Mister Vampire OOC

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Chamomile
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Mister Vampire OOC

Post by Chamomile »

EDIT: Alright, I'm editing in a list of links to character sheets here so I don't have to go digging for them every time.

Marco Romero

Jerome "J-Rock" Husselbeck

Adel San Juan

Andrus Poder

Harley

Basic pitch: Four supernatural factions in modern day Los Angeles are locked in a cold war for control of the city for decades, but just last year a new player arrives on the scene. Michael Silmoore is the last known survivor of the Silmoore Clan, a vampire bloodline famous for producing lots of really badass vampires, and Michael's trying to get the ball rolling again here in LA. He has earned the ire of local vampire bigwig Lestrand (who is affiliated with, but not a member of, the Covenant), and while the other three factions (the White Lotus, the Cauchemar Communes, and the King With Three Shadows) have yet to become involved, but with the delicate balance between factions upset it is very possible that things will spiral out of control and turn to all-out shadow war between all five of them.

The game is primarily about inter-factional politics, and the basic structure of any given adventure is that some event happens in which at least two factions have a stake, and the party will presumably get involved and make things go one way or the other, thus shifting the overall balance of power. Which way you shift it and why is entirely up to you, but it is by no means required that the city end up under the control of one faction at the end, so if you (for example) have a bunch of people from the Covenant and the Communes in the same party, making an agreement to keep the two from entering into a potentially disastrous war with one another while exterminating the others from the city is totally a thing you could do.

Also, it's play-by-post.

Now, this plot has been adapted about four times, which means lots of stuff stated to have happened long ago or far away by the AS book did not happen exactly that way in Mister Vampire, but everything nearby shook out basically the exact same way it does in vanilla-flavor After Sundown (EDIT: except for the one-line mention of LA being a Makhzen stronghold in the writeup on Ciudad de Mexico, that part has seen pretty heavy overhaul): The Cauchemar Communes controls the midwestern US to the east and the Covenant controls Mexico down south. The west coast is a gray area where both factions have a strong influence and neither wants to go to war with the other. This grey area means that minor cults like the White Lotus and Michael's attempt to reboot the otherwise defunct Silmoore cult are able to take and hold territory. Presence from the World Crime League and the Makhzen is minimal, but they're welcome. The King With Three Shadows is here and everyone wishes he wasn't, but no one wants to risk losing the whole city to him, so no one goes to war with him. You have probably gathered that Limbo is a strong theme of the campaign.

A few differences I can think of off the top of my head, mostly as example of how minor they are:
The World Crime League has a completely different origin. After being cut off from the Makhzen in the 13th century, they mostly devolved into a bunch of independent princes who had little in common with one another. It wasn't until the 18th century that a powerful organization called the Black Armada ate all the others and formed the World Crime League. The WCL is still often referred to as the Black Armada, especially by older supernaturals.

The Silmoore Clan used to be an extremely powerful syndicate about 300 years ago, but in the 18th century their holdings in the western hemisphere slipped away and their continued expansion into previously independent territory caused multiple supernatural princes to band together and form the WCL. The Covenant, also less than pleased with Silmoore's antics up to that point, began a parallel war with Silmoore in Europe. By the dawn of the 20th century they'd been beaten into a minor faction that mainly operated out of England, until Mister Vampire decided to pursue his unknown vendetta with them and assembled a team of supernaturals to wipe out the Silmoores.

Genghis Khan was a werewolf.

Napoleon wasn't any kind of supernatural.

The Stellar Oracles are usually called the Guardians (which is the name for their latest incarnation; "Stellar Oracles" is a loose translation of the original name and is usually considered archaic or used to refer specifically to the organization across time rather than its specific, modern incarnation, so people will talk about "the last of the Guardians" while understanding that the Stellar Oracles will be back sooner or later) and are on the way out. The bulk of the survivors got together and tried to dislodge the Covenant from Mexico throughout the 20th century. It ended poorly. There are no known survivors but (spoiler alert!) there totally were and it would be okay if you played one of them.

The Vow of Silence is often called the Masquerade still, because it sounds cooler.

The White Lotus, or at least the LA detachment, is on even worse terms with the World Crime League. They never really made peace after the White Lotus lost their war with the WCL, and those in LA consider themselves refugees who are rebuilding with the intent to retake Asia. Complicating matters is the fact that the Cauchemar Communes have since moved into chunks of Asia that the White Lotus would like; some members believe they should just make friends with the Communes, others think they should take advantage of the conflict to try and get the Communes and the WCL to fight one another.

Speaking of, China isn't solidly controlled by the Communes. The WCL has a lot of influence there, too.
If a specific character concept happens to revolve around some piece of ancient history that's been changed, I can bring it up then, but since 90% of the cults are completely unchanged and the tweaks that exist are fairly minor, I don't think it'll come up.

I still do not know whether the story would be In Media Res or Origin Story, and I am open to suggestions. I also haven't really hammered down what sort of mood this thing is going for, and am likewise open to suggestions in that department.
Last edited by Chamomile on Wed Dec 18, 2013 2:40 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Maxus
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Post by Maxus »

I'd go for In Media Res, myself. It seems everyone would benefit from already being familiar with the supernatural scene and it'd save a lot of exposition time.

It sounds interesting. I'd tentatively play a Frankenstein.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Post by Prak »

I'd be down. I'd say IMR, for the same reason as Maxus.

I'm tempted to go Dryad.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
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Post by Whipstitch »

I would definitely recommend going Media Res, PbP games aren't well suited at all to starting out with a bunch of guys whose motivations still involve mundane shit like cramming for next semester or picking up the groceries. It takes a fuckton of time to herd those cats, and it's not like you can really surprise people anyway since by now we should have a pretty good idea why werewolves happen.
Last edited by Whipstitch on Wed Sep 25, 2013 8:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Omegonthesane »

Fourth vote for IMR, and vague interest as a Nezumi. Only mild worry is that I really don't know LA...
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Post by Corsair114 »

Ooh, this sounds like fun. What do I need to get involved?
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Post by Whipstitch »

Omegonthesane wrote: Only mild worry is that I really don't know LA...
Big thing to know is that tons of people are bilingual and many are from out of state, if not from out of the country entirely. So basing much of your behavior off of weird, life-imitates-art preconceptions of what people act like in LA just gives you something in common with many of the people that actually live there.
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Post by Chamomile »

Corsair114 wrote:Ooh, this sounds like fun. What do I need to get involved?
You can find the After Sundown rules in the It's My Own Invention forum. You've already found the forum where we're going to be playing, so you're pretty much set.
Omegonthesane wrote:Fourth vote for IMR, and vague interest as a Nezumi. Only mild worry is that I really don't know LA...
Looks like we're definitely going for In Media Res, then. As far as not-knowing LA, shouldn't be a big deal, just play someone from out of town.

We're pretty much at the point where people can go ahead and start writing up characters now, so I'll leave a bit more detailed information on the five factions so people can make backstories and stuff.

Spoilered for length.

The Griffith Pack is the name of the local detachment of the Cauchemar Communes, which controls Eastside and (unsurprisingly) Griffith Park. The name originates with Kateri and Daniel Wood, two werewolves and lovers who brought in the rest of their pack to live in Griffith Park, which is conveniently big and wild enough to house multiple werewolves but also in immediate proximity to Los Angeles. Initially the Pack was a subset of the local Communes outfit until Kateri and Daniel's son, Logan Wood, proved to be both a powerful vanguard and popular amongst the Communes. Logan became and remains the local Demagogue, and especially since the deaths of Kateri and Daniel Wood, the term "Griffith Pack" is usually used interchangeably with the Cauchemar Communes of LA (it helps to distinguish it from the larger organization as well as the more minor Communes parties that exist and occasionally try to challenge Logan's authority).

The upshot of this bit of history is that being called a "Pack" is purely a legacy thing and the Griffith Pack has the even distribution of different supernatural types you'd expect from supernatural society, and also that Logan Wood is important and popular. He is a capable combatant who says little, but his wisdom is respected. Logan's stance for the decades that he's been in favor has consistently been "leave the Pack alone and we'll leave you alone." This stance makes him popular especially with incoming supernaturals who are used to living in cities where factional politics, though uneasy, are not a powder keg waiting to explode.

Other important members of the Pack include primarily their three most notable vanguards, Kit Strive, James Manfield, and the Creeper. Strive and Manfield cheated by being lycanthropes, although Strive is notably an aggressive and dangerous person even when not in war form.

Pinning down exactly what the Creeper is is difficult. It's a golem in the sense that it's a creature made of otherwise inanimate material (in its case, mostly vines of poison oak) given life to serve a purpose (defense of the Tongva tribe the False Face ruled over in this place 400 years ago, so that didn't really end well). It is a creature of twisting vines and roots, its exact form is extremely variable, and it primarily lives in the sewers, tunnels, and caverns beneath the city, which it is also very nearly undisputed ruler of, given its great strength and omnipresence. The Creeper comes up to the surface once every week or two to check in with the Pack and ask if its services are required, and spends the rest of its time brooding in the tunnels. It is best not disturbed.

Why would I want to help these guys?: The Griffith Pack, much like the rest of the Cauchemar Communes, isn't really going to stick its nose in your business so much. If you mostly want to be left alone or only want to maintain the peace, the Pack is stable and passive.

The White Lotus runs Santa Monica and its environs. They do not control Chinatown or Koreatown, and at this stage their membership is pretty much purely second or third-generation immigrants, all the original Chinese having died out in the century since their immigration to LA. The upshot of this is that their connection to actual Chinese culture is becoming extremely tenuous, though they still keep up the facade.

Mister Jack Lee runs the White Lotus, and if he's being honest with himself he's pretty much given up on avenging his stolen birthright by bringing war back to the Black Armada across the Pacific. At this point he'll be happy if he can build the White Lotus into a local power and just sit on the west coast giving the Armada the finger whilst turning a tidy profit on all the criminal activities they tried to stop the Lotus from running without the Armada's oversight.

Other significant members of the Lotus are Shitoren, a large gargoyle animated to be their muscle (he could probably have a pretty eye-opening conversation with the Creeper about how well that works out longterm) and Simon Finnick, a powerful Dryad and conman who runs most of the racketeering operations the White Lotus pulls in their territory.

Why would I want to help these guys?: The White Lotus is pretty much in it for the money. Sure, they also have a hypothetical vendetta with a distant enemy no one cares about, but mostly they're a pack of mostly-wizards who use their magic to make mad dosh. If you want wealth, the White Lotus will hook you up.

The King With Three Shadows' local detachment is run by Lavros, who is a giant worm/snake/centipede looking thing and is nothing less than a goddamned Ifrit (though thankfully on the weaker end of Ifrits). They control Long Beach. It isn't known what they want with this city or why they want it, but they're making everyone nervous. Everyone wants them gone, but no one wants to be the one to do it. Lavros probably has a few other significant Limbo-based baddies up his sleeve, but no one knows what they are. He also has a lot of human thralls who are well on their way to becoming Fallen, whom he uses to interact with the surface world and maintain control over his territory in situations when sending a Troll wouldn't be advisable for Masquerade purposes.

Why would I want to help these guys?: I guess hypothetically you might be insane and think that furthering the swallowing of Earth into Hell would be a good thing.

Prince Lestrand is basically a vassal of the Covenant, who runs the Downtown and Hollywood areas. He's not actually a bishop or even a priest, but basically he's sworn to help the Covenant fight any wars that involve this region and the Covenant are sworn to protect him should anyone try to unseat him. The Covenant gets a presence in LA without having to fight for it, and Lestrand gets a backer who can stop him from being removed by the Communes or King With Three Shadows whenever one or the other of them decides it'd be convenient to do so. You might ask yourself why Lestrand doesn't just join the Covenant outright, seeing as actually believing in its scripture is purely optional. The answer is that his ego won't allow it.

Lestrand's organization is strictly hierarchical and mostly based off of seniority, which is ironic since Lestrand himself is barely over 300 years old. He's the oldest of the supernatural lords in the area, having evicted remnants of the False Face and Guardians in the early 19th century (ironically he was fleeing from the Guardians in the eastern United States, who ultimately didn't do any better than the ones in the San Gabriel mission).

Lestrand's inner circle is dominated by the powerful enforcer Joseph Steele, the more precise and diplomatic Carlos Espada, and a pair of twin vampires named Elisabeth and Isabella Vermille. Aaron Martinez is an Apostolic Exarch sent by the Covenant to keep an eye on things, and he and Lestrand engage in frequent (though restrained) power struggles. All of these are vampires, as is the bulk of Lestrand's organization. Lestrand strongly favors vampires over other supernaturals, which led to vampires flocking to his banner while other supernaturals, even some who were actual Covenant members, would avoid him. Lestrand's control over the local leech population is now so total that he's been able to declare himself ruler of all LA's vampire population and close the vice on his followers...At least until Michael Silmoore, another vampire, rolled into town with a much less hierarchical structure, several very powerful vampire supporters, and a less intrusive method of government.

Why would I want to help these guys?: There is basically zero upward mobility in Lestrand's organization except during times of crisis. Which is kind of like what time it is now. And since there's no upward mobility except for now, there's also no downward mobility except for now, so if you secure yourself a position high up in Lestrand's organization, you won't even have to worry about defending it for like a hundred years.

Michael Silmoore is the new player in town, and has quietly seized Compton and South Bay from Lestrand and the King With Three Shadows, respectively (the King's forces have yet to respond, but Lestrand is threatening war). He's trying to re-establish the Silmoore Clan, which was previously a syndicate, then a cult, then finally just him and a few of his buddies. Silmoore's spent half a century building up strength in Europe and is actually on very good terms with the Cauchemar Communes and the Makhzen. Being that getting a supernatural army to follow you around is tricky, Silmoore instead relies on a small pack of powerful supernaturals, and he has more exceptionally powerful creatures on his side than any other faction (except maybe the King With Three Shadows, depending on what he has up his sleeve). Silmoore's allies include his right-hand woman and closest confidant Siobhan Lunes (another vampire), his hitmen David and Joseph Varias (a father and son made vampires by Michael himself), a Baali warlock named Klaus der Vollstrecker, a shapechanging Dryad named Viktor Dodrescu, a ghost named Dead Jack who's possessed a Franksteinian abomination, and a snake-woman named Nagini.

Why would I want to help these guys?: Michael Silmoore is the scion of what was once the most powerful syndicate in the world. Michael does not explicitly plan to attack any of the heartlands of major established syndicates, but he's certainly not planning on stopping with LA, not when all of the west coast of the United States and the ever-valuable Canadian wilderness can be swallowed up without provoking war with any of the existing factions. If you want to be part of the inner circle of a faction that is quite possibly planning on actual world domination, Silmoore is your man.

Mister Vampire has a huge hate-on for the Silmoores for...Some reason. No one's especially clear on why. He was the one who got together a bunch of supernaturals who weren't satisfied that the clan had been merely broken, and went to their seat of power in London to completely annihilate them once and for all during WWII. It appeared to have worked, but Michael Silmoore, who was a fairly minor member of the bloodline at the time, slipped through the cracks. Since his supposedly final battle with the Silmoores, Mister Vampire has been chilling in the UK and France not fighting wars for the first time in his two-century lifespan. He is a member of the Cauchemar Communes, but is not typically even considered a vanguard, since despite his competence he almost invariably fights only when he has a personal stake in things and is not terribly active politically.

Mister Vampire is expected to turn up in Los Angeles sooner or later to finish what he started with Michael Silmoore, but he is not considered to be strongly aligned with any of the existing factions. He is technically part of the same syndicate as the Griffith Pack, but that's not guarantee of much as Vampire is known to be a destructive and reckless combatant, especially when pursuing his unknown vendetta with the Silmoores. He also has obvious common foe with Lestrand, who is doing his level best to dislodge Silmoore.

From an OOC perspective, Mister Vampire (and a few other unaligned characters who will crop up over the course of the campaign) is mostly there to provide a "forget all this noise, I'm going to start my own faction" option, and is also a shoe-in for the final boss if the party decides to support Silmoore. In the primordial soup of this plot, before it was adapted into being an RPG plot at all (let alone the latest After Sundown version), he was the main character and as such has a more fleshed out backstory than any other NPC. Ironically, with the PCs usurping his original narrative role, he actually has very little to do in the plot and comes up much less often than NPCs with much more vague backgrounds.

Why would I want to help these guys?: As mentioned, Mister Vampire is basically just a way of referring to the unaligned supernaturals of the city. If you don't like the factions offered, making one of your own is an option. You only have to get like a hundred people to agree with you to become a force to be reckoned with.
Last edited by Chamomile on Thu Sep 26, 2013 5:25 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Maxus
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Post by Maxus »

I might take a stab at Michael the Frankenstein, my in-progress submission for an iconic. Debating if I should keep Michael a Makhzen, though... Think eight years since he woke up with an extension cord's plug in his body, and he's more or less up on modern society and how banking and the Internet works. Even has a fake ID and driver's license. Uses his Celerity powers to rock out on video games.

Incidentally, the original concept was Michael was a combat monster; having been taught both modern and archaic weaponry, and what hurts on what, in order to be a bodyguard/executioner for a Makhzen prince. If I keep him a Makhzen, he might be on-loan to a local faction in exchange (or as payment for) a favor.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Post by Prak »

I kind of keep wanting to do something with my Dresden Dolls fangirl Frankie who created a coin-operated boyfriend for herself, but I don't want to step on toes. Plus a dryad should be pretty cool.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
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Post by Whipstitch »

For the record, I'd definitely like to be a Nezumi; they're just kinda my pet archetype. I've about got what powers I'd like sorted as well.
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Post by Grek »

I would be totally interested in this if it is not full.

Character Concept: A Mi Go from a long line of scorpion-filled Hashshashin assassins has declared that he does not want to continue in the family in the family tradition of murdering people for a drug addled death cult. Instead, he wants to get into show business and has moved to LA in order to fulfill his dreams.
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Post by Chamomile »

We're definitely not full. Besides you, only one other person has provided a complete character concept, and that person was a maybe. Even counting everyone who has even just expressed interest, we're only up to six, which is still manageable.
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Post by echoVanguard »

Eh, what the heck. I'll play if you'll have me.

Jerome "J-Rock" Husselbeck, Android Private Eye. Gruff and not too bright, but strong, quick and possessed of a penetrating insight.
Image

After a drug bust went bad, Detective Jerome Husselbeck staggered out of a gun battle that left eight men dead on the street and into the basement of a mad scientist. Mortally wounded, Husselbeck was mercifully unconscious as the insane genius transplanted his brain into a chassis of steel and circuitry. The procedure was successful, and Husselbeck awoke to the horror of a strange old man gibbering at him about "the dark reflection" and "life unending". As his situation became clear, J-Rock succumbed to a Despair frenzy, destroying the lab and the crazy old man in a fit of mechanized death. Reeling with disbelief, he hid his new condition from his friends and coworkers and has attempted to sever as many ties with his previous life as possible by quitting the Force and becoming a private investigator. He has already run afoul of the World Crime League a few times since beginning his practice. As a result of his newfound dependency on mechanical knowledge, he has channeled his talent for improvisation in the field into a burgeoning expertise in mechanical and electrical engineering.

STRENGTH: 5 (7 from Advanced Clout)
AGILITY: 4

INTUITION: 5
LOGIC: 2

WILLPOWER: 3
CHARISMA: 1

EDGE: 3
POWER: 13
POTENCY: 1

Physical Skills:
Athletics 3
Combat 6 (Fisticuffs)
Drive 3
Larceny 4
Perception 6 (Investigation)
Stealth 3 (Shadowing)
Survival 1

Social Skills:
Bureaucracy 1
Empathy 6 (Motivation Determination)
Expression 3
Intimidation 5
Persuasion 3
Tactics 3

Technical Skills:
Electronics 2 (Wiring)
Medicine 2 (First Aid)
Operations 2 (Repair)
Research 5 (Interrogation)
Rigging 3 (Gears)
Sabotage 2 (Disabling Stuff)

Backgrounds:
Police Procedures 6
LA Criminal Society 6
Criminal Psychology 5
Electrical Engineering 2
Mechanical Engineering 2
World Crime League 3
Gangs and Drugs 5
News and Current Events 6

Resources:
Private Detective Agency (Rating 3 Finances)
Old LAPD Buddies (Rating 2 Contact)
Underworld Network (Rating 2 Contact)
Hablo Espanol (Rating 1 Language)
Clunker Car (Rating 1 Finance)

Obligations:
Favors to Mobsters (Rating 1 Debt)

Motivations:
Master Passion Despair: His transformation into an inhuman robot powered by Hell Itself has left J-Rock in a state of existential despair. He often has a flat affect and usually doesn't afraid of anything.

Driving Passion: "Take Care of Our Own". J-Rock is consumed with the desire to provide for his estranged family and community without letting anyone find out about his predicament. If he can secure enough capital to set up his ex-wife and daughter for life, he plans to quietly disappear and change his identity.

Starting Powers:
Vigor (Basic Clout)
Clinging (Basic Clout)
Light of Ennui (Basic Descent of Entropy)
Attract (Basic Magnetism)
Patience of the Mountains (Basic Fortitude)
Howling Winds (Basic Chasing the Storm)
Devastation (Advanced Clout)
Contradiction (Advanced Descent of Entropy)

Personal Powers:
Supernatural Senses (Basic Discernment)
Learn the Heart's Pain (Basic Names of the Blasphemies)
Lightning Strike (Advanced Chasing the Storm)

Additional Universal Power:
Indominability (Advanced Fortitude)

Discipline Bonuses:
Advanced Clout (+2 Strength)
Advanced Chasing the Storm (+2 Survival, sense weather a month in advance)
Advanced Fortitude (+4 Physical Resistance)
Advanced Descent of Entropy (+4 Diagnosis/Reconstruction/Repair)
Basic Names of the Blasphemies (See Shallow Limbo)
Basic Discernment (+2 Perception)

Advantages:
Loyalty. J-Rock is highly loyal to his friends, family, and clients, seeking solace in the bonds of friendship.

Disadvantages:
Doomed Romance. J-Rock's wife left him less than a month after his transformation, unable to deal with his sudden secretiveness and aloofness. A few of his recent forays into romance with his clients have all ended disastrously.
Diplomatic Incident. J-Rock left the LAPD under suspicious and unpleasant circumstances, which almost always causes a scene when he makes use of his old contacts in the department.

Equipment: Heavy Pistol, Leather Jacket, Private Investigator's License, Beat-up '92 Chevy.
echo
Last edited by echoVanguard on Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:32 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Post by Grek »

Adel San Juan was the first true Mi Go born to his family for decades, which came to a great shock both to him personally and to his family, who had thought the old ghost stories about "The House of the Black Scorpion" and their magic assassins were all made up. After contacting his family elders, it was quickly established that yes, he was a Mi Go; yes, he was now full of scorpions with deadly and hallucinogenic venom; no, this is not something to be frightened by; and of course his "uncle" was going to fly down and see him introduced to the family proper.

In line with the traditions of the family, several properties and relics were brought along with his uncle (including a lake house near Hollywood, several books of sorcery and a particularly vicious Swarm that had been trapped in a sliver box stuffed with salts and spirits), all of which had been bequeathed to "the next True Mi Go born in the line". Three years later, and also in line with the traditions of the family, a representative of the Hashshashin was brought along to "begin his training" and to welcome him into the cult. It was not to be. Adel was disgusted with the drug smuggling, human trafficking and casual murder that the Cult delighted in; refusing to have any part of it. The Hashshashin representative was furious, but his uncle tried to calm him down, promising that he would convince the boy of his "true destiny" in time.

Still in shock, he fled to Hollywood and began to seek work in theatre, which had always been his one real talent. Acting, filming, directing, writing, all of it seemed so much more appealing than becoming a murderer or a smuggler. In the end, what job he wanted did not matter even if he could bring himself decide what to go for: Being a foreign supernatural poking around in Lestrand territory meant that he was quickly picked up by an inquisitive Joseph Steele, who wanted to know "who he worked for", "why he was in the city" and wouldn't be satisfied with answers like "nobody, I swear" and "I'm trying to get a job". Ultimately it was Exarch Martinez who came to his rescue, promising to get him out of Steele's clutches and even find him a position in one of the film studios if he'd join the Covenant and help with the ongoing troubles first.

Adel quickly accepted. And so the story begins...

Attributes:S: 2 A: 2 L: 3 I: 3 W: 4 C: 5 E: 3/3 P: 1
Wounds: [_] [_] [_] [_] [_] [_] [_] [_] [_] [_]
Power: 13/13

Skills:
Physical: Athletics 2, Combat 3, Drive 6, Perception 3[+4].
Social: Animal Ken (Insects) 5[+2], Bureaucracy 2, Empathy 3, Expression (Film) 6, Intimidation 4, Persuasion (Acting) 6 & Tactics (Ambush) 3
Technical: Artisan (Costumes) 4, Medicine (Diseases) 4, Research (Archives) 4, Rigging (Stagecraft) 4 & Sabotage (Traps) 3
Backgrounds:
Academic: Hollywood Films 5, Entomology 3, Federal Law 3, Chemistry 2.
Social: Acting Aspirations 6, LA Dining 3, Houston 2, Criminal Family 3.
Occult: The Hashshashin 3, Mi Go Histories 3, The Covenant 2.

Other Power Bonuses: +4 Physical Resistance, +1 to Socialization Checks, +2 to Death Threshold and Healing Tests, +2 to Entropy Stuff.

Resources:
Destiny 3: Swarm in a Box
Finance 2: A Lake House Just Outside of Town
Secrets 2: Sack of Giant Scorpion Eggs
Language 1: Spanish
Contacts 2: Helpful Assassin Family Members
Obligations:
Stalkers 2: Nosy Assassin Family Members

Motivations:
Master Passion: Fear (Fears include: His Family. The Hashshashin. Joseph Steele.)
Driving Passion: Become a Star!
Ethical Taboos: Princess Ethics AND Privacy Ethics.
Honors: fame, understanding True Art, being beautiful, cleanliness, knowing science stuff, wealth.
Despises: drug use, violent crime, being nosy, talking with family, telling him he isn't good enough, defacing art.

Advantages/Disadvantages: Swarming, Flake, Diplomatic Incident
Powers:
Infernal: Small Witness, Body Colony, Abyss of the Body (Chud) [9], Patience of the Mountains, Attract [10], Supernatural Senses, Telepathy [8], Magnify the Swarm [12], Restoration.
Orphic: Tongue of the Serpent (Obvious, Hallucinogenic), Touch of Darkness.
Astral: Beast Tongue.

Usual Attack: Make Scorpions sting people, inflicts 1 Aggravated Damage, Chud via Disease (Base Delay 5; 5 Minutes) and Hallucinations via Poison (Delay 2; 2 Rounds and Timer 6 Hours; Effect: Hallucinations and Amnesia)
tl;dr version: Mi Go full of scorpions from a family full of assassins. Ran afoul of the Hashshashin and then Lestrand's enforcer before getting recruited to work for Lestrand's Covenant Priest Guy. Wants to break into show business while keeping supernaturals from kicking his ass.
Last edited by Grek on Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:23 am, edited 5 times in total.
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Post by Chamomile »

Neat! Characters.

I'm going over the After Sundown tweaks thread to find house rules and stuff, since I don't want to roll out new rules once we're already playing and I'd like to be operating on first-and-a-half edition. The only actually immediately usable house rules are:

-You don't immediately lose your PP upon death. Salting/sanding/seeding the body and then burning it will remove the PP instead.
-You can spend a PP to get +2 to resist incoming magic.

I am considering but not yet decided upon adding in Grek's more variable witches:

Baali: Infernal. Feeding OR Lunar. Command, Mesmerism, Aura Perception, any three Basic Infernal, one Advanced Infernal and one Advanced Authority.
Dryad: Astral. Ritual OR Lunar. Bitter Fruit, Grass Rope, Aura Perception, any three Basic Astral, one Advanced Astral and one Advanced Coil of Thorns.
Khaibit: Orphic. Ritual OR Feeding. Summon Spirit, Compel Spirits, Aura Perception, any three Basic Orphic, one Advanced Orphic and one Advanced Necromancy.

Other stuff that was brought up in the thread:

There were two or three new supernatural types that were actually given a full set of powers, feeding schedules, power sources, etc. etc. I'm not using them because I really don't think the Possessed especially need to be in the game. I could be talked out of this if someone badly wants to use one of the splats created in the thread (or, for that matter, some other kind of non-Core splat, seeing as they're surprisingly easy to create and balance).

The Patience of the Mountains discussion was never really resolved, and in any case is probably not worth worrying about. If you want to have a character who has Patience of the Mountains but is not technically immortal and immune to suffocation, you can go ahead and just do that, because game mechanically speaking Patience of the Mountains is pretty much just immunity to disease and poison and that's it. Everything else is parlor tricks, and I actually have multiple NPCs whose powers have minor fluff-nerfs like this anyways (one character with clinging can't actually climb walls while wearing shoes, just hang from them).

Other things mentioned primarily involved conceptual discussions that never proceeded to actual mechanics. While that's an important part of the design process, it isn't usable, so it's not going into this campaign.

These house rules are, of course, up for discussion, but they seem pretty inoffensive to me so I'm pretty confident everyone will be okay with them.
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Post by Whipstitch »

As much as I think witches could use some love, I kinda think pure custom witches might be just a tad bit too metal.
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Post by Grek »

Chamomile wrote:-You don't immediately lose your PP upon death. Salting/sanding/seeding the body and then burning it will remove the PP instead.
-You can spend a PP to get +2 to resist incoming magic.
I am considering but not yet decided upon adding in Grek's more variable witches:
These are good rules and I am totally in favour of them being used.
I'm not using them because I really don't think the Possessed especially need to be in the game.
That is probably for the best. That was very much a "throw shit at the wall and see what sticks" design.
because game mechanically speaking Patience of the Mountains is pretty much just immunity to disease and poison and that's it.
I am not entirely sure that PotM actually gives immunity to disease. But it also seems like a thing it should do.
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Post by Corsair114 »

Whipstitch wrote:As much as I think witches could use some love, I kinda think pure custom witches might be just a tad bit too metal.
And here I was planning on pitching something along the lines of a viking sucked through the surface reflection of a lake and spit out as a witch of some-sort with one eye replaced with a rune-covered macguffin.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to play after all (going to be a busy few months of personal stuff).
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Post by Whipstitch »

I know I said "Definitely nezumi" but well, I'm an idiot, and ended up with a Reborn sheet instead. Here's a character concept pitch in a spoiler box and a dropbox link to stats.
Ever heard of the outlaw Joaquin Murrieta? Many stories attributed to him are of dubious veracity, to put it mildly, but his actions eventually inspired the creation of Zorro, which makes him a fairly big deal as far as old west lore is concerned. Unfortunately for Murrieta, his actions also inspired the formation of the California State Rangers, 20 men who were charged with killing him and any of his associates. They succeeded in this task on July 25, 1853 and they preserved Joaquin Murrieta's head and the distinctive hand of his trusted lieutenant in brandy as grim proof that they had performed the task assigned to them.

Which, brings us to Marco Romero, a Mexican American Reborn from Houston who, it must be stressed, is not Joaquin Murrieta. Rather, he is believed to be the reincarnation of Manuel Garcia, aka, "Three-Fingered Jack," or, as he is sometimes known in snarkier corners of the the supernatural community, "That Other Guy" or "Isn't that a mountain?". Of course, it is very likely that Romero has other past lives as well, a belief which has been corroborated by the Ulmians, who recruited him in part by claiming he is the reincarnation of former member and hitman Giancarlo Ulmi, which makes a degree of sense given that he developed an inexplicable mastery of Italian upon awakening to his powers. On the other hand, Romero's also heard rumors that the Ulmi may be merely raiding Stellar Oracle archives in order to poach talent while that cult is in one of its transition phases. Such a revelation would be unlikely to change his affiliation, however, given that the Oracles sound like they were always awash in failure while a poaching program with such elaborate cover stories speaks to a sort of pragmatism on the part of the Ulmi that Romero rather admires. Besides, the Ulmi have treated him as having some degree of seniority over other young necromancers within the Family, and they have yet to quash his desire to increase cult activity within LA. That means a lot to him given that he has no real desire to play second fiddle to anyone in this lifetime.

Image


character sheet
Last edited by Whipstitch on Sun Oct 06, 2013 12:30 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by Grek »

That is a pretty cool character concept.
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Post by echoVanguard »

Hmm, is 2 characters with Psychometry a bad idea? Maybe I should change my selections a bit.

edit - changed Psychometry to Indominability and fixed a bug in my synergies list, as well as moving a couple of skills around slightly and adding my fourth specialization and an obligation (and corresponding resource), which had been forgotten the first time, as well as my 6 discretionary skill points. Also added equipment and a character portrait.

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Post by Chamomile »

Alright, so Grek, Echo, and Whipstitch have characters ready to roll, so that's enough to play, and Omegon, Maxus, and Prak may or may not have characters on the way.

EDIT: Though, thinking about it, getting these people to work together is going to be kind of tricky. Two of the three has no affiliations with any major faction, and one of them has no significant supernatural affiliations whatsoever.
Last edited by Chamomile on Sat Sep 28, 2013 6:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by echoVanguard »

Chamomile wrote:...getting these people to work together is going to be kind of tricky. Two of the three has no affiliations with any major faction, and one of them has no significant supernatural affiliations whatsoever.
As an IMR character, J-Rock has probably handled a few supernatural cases by now and has most likely gotten at least a minor reputation as a go-to PI for cases where something is "off". He might get roped in as a security consultant by Michael Silmoore, or have an existing case cross the paths of one of Silmoore's operations, potentially simultaneously with the other PCs. Private investigators typically get cases that either the clients don't want the cops involved in, or cases that the cops won't touch (or have already closed), so really any sort of situation can be relevant.

Easy example: a Cauchemar Communist recently had a friend go missing, and suspects Syndicate involvement, but the other members of the cell aren't interested in finding out what happened as the decedent was fairly unliked. Some of the potential witnesses include an actor hopeful and a local criminal of interest belonging to the Ulmi family.

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Post by Grek »

Yeah, I think at this point it's much more important to answer the question of "How do our guys know eachother?" than "Why are we working together."

As long as it's been established that our characters are all friends enough that none of them will split over political differences, then we're bound to come to some kind of agreement about to what needs to happen in LA. At the very least, I'm sure everyone would say that the King with Three Shadows winning would be very bad and that the fighting shouldn't get as heated that the Masquerade is threatened by werewolves and vampires fighting in the streets. We might even go so far as to agree that one or more other factions are bad.
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