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

[Neuntöter]

Second draft 2.1

[ Spoiler ]

William is a pretty odd case, as far as the normal street cast goes. Once a law-school graduate and fledling lawyer his life took a turn for the ...interesting when his till then dormant magical talent awakened. At this point of his life he was becoming increasingly fed up with the legal system and standard law procedures, especially when a long term client of his was sentenced to death despite valid doubts on the accusations simply because of a bureaucratic oversight.
As a "late waker" his awakening proved to be particularly violent when months of pent up frustration forced their way out during a trial in an outburst of malevolent raw mana. Causing considerable devastation in the courtroom and injuring several of the officials he also for the first time made contact with the entity he later came to know as "Death" and which later revealed herself to him as his Mentorspirit. With her help he managed to flee the scene when he suddenly found himself on the wrong side of the law as an illegal magician charged with premeditated magical assault and attempted murder.

Without access to any of his assets (he was deep in debt anyway from tuition fees) and suddenly becoming a wanted criminal he was forced to disappear from the screen, and without the necessary contacts nor money for a new identity he ventured into the one place he knew the Star would not come looking for him. The Redmond Barrens.
Survival proved to be tough, even with the help of his Mentor which rarely strayed from his side during that time. (She claimed to have business here.) But somehow he found himself to be the patron of a small gang of street kids who seemed to be drawn to him. Life got a bit better then for a while. He would look after the kids, tend to their wounds or diseases, and in turn they began to teach him the ways of the street. This was cut short by the events of Red October and especially Halloween, when a squad of feral 162s ghouls raided the hideout William had set up for him and the kids while he was out looking for some sweets for the kids.

After the events of All Hallow's Eve Will's actions all carry a certain amount of fatality. He deeply blames himself and his passiveness for the deaths of his charges. The relation with his mentor will probably suffer from this too. On the one hand he understands her basic principles about life and death, the inevitability of which and the meaning that underlies it. But at the same time he deeply suspects that she might have purposefully steered him into this position to exactly "make her point clear", and he can't yet forgive her for that.

It was already stated that Will is a somewhat odd case on the streets. This is emphasized by the fact that he is still wearing his old business suit and tie, as torn and rugged as they might be by now. Also he seems to be constantly surrounded by one or more of his watcher spirits which take the form of a small school of bright, little goldfish seemingly using the air as water.

this thing is meant as an addendum for the second draft short story introduction of Will. Even though it is a bit short yet, it makes more sense than the very first version, if only because it is more humble.

i also found a picture which is near to what he looks like in my head.

http://stan522.deviantart.com/art/Man-in-suit-16601854

one of things that fascinate me about William is the "anachronism" that he is on the streets.

[Eyeless Blond]

Hm. You know, I've been thinking of retooling Drip as a hacker/rigger; in fact it would make the whole "talking to vending machines" thing more ironic (and possibly tragic). It might overlap a bit much with Jaid's Mask character though; maybe we can rock-paper-scissors to see which one goes rigger and which decker? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

That is, if WR isn't still worried that I'm only going to post once every three years... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Slipshade]

One thing to remember. The wireless network in the 'gate is sporadic at best and non-existant at worst. A character bent towards rigging and hacking may get very frustrated when their drones don't work outside of a very small area or they can't access the wireless network for long periods of time.

[Eyeless Blond]

I'll have to look up signal ranges and availability when I get back to my books, but I don't think that will be too much of a problem. Radios are pretty cheap.

[Jaid]

Hm. You know, I've been thinking of retooling Drip as a hacker/rigger; in fact it would make the whole "talking to vending machines" thing more ironic (and possibly tragic). It might overlap a bit much with Jaid's Mask character though; maybe we can rock-paper-scissors to see which one goes rigger and which decker? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

That is, if WR isn't still worried that I'm only going to post once every three years... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

easy enough. i count two characters up there that i'm willing to play. and heck, if i wanted, it isn't as if i couldn't update Blade to include some rat farming in his past if the rat farming past really appeals to people (to be honest, i think the rat farmer aspect of the RP was more interesting to me then the hacker/rigger part of Mask anyways, and it's something that could actually be done without a lot of tech too, so it wouldn't be wholly unreasonable for Blade =P )

One thing to remember. The wireless network in the 'gate is sporadic at best and non-existant at worst. A character bent towards rigging and hacking may get very frustrated when their drones don't work outside of a very small area or they can't access the wireless network for long periods of time.

Mask at least was more along the lines of a captain's chair kind of drone commander, and would have likely not had much in the way of combat drones. his main contributions initially would have been related to stealing drones (stuff like lawn care drones probably) and either selling them or using them to build up the gang by other means than combat.

essentially, right now (based on legion's thoughts) the gang seems to need an economy more than they need a small army of thugs anyways, which is convenient because rebuilding is probably more along the lines of what mask would do. but like i said, i'm totally fine with turning over the concept to eyeless blond if there is concern about overlap (and to be honest, i myself am slightly more intrigued by Blade anyways).

[Eyeless Blond]

Well unless we plan on setting up a chopshop (which I'm not ruling out), muscle will likely provide more of a gang economy than boosting cars anyway.

[Dantic]

Umm, belay that, going to use Sutherland from Legion's contacts for him, still if needs some work for fleshing out him, or his pawn shop, let me know.

Bah, getting rid of the contact completely.

[Slipshade]

To all potential players that have not yet been accepted. Please do me a favor and post a reply with all of the concept information you have thought up so far. Use a spoiler tag if it is really long.

I am not interested in the stats at the moment, just the background stuff. It would be a huge help. That way WinterRat1, Vegas and I don't have to search all over for it and miss something important.

Thanks in advance!

Those of you with wiki pages already can ignore this. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Jaid]

i suppose so. i personally expect to see blade make more money from making weapons and such, particularly since the gang seems to already have a fair amount of muscle. he'll be able to hold his own in a fight, (and probably kick some butt too, now that i've read the theory behind martial arts in the DitG game, it makes a lot more sense for him to know a fair amount of martial arts-type stuff =P )

also, i'm somewhat undecided on whether or not i'd give him any chemistry skills. if i do, it would probably be fairly limited by the fact he wouldn't be using modern equipment, so probably he would mostly be useful for stuff that just needs to be processed raw materials. (alcohol, of course, would be perfectly suitable for him to make). i've also given some thought to him taking talismongering skills, though i'm not sure if anything could be found in the barrens... the theory being, with his methods of making things (ie not using advanced tech as much as possible) he would be a more popular supplier when it comes to the awakened, especially enchanters (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

on a side note, having now finished reading through the entirety of the OOC thread, is there a reason no one has started a recruiting thread for GMs? i understand winterrat1 is perpetually busy, and the intention was to get at least 1 more... wouldn't it make sense to start recruiting sooner rather than later? (and to get more than the bare minimum, due to the high attrition rate common to forum games)

[Slipshade]

Jaid - Oh WR1 has a lot of help. I know Vegas does a lot of work and Grendel is a tremendous resource that he can tap. This game is very much player run. The GM only steps in when needed or for a planned event. It is one of the reasons such developed characters is a requirement for this game. If you can't make some of your own fun and story, then you will get bored waiting around for a GM to push your story along, because he won't. For some players this works great and for others it doesn't. I have been in WinterRat's Living in The Shadows game for years now and yes players come and go, but you get a group of diehards that just keep going. I don't see this game dying anytime soon. There may come a time when he decides that he needs enough help to get another GM, but I would guess that when that time comes, he will have a pretty good idea of who he wants to bring on and most likely will not open it up to the general forum for recruitment.

WR1 is especially busy because it is tax season and he is an accountant. Once the season is over he usually has more time.

[Neuntöter]

revised draft.

William 'Will' Callahan
upstanding defense attorney turned rogue street wiz

[ Spoiler ]

The small warehouse was damp and dark. Scarcely illuminated by shards of light entering through boarded up windows, like bright wounds in the shadows. In the back of the hall where the man was crouching the darkness was almost tangible and the only source of faint light was the glowing tip of his cigarette.
Now and then he would draw on it, and its extending glow would briefly reveal dark blotches and stains on the ground. If he inhaled particularly deeply the orange light would wash over several lifeless bodies a few feet away. At those times you would have just enough time to note their disconcerting shapes and the weird angles of their limbs before the shadows would mercifully swallow them up again.

"It wasn't your fault, you know?"

A pale girl with black hair was standing a few meters behind him in one of the stripes of light.

"I told them it was safe. It obviously wasn't. I shouldn't have left them alone."
"I might as well have killed them myself."

The girl looked up from him to a sliver of almost obscenely blue sky in one of the windows.

"There was no way you could have known this would happen."

The man got up and crumbled the still glowing cigarette butt in his fist.

"You knew."

The girl hesitated for a moment and absentmindedly touched the silver ankh hanging around her neck.

"Their time had come."

"So that's what this is to you then? One big fragging parable?"

The girl pursed her lips and stared at him defiantly.

"That hurt, you know?"

The man strode past her towards the exit of the warehouse.

"Like I care right now."

Outside he blinked into the dawning light of All Saint's Day. Overshadowing his eyes with one hand his other searched through the pockets of his business suit. The suit had certainly seen better days, once midnight black and elegant it was now dusty and torn. Yet it was still a pretty smart suit and it made him look slightly out of place here in Kingsgate. His hand finally found what it was looking for and procured a crumbled pack of cigarettes. He pulled one out with his lips and then fingered for his lighter.

"What are you going to do now? You certainly don't look like you want to hear my advice any time soon."

The girl was behind him leaning against the splintered doorway.

"Your advice was what got me into this situation in the first place, so no thank you, My Lady."

He fumbled the lighter open with one hand and lighted his cigarette. The girl frowned.

"It was you that came to me for counsel and help."

The man barked a short laughter. "Yeah, right."

"It was your soul that was suffering from all that injustice and sanctimony you witnessed in your life. And it cried out to me."

The man combed his slightly longer black hair back with his hand and looked at his desolate surroundings.

"Well, you certainly helped to improve my standard of living then."

The girl smiled sadly.

"That wasn't what I meant, and in your heart you know it. You just can't admit it to yourself."

The man glared at her, but before he could answer there was a wavering next to him as if the air had become liquid at that place and something had just upset the surface. A moment later a small and bright goldfish hopped out of it and swam through the air to the man. He seemed to listen to the fish for a moment, then nodded and the little thing jumped back into the air and vanished with a barely audible plop.

"You heard him, Will. So what are you going to do? You will probably need others."

The man loosened the knot of his tie and started walking away from the warehouse with his hands deeply buried in the pockets of his pants. The girl sighed and then watched him until he vanished around the corner. From behind her in the back of the warehouse in the shadow she could hear the questioning voices of children. She turned around with a half-smile.

"I know he is stubborn. But, you know him. He'll come around."

Then she walked back into the building, and after a few feet the shadows seemed to rise up and swallow her and the voices.

[ Spoiler ]

William is a pretty odd case, as far as the normal street cast goes. Once a law-school graduate and fledling lawyer his life took a turn for the interesting when his till then dormant magical talent awakened. At this point of his life he was becoming increasingly fed up with the legal system and standard law procedures, especially when a long term client of his was sentenced to death despite valid doubts on the accusations simply because of a bureaucratic oversight.
As a "late waker" his awakening proved to be particularly violent when months of pent up frustration forced their way out during a trial in an outburst of malevolent raw mana. Causing considerable devastation in the courtroom and injuring several of the officials he also for the first time made contact with the entity he later came to know as "Death" and which later revealed herself to him as his Mentorspirit. With her help he managed to flee the scene when he suddenly found himself on the wrong side of the law as an illegal magician charged with premeditated magical assault and attempted murder.

With no way to access any of his assets (he was deep in debt anyway from tuition fees) and suddenly becoming a wanted criminal he was forced to disappear from the screen, and without the necessary contacts nor money for a new identity he ventured into the one place he knew the Star would not come looking for him. The Redmond Barrens.
Survival proved to be tough, even with the help of his Mentor which rarely strayed from his side during that time. (She claimed to have business here.) But somehow he found himself to be the patron of a small gang of street kids who seemed to be drawn to him. Life got a bit better then for a while. He would look after the kids, tend to their wounds or diseases, and in turn they began to teach him the ways of the street. This was cut short by the events of Red October and especially Halloween, when a squad of feral 162s ghouls raided the hideout William had set up for him and the kids while he was out looking for some sweets for the kids.

After the events of All Hallow's Eve Will's actions all carry a certain amount of fatality. He deeply blames himself and his passiveness for the deaths of his charges. The relation with his mentor will probably suffer from this too. On the one hand he understands her basic principles about life and death, the inevitability of which and the meaning that underlies it. But at the same time he deeply suspects that she might have purposefully steered him into this position to exactly "make her point clear", and he can't yet forgive her for that.

It was already stated that Will is a somewhat odd case on the streets. This is emphasized by the fact that he is still wearing his old business suit and tie, as torn and rugged as they might be by now. Also he seems to be constantly surrounded by one or more of his watcher spirits which take the form of a small school of bright, little goldfish seemingly using the air as water.

[cREbralFIX]

Is there still room for one more?

[Slipshade]

Always room if you can come up with a good concept! Take a look at the first page of this thread. Vegas has posted a number of links to information about the game and the specific character generation rules for it, as this is a low-powered game. If you're still interested, post up a character concept with as much information as you can about your proposed gang member and we will let you know if it is something that we think is a good fit or needs some work.


Neuntoter - Thanks for posting that!

[cREbralFIX]

I have several character concepts:

1) Shaman

Not sure if there's room for a shaman.

Harton

Dwarf
Age 40
Buffalo Shaman

Harton is a neighborhood local who knows how to live with the gangs. He generally barters his services for favors or "stuff" (cash always accepted, but infrequently presented). Value is based upon importance to the individual and/or usefulness to Harton at the time. He frequently cures STDs, fixes broken bones, and sells "male enhancement" potions. Though he's not an official gang member, as an ex-<TBD--ganger> he works with <whoever is current leader of the gang> on various projects. The mothers of many of the gangers brought them to see him whenever there the coughing became too much for a little one.

Somehow, he manages to keep a small patch of "grassland" behind his house. Though there's no actual buffalo residing there, he does have some interesting graffiti painted on the fence surrounding the area. He uses this as a "natural" classroom for some of the local children he teaches during the day. He fully believes that education opens many doors, and focuses on the 3 R's. That said, he's not above teaching a bit of high pressure sales techniques, "auto mechanics" or shooting skills.

Once upon a time, Harton was a semi-pro race car driver in the offroad leagues. He had his very own "money pit" in the form of a car and support gear. His magical power provided a good wage from local government, allowing him to pursue his hobby. Unfortunately, he came home one night to find his wife brutally raped and murdered. He was never right after that and was unable to continue either his corporate or racing career.

At some point, the money ran out and he was forced onto the street. Homeless, he learned to live out of a soup kitchen with only the clothes on his back, forgoing all magic use. Even Buffalo seemed to abandon him while he lived in the dirty streets. Over time, Harton's emotions righted themselves and he was able to achieve some stability. Given the misery surrounding him in the gutter, he began to work to relieve it as much as possible. Over time, word got out and people began to come to him for assistance. They'd barter for healing with food, drugs, or hot merchandise. Harton developed a reputation as a helping hand who was willing to look the other way.

[cREbralFIX]

2) Moe "<street name TBD>"

Ork

Age <Ork military age + 3> (17-19ish)

Moe's father owns a local butcher shop and small store. In front is a small restaurant where locals come to hang out at lunch, dinner, and from 8-10 pm. Moe sometimes works in the store or shop, but generally runs the streets. At the age of Ork majority <TBD...whatever it is>, he joined the military. There, he learned the joys of shooting, fighting, and launching huge shells at enemy fortifications. Unfortunately, he also tended be insubordinate and was mustered out of service after only two years past Boot Camp. It is for this reason he has a SIN, though the dishonorable discharge shows up on his record. Now that he's back in the neighborhood, he's avoiding working in his father's shop. As such, he has yet to go home. He's currently squatting in a chummer's garage, though that welcome is about to run out.

(No magic, no cyber, no weird stuff, not even really a bad attitude.)

[Vegas]

Dantic

Got most of my 30 questions answered for Twiggs, got to write up my Takes, need help with this question.

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

Do I need to come up with a specific scenario, or just a general idea to be developed in game?

That was more for the people who would be joining the gang at game start. I'd suggest thinking about vague ideas here to be specified (i.e. the "when") in the thread when your character gets introduced and wait to see how it plays out if you're coming in unaffiliated with any of the original Feeder Gangs... it may be a large opportunity to actually RP out the "induction" (if there is to be one) to the Ravens and then that question can be answered later. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Will depend on how WR brings you into the game.

cREbralFIX

Thanks for the first submission, right now we are recruiting for mundane characters with the possibilities of an Adept and a TRADTIONAL Mage if the concepts and backgrounds knock our socks off. You had said you have several character concepts, would you be willing to share more of them with us? Also I'd highly suggest reading this entire thread to get a good feel for what we're looking for and some of our previous concerns/suggestions when developing concepts for gameplay.

Thanks!
-V

[cREbralFIX]

3) Cyriacus Mykola Grigori

Thief

He's a thief...yup, that's what he does. Cars, clearing out homes, wallets, shoplifting, hijacking trucks, or bumming cigarettes...it's all the same to him. Get the goods, get away, and get paid! He practices with knife and gun every time he gets into a fight...that's a bit cheaper than actually wasting time every week on it. Cyriacus has always been primarily interested in the "hunt" -- staking out a joint, watching for patterns, picking out weak points, going in, getting out--and getting paid! Even if it's just a few nuyen...the fun is in the pursuit and the payoff.

His home has always lived in Redmond and has been running the streets unsupervised for several years. He figures he's getting good at what he does; the Star has yet to clamp cuffs around his wrists.

(no magic, no cyber)

4) Cyriacus as an Adept focused upon thievery

Great Leap
Enhance Perception
Improved Ability (one or more: Stealth, Climbing, Infiltration, Palming, Shadowing)
(possibly) Improved Reflexes

[WinterRat1]

CFix - Your second concept is interesting. I particularly liked this line:

(No magic, no cyber, no weird stuff, not even really a bad attitude.)

Sometimes people get sucked into a gang just because it's there and they have nowhere else to go/nothing better to do with their lives. Could be an interesting concept if done well.

Neuntoter - I like how you're developing William. I know we're riding you hard because you're going for the magician slot and he's an 'odd' character for this campaign, but don't give up. Given what you've done so far and where you seem to be going, I think William has promise if you're willing to keep refining him.

Just a couple comments after a brief skim through of this thread by the GM.

See, I am paying attention to what's going on here! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[cREbralFIX]

Yeah, I like Moe. He's just a guy who's stuck. Maybe being in a gang will get him unstuck.

Cyr looks fun. He would fit into a gang mentality quite nicely.

[Dantic]

Ok, got most of Twiggs sorted out, need to do takes for the rival gangs, but could use some input now as to what else is needed.
Twiggs

[Vegas]

Dantic

Looking good so far, only thing I caught on a quick once over... you bought a low lifestyle for 5 days, at the rate of buying Real Food. If you want to spend the cash that way, totally up to you. Otherwise the Low Lifestyle is 66/day where you'd save 170 nu.

We'll have to go over him in greater detail, I don't know if it'll happen before the weekend (Slip, WR and I all are crunched for time ATM) but unless you want to keep tweaking, or unless we find something glaringly wrong, unallowed or needs clarification.... should have an answer for you or a final approval soon (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Thanks for all the work.

[Jaid]

so ummm... is there any interest in either of my concepts? should i just go ahead assuming blade is the one to flesh out based on the theory that eyeless blond will probably be submitting a similar character shortly afterwards? just asking because what i have so far has been a very rough outline of the character, and i know you're going to want a lot more than just that to be able to decide if you want to add a character to the campaign.

and just to note, i was mentioning the GM thing because i'd noticed in the OOC thread that the plan was apparently to have 2-4 GMs and 15-20 players, so i was just surprised you weren't looking for more GMs. of course, if there's a lot of people already helping out and being partial GMs, i suppose that works out ok (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Dantic]

Actually, dropping to 66 a day saves me 220 over 5 days, so I dropped the cost, and spent the money on drugs, and had 5 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) left for a beer. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[Slipshade]

Actually, dropping to 66 a day saves me 220 over 5 days, so I dropped the cost, and spent the money on drugs, and had 5 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) left for a beer. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

Ok I can't help but like this guy. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Jaid - We haven't gotten back to you because WR, Vegas and I haven't had a chance to get online at the same time to talk your character yet. Be patient please and we will do our best to get back to you soon. Think about background for your characters and feel free to post more about them. The more info you give us the better and more informed our decision will be.

Neuntoter - Sorry to be stringing you along. Your concept is good and different. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Cerebral - I would like to see more about Moe as well. Flesh him out some more.

[WinterRat1]

Actually, dropping to 66 a day saves me 220 over 5 days, so I dropped the cost, and spent the money on drugs, and had 5 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) left for a beer. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

Absolutely the right attitude for this game!