Character and World Creation

So, for the Intro Questions:

 • How did you escape your servitude?
See backstory before

 • How long have you been in the city?
10 years

 • Whom do you call family in the city?
Jacob is a rather solitary guy, he mainly has business relationships only, either with potential clients, with providers, or with competitors. However, he has befriended a couple of university professors, and one of them, Dr. Williams, is the only one he could actually call "friend".

 • Whom do you turn to when you're in trouble?
Rhiannon, as she is my woman on the ground.

 • Whom did you scam that still holds a grudge?
James, an oracle that wanted to buy a seer stone. Jacob thought he had one secured, but his provider scammed him in the first place, so he decided to do the same with his client instead of losing the investment.

I will also start looking at each other Debts and come with a few suggestions. @Ysolde, I'm assuming you're already okay with our previous agreement: "You partner with someone on your schemes, both of you profiting in equal measure. You owe each other 2 Debts."

@Gnomius that works for me

I’ll need:
- Someone helps you unwind and keeps you sane, despite the horrors of your hunts. You owe them a Debt.
- Your hunts incurred the wrath of a powerful person; someone helped smooth things over. You owe them a Debt.
- Someone has enlisted you to protect them from something dangerous. They owe you a Debt.

@Stalker05 and @Oopsylon are any of these something your character might be able to do?

Again, not from her parents or her mentor. There’s probably at least one hunter in the society that feels she’s not special and ought to be doing something more "girly" and, of course, other hunters who aren’t in her society.

Having dealt with such things IRL all my life it’s hard to imagine a modern type would without these issues. If we were doing full blown fantasy that would be different.
There’s a reason I picked a Seax and a chain for Rhiannon’s two hand weapons. Her bow is likely in her car and she can claim she’s in archery club if someone does see it.

@Ysolde: Perhaps Rhiannon’s hunts somehow incurred the wrath of the S3 Vampire Lord whose territory Benji’s harbour is in and Benji smoothed it over?
Or maybe we could just relate this debt ("Someone helps you unwind and keeps you sane, despite the horrors of your hunts. You owe them a Debt.") to this one of my starting debts ("Someone relies on you for their fix. Ask them what you provide that keeps them sane. They owe you a Debt; add them to your Web.")?
Or both?

@gnomius: I can’t imagine Benji was able to make much money busking during lockdowns/covid so maybe Jacob offered him some work on the side during that period ("You offered someone work when no one else would give them the time of day. Ask them if it worked out in your favor. They owe you a Debt either way.")?

@Stalker05: "Someone is your go-to when you get into trouble, providing information or muscle to get things done. You owe them 2 Debts." could work for Benji maybe (vampiric strength can come in handy) but I could also see that being a pretty good fit for Rhiannon… Maybe I’ll wait and see what debts the others want to take from you and I’ll see if I can work with any that remain

Those look good. Let me know if you need me to get involved, or if we need to clarify details about the world to help with interpreting the Debts.

Sold! :-)

For my 3rd and last input, I think it makes a lot of sense that @Stalker05 takes it with Mark: "Someone is a consistent patron or customer of your establishment, regularly relying on you for your services or assistance. They owe you 2 Debts." I'm sure I can be your provider of books, magical components and stuff. :-)

@Ysolde, following our relationship, I think it makes sense that I take this one from your playbook: "- Someone has enlisted you to protect them from something dangerous. They owe you a Debt.", so you can protect me from that demon who wants me back in Hell (be it Fierna or another minion of hers)

For Benji and Mark:

- Benji, I could either be your provider of a regular blood income, or the one who sold you out to one of your enemies. Both go well with the "no-regrets businessman" type of character I have in mind for Jacob. Let me know which one you'd prefer.

- Mark, I will propose you that I take this one from your playbook: "You are helping someone keep a dangerous secret from powerful members of their Circle. They owe you a Debt". So you would be the only one who knows about the true identity of my precious raven. ;-) Perhaps you noticed yourself with your magic powers, that this was not an ordinary raven, or maybe you learned it in other mundane ways, up to you.

@Oopsylon Let’s go with the combo he helps her unwind and relax with some of the leaf. His place is a good place to smoke and just vibe for a while before she has to deal with the world.

@Gnomius love that idea.

@Stalker05 does your character know someone who might fit?
-Your hunts incurred the wrath of a powerful person; someone helped smooth things over. You owe them a Debt.

Sure! I don’t think Benji smokes himself but he’s just happy to have a friend over :)
Great! What do you imagine that work would have entailed? Just miscellaneous errands or is there something specific Jacob needed done?
Either is fine with me! Let’s go with the former unless Stalker05 wants it. @Stalker05 are you interested in either of these debts ("Someone makes sure you get fed regularly, without attracting too much attention. You owe them 2 Debts." or "Someone recently sold you out to one of your enemies. You avoided the worst of the attacks, but your betrayer owes you a Debt; add them to your Web.")?

OK, I'll take the "blood supplier" then, so I'm basically the provider for all of you. :-) Blood for Benji, magical gadgets and books for Mark and weapons, ammo, magical stuff... for Rhiannon.

Makes sense. That fits your Establishment services and your Measure Your Mark Move that lets you know what people need.

I can make some obvious suggestions if you are struggling to come up with work orders.

Oh, sorry, I missed that bit. Well, once again, Jacob always needs people on the ground, so he could have hired Benji for many services: getting info or gossip from the Night Circle, helping him find some artifact in the subway tunnels he knows by heart, etc... I was thinking more about this kind of "mini jobs" instead of a specific mission, but I'm also happy to hear suggestions if anyone has a cool idea.

Okay, sounds good!
That works for me!

Good to hear.
I will let the other players fill you in on their established and outstanding Debts and such.
You can check out the character sheets via the 'Characters' menu at the bottom of the page (red bar). Though we can't see yours or Ysolde's since they have not been 'Added to the Library'.
Yes, gnomius is playing The Imp, Jacob.
The fae start out unknown, they are early game antagonist and you don't have much dealing with them till later. We have not heard from the fae in about 10 years, and your characters don't yet know that they are making a comeback.
Or maybe Mortalis? Cops/law enforcement (the MET)? Rhiannon did leave a politician's head on the dashboard of a taxi [ref] as a statement, she has learned since then not to be quite so showy [ref].
The fact that there is a Debt, now owed, means that Benji forgave you the transgression and understands you had good reasons for doing it. You still cost them, so their forgiveness comes with a Debt to be paid later, but this should not affect your starting relationship (unless you both want it to).

If a Debt text really does not work for the players, we can rework it and find some, slightly similar, reason for the Debt.

Perhaps Mark’s obligations to the Hermetic Order of Solomon led to him selling out Benji in some way? For instance, maybe the order briefly allied with some vampire hunters or something like that? It could have even been an accidental betrayal, if you like - maybe Mark provided some hunters with magic or information that ended up being weaponised against a number of vampires that just happened to include Benji?

@Stalker05 So, powerful fae, wizard or local authorities? Also, if you want Rhiannon to be Mark’s go to when he needs muscle she seems popular for that.

Please check that the Debt Ledge summary looks correct so far.

Also suggest if there are better posts to [ref] link to, in play this will be clearer as there will be a post where things happen and we nail down the Debt instead of this back and forth.

Ignore Alice and Bob, you don't know them...

Sorry to throw yet another thing your way @Stalker05 , but your last remaining debt falls to Benji (Someone tempted your ward away from you and into danger. Ask them what it cost your ward to return to you. They owe you a Debt.) and I was wondering if you had any ideas about that? I was thinking that the S3 Vampire Lord whose territory Benji’s harbour is in might have something to do with it. Maybe he wanted some of Josephine’s fae blood for some reason and pressured Benji into helping him get it?

@gnomius I just realized I never answered the question of whether or not employing Benji worked out in your favour! Let’s say it did, for the most part– Benji was determined not to let Jacob down, so he tried his best at all the odd jobs Jacob gave him and usually completed them successfully