The Merry Daggers

[bryant]

The Merry Daggers are a small company of adventurers resident in Vain’s Rest. They’re based in the Drunken Magistrate, which (as noted elsewhere) is managed by Ba Juerun and his family. There are six Daggers, which conveniently allows for six pre-generated characters for a four or five person one-shot.

They are bound together and tied to the Magistrate by a Secret. The Secret of the Merry Daggers is this: Ba Juerun is the heir to the Yuanya Emirate. As with all Yuanya royalty, he has been trained for years as an assassin. These techniques are also held by his family. The Emirate would dearly like to know where he is; some factions would like him dead, and some would like him returned. It’s possible that one faction wants him returned and independent, but nobody would bet on that.

Mystically speaking, the Secret is held by the Merry Daggers and not by Ba Juerun. The creator of a Secret does not benefit from it.

Holders of this Secret can control poisons. They may make a poison more virulent, or less, or alter its effects to a degree. They are vulnerable to royalty; it is relatively easy for a Merry Dagger to be swayed by royal requests, and it is best that they do not duel a prince. They can perceive assassins, even if they’re in disguise. Finally, they are blind to dead human bodies. With six holders of the Secret, it’s not impossible for a Merry Dagger to see a corpse, but they tend to overlook them.

The Daggers are:

Kincaid. Kincaid is the brains of the group; schemes generally begin with her. She has a wry temper and is not entirely diplomatic. She’s got a knack for engineering. While not a warrior, she is by no means incompetent with a blade.

Nyima and Gyalo. They’re siblings. Nyima is a moderately terrifying martial artist who tends to disdain weapons; she’s also an acrobat. Gyalo is the best thief of the group. They came to Vain’s Rest from the Trader Leagues.

Hardcastle. Hardcastle is the preeminent swordsman among the Daggers. He is tall, angular, and remarkably quick. He is Baneguard trained.

Mukuli. Mukuli (or Muk) is the youngest Dagger. He started shaving a year or so ago. There’s some dispute as to whether or not he’s an apprentice, but Kincaid says that since he found out the Secret he’s probably proven himself. He grew up in Vain’s Rest and he knows the city better than any of them.

Collins. Collins is the best (some say only) diplomat in the Daggers. He’s a fairly decent archer and a passing pickpocket as well. Some of his skills were learned in his old life as an Oratain noble, and some were not.

There are also a dozen or so people, mostly thugs, who the Daggers can call upon to do things. The unkind might call this a gang.

Let’s write the Daggers up as a Reign company.

Goal: make money. Not terribly noble, but enjoyable.

Might: 1. Individually the Daggers are scary, but as a fighting unit, you wouldn’t put their gang up against a city guard.
Treasure: 3. Kincaid invests well.
Influence: 2. The Daggers matter in Vain’s Rest, but not a lot.
Territory: 0. A single bar doesn’t count.
Sovereignty: 2. The Daggers as listed are loyal to each other, but there’s a known difference between the Daggers proper and the organization and that puts a cap on how loyal the thugs are.

Originally published at Imaginary Vestibule.

Comments

[michele-blue.livejournal.com]

Awesome. Can't wait. :)

[that-cad.livejournal.com]

Ditto! Very excited for this.

[head58.livejournal.com]

ooh. Neat.

How is Reign?

[bryant]

Not bad. Susan and I did some combat playtesting and it worked much more smoothly than I expected.

[michele-blue.livejournal.com]

Yeah, agreed. I thought it was very smooth and easy to learn.

[flit.livejournal.com]

Yummy. :)

[ivan23.livejournal.com]

Can you tell me more of this thing you call Reign?

[bryant]

Web page is here:

http://www.gregstolze.com/reign/index.html

It's the same basic One Roll Engine as Godlike -- roll a pool of 10 sided dice and look for matches. The number of dice in a match determines the speed of the success, and the value of those dice determine the quality. I.e., if you rolled four 3s vs. two 7s in a foot race, you'd get to the finish line first but the guys with the 7s would have better form, for what good it would do.

Reign also has an extensive set of rules for groups; the premise is that your PCs will be leaders of some sort of organization, and there are rules for organizations competing. This includes open warfare, economic struggles, propaganda, and so on.

It's pretty sweet.

[ivan23.livejournal.com]

I see, I see ... I liked Godlike and the system went over pretty well with the Boozehounds. And I've liked the idea of a game with Organizations since Birthright and Burning Empires. Hmmm. Hmmm.

Thanks, Bryant! I'd love to hear more on how the game is going for your group.

[peaseblossom.livejournal.com]

Is this a solicitation for players? Because if it is, and scheduling permits, I'd definitely be interested.

If not, you can just go ahead and disregard me.

[bryant]

Not yet -- I'm sketching out the world and working on pre-gens. (This is a one-shot, but I may wind up doing something campaign-wise.) But you're now on the list. ;)