The cast:
- Switchblade (Maestro D'): acrobatic woman in a fool's motley who lead a traveling show called the Carnival. She is handy with a knife. She is unnerved by her visions of her "Mother" and the new passenger with a claim to her adoptive sister Hiccup: Max. She's bought into the cult and its disturbing visions for now.
- Max (Gunlugger): a brutal woman who crash landed on the planet Everette. She is haunted by her past and thinks of herself as a reaver. She has joined the Carnival to be close to her little sister Hiccup.
- Ekaterina "Katya" Mikhailova Petrova (Tribal): for generations Ekaterina's people have lived on Everette, adapting themselves to its strange psychic jungles. But the environment grew too hostile. Ekaterina led her people to a place of safety, following the visions her father sees in the maelstrom. That place is the Carnival.
- Pipeline (Battlebabe): a golden-haired amazon, Pipeline is the head engineer of the Carnival. She had a crush on Manfred but that, like him, is in the past.
Pipeline was a fairly laid back character so I'm not sure what her weapons or moves were.
This session featured another love letter for Switch as I put even more pressure on her.
Dear Switch,
It seemed like a good idea at the time. The Beast with Two Heads is bound to attract a lot of people to the Carnival. Spectacle is what you sell. Heck attendance at the gatherings has swelled in the last two weeks and you haven't reached Megaton yet. In addition to the Freakshow crew, you have seen Wayward, Chic, Daff, and possibly some of Katya's tribe members there.
Unfortunately not everyone agrees with the turn the Carnival is taking. Maybe they don't understand or maybe what they see scares them. Narnia and Nestor in particular seem to dislike this "religion" as they call it. They warn that the beast is unnatural and that you should stop the gatherings.
Roll +Hot to keep the family together. On a 10+ pick 1. On a 7-9 pick 2. On a miss all 3.
- Nestor loses it when he learns Night took Kittens to one of the gatherings. He beats him up pretty bad (Night takes 1-harm). Tensions are high.
- The Beast with Two Heads informs you and the others that someone has been embezzling ticket proceeds. Choose 1: Daily, Nestor, Hopeful.
- Chainsaw, Shatterglass, Skins, and Algor confront Nestor about his opposition to the new 'show'. Things escalate and they leave him bleeding on the floor.
Looking back at this now, I think option 2 (which was the one chosen) crosses a line. I probably should have reserved the choice of the embezzler to the MC.
Also I established some countdown clocks for my threats.
First the cult:
Countdown: The cult is recruiting new members to take over the ship. Not everyone joins and this will lead to a dangerous schism in the Carnival if unchecked. Currently 9:00.
- 10:00: the freaks are attacked by someone
- 11:00: the freaks strike back.
- 12:00: the carnival breaks into feuding factions that hate each other.
Then there is Bluejay. His empire comprises one of the major fronts of the game. Here it is:
Bluejay's Empire
Expresses: Lust for Power
Dark Future/Agenda: Bluejay conquers one system after another building an empire in an attempt to build a new Golden Age. But this brutal dictatorship could exhaust what little is left of humanity.
Stakes: Will Bluejay be able to overcome the Reavers? Will the Carnival ever be free of his influence? Will Boss and Mech fight him using the bomb?
Threat: Megaton
Kind: Landscape: Prison
Impulse: to contain, to deny egress
Description: Bluejay's men are charging 1-barter to leave and counting weapons, White is dead, and some White Guard are hiding out sabotaging things. Weapons are illegal. Everyone is watched.
Custom Moves:
- Suspicion: Roll Acting Under Fire whenever dealing with weapons, other threats, or subversive activities. On a hit you are contacted by the resistance. On a 7-9, you are watched by Bug's men. On a miss Bug's people try to bring you in.
Countdown: Megaton is a powder keg. Up to 9:00, tension builds as people are searched, conscripted, and fleeced by Bug and his men. The resistance makes converts and subverts Bug's authority. 9:00: open rebellion grows, ships are damaged as are Megaton's defenses. At 12:00 cue the reavers. Currently 3:00.
Family Rifts
We start with Switch getting a hard hit on her love letter.
Shatterglass walked in on Switch and Algor talking, grinding his teeth.
"I can't believe him!" he shouted into the Den.
"Did someone else complain about our new act?" Switch sighed. "I'll sort them out."
Shatterglass shook his head. "No, they've just been stewing. Its Nestor."
"I thought I'd sorted him out once I pointed out the profits."
"Exactly! He's been stealing ticket money."
"What!?" she said before storming out.
Katya steadied herself on the rope bridge between her hut and the tribal hearth. Her stomach fluttered but didn't gurgle.
That was progress. A week of vomiting and bed rest seemed past.
"I see you are well again," Irina said as she reached the large metal platform. "I need to talk to you."
"Mostly," Katya said. "How is Grigori?"
"He recovered quickly. That is one of the things we need to discuss."
"What happened?"
"While you recovered he and a few other hunters left. They chose to dwell in the Den with other worshippers of the goat."
Katya spat and turned to go. "I'll get them back."
Irina grabbed her arm. "There is more. Your father, he has not wakened these past three days."
"The sickness?"
"I don't think so."
Katya closed her eyes and reached out to her father. Where are you?
She opens her brain.
She sensed her father in the jungle but not the one of their homeland. Steel vines wound around metal trees. Mechanical grinding, clangs and bells filled the air.
"He is lost somewhere," she told her friend.
Pipeline looked past her cards at the other engineers. Across from her, Gauge pushed a pile of chips into the pot, flashing her a smile of rotten teeth.
As Pipeline began to pick out a matching bid, Gauge put a hand on the pile and said, "and the loser has to go look at the Beast with Two Heads."
Poindexter looked at the pile and scratched his bald head. "Too rich for my blood. I'm out."
Pipeline pushed her tokens into the pile. "Just the two of us, Gauge."
"That's how I'd like it."
"I bet. I'll see you. The cards that is."
Guage reveals a pair of Jacks.
Pipeline smiles. "Two pair, Aces and threes. I'll take these."
As she gathered the chips, she added, "You don't need to go see that mutant goat though."
Pipeline and Switch crowded around Katya on the bridge.
"I don't see why she needs to know," Pipeline grumbled.
"Because she wants to," Switch said looking up from the pilot station. "And the more people who can fly the Carnival, the better."
"What is this green arc mean?" Katya asked, pointing to a display.
"That shows our current fuel levels." She glanced at Pipeline. "We have plenty to spare before Megaton."
"You can fly the ship, I can fly it," the engineer said. "So can Nestor and Daily."
"So did Manfred," Switch corrected. "And he's gone."
Pipeline dropped her gaze. "I know that."
"Know what?" Daily said joining them on the bridge. "Wait, she's flying the ship?"
"Yes," Katya said. "Switch what happens if I pull up?"
"Then we'll go up," the carnival master said. "Don't worry. The artificial gravity will keep us on the floor."
"We won't fall?"
"No. Technically without the acceleration regulators we'd be floating in zero gravity."
Daily shook his head. "Don't remind me. That time when they broke down, I puked for three days straight."
"O.K." Katya said. "Let me try it."
"Go for it," Switch said as Pipeline walked off.
The star field in the viewer whirled and spun.
Daily rushed off the deck holding his mouth. "Oh no, it's happening again!"
"Okay, let's level out, Katya."
As the hunter steadied the ship's flight path, the console began to emit a sharp beeping. "What is that?"
Switch looked at the display. "That's the radar. There is a debris field ahead. Metallic and organic particles."
The women peered into the viewer.
A body slammed into the forward window.
They always do that.
Switch squealed.
The Carnival's computers began highlighting chunks of space craft.
Katya reached into the void, hunting for scattered memories of what occurred. A ship raced through this area, pursued by several others. They attacked and destroyed the refugee. Then they returned to a massive wreck, the Golden Age vessel that was the Carnival's destination.
"They tried to escape from where we are going," Katya said. "Megaton. The killers came from there too. This was three days ago."
"What the hell is Bluejay doing?" Switch wondered.
Max chopped vegetables in the kitchen. "Thanks for letting me help out, Hiccup."
Hiccup smiled. "It is like when we were kids."
Hiccup's smile faltered. Max looked away. "I'll bring these out."
"Thanks."
Max carried the plate of fresh vegetables into the hangar bay. The crew occupied several picnic tables. The freaks had shifted two of the tables to one side, creating an aisle between the two factions of the Carnival. The Baikal remained above in their rafter homes. Max knew they did their own cooking.
"Hey killer," Wayward said. "Some more carrots here."
Max slid a handful of carrot slices onto his plate.
"Thanks Reaver."
Talk died down around them. Max merely nodded and moved on.
The dwarf watched her leave, scratching his chin.
She doesn't goad easily. There may have been an acting under fire roll here.
Max stood on one of the stages, transitioning between stances.
Wayward approached the front of the stage. "Hey you monster! What are you doing? Practicing your baby killing moves?"
Max executed a series of rapid katas, focused on the left end of the stage.
"Hey are you listening to me? You don't belong here." He climbed onto the stage. "Everyone agrees with me. No one likes you."
Max performed a fighting retreat.
"All that practice and you can't even fight a dwarf."
He spat at her.
Max paused and wiped her face. "I don't need to fight you."
"Ah fuck this." Wayward pulled a rock from his pocket and hurled it.
The rock slammed into her brow. Before the blood could even well up, Max was on Wayward. With one hand she forced him to the ground. With the other she wrenched his right hand.
"No! Aaah!" Wayward cried. The hydraulics in Max's arm whined as she crushed his wrist and dislocated his arm.
I believe Max took 1-harm from the rock and then Max seized the situation. 0-harm for being unarmed +1 for blood crazed and she seized his arm...
Wayward groaned in pain as Max stood up. Belter and Hiccup arrived first to the dwarf's screams.
"Max!" Hiccup shouted. "Stop!"
Blood dripped down her face as Belter stepped onto the stage and shoved her. "You bitch!"
"You stop pushing me," Max warned.
"You monster!" he said pushing her again.
The problem with go aggro is that people can choose to suck it up. On the other hand they can't really defend against the harm then.
Max grabbed his arm as he went for a third push. With her other hand she smashed into his elbow with a crack. Belter fell to his knees in pain, toppling back off the stage onto the floor.
I believe Belter managed to take 2-harm for his poorly thought actions from an unarmed Max.
Belter's eyes fluttered for a moment before he passed out.
"Max!" Hiccup sobbed.
Chainsaw reached the action with a drawn revolver. Pipeline arrived just behind him.
"Max," Chainsaw growled. "I think you should go."
Max glanced once at her sobbing sister before hurrying off to her room.
Pipeline took in the scene. Two men down and a wound on Max. She looked at Wayward.
"Okay, Wayward, what happened here?"
Read a person rolls here.
"She attacked me," he groaned. "Look at my arm."
"So she was unprovoked? I heard what you said at lunch."
He whimpered in pain as he tried to stand up. "So what? I was only saying what everyone is thinking. I didn't make it physical."
"Uh huh. So she bashed her own face open."
"I, uh, I don't know what you mean." Wayward glanced around and began to shuffle toward the bloody rock.
"So you started it and she finished it."
"I don't think a little cut matches crippling me."
"So you did start it."
Wayward shut up.
Pipeline turned to Hiccup. Tears stained her face. "What happened to Belter?"
"He, he pushed Maxine," Hiccup said. "Then she grabbed him. I think, I think she broke his arm. He fell down. Is he okay?"
Pipeline examined the heavy ex-strong man. "He's breathing. I think he'll be okay."
Back on the stage, Wayward picked up the rock with his good arm and placed into his pocket.
Switch arrived on the scene. "Fuck, Max went on rampage? Someone get Belter off the floor." As the crew began to help the wounded, Switch delivered some directions. "Be careful with that arm. Take him to his bunk."
Wayward hurried off.
Pipeline confronted Switch. "You knew this was going to happen."
"Yes," Switch said. "She's a menace. Her own family threw her in prison. She's a reaver."
"No she's not. She's a person. And I think you knew more than that. Wayward was goading her to do this. Why would he do that?"
"I don't know. He's always been moody."
"What did you promise him?"
"I don't know what you mean."
If Pipeline tried to Read a Person, she probably failed.
"You've been different ever since you started listening to that stupid cult."
"Hey that is going to be a big revenue stream."
"Dammit, I know this isn't about money or family. You are afraid and you keep looking for easy answers in all the wrong places."
Pipeline walked off in the direction of the living quarters.
Far above, Katya watched the altercation and its aftermath play out.
"Watching the outsiders?" Grigori said leaning down.
Katya stood up. "We should know their troubles if we are to live with them."
He smiled. "I thought you wanted me to stay away from them."
"I want you to stay away from that monster of theirs. Their ways are not our ways."
"Our ways need to change. This is not the jungle."
"You know what I mean. We must maintain our traditions. We cannot worship false idols."
"Even if those idols have true power?"
"Why do you want to break up the tribe?"
"Why do you?"
"You are the one changing things, Grigori."
"Your father changed us first when he led us from home."
Katya looked back over the ledge. "We had to leave."
"And now we must adapt."
"Come back to us, Girgori."
"Are you asking for the tribe or yourself?"
Katya scowled. "For your sake."
"You should come to the gatherings if you are so interested in their secrets."
"Grigori! No."
"Fine," he said shoving her. As she tumbled to the platform, he walked off. "Perhaps one day you'll see reason."
Max heard a knocking on her door. "Come in."
The heavy metal door swung open and Narnia stepped carefully inside. Max sprawled on her bunk, dressed in an ill-fitting gray jump suit.
"What do you want?" Max asked, staring at the ceiling.
Narnia glanced at the bare metal surface. "I wanted to see how you are doing."
"Do you think I'm a monster?"
"No. I also don't think you started that fight."
Max turned her head slowly to the heavy-set woman. "Think you could clear this up for me?"
"I don't think they will listen to me. I think you know why."
"I do. But if you could, would you?'
"I would," Narnia said.
Max's voice softened. "Thanks for the thought then."
"Will you be okay?"
"If you mean safe, then sure." Max rolled over toward the wall.
Narnia watched her for a moment and closed the door on her way out.
Max contemplated the events for a few minutes before she heard the heavy footfalls. Switch swung the door open with Chainsaw and Algor looming behind her.
"Wait here," the tiny woman told the freaks as she stepped inside. "I want to talk."
As the door swung closed, Max said, "then talk."
More Read a Person rolls.
"Are you a monster, Max?"
"I don't know." Max let her vision see into the void. In her mind's eye flames licked up the walls and ash rained from the ceiling. Switch stood before her wreathed in flames, her eyes yellow like a beast's. Long ebony horns sprouted from her head and her skin matched the crimson of her outfit. "Do you know you are one?"
Open your brain reveals the real danger. Switchblade is taking a new playbook: Wolf of the Maelstrom.
"What?" Switch said. "I'm not a monster. I'm not a threat to the Carnival. I'm a person. I don't kill people."
"I haven't killed anyone recently. Have you? You might be as dangerous as me to this place of yours."
"The only one I'm a danger to is you, Max." Switch produces a large knife in one hand. "I don't trust you. Now that I've shown Hiccup what I see, we are going to get rid of you."
My notes say "Switch then threatens Max with knife." I don't recall her being asked to do something so this isn't go aggro. At least not until Switch commits to stabbing Max. Which is probably seize by force and probably a bad idea.
Someone knocked on the door.
"What is it?" Switch shouted.
"We've got some trouble out here," Chainsaw shouted through the door.
"Deal with it yourself!"
Switch turned to Max who had her hand on the pipe behind the bed. The pipe that hid one of the blades she'd stolen over the past week.
The two women heard a series of thumps from outside followed by another knock.
"What is it this time?" Switch yelled.
"I wish to talk to Max," a woman said.
Switch stood up and slowly opened the door. A warrior from the Baikal tribe stood there. The carnival leader tried to recall the name, Tatanya or something like it. Five more men and woman armed with spears and clubs stood over Chainsaw and Algor as they groaned on the floor.
"Let's talk." Switch stepped outside. As she closed the door, she spun the exterior lock, sealing Max inside. "Now you are going to get the hell out of here or I will slice to ribbons and toss you out the airlock."
Switch goes aggro and succeeds.
Tatanya steps back and motions to the others.
Switch waves her knife around. "Leave your weapons here and go back to your tribe."
The warriors dropped their clubs and spears and retreated down the corridor.
Once they were out of sight, Switch hurried to the bridge. She needed reinforcements.
Katya climbed across a bridge to where Irina salted some meat. "Irina, have you seen my brother?"
"Ilya? I thought you knew. He left with Grigori and the other warriors, the ones who are camping in the Den."
"What?" she said loudly. "When?'
"Earlier today."
"How could he leave us? Leave father?"
"I tried to argue him out of it but he would not listen to me. He's young."
Katya cursed. "Grigori is going to pay."
"I know but perhaps now is not the time. If you want Ilya to return you must convince him, not force him."
"You are right, Irina. Thank you for trying to convince my brother of his foolishness."
"Fools do not listen to wisdom."
"Let us go find some distraction until I'm calm enough to argue some sense into my brother."
Katya and Irina climbed down to the hangar bay floor. Pipeline lounged alone by the beer stall, drinking heavily.
The hunters join the engineer, filling some empty mugs from the open barrel.
"What brings you down here?" Pipeline slurs.
"That damn Beast and my brother," Katya said.
"Grigori took her brother Ilya to the Den," Irina explains.
Pipeline nodded. "Things were much better before we had all this religion. When Manfred and Midnight were here, Switch listened to people."
Katya lifted her mug. "To Manfred."
"To Manfred!" they chimed.
Pipeline downed her ale. "There was a guy who could take charge. Someone who didn't listen to beasts or fears or the void. You know that is the problem with the beast. It's like a drug. I can't stand drugs. They go to the Den and its like they can't get enough. You've seen one two-headed goat you've seen them all. I don't see why they need a whole cult for this thing."
The hunters nodded and drank their beer.
"Perhaps once we reach this Megaton, it will be different?" Katya said.
"Why? What have you heard?"
"I know it is a vast place of metal and machinery. A village with hundreds of people. They do trades there. Perhaps when the Carnival performs, people will forget this beast. At least Switch will be distracted. She has some business there, correct?"
"You know a lot," Pipeline said. "I didn't realize we'd talk so much about it. Yeah Switch has to finish our deal with Bluejay. Then we'll be free...of him at least."
"You are not taking my son to see that freak!" Nestor shouted from across the hangar bay.
The women looked over. By the opposite row of stalls, Nestor pulled Kittens away from Night.
"What did you call me?" Night said. "You are one to talk, thief!"
"I'm not a theif. And that thing is not a god."
Pipeline got up and walked over. Katya and Irina trailed behind her. Switch arrived on the scene by the time they reached them.
"Nestor," Switch said. "Go to the bridge. We are having a meeting."
"I'm not leaving my son."
"Forget that, we've got more important things to worry about," she snaps, her eyes focusing on the hunters.
"Hey," Pipeline said. "What's more important than family? Night you leave the kid alone."
"Pipeline stay out of this," Switch said.
"Hey you may be captain but that not does make you in charge of everything. We've never run things that way. Not even when your father was captian."
"Well I'm captain now and I say we've got to deal with the emergency at hand."
"What emergency? You setting up Max? Your stupid cult tearing the family apart?"
"Let's try to calm down," Katya said. "I'll watch the child. You have your meeting."
Katya managed to manipulate someone at least.
Nestor nodded. "I'll be on the bridge."
"At least someone listens to me," Switch said.
"I think he listened to Katya," Pipeline said.
"Shut up and come with me to the bridge."
"Nope, I'm getting drunk."
Night leaned into Katya. "The Beast can help you. It told me why your father is in a coma."
The hunter pulled her machete and thrust it an inch from Night's throat. "Tell me now!"
Go aggro.
The dancer quivered in fear.
"Katya, no! Leave him alone," Switch ordered.
"He claims to know what has happened to my father. He will tell me."
Night swallowed hard. "The Beast, it told me that your father is trapped in a strange city protecting your tribe."
Wayward hobbled into the hangar bay shouting. "Switch! Switch! Someone stabbed Nestor!"
"Fuck!" Switch hits the nearest communicator. "Everyone and I mean everyone come down to the hangar bay now!"
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