Dice The Crew (OOC)

[dae mec]

I also like Everyone Steals or Slippery, though Ghost Echoes is super tempting because of it's fun flavor. Everyone Steals helps with the execution, while Slippery helps with the aftermath. I guess Slippery then, because we can always plan for contingencies, but Slippery lets us deal with the unexpected consequences.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Kind of counting the way you guys mentioned it, it FEELS like slippery is the winner? I kind of took each mention with how committed you sounded and lightly scored it.

Slippery	4
Everyone Steals	3
Pack Rats	1
Ghost Echoes	0

 

[WlfSamurai]

So, if we agree, I'll mark it down and we move to the next part.

Apologies for this taking a bit of time, but I am enjoying it.

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

Slippery sounds good if it keeps us safe after the heists.

I don't mind taking time for the setup, really gives us an idea of who is actually going to participate in the rp

 

[Teh Frixz]

I’m actually appreciative of the setup, far too often I find games jumping head first into things. While not bad, it can impact longevity to not have any groundwork laid out.

 

[D. Rex]

I'm happy with a good setup as well. Its my favorite part. Nothing like a good session of scheming and planning to get me fired up.

 

[dae mec]

Fourthed! There's nothing like a good (metaphorical) session 0 to lay a solid groundwork. I appreciate the time you're putting into this!

 

[WlfSamurai]

Awesome!

All right, so now we choose your upgrades. You get to choose 2 upgrades to your crew. This is in addition to the 2 that you start with. The ones you start with are:

• Training: Prowess
  • If you have a Training upgrade, you earn 2 xp (instead of 1) when you train a given xp track during downtime (Prowess xp). This upgrade essentially helps you advance more quickly.
• Lair: Hidden
  • Your lair has a secret location and is disguised to hide it from view. If your lair is discovered, use two downtime activities and pay coin equal to your Tier to relocate it and hide it once again.

So, now to choose your 2 additional upgrades, you can choose one or both from the specific Shadows crew type upgrades:

• Thief Rigging: You get 2 free load worth of tool or gear items. For example, you could carry burglary gear and tinkering tools for zero load.
• Underground Maps and Passkeys: You have easy passage through the underground canals, tunnels, and basements of the city.
• Elite Rooks: All of your cohorts with the Rooks type get +1d to quality rolls for Rook-related actions.
• Elite Skulks: All of your cohorts with the Skulks type get +1d to quality rolls for Skulk-related actions.
• Steady: Each PC gets +1 stress box. This costs three upgrades to unlock, not just one.

Or, you can choose one or both from the general crew upgrades:



And just so you have some context, these are the gang types and what they mean and their size based on your tier (yours is 0 right now):

• Adepts: Scholars, tinkerers, occultists, and chemists.
• Rooks: Con artists, spies, and socialites.
• Rovers: Sailors, carriage drivers, and deathlands scavengers.
• Skulks: Scouts, infiltrators, and thieves.
• Thugs: Killers, brawlers, and roustabouts.

And the gang size by tier:

• Tier V. Massive gangs. (80 people)
• Tier IV. Huge gangs. (40 people)
• Tier III. Large gangs. (20 people)
• Tier II. Medium gangs. (12 people)
• Tier I. Small gangs. (3-6 people)
• Tier 0. 1 or 2 people

There's a lot here, so ask as many questions as you need. I do want to note that the upgrades point to facts if they aren't chosen, as well. For instance, if you don't choose quarters, like it says, you don't live in your lair.

Teh Frixz Seraph Darkfire D. Rex dae mec

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

Considering that our base is connected to underground passageways, we should definitely get the Underground Maps and Passkeys upgrade.

The second one I'm torn between Thief Rigging which would help us carry more stuff into our jobs, Quarters which would help us sleep in safety if we get some decent heat or enemies, or Secure Lair which would protect us from rival thieves and possibly assassins if we anger the wrong people.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Narratively, I like the idea of quarters and in both gameplay/narrative, I love the idea of us having the maps and pass keys. It’s supposed to be web of passages down by us and having an edge like that sounds particularly shadow-y. Maybe we picked them up from old Academic archives?

 

[dae mec]

Strongly thirding the Underground Maps and Passkeys upgrade, it has lovely flavor and it's useful! Quarters is also a good one. I'm curious as to how useful Steady is but I don't know a lot about how stress boxes are used.

Do we already start with cohorts, or is that an upgrade to get one at all?

 

[WlfSamurai]

Strongly thirding the Underground Maps and Passkeys upgrade, it has lovely flavor and it's useful! Quarters is also a good one. I'm curious as to how useful Steady is but I don't know a lot about how stress boxes are used.

Do we already start with cohorts, or is that an upgrade to get one at all?

Good question. You don't start with them, you’d need to choose them as one of two upgrades here. Or both if you wanted a gang and an expert. Or two experts. Or two gangs.

 

[D. Rex]

Underground Maps and Passkeys is definitely a desirable upgrade. Working well with our underground grotto, hidden lair, and slippery bits.



I would choose Secure Lair over Quarters, makes us that much more slippery. Quarters would be a good 3rd choice.

But getting started on a gang would not be a bad idea either. We may start out with 1 or 2 goons, but could help make things a bit easier for us. And I got a good command rating to make use of them.

 

[WlfSamurai]

So, it SOUNDS like underground maps and passkeys is a definite for one of them. But, we have some debate on the second. Any other thoughts on which of the ones mentioned sound more important? Or perhaps, you all pick the one you would choose as a second and we see which has the most mentions?

For both of these, I'm going to be telling you where/how you get them and from whom, which I'm excited about.

 

[dae mec]

I'm more uncertain not less, hah! I'm going to be of no help lol, but here are the pros of the ones I was thinking about.

Quarters: Keeps us safe when we're not working
Secure Lair: Protects us from intrusion
Workshop: We can do our really sketchy work here
Cohort: Gives us a gang to do our dirty work
Training: Lets us progress faster

I think Quarters might be better than Secure Lair right now. I guess if I had to rank, I'd say Quarters > Cohort > Training > Secure Lair > Workshop.

 

[Teh Frixz]

If we go with secure lair, which I feel I’m being swayed towards now (provided we can get some quarters later on), what sort of defenses are we looking at?

We should sit nice and cozy considering the hidden location of our lair and if we are securing it. Just need to be sure we are making use of how safe we are.

 

[WlfSamurai]

If we go with secure lair, which I feel I’m being swayed towards now (provided we can get some quarters later on), what sort of defenses are we looking at?

We should sit nice and cozy considering the hidden location of our lair and if we are securing it. Just need to be sure we are making use of how safe we are.

So, it's described as locks, alarms, and traps to thwart intruders. We'd made a roll to see how well it keeps intruders out or effects them. But, essentially, you have early warning or traps.

 

[dae mec]

So I guess we have to pick one now. I'll say Secure Lair for my vote because we can upgrade it, and I think it makes sense for my character to not live there... Yet.

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

Secure Lair sounds good to me considering our characters wouldn't start off staying there, quarters would be an upgrade we get later.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Okay, awesome. Sounds good to me.

I should have a post tonight or tomorrow to talk about the factions that those upgrades interacted.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Okay, so:

The Dimmer Sisters helped you get a secure liar. They like you, and you get +1 status with them. At your option, spend 1 coin to repay their kindness, and take +2 status with them instead.

The Dimmer Sisters think you can help them unconver arcane secrets they can use. There is an unknown number of “sisters”. They are house-bound recluses with an occult reputation.​

The Fog Hounds was screwed over when you underground maps and passkeys. They don’t like you, and you get -2 status with them. At your option, spend 1 coin to mollify them, and take -1 status with them instead.

The Fog Hounds operate their smuggling business canal routes and underground docks. You obtaining access to the maps and keys of the underground takes away their exclusive access.​

Do yo wish to pay coin into either of these situations?

 

[WlfSamurai]

We have one more step after this! We get to find your favorite contact and then we can play for real! Woo!

 

[D. Rex]

I would say that paying the coin to both of them would work best for us.

 

[Teh Frixz]

How big a threat are these fog hounds? We talkin just scammers and smugglers or do they have muscle? I wouldn’t mind pissing them off

 

[WlfSamurai]

The Fog Hounds are a Tier 1 faction. You’re a Tier 0. So still just starting out themselves. They have a decent foothold in the city, but have a long way to go.