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Friends, NPCs, Countrymen…
Generally speaking, it is unwise to tell your friendly neighborhood Guardian of the Veil representative that you are about to hold a press conference on behalf of a man who watched a bunch of people turn into Werewolves. It is a widely held belief that going on to tell him that the whole thing was in fact your idea is… less wise.
At least Damien chose his moment well: as they were about to leave the graveyard from which the body of a young woman said Guardian representative had been accused of murdering was recently stolen.
It could only have been worse if Narsil, the Guardian in question, only found out because Damien accidentally mentioned that he’d like to get some sleep before having to head over to the steps of City Hall for his press conference.
Which is, as I imagine you have already deduced, precisely how Narsil found out about this press conference.
Narsil was displeased.
I did enjoy playing out Narsil’s reaction to this news. Watching Damien’s player squirm as he tried to spin how this would ultimately work in the Consilium’s favor by painting a picture of a man suffering from PTSD due to the stresses of his job. He went on at length about how this would not only discredit the “supernatural” elements of his story, but he could pull it off in a way that would gain sympathy for the police from the public, thereby gaining the trust of both the public and the police! It made sense, and he rolled well, and as GM I did know that this was the player’s plan going into the whole thing so Narsil (also a Mastigos) wouldn’t detect anything but sincerity from Damien. This is exactly the kind of mass manipulation (for the people’s own good of course!) that the Guardians like to see, and resulted in Narsil asking Damien if he had ever considered a career with the Guardians. He never dreamed that Damien would take it as an offer and accept it, though I’ll admit he had been hoping Damien would for a variety of complicated and conflicting reasons that will become clearer later on. (No Spoilers!)
Of course, as much fun as that was, the press conference was my favorite part of the day. I absolutely made Damien’s poor player (a lawyer in real life as well as in game) play this out. We gathered both tables together (Mages and Werewolves alike) and let people fire questions at Damien. He was then on the spot to answer them. Fun! He was a bit perturbed when I told him that was the plan. He had already augmented his mental abilities (well, his character’s mental abilities anyway) with some spellcraft, but he decided to ask if he could use his skills in the Mind Arcana to split his mind, almost like the Multi-Tasking spell, but instead of keeping track of different mental tasks he would look at the questions from opposing viewpoints while being charming for the cameras and assembled reporters. He would effectively be playing Devil’s Advocate with himself while he stalled. I decided that there could be little in life that would be more hilarious than allowing him to choose from among his Cabal-mates to represent different parts of his psyche and allowed this.
Much to my amusement he chose Aenaiyah (to represent his creative side: she’s a writer), Rex (his grumpy side: Rex is a grumpy old man), and Riff-Raff (Riff-Raff is a cop and so would know the law, and Riff-Raff’s player is also a lawyer in real life).
Argus’s player got to be one of us mean people pelting him with irritating questions. Excellent!
Throughout the conference Damien dealt with belligerent questions like “are you asking us to believe that there are Werewolves in the city?!” He was asked if he thought that the officer in question was mentally unstable to begin with and never should have been handed a badge and a gun in the first place; if this clearly currently less-than-stable individual should be handed a gun again at some point in the future; if it really is a good idea to have people who believe in Werewolves on the police force; if the public can expect more mental breakdowns and instability from the people who are supposed to be protecting them; if he was thought it was OK to let this person get away with endangering innocent people in a diner by waving around a loaded hand-gun because ‘any of them could be Werewolves, even you*!”; what kind of disciplinary action he thinks this officer, who endangered innocent people, should be facing; and all manner of irritating questions. One of my favorite parts though: while most of the players were a wide variety of reporters (you had to say a reporter’s name before you could ask a question), one of the Werewolves had apparently (and I did not know this beforehand!) been saying that his character was planning on starting up a website of weird goings on in the city and so he was asking questions as his character, a character that Damien knows, and randomly being a total pain in his ass. Matteus asked questions like:
- “Do you believe in Werewolves?”
- This may require Damien to lie since he knows Matteus is indeed a Werewolf
- “If Werewolves really do exist, and I’m saying if here, why would that necessarily be a bad thing?”
- OK people playing my brain, how do I answer this diplomatically without sounding crazy? GO!
- “Don’t you think Werewolves would make really good police officers since they are really strong, and heal really quick, and have an incredible sense of smell that they can use to track criminals? If they existed I mean, of course!”
- People playing my brain, remind me later to punch Matteus in the brain repeatedly until he is in a permanent coma. Or dead. Dead is OK too.
All told, I absolutely endorse allowing players to hold press conferences. I also absolutely endorse letting the other players grill them like a rack of ribs! Screw the whole “we’re a team we should help each other bit”. Deep down somewhere in the sub-cockle region they enjoy torturing each other and as you know I always say “let them!” Make sure that you have a few good juicy questions ready and then let the group dig in with you. You’ll be glad you did!
*You may recall that the “you” Officer Brewer was speaking to at the diner that night was in fact two Werewolves: Calypso and Matteus. (See: Regrets, They Have A Few)
Regrets, They Have A Few
It turns out that the somewhat unstable gun-wielding person in the diner with some of our Werewolf friends was a cop. He was a good cop, until that night he got mixed up in what he thought was a drug deal, but wound up being a bunch of Pure Werewolves who he witnessed going full on scary monster causing him to be shaken… not stirred.
Since his chats with the station psychologist involved people turning into Werewolves he was advised to take a little time off, away from his badge and sidearm. Naturally, being not dumb, he had more than one sidearm (legally) and kept his private piece close at hand. When his nice quiet, calm, chat over a cuppa joe with a couple of our Werewolf friends takes a detour onto ‘Waving A Loaded Gun In A Crowded Diner’ street while shouting about how his companions “don’t understand, anyone in this place could be a Werewolf right now and we wouldn’t even know!” the hilarity of the situation is not lost on me. Unsurprisingly Officer Brewer is brought in by a couple of his former co-workers to let off some steam behind bars. They treat him well, after all he’s one of theirs and he didn’t actually hurt anybody and his gun is legal, but they can hardly just send him home with a pat on the head. It sounds like he’s going to need a lawyer. Maybe our Mage friends know a lawyer. That’s right, our Mastigos friend Damien is a lawyer!
Calypso and Matteus (Officer Brewer’s newest Werewolf companions) go over the details of what just happened with Damien. Damien loves nothing better than showing off his own special blend of epic greatness (he has the Narcissism derangement) so he decides that what they need to do is hold a press conference to engender sympathy among the public for these poor overworked, underpaid, over stressed public protectors! Officer Brewer didn’t hurt anyone. He’s a victim in this! He has clearly been traumatized by his work, and he needs help from the very people he has risked his life protecting and serving for years.
While this is going on, our favorite Guardian of the Veil Argus Guile gets a phone call from a Moros Mage named Macabre. It seems someone has stolen a body from the cemetery. He wouldn’t mind so much if they had told him first! The particular body they nabbed is a girl who got murdered not long ago and sometimes the police come back and exhume those. He’s hoping that maybe Rex took it and can bring it back. If it was Rex, and he does help put it back, Macabre can point him to some ‘slightly used’ bodies that won’t be missed. When he finds out that it isn’t their friend Rex who stole the missing dead girl he asks if maybe Aenaiyah can come take a glance back to see if she can figure out who did so he can get it put back before he gets into trouble on account of it being missing. What she sees in that Post-Cognition is someone in very concealing black clothing whose face is obscured by a Guardians of the Veil mask.
As a GM I completely expect Damien’s player to start putting two and two together right about the time when he starts to hear about these details from his fellow Mages, but as I see the dawning of utter cluelessness in his face I allow him an INTELLIGENCE + COMPOSURE roll (thankfully a successful one) to remind him that when he joined the campaign he had asked me if he could have found himself placed in this particular Mage House after helping out a certain Guardian of the Veil (Narsil) with a legal problem… a legal problem which involved a dead girl, and his alleged hand in her death. Damien’s player had made a point of telling me how Damien had amassed those dots in Resources on his character sheet by defending a wide assortment of unsavory types as long as they could afford his rather exorbitant fees. He didn’t care of they were guilty or not, as long as they understood that freedom wasn’t free it was all the same to Damien. He also specifically told me that Damien wouldn’t have cared if Narsil had actually been guilty of this crime or not (after all, Guardians are called upon to do some unkind things in the name of public safety from time to time) and so as a player he didn’t really need to know.
I reminded him of that when he rolled those successes.
Project Lullaby
Project Lullaby
Seer Brahms
Proposal: Project Lullaby
Pentacle Orders have been obtaining funding under the auspices of CIA project MK Ultra to test the potential of lysergic acid diethylamide since roughly 1950. While their experiments have not held promise toward their aims of controlled Awakening, I believe that the true promise of lysergic acid diethylamide (hereafter LSD) is to prevent, and possibly even reverse, the Awakening process.
The following has been excerpted from Pentacle records with regard to CIA project MK Ultra.
Point: There exists anecdotal evidence that links LSD with visions of the supernal.
There are copious references in drug culture to experiences that “transcend” the normal world. For example, LSD users have been cited as being able to “see” sounds and “feel” colors. Their descriptions often bare similarities to that which we know as uses of “Mage Sight”.
Question: Is it possible to use LSD to bring about Awakening in a controlled environment.
Experiment: Expose Sleepers/Sleepwalkers to the drug LSD to determine suitability for use in controlled Awakening.
::: End Excerpt:::
According to information obtained by Seer operatives present during testing there was no conclusive evidence linking LSD to Awakening. At best LSD temporarily, though unreliably, induced a Sleepwalking state in users.
Point: Exposure to LSD induces a Sleepwalking state in some individuals
Though experimental results were unreliable, LSD does show promise in bringing about a Sleepwalking state in some individuals.
Point: There is no known evidence of a Sleepwalker having experienced a full Awakening.
Sleepwalkers are those Sleepers who have had memorable experiences of the Supernal, yet have not fully Awakened. Despite many years of working with these Sleepwalkers, there is not even one recorded incident in which a Sleepwalker has attained full Awakened capabilities.
Question: Is it possible to use LSD to induce a temporary “Sleepwalking” state that will prevent individuals from Awakening in the future?
Question: Is it possible to use LSD to sever the connection between a Mage and his/her Watchtower, reducing the Mage to a Sleepwalking state?
Experiment: Captured Pentacle Mages will be exposed to the drug LSD for varying periods of time. These individuals will be watched by Seers to determine the following:
- Is the Mage able to cast spells while under the effects of LSD?
- Is the Mage able to cast spells after the effects of LSD have worn off?
- Is the Mage able to remember past Supernal experiences after exposure to LSD?
- Does exposure to LSD alter a Mage’s aura?
- If there is a change, what is the nature of the change?
- If there is a change, does the change last after the drug has cleared the body?
Additionally, Sleeper scientists within the CIA have conducted other experiments using combinations of LSD and other mind altering agents (as well as electroshock). While most of these are irrelevant to us, there is one avenue that is of interest. Can LSD be used to implant alternate personalities in patients?
While it is possible for any Mastigos to control the mind of another being for limited durations, and even to permanently erase memories from a target, this magical tampering can be picked up and countered by others with talent in the Mind Arcanum. If LSD can in fact be used to deeply implant agendas in the mind of a Mage or Sleepwalker these commands, since non-magical in nature, would not be able to be countered. Further, would it possible to hide this tampering from scanning altogether? Since LSD breaks down in the body relatively quickly, it is possible that these alternate personalities might not be detectable as ‘foreign thoughts’ using Awakened magic. If so, the potential to place unknowing Seer agents among the Pentacle Orders would be greatly enhanced.
Question: Can LSD, in combination with other mind altering techniques not involving magic, be used to create hidden personalities in Awakened?
Question: Can these ‘hidden personalities’ be ferreted out as foreign tampering by those skilled in the Mind Arcanum?
Experiments:
Experimentation will involve long-term exposure of captured Pentacle Mages to LSD, combined with electroshock techniques and other drugs. The trials will run along lines similar to those of CIA project MK Ultra (packet included) geared toward the creation of new, hidden personalities in individuals. If new personalities are successfully implanted, skilled Mastigos Seers will probe the subjects to determine if the new program is distinguishable in magic scans.
If successful, these experiments have the potential to greatly increase the vision of our Ministry.
Vision is power.
Compel This!
I am still basking in the glory of my recent TPK. (no ketchup, extra relish) This could prove problematic for my regular (and I use that word loosely) troupe this weekend. They have now been warned.
Getting back to them: Damien ran like a byotch while Aenaiyah soiled herself, and then Damien decided to make use of his cowardice to come to her rescue bearing ass-less chaps. This went over far less well than you are probably imagining. Far. Less. Well. I personally think that’s a little unfair to Damien given the circumstances as he probably simply didn’t want her to feel bad about ruining another pair of defenseless pants.
And besides, there was still a multiple murderer on the loose!
They scouted out much of the rest of the abandoned monastery, but use of a Locator spell helped them to avoid one or two nasties that had been hanging around in some areas they bypassed. (Sad GM) It did manage to bring them straight to the waiting arms of a certain Mage Killer, but not before Argus rolled in filth and vomited on himself.
For those keeping score – GM: 2 / PCs: 0
You see at one point in time, after it was officially abandoned of course, this location was being put to use by some scientifically minded Mages. Those scientifically minded Mages had need, from time to time, of getting some experimentation materials down to the lower levels. Since they were Mages and could easily reshape materials to better suit their needs they installed a “laundry chute” of sorts. This laundry chute happened to be about the right size for a person to use it as a slide. The chute had not been well maintained in the long years that the monastery had been abandoned. Vagrants would tumble down it from time to time. At other moments it seemed like a convenient place for them to relieve themselves. Faster than Rex can say “I cast Find the Hidden Hoard to find another way down” Argus hurls himself down the chute. The filth made for a soft landing, a moist & squishy landing, but a soft one nonetheless. The resultant RESOLVE+COMPOSURE roll did not go well.
Nor did the RESOLVE+COMPOSURE rolls of those around him. (He stank.)
Current Score – GM: 3 / PCs: 0
Of course, the hilarity was only compounded when Rex found the door, opened it, walked down the stairs, looked at Argus, and said “or you could have just used the stairs.”
Final Score – GM: 4 / PCs: 0
Conn Smyth Trophy Winner: Rex
When the players did find the source of the metal they discovered that it was in fact an old and well used iron shovel. They didn’t see anyone with it, but since they already knew that the assailant could be invisible this wasn’t very surprising. Their quarry had sound mastery up as well as invisibility, making him difficult to detect even with echo-location. The poltergeists in the area (there had been a fire, people had died in it) were less difficult to get a fix on. They were hurling random things at the Mages and using a variety of poltergeistly numen on them. They inspired fear. They hurled sharp objects telekinetically. They were pains in the ass, and they needed to be exorcised. Exorcism works as follows:
Like an abjuration, an exorcism is more about the person who performs the rite than the words spoken, and is primarily a contest of wills between mortal and spirit.
The rules go on to describe how a blessed object can be used in an exorcism. (I just knew those blessed items from the gift shop would come in handy!)
As it happens Damien has a derangement, and his derangement is Narcissism. Being a Narcissistic jerk (the player’s words… and mine), Damien decided to carve “the symbol of ME!” into his palm and the ghost he was battling didn’t need to contend with “The Power of Christ” compelling it, that poor ghost had to face “The Power of ME!” Damien actually took the lethal damage for this self-inflicted wound. (He Resolve+Composured and everything)
Remember: an exorcism is more about the person who performs the rite than the words spoken, and is primarily a contest of wills between mortal and spirit.
In the name of good story-telling the power of Damien compelled me. I gave him the bonus, and ultimately he compelled that crazy ghost right the hell outta there.
And then he got his face smashed in with a shovel.
Compel that, jerk!
In the end they did manage to exorcise the ghosts and kill the murderer. They also stumbled across a hidden room with a vintage C64 Commodore Computer stored in it, which they managed to coax some information out of.
And if things happen in order this time you might find out more about that next week!
*In the NHL Playoffs the Conn Smyth Trophy is awarded to the Most Valuable Player.
Innocents Musings
I’ve written my first module for World of Darkness: Innocents! I haven’t run it just yet, I’ll be doing that at RetCon on Saturday night, but if how much I’ve enjoyed writing it is any indication everyone will be pleased.
One of the things that struck me as slightly odd about Innocents is that it doesn’t use the Virtue/Vice system. Honestly, I can’t imagine why since the entire rest of the World of Darkness line does. The idea of Innocents is that the main protagonists are children (boogie man in the closet kind of stories) but it’s hardly as though children don’t have Virtues and Vices. Children can be every bit as Wrathful, Envious, Proud, Hopeful, Prudent, and Charitable as adults can. So why not Virtues and Vices? Why does Innocents switch to “Assets and Faults”?
I have no answer for that question, and here is another question I have no answer for: why wasn’t “Assets and Faults” made the universal personality trait for all of the World of Darkness instead? Now that I’ve seen the system in Innocents I can’t understand why it wasn’t used across the gamut.
I’d guess that most people are familiar with the seven deadly sins that Vices are based on, and of course the Virtues are all familiar enough as well. The thing is, while Envy is simple enough as a concept, to covet that which someone else has, it’s a little less easy to role play effectively. Envy is a subtle inner conflict that doesn’t always play well at the game table.
In contrast, the Assets and Faults of the Innocents system are all concrete and easy to communicate at the table. They are also well balanced, so that for the various positive qualities a character might have, there are opposing negative qualities: Bravery and Cowardice, Kindness and Cruelty, Generosity and Greed. As for the replenishment of Willpower Points, they work exactly the same way as their counterparts in the other systems: the indulgence of a Fault replenishes one point of Willpower, and the portrayal of an Asset replenishes Willpower to the character’s maximum.
In the Virtues and Vices system I tend to stick to a core few that I use to make pre-generated characters for convention modules because I want to be sure that players with no experience won’t have a hard time portraying the various characters as written on the sheets. I didn’t have that problem at all writing characters in Innocents. I didn’t see any particular quality that wouldn’t be fun to portray at the table. They all feel like they will work well in a group dynamic.
Of course, I’ll know more after Saturday night’s session!
Mage Mistress 