Quote Originally Posted by kyoryu View Post
Not directly, but it

Okay, so let's start with kyoryu's rule. People make reasonable decisions based on their goals and knowledge.

Why would someone tell the Seelie what the Fomori are planning?

Well, they would if they wanted the Seelie to help, they had the information, they knew that the info would get the Seelie to help, and they knew that giving the info wouldn't harm them.

We can reasonably safely discount the first one - there were there to get help.

They had the information, but if they didn't remember the info, that would explain it.

If they didn't know the information would get the Seelie to help, that would also explain it.

If they had reason to suspect that giving the info might bite them in the butt, that would also explain it. You know it wouldn't, but they don't. And I'd say based on your descriptions of things that your games have a high tendency to have unforeseen blowback from seemingly innocent actions - at least that's the impression that I get, and I suspect your players would agree. That kind of gaming, even if it's not the case here tends to breed players that are very careful about what they do, since they don't know what is or is not a land mine to avoid stepping on.

So that gives us a few explanations. First, and simplest, is that they just forgot about the attack. If they forgot about it, they wouldn't mention it, even if you told them.

If they didn't know it would help, and especially if they also didn't know it woudn't harm them, they might also be cagey with the info. To them, the attack was effectively irrelevant - they didn't know where the Seelie had a stronghold, and couldn't know. If the Fomori were instead planning on attacking something completely unrelated to the Seelie, would you have been as confused as to why they didn't divulge that info? That's understandable, but if so, that's very much a clue that you're expecting them to make decisions based on your knowledge.
I admit I don't have the benefit (?) of having been involved with these tales of woe before, but there is no part of this issue I don't lie at the feet of the players.

A literal child knows if you call the police for help you need to tell them why you need help. And the police, like the Fae (reportedly, I capitulate) ask the questions is a very direct and simple fashion to elicit the answer that is most important. "You want me to come and arrest (beat up) these people you say are bad. What bad things are they doing?". Child says never mind, cops don't roll. Heck, take police out of the issue and use plumbers. "You want me to come to your house to plumb? What is the problem you are experiencing?".

They weren't expected to come to the Fae and say "Look, these bad guys in my building are planning to attack your secret outpost in the woods so you better come bust them up." The were asked, once they had asked for help, what the bad guys were planning, or what they had done. This was simple JRPG level conversation...the players selected the "Never Mind" response instead of the only other option that was "Here's what we know". They didn't have any need to know that the attack was important to the Fae...this is where they would learn that fact, if they had engaged any more than simply asking a group of randos to come and fight scary monsters for them, and then bailing once they didn't get the answer they *immediately* wanted.

And if we pretend that the PCs have non-WoD genre savvy to worry about Fae creatures and favor shenanigans, what remotely functional brain would think "Telling them a fact I know is *far* more risky than showing up here and asking them for a favor like fighting scary werewolf things, so instead of answering I think I'll ask several more of these crafty critters."

This specific instance if what we are presented is remotely accurate is failure to respond to a normal world situation in anything approaching a normal way. It is not seeking the One True Solution, and whatever the GM's sins of the past, this strikes me as a totally reasonable layout of nodes in a Story (since it is WoD) that lets neophytes learn about and engage with the World of Darkness.

- M