Page 188 - Chronicles of Darkness

Are the characters even aware of its existence? If they’ve never Consider the Wake the Dead Tale (p. 214). This tale re-
seen it, but still know about it, how did they learn about it? quires that one of the characters kill someone. As Storyteller,
Do they have some sort of special significance to the God- you can leave that decision to the players, allowing one of
Machine? How do the machinations of the God-Machine them to work the incident into her character’s backstory, but
affect their daily lives? it might be preferable to know what you’re getting into. Maybe
One of the basic tenets of a God-Machine Chronicle you stipulate, then, that one of the characters accidentally
is that victory is fleeting. Unless operating at the global or runs over and kills a jogger late one night while driving home
cosmic tier (see p. 180), Storytellers should consider how to from work. That is the jumping-off point for the story, or the
make the players’ victories seem meaningful, even if they are inciting incident.
actually pyrrhic. Will making a dent in the hidden system be What the character decides to do after committing ve-
enough for the players, or will they want more? As mentioned hicular manslaughter can be played out as long as you like,
at the end of the Introduction, it doesn’t all have to be doom depending on the type of story being told. This is misdirec-
and gloom; a win is a win, but there should be a sense that tion. None of the players are likely to believe a Storyteller
something larger still looms over the horizon. would run an entire chronicle based on an accidental death,
Other than the plethora of examples provided in this but most troupes will be happy to play along. It’s when the
chapter, you can also gain some insight for the material by other dead bodies get up and start interacting with the living
watching movies or reading books that have a dystopian feel. that the actual story begins.
These include The City of Lost Children, Brazil, Children of At this point the troupe doesn’t need to know that the dead
Men, 1984, and any number of books or websites dedicated have returned to life due to a malfunction in the God-Machine.
to conspiracy theories. All they know is that the dead are returning to life. Since these
Spinning Cogs “resurrections” are a direct result of the one character’s little
traffic accident, it’s a good idea to refer back to that incident
somehow. Maybe the characters sees her victim when she looks
Unless you want the God-Machine up front and clanking in the mirror, or she sees him hitchhiking as she’s driving. He
from the beginning of the chronicle, some attempt at misdi- also smells like wet rust and his body is covered with impossibly
rection can make the story more interesting. Begin simple, complex tattoos that weren’t there before he died.
but with a hook that a) establishes the modern-horror setting How the troupe deals with the dead is the first step of the
and genre and b) demands the characters’ attention. God-Machine chronicle. The poor people probably have no

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