In our last game (still at Trud Gornyaka), Sergeant Nastya Primakova went to considerable lengths to get hold of a TT-30 pistol (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TT_pistol) of the sort the boys in the 218th Regiment are issued. (I realise that the Night Witches probably were issued with sidearms but my rule of thumb is that if a player wants something they have to earn it.)
As a result of a Scrounge roll, Nastya attracted unwanted attention and incurred a debt. She got the gun but at no small cost in personal dignity (in case you think I’m being coy, it involved sex) and this is likely to lead to further complications in later games.
However, It occurs to me that there is no particular mechanical benefit that comes from Nastya getting the gun. I realise that the fiction is the main thing to worry about but in mechanical terms a pistol or other piece of useful equipment does not do anything more for the character than having a gutsy attitude or a winning personality would, even though getting the gun came at a genuine (and ongoing) narrative and personal cost for the character. This wouldn’t be a big deal in a one-shot game but over the course of a campaign I like the idea that you can accrue useful gear (although I am mindful of not overdoing this). I also think there out to be a bit of “Chekhov’s gun” pay-off at work as well – Nastya got the gun so she ought to be able to make use of it in a way that can affect the game at a mechanical level.
So, I came up with the following rule for Nastya: “Hold one. When you use the TT-30 to threaten or intimidate someone as part of Acting Up like a hooligan, spend this hold to succeed as if you had rolled a 10+.”
As you can see, this is based on the Sparrow’s Ghost Move but made more specific and without any cost; I think the character has already paid the price for getting the gun and narratively there might be consequences for sticking a pistol in someone’s face anyway. I have attached a picture of a little card prop I made for the player as reminder to hold onto until she is ready to use it.
Any thoughts or comments are quite welcome.
Just a nitpick, she almost certaintly got a Tokarev TT-33 as very, very few TT-30 were produced & probably even less issued to any but test troops.
Furthermore, the picture you show is not an original TT-33 but one that was slightly modified (the big button between the grip & the slide lock lever) for the US commercial market to comply with the stupid & human rights infringing rules there.
Christoph Kohring Thanks for the technical advice, Christoph! I appreciate it.
My impulse would just be to go with the fiction. Having a gun opens up so many new opportunities and new troubles.
But as for your TT-30 move: It feels off to have more reliable access to the “ensure no consequences” outcome as part of having a gun. Guns escalate situations! And why only hold one?
(Also cheers to “if a player wants something they have to earn it.”)
Christoph Kohring Considering how ill equipped they were, I wouldn’t be surprised if they Night Witches were issued leftover M1895 revolvers.
John Aegard Good point about the ‘more reliable access to the “ensure no consequences” outcome’.
The hold one is meant to address that to some degree but also because it is meant to just be a little one-off bonus that will have a tangible (mechnical) effect – to underpin the fiction with something substantial as it were.
Basically, you get to wave the gun about one time and have it work for you. After that, the novelty has worn off and the consequences are there waiting for you as usual.
And I think it will be a TT-30 after all – I like the idea that the player ends up with something that has the prestige of a collector’s item but also the dubious quality of a museum piece.