Dresden Files - London (formerly Arch's 4e game)

[Sven Stryker]

We saw you for a while, but then you left and haven't come back.

[Rampage]

Anywho.

Ghost of Jack the Ripper
"Something" is in the Thames
Crazy Ectomancer animating suits of armor
Nazi Zombies coming to finish the Blitz!
Rakshasa... maybe?
Punk music listening Red Court vampires

[IamFrums]

Luck of the gypsies - Kerrys family suddenly hits a lucky streak, but there seems to be a dark presence following them. What have they gotten themselves into this time.

Hole in the veil - Illusion magic is starting to fade and threaten to reveal all the darker side of London to the world.

The pied piper - a new rock band is working it's way up through the clubs, their addictive music is starting to get an almost cult like following.

Big brother is watching you - Londons new crime prevention security program is going to go online. If system sees something it shouldn't and the magic world is in danger of being revealed.

[Rampage]

Originally Posted by Rampage

Anywho.


Punk music listening Red Court vampires

Originally Posted by IamFrums

The pied piper - a new rock band is working it's way up through the clubs, their addictive music is starting to get an almost cult like following.

I think we should combine these two...

[Archangel3d]

I like that idea... The 2 main problems are:

- a band of Red Court would probably murder you guys solid if you tangled with 'em, so I'd take it down to a singular, rather than plural vampires. Like the lead singer or something, and the rest would be thralls.
- thematically, addicting people at a distance is more of a White Court than Red Court thing. Red Court is all about the saliva/physical contact, while the White Court is voice/presence.

[Sven Stryker]

I was actually imagining it the other way around when he suggested combining them. The red court vampires were the addicted ones. But others are addicted to them. So it'd be an addiction chain.

[Archangel3d]

Oooh, that's an interesting twist. There's just the motivation factor left; what's in it for your characters to save a Red Court from mental domination/addiction? Why would you guys stick your neck out for them?

[Rampage]

I was thinking the red court is spiking the beer. Sides, White Court wouldn't have a punk band, it be a boy band or electronica or something.

[IamFrums]

The rock band is trying to get as many red court vampires in one location and wipe them out, but who and why

[IamFrums]

Originally Posted by Archangel3d

Oooh, that's an interesting twist. There's just the motivation factor left; what's in it for your characters to save a Red Court from mental domination/addiction? Why would you guys stick your neck out for them?

They're targeting red court vampires, but innocents are getting caught in the cross fire.

[Archangel3d]

Originally Posted by IamFrums

They're targeting red court vampires, but innocents are getting caught in the cross fire.

That still doesn't exactly explain why a con-artist/retrieval specialist, a hired killer/kidnapper, and an ex-Triad martial artist would be interested or involved in the punk rock scene or protecting random people they don't know. Protecting innocents in the cross fire doesn't seem to be high on anyone's list of motivations (which is why I was asking for at least one Aspect that explains why you guys stick your necks out to help other people)

I might be able to come up with something, but it's hard when I don't know what motivates your characters to do things that are dangerous.

Also, we still up for this evening, 8:30 EST?

[IamFrums]

I get hired because a guitar gets stolen from a fairly prominent object mancer. It was the only thing stolen, and the guy insists it just has sentimental value. Turns out it's a pied weapon and can control others, but using it drains the targets life fo
rce, leaving just a husk behind. The thief learns that vampires either don't die or last longer, but that risks basically turning the guitar into a magic nuke if he isn't stopped.

[Sven Stryker]

I was actually going to suggest that somethings happening with Tommy's students at the dojo since a fair amount of them are into the music scene or something.

[IamFrums]

So what are we doing Monday?

[Archangel3d]

I picked up the Traveller book, so we could totally do character gen and create your spaceship.

Depending on how long that takes, we could also play a couple of rounds of League of Legends too

[IamFrums]

So the name of it is traveler? Is there a web site with rules I can review, or a character creator?

[Archangel3d]

This is the main site. Character creation is a bit weird, it involves a lot of random rolls, so it has to be done with the DM/group.

[IamFrums]

Ok, so do we do the rolls first and see what kind of characters fit, our vice versa? I have a couple ideas floating around in my head.

[Archangel3d]

The idea is that you roll your character's stats, decide what kind of planet he's born on (i.e. what his "growing up" skills will be, then you send him into a career path and see if he can succeed there (or at least survive it)

As an example, I tossed together a quick guy to test out the character creation system. I gotta say, I would have never made a character like this, but the way things turned out for him really made him an interesting character with many ups and downs (mostly downs, heh).

Yarel Clay

Stats and homeworld

Weak, frail and gangly, Yarel almost died in his infancy from the various illnesses and pollution in the densely-populated urban sprawl of his native Kahdoss. Despite his thin frame, he was blessed with great looks, entrancing eyes, and a powerful, compelling voice.

Career: Term 1

Yarel went into business for himself, arranging deals with merchant groups from all corners of the planet. However, he eventually ran afoul of the strict regulations concerning interplanetary goods, and was leaned on hard by Kahdoss’ most powerful brokerage firm. He managed to talk his way out of hefty fines, but was forced to shut down his operations.

Career: Term 2

Yarel tried to apply to the Horizon Brokerage firm as an accredited broker. However, the firm pulled a bait-and-switch, and Yarel was shanghaied on one of Horizon’s freighters. He spent the next 3 years of his life in the cramped and fetid confines of a massive cargo ship, dealing with petty criminals and washed up merchants who were similarly forced into corporate servitude to the Horizon firm.

Yarel learned to keep a cutlass handy at all times during those dangerous years. He was “too pretty”, and ended up having to cause a number of scars before he was left alone, but ended up making a life-long enemy of the rougher half of the workers. Eventually a crew mutiny ended up causing the cargo ship to crash land on a nearby planet. Yarel managed to flee and find a starport, knowing that the gang of workers would be looking to get revenge for their scars.

Final Stats

[Sven Stryker]

Yuck.

[Archangel3d]

Yuck?

Personally I actually really like the guy, despite his faults and poor luck (and I was reaaaaallly unlucky). He's got a hell of a lot of personality, and he has important past events that will color his motivations and decisions during play (he doesn't trust corporations anymore, he's more than willing to cut someone who threatens him, he's got great buisness sense and a silver tongue. You take him on your team and he will make you money, cross him and he will cut you)

He's definitaley a "Face" character, but he's not a "vat-grown" perfect specimen of an archetype; he has plenty of characteristics and skills that have nothing to do with being a "Face".

[IamFrums]

I can see good and bad in that. I'd be a little worried about winding up with a character I had no idea how to play, but I'm more than willing to give it a shot.

[Archangel3d]

Fair enough. Though, the creation part just gives you situations, and it's up to you to interpret those events and build your character's personality and history. Heck, I could build a completely different character with exactly the same rolls.

It's really an exercise in creative storytelling.

Zarel Klay

Zarel was always too charming and lazy for his own good, living a life of luxury off his father's successful brokerage buisness. When his father decided to hand the reigns of the company to his second son rather than Zarel, the spiteful Zarel used his charm and knowledge of law to systematically dismantle the entire firm, buy it out from under his younger brother, and rebuild it.

The plan worked to a point, but Zarel was never able to rebuild, and eventually the firm collapsed. Zarel avoided getting more work, living off the remains of his father's company, but couldn't dodge the collectors forever and was eventually drafted into the Imperial Navy when he defaulted. His charm and skill with accounting managed to get him a position in logistics aboard an Imperial supply freighter, fortunately a job with little manual labor.

In his years aboard the frieghter, he tried to ply his charm on the higher-ups. He managed to befriend the ship's Supply Officer, a gentleman by the name of Mateo who was enamored with the art of fencing. Months of practice and duelling in the cargo holds made Zarel an excellent duelist. Things were all going according to plan until the fateful day a raiding party attacked the ship. Mateo, who had seen the good in Zarel that even Zarel himself couldn't see, was killed, and Zarel was forced to flee on an escape pod.

[Archangel3d]

I totally understand if you guys are reticent to try Traveller, by the way, I'm totally not going to force any of you to play or anything.

I'm thinking I should start a new thread, though, to keep things organized.

[IamFrums]

I'm sure once we make the characters we'll be fine. Is there a way to make them before monday? Otherwise at some point we're all going to be waiting while the other guy rolls up a character. Im prettu sure there is a dice randomizer somewhere that saves your rolls.