Let's see. Kage is somewhere between pack and cameron (both thinking he's on the other side), Cameron ordered Lynn out of his house, and Lynn took that to mean pack as well - since they're part of her - and Simon followed her out. The remnants of Cameron's bit of the locii got hacked up (and eaten) and the nice line Cameron drew shall have some fun, fun reprecussions ....
All because of a dance in a ballroom a vampire took to be mind control....
So ... however this is fixed is up to the PCs. Faline as mediator between Lynn and Cameron would be nicely amusing, but the GM is dusting his hands off of the whole PC-caused affair and letting the PCs fix the problem however they want to. If you don't fix it, well ... we'll burn them bridges when we come to them, eh?
We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered. - Tom Stoppard
Monday, June 12, 2006
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
LOLAD: 10 sessions in
or 40ish, by the not official count.
Things are going well. Have enough players; the game's survived several players getting stuck with Real Life without too much plot juggling and a week has passed us by in game.
Since I'll be doing a novel for the next two months, sessions other than the Official One that fairly unlikely, unless I need a break from writing. Normally I figure I'd be able to get some in, but I've never tried writing a novel while holding down a 9 to 5 job before, so shall see how it goes -- and those all nighters just don't work like they used to. Just figured I'd let everyone know how things'll be stand. It'll be fairly different - I don't how *what* will happen with regards to Cecil stuff, since Chaos is late on Mondays; something'll be worked out at least. I hope.
Things are going well. Have enough players; the game's survived several players getting stuck with Real Life without too much plot juggling and a week has passed us by in game.
Since I'll be doing a novel for the next two months, sessions other than the Official One that fairly unlikely, unless I need a break from writing. Normally I figure I'd be able to get some in, but I've never tried writing a novel while holding down a 9 to 5 job before, so shall see how it goes -- and those all nighters just don't work like they used to. Just figured I'd let everyone know how things'll be stand. It'll be fairly different - I don't how *what* will happen with regards to Cecil stuff, since Chaos is late on Mondays; something'll be worked out at least. I hope.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Winter
This is just winters sheet from Aftermath being posted for someone.
Winter
Time travel is so dangerous it makes H-bombs seem perfectly safe gifts for children and imebeciles. I mean, what's the worse that could happen with a nuclear weapon? A few million people die; trivial. With time travel we can destroy the whole Universe, or so the theory goes.
- John Varley
Name: Winter Windchaser (aka Barry Mugan) (aka Arth'Ba'Toch)
Sumnmary: Possible god despite a very thorough abdication. It's complicated.
Background: The history of Winter begins somewhere over a thousand years in the future, where the god whose mastery is time sends a hand-picked woman (Tanya Ingold) back in time to give birth to him. Tanya is given advanced technology and the blessings of the god, both of which allow her to survive the trip, and something uniquely Tanya that makes her able to withstand the effects of travelling through time and, perhaps, learn something about the nature of her god during the journey. (This could well have been her unconceived son ,making sure she made it back fine.)
Tanya arrived in 2008 and set about learning about earth and searching for Adam Windchaser, the man destined to be the father of his son Winter whether he liked it or not. Her first attempt later that year was an out and out failure, with Adam (how had been busy avoiding Mr. Armstrong earlier) calling up illusions and evading her. He also ended up castrated and missing his tongue for a time due to the price of his powers and Tanya spent the next few months researching him and ended up deciding on seduction instead, hitting him when he was feeling very depressed and drugging him. Adam woke 3 days later early in 2009 wondering just what the hell had happened.
Tanya found somewhere remote in Asia to give birth to Winter, and given his pre-birth ability to alter time it was a very harrowing experience. However, once he was born something changed. Not at a conscious level, but somehow Tanya couldn't see this child growing up to become a god. (Not that Arth'Ba'Toch, The God Who Must Not Be Named, Lord of Time was a bad god, necessarily, it's just that the business of gods is to BE gods, to remain what they are - and all gods believe in expediency and necessary evils - and have biases against change. For 500 of the years Arth has ruled (began 300ish years in into the future from 2020) society has been stagnant.) She raised him, telling him of his powers when he was two or so, and really didn't understand all the big words she was using. She used a lot of Star Trek lingo since she doesn't really understand his powers herself and to hide the fact that the devices she'd brought had detected Barry Mugan, who *also* seemed to be Winter, which she knew was not possible. There were few facts known about her god, but one was that there was only one of him, ever. Other beings split when they're present at a timeline-altering event, one going down one path, one another (or more, if multiple timelines are made); but Winter was always and ever himself. Barry's presence seemed to put a lie to this and left her even more confused.
She taught Winter how to defend himself unconsciously, helped him through periods when even moving synchronicity by accident left him exhausted for days and taught him, very firmly, that it is wrong to live another's life for them and that killing was wrong (the second lesson has stuck more). She had just been getting into not altering the past to erase his own mistakes (would have been a good lesson) when Adam Windchaser finally managed to find them, having found out his son - the creature that would one day become Barry Mugan, ammoral puppet master - existed thanks to a superhuman known as midwife who specialised in helping people give birth to super human children.
Adam tracked them to Russia, using magic and power and pure rage to escape detection and entered there home, obliterating Tanya with the pure core of his power, illusion made real. But his power had developed over the years, allowing him to siphon other super humans energy directly in order to not inflict his curse - as he struck out at Winter, it attempted to siphon energy and things went nuts. Winter fled, his mind blasted by the pure hatred of his father, and Adamn Windchaser was left crumpled, the curse ripping through him for years and years, trapped in that one moment by Winter's unthinking defence and first use of his Edicaran self.
Winter fled into Canada and somehow to Haven, only knowing that he had to find the "star lady" - his only coherent memory of Starchild left in his fragmenting psyche. He found Kate, then Maelstrom and was eventually healed by Jesa.
And then his power took matters into its own hands, manipulating the future and present so that Timmy met Winter and Winter was hit by the futuristic time compass that let him see his future self. Desperate to not become that begin, he took the Rebirth Timmy hit him with and threw it at his future self, resulting in that self going back in time, becoming insane and eventually Barry Mugan. He'd been manipulated. Something in Winter just ...snapped ... at knowing how many deaths he had caused and he reached out and killed Barry, which destroyed his predetermined future, and which his god self must havbe known would happen because Winter makes his own future and can't be constrained by a set one - which means Arth'Ba'Toch knowns something Winter doesn't, something he was willing to hedge all bets and his very existence on ....
Update: as the edicaran told Carl to tell winter - kings can't sacrifice themselvres in chess (which sort of sums up his problems :p)
Personality: Winter is a very quiet, shy and generally scared kid with a core will of pure determination and depths he's never had to plummet. He's never really been really tested and is generally unconsciously fighting his own power in an effort to actually be human as long as he can. And to him, a large part of that is loyalty to friends. He'd do anything to help them - possible even beoming Art'ba'toch.
Description: Winter is a young albino with long white hair tied up in a pony tail with pale blue eyes, about 10 years old.
Obsession: Being Human (power)
Wound Points: 45
Body: 45 (young)
Athletics 35%, Struggle 40%
Speed: 55 (quick)
Dodge 40%, Initiative 40%, Run away 40%
Mind: 60 (home schooling)
Conceal 15%, General Education: 20%, Notice: 30%., Future Knowledge: 60%; Speak Any Language 30%
Soul: 75 (still waters run deep)
Charm 35%, Lie 20%, Synchronicity 75%
Special: Edicardan: 12%, Human: 88%
Future Knowledge: This represents Winter's ability to know what is going to happen and what is most likely to happen. He doesn't like to use it but if something WILL happen - i.e. no matter what timeline, this event will occur - he'll know that intuitively.
Speak Any Language: This is a talent Tanya either gave to him or taught to him. He's unaware of it at present. It includes reading and writing them. This is generally easier with language he's heard (so far, Frechn, English, Russian and the tongue from his mother's time).
Synchronicity: Coincidence does whatever he wants unconsciously. The world arranges itself in ways that are good for him most of the time, and necessary some of the time. As his power isn't under concious control, it can (and will) arrange things to happen that it feels needs to happen to a certain extent. It is what "creates" things at need and the energy it takes to do that is only noticed by Winter if he's drained (the regular use isn't; he could do that while seconds from death).
Special: When the Eidcaran part outstrips the human, Winter may well cease to exist in a lot of ways. Each time he used his full power (or as much of it as he can - he's young and untrained) the human % goes down by one, the edicaran up by one. And he learns a little bit more about that non-human part of him and how to see time.
Powers:
Manipulate Time (Major X5): Winter alters the timestream just by existing. He can change the present, future and past pretty much at will .. time is his toy to do whatever he wants with. In theory. In practise, this does apply to the god self with centuries of experience in time but not to Winter himself. And there are limits. He cann't undo something he has done or will do - it's not within his power. He could alter time so what he did never happened, if really pushed, but it would get Noticed. And require a signifigant expenditure of energy.
* Altering the present can be done prettty much at will, for local things.
* Altering the future requires touching time and his deep self, as per Not All There and he loses 1% of humanity.
* Altering the past is as per the future, but Winter can't do it yet, even though he's tried.
Note: Winter can't be in more than one place at once or duplicate himself. There is just one of him.
Note2: Raising the dead is possible for his power, but he doesn't know enough about the timelines and can't see deeply or far enough to effectivly raise someone and not alter the past drastically as a result. (If the death occured during a time split, it's much easier and could be done ... otherwise it's really mucking around with things and Winter's power alters time, not necessarily memory - yet. What it would do is arrange for a timeline they hadn't died in - but everyone else would remember seeing them die.)
Flaws:
Pre-ordained future: There are some things Winter can't avoid doing. Creating Barry was one of them. He might be able to avoid others, but the resulting damage to time could well be catastrophic in nature. At some level, he knows this. It is quite likely he could cause Arth by trying to avoid causing him.
Power drain: Seeing time as it really looks like is only possible because his non-human nature buffers him. Even so, using his powers at the deeper levels is increnibly exhausting. Any other being would die from it, possibly even Master J or Jesa. but Winter is not human, nor edicaran, but some hyrbid of both. It allows him to recover from exhaustion naturally at an insane rate and, if he is conscious, can heal him of most damage simply by altering his rate of healing. (The obvious danger is his syncronicity creation effect working when he is drained, which feels much like getting the crap beaten out of you.)
Automatic defence: His power will defend itself against any threats or perceived threats unless Winter deliberately stops it.
Not All There: The non human part of him is the real source for doing impressive things with his power and each time he uses it
he loses some of his humanity. In game terms, this currently means anything aside from future knowledge or syncronicity and minor temporal changes caused by his defence ability.
Pillar of Time: Winter *is* time, in a lot of ways. A big cog in the wheel, at the very least. Harm to it is harm to him. This includes harm HE does to it and arguably be hurts it just by existing since he acts as a mountain in a stream of a vortex of sorts in an ocean at all times. (Being continually harmed by your own presence harming time could explain some of Arth's disposition.) Currently, he's not edicaran enough to realise this flaw, but it's coming....
Notes On Time:
In the Hubris/Aftermath universe, there are alternate timelines. But there are far less of them than many suppose. Just deciding to walk left doesn't mean another you walks right - people "split" into other timelines only at the junction of important events - and what is imporant to time and the universe can be very large or very small. As well, some things seem to have to happen - either through one timeline or all of them - and woe to anyone who decides to mess with that, or can.
Importantly, the past is as malleable as the future and present in this setting. (While rping your entire history changing may be hard for some players, it *can* happen.) In more extreme situations, like altering the past so humanity didn’t happen, just boot the alterer to said universe, where they get to try and live in a universe of flying dolphins, and likely not for long. The big problem is tenses, since your original timeline alters when the past changes in the less extreme senses and being stuck remembering things that never happened is seldom fun.
Winter is unique because a) he's an edicaran in human form, as Bloodhound was a Watcher in human form. The difference is that Winter went all the way and they are one being - each use of it's power to increase his own makes him more it and less human personality wise. And b) There is only one him. He doesn't split along timelines as others do, ever. (It also makes it impossible for him to be in two places at once, or duplicate himself for any reason.)
(The latter doesn't apply to barry. There are more than one of him because the trip through time stripped him of the edicaran for the most part and the time travel entirely.)
Winter
Time travel is so dangerous it makes H-bombs seem perfectly safe gifts for children and imebeciles. I mean, what's the worse that could happen with a nuclear weapon? A few million people die; trivial. With time travel we can destroy the whole Universe, or so the theory goes.
- John Varley
Name: Winter Windchaser (aka Barry Mugan) (aka Arth'Ba'Toch)
Sumnmary: Possible god despite a very thorough abdication. It's complicated.
Background: The history of Winter begins somewhere over a thousand years in the future, where the god whose mastery is time sends a hand-picked woman (Tanya Ingold) back in time to give birth to him. Tanya is given advanced technology and the blessings of the god, both of which allow her to survive the trip, and something uniquely Tanya that makes her able to withstand the effects of travelling through time and, perhaps, learn something about the nature of her god during the journey. (This could well have been her unconceived son ,making sure she made it back fine.)
Tanya arrived in 2008 and set about learning about earth and searching for Adam Windchaser, the man destined to be the father of his son Winter whether he liked it or not. Her first attempt later that year was an out and out failure, with Adam (how had been busy avoiding Mr. Armstrong earlier) calling up illusions and evading her. He also ended up castrated and missing his tongue for a time due to the price of his powers and Tanya spent the next few months researching him and ended up deciding on seduction instead, hitting him when he was feeling very depressed and drugging him. Adam woke 3 days later early in 2009 wondering just what the hell had happened.
Tanya found somewhere remote in Asia to give birth to Winter, and given his pre-birth ability to alter time it was a very harrowing experience. However, once he was born something changed. Not at a conscious level, but somehow Tanya couldn't see this child growing up to become a god. (Not that Arth'Ba'Toch, The God Who Must Not Be Named, Lord of Time was a bad god, necessarily, it's just that the business of gods is to BE gods, to remain what they are - and all gods believe in expediency and necessary evils - and have biases against change. For 500 of the years Arth has ruled (began 300ish years in into the future from 2020) society has been stagnant.) She raised him, telling him of his powers when he was two or so, and really didn't understand all the big words she was using. She used a lot of Star Trek lingo since she doesn't really understand his powers herself and to hide the fact that the devices she'd brought had detected Barry Mugan, who *also* seemed to be Winter, which she knew was not possible. There were few facts known about her god, but one was that there was only one of him, ever. Other beings split when they're present at a timeline-altering event, one going down one path, one another (or more, if multiple timelines are made); but Winter was always and ever himself. Barry's presence seemed to put a lie to this and left her even more confused.
She taught Winter how to defend himself unconsciously, helped him through periods when even moving synchronicity by accident left him exhausted for days and taught him, very firmly, that it is wrong to live another's life for them and that killing was wrong (the second lesson has stuck more). She had just been getting into not altering the past to erase his own mistakes (would have been a good lesson) when Adam Windchaser finally managed to find them, having found out his son - the creature that would one day become Barry Mugan, ammoral puppet master - existed thanks to a superhuman known as midwife who specialised in helping people give birth to super human children.
Adam tracked them to Russia, using magic and power and pure rage to escape detection and entered there home, obliterating Tanya with the pure core of his power, illusion made real. But his power had developed over the years, allowing him to siphon other super humans energy directly in order to not inflict his curse - as he struck out at Winter, it attempted to siphon energy and things went nuts. Winter fled, his mind blasted by the pure hatred of his father, and Adamn Windchaser was left crumpled, the curse ripping through him for years and years, trapped in that one moment by Winter's unthinking defence and first use of his Edicaran self.
Winter fled into Canada and somehow to Haven, only knowing that he had to find the "star lady" - his only coherent memory of Starchild left in his fragmenting psyche. He found Kate, then Maelstrom and was eventually healed by Jesa.
And then his power took matters into its own hands, manipulating the future and present so that Timmy met Winter and Winter was hit by the futuristic time compass that let him see his future self. Desperate to not become that begin, he took the Rebirth Timmy hit him with and threw it at his future self, resulting in that self going back in time, becoming insane and eventually Barry Mugan. He'd been manipulated. Something in Winter just ...snapped ... at knowing how many deaths he had caused and he reached out and killed Barry, which destroyed his predetermined future, and which his god self must havbe known would happen because Winter makes his own future and can't be constrained by a set one - which means Arth'Ba'Toch knowns something Winter doesn't, something he was willing to hedge all bets and his very existence on ....
Update: as the edicaran told Carl to tell winter - kings can't sacrifice themselvres in chess (which sort of sums up his problems :p)
Personality: Winter is a very quiet, shy and generally scared kid with a core will of pure determination and depths he's never had to plummet. He's never really been really tested and is generally unconsciously fighting his own power in an effort to actually be human as long as he can. And to him, a large part of that is loyalty to friends. He'd do anything to help them - possible even beoming Art'ba'toch.
Description: Winter is a young albino with long white hair tied up in a pony tail with pale blue eyes, about 10 years old.
Obsession: Being Human (power)
Wound Points: 45
Body: 45 (young)
Athletics 35%, Struggle 40%
Speed: 55 (quick)
Dodge 40%, Initiative 40%, Run away 40%
Mind: 60 (home schooling)
Conceal 15%, General Education: 20%, Notice: 30%., Future Knowledge: 60%; Speak Any Language 30%
Soul: 75 (still waters run deep)
Charm 35%, Lie 20%, Synchronicity 75%
Special: Edicardan: 12%, Human: 88%
Future Knowledge: This represents Winter's ability to know what is going to happen and what is most likely to happen. He doesn't like to use it but if something WILL happen - i.e. no matter what timeline, this event will occur - he'll know that intuitively.
Speak Any Language: This is a talent Tanya either gave to him or taught to him. He's unaware of it at present. It includes reading and writing them. This is generally easier with language he's heard (so far, Frechn, English, Russian and the tongue from his mother's time).
Synchronicity: Coincidence does whatever he wants unconsciously. The world arranges itself in ways that are good for him most of the time, and necessary some of the time. As his power isn't under concious control, it can (and will) arrange things to happen that it feels needs to happen to a certain extent. It is what "creates" things at need and the energy it takes to do that is only noticed by Winter if he's drained (the regular use isn't; he could do that while seconds from death).
Special: When the Eidcaran part outstrips the human, Winter may well cease to exist in a lot of ways. Each time he used his full power (or as much of it as he can - he's young and untrained) the human % goes down by one, the edicaran up by one. And he learns a little bit more about that non-human part of him and how to see time.
Powers:
Manipulate Time (Major X5): Winter alters the timestream just by existing. He can change the present, future and past pretty much at will .. time is his toy to do whatever he wants with. In theory. In practise, this does apply to the god self with centuries of experience in time but not to Winter himself. And there are limits. He cann't undo something he has done or will do - it's not within his power. He could alter time so what he did never happened, if really pushed, but it would get Noticed. And require a signifigant expenditure of energy.
* Altering the present can be done prettty much at will, for local things.
* Altering the future requires touching time and his deep self, as per Not All There and he loses 1% of humanity.
* Altering the past is as per the future, but Winter can't do it yet, even though he's tried.
Note: Winter can't be in more than one place at once or duplicate himself. There is just one of him.
Note2: Raising the dead is possible for his power, but he doesn't know enough about the timelines and can't see deeply or far enough to effectivly raise someone and not alter the past drastically as a result. (If the death occured during a time split, it's much easier and could be done ... otherwise it's really mucking around with things and Winter's power alters time, not necessarily memory - yet. What it would do is arrange for a timeline they hadn't died in - but everyone else would remember seeing them die.)
Flaws:
Pre-ordained future: There are some things Winter can't avoid doing. Creating Barry was one of them. He might be able to avoid others, but the resulting damage to time could well be catastrophic in nature. At some level, he knows this. It is quite likely he could cause Arth by trying to avoid causing him.
Power drain: Seeing time as it really looks like is only possible because his non-human nature buffers him. Even so, using his powers at the deeper levels is increnibly exhausting. Any other being would die from it, possibly even Master J or Jesa. but Winter is not human, nor edicaran, but some hyrbid of both. It allows him to recover from exhaustion naturally at an insane rate and, if he is conscious, can heal him of most damage simply by altering his rate of healing. (The obvious danger is his syncronicity creation effect working when he is drained, which feels much like getting the crap beaten out of you.)
Automatic defence: His power will defend itself against any threats or perceived threats unless Winter deliberately stops it.
Not All There: The non human part of him is the real source for doing impressive things with his power and each time he uses it
he loses some of his humanity. In game terms, this currently means anything aside from future knowledge or syncronicity and minor temporal changes caused by his defence ability.
Pillar of Time: Winter *is* time, in a lot of ways. A big cog in the wheel, at the very least. Harm to it is harm to him. This includes harm HE does to it and arguably be hurts it just by existing since he acts as a mountain in a stream of a vortex of sorts in an ocean at all times. (Being continually harmed by your own presence harming time could explain some of Arth's disposition.) Currently, he's not edicaran enough to realise this flaw, but it's coming....
Notes On Time:
In the Hubris/Aftermath universe, there are alternate timelines. But there are far less of them than many suppose. Just deciding to walk left doesn't mean another you walks right - people "split" into other timelines only at the junction of important events - and what is imporant to time and the universe can be very large or very small. As well, some things seem to have to happen - either through one timeline or all of them - and woe to anyone who decides to mess with that, or can.
Importantly, the past is as malleable as the future and present in this setting. (While rping your entire history changing may be hard for some players, it *can* happen.) In more extreme situations, like altering the past so humanity didn’t happen, just boot the alterer to said universe, where they get to try and live in a universe of flying dolphins, and likely not for long. The big problem is tenses, since your original timeline alters when the past changes in the less extreme senses and being stuck remembering things that never happened is seldom fun.
Winter is unique because a) he's an edicaran in human form, as Bloodhound was a Watcher in human form. The difference is that Winter went all the way and they are one being - each use of it's power to increase his own makes him more it and less human personality wise. And b) There is only one him. He doesn't split along timelines as others do, ever. (It also makes it impossible for him to be in two places at once, or duplicate himself for any reason.)
(The latter doesn't apply to barry. There are more than one of him because the trip through time stripped him of the edicaran for the most part and the time travel entirely.)
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Thoughts after session #1 ...
1. Player count is at max. No new players will be added, even if one player drops for RL. (If two drop, one could be added.) PCs may die in this game; if so, the player has the option of making a new character or saying "OMG! You all suck!" and someone else joining.
2. If people wish (see 1) I could rub sessions more like movies. Stuff. Stuff. Cut to other group. Stuff. Etc. I'm not sure if this would be better, but it could be vs a bit of a laggy response time.
3. All rules questions should go into #game1-ooc. Not me. I don't have time for it, with 2-3 channels and the same for msg going on sometimes.
4. Yuki should have adapted to Rei's demon bit by the next morning, in game. Sophie is, of coure, another kettle of fish, but he doesn't much like kettles and is only a fan of fish that isn't messy when you eat it ....
5. Now, insanity wise, Kage has stepped up to the bat. Rather handidly. *cheers from the audience*
6. For reasns of time, sessions will be no longer than 6 hours (6pm - midnight PST, 9pm - 3am EST). This is to allow players to not have to leave early and miss out on stuff that they would reasonably have involved themselves in.
If you do have to leave early, make up an in-game reason, and use it. If you're going to be late for the next session, ensure your PC is away from the others at the end of the current sessionn if possible.
8. Let's see if we can leave Trail intact for more than a week, eh?
9. Give thought to what your PC will do for a job. Kage had the interesting idea of the PCs owning a bar*. The circus also needs people, and will be stuck in Trail for a while (and seriously strapped for cash) trying to repair the ferris wheel :P Toss others ideas onto the table.
And try not to get your face ripped off during the dicussion on jobs you are suited for.
*Insert your own obligatory Artimus reference here :)
9.2. This is added because of the law of fives.
2. If people wish (see 1) I could rub sessions more like movies. Stuff. Stuff. Cut to other group. Stuff. Etc. I'm not sure if this would be better, but it could be vs a bit of a laggy response time.
3. All rules questions should go into #game1-ooc. Not me. I don't have time for it, with 2-3 channels and the same for msg going on sometimes.
4. Yuki should have adapted to Rei's demon bit by the next morning, in game. Sophie is, of coure, another kettle of fish, but he doesn't much like kettles and is only a fan of fish that isn't messy when you eat it ....
5. Now, insanity wise, Kage has stepped up to the bat. Rather handidly. *cheers from the audience*
6. For reasns of time, sessions will be no longer than 6 hours (6pm - midnight PST, 9pm - 3am EST). This is to allow players to not have to leave early and miss out on stuff that they would reasonably have involved themselves in.
If you do have to leave early, make up an in-game reason, and use it. If you're going to be late for the next session, ensure your PC is away from the others at the end of the current sessionn if possible.
8. Let's see if we can leave Trail intact for more than a week, eh?
9. Give thought to what your PC will do for a job. Kage had the interesting idea of the PCs owning a bar*. The circus also needs people, and will be stuck in Trail for a while (and seriously strapped for cash) trying to repair the ferris wheel :P Toss others ideas onto the table.
And try not to get your face ripped off during the dicussion on jobs you are suited for.
*Insert your own obligatory Artimus reference here :)
9.2. This is added because of the law of fives.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Haunted Sample PC
Name: Darryl Hannigan
Player: Alcar (Sample NPC)
Summary: Drifter with strange talents he doesn't understand looking for the meaning in his life.
Description: Darryl is a tall, lithe man in his late twenties in excellent shape with African-black skin and black eyes and hair. He is NOT a basketball player, and is wearing jeans, a sweater, a jean jacket, sneakers, and gloves.
Personality: Darryl is a normal, regular person trying to cope with a gift he doesn't understand.
Trigger Event(s): The deaths of a lover and a friend later changed his life in mundane ways. Later, seeing signs and having visions when he touched people.
Obsession: Being the best that he can be (Parkour)
Wound Points: 50
STIMULI
Rage: People who do drugs.
Fear: Being trapped in one place (broken bones)
Noble:
STATS
Body: 60 (lithe)
Speed: 50 (quick)
Mind: 50 (college schooling)
Soul: 70 (observant)
SKILLS
Body:
*Parkour*: 60% [Obsession]
Beat The Shit Out Of Nasty People: 35%
Speed:
Dodge: 25%
Driving: 10% [Only got a license recently]
Initiative: 40%
Knives and their friends: 30%
Mind:
General Education: 20%
Notice: 25%
Conceal: 15%
Map places: 35%
Soul:
Charm: 15%
Lying: 15%
See Signs: 20%
Psychometry: 50%
Map places is a mental aid in Parkour, helping him figure out the quickest way to get from A to B. It also helps ensure he seldom gets lost anywhere, and is useful in getting a "feel" for a place.
See Signs: This ability is passive, working only when the GM feels like having it happen. It basically is "signs" that Darryl sees, often real signs or paper headlines that change. The effect IS visible to others, if they look, but most people seldom do, and the sign isn't for them, anyway. The source of them is unknown, but they act as guides and hunches, directing Darryl places or giving him hints. He doesn't always get them, of course, and sometimes the signs are just a feeling: keep moving, you haven't found what you're looking for yet. (This, of course, would be more useful if he knew WHAT he was looking for.)
Psychometry: Darryl gets visions of things when he touches them. It doesn't always happen with objects, and almost always with people. Generally he only gets one a day from one person, and from things - well, it depends. If his car is low on gas and needs a tune-up, it could give quite a few. He's slowly coming to terms with the idea that cars and the like are as alive as people, but isn't sure what it all means, if anything.
INVENTORY
- A long volkswagon with a big trunk and, when the back seat folds down, enough room for two (or even the) people to sleep in it quite comfortably. Fake wood paneling, all of that. It's from the early 90s :)
- Clothing, duffel bag of more clothing, credit cards.
- A nice nest egg (at least $80K) in the bank. He works odd jobs for people as he goes to pay for gas and basic expenses.
BACKGROUND
Darryl had a very normal, boring childhood as far as such things go. He had loving parents, an adopted sister he got along with rather well, and some friends. Sure, he was chubby, but he didn't let what people say bother him (he seldom has) and life was pretty much normal. Then came high school, and girls who didn't like the geeky kids who played computer games and looked like they avoided sunlight as a plague. He was 15 when he decided he was tired of being himself and decided to become someone else.
The next year was hell, but he survived. His grades nose-dived, but he ran, did track, played in sports, and confused the hell out of his old friends and family. He got a girlfriend, began to do better in school again, and then one night three years later he went to her place to find she'd OD'd. He never did find out on what Karen had took, or why. He knew she had some problems with her family, but he'd been waiting for her to open up about them herself. Instead she'd opened her wrists and then her mind.
The doctors had tried to comfort him at the hospital, saying she'd at least bound her wrists, probably changed her mind, but with the drugs and blood loss hadn't been able to call 911. He listened, he heard: it didn't matter. Sometime during that night, he left his old life behind as well. He waited a week for the funeral, saying all the right things to all the right questions. Graduation was in one week; he left the next day, unable to stay any longer.
He found refuge on the east coast, in New York City, reasoning that if California was Heaven, NYC had to be hell. It was just his bad luck that the mayor had gone on a "clean up the streets spree", but some parts of the city never listened, and he ended up in them, trying to understand why Karen had destroyed herself, why people did that, and what kind of lives they led. he ended up in a gang, and a leader eventually since he never did drugs and rarely drank. He was death on anyone who did drugs, once literally, but even though he was somewhere near the bottom, he knew there was no way he could fall far enough for it to matter, for him to understand.
So he left that, when he was 22, and enrolled in some cheap-ass college courses to become an assistant gym teacher at the less savoury schools in the city. It was there that he met Kelly, who was the other assistant gym teacher. She was big into parkour, and street fighting, and used to be a guy (a fact she told him when, one night while drunk, he asked if she'd like to get to know him better: he'd sobered up really fast). They got along well as friends and she introduced him to the sport. He turned out to be really good at it, a natural even, and won the local city competition the next year.
He and Kelly moved in two years later, just as friends. They scrimped and saved for more courses, to try and become real gym teachers, and though money was tight, life was good. Darryl was even thinking about calling home, since he couldn't stay "trapped in the local parkour scene for long," as Kelly put it. He waited, unsure what to say, until six months ago he was walking down the street on the way home from school and the local movie theatre sign changed into "Don't Call Home Yet". Darryl thought it was just a freak occurrence, until signs continued to "speak" to him, words in the paper moving. Sometimes other people saw them, sometimes not; the message was always for him.
[The day of "the signs" day is the exact day Karen died. This is just a coincidence, of course.]
He thought he must be going mad, but managed to start ignoring them, even though sometimes it was hard. Then one evening he came back from work, went to take a plate from Kelly, and their hands touched. And he saw into Kelly's soul. Images, thoughts, knowledge. He knew the cancer she was dying of, and the terrible fear of dying alone she had. He'd blurted out "You have cancer?" in surprised, and she'd been shocked, confused. He'd tried to explain, failing, and left the room, unable to deal with her fear.
She died two months later, after they'd come to terms with - well, It. He was wearing gloves, and the only person who came. There were no signs, but there was also nothing holding him to the city anymore: the bureaucracy hindered his advancement (he tried not to think it was racial; but it was hard not to: the scorn of white people was an old memory). He sold the apartment and bought a volkswagon, putting the money Kelly had left him in her will into a savings account and leaving the city.
Since then, he's just wandered, never staying for long in one place, pulled hither and thither by hunches and signs, and touching things, understanding them, and doing what he can to make sense of this strange gift and the world as it now is to him. He's wondering if it's time to go home now, but hadn't seen a sign telling him this yet and has no desire to go on his own. He keeps telling himself he's not afraid, and doesn't have answers for questions. He's turning 27 in three days, and wondering what his life will be like now that he's crazy ...
FAMILY
Frank Hannigan (Father, 58) - His father was a doctor, and still is. Just a GP, but it's been enough for the family to do moderately well, and they've not moved from their house, just added a pool and helped fund the local park down the road (firmly refusing to have it put in his the family name, and the donation was anonymous). He wishes he knew where his son was, and often checks obituaries of national papers, but has done nothing towards finding Darryl, figuring his son will come home when he wants to, and holding to that.
Mary Hannigan (Mother, 56) - Mary loves her sons. Darryl's room hadn't been changed since he left it, and a part of her died when he left as he did. Oh, she knows he has his reasons, but even so - it's been almost 10 years, and she's afraid he's died, or something worse has happened, and doesn't understand how things ended up as they did. She loves her other son and husband, and can go for almost a month without wondering where Darryl is sometimes, but she cries more in private than she should. She knows she should move on, that this isn't healthy, but there's a hole in her heart that nothing can fill, except answers. IN her normal life, she works as a secretary for her husband, and helps out at a local soup kitchen.
Chris Hannigan (Brother (adopted), 26) - Chris was always welcomed in the family. His childhood before he was adopted (at age 6) isn't something he ever talks about, and he loves his family, and adored his brother. He tried not to hate Darryl for running away, but part of him still does, knowing that no matter how hard he tries, he can't fill the gap in his parent's lives. He is, currently, finishing a business major at the local university and unsure what to do with his life after that.
FRIENDS
None, at present, besides the car he's named Bessie. He had a few in NYC, other teachers, some students and their parents, a few of the gang members who'd reformed, but no one he was really close to. His childhood best friend (before he got into Sports) was Harry Blackmore, who is likely a computer hacker with the NSA or something. His friends after that were some guys and girls in the track team. Many likely stayed in town, but he never kept in touch with anyone from home. (That being [Some town below Seattle], Washington].)
Player: Alcar (Sample NPC)
Summary: Drifter with strange talents he doesn't understand looking for the meaning in his life.
Description: Darryl is a tall, lithe man in his late twenties in excellent shape with African-black skin and black eyes and hair. He is NOT a basketball player, and is wearing jeans, a sweater, a jean jacket, sneakers, and gloves.
Personality: Darryl is a normal, regular person trying to cope with a gift he doesn't understand.
Trigger Event(s): The deaths of a lover and a friend later changed his life in mundane ways. Later, seeing signs and having visions when he touched people.
Obsession: Being the best that he can be (Parkour)
Wound Points: 50
STIMULI
Rage: People who do drugs.
Fear: Being trapped in one place (broken bones)
Noble:
STATS
Body: 60 (lithe)
Speed: 50 (quick)
Mind: 50 (college schooling)
Soul: 70 (observant)
SKILLS
Body:
*Parkour*: 60% [Obsession]
Beat The Shit Out Of Nasty People: 35%
Speed:
Dodge: 25%
Driving: 10% [Only got a license recently]
Initiative: 40%
Knives and their friends: 30%
Mind:
General Education: 20%
Notice: 25%
Conceal: 15%
Map places: 35%
Soul:
Charm: 15%
Lying: 15%
See Signs: 20%
Psychometry: 50%
Map places is a mental aid in Parkour, helping him figure out the quickest way to get from A to B. It also helps ensure he seldom gets lost anywhere, and is useful in getting a "feel" for a place.
See Signs: This ability is passive, working only when the GM feels like having it happen. It basically is "signs" that Darryl sees, often real signs or paper headlines that change. The effect IS visible to others, if they look, but most people seldom do, and the sign isn't for them, anyway. The source of them is unknown, but they act as guides and hunches, directing Darryl places or giving him hints. He doesn't always get them, of course, and sometimes the signs are just a feeling: keep moving, you haven't found what you're looking for yet. (This, of course, would be more useful if he knew WHAT he was looking for.)
Psychometry: Darryl gets visions of things when he touches them. It doesn't always happen with objects, and almost always with people. Generally he only gets one a day from one person, and from things - well, it depends. If his car is low on gas and needs a tune-up, it could give quite a few. He's slowly coming to terms with the idea that cars and the like are as alive as people, but isn't sure what it all means, if anything.
INVENTORY
- A long volkswagon with a big trunk and, when the back seat folds down, enough room for two (or even the) people to sleep in it quite comfortably. Fake wood paneling, all of that. It's from the early 90s :)
- Clothing, duffel bag of more clothing, credit cards.
- A nice nest egg (at least $80K) in the bank. He works odd jobs for people as he goes to pay for gas and basic expenses.
BACKGROUND
Darryl had a very normal, boring childhood as far as such things go. He had loving parents, an adopted sister he got along with rather well, and some friends. Sure, he was chubby, but he didn't let what people say bother him (he seldom has) and life was pretty much normal. Then came high school, and girls who didn't like the geeky kids who played computer games and looked like they avoided sunlight as a plague. He was 15 when he decided he was tired of being himself and decided to become someone else.
The next year was hell, but he survived. His grades nose-dived, but he ran, did track, played in sports, and confused the hell out of his old friends and family. He got a girlfriend, began to do better in school again, and then one night three years later he went to her place to find she'd OD'd. He never did find out on what Karen had took, or why. He knew she had some problems with her family, but he'd been waiting for her to open up about them herself. Instead she'd opened her wrists and then her mind.
The doctors had tried to comfort him at the hospital, saying she'd at least bound her wrists, probably changed her mind, but with the drugs and blood loss hadn't been able to call 911. He listened, he heard: it didn't matter. Sometime during that night, he left his old life behind as well. He waited a week for the funeral, saying all the right things to all the right questions. Graduation was in one week; he left the next day, unable to stay any longer.
He found refuge on the east coast, in New York City, reasoning that if California was Heaven, NYC had to be hell. It was just his bad luck that the mayor had gone on a "clean up the streets spree", but some parts of the city never listened, and he ended up in them, trying to understand why Karen had destroyed herself, why people did that, and what kind of lives they led. he ended up in a gang, and a leader eventually since he never did drugs and rarely drank. He was death on anyone who did drugs, once literally, but even though he was somewhere near the bottom, he knew there was no way he could fall far enough for it to matter, for him to understand.
So he left that, when he was 22, and enrolled in some cheap-ass college courses to become an assistant gym teacher at the less savoury schools in the city. It was there that he met Kelly, who was the other assistant gym teacher. She was big into parkour, and street fighting, and used to be a guy (a fact she told him when, one night while drunk, he asked if she'd like to get to know him better: he'd sobered up really fast). They got along well as friends and she introduced him to the sport. He turned out to be really good at it, a natural even, and won the local city competition the next year.
He and Kelly moved in two years later, just as friends. They scrimped and saved for more courses, to try and become real gym teachers, and though money was tight, life was good. Darryl was even thinking about calling home, since he couldn't stay "trapped in the local parkour scene for long," as Kelly put it. He waited, unsure what to say, until six months ago he was walking down the street on the way home from school and the local movie theatre sign changed into "Don't Call Home Yet". Darryl thought it was just a freak occurrence, until signs continued to "speak" to him, words in the paper moving. Sometimes other people saw them, sometimes not; the message was always for him.
[The day of "the signs" day is the exact day Karen died. This is just a coincidence, of course.]
He thought he must be going mad, but managed to start ignoring them, even though sometimes it was hard. Then one evening he came back from work, went to take a plate from Kelly, and their hands touched. And he saw into Kelly's soul. Images, thoughts, knowledge. He knew the cancer she was dying of, and the terrible fear of dying alone she had. He'd blurted out "You have cancer?" in surprised, and she'd been shocked, confused. He'd tried to explain, failing, and left the room, unable to deal with her fear.
She died two months later, after they'd come to terms with - well, It. He was wearing gloves, and the only person who came. There were no signs, but there was also nothing holding him to the city anymore: the bureaucracy hindered his advancement (he tried not to think it was racial; but it was hard not to: the scorn of white people was an old memory). He sold the apartment and bought a volkswagon, putting the money Kelly had left him in her will into a savings account and leaving the city.
Since then, he's just wandered, never staying for long in one place, pulled hither and thither by hunches and signs, and touching things, understanding them, and doing what he can to make sense of this strange gift and the world as it now is to him. He's wondering if it's time to go home now, but hadn't seen a sign telling him this yet and has no desire to go on his own. He keeps telling himself he's not afraid, and doesn't have answers for questions. He's turning 27 in three days, and wondering what his life will be like now that he's crazy ...
FAMILY
Frank Hannigan (Father, 58) - His father was a doctor, and still is. Just a GP, but it's been enough for the family to do moderately well, and they've not moved from their house, just added a pool and helped fund the local park down the road (firmly refusing to have it put in his the family name, and the donation was anonymous). He wishes he knew where his son was, and often checks obituaries of national papers, but has done nothing towards finding Darryl, figuring his son will come home when he wants to, and holding to that.
Mary Hannigan (Mother, 56) - Mary loves her sons. Darryl's room hadn't been changed since he left it, and a part of her died when he left as he did. Oh, she knows he has his reasons, but even so - it's been almost 10 years, and she's afraid he's died, or something worse has happened, and doesn't understand how things ended up as they did. She loves her other son and husband, and can go for almost a month without wondering where Darryl is sometimes, but she cries more in private than she should. She knows she should move on, that this isn't healthy, but there's a hole in her heart that nothing can fill, except answers. IN her normal life, she works as a secretary for her husband, and helps out at a local soup kitchen.
Chris Hannigan (Brother (adopted), 26) - Chris was always welcomed in the family. His childhood before he was adopted (at age 6) isn't something he ever talks about, and he loves his family, and adored his brother. He tried not to hate Darryl for running away, but part of him still does, knowing that no matter how hard he tries, he can't fill the gap in his parent's lives. He is, currently, finishing a business major at the local university and unsure what to do with his life after that.
FRIENDS
None, at present, besides the car he's named Bessie. He had a few in NYC, other teachers, some students and their parents, a few of the gang members who'd reformed, but no one he was really close to. His childhood best friend (before he got into Sports) was Harry Blackmore, who is likely a computer hacker with the NSA or something. His friends after that were some guys and girls in the track team. Many likely stayed in town, but he never kept in touch with anyone from home. (That being [Some town below Seattle], Washington].)
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Lirk and Orgg chat
Lirk and Orgg chat. Orgg is explaining hisn feelings for Lirk. Lirk is saying he understands if Orgg doesn't want anyone to know he's the king, and Orgg doesn't know he is the king ...
<AlcarDM> Likr just looks at the floor after Lee leaves :)
<AlcarDM> Lirk finally stops blushing and looks up.
* Orgg leans forward and looks at lirk
<Orgg> "I had hoped the girl would agree to become baron, to spare you the trouble. But it seems it comes to you after all."
* Orgg looks regretful
<AlcarDM> Lirk nods, a bit hesitantly. "I - I guess so."
<Orgg> "At least this marriage will take that pressure off of you."
* Orgg pauses, looking awkward.
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "But .. it won't be to Tamil. Asd marriages have to be...."
<Orgg> "Have to be?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "Uhm .. " he frowns. "I don't know a polite word for it."
<Orgg> "Oh... oh. I didn't think about that."
* Orgg scowls
<Orgg> "Not a good solution."
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "Oh! Right. not a .... uhm ...but .... " he takes a quick, nervous breath "Does the - the Code cover it?"
* Orgg shakes his head
<AlcarDM> Lirk squirms a bit, looking uncomfortable. "Do you .... know about it? I mean ..... I don't .. not that stuff..." he trails off
<Orgg> "The code is mostly concerned with honour and battle, neither of which come from exploits in the bedroom." Then: "Unless they involve killing somethiing."
* Orgg nods
<Orgg> "Up north we do not conceal things, so much. What is it you wish to know?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "I mean ....." he takes a deep breath, refusing to loook at you "I think Lee is going to disguise himself as Tamil. And .. and that would mean marriuage, I guess.."
<Orgg> "Lee will what!? Oh. I see." Orgg looks thoughtful, then a little angry, and a little confused. "I saw you... looking at him. I would think you'd be happy." snappishly.
<AlcarDM> Lirk blinks and looks at you, looking shocked. "I ....I .......I.....I do ......n't.,..." he stops, gulps a breath. "I .. " and looks away. 'I've never .. never lived, until I got healed. al my time was just the present, always. No past, no future. I doin't know. I don't know .. I'm sorry?"
* Orgg stops scowling, a shocked expression on his face.
<Orgg> "No, I am sorry. I spole in haste." a pause. "I was... jealous?" quietly.
<AlcarDM> Lirk makes a startled sound and looks at you ..... "because you're my friend?"
* Orgg stares at the ground for a while before answering
<Orgg> "No." He says, not looking at Lirk.
<Orgg> "I'm sorry. I will go."
<AlcarDM> Lirk touches your arm, hsitantly. "No .. I ...." he kneels on the floor quickly. "I don't want to dishonour you...."
<AlcarDM> (( he thinks you meant because you're his king :P ))
<Orgg> ((lol))
<Orgg> Orgg is just plain taken aback
<Orgg> "Dishonour me? How?"
<AlcarDM> LIrk: "When .. when you made me baron...."
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "I don't want to .. to ... tarnish that?"
* Orgg scowls, looks confused, scowls, looks confused. Then:
<Orgg> "What do you mean?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk blinks and looks up, startled. "Oh, I'm ... sorry." and scrambles to his feet. "I didn't mean to.."
* Orgg waits for Lirk to finish his sentence.
<AlcarDM> Lirk doesn't. "I shouldn't have said that, I guess. Sorry. I guess you don't like people knowing?"
* Orgg starts to nod, then looks confused again
<Orgg> "Knowing something that would tarnish my honour?"
* Orgg starts to look worried, and thinks *really* hard about the ceremony in which Lirk became baron.
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "No! Just ... you made meBaron. I .. I want to live up to that."
<Orgg> "But what does that have to do with...?"
* Orgg trails off, then just looks frustrated
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "With what?" looking confused now
<Orgg> ((lol, this is the most horrible conversation I have ever had =P))
<AlcarDM> (( LOL. ))
<Orgg> "With what we were talking about!"
<AlcarDM> (( Confusing pcs is fun :) ))
<Orgg> ((*laugh* indeed. An npcs, too =P))
<AlcarDM> Lirk: ".... making me baron? But I guess you don't want to"
<AlcarDM> (( oh yeah, of course :P ))
<Orgg> "What are you talking about!?"
<Orgg> Orgg is exasperated now =P
<Orgg> "You're already baron, aren't you?"
<Orgg> and confused, horribly =P
<AlcarDM> Lirk blinks, then nods.
<AlcarDM> he looks as confused as you are :)
* Orgg nods
<Orgg> "Okay. So you are Baron." *trying to get a grasp on things*
<Orgg> "But what does that have to do with dishonour?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "I ..I wouldn't want to . .to dishonour you. I want to be worthy of you!" then quickly: 'as a baron"
<Orgg> (lol)
* Orgg nods
<Orgg> "Oh. You follow the code; you have brought me only honour."
<Orgg> still, confused about where this came from =P
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "oh......."
<AlcarDM> He nods.
<Orgg> "Did you worry about dishonouring me somehow?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk nods again
<Orgg> "How?"
* Orgg lightbulbs
<Orgg> ((lol, this is truly awful =P))
<Orgg> ((now he thinks that lirk thinks that he is dishonouring orgg by spurning him =P))
<AlcarDM> (( LOL. Isn't it, though? ROFL! ))
<AlcarDM> Lirk; "By ....by not doing what's right?"
<Orgg> (loL!)
* Orgg pauses, and after an obvious emotional struggle, just says:
<AlcarDM> Lirk is looking ashamhed at having brough up the kingship at all .. obviously you don't to mention it....
<Orgg> "Wherever your heart leads you is the right choice in this. It is no dishonour in this choice."
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "But ... but what if .... if the choice isn't good for the Barony?" nervously
* Orgg mutters under his breath about no contest when a half-breed competes with an elf in these matters, then looks surprised at himself
<AlcarDM> (( ROFL ))
<Orgg> "Whatever you choose, we will make it work for the Barony."
* Orgg is confused by the question, though =p
<AlcarDM> 'lol.
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "Oh."
<AlcarDM> Lirk is silent, then gives one of his beautiful grins and looks happy. "Thanks!"
<AlcarDM> He hugs you
* Orgg hugs him back, somewhat hesitantly, smiles at the grin, then looks confused again, as he has no idea what just happened.
<Orgg> "Uh. Sure."
<AlcarDM> Likr steps back, looking a bit hesitant. "I .. I think I could do the ... marriage, for the barony. It's being loyal to my people."
* Orgg nods, looking a little disheartened. But a barbarian is ever-hopeful =P
<Orgg> "But?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "Duty's not the same as ... as love would be."
* Orgg nods
<Orgg> "You could still love... The marriage is just politics." he waves his hand at the word, to show how little he thinks of it =P
<Orgg> <AlcarDM> Lirk grins at that and nods. "I guess so. I just.. wasn't sure you'd approve."
<Orgg> * Orgg laughs
<Orgg> "Of course I approve."
<AlcarDM> Lirk looks a bit startled, and maybe .. hurt? "You .. do?"
<Orgg> "What is wrong?"
* Orgg becomes totally confused, yet again
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "Oh. Nothing."
<AlcarDM> There is motion in the doorwat as Tamil steps in
* Orgg starts and makes a Bad Time face
<Orgg> "Hello."
<AlcarDM> Tamil: "Lee sent me back. He's doing some ritual.'
* Orgg grimaces
<Orgg> "What sort of ritual?"
<AlcarDM> Tamil: "I don't know."
<AlcarDM> Tamil: "he plans to disguise as me so I can leave."
<AlcarDM> and as lee comes back, we end the session :p
<AlcarDM> Likr just looks at the floor after Lee leaves :)
<AlcarDM> Lirk finally stops blushing and looks up.
* Orgg leans forward and looks at lirk
<Orgg> "I had hoped the girl would agree to become baron, to spare you the trouble. But it seems it comes to you after all."
* Orgg looks regretful
<AlcarDM> Lirk nods, a bit hesitantly. "I - I guess so."
<Orgg> "At least this marriage will take that pressure off of you."
* Orgg pauses, looking awkward.
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "But .. it won't be to Tamil. Asd marriages have to be...."
<Orgg> "Have to be?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "Uhm .. " he frowns. "I don't know a polite word for it."
<Orgg> "Oh... oh. I didn't think about that."
* Orgg scowls
<Orgg> "Not a good solution."
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "Oh! Right. not a .... uhm ...but .... " he takes a quick, nervous breath "Does the - the Code cover it?"
* Orgg shakes his head
<AlcarDM> Lirk squirms a bit, looking uncomfortable. "Do you .... know about it? I mean ..... I don't .. not that stuff..." he trails off
<Orgg> "The code is mostly concerned with honour and battle, neither of which come from exploits in the bedroom." Then: "Unless they involve killing somethiing."
* Orgg nods
<Orgg> "Up north we do not conceal things, so much. What is it you wish to know?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "I mean ....." he takes a deep breath, refusing to loook at you "I think Lee is going to disguise himself as Tamil. And .. and that would mean marriuage, I guess.."
<Orgg> "Lee will what!? Oh. I see." Orgg looks thoughtful, then a little angry, and a little confused. "I saw you... looking at him. I would think you'd be happy." snappishly.
<AlcarDM> Lirk blinks and looks at you, looking shocked. "I ....I .......I.....I do ......n't.,..." he stops, gulps a breath. "I .. " and looks away. 'I've never .. never lived, until I got healed. al my time was just the present, always. No past, no future. I doin't know. I don't know .. I'm sorry?"
* Orgg stops scowling, a shocked expression on his face.
<Orgg> "No, I am sorry. I spole in haste." a pause. "I was... jealous?" quietly.
<AlcarDM> Lirk makes a startled sound and looks at you ..... "because you're my friend?"
* Orgg stares at the ground for a while before answering
<Orgg> "No." He says, not looking at Lirk.
<Orgg> "I'm sorry. I will go."
<AlcarDM> Lirk touches your arm, hsitantly. "No .. I ...." he kneels on the floor quickly. "I don't want to dishonour you...."
<AlcarDM> (( he thinks you meant because you're his king :P ))
<Orgg> ((lol))
<Orgg> Orgg is just plain taken aback
<Orgg> "Dishonour me? How?"
<AlcarDM> LIrk: "When .. when you made me baron...."
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "I don't want to .. to ... tarnish that?"
* Orgg scowls, looks confused, scowls, looks confused. Then:
<Orgg> "What do you mean?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk blinks and looks up, startled. "Oh, I'm ... sorry." and scrambles to his feet. "I didn't mean to.."
* Orgg waits for Lirk to finish his sentence.
<AlcarDM> Lirk doesn't. "I shouldn't have said that, I guess. Sorry. I guess you don't like people knowing?"
* Orgg starts to nod, then looks confused again
<Orgg> "Knowing something that would tarnish my honour?"
* Orgg starts to look worried, and thinks *really* hard about the ceremony in which Lirk became baron.
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "No! Just ... you made meBaron. I .. I want to live up to that."
<Orgg> "But what does that have to do with...?"
* Orgg trails off, then just looks frustrated
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "With what?" looking confused now
<Orgg> ((lol, this is the most horrible conversation I have ever had =P))
<AlcarDM> (( LOL. ))
<Orgg> "With what we were talking about!"
<AlcarDM> (( Confusing pcs is fun :) ))
<Orgg> ((*laugh* indeed. An npcs, too =P))
<AlcarDM> Lirk: ".... making me baron? But I guess you don't want to"
<AlcarDM> (( oh yeah, of course :P ))
<Orgg> "What are you talking about!?"
<Orgg> Orgg is exasperated now =P
<Orgg> "You're already baron, aren't you?"
<Orgg> and confused, horribly =P
<AlcarDM> Lirk blinks, then nods.
<AlcarDM> he looks as confused as you are :)
* Orgg nods
<Orgg> "Okay. So you are Baron." *trying to get a grasp on things*
<Orgg> "But what does that have to do with dishonour?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "I ..I wouldn't want to . .to dishonour you. I want to be worthy of you!" then quickly: 'as a baron"
<Orgg> (lol)
* Orgg nods
<Orgg> "Oh. You follow the code; you have brought me only honour."
<Orgg> still, confused about where this came from =P
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "oh......."
<AlcarDM> He nods.
<Orgg> "Did you worry about dishonouring me somehow?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk nods again
<Orgg> "How?"
* Orgg lightbulbs
<Orgg> ((lol, this is truly awful =P))
<Orgg> ((now he thinks that lirk thinks that he is dishonouring orgg by spurning him =P))
<AlcarDM> (( LOL. Isn't it, though? ROFL! ))
<AlcarDM> Lirk; "By ....by not doing what's right?"
<Orgg> (loL!)
* Orgg pauses, and after an obvious emotional struggle, just says:
<AlcarDM> Lirk is looking ashamhed at having brough up the kingship at all .. obviously you don't to mention it....
<Orgg> "Wherever your heart leads you is the right choice in this. It is no dishonour in this choice."
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "But ... but what if .... if the choice isn't good for the Barony?" nervously
* Orgg mutters under his breath about no contest when a half-breed competes with an elf in these matters, then looks surprised at himself
<AlcarDM> (( ROFL ))
<Orgg> "Whatever you choose, we will make it work for the Barony."
* Orgg is confused by the question, though =p
<AlcarDM> 'lol.
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "Oh."
<AlcarDM> Lirk is silent, then gives one of his beautiful grins and looks happy. "Thanks!"
<AlcarDM> He hugs you
* Orgg hugs him back, somewhat hesitantly, smiles at the grin, then looks confused again, as he has no idea what just happened.
<Orgg> "Uh. Sure."
<AlcarDM> Likr steps back, looking a bit hesitant. "I .. I think I could do the ... marriage, for the barony. It's being loyal to my people."
* Orgg nods, looking a little disheartened. But a barbarian is ever-hopeful =P
<Orgg> "But?"
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "Duty's not the same as ... as love would be."
* Orgg nods
<Orgg> "You could still love... The marriage is just politics." he waves his hand at the word, to show how little he thinks of it =P
<Orgg> <AlcarDM> Lirk grins at that and nods. "I guess so. I just.. wasn't sure you'd approve."
<Orgg> * Orgg laughs
<Orgg> "Of course I approve."
<AlcarDM> Lirk looks a bit startled, and maybe .. hurt? "You .. do?"
<Orgg> "What is wrong?"
* Orgg becomes totally confused, yet again
<AlcarDM> Lirk: "Oh. Nothing."
<AlcarDM> There is motion in the doorwat as Tamil steps in
* Orgg starts and makes a Bad Time face
<Orgg> "Hello."
<AlcarDM> Tamil: "Lee sent me back. He's doing some ritual.'
* Orgg grimaces
<Orgg> "What sort of ritual?"
<AlcarDM> Tamil: "I don't know."
<AlcarDM> Tamil: "he plans to disguise as me so I can leave."
<AlcarDM> and as lee comes back, we end the session :p
Sunday, March 12, 2006
LOLAD Casting Call
THE CAST
Cecil - St. George the Dragonslayer, turned into a dragon for his crime. One of the last dragons in the world.
Dalv - See Kara.
Danric - Were raven (10 of them), eventually host of Dream and Memory and currently training the W-Men, a group of weres who will with Faline when she returns.
Erwin - The vampiric kitten.
Faline Blackstripe - Weretiger. Christian priest. Mother was eaten by a werewolf, and she was okay with it.
Jane - Environmentalist. Daughter of Cecil.
Kara - See Milenko.
Milenko - A fairy, often confused with a vampire.
Rei - Weretiger, in were form permanently. Possibly temporarily died opening the gate to the Winterland.
Salem - Necromancer who fell in love with the Reaper. Destroyed the Summerland by accident.
Simon - Were golden retriever.
Vaj - Werepanther speed racer, killed by mages.
Yuki Takuri - Werefox
NPCs of note
Baal - Minor weather god, former landowner.
The Changer - Former vampire, time travellers, was once Poisedon.
Edward DeAth - Former master vampire of San Fransisco. Former vampire.
George - Son of Cecil. Probably insane. Wants to confront his father on the Jerry Springer show.
Old Rabbit - Obscenely powerful insane were rabbit. Pack leader around Trail.
The Reaper (aka Tommy) - Death. (Custodian of, at any rate).
... let me know who/what I missed, or what should be changd/updated. Am ignoring some ofthe early characters (the sorcerer, the AI etc.)
Cecil - St. George the Dragonslayer, turned into a dragon for his crime. One of the last dragons in the world.
Dalv - See Kara.
Danric - Were raven (10 of them), eventually host of Dream and Memory and currently training the W-Men, a group of weres who will with Faline when she returns.
Erwin - The vampiric kitten.
Faline Blackstripe - Weretiger. Christian priest. Mother was eaten by a werewolf, and she was okay with it.
Jane - Environmentalist. Daughter of Cecil.
Kara - See Milenko.
Milenko - A fairy, often confused with a vampire.
Rei - Weretiger, in were form permanently. Possibly temporarily died opening the gate to the Winterland.
Salem - Necromancer who fell in love with the Reaper. Destroyed the Summerland by accident.
Simon - Were golden retriever.
Vaj - Werepanther speed racer, killed by mages.
Yuki Takuri - Werefox
NPCs of note
Baal - Minor weather god, former landowner.
The Changer - Former vampire, time travellers, was once Poisedon.
Edward DeAth - Former master vampire of San Fransisco. Former vampire.
George - Son of Cecil. Probably insane. Wants to confront his father on the Jerry Springer show.
Old Rabbit - Obscenely powerful insane were rabbit. Pack leader around Trail.
The Reaper (aka Tommy) - Death. (Custodian of, at any rate).
... let me know who/what I missed, or what should be changd/updated. Am ignoring some ofthe early characters (the sorcerer, the AI etc.)
lolad bit written yesterday...
I wrote it just after I came home from work. Add thoughts in comments :)
Lords of Life and Death:
The Retconning
For many centuries, mankind did not know what walked among them. Shielded by religion and science, by the twin comforts of Faith and Rationality, they forgot the world they'd known, save in myths and legends that seldom did more than offer faint warnings. Then came the year 2001. The real new millennium, in point of fact
What changed? Only people. Only children who didn't want to hide in shadows. People who wanted to be "famous". The children of this age, the age of denial, who neither understood nor were willing to take responsibility for their actions. This was nothing new - the supernatural community polices itself with a brutality that would leave human rights tribunals stunned in silent horror - but none of you are human, are you?
There have emerged several truths in the weeks following the Trail Incident and others like it: that no pebble feels responsible for an avalanche (whether it SHOULD is another matter entirely) and that people only believe what they want to. Yes, the supernatural community was, in theory, outed. But people see better effects on movies, and most copies of the tapes have "vanished", and people developed spontaneous amnesia and - well, you get the picture.
Locally, of course, it's another kettle of fish entirely. People can no long entirely disbelieve the reality around them, and no one is certain what to do. Fear leads to panic, panic leads to irrationality, and irrationality leads to stupid mistakes and potentially a body count that would appal Rambo.
There is safety in the Winterland, but prisons are always safe - and a storm is coming.
Lords of Life and Death:
The Retconning
For many centuries, mankind did not know what walked among them. Shielded by religion and science, by the twin comforts of Faith and Rationality, they forgot the world they'd known, save in myths and legends that seldom did more than offer faint warnings. Then came the year 2001. The real new millennium, in point of fact
What changed? Only people. Only children who didn't want to hide in shadows. People who wanted to be "famous". The children of this age, the age of denial, who neither understood nor were willing to take responsibility for their actions. This was nothing new - the supernatural community polices itself with a brutality that would leave human rights tribunals stunned in silent horror - but none of you are human, are you?
There have emerged several truths in the weeks following the Trail Incident and others like it: that no pebble feels responsible for an avalanche (whether it SHOULD is another matter entirely) and that people only believe what they want to. Yes, the supernatural community was, in theory, outed. But people see better effects on movies, and most copies of the tapes have "vanished", and people developed spontaneous amnesia and - well, you get the picture.
Locally, of course, it's another kettle of fish entirely. People can no long entirely disbelieve the reality around them, and no one is certain what to do. Fear leads to panic, panic leads to irrationality, and irrationality leads to stupid mistakes and potentially a body count that would appal Rambo.
There is safety in the Winterland, but prisons are always safe - and a storm is coming.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Lolad ..... again?
Based on thoughts in chat:
LOLAD 1, continued roughly where it left off (with edits by all concerned for plot/advancement things). LOLAD 2 and 3 don't happen, though references to LOLAD 2 (and characters from it) could crop up as fun in jokes.
System would be BESM. Because it's anime-oriented, very adaptable, and just plain fun. PC conversion would be done on a case by case basis - what you think PC should have, total cost .. then comparing tghe players totals and coming up with a general point base. Some PCs, like Cecil, would probably have more points, or at least free skills.
Err, and as per chat now ... NO Own Big Mecha. No Mechas. Unless, say, it's a mecha dragon and wants to mate with Cecil. Then it's okay.
Of the old players: Ideally, Caltak, Keith, and Chaos, as those were the 3 core at the end (with Yuki working her way up...). This game will, most likely, run after Haunted ends.
New players are welcomed. PC idea has to be cleared with Alcar, but I'm open to pretty much anything :) A vampire might be nice.... few have played one in LOLAD. Or human magician. Or tentacle monster alien .... whatever works. Integrating new PC into the old plot will be done by a tacit understanding that the onus is on the PLAYER to make their pc fit/adapt/be useful. Plots will be developed that "need" them (i.e. Kuth with La Fin :)) but beyond that it's up to you to make the pc fit.
More later. Probably.
LOLAD 1, continued roughly where it left off (with edits by all concerned for plot/advancement things). LOLAD 2 and 3 don't happen, though references to LOLAD 2 (and characters from it) could crop up as fun in jokes.
System would be BESM. Because it's anime-oriented, very adaptable, and just plain fun. PC conversion would be done on a case by case basis - what you think PC should have, total cost .. then comparing tghe players totals and coming up with a general point base. Some PCs, like Cecil, would probably have more points, or at least free skills.
Err, and as per chat now ... NO Own Big Mecha. No Mechas. Unless, say, it's a mecha dragon and wants to mate with Cecil. Then it's okay.
Of the old players: Ideally, Caltak, Keith, and Chaos, as those were the 3 core at the end (with Yuki working her way up...). This game will, most likely, run after Haunted ends.
New players are welcomed. PC idea has to be cleared with Alcar, but I'm open to pretty much anything :) A vampire might be nice.... few have played one in LOLAD. Or human magician. Or tentacle monster alien .... whatever works. Integrating new PC into the old plot will be done by a tacit understanding that the onus is on the PLAYER to make their pc fit/adapt/be useful. Plots will be developed that "need" them (i.e. Kuth with La Fin :)) but beyond that it's up to you to make the pc fit.
More later. Probably.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
THE NEXT GAME
Haunted Houses, #game1 Style!
This is going to be a character-driven game. The Gm expects GOOD backgrounds (along with family members etc. on them) and they will come into play during the campaign.
Setting:
Earth. The real world. Except, you're a bit different. You can do something other people can't, or see things they can't, or just know things, or odd things happen around you .... it's just you*, and you have left your hometown because of it, or in spite of it.
* And/or family or some stranger who Taught You Things. This page is guideline, not gospel.
For whatever reason(s), you left home and took to wandering. You ended up [here], drawn to the small town by luck, chance, a premonition, or your Talent. (Or, say, getting kidnapped by drunken midgets. Whatever works :p) Depending on pasts and what everyone makes - for example one PC could live here as their home town and not have Run Away From It All - you'll meet up and be drawn to a house in the middle of the suburbs.
A haunted house, with a ghost....
And from there, we'll see :)
Themes:
- The Trouble With Normal (i.e. passing for it)
- Family, and the fact that we all betray our parents within us - both their strengths and weaknesses. It's about the characters coming to terms with who and what they are, and where they came from.
- Finding the magic in the mundane.
- Plus lots of others, I imagine. The goal is for a character drive rather than plot driven campaign. The characters, at some point, come to terns with what they are, what it's done to them and everyone else, and decide what they'll do with the talent they've been given.
System:
I was considering BESM, since I've never ran it, but UA is likely a lot more suited to this game. Potential players, comment here or in channel or wherever about which one you'd like to use.
This is going to be a character-driven game. The Gm expects GOOD backgrounds (along with family members etc. on them) and they will come into play during the campaign.
Setting:
Earth. The real world. Except, you're a bit different. You can do something other people can't, or see things they can't, or just know things, or odd things happen around you .... it's just you*, and you have left your hometown because of it, or in spite of it.
* And/or family or some stranger who Taught You Things. This page is guideline, not gospel.
For whatever reason(s), you left home and took to wandering. You ended up [here], drawn to the small town by luck, chance, a premonition, or your Talent. (Or, say, getting kidnapped by drunken midgets. Whatever works :p) Depending on pasts and what everyone makes - for example one PC could live here as their home town and not have Run Away From It All - you'll meet up and be drawn to a house in the middle of the suburbs.
A haunted house, with a ghost....
And from there, we'll see :)
Themes:
- The Trouble With Normal (i.e. passing for it)
- Family, and the fact that we all betray our parents within us - both their strengths and weaknesses. It's about the characters coming to terms with who and what they are, and where they came from.
- Finding the magic in the mundane.
- Plus lots of others, I imagine. The goal is for a character drive rather than plot driven campaign. The characters, at some point, come to terns with what they are, what it's done to them and everyone else, and decide what they'll do with the talent they've been given.
System:
I was considering BESM, since I've never ran it, but UA is likely a lot more suited to this game. Potential players, comment here or in channel or wherever about which one you'd like to use.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
UFOs from the second Uknown Armies campaign
UFOs
A sugar cane factory somewhere on the edge of town, that was home to a mechanomancer for a good 3 months about 2 years ago. He brought food, a RV with his supplies, and memories. And then he built aliens. Since Frank Rosenberg is dead, no one is sure why he did this, and no one knows he did it. (He believed aliens had taught him mechanomancy, and wanted to create hybrid emissaries with the mothership.) His aliens are automatons who will go around thinking they are aliens, and trying to convince people about the mothership, and mechanomancy, which they've turned into a religion.
They'll make a lot of crop circles, kill a few cows, and see what happens. They are also building the classic flying saucer.
Aliens Take Two
The little pink men. Only they're really the psychic remnants of abused children, given form. Enjoy.
Sometimes, children die in horrible ways, their trust and devotion torn apart along with their lives. Sometimes they come back. It used to be as urban legends. The Eye Biting Man, the Guy With Pecils Stuck In His Eyes, The Hitchhiker. Now, then return as the Aliens, and take humans to an Otherspace where they abuse them horribly.
They're not human anymore, just demons with a very specific magick. Few notice that the alien effects are consistent with unnatural phenomenon, and fewer still have any idea what the aliens are. Sometimes, they do good things, for reasons of their own. Most of the time, they don't.
Aliens Take Three
CE-V encounters with aliens are those where you want an encounter to happen so it does. These are all the result of magekins creating greys. The effort is exhausting, and unless the magekin goes on board the craft (i.e. commits ritual acts with his creations) they don't exist for long. The magekin is often convinced they are marked by the aliens and abducted regularly, when they're the ones doing the abduction and creating their abductors.
Lastly, it's quite possible to make a school of magick around alien abduction. It's likely been done a few times. Only the ways of getting charges (and getting someone to probe your rectum for you - as an act of violation) have never let it catch on.
You see, Neville was a stay-at-home dad. A rare enough thing, even now, but he'd once been so much more, in his mind. When he was young, back in glory days of B.C. (Before Children), he'd been a model. He'd loved himself, and only married once his days on the runway were over and the years of booze and drugs had begun to catch up to his body. His wife, Emily, was a computer programmer and made a small forture. He got a job at a clerk at a gas station. And he got older, and older, and began to hate his once-beautiful body.
One day he cut himself. And something changed, for as the blood flowed his appearance became young again. It lasted until he slept, and woke up normal, and old, and ugly. But he'd touched something bigger than himself.
He might have gone down the path of the fleshworker, if he'd been alone. But a week later Emily got pregnant. She spent most of the year working from home, and gave birth to their first son, Brandon. Emily and Neville talked it over, and it was decided that he would stay home and raise the children since she made more money. It wasn't that common in 1990 but Neville hated his job and was a bit scared of what could happen if he cut himself again.
In 1992 their next child, Owen, was born.Neville raised them both and realized that the stay-at-home option was, in the long run, a lot more work as his wife went into management (i.e. not working, but getting others to work) and had a lot of long business trips and in bed did things he'd never showed her. He got bitter, and angry, and wanted to regain her love, or shove it in down her throat and dance over the corpse (sometimes those urges are hard to tell apart). And so he spend his evenings when the kids were sleeping on the net, remembering his flesh once, and looking into it. He never found much until a chance visit to a website that wasn't there the next day made him wonder if others could do it, if it was really magick.
He got into the local scene, as a minor player with no real magick of his own because he still loved his wife in some fashion. He learned about avatars, and sought about becoming one, then discovered he was one. He, Neville Waldman, was an avatar of the Mother. Something inside him snapped at that, because it shattered all his ideas of masculinity (and memories of his older cousin Ronnie "playing" with him didn't help) and he knew he could only go so far in it, or leave it, but he did love his children.
Then Emily filed for divorce, wanting to live with a young up and coming executive, and Neville snapped when she said that SHE wanted their children. So he decided to become their mother. It took him over five months of insane dedication, and scared both his kids, but they loved dad even when he was cutting himself with a razor blade and glaring into a mirror.
Finally, one day Neville did something, something big. He was going for his eyebrows and poked an eye out. And got real power, terrible power that flooded through him and opened his mind to a larger world. He entered the bedroom of his sons, who were both sound asleep, and did the trick the old homeless vet had said could be done, if one was desperate enough. He whistled up a pack of tenebrae and, when they came to feed, he used his major charge and what remained of his Archetype to try and give birth to his living sons.
Neville was consumed by the pack. Brandon and Owen were as well, but in a different way. No one found their bodies, just Neville's missing eye. It was assumed he killed them. As with many other assumptions, it was only partly right.
Brandon and Owen were fused with the pack, for a time, as the pack went into them, through them, became them. It left them with eyes of darkness, and terrible needs and strangeness and no memory of who or what they had been.
Boy #1 and Boy #2, The Black Eyed Kids
Summary: Freaky kids who eat memories.
Description (boy #1): 14. Boy #1 is slightly taller than his companion, wearing a pull-over, hooded shirt with a sort of gray checked pattern and jeans. His skin's olive-colored and he has curly, medium-length brown hair. He exudes an air of quiet confidence.
Description (boy #2):Boy # 2 has pale skin with a trace of freckles. He is looking around nervously and dressed in a similar manner to his companion, but his pull-over is a light green color. His hair is a sort of pale orange. They don't seem to be related.
Description (both): Then you see their eyes. They are coal black. No pupil. No iris. Just two staring orbs reflecting the street lights, liquid pools of darkness.
Boy # 2 has pale skin with a trace of freckles, somewhere in that indeterminate age between 10 and 14. He's wearing g a pull-over, hooded light green shirt and jeans. His hair is a sort of pale orange and looks in need of combing.
Personality (Boy #1): Boy #1 is older, and clearly in charge. He wants memories to eat, to feel, to feast on, and needs them very badly, to the point where he likes to hurt people, to strip them of memories and let them live in the hope that they can supply him with more. He lives to find someone who can feed him all the time. To him, people are just things he takes from and not real in any true sense. He believes that if he eats enough memories his eyes will become normal and he'll gain a soul. He's also drawn to pain and likes inflicting it. His favourite pastime is ordering Boy #2 to watch while he hurts animals or putting him out in sunlight in the hope that someday he can feed off of his brother.
Personality (Boy #2): Boy #2 is younger, and shy. He never speaks (perhaps he can't) and follows his brother everywhere, even against his own will. Of the two of them, he's the most human and will sometimes help others, as best he can. At some level he wants what all kids want: accceptance, and tries to get that, but no one can understand it and he's alien.
Note: Neither of them breathe, unless they want to. Boy #2 also makes no sound in buildings unless he wants to.
Obsession: Feeding the hunger and becoming real.
Wound Points: Varies, generally 100+ spread between both.
Passions:
Rage (boy #1): People who refuse to open their doors and let him in.
Rage (boy #2): Anyone who harms their pets.
Fear (boy #1): Sunlight. He hates being "killed" in it. He also won't approach anyone who speaks his real name.
Fear (boy #2): Being discovered as unnatural humiliates him.
Noble (boy #1): He likes children, and leaves them alone (They'll grow into adults and have more memories to feed him with.)
Noble (boy #2): Dogs. He had one back in his human life, and though he doesn't remember his black lab Sassy he'll protect dogs from harm if he can.
Stats (boy #1)
Body: 25/35/45 (Child)
Speed: 25/40/70 (freakishly quick)
Mind: 55 (Cruel)
Soul: 40/50 (Twisted inside)
Stats (Boy #2)
Body: 20/30/40 (Child)
Speed: 20/40/60 (Sure-footed)
Mind: 30/40 (Simple)
Soul: 80 (Innocent)
The stats before the slash indicate the stat in dim light/darkness (or sunlight/dim/darkness if there are three listings).
Skills (Boy #1)
Body Skills:Atheltics: 25%, Struggle: 25%, Beautiful: (25%-40%)
Speed Skills: Dodge 30%, Initiative: (25/40/60%), Cut you up: 35%
Mind Skills: Education: 20%; Study Personality 20%; Conceal: 20%. Notice: 15%
Soul Skills: Charm: 20%; Lie: 40%; *Suck Up Memories*: 40%, Command: 50%
Skills (Boy #2)
Body Skills:Atheltics: 20%, Struggle: 20%, Beautiful: 30%
Speed Skills: Dodge: 40%; Initiative: 30%; Pick pockets, locks etc. 30%
Mind Skills: Education: 15%; Conceal: 15%; Notice: 30%; Break & Enter: 20%
Soul Skills: Charm: 30%; Lie: 10%; *Suck Up Memories*: 70%; Ward: 30%; Soothe Pain 30%; Paint 20%
Suck Up Memories: This is how boy #1 and boy #2 feed. They need to be let or invited in to do this properly. Boy #1 gets one memory for each point of soul the target has; Boy #2 does the same for memories accrued by homes, and gets a lot more as a result (the walls *do* talk, to him at least). The points gained from this are shared among both of them as Wound Points. Due to being older, and in control of his sibling, boy #1 generally has at least 60% of those points.
The downside to each is that boy #1 kills his targets. He takes all the emotion out of memories and feeds on it and leaves them with memories that seem as real as those of a stranger. They tend to die quickly, and sometims go insane and try to kill him (To deal with this, he can whistle up a pack of tenebrae.)
Boy #2 tends to destroy buildings. He takes from them, and they just fade away and cease to exist. (It's why the two of them are always on the move.) He has learned to read the memories of the walls without taking from them, but it takes a lot of effort.
Command: Boy #1 can order people to let him inside. Soimetimes they do so. By far his largest and continued use of it is making boy #2 do whatever he wants. Currently, boy #2 can't speak to anone else since no one else can hear his thoughts (others with telepathy or black-eyes are a possibility, tho), and follows his brothers lead all the time, even against his own wishes. If he doesn't, his brother leaves him out in the sunlight.
Ward: Boy #2 can create a magickal protection around places that gets people ot leave it alone. (It's good for where they are sleeping, or when boy #1 wants to feed on an entire family and not be disturbed).
Soothe Pain: Boy #2 can feed on misery as a tenebrae would, but instead of eating it he weakens it (removes a failed notch), and can make people feel better just by touching them.
Paint: Boy #2 can paint images he sees around people, events that have shaped their lives. It's a very specific kind of aura sight that only works while drawing.
Notes:
Sunlight harms them deeply and causes them to burn and feel like knives are being driven into them. If left in sunlight more than an hour, they vanish as tenebrae do and re-appear that evening with barely any wound points. Neither of them like going wherever they go during that, and even boy #1 will not leave #2 out in sunlight that long - most of the time. Their eyes are also very sensetive to bright light.
Dim light weakens their stats, but doesn't harm them otherwise.
Boy #1 cannot feed off of avatars with a skill of 50% or higher. Trying to causes him to go into painful convulsions that leave him weak and needing more wound points from his brother. (He can't sense if they are avatars ahead of time.)
Boy #2 can't feed off of places that have ritual warding of some kind up on them without suffering a lot of pain. His skin begins to blister and peel and he bleeds a pale blue liquid that isn't blood. In extreme cases, he's unable to leave at all and melts into the building until he "dies" or wins. The extreme ones only happen if boy #1 tells him to remain.
Special Note:
Boy #2 can give power. He absorbs a LOT from buildings (most of it going to keeping his hunger for more "food" at bay). Boy #1 is terrifyingly power when given power, but it's also very addictive. Eventually, you want more, and more, and need more and more... and boy #2 can't give *that* much .... baiscally, boy #1 is addicted to boy #2 for power, and some of his "evil" is a result of this. (Not THAT much, but enough to not mae him the 100% villain of the piece.
A sugar cane factory somewhere on the edge of town, that was home to a mechanomancer for a good 3 months about 2 years ago. He brought food, a RV with his supplies, and memories. And then he built aliens. Since Frank Rosenberg is dead, no one is sure why he did this, and no one knows he did it. (He believed aliens had taught him mechanomancy, and wanted to create hybrid emissaries with the mothership.) His aliens are automatons who will go around thinking they are aliens, and trying to convince people about the mothership, and mechanomancy, which they've turned into a religion.
They'll make a lot of crop circles, kill a few cows, and see what happens. They are also building the classic flying saucer.
Aliens Take Two
The little pink men. Only they're really the psychic remnants of abused children, given form. Enjoy.
Sometimes, children die in horrible ways, their trust and devotion torn apart along with their lives. Sometimes they come back. It used to be as urban legends. The Eye Biting Man, the Guy With Pecils Stuck In His Eyes, The Hitchhiker. Now, then return as the Aliens, and take humans to an Otherspace where they abuse them horribly.
They're not human anymore, just demons with a very specific magick. Few notice that the alien effects are consistent with unnatural phenomenon, and fewer still have any idea what the aliens are. Sometimes, they do good things, for reasons of their own. Most of the time, they don't.
Aliens Take Three
CE-V encounters with aliens are those where you want an encounter to happen so it does. These are all the result of magekins creating greys. The effort is exhausting, and unless the magekin goes on board the craft (i.e. commits ritual acts with his creations) they don't exist for long. The magekin is often convinced they are marked by the aliens and abducted regularly, when they're the ones doing the abduction and creating their abductors.
Lastly, it's quite possible to make a school of magick around alien abduction. It's likely been done a few times. Only the ways of getting charges (and getting someone to probe your rectum for you - as an act of violation) have never let it catch on.
The Black Eyed Kids
'What do you call it when one takes another's bread?"It's said they come to your door at night, two young children who don't act like children and want you to let them inside. It's the eyes that make you realize they're not children: matte black from rim to rim, like pools of liquid darkness and filled with some dark need. Those who let them in may die, but some of them tend to die later, by their own hand. No one knows. It would be another urban legend, if not for Neville Waldman.
"Hunger."
- David Gerold and Larry Niven, "The Flying Sorcerers"
You see, Neville was a stay-at-home dad. A rare enough thing, even now, but he'd once been so much more, in his mind. When he was young, back in glory days of B.C. (Before Children), he'd been a model. He'd loved himself, and only married once his days on the runway were over and the years of booze and drugs had begun to catch up to his body. His wife, Emily, was a computer programmer and made a small forture. He got a job at a clerk at a gas station. And he got older, and older, and began to hate his once-beautiful body.
One day he cut himself. And something changed, for as the blood flowed his appearance became young again. It lasted until he slept, and woke up normal, and old, and ugly. But he'd touched something bigger than himself.
He might have gone down the path of the fleshworker, if he'd been alone. But a week later Emily got pregnant. She spent most of the year working from home, and gave birth to their first son, Brandon. Emily and Neville talked it over, and it was decided that he would stay home and raise the children since she made more money. It wasn't that common in 1990 but Neville hated his job and was a bit scared of what could happen if he cut himself again.
In 1992 their next child, Owen, was born.Neville raised them both and realized that the stay-at-home option was, in the long run, a lot more work as his wife went into management (i.e. not working, but getting others to work) and had a lot of long business trips and in bed did things he'd never showed her. He got bitter, and angry, and wanted to regain her love, or shove it in down her throat and dance over the corpse (sometimes those urges are hard to tell apart). And so he spend his evenings when the kids were sleeping on the net, remembering his flesh once, and looking into it. He never found much until a chance visit to a website that wasn't there the next day made him wonder if others could do it, if it was really magick.
He got into the local scene, as a minor player with no real magick of his own because he still loved his wife in some fashion. He learned about avatars, and sought about becoming one, then discovered he was one. He, Neville Waldman, was an avatar of the Mother. Something inside him snapped at that, because it shattered all his ideas of masculinity (and memories of his older cousin Ronnie "playing" with him didn't help) and he knew he could only go so far in it, or leave it, but he did love his children.
Then Emily filed for divorce, wanting to live with a young up and coming executive, and Neville snapped when she said that SHE wanted their children. So he decided to become their mother. It took him over five months of insane dedication, and scared both his kids, but they loved dad even when he was cutting himself with a razor blade and glaring into a mirror.
Finally, one day Neville did something, something big. He was going for his eyebrows and poked an eye out. And got real power, terrible power that flooded through him and opened his mind to a larger world. He entered the bedroom of his sons, who were both sound asleep, and did the trick the old homeless vet had said could be done, if one was desperate enough. He whistled up a pack of tenebrae and, when they came to feed, he used his major charge and what remained of his Archetype to try and give birth to his living sons.
Neville was consumed by the pack. Brandon and Owen were as well, but in a different way. No one found their bodies, just Neville's missing eye. It was assumed he killed them. As with many other assumptions, it was only partly right.
Brandon and Owen were fused with the pack, for a time, as the pack went into them, through them, became them. It left them with eyes of darkness, and terrible needs and strangeness and no memory of who or what they had been.
Boy #1 and Boy #2, The Black Eyed Kids
Summary: Freaky kids who eat memories.
Description (boy #1): 14. Boy #1 is slightly taller than his companion, wearing a pull-over, hooded shirt with a sort of gray checked pattern and jeans. His skin's olive-colored and he has curly, medium-length brown hair. He exudes an air of quiet confidence.
Description (boy #2):Boy # 2 has pale skin with a trace of freckles. He is looking around nervously and dressed in a similar manner to his companion, but his pull-over is a light green color. His hair is a sort of pale orange. They don't seem to be related.
Description (both): Then you see their eyes. They are coal black. No pupil. No iris. Just two staring orbs reflecting the street lights, liquid pools of darkness.
Boy # 2 has pale skin with a trace of freckles, somewhere in that indeterminate age between 10 and 14. He's wearing g a pull-over, hooded light green shirt and jeans. His hair is a sort of pale orange and looks in need of combing.
Personality (Boy #1): Boy #1 is older, and clearly in charge. He wants memories to eat, to feel, to feast on, and needs them very badly, to the point where he likes to hurt people, to strip them of memories and let them live in the hope that they can supply him with more. He lives to find someone who can feed him all the time. To him, people are just things he takes from and not real in any true sense. He believes that if he eats enough memories his eyes will become normal and he'll gain a soul. He's also drawn to pain and likes inflicting it. His favourite pastime is ordering Boy #2 to watch while he hurts animals or putting him out in sunlight in the hope that someday he can feed off of his brother.
Personality (Boy #2): Boy #2 is younger, and shy. He never speaks (perhaps he can't) and follows his brother everywhere, even against his own will. Of the two of them, he's the most human and will sometimes help others, as best he can. At some level he wants what all kids want: accceptance, and tries to get that, but no one can understand it and he's alien.
Note: Neither of them breathe, unless they want to. Boy #2 also makes no sound in buildings unless he wants to.
Obsession: Feeding the hunger and becoming real.
Wound Points: Varies, generally 100+ spread between both.
Passions:
Rage (boy #1): People who refuse to open their doors and let him in.
Rage (boy #2): Anyone who harms their pets.
Fear (boy #1): Sunlight. He hates being "killed" in it. He also won't approach anyone who speaks his real name.
Fear (boy #2): Being discovered as unnatural humiliates him.
Noble (boy #1): He likes children, and leaves them alone (They'll grow into adults and have more memories to feed him with.)
Noble (boy #2): Dogs. He had one back in his human life, and though he doesn't remember his black lab Sassy he'll protect dogs from harm if he can.
Stats (boy #1)
Body: 25/35/45 (Child)
Speed: 25/40/70 (freakishly quick)
Mind: 55 (Cruel)
Soul: 40/50 (Twisted inside)
Stats (Boy #2)
Body: 20/30/40 (Child)
Speed: 20/40/60 (Sure-footed)
Mind: 30/40 (Simple)
Soul: 80 (Innocent)
The stats before the slash indicate the stat in dim light/darkness (or sunlight/dim/darkness if there are three listings).
Skills (Boy #1)
Body Skills:Atheltics: 25%, Struggle: 25%, Beautiful: (25%-40%)
Speed Skills: Dodge 30%, Initiative: (25/40/60%), Cut you up: 35%
Mind Skills: Education: 20%; Study Personality 20%; Conceal: 20%. Notice: 15%
Soul Skills: Charm: 20%; Lie: 40%; *Suck Up Memories*: 40%, Command: 50%
Skills (Boy #2)
Body Skills:Atheltics: 20%, Struggle: 20%, Beautiful: 30%
Speed Skills: Dodge: 40%; Initiative: 30%; Pick pockets, locks etc. 30%
Mind Skills: Education: 15%; Conceal: 15%; Notice: 30%; Break & Enter: 20%
Soul Skills: Charm: 30%; Lie: 10%; *Suck Up Memories*: 70%; Ward: 30%; Soothe Pain 30%; Paint 20%
Suck Up Memories: This is how boy #1 and boy #2 feed. They need to be let or invited in to do this properly. Boy #1 gets one memory for each point of soul the target has; Boy #2 does the same for memories accrued by homes, and gets a lot more as a result (the walls *do* talk, to him at least). The points gained from this are shared among both of them as Wound Points. Due to being older, and in control of his sibling, boy #1 generally has at least 60% of those points.
The downside to each is that boy #1 kills his targets. He takes all the emotion out of memories and feeds on it and leaves them with memories that seem as real as those of a stranger. They tend to die quickly, and sometims go insane and try to kill him (To deal with this, he can whistle up a pack of tenebrae.)
Boy #2 tends to destroy buildings. He takes from them, and they just fade away and cease to exist. (It's why the two of them are always on the move.) He has learned to read the memories of the walls without taking from them, but it takes a lot of effort.
Command: Boy #1 can order people to let him inside. Soimetimes they do so. By far his largest and continued use of it is making boy #2 do whatever he wants. Currently, boy #2 can't speak to anone else since no one else can hear his thoughts (others with telepathy or black-eyes are a possibility, tho), and follows his brothers lead all the time, even against his own wishes. If he doesn't, his brother leaves him out in the sunlight.
Ward: Boy #2 can create a magickal protection around places that gets people ot leave it alone. (It's good for where they are sleeping, or when boy #1 wants to feed on an entire family and not be disturbed).
Soothe Pain: Boy #2 can feed on misery as a tenebrae would, but instead of eating it he weakens it (removes a failed notch), and can make people feel better just by touching them.
Paint: Boy #2 can paint images he sees around people, events that have shaped their lives. It's a very specific kind of aura sight that only works while drawing.
Notes:
Sunlight harms them deeply and causes them to burn and feel like knives are being driven into them. If left in sunlight more than an hour, they vanish as tenebrae do and re-appear that evening with barely any wound points. Neither of them like going wherever they go during that, and even boy #1 will not leave #2 out in sunlight that long - most of the time. Their eyes are also very sensetive to bright light.
Dim light weakens their stats, but doesn't harm them otherwise.
Boy #1 cannot feed off of avatars with a skill of 50% or higher. Trying to causes him to go into painful convulsions that leave him weak and needing more wound points from his brother. (He can't sense if they are avatars ahead of time.)
Boy #2 can't feed off of places that have ritual warding of some kind up on them without suffering a lot of pain. His skin begins to blister and peel and he bleeds a pale blue liquid that isn't blood. In extreme cases, he's unable to leave at all and melts into the building until he "dies" or wins. The extreme ones only happen if boy #1 tells him to remain.
Special Note:
Boy #2 can give power. He absorbs a LOT from buildings (most of it going to keeping his hunger for more "food" at bay). Boy #1 is terrifyingly power when given power, but it's also very addictive. Eventually, you want more, and more, and need more and more... and boy #2 can't give *that* much .... baiscally, boy #1 is addicted to boy #2 for power, and some of his "evil" is a result of this. (Not THAT much, but enough to not mae him the 100% villain of the piece.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
The Surge Games
Games made using !uasurge.
They work as follows:
Every character has 2 stats.
Who You Are
Everything Else
You have five points to put among those stats. Who You Are is a sumary, like Police Officer. Nice Guy. Dude. Cool Dude. Etc. It should not exceed three words.
You have two derived stats:
Sanity, and Health.
Sanity is Who You Are X2.
Health is Everythig Else X2.
Because of the Law of Fives, there is no fifth stat.
All the PCs will be related. This can be brothers, parent and child, grandparent etc, but it will be closely related. Step-children is possible. Cousin etc. is too far removed. Invisible playmate is possible, if players are willing.
Genre is up to the players. Ditto with settting.
You then use !uasurge 10 times – in channel (!uasurge 10), and pick from 2 – 5 of those to apply to your character. They can, of course, be wiggled around to make some kind of sense. Then we run a session. Simple, yes?
Why, so simple anyone could run it!
This is a Hint.
EDIT:The determinator for Sanity and Health can be reversed if it fits a character better. (Sanity = Else, health = Who.)
They work as follows:
Every character has 2 stats.
Who You Are
Everything Else
You have five points to put among those stats. Who You Are is a sumary, like Police Officer. Nice Guy. Dude. Cool Dude. Etc. It should not exceed three words.
You have two derived stats:
Sanity, and Health.
Sanity is Who You Are X2.
Health is Everythig Else X2.
Because of the Law of Fives, there is no fifth stat.
All the PCs will be related. This can be brothers, parent and child, grandparent etc, but it will be closely related. Step-children is possible. Cousin etc. is too far removed. Invisible playmate is possible, if players are willing.
Genre is up to the players. Ditto with settting.
You then use !uasurge 10 times – in channel (!uasurge 10), and pick from 2 – 5 of those to apply to your character. They can, of course, be wiggled around to make some kind of sense. Then we run a session. Simple, yes?
Why, so simple anyone could run it!
This is a Hint.
EDIT:The determinator for Sanity and Health can be reversed if it fits a character better. (Sanity = Else, health = Who.)
Monday, February 13, 2006
This is not a drill
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Operation: Classified
Premise: The characters in this game are agents of various government organizations under the nominal leadership of the FBI who have been sent by their superior officer, a neurotic FBI agent known as Agent Binkley, to investigate a small town for rumours of alien sightings, find aliens, and learn their plans for humanity, vis a vis alien invasion, eating our men, oggling our women, trying to convert us to their religion, etc.
The characters have been assigned rooms in a rooming house in Springfield, Maine, run by Mrs. Rudolph, an old German lady with 20 cats, on ??? street.
Game Time: Undetermined, as of yet. I can run from ~6:30 - 11 PM (PST) Tuesday or Thursday nights. Wednesday or Friday nights would run from 7:30 - 11:30 if we had to use one of those nights. The game will run 1-2 nights a week, ideally.
Character Creation: Risus! Each character has 10 dice to put into traits, plus one free die in Government Operative. No more than 3 dice can be put into any one trait unless you plead with the GM. Creative trait naming is mandatory, Agent!
Name: Player name.
Character: PC Name. Include nicknames.
Traits: List 'em.
Background Traits: This is an additional 3 dice in "useless" traits. Say, being a Chess Champion (2) back in high school. They're for hobbies, and things you did before becoming an agent and the like. Flavour, basically.
Agency: Who you work for.
Real Agency: For players who want to be double, trouble, quintuple agents and the like. (Possibly without even knowing.)
Secret(s): Everyone's got at least one.
Description: What does your agent look like?
Background: What made you become an agent? Why did you take this assignment? What did you used to do? Could your family be important to the game? If so, list them. Backgrounds can read like dossiers, if you want.
Equipment: What you have with you. This includes contacts, vehicles, weapons and the like.
Allowed Optional Risus Rules: Hooks, Tails (for valour above and beyond the basic Call of Duty in making a background). Pumping Cliché's is allowed as well, but Double Pumps are not, save for supernatural critters and the like.
Refer to The Risus Page for information about any of this.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Spam ....
Due to comment spam, I've implemented word verification, mostly becaue blogger only allows us to delete one comment at a time, and then go back to post, to comments again, and delete a second ad infinitum. Since that's annoying, the stupid word verification thingy is in place, as much as I hates 'em.
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