(OOC) New Bedford by Night II

[Bennosuke]

I would like to welcome the new players to the game, and invite them to briefly introduce themselves here. As it stands, Llyarden has been kind enough to cover Michael for the last scene, and I will cover Solomon and Kara (at least until Erulasto returns).

I am going to give a quick summary of my understanding of the pack's plan for the final fight, and am inviting Daishain and TC to give any edits/comments to the plan. Once the new players have introduced themselves, and the original players have signed off, I will put up an IC post starting the final showdown (... anyone else just hear Europe play in their head???)

The pack plans on leading He Who Obliterates Breathing into a killzone trap that they have set up in a nursery. They have discovered the Plague Lord's bane (natural and plant based medicines), and have been "mass producing" a large quantity of liquid bane from tannis root and a number of other herbs and medicines that they have gathered. They are setting up their kill zone at a nursery where there are further plants and herbs they plan on weaponizing. They are using a number of spirit wards to essentially create a battle stage that Solomon will lure the plague spirit into, at which point they will close the warded circle, trapping HWOB in with them, where the pack's Uratha and their Totem The Reveler in the Garden are going to make their final stand.

Michael is going to travel with Solomon, but has a separate job of "distracting" the Beshilu, and getting them to chase him, so that he can draw them away from the final confrontation. Michael's job will be to rush back to the pack's den, which is also warded, and in a warehouse on the shoreline. He will be aided by his pack of spirit dogs, and should benefit from the fact that the Beshilu are terrified of the ocean for some reason.

The Pack will also be aided by King Sky Hunter, a powerful falcon spirit, and Immovable Hunter (yeesh I need to get better at naming spirits) a strong bear spirit. I don't think we fully finalized the roles these two spirits will have.

[Llyarden]

Hi all!

So, I don't think I ever actually summarised my character concept, but the idea I ended up going with was someone who had an encounter with the supernatural world when he was young, which kinda shaped his development - a desire to be strong enough to fight the threats he (thought he) discovered led him into athletics, which in turn led him to wanting to become a sports coach / personal trainer / etc, which led him to coming to New Bedford for college, where he underwent his First Change - I assume recently.

Also I'm going to have to double-check Michael's abilities because I think there were a couple I didn't recognise off-hand, though they might just have been Facets I never saw. (I've only been in one Forsaken 2e game before, and it didn't get enormously far.)

[Daishain]

Yep, the wards prevent spirits from going in or out, so we're essentially trapping the big bad in one area along with the friendly spirits mentioned helping out (I don't think we RPed the conversation making sure they're okay with the being trapped thing by the by, in case that was still needed)

Wolf blooded are stationed safely outside of the perimeter. Like us, they can cross the border freely, but them getting in close to this thing is a bad idea. HWOB is really bad news. Instead they'll be providing fire support. Flinging water balloons full of the bane paste, shooting harpoon guns with the tips smeared in the same, etc.

Solomon and Michael were tasked respectively with getting HWOB to the ambush site, and separated from his host of Beshilu rats. In both cases this mostly involves getting them pissed off and leading them on a merry chase, although if anyone has ideas on refining that, I'm all ears.

In any case, if things go as planned, we'll lead him to the trap in the physical world, hopefully proceed to beat the crap out of him. At some point he'll probably retreat to the spirit, but then still be trapped and suddenly facing off against our spirit allies, also armed with even more Bane.

For Llyarden, you should be aware that the pack of dog spirits in question are Michael's friends. Basically they watched over him and acted as his pack for much of his life before his first change.

[Irrelephant]

Hey everyone!

Alex is a perfectionist that grew up with a high-pressure family, who thought he was having a psychotic break before the First Change. He goes to Maine to decompress and recover, but it turns out his destination isn't exactly normal either. His curiosity uncovers some of the weird stuff in the Lonesome Forest, there's a confrontation and he Changes. He escapes to tell his story and eventually joins the Bone Shadows.

Spends some time in Portland, so there's some level of connection to other people the Pack might have known

[Thundercracker]

I thought blaze already asked King Sky Hunter if it was ok to be trapped with the plague lord?
If not, he would definitely do that. Will the spirits be able to easily follow us through the Gauntlet? If so, we should put them in the trap with us, or at least have them hiding on the other side ready to port through when we spring the trap.

Also, welcome new players, benno is a fantastic GM.

Blaze is the band’s drummer, a computer whiz and stoner, who specializes in spirits for the group.
https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1559099

[Bennosuke]

Thank you for the compliment TC. I believe we are waiting for one more player to introduce themselves, and then we will get started!

Will the spirits be able to easily follow us through the Gauntlet? If so, we should put them in the trap with us, or at least have them hiding on the other side ready to port through when we spring the trap.

Spirits can materialize through the Gauntlet without needing a locus, though it costs them a lot of energy/Essence. They are more capable of doing this in places the Gauntlet is thin, which thanks to the Beshilu, is pretty much everywhere in New Bedford.

[Thundercracker]

Ok if that's the case I think we should have the spirits waiting on the other side, both to conserve their energy and just in case it takes us a while to cross over after the plage lord. Daishain what do you think?

[Llyarden]

I might be misremembering, but don't we need a locus to cross over? Or do these wards help with that?

[Bennosuke]

That is correct, except for Werewolves with very low Harmony. That was my understanding for one of the purpose for some of the spirit allies, and that some of the Uratha may be waiting on the other side of the Gauntlet to ambush HWOB if it crosses back.

[Daishain]

I keep forgetting about that. I guess because it never made much sense to me. It is obviously possible to reach across without a locus. Why should a spirit (which presumably doesn't exactly have a humanity score over 8), have an easier time making it to the physical realm than the one kind of creatures supposed to be able to freely travel?

I mean, it certainly makes sense for the lack of a locus to make it a lot tougher. But impossible?

[Bennosuke]

Sorry for the delay in replying to this post. I wanted to triple check the rules before making any statements or suggestions. Speaking honestly, I've always found the rules around spirits crossing over, with their environment and manifestation conditions, flow charts ect very confusing. So I wanted to make sure I have it correct before replying (this is further complicated by the fact that the term "Reaching" means different things for Uratha than it does for spirits!).

I agree that in a way it would make sense for Uratha to be able to Reach without a Locus, if spirits are able to do it, but I think the mechanic is meant to allow for spirits to cross over more easily as a way of justifying the likelihood of Uratha having to police spirits who have crossed over.

However, these are the rules (in my understanding) so that we can address how the pack wants to manage things.
-Uratha can only cross the Gauntlet (Reach) at a Locus.
-Spirits exist within the Hisil, but can influence the world of flesh from the other side of the gauntlet (Reaching for spirits). This requires one point of Essence. At a Locus they get a dice benefit to try to perform a reaching task across the gauntlet, but otherwise they get a penalty to their dice pool based on the Gauntlet's strength
-A spirit can try to cross the Gauntlet "bodily". Doing so is called "Gauntlet Breaching" as opposed to "Reaching". A spirit can only do this is an area in which they have resonant essence (which would not be the nursery IMHO... though perhaps the spirit could create resonance in the area by say making everything ill and rotting via numina). Furthermore, they must make a dice roll the same as reaching which is affected by gauntlet strength. When a spirit Gauntlet Breaches, it ends up "In Twilight", meaning it still can't be seen by mortal, passes through walls, and can't directly affect things.
#When HWOB was chasing the uratha and actively crossed over and manifested, it did this in the sewer tunnels that had been heavily "chewed out" by the Beshilu, creating a weak gauntlet and the requisite resonant condition.
-Once a spirit is in twilight, if it wants to become physically corporate, it must then "Manifest" costing another 3 essence. This does not require a dice roll.

I hope what I have posted is helpful in the team's game planning. Please let me know if you have more questions, or are ready to begin. Though we are still waiting on Subzero, if he/she does not post soon, I'm happy to get things started.

[Llyarden]

This might be a silly question, but how are we planning on actually killing HWOB? Like, do the wards make that possible as part of their thing or are we planning on using the sacred hunt rite?

EDIT: Uh, come to think of it, are we actually planning on killing it? Or are we just trying to drive it off?

[Daishain]

Definitely killing it. This thing's mere existence is a threat regardless of where it goes. As to how, spirits, even the big ones, can all in theory be killed with simple brute force. Well, at least if you've got uratha claws/teeth behind the force.

For the tougher spirits, it makes it a heck of a lot easier if you have access to the thing's bane. A bane is some thing or concept that is in one way or another antithetical to the spirit's existence.

In HWOB's case, the bane is traditional medicinal remedies. Based on the intel we gathered, Tannis root, a sort of plant that only grows in the spirit realm, is the most potent of such things.

With that in mind, we gathered a bunch of tannis root and turned it into bane paste, sticky medicinal stuff we'll be hitting him from all sides with. It should pretty much eat away at him like strong acid.

For good measure, we've selected as an ambush site a nursery full of lavender and other flowers with traditional medicinal properties. The entire area should help weaken the thing. (the nursery's owners aren't gonna be happy in the morning, but oh well) The wards are mostly there to prevent escape, and give the wolfblooded a chance to help without being in danger of being attacked by the big guy.

Pair that up with some Uratha claws to finish the job, and HWOB is in for a world of hurt. If everything involved in getting him to the ambush site and separated from his minions works out as planned, this should go well for us. I just wish I could be a little more confidant in that "if"

In regards to the gauntlet crossing issue, I suppose that means we shouldn't need to worry about HWOB escaping to the spirit realm? Would it then be prudent to have our allied spirits manifest across the gauntlet and join us in the material?

[Llyarden]

I was more meaning as far as I'm aware, spirits dissipate when 'killed' by damage unless all their Essence is gone too, and subsequently reform somewhere, kinda like D&D vampires. Which we probably don't want to happen.

[Bennosuke]

Llyarden is correct that it is very very difficult to kill a spirit, although given the way they are going to attack it, it is not that unlikely. The spirit will lose Essence crossing over, using it's numina and when taking Aggrevated damage.

Also, Llyarden raises a separate good point, which is that the pack should probably re-perform their Siskur Da, given the fact that their current one is activated primarily to target Beshilu.

Are we ready to start?

[Llyarden]

Who is the person with the Siskur-Dah rite in this pack by the way? (Or I guess more importantly from my perspective: it's not me, is it? )

I have to admit I'm...not completely sure how Michael was planning on annoying the Beshilu without annoying the spirit itself. But then I don't really know if there's a specific group that has been mostly Beshilu'd that we can target. Or is it just a matter of being a relatively low-ranked werewolf beneath the direct notice of HWOB but still important enough for the Beshilu to go after?

EDIT: I'm also...somewhat confused by Michael's character sheet, in that I seem to be missing a few things a newly-created Forsaken ought to have - I only seem to have one dot of Renown instead of 2 (or 3 if I have a tribe that hasn't been listed), two Gifts instead of three, and no rites at all instead of 2 dots' worth.

[Bennosuke]

I believe there are multiple characters with the Siskur Dah rite and Michael is not one of them.

EDIT: I'm also...somewhat confused by Michael's character sheet, in that I seem to be missing a few things a newly-created Forsaken ought to have - I only seem to have one dot of Renown instead of 2 (or 3 if I have a tribe that hasn't been listed), two Gifts instead of three, and no rites at all instead of 2 dots' worth.

This is because we started with Michael undergoing the first change, becoming a Ghost Wolf. An aspiration was to join a tribe, but because Michael was still a Ghost Wolf when the player disappeared, he is short a point of renown, and the gift and rite dots you mentioned.

[Thundercracker]

Was there a change in whether we can cross without a locus? We’re not able to now, right?

[Bennosuke]

No, Uratha cannot.

[Thundercracker]

No, Uratha cannot.

Can we kill the spirit on this side of the Hisil?

[Bennosuke]

You can kill the spirit in either side but doing it in the flesh has the benefit of making it spend more essence. It can escape in either direction

[Thundercracker]

You can kill the spirit in either side but doing it in the flesh has the benefit of making it spend more essence. It can escape in either direction

THat means if everyone's on the flesh side, only the spirits will be able to follow it over. Is there a way to fortify the trap so it can't cross over from there, some ward perhaps?

[Bennosuke]

I am skimming things, so there may be other options and I am going to skip things that the pack doesn't have access to (such as the Irraka Breach Gift).

And... you guys got almost nothing...
-I Think one character can force the berserk condition on an enemy, which would work essentially...


While there are rites and gifts and fetishes that would help you, not one character in the pack has any of it. But, as I am such a nice GM, I'll help the group out. Blaze has discovered a Witch's Poppet (pg 147) in the cave of the defeated mad Uratha. The Witch's Poppet can be hung in the hunting circle, and if they can get HWOB to touch it, the spirit suffers from Knotted Path, a gift that essentially makes it impossible to escape the Uratha.

How does that sound?

[Bennosuke]

Anyone? Bueller?

[Thundercracker]

Can we throw it at the demon or do we need to get him to run into it?

[Bennosuke]

The book says the poppet has to be hung from a tree or bush and that the target has to accidentally run into it. It may actually be a fun thing to run mechanically.

[Daishain]

Okay, so lets set up on the material, put in the poppet and hope it hits the thing.

Worst case scenario if the poppet doesn't work, its still stuck in place in the spirit realm and we have to hoof it to the nearest locus in order to cross over and continue the fight.

Probably a good idea to scout for the closest locus to the area to help that along.

Lets set this up and get the ball rolling. We don't need to get stuck overthinking this.

[Bennosuke]

I am in strong agreement to this, but don't want to force the players if they wish to discuss or ask further questions. Please give me a thumbs up when you want me to start the last "game session", which will consist of just a few scenes (I have the first post all written up and am ready to post it).

EDIT: For the new players, please see the recruitment thread where we will finish building your new characters... unless we would prefer to do it in this thread.

[Thundercracker]

What’s the nearest locus to the nursery? We’ll pull the van up nearby and drive there if we have to.

Yes, let’s start the scene.

[Bennosuke]

The pack has not spent much time looking for locuses, and only know of a few, so probably it would be a good 15 minutes drive away.

Okay, post going up in the IC thread. Hope the new players are still with us!