Dark Social Maneuvering in The Chronicles of Darkness (Forcing Confessions and Cooperation)

When last we met to discuss rules, I was talking about Social Maneuvering in The Chronicles of Darkness (A Simple, Elegant System). This rules system is meant for those social checks that are more than a simple yes/no, pass/fail, and they give you a varied, useful mechanic for actually winning hearts and minds (or wearing down resistance) over time.

However, sometimes you don't have weeks of time to spend on flattery, false friendship, and persuasion. Sometimes you need an NPC to give you what you want right fucking now. And when you find yourself in those high-stress, high-risk scenarios, you end up using the second half of the social maneuvering rules... or, as the game calls it, forcing doors.

For more of my articles on interesting rule systems in the Chronicles of Darkness, check out:

- Vehicular Combat is Always an Option

- "Down and Dirty" Combat Doesn't Get Enough Love in The Chronicles of Darkness

As always, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Dark Social Maneuvering

To recap for folks who didn't go back to review the last post, when you want to socially maneuver a target to get what you want, this creates a number of Doors that you have to go through that are based on that NPC's resistance, using the lower of their Resolve of Composure. More Doors are added based on whether the thing you want the character to do goes against deeply held principles, if it would put them in danger, etc.

Now normally when you use the social maneuvering rolls you're trying to persuade someone, or to get on their good side so they want to help you. You might even be bribing them. However, there may be times where those kinds of actions would simply take too long, or you simply don't have the social skills it would take to go that route. If that's the case you have the option to force doors open... but while this might get you what you want, there will likely be repercussions.

It's just you and me here... sooner you talk, the sooner I can get you out of this chair.

Forcing Doors happens when you take actions to terrify or obligate someone into doing what you want, and it's an all-or-nothing situation. When forcing Doors open you make a single roll, but the number of unopened Doors acts as a penalty to your roll. So, say you wanted to threaten someone into giving up blackmail material they've been hiding, or to hand over the name of a contact. The player character might leverage their force of personality with a Presence + Intimidation roll, using their specialty in Explicit Threats. However, the person they're threatening has 3 Doors that need to come down, giving the PC a -3 penalty on the roll.

Now, if a player really wants to swing for the fences, they can also include Hard Leverage. This is basically the dark version of a bribe, in that it's physical violence, kidnapping, blackmail, or something else that will add weight to their side of things, and make forcing those Doors open that much easier. And if that Hard Leverage would cause the player character to suffer a breaking point, then it can remove Doors entirely, making the penalty that much smaller. If the action is egregious enough to give the player character a -2 on their breaking point roll, it removes 1 door. If it's -3 or higher, that removes 2 Doors.

So what does all of this look like?

Dane needs the name of a criminal contact. He knows a street pusher who could give it to him, and he doesn't have time to mess around. So he kicks in the pusher's door, pulls a gun, and cocks back the hammer. Dane might be a crook, but he's not generally a violent guy. Perhaps he and Slick are actually friends, in a way, and this is really breaking Dane's idea of who he is, and what he's capable of. That threat with a deadly weapon would likely be enough to automatically remove 1 Door. And if he went further? If he put a bullet in Slick's leg, or pistol-whipped him to make it clear he was serious? That level of line-crossing might be enough to remove 2 Doors.

Given that average Resolve and Composure are 2 dots, it's entirely possible that by not leaving this up to chance and going full-tilt, Dane could force Slick to comply and give him the information with ease. However, while he'll get what he came for, there are costs to this approach. There's the breaking point roll, which might end up costing Dane some Integrity. There's also the matter of burning the bridge he had with Slick (assuming Dane doesn't disguise himself in some way), as well as painting a target on his back if Slick chooses to send violent reprisals his way in the future.

Like it says on the tin; high risk, high reward.

With that said, though, the fact that the social maneuvering rules are robust and flexible enough to account for various different approaches, molding them to the intention of the players, makes this one of the greatest advantages for the Chronicles of Darkness... and this is especially true for adding tension and challenge to the influence game which is so often part of any chronicle!

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That's all for this week's Crunch post! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or the dark sci fi channel I contribute stories to, The A.L.I.C.E. Files! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Shards of a Broken Mirror: Short Scenarios For The Chronicles of Darkness (Future Potential Project)

The world is a dark and terrible place, but the horrors we know are just the icing on top of the cake. Those who manage to sink their teeth in, and to chew down to the bone, learn there are even worse monsters out there than live in your wildest nightmares. Creatures of promises and lies that will steal your soul for one more day's grace. Dead things that drink the blood of the living to endure an eternal night. Beasts who wear the skin of men, and creatures who defy death and the natural order with every breath they take.

The setting of the Chronicles of Darkness is vast and rich... but having so many options can often lead to decision paralysis among players and Storytellers alike. That's why in the back of the base book (page 196) they provide you with a bunch of short, one-shot style stories to help you get your feet wet. These scenarios can be played individually, or they can be strung together to build an entire chronicle out of.

And it's a really good idea... my question for you all this week is would you like to see additional supplements covering things like this? Perhaps for more than just the God Machine Chronicle that mortal characters are supposed to tackle?

Because there's always fresh approaches one can take with this setting.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Broken Mirrors and Distorted Reflections

The Hagiography in the Chronicles of Darkness core book provides a smooth, workable frame, giving the Storyteller the bare bones they need to run a short session in roughly two pages or so. These 20 scenarios can either be run independently, or Storytellers can use them as seeds to build a larger, collective plot. Or the third option, they work as the connective bits between larger story arcs, where characters have finished one story, but the ST may not be quite ready to begin the next arc and needs something to keep players involved while they finish plotting.

Like I said above, it's a solid resource, and a particularly good thing to include in the core rulebook so that all STs have access to it. However, while it's possible to adapt these scenarios to other spheres in the Chronicles of Darkness, something that might be a difficult challenge for a gang of mortal investigators is probably not something that's going to be a problem for a cadre of mages, a motley of changelings, a coterie of vampires, and so on, and so forth.

Which is where I wanted to propose a project for my readers this week. Would you be interested in collections of these "story shards" for use with the other parts of the Chronicles of Darkness? Or even going back to the old World of Darkness and providing similar collections of ideas for Storytellers to use there?

Not too dissimilar to this project, actually...

If this is an idea that interests you, then consider leaving a comment and telling me the following:

- What Game Should The Shards Be For? Changeling, Hunter, Geist, and so on.

- How Many Shards Should There Be? Please choose 5, 10, 15, or 20 shards.

- Should The Shards Be Location Specific? Cities are a traditional location for this game, but should the shards be location neutral, or all tied to a particular place?

Whether you want to leave your comments below on this blog, reach out to me on any of the social media profiles I have listed in the end of this entry, or even leave your comments over on YouTube where my publisher is sure to see them (throw them in the comments of this video, World of Darkness Boot Camp, so that way I can find them all in one place), please make sure you weigh in on this week's topic.

Your feedback is important because Storyteller's Vault projects are something of a risky move on my part. They're a lot more restrictive than my general purpose RPG supplements, and they pay a lot less up-front for me, which can be a problem with how tight everything is right now. So while I think this is a really great idea overall, if folks would rather see me put together more simple lists like 100 (Mostly) Harmless Goblin Fruits and Oddments To Find in The Hedge for Changeling: The Lost, 100 Resources and Rumors To Find on ShreckNet for Vampire: The Masquerade, or even 100 Shadow Names (And Their Meanings) for Mage: The Awakening, I'm more than happy to put a few of those projects on my work desk instead if that's what my readers would prefer.

This is sort of a Choose Your Own Adventure, and I wanted folks to make their thoughts heard if they had strong feelings on this subject!

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That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

If You Aren't Stress-Testing Character Sheets, You Really Should

Folks who are already subscribed to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and who regularly watch episodes of Discussions of Darkness, may have heard me talk about this subject already. However, I wanted to take this Monday to really drive home that stress-testing the sheets and characters your players have made can be an extremely helpful thing to do before your campaign starts.

And that goes double for you as the GM. Because you need to know how their sheets work, and the mechanics your players are going to use, just as well as they do... especially if they're utilizing parts of the rulebook you don't typically crack open.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Make Sure The Sheet Runs The Way You Think It Runs

The purpose of a stress test is to make sure that all the mechanics on a character's sheet work the way the player thinks they do, and to give it a try under laboratory conditions. The idea is that you, as the GM, should construct a situation where the character gets to try out their abilities and skills to be sure they function the way they're supposed to when the dice hit the mat. Sort of like how in 1 on 1 fighting games there's a mode where you have an opponent that doesn't do much so you can practice your moves to be sure you understand your character's abilities.

For bonus points I recommend running scenes from a character's history, or from the group's history if they've been together for a while. On the one hand, doing a single session for the group as a whole is easier to put together, but making individual sessions where you can work one-on-one allows you to construct individual scenarios geared to test each character specifically. It's why I recommend the latter option, if you have it available to you.

While the examples given are for characters in the World/Chronicles of Darkness, the idea is pretty applicable to most game systems. If you have a character who is meant to be a stealth-based infiltrator, then you can run them through a break-in, or a prison escape, to see if their skills are functioning the way they're supposed to. If you have a character that's an unarmed fighter, put them in a cage match, or a bar fight, so they can test out their abilities real-time. If a character is supposed to be the party face, run an interrogation, a trade negotiation, or something similar to see if they're really as good as they think they are when it comes to utilizing their social skills.

And if things go wrong, you can claim it was all a dream, or that things didn't go down the way they remembered, and it turns out they're telling this story in a tavern several years later.

Whether you want to test the mechanics for flying a spaceship, participating in a car chase, social combat (if your game has rules for that), or just making sure that your party bruiser can bust heads and crack teeth, the stress test saves you a lot of time, energy, and effort. However, there is a benefit over and above just making sure the mechanics work the way you and your players think; it also allows players to get into their character's skin, and play out some of their earlier moments and memories.

At the end of the day, a character trial run under controlled circumstances saves you a lot of time and energy, as there's fewer issues of players being unfamiliar with how their own characters work, and it allows players to really figure out their character's personality, style, and voice in a safe place instead of waiting until they're at a table surrounded by other players.

And, of course, it's sometimes fun to do a little one-on-one RP with your players to start building the foundation of the game, and really getting them invested in the campaign to come!

As with a Session 0, this isn't technically necessary. However, if you haven't tried this before, I highly recommend giving it a shot. Especially if you have players who are new to a system, or if you as the GM are new to the system and you want to build your familiarity with it before you take on a full session with everyone gathered around the table and looking to you to crank the motor, and get the game started.

And if you're looking for more pieces of advice from me, check out the collected tips and tricks in the following supplements:

- 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master

- 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better RPG Player

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Game Masters, Put Together A Starting Guide For Your Players (It Really Helps)

One of the most important parts of any RPG campaign is the world and setting it takes place in. Because while the player characters might be the leads of the play who are strutting upon the stage, the setting is the backdrop, the lighting, the music, and all other aspects of the production. The setting is what provides context for the player characters, and it plays an important role in shaping who they are, and what they're trying to do.

The problem arises when your players aren't as familiar with the setting as you are. Which is why, rather than watching your players stumble over unfamiliar blocking and set dressing, it's a good idea for you to give them some kind of starting guide to make sure they have some idea of what it is they're supposed to expect.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in this case.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

What Does A Good Guide Need?

For folks who are looking to copy a good guide, I'd recommend checking out some of the Cities of Sundara supplements I've put out, like Moüd, City of Bones or Hoardreach, City of Wyrms. The format of these guides is that you get a snapshot of the location in question, a brief explanation of its history, important notes on the culture one is likely to find, as well as breakdowns by district with examples of some locations, NPCs, and even a few rumors one might hear swirling around. As well as an easy-to-use map to put everything in perspective!

For those who are wondering on my process for making locations like this, I'd check out the article 5 Tips For Creating Fantasy Towns and Cities.

For an alternative example, you could grab any of the free player guides that come with Pathfinder adventure paths, like War For The Crown or Hell's Rebels. The list of them should be available on Paizo.com to download.

These guides go a little more in-depth. They provide an overview of your starting area, along with snapshots of the culture characters will likely be familiar with. These guides describe recent events, as well as necessary histories, and they even get into mechanical details by suggesting different character classes that will be more or less effective in the coming campaign, while providing justifications without giving any of the players spoilers for what's coming.

Which are things you can do when the campaign has been written out, and you have the entire narrative throughline figured out.

Come deeper... we shall begin soon...

I've been ruminating on this topic because I'm putting together a chronicle for Hunter: The Vigil for my own players, but the game is going to be set in Chicago during Prohibition. And while explaining fantasy settings, cities, etc. to people can seem difficult, sometimes it's just as important to remember that the past is an undiscovered country for a lot of folks. I've been delving into the era a lot with some work on my period Call of Cthulhu supplements like 100 Gangsters, Gun Molls, and Goons, as well as 100 Businesses To Find in Arkham, so I've been reading a lot about the social developments, technological advances, and timeline of what was going on in America during the 1920s and 1930s.

So rather than just expecting my players to delve deep into the time period the way I've been doing for the past half dozen months, I want to distill what I've been reading down into a snapshot of the era. An explanation of world events, the major social trends that are currently happening, perhaps a period map of the city, as well as a few pointers on what different regions of the Windy City are like during this time period.

I'm fortunate that my players seem to want to play before officially starting their Vigil as hunters, so I don't have to explain the current setup of all the warring supernatural communities... which makes this job slightly easier.

Still, this is a part of Session 0 that I feel a lot of Game Masters overlook, both those who run in homebrew settings and official ones. And while it might not be necessary if your players are familiar with the setting you're playing in, or they're the sort of self-starters who will just dig into the lore to find out what they need to know before the game day arrives (assuming there is a lore tome for your setting, of course), it's probably a good idea to ask your players if they'd like a handy packet to lead them into things a little more gently.

It can save you all a lot of frustration down the line. Trust me.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

A "Chronicles of Darkness" Mortals Game, With a Twist!

I tend to give a lot of advice for Game Masters and Storytellers on my Monday posts. That wasn't what I originally intended this slot to be for, but it seems popular, so I try to go with the flow when it comes to what readers want to see more of. And as the holidays close in on us, and many of us are spending time with folks we may not get to see that often, I thought I'd share an idea for a Chronicles of Darkness chronicle that I had forever and a day ago, but which I've never had the time to actually run.

For ease of discussion, let's call it a Faces of Death campaign, as PCs dying is when things get interesting.

It might be hard to convince your players, but it may be worth the effort.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Worse Things Than Death Lurk in The Shadows

As a quick note before we get started, this strategy can be use for both World of Darkness games as well as New World of Darkness (or Chronicles 1st Edition, if you prefer) games. But for simplicity's sake, I'm just going to stick to discussing the one edition, and the options it presents you as a Storyteller.

Now then, on to the idea!

To begin with, have your players put together a group of mortal characters. I recommend keeping special abilities or powers (like one might find in Second Sight) off the table... initially, at least. You can even run this as an avatar game setup (where players make game versions of themselves) if you want to. That might add a little spice to the game once the twist comes, but it won't be for everyone.

So what's the twist, already?

There is no fixed plot for the initial game. Whether your players are private investigators looking into missing persons cases, or they're small time hoods just trying to make a living on the streets, or there's a bizarre, occult conspiracy that has sucked them all up, the initial plot is not what matters. What matters is what happens when one of the PCs dies, or appears to die.

At that moment, you invoke the shadows of the setting, and some supernatural force manifests to bring the character back as a member of one of the spheres of the other CoD lines.

Let's say, for example, that the gang was selling drugs in a vampire's territory. Shot full of holes, they're going to die... until a figure in black grabs them, and offers them a drink of their blood. Either becoming a ghoul, or a full-on newly-forged vampire, gives the character a new lease on life. Perhaps it's the vampire whose territory the gang was unknowingly operating in, or one of that vampire's rivals eager to turn the PCs into weapons in a territorial dispute, the reason is up to you. Alternatively, perhaps the danger, fear, and injury triggers one character's latent werewolf heritage, and they undergo their first change, healing rapidly from the wounds that should have killed them. The character might take a final level of damage, and collapse into a pile of leaves and twine, as it turns out they were a fetch the entire time, and now the player gets to re-make their character as a recently-escaped changeling. The dying mortal might hear the whispers of a Geist offering to keep them from shuffling off the mortal coil, or they might actually die, only to awaken as a recently-made Promethean whose memories of the past are... fragmentary, to say the least.

Maintaining Power Level, and Avoiding ST-Assisted Death

A Faces of Death game is, in short, a way for an ST to either slowly induct the party into a given sphere of the Chronicles of Darkness setting, or to create a troupe game with everyone finding their own way into one of the various game lines. Personally, I recommend using this for a troupe game, because I feel that it provides the most varied options, and it helps you find ways to maintain power level and challenge when it comes to the ongoing chronicle.

There's a lot in there, so let me unpack it.

First of all, let's discuss power dynamics. Because it's true that whoever it is that dies first is going to wind up with a leg up over the rest of the folks in the game in some ways. Whether they become a full-on supernatural creature, or they end up with a lesser template as a ghoul, an ensorcelled mortal, etc., they're going to have access to resources and abilities that the rest of the table may not have. However, to counter that, it's important to also provide additional complications and limitations that the rest of the table doesn't have to deal with (but which could act as additional plot fodder).

For example, let's say that one character did become a vampire. Now they have to follow the rules of the masquerade, and they have to do what they can to exist in the world of the night. They might have new powers they can use, such as moving faster or becoming stronger, but their powers shouldn't immediately fix problems presented in the chronicle. The mortal hacker, or the socialite with connections among the business community, are still going to be useful when it comes to investigating mysteries and solving crimes, even if the group's bruiser no longer has a pulse and has to drink blood, for example. Most importantly, though, one character becoming a vampire now means you can bring in the lore, enemies, and plots involving those monsters going forward. And every time you bring in a new creature or game line, the amount of stuff you can call on just gets bigger.

Additionally, as the game goes on, your players have to deal with the competing interests of the different factions they belong to, and they have to choose sides in what's happening. As an example, if one of the other party members becomes a changeling, does their assistance with someone else's vampire have political ramifications? Can the werewolf and the promethean still work together, or does the werewolf risk ostracization from their community if they don't destroy something that unnatural? What kind of political points can be scored by forging alliances, or toppling existing rulers? These are the sorts of opportunities a Faces of Death game can present, if you choose to pursue them.

What was that last part, though?

Once players realize that they get an upgrade when they die (assuming you didn't start the game off explaining this twist), it's possible that folks begin taking on suicidal acts hoping that this is the time they get their monster badge. It's important for you, as the ST, to discourage this behavior up-front by explaining that purposefully putting your character in danger for the hope of more power, rather than for story purposes or because of the roll of the dice, won't result in a positive outcome.

However, if someone's mortal character doesn't die, make it clear that they can still get their own upgrades so they don't feel like the token PC in the monster chronicle.

Characters who manage to outlive their compatriots might find themselves awakening as Mages simply from the constant exposure to all of the supernatural goings-on around them. They might end up becoming a part of a Hunter faction, gaining access to the gear, resources, etc., of those who bump off the things that go bump in the night. They could also combine the various boons that can be given to mortals, such as drinking blood from a vampire to become a ghoul, swearing an oath with a changeling to gain additional skills and power, etc. You can even break out books like Second Sight, granting them their own set of powers they can use to keep up with the rest of the table.

Final Recommendations and Challenges

A lot of the following pieces of advice are going to depend on your table, and your players. It's also going to depend how much they trust you. Generally speaking, though, these are areas you should address before you begin.

- Would your table react well to the twist being secret? Some players would think this was an awesome continuation of a character, while others might think this was a big manipulation. If you're not sure you can always err on the middle ground of telling your players there's going to be a twist, but asking if they want you to spoil it for them or not.

- Ensure that players are onboard with roleplaying the transformation and understanding of a monster's new life. Part of the fun of this change is seeing characters alter and adjust to their new life situation. How do they deal with their new urges, their altered perceptions on morality, or the new responsibilities they now have to deal with? Even if we, as players, know the mythos and the ins-and-outs of the monsters, playing them from the perspective of an established character who has to see it all with fresh eyes is part of the challenge.

- Ask yourself (if not your players directly) what kind of monster they would most enjoy playing (or which ones they definitely don't want to play). This is another that's going to vary by player and table. Part of the challenge of a Faces of Death game is that the specific monster the PCs end up becoming should vary by plot and circumstances. For example, if you're doing a vampire arc, then becoming a ghoul or a vampire is the most thematically-appropriate option. However, if you know a given player really doesn't care for vampires, and wouldn't enjoy playing one, then perhaps they're approached by a Geist that was a victim of that same kindred in the past. Maybe this is where their latent werewolf heritage comes out. Even if you want to give your players input on what kinds of monsters they'd like to become, consider a ranked-choice system, or a general template, but not giving them specifics. A player might pick "vampire" as their creature, but surprise them with the particular clan they're turned by, for example.

- Remember to include the mortal side of things, as well as the supernatural. As I said back in World of Darkness Storytellers, Don't Forget The Mortal Side of Things, but it bears repeating. All the supernatural wooge in the world does you no good if you have to blend in and mix with the normal folk in order to complete the plot, so keep that in mind when you're designing your challenges.

Additional Resources

Regular readers know I've been making WoD/CoD content for a while now, and I've got an RPG pin board with the 30+ supplements I've made for Werewolf, Vampire, and Changeling. However, some supplements that will be most useful for populating a Faces of Death Game include:

- Deadly Country: 100 NPCs of Central Florida: While this one is location-specific, the characters can easily be shifted to most other parts of the country, as the Storyteller needs.

- 100 Ensorcelled Mortals: A Changeling: The Lost supplement, this one is quite useful if you want at least one member of your chronicle to have a brush with the world of the fae.

- New World Shadows: 100 Ghouls For The American Sabbat and New World Nights: 100 Ghouls For The American Camarilla: While originally written for Vampire: The Masquerade, these NPCs can be easily shifted and re-imagined for whatever edition of the setting you happen to be using.

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