Questo è l'actual play di Lady Blackbird che avevo inviato a Harper (l'autore. Sì, quello che ha scritto anche Agon). Scusate se non faccio la fatica di tradurlo... ma è lunghetto e di recente tempo ne ho gran poco. Spero non sia un problema.
In breve, è stato iper-divertente, a parte un giocatore che si è lamentato della stereotipicità dei personaggi (con mia obiezione che sulle schede niente viene detto della psicologia di ciascun personaggio, il ché li rende perfettamente customizzabili: la stessa Lady Blackbird può essere una prima donna esattamente come una emo complessata riluttante a usare i propri talenti).
La partita è durata tre ore circa. Il sistema era semplice e divertentissimo da giocare. Un ibrido semplificato Solar System/The Pool. Nella sua semplicità decisamente grazioso.
Everything starts with our heroes prisoners of the Hand of Sorrow’s brig. However, the ship’s captain still didn’t know whom he was messing with, and a simple lock like that brig’s is no big deal for Kale Arkham. Nor are the two guards difficult to knock down for Naomi Bishop.
Since we had a three hours slot and I wanted them to experience as many features of the game as possible, I did not have them spend too much time on the Hand of Sorrow. Snargle proved an excellent scout, and since the Hand of Sorrow is not different from any ship of the same class, Cyrus was well aware of the route that would get them to the docks and where the Owl was anchored. A couple of successful tests and our heroes reached the docks.
And here the player who played Kale did an unexpected, great thing. Passing close to a cabin, he noticed a silver snuffbox, and being an unrepentant thief, he could not resist its allure. However, since I didn’t want him to have too much of an easy life, I had him notice a human shadow inside the cabin.
In the meantime, our heroes were too busy freeing the Owl from the clasps of the Hand of Sorrow’s deck, and didn’t notice the mechanic’s absence. Kale chose to sneak in the cabin and try stealing the box despite the obvious human presence, failed the test and was caught by the soldier. Which, however, had not been considering Kale’s sorcery. He made air explode right in front of the soldier’s face, and ran outside with the snuffbox, jumping on the owl while it was already taking off and falling on its deck. The impact made the snuffbox open, sending high quality cigars fliying in all directions.
Cyrus frowned, took one of the cigars, sniffed it and lit it saying not one single word.
The Hand of Sorrow opened fire on the Owl, but to no avail. Snargle is too much of a good pilot for them.
After some character scene where Naomi scolded Kale for his recklessness and Lady Blackbird had a short quarrel with Cyrus on the next destination, the Owl reached Haven. Here we had one of the two best scenes in the entire game.
The Owl was in bad need for supplies, so Cyrus, Kale and Snargle went to buy fuel and food, while Lady Blackbird and Naomi went to see a little of the famous Free City. They where contemplating the hats at a shop, when five gentlemen approached them from behind, pointing guns at their backs. I wanted their leader to be a sort of dandy gentleman, and it proved to be jolly funny. The leader, Mr.Roger Delaville, made a polite bow and asked her Ladyship to kindly follow them, as both her and her bodyguard were –regrettably- to consider themselves as captives. They chose to quietly follow them. Kale, which was quietly following them, chose not to intervene, and darted towards where he knew the captain was. He wasn’t smart enough to consider following them and see where the bounty hunters were taking the two ladies, so when Cyrus asked him where they had taken the ladies, he made his best “er… well…” expression.
In the meantime, our ladies were escorted to a small house in the center of the city: on the side of a narrow alley, covered by the shadow of much taller buildings, was a small roman style courtyard which was the access of a small yet confortable apartment. The ladies were escorted inside by the armed men, asked not to make resistance and enter a room, whose door was locked behind them. Bored of the situation, the Lady decided that, after all, these burglars were no immediate threat and blasted the door away with one of her spells. The men weren’t expecting such a reaction, and one of them was knocked off by Naomi before he knew what was happening. Here the player who played Lady Blackbird had a really splendid interpretation of the trait “Stormblood”. In order to empower her lightning spell, she bit her finger, let some drops of her own blood spill, and cast her spell. The target was literally fried.
The leader of the bounty hunters dropped his gun and raised his arms, since the other two men weren’t pesent. An exquisite dialogue -truly, one of the best I’ve ever witnessed in an RPG- with an intense Victorian flavor. I’ll try to remember the words as accurately as I can, but in the substance, the exchange was:
”Milady, your might matches your beauty, please allow me to surrender to your mercy”
“So be it, milord. I am now sure that you understand how the present circumstances allow me to ask you who hired you.”
“Of course. And I am truly grateful for your courtesy despite the regrettable situation. It was your fiancée, lord Carlowe, who put a bounty on your gracious head, hoping that this would take you back to him.”
“And how much would that be”
“I cannot help loathing the idea of having to impose a price in vulgar money on your person, but it was 15000 Gold Crowns.”
“I see. And I also understand that you are a true gentleman. Would you consider rather joining me in my voyage?”
“Milady, this offer warms my heart. I would surely be honored to be at your service.”
And it was thus that the bounty hunter Roger Delaville joined the Owl. Imagine the astonishment when the three rejoined Cyrus and his crew.
The Owl took off from Haven refueled and ready to reach Nightport. However, the skies are treacherous in that area, and a flying Kraken couldn’t help seeing the Owl as a possible prey. Taking the example of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, our heroes dissuaded the kraken through electrocution (the Lady did not intervene: she was busy with her own make up in her cabin).
The “asteroid field” also proved to be more challenging than imagined, and poor Snargle couldn’t help hitting a giant boulder and having the Owl impaled on a sharp rock talon. Lady Blackbird intervened by folding a message in a delicate origami and summoning the wind to send it safe to his lover, wherever he was. Shortly after, a perfectly black ship, so shiny that it reflected stars and asteroids around it, approached the Owl, took it from the rock with its giant clasps and boarded it.
It was thus that captain Uriah Flint finally met her beloved one. There was a really great exchange in this scene. In the end, all of the Owl’s crew – and also Roger Delaville – joined the Pirate King’s side. Lady Blackbird remarked “do you know, my love, they even put a bounty of 15000 Gold Crowns on me”, whereby Uriah replied “no woman worth a bounty of less than 15000 Gold Crown would deserve being my wife”.
Crunchwise, the game was great. Players truly enjoyed hitting keys and using secrets when possible, and choosing traits to build dice pools up fostered their creativity in describing their actions.
All in all, I enjoyed GM’ing this game more than many other games. It was simple and fun. When I play a character, crunch is far from being a problem. I even enjoy complex systems more than simple ones because I like employing tactics. The GM side is totally opposite: the simpler the better, and this is definitely a game I’d enjoy playing characters and GM equally. Not too simple and not too crunchy.
Despite the premise which hints at many things that could happen during the trip from Ilysium to Nightport, I think It’s perfect for an intense one-shot, by the way.
