Fatemaster Friday - Surprises in TTB

[Kimberly]

Heya Breachers!

Last week I asked about Chronicles One Shots, here’s what @Vorzakk 2.0 had to say: 

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I ran Owner of a Lonely Heart last fall. 

Radu turned out to be a very passable stitched; and after the fated killed him, they found a notebook detailing a variety of legends which he'd been investigating in the hopes of finding a way to restore himself to life.  This was of particular interest to one fated who is a stitched himself. 

After the fated stopped Volan from killing Hope, he wound up cutting his own throat just to see 'Bessie' one last time.  The next night, he called up the fated from a phone booth near their townhouse; whining at length about how they'd interfered with his courtship.  He was gone by the time they reached the phone booth, so they still don't know if he somehow resurrected or if he's lingering on as a ghost.  

This week we’ve seen a fun new Augment courtesy of @MattM and Waldo’s Weekly. Klaus Norwood-  mimic and investigator extraordinaire- is a great way to interject some surprise and mystery into your game! I think there’s no greater joy a Fatemaster can have when the players react to something that’s unexpected and catches them completely by surprise. As Matt’s post suggests, Klaus can be used in several different ways. Personally, I’d have him be behind a series of seemingly unrelated jobs, posing as a different contact each time before. As the Fated begin to piece things together about their “series of mysterious benefactors” they’d learn some dark secret that Klaus is willing to go to extreme measures to keep.  

Speaking of dark secrets, Days Without Accident offers a whole mess of surprises with twists and turns as the players progress further into the plot. In Defense of Innocence has its own hefty amount of surprises and mystery to unravel as the town and its people are full of secrets. Obsidian Gate takes the players to a most unexpected place and sets up one of the most titanic battles Through the Breach has ever offered. Through the Breach Penny Dreadfuls work to balance player choice with an outlined plan to follow, but any Fatemaster knows that players surprise you, so Wyrd Augments are a great way for you to surprise your players! 

One of my most surprising moments was when I was running Fire in the Sky. The Fated were face to face with the Burning Man. In the middle of the chaos caused by his appearance one, of the group decides to try to intimidate him. Nothing else they tried succeeded, and unbeknownst to the players, this was the last action the Fated got before the legendary figure shot up into the sky. The Fated in question flipped a 13, but it wasn’t quite high enough to work. Regardless, the Burning Man took off and everyone looked at that Fated like he was a rockstar. The shock from them not knowing that they only had 3 rounds of Dramatic Time before the Burning Man left led to this great scene for the Fated that my players talked about for a while afterwards.  

TTB Penny Dreadfuls are often designed with those surprise moments of twists in mind, but I want to hear about your own surprising moments! What were the moments where you completely caught your players off guard. What do you interject into your games to keep the players on their toes? Or perhaps you plan on surprising your players this weekend with Klaus and his toothy grin? We'd love to hear what happens!
 

[J4bberw0ck]

I had my players investigating a series of disappearances in a town out in the Badlands. They slowly pieced together that each person who disappeared had been seen with a puppet in their likeness shortly beforehand, but they had no idea what that might mean.

When they returned to their homes, one of them found a puppet which looked just like her sitting on her bed, facing the door. She immediately freaked out, went to get the other Fated, and they ended up deciding it’s better to know where the puppet was at all times, so they kept it with them. I gave them a few days of further investigations, with the puppet occasionally moving when they look away, before revealing it was being used to spy on them and keep its master one step ahead.

I had expected my players to destroy the puppet or lock it away or something, not carry it around like a creepy little security blanket, so I guess we surprised each other!

[stump_chunkman]

I ran a game where a Fated  (@Thepolishammer83) made a date with another NPC, a tall woman with a harpoon launcher and sharp teeth. Unbeknownst to the group, they killed a powerful other character with ties to the Cult of December during a train heist. Well, turns out you might get stood up for your big date if you kill your would-be girlfriend's sister. Surprise! Your romance is now your nemesis!