[Sorcerer] Link to Seventh Session Write Up

[Lisa Padol]

I've posted the write up of the seventh session of our Sorcerer campaign here: http://community.livejournal.com/labcats/10758.html#cutid1.

For any who missed the link and want to read it, the write up of the sixth session is here: http://community.livejournal.com/labcats/7728.html#cutid1.

I'm considering cross-posting the write up of the eighth session, once I've written it, as we ran into some problems worth noting.

-Lisa Padol

[Judd]

Humanity tests and gain rolls?

What are the demons doing?  Through the write-up, I got some vague sense of what the PC's were doing but not what the demons were doing.

Could you talk about how the demons needs were met during the scenario?

[Lisa Padol]

Humanity tests and gain rolls?

I believe Pamela made a roll for Sophia's having killed her parents the previous session. She lost no humanity for doing so.
That's the only one I recall, and I think one weakness of my one sheet was a definition of Humanity that I simply wasn't clear enough on to be able to say, with confidence, "Yes, that gets a roll. No, that doesn't." Too often, I really could argue it either way.

What are the demons doing?  Through the write-up, I got some vague sense of what the PC's were doing but not what the demons were doing.

Could you talk about how the demons needs were met during the scenario?

This was a far mellower session than I'd expected. Let's see.

First, most of the demons have needs that Julian described, tongue in cheek, as "wimpy". That is, Orion needs to eat small animals. Aquila, owned by a noble lady, needs to hunt. Nariya needs to be scritched. These needs fall into the same category that feeding in Vampire: the Whatever tends to -- that is, we all hear, and often pay lip service to, the idea that this should never be routine, but, in practice, tend not to play it out, because it slows things down to no purpose. This is something I'm chewing on. I'm not convinced it's a bad thing not to play out the drama of Sophia scritching the passer cat she adores. I probably could make more of Orion hunting small animals, especially as Minerva the mouse is a small animal.

Orion didn't do anything of note this session, nor did Aquila. Aquila is an interesting demon to ponder, and I think that goes in the long post mortem I should write up at some point.

Nariya met the other cat demons, and they like each other. She's quite happy with Sophia, who plans to protect her by summoning up a new demon to take the fall for Nariya. This is wonderfully twisted. Her desire is Knowledge, which looks like it's being met, what with her getting to attend classes, academic debates, and Sophia's probable sorcery lessons from Sebastian.

Teresa has the most aggressive need, and, oddly, it's been filled lately. Niccolo is not only touching her; he's having sex with her. Purely to keep her in a good mood so she'll boost his lore, of course. She's happy with this, as it's more than she's gotten, and she's been boosting his lore  -- but her desire, to be loved, is not being met, and this is bugging her.

Leonardo's need was met, despite Andreas' neglect -- not his fault (sort of) as he kept being delayed getting back to the lab. Leonardo submitted to both Niccolo and Joanna. His desire, to breed, was not met that day, but may have been met the previous day. What did he do? Well, make Andreas' life more interesting, and get displayed. News will get to Leonardo's father, perhaps faster than he intends, thanks to Niccolo's odd sense of guilt.

Julian said that the horse Niccolo summoned up would have the desire To be Admired, and that I should feel free to come up with a Non-Wimpy Need. Trouble is, the Need I liked best -- we all liked it -- is to be touched up -- this is a painting of a horse come to life, and Niccolo is an artist. We're going with that, but the horse is already complicating Niccolo's life, so I'm not too worried on that account.

Minerva didn't do much this session. She needs rich grains. 'Elena, who needs to be sung to, desires praise, and is feeling thouroughly useless. She can't get to kill anyone! Sebastian forbids this, or, when he permits it or she sneaks out on her own, she's thwarted! Very depressed demon.

-Lisa

[Judd]

First, most of the demons have needs that Julian described, tongue in cheek, as "wimpy".

I would be all about a prominent and important NPC having a small animal (probably a little yappy poodle) for a pet that Orion wants to eat.

Soft-pedaling of demons, as the session you saw at Dreamation, can really kill the game.  Thor wanted me to whack him with his former slavemaster's ghost demon but I didn't and he was disappointed. 

This brings me to a worry, that the players have these otherworldly creatures that grant them powers, these beasts that should not exist in our reality and they pay no price for them other than some Humanity loss with a Humanity that you aren't sure the definition of.  Do ya think, if Sorcerer is a car, that the lack of relevant Needs is letting the air out of the tires and the lack
of Humanity definition is taking the rev out of the engine?

I've got no sense of when people are wide-eyed or gasping or engaged at your table.  What is turning the gamers on during these sessions?  What do they gab about after the game?

I'm not judging, but worrying and asking.  What do you think, Lisa?  How is this game working for you?

[Lisa Padol]

I would be all about a prominent and important NPC having a small animal (probably a little yappy poodle) for a pet that Orion wants to eat.

Yes. I should've been pushing this harder, in retrospect.

This brings me to a worry, that the players have these otherworldly creatures that grant them powers, these beasts that should not exist in our reality and they pay no price for them other than some Humanity loss with a Humanity that you aren't sure the definition of.  Do ya think, if Sorcerer is a car, that the lack of relevant Needs is letting the air out of the tires and the lack of Humanity definition is taking the rev out of the engine?

I think the fuzzy Humanity definition is a problem with the campaign. It's one of the things on my Notes for Next Time list.

I've got no sense of when people are wide-eyed or gasping or engaged at your table.  What is turning the gamers on during these sessions?  What do they gab about after the game?

I'm not judging, but worrying and asking.  What do you think, Lisa?  How is this game working for you?

This deserves a far longer answer than I have time for right now -- basically, the post mortem. (I figure we have a session or two before we wrap.)

Briefly (for Lisa's definition of the word):
Let's see. This is the first time I've ever run the game. I want it to feel like Sorcerer, not like OTE-with-Sorcerer-rules.
I've played the game once in a 10 minute demo when I was exhausted, and once with you, after I'd started the campaign.
Running Sorcerer as I believe it is meant to be run involves using different techniques than I'm used to.

I knew from square one that I was going to make mistakes. Lots of them. Big, little, and medium sized.
The amazing thing is that things work as well as they do.

How is it working for me? Mixed bag, interesting experiment, want to fine tune, play something else, then try this again.

-Lisa

[Lisa Padol]

Had the ninth session last night. Won't say it was perfect or that there weren't a lot of things that I could have done to make it feel edgier, but it was a lot of fun. So, now I'm 2 write ups behind. And my favorite line of the evening was, "Don't put clothes on my demon!"

-Lisa