The Scene
Three practitioners share a safehouse in Vienna's 7th districtâa rented apartment above a kebab shop. It's 2 AM. They've just learned that a rival from the Crowley bloodline has stolen something from them: a journal belonging to Sasha's dead mentor, containing notes on a Tempomechanics formula worth killing for.
The Characters
Sasha (she/her) - Nostradamus bloodline, Oracle class. Cognetics 3, Analysis 2. Base Power 5. She sees too much and says too little.
Marcus (he/him) - Galileo bloodline, Striver class. Anatomics 2, Force 2. Base Power 4. Self-taught, chip on his shoulder, something to prove.
Yuki (they/them) - Abe no Seimei bloodline, Keeper class. Psysionics 2, Stability 2. Base Power 4. They clean up messes and keep the Veil intact.
Campaign status: Six weeks into the Pilgrimage. The host city is Vienna. The Veil is at 5.
Part One: The Puzzle Phase
The GM sets the scene.
GM: The journal's gone. You've turned the apartment inside out. But Sasha, as you're standing in the doorway of the room where you kept it, you notice something. There's a smell. Ozone and burnt sugar. That's a Crowley signatureâthey always leave a trace.
Sasha: Can I get a read on where they went? Like, follow the residue?
GM: That's a Prediction roll to read the echo of what happened here. You're trying to see the past, not the future, so your Secondary Affinity applies. DC 6âstandard difficulty. What are you bringing to this?
Sasha's player starts building her dice pool.
Sasha: Okay. Base Power is 5âthat's Cognetics 3 plus Analysis 2. I want to use my Nostradamus Tarot as an Asset. I'm pulling cards to focus the vision.
GM: What Tags does the Tarot have?
Sasha: Two Tags: 'The Cards Know' and 'Won't Lie.' I'm using bothâI need this to work.
GM: That's +2 Dice Power from the Asset. You're at 7. Roll 2d10.
Sasha rolls 2d10 and gets 4 and 8. Total: 12.
GM: 12 against DC 6. That's DC+6âClean Success. No complications. Tell me what you see.
Sasha: The cards spread themselves on the floor. I see herâValentina Crowley, red hair, that awful smirk. She came through the window. She knew exactly where the journal was. She's staying somewhere with water nearby. I can hear it in the vision. Flowing water.
GM: The Danube Canal. She's in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district. NowâBreak Roll for the Tarot. You used 2 Tags, so it breaks on a 1 or 2.
Sasha rolls 1d6 and gets a 3.
Sasha: Safe. The cards are fine.
GM: For now.
Part Two: The Confrontation
The group tracks Valentina to a houseboat on the canal. It's nearly dawn. Marcus wants to handle this directly.
Marcus: I'm not sneaking around. She stole from us. I'm knocking on the door.
Yuki: Marcus, the Veilâ
Marcus: It's 4 AM. No one's watching.
GM: You bang on the door of the houseboat. A moment later, it swings open. Valentina's there in a silk robe, holding a glass of wine. She looks delighted to see you. "The Galileo boy. I was wondering how long it would take."
Marcus: I want the journal back.
GM: She laughs. "It's not yours. It belonged to a Nostradamus. Your friend has a claim. You don't." She's baiting you. What do you do?
Marcus: I'm using my Striver abilityâRefuse the Ceiling. She's telling me I can't take it because of my standing. That's exactly what triggers it. I'm taking it anyway.
GM: Love it. That gives you +2 Dice Power for this attempt. But if you fail, you can't try this specific approach again until next session. What's the action?
Marcus: I'm pushing past her and taking it. Physically. Anatomics + Force.
GM: She's not going to just let you. This is opposedâshe's rolling Motorics + Reaction to stop you. Her pool is 6. You're at... Base 4, plus 2 from Refuse the Ceiling. That's 6. You're even. Both roll 2d8.
Marcus rolls 2d8: 5 and 7. Total: 12. Valentina rolls 2d8: 3 and 6. Total: 9.
GM: You got 12, she got 9. You win by 3âthat's a Clean Success on the opposed roll. Describe it.
Marcus: I shoulder past her before she can react. The wine glass shatters. I see the journal on a table by the window and I grab it. "Thanks for keeping it warm."
GM: Valentina's expression doesn't change, but her voice does. It goes cold. "You've made an enemy tonight, Galileo. I'll remember this when the Moon rises." She's invoking the formal threatâshe's marking you for Walpurgisnacht.
Marcus: I've already got enemies. One more won't matter.
Part Three: The Complication
As they leave the houseboat, Yuki spots a problem.
GM: Yuki, as you're helping Marcus off the boat, you see themâtwo joggers on the canal path, early risers. They've stopped. They're staring. One of them has a phone out.
Yuki: Did they see magic?
GM: They saw Marcus burst through a door, a woman scream, glass break. They're filming now. If this goes online, it's not magic exposure, but it's attention. The kind that leads to questions. The Veil doesn't drop for mundane crime, but if investigators start looking at you...
Yuki: I'm using Containment Protocol. I want to intercept them before they post anything. Make them think they saw a domestic dispute, not worth their time.
GM: That's Cognetics + Interfacing. DC 6. What's your pool?
Yuki: Base Power 4. I don't have a relevant Asset. But I have a spellâSoft Revelation from Signal Proxes. I'm using the RC-1 Tag 'Image' to make them see something slightly different than what happened.
GM: That's +1 Dice Power and costs 1 Stress. You're at 5âroll 2d6.
Yuki rolls 2d6: 2 and 5. Total: 7.
GM: 7 against DC 6. That's DC+1âSuccess with Consequences. You contain the immediate problem, but there's a cost. What do you want the consequence to be? I have some ideas, but I'll let you choose.
Yuki: What are the options?
GM: One: the joggers forget, but Valentina saw you cast. She knows you're a Keeper nowâthat's information she'll use. Two: the joggers forget, but one of them felt something. They won't remember magic, but they'll become... curious. A mundane who starts looking into weird things. A complication for later. Three: it works perfectly, but the effort costs you. Take 2 additional Stress on top of the casting cost.
Yuki: I'll take option one. Valentina already knows we're coming for her. Might as well let her know who she's dealing with.
GM: Done. The joggers blink, look confused, and keep jogging. One of them deletes the videoâit's just some drunk couple arguing, not worth the storage. But on the houseboat, Valentina watches you through the window. She raises her wine glass in a mock toast. She knows what you are now.
Yuki marks 1 Stress.
Part Four: The Aftermath
Back at the safehouse. The journal is recovered. But there are costs.
GM: It's dawn. You've got the journal. What now?
Sasha: I want to read it. Right now. Before anything else goes wrong.
GM: It's in codeâyour mentor's personal cipher. You can crack it, but it'll take time. A few days of focused work. Or you can try to force it with magic. That's Cognition, and you'd be pushing past RC-2 during the Pilgrimage. Dangerous.
Sasha: I'll do it the slow way. We have six weeks until Walpurgisnacht.
Marcus: And now we have Valentina Crowley officially gunning for us.
Yuki: We already had her attention. Now she just has a reason.
GM: Speaking of whichâend of scene. Let's do XP. Sasha, did you advance or defy your Nostradamus Doctrine tonight?
Sasha: I acted on a vision even though I didn't have all the details. That's Uphold. Mark XP.
GM: Marcus?
Marcus: I contradicted someone who said I couldn't do something because of my standing, and I proved them wrong. That's Galileo Doctrine, Uphold. Mark XP.
GM: Yuki?
Yuki: I protected the Veil. I cleaned up someone else's mess. That's just being a Keeper. No Doctrine trigger, but I'll take the mid-session XP for taking a meaningful risk to maintain the masquerade.
GM: Fair. Everyone marks 1 XP. The Veil stays at 5. And Valentina Crowley is now a named rival. She'll be back.
What We Saw
Mechanics Demonstrated
The Roll Procedure: Base Power (Metre + Limit) + Asset Tags + Spell Tags = Dice Power. Consult the Roll Curve. Roll against DC.
The Puzzle Phase: Sasha decided what resources to commit before rolling. She chose to risk her Asset (Tarot) for +2 Dice Power.
The Break Roll: After using 2 Tags, she rolled 1d6. On a 1 or 2, the Asset would have broken. She got lucky.
Success with Consequences: Yuki hit DC+1âsuccess, but the GM offered a menu of complications. The player chose which price to pay.
Class Abilities: Marcus used Refuse the Ceiling (Striver) for a situational +2 Dice Power, with failure locking him out of that approach for the session.
Stress costs: Yuki's spell used an RC-1 Tag, costing 1 Stress.
XP triggers: Each Bloodline Doctrine provides opportunities to mark XP through upholding or defying its philosophy.