My wife played Dungeon World last year, loved it, and now wants to do something like our defunct WoD game in the World system. We’ve chosen Urban Shadows for obvious reasons.
It’s going to be a solo game (the reason our other one is defunct is because the other players’ schedules changed). She has chosen to play a fae.
This will be my first time running Urban Shadows. Any advice for me as a GM, or that I can relay to her as a player of a fae?
Fae in my games are one of the oddest factions, and the more diversified one.
Playing in Paris they were kind of supernatural drug dealers. They provided faerie substances to mages in order to empower their magic, modified blood for vampires, and many other things…
In my Madrid campaign they are somekind of alien enemies. Metamorphs in war with the lycans of Madrid.
Another campaing in Paris relate faeries with elemental spirits.
As far as I know as a master fae are really… special ^_^
Just dropping a hint, you could still try find players to play on hangouts. Not the same thing as playing face to face, but I found it manageable (and fun).
So, Urban Shadows Fae work best for me as something between family drama and crime family drama.
Like, you’ve got these weird people, and they are your people but dear God do they make you nuts. You owe them, they owe you, and you all take that shit super seriously.
I tend to run fae sovereigns somewhere between a controlling parent and a mafia Don. They are powerful, invested on you, always in your business, and willing to totally fuck up your life if you don’t do as you’re told.
Make debts and favours to the monarch / court heavy business. When the PC is rolling fae magic and faced with the choice between bleeding from their ears and giving their Lord another debt, they should seriously be considering mere bleeding from the ears worth it.
At the same time, get them invested with their court. Make them family. Annoying, insane family, but blood none the less. When my fae call in debts from their court, the court comes in megaton. No one else will ever have your back the way they do.
And then, of course, you give them others who might. People who care about them, who may have a relationship not all about debts and rank and fae bullshit. And then put that at odds with the family.
.. Anyway, my other advice is take time to explore what makes fae so fae. Work with the player and develop the myths with lots of questions. Are your fae old Irish? Post-modern Scandinavian? Deva and Ausura from West and South Asia? Inhuman, eldritch, domestic, artistic, insane?
Fae are really flexible in terms of position. One of the most flexible on the playbooks, and taking time to fill them in and feel them out is fun.
Brand Robins puts it so perfectly, so I am just here to smile and agree.
As for MC advice, I often forget to include NPC’s from all the Factions, especially Mortality. I would say try to make an effort to include lovable and detestable members from every Faction.
Also, Ryan M. Danks, I’m a big fan of your Fate work. It’s great to have you posting here and enjoying the game. 🙂
Thanks!
I’m rather new to World games (only having played DW with my wife that one time), and WoD is an old favorite of mine, so I’m really looking forward to giving this a go.
Hey Ryan M. Danks – did you ever get a chance to run this? I’m actually curious about doing something similar with my GF, and wanted to see how playing a solo game worked out for you.
I didn’t. We’re waiting for our physical copy to come in.
Soon, very soon! 😉