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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 8029155" data-attributes="member: 6696971">The last session is going to lead to either (a) the final few sessions for one of my two Blades in the Dark games or (b) an epic, furious comeback for a ridiculous underdog.  The immediately preceding session before the below happened:[SPOILER="Things Begin to Go Very Wrong"]Just finished a Blades session and it reminded me of this thread. Not because there was any symmetry in play, but because it reminded me of how boldness of action and PCs not being on the same page can lead to absolute memorable calamity but in the best of ways (unlike this play anecdote where apparently everyone was unhappy).The PCs are at War with their primary rival Gang who is one Tier above the PCs' Crew. War carries several negative mechanical effects and implications on play. The way to get out of War status is to (a) eliminate the enemy Faction or (b) negotiate a "cease fire" and a new Status (Status of -3 means War).In the course of the last Information Gathering/Free Play, the PC Lurk (Infiltrator/Thief archetype) found the location of the rival Gang's financier/bank where their Stash is kept. Fortunately, its a flat in a tenement building adjacent to the Ironworks (which is a facility where they have a contact so that gives them access to rappel down to the hideout's bay window as point of entrance). Unfortunately, this financier/banker also possesses the holdings of other low Tier Gangs...so the prospect of negative Status with several Gangs and a lot of Heat is high and security will invariably be high.The hope for the mission was the following:1) Reduce the Hold of the rival Gang so they "Tier-down" to the same Tier as the PC's Crew.2) Gain a lot of Stash.3) Not incur too much collateral damage (best of luck with that) because the odds were high for that here.The other PC is a Whisper (basically a Warlock archetype who Attunes to the Ghost Field for all kinds of supernatural affects/spiritual summonings). The Lurk and the Whisper have all kinds of issues because of the fallout that has occured because of failed attunements (demonic possessions and bargains that are haunting them, poltergeist "hanger ons", and other similar things).Well, things were going well early and they absolutely snowballed because of a sequence of poor Action Rolls that yielded some Minor and Major consequences (and one poor decision) by the Whisper which involved dealing with a giant Python that was constricting him in the dark (the vault was accessed via a "zoo" room with all sorts of caged animals and a free-roaming python). A member of the security team came in to feed rats to the python (after hearing the noise), the Lurk knocked him out (pommel to the back of the ear) as he entered the room with a 5 (success with complication) on a Prowl that was Pushed for an extra die. Complication is the candelabra he was holding comes crashing to the floor. The "being constricted" Whisper Attuned to the Ghost Field for another Success with a Complication so ghost hands manifested to catch the candelabra and guide it safely to the floor. However, supernatural complications + further complications (and a poor decision to roll Resistance - Prowess rather than spend 1 Armor to reduce Harm 1 from the Python) = the Whisper incurred 12 total stress. That is the threshold for Trauma (in this case Haunted) and knock him out of the scene.Complete clustereff ensued and a narrow escape.Literally nothing they wanted to accomplished happened and they gained all sorts of bad things (Heat, Stress, Haunted Trauma, a loss of a lantern, another supernatural complication, a complication of "a member of the security team 'made' me during the escape" for the Lurk, and a Clock incurred by the Lurk to pay back a boatman driver that gave them egress via a canal that occurred as a result of the Lurk player using a Flashback - and incurring 1 Stress from it).Again, complete clustereff.PCs thematically in positions that place them against each other in their portfolio (the Lurk HATES the supernatural baggage and fallout caused by the Whisper) and the Whisper player made a poor decision (chose Resistance roll to reduce Harm 1 rather than spending 1 Armor).However, this may have been our most fun Blades game to date. It was at least the most hysterical and likely the most memorable with the highest of stakes for sure (this may start a downward spiral for this Crew such that their story will end badly). [/SPOILER]This was the beginning of the spiral, and spiral it did.No Payoff.  Tons of Heat accrued (8 total for this abandoned Score).  Wanted Level increased due to all of the Heat (1 Wanted Level and 5 Heat). Still at War so only 1 Downtime Activity per Downtime.The Downtime Entanglements got a roll of 4 (Wanted Level 1 = 1d6 and Heat 4 = 4/5 is Reprisals or Unquiet Undead).  This could have emerged either as "The Many" (the demonic entity that the Whisper has bargained with) manifesting angrily or The Fog Hounds coming after the Crew or their allies.  I went with the latter and on their own turf.  It was an attack on The Crooked Hat (the tavern on their turf which serves as one of their primary springboards for recruitment/parley/vice den/solicitation) and this huge advancement on their turf was going to hit them hard unless they paid up (1 Rep or Coin) or fought back; the cost was going to be Hold.  Given that they couldn't afford the loss of Hold (Weak Hold, due to War status, at Tier 0 means loss of Hold = your lair comes under attack and you can be wiped out), it was Rep, Coin, or fight back.This was a tough call because they were already reeling from the bad score.  I would have gone with Coin...but they went with fight back because that is how this Crew is.It didn't go well...The Whisper is out of the action because Downtime is handled sequentially (Payoff > Heat > Entanglements > Downtime Activities).  That means that his Vice isn't auto-resolved until the end of Downtime (which triggers his recovery).  So the Lurk is on his own with the few Cohorts that they have as such a low Tier Gang.  I tell him "down the block from you is an explosion of glass, fire, and screams...Benzito's (the proprietor) establishment is on fire, the doors are chained and there are a couple of handfuls of angry rioters celebrating, weapons raised to the air; no doubt a Fog Hound reprisal after the move on the place a few weeks ago (and after what just happened).  Its nearing closing time, but people are still inside...probably Benzito and his daughter among them.  Are you going to pay them off (Coin), plead for them to back off and unlock the doors (Rep), or is going to be blood?"  I told them if they fight and win, the Foghounds will instead lose Hold (costing them 1 Tier).To my surprise it was blood.  Ridiculously costly though.  I put a Clock on this skirmish with 6 segments.  4/5 segments filled and The Crooked Hat suffers a big loss (1 Rep loss).  6 filled and the place burns to the ground with occupants inside (2 Rep loss).  The Lurk grabs their 2 (legit) Cohorts (ex-Marine snipers but one of them is wounded from another Op) and their lackey and goes out to give the Fog Hounds some what-for and hopefully stop The Crooked Hat from burning.  Now 4 vs 9 are really, really bad odds in Blades (especially early in the game).  Ultimately, the brutal following is the tallied fallout when the dust settles:1)  The Crooked Hat nearly burns to the ground (5 Clock Segments filled due to complications accrued in the course of the conflict) so -1 Rep.  Benzito and a few others die.  The daughter will have to take over as proprietor (or sell) and the place is going to have to shut down for rebuild.2)  The lackey is killed and one of the Cohorts is mortally wounded with the other injured.3)  The Lurk sustains Level 2 Harm * 1 and both of his Level 1 Harm boxes are filled.  All of his Stress boxes are almost filled after Resisting down so many consequences (he went into this with barely any Stress).4)  The Fog Hounds lost Hold (instead of the PC Crew).  Being at War w/ the PC Crew meant they were Weak Hold at their Tier 1 Position.  This cost them their Tier 1 and downgraded them to 0.  Not a small victory...but there is so much damage accrued at this point that it may not matter.Then Downtime.There are 3 major ticking Clocks for the PCs that they have Downtime Projects to work against from manifesting.  Every Downtime phase those Clocks tick 1.  If the PCs win their Project Clock before the opposing obstacle Clocks tick fully, they disarm the problem (and gain an asset in at least one case).  2 Clocks have to do with Spirits (The Many and a young boy who is a Poltergeist who haunts the Whisper) and the other is a Crime Boss (the matron of a farm syndicate) that the PCs didn't pay off when they did a big, notable Score on their turf.  Because the PCs were in such a pinch (War means 1 Downtime instead of 2 per PC and the Whisper doesn't get a choice; his downtime is exclusively Indulging Vice (and will begin the next Information Gathering/Free Play with Stress cleared).  The other PC basically had to do the same because of all of the Stress from the Reprisal Entanglement and the failed Score.  As a result, The Many Clock ticked full (which will mean (a) another Trauma for the Whisper and (b) Great Effect but Desperate Position on Attune Action Rolls until he or the Lurk does something about the possession he is fighting off) and the farm syndicate Clock is now one tick away (which will mean a Tier 3 Gang breathing down their neck; which means bad Entanglements, potential problems in Free Play, and related Complications during play).We only got to resolve the Downtime because we were time-limited (and the Entanglements conflict took awhile to resolve).  But man...the last two sessions have seen some massive setbacks for the young Crew (with the only victory being "Down-Tiering" their nemesis, The Fog Hounds).</blockquote>

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