Interpreting Destiny for characters in TTB?

[Splicer]

Hey all,

Any tips and tricks for interpreting destinies? 

So far most of the destinies flipped by my players are difficult to interpret,  much less work into a game...

Long time RPG GM, new to TTB. Any help or tips would be most appreciated! 

[Paddywhack]

Yeah, I really think you have to be willing to be 'interpretive' here. I think there are some suggestions for various ones in the One-Shot Adventures to help give you some ideas of how to do it. 

[kanhead]

I've found the best approach for me to be identifying which player is most aligned to the underlying theme of the adventure.  Then I look at their destiny steps and see where I can apply them.  Sometimes there are a couple of appropriate spots that you can work the destiny steps into the adventure.  As an example, at my session last week we played The Whispering Affair one shot from Chronicle 19, I selected my resser Fated as the focus who had the following destiny steps:

Once the silver thread spends like golden promises,

he will trust your falsehoods, (potentially Avery depending how how the group interacts with him)

but as destiny grows weary of your follies, (either following the wrong lead OR should they fail a lot of challenges)

then the Ravens bless your children, (describe/create a flock of ravens coming to watch should the Fated attempt his first summoning)

and the arches will crumble.

I then just made some notes on each step above and tried to ensure I had a way to trigger one element.  If you have a few options it makes it easier to monitor in game, otherwise you might have to get creative and engineer something.  In this case it was made easy by the Fated getting two black jokers, the 2nd at the critical moment of trying to talk down the killer!  Destiny literally grew tired of her follies. 

Sometimes I've taken to making them simple, in essence a description of something that occurs as the Fated advances in their career (i.e. resolving And you are a breeze unto the leaves in Smugglers Run one shot C17 by having the drunken toad hurl the particular Fated through the Bayou swamp).  Its not as engaging as the above approach but offers a chance to tell the Fated's story particularly in the less RP intensive groups.

Many of the pre-generated adventures have destiny steps identified for you however there are so many potential destinies that you may not ever see a Fated with them. 

[Splicer]

Gives me something to think about at least. Thanks for the pointers! I think I've been putting too much stress on destinies. I'll step back and try another angle i think

[kanhead]

Gives me something to think about at least. Thanks for the pointers! I think I've been putting too much stress on destinies. I'll step back and try another angle i think

Where in Melbourne are you playing Splicer?

[Mason]

I mostly write adventures around my players' fate steps, and then have each episode feature a specific character, much like a TV show. I'll go through a bit of my own personal process.

I'll use the character in kanhead's post above as an example. First I take a look at the destiny to see if any major themes leap out at me:

Once the silver thread spends like golden promises,

he will trust your falsehoods,

but as destiny grows weary of your follies,

then the Ravens bless your children,

and the arches will crumble.

Looking at this, there seems to be an underlying theme of promises and falsehoods early on, followed by some ruin imagery (as Ravens are rarely seen as positive forces). That sort of gives me the "feel" for the character's destiny, which lets me work out a loose idea as to what the character's destiny will be. The character's background ties into this, and as the character is a Resser, that gives me some direction.

Working with that, I decide that the character's destiny will involve their loyalty to the Ressers; the ravens (or crows, the Resser symbol) blessing the character's children can be seen as them turning those under the character's protection into undead, and crumbling arches could mean ruin if it occurs to a building, so that gives me a vague idea about a climax that takes place in a crumbling building.

 

The first adventure, then, might involve another Resser asking the character for some assistance in a textile factory, which immediately gets the character thinking about silver thread - I like to be a bit literal in places, as it gives something for the player to latch onto and get involved with. The thread "spends like golden promises," which is certainly strange, so that will get a bit more of a metaphorical meaning. Since gold is more valuable than silver, the real prize here is the promise made to the other Resser. Maybe he is looking for a golden item, such as a family pocket watch?  The important thing here is that it's given me some points that I can weave an adventure around.

I'm really not worried too much about the character's overall fate at this point, other than to think about ways that the character's story can expand from there. Will the character end up being friendly to the other Resser? Will they become rivals? I could easily see this moving into a second adventure where the character is given the opportunity to be honest with the other resser or lie to him, which gives the character an important opportunity to embrace his destiny and lie - knowing that the other resser will believe him - or to fight back against it and tell the truth, even though that might change their relationship dynamic significantly (and maybe create a villain for the rest of the Fated's destiny steps!)

 

That's roughly how I work with character destiny steps. With multiple characters, I've found that having multiple plot threads is usually the way to go, as it lets characters feel like the world is big (there's so much going on) and lets everyone have their own little story. Plus, it gives plot threads time to cool down, so when they reemerge later - like a resser friend visiting the character to ask for help with another issue - it's an "Oh yeah, I remember this guy!" feeling.

[Splicer]

About to run my first game with some friends locally, but I reside in the SE suburbs. Every other Thursday I can be found at Kayjays though.

[Splicer]

Thanks Mason, some solid tips there. Looks like my weekend will be busy writing! 

[vinush]

Remember though that destiny steps must be completed in order, so no jumping ahead to later steps. 

[kanhead]

That's interesting, I didn't read it as Destiny must be completed in the set order on my first read of the book.  Looking back over the rules it's sort of hinted at I guess.  I'd suggest it's pretty difficult to have that as a hard and fast rule, so far I've found it tricky enough getting a players Destiny to fit a particular adventure as it is!  My group are treating the complete Destiny as a form of riddle that when complete will see the Fated reach the end of their epic adventure. 

[Mason]

While I vastly prefer to resolve destinies in order, I don't think there's a problem in doing them out of order if the Fatemaster and players both think that doing so works better for them.

[vinush]

I'd asked about it before and Aaron said they were done in order. 

[Mason]

I'd asked about it before and Aaron said they were done in order. 

That is certainly how they're intended, yes.

 

I just don't think that it causes any problems if the Fatemaster and the players decide to do it another way.

[AlexDS]

On 11/5/2015 at 7:32 AM, vinush said:

Remember though that destiny steps must be completed in order, so no jumping ahead to later steps. 

Old post, but this was just what I was searching for in these forums.