Ice Cream (OOC)

Out of character chatter about Ice Cream can go here to avoid cluttering up the Roleplay thread.This is for longer questions and answers related to that Roleplay. Basically: if it needs a back-and-forth, put it here.
General rules questions not answered in the Help! or Resources threads can go in General Chat or here if they are directly related to the RP.

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@Drgwen: Care to pilot Circe for this [ref] interaction?

Oh, well... I knew after posting that I should have been more explicit... there was no mention of any 'package', since the best way to transport blood is inside people (and Wentworth would want to make you squirm).... but nevermind, [ref] it's done now... :)

Only if you really want to. I prefer to go with 'what's done is done', and could have gone back and added that myself, but decided to leave it up to you.

Your story with Circe and the punctured (plastic) blood-bag could be interesting if Benji finds it appealing, though we know packaged blood is not as good as 'the real thing' for him.

@Morphling:
OK, good to have you with us.

Where do you want us to start?

• Are you at Titanias? If so, why?
· Are you merely trying to get plastic surgery?
· Or are you 'undercover' researching them because something led you to believe they may be a threat? If so, do you have ideas about what led you there?
· Some other reason?
· Some combination of the above reasons?

• Or do we start somewhere else? Any idea where? (A main reason to start at Titanias is to have Max and Emma meet, but we can arrange that through other means if we prefer.)
· We can start you at home, with your kid(s).
· We can start you in the park, maybe wolfed out, maybe tracking someone/something. (It might be at a different time to the others, as a flashback or 'later tonight', maybe.)
· Options abound.

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We can assume you are 'attending to your Territory' and roll Comes with the Territory (with Blood) and see how things are going, that might shape how we start, but all options can still lead to us seeing you at Titanias or anywhere else we want.

If you want to roll we can go over how to do that on this site, if you want. There are a few ways, depending on your style. We can test here, but let's keep the actual rolls in the RP thread [link].

Max would definitely want to get plastic surgery if she knew about Titania's. I don't really know anything about Titania's though except that it's a plastic surgery clinic? So, I don't know why I would think they are a threat. Is Titania's in her territory? Has she sensed some supernatural element to it? Are they doing something illegal that circumvents her? Do they need drugs? XD

They are a new establishment that opened recently in the play-area, so possibly on the outskirts of your Territory or close-by enough that you have heard about them.
No one knows anything much. They are new. So new, in fact, that we can't roll Put a Face to a Name against them.

You would know that they are 'high end' and 'probably expensive', but also 'exclusive' and turned many people away.
You would probably have heard that 'they worked miracles!' or some variant on that theme. They have achieved results where other's said there was no hope.
Would Max recognise the name? I don't know what her education level is like. Up to you.
If you recognise the name you may make a tentative Faerie connection.
If you don't (or if you don't, yet, think that Faeries are your enemy), then you are welcome to say that 'something smells fishy about them', if that will put you on their trail, or someone could have steered you their direction.

It is completely up to you if you start with them being any sort of perceived threat. You could just be trying your luck with getting an appointment to get your scars fixed. Up to you.
Up to you. That could be the reason you are there, or you could be there for 'normal' medical reasons and we can see if you sense anything after we start playing. I was just offering possibilities for how to start, we can make anything work.
I wouldn't think so, not yet anyway.
Do you also deal in black-market medical drugs? That could be an in. 'Dr Moss' may be exaggerating their doctor-ness and may well have supply issues. I don't think you have an established relationship yet —they are new— but you could feel them out for that sort of offer as an in.

Max had to drop out of high school senior year to care for her child, so her education isn't great. I'm willing to say 'they smell fishy' though. And yes, I would think that Max has a hand in the Black Market and might offer to sell medical supplies to 'Dr. Moss.'

That's a pity. :)
Cool.
OK. You can shape the scene to your liking, decide as we see you if you already think they are suspect or if that is something you pick up on as we play (maybe in this scene, maybe later on).
You can use that as leverage. Maybe you don't know yet that they would be open to such an offer, but pick up on this once you are there?

• Do you want to narrate bringing Max into the scene? The waiting room is slightly described in the post where Emma arrives [ref], but you are welcome to add salient details to it as you need.

The waiting room contains two people, the receptionist, Blossom; and an unknown, older man, who seems to be waiting for someone but will be happy to talk to you about inconsequentialities... unless you watched them enter and know he is related to Emma Harper [sheet], who is kinda famous and recognisable.

Yeah I think I can enter the scene. Shall I do so now?

Go for it, in as much detail as you want. Also describe your character (appearance, attitude, approach, ...) in a much detail as you like, this is the first time we are seeing them.

Do you need anything from me to get you going?

Not right now, off I go!

Agreed. Whenever you get the chance. :)

Oh, what's Emma's last name?

Harper.

Unless you arrive right after Emma did, she never sat in the waiting room, she went straight into surgery. Her father-in-law has been sitting in the waiting room for hours.

If you arrived in time to see Emma it will be hours before you can get to meet her. Do you want to have Max wait?

We could shoehorn a flashback meeting in before Emma goes in for her treatment, but it will have to be rushed since we know it did not have any significant impact.

But it might be simplest to strike out that part and have you arrive near the end of Emma's treatment so you can meet her on her way out while you are talking to Blossom?

Oh, okay. For some reason I thought they were both in the waiting room, I'm going to edit that away in my post.

The site does not properly notify us of edits, so let us know when you are done.

If possible, strike out the bits rather than deleting them, people may have read them and then worry that they hallucinated something that is not there. A strike out (the S on the menubar) and an OOC note makes things clear that something was not meant to exist and was corrected.

See Don't Edit.

Okay, will keep that in mind in the future. For now, it is edited away.

That certainly sounds like Persuade an NPC [ref] 'with threats'. If that is your intent then go ahead and roll that Move, you can edit and add the roll to the existing post, or add a new post with any additional fiction you might have included in your threat if you need to.

I definitely see your point there! I have edited a roll into my last post, and against all odds got a 10!

Yes, she does both jobs, but is not needed once you are settled and in the doctor's hands, so she flits between reception and occasionally checking that you and the doctor are OK.

Well, that's a thing! :)

Just want to quickly note that I changed the word 'wound' to 'scar' in my post, which is more accurate.

@Morphling: Have you deliberately put yourself half an hour's travel away from the rest of the group [directions]?

I am not sure where 'Falcon Square' is, but Angel Street is nowhere near the rest of the existing play area [map] as mentioned in Character Creation [ref].

Hahaha, alright, somehow it slipped my notice that we were using an actual map of London, and not just googling streets and making up landmarks. I'll take a look and try to come up with something more plausible.

We can leave it vague for the time-being, define it as we play and you find places?

One of the benefits of using a real city is the ability to look around and get ideas from maps, streetview, or tourism pamphlets.

When travelling to a new place where I might run game I swing by the airport information stands/kiosks and grab a few brochures and then use them as props or inspiration for games (if playing Urban Fantasy or Cyberpunk or such).

@Morphling: Till now we have not cared about full moons and such. If you want it to be, you can say now is full moon.

'Full moon' only comes around every 29 days, and only last 2 or three nights, so it might be a while before you can call on that 'free transform' again, but we can't predict when you might need it more, so do what you need.

No need to define it as full moon till it matters in the story. So you can claim it is such at the moment you need it, which might be when the story calls for a transform, or when you 'go out planning on using the full moon to your advantage'.

Tomorrow when Max returns to Titania's to conclude her business she's going to ask when Jack's next delivery/payment is due and move to settle the matter before then. I guess we could say she gets lucky, and the full moon is going to occur within that timeframe?

Sounds like a plan wishful thinking. :)
Sure, you can discover that tomorrow.
Good luck with that. :)
Not with that attitude, we can't. :)
Agreed.

@Morphling: What is Max doing between now and 'tomorrow afternoon'? We can't slip time too much between the player characters.

Presumably you know, roughly, how to find Jack? Or is your whole plan to ambush his delivery?

Are you 'actively patrolling your Territory'? If so, you should roll Comes With The Territory (in the RP thread) to see how well it is going. That might provide other stuff you have to do in the meantime.

Yeah, he's got a warehouse he does business out of. He might not actually be there when she arrives, but eh, we'll burn that bridge when we come to it. XD

And yeah, I think Max will patrol her territory. I'll edit my post to indicate such and add a die roll.

Don't Edit, add a new post, please.

As you wish!

You love me? You really love me? :)

I got a 4, which I assume means that a meteor is on its way to land on her turf, and also Hyde Park has exploded.

:)

I wonder... was there actually an explosion in Hyde Park? I can make that happen, you know...

Yeah, and to show you how you could easily make more... for more corruption... apparently crime does pay. :)
Oh, it comes with downsides too. Nothing is free.
Absolutely. Even just spending 50s will draw attention, they are not in common circulation. Hence Charles' reaction.
Fair enough, though you seemed to be casually pulling brick after brick of 50s out of your bag, looking for something more valuable... Definitely shocked, though probably exaggerated.
No, but it sure can make you next year a lot more comfortable... if only there was a way to repeat the windfall...

Spending it without drawing too much attention may be the main challenge. I had no intentions of making this into a 'good thing' the money is sort of a part of the price. :)
That and other 'underground' dealings may be what you have to resort to, since you can't just easily spend it.
Yeah, that is what is interesting. How does this change Emma what does it do to her.

I know. I have met her. :)

Though, in this one case, I actually agree with her that taking money from a missing millionaire vampire is not 'morally reprehensible'... technically a crime, but who cares about the technicalities... :)
No comment?

I have no plans for it, though it might not be that easy to just take it off, you may suffer from emotions again...

The main question is whether we want to keep it long enough for Viviana to see Persephone under the effects of it and be put off, or force you to overcome the lack of feeling while with her.. this could motivate Persephone to get rid of it, which could justify coming back and trying.

@Morphling and @Delirium: Do we think Max ends up getting involved in Emma's attempt to keep that money? I am not sure we want to show Max in a violent light just yet... but there may be a gunfight in the offing. :)

Which could interfere with Max's attempts to deal with the encroaching hauntings in her territory [ref].

Potential violence is incoming... you flashed a wad of cash around in a dodgy neighbourhood, and then turned down the offered muscle/protection... If not Max, you may have to deal with this in other ways.

Money does not bring the absence of problems. [youtube - Jimmy Carr]

Max would never gun down her favorite author. She might be willing to get her out of a jam for a cut of the loot though. ;)

Of course. We are not into PvP (or PCvPC) play here.
Without knowing anything about loot, would she still get involved if someone is following Emma home with nefarious intent? We can work out how Max knows this 'intent' if we go with this.

Does Max, maybe, know Llewis? He is a nobody, so probably not subject to Put a Name to a Face (he has no 'name'), but he might be client, or know clients, or something like that.

Call what quits? She was careless with her safety and is going to be the subject of a mugging, there is nothing she can 'quit'.

If it's happening in her territory, definitely. If it's not happening in her territory, only if she realizes that it's Emma being followed, she has to make sure the woman lives to write a sequel after all.

If he uses, then she might know him yes. If he's living in her territory, she also might know him, she is after all widely known within her stomping grounds.

I am not sure she has that option. She is desirable and desired by the all manner of supernatural creatures. There is no 'getting out' for The Aware, they will drag her back in. The only way out is to Change Playbooks or to Retire as a Threat.

You are welcome to try get her out, if that is what she would do (though getting mugged seems a strange trigger to break off all contact with the supernatural, especially if the 'supernatural saves' her) and have the world work to drag her back in, would that satisfy your vision of how Emma would react, but still keep the game going? (If the players abandons the character she will continue down these self-destructive paths and, as the rules say: 'return as a threat'.)

So how do we proceed? This was not 'intentional' but merely the result of her actions (the refusing to go inside, the flashing the money in a bad neighborhood, the turning down the protection of the security guard, the not paying attention to the surroundings). Does it matter what she went back for, this would be a mundane mugging/hijacking that could happen to anyone.

• Do we just ignore any consequences for Emma's actions?
• Does she not notice that Llewis and Max saved her from a potential indecent (in the background)?
• Does the fact that her supernatural contacts saved her keep her in the game?

What do we do?

Very well. Nothing happens. Max is not involved, and you arrive home without indecent.

Does your 6 mean you don't know Kenedi? Or do you know her, but you already Owe her a Debt for help in the past, making it awkward to run into her now? If you Owe her, tell us about what happened, and show us if you try to avoid her or seek her out.

Hmm, can I just say that Max doesn't know whether Kenedi is aware that she's a werewolf? She hasn't seen her in a while after all.

Sounds good to me. We can keep that worry in the back of our minds as we play. :)

Keeping your werewolf status slightly secret might have benefits you can use to your advantage, so it might behoove us to not have everybody already know these specific details just yet.

So... if I'm tired of dealing with Sergeant Kenedi, can I hit the streets to find someone else who could give me information? Should I use an existing NPC or just make another one up?

I could find a few people (*) who may make sense to be around and this, but they are all a bit of a stretch. Let's talk about it and and then decide.

It can be useful for us to have some people Max knows. She is operating in an strata of the world we have not seen a lot of so far from the other PCs. So we can make new NPCs that you would know.

You should have Marked Advancement on Mortalis (the 'Adv?' column on your sheet) when you rolled Put a Name to a Face [ref], so there is benefit to trying to make this someone from a different Circle. But let the logic of the story be the ultimate decider.

You can just say you know them and avoid rolling Put a Name to a Face (but get no Debts), or decide you want to roll to define some aspects of the relationship. If you are going to roll Hit the Streets [ref] you get to Mark Circle Advancement anyway, so we are just talking about the Debts part, unless you want to leave how much you know to chance as well.

Create a post for Max in the Debt Ledger [ref] and add your Debt to Kenedi.

---

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Footnotes:
(*)

• Maybe the (wannabe) 'vampire hunter' track workers who are looking into missing people in the area? Frank and Ernie (Mortalis)? [ref]
• Maybe Zhiyu (Power), 'a bit of a folk-hero' over towards Covent Gardens (so a little out of your Territory, if you want that to be an issue)? [ref]

How about Lucy the vampire streetwalker, who often works in this area and may well have seen something with her supernatural senses?

Cool

Couple of notes:

• We already have a vampire called Lucy [ref] (see, I told you the NPC notes were not comprehensive:). We can find another name to avoid confusion.

• Do you want them to be both a streetwalker and a vampire at the same time (catering to a specific kink?)? Or was she a streetwalker till she was recently turned... i.e. is this Tara, the vampire ditz who bit Emma? [ref].

We can create a new NPC if Tara does not work for your image.

Read the Tara segments but don't know much about her except that she was a minor antagonist to Emma. She's not a streetwalker any longer? What would she be doing in the area? Who would Max know her from?

That is all there is.
She is currently girlfriend to someone who seems to have wealth enough... but they are not what you would call 'responsible' people so that will be gone pretty soon and she may have to find ways to support herself.

She was only turned in the past week or so (after Elliot vanished), so she would not have been a vampire at the time she was a working the streets. She will need to have been in the know if you want to use her for information and as a past contact, but we could make that happen.

She will not be a very reliable source of information. So she might not actually be a good choice, I was just putting it out there in case.
We can make it work if we need to. There is no shortage of 'reasons' for someone to be around.
I don't follow? You could just know her from 'around', you know people.

Same for someone you make up, they don't need to have any special connection, if they can be helpful to you they can be made useful to the game as well.

Feel free to propose or make someone you want to interact with.
Or, feel free to let us know what sort of person (in general terms) you are looking for, and we can find/make someone who fits for you.

How about Alara, a vampire streetwalker that specializes in an exsanguination kink, and lives in Max's territory.

Sure, if you want her, go ahead and seek her out. Introduce us to her.

Oh yeah, one other thing.

Under the Wolf playbook it says that that transformation can occur at will in sight of the moon - not necessarily the full moon. The notes on transformation say it can be any phase but a new moon. Is that what we're going with, or are we doing full moon only like we were talking about before?

Sure! That’s fine with me!

Oh, wow, yeah. I noticed that when I first read the quickstart, like 3 years before we started this game, and found myself thinking 'this does not feel much like a werewolf anymore, what with all the control'. But since then I have been (mis)reading it as 'sight of the full moon' (by pure 'tradition'), probably remembering The Wolf from 1e.

What do you want to do? Those are 'the rules'. It is up to you how your character works and what you think will be fun.

With your 9 on Hit the Streets [ref] you have to choose whether they have a immediate problems that interferes slightly with your plans to get information, or whether getting that information will cost you.

If you choose that it will be more costly than you anticipated, we can talk about what it will cost you (calibrate what you are willing to have Max pay).

What will it be?

Yeah, I think it will be more fun if Max can change whenever the moon is out.

As for my choice, I think I'll go with Alara juggling their own problems, since Max doesn't have much to pay (where is my apartment Magpie games? Where is my apaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaartment?!).

'K.

Makes one wonder if the faeries brought on the perpetual cloud cover, in part, to try shut down werewolves, making it hard to see the moon, since that is the requirement. Good thing you are still able to see enough of the glow sometimes? :)
Righty-ho.

I think Benji would love to stay and chat as long as Circe wanted, but we don’t necessarily have to roleplay the whole conversation. I worry that if we get too deep into the history he’s lived through etc I’m going to have to spend a lot of time on Wikipedia hahahah :P

ha! That's totally cool. So maybe let's just say that Circe stays up all night asking Benji about being a Vampire, and history, and his experiences, and his opinions about stuff, and what's up with the rain, and what's *really* going on with Persephone, and Emma, and just everything.

At least, everything he feels comfortable sharing, of course.

I think Circe realizes at some point that (a) Persephone really was trying to protect her by keeping her in the dark about all this but also (b) she wants to know, so that Persephone can't have that kind of power over her any more.

Sure! Sounds good to me! :)

@vagueGM Hmm, I don't think I want this self-imposed limitation to ruin her Patron Job. The tattoo was mostly intended to be a fun narrative toy, not a game-stopping obstacle. So how about we've all been wrong about the purpose of the sigil? That each time strong emotion activates it and it burns, it is burning away the trauma of dying and coming back, and that Persephone wills the final bit to burn away, freeing her from the worst of its effects? Or some other means to bring that bit of the fiction to a satisfying close? No need to have a whole scene with Yasmine doing some ritual, necessarily. Unless you had something fun in mind for that?

Thoughts?

And werewolves. She will definitely ask about werewolves... but everybody knows there are none...

No, which is why I am giving ample opportunities to do something to rectify any missteps. :)
Sure. If you want the trauma to be burned away by Wentworth's hand. Seems like this will give him a stronger hold over you.

Another option could be to call your Dark Patron's attention to the scene where you are floundering and have them remove the sigil?

That seems to depend on whether you want to have Persephone side with Wentworth or her Dark Patron, or which one you want on your side.
(Finding and) Revealing that Wentworth may have sabotaged the Job would bode ill for him, but could build trust in you.
Improving your relationship with Wentworth (in the meta) means acting against your Dark Patron... getting caught could be bad for your career as a Tainted.
We can do whatever you think is most interesting. We could even have the possible burning off of the mark lead to talking to Viviana about the supernatural (she might see it was 'not normal') and lead to the conclusion of your Job?

Bringing your Dark Patron to the scene could similarly lead to the conclusion of this Job, but possibly with you playing a lesser role and missing out on the 'bonus'?
Nope, no 'plans', not everything gets a neat ending, that scene could serve merely to teach Yasmine more about you and not help you at all.

I am not sure about the bonding part, Evelyn is still not happy with you and you have not done anything to rectify that; but we can skip to 'tomorrow' and Benji, and see about bringing Max in when she is done with her activities.

You can set that scene when you are ready.

@Morphling I think Benji can help Max with this (he has an emergency supply of blood in his Haven), but I’m not sure where Max is in time relative to Benji right now. Would it make sense to say Benji could bring the blood to Max during the night (between leaving Circe and meeting Emma at the coffee shop in the morning) or else maybe Benji gets Max’s text on his way to meet with Emma at the coffee shop and tells her to meet him there?

@Delirium I’ll post Benji arriving at the café as soon as I’ve resolved the scene with Circe and sorted out what's happening with Max

I don't know what is on it. What do you think would be useful?

This is a backup drive, so it does not contain current data, it's all a day or so from before Elliot went missing.

Also, remember that Teddy reported the tracker seemed to have been turned off, somehow [ref], but you can probably find login details for the system if you want to check further.

There is probably stuff about real-estate deals, and some of them may be suspicious if you know anything about that sort of thing... else maybe you know people who are into finance and such who can explain it to you?

No objections from me.

Do we want to 'impress' her (and also dismay and frighten her a bit) with your 'display of demonic ...' um ... demonicness? We could roll Let It Out if we want to trigger that and see if it drives you towards the completion of you Job.

Else, how to you envision Viviana reacting?

Sounds like a plan. Tough we know that stored blood is a real substitute.
You are both around the same time, that same night that Persephone is freaking out poor Viviana [ref], and there is a body in the park, and the same time that Emma is cooking and eating exotic lamb [ref].
Or have them both come to you and get entangled in your Web? (Though, technically Max already 'came to you for help', triggering the Web mechanic.)
You planning on heading to Piccadilly to practice? Can you even play Avril Lavigne on a violin?
Circe may want to come with... and there may be complications at your Harbour as well as visitors...
That is tomorrow morning, so it may take a while to get there?
The scene with Arlara and the cops in the park could take long enough that it is still relevant tomorrow morning... but that seems a stretch and much of the evidence will be cleaned up, it is already nearly a day old.
@Delirium: We can maybe deal with the drive in the meantime and skip forward when the others are available.

Okay great!
I don’t think Benji would invite Alara over to his flat with Circe there but he could ask them to come meet him at Piccadilly, sure
Yep!
Of course! I don’t know that Benji would have any Avril Lavigne in his repertoire already, but I think he’s a skilled enough musician that he could arrange some Avril Lavigne songs for violin for himself. It’s probably a bit quick and dirty because he’s trying to be ready in time for the rescue mission with Frank and Ernie ‘tomorrow’ but I think he could cobble something together
I was just trying to rush through the time between a bit so that Delirium wouldn’t be left waiting, but if you want to throw in some complications/visitors (and if Delirium doesn’t mind a bit of delay getting to the café scene), that’s fine with me!

OK. Though You seemed to skip from 'last night' looking at the drive to 'the next morning at the coffee shop' [ref].

If you want to be looking at it 'tomorrow' that's fine, but it excludes the others. You can use NPCs.
Yes, that will happen in the morning... I was thinking of doing it when Beji was there, but only because it looked like he would be with you first thing in the day. We can do that 'before he gets there' just as easily.
OK... we will have to see how we can make anything still be relevant weeks later. We can come up with something.

Do you have any thoughts about where it will lead you?
Sure. The more the merrier. :)

There is stuff happening 'tonight', and Emma has things to do while she waits.
Mainly: You have been neglecting your busking station... and it is a prime location, so there is someone else there (the dirty squatter), what with your having been gone for days.

I don't have time to post about it till later, but if you want to make something up and show us how you deal with the interloper, go for it.

Max, and possibly Alara, can come join you if we all want that, or you can swing by on the way.

When you encounter her, you can roll Put a Face to a Name with Alara if you think you would know her (another vampire within spitting distance of your home). She is Night.

If you want to get involved in Max's thing, we may find it relates?

The other PCs, since you have skipped ahead of them to the next morning.
Any you want if the PCs are not available. The phone call with Moss, maybe, or Henry, maybe?

Bev is still absent, though.
Sure... ultimately, but the data on the old backup drive can't tell you that. :)
Impressive as these car-trackers are... I don't think that have that on their maps. :)
Or, maybe, somewhere closer to home. The game intends us to keep most of the play in the city hub we are playing in. So he did not get far, and you won't have to go far to follow up.

How could Let It Out drive me toward completion of the job?

As for her reaction, I think a mix of horror and concern? I am not sure yet. I don’t want to lose her here, though. So perhaps she will see it as proof of my sincerity when I saw Pers wants to connect with her — a sick kind of demonstration of affection? And honestly, Pers being so visibly a hot mess may lead her to feel much more comfortable sharing her own pathologies and personal secrets.

It was just an option, if you wanted to try see if you could impress her with some demon aspect, give you a way to talk about things?

• impress, dismay, or frighten someone with a display of demonic fury

It's there if you want it. I don't know how you 'planned' to broach the subject. If you are still happy to take your time and wait for your 'reward' that is possibly better.
Yeah... though cutting the mark to get your emotions back is not exactly a 'normal' thing. :)
One wonders: Does this reveal something of your demon side? Does that impress her? Or scare her away (for a while)?

Let's take a look...

Let It Out [ref] Abilities:
 • imbue your touch with demonic corruption (2-harm hand ap)
 • impress, dismay, or frighten someone with a display of demonic fury
 • move through or past a physical obstacle created by mortal hands
 • summon your dark patron's attention directly on your location

No, no healing for the Tainted.
Not sure about 'calm'. :)
But relative to freaking out, yeah, we could say that.
That was my thought, it could serve as a foot in the door, a way to start taking about the supernatural.
Of course, though, remember that Let It Out [ref] involves dice, so there is risk of it going badly. But, absent some roll, she may freak out at your self mutilation and it may not be as romantic as you think it is.

We could let the dice decide, they have been the arbiter of the 'banned list' so far. But I don't see how this has anything to do with your Dark Patron, this is about you being 'impressively demonic' (or just strange), we are sort of using this roll to determine her reaction to the actions you have already taken.
I don't think so? Not anymore, anyway. You could have summoned your Dark Patron if you felt Wentworth's mark was interfering with your Job, and they may have taken action to remedy that... but you took it into your own hands.

If you ever do want their attention, you can always try rolling and risking the wrath of the dice, though.

Let's keep the rolls in the RP.
You can add it to the post where the event happened.

Of course you did. :)
Ha.

Your Dark Patron is subtle and manipulative, so who knows if you are not, maybe, doing exactly what they want. :)

Clearly Viviana is not impressed [ref], but that need not be the end, you may still be able to salvage this situation, through your actions, you may just have to realign your goals with what is happening...

I am not sure you can still talk to people while you are a wolf... you are a wolf, after all. As the playbook says: "You are a primal, feral, deadly wolf", later you can learn to control your transformation more and not appear as a terrifying beast, but even then you tone it down and become a dog... there is nothing that lets you form and speak human words, right?

I can have Alara react to your transformation, and you may get a chance to try say these words again if you can turn back after losing control, and if she is still there (which will depend on what you do in the interim).

While she might want to flee, she hasn't, yet, which was nice. Why not try talking to her?

Oh, okay. I was imagining her transformation as more of turning into a wolf-person that could still talk (at least until she loses control completely). I'll edit my post and strike out the dialogue, add something else in its place.

I have struck out the dialogue and replaced it with some actions.

Yeah, I narrated that she stayed behind, but if you feel strongly that she would have wanted to come along we can always retcon it!

OK. If that is the next thing we will see you do, you can take us there. I show us where Bev lives, in as much detail as you want. She is not there, though, and still not answering her phone or checking her messages.
Would Emma have the background knowledge to understand the intricacies of high-level real-estate deals? If so, you can tease out some significant details. Otherwise it is just pages of assessments on hundreds of buildings. This is the sort of thing Henry is always going on about and trying to make sound interesting.

We would not even need to retcon anything, Circe could just have followed, unbeknownst to Benji. :)

Do you think a Keep your Cool roll would be appropriate here as Max tries to send Alara as many nonverbal cues as possible that she isn't going to attack in order to buy herself the couple minutes she needs to regain control of her emotions and de-wolf?

Possibly. Keep Your Cool [ref] is a weird Move, in that it does not really fit the mold of being something you actually do... but still being about something you are trying to control.

It is definitely still the 'if no other Move fits...' Move, but less so than in other PbtAs. Nothing else applies, so yeah...

Go ahead and show us what you do, add the roll and we will see.

Elliot owns property all over London, but most of his power was concentrated in and around the area of play, like, from Piccadilly to Hyde Park?
There are some deals that don't make pure financial sense, but would you be able to tell the difference? Or would you need help interpreting this stuff?
Well, yes, now that you mention it... but that is 'old news' it seems, he bought your place a while ago, right around the time you first met. You are paying him rent, though through a string of intermediaries.

It might be his house/property, but it is not his home. I think that may be what makes the difference?

But it could be interesting to find that the reason vampires are interested in buying up property is, in part, to do with getting around that restriction? At the very least, the landlord is likely to be invited in, even if just to fix the pipes.

Is this of necessity since you became a werewolf and found yourself in situations where you needed to be pragmatic about it?

Or has this always been the case?
And if so, one wonders if this would indicate some sort of appropriate predilection for becoming a werewolf? :)

Yeah, I think she probably had to get over it pretty quickly now that every serving of furry ends with a side of naked. Although it helps that she was never very shy in the first place.

@Delirium, depending on what you tell Kenedi [ref], getting her involved may call for a Move, this might be Hit the Streets [ref] (I support it still works if you get them to come to you), though Emma may have better options. Persuade could work, but there is also the Playbook Move One Way or Another which could do exactly what you want.

@vagueGM I feel like this scene has gone off the rails a bit, but I'm ok with it for now. Persephone is considering a display of demon power to "impress" Viv, as a first step to having her maybe thinking that working for Persephone's Patron isn't a bad thing. This is what my Patron wants me to do, so does Persephone feel as if she could "Let it Out" effectively right now (assuming the dice cooperate, which they almost NEVER do, of course).

Rolled a 10 on Put a Name to a Face for Alara! I think I would like Alara to owe Benji a Debt. Maybe he helped her figure stuff out//taught her a bit about being a vampire when she was newly turned?

That could be, and might mean that Benji knows more about Alara's history than Max does.

We could resteer it in a different direction, and I agree, it is a bit strange how much Viviana is accepting things, but we need to move it along, so I made her a bit more curious than expected.
That would be marvelous. I can see her agreeing to join for your sake, to help you... this could turn bad, of course, if she later has doubts about if it was worth it, but you are forming quite a cabal against your Dark Patron. :)
Maybe we know it will work, but a bad roll means your Dark Patron needs to step in?
Then you Owe them for the help or some other cost? This may make your plans for teaming up harder, so roll well?
Yeah, that sounds like how they work, making it look appealing and too good to pass up, then you find the fine-print later?

Cool. Done.
(I resisted having Alara comment too much about Benji till we knew how well they knew each other.)
Fine by me.

Though, did Alara come to London and then get turned, or was she a vampire before she came?
Both can work. Either you helped her with being newly turned, or your helped her with being newly in London, or whatever.

Morphling and oopsylon: You two can decide between the two of you.

In addition to the Debt from Put a Face to a Name above:

Max came to Benji for help, this triggers the Vamp's Web feature:
So Max Owes Benji a Debt.
Alara Owes Max a Debt for arranging the meeting with Benji and getting her fed.
Alara may, later, end up Owing Max another Debt for this as well, if the 'permission' comes back to bite Max in the proverbial.

Record those new Debts if you agree.

Yes, this sounds good! I guess I should roll a Let it Out then? I'll add it to my most recent post, and then narrate the result once I see it. It will succeed, but the roll determines if it incurs a Debt to my Patron.

What is Yasmine's circle? I guessed Power and made the roll.

@Drgwen: Sorry for the weekend-delay, right before your surgery. Reply whenever is convenient, and good luck.

I expected Viviana to freak out at your display ... but that's not what happened when I got to writing it [ref]. Apparently she is more analytical?

You have your Demon Form, no need to roll to use it further in this scene. You can use it to impress her further (I don't know... take her flying, or something?:).

The Effect was 'limited' but you can build on it.

Correct. Power.

With an 8 on Put a Name to a Face [ref] you know what most people know:

Yasmine Deneuve (Power) is a 50-something French woman with the look of a librarian, but covered in occult tattoos. [ref].

She runs a 'bookshop' Cecil Court [streetview]

She is an occultist, and is rumoured to know things about things.

---

---

• Has Max heard anything different? What? This may or may not be true, we shall see.

Hopefully that wasn't too much! She ight do one or tow more minor things, but that's it. And I won't keeping using the "walking through walls" thing -- that was mostly just for show here.

OK, heading in!

Got some posts done in the waiting room. But I forgot to swap my avatar. Sorry!

Ordinarily I would think that The Aware's Abilities should be mostly 'mundane'. But there is already a connection between Emma and the faeries, so it might be able to help? Maybe as part of a ritual, or if you can find the right place (like you did with the portal).

That sounds like the start of Hit the Streets [ref], assuming you are going to go see her (you can't do the Move over the phone). If you agree, then add the roll to the post, Chablis is Night.

Max has heard that... Yasmine has been offering to pay dearly for werewolf blood that she needs for a ritual! Ooohhhh, spooky!

I can imagine many people could have use for such things, yet another reason to try keep your secrets secret.

Yes. Mark it.

My understanding is that it is still early in the night?
We can still do that, whenever you are done with the night. Whatever time you think Circe would eventually get fed up or bored.
Not to mention that Circe has not seen Persephone's Demon Form... there were performance issues last time. :)
So it may be much like that time she walked in her father doing something violent-looking to her mother? Talk about confusing...

Go for it. (Unless the others are doing something more 'tonight' that you want Circe to end up being a part of.)

Finally got around to updating the ol' debt ledger.

One wonders...

• Does Persephone Owe Benji for taking care of Circe?

Or is Circe enough in the game enough to start Owing people? I don't think we are quite there yet.

@Morphling and @Drgwen: Do you two want to do something before you enter (just wondering if there was a reason we 'run into each other outside the door')?

Or shall I assume you enter and narrate that?

I'm fine with having us enter, I just wanted to have that little moment that I already described. If @Drgwen wants to do something more though, then of course that's alright too.

Cool. You narrated it, so I was mainly checking with you. Drgwen can always add a 'before they entered' vignette if they want. :)

I don't think she should be a full PC, but on the other hand I don't mind having the plucky younger sister go on the occasional adventure.

While it is not a offered option in Urban Shadows, many other PbtA games have an Advancement choice that lets you make a second character to play at the same time. I have used this and never had a problem with it, though it is not a common choice, possibly since many find it strange or too much work.

I have no problem with any of you piloting an NPC, as much as you like (so long as it does not break the story). If anyone else wants to try similar, we can arrange it.

On the other hand, if anyone is not satisfied with Drgwen playing two 'characters', let me know and we can phase it out.

Circe is not a PC, she does not have Stats and can not roll dice. They are also not fully under the player's control, since we share narrating with her.

If she ever does need to roll we may have to revisit this issue, but I think it is fine as it has been so far. Giving her a Playbook would be a big deal, the Urban Shadows playbooks are rather impactful on the story, so we would need to talk about it first if we want to. Giving her a few Stats and a Move or two down the line may be interesting, if it comes to it, but those could also play out much like most NPC abilities.

Does moving the bird to another room shut it up or at least mute it enough that we can ignore it, or is Max still going to have to deal with it and perhaps risk wolfing out?

Oh! Interesting. Persephone hasn't met the bird yet, too.

And yeah, unless I hear differently, I'll keep playing Circe as I have been -- when it feels natural for the story, but not as centrally as I will play Persephone.

Though honestly it is fun to have her experiencing her first girl crush on Max. Circe thought she was the 'straight' sister. Nope!

It was part of the Establishment and the loophole of our Imp PC who left. Jacob asked Benji to look after it since Benji likes animals.

There are some details in the posts, so these are not secrets, so let me know how much detail you want now, since none of the current PCs really know what the deal is, not even Benji.

There are reasons it does not like Max.

Awesome I will post briefly her arrival there then

Given that Max seemed to be planning to check out the murder scene this morning, that should be easy enough, it is just around the corner. :)

@Drgwen Maybe Circe better watch out when she discovers Max's preferred dildo size. :D

my goodness.

Oops! I didn't see your post, @Delirium until after I had posted. I think I'll leave it as is, because Pers would want to focus on Emma first, before turning to business.

Yes, that is what happened. :)

It was less an offer to leave than an opportunity to engage, but c'est la vie.

While your Dark Patron empowered you to assume Demon Form for the activities, you still have not done anything to make amends. As discussed, bringing Viviana into the fold would do the job, but you could also try for an act of contrition or something if you need your abilities before you can finish that deal...

... Unless you left a satiated Viv at "your" apartment and she made contact on her own? That would cut you out of the deal (you would have no opportunity to try learn something of the contracts) but would also exculpate you from the guilt (a little?). What do you think? I don't know that we will need them, but if you do end up wanting your withheld powers this morning we could say you find them working because of 'off screen' actions?
I also assumed you agreed [question] to Owing Benji for him taking care of your sister [ref]?

Damn well that would have been a good conversation to have. But as you say.
No, I think Persephone needs to do this. She needs to do at least one of these jobs with some degree of sincerity. I think the Tainted is not built for someone to be fully resistant to completing any jobs for their Patron..it doesn't really provide any mechanical support for those choices. Like, it gives no guidance for anything like that, as far as I can see.
Yes, let me record that Debt.

Agreed.