A full index can be found here. As I did last time I'll give you a recap and rules breakdown of the session, highlighting the mechanics of both Changeling: the Lost and the GMC rules.
Our cast:
- Marco McQueen: 13-year-old bully seeking respect.
- Miroslav "Mir" Callaghan: 13-year-old goth kid who wants to learn real magic.
- Nicole "Nikki" Callaghan: sticky fingered 10-year-old sister and would be artist.
- Rocco McQueen: 10-year-old wheelchair bound genius hacker.
Down the Rabbit Hole
Nikki shouts heel to Mr. Skittles and the small dog pulls up to a halt 15 yards down the tunnel. As the other children grind to a stop, they can see that they are in a long dark tunnel.The walls and floor are composed of damp earth. Thick roots cover the ceiling, dripping cold water down on them. Twin lines of grayish mushrooms parallel their muddy footprints to either side while ahead the path is poorly illuminated by lanterns filled with swirling blue light. Behind them they can see a rotten cabinet door partially sunk into the mud. The tall dirty mirror on the door seems to reflect them and their lights. Miroslav presses his hand to the glass. It doesn't pass through. They are trapped here.
Our first roll for Integrity (or Clarity we have chosen to call it). I'm giving a +1 bonus for the dream-like nature of the Hedge (which is where they are right now). The total bonus is -1 (nonviolent supernatural occurrence) +1 (since their initial Clarity is 7) +1 (for their Playing last session) +1 (for the unreality of the Hedge) = +2. The Player Characters (PCs) all make Resolve + Composure + 2 rolls. Most of them succeed, except for Rocco. Those that succeed maintain their Clarity but must choose a Condition. Miroslav and Nikki choose to be Spooked by the Hedge, which means they are captivated and seek to learn more, even at their own risk. Marco is Shaken which means the fear is getting to him and he might freeze up in a stressful situation.
Rocco after some discussion, decided to convert his Failure to a Dramatic Failure. He gains a Beat for the change plus an additional one for a Dramatic Failure on an Integrity roll. He also loses a Dot of Integrity. He chooses Madness as his Condition.
Rocco cries a little and begins to shut down. Mir shines his flashlight down at the mushrooms lining their path. The grayish fungi have yellow gills. He can't identify them but they could be poisonous. He decides against eating one. He does pocket some though.
An Intelligence + Study roll at a -2 penalty. Miroslav fails. He also fails at an Intelligence + Occult roll to tell what is going on.
Nikki meanwhile focuses on the lanterns. She manages to jump up and knock a lantern loose. She catches it as it falls and looks inside. It is filled with strange blue glowing insects. She puts her flashlight in her pocket and heads back to the others.
A Strength + Athletics roll followed quickly by a Dexterity + Athletics roll. Nikki handily succeeds.
Marco decides to take charge and with little choice they push on down the tunnel. The tunnel twists and turns, slowly expanding to twice its original width. A gentle stream emerges from the far wall and fills the right side of the tunnel. The remaining ground gives way to tiled stone.
Nikki takes a taste of the water. It is cold with a sweet taste that leaves no aftertaste at all. Mir and Rocco worry that the water might be poisonous but Nikki tells them it tastes fine.
A little further the earthen walls are replaced by worn blocks of stone. Narrow roots crisscross the walls. Rocco looks closely at the wall as his wheelchair bumps along the rough ground. He can make out words and numbers: "1937", "Dearly Departed", and so forth. The walls are made of gravestones.
Rocco starts to worry. He points out that, “the cripple kid always gets killed first.”
“Not always,” Mir tells him.
"Do you see any black kids?” the younger child asks sarcastically.
Don't blame me, blame Hollywood.
As they descend into a discussion of movie tropes, they continue to push on. The path slowly descends before branching in two. The mushrooms that have lined the path thus far continue to the right but they as they shine their flashlights, they can see a silvery stone about 15 yards down the other branch.
Mir and Nikki decide to investigate, leaving Rocco and Marco on the path with one of the flashlights. Cautiously walking over to the rock, they find what looks like a solid lump of silver the size of a child's fist. Then Nikki and Marco realize something is wrong.
So the Callaghan kids resolve their Spooked Condition by splitting the party and leaving the path. A sure recipe for trouble. They each earn a Beat.
While Mir is distracted, Nikki and Marco's Danger Sense is triggered (and they make their respective Wits + Composure rolls). Rocco fails to beat the ambushers pitiful Stealth roll.
Suddenly a dozen tiny humanoid dressed in furs and bits of chitin skitter out of the darkness. They point three-foot long spears at Mir and his sister. Nikki manages to back away from the main group of them but they surround Mir. They claim the children have left the path and now must come with them to see the Under-King. Mir pulls out the mushroom he took and claims they brought the path with them. Though momentarily confused, the tiny men don't buy his argument and one of them pokes him in the back.
It was an inspired tactic and I let him try. The Fae creatures were not terribly bright and it seemed in genre. Alas Mir got two successes on his Wits + Subterfuge roll to their three.
Nikki sets her dog, Mr. Skittles, to defend her brother. The dog and two of the two foot tall figures square off for a moment until settling into a wary stand-off.
Since one of the tiny figures is poking Mir, the dog bites at him. The creature's Defense of 5 exactly equals Mr. Skittles Strength + Brawl. The dog rolls a Chance die and misses. The Fae thing and one of its companions retaliate rolling a Chance die and a single real die after accounting for defense. They also miss.
Watching from the path, Marco decides to try scaring the creatures off. But the weirdness of this place gets to him and he freezes up part way through his taunts. The creatures disregard him.
Marco resolves his Spooked Condition by automatically failing an Intimidate roll. He earns a Beat.
Nikki and Mir argue with the leader, a tiny man wearing the exoskeleton of a giant ant. They point out that their friends remaining on the path are safe. The tiny man agrees and reluctantly swears that if all of them follow him to the king none of them will be harmed. As long as they deal fairly with the king they will be released. Mir sees that he is sincere and they agree to follow him.
The tiny men lead them deeper down the tunnel, over small bridges, past many intersections and forks. The dark tunnel narrows and gives way to damp earth. Eventually it opens up into a vast chamber filled with roots reaching from a shadowy ceiling down into the ground. They follow their captors through this labyrinth down into a shallow bowl in the center.
There upon a wooden throne on top of an earthen pyramid sits a 3 foot high hunchbacked figure garbed in blackened steel. A small golden crown sits upon his misshapen head as he looks down at them with a single yellowish eye.
Nikki quickly curtseys while Mir bows to the deformed king. Rocco hastily apologizes from his chair about his inability to bow. Marco looks about him in a daze, missing the irritated glare of the king.
The king remarks that is has been a long time since children have come to the Under-Hedge, which is what this realm is called. He tells them he needs someone to find his lost queen, a dark-skinned woman betrothed to him but now lost. He admits to not even knowing her name but explains the soothsayers of the Market can help find her. He asks the children to help him by asking at the Market for where she might be.
I decided to break my Hedge into different zones, each with their own feel. This zone, the Under-Hedge is entirely subterranean. The Under-King, a Hob, rules this realm but has no power over the local Goblin Market, which is called the Night Market. So he needs proxies.
Mir identifies these beings as brownies. Their leader is something else, perhaps a Formian. With some confidence he helps his sister make a deal with the leader. They will help get him this information but in exchange he will show them how to leave this place. In addition Nikki convinces the king to give them something to pay the mystics. The children are given a hide pouch holding some coins, an oddly shaped root, and some papers.
Mir manages to roll an exceptional success on his Intelligence + Occult roll and gains the Informed Condition. Some good roll playing and Persuasion rolls gets the group a nice bonus of some currency for the Market.
They are led from the subterranean grotto and through new tunnels. Along the way they try to keep track of the bewildering array of passageways, canals, and intersections. They ask the brownies about the waters and are told they come from the realm below, the Underworld. They identify the waters Nikki drank as coming from the river Lethe. They also tease out from the brownies that the Under-Hedge is only part of a larger realm. There are other areas: the Streets, the Wilds, and the junkyard, also known as Mo-Hedge.
It sounds a little cheesy in my head but no more than the fact that Detroit is called Mo-Town. My vision of Mo-Hedge is like a labyrinth of stacked cars, all jagged rusty metal and broken glass.
As they travel across the uneven pavement of yet another tunnel, the lead brownie calls them to a halt. Ahead of them, illuminated by a wall sconce, is a small cart. It seems abandoned with a small pony tethered to the far side.
The children decide to investigate. As they approach they can see the cart is filled with junk like old shoes, tubers, and jars of teeth. The pony on closer examination is a crudely made thing of paper mache and glued-on fur. Then a freakish creature jumps out of the debris. The size and shape of squirrel, it sports the webbed feet of a duck and chickens feet as its front paws. It small head is fanged and antlered while a set of feathered wings spout from its back. Most strange of all, it greets them in perfect English.
The creature introduces itself as Leo the Rook and extends a paw which Mir reluctantly shakes. It explains it is a merchant hoping to get to the Night Market. But its pony has broken down. Marco remarks the pony is fake, but Leo replies that it was animate, it just broke down. Leo says that a friend of his, Joe, can hook them up with one if they want a copy of themselves to take a test for them. Leo then launches into a stream of improbable sales pitches.
Another of my Hobs, Leo the Rook was a joy to play. I probably should have had the PCs roll Integrity here but I forgot.
Marco and Rocco are intrigued when Leo mentions they can buy time, specifically the ability to complete work in a fraction of the normal work period. This is assuming no one can see them. Rocco haggles over the specifics of the trade, working Leo down on how much of their future potential it will cost. In the end, Leo gives them a strange acorn to eat and seal the deal. It is chalky but tastes like chocolate.
So two of my players chose to hold onto a Merit dot to buy Brownies Boon when they could. This scene establishes that transaction.
Unlike in a standard Changeling: the Lost the characters don't have to be taken to Arcadia to become Changelings. Instead simple exposure to the Hedge and purchases at the Market will slowly transform them into something more and less than human.
Leo and the children talk about the Market. Leo mentions that all sorts of things can be bought there including prophecies, skills, destinies, and magic. It claims to know people who can sell them just about anything. In particular Leo mentions the Guild of Shadows, who are the greatest magic users in the market, and the Union, which controls the crafting of items.
The Guild and the Union are my versions of the Court system. Instead of rotating system of governance, the changelings and Hobs of the market have arranged themselves into medieval style guilds, banding together to increase their bargaining power.
Then Leo admits it has a problem. Two problems in fact. First its transport is broken. But the Market is only 100 yards away. Second it owes money to the Minister of Doors, the official who questions all who visit the Market. Leo asks if they might help it. It offers to make introductions for them to the merchants there. Mir seems intrigued by the potential of learning real magic while the others can see how this might make their task easier.
Rocco however haggles with the Fae merchant for something more. Marco express his doubts about needing Leo's connections while Nikki seems impatient. Worried that it might be stranded, Leo capitulates. Leo offers them a choice of some Goblin Fruits or a jar of broken promises in addition to its offer of introductions. Rocco considers it and chooses the jar.
We have our first deal cutting action. Rocco is rolling Manipulation + Persuasion opposed by Leo's own roll. The two are equally matched but Rocco gets some help from Marco and Nikki who cause the Hob to think it might not even make it to the Market. Marco and Nikki get 1 and 2 successes respectively which are added to Rocco's pool of 6 dice. He gets 3 successes to Leo's 2. Leo adds something to sweeten the deal.
They pull the cart to the market. As they approach the doorway into the market, the brownies hang back. Their kind is not welcome there. They promise to wait for the children to emerge and then lead them home. Leo hides in its cart.
The gateway is guarded by a tall thin man wearing a mask of melting wax. His fine suit jingles with numerous metallic keys. He asks what their business is at the Market.
As they explain that they are here to buy things, he asks that they swear to the Market Pledge, which is to uphold the rules of the Market. He then points to a wooden board on which four laws are written:
Inside they find lines of stalls around the walls of a huge undercroft. Even more stalls surround the massive columns that hold the stonework ceiling twenty or more feet above them. Wondrous items of all sorts are being sold by beings equally strange and exciting.
Two old men with wings instead of arms squabble over a pile of junk. A giant enveloped in a teal cloak sells potions and strange vapors. A pack of dog men cook something over a trashcan fire. A crusty satyr sells tubers and odd magics.
Leo directs them to haul the cart to a nearby wall and then asks what they want to find. The merchants' hawking of goods distracts them for a moment before they decide to follow through with the Under-King's request. They ask for a soothsayer.
Leo takes them to an old withered man with skin as black as night. The mystic, called Copper Jeb, uses the casting of pennies upon an ornate but worn rug to read fortunes. Mir looks in the pouch and sees what they have to trade. The root is a mandrake root while the papers seem to have some rare misprinted stamps on them. But the coins are doubled headed pennies. They trade the pennies for a reading.
Jeb casts the pennies. Looking over the coppery coins, he says the Under-King's bride lives between the Callaghans and the McQueens. She is but a child but trapped in a dark situation. A shadow is her only friend.
They puzzle out that since the McQueens live on the 3rd floor of Reichardt apartments and the Callaghans on the 1st, the bride must be on the 2nd floor. The only female child living on the 2nd floor is Yvett Gambol, the 7-year-old sister of Marco's bullying target Everett. They recalls Yvett owns a small cat named Mr. Soot.
Their mission accomplished they begin to wander the market, listening to the merchants hawk their products and services. One catches Nikki's attention. An old woman is selling the gift of artistry. The little girl walks closer intrigued. Meanwhile the other children are distracted by the merchants and their own thoughts. The strange tiny crone gestures to the young girl with unnaturally long arms. She promises that she can make Nikki one of the great artists of this era but she will need adequate payment. She suggest something on the scale of Nikki's thoughts or emotions. Nikki foolishly sells her emotional attachments for art.
So this was one of those Player-Storyteller conspiracies. Nikki's player had told me she wanted her character to become a great artist who lacked proper emotions, something like a sociopath. As any good Storyteller would, I was happy to oblige her.
The trade essentially gave her the Artist kith but a bit more twisted to creating art. She gains 8-agains on Expression rolls for making art. She can also spend Glamour to reroll failed dice once.
The loss of emotional attachment means she no longer gains 10-agains on Manipulation rolls or rolls of Empathy, Persuasion, and Socialize. She sort of being pulled between the Elemental and Wizened Seemings. She also earns a Beat for getting closer to getting her art behind the teacher's desk.
The tiny men lead them deeper down the tunnel, over small bridges, past many intersections and forks. The dark tunnel narrows and gives way to damp earth. Eventually it opens up into a vast chamber filled with roots reaching from a shadowy ceiling down into the ground. They follow their captors through this labyrinth down into a shallow bowl in the center.
There upon a wooden throne on top of an earthen pyramid sits a 3 foot high hunchbacked figure garbed in blackened steel. A small golden crown sits upon his misshapen head as he looks down at them with a single yellowish eye.
Nikki quickly curtseys while Mir bows to the deformed king. Rocco hastily apologizes from his chair about his inability to bow. Marco looks about him in a daze, missing the irritated glare of the king.
The king remarks that is has been a long time since children have come to the Under-Hedge, which is what this realm is called. He tells them he needs someone to find his lost queen, a dark-skinned woman betrothed to him but now lost. He admits to not even knowing her name but explains the soothsayers of the Market can help find her. He asks the children to help him by asking at the Market for where she might be.
I decided to break my Hedge into different zones, each with their own feel. This zone, the Under-Hedge is entirely subterranean. The Under-King, a Hob, rules this realm but has no power over the local Goblin Market, which is called the Night Market. So he needs proxies.
Mir identifies these beings as brownies. Their leader is something else, perhaps a Formian. With some confidence he helps his sister make a deal with the leader. They will help get him this information but in exchange he will show them how to leave this place. In addition Nikki convinces the king to give them something to pay the mystics. The children are given a hide pouch holding some coins, an oddly shaped root, and some papers.
Mir manages to roll an exceptional success on his Intelligence + Occult roll and gains the Informed Condition. Some good roll playing and Persuasion rolls gets the group a nice bonus of some currency for the Market.
They are led from the subterranean grotto and through new tunnels. Along the way they try to keep track of the bewildering array of passageways, canals, and intersections. They ask the brownies about the waters and are told they come from the realm below, the Underworld. They identify the waters Nikki drank as coming from the river Lethe. They also tease out from the brownies that the Under-Hedge is only part of a larger realm. There are other areas: the Streets, the Wilds, and the junkyard, also known as Mo-Hedge.
It sounds a little cheesy in my head but no more than the fact that Detroit is called Mo-Town. My vision of Mo-Hedge is like a labyrinth of stacked cars, all jagged rusty metal and broken glass.
As they travel across the uneven pavement of yet another tunnel, the lead brownie calls them to a halt. Ahead of them, illuminated by a wall sconce, is a small cart. It seems abandoned with a small pony tethered to the far side.
The children decide to investigate. As they approach they can see the cart is filled with junk like old shoes, tubers, and jars of teeth. The pony on closer examination is a crudely made thing of paper mache and glued-on fur. Then a freakish creature jumps out of the debris. The size and shape of squirrel, it sports the webbed feet of a duck and chickens feet as its front paws. It small head is fanged and antlered while a set of feathered wings spout from its back. Most strange of all, it greets them in perfect English.
The creature introduces itself as Leo the Rook and extends a paw which Mir reluctantly shakes. It explains it is a merchant hoping to get to the Night Market. But its pony has broken down. Marco remarks the pony is fake, but Leo replies that it was animate, it just broke down. Leo says that a friend of his, Joe, can hook them up with one if they want a copy of themselves to take a test for them. Leo then launches into a stream of improbable sales pitches.
Another of my Hobs, Leo the Rook was a joy to play. I probably should have had the PCs roll Integrity here but I forgot.
Marco and Rocco are intrigued when Leo mentions they can buy time, specifically the ability to complete work in a fraction of the normal work period. This is assuming no one can see them. Rocco haggles over the specifics of the trade, working Leo down on how much of their future potential it will cost. In the end, Leo gives them a strange acorn to eat and seal the deal. It is chalky but tastes like chocolate.
So two of my players chose to hold onto a Merit dot to buy Brownies Boon when they could. This scene establishes that transaction.
Unlike in a standard Changeling: the Lost the characters don't have to be taken to Arcadia to become Changelings. Instead simple exposure to the Hedge and purchases at the Market will slowly transform them into something more and less than human.
Leo and the children talk about the Market. Leo mentions that all sorts of things can be bought there including prophecies, skills, destinies, and magic. It claims to know people who can sell them just about anything. In particular Leo mentions the Guild of Shadows, who are the greatest magic users in the market, and the Union, which controls the crafting of items.
The Guild and the Union are my versions of the Court system. Instead of rotating system of governance, the changelings and Hobs of the market have arranged themselves into medieval style guilds, banding together to increase their bargaining power.
Then Leo admits it has a problem. Two problems in fact. First its transport is broken. But the Market is only 100 yards away. Second it owes money to the Minister of Doors, the official who questions all who visit the Market. Leo asks if they might help it. It offers to make introductions for them to the merchants there. Mir seems intrigued by the potential of learning real magic while the others can see how this might make their task easier.
Rocco however haggles with the Fae merchant for something more. Marco express his doubts about needing Leo's connections while Nikki seems impatient. Worried that it might be stranded, Leo capitulates. Leo offers them a choice of some Goblin Fruits or a jar of broken promises in addition to its offer of introductions. Rocco considers it and chooses the jar.
We have our first deal cutting action. Rocco is rolling Manipulation + Persuasion opposed by Leo's own roll. The two are equally matched but Rocco gets some help from Marco and Nikki who cause the Hob to think it might not even make it to the Market. Marco and Nikki get 1 and 2 successes respectively which are added to Rocco's pool of 6 dice. He gets 3 successes to Leo's 2. Leo adds something to sweeten the deal.
They pull the cart to the market. As they approach the doorway into the market, the brownies hang back. Their kind is not welcome there. They promise to wait for the children to emerge and then lead them home. Leo hides in its cart.
The gateway is guarded by a tall thin man wearing a mask of melting wax. His fine suit jingles with numerous metallic keys. He asks what their business is at the Market.
As they explain that they are here to buy things, he asks that they swear to the Market Pledge, which is to uphold the rules of the Market. He then points to a wooden board on which four laws are written:
- No violence on Market Grounds
- No lying about merchandise or payment
- Honor your deals
- No cats allowed into the market
Inside they find lines of stalls around the walls of a huge undercroft. Even more stalls surround the massive columns that hold the stonework ceiling twenty or more feet above them. Wondrous items of all sorts are being sold by beings equally strange and exciting.
Two old men with wings instead of arms squabble over a pile of junk. A giant enveloped in a teal cloak sells potions and strange vapors. A pack of dog men cook something over a trashcan fire. A crusty satyr sells tubers and odd magics.
Leo directs them to haul the cart to a nearby wall and then asks what they want to find. The merchants' hawking of goods distracts them for a moment before they decide to follow through with the Under-King's request. They ask for a soothsayer.
Leo takes them to an old withered man with skin as black as night. The mystic, called Copper Jeb, uses the casting of pennies upon an ornate but worn rug to read fortunes. Mir looks in the pouch and sees what they have to trade. The root is a mandrake root while the papers seem to have some rare misprinted stamps on them. But the coins are doubled headed pennies. They trade the pennies for a reading.
Jeb casts the pennies. Looking over the coppery coins, he says the Under-King's bride lives between the Callaghans and the McQueens. She is but a child but trapped in a dark situation. A shadow is her only friend.
They puzzle out that since the McQueens live on the 3rd floor of Reichardt apartments and the Callaghans on the 1st, the bride must be on the 2nd floor. The only female child living on the 2nd floor is Yvett Gambol, the 7-year-old sister of Marco's bullying target Everett. They recalls Yvett owns a small cat named Mr. Soot.
Their mission accomplished they begin to wander the market, listening to the merchants hawk their products and services. One catches Nikki's attention. An old woman is selling the gift of artistry. The little girl walks closer intrigued. Meanwhile the other children are distracted by the merchants and their own thoughts. The strange tiny crone gestures to the young girl with unnaturally long arms. She promises that she can make Nikki one of the great artists of this era but she will need adequate payment. She suggest something on the scale of Nikki's thoughts or emotions. Nikki foolishly sells her emotional attachments for art.
So this was one of those Player-Storyteller conspiracies. Nikki's player had told me she wanted her character to become a great artist who lacked proper emotions, something like a sociopath. As any good Storyteller would, I was happy to oblige her.
The trade essentially gave her the Artist kith but a bit more twisted to creating art. She gains 8-agains on Expression rolls for making art. She can also spend Glamour to reroll failed dice once.
The loss of emotional attachment means she no longer gains 10-agains on Manipulation rolls or rolls of Empathy, Persuasion, and Socialize. She sort of being pulled between the Elemental and Wizened Seemings. She also earns a Beat for getting closer to getting her art behind the teacher's desk.
A quieter more reserved Nikki rejoins the group. As they discuss their next step a flash of movement catches Rocco and Nikki's eyes. It looks like Mrs. McQueen, Marco and Rocco's estranged mother, making her way through the market. As she turns the corner, Nikki remarks on it to the others just as Rocco was beginning to doubt his senses.
The children chase after her and bump in an unexpected woman in black. With two horns twisting upwards from her forehead and yellow-green eyes, she is not their mother. But she seems pleased to see them none the less. She invites them to join her at a secluded market stall and introduces herself as the Queen of Shadows.
Leo chasing behind them seems scared of her. Nikki inquires why and learns she is the leader of the Guild of Shadows. The queen seems happy to help direct them to whatever they seek. Rocco seeing chance to remove his greatest impediment asks if there is way for him to walk again. The Queen tells him that Dr. Salvador can surely do so. With a set of directions, he and Marco head off.
Mir meanwhile talks longer with the Queen, hoping to worm his way into the Guild. He impresses her with his occult knowledge and hints he might know people with mystic secrets to add to the Guild's knowledge. She seems intrigued and suggests he journey to the Witch House where he is certain to come across some secret. Mir agrees.
I'm making the joining of the Guild a little harder than simply spending an Experience for Status (Guild). I'm treating it like a Social Maneuvering challenge. Joining the Guild requires opening 2 Doors with each door opened by a Social roll. Normally a character can make a roll each week, representing them petitioning to join the Guild.
Mir decides to speed up the process by impressing the Queen. He makes a Persuasion + Occult roll and then resolves his Informed Condition to turn his normal success into an Exceptional Success. He also gains a Beat. I decide this allows him to bump the his impression with the Guild up two categories from Average to Excellent. This allows him to make a roll every hour.
He then succeeds on his first roll (a Manipulation + Subterfuge to lie about who he knows). He has one door to open. Bringing in a new secret would fulfill an aspiration of the Guild and open a door for free.
Elsewhere in the Market, Marco and Rocco approach the tent of Dr. Salvador. Electricity arcs over bubbling liquids on the display stand in front of the stall. In the back Dr. Salvador stitch marked face smiles at them. She hurries over to Rocco and begins to suggest possible solutions to his problem.
Pulling a shelf out in the back, she directs his attention to a wide array of prosthetic of clockwork and glass. She also suggests using electrification to rewire his body. Rocco is drawn into her spiel and seems eager to begin the process. Dr. Salvador however requires substantial payment.
She requires three items: a tooth from the now extinct street sharks, their carcasses can be found in Mo-Hedge; a ring forged by an oathbreaker, she explains she can't sully herself by going to the Goblin Market; and the sight of the subbasement of the Witch House.
Rocco earns a Beat here for making progress to overcoming his disability.
Rocco turns to his brother and Mir who has just joined them and asks for their help. They agree as does Nikki who is busy selling some art a short distance away. While they plan their next step, a strange man approaches Nikki.
He introduces himself as a representative of the Union and informs her she is not allowed to sell crafted goods here without being a member. Nikki argues with him, pointing out that nowhere was that rule posted. He refuses to budge and so does she. She does however learn about the Goblin Market where outcasts and oathbreakers sell their products. It seems it is based in an abandoned house near where she lives and opens every night after midnight.
Curious she asks if the Union rep knows about the strange homeless man who lives nearby. When she shows him a drawing of him, he says that the man is an oathbreaker and mad. He is also one of them: Fae.
I missed an opportunity to give the Union rep a description. Which is too bad because he might make a good antagonist.
As for the homeless man he is a character from my previous Change game, a mad changeling known as Hedge. He has had some interesting adventures since breaking his motley pledge.
Marco talks with one of the merchants, a woman who belongs to the Union. She tries to teach him the Contract of Artifice and bring him into the Union itself. She warns that the Guild is seeking to control the Night Market and stifle the power of the Union. That is why they need to work together. He seems interested but the late hour leaves him yawning. He agrees to talk to her more before stumbling out of the Market with the others.
I run my game online using Google+ and Marco's player was having a lot of technical difficulties. I tried to get the character involved but it was hard with all the dropping out.
The Union used the same system as the Guild for joining. Marco made a good impression and opened a Door.
The journey home is dream-like. They pass their information to the brownies and stumble home.
They wake up in their own beds uncertain how they got there. Nikki calls out to her brother to ask if that was real. Mir feigns ignorance until he is sure she experienced the same things he did. Then he gets a call on his walkie-talkie from Rocco who asks the same thing. While Mir tests him as well, Nikki looks in the leather pouch the brownies gave them. The items are still there. Mir also looks at his nightstand where the seemingly empty bottle of empty promises sits. He tilts it and hears the invisible clinks like broken glass.
And that is where we called it. Now for tallying Beats. Nikki got 3 Beats ("escaping the Hedge" as an Aspiration, making progress toward her Aspiration of "getting her art behind the teacher's desk", plus resolving Spooked Condition), Marco got 1 Beat (for resolving his Shaken Condition), Miroslav got 3 Beats (he resolved both his Spooked and Informed Conditions and made progress to his Aspiration of "learning real magic"), and Rocco also got 3 Beats (for turning a Failure into a Dramatic Failure, suffering a Dramatic Failure on an Integrity roll, and making progress on the Aspiration "get stronger and more able to get around on his own").
The average is 3 Beats. I add 1 Beat for good roleplaying plus another for the session for 5 Beats. Which means theyearn 1 Experience.
The children chase after her and bump in an unexpected woman in black. With two horns twisting upwards from her forehead and yellow-green eyes, she is not their mother. But she seems pleased to see them none the less. She invites them to join her at a secluded market stall and introduces herself as the Queen of Shadows.
Leo chasing behind them seems scared of her. Nikki inquires why and learns she is the leader of the Guild of Shadows. The queen seems happy to help direct them to whatever they seek. Rocco seeing chance to remove his greatest impediment asks if there is way for him to walk again. The Queen tells him that Dr. Salvador can surely do so. With a set of directions, he and Marco head off.
Mir meanwhile talks longer with the Queen, hoping to worm his way into the Guild. He impresses her with his occult knowledge and hints he might know people with mystic secrets to add to the Guild's knowledge. She seems intrigued and suggests he journey to the Witch House where he is certain to come across some secret. Mir agrees.
I'm making the joining of the Guild a little harder than simply spending an Experience for Status (Guild). I'm treating it like a Social Maneuvering challenge. Joining the Guild requires opening 2 Doors with each door opened by a Social roll. Normally a character can make a roll each week, representing them petitioning to join the Guild.
Mir decides to speed up the process by impressing the Queen. He makes a Persuasion + Occult roll and then resolves his Informed Condition to turn his normal success into an Exceptional Success. He also gains a Beat. I decide this allows him to bump the his impression with the Guild up two categories from Average to Excellent. This allows him to make a roll every hour.
He then succeeds on his first roll (a Manipulation + Subterfuge to lie about who he knows). He has one door to open. Bringing in a new secret would fulfill an aspiration of the Guild and open a door for free.
Elsewhere in the Market, Marco and Rocco approach the tent of Dr. Salvador. Electricity arcs over bubbling liquids on the display stand in front of the stall. In the back Dr. Salvador stitch marked face smiles at them. She hurries over to Rocco and begins to suggest possible solutions to his problem.
Pulling a shelf out in the back, she directs his attention to a wide array of prosthetic of clockwork and glass. She also suggests using electrification to rewire his body. Rocco is drawn into her spiel and seems eager to begin the process. Dr. Salvador however requires substantial payment.
She requires three items: a tooth from the now extinct street sharks, their carcasses can be found in Mo-Hedge; a ring forged by an oathbreaker, she explains she can't sully herself by going to the Goblin Market; and the sight of the subbasement of the Witch House.
Rocco earns a Beat here for making progress to overcoming his disability.
Rocco turns to his brother and Mir who has just joined them and asks for their help. They agree as does Nikki who is busy selling some art a short distance away. While they plan their next step, a strange man approaches Nikki.
He introduces himself as a representative of the Union and informs her she is not allowed to sell crafted goods here without being a member. Nikki argues with him, pointing out that nowhere was that rule posted. He refuses to budge and so does she. She does however learn about the Goblin Market where outcasts and oathbreakers sell their products. It seems it is based in an abandoned house near where she lives and opens every night after midnight.
Curious she asks if the Union rep knows about the strange homeless man who lives nearby. When she shows him a drawing of him, he says that the man is an oathbreaker and mad. He is also one of them: Fae.
I missed an opportunity to give the Union rep a description. Which is too bad because he might make a good antagonist.
As for the homeless man he is a character from my previous Change game, a mad changeling known as Hedge. He has had some interesting adventures since breaking his motley pledge.
Marco talks with one of the merchants, a woman who belongs to the Union. She tries to teach him the Contract of Artifice and bring him into the Union itself. She warns that the Guild is seeking to control the Night Market and stifle the power of the Union. That is why they need to work together. He seems interested but the late hour leaves him yawning. He agrees to talk to her more before stumbling out of the Market with the others.
I run my game online using Google+ and Marco's player was having a lot of technical difficulties. I tried to get the character involved but it was hard with all the dropping out.
The Union used the same system as the Guild for joining. Marco made a good impression and opened a Door.
The journey home is dream-like. They pass their information to the brownies and stumble home.
They wake up in their own beds uncertain how they got there. Nikki calls out to her brother to ask if that was real. Mir feigns ignorance until he is sure she experienced the same things he did. Then he gets a call on his walkie-talkie from Rocco who asks the same thing. While Mir tests him as well, Nikki looks in the leather pouch the brownies gave them. The items are still there. Mir also looks at his nightstand where the seemingly empty bottle of empty promises sits. He tilts it and hears the invisible clinks like broken glass.
And that is where we called it. Now for tallying Beats. Nikki got 3 Beats ("escaping the Hedge" as an Aspiration, making progress toward her Aspiration of "getting her art behind the teacher's desk", plus resolving Spooked Condition), Marco got 1 Beat (for resolving his Shaken Condition), Miroslav got 3 Beats (he resolved both his Spooked and Informed Conditions and made progress to his Aspiration of "learning real magic"), and Rocco also got 3 Beats (for turning a Failure into a Dramatic Failure, suffering a Dramatic Failure on an Integrity roll, and making progress on the Aspiration "get stronger and more able to get around on his own").
The average is 3 Beats. I add 1 Beat for good roleplaying plus another for the session for 5 Beats. Which means theyearn 1 Experience.
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