Faerie Bargaining

[HumAnnoyd]

Emerald City and Supernatural Seattle players stay out! I mean it! Scram!!! Don't read this unless you want to get some potential spoilers for the upcoming games.

(click to show/hide)

What is something a Sidhe might want in exchange for their help?  For example Susan gave Leansidhe some of her memory to help them out of a jam. What other things might be appropriate for say giving the party something they will need to defend themselves against a great enemy?

[noclue]

I would look to the character's aspects and desires for guidance. What would present the player with the most difficult decision?

[Haru]

(click to show/hide)

As Bob said: a baby always works

But seriously, you could make the shide in question come of as generous and trustworthy and then have her make a similar bargain as Maeve tried to make with Harry in SK, to get her pregnant. If your players are not of the paranoid kind (which would, in my experience, be a rare breed   ), they might even fall for a night of pleasure, when the fae hands them whatever they need, without being pressured into it.

To make things worse, they bring the pregnant fae to a place in the nevernever where time is running faster than in reality. A lot faster. A few weeks later, the characters have a whole bag of new enemies: their full grown changeling kids.

[HumAnnoyd]

I would look to the character's aspects and desires for guidance. What would present the player with the most difficult decision?

(click to show/hide)

Hmm.  I see what you are saying.  But I am not sure the answer is necessarily in the Aspects in this case.  Although...Hmm.  Based on recent events I might have something.  It is about memory again which feels a little too derivative but I will go with it if I can't come up with anything else.

But ultimately what would the Fae want?  They are facing a buyer's market given the circumstances.  So what kind of seemingly innocent thing would they ask for that will be fun and interesting and not just rehash the bargain Susan made?

[HumAnnoyd]

(click to show/hide)

As Bob said: a baby always works

But seriously, you could make the shide in question come of as generous and trustworthy and then have her make a similar bargain as Maeve tried to make with Harry in SK, to get her pregnant. If your players are not of the paranoid kind (which would, in my experience, be a rare bread   ), they might even fall for a night of pleasure, when the fae hands them whatever they need, without being pressured into it.

To make things worse, they bring the pregnant fae to a place in the nevernever where time is running faster than in reality. A lot faster. A few weeks later, the characters have a whole bag of new enemies: their full grown changeling kids.

OooOooOOOohhh!  I like it.  I like it a lot. 

[Haru]

OooOooOOOohhh!  I like it.  I like it a lot. 

Glad to hear that. If you want help fleshing the idea out, pm me.

[tetrasodium]

there is a conversation about

(click to show/hide)

debt

in ghost story particularly apt  to the question.  Debt doesn't need to be balanced immediately, it can be done later and debt can be balanced for by someone for another.

(click to show/hide)

Lea mentions how Harry helped her balance the scales of debt against the red court for trading the sword for the dagger and how had it not been balanced so thoroughly others would have talked for ages about how horrible the things she did to them to extract her due would have been..  Through the various conversations with the sidhe & others without free will their mindsets really seems to develop a little more

I'd say anything that might be of value to accomplishing that fae's task or something they might consider valuable & useful enough to someone they could later exchange for something they personally value

(click to show/hide)

like harry's memory of his encounter with the one who walks behind, it didn't seem particularly the sort of thing she would need to know herself.. but someone might want to know and knowing what she learned could potentially allow her to understand some later event in ways that she would not otherwise be able to understand

.

[SunlessNick]

(click to show/hide)

It might be interesting to hit them with nothing at all - or maybe nothing yet.  The sidhe asks for something small, a seemingly trivial memory or orginary trinket.  The sidhe isn't going to do anything with it, just keep it as currency to trade to third parties.  The character loses the memory of one pleasant sunny afternoon in a park, and the sidhe doesn't use the memory to mess with her - she eventually discovers that it's been traded away, to a nocturnal hag who only wants it for the escapism - it's all fine, unless that hag gets into enough trouble to trade the memory away again (who'll get it this time?).  Another character loses a clock that's a family heirloom - it's useful to some fae to help keep two parts of the Nevernever stable with other time-wise - but that fae isn't doing anything the characters will pay for later.  A character (from whomever is an interesting species, from a fae perspective) has to pay a little blood - it's not going to be used in a curse, it's going to be used to empower some changelings - although if those changelings make enemies later on, the character might be a way to get at them).

Alternatively:

(click to show/hide)

Go with the other side of fairytale prices.  The sidhe demands something outrageous, but just short of completely unacceptable.  If they bargain it down, they can, and they'll get what they want.  But if they pay what's demanded, they'll get unexpected help later on when they really need it.  That might go with Haru's pregnancy if the resulting kid turns out to be a boon rather than a bane.

[Haru]

(click to show/hide)

Go with the other side of fairytale prices.  The sidhe demands something outrageous, but just short of completely unacceptable.  If they bargain it down, they can, and they'll get what they want.  But if they pay what's demanded, they'll get unexpected help later on when they really need it.  That might go with Haru's pregnancy if the resulting kid turns out to be a boon rather than a bane.

(click to show/hide)

Uh, I like that. Dramatic battle, the PCs hopelessly outnumbered, when a portal to the nevernever opens, a few figures appear to fight alongside the PCs, one of them turning to them: "Don't worry, we got it." He looks at one specific PC: "Dad."
I love it!

[UmbraLux]

(click to show/hide)

For example Susan gave Leansidhe some of her memory to help them out of a jam. What other things might be appropriate for say giving the party something they will need to defend themselves against a great enemy?

It's worth noting the

(click to show/hide)

memories didn't have inherent value.  Lea used their loss to manipulate Harry.

While there are differences between individuals and between courts, I suspect most fae seek power and status.  As such, they'd trade for anything which might further a scheme to gain either.  As Lea did...

[HumAnnoyd]

(click to show/hide)

Uh, I like that. Dramatic battle, the PCs hopelessly outnumbered, when a portal to the nevernever opens, a few figures appear to fight alongside the PCs, one of them turning to them: "Don't worry, we got it." He looks at one specific PC: "Dad."
I love it!

Agreed. I think I will go with this concept for now.  At least for one of my groups.  I might have to figure out something for the other game since it is so very different in its makeup so please keep the suggestions coming.

[HumAnnoyd]

It's worth noting the

(click to show/hide)

memories didn't have inherent value.  Lea used their loss to manipulate Harry.

While there are differences between individuals and between courts, I suspect most fae seek power and status.  As such, they'd trade for anything which might further a scheme to gain either.  As Lea did...

(click to show/hide)

Yeah.  I want something like that but it is a bit hard to manipulate players in a game like Lea does without them feeling...manipulated.  If you know what I mean.  That is why I want to come up with something seemingly innocuous like what Lea did to Susan but that might have the same kinds of implications.  I do want to steer a bit clear of memories because that has been used.  And for that matter so has the other suggestion above. 

Sigh.  Anyone think of something else a Exiled Handmaiden of Winter might want that two warrior-type characters can give her?

Hmm.  Maybe that is my answer.  Maybe she wants them to handle a rival for her and doesn't want to use her own soldiers.

[ARedthorn]

It's worth noting the

(click to show/hide)

memories didn't have inherent value.  Lea used their loss to manipulate Harry.

I'm not sure that's true, since in Ghost Story

(click to show/hide)

she was also willing to trade 3 questions/completely guaranteed true answers for a quick story, also absolutely true given harry's status. Fair enough, there could've been alterior motives in that, even bargain basement prices for the questions given her stated debt to harry... but humans intrigue the fae. Our memories might well hold some weight with them.

[Veet]

One thing I have been successful with in the recent past in a game was playing a switcharoo with the debt similar to how

(click to show/hide)

Mab managed to get her hands on Harrys debt to Leanshe

. Over the course of the early game I offered a lot of inconsequential sounding deals to the PCs by various lesser fey. One managed to get into debt with one trading an answer for an answer (he thought he got off easy because he thought he knew what answer the creature wanted and it had no ability to act on it) then he got into debt with another trading directions to a destination for directions to a yet to be decided location (he really should have known better there). The fun part happened when a more powerful fey came along and forced the other two to trade their debts to him then used it to coerce the PC to give him directions to the location of a person the white council was hiding from him and the answer to how to get past the defenses.

[tetrasodium]

I told me players something to the extent of "Think of bargaining with the fae like trying to get a wish spell past the GM in d&d. you know when it's too good to come through in spirit unless your extremely careful with wording... you know when the wording is almost certain to get what you wanted.  If the exchange is too good to be true, the  shoe will drop eventually, maybe not today, maybe not anytime soon... but debts must be balanced eventually. except now you get to converse with the power on the other end before sealing the deal,  Their concerns are not the same as your own, just because they want something you don't understand doesn't necessarily mean they are evil GM traps...  today" when describing fae & their bargains and it made them fear the fae like 20 minutes after giggling out "faeries?... really?"