A Sin-Eater mcguffin

[LucidFeverDream]

So I'm in the planning stages for a Sin-Eater campaign for potentially new players. The idea I have is to push them along with a mcguffin. I already have the basic idea for this mcguffin down, but not the specifics. The general idea is that it is a journal which belonged to a character I'm calling "Detroit Dave, the baddest Sin-Eater there ever was". In this setting Detroit Dave ranks somewhere between an urban legend among Sin-Eaters and a ridiculous meme. Stories are passed around about this individual like:

"I heard that when he first died that no Geist made a bargain with him. He forced the Devil himself to be his Geist."
"I heard that one time a whole krewe tried to take one of his haunts. He unbound them from all of their Geists. The only one to survive is still in a mental hospital"
"I heard that when he finally did die it took his body seven days to begin to decompose. Death wanted to be sure he was truly dead before it had the balls to take him"
"I heard that he learned the language of the Chthonians. He tried to teach it to one other Sin-Eater. That person no longer responds to any spoken or written language."

Most Sin-Eaters consider him to have never existed, just something to brag about when drunk. But at the start of this campaign the players would have gotten a lead on the location of his journal. Now I just need some tidbits on just what that journal could contain that would make the players want to search it out.

[That Other Guy]

"Detroit Dave's journal? I heard it;s got the rules all the Kereboi have to follow."

"Nah, you're daft, it's a treasure map that leads you to the Halls of the Horsemen"

"You're both wrong, it's a big-ass spellbook that lets you weave magic Death magic like no other Sin-Eater"

"He calls it his journal, but it's just a list of names and these weird symbols"

[The Kings Raven]

How about something really tacky. Like his legendary diary of every one of history's most famous/beautiful women that he slept with in the underworld in pornographic detail.

[LucidFeverDream]

How about something really tacky. Like his legendary diary of every one of history's most famous/beautiful women that he slept with in the underworld in pornographic detail.

I mean yeah, that's what it could contain. But the tidbits that I feed to the characters need to be worth them sticking their neck out to find. I doubt that people are going to want to search the worst parts of the world and underworld for a porn book. I think That Other Guy has the right of it though.

[That Other Guy]

I doubt that people are going to want to search the worst parts of the world and underworld for a porn book.

You're right.

Obviously it has the recipe for the perfect Old Fashioned.

[The Kings Raven]

Players might not, but I could easily see Sin-Eaters questing the world for something utterly useless. Heck, it's basically a Memorabilia without stat bonuses and Sin-Eaters go to enormous lengths to find the right Memorabilia then lock it in a vault.

[That Other Guy]

Players might not, but I could easily see Sin-Eaters questing the world for something utterly useless. Heck, it's basically a Memorabilia without stat bonuses and Sin-Eaters go to enormous lengths to find the right Memorabilia then lock it in a vault.

Well, of course, that's for my collection and other people's filthy eyes will sully them.

Wow, Sin-Eater games would be great for heists

[The Kings Raven]

It really really would. Mummies or the AKD would make good people to raid. The AKD would make good protagonists too.

There's not enough Urban Fantasy heist stories, by which I mean I can't think of any.

[That Other Guy]

It really really would. Mummies or the AKD would make good people to raid. The AKD would make good protagonists too.

There's not enough Urban Fantasy heist stories, by which I mean I can't think of any.

"So there are these guys. Rich assholes based in Las Vegas-"
"As opposed to the many, many rich altruists in Vegas."
"Shut up."
"Shutting up."
"Rich assholes based in Vegas. Call themselves the Seers of the Throne. Some sort of wizards who worship some grand high muckety muck called the Psychopomp."
"What, is he some sort of big old Sin-Eater?"
"Hardly. The guy's dedicated to bottling ghosts in this world and only letting the 'chosen few' into the next."
(Beat)
"...that's fucked up."
"I know."
"Seriously fucked up."
"I know."
"But not exactly our area of expertise. Who don't we shove the info on the Twilight Network and let some Reapers handle this Psychopomp guy."
"I plan to, but not yet."
"Why not?"
"Two reasons. First, I'm pretty sure that the Psychopomps not actually on this plane of existence."
"Not a bad reason."
"Secondly, what these guys do is use items soaked in death as magnets. So guess what they've got a lot of."
"Mementoes?"
"Memorabilia."
"You're shitting me."
"At least a dozen pieces, from what I can tell."
"You're shitting me."
"I shit you not. Bonny and Clyde's Death Car, Kurt Cobain's Shotgun, the real heart of Thich Quang Duc... and the knife."
"...what knife?"
"That knife."
"THE knife?"
"Jack the Ripper's Blade."
"Holy shit."
"Yeah."
"This is going to be tough, right?"
"Tougher than anything we've done before."
"...we're in."

[LucidFeverDream]

I would think that in a heist scenario, you would have to have someone with a couple different types of boneyard. Especially industrial boneyard.

[The Kings Raven]

You STing?

[That Other Guy]

Man, I wish I could get a group to play Geist. Freaking love that game.

[The Kings Raven]

And I thought you didn't like cultural appropriation

I'm a bit more mixed on Geist. The themes, the setting, and - well, all the fluff* - I love to bits. The mechanics I think are horrid. If I played Geist I'd probably strip out Manifestations entirely and just have Ceremonies - though there is that GMC revision sitting unfinished on my google drive.


* Actually on second thought, the krewe formation is flawed IMO.

[LucidFeverDream]

And I thought you didn't like cultural appropriation

I'm a bit more mixed on Geist. The themes, the setting, and - well, all the fluff* - I love to bits. The mechanics I think are horrid. If I played Geist I'd probably strip out Manifestations entirely and just have Ceremonies - though there is that GMC revision sitting unfinished on my google drive.


* Actually on second thought, the krewe formation is flawed IMO.

My personal motto is play the game the way that you want it to be played. But my personal opinion is that Sin-Eaters would be rather dull with just ceremonies. They would end up being ghost fodder hedge mages.

[The Kings Raven]

They'd still have their culture, that's the interesting part about them. Not their powers.

I don't mind the concept of Manifestations, but as written they're far to powerful to work with the themes of Sin-Eater.