[Sorcerer] Blood Simple '05

[Judd]

I e-mailed 'em:

The New Year's Eve Weekend on the evening of New Year's Day we could game.

I could run Sorcerer, which is neat because it is capable of many different genres.  If I am stepping on someone else's GMing toes, just let me know and I'll back away from the table.  Here are a few possibilities, we would flesh out the settings more to fit around your characters:

Blood Simple: Its a noir world of tommy guns and illegal hooch where junkies, mob-collectors, pimps and their whores live on the Hell-side of town.  You live on the legit end of the Dante Tunnel but you know people, bad people and can summon them with but a phone call.  Inspired by Miller's Crossing, The Godfather and some more Miller's Crossing.

Out of Heavenly Kung-fu, Charnel Gods and Blood Simple they chose Blood Simple.

Anyone who wants to know more about the setting can learn about it by going to the setting's creation thread here:

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=10822

and the Actual Play report of the first time I ran it here:

RPG.net: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=122399

Forge: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=11194

I posted the IM's in which we made up characters tonight in my LJ and will post those links among the characters so far.

Rob's PC: The Colored Cop with a Bad Friend

Rob and I have gamed together since junior high.  He was the fella who originally got me into gaming by introducing me to Marvel Super-Heroes when I was 12.  He has been posting questions about his World of Darkness game under the handle RobNJ.

He's played mostly d20, though I did run a Sorcerer game for him but it was among my first efforts and I didn't quite get it just yet.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/judd_sonofbert/50491.html#cutid1

Jefferson Arnold Carter

3 Stamina  Uncle Sam's Man

4 Will  John Q. Citizen

3 Lore  Family Business

4 Humanity

Cover: 4 Colored Murder Police

Price: Still in Denial (-1 to rol when first dealing with a Demon)

Telltale:  As a kid, he pissed off the wrong kid and couldn't placate him well/quickly enough, so he got a bottle shoved in his face.  He's got a scar from the right corner of his mouth down to his jawline that draws one side of his mouth down into a scowl by default. (scarred, to put it briefly)

NPC's

Ma

Older Brother - Drunk, useless

Younger Sister - Pretty, on the edge

Demon, his crew

Kid who scarred your face

Kicker

Jeff and his partner take the door of an illegal bar/dance joint/brothel. Perps scatter and I chase one of them down and corner him. He turns, and it's the sister's boyfriend, someone we thought was a good influence. have a moment to decide if I'm going to take him down or let him go.


Paula's PC: The Trophy Wife

Paula played in the Dictionary of Mu as Amaranth and so should be comfortable with how Sorcerer works.  I think the change of concept will require some shifting of gears for her, the IM didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/judd_sonofbert/50732.html#cutid1


As Yet Unnamed Trophy Wife

2 Stamina  Foxy Dame

3 Will  Jane Q. Law

5 Lore Naive Enabler & Family Business

3 Humanity

Cover: Trophy Wife

Price:   Still in Denial (-1 to rol when first dealing with a Demon)

Telltale:  a little whorish, just like ma

NPC's

whorehouse madame mom

criminal ex-boyfriend

"legit" husband

brother in jail

Kicker

One night thugs bust down the door of her house  to kill her husband.

Next up, have to make up Sorcerer PC's with long time friends Tom and Blair,  who are entirely new to Sorcerer and then draw it all together with bangs and such.

[Judd]

Blair's PC: The Midnight Cabbie

Blair has also gamed with me since Junior High.  He's always open to new games I bring into town when I visit and I'm looking forward to gaming Sorcerer with him.  He got on-line tonight and we made up this character over IM.  Below is a link to the chargen process.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/judd_sonofbert/51424.html#cutid1


Freddie

3 Stamina  Rough Drinker, Rough Life

2 Will  Too Dumb to Lie Down

5 Lore Working Stiff

3 Humanity

Cover: Midnight Cabbie

Price:  Eager to Please

Telltale:  Limp

NPC's

a hooker he drives home each dawn from her corner
 
his dispatcher, a gruff bastard

Demon

maybe if after losing his wife, the character has been trying to please his son all the more, excuses his behavior as mourning for his mother and his failure as a father.  the son would be into drug dealing...opium and opium derivatives...


Kicker

When he goes to pick up his regular fare at dawn, the hooker named "Candy" she jumps into his car and tells him to floor it because someone is chasing her and she can't go home.

Looking back I'd like a few more NPC's from him but its a good start.


I realized I didn't write about the other PC's Demons.  The cop has a best friend who is a criminal as a Demon and the Trophy Wife has a mother who is a whorehouse's madame.  I'll post their needs and desire along with all of their character sheets later.

I didn't make up the Demons with the PC's as closely as I normally would.

[Judd]

Things I need to communicate on-line:

Explain what a Sorcerer is in this setting along with how Contacting, Summoning, Binding, Punishing, and Banishing work.

Explain how Humanity works and what going to Humanity 0 means and that it isn't a loss to go to 0.

Explain how the Hell-side is an otherworld and will use otherworld rules, going  through the Dante Tunnel is no joke.

Write bangs.

Things to communicate in-person before the game:

Explain dice mechanics.

Explain how role-playing rules the dice (As it says on my Blood-Simple One-Sheet).

Run Binding scenes.

Look over bangs one last time.

Run kickers and GO!

[Judd]

I have been thinking about this game and doing more work on it more often than my usual games, probably because my girlfriend's visiting her parent's for the week and I'm anxious to get on and through the holidays.

K's are thoughts on their kickers, *'s are Bangs.

KICKER for Colored Murder Police:

>Jeff and his partner take the door of an illegal bar/dance joint/brothel. Perps scatter and I chase one of them down and corner him. He turns, and it's the sister's boyfriend, someone we thought was a good influence. have a moment to decide if I'm going to take him down or let him go.<

K - He begs and pleads,  "C'mon, I'm just trying to get a stake together for me and your sister, this was my first and last time.  I gotta give a good home to that baby coming.  I swear after this I'm out!"?

K - Blood all over sister's BF's shirt

K - More sirens coming, build that tension

K - Bar owner holds gun to kid, "nobody robs Madame and get's away with it in this town" and then kid pulls gun on bar-owner...

* Finds partner on his way from Hell-side, doing dirty work for Demon-buddy



KICKER for Trophy Wife:

>One night thugs bust down the door of her house to kill her husband.<

K - Tie her up, can't kill her, "madame would ban us from gettin' pussy and (name of her inmate brother) would kill us when he got out or her ex-boyfriend would kill us tomorrow"

* Mitsy's calls hysterical because her son was kidnapped and there's a ransom note that says not to call the police, "I know my husband will call his golf buddy, the D.A. and my boy will die...you've got to help him, you know about this kind of thing!"

* Mayor's wife blackmails her, "Do X for me or I'll out you to your high society friends and have your brother shivved."

KICKER for Midnight Cabbie:

>When he goes to pick up his regular fare at dawn, the hooker named "Candy" she jumps into his car and tells him to floor it because someone is chasing her and she can't go home.<

K - Opening scene Car chase!

K or * Son knows her, deals smack to her, intimates that he has fucked her

* Comes back from a bathroom break to find a note on his car, "There's a body in your trunk, take it to the junkyard near Dante Tunnel and all's well."

* Son owes money to the Chinaman after the son's robbed of his stash, a local drug lord (who isn't Chinese but a little Korean and a little Polish, but he plays up that shit to scare white junkies)

[Judd]

I asked for 3-6 words on each of their NPC's and a short description of their PC's.  These wonderful bits are what I've got.

Paula's Trophy Wife

This is more than 3-6 words, but it's just the info you asked for in
narrative form.

PAB

Clarissa Cortez Stansfield was raised by her ma, Perdita Cortez, in a bustling whorehouse Hell-side, but she went to Catholic school and was as sheltered as a pretty girl can be on that side of the Dante Tunnel.  

For a while in high school she was infatuated with Gaetano "Nice Guy" Leone, a handsome petty thug of her neighborhood, who had ambitions of his own
and now runs his little corner of Hell.  He never quite forgot about Clarissa, though she has tried to forget about him.

Clarissa and Perdita had the same goal-- get her out of Hell-side and into a nice townhouse on a cul-de-sac.  It happened for her when she met Weston Stansfield, a respectable businessman, who took her away from all that.

Clarissa was able to wear the stylish clothes, drive the nice car, have the lovely house-- she was even invited to be on the Social Committee at the East Shore Country Club by Mitzy St. James herself.  There, she hobnobbed with the likes of [bTabby Rothschild[/b], the hotel heiress, and Virginia Devereaux, wife of the Mayor.  They don't know about her regular calls to Mama about living the high life, nor about Ramon, Clarissa's brother who is in prison for armed robbery.  They also don't recognize her as the spitting image of her mother (though they have whispered about her too-tight tops,
too-high heels and too-red lipstick).  They just think she's a naive, slightly giddy young trophy wife.  They'd be mostly right...

Blair's Midnight Cabbie

Alright, I'll add my list -

PC : Freddie Usalowicz.  50 yrs old, overweight cab driver.  Wide eyed and eager to please, not vvery
bright but knows his way around town from driving in
it for so many years, knows people and places.  His
wife died ten years ago and Freddie has moved on by
just driving his cab.  His face is rough and a bit
weathered from age.

Son - Johnny Usalowicz...aka Johnny U.  28 yr old drug fiend and opium dealer always looking for another score.  Freddie excuses his behavior as mourning for his mother and hopes one day Johnny will turn things around.

Regular fare - "Candy" the prostitute: Freddie picks Candy up from her corner every morning and drives her home.  They chit chat along the way.  Candy is in her early 30' now and her age is beginning to show.

Regular fare - James Tierney: Once a week, Freddie picks Mr. Tierney up outside his apartment and takes him to the airport.  Tierney flies out to Chicago
every Thursday morning.  He and Freddie talk about
sports or the weather.  Mr. Tierney's job has
something to do with the stock market.  He has a wife
and kids.  Freddie admires that sort of life and
thinks Mr. Tierney is a nice and respectable man.

Boss - Earl MacDonald: cab dispatcher for the
overnight shift.  Gruff, disgruntled, mean spirit.
Tends to bully Freddie but Freddie excuses it since
Earl works two jobs to put his kids through school.

Wife - Estel Usalowicz: deceased, taken by lung
cancer a decade ago.  They had a good marriage even
though Johnny was a handful growing up.  Money was
tight but they made it work.  Freddie has not been so
good at taking care of himself since losing her.


Rob's Colored Murder Cop

I'll try to keep it short.

PC:  Jefferson Arnold Carter.  26, thin and tall.  Dapper and professional.  Interested in jazz and is studying drumming.  Also dreams of being a writer.  Graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Criminal
Justice from Eaststone, prestigious traditionally Negro college on the UNCF & the GI Bill after the war, where he was in a Negro infantry unit.

> partner,

Faustino Stanton Duckey:  25 years old, chubby, white.  Det. Duckey is an idiot with nepotistic connections.  He shouldn't be a cop, but they can't get rid of him, so they make him work with the nigger.  Incompetent and always looking to cut corners and get or give favors (in lieu of future recompense).  Possibly destined to fail upward.

> criminal buddy

Raymond Walter Poole, a.k.a. Ray-Ray, Ray the Dropper, Ray-Ray the Dropper, Dropper, Drop and other aliases:  27 years old, short and  thick. Danger comes off him like hot from a stove.

His boys include: Lucius Knowell (smooth 'n' pimpy), Jerell Jae (big'n'mean) and Timmy Fraser (young 'n' stupid).

> sister,

Lillie Carter:  16, pretty, light-skinned, "good hair", slim and tall.  Growing up without Daddy around she's missing some of his humbling and good-ifying influence.  She's arrogant/selfish, but loves her family.  Attracted to danger.  Has a good future if she can avoid ruining it.

> sister's boyfriend,

Travis Geis:  17, tall, attractive, football/basketball/baseball star. Comes from a chuch-goan family.

> no-good drunk of a brother,

Russell Howard Carter:  42, thin, sunken and unhealthy.  Dying on the vine.  Fathered 5 legitimate children and 3 known illegitimate children. His family refuse to see him though he is not technically divorced. Mostly alcoholic, might be a drug-user.  Is fucked up over his younger brother's heroism and death.

> [added by rob]: Dead brother

Marvin Allen Carter:  Would have been 35 today.  Died when the  destroyer he was stationed on was sunk by friendly fire.

> ma,

Eunice Flora Carter:  51, tiny and prematurely old.  Sweet but hollowed out by the death of her husband and the stress of raising Lillie alone.  Lives for her local Joyful Noises in His Name African Methodist Episcopal church community, where she's known as "Sister Neecie".  She prefers  most people to refer to her that way now.

> ex-girlfriend.

Sarina Leffers:  25, still attractive, hasn't yet been worn down by The Life.  Not physically at least.  Psychologically she's completely numb and bitter.  She was smart.  A spitfire.  Ray-Ray turned her out while Jefferson was at war.

[Judd]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/judd_sonofbert/51771.html#cutid1

The above is a link to our chat session tonight, trying to gel things together and explain the game a bit more.   It feels like its coming right along.

The third player mentioned a character concept of the bartender from the secretly gay bar in town with his as-yet-unformed brother for the demon.

Its moving along.  We'll see.

If nothing else it will be the most detailed pre-game prep notes I've ever compiled.

[Judd]

We sat down and made up the 4th and last PC last night.  Did it the old-fashioned way, face to face.

Rob also changed up his PC after reading the rules for himself.

Tom's Friendly Neighborhood Bartender

4 Stamina Rough Drinker, Rough Life

3 Will John Q. Citizen

3 Lore Workin' Stiff

4 Humanity

4 Cover: Friendly Neighborhood Bartender

Price: Naive (-1 when being deceived)

Telltale:  brother's mafia ring

NPC's

Robert Clausel - brother, mob enforcer, Demon

Joel - bar owner

Remy Clausel - dad, foreman in car plant

Charlene Clausel - mom, church-goer

Sophie Devaux - drag queen, bar regular

Victor Cutov - affable drunk from Old Country


Demon

Robert Clausel

Need - to victimize the weak

Desire - Mayhem

Telltale - gangster clothes


Kicker

Louis is closing the bar when Sophie comes in.  He tells her that they are closed when she says, "Where can I hide?"

[Judd]

I watched half a season of The Wire and read 3/4ths of the Matlese  Falcon before running the game.  

First I ran the binding scenes, a kind of prelude for each character.

The cop was at his police academy graduation and was surprised when his gangster childhood friend showed up.

The wife was about to walk down the aisle and her mom was helping her with her dress and veil.

The cabbie was at his wife's grave on their anniversary and his junkie son showed up to ask for money.

The bartender was at a family dinner and his bully mob enforcer brother mentioned that little brother got a job.

Then the kicker went off.  I linked them all has having something to do with a dirty narcotics cop/sorcerer who was out to cut loose ends.  I'm not sure if linking the kickers too closely was a contrivance and a mistake but such is life.  

I used exactly 0 of the bangs I wrote up but their actions provided bangs all their own.

Rob specifically made his character a black man so that the issue of a black cop in a quasi-40's setting could be explored and Paula expressed that use of the -N- word made her uncomfortable after a while.  Perhaps I over-did.  We did not discuss it as a group, a mistake to watch out for should similiar issues arise at future games.  We didn't set boundaries about such issues, probably because I made assumptions because the gamers at that table are all white.  I should have talked that out during the IM sessions or before.

The game went well and everyone liked the system and had a good time.  

Blair and Tom's characters were rich and fun.   I enjoyed their characters role-playing moments but just felt they weren't proactive and Story Now enough.  I would push them to make more mover and shaker PC's next time.  That could also be a result of me not pushing their demons hard enough.  

Rob (the Cop) and Paula (the Trophy Wife) were active and drove the greater part of the action.

I think the setting has problems.  All demons being passer demons who are from the Hell-side of town is a great concept but I'm just not convinced, even after 2 successful games, that it is working just yet.  3rd's a charm.

There is a problem with wanting to call a bad person on the phone and having to make Humanity rolls for it.  Or is there?  I just feel like there is some classy solution, like how in Charnel Gods Summoning is actually a quest for an item...there's some way to fiddle with Contacting and Summoning in this setting that'd make it cross over from a neat idea to a damned classy setting.

As usual, I don't feel I pushed the Demons Needs and Desire hard enough.  I have to figure out a way to MAKE myself do this.

I'd love a sequel to this game and whether the group wants to or not, I might end up running a solo game for Rob's cop at some point if we both find ourselves in our Jersey shore hometowns with nothing else to do.

So, once again a successful night of gaming that was fun but not as great as I feel it could've been.

Thanks for playing, Paula, Rob, Blair and Tom.

Thanks for reading.

Questions are welcome.

[Judd]

Stand-out moments in the game

Tom's bartender standing up to his brother's demon:  The bartender's demon, a bully mob enforcer older brother who had picked on him when he was a kid wsa fantastic.  When violence was necessary, he was ready to roll and useful but he often took it too far.  Watching Tom wrestle with him was fantastic.

Blair's Golly Gee Willickers Cabbie:  Blair played the hell out of his cab driver who seemed too damned innocent for the city and its Hell-siders.  I loved the scenes where he was involved and was rooting for him.  His demon, his junky son, should have been NPCed by me to greater effect.

Paula's Trophy Wife:  In the last scene of the game she went to Humanity 0 and she decided she ended up marrying her mob capo ex-boyfriend, moving back to Hell-side.

Rob's Cop Get's Pissed:  When the bartender's demon slapped around an important witness, Detective Jeff finally got good and pissed.  They faced off in a hallway and nearly went to fisticuffs.  It was a fun moment.

Shitstorm Roll: At one point everyone gave their demons things to do over the night as the dirty cops looked for them and everything went to hell in a handbasket.  I rolled 3 dice in the middle of the table and had the players roll their demon's Lore to see how they avoided the heat.  

Neat and dramatic die roll. [/b]

[Robert Bohl]

copied and pasted from rpg.net, will add here as necessary in a subsequent post:

This is Det. Jefferson Carter's player, Rob.

Stand-out moments in the game

I wanna start off by saying this was really a magnificent game.  I had a hell of a lot of fun with it.  Whenever I play in one of your games, I have so many little moments of role playing that I get to savor over and enjoy.  I reminisce over them like bits from a movie.  It's really fun and welcome.

Blair's Golly Gee Willickers Cabbie:  Blair played the hell out of his cab driver who seemed too damned innocent for the city and its Hell-siders.  I loved the scenes where he was involved and was rooting for him.  His demon, his junky son, should have been NPCed by me to greater effect.

I loved this character.  He was hilarious.  He'd say things like "golly", yet he still managed to push people.  It was really amazing when he would completely not get the subtleties of what someone would say.  There were several instances where Hell-siders or bad guys tried to get tough with him and they were just poleaxed by his simplicity and directness.  The best moment definitely was when he was forced by a dirty cop to retract a story he'd told the newspaper that implicated the dirty Lieutenant.  The cops had his son and were going to send him up the river unless he called and denied the story.

Mr. U did as he was asked, then simply, directly, tried to shame the soul-deadened detective.  "You think you're so much better than my boy?  If he's a "junkie", what does that make you?  You pretend like you're helping people but really all you're doing is helping yourself."  

And so on.  That's the kind of thing a hardened criminal ought to be able to laugh off, but the dignity and sincerity in Mr. U was just undeniable and shocked the bad cop.  It was terrific.

As to the question of the demons, I didn't think any of them played that much of a direct, role-playing role.  Paula's character's demon was there all the time, but she was very pliant and helpful.  The strongest demon was definitely Tom's PC's.  He was nasty, and self-interested, and useful.

Rob's Cop Get's Pissed:  When the bartender's demon slapped around an important witness, Detective Jeff finally got good and pissed.  They faced off in a hallway and nearly went to fisticuffs.  It was a fun moment.

Because of the 40s thing, I--who have a mouth like a Tourette's-afflicted longshoreman--made a concerted effort never to curse.  And no matter how badly people treated me, I was conciliatory.  I figure that's how you got ahead then.  So when that criminal tried to throw his violence in my face, at first I was polite.  I told him not to do that again.  He decided to step to me and I got all street on him.  It was a hell of a lot of fun.  And the look of shock on his/your face when I stood up was very satisfying.

Also, Judd, while my Demon may not have had a great deal of screen time, what you did with my partner, Faustino Stanton Ducky, was just amazing!  That was exactly how I wanted him to be.  It's like you knew the guy I based him on.

In the end, Ducky gets the credit for all the work that Det. Carter did, but it was still incredibly entertaining.  In fact, the bittersweetness of it made that perfect.

I had so much fun with this.  I agree that Blood Simple's rules need to be rejiggered or given a new ruleset entirely in order to work better, but as games go, this was a very fun one.  Thank you.

[Judd]

I'm glad you had a good time, Rob.  Thanks for saying so.

As to the question of the demons, I didn't think any of them played that much of a direct, role-playing role.

I don't know about that.  I felt that they were present and they were always being asked to do things.  I should have gone over the powers of each demon and the summoning rules again and again to drive 'em home.

Paula's character's demon was there all the time, but she was very pliant and helpful.  

Yeah, even though Paula played the living hell out of her character I just wasn't feeling up to playing her mother.  She just didn't click for me.  Such is life.

The strongest demon was definitely Tom's PC's.  He was nasty, and self-interested, and useful.

As they all should have been.

Also, Judd, while my Demon may not have had a great deal of screen time, what you did with my partner, Faustino Stanton Ducky, was just amazing!  That was exactly how I wanted him to be.  It's like you knew the guy I based him on.

Duckey should've been your Demon.

I agree that Blood Simple's rules need to be rejiggered or given a new ruleset entirely in order to work better, but as games go, this was a very fun one.  Thank you.

No, thank you.

Any specific ideas on how to improve the game?

I think when the players make up NPC's next time, I will ask them to include 5 folks from Hell-side and 5 civilians.  That way when they want something done, tehy don't feel they have to make up an entire NPC but have a stable of possible demons to call on and can branch off of that, with their demon's buddies, brothers, cousins and former cell-mates.

[Robert Bohl]

I don't know about that.  I felt that they were present and they were always being asked to do things.  I should have gone over the powers of each demon and the summoning rules again and again to drive 'em home.

Possibly, but I know I didn't use my Demon much because of the personality I'd worked up for my character.  What I meant by the earlier point was just that the Demons didn't get a lot of screen-time.  Both Blair and I didn't use ours much.  I wouldn't count that as a criticism really, because you're also reliant on our going to them.

Duckey should've been your Demon.

Oh, I don't know.  I liked it just how it was.  Duckey was a good NPC, but . . .  I don't really see how he would've been useful.  He was mostly a drag to Jefferson.

Any specific ideas on how to improve the game?

Come up with examples of how to include role-playing bonuses in Summoning, and the other rituals.  Summoning is the real kicker (no pun intended).  It kills your Humanity.  So working out the role playing side (and the drug use side, and the sacrifice side) of the rules as it applies to Blood Simple will be very helpful.

You might want to consider asking for Kickers that unite the players so that so much of the game time doesn't have to be spent in getting the group together.

I should mention that the plot you arrived at was very good.  Most of us were fairly "good" Heaven-siders, and you forced us to use the Hell side.  Maybe if the price of using them were more evident, that would be helpful.  I think Paula's problem was that she kept on contacting and summoning demons other than her bound demon, which seems like something you might want to do either rarely, with a lot of help (that's another thing that needs to be elaborated--how do Sorcerers work together in Blood Simple? Examples?), or when you're much stronger.

Anyway, I hope some of this is useful.