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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Neepling on May 31, 2015, 05:07:36 PM
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Hi all.
One of my players was foolishly so desperate for information from a Fae emissary that they struck a bargain. The price the Fae demanded was '1 day' . I thought the price would be too high and the player would back down, but they didn't! The info they thought they wanted was pretty useless too :-)
My question is... ... What to do with the one day? I have a few useful ideas that would cause trouble that I could use for plot hooks, but as they say, many heads are better than one ... ...
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The day he/she was born? Or, for a lesser version of the same effect, the day that the character became embroiled in the campaign or scenario, thereby undoing any of the hard work that character has done towards the goal, tempting him/her further into the fae's clutches for a 'solution'.
Or, hold it in reserve until the group is tied up in a situation that the faerie, or one of the faerie's contacts, might have interest in, and have the faerie claim that day back so that the character cannot interfere. You might want to warn the player (not the group) a little before, and tailor the encounters to your now weakened party. If you really want to rub it in, have an encounter that highlights that PC's skills, then remove him/her.
Finally, have the faerie call him in to take care of some business in the Nevernever. Thanks to temporal shenanigans, however long the scenario in the Nevernever takes, the character or group returns to find exactly one real day has passed.
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Thanks for the answer, I'm not looking for a reason to cause disharmony in the party - finding reasons to keep them together is tricky enough. Each character has their own goals etc which makes for interesting story hooks. I'm liking he idea of him waking up in a situation much like Morgan in Turncoat or people coming after him in revenge for something he can't remember. Same character triggered anmnesia ward in a different story so may not work out what is happening at first :-)
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I've always been a fan of "groundhog day" type stories. Maybe there's some part of the nevernever that is trapped in a time loop of exactly one day, and the character gets asked to solve the problem. It's "1 day" after all.
Then, of course, it might be a day in memories only. There might come a day where something important happens and the fae might ask for exactly that day to not steal the day but the something that happens. Especially if it's something to do with a child the character might have, as fae seem to go for that kind of thing. The fae could either have sex with the character or use the day to steal the child and raise it in the nevernever. Raise her in a part of the nevernever where time is sped up and the child could come back old enough to fight alongside their parent. Or against them, of course.
Or the fae could take the day not as one but in parts. Maybe she has a plan set in motion that goes against the player or something dear to the player and now when the player interferes she makes him step aside for an hour, which is enough for her to get ahead pretty good. Though that seems pretty harsh. Well, Fate Point printing press.
Then again, maybe the fae is doing a big ass ritual and needs "1 day" as a ritual component, so it might be a bit more complex and a lot more meta than any of the above.
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Use it as a plot seed for your next adventure. Have the player go to sleep Wednesday night and wake up on Friday morning only to find that a lot of stuff has changed (for the worse) and all his friends hate him (except the other PCs). Have him scramble to fix whatever has gone wrong and figure out how that happened. Did the faerie possess his body for that day or was he mimicked for that day?
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I'd make it like the Hangover where the player has to recreate the past 24 hours that he has no memory of and where the fae used his body and free will to do whatever it wanted.
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This might be a bit too mean, but depending on the phrasing of the deal, "1 day" could technically be interpreted as "1 of the days". As in, 1 of the days of the week. So it'd be possible, but very annoying, for the fae to claim that the PC has to follow his orders, say, every Sunday.
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Use it as a plot seed for your next adventure. Have the player go to sleep Wednesday night and wake up on Friday morning only to find that a lot of stuff has changed (for the worse) and all his friends hate him (except the other PCs). Have him scramble to fix whatever has gone wrong and figure out how that happened. Did the faerie possess his body for that day or was he mimicked for that day?
That's a brilliant idea, actually. Wish I'd thought of it.
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Or being real mean in an interesting way.
What if the a week originally had 8 days? Just that the PC gave one day away to the fae, and now noone (except the players) rememebrs that there was an additional day... ;)
/Ulfgeir
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You could get REALLY wicked and have the fae a) put the bargaining player in a 24 hour stasis, and b) have the fae shapechange/glamor themselves AS the player, and "adventure" with the rest of the group for "one day." Havoc ensues... particularly if you give the player the Fae's character sheet, and collaborate with them on what it's agenda is.
I've GMed for a long time. I have had many things thrown at me, in that capacity... :D
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No matter what approach you take, you should probably make the bargain an Aspect. Getting screwed on a deal is a lot more fun when it's a Compel, with the accompanying FP and refusal option.
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No matter what approach you take, you should probably make the bargain an Aspect. Getting screwed on a deal is a lot more fun when it's a Compel, with the accompanying FP and refusal option.
However, remember what happened when Harry 'bought out' of his obligations to the Leanansidhe one too many times...
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However, remember what happened when Harry 'bought out' of his obligations to the Leanansidhe one too many times...
I never saw Harry buying out of his obligations to Lea, so much as trying to weasel out of them... 8)
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I never saw Harry buying out of his obligations to Lea, so much as trying to weasel out of them... 8)
In game terms, he was buying out. He just didn't have enough fate points to buy out of the compel at the party.
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I had a player who gave a Fae lady a day to do with him whatever she wished. They had a long history wherein he had cost her her position in the Winter Court and she hated him. He agreed to let her do whatever she wanted to him as long as she did not kill him or maim him. After he had saved the day with the information he had bargained for he submitted to her for his day of pain. She took him to her demesne where she fully controlled the passage of time and tortured him for a subjective year before returning him back to the world a day later. In perfect physical health. His mental health was a whole other story. His Trouble became Frozen Down to the Soul.
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Don't know that I'd have done that to a player without a lengthy discussion before-hand, honestly.
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Don't know that I'd have done that to a player without a lengthy discussion before-hand, honestly.
Hmm. Well, in my defense the player was the one who proposed submitting to a "day of pain" as he termed it. I just figured that the Fae in question would take advantage of her demesne to fully realize her revenge on him. When the scenario ended he was the one who decided to change his Trouble. It wasn't something I imposed on him or anything. And I think it could spin off into some interesting stories in the future. Just what did Zeb go through at the hands of the Winter Rose? Did he have to make a bargain with her to survive the ordeal?