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. 

REBIRTH Series (the new canon)

Due to the campaign getting overlong and going against some of its original vibe (short, loosely connected episodes that are quick and easy to play), the original campaign was retired after episode 6 and a new REBIRTH series has been started. 

• REBIRTH 01 "The Late Returners"
  In which a mercantile company's caravan goes missing, and then returns, and Arden and his allies must unravel the mysteries of what this "late return" might mean for the Veil in Yarlken. 
• The Late Returners 01
• The Late Returners 02
• The Late Returners 03
• REBIRTH 02 "The Stone Crack'd"
  In which we find out about the internal strife in The Order, learn about the ancient places of power, the history of magic, the desperation of outsiders, and track down a missing relic from before the fall.
• The Stone Crack'd Introduction - On the City of Hub
• The Stone Crack'd 01 - Interruption in the Library
• The Stone Crack'd 02 - Dealing with Leonardo Miller
• The Stone Crack'd 03 - Rainy Travels, the Dead Village, and Two Wizards' Curses

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. 

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

Synopsis (for the older episodes, now a bit outdated)

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, stabilizes reality against the same magic that destroyed the Old Khelian Kingdom five generations ago and makes it possible for a New Khelia (more democratic, less autocratic) 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, and various outsiders who think Hub and the New Khelia 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.