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

[Slipshade]

Eyeless - I will defer to WR1 on your concept.

Dantic and Drogos - That concept would fit in just fine. It would be good to hear more about the character though. I personally like to see a couple of large paragraphs written when it comes to concept. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Flesh out those concepts and I would guess that they will start looking very different.

Cthuludreams - No sorry. We all had to face the same thing you are right now. It is hard to fit everything in within the restrictions and causes a lot of hard choices, but it keeps everyone on the same level playing field.


Something to remember. Don't get so caught up with numbers that you can or cannot have. Coming up with a really cool and interesting concept will get you a lot more satisfaction out of this game. There is a lot of character interaction and roleplaying involved, a strong background will carry you when you find that your characters primary function is not needed for a stretch of time.

Hmm, I guess I could have said a strong background keeps you from getting bored. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Whipstitch]

I'm thinking of throwing my hat in the ring for being one of the Adepts.

Age: 22

Race/ethnicity: Human, a mutt of mixed ethnicity; mostly Mexican, Spanish and Filipino. He has a love-hate relationship with his Latino identity due to his macho father.

Previous Affiliations: I'm thinking a former Locos member, depending on what that implies. I'd like to have some details on them if possible before further fleshing out my background.

Name: Alejandro Calderon, aka "Cuervo" (Means raven in Spanish, which thankfully isn't as played out as Raven in English is. Plus, it reminds me of tequila, which I consider a bonus for a ganger alias.)

The concept would be an adept who has some training in Arnis De Mano, has decent social skills along with several points of adept powers put into things like Sustenance, Natural Immunity, Commanding Voice, Motion Sense (my birdy sense is tingling!) and Blindfighting (the two of them are quite potent together if allowed to stack, although very situational) and follows a slightly modified Raven totem. By modified I mean taking the book bonuses from Rat (+2 Infiltration, +2 Resist Disease, Poisons) and combining them with the book penalty from Raven, (Will+Charisma(3) test to avoid taking advantage of other's misfortune.)

In terms of background, Cuervo spent the first 13 years of his life in the Carbanado neighborhood in the Puyallup barrens with his SINless father, a crude man and arnisador. Eventually his father's abusive, macho attitude ruined their relationship and became impossible to live with. Fed up with the harsh training and constant accusations of being soft (particularly unfair since he'd been learning the basics of Arnis since the age of 8), Cuervo fled his home in Carbanado at the age of 13, spending the next decade of his life mostly on the streets. His first traumatic week in the gutter triggered his awakening, and he never would have lived long enough to develop into the shifty survivor he is today without embracing his gifts and the occasionally amoral attitude of the Raven. The rest of the details I have yet to flesh out since I didn't really hear about any of this until today.

Personality wise, he's basically be a reflection of his totem: a smug, jaunty scavenger, sleek and healthy thanks to powers that let allow him survive off of the leavings of others better than most gangers can subsist on stolen nutrisoy. He's not as tough as a big ol' troll or ork, nor do his powers really lead to particularly high dicepools in things like combat or social situations but his powers keep him in good health and he sleeps secure in the knowledge that his abilities may just yet let him outlive those other bruisers in the long run.

[Vegas]

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?

iiiiiiinteresting Eyeless (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) It's WR's call on this one of course.

As for the gang affiliations, they're not a requirement and Drip could easily have been a "freelancer" before the gang war working for whomever would pay/protect him whatever. Once the war starts he could consider joining up for the permanent "protection" a gang could provide... Just a thought at least (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Vegas]

Whipstitch

From the Feeder Gangs section on the wiki

LoCoS

Formed in 2063 by three cousins, Luis (22), Carlos (21) and Santorio (20) Alvarez. The LoCoS were a mid level Latino niche gang who dealt mostly in Novacoke. They topped out at twenty members. As the war began most of the LoCoS were content to sit back and let the remaining gangs tear each other apart. But one of the cousins, Ink doesn't know who, decided to expand their turf and operations. The LoCoS joined the war with a haphazard abandon and in the end were destroyed except for Ink, who had been too busy patching them up to fight.

Former colors: The letters LCS in Red, Blue and Yellow

For more info than that you can always work with Meriss (the original and currently only LoCoS memeber still alive) to flesh out the details if you'd want Cuervo to come from that gang.

We'll have to discuss as the GM and assistants the altering of the Raven totem if it would fly and we're going to be VERY picky over adept/magician characters concerning background, history and justification.

[Eyeless Blond]

iiiiiiinteresting Eyeless (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) It's WR's call on this one of course.

As for the gang affiliations, they're not a requirement and Drip could easily have been a "freelancer" before the gang war working for whomever would pay/protect him whatever. Once the war starts he could consider joining up for the permanent "protection" a gang could provide... Just a thought at least (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

It is, and a good one at that. I was looking at that oddball Peter Pan-themed street urchin gang, but it might be a problem as I was considering giving Drip a Phobia of trees, and nature in general ("I mean, they're just weird. Where are all the bolts and welds keeping it together? There's no order in 'em at all, just branches and leaves sticking out everywhere... ugh."), which might make him a little uncomfortable around a bunch of flying pixie dust-snorting hippies. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Slipshade]

All

Vegas brought up something that I think needs to be stated again. There are only 2 adept positions at most available, so if you want a better chance at having your concept accepted, you may want to think about a non-adept character. It may seem that non-adepts are at a disadvantage to an adept, but they are not. Remember, by the character generation rules of this game Magic is limited to 3 at character gen.

Eyeless - I like the concept, but a phobia of trees?!? Where in the heck are you going to see a tree in Kingsgate! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Whipstitch]

Whipstitch
We'll have to discuss as the GM and assistants the altering of the Raven totem if it would fly and we're going to be VERY picky over adept/magician characters concerning background, history and justification.

Yeah, I figured that, which is why I went for one of the most "urban" mentors I could find, plus I was careful not to mix and match anything that wasn't already present in the books. I had one of my own players try to get me to accept a mentor spirit that gave a bonus to Automatics once (he was joking...mostly), so I understand why you guys have such misgivings. Hopefully it'd be viewed as more fitting than an adept with bonuses/penalties that only really affect magicians. I basically just find the idea of a cocky, ruthless scavenger more fun and fitting for a ganger than a cowardly scavenger, although I wouldn't be averse to playing him as a Rat follower either, although it'd require some modifications.

[suppenhuhn]

I was thinking of a bunraku doll that awakened during a session in the local parlor where a client was asking for a too realistic session and thus ended with a wicker man up his throat. She fled the scene and has since been in hiding from the yakuza.

Would basically be a 'gillette' built with razors and stuff like that, reflecting her former self, and low level magic (1) as her new learned talent as a witch along with some basic skills to use those.

[Vegas]

suppenhuhn

Hey, thanks for dropping in and leaving your idea. I think bringing on a Bunraku Doll/Razorgirl concept is awesome, it just isn't gonna fly for a newly awakened low-level mage to take the possible Magician slot. We've already got 2 mages/shamen and one is a newly awakened which is why we'd consider taking on a full traditional mage character if the concept, background and supporting arguments impressed us enough.

I would love to still see you work out the Bunraku Doll/Razorgirl idea however and submit it to us for consideration!

[Vegas]

Whipstitch

After a little consultation behind the scenes here's our concerns:

We like the concept of the character and think that he could fit in well with the gang, however the mix of rat and raven mentor has to be a no-go and here's our reasoning. There's no real disadvantage there, you're a barrens street rat who HAS to survive by taking advantage of those around you, and you're setting yourself up there for the potential to do that against your own gangmates. That is the biggest rub, this is a non PvP game so there would be little recourse for the gang to retaliate according to the game rules outside of booting your ass to the curb, and where's the fun in that for anyone involved.

You had mentioned you could make the character with the Rat mentor all along, but it does seem to go against a lot of your concept of having a number of years of Arnis de Mano training and likely the skills would be often a "waste of points" as rat makes your character try to flee combat unless caged with nowhere to run.

Depending on how you'd want to address those issues would make our decision on the character a lot easier (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Meriss]

@Whipstich: Hey Hermano! Como est ta? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Seriously it would be nice to have another former LoCoS member survive All Hallow's Armageddon. I stated that the entire gang pretty much bit the big one on Oct. 31/2070 leaving poor lonely Latino me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) But that's only what Ink (moi) saw, so it's entirely within possiblity that Cuervo survived one of the forays with either the Black Plague or the Heartbreakers The cousins were a shade leery of magicians but I think your guy could have been accepted. (If only to spot and counter the Ultraviolet Nights)

Other thoughts, Dog always struck me as an interesting and reasonably urban mentor. Although that kinda loyalty is hard to defend in our corner of the world.

Also would you be willing to be a pre-gang member? I don't know why but somehow I see Cuervo as being just on the cusp of initiation before the end and thus while having no (direct) affiliation to the gang still having a connection to the LoCoS

@Eyeless: Somehow the description of The Lost Boys as a "bunch of flying pixie dust-snorting hippies" mkes me smile. Still with your BTL addiction and their dreamchipped version of reality you being involed with them makes sense. (to me at least) Other than that I dunno.

[Whipstitch]

Muy bien el jefe!

Someone who was just perhaps getting his feet wet with the Locos would suit me fine. Things sound like they definitely got interesting for the Locos near the end there and perhaps I'll have to poke around that site some more.


Anyway, going with Rat would lead to me skewing him more towards being a sneaky Face type of character rather than an arnisador, at the very least. I'll tinker around a bit more and see what I can come up with. It's just a shame because the theme and bonuses fit what I wanted to do so well, but I can definitely understand how PvP implications could be a real problem. I really like the scavenger theme and the name Cuervo, so perhaps we could work with the Cat or Horned Man penalties instead? He could carry shock weapons and the Cat drawback (Taunts, opponents, can't go straight for the kill without rolling Charisma+Will) is likely to get nobody killed but himself, while the Horned Man penalty (-1 dice for social encounters if not dealing with like minded souls) could work out OK because I plan on having enough social skills for it to be inconvenient but not crippling when dealing with people who aren't used to his quirks-- the penalty, after all, is kind of a reverse First Impression, which would be fitting for a guy who lives on the streets and doesn't particularly have qualms about eating directly out of a dumpster. I mean, I plan on him having the skills to be as close to a "face" type character as you can get without Kinesics or Tailored Pheromones, but the idea of a charismatic ganger who always manages to do something just a bit off-putting hits me as potentially entertaining too. Sorry to make the mentor into such a trial, but I figure it's always worth coming up with one that fits, since they make up such an integral part of a character's worldview. I could always drop it, keep the same personality traits and simply go for more Arnis training or First Impression as well, if it comes to that.

[Vegas]

Whipstitch

What bout going with Rat all together as a mentor spirit. Thinking more on it, the "customizing" of advantages and disadvantages of mentor spirits is just a can of worms I'm not sure we want to open right now.

Could you spin the disadvantage of Rat in the sense that Cuervo is the kind of guy who talks a good game, but balks at real trouble where he has to be backed into a real tight corner to actually use the skills he knows (arnis + whatever else). It was mentioned that maybe his dad went too far in his training/education or something to the point that he got intimidated by him so much that he doesn't fight... something to think about at least.

I do like the sneaky Raven'esque aspect to your original concept only that Raven's disadvantage REALLY poses problems with the game setup mechanics which you seem to understand and see where we're coming from there. But there's a LOT of potential there we'd like to see you run with, if we can work out the mentor spirit situation.

We'd like to extend to you a spot in the game and the ability to start building pages on the wiki for your CS. I will build the initial pages for you (after dinner (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ) and link them here for you to look over. If you're not familiar with wikiness, feel free to put together the info in PM's or spoilers here or whatever you feel most comfortable with and I'll be happy to put it into play on the wiki so that it can go for final review by WinterRat1. My suggestion is to take a good look at the current PC's backgrounds and various fiction pieces to get a feel for what we're looking for. Really developing your character through background will secure your Adept spot in the game (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

By all means ask questions or get clarification if you need it via this thread, we're all willing to help you out.

Edit: Are you sticking with the name "Cuervo" (we build pages based off PC names and I'd like to not have to change it later (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) )

[Slipshade]

Whipstitch,

Welcome aboard. Now the fun really starts. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Whipstitch]

Yeah, I'll stick with the name Cuervo for sure. I'm fine with the Rat disadvantages if that's what you guys are most comfortable with, although I'd like to call it Raven for the sake of a uniform theme, if at all possible (I planned on having a necklace with a bunch of dirty ol' greasy crow feathers on it and all (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ). I can roll with him as being 100% Rat all the way right down to the theme too, if you guys want, since it'd hardly break his personality either way. After all, crows, ravens and other carrion birds are all squawk and no bite unless cornered too. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Whenever you can get the wiki pages up and going is fine with me; my siblings and I are taking my mother out for dinner for her big 50th birthday this evening anyway, so there's no rush on my end.

[Vegas]

Whipstitch

Pages for Cuervo can be found here: Cuervo

Should link across the top to all the subsequent pages. Let us know if you need any help working out the sheets.

[Neuntöter]

i just wondered if my ganger with the golden nose concept already got nayed or so. I could whip up a slightly more down to earth (or gutter) concept if that's the case.

[Vegas]

Neuntoter

We're still talking behind the scenes about any other submissions thus far. We did post up about how social of a game this is and how there is a little concern about a "lone wolf" type character, but it does seem that you may have adjusted your concept a little bit to compensate. If you want to change your concept, feel free to do so, I just don't have a solid yes or no for you on the original "bloodhound" type character as of this moment.

Best thing I can suggest is that if you make changes to your concept, you go ahead and repost it to the thread since we don't get notified of edits and don't always go back to re-read posts early in the thread unless we're doing reviews. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Dantic]

Fleshing out "Twiggs" (ironic chuckle)

<Twiggs> An unruly mass of brown hair meets you're gaze, "ahem", looking down you see the thin face below this mane. He is thin, but not gaunt, his eyes the same basic shade of brown as the hair, with a similar sort of... oily quality to both. He smiles easily most of the time, not always in a sincere way though. When not running a shell game, or some other similar form of dodge, he usually in a sort of reclining posture, slumped against a wall or post if standing, or slouched down in chair. He is whip thin otherwise, and seems to have some nervous inner energy working, constantly. He tends to fidget occasionally, often cracking various joints in a constantly changing barrage of clicks and pops.
(Not the final description, but what I've got to start with.)

The flower of youth, what a sweet notion, my flower got plucked when I was thirteen, by a "TIG" (Training Instructor and Life Guidance Councilor) who had a thing for boy flowers. I got sent to the camp as an alternative to serving the 1500 hours of society restitution activities I had acquired in school and in two trips to see the youth council. It was determined that I had a "sharp wit" and a rebellious bent toward authority, as a psychological and social retaliation against my estranged father. My biggest problem with authority was that everyone was always in authority over me, when you are always the smallest person in the area, well other kids aren't as advanced thinkers as the youth council.

The next few years weren't a lot of improvement, full incarceration for breaking and entering left me in for more of the same, a lot more. I fought when I could, always loosing, but time in medical holding was always better than the normal lockup. I found my best option was usually to run when I could, rare as that option is inside, it has served me well outside. I continued to deal with my best two weapons, a smart mouth and a quick thought.
After a few more times in and out of lockup, I steered clear of any more B&E. I discovered that I had hands as quick as my feet and working outside gives room to run if the deal goes wrong. I floated around, working with a couple different partners as a snatch and fly operation or operator and shill in some form of shell game.
(This is loosely what I've worked up for a background so far)

[Eyeless Blond]

Hm. I've been playing with the numbers and I'm a little worried I may have bitten off more than I could chew with this build. Technomancers are utterly starved for build points even under normal rules; under these rules it is quickly becoming very difficult to fit things in! For the moment I'm building under the assumption that Resonance has the same cost as Magic, but I may need to negotiate that, possibly one or two other things, just to keep this guy from totally imploding.

Even if I can't though I'd still love to play this guy. Half the fun of SR is wrestling with the numbers. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Vegas]

Eyeless Blond

Resonance would cost as much as Magic but I can tell you there is no room for negotiation on it. We all have been limited in one way or another building our characters and there isn't gonna be "extenuating circumstances" for the building of a TM. It's just not fair to the rest of us.

We're still trying to hammer out accepting a TM as well. It goes against a lot of what we initially talked about accepting. I admit, I still would love to see an IC convo between Drip and a vending machine (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Give us a little more time to come to some conclusions about what we're willing to do an we'll go from there. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Patience my dear grasshopper, patience (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Neuntöter]

Ehrm, coming back to it now and reading it, I realize that I maybe made him sound a bit more antisocial than he was meant in my head.

In a very basic and gritty way the Barrens come down to one thing: Survival of the Fittest.
This does often translate to being the worst mofo around the block or being able to benchpress a mailbox onto thy opponent. But the beautiful thing about "being fit" is, that it doesn't have to be that way. Finding things that others can't or getting to them before anyone else can also fill your belly.

Askeladd came very early and very alone into the Barrens. His frail and slightly alienating appearance and also his initial lack of any means of communication (he only spoke norway at that point) made it impossible or at least very unlikely for him to find shelter in any of the micro-communities of Redmond. Forced to live alone his most probable fate was dying in the streets like a dog. The first excruciating weeks when he was on the verge of dehydration or starvation, or when he was delirious with fever from an infected wound, were the baptism of his awakening. With his awakened roots lying in the norse tradition his dormant talent already was shaped along the "wild path"?, the berserker's way. So in time he found his senses sharpening until he could smell whether or not that dumpster was worth diving into or if an seemingly abandoned building was really safe.

The general idea is that while Askeladd will have relatively low Strength and Body values he makes up for it with his high perception and "animal senses"? like low-light vision and especially improved scent. He will also be an Albino, partly because I have a thing for the concept. His raw brawling skills are probably average at best, even with his "natural fangs"? (a.k.a. Killing hands power), but he excels at tracking or sneaking into things. Even though I might have gotten similar or maybe better results with cyberwear, I choose Adept for this because it has that wonderful intuitive and natural feeling to it.

He is not meant to be a loner, it is just that that is how it happened to him for a great part of his life. The reasons for that are manyfold, there was his failing grasp on the english language at the beginning, his ,even for the Barrens, odd appearance or his way of actually interacting with people. It is not that he fails at it, he has moderately high charisma and rudimentary social skills, it is just that he is so damn strange about going at it. If he is truly agitated, his face will mirror the true depth of his emotions. He might snarl or growl, bare his teeth or laugh like a dog with his tongue hanging out. Things usually get even more weirder at that point when he starts commenting on people's "scent". For him it might be perfectly natural, considering how much more information their smell carries for him, but try explaining that he average ganger. As a result of this he has a long history of bad experience. His usual indifferent and sardonic behaviour is probably a direct result from this.


gah, this is hopefully a bit more along the lines of what is in my head. On a related note i should probably stop writing things at 4am.

[Vegas]

Here's where we're at for updates kids as we make decisions. If we haven't outright said no/yes to a char concept, please understand that we're asking for more info so we can make the decision. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

lkim
We're looking forward to seeing your 20-questions and fleshing out your character.

Quentra
We'd like to see more from you than just a character type and weapon choice (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Tobias
Again, we'd like to see more from you in a fleshed out concept + short background. Has a lot of potential for fitting into

the gang as a needle punk/drug maker.

Neuentoter
After discussion, the "bloodhound" type character isn't gonna fly in this game, only because he seems a better fit for another gang (the Outlanders) than the Ravens. We would love to take you up on your offer to make a different character for submission however!

Onin the Shade
Still waiting to see what you throw at us! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Drogos
Please keep fleshing out your character, even if the concept in brief is similar/same as Dantic's, like Slipshade mentioned earlier, the likelihood that your characters would be mirror images/twins of one another is next to impossible as they get developed and statted out.

Dantic
Like the direction Twiggs is going in, can you give us a little more about him as he comes together in your head?

Eyeless Blond
Don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but the concensus is that we can't take in a TM at this point. We lost our GM to his RL that was the master of the matrix/TM stuff and no one currently has the time to dedicate to learn additional rulesets beyond basics. Plus we really had stated at the beginning we weren't going to accept any TM's and after more discussion we feel we need to stand by that. We would how ever REALLY love to see another character submission from you *bats lashes*

Cuthuludreams
There will be no leeway on the 3 Essence cap for characters. We would like to see you flesh out your character idea a bit more so we can evaluate it and make a full decision.

Suppenhuhn
We love the Bunraku Doll/Razorgirl idea, but again it would have to be without the magic component. We'd want to see a more fleshed out concept with a hint of the actual background to make the decision.

Whipstitch
We'd like it if the mentor can remain Rat if you're taking those advantages/disadvantages. Calling Rat Raven has the potential to cause confusion in our overly stimulated brains (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Whipstitch]

Alright, that's fine, as long as I can occasionally sneak off away from the rest of the gang and share my extra food with both winged and furry vermin by way of thanks, I'm happy. Even those who live in the streets need to look after their own, and all that. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[Vegas]

Whip

That's TOTALLY fine and a cool RP hook (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Looking forward to seeing more on Cuervo!