Today’s post is a report of Undercity Noir game 2, session 1. Since the game is in progress, and I believe Mailanka plans on using it as an example Psi-Wars adventure, I will keep the review spoiler free. I may also withhold future reports until the game is finished. Mailanka plans to post something comparing the two Undercity Noir games he ran once he is finished.

I will focus on my character, Astanya Xakkithe, since I know his perspective the best, but I will also mention some things I know about the other characters.

What is Undercity Noir

No, not that one! Undercity Noir is a heist adventure for Psi-Wars designed and run by Daniel Dover (Mailanka). It takes place on Kronos primarily in the greater Shield Spire area. Mortimer Sallow wants a certain item procured, and Yuan Tino, “freelance consultant” for Orion Arms, knows just the team for the job.

It is currently Mailanka’s second time running the adventure and with an entirely new group. We get the benefits of the lessons learned from the original run. Group one had the benefit of a player who lives upside down. I know only a little about the first play through since the game was kept fairly secret to avoid spoilers.

Character Introductions

Group 2 consists entirely of alien PCs. In my experience, this is unusual for Psi-Wars (and even D&D parties tend to have humans), but Kronos is the best planet in the Galactic Core to have an all alien team.

The Bot and his Boy

Gleep Wyrmwerker is a mogwai Con Artist. I don’t know too much about his build, but he can Fast-Talk machines with his natural Machine Empathy. I believe he has Fast-Talk 20 and thus gets the permanent reaction bonus. He has Xenophilia, some sort of curse and a Kleptomaniac robot Ally. Gleep likes to play Trading Card Game IN SPAAAACE! and is teaching his robot how to play. The robot is building a robot only deck “because robots can be good.” Gleep started the game with a minor illness.

Xaka doesn’t know Gleep well yet and can’t talk to robots, but he is concerned that Gleep is an unprofessional clown. I think Gleep is a fun character and am excited to see what he does in the future. Gleep’s player and I played in Tall Tales of the Orochi Belt, and our characters got along well, so hopefully our Undercity Noir characters will too.

The Chain Smoker

Simon is a trader Bounty Hunter and a member of the Ito Guildfleet, and I believe that he either takes bounties set by the Guildfleet or from the Imperial bounties of Guildfleet members. I know very little about his build. I believe he is a Neo-Rationalist and a relies heavily on advanced gadgets. He has a Digital Oracle ability from his Neo-Rationalism and has advanced research gathering an analysis capabilities. He has an heirloom skin suit and is thus fancy. Simon smokes which will be interesting. Traders are susceptible to disease and can’t smoke through his air filter, so he may catch Gleep’s sniffles or something else.

Xaka also doesn’t know Simon well yet but does have some respect for his professional behavior. He fears that Simon may be the only other professional in the crew. I am interested to see Simon’s gadgets and technical skills. We shall learn more of Simon’s personality in future sessions.

The Family Man

Astanya Xakkithe (friends call him Xaka) is a keleni historian. He is designed as the team’s “subject matter expert.” I originally conceived of the character as a researcher/professor who was forced into the job due to increased anti alien pressure from the Empire. He was to be a noncombatant with knowledge and research ability as his main contributions. As I put my ideas into game terms, he evolved into a somewhat more versatile character.

Xaka is built with the 125 point Antiquarian “sidekick” template and the Academy Trained background with extra points put into psionic abilities. He has Ancestral Guide, Ancestral Recall 1, Keleni Telepathy 3 and Sleep 4. To enhance his psionic abilities, he has ER 4 and Black Crown as Signature Gear. Besides Sleep, he has basically no combat capability. Blaster Pistol 10 with Reluctant Killer means that his only reasonable weapon is a stunner, and even then, he isn’t a good shot. His best skills are Hidden Lore, History, Occultism and Research, and he has respectable Intelligence Analysis and influence skills. He is the knowledge guy, but he makes a decent “face” character.

Xaka’s disadvantages are what make him playing him interesting. Defying the time honored tradition of RPG characters, Xaka has a family: a wife, children and a new grandchild. He also has a duty to his enclave, rival academics and Charitable, so he has all sorts of character baggage that should be fun. They also somewhat conflict with Compulsive Mystery Solving which may cause major problems if my suspicion is correct. Xaka’s purely fun quirk is Odious Personal Habit (Dad Jokes).

Xaka’s intro started with his wife Ana worrying about a girl named Lisa who is currently experiencing family troubles. Xaka sort of helped with an incredible joke. Lisa seems to have no keleni friends and allegedly has some relationship with a Bloodsider. Xaka’s and Ana’s daughter, Xenia, also has some potential cause for concern related to a keleni orphan boy named Sora. There are a few other potential hooks in the enclave available, but they haven’t manifest yet. Xaka also got the standard message from Yuan Tino about the job and a message about a staff meeting for work related to a visiting VIP (Blake, but Xaka doesn’t yet know her identity).

The Shy Cat Girl

Blake Hunter is an asrathi Imperial Field Archaeologist on a special mission from the Empire. Somehow, she fit Asrathi, The Gossamer Art and a large number of precognitive abilities into the template and power-up. As a Scavenger, she has a high Perception and also Scrounging, Search and (presumably) Urban Survival. I believe she has a decent level of Archaeology and Connoisseur (Relics), but I am not certain. She has some level of Shyness which makes her uncomfortable talking about her research.

Blake was given information about the object of the heist as part of her “secret” mission and had a vision related to it, but I will not give spoilers here. She also met an Imperial Psi Hunter which could cause problems later.

Xaka isn’t exactly Chummy, but he is from a naturally telepathic race that tends dislike being alone. He has interacted with shy people before, but still considers the trait unusual. He may respect Blake’s research, but he hasn’t seen it yet. He is definitely concerned about her OPSEC. I think Blake is an interesting character. I am interested to see how her special mission affects the heist.

The Gaudy Cat Girl

Princess Anastasia Siberians, Assassin Alumnus of the Harrow Academy, Adept of the Graceful Form is … interesting. She is also asrathi and should have the Aristocrat background. I don’t believe that Harrow Academy has anything to do with House Harrow, but she does use a Maradonian force sword style. She seems to have learned her assassin skills from a certain orange wearing ninja because she has the same level of subtlety. Her fashion sense is a bit off with that gaudy “Gossamer” armor from Orion Arms.

Xaka thought Blake’s OPSEC was bad until Anastasia introduced herself as a Federation princess and an assassin in front of an Imperial official. He doesn’t fully believe her. I think Anastasia must have learned how to be an assassin from a certain orange ninja. She will prove an interesting character and will definitely prove useful if fighting becomes necessary.

The Barmaid

Cherry seemed very eager to please the customers and even wanted to join the crew. I believe we will see more of her in the future.

The Fixer

Yuan Tino seemed like a nice fellow. He acted friendly, and Xaka seemed to believe the act was genuine. He seemed to get along well with Anastasia.

The Meeting

The characters met each other shortly before meeting with Yuan Tino. Gleep tried to get a date with Cherry by playing a TCG IN SPAAAACE! and had a sneezing incident. Xaka was a “boring old man” who decided to abstain from alcohol.

After everyone arrived, the characters were escorted to the private room to meet with Yuan Tino. The fixer gave an overview of the job, provided some speculation and gave instructions for meeting the client.

Aftermath

Xaka is a bit concerned about Gleep since Gleep overheard Blake telling Xaka sensitive information about her “secret” mission. He is concerned about Blake who revealed information that should have been kept secret (this may be metagaming for expediency, but Blake could have loose lips). He is highly concerned about participating in a heist with Anastasia who wouldn’t know subtlty if it smacked her in the face (or she is a very good actor; Xaka is Suspicious). At least Simon seems reasonable.

Xaka also put several clues together and now has a theory and a mystery to solve (compulsively). He doesn’t know about the psi hunter. If the hunter is opposition, he could pose a threat anywhere from minor annoyance to serious threat to Xaka.