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Also:
I finally finished creating or otherwise fleshing out all of the Invictus in Pendros. This should show you them all Richard. Of note to you should be George Walton.
No thanks :) I think I got it.
Did I say something wrong?
The post was great! I'm just a bit slow recently, still settling into a new schedule at work. I'll have a reply up soon.
Cool :) I was getting afraid I might have over-shoot the mark. First impressions and all that.
Can we buy skill specializations without the base skill? I keep running into situations where Richard would have been around long enough that he'd probably know something about vampires, but not the rest of the stuff that goes with the occult skill. Could I just buy a few ranks in the vampire specialization of occult, until Richard learns enough about everything else to merit buying dots?
Also, did you have anything in particular in mind for the nature of my rivalry with George Walton? How far back do we go... prohibition?
@G85: Yeah ;)
Majesty was the Awe function, Presence (3) + Majesty (1) + Expression (1) for 5 dice. I was hoping I'd get a bonus on the persuasion check by 'turning on the charm' but now I realize I'll probably get staked for using disciplines in Elysium...
The persuasion was an oratory check, Presence (3) + Persuasion (1) for 4 dice.
I put the question mark after oratory there because frankly, I'm not sure what I'm doing to persuade those guys to let me in. Maybe it should have been fast-talk? Or no roll at all with the name dropping? I dunno, maybe I should have asked before rolling?
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Presence is used to make an immediate impact upon a person. However, trying to use someone's name and get yourself through the door, that is manipulation.
Majesty cannot be used on more than one person, and turning it on in front of so many people net's you a -4 to the check. You could instantly add the successes from that check to influence everyone who witnessed your awe.
Additionally, I just realized something. However, I will use it in my next post.
I will have a post up in 24 hours, but it will likely be Monday.
Added the 'residence' section of Richard's wiki page.
Heads up. I'm going out of town for the weekend, I'll be offline from Friday to late Sunday (GMT).
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Response up tomorrow.
Also, Jack sure does know how to piss off The Club V Bouncer (yes, that is his actual name) played by Michael Clarke Duncan's body and Kevin Michael Richardson's voice.
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Okay, I lied.
So, I'm BURIED under schoolwork until the 12th of May. This is my last bastion of sanity however, so don't worry! This posting slow down isn't a stop or loss of interest. It's just that I'm wicked busy; today I turned in a 7 page paper for a 25 page assignment. It's not looking good...
Anyways, I'll try very hard to get little posts up at least. If people could maybe, um, give me a primer on what they'd like responses to, like in a list form, that'd be great, so I don't have to spend 20 minutes rereading posts.
This might be a good time to ask me questions about the setting that you might like knowing, as those don't take me that long to respond to.
I feel awful ya'll! I love this game, and just as Jack is getting into it, I have to put it on the side!
It's a bit of a bummer, but the first rule of PbP gaming is that RL always trumps the forum.
Here's the primer on what I need in response to my IC post, and I'll probably have a few questions for you about the setting as I go through the wiki again.
•Response from Iranis (IC dialogue or summary) about the news from yesterday
•Response from Sam (IC dialogue or summary) about tracing call to Nikos and having phone delivered by courier
•Response from Nikos (IC dialogue preferred) about just how screwed we are ;)
•Info about calls placed from Richard's phone last night
•Yes/no on requests to spend experience on upgrading haven and purchasing occult skill retroactively
•Yes/no as to whether we could plausibly have a picture of Jack and the means to meet up with him based on how phones work in the setting
I love the way you went with Sam's trace of the call. You can't go wrong with the classic Hollywood 'keep him on the talking!' scene...
The wiki says "(Specialty: New Dots x2)", had this changed? If it's accurate, I think I'll go with 9xp worth for:
Occult 1 (3)
Vampire specialization 2 (2+4)
BTW, I'm getting PRK surgery tomorrow and the post-op guidelines recommend against 'visually intensive activities' like computer use, so I might not post for a few days depending on how everything goes.
I have a few questions about the setting, and you mentioned this would be a good time to ask them...
What is the division of responsibility for law enforcement in Pendros? What are the roles of Barkovia and of city police? How much influence does the Camarilla have for covering up breaches of the masquerade?
How do the local Invictus work? Are there regular, formal meetings? Do we have an overall agenda?
What sort of government does Pendros have on the mundane side? How much power does the mayor have as opposed to the city council? What sorts of boards and commissions exist and are there any unusual rules to keep in mind about being appointed/elected to them? What about at the county/state level? Are there any other regulatory bodies that wield significant influence in the city? (I'm thinking of the gaming commission in particular, but there could be others...)
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Before I answer, let me assure you, these are easy for me to respond to; in game posts can take me, sometimes, 3 hours or more to type, but setting questions I sometimes can just copy paste. I am still here, watching, but I'm also trying to get a bunch of assignments done, and this helps me unwind like you wouldn't believe.
What is the division of responsibility for law enforcement in Pendros?
The business sectors watch their own areas with their own security forces, and dispense their own justice if the criminals live or move through their areas, in their own courts, with their own punishments. In other areas, like the Casino and Clubs districts, Vampires om nom nom a lot of human garbage, like rapists and murders, and the gargoyles, infused capes, and sometimes the kappa, sin-eaters or werewolves, they clean up the rest. The police are a JOKE, a point I can't emphasize enough. In most areas, they are no better than bullies and protection racketeers, and for some places, they don't even enter (the Latino Quarter is a great example of this). The best they can do is protect the government sector, and it is here that police work more or less like normal cops, in regards to street crime; corruption is almost never investigated by anyone outside of the DA's office, putting a lot of work on them; but, like in many a comic book with superheroes, they do get convictions because of Capes and Gargoyles. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that the current DA's office seems incorruptibly, and amongst the supernatural, there is a huge suspicion that everyone at that level is a supernatural being with conviction, like a fallen, an immortal, or a Cape.
In general, the courts exist to protect big business, and it is not unusual to always find a court case between two companies suing each other for one reason or another.
What are the roles of Barkovia and of city police?
I think I answered the second part of that question, but define what you mean by the Barkovia.
How much influence does the Camarilla have for covering up breaches of the masquerade?
The Queen lets them get away with anything, as long as it doesn't get in her way, or require them to ask anything of her. The rest of the supernaturals give the Camarilla most of their resources, and for this reason, they more often help them as well, when not scrambling to cover up breaches. Ironically, the Camarilla also have a LOT of ghouls working for them throughout the city, helping to 'clean up' these breaches.
How do the local Invictus work? Are there regular, formal meetings? Do we have an overall agenda?
The overall agenda is to stay alive, wait for the Queen to fall, and be of the best service they can be to her in the meantime, while discovering how to kill her.
After that? The Invictus will probably want to purge the city. But that is another goal entirely.
What sort of government does Pendros have on the mundane side? How much power does the mayor have as opposed to the city council? What sorts of boards and commissions exist and are there any unusual rules to keep in mind about being appointed/elected to them?
Sadly, I am not well versed in my own local politics, but my best guess is that everyone is a puppet to a corporation. Why, even the current mayor is a puppet for Barkovia and the Vampires. But she certainly isn't acting like it, is she?
Anyways, they pretty much just make sure legislation that helps businesses gets passed, and approving city beatification, tourism, and higher education policies, as these are also large income generators.
Shockingly, the local and big businesses push for more legislation for preserving the natural landscape. Why?
Who knows...
What about at the county/state level? Are there any other regulatory bodies that wield significant influence in the city? (I'm thinking of the gaming commission in particular, but there could be others...)
Well, outside the city, federal and state laws also help to promote and protect business interests. In Colorado, strip mining is constantly battling tourism. On a Federal level, the government exists to protect national interests; tax revenue pays a lot to the armed forces.
On all levels, the government also pays for transportation services like roads.
For the rest, I fall to "What would John Locke do?"
What are the roles of Barkovia and of city police?I think I answered the second part of that question, but define what you mean by the Barkovia.
In an earlier post about the warehouses, you'd mentioned that 'not even Barkovia security' would go there. I wasn't sure if they were a city-wide private police presence, like Lone Star in Shadowrun's Seattle, or local to the Barkovia district.
Since the corporations have such a large influence in local affairs, would it be plausible for me to play on the dot I already have in status (executive) to eventually be appointed to a position of influence over the street-level criminal affairs? Basically the corporate equivalent of a county judge? Or would it be more likely to get influence in these areas by controlling mortal proxies?
The reason for the questions about city boards and commissions is that I'm looking for ways that Richard could take advantage of his masquerade (Executive) to expand his influence. For instance, here's a list of Colorado's state level boards and commissions; most large cities have 30+ additional boards to deal with local issues. I believe you mentioned an NPC on the city planning board, that was what got me thinking along these lines.
I noticed in the wiki that you said you didn't have a background on the war with China. I played around with the idea in the back of my head for a few days and this is what I came up with, let me know if it works for the setting...
For a little while, it looked like the conflict would be successfully contained and everyone could breathe a little easier... then the unificationists saw their chance. A faction of several generals in the North Korean military launched an artillery barrage and pushed South across the DMZ capturing Seoul. They indented to demand a unified Korea under Chinese protection, but America and Japan couldn't ignore the provocation. Reprisals against North Korea's military and industrial facilities resulted in Chinese casualties, and a repeat of the twentieth-century proxy war in Korea seemed inevitable.
China had grown exponentially since that last conflict though, and was itching for an excuse to show off its modernized military power. Their perception of the US military was that it was trading on reputation, having degraded into little more than an excuse to funnel money to government contractors rather than a functional force. After a strongly-worded ultimatum for the US to cease interference in what China described as a 'regional dispute' that fell within its sphere of influence, they declared war on the US. Many comparisons were drawn to the last time an enemy had 'awakened the sleeping giant' but for better or worse the decision had been made.
China had been building a wide network of sleeper cells across America, and the moment war was declared widespread sabotage paralyzed every aspect of US infrastructure. Power substations were shorted out, fiber optic cables cut, interstates damaged, crops burned, refineries shut down... it was a disaster. The Chinese has made arrangements with the remnants of the Mexican failed state and drug cartels to land troops and bring them in through the Southern border.
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers poured over the border and within a week El Paso, Tuscon, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, and half a dozen other large cities had been occupied. There were casualties, but surprisingly few considering the scale of the operation. Chinese strategy called for holding the cities as negotiating pieces to force America out of the Korean peninsula and to demand concessions in other matters of interest like the ongoing disputes in the South China Seas. While it did distract the US from operations in Korea, the US instead turned on mainland China. Faced with a foe with only slightly inferior technology, the US fell back on its war plans for dealing with other industrialized nations. Both sides lost most of their carrier fleet to cruise missiles, and while China had purchased the best air defenses money could buy, a few strategic bombing operations still got through. Infrastructure on both sides was hit hard, but neither state was willing to back down and admit defeat. Pride fueled four more years of warfare until the diplomats could find a way out of the mess, and many fortunes were made or lost in backroom deals as everyone scrambled for supplies and information.
Here's some background reading on relations between China and North Korea, if you're into that sort of thing...
http://www.cfr.org/china/china-north-korea-relationship/p11097
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_%E2%80%93_North_Korea_relations
...and a paper on the South China Seas conflicts, another possible reason for war: http://community.middlebury.edu/~scs/docs/Lee%20Lai%20To,%20China,%20USA,%2 0and%20the%20South%20China%20Sea%20Conflicts.pdf
-A war broke out against China four years ago now called the Northern Pacific War, with America primarily helping in the defense of Japan and South Korea. It has been mainly a Naval and Air Force based battle, but the most gruesome efforts have been in space, and the most active battlefield has been in Cyberspace. Most say the fighting is coming to a rapid end, with no victor in the conflict. (I liked the set up for a war with China, but could not figure out a way in which such a conflict could arise without complete Nuclear Armageddon. I’m willing to hear thoughts).
Oh, I had missed this part of the description...
What is the space program like in 2038? I'd imagine that space-based habitats would be entirely too fragile to fight over, it seems that it would be trivial to destroy them. I could see space-based conflict working with an extensive treaty system in place that both sides honor for the sake of preserving the valuable and fragile space-based assets that they're fighting over. It'd be sort of like in battletech, where pursuing 'total war' would send both sides back to the stone age so neither side was willing to destroy factories.
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All right:
@Richard:
It would seem that yes indeed, specializations are x2, so pay no head to what I said before, you can buy it as you wanted to. *feels sheepish*
This:
Or would it be more likely to get influence in these areas by controlling mortal proxies?
Is the way to tackle that.
As for breaking it down for local government, I’ll let you brainstorm that one with, and you can come back to me with your ideas. I’m sure I’ll approve them, though, of course, you’ll have to roleplay out any merits you purchase.
The start of the war is exactly as how you’ve described, considering that this is our current fear for N.Korea’s nuclear capabilities. Instead of sleeper agents, it would have been cyberspace based attacks that shut down America’s infrastructure, and coming through a drug-cartel controlled Mexico is also exactly what I had in mind (and it is why I’ve been telling people for years we need to get more involved in our neighboring country’s corrupted government. When dealing with illegal immigration, a wall is only managing the symptom, not curing the disease. I mean seriously, if over 20 beheaded bodies showed up in your neighborhood, wouldn’t you want to get the f out of the country that isn’t protecting you? Mexico is the USA’s biggest defense weakness, and if we ever do get involved in a land war with China, they’ll come through our southern border. And now I'm talking about stuff that I couldn't actually defend very well, so I'm shutting up...)
The combat in space is incredibly dangerous for so many reasons, but also incredibly necessary for just as many. I think that the war’s end, publicly, comes because a US Space Marine squadron, in a desperate last ditch effort, sacrificed their lives to remove all of China’s satellites and space based defenses, which left both sides in a Mexican standoff, causing negotiations to stop the ‘Warm War’ (a ‘Hot War’ would involve nuclear Armageddon). As the game progresses, the background elements will show that the war is now the Second Cold War.
Important to note: Sections of Chinese-held America were left untouched by the invaders because businesses negotiated their own terms with China. National pride means less than one’s pride in one’s company.
Roll call!
::ahem::
Glad to see you're back! I'll get to an IC post soon, the only thing I still have outstanding is the xp from my entry on Richard's accomodations. I've been working on some more details of Richard's history and I figured that during the course of his long life he's actually sired five other vampires- two of which are definitely alive, the rest presumed dead. I'll post their stories on the wiki as I finish them...
Oh I meant to mention, nice choice of entry for the campaign blurb at the top of the page. That was one of my favorite episodes but not something I would have thought to use to characterize the game.
Yo
So, what's the plan for moving forward? We might have lost Thomas and Jack... will we continue without them until (if) they drop back in? Should we make another recruiting post or wait until your life is a little less busy?
I guess that's "wait until your life is a little less busy" :)
Enjoy your vacation, we'll see you in a few weeks...
I just picked up my copy of Diablo 3 so I'll be really "busy" for the next few weeks anyways ;p
Stop teasing us :P
No problem, first rule of PbPs is that RL comes first.
I've been reading up on mayor-council governments and should have a decent outline for you to work with on the mortal side of Pendros's local governance, and I've fleshed out all of Richard's childer with just the last two left to formally write up.
I've also been thinking about Richard's personality. I'm leaning more and more toward his Greed vice representing him wanting too much from everyone around him. He doesn't just want obedience or respect or love- he wants people mind, body, and soul. Basically he sets impossible standards and gets quite upset when people fall short. He's had his share of tragedy from this in the past (I added a writeup for Danette Twidwell on my OP page) and is scared of himself and actively avoids ghouls and romantic relationships as a result.
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I'm having difficulty gauging how Nikos would react to that one, and after days of deliberating, I realized that I like the social combat system for just this reason! Please have Richard make some sort of roll; Nikos's guile is a 3; it acts like defense for social rolls. Depending on what you get will determine how Nikos reacts.
Yeah, I have a rough impression of Nikos's personality but I've only seen him in a few scenes and it's entirely possible that I'm reading him wrong... that's sort of the disadvantage of playing a very old character in a setting like this- that Richard would know these people a lot better than I could as a player. That's one reason I decided to try this approach, to get more information about Nikos's personality and what he's in the middle of. It's also a test of just how much leverage Nikos thinks I have based on my shots in the dark and on his belief that I have the tablet...
So, Richard's goal in this conversation is to keep Nikos on the phone. Presence seems appropriate to the nature of this particular taunt, but if you think manipulation is a better fit just modify the result appropriately. If exceptional successes during the course of this will allow me to expand on that, he would like for Nikos to stop torturing Michael and for Nikos to go to club V. Another way to handle this might be with extended tests like an adaptation of the 'cutting a deal' rules like on page 82 of the main book...
= 3 successes
Should we retcon this and put up rolls for the previous parts of the conversation as well?
So... what's the plan?
Will we be continuing as a solo game for a while? Recruiting again? Writing up a flashback to last night?
I'm missing my Pendros fix... :)
If we have any lurkers, or anyone who has been following this game, there's been a change of venue. The new game is at rpol.net.
@G85: Could you mark this game as inactive, so it doesn't clutter up the campaign tab?