Help with formulation of Aspects

[Kiero]

We've made a start on the City Generation for City on the River. It was planned to be one session to get it all done, but discussing Aspects and such took a lot longer than expected. All useful stuff, and helped us get on the same page, but it means we'll need another session to finish it all off. We've agreed that the Aspect stuff in particular we'd like to discuss collectively.

We got halfway through the character side of things, discussing High Concept, Trouble, Background and Rising Conflict. What we'd gone away to think about with those is the precise wording of the Aspects, which is what I'm after some ideas for here.


High Concept: Repentant Scion of Vlad Drakul

Obviously your High Concept has to tie into your template (Scion - a spin on Changeling) and the various things your character can do. What I'm not entirely decided on is whether I need a simpler one that isn't such a mouthful. Sure it covers all the important things - he's a Scion, his sire is Vlad Drakul and he's on a redemption mission. But I wonder if something like "Half Demon" might be snappier than "Scion of Vlad Drakul". Primarily because I don't know that his sire is really all that important, even if it's a link to the canon of the Dresdenverse. "Reformed Half-Demon"?

Compels here are probably around his nature complicating matters if people realise what he is, and those demonic urges. His sire is not a nice person, not at all.


Trouble: History is Written in Blood

My trouble Aspect is all about the sins of the past and the way they have stained my character and still have an impact on his present. An alternative spin on it is "The Beast of Novgorod"; where Kincaid was the Hellhound, Faris was the Beast, nothing more than a brutal killer. The one I'm going with at the moment neatly ties to one of the campaign Aspects, "Blood Money", and seems more generically applicable than a call-out to a notorious incident in the past.

I'm imagining a lot of Compels from this around not repeating his past mistakes and modes of behaviour, proving to himself that he's grown beyond them. Also things from his long past (he's almost four centuries old) turning up and complicating matters. Maybe the odd righteous holy avenger wanting to bring him to justice for his crimes.


Background: Former Mamluk Slave-Soldier

The intent of this one is multi-fold. Firstly, it links him to a fairly ancient regime that has been gone a long time, so there's history. It's the call-back to the things he's lived through in his long life and events he may have been a part of. Secondly, it calls out his training as a warrior-fanatic following the code of Furusiyya. Lastly, it's a reminder that slavery (which is a major founding part of Bristol's economy) has a personal resonance. It's not just something he could have read about, it's something he lived.

What I'm not so clear on here is whether this is a good formulation of it. It's a lot of words and possibly trying to squeeze too many things in at once.


Rising Conflict: Hope something-something

My Aspects so far have been pretty laden with gloom, ancient evils, demons and such. That's a lot of his past that he's reformed away from, and I wanted something distinctly positive to represent the break with that past. This Aspect is all about his encounter with Esperacchius and the power of Hope that broke the chains of his heritage and gave him a chance to become a different person.

There's some cliched ideas, "Hope Springs Eternal" or "Where There's Life There's Hope" or "Through Hope I Was Reborn". Maybe something to do with mercy too or Esperacchius specifically.

Compels are around helping seemingly hopeless causes, not giving in to the inevitable and generally behaving like a superhero. Sanya is an example of that. It's to keep this character positive, not some angsty, brooding loner.


Any of that sparking off ideas for people?

[SunlessNick]

Primarily because I don't know that his sire is really all that important, even if it's a link to the canon of the Dresdenverse.  -  Kiero

Comes down to whether you'd rather focus on the specific identity of your demonic parent, with the allies, enemies, and relationships that entails - in this case, including a half-brother in the Black Court of vampires.  Or whether you'd rather focus on the part-demonic condition itself, and your character's own dark past.  If a player of mine put Drakul in their high concept, I'd be inclined to assume they want him to be important down the line - if you're ambivalent about that, best not to.

Trouble: History is Written in Blood

I was about to suggest changing that to "My History..." but changed my mind when I considered that it ought to be possible to invoke Troubles from time to time, and my suggestion would make it good for nothing but intimidation based on reputation.  Yours on the other hand might also be good for researching the right turning points in a historical timeline, or reading when a situation might turn violent.  Go with that.

What I'm not so clear on here is whether this is a good formulation of it. It's a lot of words and possibly trying to squeeze too many things in at once.

I think I see what you mean.  Mamluks were slave soldiers by definition, so you could just say "Former Mamluk."  Their lives were very different from those of the slaves Bristol dealt in, so there are some interesting Compels to be had there as well.

Compels are around helping seemingly hopeless causes, not giving in to the inevitable and generally behaving like a superhero. Sanya is an example of that. It's to keep this character positive, not some angsty, brooding loner.

I like "Through Hope I Was Reborn," as it implies a specific event, which is what you describe.

[Kiero]

As an aside, we now have an AP thread for our game!

Comes down to whether you'd rather focus on the specific identity of your demonic parent, with the allies, enemies, and relationships that entails - in this case, including a half-brother in the Black Court of vampires.  Or whether you'd rather focus on the part-demonic condition itself, and your character's own dark past.  If a player of mine put Drakul in their high concept, I'd be inclined to assume they want him to be important down the line - if you're ambivalent about that, best not to.

Quite. I do feel sort of ambivalent only because we're doing a lot of steering away from canon (even if we're set after Small Favours, but definitely before Changes in terms of timeline) and that would seem to be pulling it back in. But on the other hand it is leaving a potentially rich vein untapped. Hmmm, I'll have to have a think.

I was about to suggest changing that to "My History..." but changed my mind when I considered that it ought to be possible to invoke Troubles from time to time, and my suggestion would make it good for nothing but intimidation based on reputation.  Yours on the other hand might also be good for researching the right turning points in a historical timeline, or reading when a situation might turn violent.  Go with that.

That's true, it does imply a wider usage for the flipside. I think that's the one I'm happiest with at the moment.

I think I see what you mean.  Mamluks were slave soldiers by definition, so you could just say "Former Mamluk."  Their lives were very different from those of the slaves Bristol dealt in, so there are some interesting Compels to be had there as well.

That's a good point, adding "slave-soldier" is sort of redundant when the word Mamluk already connotes those things. "Former Mamluk" does do it neatly. Thanks.

I like "Through Hope I Was Reborn," as it implies a specific event, which is what you describe.

Does "Through Hope My Chains Were Broken" sound too cheesy?

[SunlessNick]

Not cheesy, but it does imply he was enslaved to his nature - which may well be true in a literal sense, but might be taken to absolve him.  What about "Through Hope My Eyes Were Opened"?

[devonapple]

"Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory"?

[Kiero]

"Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory"?

Sounds overly religious (his conversion wasn't a denominational thing), plus it doesn't mention Hope, which I think is vital.

[SunlessNick]

I agree about mentioning Hope.  I can't think of any other suggestions than the ones I've given, but yeah:  it has to mention Hope, and I think it should be phrased to imply a specific event.

[ALurker]

Does "Through Hope My Chains Were Broken" sound too cheesy?

I think it is quite a clever use of a quote (though technically it should be Through Hope, My Chains Were Broken).

Here's an attempted conversion of the full Code to fit your character. I had to leave out one of the Through X, I gained Y lines since it didn't fit and I also had to start the chain off with hope since that matched the back story much better.

Despair is a lie, there is only hope.
Through hope, I gained perspective.
Through perspective, I gained free will.
Through free will, my chains were broken.
My choices have set me free.

[Kiero]

I agree about mentioning Hope.  I can't think of any other suggestions than the ones I've given, but yeah:  it has to mention Hope, and I think it should be phrased to imply a specific event.

Indeed. I do think that's key.

I think it is quite a clever use of a quote (though technically it should be Through Hope, My Chains Were Broken).

Here's an attempted conversion of the full Code to fit your character. I had to leave out one of the Through X, I gained Y lines since it didn't fit and I also had to start the chain off with hope since that matched the back story much better.

Despair is a lie, there is only hope.
Through hope, I gained perspective.
Through perspective, I gained free will.
Through free will, my chains were broken.
My choices have set me free.

Haha, you caught my other media reference.