For those who’ve put in a fair few sessions of Urban Shadows: Do you generally use Session Intro for immediate or more mid-term plot threads?
My understanding of the Session Intro move is that it is primarily for generating immediate or short term plot propulsion. It’s stuff to do this session.
This jars with my powergamer itch to always strive to engage the primary advancement mechanic. The Faction checked in the move can’t be checked again until the other three Factions are checked. So when I first read this move, I assumed (despite the evidence right there in the examples for the move) it was for generating “B” plots. Stuff to do NEXT session. For the current session, hammer on the remaining Factions to be checked (and resolve the related plot) so next session the rumor in the distance steps up.
I’m wondering, though, if this interpretation of Session Intro might be really great for mid-late game. Once the ebb and flow of the plot is better understood by the group and can be more finely manipulated.
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I’ll try to clarify this a bit. Depending on fictional positioning, I think you can tell a lot about the urgency of a plot, in the moment. So I’m not really talking about “planning.” I’m talking about getting a read on what’s important in the story and reacting accordingly.
In The Long Example (p. 205), the group weaves together a fairly urgent goal: one PC is being hunted as a suspected killer, and everyone’s rumors tied in to the murder. After everyone did their moves, it was clear what people needed to do RIGHT AWAY. Given that the rules explicitly tell you to skip the Session Intro if the fiction is right in the middle of something urgent or there’s already plenty of plates spinning, and the example shows people weaving together something they can all participate in, this isn’t so much an issue of “planning” but execution of the move itself. Need stuff to do? Do the Session Intro move. Bam, now there’s stuff to do.
However, the players could have chosen to narrate a rumor that was less immediate: Black cats are going missing, or the Holy Inquisitor from actual Rome was coming to town soon, and is pitting all the parishes against each other for who gets the honor of hosting him.
Depending on what ELSE is going on in the fiction, this might feel urgent (there’s no other pressing matters) or this might feel like a thing to deal with later, because right now, your little brother is on his way to a vampire feeding party.
My question was actually mostly directed at other Players, since they’re the ones that actually come up with the rumors. When they do, how often is it immediate stuff, and how often is it storms looming on the horizon?
As for “Also, it seems a little weird that going after specific factions would be tied directly with certain plots” that’s pretty much exactly what the Session Intro move tells you to do. The player that picks a faction for you to mark is explicitly directing your character towards that faction. As the Long Example says: ““I think I’ll highlight Power,” says Olivia’s player. “I want to see her deal with my people.”
This is what I mean when I say picking a Faction drives plot towards that Faction. A really nerdy version of my question is: How often do players chose to set up plots that are most likely to be delt with in later sessions, so that they can have more time to get the other Factions checked, thus ensuring when the rumor comes around, and they’re dealing with “Olivia’s people” (Power) the box is open and ready to be checked!
Like I said, this is a powergamer twitch in me, lol. My baseline operation for any game is: Find the reward cycle and hammer it. It’s served me well.
I think a lot depends on how you go around the table. Sometimes people generate fairly self-contained rumors; hitting 7-9 means they’ll be neck deep and need to go to the other PCs for help to deal with it. With a four person table this is charming. Eventually they might figure out to try to connect things together, making it more likely that they’ll help each other or that at least one person involved with the rumor will get a 10+ and be good to go.