Prep for first-time Hellblazer-ish Sorcerer
Joel P. Shempert:
OK, I'm getting ready to run my first game of Sorcerer this weekend. It'll be at a large group gathering for the Portland Indie Gamers crowd, with the intention to schedule a continued game after the event. I already know who one or two players will be, but not who else might join.
So I'm trying to go into it with a solid but flexible prep under my belt. A good modus operandi that can flow with player input as we build our game premise and Demon/Humanity definitions, and come out the other end with a firm idea of how to hit the ground running with a quality, genuine Sorceror experience.
I want to do a vaguely Hellblazer-ish game. It doesn't have to be British, necessarily; Depression-Era New York or Chicago would do nicely too. But something along the lines of gutter-dwellers striving to better their lot appeals to me, has the necessary grit and story traction to make a modern sorcery game work. And I'm definitely keen to do the "Modern Sorcery" take before I fiddle around with Nightmare Mars or Hyborian Wizards or sentient AI fighter-jets.
So I'm looking at examining two things: one, what sorts of principles should I particularly hold in the GMspace of my brain, to take a first session with a partly unknown group and spin it into an awesome springboard for the players? And two, what principles would govern a Helblazer Sorceror game in particular?
For the first, I can say I'm pretty clear on the Kickers and Bangs stuff. And playing the Demons to the hilt, particularly Desire and Need. Is there any other text in the book that I should particularly scrutinize/internalize (I've been reviewing the book all week, and will continue to do so)? Any other pointers in particular on "planning without planning"? I've read the whole series of Art Deco Melodrama threads, so working up some sort of relationship map, to be altered for specific game concept, springs to mind as useful.
And for the second. . .I've been thinking about Hellblazer stories vis a vis Sorcerer and while the themes are all there, they're not a perfect match for Sorcery as the game handles it. Take Garth Ennis' Dangerous Habits, mentioned in the Sorcerer book. John Constantine does Sorcery throughout the book, but it's never really to Summon and Bind a Demon as a long-term companion or anything. It's always an act of the moment, for a short-term interaction, though with long-term consequences. Sure, he summons the Lords of Hell, but he doesn't Bind them, he just extracts what he needs from them and goes on his way. He's a cosmic huckster, dodging from one crisis to the next, scheming his way one step beyond the jaws of death and damnation.
So sure, Constantine's got to deal with the price of power, but he does it by staying 'one step ahead," not by binding the power for keeps and trying to control it. The "bound-demon-intow" type Sorcerors are always the bit players around him, like that poor schmuck with the "hunger" demon in the Original Sins trade, and they tend to come to bad and swift ends, being mere thematic footnotes or conflict fodder for John himself. John's really the thing in these stories, obviously, and john's issues are very real, but don't quite look like Sorcery as per Sorcerer. If anything, he's the "Obnoxious Exorcist" character mentioned as a possible antagonist in the "Sorcerous Technicality" section.
So I guess my questions on that score are: 1) Is there some element of "messing with demons while trying to stay clean" in Hellblazer that I'm missing, specifically applicable to playing Sorceror? and 2) failing that (or side by side with that), how would the basic landscape of Hellblazer need to be altered to make for good Sorcerer play?
Peace,
-Joel
angelfromanotherpin:
The thing you're really looking for here is Pacting, which is introduced in Sorcerer & Sword, and lets Sorcerers make deals, rather than engage in the long-term relationships that Binding involves.
jburneko:
As suggested by the previous poster I suggest checking out the Pact ritual in Sorcerer & Sword. However, even without that I suggest considering these things.
1) A Sorcerer who sticks to Contain, Punish and Banish can be a very interesting character indeed. I wish more players would consider this.
2) Remember that any Sorcerer can try to order any Demon to take action via a straight up Will vs. Will roll.
3) Remember that Contact, Summon and Bind are still three separate rituals and the process can stop at any point. Just consider the consequences of doing so.
Example 1:
A Sorcerer needs some information. So he Contacts a demon, orders the demon to tell him what he wants to know and then simply lets the Contact laps.
Example 2:
A Sorcerer wants a one time favor from a demon. So he Contacts and Summons the demon and the orders the demon to perform some action. After the action is complete the Sorcerer Banishes the demon or (he he) simply leaves him unbound to "starve" to death. That's almost MORE fucking ballsy than Binding the demon.
Note: Given the rules the order has to be pretty short, immediate and well within the "next action" rules for rolling over victories. Otherwise Binding and/or Pacting would be required.
Jesse
Joel P. Shempert:
Thanks, Jules and Jesse! unfortunately, I won't have access to S&S before the game Saturday, but I do wanna check it out, and have a friend I can probably borrow it from. Good tip!
And Jesse, your post is awesome; it really pulls together the elements I was looking at and resolves them into a picture that reconciles with both Hellblazer and Sorcerer. I'm getting a handle on how to use these concepts in actual play, which is the important thing. Thanks!
I'm not trying to "duplicate" Hellblazer, like, "OK, who's gonna be our Constantine?" or anything, but I am trying to scrutinize Hellblazer for insight into making an awesome Sorcerer game, particularly along the axis of Ron's phrase, "messing around with Demons while trying to stay clean." A principle is emerging here (and across other recent threads in the Adept press forum) that should be enormously useful--it's all about the Consequences. There are any number of interesting consequences possible from a wide array of player choices. . .including the choice not to Bind but to simply Summon, bargain and Banish, staying one jump ahead of the Devil. Cool.
Quote from: jburneko on June 26, 2008, 12:00:36 PM
1) A Sorcerer who sticks to Contain, Punish and Banish can be a very interesting character indeed. I wish more players would consider this.
Man. . .the first thing that leapt to mind when I read that was, "yeah! I'll play that on Saturday!" I've been playing too many GMless games. . .:P
Peace,
-Joel
Joel P. Shempert:
A procedural question while I'm at it. . .
There's a big deal about the secrecy of a Demon's true ability and most especially the bonus from its Binding. How exactly is that secrecy handled in play. Say the GM receives a general (pretty weak) Demon concept from a player, then decides that the actual Demon will be more powerful and hiding that nature. Does the GM physically hide the ritual rolls so the player can't tell how high the Demon's Power or Will or whatever really is? And does the GM hide the Demon's further rolls after Binding, to hide whatever bonus or penalty the Binding strength might confer? While other games may do this sort of thing, it doesn't strike me as working well for Sorcerer. . .but I can;t see any other way for the GM to truly play coy with the players about their Demons' nature.
Peace,
-Joel
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