AP (FC) - The Gurlitt Heist Part II

I played my second session of Fate last Thursday, where we wrapped up the Gurlitt Heist story.

Unfortunately, we didn't have all of the original players, but we did have Sabine's player, Gunther's player, myself (who played Alana), and a new player who took over for Bloody Dimitry. Sir Mordred and Shadow were still with the group in-game, but they were NPCs.

As much as I wanted to play Night Witches or a Fallout-themed Apocalypse World game, I was more excited to finish the Fate story. I mean, it was time for the actual heist! Plus, I didn't want to see all that planning go to waste.

If you're just tuning in, click here for Part I (includes premise and cast).

---

The Gurlitt Heist

Part II

Source: http://tinyurl.com/pevhgvg; Credit: Cheryl Carlin
Image used without permission.

The Heist

It was Friday, the 12th, middle of the day. Sabine pulled the delivery van into the parking lot of the Justizpalast, and no one seemed to suspect anything. 

Alana and Bloody Dimitry wore police uniforms to disguise themselves and entered the building with the fake paperwork that Shadow drew up for them.

Inside, they saw a horde of officers and mug shots of wanted criminals plastered over the wall. Dimitry's indistinguishable face was among them.

Alana tried to rip it off without anyone noticing. Fortunately, the officers got a call for an assault in progress and left the building. Even though Dimitry was an obvious suspect, they didn't stare at him long enough to piece two and two together. Even if they had, clearly there was someone else assaulting police officers all around Munich.

Outside, Sabine noticed a man across the street. He was casing the building but wasn't being very subtle about. She pulled out her phone to, "check her email," and took a photo of him. She went over to the gate guard and offered him a cigarette while telling him that a sketchy man had been surveilling the building for the past twenty minutes. The officer thanked her, and Sabine walked back to the van.

Inside, on the third floor, Alana met the same officer who Sir Mordred spoke to during their reconnaissance visit. She handed him the paperwork, and he began to check it but then stopped. 

"It seems there's a problem," he said, "Someone must have been playing a practical joke on you." 

Alana felt uneasy but kept her cool and asked what the problem was. The police officer read the name of the recipient on the paper which featured a horrible obscenity. Shadow's compulsive anarchism had gone too far, and Alana was seething, ready to kill him.

"There must be some mistake," she said and then faked a laugh, "Oh, they got me good!  Clearly, one of the officers is just getting back at me. Look, can we just collect the crate we're here to pick up? We have orders, and this is time sensitive." Alana managed to talk her way out of it in her accented German, and the officer buzzed her and Dimitry in. 

"Remind me to kill Shadow when we get back," Alana whispered.

Inside the evidence room, a man wearing civilian clothes sat at the desk. He was looking through a magnifying glass and staring intently at a painting by Max Ernst. His name tag read, Herr Dr. Professor Leprick of the University of Munich. Earnst was one of Alana's favorite artists, and she couldn't resist chatting the professor up about the piece.

Meanwhile, Dimitry was getting increasingly nervous. He wanted to get on with the job and poked Alana. She waved him over to a crate but was so distracted with the conversation that she accidentally pointed to the wrong one. It was one of the original crates the artwork was stored in, not the one she consolidated everything into. 

At this point in our game, Gunther's player arrived, so we brought him into the scene.

Gunther, who was in the van the whole time, grew restless and wanted to go inside. Sabine didn't think that was a good idea and tried to stop him, but he ended up convincing her otherwise. Gunther talked his way up to the third floor somehow and happily greeted Alana and Dimitry once he found them. Alana was shocked.

Dimitry noticed Nazi symbolism on the crate he was examining and the labels, "SS," and "Property of Ahnenerbe." Gunther noticed it as well and was pleasantly surprised. He began exclaiming how thrilling it was to find such a rare find and wanted to examine the crate himself. 

Alana finally realized what time it was and knew they needed to get on with the job. She grabbed the container she marked and placed it on a dolly.


We've Got Trouble

As she started wheeling the dolly out, Alana noticed a masked man with an automatic rifle in the hallway. She quickly elbowed Dimitry to warn him, while the masked man knocked out the guard stationed outside of the room. He stepped inside, raised his rifle, and told everyone to get down on the ground in horrible German with a thick, American accent.

Dimitry punched the guy in the face and broke his jaw. Alana snagged a small portrait off the ground, as she wheeled the dolly into the hallway as fast as possible. She never left any art behind if she could help. Gunther tackled the man to the ground and knocked him out. He then noticed the man had a bag with C4 explosives, all written in English.


Fleeing the Terrorists

Many more masked men were coming up the stairs and yelling in horrible German with distinct, American accents. Alana pushed the dolly so that it rolled downward, and Dimitry shoved the men out of the way to make room. Gunther drew his gun and shot the sprinklers to set them off.

Alana continued rolling the dolly down, gaining distance between her and the terrorists who were chasing them. The terrorists were advancing, but several police officers came through, and Dimitry called them up the stairs to help stop the men. 

With the terrorists distracted, Alana, Dimitry, and Gunther were able to get outside and load the crate into the van. Sabine, who saw smoke bombs go off and heard gunshots, already had the vehicle running and high tailed it out of there after everyone got in.

Looking back in her rear view mirror, she noticed a van following them. The man who she saw surveilling the building earlier was behind the wheel. Sabine stepped on it and made a series of sharp turns to lose him.


The Drop Off

The team dropped the forgeries off at the evidence warehouse without a problem and went on to their other, temporary warehouse to switch vehicles and load up the real artwork.

Alana and Sabine thoroughly cleaned all the noticeable evidence, and Dimitry suggested throwing a last minute rave to help mask any remaining evidence. Gunther made a quick call to one of his contacts and managed to organize a rave for that same night.

Before they left, Alana opened the violin case (one of the suspicious works that they stole) and took a quick peak at its contents. She saw an ordinary violin made out of a strange material and a bow made out of some sort of dark wood. She also noticed sheet music but didn't have enough time to take a thorough look.


En Route to Stockholm

The plan was to drive all the way to make the delivery. The team would spend a night in Denmark before heading to Sweden.

Fortunately, Gunther had a wealthy contact in Copenhagen named Alexander Barren Zeeland who had a palatial estate for the entire team to stay in. He even had extra dinner reservations at the Noma since his guests didn't show up, and the team celebrated their victorious heist in the world's best restaurant. 

Source: http://tinyurl.com/p9ztteq.
Images used without permission.

Once they returned to the palatial estate, Gunther examined the violin, bow, and sheet music with greater detail. Alana noticed identifying marks on the violin that read, "E. Zann." The sheet music was labeled #23 and #27 with a modernist composition that made no sense.

Gunther felt compelled to tune the violin and play it. As he did, it emitted a horrible, shrieking sound, and every electrical device inside the estate suddenly turned on.

A news report on the TV showed the Justizpalast on fire with half of the building missing. At least two were reported dead as a result of the terrorist attack, and the masked men were shown as prime suspects.

Gunther continued to play nonstop, obsessed with reproducing hi-fi sounds like an audiophile. Sabine became paranoid and thought they were all being watched. Alana ended up worse than everyone after nearly being blinded by the lights when they turned on. She saw globs forming in the sky, through the roof, and witnessed frightening, dark forms in the corners of her eyes. The hallucinations grew worse, and she ran around in circles, freaking out that they were being followed. Dimitry was unaffected; he just couldn't stand the awful noise, so he snatched the violin away from Gunther, and most of the strangeness subsided.


An Abandoned Amusement Park

Sabine drove the team to Stockholm, and they had a free night before their delivery date to recuperate and scope out the Gröna Lund.

Alana still felt lingering effects of the hallucinations/paranoia but took the lead in investigating the amusement park. She found out it had been shut down for at least a year. A few security guards still lingered there for some reason, but Alana avoided them and found a perfect place to sneak a car in.

Through his contacts, Gunther found out that the Gröna Lund was bought out a few years ago.

Sabine planned various escape routes by driving around and prepared a car in the spot Alana found for their getaway, once they delivered the artwork, in case there was trouble.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/prlzmne; Credit: Daniel Scholten.
Image used without permission.

Rendezvous With Monsieur Blanc

The next day, the team ventured to the abandoned, amusement park together and met up with Monsieur Blanc who was waiting for them.

As he led them into the House of Mirrors, he asked what happened at the Justizpalast, and they answered him honestly, describing all the details.


The Delivery

Inside the House of Mirrors, Monsieur Blanc led the team to a strange room with a banquet table, a stove, and a propane tank (similar to a Hibachi grill). A morbidly obese man in his seventies, wearing a gray suit, sat at the table, eating, while a pretty woman with long sleeves stood and prepared his food.

The obese man spoke to Sabine and asks for the details of the heist, but she refused. It was safer for both parties to leave the details out of it. He was disappointed with the lack of subtly, referring to the terrorist attack, but Sabine said it was actually better for them - less heat and all that. She asked to see the money, and the man waved a hand for Blanc to fetch it.

Gunther didn't recognize the obese man. He had a slight American accent but spoke perfect, fluid German.

Blanc returned with a briefcase of money, and Sabine took it all out and dropped it into a duffel bag that she brought. She then handed over the crate.

The obese man glanced at the artwork and looked satisfied. He opened the violin case, checked its contents, and looked even more pleased. He drew the violin, licked its strings, and continued eating from his plate. By that point, everyone noticed he wasn't actually eating food but chewing on tiny pieces of cooked, Degas canvas plucked with toothpicks. As they gave each other horrified looks, he calmly drew his watch and said that the police would be there in roughly forty-four seconds.

Still somewhat hallucinating, Alana saw eldritch forms rise from the man and nearly had a heart attack after seeing him devour a cut-up Degas. Her rage overtook her fear, and she slapped him across the face. The man smiled, nodded politely, and slowly got up to leave after bidding everyone adieu. 

A mirror door opened up, revealing a man with a machine gun. Fate was on Alana's side, for she vanished from sight using the mirrors and hid herself well. Gunther ran and managed to escape in time. Dimitry nearly stumbled but escaped as well. Sabine grabbed the duffel bag and followed suit.

While officers and federal agents stormed the House of Mirrors, Alana masterfully led her team outside in a covert fashion. They got into their vehicle with plenty of time to spare, and Sabine quietly drove off to safety.

No one ever really knew what that strange violin was made out of or why the morbidly obese man wanted such a damned thing, but they didn't care. The job was done, everyone was alive, no one got caught, and they were paid in full. The 20,000,000 € was split six-way, and everyone got their cut before going their separate ways.

Monsieur Blanc was right after all; this truly was their greatest heist.


Epilogue

Sabine filled out an official report on the morbidly obese man and handed it to her superiors after returning to her office at the precinct. It turned out she was an undercover cop the entire time.

Dimitry used his share of the money to open up a strip club.

Alana spent several months vacationing with Gunther and selling one of her Picassos to him. After a while, she grew bored and began planning another heist to steal some art from his collection. 

Shadow probably used his cut to update his equipment and/or create even more chaos in the world as usual.

No one knows what happened to Sir Mordred except that he was even wealthier than before. Truth be told, it probably wasn't the last time they would see him. 

Why, he could be in the process of contacting them again right now.

Fin

AP (FC) - The Gurlitt Heist Part I

Two Thursdays ago, while all the cool kids were at Dreamation, I stopped by the FLGS for game night. I knew many people were going to be away for the con and wasn't sure if game night was going to happen. Surprisingly, there were seven of us in attendance, so we unanimously decided to play a Fate heist game that someone pitched. I was extremely excited, because I had only played FAE once before and hadn't tried Fate Core yet. Finally, I had my chance.

We played through most of the planning stages of the heist, but the actual job took place the next session (last Thursday). The story was a lot of fun, and I knew from the get-go that I'd thoroughly enjoy the system. Fate is one more game I can add to my #51in15 list and falls under #10 of my Gamer's Resolutions for this year. I also got the opportunity to use my fudge dice in a live game for once, so that was really exciting as well.

---

Premise

Cornelius Gurlitt, son of the Nazi-era art dealer, Hildebrand Gurlitt, had been selling his father's collection of artwork from Switzerland for many years. Cornelius Gurlitt claimed his father had obtained the artwork legally, many of which were seized from Jewish owners during the Nazi-era, though at least 240 of the 1,280 works are now known to have been stolen or looted. Many more works were discovered at a Munich flat owned by Cornelius Gurlitt and had since been relocated. They were being logged as evidence and kept at the Justizpalast in Munich. Many of the original owners died in Auschwitz, and a significant number of paintings were to be handed over to the Museum of Fine Arts Bern in Switzerland, who Gurlitt named as his sole heir. He recently passed away.

Our characters assembled to take on a high-paying job stealing some of those stolen artwork for an unknown client. They didn't know what the job was going to be, where it was taking place, or how much they were getting paid, but they were told it was going to be their biggest score yet. 

The Face sent out messages to assemble the team. The Thief spotted a clandestine message behind a stolen painting during her last heist. The Driver received an encrypted phone call. The Hacker saw the message as it displayed across digital billboards all over Times Square. The Hitter was approached by a group of men while drinking at a bar. He was about to beat them up but stopped once he heard their message. 

Once the team was assembled, they made plans to meet their employer in a cafe in Paris. The last member of the team, the Expert, joined them a little bit later in the story.

This article serves as the inspiration for the story.

Cast

Sir Mordred, the Face

Alana Corvid, the Thief (played by me)

Sabine Becker, the Driver

Shadow Sa7an, the Hacker

Bloody Dimitry Mandelov, the Hitter

Gunther Wagner, the Expert

Source: http://tinyurl.com/lvlk7rn. Credit: Leonid Afremov
Image used without permission.

The Gurlitt Heist

Part I

Taking On the Job

2015. It was a cold, dreary day in Paris, France. The clouds were dark, the skies were gray and there was a torrential downpour, as every member of the team made their way to the designated cafe to meet Monsieur Blanc, their employer.

Sir Mordred was a tall, handsome, middle-aged man of status, refinement, and wealth. He wore an expensive suit and carried an umbrella, as he walked from his nearby, five-star hotel to the restaurant.

Alana Corvid was a petite, lithe brunette in her late twenties with brown eyes and curled hair bound back in a pony tail. She wore tight jeans, knee-high boots, and a light gray raincoat, as she got out of a taxi which pulled up next to the cafe.

Sabine Becker was a slightly older, taller, athletic woman with light brown hair that was also pulled back in a ponytail. She wore jeans, boots, and a different colored raincoat. She had her own transportation and parked her vehicle next to the cafe before getting out.

Shadow Sa7an and Bloody Dimitry Mandelov both took the subway, though not necessarily together. Shadow was a nondescript individual who often wore anarchist shirts, while Dimitry was tall, bulky, and sported many tattoos with a recognizable mug that was wanted by Interpol. 

Monsieur Blanc was the only person in the cafe sitting outside in the pouring rain, sans umbrella. He calmly drank from his glass, as the rain splashed onto his plate and dripped down his face and suit.

The team met up around him, and Sir Mordred scoffed and said he would get them a table inside like a civilized person. Alana was eager to join him. Bloody Dimitry was wary about insulting their employer and made a comment, but everyone, including Monsieur Blanc, agreed to migrate inside where they found a quiet table far enough from any prying ears.

"So what is this job?" Sir Mordred asked.

Monsieur Blanc explained that his client had requested certain pieces from the Gurlitt collection that were being held as evidence at the Justizpalast in Munich. He said a lot of people have been coming into the Justizpalast, claiming that the art belonged to them and feeling guilty about what happened. Blanc also explained that his employer wanted them to steal the exact pieces he requested, no more no less, so as not to cause any suspicion. The job would pay an upward of up to twenty million Euros if carried out as requested. A percentage would be deducted for any work they were not able to retrieve and if they aroused suspicion.

Alana, who was a greedy, art thief and immensely interested from the start, asked which pieces the client wanted, but Blanc said he'd only tell them if they accepted the job. He assured them that the sum they would be paid was a whole lot more than what the works were worth if sold.

The group quietly talked it over and came to a consensus. They accepted the job. 

Monsieur Blanc nodded and gave them a list of the artwork which included paintings, etchings, statuettes, and a violin case. Once again, Blanc stressed the importance of delivering all the artwork, no more no less, and that all the contents in the violin case had to be there. Sir Mordred noticed Blanc particularly stressed that last part.

Alana asked what other valuable pieces were being held at the Justizpalast, and Blanc casually mentioned a couple of Picassos that were extremely valuable, amongst other catalogued and uncatalogued pieces.

He gave them an address to go to once they had their plan set. It was the residence of someone named Monsieur Lindback. They were to go there and place a call to Blanc, where they would further work out details on where they'd deliver the works after completing the heist.


Onward to Munich

At this point, a sixth player joined us and created a character that we naturally fit into the story.

Sir Mordred wanted to fly to Munich, and Alana was more than willing to take a plane instead of drive. Shadow decided to fly with them as well and used his hacking skills to procure them plane tickets.

Sir Mordred also mentioned that he had a contact in Munich named Gunther Wagner who was an art collector and entrepreneur. Sir Mordred placed a call to Gunther, using code words to hint at the fact that they were getting ready to do a job, and asked if he could meet them in Munich.

Sabine drove her car, and Bloody Dimitry went with her. He wanted to guzzle a bottle of vodka whilst in the car, but Sabine wouldn't let him. She said he could keep the bottle in the trunk and drink as much as he wanted to when they'd stop for gas, but Dimitry couldn't drink while they were driving. Dimitry was disappointed but obliged, and the two of them drove from Paris to Munich.

Sir Mordred, Alana, and Shadow were the first to arrive. Gunther met them at the airport and was instantly struck by Alana's beauty. He invited them all to his restaurant, where Sir Mordred filled him in on the details of the job.

Gunther called one of his contacts at the Justizpalast and learned that the art pieces were being held in evidence lockers on the third floor. Furthermore, there was an offsite warehouse that the Munich police also used to hold evidence. Sir Mordred, Alana, Shadow, and Gunther started talking about a plan to get the target art pieces into a delivery van and steal it. Gunther suggested using a terrorist threat which would put the police on high alert and force them to move all the artwork from the Justizpalast to the offsite warehouse. Then, they'd hijack one of the vehicles with Sabine as its driver and drive off with the stolen works. There'd be no suspicion, because all the artwork would be moved out of the Justizpalast, and one of the vehicles would simply, "become lost," in all of the chaos. However, there were major flaws with the plan which Sabine would later point out.

She and Bloody Dimitry were still en route to Munich.


Hijinks at the Horse Races and a Gallery Date

Given that they had some downtime, Gunther invited his guests to go visit the horserace tracks, after Sir Mordred brought it up. He had quite a bit of a gambling problem and wanted to go for personal reasons, but he thought he would use the opportunity to gather any rumors he could from the wealthy patrons there. Gunther knew some of those people and gave Sir Mordred a list of their names and descriptions. Sir Mordred invited Shadow along as well, hoping the hacker could work his magic to rig the races. He invited Alana too, but she declined and said she'd rather spend the evening with Gunther having dinner and taking a private tour of his art gallery.

At the race track, Sir Mordred gambled on horses and collected whatever information he could find. Shadow focused on his hacking, but instead of rigging the races, he changed all the horses' names to obscenities and reference to neo-Nazis and mongrels. Shadow was a compulsive anarchist at heart and couldn't help himself. He had to generate chaos. 

Meanwhile, Sabine and Dimitry finally arrived in Munich, and the entire team met up the next day to begin planning the heist.


The Plan

After hearing Gunther's plan about using a terrorist threat to force the police to move the artwork out of the Justizpalast, Sabine pointed several, key flaws: they didn't know which evidence lockers the works they were to steal were being kept, there wasn't a 100% guarantee that all those works would end up in the same delivery van, and a terrorist threat would actually raise more red flags and cause more suspicion.

Instead, Sabine suggested a much subtler plan. They could forge papers to request a transfer of evidence from the Justizpalast to the offsite warehouse. They would need to figure out where the evidence lockers were on the third floor, which locker(s) the artwork was being kept in, store all the artwork together in a separate container, make forgeries of the pieces to transfer to the warehouse, disguise themselves as police officers and go in during office hours to carry out the transfer, drive to the warehouse and deliver the forgeries, take the real artwork to a separate warehouse and switch vehicles, deliver the pieces to their client upon setting up a time/place for the final drop off, collect their cash, and complete the job.

Source: Wikipedia. Credit: Nino Barbieri
Image used without permission.

Preparations (1/2)

Wearing civilian attire, Sir Mordred and Alana visited the third floor of the Justizpalast as though they had claims on some of the artwork being held there or were bringing the police information about other, uncatalogued works.

While Sir Mordred talked to one of the guards, Alana saw another guard entering the evidence locker after being buzzed in. Inside, she saw a third guard sitting at a desk, going over paperwork, which evidently had to do with a plethora of uncatalogued pieces they were trying to log into the system.

Meanwhile, back at Gunther's estate, Shadow gained server access to the Justizpalast to be able to control the cameras and assist with the reconnaissance work. The artwork they were after hadn't officially been logged yet, but they were definitely being held somewhere in the evidence room. Shadow also set up a tracking device for Alana to plant onto one of the pieces the second time around at Sabine's behest.

Outside, Dimitry took a lonely stroll through the streets of Munich and decided to cause chaos of his own to rile up the local police. He spray painted all sorts of obscenities and Nazi symbols in order to get police to notice him (despite being wanted by Interpol). When they pulled up to stop and arrest him, Dimitry assaulted them all and ran off.


Preparations (2/2)

Now that they knew where the artwork was, they still needed to figure out which evidence locker(s) they were being kept in. Ideally, they wanted to consolidate the artwork into one container to make the transfer easier and even less suspicious. 

Gunther acquired police uniforms, and Sir Mordred and Alana revisited the third floor of the Justizpalast, disguised as officers, to enter the evidence room and perform the necessary tasks.

Sir Mordred brought fake paperwork with him to distract the guard outside as well as the desk clerk inside, while Alana snuck into the room and began searching through the files that the clerk had been mulling over. After a bit of time searching, Alana found the art pieces they were looking for and the two Picassos she had her heart set on; they were scattered between three, different crates. She gathered up all the pieces, including the Picassos, and moved them to a different container before the desk clerk came back. Alana made sure to mark the container, and she also placed the tracking device Shadow gave her onto one of the pieces.

Gunther took some time researching Monsieur Blanc and found out quite a few interesting things. Blanc had recently been seen at Action for Deutschland meetings and was previously in Kiev talking to the Organizatsiya. He was a well-connected man and mainly operated out of Sweden. Many in the team became highly suspicious of him, especially Sir Mordred.

Sabine was tasked with acquiring forgeries of the artwork (she knew people who could create them for her), including the two Picassos which Alana specifically requested. After finding out what Gunther learned about Monsieur Blanc, Sir Mordred wanted Sabine to get two sets of forgeries. After dropping the first set off at the warehouse, he wanted to con their employer with the other set and keep the real artwork. Sabine was against it. Sir Mordred didn't trust Blanc's client and urged her to change her mind, but Sabine didn't give in and flat-out refused. Sir Mordred then tried to figure out why she was so adamant about going through with the original plan, but he couldn't get a read on Sabine.


Making the Call

Sir Mordred, Alana, Shadow, and Gunther all stayed back, while Sabine drove Bloody Dimitry to Monsieur Lindback's apartment - the address where they were to place the call from to Monsieur Blanc.

The first thing Dimitry noticed after getting out was a dumpster filled with heaps of newspapers that were missing the financial sections. When he got to the apartment itself, there was police tape plastered in front. He informed the rest of the team but decided to proceed anyway.

Back at Gunther's, Shadow quickly searched for information and found out that Monsieur Lindback was recently murdered via a home invasion.

Inside the apartment, Dimitry discovered decades of financial journalism with blood stains all over the place and an antique, rotary phone with a random, direct line leading out of the building.

Dimitry picked up the phone, and it automatically dialed in. He heard three dial tones followed by Monsieur Blanc's voice who asked if they had a date set for the job. Dimitry said, "Friday the 12th," and Blanc told him that they were to deliver the artwork Sunday the 14th at the Gröna Lund in Stockholm.

The call ended, and Dimitry hung up. He and the rest of the team weren't sure if they were being set up or not, but they had officially committed to the job and had no choice but to go through with it.

End of Part I

AP (BW) - A Foiled Robbery in Agrigon

Last Sunday, I didn't run my usual Tears of a Machine game. Having reached our 6th session/mid-season episode, we decided to take a week off, so I was set to finish a Torchbearer adventure with another group which had long been in hiatus.

Unfortunately, one of the players couldn't make it, so we went with our backup plan, Burning Wheel. The awesome and talented +Lloyd Gyan, who ran our TB games, also ran this game for us.

I need to update my entire #51in15 list so far, but I can officially add Burning Wheel to it and cross off #4 from my Gamer's Resolutions list for 2015 now that I've made a BW character and played at least one session. Hopefully I'll get to play more!

Meet our characters, and take a look at the actual play below.

---

Player Characters

Elion Malerethir 
(played by me)

Source: http://www.fotolog.com/dodeira/22837993/
Image used without permission.

Stock: Elf

Concept: Noble-turned-adventurer singer/songwriter

Lifepaths
1) Born Etharch
2) Song Singer (Wilderness)
3) Bard (Citadel)

Age: 137

Stats
• Will B7
• Perception B5
• Power B3
• Forte B3
• Agility B5
• Speed B5

Skills
• Elven Script B2
• Song of Songs B3
• Song of Merriment B3
• Sing B4
• Oratory B3
• Etiquette B3
• Musical Instrument (Lyre) B3
• Song of Soothing B4
• Lament of the Westering Sun B4
• Verse of Friendship B4
• Tract of Enmity B3
• Conspicuous B3
• Bow B2
• Sword B2

Traits
• Born Under the Silver Stars (Char)
• Essence of the Earth (Dt)
• Fair and Statuesque (Char)
• First Born (Dt)
• Grief (Dt)
• Keen Sight (Dt)
• Etharchal (Dt)
• Vocal (Char)
• Abused (Char)
• Boaster (Char)

Attributes
• Health B6
• Steel B6
• Reflexes B5
• Mortal Wound B9
• Grief B4
• Hesitation 3
• Stride 8

Gear
• Elven clothes
• Elven shoes
• Elven instrument (lyre)

Relationships

Lord Sitheron Malerethir, his abusive, older brother (Significant, immediate family, hateful/rival)

Reputation

Etharch Lord (2D)

Resources and Circle Abilities
• Resources B1
• Circles B3

Physical Tolerances Grayscale (PTGS)

Su B2, Li B4, Mi B6, Se B7, Tr B8, Mo B9

Beliefs
1) Do whatever it takes to earn coin
2) My way or the highway
3) I shall have Calvin's back, because he listens to me

Instincts
1) Always collect payment after giving a performance
2) When confronted with trouble, make my nobility known
3) TBD

Background

Born to the noble House of Malerethir in the capital, forest city of Mythaenathyr, Lord Elion was the second son of Etharch Pellnarenquarien and wasn't expected of much growing up. His father focused his efforts on grooming Elion's abusive, older brother, Prince Sitheron, while Elion was free to pursue his own interests - namely music. 

It would be a lie to say that Elion had it easy, for Sitheron had always been a bully to him. He always claimed they were lessons for Elion and that they were for his own good, but Elion certainly didn't see it that way. Once, Sitheron took advantage of a routine, sparring match intended for basic, self-defense training and went too far. He maimed the back of his younger brother's knee, and Elion henceforth developed a permanent limp in his left leg.

All Elion wanted to do his entire life was sing, write songs, and perform in peace. With his older brother constantly looming over him like a dreary, storm cloud, Elion knew this wasn't possible. After 137 years, he finally grew tired of his home and life as an Etharch noble. He decided to leave and pursue the life of an adventurer - a traveling bard - free from his brother's abusiveness and free to explore the wide, world around him. 

Elion crossed the Kysh Sea, avoiding the Orc pirates by sheer luck, and arrived in the international city of Agrigon. For the past, few months, Elion has been performing at the Sloppy Unicorn, a fisherman's lodge/brothel and the seediest tavern in Mermaid's Row - the harbor district in the city's outer ring.

Little does he know that Prince Sitheron has made it to Agrigon as well to serve as an ambassador for the Etharch Elves. He currently resides at the Etharch Embassy in the center ring of the city, and with iron/salt becoming scarcer commodities in Mythaenathyr, his primary mission is to establish better and safer trade routes with Agrigon to avoid the Orc pirates (led by Pirate King Zolgrub).


Calvin Bonnivier
(played by +brian meredith)

Stock: Man

Source: http://tinyurl.com/k4m8uv3
Image used without permission.

Concept: Urban ex-student thief

Lifepaths
1) City Born 
2) Student (City Dweller) 
3) Pickpocket

Age: 20

Stats
• Will B4
• Perception B4
• Power B4
• Forte B4
• Agility B4
• Speed B5

Skills
• Write B3
• Rule of Law B3
• Anatomy B2
• City-wise B3
• Crowd-wise B2
• Read B3
• History B3
• Inconspicuous B3
• Sleight of Hand B3
• Brawling B2
• Persuasion B2

Traits
• Lazy (Char)
• Dog Lover (Char)
• Evasive (Char)
• Rabble-Rouser (Char)
• Plain Faced (C-O)

Attributes
• Health B4
• Steel B3
• Reflexes B4
• Mortal Wound B10
• Hesitation 6
• Stride 7

Gear
• Clothes
• Shoes
• Companion animal (dog)

Property
• A leaky shack

Reputation

Lazy-do-nothing (1D)

Affiliation

School alumnus (1D)

Resources and Circle Abilities
• Resources B1
• Circles B2

Physical Tolerances Grayscale (PTGS)

Su B3, Li B5, Mi B7, Se B8, Tr B9, Mo B10

Beliefs
1) Easy money is the best money
2) Stewart is my best friend; I'll always take care of him
3) Always be on the lookout for new, "friends"

Instincts
1) Always keep an eye out for someone following
2) Watch for drunks; they have a tendency to "lose" things
3) When in trouble, disappear in the crowd

Background

Calvin's father was a shop owner and wanted the best for his son, so he made sure Calvin got an education before he took over the store. Shortly after school, Calvin decided that life was far too boring and far too hard. After many attempts to straighten him up, his father finally gave up. They no longer speak. Calvin now lives in a tiny, little shack near town with his best friend and dog, Stewart. They survive on whatever Calvin can beg, borrow, or steal.


'Fleck' Hartwicus Schlafebilder
(played by +John Evans) 

Source: unknown
Image used without permission.

Stock: Man

Concept: Son of the disposed count-turned-runner

Lifepaths 
1) Born Noble 
2) Apprentice (City Dweller) 
3) Runner (City Dweller)

Age: 19

Stats
• Will B3
• Perception B4
• Power B4
• Forte B5
• Agility B4
•Speed B5

Skills
• Brawling B2
• Ditch Digging B2
• Drinking B2
• Hauling B1
• History B2
• Inconspicuous B1
• Knives B2
• Mending B3
• Poetry B1
• Read B2
• Streetwise B3
• Write B2

Traits
• Mark of Privilege (Dt)
• Broken In (Dt)
• Fleet of Foot (C-O)


Attributes
• Health B4
• Steel B3
• Reflexes B4
• Mortal Wound B10
• Grief B4
• Hesitation 7
• Stride 7

Gear
• Clothes
• Shoes
• Family ring
• Poor quality dirk
• Throwing knives
• Traveling gear

Property
• "Quality" room at the flophouse

Weapons
• Poor quality dirk
• Throwing knives

Relationships
• Altmar, his stepfather (Powerful, other family, hateful/rival)
• Reikert, his former master (Minor, hateful/rival)

Resources and Circle Abilities
• Resources B0
• Circles B1

Physical Tolerances Grayscale (PTGS)

Su B3, Li B6, Mi B7, Se B8, Tr B9, Mo B10

Beliefs
1) Reikert will stop searching for me - I will make sure of it
2) Get loot hard and fast
3) The Smiler will respect me

Instincts
1) Always check if I'm being followed
2) Always check for escape
3) TBD

Background

After having been born into a noble household as the 3rd son Hartwicus found his life turned upside-down when his father, Siman, was killed in battle (or murdered by a traitor at an opportune time in the fighting) during a revolt. His father's cousin, Altmar, had led the uprising claiming that Siman was no legitimate lord of the land. To consolidate his power Altmar married his mother Ethelind and sent Hartwicus' older brothers to his two strongholds in the far the North. Originally Altmar had tried to appease Ethelind and let Hartwicus stay at the castle with her. When the rumour emerged that she was garnering support for her boys Altmar took Hartwicus away from her as well.

Rather than have any two brothers held together Altmar decided to secretly place Hartwicus as an apprentice within the Count's town. Altmar also felt this would pain Ethelind, her baby boy an apprentice to a road builder. His master, Reikert, was keen to please this new lord and treated Hartwicus harshly, the boy was soon only known as 'Fleck' and little remembered.

Fleck's life took a turn for the worse when in a drunken stupor he lost all control of himself and he hit his master with a wooden plank from behind. Fleck fled to the imperial town,perhaps knowing his sycophant stepfather spent much of his time at court.......

Upon arriving in the imperial city Fleck tried to find a respectable job, he struggled and had to admit he could not.... To save money he started offering help at the flop-house and the tavern under it. The landlord, Berick, gave him the odd job and Fleck proved reliable and efficient - he might not be the strongest or biggest man but he is well capable of carrying his share quickly through the town. 

He had learnt from the master not to ask questions, to keep out of sight and that showed its reward - Berick and his friend the Smiler now use Fleck regularly to transport things quickly through town (also at night....). Fleck is hates this much less than his previous job but that is not high praise, he realises that he has to start moving up in the world to avenge his father's murder. He does not know yet how but he is sure that he will make Altmar pay one day....

Session #1

A Foiled Robbery in Agrigon

There's no record for the tests, but I'll do my best to remember them accurately and post them in italics along with notes. Unfortunately, I don't remember all the Obstacles and failures (especially for the tests that succeeded), but I'll try to include the specifics for next time.

Note: I'm still new to the rules, and others of us have made mistakes too. If you find any mistakes with our tests, mechanics, etc., please feel free to correct them, and I'll make a note of it for our next session.

+Tim Franzke was already kind enough to point out that our PCs shouldn't have FoRKed in their own skills for Beginner's Luck tests, but other players could still help with skills.

I'm learning a lot as I go through this, and I'm sure others in the group are too, so thank you!

Prior to the start of our first session, we came up with our situation.

Calvin didn't know Fleck very well, but they both frequented the Sloppy Unicorn, the seediest tavern in Mermaid's Row (aka the harbor district in the outer ring of the city of Agrigon), where Elion had been performing for the last, few months since his arrival to the city. They drank together, on occasion, and Calvin eventually found out that Fleck was a runner for a flop-house owned by a man named Berick who worked for a shady fellow named Smiler.

The two got to talking one night, and after numerous pints, Fleck mentioned his employers were storing something quite valuable in a warehouse, southwest in the inner ring of the city, next to one of the trade houses.

Calvin knew Fleck wasn't earning much of a living working for Berick, and after more drinking, Calvin convinced Fleck to rob his employers blind. Elion, who was acquainted with the two, overheard them and was invited to take part in the heist as well for a part of the cut.

Thus, we find our characters at the Sloppy Unicorn one evening, figuring out what to do.

Medieval Port by Kurobot
Source: http://kurobot.deviantart.com/art/Medieval-Port-438458531
Image used without permission.

Reconnaissance

Elion, Calvin, and Fleck needed to do some reconnaissance, so they split up. Elion, Calvin, and his pet dog, Stewart, took a walk along the ten foot high walls separating the outer and inner rings of the city, while Fleck investigated the warehouse solo.

Elion and Calvin tried to figure out where the city guards patrolled, when they rotated shifts, and where there was a clear enough opening for them to hop the wall once they had the stolen loot.

Elion took his time observing, and they finished their reconnaissance much later than expected (around 1am). His keen sight helped, as did Calvin taking watch around the corner and whistling for anyone approaching. The good news was that they found an opening that lead to the Merry Lou - a part of Mermaid's Row where the nobles tended to frequent. The bad news was that many nobles were known to pass through the opening, and it was roughly a twenty minute trek from warehouse.

Elion tested Beginner's Luck for Observe with help from Keen Sight (+1) and Calvin (+1). Result was a failure.

Edit: I believe Elion also got +1 for taking his time (thought it was still a failure), however due to Care of the Eternal, Elion actually should have gotten +2. Many thanks to Tim again for pointing this out! 

Meanwhile, Flek spent the entire night staking out the warehouse from outside. He found out that the guards changed shifts every two hours. At night, there were four guards (two outside - one in front, one in back - and two inside). During the daytime, there were eight guards. The last, nightly shift change took place an hour before sunrise. 

Not all the guards were noble; some had been recruited from the poor districts and some were hired from the Society of Sellswords. One of the sellswords, Archimedes Pail, was in charge of the guards overseeing the warehouse. He was a plain and simple man with at least two weapons on his person at all time.

Fleck tested Beginner's Luck for Observe. I believe he FoRKed in Inconspicuous (+1). Result was a success.

Plans and Deals

The next afternoon, Calvin, Elion, and Fleck met up at the Sloppy Unicorn to discuss their plan before Fleck had to leave for his day job.

Fleck suggested stabbing one the guards with a knife and sneaking in through the back, but Calvin and Elion disagreed. Elion figured he could provide a distraction by entertaining the guards with music, wine, and women (provided by Mag, the proprietor). Fleck saw no logic in Elion's plan, and they each tried to persuade each other to go with their plan. Calvin liked Elion's idea more and took his side. In the end, it was Elion's way or the highway.

Fleck and Elion tested Persuasion against each other. Since neither had Persuasion, it was a Will vs. Will versus test. Calvin helped Elion by taking his side (+1). Fleck had 0 successes; Elion had 5.

Side note: we were actually unsure of this and later posed a question in the BW G+ Community and found out we did it right. 

Edit: I should also mention that Mag is a stubborn, hardheaded woman who resembles Bette Midler. Her husband was a sailor who drowned after a run-in with Orc pirates, and she's been the sole proprietor of the Sloppy Unicorn ever since.   

Fleck caved and left for his day job, while Elion approached Mag to convince her to help. He had a pretty good standing at the Sloppy Unicorn and had been one of the best performers she'd had in ages. Elion even had his own, VIP table with his name carved into it and an actual tablecloth. When Mag was in an especially good mood, she'd even decorate it with a candle, and sure enough, a candle was lit at their table. Elion thought it would be a piece of cake convincing Mag to let him bring some of her girls to the guards and tell them Archimedes paid for their entertainment, while Calvin and Fleck snuck in to steal the goods.

Elion was wrong.

It turned out Mag didn't like Fleck or Calvin, but she did like coin, so she offered to help Elion out for a 70/30 split, so long as he didn't mention her name. Elion wasn't a haggler, but he managed to talk Mag into a 60/40 split plus a week's worth of cleaning and maintenance labor on Fleck's part. 

Elion tested Beginner's Luck for Haggling with Calvin by his side and helping by suggesting Fleck works some labor (+1). Result was a failure, but Elion spent 1 fate point to re-roll two 6s and ended up with a final success.

Trouble in the Alleyway

After the deal was struck, Calvin wanted to find a couple of daggers to steal, so he and Elion left the tavern to go outside.

Elion conspicuously played his lute in the middle of a crowd to distract people, while Calvin looked around for a mark to steal from. He saw a man enter an alleyway and followed him but soon discovered it was a trap.

Another man appeared on the other side, and Calvin tried to run away, but the thugs jumped him and stole his shoes.

Calvin tested Beginner's Luck for Observe with help from Elion playing his lute and drawing a crowd (+1). He FoRKed in City-wise, Crowd-wise, and I believe Inconspicuous as well (+3). Result was a failure.  

Running pass the thug was a Speed vs. Power roll. Result was a failure.

The Delivery

Fleck was busy working at the flop-house, owned by Berick, in the outer ring of the city.

Fleck's employer, Berick, was a round fellow who typically organized workers for his boss, Smiler. Berick felt comfortable with his position and knew there would always be a boss to work for, so he may as well work for Smiler.

Smiler was a slightly twitchy man with a skinny, wiry figure and otherwise average looks. He looked bland for the most part except when he smiled. His teeth were perfect, and he was known for his smile - hence the nickname. Smiler was the type who was always quite sure of himself. He felt comfortable around Berick, because he knew Berick never groveled and knew his place. 

Blinder was one of Smiler's henchmen. He was blind in one eye and had a jar full of pickled eyeballs back at his house. He never revealed where he got them from and never spoke much, but when he did, his words were calm and collected.

Fleck was about to take off for the day, when he heard the three arguing in the next room. Fleck knocked on the door, and the arguing stopped.

Smiler told him to come him.

As Fleck opened the door, he saw Smiler, Berick, and Blinder standing over a table with a map of the city sprawled across it and a dagger sticking out of a particular spot.

Smiler told Fleck that a package had gotten through the Orc barricades and that he wanted him to pick it up from Dark Brand, First Mate of the Golden Hammer - the ship that arrived at the docks - and deliver it to Archimedes Pail at the warehouse that same night. 

Smiler stressed the importance of not opening the package and delivering it as quickly as possible without any detours. 

Fleck nodded and made his way to the Maven Docks.

Very few ships typically make it across the Kysh Sea due to the Orc embargo, so many people were surprised to see the Golden Hammer arrive. Fleck immediately noticed that the sails were tattered and the ship had many broken sides. It mostly came through on its rowers when it slowly entered the harbor.

Fleck also noticed that the eyes of the crew looked dead. The men looked completely broken, like they'd been through hell.

Fleck sought whoever was in charge, telling them he was here for the package, and First Mate Dark Brand, a fairly small man, let him aboard.

The interior of ship was even worse. The crew was huddled in a corner, not trying to leave. Fleck thought he heard someone crying. Someone hung upside down from the mast, their skin rotten with flies buzzing around and birds pecking at them.

It was a horrible sight which truly terrified Fleck.

They reached the former captain’s quarters, where the windows were broken, maps were tattered, and everything was in disarray. Dark Brand grabbed a small, scroll case and handed it to Fleck.

Fleck took it and thanked him, before he took his leave. He cautiously walked backwards, all the way to the exit, and saw that the entire crew was now leaving single-file and heading toward the brothels.

Fleck gingerly made his way to the warehouse to meet Archimedes. There were four people inside. The guard stationed out front stopped him and said, “State your business.” 

Fleck said he had a package for Archimedes, and the guard let him through

Archimedes’s office was upstairs with a balcony that overlooked the main warehouse. Fleck greeted Archimedes and handed him the parcel.

The sellsword opened a desk, placed the scroll case inside, and locked it with a big key attached to his belt before dismissing Fleck who made his way back to the Sloppy Unicorn.


A Foiled Robbery in Agrigon

Calvin, Elion, and Fleck finally rendezvoused, and Fleck still looked terrified from what he saw aboard the Golden Hammer.

Calvin asked what was wrong, and Elion jested about how Fleck heard he was to work for Mag for a week. Fleck raised an eyebrow, and Elion told him about the deal they struck with Mag. Fleck was clearly irritated but shook his head and said that wasn't why he looked terrified. He proceeded to tell them everything that happened with his last job, and the three decided they needed to rob the warehouse as soon as possible.

Elion asked Mag if her girls were ready, but her mind seemed scattered. She kept staring at some of the crew members from the Golden Hammer with a worried eyes. Elion asked what was wrong, and Mag said, "Forget about it, pay no attention. These girls could use a break tonight. Go take care of the job."

With everything in place, Calvin, Elion, and Fleck went ahead with their plans. 

At the warehouse, Calvin and Fleck stayed back, while Elion sauntered toward the front guard playing his lute and leading Mag's girls. The guard did a double-take and looked wide-eyed before calling the the other guards from inside. 

Elion tried to persuade the guards that Archimedes hired the girls for them and that he was to play music for entertainment. He also held up a couple of bottles of wine and grinned widely. The guards were rather suspicious but agreed to let the girls inside and have fun with them, but Elion had to remain outside and they were to take turns.

Elion tested Beginner's Luck for Persuasion with a +1 situational modifier from having the girls and wine with him. Result was a failure.

Elion played his most joyous tune, a song of merriment, and created wonderment for the guard situated outside. Meanwhile, Fleck came out of the shadows, slit the guard’s throat, and moved his body the corner. Calvin and Fleck proceeded with plan B (Fleck's original plan) and went around back to take care of the other guard in the same fashion.

Elion tested Song of Merriment. He FoRKed in Sing and Musical Instrument (+2). Result was a success, forcing the guard to test Steel for Wonderment. He failed.

Side note: Calvin and Fleck were hiding in the vicinity and should have made Steel checks too, but that didn't happen. We could say they were far enough away and not in Elion's presence, but in truth, they probably would have heard the song and had to make Steel checks as well. 

There was no Knives test on Fleck's part; rather, the GM automatically let Fleck slit the guard's throat after the guard failed his Steel test.

The guard in back spotted Calvin who sheepishly said he was lost and looking for the temple. The guard looked worried and clearly didn't believe him, so he went inside and shut the door.

Calvin tested Beginner's Luck for Persuasion. Result was a failure.

Fleck signaled to Elion to go through the front, and Elion proceeded to do so. Two of the guards were busy fornicating with the girls, while the third started mentioning they had intruders and told Elion to leave immediately. Elion tried to persuade the guard that he was merely checking on girls as instructed to make sure they were OK, but he failed, and the guard started calling on Archimedes loudly.

Elion tested Beginner's Luck for Persuasion. Result was a failure.

At that point, Elion panicked and ran forward with a poor quality dirk drawn (which Fleck let him borrow) and tried to stab the guard. Calvin and Fleck simultaneously ran in to help, but Elion's self defense training didn't help him that time.

Elion tested Sword with help from both Calvin and Fleck (+2) and spent a persona point (+1). Result was a failure.

Everything was a blur afterward, and when Calvin, Elion, and Fleck finally came to, they were all tied up inside the warehouse. One of the guards punched Elion in the face a few times for fun, while another guard rushed downstairs and was freaking out, yelling. 

Archimedes was dead.

End of Session #1

Artha

Beliefs

• Elion earned 2 Fate for beliefs #1 & #2

• Calvin earned 1 Fate for belief #1

• Fleck earned 1 Fate for belief #2

Instincts

• Elion earned 0 Fate

• Calvin earned 1 Fate for instinct #2

• Fleck earned 0 Fate

Traits

N/A

Humor

Elion earned 1 Fate

Right Skill, Right Time

Elion earned 1 Fate

Embodiment

Fleck earned 1 Fate

Moldbreaker

N/A

Personal Goals

N/A

Workhorse

Elion earned 1 Persona

MVP

None yet

Deeds

N/A

Totals

Elion earned 4 Fate, 1 Persona

Calvin earned 2 Fate

Fleck earned 2 Fate

Grief Advancement

Lastly, Elion witnessed Fleck slitting a guard's throat right in front of him, so that's Ob 5 for Grief. Elion's Grief is B4, so that earns him a Challenging mark.

---

Burning Wheel is definitely a crunch, but I knew that going into it and honestly had a lot of fun playing the game and learning the rules. Writing this AP, I've gone through all the PCs and have been reading through the rule book non-stop, so I definitely feel a lot more comfortable than I did when I first started. Still, there's a ton more to learn, and it'll probably take a while for me to become fluid with everything, but I'm excited to keep going. I enjoy trying out new games, and even though I'm generally not one for crunch, this game has me strangely hooked.

I don't know when we'll play again, but I really hope we continue. If we do, you can be sure I'll post more APs. 

In the meantime, I have many others to write, so keep checking back and thanks for reading. Until next time!