Bloody Hands

 

"The Bloody Hands" is the campaign that started this blog. The campaign grew out of two desires: I wanted a campaign that I could play more compactly, possibly entirely on my phone, and I wanted to try out Tricubes Tales. You can see my thought processes in the campaign background post that was my first ever to Doug Alone. The first few sessions were played out pretty much as intended. I would play them in two or three bursts and then used this blog to post essentially Wikipedia-like summations that 100% doubled or tripled the amount of words I would ever write down while actually playing. Originally there was going to be a wholly different oracle (one roughly "The I Ching but with dice") that I still need to sit down and work out more about.

It was kind of a way for me to find a middle ground between the longer, Mythic-driven "Barston Bakersfield" campaign that had been my only real long term solo campaign for a year and other ideas that might follow. 

Original Episodes ("Season One")

Note, since the vibe (as discussed below) is old genre television, the missions are described and generally built around the timing of episodes. The old format episodes include:

• Episode 1: A Fragile Merger
• Episode 2: Out of the Wild
• Episode 3 & 4: A Town Divided
• Episode 5: Biting the Hand that Feeds You

After Episode 5 a nearly month long break occurred while I tried out new ways of writing up these sessions and worked on dialing down some of the inherent "high camp" of the original flavor (where it was all "Bubble" and "Darkling" and "Woodkin" and "Stonekin"). Those first 5 sessions were a big help for me to find my voice in writing out my solo play sessions and also a great way for me to work on things like my own personal Extended Tricube Tales Framework that helped me to play it a bit more like I wanted. 

Season Two Episodes

Season Two eschews the summary-style of writing and moves to the newer, hopefully improved, Doug Alone format (story mode that interprets the various scenes in a more interesting way way, mechanical notes section to explain the behind the scenes, Doug notes section, and credits and resources). I can still play it in the old way (some notes, some cards, some dice, a couple of printouts) but this blog is not just about me playing but also about me sharing. I'm working on the sharing bit.

• Episode 6: Sink or Swim
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Synopsis (for now)

A Guardian, Arden Ulet, from the city of Hub, is sent out on missions to investigate the activities of a group known simply by their calling card: a a pair of bloody hand prints. The Veil, a mystical technology founded and first used in Hub, pushes back against the encroaching Darkness that destroyed the Old Khelian Empire five generations ago and makes it possible for a New Khelian Empire to rise. Arden and his assistants solve crimes, prevent damage to the Veil, and try to track down the organization behind The Bloody Hands. They also deal with corrupt Guardians, making peace with "Wildkin" folk (who changed during The Five Generations to survive the Dark), and various people who think Hub and the New Khelian Empire are a descent back into the old corrupt ways that started the troubles.

One main theme is that the visual and general social + narrative mechanics of the series are derived directly from the vibe of 1990s and early 2000s genre television. It is played out like it would be made at that time: a few locals representing a whole populace, areas that feel like they might fit on sound stages, a 3-4 act plotline, really over the top twists, and pretty trope-ridden narrative beats.

Inside the Veil (either the larger areas that protect Hub and Khalid City and the nearby burbs that have merged with them or the smaller "Bubbles" that other settlements are under), technology and society is somewhere between the Wild West and Victorian Era industrial towns. Outside of the Veil, it is much more like grimdark fantasy with The Darkness eating away at structure and people and spawning mutations and monstrosities. 

The Bloody Hands are not creatures of the Dark but something else: some wild outsider force tied to a under-dimension which features a strange river of blood-red ichor and a city that exists deep below the surface. The Hands might not be serving the Dark directly but they are also opposed to The Veil and are willing to use the Dark. 

Arden has developed the ability to travel into his own visions and with his current team of Jalmar Dax - a Wildkin Agile Hunter with three animal companions and a ruthless streak - and Natalia Wilson - a Crafty Sapper from Hub who specializes in breaking things for good reasons but can be a bit surly when it comes to dealing with others - has started trying to find out what the secret of that other world might be.