Charnel Gods

[Ben Lehman]

"Escape the sorrow and restraint of mortal cities..."

(If you are one of my players for this game, please don't read.  It will spoil some surprise.)

Hi all--
 I'm prepping for a game a Charnel Gods to run with my California gaming group over the next six weeks or so.  First time running Sorcerer, and I'm slightly lost (not even sure which forum this post should go into.)  Comments, even just "sounds cool" would be very helpful  We did chargen a few months ago, when I was last in town, so this is what we have:

Setting:  City States in Mildly Arable Desert.  There is internal conflict between religious cults, citizens councils, and appointed kings.  In the desert, there are villages and bandits.  I wanted to go Sumerian, but that didn't catch the others as much as it caught me, so I let it fall by the wayside.

Comments:  This is pretty much, as I see it, a default "Hyborean Style" Charnel Gods setting.  There are no Sorcerers outside the PCs (at least, not in the beginning), but the religion mentions Fell Weapons as blasphemous things of evil.

Characters: I don't have my notes with me, so I can't remember the names.  I gave people the option to not have bound their Fell Weapon at the start of the game, which all the players took but one.  This is giving me a little difficulty, which I'll discuss below.
Italics are kickers

Character 1:  A woodcutter.  He lived with his twin brother in the woods, eking out a meager existence.  After he found his Demon, his area started thriving, which brought a King's attention.  The King tried to get him to turn over the weapon, but he refused.  The King's men have kidnapped his brother in hopes of ransoming him for the Weapon.

Demon 1: A fell Staff crafted of still living wood.  It can make things grow (boost stamina), knock people far into the air (travel + special damage nonlethal), and detect, exploit and draw out people's instincts (perception + boost stamina + psychic assault).
Need: Have people give in to impulse
Desire: Bestiality (not sexual act, the nature.)

Character 2: A king who, while out on a war campaign, had his power usurped by the priests of his city.  Today, he is to be executed by fire.

Demon 2: A fell Flame.  This is a bit odd, but I like it enough that I let him have it.  It is usually burning at the end of a torch, but can move and spread seemingly with a will of its own (travel + ranged).  It can grow and shrink (big), is hot enough to melt stone (warp+special damage lethal), and can see through the eyes of those it has branded (mark + perception).
Need:  To consume flesh or the works of man.
Desire: Destruction

Character 3: A courier employed by the king of a southern city, trusted with most secret messages.  He has just found out that his lover is an agent for another city.

Demon 3: A fell glove, made of cloth so black that it has no shape.  It can warp time around it (fast), renders its user strong to slash throats with his fingers (boost stamina + special damage lethal), and cloaks the area in darkness and cold (some power that I forget + warp).  If it is used to mutilate someone's brain, it can absorb their memories (perception.)
Need: To be soaked in blood.
Desire: Slaughter

Character 4:  A slave (in the obsidian mines?).  He has just escaped

Demon 4: A great fell sword, crafted of black crystal.  It is a Kingmaker (Cover: Emporer), and can mark its servants with flakes from itself (Mark).  It can see their secrets, and punish them accordingly (Psychic assault + perception + ranged).  Oh, it also can render its wielder stubborn as all get-out (boost will) and burns like acid in cuts (special damage: lethal.)
Need: (To have men prostrate themselves before it?)
Desire: Conquest.

Comments:  The demons have worked out rather nicely -- they form a pair of opposites (fire and darkness, savagry and civilization) without being terribly blatant about it.  I am particularly happy with the glove -- it is just begging for it's right-handed mate to show up somewhere.

The characters, taken individually, are by and large all fine.  I stressed that a lot of backstory wasn't important, and thus ended up with somewhat brief descriptions, but there are clear moral issues to be addressed in each one, which I think is the point.  One problem, however, is that every character in the game, bar none, has Lore: 1 (Naif), and none of the demons have Boost Lore.  To some degree, I guess this means the game should be about "in the know" people, who have Lore scores but not demons (yet), manipulating the PCs and trying to get their own hands on the Fell Weapons.  This is fine and good in and of itself, but I don't want to campaign to seem railroaded, and this is a sort of in-setting railroading.  I'm very worried about the players feeling that they don't have a choice when faced with the "more knowledgable" NPCs.  Any thoughts on how to handle that?

I am also worried about Kicker 4 and, to a lesser extent, Kicker 2.  This are both great kickers, but it seems to me that, once the PC has a fell weapon, they are too easily resolved -- the king can just slaughter the high priests, and the slave doesn't really have to worry about being recaptured when he has a 7' long demonic obsidian master sword.  Any ideas for bangs that could spice up these kickers?

Plot:
 So far, I have four "places" fleshed out (in my head), for the game.  I think that these four are good starting points, and we can move on to new spots thereafter.  They are:

The Northern City (higher up on the river), where PC 2 was king, and the cult has taken over.  This is who PC3's lover is working for.  PC4 worked as a slave here.

The Southern City, where a king is quite dominant, and has a bit of a Lore score himself (or is it his queen, or a corrupt advisor?)  This is where PC1's sibling is going to be held, and who PC3 is working for.

A Forest Town, outside the forest where PC1 lives, and beneath which Demon 3 is sleeping.

An ancient and all but abandoned temple, where the constant prayers of the elderly monks keep Demon 4 sleeping.

The basic set-up for initial plot is this:

PC3 is needs to meet his lover (also a courier) to ferry some very important message from South City to North City.  They are meeting in an in-between location, Forest Town (possibly PC3's hometown?)  However, hoping to have some time with her, he arrives early and finds that she has poisoned the entire town, in an attempt to awaken Demon 3 and failing that, prevent any information that the townsfolk have from reaching the king of South City.  She tries to get him to defect with her.  Either he doesn't, and she has him killed for not doing so, but he survives through the help of Demon 3, or he does, and she binds demon 3 to him so as to not take the risk herself.

PC1 discovers this, and acts however he sees fit.  Does he meet PC3?  Not sure yet.

During the confusion ensuing from the coup in North City, PC 4 escapes his imprisonment with a friend, and they make off into the desert.  Starving and near dead, they stumble across the old temple in the desert.  PC4's friend is near death (or is it PC4), and the monks tend him.  But PC4 keeps dreaming of the black sword, the subjugation and dominance.  Eventually, he finds it deep in the basement.  The sword wants him to enslave his friend and slaughter the monks.  Does he?  Immediate humanity smackdown.

PC2 is burned in the execution, but either
1) left for dead and enters the carrion fields and discovers the flame.
or
2) discovers and binds the flame whilst being burnt alive as execution, allowing for a really showy turn-around, which puts PC3's lover in a perilous state, meaning that she will turn to PC3 for help.

The questions are:
How do I tie PC4 into the mess moreso?  If he was a slave in PC2's empire, it seems natural that they would come into conflict.
This, at present, seems focused on North City, which isn't bad, but PC1's twin brother needs to come into it, as well as the sorcerous king.  Perhaps his soldiers siege the monastery whilst PC4 and his friend are in it?  What do you think?  I'd also like to tie in PC3's sorcerous lover, who I think might be connected to a prostitute, mother goddess cult, perhaps behind the power machinations in North City, or manipulating the king in South City, or both?

Any miscellaneous comments, etc?  Very nervous about getting the game "right."

yrs--
--Ben

"Through the darkened sky once more, and ever onward..."

[hardcoremoose]

Ben,

This is cool.  I'm excited to see some Charnel Gods play, and I'm especially geeked that it's your first go with Sorcerer.  It sounds like you guys are hitting the right notes in terms of game prep; you have some good stuff to work with.  But since you asked, here's the advice I'd give (which has very little to do with the questions you asked. go figure.):

If the scenes where the PCs encounter their Fell Weapons for the first time are foregone conclusions, I wouldn't bother with them.  If there's opportunity for real player choices, then by all means, stick with them, but if they only exist to get the sorcerers together with their weapons and then into the story, I'd just do the Binding rolls (I always let the players describe how they first came into possession of their Weapon, and give them bonus dice towards the initial Binding depending upon the coolness of their narrative), and then frame the players into the scenes you need to get things rolling.

Remember my favorite rule of scene framing: You can put the players anywhere, but don't limit where they can end up.  That description's a bit flippant, but I think you know what I mean.

Know your NPCs inside and out - what they want, what they're willing to do to get it - and you won't have to worry about where your players go or what they do.

The Fell glove is indeed cool, but it's Need is a little bland.  Needs are hard; I know.  I struggled to come up with them when writing the game, and finally settled on this guideline: They should, at the very least, provide roleplaying opportunities that are skewed and offbeat (stroking and fondling the weapon in an obviously sexual manner, for example), and at best, create real content to help push the game in new, unexpected directions (betraying the trust of someone you know, for example).

Don't be overly concerned with combat-monster characters.  Yes, even sorcerers with low-powered Fell Weapons are deadly combatants, but the simple fact of the Sorcerer system is this: Multiple opponents are a bitch, and even single opponents can get lucky.

Along the same lines, don't forget that the heroes' greatest enemies are the Fell Weapons themselves.  These things just don't play nice, ever.

Keep the imagery humming.  The game was written for that.

Don't worry about getting it "right" or "wrong".  Sorcerer's not as scary as some people make it out to be.

I look forward to hearing more.

Best,
Scott

[Valamir]

The Fell Glove:

Need: to be publically and unambiguously soaked in blood.
I think that will do the trick.  That'the sort of thing great scenes can be built on.

[Ben Lehman]

This is cool.  I'm excited to see some Charnel Gods play, and I'm especially geeked that it's your first go with Sorcerer.  It sounds like you guys are hitting the right notes in terms of game prep; you have some good stuff to work with.

BL>  Thanks.  I think of Charnel Gods as a great "gateway Sorcerer" game.  Picture these two scenes:

*Scene 1*
(Me with Sorcerer book)

Me:  It's a game where you sell your soul for power and need to struggle with these demons in a metaphor for moral compromise!

Group: *blank stares*

*Scene 2*
(Me with Sorcerer book and Charnel Gods)

Me:  It's a game where you get to have a great big honkin' evil sword, and be the total bad-ass that you all see over the place in fantasy, struggling for control over your weapon's foul impulses and the morality in your new-found potence.

Group:  Cool!

If the scenes where the PCs encounter their Fell Weapons for the first time are foregone conclusions, I wouldn't bother with them.  If there's opportunity for real player choices, then by all means, stick with them, but if they only exist to get the sorcerers together with their weapons and then into the story, I'd just do the Binding rolls (I always let the players describe how they first came into possession of their Weapon, and give them bonus dice towards the initial Binding depending upon the coolness of their narrative), and then frame the players into the scenes you need to get things rolling.

BL>  Well, this is a bit tough.  To some regard, there are choices implicit in the binding scenes of PCs 2 (decides who to betray -- his city or his mistress) and 4 (decides whether or not to enslave his buddy.)  PC2 doesn't really have them.  How do you think I might handle that?  Should I have him possess the flame earlier?  Have some other kicker? (but I just love the "I am going to be executed today" kicker...)  Some other way?

The Fell glove is indeed cool, but it's Need is a little bland.

BL> Definitely.

Need: to be publically and unambiguously soaked in blood.

BL>  This contrasts quite heavily with its sneaky nature...  Which may or may not be a bad thing.  I'll talk with the player about it, probably throw it out to the rest of the group to toss about.

Now that I'm thinking about it, it could have a need to be absorb memory, which essentially gives this highly non-violent character (the player made a point that he feels that couriers and diplomats stop wars, and that is very good) have to kill constantly.

Don't be overly concerned with combat-monster characters.  Yes, even sorcerers with low-powered Fell Weapons are deadly combatants, but the simple fact of the Sorcerer system is this: Multiple opponents are a bitch, and even single opponents can get lucky.

BL>  Oh, I'm not.  I want them to kick ass and take names.  It is more that there seems to be some dissonance between player 4's demon and kicker, though they are both seperately fine.  In the end, it probably shouldn't matter... I imagine he'll find plenty to do anyway.  What I was thinking of doing is distracting him from the obvious revenge fantasy (going back and slaughtering his masters) long enough to make it turn to ashes in his mouth.

Don't worry about getting it "right" or "wrong".  Sorcerer's not as scary as some people make it out to be.

BL>  While that's true, I have many worries.  Always do before games (bad habit I picked up from LARP GMing...)

Thanks for your note, and the cool game.

yrs--
--Ben

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Ben,

Here are a couple of thoughts ... I guess I'm most comfortable prepping for Sorcerer when the players can tell me - just one or two sentences worth - how they came to Bind their demons.

"I found a sword."

"A guy taught me sorcery and then left."

"I got hit on the head."

These kinds of answers usually prompt me to ask about a choice or a desire the character actually made or had in order to Bind the thing.

Not much, just one or two sentences. And if the player has given me a really meaty Kicker, then I don't even push for it very hard or at all. But if the character has both one of these non-choice Binding stories and a "um, I dunno" kind of Kicker, then I know the player isn't ready for the first session.

Best,
Ron

[hardcoremoose]

Ben,

Kickers are tough man.  By definition, the execution by fire thing isn't even really a Kicker by itself.  It doesn't really leave options for the player, and it'll be over almost as soon as it starts.  But a king who has just arrived home to find his empire has been usurped from him ...that's a Kicker.  And so the first thing that happens is that he's slapped in chains and led to his execution...that's your first Bang.  And the story evolves from there.

That's just me, though.  I know from experience that talk talk talking this stuff to death, and focusing on getting every little detail just the way it's supposed to be, can lead to disappointment.  Something about the forest and the trees, I guess.  There are a lot of ways to do this stuff, so maybe just jumping in - sharks and all - is the way to go.

One more bit of advice, which first-time Sorcerer GMs (myself included) often forget: Humanity checks.  Getting to the Humanity checks is how the game addresses its premise, so don't forget to call for them (whether they be loss or gain).  You don't want to overdo it, but every session should have a few.

Best,
Scott

P.S.  I like Ralph's variation on the "soaked in blood" Need.  Sometimes subtle contradiction is cool.  Fell Weapons can have rich and complex personalities too!