Lady Blackbird is on the run from an arranged marriage to Count Carlowe. She hired a smuggler skyship, The Owl, to take her from her palace on the Imperial world of Ilysium to the far reaches of the Remnants, so she could be with her once secret lover: the pirate king Uriah Flint.
HOWEVER, just before reaching the halfway point of Haven, The Owl was pursued and captured by the Imperial cruiser Hand of Sorrow, under charges of flying a false flag.
EVEN NOW, Lady Blackbird, her bodyguard, and the crew of The Owl are detained in the brig, while the Imperial commander runs the smuggler ship’s registry over the wireless. It’s only a matter of time before they discover the outstanding warrants and learn that The Owl is owned by none other than the infamous outcast, Cyrus Vance.
How will Lady Blackbird and the others escape the Hand of Sorrow?
Play. And find out.
John Harper made a Roleplaying Game called “Lady Blackbird” back in 2010.
By the time I found out about the game it has already been four years. Practically speaking it is “old news” to the indie gamers, or at least it sounds like all the interesting variable plots have been “played out”. It’s hard enough for me to find the “right group” (with regard to attitude and commitment, etc.) to play story-games with, let alone playing an “old” game.
…So I’m trying to make a ChoiceScript version of the game, albeit a much poorer substitute, to bide my time…
Knowing my limits, I doubt I can write the entire story in CS. Thus this stand-alone game will only cover the first scenario of the original RPG (and maybe only from the titular character’s POV). If this were played in person, it would be akin to a one-shot (~3 hours) game session.
Feedback are welcome. I cannot spare too much time on this pet project anymore (lost so many hours of sleep and put other projects on hold), but I’ll try to polish the existing content. I pantsed this piece without too much pre-planning, so I expect continuity errors, out-of-character dialog, and even “unreachable branches” due to the stats not being perfectly calculated. If you have suggestions on better phrasing of things, or corrections on terminology/methodology, etc., I will consider them in edits.
If you have suggestions on an unavailable Choice that makes sense for a specific circumstance, I will consider them but cannot promise to implement them. I know that this game is heavy on the railroading and “speaks” on behalf of the player far more than most ChoiceOf games, as does the original that inspired it. This is not rich like Zombie Exodus or Guenevere.
Thank you.