|
Post by Stu Venable on Jul 17, 2017 22:22:15 GMT -8
Firstly, I'm tyring to come up with ways to introduce the Boon economy into the game.
Ways I've thought of:
1. Having someone from Miroslav's court provoke one of the Moties into violence during Elysium, thereby causing Reilly (or the perpetrator) into giving up a boon.
2. Leveraging Reilly or Albert into a boon by forgiving Albert's Bloodhunt.
3. Leveraging Ezmerelda for a boon to allow her to search for her brother.
I'm looking for other opportunities. Also for opportunities for boons to be available to the Moties.
Secondly,
Mac is looking to be a bit more duplicitous.
We've come up with a couple ways she can do this. One is to cooperate secretly with the werewolves. This is a pretty easy one. Arson (the werewolf leader) doesn't trust Reilly, so he might approach Asa as a source for information. She'd certainly be suspected by Arson to be a double agent, but it still might pan out.
The other possibility is a Sabbat connection. Don't read the following unless you don't mind spoilers.
White Text Below -----
Darrin Crossgrave's two Gangrel friends have been brought into the Sabbat. When they disappeared a couple sessions ago, they performed the Vaulderie with him, bringing him into the fold. I'm assuming there's a secret Giovanni hiding on the island to help with the ritual. With Asa being rather disenchanted with things on the island, I'm thinking Crossgrave and his friends may approach her to join them. To offer some leverage, I'm thinking about making one of the two Gangrels in this group her sire.
|
|
sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
|
Post by sbloyd on Jul 18, 2017 5:14:38 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by uncommonman on Jul 18, 2017 5:41:16 GMT -8
Miroslav is an old vampire so having the boon economic being driven by him seems like a good idea.
You can use Riley's sire as a source for boons, maby she is already a few boons in the hole so to speak.
|
|
|
Post by RudeAlert on Jul 18, 2017 10:37:58 GMT -8
Firstly, I'm tyring to come up with ways to introduce the Boon economy into the game. Ways I've thought of: 1. Having someone from Miroslav's court provoke one of the Moties into violence during Elysium, thereby causing Reilly (or the perpetrator) into giving up a boon. 2. Leveraging Reilly or Albert into a boon by forgiving Albert's Bloodhunt. 3. Leveraging Ezmerelda for a boon to allow her to search for her brother. I'm looking for other opportunities. Also for opportunities for boons to be available to the Moties.
1. Violence at Elysium is a BIG deal, it could be resolved with a Boon, but is most often resolved with death. I wouldn't try that angle, especially since the players don't really have Boons in mind so they'd probably try just about anything else besides that. I also don't think any of them would go so far as to do something that dumb... well, maybe Asa. I think the only issue here is that the players don't really have Boons on their collective brains, so I would just occasionally remind them of that option by having NPCs bring it up in game. - Maybe two vampires on the island have some sort of conflict and they go to Riley to resolve the issue, and after some discussion the aggrieved party asks the other for a Boon, with maybe some debate afterwards about whether it should be a Minor or Major Boon. - Perhaps an NPC who feels slighted by something one of the PCs did asks for a Boon as compensation. Or perhaps an NPC who has done something to piss of a PC offers a Boon to resolve the issue. - As a variant of my NPC plaintiffs example above, perhaps a PC just happens to witness two NPCs deciding to resolve something among themselves with a Boon. - And of course, since Boons don't always have to be used to resolve problems, perhaps an NPC offers or asks for a Boon in exchange for help or resources. Basically, I'd remind the players that the Boon economy is a thing in vampire society by having them witness it in action. But not necessarily in grandiose, hyper-dramatic ways, just in casual ways that make it look like it's just a normal thing to do in vampire society to either resolve disputes or offer compensation for services rendered. Of course, having Boons called in would also be important to remind everyone that Boons aren't just pretty words, they actually have substantive value. Hopefully making them more desirable to acquire and encouraging the players to want to have them and appreciating their value enough to accept them as payment and offer them as such. Spoiler reply in White below ----- I had to put it in a Quote box because my post ended up being grey and it was a bitch to try to match to text color to the background.
On another note, I'm going to bring this up here just to not bash on a player, but I feel like Stork's interpretation of his character's new Path is kind of missing the mark. A vampire switching from Humanity to a Path of Enlightenment doesn't become more human or humane, quite the opposite, they embrace (no pun intended) their inhumanity and become ever more inhuman and alien. I believe Albert is on the Path of the Feral Heart? Or Harmony? In which case he should be becoming more bestial and monstrous the further he progresses, if he was gruff and primal before, he should be in the process of perfecting that and ultimately becoming the Ur-Gangrel. It's true that there should be an increasing simplicity in his approach to things but it should be the simplicity of a predator knowing that the only goal is killing the prey. His switch to a nicer, more approachable version of Albert pretty much runs counter to what his Path should be leading him to. Maybe others will have counters to this but I figured I would bring this up here.
|
|
|
Post by RudeAlert on Jul 18, 2017 11:01:07 GMT -8
Mac is looking to be a bit more duplicitous. We've come up with a couple ways she can do this. One is to cooperate secretly with the werewolves. This is a pretty easy one. Arson (the werewolf leader) doesn't trust Reilly, so he might approach Asa as a source for information. She'd certainly be suspected by Arson to be a double agent, but it still might pan out.
Further thoughts about this, I don't know how I feel about this for the AP. For a regular game that could be great, but for an AP I feel like that might not add much to the experience since I assume this whole clandestine thing would mostly be done behind the scenes, either between sessions or through Slack. (Slak? Slac? Whatever.) While this stuff is great in a home game, when you're streaming that to an audience, you're basically adding a lot of stuff that the audience will never see and might even become either confused by, or possibly frustrated by feeling left out of part of the action. I know that as much as I loved what Tim/Skully was doing in the game, I was pretty disappointed that so much of it was happening off-screen. Actually, I don't really like when you guys use Slack at all because every time that happens I'm left thinking "Oh great, relevant stuff is happening but not for me because I'm just part of the audience." It's not a deal breaker or anything but I'd say it's definitely a downside as far as I'm concerned. I imagine many others probably don't care but that's my two blood points on that topic.
|
|
sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
|
Post by sbloyd on Jul 18, 2017 11:20:40 GMT -8
I see it as equivalent to passing notes, where if I were at the table I wouldn't know what was in the note, either, RudeAlert.
|
|
|
Post by RudeAlert on Jul 18, 2017 11:32:18 GMT -8
I see it as equivalent to passing notes, where if I were at the table I wouldn't know what was in the note, either, RudeAlert . So do I, but an AP is not just a regular home game, it's a show with an audience, and that has to be taken into account. Also, I'm not overly fond of passing notes, whispers, or taking players aside. As far as I'm concerned the story should be enjoyed by everyone at the table, if you can't avoid meta-gaming I simply won't invite you to my games. Whenever I'm not actively involved in a portion of the story through my character, I consider myself part of the "audience" at the table. But anyways, that's a whole other topic and I don't want to derail Stu's thread.
|
|
|
Post by Probie Tim on Jul 18, 2017 12:52:44 GMT -8
OMG! I can totally go into the "players keep out" threads now! My first thought is this: Stu Venable, if your goal is to convert the game into a more Camarilla-centric, Elder-style game, do that. Werewolves, Sabbat, IMHO, diverts from that goal. Were I running the game with that goal, I would minimize Sabbat and garou interactions for a while... at least from my side of the table. Boons are a great thing to implement for that style of game. The quickest way to get the players to catch on is to have the NPCs guide them. Not... purposely of course. "So, young Riley, this doth be a boon and here be how it doth function," is boring. But you're bringing in "old world" vampires who probably understand the boon economy better than the actual financial economy in whatever country they hold domain. Have them use it for everything. Every time the Moties need anything from the new court, it costs them a boon. Does Miroslav - that's the elder nossie who took over LA, right? - realize that the Mote was once somewhat attached to the Glittering Night as a democratic experiment? If not, he should find that out and offer Riley a choice: submit to his rule as Prince as he annexes the Mote, or secure their independence with a major boon owed to him. Everything rolls downhill from there. Without Skully around, why is the NosPatrol remaining loyal? Seems to me that if Riley wants them to stay without Skully - especially since you know Skully was talking smack about the "pretty people" to the rest of his nospatriots - they'd probably want a boon to stay on as security. Just make sure that no favor goes un-booned, heh.
|
|
sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
|
Post by sbloyd on Jul 18, 2017 13:15:39 GMT -8
At the same time, Riley, as Prince, could declare certain choice feeding grounds off-limits, and reward them in exchange for boons. One of the NosPack might offer the boon earned by working as security for exclusive hunting rights - for a Domain, in effect. This might bring it to bear how boons work in everyday fashion.
|
|
|
Post by Probie Tim on Jul 18, 2017 13:31:10 GMT -8
Yup, exactly.
|
|
|
Post by Stu Venable on Jul 18, 2017 14:03:31 GMT -8
For something this big (Asa being enticed into the Sabbat), I'd clear the room so the audience could see what's happening. We did that once or twice with Skully's secret plans as well.
|
|
|
Post by RudeAlert on Jul 18, 2017 16:23:08 GMT -8
At the same time, Riley, as Prince, could declare certain choice feeding grounds off-limits, and reward them in exchange for boons. One of the NosPack might offer the boon earned by working as security for exclusive hunting rights - for a Domain, in effect. This might bring it to bear how boons work in everyday fashion. Yes, really emphasizing how Boons are a sort of legal currency in vampire society would go a long way to entice the players (and their characters) to rely on them more. I feel like they still see Boons as a sort of I-O-U type of thing that is limited to the individuals involved in the initial booning, whereas Boons can actually be traded from one to another as long as everyone keeps track of who owes a Boon to whom. They really need to get the booning going on so this game can get properly booned up.
|
|
|
Post by RudeAlert on Jul 18, 2017 16:35:09 GMT -8
OMG! I can totally go into the "players keep out" threads now! My first thought is this: Stu Venable , if your goal is to convert the game into a more Camarilla-centric, Elder-style game, do that. Werewolves, Sabbat, IMHO, diverts from that goal. Were I running the game with that goal, I would minimize Sabbat and garou interactions for a while... at least from my side of the table. Boons are a great thing to implement for that style of game. The quickest way to get the players to catch on is to have the NPCs guide them. Not... purposely of course. "So, young Riley, this doth be a boon and here be how it doth function," is boring. But you're bringing in "old world" vampires who probably understand the boon economy better than the actual financial economy in whatever country they hold domain. Have them use it for everything. Every time the Moties need anything from the new court, it costs them a boon. Does Miroslav - that's the elder nossie who took over LA, right? - realize that the Mote was once somewhat attached to the Glittering Night as a democratic experiment? If not, he should find that out and offer Riley a choice: submit to his rule as Prince as he annexes the Mote, or secure their independence with a major boon owed to him. Everything rolls downhill from there. Without Skully around, why is the NosPatrol remaining loyal? Seems to me that if Riley wants them to stay without Skully - especially since you know Skully was talking smack about the "pretty people" to the rest of his nospatriots - they'd probably want a boon to stay on as security. Just make sure that no favor goes un-booned, heh. Yayyy! Welcome to the other side of the fourth wall Probie! And Stu Venable, I very much agree with Tim that if you really want to play up the vampire politics and the whole Camarilla society of the night shtick, having Sabbat, Werewolves, Mages, and Changelings (fairies) around really dilutes the tone. Mind you, I have absolutely nothing against introducing the various baddies of the World of Darkness into one game, but they were never really intended to be combined. Doing so can create a lot of distractions from the main themes of the game being played. Also it would be interesting to see what Miroslav would think if he found out that Riley has a pack of Werewolves and an old Mage as "allies/associates/contacts/people-that-agreed-not-to-kill-each-other-and-don't-overtly-hate-each-other." And as Tim said, what's the Nosferacrew's current motivation for being loyal to Riley? Skully and them all seemed to have a good plan going, is that still a thing? You don't have to answer that here if you don't want to spoil anything, but it's certainly something that could become interesting.
|
|
|
Post by akavidar on Jul 18, 2017 16:35:44 GMT -8
Firstly, I'm tyring to come up with ways to introduce the Boon economy into the game. Ways I've thought of: 2. Leveraging Reilly or Albert into a boon by forgiving Albert's Bloodhunt.
I don't see Albert giving up a boon since he knows he didn't kill Anna DeLaramie, and he's stubborn enough to resist, but Riley might be pressured, since, I think, she knows who really did it.
|
|
SirGuido
Supporter
Drizztmas Santa
Ask me about the Drizztmas Exchange!
Posts: 2,127
Preferred Game Systems: L5R, Traveller, Fate Accelerated, Masks
Currently Playing: Nothing.
Currently Running: Nothing.
Favorite Species of Monkey: Anything in a Cage.
|
Post by SirGuido on Jul 21, 2017 16:02:05 GMT -8
Dude, the players are totally booned.
|
|