Transcriber: vesta
JACK (as Clementine): We’ve been given a job to do, and I trust that you’ll byside my side as we accomplish it. We’re to be deployed to the city of Obelle, you might have heard that following a skirmish with the Apostolosians, the Divine Past came to ground among fighting. Our job is very simple, we are to recover the body of the Elect and any components of the Divine Past alongside a scavenger unit. In addition to this, we are to detain or kill anybody who we believe to have had access to the memory of the Divine Past. Any questions?
SYLVIA (as Million): When you say ‘we’, you’re going to be there with us?
JACK (as Clementine): You really think that Stel Kesh would dispatch four people such as you-
[MUSIC - “TANAGER. PERFECT. TOUCHPAPER.” starts]
JACK (as Clementine): [continued] -into a disputed territory without someone to keep an eye on them?
SYLVIA (as Million): No, I think they’d deploy someone to keep an eye on us who knows how to use a gun.
JACK (as Clementine): Any other questions?
ART (as Sovereign): Detain, or kill?
JACK (as Clementine): Yes. Detain or kill.
[Austin chuckles]
ART (as Sovereign): No, no, no. Detain, or kill?
JACK (as Clementine): Well of course, every situation will have to be approached situationally.
AUSTIN (as Cas’alear): Thank you for coming all of this way. We do believe that we have recovered the body of one Elect, the Elect Cymbidium. We’ve already begun to prepare the Elect’s body as is done in Kesh, and are prepared to hand him over to you.
SYLVIA (as Million): What about the rest of the stuff?
AUSTIN (as Cas’alear): Oh you did bring more than you spokesperson, I see. Well the rest of the stuff is unknown salvage, and so until we finish our preliminary reports and research, we are not authorised to hand it over. In fact I’m not sure we will be.
JACK (as Clementine): Well I’m afraid that doesn’t work for us.
AUSTIN (as Cas’alear): I’m sorry to hear that.
JACK (as Clementine): Make no mistake. The refusal of Stel Apostolos to allow Stel Kesh movement and salvage rights within the debris area would constitute an aggressive act, and we would have to respond in kind.
AUSTIN: I think Cas’alear nods, and says,
AUSTIN (as Cas’alear): Given this, I would happily have you join in with the recovery and analysis effort. Should it be determined that the wreckage is the body of the Divine Past, then I will support your reclamation as is requested. In exchange,
AUSTIN: They say,
AUSTIN (as Cas’alear): You’re to swear to me in this moment that you will bring no violence to this town, it has seen enough already.
JACK (as Clementine): This I swear.
AUSTIN (as Cas’alear): This I swear.
[music ends]
AUSTIN: So the next morning, y’all wake up. And I think you’re just going to get escorted to the crater. Which you can see in the west side of town here across the river, out beyond the river there’s a huge crater, does anyone want to do anything special here, or is anyone looking to like bring something or anything like that?
KEITH: I’m not looking to do anything yet.
AUSTIN: Okay. So, I think Cas’alear leads you all over there then, this next morning, from the middle of town in like a convoy of military trucks, and as you approach the first thing you see besides the raised lip of this huge crater that just totally spans the Western horizon, is a building northeast of the crater. It is a recent addition, it’s one of these kind of modular, easily deployable Apostolosian structures? They arrive in these kind of big 18-wheeler sized crates? And then they automatically unfold like a solar panel, or a bunch of solar panels? And then they keep unfolding to reveal walls, and doors, and windows, and everything else that you need for a foreign operating base, or like an overnight research lab.
AUSTIN: [continued] At that base there is a single mech, kind of medium sized mech, kneeling at the facility. There are some other big kind of like cargo trucks parked there with their engines turned off. And then climbing up over the lip of that crater are a couple of smaller salvage rovers? That kind of like- think of like moon rovers, or big off road go-karts almost? With heavy duty tires, some simple metal frames, a really bouncy suspension, and they’re all filled up with like different materials from the crash. And you know, Cas’alear keeps driving and you keep being led, and eventually you see the crash finally too, you pull up over the lip of the crater and you know. It just stretches for forever. Maybe in your heads you thought you’d reach this point and see like a town, in a way that the Past was supposed to look, or you know, maybe you would see some of the old spires of information, but they are lying on their sides instead of standing up.
AUSTIN: [continued] But it’s just- it’s just a mess. It’s just like, it’s totally ruined for miles, just beyond wrecked. It’s like, it’s impossible to even recognise the original- it’s like if you took a thousand thousand jigsaw puzzles and turned them over and mixed them up. You know, if a jigsaw puzzle was made of copper piping, and wires, and shattered glass, and sparking batteries, and girders, and coolant spills. And like there are just sporadic fires all throughout the whole thing. It’s just like, it’s a bunch of bits. Not even bits and pieces, it’s just the bits. And I think maybe the most surprising thing, you know I already said the kind of towers aren’t there? But it’s not tall. Like, I think it would have been easy to imagine you get there and it would be this big, tall, wreck. But it’s low. It’s not only smaller or lower than your own mechs, but it’s lower than these kind of Con-Con units, these construction, these converted construction mechs that are picking through the rubble. It’s, you know, it’s in the sand, it’s spread across the sand, it’s under the sand, and you know that somewhere in there, or somewhere as there, that is the Divine Past. It’s all of that shit together. And I think at this moment, Cas’alear kind of drives you down the edge of this lip and stops the cars, and everyone gets out. And you’re just like, in the- not the shadow of this thing, cause it’s not tall. But you know, in front of it, almost like an ocean, almost like the coast, you’re at the coast of this wreck. And Cas says:
AUSTIN (as Cas’alear): I’m going to leave you with the lead scientist who’s doing- who’s excavating this region, and leading the effort. I have other matters to attend to back in Obelle, but you have my frequency. If you need anything, call me.
AUSTIN: And walking over to you on four spindly metal legs is a Columnar scientist. Synthetic scientist. Has like a torso with- is wearing a lab coat, the lab coat ends with like four short spidery legs, like a Droideka has? And kind of-
KEITH: Kind of like destroyer droids?
AUSTIN: Yeah kind of like Destroyer droids. It might not be the only Episode I reference I make, the rest of this session. Comes over to you-
KEITH: Good. Normalise it.
AUSTIN: I’m on it. [Keith chuckles] And kind of, has a fairly humanoid top half. And says,
AUSTIN (as humanoid robot): What- what is this? What is this? Who are these? Who are these people?
AUSTIN: Cas’alear like, shrugs and points at you. And like kind of gestures for Clem to introduce herself?
JACK (as Clementine): My name is Clementine Kesh, I’m part of a delegation from Stel Kesh-
AUSTIN (as humanoid robot) [overlapping with Jack]: Kesh? No no no no no no no no no. No, no Kesh! No Kesh.
JACK (as Clementine): Yes Kesh.
KEITH: [laughs] Yes Kesh.
ART: Yes Kesh.
ART: Oh, we should all just go home. It’s over.
SYLVIA (as Million): You’re really good at this, Clem.
JACK: We have two opposing teams of Yes and No Kesh.
AUSTIN: Uh huh. Cas’alear says,
AUSTIN (as Cas’alear): They have treaties, you know the deal.
AUSTIN: And this person who is Cardiff Reach, he says,
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): The treaties apply only to Divines. This is rubble. This is not- this is no Divine.
AUSTIN: Click click clack.
JACK (as Clementine): Choose your words carefully when referring to the body of the Divine Past.
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): I do not see a body of the Divine Past. I see glass, and I see bronze piping, and I see copper piping. And that is all I see.
ART (as Sovereign): What are you- going to go sell this? I guess I can’t say-
KEITH (as Leap): Copper goes for a lot.
JACK: Space Home Depot?
ART: Yes and you can take this down to Space Home Depot.
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): There are-
ART: Earth Home Depot?
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): There are conventions and rules that say that whoever maintains a battlefield control, at the end of a battle has access to the scrap and the salvage which remains. And we have access, and we have maintained control.
AUSTIN: I think Sombre-
ART (as Sovereign): You calling this a battlefield?
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): This was absolutely a battlefield! You invaded our sovereign territory.
AUSTIN: And Sombre Sky, again who is the bomber jacket wearing engineer from the Silversky Corporation—not corporation—Recovery and Restoration, know-
ART: Yes, I remember the best character in the show so far
Austin chuckles. Sombre says,
AUSTIN (as Sombre): I thought you dealt with all of this Clem?
JACK (as Clementine): So did I. I don’t know what he’s doing here, and I’m not going to spend any more time with him than we need to.
AUSTIN: Alright, well. And then, Sombre just walks past. She just walks past him into the wreck, into the wreckage. Pulls out like some scanners and stuff. Like, pulls out a scanner from one inside pocket, and pulls out like a little tube with the other one, then like spikes the tube into the ground? And on the way down, it opens up a spike that drives itself into the ground and pokes up like a telescopic arm, that then like slowly unrolls and deploys as the Silversky Restoration and Recovery flag, as if she has just claimed this territory. [Jack chuckles] And it begins to like, a light on top beeps, and it must be some sort of like, you know, reconnaissance device, or like measurement device or something. But it does just look like she’s just claimed this land in the name of her. And he says,
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): I am go-
AUSTIN: He being, Cardiff Reach, says,
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): I will go get Kleos. Then you’ll see.
AUSTIN: Kleos, you know, instantly. Millie? Kleos is a member of GLORY.
SYLVIA: Oh. We don’t want him to do that. Is it them?
AUSTIN: Him. Cardiff Reach is he/him, Kleos is they/them, Sombre Sky is she/her. Cas’alear who is they/them, leaves. Cas’alear is like,
AUSTIN (as Cas’alaer): Have a great one, I’m gonna be back dealing with some, frankly some bullshit, back in Obelle.
ART: How badly do we not want this to happen?
SYLVIA: I’d say on a scale of like one to ten, I’m personally at like an eleven on this one? So you know, you might have different perspectives when you meet them.
KEITH: I’m confused why the person who seems to be in charge all of a sudden is being bossed around by a scientist.
AUSTIN: Do you wanna run after him and ask that question?
SYLVIA: I thought it was directed at Clem.
AUSTIN: Oh, yeah. Okay.
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: I thought you were talking about Cas’alear, but you know Clem, sure.
KEITH: It works for both- I actually was talking about Cas’alear. So do I wanna run- I don’t think I wanna run after them. I think I ask it to Reach.
AUSTIN: Okay. Reach says,
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): I have high command approval to run this operation. Serpent’s Head says that this is my operation, this is GLORY’s operation.
KEITH: Who’s Serpent’s Reach?
AUSTIN: Serpent’s Head is-
KEITH: Serpent’s Head-
AUSTIN: Serpent’s Head is like the navy, but also the consulate here for Apostolos. They’re like the head of Apostolos.
KEITH: The Serpent’s Head.
AUSTIN: The Serpent’s Head, yeah.
SYLVIA: Look, we just need to grab this thing’s brain and leave, right? That’s what we’re here for? Millie has no- [overlapping with Keith and Austin]
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): We have found no brain, there is no brain here. There is no brain, no-
JACK (as Clementine): Of course you haven’t found a brain, you don’t know what you’re looking for.
KEITH (as Leap): Yeah, we can find the brain in like eight minutes flat.
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): You can find the brain in- [sighs]. I’m going to go get Kleos.
JACK (as Clementine): No I don’t think that’s necessary.
AUSTIN: Turns and looks at you.
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): Are you threatening? After inva-
JACK (as Clementine): Yes.
AUSTIN: Give me a roll.
SYLVIA: Oh no.
AUSTIN: This is definitely a Command.
KEITH: Who said six- What did Clem’s head.
AUSTIN: Two D6, Clem is good at Command, is like the wild thing. Clem does have two in command. What is- what are you- pushing yourself at all? What’s going on here?
JACK: It sounds like I’m existentially pushing myself-
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
JACK: I don’t know if I am mechanically pushing myself.
ART: Uh, do you want help?
JACK: Well, I did here you suggest maybe we kill this guy earlier, I don’t-
AUSTIN: Oh my god, I missed that! I missed that.
ART: Oh I did. I asked if- I asked about that. I’m offering to help in the form of drawing a pistol and pointing it.
SYLVIA: I was gonna offer my help in the form of putting my hand on the pistol but not drawing it. That- go with Art.
JACK: Wait a second, Austin?
AUSTIN: What’s up?
JACK: Can I get the terms of the agreement please again real quick?
KEITH: I, I think- I definitely want this roll to happen, can I just go into the crater, while this is happening?
AUSTIN: Let’s resolve this roll first, then we’ll resolve you doing this.
SYLVIA: Oh, okay.
JACK: It’s violence against the town, right?
AUSTIN: I think that’s what we agreed to. We should have written it down.
KEITH: Is that the name of the move?
JACK: Well, look-
AUSTIN: No, it was a roll that we did, there was a move that is about setting terms? I think we said against the town. I don’t think- I don’t think- Here’s what I know, Cas’alear would not have said violence against this asshole.
JACK: No, okay. I remember against that- my question is about like, whether or not we were more specific about violence, whether or not draw- Look. Drawing a gun on someone is a kind of violence. I don’t know if it’s the kind of violence Cas meant?
AUSTIN: Rrr-
JACK: Firing the gun might’ve been.
AUSTIN: Oh, threatening is not, would not break this thing.
JACK: Okay, just making sure. Yeah, absolutely!
AUSTIN: I’m gonna check something really quick.
KEITH: Technically, them not allowing you in would be what’s breaking the thing-
AUSTIN: Yeah! Right?
JACK: Well, the agreement wasn’t with him.
AUSTIN: Right. But-
JACK: But it wouldn’t- passes the problem?
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: But it would give Cas’alear- despondent to learn this, for sure.
JACK: Yeah, totally. It’s in Cas’ interest.
ART: I’m not offering to shoot anyone.
JACK: No no no, I’m just making sure.
KEITH: The um… yeah cause it says- let’s see. It’s- if either party or the squad breaks the agreement- is this scientist not in their squad?
AUSTIN: This scientist isn’t in their squad- not in their squad, but I’m counting it as Apostolos. I’m saying that-
KEITH: Right, right.
AUSTIN: But, but the scientist doesn’t get anything- the scientist doesn’t give a fuck. The person who gets despondent is Cas’alear, right?
KEITH: Right, who left.
AUSTIN: Who left. Or who is leaving. Again, if you wanted to go and grab Cas’alear, Cas’alear is still getting into the rover and about to drive away. But two-
KEITH: I’m, I’m choosing not to get.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Two D6 right now for Command, then you’re getting help from, from Sovereign Immunity, is one D6 right? Or an extra one, or you’re changing- this is Risky Standard, for sure.
JACK: Mm. Do you wanna give me a dice, Art? Or do you want to-
ART: I’ll give you a die because I don’t think- I don’t think any of the other- we don’t need great effect.
AUSTIN: For what it’s worth, this is advancing the Divine Past’s body, which is currently at 3 of 8? No it’s even more than that, it’s 3 of- this is more than 8, isn’t it?
JACK: 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12?
AUSTIN: This is only going up to 8. This is not- I think I forgot to put the 8 step clock here is what I did. But yeah, this is going up to 8.
ART: Alright then maybe it is effect.
AUSTIN: Here’s the 8 step clock. So then Risky Great, but two D6. That’s too big. I’m trying to see can multiple people assist or only one? I feel like it’s only one.
SYLVIA: I- I was gonna say if the option was like after this roll result was to be doing things concurrently, I was going to like rescind my offer? Cause I would also like to just walk off and explore.
AUSTIN: Okay. Oh! Here’s a thing. If more than one pilot wants to assist the acting pilot, consider that the character being assisted might actually be leading a group action. I do think that’s what’s happening here. If all of you are like “fuck this person I wanna go explore it” and also I wanna do that in a way that’s kind of intimidating and like just “let’s make this person leave me alone”? I kind of do think this is a group action. Which would work for Clem, because Clem has a thing that gives her increased effect when leading a group action.
JACK: Yes. Let me check what the exact wording of that is. It says-
KEITH: So- oh sorry.
JACK: What’s that to, Austin?
AUSTIN: Hm?
JACK: Where is it?
AUSTIN: Leader. Your ability Leader?
JACK: Oh, right! Sorry. Yeah, it just says when leading a group action you have increased effect, yeah.
AUSTIN: Um, and, the reason I’m bringing that up is- or the way that would work is, when you direct your pilots to overcome an obstacle together, describe how your character leads the effort, which I think you’ve done by just being like, yes this is a threat, while two of your people decide to walk past this person, and a third pulls a gun on them- or on him? Every pilot that’s involved rolls using the same action, and the group uses the single best result for everyone. If the action is a pilot action, the pilot leading the group takes one stress for each participant that rolled 1 to 3 as their best result. So you- everybody rolls-
KEITH: This is Command, right?
AUSTIN: This is- this is… yeah! This is Command. This is definitely Command.
JACK: Yeah, we’re straight up threatening this guest.
AUSTIN: Yes, a hundred percent.
JACK: The most transparent threat is when someone asks “is this a threat?” [Austin chuckles] and the other party just goes “yes”.
KEITH: And the- the reason it’s Risky and not Desperate is because this isn’t like, a combat thing?
AUSTIN: [Sylvia chuckles in the background] This is a scientist who has a threat in his back pocket, but like-
KEITH: Right. Cause of our reduced position from the beginning of the score.
AUSTIN: You recovered that during negotiations.
KEITH: Great, okay.
SYLVIA: It just put it in perspective for me that our first group action is intimidating a scientist.
AUSTIN: To be fair a scientist from the place that you escaped from/betrayed.
JACK: Yeah and didn’t need a threat to-
SYLVIA [overlapping with Jack]: Oh, fair, fuck this guy! But like, you know.
AUSTIN: Alright. This is a Command roll from everyone. Are you ready to take that stress, this stress, if it goes bad?
KEITH: It doesn’t matter which of these- it doesn’t matter which of these macros we use, right?
AUSTIN: You should use Action Roll, ideally.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: So Risky Standard- it’s a 5 from Art.
KEITH [overlapping with Austin]: Command… Risky...
AUSTIN: You’re allowed-
JACK: Just rolling as many dice as we have-
AUSTIN: You could push yourself if you want to.
JACK: Oh, no!
SYLVIA: If I have a zero, I roll one-
AUSTIN: You roll two and take the lower.
SYLVIA: Roll two and take the lower, okay.
AUSTIN: Yeah, yeah.
SYLVIA: So I got a two.
AUSTIN: You got a two.
KEITH: I got a six.
AUSTIN: You got a six! That’s a success for the party.
JACK: That’s a risky-
AUSTIN: Yep. It’s Risky Great, actually.
KEITH: A lot of six- a lot of sixes!
AUSTIN: Mhm.
KEITH: Tonight, in general.
AUSTIN: Yeah. That is also a six! Damn. There’s a move someone here doesn’t- there’s a move somewhere in this book that is like, if you as a crew get multiple sixes you can get them together for a crit, but y’all don’t have that. But Jack, Clem takes one stress from Sylvia’s[1] two, from Millie’s two, but you all succeed, it’s a six! A hard success and you get-
KEITH: Three sixes in here.
AUSTIN: That’s wild!
KEITH: Or no, wait. Is that- Art, is that six?
AUSTIN: That’s a previous six. That’s a previous-
KEITH: Oh, okay.
ART: That’s a previous roll. Two sixes, two fives.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: The one-five doesn’t count, but-
AUSTIN: I think, I think that they say, or I think he says like,
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): Okay, okay! Okay okay. It is a threat. C- [speechless] come with me.
AUSTIN: And kind of makes the decision like, if you’re going to do this, I’m going to be involved, you know? Like, rather than let you do it by yourself- but steps with you, and you begin to pick through the rubble here a little bit. I’m gonna speed up a little bit here, because I think like, I don’t need you to make different rolls digging through this shit? Um, mm! Maybe I do-, maybe that’s the final thing here.
KEITH: I have a- I have a question about digging through this shit.
AUSTIN: Yeah!
KEITH: How big is the brain?
AUSTIN: Have you seen a Divine brain before?
KEITH: I don’t know! Wha- but, every Divine is different.
AUSTIN: Every Divine is different. I mean this is part of it, right? It’s like- so this is the thing, is, I think as you’re doing this, this scientist continues- Reach continues to say,
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): As you see, this is just a vessel, this is just a town, this is not- this is not a Divine.
AUSTIN: And like, I mean to some degree I think maybe the person here who could describe what a Divine is best is Sovereign Immunity, as a person- a man of the cloth. But what you know, Sovereign Immunity, is, a Divine can be a bunch of different things. There are tests, there are- there are rules, there are measurements, there are you know, can you do a great thing? How many miracles has it performed? That sort of stuff?
KEITH: So-
AUSTIN: But also, a Divine is a thing that the state decides is a Divine.
KEITH: So they like just don’t know that the Divine Past is like a town? They’re just like, didn’t know that?
AUSTIN: No, no! They’re lying to you.
KEITH: They’re lying, okay.
AUSTIN: Yeah, no no. He- he’s a liar! And I’ll give you that for free So-
KEITH [overlapping with Austin]: So he knows that it’s a town. [Jack chuckles]
AUSTIN: Yes!
KEITH: He’s knows that it’s a town, we know that it’s a town,
AUSTIN: Yes.
KEITH: And he’s still trying to be like, this isn’t a Divine, this is just a town that fell here.
AUSTIN: Correct.
KEITH: That fell from space. Right.
AUSTIN: Because he wants to steal stuff. A hundred percent, yes.
KEITH: Is that- okay now that’s a great word- steal shit from it. You- I guess you brought me around to my original point which was, if I find the brain, can I keep it?
AUSTIN: No. Because it is- because I know what the brain is.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: And the brain is big.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: The brain is like, a server stack that’s gigantic, do you know what I mean?
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: And it’s not even the brain, it’s a part of it, it’s enough of it to begin rebuilding the thing.
KEITH: Mmm.
AUSTIN: But, if you wanna roll to get something, I’m going- I would a hund- it sounds like what- what Exeter Leap is doing is what Exeter Leap does best, which is look for shit, right? To take what’s valuable?
KEITH: Right. Yeah.
AUSTIN: I would love for you to give me a roll, Keith.
KEITH: Okay.
SYLVIA: I would like to assist.
AUSTIN: Alright! How are you doing this?
SYLVIA: Well I worked as a tracker, and like a scout like,
AUSTIN: Yeah.
SYLVIA: I feel like I’m okay at- I also have like a- because there’s so much going on here, I also have a rangefinder in my-
AUSTIN: Great.
SYLVIA: Inventory? So if we need to like look up through whatever is the- the bones of this thing,
AUSTIN: Awesome.
SYLVIA: Or like across to something else, I can handle that.
AUSTIN: So that’s- and then- tell me if I’m wrong here, Leap, but you’re doing this in a sneaky way, I’m guessing?
KEITH: Yeah, I don’t want to get caught doing this.
AUSTIN: Okay.
KEITH: Because anyone who would catch me would tell me to give it- to give it to them.
AUSTIN: Alright. So what do you wanna roll here?
ART: How are you gonna fence this?
AUSTIN: Good question. Let’s find out.
KEITH: That is always the second step, after finding the thing! First you find it, then you fence it. I- hmm. I think it’s gotta be Prowl.
AUSTIN: Okay.
KEITH: Cause I’m better at Prowl than anything else.
AUSTIN: I’ll give you-
KEITH: And I am sneaky. I am being sneaky.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: I think the sneaky stuff here-
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Give me a Risky Standard here, so your Prowl is what, two?
KEITH: My Prowl is two.
AUSTIN: And you’re getting- Sylvia, you’re giving- are you giving him a plus one, a better position, or a better effect?
SYLVIA: What is the current effect?
AUSTIN: Standard.
SYLVIA: Would you prefer- which would you prefer Keith? Another die or better effect?
KEITH: Oof. I’m- I’m gonna take better effect.
SYLVIA: Okay.
KEITH: Because there’s something else that I can do to get a third die.
AUSTIN: Oh, there is. Are you gonna do it?
KEITH: Yes, well- so right now what is my, what is my option here?
AUSTIN: It’s Risky Great-
KEITH: You can tell me my collateral die.
AUSTIN: So your collateral die is that uhh… let me take a look at my options for collateral die-
KEITH: I know that you were itching to start a new clock-
AUSTIN: I was, but at this point, I- I’m going down. I wanna-
SYLVIA [overlapping with Austin]: I know the moment’s past.
AUSTIN: I gonna have a rival show up unexpectedly.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: Okay! Take- take another die!
KEITH: Alright, so. Action roll,
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
KEITH: It’s Prowl.
AUSTIN: Mhm, so starts at two D6.
KEITH [overlapping with Austin]: Risky.
AUSTIN: You take a third, so that’s three D6.
KEITH: Great effect.
AUSTIN: Great effect.
KEITH: And three dice.
AUSTIN: Uh huh. And then Sylvia mark two stress- I mean one stress.
KEITH: Six.
AUSTIN: That is a six. Ok.
KEITH: Holy shit, this is six city!
AUSTIN: This is six city.
KEITH: Welcome to six city, it’s in black and white and Bruce Willis is here.
SYLVIA I believe it’s pronounced Toronto.
AUSTIN: Oh my god. [Jack chuckles] So. Two things happen at once. I’m gonna say this is like happening-
ART: Drink.
AUSTIN: Yeah, uh huh, drink. This is the middle of the day. People have been you know, Silversky has been digging through everything, I think like Sombre and her other engineers have brought in their Con-Cons to dig through stuff and begin to collect bits of the Divine Past. They’re finding things that they need, like they’re just going through it. And then, you know, it’s like a little after noon of this long long day. And you two, Millie and Leap, find like a secret door? Or you find like a door that was- you find a kind of door that was sealed shut, that was like um- what do you call it- when you seal a door shut? Welded shut, basically, right?
KEITH: Oh, yeah.
AUSTIN: But the welding broke, right? Like it’s like in the crash, it opened this up. And there’s a long hallway here that you’re just able to straight up walk into, and it leads you downward? You know,
KEITH: Right, like it had buried itself into the crater.
AUSTIN: Exactly. And so, maybe you break some sticks, like some glow sticks or whatever, I don’t know what’s your lightning solution look like? What’s your lighting like in this scene?
KEITH: I- I’m gonna say, glowy eyes.
AUSTIN: Okay. Oh, good, yeah, totally! You’re an Equiaxed. So your eyes light up, like bwong!
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: And the light cuts through the darkness, and you see, god, I guess it’s like walking to a museum hallway? There’s like plaques and stuff all around here. And pictures of this place when it was like, forever ago, many of them have faded. There’s like- there’s like a sculpture, there’s like a little mini sculpture of Past from when it was first created? There’s a like-
KEITH: Pocket.
AUSTIN: Okay, pocket that. [chuckles] Take a note of that, take a note that you took that. In fact, in general, take one load of loot, but like declare that you’ve taken it, because it’s taking space.
KEITH: Okay, so declare.
AUSTIN: So declare, then it’ll turn into Supply or afterwards for you. Or drive, or whatever, we’ll talk about it. And you eventually find the end of the hallway, there is- your lights pass over a form that first I think you probably think is Columnar. Cause it’s a robotic humanoid body. I’m gonna just do the thing I said I was gonna do before and said, I’m gonna reference Episode I again? Episode I of Star Wars? You know the pit droids in Star Wars?
KEITH: Yeah, yeah, the little guys who- in- that Anakin meets at the beginning of his shop.
AUSTIN: Yeah, so they have like dome heads, and kind of like-
KEITH: They fold up in a very cool way.
AUSTIN: They fold up in a very cool way. I think-
KEITH: It’s sick. It’s one of the best thing that happens in those movies
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: I love it. A hundred percent. I love-
ART: Do you think they’re related to the buzz droids in Episode III? Do you think those are like the same, like droid family?
AUSTIN [overlapping with Art]: Let’s see, let’s see. Oh maybe! It’s a similarity there. They could be.
KEITH: Buzz droid I have those-
SYLVIA: I put them in the chat, are those the rights ones?
AUSTIN: Let me see.
KEITH: Oh! The guys with the little domes! I know these guys.
AUSTIN: Those are the pit droids I’m talking about, Sylvia, yes. They’re like, rust coloured, and they have like- again a very foldable body, with a kind of a-
KEITH: They spring open, it’s so good.
AUSTIN: It’s so good, they have two big toes, they have like really, basic construction. But it’s very-
KEITH: And they’re- they’re in a category of droid that is just like, they’re always getting into trouble?
AUSTIN: Right. And so there’s one of these except I think it probably has- I think it probably has four arms. Two of them are very short, they’re like arms that would like fit at a keyboard? The other two are very lanky. I say fit like a keyboard, it’s like if you go at your keyboard, it’s only the length that would fit to there, the other two are pretty lanky, and- but the rest of it is like very similar in my- I had- just- I had this robot in mind when I first thought about this character forever ago. And on its chest is like a little alpha symbol? Like the lowercase a that’s like fancy, do you know what I’m talking about?
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: And as you come close to it, I- you can’t find this thing’s brain, but you found something that’s very familiar with this thing’s brain. This is something that used to work on the Divine Past, that used to help read what the Divine Past could see and could know. And I think with the Great effect, you’re able to see that it’s like uncharged right now? But if you want to spend a load on something to charge it, you could do that. I don’t know if you have like a, let’s see. Some sort of engineering tools or something? That you want to declare?
KEITH: I might have a-
AUSTIN: Are you out of load?
KEITH: A USB connector.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] A USB connector. You still have some load available, right?
KEITH: Yeah. You don’t think I can charge stuff with-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: Or do you want to charge it through you- yeah yeah yeah!
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yeah! Let’s- give me a fortune roll. Which is a roll that is just like, luck, a failure on a fortune roll again does not mean like, things go bad.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: A thing you’re gonna roll here is, just give me. Just give me-
KEITH: It wants some-
AUSTIN: Two D6. What does it want from you?
KEITH: It just wants a number of dice.
AUSTIN: Yeah so give me two. Just give me two, and we’ll see if those sixes keep coming. It’s a four, it’s a mixed success. I think it- it breathes to life for a moment. It goes like: bwoooam! And it looks at you, and it says,
AUSTIN (as droid): Bluebird.
AUSTIN: And then, says,
AUSTIN (as droid): Where am I?
KEITH (as Leap): Uhh. This is a hallway. On Partizan.
AUSTIN (as droid): This is wrong.
AUSTIN: And reaches up for something that's not there. And like reaches to like pull a lever or something, and then-
KEITH: Can I eat some more food?
AUSTIN: Absolutely. And then its own flashlight thing kinds of turn on for a second, and then the flashlight bulb breaks. And it’s just like, I’m shutting down.
KEITH: I’m pulling energy bars out of my pockets trying to keep this thing up.
AUSTIN: This is what you’re eating to give it juice. I see, I see, I see. [Keith chuckles] Very good.
SYLVIA: When I hear the light bulb break, Million who’s like upstairs probably keeping lookout goes like,
SYLVIA (as Million): Is everything okay down there?
KEITH (as Leap): Do you have a battery?
SYLVIA (as Million): I have a gun?
KEITH (as Leap): Does it take double As?
SYLVIA (as Million): No. Are you safe?
KEITH (as Leap): Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah. I just need batteries.
SYLVIA: Lemme see if I do have anything that would help here.
AUSTIN: I- You could-
KEITH: I’m- this is by the way, this is Art’s shaggy mode.
AUSTIN: Good. This is- so-
SYLVIA: I do have my own robot.
AUSTIN: You do have your own robot. You have a well programmed hunter robot. Your robot obeys your commands and anticipates your actions. Can carry-
KEITH: Oh damn, I had no idea about this.
AUSTIN: Two load of general pilot gear or scout pilot gear. Gain cohort expert hunter, what? I’m gonna add that, are you taking it? Are you taking this well programmed robot?
SYLVIA: Yeah, yeah! I can send my robot- I actually- I have a name for the time of robot it is, an acronym.
AUSTIN: What is it?
SYLVIA: It’s R.U.N.T It’s a Robot Utility uhh Navigations Tool?
AUSTIN: Holy shit.
SYLVIA: I think is the one I came up with?
AUSTIN: Do you wanna-
KEITH: Oh I thought you said R.U.N, it’s R.U.N.T.
SYLVIA: R.U.N.T
AUSTIN: Say it again really quick?
SYLVIA: Robotic Utilities and Navigation Tool.
AUSTIN: Robotic... Utilities…
KEITH: But it is an assassin droid.
SYLVIA: It is like- it is kind of, yeah.
KEITH [overlapping]: [laughs] Called R.U.N.T., which is very funny.
SYLVIA: It can- right now it’s mostly a like, utility like, an assistant that holds my sniper rifle.
AUSTIN: Great.
SYLVIA: You know.
AUSTIN: Alright yeah. Cause it bwoooow… drr..browbowbowbow.. And like, flies down there. Are you like ordering it to charge, to share its charge?
SYLVIA: Yeah. And I think- I think it’s like, I had a couple of design ideas for it, but the one I wanna go for is like, it’s like a floating polyhedron basically?
AUSTIN: Oh I love it.
SYLVIA: So I think just the panel opens up, and it’s like-
AUSTIN: Wait, do you have a Destiny ghost, wait-
SYLVIA: Oh wait, no, I gotta change it nevermind. I’m going with my other idea.
KEITH: Oh, cause it sounded-
SYLVIA: Yeah.
KEITH: Obviously that does sound more like the Destiny ghost, but I was thinking like, uhh, Bao-Dur’s remote from KOTOR 2.
AUSTIN: Right. Of course.
KEITH: That’s what I had in my head.
AUSTIN: It’s Keith Carberry, like me. Yeah, I get-
KEITH: It’s the same general idea.
SYLVIA: What’s my other idea?
AUSTIN: We can come back to it-
SYLVIA: My other one was a capuchin monkey robot? Because they’re just cute.
AUSTIN: They are cute.
SYLVIA: Whatever, it’s a robot that helps charge it, that’s a detail that doesn’t matter right?
AUSTIN: But we’ll get there because it’ll matter in the future.
SYLVIA: Oh of course! But I’m not having a ghost from Destiny. Fucking X-ing that out right now.
AUSTIN: Is it a buzz droid from Episode III?
SYLVIA: You guys know I have to google all the Star Wars stuff.
AUSTIN: I don’t- yeah, I’m sorry. I don’t even know the buzz droid.
SYLVIA: Ooh, no! That’s gross. That’s a mosquito.
AUSTIN: That’s a mosquito.
KEITH: I- I recognised it when I saw it, I just didn’t know what it was called.
ART: It’s way bigger than a mosquito. I just wanna make sure you have the scale right.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] Art, I love how much- how offended you sounded, that someone would say-
ART: I thought the buzz droid- I thought the buzz droids look- it’s a completely inefficient but neat idea for warfare. The idea, it’s like- we’ll get robots, to disassemble other spaceships, while they’re shooting at us.
AUSTIN: Yeah! It’s great.
KEITH: I think it’s great, yeah. It’s great.
AUSTIN: Yeah we’ll come back to what it is. So yeah! I think, I think what- so basically with that fortune roll four what you’re getting here, is that this droid, or this robot, is able to- this robot is Figure A. Which is a name that people may remember from a side episode of Twilight Mirage. But is not a- do not- this is not deep Twilight Mirage. It’s like deep- it’s so deep in Twilight Mirage lore that it doesn’t matter. Figure A used to work on Past, forever forever forever forever ago, before Twilight Mirage even happened. And yeah, you’re able to repair- you’re able- with the four basically, it would’ve powered up and walked with you? But they are not able to speak to you right now. They don’t- they’re like overwhelmed by what is happening here. So yeah! I think that is- that is what you’ve got in here. So that was one of-
KEITH (as Leap): Can you hide? Can you- like, can you-
AUSTIN: No. This is not.
KEITH: No?
AUSTIN: They are not- with that four fortune roll this is what you’re getting, is like, a robot who will follow you around until you get them out of here. But remember I said two things happen at once, because the other thing is what you agreed to was, that the rival shows up. Which is why I need another eight step clock.
KEITH: Whose rival?
AUSTIN: I think this is like, everything has gone great so far. You- you’ve kind of identified all the Divine bits, you’ve tossed them into the back of a Silversky truck. Sombre is like about to start driving them back to the boat. You know, Kleos from GLORY didn’t show up to fuck up your day, Cas’alear is out of your hair. This has gone well.
AUSTIN: [continued] And then, there is like- you know know the sound of a match being struck? Or like the sound of like, not just a match being struck, but like when there’s a fuse going? There’s that sound, except it’s in the sky? Above like- in the sky- I think in fact it’s happening in front of the blue and pink and white of the gas giant, Girandole- or Girandole, which you are- which- which you are orbiting. And it starts to- there is something that starts to cover up the gas giant Girandole, and it takes a moment, but it’s like, black puffs of smoke are drawing in the- in the sky? First, they draw a diamond, and then they cut the diamond into half with another black line of smoke, and then finally, the bottom half of the diamond is- is kind of coloured in with these big puffs of smoke.
AUSTIN: [continued] This is the symbol of Horizon, which is a- as far as Kesh is concerned, a terrorist organisation- or the Divine Principality as a whole, is a terrorist organisation. And coming up in a kind of like a, in front of that stuff, leaping up in front of it, in front of this- this symbol in the sky? Is a medium sized mech that is I’d say, about, you know, 18 meters tall, 60 feet tall? Humanoid. It has like a- I think that the colour that I looked up that is this colour, is called white smoke? If you do like a Wikipedia search, you do like Wikipedia “white smoke”, you’ll get the colour? Actually that’s just taking me to a grammar checker which is annoying. If you do a search for “white colour” on Wikipedia, one of the colour that it gives you is white smoke. And- or like, shades of white, is the actual Wikipedia thing. The second one here is “white smoke”, two words, and it’s that colour along most of its body? But then around its chest, it is- its chest and shoulders and upper arms are covered with a kind of royal blue colour? And it has like a bunch of flourishes of gold?
AUSTIN: [continued] I’m really, really thinking hard of the way the Gundam mech called the Sinanju, the S-I-N-A-N-J-U, that has like- it’s as if it’s wearing a vest, right? It’s as if it’s like- it’s as if this giant robot armour has armour on, and the armour it’s wearing is fancier. You could also look at something like the Sinanju Stein, which is actually very close now that I look at it, because I can’t open my search results. I may have just been thinking about this mech, but that’s how I do sometimes. Link that to y’all so you can- very similar in colour and design.
KEITH: I see a cool toy.
AUSTIN: Yeah, and that is- the Sinanju Stein only exists as a cool toy, is the thing. A lot of- a lot of Gunpla only exists as cool toy. It has a bazooka in- in one of its hands, and then along its back, it has like a pair of partisans? A pair of giant spears attached to its back in an X-form? And it is flying- it actually just begins to shoot down at this facility to the north, here. The place where GLORY has been taking bits of the Divine Past to study them. And as it’s coming down from this kind of high leap, where it’s kind of in front of Girandole, the giant planet that you rotate around, it takes aim, and fires- so you kind of like- we get the like rapid fire, or the rapid swing camera shot, as it follows this- this bazooka shell, and it crashes- and it slams into a mech that is parked up at the- the facility to the north, near the river, near the crater, where GLORY has been doing all of its research.
AUSTIN: [continued] And it slams into Kleos’ mech, which is parked there. And, you know, we the audience see that it just lifts Kleos’ mech’s head off of its shoulder? For the record, Kleos’ mech is called the Epoché, E-P-O-C-H-É, with a little accent over the ‘é'. And it’s like brown, it has like a triangle- triangular head, it has- it also has like a spear, but it has just like a regular ass spear that has like a cool hook on it, it’s called a guisarme- guisarme? I don’t know how to pronounce that. But anyway, it has fucking shot its head off right now. We see Kleos, who I will not describe at this point. You see a person run out of this building, and start shouting.
AUSTIN: [continued] And then, over the kind of hills to the north, the dunes to the north, we see five or six- six- let’s say five of these Troops which are the name kind of the generic mech of this universe? Of this setting? The Troop is a- so. Adamant Arms and Artifice is one of- is an Orion company, and they mass produce weapons. Ali’s character used to work for them, because they are an arms manufacturer, worth underscoring that. And they’ve made these kind of like very blocky mechs? The two things I wanna compare them to, is that there’s a Jakub Rozalski painting called 17IX or 17-9[2], I’ll link that really quick? On the left here there’s a big blocky rectangular chunky mech.
JACK: Damn.
AUSTIN: There’s also a Battletech mech called the Shadow Hawk? Which has some clear similarities here. But it’s chunky the way the big Rozalski one is. And most of them have like bayonets in their right hands, their left heads can be a bunch of different things, their left hands, or their left arm can end in a flamethrower, or like a grasping claw. They’re not really built for intense like, manipulation, they would have low manipulation scores in this game? But they have these big shoulder cannons, and are meant as just grunt troops? All of Adamant’s mechs have the name of like a collective noun of a- of an animal, so like the Troop is their kind of humanoid thing, cause it's a primate name. Their like basic level thing. But they have a bunch of other mechs, with a bunch of other cool things with other cool names that we’ll see throughout the season. So there are five of those-
KEITH: Ferret mech called the Business.
AUSTIN: What’s the Business collective noun of?
KEITH: Ferrets.
AUSTIN: Oooh, I love it!
KEITH: And weasels.
AUSTIN: Yes! Absolutely!
KEITH: Yeah, business of weasels, business of ferrets-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: Totally. Believe me, I have a whole bunch of notes on what all these are.
SYLVIA: Glad they’re not giving us the Business today.
AUSTIN: No, you just have to deal with the Troops.
SYLVIA: That’s fine. I’ll never respect the troops-
AUSTIN: They’ll never respect the troop. And here they come, over the thing! [Keith chuckles] And they are coloured in similar colours-
KEITH: They think we stole some valor.
AUSTIN: God, I think they’re about to- they would love to steal Valor, the Divine Valor, and use it for their ends. [Sylvia chuckles] Sorry that’s- that’s true, Valor is an Apostolosian Divine in this setting.
SYLVIA: I know!
AUSTIN: I forgot, whoops! They come over the hill, over the dunes, and are charging basically towards you? There’s a bunch of them? And- the way I’m kind of playing this out is basically, they’re going to engage with the Apostolosians who are here? The real question here is, what’s up with this rival? Who is in this mech. I know whose rival this is. Jack, you know whose rival this is, but I’m not sure that the players, or the characters know.
JACK: No, no no. No. This is- this is our dear friend Gucci Garantine.
AUSTIN: Absolutely. It is absolutely Gucci Garantine. And we see-
JACK: But this is like a real Batman um- fuck, what’s-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: Catwoman. Bruce Wayne and the- the S Kyle?
JACK: Selina.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: Selina Kyle.
JACK: Kyle.
AUSTIN: Kind of situation.
KEITH [overlapping with Austin]: What are you talking about? I have no idea what this is-
JACK: Well it’s like. It’s like, you know how Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same person?
KEITH: Yeah.
JACK: But, if-
AUSTIN: Wait.
JACK: If you were bat-
AUSTIN: What?
JACK: If you could be Batman’s rival, and know Bruce Wayne in the, you know, when he’s not being Batman and everything?
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: So this is a thing where-
KEITH: Like, okay.
AUSTIN: Gucci is in Clem’s life as like an acquaintance in the noble court system.
JACK: Like their attaché.
AUSTIN: Yeah, they’ve done work together on stuff, they’ve, you know. They each think the other is hiding something etc. but also, they happen to be professional rivals on the battlefield, or will be at this point. But don’t know they are the person that they are. So who are you doing as this- as this squad is charging towards what y’all have? I’ll note that everything- the stuff that you need is all loaded into a truck, kind of at the base of this crater. And-
JACK: Do we know where the body of the Elect is?
AUSTIN: The body of the Elect has already have been loaded onto the ship for you.
JACK: So, as far as the three objectives are concerned, we’ve hit two, guaranteed.
AUSTIN: Two guaranteed. Wait no, one.
JACK: We’ve hit one guaranteed, one is loaded into a truck,
AUSTIN: Yes.
JACK: We don’t know about the third.
AUSTIN: The third, which was detain or kill anyone who has already accessed the memory, or bits of the memory. You do not- you have not made any progress on that one. Outside of guessing it’s probably this scientist, who’s still down in this crater with you?
JACK: Right, yeah. I guess- lemme just check my load real quick.
KEITH: I know that for me as a- as a member of this squad, that all of a sudden is under attack, my number one priority is “I gotta hide this robot”. [chuckles] I have to figure out how to get this robot-
AUSTIN: You know, you succeeded on that Prowl, I’m gonna let that ride. I’m not gonna introduce like- what could happen down the line is that a camera turns to “why do you have a robot with you”? But in this moment, in this chaos, no one is gonna stop you having a robot with you.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: Maybe that robot is one of your toughs. No one knows, you know what I mean?
KEITH: Yeah yeah yeah. Good point.
AUSTIN: No one- here’s the important thing. There’s no invoice sheet anywhere that said there’s a robot waiting to be stolen. This is- It’s free money.
JACK: They didn’t even know that was there.
KEITH: Right, yeah.
ART [overlapping with others]: Free real estate.
KEITH: The robot didn’t even know where it was.
AUSTIN: Right! Exactly! So I’m also gonna introduce a clock here and put it at three. If this clock hits either zero or six, one of the two sides would have won. If it hits zero, then Apostolos would have retained control, if it’s six, then Horizon would have successfully won this fight. But it’s a separate thing than this rival clock, which you don’t need to complete to win, right? To win, you need to get the Divine Past body to eight. It’s already at six, so it’s getting up there? But, rivals are very, very scary. That’s what I will say, about- in terms of what rivals can do. They’re very dangerous, and can just hurt you. So I wanna know right now what is happening as this battle kicks off.
JACK: Okay. I think in terms of narrative business,
AUSTIN: No businesses, we already said that the business, they- no business mechs here. [Jack chuckles]
KEITH: Yeah, just the troops.
AUSTIN: Just the troops.
JACK: Just the troops. I guess like, Clem screams. [Austin and Keith chuckle] And a helmet bursts from I guess like-
KEITH: Do you have a panic helmet?
JACK: A tiara or a diadem? Some kind of headgear that I’ve been wearing?
AUSTIN: Oh my god.
JACK: I don’t know if this counts as armour, this is mostly narrative business to get Clementine Kesh out of the way of Gucci Garantine.
AUSTIN: I got you. Yes, yes.
JACK: Cause if Gucci just goes: “oh, it’s Clementine!”
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: It’s like- so I want to make sure the camera sees that.
AUSTIN: Yeah. Gotcha.
JACK: And like Clem just hitting the dirt and like grabbing with one hand for Sovereign Immunity’s like ankles?
AUSTIN: Oh my god.
JACK: And just be like,
JACK (as Clementine): Where is- Where are the others?
ART (as Sovereign): I have no idea.
JACK: Just explosion in the backgorund.
AUSTIN: Yeah- POOOWWW!!!
ART (as Sovereign): It doesn't matter, we’ll leave.
AUSTIN: Uh. Oh god. Or you could-
JACK (as Clementine): If we leave they are forfeit.
ART (as Sovereign): Probably. They’ll make it, they’ll make it back. They’re capable.
JACK (as Clementine): Where’s the scientist?
KEITH: Meanwhile, we absolutely don’t want to make it back.
AUSTIN: Mhm. I will note like, it is- the thing here’s that’s wild is like, you could run off. But also, you don’t have like a phone that can call- you know what I mean? How far is the next town? You don’t know.
JACK: This is absolutely the like great plot beat that I love in O Brother, Where Art Thou? which is like- it’s, the whole movie is just, “oh they escaped! Now what?”
AUSTIN: Right.
KEITH: That movie has- gets a bad rap.
AUSTIN: People like that movie, what, does that movie get a bad rap?
ART: What?
KEITH: I love it but I always heard that people hated that movie.
ART [overlapping with others]: No! I don’t think anyone hates that movie.
AUSTIN [overlapping with others]: What!
JACK: That’s like the Coen brothers’ legendary movie.
KEITH: It’s so weird, I always- people- I’ve always heard people be like that’s the worst Coen brothers movie.
JACK: You might be thinking of the Ladykillers?
KEITH: No, I haven’t- well haven’t- okay, that’s not one that they wrote. I think these are people that are talking about just ones that they wrote.
JACK: Fuck off! O Brother, Where Art Thou? rules!
KEITH: I agree! I think it’s great! That’s what I’m saying! I’m- look. I don’t know these people.
JACK [overlapping with Keith]: I wasn’t saying fuck off to you, I was saying fuck off to any of these people who are listening.
AUSTIN: All right, let’s keep moving.
JACK: Where’s the scientist?
AUSTIN: The scientist you all saw begin to run up towards the GLORY base in the North here? And then, turn and begin to run the other direction towards your rovers, hoping to take one.
JACK: Hm.
KEITH: Where’s my mech?
AUSTIN: On the boat.
JACK: Back on the boat with AO right?
AUSTIN: Yup.
KEITH: What- could I just get to there?
AUSTIN: You could- you could start heading that way. It’s far. But it’s- it’s you could start making that move. It is 7.7 kilometers [Jack chuckles].
KEITH: I could run.
JACK: I don’t know if we explained this when it happened last time, Austin is capable of drawing a live arrow onto the map now?
AUSTIN: It’s great.
KEITH [overlapping with Austin]: A live arrow with a very low refresh rate. I feel-
AUSTIN: Oh does that have a low refresh rate for you? That’s funny.
KEITH: Yeah, it’s super low.
JACK [overlapping with Keith]: We’ve given him too much power.
AUSTIN: [laughs evilly]
KEITH: It’s like- it’s like 3 frames per second.
AUSTIN: That’s very good.
KEITH: Yeah it’s really, really weird.
AUSTIN: So what are y’all doing? Scientist, doctor- I didn’t even say that this person was a doctor, but, let’s say doctor Cardiff Reach is running towards one of your rovers, to get into it and drive it away? It sounds like Leap, you’re just gonna- are you just gonna try to like hoof it? It’s a far run.
KEITH: I could steal a rover.
SYLVIA: What if we steal that rover that guy’s trying to take.
KEITH: Yeah that’s- that’s great. Cause he knows the guy that you hate, right?
ART [overlapping with Keith]: I don’t think you can steal-
SYLVIA: Yeah. No these-
ART [overlapping with Sylvia]: Aren’t those our rovers?
SYLVIA: Those guys worked at the same place that fucked me over.
AUSTIN: There are- they are-
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: What’s that, Art?
AUSTIN: You were driven here on rovers by Cas’alear? Sombre Sky arrived with her own like truck that has-
JACK: The we’re busy loading.
AUSTIN: That stuff has the Divine Past’s body and bits in it.
KEITH: Okay. Here’s, full- here’s the thing.
AUSTIN: Yes.
KEITH: Here’s what it is. I’m a pirate, I stole a robot, I stole some other stuff, my drive is-
JACK: You released a robot
KEITH: -to break out of prison, there is immediately a- I would call this a major disturbance,
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: -there is a car I think I can steal. I’m gonna- I’m trying to escape from prison.
AUSTIN: Okay. Get into the car. Or- are you taking the car from this- this scientist?
KEITH: Is that the closest car?
AUSTIN: Absolutely.
KEITH: Yes.
AUSTIN: As you approach, he is like,
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): Get awa-! Get away! Get away!
KEITH: I’m going to- I’m Prowling.
AUSTIN: Prowling is- what are you, what are you doing? Tell me what you’re doing.
KEITH: I’m try- I’m approaching- I’m gonna try to sneak up on this car.
AUSTIN: And like push him out?
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: Okay, give me- give- that is a two D6, Risky Standard.
SYLVIA: Can I be a distraction? To help. And take a stress.
AUSTIN: Sure! Spend some- spend a stress.
SYLVIA: One or two?
AUSTIN: One.
SYLVIA: One for helping?
AUSTIN: One to help at this point, because you only have one belief about each other. But if you spend downtime with each other, you will increase that and will, that will go up, and you’ll be able to do more, but it’ll cost more to do it. So, are you adding dice, effect, or improving a position?
SYLVIA: Um… and this is what, Risky Standard?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
SYLVIA: Yeah. Uhh… I will…
AUSTIN: You know what, I’m gonna say this is Desperate Standard.
KEITH: Great, love that.
AUSTIN: Because of the battle that is happening around you?
KEITH: So- okay, so let me look at- let me take a look at my moves real quick.
AUSTIN: Yeah, you’ve got some shit going on around that.
SYLVIA: Do you want to stay Desperate?
KEITH: Well, I do want to stay Desperate,
SYLVIA: Okay.
KEITH: Because when I roll a Desperate action I get a +1d roll, if you also take a -1 to any resistance rolls, or exhaust an additional Quirk for vehicle resistance against consequences from your actions.
AUSTIN: So it’s like- that’s Daredevil right?
KEITH: Yes, that’s Daredevil.
AUSTIN: So you take- if there’s a consequence here, you’re going to- you have a risk of needing to-
KEITH: I don’t, actually, though, right?
AUSTIN: What? What do you mean?
KEITH: Because we also have-
AUSTIN: Well no, you’ll have to roll. Oh, I see what you’re saying. I see what you’re saying.
KEITH: I plus get +1d to resistance rolls, or exhaust one fewer Quirk to vehicle resistances from Forged in the Fire.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: Forged in the Fire, right, so those cancel each other out. Basically you just get this bonus 1d,
KEITH: Yes.
AUSTIN: Because you’re in a desperate action, yes.
KEITH: Yeah. Mhm.
AUSTIN: Love it. I will say you- you’re in this roll not outnumbered or drastically overmatched, this is the scientist.
KEITH: Right, right.
AUSTIN: Keep that in mind.
SYLVIA: So should I- do you just want an extra dice then, Keith?
KEITH: I would love an extra die- dice.
SYLVIA: Here you go.
AUSTIN: So you’re at three D6. Are you also pushing yourself?
KEITH: Um. No.
AUSTIN: Okay.
KEITH: Four.
AUSTIN: Four, okay. When you roll a four on a Desperate- on a Desperate action, tuh-da-da. Alright, so. You get the basic thing you want, which is access to the rover, right? Do you knock this robot out, do you just push him out the side of the door? What’s that look like? What does success look like here?
KEITH [overlapping with Austin] Yeah! I- I’m thinking of like the- like the Grand Theft Auto thing, where, just a totally unsuspecting car all of a sudden, the person inside has a hand on their shoulder, and then they’re outside of the car?
AUSTIN: Yeah. yeah yeah yeah yeah, I got you. I need this, basically.
KEITH: Yeah, right.
AUSTIN: Alright, cool, yes. So you-
KEITH: Like a very- kind of like a very casual-
AUSTIN: Right. Alright so-
KEITH: I think this is-
AUSTIN: What is- here’s a question, what’s all that loot stored it? Is it a satchel, or a bag?
KEITH: Yeah, I’ve got- I’m gonna- I have a backpack.
AUSTIN: Okay, so. You have two consequences from this because it’s a Desperate thing. One of them is a Risky consequence, one of them is a Controlled consequence. The Risky consequence is that you- as you begin to pull away, Reach reaches out with one of- one of his claw like legs, and cuts a hole in the side of your backpack, and all of the loot that you took, the model of Past, a bunch of other stuff, begins to pour out of that. So that is one, that is junk a piece of gear. I guess- “junk a piece of vehicle here”, but this is a similar thing, or just taking a thing from your gear, or burning one of your pieces of gear.
KEITH: Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah.
AUSTIN: Two, is the- as you begin to drive away, the shelling from this fight begins to like- there are explosions all around you. And there’s a piece of shrapnel that goes into the side of your body. And cuts some sort of like tube or valve or something? So you get the Leaky level 1 damage? You can choose to resist these, you’ll have to resist them independently. The same- the same thing will like-
KEITH: It’s same roll.
AUSTIN: It’s two, yeah, exactly. So I mean you would be resisting them- so one you can choose not to resist them if you want to. You can choose to resist them, but if you resist them, I will say that both of these resists are Prowess resists, because this is-
KEITH: So the Controlled-
AUSTIN: Consequence.
KEITH: Is the shelling.
AUSTIN: Is the shelling, is the level 1 harm Leaky.
KEITH: Yeah, I’m gonna- I’m going to- I’m definitely resisting the loot thing.
AUSTIN: Sure.
KEITH: And I’ll decide after that if i’m gonna resist again.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: So let’s start with the loot thing. Okay so that’s resisting a consequence. So that means you’re going to roll dice equal to the number of actions in the attribute you have at least one point in, so right now that’s two. In general the way it works is you’ll suffer six stress minus the highest die from that roll. For instance, if you- if the highest roll is six, you don’t get any stress. But on a roll of one, you get five stress.
KEITH: Yeah. Wait- what was the- how is this calculated?
AUSTIN: It’s, I pick one of your attributes, Insight, Prowess, Resolve, Expertise or Acuity, based on what the thing is? In this case it’s Prowess, which you have two in, because you have Finesse, and Prowl?
KEITH: Oh, got it.
AUSTIN: You’re going to get an extra one dice to your resistance, right? Or no you’re not going to get that.
KEITH: No, no I get-
AUSTIN: So you just get a flat two D6.
KEITH: I lose one and then gain it back, from Forged in the Fire.
AUSTIN: Yeah, right right right right. Totally, from Forged in the Fire. So two D6.
KEITH: Alright.
AUSTIN: This is keeping your loot.
KEITH: Submit. Two.
AUSTIN: Hey, that’s a six! Hell yeah! That’s zero stress!
KEITH: And, when you- when you get a six on a resistance roll, what happens?
AUSTIN: You get zero stress. If you get two sixes, you get XP-
KEITH: You get XP-
AUSTIN: No, you lose a stress, you heal a stress.
KEITH: Okay, I don’t have a stress anyway.
AUSTIN: Yeah, you’re good. So, second roll here.
KEITH: Yeah I’m gonna do it.
AUSTIN: You’re going to resist the damage. Again, two D6.
KEITH: Prowess, two-
AUSTIN: Four. So take two stress.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: Bringing you up to two stress. What’s this look like?
KEITH: Not bad.
AUSTIN: Are you just grabbing the bag and throwing it in the back seat, before it falls, or before it cuts open?
KEITH: I think it’s like, if you’ve ever been carrying too much stuff and one thing is slipping like groceries or something, and you just have to stand in a weird way until you find a counter?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: Like I think I just have to hold the bag in a very weird way until I’m safe from the bombs.
AUSTIN: Right, right. Where are you headed?
KEITH: I’m headed to my mech.
AUSTIN: Oh so you’re headed towards the ships still.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Okay, cool. Let’s check in on everybody else. What’s up with everybody else in this moment?
KEITH: Is- is Million coming, it seemed like-
SYLVIA: Yeah, I-
KEITH: -maybe she was trying to get in onto this car.
AUSTIN: Yeah. Cool cool cool.
SYLVIA: Yeah, I’m hanging out shotgun.
AUSTIN: Alright, cool. Then, Sovereign Immunity and Clementine, what are you up to?
ART: I mean we’re probably also heading back to the boat.
JACK (as Clementine): I want the scientist.
AUSTIN: Huh.
ART (as Sovereign): You want the what?
JACK (as Clementine): The scientist.
JACK: Well, two things.
AUSTIN: Yup?
JACK: Clem just like scrambling up to her feet, like brushing the debris off her. Clem is wearing white and has been this whole episode. I described an outfit in character creation.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: And Clem is I think still wearing this exact piece of battle dress? Which is just white, so, not great for um, either fighting or picking round the body of a Divine. Points at the scientist, and says.
JACK (as Clementine): I want him.
JACK: And then points at the fleeing car that presumably contains Million and- and Exeter, and says,
JACK (as Clementine): And I want them too. Decide.
ART (as Sovereign): Wait. Decide, okay.
AUSTIN: Is this-
JACK (as Clem): You are going to bring me one of them.
ART: The scientist was just thrown from a car, right?
AUSTIN: Yes. [Keith laughs]
JACK: It’s like- Austin, how far-
KEITH [overlapping with Jack]: Whee!
JACK: -for some reason I’ve been assuming we’re at the Divine Past’s body?
AUSTIN: Yeah, you are.
JACK: It’s like, two kilometers in length?
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: I’d say like there-
KEITH: But it’s a huge body.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: It’s a huge body, it’s hard to-
KEITH: It’s hard to not be at the body.
AUSTIN: I’m imagining you're like pointing as if down a football field and saying, hey, they’re driving away.
JACK: Yeah, yeah. Totally yeah.
AUSTIN: And that motherfucker’s on the ground and is about to get up and probably run to the base, or run to another vehicle or something. You’re assigning a duty here.
JACK: Yes, absolutely. I don’t have a move for that-
AUSTIN: No. I mean this could be Heart to Heart, but I feel like it’s not. This is not making the weight of an arrangement clear to your opposite.
ART: I mean I pick the one that’s not in a car. I don’t care if.
AUSTIN: Okay!
ART: [Jack chuckles] Honestly if the other two escape, great, good for them.
KEITH: Yeah, you- as far as-
ART: Good luck.
AUSTIN: Wait wait wait!
KEITH: As far as we’ll explain to you, these are even. Even.
AUSTIN: Real quick, because your goal, Sovereign Immunity, is to become Clem’s Sovereign. So wouldn’t you be motivated here to impress her?
ART: Yeah! This is impressive, he’s far away, I’m an old man! [all chuckle]
JACK: And to be fair, Clem-
ART: I’m going to chase down a car?
KEITH: Clem didn’t say that the car was worth five points and the scientist was worth two.
AUSTIN: Yeah, but you fucking know. You know. I’m just noting. I’m just saying.
SYLVIA: And they can also, like are we driving towards them at this point?
AUSTIN: No, I think you’re driving away towards the docks, or the road.
SYLVIA: Okay, I just wasn’t sure where they were in relation to-
KEITH: So we were like over here, so we’re going here.
AUSTIN: Here, yeah.
SYLVIA: Okay.
KEITH: Then we go along the road.
AUSTIN: Yeah. I’ll just draw-
SYLVIA: Makes sense.
AUSTIN: -some letters on the screen real quick, which is like. C for Clementine. That’s the wrong colour, make that bright.
JACK: You know I mean, you can draw blinders- I think I’ve changed my mind.
AUSTIN: Oh, okay.
JACK: I think Clem points at the fleeing car and says:
JACK (as Clementine): Get them.
AUSTIN: There you go. That’s- that’s the shit.
ART: Alright. Um. Okay, Sovereign Immunity runs for the other rovers. I think as a bonus,
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: I’ll just, I’m just gonna- gonna clobber the scientist.
AUSTIN: Like on the way. [Keith and Sylvia laugh]
JACK: On the way!
ART: Yeah I’m gonna try to just like- I’m gonna try to knock out the scientist. I’m gonna-
AUSTIN: You get this for-
KEITH [overlapping with Austin]: Can I ask for a clock?
AUSTIN: What do you want the clock for?
KEITH: Well I just feel like Sovereign Immunity’s chasing after us and is wasting time clobbering someone instead.
AUSTIN: We- let’s- let’s continue to play- the way that this stuff ends up working out in terms of PvP, is that we should talk through what’s interesting and the way in which we want to track that stuff? Right now I’d rather keep this in narrative terms? We know that you’re driving away. Like, we don’t need to set a four step clock to you getting on the boat, and taking over the boat, and leave- do you know what I mean? We’ll get there.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: You’re ahead of him now.
KEITH: As long as it’s on the record that beating someone takes time.
AUSTIN: Yes, yes.
ART: I’m not beating someone up,
AUSTIN [overlapping]: You’re clobbering someone.
ART: I’m really just punching them.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Art]: This is- also-
ART: I’m sort of like tackling them.
AUSTIN: What’s happening- good job. You’ve written “clobbered” now. This is a question about the roll, Keith. We’ll see what the roll looks like, because if it’s bad,
KEITH: Yeah yeah yeah
AUSTIN: That’s one of the consequences I can give, right?
KEITH: Yeah yeah.
JACK: God! An immediate prison break-
AUSTIN: Of course!
JACK: -is fucking incredible! Yeah! Like-
AUSTIN: Why wouldn’t there be? Give me a- what are you, what are you doing?
JACK: -these are pirates!
ART: Is it Wreck?
AUSTIN: Yeah, Wreck sounds like what you’re doing. Which is not- this is not Struggle.
ART: Oh wait. Oh yeah oh yeah, okay.
AUSTIN: It could be either, you could do either of these things.
ART: Alright, I have the same in both of them.
AUSTIN: It’s about colour here.
ART: I’m- I’m Wrecking. This is a Wreck.
AUSTIN: That’s one D6, so are you pushing yourself here? Or are you- do you want a collateral die?
ART: Talk to me about it.
AUSTIN: I will advance the- I will advance the state of battle towards Horizon, and give you a collateral die.
ART: No, I’ll just push myself and take another stress.
AUSTIN: Two stress. Two stress to push yourself so you should already be at two- but no, you assisted before, you didn’t push yourself.
ART: I assisted, yeah.
AUSTIN: Now you’re at three stress.
ART: Um, oops, that’s not right.
AUSTIN: So, give me-
ART: What- what’s the- what’s my position?
AUSTIN: Controlled Standard? That is a-
ART: That’s a five.
AUSTIN: Five. So yeah, you’re going to knock this person out. And the consequence is that it takes you a little more time, and so yeah. This is where you’re like, alright I’ve knocked this person out, I’m jumping into a car, but by the time you do that, you’re seeing Leap and Millie kind of come over the crater? And like, lose sight of them at that moment?
ART: Can I resist?
AUSTIN: You absolutely can. What are you-
ART: What would I be resisting?
AUSTIN: Prowess, because it’s about moving more quickly and staying focused, and you know, making all this happen more quickly.
ART: My Prowess is, the total, or it’s the highest?
AUSTIN: It’s the total, it’s two D, you can see now what’ I’ve highlighted here, that will tell you what your thing is.
ART: Yeah.
AUSTIN: So that’s two D6. You just roll it. That is a six. You take zero stress. There are so many sixes tonight. So yeah, Exeter Leap and Million, you like fucking lost him. And then, I don’t know if he found a better- how did you come up more quickly here, did you find a better route?
ART: Yeah I think I’m just driving really recklessly, I think it’s like- I don’t care where the road is, I’m just going- I’m just driving- I’m never going to drive this rover again, it’s just like-
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: If I can add, it’s like- we were driving as if there was no one behind us, cause there no-
AUSTIN: Yeah, right.
KEITH: -there was no one. And then all of a sudden someone is driving to catch us.
AUSTIN: To catch you. And they are- and he is in a car by himself, and you in a car full of loot and another robot, and another person, so.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: So yeah. That is happening, let’s- Clem let’s stay on you for a second. What are you doing in this moment?
JACK: I think that when Cardiff got clobbered, there was like an instantaneous like rack focus to the silhouette of Clem in the background, who just went like,
JACK (as Clementine): Yes!
JACK: With her hands up.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] Great!
JACK: And then snapped back to Sovereign-
AUSTIN: Right, and then like- and then like, a mech flies across the screen. Oh, right! Shit, smoke is peeling off the horizon.
JACK: Just like- just like, absolutely panicking. I want to make for this scientist.
AUSTIN: Okay, yeah.
JACK: To like clear up, to just be like, this is like a one-two punch. I wasn’t expecting Sovereign to clobber him?
AUSTIN: Right. You’re there-
JACK: But now that he has-
AUSTIN: Let’s cut back and you’re there. I’d rather- you’re there, that person is knocked out, you know, just knocked on the ground and sobbing, and is in pain, and is like,
AUSTIN (as Cardiff): Aeughhh.
AUSTIN: [Jack chuckles] Sylvia says, he got carjacked twice.
JACK: Sylvia just-
SYLVIA: Yeah!
JACK: I’m looking at my load right now.
AUSTIN: Yeah, mhm.
JACK: Because, what I really wanna do is I wanna make a cool escape with this guy. I wanna like, kidnap this guy. [someone wheezes]
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: An ideally if on the way out I can shore up Apostolos in some way?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: That would be great. My number one priority is like, get this guy out.
AUSTIN: Sure.
JACK: Is there a thing that would let me call my mech?
AUSTIN: Yes. You see under your personal load, there’s a thing called remote vehicle control-
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: Oh, shit! Remote vehicle control.
AUSTIN: That says, a tool allowing a pilot to remotely control a vehicle, but not as effectively as being in the cockpit.
JACK: Okay, sure. Yeah, I’m gonna summon- I’m gonna summon my mech.
AUSTIN: Okay.
JACK: So I think back on the ship- back on the boat- Austin are we picturing kind of like, the Fragile Express boats for this?
AUSTIN: Sure! Sure. We’re already fucking all the way in Kojima shit right now. We just do better than him.
JACK: Like a huuuuuge hulk. Like a grey hulk, it’s like a- it’s like twin holds, it’s like Catamaran.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: And it’s like massive, which presumably this has to be to store-
AUSTIN: A bunch of mechs, yes. It’s massive, it’s pretty big.
JACK: And I think like panels-
AUSTIN: It’s not a battleship, but it’s like- it’s a big cargo ship.
JACK: It’s a big ship, yeah, totally. It’s not as big as like the Mærsk Mc-Kinney cargo ships IRL, but it’s getting there.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: And I think we just get an insert of AO looking up.
AUSTIN: Yeah!
JACK: As Clementine Kesh’s Panther mech, the Panther, deploys from inside the mech bay of the thing. And kinda goes screaming across the sky.
AUSTIN: Yeah, and at that point AO like cocks a gun, cocks a rifle, you know? Like, alright.
JACK: He’s just heard the sound of- sounds of violence.
AUSTIN: Yeah. Give me a- this is a- this is a roll, this is a manoeuvre roll, to try to get your mech to you, and to load-
JACK: Through a combat-
AUSTIN: Through a combat zone, absolutely.
JACK: And load the guy-
AUSTIN: And load the guy, I’m going to put that under Manoeuvre, which you have a one in. When you Manoeuvre you move your vehicle with skill and agility. One D6. This is going to be Risky Limited, because you’re using remote vehicle control?
JACK: Okay.
AUSTIN: So are you going to push yourself here?
JACK: Uh, yeah. I have a question about pushing myself on the spreadsheet?
AUSTIN: Yes.
JACK: Do you see that I’m moving into a different colour gradation?
AUSTIN: Yes. That doesn’t mean anything.
JACK: No, it doesn’t mean anything?
AUSTIN: No, it doesn’t mean anything except that you’re moving into another colour gradation, but also that’s not how you push yourself to do this.
JACK: Uh-oh!
AUSTIN: Because, you’re not- you’re not rolling- you’re not doing this with- this is a vehicle push. And vehicle push- pushes are about Quirks.
JACK: Ooh!
AUSTIN: The way that you push yourself with a vehicle is that you expend a Quirk, a single Quirk, to- to get increased effect, better dice, better position, or better- yeah, effect.
JACK: What does expend mean?
AUSTIN: You check the box on it. It means that you use-
JACK: But like what’s the mechanical-
AUSTIN: You see at the very bottom, there it says Quirks?
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: So you only have the three- you only have the four Quirks, right? Quirks are what you use to get- they’re basically Stress for your mech,
JACK: Okay.
AUSTIN: And if you expend all of them, you get a Breakdown.
JACK: [chuckles nervously] Okay.
AUSTIN: A breakdown can mean a bunch of different things, but basically it mean that that’s it for it in the scene. You don’t have to leave the mission, but the vehicle- and the vehicle will come in again at an appropriate time- because it’s been like- the book says refueled and polished basically? But you mark a tick in the Breakdown boxes? And you make one of your Quirks worse. So right now you have-
JACK: Oh wow, that’s amazing!
AUSTIN: Yeah you have Rare Components, and it might be like, rare, unreliable components, you know?
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Etcetera. But they’re basically stress for your- for your mech.
JACK: And- and what I check off doesn’t narrative?
AUSTIN: It does narrativise.
JACK: Unless you want it to?
AUSTIN: You should- you have to narratives it to get the better effect, the push-
JACK: So say how this weird Quirk is helping.
AUSTIN: Correct.
JACK: Okay cool.
AUSTIN: Also- you or I could bring them into play to hurt you, to make your situation worse, at which point you would get XP for the fact that a Quirk problematised your situation.
JACK: Rad, okay. This allows for-
ART: Does it check the box?
AUSTIN: It does not check the box, no. The other thing that Quirks do, is that’s how you resist things in a vehicle. You expend Quirks as a flat cost, basically? If you- if you- taduhduhduhduh… it’s four minus the current- minus- hmm, I forgot what it is exactly, I’ll have to look it up if you have to resist something. For now- for now, go ahead and tell me if you’re expending one to get a push.
JACK: I am. I’m going to expend Low Latency- uh Low Latency Operating System.
AUSTIN: Yeah, sure.
JACK: So the way we described this is that the Panther is built for someone who is a more skilled pilot than Clementine?
AUSTIN: Yes.
JACK: Who is kind of just muddling through.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: And so I’m going to expend that, and I think what that looks like is the systems inside the autopilot systems inside the Panther sort of breath a mechanical breath of fresh air as it were?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: To just be like, the pilot isn’t piloting me, I’m just gonna like slam all the things up to high. It would be like- I saw a video earlier of a world speed record for a tractor? They got it up to 108 miles an hour? Which is-
AUSTIN: That’s very fast for a tractor.
JACK: And I think to an extent this is just like the Panther going like “oh Clem drives it one way,”
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: “But she’s not in it?”
AUSTIN: Right, right. So are you using it for more effect, or better dice?
JACK: Better dice.
AUSTIN: Alright, so now you’re up to Two D6, still Controlled-
KEITH: Was the tractor still cutting grass?
AUSTIN: Important question.
JACK: No, but I wish it was.
AUSTIN: Yeah. [Keith chuckles] Two D6, Risky- Risky Limited is what I said before, right?
JACK: Yes. But I don’t need to set that up in the action roll right, that’s just about how you narrate-
AUSTIN: You can do it that way if you want to.
JACK: Sure, let’s do it. Manoeuvre. Risky… Limited. Number of dice, two.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! That’s a one and a three!
AUSTIN: That’s a one and a three. You love to see it. You love to see it. [Jack chuckles]
JACK: You love to see it.
AUSTIN: I do.
KEITH: Sorry folks, the parade of sixes is over.
AUSTIN: Is done!
JACK: Sorry folks! Waving the batons, if you’ll move that way please!
SYLVIA: Clear out, clear out!
AUSTIN: I think, Million and Leap, you see the Panther zoom overhead, and come to a stop- or like fly over- fly over your head, slam into a wall of a building? [Keith laughs]
JACK: Just crashes-!
AUSTIN: Crashes, kind of like regains control and keeps moving? I’m gonna give this vehicle the level… two damage- [someone chuckling] duh duh duh duh duh… what’s a good word for having-
JACK: Crashed.
AUSTIN: Crashed. Uh huh. You can resist that if you want to. And the way- I looked at how resisting works by the way. The way it works is you could resist a consequence by- in a vehicle by spending four minus the number of your attribute in your vehicle action- related vehicle action, in Quirks to resist it. So in this case-
JACK: I would immediately exhaust all three other Quirks?
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: Two more, two more, because you have two in Expertise. So I would say this is an Expertise resist. So you could exhaust two more Quirks to resist this damage. [Jack chuckles] It’s up to you.
ART: Jack. Jack. Jack.
KEITH: I can see which two to exhaust too, it’s right there.
ART: On one hand, this is bad. Don’t do this. It’s- it’s not what you should do. It’s like- it’s like bad for you in continuing to play the game.
AUSTIN: I’m wrong also. You finish your statement, you finish your statement.
ART: On the other hand, Clem wrecking a mech so bad it has to go into the shop on the first mission is so funny. [Jack chuckles]
AUSTIN: It’s so funny. Clem you can resist it for one Quirk because you have Forged in the Fire. You get 1d extra resistance rolls, and exhaust one fewer Quirk for vehicle resistances. A fantastic move.
JACK: Oh! As a group!
AUSTIN: As a group you have that.
ART: “Because of your extensive combat training” [Jack and Keith laughs]
KEITH: Yeah, because of how tough it was [Austin laughs] for you to- before-
JACK: To be- to be-
KEITH: To take the position of having to be here.
AUSTIN: To be fair, Clem’s mom is a real piece of shit. Is really mean. And I bet there’s a degree of-
JACK: Oh yeah, she’s a bad person.
AUSTIN: There certainly was a degree of interpersonal cruelty. I don’t think it’s the same as being imprisoned, but.
JACK: Right. Or being an escaped clone soldier.
AUSTIN: No, no.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Do you wanna burn one of these Quirks to resist this?
JACK: Yeah, absolutely I do. Mmm… is this violence against the town, if I crash into one of these-
AUSTIN: No, I’m not gonna count that.
JACK: Okay, cool.
Also it’s not the town, you crashed into one of the military buildings.
JACK: Oh, absolutely.
KEITH: So it’s a military attacking another military.
AUSTIN: Yeah that’s all.
JACK: Yeah then I’m going to resist.
ART: Do we have a word for that, when militaries attack other militaries?
AUSTIN: Nnnno.
JACK: War?
AUSTIN: No.
ART: Okay.
AUSTIN: No.
ART: No.
KEITH: Controlled action is what it’s called, I think.
AUSTIN: Yeah, thank you.
JACK: I’m gonna cross out Distinctive Silhouette-
AUSTIN: Okay.
JACK: Because I think what happens, is the V angular silhouette of the Panther just stands up through the building-
AUSTIN: Okay, great.
JACK: And just like jump jets on its feet again, springs into the air,
AUSTIN: Yeah. And the-
JACK: It’s absolutely the- this is the- have you seen that great Vine of the kid having the Christmas present which is like a little flying fairy toy,
AUSTIN: Yeah-
JACK: And it immediately takes off and flies into the fire?
AUSTIN: Love it.
JACK: This is the Panther doing that.
AUSTIN: God.
JACK: Going straight into a building, and then standing up through the building and flying off again.
AUSTIN: Everyone’s like- oh shit, that’s the Panther! And in fact Jack, I’m going to at that point, given that narrative opportunity, do a thing that rivals can do.
JACK: Oh wait! Don’t I also need to roll for the resist?
AUSTIN: No no no.
JACK: Just checking-
AUSTIN: Just check the box- with vehicles you just check it off. So, in addition to being a person’s opponent, rivals are very dangerous, both during missions and between them. A number of times of mission, equal to the number of pilots per mission, so 4, a rival can inflict a consequence at any time—before a pilot acts, on a result of six, after a fortune roll, at any time—which is called a rival move. The severity of the consequence is the same as the affected pilot’s current position, and must be appropriate to the fiction. If more than one pilot has the same rival, they receive an extra rival move in addition to blah blah blah blah blah…
AUSTIN: [continued] So, seeing your mech headed towards you, seeing it crash into a building, [Keith laughs] Gucci Garantine takes action. She has scanned the area, she’s the only mech on her side that flies, and I don’t-
JACK: What’s her mech called again?
AUSTIN: Her mech is called the Transgress Oblige.
JACK: Amazing.
AUSTIN: And it’s about to get more amazing. I’m gonna take two rival moves in a row.
JACK: Are you allowed to do that?
AUSTIN: Any time.
JACK: Okay so any time includes immediately following another rival move.
AUSTIN: At any time. So,
JACK: Okay.
AUSTIN: The- the Transgress Oblige lands- flies towards you, much faster than the Panther is flying towards you. You failed this roll, you completely failed it right? And so, you do not get what you want, which is the body of this scientist. A voice comes over the loudspeaker. This is still the first move. I’m giving you a new consequence, and the consequence is that- that- the broad consequence is that she’s going to steal the scientist from you. She says over the speaker- god I have a fucking fake name for her, let me find that really quick. Because she’s not gonna use her real name, right? She says,
AUSTIN (as Gucci): I am Saint Dawn, commander of Horizon on all of Partizan. You will relinquish this man to me immediately-
AUSTIN: And it’s coming over a loudspeaker. What do you do in response to this? She is just gonna take him, but is basically demanding him from you.
KEITH: I have a- I have a fiction question?
AUSTIN: Sure.
KEITH: The reason that these two don’t know that each other are each other-
AUSTIN: Mhm.
KEITH: -is because that they’re in like, covert ops organisations?
AUSTIN: Yes, neither of them-
KEITH: That’s the thing?
AUSTIN: Horizon is basically a freedom fighting organisation? And- and Gucci runs it by night, effectively, right? Like by day,
KEITH: Right, right.
AUSTIN: She’s just an attaché at a mid level house.
KEITH: Oh this is what during episode zero-
AUSTIN: Yes.
KEITH: Jack was saying like these two are technically like, they hang out-
AUSTIN: Yes.
KEITH: But then they each have this idea of the other like “am I missing something about them?”
AUSTIN: Exactly, this is those two, a hundred percent.
KEITH: Right, got it, yup.
AUSTIN: And you’re looking up in goofy fucking safety helmet, Clem. And what do you say?
JACK: [exhales] So there’s a thing I can do here that I think might actually be too dark for this season-
AUSTIN: I don’t know dude, I don’t know!
JACK: But I wanna talk about it.
AUSTIN: Do you wanna talk through it?
JACK: I wanna talk through it just in terms of like a- like a Lines and Veils kind of type thing-
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: Which is something I would be happy to do?
AUSTIN: Yes.
JACK: This is a move that I think is narratively interesting-
AUSTIN: Me too.
JACK: -as a starting place?
KEITH: Austin how do you already know what this thing is-
AUSTIN: Because I do stories for a living.
JACK: Taps head three times.
AUSTIN: Yeah, taps head three times. It’s dark.
JACK: Which is I just kill him.
AUSTIN: Yeah you’re gonna pull out a pistol and shoot him in the head.
JACK: Just kill him-
AUSTIN: And we can do that with a- and we can do that with a shot, right? Like, it pulls back to a wide angle, and we hear a bang.
JACK: Yeah, totally. I- I think if we are going to make this season in which the major players play characters or non-player characters are- are willing and unwilling tools of empire, we’re going to see them do bad shit?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: I just want to open the conversation at this starting point about whether or not that is the sort of story we would be interested in telling.
AUSTIN: I- I would rather turn the table over to the rest of the crew first, because I know that I hold more power as the GM. So actually, I’m gonna be biting my tongue and say to Art, Sylvia, and Keith I’m curious what you think about that action and then broadly what Jack is introducing.
SYLVIA: I mean I think, I think if we like handle it in a way that isn’t like- I don’t think we would ever revel in anything like that, we would handle it like with the weight it deserves? But like having veils there so we’re not lingering on screen I think is probably a good idea?
AUSTIN: Any feeling from Art and Keith here?
KEITH: No, I think it makes sense.
ART: Yeah- yeah I believe in our ability to do this.
AUSTIN: I would say in fact we have reveled in it poorly before. I can think of a specific scene in Twilight Mirage where it was less earned and less critically handled. Also with a Jack character actually.
JACK: Right.
AUSTIN: Where we were so excited by the premise and the- and the violence of it, that we were like, this is dope, this is exciting, this is dynamic, the storytelling lines up. I think we earned it narratively there, but I don’t think we did what we’re doing here, which is yes, this is about-
JACK: It was a completely different beat to an extent there, right?
AUSTIN: Yes, yes.
JACK: Whereas like, that first beat felt like Tarantino’s shooting the scene?
AUSTIN: Yes.
JACK: That guy fucking sucks,
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: But stylistically, you know. Whereas this is ostensibly at least on the box, one of the heroes of this story in the first-
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: In the first act-
JACK: At the start.
AUSTIN: -being like, hey, here is who I am. Here is who I’m willing to be for this empire that I want to rule.
JACK: Yeah, totally. I think if- if we commit to it, we commit to it?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: Um, but yeah, I think you’re right, so. Yeah, let’s do it.
AUSTIN: Alright. You tell me-
JACK: I think Clem doesn’t say anything at all. And I think that we just- we just get like a wide shot, like a distant wide shot of the battlefield with the Transgress Oblige kind of hanging in the air.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: And the sound of a gunshot. And then Clem just like makes for the-
AUSTIN: The Panther.
JACK: I think stumblingly makes for the Panther, yeah. I don’t think that this is like a- I don’t think that this is a calculated move?
AUSTIN: Mm.
JACK: From Clem? I think this is panic.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: And I think that backed into this- backed into what she perceives to be this corner, this is the outcome that she has decided.
AUSTIN: So. Here’s the second move. So you get into the Panther, right? I imagine there’s like a- does it kneel and open its cockpit, does it have a handhold thing that like pulls- like a rope that pulls you up, what’s the deal?
JACK: I think that it Titanfall-style reaches down and picks Clem up.
AUSTIN: Great. You load in, and there’s this moment- there’s a beat where maybe you realise here that what you did shook whoever was in that other mech? Was like, she just doesn’t respond. So-called Saint Dawn was not expecting to see you just do that. And then there’s a reverberation or an echo from- from what you did. Which is like, “oh, okay, it’s like that”. And she lifts up into the air in this mech, and over loudspeakers, um- I think she actually takes, you know, holsters the bazooka on her back, and removes both of these giant partisans, these giant spears where the heads are lit up with like blue flame. And says,
AUSTIN (as Gucci): I demand your attention.
AUSTIN: And it echoes through the whole town? I think we see shots here of Sovereign Immunity chasing Exeter Leap and Millie? Are you like cutting through buildings and all that shit- like, you’re not that far from the docks.
KEITH: I- did you see the line that I drew?
AUSTIN: I do see the shortcut you’ve drawn here.
KEITH: Shortcut?
AUSTIN: Down the river bank, and then through the middle- [Jack chuckles] I think that’s just the way to the docks is what you’ve drawn here.
KEITH: Well there’s this longer path that goes down-
AUSTIN: That’s a river-
JACK [overlapping with Jack]: That’s a river!
AUSTIN: That’s a river.
KEITH: Oh that’s a- I was thinking of it as a road that makes way more sense.
AUSTIN: No, that’s a river- that’s the river that cuts the town in half.
KEITH: Okay. It makes sense because it goes right into the lake-
AUSTIN: Into the ocean, it does-
KEITH: Into the ocean.
AUSTIN: Yeah it does that.
ART: I hate when those roads happen.
AUSTIN: I think we get y’all at the docks hopping out, y’all running towards your shit, your mechs etc. And she is above everyone, demands everyone’s attention. And begins to slowly like spin in the air- and everyone can see her, she’s above this town in this giant mech. And there’s like a po-kkkh! as if, something’s like- a plate is opening to reveal the interior of her body, and it is a crystalline machine. I think you see it, and there is just this effect. There’s something about it that makes you think about like, the power and magnificence of humanity? It’s cut in a way where when you look at it, and you look away and you look again it’s as if you see a different face on it.
KEITH: Is this a Divine?
AUSTIN: No, it’s something- it’s something made by a master in leisure. It’s like-
JACK: Fuck-
AUSTIN: A mech designed by an incredible like expert- it’s like if someone said “I wanted to build god a body”, they might build this. I think we cut there.
JACK: What else-
ART: Can’t believe all this shit runs for so long.
JACK: What else would- what’s the pair to the Panther?
AUSTIN: What’s the pair to the Panther but a mass produced Independence unit? Which someone would have spent a fortune getting. A fortune, just- all- like, their whole house’s you know, estate, over centuries, millennia.
ART: They’re driving like a Warhol Monroe.
AUSTIN: Great! But Jack is driving- Clem is driving the Panther from 70,000 years ago right? So. Fuck it, man.
ART: Well I’m just talking about the way in which, like, Jack is- is driving the Mona Lisa.
AUSTIN: Right! [chuckles]
ART: And this is driving a Warhol-
AUSTIN: Yes! It is a Warhol print, you’re right. It is a print too, right? It’s a- it’s one of the mass produced models. But it’s been updated. The whole thing with Kesh is like they deep fetishise the past and they’re interested in past designs and stuff. But it still does the thing that this design did. This is a design by a master designer who wanted to evoke something to anyone who saw it. So I think for everyone who sees it, this is the other thing is, everyone takes the level 1 harm Dazed. This is a mech of sheer beauty and power. And it’s not a thing that you would think would make you do this, especially for like Millie and Leap? But like there- this is the thing this mech does. Also it has a bazooka and two giant beam partisans, but you can resist this if you want to, but everyone takes level 1 harm Dazed. Does anyone want to resist?
SYLVIA: I’ll take the harm.
AUSTIN: Okay!
JACK: Yeah Clem is just shaking in the cockpit of the Panther.
KEITH: I’ll- I have to- I’m gonna resist because I forgot to mark my stress from earlier, so I might as well just knock em’ both out of once if I have to.
AUSTIN: Okay you should mark your stress from before first.
KEITH: I went to go mark this harm and I noticed that I didn't have stress.
AUSTIN: Gotcha.
KEITH: So I’m at two.
AUSTIN: You’re at two.
KEITH: And I should mark it.
AUSTIN: And Resolve is what people should roll if they wanna resist. This is not from a Desperate action or anything, this is just-
KEITH: Resolve, two…
AUSTIN: So you take one.
KEITH: Five.
AUSTIN: Take one stress. No one else resisting?
SYLVIA: I’ve changed my mind about resisting.
AUSTIN: Alright, take- it would mean two D6.
SYLVIA: Two D6? Alright.
AUSTIN: You’re not resisting, Byron?
ART: Nah I’m good. Dazed is-
AUSTIN: Damn! Take no- it was a six, Million also resists this. Alright.
KEITH: In a very, very roundabout way, Art has dazed himself.
AUSTIN: Art has- Art who has the most Resolve at this table, has decided not to roll Resolve.
KEITH: Level one, schmevel one.
AUSTIN: Wait, both of y’all-
ART: Yeah, level one, schmevel one is my official position on this matter.
AUSTIN: Both of y’all actually roll one more die for me? Both Sylvia and Keith. Because Forged in the Fire-
KEITH: Oh, right, because of the Forged in the Fire.
AUSTIN: Which is very powerful!
KEITH: We have to get used to that.
AUSTIN: That’s not better, Sylvia. Keith-
SYLVIA: Got a-
AUSTIN: Also not better, so okay that’s fine. Again, I just wanna put it out there, Sovereign Immunity deciding not to roll four dice to resist.
ART: Alright, alright! I’m doing it. [Sylvia laughs]
SYLVIA: Peer pressured into protecting your character.
ART: But-
AUSTIN: It would be great if it was a one. It was a six. What were you gonna say but to?
ART: You know, level one harm, schmevel one harm.
AUSTIN: Fair, I guess. [Keith laughs] Clem is the only one- I think that also works in this scenario. Keeping dazed. Alright, so. Let’s- let’s zip to the docks. Sovereign Immunity, you’re behind Exeter Leap and Ver’million as the two of them board this ship and head- start heading towards their mechs, presumably?
KEITH: Yes, yeah.
SYLVIA: Yeah, absolutely.
AUSTIN: Figure A, this robot, is like mrow mrow mrow following behind you here, but like, is just not saying anything? Is just kind of like, yes, we’re going this way. Sovereign Immunity, what are you doing?
ART: Um. I don’t want to fight. I want to bargain.
AUSTIN: Mmm. We can get to that sequence, right? We can get to you’re all in the same room. And in my mind-
ART: Yeah, I wanna get in the room, and I wanna talk.
AUSTIN: Yeah, okay, so then maybe what we-
KEITH: I’ll-
AUSTIN: Go ahead.
KEITH: I’ll say this. I might not want to be in the same room.
AUSTIN: I get that, but the roll for the chase happened before at this point, right? So, I think y’all are getting into your mechs. And then Sovereign Immunity enters the room, you know what I mean? It’s like a big- it’s a big-
KEITH: Okay, alright.
AUSTIN: -thing underneath the- the- like in the ship hull? It’s a big like container ship? So it’s like inside of the cargo hold. And you know, how do you two board your machines? As before is it like- does it pick you up? Do you climb in- up a ladder? Do you-? Cause you’re doing whatever that is when Sovereign Immunity gets to you to speak.
KEITH: Um, yeah, I think um- I think I, yeah. I think I climb up into it.
AUSTIN: Okay.
KEITH: Coming from the back.
SYLVIA [overlapping with Keith]: I think because, I think mine lifts me into it, because the cockpit’s in my head.
AUSTIN: Okay, cool. So then it’s doing that. And Sovereign Immunity, you’re able to like, you get into this big cargo hold and see them boarding their machines. What’s up with- what are you doing with Figure A, also?
KEITH: Figure A can fit in with me in the cockpit.
AUSTIN: Do you have- you have to declare a passenger space.
KEITH: Hm.
AUSTIN: Or, I guess-
KEITH: Actually I- this mech fictionally absolutely has passenger space-
AUSTIN: Has passenger space, okay cool. Then yeah, go ahead and mark that you’ve done that then. It’s down there, where it says passenger space. You’re totally right that it definitely does, given what you do.
KEITH: Erm, where…
AUSTIN: It’s down the list at the middle-
KEITH: Oh there we go, I see.
ART: It’s almost at the bottom, yeah.
AUSTIN: Alternatively you could declare cargo space, I think is one of the things you could get instead, but. That feels mean. Though maybe is it more cargo space than passenger space that you have?
KEITH: What sort of whatever- okay so, we haven’t talked really much about what my mech is.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: But my- my idea for it was that I essentially like, retro-fitted an ambulance to be really good at stealing. It- the way that it is an ambulance is that-
ART: You love to see it.
KEITH: It is really really good at- so basically- so one of my Quirks is Explosive Speed, it basically like, shoots itself off of a fixed position like a bullet towards where it needs to go.
AUSTIN: Right.
KEITH: And so it would make sense that it would have passenger space specifically, because it would be taking someone to a hospital under normal conditions, but I guess I would just put cargo in the passenger space if I needed to.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: Well if you think about a real world ambulance, the back of it- you won’t like think of that as like passenger space.
KEITH: I guess that’s true.
AUSTIN: : Right? I feel- yeah.
ART: LIke the back of an ambulance is like, big and-
JACK: It’s for stealing patients.
ART: You're gonna like strap people down in it, it’s not like-
KEITH: Yeah.
ART: It’s not like a comfy place to sit. There are places, I’ve been a passenger in an ambulance, but like, it sucks.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: Let me tell you.
AUSTIN: I’ll just read the description. Passenger space is a contained area suitable for a few to travel in comfort or many to travel in cramped condition. A vehicle without passenger space can uncomfortably fit two people, including the pilot, in the cockpit or the equivalent. Cargo space is a contained area suitable for moving large obj- a large amount of objects or a few large objects.
KEITH: Yeah, I’m gonna change it to cargo- I’ve been convinced it’s cargo space.
AUSTIN: Sounds good.
KEITH: That-
AUSTIN: You’re a pirate.
KEITH: Art’s. Well then also, the- Art’s argument was very strong.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: For that actually passenger space is not what an ambulance really has.
AUSTIN: No, okay cool.
KEITH: It has people cargo space.
AUSTIN: It does have people cargo space, yeah. And if you empty it out-
ART: Although both of those descriptions could work. You could make both of those fit an ambulance.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: Yeah.
ART: It’s never really occurred to me how weird an ambulance is.
AUSTIN: Ambulances are wild!
KEITH: Super weird.
AUSTIN: So. Let’s start with just roleplay? Here, ‘cause I wanna hear Art take this- set up the stakes and set up the conversation? But there are- but there is a section worth reading when we get to player versus player stuff if we do want to bring it to rolls. So let’s begin with what the sit- y’all are getting into your machines and Sovereign Immunity comes through the door. What do you do or say? Art.
ART (as Sovereign): Come on now, let’s talk about this.
KEITH: Thrusters are on, switched on.
ART (as Sovereign): They’ll hunt you. They’ll find you.
KEITH (as Leap): They’re already hunting me.
ART (as Sovereign) [overlapping with Keith]: They did it before. You can make more money on the inside.
KEITH (as Leap): Not true, and also not important.
AUSTIN: I’m gonna read from this section so we can talk about how resolution might happen here if that makes sense. Pilot versus pilot, player versus player. In the course of the game there may be times when the interests of pilots become opposed and they take action against each other. For the most part this is handled with the same rules as when a pilot acts against an NPC. One pilot acts and rolls an appropriate action, and those involved deal with the consequences by making resistance rolls as desired. That said, here are some suggestions for keeping conflict purely in the game world.
AUSTIN: [continued] Take a breather, stop everything and take stock of the situation. When pilots act against each other, the narrative is frozen in time. Nothing is moving forward until everyone agrees it’s time to continue the story. We do this so there’s no rush to roll dice, so that things don’t devolve to “I shot you”, “no you didn’t”. If you need to know who will act first, it should be clear from the fiction. If it isn’t clear, have each player make a Fortune roll using the action they’re taking, and have the pilot with the higher roll act first. Re-roll when there’s ties.
AUSTIN: [continued] Two, accept the method for resolution. Don’t roll any dice or move the story forward until everyone understands what’s at stake. Discuss what everyone’s goals are in the moment, what they are planning on doing, what they are willing to give, and how the difference in objective might be resolved. Every person at the table gets to make suggestions, objections, and negotiate on what’s happening. If a unanimous decision on how this could be resolved isn’t reached, then the conflict doesn’t come to a head. It’s not unusual for two people to be a hair away from coming to blows, only for them to walk away.
AUSTIN: [continued] Third—and all of this is on page 53 and 54 on the book—third, acknowledge the outcome. Since everyone has agreed on the method for resolution, then everyone must accept the outcome. Consequences can always be resisted, but trying to escape them outside the rules is acting in bad faith.
AUSTIN: [continued] And four, examine the source of the conflict. If the conflict arises because of differences between the pilots, there’s nothing to worry about. However conflicts between players cannot be solved by rolling dice, I don’t think that’s what this is. If this is the case, everyone needs to talk this out until a resolution- there’s a resolution of some kind. Beam Saber is not for sniping at other players, avoiding interpersonal problems, or replacing reasonable socialising. Thankfully I don’t think we’re in that category.
KEITH: No.
AUSTIN: I do think this is two characters who are at odds though. So.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: How do we wanna resolve this?
ART: I mean, it doesn't look like we wanna talk, so-
AUSTIN: To be clear, talking can be done through rolls also. And that’s why I wanna raise this because-
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: Like, it is up to us to decide to what degree do we wanna land on Sovereign Immunity voiced by Art, written by Art, coming up with a roll and Keith, playing Exeter Leap, responding by inhabiting the character. Versus us saying, are we taking a step back and abstracting their thought processes and their capability for communicating, and for- and for resisting communication into a dice roll. We don’t have to do that. This is not even me advocating it, but I wanna put it on the table, because it is a tool at our disposal. But I’m also interested in whatever y’all- the two of you- the three of you really, cause Million is also involved in this. I don’t wanna underplay her-
SYLVIA: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Her presence here. So the three of you to decide the way you’d like to resolve this sequence, is the most interesting. And that can include “I think it would be cool if we got into a fight”.
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: Like that is also on the table.
SYLVIA: I think, at least just to sort of like get in Million’s thought process here, it’s like, okay the two options are trying to escape, and the possible reward for that is, escaping, and having my mech with me. And then there is no real like, comparable what’s in it for me,
AUSTIN: Right.
SYLVIA: For staying?
AUSTIN: Right.
KEITH: Yeah.
SYLVIA: And that’s what she’s kind of like, looking for here. There’s no real motivation for her to help.
AUSTIN: Is that something you communicate to Sovereign Immunity?
SYLVIA: I think it’s just like, I’m not about to get killed-
AUSTIN: Right.
SYLVIA: -by fighting for some spoiled brat princess and whatever the fuck vanity project her mom gave her. [Austin chuckles].
AUSTIN: Sovereign Immunity, or Art in general.
ART (as Sovereign): They took you alive last time, they won’t take you alive again.
SYLVIA (as Million): You are vastly overestimating how much I fear that.
SYLVIA: But, you know. I’ll- worth mentioning I guess. At this point, Millie has put on her piloting goggles, and just like, the hand is still racing upwards to the head.
ART: Alright, I don’t have my weapon.
AUSTIN: You don’t.
ART: Is there- is there something I could use as a substitute, like any sort of-
AUSTIN: What are you looking for here?
ART: Is there something I could use to fight a robot right now.
AUSTIN: I mean, you have a move for this, so my answer is yes, but it’s a matter of like- I will make you declare a load even though you don’t have your weapon, which is to say you don’t have- there’s like a particular thing that you would- signature weapon or tool, that you just don’t have, right?
ART: Yeah.
AUSTIN: But you could declare a heavy weapon here?
ART: Sure, and then it’s just an “improvised heavy weapon”?
AUSTIN: Improvised heavy weapon, such as a sledge, or a wood axe.
ART: Sure.
AUSTIN: Let’s talk about what you’re doing, are you going to try to take action here against a vehicle?
ART: No, I’m going to- but I’m going to pick up a heavy improvised weapon and use it to threaten-
AUSTIN: Okay. Ohh, what is it, what is it that you pick up? Is it a big wrench? Is it like a-
KEITH: The arm of a smaller mech-
AUSTIN: The arm of a smaller mech isn’t bad.
ART: I like big wrench. I like the wrench they need to work on mech-sized bolts.
AUSTIN: Yeah. Do we just get-
ART: A wrench that’s like two-thirds the size of a person.
AUSTIN: What are you wearing right now?
ART: Religious vestments [Jack chuckles].
AUSTIN: You just fucking- you’re like bulky and you’re like grabbing this thing, is it- does it come easy to you to lift it?
ART: Yeah, I think that’s just part of- cause it’s- when we get to the signature weapon it’s gonna be- we’re gonna just have to deal with the fact that I- this is not a character that has any sort of supernatural strength or anything, but can lift very big weapons to swing at mechs.
AUSTIN: Okay!
ART: I just need- I just needed to handwave this.
AUSTIN: Okay. It’s fine.
ART: I can't lift other big things, but-
KEITH: Yeah, we’ve all played a JRPG, we get it.
ART: Yeah.
AUSTIN: So what are you doing? This is intimidation now.
ART: While they’re climbing up I’m getting ready-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Art]: I see what you’re saying. You’re saying, every-
ART: If violence is going to happen, I also want to be ready.
AUSTIN: But you want to be ready for violence on your feet, and not in your converted rural construction mech.
ART: Yeah that’s not cool.
AUSTIN: I gotcha. You lift up this big wrench. Are there any changes here from Ver’million or from- from Leap?
SYLVIA (as Million): Okay. Grandpa, I don’t want to fight you. I just want to leave.
ART (as Sovereign): I don’t wanna fight either. I just want you to stay.
KEITH (as Leap): I didn’t know you two were related.
[Austin laughs, Jack chuckles]
SYLVIA: I...
ART (as Sovereign): It’s colloquial. [Keith chuckles]
SYLVIA (as Million): My grandpa is way older than that.
AUSTIN: Yeah. [chuckles]
ART (as Sovereign): I never married.
KEITH: So we’re on the like deck?
AUSTIN: No you’re inside of the hold. You’re like in the cargo hold.
KEITH: Inside of the hold. I’m just gonna try- I’m just gonna try and leave. Yeah I’m just gonna walk out.
ART: I mean then we’re gonna have violence.
AUSTIN: Okay. What’s- how do we wanna resolve this. Is this now an attack? Is this now Sovereign Immunity swings at Exeter Leap?
ART: I do believe that is- that is how I have to continue.
AUSTIN: Okay. And again I’m putting it on the table, we’re happy with the roleplay being roleplay and not being resolved through rolling like Resolve and Command and Consort and stuff like that?
SYLVIA: I am, but I’m not one of the people who can decide here.
KEITH [overlapping with Sylvia]: Yeah yeah, I am.
AUSTIN: Okay.
ART: I mean, I’m putting myself at an intense disadvantage by doing this as a physical confrontation.
AUSTIN: Right, because if we’re going- the reason I bring this up is if we’re going to move to dice, we can move to dice in a way that we agree we want to. But yes, you are.
ART: Yeah, I guess I would- I would like to make a Consort roll, I do feel like I was consorting.
AUSTIN: Are you- Keith are you good with trying to make a Consort roll- re- seeing what would happens if he rolls a consort roll here?
KEITH: Um. I don’t know- Let me read Consort.
AUSTIN: Art will decide whatever- whatever he wants to roll, then we can determine what the effect will be.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: It might be limited, you know?
KEITH: Yeah. Cause I- I am, I agree with Sylvia’s point, which is that I don’t know if there’s anything that could- that could offered to me,
AUSTIN: Right.
KEITH: But Consort isn’t offering.
AUSTIN: No.
KEITH: Consort is based off of you know, um,
AUSTIN: Right, it’s not a persuasion via wit, or guile, or charm, and it’s also not a force of- forcing immediate obedience. It’s like hey, we’re acquaintances here, we want to-
KEITH: Or I guess this does say Sway. You could try to persuade someone with social pressure, but Sway might be better.
AUSTIN: Well that says- yes, Sway would be better if you were trying to persuade someone with social pressure.
ART: But maybe this is social pressure. Maybe that is-
AUSTIN: Oh maybe.
KEITH: Oh that’s what I was picking up, I was picking up social pressure. I, er-
ART: I’m happy to do Sway if that’s what we think is more correct?
KEITH: I’m wondering what limited effect looks like on a success for being like, don’t run away.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: Like, run a little bit away?
AUSTIN: No, I think it would be a success right? So you wouldn’t leave. But it wouldn’t be- okay so what does it- the thing that- here’s what we need to get to. Here’s the point of difference. Sovereign Immunity is saying, what Sovereign Immunity wants from the roll is for you to not leave period, right?
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: A success there will be like, alright fine, I’m- a great success would be like, you’re bought in, right? I don’t think that’s on the table.
KEITH: No. The thing that I’m running up against though, is that this is my drive.
AUSTIN: I know.
KEITH: My Drive is breaking out of prison. Sylvia’s drive-
AUSTIN: An important note is, you can’t get your drive without filling your drive clock twice.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Which means you will get captured, you will get brought back in.
KEITH: But my character doesn’t know that.
AUSTIN: No, totally! Totally. Or, to some degree the question is, does your character know “I need stuff to actually get away here?” Maybe that is what- what we should think about here is like, the case that Sovereign Immunity is making is, they will find you, right now.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: And maybe what we- the way to start framing this is, yes, I can get out of here, to do that I need a plan. I need an escape plan, I need money put away, I need a hideout, I need a crew. I need- you know what I mean? Bit by bit, and then you start work- and then like, that could be the direction that we start building for Leap is, while you’re doing these missions, or while you’re around, are you pocketing stuff towards that end? Which we already thought you were. You were already like, you got-
KEITH: That was my plan! Until the escape-
AUSTIN: Opened.
KEITH: Just opened up in front of me!
AUSTIN: Totally, totally. I kind of like the idea, and again, like this is just me looking for- this is obviously me telling a story and being like, why are you still on camera? But Sovereign Immunity laying it out in a way that- Exeter Leap is not a dummy, neither is Ver’million, of like. He is not wrong that stuck on a planet filled with five militaries that would be happy to either take advantage or kill you, you are a target walking around. You know you do have a target on your back.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: I think it’s- it is-
KEITH: But I had a- that’s the thing, is that I had a target on my back before. So did Million.
AUSTIN: Totally, totally. Different targets. You happened to be picked up by people who kept you alive.
KEITH: Right. Yeah.
AUSTIN: With Million it was like, oh yeah, cool- Million is- would be walking out into a location where she betrayed people. This is Aposotolosian territory, right? But this is up to- again, like, the other half of this is, I’m happy to let you guys, to let your characters take this action? The question ends up being how do we m- mechanise the fact that you don’t have the drive clocks yet? And for me it’s like, I introduce repercussions, which is we stay on you as characters when you’re on the run. You don’t get free of this. You might have broken out of prison, but you’re not free yet.
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: And then we play those sessions, I’m happy to play those sessions of you trying to work towards that? But you would still be needing to get up two drive clocks’ worth each to achieve your drive. But that ends up being a different game. That ends up being a game about like, you know, set- robbing people, and setting up shop and blah blah blah. But we can have that talk, you know? But what wouldn’t be there is like, because you asked earlier in chat, Sylvia, about “what happens if we get away?” And for me it’s like, you continue to pursue your drive.
KEITH: Right. To actually get away.
AUSTIN: Right, right. And to me that ends up being what it sounds like Sovereign wants to roll for. But also is what Sovereign narratively is saying, is like. You can get what you want safer here, is the case that Sovereign is making. Is that fair, Sovereign?
ART: Absolutely.
AUSTIN: Do you wanna put it in your words? I mean you already did to Ver’million a little bit I guess, right?
ART: I did, and I was- I tried a little bit. But like-
KEITH: I think I’ve got a way past this. Which is, like, if I’m gonna come back, I can’t- they can’t just be reset back to zero. I have to get something from the coming back.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
KEITH: But I don’t know that Sovereign Immunity can get me something.
AUSTIN: Could he promise to get you something?
ART (as Sovereign): What do you want?
KEITH (as Leap): Um. No cuffs.
ART (as Sovereign): I can’t get you that.
AUSTIN: You might be able to. Why couldn’t you?
ART: I can’t get me no cuffs.
AUSTIN: If you worked at getting you no cuffs, could Clementine get you no cuffs?
ART: I don’t know. If we’re being completely honest, I don’t care. [Austin chuckles] Cuffs, no cuffs, it’s all the same.
ART (as Sovereign): Yeah. Done.
AUSTIN: Ver’million, is there something you want?
SYLVIA (as Million): I would like it if I didn’t have to sleep in a prison cell anymore. You know. An actual bedroom since we experienced that last night for the first time in ages. [Austin chuckles]
ART: Sorry I understand that’s a squad upgrade, [Austin laughs] and I don’t have access-
AUSTIN: You could- you could get- you don’t- you could negotiate with Clementine to move her into a different place. But,
SYLVIA: Yeah. That is kind of what I'm angling at is like,
AUSTIN: Yeah.
SYLVIA: Do that- start doing that for me.
KEITH: And this negotiation- we both get both. [Austin chuckles] We both are getting no cuffs, and we’re both getting the better rooms. Because what are you going to have, a nicer room but handcuffs still?
ART (as Sovereign): Aren’t the cuffs only a transport thing? You’ve been handcuffed the whole time?
KEITH (as Leap): Yeah, they didn’t take it- they didn’t take mine off.
SYLVIA (as Million): Have you not?
KEITH (as Leap): Have you not?
ART (as Sovereign): You’re just- what? Yeah, no, I don’t think anyone else is experiencing that.
KEITH (as Leap): Well you’ve been in- I’ve been in cuffs the whole time.
SYLVIA (as Million): Yeah I-
ART (as Sovereign): The whole time?
SYLVIA (as Million): Yeah, we’ve-
JACK (as Clementine): The whole time?
SYLVIA (as Million): -been in cuffs the entire time.
KEITH (as Leap): Yeah, the whole time.
AUSTIN: They’re very good with their hands, the both of them.
KEITH (as Leap): I’ve got my cuffs taken off for training, I got my cuffs taken off when they gave me a big robot weapon to pilot around, which is- but whatever. [Austin and Keith laugh]
ART (as Sovereign): So you’re eating with handcuffs on?
KEITH (as Leap): Yeah.
JACK: Wait, hang on a second. I don’t know if this is- I don’t know if Clem would’ve been like, cuffs on the boat. Also, it would’ve been really weird to be like, I want you to pick through all the rubble and stuff.
AUSTIN: Oh you’ve not been wearing cuffs during this session.
KEITH: Oh no, yeah- not during this session.
SYLVIA [overlapping with Keith]: Oh no, yeah.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Sylvia]: I think- I think, that in the prison, day to day, is cuffed even though normally in a prison you’re not cuffed.
JACK: Right. I was confused.
ART: Honestly I didn’t know that was happening.
JACK: How did you drive the rover.
AUSTIN: Right- it didn’t happen, right. Exactly.
KEITH: 10 and 2, that’s cuffable.
AUSTIN: No you can’t-
ART: You can’t make a good turn.
AUSTIN: But no yeah, this is-
ART: Your hands cross when you turn.
KEITH: Well you caught up to us, so I obviously didn’t make a good turn. No but I didn’t have cuffs then.
AUSTIN: But is the thing that’s happening-
ART: Honestly if I had known, I would’ve done that one on the house. They’ve got cuffs on all the time!
KEITH: Yeah- no cuffs. No more cuffs at all though, that’s the- No cuffs and we-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: Is Sovereign Immunity like lowering- holding the wrench- the giant wrench in one hand, and is like, “huh”!
KEITH: He’s like “I’ll escape with you now.” [Austin and Keith laugh]
AUSTIN: We gotta get out of here!
KEITH: It’s horrible there.
ART [overlapping with Keith]: Man, who knew prison was bad!
KEITH: Who knows, they might start cuffing you all the time! You’re next! You should come with us!
AUSTIN: God.
ART: It’s- it’s fine. I’m fine, I promise.
AUSTIN: They don’t cuff me, at all. I’m never in cuffs.
ART: I am in transport, but now I’ve found out that just so- they- I have other people think I’m in cuffs. It’s fucking for show. Show cuffs.
AUSTIN: Let’s jump outside really quick while this continues to linger. The Panther is now in the air with you in it, Clem. You’re stand- you’re flying kind of across now from the Oblige, which we’ve revealed is kind of has a crystalline core made of special glass. What do you do in this moment?
JACK: [exhales] Um-
AUSTIN: Also it has its- that mech- she has it both of her- Gucci has both of these giant spears drawn. I’ll note also- I’ve clicked the state of battle, 1 in Gucci’s direction as, as the- using the power of this Independence system kind of overwhelmed a lot of people.
JACK: I think I’m gonna split. I think I’m going to radio AO.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: And Sombre- and Sombre Sky?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: Do I need a radio on my load, or do I-
AUSTIN: No you have one. That’s a- throat mic transceiver.
JACK: Throat mic transceiver.
AUSTIN: Which is italicised, which means it doesn’t weigh anything.
JACK: Wait, hang on. AO’s on the boat right?
AUSTIN: Yup.
JACK: And Sovereign Immunity and Million and-
AUSTIN: Oh yeah they’re all downstairs.
JACK: -Exeter are on the boat.
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
JACK: Can I just tell AO to leave?
AUSTIN: Okay.
JACK: We have- we have the truck loaded right?
AUSTIN: Yeah, the truck is loaded.
KEITH: But it’s not on the ship.
AUSTIN: Uh, it’s been dr- you know what, yeah, that’s- it has been driving more slowly than the rovers towards the ship. So that is actually the one last thing you need to do.
JACK: Mhm.
AUSTIN: Clem is-
JACK: Get the truck-
AUSTIN: Yeah, because I think, maybe that is the stake here right? Is- you need to advance the Divine Past’s body and before your rival can- can- I think that like, she is like seeing it drive that way? Slowly, up out of this crater? And we get the like, cross cut shot of it, and then- and then the Oblige, as its boosters start to charge, as she’s about to charge down towards it.
KEITH: Wait, but does she have enough of the body in the truck?
AUSTIN: Oh yeah! The truck is ready to go.
KEITH: Oh, it’s got the brain and everything?
AUSTIN: The brai- It has enough to rebuild to Divine Past in it.
KEITH: Okay, alright. I didn’t realise that we had gotten that far-
AUSTIN: Oh yeah it’s all loaded, it’s just getting it there now.
JACK: Um, I’m gonna mark- I mark load on my vehicle in the same way that I mark-
AUSTIN: Absolutely.
JACK: I just- I announce that I have it and check it off?
AUSTIN: And check it off, the thing is you cannot as cheaply remove it between missions.
JACK: Once it has been checked off.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: Okay, absolutely. So I think I just like slam on the breaks, like tilt the thrusters in the opposite direction,
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
JACK: So that the mech kind of like skids to a halt?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: And just instantly throw a forcefield up-
AUSTIN: Oooh.
JACK: -in front of the mech. So it’s like I’m hovering over the- the truck,
AUSTIN: Right.
JACK: And I’ve dropped a forcefield between me and the truck and the Transgress Oblige.
AUSTIN: Give me a Risky Limited? This is Manoeuvre, I think. You tell me.
JACK: Risky Limited Manoeuvre.
AUSTIN: It could be Battle, it could be Battle I guess. When you engage in vehicular close quarters combat. It could be that, because you’re defensive- you’ve got one in both these things, so.
JACK: Yeah I mean. It’s- we’re- it’s inflection, right?
AUSTIN: Yeah, exactly.
JACK: Yeah I think this is Battle, I think this is just being like, there’s a wall here now.
AUSTIN: Yeah. What’s this look like- what’s does the forcefield look like?
JACK: It is a- it’s a translucent, pale blue forcefield in the same way that you know like,
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: Healer force fields in Final Fantasy,
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: Or like, the variety of Overwatch heroes that do that thing.
AUSTIN: Yeah yeah yeah.
JACK: But with one kind of like big difference, in line with what we’re talking about the visuals of Partizan? Which is instead of it being the sort of gloopy ethereal forcefield like structure? It looks much more like a transparent plastic. Like a visor.
AUSTIN: Gotcha.
JACK: It is- it is a physical object that is projected like a force field?
AUSTIN: That’s really neat.
JACK: But just looks like someone has dropped like a- like a I guess the- like a two hundred foot tall curved plastic wall.
AUSTIN: Around you, yeah.
JACK: Yeah. I don’t think it’s all the way around me actually, I think it’s-
AUSTIN: Directionally-
JACK: It’s a directional shield, yeah.
AUSTIN: Cool. Give me that Battle. So then are you- are you pushing yourself for this? If not you’ve got one D6.
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Alright so two, how are you pushing yourself? Are you doing- which Quirk are you expending for this?
JACK: Oh, I’m expending- oh I’m expending Highly Sensitive Safety Suite-
AUSTIN: Okay.
JACK: Because Clem didn’t entirely do this. [Austin laughs] Like, Clem was just like-
AUSTIN: Wait we’re talking about this in a- when we first thought about this character in this mech, with a Highly Sensitive Safety Suite that your mother installed in your mech-
JACK: Right.
AUSTIN: Because she was certain you would kill- you would die doing this, and so sometimes it just overreacts itself? In this case in a good way, and produces this- this shield.
JACK: Yeah. I’m doing this for an extra die.
AUSTIN: An extra die, yes, so two D6?
KEITH: Wait so your mother was sure you would die in the job she gave you?
JACK: Look.
AUSTIN: It’s very complicated.
JACK: Crysanth Kesh fucking sucks is the other thing.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: She’s like a bad person.
AUSTIN: Yes.
KEITH: So what she did was put in a safety suite that was also very breakable.
AUSTIN: It’s not breakable, it’s very sensitive.
KEITH: Sensitive.
JACK: Sensitive.
AUSTIN: It fires more quickly than a- one, that would be assigned to an expert pilot who-
KEITH: Got it- Okay.
AUSTIN: Do you know what I mean? Who expects to be jostled around a little bit?
KEITH: I was thinking of sensitive in the opposite way-
JACK: Oh, right.
KEITH: Being easily breakable.
AUSTIN: No, no the other way. It- it’s like an airbag that goes off too early, you know?
JACK: It’s like, you know when you lean forward in your car and the seatbelt mechanism does it?
KEITH [overlapping with Jack]: Yeah- it’s late.
JACK: It’s like what if that happened in a historical war machine.
AUSTIN: Yes [chuckles].
JACK: I’m rolling Manoeuvre-
AUSTIN: Or Battle, two D6.
JACK: Oh yeah. What’s my position?
AUSTIN: Risky Limited.
JACK: Battle?
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
JACK: Risky… Limited.
AUSTIN: You know what, I’m gonna give you- I’m gonna give you- mmm. No I’m not. Two D6. It’s such a difference in tier. This mech is so much better your mech in the state that it’s in. You got a five, that’s not too bad. So that means that you get to tick two clocks- or two steps, I believe. But also you get a risky consequence. Um.
JACK: Should Gucci have a- should her clock be filling up?
AUSTIN: You’ve not- I mean, so basically you could advance either her- her clock is like, dealing with her?
JACK: Oh okay.
AUSTIN: You’ve done nothing to deal with her yet.
JACK: Right, no.
AUSTIN: You would have to take some sort of active thing here. And in fact, you’re about to have a chance. She’s going to impale the Panther?
JACK: Mm.
AUSTIN: Take a level 2 damage on the Panther, that says “Impaled”. Wait, you got rid of- you avoided “Crashed”, remember? So just replace Crashed with-
JACK: Oh yeah!
AUSTIN: Impaled. You could resist this. [Keith and Jack chuckle] You could resist this but it would break down the Panther.
JACK: The Panther- no. I need this to escape.
AUSTIN: Okay. So you’re going to take level 2 harm Impaled, which gives you minus one die on anything else you try to do in this thing. Which is bad, because you have only one die in all the things you can do in it.
JACK: Gonna be rolling zero dice, baby!
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: I know it’s two dice, taking the lower.
AUSTIN: So, but you manage- I think what happens is, she dives at you, you pull up the shield to block the truck, she pierces you- she starts piercing through the shield with one of the beam partisans, and like starts to spi- like she like, quickly spins it in her hand the way you could like spin a pool cue in your hand, you know? Not flip it, but it spin it, you know, like rotate it. And it begins to cut through the shield that you have up? And then as it does it, she like throws it up in the air, lifting- lifting the shield with it, and like dissolving the shield, and then just grabs the other partisan, and just brrru! Stabs you in the chest with it. [Jack chuckles] And she says,
AUSTIN (as Gucci): Who are you? Why are you in my way?
JACK (as Clementine): I am the commander of the Rapid Evening.
AUSTIN (as Gucci): You didn’t answer why. [Jack chuckles]
KEITH: Same answer.
JACK (as Clementine): Yeah. I’m the commander of the Rapid Evening, these products are the property of Stel Kesh. The rightful property of Stel Kesh.
AUSTIN: And I think like, in this moment you’re able to boost away backwards, and she like pulls back the- the partisan. And the truck has like, disappeared between two buildings and is headed towards the dock where the- the boat is already beginning to like power up? Everyone inside the boat- the boat is about to start moving? It’s kind of now or never on the decision.
AUSTIN: [continued] I think we cut back to Sovereign Immunity saying like, one last appeal? Before we decide what we wanna do here.
ART: Oh I mean I- all-
KEITH: I actually-
ART (as Sovereign): I’ll get you get those two things, or next time I’ll help you escape.
KEITH: Done. I was- I was already convinced.
AUSTIN: Okay.
KEITH: So we can do that- the thing that I was going to do, cause I’m not convinced that Sovereign Immunity has the pull to do this.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
KEITH: So the thing that I was going to do was try and save Clem who is- seems like she might be about to die.
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
KEITH: And then use that as leverage.
AUSTIN: Ooh.
KEITH: To improve my situation.
SYLVIA: Great minds think alike.
ART [overlapping with Sylvia]: You can never have too much leverage.
AUSTIN: Let’s- you know what, let’s do this, and let’s- how are you doing it?
KEITH: So, I told you about the blast-off thing.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: I- I- so the- so basically how it works is, I- I can shoot myself off of a surface towards a tar- basically a target, usually it’s like the wall of a banking ship or something.
AUSTIN: Right.
KEITH: And essentially burst through it, I have a mortar cannon on my back? That I use to like- I can shoot like a first round while I’m flying and then *wet explosion sound*
AUSTIN: Goes through-
KEITH: Goes through a wall.
AUSTIN: I love how much your mech is like what if Heat Signature was a game about mech theft.
KEITH: Heat Signature.
AUSTIN: You should look up Heat Signature when we’re done. Just look it up afterwards.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: You should also play-
KEITH: Oh, Heat Siganture! Oh yeah, totally! That game’s awesome!
AUSTIN: That game’s awesome!
KEITH: I was- yeah, yeah yeah yeah. That game is really really great. I forgot that it existed for a minute. I thought it was set up like a movie to me.
AUSTIN: Fair. So you’re gonna ram into the Oblige?
KEITH: Yeah, big ram.
AUSTIN: And then- and then, Million, what’s your deal?
SYLVIA: Well I- my mech is literally made for long range combat.
AUSTIN: Which this absolutely is.
SYLVIA: Yeah, so I was thinking I’d just get the Stray Dog to the shore, and fire my railgun at the Noblesse-
AUSTIN: You don’t even need to get to this shore, you’re on this boat, this boat has a line of sight for sure. It’s flying in the air you know? Y’all are-
SYLVIA: Awesome.
AUSTIN: They’re like- they’re doing like Dragon Ball Z flying you know? Back and forth chasing each other type shit at this point I think probably? How do we- who wants to- is this a-
KEITH: This is a Destroy roll.
AUSTIN: For you it’s definitely a Destroy roll- I’m actually wondering if this is a- either a group action or a, like a set-up follow-up action?
KEITH: I think set-up follow-up.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: I don’t know if that’s its own category?
AUSTIN: One player can do a set-up action which gives the other one greater effect, which would be very useful here because she is such a higher tier than you?
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: That both of you working together is what you would need to kind of bloody here so to speak.
KEITH: If Million, if she can set up, if she can like stagger um, jeez, the- the Saint Dawn?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
KEITH: Garantine?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
KEITH: Then- then I- to give greater effect to the Destroy roll?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
KEITH: I think that that would be ideal.
AUSTIN: You don’t want to do it the other way? Here’s the only reason why I suggest the other way. One is, that fight will be a fucking fight. The thing that Sylvia has that makes this a good getaway, do you know- you know what it is, Sylvia, right?
SYLVIA: Is it Sharpshooter?
AUSTIN: Yeah. Which says,
SYLVIA: Yeah. When you push yourself in addition to the normal benefits, you can do one of the following, make a ranged attack at an extreme distance beyond what’s normal for the weapon-
AUSTIN: Which this isn’t-
SYLVIA: Unleash a barrage, or unleash a barrage of rapid fire to suppress the enemy.
AUSTIN: And it’s that suppression that would let you have a window to get away.
KEITH: Oh, I was thinking it would be- I mean I didn’t know about this move, but I was thinking it was the other way where the suppression would give me the-
AUSTIN: It can give you an increased effect, but the thing- the thing-
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: The next step in that fight would be a fight. And that fight would be-
KEITH: Right, because we’re at- we’re in a scenario where instead of having two people fight Garantine upfront, Clem sent her ally away, and then didn’t fight.
AUSTIN: Right. What also- and also, just straight up, this is a Tier 3 mech, you’re Tier 0s right now?
KEITH: Yeah, okay.
AUSTIN: That is a big difference, so I- I think it’s tough to achieve- it’s tough to overcome that difference in a long fight, that would be very bloody especially at 11.30 at night.
KEITH: Okay, yeah I feel the escape route plan.
AUSTIN: But you’ll also bloody her which would be good. So give me- it sound like Leap, you’re going first, give me a Destroy.
KEITH: I’m going first, Destroy.
AUSTIN: Do you want to expend the Quirk to get an extra die?
KEITH: Yeah I do.
AUSTIN: Give me a three D6 then. Which Quirk are you doing?
KEITH: I’m gonna expend Explosive Speed.
AUSTIN: Love it, that’s perfect. That’s the thing you’re doing.
KEITH: Yes.
AUSTIN: So three D6.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: It’s a set-up, so-
KEITH: Which I imagine is like, you know, if like, I can’t do this a second time in a row.
AUSTIN: No, of course not. Right.
KEITH: When- or I could- I could if I didn’t push it.
AUSTIN: Right, right, exactly.
KEITH: But like, I basically blew out the feet, it doesn’t work right until I fix it.
AUSTIN: Yeah, you’re really fucking going for it, yeah.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Three D6.
KEITH: Okay, so. Destroy.
AUSTIN: Risky Standard. Or, it- you know what. This is Desperate Standard, but it doesn’t matter,
KEITH: Yeah you do-
AUSTIN: Cause you’re only- cause you’re not. Oh you get +1d if you take -1 Quirk.
KEITH: I get plus one, yeah, yeah.
AUSTIN: So four D6.
KEITH: Four D6, this is gonna be good, I bet. I bet this is gonna be good.
AUSTIN: The desperate comes from- ey that’s a six! There you go.
KEITH: Nice.
So that is a very good set-up, let’s follow it up. What are you rolling with this?
KEITH: That’s a three, four, five, six, that’s a straight!
AUSTIN: That’s a straight.
KEITH: What do I get for a straight?
AUSTIN: A beer, or a coffee, or a soda. I’ll get it next time I see you. Write it down.
SYLVIA: So. I’m gonna probably be using Bombard here. Which is the- the “use vehicular weapons to attack targets beyond human sight”. I’m gonna be- so I have to push myself to activate Sharpshooter.
AUSTIN: That’s two stress- no it’s one, it’s not two stress, it’s one of your Quirks.
SYLVIA: It’s one of my Quirks right? So I think in this case I’m gonna go with the Overwhelming Sensors.
AUSTIN: Okay. And this is if, when you do that, do you want to describe how you imagine this actually?
SYLVIA: Yeah! So the way I see it is, it’s- I imagine in the internal like mechanism of it, in the cockpit, almost being like- what are they called? A periscope-like thing coming down-
AUSTIN: Yeah.
SYLVIA: But it’s like a helmet that goes over the head. And then it’s like, Million is basically like, oh now I’m seeing through the eyes of my mech.
AUSTIN: Right. That can be a lot.
SYLVIA: Yeah, it is- it is like, she c- frequently gets migraines from it. And it is one of those things that is like, there is no easing into it, it’s just all of a sudden you’re like, you are seeing through this thing’s eyes.
AUSTIN: Yeah, love it. Alright. Bombard is two. Pushing yourself for an extra die, increased effect. What are you- what are you doing?
SYLVIA: Um.
AUSTIN: You already get increased effect, so you’re at now, you’re at Risky- because you’re further away, the Desperate really is you’re up in its grill, Keith. Risky Limited, but that got pushed to Standard already by Keith.
SYLVIA: Okay. I might- I think I’m going to take the extra die here.
AUSTIN: Okay, so three D6.
SYLVIA: Yeah, okay. Three D6.
AUSTIN: Is anyone helping, before we roll? I’m trying to see if there’s any other help. I don’t think there is, I think Keith’s set-up-
KEITH [overlapping with Austin]: I probably- you can’t help by already doing a set-up.
AUSTIN: No, you did your good help here, yeah. That is a five in there. That’s a success. Um.
SYLVIA: Me looking at the other two ones I rolled. Well, that’s a five!
AUSTIN: Yes, that is a five. The Rival clock goes up to two. The, huh. You- you take a little bit too long to take this shot. You have to like line it up, and- actually think the thing that happens here, is, do you have like, Keith, the head of your mech like busts into things, right? That’s kind of the way it works?
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: So I think you get stuck in the glass for a moment, and like, I don’t think that she’s like trying to get you down, because she sees the ploy? And just as you’re lining up the shot with your- with your rifle? She’s like, lining one back up with you, and you exchange fire? And the reason it took you a second too long is because- because Leap’s mech was still in sight, was still locked in? And she was almost using it like a- like a shield, you know? But Leap gets free, the thing that you’re getting is a Level 2 harm, or a Level 2 damage on your mech, as she fires back a bazooka shot at you. Unless you resist it.
SYLVIA: I would like to resist that.
AUSTIN: You have to resist it with- you don’t have to roll, this is just a cost thing.
SYLVIA: Okay.
AUSTIN: You’re going to have to expend multiple things here probably. How are you resisting- I guess I would say it’s Acuity or Expertise, uhh, I need to look up what those do really quick, I promise we’re moving quickly. Expertise resists consequences from a machine being damaged, so it’s Expertise, you have to resist it with Expertise.
SYLVIA: Okay.
Your Expertise is one, right? So that means it’s four minus one, you would traditionally need to expend three Quirks? But- but-
SYLVIA: Right.
AUSTIN: Because you have Forged in the Fire, you only need to resist- you only need to expend two. So which two do you expend?
SYLVIA: Umm. Yeah, I’m gonna use to Double Jointed Limbs, and the Hidden Firing Brace? Because I think what I’m trying to do is change the geometry of the mech to avoid-
AUSTIN: Okay.
SYLVIA: -like taking heavier damage from this than if it was in a humanoid shape?
AUSTIN: Got you. Can I propose a more anime solution?
SYLVIA: Absolutely.
AUSTIN: So. You pull up your shot, you shoot your railgun from- what’s the name of your mech again?
SYLVIA: Stray Dog.
AUSTIN: The Stray Dog, great name, *chef’s kiss* muah! The railgun fires, you’re going to get this hit and suppress her. The thing that actually gives you the suppression though, is the second thing you do, which is as the bazooka shell charge- is like, coming through the air towards you? You use the same two things, the Double Jointed Limbs, and the Hidden Firing Brace, to quickly brace and shoot it out of the sky.
SYLVIA: Fuck yeah!
AUSTIN: I think you earned it. I think- listen, you’re a sharpshooter, right?
SYLVIA: I should say, the way I’m seeing the railgun, the ammo for it? Are just giant, like thin, steel spikes.
AUSTIN: Love it. Great.
SYLVIA: So, pretty good. I’m into it.
AUSTIN: So yeah. She fires a couple more, and you’re able to shoot them out of the sky using these Quirks. And giving Leap the cover to get back to the boat. Because Leap, you don’t- and that was it. And Leap got away!
KEITH: Yeah, dragging- dragging Panther.
AUSTIN: Yeah, the Panther is not in great shape. Leap and Clem, do you have words here? Clem, when you see Leap-
KEITH: As-
AUSTIN: Yeah go ahead.
KEITH: I was gonna say that as I’m dragging this stupid robot-
AUSTIN: It’s not all the way broken down, right? It’s just not in great shape.
KEITH: No we’re- I guess only three of the- only three of the four Quirks were expended, and it’s only got level 2-
AUSTIN: It only has Impaled, it only has Level 2 harm.
KEITH: Impaled.
AUSTIN: Yeah, damage. [chuckles]
KEITH: I think- I think, okay. So. I am still dragging it. I might not have to drag it.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
KEITH: But if you’ve ever seen- seen a mother or a been a child at a mall? [Austin and Art and Jack chuckle] And the child has done something probably only a little annoying, but it’s been a long day of a little bit of annoying things, and you just- or the child that you’re watching gets dragged by the sort of top of the arm, like the shoulder, like come! ghhh! arghhh! It’s like that. But instead of saying like, you’re going to sit in the car, you’re going to behave, we’re going home. It’s-
KEITH (as Leap): We’re getting better rooms! You are taking off these goddamn handcuffs! [Austin wheezes, Sylvia and Art laugh] I need- I need access to the cafeteria. The mess, the mess hall.
AUSTIN: That’s what they call it. Clementine, are you responding to any of this?
JACK: Uhh… no.
AUSTIN: Okay. Take your knocks.
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Okay. Take your knocks- also. You shot a person. You killed a person.
JACK:: Mhm.
AUSTIN: Moments ago.
JAC: Mhm.
AUSTIN: Which is not something that anyone on your crew saw you do.
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Which is an interesting thing, right?
JACK: Or did.
AUSTIN: What do you mean- what do you mean or did?
JACK: No one else- like no one else on this mission has-
AUSTIN: No one else has seen-
JACK: -killed anybody.
AUSTIN: Right. You’re right. You’re totally right.
[MUSIC - “TANAGER. PERFECT. TOUCHPAPER.” starts]
AUSTIN: Alright, you manage to extract here. You’ve successfully done all the things that you were supposed to do. Is there a final shot, is there a final moment. Is there anyone else? I kind of like the image of you being dragged [chuckles] back on to the boat? But if anyone else has anything before we wrap up, I would be happy to hear it.
SYLVIA: Oh, Millie’s just like “how did she make that one shot?!”
AUSTIN: Yeah, that’s a dope fucking shot.
SYLVIA: As she shot that out of the sky. She is like, fucking partying in the cockpit right now. [Austin chuckles]
AUSTIN: Hell yeah! God.
[music ends]
[1] The name in the audio recording is no longer in use.
[2] IX is 9 in Roman numerals.