[Sorcerer]Urban Squalor--1st Session

[Michael S. Miller]

This is the first of the Urban Squalor game, character creation of which was here. We played on 3/14/04. We had a RL problem just before the first session. Michele, who had created Dr. Liz Goodman, had an unexpected obligation come up for the day of the game, with the likelihood of further unexpected obligations on the horizon. Since Sorcerer doesn't handle now-you're-here, now-you're-not very well, I asked her to sit out for the duration of the Sorcerer game, and rejoin the Sunday group afterward. She had no problem with this.

However, this left us with another problem. Kat's character, Detective Rosetti, was closely intertwined with Dr. Goodman. His Kicker was dependant on her. I offered to run Dr. Goodman as an NPC, Kat wanted to make a new character. She pointed out that the other two remaining characters were high school students, and she didn't want to play the "token grown-up" in a high school-centered story. Thus, both Dr. Goodman & Detective Rosetti, and all their potential conflict were wiped clean of the game before it even began.

And thus, Kat's new character:

Jane Olivia Cain's father is a sorcerer in a military coven. Much of his job is hunting down sorcerers that don't work for the government and recruiting them or eliminating them. Several years ago, Jane secretly got a hold of part of a book that her father had confiscated. It's sort of an Anarchist's Sorcery Cookbook, although her portion is incomplete. All she knows about the author is he calls himself Solomon in the book.

Unhappy at moving from place to place, having to work so hard to be popular and get on the cheerleading squad at each new school, Jane summoned a companion: Gillian.

Gillian is a passer, who can change appearance and Cover, but only once in a great while (I had her take Cover twice). Usually, she takes on a new identity each time Jane moves. This time, she's an older student whom Major Cain pays to tutor Jane. Gillian's need is praise and affection from Jane. Her Desire is to make herself the only thing important to Jane (a specific form of Worship).

Kicker: Jane and her father have just moved to town because Solomon lives somewhere around here. Major Cain has come to recruit or eliminate Solomon, and Jane has discovered this, she needs to find Solomon so that she can get the rest of the book.

Jane Olivia Cain
Stamina: 5 (Cheerleader, Military Brat)
Will: 4  (user/manipulator)
Lore: 1  (it's only part of a book)
Price:  Arrogant (-1 to perception rolls)
Humanity: 5 (lost none to the summoning)
Telltale: Scar on upper left arm (she had to offer flesh to the summoning) Gillian has the same scar reversed on her inner left arm and when they overlap it makes a pentagram.

Gillian (demon name is Fidelus)
Lore 9
Will 10
Stamina 9
Power 10
Telltale: Gillian's body is room temperature, she radiates no heat. She a plain-looking tall redheaded 18 year old in torn jeans and worn-out T-shirt.

Powers: Cover (twice, to make it changable), Vitality (twice, once confers to Gillian, and once to Jane--with physical contact), Confuse (helps keep other Sorcerers--esp. Jane's dad--from spotting her Telltale), Protection from Psy. Force (confers to Jane, again, through touch), Daze, Link, Psychic Force (manifests as the target having "bad luck"--they trip, something falls on them, etc.)

Since this wasn't created along with the other characters, Kat sent an e-mail to the group describing the character and asking for feedback. We also did a once-over with the group before the session.

Here's what transpired in the session:

I played out each character's Kicker. Che got off the plane from Costa Rica, and no one was there to meet him. He eventually got a hold of his Uncle Mani and learned that his parents were at the hospital because his sister had been beaten.

Gillian had managed to tap Major Cain's secure line, which allowed Jane to overhear what his orders were: find Solomon and recruit him, or terminate with extreme prejudice.

Darryl is chatting with Dominus about what to do, when his mom bursts in and sees the demon.
 Mom: What is that

thing doing in my house?
 Darryl: Just cause you don't use your old books anymore doesn't mean we should all suffer.
 Mom: Those books are dangerous.
 Darryl: So are skateboards, but you let me use those.
Mom attempts to grab books, but Darryl snaps them up.
Mom attempts to Banish Dominus, Darryl throws a book at her, and she aborts to defend. So, Dom isn't Banished, but Mom now has the book.
 Mom: I don't want to see that thing when I get back ... or else! I should have burned these years ago. Salvador told me this would happen.
 Darryl: Who's Salvador?
 Mom: You just get rid of that thing or you'll find out who Salvador is!

Che reaches his family at the hospital. Finds out that his formerly-goody-two-shoes sister has been sneaking around with some rough guy that their parents know nothing about. She's beat up pretty bad, and doesn't want to tell Che anything, but eventually confesses that her boyfriend Rafeal beat her up. She begs Che not to get involved—Rafeal runs with the Saints, and Che shouldn't get mixed up with the wrong crowd so soon after coming home.

Jane attempts to find out where her dad is going by sweet-talking Mr. Bronze, her dad's demon-assistant. There's some snappy banter, but no real information. She corners her dad as he's leaving—he's dressed "undercover"—think military man trying to look like a drug dealer. He begs her to stay inside except for school, and hopefully this will all be over soon.
 Dad: Don't talk to me if you see me on the street.
Jane: You're going to be on the street?

Darryl goes looking for Jimmy, the kid he beat up in the ritual to Summon Dominus. On the way over, I do a Cross with Jane's dad, who passes Darryl on the street. Finding Jimmy & his buds at the local asphalt playground, Darryl tries to find out who bullies them around. Jimmy won't talk, but one of his friends says that Zach picks on them—he hangs at the local convenience store.

Che approaches some of his old gang-friends, the Diablos. They tell him horror stories of Rafeal. He can throw manhole covers one-handed and has risen to head of the Saints really quickly. They'll give him a ride to the Saints' HQ, but they're reluctant to do more.

Jane & Gillian climb the building fire escape to get into her dad's room, to find out where Solomon might be. She does find a note about a dance club nearby. Darryl sees them climb back out of the window.

Darryl heads down to the convenience store, snatches the cigarette out of Zach's mouth, and confronts Zach. Using Hold, he easily gets the upper hand and forces Zach to submit to him, and to promise not to pick on Jimmy any more.

Che approaches the Saints' HQ in an abandoned movie theater. He pokes the guard in the eye & storms in. There are guys playin' cards, they draw their guns. Che grabs the gun away from their leader and threatens them. They submit, drop their weapons, and leave at his urging.

Jane & Gillian head to the dance club. They spot a telltale (shirt thoroughly scratched at same place as Jane's ritual scar) on a man dressed in black. He's talking with a woman in her late 30s—Darryl's mom, Diana. Leaving Gillian at the bar, Jane storms right up to him: "Are you Solomon? I've really got to talk with you. I need the other half of the book so I can tell my demon how to cool down." Salvador (the man in black) tries to quiet Jane. He tells Diana he'll call her later & she departs. Jane's dad is coming in and he spots her! But, she doesn't talk to him, like he told her to. She & Salvador head to parking lot.

Darryl is passing dance club when he sees his mom coming out. He barely manages to duck behind a car in time to not be seen. When he looks up, he sees Jane—one of the girls from the fire escape—coming out with an older man. He tries to get a better look, but Gillian gets the drop on him. Jane & Gillian confront him about what he's doing. He counters that they really shouldn't have been climbing in people's windows. Jane tells him to scram, but Gillian doesn't like him, so uses her Psychic Force on him. Darryl falls off his skateboard as he leaves. Jane & Gillian leave with Salvador.

Che enters what was the projection room and is now Rafeal's pad—decorated with really expensive stuff on crappy furniture, and a massive crucifix on the wall. He's there with a girl and doesn't notice Che until he smashes a bottle over Rafeal's head. Battle is joined, and we learn that Rafeal has a demon of his own. Neither side can gain a clear advantage, so Che grabs Rafeal and turns them both to mist.[/list:u]

That's where RL dictated that we end things. Typing this up, I'm struck by the amount of blocking I was doing. It's a real bad habit I've really got to break myself of. For instance, I should have let Kat find out where Jane's dad was looking for Solomon much easier. All the rest was busywork and shouldn't have happened. Having more Bangs prepped and ready should help somewhat.

After the game, Chris and Scott told me that they had come to the table with plans for their characters: Che was intending to use his Demonic powers to take over the rival gang, and Darryl would go from little-bully to bigger-bully, working his way to the biggest bullies around. However, since I didn't know about these player wants until after the first session, I was unable to incorporate them. To be honest, since neither of them quite flow intuitively from the characters' Kickers, I was somewhat blindsided by the requests. I'll try to work that kind of stuff in for the next game (this Sunday--04/25/04).

[Judd]

After the game, Chris and Scott told me that they had come to the table with plans for their characters: Che was intending to use his Demonic powers to take over the rival gang, and Darryl would go from little-bully to bigger-bully, working his way to the biggest bullies around. However, since I didn’t know about these player wants until after the first session, I was unable to incorporate them. To be honest, since neither of them quite flow intuitively from the characters’ Kickers, I was somewhat blindsided by the requests. I’ll try to work that kind of stuff in for the next game (this Sunday--04/25/04).

I'd urge the gamers to point you, the GM, in the direction they want the characters to go via the Kickers.  I'd think they should be the players way of saying, "Hey GM!  I want to take this car for a ride over THERE."

I feel like I didn't get kickers fully until I played TROS and understood that Spiritual Attributes are the player's way of telling the Seneschal where to take the game.

Kickers work in a similiar fashion in my mind.

Thanks for the Actual Play report.  It was really informative and it helped me wrap my mind around running Sorcerer, a game that I've thought about a bunch but haven't run nearly enough, a problem I am about to remedy.

Thanks.

[Christopher Weeks]

After the game, Chris and Scott told me that they had come to the table with plans for their characters: Che was intending to use his Demonic powers to take over the rival gang, and Darryl would go from little-bully to bigger-bully, working his way to the biggest bullies around. However, since I didn't know about these player wants until after the first session, I was unable to incorporate them.

I have to wonder though, what are you going to do to incorporate them.  Shouldn't it be based on where I steer Che?  I mean, I did direct you with my kicker.  I'm happy with what happened.  I basically mentioned off-hand that I'd been thinking about summoning a possessor into Rafeal and making him my bitch, thereby controlling the other gang.  But I found out that would be awkward.  That's fine.  Dealing with shifting ground and adversity is fun.  Right?

And to be fair, we did bandy about the idea about organizing the local gangs when Che gets back from abroad at the character creation session.  It wasn't even originally my idea.  

Michael, what was the mechanic that we were using to incorporate Cover into another roll?  I think I've seen at least two other ways of doing it discussed and I'd be interested in hearing from Ron how it ought to be done.

Chris

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

Michael, these two sentences in the last part of your post seem strongly linked to me:

I'm struck by the amount of blocking I was doing. It's a real bad habit I've really got to break myself of.
...
After the game, Chris and Scott told me that they had come to the table with plans for their characters: ... However, since I didn't know about these player wants until after the first session, I was unable to incorporate them.

It strikes me that you are not comfortable not knowing what a character will be up to when you begin playing a session. The character is directed by the player. When you block it, it communicates very clearly to the players, "Don't do off-beat stuff, don't mess with the plan, I have a plan." Even shifting uncomfortably and looking worried is a Hey It's Participationism flag to long-time role-players.

Instead, say right out, "Whoa, let me think a minute," and then work with the new information and approaches, embracing them.

Now, that does not mean that you have to be a telepath and provide all sorts of Perfect Hooks for the players' plans, without knowing anything about them. That is impossible. But it does mean that, given any effort on the players' parts in these directions, you should not block them.

I think your group is in a perfectly good "space" right now. I think it's expecting too much of the game, as people often do, to expect the Heavens to Open because we're Playing Sorcerer. It's a game which must find its feet, for a given group, and build, through play alone.

And you're starting out fine. You ran some stuff. You have some visuals on the characters, demons, and NPCs. You have some debriefing notions about how to do things a bit differently. All you need, and trust me, it is very easy, is to say, "Whatever you want your character to be up to, then you damn well must have the character do stuff to get there. I can't read your mind." And then, as GM, you have to play responsively when they do stuff - not wildly improvising setting and back-story into place like some kind of crazed Universalis Robert Jordan, but simply playing your NPCs and the back-story you've got with verve and passion, spiking the Kickers, giving the game a beat and a background hum.

Best,
Ron

[Michael S. Miller]

It strikes me that you are not comfortable not knowing what a character will be up to when you begin playing a session. The character is directed by the player. When you block it, it communicates very clearly to the players, "Don't do off-beat stuff, don't mess with the plan, I have a plan." Even shifting uncomfortably and looking worried is a Hey It's Participationism flag to long-time role-players.

Instead, say right out, "Whoa, let me think a minute," and then work with the new information and approaches, embracing them.

Actually, I think my blocking was primarily a form of stalling. Your way is better-- honest communication, go figure.

The first session is always rocky, and my sense of pacing was way off that particular Sunday--i.e. I felt things were zooming too fast, so I instinctively blocked to slow things down. Then, suddenly, the session was over, and I was left saying: "that's it?"

As you note, a minor bump. Nothin' to fret over. Lookin' forward to the next session.

I have to wonder though, what are you going to do to incorporate them. Shouldn't it be based on where I steer Che?

You're right. It should & it will. But, for instance,  I should have given more thought to what the Saints & their area would be like beforehand, rather than whipping it up on the spot. I kinda thought Che's time with his family would take longer (see my comment about skewed sense of pacing above), but I can't really say why I thought that.

Michael, what was the mechanic that we were using to incorporate Cover into another roll? I think I've seen at least two other ways of doing it discussed and I'd be interested in hearing from Ron how it ought to be done.

IIRC, we were doing it just in the same way Ron confirmed was the right way in the recent thread Rolling successes over that cover from... where?


Thanks for the comments, all.