I might have a chance to playtest ST tomorrow... I mean, later today... at least if me and my Amber GameMistress finished this hot Amber Diceless scene we've been playing though MSN messenger for hours and hours and get some sleep.

I haven't had much time to reflect upon the ST setting and get that feeling where I'm confortable enough to improvise and let the players have free hand in shaping the events, but the two adventure seeds included in the rulebook help a bit (plus a few ideas from a similar section in the Trollbabe book). Anyone care to suggest/share more adventure seeds?

Thanks!

Here's the one I'm thinking about for next week...

A young woman has fallen in love with a demon, and the two have been meeting secretly.  A human suitor who has been turned away repeatedly discovers this fact, and in a fit of jealously, slays her ("If I can't have you, no one can!").

Then he blames the demon...  He whips the local humans into a frenzy, notably a hot-headed sort who acts before thinking, who serves as the spearhead for the mob's violence.  On the other side, the woman's sister knows the demon would never harm a person he loved...

Chris

That's a good one, Chris.

Here are a few more:

- One of the priests of a human cult has been given a sign from his god that she has been reborn as a demon child. The cult has begun to pay tribute to the child and bring it gifts. It was harmless at first, but now the humans (masked, in the dead of night) gather in a throng outside the demon's home, chanting and saying prayers. They have gotten violent with demons who have told them to leave. The whole thing is escalating into a very bad situation -- kidnapping or even murder may happen soon. Of course, sometimes the tiny demonling does speak in an alien voice and act very much like a goddess reborn.

- The local vampire gang is without a leader since their last one got staked by a bad-ass team of human slayers. When they see the Stranger arrive on their street, they figure they might as well try to recruit. Of course, the slayers aren't far behind, and they are likely to jump to the wrong conclusion when they see the Stranger having a friendly chat with the vamps. Or, if the Stranger isn't so friendly, the slayers might be in more of a recruiting mood. Both sides have the same motto, though: "if you're not with us, you're against us."

- Muulsh the money-lender has cursed the neighborhood. Or so people say. Whenever they scrape enough coins together to pay interest on his loans, the money vanishes before he can be paid. People say he has done sorcery to make sure no one skips out on their loans. But Muulsh doesn't look like a sorcerer, or someone benefitting from money-grabbing magic. He has dark rings under his eyes, and starts at the slightest sound. He looks like the cursed one. But the people still mutter and finger their knives when he passes in his gilded palanquin, with his bare-chested bodyguards. Something must be done.

A few that I came up with while brainstorming yesterday:

A prosperous man has died.  The stranger encounters a funeral procession, or attends the funeral for some reason.  Two demons appear (Mr. Clock and Mr. Pendulum) claiming the body is rightfully theres.  They have a contract.

A Judge keeps a gorgon as a prisioner and uses her to execute the condemed.  The next prisioner to be execute is a man convicted of murdering several children.  Is the gorgon unhappy in her role?

The stranger is detained by militia and brought before a judge, accused of being  a human trespassing in a district where only demons are allowed, or a demon trespassing where only humans are allowed.

Actually, that last one is interesting to me, because I wonder if it is okay for the stakes to essentially be the PC, or is it the nature of ST/TB that the PC is always detached from the situation, to take it or leave it as they may?

The last one doesn't fit to me. Strangers should never be mistaken for humans or demons. And the Stranger should never be the stakes. These two things keep the Stranger always outside a situation, only engaging if the player decides to. I think this is key.

Love the other seeds.

Strangers should never be mistaken for humans or demons.

Actually I don't care for the gorgon one because it doesn't fit together. If the gorgon's being kept prisoner to serve as an executioner, it seems natural that she'd be unhappy in her role. And the child-murderer has no obvious bearing on the gorgon's situation - why should he matter at all? Finally, if the gorgon's being kept prisoner, and if the judge is using her to execute condemned criminals, how is the Stranger supposed to get involved in this situation?