When I run Houses at conventions, I bring a few notes with me, but in general, I allow the players to define the terms. Here’s how I do it.
First, we go through the process of making characters. I encourage the players to make characters with connections. I even go so far—when I have time—to write up a Blood Contract and make them sign it. When I don’t have time, I give them a pre-written Contract to sign. I also bring a box of matches, just in case.
Second, I give them the outline of the story. For “Roses & Thorns,” I tell them this:
Young, beautiful and dangerous. Shara Yvarai’s coming out party is an opportunity for Romance, trade, Contracts… and murder. Your Count (or Countess) wants a Contract with Shara. Convince the young baroness to sign a Contract of servitude.
Then, I have everyone make a Wisdom risk. This is a contested risk, so only the victor gets to use all his wagers. If I feel merciful (the ven word translates to “weak”), I give those with a Wisdom weakness a free wager. The result of the risk is “What do you know about the circumstances of the story?”
For “Roses & Thorns,” the question usually hinges on Shara, her party, the Count (or Countess). Because I do not determine the identity of the Count/Countess, the players can use their wagers to determine the gender/identity of the character and his/her motivations.
I’m not trying to be clever with the ambiguity of gender. By not identifying the PCs’ superior in any way, they are free to say anything they want. The wagers they make give them that opportunity.
Because the players define the important elements of the story, every time I run the game, it is a completely different game. To show you what I mean, here are a few examples of how wagers determined different circumstances for both stories.
Defining Circumstances
I gave the players this information:
· Shara is throwing a party.
· She’s Blooded of the Fox, but her mother was a Wolf.
· Your Count/Countess wants Shara as a vassal.
The players gave me this information (each point is a different wager):
· Our Countess is blind
· Shara is the one who blinded her
· Our Countess is Blooded of the Wolf
· Our Countess has many enemies
· Our Countess is cruel
· Our Countess is fair
· Shara is unmarried
· Our Countess gives generous gifts, but always at a price
With these facts in mind, the players embarked to woo Lady Shara. A relationship had already been established with the wagers, making their job difficult (I gave two Style to the player who made the job so hard).
Another group came up with this situation for the same adventure:
· Our Countess is a Serpent
· Her Name is Wren Thorne which means “to serve the servants”
· If we can’t recruit Shara, our Countess wants her killed
· Our Countess is a sorcerer
· But she keeps that a secret
· She knows the Ritual to make twins
· She has a reputation as a lush
· But she isn’t
· She keeps a close eye on her barons
· She has a financial obligation involving the sorcerer
· Hush money for using the Twins Ritual
Again, by defining the Countess, the party came up with a completely different circumstance for the adventure.
Finally, a third group:
· Our Count is fond of the Sea
· He is a Wolf
· His name is Marco which means “Captain of the Seas.”
· He is most fond of Bejorak, Shara’s uncle
· Bejorak is also the father of one of the PCs (making Shara a cousin)
· Bejorak owes one of the PCs a favor
· Our Count’s wife is dead
· And he’s looking to make Shara into his wife
· Our Count has a daughter
· “And she likes me best!”
· Our Count sent a painting as a gift for Shara
By defining the Count/Countess, the players also defined their own goals. Kill Shara, win her favor, get her to fall in love with our Count. All of these are distinctly different goals. I particularly liked the mixed goal of the first group. They couldn’t decide if they wanted to win Shara’s favor or kill her for blinding their Countess. The conflict made for great story and I rewarded them with Style.