Prep for first-time Hellblazer-ish Sorcerer
angelfromanotherpin:
Whoa there! As far as I know, the player gets basically full say over all of their starting Demon's stuff so long as the basic guidelines are followed (the more abilities, the more Lore; the more Lore/Stamina the more Will/Power; Need and Desire must be appropriate). If the player decides that his character thinks the demon is less potent than it really is, that's cool, but it's their decision. Demons summoned later have a mechanic for the GM altering them from the players' expectations.
As far as I know, rolls are never hidden. Characters, PC or NPC, don't have to use their full stats if they want to lay low. I think there are a few exceptions, like a Demon's Power in a Summoning, where full force is required.
Hmm, having checked the book, you're right! Under Binding in a few places it talks about keeping the results secret. Huh. Never really done that, myself. My take would be to make the Binding roll only in secret, and then (if the Demon has the bonus) have the Demon limit itself until it really needs it. If the Demon has the penalty, it could either pretend not to care (which is why it tends to oppose its master with so few dice, to the minimum of 1), or outright toady and wail.
Ron Edwards:
The thread's diverted a bit into a side issue, which I hope this thread will help: [Sorcerer] rule question: changing binding strength
Joel, I've been reviewing your initial post carefully for a couple of days and am drafting up a response.
That's not intended to shut down other responses, though, so carry on.
Best, Ron
Ron Edwards:
Hi Joel,
I'm sorry, man. I was totally steamrolled by other stuff and could not get back to you in time.
I'd like to know how it went, no matter how well or how badly, and do some post-mortem.
Best, Ron
Joel P. Shempert:
Well, we got through the whole prep phase, complete with humanity definition, characters, demons and kickers. We plan on playing our first 'actual play" session this Wednesday.
We didn't end up with a Hellblazer vibe exactly (I may have been the only person at the table who's actually read any), but we've got a pretty cool modern sorcery thing worked up set in here in Portland with some very real-feeling protagonists and issues. I'll post about it when I've got the time. In the meantime I'd be interested in anything you've got to say that still seems relevant.
peace,
-Joel
Joel P. Shempert:
Hi, Ron!
So here's the lowdown on our planning and character creation session. I used Hellblazer as a starting point, but we diverged from that pretty quickly, when folks came to a quick consensus that they didn't want to use a Catholic framework for Hell and Demons. I said the element of Hellblazer I most wanted to retain was that of people in 'low" circumstances struggling to get ahead or get by. And I think we've retained that well.
I'm referring to the setting as Cascadiapunk. We ended up setting the game in the Portland area (our real-life city), and we've got a pretty good cross-section of Portland "types" that should be pretty easy to bring to life. Our Humanity definition is Empathy; Demons are amorphous and undefined, and Sorcerous Lore can be approached from any number of disciplines, from Native American Spiritism to Expanded Consciousness theory.
the PCs:
Jake: Mike Sugarbaker*, out of work and down on his luck (Naif)
Demon: his backyard which he's scared will eat him, but answers questions when he talks to it
Kicker: His housemates are already kicked out, and his rent is due.
Seth: Nobody, crazed street kid and Expanded Consciousness fanatic (Solitary Adept)
Demon: Twitch, the parasite that's granting him speed and awareness and rewiring his brain
Kicker: none written
Willem: Robin Last, native issues activist stealing and interring museum corpses (Coven)
Demon: Ravengod, a parasite granting totemic powers
Kicker: Curator voice mail: "I know what you do. . ." (possibly changed to a stolen corpse disappearing in transit)
Jana: V Magnolius, punk chick black market food broker, furious about the establishment raping natural resources (Naif)
Demon: Quiñones, a set of amorphous keys that open or close anything
Kicker: Bizarre highway accident with truckload of live chickens led to her finding Quiñones
*no relation
My thread discussion prep with the other characters is here.
I'm pretty happy with our setup overall. My major concerns are:
1) Vague or awkward character motivations. Seth managed to escape last time without writing a kicker, and based on the rest of chargen I'm just not sure what Nobody the street kid is up to at all. There was some talk about him approaching the other Sorcerers with some ominous designs (being the only high Lore character). Or perhaps just wanting to transcend to a higher state of being. All rather hazy stuff that doesn't really plug well into simple human concerns. Similarly, I'm a bit unclear on just what a "Black Market Food Broker" actually does. But at least V has strong motives along environmental concerns.
2) A lot of the players didn't do a proper back page, instead writing character traits or descriptive passages in the sections. I've told everyone they need to get some actual relationships on there; at present we've got a mostly disconnected-looking group.
3) I'm a bit daunted at the task of creating my own web of NPCs. I thought the players detailing important NPCs would give me a good framework, but they haven't done much of that yet so I'm left to my own devices. Not sure if I should rip an R-Map from somewhere (a la Art-deco Melodrama) or wait to see what the players turn in.
4) Similarly daunted about playing Demons. We've got 2 parasites and an Object, plus an Inconspicuous which communicates in some vague fashion. How do I play the Demons as characters when they don't communicate? How do I make a Parasite an autonomous entity at all, save witholding powers based on desire/need? It doesn't seem like Demons \, so far, have much presence in the story.
5) Nervous about Kickers. Not only do I have one missing (which should be a non-issue once Seth writes it), but the Kicker Jana wrote looks terribly vague and lifeless. At first I thought "cool, what a wonderfully surreal incident," but no I'm left feeling like it doesn't really lead anywhere.
6) I'm also wondering a bit at a couple players' attitude toward Sorcery, like Jake designing a Demon that practically controls him, and Willem remarking that he doesn't want Robin to have any Demon except the starting Parasite. What bothers me is the implication that Sorcery is somehow out of the characters' hands--in Jake's case, because the Naif Sorcerer is helpless before this thing that just popped into his life, and in Willem's case because he balks at Robin actually knowing Sorcery, whether he chooses to use it or not. He acts like Robin was simply taught to summon the Ravengod, did that, and that's it, no more. I've addressed this in the linked thread, so we'll see how the players respond.
Any thoughts that pop up from that description? Any tips or cautions beyond what I've identified? Anything you'd like me to clarify? I'll confess I'm a little scared of the first session 'cause I want it to go just right. My confidence in running fun games has grown as I try a wide range of games with a diverse sample of people, but now I'm reverting to the old nervous "gotta-make-it-awesome-this-time" GM routine. Maybe I'm intimidated by the particular game? Maybe its surface resemblance to Over the Edge brings to mind my early awkward days of GMing that? Whatever it is, I'm trying to shake the butterflies out.
Peace,
-Joel
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