Discuss characters and stuff!
Oh, here are Profession details for each of you, so you know what you have for Skill Points.
Richard Michaelson - Psychiatrist
Skill Points: EDU x 4
Credit Rating: 9-30
Occupational Skills: Anthropology, History, Library Use, Other Languages, Psychology, Science (Pharmacy) any other 2 skills.
Ernest Nuemann - Librarian
Skill Points: EDU x 4
Credit Rating: 9-35
Occupational Skills: Accounting, Library Use, Other Language, Own Language, and any other 4 skills as personal specialties or specialist reading topics.
Anton Roskuszka - Stage Engineer
Skill Points: EDU x 2 + DEX x 2
Credit Rating: 20-60
Occupational Skills: Art/Craft (Technical Drawing), Disguise, Fast Talk, Mechanical Repair, Science (Engineering), any other 3 skills.
Irina Ustvolskaya - Experimental Composer
Skill Points: EDU x 2 + POW x 2
Credit Rating: 20-60
Occupational Skills: Art/Craft (Instrument), Listen, Mechanical Repair, Operate Heavy Machinery, Science (Engineering), any other 3 skills.
Here are Anton’s Occupational Skills. If something doesn't make sense, please let me know.
Art/Craft (Mentalist Performance) 38/19/7 5+33,
Art/Craft (Technical Drawing) 25/12/5 5+20,
Disguise 20/10/4 5+15,
Fast Talk 22/11/4 5+17,
Mechanical Repair 41/20/8 10+31,
Science (Engineering) 52/26/10 1+51,
Locksmith 36/18/7 1+35,
Spot Hidden 48/24/9 25+23
Credit Rating: 25
Personal Interest Skills:
Language (French) 68/34/13 1+67
Language (English) 46/13/9) 1+45
Psychology 52/26/10 10+42
Sleight of Hand 36/18/7 10+26
Two more notes about him: He’s Roman Catholic. Also, he believes in ghosts and spirits, but thinks mediums are frauds; he was one after all.
Hi all! Sorry for my silence, was away from the computer for the past few days.
Will have Irina up tomorrow.
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Ernest Neumann is a librarian. He is 51 years old and lives in a rented apartment in New York. He was born in Düsseldorf, Germany.
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Accounting: 50 25 10
History: 50 25 10
Language(other)/English: 71 35 14
Language(own)/German: 79 39 15
Library Use: 75 37 15
Listen: 40 20 8
Medicine: 50 25 10
Occult: 55 27 11
Persuade: 60 30 12
Science/Cryptology: 41 20 8
Spot Hidden: 47 23 9
Track: 30 15 6
Credit Rating: 20 10 4
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Spending Level: $10
Cash: $40
Assets: $1000
Gear: Sword cane
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Personal Description:
Ernest was an impeccably turned out and handsome gentleman 10-15 years ago and little has changed. The years have left him and his suits looking tired and worn.
Ideology/Beliefs:
No man should hold unreciprocated power over another.
The written word is sacred.
Significant People:
Meaningful locations:
The private collection he has curated for years as part of the Columbia University Library.
Treasured Possessions:
A pocket edition of Paine’s – “On the Rights of Man,” in German. There is an inscription from Ernest’s Father on the inside cover. Key Connection
Traits:
Generous. Fastidious. Curious.
Injuries and Scars:
Weak lungs due to Spanish Flu scars.
Phobias and Manias:
Arcane Tomes, Spells, and Artifacts:
Encounters with Strange Entities:
A man in his early fifties steps of the bus and into the evening air. His gait is not laboured, and the tap-tap-tap of his cane on the stone is almost melodic. Only if you are very close, close enough to smell the old leather and paper of the man, could you notice there is a slight wheeze in his chest. His lungs are tired.
Tiredness. Tiredness is very nearly the perfect word for this man. His clothes would have been close to chic ten years ago; now they are old and fit him like a favourite old slipper. His face is neither warm nor unkind; the face of a man that takes as he finds and judges accordingly. There is a look in his eye of machination, a glimpse of a mind that never stops considering, ruminating. They are young eyes, not tired eyes.
If not tiredness then perhaps well worn. The lungs are well worn, the clothes are well worn, the man himself is well worn.
As he climbs the stairs to an apartment, his steps almost hinting at a skip, the cane taps each railing in turn in a practiced rat-a-tat-tat. An old housewife sweeping a front step, smiles and greats the man warmly.
“Good evening Frauline Davies.”
The man’s natural, rich, German accent tastes strange on his lips, how long as it been since he was last able to let his guard down, since he had last been home. A week, three?
And so we arrive. This is the legal residence of one Ernest Nuemann, our protagonist has a name at last.
Pause a moment to consider the scene. Ernest is stood in the entrance of a single bedroom apartment, somewhere in New York that used to be Somewhere. The room ahead is the main living area, it is not dirty, far from it, but neither is it tidy. Piles of books rise from the brown floor, from every flat surface in the room, clearly following some unknown metric. As Ernest lowers himself into the one free chair in the room. He reflexively pours himself a small bourbon from a dusty bottle on a side table. His head quickly begins to droop and soon he is slumbering.
Tl;dr
Earnest Nuemann is a Librarian curating a semi-private collection at Columbia University. Over the years he has been left largely to his own devices, though occasionally he will be tasked with a specific acquisition or research project. Ernest sleeps in the library backrooms more often than he returns home, this is a matter of convenience more than anything, transporting books is a hassle. He is a fluent English speaker and, since the great war, self-consciously tries to supress his native accent when away from home. He caught the Spanish flu in one of the first waves, early 1918. After a long struggle Ernest survived but his constitution would never be the same.
One long term personal project he has been working on is the acquisition of certain play scripts, often considered to be linked to the occult or even mythical in nature. It is this work that brought him into contact with Anthony Carmichael, Anthony helped him fill in some blanks about the theatre industry.
Since we have an ex doctor in our midst I'll probably reduce his medicine skill and bump a couple of others
I hate maths.
Anton
Okay so Anton should have EDU x 2 + DEX x 2 for Occupational and INT x 2 for Personal, which is (unless you swapped any of these) a total of 160 + 50 for Occupational + 180 for Personal. It looks to me like Personal is right, but that you spent 250 on Occupational skills instead of 210? Unless you did swap something.
Ernest
Ernest should have EDU x 4 for Occupational Skills and INT x 2 for Personal, which is a total of 316 for Occupational and 160 for Personal. I'm showing you should have a total of 476 to spend, but as though you used 485. Could you double check them for me?
Irina Ustvolskaya is a russian woman in her mid-twenties, recently arrived in New York as one of the first envoys sent by the fledgling Soviet Union in a wider strategy of propagation of communist ideals via cultural exchange.
Born as the only child to a poor family of peasants turned factory workers, she started helping her parents from a young age — indeed, she is quick to brag that her mother gave birth to her in the assembly line and that her first toy was a rattler filled with broken cogs.
No more than a few years later, in 1905, she witnessed her first revolution, sitting on her father’s shoulders and brandishing a wrench that she used to bang on an empty food can. They sang as they marched and they sang as they were trampled by the Tsar’s forces and Irina sang as her mother disappeared under a pile of rubble.
Afterwards, with only slightly improved working conditions, she continued helping her father at the factory, learning how to operate and repair heavy machinery years before she had learnt to read. In the little free time she had, she crafted songs of iron, steel and explosions that she considered the hymns that would hail a new era. The bolsheviks and, later, the Communist Party, were quick to embrace hers as one of the many kinds of revolutionary manifestations of the culture of the proletariat.
When the 1917 came, Irina was officially a member of the Party. Setting her music for five years, she helped the Red Army with whatever mechanical needs they had and, at times, even took part in direct confrontations.
Finally the fires of war began to be appeased. Having climbed the hierarchy of the Party with notorious ruthlessness, Irina once again found time to dedicate herself to a music that had become even more violent and explosive as it simmered in the furnaces of revolution. Her pieces became ever more extreme: she saw the sound of bubbling molten metal, mechanical saws, hammers and drills as a bourgeois composer saw a violin, a piano and a flute.
It was with great honour and fervour that she received her assignment of showing the terrible beauty of the proletariat to the world. Her first stop was to be in the United States, where a decadent bourgeois, Anthony Carmichael, had expressed interest in the avant-garde of soviet cultural production.
Irina is freakishly tall, standing at about 2 metres-tall. She is very thin, wears her dark hair short and prefers simple and unadorned clothes — in the US, at least, this means a small wardrobe with a few pairs of the same clothes: a white shirt and a long black skirt.
She is always smoking, except when she’s drinking the hardest liquor she can find.
Irina is cold, cruel and has little time for bourgeois niceties. Her foreign accent tends to twist already harsh words into merciless indictments and most of those who worked with her dreaded every minute of the experience. She is aware of that and has absolutely no problem with it — truth be told, she finds it very useful.
Str 35
Con 55
Dex 60
App 45
Pow 70
—
Siz 75
Int 65
Edu 60
—
Luck 75
Skills:
• Art/Craft (Percussion) = 45 / 30 / 12
• Listen = 70 / 35 /14
• Mechanical Repair = 60 / 30 / 12
• Operate Heavy Machinery = 51 / 25 / 10
• Science (Engineering) = 20 / 10 / 4
• -Brawl = 65 / 32 / 13
• -Drive auto = 45 / 22 / 9
• -Intimidate = 65 / 32 / 13
• Language (other) English = 21 / 10 / 4
• Language (own) Russian 60 / 30 / 12
• Rifles = 50 / 25 / 10
• Credit Rating = 20 / 10 / 4
Finances
• Cash = 40$
• Assets = 1000$
• Spending level = 10$
Occupational Skill Points: EDU x 2 + POW x 2 = 120 + 140 = 260
Personal Skill Points: INT x 2 = 130
Total = 390
Skills:
• Art/Craft (Percussion) 30o + 10p + 5b = 45%
• Listen 50o + 20b = 70%
• Mechanical Repair 30o + 20p + 10b = 60%
• Operate Heavy Machinery 30o + 20p + 1b = 51%
• Science (Engineering) 0 + 20p = 20
• -Brawl 30o + 10p + 25b = 65%
• -Drive auto 20o + 5p + 20b = 45%
• -Intimidate 50o + 15b = 65%
• Language (other) English: 20p + 1b = 21%
• Language (own) Russian: 60(EDU) = 60%
• Rifles: 25p + 25b = 50%
• Credit Rating: 20o = 20%
O = 20 + 30 + 50 + 30 + 30 + 30 + 20 + 50 = 260
P = 20 + 25 + 5 + 30 + 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 130
O + P = 390
Ah, checking over my notes, I realize I had calculated 210 Occupational Skill points originally, but when it was time to distribute them, I thought it was 250 points. I’m sorry about the error. Thank you for noticing it.
Here are the readjusted skills:
Art/Craft (Mentalist Performance) 31/15/6 5+26,
Art/Craft (Technical Drawing) 22/11/4 5+17,
Disguise 15/7/3 5+10,
Fast Talk 22/11/4 5+17,
Mechanical Repair 36/18/7 10+26,
Science (Engineering) 52/26/10 1+51,
Locksmith 26/13/5 1+25,
Spot Hidden 43/21/8 25+18
Credit Rating: 20
According to my calculator that is 210 skill points. 26+17+10+17+26+51+25+18+20
Sorry for the delay. I bought Stardew Valley in the Steam sale and fell down a hole playing it. The name "Richard Michaelson" was already taken as an alias, so I changed the last name.
What does "Credit Rating: 9-30" mean? 30 is the max value I can put into credit?
I also may or may not put many points into medicine. I think 4xEdu is probably less than what the quick start guide gives out, so I may need to be more thrifty about my points.
You get to add a base value to most skills as well. If you can find a character sheet somewhere they have the base value on them, if not we can tell you them I guess.
I'll drop 10 points from medicine for now, that should take me to the golden number GM.
Sorry, gang, feeling under the weather today but will respond more in full tomorrow.
Sorry for the delay. I bought Stardew Valley in the Steam sale and fell down a hole playing it.
That will very much happen.
What does "Credit Rating: 9-30" mean? 30 is the max value I can put into credit?
That's correct, and 30 would still be pretty "average" wealth, you wouldn't be poor or anything. I'd say any of you could push the max a bit if you wanted to be more famous, but it is unfortunately the case that some careers just pay more. (I also think you'd be better off putting points in skills over maxing your credit, but what do I know.)
Ahh, getting the base points helps a lot. Here's a spreadsheet with my current distribution of skills (that anybody can steal if they want something to do math for them). I might try to move some points around to get rid of some of the annoyingly-not-divisible-by-5 values. I also admittedly have no idea how useful any of the skills I picked are, haha.
Okay, I believe everyone looks great! Get everything copied over to your aliases if you haven't already, and we'll get this show on the road
Anton Roskuszka’s profile is made. I took 8 points from Spot Hidden and put them into Locksmith, so they are more balanced. Not at all sure if it will matter ;-) The points still add up to 210. I checked :-)
I decided not to fiddle with anything (beyond making my skill points right) this feels like a game where applying skills well is better than having a perfectly balanced party.
Let's go.
Great! Gameplay is open.
Shit! I was a bit sleepy when posting yesterday and randomly chose a russian version of an American name (Anthony->Антон->Anton) for the assistant without realising that it was one of our PC's names.
I actually really like the way things have turned out, but I need to stop posting after midnight…
Haha, I've definitely done similar, especially since my first post of the day tends to be pretty early morning.
Will have something up for y'all in a little bit! I'm really digging your characters, and am excited to see where things go when you get together.
Apologies, everyone - I didn't tell you when the masquerade itself will be! Today is September 26th, 1923, which is a Wednesday. The party will be in 10 days - on Saturday evening, October 6th. This will give you enough time to consider costumes (more on that below). We'll likely just handwave any necessary travel (though I think you're all in New York now?).
There isn't anything super pressing for you before the Masquerade, so once you all decide on how to get your costumes, we can play that out a bit, and anything else you want to do beforehand. (for instance, learning more about Carmichael, or finding out who might be attending, and anything else.)
For obtaining Costumes you have a few options.
- You can rent a costume for dollars. It will be cheaply-made and ill-fitting. You will not cut a figure among the elite, and people there are very likely to look down on you.
- You can roll a Dexterity test (bonus for any relevant skills) to sew your own costume. This costs you nothing, but how well you roll will affect your standing at the ball.
- You can buy a professionally-made costume for the night for $20 which is "adequate", and will not give you a bonus or a penalty to your standing at the ball.
- You can go to the best costumer in New York - Bartlemeo Fiorani, who is attached to the New York Theatre Company. For a $40 fee, you can clothe yourself in the stuff of fantasy. This will give you a positive standing with any of the social elites who are at the masquerade.
Do we need a costume? Honestly, I kind of just figured Richard would wear a tux (which I was assuming he already had) + a mask. Unless we have different ideas of what a "costume" would look like, a full outfit seems gaudier than what Richard would wear.
I was thinking along the same lines with Irina. Like, she would come dressed as usual, but with a metal mask she welded herself. Perhaps covered in broken mirrors…? And perhaps give her voice a cool reverb?
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These are good questions.
You can definitely just go with a tux / gown if that's your preference. The adventure does seem to suggest that this is more of a costume party, despite it being also a fancy gala / masquerade. A couple of people will be wearing things like fairy or pirate costumes, cats, centurions, and mummies.
It isn't to say that you'd be out of place in simply having a tux and mask - especially for those that are more reserved or "too good" for dressing up (as some of the wealthy will be), but there is certainly a lot of room if you want to go with something more... ostentatious.
But! Richard, you could definitely just pick up a mask for a few bucks, and Irina, you could certainly craft your Darth Vader helmet.
brilliant. Also, I actually had more of a pinhead meets metropolis' robo lady vibe going in my head ;)
Also, apologies, but due to a bit more work than expected I won't be able to post that bit today. Will definitely have something up tomorrow, though.
brilliant. Also, I actually had more of a pinhead meets metropolis' robo lady vibe going in my head ;)
Oooh, very cool.
I'm a bit under the weather but will have a post up tomorrow, or at the latest, Monday. Weekends are a bit tougher for me.
Thanks for letting us know GM
Hope you feel better soon.
Rest well and get better, GM :-)
hope you're feeling better, GM =)
Finally starting to, thanks! My body is not built for massive heatwaves like we've been having.
Just a heads up that I'm going GenCon Online this upcoming week, so I won't have time/energy to post between Thursday and Sunday.
Also, assuming Richard is able to get intel on what a nicely thoughtful gift would be, I am also ready to move forward.
Sorry for the delay gang, I'll have a post up this morning!
And enjoy GenCon online, Richard! I've only been to GenCon once but it was excellent and I want to go back one day.
Sorry gang, that sickness came back with a vengeance.
I hope you feel better! Don't worry about any delays.
Thanks! New post is up, which is of a length and substance that hopefully helps make up for the delay. Welcome to the party, everyone.
Sorry for the delay, busy heatwave week over here. I should have a new post tomorrow.
Ditto. Exam grade madness! I'll get something up tomorrow.
Yeah the heat has been pretty unbearable here, too! No worries on the delays, thanks for letting me know
Yeah, I've been really busy with work. I'm hoping to get something up on Friday.
Sorry all, September hits like a train!
I'm still here, reading along. I'll get something up tomorrow.
GM, I'm loving your evocative posts. I'll try to produce something up to standard.