Lady Blackbird, but not Lady Blackbird

Last week we had decided that our Wednesday game this week would be a playetst for Revolucion, a game I've been working on. Prior to the game I had been thinking about having the scenario be the Crimson Sky rebellion against the Empire in the Lady Blackbird setting, but I wasn't sure John would be cool with expanding the setting under another set of rules. John, on the other hand, was thinking I'd be sick of Lady Blackbird (or something) and wouldn't want to use this playtest to run it. Once we figured out that we both had the same idea, the rest of the group got on board.So yeah, we played Lady Blackbird (the setting) without Lady Blackbird (the rules). Revolucion is a game where you play out the overthrowing of some power (The Regime) by your revolutionaries/insurrectionists (the Movement). This fits great into something John mentioned in Lady Blackbird, The Crimson Sky movement against the Empire.We ended up making up lots of details for an area that isn't touched much in the existing Lady Blackbird text, so I thought it might be fun to share the details. Here's how it went down:I ran the game, with the players being John, Paul, Shannon and Adam. As we filled in the details of the Regime (the Empire in this case) we ended up with these Mottos:- All Worlds are better under the rule of the Empire (John)- Magic belongs in the hands of the few (Shannon)- Naval technology is for the Empire only (Paul)- Peace through regulation (Adam)We decided the Empire derives its power from the land it controls, land being a very limited resource in the Blue. Ruled by Empress Sadhara Serra and the assembly of nobles, the Empire was turning out to be a pretty decent enemy.The player characters flowed pretty well from this. We ended up with these Rhetorics:- All worlds should be free! (John)- Magic belongs to everyone (Shannon)- Naval technology should be distributed (Paul)- Prosperity through republic (Adam)Everyone really brought it when fleshing out their characters, giving us this cast:Jefferson Picket, anarchist bomber (John)Hazel Winter, hippy Windblood (Shannon)Tomas Grzeszczak, commander of the destroyer ISS Hollas (Paul)Sir Lee Perkins, Professor (Adam)Shannon brought some interesting elements in with her bloodline. Apparently when a noble bloodline (Stormblood, Ghostblood, etc.) breeds into the general population you end up with lesser casters. Hazel had a noble ancestor somewhere way back (before life on the commune) who was Stormblooded, so Hazel is a Windblood. More light cloud cover than destructive storm, but handy to have around.Scenes were pretty snappy after creation was finished and we had an introductory scene as Lt. Tomas met the Illysium cell of the Crimson Sky movement. The action hinged on Lt. Tomas' interest in defecting, along with his ship, Red October style.As we moved into the spotlight scenes, Lt. Tomas got a new conspirator in the form of a Petty Officer who worked as a clerk and could pass on informaton on likely sympathizers. Hazel tried to round up some Stooges in a sailor's bar, but it feel flat as the sailors become more interested in what she could offer, not what the Crimson Sky could. Jefferson did what he did best and blew shit up under weather cover provided by Hazel, and Sir Lee started an after-hours discussion group of potential Crimson Sky students with the help of a grad student feeding him loaded questions in lecture.We also tried something new that worked out great, reaction scenes for the Regime. With marines filling the streets, Tomas got caught on base, lowering the Opposition against the Regime, but Hazel stopped an attempt by some marines to "make this walkin' park into a lookin' park." Picket stood his ground in the face of a brutal interogation with the help of his crazy girlfriend, and Sir Lee was able to get through lectures with marines sitting in by talking over their heads.At that point we had to cut it for the night, but we'll pick back up next week. Overall, it was a lot of fun to see another part of the setting, fill in what life is like on Illysium and how the Crimson Sky are taking on the Empire.