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Hi there,

A while ago, Tquid posted http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1424">this thread about his Sorcerer game. I had a hard time reading it; like many transcripts of play, it included a lot of "He went there and did this," or, "Then he showed up," repeated many times, and although he referred to a general "problem" or "question," I couldn't figure out what the specific inquiries were. I also could make nothing of the title of the thread/game, which was "The Last Girl on Earth."

As best as I can tell based on the questions, the only problem I can see is an overriding worry that stuff wouldn't happen as planned. A couple of alarm bells went off as I read the post, specifically regarding the concepts of "drawing players into the map" or "players committing to the story" being posed as tasks or problems because they "might not happen." "Scene framing" was used as a synonym for "GM arbitrarily resolves scene," which jarred me. For some reason "getting the characters together" seemed to be a priority of play (including a statement of relief that it happened quickly). A lot of the text seemed to be devoted to NPCs' motivations, indicating that maybe the GM is trying to do that "play the NPCs like PCs" technique which is often disastrous in Narrativist play. The player-characters seem colorful, yet somehow play-content seems to be flowing from GM to players in a kind of one-way mode that isn't necessary in playing Sorcerer.

So based on these impressions (and they are impressions only, so I could be mistaken), I'm getting kind of an Unknown Armies feel - tons of weirdness going on, lots of outrageous detail, very complicated NPC conspiracies and secret agendas, and the player-characters just bomb around like pinballs until, finally, they all end up at the big Simulationist two-step climax: (1) get the lowdown on who the bad guy is and what he's up to, and (2) beat the shit out of him and his minions (or alternately, end up in a complicated crossfire and have to fight/shoot out of it). I'm seeing this as a Problem for this game only because Tquid literally stated that he had a problem, and this is my best guess for what it is. Correct me if necessary.

My main advice, based on these impressions, is simply to chill out, let go of all that planning, promote player activity via Bangs, and quit worrying about whether "it works" or not. Provide Bangs, they do stuff, more stuff happens, and don't forget to play the demons and decree Humanity checks & gains.

Obviously, I have a vested interest in promoting actual play of Sorcerer, so I confess I was more motivated to resurrect this thread than I might be for another game. I'm interested in learning more about the game, in terms of what Humanity is and why anyone would be a sorcerer, in terms of what ethical or fundamental "crime" is being committed by a character, and in terms of what passions are involved in each player-character's profile and/or Kicker. The answers to these questions will set up the necessary information that can address the problem, that is, if I'm reading it right to begin with.

Best,
Ron

Ron,

Thanks kindly for your response, your points are, to be a bit redundant, poignant, and well-taken.

(I've just deleted about 400 words of previous typing.  Hopefully this will be a better thought-out post for it, in comparison to my previous thread, which I agree was egregiously rambling.)

I guess the previous problem was simply that I felt unprepared and unsure of how better to involve my players.  Part of what I'm struggling against is classic GM distrust of players (as "plot-wreckers"), and also my own paranoia that this group of close friends is merely tolerating this game to make me feel good.  I will say that running Sorcerer has required me to give up a lot of previous notions and it has proven scarier in actual play than I had expected.

As for the title, it comes from a song by Supreme Beings of Leisure, a nice, slightly jazzy ballad delivered in the voice of a not-too-healthy woman asking "Don't you want me/ if I'm the last girl on earth?"  It also implies a nuclear holocaust has occurred, or something, and this inspired me, Twilight-Zone fashion, to think of a sorcerer driven to Humanity 0 and deluded into believing that his demon is literally the last girl on earth.  (Lyrics here, for them such as care.)  This sorcerer is Lester Hale, and he comprises the main center of the r-map.

Re-reading Soul really helped me see where I was missing out on Humanity checks, and re-reading the relevant parts of Sorcerer itself let me understand that I had rather more Bangs than I had originally thought.

Humanity in our game is taken straight from the book as a combination of Empathy and Sanity.  Sorcerous rituals involve either savage mutilations of self and/or others (for Parasites), and transgressions against sexual propriety, friendship, and other kinds of human connectedness for most other kinds of demons.  I missed several opportunities for Humanity checks:

1. Louis used his Demon's Daze, combined with existing drugged-upness of a young victim, to get his Demon's Need for human blood satisfied.  This squicked other players enough that I handled the scene "off-screen", and a brief ethical discussion ensued.  Louis' player (rather dubiously) exercised a bit of Directorial power to say it was consensual, or would have been even without the drugs & Daze.  I allowed this for the sake of peace, but again, a Humanity check was clearly called for here.

2. A crooked cop (the nightclub is an illegal after-hours joint) leaned on Catherine, the bar owner, played by Vikki, to get information about Hale, who was a regular at the bar before his marbles got out of order.  She responded by taking him aside, Mind Blasting him, and rather viciously interrogating him.  He did threaten her, so maybe a Humanity check would not be appropriate.  In any case the players didn't react nearly as intensely to violence as to a situation that they regarded as analogous to rape, above.

3. Morgan, played by Kyira, actually should have gotten a couple of gain rolls.  First, after a heated argument with her brother (he is threatening to "out" her to her parents as a lesbian and pagan {she is in a circle that has naively summoned up Bacchic-style demons}), she restrained her demon from attacking him.  Second, she extricated a man from getting bounced violently by talking him down.  (This second might be too mild really, a borderline case in my mind, as #2.  But the first part should have gotten a roll.)

It's interesting to note that Louis, who generally comes off as kind of goofy and incompetent, is actually most likely to drop his Humanity in a hurry, while Morgan, who is played outwardly as a man-hating bad-ass, seems to show empathy more frequently.

I am rambling again.  I agree, Ron, that probably the major thing I need to do is relax and not worry too much about what the players decide to do with my Bangs, as long as I have them to use.  Currently most Bangs have to do with the bad guy, Marcus, and his search for Lester Hale, while Hale's dead lover's brother is also looking for him.  I'd appreciate suggestions on other possible Bang-sources that might inspire me and my players, that aren't too abstruse.  (E.g., I also have it in mind that Marcus, who I have darkly hinted rose to power way too fast, knows necromancy--on top of his being Public Enemy Number One to the PC's (caused Louis to kill his own girlfriend, and other ugliness), he would then possibly be able to offer Louis a really gross Faustian bargain of giving his dead girlfriend back to him.  Bwaahahahaa!  See?  I come up with this kind of thing easily but am unsure how best to incorporate it, or indeed if it's even appopriate.)

OK, I stop now.  Thanks very much for your attention.

--TQuid

Tquid,

[Side note: what's your real name again? ...]

I suggest that prior to your next game, simply do all the Humanity checks and gain rolls from the last run all at once. This works especially well when everyone is all together, before play starts, rather than doing it one-on-one. Also, don't try justify your reasoning in calling for these rolls - in many ways, acting as the steward of when and when not to roll for Humanity, and in which direction, is what a Sorcerer GM is for.

Also, get yourself personally invested in the characters' Kickers, and perform the difficult - but great once you get it - trick of realizing that those Kickers are actually more important than anything and everything you have prepped about the NPCs.

Best,
Ron