Welcome to a world where superheroes are commonplace and integrated into the fabric of society. You are a journalist who desperately needs to pull together a profile to fill out the daily paper and you’ve managed to find one hero available for a last-minute interview. The questions you ask will affect the mood of your subject and the info you get. At the end you’ll see how you’ve done. Can you pull together a piece in time or will you just be another reporter ripped apart by your grumpy editor?
[[Interview Bladedancer]]
[[Help]]Bladedancer would be the perfect candidate. You remember videos you’ve seen of her fighting Genesis, ones that starred a twirling mess of limbs and blades slowly hacking apart continuous fleshy growths. You pick up the phone to give her a call.
[[Call Bladedancer]]Talk a lot about his power cripples his normal lifestyle and how careful and measured his movements are (equal inertia in every direction to prevent movement) and how even then he still glides around a bit
When creating his path use the same questions as for bladedancer but maybe have it carry over different questions will probably have to grab all the questions and plan again - this time can even mark down the storyscore and open opportunities first
make him talk in a clipped formal way to match how he has to supress himself and his powerss In his pick up call mention how there is a loud racket in the background that sounds like rocks being throw into metal pots and pans
Maybe this guy will have Escher-reality warping tech and he could have the small infinite D20 as an example of one of his creations
Make him a bit of an eccentric loner a bit weird and off and has trouble connecting with people
make him talk in a weird winding way that comes off as almost rhetorical
You pick up the phone and dial the number. It rings three times before the line is picked up.
"Hello?" says a female voice on the other end.
You exchange pleasantries and explain the situation. She agrees to an interview, so you gather up your notebook, recording devices and other miscellaneous belongings before departing.
[[Go to the interview]]
(set: $open = 0)
(set: $storyScore = 0)
(set: $questionCount = 0)
(set: $visit1 = 0)
(set: $visit2 = 0)
(set: $visit3 = 0)
(set: $visit4 = 0)
(set: $visit5 = 0)
(set: $visit6 = 0)The library Bladedancer chose is nestled into the side of a block of larger buildings. The inside is cozy. Faded green carpets cover the floor and various encouraging posters are placed on the walls. Few people are around. You look around for your subject and see her seated towards the back. Noticing her stylish skirt and sweater combo, you feel rather plain in comparison.
As you draw nearer you see straight black hair running down past her shoulders. Her clothes hang loose off her lanky frame and her inky eyes penetrate yours as you take a seat.
[[Begin the interview]]You introduce yourself and reach out to shake hands. She gives you a fist-bump instead and for an awkward second your greetings clash.
Breathing deep, you prepare your first question.
[[How did you decide on your name?]]
[[Tell me about your college years.]]
[[Who is your biggest rival/nemesis?]]
[[Any standout memories from fieldwork?]]
[[What led you to your career?]]
[[What's something that most people might now expect/know about you.]]
[[What are your powers?]]
[[Who do you like and dislike working with?]]
[[Tell me about the different places you’ve lived and worked. Anywhere you preferred?]] She gives you a look of disdain.
"Kind of an obvious answer, isn't it?" she says.
**(-1 Open)**
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 3) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup1]]]\
(set: $open -= 1)"That was a fun time. I blew off all my classes and just partied," she says. "When you're a superhero, you get invited to the best shit."
Bladedancer grins lopsidedly.
You ask her what she studied.
"I studied English because I figured it would be easy," she responds. "And because I was obviously never going to have a boring regular-person job, so why bother taking the studying too seriously?"
**(+1 Open)**
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 3) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup1]]]
(set: $open += 1)
(set: $visit2 = 1)"To be fully honest," she says. "I don't really buy into the whole archrival, nemesis thing."
You ask her what she means by that.
"Well, I think it's just a cheap construction to hype up heroes and to give us an identity in comparison to some cheap foil," Bladedancer explains.
She continues, "I just fight whatever and whoever I have to, which usually ends up being at whatever crisis comes up closest to me."
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 3) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup1]]]Bladedancer pauses thoughtfully.
(if: $open >= 1) [**(Openness Check Passed)**
"Well, I discovered my powers at 10 years old," she says. "I told my parents immediately of course."
You ask how they reacted.
"They were mostly scared about what it meant for me, but I think there was an element of excitement there too."
"Why is that?" You say.
"It's like finding out your kid is going to be a famous actor or something," she says. "Plus, they were both regular people so having powers sprout of nowhere was quite the surprise."
"Anyways," she continues. "I told my parents, then I went through rounds of testing at the local facilities to narrow down my power set and from there everything was pretty much handled for me."
"A marketing guy figured out my brand, I got training, I was fast-tracked through school and post-secondary, and now I'm here."
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)] (else:)[
**(Openess Check Failed)**
"There isn't much for me to say." She pauses.
"I figured out I had powers and that was the end of it, my life purpose had basically already been predetermined for me by some stroke of fate."]
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 3) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup1]]]"Seems like something you could've figured out without asking me but, I'll humour you," she says, pulling out a small pocket knife from the pocket of her hoodie.
You're not sure if she's allowed to have that in the library.
Holding one finger up, she tosses the pocket knife towards it. Rather than glancing off or cutting her, the blade seems to magnetically attach to her finger and begins twirlling lightly around her index digit on its hilt.
"What you see is what you get," she says. "I have complete control over blades. You've probably seen in the videos online, but I have a set of long katanas I keep with me, spinning them around my limbs as I fight."
She does a few flourishes with the pocket knife, tossing it up once and catching it on the side of her hand.
"Just use your imagination to fill in the blanks of how someone might use a set of perfectly-controlled twirling sharp objects in a fight."
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 3) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup1]]]"Oooh, good question, I love to gossip," she says.
"My favourite person to work with is probably Ironside," she continues. "Having someone whose entirely made out of steel beside me makes it a lot less scary for me to let loose with all my sharp stuff."
"He's also just a pretty chill dude to hang out with," she adds.
Bladedancer stops for a second, appearing to ponder something.
"There a lot of people I dislike, but if I had to choose one it would have to be Ballistics Betty," she says. "Her whole gun shtick is just a more boring rip off of my blades and she's a total diva slash attention whore."
"Once I even..."
The conversation continue for a while in this vein, with Bladedance airing her numerous complaints. You nod along agreeably until she runs out of steam, much later.
**(+1 Open)**
(set: $open += 1)
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 3) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup1]]]"Well, like I've probably said already, hero work consumes most of my time."
You press her more, commenting that most people have something they care about outside of work.
"Alright," she says, hesitantly. "100 per cent disclosure here, but I love anime."
"Like seriously, seriously love it, I cosplay and of course I have to do it secretly otherwise I'll be swarmed with people, but I watch all the latest shows and keep up with everything."
"There's this amazing new show that's come out that I absolutely adore, it features this talking boar and..."
She continues along like this for quite some time, talking excitedly.
**(+1 Open)**
(set: $open += 1)
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 9) [[[Continue->FinishedStory]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]With the preliminary questions done, you flip over the notepad and proceed to your next set.
(if: $visit2 != 1)[[[Tell me about your college years?->Tell me about your college years?]]
]\
(if: $visit4 != 1)[[[Any standout memories from fieldwork?->fieldwork]]
]\
(if: $visit3 != 1)[[[Tell me about the different places you’ve lived and worked, anywhere you preferred?->Tell me about the different places you’ve lived and worked, anywhere you preferred?]]
]\
[[What are you most proud of accomplishing?]]
[[What are some of your important childhood memories?]]
(if: $visit1 != 1)[[[What's something that most people might not expect or know about you?->What's something that most people might not expect or know about you?]]
]\
[[How does your family feel about your career path?]]
[[What's your personal life like?]]
[[What's your romantic life like?]]
[[How would your friends describe you?]]
You look back down at your notepad of questions.
[[How did you decide on your name?]]
[[Tell me about your college years.]]
[[Who is your biggest rival/nemesis?]]
[[Any standout memories from fieldwork?]]
[[What led you to your career?]]
[[What's something that most people might now expect/know about you.]]
[[What are your powers?]]
[[Who do you like and dislike working with?]]
[[Tell me about the different places you’ve lived and worked. Anywhere you preferred?]] (if: $open >= 3) [
**(Openness Check Passed)**
She starts to say something but stops herself.
"Do you really want to know something that no one else knows?"
You nod.
"Even if it's got to be completely off the record and not at all useful for your story?"
You nod again.
"You know that my power is messy, violent and forces me to keep sharp knives around the house," she says. "I also really don't like hurting people. Combine my guilt over my failures with the circumstances and - shocker - I have some self-harming tendencies."
She continues. "I don't really know why I'm telling you this, I think I just wanted to get it off my chest. So thanks."]
(else-if: $open >= 0) [
**(Openness Check Passed)**
Bladedancer smiles. "Here's something interesting for you," she says. "All my blades, I make myself."
"There's a very particular balance that I need them to be at and I can't really trust anyone else to do it for me, so I just picked up smithing," She continues. "I've been doing it for years."
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)]
(else:) [
**(Openness Check Failed)**
Bladedancer looks vaguely disinterested. "My favourite colour is blue."]
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(set: $visit1 = 1)
(if: $questionCount is 3) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup1]]]She smiles.
"People always ask me about my current work, so it's nice to get a question about something different," she says. "If I had a choice I think I'd like to own my own blade shop."
"Well I suppose it doesn't really matter what I sell. I've just always liked the idea of tending to a small shop day in and day out."
"I know it's a bit domestic and probably runs contrary to my whole image, but it's a thought I've had for a while," she continues. "Who knows if it'll ever amount to anything though."
**(+1 Open)**
(set: $open += 1)
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 9) [[[Continue->FinishedStory]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]NEXT NEXT NEXT NEXT STEP: Playtest with carol and see if the open-ness scores are within reasonable ranges and if any things were confusing to her
FINAL STEP: Publish everywhere, tweet and share on fb and get on website http://twinery.org/wiki/#publishing_your_work"Well that is a long story that I will try my best to summarize," she says.
"I was born in Port Hope way out east," she says, gesturing in that general direction. "I was discovered pretty young and when that happened they basically demanded that I be brought in to the larger city."
"So we picked up and moved to New York," she continues. "Hero work ends up bringing you to a lot of different places meaning I've spent time in California, Chicago and a whole laundry list of metropolises, but we've always been based out of the Big Apple."
You ask if she preferred any of these places.
(if: $open >= 1)
[
**(Openness Check Passed)**
"To be honest, none of these busy cities really suit me," she responds. "Despite the aura I give off, deep down I'm a quiet girl that still misses the small inlets and cobblestone streets of the port."
She appears to be embarassed that she's shared that much.
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)]
(else:) [
**(Openness Check Failed)**
"No preference, really," she responds.]
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(set: $visit3 = 1)
(if: $questionCount is 3) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup1]]]"Well that is a long story that I will try my best to summarize," she says.
"I was born in Port Hope way out east," she says, gesturing in that general direction. "I was discovered pretty young and when that happened they basically demanded that I be brought in to the larger city."
"So we picked up and moved to New York," she continues. "Hero work ends up bringing you to a lot of different places meaning I've spent time in California, Chicago and a whole laundry list of metropolises, but we've always been based out of the Big Apple."
You ask if she preferred any of these places.
(if: $open >= 1)
[
**(Openness Check Passed)**
"To be honest, none of these busy cities really suit me," she responds. "Despite the aura I give off, deep down I'm a quiet girl that still misses the small inlets and cobblestone streets of the port."
She appears to be embarassed that she's shared that much.
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)]
(else:) ["No preference, really," she responds.]
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 6) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]"Oh great, an opportunity to brag a little about my accomplishments," she says.
"Now I've fought a lot of people and I'm proud of beating up most of them, but my biggest encounter was probably something you've already seen on the internet."
"It was my fight with Genesis that stands out the most," she says. "That was one of those apocalpytic doom type scenarios."
"We were faced with someone with evil intent and the ability to continually grow, extending their body and mass to gross proportions."
"If I hadn't been there on the scene in time he might've become a world class threat, and as it was that fight left the larger part of a city block in shreds," she says.
She stands up a bit straighter, and you can see the pride puffing up her chest.
"But I was there and after hours of hacking away and avoiding getting beaten up myself," she says. "I was able to stop him in his tracks."
"It's one of the few things that makes me feel fufilled with what I do."
**(+1 Open)**(set: $open += 1)
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 6) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]](if: $open >= 3) [
**(Openness Check Passed)**
She starts to say something but stops herself.
"Do you really want to know something that no one else knows?"
You nod.
"Even if it's got to be completely off the record and not at all useful for your story?"
You nod again.
"You know that my power is messy, violent and forces me to keep sharp knives around the house," she says. "I also really don't like hurting people. Combine my guilt over my failures with the circumstances and - shocker - I have some self-harming tendencies."
She continues. "I don't really know why I'm telling you this, I think I just wanted to get it off my chest. So thanks."]
(else-if: $open >= 0) [
**(Openness Check Passed)**
Bladedancer smiles. "Here's something interesting for you," she says. "All my blades, I make myself."
"There's a very particular balance that I need them to be at and I can't really trust anyone else to do it for me, so I just picked up smithing," She continues. "I've been doing it for years."
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)]
(else:) [Bladedancer looks vaguely disinterested. "My favourite colour is blue."]
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(set: $visit1 = 1)
(if: $questionCount is 6) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]"They are completely 100 per cent on board," she says. "Probably even more enthused about it than I am."
"From the instant they found out I had powers, they became super gung-ho about making sure that I got into the field."
"You'd think that maybe they'd be concerned about my health or safety," she continues, while scratching her arm. "But they've never seemed too worried - I guess they assume that I can hold my own."
"Which I can," she adds.
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 6) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]"That is a really broad question and I'm not too sure how to answer it," she says.
You respond that you mean in terms of hobbies and things that she does in her downtime.
"Oh, I don't really have any free time, I'm on call basically at all hours so I can only work on things that can be easily interupted."
"Which means I can do a lot of partying and sometimes having to be the lame one who leaves early for work," she says. "Otherwise I try to get in sleep where I can and I like kicking back and listening to music."
"There's some other miscellaneous stuff I do too, but no need to dig into it here."
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 6) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]](if: $open >= 2)[
**(Openness Check Passed)**
"If you want to know the truth, my love life is completely dead," she says. "I already don't have enough time for myself so I can hardly make time for someone else."
"Plus, my dating pool is limited to supers because I've found that normal people don't really take well to powers."
You ask her what she means by that.
"They're too intimidated or in awe and either way that dynamic doesn't work in relationships," she says. "I would like to find a partner but it doesn't seem like it's going to be happening anytime soon."]
(else:) [(set: $open -= 1)
**(Openness Check Failed)**
"That's a bit of a personal question, that I don't think is relevant here, so I will decline to answer."]
**(-1 Open)**
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(set: $visit5 = 1)
(if: $questionCount is 6) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]You can feel the interview winding towards its natural conclusion. You turn the page to your last set of questions.
(if: $visit6 != 1)[[[How would your friends describe you?->describe]]
]\
[[Who has been the strongest influence in your life?->influence]]
[[What would you have done differently if you had the chance?->different]]
[[What is your vision of the future?]]
[[What are some things about yourself you want to improve?]]
(if: $visit1 != 1)[[[What's something that most people might not expect/know about you?->unexpected]]
]\
(if: $visit5 != 1)[[[What's your romantic life like?->romance]]
]\
[[Is there anything you'd ever want to do aside from supering?]]
[[What are you passionate about outside of hero work?]]"Most of my friends are other supers," she says. "it's hard to be friends with the unpowered because they get a bit too nervous around you."
"I think it's them subconciously realizing that we're potentially dangerous and our bodies are basically loaded guns that could go off at anytime."
"Even of the super friends I have, it's hard to stay in touch because we all have so many things going on, places to go, emergencies to defuse," she says.
"So, of the few that have been around long enough to answer, I think most of them would say that I'm cool, naturally, and that maybe, just maybe, I'm a bit reckless."
You ask her what she means by that.
"What I mean is that the way I fight, getting in close, going for aggressive hard-hitting attacks, it's the way bruisers like Grandmaster fight, with very little attention paid to defence."
"The difference is, unlike those bruisers, I don't have any invincibility or increased durability, so if I fail to dodge something I'm out," she says. "I can see how some would consider that a bit reckless."
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 9) [[[Continue->FinishedStory]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]"I hate to say it but it wasn't my parents like you'd expect," she responds. "I mean they've been involved in my life but only in a very tangential way - like showing up for birthdays with gifts that indicated how little they know me."
"Really, it's the superhero megacorporations that have had the biggest impact on me," she says. "Which might explain why I'm so cynical and jaded."
You ask her to expand on this.
"Well, once you're in the system you get assigned a whole team to take care of you, from PR to diet to wardrobe to marketing."
"It's those people that have had the biggest impact on me," she continues. "I remember my first PR nightmare like it was yesterday. How I tweeted the wrong thing and was chastised and disciplined afterwards, it's more vivid to me than my first kiss."
She sighs.
"It's like those rich families that have nannies to take care of their kids. I spent most of every day with my handlers and they ended up taking care of whatever kid-ish concerns I had, like if I had annoying questions or wanted a toy or something."
"Some of them were better than others," she says. "But they ended up being my family in a way, though you can see the problems there considering that their paycheques relied on my performance.
"I felt like a show pony in a lot of ways, with the way I was groomed to come off and act."
"But despite all that, I do still feel attached to them because they were the only ones around most of the time when I was growing up."
**(+1 Story)**
(set: $storyScore += 1)
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 9) [[[Continue->FinishedStory]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]"That's a heavy question that I have a ton of answers for," she says.
"There are so many people that I wish I saved, villians I wish I had beaten, missions I wish I had undertaken differently."
"Personally, a part of me wishes that I hadn't been so open and revealed my powers at such a young age," she says. "It helped with my training and being good at the job, but I wish I hadn't had to give up my whole childhood in exchange."
"Another thing I wish I hadn't done is let all those videos of me get on the internet."
"It's made my job a bit harder since my power is pretty clearly on display and it gives the bad guys more ammunition to prep with," she explains.
"I also don't like dealing with all the internet stalkers who are obssessed with me even though I look terrible in half of those shots."
"So, overall, lots of things I would've done differently," she concludes. "Can we have more fun questions about things that I'm proud of doing?"
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 9) [[[Continue->FinishedStory]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]"I don't really know," she says. "My line of work doesn't exactly encourage a lot of future thinking."
"Casualties are rare, but still common enough that I can't guarantee I'll be here in one piece in a year or two."
Bladedancer moves her head over, leaning it against her upturned palm.
"If you haven't noticed already, I do a lot of reckless stuff and I live life pretty fast and hard."
You ask if she's ever thought about the long-term, even just in a vague way.
"Well if we're moving away from concrete details then I have a hazy idea of some things I want," she answers. "I'd want to get married at some point, I'd want to stop going on so many missions, maybe get a house somewhere and really settle down."
"But I don't see a clear path to any of those things, not while I still need to work and help."
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 9) [[[Continue->FinishedStory]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]"I'm so perfect already, what is there to change?" She jokes.
You laugh.
"But more seriously, what isn't there to improve? I could always use more combat skills, better team coordination, better branding and social presence - there's always more room to go up."
She tilts her head.
"I also want to lose a few pounds but I don't know if that'll ever happen," she adds.
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 9) [[[Continue->FinishedStory]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]](if: $open >= 3) [
**(Openness Check Passed)**
She starts to say something but stops herself.
"Do you really want to know something that no one else knows?"
You nod.
"Even if it's got to be completely off the record and not at all useful for your story?"
You nod again.
"You know that my power is messy, violent and forces me to keep sharp knives around the house," she says. "I also really don't like hurting people. Combine my guilt over my failures with the circumstances and - shocker - I have some self-harming tendencies."
She continues. "I don't really know why I'm telling you this, I think I just wanted to get it off my chest. So thanks."]
(else-if: $open >= 0) [
**(Openness Check Failed)**
Bladedancer smiles. "Here's something interesting for you," she says. "All my blades, I make myself."
"There's a very particular balance that I need them to be at and I can't really trust anyone else to do it for me, so I just picked up smithing," She continues. "I've been doing it for years."
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)]
(else:) [
**(Openness Check Failed)**
Bladedancer looks vaguely disinterested. "My favourite colour is blue."]
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 9) [[[Continue->FinishedStory]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]](if: $open >= 2)[
**(Openness Check Passed)**
"If you want to know the truth, my love life is completely dead," she says. "I already don't have enough time for myself so I can hardly make time for someone else."
"Plus, my dating pool is limited to supers because I've found that normal people don't really take well to powers."
You ask her what she means by that.
"They're too intimidated or in awe and either way that dynamic doesn't work in relationships," she says. "I would like to find a partner but it doesn't seem like it's going to be happening anytime soon."]
(else:) [(set: $open -= 1)
**(Openness Check Failed)**
"That's a bit of a personal question, that I don't think is relevant here, so I will decline to answer."
**(-1 Open)**]
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 9) [[[Continue->FinishedStory]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]With the final question resolved, you lean back contented.
Bladedancer gets up to leave and you thank her for the help. Now, all you have to do is go back to the office and write the story.
[[Go back to the office and write]](if: $storyScore <= 2)[After hours of finagling you produce a story. It unfortunately doesn't seem to have a lot of crucial details and comes off as half-baked. But with no other story to input it goes to print anyways.]
(if: $storyScore <= 4 and $storyScore >= 3)[Taking all the content you've collected, you start to put a story together. The process is easy and time seems to fly by as the pieces click into one another, filling out the profile. Proud of what you've done, you put it to print.]
(if: $storyScore >= 5)[You quickly amass the amazing amount of material you've gathered into a basic draft. Fleshing out the details proves to be incredibly easy as your exceptional interview has provided you with all the base material you need to build off of. Once the article is completed you step back and applaud yourself for the great work you've done.]
[[Release the story->Release The Story]]
When interviewing, you'll have to consider what questions you ask and what order you ask them in. Missteps can close off responses and information that could be critical for the story. Across the total three rounds of interviewing, three questions can be asked per round.
You won't be able to ask all the questions you have, though some will carry over from one stage to the next. Answers to some questions can differ depending on the questions you've asked and how open the subject feels to you at any given point, hence why some questions carry over as to give you a chance to ask it at a more appropriate time in the interview.
[[Return->The Beginning]] "Most of my friends are other supers," she says. "it's hard to be friends with the unpowered because they get a bit too nervous around you."
"I think it's them subconciously realizing that we're potentially dangerous and our bodies are basically loaded guns that could go off at anytime."
"Even of the super friends I have, it's hard to stay in touch because we all have so many things going on, places to go, emergencies to defuse," she says.
"So, of the few that have been around long enough to answer, I think most of them would say that I'm cool, naturally, and that maybe, just maybe, I'm a bit reckless."
You ask her what she means by that.
"What I mean is that the way I fight, getting in close, going for aggressive hard-hitting attacks, it's the way bruisers like Grandmaster fight, with very little attention paid to defence."
"The difference is, unlike those bruisers, I don't have any invincibility or increased durability, so if I fail to dodge something I'm out," she says. "I can see how some would consider that a bit reckless."
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(set: $visit6 = 1)
(if: $questionCount is 6) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]"That was a fun time. I blew off all my classes and just partied," she says. "When you're a superhero, you get invited to the best shit."
Bladedancer grins lopsidedly.
You ask her what she studied.
"I studied English because I figured it would be easy," she responds. "And because I was obviously never going to have a boring regular-person job, so why bother taking the studying too seriously?"
**(+1 Open)**(set: $open += 1)
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 6) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]
(if: $open >= 2)[
**(Openness Check Passed)**
She starts to speak but stops.
"There was this one time," she says. "It was out in the suburbs."
"I was there for a general reconnaissance mission, we were trying to pinpoint the location of a gang that had been operating out of the area."
"We got ambushed," she continues. "All of a sudden, all around us we were surrounded."
"One of my teammates, Sharknal, got grabbed," she says. "I was the only one close enough to do something but they way they were holding him, I couldn't get a good angle."
She takes a deep breath, fiddling with her sweater sleeves.
"So, I made the call, better for him to be rescued than taken away," she says. "I managed to cut him free but, but, I couldn't get the blades in the right place so he lost a limb. His left arm."
"That's when I learned that you can't always save everyone how you want to save them."
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)]
(else:)[
**(Openness Check Failed)**
"Oh man, where do I even begin with that," she says.
"A lot of crazy stuff happens out on these things, it's hard to pinpoint just the one."
"There was this one time we got involved with a fight that turned kind of ugly," she says. "More baddies than we expected and we had to retreat."
"So in a moment of clarity I managed to swing this one blade in a way that managed to hit, not one, not two, but three of them all at once."
"I think they were as surprised as I was that it had connected so well," she continues. "It bought us enough time to get away and I got to be the badass of the team for a few weeks, till someone else did something as cool."
"Good times."
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)]
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(set: $visit4 = 1)
(if: $questionCount is 3) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup1]]](if: $open >= 2)[**(Openness Check Passed)**
She starts to speak but stops.
"There was this one time," she says. "It was out in the suburbs."
"I was there for a general reconnaissance mission, we were trying to pinpoint the location of a gang that had been operating out of the area."
"We got ambushed," she continues. "All of a sudden, all around us we were surrounded."
"One of my teammates, Sharknal, got grabbed," she says. "I was the only one close enough to do something but they way they were holding him, I couldn't get a good angle."
She takes a deep breath, fiddling with her sweater sleeves.
"So, I made the call, better for him to be rescued than taken away," she says. "I managed to cut him free but, but, I couldn't get the blades in the right place so he lost a limb. His left arm."
"That's when I learned that you can't always save everyone how you want to save them."
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)]
(else:)[
**(Openness Check Failed)**
"Oh man, where do I even begin with that," she says.
"A lot of crazy stuff happens out on these things, it's hard to pinpoint just the one."
"There was this one time we got involved with a fight that turned kind of ugly," she says. "More baddies than we expected and we had to retreat."
"So in a moment of clarity I managed to swing this one blade in a way that managed to hit, not one, not two, but three of them all at once."
"I think they were as surprised as I was that it had connected so well," she continues. "It bought us enough time to get away and I got to be the badass of the team for a few weeks, till someone else did something as cool."
"Good times."
**(+1 Story)**(set: $storyScore += 1)](set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 6) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]]"Oh god, I barely even remember my childhood before this cape stuff consumed my life," she says.
"There was this one time I remember, where my parents took me a drive to the coast.
"On the way, the view was absolutely gorgeous, think sweeping cliffs and perfect pools of water," she continues. "We even made a pit stop at a beach just to skip rocks right as the sun was setting."
"It's one of my favourite memories and one of the times I can really remember where I just felt like a kid, playing and having fun."
You ask if there are other memories.
"As sad as that is, not really no, this is one of the few that I can immediately remember."
(set: $questionCount += 1)
(if: $questionCount is 6) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup3]]]
(else:) [[[Continue->QuestionGroup2]]](if: $storyScore <= 2)[It comes out to middling reception with few readers seeming to really be grabbed by it. You silently fume at the wasted effort you put in and resolve to write a better story next time.]
(if: $storyScore <= 4 and $storyScore >= 3)[It releases to generally positive impressions, with a few readers even writing in to praise you for the work you've done. Basking in this positivity, you eagerly start planning your next piece.]
(if: $storyScore >= 5)[It goes to print and releases to overwhelmingly positive reception. Readers write in to let you know how good of a job you've done, though no one knows that better than you. You silently wonder how you're going to top this piece but for the moment you enjoy the adulation, basking in your brief moment of fame. At least it'll last till the next story you have to put together.
]
[[Restart->The Beginning]]