Talking About the Weather (OOC)

Out of character chatter about Talking About the Weather can go here to avoid cluttering up the Roleplay thread.This is for longer questions and answers related to that Roleplay, general rules questions not answered in the Help! or Resources threads can go in General Chat or here is they are directly related to the RP.

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Jabob, if you are with Benji [ref] one of you can be on lookout and roll to Keep Your Cool and the other can roll to Lend a Hand. Else tell us where you are.

Yes, Jacob is going with Benji. As it's him who knows about Elliot and their minions, I think it makes more sense that he rolls the main Keep your Cool Move and I can just Lend a Hand. Not sure how "lending a hand" would look like in the fiction, for this particular situation, though. But we'll see once Benji rolls and describes his action.

Probably, yes. Though it seems you are driving, so you may be paying more attention to the outside world.
Probably something simple like 'who are those guys?' :)
They are not really hiding, so you will spot them, it is just a matter of whether you do that in time.
Agreed. I like that this game says Lend a Hand happens after the roll. I almost always run it that way anyway, even in PbtAs that say it has to happen before. If the +1 won't help it is not worth waiting for a roll (especially in PbP), in this case the 'you expose yourself to danger, entanglement, or cost' happens regardless as you are in it together.

There are two or three mechanical ways to do that:

• You are flirting pretty hard, and you could leverage that into Persuade an NPC, though he might expect follow-through on a lower roll and escalation even on a 10+. This also assumes you are wanting to get him to do something he would rather not do. And we need to establish the parameters before we think about rolling. I don't think we are there yet, and don't think this is likely to be the Move you are looking for. Just putting it out there since the fiction is vying close to that.

• The other Move to figure some one out is Figure Someone Out. I don't know if that is what you were referring to. :)
If you meant the Move, then you have not met the fictional triggers for that Move. Mainly think about what you could learn after doing what you did in the fiction, and see if your actions could possibly lead to your character learning answers to any of the questions in the Move, and in sufficient detail for your liking. You can be generous in your interpretation of the questions, stretch their meaning if you can, but the Moves is limited to those questions.

Figure Someone Out is one of the least fiction first of the Moves. It can sometimes make sense to keep talking (or however you are figuring them out) after rolling to substantiate and flesh out the questions in the fiction. You don't, of course, ask them those questions, they are asked and answered OOC, but which ones are valid and how much you learn is based on what you do in the fiction.

• The other option that might apply, though it is bit strange, is Hit the Streets. It is unusual to use that Move to gather information about the person you are visiting, but it does seem to apply here, and the outcomes also make sense to define how much you can learn.

Similar to using Hit the Street, you can just keep roleplaying and talking, that does reveal information about the person you are talking to, but also reveals information about you, to them (as does Figure Someone Out, I suppose).
Hit the Streets would be a way to see how much time Elliot is willing to spend talking to you before other things intrude.

Do any of those Moves grab you? We can angle the scene to a place where you can roll.

Yeah, it happens all the time. We live with it. :)

Do you get email notifications while you are writing your response posts? If not I will hold off on posting the RP post till after the OOC post in this sort of situation, I did worry a little about the time between them while doing the OOC which ended up more involved than I planned for. :)
It sure is. :)
Yes, you need to roll before you know if you get to ask questions at all ... but...
You do not ask those questions in the fiction, they are asked out of character. But you need to show in the fiction how your character would learn those answers, so you need to first do that before you can roll. If you haven't probed enough be able to get the answers you want from the fiction you have written, then you can't roll, we can't frame a response to a Miss, for instance, if you have not done the action.

By the general rule of PbtA you first do the fiction, then you roll, then we resolve the roll. This Move can deviate from that a bit. I generally ask to see, in the fiction you describe, how your character is going about gathering answers, we may also possibly need to continue the fiction long enough for their question to you to be answered (or to see how you reveal that information), but this is standard the fiction-roll-fiction cycle.

One question can often follow on from the answer to the first question, so we can sometimes deal with one question and then continue the fiction based on that to get to another. We can also roll Figure Someone Out again in the same conversation, but it probably ups the stakes for a Miss, asking a few questions and being thought nosy is different to being found to be interrogating someone who thought they were having a friendly chat. :)

---

When you feel you have narrated Emma doing enough that she could have gleaned answers to the questions in the Move. You can roll it whenever, but what do you think you would learn with the fiction as it stands? First establish in the fiction what you are doing and how, then we can deal with Moves. Nothing you have done so far would reveal the answers to any of the Figure Someone Out questions, right? To do it, you have to do it.
How are you Misleading him? About what? To what end? The fiction does not seem to be in need of a Mislead roll, and a 6- would turn things from friendly to not-so-friendly in a hurry. Don't rush to making Moves if you don't absolutely have to.

Speaking of Mislead, Distract, and Trick. Remember that, because of In Sheep's Clothing (on your sheet), you are better at that with people you have Shared a Moment of Intimacy with [sic]. Intimacy does not need to be sex (though it can be) and apparently the time you let Elliot feed on you did not count for some reason (damned mechanics:). But if you actually, genuinely Share a Moment with him you might have an easier time going forward. You could save the pushing for answers with Trickery till later.
For sure. Anyway, he probably does not need much persuasion (small 'p', not the Move) to get him to talk about himself... not until you get to ferreting secrets out of him. If we get to that stage you might well need to Mislead and Persuade him.

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Let's put it this way: What exactly are you trying to do with the scene?

You can ignore the mechanics and Moves, and just let it play.

Or you can decide you want a particular thing and discuss OOC how to get the scene to that point. 'Figure Someone Out' is not a thing in and of itself, figuring out one of the questions on the list might be, but then you need to address how you get to that question. Looking at his bookshelf might help you figure out ' • how could I put your character in my Debt?', but it is unlikely to tell you '• what's your character's beef with ˍˍˍˍˍ?' for instance. Let the fiction lead.

Follow the links I posted (the orange text, missing the expected underlines for links, but still links): and read the text of the Moves, as well as the Notes on each of the moves (in the [ + ] Spoiler) for details on what is needed to trigger each Move.

You can also just talk to him and I will call out if we need a Move.

But honestly, so far it sounds like you are 'going to your vampire contact to try to learn about the vampire world'? Right? That sounds a lot like Hit the Streets, don't you think? Hit the Streets does not mean they are willing to just give you 'the stuff' but a Hit does mean they are 'available and have the stuff'. This seems the most direct route to allow you to 'ask him questions', those questions could lead you to trigger Figure Someone Out to dig deeper. The trigger for Hit the Streets is met (you went to a contact seeking something), so if you want to roll it, you can do that now, in your existing post.

Just a minor point: Rather don't rely on formatting to show you are speaking, not everyone can see your formatting. You are welcome to use it (unless someone complains that they can not read the colours you have chosen, they look OK to me, but that blue might be too faint on the dark theme for some people). Pretend there is no formatting and write the sentence like you would in a book: "... Got to make rent" Emma says(or Emma lies, or Emma says coquettishly or whatever best describes how you are talking).

This keeps things clear. It was pretty clear from context this time (and even more so in your first RP post), but can be confusing.

It is actually less confusing in play, when it triggers it is usually pretty clear. When it is unclear how it would trigger it probably has not triggered. But it is also easy to overlook the Move.

I found the original Apocalypse World wording valuable. That Move says "When you read a person in a charged interaction", 'charged' being the operative term. I found it useful to explain to players that they can't use it in a situation that is not charged —with tension and danger— but if they do use it, the situation immediately becomes charged, they have upped the stakes by pressing too hard, 'why are you looking at me like that?' sort of thing, on a Miss. The same applies here, once you start making Moves you are no longer 'having a nice conversation', there is the potential for things to go wrong.
OK. Let's engage with him then. We can look at Moves later, if we need to.

I am a bit torn on this. The Move text is a bit inconsistent. It does refer to 'the first time' but this is the first time we are seeing Teddy. It also says: I reserve the right to change my mind if it becomes a problem, but yeah, I think it cool to establish history with the NPC using this Move. Obviously on a Miss you don't have the option to say you don't know them, so a Miss means you Owe them.

I am also more inclined towards saying we deal with this Move the first time someone becomes significant in play. So, like with Byron, we don't roll whenever we hear about someone, all the lackeys in Elliot's penthouse might become someone important, but we can Put a Name to a Face for them if that happens, later, in the story. If we roll for someone they become important, but we can also wait for them to become important before rolling. Teddy has just become important enough to warrant a roll.

Add the roll and take your Advance! :)

You also rolled a 10 to Keep your Cool, even with your -1. No need for any Help from Jacob. You are in control of the situation and can narrate what you do till that changes.

Added the roll to my most recent post! It was a failure so I’ll have to think up a reason Benji owes Teddy a Debt

In terms of advancement, I’m thinking of choosing this move from the Fae playbook as I think I can probably get a lot of use out of it:
Where would I add it to my character sheet?

Yep. That's why we use the Move, we get interesting fiction out of it. What could Teddy possibly have done for you that you Owe him a Debt? That's a cool question. How does it change the scene? :)
Nice one. Make sure you noted the specific restrictions on that Move. Must be from another Circle, must be subtle.
The way I did it (and I am happy to do it for you) is:

• Hit the Quote button below The Fea entry in the Playbooks thread [ref].
• In the wall of bbCode soup use the Search function (ctrl-f, maybe) to search for In Our Blood.
• Notice that the first occurrence is shorter than expected and see that there is a place on your own sheet that just has the Move names and Stats. This is for easy rolling from the menu below where we post. If you want to use that, copy that line to your sheet in the right place.
• Edit your own sheet. Search for Eternal Hunger. The first result will be in the roll-table for the Moves on your sheet. Add the short version below the ones that are there.
• Search again in your sheet for Eternal Hunger (or any Move on your sheet). The seconds result should be the full text.
• Copy the 'Vamp Moves ...' heading (or create from scratch, whichever you find easier at the time:) and create a new heading below all your Moves, call it 'Moves from Other Playbooks'.
• Back In the Fae sheet, Search again for In Our Blood, the second result should be the full text.
• Copy the text of the Move and paste it to your sheet below the Moves for Other Playbooks heading.
• You need to tick the checkmarks on both, it might be easiest to Save and Exit the sheet and then click them, but you can also change the [ _=0/1] to [ _=1/1] while copy/pasting.

Let me know if you need any help.

How do you want to play this?

We could keep this non-mechanical and low risk, but that seems less fun. :) (It is still a completely viable option, though. If you want it.)

We could add light mechanics, make them about the 'secret'. On a high roll (though roll of what, we need to talk about) he knows nothing, on a low roll we reveal a secret you wish others did not know and he knows (part of) it.

On a medium roll maybe you reveal to him that there are such secrets, but he does not know them ...yet? Or he 'knows' a secret that is not true, it could still be damaging to your reputation, but is nothing more than rumour?


Or —and you are goading him, this is a bit of a challenge— the Move could be about how he responds and what you are asked to pay. This will probably ratchet up the tension in the scene, and we may have to rely on Benji's arrival to provide an opportunity for you to Escape the Situation, depending on the dice.


In either case, there seem to be two Moves that could fit (but you are always welcome to point us to others). The most obvious is Keep Your Cool, to avoid your already-stated worry that this might end in blood (or to keep the bloody-ending non-terminal:). But, if you can see a way to fit this to the questions, you are probing for answers after all, it could also be Figure Someone Out as he reveals stuff about himself and possibly reveals a secret about yourself if he gets to 'ask' you a question in return (7-9).

You would need to come up with the true secret, and, depending on the secret, his question probably would be 'what do you worry is going to happen', secret, deepest fear style and not in the scene specifically.

What do you think?

Sounds good.

You can add that roll to your existing post, but remember that the quality of any answers you get will be based on what your character is doing and what information that action could reveal.

You can also add another RP post with any extra fiction you need to justify your intended questions and add the roll there.

If you add a roll to the existing post, drop us a note here, so we know we should react.

No, on a 6- the GM makes a GM Move (MC Move, they call them, in this game), there is a general list on page 207 and a Night specific list on page 215.

I will deal with this when I have my hands aren't full, but you can take a look at the lists and see if any interest you, I welcome your input, and we can talk it through if you think it will help your GMing your own PbtA games that you mentioned you were new at. Ignore this if you don't want to, as much as you want.

From Night I am thinking 'Threaten Someone's Interests' is in line with what is happening and also proceeds from his letting you know he knows stuff about your background.

From the general list 'Put Someone In Danger' is obvious but boring (nothing wrong with that though); 'Surface a Conflict, Ancient or Modern' is an option, but out of character for this scene, as is 'Reveal a Deal Done in their Absence'; and 'Paint the City in Magical Tones' is always a soft option but does not feel right here; 'Turn a Move Back On Them' is already happening with the secret, but we could leave it at that; and 'Propose an Opportunity With a Cost' could be interesting here, but I have not thought about details.

Yes, that is a core tenet of PbtA: 'Nothing never happens.' No matter the dice outcome the story is always driven forward. The GM Moves are what happens on a 6- (unless the Move explicitly says otherwise).
You always need to agree to the outcome, else it is not valid. Technically you should know before you roll what might happen, but I tend to try to rely on the fiction to make that fairly clear, PbP can be very slow to hash it out each time.

Getting a feel for what you consider a viable response is important, especially with new players, so your reply, here, is useful.
He is new to all of us, this is the first time we have seen him. But, sure, I have to keep his motivations in mind and have him act accordingly.
You see, that is an important part of this discussion. I had not interpreted it as 'teasing', more as 'testing boundaries', or even as 'challenging him'. If you genuinely meant it as teasing, and we think that is how he would see it, I will take that into account.

What you meant to do is very relevant. Tell me if this is truly how you saw it. I am leaving the RP open to your correcting in that direction and defusing the situation a bit.
This is useful for calibrating things. Thank you. Of course, since we already know it ends 'badly', things like the opportunity would not be something Emma likes doing. :) You could always try turning such an opportunity down.
Indeed. We always move the story forward.
Thank you for the preemptive permission, I would have had to ask for that permission before acting if we went that way.

We went from talking to where we are now, so I would tend towards a Softer Move, at first. This is definitely on the table for a Harder Move from the next 6- in the scene, but you should have the chance to avoid a bad outcome (the ability to change the outcome is that makes a Move Soft or Hard).

We also need to be mindful that Benji has an ongoing relationship with Elliot, one he can't easily get out of or avoid, so I would suggest having the forced feeding happen before he gets there, so he does not have the moral dilemma of needing to take action about it. unless oopsylon wanted to start a war with his overlord.

Let’s say Teddy stepped in and smoothed things over with Elliot after Benji inadvertantly upset/annoyed him one time
Thanks for the instructions! I’ve added the move to my sheet
I don’t know that Benji would necessarily intervene. I think vampires (especially older vampires) tend to think of humans in a similar way to how a lot of humans think of non-human animals. They might feel protective or affectionate toward some of them (like people love their pets), but the rest are just animals and Benji doesn’t know Emma so he has no reason to feel protective toward her.

Benji doesn’t like to feed on unwilling victims for a variety of reasons but, if he walked in on Elliot feeding on an unwilling victim, it would be less like witnessing an assault and more akin to a vegetarian walking in on someone eating a steak. It’s not Benji’s style and he might feel sorry for her, but it would be weird and rude of him to intervene.

@Delirium, I have to say I love your posts so far; they really make me feel as if I'm stepping into Emma's shoes!
Hehehe, so clear :)

Cool. Does that also mean he may be open to not mentioning to Elliot who you were with? If it comes to it, and incurring another Debt. If he were asked directly if he knows anything about Lizabeth he probably would not lie (unless you can really Persuade him), but you could probably get him to not mention it on his own.

I am seeing Teddy as a simple vampire, but maybe one who is older than the upstart Elliot and still respects his elders. This can give you an in.
Looks good.
Do we want to start the relationship with 'you stood by and watched!'? Might make it harder to integrate Emma into the group. But it could make for an interesting dynamic if we wanted to go that route. I wouldn't advise it, but it is an option.

I would still be more inclined to have Benji arrive in the aftermath of whatever happens. He can help pick up the pieces but does not need to be complicit.

As Benji notes [ref], humans can make good pets. :)

It sounds like you are suggesting Elliot keep you as a pet rather than get angry? But this seems like a lie, right? You might be trying to Persuade him that you will be worth keeping around, but it seems more like you are Misleading him into believing you are making such an offer.

Your intentions matter here. If you indent to actually follow-through with being his pet, then it is Persuade, if you don't then it is Mislead. On a 7-9 on Persuade he wants more, possibly wants you long-term as a new vampire, and you will have to work to maintain your freedom while also honoring your offer. If it is a lie, then the consequences will come later, depending on what you pick from the list.

Either way (or in some other way if you can suggest something else) I can see him going for your 'offer', but the dice need to tell us how it turns out.

Define your position and we can have you roll.

Maybe! I thought Teddy didn’t see Benji with Lizabeth though because Benji Kept his Cool?
Sounds good :)
Yeah, I would prefer that too! I just wanted to point out that Benji probably wouldn’t perceive the situation the way you were suggesting he would. To be honest, I’m much more interested (and comfortable) in using the vampire-victim dynamic to explore humanity’s position on the food chain and the ethics of eating, than approaching it from a ‘feeding=sex’ metaphor sort of angle.

Indeed. I am well pleased about adding you. :)
I hope you are getting what you expected. The detailed OOCs should diminish as the newness fades.

Absolutely. So far. But this opens up some options for how you proceed, if you can't get her safely into the apartment, or whatever. There is also your demon-buddy, who you might not want Elliot to know about if you keep him the car for a fast getaway or don't take up to Elliot's.

This was more about Teddy's personality and your options than about the current situation that you are in control of.
I was less 'suggesting' than saying we might not want to have to deal with that scene.
Noted.

Does Elliot feel differently? Or is he currently trying to 'seduce' Emma into becoming his 'victim' um... he meant to say food, no he meant to say ... what is the word, you know the one where people like each other and are friendly? ...

Do you want us to change anything from the interaction so far, or from how we go forward? Absent any direction I was using the description from the book:

That part is true, but that is not about him. There might be an offer that she is willing to be fun around him, to make his life more fun, but that is either an offer or a fake offer, hence my suggested Moves.
Yeah, we have to assume he has some 'kindness', and we might not like what he sees as kindness (we are kind to our pets when we house-train them:).

This does seem like a perfect Move for what we have in the fiction. A way to actually get on his side.

If you want to, add that roll, with extra fiction in a new post since it is tapping into your darker self and we have not seen what that is like yet.

I think we need to move where those Let It Out Abilities are listed on the sheet, they are too hard to find and get forgotten about. I was actually fiddling with this yesterday, and think I sorta like what I did with the Reference Sheet with them listed below the Moves. I tried putting them up by the roll-table with Let It Out (+Spirit), but the are a too long(-winded) and spill all over the place and don't look right. Above the Moves is also an option I considered.

What do we think?

Which is why I was thinking you were Misleading him with your 'offer'. That is the only sort of relationship Elliot understands, he is ultimately an ambitious predator. As it says in the Playbook:
I think the Move's description still applies, Emma has to know, deep down, that this is not a conversation among equals and that she probably does not really want to commit too much.

If you go with Persuade, than what is implied in his mind is what he would hold you to. You are not forced to keep your 'promises', but you will pay the price for trying to back out later.
Sounds like a valuable bauble to own and parade around. :)
Agreed. If you are willing to delve into the darker side, then it a powerful way to manipulate him into giving you what you want on your terms. The cost is the Corruption on a Partial Success, and even on a full Success if don't you want it to be 'costly, limited, or unstable', as per the Let It Out Move.

I would give you choices as to what the complication is. It could be 'costly' with him demanding more of your time or greater commitment than you want (adding another NPC sucking up your free time); or 'limited', as in, maybe, only for this meeting, then he realises you played upon his emotions and has to make it right, he may continue to play along to save face, but may not be 'on you side'; or 'unstable'... and I am sure you can see how a relationship with an unstable person in a position of power than can go wrong.

What do you want to do?

Could be worse. :)

Mark Corruption on your sheet.
No worries.
Excellent. Long term problems. :)
Not a problem at all. I am always happy to teach. I was getting worried that I was overwhelming you, but you are always welcome to ask for whatever you need, either for less input if you want, or for more. I will only give as much as is convenient for me, so don't worry about trying to cater for my needs. :)

You are also welcome to join the GM's Round Table (PbtA) if you want to talk with people about PbtA GMing in more general terms than directly about this game.

Oh! No, I’m happy for vampires be seductive/sexy/flirtatious/whatever (Benji is probably ace but other vampires can do as they please) and I’m totally comfortable with the direction you and Delirium have taken Elliot and Emma’s relationship. I’d just prefer to lean away from using feeding as a direct metaphor for sex on a meta/narrative level because it has some uncomfortable implications that I’d rather not engage with (e.g. it’s a bit difficult/unpleasant to engage with the corruption mechanics when ‘feed on an unwilling victim’ essentially becomes a metaphor for sexual assault). It’s also just less interesting thematically for me. To me, vampires are cool and scary because they flip the food chain on its head and rob humans of the security and comfort of being ‘the ones on top’ (the hunter becomes the hunted sort of thing) and there are lots of interesting questions about morality and survival that can be explored through that.

Good. Thank you.
Is that an important part of his personality or just a lack of interest? Do other vampires consider him weird for that, or are many of the older ones less interested in sex?
We will keep that as metaphor for assault then, since that is what it is. If they are unwilling or not enjoying themselves, it is not sexual, and therefore not sexual assault. Better that way, thank you.
Yeah. I used the term 'kine' before. From what I have seen, most cows willingly submit themselves to the farmer for their own reasons, most don't die and it seems to be to their benefit?

So, is Hermes really 80kg? That is possible, but that is heavier than Lizabeth herself, so she will have a hell of a time getting him to your apartment. :)

But then, presumably he has a lead (leash) and can walk? :)

What is your apartment like? Ground floor or elevator hopefully.

I think he’s just never been particularly interested in it. I don’t think other vampires would notice or care.
Not much of a metaphor then :P
What I am trying to say is that if vampires feeding is treated as a direct metaphor for sex or otherwise inherently sexual, the implication is that feeding on an unwilling victim is analogous to sexual assault and I am uncomfortable engaging with the corruption mechanic in that context. For that reason, I would prefer that we tried to steer away from treating vampiric feeding as a metaphor for sex, if we can. Thank you.
I’ve been imagining a big sulcata tortoise :)
There's conflicting information about their weight online. I found one source that said a full grown one would be about 80kg but another that said they max out at 50kg. The 80kg figure was more common online so I went with that. I'm not 100% sure about it, but very heavy in any case. Benji’s apartment is not on the ground floor but there is an elevator.

Quite right. That makes that whole aspect icky. Let's avoid that.

Popular media has depicted it that way, interlinking vampires with sex, but that is merely part of the marketing. Elliot's focus is on the 'power' point of the 'money, sex and power' triangle, with 'money' being a means to that end. 'Sex' mainly features into it as part of his attempt to lure more people in. He wants Emma's to help him build his image, so he is playing along, but his work to keep the previous feeding as pleasant for her as possible left it a mostly bland, like giving blood.
Boy, are the neighbors ever going to talk about the new tenant who walked her giant tortoise into the lift. :)

Sorry guys, but I'll be off from tomorrow to Wednesday next week (so, Aug 28th to Sept 4th). Travelling again, and I'm afraid I'll have no availability to post. Given this, perhaps it's better if Jacob doesn't go to see Elliot, or you can just leave him waiting at the entrance.

Then let's leave Jacob with Lizabeth? Rather not leave her alone, after all?

Do you want to retcon the 'invitation' and have Teddy say 'no', or retcon the whole introduction and leave Jacob with the car? Or do you want to show us Jacob deciding to not go?

Okay, I just posted to state Jacob finally decides not to go, he's afraid that Elliot wouldn't be happy to see him around when he was not invited, and this could somehow backfire on Benji.

You guys can decide how you want to put your characters together.

Does Elliot designate Benji as the 'someone' who will provide the answers Emma needs and deal with her dress shopping? Does he assume Benji has the means to navigate the political situation and find out where the soirée is and how to get funds/payments/accounts for a dress? Does he?

Or does Emma latch onto Benji for her own reasons? Does she see him as a way to get out of this tense situation? Does she see him as another interesting vampire for her to study? Does she wait outside as Benji talks to Elliot and ambush him on the way out (as opposed to being told to wait for him)?

Does Emma try to get in on Benji's meeting, or try to overhear it? How?

Or does Benji offer to help Emma for some reason? This seems a weaker connection, but all options are open.

Anything else is fair game too.

I think we will have to do our shopping through the doors, they don't let you take the dresses away when you window shop and the fitting options are sparse. :)

Someone will have to vouch for Emma, that she is allowed to 'spend on Elliot's account'. Any vampire in his Faction should be able to do that with a shopkeeper in the know, so we can delegate Benji to do it if we want. A little power-play from Elliot? Or just: 'you are here and have nothing better to do (for me), take care of this'? That gives Benji the motivation, but turns Emma into a bit of a burden. Benji probably wants to get back to his protection of Lizabeth, so he is unlikely to want Emma around without some external motivation, using Elliot as the lever fixes our problems?

The other obvious choice would be Teddy. :)
I think it would need a little effort to get in on that meeting. There is a powerful artifact in play and Elliot probably does not want everyone knowing he has interests and possible access. You might be able to have him, now, consider you part of his retinue and therefore 'on his side', but that paints Elliot as a bit naive for his position, which is fine if we want to go that route.

If you, the player, want to be part of the conversation, then we don't want to leave it up to dice. But if you are happy for Emma to be left in the dark on that topic we can have you wait and try to make the meeting as fast as possible.

Leaving you out of Elliot's conversation about Lizabeth could also help Benji trust you and not assume you are interested just as Elliot's spy. You might have to show some defiance to Elliot to get Benji's trust, but you can do that while pumping him for information while shopping?

---

We can arrange for Benji to find out about the soirée tonight. It might be a chance to meet-and-greet, which could be valuable.

• Would Benji want to go to such a thing? We can provide hints that it might help his current situation to provide the motivation, or he could be 'forced' to go and attend to Emma? As a 200+ year-old vampire he might be expected to attend, though maybe people don't actually expect him to actually attend? :)

These hob-nob parties are usually a good way to gain power. Jacob may want to attend, and we can deal with getting him an invitation, as he can increase his networking and find people to ask about this damnable book. There are bound to be all sorts of people, from all walks of life, so you all may get to Put Faces to Names and possible gain a whole new 'level' in this society. :)

He’s a pretty open book so he’ll be happy to answer her questions once they get chatting. We just need an excuse for them to continue talking after this scene with Elliot. Maybe we use the shopping trip vagueGM proposed as an opportunity for Emma and Benji to get acquainted and for Emma to pepper Benji with questions?
Both, perhaps? The latter is kind of a power play too
I like that! Benji feels like a bit of an odd duck among other vampires, so I don’t think he would usually attend such events, but maybe they send him invitations anyway, not expecting him to actually turn up.
Either could work!

Wha? I did not add those to the templates‽ Now I have to remember the process. :(

Let me know when I can safely edit your sheet to add that, we don't want edit conflicts.

Also, should I move the Let It Out Abilities to somewhere more noticeable? Like below the Moves as in the Reference sheet [ref]? If so, everyone should let me know when I can do that for them or do it themselves, that is a h3, for the record.

Done.

No worries. We seem to have assumed/arranged that vampires also shop during the day, so we can leave that part for tomorrow and let you get back to David.
If you really think you will need it. My experience with separate threads is that people get confused and messy about keeping them separate and, in the long run, they make it harder to follow what happened. If we are disciplined about keeping what should be in them only in them (which is not always possible where they are not also very separate in the fiction) then they can help.
My concern is that we won't have answers to your questions yet. I don't know what sort of questions you are thinking about, but most questions about the world are probably better answered in the fiction as they come up. When it does come up, we can flash back to this supposed conversation to see how Emma learned a thing that would have been handled here.

Let me know if you need that thread.

Unless you think think the shopping storyline will go on much longer than the next four days (when gnomius is expected back) and you want to overlap it with 'main events' like the ball, it still fits in the current RP thread, I would think.

We also need to conciser how much of Benji's 'personal life' actually has answers, so your questions might run into a wall of 'I don't know that yet, let's play to find out?'. This is not a criticism or a problem, just something to bear in mind while asking in character questions not related to current events.

@Delirium you don’t have to actually answer that, I just thought it was funny :P
I don’t think Benji’s stepped foot in a clothing store in quite a while…

Probably the shopping trip will happen after gnomius gets back, right? Emma still has her scene with David to do and Benji will need to check on Lizabeth and then help Jacob with the statues in Hyde Park (once gnomius is back). Maybe, when we get to it, we could start the shopping trip in the main thread and then, if it’s taking too long, we could migrate it to another thread?
I’m happy to make stuff up! It occurs to me that Benji answering Emma’s questions could very well qualify for Benji’s Keep Your Friends Close Move (When you figure someone out by helping them indulge a true hunger, take a 10+ instead of rolling. If they are in your Circle, take +1 ongoing to act on the answers to your questions until time passes.) so maybe the questions will go both ways :)

I was going to ignore the Hyde Park bit of your message even before we started this conversation. :)
Let's not force a wait for absent players if we don't need to. There is no time pressure on the book Scheme (aside from wanting the Advance), so it can happen afterwards. Though it does seem like a more interesting solution than getting answers from the party-goers, so we should try to shoehorn it in, even if we do it out of sequence.

Jacob does not have an invitation to this soirée, we can talk about if the is unusual and if he wants to make a plan to go (forger, after all :) when the player is back. (There are no +1s, so Elliot has to arrange an invite for Emma, so that is kind of a big deal (one she might not appreciate yet :)).
Those may well take us till gnomius is back. Let's play it by ear. It is easy to have Jacob be busy with work till those events line up.

We can also leave it up to gnomius whether Jecob stayed with Lizabeth after parting ways. Your port leaves that open.

---

That is the theory anyway. I have seldom seen that work out any better than preemptively starting a new thread. By the time it becomes apparent a new thread would have been the right thing it is usually too late and confusing to swap for the end of it. Similarly when making new threads for single purposes I almost always see them end up too short to have bothered.

It is always a delicate balancing act. :(
Absolutely. That does seem like her 'True Hunger' (at this time). So Elliot's power-play of foisting her off on you feeds into your wants and desires. No need to tell Elliot that. :)

It will be up to you two, as you play the scene, when, or even if, the Moves need to come into play. Emma could roll Figure Someone Out to cap the number of questions, but that seems a bit low and they are not exactly the sort of questions she is wanting to gossip about. I suggest we just roleplay it, while noting that we are Triggering Benji's Move. This seems like a rather easy trigger to come back to later when you need the mechanics.

We can assume Emma sends Benji the needed location for the dress shop and that 10 o'clock works or you arrange a suitable time. We can deal with that meeting when we get to it the scene. We can make a final decision about separate threads when we get there.


@Delirium: You can take us to your scene with David. If you have rough ideas you can let us know how much time you want to spend on that, if you want it to be an aside, a vignette, or a whole big thing.

Show us a little about your home and your husband. In as much or as little detail you you want for now, we can fill in more as we play and things become relevant.

Hey guys, I'm back, let me catch up with what you did this week and I'll post as soon as possible!

Jacob definitely wants to attend.
Aha, you have read my mind! Jacob will forge himself an invitation. My idea is that he had heard through the grapevine that this ball was happening, so he decided to invite himself.
After reading the progress you've made while I was away, I think this is the easiest way to be reincorporated to the story. Let's say I was going to leave to mind my own business, but perhaps Lizabeth asked me to stay until Benji was back. I could even have ordered that fish&chips for her. :)

Makes sense. Keep her safe. We can easily insert you into that scene. No need to rewrite it, we can assume you came back into the room and rescued her from Benji's incompetence. :)
Alright. Then you shall.

We can have Benji be the grapevine and you can snag his invite to copy from. No need to roll... until there is doubt or suspicion, and then we may see if the forgery holds up, but we don't want to exclude you from the party.

Is Jacob surprised that he did not get an invitation? Does he think this is unusual? (There are reasons which will make your being there 'fun'.:)

I think that, even if Jacob is quite known in the VIP circles, the Status-3 NPCs and such high level people just think of him as a minor henchman, the sort of weird guy that you sometimes need for providing you with an item or information. So nobody would think his presence should matter in a ball like this, they think he's not important enough. And Jacob is more than happy to be underestimated like that, he prefers to keep a low profile.

@Delirium: Have Emma and David had a fight about this before? Is this going to be their 'first fight'?

Is it going to be a fight at all? It does not have to be if you would rather leave it as simmering tension or some other complication.

Do you try to Persuade David of the importance of this party? I don't see how the mechanics of that Move would come into play here, but am open to it. It may require you to reveal more then you want to, though.

Else you might need to Keep Your Cool to avoid a marital spat? That seems like the most appropriate Move, and the stakes are pretty clear?

What do you think?

Do we want to try to get in a quick visit to Byron and the Horse? Else we can wait for tomorrow, after shopping and concoct a reason for Emma to come along for that. :)

We can't really exchange the Move made after a roll, often it would result in a change from one type of result to another which complicates the decision too much. So let's try to make your Persuade work even though promising to spend time with them the following day does not really seem like much of a price, especially since you were, presumably, doing that anyway since they were sticking around in London? :)
What sort of complications do you think could be fun to have? The first two to come to my mind are:

• David says desperately: "They are going to want to know what you think is so important about your work. I have not told them, I did not know how to without making you sound crazy."
• Or, events at the party will make your promise hard to keep and you will have to compromise.
• Or, I can make things happen at the museum (the others can be there to research Lizabeth's artifact?) and you will need to deal with juggling the in-laws (maybe David has to deal with work emergencies related to his promises that got him out of work for the dinner, so you are alone with them?) and supernatural happenings at the same time?

'putting her investigations on hold for a bit' is not really a price, it makes no difference to the game and merely frustrates the character a little over perceived delays. I don't think we want to turn this into resentment of David, and we don't want to exclude you from getting to play. The relationships are not there to make go spent time at home while the others are out having fun, they are there to make your character's life complicated while they are out there having fun.

True. It was an offer to have the parents push harder than he does ...
OK. So we avoid that, no worries.
Emma might need to put work into getting him to a place where he can accept these facts, but that is a thing we can deal with in play. If it ever comes to a forced reveal we will deal with it in a way you, the player, are happy with.
'The second one' being the first of the other two?
How many of those can one girl get‽ :)

Since it is a 'consequence', Emma probably would not feel like it is a reward...

...unless you want her to think it is and it turns out not to be a good thing? I am not sure about going this route, it feels a little risky.

If you go with option two, then you will either need to weasel out of spending time with the in-laws, or turn Elliot down, both will have significant consequences.

If you go with option three then you will risk them finding out stuff you don't want (in a way you are happy with), but also have the chance at no consequences if you do it right.

Let me know before the end of the ball 'tomorrow night'.
That ends the character, so no.
As players we make sure you don't miss out, but that does mean we need to introduce things into the story that Emma —the character— has to miss out on. This struggle is an essential part of the Playbook. We will do our best to make sure you are not twiddling your thumbs while the others play.

---

With this conversation in mind: Are you happy with the Relationships you picked? You are welcome to change the two we have not seen yet if you want to.

I was thinking about bringing Henry Godfrey (An overbearing ex-partner who constantly worries about you) into play after your meeting with Elliot, but that got derailed by Bev feeling more relevant. I now 'plan' to bring Henry to your shopping spree. Being 'in finance' Henry has had dealings with Elliot (mortal (not Mortalis)) and does not trust him.
Agreed. Though most nights out should have the tension of needing to get back to hubby.

@Delirium, I think the David scene [ref] is drawing to a close? But am also completely happy to keep it going if you want more.

---

With regard to your Intimacy Move: If it ever comes to it that you need to roll Figure Someone Out against David, he would definitely be on your list, but he might also not be the sort of NPC that we have such adversarial Moves with.

We need a place to track the list, I figure a fillable bulleted list (•) over there in the Intimacy section of the sheet would be the best place? Shall I add that?

If you ever need to roll the Move, Mislead, Distract, and Trick the Playbook Moves apply, but we usually don't worry too much with Moves against NPCs who are 'not important enough'.

'Mortals' are different to 'Mortalis', Mortalis is a Circle that might contain people who are not actually 'mortal' anymore, and definitely does not contain all (or even most) mortals. Most people are not part of the system, they have no Status —which is different to being Status-0— and can not participate in any of those mechanics.

David is a strange case, he is not Mortalis, but is connected to Mortalis through you.

OK. It seems like Jacob is sorted for an invite. We can handwave the details where he probably takes Benji's and makes a duplicate (using samples)? Or does Benji not let him take it away?

I would like to get Emma back on the scene. How do we want to do that? Do Benji and Jacob want to continue talking with Lizabeth or can we assume they got any obvious extra details as they become relevant? We can assume things like Jacob asking to look at the photos and finding the one where the item is slightly visible (and sends it and any others to your phones), and suchlike.

It might be possible to get someone to recover the deleted photos, but you might need an investigator or tech-wizard (whoops, maybe the wrong word in this sort of world?:) to help? Emma might know someone if you want to include her?

For convenience, maybe you have 'stuff to do' and agree to get together for the Horse and Byron tomorrow after the shopping spree? Then we can see if we can engineer Emma into that scene and widen her horizons. :)

If we go with Byron-after-shopping, what does Jacob do while the shopping is happening? (Or do we split that into its own thread now that we have a time-clash?) Mark has done a bunk, so you need to find someone else to help you track the missing item, but Mark may have left you a message including someone else who can help you? Or you may need to find someone at the party? Or you can Hit the Street to find another wizard (or demon) to do the deed, or we can let that storyline slide without a wizard of our own?

I think we can safely handwave the rest of the scene with Lizabeth. I guess forging a good quality invitation can take some time, so we can assume that's what Jacob is doing while the rest go shopping. And then we meet for "the Horse and Byron" (which sounds like a proper name for an English pub)

What will the player be doing, though? The shopping could take a while.
It does! You now have a recollection that there is such a pub ... but it does not appear to be there ... most strange.

I'm happy reading and proposing complications/interesting turns if you'd allow me to. ;-)

If we see it takes too long, we can always decide Jacob is done with the forgery and start any other activity.

Always.

I’m also good to move on!Benji will absolutely let Jacob take the invitation to copy it

oopsylon, feel free to insert Benji into Emma's scene [ref].

How do you introduce the topic of putting her bill on Elliot's 'account'?

If either of you want me to being Bev in first, I can do that, but I think a scene with just Benji and Emma (and the snooty shop attendants:) sounds fun.

I wonder how 'in the know' the Pinko's people are? If they qualify as Mortalis you may be able to Put a Face to a Name to see if we can define anything about them or if they are helpful (owe you a Debt) or unhelpful (you owe them).

I don't really see Debts being in the offing, not with how they were described so far, but, if they are fully part of the Mortalis Circle, a roll could define some details? I am 50/50 on whether they should be.

This is brilliant, I literally laughed out loud at Benji's comment. :)
Hence I don't want to interrupt this with Bev or the staff. Let me know when you want me to bring either of them into the scene, as well as how, or feel free to narrate the NPCs as you see fit.

Absolutely. Loved it too! ^_^
Ah, good point, I wouldn't have thought that the staff from a regular store could be "in the know", but that's definitely an idea. Like they could be regular providers of good clothing for supernatural balls like the one that's coming, and be a source of rumours in the city.

I'll let the involved players take the decision, though. :)

I’m not sure Benji would know if the sales assistants are ‘in the know’ or not given that he’s definitely never been in this shop before :P

Emma was the one who selected the store so I suppose it depends on whether she chose it because she knew the people who operate it are Mortalis or if she just chose it at random/because she liked the clothing.

Indeed. :)

Benji needs to convince them to put the bill on Elliot's account. It is up to you how Benji does that, or if he has access to bank accounts or whatnot.

They might also be 'enough in the know' to be aware of the shadowy systems of power (they seem the type, but that could just be my assuming so we can make this work without effort).

But maybe Benji needs to work out the bill and then send for someone to lug over a suitcase of cash? Whatever aesthetic you guys like.

Makes sense. Especially since Emma recommended this place rather than having Benji tell her where they needed to go to get service. :)

It is agreed. They do not know about vampires or the supernatural world and have no idea who Elliot or Benji are... so paying for the goods will be an adventure. :)

Benji is welcome to answer any questions from his own perspective. Where it comes to vampires we will treat oopsylon's answers are primary canon, elsewhere, where needed, I might add a correction, which you are welcome to reincorporate into Benji's answer as though he gave it, or treat it as a discrepancy in his belief of understanding.

If we want to talk about any details before posting answers we can always do that, but you don't need to check with me first. If you want me to answer anything, give me a shout.

Montaging the dresses seem right.

Did we explain to Bev why Benji is there? Does she know that he will also be at the ball? The only problem with a montage is what she knows and therefore what she says.

There was talk about new clothes for Benji as well [ref]. Are we doing that and billing it to Elliot?

Possibly. We can have her assume all that context if that is what we want.
OK. I don't know the store (didn't know it was real:). We can deal with that afterwards, as we like. :)
Sounds like a plan. I leave it in your hands.

Well... That is not a solution I was expecting. But it definitely can work.

Do we get a bad reaction to the mouse and the spiders? Or does the sheer amount of money tide over any problems?

Does Emma want to be able to come back here again? Does she care that this may impact her 'reputation' (or reputability)? Does she need to Keep Her Cool to keep things copacetic? Or (maybe better) does she resort to Persuasion to convince them that "There's more where that came from" so they will welcome her with open arms next time (on a good roll)? Or we can let it ride and deal with consequences later. Your call.

---

If Benji does not arrange to get reimbursed by Elliot than there will be some form of 'price' for the 'easy solution', even if it is just Emma feeling awkward about it. If you need money again later, having spent the bulk of your current currency will be an obstacle.

---

Emma might also be disappointed with how this played out. Maybe she was hoping to learn something about the way vampires usually conduct business ("supernatural community would recognise Elliot’s name and authority"), and this may make her even more keen to get Benji to take her to his tailors. :)

(I have other thoughts, but they depend on these answers and results:).

Probably!
I don’t think it’s all that much (usable) money. It’s enough to cover the dress and shoes but not much more. Also, to be clear, Benji isn’t offering them all of it – just as much as is needed (plus the mouse I guess hahahah)
Benji is very much hoping Elliot will reimburse him later if he explains the situation. Until then (or if he doesn’t), yes, it should probably be an obstacle.

Noted.
That is a LOT of money. This is an expensive shop. Emma was milking Elliot for all he is worth, not so? :)
You may have to. There is, of course, also a good chance the manager has a discerning eye and recognises the value of one of your older coins (and rips you off?) and we can do something with that?
I don't think their discerning eye will fall for that old trick...
OK. Keep the slip and we can deal with that when we get a chance.

Yeah for sure it's a very expensive dress but I meant not that much for 200 years worth of savings. I just wanted to clarify that it's not significantly more than is needed to pay for the dress.

Only you know how much you have saved. :)

Is it also enough to 'add a little' to 'sweeten the pot' and smooth over any bad reactions to the strange interaction? Or is there an difficulty we need to deal with?

Maybe, if you still have more cash in the box, it might attract thieves? Do we want to deal with a little bit of casual street-crime as we leave? (The fact that they think you went to your car, but you actually ran all the way to the station and back will confuse 'them' a bit too.:)

We can do that, but that is only about the reputation and future visits.

We are trying to avoid having an indecent right now. If we don't want it to be a social faux pas with the shop we can go with the crime? Give Emma and Bev a chance to see how a vampire deals with clueless thugs?

Yes. I was worried about that as part of her being disappointed with how this turned out [ref].

Having him imply he will claim back from Elliot might solve that?

Let's see what Benji does. The Pinko's teller is not at all pleased to be messed around like this. They were not happy to have your class of clientele browsing, and now they are even less happy about the strangeness, feel free to incorporate what you do. :)

Not unless they’re interested in antique coins :)
Sure, I’m open to that, if you like, although I’m not sure how they would know the shoebox has cash in it unless they were watching this whole interaction through the window... and if that's the case, then they also saw a bunch of spiders crawl out of the box so one would imagine they might think twice about grabbing it :P

Fair enough.

Finish up any remaining shopping and chatting, then, when you are ready, we can set the scene for the ball.

Good question. Where is the party? Is it in a fancy hotel, or a ball room, or a modern conference center, or a lush estate a ways out of town? You guys can add as much or as little detail as you want, describe the place, or merely name it, or whatever.

Maybe (if it is not close) Elliot sends a car (or carriage) for Emma?

Castle in the countryside! Castle in the countryside!

Here some options: Castles near London

Castle in the countryside it is! :)

Excellent!
OK. Elliot will definitely need to send a car, Arundel is two hours away from London.

That seems like it will cause some friction for Emma getting back before midnight, but it might actually free her of that obligation if David knows she needs to travel for hours each way. :)

I assume we don't want Emma to spend that time with Elliot (could be awkward, even if she thinks she wants to).

And it might be most simple if we each arrive on our own? Unless we want to play out some of the travel together?

When you are ready, go ahead and show us how you arrive there. (A car from Elliot is only a suggestion, Emma can take any option you want, of course.)

Jacob can offer Benji a ride in his car, in exchange of him being so kind to share the invitation. Benji would know about this proposal already, so it's up to him if he wants to offer a seat to Emma.

(just another option, in case somebody didn't want Elliott 's car)

Completely available. But if you don't want to use Elliot's car you are welcome to get there however you want, including with Benji and Jacob [ref] (or train if you want to be 'independent':).

'Nightfall' is around 20:00, so you would need to leave before 6, especially with the rain. Do you guys arrive before dark and get a look around the beautiful grounds?

I have tossed some dice and it seems that someone placed a protection around the castle that is keeping the rain out. So we can use the grounds outside if we need them (you guys probably don't know this fact, it is raining right down to the coast, so you might not think to bring clothes appropriate for outside? Up to you, if it comes up:).

Jacob hates people who are always late, so he would have proposed Benji to leave at 17:00

There are 'traditional reasons' for 'nightfall', but Elliot might have his own reasons for arriving before nightfall in this case, and he may want you there before that (so he can do a grand entrance?), or after that so he can arrange things. What do you think sounds more fun?

So we can say that his car gets you there in time for you to see the place in the light. But it is up to you if you would rather miss seeing the place, or arrive late after things are in full swing (on purpose? traffic? accident? flat tire? ...?).

---

Do you leave from home? Does David see the dress and then the 'empty' car? I would like a brief scene with him before you go, but that can easily be by text message.

All I want to do is have him mention that the weather is becoming a serious problem and danger, so Emma has some context for the reason for the party (when she hears about it).

Why don't you show us any preparation you do. For instance: do you have Bev help you get ready, or do you send her off outside the shop; possibly your in-laws arrive and see the fancy dress and have questions... or questions/comments tomorrow? Up to you.

Do we want me to describe the arrival at Arundel? Then you can fill in any personal specifics?

Sounds good!

Yeah, why not have a little something-something on the back. I had not 'planned' for this (as much as I ever 'plan') and don't know if it is anything other than a glitch, it is up to you if you pursue it and turn it into anything. :)

Hey, sorry, I've been a couple of days off. I'll catch up today

You guys are welcome to get the characters together whenever you want, or keep them separate for now. [ref] [ref]

Hahahaha xD

@gnomius: Is Crowley using someone else's invitation, and therefore also their image? [ref]

Does Jacob know the person Crowley is impersonating? I am not sure about Putting a Name to a Face for someone who it not here, but it could lead to interesting outcomes, so we can think about it. We need a name for this lady, anyway.

@Delirium: This party could be a source of 'XP' for Advancement, as, especially in the beginning of the game, Put a Face to a Name is one of the primary ways to Mark Circles. I worry that it might not make sense for Emma to know many of these people yet, and making her meet them here could adversely affect your ability to Put a Face to a Name later.

Part of that inherent newness and lack of familiarity is offset by The Aware's focus on Intimacy Moves and Marking Circles (and possibly Corruption) through that important part of their character sheet, but still, we don't want to cripple her. (see Advancement)

Possibly we can treat this whole night as a whirlwind experience where she does not get to take in all the details, but her writer's brain files away enough details to do research and then Put a Name to a Face the next time you meet these people? This will depend on how much we see you taking in during this party. It will balance out in the end.

You are also welcome to say you might know someone, tell us how and Roll to see if there is anything more. For instance: I am not sure how it would make sense for Emma to have heard of Shelyna Artmitage, a powerful wizard, (@oopsylon, and @gnomius probably do, through their friend Mark, so they can establish if there is more than a 'oh, yeah, I heard about her' relationship using Put a Face to a Name when they encounter her) but it is very possible Elliot let slip some detail about any of the other vampires you meet here.

Given how far we are from London, not everyone at this party will be someone that matters enough to the story to qualify, we really don't care about the 'hedge wizard from Dover', even if they are important to this gathering.

Yes. We will need to work out whose Place of Power it is before we can do that. But we can worry about that when the time comes.

Hmmm, that's an interesting twist. I had first thought that it was a random disguise, but now that you mention it, it would certainly bring some nice complications if he had decided to impersonate a lady vampire (or anyone else from the Night circle). The question is: what happened to the real lady then? :)

Or any other Circle, this is not a vampire party, everyone is here... well, everyone except for the demons.
Indeed. And how did Crowley get her invitation?

Presumably Crowley is similarly trying to get any information from you. You are rivals after all. :)
How competitive is your relationship? They are the only other imp you know, so you are sorta 'on the same side' when things align right (you are both unwelcome outsiders here, for instance).
That sounds like it might be something you can learn using Figure Someone Out, especially with your added Measure Your Mark Imp Move.
As always, before we can even think about rolling Moves, we need to see in the fiction what you are doing so we can know how to adjudicate any Moves. So we need to see enough to get an idea and to trigger the Move. We might have enough already, though.

There could be other Moves that work better, depending on what you want to achieve, so we can talk about Moves before the fiction, and then we can steer the fiction towards triggering those Moves. Let us know.
Have you ever met her before this party?

Is there anyone you would like Emma to meet?

This can be someone we have seen before, but can also be someone new, or even just the sort of person (function/Circle/Faction/personality) you are interested in and we can make them together.

Of course, there is always Jacob and 'Hali' who appear to fit that discretion. If @gnomius is open to having an interruption to their conversation Emma can wander over and join their group.

It could be amusing to have these two meet before Benji introduces them (for the ride home?:). Jacob has no reason to trust her, so he will probably want to maintain any ruse he is doing about his invitation (though I assume Jacob is using his real name, since he did not know before getting here that being identified as a demon is a problem, and making the invite look legit is easier if that is official), and will need to pretend this really is the real Lady Halifax —which activity Crowley will revel in.

Yes, my objective was to Figure Him Out to try to get what he needs. But as I said, it can be a long conversation before the fiction brings us there, that's why I was asking if we wan to play this all the way.
I don't think so, given that Jacob prefers to fly under the radar most of the times. I will say that Jacob has only interacted with some of their servants, who occasionally bought something for their mistress.
Yep, Emma is more than welcome to interrupt! :)
He is, yes.

We can roll the Move and let that dictate how much conversation we get to have. This Move's trigger is softer than most.
That brings lots of interesting ideas... for later. :)
Cool. If things 'go wrong' in just the right way we could get Emma caught up in whatever happens between Jacob and Crowley.

Just so we are sure... who are these two people?

Just making sure. :)

By all means. She is in the Power Circle.

Even if you Miss and decide you don't 'know' her, you can still have seen her with your friend, Mark, and know that much.

Awesome and perfect. So easy to work with.
Given the answers in the RP [ref], which we can expand on as we play, or here if you have OOC questions, or just given your needs and Crowley's abilities: You tell me: What does Crowley have that's valuable to you? Is this an enticement to help him with his heist, or is the vault and the heist and the reward you could get from it enough?
You have skill in finding stuff, this is more than just your Let It Out Ability '• sniff out a secret stash, even when expertly concealed or hidden', it is part of who you are, so you don't need to roll Let It Out every time you do something like that, you can roleplay it and possibly get sufficient answers (saving a roll for the end if you need to force the win:).

These special skill are what Crowley needs you for. You don't need to agree or go along with his dangerous plan.
He is here because this is his one opportunity to get into this castle and near that vault. He is trying to make it sound casual, but there is something very important to him in there.

If you don't help, he is still likely to go for the vault himself, with much lower likelihood of success... and his failure is likely to alert them to the presence of demons and to put you at risk. He has maneuvered this quite well.
His question would probably be along the lines of '• What's your character hoping to get from this party?', why are you here? But we can see that answered as we play. These question are not asked of each other, the are learned though observation, so you should let that slip at some point.
It is confusing, not all Moves that roll with a Circle are 'Circle Moves' and not all of them Mark the Circle. :(

Only the Moves listed in the Advancement note count. Figure Someone Out is not one of them.

We will see if 'she' actually ends up helping you, in which case, no matter what Emma thinks, you will owe her a Debt. Remember, though, that all Debts are commensurate with how they were incurred (hence we track them specifically and not just in number, and we call on a particular one when we Call in that Debt) so whatever she ask for in return would be equal(ish) to "remember when I helped you at that party, you owe me" and she can not ask for significantly more than that in return... if she ends up saving your life from predators... well then you Owe her big-time. :)

I will leave her response till after we see what Jacob does and whether Benji spots you (hard to miss... if we are 'at the same time') and joins your group.

Great! I rolled a 10! In this circumstance, I think I'd like to learn something 'interesting and useful'
Would you like me to? I was going to let Jacob and Emma get to interact a bit more before I interrupted in any way but I can have Benji notice them now if you think that would be better

Great! Even with your -1! :)

Don't forget to Mark Power.
Cool.

Do you have anything you want to add to her character? It could be merely be something you think would be interesting, or something useful for Benji to know; or something significant to the world or the situation at hand. If not, I can create some details.
Me? Not at all. But you are welcome to, if you want to.
Let's do that. We can't predict the timing, but you are welcome to strike up a quick scene with someone else in the meantime, or wait.

On top of the vault and its potential treasures, information is the most precious thing Jacob is looking for. Whatever fits the story best: the artifact found by the riverbed? That damned Byron book? The role of the Surveyors?
Ouch, sorry... Unmarked.

Benji is looking for someone who might know something about the artifact Lizabeth found so maybe something ‘useful’ could be that Benji remembers Mark mentioning that Shelyna is interested in/has expertise relating to magical artifacts or something like that?

You and Crowley are agreed on that. It turns out (or will turn out if you find it) that the vault is an information store. I have no idea what form it takes, so we can learn that together.
Those seem like an unlikely long-shot given how they are either only important to you or very recent. But there is always a chance you might be able to learn something useful.
I am sure there will be just that sort of information.

That seems obvious enough that we can give you that for free.

Do you want to know something that gives you some leverage you can use to get her to help you? What?

On the other hand: Mark Owes you a Debt. With him 'missing', it sometime falls to one's superiors to honour such Debts. Do you want to try Cash In that Debt to get her assistance with this? By the Put a Name to a Face Move, you could just say she Owes you, but that means we need to see how and why and we have history. It seems more interesting, from a story perspective, for you to know enough to be able to try leverage that Debt out of her (once she mentions that Mark had to leave in a hurry 'for Faction reasons'), it would not be guaranteed that she is liable for the Debt, but since Josephine was involved (even if in a negative way) she probably knows about it, and you could persuade (possibly via Persuade an NPC) her to help you.

Just spitballing here. :)

Hmm okay maybe it could be that Shelyna knows or is related to Lizabeth in some way so Benji could leverage that connection to get Shelyna’s help?

That seems massively unlikely. She is one of the most power people in London (Status 3) while Lizabeth seems to have nearly no position and can easily be pushed around. There did not seem to be anyone else who cared to come to her aid for the whole day she was in jail.

If you want establish this relationship as truth, then Shelyna might go to some lengths to avoid having you mention it to anyone... that could get her to 'help' you, to get you off her back, but may cost you down the line when she remembers your 'blackmail'.

Also remember that, if she was not aware (or already involved), making this choice will bring her in as another party interested in the item. I am not saying she would not become involved anyway, just that you are making that a reality from this point forward. If you involve people in your affairs, then they are involved in your affairs.

You can always try to downplay the importance ("Just gathering information out of academic interest, I assure you"). But making her into a relative could make that harder. Keeping it as something like: "Normally Mark would have helped me with this, but he is not available... anything you can do would be appreciated" type level might be more 'casual'. But, I am not sure you could get an expert on magical artifacts to tell you anything useful about this one without also getting them interested in it. Maybe the Debt you can Cash In is that she stays out of things for a while?

Always remember the long-reaching, political ramifications of your choices. The more overt you are in your approach the more attention you attract and the more immediate the reaction.

I am not trying to put you off, just making sure you 'look before you leap'. :)

Alright, I’m happy to go with something else if you don’t think that’s plausible. Do you have any suggestions?

It's quite plausible, just sensitive. Let's go with the a family connection.

Sorry, unexpected work peak this week, and that will probably last until tomorrow.

No worries. Thanks for letting us know.

It should be easy enough for us to move on from that conversation, and you can back-fill anything you may have said.

Are you trying to get more out of this than just an answer? It is possible your genuine, simple question could put you in a good light and suggest that you and yours are not the ones responsible, but we would need to find a roll for that. Else we can treat it as merely a question and a prompt to move on.

A bit of both! It was a genuine question, but Benji also wants Shelyna to know that he and Alasdair, at least, had nothing to do with the rain and don’t know anything about it. That being said, I’m not sure any of the Moves really fit at all?

Agreed. It is probably not Persuade, and definitely not Mislead, and the only one that comes close is Keep Your Cool, but that does not really fit, neither do any of your Let it Out Abilities.

I could see Persuade applying to this, you are trying to persuade her you are not to blame... but it seems weak. I don't see a Miss being interesting, so let's go with a weak affect and no roll.

This is a place of Power for the Power Circle, so studying a mixed group of visitors from other Circles will not yield much about the place.

Your actions seem more like (the start of) Figure Someone Out, since you are studying the people and not the Place. But you are not studying anyone in particular so that Move does not apply here. You could add a post where you focus on someone (Shelyna, or even Federico seem apropos?) in order to Figure Out more about them, but remember that what you could learn (both the questions that are available to you, and the amount each question could yield) is bounded by what your character is doing in the fiction (any question you ask comes with an inherent question from the GM: "How do you learn that?").

If you want to study the place itself you may need to get behind the scenes and away from the crowds.

I am not convinced that this is enough to qualify to Persuade him to speak in public, but it should be enough to get him to talk to you about his ideas, which could lead to more?

If you want to get him to take the mic (someone would probably need to teach him what a microphone is:) you will need more to entice him, and I don't know what that would be.

If you want to roll Persuade with what you have done, we could see how far you can get and take it from there?

Okay, that sounds fair to me! It didn’t really make sense to make any promises in this context (or threats or seduction) so I wasn’t really going for the Persuade Move

OK. We won't roll. We will just treat this as a Partial Success on a small Persuade. He will talk to you, but not in front of everyone.

Could do. What would you be wanting to achieve by this? Remember that you don't really know the people at play here, so you might not be able to use anything you learn to much effect at this time, right? You might be able leverage what you learn later, though.

Is it worth it? We can discuss details if you think so.

Sure. You can roll to Let It Out, narrate how the darkness inside you affects you, and you can also guide what you find that could be useful. You could find a new NPC or someone we have already seen (in the game or at the party); or you could say it is something about the place rather than the people —though this is probably less likely in this, the 'designated public area'. Give us as much detail as you want (for instance, it could be 'someone from < this > Circle', or a role they play in society, or a named NPC with personality and goals, or whatever) and I can fill in whatever we still need.

If the effect is costly, limited, or unstable, we can hash out the details. 'Unstable' would probably mean you need to act on it quickly before the opportunity goes away; 'Limited' probably means it is not a very useful thing; and 'Costly' is obvious, though how it costs you will depend on what it is and on how you play it when you try to make use of the information.

Mark Corruption.

Do you have a preference for which type of Complication you get?
Is the information powerful, but dangerous or Costly to you and your loved ones?
Or is it Limited in its power, but relatively safe for you to pursue?
Or is it Unstable and you need to act on it quickly before you lose the opportunity? If so, do you need to act tonight, or can it wait for later this week?

I will try use your stated preference when defining what you learn/realise about Lady Halifax.

(You should have rolled with +1 since your Spirit is +1, but that would still have been a 9. If you can see some way for one of the other PCs to Lend a Hand it might be possible to bring that to a 10, but this is not really the sort of Move that you can be Helped with.:)