Hi sageheart,
I recently discovered World of Darkness myself and even applied to a game in which the DM disappeared before it started. I love the Storytelling system from what I have read and have been thirsting for a supernatural themed game myself. I understand that its been a struggle to get DMs who stick around for these games. So I decided to do what I normally do when I really want to play a game and decided to learn the system and run one.
As an NPSG DM I came across a new site member who was also interested in the system so I just started up with a solo game for them hoping we could both learn the system. I set it up with the concept of being able to add additional solo players in the same world in different cities and then having an arc to bring them together.
Does this sound like something that would interest you? I would be willing to bring on another player in your thread with you and 4th for a solo game if we have the interest from fellow players you know.
My goal is to peak up some interest in WoD while learning it myself and to hopefully run games for players who will return the favor down the line (so I can play in one myself.
Avner
This sounds perfect for me! Yes I was in two games and both fell through unluckily. I have a general grasp of the game, but not enough to run one so this seems perfect for me. I also prefer solo games myself.
I only have the 20th anniversary edition Vampire the Masquerade, would this be problematic?
I will say that I am someone who won't back out of a game, but I can't only promise 2/post a week, with some exceptions. This next weekend is end of finals so I will have no life, but afterwards I will.
Let me know what the setting is and the like and I will think up a character. A link to your current ongoing game would be nice to see how you guys have been playing so far!
Thanks for the response.
Sage
That works out perfectly, I'm pretty sure the 20th anniversary edition lines up with the rules I have and I know Vampire the Masquerade does. We really just got started and Abel Rain hasn't actually posted in the main thread yet. He got a recent promotion at work so he is transitioning in the next week or so as well. So I think we all have a similar expectation on post rate which is good. I figure 1-2 posts a week is easy to maintain over the long haul and if we manage more than that great.
So as far as my setting I will be starting you in New York, because if you are going to be a vampire the city that never sleeps makes sense. I am going to give you the option of whether you want to run a prelude to your character or not. If you aren't familiar that would be roleplaying your character pre-transformation into a Vampire. It might add more depth for you but if you would rather not that is fine as well.
The tone of the game is going to be some mix of Supernatural, Angel/Buffy, and True blood (kinda) in the sense that it is taking place in the modern world except that supernatural beings are real and hiding right before our eyes. So there are these different groups of supernatural beings with all their own sects and motivations living in your city. Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, even Prometheans are hidden in some places. All with their own goals and agendas.
As far as the Vampires the city of New York is ruled by a clan of Mekhet that keeps the other clans in check making sure they avoid public notice and keep the Mekhet's interest first. The flavor of this would be a mix of Anne Rice's ancients and a Godfather like family.
I want to see your characters before I create an actual arc but I will tell you that I have an overlying concept that will grow after each chapter. There will be a Big Bad just like in a season of a TV show and the story will get progressively more complex as we go (hopefully).
I am currently in finals for my last semester of my masters degree and looking for work, so busy till the end of this week, then should be very free. Only have two games here which I am DM for that are still operational, and both are slow, so I was hoping to have one more, and this seems perfect! Happy you sent me a message!
I'm down with NYC, but just to forewarn you, I am born and raised in Brooklyn, so I know this city very well. Would love to play it, just of course might throw in street names and the like if you are alright with that. Be nice to envision a world I know so well. I actually have been rewatching Buffy again, good background show while I do my thesis, and have seen Supernatural. Not true blood, not familiar with that, but I think I get the gist of things. Just started reading The Dresden Files when I have time between reading Constitutional law and Marxist theory.
I would prefer to start with being already a vampire, I think at least. I would leave my sire to you, after I write up some background and determine my clan. I have two ideas, both connected to my actual reality, since it seems more interesting to play that if we are playing in a city I live/from.
1) A Tenured Professor at a CUNY school, teaches the late night Graduate level classes in Marxist theory and (post)modernist literature. A bookworm who has always been interested in political discourse, the margalized groups within oppressive systems of government, and reforms, though also interested in unusual artwork and literature. His change to vampirism would alter his entire previous thoughts on politics and the like as he realizes there is a whole other realm at work. Interested in how his view of power structures would change as he becomes physically involved in another form of power dynamics and aggression.
2) A bartender...Have to work on this more. I am a bartender already, and the NYC server scene is fairly interesting to me. I would still need a moment to determine how to make him more interesting than just another run of the mill bartender. Obliviously someone involved in the night scene before the transition, and well networked within the server and bar scene. Perhaps a bar-owner with minimal shares, so is the workhorse of the bar, and his transition makes it harder to do the tasks for his job since loses day hours for doing payroll, the like. Be a normal person thrown into an abnormal world.
Thoughts?
Yes Dresden Files too!! Forgot about that one, very good inspiration. True Blood is probably the least accurate I mentioned so I don't think not seeing it would actually make a difference.
That's awesome you are from New York, I am familiar having visited but I do not know New York by any means so if you want to flesh it out with detail that is great as long as you understand I have no idea what any of the street names and will just be playing off you. I think that could actually be a lot of fun, if you want the actual city to be Brooklyn I am all for it.
Both ideas are great and leave us with plenty of options. I like how deep the professors regression to a more primal vampire would go. There is definitely a political element to the Vampire world that I am brewing up in my head and that change in his world view could definitely have a place in the game.
On the other hand... a bar is a great place to run into other supernaturals in the city. He could easily have encountered the more supernatural nightlife on his closing shifts and maybe his bar gets bought out by the vampire elite? The bar itself could almost be a supporting character in his story. We would probably want to dive more into who he actually is as well. Maybe he is running the bar to pay for hospital bills for his dying family member or something. When he becomes immortal it would be that much more brutal if there was someone else whose life he was trying to extend. Or maybe he is paying for school, a gambler? There could be a bunch of stuff you do with it. I think about some of the best movies or books I've read and the greatest characters have simple beginnings and then as you watch the first 30 minutes or so they peel layers off until you realize that its not some bartender or boxer but he has all these deep underlying reasons of doing what he does and where he wants to get to.
I would say most importantly pick the one you feel the best connection to.
Okay! SO I think I am going to combine the ideas a bit. Going with option one, professor, but with a drinking habit which has made him go to bars a lot in his youth, perhaps a history in bar/service industry to pay for his years of education before he was able to get the professorship. This grants him access to a location, which I like, in particular if we make it a "character" in some ways. It also could easily be where he got sired. Going to a local dive bar, not realizing it was run or frequented by the supernatural. He was never targeted since he is just a boring bookworm, not interesting, and perhaps friends with a bartender or owner without knowing his full nature.
I found the clan I want to use: True Bujah.
A more clean update with character stuff will happen throughout the weekend, but just going to slowly edit in my ideas here for your reading and the like.
I would love to work on portraying areas of Brooklyn with you. Thinking Crown Heights, or Prospect Heights for a location, I know both well and they are in that inbetween area of gentrification and old school Brooklyn, decent amount of crime, decent amount of police, thriving night scene, and more money being poured in. Good place for vampires to chill.
EDIT: Lets do Crown Heights, less residential. Obliviously he would move all over the place, but for where he is living. He will be a Brooklynite but maybe I will pick different neighborhood, one more wealthy to show his own forced exodus as places got too nice. Plus what vampire wouldn't want to live in all the old brownstones and awesome mansions that are riddled throughout the neighborhood from its previous history. I mean come on....
Also Gowanus has to be a Vampire haven, or was one before condos destroyed the warehouses. That is where I am from, its a superfund site, and a warehouse district, and as a kid always felt like a place where monsters hid in the shadows. I loved it. I'm weird.
Mental (7)
Social (5)
Physical (3)
Knowledge (13)
Talents (9)
Skills (5)
Merits and Flaws
-1 for Useful Knowledge
+1 for Prey Exclusion
-1 Harmless
+1 Infamous Sire
+2 Rival Sires
End result: +2 points, used for +1 in Artistic Expression (writing)
15 freebee points to spend.
-7 for Increase from 2 to 3 in Temporis
-4 for 0 to 2 in Socialize
-2 for 0 to 1 in science
-2 for 2 to 3 in Streetwise.
Jason is a lean built caucasian man of around 6'. His hair when you can see it is short and messy and if you look close his eyes are mismatched in color, one blue, one green. He typically wears dark blue or black jeans and a black hoodie.
If you see his true appearance, such as during Torment he has mechanical replacements that can be seen through the tears in his skin. Most notably part of the right side of his face, left eye, right arm & left leg.
Jason was created some 50 years ago, though he isn't exactly sure when as he didn't venture outside the abandoned underground stations for years. After pandorians killed his creator he final ventured to the surface, and while he goes up for supplies when needed he prefers to stay in the tunnels. He isn't completely avoiding people, quite the opposite in fact. He can be a begger along the wall and watch as people come and go, non really staying long enough to be effected by his disquiet.
While he has a Lair, he purposely doesn't spend a long time there. He sleeps either in hidden areas or just on the train, so he doesn't invoke wasteland on the area.
Lately he has taken to venturing out in the city more & more. He actually prefers the more "dark" areas of the city. He has stopped a fair share of muggings & other victim crimes. (He ignores things like drugs & minor vandalism, its more about being a hero & helping people than preventing crime.) He actually makes ok money begging, especially since he doesn't really have any living expenses.
Edit: With switching to 2.0 he will be more street kid then bum due the changes in wasteland.
Disquiet notes
Azoth (3) vs Resolve + Composure
Dramatic Failure: No additional effect if the player dramatically fails. If the Storyteller rolls a dramatic failure, the player gains the Disquieted Condition at one stage higher than she would normally. Failure: If both the player and the Storyteller fail the roll, nothing happens. Success: If the player rolls successes equal or exceeding the Storyteller, the victim gains the Disquieted Condition or advances to stage two, if he already has it. If the Storyteller rolls more successes than the Promethean’s player, the subject resists Disquiet. Exceptional Success: If the player rolls more successes than the Storyteller and gains an exceptional success, the victim gains the Disquieted Condition or advances by a single stage even if the victim would advance to stage three without a Wasteland present. If the Storyteller rolls more successes than the player and gains an exceptional success, the victim is immune to all further Disquiet risks for that chapter.
The following is a list of situations that can cause a
Disquiet trigger:
• A mortal spends a full scene in superficial social contact with the Promethean. Additional scenes in the same chapter do not count as another trigger.
• A Promethean attempts to seduce, persuade, intimidate, or otherwise manipulate the mortal, whether through using Skill rolls or Social maneuvering (see p. 202).
• A character uses supernatural senses on a Promethean, such as the Unseen Sense Merit or the various detection and scrutiny-related powers of supernatural beings.
• A mortal witnesses a Promethean’s disfigurements (see p. 171).
• The mortal and the Promethean engage in a conversation lasting more than a few minutes, or exchange personal
information (even falsified).
Most other supernatural beings are susceptible to Disquiet in some way. While an in-depth examination of which creatures suffer Disquiet and in what manner is beyond the scope of this book, below are some suggestions: Vampires and werewolves in Disquiet perceive the Promethean as a threat. The Divine Fire burns too hot and triggers their instinct for blind rage. Disquiet imposes penalties to resist frenzy and Death Rage. Mages, changelings, hunters, and Sin-Eaters are human enough that they respond to Disquiet like human beings. Many such creatures have ways to mitigate or resist Disquiet, if they know to do so. Demons and mummies respond strangely to Disquiet; demons are affected by it, but as they maintain ironclad control over their responses, they can choose whether or not to act on it and in what capacity. Mummies seem to respond to Disquiet if their cults have been afflicted, but data is scarce given the rarity of both the Arisen and the Created.
Finally, Beasts are completely unaffected by Disquiet.
If players are controlling other characters, such as mortals, vampires, demons, etc., the rules apply the same way, with one exception: If the victim isn’t a Storyteller Character, the victim can also take a Beat whenever the Disquieted condition generates a Beat for the Promethean.
Extempore: Extempore Disquiet victims are confused. They can’t seem to keep the Promethean’s identity straight, though they act like it’s the Promethean’s fault somehow. Is she the girl that works at the library? Or his annoying boss? His estranged sister? The victim can’t identify the Promethean unless in a scene with her. As Disquiet intensifies, the people he’ll confuse her with grow more sinister, culminating in confusing her for some great criminal — a terrorist, a pedophile, a serial killer — someone that must be put away, or worse.
DISQUIETED Condition
The victim is confused and annoyed by the Promethean’s presence. The Promethean suffers a –2 penalty to all Social rolls against the victim, and has to open an additional Door in Social maneuvering.
Source: Disquiet
Resolution: Stay away from the Promethean that caused this
Condition for at least a week.
Beat: Once a session, the player of the Promethean that inflicted this condition can take a Beat by choosing one of the following:
• Taking the Watched Condition (p. 312)
• The victim successfully draws some kind of negative attention to the Promethean at an inopportune time.
• Permanently increasing the social penalty associated with the victim by 1.
The victim is consciously aware of the Promethean’s “wrongness” and finds himself compelled to act on these feelings. In addition to a –2 penalty and requiring two additional Doors in Social maneuvering, the Promethean’s player can no longer take advantage of the 10-again rule in social rolls against the victim.
Source: Disquiet
Possible Resolution: Stay away from the Promethean that caused
this Condition for at least two weeks.
Beat: Once a session, the player of the Promethean that inflicted this condition can take Beats by choosing one of the following:
• The Promethean can no longer spend Willpower to improve Social rolls targeting the victim as long as the victim has some form of the Disquieted Condition.
• The victim refuses to have anything to do with the Promethean. Any attempt to force the matter will result in the victim becoming violent.
• If the victim and the Promethean are in the same place, he will do everything in his power to drive the Promethean from the premises.
The Disquieted Condition can only advance to Stages Three and Four in a Wasteland, or from the Promethean’s player rolling an exceptional success to inflict Disqiuet against a victim with Stage Two or Three Disquiet. The victim is compelled to go above and beyond in her pursuit of the Promethean. The Promethean’s player is reduced to a chance die in all Social rolls against the victim. Social maneuvering automatically fails.
Source: Disquiet in a Wasteland, or exceptional success on a Disquiet roll.
Possible Resolution: Staying away from the Promethean that
caused this Condition for at least a month; killing the Promethean.
Beat: Once a session, the player of the Promethean that inflicted this condition can take Beats by choosing one of the following:
• The victim recruits between one and three Storyteller characters to join him in hunting down the Promethean. These additional characters have Disquieted (Stage One).
• The victim becomes determined to be a thorn in the Promethean’s side. He’ll stop at nothing to find out what her current goals are, and do everything she can to sabotage them.
•The victim tells as many people as possible about how dangerous the Promethean is, without mentioning her supernatural nature. Instead, he’ll describe her in vague terms as a threat and a menace.
The victim’s only goal in life becomes sating the compulsion that has been forced upon him — he will kill for it and die for it. All social rolls against the victim fail at this stage, whether by the Promethean or someone trying to make them see reason. In addition, anyone that the victim tells about the Promethean is immediately given
Disquieted (Stage Two).
Source: Disquiet in a Wasteland, exceptional success on Disquiet roll.
Possible Resolution: Staying away from the Promethean for six months; killing the Promethean.
Beat: Once a session, the player of the Promethean that inflicted this condition can take Beats by choosing one of the following:
• When the victim infects another character with Disquiet, it starts at Stage Three instead of Stage Two.
• The victim recruits between one and three Storyteller characters to join him in hunting down the Promethean. They have no regard for collateral damage: anyone not with them might as well be against them. These extra characters have Disquieted (Stage Two).
• The victim recruits between ten to twenty characters to hunt down the Promethean, and the Promethean alone. Unlike the second option, the mob has some concern for collateral damage and doesn’t have the Disquieted Condition. Even then, though, mobs get out of hand easily.
Last edited by Zareaus; Oct 23rd, 2017 at 10:55 AM.
Name: Arthur "Art" Collins Template: Beast Family: Ugallu Hunger: Collector
Personality: Art likes to imagine himself as eclectic as his namesake, or rather just highly interpretive to others. Truthfully, he's anything but. He's inquisitive, and high energy, but he's as calm and collected as anyone can be, and is equally cunning and calculating as any eagle-eyed raptor he embodies himself after. He carries himself with a very secretive demeanor, but elicits a quite open social nature... the reality of such is as much in gathering information as it is to foster good relations. He's actually 1/16th Arapaho Indian, but aside from the random tattoo and spoken word, you'd never know it.
Description: Despite being from Podunk, NB... Art likes to imagine that his soul was from a large city. As such, he wears his hair in a traditional, but slightly outmoded punk style, dyed black instead of it's natural brown. He used to streak it with colors, but that became tedious before long, and quickly feel out of fashion. He dons various tattoos of occult(ish) themes about his body, but nothing strikes home more acutely than the large pair of wings that span his back, shoulders, and upper arms. Of all his ink, he'll often wear clothing (or not) that shows off this large tattoo, even if the weather doesn't permit it... opting for style over comfort. He sports a handful of piercings, though mostly tame and less exotic, choosing to exhibit class over the more common "shock" value of a piercing. His clothing is often simple, but dark... and in keeping true to his context, remains fashionable despite their quality. His style often sits between punk-gothic chic, and the more modern hipster-bohemian.
Background: Art was, for most of his youth, quite a normal child. His parents were decent and loving, and gave him what little they often couldn't give even themselves. He was born and raised in Podunk, Nebraska... and for the most part, was happy and content. He had a few close friends, mostly cousins who were more friend than family, and had a small copse of trees in the woods that he could call his own. He even shared it with his friends on occasion, though they would NEVER climb all the way to the top of the tree like he would. He just always liked the view. Liked the wind blowing through his hair and across his young face. Enjoyed the vantage point he had which allowed him to spy the two neighboring counties that connected to his own.
By all accounts, Art was a normal, well-adjusted child. At least until the nightmare came. Even today he couldn't recall the first time he'd had the dream. It started out innocently enough, running through the woods near his house, always heading towards the tree he so loved, but he would never get there. Always running, never getting closer. Eventually, the dream would shift as he got older... it started with the soft beating of what he thought was his heart. It wasn't. It soon became noticeably faster and heavier, and unmistakingly the swift beating of a large pair of avian wings. Wings FAR too large to belong to a normal bird. Then his dream would become a nightmare. He wasn't running with joy, he was being chased!
Eventually, and quite luckily, Art come to understand the metaphor. He WAS the bird. He was the nightmare. And, that sort of gave him a measure of power, albeit dark, that he'd never experienced before. He became less like he was and more like what he was meant to be. More broody, more shadowed... but ultimately... more. He began to want more too. He started collecting things. Small valuables with little real value, but intrinsic sentimental value. Which, in turn became a collection of things of actual value. His education turned to the historical and less mundane artifacts of value, and his character changed to suit his new "being". Much to the chagrin of his old friends and family.
God is was SO nice to finally get away. To look back and know he'd escaped the humdrum life that was going to await him back home. He. Was. Out. And, if he was anyone else... "anything" else, he'd have celebrated in some manner. Ironically all he did now was visit several of the more notable museums the city had to offer. That was celebratory enough for someone like him. He simultaneously reveled in and hated the fact that he could come face to face with genuine historical artifacts of priceless value... and he could do nothing more than simply look.
Oh how he longed to touch such things. To own them, call them his own... buy, barter, or steal something of such value. It was why he came here in the first place. That, and to simply get away. Art whispered aloud to himself a mantra he'd created specifically for moments such as this... for when the desire to have or hold something that wasn't his, legally or otherwise, fought against his innate nature. "This thing is not mine, it belongs to time." Something he would tell himself, believing that his beast would be reborn again and again, allowing him all the time in the world to eventually own, hold, or have something he desired.
Usually, the night belonged to him. It was when he walked the streets, slept when he could, and on occasion he could feed of the nightmares he would instill in others. However, he never imagined that he wasn't alone. Sure, he'd heard the tales, folklore about Vampires, Werewolves, and the others beasties who go bump in the night... but they weren't real. Not like he was. His grandmother has spoke to him about something once... Hubris. That was the word, and Art desperately needed to learn it. His mother's own people had stories... and he really should have listened to them growing up.
If Art had taken by surprise from behind, while walking down the street, alone... that would have been more in tune with his psyche (And, expectation, however). Except he hadn't been. He has stopped to light a smoke when a beautiful woman had approached him asking for one herself. For a moment his eyes felt heavier than ever, and a series of questions he couldn't even begin to remember followed. All he recalled was that he would have said or done damn near anything she'd have asked of him... which explains why he found himself in the predicament he currently was in.
Experience: I am fairly old-hat when it comes to O/NWoD, but haven't had much experience with the updated CoD system/setting. I hope that it's fairly easy to figure out, and I am banking on it being somewhat intuitive. I like to imagine myself as being a fun and engaging player, both with the GM and other players, more than happy to bounce ideas off of one another to see what sticks. I often don't like being in the spotlight...rather I enjoy being the friend of the main protagonist, or at least the quirky sidekick who get's to shine on the rare occasion that calls for it. TL;DR... I like to support the primary players while still being involved fundamentally. (This means I tend to play the clerics, healers, or just general support classes.)
Expectations: Truthfully, I have none. At least not overtly. I simply desire a game that is clear and concise while remaining fun and consistent. This, however, is equally the responsibility of the players as much as it is of the GM's, so this expectation is the same for myself as it is for the one running the game. There should be an overreaching arc that ties into the story world, but that assumed with every game one partakes in... so that goes without saying.
Name: Kren (Luke Jones) Type: Demon (Psychopomp) Agency: None Yet Original Mission (Background): Kren was in charge of organising local Childer into a group of anti-establishment blood brokers. The idea was to topple the current power structure for the vampires in Philadelphia while also gaining as much resources as possible from the souls of the victims. He gained a conscience at some point along the way and once he found out that these peoples souls were being extracted at the second facility he fell. Appearance: His initial cover was the most generic appearance possible. A young Caucasian man with brown hair, blue eyes, moderate height and build. Not ugly but not attractive in anyway. Specifically designed to be as boring as possible. His demon form was somewhat more impressive. He is an emancipated an slightly hunched humanoid in form with jet black skin and copper mechanical arms. One of which folds out into his rivet gun. His eyes are copper circles with green dots as the pupils they sparkle with static when he moves. His whole form is covered in feint glowing veins and his whole body gives off a hot green steam. Surprisingly his skin is very cold to the touch
NOTE: Background changed due to fit plot at GM's discretion
Beats: 2/3
Aspirations:
Long Term: Destroy the LynchPin In Philadelphia
Short Term: Avoid Angelic Detection
Short Term: Rescue as many hostages as possible.
Real Name: Saga Akerberg
Path: Acanthos
Order: Mysterium
Appearance
Calliope Jones is short for a Swede (5’7”), her blonde hair is a bird’s nest, and she has the gangly, stretched frame associated with a teenage boy at the end of a growth spurt. Although she is twenty-seven, an extreme case of baby-face means that she gets carded at every opportunity – if anything, she looks younger now than she did three years ago. Her clothes tend to be too big, layered, threadbare and boyish, and she accessorises with vaguely occult gewgaws.
Personality
As a child and adolescent, Saga was serious and studious. However, since she Awakened, she realised life is to short not to have a little fun. Now, even though she is more fascinated by acquiring knowledge than ever, she does it with a sense of mischief, and makes times for other things as well. She’s smarter than most people assume, but not quite as smart as she thinks. She hunts knowledge with a dogged, obsessive persistence, both to preserve it for her Order, and for the unfettered delight of discovering a new secret.
Background
Saga Akerberg's mother is a professor of Norse Mythology at Lund University in Sweden, and her father is a psychologist who was far too accommodating when his wife wanted to name their child ‘Saga’, after the old Norse Goddess of History and Poetry.
It was barely tolerable in Sweden, and when Saga applied for universities in America, to get out from under her parents’ shadow, she began unilaterally pretending that her name was ‘Sara’. She studied journalism and creative writing with a minor in Drama and was about to finish a Master’s of Journalism, before she abruptly switched her focus to Fairy Tales. She left her school, graduating in absentia on the basis of her previous semesters and after vanishing for six months, moved to New York and changed her name again – Calliope. Now she freelances for some local newspapers while putting together a PhD thesis on Symbolism in Folk Lore at NYU. Her supervisor despairs of her ever finishing her doctorate, but he only sees a tenth of her work at best. The rest of it is rather more… literal… than most people are comfortable with when it comes to fairy tales.
AWAKENING
Saga started down her Path while doing her homework. She was twenty-four, in the last semester of her Masters, working through the readings of an English elective on folklore. The book was engrossing, drawing her in deeper and deeper until she could nearly see the pictures the words painted. The other students found it boring, only reading the required first chapter, as an example of how not to tell fairy tales, but Saga became obsessed. She searched for the author online, but beyond a simple blurb to go with the book, he didn’t seem to exist. Which begged the impossible question of how the book had made its way onto a graduate reading list. She teased the blurb apart, dissected the book, looking for more clues, for some way to find the mystery author, and instead found more books written by imaginary people. Her schoolwork suffered, but she had enough credits to graduate by this point, so she took off, skipped the last three weeks and her graduation ceremony and went hitch-hiking across the country, looking for answers. The questions only got more enigmatic and the books more compelling until eventually, Saga found one of the ends of the threads she'd been pulling. A new book, bound in green, titled ‘Volume II’, laid out in a dusty abandoned library in some forgotten ghost town. She sat down in the middle of the dusty floor to read, dust glittering in the air around her as beams of sunlight tracked the hours across the floor.
When she looked up, the moon was silver in the sky and she was somewhere else - a forest of thorns, looking towards a crystal tower, reaching for and reflecting the light of the moon until the tower looked to be faceted silver itself.
"And then the anfractuous amphisbaena, cerulean and argus-eyed twisted in ourobouros about the fuscous dreams of Sleepers, waiting through the chiliad time since the clepsydra counted liquid hours. We constellate about that cyanic serpent; in deasil and in widdershins, we travel to the Towers, mistigri that pass through the abyss, nacarat sun-grazers torn by lunargent thorns. Effervescent we seek to deracinate the barmecide world and disenthral the dreamers. We walk the paths to ascendant Wisdom, fraught with cacoethes hubris..."
Calliope Jones read the words by candlelight, speaking each word softly into the silence. The library had been closed for hours, but a piece of luck meant no-one had noticed her perched on a deep windowsill on the top floor, surrounded by a scatter of books.
"Did you ever find the Tower?" She muses, closing the book reverently, turning to stare out the window towards the crescent moon. She remembers, keenly, the dreams that plagued her when she sought the Watchtower of the Lunargent Thorn, before she knew what it even was that she sought. There were differences, of course - this writer dreamed the paths to the supernal world as a thalassic serpent, while she had dreamed bridges of light and colour. She still keeps the scribbled records of her dreams, a nonsense of obscure, tactile words trying to ape High Speech to describe something otherwise ineffable - much like this dreamer had, when they had crafted this book.
"We need to stop meeting like this, Macushla," Calliope glances over her shoulder with a cheerful scowl, glaring at the red-haired young man who had intruded on her thoughts. Although in this case, 'young' was relative at best - despite looking not a day over twenty-five, he was well into his forties.
"We really do, Ròcas. What do you want?"
"Just to see how you're doing." Ròcas shrugs, hopping onto the windowsilll beside her. "You shouldn't hold so tightly to dreams, Macushla." He gestures to the books around her.
"Hypocrite."
"Of course - but as you are so fond of reminding me, Calliope, I am an old, senile man wearing jeans and a face that are far too tight for my age. Are you sure you want to follow the path I walked?"
"Who said anything about following?" Calliope grinned flipping Ròcas the bird and swung the window open, slipping out as she climbed out and down the wall, leaving Ròcas wearing a matching grin in the library as alarms began to wail.
Why she's on the Bus:
Calliope really was just going for a grocery run. Which is the most annoying thing about the situation. She'd been looking for these people for weeks, shifting the threads of Fate, just a little, to draw them to her, and when she finally gets her chance, they ambush her while she's buying eggs.
Current Conditions/Aspirations: Get Intitated into a Legacy Discover a Secret Make a Friend Puppy Protector (Dan) Calliope feels responsibility for Dan, since she believes that he is collateral damage of the manipulation of Fate she used to get abducted (Exceptional success to calm Dan down when he first shifted, Ties into "Make a Friend" aspiration). Protect the Sleepers (Abyssal Obsession) Big spell done f*cked up.
Last edited by Ratpigeon; Nov 3rd, 2017 at 01:16 AM.
Name:Daniel Walker Supernatural Type: Werewolf (pre-Change) Auspice: Cahalith Tribe: Ghost Wolf Character Personality: Dan is naturally brash, straightforward, and headstrong, though his teachers have done their best to curb the negative aspects of these traits over the years. They mostly failed. His preferred approach to problem solving is hands-on, and is willing to learn from his mistakes. Still, his recent experiences and new acquaintances have given him a new-found appreciation for less direct methods.
Character Description:
Dan has loomed over his peers for as long as he can remember, and continues to do so, standing at just over six-five and 190 pounds. His dark brown hair has been cropped short, leaving just a hint of a curl, and light hazel eyes peer out from above a slightly crooked nose. Further south, stubble grows freely in a scraggly patchwork that's not quite a beard.
He dresses fairly simply, usually dark blue or black jeans and a solid colored shirt, both made from durable materials. Occasionally the shirt will be emblazoned with the slogan of whatever cause Dan's interested in at the moment, but often he won't bother.
Background:
Dan considers Miami his hometown, though he's really from all over. As the child of an Army Military Police officer and a nurse, he's had to move quite a bit. His earliest memories are of moving, leaving Tampa for the "freezing" Midwest. At least they weren't there long. Or anywhere else for that matter. They only really settled down a couple of years ago, when his dad finally retired from the Military Police, and rejoined civilian life.
Never really having gotten the hang of making friends quickly, Dan was glad for the change. That's not to say he was lonely growing up. The Walkers had a big family to begin with: two boys and a girl, and it only got bigger when they decided to join the foster care system, adopting a girl just a little older than Dan into their family. So there was always someone around his age to hang out with.
Not that the switch was entirely smooth. At first, the amount of freedom was amazing. No imposed curfews, no restrictions on where he could and couldn't go in his neighborhood, etc. But that wasn't enough. He wanted more, started acting out in other ways. Compounded with the transition to public school, it wasn't much of a surprise that his grades fell nearly all across the board. He spent more and more time in auto shop, his prior experience helping to keep him afloat there. The company wasn't the best, a lot of near-dropouts just waiting for their next birthday and a couple of gang members (or wannabes), but they were decent enough. So long as nobody went too far with a joke or a mocking comment, anyway.
When Dan finally graduated, he felt directionless. His grades weren't really good enough to get into a good school, and even if they were, he wouldn't know what to do once he got there. He decided to take a road trip, a walkabout of sorts. And that was when everything took a change for the stranger.
Down South:
Arley, Alabama.
At least, that's what the GPS said. To Dan, it was rocky dirt road that snaked through the middle of nowhere, his headlights illuminating misshapen trees that seemed to loom ever closer with every twist and turn. He had been on the road for nearly half a day now traveling through the heart of Dixie, and both his fingers and feet were beginning to feel a numbing prickle.
The car jumps violently as he misses one of the potholes that dot this poor excuse for a road. "Why the hell did I decide it would be a good idea to take a detour in the $#@!ing middle of Nowhere, Alabama?" he asks himself with a groan, reaching down to massage the dull ache in his ribs with. It was all the fault of that redneck, he decides. If the idiot could have kept his hands to himself, Dan wouldn't have had to step in and defend the maid he was harassing. And he wouldn't have been kicked out of the motel for loosing his temper when the man told him to "Git back over the border," among other flavorful words.
Didn't help that the next closest place to spend the night appeared to be forever "one mile away," or so the signs said. It was a dull, monotonous ride, accompanied by not even the crackle of a radio, when a figure bounds out of the woods, crossing his path.
Last edited by Arudin; Feb 13th, 2017 at 11:02 PM.
Snapshot: Andrew is the wayward older child who did everything wrong: college drop out, frequent fighter, drugs, musical chair style employment. And most of it is because he has been haunted since childhood with visions and voices of the dead. In his innocent years, he tried helping them. Upon realizing that didn't make them go away - just change - he decided his best defense was ignoring them and pretending normalcy. Sometimes, it works. Except nighttime, where it never does.
Combating his insomnia is the religion he has created out of nicotine and caffeine - among other things he tries (and frequently fails) to resist. Both his addiction and his body are a machine, regularly oiled and held taut until well beyond fatigue, when the only acceptable relief is a (hopefully) dreamless stupor from which he often awakes from swinging, or piled upon the floor. The habit hasn't endeared him to the ladies, and the remainder of his social force doesn't fare much better. Andrew is defensive and protectively aloof, as much a porcupine as a person, but those who bear his brambles do so for his loyal affection and sincerity.
Currently, Andrew is struggling to climb up from the rabbit hole. He follows the trail of his missing twin brother, battling withdrawal and breaking his parole.
Appearance: Dressed straight from a laundry basket of dogged jeans and band tees, Andrew appears as the perfectly troubled young adult that he is: color tipped hair, facial studs and bars, a litany of Custom designed by himselftattoos and battle scars. His shoes are combat boots or custom inked Converse or Vans, cigarettes and art pens are constant sights in his hands, along with the day's source of caffeine. While he may look ready for a mosh pit or an art attack, he is really just searching for peace.
Andrew spit into the world exactly eight seconds before his brother Anthony, and four years before their sister Elizabeth. They resided under the care of a busy executive father and active soccer mom in the hot, suburban scrawl of Phoenix, Az. Life mostly was normal. Anthony gravitated toward books, Lisbet the wading pool, and Andrew picked up a crayon and drew pictures of his nighttime visitors on the wall.
School days arrived and with them Andrew discovered his lack of enthusiasm for structure and lessons while his brother dove in like a cannonball. Outshone in this aspect, Andrew withdrew to his drawings and stories, scribbling often into the wee night hours to avoid fearful sleep, for his imaginary "friends" of childhood had refused to stay imaginary. Eventually, this habit along with its reason were revealed to his parents by his concerned younger sister. The tattle swiftly resulted in therapy and Andrew was diagnosed with ADD. Shortly after his first expulsion for fighting in defense of his brother, the disorder was raised to ADHD and he was dropped by his father into a mirrored room stuffed with kids in white uniforms and bright colored belts.
"An outlet for his misguided energy," his father had said.
Meds only succeeded in preventing him from waking out of his night terrors; they did nothing to suppress the actual voices and visions he felt, sometimes clearly. With neat little lies to the psych that his mind was increasing in normalcy, he flushed the pills down the toilet and vented his frustrations through martial arts, which had swiftly become a saving grace not only for him but his family. He continued defending his brother, then sister, but the reflexive punch throwing decreased, and he managed to sustain a place on the high school wrestling team until his fifth fight expelled him and he was sentenced to home school, under his mother's lock and key 24 hours a day.
Discovery of the weed stash he sometimes used for a sleep aid sent him back to the psych and removed him, permanently, from the martial competition he loved. College fixed this, however. Pursuing blessed freedom, Andrew followed his twin, signing up for a semester of JC while his brother rode a full scholarship at the nearby university. He continued competing but failed to commit to his classes past the first year. Forced into independence from Exasperated parents unwilling to continue funding his failures, Andrew began to establish a meager, artistic income designing custom tattoos and inkwork on anything from canvas to Vans. A series of uninspiring odd jobs supplemented his income but after a particularly harsh firing due to an insomnia related mistake, Andrew regretfully - and tiredly - withdrew from the competition ring.
The voices, however, did not withdraw. Drugs quickly became both outlet and escape, and after a series of possession and assault charges, they became the focus of Anthony as well, who vacated his fraternity housing to 'take care of older brother'. When drug flushing and activity shadowing did nothing to help, and the fights between them escalated to violence, Anthony sought other means.
Andrew is still devoted to keeping tabs on the arts and maintaining his body but his withdrawal from the circuit has catapulted him into vices he'd previously had good reason to resist. Nights belong to raves and long hours of drug induced art projects. Days he is thumping the streets, selling his art for meth. The girls that come don't stay, alienated by his tension and resistance to sleepovers. Throughout the last four years, Andrew has been arrested three times. After multiple fines, community service and a brief, two week stint in jail, he is now flailing through probation and mandatory NA.
Andrew's family pesters him on a regular basis, though Anthony is the only one currently clued in to most of his indiscretions. His sister Lisbet is preparing to enter college @ Carolina University but both his parents remain in good health at his childhood home in Phoenix. His parents' concern for him, and now his missing brother, is mounting, and while aware of his battle against addiction, they remain ignorant of his most recent arrest.
He maintains no friends from his martial arts involvement, though there are many that respect him and would be friendly toward him. His last former instructor had told him there was a place for him in his studio, as a junior Sensei, when and if he overcame his issues. A couple closer, long term classmates had tried maintaining relations after his departure but because of competitive scheduling and Andrew's fall into vice, those relationships didn't survive.
The Girl on The Swing: Andrew doesn't remember, but once, when his very young sister was just learning to swing, he looked and saw a ghost sitting on the swing with her. The ghost was malicious - he knew it - and as he was running toward her, yelling, he saw the ghost's arms reach around her to hold her. His sister leaped off. He thought the ghost was still squeezing her but it fell to the ground and twisted grotesquely, reliving its death - an ancient freak accident - before it winked out and once again appeared on the swing, returning for another enactment. Andrew's mother had never been able to get him onto a playground again and a simple rubber swing still makes him shudder. An intense playground atmosphere might be a breaking point.
The Victim: The kids always knew he was different. Some taunted. After months thriving in martial arts, Andrew returned to the taunters to see if he could egg them into a fight. He did, and he won, but it was a disaster. One of the kids was rushed to the hospital. Police were involved. They were considering trying him as an adult if the kid died. He survived, and Andrew just escaped Juvi, but the horror of what he had almost done remains with him. Severely injuring another person might catapult him over an edge.
Rap Sheep: Andrew's got a record in Arizona. They might not opt to extradite Andrew if picked up out of jurisdiction but there is the very real possibility that they may - and Andrew doesn't want to go to jail. The threat of an arrest will definitely test his morality.
The Overdose: He was getting busy with her friend upstairs when it happened. The petite little china girl in pigtails and electric blue fishnets lay sightless on his couch, dark lipstick smeared by the EMT's attempts to resuscitate her. He caught the eyes of her ghost's expression as he was led out the door in handcuffs - one of many possession arrests that night - and when he returned two days later, her spirit was still there and full of rage. At first, the haunting was no more than simple, freakish manifestations but one incident involving flying objects and a shattered mirror forced him to retreat to his brother Anthony, who promptly relocated him before placing his own degree on hold to (attempt to) become Andrew's keeper. Poltergeists and dead bodies -especially combined - just might freak Andrew out.
World of Darkness Character Sheet
Name: Andrew Spencer
Virtue:Regain WP when Andrew endangers himself by refusing to act against his brother's(later, the group's) interest.Loyalty
Chronicle: Heroes in the Darkness
Age: 25
Vice:Regain WP when Andrew attitude or lack of refinement negatively impacts one of the group's social engagements such as information gathering or cajoling a new ally.Crass
Your character hears the words and moans of the dead. If she takes the time to parse their words, she can interact with them verbally. meditating, or otherwise preparing to commune with the unseen and succeeding at a Wits + Occult roll, she temporarily increases the relevant Condition one step along the progression from nothing to Anchor, Resonance or Infrastructure, to Open, and finally to Controlled (see p. 223 for more on Conditions as they relate to spirits). The effect lasts until she spends a Willpower point, but if an Influence has been used to progress the Condition further, doing so only reduces it by one step.By conducting a ritual...Speaking with ghosts can be a blessing, but your character cannot turn the sense off, any more than she can turn off her hearing. The character hears the words of the dead any time they’re present. Once per game session, usually in a time of extreme stress, the Storyteller may deliver a disturbing message to your character from the other side. You must succeed in a Resolve + Composure roll or gain the Shaken or Spooked Condition.Drawback
Martial Arts 4
(GMC) Decrease specified target penalty by -1; ignore 1 point of ArmorFocused Attack, (GMC) Exchange up to 2 Attack dice to increase Defense by same number. Cannot apply to Dodge.Defensive Strike, (HL) Set aside up to 4 successes of one Brawl Attack to be applied toward a consecutive Brawl Attack. Advantage lost if opponent becomes unavailable.Trapping, (GMC) Unarmed Strike counts as lethal.Hand as Weapon
Weapon/Attacks
Weapon/Attack
Dmg
Range
Clip
Init
Str
Size
[CENTER][SIZE="4"]
Equipment:
Name:
Durability:
Structure
Size
Cost
Aspirations:
Aspiration
Description
Get Clean:
He's done it before, right? His parents are up his butt already on his twin's location and threatening a visit. Sh!t seems to have hit the fan; I need to sober up fast.
Don’t Get Arrested:
Make smart decisions. Don't start fights. Don't vandalize. No matter how much pent up frustration you feel or how bad you want a hit. Stay cool, man.
Find My Twin Brother:
Anthony is nowhere to be found. He may be in trouble and I'm the one that caused it.
Conditions:
Condition
Description
Addicted
Opiates and Meth but Andrew has consistently dabbled with others. Regain a dot of Integrity, lose another dot of Integrity, or achieve an exceptional success on a breaking point.ResolutionYour character chooses to get a fix rather than fulfill an obligation.Beat