Seeking House Rules

So the following is the breakdown of how Seekings works in Sleepless Seattle. Primary
component is qualifying for a Seeking, and then playing that seeking out.

Qualification

The following conditions must be met in order for the STs to give you a Seeking. If you do not
meet any of these conditions, your character CANNOT be granted a Seeking. This
is non-negotiable.

-You must complete the Seeking Submission sheet. The sheet allows us STs to take a look at
your expectations as a player on what you want out of your Seeking.

-The ST must give feedback and discussion with you regarding your Submission sheet, and
craft Seeking prompts. Seeking prompts are a short sentence stating the subject of what a
Seeking could center around. The reason for this is so the player and ST are on the same page
about potential Seekings. Additionally, note that we as STs might suggest certain plots or
elements to explore that might not be on your Submission sheet, but purely based off of our own
observations from the actions of your character.

-The PC then needs to have participated in, and completed a number of plots equal to the Arete
you want to increase up to. So for instance, if you want to get to Arete 4, your character must
have completed 4 plots.

Naturally, this means no double dipping when submitting plots: if you submitted a plot for one
Seeking, you cannot submit it again for a later Seeking. Additionally, when submitting for later
Seekings, you can only submit plots that happened after the previous completed Seeking but
before the current Seeking. So for example: when your mage performs Seeking #1 to get Arete
4, they have seven plots (Plots 1-7) to pick from. The player ends up picking Plots 2, 3, 5, and 7
to submit for Seeking #1. Now for later on when they try to submit for Seeking #2 to get Arete 5,
they cannot pick from the previous batch of plots. So in this example, that means Plots #1,
4, and 6 cannot be picked for Seeking #2. The player would need to go out and complete five
new plots (at least Plots 8-13) in order to qualify for Seeking #2, full stop.

As to what applies as a “completed plot”:

● Your character had to have been significantly involved in the plot. Either by being a direct
participant, or they provided a significant contribution to the plot. The contribution has to
be something to the equivalent of either: defeating a major enemy in combat,
interpreting/deducing a significant clue in a mystery correctly, or socially convincing a
major NPC in a way that progressed the plot. This will of course be case by case
 depending on the plot, and we as the STs have final say on what does/doesn’t qualify.

● At least one of the plots MUST involve the Seeking prompts discussed before. Either
where the plot is centered around exploring the prompt or where a plot that’s tangentially
related grants the character insight about the prompt.

● Additionally, one of the submitted plots MUST also be one that was led by a Mage ST.

● For particularly long plots, we’re open to chapters of the plots counting as a “complete”
plot. Again, this is going to be case-by-case depending on the plot structure and
progression of the chapter.

● Yes, you can use cross-splat plots to submit forward to fulfill this requirement. However,
you need to check in with the venue’s ST who ran that plot, so they can verify your
character’s involvement in the plot.

● Another qualifier is if the mage PC completed a significantly complex project. This can
include stuff like creating and upgrading a Sanctum or a node, crafting a Wonder of a dot
rating equal to Arete aimed for (so for instance an Arete 2 mage crafting a rating 3
Wonder), or crafting a new life form/entity.

Note: Social RP scenes where it was the equivalent of PCs engaging in small talk, do NOT
count as completed plots.

Playing it Out

-In terms of initiating a Seeking, one of two options could happen:

● We the STs will pull your character aside and tell you that your Avatar has decided that
you’re ready to undergo a Seeking, and we’ll start a scene in the proper channel.

● You as the player can put in a Scene Request, as normal. Aside from the additional
parameters in the request post, please also cite the relevant plots you character
participated in, ideally with links to those plots.

Bear in mind that with this approach: we are within our rights as STs to simply say “no” if we feel
like your justifications given are insufficient, and to say that “your Avatar decides that you’re not
ready for a Seeking yet.”

-If you successfully complete the Seeking, you are eligible to spend the EXP to increase your
Arete rating.

-Yes, it is possible to fail a Seeking. No, you do not lose any EXP from failing one.
-The Seeking is considered to be a Yellow tier plot, meaning you will be unable to participate in
any further scenes while undertaking the Seeking.

-Dice rolls are generally not going to come up during a Seeking. Everything is going to play out
narratively.

-Depending on the Seeking, it might also be possible for the character to either gain or lose
Traits. This can include things like Merits, Flaws, Backgrounds, and in rare circumstances,
Attributes or Abilities. This is, of course, case by case and is up for final arbitration to the ST
who ran the Seeking.