The young male student Toni has been speaking with scoffs, exchanging glances between his companions before turning back to her. "The police? And what would we tell them exactly? That we think an evil spirit has murdered our professor? Even if it didn't sound totally insane, what proof would we be able to give them? No way, we're not getting the police involved. And the church? Pfft. These spirits are older than their religion. They'd probably just as soon write us off as lunatics. Especially since we aren't exactly the tithing type."
He smirks slightly at this last statement. "Naw... the thing to do is to bury this thing and never go back to it. Ever."
"Spirit? You mean all that occult stuff that Lucas was always talking about is real? I thought it was just mythology and folklore. What makes you think a spirit killed him?" asks Toni. She crosses herself and holds her rosary.
The youths exchange glances, finally culminating in a round of shrugs. "Weird stuff started happening the night before he died. Lights going out, electronics malfunctioning. It happened to all of us, and Michelle said she could hear voices," he indicates the heavily-pierced female, who looks down at the floor when mentioned.
Toni looks back at the other, older alumni of Professor Stampf's courses, then boards the bus with the younger ones. During the bus ride, she will engage in small talk with the women, trying to overcome their initial bad reaction.
When she has a chance, she will introduce herself to the spokesman of the group, the one who ran out of the funeral. "Hi, I'm Toni Morena. I took Professor Stampf's courses several years ago. Why did his death cause so much excitement? There was nothing to indicate anything other than a natural death, was there?" The last said with her eyes going wide and a worried expression on her face.
One of the other males responds to Toni's inquiry. "Nah... the official report is a heart attack or some s@@$. But we know better. Stampf was into some dark s@@#, lady. Evil s*#&. We thought it was cool and all but..." he trails off shaking his head.
The first youth, the one Toni had spoken with outside the funeral home, chimes in. "Stampf ran an occult studies group after hours. Attendance was pretty light... hell, you're looking at most of the attendees right here. At first we thought it was cool, talking about spirits from beyond and s~&+ like that. Then we started getting into the rituals... and sacrifices... never people, though. Nothing crazy like that. Cats and birds and stuff. And some of us started having these weird dreams. It scared some people off, but we wanted to know more... and Stampf did too. Eventually... we think he summoned up some kind of spirit that killed him."
The bosses are out of the country on business this week, leaving a 'to-do list' for me in their wake. Sorry for the lax update again. :(
Mr. Gage furrows his brow a bit in consideration of Doc's questioning. "Truth be told, I'm not certain how long ago he actually wrote it. He came to me about two weeks ago expressing the desire to draft a will and handed me the letter when we met to go over the details that weekend. That would've been about three days prior to his death, but again I am unsure if he had written it well in advance or not."
Meanwhile, the weeping woman sniffs and thanks Alex for his condolences, but remains otherwise silent as she draws a handkerchief from her handbag and dabs at her streaking mascara.
What's going on with Toni and the kids outside? Getting on the bus with them?
"The cause of death was determined to be a stroke brought on by a carotid embolism. Apparently the good professor's cholesterol was dangerously high, even if he appeared in otherwise good health. His physician had advised him several years ago to reduce his intake. I suppose he didn't listen... or perhaps he didn't care."
The attorney shrugs. "As for my contact information, here is my card," he produces a business card from his breast pocket, featuring an office phone number and general e-mail inquiry address.
The attorney offers a slight roll of his shoulder and gestures vaguely. "I'll answer what I can, though you understand that some information about my client may still be confidential, even posthumously."
The young man regards Toni coolly, his eyes wandering somewhat as he hears her plea. "Well... we're about to hop a bus back to the dorms but, ah... yeah, you can come along. Safety in numbers, right?" He smiles, regarding his companions who exhibit expressions ranging from disgust (the females) to elation (the other men).
Meanwhile, Doc and Garret ('Doc' & Doc) locate the professor's attorney packing up the sign-in book and a few miscellaneous condolence cards left behind as the crowd continues to depart, save only a single slightly weeping young woman still situated at the casket and a friend who waits patiently nearby.
"Something I can do for you gentlemen?" the attorney replies, looking up from his task.
Toni quickly hurries after the departing group. "Wait, please," she calls. "Do you know what's happening? This whole thing is so strange. Lucas never mentioned anything like this when we were together."
The youths exchange some looks of annoyance at Toni's query, but the one Alex had questioned smiles at her. "I wish I did know what was happening, lady. What I do know is that the Professor dropped dead for no apparent reason, and the rest of us aren't real eager to join him. He was into some deep spiritual s#+#, and I think it got the best of him. Trust me, the less you know, the safer you are."
Assume that, unless someone states that they don't want to, you all share relevant contact info with one another. No sense in dragging that process out. :) What's the next step? Going to follow the youths? Question more mourners? Talk to the Professor's attorney (he is still inside)?
Salvatore's agressive fraternizing seems to draw the attention of a few of the youths just outside the building, including two of the women in the group you all spotted inside.
"I... yeah, we were part of his study groups... but I don't recognize you. I'm Michelle," the heavily-pierced female says. "This is Tisha." She gestures to the dark-haired, heavyset girl with a diamond stud in her nose who responds with a curt nod.
Upon being offered the card, they both look at it quizzically and smile awkwardly. "I don't... think we need any kind of grief counseling, but thank you for the offer. Mostly we're just worried because..." Michelle glances around nervously before dropping her voice to a harsh whisper. "We think that whatever killed the professor might come looking for some of us next."
At this point, the youth with the cell phone Alex had been talking to joins the group and they all collectively begin walking down the street together, the two girls offering Salvatore a smile and wave as they depart.
You notice a tattoo on Michelle's wrist, a pentacle surrounded by seven rings. You also note faint scars near the tattoo. Intelligence + Medicine: 5d10 ⇒ (2, 8, 8, 3, 1) = 22. 2 successes. Possibly suicide attempt scars, but you aren't 100% certain.
"Trust me, man, the less you know, the safer you are," the youth says to Alex before walking away. Most of the attendees have begun to filter out of the funeral home at this point, and the boy joins up with the other young persons who all begin walking down the street as a group.
The youth raises an eyebrow at the mention of the Sevenfold Circle and shakes his head at the offered handhsake. "Naw, man. If you want to get together with the other Sevens, count me out. I've seen enough of that s!++, and I don't want to end up like Stampf. If you want to know more about it, pff... hold a seance." He chuckles wryly, raising a finger to Alex as he brings the cell phone back to his ear.
"I'm coming back to the apartment. We'll talk," he says before flipping the phone closed. "Nice meeting you, uh, Riven. Cool name."
Alex's calm demeanor seems to take the edge of the boy's hostility, though he still remains somewhat guarded. "Y-yeah. I guess you could say we were close. I'm in his 101 class. Or, well, I guess I was in his class. Not his class anymore, heh." He smiles nervously. "Me and some other students would hang out with him in private lectures after hours, talkin' about stuff. That's all. He was pretty cool for an old dude."
Alex makes his way across the parking lot to where the nervous youth paces back and forth along the hedgerow, speaking in harsh whispers to whoever is on the line.
Coming around the corner of a black SUV, he hears the last parts of a sentence "...the fifth! That means two more and then we're all f##@ed! I told you this was stupid! If you don't burn that s%&$ tonight, I will..." The young man cuts off at Alex's approach, eying him with irritation. Cupping his hand over the cell phone, he says flatly "What?"
Okay, a little confusion here as Azoun's latest post seems to contradict the one he made before that... is Alex approaching the agitated youth in the parking lot or not? And is anyone else going with him if he is?
You take stock of a few of the worried faces. All of them teenagers, three women and two men, plus the other male who fled the room. A few of them bear facial piercings, including one female who sports nearly a dozen of them, and they all have dark hair... a couple of them clearly artificially so.
When you exit the building, you notice the youth who had left before you on the far side of the parking lot with a cell phone to his ear, pacing and gesturing somewhat frantically though his conversation is inaudible at this range.
As you have the highest Occult rating in the group, I'm going to assume that you attended at least a couple of the meetings referenced by Professor Stampf. He held a very intimate study group that he called the 'Sevenfold Circle' after-hours. It was largely a sounding board for students interested in mysticism, the history of the occult, and the study of "magic" in the modern world. Back when you were in school, it was a novel sort of thing, but you noticed that Stampf's dedication and interest in the material seemed to intensify towards the end of your time there and the Circle developed into something of a minor cult amongst the younger students.
A few people in the crowd are visibly moved by Salvatore's speech, though the majority can muster little more than dumbfounded stares and quiet applause.
"Thank you for those words, Mr. Victoza. Assuming there is no one else who wishes to share..." Jonas lengthens the pause, scanning the room with his bespectacled gaze. I'm going to assume none of you want to make speeches now for the sake of expediency. "Very well then. I will now impart to you a post-mortem address, as dictated by the last will and testament of Professor Lucas Gregory Stampf."
Producing a piece of folded paper from his pocket, the lawyer cleared his throat and glanced around nervously before proceeding. "Gathered students, if you are hearing this message then I am dead. While many of you may be troubled by this fact, some of you, particularly my present students, I'm certain are quite relieved. Rest assured that my demise will provide you no leverage for reneging on your term papers. I've already seen to it that Professor Hamilton will fill my place seamlessly. You have been warned."
A few of the gathered students chuckle, a few sigh incredulously, most stand agape with disbelief at the premeditation of this event.
Jonas continues reading: "My death, while unfortunate, is not unexpected. Indeed, if it had been, I would not have the luxury of these auto-eulogies. Many of you have met me after-hours in the past. Some of you may have even attended some of the meetings we held in the private lecture halls in the evenings. Those of you who have will know what I am talking about when I say that those meetings must never be revisited. For the sake of your very souls, forget they ever happened and move on with your lives. Any further investigation in the matter... and you could very well end up writing your own post-mortem. Thank you all, and goodbye."
The cryptic warning hangs in the air like a palpable malice that silences the crowd. Many stare blankly, others scratching their heads in confusion. A scant few, however, widen their eyes with terror and begin whispering amongst one another. One of the younger students, a young man with flat black hair and only the beginnings of a beard, immediately stands and leaves the room at speed.
The professor's corpse is not remarkable in any particular way, though for some of those in attendance the scattered white hairs that adorned his beard were a new development. Whoever had groomed the body before display had done a commendable job with the makeup, making the Professor appear very much as he did in life, if a bit gaunt now in death.
As the assembled persons make their way to the seats (or, in many cases, the aisle), the severe-looking gentleman at the podium clears his throat.
"Thank you all for coming," the man spoke in a surprisingly deep baritone. "I'm sure many of you have a lot of questions, not the least of which may be the question of my identity. I am Jonas Gage, Professor Stampf's attorney and executor of his estate. The Professor willed me to invite all of his former students to his funeral services, but I suspected that only those who still lived in the surrounding areas would attend. Otherwise we would've needed a much larger funeral home."
Jonas managed a weak smile at his own attempt at humor. Someone in the audience suppressed a chuckle as well.
"As it stands, attendance was higher than I'd anticipated, but no matter. You are here now, and that was his dying wish. His family and colleagues have already attended a separate service earlier this morning. I did not want to add the press of a student crowd to the family's already-significant emotional stress."
The attorney seemed slightly uncomfortable at the size of the crowd arrayed before him, but maintained his composure as well as one might expect in such an unusual scenario.
"If any of you would like to share a few words at this time, the podium is open," he said, glancing around the room and adjusting his spectacles.
The funeral home staff opens up the hall to admit the assembled masses, though apologies are made at the shortage of available seating. A few familiar faces are seen floating around the crowd, all former classmates of yours and people you had seen around campus. Given the ages of the assembled and the topics of conversation floating around, it did not require much to deduce that all of the attendees were, in fact, former (and some possibly current) students of the Professor's.
The hall itself is spacious, for a funeral parlor, but not nearly enough to house the 50+ guests in attendance. Folding chairs had been set up in the walkway behind the established row seating to accommodate some overflow, but there would still be a dozen or so folks forced to stand in the aisles to the sides. The carpet is lush and deep red in color, the casket sitting at the front of the room accented by a similarly-colored velvet backdrop. Behind the folding chairs was the narrow remains of the walkway, providing a means to maneuver around the room as well as a small cherry-wood table with a sign-in book and memorial cards. At the podium towards the front of the room was a severe-looking man with spectacles in an expensive-looking suit, easily in his late 40s or older. Despite his stern countenance, however, he managed to smile and greet some of the attendees who approached.
The casket was indeed open, and even from the door it was evident that the body was indeed the Professor's. A few floral arrangements and condolence cards were displayed flanking the casket, and more than a few students go up to investigate the body out of curiosity. One of the younger female attendees actually begins crying quietly after seeing the body up close, at which point a young man offers up his seat to her in the front row.
After recieving a reply, Dr. Garrett will look over at the casket. Is this a closed casket or open casket-style wake/funeral?
You're not yet in the room with the casket. The staff is currently clearing the way and preparing to open the room for the service to admit everyone in the waiting area.
The entrance of the funeral home is somewhat crowded and it takes you a few moments waiting just outside the door as a young man, perhaps twenty, holds the door open with a slight smile on his face. At least a dozen people nod to the youth as they enter, everyone filtering into the over-crowded entryway.
As you mill about outside, you can't help but recognize a few faces from your college days. (Antonia, Salvatore, and 'Doc' all attended the same Sociology class taught by Professor Stampf. Garrett and Alex were also classmates, just four years before the others. You recognize your PC classmates, though you may not remember their names at your discretion.) A few of them greet you, re-introductions are made, and not a small number of conversations pertaining to the death of the professor begin circulating.
Perhaps of largest interest, however, is the apparent lack of anyone truly mourning. There are at least forty people now crammed into the waiting area just inside the door, all of them no older than mid-thirties. You do not spy any of Professor Stampf's colleagues, other staff from the University, or indeed even family members. The funeral home staff does its best to hasten preparations for the service, clearly not expecting a turn-out of this magnitude.
The day was not so unusual for Chicago. It had rained the evening before and the streets were still damp as the morning sun made its way lazily across the cloudy sky, emerging perhaps once an hour to remind the world of its existence before disappearing once again. It was Sunday, and the churchfolk of the Windy City were emerging from their morning services and filling the dirty streets, as they had done every week before. For the millions who called the city home, this was just another day. For a select group, however, the specter of death had cast its shadow upon them.
When you saw the obituary last Friday, you could hardly believe your eyes. Professor Lucas Stampf, the very same professor who had taught some of your obligatory sociology classes, had passed away at the age of 49. Professor Stampf was not like most teachers, however. You remembered his lectures on modern hate cults, religious fanaticism, and the nature of human conflict. He had such passion, such devotion to his field of study. For a time perhaps you considered a change of major because of his influence. Some of the students mocked him for his extremism but for some reason, it stuck with you. Now, even years later, the images of a KKK rally splayed across the massive lecture hall projection screen or the image of a Palestinian woman kneeling over the body of her child in the streets of modern Jerusalem haunt your dreams when you think too much about them.
You had spent time with the professor outsider of class at least a few times, as he made a point of getting to know his students better and engage them in conversation whenever the opportunity presented itself. He was an avid patron of local bars (particularly ones with live entertainment), though nothing suggested any alcoholism or similar maladies. He simply loved to be in the element of his study: society. Rumors persisted of the professor taking some students aside after hours or otherwise making contact with them beyond the realm of school, but these rumors were never confirmed nor did anyone think twice about such things if they were true. He was personable, friendly, and fiendishly intelligent.
Regardless of the impact he had upon you, news of his death was shocking not because you recognized the name, nor because of his relatively young age. You all received a personal invitation, delivered by Certified Mail, to the funeral, held today at the Muzyka & Son Funeral Home on Lawrence Avenue. The return address of the sender was simply a P.O. Box assigned to the University you had all attended. There was no name or other indication. Compelled by either respect, morbid curiosity, or a healthy serving of both, you have decided to attend.
Arriving at the parking lot adjacent to the funeral home, you notice that there are a number of other people here. Perhaps for another funeral service, perhaps not. As you exit your conveyance of choice, a chill wind sweeps through the lot from the south. Errant pieces of litter from the street are carried on the breeze, finding lodging in the short row of bushes that separated this lot from the alley. The sound of organ music can faintly be heard emanating from within as another group of mourners enters ahead.
Putting together the opening post now. I've got Pandora playing industrial, I am awake and caffeinated, the daughter is in bed, and it is still early enough in the evening that I needn't concern myself with things like "sleep" yet.
Just re-listing the characters here in one place for my personal reference going forward as I compose the post in another window:
Carl 'Doc' Davis -- med school dropout/musician
Antonia Morena -- nuclear physicist/swimmer
Salvatore Victoza -- religious studies major/budding cleric
(Alex?) -- FBI agent (Azoun: Your profile name is Riven, but the character name is Alex? I'm confused. Also, what's his last name?)
I know I said I'd try to get something up today, but with the CSM out on vacation for the remainder of the week, I'm essentially doing both her job and my own.
We'll see if I can scrape together some time this evening to get a kickoff post up. I don't like to start a game half-assed, so I want to be sure I can do it right. If I can't do it tonight, it may be on hold 'til the weekend. Stay tuned.
Okay, looking over character sheets briefly this afternoon (Mondays have a way of getting away from me sometimes...):
Antonia: You are 1 point overspent on your social Attributes. I see 5 points allocated, but you have only 4. Everything else okay.
Fixed
The reduction in Composure also reduces Willpower by 1 (Willpower = Resolve + Composure). Your new Willpower should be 4.
Waiting to hear back from Rocketmail and Scranford to finalize everything. Hoping to start the game either tomorrow or Thursday, present workload permitting.
Okay, looking over character sheets briefly this afternoon (Mondays have a way of getting away from me sometimes...):
Salvatore: Sanity should be 8, not 9. Everything else seems okay.
'Doc': No Sanity score recorded. Should be 8.
Antonia: You are 1 point overspent on your social Attributes. I see 5 points allocated, but you have only 4. Everything else okay.
Riven: The fully-decked out 2010 Shelby is outside the price range of someone with only Resources 1, not to mention Resources 1 is pretty low for an FBI agent. If you knock down the Allies to 1 (keep the local PD guy) and bump Resources to 2, I'll allow it, but your character will most definitely still have a loan out on that car! With a Resources of 2, you're a relative rookie in the FBI (which is why you haven't yet earned an Ally there yet?) or maybe you've made a few mistakes that got you passed over for promotions. The "average" FBI agent should be Resources 3, but if you want to buy that up later with XP to reflect a promotion or something, that's cool.
Garrett: Sanity is not recorded. Should be 9. Everything else okay.
Is there a definition for those for better clarification on their meaning?
Also as far as Allies and Contacts are concerned in Merits. What exactly do they detail as? Like I recall Allies 1 was 3 allies correct, someone who may come to you aid or assist you in some way. And a Contact is just someone for information?
With those do I need to assign them names and jobs? Or will you be doing that?
If it's as I recall the Contact will be someone in the FBI agency. Thinking maybe someone like deepthroat from X-Files or maybe a Director Skinner type?
The Allies I was working at with the backstory of some of the families children he did manage to save. One of them being some of Cops from the area. Perhaps this cult he was investigating/undercover with was in the Chicago area?
EDIT: Resources? How does that break down? Like what is acceptable to have to start with on equipment and transportation as well domicile.
Virtues and Vices are not necessarily a "hard-coded" kind of thing. In general, though, the Justice virtue is fulfilled when your character rights a significant wrong in a just fashion. (i.e. you track down and incarcerate a serial killer, you avenge the death of a child, etc.) The Fortitude virtue is fulfilled when your character suffers an undue amount of hardship or injury and survives, while benefiting others in the process.
Allies are 1-for-1 and you may choose to detail the specifics if you wish, or you can allow me to (if you want to just give me a general template of the kind of ally you want). Contacts are similarly 1-for-1, but for each major contact, you also have a handful of lesser contacts that are in an associated field. For example, if your 1 major Contact is the city coroner, you might have some detectives or EMTs as lesser contacts that know you.
As for Resources, there's a general guideline that goes something like this:
0 dots: Destitute (<$15,000/yr.). You have virtually nothing. You reside with others or in a shelter of some kind, possibly simply living on the streets. You have less than $100 a month to meet your basic needs and no vehicle or significant possessions of your own.
1 dot: Lower class (~$25,000/yr.). You have very modest living arrangements (studio/1 bedroom apartment) and less than $500 a month in "spending cash." Your vehicle is likely old and somewhat unreliable.
2 dots: Lower-middle class (~$40,000/yr.). You have reasonable housing (multi-bedroom apartment/small house) and less than $1200 a month in spending cash. You may have a single modest vehicle that is relatively new.
3 dots: Middle class (~$60,000/yr.). You live in a moderate home and have less than $4000 a month in spending cash. You may have a couple of newer vehicles or a single luxury vehicle.
4 dots: Wealthy (~$100,000/yr.). You live in a sizeable home with a vast array of features. You have up to $9000 a month in spending cash and likely own several luxury vehicles.
5 dots: Elite ($500,000+/yr.). You are a multi-millionaire and have access to the most cutting edge luxuries around. You have up to $30,000 a month in spending cash and undoubtedly own a vast array of exotic vehicles.
Interesting group we have. We've got three brainiacs, a socialite, and a "fighter." Particularly in the case of Dr. Briggs, I can see the events of the campaign having serious conflicts with your profession. Doctors work an awful lot of hours and don't really have much time (or inclination) to go investigating "strange things." :)
Toni Morena is a 26-year old Italian-American graduate student in Nuclear Physics at the University of Chicago. She speaks Italian, attends mass at St. Thomas the Apostle and was on the swim team in high school and as an undergraduate at U of C.
Trained Memory, Good Time Management, and Bureaucratic Navigator are not Core Merits. Please re-allocate these points elsewhere. Also, you shorted yourself 1 point in your Physical skills. Might I recommend a dot of Drive?
Scranford: You've shorted yourself 1 point in your Mental Attributes. I see 5 points allocated, but you have 6 to spend. Your initiative is listed as 5 but should be 4 (unless you drop that extra Mental dot into Wits, in which case you'll be fine).
Rocketmail: "Surgical Tools" is not an appropriate specialty for Weaponry. Using a scalpel or bone saw in combat is not likely to work out well for the wielder since they are not designed to be used as such. Also, the "Tolerance for Biology" Merit is not from the Core Rulebook so please select something else. If becoming "queasy" at the sight of blood ever becomes a mechanical issue, common sense dictates that the medical doctor will probably be less phased than others. No sense in buying a merit for that. That said, I don't anticipate anyone making rolls to determine any kind of effects for such things (except possibly Sanity rolls for particularly horrific scenes of gore). That's a roleplaying point.
Azoun: I just realized that the Seven Heavenly Virtues are a bit different in the WoD book than the "true" ones that I linked on the wiki (my mistake, not yours). "Diligence" as such does not exist as an option in WoD, but perhaps "Justice" or "Fortitude" would be fitting options? Please refer to the matrix I listed before for the WoD Virtues/Vices.
Art: You've shorted yourself 1 point in your Social Attributes. Also, your initiative should be 5 rather than 4.
I see a lot of people with handguns here. I would encourage your to check this site out. The State of Illinois requires firearm owners to possess a FOID (Firearm Owner's Identification) card. This means that all of you, if you want to own those weapons on your sheet, will either need to have one of these or be operating illegally (with substantial penalty if caught).
So long as your character doesn't have a history of violent crime (which none of you do so far), acquiring the FOID is simple enough to be assumed. It's up to you to decide whether or not you've decided to inform "The Man" that you own a gun or not.
Also, while my example character sheet had been tracking cash-on-hand, it will be unnecessary to do so for this game. Your Resources background reflects a general level of monetary access and, in a modern game, debit cards are accepted virtually everywhere and ATMs are on every corner. The example character was from a game set in 1974, where such things are not necessarily true. :)
Oh right, I forgot about Defense. Your Defense stat is equal to the LOWER of your Dexterity or Wits. (i.e. if you have Wits 4 and Dex 2, your Defense is 2)
Heading to bed now, will look over characters and whatnot in the morning.
Here is a preliminary character. Mentor would be a University Professor he maybe served as an intern for.
Your prospective character looks good except for the Unseen Sense Merit. You'll want to switch that out for something else. A dot or two of Resources to reflect some kind of part-time job or paid lab assistant work maybe? And of course you'll want to edit Morality into Sanity using the guidelines I posted above. :)
The ST Guy wrote:
Merits
Those of you without a WoD book are somewhat disadvantaged here. You can check out this link that explains Merits better than I can. Your characters may only take Merits from the Physical, Social, and Mental categories, and ONLY ones from the Core rulebook within those groups (the book is noted after each Merit's listing). No Supernatural Merits are permitted. You have seven total points to spend here.
EDIT: Ah, I see the confusion here. In the Core book, Unseen Sense is indeed a Mental Merit, but it was later errata'd and expanded to be re-introduced in the Book of Spirits as a Supernatural one. Still, though, I'd like you to select something else in its place.
You are an ordinary human being living in the city of Chicago in the current age. The game will begin on May 1st, 2011 (in-game time). I have only one request regarding concept/background, and it is a fairly broad one: You must all be connected to the University of Chicago in some way. Either you are a student, alumni, or faculty of this institution. If you go the alumni route, please make it so that your graduation date (or date of last attendance for non-graduates) was no more than 6 years past. If you are a student or faculty, then it is assumed you are still attending/working there. Bear in mind that faculty can include anyone who works for the college, even groundskeepers and janitors if you wish. Other than that, concepts are completely open.
Attributes
In the new WoD system, Attributes are divided into Physical, Social, and Mental categories just like Skills. Within each category, there is a Power stat, a Finesse stat, and a Resistance stat. You must prioritize your categories by Physical/Social/Mental. In your first choice, you get 6 points to spend on those Attributes. In your second choice, 4 points. Then 3 points in the last category. You automatically begin with 1 point in each Attribute (does not count towards your point spending). Purchasing the 5th dot in any Attribute costs TWO points, and thus it is only possible to have a 5 in your primary category (by allocating 5 of your 6 points to it).
Skills
Skills function very much the same as they did in the old WoD. See the link above for the complete list. Again, you must prioritize your points into Physical, Mental, and Social categories. You get 11 points to spend in your first choice, 7 points in the second, and 4 points in the third. Unlike Attributes, you do NOT receive a free point in each one. Thus, you will have many skills with zero dots in them. This is normal and perfectly fine. Note that Computer 1 is required to do anything more complicated than basic word processing on a computer and Drive 1 is needed to operate a motor vehicle legally (and functionally). You may attempt skills with zero dots at a -1 die penalty. Mental skills, however, impose a -3 penalty for unskilled attempts.
Skill Specialties
These reflect particular areas of expertise in which your character has focused within a given field. Click the link above for some suggestions of specialties within each skill. You may also opt to specialize in other areas not expressly mentioned on that page, though you'll want to run anything by me for approval first. You get THREE specialties to assign, and you can only assign a specialty to a skill in which you have at least one dot. You may also assign multiple specialties to a single skill if you desire. Specialties grant a 1 die bonus on rolls where the specialty is applicable. Multiple applicable specialties stack.
Advantages
Choose a Virtue and a Vice for your character. These are based on the Seven Heavenly Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins. You can see a matrix of possible combinations here. Whenever your character fulfills a long-term goal that exemplifies his or her Virtue, your Willpower is completely refreshed. Whenever your character fulfills a short-term desire that "gives in" to his or her Vice, you regain a single point of Willpower. Note that I monitor this stuff for abuse pretty strictly. Selecting 'Wrath' and punching every person you meet is not a quick-fix for low Willpower. For it to truly be 'wrath' there needs to be proper and justified provocation. The same is true with other vices as well.
Willpower is determined by adding your Resolve and Composure Attributes together. The result is referred to as your "permanent" Willpower. Whenever something requires you to make a Willpower roll, this is the number of d10s you roll. Your Willpower score also reflects your reservoir of inner strength, reflected by your "temporary" Willpower score. At the beginning of the game, your temporary and permanent Willpower scores are equal. However, you may spend a point of temporary Willpower to add 3 bonus dice to any physical action or any action that makes use of a Resistance Attribute. You may also spend a point to add 3 dice to any Willpower rolls you may need to make. When your temporary Willpower is expended completely, you suffer a -1 die penalty on all non-combat-related actions due to your mental exhaustion. Willpower is refreshed by fulfilling your Virtue/Vice conditions as well as by resting (1 point per full night's sleep).
Initiative is equal to your Dexterity + Wits scores.
Size is 5 (unless modified by a Merit).
Speed is Size + Strength + Dexterity.
Health is Size + Stamina. This is best tracked with a series of boxes, since the final 3 levels of health have associated wound penalties with them. Here's an example:
Health: 7 [] [] [] [] []-1 []-2 []-3
Damage comes in 2 forms in WoD: Bashing and Lethal. Bashing injuries heal faster than lethal ones and are marked with a single slash ('/') in the health box. Lethal injuries represent potentially life-threatening wounds and are marked with an 'x' in the box. Injuries always go from left to right with the most severe being on the left.
For example: Bob has 7 health. He has suffered a kick to the chest for 2 Bashing damage. His health track looks like this:
Health: 7 [/] [/] [] [] []-1 []-2 []-3
Then Bob gets stabbed with a knife, inflicting 2 Lethal damage. His track now looks like this:
Health: 7 [x] [x] [/] [/] []-1 []-2 []-3
Finally, his attacker clubs him with a tire iron for 2 more Bashing.
Health: 7 [x] [x] [/] [/] [/]-1 [/]-2 []-3
Bob is now suffering a -2 penalty on all actions due to his injuries. If he survives, the bashing damage will recover quickly, but the knife wound will stick with him for a few days.
Merits
Those of you without a WoD book are somewhat disadvantaged here. You can check out this link that explains Merits better than I can. Your characters may only take Merits from the Physical, Social, and Mental categories, and ONLY ones from the Core rulebook within those groups (the book is noted after each Merit's listing). No Supernatural Merits are permitted. You have seven total points to spend here.
Last but not least...
In the Core WoD, there is a "Morality" stat that reflects your character's... well... morality. Effectively a gauge of good and evil that can fluctuate with your actions. I am doing away with that characteristic for this game in place of something else that fits with the themes of this game:
Sanity
Sanity, like Morality, is rated on a scale of 1 to 10. Your character's initial Sanity is determined thusly: 5 + your highest Mental Attribute. Note that Sanity scores of 6+ are still considered "perfectly normal," though Sanity scores of 6-7 often reflects a person that most of society would consider "kooky" or "eclectic." Whenever your Sanity drops below 7, however, your character may begin to develop maladies known as "Derangements." I won't go into detail right here and now about them, but suffice to say that they start out minor and can get quite terrible as your Sanity further degrades. Sanity ratings in the 4-5 range are people who are a bit unhinged, perhaps talking to themselves alone at a restauarant or jumping at shadows. Sanity ratings of 2-3 reflect the criminally insane, people who ought to be institutionalized because they are a danger to themselves and others. A sanity rating of 1 is someone who can no longer distinguish reality from madness and is borderline unplayable as a character. If your Sanity score ever reaches 0, your character has lost all hope of reason and will become an NPC.
Okay, the recruitment thread has generated a sufficient number of applicants and, while I haven't been able to get as deeply into some scenarios as I would've liked to, in the end, the recruitment scenarios are just there to serve as a preview of your posting styles and frequencies (I have also taken a glimpse at your characters in other threads for people who didn't get much of a chance to weigh in here). Rather than continue to invest time and effort in a thread that is, in the grand scheme of things, irrelevant to this entire operation beyond the entry point, I have decided to get this proverbial ball rolling. At this point, I've selected my top 5 as well as a handful of alternates (in case one of the 5 chooses not to commit for whatever reason) for the actual game.
The Top 5 (in no particular order) are:
Rocketmail1
Azoun the Sage
Tommy Butcher
Art
normanak
The Top 3 Alternates are (in order of priority):
Cynthia Knightly
Poor Wandering One
Marcus Svenson
Apologies to those who didn't make it. Nothing personal, of course, but I have to draw the line somewhere. My experience with WoD is that groups bigger than 5 people become nightmarish in a hurry.
I'll get character creation guidelines up momentarily. Stay tuned.
This is just a placeholder thread while I wrap up the "auditions" in Gamer Connection. This is also the official avatar I'll be using as the Storyteller in the game. (This is Fatespinner, in case it weren't obvious.)
I also wanted to take the opportunity to lay out some posting guidelines to help establish some style unity for the game thread when we go live. As I said before, I'm very picky about my games and some might call me anal-retentive. Call it what you will, but I guarantee that if you can make yourself stick with the guidelines, we'll all have a lot of fun together. :)
Please keep your in-character posts in third person. Refer to your character with he/she pronouns or by name as though you were narrating a book from the perspective of an outsider. Obviously speech and monologues will be in first-person, as they are said/thought by the character in question.
I am not super-picky about verb tense, because I sometimes forget what I'm doing and switch tenses mid-post, but for the most part, try to keep everything present-tense. This keeps us all relatively uniform so that the thread reads more like a book than a mish-mash of styles.
Internal monologues are all fine and good if you want to state what your character is thinking. Please keep such monologues in italic text, however, so that we know it is a thought and not speech or action. Thoughts that you don't want other players privy to, of course, should be spoilered for my eyes only (or just not posted at all).
All character speech should be contained in "quotation marks" to differentiate it from action(s). I don't suspect it'll be an issue but I've seen a lot of people not do this and it annoys the hell out of me. :)
Any mechanical references should be in OOC text. Whether you are stating that you'd like to make a skill roll or declaring an action in combat, make the appropriate in-character posting, then note in OOC text the specific mechanical action you are attempting.
This is a bit of a no-brainer, but any OOC communication (asking questions, making commentary, etc.) done in the game thread should also use OOC text.
Because mystery, intrigue, and horror are going to be a large part of this game, any skill rolls that do not pertain to combat or physical action will be made by me in secret (unless the results of said skill are obvious). Knowledge-related rolls in particular. This way you have no idea of whether or not you succeeded, failed, or dramatically failed a given roll, you simply have the information I provide you with (as reflected by the results of your hidden roll).
Don't presume to dictate actions outside of your character's direct control. For the recruitment thread, I've allowed you to stipulate some inconsequential NPC actions (such as the lady normanak almost hit with a bat) but please avoid doing that in the game thread. Seriously. This means you, Rocketmail. :P
Please create an alias to represent your character and utilize the profile section to store the character sheet for said character. Being able to click your character's name and see the character sheet makes my life so much easier. You don't have to choose an avatar for the alias if you can't find an appropriate one, but I encourage you to find one that's at least close enough.
I'll be selecting the players hopefully by the end of the week, though I'm busy at work with several deadlines currently and may not get to it until Monday. I've already selected Rocketmail, however, and am looking to add up to 4 more to the roster. Character creation details will be covered in the future.
Okay, is everyone going on the stakeout? How many vehicles are you taking? Ferrano's estate is located within a gated community (really, it's a gated community almost in and of itself) but Garabina can get inside the gates with a wave of her badge if she wants to potentially blow her cover like that. Otherwise, you can remain outside the gates and watch the gate entrance, but you won't really be able to see the front door of the house itself.
After some brief discussion of how to proceed, the group eventually settles on a nighttime stake-out of the Ferrano estate. Garabina returns with Anu to the station shortly after the coffee shop meeting and Anu provides an accurate description of Dahlia for the sketch artist who is, naturally, quite talented and manages a nearly-perfect likeness. Only a few minutes later, Garabina is again visited by the junior detective who brings her the file she requested on Allison Ferrano.
Garabina:
Spoiler:
The first thing you notice is that the photo on record looks nothing like the sketch of Dahlia, so it is probably not the same person unless Allison had extensive plastic surgery (possible, but unlikely). Allison Ferrano died in a car accident on May 14th, 2008. Her official cause of death is listed as "severe blood loss from severed carotid artery as a result of vehicular accident." The toxicology report suggests that Allison may have been driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. The diagram of the accident indicates that the vehicle made a sharp right turn into oncoming traffic, clipping the driver's side headlight against another vehicle at high speeds, putting her into a flat spin. The car then spun across the road, impacting a streetlamp along the driver's side and crushing the door against her. Numerous other injuries are reported on the coroner's report, including fractured ribs, a broken shoulder blade, and extensive superficial bruising. Curiously, despite the cause of death listed on the report, you notice that, in the crime scene photos, the severed artery is evident, but the amount of blood covering Allison's body and the vehicle's interior is relatively minimal.
It takes a few hours sifting through the stacks at Miami University's extensive library, but you swiftly narrow down the articles and periodicals to a select few with pertinent information. The rune, you discover, is indeed an ancient warding rune designed to prevent spirits from entering or leaving a place. What your initial research did not reveal, however, was that the rune is often used to bind spirits into a mortal body, denying them the ability to reach the afterlife. There are various references of the rune being used to create the living dead, though of course these references are apocryphal at best and bear little weight of valid evidence.
Of somewhat more interest is your research into the silver dagger. You find items of similar design in several societies, most disturbingly, several geographically dissimilar societies. Daggers matching the one you saw have been discovered in ancient Incan and Mayan ruins... as well as Minoan and early Phoenician societies. In all cases it has been a sacrifical dagger, the silver material being an icon of purity and divinity. Never before has one been recovered in such utterly pristine condition, though. The examples you find in the scientific journals of anthropology are all barely recognizable, but the patterns on the blade and hilt are unmistakable.
Total research time: 4 hours. You wrap up your things and make it out to the Starbucks to meet the others pretty much right on time, perhaps "fashionably late."
"Looks like I've got some home video to watch tonight. I'll bring some popcorn and we can all watch how I got knocked out." Grinning slightly as she speaks. "Was Mr Ferrano at his house? He'll need to make a statement."
"Yeah, he was home... I don't have the report right now. I'll get it to you later. Get outta here already, enjoy your day off!" The junior detective waves her off with a laugh and heads back into his office.
'I'm sure I can wait. Don't exactly have anything planned..' She says a little sheepishly. 'Have any cops gone round to Ferrano's house yet?'
"Yeah, we had a squad car drop by this morning to get access to the security tapes from the museum. Evidently Ferrano has the video feeds piped directly to a security station in his own house instead of having a security room on the premises. A little paranoid, I think, but I guess that makes it difficult to commit a crime and then make off with the tapes." The junior detective shrugs. "I'm sure someone will be reviewing those tapes tonight. Maybe we can find out what caused the explosion."
'Hmm. Could you pull up Mrs Ferrano's file, along with the file on that crash.. if you're free that is. I just find it odd that her shoes would show up there, you know? Maybe she had a friend or someone who'd have got them... there's a thought. Was her will public?'
"I don't think there's a public record of the will on file. I can certainly get you the accident file, though, if you don't mind waiting? I can have it on your desk by this evening. I'll make sure I do it before I leave at six."
You don't really have a lot of information to go on at this point. Refer to this post for what your contacts were able to turn up with regards to Dahlia.
Garabina's booking of the suspect proceeds as normal. Nothing particular to report. Assume the evening passes and morning comes. Because I'm a kind soul, we'll say Garabina is off-duty today. :) At some point during the day, Anu is called in to provide a statement and give a description to a police sketch artist to identify Dahlia. We can assume that (if you want), you're all meeting up at a Starbucks across the street from the police station.
Garabina:
Spoiler:
When you happen by the station that afternoon to do some routine paperwork stuff, one of the junior detectives happens to catch you in the lobby. "Oh hey, Sergeant Matthews said you got clocked over the head on that museum case with the weird pyrotechnics. Kinda surprised you bothered to come in on your day off, honestly. We ran a check on those fancy Pradas you submitted to evidence. Turns out they were a one-of-a-kind custom order billed to one Mrs. Allison Ferrano, Julio's wife. Well, ex-wife. She's kinda dead now. Died in that car accident about a year ago. Guess Julio decided to clean out her old wardrobe and start playing the field again, eh? Heh."
We'll assume, with his utter lack of resources, that Anu has one of those pay-as-you-go cellphones that has certainly seen better days, but manages to work most of the time. (I reserve the right, however, to have it malfunction at precisely the WRONG time. >:D) The rest of you have the Resources Merit, so you have serviceable cellular phones and can exchange numbers accordingly. Where are we going from here?
