What about Foresight? I.. kinda plan to make him a bit of a prescence...
Also, sorry, I had figured I could conclude the Gala by now, but I'm leaving for Reykjavik in hours, and I don't know how often I can update. I don't have any big events planned for a spell though, so as you were?
Makes sense. Foresight has butted in our heroes' business a time or two before.
But I can have Whippoorwill overhear/observe and come down hard on Mercy as well, if Foresight doesn't work for you.
I'm not sure what Foresight may have seen that would cause him to interfere, now that I think about it...
Maybe he foresaw Alexis continuing to shoot off his mouth when his first comment doesn't get a rise, and steps in to prevent things from going further?
Sgt. Steel's concerns could also continue to increase if he hears Alexis joking about breaking someone's face.
I suggest a consequence and suddenly all the NPCs want in. ^^;
Also, since it sounds like we're starting to wrap up the gala, I'm going to set up my Kaoru/Alexandra end-of-the-night scene sometime after I get home from work.
Did you want Chloe to have a scene with Wingblade? Totally up to you, K.
And if you want something with longer consequences for that miss, don't go with Whip. She'd just give her a brief, chiding glare most likely. So using one of our newly introduced heroes might be the way to go.
I took 'not having events planned for a spell' to mean there was still more to come, just that there was more time that would pass in the Gala before then. Confirm/Deny elsine?
How long term Sarge's reaction is probably would depend a lot on Alexis's response to it ;-p
Mostly I just thought someone overhearing and having a negative reaction would be a good consequence for a miss. I personally don't necessarily think it needs to be a long-lasting effect, but it shouldn't be, like, a one-sentence thing that is easily ignored, if that makes sense. Like, a scolding from someone Alexis thinks well of carries weight because Alexis has a reason to care about their opinion. Similarly, if an NPC is going to be in a position to help/hinder/interact in a meaningful way with the team in the future, them having a negative opinion of Alexis would be a meaningful consequence.
I dunno. It was just an idea for a consequence since it was a miss. I also don't want my suggestion to somehow turn into "And now all the NPCs are aggro'd vs Alexis". ^^;
Did you want Chloe to have a scene with Wingblade? Totally up to you, K.
Do you have anything you'd like to accomplish in that scene? Given her current knowledge, I currently don't have any ideas for things Chloe would like to learn about from Wingblade. So if Wingblade doesn't have something she wants to talk to Chloe about and it would just be the two of them engaging in small talk, I'd rather just skip it.
I took 'not having events planned for a spell' to mean there was still more to come, just that there was more time that would pass in the Gala before then. Confirm/Deny elsine?
Oh, hmm, I was keying off of the "I had figured I could conclude the Gala by now" part. I'll wait until I know what's happening before starting my end of night scene.
I dunno. It was just an idea for a consequence since it was a miss. I also don't want my suggestion to somehow turn into "And now all the NPCs are aggro'd vs Alexis". ^^;
Heh, that's why we're talking in Discussion instead of starting a dogpile in Gameplay :-p
Kaoru, I didn't have any ideas either but I wanted to at least mention that I was willing. Sounds like a Chloe/Shayera meeting is one to save for later, once there's something significant for them to talk about.
Do you have any preference, Mercy? Like if there's a hero where you think Alexis might have some interesting contrasts/contacts? (Not necessarily the same as already respecting them)
I think that it's going to be hard to get Alexis to care about the opinion of a hero that they haven't already met. That said, I would love to see someone immediately go anti-bullying campaign against him for his words.
Any resolution on Bran's failed Empathize with Odysseus?
So I never really got an answer about if the gala is almost over. Wingblade seems to think so. I just need to know if I should start my Alexandra/Kaoru scene or not.
Also, unless someone objects, if Alexandra doesn't spend a team to help Alexis, I have a consequence I'm going to throw at him. I'll give Alexandra until tomorrow night (~30 hours) to choose to help or I'm assuming she doesn't.
My preference isn't to resolve my own misses, so if around that time you (or someone else) could toss in some problems from Bran's Empathize that'd be great!
I don't want to do my reply to Wingblade and Cassie's departure without knowing what else is happening :-/
Sorry, was on a glacier/in rift valleys for a couple days, haven't had time to check in. Yes I'm planning to end it soon. Yes it's cool for someone else to resolve the miss. And given what the C&S attempt was, I'm not gonna be able to help much.
Cool, thanks for the heads up! Also, jealous about the trip :-p
Then I won't mention the horses, or the delicious puffin and whale. or the awesome saga/history museums
Wait. Delicious puffins?
I'm more :-/ about delicious whale m'self.
I swear it wasn't an endangered one. I checked.
That helps :-)
They're still smart enough that they're on my personal Do Not Eat list, but ::shrug::
Not relevant right now, but do any characters regularly read/watch/keep up-to-date on the news?
Bronwyn keeps kind of a second-hand eye on things? Like she's not going to be totally up to date on local politics etc. unless they hit some of her key interests.
Mary-Beth has more free hours in the day, and is a reasonable vessel for Bron to hear things from, but still isn't 100% 'tapped in.'
Shayera doesn't take much interest in it, though she often "watches tape" of metahuman battles as a means of preparation.
Alexandra definitely keeps an eye on the news.
@Wingblade: Alexis is not going to be clear of the office just yet as my NPCs have a reaction/one of them is going to insist upon something before they leave. I should hopefully be able to get a response off in the next couple of hours. In the meantime, please hold off on advancing things.
All right. Will do.
Hmmmm, I think Hex probably doesn't pay all that much attention to the news - the average amount for a 16-year old?
Alexis doesn't watch the news either.
Also sorry for the double post. Rushed to work after posting, didn't realize until it was too late.
Janet Moralis could be talked into pressing the art issue on behalf of the museum (she's pretty worried the museum will be held accountable and is eager to shift the blame onto someone else). However, her argument will be weakened if the hospital doesn't also agree to press the issue as the proceeds of the sale were set to benefit them, not the museum. Clarice Jacobs will not be pursuing the issue on behalf of the hospital and if pressed, will firmly but gently point out that any money they receive is charity. As such, if Randall Leventis wants the hospital involved, he'll need another approach. One way might be to find one of her underlings to go behind her back (definitely do-able, but means they can't make the hospital's involvement widely known/make a public stink).
Mercy, not sure if you're aware, but Whip's referring to Dr. Brighthop. In case Mercy wants to go to therapy.
this... feels like a good place to end the Gala officially and call EOS. are we in agreement?
Good time for me!
And yeah, I think that Mercy's going to have a session with the good doctor. Even if the concept of it confuses him, he doesn't want to disappoint Whippoorwill.
Huh, I was planning on responding, but I do love that as the final panel...
EOS!
Fine with me. I take it we're doing EOS moves then?
I've give it about 24 more hours to hear definitively from Elsine if we're doing EOS moves or not. After that, I'm going to assume we are.
Also, I'm going to be packing/traveling Sunday and Monday, so I may not get a chance to post then.
Sorry! Yes, I meant to agree with the consensus that it's end of scene time.
Okay, we are agreed! (or at least, we have an overwhelming majority.)
Here's the move, In case y'all forgot it!
At the end of every session, choose one:
• Grow closer to the team. Explain who made you feel welcome; give Influence to that character and clear a condition or mark potential.
• Grow into your own image of yourself. Explain how you see yourself and why; shift one Label up and another down.
• Grow away from the team. Explain why you feel detached. Take Influence over you away from another character.
for Alexandra, she's going to take one of the two options HARD next time, if the path we're on continues, so She'll grow into her own image of herself. Right now, she's a bad person who hurts people because her power wants everything around her nice and agitated, so +Freak, -Savior.
I have to count up potential since I **think** I've got an advance coming that will slightly tweak how Bronwyn grows.
Buuut while I'm figuring all of that out - let's talk next 'issue'!
Shadow dropped in a spooky-scary Balor hook about The Third, and I'd certainly be interested in putting something together there.
My current goals for the arc as a whole:
Give the team a shot at a clean win (though of course nothing's guaranteed)
Expand on the cult of Balor
Have Gae-Dearg's brother-spear Gáe Buidhe show up...
Have fast-paced montage-style investigations
Have nasty counter-punchy battles
(Possibly?) Have wacky magic shenanigans (e.g. Bodyswaps, power swaps, genderswaps) This one would probably work better later, but I just think it'd be fun at some point :-p
I figure since the Gala was mostly relationship-focused, we probably won't have a loong gap between 'issues,' but I know Kaoru/Chloe have some post-gala denouement before Chloe heads on back to [check notes for the city name later], and there's Alexis's therapy etc. too, so I don't want to rush us into anything before folk have their cooldown scenes.
If there are any catalysts for your characters or piping for future arcs you'd like be to include in what's coming up, just shoot me a PM and we'll get it set up!
(e.g. Bodyswaps, power swaps, genderswaps)
YESSSS
Alexandra: God, is this, like.... Uggggg I hate not knowing things!
Shayera: too few limbs, too few limbs, it's like the harness but worse!
Bron: Yeah, cause I didn't have enough Bodies already.
Alexis: "I'm in pain! I think this is what pain feels like!" (honestly, would probably be least effected just cause they're most used to swaps.)
Kay: Either "Superpowers are hard" or "this is NOT helping my identity stuff!"
Cassie: You know, I joined this team explicitly to avoid this.
Sigh... this is part of why I think that the White Elephant* subplot deserves its own arc :-p
*Everything gets swapped around, no one's happy with what they get :-p
Oh, and since after my Potential Audit, I'll be taking an Advance to change Bronwyn's Mask Label from Savior to Freak, also adding one to Freak as part of that.
Something someone suggested I make a bit more explicit to avoid possible future conflict: people should not have NPCs bring up/know about Kaoru's past or biological sex/gender identity. If you think you need it for some reason, talk to me and I'll try to find some other way to get whatever effect you're going for.
Makes sense :-)
Any other non-starters are good to make known (for everyone), especially in a game with shifting GM duties!
***
For EoS I think Bronwyn's going to grow into her image of herself. She has come more and more to see being Bran as something that takes her away from her normal self, but she's also been trying very hard to save people as Bran or as Bron.
So now that it's the Mask label anyways, I'm going to shift Freak down and Savior up.
I had the hardest time trying to pick my end of session move! Shayera's all over the map, conflicted and being pulled in so many directions.
I'm going with growing into myself, since even though Shayera's all twisted around, she didn't really grow toward or away from the team. So she's dropping Superior and raising Mundane.
As far as the next issue, I'm all for exploring the Balor situation! I've picked up that stray thread from the Gala and am ready to carry it forward. Abacus is running the guy through a facial recognition program, so we should have our first clue about the guy with the scar over his eye. Not sure who gets to tell us what Abacus knows. Either Cassie or Bronwyn/Bran, I think.
I'm just waiting for someone to respond to Shayera's texts and whatever clues Abacus will give us.
Okay, now that I've got Bronwyn tucked in for the night, (well, ish) I'm up for some Abacus goodies.
This will **technically** be starting some of the investigation portion of things, but it's a gentle on-ramp, so it's not yet meant to preempt any of the non-arc stuff going on.
Not sure what to do with Alexis right now. I'm open to scene suggestions.
Also wonder if we shouldn't do a time skip before or after the Balor arc of a couple weeks. I know that the groups probihitionary period means probably skipping to the day of or the day before it ends.
Well, there's the brain scan scene with Matrix, if you'd like.
Also, I'm not sure I know what you mean by the group's prohibitionary period. You mean the time when characters are "free" to leave the team? I'm okay with some time skips, but there's some intense things going on, and jumping right to the end of that period without enough bonding might mean it could be tough to keep the group together. Which is, essentially, what we all should be rooting for.
Hi guys - sorry for the silence... I've been asked at short notice to help out with some fieldwork (catching lizards in remote Tasmania) - there's not a lot of reception and the days are long (and the nights involve much alcohol). I'm now back at my desk, but will be heading out for 1 day trips right up until I head interstate for christmas so posting will still be slow (and I've got a lot of reading to come back up to speed) - should be able to get something up tomorrow.
Figured you were probably out in the bush - Looking forward to it!
As for Alexis, I'm imagining we'll be in Assembly pretty soon. But brainscans or shenanigans around the Hex-Household could be good too!
Bronwyn's dance card is quite full right now, but I've got like... 4(?) scenes on the backburner if Alexis ever doesn't run from a conversation with her :-p
Dane's interrogation is a bit in the future of Shayera's hunt - certainly time enough for the rest of the team to have been informed and invited ;-)