Whoa, things are all of a sudden on the move!
I'm actually strongly in favor of past tense as well; I have a hard time remembering to write in present tense and tend to have to rewrite everything I write to fit with it.
Whoa, things are all of a sudden on the move!
I'm actually strongly in favor of past tense as well; I have a hard time remembering to write in present tense and tend to have to rewrite everything I write to fit with it.
Go figure. The person with whom I've played PbEm or PbP games since 2003 has the same preferences as I do when it comes to writing formats.
Who'd'a thunk it?
:-p
Man, it took way longer than I intended, but I am now having my background updated. I wrote a short vignette, expanded on the background some, as more of a timeline kind of thing, pretty vague. Hopefully it's good.
Otherwise my alias should be done, though I do need to buy equipment. Since none of it is weapons or armour, I'll likely just pick up a lot of utility items.
Now I just need to figure out how I want to be starting my first post.
@Ralf - I am thinking that possibly you don't know yet that I enlisted? It would make me one of the last arrivals, but we might get a nice "What are you doing here?" / reunion thing out of it?
I should apologise in advance for what will no doubt be an incredibly piss poor approach at a bad Russian accent. Luckily Ralf's is great and I can hide behind it. :P
Also: Is it possible to unlink the discussion thread from the Old Campaign? It keeps taking me out of the Campaign and prompting me that "This thread belongs to multiple".
Am I the only one appreciating the irony of Aziel's Common having to be translated into English?
Because in this world, Danorans, who sound French, and who fight to keep the purity of their language (as do the real French - to an almost ridiculous degree), speak COMMON.
The Risuri (English accents) speak Primordial. :-)
(Which is why we all get Primordial as a free Bonus language...)
It's a lovely little twist that I find amusing. After all, in most worlds, we Anglophones just assume our language is the most widely used... ;-)
@Ralf - I am thinking that possibly you don't know yet that I enlisted? It would make me one of the last arrivals, but we might get a nice "What are you doing here?" / reunion thing out of it?
Fine by me; go for it!
I should apologise in advance for what will no doubt be an incredibly piss poor approach at a bad Russian accent. Luckily Ralf's is great and I can hide behind it. :P
"Not Russian," Ralf corrects with a sigh. "Romani. Is big difference."
I'll PM you some cheats that will get you 90% of the way there. It's for Romani ("gypsy") but -- as you've unintentionally illustrated -- it should pass pretty well for Russian, too. :o)
Man... I am so glad I googled Zeitgeist games. You guys are awesome writers and I am psyched for this game even more because of it!
I should apologise in advance for what will no doubt be an incredibly piss poor approach at a bad Russian accent. Luckily Ralf's is great and I can hide behind it. :P
Don't sweat it. I often start off with horrible accents and then let them drift away when I get tired of looking at how bad it is. I'll probably just skip them this time. :P
Also: Is it possible to unlink the discussion thread from the Old Campaign? It keeps taking me out of the Campaign and prompting me that "This thread belongs to multiple".
The old campaign should be gone now.
Gotta say I'm pretty impressed with your first post too, Anthony.
As for other languages, Aziel shows us how it's done! I should have included a footnote for my phrase as well. Doubly so since Google Translate throws up its digital hands when presented with Romani.
As Ralf was about to explain his cat's name is Cat, he said:
"Ashun so mothav túke me!"
Which, if my sources are to be trusted, translates roughly to:
"Listen to what I am telling you!"
Sorry about that. Individual words or brief phrases I won't bother with since you'll either get them from context or have fun working it out eventually. But any full sentences, I'll endeavor to footnote.
Thank you for setting me on the right path, Aziel. :o)
I think I wrote a "Quick and dirty" primer for Russian dialect characters, like, a decade ago, for one of Kris' games. That was 5 or 6 laptops ago though. So I don't have it any more. Kris, did you save it anywhere?
I think Ralf's Romani cheats will probably work just as well though, so no big deal, if not.
The talent in this game...
Oh, hey, Aziel...
This version of Jaelynn doesn't really have many friends, per se, but it's looking like she and Aziel will be the two longest-serving members of Unit 11, at least to start.
Shall the two of them be wine-snob buddies? Or fellow foodies, at least? Perhaps neither really considers the other to be a perfect companion, but they've hung out enough to each consider the other to be a serviceable dinner companion every now and again, given a lack of other acceptable options?
Is longest serving for Unit 11 going to mean much when we're all going on our first Unit 11 mission? XD You guys might be the longest serving with the R.H.C. though. That said Anthony does have some consulting experience. You think anyone will have met anyone else before, aside from Kostya and Ralf? Or are the rest of us going cold turkey with that?
First mission as Unit 11, maybe. Jaelynn has been a Constable for more than a year. :-)
But not especially. I was basically meaning it as "they've probably been around long enough to know one another, do you want to play it that way?"
In fact, that same question might be asked about Anthony. If he's been working as a consultant, would he and Jaelynn have crossed paths at all? She just transferred in from Slate a few months ago, and if Anthony worked primarily with Susan's team, it's entirely reasonable to assume that he and Jaelynn haven't ever met (although, I don't think there are a ton of Constables in Flint, so...). *shrug*
Up to you.
Edit: You ninja'd me with your edit. ;-)
Questions still stand, though. Jaelynn would likely not have made a spectacular first impression, unless Tony's first experience with her was to witness one of her explanations of how a bunch of otherwise unconnected details actually were connected, and proved something impressive.
Or unless he likes attractive women. :-)
Anthony does hang out at the base proper a lot on the days he's not working a case, or he's working one where he doesn't need to do some field work, or when he's bored and he wants to annoy Susan a little. It wouldn't be inconceivable that he's met others there before, especially not someone that's been there for a couple months.
I'm up for either or! XD
The FAQ regarding PMs needs correcting. It says if you can't see the link to send a PM in the profile page of another user, it is because he is not accepting PMs or has blocked you specifically. The third possibility, evidently, is if you yourself have not checked that you will accept PMs, no links will appear for sending a PM on anyone else's profile. Seems it should show the links but if you click on one, it should tell you to change your own profile settings. Anyway, problem solved. I'll send my message soon. I was slammed these past two days. I'm also working on my opening post but I wanted to work out a few things and see what others wrote.
I'm comfortable with either past or present tense. Of more concern however is whether I should share the thoughts of my character or just what an external observer would see/hear. In traditional around-the-table gaming, each player describes what his character is doing, but not necessarily what he/she is thinking. If we do share thoughts, then we'll just have to exclude that knowledge in deciding what our character does, which is okay for experienced players. But I might prefer not knowing that and having to try to figure it out from behavior and context what the other character is thinking/feeling, as my character would have to do.
Quick PS Edit: If you've read the Harry Potter stories, JKR describes what Harry is thinking and feeling (3rd person) but we generally only get descriptions of what Hermione and Ron and the other characters say and do, not what they are thinking. So we are vicariously observing the world through Harry's eyes.
I would agree that there probably aren't many RHC constables in Flint. I can't get the image of the police bullpen from Law & Order (or any cop show, from Barney Miller to NYPD Blue to Castle) out of my head, so I'm thinking each Unit probably has a specialization (off the top of my head- magic crimes, tech crimes, high profile cases, anti-intelligence, serial killers, smuggling, organized crime, an 'elf unit', forgery and art crimes, and financial crimes) and an office of 10 or fewer highly trained agents.
Just riffing on that, Unit 11 doesn't have a specialization, so they're the cleanup crew when all the grown-up agents are busy. I guess that's a kind of specialization.
I'm comfortable with either past or present tense. Of more concern however is whether I should share the thoughts of my character or just what an external observer would see/hear. In traditional around-the-table gaming, each player describes what his character is doing, but not necessarily what he/she is thinking. If we do share thoughts, then we'll just have to exclude that knowledge in deciding what our character does, which is okay for experienced players. But I might prefer not knowing that and having to try to figure it out from behavior and context what the other character is thinking/feeling, as my character would have to do.
Quick PS Edit: If you've read the Harry Potter stories, JKR describes what Harry is thinking and feeling (3rd person) but we generally only get descriptions of what Hermione and Ron and the other characters say and do, not what they are thinking. So we are vicariously observing the world through Harry's eyes.
Um...
Let me see if I can address this without seeming like a pedantic prick of an English professor.
Play-by-post/Email RPGs tend, by nature, to be more "storytelling" in nature than do "around the table" games. This is not ALWAYS true, for various reasons, but the medium is more conducive to the storytelling concept.
It's also a bit more of a requirement of the medium. Because of the delayed nature of the interactions, it's often much more helpful for the players to include thoughts and motivations behind character actions, so as to avoid losing days and weeks to straightening out misunderstandings and etc. While another character wouldn't necessarily know what my character is thinking, it's easier for the PLAYER to "slant" her character's actions and reactions in a way that encourages party cohesiveness if she knows why my character is doing what he's doing.
Around the table, it only takes a minute or two of conversation to "fix" something, or to discuss a course of action and act upon it, or to "retcon" something that needs it. In PbP, it can take weeks, during which time, the game stops, things get confused, and campaigns die.
While it's not cool to continually have your character think negative things about another character and "take shots" mentally, without ever giving any outside indication of the thinking - effectively bullying or "badassing" that character without giving them any chance to interact and/or respond, it's perfectly acceptable to include thoughts behind faces made or verbal jabs thrown, etc, and it can be helpful.
To address your Rowling reference, I'd say this: you can't arbitrarily decide that one PC is the "main" or "viewpoint" character, and let them post thoughts and emotions, and make the rest of the players only post external, observable actions. That's kinda rude. So the choices are to either let everyone be the "star" of their own story, or eliminate ALL thoughts and emotions.
The latter makes for a cold, boring story, with very limited ability to "connect" with the characters. You might as well be playing a board game, or online MMORPG (in which the "RPG" is sadly misused, in my opinion) - all the characters are merely tools, collections of numbers and statistics.
But then again, I'm one of those people who enjoys the stories that make every character "real." I like knowing the motivations everyone has. I like knowing that the bad guy either doesn't see himself as the bad guy (or that he does, and revels in it, or hates it but thinks he has no choice, or whatever...).
So. Long story short (too late!), I'm all for the expanded writing and inclusion of thoughts and motivations. And I'm OK if that bleeds a bit from Player knowledge into character action - so long as that "bleed" takes the form of the characters making choices that move the game forward, rather than blowing it apart as we stop for a character squabble because Thog somehow knows that Rasputin thinks he's an idiot, despite the latter never having physically revealed it.
If you are dead set against writing thoughts and emotions and motivations for your character IC, then PLEASE include such information as OOC and/or Spoiler tags, because it's helpful for moving the game forward.
I'm fine with all that. I wasn't lobbying for any particular style, Just wanted to be clear about what style to use. I wasn't suggesting that one character get special narrative treatment with my HP reference, just an example of the difference in narrative style between HP and the other characters.
Shane's opening introductory vignette is posted. Regarding accents, I was trying to suggest that he has a slight Scottish brogue, but I'm not sure how to best illustrate that in spelling and such. Probably throw in a few appostrophe's here and there to remind you of it and hope you can imagine the rest. Just think of the new Doctor or a young Sean Connory. He can do most any accent as part of his espionage training, so it may shift unexpectedly when in the field.
Jesus guys, great stuff so far. I feel completely outclassed. :)
Yeah, welcome to my world. :o/
But in a strange way it's a great feeling, isn't it? :o)
Don't feel outclassed! I think it's safe to say we're all a big mutual admiration society here. Everyone is teh awesome!
Couple of things about Kostya, real quick:
1) The word you spelled as "chto," which I presume is supposed to be the Russian word for "what," is more often pronounced as "shto," with the softer "sh," vs. "ch" sound. You can do it any way you like (Dwarves are harder folk, perhaps), and clearly, I understood it well enough. The 3.5 years of High-School Russian in me just felt the need to offer the suggestion. (And if that's the worst mistake any of us make in dialects and languages in this campaign, we're golden, I tell you. GOLDEN!)
2) I didn't see the Background levels on Kostya's character sheet. I'm assuming the spoilered backgrounds are the ones you mean to use, but we're supposed to assign the bonus levels, from +1 to +5 (We have 8 levels to assign, but no single background can be above +5).
/nitpicking other people's characters. Which I'm only doing because you all make me feel insecure with your incredible talents and minds.
So, once again, do NOT be feeling outclassed! I am so impressed by everyone so far that it's not even funny!
I can't wait for our characters to start interacting. I feel like their all going to be able to connect for different reasons and in different ways, and I'm eager to see that!
Also, Kostya, your post was definitely not lesser for it's shorter length. I enjoyed it a great deal and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him! Its basically how everyone else says. I think we all have great styles of writing!
As a side note, differences in your accents don't have to be bad things. Maybe thats the local dialect? Or how the language itself evolved in this world? Like russian doesn't need to be russian to the bone! However you do it, though, I'm loving the other languages. It really adds something and I'm probably going to need to do some heavy research if Anthony is to ever speak one of his many languages.
2) I didn't see the Background levels on Kostya's character sheet. I'm assuming the spoilered backgrounds are the ones you mean to use, but we're supposed to assign the bonus levels, from +1 to +5 (We have 8 levels to assign, but no single background can be above +5).
This is correct. PCs have 8 Background points to distribute, with a cap of +5. So, he could have Dwarven Soldier +5 and End-Times Philosopher +3 or something like that.
Man, I should just let you guys post a bunch of vignettes. I really enjoyed them. Hopefully I'll do that awesome intros justice.
Knew I was forgetting something. I'll have that added this morning. Thanks Jaelynn. :)
As a side note, differences in your accents don't have to be bad things. Maybe thats the local dialect? Or how the language itself evolved in this world? Like russian doesn't need to be russian to the bone! However you do it, though, I'm loving the other languages.
I'd say you nailed it, Anthony.
When I used Ralf in his first aborted PbP game, I justified abusing Romani (which I'm sure I did) by realizing that, in-game, it's not Romani... it's a regional dialect of Varisian (in that homebrew world, "Omani"). It's very similar to Romani, but it's not the same thing, so there's no reason the two have to be identical, or for "Varisian" to even make sense to our Earth ears (eyes?)
The same could apply to accents. Okay, the guide says Dwarves "sound" Russian. That doesn't mean they speak Russian. So the Dwarven word for "what" is spelled and sounded differently, and the accents work a little differently. Easy-peasy.
As for Kostya's accent versus Ralf's, well, they have different mother tongues! If nomads ("gypsies") live in the various Malice Lands, then it kind of makes sense that those near the border of Drakr might have an accent similar to Dwarves (and maybe the ones near Danor have a dash of French accent?) So, they sound somewhat similar.
"Hand-Waves 'R' Us!" :o)
Yep.
Like I said - we's can do's it any way we wants. I just have an inner Grammar Nazi, Russian Student, and Munchkin that all occasionally want out to play.
*shrug*
I'm just glad we're playing! Woo Hoo!
So...
This is Day-1 for each of Anthony and Kostya. What about Shane?
I'm only asking because, if half of the Unit is literally showing up for their first day on the job, Jaelynn might not be as bored as originally thought.
That, and one would hope that Delft might say something about the new faces. ;-)
I'm assuming this is Shane's first day with the unit, but not with the RHC. But most of his RHC experience has been working solo except when connecting via a handler or fellow agent to pass on information and get instructions. So he's a newbie to this kind of environment.
Funny thing, Shane. I was just thinking to myself about the irony of Unit 11 being the "non-local" Unit.
I think there are actually two Risuri (Tony being the other one), but only one from Flint (Tony, again).
We have:
Tony (Native Flinter, I think).
Shane (Risuri, but "Not From Around Here")
Jaelynn (Elf - though she thinks of herself as Risuri)
Kostya (Drakr Dwarf)
Ralf (Broken Lands/Drakr(ish) Human)
Aziel (Danoran Tiefling)
Yeah... we're gonna get *all* the bestest, highly-trusted assignments. :-)
I've been imagining the unit has been together for at least a week, maybe two. New enough that they haven't been out in the field together, not so new that they've never seen each other before. I'm fine with this being Kostya's first day, though, to keep the surprise for Ralf going.
"The usual troublemakers- pissed-off dockers, crazy elves." He glanced at Ralf and Jaelynn. "No offense. The bad ones, I mean."
Loved this. :o)
Do we want to time-travel just a bit, and cover the Ralf/Kostya reunion, and (one presumes) introduction to the Unit?
And since Karl hath decreed that we're all at least a week or two on the job, I suppose we can adjust on the fly.
Also. Agree with Ralf.
If it's been a week since initial introductions, you may read the lengthy exposition leading to Shane's finding his way to the unit's office to describe his first day at the job.
Unless he was told otherwise, however, he shows up to work still with long hair and several day's worth of beard stubble. His rational for that is if he needs a quick disguise, he can cut his hair short and shave. But if we have to look good for the swells, he'll have to figure out how to spiff himself up.
As for his assumption that he is the only Risuri in the group, that's partly my bad for overlooking Tony, but Shane generally assumes anyone non-human or human with an accent must be foreign or an immigrant. He's the kind who might ask someone who speaks with an accent where he is from and if he says "Chicago," would add, "Where are you from originally?"
I'd be interested in reading what others said to explain their path to this assignment and/or what if anything Delft revealed in making introductions. I'm not sure yet how Shane would react to Delft as a leader. I'd also be interested to know what Delft told us about the focus of our unit, assuming he told us anything during the first week.
@GM: I initially did not put any extra languages down for Shane, since his Intelligence is 10 and so he would get none from the Int modifier.
But I expect espionage training would include language arts so he could understand and speak several languages. I'm not sure how to handle that since the background system makes it vague without linguistics skill ranks. Can I assume he speaks Dwarven and Elven, plus can convincingly mimic the accents of Ber, Crisillyir, and Danor?
While we're on the subject, would natives of Flint normally speak Primordial among themselves, resorting only to Common when dealing with strangers, customers, etc.? I'm trying to think of an analogy and remembered a trip to England and Scotland where our tour guide was a Scot and when in the company of other Scots sometimes spoke the native Gaelic, but of course spoke English to us tourists and people in England.
Does the RHC have a uniform or other way of letting people know their official capacity as agents? I don't want to assume this is just like NCIS or FBI, although it feels a lot like it so far.
Not to speak for the GM, but some insight:
Having worked with (a small segment of) the intelligence community, I can say that you'd be surprised by the number of "people on the ground" who don't speak multiple languages. That said, I can totally see your justification. Especially of being able to mimic accents. I'd suggest that would include the training and ability to recognize and place specific dialects.
The Player's Guide answers a number of your questions, but in brief:
Yes, Risuri speak Primordial. Apparently, "educated Risuri also know Common." This inferrnce is also supported by the Primordial bonus language.
There is a uniform, as Karl mentioned in a previous post, but we're a mostly plainclothes unit.
As for Jaelynn, Shane probably hasn't seen her wear the exact same outfit twice, unless it was the uniform. She seems to like wearing her uniform, but also likes dressing fashionably (though she slips from fashion to fashion almost seamlessly). One quirk is that she always seems to work some portion of her uniform into her outfit if she's at work.
You're asking great questions!
And that raises the question of whether we're to be uniformed for this assignment, or if Ralf's in his silks (which he finds more comfortable and better for fluid movement). Think along the lines of Wudang Taoist silks but with the outer layer having a hood he can flip up -- in short, he can still look classy (if loud, thanks to his somewhat clashing signature colors. (It's a Varisian thing; you wouldn't understand.))
Is there also some sort of ID/badge/pendant/etc. for times when we're not uniformed but might still need to identify ourselves? I thought it was mentioned earlier but I didn't spot it on a quick scan. Give Ralfael a tin star that says "SHARIF" to pin on his silks and he'll be happy. ;o)
Welllll... "slightly less grumpy," anyway. :op
I'd be interested in reading what others said to explain their path to this assignment...
I ripped out Ralf's prior backstory and haven't replaced it yet, but most of the details were discussed in this thread during his revamp. As to the recent past, Kostya's backstory fills in a little bit of that, and the rest should come out as the game moves forward.
Unless you're asking about our training details and other movement within the RHC, which I wouldn't mind hearing myself.
OK.
Our Esteemed GM may over-rule some of this, as I'm pulling it from Zeitgeist Player Info (and every campaign is a little different). I will also say that I have NOT played this AP before (well, in an aborted version that was Houseruled, and aborted before anything really happened, but nothing more). So, that said, take the following with a grain (or a block) of salt. But perhaps if we all come at this with the same base info in mind, we'll all be confused in the same manner, at least. :-)
So, here's some "cut-and-paste" from sections of the Player's Guide and etc.:
Hierarchy and Constable Teams
Approximately 20 constables are active in the Royal Homeland Constabulary’s Flint directorate, supported by almost a hundred researchers, office assistants, laboratory technicians, security guards, carriage drivers, and the like.
Leadership.
The Flint branch is run by Lady Inspectress Margaret Saxby, a former
superstar investigator who cracked many famous cases, became the darling
of the public, and earned herself a knighthood. During the Fourth
Yerasol War she married a young nobleman, acquiring clout among aristocratic circles. When the then-director of Flint’s branch of the RHC lost favor in a scandal, she easily won the appointment to take his place.
Lady Saxby leads her branch with incisive intelligence and an experienced intuition for determining which of her constables should pursue which threats. On the other hand, some complain that her confidence borders on megalomania.
Units and Oversight.
Saxby’s role as director often has her dealing with bureaucrats and nobles, and while she officially is also the Chief Inspector, she leaves most affairs of investigations to Assistant Chief Inspector Stover Delft, who oversees four units of constables and coordinates their activities.
A local Flinter in his early 40s, Delft gets squinty and condescending
when his authority is questioned, but he can recognize talent and good
work. Since his days as a constable himself, Delft served a vital role handling logistics, though in the past few years he’s acquired a modicum of leadership skill. He often expresses pride for three of his old underlings who went on to head spy cells overseas.
Delft chews leaf of Nicodemus, and thinks he looks charming if he
grins while sucking the juices. He walks with a cane because a mimic
tore a chunk out of his leg fifteen years ago. He has a habit of poking
inanimate objects with the cane before he gets too close to them, and
spitting on them when he wants to be extra sure.
Loyalty to Risur
The RHC recruits from police, military, universities, and many other
sources of talent, occasionally even accepting foreign applicants. In addition to requiring extensive background checks, recruits must undergo
a magical inquisition. The king grants each branch’s local director the
ability to test the loyalty of all who would apply to join the constabulary.
A candidate who agrees to undertake the test opens their mind so the
director may sense their true intentions. If they have any ill will to Risur, its people, or its leaders, it will be revealed. More importantly, the candidate must show a devotion to protecting Risur.
Risur need not be the primary concern of the applicant—people are expected, after all, to value their family, friends, even careers—but this precaution has kept the RHC from ever having produced a traitor in the thirty years it has been active.
Authority and the Law
Constables are invested with the authority of the king, and so are granted great leeway in their pursuit of justice and safety. While normal police must acquire warrants before they can search a building, RHC constables are trusted to not abuse their authority, and so can act as swiftly as needed. However, they are required to fill out proper paperwork and give testimony justifying their actions. A constable who uses his power for personal gain —or to harass anyone of political clout without good reason— will find himself penalized, demoted, and possibly even in prison.
Constables are expected to take suspects alive whenever possible.
The GM might want to allow PCs to knock enemies unconscious when
reducing them to 0 hit points, instead of killing them, without making
the character take a penalty to his attack roll to deal nonlethal damage.
This can represent special training constables receive. Execution is a
likely punishment if a trial deems a suspect to be an enduring threat,
though some criminals with political value might be kept under special
house arrest, as long as they do not actively pursue plots against Risur.
Every constable has access to binding ropes as well as handcuffs (albeit
not quite as advanced as the modern variety). Most handcuffs include
gold wire or thread, which can be tied off after the cuffs are closed to
prevent creatures from teleporting while wearing them. In special cases,
mage-cuffs can be requisitioned.
Constables can usually hand over arrested suspects to the police,
though the RHC headquarters in Flint does have specially prepared cells
to handle more dangerous criminals. These cells are all lined with enchantments similar to those of mage-cuffs, and are surrounded by rings of gold and bricks baked with salt and other warding agents. When needed, even more specialized items can be used, such as chains that can hold incorporeal entities or prevent shapechanging, hoods that block gaze attacks, and sigils to nullify innate energy threats like flaming elementals.
When it comes to interrogations, this is not a modern police force.
Characters who choose to be enlightened and use less-violent approaches
can often get what they need with less hassle, but threats and actual
violence are common tools when trying to make suspects talk, and most
superiors won’t bat an eye as long as no one is seriously injured or dies.
Headquarters
Located in Central District, the Flint branch of the RHC has one primary
headquarters building, plus three satellite buildings containing
libraries, laboratories, and more supplies and offices. The main headquarters has two floors, plus a basement for captured suspects. The jail has only twice reached capacity in the past thirty years.
Most rooms have gas-lit lamps either along the walls of in recesses in
the ceiling.
Salary, Stipend, and Requisitions
As constables of Risur, your characters have a slightly different relationship with treasure than typical Pathfinder adventurers.
Firstly, you’re assumed to receive a reasonable salary that covers your
normal living expenses, but needs not be tracked in-game.
Additionally, from time to time you will receive an official stipend to
fulfill your duties. These will come roughly whenever you gain a level,
since more experienced constables are given more challenging tasks.
The Constabulary’s resources and connections let you use this stipend
to requisition the tools you need for your missions. After a mission ends you can trade in items you no longer need, freeing up that portion of your stipend for other tasks.
The RHC, and more broadly the nation of Risur, has access to a vast
array of magic items, but you are not its only agents. Also, concerns
about theft and corruption mean those who control these resources
tend to be conservative in their release.
On top of this, the pictures I've seen seem to paint the RHC uniform as similar to pre-WWI military uniforms. Lots of buttons, red/gold/blue/whatever accent color you prefer thread or piping, shoulder decorations, and leather belts.
Here's a picture that is captioned "RHC Constables take a suspect into custody." I think the assumption is that the constables are in uniform, but I could see the guy in the tux and the guy with the beard (holding the (presumed) suspect in red) being Constables, as well.
Anyhoo, that's my input. Do as you will.
I'd be interested in reading what others said to explain their path to this assignment...I ripped out Ralf's prior backstory and haven't replaced it yet, but most of the details were discussed in this thread during his revamp. As to the recent past, Kostya's backstory fills in a little bit of that, and the rest should come out as the game moves forward.
Unless you're asking about our training details and other movement within the RHC, which I wouldn't mind hearing myself.
Jaelynn was a Constable for about a year in Slate, prior to transferring to Flint a few months ago.
That's relatively common knowledge (amongst the Flint RHC, anyway). As is the dichotomy of her being an elf, but having the last name of a Risuri Noble family (Vance). Anyone who digs a bit (or asks her directly) will find out that she considers herself to be Risuri, and a member of the Vance family. She never introduces herself using the name Saerpheni. In fact, unless anyone has seen her personnel file, you probably don't know Saerpheni is part of her name at all.
Very quiet rumors have it that she's got an Elf boyfriend (or even fiancee) back in Slate who's an ambassador or rich merchant or something. These rumors are most often whispered with something of a tone of jealousy, and usually as a reason for her being able to afford her (slightly better than modest) apartment in Central District.
As for why a Risuri noble would be serving in the RHC, Jaelynn (or "Constable Vance,") will tell anyone foolish enough to ask that it's her duty as a noble of the kingdom to serve her country. If pressed as to why the RHC, she'll probably admit that the duties of the RHC are far more interesting than typical military duty would be (and we all know that letting Jaelynn get bored while within reach of military-level explosives and weaponry would be a Bad Thing.) :-)
As for training, I don't know if there's actually a RHC Academy or anything (one imagines there should be, but perhaps not), but whatever most Constables go through, she did it. Just like almost everyone else. But more stylishly. And probably with a bit more disdain for the physical bits.
I would assume that she's been basically stuck doing paperwork, background checks, paperwork, cold-case reviews, paperwork, maybe some suspect interviews, paperwork, and oh-yeah, paperwork, for most of the time she's been in Flint, while the upper-ups figure out whether or not they're actually supposed to put someone as (theoretically) connected as Jaelynn (should be) in harm's way on actual missions or not. (Gotta love politics). :-)
Here's a picture that is captioned "RHC Constables take a suspect into custody." I think the assumption is that the constables are in uniform, but I could see the guy in the tux and the guy with the beard (holding the (presumed) suspect in red) being Constables, as well.
We can take that pic as canon. I'd say there are 4 constables and 1 local cop in the picture. Hobo McBeardy (holding Bad Guy in Red), Father Badge (all in black with a gold badge pinned to his chest, behind Constable DI in Dress Uniform), Constable DI in Dress Uniform (with snazzy knee-high jackboots and saber), and Fancy McTuxerson (urging the local cop to stop touching the evidence). The unit that captured BGiR was McBeardy, The good Father, and Fancy, then DI Dress showed up after the action went down (as officers do). So yes, there is a uniform, but the day to day outfit is "wear what you want."
As Father Badge shows, there is an official RHC badge constables wear/carry to assert their authority.
On languages for Shane, his background has him as working undercover as a Docker, nothing involving foreigners. Spy school is all well and good, but I'll assume that agents who need to infiltrate foreign countries or organizations consisting of foreigners would go to a special language school where they can learn nuance and colloquialisms as well as the base language. So Shane has Primordial and Common, but that's probably it. For appropriate accents, he can try them out and we'll roll to see how well he pulls them off. He won't need to roll for a Docker accent.
Do you folks think it'd be too meta-gamey for us to discuss protection/healing tactics?
Shane GMed the campaign that included Ralf v1.0 and would (I think) attest that Mr. Tergsvor kept pace with the incoming damage being dealt (if sometimes just barely). But that was at level five and better.
Being first level, this Ralf's capabilities will be much more limited (for now). So it might be wise to have him watch over the most vulnerable PCs in particular, and for the team to have a strategy in general.
But that'll require our talking about HP and AC and delving into the particulars of how Ralf's brand of healing works, as well as what other PCs can do to mitigate incoming attacks, who will be on the front lines or hanging back in the shadows, and so on. And I don't have a feel for whether that would be stepping over a line.
Thoughts?
I'm personally used to groups that talk about that kind of thing, so I'm definitely not against it. That said I think this is one of the few groups I've been in that could manage talking about this sort of thing completely in character as well. So it depends on what the rest of the group thinks. I'd be fine with talks about strategy in or out of the game!
Completely in-game/when the time comes would be awesome if we could pull it off.
Yikes, I somehow got very far behind.
As far as healing, I won't be super useful at Level 1, since all I have are two spells I can drop for CLW. But at level 2nd I'll have Fervor, which is like a free melee CLW 4+ times per day, and at 4th I'll be able to use Fervor as Channel Energy.
Between the two of us, we should totally be fine. And we can talk about tactics in-game for sure.
Well...
I'd assume that the Academy teaches the basics of teamwork, and, since magic has been so common in the world, that it's use is covered (generically) in said training.
I'd also suggest that, like real-world organizations, those who've had special medical training are somehow designated. Even if it's, "listen up, you apes! This is Ralf. He's the new guy, and he's been to Combat Lifesaver School."
All of which means that, while we would know Ralf is a healer, unless we specifically had the conversation, we probably have no idea how he heals, and, since the RHC isn't the military, I doubt there's a tactical manual (well, if there's a SWAT team, maybe). Thus, I suspect "learning from experience," and discussing things after the fact will be the order of the day. Unless Ralf says, "OK, am healer. Before fighting, must talk about how am different from other healer..."
Which means that I'm looking forward to those IC conversations. Before or after the first fight. :-)
You do realize that with Ralf's personality it's going to be less "talk about how" and more "Come with me if you want to live," right? :o)
Unrelated: Apologies for briefly stepping out of third-person limited with my last post, but it was an opportunity to underline Ralf's normally dour disposition, as well as how his attitude towards Kostya differs from the norm.
And wow... I've written a fair bit of fiction in my time, always in past tense. It just came naturally to me because I was a voracious reader as a kid, and that's the tense most fiction uses.
When I started PbP it was jarring to read and write present tense. But over time I got used to it and, while it's still not "second nature," it's no longer as much of a struggle.
But now I'm in two games that are using past tense (this being one of them), and I'm finding it a huge challenge to do something I didn't even have to think about once upon a time.
The mix is actually a good thing (for me); it'll force me to focus on what tense I'm supposed to be using, which will eventually lead to my doing that automatically. But for you all not so much, and I apologize in advance for how often my posts will surely be "two tense" (arr arr arr).
(Seriously, I spotted some flubs in my opening vignette after the edit window closed, and my most recent post took several passes through to fix... and I'm still not sure I got them all.)
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to put a sticky on my monitor with the names of the two games that are past tense...
She'll also go with her red hair, and the "walking outfit," complete with parasol (no rapier or billy-club)
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No love for poor Ralfie. :o(
She'll also go with her red hair, and the "walking outfit," complete with parasol (no rapier or billy-club)This photo is private. Oops! You don't have permission to view this photo.No love for poor Ralfie. :o(
Hmm...annoying. I had thought I'd done that one with a Guest Pass URL. Guess not.
The link to the entire album in in her "fluff" spoiler, but here is the outfit she's wearing to the bridge. If that link doesn't work, go ahead and use the one in her character sheet.