Emerald City and Supernatural Seattle players stay out! I mean it! Scram!!! Don't read this unless you want to get some potential spoilers for the upcoming games.
What is something a Sidhe might want in exchange for their help? For example Susan gave Leansidhe some of her memory to help them out of a jam. What other things might be appropriate for say giving the party something they will need to defend themselves against a great enemy?
As Bob said: a baby always works ;)
But seriously, you could make the shide in question come of as generous and trustworthy and then have her make a similar bargain as Maeve tried to make with Harry in SK, to get her pregnant. If your players are not of the paranoid kind (which would, in my experience, be a rare breed ;D ), they might even fall for a night of pleasure, when the fae hands them whatever they need, without being pressured into it.
To make things worse, they bring the pregnant fae to a place in the nevernever where time is running faster than in reality. A lot faster. A few weeks later, the characters have a whole bag of new enemies: their full grown changeling kids.
I would look to the character's aspects and desires for guidance. What would present the player with the most difficult decision?
Hmm. I see what you are saying. But I am not sure the answer is necessarily in the Aspects in this case. Although...Hmm. Based on recent events I might have something. It is about memory again which feels a little too derivative but I will go with it if I can't come up with anything else.
But ultimately what would the Fae want? They are facing a buyer's market given the circumstances. So what kind of seemingly innocent thing would they ask for that will be fun and interesting and not just rehash the bargain Susan made?
there is a conversation about in ghost story particularly apt to the question. Debt doesn't need to be balanced immediately, it can be done later and debt can be balanced for by someone for another.
Lea mentions how Harry helped her balance the scales of debt against the red court for trading the sword for the dagger and how had it not been balanced so thoroughly others would have talked for ages about how horrible the things she did to them to extract her due would have been.. Through the various conversations with the sidhe & others without free will their mindsets really seems to develop a little more
I'd say anything that might be of value to accomplishing that fae's task or something they might consider valuable & useful enough to someone they could later exchange for something they personally value like harry's memory of his encounter with the one who walks behind, it didn't seem particularly the sort of thing she would need to know herself.. but someone might want to know and knowing what she learned could potentially allow her to understand some later event in ways that she would not otherwise be able to understand
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It might be interesting to hit them with nothing at all - or maybe nothing yet. The sidhe asks for something small, a seemingly trivial memory or orginary trinket. The sidhe isn't going to do anything with it, just keep it as currency to trade to third parties. The character loses the memory of one pleasant sunny afternoon in a park, and the sidhe doesn't use the memory to mess with her - she eventually discovers that it's been traded away, to a nocturnal hag who only wants it for the escapism - it's all fine, unless that hag gets into enough trouble to trade the memory away again (who'll get it this time?). Another character loses a clock that's a family heirloom - it's useful to some fae to help keep two parts of the Nevernever stable with other time-wise - but that fae isn't doing anything the characters will pay for later. A character (from whomever is an interesting species, from a fae perspective) has to pay a little blood - it's not going to be used in a curse, it's going to be used to empower some changelings - although if those changelings make enemies later on, the character might be a way to get at them).
Alternatively:
Go with the other side of fairytale prices. The sidhe demands something outrageous, but just short of completely unacceptable. If they bargain it down, they can, and they'll get what they want. But if they pay what's demanded, they'll get unexpected help later on when they really need it. That might go with Haru's pregnancy if the resulting kid turns out to be a boon rather than a bane.
Go with the other side of fairytale prices. The sidhe demands something outrageous, but just short of completely unacceptable. If they bargain it down, they can, and they'll get what they want. But if they pay what's demanded, they'll get unexpected help later on when they really need it. That might go with Haru's pregnancy if the resulting kid turns out to be a boon rather than a bane.
Uh, I like that. Dramatic battle, the PCs hopelessly outnumbered, when a portal to the nevernever opens, a few figures appear to fight alongside the PCs, one of them turning to them: "Don't worry, we got it." He looks at one specific PC: "Dad."
I love it!
For example Susan gave Leansidhe some of her memory to help them out of a jam. What other things might be appropriate for say giving the party something they will need to defend themselves against a great enemy?
It's worth noting the memories didn't have inherent value. Lea used their loss to manipulate Harry.
While there are differences between individuals and between courts, I suspect most fae seek power and status. As such, they'd trade for anything which might further a scheme to gain either. As Lea did...
It's worth noting the memories didn't have inherent value. Lea used their loss to manipulate Harry.
While there are differences between individuals and between courts, I suspect most fae seek power and status. As such, they'd trade for anything which might further a scheme to gain either. As Lea did...
Yeah. I want something like that but it is a bit hard to manipulate players in a game like Lea does without them feeling...manipulated. If you know what I mean. That is why I want to come up with something seemingly innocuous like what Lea did to Susan but that might have the same kinds of implications. I do want to steer a bit clear of memories because that has been used. And for that matter so has the other suggestion above.
Sigh. Anyone think of something else a Exiled Handmaiden of Winter might want that two warrior-type characters can give her?
Hmm. Maybe that is my answer. Maybe she wants them to handle a rival for her and doesn't want to use her own soldiers.
It's worth noting the memories didn't have inherent value. Lea used their loss to manipulate Harry.
I'm not sure that's true, since in Ghost Story she was also willing to trade 3 questions/completely guaranteed true answers for a quick story, also absolutely true given harry's status. Fair enough, there could've been alterior motives in that, even bargain basement prices for the questions given her stated debt to harry... but humans intrigue the fae. Our memories might well hold some weight with them.
One thing I have been successful with in the recent past in a game was playing a switcharoo with the debt similar to how Mab managed to get her hands on Harrys debt to Leanshe
. Over the course of the early game I offered a lot of inconsequential sounding deals to the PCs by various lesser fey. One managed to get into debt with one trading an answer for an answer (he thought he got off easy because he thought he knew what answer the creature wanted and it had no ability to act on it) then he got into debt with another trading directions to a destination for directions to a yet to be decided location (he really should have known better there). The fun part happened when a more powerful fey came along and forced the other two to trade their debts to him then used it to coerce the PC to give him directions to the location of a person the white council was hiding from him and the answer to how to get past the defenses.
Maybe I will just go with the tried and true "You will owe me a service" for now and then I can tailor it to a whole story down the line. Probably the best way to handle it since the game is on Sunday and I don't want to rush into anything.
Sigh. Anyone think of something else a Exiled Handmaiden of Winter might want that two warrior-type characters can give her?
Practice. Training. Sparring matches & knowledge of modern weaponry. Best if done as a once a week or every other week or the like for some period of years - and then, every now and then, you can compel it. No, I'm sorry, you can't make that meeting - you've got a sparring match scheduled. Or, you're still bruised and battered from the last sparring match, and are going into real combat at a disadvantage. Don't do that too often, of course, but - especially if this fae has longer term plans involving the PCs - this is a great way to force them to stay in touch.