Session 5: Kingmaker Situation
Some notes about the game:
The first hour of this session was spent introducing the concepts of Mage: the Awakening to the group. Mage is an additional layer of core gameplay mechanics that can be “wrapped around” a World of Darkness game (similar to Vampire, Werewolf, and a handful of smaller settings). Mortals turn into vampires and werewolves by means you probably expect. They become mages through a process called “Awakening,” which is usually at least mildly trippy in nature.
Most of the time, when you set out to play Mage (or Vampire, or Werewolf) you do it from the outset; the players are aware what they’re in for and can plan ahead. Usually, they even “roll up” a Mage character during session zero, choosing their own Arcana alongside their other Attributes. Sometimes you’ll roleplay the Awakening itself, sometimes you won’t, instead beginning the game in medias res: already magical and doing wizard-man things.
As an inexperienced DM, I assume it’s rare that you “spring” a surprise Awakening on a mortal character. Even rarer that you get to spring it on a bunch of guys who’ve never played an RPG before.
Session Summary
Oblivious Inc. collectively awakens from their supernal visions, three of them groggily and with relatively little pain… and one (Sammy) in tremendous pain, some number of seconds earlier than the rest.
The slowly-burning gentleman currently pinned to a tree is named Kingmaker. He’s largely unperturbed by the bullet Sammy fired at his head a moment ago, strangely enough, but the gunshot did get everyone’s attention. Fluke is incandescent with anger: she knows what Kingmaker did, and how irresponsible it was, and now she’s making him pay for it. The newly-awakened (and newly-Awakened) members of the party are less informed.
Sammy joins Fluke in the opinion that Kingmaker should be disposed of. The rest of the group, however, begins trying to convince her to keep the man around. Maybe he’d be useful? Sammy, displeased with the flow of the conversation, limps silently off into the woods intending to steal the group’s transportation and drive himself back to the alcohol; only when he realizes he’s forgotten to steal Dewey’s keys does he come slinking back.
It turns out Kingmaker believes he’s able to “detect” promising mortals: likely mages. Fluke believes that’s a load of crap. Kingmaker haughtily presents himself as some sort of guru… until Fluke points out his progressively dwindling leg supply, at which point his attitude changes.
His intention was to force an Awakening in the members of the group. Kingmaker was “scouring” their physical bodies, converting them into raw mana and causing them such overwhelming pain that (at least, the theory goes) they would either enter “supernatural panic mode” and unconsciously protect themselves… or die. In which case, hey, free mana.
Forcing mortals to Awaken is extremely bad form. It’s rude, of course, but also dangerous: an Awakening can go very, very wrong. And doing it with mortal peril can sometimes simply mean murder. Kingmaker apparently makes a habit of this, and Fluke can’t believe the local Consilium lets him get away with it. This, combined with the fact that Kingmaker is some sort of bush-league mage (who seems not to have even noticed Fluke’s presence until it was too late), brings her to the conclusion that there is no local Consilium, and this area is the mage equivalent of the wild west.
Begrudgingly, Fluke is convinced to halt Kingmaker’s slow unraveling, and create some fancy magic legs for him. Having been transformed, the group continues their march up The Spine.
Session Experience Tally
| Character | Player | XP | Bonus | Arcane XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sammy | Drewbie | 3 | +1 (recap) | 3 |
| Timmy | Gnorlin | 3 | 3 | |
| Albacore | Liuv | 3 | 3 | |
| Dewey | Sheil | 3 | 3 |