Honor’s Fall isn’t just our game of the year, it’s also the most important event of the year in character as well. From sunset to sunrise, the people of Requiem hunt each other and settle scores - but how are you supposed to play this?
We wanted to set expectations for in-character behavior and talk about what we’re doing this year to encourage it. So please bookmark this announcement and revisit it as you make plans for what you’re doing Saturday night at Honor’s Fall.
What We Learned
What we, the staff, want Honor’s Fall to be is a cloak-and-dagger, high-stakes game of assassinations and escapes. Requiem was founded by criminals and has a long history with Murder Inc… we want the focus to be on sneaking around, ambushes, and cunning. We want you all to get ready to skulk around Requiem in small groups, watching out for your enemies, and looking for heads to collect.
However, Dystopia Rising is a game, and games sometimes have optimal strategies. In the past, we learned there are two in-character strategies that work really well:
Hang out in a large group and wait for the NPCs to come to you.
Stay in disguise or unseen most of the night, and use all your abilities to escape if need be.
These are great ideas! But this year we’re making a couple of changes to how Honor’s Fall is run to help it run more in line with its original vision.
Also, we know it’s hard for visitors to get involved in a very Requiem-specific event. So as we introduce these changes, we want to also create a way for everyone to feel like they have something to do after sunset.
What’s Not Changing
There aren’t any fundamental changes to Honor’s Fall. You’ll still have some of the large combats you’ve seen in years past (like the Boon-Helm or Zodiac). You’ll still have the politics you’ve come to expect and a full night of violence. All we’re trying to do is incentivize players to spread out in small groups as they hunt. For many, you might not immediately notice the changes.
Change 1: Getting A Head
We’re introducing an important change to head-hunting at Honor’s Fall:
If you use a Blood-Covered Artist Toolkit (Boon-Helm Rank 1 Item) or Trophy Hunter (an Early Bird Item) to take a head from a corpse, any attempt to prevent infection loss results in the trophy rotting away.
In other words, if you prevent infection loss, you don’t get a head.
This is going to make your job at Honor’s Fall more complicated. If someone uses Master Faithful Will on a body after you’ve collected a head, you might report to the Post Office for your trophy only to find it’s disintegrated. However, if you remain with the body until it sinks (or use a recently redesigned augment) you can ensure someone loses infection.
Change 2: It Starts At The Bacchanal
Honor’s Fall is supposed to be as much about politics as it is violence, but in years past, new players and travelers have had difficulty getting involved with the 13 Families. This year, we’re making sure that the high-ranking members of NPC Families are at the Bacchanal, with the explicit purpose of involving people who aren’t in Families.
How will we do this?
First, they’re going to be hiring mercenaries. You can expect Family Heads not only to look for protection but also “head-hunters.” We don’t want every traveler aligning with the PC Families - we want you working with all 13 Families, often at cross purposes. And so you have a starting place to negotiate… service during Honor’s Fall usually pays in favors (or, for exceptional circumstances, a Memento), not Wagers.
How do you know that the Families are going to keep their deals? There will be Consigliere Rovers at the Bacchanal, who are there to shake in deals. In Requiem, shaking with one of these individuals after a deal is recorded means that if the deal is broken, you can expect extreme consequences (see Change 3, below). Remember, only Consigliere Rovers can seal a deal, and it has to be written down and turned into the Post Office.
Finally, sometimes you really want a Family Head dead. If you have a Memento, you can challenge a Family Head to an Honor Duel over Honor’s Fall. You must negotiate with the Family Head the details (i.e. time, location, any rules), and you can expect them to offer specific terms (for example, most Family Heads will limit the number of fighters, as well as the equipment you’re allowed to use). However, there is a risk to this duel (besides the obvious risk that you might lose)... you have to make it to the duel. Other people (assassins) may intercept you or the Family Head you challenged, particularly if the Family Head believes they’re outclassed.
Bottom line: Honor’s Fall starts at the Bacchanal, and the deals you make there will determine how Saturday night will play out.
Change 3: If You Want A Head, You Have To Hunt Them
In the past, we wanted to make sure we brought the plot to the players, sending Family Heads to highly populated places like the Great Hall. This year, they’ll be more mobile, and likely avoid large groups. You might see Polaris or Zodiac surrounded by their forces, but they’ll be difficult targets, unlikely to fight to the death… they’ll instead flee or withdraw and make themselves more difficult targets.
If you want to get a head during Honor’s Fall, you’re going to have to hunt for them. Expect the NPCs to be played like PCs… and like PC Family Heads, they have to participate and can’t hide all night. But just like PCs, they’ll have skills and items that make them tough targets, and they’re not going to walk into the Great Hall just so people have a “shot at them.” In order to find them, you’ll have to be cunning and likely spread out: if you wait around, they’ll be dead before they get to you.
Also, some ground rules for PC Family Heads: these are the guidelines the High Lord Executioner and Tradition expect of you. There are no hard and fast consequences for failing to meet these expectations, but the political ramifications can be severe (particularly if your family is left without a head at the end of the night):
The Family Head has to participate in Honor’s Fall. This means that they can’t be disguised… they have to be visibly present.
Participation doesn’t mean trying to survive. It’s okay to run, hide, or bide your time, but Family Heads are also expected to hunt other Family Heads.
Remember, it’s not enough to participate… people have to see you participate. Preferably your enemies and not just your allies. If called to task by the High Lord Executioner, it’s not enough for your Family Members to say “They totally were there.” You’re a leader in the town, the entire town should be able to talk about something you did Saturday night.
Change 4: Murder Inc Members
Murder Inc is an inherently CvC organization in Requiem; even if you’re not an assassin, you’re still participating in a deadly game. Like any smart group of people, Murder Inc seeks to reduce the consequences of this game, often using skills like Master Faithful Will to negotiate willing deaths over risky assassinations. However, this is not our intention for Honor’s Fall… we want to see you all make hard choices, which is why we changed the rules on collecting heads. You can expect, in the future, when there’s a Murder Inc contract, it’ll be for a head (which means it’ll be for infection loss).
In addition, if someone breaks one of the deals sealed by a Consigliere Rover at the Bacchanal, you… Murder Inc… will hear about it. And you’ll be tasked with hunting that person down and collecting their head. The contract will be put out, and you’ll be expected to pursue it, and if you interfere you’ll likely be on the receiving end of very negative consequences.
We’re asking for our Murder Inc players to commit to the difficult choices that Honor’s Fall brings. The “Contractual Obligations” feature of Consigliere Rovers is part of our local setting, and we’re asking you to respect it as a professional, if not moral, imperative. Remember, it’s up to the staff if we deem a contract to be broken, and we’re asking for your support, as players, to steer into the conflict if it happens.