Hey, I’m running my first game, and I’m trying to figure out if there’s a move that would let supernatural beings identify each other. Like if a Spectre could tell that a vampire is a vampire if his fangs are hidden. Any suggestions? I haven’t found anything in the Spectre moves for that. I was thinking of trying to adapt Figure Someone Out for that, but I’m still learning the game and I don’t want to throw something in that’ll cause trouble later.
Hey, I’m running my first game, and I’m trying to figure out if there’s a move that would let supernatural beings…
Hey, I’m running my first game, and I’m trying to figure out if there’s a move that would let supernatural beings…
I always asked the players – “hey would you be able to recognize other supernatural folks?”
Their answers may surprise you.
yeah, as Aaron said; I ask the players what they think. I often get asked by the players if their character would know about stuff that happened in scenes they weren’t involved in. Their answers are always better than any reason I would come up with.
I wouldn’t use a move unless you’re looking for a reason to make a move against them. If you desperately want to use a move then “let it out” would be the best for my mind.
I’m so glad these two are here. This is exactly what I would’ve said.
Thank you! I’ll ask them this weekend.
Airawyn Summers ask them when you play! questions in the moment are what the game is about
Aaron Griffin It came up in the last session already, so I want to address it. But I’ll remember that the next time a question comes up!
I vaguely remember reading (though I don’t recall whether it was in the book or on G+) something along the lines of: Well hey, there can’t be that many vampires in town. You probably recognize them even if you don’t know them well. Put a name to a face….
In general, I don’t think the game works that well if folks can’t connect with other supernatural creatures. I say that it’s basically obvious, even to mortals, once you know what to look for in a crowd…
Mark’s “what to look for in a crowd” comment reminds me of how this was handled in In Nomine (which I think you’re better off running with Urban Shadows than with its own rules, but I do like this particular lack-of-a-rule). There’s no roll to guess if someone’s supernatural – you just have to know what to look for. Do they wear way too little in the dead of winter because they just don’t notice the cold? Do they occasionally slip weird anachronisms into conversation? Do they react visibly when something happens only supernaturals could perceive? In a game like Urban Shadows, you could reveal a detail like this with an MC move (e.g., “Warn someone of impending danger” in the form of noting that a stranger in the bar hasn’t touched his beer, but is staring intently at the bartender bleeding from a broken glass). Even in that case, though, I suggest it as an MC move rather than a player-facing move because I figure the game works best when the MC is generous with information like that.
I also think it depends on the character. In my recent game, the fresh to the shadow world Aware character would often just pick up on something being off about a person. Where as the veteran of the shadows Tainted would get a lot more info right off the bat. For my mind, as a standard rule in rpg’s, more info for the players is always better than less. All so in US and any other PbtA game, never make them roll unless you are willing to make a hard move against them as a result.