5150 Working Grave - Out Friday! Here's a Bat Rep

From start to finish it took 30 minutes, much of it writing the report. Just to be sure that everyone knows, this can be played with miniatures or counters, the Battle Board will work with minis as well.

Look for 5150 Working Grave to be released this Friday.

Newbie's 1st Encounter - Working Grave

Officer Jones has his 1^st Encounter. He has to arrest someone. Here’s how we do it:

·       I roll 1d6 to see where the arrest will occur. City Hall Area or the Financial District. It’s City Hall.

·        Seeing how this is the Grave Shift, the people and things Jones will run into are way different than the middle of the day. I roll and find out it’s a Zhuh-Zhuh Shaker. Zhuh-Zhuhs AKA Monkey Boys are big fellows with a bad temper. Shakers are high up the ladder socially so wonder what this will be about. I roll again and find out he’s a Corporate Exec.

·       I roll to see how many of them there are and get 2.

·       I see that the Leader is a Rep 4 People 4 Savvy 2 and his friend is a Rep 4 People 3 Savvy 3. Not sure if any of them are carrying weapons, won’t find that out until things go wrong – if they do.

This stuff is already figured out when playing one of the 16 pre-generated Encounters and each can have up to 3 PEFs to resolve. Each pre-generated Encounter has so many other variables that no two will ever play out the same. 

I decided to play this out with the counters and Battle Board included in the game but I could have used minis if I had them.

 Anyway, back to the arrest and that starts with the Intimidation Table.

·        Jones starts with 2d6 versus his People Skill of 4. But he’s also “Logical” so he loses 1d6! I roll a 3 and pass 1d6.

·       Monkey Boy passes 2d6 versus his People Skill of 4 so tells Jones to “Bite off!” and the two Monkey Boys resist. I roll on the Packing Table and luckily neither one is packing heat so its melee time. I roll to see if its lethal (1 – 5) or non-lethal (6). I roll a 6.

Time to get physical!

Rolling on the Action Table, Jones passes 2d6 and so does the Zhuh-Zhuh Leader but they have the Advantage so they go first and charge Jones before he can draw his weapon.

End of first round Jones uses Star Power and still suffers a -1 to Rep. So does 1 Monkey Boy.

Second round of melee and Jones passes 2d6, Monkey Boys only 1d6! Down they go, out of the fight! Jones cuffs both of them and puts them in the back of the patrol car. Off to jail.

So what did Jones earn for this first Encounter? Let’s start with Street Cred. Jones is a rookie so he’s not Bent or Straight Arrow yet and since he was successful (read the Monkey Boys the Riot Act after they were unconscious) he ended up gaining a +1 to his Street Cred.

He gained 2 Increasing Rep d6 for taking out the two Zhuh-Zhuhs  (captured), but 3 Decreasing Rep d6 for using Star Power for a net of 1 Decreasing Rep d6. Not a good start to his career but at least he has one Voluntary Encounter coming up. Think he needs to do some Chillin' at Dekkar's Place - get a drink maybe some friendship and even do a little gambling

One thing I did learn is that with the Logical Attribute Jones will Interact and Intimidate People at a -1d6 disadvantage.  Might have to try a little Sweet Talking in the future.

"Hey, You a Cop Bro?" Step-by-Step Character Generation in Working Grave

So you want to be a Cop? Good; here’s how we do it:

·       “You are a Star, Officer Jones!” (Star or Grunt?)

·       “Basic, uh? Good, you’ll fit right in here at New Hope City.” (What Race?)

·       “Since you’ve finished your training, you are now officially a Police Officer.” (What Profession?)

·       “Reports from training say you’re quick as a cat and pretty good at figuring out stuff.” (What are its Attributes? Stars choose one (Quick Reflexes) and roll for one – (Logical).

·       “Well you’re in pretty good shape so that’s a plus.” (What is its Rep? We recommend starting at Rep 5).

·       “Tests say you’re pretty smart and are good at talking to people. That’ll help a lot.” (What are its People and Savvy Skills – People 5 Savvy 4.

·       “Here’s your weapon.  Here’s your jacket as well.” (What is its Weapon? Big A$$ Pistol – AKA B – 2. Two shots. Also has armored vest.

·       “We’ve checked you for Enhancements and you’re clean. Stay that way!”(Does it have Enhancements? NHC PD should not have Enhancements.

·       “All right Jones, go downstairs and see if they’ve got a Partner for you and good luck!”

Officer Jones is a Rep 5 Basic Star. Has the Quick Reflexes and Logical Attributes. People Skill 5 Savvy 4.  Armed with B-2 and wearing armored vest. He’s a newbie so Street Cred of 0.

Character Journal

Name	Reputation	Weapon
Officer J. Jones	5	BA – 2 & Vest
Star/Grunt	Monthly Rep d6	Lifetime Rep d6
Star	0	0
Race	Months Passed	Profession
Basic	0	Police Officer
Street Cred	Miscellaneous
0	Currently no Partner assigned.	Jones is a newbie, new to New Hope City.

Roll 2d6 vs. Rep for Partner – Passed 2d6 – Sorry, no Partner for you; budget cuts you know.

That’s it:

·       Choose Star, Race, Profession (Cop), first Attribute, People and Savvy values.

·       You are given a B-2 and vest.

·       You roll for one Attribute and to get a Partner.

Easy peasy, take you 5 minutes to set up. Now let’s go on your first Encounter. You get ten years on the force with two Encounters per month. The 1^st is Involuntary and given to you, the 2^nd is Voluntary and you can choose to or not to have one.

I roll for the 1^st Encounter and score Arrest Someone. Coming soon!

Charioteer for Kickstarter

Here's a mock up of Charioteer, one of the games coming to the Kickstarter later this month Will have a 11 x 17 board (similar to this one), cards and counters. Streamlined version of the minis rules and more challenging. Totally playable solo