Spark: Hellfire Empire Actual Play

Tonight we played Spark, using our Hellfire Empire setting. Since it's not terribly late, I think I'll do up the write-up.

We started off answering some PC and Faction related questions (oh, and Toasty named his character Adair Arkwright).

Amelia

• What favor did you do for another PC? I arranged to have an experimental piece of demonic tech stolen and delivered to Adair.
• Why do you trust a PC with your life? I trust Brigid because I have blackmail material on her - she's trying to break up Agamemnon and Queen Mona because he is a pacifist. I want her to get with Karakesh, Agamemnon's cousin.
• Why did you abandon a Faction? I abandoned the Artificer's Guild because I was sickened by their hypocrisy. 
• How did a Faction help shape a Belief? The Backalley Runners taught me that even the most powerless have strength in numbers.

Brigid

• What common friend or foe do you share with a PC? Amelia Marx and I are both friendly with Garth Zelling. 
• What do you hope to gain from a PC? Gaining Adair as a convert would be a coup. 
• Why do you unfailingly obey a Faction? The Queen's Demons are my family.
• Why have I vowed to destroy a Faction? The Beelzebub Club hates me.

Adair

• How would you suffer if another PC came to harm? Brigid would be a martyr for her cause.
• What personal sacrifice did you make for another PC? Protected Brigid from the Beelzebub Club. 
• How did a Faction help shape a Belief? Article from the Backalley Runners alerted me to the dangers of demon-tech.
• Why are you afraid of a Faction? I'm afraid of the Artificer's Guild because they wield too much influence and too many artifacts.

So with that done, we launch into the preludes. I gave them the Hellfire Engine as a Catalyst - the Engine is being used to power up a new intra-city train today, and Sally Graham (a dignitary) is taking a ride on it with her entourage. The characters do preludes: Brigid is with Sally on a dirigible, landing near the train station. Adair is leaping on rooftops toward said station, taking out guards with his steamtech. Amelia is the back alleys with the Runners, waiting to sabotage the train. 

Scene 1

Platform: Rooftops, guards stationed on them, watching the train station. 

Tilt: Ajax (a Queen's Demon lieutenant), is going rooftop to rooftop, checking in the with the guards.

Question: Can Ajax figure out who's plotting sabotage? 

Adair attaches ziplines with steam bursts to guards and takes them out, but as he gets to the last rooftop, Ajax catches him. Meanwhile, Amelia dispatches a Runner to plant a transmitter on the train near the engine. On the roof, Ajax strikes at Adair with a hammer on a big chain, but Adair boosts himself backwards off the roof, to safety. 

Answer: Ajax assumes that Adair is plotting to sabotage the train, when in fact it's Amelia. 

Scene 2

Platform: The train station, in the heart of the city, lots of crowds and background noise.

Tilt: An honor guard from the Queen, but including members of the Beelzebub Club, try to get Sally and the other human entourage members on the train, but exclude the demons. 

Question: Will the train depart with no further delay? 

A guard tries to shunt Brigid off to a later car on the train, but she employs her Demonic Magic and mentally manipulates him, forcing him to let her and the others pass. Meanwhile, Adair creeps aboard the roof of the train unnoticed and Amelia runs ahead to St. James Park. 

Answer: The train departs with no delay. 

Scene 3

Platform: The train in motion, coming to St. James Park. 

Tilt: The train approaches the point of sabotage!

Question: Can the receiver be removed in time to prevent the explosion?

Amelia lies in wait, and then channels her Angelic Magic toward the receiver. The mix of Angelic and Demonic magic causes an explosion, blowing the train over. 

Answer: Nope. 

Scene 4

Platform: St. James Park, immediately after the explosion. 

Tilt: Guards, Queen's Demons, and the Beelzebub Club rush in, either to help or attack. 

Question: Who died in the explosion? 

As the train exploded, Brigid tries to absorb the blast and save Sally. She succeeds in saving herself, but Sally is stabbed by shrapnel and killed. Members of the Beelzebub Club attack any demons they find, and the Queen's Demons retaliate. Some of the Beelzebub Club attack Brigid, but she releases a massive blast of magic and vaporizes them. Father Liam of the Beelzebub Club releases a massive burst of light, reminiscent of sunlight, but although it harms the demons it does not drive them away. Ajax appears behind Adair (who was not seriously injured in the crash) and runs him through with a blade, killing him. The Beelzebub Club, following Liam's outburst, are declared enemies of the state and routed. 

Answer: Sally Graham, Adair, and various other casualties. 

Scene 5

Platform: The Royal Garden, the day after the explosion; a minister is reading a prepared statement. 

Tilt: The Queen and Agamemnon are in attendance, but an unruly mob roils outside the gates.

Question: Who will win the PR war?

The minister tries his best to maintain order, but the people outside call on Queen Mona to reject the demons and truly lead her people. They shout "St. Adair!" and "Show us your Divine Right!" The hellfire torches fade, and the Queen and Agamemnon are forced inside. 

Answer: The people. 

Scene 6

Platform: A couple of days later, the protesters have not left the Park. 

Tilt: The first manifestation of St. Adair; he comes back claiming to have seen the sun. 

Question: How long will the protests remain peaceful?

The people continue to rattle the gates and scream for Mona to reject the demons. A ghostly manifestation of Adair appears, causing the hellfire lights to dim. He claims that he has seen the sun, but could not return it - it is up to the people to reclaim it. They storm the gates! Ajax steps out to confront them, but they drive him back and overpower him. 

Answer: Not long. 

Scene 7

Platform: Inside the castle; the Queen's audience chamber. The Queen, Agamemnon, and some of the Queen's Demons.

Tilt: The people teeter on the brink of open rebellion and regicide. 

Question: Can the breach the walls? 

Brigid wakes up the Royal Hospital, very confused. Amelia, outside with her people, again calls upon Mona to prove her Divine Right and cast out the demons. She does, telling Agamemnon to leave, and him being a pacifist, he doesn't resist. But his cousin, Karakesh, appears in a swirl of hellfire and throws black roses to the Queen, trying to court her. She resists, throws open the window, and publicly banishes the demons from her castle, and her ministers form a circle around her. The demons leave in disgrace, slinking back into the city, as the hellfire torches wink out. 

Answer: No need - the Queen has heard her people. 

Review on RPG.net coming soon! 

Character Creation: Spark

I'm running this game tomorrow, so it seems an opportune time to make a character.

The Game: Spark
The Publisher: Genesis of Legend
Degree of Familiarity: Not much. We made a setting and characters a couple of weeks ago.
Books Required: Just the one.

 
Spark has been on my list to try since it came out. It's a create-your-own setting game, and now that I've read through the rules (which took like 20 minutes, seriously you guys), I'm inclined to compare it favorably to Misspent Youth, which, if you know me, you know that's a game I'll fanboy about.

Anyway, Spark is Jason Pitre's game, and there's a Fate conversation out for it now, which is free. I want to try the original version, though.

So, for making a character, I'm faced with the same problem I always am with games like this (i.e., games were "making a setting with your group" is part of the game) - it's just me. There are several premade settings in the book, of course, but y'know, I like the Hellfire Empire setting we came up with, so I think I'm gonna make my own character. Consider this a "what if Gus or Michelle or Toasty was running this game?" kind of scenario.

OK, so the first thing I do is find an initial concept. Looking over the setting (which I linked above),

I think I want to really embrace the "superhero" part of Steampunk Superhero. My character is Franz Twain, an engineer in charge of the hellfire streetlights. But by night, he fights back the demonic hordes wearing a resplendent blue cloak, white gloves, a white and white mask, and steam-powered augmentation allowing him to leap high into the air and delivering powerful kicks and punches. The citizens of the City have taken to call him the Benedictine (after St. Benedict, Patron Saint of Exorcism).

Good start. I list "vigilante exorcist" on my sheet as concept. Now I do Beliefs. These need to be declarative statements that I'm interested in challenging in play. No problem.

Demons are evil by nature. Boom. He believes it. He hasn't even considered that it's maybe a little racist, given what demons are in this setting.

God tests us with adversity. Franz believes that the demons, the blacking out of the sun, the attempts to get Queen Mona to marry, all of this is just God giving us standards to live up to.

Mona is the rightful queen, appointed by God. Big believer in Divine Right, which would put me at odds with Michelle's character.

Now, Attributes. Obviously this guy needs a decent Body, so I'll pump three points there and give myself a d10. I'll put 2 into Heart (I see Franz as being quite passionate) for a d8, and put the other two into Mind and Spark, giving me a d6 in each. That'll work.

And now Talents. Talents work on depth; you have Broad, Common, and Deep. The deeper you go, the bigger the bonus, but the more focused the situation. I start with what I'm best at - how about "beating up demons?" So I'll take Melee as a Broad Talent, Fisticuffs as a Common, and Steam-Powered Kickboxing as a Deep.

Now I get four more Talents, of any depth. I'll take Religion as a Broad. I'll take Hellfire Engineering as a Deep. And I guess I'll take Steamtech Engineering as a Common (it's more broadly applicable). I get one more, probably Common. Hmm. How about Exorcism?

Finally, there's the step we didn't do (yet) in my other group: relationship questions and Faction questions. I'll just answer a couple of them.

I'm gonna pick "how would you suffer if another PC came to harm?" and make it about Toasty's science rebel (as yet nameless). I'll say he helped design my armor and augmentations, and I can't repair or upgrade it without him.

And then for Factions, I'll be cheap and answer "why do you hate a Faction?" Well, I hate the Queen's Demons because they're fucking demons.

And that's me done, actually.

Spark: Hellfire Empire

Last Monday we did world-building and character creation for Spark. I figure I should write this stuff down. +Jason Pitre, you might be interested in this.

We have three players (Michelle, Toasty, and Gus) plus me as GM.

We start off picking pieces of media that we find interesting. Sarah picks Angel. Michelle picks Hozier's album. Matt picks Young Avengers, the graphic novel. I pick In Bruges.

Next we go around and say why we like those things. Gus likes Angel's focus on making hard choices, being forced to choose between two options and take the one that sucks less. Matt likes the comic book's focus on figuring out who you are while doing big things like saving lives. Michelle likes the imagery of death, identity, and mortality. I just think Colin Farrell is hot like the ethereal, weird, old-Europe vibe of In Bruges.

Step three: We figure out our genre. We talk a bit about time period and how to translate what we like into a game, and come up with "Steampunk Superhero."

The next step is to establish facts about the setting. We go around the table a few times and come up with the following:

• Demons hide among us. 
• Demonic magic put out the sun. 
• Streets are lit by green hellfire. 
• There is life beyond death (ghosts and zombies exist). 
• The demons are trying to take over the kingdom; there's an impending demon regime.
• Steamtech is non-demonic; it's a purely human invention. 
• Queen Mona clings to her Empire (the demons haven't gotten her out yet).
• Demons are trying to take over by marriage. 

Now we need a title for our series; we come up with Hellfire Empire. 

Next step: Setting beliefs. Everyone contributes two, and then I pick three that I like best. 

Gus gives us Royals rule by Divine right and No good or evil, only shades of grey.

Michelle gives us People should keep to their own and Will conquers all.

Matt gives us God is dead and The demons will vanish with the sun. 

I contribute The dead should stay dead and Steamtech is obsolete. 

Now I pick three that I want to see represented in the game. I pick Steamtech is obsolete, the demons will vanish with the sun and royals rule by divine right. 

Next step: I rank attributes. Four attributes, Body, Heart, Mind, and Spark, and the higher ranked one is the one that will show up the most. Since this is going to be a superhero game, I put Body high (d10), with Heart and Mind at d8 and Spark at d6. 

Back to the group: We create Factions. First we just name them: Gus gives us "the Queen's Demons," Michelle gives us "Artificer's Guild," I give us "Backalley Runners" and Matt gives us "the Beelzebub Club." But then we go around and list a mandate for each one, and get "We just want to be free", "Control steamtech and meld it with demon magic", "information is the only currency" and "drive the demons back," respectively. 

And then Faces for the factions, with two Strengths and a Weakness. Master James Harlock is the Face of the Artificer's Guide; he's Resolute and Canny, but Prideful.

Father Liam is the Face of the Beelzebub Club. He's got Holy Relics and he's Patient, but he's Stubborn. 

Garth Zelling is the Face of the Backalley Runners. He's Personable and he's got Lots of Information, but he's Anemic. 

Agamemnon is the Face of the Queen's Demons. He Appears Wholly Human and he's the Queen's Secret Lover, but he's a Known Pacifist. 

We create ties between the Factions, and decide that the Backalley Runners have a non-aggression pact with the Queen's Demons and the Beelzebub Club. The Queen's Demons are allied with the Artificer's Guild, and the Beelzebub Club is violently opposed to the Queen's Demons. 

And finally, we create Agendas, one for each Faction. The Artificer's Guild is trying to display their new Hellfire Engine. The Beelzebub Club wants to Destroy said Engine. The Backalley Runners want to Learn the Truth About the Engine. And the Queen's Demons want to demonize Sally Graham, one of the Queen's advisers. 

Whew. With all that in mind, the players make their characters. 

• Matt makes Nameless Yutz, a science rebel. His Beliefs are: the Divine is absent, the gold standard is still present, and the demons will leave; steam remains.
• Gus gives us Brigid Bardel, a sleeper demon sent to sway Sally. Her Beliefs: Human culture is more free and enlightened than demon culture; blending demonic power with steamtech melds the best of both worlds; separate but "equal". 
• Michelle's character is Amelia Marx, a techgnostic rebel. Her Beliefs are the people control the means of production, the queen cannot rule without the will of the people, God is irrelevant. 

There's more to do with characters, but it was getting late and we decided to leave off the personal connections until next time to help everyone get into character. Looking interesting!