The Motley considered how they would carry out the wishes of
the Summer Court. Each character had to somehow convince two dozen mundane
humans to attend the Valentine’s Day re-Opening of the Court’s skeevy
Bar/Club/Strip Joint/Buffet. And each guest would have to spend money freely.
Several plans were tossed around- trying to figure out ways to best play to the
group’s strengths and the resources they had available. While some ideas seemed
far-fetched, they ended up being the most compelling as they allowed the PCs to
really use their talents.
In the end, they settled on two approaches. The first
revolved around a particularly outrageous, almost hokey display. John the Smith
built a pseudo-Matchmaking device, complete with laser scanner and print-out.
It looked super-goofy and amusing. Morosa crafted costumes for the group,
focusing on enhancing their assets. Amber snuck them into a tech convention
focused on computer builders and mother-board enthusiasts. Andi and the others
circulated, drumming up business as John went around “matchmaking” attendees
and distributing flyers. They used about half their supply in this operation.
Next they targeted a local auto-parts swap meet and custom vehicle show in the
parking lot of a strip mall. They hired a bouncy castle and the ladies of the
group took turns in there. Via a combination of persuasion, seduction, and
acrobatics to evade wayward groping they distributed more invitations. John
backed up the plot by circulating among the crowd, talking up the girls, and
offering automotive advice.
The night of the event, the group headed over, handing out
the last of their flyers and confirming on some personal invites. Teodoro the
Biblomancer and the mysterious Serenissima showed up- the later under the
pretense that there would be an alien attack. The event went well. John found
himself surrounded by what appeared to be some of the werewolves of the city,
perhaps scenting the draught of Moon Milk he’d ingested days earlier. It went
well- with Rumblestiltkin confirming that they’d managed to reach and beat their
goal. However when Andi encountered Lean-and-Hungry Mike, leader of the Summer
Court, her involuntary oracular talent took over. The motley was asked to leave
shortly after.
GM Notes:
I need to go back and rewatch this episode to see how I
handle planning segments. I find they’re often difficult to manage- I want to
have a light touch but I also want to be proactive in keeping discussions on
task. I don’t know if I always succeed. One of my strategies is to restate,
often, what I’ve heard as a plan or suggestion once I’ve heard it repeated or
presented in a concrete way. I don’t do this for everything, but I like to
break things a little to make sure a) everyone’s heard what’s on the table and
b) everyone’s on the same page. I also try to keep players from shooting down
their own reasonable plans. Sometimes I hear someone make an interesting
suggestion, but they nay-say I try to clarify the situation to show why that
might be viable- especially for those plans which would make use of multiple
players’ talents.
Another goal I have is to take suggestions seriously. If
something’s put forward in jest, I try to consider it. It can take some time to
get a sense of the tone, realism, and GM’s level of exactitude. In another
World of Darkness game- one crunchier and perhaps darker, the kinds of plans
the group chose would not have worked or would have required more hoops to jump
through. But, while tinged with horror, Changeling is a modern fantasy game to
me. I think you need those moments of goofy use of magic and talents. That’s
especially true when the players are dealing with normal people. Manipulating other
Changelings or magical persons would offer greater difficulty. I want the
players to have a sense of their powers- a little bit of competency porn, if
you will. That’s a chance for me to offer a up wards beat, giving me room to
throw a nice counter down beat later (as happened with Andi’s Oracular
declaration).
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