Fatemaster Friday - A simple heist

[Kimberly]

Fantastic Friday Breachers!

Last week we talked about real world inspiration in TTB. Here’s what @Vorzakk 2.0 shared with us!

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My very first major story arc involved several well-educated fans of Tesla attempting to make his wireless electricity transmission idea work by using the spirit world as a medium (which mostly resulted in a lot of ghosts getting riled up because they kept getting electrocuted). 

A shorter story involved two engineers working on a visual equivalent of the aethervox; both of whom were based on actual inventors (Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton and Boris Rosing) who made a big step towards the television.  

Not run it yet, but I'm planning a story in which a famous French composer pays a visit to Malifaux and then disappears:  "The Abduction of Claude Debussy".

 

So, I’ve had a craving for a good old fashioned heist game for a while, which means I think I’m going to run Honor Among Thieves with my household this weekend. I count this Penny Dreadful as one of the best adventures I know! This ‘Fauxvese take on an upscale heist adventure is loads of fun and comes with pre-made Fated, so it’s a perfect game to introduce TTB to some friends! 

Honor Among Thieves has the fated working for a Ten Thunders member, and the contract is a tricky one. Retrieve a statue stolen and replace it with a sign from the Ten Thunders. Oh, and the object is possibly cursed so your Fated better be careful. Let’s take a deeper look in the ways Honor Among Thieves empowers the Fatemaster and Fated to make this story their own through choices made in the course of the game. 

One of the first things that struck me about this adventure is how many choices it accounts for in the writing of the narrative. All roads lead to the Fated being in Miss Appleton’s vault during the party, but how the Fated arrive there is wonderfully varied. Fatemasters can use any combination of the 6 separate scenes that give insight into the situation, which is an interesting and fun way to gather resources and information before the culmination of these efforts in the final scene. 

The “All Hours” party that makes up the conclusion of this adventure is a great way for Fatemasters to introduce NPCs that may appear later in the game, or even give the more socially inclined Fated a chance to shine. The party writeup has some guidance as to the general timeline of the evening, but allows enough room for the Fatemaster to make it as exciting as they want. Having curious guests or those interested in what the Fated do could be used to increase tension in the game, especially if your Fated are doing any drinking at the party.

The pre-generated Fated are each uniquely indebted to the Ten Thunders and therefore a reason to take this job. Each one is a different and unique personality with ambitions that your players could easily take over. Players are encouraged to make changes to make the characters their own, which is always helpful in getting a new player into a game for the first time. 

Honor Among Thieves is a nice introduction adventure for new players that also has enough action to keep veteran players invested as well! It is currently available on drivethrurpg.com for $5 USD.. This week, I want to hear about heists your own games have done. How did the Fated fair, and what were your personal moments of fun?

[Vorzakk 2.0]

I actually ran Honor Among Thieves last fall and had a lot of fun with it.  Funny thing was that there was relatively little time devoted to actually stealing the statue; most of the evening revolved around interacting with various NPCs at the party. 

I talked a little bit a few weeks ago about one of my Fated; a bayou-raised girl who was involved in smuggling during the period of martial law.  She had actually had a partner whom she'd ditched-out on when they got caught by a Guild patrol boat; leaving her high and dry in a boat full of pork and moonshine.  Well, this other young woman had finally gotten out of jail and was doing odd jobs to pay off the last of her fines; and she was working that evening as a waitress at the Appleton estate.  Suffice to say, she was NOT happy when her former partner showed up. 

There was also a rather creepy man who took an unsettling interest in the group's stitched and the group's augmented.  The characters never figured it out, but some of the players correctly guessed that he was connected to the University of Transmortis.  

Also in attendance was Pandora; in the guise of "Doctor Panzera" of Smedley's Asylum.  She spent much of dinner chatting with Judge Bardsley, who grew very despondent afterwards and tried to kill himself early the next morning (though the fated were able to intervene and cheer him up a bit).