DM Notes: Lakeshore 02

Hi, all! Jesse here for another behind-the-scenes look at the making of Many Realms: Lakeshore. Let's jump in.

You Are My Sunshine

Magical drugs are a bit of a staple in fantasy stories--from Dune's Spice to Denner Resin in the Kingkiller Chronicles. Especially in moving from a more accessible fantasy world like Tallow to something with a little more edge, I was excited to scheme up a fake drug to underscore the highs and lows of criminal life in Lakeshore. Thus, sunshine was born.

The characters learn more about sunshine in the episode to come, but to start with, it's a powerful opiate with secondary magical effects. While it's strongly associated with the Fae characters, its provenance lies in the mysterious and dangerous docks on the southern end of the city, where the Wolves of Lakeshore make their home. 

Placing an addictive substance in the centre of the story was a choice made to reflect some of the key themes of Urban Shadows. Drugs bring with them a variety of secondary illicit activities. Characters who live with addiction can be compelled to make drastic and dramatic choices, especially in the area of incurring Debts.

All of that is true, but the fact of the matter is that sunshine became a bigger plot point than I ever originally intended! I introduced it thinking it to be a great B-plot to get characters and scenes moving when necessary, but the players latched on to it right away, and I altered a lot of my notes to highlight its presence. Something great about a game like Urban Shadows is keeping on eye on where the players' interests and instincts lie, and following them to great new story moments.

Finally, a little teaser: in episode 3, our first PC tries sunshine on screen and things get interesting. I'll be here with another post when that happens.

See you then!