Character and World Creation

Given that we have a Tainted PC, we might not go with Fiendish Underlings as the reward. It was amusing when we had no other demons, but now that we have the actual Playbook it is stolen from that is a little tricky.

@Drgwen: As part of the ex-Imp's End Move, Benji is finishing the active Scheme and getting the Payout, only a couple of Payouts make sense for a non-Imp, and —being unfighty as are— we were not too keen on Arsenal, and +1 Circle —while possibly the most appropriate— seemed a bit boring. This is less interesting now that we have have demons in the game.

What do you think about the Vamp getting your class feature Fiendish Underlings? It could get messy —both in the rules and in the story— and I tend to make my players talk about it before taking (or getting) things from another Playbook that is in play.

I would only go with this option on a few conditions.
• First: That you think it would be more fun for you to have some outsider have demon's serving them.
• Second: That this would not influence your choice to take that Advance yourself.
• Third: That I still think it would be more interesting.
  • (I am actually thinking a "what do I need an Arsenal for?" type reward might be the way to go, and it makes some sense in the upcoming story. Even if we don't use it for fighting, it can bring social capital.)

@oopsylon: It is your reward. What do you think.

Accepted, without review. Most of the juicy stuff is in these threads.

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No worries. Different games have different expectations, and some feel it bad manners to post more than once in a row (waiting for someone else to post before they can continue their interrupted thought):. I have found it better manners to make sure everyone can understand what is being said and not to worry about number of posts. The guidelines are there because not everyone thinks that way, so you can't be expected to know them, or to not forget them and fall into old habits later and need reminding. :)

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More likely related to the overarchring Fae-Rain-issue.

But you don't know the reasons. Is this unusual or are you normally just told what to do without explanation?
• Will your DP learn that you can operate better if you know more? Or are they too set in their manipulative ways?
Cool. Will do. We will talk about it in more detail as it comes up.
Until it comes up in the story we don't really need to define these sorts of details. If/when they become important we can learn the detail. Feel free to define as much as you want, though, if it helps the character development or you plan to call on those contacts, or whatever.
Much more important than the school, after all. :)
Possibly —though not necessarily— with overlapping writing classes with Emma. Similar interests at least.
Late parents? Or are they still around as a burden you need to get off your back, or support?
'Friend', you say? 'disappeared' you say? 'they manipulate their friends, allies, and enemies alike' you say? ... Hmm... GM scribbles notes... Pay no attention to the person behind the screen... :)
Coincidentally around the time the rain started? (A few weeks ago, end of last month.)
Do you actually report to him, or does he just like to throw his weight around with you?
Do other people find him 'intolerable' or is that just you seeing through his mask?
Hyperbole? Could you 'live' forever, too?
Emma is a shopaholic, too. I wonder if she will be too proud to accept your treating her?
I hate to 'solve' these starting issues right off the bat, but I know someone who could be that... for a while. :)

It does not make much sense for Emma and Persephone to have been in (much) contact before now. We would have heard about it.

Maybe we introduce Persephone as she makes contact with her old friend from college?

Has Percephone met David? Was she too busy to make it to the wedding?

Hmm, interesting. I think it might lead me to characterize my own fiendish underlings (if I should ever get some) very differently than Benji's, if he ends up with some. Like maybe his look like classic little imps (small, red skin, goat hooves, bat wings) but mine look like soulless office worker drones. That sort of thing. And if you can't tell, I am really leaning into the trope that hell is actually just a dystopian office job working for an evil faceless omnipresent corp.

So if he wants them, it isn't a problem for me.

I get the feeling that Persephone is still fairly new at this and this is kind of her first big solo field assignment. But no, she is not normally informed of the why. Just the who, what, where.
Maybe they are back in the states, in New England, and Persephone is trying to keep up appearances with them that she just has a normal corporate job. The successful daughter. etc.
Sure! And if it ends up that my demon patron is or wants to be involved in that issue, it would make sense. But that's above my pay grade, so to speak.
I think he is trying to make sure the new girl -- a yank, if you can believe it -- "knows her place." He is a cruel bully, either by nature or because of his "line of work."

I think the demon patron likes to give us Tainted folk jobs that degrade our morality, eventually turn us to willing accomplices. But they do it over a very long time, so it's gradual, and you never really protest. Archibald is probably what Persephone would be like in 100 years.
Unknown! Unnaturally long life is definitely on the table, Persephone knows that. She's met other agents that have worked for her patron for many decades, or more. But forever? That's a long time.
I'm not sure Persephone would give her much choice! She's probably becoming the kind of person who struggles to show affection in any other way besides throwing money at them. it gores with her gradual loss of empathy, which is what happens to all of us when we are treated poorly in a workplace for long enough.
I don't know what this means but I am happy to find out! And don't worry, I am very good at generating more problems and trouble and needs for my characters!

Yeah I don't think Persephone was planning to reach out to old friends until she realized she was gonna be staying. Easier to avoid seeing them entirely, after all. I definitely think she was too busy -- that was probably when her life was on fire and she was at her lowest. She feels awful about ghosting the wedding, but hasn't found the courage to say or do anything about it yet.

Good place to start.

Do she have any idea that she is working for a demon, about how bad it will get? Surely she 'knows', deep-down, inside, but she could still be in denial?
Cool. Being new, we can work on changing this later if it suits the story better.
It is the 'season plot-thread', so simplest to make it about that, rather than something else that may be solved before we are ready. No reason not to involve the other side-threads as well, but the Lizabeth-artifact one could put you at odds with the other PCs, so we will be very careful about that one.
Are there a lot of you guys? Mainly in the States where that sort of thing goes on all the time?
'Emma', it means Emma, sorry, not much more going on there.
You are playing Urban Shadows, that's in the rules. :)
Do you reach out? Or do you bump into each other at random?
We can work out dates, but you may have been 'on fire' for a while before you (recently?) made your bargain?

Drgwen: Persephone's sheet looks good.

You do need to define your Demonic Jobs. Should we turn this into a list with checkboxes ? Do you want me to do that on your sheet? (If so, let me know when. We don't want to edit at the same time, or we will lose data.)

What do you look like when not in Demon Form? I assume the portrait on the sheet is not your 'regular look'?

I think she knows. She is trying to tell herself it won't be that bad, that her demon patron actually does help people, when literally no one else could. To get what they want, though, they eventually have to lose everything. She knows it. She just tries not to think about it. She hasn't lost her humanity yet, but she can feel it is in danger.
lol Actually, Urban Shadows aside, Yes, it does! Seriously though, I think she was trained by a senior agent, met a few other junior agents, and so on. Like a global corporation with satellite offices, or like a lot of sales work looks: Working mostly with "clients", but occasionally talking shop or collaborating with a co-worker.
I think it might be poignant if they run into each other at coffee shop or something and Pers is like, Oh yeah I've been meaning to call you, etc. but she is ashamed because she ghosted, etc.

Feel free to update the sheet! My forum-fu isn't amazing, and I assume yours is much superior! Checkboxes might be nice, sure, as well as place to add a description or notes or something about the current jobs?

I imagine she is the person that actually arrives with the demonic paperwork, who makes sure all the forms are signed in triplicate, with blood and smoke rituals performed correctly, etc, so that the deal is binding. She then arrives for other contracts at the agreed upon date to collect their souls. This does not mean executing people, however; perhaps it simply means reminding them of the deal they struck and then her patron sucks them down to hell in a vortex of hellfire or something. So she just has to watch. Once the deed is done, she fills out and submits the paperwork.

And yeah, I can swap hat out for her "normal" look if that's easier.

Cool. Do you have any ideas about how your deal was made? Crossroads at midnight? Corporate offices? Mountains of fine-print-paper-work? Etc?

Maybe we learn this when you —finally?— tell Emma (or whoever) the tale?
Sounds awful! Positively hellish.
Let's arrange that then.

Later 'tomorrow', maybe? If you are ready to start. Emma has a busy day, so it may be a bit rushed, which is good, letting you get on with your job.

Later tonight (we ignore 'midnight is tomorrow complications' as they complicate things)? Maybe after Emma meets with the vampire hunter. That way Benji is there too and introductions can be made...

... awkwardly since Pers isn't going to say "By the way: I work for demons" and Emma isn't going to say "By the way: he is a vampire", it may take a while for you to learn the other knows the supernatural world exists.
Done.
And done.

Updated the template as well.
Not 'easier', use whichever you think best captures the character, and how you want us to picture Pers when we think about her. You can change it anytime (though it changes for all past posts, and can get confusing if done too often).

We don't need to do a slow burn discovery that you are both 'in the know', it is just an option.

We could have Pers take a risk —needing to tell someone— with Emma: "You know those books you write?" —a good friend making it plural:). "Do you believe these things might actually be real?"

Or you two could have shared a supernatural experience in college?

Or, if Emma and Kat run into Pers, Pers may recognise 'demonic-taint' on her and warn Emma (kinda breaking my 'planned' use of Kat to reveal the cult, but, possibly saving Kat in the process.:).

Options abound.

As before, I’m not too fussy about it. I’m still not too keen on the Arsenal, but I’m always happy to keep it simple and take +1 Circle. If we do go with fiendish underlings, I was thinking about what form they might take to fit with Benji’s vibe and distinguish them from Persephone’s potential future underlings… I thought a trio of demonic rats might be fun to fit with Benji’s affinity for vermin :P

That is the simple option that we can fall back to if the more 'interesting' options don't work out.
No. But it was that juxtaposition with Benji's peaceful personality that I thought could be interesting. You could trade them for favours if/when people start to realise they may be going into a war with the Fae.

With Elliot missing, you may be called upon to take a more active stance in the vampire leadership (descriptively setting your Status to 2). Your speech at the soirée has already started people looking to you (rather than Alasdair, thankfully:).

It was just a thought. We can resolve the fiction at its own pace, but leave the reward for later when we know more about what the new characters will bring to the story/world. Benji isn't doing it for the Payout, right? It might come as a surprise to him that there is anything more than a Debt involved?
That's so cool. Makes me want to go with that option, for the coolness-factor alone. :)

To an uneducated outsider this may look a lot like you are the one responsible for these deals. You might want to keep these actions secret from Emma?
To get your Patron to act on your behalf in this way you might need to '• summon your dark patron's attention directly on your location' (via Let It Out), this and the 'watching' is probably not good for your soul, leading to corruption. You may, eventually, find that is is cleaner and nicer to do it yourself (though that is also what underlings are for).

(Doing it yourself does not lead to Corruption, so that tells us something.)
Does this count towards your Corruption Trigger: When you convince someone to meaningfully act in your patron's interests, mark corruption.

It sounds like it should, or do you try to weasel out of that part even though you Patron wants you to? What does that cost you?

I see I missed quite a bunch in the last few days. Let's go with my starting debts going to NPCs unless our newest would like to claim one. I could not find the vessel playbook so let's just go with the Night Sisters angle to move things along.

Hehe. That can happen. This was a particularly busy weekend. :)
We can do that. Do you have anyone in mind?
Having you two know each other from before could provide a bit of an anchor in the story, but could also silo off the two groups of two. Do whatever feels more natural.

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@Drgwen: Here are the Oracle Starting Debts:

• Starting Debts:
 • Someone helps decipher your visions with unique insights. You owe them 2 Debts.
 • You had a dark vision about someone, but gave bad guidance. You owe them a Debt.
 • Someone interfered with your destiny. They owe you a Debt. Tell them if you've forgiven them —they owe you another Debt if you still hold a grudge for their actions.

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@Verrain: Here are the Tainted Starting Debts:

• Starting Debts:
 • You're protecting someone from a dark power, a rival and enemy of your demonic patron. Your charge owes you a Debt.
 • Someone is trying to save you from damnation and keeps suffering for it. Ask them why they care when no one else does. You owe them a Debt.
 • You hurt or killed someone's good friend or ally on your demonic patron's orders. You owe them a Debt.

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@Verrain: The other players still can't see your character sheet.

I am sure you know this, but to make it visible to others you need to Add it to the Library by marking the grey 'note' icon that says "Add to Library" on your character list. Red means others can see the sheet.