Shadows in the Smoke S1E1 - "The Hunters of Hargrave House"

Shadows in the Smoke S1E1 – “The Hunters of Hargrave House”

[somber piano music]

Kim
Though Queen Victoria has become reclusive, mourning the recent loss of her husband Albert, her empire grinds on. Straddling the earth with limbs of steel, gunpowder, and bureaucracy, it dwarfs the conquests of Alexander, Caesar, or the Great Khan.  The heart of this colossus is London – The Big Smoke, The Metropolis. The largest city on earth. A place where dark things stalk the shadows between the streetlamps, ancient powers slumber restlessly, and new threats arrive from ports all over the world, and beyond. Hargrave House stands as a bastion against these, though not without its own darkness to confront. Will the hunters succeed in saving the Sceptered Isle, even as a new queen of the criminal underworld plots to destroy the crown? Or will they succumb to their worst natures, their best efforts forgotten in time, like shadows in the smoke.

[Shadows in the Smoke theme]

Kim
Hello everyone, and welcome to Kitten Marlowe. We are an actual play podcast set on telling engaging, dynamic stories through the medium of indie tabletop roleplaying games. The first story in the collected works of Kitten Marlowe is Shadows in the Smoke, a gothic horror story set in Victorian London, and utilizing The Between, a ttrpg written by Jason Cordova of the Gauntlet.

My name is Kim Dalton, pronouns she/her. I am a co-founder of Kitten Marlowe and I will be your host and GM of Shadows in the Smoke. I have a deep love of all things gothic, romantic, and horrific. And I have, on many occasions, been likened to a haunted doll. So trust, you are in good hands. I am joined around the table by a wonderful cast of players. Introduce yourself, oh dear ones!

Cassandra
Hi, I’m Cass Parker, and my pronouns are she/they.

Natalia
Hi, I’m Natalia Montgomery. My pronouns are she/her. Very excited to be here.

Robert
Hi, I’m Robert Merkel, the other co-founder of Kitten Marlowe, and my pronouns are he/him.

T.
Hello, I’m T. Wade, and my pronouns are they/them.

Kim
I’m so excited to have you all here. Ugh. I can’t wait. So let’s talk The Between. The Between is a tabletop roleplaying game about a group of mysterious monster hunters in Victorian-era London. These hunters learn about various monstrous threats in the city and conduct investigations, or hunts, in order to neutralize them. Over time, they become aware of the plans of a criminal mastermind who is pulling the strings behind the scenes. The hunters will eventually be forced to confront this criminal mastermind in order to save both Queen and country. The Between is directly inspired by the TV show Penny Dreadful  — gone too soon, but it’s forever alive in my heart, I feel. But it also takes inspiration from British horror classics, the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, pulp era media, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and From Hell. I’m going to add that, just because it’s me, my rendition of The Between will probably also borrow liberally from the works of William Shakespeare. I know me.

The Between’s mechanics are based on Apocalypse World and Brindlewood Bay. If you have never heard of those games, don’t worry. We will get into it.

I also wanna mention that a brand new version of The Between was recently crowdfunded and should be coming out shortly. This new edition includes updates to the existing playbooks and threats, as well as brand new content and mechanics. I’ve been given access to some of the materials from the as-of-yet unreleased 2025 edition, and Jason Cordova has given me his blessing to use it in Shadows in the Smoke. So, in true gothic horror fashion, I have Frankensteined together my own version of the 2021 and 2025 editions of The Between. If we get access to more of the 2025 version I may start slowly incorporating it into our version of Victorian London. But for now, please enjoy this… 1.5 Edition, I suppose.

The aim of the characters in The Between is to keep London safe by investigating monstrous threats and learning how to stop them. Our aim as players is a little different. We are seeking to learn more about these characters’ mysterious pasts, as well as to paint a vivid pictures of Victorian-era London – a responsibility we all share.

Tone: the tone of The Between is dark, mysterious, and sensual. A little bit of levity or humor from time to time is okay and will eventually come up, but we should always strive to return to that dark, brooding place that the characters exist in.

And finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: subject matter. Buckle up, please. Murder, cannibalism, body horror, dark sexual themes, erotic sensuality, threats to animals and children, foul language, blasphemy, witchcraft, and defiling graves and corpses are all things that can and do come up frequently in this game. For those of you listening I will be putting content warnings in the episode descriptions of every episode. But in the interest of setting expectations right now, you should know that this game deals with dark and intense subject matter. So, we encourage you to listen with care.

Also, I want to tell you that even though this is a game set in a historical time period, we are not going to dwell on historical accuracy. We will do our best to represent the technology and culture of the era, but we are going to get some things wrong every now and then. Mainly, I’m going to get some things wrong every now and then, and that’s fine.

The other thing I wanna say about that is that during this time period, people with marginalized identities would likely have been treated very poorly in society, and we are going to ignore that specific part of history. In the world of The Between, in our version of Victorian-era London, things like race, nationality, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, and neurodivergence are not social barriers.

Your characters, the hunters, are the current residents in a place called Hargrave House. Hargrave House is a mansion on Belgrave Square in London. The people who live there share the common goal of defending the city from whatever dark forces are lurking in its shadows, be it monster or murderer. Hargrave House operates outside of official channels, frequently tackling cases that Scotland Yard can’t or won’t. Importantly, Hargrave House existed long before the characters took up residence there, and previous residents were doing much the same work. By the time that we join your characters, you have already been living and working together for a time. We don’t dwell on how your characters came to live at Hargrave House, nor do we really care about who owns or funds Hargrave House. We might learn more about those things in the future, but for now, Hargrave House just… is.

Character creation in The Between is very simple. This first round, I would like to go around and have you all introduce your characters.

Cassandra
Hello, my name is Ena Thanero, and I am playing the playbook The Undeniable.

[a Chopin Nocturne plays]

My look is olive skin, turquoise green and blue eyes with flecks of gold that truly appear metallic. Long black wavy hair that hits mid-back. The quintessential reinventor of self, I sit on the forefront of fashion, playing with gender however I see fit. Extravagantly wealthy, I spare no expense on anything my heart desires. I wear a velvet navy, almost black, waist coast, with a small ruffled bustle in the back. There is a wrapped gold cord around one shoulder that has just the slightest air of military decoration. I wear a black waist nipper and white collared shirt. I wear matching velvet navy (again, almost blacks) slacks and a sensible black leather loafer with golden shields adorning the tops. This same shield can be found on my black top hat, coupled with an olive branch and navy blue ribbon. I wear a small pair of circular sunglasses.

My stats: I have a 1 in Vitality, a 1 in Composure, a -1 in Reason, a 2 in Presence, and a 0 in Sensitvity.

For my playbook, I have the move The Reflection. Somewhere in London, hidden from the world, is a masterwork created in my image and otherwise inspired by my beauty. It is guarded by a cult dedicated to my worship. And what this portrait is, is a portrait painted by a young John William Waterhouse.

It has been speculated that after a chance meeting with Ena as a young boy, John was forever changed and began his artistic pursuits in the hopes of creating his masterwork in her image. He began bringing to life scenes from ancient mythology, and in 1865, created The Mistress. This painting features Ena on a pedestal, surrounded by Greek columns, almost as if she were a statue on display. The sky behind her is a stunning, unearthly blue, with dark clouds playing at the edges of the scene. She is wrapped in a billowing ribbon of silk, wrapped with a gold cord at her waist. In her right hand she holds a magnificent golden shield. Her left hand reaches to the heavens. The movement of her silk garment provides the energy of water. And while it is only a painting, there is an ominous sense that the water is alive. The water is light, almost crystal clear at the top of the garment. Calm, tranquil. But as it descends down her body, the color changes and gives the energy of crashing ocean waves during a storm. The fabric pools below her feet and folds, giving the appearance of angry white caps. It feels as though this part of the fabric is reaching toward her, hoping to envelope her under the waves.

Kim
That was a lovely description of the portrait.

Cassandra
Thank you.

Kim
But there is one more question: how do your worshippers demonstrate they are unworthy to look upon such a portrait?

Cassandra
Oh yes, that wonderful bit of information. So the worshippers in my cult, followers are all men. Leadership positions are only held by women. Should a worshipper decide to shed their earthly responsibilities and live in service to the Mistress, they are permitted to look upon the masterwork. After seeing it, they must gauge out their own eyes, for they have seen all the beauty worth beholding in this earthly realm.

T.
[Laughs]

Kim
Yes! [Laughs]

Natalia
Damn, dude.

T.
[Shudders]

Cassandra
[Shudders as well, then laughs]

T.
There was a part of me that was like, “What is shedding your worldly responsibilities code for, for men in Victorian England?” And then eyes, and I was like, “No, that’s… That’s better. That’s worse.” 

Cassandra
[Laughs] It’s so much worse.

T.
It’s so much worse. It’s so much better.

Cassandra
The masterwork will gradually degrade so that I can remain young and beautiful, and will bear the scars that my evil acts would otherwise leave upon my soul. Whenever I scar my reflection, either as a result of a move or because the Keeper said to, I will mark a box and describe how the masterwork has changed for the worse.

My other move (I thought this one was particularly delightful) is a move called Taketh Away. When I destroy a Side Character physically, spiritually, or socially, I will describe how it makes me feel, I will scar my Reflection, and roll with Vitality. On a 10+ I will choose two of the following. On a 7-9 I will choose one. If a Side Character is a worshipper, there is no need to roll, and I will get to choose three. So I can clear any Condition I wish, including Most Beloved. My next roll can be taken with advantage. I can take something from my victim and add it to my Personal Quarters. And there are no long term consequences to my actions.  

[Everyone laughs]

Natalia
Slay.

Cassandra
Excellent.

Kim
And finally your vice, please.

Cass
Oh, my vice. My vice is comforting the dying. I comfort the dying not for their benefit but for mine. I have a morbid curiosity about death, having never experienced it myself. This is moreso a moment to see the light leave one’s eyes.

T.
You know, if they still have them.

[Laughter]

Cass
You right.

Kim
Let’s hear from Natalia, please.

Natalia
I will be playing as Maesie Douglas with the playbook of The Selkie. Which, for those who do not know, is a creature of Scottish folklore that is a woman who dons the pelt of a seal and turns into a seal and becomes a seal. And gets to swim and do whatnot, as a seal. Is that clear?

T.
[Laughs]

Kim
Seal lady!

Natalia
Seal lady!

[Harp music]

Maesie Douglas is wild and carefree, in the sense that she cares very much about a lot of things, just not what you think about her. She is ripely 17 years of age. She’s about 5’3” with a muscular build and an inexhaustible sense of curiosity. She has full, long, curly brown hair that she never ties back, letting it flow across her back and her shoulders, letting it lift with the wind. Her eyes are dark brown, almost black. If you’ve ever seen a seal, that’s kind of what their eyes look like. And they dwarf her petite nose and her rosy lips. Her skin is fair but sun tanned and freckled from many years at sea, but it’s usually very well hidden underneath a white blouse and a long blue tartan skirt – which is obviously the Douglas tartan. This is a new thing for her, because she is very used to not wearing anything when she’s with her selkie folk. But in Victorian society, it’s kind of frowned upon.

Kim
[Laughs]

Natalia
She tends to pair her outfit with brown lace up boots, but she does take those off at every opportunity that she can to be barefoot, because that’s sometimes moderately okay. She wears small golden hoop earrings that decorate her dainty earlobes and a locket sits on her sternum. Her style rarely changes day to day, but every once in a while she will put on trousers and marvel at having two separate legs. Particularly to take part in her vice: going dancing. The one thing that reminds her of frolicking in the sea with her family.

My ability scores stand at 1 for Vitality, 0 for Composure, 1 for Reason, 0 for Presence, and 1 for Sensitivity.

I begin with two moves. The first is Severed from the Sea. The person who stole my pelt managed to damage it, curse it, or otherwise heavily restrict its use. In my case it is torn and ragged, as if cut with a knife. It’s actually in two separate pieces that I am incapable of rejoining, no matter how much I try. When I try to repair the pelt using knowledge gained from a move, I mark a box on my sheet and describe how I use this newfound information to repair the damaged coat. When all the boxes are marked my pelt is completely repaired, and I can safely stay in my seal form indefinitely. However, the strange magic needed to restore my connection to the sea has altered my pelt, and me, greatly. We’ll get into what happens when I do restore it, once I have.

And then my second move is Moonlight Upon the Waves. The darkness is fair safer for London’s animal life, and I am no exception. During the Dusk Phase, I can invoke Moonlight Upon the Waves, and at the start of the Night Phase I put on my pelt and take to London’s waters in the form of a seal. While transformed I can speak with the watery creatures lurking in the city’s rivers and canals, and I can take actions reasonable of a very intelligent and crafty seal.

[Kim and T. laugh]

Natalia
Which is what I am, don’t laugh at me!

Kim
I love that sentence!

T.
You know, flop. Lay.

Natalia
I just come out and I’m like, seal. [Barks like a seal]

T.
Honk horn.

Kim
She’s a very smart seal.

Natalia
I get to choose two boons and one complication from the list below, and during the Dawn Phase I am forced to return to my human form. So the boons I get to choose from are: I find a Clue, the Keeper will describe what it is. I find a keepsake, I ask another hunter what it is and add it to my Personal Quarters. I clear one physical condition. Or, I repair the pelt with the help of a relative. The complications I can choose from are: a Side Character notices me and I take the condition Marked By [name of the Side Character] . A creature of the deep demands a favor in return for their help. I attract the attention of a Danger. Or I gain the Condition: Sea Longing.

Kim
She is baby.

Cass
She is absolutely baby.

T.
She’s so baby.

Natalia
She is baby.

Kim
Thank you, Miss Douglas. Robert please, let’s hear from your character.

[Droning fiddle music]

Robert
Morgan Lloyd is a slight man at 5’5” and 9 stone. He’s in his mid-twenties with a mop of wavy brown dark hair, usually hidden behind a beaten up flat cap or bowler. The type who’d easily blend into the city streets. Not exactly handsome, but has a sparkle that shines through his crooked smile and green stone eyes. His clothes are the worn, patched twill and cotton and broadcloth of the working class, just barely covering up what appears to be sailors’ tattoos across his chest and arms. Slightly baggy trousers tucked into thick hobnail boots, perfect to conceal a small blade. Morgan’s one touch of extravagance is the silver rings that he wears on several fingers, keeps well polished. The smell of smoke seems to linger around him. Though whether it’s the acrid scent of coal, the warmth of wood, or the sickly sweet of opium, it’s constantly shifting. Known as Rabbit to his friends, he is one of the cunning folk and is known to be able to get whatever one might need.

Morgan is The Vessel, and his stats are Vitality -1, Composure 0, Reason 1, Presence 1, and Sensitivity 2.

His starting move is Rites of Salt and Smoke. You are skilled at contacting dark entities in order to perform magical rituals. For his specific rituals, they require blood sacrifice. When you give offerings to the dark entities that are always lingering in your peripheral vision, roll with Sensitivity. On a 10+, the magic works without further cost: choose your effect. On a 7-9, the magic works imperfectly: choose your effect and a complication. The effects are: do one thing that is beyond human limitations, bar a place or portal to a specific person or creature, trap a specific person or creature, banish a spirit or curse from the person, object, or place it inhabits, communicate with something you do not share a language with, or observe another place or time. The possible complications are the effect is less than you wanted, the effect is short lived, you take a Condition – the Keeper will tell you what, the magic draws unwanted attention, or the magic has a problematic side effect. On the rare instance of a 12+, you can unmark The Cosmic Passage if it is marked. If you do so, increase your Reason by 2 but leave your Sensitivity the same. Ignore this result if your Sensitivity is 3.

Kim
What is The Cosmic Passage, you may ask? We will get into it later.

Robert
And for my second power I chose the Witch’s Cupboard. You have a cupboard in Hargrave House containing supplies needed for rituals and remedies. When you take this move circle three or write your own, and add them to your Personal Quarters. The cupboard can be used five additional times, by you or another hunter. When a hunter searches the cupboard for something to help them with a ritual, they can circle one or make up their own and add it to their Personal Quarters. I have chosen lavender ash, charcoal sticks, and frankincense.

Kim
Speaking of, what is your vice, Mr. Lloyd?

Robert
Yes, speaking of smoky, Mr. Lloyd’s vice is opium.

Kim.
Thank you, Mr. Lloyd. T., please. Let’s meet your character.

T.
I’ll be playing a Barbarian. I mean, an American.

[Somber guitar music]

Born December 2nd, 1823, the same day President Monroe gave his speech saying America was to be left to Americans, “One Shot” John is a white man in his mid to late 40s, whose weatherworn skin reflects a life of hard living on the open road of the untamed west. Despite his proclivities in his youth to sleep out of doors, he is a downright fashionable, but by no means gaudy, man. His slightly too long for the fashion ink-black hair is kept slicked back out of his face, and he sports a trim pencil mustache. Typically wears a dark pinstriped suit and waistcoat, accenting it with a flamboyant bowtie and corresponding silk handkerchief of exuberant color. Plum, emerald, saffron and the like. But despite society’s snubs, his worn boots always betray his tendency toward travel. When it comes to the feet, Mr. John would rather be comfortable than spic and span. His resting expression is severe, and he is accustomed to little shuteye and frequent looking over his shoulder. If we were to see him without his shirt on, we would see a lattice work of scars, each of which comes with an outlandish story he is all too happy to retell – especially after he’s spent himself in the embrace of a dollymop. On his 37th birthday he set aboard a steamer eastbound for the green and pleasant land, and quickly fell into the more shadowy side of the town they call The Smoke.

As an American, I live with a curse that causes me to become savage, even feral, to the point where my body physically changes. At the start of the Dusk Phase I roll with Composure or Sensitivity, both of which are 0 for me. On a 10+, my body is stronger and faster and I manage to keep the Quickening in check. I roll with advantage when taking actions that use Vitality until the next Dawn Phase. On a 7-9 I manage to keep the Quickening in check, but just barely, and I take the Condition: Drained. And on a miss, I’m going to lose control. But we’ll get to that when we get to that.

To go over my stats: double down – Vitality is 2, Composure is 0, Reason is 0, Presence is 1, and Sensitivity is 0.

For his vice, Mr. John prefers prairie nymphs, soiled doves, and other ladies of the evening that made that essential contribution to the settlement of the West. Or in more common vernacular: prostitutes.

My second move is As Cruel as the Harlot’s Curse. When I indulge in my vice, alone, in the dark and seedy underbelly of London in order to deaden my senses, I roll Vitality. On a hit, I clear a Condition and choose something from the list below. And on a 10+ I get to choose 2. That list is I don’t draw any unwanted attention, I befriend a Side Character, gain some resistance to my curse and increase my success tier by one step on my next Quickening roll, or I stumble on a Clue – I tell Kim what it is, and that clue cannot conclusively answer a question by itself. On a 12+ I take a memento. I’ll ask another hunter what it is and then put it into my Personal Quarters.

Kim
Thank you, Mr. John. And thank you, hunters. Now we’re gonna go to step two of character creation. We’re gonna go back around the circle in the same order we did before, and I’d like each of you to read the italicized flavor text that is at the top of your character sheets. As you are doing that, we are all going to go around, including me, and think of one item that might be in your character’s Personal Quarters.

So Personal Quarters in this game are kind of like your inventory or your equipment list. In play, they are used to, as long as you can narratively invoke one of the items in your Personal Quarters, you can mark it, which means it cannot be used again, and then you can use that Personal Quarters item to give you advantage on a roll. Or, to counteract disadvantage that I may give you due to certain narrative reasons.

I should say that when a Personal Quarters item is marked, it doesn’t mean that it is destroyed or that you no longer have it. That item or resource still exists in the fiction and can be used to help justify an action that you’re undertaking. It just means that because it is marked, it can no longer give you advantage on a roll again.

So, let’s hear from Miss Thanero.

Cass
You have always been the most beautiful person in the room. Your looks have opened doors for you for as long as you can remember. All the money and material things anyone could want, laid at your feet. Artists have found inspiration in the brightness of your eyes, the delicate curve of your cheekbones, the plump softness of your lips. One such artistic work, a masterwork, rises above them all. For it captures the essence of you. It is, quite simply, more you than you. Lately, people sacrifice everything to be near you. To please you, and if they’re lucky, to touch you. But what to do when you get bored with being one of the gods?

Kim
So what do we think might be in Miss Thanero’s no doubt splendidly decorated, sumptuous rooms at Hargrave House?

T.
Let’s say a gold medallion, which serves as a membership token to a secret club called Tyrnavos-upon-Thames. A chthonic society, underground mystery kind of thing.

Robert
I think she would have a handful of coins from a forgotten, ancient civilization.

Natalia
I think Ena would have an artists’ sketchbook filled with different depictions of her.

Cass
I like that.

Kim
Miss Thanero, I would like to give you a box. Inside of which is the heart of a former lover who carved it out at your command.

Cass
Very me.

T.
Gouging out eyes, carving out hearts.

Natalia
I sense a theme.

Cass
Yeah, right?

Kim
She’s girlbossing all over London.

Cass
[Laughs] Not the 1860s girlbossing.

Kim
[Laughs]

T.
[Laughs] Girlboss, Gatekeep, Gouge out.

[Riotous laughter]

Cass
Oh no…

Natalia
Oh gosh.

Kim
[As laughter subsides] Oh… Miss Douglas, please.

Natalia
You are not human, though you certainly look the part. You are a selkie, a seal-like shapechanger born to crashing waves and salty air. Clever and curious, you left the ocean for the surface world, delighting in what the land had to offer. Then you met a thief who stole first your trust, and then your pelt – the very thing that lets you swim the oceans surrounding Great Britain. For months, even years, you languished under them. You eventually escaped, but that dastardly individual had one last trick up their sleeve: your pelt, your beautiful second skin is damaged, and only you can repair it. Hargrave House is sheltering you while you help them with the dark work they do, but it is a tenuous agreement. You refuse to be controlled again, no matter the cost.

Kim
Thank you, Miss Douglas. What do we imagine might be in Miss Douglas’s rooms at Hargrave House?

Robert
I think she has a keepsake locket. But rather than a cameo inside, there’s a shark’s tooth.

Cass
I’m gonna say an old fisherman’s net that’s just tangled with fishbones.

T.
I like the sea theme a lot.

Cass
Very nautical.

T.
But she’s so baby. How about the flag of a Viking warship, but you use it as blankie. It’s like your childhood blankie.

Natalia
I love that so much.

Cass
She’s so baby.

Kim
Baby! I’m gonna stick with the nautical theme. I’m gonna give you a conch shell where if you hold it up to your ear, you can actually hear the ocean. It’s like an enchanted conch shell.

T.
Oh, cool.

Natalia
Ugh, the sea longing is too much!

Kim
Yeah. [Laughs]

Cass
Helps her sleep.

T.
She’s a little seal girl living in the real world.

Natalia
Oh my god, yeah, it’s my little white noise machine that I just put next to my bed at night and I wrap myself in my blanket.

Cass
She’s so baby! Love her.

T.
Who among has not curled up with just a hard shell pressed up against their ear?

Natalia
Yeah, no. It’s so comfy.

Kim
It’s a Squishmallow. It’s a conch shell…

[T. and Natalia laugh]

Cass
Oh my god, not the Squishmallow…

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, if you will.

Robert
For as long as you can remember, dark entities have been near. They lurk just inside your peripheral vision, just at the mirror’s edge. When you close your eyes, you can actually feel them. Their cold breath, their oily touch, an occasional feverish embrace. They want to be inside you. They want to rub against your guts and deposit their power. Others are drawn to you as well, those that would master these dark things in order to serve their own agenda. Some of these interlopers, these usurpers, can be of use – such as the hunters with whom you share a home. Others, like the Coven, are best avoided. In either case, you are no one’s object, tool, or weapon. You are no mere bystander. Your fate is yours to shape.

Kim
Thank you, Mr. Lloyd. What do we imagine might be in his Personal Quarters?

Natalia
I think Mr. Lloyd absolutely has a candle that lights of its own volition when dark forces and creatures and things are nearby.

T.
How about a broken hand mirror that rumor has it once belonged to Richard II?

Kim
Oh, I love that.

T.
I can Shakespeare.

[Kim and Natalia laugh]

Cass
I’m gonna say a lucky rabbit’s foot.

T.
Aww, like his nickname.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, I wanna give you a set of tarot cards, but every card in the deck is the same card. Uh, I’m trying to think of what would be a good card. Do you have one?

Robert
Do you want me to tell you now, or do you want me to hold on until I use it?

T.
Now.

Kim
Now. Tell me now, I want instant gratification.

Robert
The High Priestess.

T.
Kinky.

Kim
Oh! Interesting. The seer of hidden things. Representing the Third Eye, the sort of shadow realm. Interesting.

Natalia
A tarot reading from this deck would be so fun.

[All laugh]

Robert
Well, let’s see. You’ve got the High Priestess, the High Priestess, and the High Priestess…

Kim
Finally, let’s hear from Mr. John, our American.

T.
You grew up in a big city on the Eastern seaboard of the United States, the scion of a prominent family. But you detested that life, the formality, the pretension, the venomous hypocrisy. And so you went West. You had adventures, got good with a gun, even joined a traveling show for a time. But then came the curse, and everything changed. You did your best to control it, and some nights were definitely worse than others, but eventually it got to be too much. Even your days were affected by the changes within you. Your behavior became reckless and unpredictable. And then you had to run, far away. In the end, it was London calling. A thick, throbbing mass of humanity in which to lose yourself. The whole world and all its lovely pleasures right within your grasp. But the curse has found you, like it always does. Hopefully these new folks, these hunters you’ve thrown in with, can help you – help you for good, permanent-like – when the time comes.

Kim
So what do we think belong in the rooms of Mr. John?

Cass
Well speaking of, like, throbbing masses…

Kim
[Clutches pearls and shrieks]

T.
Uh-huh. Go on.

Cass
I think I’m going to give you a decadent, like rich, high quality, silk scarf. With the caveat that it is used as a gag.

T.
[Laughs]

Kim
Yes.

T.
Word. Thank you, High Priestess.

Cass
You’re welcome

[Laughter]

Cass
We love a callback, early on. Let’s go.

Robert
On the other end of things, I’m going to give you a set of knuckle dusters that are plated silver.

T.
Not the other end of things I was thinking of, but yes.

Kim
Yeah, I was like… Robert, my mother does listen to this.

Cass
Hi, mom.

Robert
Hi, Janet.

Kim
Hi, Janet.

T.
Hi, Janet.

Cass
Love you.

Natalia
Well I’m gonna give you a weapon to hold in your other hand. A dagger with an ivory handle, but it comes with a thigh holster. So you don’t have to hold it if you don’t need to.

T.
Sure. Is that nature’s thigh holster, or one that…

Kim
Stop!

[Laughter]

T.
Sorry. Hi, Janet!

Cass
You’re gonna kill Kim. We’re like 50 minutes in. Kim’s like, “Y’all gotta stop this. You can’t be this horny right out the gate.”

Kim
[Defeated] No, you can.

Natalia
What else is this game for?

Kim
I know the people that I assembled. I know who I am.

T.
Robert’s description says they long to be inside you, okay?

Kim
Yeah, I know. I know…

Robert
Rubbing against my guts.

Kim
And depositing their power. Mmhmm. This is a horny game. I mean, at least we’re setting the correct expectations, here. If you’ve listened this far and you’re still good with it? Proceed, I suppose.

Cass
Strap in.

Natalia
Strap in, folks.

T.
Strap on, folks.

Kim
Stop!

Cass
[Laughs] Good thing you noted the levity that was gonna come in, because here it is.

Kim
Yeah.

T.
It’ll all be turned against us.

Kim
Enjoy your levity now, hunters. Uh, Mr. John, I would like to give you a gold pocket watch that has an inscription on the back.

T.
Ooh.

Kim
What that is, you may determine at your leisure.

T.
I have one, if we wanna…

Kim
Yeah! Yes. Tell me.

T.
I think it says, “Something to depend on in inconstant times.” And then there’s initials.

Kim
Love it. Well thank you, hunters. I have learned so much about all of you. And now, no more. An important part of The Between is that your characters are to remain mysterious. We should avoid talking about their pasts, both in and out of character, unless we are prompted to by the game’s rules. The reason why we do that is because there are some really neat mechanics in The Between that let you narrate flashbacks or talk freely about your backstory, so we wanna hold onto all of those juicy details until those opportunities present themselves in play.

So, how do we play The Between? The Between is divided up into four different phases of play. These phases are the Dawn Phase, the Day Phase, the Dusk Phase, and the Night Phase. The Dawn Phase and the Dusk Phase are more out of character, character upkeep phases. The main roleplaying and dice rolling will be taking place during Day and Night. We are technically in the Dawn Phase right now, so I would like to address the last part of character creation, which is your Dawn Questions.

You will notice that on your character sheet there are a list of questions called Dawn Questions. The first three of those are the same for every playbook. They are: Did the hunters answer a Question? Did the hunters resolve a Threat? And did the hunters experience an Echo in the Night? Those are all terms that we will get more into over the next couple of episodes. But, the next Dawn Questions are unique to each playbook. Basically, by the time we get to the end of a full cycle of play – we’ve gone through Day, Dusk, and Night, and have come back to the Dawn – I will ask you all of these Dawn Questions. If you can answer “yes” to a Dawn Question, you get a point of experience. One experience point for every “yes” that you can answer from your Dawn Questions. When you have accumulated six points of experience, you get to level up and mark an advancement. So, your Dawn Questions are roleplay goals. Things that you think that your character might be able to accomplish over the upcoming cycle of play, or just things you’d like to manifest and see happen during the next cycle of play. So I would like you all to mark two Dawn Questions right now.

Cass
I think I’m going to go with, “Did you express a clear preference for the beautiful over the mundane?” And then, of course, “Did you appear in London society wearing risque or avant-garde fashion?”

Kim
Yes, we need the fashion report.

Cass
Absolutely. Fit check is important.

Natalia
Fit. Check.

Kim
Fit check.

T.
Fit check!

Cass
We’re gonna do it, guys. Every day.

Natalia
I can’t wait. I’m so excited.

Cass
[Laughs]

Natalia
I’m gonna add, “Did you assert your independence or stand up for yourself?” and, “Did you subtly or not so subtly invoke your oceanic heritage or you love for the sea?”

Robert
As tempting as it would be for me to take both, “Did you make love to a human?” and “Did you make love to a dark entity?” I feel like I’ve gotta save something for a little bit later in the game.

Cass
I mean, your name is Rabbit. I’m just saying.

[Laughter]

Kim
Stop!

Natalia
How do you think he got the reputation?

Robert
So instead, I think I’m gonna go with, “Did you have a face to face encounter with a dark entity?” and “Did you perform a ritual?”

T.
“Did you use violence to solve a problem?” I think is gonna be my bread and butter.

Kim
[Laughs]

T.
But also… Uh, I’ll also wait for Janet. “Did you share a treasured memory from the States during an intimate moment” – could be anything – “with another character?”

Kim
Fantastic.

T.
I’ll save the raw, passionate, sexual encounters for later.

Kim
So, when we get to the Day Phase, which will be the next episode, I will start that phase by introducing a Threat. Some sort of monster or murderer that is threatening London, and I will charge you, Hargrave House, with dealing with it. You resolve Threats by answering Questions that are associated with each Threat. The questions range, depending on the Threat that is currently active. They could be, “Where is the killer’s lair?” “Is this a legitimate monster at all?” – or is it someone in a Scooby Doo-esque suit, etc…

[Everyone laughs]

Kim
Prepare yourselves, that’s an actual question!

Natalia
Oh, there better be some Scooby Doo-ing.

Cass
Oh man, that one’s gonna be great.

T.
Meddling kids, stupid dogs…

Natalia
And a seal.

[Laughter]

Kim
We answer those Questions by roaming about London, investigating crime scenes, talking to Side Characters, performing magic rituals, whatever you would like to do, and gathering Clues – capital “C” Clues.

This game is based upon the Brindlewood Bay mystery system, so it is considered to be a game that is “Carved from Brindlewood”. And Carved from Brindlewood games are unique in that, unlike other mystery games you may have played or listened to in the past, I, the Keeper, do not know the answers to any of these questions. There is no canon answer to the question “Where is the vampire’s lair?” or, “What is the fairy’s true name?” Instead, we come up with those solutions together. How we do that is by taking the Clues that you have gathered during your investigations and using them to help justify an answer to the Question that we all think is satisfying and makes sense. And then we make a dice roll, using a move appropriately called Answer a Question. If that roll is successful, we are correct. The answer is true, and we have unlocked the opportunity to put a stop to that Threat. If the roll is a failure, then unfortunately you all were pursuing a red herring. I get to make a hard move against you, and you will need to try again and use those Clues to answer the question in a brand new way.

We’ve talked about the Answer a Question move. Let’s go ahead and talk about some of the other Basic Moves in the game, as well as how we roll dice in this game.

The Between is what is considered a Powered by the Apocalypse, or PbtA game. And PbtA games all share a dice mechanic that was first introduced in a ttrpg called Apocalypse World – hence the name Powered by the Apocalypse. The dice mechanic is as follows: when I ask you to make a roll, you roll two six-sided die plus a relevant stat, which usually ranges from +3 to -3. A total result of a 6 or below is considered abject failure. What you tried to do was unsuccessful, and something bad is about to happen. A result of 7 to 9 is considered a mixed success. You will basically accomplish what you have set out to do, but I will usually present some sort of complication or difficult choice you must make. A result of 10 or above is a success. And a result of 12 or above is considered a critical success – not only do you do what you set out to do, I also give you a little something extra.

There are five stats in this game: Vitality, Composure, Reason, Presence, and Sensitivity. I will ask you to roll with Vitality if the action you are undertaking involves your physical body in any way. This could be acts of endurance, this could be starting fights, this could be shooting things. Composure is going to be used if you are trying to maintain a level head and keep calm under pressure. It’s also what I will invoke if you are trying to resist being frightened by something. We are going to roll with Reason when we are engaging our mind, whether that is conducting research or examining crime scenes. I’m going to ask for Presence rolls when you are interacting with Side Characters – seducing them, convincing them, lying to them, or otherwise trying to capture their attention. And I will ask for Sensitivity rolls when you are trying to engage with the supernatural in any way.

More often than not, we are going to be rolling those stats because I have asked you to roll one of the basic moves in The Between. Two such basic moves that we will be rolling with some frequency are the Day Move and the Night Move. If you are about to do something that seems risky or you are facing something you fear, I will ask you to roll either the Day or the Night move, and you will roll 2d6 plus whatever stat I think makes the most sense, given the situation and how you are approaching it. Both moves read extremely similarly – the Night Move is just a little riskier and more dangerous than the Day Move because the hunters are usually in more perilous situations when we are in the darker, shadowier corners of London.

Generally speaking, if you are doing something risky during the Day Phase it’s the Day Move, and vice versa with the Night Move, but it’s actually slightly more nuanced than that. If you’re doing something extraordinarily risky during the day – for instance, trying to sneak into a vampire’s lair. That instantly triggers the Night Move, even if it happens to be at nine in the morning. Similarly, maybe you spend your Night Phase at a party and are among friends. Any rolls taken during that scene would probably be the Day Move, because the situation isn’t very dangerous.

The other move you will be rolling with some frequency is the Information Move. This is going to be how you gather capital “C” Clues in this game. And similarly, it’s going to be with 2d6 plus a relevant stat, depending on how you are trying to gather those Clues. A result between 7 and 10+ is going to get you a Clue. A result of 12+ is going to give you not only a Clue for a threat, but also something extra. It will give you a Mastermind Clue. We will find out a little bit more about the Mastermind as they reveal themselves during play, but at least for right now let me tell you that while I play everyone and anyone that you will meet on the streets of London, the Mastermind is my character. I can’t wait for you to meet them. But soon. Soon, soon, soon.

The last little sections of your character sheet that I wanna talk about in this episode are your Conditions and your Masks. So, Conditions are three cute little lines on your character sheet. Basically whenever I please, but it’s usually due to the result of a mixed success or a failure, I as the Keeper can choose to give your character a Condition. And you will write it down on one of the three available lines on your character sheet. I can then use those Conditions, if fictionally appropriate, to force you to make any roll at disadvantage. Hence why using your Personal Quarters items could be advantageous to you. If you have three Conditions already on your character sheet and I ask you to take another one, you are forced to what is called “put on a mask.”

So let’s talk about Masks in this game. Also on your character sheet are two sections called Masks of the Past and Masks of the Future. If, at any point, dice hit the table and the result is not what you want – either it’s a failure and you’d like it to be a mixed success, a mixed success and you’d like it to be a full success, or even a full success and you’d like to nudge it just that bit more and make it a 12+ -- you can always choose to put on a mask. And you can decide between Masks of the Past and Masks of the Future. Masks of the Past you must mark in order, and each one will ask you to narrate a little bit of your character’s backstory before they arrived in Hargrave House.

Masks of the Future are a little different. There are five of them. They are The Gilded Door, the Moss-Covered Gate, The Darkened Threshold, The Cosmic Passage, and the Blood-Soaked Portal. Each one does something a little different. Some of them may ask you to change stats, some of them may give you permanent Conditions that are very difficult to clear, some of them might introduce brand new Threats to this game, and one of them – The Blood-Soaked Portal – will cause you to violently retire your character on the spot. So I would recommend that you probably mark that one last.

T.
It's the “you’ve painted yourself into a corner” move.

Kim
Yes, exactly! Exactly. But, yeah. So I want you think of Conditions and Masks a little bit like your health track. Your Conditions are kind of like your current Hit Point level, but your Masks are your character’s longevity in this game. If you start marking a bunch of your masks, you are getting ever so much closer to retiring your character, because you are going to find yourself in a situation where you have rolled a failure and your life is on the line, and you have no mask available to bump up that roll.

T.
I have a question, if it might…

Kim
Yeah, absolutely.

T.
So, like. I notice with like, it says, at The Gilded Door, you can take the Condition: Most Beloved. Now that sounds nice, to me.

Kim
Yeah.

T.
To be beloved, the most.

Kim
Yeah.

T.
Does that mean – so they’re not… Conditions aren’t inherently negative, but racking up a bunch of them kind of forces you toward retirement?

Kim
Let’s talk about Most Beloved, and maybe that’ll help answer this question.

T.
Okay. Oh, no.

Kim
Most Beloved is a great Condition. Most Beloved is a permanent Condition, unless you happen to be The Undeniable. The Undeniable has a way they can clear Most Beloved, but everyone else just gets to keep it for the entire rest of your game. So not only is it inconvenient, in that it occupies one of your very limited roster of Conditions. If you take that, you can now only take two Conditions before you are forced to mark Masks. But also Most Beloved means that the Threats that are plaguing London are particularly interested in you.

T.
Oh, word.

Kim
There are some Threats in this game that have specific interactions if a character in play is marked as Most Beloved. So, yes. You are not only admired by the passersby, you are admired maybe not in a good way by some really scary things out there.

T.
Cool, so it’s code for supernatural stalking. Great. Cool. Great.

Kim
Indeed! [Laughs]

T.
Good. Alright. Question redacted.

Cass
[Laughs] I wish I had not asked.

[Shadows in the Smoke theme]

Kim
Shadows in the Smoke is a Kitten Marlowe production. This episode was edited and produced by Kim Dalton, and featured a theme song by Jake Pierle. You can find out more about us by visiting KittenMarlowe.com, signing up for our newsletter, or following us on socials. For Discord access, a behind-the-scenes show, and more visit Patreon.com/KittenMarlowe and join Joshua Pierce, Mary Bell, Penguins are the Best, and Rebecca Hall in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.