This is going to be a rather large post, but I wanted to get these things out of the way. Feel free to skip any mechanics stuff you're already familiar with.
If you haven't already, take a look at the basic moves cheat sheet. In my opinion, it does a great job laying out the basic Moves, and I'll be referencing those moves in the explanations below.
Say for example, you wanted to look for tracks. That would be enough to trigger Investigate a Mystery. Which leads to another difference between Pathfinder and PbtA: PbtA worlds tend to be more mutable. In Pathfinder looking for tracks would be a Survival check against a given DC (or no DC if there are no tracks). If you fail, you can try again or someone else can try. If you fail, that probably means either any tracks that were there have been destroyed or perhaps there were never tracks there to begin with. Either way, it means this avenue of investigation is closed and other players will have to find some other approach if they want to try looking for clues.
Another thing to keep in mind with PbtA games is that moves are more about what you're trying to accomplish than what specifically you're doing. For example, take the following situation:
DM: With a roar, the golem grabs <Hunter 1> and starts to squeeze, intent upon crushing the life from him. What do you do <Hunter 2>?
Hunter 2: I hit it with my baseball bat.
- If Hunter 2 is just trying to hurt the golem, that would be Kick Some Ass.
- If they're trying to free Hunter 1, that would be Protect Someone.
- If Hunter 1 just failed their attempt to wiggle free (which would be Act Under Pressure), and Hunter 2 was trying to distract the golem to help them out, that would be Help Out.
- If instead of a golem it were a non-monster holding Hunter 1 and Hunter 2 was trying to intimidate them into releasing the other Hunter, that would be Manipulate Someone.
Another big difference between Pathfinder and PbtA games is that I the GM do not roll dice. Things happen based off of player dice rolls or things that have been set up in the narrative. This is probably the most pronounced when it comes to combat. There is no initiative and the monster doesn't have its own "turn". If you attempt to attack a monster with a baseball bat, the monster will immediately hit you back (it's why under Kick Some Ass on a 10+ you have the option to take less damage). I don't roll to hit, I just tell you the damage.
Some terminology:
As GM, I make either Soft Moves or Hard Moves against players. A Soft Move is typically a narrative set up that the player gets a chance to respond to before mechanical effects set in. A Hard Move goes straight to the mechanical effects. For example
Soft Move: You see the vampire rushing towards you, fangs bared. What do you do?
Hard Move: You see the vampire rushing towards you, fangs bared. Before you have a chance to react, she's taking a large bite out of your neck. Take 2 damage.
You might also hear references to +/- 1 ongoing/forward. Forward means it applies to your next relevant move. Ongoing means it applies to all relevant moves until something change to remove it.
Manipulate Someone: This move is only triggered when you try to get someone to do something they otherwise wouldn't be willing to do. It also doesn't work against monsters unless you take specific moves (I think the Monstrous has a move that lets you do this).
Kick Some Ass: This move is only triggered if you're able to hurt who you're attacking and your target is able to hurt you back. If you're attacking someone with a magical force shield, you may not be able to hurt them unless you have a special weapon or figure out how to remove the shield. If you're attacking a helpless creature, it can't fight back, so you're just going to do damage without rolling. If you're far enough away and you're trying to shoot something that's moving around, it's probably going to be an Act Under Pressure roll since it's not close enough to hit you back.
MotW also has an extra mechanic called Luck. You have a pool of Luck points. After you roll, you can choose to spent a point of Luck to change your roll to a complete success. Additionally, when you use Luck, each playbook has something specific that gets triggered. When you use Luck, you do not get XP if you failed the roll. Also, be aware that Luck does not refresh. I think all the Playbooks have the ability to regain one Luck as an advancement, but that's about it. If you're out of Luck, I'm also more likely to go straight to Hard Moves against you.
Damage is handled via Harm. You start off with 0 Harm. If you take 4 Harm, you automatically become Unstable (and might as a result start to take more Harm over time/with strenuous activity if you don't get stabilized). If you take 7 Harm, you're dead. Armor reduces the amount of Harm you take on all incoming attacks except ones that are specifically label as "ignores armor."
The default + Weird move is Use Magic. If you don't think that fits your character, feel free to look at the Alternative Weird Basic Moves to pick a different one.
Since I'm running this as a one shot, you each start with 2 Luck instead of the full 7 (if I'm convinced to continue this into a campaign, I'll give everybody more Luck to get up to the normal amount).
***
Use Magic has listed "Do one thing that is beyond human limitations" as an effect. In the context of this game, something "beyond human limitations" means something like
- lifting a car just enough to free someone trapped underneath
- carrying on despite a nasty injury
- resisting a mental attack from a monster.
It does not mean doing something like flying or reading thoughts (Empath is a separate thing). If you want to accomplish those with magic, it'll be a Big Magic ritual rather than a Use Magic.
***
In a normal, face-to-face MotW game, the flow would go something like
- Player describes something
- If the action triggers a Move, GM asks for a dice roll
- Player rolls the dice
- GM narrates the results
That is going to be slow in a PBP format, but it won't always be clear if a move has been triggered or not. I plan to go by the following:
- If you think you've triggered a move, go ahead and roll it. If it not necessary, say because failure isn't interesting or there's no way to accomplish what you want, I will tell you as much. If you rolled a 6-, this will mean that you won't get the XP.
- If you roll a move but it's the wrong one, I'll use your dice roll but change your modifier appropriately.
- If you don't roll, you as a group should decide: either I can always ask you to roll or, if it'll speed things up, I can roll for you (For example, me rolling Act Under Pressure for you would speed things up but me rolling Investigate a Mystery for you would not). Which would y'all prefer?
***
Do not be surprised if you see me posting cutscenes/scenes that contain information your character does not have (the first post in gameplay is an example of this). My goal, and hopefully yours, is to tell an interesting story, and I believe showing things that are happening elsewhere is part of that. Related to that, you should feel free to read any and all spoilers as I assume you will keep player knowledge separate from character knowledge.
***
Make sure to have your basic character info in your stats line. I would suggest something like
Class/Levels: [Playbook name] | 0/5 XP
Gender: V Charm | W Cool | X Sharp | Y Tough | Z Weird
Race: 0/7 Harm | [Stable/Unstable] | 2/2 Luck
1) Post in discussion with what the other characters are likely to know about your character. If you want, you can just link to your submission, but if there's anything in that that wouldn't be broadly known or if you want to add any other details they know, now is the time to point it out.
2) Post the list of the options from your Histories section. If you have ideas for which characters might fit different items, go ahead and suggest them. Your goal is to connect yourself to at least 2 different PCs though you are more than welcome to pick more. You must get the other player to consent to this link before it becomes official.
3) Let me know if you're keeping Use Magic as your Weird move or if you're going with something else.
4) Dot and delete in Gameplay.
5) Weigh in on if you'd prefer me to sometimes roll for you or if you'd always like me to ask you to roll (See 3rd section under Logistics and Ground Rules)
Once we've established histories, we'll work on figuring out the best way to get all the characters involved in what's going on in Sioux Falls.
Hi all, really looking forward to this =)
1) TL;DR of the submission
• Ahmad is the counsellor of the local high school;
• Pretty much his whole story is public knowledge: son of Egyptian immigrants, father was an engineer who died in some freak accident, mother owns one of the restaurants in town;
• He is very overprotective of pretty much everyone and often meddles into matters without being asked (probably how he got involved with the hunters in the first place);
• He has a van which could be used to move the group around;
• He’s really keen into astrology and thinks his horoscopes, charts and etc help the group.
2) Here are the history questions. I’ve added a few suggestions in italic.
• You are close relations. Tell them exactly how you’re related.
• Initially rivals, you both now respect each others’ talents.
• Romantically involved, or you just have a crush on them. Ask them which they prefer.
• They’re your hero, exactly the kind of monster hunter you aspire to be. Tell them why you worship them.
• Good friends. Tell them if it’s from way back, or recently. Could be Rani? Due to her not being born in Sioux Falls and him wanting to make sure she felt right at home?
• You’re a bit suspicious of them.
• They introduced you to the existence of monsters. Tell them how you feel about that. I guess Devin or Cwethan’s PC would make the most sense.
• You saved their life from a monster due to an unlikely chain of events. Tell them what. This one sounds like fun, any volunteers?
3) I would like to change the weird move from Use Magic to Empath.
5) absolutely fine with the GM rolling to speed things up.
I will also note that not everybody has to live in/be from Sioux Falls. It's perfectly fine if people want to be from elsewhere and have traveled here just to deal with this/to deal with other weird portents to be determined.
OK, let's see.
1) I apologise in advance if things go a little...hinky. While I don't intend to make it disruptive, Rani's magic blowback don't effect her - they target you guys, the people we're trying to keep save, or even (when the GM is feeling super nice) the bad guys. Combined with the fact Rani is addicted to her magic and it's probably gonna get whacky sometimes. If it gets too much just yell at Rani. I won't take it at all personally.
2)
• You once cast a powerful spell or curse on them. Tell them why, and ask them how it ended.
• They fear your power, or what you might do with it. Ask them why.
Most people should probably be this.
• You’re madly in love with them. Ask them if they can tell.
• They encourage you to indulge your temptation. Ask them why.
• They keep you grounded, and are unfazed by your displays of power.
Sounds like a good roll for Ahmed. Rani is more likely to listen to a friend than she is others. My guess is that she would have shown up and helped with something at his school, and he helped her not burn down the gym.
• You learned through divination that they’re important and you should help them. Decide whether you’ve told them or not.
I think this would work for Oscar. His ability to decern patterns will probably reveal something important, eventually. Unless it becomes important Rani probably wouldn't mention it, to avoid tampering with fate.
• They helped you out when a spell went awry. Tell them what the spell was, and ask them how they helped you.
Devin seems like a good one for this, given his Spell-slinging.
3) Rani is very much keeping Use Magic. All the using of the magic, all the time!
5) I'm fine with you rolling to speed things up. Hell, I have a better chance of doing well then!
5) I'm fine with you rolling to speed things up. Hell, I have a better chance of doing well then!
Haha! This might actually be true. ^_^; Come to think of it, I'm surprised you've only had the one character death given this... Maybe that will balance out with how XP works in MotW though? If not, please try not to die until near the half-way point. ;-)
...I promise nothing. On the plus side, I also gain XP when I give into my magic addiction (and the situation didn't clearly call for magic, like burning the demonic werevamp) so I should get more XP that way too.
Hi, reporting in! Looking forward to this game. I probably won't be able to get through items one through five until tomorrow. Thanks for setting this up!
Hi everyone - Cwethan here again!
Since we seem to be angling towards a high-weirdness group, I'll be running Taryn as The Monstrous.
What you'd all know about Werewolves:
*They carry bestial traits, even as a human, though they're not always obvious.
*Those traits are much stronger and more dangerous when the full change is upon them.
*The change can be brought on by heightened emotional states, as well as the moon; it's mostly involuntary, but can be purposefully triggered.
*While fully lupine, werewolves remember their lives, and remember who and what are important to them, but often filter those feelings through explicitly predatory urges.
*The curse is contagious through bites, but not 100% so. And of course, they have to survive.
*Silver might help, especially when the werewolf has changed, but silver's not enough.
What you'd all know about Taryn:
*She was bitten a few years back by someone she does not want to talk about.
*She tried to keep up a vaguely normal life, but had to drop off the grid when things got too hairy ba dum tss
*After that she spent a fair bit of time on the darker side of things, fully embracing the wolf, starting a pack, etc.
*Recently, her wolf has been bound. A series of mystically empowered tattoos, scars, and silver jewelry keep her from the full change, and keep her relatively vulnerable, even if she still has the vitality and senses that normally go along with a werewolf's more 'human' form.
*She's not totally sure how to feel about this.
*Definitely one of the reasons she hunts monsters is because they're an acceptable target for her more violent urges.
*Boy does she still have urges.
***
Okay, other character stuff! I'd been thinking about swapping out Magic for Empath, but GM, if you're okay with Sensitive being reflavored as the impressions she gets from her Super-Snoot, then that might even work better :-)
Totally fine with you rolling whenever that would speed things up.
***
Now choices about Taryn:
For Monster Breed, she was originally human and was transformed. She was evil and changed sides.
Her Curse is a Pure Drive: One emotion rules her - Pride. (this often comes through as anger, but Pride's at the root)
Her Natural Attacks (that she can use/is willing to use in human form) are claws with +1 harm (3-harm, hand).
She has Unquenchable Vitality (which allows her to heal herself when she's taken harm) and Unholy Strength (she kicks ass with Weird instead of Tough).
She keeps a Magnum (3-harm close reload loud) as a handy weapon.
She looks like a woman with an unnerving (but compelling) aura and stylish clothes.
***
History:
I'd love to tag in another PC as the one who ended up binding her wolf - probably this would be someone like Rani or Devin, but happy to go with someone else if that sounds fun :-)
* You lost control one time, and almost killed them. Ask them how they stopped you. This could be a few different times - Could be back 'when she was bad,' could be her final act before someone bound her, could be her temper getting the best of her even after she was 'good.' The last one sounds very likely for Rani - especially if someone else designed the binding, and her magic later messed with it...
* They tried to slay you, but you proved you’re on the side of good. Ask them what convinced them. This one sounds like it could be interesting for Oscar. The slayage might've been prevented before shots etc. were fired, but I like the idea of The Flake piecing together that she's a werewolf in disguise and beginning the hunt.
* You are romantically obsessed with them. Ask them if they know, and if they reciprocate. Not planning on this one. I'm all for romantic entanglements etc. but I'd rather see what develops.
* Close relations, or a distant descendant. Tell them which. This **could** be relations, but she's in her mid 20s, so unlikely anyone's her distant descendant.
* You saved them from another of your kind, and prevented reprisals against that individual creature (maybe it’s another good one, or maybe it has a hold over you). I'd loooove for this to be someone's tie - could line up with Ahmad being introduced to monsters existing too
* They are tied to your curse or origin. Tell them how. This could also be the big binding, though it certainly leaves a lot of blank space for why exactly that happened.
* You fought together against the odds, and prevailed. Kinda bland? tbh?
* They saved you from another hunter who was prepared to kill you. Ask them what happened. This one sounds good too! I like the idea of this being Alfie since he's very non-judgmental when it comes to 'monsters'
Sounds like "You lost control one time, and almost killed them. Ask them how they stopped you" and "You once cast a powerful spell or curse on them. Tell them why, and ask them how it ended" could mesh pretty well. At a guess I would say it would likely be while you were being naughty, and Rani would likely have helped 'curse' you into submission. Given she's pretty powerful at healing, she takes more risks than anyone human fragile should, and would probably have gotten torn up doing it. Sound good?
Also, I know we don't actually have to have mutual stories like this, but it fit and worked well this time.
We should probably be consistent with how we're tracking Harm. Some people are doing 0/7 Harm while others are doing 7/7 Harm, which is going to get really confusing as people get injured and trying to remember who's doing it which way. Or if the people who want to count down would like to switch their label to 7/7 Health or something that would work too.
@Taryn:
I'm perfectly fine with having been saved by Taryn and, as you said, it would be a perfect way of Ahmad having discovered the existence of monsters.
I can imagine him following some sort of vague prediction that someone would be in danger while walking close to a wolf's den alone at night and being ecstatic when his "prophecy" came true, but also very surprised he wasn't being threatened by a wolf?
@Rani:
That works for me too. Ahmad can be relatively unfazed because, you know, he can sometimes predict the future. Do you think the thing you came to help with was something supernatural (say, a few students who were dealing with magic tutorials they found on the web and which could harm them) or something a bit more mundane (ancient egyptian history day with a guest of honour?)
Regarding Harm/Health I'm fine with adapting to whatever the majority is doing.
It makes sense to me to start at 0/7 Harm, because we're tracking harm done to the characters, not health or hit points. (I realize I'm one of the ones to have 7/7.)
1) Here is the post where I outlined Oscar's backstory (under the "Why I Hunt" spoiler). I think that information is accessible to anyone who knows Oscar reasonably well. It's not a secret, but most people don't offer up traumatic incidents about their past to people they don't know very well. If for some reason you decide that your character doesn't know Oscar's backstory, then you would know he has an aversion to reflections and that's about it.
2) History:
• They’re somehow tied into it all. You’ve been keeping an eye on them.
• They’re a close relative. Ask them to decide exactly what.
• Old friends, who originally met through a long chain of coincidences.
• You went through hell together: maybe a monster, maybe military service, maybe time in an institution. Whatever it was, it bound you together, and you have total trust in each other.
• Members of the same support group.
• Fellow freaks.
• The signs all pointed to working together. So you found them and now you work together. --
• You know each other through cryptozoology and conspiracy theory websites. --
3) I'm going to keep Use Magic as my Weird move. Oscar is pretty deliberate about this Monster Hunting thing, so he would have learned what he can about it.
4) Dotted and deleted.
5) DM, I do not have any problem with you rolling for me when getting the result right away will make the PbP move faster.
Oops, just realized I missed Taryn's question about Sensitive: Yes, I'm totally fine with making that more of a super-sniffer thing.
For Weird moves, seems like we have
Empath: Ahmad
Sensitive: Taryn
Use Magic: Oscar and Rani (probably also Devin as a Spell-Slinger)
Unless Devin or Alfie have strong objections, it also looks like I will roll when I think it'll speed things up.
*****
I'll sort through what has been said thus far about Histories sometime after work tonight. I expect I may have some follow-up questions.
• You learned through divination that they’re important and you should help them. Decide whether you’ve told them or not.
I think this would work for Oscar. His ability to decern patterns will probably reveal something important, eventually. Unless it becomes important Rani probably wouldn't mention it, to avoid tampering with fate.
Sounds good. This parallels Oscar's hook, "They’re somehow tied into it all. You’ve been keeping an eye on them." Oscar realizes Rani is somehow relevant to what's going on, so he's keeping an eye on you just to be sure. He's likewise not telling her what he suspects, of course.
* They tried to slay you, but you proved you’re on the side of good. Ask them what convinced them. This one sounds like it could be interesting for Oscar. The slayage might've been prevented before shots etc. were fired, but I like the idea of The Flake piecing together that she's a werewolf in disguise and beginning the hunt.
The blood, the missing persons, the unpaid library fees... IT ALL MADE SENSE! But a werewolf... whoo!... I should have been more careful. I found you, but in doing so I got too close and you caught my scent. I took a potshot, but I was lucky to get out of there with all my inside parts on the insde. I went back to my notes and then started looking for help. That's when I figured out that somebody out there was taking an interest in you. They were very interested when I told them I knew how to find you.
(So, I'm shoe-horning Oscar into whomever is decided gets to bind you. It would be cool if this turns out to be a group effort! Binding a werewolf sounds like Big Magic to me.)
@Oscar: Ahmad seems a bit too…mundane for the flake's questions? Perhaps the good friends, or perhaps Ahmad could moonlight as the counsellor in the support group? But then again I guess it's not like we all need to have history with every group member.
We don't, but if Ahmad actively seeks out Monsters to confront, Oscar is definitely interested in getting to know you.
Plus, a number of your hooks could apply, regardless of being mundane or not.
• Initially rivals, you both now respect each others’ talents.
• They’re your hero, exactly the kind of monster hunter you aspire to be. Tell them why you worship them.
• You’re a bit suspicious of them.
Ahmad
Probably something more magical. Rani doesn't really know much about ancient Egypt or the magic she's using yet, despite the extensive use, so she wouldn't make a very good speaker.
Oscar
Sounds good. Although I imagine them staring at each other suspiciously a lot when they think the other isn't watching.
Oscar
Sounds good. Although I imagine them staring at each other suspiciously a lot when they think the other isn't watching.
Yes, that's why it's funny!
(Full disclosure: Rani is the GM of a couple other campaigns I play in on these boards. Our PCs looking at each other suspiciously for no discerning reason is entirely appropriate.
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@Oscar: haha, I did think about the suspicious one, but I thought Ahmad would try to be understanding ("He's not bad, he's just a bit…unique"), but, well, if Rani is going to be staring suspiciously at Oscar, I guess Ahmad has a good reason to do the same.
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I'll see if I can't earn that suspicion.
1.) They probably all know Devin is a caster of sorts and that he isn't from Sioux Falls
2.)
• They act as your conscience when the power goes to your head. Ask them about the last time this happened. Ahmed, between being a counselor and being over protective thought he might be a good fit?
• Blood relation, though you were out of contact for years. Ask them how they reconnected with you.
• Mentor from another life. Ask them what they taught you.
• Your magic-fueled rescue of them introduced them to the supernatural. Tell them what creature was after them.
• An old rivalry has turned into a tight friendship. Tell them what you once fought over. Rani, perhaps we fought over some sort of magical trinket but a third party stole it while we were distracted with each other?
• You thought they were dead, and now they’re back. What “killed” them? Taryn? Perhaps before he knew she was a werewolf.
• They’re an on-again/off-again love interest. Ask them what keeps you apart. Tell them what keeps you together.
• A comrade-in-arms. You’ve faced the biggest threats together.
3.) Use magic
4.) Done
5.) Sounds good
Ok, it sounds like these are the histories we have relatively set so far (correct me if I'm wrong/missing something) with a few other proposals still on the table.
@Everyone: How do people feel about Oscar's idea that binding Taryn was a group effort? I don't want to pre-answer some of the questions I have for y'all below, but I could see a chain of events something like
- Taryn saves Ahmad from another werewolf
- Oscar is hunting the other werewolf and also stumbles upon Taryn, either trying to slay her as well or perhaps mistaking her for the werewolf he was originally hunting?
- Some kind of confrontation, possibly where Taryn saves the other werewolf from reprisal. Maybe in the process that's where she loses control and attacks Rani?
- Rani curses Taryn, this weakens her enough for Devin and Alfie to perform Big Magic and bind her? Or maybe Rani's magic messes with the binding and it doesn't go quite right?
- Oscar could also potentially be involved here or he could have just been the one who put the others on her trail, meaning Taryn may not know of his involvement.
- It's also possible after binding her, someone wanted to kill Taryn, but Alfie stopped them.
Y'all are totally free to nix that if you don't like it; that's just what kind of came to mind as I was sorting through all the history stuff.
Taryn and Ahmad
Taryn introduced Ahmad to the existence of monsters by Taryn saving Ahmad from another werewolf and preventing reprisals against the other wolf.
@Ahmad: How do you feel about this? Both being rescued by Taryn and discovering that there really are creatures that go bump in the night?
@Taryn: Would this be pre- or post-binding? Did you specifically know this other wolf or do you just have an affinity for all your fellow werewolves? Any thoughts on where these reprisals might have come from?
Taryn and Rani
Taryn "lost control" and almost killed Rani. Rani in return, cast a powerful spell or curse on Taryn.
Follow up questions depend on if this was part of binding, well before, or sometime after.
Taryn and Oscar
Oscar tried to slay Taryn, but she proved she's on the side of good
The main follow up here is "How did Taryn convince Oscar of this?" though the answer probably depends on if this was part of the binding or not.
Rani and Ahmad
Ahmad keeps Rani grounded, and are unfazed by her displays of power.
@Ahmad: Why are you unfazed? Have the stars aligned to say Rani's ok? Is it just part of you (as far as I can tell) general thinking-the-best of everyone? Something else entirely?
Rani and Oscar
Rani learned through divination that Oscar is important and she should help him. Rani hasn't told him. Oscar believes Rani is somehow tied into it all. He's been keeping an eye on them.
@Rani: How do your divinations normally work/what do they look like?
@Oscar: Similar question, what did you see (probably in her reflection?) that makes you think Rani is tied to it all?
There are also a few other connections proposed but I don't think commented on? Specifically with regards to possible connections to Devin and Alfie (who I will PM to make sure he knows people are chatting in discussion about histories)
1) Everyone would know that Alfie is a professional medium. If they are into the occult, they would know that he's a pretty effective one, too. Anyone who knows him professionally would appreciate how his slightly-off personality matches his practice as a medium; anyone who knows him personally would also know that it's not just a show. His mind is often on spirits, to the point that he confuses the corporeal world with the spirit world. There's no reason anyone who knows him shouldn't know his entire background.
2)
Taryn's history:
They saved you from another hunter who was prepared to kill you. Ask them what happened. This one sounds good too! I like the idea of this being Alfie since he's very non-judgmental when it comes to 'monsters'
Based on Taryn's other bond, it seems that the hunter who wanted to kill her was Oscar, likely because Taryn, being a werewolf and not fully in control of herself, was trying to kill Oscar. At which point Alfie (and others) may have stepped in (with help from Ahmad, who knew from his prophecy exactly where and when this would happen) and stopped Oscar from killing her, instead binding her, which gave her more control over herself and allowed her to control herself well enough to behave in civilized company.
Oscar's histories:
• The signs all pointed to working together. So you found them and now you work together. -- Alfie: As a legitimate practicioner of something supernatural, you would have quickly turned up on Oscar's radar as someone who he should know. Oscar sees patterns, but that doesn't necessarily tell him the whole story, so he would regularly come to you to help fill out some of the gaps in his deductions.
This works fine. Alfie has privileged knowledge, thanks to his spirit acquaintances.
My histories are:
• They taught you to control your powers, to the extent that you can control them at all.
• You are blood-kin. Decide together exactly what.
• You are married, or romantically involved. Decide between you the exact relationship.
• You’re old friends, and trust each other completely.
• You used your powers on them one time. Decide if it was for selfish reasons or not, and tell them if they found out about it.
• You’ve known each other some time, but since your powers manifested, you keep them at a distance emotionally.
• You hope they can help you control your powers.
• They saw you use your powers for selfish or vindictive reasons. Ask them who the victim was, and then tell them what you did.
3) I'll stick with Use Magic
5) No problem with GM rolling
For harm I'm putting 0/7 because it seems that that's what most people are doing.
I've also thought about a possible mythos for the City of Mist part of the game. Pirithous descended to Hades with Theseus to kidnap Persephone for himself, but they were both bound to a rock for many years. When Heracles arrived, he was able to save Theseus, but not Pirithous, because he had tried to steal Persephone, and so Pirithous remained in Hades forever. In a way this parallels Alfie's descent into the spirit world, from which he is having trouble coming out of, or remaining in touch with the physical world. I hadn't intended it in this context, but the fact that he married a spirit and divorced soon afterwards could be developed further into another parallel with the attempted kidnapping of Persephone.
Binding Taryn as a group effort:
It sounds fine to me. In case this happens after she saved him, I would add that Ahmad would probably be there with Alfie in trying to talking the others into not killing her, since she saved his life once. This would give him yet another reason to be suspicious of Oscar.
---
Taryn and Ahmad
I think Ahmad would be very ok with being rescued. He has his powers (he thinks), but he's clearly not trained to take an actual monster alone.
@Taryn, if this happened before you were bound, what was your reason for saving Ahmad? Or was that merely a side-effect to whatever business you had with the other guy?
After learning that monsters exist, he would be scared and go even deeper into the astrology thing to keep feeling he is in control and that he can prevent people he loves from dying.
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Rani and Ahmad
Well, the way I think his astrology works is to give him confirmation of what he already believes. So I could see him thinking that "she's nice and wouldn't hurt me" and then coming up with something like Rani's Mars is complementary to his Pluto, which indicates her powers would tend to avoid him. Whenever this (inevitably) backfires, it will just be the exception that confirms the rule.
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@Devin: sounds good to me. What happens when power goes over your head? Perhaps you were considering killing a novice wizard who challenged you in battle and Ahmad convinced you not to?
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@Alfie: Yeah, I can see Ahmad visiting Alfie with drinks and dinner, then sort of just asking questions about things, trying to help Alfie dealing with spirits by talking it out with them. Would that be in character?
First, regarding the oops move: are there any downsides to this? It sort of reads as a desperate move ("everything else failed, so I guess I'll just use oops to stumble on something random"), but it doesn't seem to have any trade-off.
Second, I am torn between let's get out of here and don't worry, I'll check it out moves. Having never played PbtA I don't know how useful they tend to be, as they both seem a bit situational.
It's pretty hard to say which move is more "useful" since, as mentioned, I haven't planned anything out in that kind of detail. Either way, it's kind of up to you to try to use those moves. The typical MotW plot consists of "Weird stuff happens to get the Hunters' attention. The Hunters investigate/try to figure out what the monster is and stop it." If you go with Let's Get Out Of Here, that means you'll probably want to stick by someone who's likely to try to fight the monster. If you pick Don't Worry, I'll Check It Out, you'll want to wander off by yourself more often. While not every time you wander off will be dangerous, taking that move will probably mean that I'm more likely to add a danger to that situation, so that you can get that XP (as I mentioned in one of my long spiels, the world in MotW is not as set in stone as it might be in Pathfinder. Which is part of the reason why it's encouraged for me not to over-prepare/to improvise as things go along).
So I would say neither is obviously more useful than the other? It depends on which of the two behaviors you'd rather encourage Ahmed to do. If you take Don't Worry, I'll Check It Out and never wander off, it's not a useful move. Another way of thinking of it is that a character wandering off by themself is probably not good for the character, but it can make the story more interesting. That move exists to incentivize the player to take that action anyway. It's the same with the Always the Victim move and What Could Go Wrong.
Taryn and Oscar
Oscar tried to slay Taryn, but she proved she's on the side of good
The main follow up here is "How did Taryn convince Oscar of this?" though the answer probably depends on if this was part of the binding or not.
I was thinking that once Oscar learned that Rani was originally a person -- and was not always a monster -- that he was less set on killing her unless it's a last resort. This revelation could come to him as he meets up with other Hunters interested in her, but certainly after she'd been bound.
Rani and Oscar
Rani learned through divination that Oscar is important and she should help him. Rani hasn't told him. Oscar believes Rani is somehow tied into it all. He's been keeping an eye on them.
@Rani: How do your divinations normally work/what do they look like?
@Oscar: Similar question, what did you see (probably in her reflection?) that makes you think Rani is tied to it all?
I'll admit I didn't put a lot of thought into this feedback-plot-hook-situation® when I suggested it. I'll have to give it some thought, but I'm open to suggestions.
Backstory sounds good. Rani making things worse sounds like the more interesting route.
Rani's method of divination will be seeing things in a flame. It's how it was done in Heka, it would seem, thanks to Egypt's belives in fire, light and the sun. I would imagine it's flickers and images mixed with feelings.
Thanks for the explanation.
Understood regarding oops. It was more a general curiosity question, so thanks for the patience =)
As for the moves, I will leave Let's get out of here for now and have a think about it. Will let you know if I have a change of heart (before we being gameplay, of course).
I'll admit I didn't put a lot of thought into this feedback-plot-hook-situation® when I suggested it. I'll have to give it some thought, but I'm open to suggestions.
How about whenever Oscar sees Rani's reflection, her image looks intact, but there are small, almost imperceptible cracks radiating out from her image to seemingly random things around her. After Taryn was bound, the cracks got much more noticeable.
@Rani: Do you have ideas for a vision? If not, I can think on it more and try to come up with something. We could possibly use it as a plot hook that ties y'all into checking out Sioux Falls.
@Ahmad: Sounds good!
Leaving it open and using it to draw me into the plot sounds like a good idea.
I'll admit I didn't put a lot of thought into this feedback-plot-hook-situation® when I suggested it. I'll have to give it some thought, but I'm open to suggestions.How about whenever Oscar sees Rani's reflection, her image looks intact, but there are small, almost imperceptible cracks radiating out from her image to seemingly random things around her. After Taryn was bound, the cracks got much more noticeable.
I like it.
Oooh, I missed that detail. Yeah, that's cool.
Still waiting for a bit more of the histories to get confirmation after they were proposed, but I'd also like to know who is/isn't local. I know Ahmad is local and Devin said he isn't. What about other people? If you're not local, any thoughts on what might have drawn you here? I know Rani has her vision that I need to come up with that could either draw her to the location or just grab her attention. If Oscar wants to be from elsewhere, I could similarly do a reflection-indication that something is happening that draws him in.
@Alfie: Cool! Definitely a Mythos that I will have to do some googling on.
Okay... responding to quite a few things lol.
I like the idea of binding Taryn's wolf crossing over a lot of things, but I think I'd prefer if there are sorta two moments.
@Devin I'm not envisioning a time in Taryn's life pre-wolfdom that she would have been presumed dead, and post-wolfdom she'd basically never have gone down without at least making it clear she was a werewolf. But Devin thinking he'd killed her in an earlier, hairier encounter strikes me as reasonable. Especially since an unbound werewolf can get **quite** toasty and still come back when given the time to do so.
@Rani I feel like I don't have a strong sense of your magic yet - what kinds of spells does she sling around? Being hit with a fireball a la 'Burn Everything' is certainly effective, but I wouldn't hate going with something more memorable for some kind of curse...
@Oscar I assume that if I'm proving I'm on the side of good, that I have to already be on the side of good :-p
This makes it less likely that Taryn would have freaked out and attacked Oscar just because she smells him nearby, though doing something threatening that provokes him is still on the table... I'm picturing it being something where both of them think the other one started it.
Like Oscar was tailing her, she slipped away to walk up behind him and ask what he's doing, he shot her, and then she 'disagreed' with being shot, but in a way that made it clear that at least some of his assumptions were wrong ;-)
@Alfie I'm not quite vibing with Taryn being Alfie's 'old friend'. Partially because I read her as very bad at unconditional trust, but also because they'd have had to have become friends when she was in college or highschool at the oldest, and that feels weird. I'm down for a 'used your powers on her' or a 'saw you use them selfishly or vindictively' though. :-)
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Here's my thoughts for a vague timeline of the events:
1)Taryn saved Ahmad from a werewolf who she'd turned, but felt was **too** vicious. When she was bad Taryn basically just did the whole 'wandering bad-girl' thing, using her abilities to shield herself from consequences and not worrying too much about what happened when things got hairy. Some of the werewolves she turned though... They started putting themselves into positions where things would definitely go 'wrong.' I'm envisioning Taryn saving Ahmad from a purposefully triggered rampage. She'd describe it (especially to herself) as saving her packmate from doing something stupid and leading a bunch of hunters back to them. But it definitely could give Ahmad the idea that she's not just a mindless beast.
2)Devin thinks he kills Taryn. Probably because he's a hunter who got led back to her and her pack after the boneheaded rampages :-p
At this point it's pretty likely that she's no longer with her pack - things went bad over her 'saving the prey'.
3)Devin finds out she's still alive, decides to finish the job. Alfie intercedes (in some way), probably arguing that she doesn't have to be killed, possibly leading Devin to the appropriate rites. Ahmad backs this up with his own experiences with Taryn.
4)Binding of the Wolf
5)Oscar tracking Taryn down could even be like, 5-minutes before the mystery starts. If Taryn's come to town to sniff things out (likely concerned its one of her ex-packmates), and Oscar's also trying to figure out what's going on, she could have been his first suspect for this mystery! If you'd rather be in on the Binding that works too. I'm still picturing her flipping the tables on his hunt, but leaving him alive and unscarred since something has to prove that she's on the side of the angels.
Rani's curse - Still up in the air, but I like during the Binding/being the binding, or a hex afterwards while they were potentially working together.
Could also be earlier while she was bad; bonus points if that makes you an earlier naysayer on whether it was worth not killing Taryn in the first place...
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Editing in local details:
I'm assuming that this is broadly speaking part of Taryn's migratory patterns, but she might never have been to this particular town. However, she's very much on the lookout for her pack to give them the chance she got, if they'll take it...
@Alfie: Yeah, I can see Ahmad visiting Alfie with drinks and dinner, then sort of just asking questions about things, trying to help Alfie dealing with spirits by talking it out with them. Would that be in character?
Yes, Alfie would be happy to introduce them.
Still waiting for a bit more of the histories to get confirmation after they were proposed, but I'd also like to know who is/isn't local.
I imagine Alfie as a local, someone whose family has lived in Sioux Falls for as long as it existed. He would never travel to a big city willingly.
@Alfie I'm not quite vibing with Taryn being Alfie's 'old friend'. Partially because I read her as very bad at unconditional trust, but also because they'd have had to have become friends when she was in college or highschool at the oldest, and that feels weird. I'm down for a 'used your powers on her' or a 'saw you use them selfishly or vindictively' though. :-)
That would work too. "Used your powers on her" could be if Alfie was the one who bound her (or at least participated in it).
Taryn
Honestly, I don't have that strong a sense of them yet either. I think I might focus on Light and heat, given the Egyptian theme.
Hmm... those seem like reasonable ways to direct her combat magic... ::flips through some old WoD Mummy books for inspiration::
You could have whammied Taryn with some kind of reverse-Midas-touch ward thingy (Possibly not the goal)? Like, wood or rubber or something decayed at her touch? Or maybe just sorta rebelled against her? Like at first it's always getting splinters when you sit on a bench or having your pencil break over and over, and as the curse progressed it's suddenly like "STAY THE F%&~ OUT OF THE FOREST!"
That seems like something that could either have been an attack that didn't fully land, or a magical smackdown once she was pretty sure Taryn wouldn't actually eviscerate her for it...
Currently looks like we're waiting on confirmation on the following histories
Devin
Rani proposed: They helped you out when a spell went awry. Tell them what the spell was, and ask them how they helped you.
Oscar proposed: You know each other through cryptozoology and conspiracy theory websites.
Maybe we could re-interpret this somewhat. Oscar very deliberately wanted to learn magic-use as part of his drve to be a Hunter. He would have come to you for instruction. Maybe because you were self-taught and often get pushback from other spellcasters at the lack of formal training, you were willing to show Oscar some of what you know, if only to prove ts legitamacy.
Rani
Devin proposed: • An old rivalry has turned into a tight friendship. Tell them what you once fought over.Rani, perhaps we fought over some sort of magical trinket but a third party stole it while we were distracted with each other?
Local vs Not Local
Local: Ahmad, AlfieNot Local: Devin
Local to the general area but not this town: Taryn
@Oscar and Rani: Should I take the silence as votes for not-local?
@Devin: Any ideas about what sort of thing would have brought you to town?
Then some follow-ups on the additionally confirmed histories:
Alfie and Ahmad
Ahmad taught Alfie to control his powers, to the extent that he can control them at all.
@Alfie: What were your powers like before you had full control? You said you were born with your powers. Given that you made your character fairly old and I get the impression Ahmad is on the younger side (maybe 30s? Just a guess), give me 2-3 terrible things that happened to you as a result of not really having control for so much of your life.
@Ahmad: Have you ever gotten Alfie to connect you to your dead father? If yes, how did it go? If no, why haven't you?
Ahmad and Devin
Ahmad acst as Devin's conscience when the power goes to his head. Ask them about the last time this happened.
@Devin: Would love to hear a response to Ahmad's question: What happens when power goes over your head? Perhaps you were considering killing a novice wizard who challenged you in battle and Ahmad convinced you not to?
Alfie and Taryn
So it sounds like we've settled on Alfie being the one that ultimately bound Taryn.
@Alfie: Most of what I've heard about your powers is you ability to see/communicate with spirits. How are you envisioning this binding happening? Were spirits involved or did you do something else?
@Taryn: It sounds like from your comment about giving others of your pack "a shot" that you consider this binding a good thing? Is that accurate? Can you tell me more about your feelings on this matter and have your feelings changed at all between when it first happened and now?
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General question for everyone: How are y'all feeling about your characters? Other than the couple of things we're waiting on for confirmation are you feeling like you've got a solid idea of your connection to the other Hunters, or are there gaps you're still missing and want to figure out before starting? It's ok as well if you want to try to figure out some things as gameplay starts. I'm just trying to get a feeling for if people would be ready to start either this weekend or early next week.
Alfie and Ahmad
Ahmad taught Alfie to control his powers, to the extent that he can control them at all.
@Alfie: What were your powers like before you had full control? You said you were born with your powers. Given that you made your character fairly old and I get the impression Ahmad is on the younger side (maybe 30s? Just a guess), give me 2-3 terrible things that happened to you as a result of not really having control for so much of your life.
Before Ahmad's intervention, Alfie was a wishy-washy people- and spirit-pleaser. He could be manipulated by spirits (and people!) who offered him the short end of deals. The principle consequence is not being able to perceive the difference between good and evil. People are influenced by their surroundings, and spirits can be a nasty bunch. (This would have gotten better once he met Ahmad and started monster hunting. But Alfie would say he does it for the social experience.) Further consequences would be things like being tricked into taking out a mortgage on his (ancestral) home in order to buy materials for an "important ceremony," really a party at his expense. (He managed to pay it back in exchange for freeing a somewhat dangerous spirit from its crypt.)
Alfie and Taryn
So it sounds like we've settled on Alfie being the one that ultimately bound Taryn.
@Alfie: Most of what I've heard about your powers is you ability to see/communicate with spirits. How are you envisioning this binding happening? Were spirits involved or did you do something else?
Alfie could have done it alone pretty easily. OOC it's just a Use Magic move: "Trap a specific person, minion, or monster."
General question for everyone: How are y'all feeling about your characters? Other than the couple of things we're waiting on for confirmation are you feeling like you've got a solid idea of your connection to the other Hunters, or are there gaps you're still missing and want to figure out before starting? It's ok as well if you want to try to figure out some things as gameplay starts. I'm just trying to get a feeling for if people would be ready to start either this weekend or early next week.
There are still some blanks, but the character and the party feel complete enough to me to begin.
@Oscar and Rani: Should I take the silence as votes for not-local?
Sorry! Local is fine.
There's a lot more moving parts in this thread than I was expecting.
Sorry, I thought Rani's backstory covered the 'not local' part, since she has Indian-British dual nationality. From the way backstory has been meshed she's probably been in town, and possibly stayed there a bit.
Devin's idea could work, combined with the one I had for him. Something along the lines of we were competing for a tome of somekind, one of Rani's spells went wrong and she got stuck, he chose to help her and a third party waltzed in while we were busy and made off with the prize?
Ahmad and Alfie contacting his father
Huh, that's an interesting one. Hadn't considered it.
I guess they might have tried it once, after Alfie casually mentioned it. Ahmad's first reaction was "nah, I'm alright," but of course he couldn't ignore the idea once it was brought up, so they tried it a few days later. Ahmad was nervous and had no idea what he would actually say or ask after so many years, but in the end no one replied, possiblye because his father's spirit had moved on (whatever that means). That would have turned into a very heavy drinking night afterwards, followed by a few very difficult and sad days.
Also, sorry, I thought I had mentioned Ahmad's age. I was thinking around his early 30s, yes.
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Timeline: so, do I read correctly that by Taryn's 4 the whole gang minus Oscar was together?
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General question
The only thing I'm missing is Ahmad's darker side, since most of what has been said so far emphasised his nice bits (friendly, eager to help, thinking the best of everyone).
If @Oscar is ok with it, I think it might be nice to say that Ahmad is not only suspicious of him, but sometimes actively putting the others against him? Since it seems Rani, Alfie and Devin all listen to Ahmad's advice, he might be trying to use his influence to make them (more) distrust him? "idk, probably just my impression, but he keeps looking at your book/sword and there's, like, this hunger in his eyes," etc. This would, of course, be supported by a few dozen pages of "astral evidence".
General question
The only thing I'm missing is Ahmad's darker side, since most of what has been said so far emphasised his nice bits (friendly, eager to help, thinking the best of everyone).If @Oscar is ok with it, I think it might be nice to say that Ahmad is not only suspicious of him, but sometimes actively putting the others against him? Since it seems Rani, Alfie and Devin all listen to Ahmad's advice, he might be trying to use his influence to make them (more) distrust him? "idk, probably just my impression, but he keeps looking at your book/sword and there's, like, this hunger in his eyes," etc. This would, of course, be supported by a few dozen pages of "astral evidence".
Creates tension. I like it. It makes sense since nobody else will be seeing the things that Oscar sees, and... well, he's a flake. :)
Alfie could have done it alone pretty easily. OOC it's just a Use Magic move: "Trap a specific person, minion, or monster."
It's actually not Use Magic; Use Magic has a default duration of about 30 minutes, so you would have needed to use Big Magic for the kind of effect Taryn is thinking of.
But anyway, the question wasn't so much about the mechanics of if you could do it. It was more about the flavor of how you did it. Does your magic typically involve the spirits or is it completely separate? Rani seems to be planning to go for Egyptian-style magic (which admittedly I know nothing about), so what is Alfie's magic like?
There's a lot more moving parts in this thread than I was expecting.
That there are! Setting up histories is actually turning out to be more complex than I had originally anticipated, so I'm sure I've dropped some things here or there. I promise it's not intentional, and if I've forgotten something, people are free to remind me.
Sorry, I thought Rani's backstory covered the 'not local' part, since she has Indian-British dual nationality. From the way backstory has been meshed she's probably been in town, and possibly stayed there a bit.
Yeah, I thought it was unlikely she had decided to settle down in a rather boring (up until now) town, but just wanted to make sure.
Timeline: so, do I read correctly that by Taryn's 4 the whole gang minus Oscar was together?
It's possible Devin also wasn't there? He hasn't said anything about it yet. If he hasn't responded by tomorrow night, I'll PM him to make sure he's seen that he has questions to respond to.
I also very much support dark sides and extra conflict. Bwahaha!
***
I'm going to take some time this weekend to write up notes/thoughts of everything said thus far as well as to look through everybody's character crunches to make sure I know/am reasonably familiar with what moves people picked. I've also still got a few kinks/details I need to figure out, so I'll take some time to brainstorm around that.
@Taryn: It sounds like from your comment about giving others of your pack "a shot" that you consider this binding a good thing? Is that accurate? Can you tell me more about your feelings on this matter and have your feelings changed at all between when it first happened and now?
Eh... It's less that she thinks that the binding is a good thing, and more that she thinks that her old pack was going off the deep end. Part of her is afraid that's where she would have wound up, part of her deeply resents having part of herself locked away.
But she's worried that it's down to killing or binding with her old pack, so... She'd rather give them a shot.
As for how her feelings have changed - it's still in flux a lot. One thing she hasn't brought up to anyone is the idea of time out of the cage, or bindings that can be broken. She's certain no one trusts her enough for that.
Timeline: so, do I read correctly that by Taryn's 4 the whole gang minus Oscar was together?
Proobably, but not necessarily. Everyone else definitely exists, but there's no need for everyone to be on a Team already. It can be just a series of links in a chain.
Alfie could have done it alone pretty easily. OOC it's just a Use Magic move: "Trap a specific person, minion, or monster."It's actually not Use Magic; Use Magic has a default duration of about 30 minutes, so you would have needed to use Big Magic for the kind of effect Taryn is thinking of.
But anyway, the question wasn't so much about the mechanics of if you could do it. It was more about the flavor of how you did it. Does your magic typically involve the spirits or is it completely separate? Rani seems to be planning to go for Egyptian-style magic (which admittedly I know nothing about), so what is Alfie's magic like?
No, he doesn't rely on spirits for his magic, apart from having close relations with them. He could have learned his magic from books. I imagine him reading English occult books of spells alongside Emerson-style mysticism.
@Oscar: brilliant. Apologies in advance for Ahmad's behaviour ;)
@Taryn: ok, got it. I'm fine with things either way.
Ok, so after this last round of clarification I think Ahmad is ready. (Also, damn, sorry about the mangled english on my previous post).
Devin and Taryn
If Ahmad and Rani were involved in binding Taryn I would say it is very likely that Devin was also there, surprised to see her alive. And since he thought that he killed her, Devin was likely drawn to the area to hunt werewolves and such.
Devin and Ahmad
When his power goes to his head Devin becomes hard to reason with especially in the face a direct challenge or threat and starts to rely on magic a little too much.
Devin and Rani
Rani and Devin were trying to recover a spell book when Rani ripped open a portal that tried to suck her in. Devin was forced to abandon his quest for the book to close the portal and save Rani.
Devin and Oscar
Sounds good. Any particular area of interest?
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@Amhad: Tell me about the last time the power went to Devin's head and how you helped act as his conscience.
@Rani: More of a mechanical thing, but did you have an idea for a Rote you wanted to start off with? If not, you can just leave it as an open Rote to be filled in per normal after you've Used Magic. Also, can you switch your Harm tag to 0/7 instead of 7/7 to be consistent with everybody else?
I think I've sorted how the broad strokes of everyone's intro post. I should be able to get that out tomorrow, so y'all can roam loose upon the world.