Page 115 - Chronicles of Darkness

the disappearance. These thought bubbles reflect popular Putting it on Paper
opinion and local myth surrounding the events. They should
be specific, but don’t need to be anchored to specific charac- As a group, decide what the major authority is in this situ-
ters. “Everyone knows he was kind of a drunk” is acceptable. ation. You could put down two if you like, perhaps a powerful
“The family couldn’t give two shits about her” is great, too. criminal syndicate that works in opposition to legal authorities,
Don’t worry yet about what the police or other real authori- each with their own influence on the situation. Adding more
ties are doing about the situation; that’s a later step. In this than that gets complicated, and it’s generally better to let any
situation, you’re just putting down things “everyone knows” complexity grow organically within the course of the game than
without closely examining who constitutes “everyone.” These to try to frontload the chronicle with several competing powers.
rumors don’t have to be true, though they may or may not This chronicle starter is about a missing person, after all, and not
have a grain of truth to them, and the ones that are true a turf war. A turf war may also be happening, but keep it simple.
may be the strangest of the bunch, depending on the story Next, allow each player to draw a line from the central
of your chronicle. Even as you’re considering the opinions authority or authorities on which the group has agreed to
of the characters directly connected to the missing person, various people or locations on the map. On the lines, write
consider the outsider view rather than what the characters out dates and facts that depict the authorities’ actions without
may actually be experiencing. So, if one of the player char- saying much about their motivations for these actions. These
acters is implicated by a rumor, position the statement from details should be grounded in the setting’s reality.
outside of the character. Weaker language like “he seemed” For Example:
or “maybe she” is perfectly acceptable here. Try to keep them Location: Armed police investigators were seen investi-
short for the sake of space, but if you need to invent a quick gating the abandoned chicken processing plant a week after
urban legend about the rumor, just put a title down and put the disappearance.
it on a note off to the side, or something similar. Person of Interest: No one from the police has asked
What the Questions Really Answer the missing person’s ex-husband any questions about his
disappearance.
In a real, living community, be it tightly knit or loose and Player Character: Members of the local crime family
isolationist, everyone has opinions about the things they see cornered the character and asked her some leading questions
around them. Perhaps they keep these thoughts entirely to about the missing person, then left in a hurry.
themselves, share them only with close family, or mumble Location: Neither the cops nor the gang will go to this
them to anyone who will listen. No matter how open or place for different reasons, so its truths remain unknown
private they keep their thoughts about their environment to them.
and neighbors, many people couch these opinions in rumor
and attribute the beliefs to “everyone” to avoid personal ac- What the Questions Really Answer

countability. When a person hears rumors from the unknown In some ways, this step helps outline what the characters
“everyone,” they are most likely to only forward the rumors will and won’t be able to get away with as they go through
that align with their own existing beliefs. Thus, rumors are the chronicle. Defining the in-game authorities and, more
transformed, adjusted, and refined to fit the communal importantly, suggesting how they operate and what they care
zeitgeist of the neighborhood population. Of course, as in a about, will guide the Storyteller and the players as to where
game of whisper-down-the-lane, or telephone, some strange they should focus the hands of justice. (Legal or illegal, most
ideas can sneak into popular opinion, making it hard to tell authorities have their own codes of justice.) This step helps
the difference between random hiccups in the chain of ideas to avoid questions like “Why did the cops get to this area so
and the truly strange Chronicles of Darkness truths. quickly when I fired a gun, but when I called 911 last week,
Authorities the line was disconnected?” This is because it forces everyone
at the table to consider what motivates the powers that be.
about the missing person? What don’t they bother asking? People of Interest
Do the police care? What questions do they ask you
Who has the real power and influence here when it comes Who else knew the missing person? Who were her friends,
to looking into this disappearance? If the police aren’t yet acquaintances, and family? What about his enemies and
involved, why? Is the case federal for some reason? Have the those who meant him harm? These witnesses, suspects, and
feds chased the local cops away from sensitive matters and community figures touched the life of the missing person,
taken the whole thing entirely out of the hands of those who but also have connections to the player characters. Are their
live with and around the missing person? Is it a matter of a bonds to the missing person strong and their relationships to
local authority, like the staff of a university or principal of the player characters weak? Are they the only real connection
a powerful private school, keeping things hushed up until between the player characters and the missing person? How
they’ve managed damage control? Is this chronicle set in a do they relate to the locations important to the chronicle, to
prison, with a warden hiding not just this disappearance, figures of authority, and to the rumor mill as it grinds along?
but many like it?
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