Tag: Filippo Guaitamacchi (Uata)

I have a couple of doubts about Cash in a Debt.

 With a PCs:

1- I’m asking for a favor; when exactly I cash in the debt? Let’s say I’m asking Ely, the Vamp (a PC) to steal a magical ring and give it to me. I’d say that I’m cashing in the debt when Ely gives me the ring, not when she says “Ok, I’ll get it to you. Promised.”

2- I’m having problems with Lending a Hand or Getting in the Way as a consequence of Cash in a Debt. I generally find that both Lending a Hand and Getting in the Way happen all of a sudden, because they’re reactions to someone else’s actions. So there is virtually no time for the PC to ask another character for help, or especially to get in the way of someone who’s acting right there. I’d say that you can choose those options only if you have enough time to negotiate the terms (explaining why the debt matters, bargaining, trying to refuse to honor the debt, etc…), but I’m not sure.

With NPCs:

3- When a PC is cashing in a debt with an NPC, can the MC say that you’re asking for too much?

E.g. Ely, the Vamp (a PC) cashes in a debt with Zack. Zack is plain human, but he’s part of the Wild Faction because he’s one of the minions of Abaddon, the demon. Ely asks Zack to introduce her to Abaddon. What Ely doesn’t know is that Abaddon told its minions that if anyone had spoken about Abaddon itself, they’d have been killed. So it seems logical that Zack would just say “I’m sorry Ely. You’re asking for too much here.”

Is it legit?

When a character refuses to honor a debt and rolls a 6-, it counts as a missed roll, right? Therefore the MC can make a move… Or the character must choose between honor it anyway or face the consequences (pick 2 from the list or lose all the debts) and that’s it, with no consequent MC’s moves?

I have a couple of doubts about Factions.

To me, the concept of Faction imply a combination of identity, ideology and common intent. 

Do the Factions in Urban Shadows necessarily imply one or more of those elements? 

I’m asking this because in the last game I played, the MC just treated the Factions as Tags to distinguish supernatural creatures. Hence, Factions remained an abstract and off-game notion. I mean, in that game vampires, werewolves and ghosts all belonged unwittingly to the Night Faction, just because they were all “creatures who were once human”, and there were not any other implicit connection between members of the same faction.

In doing so, the game just broke, because moves like Refuse to Honor a Debt didn’t work: why, if I refuse to honor a debt with a vampire, I lose face with all the ghosts, if vampires and ghosts don’t know or feel to be part of the same big faction?

Are we missing something here? 

Plus, have you ever tried to reskin Factions?

For example, replace Factions with supernatural races, assuming you are playing with only 3 kinds of supernatural creatures + humans (e.g. Humans, Vampires, Werewolves, Faes).

Or maybe, assuming that the supernatural underworld is split in four courts (e.g. Spring court, Summer court, Autumn court, Winter court) or independent predetermined organizations (e.g. The Cult of Dagon, The Mysterium, The Esoterrorists, The Syndacate).