itch.io

Very nice! I too am a fan of the facial hair/clothing table :)

Thanks, that's really helpful! It's been my distinct impression that claims in the standard Blades setting, as a rule, must be seized from other factions, or at least be seen as an invasion of their territory. That might make sense in Doskvol where everything's cramped, but I cannot really see anybody get up in arms over a couple of lawyvers opening up an office in Patterson. The crew is on pretty good terms with the Mountain Mafia and I already gave them a -1 with Albright for the Inside Trading claim, so I just might let them have this one after some suitable downtime projects.

I have semi-related question:  The claim Legit Income requires Front Company. Does it also require a claim slot, or does it replace Front Company? If so, do the benefits stack? 

Hudson and Grace Hennessey, the wiley New York lawyers of Hennessey Solutions have been eyeing the "Front company" claim. They want to get some offices, a receptionist and the trappings of a law firm in order to help camouflage and launder their ill gotten gains. However, the basic premise of the game is that claims are seized from another faction and I struggle to rationalize this in the fiction. Why seize this from another faction when you could just rent offices and put an ad in the paper for a receptionist? Is another criminal faction really going to feel that their territory is being encroached on, just because some lawyers open an office? Any help would be appreciated!

That sounds pretty good! I agree my suggestion was probably a bit too complicated. I wonder if it would work were the payout to be 1D6. That could both represent the fluctuation of the market and good/bad timing  and the amount of cash the player invested. A sure bet with a big investment, yet poorly executed exit could be represented by a +1. Likewise, an uncertain bet with a smaller investment helped by other circumstances and good timing could be a +6.

Thanks for the swift response and kind words. I think you're right, insider trading makes more sense as a claim. It'd be awesome if you added this to a later edition, but I think we could improvise with your suggestions above. The only question remaining is, as you point out, how to establish a fair payout. I agree that it would be interesting and more logical if the payout could vary. I'm also thinking the crew should get some Heat from successful trading. To paraphrase the great Marshall Mathers III: The SEC won't let me be or let me be me, so let me see. However, white-collar crimes are, as we all know, strictly not crimes at all (in the minds of many people and law enforcement), so it shouldn't be much. Perhaps Heat equal to the Cash -2 (min. 0)?

One clarification on the claim, though: The claim would only make money if the crew A: traded as a down time project or B: had just completed a score that could affect stock prices? I think that sounds about right.

However, in order to determine the payout for B, how about this:

A crew with access to insider trading get the opportunity before a score to either temporarily invest their cash in stock (if the score would benefit a company) or short stocks (if the score would hurt a company). If they invest, they temporarily lose access to X Cash (player's choice). If the score is successful, they receive their Cash back in addition to X-1 or -2(?) Cash. The reason for it being X-1 or -2, is that it's hard to visualize a score that would double the stock value of a company. If you want to make big money, you have to bet big.

If they short stock, they still have to designate X amount of Cash, but don't lose temporary access to it. 

If the score is successful, they receive their Cash back in addition to X-1 or -2(?) Cash. The reason for it being X-1 or -2, is that it's hard to visualize a score that would halve the stock value of a company. If you want to make big money, you have to bet big.

Now it's early morning and I've only had two cups of coffee, so the explanation may be a bit messy, but I don't think it's really that complicated. 

You make a good point when it comes to the double dealing payout scheme and I agree. Having the original employers discover that the crew brought another party in on the score might make a good complication!

Hello,

First post, but our group's been playing for a few sessions and love the setting! 

We recently started a new campaign, with two PCs, both nefarious New York lawyers (Hudson & Grace Hennessey, co-owners of Hennessey Solutions) out to fleece the bumbling rednecks.

After the crew managed to hustle a small grant out of the local small business administration office, a player asked about inside trading. Not as a score, but as another way of capitalizing off a score.

Say for instance, that the crew have successfully framed a high level executive of Kuruma Motors on behalf of the Mountain Mafia. The poor executive will soon be arrested. They should now be able to profit off their knowledge by shorting Kuruma Stock.

I'm thinking this is a cool idea which could be handled as a down time activity, using the acquisition rules. The players roll Bank, 1-3: -1 Bank point, 4-5: +current Bank level), 6: +1 Bank point, Crit: +2 Bank points. One could possibly allow for a bet big, win/lose big variant where the losses and gains are doubled. They could also possibly get some Heat from failed (or indeed successful) rolls?

Question: Is this a good way to handle the crew exploiting their unique knowledge? The system detailed above seems like something anyone can do above board, i.e. regular trading. I feel that they should get some sort of bonus for knowing what others don't.  What would be the best way to represent this?

Another question I just asked myself is: Could the crew possibly get paid from two factions for a job? Say they are approached by the Mountain Mafia and asked to hit Prescott Holdings. The crew, having done their due diligence, know that the Lockeland Clan are also enemies of Prescott Holdings. Could the crew try to approach the Lockelands and offer to hit their enemies for them, pretending that this was the crew's idea all along? It seems to me something along these lines should be possible, but it also seems like the payouts could get way out hand very quickly.  Is it possible to balance this somehow?