Recruiting: Down in the Gutter - Second Phase, Life in Redmond's Newest Street Gang Options

[Vegas]

Welcome to the Second Phase Recruitment Thread for Down in the Gutter (DITG), a long term gang campaign using SR 4 rules, set in 2070.

Recruiting is now CLOSED - As of 4/3/08.

DITG will chronicle the establishment, rise, and quite possibly fall of one of the countless third-tier gangs that come and go in the Redmond Barrens. The game will open to the new characters approximately one to two days after the conclusion of a spectacular gang war that rocked the Kingsgate Area of the Redmond Barrens and drastically altered the balance of power.

You will play one of the survivors of this gang warfare, now in need of a new gang to call home in order to survive to see tomorrow. You will participate in the rebuilding of the new PC gang; the October Ravens, solidify it as a presence in the Kingsgate Area, and be a part of its attempt to carve out a place to call home in one of the worst slums in Seattle.

The game will focus on life in a Barrens street gang, and everything that entails. Simple survival is a daunting task, let alone climbing up the shadow food chain. This is not a street level runner campaign. This is a story of living hand-to-mouth, trying to get by each day by taking what you need from others to survive and trying to stop them from doing the same to you. If you can not handle the very real prospect that your character may die during this campaign, this is NOT the game for you.

More details can be found at:
Down in the Gutter Wiki

Specific Sections of Interest Include:
About Down in the Gutter - This is a MUST read before committing to this game.
Character Generation House Rules
Posting Guidelines

The Game threads can be found here:
DITG IC Thread
DITG OOC Thread

Our current roster of players includes 1 GM on staff (with assistants) and approximately 13 Active PCs.

Since our current roster already has one adept we will consider accepting up to 2 additional adept submissions. Our current roster also technically has two magicians, but since one of them is extremely new (i.e. he Awakened one hour before game start), we will consider accepting another magician character or mystic adept if the concept and supporting background story is sufficiently impressive. There will be NO Technomancers accepted, none at all.

We will note there are plenty of mundane character concepts available that have not been taken yet; additionally, we want to emphasize that as a gang, character creation should be less about finding a ‘niche’ that has not been taken and more about building a person that will be fun and interesting to play in a gang environment. Look over the Gang Roster on the Wiki and get a feel for your fellow gangers and where they came from as well as the major power player gangs still left in Kingsgate.

If you are interested, post your character concept only here. Once you have been given you the ‘ok’, apply for membership to the wiki and post your character in the Character Generation section for review. If you are not wiki-proficient, you can ask one of our talented wiki GMs, ES Sparky or Vegas, if they would kindly do so for you.

Since there is plenty of information available on the wiki and in the Down in the Gutter Planning Thread, we will not be recapping it all here, but if you have any questions, please post them here and we will be happy to answer them for you. We hope to see you in the game with us!

The Down in the Gutter Crew

[lkim]

Hi! I would like to join this gang. I'm brand new to this forum, and I can't say I have played SR4 or PbP style of RPG. But I have been playing RPG on and off for last 10 years or so and played couple of SR3 games. So I’m not entirely new to the setting of SR4. I am very interested to play as street gang, living day by day on the edge, trying to survive with whatever skills ganger might posses.

My character concept for the gang would be either mundane elf BTL producer (provider?)/hacker or human adapt of same concept. I would like to know either of these character concepts is ok enough to proceed or should I put some meats to it.

Thanks!

PS. I might have many, many questions while creating the character. Do I post the questions here or do I pm it to you?

[quentra]

I'd love to play an actual gang game, as opposed to a runner campaign. Switch up like this calls for some good RP, and also a 'view from the ground' type thing, since you're playing relatively low powered character as opposed to uberprofessionals. Sign me up. I'll prolly run a troll adept. With a bow.

[Vegas]

lkim and quentra

Hey guys, thanks for the interest!

It's possible that your char concepts could fly within the game, but understand that it's going to take more than "I want to play X, and he's an adept" to get the slot. Adepts/Magicians are going to be coveted characters this round of recruitment and the characters are going to have to impress us to grant the benefit. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

We all posted up a quick and dirty about our characters in the original recruitment thread, no stats per se, but just enough to give a feel and flavor for the character. I've posted up an example below. This is usually what got us the ability to get access to the wiki and start statting up our characters for final approval. We want characters that have thought-out backgrounds and aren't just a handful of stats and dice. Hopefully the example gets your creative juices flowing and you can get a feel for what we're looking for. Look through the wiki for the gang roster and see the old gangs that used to be in existence if you want to be affiliated with a gang or feel free to be "freelance" in the 'Gate.

EXAMPLE:

[ Spoiler ]

Concept:
Name: Doc
Race: Human
Age: 27
Previous Gang Affiliation: 8-Balls

Doc grew up in tacoma, an area far better than most of his present-day peers. His father was poor, but he managed to send doc to school. His mother had left the boy and the father a long time ago. The main problem was that the boy was loathsome. His personality grated on everyone he met. He was lecherous, even when he was a kid. He leered at teachers and got into scuffles in the playgrounds, but he was never really a big kid and so he had to resort to cheap tactics to stay in the fights. He was a bright kid but not at all motivated by anything but causing trouble.

When he got older the only job that he could get was the janitor in a pharmacy in a shitty part of tacoma. This suited him well because he used to just steal prescription drugs right off the shelf. He used to try and pick the brains of the pharmacists, attempting to get them to tell him how to make harder stuff, but they all hated him and wouldn't give him the time of day. He had enough money to afford a crappy comlink and dug up enough information on the matrix to allow him to start making bliss out of his run-down, peice-of-drek doss. He started trying to sell it, but not many people were buying. He couldn't find clients in Tacoma, and when he moved out to redmond the locals would just beat him up and take the stuff, leaving him credless.

He decided he needed help to sell his stuff. He approached a local gang, the 8-Balls, out of the blue. They were highly skeptical at first, but he spun them a tale of being a down on his luck ex-pharmacist who just wanted to sell some drugs. They locked him up in a warehouse with his things and told him they'd be back in 5 days. Either he'd have made enough bliss in that time to make them 500 nuyen or he'd be dead. He made the deadline, and earned the trust of the 8-balls.

Doc was burning the midnight oil the night of the explosion. He had worked his way into a position of confidence in the 8-balls: he was responsible for a large portion of their drug production, and had managed to keep up the charade of being a former pharmacist. He had left the warehouse that night to get some food and a bit of long haul from his doss, and he was just putting his hand on the door when it happened. He survived - barely - but his face was horribly scarred and he lost part of one arm. He managed to afford a new cyberhand from a chop doc he knew, but there was nothing that could be done about his face. Horrible personality, horrible appearance to match.

Game Info:
Doc will have pretty high mental attributes (aside from charisma) and a bevy of knowledge skills related to drug production. He would lose a fight to any of the other gang members, and his personality has likely irked them all by this time, but he is tolerated because he genuinely does know what he is doing.

Feel free to toss any questions you have while working up the characters here in the thread, in case they're questions that others have as well.

[WinterRat1]

Did you just use the phrase 'relatively low powered character' in the same thought/paragraph as 'I'll prolly run a troll adept. With a bow.' ??? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif)

[Slipshade]

WR1 - LOL! I was thinking the same thing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Ikim & quentra - Hope to see you in game!

[Tobias]

I would like to play but not sure on character concept. Got a few ideas:

Human needle punk, manufactors/uses drugs/chemicals.
Ork with sledgehammer/mace.

Will have to make my mind up and throw up a character when I'm not at work.

[Neuntöter]

huh. I am pretty interested in this. So far I've only had the pleasure of playing slightly high-powered Campaigns. And believe it or not raiding yet another super secret underground research facility, wrestling SK Prime or throwing three handful of dice actually does get dull rather fast. So i sketched up a quick concept.



Roar "Garm" Askeladd

[ Spoiler ]

Personality:
Garm first surfaced in the Barrens during the confusion of the Second Crash, a traumatized and lost kid of maybe a dozen years, a literal snowflake in hell. After outliving his projected lifespan and recovering or perhaps simply overcoming what appeared to be partial amnesia he projected a vicious tenaciousness towards survival. Being physically inferior to most of the other denizens of Redmond (hell, even now most hookers could probably armwrestle him down, if it came to it), he
soon adopted the wild instincts and feral behaviour of a stray dog. Even now as he has matured and has somewhat refined himself he still inherits many of the traits that made up the "wolf-kid" of then.

It is unclear how much he remembers of his former life, but fact is that somewhere deep in the government registration archive there exists a memento of it. A bone fide SIN still linking him to the relatively innocent kid he once was and a moderately mysterious past. Another fact is that he probably wouldn't care much anyway. He takes a fierce pride in this life, this survival and the place he carved himself within what some call hell, many call their graveyard and he came to know as home.

Now as he nears what might be his 18th birthday he still is a wild one. Being a loner by nature, character and experience in recent years he nonetheless came to, not like but perhaps appreciate the benefits, security and, on very rare occasions, comraderie offered by being part of a greater pack. Adopting the role of a modern-day bloodhound he is the one to turn to if you want to literally sniff out intruders on your turf or discreetly follow a trail through more hostile territory. Not quite suitably equipped by nature for open brawl and confrontation he usually prefers to use his talent for stealthier actions in order to get him into a favourable position against his adversaries.

Even though he usually tends to act cold, indifferent and somewhat sardonic, he can be quite charming if he ever feels like it. His highly sophisticated scent also plays into his social interactions. Unlike most people he does not judge by the first outer impression but rather by a person's smell which he found rather more truthful in a world basically made up of petty lies and deception.

Description:
Even amongst the freakshow that is the general populace of the Barrens someone like Garm tends to stand out. Standing roughly 5 foot 9 tall maybe a bit less and weighting around 130lbs and with no beard-growth whatsoever his lean build is less than impressive. His more stunning features lie elsewhere. Being an honest to god Albino his ghostly pale skin, his dirty white hair and his puzzling blood-red eyes together with his tendency to stare at others unblinkingly give him a rather disconcerting air. Once you get past that though, he has a pretty handsome face. Provided he isn't snarling or baring his teeth right now.

Quotes:
"*snarling* I suggest you stay the frag away. I can't smell you."

by the numbers:

[ Spoiler ]

Human -0bp
Male
Northern European, maybe Norwegian, although there might be something of a mixed breed in him.

Positive Qualities (-5bp):
Adept -5bp
Home Turf -free

Negative Qualities (+35bp):
(might replace the Astral Beacon in order to flesh out the Albinism with either a Moderate Sunlight Allergy or a Weak Immune System)
Albino
- Light Allergy to Sunlight +10bp
Simsense Vertigo +10bp
Sensitive Neural Structure +5bp
(his heightened senses tend to go haywire if conflicted with artificial input)
SINner (Roar Askeladd) +5bp
Astral beacon +5bp

Attributes (225bp):
Body 3 -20bp
Agility 5 -40bp
Reaction 4 -30bp
Strength 2 -10bp
Charisma 4 -30bp
Intuition 4 -30bp
Logic 2 -10bp
Willpower 4 -30bp
Edge 2 -0bp
Magic 2 -25bp

Adeptpoints:
(might swap out one rating of critical strike for Enhanced Sense: Olfactory Booster, if possible. +6 dice make the bloodhound happy in the nose.)
-0.5 Killing Hands
-0.5 Critical Strike 2
-0.25 Low-light Vision
-0.25 Improved Scent
-0.5 Enhanced Perception 2

Skills (110bp):
Infiltration 2 -8bp
+2 Urban -2bp
Shadowing 2 -8bp
Palming 1 -4bp
Survival 1 -4bp
+2 Urban -2bp
Unarmed Combat 3 -12bp
Blades 1 -4bp
+2 Forearm Snap Blades -2bp
Perception 3 -12bp
+2 Smell -2bp
Dodge 2 -8bp
+2 Ranged -2bp
Athletics Group 1 -10bp
Influence Group 1 -10bp
Intimidation 2 -8bp
Tracking 1 -4bp
+2 Urban -2bp
Navigation 1 -4bp
+2 Urban -2bp

Knowledge Skills (18 free points, not quite sure yet):
(candidates include but are not limited to:)
Norwegian N
English 4
Norse Myths
Gang ID
Gang Turf
Scavenging
Kingsgate Area Knowledge
Back Alley Shortcuts



and a whooping 5bp left for contacts and Nuyen i think.

so... the quick n' dirty first draft.

[Vegas]

Tobias

Welcome aboard I look forward to what you flesh out for either of those characters when you have the time away from work.

Neuntöter

Thanks for the rough sketch, and the stats. Makes it a lot easier to evaluate and I'm sure our GM WinterRat1 will take a good look over it all and give you the yay or nay on the concept and or ask for more .. he always asks for more (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

As for your question, you can choose Improved Sense (p. 188, BBB) for .25 per improvement. It does state that ANY sense provided by cyber can also be provided by the power, unless it's radio or similar technology based phenomena. Obviously it all comes down to WR's final say on the character sheet once you have it tweaked and it's ready for final review by him. First lets worry about passing the concept hurdle first (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Vegas]

All

Somethings that probably should be addressed before you guys all submit characters to us that your hearts are set on playing...

This game is highly social. I don't mean everyone has to submit their take on a pornomancer elf with 12 charisma or anything, but if you submit characters that are not the kinds of people that fit into the social hierarchy of a street gang, you may want to rethink character concepts, you just might not "fit" into the October Ravens. This is a game where you're going to have to work with your fellow gang members, it doesn't mean you have to be particularly sane or even enjoy their company but you're going to get pretty bored if you're sitting around playing a concept that has you off doing things alone all the time or straying away from the gang all together. Our GM doesn't have the time to dedicate that much effort to just one player out of 16+.

Remember this is a game where you will play an integral part of rebuilding a street gang from the bottom up, of lending your characters strengths (and weaknesses) to the gang's rise (or fall). We're a group of brash, bold, cunning, sneaky, gutter trash that are predominantly humans, and orks (for the time being at least). Everyone has their sob story that they bring to the table and in turn it's given every character a skill set of how to survive in the Barrens. Not trying to shoehorn anyone into playing a certain type of character, but bringing something to the proverbial table IC'ly as far as skills or knowledges will go far as to how to integrate your character into the gang. Bringing nothing may very well get you nothing but a lot of wasted effort on all sides and I for one want to see people have fun with this game as those of us already in the mix are having.

Also, no one is going to fault you for "too much" background, history or character development. In fact it's highly encouraged and possibly rewarded in nifty ways. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Onin the Shade]

im new to the fourms and found this topic. seems like a really great idea. was wondering how its played though, im assumeing it would be online, but would we be playing in a set of fourms, or on a vent server? just curious, and also, what times would we be playing? dont want to submit anything without knowing i can commit to it

[Drogos]

Are you still looking for players? I've always loved Ganger games and have a few ideas if you guys wouldn't mind another player.

[Slipshade]

Onin - Take a look at Vegas's first post. There is a link to the OOC and IC threads. It will give you a good idea of how this is played. We play in these forums, so you don't have far ti go. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) There is no set time that you need to be on, though posting as much as possible is appreciated. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Drogos - Yep we are still recruiting. Give the thread a good looking over and take a look at the links Vegas provided in the first post of this thread. Give us a general concept of what you are looking to play and the GM will get back to you.

[Drogos]

Drogos - Yep we are still recruiting. Give the thread a good looking over and take a look at the links Vegas provided in the first post of this thread. Give us a general concept of what you are looking to play and the GM will get back to you.

Looking over your site a bit (still reading), I'm thinking of playing a street urchin without previous associations with gangers. Just a kid trying to survive on the street. More of a face than anything else. Likely met one member of the gang and won them over. High charisma (relatively speaking) and agility. I'm tempted to take Uneducated, but seeing as that is not normally allowed, it is unlikely. Still working out background and stats, so nothing concrete yet. But those are just my current thoughts. Thanks for the quick response.

[lkim]

Hey, I found this in the Wikispace for this game. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I'm going to use this to picture out my character. That's okay right?

[ Spoiler ]

Background

1. Where and in what kind of environment did your character grow up?

2. What are your character’s relations with their family? (Does your character keep in touch? Where are they now?)

3. Does your character have an ethnic background? (Is it relevant to them?)

Appearance

4. What does your character look like?

5. What does your character dress like?

6. What are your character’s physical quirks?

Skills, attributes, resources

7. What did your character always want to be? (How did they go about getting this job/position/ability/image? Did they succeed?)

8. Where and how did your character learn their Active and Knowledge Skills?

9. Where and how did your character get their major equipment and ‘ware?

10. Where and in what kind of place does your character currently live?

11. Who are your character’s contacts? (How did they become contacts? Why do they still talk to your character?)

12. Who are your character’s enemies? (How did they become your character’s enemies?)

13. For Awakened characters, how did your character learn their magic? For non-Awakened characters, how does your character feel about magic?

Personality

14. What are your character’s personality quirks?

15. What are your character’s likes and dislikes?

16. What is your character’s moral code?

17. Does your character have personal beliefs?

18. What are your character’s personal motivations?

Running with the gang

19. Why does your character run with the gang?

20. When and how did your character join the gang?

21. How does your character contribute to the gang? What is his role; not just in terms of how he/she makes money, but where does he/she fit in the social hierarchy?

22. What would make your character ever leave the gang?

23. How does your character feel about their life in the gutter as part of a street gang? What is their view of the rest of the world? (i.e. Non-gangers)

24. If your character could have their ideal life outside of the gang, describe what that ideal life would be.

25. What ambitions does your character have for the gang as a whole? What ambitions does your character have for their place within the gang?

26. If your character is a recent addition from another gang, how does your character feel about joining a new gang? If your character is not a recent addition from another gang, how does your character feel about the new arrivals to the gang?

27. How does your character view relationships within the gang, both romantic and friendship? How does your character view relationships outside the gang, both romantic and friendship?

28. What is your character’s view of the other gangs in the area?
Takes

29. What is your character’s attitude towards/view of the gang as a whole?

30. What is your character’s view of each of his fellow gang members?

[Slipshade]

Ikim - It's not only ok, its a requirement. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Though I would suggest you wait till your concept has been ok'd by WinterRat1 first. It is a lot to write without knowing you have been accepted. Just a suggestion mind you. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

That list of questions has been completed by every new member. If you take a look at any of the characters on the Wiki you can see what they have done.

[Vegas]

lkim

Absolutely! If you are accepted into the game the 20-questions will become a requirement, so if by doing it now you get a better feel for your character all the better!

Otherwise a general overview of the character as referenced by my posting of "Doc" (who is an actual character in game) behind the spoiler should be enough to get your concept across to us and have us decide to get you onto the wiki to build the actual character stats behind it.

Drogos

A street urchin character with no prior gang affiliation would be fine, but as you noted on the wiki the Uneducated quality would not. Even growing up in the middle of the Barrens would have afforded your character a chance to "learn" about tech and life on the streets would provide a hefty education, while perhaps not a structured formal one (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Dantic]

"This will be an R-rated gang campaign"
Keeping this in mind, fair warning this concept is not ment to offend anyone, or cause conflict.
My concept is of a street hustler known as "Twiggs" Small, wiry, human, he has some skills as a pick-pocket and con artist.
He is not homosexual, although he has done sexual favors for BTL's/Drugs/Money, whenever the situtation became desperate enough, and during times of incarceration. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/indifferent.gif)

[Eyeless Blond]

Hmm. No technomancers, huh? Even if I had a reeeeeally good idea for one? *searches for puppy-dog-eyed smilie*

[Vegas]

Hmm. No technomancers, huh? Even if I had a reeeeeally good idea for one? *searches for puppy-dog-eyed smilie*

Post up a concept for us kiddo (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Give us something that impresses us (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[WinterRat1]

I'd consider it if I had a reasonable basis to believe I wouldn't have to wait three years between posts. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Eyeless Blond]

Oh hush, it was only two years.

Maybe two and a half. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

All right, give me a sec. Bah, why is it that coming up with a name is always the hardest part for me?

[Eyeless Blond]

How about:

[ Spoiler ]

Concept:
Name: Drip
Race: Human
Age: 11-13 (unknown)
Previous Gang Affiliation: Not Sure Yet (still going over the feeder page and background)


Background:

Drip was your classic BTL-baby. Born sometime in '57-59 to two chiphead parents, Drip was never really given a first name, and never knew his last name. Spending most of his childhood scrounging for food in the trash heap his family called an apartment, the only rare moments of pleasure he found were when Daddy would use a pair of trodes--the only things in the apartment that his parents bothered to keep new or clean--and hook him up to the Matrix to get him to stop crying.

As a result, Drip spent much of his time on the Matrix. Even as a very young child, he would spend hours playing in the datastreams, making up imaginary friends and even a few real ones, with all the bright-eyed wonder of a child.

So, it was no surprise when he was online the day of the second Crash. After several days in a coma, Drip woke up to find himself in the same apartment, alone. He never did find out what happenned to his parents, if they had deliberately abandoned him or if they had just overdosed somewhere. By the third week it no longer mattered: there was no more food in the apartment, and hunger drove him to leave home to fend for himself.

Now the majority of the time, stories like these end up with the kid either starving in a ditch, sold into child slavery, or some other horrible fate. Drip, though, had one advantage going for him: his "imaginary friends" came out of the Matrix to help him. He'd spend the next five years "asking" vending machines to lend him a snack, getting drones and cars to follow him home, and learning the strangeness of this new meatspace.


Personality:

Like all technomancers, Drip is more at home in the Matrix than the real world. Being raised by machines almost as much as people, maybe more, he sometimes forgets even basic social nroms, like blinking, or not staring at people. He's also long ago learned the best way to survive in the Barrens is to not stick out too much, and somehow he gets by, mostly by relying on his youth and nonconfrontational attitude. Most people do find it disturbing how he can hold entire conversations with a toaster or how he treats an engine block like an honored teacher, but those who know him also know how useful he can be, in the right circumstances.

Still looking at the gang affiliations; what would be a good one for a kid who likes to "borrow" drones and cars?

[Cthulhudreams]

Any lee way on that essence 3 restriction? I am trashing out a concept for a cybered up Orc ganger who has heard about, and wants to be hatchetman, and transcend both his humanity and the barrens to become something more, but with second hand cyberware its pretty easy to run down your essence right down.

[Drogos]

"This will be an R-rated gang campaign"
Keeping this in mind, fair warning this concept is not ment to offend anyone, or cause conflict.
My concept is of a street hustler known as "Twiggs" Small, wiry, human, he has some skills as a pick-pocket and con artist.
He is not homosexual, although he has done sexual favors for BTL's/Drugs/Money, whenever the situtation became desperate enough, and during times of incarceration. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/indifferent.gif)

Bah...I almost had the EXACT same concept. I'm willing to bet to the skill rank and everything.