[Sorcerer] Cascadiapunk (specifics)

[Joel P. Shempert]

Well, my post is up in actual play. The Happy Sunshine portion is complete. . .I'll be posting some questions and stuff later tonight.

I'll relate some relevant stuff here that I left out of the more general-audience post. While it took a bit of time, we managed to resolve the loose ends pretty well without getting tedious. Seth and Jana were both ready with modified kickers (Seth just changed his outright; Jana tacked "and now you're in the hospital recovering from invasive surgery with a huge bill" on to hers). For Seth's huge stream of "and maybe a scene with this and that and whozit and whatzit" suggestions, I just said, "You gave me a huge dump of material man; how 'bout let's just relax and let scenes happen as the come, OK?" and he said sure.

I got pretty good and concise demon-summoning backgrounds from everyone. Robin was invited by the local tribal folks to come do this ritual so he could better do their smuggling for them, Sugarbaker stood in his yard and cried out for something to come fix his life, Nobody was rounded up and thrown in an abusive detox center and feverishly called on his Lore to summon a means of escape, and V was thimbing it down the highway and called the keys to her (inadvertently calling the whole truck, causing the wreck and killing the driver).

Writing that out reminds me of a couple of things. First, while Willem has rejected the idea of his Coven and his fellow activists being one and the same, I still like the idea of the Coven of tribal shamans being like, "holy shit it worked!" and being in fact no more Sorcerous than the next medicine man. On the other hand, the NPC Willem named, Benjamin Frank, is shaping up to be a manipulative sort, obviously using Robin's sorcery for his own ends, and I'm trying to decide whether I like him better as a non-sorcerous manipulator ("I can't summon a raven totem, but you can, my little pawn!") or a Sorcerous one. OK, I guess I do like overall the non-sorcerous angle, but the Sorcerous option would give him more raw power to get his way and pursue his own agenda.

And second, I've got the beginnings in my head of a major NPC, what Jesse referred to as "the GM having his own character." He's a pushing-40 street musician and itinerant activist-scholar, who was a big leader in anti-war protests a few years ago that got ugly when protesters took over a bridge and ended up in a bloodbath-battle with riot cops (helped along by demonic influence, of course). He's a combination crusader-penitent, trying to atone for leading his people to massacre and betraying his peaceful ideals, while also trying to ensure that such power (both the Sorcerous variety and mundane demagoguery) isn't used by wicked or irresponsible hands. He's actually based on a friend of mine and should be very easy and enjoyable to play.

I arrived at the concept by looking at the "sorcerer dies and his demons are released into the neighborhood" idea in the Sorcerous Technicality section. I postulated that there was such a sorcerer in Portland who died a few years back, and his Sorcerous friend and partner was now going around trying to undo the damage and put a damper on the new Sorcerous generation. The Demon Drummer above is the friend/partner.

Only now, I'm not so interested in the dead Sorcerer himself, him being just a means to an end (I'm especially not interested in the traditional overwraught exposition about how this guy nobody knows or meets but we're all supposed to care about has died long ago and it's a big deal, no really, the GM says so!"), and would rather just have the drummer guy be THE guy. But the whole scenario hinges on a Sorcerer dying, right? His demons "leak out" like radioactive waste into the community and cause repercussions through the years. If a live sorcerer hada bunch of demons and decided to give 'em up, he'd just Banish them or Need-starve them, which is the same thing. No lurking Demons gradually creeping into the lives of new masters. Thus no connection to what's going on now.

So I'm not sure what the best way to proceed on that would be.

Peace,
-Joel

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Joel,

Regarding Benjamin Frank, you wrote,

I'm trying to decide whether I like him better as a non-sorcerous manipulator ("I can't summon a raven totem, but you can, my little pawn!") or a Sorcerous one. OK, I guess I do like overall the non-sorcerous angle, but the Sorcerous option would give him more raw power to get his way and pursue his own agenda.

Don't be too sure about the raw power thing. If the guy has substantial Will and Cover, then he's formidable. I'd say go with your heart and have him be not-a-sorcerer, and still play him to the hilt. If he's got a solid handful of dice associated with his activities, and if you don't cut players any slack in confrontations or interactions, you'll quickly discover how little all the flash matters in comparison to the substance.

Regarding the former-activist character, I recommend taking your time and not forcing his definition (and the back-story) too much. I have some suggestions, but I'd rather work with your process instead of impose mine.

Best, Ron