1.4 - The Broken Leg Job

'Sabotage' by the Beastie Boys kicks off and we get a rapid fire credits montage of highlights from the season:



The catwalk above the shark tank collapses
Mac disarms the bomb with an ice sculpture
Nash slides across the roof of the building into the stolen bus and blows a kiss
Maddie slow motion walking into the Paris club
Danya directing Nash with her hands on proper tough guy etiquette
Nash and Ninotchka going through the bus window
Mac hands off the dossier out of nowhere to Raphael
Maddie shoves Cormac in the portable fridge
Luke picks up the Scotch as it arrives in the VIP room
Nash getting hit on by Katherine Hanratty while wearing a priest outfit
Maddie gets Raphael's necklace
Danya dances a jig with the archbishop
Luke punching out the DJ
Nash surrounded by K-Rome's crew
Mac offering a cutting sideways glance
Danya leaning against the doorway before dealing with K-Rome's crew
Maddie admiring K-Rome's obnoxiously overblinged Desert Eagle
Luke on stage with Loretta


A penthouse hotel in Sydney, Australia. I like how the production design redesigns the same set for every location. It also opens up on a view of the Sydney Opera House, which, like the Eiffel Tower, is cheap visual shorthand for "exotic locale."

We join the phone call from Mr. X already in progress. He's giving the Crew a hard time about the state of Cormac's Black Book and that they fell in the standings because of it. Luke doesn't really care. We've gotten the feeling that he's not in this for the Con of the Century before but judging from his and a few others reactions, it seems like he is bringing around the other members to the idea.

Today's competition involves stealing a diamond from the Sydney Opera House. The diamond in question is the Sisi Star. It was connected to Austrian royalty and just recently returned to Austria after being missing for years. Luke nods and picks up an Asset during his analysis of the situation. There will be No Security on Stage.

LUKE: So we have to hit it during the opera.
MADDIE:It's actually an operetta.

Nash and Maddie high-five. And just like that, Maddie starts running down the details of the con. Luke seems to enjoy quietly enjoying his scotch for once.

MADDIE: What would he do with the diamond anyway?
NASH: He shows it off to all the other supervillains at his volcano lair?
LUKE: I thought it was an island.
NASH: It could be both.


It also puts them in direct competition with one of the other teams. Mac sets up a tracking device on their Red Smartphone to detect where the rival team's smartphone is. The bad news is that she picks up a Complication, Earbuds Compromised. The good news? The phone is right downstairs. But their Hacker knows Mac tried to hack them.

Luke breaks out the rival team dossier. There are four of them, run by mastermind Julia Pryce. They are all gorgeous. The team immediately starts placing bets on which one will be sent to seduce Nash.

MADDIE: Are we going to have to put a leash on Nash?
NASH: I'm right here.

Two of the rivals have some history with our crew. Julia is Diana's sister. She left Julia's crew to join Luke in his old crew. Tina Sweeney, their Hacker, runs sweetheart cons just like Maddie with a cyberstalker twist. She got the best of Maddie the last time they met.

NASH: Oh, she's cute.

The hits keep coming. The Sisi Star was missing for years because of a daring con. A quick search of local papers turns up who is in charge of security. Three words strike fear into the crew's heart. James. Foster. Sterling. The Hitter reluctantly reveals that Danya Broke Sterling's Nose.

NASH: Anyone want to explain to me why everyone is scared of this guy?

Luke quickly realizes he needs to cut a deal with the other team for them to have a chance against Sterling. Looks like they are getting Luke's Face-Off scene out of the way early. Julia and Luke banter about nicely and they agree on a plan. They work together until they have the stone. Then all bets are off.


LUKE: So let's introduce the kids to each other.

We cut to dinner and drinks in the hotel. Julia and Luke are catching up. Nash and Mac are hanging out with Tina and Charlene. Danya is bonding with Dawn, their hitter. Mac tosses a quick message Danya's way when they get too chummy.

MAC:You can't have her, she's mine.

Maddie and Tina have sometime together. Maddie lets Tina do all the talking. Tina got the better of their last con and also shows a casual disregard for the fate of her Marks. Luke enjoys taking their marks down like the bastards they are, but Tina barely registers them. A great scene showing the differences between the crews.

The con comes together in three parts. Luke uses his Direct approach on Sterling. Julia runs coms from her private box. Nash and Charlene head out to the bank vault where the Star is held. They can't steal it, but they can scan it for a fake. The rest of the crews concentrate on getting access to the opera house.

Nash and Charlene up first. Charlie lifts and brush passes a vault access card to him. She also manages to whisper something filthy in his ear, taking advantage of him Sleeping With The Enemy. This is why Nash is in the DANGER ZONE. He gets inside the vault and pulls out the device Mac whipped up to scan the Star. She generates a Complication due to being too Focused which gets used right away. The scanner doesn't work because Mac forgot to put batteries in. The vault door opens...

At the opera house, Danya takes a direct approach to getting on stage. She hugs an extra and takes them down. Mac tips off the authorities to one of the other actresses recreational drug habits and offers herself as a replacement. Maddie blusters her way berating one of the poor backstage crewmembers. The target of her ire is Dawn. Despite Maddie's apologies, Dawn pauses to tell Danya something.

DAWN: I am going to hit that bitch.

Back at the vault, Mac is the one entering the vault. Nash has wedged himself into the vault ceiling out of sight. Mac slides in a safety deposit box for an account she apparently just opened. Nash drops down after she leaves and cracks open the safety deposit box. Batteries. He installs the scanner - it takes time for quality work -  and sneaks back out.

We cut to Nash relating the entire story to Charlene, who looks duly impressed. They've got a few hours to kill before the show. What to do...

The rich and well-dressed swoop in to the Opera Gala. The show is The Pirates of Penzance. All about pirates who are actually pretty good guys. Luke and Julia look stunning together in the foyer. But what to do with two Masterminds in the kitchen? The solution presents itself with Jim Sterling sitting at the bar. Luke gets two Face-Off scenes this week I guess. Julia will be running comms for the heist.

Sterling and Luke spend the first act in the bar. Some good tense exchanges. Of course, Sterling knows all about Luke's Crew, Julia's Crew, and the competition. He makes an offer to sell out Julia's crew.

STERLING: What is it that you want out of this, Mr. Charles?

On stage, we get a fun little scene involving Danya, Mac, and Maddie pulling off an intricate switch of the Sisi Star from it's place on top of the pirate's chest. They replace it with a fake, give it to Maddie, who attaches it to a sandbag which flies up the rails. Nash picks up the Star and we're off.

Except Nash isn't at the top of the rope. Charlene is. Nash plays out his complication - Why Does The Cuffed Nash Sing?

NASH: Guys, I have a little bit of a problem here...
We cut to a shot of Nash cuffed to a bed, Sherlock Holmes style. Cut to Maddie looking up as the Sisi Star sails away. Before she can do anything, a vicious cheap shot from Dawn Takes her Down.

DAWN: I told you.

After the commercial, we're back with Luke and Sterling.

Out come Danya and Mac with huge boxes. Seems everyone at the show tonight gets a souvenir. Thoughout the evening, the Crew has been building up the Asset Multiple Duplicates. When it hit a d12, it pays off. Everyone at the show gets a spot-on replica of the Sisi Star. Sterling looks around, stunned. The copies are flawless because Our Jewel Expert is Bestest.

Luke decides it's time to wrap up Julia's Crew. He starts at the top, with Julia. she patches in his earbud to the chaos from Nash with a smirk. Of course, when she opens the door to the private box, her second husband is standing there. The one she first stole all the money from.

Down in the prop room, Maddie comes to. Dawn knows she's on comms and tells her to call Danya down. The Hitters knew it was always going to come down to them. Security rushes in and rescues Maddie. One guard remains, takes off her cap, and Danya uses her Master of Disguise to get the drop on Dawn. The battle rages for some hard hits on both sides. Danya gets rocked. Dawn takes a few solid shots. Dawn uses One-on-One. Danya uses Competitive. The Hacker is even able to help out Hitter. Mac Edited the Files that the other team got and played up non-existent injuries.

The fight ends when it moves to the backstage area. Danya wasn't fighting to win. She was fighting to get Dawn in position. She gives the signal and Maddie cuts loose with a sandbag of her own. Down goes Montana! Down goes Montana!

Charlene dashes across the Opera House roof. Nash appears out of nowhere to give chase. She threatens to throw the Star off the edge of the building. Nash quietly pulls out the real Star from his pocket.

CHARLENE: You suck!

Most of the other Crew is wrapped up, so there's no wrap-up, right? There is still the matter of seeing whether Sterling Never Loses.

The flashback scenes come as Tina tries to flee the opera house.

Mac's flashback involves her attempting to hack the other team's Red Smartphone. She gave Tina the earbuds to distract her from the real reason for the hack. She turns the rival team's Red Smartphone into a brick.

Maddie's flashback involves her old pal Tina. She sets up a dashing gentleman caller ready to play. She succeeds and Tina gets into his waiting car. The old man is gracious, charming, and she barely notices Mac driving the car to deposit her with Sterling.

Nash's flashback takes us back to Mac's nick-of-time save of Nash in the vault. Her safety deposit box? All Part of the Plan. The batteries were a ruse. Nash deposited the real Star in the box, which was the actual scanning unit. When he arrives back the room, Luke and Nash have a discussion about turning [B]Sleeping With The Enemy[/B] into something that they can use.

Luke's flashback brings us back to his time with Sterling. He has an answer to Sterling's question.

LUKE: I just want everyone to win. Including you.

Everybody wins when they get the real Star, keep it long enough to verify the win and then give it back.

And how does Sterling get the Star back? Seems when Danya broke Sterling's nose, it wasn't because of a fight. She arrives at his hotel room with a million dollar stone in one hand, a bottle of champagne in the other, and the rest of the night off.

Danya returns to the hotel room with a big smile on her face and an envelope from Sterling. Luke opens it and finds a photo. Seems Sterling left a tip for being fed the rival crew.

Luke's old Mastermind, the one that he thought was dead, that he feels he was responsible for killing, is alive.

Credits.

Fixer's Commentary

Everyone was riveted during Danya's fight with Dawn. We raised the stakes three or four times with Plot Points and assists. It was a dramatic and awesome contest. And it was set during "A Modern Major General".

Multiple Duplicates was one of those assets that came up as a joke originally. But then it turned into the backbone of the plan.

I love how everyone uses their d4 Distinctions to rack up Plot Points in the beginning. The tension amps up when people start using them as d8s instead. It's a sign that things are getting real.

Next episode is our second rival crew episode. We had a lot of fun casting the roles after this session.

The Crew also started buying up Trust. Not only that, they started explaining who and why they were buying up trust with. Watching them go from individual badasses to weaving threads with each other is fascinating. Who trusts who and why was a great post-game discussion.

Assets:
Our Jewel Expert is Bestest
No Security on Stage
Mac Edited The Files
Multiple Duplicates
Multiple Multiple Duplicates 
Multiple Multiple Multiple Duplicates
Multiple Multiple Multiple Multiple Duplicates

Complications:
Danya Broke Sterling's Nose
Nash is in the DANGER ZONE
Why does the cuffed Nash sing?
Compromised Earbuds

Hacker - Tina Sweeney

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to get an account number from someone asking what kind of panties you are wearing."

Attributes:
Agility -d8-
Alertness -d10-
Intelligence -d10-
Strength -d6-
Vitality -d8-
Willpower -d6-

Roles:
Grifter -d8-
Hacker -d10-
Hitter -d4-
Mastermind -d6-
Thief -d4-

Distinctions:
Jailbait19 -Tina uses an updated variant of the Sweetheart Scam. She finds Marks on-line, pretends to be an willing underage conquest, then accesses the Mark's accounts and bleeds them dry.
Simply the Best - Her smartphone is state-of-the-art, why not her shoes, outfit and car to match?

???

Talents:
Over-the-shoulder Hacker: Automatically access any system you watch anyone use.

Slip of the Tongue: You may discern a piece of information about an opponent if they roll an Opportunity during a Grifter roll.

Hitter - Dawn Montana

"You're about to learn the difference between being beaten by a girl and being beaten. By a girl."

Attributes:
Agility -d8-
Alertness -d10-
Intelligence -d6-
Strength -d10-
Vitality -d8-
Willpower -d6-

Roles:
Grifter -d4-
Hacker -d6-
Hitter -d10-
Mastermind -d4-
Thief -d8-

Distinctions:
Disgraced Athlete - Dawn was a talented women's basketball player that lost her eligibility her senior year thanks to some overzealous backers.
One-on-One - When it comes time to throw down, Dawn loves to challenge the strongest Hitter to a one-on-one fight in the middle of the chaos
???

Talents:
Haymaker: Step back your Hitter dice and add a d4. If this roll raises the stakes, it counts as an Extraordinary Success.

Opportunist: Gain a d6 whenever provided an Opportunity in a Hitter roll.

Grifter - Charlene Cho

"The art of seduction is getting what you want while convincing the mark he wants what you're willing to give."

Attributes:
Agility -d6-
Alertness -d8-
Intelligence -d10-
Strength -d6-
Vitality -d10-
Willpower -d8-

Roles:
Grifter -d10-
Hacker -d4-
Hitter -d6-
Mastermind -d4-
Thief -d8-

Distinctions:
Ancient Chinese Secret -Charlene's cons usually involve playing on Asian stereotypes. She doesn't know kung fu, only speaks English and she's terrible at math, but she can convince you otherwise.

Gorgeous -Even part of a crew of sexy thieves, Charlene turns heads wherever she goes. Any cons that involve seducing a Mark have her on point.
???

Talents:
Pickpocket: Add a d8 on any Thief role involving picking someone's pocket

Takes One to Know One: Add a d8 to a Notice Action to see if someone is lying to you.

Mastermind - Julia Pryce

"Darling, take consolation in knowing you were taken by the best."

Attributes:
Agility -d8-
Alertness -d10-
Intelligence -d10-
Strength -d6-
Vitality -d6-
Willpower -d8-

Roles:
Grifter -d6-
Hacker -d4-
Hitter -d4-
Mastermind -d10-
Thief -d8-

Distinctions:
Friends in High Places - Julia knows how to make her way through high society. She's classy enough to get invited to big events but scandalous enough to be fun.
Take Him To The Cleaners - Julia ended up in Crime World when her husband cleaned out their accounts and fled to Rio. Julia prefers to clean out rich male Marks.
???

Talents:
Master Plan: In a roll involving Mastermind, if given an Opportunity, turn any 1 rolled into a 2.

Perfect Timing: Gain an extra d8 to your roll when doing something involving precise timing.