Bringing Scenes to Life: The Car Chase
In Legend of Korra, Season 4, Episode 7, Mako, Korra, and Asami reunite in a restaurant after years apart…and Mako brings Prince Wu, whom he is supposed to be protecting. During the reunion, Korra confesses that she wrote letters to Asami and not to Mako…and the GM asks Mako’s player if that hurts! Mako’s player admits it does, and the GM tells Mako to mark a condition. Mako’s player chooses to mark Insecure.
The GM later says that Wu is getting up to go to the bathroom, asking Mako to come along. Mako’s player chooses to clear his Insecure condition by “taking foolhardy action without talking to your companions,” refusing to go with Wu. It’s a golden opportunity, so the GM follows up with a hard move—Wu doesn’t come back. Mako’s player says he’s worried and wants to assess the situation, but the GM reminds Mako that he’s still bound by “taking foolhardy action”—he’s more annoyed than worried, so no assessing. Instead, Korra looks for Wu, assessing the situation and getting a miss! The GM makes another hard move, telling Korra’s player that Korra spots Wu in the back of a truck as she questions the guy loading it up…but then he uses earthbending to throw her into the ceiling, stunning her, and drives off! The GM tells her to mark 2-fatigue from the hit, and that if no one can slow down the truck, it’s going to get away.
Korra’s player says she earthbends the street upward to slow the truck down while Asami and Mako go get Asami’s Satomobile. Korra’s player rolls to rely on her skills and training and gets a 10+, a strong hit—she does it! The GM says that just as the truck is landing back on its wheels, Asami and Mako pull up in the Satomobile. Korra hops in, and they’re off!
The GM says that the truck turns down an alley and the enemy Earthbender blocks it off with a wall! The GM turns the spotlight to Mako and asks what he does. His player says he shouts driving directions for Asami to catch up to the truck. The GM sees that this might be Mako assessing the situation, but instead decides that it’s actually relying on skills and training—Mako isn’t looking around, he’s relying on his excellent mental map of the city. The player rolls and gets a 6—a miss! Asami’s player asks if she can help; she did actually help BUILD these streets after all! The GM agrees, so she marks 1-fatigue and boosts the roll to a 7, a weak hit. The GM says that the unexpected consequence of this approach is actually infuriating Mako, as the tension between the trio plays into his frustration at Asami one-upping him. Mako’s player is low on fatigue so he chooses to accept the consequence, and the GM tells Mako to mark Angry…but Asami’s instructions work, and they are now driving parallel to the truck on a higher road!
“What do you do?” the GM asks of Korra’s player, who grins…
Korra’s player says she wants to drop down on the truck from above, tearing through the roof to get inside. The GM says that she’s definitely relying on her skills and training again—Korra’s player rolls and gets a miss! The GM says she lands on top of the truck, peels back the roof…and sees that Wu isn’t inside anymore! He must’ve been moved before, when they lost sight of the truck!
Korra’s player says that she wants to tear the driver away from the wheel with airbending and stop the truck. The GM says she just does it—the driver isn’t a bender or a fighter, and he’s not going to be able to resist her. The truck comes to a stop, the Satomobile with Mako and Asami pulls up, and Mako rushes out to interrogate the driver. Mako’s player describes Mako slamming the drive up against the car, trying to intimidate the driver into telling him where Wu is, but he rolls and gets a miss! The GM says that the driver only grins infuriatingly and says Wu is halfway to Kuvira by now—“All hail the Great Uniter!”—and that it makes Mako feel Guilty to realize that this is all happening because he let Wu go to the bathroom alone. The GM tells Mako to mark Guilty! As other police officers pull up in their cars, the GM asks the players—”What do you do?”
