by Jim Henley (original post)
Re. the connection between Lifepaths, Destiny, and the rest of the system.
Solomon is the Power of Sleep. His Bro Caelestis, Israfel is the Power of Music. Dark the former; Heaven the latter. At chargen, K gives Solomon the Bond, "I must enforce the Windflower Law." At chargen, K gives Solomon a wife dead by suicide, who had abused him in life. At chargen, K gives Solomon a rival Noble, undefined.
In prep, the rival Noble becomes Sylvie Stark, Madness, a Power of the Light. About two sessions in, Sylvie goes all Spike-for-Buffy on Solomon. Real love, like only the Power of Madness can bring it. Solomon does NOT fall in love with Sylvie, but he starts to like her. And, you know, the sex is great.
Now what about that Bond?
This is a potential Struggle. K can reject it, saving time. He can chew scenery for a few minutes, come to a decision and bank his 5 points. OR, he can ponder the issue a bit this session, accruing some Futility points; and again a couple sessions later. And then finally, he has a scene with Israfel, just an IC conversation, in which D blows me away when he says to Solomon:
"Maybe your support for the Windflower Law was a way of grieving for your wife's death."
And Solomon decides, Fuck this Windflower Law shit; and, I've gotta tell Sylvie I don't love her. This is now a resolved Struggle. K banks his final 5 points, and I think I found an excuse to toss D some too. K earned about 10 Destiny total out of the relationship with Sylvie, and when we left our story Israfel and Sylvie were drunk in a casino bar and what started out as an attempt at consolation was on the verge of becoming a miraculous duel.
What was beautiful about the Destiny system here was that it gave some spine to the IC interactions without strapping them into the procrustean mechanical bed of a "Conflict" a la a stakes-setting game. And it made surprising things come out of people's mouths.