Wylla” Lorde, the Suneater. Alias: Dawn-Light-On-The-Moor. An orphan picked up on the street by Wylliam Lorde, an imperial auditor, and turned into something. Lorde is an imperial financier, but secretly he is a Skovlan working against the empire, but only because he wants what is best for him. Wylla was “given” his game when she started working for him many moons ago. She is a pale, off-putting young woman with long curly hair. She wears a chatelaine with all sords of odd trinkets. (Eliza)
• Bato Dimbasa, the Bonewalker. Alias: Rooted-In-The-Sky. Also and ex-imperial conscript who fought and died in the unity war. When Bato’s body was going to be sent for incineration, it was intercepted by her family and during the return trip she came back to life, forever changed. She started planting seeds of a revolution well before there was an opportunity to do so. Her skin was marred by ritualist scars. (Karen)

Hot damn, those are some awesome scoundrels. Three of them had a background in War so I wanted to open with something that would bring their haunted past into start relief. Bato Dimbasa was fighting under the command Lt. Regina Nuncio. And Lunin was working under Captain Vale when the wriggled themselves out of conscription.

During the break after creating characters, I was working on an opening scene that would bring them all together, but it seemed like at least two of them (Wylla and Bato Tan) were more likely to act on their bosses accord than their own, and I really didn’t want to see them taking orders from anyone else. So I put their leaders in the crosshairs and decided to see what they would do when their bosses were imperiled.

A Clandestine Meeting

I asked Raiden whether Bones-At-Their-Feet would invite co-conspirators into their own home or choose to hosted by Wylliam Lorde. We talked a little about how the datu, as a Daggerite was in a more precarious position and wouldn’t want to have Imperials in his home. The Lorde estate it would be!

Inside the fine dining room with imperial maps on the wall, a taxidermized head of a deathlands predator, and all the other signs of imperial patriotism, auditor Wylliam Lorde hosted Datu Bones-At-Their-Feet and Lady Giselle Berlitz, a socialite trapped in a constant battle of one-upping the Sarong Lunnin. They spoken in hushed tones about the opportunity this recent calamity presented, and how they could use it to leverage power from the institutions they were beholden to. Wylla refilled their drinks as she played the part of the servant, allowing her to stay close to Lorde without drawing suspicion.

As she returned to the kitchen, we found the remaining scoundrels. Bato Dimbassa was there blowing off steam. She had been part of the meeting, but saw that these politicians were talking in circles and nothing they were doing would make a real impact, it would only marginally benefit them without actually helping the people of the Dagger Isles. Bato Tan was watching for threats to her datu. She didn’t have Wylla’s skill at blending in, so she watched from a distance. Lunin was there as a favor to Wylla, but frankly more interested in looting the house of a wealthy auditor than taking part in their schemes.

Bato Tan’s tattoo itched and Bato Dimbassa experienced a familiar presence as they all saw a ghost that was fighting it’s way past the spiritbane charm outside Lorde’s manor, through the wall, and into the kitchen. Crooked Laughter groped for air to pass through spectral lungs so he could speak to his cousin Bato Tan. “They are coming. Protect our Datu.” A moment later, lightning flashed and through the window they saw a regiment of Imperial Rifle Scouts advancing on the house. They were all in uniform and moving through the rain with their rifles raised, ready to raid the manor.

Saving what they could

Bato Tan moved swiftly into the dining room and whispered into their datu’s ear “We need to leave now.” They made no attempt to guise their action so the others in assembly didn’t know what was happening, but they were alerted something was going on. Just behind Bato Tan, Wylla returned, a bit more composed, and gave Wyllian the signal “My lord, it looks like we have some uninvited guests arriving.”

In the kitchen, Lunin, who had nothing at stake in this meeting, used the confusion to slip upstairs in the hopes of finding something valuable.

Bato Dimbasa invited the ghost Crooked Laughter to possess her, that she might aid the ghosts desires (protecting Datu Bones-At-Their-Feet and Bato Tan). Though this was an unfamiliar ghost, and Dimbasa was working fast, she pulled it off without harm or allowing the ghost too much control of her body [Risky/Standard Attune using My Brother’s Keeper special ability. Bato Tan offered a helping die by vouching for Bato Dimbasa to their cousin, but Karen refused my Devil’s Bargain that Crooked-Laughter take root in her body and would be difficult to uninvite later on. She got a 6. It all worked perfectly!]

Bato Dimbasa, possessed by Crooked Laughter and Bato Tan, helping their aging datu along, exited the manor via the servants entrance on the back side of the house. Though there were no soldiers their yet, they could hear two of them coming around the building to cut off anyone who try exactly their plan.

Bato Tan got their datu outside but they were slowing Bato down. They found a gardening shed and told Bones-At-Their-Feet to wait their while they found a safe way out. The datu did not like this idea. “If I’m going to be arrested as a revolutionary, I’m going to face my oppressors unflinching, not hide amongst the potting soil.” Bato Tan barked at their datu, something they was not accustomed to doing, and gave Bones-At-Their-Feet an order. He looked at her gravely, he would wait…for now. [Risky/Standard Command roll. 1-3 result. I told Raiden that while Bones-At-Their-Feet was hiding now, once Bato Tan turned their attention away, he was going to stand up and face his oppressors, and surely get killed or captured in the process]

As the moved around the house, Bato Tan hid in the shadows, while Bato Dimbassa took ghost form and flew past the two imperial soldiers trying to flank them. One was startled by the chill of a ghost and accidentally fired his rifle into the air.

Meanwhile, inside

Lunin passed by some confused house servants, looking for valuables to pocket. We flashed back to them consorting with the servants to learn about Wylliam and they found his wealth was a sham. The taxidermized head, that was papier-mâché. The maps on the wall, all fakes. The gold leaf on his books, painted on. What he did have, however was correspondence with co-conspirators that would be both valuable as blackmail and a source of potential contacts.

Lunin passed by the bedrooms, all too humble. Then they came to the study, with at least seven books featured on the shelves. The one that was open and looked particularly impressive, it only had writing on the open pages, the rest of the book was a prop. Lunin when looking through the books on the shelves and found one of them was actually disguised book, and inside it, more than a dozen letters. However, before they could read any of them, they heard the sounds of the soldiers boots on the steps leading up to the second floor… [Mixed result on a Risky/Standard Survey]

Below Wylla was trying to buy time for her master. She rushed to the front door, and as the rifle scouts were kicking it open she prepared herself with a smile and a tray of hors d’oeuvres. The soldiers filed in, thankfully with rifles slung instead of aimed, led by Lt. Regina Nuncio.

“Canapes?” Wylla offered. She hoped this would distract the rifle scouts but Nuncio was not deterred. Wylla locked eyes with Nuncio and in the split second they appraised each other she realized two things. The first was that Lt. Nuncio was going to remember her face. The second was that she was about to tell her soldiers to move through this attempt to deflect them. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I was only doing as the head servant Adallo instructed me.” She lied. Just then, Adallo was coming down the stairs into the foyer and thrown into the wall and then into manacles. [Risky/Standard Sway. 1-3 result, but used Muddied Waters to put the blame on the head servant, thus avoiding the harm she was going to take]

Upstairs two soldiers were heading into the study, looking for anyone unaccounted for, just as they entered, Lunin slipped outside a window and onto the ledge outside. The soldiers did a quick scan of the room but noticed the window was open. They looked outside, and then heard a gunshot below. Inches away from Lunin, they could have looked one direction and spotted them, but the gunshot alerted them and they headed back. [Risky/Standard Prowl. 6 Result]

Wylla was heading up the stairs, just as the soldiers were leaving the study. They might pass right by her, but they might take her for questioning as well. She considered her using her her concealed thimble needle to poison one, but what about the other. No time to think, instead she hid inside a false pillar that only members of the house knew about. Inside she heard the soldiers talking “Our informant told us to check inside the pillar, someone might be hiding there.” The opened it up and found Wylla inside [1-3 Result on Risky/Standard Prowl roll. Notably this forced me to think of a reason why the soldiers would notice. Maybe a bit of her skirt was caught in the door and it revealed her. Maybe the heard a creak. But the presence if an informant made the world richer, and helped sew together some of the loose threads we’d already woven.]

Wylla had only a moment before the soldiers opened the hidden door, and she used it to partially disrobe. When the opened it, she pulled up her dress as though startled by their presence. “Oh, I was just so scared, I decided to hide in here” She lied again. They believed her, but their orders were still to bring down anyone they found, so she doubled down on what she just learned “I was told to wait here but your mutual connection” implying that the informant was the one who told her to hide. “Very well, if Lorde wants you out of the picture, so be it. He’ll just have to pay for two people’s amnesty. Just don’t make any ruckus.” The soldiers retreated back downstairs to find the source of the gunshot [Mixed result on a Sway roll, used Muddied Waters to shift the consequence to someone else…in this case her master Wylliam Lorde. Just as fast as I came up with the idea of their being an information, I had to figure out who it was, but everything I knew about Lorde told me it had to be him.]

MEGA POSESSED

In the front of the house, moving with blinding speed, the twin entity of Bato Dimbass and Crooked Laughter evaded the first squadron of Nuncio’s soldiers and came to the rear guard, a second detachment with a large carriage that included weapons with electroplasmic ammunition, though thankfully they were not presently armed with them.

This was as land were feral ghosts roamed, the reason why Lorde’s home was covered in spiritbane charms, and Bato Dimbassa called on them to strike fear into the soldiers. Unfortunately, she had never tried such a feat with so many hungry ghosts, or while possessed. Crooked Laughter amplified her call, but also tightened his hold on her body. When the ghosts came they did not stop in the presence of the soldiers, they flocked together and into Bato Dimbassa as though she was a spirit well herself! [This was originally Desperate/Limited because she was outnumbered 12 to 1. Because she was using My Brother’s Keeper she gained potency to protect Bato Tan and Bones-At-Their-Feet, bringing this up to Desperate/Standard. Karen accepted the Devil’s Bargain to allow Crooked Laughter to take greater hold of her, and still got a 1-3 Result. I told her to mark Level 3 harm. MEGA POSSESSED]. Feral ghosts writhed insider her, hungry for the life force of the living.

Planning the Score

That was all my intro scene. Something to stir the pot and open up possibilities with direct consequences for the scoundrels. We cut to a small hut beside a lightning mangrove (which was abating the feral hunger overcoming Bato Dimbassa) with a driftwood remnant built into the door frame, which prevented anyone who was not invited, from noticing the hut itself. Something created by a Wayfarer long agon, shared with The Happy Crow the cartographer, who shared it with Lunin, who took the risk and shared it with their new companions as well.

What to do? Wylliam, Gizelle, and Bones-At-Their-Feet had all been arrested and were being questioned regarding the explosion on the lightning rail. There was talk of finding a sympathizer. Someone in the Imperial forces who would recognize these martial actions as unjust. Or they could try to liberate their leaders (only Wylla knew that Wylliam himself would likely be let go very soon after they determined he was “innocent”). Or, they could throw caution to the wind and strike back at the empire that had been harming their home for generations. That same drill that bore into the blood and bones of the god-beast, would feel the wrath of their anger. And Bato Tan, being an Inkfist trained in cultivating their emptions, had plenty of anger. So did Bato Dambisa, filled with hungry ghosts!

Engagement Roll

It took some convincing to get Lunin to go along with the plan. They didn’t do things like this and armed with all of the incriminating evidence they had from Wylliam Lorde’s correspondence, they could think of a dozen other plans that that didn’t put them in so much danger. But danger is what the other sought. After some back and forth, Wylla called in the favor Lunin owed her, and the scoundrels got to planning.

And by getting to planning I mean they picked an approach (Stealth) and an entry point (the front gates, using forged paperwork and Bato Dimbassa contact Ashen Hands, who was working the gate that night. I thought that sounded more like a Deception plan, but there was no need to split hairs. Deception required a method, and having a gatekeeper who was in on it, worked for that as well.

I drew a quick sketch of the site, including a lightning barrier fence, towers with spotlights, and many imperial soldiers as guard. I also realized I forgot to fill out the Empire Sheet, so I did that as well, and shared it with the players.

We put together a dice pool and they got a great result, starting with a Controlled Situation.

The Score

Late at night, rain drizzling down, occasional lightning striking and thunder rumbling, we see our scoundrels riding up with a supply cart pulled by giant lizards. Lunin is at the fore, carrying the paperwork. Bato Tan is herding the lizards. Wylla riding on the cart. Bato Dimbassa, kitted out (Heavy Load) and MEGA POSSESSED, was hiding inside the cart.

When the arrived they could see another supply depot was dropping off. The timing wasn’t problematic per se, but it raised some questions by the guards. Ashen Hands, who was working as gatekeeper said she would take this one. She stepped forward, expecting to see Bato Dimbassa, but tried to play it cool. She knew Lunin was involved. We flashed back to the conversation where Ashen Hands told Dimbasa she could could fired for this if she was lucky, court martialed and killed of not. She would do it, but it was hard for her to keep calm. Lunin knew their paperwork was forged and easy to see through, but that wasn’t the issue. The problem was keeping Ashen Hands from panicking. They placed a hand on the gatekeeper’s shoulder, said the words Dimbasa had told them to say, and reassured this friend of a friend that everything was going to be fine. [Controlled/Standard Consort. Full Success]

As they entered the saw several out buildings and a massive drill, held up scaffolding, that disappeared into the sky above the light that filled the compound. The drill was leaning off to the right side, and many of the supports on that side were crumpled. Clearly, an effort was being made to straighten it, so the drill could start operating again. The other supply cart was unloading and they barked and order to Bato Tan to keep their lizards away so they didn’t fight. Bato took them off to the side to part at a small outbuilding, and the crew moved into action.

Bato Tan surveyed the north wall, which was littered with imperial solders and featured a tear in the lightning barrier. Clearly someone had previously cut their way in, and maybe a way out if they needed one in a hurry.

Wylla, who noticed that Lt. Nuncio was here, decided to do a quick costume change into a cadet’s uniform, and tried to sneak around the drill to shoot Nuncio with a blow dart that was dipped in sightless poison.

Bato Dimbassa began unloading the explosives, which were hidden among constrution equipment [We didn’t play out how they got these, but loosed decided that the letters from Wylliam Lorde helped them get these very illegal supplies].

Lunin approached Lt. Nuncio who wasn’t expecting a second delivery and started questioning Lunin. Instead of responding they began to flirt…aggressively so. Nuncio wasn’t impressed at first, but the performance did captivate her. This random quartermaster had courage! Soon, Lunin’s words, both truth and lies, had her spellbound. She was filled with curiosity and self-loathing for her weakness. [Full success on Risky/Standard Sway using The Blood and Guts Sing. Effect would have been Limited, but Lunin used their Fine Rose Water Mister to sooth their vocal cords and increase their effect. The special ability meant that they could hold Nuncio’s attention as long as they performed.] By the end Nuncio was sharing things she absolutely shouldn’t. Fear that her sister was in danger, despite the Nuncio family being loyal to the Empire for generations.

Wylla used this distraction to fire her dart, which Nuncio hardly notice as it pricked her, and when she looked over to Wylla, she saw only the blur of a shape, the rain must have been clouding her vision. [Full success on a Risky/Great Finesse Roll to fire her dart. Effect improved by Lunin’s setup action] She then moved to set the the lizards lose on each other.

The Batos were moving to drill but intercepted by the other supply Karan, the Cloudjaw leading the other supply depo. “What are you doing making a delivery during my shift?” He looked mad. He had a contract, he was going to get paid, and this second supplier was putting that all in peril [1-3 Result on a Risky/Standard result. Putting them into a Desperate situation]

Bato Tan jumped into action and shouted their contemporary down. “These imperials are watching us. You’re going to get a lot worse than losing a contract if any of them thing we’re not capable of doing our jobs. You’d better shut your mouth now, before you say something we’ll all regret.” The Cloudjaw looked around, saw the soldiers watching them, saw them shift their grips on rifles, saw the rain drip off their ponchos and realized he couldn’t tell if that was rain water or sweat coming from their brows. He backed off, swearing and drawing attention to himself as away from the Batos [Critical Success on a Desperate/Standard Command Roll! I offered that the extra effect was that not only did they make to the drill, but for a few moments, all eyes were on the other supply leader.]

Working together the Bato’s rigged the explosives, and when they blew, not only did the drill fall, it collapsed on a dozen soldiers killing or trapping them within. Many ghosts would be born that night. [Full success on a Desperate/Standard Wreck roll using Grass Cutter to trap enemies within. Anything less than a six and both Bato’s would have been blown up in the explosion as well!

As the drill fell, the scoundrels escaped into the night. A powerful blow struck against the Empire that had delivered so many blows in the past. Fuck yeah!

Thoughts on this game

The special abilities used in this game were incredible, namely:

• Bato Dimbassa allowing Crooked Laughter to possess her and then taking ghost form to fly past the soldiers.
• Bato Tan using Grass Cutter to no only destroy the drill but also trap soldiers beneath the falling support structure.
• Wylla using Muddied Waters multiple times to cast the blame onto someone else, wracking up vendettas.
• Lunin using The Blood and Guts sing to captivate Lt. Regina Nuncio and learn about her motivations, as well as preventing her from noticing Wylla.

So bad ass.

I forgot to do the safety talk at the start. Nothing came up that was an issue, but I should make a reminder so I don’t forget to do it again.

We got held up for a bit figuring out Lunin’s motivation to sabotage the drill. Eventually we settled on them paying back a favor owed to Wylla, but I would have liked to seeded the urgency and impetus to act earlier on so that even if their skillset wasn’t matched to the task, they would have had an internal motivation.

I didn’t have the players describe their characters or give them a lot of chance to talk. As is, we barely finished in time, but I should have allowed a little bit of kitchen talk before the action began. That might have helped with Lunin’s motivation later on.

Other threads I could have pulled on.

• The Sarong Lunin killed and caged.
• The many ghosts driving Bato Dimbasa to crave life energy

Playtest Feedback

• I forgot to fill out the Empire Sheet until we were midway into the game. I don’t think that was catastrophic, but I could have been doing it during character creation as folks were filling out their sheets.
• Looking back at the important characters I should have brought in Riel Graystone as a fellow conscript, and could have used Kobb Home-Among-Mangrove’s as their datu. We made these NPCs but in the moment I forgot about them!
• There are probably one too many options for the starting score. Sabotage, Liberation, Contraband, and Sympathizers. Likely we should drop Contraband, just to keep the options simpler.
• Sabotage currently references the damage clock, but it should be the escalation clock. Also, it might be better to rename this something else (like “slowing the tide” or “halt progress”) and have sabotage destroy or weaken one of the Empire Sheet strengths so that it matches the description better.
• I keep finding myself wanting to ask the Ink Fist what emotional state they are in since it gives them some abilities, while locking them out of others. I wonder if we should make setting the initial emotional state part of picking load for the Ink Fist. If one is set initially that will likely make the players more conscious of updating their state as it changes.
• Wylla was the Suneater in the service of an Imperial (albeit an Imperial working against the empire) which wasn’t something I had thought of (I assumed they served Datus) but it seemed to work in this case, especially since Bato Tan positioned themselves as the Datu’s killer. Should we be prescriptive about who the Suneater works for or leave it open?