Marcus Kingston's page

Marcus is forced to agree that this place is also fancier than he's used to, but he doesn't feel that it's so fancy as to warrant comment. He nods mutely and takes a seat. He makes pleasantries with the Dean for a bit, but he also wants to ask a question before too many people who were not at the will reading arrive. If there's a moment where only the Dean and Oliver, Malcolm, and Howard are present, he'll seize it; if not, he'll take the closest he can get.

"I must say, Dean Harrow, that there seems to be quite a bit of mystery surrounding what Professor Farnwright was researching, at the last. It seems that many of us have been given a responsibility of furthering the research, but we've hardly been told to what purpose! You were a friend and colleague: Can you illuminate the matter for us? Anything you know might be helpful."

No worries. Marcus collects what he can, and then he doesn't have anything to do until the wake.

You’ve gleaned just about everything there is to learn from these sites, so I’ll give you some time to react, and then move to the private wake with the Dean.

So, I understand what you're saying here, but I just want to confirm that Marcus has no way of telling where these numbered "sites" are. Is that correct?

Marcus is forced to acknowledge a feeling of being affronted from having this work dropped in his lap, but that feeling soon fades when he's presented with the mystery of what Professor Farnwright was working on. Where are these internment sites? Are they all from the same region and/or time period? What is the connection between them? And containment is an issue?

Marcus copies what he thinks is relevant into his own notes from anything he's not allowed to take with him. When he's done, he tries to find the person who escorted him to the room or the lady manning the front desk. He'll question them for any context regarding Farnwright's work. Do they know what he was researching? Do they know of anyone else he collaborated with?

Assuming he doesn't get any further answers, he wonders if the Dean of Columbia University can elucidate him.

Marcus, how do we as players (not necessarily your character) know that this Athenaeum is the real deal with regards to their collection of occult tomes and artifacts with real power? Also, feel free to give me Anthropology and Library Use rolls while you're at the Athenaeum.

AS the Atenaeum's staff escorts Marcus to the Professor's locked room, Marcus feels the gazes of the other scholars when they look up from their work or halt their hushed conversations. They are not judging him, per se, but he can feel that the gazes are weighing him. 'Who is this stranger?' they ask. 'What secrets does he hope to find or what discoveries does he strive for?'

Marcus evaluates these men and women in return, and can nearly taste their quiet confidence and their aura of worldliness. Surely, these people know things that they can only share with select others... and they gather here to expand and share their knowledge.

What wonders are hidden in these myriad pages along these weathered shelves? Indeed, what will Marcus uncover today?

Anthropology 36%: 1d100 ⇒ 39
Library Use 55: 1d100 ⇒ 95

Can I spend 3 points of luck to succeed on that Anthropology roll?

Sorry for the delay on my part. We still have family in town for the holidays, so I have commitments related to that. Hopefully I'll be able to post tonight.

Marcus is more interested in attending the wake he was just invited to instead of the duty foisted upon him by the will. Perhaps if there's time after the wake, he'll work it in before the committal, since the wake isn't very far from Midtown. If he sees the opportunity to travel with one of the people present, he'll take it.

"Strange." Marcus places his hand on the doorframe to steady himself. "I'm not feeling well. I'd attribute it to stress, but it seems like I'm not the only one."

Where is this wake in relation to the committal?

Flashback - one final question for the lawyer before we leave: were there any provisions for if any of the four of us refused the duties assigned to us in the will? It's more of a point of curiosity for Marcus, but I won't delay any by roleplaying it out.

Sanity 85%: 1d100 ⇒ 74

Marcus is used to feeling too big for the space he's in. His steps are often slow and ponderous. Is this feeling of claustrophobia induced by the mysterious circumstances of the Professor Farnwright's death? Marcus' role in these post-mortem activities? His senses seem dulled; what could be causing it?

Marcus ruminates for several moments before reaching a conclusion.

"Well, there's no point in talking around a mystery that I don't even understand. The will states that we are to make assertions based on the material left to all of us, in whole, not in part.

"What about the rest of you?"

Marcus' mouth opens and closes several times as he tries to understand the context his letter. He folds it and places it on the conference table in front of him, resting his hand atop.

After a moment, he asks the executor at the head of the table, "How long ago did Dr. Franwright write that will?"

Marcus can speak with Dr. Keats to introduce himself and get the location of her practice on campus for later interrogation, should you wish to do so. Don't have to play that conversation out fully.

Understood, thank you! I'll keep that contact in my pocket for now.

Leaving the stuffy building behind, Marcus' sigh of relief turns into a pre-emptive sigh of exhaustion as he considers that he now has to make his way halfway across Manhattan. He's no stranger to walking, but it's so far away! Providence is a sensible city, not this sprawling mass of urbanity.

To prepare himself for his journey, Marcus makes his way to a nearby coffee shop for a bit of caffeine and a light snack, and then he takes a taxi to the office of Cadwalder, Wickersham, &Taft.

Marcus wrote:

No rumors, even? And do you know this detective's name, perhaps? I don't suppose he's present.

Dr. Clarke pulls you aside, away from the main group of people, and speaks more conspiratorially at a lower volume.

"Oh, there are plenty of rumors. Murdered by a rival archaeologist, poisoned himself with too much alcohol, even the old boring heart attack. No one really knows exactly what happened, besides perhaps the university's physician Dr. Miriam Keats, or the detective, Inspector Thomas Harker. Dr. Keats is here as a member of the faculty that was particularly close to the professor, and Inspector Harker is here presumably to case the funeral, see if whoever did it showed up to gloat or the like."

Dr. Clarke will point out both individuals to Marcus. Harker is hanging around at the back wall, not interacting with anyone and instead just observing, while Keats is mingling with the other professors around the refreshments table.

Faced with the reality of confronting the detective while the man was on the hunt for a suspect, Marcus immediately disregards the notion of questioning Inspector Harker.

Instead, he examines Dr. Keats. It seemed uncouth to question her about the professor's death in a crowd, but perhaps if he bumped into her while she was alone. Marcus makes a bit of small talk with Dr. Clarke, asking her about her life at Columbia while he brings up any comparisons or contrasts with life at Brown. Eventually, he'll thank her for the conversation and move on.

If it's potentially worthwhile for Marcus to talk to the doctor, that's great. If not, I'm fine with Marcus being done for now.

Marcus:

Marcus finds a colleague of the Professor's, Dr. Alice Clarke of Geology. "Ah, a fellow academic." she says, seeming more at ease with Marcus once she knows he's a professor as well. "Ah, unfortunately the police are keeping things hush hush, all very secretive. He must've been doing something very, very intriguing, is all I have to say about it." You get the idea that she is much more interested in the gossip of circumstances rather than his actual death. Must've not been very close to the Professor and only here on behalf of professionalism.

"If you want some actual details, and you should, then I imagine the detective is the place to start. Haven't talked to him myself, so I can't be sure he'll even talk to you."

Marcus is able to relax a bit himself when he realizes that Dr. Clarke isn't especially emotional about being here.

"Ah, the secrecy must be why I haven't heard anything. That is intriguing. No rumors, even?

"And do you know this detective's name, perhaps? I don't suppose he's present."

Marcus uses his height to do a quick scan of the crowd if Dr. Clarke names or describes the detective.

Okay, if my skill list is using the wrong edition, then can I make the following updates:

Bargain -> Appraise

Reputation -> Law

This means I've got one free personal skill (since Law was one of them). I'll change that from Law to Science(Mechanics). That's the science of how things move, stress and strain, how buildings fail, that sort of thing.

The skill sheet also doesn't mention my personal skills, just my occupation skills. It's on my character sheet: Occult 25, Archaeology 20, History 25, Law 25 -> Science(Mechanics) 20.

Okay, those changes make sense. Sorry for missing the second section on your alias. You have two History skills! Architecture History could be pretty useful if we go traipsing around old buildings, and then it looks like you also have a more general History understanding.

I'm not trying to force you to change your character, just curious about the two skills I didn't recognize.

Ah luck... couldn't be me...

No, that's good! Remember, you need to roll below your skill score!

Ha! With that roll, it looks like Ms. Warden just fell in love.

Marcus is used to having to maneuver his bulk in crowded spaces, but this room seems especially oppressive. To distract himself, he looks for someone to start a conversation with, and even though his eavesdropping has indicated that Professor Farnwright's colleagues don't know much about his manuscript or cause of death, maybe there's some context that's obvious to everyone and so isn't spoken of. He shoulders his way to a likely group of colleagues.

"Um, hello, Dr. Kingston, Brown University. My condolences, of course. I knew Elias rather distantly, I'm afraid, so I hadn't heard anything about this manuscript the dean mentioned. His final work, perhaps? Also, forgive my ignorance, but I still don't know how he passed. I was hoping

to learn a few details?"

I used the list from the Obsidian Portal. But perhaps it uses a previous edition?

Yes, I looked it up, and 6th edition used Bargain, so that's probably what you saw on the Obsidian Portal site.

Here is Chaosium's official character sheet, which lists the 7th edition skills.

I sat down to convert my PDF character sheet to my alias, but I got distracted comparing our skills on a spreadsheet.

Our skills!

I don't see any major overlaps that are concerning. I'd say we're a pretty well-rounded group.

Vandermeer, you have two skills that I didn't recognize, however: Bargain and Reputation. Where did they come from?

Spot Hidden 25%: 1d100 ⇒ 2

Marcus can smell the earthy aroma coming from the coffin as it is carried past, even from his spot further away from the main aisle. He furrows his brow in confusion, but any rumination about the strange smell eventually fades into the background as he listens to the dean's moving speech and then the numerous other mourners who rise to eulogize the professor. Marcus can only hope that he is able to have a similar impact on his students and colleagues in his career.

"We now invite all gathered to join the family in the university’s Great Hall for a brief reception before the procession to the Trinity Church Cemetery down the road. Please rise and let's make our way over there for a celebration of life." The crowd assembled in the chapel begin to gather their belongings and start the journey next door to the Great Hall.

Marcus waits a few moments for the others in his pew to stand and leave before he slowly does the same. He follows the crowd to the reception. He considers trying to start up a conversation with one of Professor Farnwright's former colleagues or perhaps even the dean himself, but self-conscious thoughts about how he can't really explain why he was invited to Columbia rise up, and he avoids conversation. Instead, he tries to overhear any of said colleagues talking about the dean's speech. It sounded like the professor died under unusual circumstances? Maybe he can gain some context regarding that.

Glad to have everyone here already! First things first I usually create a discord server for all the games I'm running because it's easier to access me there when I'm away from my PC. Feel free to join! Invite link

Hello! I've joined the Discord, and I'll check it, but I've never found the appreciation for that site that others have, so most of my communication will still be in this Discussion thread, unless something changes. Can you keep a link to it on the Campaign Info tab or the header?

Regarding changes and such, I do wish I could give you genuine advice as to the 'meta' skills or what have you, but as I am learning the system myself I cannot do so. The first few posts I am sure will just be flavor and setting the scene/introducing yourselves, so you have a couple of days to finalize the finer character choices.

I am not by any means an expert, but I did come across this Reddit post about Coc characters recently, and it feels like good advice:

Survival isn't really the goal in a Cthulhu game, revelation and role playing are. That said, spreading your skills thin in the hope you can at least attempt to do anything is not a good strategy. Characters should have at least a few skills they're 60+ in. If it were me I'd want 1 interpersonal skill up that high, 1 detection skill up that high (e.g. Psych, Listen, Spot, Stealth) and 1 knowledge skill up that high (includes the repairs etc). I lump combat skills (and dodge) with tactical support skills like drive auto and first aid and physical skills like climb, jump etc. Find a reason to be good at something that helps in a physical situation

Before we begin in earnest, I'd like to go over a bit of the expectations I'd like all of us to have for this game. Just to be sure we're all on the same page. I mentioned a few of these in the recruitment, but just want to flesh it all out a bit more.

I am using the Call of Cthulhu ruleset and will be sticking to a lot of the general vibes the rules and setting lend themselves to, but the game will be taking place in a separate setting away from the big names of Cthulhu and the like. Don't expect the cosmic horror to take the same familiar forms you might be used to!

I also mentioned the content warning in the recruitment, and I just want to reinforce the idea that this will not be the typical heroic adventure most games on here are. I will not actively try to kill your characters (unless they do something or go somewhere they shouldn't), but you should expect harm and loss of life to both you guys and anyone in the story. Violence, fear, gore, death, children under threat, all sorts of nasty business. If there are any specific triggers or limits you'd like to avoid, best to let me know ahead of time and I'll see what I can do to accommodate it.

Other than that, I expect to have my opening post up this evening, and I'm glad to be gaming with you all!

Thanks, I appreciate the content warning. I'm usually okay with all of those, although some of them squig me out (but that's part of the point of a game like this). The only thing I don't like to participate in -- and it seems unlikely to happen in this game from what you've said -- is sexual encounters involving my PC. If they happen, I prefer they happen off-screen.

Other than that, I'm excited to get going!

Marcus bustles through the cold toward the chapel entrance, consciously choosing to not compare the Columbia campus to Brown. He nods at one of the attendants to acknowledge them for their service and steps inside. He chooses a pew in the middle. Not too far forward, since he's conscious of his height and bulk blocking the view of those sitting behind him, but he doesn't sit in the back, because why should he? He's not a second-class citizen.

Finally, he sits in the center of the center pew he's chosen, because it's least likely that he'll be expected to stand up again to let someone move by or to move further in. With a loud sigh he doesn't even notice anymore, he lets his bulk lower to the cushioned wooden bench, and he relishes in the relative warmth of the chapel and the fact that he's off his feet.

He takes a look around at the other mourners to see if there's anyone interesting to look at.

I'm also still not sure which alias picture I'll use:

- This is the one that I'm leaning towards right now, because he's young enough and wearing period-appropriate clothing, maybe.
- This one is too old, but otherwise has all the right characteristics as I picture them.
- And this one has the right attitude, but he's wearing fantasy garb.

I decided to go with Grigori from Kingmaker. Please ignore the fantasy hat.

The two useful (I think) skills I'm seeing that none of us has thrown points into are:

First Aid - but the base is 30% so maybe that's not a big deal?

Psychoanalysis - this skill is good for helping people recover Sanity points over time. For the folks with CoC experience... is this a useful skill or do you normally hire a psychologist to treat folks that are about to crack? IF this is a good skill to take, my character went through intensive therapy so it could make sense that he picked up this skill. I'm happy to shuffle some points around to give us better than 1% chance on this. What do you think?

All of my CoC games have been mostly on-shots, almost as if CoC PCs are disposable, because everyone is likely to lose sanity sooner or later. I've rarely seen psychoanalysis used, but my experience may be different than standard.

I think that we should identify any skill overlaps before worrying overly much about any gaps. But also, it's been my experience that there are so many skills and not enough skill points to go around that there will almost always be gaps.

Hi team!

Here's the alias that I'll use for Marcus, and I'll work on getting the character sheet moved from the PDF I linked to in the Recruitment thread to this alias. (But it is a busy time of year, so...)

I'm also still not sure which alias picture I'll use:
- This is the one that I'm leaning towards right now, because he's young enough and wearing period-appropriate clothing, maybe.
- This one is too old, but otherwise has all the right characteristics as I picture them.
- And this one has the right attitude, but he's wearing fantasy garb.

Anyway, as I said in the Recruitment thread, I'm also playing in a real life CoC game currently. I don't get to play RPGs in-person very much at all these days, so when my friend said he was going to start a game, I jumped in. However, our first game was a Delta Green game, and our current game uses the actual CoC ruleset, but it's set in the mid-2000s decade. Both games are fun, but I've been really craving the 1920s setting. So, I'm looking forward to this game!

I agree with the assertion that this is a team sport, so I'm open to discussing any adjustments to my PC. But the intent is that Marcus is a History and Library Use guy, with a specialty in Egyptology, but I also made sure he can use a shotgun without hurting himself and that he knows how to throw a punch. I expect he'll go down fast if he's ever in a one-on-one confrontation, but fortunately, CoC doesn't have to be that sort of game. (And he'll probably save everyone else's life when running from a threat, because he's the slowest!)