Teeth Among Shadows

Cyberpunk Red. January 2024 IRL, 1/20/2045 IG

PART ONE (1/20/2045)

Glitch, Smith, and Adams were on a rooftop in the Vintner Court Collective neighborhood, joining an impromptu party to watch the sparkler fountain on the mech legs for the self-destructed Growler 88. Grace caught up to them and invited them to a meet with a client. They followed him to the Copperplate to meet with Sgt. Ebbik with Triptarch Security.

The Client

Ebbik explained seven young women have gone missing, probably related to the Symphony Hall in the University District, where the Philharmonic Vampyrs base their fine arts performances and raves. The most recent disappearance was Lucy Rhinemeyer on the night of the 18th. Her father, Dashell Rhinemeyer, was an exec for Rocklin Augmentics. Since Triptarch Security (contracted to provide law enforcement for the university and several other areas of the University District) was busy with other current events, Dashell Rhinemeyer worked through Sgt. Ebbik to offer a bounty for action on recovering his daughter. Ebbik brought the deal to Grace, who connected him to these edgerunners. The offer was 500 EB to take the job, 1,500 for demonstrable contribution to recovering Lucy dead or alive, and bonuses based on her condition and their involvement.

The edgerunners took the job and the file on the seven missing women. They had 48 hours to get results, before Rhinemeyer opened up the contract to additional edgerunners. Ebbik excused himself, and the edgerunners paged through the file and discussed next moves.

Expanding the Context

Glitch met with Beez and got kitted out in goth style so he could blend in as he scouted the Symphony Hall, which was the site for “Ruby Swell: A Night Opera” at the Symphony Hall later that night. 

Adams and Smith went to Hong’s Noodle Shop in the University District, a neutral location where even feuding gangers agreed to forego violence. Smith flirted with a pack of goths headed to the Symphony Hall later, and got into their group. They adjusted his style to fit in better using spares and materials on hand.

Adams spotted another edgerunner doing surveillance and rumor gathering, and confronted him. Crusher was very rude, telling him to go away, but Adams would not be denied or dismissed. He insisted Crusher tell him what he knew about the girls, and drew a knife on the bigger edgerunner. Crusher tossed him over the counter and resumed his own business, but Adams insisted. Irritated, Crusher went outside, and the two edgerunners discharged shotguns at each other at close range to minimal effect. Crusher got frustrated enough to toss a flash grenade and withdraw, probably ending his welcome at Hong’s Noodle Shop due to breaking the no violence taboo onsite. Law enforcement closed in, so the edgerunners retreated.

Smith went to the Symphony Hall with the college goths, and Adams went to Beez to get his own gothy glow-up for the party.

Night City Symphony Hall

Meanwhile, Glitch was already in the Symphony Hall. He asked around and found Allen, the Vampyr boyfriend of the second woman who went missing. Allen was glad to talk about his missing girlfriend, as he feared no one was still looking for her. He didn’t know much, but suggested that the leader of the Philharmonic Vampyrs, Renfeld, could be more informative. Allen went to talk to him, to set up a meeting.

Adams mingled with the crowd, and worked his way up near the stage for the concert phase of the night’s entertainment. Smith got through the rudimentary defenses of the Architecture system housing the Symphony Hall data and defenses, and patched into the security system after downloading floorplans. He shared that information through his Agent with the Agents of the other edgerunners. 

Glitch met with Renfeld, impatient with the theatrics and affectations of the Philharmonic Vampyrs. He didn’t get much information from him, so he demanded to meet with the Master, who was apparently the one in charge of the gang. He intimidated Renfeld subtly, and the lieutenant withdrew. 

A Van of Bozos

Smith spotted a van of Bozos gangsters in the alley behind the Symphony Hall. In the briefing from Sgt. Ebbik, one of the possibly relevant current events in the University District was a gang war between the Inquisitors and the Bozos. Last night, the Bozos main base, the House of Mirrors, was leveled. The Inquisitors claimed credit, but the Bozos blamed the Philharmonic Vampyres for some reason. Heavily armed, they seemed to be here to disrupt the concert in retaliation.

Smith subtly notified internal security for the Symphony Hall, and the Vampyr gangsters armed up and prepared to take on the van. Meanwhile Glitch checked it out from an upstairs window to confirm Smith’s report, then sidled outside and circled around to approach the van from the side. Before he could take action, the Vampyrs came out with machine guns blazing. The Bozo van peeled out of the alley and was hit by a wider picket guard with a grenade launcher; reinforced, the van survived the hit, and wobbled on its way to speed out of danger.

PART TWO

Meet With the Master

The concert started up on time and unfazed by the clash outside. The edgerunners mingled in the audience as the deafening music isolated them. Glitch noticed a laser pointer dot on his chest, and looked up to see Renfeld training it on him to get his attention. Glitch made his way out of the crowd to confront the lieutenant, who explained the Master would see him now. Glitch followed Renfeld into the elevator, which went two levels below the basement. Glitch strode into the dramatic gothic vault throne room, through holographic mist and bats. The Master agreed to share information with Glitch and his team, as the situation had gotten out of hand.

The Master explained Lord Ruthven’s role as founder of the Philharmonic Vampyres, trying for mystery and beauty in the wake of the nuke that wrecked Arasaka over 20 years ago. Ruthven lost sight of the beauty of the Vampyres and their aesthetics, as he got more and more cybers to compensate for age and its toll on his body. He was now over 80, and his role at the University was relegated to advisor for the Psych department as he was no longer effective in teaching courses. Ruthven increasingly became a predator of the night. The Master believes he is behind the recent disappearances (as well as the attack on the House of Mirrors for some reason).

Disdainful of the Master and his Vampyres, Glitch clarified he was not interested in helping the Vampyres, he was involved to retrieve the missing women. The Master agreed; he needed edgerunners to stop Ruthven, as that task was beyond the capacity of the Vampyres. The Master was investigating which of Ruthven’s 16 safehouses was his current base, and he got a notification during the meeting. He passed the address for the Union Chapel Bar.

To the Union Chapel Bar

Glitch left, picking up Smith and Adams on his way out. They returned to their quarters in South Night City so Glitch could get the rest of his weapons, and Adams collected his EMP bomb. They got an armored taxi to take them to a popular hotspot somewhat near the Union Chapel Bar, which was closed and in a bad enough area that taxis would not go there at night. On the way, Smith downloaded what information he could on the bar and its surrounding area.

The edgerunners crossed the 10 blocks to the area of the bar, and Smith and Adams waited under cover while Glitch stealthed closer to look for a good way in. He was startled by a homeless man who fired off a shotgun, triggering some random shooting from other unfortunates in nearby buildings. Glitch suppressed his drunken attacker, who asked if he was with the Vampyres, or if he was a monk. Puzzled, Glitch left the subdued man, and circled around to the bar. 

Most of the bar was shuttered and locked, but there was an access point on the roof where a shell from one of the corp skirmishes blew a hole that never got patched. Glitch called the others to catch up, and the three of them descended into the back room of the bar undetected.

Monks in Extremis

Four dead Inquisitor gangers were carelessly stacked in the cold of the back room. They had been swiftly killed by a highly cybered attacker, no more than a couple days ago. Peering into the closed bar’s interior, the edgerunners saw a pacing monk in a red robe (recognizable as the Fifth Seal, a leader with the Inquisitors) and four terrified and exhausted Inquisitors who were quietly chanting to themselves. Smith found that the bar didn’t have an Architecture to hack, no electronic security at all. 

The edgerunners burst out of cover and combined fire on the Fifth Seal, killing him. Glitch intimidated the others, and they fled into the night. The edgerunners looked around, and discovered stairs down to a basement vault. They descended to find real cold mist (rather than holographic like the Master used) and they came to a reinforced metal door with a sort of improvised medical bay beyond. There were four corpses hanging on hooks on the wall that likely matched descriptions of some of the missing women. 

Glitch opened the door to go in, and spotted gleaming red cyber-eyes in the dark. He fired at them, and a grenade came back at the edgerunners; Adams quickly pulled the door shut, protecting them from the blast. As they thrust the door open again to go after Lord Ruthven, they saw him pluck a woman from the now-wrecked medical bed, and the extremely fast cyberpsycho retreated into the darkness. As the edgerunners piled into the room to give chase, they heard the “thunk” of a lever pulled down somewhere in the darkness ahead…

PART THREE

The Bio Lab

With one sputtering flare lighting the floor as mist began creeping back in, the edgerunners split up. Smith approached the bodies hung on the wall, and saw that skilled bodysculpting had given them nearly identical faces (though the rest of the body was still under construction). They had been killed over a couple weeks. The injuries seemed to be from abuse, rather than failed medical procedures.

Glitch and Adams stealthed down the misted hall. Glitch waved fog away to see bloody footprints of a fast runner with a long stride, going this way. He saw a smear on one of the doorways, and opened it to find a sealed lab that wasn’t misty. Taking precautions, they hissed at Smith to catch up, and the three of them entered.

One of four biobed tubes was filling, a smear of blood on the front, the damaged woman from the chair out front inside. Two of the other tubes had a woman in them, and one tube was empty. The whole system was modular, plucked from some emergency medical zone by a military conflict and placed here. Smith entered the Architecture confined to the unit, downloading medical records. Apparently Dr. Salvee had been working here intensively, including on the current day. (He must provide the medical expertise that Ruthven lacked.)

Glitch spotted a hole in the roof where the cabling went through, and saw a bloody handprint; there was enough space for their quarry to retreat that way.

Adams cross-referenced the medical information with the file on the missing women, and found that they did match–but they didn’t match Lucy, their main target. According to the logs, Lucy was in the “rejuvenation chamber.”

The Rejuvenation Chamber

Continuing down the hall, they found an airlock murder hall. Propping it open with some equipment, they cautiously proceeded, with Smith defeating the locks on both doors. Throwing flares into the darkness, they lit up Ruthven, who loomed at his most terrifying in the mist.

Glitch lit him up with the assault rifle, knocking him back, and the other two edgerunners combined fire to finish him off before his speed got him out of the way. Closing in, they fired some more, and then taped his limbs in place to prevent any surprises. Looking around the room, they found one of the sealed cells had a woman with the same face as the others.

They relocated to the bio lab, dragging Ruthven along. To make sure no one else would have any surprise recoveries for him, or recycle his warmware for a new host, they put him in a bio bed and set it to “crispy.” The last of the victims seemed terrified and groggy as the gel started pouring into her chamber, but they showed her they were not there to hurt her. She got to watch Ruthven get toasted, which seemed to punctuate the end of a nightmarish sentence for her.

They heard some scuffing in the hall, but when they looked, there was no one to be seen.

All’s Well

As soon as the bio bed confirmed the life signs that they had rescued Lucy, the edgerunners contacted Grace and told him where to come for a pickup. Adams waited for them upstairs, escorting them down through the building to the horror show below.

Smith investigated other doors in the same hall, finding that one by the exit led to a lab where a doctor had been held under duress to work on Ruthven’s medical project. There was a projector bed there, and Ruthven had worked with the doctor to build the perfect composite image for the sculpting reference for his victims. The doctor had a camera setup (no recording) and apparently saw their progress through the compound, fleeing when he saw Ruthven was defeated.

With the missing persons accounted for, Triptarch Security would handle the mop-up and report writing. The edgerunners were never there, according to the official story. They piled into Grace’s van and retreated to the Copperplate, where Mr. Rhinemeyer was waiting for them. He paid them their 1,500 EB and gave them another 1,500 EB as a bonus for getting her back alive. She could be biosculpted back to her baseline, and life could go on.

The triumphant edgerunners toasted their success with a few drinks, and the night seemed a little safer.

Axes and Anvils of Holding!

I don’t have to tell you how awesome Bundles of Holding are. Instead, I’ll tell you how awesome THIS Bundle is, because it has all of Axes and Anvils!

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Anvils

The Bundle is live through February 7. If you already have all the .pdfs, tell someone who doesn’t! 🙂

The Guard Dog (Cyberpunk Red Session 1)

1/16/2024 IRL. 1/16/2045 IG.

• Augustin Adams, Tech (Jerod)
• Malloc Smith, Netrunner (Joe)
• Glitch Tanaka, Solo (Keith)

The Meet

Glitch invited Adams and Smith to meet him at Fader Dojo at the edge of the Vintner Court Collective, a gang-infested neighborhood of mostly stacked cargo containers in South Night City. The three of them were back in Night City after working for Valkyr Corp in paramilitary actions mostly in North Africa after the last few years, a gig that got them most of their cybers and a fair percentage of their scars. Valkyr was knocked apart by rivals, so they were unemployed, and they gravitated back to Valkyr’s old headquarters in Night City because that’s where their few civilian contacts still lived.

One of those civilian contacts was Glitch’s old mentor Cordite, who ran the Fader Dojo. As they arrived, Cordite welcomed them back to the city and waxed philosophical. His pupil Essedra was handling the mop and cleaning the place up, and she was itching to try out her training against veteran old guard, but none of the edgerunners were interested in a scrap; Cordite considered their judgement wise. He had agreed to train Essedra on the condition she did not use what he taught her to kill people, and of course his teachings included general wisdom and discipline and life skills, broadening the scope of his prohibition. The tongue-in-cheek wisdom ran thick until the last visitor arrived.

Grace

A local fixer, Grace, arrived. He had been instrumental in cleaning up after Glitch in his impulsive youth before Valkyr, and now he was the fixer for Adams, getting him work with local gangs. Grace welcomed them back to Night City and had business to discuss, so they relocated to the Copperplate (a local bar) and turned on some cheap counter-eavesdropping devices so they could talk business.

Grace wanted to provide his services as a fixer, but before they could work together, he explained two rules. One, don’t kill needlessly. Two, if you get a job from him, do your best to do the job and don’t screw the client. The netrunners found those terms generally agreeable, so Grace offered them a small “audition job” to try working together.

Broken Toy

Grace explained that Ziggurat Corp was building the Dunweather Falls Arcology in Vintner Court, and it would eventually be a massive edifice housing thousands of residents of South Night City if it was ever finished. Legal trouble, permits, funding bottlenecks, and other issues ground construction to a halt after finishing a tiny fraction of the project; one six-storey tower that was the ops center for the site.

This tower had its own security staff and corp residents that lived there full-time. “Thunderdrone” rapid response fliers could deploy all over the site, and buzzed around to keep an eye on things. For additional security, Ziggurat brought in a refurbished military walker drone, a Barker 88 that had been wiped by an EMP in a battle. The firmware was a bit dodgy still, and a recent software patch messed with its systems. About 5% of the time, the Barker’s targeting system identified bats as incoming missiles, and fired off a stream of overpressured armor-piercing jacketed rounds to intercept the threat. Considering the site was surrounded by stacked cargo containers where people lived, the rounds went right through multiple containers and whatever was inside. So far, 8 deaths and 22 injuries.

Ms. Ran lost a granddaughter. Even before that, she complained to the site manager, Denbra, who threatened her with violence if she didn’t back off. She went to Rapfeld, the public contact for Triptarch Security, the law enforcement for the neighborhood; he had been bought off and he did nothing. She complained to the exec in charge of the arcology project, Ms. Sellica, and couldn’t get a meeting. She presented a petition with 8,600 signatures to the city council rep, and got nowhere. So, in desperation, she approached a local fixer, Grace. He put together this job.

The Plan

In broad strokes, the plan Grace devised was to smuggle the edgerunners past security in a false compartment in a delivery truck driven by Danville, a regular driver for Ziggurat. He would drive up the ramp to the roof of the Oversight Tower, and then he would use an exoframe to load the truck. This would take him about an hour, after which he would drive back out, as usual.

The edgerunners would have maintenance uniforms, cases to conceal their armor and weapons and gear, and very basic badge passes. They also got climbing harnesses and knockout spray (just in case).

They were to break into the top of the elevator shaft, rappel down to the carriage, and come up to the second floor from maintenance in the sub-level. From there, they would pass the guard and get to the freight elevator that accessed the empty vehicle bay on the ground level.

The access points for the Architecture network were physically armored and underground, difficult for netrunners to reach. However, one was barely accessible in the corner of the vehicle bay, so if Smith laid on the ground, he should be able to squeeze into its local signal. He was to dive to the bottom level of the Architecture to where the control node for the Barker 88 was housed, and implant a subtle virus that would cause it to have a weapons malfunction that would detonate it, in a way that looked like an accident, a few days later.

Undetected, the edgerunners would then return to the roof and get back into the truck so Danville could drive them out. If it all went wrong, they could signal Grace, and he would drive a remote-controlled dump truck through the fencing in the northeast corner and they could hope for the best, shooting their way out.

For future work, they could plan their own missions, but for the first one he scouted it and put together a plan and equipment for them. The rewards were thin, as it was crowd-funded by frustrated poor residents of Vintner Court; 1,500 Eurobucks each, about a month’s living expenses. They took the job.

Mission Prep

Smith purchased some software for his netrunning deck, and labored over crafting a custom virus to force an “accident” with the Barker’s ammo pods. Adams reviewed the specs for the elevator shaft and security systems he would run into in the Control Tower. He also cobbled together a makeshift emp burster bomb, just in case they had to deal with drone combat. Glitch bought a bag of restraints (zip ties, head bags, and the like).

Glitch also scouted the arcology site with his tactical expertise, dressed as a homeless man and observing from multiple vantage points. He spotted an alternative exit, saw the somewhat random path of the Barker was influenced by more exposed power nodes (it liked to bask) and saw it was erratic in its movements. The local security were loath to be around it, so it must have shot at them at some point in the past too. The uniforms had subsystem transmitters to identify as friendlies, so impersonating them took more than putting on the gear; there must be some password and code too.

Infiltration

The edgerunners piled into the truck’s hidden compartment, and got through the bored and sleepy security easily enough. As Danville strapped into the exosuit and started loading the truck, Adams expertly dismantled the security and machinery at the top of the elevator shaft, and the edgerunners slid down their climbing gear to the elevator carriage. Once inside, they adjusted their jumpsuits to look unremarkable, stowing the climbing gear in a case.

Adams and Smith were overqualified to handle any tech questions that might rise for maintenance workers, and they prepped Glitch to reply with some filtration task specifics. Maintenance was always servicing the ventilation!

A somewhat bored guard challenged them, and they said they were headed down to change out filtration. They got past him, and accessed the elevator to the vehicle bay below. The doors slid shut, then they had to bypass the security. Smith took a crack at it, hardly paying attention as the task was beneath him; the system set to amber, and one more misstep would trigger a security response. The next attempt succeeded, and the elevator chugged down to the empty bay.

Into the Architecture

The bay was dim and quiet. Glitch set up in a defensive position, and Adams moved some crates to provide some concealment to Smith, who lay on the floor and dove into the Architecture. Smith easily beat the black ICE defensive programming and passwords, and he reached the bottom of the Architecture and downloaded some maintenance schedules and shift rosters. Moving back up, he took a branch in the Architecture and defeated the “demon” programs running the alarms and drones, reaching the bottom to the control node for the Barker. Smith planted the virus and resurfaced in under a minute.

Exfiltration

The edgerunners returned to the freight elevator and bypassed security again, rising up to the second level. The guard was chatting with another worker; they were surprised the maintenance crew did their work so fast. A quick retort, something about internal and external ventilation, covered the brief awkwardness, and the edgerunners wasted no time getting back in the elevator and heading down.

Putting on the climbing gear took a nervous minute, as the carriage could go up or down if summoned. They managed, and had a laborious climb; there were some awkward pauses and slips, but they made it to the top, working around the carriage being called to move from floor to floor as they tried to outpace it with their climbing.

They crawled out of the roof access, and Adams reassembled it like they were never there. They had time to spare, piling into the truck’s secret compartment and catching their breath as Danville finished loading the truck.

The truck drove down the spiral ramp, past the guards, and away. The edgerunners were ghosts who were never there, and the mission went smoothly, a complete success!

Jennell Jaquays Memorial Game Jam

I first became aware of her due to a series of posts by Justin Alexander many years ago. I love the idea of this game jam, so I created a submission for it.

https://itch.io/jam/jennell-jaquays-memorial-game-jam

the-mist-key-door-andrew-shieldsDownload

Bundle of Holding for Blades in the Dark (2)!

THE PROMOTION IS OVER NOW.

I find Bundle of Holding deals to be seductive; they draw me in and convince me I need them, even if I didn’t expect to. Maybe this will be true for you as well, for this Forged in the Dark bundle.

My second heist deck for Blades in the Dark is Heists in the Dark, and it’s included. Also, all the decks I did for Evil Hat to make it faster, easier, and more varied to make scoundrels and crews is included. These haven’t been in bundles before, so that’s awesome for both me and you.

I recommend checking it out!

What Your Immortal Did

If you have an immortal, pick a date of birth. Then start at age 18 and add an event every d20+5 years. Interpret these events for the setting and for your character’s general progression and personality. Figure out how to make sense of nonsensical developments, or generate an alternative.

1. You stole the identity of a truly heinous monster.
2. A lover fell ill (or got old) and died.
3. You handled logistics in a distant war.
4. You inherited wealth from a slain immortal.
5. You fought bloody battles in a horrific war.
6. You stole the identify of a reclusive celebrity.
7. You raised a child.
8. You were humiliated by another immortal.
9. You were devastated by love gone wrong.
10. You had to kill someone you loved.
11. Your mentor was brutally slain, and you got revenge.
12. You sank into depression and poverty.
13. You were a fugitive, hunted and restless.
14. An immortal taught you a special expertise.
15. You became a member of a big family.
16. You found peace on holy ground.
17. You moved with a frontier.
18. You discovered monsters were real, and hunted them.
19. You lived among nomads.
20. You smuggled drugs.
21. A mortal taught you a special expertise.
22. You got credentials from academia, and researched.
23. You pursued a bloody vendetta against a whole group.
24. You were a spy.
25. You lived through the last days of a vanishing lifestyle.
26. You got religion and took it very seriously.
27. You were rich in a city.
28. You ground out a lonely rural life.
29. You were a vigilante/enforcer.
30. You were poor in a city.
31. You developed an expertise by connecting with your heritage.
32. You hunted immortals.
33. You gained a new mentor.
34. You trained a protoge.
35. You discovered a new purpose.
36. You ran afoul of a vengeful cult.
37. You very publicly died and had to start over.
38. You lost all your wealth to theft or catastrophe.
39. You fell in love with a new technology.
40. You connected deeply with an art form.
41. You barely survived a natural disaster.
42. You served jail time.
43. You championed a marginalized community.
44. You were on the wrong side of a cultural conflict.
45. You spent time sailing the oceans.
46. You were trapped in water, ice, or rock (or marooned).
47. You were law enforcement.
48. You developed a criminal specialty.
49. You were a teacher.
50. You found and lost a close-knit community.

You did dumb things. Why?

1. You were young and dumber.
2. You were loyal to misguided friends or family.
3. You had to keep a promise.
4. You were bitter and despairing.
5. You were forced to by someone with a hold over you.
6. It was the only way to outmaneuver a foe.
7. You did not realize the consequences until too late.
8. You were blinded by prejudice.
9. You were overwhelmed by the life force of a victim.
10. You thought you could sabotage other villains.

Three Official Blades in the Dark Decks!

I am delighted to announce that I have worked with Evil Hat to create three more decks for Blades in the Dark! Now you have a Character deck for creating characters, a Crew deck for creating crews, and a Faction and Location deck to reformat and elaborate information on factions and locations for a more tactile and flexible experience at the table.

These turned out really well. There are some innovations throughout. The character deck lets you swap out social circles and gear for your scoundrels, and offers suggestions for animal companions and how to connect to them. The crew deck suggests pre-built ally/enemy factions, and favored contacts with their own allies and enemies. The faction deck adds in some additional factions, and includes NPCs for each faction. The location cards have city districts and outlying areas, with landmarks. The district cards have a mini-map showing where in the city the locations are.

The cards are fantastic for making characters and crews, and getting a game started quickly. Characters and places from my game table and fiction are subtly worked into the cards, which mainly draw from what is in the book. The cards include page numbers in the book for quick reference. If you have trouble naming characters or crews, there are lots of suggestions throughout!

Take a look. If you have a Blades in the Dark game table in your future, consider that these make great Christmas presents for the GM in your life. The decks are offered individually or as a bundle, print on demand and print and play formats.

Here is the Evil Hat announcement site. https://evilhat.com/product/blades-in-the-deck/

Here is the DriveThru RPG link. https://www.drivethrucards.com/product/417597/Blades-in-the-Decks-BUNDLE?affiliate_id=24139

Pens can scratch the itch.

Sometimes when my head is full I can scritch across the paper to make pictures, and it’s sort of meditative. So many textures.

For any Blades in the Dark fans out there: the print-and-play .pdf of my Duskwall Heist Deck (the first one) will be less than $5 tomorrow! (11/11/2021) The sale is supposed to start at about 10 a.m. Central.

It is the DriveThru RPG “Deal of the Day” and it is a fantastic opportunity. You can find it here.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/172348/Blades-in-the-Dark-Heist-Deck-Print-and-Play
Both the Duskwall Heist Deck and the Heists in the Dark Deck I released this year support a GM coming up with heists on the fly or with a little forethought, full of inspirational anchor points to embroider into adventure.

The Duskwall Heist Deck focuses on treasures that can motivate heists, influential people to serve as clients or targets. Also, a thicket of obstacles includes questions for further customization, and suggestions for upgrading or downgrading the threat they pose. Taken together, these elements can be remixed and reused in new combinations.

The cards can also help round out a party with important guests, or give ideas for local legends of lost treasure, or provide ideas for complications on the fly by pre-selecting some appropriate threats that might drop on the unfortunate players.

If you like Blades in the Dark, especially the haunted city Duskwall, swing by and take a look at this deck!

Guns of Telluria: The Traveler’s Lands

SESSION ONE

4/12/2021 IRL. November 1,1921 IG.

• John Stickman. Rugged and tough veteran of the Tellurian War, armed and armored.
• Dorothy Gale. Former prisoner of war, weirded with a metal arm and occasional manifestation of animalistic teeth while under stress. Accompanied by her faithful German shepherd Toto, a well-trained glamour sniffer.

Between

They crackle out of the gate in the Between, a strange ruined area between realms. Looking around, they met Caretaker Bickle, a deep gnome. When Prince Gatlas was killed by the Tellurians (including Stickman and Gale), Bickle failed to protect his prince, so he was bound to the curse and must meet them in this space when they go between worlds. He cannot kill them, and they cannot kill him.

The adventurers scouted the dim ruinfinding a statue of Gatlas and checking out the greenery overgrowing it. They used Toto’s sniffer to their advantage, and eventually found the gateway in the fountain that would provide an exit–just not an exit to Telluria.

The Traveler’s Gate

The adventurers emerged through a blaze of light in the setting sun, through a cleft in a mountaintop. A faun, Glaman, was waiting there for insight as he often did, and got them instead. Cheerful, he invited them to join him in his boat and cross the water to Shellville. The disoriented adventurers agreed, following him down the treacherous stairs to where his boat was moored. Along the way, Glaman pointed out weird spider-centaur creatures that watched them, calling them skittern and observing that they keep the peace.

The voyage across the waters was brief, and Glaman could not take them directly into Shellville as only the followers of Ostrum the Traveler could overnight in town. They could be identified by blue paint on their faces, stripes under their eyes. Instead, Glaman took them to nearby caves where visitors could stay under the observation of the lurking skittern.

Overnight

Entering the spacious and echoing cave, Gale and Stickman met a fellow Tellurian traveler. Nulin was in Shellville looking for a curse-breaker. A harpy cursed him so he could not experience pleasure from beauty or art, and he felt barely alive. He was following up on leads that a Tuatha De Danaan, an elven princess named Nykla, sometimes visited Shellville. Nulin offered to show them around Shellville in the morning, and the adventurers looked forward to it.

His assistant Naria was a mixed blood, Tuatha de Danaan and Tellurian, and she was making his travel easier. She was studying magic, and impatient to move on, but Nulin was sure there was a clue here in Shellville to break his curse.

Nulin’s other assistant was Yinger, a creepy fey woman who fed on curses and bonded to him somehow. She was sometimes helpful with the locals or providing lore. She offered to taste their blood and bond with their curse, but the adventurers declined.

Looking around the cavern, the adventurers also spotted three redcaps keeping an uncomfortably close watch over them. Another camp was Lord Bloss, a wealthy and massive goblin who was a leader during the war and was now looking to enjoy art and travel, trying to put the war in the past.

Setting up their fancy gnome hammocks, the adventurers passed a fairly comfortable night.

Shellville

Nulin used his experience from visiting the town for a couple weeks to show them around, and they met many notables. The townsfolk didn’t expect money, they shared food and services and art out of their extra.

The adventurers met the fey and Tellurian proprietors of the shell-sculpted theater, discovering their guide Glaman from the previous day was also a costumer and set decorator. He was happy to make them some new clothes. Stickman offered some art direction on a Tellurian backdrop for a play, helping the fey get a better grasp on things like cars and skyscrapers. Gale also offered her singing talent, which was certainly not what the Ostramites were used to.

After a refreshing lunch at the Seatable, eating all manner of delicious sea food in a building fashioned out of giant shells, Biggans (an Ostramite who ran the restaurant) told them there was a carriage-sized crab nearby that they could hunt for food if they wanted to assist. The adventurers agreed, going out on a brief expedition. The Ostramites flushed the crab, and the Tellurians gunned it down.

A fey scout, Panek, reported that Princess Nykla had been spotted in the area and might stop by Shellville. Yinger was confident that the much larger curse burdening Gale and Stickman would draw her in.

The Elf Princess

After a feast showcasing the carriage crab, feeding the whole community, the adventurers were allowed to stay in town pending the elf princess’s visit. Sure enough, Princess Nykla’s boat gleamed in the moonlight, drifting to a halt on the shore. She tucked the boat into her shadow, then visited the Traveler’s Temple.

While she was inside, Noblet the ogre said if the adventurers could persuade or provoke the princess to sing, he would go along personally to assure a safe trip to their next destination; otherwise, he would send Panek along on their trip, on behalf of the Starshell Guild of local explorers. The adventurers didn’t like that risk, and instead waited for the princess to focus on them. Their curse was sure to draw her attention.

Sure enough, she approached Stickman, Gale, and Nulin. First she focused on Nulin, and told Yinger to seek out Melleyard. Then she turned to the adventurers, concentrating. Their curse was too dire for Melleyard to resolve, but if they assisted Nulin, they could get a step closer to breaking it.

Having discharged that task, she retrieved her boat from the shadows, and continued her voyage. The Tellurians returned to the cave for the night.

SESSION TWO

4/19/2021 IRL. November 3, 1921 IG.

Stickman and Gale agreed to go with Nulin to find Melleyard. Yinger needed to concentrate overnight to figure out Melleyard’s location; apparently she was a harpy with a nasty little flock (a “screech” of harpies) that frequented the Traveler’s Lands. The Tellurians were unsettled by the intense scrutiny of the redcaps.

Preparing to Go

The next day they returned to Shellville. Yinger explained that to find Melleyard, they would need to travel to the Dronechambers, crystalline caves up in the mountains with peculiar resonant properties as well as natural beauty.

The Tellurians decided to spend another day getting ready so they could leave on the following dawn. They got sturdy boots made by the costumers, to replace their somewhat dilapidated military issue. Panek arranged for them to borrow a couple small riverboats, and she agreed to guide the expedition. They chatted with the friendly Ostramites, exchanging art and chores. After a long and pleasant day in town, they returned to the caves for the night. The redcaps were nowhere to be seen.

The Riverfin

After a short hike to the river bank, they loaded the boats and traveled along the river, fortunately going with the current. Panek told them stories of the many hazards along the way; the buzzfeeders that pounced on unwary travelers in the badlands, the Moonsheperd who tended the ripples of light on the river, and the Riverfin, a giant river monster that was riled up recently and might feel aggressive if it noticed them.

They were warned, but that didn’t provide comfort when they saw the lazy fin breach the surface. The river monster noticed them, and charged the boat, capsizing Gale and Stickman. While Stickman desperately tried to right the boat and save as many supplies as possible, Gale was torn from the hull and dragged through the river.

Desperate, Gale opened up her fey-twisted metal arm, tearing at the Riverfin’s flank and gills as she kept a tight grip on her rifle. The supernatural drain of the arm, combined with its blade-sharp claws, mauled the river monster; it shook her off and escaped, having lost its belligerence and appetite. Battered by the parting tail swipe, Gale struggled back towards the boat, and was pulled to safety by Stickman.

The Badlands Crossing

Regrouping, the expedition continued up the river to the badlands. They managed to avoid the buzzfeeders, and they finally closed in on the road marker: this way to the Dronechambers.

SESSION THREE

5/3/2021 IRL. November 4, 1921 IG.

As Gale and Stickman protected the expedition, following Panek along the path to the Dronechambers, they were intercepted by one of the Kellsek harpies. They explained they had come to see Melleyard. The harpy insisted the screech controlled the Dronechambers for a month, they had skittern permission! Grudgingly, the harpy went to check with Melleyard, to see if the harpy leader would meet with the Tellurians.

The Curse-Breaking Harpy

The harpy soon returned, and led them into the Dronechambers. The dark and echoing chambers were crusted with crystalline growths. Melleyard was perched on a giant crystal. She agreed to break Nulin’s curse–if Stickman and Gale would assist in her effort to form the Chime Guardian, a resonant beast said to be dissipated in the ambient energy of the Dronechambers.

Melleyard would need the mapsense that Stickman had mixed into him, grounding him in the Traveler’s Lands. She would also need to use the fey limb on Gale, as a catalyst for the frequency and energy she was using to resonate with the crystals. How would that help Gale and Stickman with their curse? Melleyard said the Chime Guardian could create a resonance to open a gate to the next stage of their journey, a step closer to breaking the curse. Reluctantly, the Tellurians agreed.

Nulin offered them whatever he could as a reward for their assistance with breaking his curse, and they appreciated that but did not have an immediate price in mind. Nulin positioned himself, and Melleyard used complex resonances and harmonies, boosted by her screech. The crystals lit up with a strange glow, and the curse on Nulin was dissipated, leaving him a weeping wreck suffused with relief.

The Chime Guardian

Melleyard repositioned her screech, instructing the Tellurians to place their hands on the crystal beneath her claws. She connected the three of them, and the crystal, with subtle tones from her throbbing throat.

In that interconnected consciousness, Stickman got a strange insight into a moment that was branded into Gale’s heart; the sensation of smoke, flames, a plane crash: Gale’s fiancee, Hank, was a barnstormer. His plane crashed, she cradled his dying body–

The eldritch cast of the tones resonated from Gale’s fey limb, thoroughly grounded with the authority of Stickman’s mapsense. Mellyard was able to focus through those filters to condense an ambient presence. The Chime Guardian took form, a dragon-sized scaled creature, iridescent and beautiful yet alien and terrifying. The song shared by the trio through the crystal bound the Chime Guardian to the harpy’s will, at least temporarily.

Shaking with exhaustion, Melleyard made good on her promise. The Chime Guardian was capable of vibing with the curse energies on Stickman and Gale. The Chime Guardian concentrated, ringing a strange tone, and the lake formed a glassy portal.

Nala balked at going through, as she sensed profound darkness on the other side. Yinger would only go if bonded, and the adventurers declined to participate in that kind of weirdness. It was time to part ways.

Breaking the Seal

After brief goodbyes, Gale and Stickman leaped into the portal. They bounced out in the Between, where Bickle was alarmed by the seismic trembling through the world. A tree cranked back, with a portal gaping below its torn roots.

Steeling themselves, the adventurers leaped in.

They burst out the other side of the portal in a spray of dust and gravel, obscuring their surroundings. The heat and humidity were suffocating, and they could not see through the fog of dust. Staggering out of a narrow room, they found themselves atop a step pyramid, surrounded by thick jungle, as the sun sank…