Author: Jason Tocci

The Urban Shadows rules have a lot of useful guidelines for running an ongoing story. Every session we do things that snowball into other things, moments that make me go, “Aha! And next this leads into this problem to be solved…” Now we’re winding up our campaign, though, and I’m hoping I can ask: Any tips for ending an ongoing Urban Shadows game?

How do you handle multiple people wanting to roll for the same move at the same time? I find this is fine for some moves, but not so much for others.

For example: When I introduce a new character, I’ll often have 2-5 people suddenly asking if they can put a name to a face. No problem – each of them knows something different about this person. They’re all welcome to roll. But when a group of 5 of them wants to hit the streets to visit a contact together, it doesn’t really make sense for everybody to roll – one person might roll a 10+ (they have the stuff!) but another might roll a 7-9 (they’re juggling their own problems/it’s costly) and yet another might roll a miss (and who knows what that means).

I’ve just been letting everybody roll because everybody’s eager to mark factions, but I’m starting to get a little confused…

Considering Transit Moves…

In our Boston game, we have a custom move for getting around the city using a magical subway line controlled by Power. It has been handy for getting from place to place instantaneously, and also giving an opportunity mark a faction easily, but we’re now at a point where everybody is terrified to ride the Gold Line for good reason. So, I’m considering how else folks might get around the city. Options include…

1. Skip over transit time entirely. Just cut to them being where they want to go. Kind of eliminates some tension and ignores just how hard it is to get around this city sometimes (in real life!), though, and makes it unlikely they’ll ever use the Gold Line again.

2. Narrate transit only briefly to indicate how annoyingly long it takes (“A Red Line delay and a short Lyft ride later…”), and advance one of the threats in the Storm. (If only they’d risked the Gold Line, maybe they would’ve gotten there in time before the werewolves started their assault!)

3. Offer alternative transit moves for other factions based on what’s already established in our setting. All told, they’d probably look like…

When you ride the Gold Line, roll with Power. On a 10+, you travel instantaneously to any location connected to it, no problem. On a 7-9, you leave something behind, or you owe Braithworpe a Debt. On a miss, you wish you’d waited for the next car.

When you rely on mundane transit, roll with Mortality. On a 10+, you get where you’re going in about as much time as your Maps app predicted. On a 7-9, you still get there, but the GM will tell you what you missed thanks to the delay. On a miss, you get an unwelcome reminder of what it means to have a commute or a day job like any other mundane chump.

When you use the Silver Branch to take a shortcut through Tir Na Nog, roll with Wild. On a 10+, you get through in minutes, no problem. On a 7-9, somebody spots you who you wish hadn’t, or you exit not quite where you expected, GM’s choice. On a miss, walking into another world turns out not to be a shortcut after all.

When you take a shortcut through Night-controlled territory, roll with Night. On a 10+, you get there much quicker than you would’ve on the T or in a cab, that’s for sure. On a 7-9, it’s still a quick ride, but you need to call on one of your gang contacts to make it through; consult with the GM on who you might owe a Debt. On a miss, you walked into the wrong neighborhood.

Thoughts?

I’ve been chatting a lot with my players about what is and isn’t working for them about this game, and I’m hoping to get some GMing advice from you folks to fix the “not working” parts. Namely…

1. Marking factions to advance

They HATE to “split the party,” making it hard to interact with multiple factions per session. I’ve mitigated the issue somewhat by letting them mark the faction of their choice if they contribute to the campaign log, and I figure I need to bring more factions to them – e.g., get FBI agents from Mortality actively tailing them – but I’m open to other ideas.

2. Using Debts … like, at all

I call in a few NPC Debts per session myself, but not sure what else I can do.

3. Tailoring actions to moves

I try to encourage them to just tell me what they want to do and let me figure out the move, but this is an especially tall order when you need to pick specific moves if you ever want to advance. I’m wondering if there’s anything else I can do to make this work more smoothly (aside from “play more often than every other month so they finally memorize the moves,” which is unfortunately not possible to schedule right now).

Thanks in advance for any input!

How would you handle a Storm when the threat at its Eye reaches the end of its countdown clock before other threats are resolved? Choose a new Eye? Move threats to other Storms? Continue without an Eye?

Looking for feedback on my first crack at a Storm, if anybody’s interested (unless you are one of my players, in which case, buzz off, jerk).

Rumors we started with in the first session include:

Wild is looking for a powerful artifact.

The highest ranking wizard in the city is dying.

The Winter Court may be looking to take the Arboretum.

The Werewolves are recruiting.

The Mafia may be “disappearing” supernaturals.

A portal to Sheol in the Wizard’s sanctum is of interest to the Tainted’s patron.

I’m still working out threat types and custom moves, but I have some general ideas for threats and countdowns…

Storm obligation: Community

Eye of the Storm: Power Vacuum

Threat: Power Vacuum

Type: Ritual (Theft), I think

Cast: Ashur (head wizard), Prospero (angling to replace Ashur), Caarcrinolaas (Tainted’s Patron)

Description: Chancellor Ashur of the Sundered College is dying, and rumor has it Prospero may be using a ritual with a mysterious artifact to do it. The truth is actually that Caacrinolaas arranged to have this dangerous artifact make its way to the city in the hands of some unwitting demons, who thought it would just help them in their soul-collecting efforts – and Caacrinolaas tipped off Power that a dangerous, soul-leeching artifact would be coming to town. Ashur is trying to contain and defuse the thing, but isn’t up to the task alone, and the next most powerful wizard in town isn’t inclined to help if it means a promotion. If left unchecked, the ritual will eventually draw all the souls through the portal to Sheol, leaving some prime real estate for Caacrinolaas to establish his new kingdom.

Move: When you touch the cursed rosary, roll with Spirit. On any hit, a skilled magic-user or artificer can Unleash with Spirit (3-harm ap). On a 10+, choose 1; on a 7–9, choose 2.

• Take 1-harm ap.

• Mark corruption.

• You lose your grip on the rosary as your hand grows numb.

Countdown:

1. Ashur falls into a magical coma.

2. Prospero names himself interim Chancellor.

3. Ashur dies.

4. Dozens of souls start exiting through the portal.

5. Thousands of souls spread throughout the city and beyond.

6. Sheol is emptied and Caacrinolaas claims it as his kingdom.

Threat: Snowfall

Type: Power Play (Feint)

Cast: Lady Thistle of the Daoine Sith, Jack Frost of the Winter Court, various demons and other supernaturals

Description: The Winter Court has long paid its traditional tithe to Hell (in this case, the local demon gang). The Sith see this a sign of weakness and want to take over. They’ve seeded rumors that Winter is trying to expand into the Arboretum to control its gateway to Faerie, and they’re staging crime scenes to make it look like Winter is taking out hits on members of other faction. They figure this will gain them enough allies to take over the Arboretum themselves. They are biting off more than they can chew.

Countdown:

1. A Winter fae and a mafioso are found dead in apparent struggle

2. A Winter fae and a werewolf are found dead, as above

3. A vampire escapes to reveal truth of Sith ambushes

4. Winter discovers the hidden location of Sith HQ

5. Winter allies invade to slaughter the Sith

6. Summer Court emerges from gateway in the Arboretum, blocking full-on invasion of Sith in Faerie, and introducing a new group to the city

Threat: Remade Men

Type: Passion (Love) or Power Play (Annex)

Cast: Rico and Los Lobos, among others

Description: Hearing rumors of possible fae incursions in territory already disputed with the vampires, the pack is actively recruiting not just from locals, but from notable figures in other factions. They offer it as a chance to become stronger, live free, and fight for a community you love rather than a master who uses you. The message is especially enticing to mafia underlings, and mafia attempts to hunt down defectors fuel inaccurate rumors of a supernatural pogrom. Eventually, the pack may grow so large, with so many big names, that not even its charismatic alpha can keep it under control.

Countdown:

1. Rico invites notable people (including PCs) to join up

2. Pack grows unruly, leaving scat & carcasses in its turf

3. Mauled remains found of those who refuse to defect

4. Named lieutenants defect from other gangs to Lobos

5. Lobos territory grows; new blood declares open season on trespassers

6. Someone bigger, badder, and meaner than Rico challenges him for control of the pack

The rule book suggests that you might want to give supernatural NPCs certain kinds of protections or vulnerabilities in keeping with the lore (e.g., vampires getting armor vs. mundane attacks, but taking extra damage from fire or blessed attacks). For those who have done this: Did you extend the same protections/vulnerabilities to your PCs of the same species?