Character, Crew, and World Creation

And, remember. I am (or claim to be, no proof yet) generous.
If you put your points into Sway (for instance) and then, during play, find you are actually trying to be more social, I am happy for you to swap them to Consort instead.

Ok, thanks, I think I get it. That background point will go to Sway then and we'll see how it evolves. Thanks!!

We can, of course, also look at the rest of the character and see if one stands out as more 'appropriate'.

OK, guys, I already have my sheet filled in, a character portrait and a bit of background info:

https://gamersplane.com/forums/7909/

The site does not let me know when you add characters for 'approval', so drop us a message or I might miss it.

I should have my sheet done in 2/3 days maximum. Is that fine for you ?

Sure.
You don't have to complete it first, though (really should not, it is meant to be collaborative). Do you have any thoughts you can share yet, any preferences about the Crew questions? No pressure if you don't, these games are always a bit slow at the start, the Character, Crew, and World creation is a large part of the system.

Yep ! Was thinking about a Leech. A former military scientist, specialized in chemical gas able to put to sleep, inducing hallucinations or... more unpleasant things.

As for the Crew-specific Upgrade, I'd personally prefer Thief's Rigging as it is the one that seems to fit this character best, but I'm open to the others too if we have a coherent in-game reason for them.

For the Missions Types, I'd like for us to focus on Espionnage and Sabotage. I think that's all the Crew questions answered, but tell me if I missed some !

Do you have any thoughts on which other Factions your Crew may have connections with? Good or bad.
Do you have any preference as to where on the map your Hunting Grounds or Lair should be located?

Well, if saevikas character is still this former bluecoat, I guess he could still has some contact there, and/or some beefs linked with his departure. As for mine, I already know for sure that he's really, really not fond of his former employers, aka the Imperial Military, and most notably their higher-ranking officers (quite a too big bone to try to chew at the start, tho). On the other hand, he's probably at least sympathetic to The Lost's cause, especially since a lot of them are former soldiers. Maybe someone already mentioned it, but I also guess our occupation would naturally lead us to have some links with The Wraiths, one way or another ?

As for the map, I'm a bit unsure, but I'd say a disaffected hospital in a relatively poor district is something within reach of my character. Or maybe an abandoned factory/shop ? Somewhere no one would go, but where it wouldn't be too surprising to find people. We're renovating it to open our own business, y'know. Worst case they think we're small game dealers in a territory no one wants.

I am not sure about the Bluecoat connection, I thought saevikas was planing on a private investigator? They (or anyone) can still easily know a Bluecoat or two, and may have them as Contacts, but that does not need to extend to a relationship with the Bluecoats as a whole.

The individual characters can have personal relationships with any of the Factions, and they need not be in line with the Crew's relationships. Personal relationships have little mechanical bearing, though, the Faction games is mostly a Crew level thing. If your personal connections are likely to spill over into the Crew's standing with the Factions then we can work that in, but they may just result in changes to your Status based on your in-character choices as we play.


There was talk about trying to keep all the Factions balanced, with no strong feelings about your Crew. If we are still wanting to start that way, the rules do provide for keeping everyone neutral, we just pay the Coin, and work to pick the same Factions for +s and -s. We don't have to if you don't still want to, we can also pick the Factions that sound interesting for each of the choices and let the Statuses end up where they may. Both are valid ways to start play, it will not last, anyway.

Either way, these choices are still things that happened in the before-fiction, so they do affect the story going forward.


The Imperial Military comprises, probably, thousands of people. They are also the highest Tier Faction mentioned in the book (as you point out). I doubt you will have much dealing with them or anyone on their level at the start (only the Immortal Emperor is higher than them). If you want to aim for such heights (either as a personal Character goal, a long-term Crew goal, or an OOC aim the players want for the game) we can work our way up to it through the Jobs we take and the targets we go after.

The Lost might well be people that can use the help of a Tier 0 Crew, and them knowing that your Leech is ex-military could cause them to seek you out. If the other players are not interested in them, this could be a personal thing (one which you, maybe, drag the Crew into? :). Maybe an obligation or split loyalty?

The Wraiths seem like just the sort of Faction that could be your rivals, or they could want to hire you to do the Jobs they feel are beneath them, or they could lend guidance or be a helpful patron. All of which could be temporary till you can become big enough to usurp their position, or could last the duration of the game.

I like Thief's Rigging, and as I believe we have a second upgrade, I would also choose Underground Maps and Passkeys.

If we need to mark just one focus, I'd go for Espionnage instead of Sabotage, as it may open up broader possibilities.

Regarding the Crew's Special Ability, if we finally focus on Espionnage maybe we could take this one:
Second Story: When you execute a clandestine infiltration, you get +1d to the engagement roll.
Yeah, I proposed that, but I'm ok with having a good relationship with the Lost, it makes sense taking into account Rattila's background as ex-military. Regarding the Wraiths, I feel they should be "commercial" rivals, as both crews offer espionnage services.

I don't have a strong feeling about where to have our lair and/or turf, so I'll let saevikas give his opinion, I have talked too much already! :-)

Oh, by the way, we should also start thinking about a name for our Crew. I was thinking of something along the lines of "the Night Devils", as I like the suggestion in the book that rumour has it that positions of power are openly held by demons in Iruvia. But of course, there's just one Iruvian in our Crew, hehe...

The Crew specific Upgrades are often the most interesting, but remember you can also pick from the General Upgrades as well (would not really be much of a choice if you could not:). You will also get more as we play.
Just because one Character has a background does not mean the whole Crew has to follow. You could say the same thing about the Red Sashes since Moon is Iruvian.
The Lost are not all ex-soldiers, and not all the ex-soldiers need be Imperial ones.
In both cases the Character's background can lead to the Faction having feelings for the Character, or for the Crew they represent, but they don't have to (neither represent nor feel). Those feelings can equally easily be negative if an Iruvian does not strictly adhere to the Red Sashes beliefs or an ex-soldier does not dedicate themselves to the same mission the Lost think is so important right now.

We can go with these connections, but we don't have to. We can start ignorant and have the Characters discover these groups as we play, see how they react to them.
I am not trying to dissuade you from this course, just hoping to make it clear you don't have to follow it.
I had not remembered that tidbit. :)
Please draw my attention to interesting things like this. It has been a while since I read the book, and there is a lot in there.
I plan to read up on the Factions we touch on, but anything you guys find that you want to include (even just a rumors) will flavor what I focus on.

Likewise with rules. Don't hesitate to correct me if I get a rule wrong, I have a lot of different games in my head and often I quote the wrong game (often using the wrong names for Moves in PbtA, "Is it 'Act Under Fire?' 'Act Under Pressure?' 'Act Despite Danger?' ... Please roll the 'Act' move, whatever it is called." :). Page numbers help if you have them.

Ahm, I must admit I had forgot about those. Well, Quarters may be interesting, so as to take advantage of having a Hidden lair. This way we would be reasonably protected at all times, which for a Tier-0 starting Crew perhaps is a good idea. What do you guys think?

Upgrades like Quarters could be considered as taking away story options, it becomes a thing you 'don't have to worry about'.

As a Tier 0 Crew, you should/might mostly be contending with other low Tier Factions, as your Tier goes up, you probably also find the other higher Tier Factions start paying attention to you, so it can even out. If you intend to go straight for higher Tier targets (and be obvious about it, so they know it was you:) then Quarters is a great way to offset their attention, and justify your willingness to take that risk.

You can always add Quarters to your Lair later, once you find that you are feeling threatened.
If the Characters already feel threatened at the start, then the Lair having Quarters may be a reason to join the Crew, or getting Quarters might be requirement for your joining.

Every choice you make impacts the fiction and tone of the world.

You're right, I misread that with one of their character's contact, sorry for that !
Altho the game could ofc evolve in very different ways, I think it could be interesting for the Crew to progressively leans more into geopolitical espionage and foreign intelligence. Still as job and mainly because it pays the bill ofc, but also kinda like a revenge/will to weaken the supremacy of the Empire ? I think this could work considering that Moon is Iruvian, but I don't how she's feeling about Iruvia's independancy.

With what I had in mind for my character, helping the Lost -outside of an act of good will- would definitely be an obligation to him. A moral one, at least.

Lastly, I like gnomius idea about having the Wraith as business rivals. It gives us a starting point with them, while keeping many doors open for it to evolve; as allies, enemies, or maybe both.

True. In fact, now that you mention it, I think I like having Quarters within our lair. Moon would be an outcast with nowhere else to go, without any family or real friends in Doskvol, except for the members of the Crew. I am even thinking that maybe she had a "misunderstanding" with her previous Iruvian crew (she stole from them, whatever...) and she had to flee to another city to escape from their revenge. So she prefers a secret and hidden place to sleep.

Taking notes. Ideas forming... Very long-term. :)
(Thinking about Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn (first book) as touchstone...)
I have not done any more thinking about this than what I put here, but the initial pairing sent my GM-brain down the path of. "Crew gets mixed up in helping the Lost with their 'worker's revolution'. The Wraiths feel Crew is wasting its talents there and try to pull them into 'bigger picture' actions, against the nobles, whence the real problem flows." You could have two --very different-- groups vying for your attention and trying to shape your future.

How long do you think Moon has been in Doskvol?