Transcribed by Tyler (Twitter: @Tyler_MoonSage)
## Intro
Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. Thank you so much for joining us once again. As I mentioned last episode, we have hit our $300 per month goal on Patreon. That means more transcripts going up on the site soon. We’re very close to having all of Season 1 transcribed. At $400 per month we can buy better recording equipment for the cast and we’ll be setting up a merch store, so if you want Magpies t-shirts, art, and maybe even pins, check out our Patreon at Patreon.com/MagpiesPodcast. If you’re not able to support us on Patreon, you can support the show by tweeting about us, telling your friends, and leaving us reviews.
A quick content warning for this episode. There is a brief, mildly gory bit near the end of the episode. The exact timestamp is in the show notes, so if blood and guts aren’t your thing be sure to check the description and skip over that part.
{Transcriber’s Note: The times for the content warning are marked in the text and can be skipped past using the ## section tags.}
Just a few days ago we recorded the Season 2 finale which means that soon we’ll be recording our Season 2 wrap-up and Q&A episode. If you’ve got burning questions for the Magpies cast, keep an eye on our Twitter and Patreon for opportunities to send in those questions. Yours might get asked and answered on the show.
If you are going to GenCon, which is approaching very quickly, Minna and I will be there. I’m going to be moderating a panel on starting your own AP podcast on Thursday at 11 AM. Find me there or anywhere else at the con and get a cool Magpies bookmark.
Next, Kim’s going to tell us about this month’s Featured Charity.
Kim: Styles 4 Kidz is a Chicago based organization that provides education to multiracial and adoptive families on how to style and care for Black natural hair. Their salon offers a safe and judgment-free zone for parents to learn about their child’s hair, teaches them the skills they need, and recommends them haircare products meant for afro textured hair. They also provide services to children living in residential facilities and detention centers and children with special needs. To sponsor a child or to donate visit www.Styles4Kidz.org.
Rhi: Now then, let’s get started. Shall we?
## Story Continues [0:02:34]
Rhi: So, you head down the stairs and get to the landing and you turn, and basically there’s another kind of short stairs going down to a small, open room. On one wall of this small room is like a bank vault? Like one of those big, round, steel doors with a really complicated lock on it.
Kim: Oh…
Josie: Gods above.
Rhi: Hey, paranoid. The lock here is, both, there’s a keyhole and there’s a combination.
Minna: Multi-factor authentication.
Rhi: It’s very fair to assume that there are alarms wired to this. You can see that kind of brushed steel look, and you can see pretty faintly, but still visible, there are like arcane wards etched into the metal as well.
Kim: Oh no.
Josie: Geez.
Rhi: So like, this security is a lot.
Kim: At the same time, this is not iron Hook levels of security, which is why I feel okay. Kind of.
Rhi: [noncommittal noise, “yeah” / “eh”]
Josie: I think we might just need to take our time and get through each of these one by one.
Kim: Very carefully, yes.
Josie: Yeah. Disable the arcane wards…
Rhi: Yeah. You’ve got arcane wards, spark-craft alarms, combination lock, key lock.
Josie: I think we should focus on disabling the alarms and such, and then we might be able to brute force what remains.
Minna: Can you take a look at those wards?
Josie: I don’t have any knowledge of the arcane.
Rhi: Blaire, you can investigate those. You don’t have to roll anything to look at them, because they’re very obviously wards of basically protection and alarm.
Kim: Oh, okay.
Rhi: The way that I think about arcane alarms is that it’s kind of like a psychic link, with you pay a Whisper to set this up and they create a link between the ward and the person who owns it, so this Liam guy might just suddenly bolt upright in bed and be like [severe] “I’m being robbed. Not today.”
Kim: Yeah.
[laughter]
Minna: I just had this image, and feel free to shoot me down, but like… Oh man, I kind of want to do an Attune group action, because we’ve never seen people work together on magic, and that’s like my favorite magic trope.
Rhi: That—yeah.
Josie: I’d be down for that.
Kim: I would Love to lead that, that would make me very happy, however I only have 4 stress to spare.
Minna: I have stress to spare. I feel like I could stand back and be like the eyes that are helping you be the hands, if that makes sense.
Rhi: All right.
Kim: If you’re okay with leading I’m good with doing a group Attune, because that just makes my heart sing, because usually I’m the only one rolling Attune.
Rhi: Yeah! Do it. This is very cool. This is risky, standard effect for all of you.
Minna: Is there a Devil’s Bargain?
Rhi: Oh yeah. You can do Devil’s Bargain with just about anything. Let me think…
Kim: I rolled a 4.
Josie: I rolled a 2.
Rhi: Okay, and Myra is waiting to roll until I can make her an offer… Um, okay, I’ll go with this. Myra, you’re gonna take level 1 harm, just like psychic strain, because you are kind of serving as the focus point of this group thing.
Minna: Yeah, I’ll take that. I think that’s actually really cool.
Rhi: Yeah. So, go ahead and make your roll, Myra. So far we have a 2 and a 4.
Minna: So, it’s a 4.
Rhi: You do it, but there’s a consequence. I will get to the consequence. Tell me how this looks. How does this work?
Minna: Do you want to describe it? Do you want me to describe it? Do you want to take turns?
Rhi: Yeah, let’s have each of you kind of take turns. What does it look like for each of you? You successfully are gonna be able to de-power these wards. Each of you just kind of tell me how you contribute to it.
Minna: Ooh. Can it almost be like a psychic link-up thing?
Kim: That’s kind of what I’m imagining. I’m imagining something like that, and also Blaire’s probably muttering under her breath some sort of incantation.
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: I think Minx is providing the physical support, because I don’t know how tall this wall is, so I’m gonna give Blaire a boost to get there because she can’t reach it. [laughs]
Minna: I think in the ghost field there are lines that have snapped to tension between the three of them almost in a triangle.
Rhi: Yeah, that’s cool. So yeah, you all are able to de-power these wards.
Minna: I think that Myra can see patterns from back where she’s standing and then Blaire almost picks them apart like they’re…
Kim: Yeah, it’s almost like a puzzle to her, yeah, and she’s very used to doing this.
Minna: Yeah, somewhere between a puzzle and like strings.
Kim: Coming from her alchemy background, this is something that she’s very versed in.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: Yeah, whereas Myra’s learning a lot very quickly. Heh.
Rhi: The complication that I’m doing there is I’m ticking up the clock on the guards. We’re at 2 out of 4 there. So, you’ve taken down the arcane wards.
Minna: How do we take down spark-craft wards?
Kim: With magic and electricity.
Rhi: Yeah. Tinkering, or wrecking, or…
Josie: Yeah. Oh! I can do wrecking. I’m really good at wrecking.
Rhi: Wrecking is not subtle and has the potential to be loud.
Josie: Yeah. Right.
Rhi: So, just keep that in mind.
Josie: Which is potentially problematic, but I do have two dots in it.
Rhi: So, this is gonna continue to be risky, standard effect. Actually, it might be—because you don’t have fine wrecking tools, do you?
Josie: Uh, no.
Rhi: No. You have regular ones. It’s gonna be reduced effect.
Josie: Okay. I can push myself to increase effect, yes?
Rhi: Yes you can.
Josie: That’ll put me up to a lot of stress way quickly, though. Is anyone willing to assist me in wrecking this shit? [chuckles]
Minna: You know what, I’ll do that, because I really want this to work.
Josie: I will just use it for an extra die, increase our odds of a 6 or a critical or whatever. Minx kind of takes a look back there and just starts carefully looking for the spot to start and then is just sort of unraveling it very quickly, like she’s unraveling a scarf or something, all the wires.
Rhi: Yeah. All right, let’s see how this goes.
Josie: Uh, 5s.
Rhi: So it’s reduced effect, so you’re not quite gonna get it on this go-round, you’re gonna have to try it again.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: I’m gonna give you an offer. I’m pretty sure I know what you’re gonna choose, but I’m still gonna make the offer. Would you like me to tick up the clock or would you like to get electrocuted?
Josie: I think it’s funnier if I get zapped. [laughs]
Rhi: Okay. Yeah, that’s gonna be level 2 harm.
Josie: Level 2 harm?! Okay. Oof.
Rhi: You get zinged real bad.
Josie: But Prowess resist, right?
Rhi: Yeah, Prowess to resist.
Josie: I am going to Prowess resist. So, that’s a 5.
Rhi: Five. Okay, so you take 1 point of stress and that’ll drop it down to level 1 harm, Zapped, instead of Electrocuted. But yeah, Minx is just stripping wires and is just all of a sudden, ZZT.
Josie: The hair in her bun kind of flays out a little bit. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): Minx! You okay?
Josie (as Minx): Yes, I’m fine dear, just don’t touch me yet. Some of the static needs to disperse.
Kim (as Blaire): [nervous] Uh, okay…
Josie (as Minx): I’m good to keep going. I’m good to keep going.
Rhi: Yeah, so give it another shot.
Josie: All right. I got a 6.
Rhi: All right, nice. So yeah, now that you got about half way through it you’re able to be like “oh, okay, I see how this is put together,” more or less, and you’re able to pry the whole system apart. It’s sparking a lot. There’s a faint smell of smoke.
Minna: We might burn this house down after all.
Josie: Huzzah.
Rhi: Yeah. You might set a fire after all.
Kim: Ba-dum-bum!
Rhi: But so far it’s okay, like the alarm hasn’t gone off, guards aren’t getting any closer. Yeah, the wards are down, the spark-craft alarm is down, you just have two locks, there’s a combination lock and a key lock.
Josie: All right. Do we want to try to Tinker these or just Wreck some more?
Kim: I would like to try tinkering first, and I have an idea. Would looking into the ghost field for the combination lock give me an idea of its history?
Rhi: I think that was—
Minna: That was—Yeah.
Rhi: Yeah. That was Minna’s idea.
Minna: Let’s do it!
Josie: Yeah. Ghost fingerprints. [laughs]
Rhi: To look and see if you can figure out what the combination is?
Kim: Yeah. All right, so I’m gonna roll Attune for this. All right, 6.
Rhi: Shit. All right. Yeah. I mean, that does it, yeah. You just need that 6. Yeah, so you look into the ghost field and it’s like this overlay, the same figure coming down the stairs, walking over to the vault, and entering a combination. I’m gonna roll. All the numbers are gonna be 6 or lower.
Minna: [giggles] Perfect.
Rhi: Enters 6, 3, 2, 3…
Kim (as Blaire): Oh!
Rhi: …on the combination lock. You can just see this, it’s an overlay of every single time that this guy has done this.
Minna: Because it’s like a constant movement, so it’s warn like a path in the ghost field.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Mm-hmm. Exactly.
Kim: Blaire’s gonna take her spirit mask off.
Kim (as Blaire): Uh, so, I got the combination, guys.
Josie (as Minx): Excellent, dear. Let’s put that in.
Kim: All right!
Rhi: All right. You hear a CLUNK as something in the door unlocks.
Minna (as Myra): One more.
Josie: Do you wish to attempt tinkering at it or shall I just strip it down?
Kim: I say tinker first, and if that doesn’t work then maybe wreck it?
Josie: Very well.
Rhi: So yeah, go ahead and do your roll. Risky, reduced effect, because this is a real good lock.
Kim: Five.
Rhi: Five, okay. But consequence…
Kim: [groans nervously]
Rhi: Tick, tick, tick. We’re at 3 out of 4, but you’re at reduced effect though, so the lock isn’t open. You gotta do one more. You get a 4, 5, or a 6, the lock is open.
Kim: And if I don’t the clock’s gonna be complete.
Rhi: You have a 50% chance of opening this lock.
Kim: I still don’t like those odds.
Josie: I think I will assist you.
Kim: Are you sure?
Josie: Yes. It will leave me with 2 stress remaining, but for… The next score is gonna be mostly combat, and I am skilled at that.
Kim: So long as you don’t get fucked up because you assisted me.
Josie: I mean, I’m willing to take the risk.
Rhi: [hums innocently]
Minna: [giggles] In character.
Kim: Phew. All right, that’s a 5 and a 6.
Rhi: Okay!
Kim: Josie, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Rhi: You feel something click in the lock and then there’s another CHUNK as some other lock disengages, and Blaire, you can like spin the wheel and the vault slowly opens.
Minna (as Myra): [smiling] Blaire, you are a marvel.
Kim (as Blaire): It’s all luck, baby, it’s all luck.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie (as Minx): Hey now. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. So, you’re in this guy’s vault where he has these journals.
Minna: Does he also have some like shit we can steal?
Rhi: He’s got some shit y’all can steal! [laughs]
Josie: Yeah.
Kim: Fuck yeah~! We’re gonna make some coin tonight, baby!
Minna: I was gonna say, we are poor.
Rhi: Huh… I’m trying to think of how I want to… Somebody is gonna need to roll to locate these journals. I think I’m gonna have each of you roll Study or Survey, but more of a Gather Info roll, and that’ll tell me how much coin you’re each able to grab.
Kim: Okay.
Josie: Okay. So, no consequences is what you’re saying?
Rhi: Yeah. It’s a fortune roll basically is what I’m having that be, literally a fortune roll. Ew, now I’m mad at myself. Why did I make that joke?
Kim: Okay, I got a 5.
Rhi: Okay, so—
Minna: I got a 4 on the look for the journal Study.
Rhi: I thought Minx was looking for the journals.
Minna: Oh! Okay. Then that’s a 4 on the fortune roll.
Rhi: Okay. Each of you—because you’re having to do this fast—Blaire and Myra, you each nab 2 coin worth of stuff, small valuables that you’re shoving into pockets. Minx, go ahead and give me a roll for Survey or Study, however you’re collecting.
Josie: I did that. I got a 5.
Rhi: So, Minx finds the journals, Blaire and Myra grab about 4 coin worth of stuff, but Josie did not get a 6. Household Guards, 4 out of 4. You all have raided this vault. You’ve gotten the journals that you were sent for. You’ve grabbed some coin.
Minna: We left a pin.
Rhi: This is—Did you leave a pin?
Kim: I think we did for this one.
Minna: I feel like we left a pin.
Rhi: Yeah, just sitting in the middle of the vault.
Kim: Probably.
Minna: Yeah, in one of the empty spaces we took shit from.
Rhi: Oh yeah, yeah, for sure.
Kim: That’s awesome.
Rhi: –have left a pin behind. However, as you step out of the vault you hear shouting and running from above you as the guards are rushing for the stairs to the vault.
Josie: I wanna be off to the side, around the corner from the stairs. You know what, I’m gonna commit to having a pistol and a sword, one in each hand.
Rhi: Okay.
Kim: Very on brand.
Minna: You swashbuckler, you.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: What are the other two of you doing?
Kim: I’m going to mark the lightning hooks off of my equipment. That’s just the closest thing to a weapon that I usually have on me.
Rhi: Yeah, I mean, you’ve fried many people with those. All right. Where are you gonna post up?
Kim: Probably to the right of Minx, and I’m gonna let Minx take the lead, I would imagine.
Rhi: Yes, and Myra?
Minna: Probably a pistol and a dagger. That’s always a good idea.
Rhi: Yeah, just make sure you—
Josie: Are we able to hear how many are coming?
Rhi: More than two? Probably less than six? Probably? It’s hard to tell. You can just hear running and shouting, some indistinct number of voices.
Josie: Okay. If it’s a small number we might be able to intimidate them. I think we’re just going in for the fight at this point, though.
Rhi: Yeah. You left the door up there cracked open so that you’d be able to leave. You hear it slam open, and you hear footsteps coming down the stairs, but they don’t fully rush down onto the landing. They kind of slow and stop, and then two guards step out onto the landing with basically shotguns and just sweep the room to look, and since you’re all around the corner they don’t see you immediately.
Josie: Okay. I want to lash out with my sword around the corner and then just cut at the ankles of the first guy.
Rhi: Okay. This is gonna be risky, standard effect.
Josie: I got a 6.
Rhi: Six. Cool. So you slash across the front of his ankles and he cries out in pain and stumbles forward and is losing his footing as he’s suddenly bleeding heavily from near the feet. Myra, I think you’ll also have, since that was just a 6, there’s no consequence to that roll, you can also act.
Minna: I also got a 6.
Rhi: Nice!
Josie: Ooh!
Rhi: Teamwork makes the dream work.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Yay. How do you take out the other guard? She also has a shotgun.
Minna: I feel like they’re ambushed enough that I’m able to grab her around the middle and, like, stab.
Kim: Just do a stab?
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: Yeah. I think it’s like a grabs her around the middle, goes for the kidneys.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah, she goes down, and then the other two who had been behind on the stairs come rushing in.
Minna: And she’s a stumbling block now.
Rhi: Yeah, there’s two people on the ground in various states of pain and blood. Two of you have kind of lost the element of surprise, you’re out in the open now as these other two come running down with pistols, but Blaire is still a little bit hidden.
Kim: So, one of the guards are definitely taken care of, correct? And one is still—
Rhi: Two of them are down. Two are down, two are still up. Fifty percent of the guards were eliminated in the first ambush. Nice job.
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: So, is it possible for me to try and sneak up on one of them and use my lightning hooks on one?
Rhi: Yeah. It’s not gonna be a ton of sneaking. It’s just you’re jumping out from your ambush position and…
Kim: So would that be a Skirmish?
Rhi: Yeah, zapping them. Risky position. They’re fine lightning hooks, right?
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Greater effect.
Kim: That’s a 4.
Rhi: Four, okay. You jump on one of the guards and there’s electricity flying and sparking. The last guard who’s up… like, this all happened in the span of about five seconds.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: None of them even got a single shot off. You all just bam-bam-bam, took three of them out. The last guard looks at the situation, turns around and runs.
Josie: [laughs] yay.
Kim: Oh, hell no.
Minna: Sounds like a good time for someone to use a gun.
Rhi: Yeah, I was gonna say. Here’s the thing, there’s a lot of Bluecoat patrols in the area.
Josie: Yeah. I’m gonna fire my pistol in pursuit.
Kim: [nervous noises]
Rhi: Okay. Do it. Nope, already happening.
Josie: Yep.
Rhi: [laughs] Minx is reckless.
Josie: Also, we’re in a basement. Who’s gonna fucking hear?
Kim: It’s also a gun.
Rhi: Yeah. They are running back up the stairs to the first floor.
Josie: I got a 5.
Rhi: Five, okay. I’m gonna say it’s reduced effect. The shot hits them in the arm. They stumble but keep running and make it up to the first floor, and are at the moment out of your sight.
Josie: Okay. I vote we also just bolt, get out of here, not a prolonged fight.
Minna: Yeah.
Kim: Just make a run for it? Yeah.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: Out the back.
Kim: I’m fine with that.
## Escape [0:21:07]
Rhi: All right. So, you all are able to run up and out of the house without any issue. Minx, you use your knowledge of the Bluecoat patrols to kind of like, instead of—it’s like, okay, we can’t go down this street, we’ll go down this way, we’ll dodge the Bluecoats. However, as you’re making your way through Brightstone having to kind of dodge to the shadows, because you all look pretty sketchy right now, you start hearing the ringing of the Bluecoat alarm bells.
Josie: Right.
Kim: Ugh.
Rhi: And… Let me look up how this works.
Minna: “Let me look up how this works” is ominous.
Rhi: Shh… It’s fine. Everything’s fine. This is just something I’ve never gotten to do before… Okay! So, we are going to have a chase scene.
Minna: [gasps]
Kim & Josie: Oh!
Rhi: Which means I’m gonna use racing clocks.
Minna: [bright-smile gasp]
Josie: Ooh.
Kim: Ohh~!
Rhi: So, “Create two opposed clocks to represent a race. The PCs might have a clock called Escape while the Bluecoats have a clock called Cornered,” which is the clocks that you two will have. The Bluecoats have been alerted by that surviving guard that this house was just robbed. The Bluecoats are fanning out across the district in pursuit of you. they have you outnumbered, so your clock is 6, theirs is 4. You all are gonna have to make a series of rolls to get out of Brightstone.
Josie: I propose we try to escape via our underground passages and the like.
Rhi: Yep, so all clocks are at 0 right now, Bluecoats are 0 out of 4, you all are at 0 out of 6. Start running.
Josie: Yep. Let’s run towards the nearest catacomb entrance.
Rhi: I think your first roll is gonna have to be somebody examining the maps as you’re sprinting to make sure you can find a place.
Josie: [laughs] Okay.
Kim: I know the catacombs pretty well. I’m okay with doing a Study as I run. Is that how that works?
Rhi: Okay. Yes.
Kim: Okay, so let me roll Study.
Rhi: Risky position.
Kim: Okay, 5.
Rhi: Five, okay. Yeah. I’m gonna tick both clocks up by 1.
Josie: Yeesh.
Rhi: You ID where the nearest catacomb entrance is. It’s not super close by, and the Bluecoats are getting closer.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Kim: However, I have a question, is this catacomb entrance, you know, windy and maze-like and confusing enough that it’s feasible enough to have the Bluecoats’ trail be kind of thrown off?
Minna: Maybe another Study to try and find the best route through?
Rhi: Yeah. You can try to find that out.
Minna: I can do that.
Rhi: Okay. If you want to look at the maps of the underground passages to try to find a good route as you’re still sprinting.
Minna: That’s a 5.
Kim: Woo.
Rhi: Okay. Ticking both of them up another one a piece.
Minna: Uh-huh…
Kim: Ugh.
Josie: Egh…
Minna: Which means we’re 2 out of 4 on the Bluecoats and 2 out of 6 on ours.
Rhi: Mm-hmm.
Kim: Yeah, that’s not good.
Josie: Can I take an action that’s intended to slow their clock rather than advance ours?
Minna: Wreck, wreck, wreck.
Rhi: I think you can do that.
Minna: Because I feel like if you did something that slowed them down, that would give us an advantage and we would move ahead. It’s like the pod racing philosophy.
Rhi: Yes. It wouldn’t necessarily reduce their clock, but it would boost you up further.
Josie: Right. Okay. I’m not gonna split the party, but I am gonna jog over like a block, fire some shots into the air, and then run back to where we are and try to essentially draw attention.
Rhi: Okay. I’m picturing it as like, you’re running on a street, Minx veers off through an alley, BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG, Minx veers off through the next alley and catches back up.
Josie: Yep. I want to throw them off the trail.
Rhi: Yeah. Go ahead and give me some kind of roll for that.
Josie: Could I make a case for Sway in that case?
Minna: It’s a deception.
Rhi: It is deception. Yeah, I’ll allow it.
Josie: Six.
Rhi: Yeah. That works very well. The Bluecoats who have been kind of like…
Josie: Oh, we’re up to 4? I thought we were up to 3.
Rhi: Nope, I’m gonna move you up to 4 because you got a 6. That was very good.
Josie: Cool. Neat.
Rhi: I’ve been advancing you by 1 when you get a, like, with a consequence. Okay. You hear, you know, you fire those gunshots and run back and you can kind of hear in the distance:
Rhi (as Bluecoat): Move over to Silvermark! There’s gunshots! Move!
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Minna: Do you guys wanna do like… I don’t know. I feel like we need to do something good, because if we can get another 6 we can get away scot-free.
Josie: Yeah.
Rhi: Yeah. You’re getting closer to that catacomb entrance, but the Bluecoats are still in pursuit.
Kim: I have an idea. Because I still have plenty of load to spare, can I mark off, what would it be, probably an unusual weapon and have it be a smoke bomb or would that have to be a flashback?
Rhi: Smoke bombs we have established cost 1 stress. You get them from Seeks, and in a flashback, yeah, you have to have ducked out at some point to get those.
Kim: Yeah, doing that would put me at 3 stress left to spare, but if you just protect a squishy baby in the next score I might be okay.
Josie: That’s my intention. [laughs]
Rhi: You gonna have a smoke bomb?
Kim: I’m going to have a smoke bomb.
Rhi: Okay. Go ahead and mark down that stress for that flashback.
Kim: yeah, and I mark off an unusual weapon?
Rhi: [laughs] Seeks is like:
Rhi (as Seeks): You all should really just start getting these in bulk.
Josie: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): I know, I’m sorry, but I think we’re really gonna need this.
Rhi (as Seeks): No, I mean it’s fine, I like seeing you, but bulk would be much more practical.
Minna: [giggles] I love how she’s always advising us on finances.
Kim: Anyway. Do I have to roll anything to set this off?
Rhi: Yeah. Well, yes, you have to roll something, but tell me what you’re trying to do. Are you trying to…?
Kim: I’m trying to cover our tracks. As the three of us are running I want Blaire to, you know, set off the smoke bomb and throw it over her shoulder and just let it dissipate behind them so that way, you know, there’s just a fog that covers our escape.
Rhi: Can I make a counter suggestion?
Kim: Please.
Rhi: Because like, in an enclosed space that makes sense, but at this point having suddenly smoke in the street is gonna tell them exactly where you are.
Kim: True.
Rhi: So, counter suggestion, throw it through a window of a nearby house and they’ll think there’s a fire.
Kim: I do like that suggestion. Would that be Skirmish to toss that?
Rhi: Um… I feel like it’s more of a Wreck.
Minna: Or maybe a Hunt? For aim.
Rhi: Hunt could also work.
Kim: Could I make an argument for Finesse? Have it be something like I’m aiming for a certain window.
Rhi: Yes. I’ll allow Finesse.
Kim: Thank you! I have something in Finesse. I’m gonna roll one… Woo! Okay, that’s a 6.
Minna: [gasps]
Josie: Nice!
Rhi: Okay, nice. Yeah. I think you have to stop for a second to get really good aim, and then you just throw it in and it goes into a second floor window, and you can hear distant screaming as smoke starts billowing out that window.
Kim: Perfect. Yep.
Rhi: So, I mean, that’s gonna get you up to 6 out of 6.
Minna: Yeah~!
Josie: Nice.
Rhi: You all reach the catacomb entrance and rush in and make your way through the underground catacombs and canals out of Brightstone.
Kim: Oh my God.
Josie: Can we pop out right near the Daily? [laughs]
Rhi: Well, so here’s the thing. By the time you make your way, you kind of slow down and stop running after a little bit, by the time you make your way into Charterhall it’s 11, 11:30. The delivery is not until dawn.
Josie: Oh.
Rhi: So, you don’t have time for a full downtime of reducing stress.
Josie: Right.
Rhi: The thing is, you no longer have to necessarily hit this in Charterhall. You could hit this in Nightmarket where security’s a little lighter. You could go home and switch out your gear, I will let you kind of reset your load, you have enough time. You all did very well on that first house. You paid for it dearly in stress, but like… You actually probably, like, if you’re running back to Six Towers anyway you could drop this off with the Silver Nails.
Kim: You mean on the way?
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: Yeah. Here you go. Bye. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah, basically. You wanna do that?
Josie: Yeah, let’s do it.
Rhi: Okay. So I’m picturing that you all hustle in looking disheveled and like you just came off a score, like you’re armed and breathing hard, and at this point in the night the place is pretty busy. People kind of look up at you and are like, uh, be a little more subtle please. A couple of the Silver Nails make their way through the crowd over to you and are like:
Rhi (as Silver Nail): What do you… What do you need? Do you have the goods?
Josie (as Minx): We do. I apologize for the, [exhales] commotion, but there was that deadline. Here you go.
Rhi (as Silver Nail): You weren’t followed, were you?
Rhi: They take the journals.
Kim (as Blaire): No. We made sure of that.
Rhi (as Silver Nail): All right. Well…
I think one of them looks out over the crowd.
Rhi (as Silver Nail): TUHAN!
Rhi: And there’s a pause as she makes her way over.
Rhi (as Tuhan): Oh, hey, all right. You made it back. Cutting it a little fine, but well done.
Josie (as Minx): Yes.
Rhi: Kind of props one of the books up on her amputated arm, is balancing it on that, and then uses her other hand to page through it.
Rhi (as Tuhan): Yeah, these are them. All right.
Rhi: Hands it back to the person who took them originally.
Rhi (as Tuhan): All right. Well, you kept your end of the deal. We’re square.
Josie (as Minx): All right. Excellent. Thank you. Now excuse us, we need to take a short rest.
Rhi (as Tuhan): Do you want to have a drink—
Rhi: And they’re gone. Okay. [laughs]
Josie: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): Normally we’d love to, but we got other things to do. Bye~!
Minna: Myra waves.
Rhi: Yeah. Tuhan just shrugs and then they head off to look over their new gains. So yeah, you all are able to zip back to The Nest, put away your newly gained coin, I assume 1 for each of you and 1 into the vault probably. We’ll sort that out during downtime.
Minna: God, this is the most coin I’ve had in my pocket in ages.
Rhi: You get back to The nest. It’s about midnight. You don’t really have enough time to kind of distress and decompress that much, but you can change out your gear, you have a snack, maybe have some tea to caffeinate a little bit. [laughs]
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Kim: Blaire definitely has tea.
Minna: Rebraid my hair.
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: Oh yes. I need to unzap my hair. [laughs]
Kim: Reapply your lipstick.
Josie: Minx gets into The Nest and just doesn’t really slow down. She’s just in and out of her room fixing herself up. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. And then I think at about 4 AM is when you all have to head out again.
Josie: All right. What are the down sides of a heavy load again?
Rhi: You are very obviously armed and armored. It’s not subtle.
Josie: Okay. I think I’m gonna switch to a heavy load. Minx is just not taking any chances and going out in full combat gear.
Rhi: Okay. How about everybody else?
Kim: I’m gonna stick with my normal load.
Minna: Same.
Rhi: Normal, normal. Okay, so heavy, normal, normal.
Minna: Because I don’t actually end up using that much of my load during most scores.
Kim: Same.
Minna: Normal is sufficient.
## Preparation [0:33:22]
Rhi: You said this was going to be an Assault score.
Josie: Yep ,that makes sense.
Kim: It’s gotta be.
Rhi: Where are you attacking? Because you don’t necessarily have to hit them in Charterhall.
Josie: That’s true, but that’s where we know they’re gonna be.
Kim: But I also like the idea of Nightmarket because of the lowered security.
Minna: Yeah. Let’s hit them in our home turf.
Kim: Exactly.
Josie: Yeah.
Rhi: Oh my God. We could use that mechanic that no one ever remembers.
Kim: Which is?
Josie: Oh yeah. Let’s do that.
Minna: Ooh. What is it?
Rhi: It’s the Turf mechanic, where you get bonuses if you’re doing a score on your turf.
Josie: Yeah. Let’s like catch them at one of the bridges leading out so we just bottleneck them.
Rhi: Yeah, so a bridge out of Nightmarket is your… Yeah, that’ll work perfectly. There’s actually a bridge—Oh! I know exactly what bridge you’re gonna hit. It’s the one… Is that right? I feel like this might be… Yeah. I think this is the bridge right next to Hagen’s clinic, actually.
Minna: Ooh.
Kim: Oh. Okay.
Rhi: So you all have been around here before. This is familiar ground. So, we’re gonna do our second engagement roll!
Kim: Christ.
Josie: Hurray.
Kim: This is bonkers.
Rhi: Luck? I would say again this is bold or daring.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: “Does the plan’s detail expose a vulnerability of the target?” I think so. I think that bottlenecking them on a bridge is a good plan. Nobody’s providing aid or insight. Nobody’s interfering. Um, I think this is a higher tier target… so, 2d6 and I’m taking the higher. Phew, good thing for that, because I got a 1 and a 6.
Minna: Yeah!
Josie: Nice.
Kim: Nice!
## Score 2 [0:35:05]
Rhi: You are gonna be in a controlled position. You all have enough time to get over there and setup your ambush zone, so each of you tell me what you do to setup this ambush.
Josie: I want to put something blocking part of the bridge in some way.
Minna: I actually have an idea. Is there something that might foul or slow cart wheels?
Rhi: The cart wheels, not necessarily, but they’re drawn by goats. You could put something down that’ll hurt the goats that’ll stop ‘em dead.
Minna: [whining] I don’t wanna hurt the goats.
Rhi: You may have to hurt the goats. [chuckles]
Josie: Caltrops.
Rhi: Or, I mean, if you did some kind of… It’s not like this is a car where you can put down a strip of nails and blow out the tire, but if you put down some kind of oil slick that would send everything skidding…
Minna: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. Actually, I have an idea. Okay, cart wheels, circles with spokes, right?
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: If you had sort of like some kind of stake setup that might catch them crosswise and catch in the spokes.
Rhi: Yeah. You could try to setup something like that.
Josie: Mm-hmm. Although, I kind of like the oil slick idea.
Minna: Whatever you wanna do. Something. I just wanted to toss ideas around.
Kim: I have an additional idea. Is it possible, is there any way that I could go about trying to extinguish the lamps near the bridge?
Minna: [gasps]
Rhi: Oh, absolutely.
Kim: Okay, then I’m definitely doing that to make it darker.
Rhi: Yeah. Okay.
Minna: I do like oil combined with that. Also, oil, potentially flammable. Good asset.
Rhi: Yeah. [laughing] Just in case, as the last ditch effort.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Or, something goes horribly wrong and I can set all of you on fire.
Kim: Don’t! Don’t.
Minna: Oh my God. We could literally burn a bridge.
Josie: [laughs] It’s fine.
Kim: Was that an X-Card don’t, or just a please don’t set us on fire as a general plea?
Kim: Please don’t set us on fire. If I were to do an X-Card I would, you know, actually type it out in the chat.
Rhi: Okay. I just wanted to check.
Kim: No, I’m okay, fire is fine.
Rhi: Okay! Myra’s putting down an oil slick on the bridge. Blaire is putting out the lights. Minx, what are you doing?
Josie: I think I’m just gonna be ready. Yeah. I’m just gonna be ready.
Minna: You’re the one who says stand and deliver.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: Yes. Yeah, I’m gonna be the one who actually goes in and holds them up at gunpoint.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: Should I mark off a lantern in my load for the oil?
Rhi: Yes.
Josie: That would make sense.
Rhi: Yes it would.
Kim: And do I have to roll anything to extinguish the lamps?
Rhi: I’m gonna say no. You all get there with enough time that you are able to just climb up the lamppost. Minx is probably giving you boosts to scramble up there.
Kim: Yeah, because I am a smol.
Rhi: To just extinguish the… well, disconnecting them, because these are all electroplasm powered.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: So yeah, the bridge is dark…
Kim: Perfect.
Rhi: …you got a nice oil slick, you all are just kind of waiting, and then you hear hoof beats and wheels. There’s just kind of the faintest glow of sunlight in the sky. It’s been a real long day.
Minna: Is it that one that happens only at like dawn and twilight?
Rhi: Yeah. You only see the sun at dawn and sunset. The sky is just barely beginning to lighten, and this carriage being pulled by two giant Akorosian goats comes on. The carriage itself is more heavily reinforced than your average carriage, but it is not an armored carriage. There’s a driver and someone sitting next to her with a rifle across their knees, and you’re able to see two figures kind of hanging on to the back of the carriage, and which point the carriage hits the oil slick, there’s loud bleating as the goats go scrambling and stumbling as the carriage veers wildly.
Josie: Baa.
Kim: Baa~!
Rhi: I think the… Hmm. I think on a critical you would have tipped the carriage. I think in this case the carriage has come to a stop, and I think the two guards on the back got thrown off, so they are not out of the fight but they’re like down on the ground and kind of scrambling to recover themselves.
Minna: And sliding.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah, they’re slipping in the oil, they’re scrambling to recover.
Josie: All right. I’m gonna have my trusty blunderbuss.
Rhi: Uh-huh?
Josie: I think I’m gonna get right up on the side of the carriage as it skids to a stop, just point it in the face of the two people there.
Josie (as Minx): Now is a good time to take a day off.
Rhi: Roll me something.
Josie: Yeah. That’s probably Command?
Rhi: Yeah. You’re in a controlled position.
Josie: I got a 6, though.
Rhi: So I think the two of them look at you and your very large gun, they look at each other, they look back at you. The driver just kinda goes…
Rhi (as Driver): Just don’t shoot my goats.
Rhi: …and slides down…
Minna: Aww.
Rhi: …and is just ignoring you now and is trying to get her goats disentangled.
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: Baa. Baa. Baa.
Rhi: The other guard just kind of tosses his rifle onto the seat and slides down.
Rhi (as Guard): I don’t get paid enough for this.
Rhi: Just walks off to the side of the bridge, sits down with his hands behind his head.
Josie: Good idea.
Rhi: [laughing] You get the impression he’s been robbed before.
Kim: This is amazing. This is very good.
Josie (as Minx): All right. Good show.
Josie: I’m gonna just gently pat the butt of one of the goats.
Rhi: [angry goat noise, laughs]
Kim: Can I kiss one? I’m gonna kiss a goat.
Rhi: Please—No, you can’t. They’re very upset. They’re very large.
Minna: You’re in the middle of a score!
Rhi: Yeah, you’re in the middle of a score. Please focus. The score is not done. There are still at least to guards who have not been pacified.
Kim: Can I pet one goat?!
Rhi: … Yes. The goat doesn’t like it. The goat’s stressed out.
Kim: Okay!
Minna: [laughs]
Josie: All right. I’m gonna levy my blunderbuss at the two guards who fell off and kind of nod at you two to actually go in and get the stuff.
Rhi: Yeah, so Blaire and Myra, you I think will need to do, again, some kind of rolls.
Minna: Skirmish?
Rhi: Yeah. It’s still controlled. That has not dropped yet. Each of you can do Skirmish.
Minna: Six.
Kim: Four.
Rhi: Jesus. Okay. So, Myra, I think that the guard you walk towards, her gun had skidded pretty far away, so she’s not even close when you pick it up. Blaire, your guard, his gun didn’t go as far, so you two I think both grab it at the same time and there’s a little bit of a struggle, and I think he wrenches it around and hits you in the side of the face with the butt of the gun.
Kim: Ugh.
Rhi: So you are gonna take level 1 harm, Bruised Jaw.
Kim: Okay. That’s two slots of level 1 harm.
Rhi: So yeah, you’re wrestling with that, he hits you in the face with the gun, I think you kick him in the stomach and he lets go and you get his gun. So you’ve disarmed those guards.
Minna: I like that you say those guards, implying there are more.
Rhi: [cheerfully] Yeah. You haven’t checked inside the carriage yet.
Josie: Yes. All right. I’m gonna point my gun at the door to the carriage.
Josie (as Minx): Can one of you grab the handle?
Minna: Myra opens it, like a footman opening it for a noble.
Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] So Minx, you and the guard inside have very similar guns, like you probably bought them from the same gun maker.
Josie: Oh. [laughs] Excellent.
Rhi: That identical gun is being aimed at you.
Josie: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I’m just gonna fire.
Rhi: Okay. Roll it. This is gonna be risky, because you do have a gun being aimed at you.
Josie: I do get a 6, though.
Rhi: Okay. Uh… So, yeah—
Josie: That’s three 6s in a row.
## Content Warning: gore [0:43:40] Skip to next tag
Rhi: Yeah. You fire into the carriage. You… There’s chunks of this guy all over the inside of the carriage.
Kim: Oh my God.
Rhi: I mean, you fired basically a shotgun at pretty close range.
Kim: Yeah…
Josie: Yeah, and I mean, he was gonna do the same to me, so…
Kim: Yeah, but still, yuck. Ick.
Josie: Oh dear.
Rhi: He is very dead. There is prolonged, horrified screaming coming from inside the carriage.
Kim: [deep breath]
Josie: I’m gonna poke my head in and put a handkerchief over my mouth.
Rhi: There is a woman in fairly nice clothes, or at least they were nice before they got covered in guard bits, who is just screaming, and sitting next to her is a package of papers that are kind of tied up with twine.
Josie: I’m gonna pick up the sheath of papers, put it away, and then hand her my handkerchief.
Rhi: She doesn’t react. She’s just like, totally… She just saw a man get blown to pieces in front of her. She’s kind of having a meltdown.
## Content Warning ends [0:44:57]
Minna: [whispering] Ask her if there are copies.
Josie (as Minx): Now dear, I don’t suppose there are copies of this?
Rhi: You’re gonna have to roll something and you’re gonna be at reduced effect.
Josie: I’m gonna roll Sway. I got a 5.
Rhi: Huh… Did she make copies? Let’s find out… She didn’t make copies. She’s not very bright.
Minna: [giggles]
Rhi: So, she manages to calm down long enough to be like:
Rhi (as Woman): [frantic] And-No! No, I didn’t make any copies!
Josie (as Minx): Good. Good. Now, just remember this is how playing games like this generally turns out.
Josie: I’m gonna wave the sheaf at her and hop off.
Rhi: Okay. The consequence here is that in the process of climbing into the carriage, Minx, you also got kind of covered in blood…
Josie: Uh-huh.
Rhi: …and you all hear the death bell tolling.
Kim: Oh no~!
Minna: Mm-hmm!
Josie: Right.
Rhi: As you look up into the—normally you can’t see the deathseeker crows very clearly, because they’re black on the black sky, but it’s light enough that you can see them taking off from Charterhall, which isn’t very far away, and they’re starting to circle.
Josie: Well, good thing we didn’t do this there then. Time to go home, dears.
Rhi: Yeah. So, um, I think I’m gonna need one last roll to see if you leave any kind of a trail.
Josie: Does anyone have the stress to handle a group action?
Minna: Yes.
Josie: Okay. I think we should do a group Prowl or something.
Minna: Yeah.
Kim: I agree.
Rhi: This is gonna be risky.
Josie: I got a 4.
Kim: I got a 6.
Minna: I also got a 6.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: I take 0 stress.
Rhi: No stress.
Kim: Dang.
Rhi: So, you hurry off. I think that the way that you have to—I was gonna say that Minx is leaving a little bit of a blood trail along behind her, but I think what you all do is you duck around the bridge and Minx has to ditch her coat, just toss it in the river, and then you all take kind of a roundabout route home, and as you keep kind of glancing back towards the sky you can see the crows circling in tighter and tighter on the bridge where you all were, but you make it back to The Nest okay.
Minna: Can I give us a shot for after, for like the scene right after we get back to The Nest?
Rhi: Absolutely.
Minna: I think we see them all huddled around the fireplace—I assume there’s a fireplace? I don’t know.
Rhi: Yeah. Sure.
Minna: And merrily burning in the grate is the blackmail material.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: Yes. [laughs]
Rhi: Did you look at it at all?
Josie: Nah.
Kim: No.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah, so the three of you sit around the fire watching as the blackmail material burns and are just like, okay, time for a nap.
Kim: Blaire is definitely slumped up against the two of you and is already zonked out.
Others: Aww~!
Minna: Group fall asleep by the fire.
Josie: Group cuddle.
## Outro [0:48:03]
Rhi: Thanks for listening. The Magpies will be back in two weeks. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter at @magpies_pod, and visit our Patreon at patreon.com/magpiespodcast.
The Magpies podcast is hosted and produced by Rhi. Follow me on Twitter at @rhiannon42 and check out RPGSkillCheck.net for my copy editing and accessibility freelance site.
Blaire Culhane is played by Kim Kogut. Follow her on Twitter at @kimdianajones.
Minx is played by Josie. Follow her on Twitter at @DragonGirlJosie, and watch her art streams at picarto.tv/DragonGirlJosie.
Myra Keel is played by Minna. Follow her on Twitter at @mynaminnarr.
The opening and closing theme music is from ‘Trio for Piano, Violin, and Viola’ by Kevin MacLeod, and is used under a Creative Commons license.
The Blades in the Dark roleplay system is the creation of John Harper, and is published by Evil hat Productions.
Kim: And now, we’d like to thank our generous Patreon backers. Thomas Seymour Turner, thank you!
Rhi: Jerry Osbun, thank you!
## Blooper [0:49:22]
Kim: Because I’ve got stress to spare.
Rhi: You say that now.
Josie: [chuckles]
Kim: Okay, listen.
Rhi: [giggles]
Kim: I’m going to be very conservative with how much stress that I use, and I’m going into this with 0 stress.
Rhi: Okay!
Kim: I am sure not to take another trauma. Mark my fucking words! I love you.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: Dear listeners—
Kim: I love you, but I am not going to do this again.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Please note the timestamp of when Blaire, or when Kim said this, just in case.
Kim: I will end you. … [rolls dice] Oh fuck.