A troubling decision

Forn Clakes

Forn Clakes

ECR Refugee
Ok people, I need help with a story i'm running, and a decision that will radically alter the type of game that will follow.  


Allow me to explain:


My current game has been just 2 sessions so far, with four players running four heroic mortals who know (because i've told them) that they will be Exalting in game.  This is because two players have been playing my stories for a while, and yet havn't been mortals before, and the remaining two can get a feel for their characters before they gain uber powers.


Now the decision.


My 'veteran' players have assumed that they will be Exalting as Solars, and so do the 'newbies', but I had a thought during the recent planning of the next seesion to instead Exalt them as Abyssals, simply because no-one will be expecting it.


Then I hit a snag.


What should I do if, once approached on the verge of death by the closest Deathlord (the Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears), the players decide to say no to the offer?  As you can imagine (& if you can't, please humour me), i'm quite baffled as to how to take the story onward from that point.


So, fellow ST's and players, please, any ideas?


Cheers,


~FC.
 
Then they die.


I had a friend start a game of Weird Wars.  The beginning of the game you are asked if you will join the npc character, you are then tossed out a plane.  If you say no you crash into earth and die, if you say yes the story continues with the NPC using some wa spiff power to save you, much like an Abyssal's exaltation.  


If you beleive that your players will enjoy your story and it is the story you want to tell then I would say they die if they decide to say no, that is from my understanding the logical conclusion.  Abyssals are after all approached on that verge of life and death where their only other option is death.  It makes for an excelent desicion and imo the reality that you might lose the character and not be able to play with your friends puts the players squarely into what it almost would feel like to be offered that choice.


In the end you always have the option if they say no to either have them be ghosts, the bitches of the other player characters, or reincarnate in the wheel and start over again to be found by the now Abyssal characters after they have given up their names and moved on.  I would make the characters reincarante in Sajin.
 
Of course, -rejecting- a Deathlord... That just might snag you some brownie points...


Think


DL : join me... and together we shall have hot kinky sex...


PC : erm... hot kinky sex? What about Creation?


DL : Oh... we'll destroy that after the mind-blowing sex....


PC : erm, no.


DL : fine... have it your way... you'll be dead soon enough...


elsewhere, Luna or Sol-kun goes ping as their exaltation beeper goes off


PC : hang on, I'm not dead yet and I'm GLOWING!


Luna or Sol-kun : Go kick ass in my name!


DL : darnit!


PC : HA! In your face!
 
Then they get effin pissed off at the Deathlord and decide tis better to live than to be weak and granted mercy by a long dead Solars ghost.  They exalt as Lunars, bent on removing the Lover from power.  They send Luna a Christmas card every Calibration, and all goes well from there.


Or they could, ya know, die.  Then they could meet up in the Underworld as Ghosts who then decide to take the Lover down themselves.  Could make for a very fun campaign.
 
...to instead Exalt them as Abyssals' date=' simply because no-one will be expecting it[/quote']
Do the players want to play Abyssals? That is, do you have the kind of players that will think this will be a neat twist, or will they just think you are a punkass?
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I agree. If said person is on the verge of death, or better, actually dead, putting together a new character in their head, when BAM, this hottie appears to them and says "Join me and live." It's rather simple. The moral will say "fuck off" and their souls will eventually be recycled. Or the greedy will say "Hey there hot undead momma, wanna destroy all creation with me?" and they get to become powerful.


Edit: Also! It's also a crap-load more likely that a handfull of Abyssals pop-up than a handfull of solars all at one time anyway. And hey, if one of them does take the higher more noble road, the Lover is always willing to seduce a solar too. A soul's a soul.
 
While I agree with wordman that it could seem like you're doing this to spite your pc's, I also believe that a game where only what the pc's want happens would be quite the monty-hall experience.


If this is where you want to go, cool but leave options open... To get an idea of your pc's thoughts on the subject, ask them beforehand to write down what caste or aspect of EACH types of exalted they think they would become. This would help break the idea in their heads of the certainty of Solar-dom, and give you a clue as to whether they would see abyssals as utterly out of the question.


Then give them the scenario, extend the offer of abyssal exaltation several times and make it quite clear they won't be getting another offer. That is after all the way it would seem to them in their situation (they are being forsaken by all the great powers save one and it wants so precious little in return lol). Then should one or more of them refuse impressively (some interesting inner conflict that goes beyond merely saying "no" three times) ask for their character sheet when they die, and as they are reaching for the books to create another character then give them Helios's or Luna's or whoever's exaltation and redemption speach.


Let that end the game session for that night and ask the players to choose. Do they want to play as abyssals and continue to gain power with these characters, or do they want to play as solars knowing that all but one of them will need to make new characters. That would leave them some power of choice, stay true to the world in which this game is set, establish your power to slay or not to slay, and would give the one player who solar'ed up a real sense of accomplishment.
 
wordman said:
...to instead Exalt them as Abyssals' date=' simply because no-one will be expecting it[/quote']
Do the players want to play Abyssals? That is, do you have the kind of players that will think this will be a neat twist, or will they just think you are a punkass?
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The veteran players will most probably go for it 'cos they understand the type of stories I tell, and know that all I care for is the story developing in an interesting manner.  I'm overly worried though regarding what happens if some choose Abyssal Exaltation and others don't.


I'd just like to add that this is mainly an idea i'm considering.  The story, the planned part, is that the characters are going to Exalt as Solars and then develop with the Cult of the Illuminated.  The whole Abyssal Exaltation was merely an idea I thought would completely throw my players off, with the hope of shocking them.


~FC.
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So, you plan for both.


If the bulk of the players go for the Abyssal pitch, the dissenting soul gets put back on the Wheel, and you give that player a chance to spin up their mysterious slayer--keep the identity of the one who slits their weezand in a cloak and not too many details.


If NONE of the players go for the Abyssal Exaltation--then enter the Solar who rescues them, and on the way out--BOOM! they Exalt themselves.  Or a Sidereal who got the note to be near by when these Shards get turned loose. They get a mentor, a powerful foe, and a LOT of story to still get a run up on--your villain's plans don't change that much, since she STILL has the captive Shards to pop into other aspiring deadites.


If only ONE of the players goes for the Abyssal plan, and the others choose to go Solar...then the new Abyssal is slain by again, a mysterious stranger, and the new character, this time a companion of the rescuer, and the identity of the rescuer's companion is cloaked in mystery as well. Until the player works up the new character. Possibly even someone that was closely related or knew the poor bastiche that they just dispatched to keep their soul from being tainted. A favor, really.


This is a case where you have to roll with the majority of the players' decisions.  MOST go for one or the other, you'd better be ready to deliver a kick ass story that will assuage the players' whose characters get the axe brief hurt at losing out. You have to give them an equal footing and not punish them for rolling out with a decision that was in keeping with their character. Give them another chance to join the group, and without any animosity, which will set the tone with your players as well.


You <i>could</i> let them mix the two. Solars and Abyssals--renegades who join for their own reasons, but it will dilute the impact of what you're trying to do, I think.
 
Just a bump, mainly to say thanks for the ideas.


Playing the Exalting session tomorrow night, where i'm gonna let the player's decide what happens, and allow the consequences to roll out full force.


I, for one, cannot wait.  :twisted:


Once again, cheers


~FC.
 
Really well, thank you.


The characters Exalted as Solars, while I offered one a chance of Abyssal Exaltation.  Approached on the verge of death by the Lover, he first declined the offer, and then made several Willpower and Virtue rolls to stay on course, along with some impressive stunts, for a newbie player.  As he declined the final time, the big ol' US arrived and shone bright, covering the Deathlord in light, which cast the character in shadow, where upon he Exalted as a Night Caste Solar.  


From the very beginning, the players agreed that they would be Exalted through roleplay and allowed me to chose their Caste, which I did based on their actions, decisions, etc.  Quite a level of trust.


Overall, I was very pleased with the night's session, as were the players, all of whom have loved the story so far and were talking about it for a few days.


~FC.


Edited for a couple of spelling errors. ~FC.
 
Did the players mostly end up with the Caste they expected?
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No, not at all.  To be fair, the two newbies didn't really know much regarding the various Castes, but were more than happy after the Exaltation and the flashbacks of the Caste's role in the First Age truly cemented it in their minds.  One veteran was sure to be a Dawn, and she did, so all's well there, and my final player, another vet, became an Eclipse, which really surprised him.  He'd never considered one of the Quicksilver Falcons, but is relishing the challenge.


~FC.
 
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