It's raining in London... again (OOC)

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The squad on the platform [ref] are Goons (page 219). They don't matter enough to qualify for Put a Name to a Face, that sort of Move is reserved for whomsoever is sending them, if you can find that out.

OK, so a good start with my first Move. With 10, I think I'll choose "A loyal customer reveals the secrets of a powerful NPC", who would be the NPC that I need to fool/deceive as a complication in my scheme.

Alright. Do you have ideas for who either, or both, of these people are? So far we only know of Mark as a 'loyal customer' so if we want that one to be an NPC we can make someone up. It could be Dr Williams, or someone else (though NPC-bloat can quickly become a problem in Urban Shadows, but we can deal with that if when it happens.)

If it is Mark who brings you the secret, then that may involve him in your Scheme as well. All up to you.

In my opinion, it makes a lot of sense that this is Mark, if he agrees, of course.

No problem. But who is going to be the powerful npc? Will I make one up?

Cool, we will work out how you learn that your information is relevant to the Scheme. If you don't know about the Scheme itself you will have some other reason to tell Jacob.

If Mark does not know about the Scheme then the NPC would need to be someone connected to Jacob as well as to the Scheme.

@gnomius, would Jacob have involved Mark in a Scheme? The nature of the Scheme might affect that, I will make it open-ended that way.
If either of you have anyone you want to turn into the 'powerful NPC' you are welcome to suggest someone. We can adjust if it does not work.

I can also create the scenario and known actors involved and you can base your choice off of that. We can still adjust as needed.

Else I can always come up with someone if I have to.

The Powerful NPC can be from any Circle.

We can also save this information and revelation for later when it can have more impact.

@gnomius, I have also just read the Move, and it says it's "your choice", so I was not just being generous (or lazy (or collaborative:):) in offering you the option. This near the start you might not know enough NPCs to make use of this, so I can help with who it is if you need.

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@gnomius, once I know the answer to my question about whether you are going out to meet the threat or staying home for the 'surprise party' [ref] (I should have asked that in this thread): I will see if you learn about the Scheme on you way or yesterday.

I may have found some really crappy apartments there.

Depends on the nature of the Scheme. Unlike Rhiannon or Benji, Mark is not a collaborator (yet) but just a client. But that can easily change, if Jacob sees it would be beneficial for him to collaborate with Mark. ;)
I think it means "your choice" between "generate a new scheme or advance one of your existing schemes", not about creating the Scheme itself. But I'm more than happy to collaborate if needed (beyond the choices I already selected).
Jacob will wait for Benji to (hopefully) show up, he's not a fighter. By the time being, he will just keep an eye on the street to make sure they are really coming his way, with the plan B to go downstairs into the bookshop if things go left.

Also a tad far away from the others, this does mean you won't be able to just 'notice something happening' as easily as the rest can. So we will need to come up with reasons for you to be 'in the neighborhood'.

I don't mind if you want to be '10 mins away' by bike (also remember about the Boris Bikes if ever you don't want to have to lock up your own bike where you are going), but I am sure you can find a really crappy apartment in Covent Garden or Leicester Square or even Chinatown or somesuch. They could be in the business/market areas and therefore not good housing. Completely up to you.

In addition to the crappy apartment, I also noticed that you get a 'cell phone', while almost everyone else gets a 'smartphone'. I won't enforce it if you choose to have a smartphone, I find the idea of a plain cell phone a bit laughable in 2024, but there may be in-fiction reasons if you want to go with it. :)

We can make a reason to get Mark involved. There is an item you need but don't have, so he may be able to track it down for you.
That one does, but I was talking about this one:
• A loyal customer reveals the secrets of a powerful NPC, your choice

You get to choose which powerful NPC you learn a secret about. But we don't know many yet, so it may be hard for you to choose. If you have someone in mind, we can try make it be them; else we can find a suitable NPC as we play, and then you can learn their secret.
I, too, am more than happy to collaborate. If you have more input about a Scheme you want to try your hand at, just say so and we will try to put as much of what you suggest into it.
OK, I sorta figured, that's why I paused and asked. :)

We will divert Mark and Rhiannon to your location since they suggested they were heading to Picadilly.
No... He's only one of the toughest and hardest-to-kill characters we have with I'm a Fucking Demon. :)

I think I will introduce the Jacob's Scheme when we have a moment of quiet.

I'll take a look and edit my post for the "Crappy Apartment" also thanks for the Smart Phone!

As I had chosen Wild as the Circle involved, I am thinking that the S3 powerful NPC we need to fool is a fae (enough demons for the time being!). Perhaps the scheme can be somehow related to Jacob's efforts on finding out if the raven can live longer. Or we can leave that thread for later, if we don't want to overcomplicate this first Scheme.

You are getting an item for Wild. The ones you are fooling a don't need to be from the same Circle. And you also probably don't want them to be S3, that may be way out of your league. :)

Unless the NPC is directly part of the Scheme they don't need to be from Wild. They could be from another Circle only tangentially associated with the Scheme. Not everyone involved in the Scheme is from Wild, there is already Mortalis involved as you will see when you learn about it.
There are no fae in the city, there have not been for about a decade. Very few people have given them a second thought in a long time.
Agreed. There is more to Wild than fae and demons, though.
Yes, let's leave that one till have seen it in play and have something to care about. You can also pursue that outside of your Schemes, merely using your Schemes to tide you over.

It sorta sounds like Benji [ref] and Rhiannon [ref] are hoping for a surprise party attack? That would probably call for Mislead, Distract, and Trick (+mind).

This is definitely true for Benji to sneak up to them with a sword, but Rhiannon may be able to skip and immediately Turn to Violence (+blood) at range, though they will almost definitely know she is there afterwards. It all depends on what you describe your characters doing.

A good Mislead can give you a free Turn to Violence with little risk of reprisals, and even the possibility of remaining 'hidden'.

Yes, Benji is hoping to pull off a surprise attack. He’s mostly just jumping out and trying to stab one of them in the back before they know what’s happening though, rather than going for a more slow and stealthy approach. Should I add a mislead roll to my post?

Let's say yes, this time, even though it is a bit of a 'soft trigger'. The fiction in that post [ref] did not really contain any attempt to Mislead, so the Move does not trigger from there alone. To do it, you have to do it.

There were hints in your previous post [ref] that you were hiding, but that seems a bit weak as a Mislead, Distract, and Trick trigger. It is still there (mainly because I set them up with their backs to you:), so we can accept it as a first go. I sorta find myself wishing the system had Advantage and Disadvantage —even though I am not generally a fan of that mechanic— but we will have to deal with this in the fiction —which I generally prefer anyway.

Make a Move (add a roll to the post). Bare in mind the fiction of the situation when you make your choices, all options are available to you (sometimes the fiction precludes some options (like confusing them for some time), and sometimes —as now— it just makes those ones weaker).

Also bear in mind that if you Miss on Mislead you probably won't get to Turn to Violence and will be exposed. Your Blood is better than your Mind, so, despite your fears and characterisation of Benji, it may be more optimal, from a mechanical standpoint, to jump straight to Violence. The fiction of hiding and springing enables you to get a sword blow in where otherwise you would have had to fist get close enough.

It is up to you. Good luck. :)

Okay, no worries! I’ll go with Turn to Violence as I think it fits better with what Benji is trying to do in the fiction

Yeah.