Who let the frogs out? (OOC)

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Depending on what Max is doing [ref], the two groups [ref] may be in the same area this morning.

VagueGM Can Max use her Bloodhound move here to try to track down the killer?

EDIT: Or failing that, maybe one of the hikers?

The group (Emma?) can decide as much specifics as we want of exactly where in that stretch of road Elliot's vanishing happened. Maybe it should not link too strongly to The Lanesborough, though, unless we want to include them in all things. That hotel just happened to be the fallback location for the Cult's retreat.

Like, two day later? And not knowing who they are? I would not think so.

I think you kind of need to already know who they are and where to start, it brings you to a specific person, it does not answer investigative questions.
First, Don't Edit, rather just post another post with the follow up.
By 'hikers' you mean the 'joggers'? Possibly, though I am not sure about that Move for this, since they were also here two days ago, and are not exactly hiding. You may be able to use your werewolf senses or just investigative powers to pick them out of the crowd again this morning (they may be showing signs of revulsion to the scene as they jog past?)

But, remember, they are bystanders who happened upon the body, we may have to stretch credulity to have them be able to lead you further in your investigation.
That sounds like Let it Out [ref] to • enhance your lupine senses to supernatural levels, don't you think? This may lead to leads that could eventually allow you to trigger Bloodhound, but who knows.

Then let it out I shall! I will add a roll to my post and inform the results here.

Got an 8 on let it out!

OK, so you are definitely marking Corruption, show us in the proceeding narrative how that Corruption looks, it is more than just mechanical, but it is also the start, so it need not be all that significant.

With an 8 'the effect is costly, limited, or unstable'.

• Do you have a preference for which one it is? And How?

I am not sure about a 'cost' though you can propose something if you want.
'Unstable' might see it 'drawing the attention of the supernatural' as your wolfing tends to do.
'Limited' seems the most logical as you can only glean so much from the scene after leaving it this long. (You could probably have learned a lot more if you had risked it last night.)

Risked what, soloing a dozen bobbies? XD. I agree that limited seems very logical, so let's go with that.

'Soloing', avoiding, circumventing, ... who knows. But leaving it till tomorrow not only takes out some of the risk, it takes out most of the evidence, too. That's just the way it goes. :)

If you planned to keen rolling boxcars, increasing Spirit from a 1 to a 2 is such a waste. :)
Cool, let us know when you know what you want to take.

They are obviously stealing yours. Q.E.D.

Cool.
Not sure. Probably?

Which Ability were you thinking of taking? How would you explain Emma having/getting it?

I know it’s been weeks since he disappeared but would I be able to use Bloodhound to look for Elliot here?

I can see that working, sure.
Do you want it to be 'demons'? Do you want to nail down what it is, or leave that unclear?
If you follow through with helping Moss with his ritual that may be another way to get it, then it might be Fae instead? Up to you.
Only if you actually forgive them the harm and don't pursue or enable any retribution or vengeance, of course.

I wouldn't think so, not weeks later. How would that even work?

Besides, this does not feel like a Move for locating your friends, it is about 'hunting them down', especially with '• On a 10+, you find them alone or vulnerable; take +1 forward against them.' and such.

Yeah, I figured, but no harm in asking!

What location do you have in mind? The only one I can think of, here, would be the underground lair of the hellhound where you all had your bad experiences, it may be possible to get back in there the same way you got in the first time... but does anyone want to?

Otherwise: this Ability is about gaining access, not about finding, so you would need to first find such a place before you can trigger the Move. You could find where you went in last time, but there is no active portal there right now, someone —or something— opened it last time, you could try do it again.
Quite possibly. Though you don't know his ritual yet, right? Do you want to study the books he sent you, an hour or so ago, and come back? And I am sure you could try something similar if you have seen him do it. (He is trying to make contact, not 'gain access' but I am sure you can pervert his ritual for other ends.:)
In the park? It is a public place, not sure anyone 'controls it' (though Max possibly thinks she does:) so the text of the Move sorta precludes it.

Again, though, I can see this Move being useful during Moss' ritual, if it works and turns his swimming-pool or St James Park into a Place of Power for Wild.

Up to you... But I can assure you, some Fae can be pretty blood-curdling. We can play it by ear and not know exactly what they are, just Wild of some sort? You would get to describe what comes forth, we can see what is sounds like, and how it appears is what really matters.

Have you hit a dead end?

There is still stuff to be learned from here, if you investigate (not a move, you have to actually do it in the fiction).

The other PCs are also in the same part of the park [map] if we want to meet up.

Okay in that case I'm going to cross out my latest post and edit in something new.

Why? Just go on from there, you can be thinking of giving up and taking a nap when you run into the others.

It is ongoing, what you do in the fiction dictates what you can learn, the Move just sets the stakes (when done before the fiction).

It is up to the players if the characters get together, if you choose you can miss each other (maybe by minutes), or you can combine and pool your resources? The investigations may be related... but they also might not be... I don't know.

That is enough to trigger the Move, but you can only learn what you could learn from doing the actions you are doing in the fiction, if you have not done enough to really get a lot from the Move you can either accept it, or do more (this ability to do more, post-roll, is limited to 'ongoing' Moves like Figure Someone Out, or 'investigative' ones like this, which can last most of the scene).

If you 'look around' you would learn what you could learn from 'looking around', based on what you already know/suspect; if you want to learn more you may have to, maybe, talk to people (in the fiction or maybe with something like Hit the Streets [ref]); or investigate the area (what you do matters), including, possibly, the Lanseborough since that has become the location.

Don't look to the Moves to solve your problems, look to the fiction first, then we can see if any Moves apply. The outcomes or results of all Moves are based on the existing fiction.

Do you want us to bump into Max, Morphling? I could have Benji spot Max if you like (or you could spot us if you prefer)

Seems feasible. Add the roll.

The roll has been added!

Do any of you think your characters know the statue of the Boy and the 'Dolphin' [ref] [map]?

If so, you could roll Put a Name to a Face [ref] with Wild to see if you know them (and also possibly to define if you have any relationship/interaction with the Statues of London).

It's in Max's territory, so maybe she knows the statue? Let's find out!

Nice, they tend to come faster at the start, when there are so many new Faces to Put Names to.
You can start working on that in the fiction, finding people to turn and such, then you can solidify your control, out from the fiction into the mechanics with this Advance, if you take the Advance before it is supported in the fiction then we need to quickly work with the fiction to make it true, either direction works. You can even gain a wolfpack without taking the Advance, if you do it in the fiction then we add it to your sheet, but I still recommend taking the Advance else you can just as easily lose it through fiction (that which your sheets gives you is less likely to be taken away).
Agreed, I noticed that deficiency too. :)

Bear in mind that you still need to use Persuade with Heart in situations where you are not threatening people or making 'alpha' appropriate promises, but this can make your low Heart mostly irrelevant since that is not how your character operates.

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There are two aspects to that:

'obtain Circle Status-2' is only available after you have taken five Advances already. But, since PbP is slow, consider that a 'recommendation', and we can take those whenever they make sense in the fiction, though still 'later'.

As the Advance says: '+1 Status (max+1)', so these can not bring you to more than a +1 Status in that Circle (same way the normal Stat upgrades can not bring you above +3 in a Stat). If you want to get higher Status you have to work for it, either in the fiction or via the Advance. If you ever want to get Status-3 you will have to do that in the fiction, there is no mechanical way to get there, Status-3 is all about the role play.

Since you are already Status-1 in your own Circle, this is about your Status in another Circle. And, by the rules, you can never have Status-2 in a Circle other than your own.

Status is not about your Rating, or course, Status is about how important you are in that Circle, Rating is about how much you understand (and can work with) that Circle.

Remember that your Circle Ratings can move and change over time. By the rules you can change them at the End of Session, but PbP does not gel well with 'sessions' so we are doing the End of Session Move all the time, whenever it makes sense. (Urban Shadows 2's End of Session is mainly bookkeeping anyway).

Does that help?

Well done.

Once we know if anyone else is rolling I will come up with a little bit of lore (there seems to be an Alice/Wonderland connection, so fae-adjacent?), but you are all welcome to add more. I did not know about this statue till the fountains were brought up, so don't worry about breaking cannon or anything. :)

If you add details to the lore for an NPC (or organisation, or location, or anything) we can always treat it as 'what your character has heard' so parts may be less-than-true and may be corrected later in play.

However:...

Does knowing something 'interesting or useful' align with your exclamation of surprise in the RP?
We can work out how you would know more (overheard rumours, most likely?) if you want.

But does it not seem more appropriate for it to turn out that they owe you a Debt you did not know about for something you did in the past?

Does it help to say you are 'only two marks away'? No, probably not.
Only one away from getting a Corruption Advance, though.

Do we think this is Hit the Streets [ref]?

Sure! I added the roll but alas - it was a 6 :(

I think I'll just have to work on those then. How can I get those other than to "convince someone to meaningfully act in your patron's interests", which is extra hard, since I don't know what my patron's interests are!!!

This does seem particularly tricky given that you are acting against your Dark Patron's interests.

Remember that you get to shape your Dark Patron, so anything you say is in their interest would count. Of course, any demonic-driven 'seduction' or 'manipulation of friends and allies' towards what you think their 'secret designs' are, would do it too.

As would any act towards getting your Jobs done. So getting someone to help you conscript Viv would do the trick, of course.

Any action in favour of the demonic forces would count... unless they are directly against your Dark Patron.

I don't see these Playbook specific Corruption Triggers being the main driver for Corruption, only Benji has done that, once, most other Corruption has come from Let It Out.

Yeah that's what I was going for, Max was surprised because the statue talking confirmed something she heard was true.

But you know what? Let's go with debt. A pair of teens were about to dump some laundry detergent into the fountain and she scared them off (dumping laundry detergent into a public fountain is, of course, hilarious to Max, but this is her territory and therefore it's only hilarious when she does it).

Which, of course, you have not done? Not around here anyway? :)

Well, if she ends up putting a name to a face for another statue fountain and ends up in its debt then maybe. Other than that, she's a bit busy with being a working mom to be engaging in juvenile pranks, and she's certainly going to think twice about such shenanigans after this encounter.

so sleeping with Viv as a demon, which clearly enhances her openness to demons, after all, would count? It’s a step toward the goal here.

What’s odd is that the Tainted has the "jobs" element that works for strings, but then any time you do one you also mark corruption? That seems weirdly redundant.

I think I may have made my demonic patron TOO mysterious and opaque because I just have no idea what its interests are apart from the jobs I’m given. So if I don’t wanna do a job… that whole part of my playbook (jobs and the strings it earns me, as well as the playbook specific corruption mechanic) are unavailable.

And I’ll be honest — I’m hesitant to complete my patron’s jobs because of how strongly Delirium responded to the very possibility of my doing so. Like, they made it clear in no uncertain terms how much of a red line that would be crossing and Emma would literally hate Persephone forever and I think that would ruin the game. So…. I’m not sure what to do here.

If you still want to do jobs for your patron, but you don’t want to damage your relationship with Emma, perhaps you could just have Persephone keep it a secret from her? Benji killed someone the other day but he’s not planning to tell any of his friends about it because he knows that would upset them and damage those friendships

How? You have not convinced her to take meaningful action for your Dark Parton.

Remember the specific wording:
You need to convince them and they need to do something meaningful for your Dark Patron, though they don't need to be conscious of this. Viv has done nothing for them.
A step you are taking, Viv is being led, she is not taking any action that furthers your Dark Patron's interests.
Viv is the goal. I would not think that her signing the contract would even count, but we may need to look at that when that happens. Anything Viv does after that would be of her own volition... unless you are the one convincing her to act?
I don't think you are supposed to get Corruption for doing your Jobs, but also remember that not all the available jobs involve getting people to do anything, so that may be a quirk of one of the Jobs you chose?

But I don't think getting someone to sign a contract counts as getting someone to meaningfully act in your patron's interests.

When your 'investor' convinced your business partners to scam you out of all your money so you were desperate enough to sign on with them ... that was them getting someone to act meaningfully on your Dark Parton's behalf, they got Corruption for that...

Wait, was that a secret? Oops.

Getting you to sign was the Job, that does not feel like it would count for their Corruption. (Morally the Jobs should Corrupt you... but what does and does not Corrupt is a bit weird in the rules, so we follow the rules.)
We can assume 'basic demonic stuff'. It wants souls, and it wants workers manipulated into working for it... It's a demon.

It also sent you to London because of the current events with the weather and apparently the faeries, so we can assume Viv has some specific value in that regard. But you don't know if it would want you to combat or aid the faeries... we shall have to see how it plays out.
Um... yeah? If you choose not to engage with a major aspect of your Playbook, then that part is not going to see much play.

We would need to talk about what you could still do, in that case. If you don't do the Jobs then your Dark Patron will not keep providing for you... at a minimum, you would need to change Playbooks, presumably, or pay the price.

The game does not work well if we choose to avoid major parts of the Playbooks, though.
As suggested: Don't tell Emma. Maybe also don't tell Circe? You may have to suffer alone?

If Emma ever finds out and has a problem we will need to deal with it, but I do expect the players to do their best to make the characters work, so Emma would either need to find a way to work with her distaste or get excluded from what is happening, but it is also your responsibility to keep secret from your friends that which your friends can't cope with knowing.

Finish the Job. Your Dark Patron may be becoming impatient. Persephone, maybe, got the impression that something almost stepped in and took over this morning, and only her own will kept things in her own hands? If she does not act, someone else might end up finishing the Job and she may lose face?

I wasn't here for that so take this with a grain of salt, but that sounds like something that could be potentially game-breaking and should be addressed.

Ok as @vagueGM and @Delirium have suggested, Pers will finish the job, but yeah — she’s gonna keep it to herself. She tried sharing and it did not go well all around. Well, except with Viv, who was into it? I’m guessing my Patron had access to her browsing history and figured this pairing would world for just that reason…

And yeah, I don’t plan to avoid half the playbook! I just don’t want to generate any game-breaking conflict between pers and Emma, but I’ll trust @Delirium not to kill the game because I am playing the Jobs part of my playbook.

Given that they are expert at manipulation, I have been working under the assumption that you are perfectly suited to do this Job. Collecting Winter's soul may have been as a lesson or punishment, anyone could have done that —though maybe not as well— but bringing in new people is important, and you don't get a second chance, so you may have been carefully selected.

Possibly we should not have ignored the rules that set it at 'a block or two'... but having a slightly diluted level of control over a larger neighbourhood —and needing more wolves to control it— seems an interesting way to go.
Do you have a network of 'soldiers' already? People you worked with in the past as a drug dealer, maybe?
So far that has not happened. We almost did twice, but the timing was never right. So I would not bargain on it, we may have to find a way for you to turn more wolves in the timeframe we have. It is an exponential growth curve, so you can start small and it can, very quickly, get out of hand... both in terms of numbers and in terms of control.

Yes, people she's worked with in the past and people she works with currently. As established before she's in control of the drug trade in her territory... or at least she's taking steps to consolidate her control. Given that 'crime' is still one of her territories troubles I don't think it would be fair to state that her control is absolute, but she's definitely actively attempting to expand her organization and either drive out other criminals or bring them under heel.

Yeah, Jacob was a previous PC (the Imp). He left Benji the raven to look after (the raven was part of the loophole Jacob used to escape hell and is secretly a transformed faerie knight, although Benji doesn’t know that). Jacob also owned a bookshop near Yasmine’s and a magical pond suddenly appeared in the middle of it after Jacob ‘left the city’. Benji rescued a frog from the pond (not wanting it to be trapped inside where it might starve) and took it to St James Park. He didn’t know the frog had anything to do with the fae at the time.

This is an odd plot! (that's not a criticism, mind you)

Hey, don't look at me! I didn't bring the frogs into it. :)

Jacob ended up in faerie-land by Escaping a Situation (caught red-handed breaking and entering) though a magic door [ref].

The location they escaped from (also not chosen by me:) looked like this: [streetview], which put them in faerie-land.

They came back through a portal in the form of a pond, but rolled a 1... so the pond-portal remains in Jacob's shop/sanctuary ... along with its connection to faerie.

We lost Jacob (busy player) at the same time, so Benji took over management.

Benji then decided to take a frog from the faerie pond and deposit it in the ecosystem at St James Park. And here we are.
Nope. He just likes animals.
Somehow I doubt that is the entirety of their plan. Maybe frogs are larval their forms? Maybe they are just frogs... but from faerie? Maybe... I don't know, I just work here...

From what we have seen about the faeries:

• We know the rain is somehow benefiting them. [origin]
• This might be to do with people's emotional state?
• We know that water is sometimes a medium for moving from one world to another.
• Maybe the rain is to help them come through?
• We don't know their intent.
• Some think they are a threat. (Mainly those in power?)
• Some think they are here to save us. (Possibly delusional hippy-types?)
• We don't know what the other members of Wild think, they are alien and hard to understand.

Cool. You can tell us about them, whenever they come up or are relevant.

If they know about the supernatural (in a significant way) they may be Mortalis, else they are mere mortals. If any are Mortalis then you can use Moves and Debts and such with them.
Well, as established, she is only partially 'in control', there is also, at least, Jack the Merc [ref] as competition.
And do we think turning them into wolves is part of that 'bringing them to heel'? Is that voluntary or forced-conscription? (You were not given a choice, after all.)

When you think Max would take the steps, we can work on giving you scenes where you can try turning people.

One wonders about Circe, the werewolf groupie...

Does Benji mention the prisoners, or the 'hunters' he has agreed to take down there?

If it comes up Max may have heard about missing people, or might even know about Frank and Ernie.

We might want to have Persephone realise she can't actually protect herself... and do that before she goes down there and needs to. She needs to make amends with her Dark Patron before she can get her abilities back.

He will if the conversation does not move on too quickly! I was trying to avoid info-dumping too much because there was a lot to say and respond to.

110%!! She's just mouthing off. I mostly was pleased with myself for coming up with 'scaredy-drac' lol

Also, feel free to turn Circe if you wish, Max/ @morphling ! It could be fun. We could kinda share her as an NPC.

Also, does Benji *know* the puddle in the bookstore is a portal?

Oh obviously he doesn't. (adding this correction here rather than editing)

No way for he could know that.
Not sure why it is obvious, though it would be safe to assume. :)

Jacob did not mention to anyone that the pond was related to his portaling back... in fact, he did not mention the pond at all, so it came as a surprise to those who visited the shop and found the books damp.

Just realized I need some GM buy-in AFTER writing that cool and dramatic post.

Max isn't in sight of the moon since it's daytime. However... this was not a transformation that she was in control of. So, does that still count? Or should I cross my whole post out.

We can let it happen. Maybe there is a sliver of moon up there? Or reflecting in the clouds? Or, as you say, maybe uncontrolled changes can happen any time?
One wonders, though, does losing control like this lead to Max losing control... even further?

I don't think we want to add to this by having Max go on a rampage as well. But, if you want to risk it, maybe a boosted Keep Your Cool [ref] to maintain some semblance of control over yourself (or even to stay with the others, or to turn back when the time comes?)?

You have already revealed your secret to all the PCs... and (though you don't know it) drawn the attention of something supernatural (which we can deal with after we give everyone a chance to react).

Speaking of: Does anyone have anything they want to see drawn into this scene? I have a few ideas of who I might bring in, but welcome requests.

Except that: • Sometimes you lose control while transformed means you lose control. A wolf in the middle of a crowd of strange people is not a pretty sight. But you are in the park, so, this time, you can probably get away from everyone (• Your territory includes open grounds for you to roam and hunt (add blessing: +sanctuary)).

But I don't want to spoil the scene by making you run off. Do you think you are aware enough to recognize your 'friends' and help them against anything that might come?

Oh yes, I definitely agree that she could be a danger to others. I just want to make it clear that she doesn't turn into the antagonist of a horror movie.

Well, it is an important question, because it shapes what narrative options we have if we don't want to spoil things. Nothing wrong with academics. :)
Might be she has no idea of this deeper, savage, layer? Yet...?

Seems pretty likely, since even if she has gone savage once or twice in the past, she'd probably only have vague memories she might interpret as dreams and no friendly faces nearby to tell her "Woah, you freaked out there for a moment."

Especially if you plan to head down with Benji 'later today' [ref].

Nothing in life is easy.

Benji wandered around for days, but it may be possible to find a shorter route now that you have some 'guidance'.

Alasdair's lair was only a few hours away from the surface, but it does stand in the way of getting lower down —almost by design— so you may have to find a way around it.

You may be able to do this in stages? Free the prisoners, and then come back to explore further...?
But, if you free Alasdair's prisoners, you may stir up the hornet's nest and have a harder time getting below?

Anything that does not come from your Dark Patron is not affected by their displeasure, so, if you can shape it as coming from you then you can do it... or try it.

What did you have in mind?

Both of those sounds like demonic abilities, right? Not something you would be able to do on your own?
Faux pas in what way?
I would think that option is always an option.
As you say. :)

Oh yeah, I forgot that limitation. Ugh yeah. Pers needs to seal the deal and move on. Getting tired of that.

Emma probably does not have any way to recognise the face of the 'summoner' [ref], but she would probably be able to Put a Face to a Name [ref] if someone else mentions it.

The 'street-level' characters (Benji and Max) may well recognise —or have had dealings with— the summoner, they are a minor magician with a few tricks... that may include summoning. You did not know there was a connection to Chaudry, that may be new.

If our new person is messing around with demons it would make sense that Persephone might recognise them, whether by face or by name is up to you, Drgwen.

If any (or all) of you think your character would know them you can Put a Name to a Face [ref] with Power. Once their name has been shared everyone else can Put a Face to a Name [ref] with that information if they needed it.

As always, feel free to flesh out details of the new NPC [ref], including name, descriptions, gender, pronouns, ethnicity (if not obvious from the name:) and anything else.

No worries. We can keep the roll, you can post what you do and see and recognise in the RP when you can.
That's good news.
No, you Mark the Advancement (Adv?) checkbox for Power, no matter the dice outcome.

'Ratings' increases come from Advancement, but, officially, only 'after five advancements', using the two '• +1 any Circle (max+3)' option.

Wouldn't that just be Turn to Violence [ref]?

You can roll that if you want to assault this person in the public. Given her past experience, Persephone might be angry enough to do something foolish like that, but it is up to you.

They were not looking for a fight, so they are pretty well cowed already and may talk anyway, but rolling the Move gives some structure. I assume this is with 'threats'? I think threats have been established.

Sure, if you want to describe what it is like under there, go for it.

You also do 2-Harm to it. It does 1-Harm back but your tough hide gives you 1-Armor, so you it will lash out but to no avail. Include those tidbits in your description, as you like. (The Harm is not optional with this Move (see the Pulling Punches sidebar on page 75).)

Extra Harm would probably have killed it, but this is as good or better, for the reasons you outlined.

The conversation is still ongoing, though. You persuaded them to talk... you are talking. We know the mechanical effect, deal with the details in the fiction to get you there.
Give it time, you are still talking. It is a conversation.

But so far their 'counteroffer' is 'talking as demanded, but offering as little as possible till it becomes worth their while'. You don't have to accept their counteroffer if you don't like it, but it is a negotiation, so you can keep talking and see where it gets you.
The Persuade was to get them to talk. They are talking. What did you ask them?
• who are you
  • Answered: Nefydd [ref]
• who taught you that
  • Answered: taught myself [ref]
• why are you summoning a demon
  • Answered: They are set to watch the place [ref] and noticed supernatural activity, some of this you must guess at.
• do you work for Chaudry?
  • Answered: Confirmed, though by mistake. [ref] [ref]
We need to deal with the fiction. You Persuaded them to talk, which they are doing. You did this with threats, so they don't like you. (You accused them of lying when they hadn't.) You are 'offering them protection'... from their friend, who is your enemy, but not theirs.

What have you done that would get them to turn on their friend and mentor? Persuade is not mind-control.
Quite right, the conversation goes on.
Which is making them even more scared of you, but threats are what we have, so that is the nature of the relationship.
The conversation is still going, under the effects of your previous roll and now bolstered by Max's additional threat [ref] and fear.

You have changed the goalposts from 'talk' to 'come over to our side', but nothing you have done would qualify to get them on your side. Why should they betray Chaudry?

Think of the NPCs as real people, with their own lives and wants and needs. How would a real person react to your capturing them and threatening them and scaring them, and then claiming you would be a better friend than their friend? You will have to work at it.

We can't really disregard rolls in PbtA, if you had rolled a 6 or less I am bound by the rules to make something 'bad' happen (GM Move), so assume every roll counts and don't roll if it is not supported by the fiction or if you are not prepared to accept the consequences.

Your threat is pretty clear, though the exact meaning may be hard to convey when you can't speak. What are you trying to achieve, though? Make the demon run away? It can't do that without permission. Make Nefydd run away? They were doing that already before they were tackled to the ground (in a self-inflicted way:). Double down on the existing threat? Done, they are royally scared of your group.

@oopsylon, @Delirium, and @Morphling: Are any of you going to Put a Face to a Name [ref] (Emma has heard the name)?

Knowing more about them might help the interrogation.

You can only do this Move when you first encounter an NPC, so it is now or never.

That’s fair. I’ll play it through the fiction. Works for me.

Yeah, she wants the demon to leave. If it won't she's going to kill it and mark corruption.

She hasn't gotten a proper look at Nefydd yet, she is preoccupied with fighting a demon. I'll roll once she's finished with that.

I rolled Put a Name to a Face and missed! I think that means it's your choice if Benji doesn't know Nefydd or owes them a debt, vagueGM

Do you want to Owe them? If so tell us how. Else you don't know them.

Hmmm… I think it would be interesting if Benji owed them a debt. I don’t know much about Nefydd, but do you think it would make sense for them to be someone Benji’s fed on before? Benji usually only feeds on people he considers ‘friends’, so that would probably mean Benji and Nefydd are on somewhat friendly terms

It is bound, it can't leave without permission, and Nefydd is asking for your (group's) permission [ref] to do so.

If y'all allow it we can consider the demon gone. Nefydd is only waiting for permission so they don't get ganked for 'trying something'.
Cool. Max can't exactly communicate any new information she knows in her current —nonverbal— form, anyway, so it won't affect this scene too much. :)

Agreed.
Sure. I have posted 'what most people know' in the RP [ref]. We can add anything Benji knows a little to fit your Debt.
Maybe? But they could have done you any array of other favours. Maybe we can come up with something interesting or unexpected?
That may be hard to fit into the scene, and we know this is not totally true (you fed on those 'hunters' the other day, and that was not friendly).

If you Owe them, and they see you —so far you may be out of view— they may well turn to you for help out of this situation, they may Cash in that Debt [ref] (• do a favor at moderate cost), and you may have to try to stop your friends from hurting them. You can always try to Refuse to Honor a Debt [ref] since you have a conflict of interest. (They are Status-0.)

So it looks like Persephone is too busy retraumatizing herself to ask Nefydd to call off the demon. Do Benji or Emma want to do it? Because otherwise Max is going to try to finish the job. Just waiting to see if anyone's going to make the call at this point.

Nefydd asked if they could do it, they don't need to be asked to. We can just assume they took Persephone's breakdown as tacit permission and have the demon be out of the scene, or Max can kill it if you want.

Alright in that case I'm going to write a post assuming the demon went back to demonland.

@oopsylon: We may want to hold of on Benji Owing a Debt till we know how this is going to be resolved. Or, maybe, Benji stays out of sight so they don't appeal to him for help against his friends.

@Drgwen: While it is hard to see them doing a complete 180 and turning on their friend from one conversation, if you want to show them how you are better than Chaudry maybe they will come around in time (maybe in time for the trip downstairs?)

This does not exactly help you in the current scene —except to provide a direction to steer the character in?— but it might be enough for the players to know that some good was done?

They showed a look of pity when you said that you 'serve a demon', they think of demons of things that serve them. Maybe they will be useful in your learning enough to get out of your contract, but that depends on what happens here.

However, you did start this with violence and threats, if your team were to gang up on Nefydd and deliver more threats you might be able to force them to open the portal for you, or show you where Chaudry is right now? But you might not want to go down till you are re-empowered?

---

They are not meant to be a nice person or anything, but your obvious trauma may bring the reality of what 'a sacrifice' actually means crashing down on them? 'It is all fun and games till someone looses a life...'

They have pretty much admitted they knew Chaudry was planning on sacrificing someone and did do it that night, so it is not like they don't know they are working for 'the bad guys'... but this is Urban Shadows, everyone is a bad guy.

If you did choose to kill them, it would be understandable.

---

However: Another option would be to 'let them go'... then both Benji and/or Max could use Bloodhound to track them to where Chaudry is right now, above ground and possible exposed (on a 10+). You have scared them enough, and also given them enough interesting information, that they will want to talk to Chaudry as soon as possible.

Persephone may be able to get her Mojo back while that is happening, or you could track Chaudry down and come back when you are ready?

I did say usually, but yeah Nefydd could be someone Benji bit during a lapse in self-control like Frank and Ernie, or something else entirely
That’s what I had in mind when I suggested that Benji could owe them a Debt, but we can just say that Benji doesn’t know them if we think that complicates the scene too much

Persephone simply won’t have the patience or desire to "show them how she’s better than Choudry". They were Ok with their buddy murdering an innocent: she won’t waste her time trying to "save/convert" them.
Ok that’s interesting. And possible. But she won’t be playing nice to get it. She can’t. I can’t. I can’t be friendly to my abuser or his enablers, nor can Persephone.
This is where Persephone’s head is right now 100%.
If @oopsylon or @Morphling clue Persephone in on this ability, she may be up for it!
I would think that her patron would be hostile to mortals summoning demons and, so, I would think that her ending their little Cabal would be 100% in my patrons interest and, so he might be willing to reward her for doing so or, at least rescind her punishment?

I think Persephone might have seen enough to infer that they can do this on her own. She saw Benji sniff out the fae before and I think he mentioned that he was tracking the hellhound through the park when they all fell through that portal together. I think Max mentioned that she was trying to track the hellhound this morning too. I could have Benji mention the idea more explicitly in RP if you like, but that might tip off Nefydd...

You know they are a vampire and a werewolf, so you might just assume they can follow. Or you can give up (after delivering a beating?) and Max might follow for her own reasons because they are invading her turf?
Seems like a tall order to achieve without having your powers back? Finishing the Job with Viv can be done while the others track down Chaudry, then you can face them in all your glory.

If you really think your Dark Patron will be enemies with demonologists (*) then you may be able to leverage your intent to tackle them to get an advance on your powers? But that would, presumably, cost you?

((*) How else can demons get a foothold in the mortal world if not for summoners?)

Perfect.
Yes! This!
Ok I LIKE this idea!
Choudry summons a demon, but somehow I interfere just enough to disrupt the summoning so he loses control and the demon is free to (hopefully) murder him? Ha maybe she can get in touch with that demon Kal, and he can help? Maybe he will accidentally summon one of my patron’s demons, or something.

The other PCs are gonna have to pull Persephone off of this asshole who aids and abets a guy who murders women. Or he might squirm away, and then she will turn immediately to the vampire and werewolf and beg them to track him down. She must get justice revenge.

Pull him her off? Max is about to lend a hand, what's Persephone's circle? Power?

Is anyone actually doing this 'pulling off'?
An 8 on Lend a Hand [ref] turns that Turn to Violence [ref] 9 into a 10 [post].

The Harm is not optional, but the 10 gives you some control, so I assume you two are going for • you create an opportunity for an ally by 'letting them go' but with blood samples (on knuckles) to help you track them and their blood trail?

If that is the plan you both can narrate it.

Nefydd may seek medical attention along the way, before getting to Chaudry, this should give Persephone time to get her affairs in order and power-up.

Sounds like a good plan. The broken gate may well be a distraction.
Agreed. Narrate it and roll the normal Move. Then tell us your choices if you get to make choices.

Apologies I said I would post and I didn't...and I won't be doing so tonight either. This post-surgery recovery is brutal. Apologies.

Please don't stress about it.

So, I'm assuming Max could have already used Bloodhound if she had wanted. What's the opportunity worth? +1 forward perhaps?

thank you! I’m feeling quite a bit better today actually but still have many weeks and months of recovery ahead

Not sure what you mean? You can use it to track Nefydd down now that they have left, I can't see what it would do while they were here in front of you.

You can roll it as soon as you decide to follow them.
Generally it is a fictional opportunity, not a mechanical thing. It might allow one to use a Move that would otherwise not make sense in the fiction (Escape and Persuade are common examples). It could make it easier to do something you could already do (+1 Forward), but I almost never find that interesting.

In this case, I think your having fresh blood, and them being injured/bleeding, means you pretty much can't fail to track them —even with the rain— so we don't need to worry about losing them, even on a 6- (i.e. there will be some other consequence).

What say you?

Ha! A 9 [post] is one of the two numbers where a +1 Forward is not completely boring. :)

But, if Benji is able to join you he may be able to Lend you a Hand [ref] and get that up to a 10?

Cops tend to notice that sort of thing and treat it as suspicious. Do you think you need to Keep Your Cool [ref] to avoid rousing their interest in you?

Sure! I'll add the roll to my post. He's nervous about Max being mad at him for taking too long, not nervous about the police, but there's no way for the police to know that I suppose hahaha

Roll added! (6 again! :( )

Something tells me Benji might be occupied for a bit.

Could Persephone help me? Maybe by talking to people, asking which way he went, etc?

Yeah, I actually didn't even realize Wolf wasn't Wild until I was like a third of the way into this game, and when I did it confused me.

The Circle divisions have always been a bit weird. I think 2e defined them pretty well, though.

Mortalis is people, ones that don't fit the other Circles but are still in the know.

Power is people who have sought out and gained power, so 'wizards' (including Oracles, even though some Oracles may have had that power foisted upon them rather then seeking it out).

Wild are alien, 'not from here'. Fae from faerie-land and demons from 'hell' and (though I can't check right now), presumably, Angels from heaven? They were never human and don't understand us nor are understandable by us.

Night were people, but something happened and they were changed. Many consider the whole Circle as 'undead' (werewolves are often clumped into that category). While they are changed, they are still much more human and remember what it was like to be human.

The Tainted is, indeed, a strange one. I could see them as Night, but the book is saying they are more demon than human. Persephone has repeatedly said she is a demon, now. The members of Night still have basic control over their own actions, the Tainted is driven by an otherworldly contract, they are not meant to be understood or predicted?

Do we really think Persephone is able to help with this? The Bloodhound Move is kind of on another level to 'smelling demons in the area'. The existence of the Move means that, without the Move, the even Werewolf can't track people across the city (no matter how good their nose is).
The 'entanglement' is that you are stuck here helping instead of going to Viv and finishing your Job. On a 10+ 'you find them alone or vulnerable', which does not really give you time to go away and prepare and expect them to still be vulnerable.

You will have to get creative on how you handle things.

(Viv did express a desire to be a part of your revenge... do you get her over here and use this as part of your 'sales pitch'? Does she help you?)

Hmm. OK maybe not then. Can the 9 mean Max still is able to track Nefydd to Chaudry but it may take a while? Allowing Persephone to go and absolutely get Viv to become involved in the revenge plot? Also, meeting a real life (friendly) werewolf and vampire? And hunting down a demon summoning murderer? How exciting! Surely a supernatural romance fan like her will get hooked, yeah? Maybe!

The situation has changed enough that another roll is allowable under the rules, but a third Miss in a row will be rather 'bad'. :)

We could leave it as is, have Benji tied up here for a while and miss the hunt, then have someone (Kenedi?) spring him since those who know Benji know he would not bite people and kill them.... uh... no, not Benji!

It would take a really good roll to change the current situation enough to matter, and a 6- would be 'bad'.

---

---

@Morphling: Would Benji has seen Max's gun in among the discarded clothing? Where was/is it? Jacket? Duffel-bag?

If he saw it he will know to be even more careful with letting the cops search him.

What else might be in your stuff that would be bad to be found?

Yeah, that is what it means. The 9 does not actually make it 'take longer', it takes as long as Nefydd takes to get there (which we can arrange to suit your story-needs), it just means you don't get a special advantage when you get there.
Yeah? Maybe? :)

If you want to have Persephone be entangled in the hunt, right up to the end, and you want Viv to be there for the showdown, you could ask your Dark Patron to arrange things (for a Debt and/or other price and complication) with Let It Out to • summon your dark patron's attention? This gives you a little less agency, but also a little less culpability?

Just the gun would be bad. Max doesn't keep drugs on her under normal circumstances. Her cell phone is also in her bag but she's careful not to leave anything incriminating on any app that isn't encrypted and self-deleting. Though them finding her chat with Circe might complicate things, since even if it isn't enough to incriminate her, it certainly implicates her.

The gun is in her jacket. Benji would have certainly felt a hefty weight as he picked it up, and he may know Max well enough to put two and two together (or he might have examined her jacket and found the concealed holster).

The phone is locked?
OK. We can leave that up to Benji if he noticed.

Okay, I won't roll then!
We'll say he didn't see the gun itself, but he noticed that the jacket was heavy and he knows Max well enough to maybe guess. He certainly knows that letting the police search her bag would be a very bad idea

Yes.

I think this is a moment where Persephone has a difficult choice to make. I’ll post about it.

Wait wait wait — is Max naked???? How did I miss this?

She's not naked naked, she grabbed the demon's discarded trenchcoat. But she doesn't have ANYTHING else.

Well she was naked when she was beating up Nefydd, she didn't bother with the trenchcoat until afterwards. ;D

I’m going to say that Persephone was just two and raged to notice until after and then very much noticed.

This is one of those moments when I really don’t like the "no edits" rule. I was using voice to text because I can’t sit at a computer right now to type on a keyboard because of my surgical recovery, and typing on my phone gets tiring after a while.

That was supposed to be "too enraged" not "two and raged"

I immediately understood, for what it's worth.

The rule does say "if this in any way changes the meaning of what was there, drop an OOC note explaining exactly what you changed" [ref]. It is about tracking the provenance, not about absolute immutability.

Sorry about the delay in responding, there has been no time to sit down and type.

Might be this provides an opportunity for Benji to Escape a Situation [ref] if you want to risk rolling that?

Else it might be possible to Persuade [ref] them all to leave you and head down? (With what, though? 'threat of embarrassment'?) But their training probably says to leave a junior officer with you, just in case.

Benji, of course, does not know that this is Persephone's 'distraction' [post]... Persephone might not even know this... And if Persephone is gone [post] by the time Benji gets free the source may remain a mystery? :)

Which option do you pick?
 • you suffer harm during your escape
 • you end up in another dangerous situation
 • you leave something important behind
 • you owe an NPC a Debt for their aid
 • you give into your base nature and mark corruption

I am not seeing how you would suffer harm, and ending up in another dangerous situation seems unlikely, but you can still pick them if you want, and the others all make sense. I will pick one to complement what you pick, but you are welcome to suggest which second option you think would be fun.

Oh, right! Sorry, I forgot I have to pick one of them myself :P
I think 'you owe an NPC a Debt for their aid' makes the most sense for this situation (the NPC being Wentworth or Persephone's patron).

Certainly.
Yep.

@Drgwen: Presumably Persephone also Owes a Debt for them doing you this favour? Benji's is in addition to that, as a result of his benefiting from this action.

It seems to me that you (both) Owe Wentworth and not your Dark Patron for this, right? Unless it transfers? Up to you.

I will pick: '• you leave something important behind'. This being that you are recognisable and they will know your identity.

While the first part is resolved [RP] that sort of thing is up to all y'all.

Persephone could see Benji talking with the police, but she was narrated as 'not loitering' so: up to you how far away she goes.

I don't know where Max is, if she is waiting around for Persephone to get her her clothes for her, or if she has followed Nefydd. Max might not know, yet, that she does not need to follow, that she could track him almost-anywhere no matter what, which may be why she sent someone else to get her things?
He does, but I brought that tidbit back just in case other clothing was useful... and as a reminder that the Landsborough carries complications. :)
Yeah... not sure what the 'plan' was. :)

@Morphling: Where do you think Max is? Does Benji need to track her? This close it should be doable without needing a Bloodhound roll (the possession of the Move give fictional permission to say: 'it happens').

Max is at the same place Persephone left her, waiting for her clothes, phone, and weapons. She doesn't really want to find Nefydd until she has those.

@vagueGM So Max wants to follow Nefydd to Chaudry (or at least the location that Nefydd goes to, where she assumes Chaudry will be), and then attack him with lethal intent so he can't spill the beans. You mentioned Nefydd would probably seek medical attention first, once Max tracks him there she'll probably no longer be hunting him and instead be shadowing him. The window between realizing where Nefydd is headed and being able to intercept him before he gets there is probably pretty narrow, do you think Keep Your Cool is appropriate, given that I didn't get a 10 on Bloodhound to make him alone/vulnerable? Or do you want to make this a gimme?

Just making sure that OOC you realise that Benji just saved Max. If he hadn't distracted the police you would have had to deal with them before you could do anything else.

I get that Max is 'aggressive' (Demeanor), and thinks she is the be-all-and-end-all, but I do worry that people may stop working with her if she continues to be such a ... shall we, euphemistically, say: 'female dog'?

Might do. OOC this was mainly to buy time for Persephone to get her Job done. If it suits the story we can have that happen, or skip it if that works better.
Up to you all. Both in terms is whether he finds a street-doc or not, and if that changes your approach.
Yeah, probably. And I assume we don't want to risk finding Chaudry, so I am loath to have a roll decide that part (unless we all choose that option).
That would probably be the Move, if we roll one. It would be Keep Your Cool to avoid having Nefydd 'get inside', or something like that. Maybe we wait and see what the fiction brings, who all is there, and if you have a clear upper-hand, and if it is worth it.

You are all still at the park, but I will foreshadow (with a big, clear shadow:) that I will ask you what you face at Chaudry's:

• Is he, maybe, alone, hiding in a hovel (apparently easy prey)?
• Is he, maybe, with the Ivy Club, making a (slightly) harder target, but giving you access to the whole bang-shoot?
• Something else completely?

(Also, where they are in the city, and what they are doing, is up to you all.)

I, too, don't have any feelings about keeping Nefydd alive or preemptively taking them out, that is completely up to characters.

Yes, to be clear, I don’t have any OOC objection to killing Nefydd. I just think Benji would have reservations. He’s not firmly opposed either — he’s just questioning if it’s actually necessary or if there might be another option.

OOC I am aware. IC, Max is certain that if Benji had just ran to them with a warning, they could have all fled the scene before the cops arrived. However, I have come to realize that Max might have been using Benji as a punching bag a little too enthusiastically this morning, and I think I'll reign it in from now on.

Can I Lend a Hand to Max’s earlier bloodhound roll or is it too late for that?

Hahaha it’s alright! He’s a bit of a doormat :P

Go for it. Since the hunt is still barely started —you are still basically in the park— that seems quite reasonable.

Sure. That would probably be a Hit the Streets [ref] once you get to them to see if they can help you.

You can tell us who they are.

If Nefydd joins up with Chaudry and whomsoever is with him, then he, obviously, becomes entangled in the revenge plot anyway. So this is mainly about if we take him out first, so they are not warned. If Benji can get your Bloodhound over the 10+ level then Nefydd is vulnerable and you can use that opportunity to try capture them, we can see what the fiction brings and if any rolls are needed when the time comes.

@Morphling: When did Max mark Wild for the second time? I thought she only had Power marked right now?

Wild when she lent a hand to Persephone to beat up Nefydd.

I thought that might have been where the confusion happened. See the Advancement [ref] note for when you mark Circles. Only the Moves that are listed there or that explicitly say you mark the Circle count. These rules are kinda convoluted. :)

Ah, I see. My n00bness is showing. Will uncheck Wild.

Another 6! :/

Any thoughts as to why?

Is Benji too distracted by that smell?

Or does the smell of the Wolf overpower everything else? @Morphling: Maybe the Wolf smell was not there before, but after changing it lingers (till you wash it off? (I mean, we know it draws the attention of supernatural creatures))? (Might be useful to draw people away so others can act? (potential Opportunity with a Cost?))

I definitely think the smell of the Wolf would still be on Max, for better or worse.

Either could work but let’s go with Wolf smell

How are we doing?

As am I.

Me too!

I am humbled and gratified that you all are still around and showing keen. My time is becoming a problem, I just don't get to sit down and write at the moment.

I don't foresee being able pause this game and pick it up again later, so I am keen to try 'finish' the 'story' (even if that takes a few months). I spent every day of the past week wanting to look at the plot-lines we have and how we can pull them all together into one coherent story, even if we find our characters on different sides... but time has not let me do anything with it.

Maybe we deal with Chaudry (and the Ivy Club), and have that lead back to the encroaching faeries.
Maybe we find that Alasdair is similarly involved against the faeries?
There are two ways that Emma is being dragged into that affair.

• Do you want to be involved in the 'story planning' part? Or do you want me to weave something and direct us?
Everyone should answer.

Thank you for your patience.

I’m sorry to hear that! I really enjoy this game and, personally, would be fine to pause for a bit and pick it up again later when you have more time, but I understand if that won’t work for you.

As for story planning and pulling all the loose threads together, I’d be happy to leave it to you, but I’m also be happy to help if you are feeling overwhelmed. I think we could probably leave some things unresolved or resolve them ‘offscreen’, if that makes things easier.

Yeah, I’m sorry gang. I’m going to have to step away from this game. I’m actually reducing all of my game commitments pretty significantly right now. And this game is winding down and I just don’t see how Persephone can have anything feeling like a satisfying conclusion while honoring all the misses I have rolled for her. So I’ll just imagine a happy ending for her and withdraw from the game.

I want to thank you all for being amazing fellow players. I went to especially call out you, @vagueGM , for being the most invested and involved and collaborative game master I have ever had in 40 years of playing. Thank you. I had fun playing this game, and working with you as GM has been rewarding. I feel as though I’ve learned a lot about games and gaming from you so, again, thank you GM, and thank you everyone else. Feel free to reach out, everybody, and happy gaming.

I sense, at this point, that we're done here. There are a lot of things that I would have liked to do with Max that just aren't going to happen in an epilogue. Her story was just beginning, after all. I'd like to thank Drgwen for introducing me to this game, the other players for being awesome, and especially @vagueGM for running it so well.

Hope to see everyone around.

Morphling out.

Morphling, Drgwen: It’s been a pleasure playing with you both!

Delirium, VagueGM: Are we still planning to try to wrap things up or is that a bit too complicated now without Drgwen and Morphling? I’ve really enjoyed playing with you guys and I confess I’m quite sad to see the game come to an end. I think Delirium and I have both expressed openness to put the game on pause for a bit and pick it up again later. Is that something you would be open to, VagueGM?

There’s a lot going on in the game that I agree might make it a bit awkward to resume after a long hiatus, but maybe, if we did put the game on pause, we could do a time skip or something if/when we came back to shed some of the old plotlines that are bogging us down and introduce some new players? To start fresh, sort of?

Idk, just some thoughts! I’ve really enjoyed playing with you both, in any case!