Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: Recruiting:(title to be named later)
Dumpshock Forums > Discussion > Welcome to the Shadows
Pages: 1, 2, 3
JackRipper
Designing a game around heavy, and I mean heavy magic (paranormal) influences. All submissions need not be "magically active". The one thing the concept must include is a brush with evil in the past. This game will focus on investigation/research and problem solving. (And as a former Marine, I do understand some things can be solved with a gun, but that's not the main focus here)

The bare bones of it:

400 Bp's
Canon material only
Seattle Area (for now)
No starting out as an Intiate
No technomancers (Nothing against them just doesnt mesh)

I have Street Magic, so you may use/reference it.

I havent set a limit on players (as yet)

If you are planning on playing a 'Mojo Slinger' be up to the challenge of roleplaying it. My reasoning is this, it is a way of life. Mojo Slingers burn through karma for a reason, magic pervades your every waking hour (and some of your sleep too muaaahhaaaa).

Mojo Slingers need not have had a brush with evil (their very nature makes them aware of the paranormal out there)

Mojo Slingers will find it very helpful to have access to Street Magic (not required but very helpful)

Please post any questions you have here.
ARKARY
I'd be interested in coming up with something. But with the heavy paranormal influences you mentioned, what exactly would be a good area for a non-awakened character to focus on?
JackRipper
any really. It's plausible for any 'archetype' to become involved.
ARKARY
Cool. And when you say "evil," is that magic evil or can it be the megacorp/gang sort of evil?
DireRadiant
When do you want character submissions by?
JackRipper
Evil as in magic/paranormal

Deadline will be in two weeks (August 30)
Please post as you come up with things

Genre Films that may help get those creative juices going:

Constatine
Hellboy
the ninth gate
Van Helsing
Supernatural (TV show)
the Mummy
Blitz
damn it...if only I wasn't so swamped wink.gif

Y'all will have a blast with this one Im sure.
Abbandon
Hmmm i made up a shaman awhile back but i havent been able to flesh out his personality or choose a mentor spirit. I thought of a kool brush with evil though. Ever play God of War for the ps2? Kratos is this normal soldier guy and as he fights in this war he gets promoted to greater and greater ranks until he has control of a large group of men. His group is sent to take on this enemy force and they are getting slaughtered so kratos pleads to Ares the god of war to grant him the power to destroy his enemies.

Ares grants his wish and Kratos becomes an unstoppable killing machine and he goes around with his men slaughtering enemy forces. One day while he is plundering and destroying this village he meets this old wizard person who i think is one of the other gods or an oracle for one of the other gods. They tell kratos to take a look around and when he does he sees that he has slaughtered his wife and kid. Ares had made him attack his own village so that he would have no ties to anyone so he could be the ultimate tool.

Well kratos gets pissed and takes off on a quest to kill ares. This sounds kool for your game. Maybe some magical dude is kinda evil and he summons a bad ass spirit to help guide him and make him stronger or something. If he has a mentor spirit then he has stopped talking to him and only follows what the evil spirit tells him to do. Well eventually the evil spirit makes him kill a bunch of people or maybe a family member or his whole family and he doesnt realize he is doing it until its to late.

Afterwards the spirit would laugh at him and the guy would banish the spirit or something or so he thinks. Then after the character excepts what he has done he begins to hunt down and banish evil spirits. Eventually running into his evil spirit at some point in time.

Its kind of a rip off of Talon from the novels but its also different. Talon summoned his evil spirit out of rage and then it ran off afterwards. This dudes evil spirit actually influenced and controlled the mage for awhile.

To bad i cant figure out a nice mentor spirit for my guy =(.
DireRadiant
I'm working on a Mystic Adept with Dragon Mentor, but wow do the BP get eaten up fast for an awakened character....
BlackHat
I like the brush with evil concept. I will probably have a submission ready in a day or two.

Had an idea for an aspected magician, with a very focused magical skill-set - we'll see if it would fit in.
JackRipper
Abbandon:

The brush with evil isnt meant to be taken as you've turned to it, only that you were effected by it in some way. Your concept seems almost 180 from my intended plot line. You will be part of (as PC's) a group that hunts down among other things those on the twisted path (which is what you discribed the PC would be like, or had been)


Ares/Mars uses the Wolf totem (From Street Magic)
DireRadiant
Sounds like someone experienced in Insect Spirits would fit in then. Do you want details posted in this thread, or sent separately?
FanGirl
I just got an idea: what if I were to play a young woman whose boyfriend became an insect shaman? It's the classic story: boy meets girl, boy meets bug spirit, boy starts acting creepy, girl is alarmed by boy's creepiness, boy loses girl, boy kidnaps girl to invest her with Queen spirit in effort to get her back, girl fatally wounds boy and escapes.
Mekalus
Hmm Definitely interested. Will be working up an aspected magician for this I think. will have to see how the points work out but I have a good idea for background and his brush with twisted magic. This sounds like a lot of fun. Will post or edit later once I have the details worked out but count me in. smile.gif
DireRadiant
Introductory blurb. Comments?

Sir Gregor Stanis Milan Tanislaw, Knight Lieutenant of the Order of the Dragon, Defender of Rome, Warden of the New World, Holder of the Red Cross, is charged with the defense of the New World against the incursion of the Infidels. In this century, and perhaps for the forthcoming millennia that is defined as the Horrors. To this end Gregor "Sweetness" Tanis has come to Seattle to coordinate efforts between various groups to battle the Horrors.

Gregor is an orc aging well into his early thirties. He wears his greying hair with distinction, though it is in a short military style. His trim and well cared for mustachio is a concession to vanity. He dresses conservatively but well, typically with tailored suits in conservative style. In a bid to capture past style and fashion he carries a stylish leather wrapped steel cane with an ornately carved handle in the form of a dragon encircling a cross as it strangles itself with it's own tail. Or perhaps it is simply eating it's own tail, it's hard to tell without close inspection.
JackRipper
OK, since I did mention no prior intiation, these are social groups or imaginary titles? (besides not in the books.......the Catholic church has an Order of St. Sylvester that is all mages, if that's what youre looking for. There is also a New Templars movement if that is what youre looking at, but the dragon totem doesnt fit)

As a side to that Charles University in Prague has a dragon as lead professor in Thaumology. (Also runs BENANDANTI XXV ...this of course is secret and OOC )
JackRipper
Some stuff from Street Magic (If you dont have it)

POSITIVE QUALITIES
Astral Sight 5BP (Mundanes only)
Latent Talent 5BP (Mundanes only,magic ability manifests later)
Spell/Spirit Knack (Mundanes only, one spell or spirit you can cast/summon)
Spirit Pack 5BP x Spirits Edge (care to make a deal with the devil lol)

NEGATIVE QUALITIES
Cursed 5BP per rating (max 4, gremlins for magic)
Focus addiction 5 to 30BP
Geas 10BP:
GEAS TYPES
condition
fasting
gesture
incantation
location
mentor (must have totem)
ritual
talisman
time
JackRipper
Insect spirits do fit in well with the plot line (Being the latest 'Mofo's' able to mount a full on invasion), but i'd like variety as not every problem is a 'bug', some things out there are much older, much darker.( Hey,I think I just found my opening line) I even plan to cross cultural barriers here...evil Kami (japanese) that take on the appearance of Oni (demons), Djinn (Islamic spirits), etc.
krayola red
This one sounds fun. I'll whip up a quick character concept and post it here in a bit. smile.gif
DireRadiant
Order of the Dragon is an old real world order created by the Holy Roman Emperor during one of the Ottoman invasions. Had a certain Tepes fellow as a founding member. I was thinking of the Order as a current secret order perpetuated by the descendants over the past few centuries, and becoming more active with the Awakening. I thought the membership and initiation would be more of a mundane initiation, not the magical one, which might be a sub group or different charter within the Order that could happen later. (Given Karma and survival) So it's not a book order, but one "made up". THe original charter actually exists somewhere.

I have Street Magic, and am looking at a couple of the new Adept powers in there Commanding Voice and Cool Resolve look interesting.

For knowledge of threats other then Insect spirits, would Horrors (Traditional European Medieval Christian) work better?

I think the core concept is a Christian Crusader.
DireRadiant
I've got a CS and BG started and I'm cycling through the usual pattern of matching the sheet and BG together and modifying as I go.

Incomplete Sheet
[ Spoiler ]
FanGirl
Is that a cane sword focus I see? You have to accept this character!
venenum
Looks fun i think ill join in more later. I take it the theme is magic so cybering is a no no.
JackRipper
Dire:

how long has he been in Seattle? reason I ask is the 4 in Seattle High society, if he's not been here that long then maybe its better to spend elsewhere (a point or so)

Also; Horrors is pretty much Parazoology and your Christian medieval in my opinion a specialization. (A rose by any other name...)
JackRipper
Cybering is fine, if youre not a magically active person. Any concept has a chance here. A guy who becomes a street Samurai to combat the dark paranormal forces is as welcome (possibly needed) as any other. Magic and the paranormal is the central theme, but not the only allowable type. Hell you could be a "normal" kid/person with the latent talent quality whose studying to become magically active. What ties you to the game is that, you know those things that bump in the night, and you bump back.[-from the movie HellBoy]
krayola red
Without further ado...

[ Spoiler ]
DireRadiant
QUOTE (JackRipper @ Aug 17 2006, 11:44 AM)
Dire:

how long has he been in Seattle? reason I ask is the 4 in Seattle High society, if he's not been here that long then maybe its better to spend elsewhere (a point or so)

Also; Horrors is pretty much Parazoology and your Christian medieval in my opinion a specialization. (A rose by any other name...)

Refactored and edited to

1 BP High Society (Seattle) 3 (5)
1 BP ParaZoology (Traditional European Christian Medieval) 3 (5)
Secret Theological Orders 3
1 BP Literature (Shakespeare) 3 (5)

Thanks, that's the feedback I need.

Edited.
JackRipper
krayola: with out trying to sound nit-picky (i will however) i have 2 points.

First is if you have opened up your own investigative operation, then you most likely wouldnt come to the attention/be drawn to this particular group. [I believe this point was caused by my own mistake, or should I say by my lack of issueing out enough information.] (this is a very minor thing here)

The second point, while seemingly minor is to me a greater issue. Just saying he's a bright mage is well, to plain. (A magically gifted person, plain? never. That is exactly how you should look at it. Is he bookish (scholarly), a natural who wings it, does he have a flamboyant personality or style, perhaps a snob (Less than 1 to 5% percent is magically capable) Does he study/use magic as a Quabbalist, Wiccan, Bhuddist, Shinto, Hindu or egyptian tradition? This are things you should consider. (Guess I was nit-picky, but its to help you and not to show off my clearly superior intellect lol)
krayola red
No prob. The character concept was exactly that - a concept. It was by no means intended to be a replacement for a character sheet or backstory. All the extra fleshing out you're looking for will come soon™ (probably after I pick up Street Magic). I'm just working it out as I go along.

About your first concern: if being an occult investigator won't mesh with your game plan, one possible idea is that Clay can enter the scene further ahead down the timeline described in the concept, where he'll possibly be handling some other weird job after his paranormal investigation business falls flat. smile.gif

Please don't hesitate to bring 'em up if you have any other issues down the road. smile.gif
JackRipper
I was going to save this for the opening bit, but it may actual help for submitters to have this.

You have all individually, through various means ended up in an old and quaint Talismonger shop in Pikes Place Farmers market. It is situated among a long line of similarly old buildings. The shop has always been here, for many years as a curio shop, and then later as it is now a full fledged talimongers shop. Your paths led you here, through word of mouth, the need for knowledge, or the tools to complete your tasks at hand.

[The old man who runs it, has introduced you (that are chosen) to eachother in the hopes you may aid each other in your common goals. He has then shown you his private chambers including his personal library and small lab.]

Hope this helps
JackRipper
Occult Investigator is more than fine, just the part of running your own business is my concern.
krayola red
Oh, that's cool. He calls it his business, but he's also the only employee. smile.gif
FanGirl
Okay, because you don't want us all to have bug-related experiences, I'll scrap my first idea and take dibs on the group hacker. I figure that she was tormented by a nightmare spirit as a child, which gave her the acute paranoia all good hackers should have. wink.gif I think I'll write up a character sheet later this afternoon, or maybe this evening.
DireRadiant
QUOTE (FanGirl)
Okay, because you don't want us all to have bug-related experiences, I'll scrap my first idea and take dibs on the group hacker. I figure that she was tormented by a nightmare spirit as a child, which gave her the acute paranoia all good hackers should have. wink.gif I think I'll write up a character sheet later this afternoon, or maybe this evening.

Take the Mundane Astral Sight Quality and be a very confused Hacker when confronted with all the stuff you can see....
JackRipper
FanGirl, no one has posted interest in a 'bug-hunter' other than you actually.
FanGirl
QUOTE (DireRadiant @ Aug 16 2006, 10:37 PM)
Sounds like someone experienced in Insect Spirits would fit in then. Do you want details posted in this thread, or sent separately?

This is what made me think someone else was interested in working with bugs. I was simply trying to be generous. smile.gif
DireRadiant
QUOTE (FanGirl)
QUOTE (DireRadiant @ Aug 16 2006, 10:37 PM)
Sounds like someone experienced in Insect Spirits would fit in then. Do you want details posted in this thread, or sent separately?

This is what made me think someone else was interested in working with bugs. I was simply trying to be generous. smile.gif

I should have seperated those questions to remove the implication it was my character intended as the bug hunter. My fault. Sorry.
G.NOME
So is anyone interested in running a bug-hunter, here?

Well, let me rephrase that: Would any of the previous posters like to call 'dibs' on a bug-hunter-type character?

[ Spoiler ]
JackRipper
With some serious thinking upon my part (and yes, it is a new thing) I'm thinking there'd be a good sized amount of bug war veterans. I havent determined a group size either, so plug away at the concepts.

FanGirl
Wow, two people are already from Chicago, and my bug-hunter was going to be a University of Chicago student...perhaps they could all be friends! Or acquaintances, at the very least. biggrin.gif

But I'm kind of interested in the nervous hacker character as well. Tell you what: I'll write up backgrounds for both the mage and the hacker, and you guys can give me advice on which one I should pick.
ARKARY
I'm still trying to put together a good concept, but here's what I'm thinking of:

A (mundane) traveling monk, who is trying to track down the leaders of a magical cult he's tussled with in the past. One rather unfortunate encounter has resulted in the loss of an arm, and possibly some other bits of meat that needed replacing. This monk is trying to fight for justice, and to this end refuses to kill, even among those in the cult (they're brainwashed, and he's trying to save them). His skills would reflect this

Now, I don't have Street Magic yet (I prefer hard copies if possible), so I don't know what's available in it, but some of those new qualities (like the limited spellcasting) sound intriguing. Would it be possible to get something along the lines of an amulet pilfered from the cult dudes that allows Monkman to summon one of the cult's own spirits?


---------------------------------------------------

I just thought of another interesting idea, although you said no TMs. My idea is for a rigger who uses drones to battle rogue spirits. A normal rigger would work, but I personally like the idea of technomancers and the concept of using one paranormal ability to fight another is kind of neat.
Mekalus
Here's my concept for opinions before working up the actual details leter today:
A former special forces dwarf aspected mage. Right around the time of the 2nd crash his team was on a deep infiltration op in Aztlan trying to take out a ritual group before they could send a powerful curse upon the leader of the CAS border forces. Things seemed to be going well when all coms and intel telemetry went down. Suddenly the entire temple complex was on full alert and the team was in real drek. A huge blood spirit manifested and started draining the team dry. 3 members were down before our mage was aware of the problem and got line of sight on the evil thing. He managed to banish the blood spirit but the battle of wills with such a vile being forever left its mark on his psyche. He and the one remaining member managed to escape and after learning of the reason for the disaster that happened to their team they decided now was a good time to part ways and start new lives. He has, as a result of his contact with the blood spirit, vowed to eradicate any he encounters and has nightmares almost every night as well.

I do have street magic and will most likely use some of the spells available there. Let me know what you think and I will post the character details as soon as I have hm fleshed out.
JackRipper
Being a former SpecOp's soldier will put some heavy burdens on your skill points, then there is the points you burn for being a magician. Not trying dissuade you, just showing you that you'll have some serious number crunching to do. I say run with it and see what you come up with.
G.NOME
Here's a sample CS for Switch.

[ Spoiler ]
JackRipper
G man, only thing i saw that strikes me as if'fy is the critical strike, killing hands then improved ability:edged weapons. That's a decent amount of points added to unarmed then to add to your edged that way. Is this for 'rp' reasons? I'm not one that argues when a player decides not to min/max, just like a little to go on to get a feel.
ARKARY
Well, here's the character I've come up with. Meet Recoil, a Seattle based rigger who takes the fight to spirits and those who summon them. Subtlety is not his strong point. biggrin.gif

Not everyone who has encounters with the supernatural is equally equipped to deal with them, and Recoil is an example of this. Originally a dabbling hacker, Recoil hit the end of that hobby thanks to the Crash in 64. Connected to the Matrix at the time, his nervous system got fried along with his cyberdeck. While he wasn't fortunate enough to emerge from that ordeal with awesome new powers like the rumors that began circulating, he nevertheless managed to get away with enough spare cash to replace his broken nervous system and get himself back up and running.

Giving up on hacking, Recoil focused his efforts to his own, personal Matrix: the network of drones under his command. Switching "professions" Recoil took a more hands on approach to the jobs he found, and this went fairly well until last year.

Tasked to steal the package from a secret corp meeting in an abandoned warehouse, the team of shadowrunners Recoil was a part of struck. However, they quickly found out that the transfer they were sent to disrupt was between corporate mages who then summoned spirits to deal with the intruders. Without a mage on the team, Recoil and the others were in serious trouble. Hoping to keep their involvement as quiet as possible, they simply weren't equipped with the firepower necessary to combat these creatures.

Two runners died quickly. Recoil managed to use his drones to keep the spirits and mages distracted while he called their truck around to make a hasty retreat. The heavily-cybered street sam, seizing the opportunity, dove into the group of mages to snatch the package. While able to physically best the mages he wasn't able to overcome the onslaught of manabolts, and collapsed in a gurgle of blood as the package rolled out of his hand and towards Recoil.

With their escape vehicle pulling up, and the remaining shadowrunners trying to pull their wounded comrades to safety, Recoil noticed the package and tried to grab it. But as soon as it was in his hands, Recoil turned to face a rather savage looking beast spirit staring him down. Before he could react, the creature swiped at him with its fearsome claws, raking across his face and completely ruining his right eye.

Fortunately, at this point fate decided to smile on him. One of the other runners took control of the truck and drove to Recoil's position while the remaining healthy runner grabbed him as they sped past. The team was half dead, half wounded, but they succeeded.

Taking the job money along with some of his remaining stash, Recoil got a new eye for himself. The scar on his face would never fully heal, and it serves as a reminder of his second brush with death. Today, when calling his friend and contact Buzzsaw for jobs, he looks for those that will pit him against mages or spirits. Missions that will give him a chance for a little revenge against those that took his eye, and some of his friends.


[ Spoiler ]
JackRipper
For the scholarly types, knowlege of languages might help, including:

Arabic
Aramaic
Greek
Hebrew
Latin

Not every tome of knowledge has been translated.
DireRadiant
Latest CS

Thinking about the languages... might become an English snob... especially since the translating software keeps making mistakes no matter how good people claim they are (Gremlins...)

[ Spoiler ]
FanGirl
As promised, I wrote up backgrounds for the two characters I’m considering. Here they are:

Elizabeth Holman
Dwarf Hermetic Mage

[ Spoiler ]

and

Jane Ballard
Ork Hacker

[ Spoiler ]

Now, convince me which one I should play as—go!
DireRadiant
Play the one you will have most fun with.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Dumpshock Forums © 2001-2012