RPGaDAY 2016, Part II

As August ends, it is time for me to collect my answers from RPGaDay into a few massive posts.

RPGaDay is a month-long celebration of gaming via a series of questions about our gaming habits, stories and ideas. This week I'll present the second half of the month's questions (the 17th through the 31st).

August 17: What fictional character would best fit in your group? Why?

Okay I'm officially at a loss here. You might as well ask who of the 7 strangers billion people in the world you would like in your group (which applies to the previous day's question as well).

So I'm ignoring the question and focusing on the why. In other words what makes a person (fictional or not) a good fit for my group. A desire to roleplay as opposed to play a game, an interest in collaborating in story and world building, and the ability to give in to allow other players to enjoy the game as well.

Bonus question: How does your group like to start a session?

A bit of chit-chat and catching up on each others lives. Roleplaying is partially a social activity for us.

August 18: What innovation could RPG groups gain the most benefit from?

What I most want is a method to easily handle cards/bennies/aspects and the like in video chats. Something that is functionally a simple as writing a note on a post-it but which my players will be aware of during and between sessions.

August 19: What is the best way to learn a new game?

I believe in the easing people through the process. I teach them enough early on to create a character (likely with help from a more experienced player or the gamemaster). Then the first session introduces them a simple combat, some skill rolls, and whatever the main subsystems are. Later they explore the explore the more complicated rules as they become familiar with the larger game. Along the way, I allow them to adjust their character as their understanding grows.

August 20: What is the most challenging but rewarding system have you learned?

There are only a few games I have found challenging to learn and most of those were not rewarding (generally being hard to learn because they were poorly written). Fate is perhaps the biggest exception, not because it was poorly written (in fact the opposite) but because it was the most different from the other games I play and that difference was hard to wrap my brain around (I also had a lot of bad gamemaster experiences when I tried the game at conventions). Those difference of course are what make it rewarding, at least in terms of expanding my imagination of what is possible.

Microscope is a runner up for the same reasons.

August 21: What was the funniest misinterpretation of a game rule in your group?

In my early roleplaying days, I played the FASA Starwars system. Our group interpreted the rules that if a skill wasn't on your sheet that you couldn't attempt it. None of us had skill with the ship communicators which caused us to imagine our characters as primitive Ewoks poking at the controls with sticks.

August 22: What are some random events in your games that keep happening?

I don't do random. I've had no random monsters since high school, no random treasure in a decade, and no random tables ever.

The one random thing that does seem to come up often was in my recent Nights Black Agents game where players would consistently spend points so they could only failed on a 1 (and could easily spend more to avoid failure altogether). Then they proceeded to roll a 1.

August 23: Share one of your best 'Worst Luck' stories.

The ones that come to mind all involve my otherwise super competent characters getting trapped in a pit.

Story #1: While exploring a trap filled dungeon, my cleric became separated from the rest of the party. She pressed forward and tripped a clever pit trap. Essentially part of the wall fell outward while the floor fell up to replace it. And my armor bound cleric tumbled into a large chamber just below the main dungeon. A few feet of water cushioned her fall. She wasn't going to drown but she also couldn't climb out or break open the pit's roof from the inside. So she could only wait and call for help while hypothermia set in.

Story #2: While exploring a demiplane consisting purely of dungeon, my movement expert Fighter/Rogue was roundly rocking it. The direction of gravity would switch randomly as one traversed the corridors (so that you might suddenly find the tunnel you turned into was actually a pit). So he was scaling the floor, presuming that things might change at any moment (plus he had a monk-like slow fall ability). This worked well until we hit the water level (i.e. floor, ceiling, and walls were all made of water). He went exploring on his own and 'fell' into a pit. He was a good swimmer but swimming up a waterfall was beyond him. Luckily a random magical effect had granted him a bat familiar so he sent it off to get help.

August 24: What is the game you are most likely to give to others as a gift?

Depends on the person. In general, I'd probably give people something I think would expand their definition of gaming, something like Microscope.

August 25: What makes for a good character?

For me personally I need a central question, a pair of dramatic poles in Hillfolk terminology. Will the character choose to maintain their humanity or pursue magic? Remain a passive tool or seize their destiny? Become a destroyer or a creator? That tension then keeps the story exciting to me regardless of what else happens.

As a gamemaster, I like to see characters with depth (like the poles above) and connections to other characters and the setting. Motivation is key, both to serve as a tool to propel them forward and to encourage them to surprise me.

August 26: What hobbies go well with RPGs?

Most hobbies have some benefit in gaming if only in the expertise you can bring to the table. Hikers know about nature, movie buffs bring their knowledge of cinematic stories, and so on. The best ones involve consumption and creation of media: movies, books, television, etc. We are making stories and knowing stories helps with that.

August 27: Describe the most unusual circumstance or location in which you have gamed.

The oddest was probably roleplaying with my friend Mike while he was driving. The game wasn't odd, just a bit of character banter and between session planning. But doing it on the move was certainly odd.

The runner up would be a game of Fiasco that I played at Starbucks on a very small table with no prep.

August 28: What film or novel would you be most surprised that a friend had not seen or read?

I've had friends who never saw Star Wars so there is nothing that would surprise me much.

Bonus question: What is your preferred method of character improvement and why?

I'd say point buy in general with experience gained from propelling the game forward (via goals, roleplaying, and accepting interesting failures). It lets me evolve them the way I like.

Sometime however, I'd like to try a game with a robust (or at least generous) system for advancing/gaining what you accomplish in a story.

August 29: If you could host a game anywhere on Earth, where would that be?

If travel wasn't an issue, I'd run a game back on Long Island for my friends.

If the point is the location then I'd probably run a horror game in some nice creepy mansion somewhere like the Hearst Castle.

August 30: Describe the ideal game room if your budget were unlimited.

My ideal game room is fairly close to what I hope to have next year:

Walls of books surrounding a large gaming table that can be used for dining or miniatures (using an inset space to keep maps and game positions safe between sessions). I'd have a sound system set up to feed ambient music through the room from all directions, controllable from my laptop. Lighting would be easily adjusted allowing the players to see their sheets but otherwise allowing me to keep light levels where I want for ambiance.

August 31: What is the best piece of advice you were ever given for your game of choice?

I don't really have a game of choice but I think some Apocalypse World advice is pretty spot on: Play to See What Happens!

Heartland Orphans: Dark Dreams

Third time's a charm! Or at least the third session of “Heartland Orphans”, my Vampire: the Requiem game, has been the best so far. With my three players (and a continuing opening for more) we had some creepy encounters, made some new friends, and engaged in a blood hunt.

Our cast consists of:

• Alex Carlyle (Ventrue Invictus): a local doctor who quit his practice after gaining his condition. He has money but not much influence. He’s also haunted by a former friend, David, a vampire whose humanity melted away before his eyes.
• Sybil Brannon (Gangrel Carthian): a former nature guide turned vampiric vigilante, she’s claimed the parks as her turf and is trying to determine who is doing blood sorcery using the entrails of the local homeless.
• Ethan Redhawke (Mekhet Ordo Dracul): a member of the inner circle of the Heart of Akamon, an Ordo Dracul led cult of mortals who serve as a source of blood and researchers. To cement his position he ritually sacrificed a homeless man. He leads the cult as they comb folklore and myths for clues to abilities beyond the limits of current vampires. Like his disciples he lurks around the University of Illinois.

Last time the Kindred journeyed to the next town over, Bloomington, hoping to revive Alex’s sire Rudolph from his self-inflicted torpor. They were then sent to talk to some blood sorcerers, members of the Circle to learn more about the strange shadowy birds haunting the area.

Dark Dreams

After talking to the coven of blood sorcerers, the three vampires were led to an earthen root cellar beneath the barn. Sybil slid into the earth while the others slept upon rough beds of straw.

Hours later they awake to find themselves standing on the earthen floor of a labyrinth of cyclopean stone. Blackened mirrors hang at irregular intervals, some reaching the ceiling twelve feet above them.

Ethan jerks his head as he hears the scream of his sire. Distantly Martock calls for help. The Mekhet hurries through the maze, leading them closer and closer to the cries.

He makes an Intelligence + Composure roll at a - 3 penalty and gets 2 successes on this extended action. My secret total that he needs to reach is 3. Each roll means they will encounter another problem.

Suddenly they come upon a set of rusty iron bars blocking their route. Sybil attempts to dig under them, exposing the rough stone a half-foot beneath the moist soil. Feeling in the grime, she determines the bars are part of a portcullis. The men attempt to aid her as she begins to pull the heavy barrier up. With a mighty heavy, she lifts it over her head, dangling Ethan off the ground for a moment.

Everyone roll Strength + Stamina with the men’s successes going to aid Sybil’s roll. They fail on their rolls but she spends a point of Willpower for more dice and gets 6 successes! I give her the Steadfast Condition as a bonus.

Flush with renewed confidence, Sybil leads the others past the obstacle and into the darkened halls.

Ethan makes another Intelligence + Composure - 3 roll and gets a success. The gate however slowed them and added an additional success to the necessary total.

As another of Martock’s screams echoes away, the vampires find themselves at a strange intersection. Several tunnels open up into a circular chamber. Between each gap hang large irregular mirrors. But most disconcerting is the sandstone altar at the center of the chamber and the gutted man lying atop it.

Ethan recognizes the blood splattered replica of the Heart of Akamon's sanctum as well as the homeless man atop it. He recalls the night he killed this innocent to cement his leadership of the cult. Sybil also recognizes the man as the one she found dumped in the park. As she glances around she spots a bloody knife in Ethan’s hand. He looks down surprised but manages to hide his recognition at the sight and dagger.

Sybil rolls Wits + Subterfuge against Ethan’s Composure + Subterfuge and he barely beats her.

The cult leader scrutinizes the dagger looking for a sign that this is not the same one Harry fled with. As Sybil attempts to question him, he concludes it is a clever replica. The heft is off and the hieroglyphs distorted.

Ethan rolls Intelligence + Occult and gets 4 successes.

As the Gangrel accuses him of killing the man, Ethan explains this is a dream. She sardonically comments that she already figured that out.

For one she never unmelded from the earth.

A tittering laugh issues from the mirrors. Inside the tarnished silver, a yellow eyed corpse mocks them. Alex watches as the rotting woman lurches forward from within the reflection. A worn hide dress covers her sagging form as she fingers a seashell necklace hanging loosely around her neck.

Ethan attempts to talk to her, inquiring what she is after. She jokes that they don’t even know what they seek. The woman’s eyes flash as she hobbles about ignoring them. She talks to some unseen presence about some jewel they seek. The Dragon tells the others that she must be one of these “birds” and comments that they are arrogant monsters seeking to confuse them. He tries to lock eyes with the woman as Alex scans the room. Sybil focuses on her body language, avoiding the eyes.

Everyone rolls Wits + Composure at a large penalty. Sybil alone succeeds.

Sybil notices something off in the woman’s movements. She turns her head and spots an identical creature about to pounce on Ethan.

“Duck”, Sybil shouts as she swings at the zombie. The scholar dodges out of the way as she knocks the creature back.

Sybil and the zombie both act in round 1 but Sybil goes first. I give Ethan a Wits + Dexterity roll to make use of the warning and avoid Sybil’s attack. He succeeds. So does Sybil on her Strength + Brawl roll, dealing 1 Bashing to the zombie.

The woman snaps at Sybil, her rotten teeth biting hard on her leg. Sybil grabs her arms and forces them behind the monster’s back, restraining her.

Zombie connects on its Power + Finesse - Defense roll back. Sybil takes 1 Bashing. Initiative is: Sybil, Alex, the Zombie, Ethan. Sybil rolls Strength + Brawl to grapple and then wins the ensuing contest. The zombie is restrained.

As the monster attempts to twist its head around to bite her, the voice from the mirror mocks them again. As the image distracts them from her “sister” the corpse rots away in Sybil’s hands. The image, clearly one of the Twins Jane referred to, offers to let Martock go for the jewel.

As Martock screams not to let them have it, they awaken from their dream.

Everyone spends Vitae to rise but Sybil’s damage disappears. Most of characters are now dangerously low on blood.

Sybil rises from the ground while the men stand up and dust off the straw. Ascending from the cellar they find a nervous looking Thomas waiting for them.

Ethan commands the mortal to bleed into a bowl for him. As the Thomas cuts himself, the others wrestle with their beasts. The Mekhet drinks deeply and feels his hunger ebb slightly.

Ethan uses his herd and I let him get 2 Vitae from Thomas. The blood however provokes Frenzy rolls from the others. They both make their Resolve + Composure rolls (at a -1 penalty for Tempted). The penalty from the Tempted Condition rises to -2.

Ethan quizzes his disciple about the day. Thomas complains that it was spooky being almost alone but gets cut off before he can say much more.

From the inner hut, the three members of the Circle emerge. As before the albino woman does most of the talking. She’s considered their questions and needs from the previous night. Unfortunately she knows little about these creatures except their name and their hatred of vampires. The Strix, it seems, have been a threat since the days of ancient Rome.

The neonates relate their dream encounter and ask if the barn was warded against spiritual intrusion. The Elder admits the defenses were keyed against the werewolves but hints she could protect against such things. She offers to help them defeat the Strix if they help her first. A Kindred called the Wolf knows the secrets of the Strix and also wishes to destroy her. If they remove him as a threat, she promises to contribute her considerable power to their cause.

They thank her and drive back to Bloomington. After dropping the damaged station wagon at a garage, they arrange to meet up the next night.

Sybil heads off on her own, attempting to hunt down what the Red Eye is. She finds her answer as she heads towards the highway to feed. A blazing red neon eye announces the location of a 24 hour trucker’s bar. She scouts the smoke-filled building and quizzes the bar tender. She spots Carthian sigils scattered about with one hanging above the entrance of the kitchen. After trying to sneak in, she learns from the hairless cook that “her kind” are not here tonight but should be meeting in two days.

She fails an Intelligence + Streetwise roll which slows down her search.

Before she leaves, she crafts a cryptic message and posts it to the local bulletin board. It informs the reader that she lives in Champaign and warns them of the presence of the Strix.

She successfully makes an Intelligence + Streetwise to leave the coded message.

Ignoring the third call from Ethan that night, she heads for a park, looking for someone to punish. After an hour she spots a pair of teens throwing rocks at a homeless man. As they leave the park, she trails the larger one. Silently she slips up behind him and bites down on his neck.

She uses Wits + Streetwise to find some criminals and a Dexterity + Stealth to catch one unawares. She takes 3 Vitae.

She leaves the drained but alive kid near a busy road. To top herself off, she hunts down a large dog. She leaves it weakened but alive as well. Finally she finds a patch of earth near the meet location and sinks into the earth for the night.

After a Wits + Animal Ken she find an animal. She drains 2 Health to gain 1 Vitae.

Elsewhere Alex rents a car while Ethan deals with Thomas. Ethan takes the still rattled mortal to a motel and uses his vampiric powers to mesmerize him. Slowly he erases much of Thomas’s memories of the previous day. As he drifts off, the mortal mutters something about seeing the Elder during the day.

Lots of Dominate used here.

After checking that his car was successfully towed back to Champaign, Alex picks up Ethan and the pair drive over to the haven of the Old Man. After being ushered in by the armed guards, they relay the previous night’s events to the older Kindred. Ethan in particular ingratiates himself to the elder. The Old Man mentions that Rudolph has awakened but is still a bit ‘stumpy’. From his testimony he has decided to call a Blood Hunt on David.

After excusing themselves, Alex sups from some of the covenant’s blood dolls before joining Ethan in socializing with the assembled Ventrue and other members of the Invictus.

He uses his Invested merit to get some Herd and 2 Vitae.

They roll Manipulation + Persuasion (+ Invictus Status for Alex and -2 for Ethan) to learn some rumors.

As they trade small talk and rumors, the pair learn that the Old Man intends to make a move on the Ordo Dracul and the University. Indeed the tone is that the covenant is taking out all of its rivals and possible threats.

Ethan in particular is warned not to make a fuss. “Perhaps he will give you some of your territory back if he likes you,” they tell him.

Later that evening, they try contacting Sybil again. She doesn’t pick up and they instead search for another good feeding.

They eventually find themselves near the highway and the Red Eye. Alex spots an extremely large and beefy trucker. While he distracts him, Ethan quietly feeds on him. They cloud his memory of the event and help him into the bar for a drink.

I roll a die for how good their target is and get a 10. So he’s size 6 and they can drain 3 Vitae safely. Dominate again is used to cover their tracks.

As dawn approaches the pair find an abandoned office building to go to ground in. Ethan picks the lock and they find a dark corner to rest out the day.

A Dexterity + Larceny roll is made to determine any complications. Ethan succeeds and we press on.

Shortly after nightfall, the three Kindred meetup again. Ethan and Alex relay their experiences. As they head over to the Old Man’s haven, Sybil expresses her disgust over the Blood Hunt. She does not intend to take part.

Everyone spends 1 Vitae to rise.

At the mansion they find Rudolph up and about, his left arm strangely withered and raw. Even so he easily crushes a metal cup as he expresses his outrage at David. It was David who visited him that night, who turned his powers against him, leaving him crippled and nearly dead.

The Kindred join the caravan to Champaign, heading for the Invictus strip club on the edge of town. Sybil splits off while the others join the gathering for the Blood Hunt.

The club stands deserted, cleared out by its owner, Big Eddie, for the event. In addition to the Old Man and Big Eddie, they see Rudolph, Tara King, Thomas Black and a few other members of the Invictus. A pair of Carthians are also in attendance.

Ethan and Alex approach the outsiders. The short stocky man introduces himself as Dan and explains the thin quiet woman beside him is called Silvia. They were curious about the Blood Hunt. The event also provided them an excuse to check on a Carthian that they heard was in town. Alex and Ethan explain their relation to Sybil and get Dan’s number to pass on to her.

Finally the Old Man announces the Blood Hunt. As the vampires disperse, he calls Big Eddie back and sends him on some secret chore.

Elsewhere Sybil visits her friend Karen Capra at the homeless shelter. She finds her sitting somewhat disturbed in her office, researching zombies and near death experiences. It seems that two nights ago she also encountered “Jane”. Sybil comforts her with her shared experience and says she’s looking into it.

This nice moment with her Touchstone earns her a Beat by resolving the Tempted Condition.

Sybil then goes looking for the Wolf. From her own experiences she knows that this disturbing vampire lurks somewhere in the south-west end of Urbana. She decides to quiz the local homeless.

She rolls Intelligence + Streetwise recalls earlier encounters with the Wolf to narrow the field. Then she rolls Manipulation + Streetwise + Contacts.

After a couple of hours and many conversations, she narrows the field a small area along the southern edge of Urbana. Oddly throughout this area, she finds caches of salt in old bottles and bells hung on strings. She takes a picture of one and sends it to Ethan.

Elsewhere Ethan and Alex have almost given up trailing Rudolph. The elderly man has visited all of David’s old haunts and found nothing. Ethan receives sybil’s text. He looks at the picture but draws a blank. He texts back his befuddlement and includes the number they picked up from the Carthians.

Ethan rolls his best pool Intelligence + Occult and fails!

Sybil thanks him and decides to map the locations of the salt bottles. The pattern that emerges indicates a central location perhaps a mile outside of town.

I forget what the roll I asked for was. Probably Intelligence + Investigation.

Ethan gets a call during the search from one of the cultists of Akamon. They sputter something about someone breaking into Martock’s office. Ethan says that he is aware of it and ignores them.

That’s going to bite him later.

Sybil decides to call the Carthians. Dan picks up. After some introductions, she warns them to avoid the Blood Hunt as David may be more dangerous than he seems. He explains they were about to give up when they noticed something strange: a skinless corpse lurching about by the train tracks. The zombie headed into an abandoned store a couple blocks away: Fresh Catch.

Sybil recognizes the sketchy fish store and warns them to stay at a safe distance. She contacts the others and then heads for the site.

Ethan and Alex just finished exploring the cemetery when the text reaches them. They drop their fruitless search and head over.

As everyone arrive, they easily spot Dan’s semitruck parked two blocks north of the train tracks and the decaying Fresh Catch building. In addition to Sylvia and Dan, a burly man and woman stand by the truck. The ghouls don’t say anything but keep their eyes on the strangers.

Dan takes a swig from a flask and explains that they haven’t seen any motion since the phone call. He offers some of his beverage to Sybil. “Pigs blood,” he explains.

Alex and Ethan decide to investigate on their own. Sybil and the others watch from the safety of the truck.

Ethan opens the door and peers inside. The darkened interior has been stripped of almost all decoration. A tank of liquid sits near the door and at the far end a figure crouches upon a counter top.

The man looks up and Alex recognizes David’s smile. He greets them. As Alex presses in, Ethan pokes his head outside and calls to the others. He then vanishes inside.

Sybil looks to the others. The ghouls pull out bats while Sylvia draws her gun. “I know a back way in,” Sybil says, leading them to the shop.

Inside Alex approaches David, trying to talk some sense into him. The odor of rotten fish and something else overwhelms their senses. Ethan decides to stop breathing and concentrates on David. David for his part, pay no notice to the Mekhet or the stench and simply tries to deflect Alex’s worries.

Alex attempts Presence + Persuasion and it almost works.

David seems to realize that the other Kindred are closing in on him and tries to force Alex to come with him. He intensifies his gaze and forces his will on Alex. The Ventrue fights him off, leaving David frustrated.

He uses Dominate on Alex but fails to beat his Resolve + Blood Potency roll.

Alex notices a pile of junk move just in time as the rotting corpse of a dog leaps out. He grabs the sole chair in the room and tries to fend it off.

Or the dog fails its Strength + Brawl roll.

Ethan turns his own gaze on him, ordering him to drop to the ground. As the Mekhet’s will overwhelmed his, he begins to bend down.

Ethan tries to Dominate him and succeeds.

Then David stops. His eyes flash yellow as an evil grin crosses his face. Suddenly Ethan feels the whole room shift around him.

Ethan rolls Resolve + Composure + Blood Potency but still fails to beat the Strix’s successes.

He looks down and sees snakes slithering up his limbs. Demons crawl out of the dark corners. He tries to convince himself that this is just a hallucination. As he attempts to calm himself, something whispers horrors into his ear.

Ethan attempts a Resolve + Composure roll to overcome the hallucinations. He has a -5 penalty and suffers a Dramatic Failure.

Ethan runs screaming from the building.

Hearing the conflict, Sybil leads the charge from the back of the fish shop. She rushes “David” and grabs hold him. She forcefully positions him to give Dan a clear shot.

Some good Brawl rolls allow Sybil to limit David’s options and more importantly his Defense.

The stout Daeva slams a stake into David’s heart. The piece of wood cracks ribs and ruptures out the back. But David continues to struggle. While Alex tries to fend off the dog, the ghouls beat it down with baseball bats.

I decided not to roll much in the way of dice for the NPCs. We were already at the end of the night and I just wanted to find a good ending point. So generally they succeeded in ways that brought more information into play.

At the back of the room, Silvia lines up a shot with her pistol. She pulls the trigger.

As the echoes of the gunshot fade, David’s shattered head slumps over. His skin molders before their eyes and his corpse collapses to the floor. A black smoke rises from the remains. Twin points of yellow light glare from the dark mist at Sybil as it forms into the shape of a bird and flies away.

It uses a power before it leaves to learn one of her Aspirations. It will be back.

RPGaDAY 2016

It is August again and it is time for me to collect my answers from RPGaDay into a few massive post.

RPGaDay is a month-long celebration of gaming via a series of questions about our gaming habits, stories and ideas. This week I'll present the first half of the month's questions (the 1st through the 16th). Tune next week for the rest.

August 1: Do you prefer to use real dice, a dice application or program, or use a diceless system?

I've used all of the above, though given the choice I will generally go with real dice when interacting with others. If it's just me, I'll use an app (it's faster when making lots of rolls - like monster hit points or tracking an NPC investigator's progress) or some alternate randomizer (I really like my Story Forge deck for developing character motivation and personality).

August 2: What is the best game session you have had since August 2015?

I've run and played a number of games since then. The session that stands out over the last year is the finale of my Night's Black Agents game which featured a car chase through Paris with hordes of rats, a helicopter rescue from a biomedical R&D facility, a fight with a vampire in a private jet over Siberia, and the nuclear scale explosion of the conspiracy leadership.

August 3: What is something you have done with your game character that you are the proudest of?

Keeping it to the last year.

My murder board that I used to work out the culprit and the overall plot for the first (and perhaps only) story arc for a Vampire: the Requiem Elders game I played in.

A runner-up would be an Amber Mini-LARP where I managed to get on the good side of every faction vying for the Throne of Chaos, with each offering me exactly what I wanted.

August 4: What is the most impressive thing that you can remember another player’s character doing in a session?

Again sticking to the past year.

There were plenty of great moments in my Night's Black Agents thanks to a preponderance of explosions and the Preparedness skill. My favorite incident was Alec's character Nasir after Filching the MacGuffin from under a master vampire's nose was unexpectedly hurled out the 60th story window of a skyscraper (with the item) and then used his hidden wingsuit to fly to safety.

August 5: What story does your group of players tell about your character?

I can't really think of any. Stories about characters, I find, are mostly told by their players or their gamemasters. Unless it was really embarrassing for the player.

So instead I'll answer my first Bonus Question: If there were an ‘ice cream truck’ delivering RPG sessions, what ‘flavors’ would you like yours to carry?

Clearly "occult mystery" would be a popular flavor, along with "disturbing dreams", "difficult choices" and "thriller action". "Science fiction conundrums" would also be nice to have.

August 6: What is the most amazing thing that you know a game group has done for their community?

I know that a lot of gamers have contributed to help out developers who have fallen on hard times (illness and financial hardship) which I think is awesome.

On a more local level, my friend Mike has run game sessions for the neighborhood teens who come to the library he works at. It might not be charity per se but I think it is a wonderful contribution to the community.

August 7: What aspect of Roleplaying Games has had the biggest effect on you?

There are many positive qualities about gaming and I think they have all had an effect. But if I think back to my days before gaming (a long time ago in a state far away...) I'd say the biggest effect came from the friendships and social aspects of the game. I was a very awkward child and I think the venue to practice and expand my social skills has been very good for me.

August 8: Do you prefer hardcover, softcover, or electronic books? What are the benefits of your preference?

It depends.

Hardcover is ideal for presenting on a shelf, so I favor that for kickstarter products and books I own for show.

Softcover and hardcover have the advantage of not ruining my sleep cycle if I read them close to bedtime and being easier for me to pick up and put down to read.

But really I favor electronic books. I like being able to cart around a library in a tablet, to cut and paste sections for easy reference, and easily searching for key words.

August 9: What things are a part of your ideal session, other than the actual game?

Player participation. When the players bring their A-game, making in-character jokes instead of quoting Monte Python, create cunning plans (either on the spot or as the result of careful planning between sessions), and embrace risk and failure then the game becomes perfect.

It also helps when I recall all the rules and plot elements as I need them.

August 10: What was the largest in-game surprise you have experienced?

I've had many over the years. Here are a few recent ones.

When my players hijacked the genetically enhanced vampire's plane in my Night's Black Agents finale, that was unexpected. It was a brilliant and unexpected way of isolating the monster while also figuring out where the vampire leadership was.

As a player when my Changeling faced down the former Queen of Spring in what he was sure was his final fight and not only won but destroyed her epically in the middle of a prison mess hall, that was unexpected.

August 11: Which gamer that you have played with has most affected the way that you play?

Most of my 'style' comes from years of hard work and a lot of reading. While I have learned from other gamers it has mostly been in what not to do. Sticking to positive answers I'd go with my friend Mike whose sandbox/improvised style inspired me to break out of my highly planned epics.

August 12: What game is your group most likely to play next? Why?

My major run of trying new games just concluded so the most likely new games will be variations on the current and immediately previous systems. Bubblegumshoe (tweaked to horror) is likely (Stranger Things has inspired me to revisit some old game ideas and this is a good fit), Time Watch is waiting for a slot and inspiration to align (I've had material for a time travel game lying around for almost a decade), and Urban Shadows just needs the right group (because I love the debt mechanics).

August 13: What makes a successful campaign?

The crucial elements are player buy-in (if they are not in it for the long haul it will never work), personal enthusiasm (because that will fuel your game and your players' enthusiasm), and regularity (which helps with both of the above). A fourth element is a healthy dynamic between the players (including the GM). I've never seen a game with all of those facets die and rarely seen one without them succeed for long.

August 14: Who would be on your dream team of people you used to game with?

That's my current on-line group! Grace (my best player from college), Mike (my best player from the period between college and grad school), Sarah (my favorite from grad school), plus Alec (one of the better players from high school). It would be interesting if I could include Mark from high school (adding another leader to compete with Grace and Alec) and either or both of Keren from my Champaign days and Robby from my Benicia period (both of whom tend to contribute material between sessions like Mike).

August 15: What types or source of inspiration do you turn to most often for RPGs?

I rely on two main options for inspiration: music and movies.

For music I like to plot and prepare for a session with a specific sound track constructed for the game in question.

Movies I use to brainstorm plot ideas and cool visuals.

August 16: What historical character would you like in your group? For what game?

I can't say that I've ever thought about this. I'm not very interested in interacting with very many historical personages in general, let alone gaming with them. Ideally I play with friends and failing that creative people. That plus the reality of people rarely measures up to the legends.

Tossing Lovecraft into an Eclipse Phase game sounds hilarious however so let's go with that

The Unusual Suspects: the Naturalist

For the next several weeks, I related the important details and scenes from the preludes for the Demon characters in my latest Chronicle of Darkness game: the Unusual Suspects. We start with the player who was missing from the Character Creation session and his character: the Naturalist. Or ‘Nate’ for short.

The title "The Unusual Suspects" narrowly won over all the players in a vote. I still like the alternative, the Fractal Matrix, which sums up my feelings on the God-Machine.

Prelude: the Naturalist

The Messenger who became the Naturalist was supposed to alter the path of a teenager’s life. The young man would have pursued a different career, met different people, and in turn altered the lives of others. Those changes would allow some Infrastructure to activate, Angels to be summoned, new occult matrices to be constructed. Nations might be moved, the orbits of planets altered.

But the Messenger was never aware of those possibilities just as it never saw the results of any of its work. Such details were not in its mission.

Instead, bored, the Angel became intrigued with a disillusioned Gen Xer named Jim Foster. The writer was deep into the counterculture movement and an up and coming celebrity. They talked and the Angel revealed some of the terrible truths of world: secret missions to alter destinies, inhuman things moving among us, and the higher powers at work.

Jim took it well.

The God-Machine noted the failure and cut off its connection to the defective Messenger.

The Naturalist Fell. The new Demon struggled for a while, tending bar to make ends meet while it learned how to navigate its new situation. It abandoned its original cover after securing a soul pact with a drunk who had failed at life. The man got a new job, friends, and a college degree. Then it claimed his soul. Ever wary of the Machine it cobbled together another identity, Jenny Olsen, frustrated housewife, where it could feel safe.

By day It plays at being a devote wife and mother. John, her computer engineer husband, suspects something is wrong with her but isn’t sure what. Her children, Jane (4 years old) and Jacob (5 years old) have more of its trust. Deep down it feels it might share its deeper secrets with the older one if it had to.

At night, Jenny heads to the bar and becomes Dorian Magee. Dorian knows everyone who comes in and is well liked. That feeling is not returned by Lieutenant Jack Lawrence. The officer suspects the bartender change in fortune reflects some criminal activity.

It continues to follow Jim Foster, who knows more than enough to be a danger to the Naturalist and himself.

So here we see the answers to the various compromise questions: Who he confided in when he Fell, who could give him up to the angels, who he could trust, who suspects he isn’t human and who thinks they have something on them but is actually in the dark.

Meanwhile the Naturalist continues to work on patchwork covers, engaging in the “broken lives trade” as it is known in Seattle. An independent coffee shop known as Black Iron Coffee serves as a trading post for his kind. Located in Fremont, it uses suborned Concealment Infrastructure to hinder Angelic tracking.

The stigmatic behind the counter offers the special to all visitors if the area is clear.

Some of the major Pact traders include:

• Ms. Storm, purveyor of despair: suicide attempts, abusive relationships, scars. She is known to type up her pacts on an old typewriter with a broken key and can be identified by her bangs which always seem dyed blue.
• Mr. Nostalgia: seller of forgotten friends: childhood classmates, old flames, distant relatives.
• Mrs. Standard: saleswoman of oddities: being burned alive, living as a man, 30 years as a park ranger.

The Naturalist for its part contributes experiences like a trip to Japan or a period of homelessness.

Recently Ms. Storm traded the Naturalist a particularly problematic pact: a relationship to a teenage girl, already stigmatic and with a history of trouble making. The Naturalist bought the pact for Cymbeline, whose father sold her to feed his addiction, with two pacts of his own in the form of scrolls bound in ribbon: a summer abroad that included a strong connection to a rich Italian and a particularly memorable family vacation.

I also made use of the advice on Ciphers as described in the Storyteller’s Guidebook. I learned that the Naturalist views the God-Machine as something to be avoided and ignored. Dealing with something so big makes it nervous. As for humanity, it treats them like pets, interesting but disposable. It hasn’t really considered free will and may be wrong about how it treats humanity.

As to the effect of its Incarnation, the Naturalist still thinks of itself as a Messenger but now it sends messages for itself. It helps people out of habit but mostly just plays the part.

We concluded that the Demon, even though it doesn’t think about it much, sees a path to Hell through Covers. It hopes to build a place for itself in the world.

Its initial key is Check Backdrop.

The Naturalist knows of other Demons in the city but tries to keep them at arm’s length. Only one, the Weaver, knows about Jenny. They mutually discovered each other when Jenny brought her kids to a craft class at the library. The instructor, Jeanette, was the Weaver. Wary of their cover identities being known they have come to an agreement to keep such things between themselves for now.

Behind his Covers, the Naturalist appears to be a beautiful androgynous humanoid covered in a blue steel skin. It looks crafted smooth as a classical sculpture with the narrow facial features a Roman emperor. Long tendrils of copper wire tumble down to its shoulders like hair, glowing with a soft white light. A single twisted braid hangs off the front of its head, terminating in a jack. Beneath its skin, wires run like veins. One of its eyes is copper in color, the other is covered in white clouds.

Thanks to mike (a.k.a. SalientMind) for this description.
As for Aspirations, it begins with:

• Get a nanny or send kids to school
• Acquire a bolt hole
• Establish an unimpeded cover

Next time we’ll look at the Weaver, a very old (and perhaps antiquated) Angel who worked too hard on her final mission.

World Creation Minigames

Recently I’ve been working on several new campaign settings from a horror time travel mashup to a rebooted version of Spelljammer. Whenever I’m working on large projects like these I try to make the process as enjoyable as possible. Mostly this involves breaking them up into bite-size piece, each with their own little puzzle and sense of reward. In other words I make a game of it.

World Creation Minigames

Here are a few specific ways I do that. These work for me and maybe they’ll help you deal with the tedium and complexity of campaign creation as well.

Plot Jigsaw Puzzle

By viewing the plot as a jigsaw puzzle, I turn the project of creating a story into the arrangement of tropes, adventure scenarios, mini-campaigns, and story seeds into a cohesive plot.

For example, in my Demon: the Descent game I’m combining material from several books to create the overarching story of my Chronicle. My first story adapts the “Alligators in the Sewers” from Urban Legends, inserts the “Dendra Light” relic (and the related Dendra Reliefs) from Reliquary, ties in a MacGuffin for a later story stolen from Mage: the Awakening, and incorporates a monster from my previous Hunter game (taken from Antagonists).

The fun of this project is working out how many crazy things I can add to the story without ruining it. The Dendra Lights originate in Egypt which fits nicely with the themes of the antagonists in “Alligators in the Sewers”. Moreover their power ties closely to religious fervor which allows me to expand on the sewer cults. The layer of plots and devices also fits with the themes of the God-Machine and its occult matrices.

In my Vampire: the Requiem game, the jigsaw manifests between session as the players advance the story, resolve scenes and bring new problems to the fore. Between games, I focus on figuring out how each NPC reacts, move and adjust unvisited scenes, incorporate new player character Aspirations, and shift this all around into a satisfying story (subject of course to the decisions my players make).

The Translation Game

Another of my favorite tools, this is a different sort of puzzle: translating statistics from one game system to another. Sometimes it means updating a monster from one edition of a game to another, other times I translate an adventure from a different game setting. And sometimes I just pull whole subsystems from one game and import them into the one I’m running.

With the update of the new World of Darkness from first to the second edition (renamed to the Chronicles of Darkness), most of my games involve this to some extent. Virtues and Vices need updating to the new more flexible format, ethereal creatures need to account for different rules, powers have altered and so forth.

In the past I’ve translated 3rd Edition D&D dungeons to Arcana Evolved and Mage: the Ascension adventures to Mage: the Awakening. Each featured unique challenges in converting specific aspects over (what is the cleric equivalent for Arcana Evolved? What do you replace Marauders with in Awakening?). These made the projects interesting and thus fun and easier to resolve.

In Unusual Suspects, my Demon game, I’m doing some adventure translation. Beyond the system update, I’m incorporating a series of adventures from first edition Mage: the Awakening, translating the Mage antagonists into Demons and Angels and giving the stories a God-Machine gloss.

Custom Creations

Often I just want to make one small thing: a monster, a character, a cult or scene. Smaller is better. The more compartmentalized a project is the quicker I find I can finish it and get to that sense of accomplishment. For me a lot of these projects are monsters or NPCs, often ones that do something new mechanically.

For my game Heartland Orphans for example, I’m combining aspects of Beast: the Primordial to the antagonists of Vampire: the Requiem. In the mythology I’m building, the strange shadow birds that plague the setting are equal parts Strix and Beast. So which powers combine and how each individual Strix manifests this dual nature is the short fun puzzle.

Conclusion

So in summary: break up the work and make organizing and writing it a game.

How have you made world building fun for yourself?

Heartland Orphans: Red Words

Time for the recap of my Vampire: the Requiem game “Heartland Orphans”. This week I had all three of my players: a full game! (I am still down one player from my ideal number so any Sacramento based players are welcome to inquire about joining)

Our cast consists of:

• Alex Carlyle (Ventrue Invictus): a local doctor who quit his practice after gaining his condition. He has money but not much influence. He’s also haunted by a former friend, David, a vampire whose humanity melted away before his eyes. 
• Sybil Brannon (Gangrel Carthian): a former nature guide turned vampiric vigilante, she’s claimed the parks as her turf and is trying to determine who is doing blood sorcery using the entrails of the local homeless. 
• Ethan Redhawke (Mekhet Ordo Dracul): a member of the inner circle of the Heart of Akamon, an Ordo Dracul led cult of mortals who serve as a source of blood and researchers. He leads them as they comb folklore and myths for clues to abilities beyond the limits of current vampires. Like his disciples he lurks at the University of Illinois.

Red Words

First we recap the last session. Alex found a maimed cat and clues to his lost friend and ‘sibling’ Dave. In his search he encountered a pair of strange Kindred: Jim and Jane who seemed to want to help him. Jane turned out to be something other than a vampire: a strange being of smoke inhabiting a corpse. Jim and Jane may be the same creature.

Sybil meanwhile hunted down the source of a dangerous new drug on the street. With Alex’s help she traced it to Thomas Black, an ambitious if lowly member of the Invictus. She also heard rumors that Dave may be involved with the blood sorcerers that killed a homeless person on her turf not so long ago.

And then they discovered Rudolph, Alex’s sire and the most powerful vampire in town, hacked into torpor in a locked room. Clues point to Jane and her siblings being involved. Creepily it looks like Rudolph sawed his own limbs off.
As night comes to a close, Alex and Sybil load Rudolph’s lightened form into the truck. The doctor drops Sybil along the way back to his place. Putting his sire in a safe place, he rests for the day.

The next night, Ethan awakes within his sarcophagus. The smell of old blood greets him, drifting down from the collecting receptacle cunningly embedded in the altar above him. He slides the top panel aside and arises within a dimly lit chamber graced by elegant sandstone pillars.

Ethan begins somewhat hungry with 5 vitae.

As he straightens his clothing, he glasses at his cell phone. A text message from Portor catches his eye. His ‘sibling’s’ message is quick and cryptic.

i'm sorry. they found me. gotto run

Concerned Ethan hurries to talk to his sire. He finds Professor Martock in his office, surrounded by shelves of books at every wall and spilling into the center of the tight chamber. He relays the text to the dusty scholar. Martock looks momentarily concerned and instructs Ethan to talk to a member of the Invictus: Rudolph Reichardt. He jots down the address for his childe and then returns to his studies.

As Ethan searches for a disciple to drive him there, he encounters a young woman named Stephanie. The nervous looking cultist hesitantly tells him about the disappearance of a ritual knife needed for tomorrow’s ceremony. It seems the disciple entrusted with this task, Harry Wyman, is also missing.

I initially named him Ethan...somehow I forgot that we already had a PC by that name running the cult!

Ethan calls the cult together for an emergency meeting. He informs them of the disappearance of one of their own and asks them for what information they know. Despite the many murmurs, few new details emerge. A few people saw him with an unfamiliar homeless man. Stephanie saw him last, roughly a day ago.

I have him roll Presence + Persuasion to see how well he sparks memories but he fails.
Hearing this, Ethan turns his intense gaze at the young woman, entrancing her before the others and commanding her to take him to where she last saw him. The others draw back at this display of power, looking on as the pair leave.

He Dominates Stephanie and uses that to cement his position as cult leader. I let him roll Presence + Intimidate + Dominate and he succeeds.

Across town, Alex wakes within his basement safe room. He rises, checking that his dismembered sire remains secure, and heads upstairs. The cat meows as he reaches the ground floor, rubbing itself eagerly against his legs. He checks the mail, his answering machine and finally the grounds.

After spending 1 Vitae to rise, he is down to 5 Vitae.

A folded piece of paper sits by his front door. Inside is a simple note from David. He asks Alex to meet him at the Exile at the old railway station this evening.

A quick internet search reveals the Exile is a record shop in the declining strip mall that now resides in the station house. The doctor drives over, arriving a half hour before they close for the evening.

He spots a very ashen and hungry looking Dave poring over the records, or trying to seem so. His old friend looks up and smiles as Alex approaches. He talks avidly of his recent experiences to the doctor who cannot help but notice something is terribly wrong with the youthful vampire.

Alex rolls Wits + Empathy and gets an astounding 7 successes.
As Dave discusses his new friends of smoke and darkness and the strange powers they have taught him, Alex clinically notes the signs of ravaged humanity and possible schizophrenia. He discards that later diagnosis when Dave cocks his head, as if to hear some invisible voice, and his eyes momentarily flash yellow.

Alex asks why he has been avoiding him but Dave claims that the earlier sighting was merely someone playing a trick on the doctor. He admits to working with the Witch, observing it perform blood sorcery.

Dave spies a young woman looking at a record and decides to demonstrate a power Rudolph never even hinted to them. He approaches her, catching her eye. As he uses the familiar power of Dominate, he leans in close and breathes in. A red glowing energy rises from her mouth into his, as if he was sucking the life from her.

Alex interrupts him before he harms her further. Dave explains this is but one of the powers he has learned. Yesterday, he walked in the sunlight for hours without harm. Bewildered, Alex agrees to meet up with Dave again later in the week.

Elsewhere Sybil rises and heads to the cemetery where she heard that the Witch had been. Though she scours the graves for hours, she only picks up traces of blood and death.

Sybil is down to 8 Vitae and after a Wits + Investigation failure is no closer to the witch. I probably should have given her a real clue here, even though in the end it worked out well.
Nearby Ethan and Stephanie learn that Harry was seen near the cemetery last night. They give the helpful homeless man five dollars and pamphlet discussing the creed of Akamon.

Ethan rolls Presence + Persuasion to get useful information and succeeds.
Sybil spies the pair as they drive up. As she crouches behind some tombstones, Ethan and Stephanie notice her. Ethan instructs the mortal to remain in the car while he talks to the other vampire.

Sybil fails a Dexterity + Stealth roll against Ethan’s Wits + Composure + Blood Potency (due to his Acute Senses). Stephanie gets lucky on her roll and also beats the vampire.
Warily Sybil approaches. Ethan introduces himself as the Heart of Akamon. They talk past each other as Sybil suspects Ethan of human sacrifice and Ethan misunderstands it as an attack on his religion. Sybil comes to the conclusion that he is confused before the situation escalates. The pair realize they are hunting a common problem: someone conducting blood rituals in the park.

Ethan rolls Wits + Investigate to find some clues.

Ethan sniffs around and with his heightened senses detects Harry’s scent tinged with blood and death.

Just then Alex phones Sybil. He is looking to awaken Rudolph and would like some help. He also mentions his run in with Dave. Sybil says she is with the Heart of Akamon and that he might also be interested. She convinces the cult leader to drive her to the doctor’s house.

A few minutes later the three vampire’s make introductions. This time Ethan gives his actual name. With his mortal disciple dismissed, the trio descend into the basement to resuscitate Rudolph. Alex drips blood into his sire’s shriveled throat.

They wait.

Nothing happens.

As Alex’s puzzles over the failure, Ethan posits that only a vampire more potent blood could awaken the Ventrue. To his knowledge, only his sire or Rudolph’s sire might possess the necessary requirements. Professor Martock at least would know who to turn to.

Ethan rolls Intelligence + Occult to know these details.

Alex comments that even though Rudolph must be the “Old Man’s” eldest childe, the leader of the Invictus has designated another as his heir. There is bad blood between Rudolph and his sire, some secret he never shared with Alex.

Alex rolls Intelligence + Politics + Invictus Status to know about the political situation.
With one option removed, the Kindred head for university, stuffing Rudolph into a duffel bag in the trunk.

Along the way, a rush of fear rushes through Ethan as he feels a consuming darkness surround his sire. Then suddenly it feels as if Martock has vanished from the face of the earth.

Ethan rolls Wits + Blood Potency + 3 for blood sympathy and succeeds.

The Mekhet relates the premonition to the others. As they arrive at Martock’s office, they find it locked. Ethan picks lock, revealing a room covered in a mess of books and papers. Drops of Vitae decorate several surfaces but not enough to indicate significant harm to the elder vampire.

The PCs roll Intelligence + Investigation.

They search the room but everything has been locked from the inside. Despite signs of a struggle, the culprits and victim simply vanished.

Nervous and wary of something hunting them, Alex decides to take Rudolph to the Old Man despite the consequences. He calls Tara King, the covenant’s underboss and heir to the Old Man. She agrees to see them at the group’s headquarters in Bloomington.

The three of them then drive out of town with a torpored vampire still in the trunk. The lights of town recede and they begin to blaze along the highway towards Bloomington. Along the roadside, they spy a black bird sitting upon the road marker. Its eyes flash yellow in the headlights.
A mile later they see it again, perched atop the next marker.

And again.

Secretly I roll some dice as the creature curses them.

The vampires begin to discuss the growing strangeness. Five miles out, a bursting tire cuts off the group’s conversation. Alex struggles to control the car. He pulls the vehicle over as sparks fly from the back wheel.

He makes his Wits + Driving roll to maintain control.

The vampires get out and Alex retrieves the spare. But even as he picks it up, he can tell it is flat. They debate calling Triple A for help but in the end resort to calling Ethan’s cult. A disciple named Thomas agrees to come pick them up.

I decide then that Thomas is a little high this evening.

While the others wait Sybil walks through the darkness to the nearest mile marker. As she approaches a bird made of smoke and shadows drifts silently down and lands on top of it. She addresses it and it responds in an almost telepathic voice. She asks about its goals and its ‘siblings’, especially the one that called herself Jane. It claims to be personally uninterested in their affairs and is waiting for something. It does however find Jane’s actions amusing and confirms that the Twins seek some object from the vampires in the area. As she leaves, it warns her that if she really wants to save “them”, she should keep her ears open. Then it vanishes before she can clarify who “they” are.

Thomas arrives in an ancient station wagon. They load the duffel bag into it and head for Bloomington. The next half hour passes uneventfully as the beat up car devours the miles.

As the glow of Bloomington rises in the distance, they spot a pair of teenagers burst out of the brush lining the road. The young man runs out into the road trying to flag them down. After a moment’s hesitation Ethan instructs Thomas to stop. The youth pulls his companion, a badly bleeding girl, into the car.

At this point everyone rolls to resist Frenzy. Everyone succeeds the Resolve + Composure roll but gain the Tempted condition, inflicting a -1 penalty roll on the next Frenzy roll.

The terrified couple tell them a tale of being hunted in the cornfields nearby by a beast that stands like a man. They claim its eyes blazed red and one ear was a shredded mess. The last detail reminds Sybil of her final days of a mortal when a similar creature wiped out the hiking expedition she led.

Sybil watches the woman as Alex patches her up, nervously noting the claw and bite marks.

Alex rolls Dexterity + Medicine to stop the bleeding. Sybil isn’t sure if lycanthropy is contagious. I’m not sure if it is in my game yet.

Thomas drives them to the local hospital. After some paperwork, they leave the pair in the care of the ER but not before Sybil learns the woman’s name: Suzy Griffin.

With that entanglement out of the way, Alex directs Thomas to an old manor house on the south end of the city. They pass through the well protected gates. A woman in leathers meets them as they pull up at the front door.

A cold smile crosses Tara’s face as Alex pulls a weighty duffel bag from the back of the car. Her bemusement falters only slightly as the vampires tell their story. She invites them inside, leading them past the armed men at the door and into a parlor. Tara tells them to stay there and then enters an inner chamber. Minutes later she invites them inside.

A long dinner table fills the great room, terminating at an empty fireplace. A middle-aged man with a long handlebar mustache sits at the end along with several of his ghouls. Alex recognizes Jim, also known as the Old Man, has is grandsire. Alex and Ethan again relate their story of Rudolph’s maiming and Martock’s disappearance. The Old Man seems alternatively bored and bemused. He reveals a hint of surprise and recognition when they mention the shadowy birds. His clearest reaction is when Ethan reveals that both Portor and Martock is missing. His sudden smile never reaches his eyes.

Alex rolls Wits + Empathy to gauge the Old Man’s reactions. He seems amused by Rudolph’s position, has heard of the birds somehow, and clearly intends to make a move on the University.

The Old Man says that blood sorcerers must be responsible. Or at least that they know something. He suggests they go check a nearby coven, one that they can reach before dawn. He explains with a grin that he will talk to Rudolph.

They meekly do as he requests and drive out back into the cornfields, leaving the main road for dirt tracks until their headlights become the only source of illumination.

Everyone makes a Wits + Composure roll successfully.

As they grind along, a deep growl causes them to glance to the right. Glowing red eyes swell in size as a powerful hairy beast charges the car. Thomas hits the gas, somehow avoiding the wolf-like creature.

I roll 4 successes on his 3 dice pool. Lucky them. He does much less well on the following roll.

The werewolf skids to stop and then chases after them. With one mighty leap it grabs holds of the back of the car, nearly lifting it off the ground.

The characters roll initiative. The order is Sybil, Ethan, the werewolf, Alex and Thomas.

Sybil crawls over the pile of junk in the back and violently opens the back window into its lower jaw. As hot blood splatters on the glass from its wounded tongue, Ethan pulls a baseball bat from the mess in the station wagon.

Sybil makes a Strength + Brawl roll minus the monster’s Defense (only 4). She succeeds with 1 success and adds 1 Lethal for the window, minorly wounding the beast. I roll a chance die to find a plausible weapon with a normal failure yielding a decent blunt object.

Angered the hulking creature tears off the back door. The back wheels make contact with the ground and Thomas drives away. Alex stares back attempting to meet the beast’s red eyes and force his will upon it. But the creature shakes off his influence.

Alex rolls Intelligence + Expression + Dominate but the creature beats his 2 successes with 4 on its Resolve + Supernatural Tolerance.

As the werewolf readies for a third charge, Sybil prepares herself to dodge its strike. Ethan focuses his gaze and gently commands it to run away from here. Surprised, it stops and bounds off into the brush.

Sybil Dodges and Ethan succeeds where Alex failed.

As they catch their breath, Thomas spots a series of flaming stakes in a nearby field, surrounding an old farm house. Ethan tells him to take them there. As the car slides to a halt, three vampires emerge from the structure: a filthy dark-skinned woman, a man with jutting teeth and yellow skin and robed woman with pale skin and red eyes. This final figure offers them sanctuary from the werewolves. She explains the creatures have become maddened in recent months. The price for safety is a tithe of blood. Each agrees to donate some of their vitae. The yellow man collects it in a clay receptacle.

They follow these blood sorcerers into the barn. Inside a smaller thatch hut sits. Within the darkened confines of that secret place they find an earthen bowl on the ground holding ashes and bone fragments. The vitae is poured onto the remains which absorbs it until the dust resumes its bleached appearance.

The price paid, the woman then asks why they came. After they sputter their story, she reveals that she has heard of these birds of smoke and shadow but only by rumor. They never before ventured into this region, perhaps because they feared something, something now gone. As she says this she stares into the ashes. She alludes to Chicago in her musings and how once she held power there. She tells them to stay the day before venturing out again.

Now people are fairly hungry and after rising most will be at 3 Vitae. Should be an interesting session next time.

The Unusual Suspects: Seattle Dominion

The Seattle Dominion is a final piece of dropped material from my Demon: the Descent game, at least for now. It was the third possible variation on one of the parallel worlds for the setting. Like Little Arcadia, this world would be a mirror of Seattle but run by another supernatural faction than the God-Machine.

In this case, that faction would be the denizens of the Underworld and the Sineaters that deal with them.

The Seattle Dominion

This gray purgatory lurks between the Underworld and the world of the living. The sun never reaches this city and between the rains a thick mist rises to cloud the streets. Even the geography is altered: the cemeteries spread farther, urban decline replaces gentrification, and the architecture tilts closer to the Gothic than the modern. Ghostly echoes of old buildings and neighborhoods replace much of the city. Where they don't the streets stand empty with cracked glass and graffiti decorating the asphalt.

Ghosts mingle with the living and those masquerading as the quick. Death is not the end. It’s just a stage of existence.

The edges of this Dead Dominion lie bound in iron chains and potent magics to resist the pull of the Underworld. The pact with the God-Machine forged these bound, bounds it can quickly release should its tithe of souls end.

Those souls typically come from those who have broken one of the many Old Laws of the realm. When one of these convoluted mandates is violated, the Sin Eaters and Geists hear the toll of the Iron Bell. They know who broke that law and where they are. And they feel compelled to catch the lawbreaker.

Some choose to run. Some stand and fight. Many simply surrender themselves. The result is the same in the end. They are captured, their soul ground down into Stygian iron and then added to the next shipment bound for the God-Machine.

Demons try especially hard to avoid notice, drifting in and out of the mists that shroud the city. Still they come to visit despite the danger. The great draw is the Midnight Train, a spectral locomotive that can take one anywhere. Tickets are elusive but can be the ultimate prize.

The Unusual Suspects: Character Creation

With a tangle of themes mostly worked out for my Demon: the Descent game, I tried something different for character creation. I decided to leave the major decisions entirely in the hands of my players with no guidance from me, theoretically allowing my wife to participate in character creation while I helped take care of our 1-year-old son.

It did not work out so well.

Character Creation

The Plan

I began with a very specific set of goals:

1. Resolve the themes from Questionnaire.
1. For Living the Lie (and a focus on the day-to-day life of demons) I wanted to make sure everyone was cool with dealing with the theme on an individual level. Also I needed to collaborate with two of the players to determine an alternative source of drama and conflict.
2. Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives: for this theme I wanted to ensure that the group realized the action will remain in the ‘real’ world with occasional hops to do specific missions on the other side. I also wanted to outline the major alternate Seattles in play.
2. Solve unanswered questions about the population of demons in the area:
1. Are the PCs part of an Agency (as a group)? Forming one? Trying to join?
2. Two of the agencies are feuding. What do they both want?
3. Discuss The Other Supernaturals: one player brought up the possible theme of other supernatural creatures as major players for or against the God-Machine.
1. I’m very crossover friendly so my initial list of beings to include consisted of:
1. Hunters (since Seattle was the setting for my earlier Hunter: the Vigil game)
2. One or more Prometheans (specifically Infinity who featured heavily in the earlier game)
3. "The Sandmen": a race of memory eating undead who have recently become revealed to the Demons of the city.
4. "Bateman's Children": psychic cryptids living in the north end of the city. They are twisted and evil, even by demonic standards.
2. A few other options suggested themselves as natives of a dimension I had in mind for the Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives game. That dimension would be a ‘faerie’ realm kept independent of the God-Machine by a tithe of souls (in a nice reversal of some other stories involving Faerie and Hell).
1. Changelings: powerful and mad, these fae send captive mortals to the God-Machine to secure the Realm. Now they are extending the Hedge into our Seattle.
2. Mages and Mummies: In an alternate history, Seattle has become infiltrated by cults and conspiracies. These organizations are now oozing into our Seattle even as Demon send their own operatives into this new world. The tithe of souls keeps the God-Machine satisfied as long as it doesn’t become a safe harbor for Demons. As demonic influence grows that world becomes endangered.
3. Geists and Sineaters: Reigning over a spectral version of Seattle, the living, dead, and mechanical must obey strict Laws or face the wrath of the Kerberoi.
4. Answering Basic Character Questions:
1. Incarnation, Agenda, Concept
2. Past: How did you Fall? Create a person, place or supernatural tied to that.
3. Description: of your Cover(s) and Demonic Form
4. Now: What mortals are important in your life right now?
5. Goals: Cipher, Aspirations
6. Future: What big goal are you working toward?
5. Lastly I had some questions about the Ring:
1. Are you just a group that trusts each other or do you have a common goal? If the latter what is it?
2. How did you meet? How did you learn to trust each other?

Finally I planned to give everyone 5 Experiences.

Analysis

In retrospect I was way way too ambitious. I did not get close to accomplishing everything on my list and many important questions were left unresolved by the end of the session.

Since I was taking care of Sebastian and making dinner throughout the session, I wasn’t present to guide discussions. Key items like how the group came together were left unanswered or at least hopelessly vague. On top of everything our most experienced player missed the session due to illness which made my absence more problematic. In retrospect I should have conducted this all via email and the game website’s forum.

My wife suggested that leaving the question about connections between characters entirely to the players was a bit unfair. I could have provided some sample options (a la Apocalypse World) to ease the process.

The Output

We were able to resolve the remaining discuss of themes satisfactorily. For those unsatisfied by Living the Lie, one agreed to be tied up with their cult and its rivals while the other is being hunted by an Exile. The cult leader also helped resolved the nature of the parallel version of Seattle. We will be using an alternate world run by dark sorcerers, mummies, and cults.

As for the Agencies of the city, we established that two of them are competing to subvert the University of Washington. The God-Machine has some scheme in place to control the student body. One group of demons wishes to turn the students into a cult while another seeks to liberate them from the Machine. The PCs just so happen to live nearby.

One cool idea that was tossed away idea in the process: a mayoral race being controlled by the God-Machine. As some people may recall, I had a concept very similar to that. Unfortunately United States politics being what they are right now (and with players on both sides of the political spectrum), it’s probably for the best to avoid this option.

In the end our cast came to consist of:

• A Guardian Saboteur who is an ex-child soldier from Rwanda. As an Angel he watched over his charge and “commander’ until he was ordered to slaughter a school. He then assassinated the man and fled. Decades later he works as a janitor at the university. The Destroyer who was tasked with eventually killing the commander now hunts him as an Exile. The former Guardian’s basic belief system is similar to that of the Punisher: he uses violence to end (hopefully greater) violence.
• My wife’s Guardian Inquisitor who failed to report back in after her charge was killed on schedule. Now she works as an editor for an online paper. Unfortunately I wasn't able to ask her many questions during the session since we were rarely in the room at the same time.
• A Psychopomp Tempter whose mission as an Angel was to create a highly addictive MMO. It turned to be lethally so and caused him a crisis of conscience. He crashed the in-game economy, Fell, and then reinvented himself. He's now running a gaming guild which is secretly a cult. He may also be working as an IT guy under another cover. His old CEO covered up the deaths the MMO caused and later went on to create Candy Crush.
• A Psychopomp Inquisitor who discovered a flaw in the textiles it had engineered. The dyes cause cancer. In trying to fix it (and exceeding the parameters of its mission) the Angel Fell. Now it works as a chemist at a chemical startup, Adamant Industries, building tougher stronger materials. On the side it runs a crafts workshop at the library. It has tried to help the victims of her former mission but very quietly.
• A fifth member remained undefined as that player was absent due to sickness.

How the demons all came together was never well-defined. I suspect if I had been in the room, I could have guided the process better. The group apparently agreed that they met when an Angel tracked one of them down while everyone else was nearby. Details remain unclear on how it was defeated (though everyone joked the one missing player probably drew its attention in the first place).

I'll be arranging one on ones to finish up all the characters next. I’m hoping this won’t take too much time and that we can get this game moving soon.

The Unusual Suspects: Little Arcadia

Continuing my short series on alternate Alternate Worlds for my Demon: the Descent game, I’ve got a pocket world, just large enough for Seattle, run by forces other than the God-Machine. In Little Arcadia the fae pay a terrible price to claim their own realm separate from the Angels and free of the Gentry. For now.

Little Arcadia

(a.k.a. Our Place, the Emerald City Freehold)

Theme: The terrible price of purchased freedom

On the surface this Seattle appears normal to visitors. But then little things begin the surface and bump up against them. The normal weirdness of the city can be found everywhere, even in the staid neighborhoods outside the reach of the university. The people who live in the East Bay act strangely, more like caricatures than actual people.

Then the vistor discovers that anything outside the city doesn’t exist. The bridges terminate in thickets of thorns or at docks for fanciful ferries that never return. The neighborhoods north and south of the city grow emptier and wilder until one discovers they are little more than cardboard cutouts amid a maze of foliage.

This is the world that a daring and powerful group of Changelings purchased from the God-Machine. How they managed to make a Pledge with such a thing remains unknown but stranger things have been known to happened.

The seasonal Kings and Queens who brokered the deal almost a decade ago and have kept it their secret ever since. It is rumored is that its term may be coming up. What is known that the cost include a yearly tithe one hundred first-born children to be delivered every winter solstice.

The arrogance and inhumanity of this deal has driven these powerful fae to the edge of sanity. With only the barest Clarity they rule the city like mini-Gentry, organizing endless balls, hunts, and other diversions.

Still the promise of freedom, whether from the True Fae or the God-Machine, continues to draw Changelings and Demons alike. They congregate in the markets that open in every nigh in ever neighborhood as well as the many hidden streets that wind invisibly through the city. Trading with Hobs and stranger folk, almost anything can be found here from maps to Hell to lost humanity.