(Sorcerer) The Family Blood

[MPOSullivan]

Man did I just have a great session of Sorcerer and I'm all abuzz to share. 

As some of you guys might know, I like dark things.  I like crime stories and cop shows and gritty movies about people doing awful things.  I've also been playing a bit of the new video game The Darkness (by the way, really good game).  The other night I was sitting around and I was struck with the idea for what I thought would make for a great Sorcerer game.  I boiled up a pseudo-one sheet in my head and pitched it to my Tuesday night group over a manicotti dinner.

"For the las 150 years the Negretti family has lived in America.  Gino and his little brother Enzo came over on a packed steam freighter in the simmering summer of 1871 and looked out over the harbor at Ellis Island.  In the distance they saw the skyline of New York City and they both knew that they had to own it. 

The Negretti family has grown from there into one of the largest and most well-respected and feared criminal organization in New York.  They thrived in the boom years of Prohibition and the 60s.  They were one of the few families to grow during the Guilliani years.  They had power, money and respect. 

The Negrettis are also one of the worlds oldest and most powerful families of Sorcerers. 

You guys are members of the Negretti family. You aren't just made men; you're blooded.  You've been shown the ways of blood and pain and you've been given the gift of power.  Power that goes beyond what a man is meant to know.

Frankie Negretti, the current Don of the Family, has seen an opening.  When the hurricane hit New Orleans, everyone left.  Everyone including all of the crooks and mobsters in that town.  There's never been a greater opportunity to expand the family power base.  And that's what America is, y'know, the land of opportunities."

The PCs were all supposed to be members of the Negretti crime family, brought into the family and given the secret knowledge of Sorcery.  It was their job to go down to New Orleans and create a new power structure there that put the Negrettis on top. 

I was excited.  I thought it was a cool idea for a game of Sorcerer and it gave me the ability to play with a lot of toys that I like, those being horror elements and crime stuff.  I asked the players what they thought and everyone was into it.  I grabbed up the books and we went right into it. 

Outside of myself, only one other player had played Sorcerer before, and that was only a four hour convention scenario.  This meant that I had to introduce a lot of new concepts to the players.  I knew we weren't going to get to do a lot of playing tonight, so I just took most of the time explaining the game's ins and outs and guiding the players through character creation.  Man, did things work out well. 

The first bit of game that we talked about was Humanity.  I told the group how it worked in broad strokes, and what a higher and lower humanity meant for their characters.  I also told them that we got to decide what defined humanity as a group and that defining that defined what was important to us in gameplay.  We talked about it for a couple of minutes and decided that the important thing was relationships.  The game was going to be about families, the people you loved, the people you hated, and what you did to those people.  Thus, Humanity was about the relationships a character has in his life and the way he deals with people.  The colder he is, the more merciless or harmful or abusive he is to other people, the more Humanity rolls would need to be made.  On the other hand, falling in love, protecting the people you care about, nurturing an honest friendship got you Humanity gain checks. 

Next, I went with asking the players the kinds of characters that they wanted to play in the game, using the questions from chapter one to help craft those concepts into viable Sorcerer characters.  I went around the table through the three players and got a general sense of where everyone wanted to go.  The characters that we wound up with were incredible, as were their demons.  We did refrain from naming those demons though, as I would like to name them in Latin or Italian. 

Camden wanted to play an important guy in the outfit, someone with a lot of responsibility.  I told him about consiglierris and he said that sounded perfect.  He came up with Kim Cho, the consiglierri for Don Frankie.  The most important thing for Kim is the well-being and growth of the Family.  Kim has an undying loyalty, one which he has proven over and again, which made him an obvious choice for making him blooded into the Family. What really got his stock rising was his natural talent for Sorcery, one which is greater than even most people with true Negretti blood running in their veins.  His life in the Family has meant for doing some terrible things, including killing people.  Kim feels that there is no line that he wouldn't cross if it guarantees the future growth and well-being of the Family.  Not only has Kim lost any shot at a personal life because of his dedication to the Family, he's also lost most of his left leg and his own shadow to Sorcerous rituals. 

Kim Cho
Consiglierri to the Negretti Crime Family
Appearance: Asian man in his early forties, well-kept and impeccably dressed, has an obvious limp from his prosthetic leg.
Telltale: Kim's eyes never blink.  Never.
Stamina: 2 (clean living)
Will: 3 (high self-esteem)
Lore: 5 (Member of the Negretti Family, High Rank)
Cover: 4 (Negretti Family Consiglieri)
Humanity: 2
Price: Lame (-1 to all rolls involving running and balance)
Kicker: Comes home to find a corpse sitting in his armchair, completely cleaned to the bone of meat. 

Camden wanted a powerful, ancient Demon, one that represented his power as a Sorcerer.  He had an image in his head of a demon that lived in his shadow until it materialized as a slavering, unknowable beast.  When talking about Needs Camden wasn't sure what he wanted it to be for his Demon.  One of the other players shot out with "babies".  This, of course, made its way around the table and was made worse and worse until it became babies that were still in the mother's womb.  Camden turned his nose up at the joke for a second, then looked around the table and said "No, wait, I actually like that.  It's fucking terrible."  I have to admit, I liked the pure horror of it as well.  I checked the table to make sure no one was uncomfortable with it and Camden jotted it down on the demon sheet. 

Demon Type: Inconspicuous
Telltale: The binder's shadow twitches and moves of it's own volition
General appearance: a terrible, snarling dog-like beast that stands seven feet tall at the shoulder, covered in matted hair and small tendrils that twist like snakes. 
Binding Strength: +1 in Kim's favour
Desire: Power and control
Need: the unborn
Stamina: 7
Will: 8
Lore: 2
Power: 8
Abilities: Cloak, Special Damage

Kevin liked the idea of playing a hard partying womanizer and fuck-up gangster.  This became the smart-ass, no-good Sebastian Negretti, the youngest son of Don Frankie Negretti.  Sebastian is a ruthless, crazy fuck, the kind of guy that gets riddled with bullets about halfway into the movie.  Sebastian is a hedonist, and with the kind of life he's led he's quickly running out of things to do that will push his buttons.  His experiences with Sorcery and Demons have actually driven a wedge between him and the rest of the Family and he's being sent to New Orleans as a last chance to do right by them. 

Sebastian Negretti
Hedonistic Son of the Don
Appearance: Slick, stylish guy in his mid-twenties
Telltale: Sebastian looks like he's always walking around in a breeze, with his hair and clothing rustling around lightly.
Stamina: 3 (well-kept lifestyle)
Will: 5 (zest for life, social competence)
Lore: 2 (member of the Negretti Family)
Cover: 5 (Son of the Don)
Humanity: 4
Price: Fear of Failure (-1 to any roll that comes after a failed dice roll)
Kicker: Wakes up after a night of hard partying to find his night's entertainment, the daughter of a competing Familiy's Don, dead in bed next to him. 

Kevin's character was all about fucked-up relationships, so he wanted to have one with his demon as well.  He decided to go with a parasite, one that was bound to him almost by mistake.  What makes this Demon especially dangerous is that he and Sebastian like the same things, danger and pleasure.  The Demon wound up being like one of those 'friends' that you have that keeps goading you into doing stuff that you just know will not turn out well.  Kevin even upped the ante by making the Demon's need be the destruction of relationships, tying it directly into our definition of Humanity.  That is why Kevin kicks ass.

Demon Type: Parasite
Telltale: The binder's eyes are eerily reflective, like a person's eyes when they're strung out on cocaine. 
General appearance: an awful mass of cockroaches, twisting and turning inside Sebastian's guts. 
Binding Strength: +1 in Sebastian's favour
Desire: Hedonism
Need: Destroying relationships
Stamina: 4
Will: 5
Lore: 4
Power: 5
Abilities: Boost (Stamina), Taint, Vitality, Psychic Force

Of course Zoe throws the curve ball and says she wants to play Holly Hope, the young and innocent daughter of a guy who left the outfit years ago, a daughter who was brought back into the family after the mysterious death of her parents.  That sounded too cool for school.  Holly wants to find some place to belong after the death of her parents and the Negretti family just so happened to show up with arms wide open.  She hasn't done much yet in the way of truly terrible things, but she also doesn't know exactly what she's capable of if her new family demands that she step up and show her worth. 

Zoe didn't know exactly what made for a good Telltale.  I told her that they were physical things about her character's body, the way she moves or speaks.  I gave some examples from the book and made up one or two on my own.  I said "Like maybe your teeth are strangely shaped because... well, I dunno.  Maybe your mother was a demon."  Zoe's eyes lit up and we had ourselves a cool Telltale and some great backstory for Holly.

Holly Hope
Naive daughter of a blooded former Negretti enforcer
Appearance: Young, tomboyish 19 year old girl.
Telltale: Strangely shaped, obviously inhuman teeth..
Stamina: 3 (clean living)
Will: 3 (positive attitude)
Lore: 4 (Negretti Blood)
Cover: 3 (college student)
Humanity: 2
Price: Still in denial (-1 to first roll when dealing with a demon)
Kicker: Gets home to find a journal delivered to her in the mail.  The journal is her father's and has an entry in it written on the day after his death, implicating the Negretti family in his untimely demise.

Zoe had a bookish image for her character in mind, so when it came time for her to design her Demon she already knew that it was going to be an Object demon in the shape of an old, worn journal.  What came from that starting point was a demon that was a family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation on this branch of the Negretti family tree.  The demon book was starved for knowledge and required that it's binder write new information into its pages as often as possible, preferably in human blood. 

Demon Type: Object
Telltale: The cover of the book crawls slightly with arcane symbols and runes. 
General appearance: a worn and beaten journal
Binding Strength: +1 in Holly's favour
Desire: Knowledge
Need: Words written on its pages in human blood
Stamina: 3
Will: 4
Lore: 2
Power: 4
Abilities: Boost (Will), Perception (Locate objects or people)

After all of that we talked a bit about the different kinds of NPCs, places and objects that filled the characters' lives.  We wound up delving more into the Negretti family, describing Sebastian's older brother and sister, all of whom also happen to be Holly's cousins.  We also described Don Frankie a little bit, and some more personal links that the PCs have like Holly's maybe-sorta-boyfriend and Kim's adoptive daughter social worker.  We filled out some PC relationship maps and wrapped up the evening talking about the game and the kinds of things the players wanted to see in it. 

All together I have to say I'm really happy with how things turned out.  I'm looking forward to sitting down and drawing up a big R-map and getting the game running properly.  Hopefully I'll have more great things to say when I run the game again in two weeks. 

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Mike!!

I hope I'm not too late for this to be helpful.

During the 1990s, I was a huge fan of Asian crime cinema - basically, A Better Tomorrow, and moving on from there. It influenced Sorcerer very greatly, so yes, I think you were in the right zone and making all the right choices.

... Humanity was about the relationships a character has in his life and the way he deals with people.  The colder he is, the more merciless or harmful or abusive he is to other people, the more Humanity rolls would need to be made.  On the other hand, falling in love, protecting the people you care about, nurturing an honest friendship got you Humanity gain checks.

I have a few concens with the characters. None are really a big deal, and if I were dealing with players face-to-face, I'd simply ask the right questions and we could move on easily. So I'm offering the following comments as guides for the right questions.

Regarding Kim Cho, the difficulty I"m having is that the only reason he's a sorcerer is that the crime-family is sorcerous. In game terms, nothing distinguishes his Lore from his Cover. Where's the character's personal drive and individualized arrogance? What might he want that I, personally, can nod my head in agreement about?

Otherwise, that's a great Kicker, but you're gonna have to back it up as GM, so prep for real. I must admit that the demon is way out there in terms of raw horror, but it's what they wanted, so OK! I also think it'll be interesting to see that demon in action, being so big and willful but with so few abilities. That's not a problem, just kind of interesting.

I'm not at all seeing how Sebastian is a protagonist of any kind. Certain players show a strong tendency to make villainous NPCs as power-fantasy, and then they wonder why they're not fun to play. The answer is that Sorcerer is a game about power that happens not to indulge power fantasies (think of how badly Mark gets fucked-up in A Better Tomorrow, for instance). Check out
Character ideas from early 2003 for an example of being a little stuck in that mind-set.

The character compounds this problem with the same one I identified with Kim Cho: his sorcerer-ness has little if any bite. I think that the key issue lies in the phrase "Bound almost by mistake," which can be salvaged easily simply to identifying why it's not totally by mistake. Why and how does Sebastian really want to be a sorcerer?

Holly: a fantastic concept and fantastic Kicker. The demon seems a bit wimpy, though - the character seems to cry out for a powerful demon with a relatively easy Need to fulfill. You can see why, right?

Did you fill out the diagrams on the backs of the character sheets?

Best, Ron

[MPOSullivan]

Hey Ron,

You're not late to the party at all.  I'm just thankful that you could stop by. 

I've got a deep love for the same kinds of movies that you mention and flicks like A Better Tomorrow are an obvious influence on me over-all, so it would make a bit of sense for me to notice those parts of Sorcerer when I'm sitting down to play it.  That and my love of other crime genre material just sort of congealed together into the Family Blood.  Thanks for the encouragement on my choices.  Sometime soon I'll put up a one-sheet detailing the Family Blood stuff. 

On to the meat of things.  Ron, your concerns for this game aren't yours alone; I notice them as well.  Like I said before, this was the first time most any of this group had played Sorcerer, and truth told I haven't run a game of it in quite a while, so I was a little rusty when laying out the important bits during character creation.  The questions you bring up for each individual character are spot on.  I do have some answers for them, some I don't.  I'll try to lay out what I can. 

As for Kim, you're on the mark, he doesn't have much to make him sorcerous beyond his ties to the family.  I do think we have some stuff to work with though.  When the player and I were talking about his character, the player stated two very specific things that kind of keyed off in my mind.  First, that Kim knows what's best for the family and is willing to do anything to accomplish that, even if it means killing other family members to keep the Negrettis strong.  The player also mentioned that Kim has a soft spot, that he donates a lot of his money to charity organizations and that he generally wants to improve lives.  This paints a picture in my head of a character whose arrogance is that he knows, without a doubt in his mind, what is good for you and what he needs to do to get it.  I think some questions aimed at that can get some juicy details out of the player on why Kim is a sorcerer and what he wants out of life.

Kim's kicker is really good but, just like you said, there's going to be a lot of work for that sort of thing.  I'm not sure how detailed an R-map I want to build for the game, so I'm unsure of how much of this dead body and where it came from I want to establish in my head.  What would you do if you were sitting in the GM's chair at my table?

The demon is cool.  I'm really excited that the player went with one like that.  It's very different from most of the demons I see come across the table so I'm really looking forward to playing him. 

Sebastian is a hard one to crack.  I think his player saw the opportunity to play up the evil, the game being about a crime organization, and went whole hog though I also don't think the player is going for the power fantasy.  Instead, I think he's intrigued by the idea of a character that is almost-assuredly going to self-destruct.  While I have no problem with the Blaze of Glory approach, and have in fact played a couple of PCs with that intent myself, I do fear that with no emotions to prop the character up on there won't be much more than flash in this particular character's fire. 

Luckily, the player did mention during character creation that Sebastian wants to do right in his father's eyes, but he keeps writing himself off as a fuck-up.  That's some good fuel for the fire.  Using a metaphor from my own past, Sebastian is one of those recovering alcoholics that has someone in their life that just knows that he can do right.  Of course, that only puts more pressure on Sebastian and makes him want to mess up all that much more.  When we sit down next session to tighten things up and get the game started, I think that I'll ask Sebastian's player about making that aspect of his character more prevalent. 

As for Sebastian's sorcery, I'm not sure how to fix it exactly.  In re-reading the main book the other night I saw the part where you said, and quite explicitly, that sorcery doesn't happen by accident.  That it's a conscience decision.  After reading that part I couldn't help but concur completely.  It takes the bite out of sorcery if someone can accidentally summon up a demon.  There's no conscience decision in which the character states "Hey, I'm going to put myself on the line to get this thing that I want", no understanding of action and consequence.  I'm thinking of asking Sebastian's player if he'd be willing to change this aspect of his character up a little.  Perhaps Sebastian stole the family's secret tomes of sorcerous knowledge and summoned a demon just so he could prove to his father that he could do it, that he was worthy. 

Holly is the gem in the set.  Zoe, Holly's player, is an odd one.  She's a demure, drummer-type player.  This, of course, is impossibly cool.  She's also the kind of player that you have to ask a lot of leading questions of to get a concept out of her.  When you get through those questions though, she's come up with a concept for her character that not only blows the doors off of the central theme, it completely fucking changes the tempo of the story.  I couldn't be happier with what Zoe brought to the table. 

That is, unless you count the demon.  I do share those same thoughts with you concerning her demonic journal.  I want Holly to have something super huge, like an incredibly powerful hereditary demon artifact that's been passed down her side of the family for hundreds of years!  I think I scared her a little when I was describing Desires and Needs and she had that reflexive jerk of character preservation.  "I'd better not make too powerful a demon, otherwise it'll put me in some heavy danger."  I should remind Zoe that I'll already be putting her in some heavy danger, so she should probably amp up the demon's power some. 

As for the diagrams, we've got some notes jotted down but wound up hitting up against the end of session "buzzer" before we could get some really good stuff in there.  I'm hoping to take a good hour before the next session gets properly under way and talk about the diagrams and clear up some of the questions that you have as well as some of my own. 

I think the first session is going to be in about two weeks.  I'm well beyond excited for this game and I just cannot wait to see how things go.  As always, thanks for the questions Ron.  I find it very helpful to have someone else out there to talk with concerning this stuff, giving you that different perspective on things, and you've always been a very receptive and perceptive cat. 

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Mike,

Kim: given that clarification, I see no problems there after all. He's perfect. Just dive on in and be happy.

Kim's kicker is really good but, just like you said, there's going to be a lot of work for that sort of thing.  I'm not sure how detailed an R-map I want to build for the game, so I'm unsure of how much of this dead body and where it came from I want to establish in my head.  What would you do if you were sitting in the GM's chair at my table?

I don't think you need any kind of elaborate relationship map. Think of, say, A Dame to Kill For (the Sin City story) and Flood, the novel by Andrew Vachss. You'll see that each relies on a relationship map, but only including about four people, not counting the protagonist. Stay small, but strong - like a shot of whiskey. I'd come up with a really good reason for that dead body to be there; I'd know who it was, who did it, and why it's in the chair (not a coincidence!). But the answer really wouldn't be all that complicated, just rich with action.

I also think you need scenes in which he's providing to the charity. And you know what? I wouldn't make those adverse at all. Nice people, facing real and straightforward problems, easy to provide for, no barriers. As long as the player knows those charities are out there to be provided for, the internal tensions for Kim will skyrocket.

Sebastian is a hard one to crack.  I think his player saw the opportunity to play up the evil, the game being about a crime organization, and went whole hog though I also don't think the player is going for the power fantasy. 

... I think he's intrigued by the idea of a character that is almost-assuredly going to self-destruct.  While I have no problem with the Blaze of Glory approach, and have in fact played a couple of PCs with that intent myself, I do fear that with no emotions to prop the character up on there won't be much more than flash in this particular character's fire.

Take this to the bank: Blaze of Glory character creation does not work in Sorcerer. It's fine as an outcome through the course of play itself, but if a player "builds him to burn out" from the start, he or she will hate the character and hate the game. That's because it's Story-Before.

So just as with your phrasing about the same character in your first post, I strongly suggest emphasizing the "almost" in that sentence I quoted above. That "almost" is what makes Sebastian likeable. (Good reference: in Pulp Fiction, Vincent almost does the right thing, on several occasions. He typically misses or stifles the impulse, to his eventual doom. But if I, as a viewer, didn't believe that wasn't some dim spark left in his drugged and numbed husk of a personality, then his whole sector of the story would be lame. And it ain't lame.)

So as prepping-GM, the solution is obvious - have the father trust him. Absolutely. Totally. Without reservation. Without any ambiguity about it. Without "testing" him. That's the spike you should plan to use immediately, as in first-scene, regarding Sebastian's Kicker.

When we sit down next session to tighten things up and get the game started, I think that I'll ask Sebastian's player about making that aspect of his character more prevalent.

No! Where's my stick? Mike, more "talk" is the last thing you and this group need. Play like I'm saying. The crucial/valuable "almost" appeared spontaneously in your own descriptions two times. I believe in it. You should believe in it too. Given the player's comment, that's all you need to be clinched that the character is really there to be done as long as you GM it correctly. And in this case, "correct" is certain to be just as I described. Play the dad. Have him desperately and honestly and lovingly trust Sebastian, for something really important. It will be golden.

As for Sebastian's sorcery, consider that all he needs to do voluntarily is Bind a demon. Maybe it did get Summoned or (more appropriately) released by accident. The point is that he wanted to Bind it. That shouldn't be so hard - ask the player "why'd Sebastian Bind it," and he will probably respond clearly and simply, and then you should internalize that (for demon-playing purposes) and move on. Elapsed time: 1 minute max.

I do share those same thoughts with you concerning her demonic journal.  I want Holly to have something super huge, like an incredibly powerful hereditary demon artifact that's been passed down her side of the family for hundreds of years!  I think I scared her a little when I was describing Desires and Needs and she had that reflexive jerk of character preservation.  "I'd better not make too powerful a demon, otherwise it'll put me in some heavy danger."  I should remind Zoe that I'll already be putting her in some heavy danger, so she should probably amp up the demon's power some.

Again, keep it short. I fear that you guys may well fall into the common trap of "sit around and process" that is totally unnecessary for Sorcerer and can sabotage the game. In this case, I specifically think that if you ask or mention anything further to Zoe about that demon, then anything you say will be interpreted as "GM instruction." Rather than introduce any hint of that into any aspect of play, I suggest going ahead and starting with the little-demon book, and letting Zoe decide later whether to beef her demon-ism up through the game mechanics, which bluntly offer plenty of room for it.

I'm hoping to take a good hour before the next session gets properly under way and talk about the diagrams and clear up some of the questions that you have as well as some of my own.

That does it. I beat you with the stick!! A freaking hour? Have'em finish the diagrams, have your Bangs ready, adjust any and all prep plans to match the completed diagrams better, and play - necessary (and not to be exceeded) elapsed time, 25 minutes. It's time for you guys to play.

Best, Ron

[MPOSullivan]

I have to head off to work, so I can't comment now, but all of the advice is good, solid stuff.  And I promise I will get right into game play. 

But... the stick, Ron?  Why'dja have to use the stick?

[Ron Edwards]

I like the stick.

(wandering around moodily, holding stick)

Best, Ron

[Tobaselly]

Hey guys, this is Kevin (Sebastian's player).  Ron, you're right on track with what I wanted to do with the character,  I was looking to have a redemption theme with him.  I wanted him to start out rock bottom, with a giant screw up (his kicker) and have him dig his way out to do the right thing.  That "almost" is exactly what I was going for.

The binding being voluntary did come up during character creation. What I was looking to do was have his father summon/release the demon and something horrible went wrong. Sebastian was then forced to bind it at an incredibly young age and really without knowing very much about what he was doing ( or bad stuff was going to happen to him and or his father).  As a results his father views that event as a "Test of Sebastian's Mettle". Because of this he knows that Sebastian is going to do right in the end and when it matters.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi!

That sounds fantastic. I'm likin' the character and looking forward to reading about the game in action.

Best, Ron

[MPOSullivan]

Hey everyone,

Kevin!  It's cool to see you join the discussion, as well as clarify a point or two of your character.  I just knew that I wasn't really explaining him correctly.  When we sat down for character creation I knew that you and I talked about stuff that made your character an active, forward-moving character.  And I'm glad to see that you've settled on this approach to binding your demon. 

Ron, you talk a bit about the Story Now approach to game play and how integral it is to Sorcerer.  Now, as I'm sure you probably noticed, I kind of fell off of discussions here at the Forge when I moved to Hawai'i and didn't have any actual gaming going on in my life.  Now that I'm back into gaming with a vengeance I do notice that there are some topics and ideas here that I'm grasping, but not as strongly as I would like.  Do you have any suggested threads to peruse concerning Story Now, or anything else that seems like it would be helpful considering what we've been talking about here?

As for the actual gameplay, we'll be getting down to it on Tuesday.  I'll hopefully have a good actual play report to post for everyone come that evening. 

[Tobaselly]

*cough* stick *cough*