Humble1

Urban Shadows

I can't seem to find any rules in the book regarding vampires and sunlight.

@rush99999

There aren't any.

Urban fantasy is all over the map in regards to the strengths and weaknesses of vampires, werewolves, etc. Rather than create a system for it all, Urban Shadows leaves it up to the player.

We’ve done our best to include in the moves and Archetypes everything we
think is necessary to make Urban Shadows work at your table. Part of our
design philosophy, however, is to leave holes all over the map for your group
to fill in. We want you to make the city come to life, to be the kind of vampire
or werewolf or wizard or faerie that you want to be, and to tell us what you
know about the world. We trust that your answers to those questions will be
far more interesting than anything we could set down as hard and fast truth.

Urban Shadows

How do we want to handle debts? Do we distribute them among the three PCs, or do we create NPCs?

Deadlands: Tales o' the Weird West

John William Henry

You mark my fuckin' words, before this day is out, we're going to see people wanderin' into Deadwood that we've never seen before, who have no idea that the rock is even here.

The steam carriage hissed and rattled to a stop at the corner of Lee and Main. The oak door shuddered twice before finally swinging open. One battered workboot hit the ground, raising puff of dust.

The man who stepped out could fool the eye into thinking that he was as wide as he was tall. Broad black shoulders had to turn sideways slightly to get out of the narrow carriage door. Under one arm was a soldier's haversack, stuffed to overflowing with worldly goods. The other arm carried a squirming load of dog, a barrel-chested pit breed sniffing the wind and shaking pricked ears.

"Well, Polly, we're here. Now it's time to figure out where 'here' is."

Post office and hotel offered little to a man like John Henry. The theater ... would he even be allowed inside? But a hardware store ... that held promise.

"C'mon, girl. Let's go get the lay of the land."

The front door to the Star & Bullock Hardware Store did not have a bit of stick to it, and the wide-board floors did not squeak under foot. Henry nodded firmly to himself. The set of a man's face might lie, but the product of their hands told you their true character. Someone cared about craftsmanship in this building.

A chill went down his back when he saw the ghost rock equipment lining the shelves. Slowly and reluctantly he forced himself to examine the new contraptions. One - a ghost rock powered drill - had an almost repulsive effect on him. Fighting himself, he made his hands lift the heavy machine and turn it over, memorizing every detail.

He'd left almost everything behind in Mississippi, but it looked like some horrors had preceded him. There wasn't much farther he could run. Best to make what he could out of this place, carve something out of this ... Deadwood.

Urban Shadows

Aliyah Schilling submission

Name: Aliyah Schilling Age: 33 Look: African American Woman in Fancy Clothing Demeanor: Volatile Stats ---- Blood: -1 Heart: 0 Mind: 2 Spirit: 1 Factions ---- Mortality: 1 Night: -1 Power: 1 Wild: 1

Intro
Who are you?

Aliyah Schilling. Doctor Schilling, if you prefer.

How long have you been in the city?

All my life. How long has the city been in me? The same.

What keeps you up at night?

Very little, thanks to a sip of Ease of Mind. That's a tea from an herb in the Asteraceae family - that's the daisy family, for the record. Plus some other odds and ends. And the shot of whiskey doesn't hurt either. But if you mean what makes me resort to Ease of Mind ... my family, I suppose. My community. Same thing, in the end. I have responsibilities that weigh on my mind some nights. People place more faith in me than I deserve, and make more demands than I can handle, which is the fate of every competent woman.

What have you sacrificed for your power?

I have no power. Only knowledge. And I earned it - EARNED it, mind - the old fashioned way. I worked, studied, practiced. Oh, I'll grant you, coming from my family I had a leg up. But every step I took was my own. If I'm still single in my thirties - a fact that I assure you my mother and several aunts point out every day - and if I have few friends, and few hobbies, what of it?

What do you desperately need?

What does everyone need? Time. More money would be nice, I suppose, but it always seems to come with strings attached. But I have sachets to make up, and blessing to perform, and teas to brew and wounds to heal and minds to mend and more every day. Just give me time, and a nap.

Gear: A simple house with an herb garden and a sunroom. An old truck with the back full of flowerpots and soil. Cell phone.
Focus: Herbs, potions, powders and poultices.
Sanctum: Kitchen at home.
Weapon: Butcher Knife (3-harm hand messy)

Features:
An extremely knowledgeable assistant - Imani, a russet cat who sniffs every potion and always knows where every ingredient is.
A library of old tomes
Magical booby traps - Goofer dust around the foundation. Keeps away pest and other undesirables.
An apothecary

Flaws:
It contains many volatile substances
Its location is known by many

FOCUS
A satchel full of powders and concoctions.

SPELLS
Tracking
Memory Wipe
Hex

Urban Shadows

You're a wizard Humble!

@Penny

Prolly a witch, but we'll see how things shake out.

Urban Shadows

If that's where we're at, I'm leaning towards Wizard. If someone has their heart set, I'll go with Aware.

Urban Shadows

@Penny It won't load properly on my device. Is there any way you could get a picture of the pages I need?

@Dark Cloud

@Dark Cloud
- The playbooks for the archetypes span 60 pages total, so you're better off choosing an archetype from the list and asking for that specifically. Here's the list and descriptions:

List of Archetypes

Below is a list of all the core Archetypes for Urban Shadows , accompanied
by a short summary that tells you a bit about each Archetype, including
the Archetype’s high and low stats. There are additional limited edition and
fan-created Archetypes available for use with Urban Shadows , but we don’t
cover them in this book.

Like the city itself, the list of Archetypes is divided up into the four Factions:
Mortality, Night, Power, and Wild. Each of these Factions has sway over a
different facet of city life, and they often come into conflict as they vie for
resources and control.

MORTALITY

Archetypes from Mortality live on the edge of mortal society, still connected
to the rest of their Faction, the slumbering fools who don’t know about the
supernatural world that surrounds them. With all their connections, these
Archetypes are in too deep to ever go back to a mundane, normal life.

»The Aware

Inquisitive, resourceful, intuitive, lucky. The Aware is a mortal investigator who
has come to see the supernatural world for what it really is. They understand
humanity isn’t alone in the city and they’re entranced by the shadows.

• High stats: Heart, Mind. Low stat: Blood.

»The Hunter

Dangerous, focused, deadly, solitary. The Hunter is a mortal who has mas-
tered the art of the kill through intense training. They are direct and violent,
never to be taken lightly.

• High stats: Blood, Mind. Low stat: Spirit.

»The Veteran

Experienced, tenacious, knowledgeable, clever. The Veteran is a has-been
who uses their hard-won talents to remain relevant in city politics. They
have a workspace in which they can create all manner of things that others
might need.

• High stats: Heart, Mind. Low stat: Blood.

NIGHT

Archetypes from Night operate at the level of the street, contesting for terri-
tory, drugs, money, and blood. They are the things that go bump in the night,
the monsters that live in the shadows of the city.

»The Spectre

Vengeful, alienated, incorporeal, alone. The Spectre is the ghost of someone
who died, their spirit trapped on this side of eternity. They are an echo of what
they once were, knowing only restlessness and loneliness.

• High stat: Blood, Spirit. Low stat: Mind.

»The Vamp

Seductive, merciless, eternal, hungry. The Vamp is a creature that must feed
on humanity to survive. Their web draws in prey, linking them to their assets,
minions, and debtors in order to keep their undead hunger satiated.
• High stat: Blood, Heart. Low stat: Spirit.

»The Wolf

Primal, unstoppable, brutal, unlucky. The Wolf is capable of transforming into
a deadly werebeast when the moon rises into the sky. Little stands in their
way, but they often find more trouble than they bargained for when they
prowl the city’s streets.
• High stat: Blood, Spirit. Low stat: Heart.

POWER

Archetypes from Power see the truth behind the lies the city tells, the push
and sway of politics that drive change amidst the concrete and darkness.
They have access to power—great power—and many intend to use it to con-
trol the future of the city itself.

»The Oracle

Prophetic, blessed, cursed, intense. The Oracle is a seer, mystic, or psy-
chic, gifted with sight beyond sight. They can see beyond the present,
beyond this reality, but they cannot turn away, no matter how terrible their
visions become.
• High stats: Mind, Spirit. Low stat: Heart.

»The Wizard

Powerful, dedicated, hermetic, strange. The Wizard relies on years of training
to channel intense magics. With enough preparation, these mages can move
mountains…or turn them to dust. When caught alone and unprepared, they
are still painfully mortal.
• High stats: Mind, Spirit. Low stat: Blood.

WILD

Archetypes from Wild are foreign to these lands, touched and altered by
forces beyond this reality. They have contracts and arrangements that bind
them and give them power, ties to ancient and epic beings from beyond.

»The Fae

Fickle, enigmatic, cold, illogical. The Fae is a being from beyond this world or
the offspring of a creature with ties to distant realities. They are able to draw
upon the logic of their native world, tying themselves to oaths and promises
in exchange for great power.
• High stats: Heart, Spirit. Low stat: Blood.

»The Tainted

Brutal, intense, callous, manipulative. The Tainted was a mortal who sold their
soul in exchange for power, wealth, or security. They are of two worlds, torn
between their human compassion and demonic obligations.
• High stats: Blood, Heart. Low stat: Mind.

Urban Shadows

I like Urban Fantasy and tabletops, but have no idea what PbtA or Urban Shadows is cx

@Bartimaeus

PBtA translates to "Powered by the Apocalypse." They're a loose family of tabletop games inspired by the game Apocalypse World. They're about a zillion of them right now, but in general, each tries to create a certain type of story. So "Monster of the Week" creates a game that feels like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Masks" create a teenage superhero story, "The Warren" simulates Watership Down, "Brindlewood Bay" is Murder, She Wrote with a hit of Lovecraft, etc.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_by_the_…

"Urban Shadows" is one of the more popular games in the family: magpiegames.com/urban-shadows

"Urban Shadows is a game about cities, the people who live in them, and the machines that make them run. It’s a political game, one that challenges preconceptions about conflicts between communities, and asks players to navigate complex identities in a demanding social structure. It is personal and political for mortals and monsters alike."

Urban Shadows

Interested. Trying to get into PBtA games in general, and I've heard good things about Urban Shadows. I'd love to play urban fantasy, as long as it doesn't cross that invisible line into paranormal romance. Don't really have the chops for that anymore.

Deadlands: Tales o' the Weird West

John Henry submission

John Henry told his captain "A man ain't nothing but a man But before I let your steam drill beat me down I'd die with a hammer in my hand, Lord, Lord I'd die with a hammer in my hand" Traditional Name: John William Henry Aliases: None Allegiance: None Occupation: Engineer Sex/Gender: Male Race/Ethnicity: African American Age: 40-ish Build: Barrel, muscular

Physical Attributes:
John Henry gives the impression of being a much larger man crammed into the frame of a smaller man. He's just a hair over five feet tall, but his shoulders are wide enough to compensate. His natural hair and beard are shot through with white, and his face is lined with care. He dresses for wear and not for comfort; his pants are tent-quality denim and his shirt looks like sailcloth. A nine-pound hammer hands from a twist in his old rope belt.

Mental Attributes:
Positive Traits:

• Proficient engineer
• Can repair nearly anything mechanical
• Unshakable

Negative Trait:

• Taciturn and solitary
• Slow to trust
• Stubborn to the point of insanity

Education: No formal education. Worked as an involuntary assistant to a confederate mad scientist.
Likes:
Dislikes:

Notes:
Important Life Moments: John Henry was a teamster when the world went sideways, although it took several years for this to touch him. Before then he was arrested for creating a disturbance during an argument with a store owner over payment, and Henry got to experience the trumped-up charges and lengthy sentences that characterized the South's early experiments with mass incarceration.

For a year, Henry worked hard labor on Virginian railroads, laying track and drilling rock. At some point he was picked out of chain gang by the Confederate scientist known as Doctor Moon. Moon needed an assistant short enough to climb into some of his contraptions, and Henry was selected with no chance of refusal. This began a long period during which Henry worked with the mad Doctor, assisting but also learning.

The details of Henry's leaving Moon's service are murky, but it might have something to do with the bloodstain seen on Henry's hammer as he hurriedly left Virginia. He has been traveling west for some time, trying to leave the Confederacy as far behind as possible.

Special/Supernatural Abilities (if any): None.

Supporting Characters (if any): Polly, a mongrel who he adopted - or the other way around - a few years ago. He's trained her to fetch tools for him.

Signature Weapons/Items: John Henry's hammer took on some strange qualities after striking down Doctor Moon. Most notably, its starts to smoke in the presence of abominations. If you listen closely at night, the hammer almost sounds like it's breathing.