[Sorcerer] A Night at the Opera Bizarre

[Christoph Boeckle]

Hey!
This is session number three from our on-going Carnival Bizarre game. Last session was about getting involved in the Carnival Bizarre, this session is about taking the bull by the horns, as we say in French.

If you're not listening to anything right now, dear reader, and your immediate environment allows for music, consider listening to the band that was provided this session's official soundtrack: Alamaailman Vasarat (alternatively you can also check out their MySpace site). It's really appropriate music to this game, and it's very good. Julien introduced us to this music after his stay in Finland.


Our buy-in

Joel's recent posts about the halt of his Cascadiapunk campaign had got me thinking quite a lot about what was happening at our table. I had felt some floating attention in previous sessions and I was starting to wonder what was more important for us: meeting up or playing that game? And my suspicion was legitimate, as at one point when Thomas and I got up to get some drinks, he told me: "You know, till now, I was wondering what was more important... but now it's really interesting!" I told him that I had been thinking about our commitment to the game too and that this was really the confirmation that there's something uniquely worthwhile in this play. And we went back with the drinks. We didn't talk about that topic any more, and the other two guys didn't mention it either. The rest of the session confirmed our engagement.


How this session rocked

I think it was all about crosses. Great technique Ron, I really love it, it's a good thing you documented it in Sex and Sorcery. I'm going to try and illustrate why.

Julien decided that H.P. Locke was going to buy the whole stock of cylipine (the poison used to kill his father and uncle) off of Ewald, so that he'd have to order some more, allowing Locke to track where he got it from. He arrived disguised as Death and presented himself as a new customer (Ewald was a bit suspicious, but Locke pulled it off in a Will conflict). Locke was operating on bluff mode, he is<this<Updated map of characters

So, very little new stuff this time: a poor Regazzoni which isn't clearly tied to the other characters yet (but who seems to be in the focus of Locke, the Clown and Falcrest!) and a new relationship revealed between Falcrest and Elizabeth Locke. However, quite a few characters were brought to the foreground and linked to the player-characters' stories. The situation is like a tightly wound spring, I feel, and soon everything is going to go up in flames!


Humanity and particularities of the Carnival Bizarre<Next!

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Christophe,

Crosses are great fun. I don't know what I'd do without them. I'm really glad they're working well for your group, and given the setting concept, I think they're absolutely necessary.

Regarding the upcoming sessions, you're absolutely right that consequences are your main task. I suggest being quite generous regarding the answers to the questions you listed. Or to put it differently, pull the string.

In my experiences, one of the most interesting aspects of a Sorcerer story at this stage is that there is no way to tell how many sessions remain. Sometimes it's one. Sometimes it's ten. Just play hard and well, and everyone will find out.

Sometimes I'm not quite sure about some points, for example, do demons roll Lore to detect a sorcerer's telltale? (The only rules question I have for the while being.)

I'm 99% sure that the rule is, demons automatically identify sorcerers for what they are. (If you find a place where the text says different, go with the text. I'm running off memory.) Demons' Telltales, though, work the same for demons to perceive as they do for sorcerers: Lore vs. a single die.

Best, Ron

[Christoph Boeckle]

Hi Ron

Thanks for the feedback. I've found a reference to the rule you're 99% sure about in the Training Run, p.83, and it does indeed confirm your thoughts. I find it interesting that demons don't necessarily spot each other as demons (couldn't find the reference to this one, but it has obviously informed the writing of the example scenario).