Our second session of Urban Shadows ran tonight. The first post was here: http://goo.gl/vHKaTN
We still loved it. 😀
Over the two sessions, each character averaged just over one advance and one corruption advance each.
Continuing from last time, here are a few more questions and comments that came up during the session for your consideration:
Can you figure someone out on an NPC? We assumed you could, but the language of the move references player and their character, but does not mention the MC. This could be reworded to add clarity.
Can a wizard use their sanctum / workspace to remove corruption?
Wizards cannot erase a corruption advance as an advance like other playbooks. The player of our wizard reported that this caused him to be very cautious about gaining corruption, and therefore using magic. He also found that the corruption advances were not tempting enough to make him want to use his corruption move and make deals with the dark and powerful.
Does erasing a corruption advance also erase a corruption move? Is there a way to make this clearer on the playbooks themselves?
It felt a little awkward for our wolf to be in control of territory but not have a gang right away. Our wolf also questioned how often his start of session move should be triggered. If the start of session two is happening on the same days as the previous session, and he hasn’t yet resolved the previous session’s trouble, does it get triggered?
We tried out the new start of session move posted here a few days ago. In general we liked the intention of it. (Choosing a faction that isn’t already marked was a hit!) I missed that it wasn’t a roll though.
Debts were an awesome way to create a starting weave of tense relationships, but we found in play that they didn’t have much appeal. It was very easy for our players to have one player offer debt, and have other players turn it down. Going back to a point I made earlier, I think having Persuade and NPC also apply to PCs might eliminate this situation. In either case, being able to say no to a favour without consequences sucked.
/sub to respond later
Also, the MC sheets sort of hint at this, but we were left hoping for a bit of City Creation advice, ala the Dresden Files RPG.
Okay, let’s see if I can answer your questions here;
Figure Someone Out definitely works on NPC’s. In this case, the character’s player is the MC. This wording is identical to Apocalypse World.
A Sanctum or Workspace can be used to accomplish almost anything. The limit on that is up to the individual MC and the requirements they set on the task.
Wizards don’t get an out like other Archetypes. Their power is unique that way. If your player was corruption shy, oh well, can’t please everybody. I think their moves are super bad-ass, but I suppose “good” will always be subjective.
Erasing a corruption advances removes the move associated with the advance. This will be made clear in the main book.
A wolf can keep a territory all by themselves without a pack. They’re The Wolf! They’re a force to be reckoned with! They’re start of session move should be rolled when it makes sense. If they shouldn’t be rolling it cause they’re tied up or in the middle of something and you as the MC don’t feel like it’s the right time to roll it, then it doesn’t get rolled. Use common sense with these moves.
Sorry Rob, Persuade an NPC will remain as is. Once we open it up to PC’s, Debts have 0 power. If you can talk a PC into helping you without using a Debt, you’re a charmer and you win, I guess. But when they need that extra push, you have Debt to push them with. You can’t just say no to a favor, you have to Refuse To Honor a Debt when you do that, do I’m not sure what you mean by that?
It’s all good. Thanks for the answers! Hopefully our questions were helpful in some way. Looking forward to the final product!