Adventures in Fantasy
We've had 3 sessions since last I updated - one complete adventure run by Eric and another just getting started. A summary for your amusement.
A Terrible Time with Alexander
In the Crossed Rapiers the crew was relaxing and listening to a band ,,, but something was wrong. Turned out it was a monster that dilated time and mind controlled everyone and was sucking out everyone's brains. We couldn't have that and laid waste ... until the thing escaped. But we couldn't escape the tavern! Found ANOTHER dungeon entrance in the place and started exploring.
Turns out we were the targets of something awful. Children of the Mater - tentacled monstrosities that (maybe) controlled time and illusions. We wandered around a dungeon that turned out to only have a few rooms, but they were all from different times. Took us quite a while and some clever adventuring to get that sorted out. Luckily, we also found a central location and a strange device and a TON of clues ... about us ... and a journal
Turns out that changing the settings on the strange device opened a portal. We were able to figure out the (sort of) binary code and align that to the journal entries and start exploring. This got VERY weird. In the end, it was determined that we had written the journal ... which was very disturbing as we figured it out after Tiger Mott (my wizard) had started and it explicitly listed several of our own deaths. It was exceptions (as was the journal which was an actual prop).
In the end we figured out that the Children had imprisoned the Master, a fellow who was once a human named Alexander and now some sort of demi-god. Freeing him was pretty epic. As was the crazy skull mast Tiger Mott picked up. ALso his magic went awry and he is now made of porcelain. Also he had a temporary familiar that also wanted to kill him.
Most notably, this was the first Sorrow in Haven adventure run by someone that wasn't me! And it all worked out GREAT! I was quite pleased.
Gangs and Other Fun
The newest adventure the crew is a bit tricky write about as the players are in the midst of sorting out what the fuck is actually going on. Here is what they have figured out for sure - the Black Leg Gang is in some sort of turf war with the Serpent's Eyes. In the middle of this GDD Chapter 111 (the Dungeon Kings) has gone missing, presumed dead. There is a tie-in between the BLG and 111 as apparently 111 was in a dungeon and found a "cypher" to open an Ageless Vault (which probably contains mad loot and powerful magics) the Serpent's Eyes have discovered. Everyone is racing for opening that bad boy. Also, the Hammers are hunting down some demons, a mercenary band is also missing and possible possessed, and a group templar are involved asking a lot of strange questions. Oh - and the major crime family of Haven is involved somehow as well. All of this in a single session? Just wait until things really get rolling!
Real Life Adventures
They are done! I've completed the first printing and binding of Sorrow in Haven. I hand bound 16 copies of the book. Which was an arduous task. And this is a serious binding - end papers, sewing, hardcovers, and all the good times. We'll be playing with this as the rules for some time as V2 is under way. I'm pretty sure the print copies of v2 (or any more v1 copies) are going to be sent out or print on demand. I'm quite proud of myself, but my hands hurt. but the book is gorgeous! I'll post up some images later this weekend.
Gang Wars
This really works for any faction-on-faction conflict. In this case I wrote it up specifically for the gang war between the Black Leg Gang and the Serpent's Eyes. I actually used a form of this for the noble houses as well.
For each gang, determine
- Number of Members: a gang has 2d6+6 members; the 2d6 explodes like an Amazing Roll (roll 12 and add another d6, repeat each time a 6 is rolled).
- Resources: how much the gang has to work with, roll 2d6+6 and assign the action modifier like it is a primary attribute (+0 to +3)
- Influence: how much sway do they have, roll 2d6+6 and assign the action modifier like it is a primary attribute (+0 to +3)
in this scenario, we've got:
- Black Leg Gang (16 members (+2), resources+1, influence +0)
- Serpent's Eyes (13 members (+1), resources +1, influence +2)
Then each day (or whatever time period) roll 1d6 to see what shenanigans are afoot in their conflict and 1d6 to randomly determine which gang is "rolling":
Activities
- Plotting and Scheming
- Fighting in the streets
- Shift of Influence
- Shift of Resources
- Outside Interference
- Major Event - roll again and double it!
Plotting and Scheming
The gang is making plans for a future event, getting things in order, gathering information, recruiting, or leveraging contacts.
- Action Roll: 2d6+nothing (vs target 7)
- Legendary Failure: The plans are discovered, roll again for the other side with Advantage
- Critical Failure: this plan sucks ... gain Advantage on the next Activities roll
- Failure: Plans didn't work out ... maybe next time
- Success: excellent plotting, sir! ... gain Advantage on the next Activities roll
- Critical Success: excellent scheming ... gain Advantage on the next Activities roll and immediately make an Activities roll
- Legendary Success: this is going to hurt ... gain Advantage on the next Activities roll and immediately choose which Activity to engage in
Fighting in the Streets
All out brawling, ambushes, or sneaky murdering. In any case, someone is going to die.
- Action Roll: both gangs make a 2d6+members roll, attackers gain +1
- Legendary Failure: massive losses ... 1d6 attacking gang members died
- Critical Failure: serious losses ... attacking gang loses 1d4 members
- Failure: losses ... attacking gang loses 1d2 members, the enemy loses 1 less
- Success: good brawl ... attacking gang loses 1d3-1 fellows, but opposing gang loses 1 more than that
- Critical Success: definitive victory ... attacking gang loses nothing, opponents lose 1d4
- Legendary Success: slaughter ... opponents lose 1d6 members
Shift of Influence / Resources
The population is taking a stand, bribes are payed, or the law is getting involved. Resources work the same way, just replace resources with influence.
- Action Roll: both gangs make a 2d6+influence
- Legendary Failure: gang loses 1 influence, opponent picks it up
- Critical Failure: lose 1 influence
- Failure: Nothing changes ...
- Success: gang gains 1 influence
- Critical Success: gang steals 1 influence from opponent
- Legendary Success: gang steals 1 influence from opponent and gains 1 additional influence
Outside Interference
Another group gets involved, for good or for ill (roll 1d6).
- Gain 1d4 members from recruitment
- Gain 1 influence through propaganda
- Gain 1 resource via clever management
- Lose 1 resource brought on by local resistance
- Lose 1 influence caused by a bad reputation
- Lose 1d4 members because they are incarcerated or just leave
Major Event
Something big just happened ... really big. Roll again on the Activities table but double the results. This event can stack up meaning a single event can wipe out a gang or put them in a position to crush their opponent.
An Example of All This Jazz
Day 1: The Black Leg Gang starts a street scrap with the Serpent's Eyes. They win the fight but lose 1 member, the Eyes lose 2.
Day 2: The Eyes retaliate in a major way, attempting to ambush the Legs, but they fail! The Eyes lose 2 more members as only one member of the Legs is taken out of action.
Day 3: There is an outside influence on the Eyes - their bad reputation causes them to lose 1 influence.
Day 4: The Legs, seeing an opportunity, attempt to shift influence their way. They manage to convince some of the locals that the Eyes are the problem and gain 1 influence.
Day 5: The Eyes start plotting and scheming, they need to get back in top! They have a good plan it seems, let's see how it all pans out.
Day 6: The Legs continue their assault on the influence of the Eyes, but they critically fail as the Eyes plan comes to fruition and they lose the influence they so recently gained.
So after 1 week (my game week only has 6 days)
- Black Leg Gang
- From: 16 members (+2), resources+1, influence +0
- To: 14 members(+1), resources +1, influence +0
- Serpent's Eyes
- From: 13 members (+1), resources +1, influence +2
- To: 10 members (+0), resources +1, influence +1
How Does It All End? Who Wins?
No idea ... these tables are just to get things moving and keep the action in the background interesting. If one group gets too powerful or too weak perhaps I'll just decide. If we look at the total modifiers Legs +3 to +2 and Eyes +4 to +2, we could say the the Legs are winning as they lost 1 less total modifier point than the Eyes? One could argue they are both losing, but the Eyes are losing more.
What about 3 or More Gangs?
When you roll to see who is making the activity roll, also choose a random target. Want to mix things up even more? Have each gang make an activity roll each day to see what is happening. The possibilities, as they say, are endless.
In any case, the players' crew is going to get involved and they are going to really make things happen. The point of this is to keep things dynamic and happening so as they players get involved they aren't dealing with "scenes" or a stagnant situation which only they can resolve. The PCs act in a living world and this helps give a little old gang fight a spark of life.
