Into Dust [SL Updates]

[Howl]

Alright folks, here's a rundown for SL business this week:

• Anyone who wants to do any investigating or make any dice rolls about anything relating to the story events of last week, drop me an fpm.
  
• This is going to be a slower week, events-wise. That said, I'd like to grab Mara for a solo scene. Shayla, I'll send you an fpm about that soon.
  
• I'll be making a relevant news and current events post in the forums within the next day or two, so keep a look out for that.
  
• Next week I'd like to schedule 2 scenes. Niko, one of them will be a solo scene for Sid. The other one will likely be a group scene with a couple of players, but I haven't nailed down the details yet. I'll keep you updated.
  
• I'm going to try to update the system Setting page this week. At some point. Hopefully.

[Howl]

Hey guys! It's SL update time. Here's a breakdown of where we're at with everything:

• Leah has been secured and is being guarded outside the city.
  
• There is a cabal of at least 3 Nephandi in town. One of them is an Adept.
  
• Mara has information about a third story element that may introduce either assistance or complications (or both.)
  

I am going to take the next few days off from RP, so I won't be available to ST Sat, Sun or Mon. After that, I can make time to run some smaller, more narrative-driven scenes. Basically the deal for this upcoming week is that anything climactic is being put on hold so that we can further develop the plot points and characters that have already been introduced. (Feel free to continue letting your characters do their thing - if I need to slow things down I will toss up obstacles.) But a lot of this is optional. So basically, think of next week as that time between missions when you get to chat up the NPCs. You can explore, or you can just skip to the next part of the game.

(Though I will say that just because it's optional, that doesn't mean it won't have an effect on the coming events - because it definitely could.)

So here's how this is going to work. Anyone who wants to do a scene with any of the available NPCs, send me an fpm and let me know. For these scenes, I can take 1 or 2 players at a time - so nothing big. I assume that at the very least Jim and/or Shoshannah will want a scene with Leah, but there are lots of options here.

• Leah (obviously)
  
• Annie
  
• Any of the 3 Nephandi (don't worry about logistics, I can make it happen.)
  
• Any of the 3 technocrats that Mara ran into (talk to her for details, but even without prior knowledge - again, I can make it happen.)
  

Now, I'm not saying that you should talk to all of these NPCs. I'm not even saying it's a good idea. But if you want to, the option is there. (Particularly if you feel like taking a bit of a risk in order to toss some conflict at your character, which can be fun in its own way.)

Obviously any scenes involving antagonist NPCs are going to come with a high risk warning, and in this case, the risk isn't only physical. We're getting to the point in the SL now where the potential for dark, depressing and/or traumatic subject matter is high. So again, if anyone has triggers they haven't told me about, let me know. And if you want to steer clear of possibly having your character's head messed with? Probably best not to sign up for Nephandi scenes. I definitely won't judge anyone one way or another.

[Howl]

Ok folks, I'm all booked up for this week, but if anyone still wants to claim a scene let me know and I'll see if I can either fit you into one of the existing scenes or put you on a waiting list in case someone cancels. I may also be able to fit 1 scene in next Monday, but after that - that's it. You can still talk to me ooc and/or send me an fpm with any investigating or dice rolls or whathaveyou, but I won't be able to make time for any additional ST scenes prior to the SL's conclusion.

This story is going to wrap up next week, no matter what happens.

After next week I will be very busy getting ready to move at the end of the month and attending some family things. Plus, I think it's about ready for this baby to hit its conclusion.

I'll be able to give more details on that and start figuring out scheduling once I have a better idea of how the events of this week are going to go, but just be prepared for that, and keep an eye on this thread for details and updates.

[Howl]

Alright, I've figured out how next week is going to go as far as scene scheduling. There are going to be 2 scenes that together will conclude both Leah's story and the issue with the Nephandi. Chronologically, these scenes will happen at the same time, but they will be run separately. I will then wrap up any loose ends via an epilogue that I'll post on the forum.

• The scene with Leah will be narrative-heavy and light on dice. It will involve psychological danger, but no physical danger.
  
• Confronting Brogan and the Nephandi will be pretty much the opposite. Some narrative, lots of dice, and a high risk of physical danger. Character death is possible in this scene, but depending on how your characters choose to proceed prior to entering the scene, that risk might be lessened or increased. PC participation in this scene is NOT required. If your characters decide to send the Technocrats after them and just hang back, that option is certainly available. Obviously there's no guarantee how that will turn out, but either way the story will wrap up.

Depending on how your characters proceed into this, you may all start together and then become split up (which I will handle) or the split may sort itself out in advance. We can figure out the logistics when the time comes. Both of these scenes will be run some time next week, Tues - Fri. They will probably be on the longer side, so I will do my best to start as early as possible and to leave room the next day to continue if a pause is required. Exact scheduling will be determined when I know who is participating.

Anyone who wants to sign up for one of these scenes should reply below. You can only choose one, so think about where your character might do the most good in addition to which type of scene you think you might enjoy.

[jamie]

Did somebody say "high risk of physical danger"?

I'll throw Pan into the Brogan scene pls.

[errin]

Sid can probably handle (more) psychological damage, I shall hurl her headfirst at Leah.

Unless, given that the only time Sid's been near Leah she was presumably asleep it doesn't make sense to throw her at her. I am cool either way.

[Joey]

Jim could be in either scene, and I don't know what my schedule will be like next week, so can I throw him into whichever I can make? I'm leaning toward the Brogan on but I'm going to flip-flop about making the decision.

[mnemosyne]

I am leaning toward Sera in the dealing-with-Brogan scene. However, that depends on IC stuff and powows to be powowed. Hopefully we will get that done somehow.

[Howl]

Holy shit you guys. We did it. We finished this thing. And nobody died! I call that a highly successful introduction to the Denver Mage game.

There were a lot of things that I wanted to accomplish with this SL, above and beyond the simple joy of running an awesome story. I wanted to establish some back-story for the city in a way that was interactive for the characters. I wanted to introduce the chantry and then leave it in the hands of the PCs with as little NPC intervention as possible. I wanted to sow the first few seeds of what will ultimately become another plotline involving the technocrats.

But of course, mostly? I wanted to start this system off with a bang. And I hope that I was able to achieve that.

I guess I also wanted to start the game off on a note of redemption. There were many other possible endings for this SL, but this was the one that I was secretly rooting for. So I'm glad things turned out the way they did.

I can honestly say that this was the best experience I have ever had with Storytelling, and that says a lot about the group of incredible people we having playing here. Thank you all so much for giving me the chance to tell this story, and for helping to build it into something better and more interesting than even I'd imagined. You're all fantastic writers, and I very much look forward to seeing where the system will go from here.

[jamie]

YAY US

Howl, thank you so so much for running this, and thanks to everybody who participated. This was the most fun I've had playing this game in years, and I would definitely say it was a roaring success. Looking forward to more excellent stuff with you guys in the future.

Also - hah! Nobody died! Take that, Blood God!