Keep of the Bloody Countess- 5e Character Funnel Adventure

Yesterday I posted guidelines for creating characters for a 5th edition peasant meat grinder adventure. Today, I present to you, the meat grinder adventure that I ran.

Keep of the Bloody Countess

Countess Beaufort of Dorsetshire has tormented her people for generations. Using dark magic to prolong her life unnaturally, this witch has sent her beastmen and demons to kidnap people from Dornwary village for use in her dark experiments. The people of Dornwary have been passive all this time, weathering the infrequent attacks, but when the Countess kidnapped dozens, including the tavern keeper and his daughter, the survivors gathered up what they could and marched on the Witch's lair.

The keep is on a high peninsula, surrounded by white chalk cliffs that lead directly to the rough and dangerous coastline. The only way to approach is via a narrow land bridge.

Arm yourselves noble fighters! You freedom from Satan's minions can only be paid for in blood!

Area A- The Chalk-cliffed Causeway: As you approach the castle, you can hear the lashing waves below. Anyone who fell from these heights would surely die. The ruins of an old outpost block the way, consisting of little more than a half-collapsed stone arch and some low, ruined walls. Smoke from some unseen fire wafts the smell of cooking meat towards the party.

Inside the stone outpost are a pair of beastmen.

One of which has two heads (Advantage on perception checks), the other has the head of a spider.

The two-headed beastman has a javelin and a dagger, and the spider-headed beastman carries a spear and a horn, to raise the alarm.

They are gathered around a small fire, over which they are roasting gulls. They have a large clay jug of high proof liquor nearby. Two furs act as seats for the sentries, one is a partially eaten sheepskin, the other is a beautifully prepared dire fox pelt, easily worth 50 gold pieces.

Area B- The Castle Approach: 30 foot high and topped with severed heads on spikes, the gates make an impressive barrier to be overcome. A sturdy gate with a heavy, wooden portcullis blocks entry into the countyard. More beastmen lurk, just out of sight, if the hoots and bleats are anything to go by. A twisted tower sits in the middle of the courtyard, half collapsed on an earthen mound, leaking strange light and noxious smoke.

If an alarm has been raised, the beastmen have shut the portcullis, and the gate. Climbing the rain slicked walls is difficult, a DC 15 strength check, with advantage if there is a line. Failing the check means falling and taking 3d6 damage. Having a line allows a falling character to make a Dex save with a DC of 15, getting a DC of 10 or 5 reduces the damage by 2d6 or 1d6 respectively.

If the players move to the rear of the castle, read the following:

The walls at the castle's rear are much the same as those in the front, cyclopean and warlike. 20 feet down the cliffs appears to be a small cave that leads into the cliffs

Scaling down the cliff is easier, thanks to the rough surface of the cliffs and takes a DC 10 strength check, with advantage if there is a line. Failing the check means falling and taking 2d6 damage, except on a fumble which means the character has fallen into the sea below and vanishes from the adventure.

Area B-1- The Cliffside Cave: The white of the chalk cliffs blends with the white of gull feathers and droppings at the mouth of the cave. The cave is fairly wide, just shy of 5 feet across and leads back into the cliff face, extending past the castle walls. Wiry coastal plants have taken root in the long mounds of soil that have not been blown away by the sea air, and their growth extends nearly 15 feet back, as far as you can see.

Entering the cave requires characters to push past the brush. Characters, if you inquire, may make a DC 16 Int check to identify the plants as 'Sleep Cotton' an invasive plant that has grown in the region for a few decades. Any fire they encounter will burn away the outer bark, releasing soporific pollen. Once unconscious, the pollen will continue to accumulate on them, suffocating them. Covering the mouth and nose with a damp cloth will prevent the plant from affecting you, or a DC 18 Con check. After 15 feet of Sleep Cotton plants, there is a small chamber, almost 10 feet around, which leads into a 40 foot tunnel that comes up into the courtyard behind the chapel. The end of the tunnel in the courtyard is blocked by a chunk of stone, removing it requires a DC 15 strength check. If characters enter the chamber, or set the Sleep Cotton ablaze, they are beset by the skeletal guardians lurking inside.

Disturbing the soil mounds reveal mounds of human, beastman, and bird bones, just under the surface. Searching all the mounds reveals a powder horn and silver bullets for five shots, a suit of totally rusted platemail with a functional helmet and shield, a longsword, a magic ring that grants access to the firebolt spell (functioning off of Intelligence), and 1d4 green bandages in a steel box. This bandages, when applied to a wound, heal 1d4+1 hit points.

Skeletal Guardians (3)

Area C- Castle Walls: The wind is much stronger on the walls. Motheaten banners seem to barely move in the wind, until they snap like a whip as the wind shifts. The salt air barely covers the stench of fur and filth. Looking into the courtyard below reveals a small chapel with boarded-up windows, the Countess's tower, and a makeshift mass of tents. Behind the tents, against the walls are a series of bone and wood cages, holding the multitude of captured villagers. Still more cages are empty. The inside of the castle walls are pockmarked with irregularly space large conical holes in the masonry.

Two beastmen guard the walls. One carries a sling, a brush knife, and 25 sling bullets, they have a head with curling ram's horns and bulbous eyes. Their skin is covered in feathers.

The other carries a shortbow and 10 arrows and has the head of a horse, shrunken and gaunt.

The gatehouse has stairs leading down to the ground level as well as a device to lower and raise the portcullis. If the beastmen notice the intruders, they will drop the portcullis. (Atk portcullis -5 melee; Dmg 1d6/round). A hero pinned by the portcullis takes ongoing damage each round until he dies or is freed (DC 23 Str check; alternately, 4 characters lifting together can hoist the portcullis if their combined Str exceeds 40). In the gatehouse is a wheel which can raise the portcullis with a DC 20 strength check, each extra participant (up to 3) lowers the DC by 5. Climbing down the inner side of the wall is identical to climbing the outer side. Inside a hidden compartment carved in the bottom of the wheel, noticeable only if the characters take time to search the wheel specifically, if a Ring of Invisibility (Use a bonus action to become invisible until making an attack or casting a spell)

Area D- The Beastman Camp: This cluster of rough hide tents, built on the foundation of some long destroyed structure, shelter a collection of well crafted cages. The cages are made from bone and wood, and tied with cord of unknown origin. While you can see many of the kidnapped villagers, the innkeep and his daughter are missing. A disheveled mob of animal headed monsters stand between you and the people you came to rescue.

If the alarm was raised, the beastmen engage as soon as they see the party, otherwise, they are gathered in camp, tormenting the captives, eating, and getting drunk. The beastmen are arranged as such:

2 Dog-headed beastmen with clubs (1d4 B) and shields

A Fly-headed Beastman wielding a musket in two hands like a club (1d8 B). Deals damage as musket to self on a fumble, breaks the musket on a crit.

A Beastman with a furry body and goat horns with a prominent pentagram carved on his forehead.

Has a large parasite on his left arm that looks like an enormous sea cucumber mixed with a sea snail, minus the shell. The creature projects balls of destructive energy. (Ranged weapon attack, 1d12 necrotic damage, drains 1 con point permanently with each use.)

A cyclopean beastman that constantly drools a tar-like black ooze wielding a crossbow and carrying 8 bolts.

The Beastman champion that studded leather armour, a shield and wields a spear. His head is that of a fox, with eight eyes. He wears a pentagram necklace and has shrunken heads affixed to his shield.

The locks on the cages are simple (DC 5 Dexterity checks with thieves tools, DC 15 without). The people inside are scared, tried, and injured and will only seek to go home. If one or more players have lost all their characters, they are able to replenish their mobs from the rescued characters. The rescued villagers have no gear, and will have to scavenge what they need from the dead.

Inside the tent closest to the gate (the Champion's tent) are two large jugs of liquor, and a silver ewer worth 15 gold.

In the two side tents are 1d20 copper and silver coins each (roll for each of the two tents). The leftmost tent contains a small clay flask that produces up to six gallons of fresh mayonnaise each day.

In the furthest tent, nearest to the cages, are 1d100 copper coins, a bronze statuette of a demon, and a magical rod made of enchanted silver and glass. It deals damage as a silvered mace (1d6 B) and, when activated casts a random magical effect.

Magical Rod (Puck's Finger):

0-15: Conjure a 10ft ladder that lasts until the rod is used a second time.

16-20: Fire copper coins at the target, +3 to hit, deals 1d8 bludgeoning damage. The damage dealt is how many coins are conjured (always at least 1 coin in conjured)

21-25: Heal target for 1d4+1 hit points

26-30: Allow the target to fly at a speed of 60ft per move action until the rod is used again.

31-33: The rod becomes a set of magical armour, making the caster's AC 18 until they use the rod again

34-38: Every living thing, except the caster, in a 20ft radius from the Rod takes 1d8 psychic damage

39-40: The caster and the target die

41-42: The target gains +1 to a random stat (roll 1d6 to determine) permanently

43-45: the target must make a DC 15 Con save or be petrified for 20 years

46-50: the caster must make a DC 15 Con save or be petrified for 1d6 rounds

51-60: Deal 1d6 (1- Fire, 2- Force, 3-Cold, 4- Thunder) damage in a 60ft line, DC 14 dex save halves damage

61-70: Increase AC of all allies in a 10ft radius by +1 until the rod is used again

71-73: Destroy all earthen materials in a 10ft radius around target

74-75: increase target speed by 10ft until the rod is used again

76-80: decrease target speed by half until the rod is used again

81-85: Bolt of Cold flies towards target, -1 to hit, 1d10 cold damage

86-90: An enormous magical fist hits the target +1 to hit, 1d6 force damage, attacks every round until the rod is used again

91-95: The sound of muted trumpets are heard

96-97: Target has resistance to the next attack made against it

98-99: Target's AC increases by 1, one stat increases by 1d4 (roll 1d6 to determine), and their speed increases by 30ft, permanently

Area E- The Chapel: The chapel is a simple structure, cross-shaped but modest. What were once stained glass windows, showing the deeds of saints, are now covered in old and rotting wooden boards. The double doors that form the chapel's only entrance are sturdy and well maintained but barred from the outside.

The doors and windows have a fine line of silver dust along them that is only apparent when someone specifically searches the sills or doorframe. If the characters peek inside, read the following description.

The pews in the church are all smashed to splinters. Laying, back to the altar, is a skeletal corpse, dressed in stained vestments and wearing fine armour. Atop the altar is a chest, brimming with gold and silver treasure.

There is a Shadow inside the Chapel, kept bound by the enchanted silver dust on the windows and doors. It will wait to attack until someone approaches the gold, prioritizing the weak or injured.

The skeletal body is carrying a mace (1d8 B) and wearing a breastplate. The chest contains 142 GP and 380 SP. As well as 8 silver goblets and vases worth 25 GP a piece.

Area F- The Countess's Tower: Only three stories of the tower remain intact, the fourth is partially crumbled, and the debris from the other levels is scattered around the building. The tower is sealed with a sturdy wooden door

Climbing the tower requires a DC 20 strength check with advantage if the player characters have 60ft of line and some means of anchoring it at the top. Breaking the door down requires a DC 20 strength check. Alternately, anyone with an axe or hammer can destroy it with 5 minutes of effort. Attempting to burn the door down requires fuel and a full hour of burn time.

Area F-1 – The First Floor: The tower smells of mold and copper. A set of stairs to the left lead upwards to the other levels of the tower. The room is dominated by a large round table sitting on a threadbare, round, red carpet. Cooking equipment and food supplies sit near a fireplace on the far side of the room. The room is lit by green flames in scones. On the right are several large planters, including one in which a large, grey skinned humanoid is attempting to hide.

Inside the planter is Lorm, The Countess's Orcish manservant. He wields a shovel and will be very surprised when he is noticed, hiding in the planter. If captured, he will sell out the demon on the third floor. He will also tell the group that the Countess is on the third floor if they ask. At the top of the stairs, the door to the next floor is unlocked, but is of similar construction to the front door and may be unlocked.

A trapdoor under the rug leads to Area G

Area F-2 – The Second Floor: This room has been gutted, the sconces have been torn from the wall, and massive mounds of dirt line the floor. Strange plants cover every single mound. Some glow with an internal light, some resemble skulls or bodies, and some appear to be made of strange materials, such as metal or glass. On the far side of the room, stair lead up to the third floor.

The plants are rather tame, as long as they are not disturbed. Players may make DC 10 Intelligence checks to gather these rare plants, each check netting them 15 GP worth. On a failed check, the character takes 1d4 poison damage. They may safely make 1d10 checks. The next check they make, or fail means they pull up a mandrake. The mandrake is worth 50 GP, but everyone in the room must make a DC 15 Wisdom save, or die instantly, with no chance of recovery.

Area F-3 – The Third Floor: This floor is an opulent and imperial bedroom, filled with rich mahogany furniture and draped in fine silks. The mahogany is dusty, and the silks moth eaten. A raven sits in an open birdcage near the arrow-slit window on the back end of the room. A set of partially collapsed stairs opposite lead up to the fourth floor, but it is blocked by rubble.

The Raven in the cage is the Countess's Imp familiar. A DC 10 Wisdom check reveals the Countess's jewelry box, the entire collection is worth 100 GP and includes a necklace that grants +1 AC. The silks and clothing are worth an additional 50 GP if 10 minutes is taken to sort through them, or everything is taken. Clearing the rubble requires a DC 15 Strength check. Each attempt requires 10 minutes.

Area F-4 – The Fourth Floor: It is impossible to tell what this room used to be, the walls have been destroyed. The remains of a staircase sit along one side of the wall, leading to nowhere. Moss grows on almost every exposed surface. The staircase down is partially collapsed and filled with rubble.

Clearing the rubble requires a DC 15 Strength check. Each attempt requires 10 minutes. Climbing down the tower a DC 20 strength check with advantage if the player characters have 60ft of line.

Area G – The Demon Pit. Under the trap door is a dark passage leading downwards. Floating chunks of basalt form a spiral staircase around the pit. The sound of chanting and an unearthly light spill out from below.

To descend requires a DC 5 Dexterity check to avoid slipping on the slick basalt. Failure means a 60ft fall.

Once they descend read the following if the alarm was raised:

The Countess stands next to the chained forms of the innkeeper and his daughter, a sacrificial knife in her withered hands. Beside her is a grey-skinned pig headed man with a musket. The room is cast in dusky illumination by five black candles, burning at the points of a pentagram, and a strange glowing portal in the middle of the pentagram. Two creatures, shaped like the vague suggestion of a human, pull themselves from the pit.

If they managed to avoid raising an alarm:

The room is lit only by three black candles in a candelabra. The grey hand of a pig-headed servant holds the light above an iron tub, filled with blood. On the periphery, of the light, two corpses are being rapidly consumed by creatures with the colour of rancid fat and only the vaguest inkling of a human form. The burnt stubs of candles still gently smoke at the points of a pentegram.

The Countess, if the innkeeper and his daughter are still alive, will threaten their lives, and offer one of them, if the characters leave.

If the innkeeper and daughter are dead, then the Countess will be out of the fight for 1d8 rounds as she regains her youth.

Once the Countess is killed, the characters have mere minutes to escape the peninsula as it collapses into the sea.

The formatting on these monsters isn't perfect, but these skeletons should provide an outline on what the monster's capabilities are. I'm not sure on the armour class of the Beastman Champion, the players had a hard time hitting it, and that made the fight against it kinda drag.

Beastmen: Init +1 HP 3

Spider Head Atk spear +0 melee (1d6) AC 12.

Two Head Atk Javelin +0 ranged (1d6), Dagger +1 melee (1d4+1) AC 12

Horns Atk Sling +1 Ranged (1d4+1), Brush Knife +0 melee (1d4) AC 12

Horse Atk Shortbow +1 Ranged (1d6+1) AC 12

Dog Head Atk Club +0 Melee (1d4+0) AC 14

Fly Head Musket/Club +0 Melee (1d8) AC 12

Goat Horns Parasite Atk +1 Ranged (1d12 necrotic) AC 12 (drains 1 con point permanently with each use)

Drool Crossbow Atk +1 Ranged (1d8) AC 12

Beastman Champion: Init +1 HP 11

Atk Spear (1d6+2) AC 16

Skeletal Guardian: Init: +2 HP 6

Atk: Club +1 melee (1d4+1) AC 13

Vulnerable to Bludgeoning, Resistant to Piercing

Orc: Init +1, HP 8. AC 11

Atk Shovel +1 (1d8+1)

Atk Musket -1 (1d12)

Lemure: Init -2, HP 16, AC 7

Atk Slam (1d4)

Imp: Init +3 HP 10, AC 13

Atk: Sting +5 (1d4-1) Con save 11 or 3d6 Poison damage as well

Resist Non-silvered or non-magic weapons

May turn invisible as a bonus action.

Shadow: Init +2, HP 16, AC 12

Atk Strength Drain +4 (2d6 Necrotic, Strength reduced by 1d4) If this attack kills, target reanimates as Shadow in 1d4 hours

Takes 1d6 damage per round in sunlight. Can hide in darkness as a bonus action

Resist non-magical attacks, vulnerable to radiant

The Countess: Inti +0, HP 8, AC 10

Atk Eldritch Blast +5 (1d10+3)

Atk Ritual Knife +1 (1d4+1)

Running a Peasant Meat Grinder in 5E D&D

Hello folks. It's been a while since I've posted anything here. So I've been working on a few things, one of which I just ran tonight; a peasant meat grinder, or character funnel style adventure. The setting was England-ish in the nebulous past where flintlock guns were a thing, but swords were still common. In order to facilitate this game, I build a random character generator and a few alternate rules. Something to note, because this game was set in the pseudo-real world, and not your typical fantasy setting, the random characters are all human. Without further ado, here you go, the 5E Peasant Mob Generator:

Building your Mob of Angry Peasants

Step 1: Determine your stats by, in descending order, rolling 3d6+1 and assigning it to the stat. (eg. Roll for 3d6+1 Strength, then 3d6+1 for Dexterity, and so on)

Step 2: Roll (1d4+ Con Modifier [minimum of 1]) for Hit Points

Step 3: Roll for Gear

What weapon did you bring to get vengeance on the Countess and her monsters?

You brought... (Roll 1d100)

0-8...a chair leg. (Light, 1d4 B)

9-13...a chair leg studded with hobnails (Light, 1d6 B)

14-18...a knife. (Finesse, Light, Thrown 20/60, 1d4 P)

19-23...a cleaver (Light, 1d4 S)

24-28...a hatchet (Light, 1d6 S)

29-33...your grandfather's wood axe...well, sort of. You've had to replace the handle twice and the head once. (1d6 S, Versatile [1d8])

34-49...a pitchfork. Modern classic of peasant mobs. (1d6 P, Versatile [1d8])

50-54...a fireplace poker (1d6 B)

55-59...a shortbow with 12 arrows (Ammunition, range 80/320, Two-handed, 1d6 P)

60-64...a quarterstaff (1d6 B, Versatile [1d8])

65-69...darts. Bigger than an arrow, smaller than a javelin, Murderhobo staple. You have (1d4) of them (Finesse, Thrown 20/60, 1d4 P)

70...your fists. You ain't never punched a witch afore! Git 'er done! (Punches deal 1d4 B)

71-73...a smith's hammer (1d6 B)

74-76...your trusty musket. Did I say trusty? I meant rusty. Has enough bullets and powder for 10 shots (Ammunition, Range 40/120, Firearm, two-handed, 1d12 P )

77-79...a brace of pistols with bullets and powder for 10 shots (Ammunition, Light, Range 30/90, Firearm, 1d10 P )

80...a greatsword. Why do you have a greatsword? If this option has been rolled before, re-roll. (Heavy, two-handed, 2d6 S)

81-84...a shovel (Two-handed, 1d6 B)

85-86...a longsword (1d8, Versatile [1d10]

87-89...a flintlock pistol with bullets and powder for 5 shots (Ammunition, Light, Range 30/90, Firearm, 1d10 P )

90-91...a large knife for clearing brush (1d6 S)

92-93...a sickle (Light, 1d4 S)

94-95...a crossbow with 12 bolts (Ammunition, range 80/320, Loading, Two-handed, 1d8 P)

96-97...an oar (Two-handed, 1d8 B)

98...a pickaxe (Two-handed, 1d10 P)

99...a cavalry sabre (1d8 S)

What did you bring to help the mob extract justice?

You brought...Roll 1d100

0-25...a torch and the tinderbox to light it. Classic tool of the angry peasant mob.

26-30...several torches, in case your friends forgot (1d4+1)

31-35...a few burlap sacks (1d4+1)

36-40...a small cask of gunpowder (explodes to deal 3d6 fire damage to creatures within 10 feet of it. A successful DC 12 Dexterity saving throw halves the damage. Setting fire to 1d6 worth of gunpowder causes it to flare for 1 round, shedding bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet.)

41-55...some hemp rope, 50ft of it

56...a wooden shield (+2 AC)

57...a steel helmet (+1 AC)

58...leather armour (AC 11+ Dex Mod)

59-63...a crowbar

64-65...a flask of lamp oil

66-67...a candelabra with 5 candles

68-69...a flask of holy water

70...a ladder

71...a 10 foot pole

72...a set of manacles you don't have keys for

73...a set of manacles you do have keys for

74-79...a set of thieves tools

80...chains, 20 feet worth

81...a bucket of liquid tar

82...a grappling hook, but no line

83-86...a lantern with two flasks of oil

87-96...a tinderbox

97...your pet hound

98...a rusty breastplate (AC 14+Dex Mod [maximum 2])

99...leather armour and an old pot for a helmet (AC 12+ Dex Mod

What personal items are you carrying with you?

You brought...Roll 1d100

0-10...a bible and crucifix

11...a magic wand!...or maybe it's just a stick. The traveler who sold it to you swore it was magic though.

12-15...your goat, Princess. If anyone else rolls this result, they are co-owners of the goat

16-18...a few yards of fine linen (1d3+1 yards)

19...a warm hat

20-25...a music instrument of choice

26-28...1d6 pairs of gloves

29-30...1d6 gloves

31...a change of pants

32...a silver knife (Finesse, Light, Thrown 20/60, 1d4 P)

33...your ability to conjure a ball of sparks (Spell attack, Charisma to hit, range 20ft, 1d4 Radiant)

34-35...a bundle of firewood

36...calligrapher's supplies

37-40...a (1d6) pound bag of salt

41-43...two chickens on leashes

44-45...a pound of flour

46...an impressive collection of tattoos

47-50...a (2d4) pound bag of nightsoil

51...a manual titled “The Art of Herding Doves”, written in Romanian

52...a set of drama masks

53...a taxidermied monkey

54...a live (very angry) monkey in a cage

55...just your ability to magically conjure a single piece of wicker furniture

56-60...a string of rosary beads

61-65...a pouch of (1d20) copper coins

66-68...a bucket, a bar of soap, and a rag

69...a roast chicken

70...a paperback copy of the novel “The Group” by Mary McCarthy, written in Esperanto

71-74...1d4 glass bottles

75... your ability to speak with plants

76-78...an empty clay jug that can hold up to 1 litre

79...a reliquary containing the fake finger bones of a saint

80...a reliquary containing the real finger bones of a fake saint

81...a reliquary containing the fake finger bones of a fake saint

82...a reliquary containing the real finger bones of a saint (can heal 1d4 HP once, if the owner spends a round in prayer)

83...a small velvet bag with the words “crown royal” written on it.

84...a set of wooden clogs covered in delicately carved runes (These shoes grant advantage on any attempt to dance)

85-90...a bible

91-95...a crucifix

96...a pamphlet called “How to Identify a Witch- Now with Pictures!”

97...an anti-tiger charm (When held, the character can make an opposed Charisma check to repel tigers)

98...the Countess's mail, mostly bills

99...a tinderbox

And here are the alternate rules:

Rolling Over The Bodies (Replaces Death Saving Throws)

When a character reaches 0 hit points, they are in a state of flux. They are either alive and stunned, or they are dead. If circumstances exist that death is the only option (passing, head first, through an enormous meat grinder, for example) then the character is dead, no questions asked. If there is an ambiguity, then characters may attempt to Roll Over the Bodies. If a character has some uninterrupted time with the body, without any significant threat, their player declares they are rolling over a downed character's body. The downed character's player then rolls a d20. If the roll is 10 or higher, the roll succeeds and the character stands up with 1 hit point and disadvantage on all rolls for an hour. If the player rolls a 20, the character does not have a period of disadvantage. Rolling below a 10 means the character's wounds were too severe, and they are dead. Rolling over the bodies may not be done during combat, or while currently in danger from a trap or environmental hazard.

New Weapon Property

Firearm. Because of the time required to load this weapon, it requires 1 round to return this weapon to a loaded state.

Criticals

In addition to automatic success or failure on natural rolls of 1 or 20, attacks also consult the critical tables below. To use these tables, roll 1d8, modified by your Charisma modifier.

Critical Hits

-1 or less: Deal an additional 1d4 damage

0-3: Deal an additional 1d6 damage

4-7: You crush your foe's hand, or whatever they use to attack. They are unable to attack next round

8-10: Your foe is disarmed and knocked prone. You deal an additional 1d4 damage.

11-12: You make an immediate, second attack for free

Critical Fumbles

-1 or less: You've colossally fucked up. You take your normal damage +1, disarm yourself, and fall prone

0-3: You deal your normal attack damage to yourself

4-7: Your nearest enemy has advantage on their attack against you

8-10: You disarm yourself

11-12: You slip and fall prone

The critical tables could use some work, honestly, but there you go.

Eclipse Phase- Imperative: Retrieve

I did promise that I'd post the outline for the campaign that my players didn't choose. So here it is:

The general overview of the campaign is that the characters would be travelling all over Mars (with the occasional jaunt to inner system locations like Extropia, Venus and maybe a Scum Swarm). I had the idea that each enemy faction would be contributing research to the others, so depending on which faction the players pursued in which order, the remaining factions would be stronger in different ways. What I have here are my notes from the introductory adventure, it gives the players a taste of all the different groups and gives them an opportunity to learn more about what they are planning. For best effect, the book X-Threats is required.

Imperative: Retrieve

An Eclipse Phase Adventure

Overview: Hermes Delivery, a micro-corp based out of Petasos station, Went dark, stopping all deliveries for most of last year. Firewall assumed that the organization had folded from financial pressures, as they were heavily in debt. Recently, though, the station sent out most of its transorbital ships to various locations around Mars and launched its two long haul freighters. One of the freighters traveled in the direction of Venus, and the other towards the outer system. Petasos station was taken by exhumans of various packs as a staging point for Project Imago. Project Imago is an effort to create a self-replicating ecosystem of exhumans composed of rational minds of as many clades as possible.

History:

8.8 AF- Dr. Tran makes several forks of himself before joining Firewall.

9.1 AF- Several Exhuman Clades meet in the outer system and agree to form Project Imago

9.2 AF- The Adelphos Parasite Clade sends three members to Petasos in regular transhuman morphs

9.4 AF- Storage containers arrive from the outer system with three Defiler Morphs.

9.4 AF- Adelphos infiltrators sleeve into the Defiler Morphs and shut down the station

9.4 AF- The final crew member falls victim to the Defilers. They undergo psychosurgury and are sent back to Mars, unaware that anything stange has happened on the station.

9.5 AF- Petasos Station is converted into a breeding ground for the Exhuman Clades

10.4 AF- Project Imago disperses across Mars and into the Long Haul Freighters

10.4 AF- Proxy Polycephalus contacts the Sentinels

Deployment: Proxy Polycephalus contacts the Sentinels stationed in Olympus. He tells them they have been selected for a mission in Martian orbit and their cell is designated Imperative: Retrieve. They are to meet with an operative called The Postman (Proxy Polycephalus in another identity) in the Olympus tether. Polycephalus gives a Sign and Countersign to identify The Postman.

Sign: Who watches the postman?

Counter Sign: Eyes in every window

Sentinels receive this message though a variety of roundabout methods.

The Postman is waiting in Olympus Bar in the Tether. He is a short man, possibly Filipino genotype. He hands off an ecto containing the basic outline of the mission. He can arrange for transport to the station as part of the operations budget (10,000 credits). The Postman has his mesh inserts in autistic mode.

Proxy Polycephalus is an investigative reporter working for an Experia publication called E-XP-osé. He is an Async with powers of suggestion and is extremely skilled at assuming false identities. When he has the choice he will choose morphs appearing to be Latin American or South-East Asian men. He is fluent in the artificial colour language of uplifted octopuses and, when speaking in that language to someone he trusts with his identity (almost no-one) he will give his name as Shifting-Slowly-From-Indigo. Prior to the Fall, Diego was writing exposé about Cognite's uplift research facilities. His empathy for one of the test subjects (an uplift from a program to create corporate assassins and spies) named Shifting-Slowly-From-Indigo caused him to blow his cover and attempt a rescue. Unable to get the experimental body off of the station safely, he integrated his own ego with that of the uplift. He spent the years surrounding the fall in a medical facility orbiting Luna where he contracted the Watts-MacLeod virus in circumstances he is still trying to discover.

Messages:

-A Synth Barbershop Quartet, when combined with a program (OneTime.Exe) only accessible by those with a connection to The Eye, delivers the message through metaphor and code.

-A pickpocket slips a coin (featuring a neck with three heads) with skinlink on it into the Sentinel's pocket while they are in a Souk.

-Targeted AR spam delivers the message from several ads at once, directly into their entoptics.

-A bust of Janus arrives at their home that spells out the message when touched.

-A Window Prostitute delivers the message in a daze, and does not remember giving the instructions

-A nearby fabber pings them, and then prints out a ticket for the space elevator with skinlink embedded instructions.

Clades:

Predator- Wildlife: Uplifts and former mercurials, mostly neo-cetacians and neo-hominids with a few Octomorphs

Sublime- Neocortex: Neurodes interested in group minds, Asyncs and skilled in Nano and Viral engineering

Soul Eaters- Hundred Hands: AGI Soul Eaters that show some Singularity Seeker affiliation. Based on one AGI, interested in Wild Artificals.

Predator- F#: Solo Predator, rejects language

Singularity Seeker- Dr. Bao Ky Tran: Solo Singularity Seeker, experimenting with organic weapons and neogenic morphs, former member of firewall

Adaptives- The Shipbreakers: Void Salvagers, lure ships to their asteroid lairs with emergency beacons

Parasites- Adelphos: Instigators of Project Imago, Parasite Clade with influences from the Predator and Adaptive schools, testing enhancing Feral Defiler intelligence with accelerated simulspace dreamspaces.

Adelphos Defilers:

All are connected via a TacNet. If alerted to the presence of intruders, they will attempt to remove relevent information.

Aleph: Armed with a Railgun SMG

Bet: Carries a Diamond Axe and a Torch (No Kinetic Weapons Skill, Spray Weapons at 60)

Gimel: Armed with a Double Seeker Rifle, carries Overload in one side and High Explosive in the other (No Kinetic Weapons Skill, Seeker Weapons at 60)

Feral Defilers:

Literally numbered, Bet spray painted marks on them, gradually leading up to a box with a single dash through it

There are 5 Feral Defilers on the station- reference names are below

1- I

2- R

3- N

4- Square

5- Tick

F#: This Predator is sleeved in a modified Courier morph armed with Seeker Weapons and four mounted monofilament swords. It sits on the outside of Petasos Station and protects against intruders with a Rail Sniper Rifle emplacement sized for fighters and shuttles.

IMPLANTS

Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Chemical Sniffer, Cortical Stack, Cryonic Protection, Cyberbrain, Direction Sense, Enhanced Vision, Extra Limbs (4), Grip Pads, Headlights, Hidden Compartment, Internal Rocket, Lidar, Magnetic System, Mnemonic Augmentation, Plasma Sail Implant, Radar, Retracting/Telescoping Limbs, T-ray Emitter, Medichines, Oracles, Neurachem (1), Reflex Booster, Invisibility, 360 Degree Vision, Anti-Glare, Electric Sense, Radiation Sense, Structural Enhancement

F#- Von Neumann Body (Based off of an Arachnikoma with the internal cavity filled with the hive and server.)

WEAPONS

Articulated Mounted Kinetic Assault Rifles x2: 75 (RAP Rounds, -8 AP, 2d10+5 DV, Payload: 30)

IMPLANTS

Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Enhanced Vision, Extra Limbs (10 Arms/Legs), Lidar, Mnemonic Augmentation, Pneumatic Limbs, Radar, Implant Simulspace Server, Implant General Hive, Reflex Booster

TRAITS

Large Size, Ambidextrous

Petasos- Tin Can hab at L2 over Mars. The entire habitat is in microgravity.

Modules:

Body Bank: In addition to the 8 Healing Vats normally found in the module, 8 more have been placed on the ceiling and floor. Partially grown Defiler variants float in nutrient fluid, they seem similar to pods, but their tissues are held together with some kind of blue fungus. If caught unaware, Aleph is in this room with R and Square. The mesh in this room contains a trace for communications between the station and Bioclubs in Noctis-Qianjiao, specifically in the neighborhood of Biobrug as well as records of the former crew's ego-casting to various parts of Mars. A small airlock connects this room to the Command Center.

Hydroponics: The room is filled with various species of plants. The two most prominent are Spider Beans (Mix of Spider Plant and Broad Beans) and Bamboo Ferns (Mix of, well, you can guess). Two Snack Bar Morphs feed on the plants. One of the morphs has a cyst filled with Defiler Larvae. Six heavily modified healing vats, hooked up to ectos, hold data for uplift morphs specialized for predation. Also in this system are the schematics for a station in the Martian Outback, Bio-dome 6. Bio-dome 6 is an inflated dome, used to test an ecosystem for fully terraformed Mars consisting of a Mangrove-like swamp. A small airlock connects this room to the Command Center.

Command Center: This room consists of two parts, an outer shell that connects the various modules and acts as an anchor for the inner chamber. A small airlock leads into the central chamber. Once a modest server and control room, the central chamber is now packed with advanced servers and healing vats. Inside the healing vats is a strange blue tissue that is a xenofungal nervous strata, used for processing power. Attempting to access the server unleashes a combination of CR Gas and Nervex, as well as a Disassembler swarm designed to prioritize vacsuits and then synthmorphs. The airlock seals when the defenses activate. Contained in the system are 4 modified Security A.I. With the AR Illusions, Cauterizer and Bedlam programs. They have +20 to their Infosec skill due to the advanced architecture they're in, and an emphasis in cyberbrain hacking. They will shut the hacker first, then move to hack, or otherwise disrupt any open connections. A maker, containing the blueprint for a combination of Psi-Opener (with the X Sleight) and Psike Out, sits on one of servers. It contains 3 doses of the drug.

The servers contain information on using a xenofungal strata to accelerate the growth of nervous tissue, therefore cutting morph production times significantly. The Xenofungus was received from Lisa Hitchcomb (Actually an Exo-Planet, not a person but that info isn't contained on these servers). They also contain a plan on infiltrating the TQZ on Mars to find a town called Chernobog. Small Airlocks connect to the Dorms, the Body Bank, Hydroponics and floatways leading to the Shipping and Receiving modules.

Orbital Shipping and Receiving A: The room bears little to no resemblance to its original form. It has been converted into an arena combining micrograv and urban combat tactics. Four industrial fabbers with installed ego bridges line one the central wall. Six servitor bots move around collecting scrap and releasing fixer swarms on any damaged sections of the arena. Observant Sentinels will match the layout of the arena to a Souk in Valles-New Shanghai known for its wild artificals, only this has been mapped in 3D. The data on the fabbers is all corrupted, seemingly intentionally. Small airlocks connect to the Ring and the Command Center floatway. Connected sections of the Ring are Long Range A and B. A standard Airlock connects to an empty section of the docks with one docking port.

Orbital Shipping and Receiving B: An enormous room made into a nest for the Defilers. Bamboo Fersn and Spider Beans grow from every surface. F# left a synth body dubbed the Von Neumann morph here, it is plugged into an ego bridge. Gimel is here and will activate the upload if alerted to intruders. Small airlocks connect to the Ring and the Command Center floatway. Connected sections of the Ring are Long Range A and B. A standard Airlock connects to an empty section of the docks with one docking port.

Long Range Shipping and Receiving A: An enormous, barren room occupied only by industrial scale fabbers. An industrial airlock leads outside and tracks set into the wall allow containers to slide across the surface of the station at high speeds. Computers routed through here contain the navigational data for a Scum Swarm called The Shipment of Theseus which takes a route between Mars and Venus. There are also dossiers on scientists working for Ambiscience, the defunct corp that made the Synergists' implants. According to the dossiers, the scientists are traveling by Scum Swarm. Tick and N are in this room. Small airlocks connect to the Ring and the Command Center floatway. Connected sections of the Ring are Orbital A and B. A standard Airlock connects to an empty section of the docks with one docking port.

Long Range Shipping and Receiving B: A large room, filled with partially disassembled shipping containers. A four healing vats are filled with xeno-parasites such as the Gut Eater and Hook Bladder. Tables with holographic displays offer a disassembled view of the parasites. An analytic A.I is running on a Xeno-fungal neural strata in another vat, running analysis on the parasites, including transgenic morph designs. Five more healing vats sit opposite them, they are filled with neogenic morphs wit potent defensive systems and ergonomic organic grips. Aside from the A.I. The vats do not contain any information on their inhabitants. A set of four server racks sit apart from the vats, looking like towers on a keep for a flat table. The servers are apparently air-gaped but are wired to the table. The table has an access port prominently displayed, as well as a holographic projector. Attempting to access the Armed Servitors emerge from concealed panels, and two similarly hidden turrets activate in the ceiling. The servitors are running Security A.I. and two are carrying Assault Rifles with Smartlink and RAP rounds, one is carrying a Seeker Rifle filled with CS Gas splash rounds, and the last has a Particle Beam Bolter. The Turrets are using Kinetic SMGs with Homing Accushot rounds. In addition, a hologram of Dr. Tran will appear, telling the Sentinels that he knew they'd come sooner or later. At this point, the server racks explode. They carry the equivalent of 4 Thermobaric missiles (6d10+10 E, -10 AP). Characters accessing the console take half damage on a successful fray, unless they roll a critical. Small airlocks connect to the Ring and the Command Center floatway. Connected sections of the Ring are Orbital A and B. A standard Airlock connects to an empty section of the docks with one docking port. An industrial airlock leads outside but the entrance has been rigged with monowire lace.

The Ring: Surrounds the station, connecting all of the Shipping and Receiving modules. This section is made up of metallic corridors connected by flexible carbon fiber tubing. It is filled with Bamboo Ferns. On the exterior of the tubes is a monorail system, meant for conveying containers from one shipping module to another. If no alerted to the presence of intruders, Bet is in this area between Orbital A and Long Range A. It is accompanied by I.

Dorm A: The room contains a sympathy trap, strapped to a bed converted into a medical table. A concealed SMG turret sits on the ceiling, ready to fire on anyone who springs the trap. A small airlock connects this room to the Command Center.

Dorm B: A monowire mesh covers the entrance, protecting a Xenofungal colony mixed with nanotech. This amalgam is the Dream Server. Embedded in one of the nodes are the cortical stacks of the station's former crew. A small airlock connects this room to the Command Center.

Docks: There are docking sites for 6 trans-orbital vehicles and two long range haulers. Only one trans-orbital vehicle remains. The ship is connected to Orbital Shipping and Receiving A.

Exalted Setting

Sorry for the long hiatus. I've been back in University and have less spare time to dedicate to the blog. City of Thieves, the heist system is still in development and I may be able to run a campaign of it soon. Soon in this case being in the next few months. Hopefully, I'll be able to put actual play reports of the game up on the blog, but no promises.

Anyways, today's post is the result of some collaborative setting generation for an Exalted 3e game that may extend into a campaign, depending on how my players feel about it. While it references several setting details from Exalted, it could easily be changed for use in a different setting. Also, depending on which game my players choose, I'll be posting the details for the one they didn't pick.

The Kingdom of Azara

These harsh desert lands are home to the nomadic herding tribes known as the Azara. Every decade, the scattered tribes gather at a fertile, limestone cavern known as The Caves of Nahas to elect a new leader. If their leader dies before their decade is up, the tribes must reconvene early. Every leader is referred to only as the Ash Khan and does not acknowledge their gender until their term ends. The Ash Khan dresses in concealing robes and veils as part of their office. The Ash Khan conceals their gender in homage to the first Ash Khan a woman who dressed as a man in order to lead their tribe to victory against a roving band of Fair Folk. The election of the Ash Khan is a closely guarded secret. Each tribe of Azara sends a representative to a moot, those representatives deliberate in an isolated chamber under the Caves of Nahas to choose which of their number will become the new Ash Khan. The tribe of the new Ash Khan move into the caves, displacing the tribe of the former leader.

The Caves of Nahas are named after the Goddess Nahas, the Reflecting Sands, Handmaiden of the Sun. She is a minor Deity of Reflected Light and Mirrors. She provides the light that helps make the cavern a lush paradise. She spends most of her time in her Sanctum, among the ruins of the grand First Age project that drew her to the site, a ladder to the sun. She was once praised in proxy to Ignis Divine, his representative in the south, and spends her time turned from the affairs of the world. Perhaps the Chosen of the Sun could shake her from her dull nostalgia. Nahas is not the only god worshiped by the Azara, there is also the Horse God, Tenacious Stallion. Despite his name, Tenacious Stallion has been reduced in the last two decades, barely appearing before his followers. Once he would stud the mares of great champions, but now he lurks in his sanctum below the cavern and refuses all visitors but the Ash Khan.

The caverns are divided into three sections. The first is the Shining Market. Traders from the nearby city states of Zoatham, Dajaz and Gem as well as sundry Guild merchants, all gather in the Shining Market to trade their wares for the finest horseflesh in the South. The tribes of the Azara stay in the Shining Market when they wish to trade their wares for the steel weapons and tools sold in the market. The second area is Svarna Durga, the Golden Holdfast. Svarna Durga is the remains of the ancient temple to Sol and the reason the caves were a pilgrimage site during the First Age. During the Shogunate the Dragonblooded set up a prison for loyalist gods and the Lunar Exalted in the shell of the temple. The Khanate of Ash, a title given to the current ruling tribe, lives within the Svarna Durga. Outside the temple-fortress is a vast Garden, with verdant fields for the tribe's horses to graze. Towards the edges are bee hives and vegetable gardens where the Azara grow onions, melons, millet, date palms, and olive trees. They also hunt the feral temple hippos that swim in the waters around the edge of the garden, but not the guinea pig sized Vasati Hippos as they are sacred to Nahas. The Azara do not raise camels or yeddim as those are seen as merchant's animals and fit only for someone without the skill to raise horses.

The Lands of the Azara are vast but arid and mostly uninhabited. There are six main tribes of Azara, including the Khanate of Ash. The current Ash Khan was responsible for a war against the seventh tribe on a claim of heresy. The only sources of clean water and vegetation are scattered oases and the Caves of Nahas. Tribal leaders and sages pass down the knowledge of locations of clean water, too many of the springs and pools are tainted with disease, oil, or wyld energy.

On the south border of the Azara is the Court of Coal, a group of elementals ruled by 3 Ifrit Lords. Due to an ancient pact with the Azara they are bound to ride to war against the nomad's enemies in exchange for regular offerings. In times of peace, they are aggressive and territorial.

Beyond the south boarder are the boardermarches. Here, scattered cannibalistic nomads trade prisoners of war to the Fair Folk for great vessels that sail across the dust and sand of the arid south but dissolve when touched by water. Riding at the heads of these great raiding parties are the Raksha captains and their Hobgoblin crews. The Raksha call themselves The Fang Jihad.

The West and East border onto lands held by the Tyrant of Gem, the mysterious rulers of Dajaz, and the ruling temple of Zoatham. These marches are haunted by bandits, Fair Folk, and other more mysterious foes.

Beyond the North border is a tribe known as the Surazu. These people were once the eight tribe of the Azara but they, like the recently destroyed seventh tribe, were attacked on suspicion of heresy. Using sorcery learned from the whispers of demons the Surazu were able to repel the combined might of the Khanate of Ash and the gathered tribes. Now, the Surazu live in towers of brass and green fire, riding to war with their servitor-demons on the backs of great flightless cranes. At the heart of Surazu lands is a shadowland, home to a sprawling tea house and opium den called The House of One Thousand Unearthly Delights.  

City of Thieves- A Heistbox System- Part 2

So, I was planning on having this system ready to playtest by the end of February. Sadly that didn't happen. While far from complete, in a week or two I may be ready for playtests. Here are most of the core mechanics of the game. Some crucial stuff is missing and it hasn't been edited for clarity, but I figured I'd throw an update up here, just to prove it's not another one of my half-abandoned projects. Considering I'm writing this as a replacement for my Hexcrawl game, I can't let it languish.

Resolution Mechanics

Players roll dice in two situations: When they are opposed and when they have a time constraint. For example, a leisurely drive during planning would not require a roll, but a car chase after a heist would.

Players roll a number of six-sided dice equal to the relevant skill plus the connected ability and keep a number of those dice equal to the ability. These dice are referred to as the dice pool. They add up the value of the kept dice and compare it to the difficulty. Rolling all 1s is a Catastrophe and has effects beyond failing accomplish the intended goal.

Certain factors such as planning, gear or circumstances can add or subtract from the dice pool.

The difficulty of a roll is set by the Game Master or the opponent of an opposed roll. The base difficulty for a roll is 9, but can be higher or lower depending on the circumstances of the roll. During an opposed roll, the opponent rolls first and the result of their roll determines the difficulty of the second roll.

Stages and Initiative

Stages:

A Job is divided into several Stages. The situation in a Stage determine its type and the type of Stage then determines what skills and actions are available to the characters within that scene. The stages are listed below, along with how long a round of that kind of stage lasts.

Prep: 1 day

Social Call: 10 minutes

Heist: 5 minutes

Action: 1 minute

If multiple scenes are taking place at once, start at the smallest unit of time and resolve until it reaches the threshold for the next highest scene. If a scene resolves before it exceeds the threshold then consider it a full round of the next highest unit of time. For example, 2 Heist rounds equal 1 round in a Social Call, but 3 Heist rounds equal 2 rounds in a Social Call.

Regardless of the Stage, characters may take two types of actions:

Bolster: Skip your turn, but add +1k0 to the next roll a character of your choice make. If they don't make a roll on their next turn, they lose this bonus.

Wait: Skip your turn with no additional effects.

Initiative

If multiple groups are competing or the order in which things happen is a factor in a given scene, then roll Initiative as a group. How the group rolls initiative depends on the scene they are taking part in. Listed below are the type of rolls required to determine initiative and their corresponding scenes

Heists and Prep: Brains+Planning

Social Call: It+ Size Up

Violence and Foot Chases: Muscle+ Athletics

Vehicle Chases: Fingers+ Driving

Once the group rolls for initiative, the Game Master gathers the totals from the rolls and writes them down from highest to lowest, marking which specific side of the conflict the value belongs to. These values create the Slots that characters then use to take their turn.

At the highest value, the person or people responsible for playing the owning faction choose a character to take their turn in that slot. Once their turn is over, it moves down to the next highest slot. Once all the available Slots have been used to take a turn, the round is over. Normally, each character involved in that specific conflict must claim a Slot each turn, however, members of the Crew have access to a Focus Round.

During a Focus Round, a particular character may claim as many slots as other players on the crew are willing to give them. A character may only take one Focus Round per session.

Abilities and Skills

Muscles: Violence and unsubtle physical actions

Shooting: Governs the use of firearms and other projectile weapons (Action)

Hand to Hand: Governs the use of unarmed and melee weapons (Action)

Athletics: Used from swimming, climbing, running, lifting, and all manner of physical activity as long as subtlety is not the main concern (Action/ Heist)

Intimidate: Influencing others through threats and causing fear (Social)

Resist: Used during violence to avoid damage by taking cover or dodging. (Action)

Explosives: Used for the production and implementation of explosives, planted or thrown. (Action/ Heist)

Fingers: Daring and subtle physical actions, technical skills

Driving: Use and control of automobiles and stormers in stressful situations (Action)

Cat Burglary: Used from swimming, climbing, running, lifting, and all manner of strenuous physical activity as long as the main concern is subtlety (Heist)

Palming: Pick pocketing and other sleight of hand tricks (Heist)

Sneak: The capacity to conceal oneself while not exerting oneself physically (Heist)

Lockpicking: Knowledge of how to force simple locks open (Heist)

Build: Construction or modification of spaces and devices (Prep)

Brains: Knowledge, Planning and Observation

Mysticism: Mastery of one of the great magical Traditions, as well as general information about arcane matters (Prep)

Planning: The capacity to perform research and run schemes (Prep)

Lookout: General situational awareness (Heist)

Safecracking: Knowledge of the methods used to force open safes (Heist)

Appraisal: The ability to assess the worth of valuables and to detect forgeries (Prep)

Forgery: Knowledge of how to create fake documents and valuables such as art (Prep)

It: Sex Appeal, Social Skills & Social Connections

Connections: Knowledge of potentially useful people, such as fences, and how to reach them (Prep)

Size up: The ability to identify potential marks and to get a read for their loyalties and intentions (Social)

Con: Knowledge of confidence schemes and skills relevant to their execution as well as the creation of disguises and false identities (Social/Prep)

Impress: Influencing people through charisma, talent or sex appeal (Social)

Manipulate: Influencing people through lies and trickery (Social)

Convince: Influencing people through rhetoric and persuading with the truth (Social)

Action Scenes

Violence

Getting The Drop:

If your target is unaware that you are in the same zone as them, you are able to get the Drop. You make a roll with Hand to Hand, Shooting, or Explosives versus the opponent's Training Score. If attacking with fists or a weapon with the Blunt tag, then this is a Subdue roll. If attacking with another weapon, then this is a Murder roll. In either case, add the bonus from any wielded weapon.

While getting the Drop is safer than Gang Warfare, there is still a strong chance of killing your opponent, even if that is not your intention. The goal of these rules is to set a middle group between the harmless knock-out punch seen in fiction and the reality of head injuries.

Subdue Rolls and their results:

Attacker Fails: Target is Aware

Attacker Succeeds: Target is Aware but Unconscious

Attacker Succeeds by 3+: Target is Dead

Attacker Succeeds by 6+: Target is Unconscious

Murder Rolls and their results:

Attacker Fails: Target is Aware

Attacker Succeeds: Target is Wounded and Aware

Attacker Succeeds by 3+: Target is Dead

If the target is Conscious and Aware they may attempt to Flee, which may begins a Chase of the relevant type, Call for Help, which raises the guards' Awareness Scores, or they could Square Up, which may start Gang Warfare. If the target is Unconscious but Aware, they know their attacker's description, although the use of disguises mitigate the danger somewhat.

When getting the Drop on multiple people, any result where the target is Aware or made with a firearm will also make the target's allies Aware.

Gang Warfare:

A measure of last resort for a desperate crew of thieves. Gang Warfare is when two or more people engage in combat where both sides are Aware of the other.

After rolling Initiative as outlined in Chapter 1 (pg XX). After rolling Initiative, everyone rolls Resist with any armour bonuses, and records the number as their Cover Score.

When the round reaches a character's claimed initiative slot there are several actions they can take.

Flee: The character moves to exit the Zone, Every slot between this action and the character's next action gets a chance to join in. If an enemy joins in, then a Chase begins. On the character's next action, they leave the Zone and the Gang Warfare.

Reposition: The character moves within the Zone. This may give them access to different gear or circumstances, but also allows a character to re-roll their Cover Score.

Attack: The character uses weapons or their own body to attempt to harm another character. The aggressor rolls Muscle+the relevant skill with their opponent's Cover Score as thedifficulty.

Skills useful in an attack are Shooting, Hand to Hand, and Explosives. Shooting and Explosives require specific gear to use in combat. If the character is in a vehicle, they can also make an Attack with Fingers+Driving, but must make another Fingers+Driving check to avoid crashing if the circumstances warrant it.

If a character attacks using the Hand to Hand skill, it is assumed they move the distance to their target as part of their Attack. They do not re-roll their Cover Score.

If the character is using the Hand to Hand skill and successfully hits, they can choose to Restrain. A Restrained character cannot Flee or Reposition on their turn. To break free from a Restraining character, the two characters may roll opposed Muscle+ Athletics.

Any Attack in which the aggressor's roll is not a Catastrophe reduces the target's Cover Score by 1. Exceeding the target's Cover Score reduces the value by however much the Attack exceeded the Score.

If the target's Cover Score drops to 0, then they become wounded and any leftover damage is the number of days until they recover.

If the target is already wounded and their Cover Score drops to 0, they are Dead.

Chases

Chases have two scales for Velocity, Speed and Muscles.

Speed is typically used when a vehicle can use its full capacity such as on a road with normal traffic. Vehicles have a set Speed rating. Certain characters, through the use of advanced technology or magic also have a Speed Rating. Their Speed is set by whatever means they obtained it.

Making rolls using Speed involves rolling a pool of Speed+Driving.

If a character is unable to use their vehicles full capacity, they roll Fingers+Driving and are considered to be traveling at Muscles velocity.

Similarly, if someone on foot is granted Speed but is unable to use it due to cramped conditions, they use their Muscle+Athletics and are considered to traveling at Muscles velocity.

Characters traveling at Muscles velocity roll Muscle+Athletics.

Chases begin with the sides rolling initiative as outlined in Chapter 1 (pg XX). Participants roll Resist with any armour bonuses, and records the number as their Cover Score. The GM then sets an initial Distance.

The Distance is how much ground separates the groups. Each chase has one Target and every other participant is considered a Pursuer. If there are multiple people in the Target group and they split up, chasing after each group of Targets is considered a separate Chase. A Target may consist of multiple people, as long as they are moving together. These classifications determine which actions are available to a participant.

Targets may, on their turn:

Attack: A character may attempt to Attack, as in Gang Warfare, during a chase. Attacking with a melee weapon requires a Distance of 0. Attacks against a Vehicle target its Body Score, attacks against a Passenger or Pedestrian target their Cover Score.

Accelerate: This action allows a character to increase the distance between them and their Pursuers. They make an opposed roll versus their Pursuers and if successful, increase the Distance by 1. If there are multiple Pursuers, then each group able to Close rolls. If in a vehicle, only the driver may Accelerate.

Shake: Characters may use this action in a variety of ways, all representing careful maneuvering as a means of deterring their Pursuers. If in a vehicle, only the driver may Shake. The most basic application is entering a crowded space. Participants in the chase then use the rules for cramped conditions. The target may attempt to surmount an obstacle. The Target sets a difficulty and rolls against it. Similarly, their Pursuers also roll against it. If the Target is successful, increase the Distance by 1. If the Pursuers are unsuccessful, increase the Distance by another 1. This action may also be use to dislodge someone who has taken the Board action. The Character rolls Fingers+ Driving versus the Pursuers Muscle+Athletics, if successful, the Pursuer is thrown from the Vehicle.

Escape: This action allows a character to leave a chase victorious. To escape, a character must have distance from their pursuers equal to the fastest Pursuer's Velocity Rating and be able to Accelerate.

Pursuers may, on their turn:

Takedown: Only available to Pursuers at Distance 0. Characters make the relevant opposed rolls. If the Pursuer succeeds, they end the chase, Victorious. If they fail, then Distance increases by 2. If the Pursuer performs a successful Takedown while on foot, they may immediately initiate a hold against a Target. If the Pursuer is in a Vehicle and successfully performs a Takedown, the Target is subject to an immediate Ram attack.

Board: Only available to Pursuers in Vehicles against Targets in Vehicles at Distance 0. This action allows a character to move from one Vehicle to another. The Pursuer rolls Muscle+Athletics versus their Opponents Fingers+Driving. If Successful, the Pursuer is always considered to be at Distance 0 to the target.

Attack: A character may attempt to Attack, as in Gang Warfare, during a chase. Attacking with a melee weapon requires a Distance of 0. Attacks against a Vehicle target its Body Score, attacks against a Passenger or Pedestrian target their Cover Score.

Ram: A ram is a special form of the Attack action, only available to the driver of a vehicle. If the Distance is a 0, then the Pursuer may attack using Fingers+Driving against the Body or Cover Score of the Defender, dealing damage as normal. The attacker's Vehicle grants a weapon bonus.

Close: This action allows a character to decrease the distance between them and their Target. They make an opposed roll versus their Target and if successful, decrease the Distance by 1. If in a vehicle, only the driver may Close. Additionally, if the Pursuer has a Speed Velocity Rating and the Target has a Muscles Velocity Rating, attempting to Close reduces the Distance to 0. On a successful roll, the Pursuer may also attempt a Takedown or Ram.

Fall Off: This action allows a character to leave a chase without having caught the Target. No roll is needed but in the case of a Vehicle, only the driver may perform this action.

Heists

Spots and Zones

Heists take place in a Spot. A Spot is a small area, no larger than a few city blocks. Spots are made up of Zones. Characters begin a Heist outside the Spot and Concealed.

Zones are spaces denoted by a character's ability to move from one point in the Zone to any other point within the span of a single Heist Round. Unless a Tag says otherwise, characters can move through a Zone without a roll, or with a Stealth roll if they wish to remain undiscovered. An Aware Guard in the Zone prevents a character from moving with Stealth.

Zones come with two qualifiers, Tags and Barriers.

Tags denote special circumstances that make a Heist more or less difficult.

Barriers divide Zones within a Spot. Barriers may have one or more Securities. Each Security has a Tag and a Score. The Tag denotes what kind of obstacle prevents movement between zones. The Security Score marks how difficult overcoming those obstacles are.

Zone Tags:

Hazardous: Movement in this zone requires either an Athletics or Cat Burglar Roll

Noisy: Stealth rolls are permitted against Aware Guards

Hidden:Rolls to discover the Layout of a Spot do not uncover the presence of these Zones. Discovering Zones with this tag requires a special roll as detailed below under the heading “Research”.

Crowded: Rolls made with Cat Burglar, as well any Subdue or Murder Rolls cause all Guards in the Zone to become Aware.

Barrier Tags:

Lock: Bypassing requires a Lockpicking roll

Vault: Bypassing requires a Safecracking roll

Height: Bypassing requires an Athletics or Cat Burglar roll

Structure: Bypassing requires an Athletics or Build roll

Guards

Non-Player characters present at the Spot with an interest in keeping people out of the spot or particular zones within it, and/or keeping them away from the Loot are designated as Guards. Guards are mostly built like regular characters, but have two Scores that determine their interactions on the Heist Time frame until they gain the Aware state.

Both of these scores are determined with the following formula:

Score= 3x Kept Dice +(1 per additional rolled die)

Awareness: Tied to the guard's Brains + Lookout Pool

Training: Tied to the guard's Muscle+ Resist Poll

In a Zone with multiple guards, use the highest Awareness score for all.

Research

Research takes place during the Prep Stage and lets the characters discover important information about the Heist. The standard skill for Research is Planning. Planning takes more time but doesn't require risks or payment.

Alternatively, a character may roll Connections to draw on their contacts. This halves the difficulty of the roll but you must pay 1 Reputation per roll made.

Another option, which also halves the difficulty of the roll, is a stakeout. In a stakeout, the characters roll Lookout against the difficulty of their Research goal, but also roll stealth against the Awareness Score of the Guard(s) nearest the edge of the Spot. Failure on the Stealth roll raises the Crew's Heat.

Layout: Base difficulty of 6 with +1 per zone.

Characters wishing to discover a Hidden Zone roll their research skill and declare they are looking for Hidden Zones. If the roll meets or exceeds the rating attracted to the Zones in the Spot with the Hidden Tag, the character discovers them as part of their research.

Mark: Identify people of interest to the Heist. The base difficulty for this roll is 25-(The Target's Connections Skill)

Itinerary: Learn the schedule of a Character or Spot. The base difficulty for this roll is 20.

Schemes

Planning can accumulate Foresight which acts as a specialized currency to be spent on Schemes

When using a planning roll to accumulate Foresight, the threshold for gaining 1 Foresight is 3

Each player can have a pool of Foresight equal to their Brains+Planning

Schemes

1) Ambush- Reposition a member of the Crew instantly within a Spot- 1 Foresight per Zone moved

2) Training- Add dice on action- 1 Foresight per rolled die and 2 Foresight per kept die added

3) Secrets- Allows someone to make a regular Connections, Planning, or Mysticism roll- 3 Foresight per roll

4) Cache- Spend Resources retroactively, if used to purchase gear, the character of your choice gains the items-1 Foresight per Resource spent

5) Blueprint- Add a Zone with the Hidden Tag between two other Zones-If the Zone connects to the edge of the Spot the base cost is 3 Foresight, if not, the base cost is 1 Foresight. In both cases, the cost increases by 1 per Zone the new Zone bypasses.

6) Switch- Allows someone to make a con schemes roll for disguises or a regular forgery roll- 3 Foresight per roll

Social Calls

Loyalties

Loyaties are representative of the ideals and relationships that drive your character forwards. Players have a maximum of 4 Loyalties, one of which is their Prime Loyalty. The Prime Loyalty is the most important connection your character has, something that they will only forgo under the most strenuous of circumstances. Loyalties are short descriptions, focusing on the person or idea and the type of relationship.

Some example Loyalties:

Hatred: Germans

Devoted: Spouse

Devoted: Crew

Hated: Police

Desire: Knowledge

Desire: Ruth the Flapper

Loyalties may be manipulated by others during Social Calls, either changing the regular Loyalties to something different, or switching one of their existing Loyalites with the Prime Loyalty. Characters may only alter one Loyalty per Social Call. A Character may alter one of their Loyalties in the same way at the beginning of a session. Characters can also use their Loyalties in two other ways.

Lean Onto: When Leaning Onto a Loyalty, you are using your connections, or the connections of another to add 1k0 to a roll. Leaning Onto your own Loyalties, you can apply the bonus from any Loyalty of immediate relevance to any type of action. For example, you could Lean Onto your Hatred of Police in a shootout, but couldn't add your Devotion to your Crew unless someone in your crew were threatened beyond the circumstances of the shootout such as being wounded. When Leaning Onto another person's Loyalty, you can only use it during social calls. Furthermore, if you are attempting to alter another character's Loyalties, you cannot Lean Onto the Loyalty you are attempting to alter. To put it another way, you can't use a person's love for their job to get them to take a bribe, but you could use their fear of their loan shark to get them to risk the job they love.

Lean Into: People refuse to compromise their morals, connections, and biases. Leaning Into a Loyalty is how a character can shut down an attempt to manipulate them. If an attempt at pushing an agenda goes against one of your Loyalties, you may Lean Into that Loyalty in order to deny the attempt. The exception to this rule is if someone is trying to alter that Loyalty. The character can still Lean Into other Loyalties that apply. For example: A handsome German man were trying to seduce a married woman. The German man attempts to alter her Loyalty, Devoted: Husband, to Desire: Handsome German. The married woman could not Lean Into Devoted: Husband, but could Lean Into Hatred: Germans in order to negate the pushed agenda.

Social Calls

A Social Call is when one or more parties attempt to push an agenda or agendas on others. This could be something like seduction, bribery, or running a confidence trick.

Social Calls use skills with the Social tag.

To begin a Social Call, roll Initiative as outline in Chapter 1 (pg XX). When you claim a slot on the initiative order, you may either attempt to Read Room, or Push Agenda. After players make their roll, and the results are determined, the group can roleplay however much of the interaction they like, with the goal of reaching the predetermined result.

Read Room: In order to achieve a goal, characters need to know who they need to talk to in order to make that happen. A character attempting to Read Room rolls Size Up versus their opponent's Size Up. If the aggressor succeeds, the character learns the identity of their target. If their opponent succeeds, the aggressor still learns the identity of their target, but the target also learns the presented identity of the aggressor.

If your target has already been identified, you can use a Read Room roll to determine a single Loyalty of your choice, you are able to ask if there are any Loyalties that would impede your current Agenda. If the opponent it aware of your identity, on a failed roll they learn which Loyalty you were trying to uncover. If the opponent is unaware of your identity, they learn it on a failed roll. On a success, you learn the relevant loyalty, but your opponent remains in the dark about your identity or intentions.

Push Agenda: If your character know who their target is, you can then attempt to Push Agenda.

The first step is to set an Agenda. Your Agenda is what you want to get from your target. This is not, for example, seducing the target. Seduction is the means to an end, the Agenda is what you gain from that seduction, it could be as simple as getting someone alone or it could be something complex like convincing them to lend the crew their car.

The next step is to create the Build Up. This stage is creating the emotion state you want in your target. These states are either negative or positive. A failed roll versus your opponent's Size Up yields the negative emotional state for the skill used to Build Up. On a successful roll, you create a positive emotional state. The emotional state is set and cannot be altered until another character attempts a Build Up. Furthermore, if a character is in a negative emotional state, the character responsible for the Build Up that invoked that state cannot Follow Through. If they change their presented identity, for instance, through a disguise, they can attempt to Build Up, or Follow Through.

The skills used in the Build Up and the Positive/Negative Emotional States they create are listed below:

Intimidate: Fearful/Angry

Con: Mark/Wise

Impress: Devoted/Envious

Manipulate: Accepting/Suspicious

Convince: Engaged/Stubborn

To complete your agenda, you need to Follow Through on the Emotional State you, or another character created. To Follow Through you roll Intimidate, Impress, Manipulate or Convince against your target's Read Room. If successful, you achieve your agenda. On a failed roll, their Emotional State changes to the relevant Negative Emotional State, depending on what skill you used.

Emotional States

Accepting: The target buys into whatever lie the aggressor is spinning.

Angry: The target is furious with the aggressor and will resist their agenda.

Devoted: The target wants to be like the aggressor or to be with the aggressor.

Engaged: The target is considering the aggressor's rhetoric and may change their stance on whatever the debate concerns.

Envious: The target hates the aggressor for showing off their talents or being better than the target.

Fearful: The target is afraid of the aggressor and will comply with their wishes.

Mark: The target buys into the Con the aggressor is pushing.

Stubborn: The target is set in their opinion concerning the debated subject and will not accept the aggressor's stance.

Suspicious: The target does not believe the lie or lies that the aggressor tells them.

Wise: The target recognizes the nature of the aggressor's Con.