Psyker history:1d100 ⇒ 57 Optical rupture: Your eyes are replaced with common quality cybernetic senses.
Divination:1d100 ⇒ 13 The pain of the bullet is ecstasy compared to damnation- +1 toughness
@ Laughmask I believe I have to be the one to land the killing blow. Makes sense I guess, otherwise fighting against a group she'd be back up to full without much effort in a few minutes. Might have to have a word with the party about kill stealing, though...
As a Sin eater Valeria swaps in her domain for some unusual powers. Perhaps not the best of choices power wise, but quite cool fluff wise. (At least I think so)
Edit: Looking over the regions nearby, I think Vellumis in Lastwall will be her place of origin.
That'll do nicely.
I'll put an alias up when it becomes necessary, but for now...
Character Sheet:
Valeria Veilwarden
LN Medium female human
Sin Eater inquisitor of Pharasma
"The undead are an abomination upon this fair earth. I will spend my life removing those who try to cheat my Goddess."
An inquisitor rests when they are dead. Valeria Veilwarden has spent most of her short career on the road, travelling between troubled spots as guided by her Goddess. Her early life was in a city far to the north, civilization she was never fully comfortable with. The cycle of life and death fascinated her as a child, and worried her parents to no end, but when she requested to join the temple of Pharasma they were glad their little girl would settle down.
Valeria's enthusiasm and bluntness got her quickly removed from the path of the cleric however, and in the temple barracks she was instilled with an undying hatred of the undead (geddit?) and the training to back it up. After four years she was deemed ready and sent out into the world, receiving only sparse communications from her church as to where undead may be.
Her last letter arrived just a week ago informed her of troubles in Perdition's point. Ghosts, spectres, kidnappings... purple wood? All the earmarks of, well. Valeria doesn't know, but it sounds bad. Sending one last message to her parents she gathers her possessions and heads south. Undead will be killed. Rekilled. Unkilled. Removed.
I'll throw my hat into the ring here. I'll put a character up later, but I'm thinking a paladin/cleric/inquisitor of Erastil. (One of, not a hideous multi-class.) Either working with the pastor, or the banner of the stag.
Right. Headed towards more group, less solo today. I figure the start at least will split it into two groups. Also today, maybe even combat! Can Morris's knuckledusters succeed against overwhelming odds? Will Amy ever know true love? Will Jusuf learn the true meaning of Christmas?
Probably none of these things and more today.
Morris has nothing yet. I figure Jack may invite him along to the meeting, otherwise feel free to mug homeless people.
Also Jef once you're no longer busy put a shout up here and I'll give you your info.
Yup, Irnk's hit the nail on the head before I've even seen it.
Mechanically you suggest are basically making a skill roll, with each success getting glamour, with one extra if it's a court emotion. You suggest which attribute and skill you'd like to pair together, and I'll tell you if that'll work.
Composure and Empathy would be a good one for sadness. Manipulation and subterfuge could work for a variety of emotions as you draw them out of your victim.
Also if you have points in harvest for the relevant type (Harvest has to be typed to a certain type of glamour harvesting) you get a bonus die on the roll for each point. IE harvest emotions 1 gives you one bonus die to harvest emotions.
Sounds very interesting, yessireebob. Got room for one more? I have no idea what I'd like to play, or what I want, or anything! But I love roleplay heavy games. Sign me up, Scotty?
Lord Jeremiah gifted those forthcoming with information with a smile.
"I don't do promises like you guys do. If stuff happens then so be it, but it's easier for us to work together, trust me."
Turning back to 'Jack', he coughs, scratching the back of his head. Clearly a sore spot had been touched upon. "I, uh, can't remember the exact wording. It's not exactly my area of expertise, and I prefer to keep to the intent anyway. Let's see now, we spilled a drop of blood each, shook hands, and I swore on my name to not reveal the identity of my client in any way, nor give information that would strongly indicate who they were, or who they align themselves with."
Jeremiah bit his pale lip, thinking. "I gather telling you they are a changeling does not strongly indicate who they were, as only you lot use pledges like that. But this one only lasts for a week formally."
Standing up, Jeremiah brushed a fingertip over his eyelids, closing them slowly. "I don't do this often, so no promises on results." he nearly whispers, all traces of humour gone now.
When he opens his eyes, they flash briefly. He looks from each other person in the room slowly, looking at their shadows, and their shape. He speaks about each one, describing their mask as best he can, as well as some sort of 'aura' that hangs on each of you. He claims that some of you are easier to read than others- but amongst your auras he sees a great deal of silver, light green, dark blue and some gray. Sadness, suspicion, distrust. At the very least he identifies your court's primary emotion, assigning it a colour.
Interestingly, he doesn't quite describe everyone's mask. When he comes to Leon and then Terrance, he describes their Mien, rather than their mask. He does so in a matter-of-fact voice.
At the end he sits down, and pushes his folder across the table for anyone who wants it. "Satisfied? I can do more tricks if want. Backflips, maybe?" he asks sarcastically.
@shadowyfox you're missing one skill point in your social skills, and one animal ken specialty as given by your beast seeming. And I think you have an xp point left over from buying merits. Oh, and you need to specify if your hollow points are in size, wards, doors or amenities. But those are small things, everything else is all good. I like your mien especially.
Alright, we're all good to go. I'll put up an intro post over the next few hours, and we'll be all sweet to start!
Hokay, so we're almost all good. ShadowyFox needs to post his sheet up in the discussion page, but other than that we're good. I'll put up an intro post tomorrow,here's hoping. The first bit will be general talking to each other and such, so just drop in when/if you're ready.
Don't worry too much about needing a combat guy. Think of it as a way to creatively think your way in or around combat- running where necessary, setting up ambushes or luring them to actual fighters.
That and if necessary you can always push your combat skills up with a little xp if fights are getting too much.
Well, I did plan to have you guys fight a credible combat threat. Just... at the moment that's not so much a horrible ogre as a mugger with a knife. :P
@ShadowyFox righo-then, just settle on your specialties and spend xp and you should be right to go. (You might want to rehost a character sheet that you can edit yourself)
The discussion thread is now up, if your character is done then please put your character up there and we can get this show on the road
EDIT: aand I just noticed the entire party has a single point of firearms between them. And about 3 in weaponry. That's... impressive.
Your choice on which dual kith you want. If it's in your seeming (Beast) it's two points, or three for a kith outside your seeming. If you buy the two, take you can also have a point in resources.
5 xp. Also missing your specialties and your bonus three dot merits, along with what your hollows are actually in. I have no idea what to give you, honestly. Any preference? Dual Kith, maybe? Or an extra dot of Wyrd.
@ShadowyFox Prelim character sheet? Feel free to change any/all of that around, the in particular the merits and contracts, which are much easier to pick with fluff in mind. And apologies if it's completely terrible. Also I didn't spend your xp >.> This making character things is tricky.
@Magnum Swap away!
@ Peanuts I'll give him a writeup in the persona list, if you like.
@Wolfman I make no assurances, but if that line occurs in play I will give xp for it.
Leon Armitage (Peanuts)- Mentor ooo (Greg, the Ogre)
Amy Lee Tanner (KatsuneSage)Harvest o Token oo (Hedgespun raiment: armor.) The mien of this lightly woven garment is of a gown made entirely from spider silk, but from some beastly spider, for the strands look metallic and glint in the light. The mask disguises this as a bright white fencing uniform, though it's protective power is much greater.
Terrence Parker(Whack-a-Rogue)|Fast Reflexes oo, Hollows o (Put this one wherever you want)
Morris Ashad (Magnum) Contacts oo (Courtless) Allies o (Courtless)
Jack Marshall (Wolfman) | Hollows ooo (again, spend these as you wish.)
'Jack' (Irnk) | New identity ooo (Add these to the points you already have)
Unless you really think something else is more suitable, then enjoy your bonus merits, and go post your full character sheet on the discussion page!
Discussion thread! For ease, your first post should be your character's full sheet or a link to it.
Notable Persona Sheet Additional sheets will be added to the campaign info as necessary.
Posting guidelines are pretty much as you'd find on other campaigns. Bold your speech, italics for thoughts, and try to restrain OOC remarks to the discussion rather than the play thread. (But if they're witty one liners go ahead with it.)
Posting would be greatly appreciated every 48 hours or so. If you have to be away drop me a message and let us know. if you don't post for a week or so I'll assume you died and have your character killed by thunderbolts. It's how they would have wanted to go. Either way I reserve the right to move characters along the plot rather than keep everyone waiting (Especially given the large party size.) Combat should be a once a day post, because otherwise it'll take years, I tell you. Any issues with this? I can run it slower or faster if enough people so wish.
Whoops, sorry about those permissions. Try that link again, it should now work. Winter's up and there, I'll add to the rest of them as I name them. (That's the worst bit.)
ShadowyFox, if you want I can put the sheet together. If you know which bits of the sheet you definitely want (Like seeming or Kith, were you thinking a beast Hunterheart?) let me know, otherwise I think I have an idea of where you should be.
Gameplay wise I'll wait on ShadowyFox to post his character, then I'll assign everyone their extra merits at once. We can start then, although Umbral Reaver and possibly my friend may join, in which case we'll just slot them in to wherever we're up to. Either way shouldn't take too long.
I'll put up a who's who of the important figures in the Freehold, and a few outside it. Later today or tomorrow.
If you have any suggestions for things you'd like to see in the game, or secondary systems I should be paying attention to in particular (Pledging, dream combat, that sort of thing) let me know and I'll try work them in.
Double Jacks is fine with me. There might even be more!
@ Irnk You seem to be missing your fourth point of Contract: Dream on that lits. Otherwise looks all good.
Strangely enough there don't seem to be any summer court members so far. I mean it's a terrible town for them to be in, but opportunity! Maybe one of the next sign-ups might take one.
Speaking of which, I'll give the others until roughly Sunday (my time, GMT +10) before I throw it open to the later pair. But if you're here, you're all good.
@Peanuts I'm honestly finding that a little surprising, but not unpleasantly so. Still, watch out for muggers :P
@Terrence those tie in nicely with your mirrorskin kith, I notice. Winter at this moment would really enjoy someone with those talents. No worries with the hollow, you will probably want to work out where that single entrance is.
@KatsuneSage It does seem unusual for parents to be expecting her return, but then again it was a specialized deal with a very different Keeper. I like your Keeper! I'm sure that deep down they're secretly a really nice person who let you go out of the goodness of their heart. Really.
@Everyone Don't forget that merit points in Hollows can be shared between the group, if you so wish.
Player List so far (Last category is my 2 word summary, and probably wrong):
(ShadowyFox)|Autumn
Leon Armitage (Peanuts)|Spring|Beast-Skitterskulk|Charismatic artist
Amy Lee Tanner (KatsuneSage)|Winter|Wizened-Oracle|Abandoned student (?)
Terrence Parker(Whack-a-Rogue)|Winter|Darkling-Mirrorskin|Fantastic Thief
Morris Ashad (Magnum) | Courtless (Margrave of the Brim)|Darkling-Gravewright| Streetwise Youth (?)
Jack Marshall (Wolfman) |Winter|Fairest-Draconic| Sherlock Smaug. Smaug: PI. Smaug Holmes. (I'll... stop.)
'Jack' (Irnk) | Courtless | Seeming-less, kith-less | Plain-faced Oneiromancer
@Irnk Background's perfectly fine by me. Jack's keeper sounds deliciously interesting. Take that as you will. That and someone with no kith or seeming would be able to find good work with a number of people in the city. Roughly how old does he look?
Bonus merit wise I'm strongly tempted to throw another 3 points into his new identity to make his past a complete enigma. Thoughts on that?
@Wolfman That's a pretty traumatic backstory there. Being dead/dying for that long sounds horrific... but the fact that he can't remember that, and his sorrow comes from wishing to return, that is damn fine as a concept.Is your fetch also in Detroit, by my reading?
Rules wise, seperation is fine, though I can't help but imagine that 'tread lightly' actually just involves you flapping your arms and shouting "I'm a dragon!" Oh, and you're a merit point down. Joining a court gives you a dot in that mantle for free, so unless you've used some to buy wyrd, which you haven't, then your total should be 8.
Woah, this was a pleasant surprise to wake up to, let me tell you. Then I press refresh and there's more and... right.
@KatsuneSage I like the concept of being the first-born given away by greedy parents. I presume this means you have no fetch, but what did your parents say about your sudden disappearance, and your reappearance; likewise how did you friends treat you? Also how did you meet up with the winter court? Rules wise you seem all good! Your bonus at this stage will likely be a token, and possibly a point of harvest (Now why would your keeper give you that...?) . Thoughts on that?
@Terrence Parker What sort of terrible things did you have to suffer in Arcadia, especially to cause the clarity drop you have there? As with KatsuneSage, how you met your court would be useful as well. And you seem to have 9 points in contracts...? EDIT: Wait, I get it now. Herp a derp for me. Disregard that point. EDIT AGAIN: Also you need to decide what your hollow merit is in. Is it in size, wards, amenities, or doors (Protip: Put it in size or wards)
@MagnumCPA Very solid character write-up there, can't really ask for much more there. Your bonus merits at this stage will almost certainly cover allies and contacts, to create the 'knows-a-guy' vibe.
@Irnk Yup, if it's interesting then go ahead and use it! Reading up on the other court systems... There would be a small directional court practised amongst the Asian changeling populace, but they have neither power nor numbers, nor any form of recognition. The Day/night courts are practically unheard of. Dawn/Dusk looks very interesting, and both look like they'd be popular in this hellhole city. The nearby city Dearborn has a Dawn/Dusk court- maybe you could expand on behalf of them?
@Peanuts switch away, nothing need be finalized until we start. Your Mien is your true form, and probably not the thing you want to show to normal humans. As for the tattoos if there isn't anything in the other sourcebooks I'm sure we could work something out. Perhaps you can craft them as tokens, as an initial suggestion.
@MagnumCPA There will probably be a fair deal of court goings-on to be had, but at the same time looking over that entitlement I can see it working nicely. For a start with Winter's current dominance you'd find more than a few changelings not even wanting in to the freehold, so I imagine there'd be quite an extensive Brim for you to 'enjoy'.
@Peanuts Interesting story, and nice hint on the mentor merit :P
Your specialty for crafts should probably be more specific than 'art', based on what you've got there I'd suggest painting as your initial one. I'd also suggest lust as your vice, as your charismatic animalistic personality seems to lead that way.
No points in animal ken? Unusual for a beast, but keep it that way if you want. Also, try and bring out your kith if you can. The bit where his body was used for a brush doesn't quite connect to an insect affinity. Maybe work that one through your mien?
@KatsuneSage Would you happen to have come with Whack-A-Rogue, or am I just really bad at working out who people are? The year is more or less now. Modern day, give or take.
@All Also if you could describe what your mien is that would be grand.
Room could be an interesting one; I'm still working on what party size to go for. On top of that a personal friend has expressed interest, but at least I can be rude to him! (In telling him we may or may not be full.)
I would love to have you in, Umbral Reaver, but it depends entirely on how many of these people follow through with their interest. I don't want to give you false hope, but by the same token check back on the thread in a week or so, and if the expressions to sign-ups aren't 1 to 1, I'll gladly have you in.
Detroit. A city of five hundred thousand souls, and a population nearly twice that. It is a dying city. The car industry has moved out. Now it is a city with a massive crime rate and racially segregated suburbs. There are thousands, tens of thousands of empty buildings and houses in this city. Trudging about the city with the memories of dance halls and factories now turned into crumbling buildings, the people of this city live on the edge.
Living atop the misery and constant sirens is a diverse supernatural community, all too eager to take advantage of the perfect hunting ground. It is here that you find yourselves.
It has been three months now since you escaped from your Keeper. Maybe you went home and saw some... thing... living your life in place of you, being you better than you could ever be. Maybe once you got out you abandoned your old life entirely, settling in here with the others. In the end though, you found yourself here in the city. Ever since you were captured (if you can even remember that),you have found yourself changing, becoming less and less human. In hope or desperation, you found the changeling Courts, and others who had also been kidnapped, and escaped. At least now you have people who believe you.
Three days ago you awoke from an unusual dream; one you can recall with perfect clarity. You were back in Arcadia, and your keeper was before you. They took your hand and pressed their thumb into the back of it. 'Take care now.' they whispered. When you awoke, you found a number on the back of your hand. '10'. Perhaps you passed it off as a poor joke, but it wasn't harmful. But then you awoke the next day and found it had changed to a 9...
That's not all. Nobody else can see your number. Not even the other changelings. But you can see theirs, and the number of every living being you come into contact with. All of them have the number '10', and with each day it will go down.
Still, knowing people helps. Gathering rumours from between courts, a Lord Jeremiah has arranged a meeting. So on the massive floor room of an abandoned factory, you meet with the others who can see the numbers. Your numbers are all 8. Everyone else's, a 9. Your days are numbered.
This recruitment is reserved for those who have already expressed interest
Welcome to this world of darkness game: Changeling: The Lost. Pretty much everything I wanted to express plot wise I listed up above, so... creation guidelines!
Characters will be created using the standard creation methods. (Isn't that fun?) . You are fresh from the thorns, and so start with no bonus xp. Feel free to sell off clarity for XP as is usual, but make sure to justify it in story.
Backstory should be fairly detailed, but not an epic saga. Try for 2-3 paragraphs, remembering the following questions.
-Who was your keeper, and what were they like?
-What was your time in Arcadia spent doing?
-What have you done since you got out?
-Did you see your fetch? Did you kill it... or will you?
Courts in Detroit:
Detroit is solidly a winter court, with the Winter King ruling pretty much all year, with a single season allowed over to Autumn. Spring is tolerated, oddly enough, and duely respected except when it comes to the ruling crown. After a large purge a few years back, the upper echelons of Summer have been banned from entering the city or attending court. Evidence suggests a large number of loyalists were within their ranks, but how trustworthy that evidence was is up for debate. Lower ranking Summer courtiers are still free to do as they please, and the Winter King appears to be searching for a more negotiable leadership to deal with.
Once you have finished your sheets and backstory, I'll go through them and give you each roughly 3 dots worth of merits to better reflect your character. They might be unusual choices or something that isn't overly powerful, but more to give you some more options to play with and encourage a diverse character. Or, I don't know. I haven't got the core book with me at this moment.
Any questions, toss them to me. I haven't got any of the extra sourcebooks, but if you wish to use them I'll borrow them from a friend. Make sure to quote the page and book if you do.
I will never not sign up for world of darkness games.
I've been tracking mostly nWoD for a goodly while, and have played in quite a few games. (Including one entirely homebrew system. To give you an idea of my friends.)
I'm quite eager to play, and hell, I'd even be willing to be the ST. I haven't had massive experience ST-ing in WoD, but I have GM'd elsewhere in other bizarre games. If you'd prefer a more experienced ST though, I'm happy to just play.
For those of you curious the DM said he was headed on a week long camping trip a few days back. Not sure what that means day wise, but if you're wondering why he hasn't finished picking, there y'are.
I'll second Thrusk's thanks at being picked. This game has an incredible concept behind it and I look forward to seeing where it ends up.
The guidelines as posted are entirely sensible for a pbps. These are by nature entirely different to real life games- the more rolls that can be done passively or at once (as in combat) are better- I'd much rather have someone roll my checks and possibly even my saving throws if it saves time. Having to slow combat down to a few days for a single round sucks.
I've still hardly looked at stats for the character. I guess it's harder not knowing how many points of anything. I was thinking of dropping wisdom down, but raising int (probably 2 points both ways)- I see Riley as well educated, but lacking in judgement and still out of touch with life outside the palace.
So at this stage I'm wondering what I can add to Riley. I'd love to expand on him as much as possible, but I don't want to bloat it either. That and I'd by lying if I said I wasn't going for the maximum bonuses, which is a very good encouragement to flesh characters out.
At some stage in the distant future I'd assign personalities and brief histories of the entire royal family, if'n it pleases the court, but I don't imagine we'll see them for a while. Meanwhile Riley's start game is isolated from everything he's known, and with all these... lesser races... about him. Should be fun/racist.
Passing through the rotting gates of the small town, the Human guard sneers at you with an upturned nose, obviously showing arrogance. He has a broadsword belted to his waist, one hand resting atop the worn hilt, waiting for one wrong move. The Half-orc on the other side of the gate keeps a straight face, his lower canines protruding up from his lip almost up to his nose, hair tied back in a ponytail. He holds no weapon that you can see, but his long dark cloak could hide something from your eye.
Immediately inside the gate, a small building with a cloth for a door sits on the right side, the building obviously in need of repairs from the sagging roof and missing door, the hinges holding a small sliver of wood. Across, to the left, is a small alleyway, horse dung fills the air. Peering down the alleyway you can see a wooden fence and hear a horse eating some grain. Much closer however, sits the stable, a hole in the one of the pens shows this place to be in even worse repair than the shack on the right.
Deeper into the town, a few lights from windows give just enough illumination to navigate the rocky road without stumbling. Just at the edge of your vision you see a hanging sign, this building gives off slightly more light than the surrounding ones, but you still quite cannot make out what is depicted on the sign.
Sample text:
"Here we are my prince, your new palace for a few days. We've had it specially prepared for you." His personal minder Jayne winked at the half-orc guard and let out a raucous laugh. "We tried to get you a nice underground hole, but that'll have to wait. Might as well enjoy the fresh air while you can. Eyes watering from the stench wafting in, Riley just bowed his head and bit back his reply. The bruises across his body formed a sinister type of calender, marking the erosion of his pride. Meekness cost nothing, and kept the pain away- and so he had come to embrace it.
Is this how our nation is? he thought to himself, straining his eyes to pick details from the town like a starving crow would pick at a long dead body. Lights in windows flickered as children peered out, and were dragged away by their parents, either unwilling to be seen taking an interest or just embedding into their children the sense of apathy the place reeked of.
With a nod of his head and a raised eyebrow, Riley caught Jayne's attention. Inquisitiveness was rarely encouraged, but they could hardly make his life worse. He jutted his jaw towards the brighter building, and the unreadable sign.
Jayne snorted, and called the cart to a halt. "The local magistrate is there. As you can see, he shines brightest by our will."
"The empire's will should spare more tallow." Riley replied absently.
There was a loud thump and a soft whimper as Jayne casually drove his boot into Riley's stomach. "You were doing so well too. Teach you to ruin my metal-forks." With a snap of his fingers the cart pulled forward once more, each bump sending shards of pain through Riley's body. "Cheer up, boy. Not far to your fine bed now."
Somehow Riley doubted his bed would something he'd enjoy.
