Character, Crew, and World Creation

We will discuss and build characters here. You have the final say on your own character, but this is a collaborative effort.

The Crew type may affect your choice of character, so I tend to work on both at the same time, bouncing back and forth and making adjustments as things clarify.

Don't stress too much about the choices. We can discuss anything that is unclear and I am always happy to let players swap out things they chose at Character Creation but later find don't work the way they thought.

I can't decide if we need a separate thread for Crew Creation, it might help with bouncing back and forth, but the Crew is rather integral to the Characters, so keeping it in one place works too.

Let me know how much detail I need to provide here to get things going. I don't want to duplicate the chapters from the book unnecessarily.

If anything is unclear, just ask. Several things are repeated in the book, there is often more detail in the later parts. Many questions may be redirected to those later parts of the book. :)

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Character Creation Summary
1. Choose a playbook. Your playbook represents your character's reputation in the underworld, their special abilities, and how they advance.

2. Choose a heritage. Detail your choice with a note about your family life. For example, Skovlan: Ore miners, now war refugees in Duskwall.

3. Choose a background. Detail your choice with your specific history. For example, Labor: Leviathan hunter, mutineer.

4. Assign four action dots. No action may begin with a rating higher than 2 during character creation. (After creation, action ratings may advance up to 3. When you unlock the Mastery advance for your crew, you can advance actions up to rating 4.)

5. Choose a special ability. They're in the gray column in the middle of the character sheet. If you can't decide, choose the first ability on the list. It's placed there as a good first option.

6. Choose a close friend and a rival. Mark the one who is a close friend, long-time ally, family relation, or lover (the upward-pointing triangle). Mark one who is a rival, enemy, scorned lover, betrayed partner, etc. (the downward-pointing triangle).

7. Choose your vice. Pick your preferred type of vice, detail it with a short description and indicate the name and location of your vice purveyor.

8. Record your name, alias, and look. Choose a name, an alias (if you use one), and jot down a few words to describe your look. Examples are provided on the preceding page.

Playbooks
Cutter: Cutters are good at winning fights, with violence and with intimidation. Play a Cutter if you want to get your way.

Hound: Hounds are good at tracking things down and also long-distance combat. Play a Hound if you want to choose your battles.

Leech: Leeches are good at using alchemy and wrecking stuff with sabotage. Play a Leech if you want to be creative with weird tools.

Lurk: Lurks are good at sneaking around and breaking into places. Play a Lurk if you want to slink around in the shadows.

Slide: Slides are good at social situations and subterfuge. Play a Slide if you want to manipulate and deceive people.

Spider: Spiders are good at masterminding maneuvers. Play a Spider if you want to assist teammates and deal with other factions.

Whisper: Whispers are good at magical stuff and dealing with ghosts. Play a Whisper if you want to meddle with arcane powers.

Heritages
Akoros is the largest and most industrialized land in the Imperium, and is home to the capitol city as well as Duskwall itself. They're known as a diverse conglomeration of cultures that have grown together in close proximity for centuries, somewhat like Europe.

If you want to be a rootless wanderer you could be from the Dagger Isles. People there often grow up on ships and travel a lot before settling down. They're known as corsairs and merchants who live without lightning barriers ---dealing with spirits in other ways.

If you want to be from a culture considered "foreign" by the locals,
you could be from Iruvia, a rich and powerful desert kingdom far to the south. It's another diverse land of varying cultures similar to old Persia, Egypt, and India.

If you want to be from a place considered "wild" by the rest of the empire, you could be from Severos. Outside the few Imperial settlements, most Severosi live in nomadic horse-tribes scattered across the blasted deathlands, surviving within the ruins of ancient arcane fortresses which still repel spirits.

If you want to be from a marginalized people, you could be from
Skovlan, the island kingdom just across the sea from Doskvol.
Skovlan was last to be brought under Imperial rule, over the course of the 36-year Unity War (which ended only a few years ago). Many Skovlander refugees who lost their homes and jobs in the destruction of the war have come to Doskvol seeking new opportunities.

If you want to be weird, you can be from Tycheros. It's a semi-mythical place, far away beyond the northern Void Sea. Everyone says that the people there are part-demon. If you choose Tycherosi heritage, also create a demonic telltale (like black shark eyes,
feathers instead of hair, etc.) that marks your character.

Backgrounds
Academic: A scholar, a professor or student from Doskvol Academy,
a philosopher or journalist, etc.
Labor: A servant, a factory worker, a coach driver, a docker, a

sailor, a Rail Jack, etc. A stevedore for the North Hook Company.

Law: An advocate or barrister, a Bluecoat or inspector (or even Spirit Warden), a prison guard from Ironhook, etc.

Trade: A shopkeeper, a merchant, a skilled crafts-person, a shipping agent, etc. A liaison to the Ministry of Preservation.

Military: An Imperial or Skovlander soldier, a mercenary, an intelligence operative, a strategist, a training instructor, etc.

Noble: A dilettante, a courtier, the scion of a fallen house, etc.

Underworld: A street urchin, gang member, young thug, or other outcast who grew up on the streets.

Vices
Faith: You're dedicated to an unseen power, forgotten god,
ancestor, etc.

Gambling: You crave games of chance, betting on sporting events,
etc.

Luxury: Expensive or ostentatious displays of opulence.

Obligation: You're devoted to a family, a cause, an organization,
a charity, etc.

Pleasure: Gratification from lovers, food, drink, drugs, art,
theater, etc.

Stupor: You seek oblivion in the abuse of drugs, drinking to excess, getting beaten to a pulp in the fighting pits, etc.

Weird: You experiment with strange essences, consort with rogue spirits, observe bizarre rituals or taboos, etc.

Crew Creation Summary
1. Choose a crew type. The crew type determines the group's purpose, their special abilities, and how they advance.
~ You begin at Tier 0, with strong hold and 0 rep. You start with 2 coin.

2. Choose an initial reputation and lair. Choose how other underworld factions see you: Ambitious, Brutal, Daring , Honorable, Professional, Savvy, Subtle, Strange. Look at the map and pick a district in which to place your lair. Describe the lair.

3. Establish your hunting grounds. Look at the map and pick a district in which to place your hunting grounds. Decide how to deal with the faction that claims that area.
~ Pay them 1 coin.
~ Pay them 2 coin. Get +1 status.
~ Pay nothing. Get -1 status.

4. Choose a special ability. They're in the gray column in the middle of the crew sheet. If you can't decide, choose the first ability on the list. It's placed there as a good first option.

5. Assign crew upgrades. Your crew has two upgrades pre-selected. Choose two more. If your crew has a cohort, follow the procedure to create it. Record the faction status changes due to your upgrades:
~ One faction helped you get an upgrade. Take +1 status with them. Or spend 1 coin for +2 status instead.
~ One faction was harmed when you got an upgrade. Take -2 status with them. Or spend 1 coin for -1 status instead.

6. Choose a favorite contact. Mark the one who is a close friend, long-time ally, or partner in crime. Record the faction status changes related to your contact:
~ One faction is friendly with your contact. Take +1 status with them.
~ One faction is unfriendly with your contact. Take -1 status with them.
At your option, increase the intensity of the factions' relationship with your contact and take +2 and -2 status, instead.

Crew Types
Assassins: Killers for hire. They execute "accidents,"
disappearances, murders, and ransoms.

Bravos: Mercenaries and thugs. They execute battles, extortion,
sabotage, and smash & grabs.

Cult: Acolytes of a forgotten god. They execute artifact acquisitions, auguries, consecration, and sacrifices.

Hawkers: Vice dealers. They execute product procurement, covert sales, shows of force, and social events.

Shadows: Thieves and spies. They execute burglaries, espionage,
robberies, and sabotage.

Smugglers: Contraband transporters. They execute clandestine deliveries, territory control, and expeditions outside the city.

Hi everyone !
So, first of all, I'd just wanna say that english isn't my first language. I hope it won't be a problem here, but it is just to warn you that I may make typos, errors, or misunderstand some sentences, so do not hesitate to notify/correct me if that's the case !

For the Crew Type, I'm especially interested in Hawkers, Shadows and Smugglers, but I'm open to ideas with the other ones too.

As for the character itself, I'd like to play either as a Hound, a Leech or a Slide, but that could vary depending on the Crew Type we choose.

Not a problem, so far yours seems better than many native speakers. This is often the case as native speaker tend not to put enough effort into their writing and get sloppy.
Do you want corrections and advice? (I am a teacher, so that tends to come naturally.:) Though I find that, except where there is confusion, such critiques just slow the game down without real benefit. If so feel free to say how much and when we should stop. :)

With regard to Character and Crew choices, there are some things to look at first.

Look at the "you earn XP when you... line, this is important since it defines the types of action you get Points for. There are other ways of getting points, and you will, mostly, get more from other sources, but this can be a reliable way.

You can get a few (mostly 3) Special Abilities from other playbooks , but the ones on your sheet are all available, from the start, and unlimited.
If we really want we can swap out some elements and make a mixmash character. But this may be better saved for when we have more experience.

Items are meant to add flavor to the character types, but if something on your list does not fit your image of the character, say so and we can look at swapping it out. This is normally not a big deal. You could acquire access to Items during play, as well.

Crew differences/choice are mostly similar to Character ones, though they may be harder to change.

Look at the XP line, we can talk about what it means to execute those types of operations. The Players say whether they have met these requirements and how much XP they get at the end of a Job, it is not my job to decide and limit this.
You can do Jobs that are not of your playbook's type (and quite often will have to), but this defines what you should be trying to do, and you should therefore choose the one that will let you do the types of Jobs you think will be fun. Don't agree to a Crew type that does not excite you.
Take a look at the sample set of opportunities on each sheet (for suggestions, but don't feel limited by these examples). Blades is very collaborative, the players should set the Jobs as much as possible, so you can just tell me, 'we want to do job 5 on the second list' and I will make it happen.

Special Abilities and Claims define a lot of what each Crew is about. Again you can get some Abilities from the other playbooks (Assassins get 3 other Crews get 2), and you can get other's Claims (though I think you need to go to prison for that?).
Take a look at the Claim map (you don't have to to them in order, but it is harder if you skip around) for the types of things you can get. Let that flavor you choice as well.

Mechanically the Crews are much the same, the Assassins get one extra Veteran Upgrade (Ability from another Crew) and Smugglers get more vehicle options, though not really more vehicles. Other Crews can get carriages and boats, Smugglers can get anything you can think of that fits the fiction. Anyone can --theoretically-- build (via Long-term Project) any vehicle that fits the fiction, so don't factor that too highly.

I must reread the book again and may find some other salient points, but, for now, that should be enough to get started.
Ask if you have any questions. About what things mean in the book, or about how things will work in play.
I expect the players to have a lot of say in how things work. That is how I play all games, but is built into the Blades Rules.

So here's a quick draft of the character I'm thinking of (elements will change as needed). Although this character is a Spider, I could see the concept working with Hound, Slide, Lurk, etc. if such a need to change occurs.I haven't got a real feel for what kind of crew I would like to participate in. I think they all sound like they could be pretty neat.

I had not thought about private investigators in Doskvol, but this does make for some intriguing possibilities. I already have some --very rough-hewn-- thoughts, not so much about jobs, but about social structures (or something like that) ...

To clarify what my idea was with that, I was thinking that he'd had a pretty mundane job using his skills, usually looking into low level stuff like adultery and stuff. Then something drastic happened that led him to drop stuff and join a crew (the motivation probably changing a lot depending on what crew we go with).

Sure, sure. Just the mere existence of such a profession says a lot about our Doskvol. Also: apparently 'adultery' exists, now. :)
And, yes. Backgrounds are what we used to do before becoming a criminal, but we will still have some contacts from back then (more to be determined in play), and the fact that people hired you for such jobs opens possibilities for a patron type figure (possibly shady and hidden, but, you know, possibilities:).

Forgot to answer this, so I'll do it now: do not hesitate to correct me if you feel like it and it is really important, but don't go out of your way/break the rythm to do so. I also use an auto-corrector so it should be fine on the grammar side of things, I guess (or hope) ?

Cool.
Been grammatically fine so far. No worries.

With a crew of three, we are ready to start.
What you are you all thinking about playing, in terms of Character and Crew?

The Crew choice sort of sets the stage for the types of Jobs we will be aiming to do, but the makeup of Characters within a Crew defines a lot about how they plan to go about doing those Jobs. Both are important, and I find it best to work on both at the same time.

Remember. If we get it wrong can change our minds and do this over again (as much as is needed) after we have played for a bit. We can either try do a re-branding in the game, or step out and pretend we were always what we change to, as suits us at the time. So, don't stress overly much about the choices.

Ok, let's take those three as our starting point then. Personally, I would prefer Shadows or Smugglers, just to narrow it a bit. Regarding my character, I have a couple of ideas boiling into my head, the final concept will depend on the Crew type we finally choose.

PD: I am not a native English speaker either, so please excuse any future mistake! (and I certainly accept corrections and suggestions, mr. Teacher) :-)

We can also talk about why we are thinking about a Crew type, and how we see their features being useful to our game.
This can be about mechanical or thematic aspects of the Crew type.
Remember, in addition to the mechanics (which are most pronounced at the start and start to blur as the Crew advances), the Crew type picked also represents how the rest of the city sees you and what they think of you, what they call you, and what they expect from you.
A Shadows Crew may have less outside recognition than a Hawkers Crew, some Crews tend to be more open about their dealings than others. You can, of course, play them any way you like.

Well, I think it would be cool to play as Shadows if we are some kind of spies/infiltrators who perhaps get hired for infiltration and burglary jobs. In the case of Smugglers, this could be more generic, and I see this type of Crew as more autonomous, so we can decide what type of goods we are going to trade with, decide strategies on how is the best way to enrich ourselves, etc.

What do you guys think?

@saevikas, you seem to have your character quite advanced, in which type of Crew do you think your Spider would fit better?

Makes sense.
I tend to refrain from commenting on Character and Crew choices since I don't really have an option, nor does it affect me. I am happy to run for any Crew type.

However, if you need me to expand on anything related to these choices (more details, rules explanations, examples, etc), you have but to ask.

I'm personally good with both Shadows and Smugglers. I think one of the major differences between the two however is the social environment: as Shadows, we may deal with more high-up, political figures, and this could reflect in our characters having some form of social standing. On the other hand, Smugglers could have us start as street urchins and thugs among more impoverished people, which would make a huge difference in the feel of the game.

Hmm, it's a pretty close choice for me. I can see my character acting in either crew type. I'm more inclined towards Shadows, since it seems more straightforward, but I'm not opposed to trying Smugglers out if anybody wants to.

Shadows may have aspirations to be more 'high-up', but might still start 'in the street' (pretty much have to as a Tier 0 Crew).

Let's say we are probably Shadows. With that in mind, we can talk about starting options for that Crew and look at Characters.
We can always decide to go with a different Crew later if something else ends up fitting betting with what else we make.

Shadows start with their Lair being Hidden, so you have a 'safe' place to plan and fall back to. They also start being better at Training Prowess (meaning you get double the XP when you use your Downtime to Train Finesse, Prowl, Skirmish, or Wreck, leveling them up a bit faster).
You get to pick two more Upgrades from the list (see the sheet for Shadows.
You also get to pick one Special Ability at the start, find them on the sheet.

There are other things you need to pick for the Crew, but they might be unclear at this stage, and involve some Faction Status movement. We can talk about any of them that you have ideas about or leave till things firm up a bit.
During the rest of Character/Crew Creation, be thinking about the various Factions and other people in the city, as well as where in the city you want your base to be, where you want your first Hunting Grounds to be (which influences where you want to be doing jobs). Maps are in the book as well as on the maps page.

At some point we will find out (you choose) which Factions like you and which dislike you, and who your useful Contacts are. There are lots of Factions in the book, we will add Wiki entries for the ones that matter to us.
If you want to be friendly (or at war with) with any particular Faction, say so and we can try to engineer that. Your Crew's Status with a Faction might not reflect your Character's relationship with them or with certain members of the Faction, but your Crew's Status will start to affect how people see you as you play.

Some groups enjoy trying to keep the Factions neutral (countering most -1s with +1s) some like to see the world burn and go all in on pilling +1s on top of +1s and -1s onto -1s. You can try for one style, or leave it to organically develop, whatever. We can always go back and change our choices at the end if we don't like how things turned out.

Your Crew also has a Reputation. This contributes to getting you XP, so think about what sort of things you want to be doing and what Reputation would cause people to seek you out for such Jobs. You can use one of the example Reputations or make up something new, but keep it simple. Your Reputation can change over time and you can get additional new Reputations, so it is flexible, think of this only as 'what you are known for at the start'.

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We have spoken, a bit, about some Character Ideas. What do you each feel like playing?

If we are Shadows, I'd say that we take a "professional" approach, i.e. we hire our services to anyone who is willing to pay the price. That would leave us as rather neutral about Factions, at least at the very start, although things will surely evolve, and we'll gain both friends and foes as we start meddling with others' stuff ("retrieve that item from X manor", "get me information about my rival", etc...)

For this type of Crew, I think I would play either a Lurk or a Slide. Let me think about it and I will post a first concept for my character.

I was going either for a Leech or a Hound at first, but I think I can discard the second one if we go for Shadows. Whisper could be an interesting one too in this crew type, using spirits to spy/gather intel maybe ? So I'd like to go either with this, or a Leech using tools and inventions to gain an edge in their missions.

Cool. So, as we have a Spider and a Leech/Whisper, I'll let you both the role of the smart guys and I'll be playing as a Lurk. :-)

Everyone is smart, just in different ways! There are the school-smart, the street-smart, the social-smart, the emotional-smart, the artistic-smart... to each their own ^^.

My character preferences haven't changed, so I'm still interested in playing a Spider. As for crew reputation, I'm particularly partial to Savvy, but I think Professional is good as a starting point. As for the other crew stuff, I'm still thinking about what would be fun to play.

How does one start with a reputation for Professional? It is fine, but think about the fiction.
We can also think about how the Crew came to be. If they are known to be Professional, is that reputation based on the founding members as individuals, or some previous association with the name (we also need to come up with a name for the Crew, so think on that as we develop the rest), or something else.
Is the Crew new, or did it exist --in some form or the other-- before now? Are your Characters 'founding members', or was there a previous generation who might- or might not, still be around, in the background, maybe pulling strings? Is the Crew independent, or do you have a backer or patron to whom you owe allegiance (non-mechanical)?

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As for Crew Upgrades and Special Abilities, we can talk about those in general terms as well as specific. You can say what sorts of things you want to see the Crew doing, and we can work out which options best suite that, or you can say which options sound interesting and we can talk about what sorts of Jobs they would lead to.

Unless you take Cohorts (NPCs that 'work for you') there are only really two Crew specific Upgrades to pick from (Steady requires 3 Upgrades and you only have 1, so it can not be taken at the start).
Thief Rigging is all about what you carry with you on Jobs, taking it might suggest also upgrading the Quality of your Gear or Tools (now or later, but these Quality Upgrades can be argued to have a stronger effect the lower your Crew's Tier is, adding +1D to roll is less significant when you have 4D already than when it takes you from 0D (roll two and take the lowest) up to 1D (50/50 chance of success) but don't let plans for the future cripple you in the now).
Underground Maps and Passkeys is about your ability to get places, and speaks more about the nature of your Lair and your people than their stuff.
But you don't need to let one choice affect the other, think about the whole, but pick whichever individual Upgrades seem interesting to use now.
You probably don't want to bother with Vaults until you start having too much spare money.

Your Lair is Hidden, and therefore 'safe', but you don't live in your Lair, so you are still vulnerable in your homes. Taking the Quarters Upgrade gives you somewhere to sleep/live, in your safe Lair (or sleep more comfortably, you can always sleep on the noisy floor). This a safe option, but does remove a whole element of gameplay from the table. Think about whether you want your Characters to have to deal with these problems for a while and then find Quarters as a solution, or if you want to have this safety be one of the things that make Crew membership attractive in the first place. All options can lead to interesting stories. :)

We have not said anything yet that suggest any specific Special Ability at the start, they all work and are useful for the types of Jobs that have been alluded to.
Whatever you pick might affect the sort of Jobs you are suited to, and lend a focus to the early game. Keep this in mind while choosing, but don't dwell on it, all Crews are flexible.

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If you have questions about what a choice means or how it works in the game, or what it applies to, ask. (The distinction between Items, Gear, Tools, Supplies, and such is not as clear as it could be, for instance (look for the exact word on the Load section of your sheet).)

OK, so before we get into the mechanical details, abilities, etc... for our Crew. I'd say, for example, that our Crew was "founded" by saevikas' character. After his previous life as investigator, he got tired or whatever, and decided to use his knowledge of the criminal world to cross to the other side. He somehow found us, a specialist in stealth (gnomius) and a technical/magic expert (Rattila) and convinced us to join him in this new entrepreneurship to get rich and famous. What do you say?

That sounds nice and simple to me, perfect for a first time !

saevikas: Do you want to take on that role? For whatever it ends up meaning.

If so, is/was your character trying to set up a 'Detective Agency' when they started this and that degenerated into criminality, or was the life of crime the plan all along?

Sounds okay to me. I would think that something drastic happened that had Kristov drop everything and turn to crime. I think that motivation would depend on what kind of jobs our crew takes.

Do you want to hash out the types of jobs now so you can get a handle on that motivation, or do you want to leave Kristov's reasons as a mystery (to yourself as well as us) and reveal it as the relevant jobs happen in play?
We can, of course, do a combination of these above. Whatever you want to nail down now can be defined (but might turn out to be untrue/incomplete) and the rest can come in play.

Leaving the motivation a mystery at first sounds good to me. I think holding some of the cards close to the chest adds quite a bit of intrigue.

Cool. As you discover the truths about these motivations you can reveal them to us. Maybe to the other characters, or maybe only to the players. Let us know if you want us to help with a setup for a 'big reveal' or something.

The other PCs can engage with the story element as much as we like. Speculation and character secrets can be fun.

That sounds cool, yeah. Now that we already have a base concept for the Crew, I'll start fleshing my character out. By the way, vagueGM, should we fill in a character sheet and submit the character to the game?

Have we had any more thoughts on the rest of the Crew (or Character) stuff?

It might be helpful to think about the part of the map you are interested in having your base in, as well as where you want to conduct operations. This may suggest which Factions start with a particular interest in your Crew (as friends, rivals, clients, or whatever). We can work out how each of your choices affect the other Factions as we pick, or come back and do all the Faction stuff at the end.

Maybe your lair is hidden away in the wealthy district where you are trying to 'foster a better class of clientele'? Maybe you are stuck in a poor area and have to claw your way out towards the industrial district where you run your Jobs?

Who else operates nearby? Do you have to pay protection money to some bigger organisation?

How is you lair 'hidden'? What keeps it from prying eyes?

We don't have to start with the Lair. If you have other ideas we can tackle them first.

Your Lair and your Hunting Grounds don't need to be in the same location. You can expand your Hunting Grounds to other --possibly separate-- regions --and types of jobs-- as well. You can also move your Lair if need be.

I don't want to presume, but it sounded a bit like your preferred type of Job was 'Espionage'? We are supposed to pick from the list below, but we are fairly free to define what the word means as we play, and can go off-book if we all have a better idea for operation type.

Hunting Grounds
Choose a favored operation type:
Burglary: Theft by breaking and entering.
Espionage: Obtain secret information by covert or clandestine means.
Robbery: Theft by force or threats.
Sabotage: Hurt an opponent by destroying something.

We also need a Special Ability, two Upgrades, and Favorite Contact. If you have ideas about any of these, let's talk about them.

I have created a Shadows Crew Sheet in the wiki. Everybody should be able to edit it (let me know if you can't and I can look at the permissions).
Does someone want to take charge of managing the Crew sheet? That way we can avoid double updates.
The 'wiki' does not track history nor who updated what, but it should be simple enough to recreate this sheet if something goes wrong, everything changed here should be based on discussions elsewhere.

By all means.
If you want, you can copy the relevant sheet template from the Resources page. Easiest it to find the playbook you want, hit the Quote link beneath it, then copy that to your character sheet (sans the [ quote][ /quote] tags, of course:).
I have enabled dice color highlighting and the character sheet integration with the dice roller, this is not on the Templates since I made them before it was available. Blades is a bit messy, with so many things being Lowest of Two Dice at the start and the roller not supporting that (we will just have to do that manually, same way we have to ignore the = total part).
If you want to try use it, you can copy the below table to your sheet. Either replace the Attributes and Actions section (I spent so much time on those unicode tables): or add it in a 'spoiler' like below. (again, easiest Quote this message and copy from there, the code blocks add all sorts of weird blank lines.Suggestions for improvements welcome. I am not sure about the string of increasing Fortune lines, we can just have one and edit the dice before hitting Post. I also don't like the repeated 'lowest of' text for the 0d5 rolls, but for now it is a reminder.

And, of course, --though I don't know how things normally work here-- you don't need to complete the character before submitting. I will not be 'reviewing' them or anything, just accepting the first sheet you propose. Details can be worked out once we have a place to put them :)

OK, let's start with the noob questions. :-)

I'm not sure whether I quite get the difference between the Consort and Sway actions. Descriptions from the book say:
For me, they are very very similar and somehow overlapping. Both seem to imply using your charm to lie or get the information you need. Am I missing important details here?

To give you more context, my character will be Iruvian, and as a background, she will be the daughter of a spice merchant, so I'm not sure whether Consort or Sway are more adequate to reflect her ability to trade, haggle, lie, etc...

Yes, indeed. There is overlap in a lot of them. This is by design (which does not mean it is not a bit of a pain, John admits her was fixated on the 4x4 symmetry and there probably should be fewer Actions).

First: Take a look at page 170 of the book --which goes into a bit more detail. See if that helps clear things up, then ask again. (I don't want to duplicate what it says there, you have to read it anyway, so it is not like at the table where I would try explain:).

Remember these are deliberately called "Actions" and not "Skills". These are the things you are doing, they say very little about the way you are doing them.

Remember that you guys get to say what Action you are rolling, I don't get to decide what you can and cannot do.
But you also do also need to first show your Character doing the Action in the fiction, so there is very little realm for abuse.
Unfortunately, this is a bit of a lie, since the GM gets to say how much effect the Action can have, so they really do get to say 'you can't', just in a roundabout way. I run all my games openly, if the group thinks (actually thinks) an Action is the right one, and that it should have better effect, then that is the truth.


That said: The most common difference between Sway and Consort is how people will feel about it afterwards. Consort was you having fun with them and they did a thing. Sway is you persuading them to do a thing. After a Sway they may resent you if they have problems stemming from it, after a Consort they may wish they had not been so drunk, so something, and commiserate with you about the trouble.
Command is the harsher cousin of these two. It is, pretty much, 'bossing people around'. Your friends might not like it and might stop being your friends after a while if you keep Commanding them to do things.

As the text says: Consort only works with Friends and Contacts, (though you can use to make friends) and takes some time socialising. A Quick lie can work on a shopkeeper, but that is probably Sway.


For your merchant's daughter: 'trade, haggle, lie' could be Sway if they are one-and-done deals, but could also be Consort if you wine and dine them, for instance, to get a favorable relationship and deal.

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?

Not much, I guess. A couple of years or so. Enough to get a grip on the city, but not enough to be fully familiar with all its peculiarities.
Ooooh, love it!!

I think Thief's Rigging is a pretty neat crew upgrade. I also like the idea of having Wraiths as our rivals.

I think that, while my character's motivations probably are on a personal level rather than that of the political realm, I can see him enabling the other member's ambitions as an indirect means to further his own.

A faction that I see being relevant to Kristov is the Inspectors. Maybe one of them noticed his skill as a private investigator, and tried to get him to join, befriending him along the way. But due to the as-of-yet unknown motive which led Kristov to a life of crime, he never took up the offer, and former friends grew apart. I would see this estranged relationship as something that hinders Kristov from performing his best as a criminal because of conflicting motivations that results from it, as well as interference from his friend who's interested in upholding the law.

Maybe we --or Kristov-- does not start out 'political'. That can come later, maybe when he realises that 'cutting off the head' is the only way to achieve his personal goals?
Cool. I was going to suggest, maybe, changing your Contact from a Bluecoat to an Inspector, but what you said later about them drifting apart and this being a thing that holds Kristov back, is so much better.

It does not sound like this personal relationship would affect the Crew's Status, though. Not sure how interesting the Inspectors are at this stage of play.

Factions
Let's see where your Hunting Grounds are, and which Upgrades and Contact you pick, then we can decide which Factions would be affected by those choices. (I believe those are the only three that impact your Status?)
We will try to use the ones we have shown interest in, but your choices may suggest other surprises.

We have some ideas about Upgrades, we just need to make a decision. I believe it is between Underground Maps and Passkeys and Quarters, either can be added later. (You can earn 8 Crew xp on a Job (we will, mostly, treat 'Job' and 'Sessions' the same thing), and I think you need 10 to Advance? One Advancement give two Upgrades. So you can quite quickly get the missing Upgrade.)

You are suppose to pick a Contact from the Shadow's sheet, but feel free to look at the other sheets to see if someone seems more interesting to the group. This contact is a close friend, long-time ally, or partner in crime and can be a primary source of Jobs and help.
Shadows Favorite Contact
Dowler, an explorer. Perhaps one of the rare deathlands scavengers that survived his sentence?
Laroze, a Bluecoat. Perhaps an informant within the City Watch?
Amancio, a deal broker. Perhaps a well-connected underworld figure, famous for their neutrality?
Fitz, a collector. Perhaps an aficionado of strange artifacts?
Adelaide Phroaig, a noble. Perhaps a source for scores among the elite?
Rigney, a tavern owner. Perhaps a good source of news and gossip?

The discussion about Hunting Grounds (location) --and, possibly, Lair if it is not in the Hunting Grounds-- might be bigger. I will take a look at the map and Districts and see if any seem interesting with what we have. Then we can discuss. If you have already looked and have ideas, list them.

An obvious initial idea is that Coalridge is either a good or a bad idea. Good because it makes sense that Kristov would have wanted to set up where the Lost are currently Active. Bad because it might focus the game too much on that? You guys' thoughts?

FYI: I have made some (mostly cosmetic) changes to the templates.

Didn't read it, but heard a lot of positive comments about it. Sounds good !
That sounds really interesting too, and I think it could work well with conflicting aspects within my character, Frédéric Habère.

As for the Contacts, I'd say either Laroze or Amancio looks liek a good first contact ? Polyvalent enough and with the possibility of offering some covers if needed.

I'm fine with Coalridge being the Lair's place. I think there's plenty of advantages of being here both rp and tactical-wise. It's an "active" zone from where we can get help, but that can also distract pursuers and investigators from our own business.

Word of warning: No gonna type those accents. They are likely to be called Fred. Hope you are good with that. :)

I'd go for Amancio, if we stick to our concept of "spies for hire" we'll need someone to provide us with jobs.

Character-wise, I already have a Bluecoat as an ally, just for you to know.

Right, forgot about that, sorry x). Let’s go for Frederick Habert then. The name it references is in another language yet anyway, so it still works.

You are welcome to officially have them, we just might not type them.

Don’t worry, I’d rather keep it consistent down the line, and I like it like this too ^^.

You can make up anyone as your Vice Purveyor. Just think of who you might go to and create an NPC. By the book you 'use your purveyor to indulge your Vice', so they are involved in the process, each time, we can try fiddle with that rule if you can make the rest work.
I do often find that if one struggles to think of ways to use the Vice Purveyor, the Vice itself might not be an actual vice. Take a look at the mechanics surrounding Indulging one's Vice, specifically the rules for Overindulging. Think about how you would make each of these come into play if they happen. If you can't think of ways your Vice would cause the outcomes, it might not be vice. I do not say what happens to you if you Overindulge, that is in the player's hands.

Remember your Vice is: An Obligation. Based on your worst Attribute. Something you are in thrall to. Not a reliable, controllable habit. A risk that drives your character to act against their best interests. A source of XP when it causes you trouble.

I think Art can make a perfectly serviceable Vice (Pleasure, presumably?) I can think of ways to fit it into the mechanics, but I don't know enough about your Character to give examples. If you can answer the above questions to your own satisfaction --or believe you will be able to do so when they come up-- then it is fine.

If you want me to make up a Purveyor, I can do so. You will need to tell me more about Kristov and what he would be seeking.

If you want to try this as your Vice we can see if it works. We can change it later if it does not. Normally one would need to Acquire an Asset (or somehow do it in the story) to change Vices or Purveyors, but if one does not work as expected, we just fix it on the sheet, at no cost.

If you want, you can copy from the Spider template to help get your sheet filled out.

If you want us to be able to see the contents of your sheet, you can mark the grey note icon that says Add to Library on your character list. Red means other can see the sheet.

I just read the entry for Coalridge, it looks like an excellent place to start. For both the Lair and the Hunting Grounds.
Coalridge, itself, has many, varied and interesting features.
I also looked at the three or four places it links to. You have the slums and ghettos supporting the prison in Dunslough to the left; the hallowed halls of academia, the bohemian student communes, and the legislative bodies in Charterhall above; and the nouveau riche, as well as the strange and scary in the Nightmarket on the right. The rich and powerful of Charhollow are but a short boat ride away as well.
We can do a lot with all these. :)

I've thought of a way to make the Vice Purveyor thing work. So basically, Kristov's artistic inspiration would focus on one location, and he would go on a drawing streak for a specific subject (e.g. drawing prostitutes, sketching fights, trying to capture the spiritual). So he would be able to use Vice Purveyors in a mechanically normal manner, changing inspirations if his current purveyor kicks him our.

I'll work on making the sheet pretty sometime this weekend. I'm still thinking about what kinds of things to swap out and such to better fit how we've been evolving the game.

That sounds like a perfectly workable Vice, and should deal with the mechanics, no problem.
We can deal with defining where you go (the purveyor) (for now) when you first Indulge your Vice and we see it on-screen.

Then Coalridge it is. My vice purveyor is located there too, so quite convenient for my character. :-)

Travel in the city is not (currently) restricted. So it should not matter too much if we Vice far from home. :)

Take a look at the Coalridge map. Where do you think your Lair is? This can be a rough idea since it is 'Hidden', maybe people don't know exactly where it is, but you need get to a general area before being safe.

We also need to know where your Hunting Grounds are. Hunting Grounds are the area you prefer to conduct your Espionage operations. If you are doing Espionage in your Hunting Grounds you get a free Downtime Activity and also get +1d for any Gather Information rolls related to that Job (no matter where the Information is Gathered).
You can get more Hunting Grounds (possibly focusing on other types of Jobs) as your acquire Turf. You could, through story means, also move your Hunting Grounds if you need to focus on a new area.

https://i.imgur.com/2r9IyC1.jpg
I included the bare address for you to copy paste into your browser since otherwise imgur takes you to a page containing the image instead of the image (the first time?). It might be worth using a different image storage system. :(

Your Hunting Grounds are, maybe, three or four city blocks. It might make sense to look at what the Lost are doing and try to overlap with where they need you, so maybe around the factory (Iron Works) or maybe where they workers live, or even where the foreman lives (though that may be a bit too focused).

Take a look at the Coalridge wiki entry to get your ideas started. You should all be able to edit all posts in that thread, so we can add landmarks and NPCs and keep the district records up to date.

Already done most of my sheet, but I wanted to know: is it possible to create/use Rivals/Contacts out of the premade list ? Considering Friedrick's background, what's proposed doesn't necessarily fit well, even tho I could still make it work if necessary, ofc.

If you have a Friend and/or Rival from another sheet you would prefer, we can talk about it. It should not make a lot of difference.
If you want to make them from whole cloth, tell us about them and we can try make it work. The lists on the sheet help to differentiate the Playbooks, but should not shackle us.

Alright, sent you the character sheet ! I've picked a Friend from the Cutter's sheet and a Rival from the Spider one, tell me if that works for you.

Should be fine.

Just make sure our Spider did not have conflicting plans for Riven.
Are they still in the army? You can always change the name if Kristov needs that contact (for later).

Where abouts is Halkin's hospital?
Is it from the book or did you create it? Either are fine.

When you are ready, introduce the character in Character Introductions. We can discuss things more there if need be.

Yep, she's still in the army.

Halkin's Hospital is a creation, yes. Basically it's a charity hospital for The Lost, the workers of Coalridge, and their families in general. Obviously, it suffers from a lack of funds, drugs and materials, even if some nobles and rich persons of the city do make some donations from time to time.

Cool.

Once we have determined the Factions interested in your Crew we can start playing.

We still need:
Crew Upgrades: It seems like we have decided on Thief Rigging (which probably is not the one that changes your Faction Status) and need to decide between starting with Underground Maps and Passkeys or Quarters. I have some ideas about a few Factions that may have things to say about either, once the group decides I will give you some options.

We need to know where your Hunting Grounds are located. This choice will affect the Factions.

It looks like we are leaning towards Amancio as the Contact? Is that right? I have ideas about Factions here too.

Factions
If anyone has any ideas about which Factions would change their options about you based on the three choices you make, let us know.

Looking at my notes I see I have jotted down nearly 70 lines of ideas about the 'relevant' Factions as we chatted. :)
One idea that came to me a few times (but is not more formed than I list here) is: Do you want to include a 'Shadowy Cabal, unknown Faction' that is interested (probably negative) in you, in the list? You may have a hard time paying them off during creation, and who they are will only be revealed later (even I don't know yet, but there are contenders:).

Is there anything else we still need to do? Anything I have forgotten? (I will write up a Howto for rolling dice before we start.)

Guys, I love the pictures you've chosen for your characters. Having said this, don't you think Friedrick could be Kristov in 20 years time? ^_^

I'm fine with all the above! :-)

PD: Really eager to get started with this!

OK. Unless someone has something more to say about this we will go with: Thief Rigging and Underground Maps and Passkeys for the Upgrades; and Amancio as the Contact.
Are we happy with Second Story as the Special Ability?
Everyone please confirm and I will start the Faction part.

We need to make a decision about your Hunting Grounds. We need a District and a specific few blocks of the map. If we are having trouble with the map part, we can select a District and then define the exact location based on the first Job. (I will let you choose when you start that Job if it is in your Hunting Grounds or not, we can maybe do this for the first few Jobs till the Hunting Grounds are expanded to the right size.)

If we choose to start with lower-class fair, you can conduct a Long-Term Project to move your Hunting Grounds to a swankier area when you later want to work there.
Long-Term Projects happen during Downtime, and if everyone dedicates themselves to getting one done, even hard ones can be knocked out in a single round of Downtime Activities. If you end up doing this a lot, you could pursue a Project to make the Clocks on the Hunting Grounds changes shorter/easier. No matter what, it would still require a Project, and then a Job to establish yourselves, before the new location came into effect.

This allows us to not stress about where we start, and not try to set a goal for lofty heights before we are even out of the gutter.

You will also have to conduct many Jobs outside your small Hunting Grounds, so don't fixate too much on the small benefit they offer.

Yep, I'm ok with the selected options.
As for the district, I think Chatterhall seems to be adequate middle grounds, but I'm not that knowledgeable about the seeting to be confident enough to select specific blocks, so I guess it's a good idea to define them based on the first Job.

Really? Charterhall? What sort of Jobs do you see your Crew doing there? It is the university and the courts. Does it not seem better to work our way up to doing Jobs against the civic authority after we understand better how the world works? It is still an option, but only if you want to start by doing jobs against such targets... and have ideas.

I can see Brightstone being viable, but that is if we want to jump straight into 'infiltrating the higher orders of society'. As a Tier 0 Crew you would probably need to first do some Jobs gathering resources (swanky clothes, etiquette, gossip and blackmail, etc) on your way there. So the bonuses may not kick in straight away. It might make more sense to start lower and add Turf in a place like this when you feel you are able to blend. If you start stealing from the rich to fuel your outfits for the parties it will add the danger of someone saying "That are my dress! She is wearing my stolen dress!", which could be fun, but could also bring your plans to a screeching halt.

If we are no longer interested in starting in Coalridge --helping the workers-- and working our way up, but want to aim higher from the start we can look through all the districts find a suitable one.

Descriptions of the Districts mentioned:

# Charterhall
Charterhall is the site of the first major construction in the city, in the days before the cataclysm. The old wall upon which was built the first lightning barrier in the Empire still stands in partial ruin around the district. The area is now home to the civic offices of the government including the courts, licensing and taxation offices, banks, and records archives. City officials and students at Charterhall University live here, along with the captains of Imperial industry who prefer to reside within sight of their fortunes.

# Brightstone
Brightstone is home to many of the wealthiest and most influential citizens of Doskvol. Its streets are broad and paved, under bright electric lights; its canals are sparkling and clean, with perfumed water; its houses are all of fine, pale marble blocks, rich timbers, and intricate ironworks. There are cultivated parks fed by radiant energy; lavish restaurants and cafes; jewelers, tailors, and other luxury shops. Street-side vendors are forbidden here, resulting in a serene, spacious atmosphere, punctuated by the occasional carriage or marching Bluecoat patrol.

# Whitecrown
Whitecrown sits atop a grand peak on the island across North Hook channel from the city proper. From this lofty height, the Lord Governor's stronghold oversees all, flanked by the grand estates of the most powerful nobility and the extravagantly appointed campus of Doskvol Academy. Whitecrown is a rich and rarefied world unto itself ---most citizens live out their entire lives in the city without ever once crossing the bridge to the glittering spires of wealth and power there.

Yeah, maybe I've been mistaken here -it doesn't really fit our objectives, as you said-
Am in family vacations now tho, but I'll be back in 2/3 days to give you an answer.

If we can come to a consensus about what our initial objectives are and what sort of jobs we want to be doing at the start, I can make suggestions about a District to start in.

If we could all take some time over these next 2/3 days and read the descriptions of the Districts (if need be, I can post the rest here as I did for the three above) as well as reading through the Opportunities for the Shadows and the other Crew types for ideas.
If you want to suggest one of these example Opportunities as your first Job I can make that happen to get us started.

---

# Shadows Opportunities

1 A local art dealer announces an exhibition of rare ancient Iruvian jewelry.
2 The Path of Echoes needs a specific body purloined from the crematorium before it's dissolved tonight.
3 A collector wants to steal an original work of art or industry and replace it with a forgery.
4 A client wants to extract a loved one from their servitude in an indentured work house.
5 A ghost wants you to secure the rest of their precious collection of worldly things.
6 A master assassin has come out of retirement for one more job. Many would pay well to know who their target is.

1 The black sheep of a noble family wants their revenge, and the deed to the ancestral estate is the key.
2 A drug gang wants to obtain the secret formula for their rival's popular new product.
3 Strange artifacts were recovered from the Void Sea. They're held at Bellweather for analysis by the Spirit Wardens.
4 Rumors of war, aren't there always? Plant a damning paper trail in the office of the ambassador.
5 Anti-Imperial agents are passing information while on the trains. Intercept their communiques.
6 A professor in Sparkwright Tower wants their rival's research notes. Make it look like a common burglary.

1 A Bluecoat squad doesn't want to make a very dangerous arrest. Steal the evidence from the Inspector's safe.
2 A damning piece of evidence against a vulnerable crime lord is held in a bank vault until trial.
3 A client seeks the source of altered texts sold to academy students that are driving them to madness and murder.
4 A desperate Inspector needs you to plant evidence to bring down a demon-corrupted Spirit Warden.
5 A circus is in town, featuring strange creatures and mysterious animals. A client would pay well for a new pet.
6 Only one gang member survived their botched job. Can you clean the bloody scene before the authorities arrive?

Hmm... ah, sorry, I had read this description from the "Resources" thread:
... and thought that this was something like a "middle class" neighbourhood and therefore a good starting point for us. But yes, maybe for a Tier 0 Crew it would be better to start from the lowest possible grounds and climb up from there. :)

No worries. I had just copy-pasted the overview section from the book, and it does make it sound a lot more middle-class. I am not sure why they even mention 'hub for shops' in that text, it is misleading based on the longer description. They are more about the regulation of commerce than actual commerce. The university may have small shops, but that does not really count.

I will add the longer descriptions to the wiki, as I did for Coalridge.

Our posts overlapped. :-)

All these opportunities are cool! I think that our Crew would feel more comfortable with something along the lines of retrieveing an item, or some piece of info... rather than murdering someone, for example. Other than that, I am happy with whatever mission you want to surprise us with.

With Play by Post, posts overlap all the time. It is seldom a problem. :)

I have added the facts known about the districts to the wiki. We are gonna need an index soon.

Remember that this only the 'known facts' and a starting-point. The world is ours to shape as we like.
If we want to say a thing exists in a certain area (for instance that middle-class people live in Charterhall, maybe trying to be close to the power there in an effort to move up) and thereby justify our doing certain types of Jobs in that District or area, we are free to do so.

Let's try not to contradict the book, but, if we do, it can be that things have changed (the middle-class moving in) or that the facts 'known' were wrong/lies all along.

I feel like Crow's Foot is the most interesting district to me, but I'm wondering about how a small gang like us would be able to find a foothold in a crime/law ridden area like that.

As for opportunities, I think that for my character, ones which involve the discovery of new information are some that would work well to weave into his unknown motive. Basically, seemingly unrelated incidents are actually end up related not only to each other, but to Kristov's motive. For example, the identity of the master assassin's last target is one that I would be initially interested in pursuing, while stealing an exotic pet would generate less initial interest unless some interesting information is uncovered while doing the job.

I can do that.Sounds interesting. If others like it we can start with that.

Sounds good!

OK, let's go with that one.
A benefit of a Job like this is that it would span many Districts, so we don't need to worry about your Hunting Grounds. This can serve as an introduction to the Districts, and introduce some NPCs you care about (maybe to be potential targets?).
A 'mystery investigation' Job might also take a while, and you may have to do some other Jobs at the same time (maybe to earn some money, maybe to uncover clues). These other (side?) Jobs can serve to define the Hunting Grounds.

I will post about the Factions bits from the other choices once I can get back to my notes (or the book), then we can start.

Faction Status
If we don't start knowing where our Hunting Grounds are situated we also don't know which Faction will be impact by your moving in. We will learn this when we settle on a District and area. You might not have the option of paying them for the inconvenience, it will depend on your remaining starting Coin, not the Coin you have when then decision is made.

I had The Lost in most of these lists, but have removed them since that was based of the assumption you were starting in Coalridge. They might not care about you or your choices if you are elsewhere. This means they start neutral, you can always get them to like you by helping them later.

---

You start with 2 Coin (a not-insubstantial amount of money). You have the option of spending up to 4 Coin to change your Statuses with some of the Factions affected by your Crew Creation choices at the start (with 2 Coin you can only do half). What you don't spend you get to keep, giving you more options at the start, but in a less friendly world.

Faction Statuses change with most Jobs, and most Jobs provide Coin. So these are just starting values.

---

For each of these options, remember you can always choose to have the Status change be with the Shadowy Cabal, but you probably can not throw money at them to make them like you more (convince me otherwise:).

---

Favorite Contact: Amancio.

-1 Status:
The Fog Hounds (i): A crew of rough smugglers looking for a patron.
• Jealous. They were wooing Amancio before you came along. They don't like being rejected (then again: who does?).

+1 Status:
Ink Rakes (ii): The journalists, muck-rakers, and newspaper publishers of Doskvol.
• Trying to bring Amancio down, but nothing sticks. They are hoping a new Crew will cause waves and attention, thus unearthing Amancio's secrets. They are therefore keen to help you and get in your good graces.

Feel free to swap these, with the Ink Rakes being your enemies (small-time) because of your association, and the Fog Hounds being friends with Amancio and therefore on your side.

Feel free to suggest any other Factions you want to use instead.

---

Upgrade: Underground Maps and Passkeys: You have easy passage through the underground canals, tunnels, and basements of the city.

-2 Status:
The Foundation (iv): The powerful ancient order of architects and builders. Many of their enemies have disappeared behind the brick and mortar of Doskvol.
• These are supposed to be their secrets. They don't like other people traipsing around in their bailiwick.
• Do you want to pay them 1 Coin to smooth things over and take -1 Status with them instead? Or screw them, what can they do, they are just 'architects'?

+1 Status:
Gondoliers (iii): The guild of canal boat operators. Venerated by ancient tradition. Said to know occult secrets (many things are submerged in the Dusk).
• Why did they share these secrets with you?
• Do you want to pay them 1 Coin for the secrets and take +2 Status with them instead, or just let them help you because they like you?

Feel free to suggest any other Factions you want to use instead.

Amancio: I'm ok with -1 for the Fog Hounds and +1 for the Ink Rakes.

Underground Maps and Passkeys:
I know I will regret this in the near future... :-) ... but I'll say screw them, they are just architects.
Hmmm, this is more tempting, but I would save our Coin for the time being, we are a small Tier-0 Crew and we may need it for something more urgent. We can always invest here afterwards if/when our treasury is in better shape.

It does depend a bit on each game, but it is usually easier to get more Coin than to increase Status. But then again, getting another Coin when you have ten is not as big a deal as spending a Coin when you have two.
Both spending and keeping are valid strategies.

I'm personally leaning towards spending actually, for that aforementioned reason. I could care less about getting on the Fog Hounds' good side, but the Foundation could be troublesome. By the way, should I be understanding the Foundation as a secret society thing, or more like a really old union?

I can neither confirm not deny their status as a secret society.
... because the book says very little about them, it will depend on how we see them in play. They do sound a lot like a 'secret society' (or a mob?). If we want to define that as fact now, we can use that 'fact' to aid our choice.
I would say that you have, at least, heard the name mentioned, so as much a secret society as the freemasons or whatnot. :)

I have some friends at home today, but I'll try to look through that this evening !

I'm good with it too ! I like Crow's Foot as well, it seems like a varied place with many opportunities to start with.

I'd be for spending to the Foundation as well. Wouldn't want people that know the most about the city be our enemies, especially when our best resource is our secrecy.

The fact that you have a Hidden Lair that even they don't know about possibly already inclines them towards prejudicial suspicion of you. The longer you can keep off their radar the better, eh?

Crow's Foot is often the default starting location (which sorta made me hope to avoid it this time, but I don't mind, I see us working all over the city anyway).
It makes a lot of sense for many of the Crew types as it caters to the normal criminal fair. As mentioned above: Does it make sense for our --less overt-- Crew?

It would help a bit to know where you start, that way we can get the Factions over and done with now, but we can work around that if we can not reach a consensus.

gnomius: Your thoughts on Crow's Foot?
I have no vote. :)

Sure, I'm ok with Crow's Foot as well. And if I wasn't, it was already 2 against 1, so... :-)

So to be clear then, our lair is in Coalridge, and our hunting ground is in Crow's Foot?

I am as lost and confused as you are. :)
I really don't want to know what people are 'OK' with. I want to know where you want to play. If we are stuck in a district that does does not interest one of the players this leads to disinterest and disinterest can kill a game like this.

Blades relies on the players being engaged and driving the story. I will not be spoon-feeding you plot.

Yep, I understand. I already said my first idea was to have Charterhall as our hunting ground, because I thought it was a middle-class district where we could get some nice loot without much risk. But then again, if two colleagues prefer Crow's Foot, I am OK with it too. Not a big deal, as I'm not that used to the setting, things may work out differently as I had expected.

Now that you know that it is not the middle-class area, do you have any other ideas? Have you looked at the District descriptions in the book or on the wiki?
Nightmarket might well fit what you all are looking for? Especially to move up into after Coalridge or Crow's Foot, but also to start if you want to set up for higher status targets. It still has the lower classes, but the upper classes are moving in and gentrifying it.
Do they though? I worry that people are just going along with a suggestion and not voicing their own ideas. There has not been any real discussion.
If that is what we want then we can start there, but does it make sense for a Crew such as us?

Well, to be perfectly honest, I thought the Crow's Foot could be a good compromise between our possible preferences, but you're right about it: we shall probably talk about it further, instead of assuming what may kinda fit for everyone.

I could kinda see Silkshore working for us, if we're trying to go for blackmailing and small stuff first, such as cheating husbands or politician's scandals, but I'm not sure it would fit our characters well ? What do you think ?

Nightmarket sounds good to me. Not only is it wealthy -always a plus in our business-, it could lead to industrial espionage, robberies of precious items, or generally playing on business rivalries. Vreen's Hound Races and The Devil's Tooth sounds especially promising, in my opinion.
Now if we want to go for this, maybe Charhollow would fit better ? Not sure if we could find that much business to fit the bill, tho, but it could work as a more "varied" place. You can probably find a bit of everything in middle-class suburbs.

While I don't see use starting here, I would really like for us to climb our way to Chaterhall as a long-term objective, and to better accomplish this geopolitical intrigue I talked about before. Are you interested in this too ?

I also wonder how your Underground Maps and Passkeys would interact with all the waterways?
I think Silkshore will definitely be a place you visit a lot as part of your Jobs, but it might not be the place the Jobs actually happen.
Absolutely, also Charhollow. I see that as a goal, and maybe a stepping stone to even richer hunting grounds. :)

Aight', so for now, we're left between Nightmarket and Crow's Foot I guess (still open to other propositions ofc, just trying to synthesize all this) ? With the first being more business/trade focused with a lot of wealth going on, and the second one being more about gang wars and conflicts with the authorities.

Hmm, after looking at the description, I think Nightmarket makes more sense than Crow's Foot for a smaller gang like us. Not too much of a fan of Charhollow. Although I dig the lower class vibes, I don't see too many important jobs happening there.

Nightmarket definitely seems the best option. Lots of wealthy people to rob from, we can even get cargo from the railway station if needed. And it also has places like The Veil, which seems a good place where one could get/steal information.

Ratilla you happy with us going with Nightmarket?

If so:
Do we have any idea where your Hunting Grounds would be?
Is your Lair also in Nightmarket? Whereabouts?

Feel free to include interesting seeming defined Landmarks and places of interest in your Hunting Grounds or set them somewhere undefined and say what is there for ourselves.

Yes, I'm up for it !

I'll gonna check back again to see where to put our Hunting Grounds, but wouldn't it still be possible to keep the lair in Coalridge ? Or would that open up complications for us ? I think it could be kinda neat as it would make us better hidden and less suspicious, far from the places where we exert our activities.

I think Lairs and Hunting Grounds don't have to be the same place.

The Lair and the Hunting Grounds do not need to be in the same place. You get to add more Hunting Grounds as you play and Take Claims, so you are bound to end up with them in different districts.

It probably will add complications (and complications are fun) if you have to commute all the time to get from home to work. Investigators can start putting those movements together eventually, weakening the Hiddenness of your Lair.
Your Secret travel Upgrade will make it easier for you to stay hidden. So it possibly even makes senses for you to try to never work in your home district, adding to the Hiddenness of your Lair. Maybe putting the Lair somewhere where you don't plan to add Hunting Grounds could be a strategy?

I personally think that having the lair in Coalridge is fine, since that's what we agreed on earlier, unless someone has come up with a new idea they'd like to pitch.

To be clear: You want it there? Or you think it is fine since we 'agreed' earlier?
I have no problem either way.

I like the lair there since it works with the possible geopolitical ambitions that the other characters can play with. Since my character is more interested in personal ambitions, the geographic location of the lair doesn't matter too much.

Good to know.

This sounds like an excellent idea. Let's take advantage of that Upgrade to play a little with the expectations of anyone who may want to chase us. :-) While we keep our hunting grounds are in Nightmarket, nobody will expect that our lair is in Coalridge, especially when we are not seen moving from one district to the other thanks to our secret passageways.

Definitely up for it as well ! Plus Coalridge would be really hard to suspect at all. You'd expect spies and such to be found in either well of establishments or criminal ones, not in the industrial zone.

Nightmarket is home to the relatively new cult of the Night Queen --one of the Forgotten Gods. The Night Queen is a jealous god and her followers work to discredit other gods in a attempt to drive their worship out of the district. Secretive as they are, it is hard to know for sure quite how big they are --if they have achieved Tier II yet or not-- but they are angling for Tier III if they can cement their hold on the Nightmarket.

They don't strangers poking around in their territory. How do you treat them?
• Pay them off. Give them 1 coin in exchange for giving you room to work.
• Pay the faction 2 coin as a show of respect and gain +1 status with them.
• Keep your money and take -1 status with that faction.

Personally fine with not paying these Krazy Kultists.

If they hear you speaking that way it will shift to -2. :)

And, of course, this is just a suggestion. If you don't like the Forgotten Gods --or this specific one-- we can trade them in for something new. The Wraiths were also contenders, but you will be dealing with them in play and can work on your relationship with them as we go.

Personally, I'm fine with them being in play, but I stand with saevikas on this: Freck is not the type to fund cults, even in his own interest. No money for them >:).

If gnomius agrees, then I wonder if your Crew knows they are stepping on the toes of this group and are being deliberately antagonistic, or if they are unaware and will find out about their faux pas later.

Sure, if we are not paying the architects guild, we won't be giving money to cultists either!

As we are just Tier 0, I'd say that we are probably unaware of their existence. Oh, probably we've heard their name here and there, but we don't know if they are a proper organization, or just a bunch of crazy guys who meet every Thursday evening to do some chanting while they slay a goat.

Personally, I just think that Freck doesn't see it as a want anything to do with them ? He wont try to antagonize them, but he would prefer that to being friendly with them, so he would just try to keep low and stay in this sort of face-off status quo.

Are we not? I thought two of the members said they wanted to pay the Foundation and bring them to only -1.
It is up to the Crew.
Could be. If we decide this, it will impact how I put them together: maybe it makes them newer, maybe it makes them lower Tier, maybe it makes them more secretive.
You are in the information business, so not knowing about a group in the area you work means something. :)
That can work. If we like that then I will not bring them into play right at the start, they will start to have run-ins with the Crew as consequences for bad rolls.

Does the Crew have name yet? Do we know it?
It is fine if we --the players-- don't yet know what they are called and need to discover it from how they come across to others.
It is also fine if they --the characters-- don't even have a name for themselves yet and need to discover what people call them.

I'd just say something very formal, discreet and simple for now -something we can replace later-. "The club" or "the crew", for example. So banal it wont be of any help to identify us.

Well, I am not putting that in the game title. :)

Oh, but I think it's fine ? I didn't mean it as a critique, but in the context of the game itself. Sorry if I offended you ^^'.

I'm more inclined to mostly ignoring the cult until we have a run-in with them.

Naming stuff is pretty hard. Off the top of my head, I'm particular to the format of "The (insert impactful sounding name here) Club". I think it has that classy and discrete feel to it. Like, "The Rochester Club" or something like that.

Not at all. But thanks for checking.
Tone can be so hard to convey in writing. That smile at the end was not enough here.

Indeed.
We can leave the name for when one organically emerges.

I have started using 'Blades - Shadow Crew' in my notes for now (replacing '2021-07-11.GP.Blades_in_the_Dark'). The name only matters to me for the sake of distinguishing this game from others, and that only matters in my notes at this time since there are not other Blades games here on GP.

Although I had previously suggested "The Night Devils", this appears to be too pretentious now, when compared to the sleek alternatives of saevikas and Rattila. I agree that we can wait for a final decision until we see how something appropriate emerges during play.

Yeah, that's typical lol. I guess the fact that the classic smiley is often used in an ironic way in the circles I'm in doesn't help.

Urgh. Not much I can do about that. I have no irony, nor any sarcasm.
Assume I meant to say what I said and tried to say what I meant.

Seems like we ready to start the first Job? Are we still looking into the Assassin?

Confirm the Factions' Statuses:
+1 Ink Rakes (ref)
+1 Gondoliers (ref)
-1 Fog Hounds (ref)
-1 Foundation (If we are paying them off, else -2) (ref)
-1 Night Queen (ref)

We can define the borders of the Hunting Grounds as we do Jobs, you tell me where you start, and if it is in your Hunting Grounds. If it is, then you get the extra Gather Information Downtime Action and whatever other benefits attach.

I'm good with the Assassin's mission, and to start the game as well !

Same here. Let's get started!

OK. Launched in Assessing the Assassin.
Discuss and fill in Job specific details in Assessing the Assassin (OOC). General Crew and World discussions can still go here.

Anything discussed here or in an OOC should be considered 'planning'. Until we see it in an RP it is not official.

If you officially contradict something discussed here, try to let us know so there is no/less confusion.
Only you have a picture of your character. Assume the rest of us has forgotten most of the discussion about them that took place a month ago and introduce them from scratch in the RP, as it comes up.

Just wanna say I'm with my grandparents for two days, but I should be able to respond again the 31st.