GM Planning: Session 12

The Gangs of Gordin's Delve

Another monthlong break that passed in the blink of the eye — April in my town was full of the proverbial showers, despite the generally desert vibes; hopefully all that rain will make some exciting stories bloom this May. I’m eager to get back into the fiction, but this episode will be out-of-fiction GM prep to lay the groundwork for the action, so if you’re just in it for the fiction, this is an OK one to skip — it’ll be comparatively brief, and at the end, we’ll have a poll to decide the PCs’ first course of action in Session 12.

But where are we headed in Session 12? Last episode, we left the party at a pivotal decision point: It was revealed by the Ustrina that Cirl-of-the-Storms, the villainous sorcerer who has designs on our heroes’ home, intends to attack Gordin’s Delve to rally support among the Hillfolk.¹

This intel gave them a golden opportunity to steal a march on their rival in the quest for Stormcatcher’s Crown, a powerful magic item that, among other things, can unlock the power of the arcanum hidden beneath Stonetop.

But to do so, they would have to leave Gordin’s Delve to whatever fate Cirl had planned for it — certainly, a tough sell for someone like Anwen, who has yet to meet people in need she did not want to help. Vahid argued forcefully that if they stop the hdour here, that might be the end of it. Padrig made the very reasonable case that the Delve, with its anarchic factionalism, is ill-equipped to face a powerful, fanatical force like the one the hdour leads. Trying to unite the place is a dangerous proposition, especially for Padrig, whose old bandit leader, Brennan, once attempted to overthrow the bosses and set himself up as the ruler of the Delve.

The party’s ultimate decision was up to the readers — let’s see what y’all picked!

This is as close as they come: A very narrow majority votes to stand and fight for the Delve! So let’s talk about how they might accomplish that and what details of the setting and dramatis personae to prepare for the session ahead.

Vahid’s Diplomacy

Back in the final scene of Session 10, Vahid outlined his intentions if the party decided to fight for the Delve:

“We will need treat with the Bosses. Raise the town’s defenses. And stand with them. United, with our aid, they might stand a chance.”

“Unite the Delve? Vahid, come to your senses,” Padrig pleads. “You do not know these men — I do. They are ruthless. They care nothing for the people of the Delve — they know there will always be more emigres coming from the Marches, the mountains, or Lygos. They will not risk what they have to protect the town and its people — If we forewarn them, they will retreat to their boltholes and protect those closest to them.”

“This is a new kind of danger. If the nomads destroy the Foundry, the Delve as they know it will cease to be — such a fear can be a powerful motivator, as it was when they united against the Claws.”

What we’re prepping here is supported by Stonetop’s Make a Plan move. I’ve used this move in the background before to structure the action when the PCs are trying to accomplish a concrete aim, but here’s the full text:

This is one of those moves that makes Stonetop a really special Powered by the Apocalypse title. It’s critical in this game (and in most other PbtAs) that the players act proactively, have goals they set themselves, and work to achieve them, rather than only reacting to what the GM throws at them. Lots of folks that come from more traditional RPGs, however, are used to having a set scenario they’re running through or responding to prompting from the GM about what to do and when. The Make a Plan move, in three quick sentences, gives players permission to think big and an approach to talking to the GM about their plans. Lots of playgroups likely don’t need to be pushed to do this, but it’s a very thoughtful inclusion for groups for whom that type of play is new.

So, what do the PCs need to do to unite the Delve? Since there are five Delve Bosses, I’ll envision that to call the Delve ‘united,’ they’ll need to secure the cooperation of three of the Bosses, and ensure that the remaining two are at least not actively opposed to them — whether because they are dead, fled, or party to some other, more novel arrangement. Between three Delve bosses, they’ll have the muscle to raise a reasonable defense against the hdour.

While prepping for this session, I may have watched Yojimbo to capture the appropriate 'warring gangs’ vibe.

As GM prep for this sort of plan, we’ll need to know a bit more about the Bosses. In our initial prep for our journey to the Delve, we looked at three of them: Honest Draigh, who runs trade with Marshedge² and controls the Delve’s foodsellers, Smiling Ffransis³, who deals in water and booze, and Jahalim of the Keys, who controls the Delve’s fortress-like foundry, which is instrumental in the smelting of the ore brought up from the Delves.

For each of these bosses, we’ve envisioned an instinct as well:

1. Jahalim: To amass power, to rule the Delve

2. Ffransis: To push things towards violent confrontation, to topple the established order

3. Draigh: To covet rare, valuable, or precious things

So to round out the rogue’s gallery in the Delve, we need to look at the other two bosses: Odo Thriceborn, who oversees many of the miners and controls the lion’s share of the housing in the Delve (it was likely his lanternmen who Anwen passed by in the sixth terrace’s tenements), and Mudra the Teeth, who looks after the remaining mine crews as well as the logging gangs that bring building material and fuel in from the surrounding foothills.

The Thriceborn

Odo Thriceborn, the slumlord in charge of the shanties on the final two rises of the delves and the miners that inhabit them, can safely be assumed to be a bit of a bastard. When I rolled for him on the Ironsworn Theme Oracle, the result I received was Creature, which opens up more extreme possibilities than mere bastardy.

The moniker “Thriceborn” could suggest that Odo has dodged death a number of times, and so we’ll envision Odo is not a man, but something else in a man’s guise — something that has enabled him to cheat death multiple times, and something that makes him uniquely cruel in this already cruel place. More than that, I’ll leave us to discover in play. For his instinct, I’ll record “To maintain a death grip on the tenements” — the tenements on the sixth terrace are both his lair and the source of his power in Gordin’s Delve.

The Teeth

Mutra the Teeth, alongside her mining crews, oversees the logging gangs who range out into the foothills. Her Keeps⁴ and workers have a fair amount of autonomy out there in the wilds, so we can envision that she commands at least a little loyalty beyond simply fear. On the Theme Oracle I got Renown. If Draigh wants wealth, Jahalim wants power, and Ffransis wants a good scrap, then Mutra wants respect. She leads her crew with a sense of ruthless fairness, and so far her reward for her honor has been to be the lowest-ranked boss in Gordin’s Delve. I’ll record her instinct as “To get the respect she deserves.”

First Among Equals

So we have our five bosses — three must unite, two must fall. To kick off the next session, we’ll need to know one more thing: Which Boss will our heroes first approach?

Currently, bravos working for both Jahalim of the Keys and Smiling Ffransis are looking for them, so they have a straight path to a meeting with someone of at least some influence within their respective organizations. These two bosses are looking for them due to the specifics of an incident in Session 11.1 — when the party first arrived in the Delve, they made contact with Kanter, a small-time merchant who is part of Jahalim’s broader organization, by way of Raul the Limper, a Keep for the blacksmiths⁵. Raul had withdrawn his protection from Kanter, who was being menaced by a few of Smiling Ffransis' bravos. Anwen and Vahid intervened, which brought her to the attention of both bosses, who put out the word for their men to keep an eye out for a red-haired warrior woman and a strange, hooded Lygosi. This was further compounded by rumors put out by the emigres whom the party protected from the hdour’s henchmen back in Session 10.4.

Fortunately, neither of the bosses in question have violent intentions — yet. They’re merely curious — and concerned — about these seemingly powerful newcomers. And Padrig has so far been able to keep a low profile, but we’ll see for how much longer that’s possible.

There’s a good argument to approach Jahalim — he’s the most powerful boss, and his cooperation would make the others have to take notice. He also oversees the Foundry, which thanks to the raids by the hdour’s riders, is currently shut down. Vahid, however, now has the knowledge and the power to awaken the fire spirit bound to the Foundry, thereby re-awakening the forges without the need of fuel⁶. On the other hand, Jahalim was the boss most involved in the downfall of the Claws, and he most certainly does not remember Padrig fondly.

There’s also a good argument to approach Ffransis. He’s eager to shake things up, he’s ready to fight, and, if he’s the spiteful, vengeful sort, he might take some pleasure in hearing that Anwen beat Owain in front of the whole village and sent him into exile. Having Ffransis in their corner might force Jahalim to take them more seriously than if they simply came alone. But on the other hand, Padrig remembers Ffransis from when he was younger, and he’s not a good guy — people like him are the reason Stonefolk tolerated a bully like Owain.

So, I’ll leave the choice to you — which of these pillars of the community do we approach first? Choose between these two households, both alike in perfidy, by clicking below, and I’ll see you in your inbox next week!

LATE-BREAKING EDIT:

Friend of the stack Ananda pointed out in the comments that understanding the relationships of the bosses to one another is key to the party’s plans, and that’s a very fair point! Down in the comments I wrote some thoughts, but I figured I’d include them here as well:

We can assume that Padrig's knowledge of the dynamics between the bosses is a little stale, but given what we know about the situation and the instincts involved, he can likely construct the following insights:

We know that Ffransis and Jahalim must be at least somewhat at odds, but not so much so that they are engaged in open warfare (after all, Ffransis' bravos only moved on Kanter when they knew Jahalim's Keep, Raul, had ceased protecting him). We can assume Ffransis resents his position at the bottom of the heap, and that resentment is likely focused on the master of keys.

We can assume that Mutra and Jahalim are allied -- she provides the fuel for his Foundry. That alliance is likely strained at the moment, because Mutra's logging crews are hunkered down thanks to the Hillfolk raids.

We know that Odo and Mutra are bitter rivals, because they have competitive interests in mining (and Odo sometimes behaves in a monstrous fashion, which offends Mutra’s sensibilities), and we know that Odo has the upper hand in that rivalry, thanks to his control of the tenements. Jahalim likely tolerates and protects Odo (and his strange, creature-y behaviors) as a check on Mutra, who otherwise might consolidate her control of the miners, thereby controlling all the raw material Jahalim needs to operate.

Draigh is the wildcard -- he currently backs the established order (Jahalim at the top, Mutra and Ffransis at the bottom), but his support can be swung with promises of wealth.

1. Recall that the Hillfolk view the mining of metal from the earth (particularly in the Delves, which are cursed by the magic of the hated Old Masters) to be sacrilegious. Even our heroes’ allies among the nomads are leery of associating with the Delvers.

2. Note, this might mean he still has ties to Brennan (despite the fact that Brennan is persona non grata in the Delve.

3. Ffransis, perhaps importantly, is formerly of Stonetop — he was a local strongman and town bully whom our old friend Owain eventually drove into exile. What goes around comes around!

4. Keeps are the underbosses of the Delve — street-level leaders who look after groups of workers or bravos.

5. Importantly, one of those blacksmiths is Rheisart, a Stonefolk and childhood friend of Anwen’s.

6. n.b., that would not be a good thing for Mutra, who runs the lumber gangs.