Here‘s a character and question thread for the upcoming FRPG National Crime Shadow. The game thread will be “[FRPG] National Crime Shadow”

Here, I‘ll explain the system, will go through the character creation process, give a starting background for the game and maybe even touch some guidelines for play. Also, this will serve as a place to post characters (really paranoid people can send them via personal message, but will have to post a basic info here too) and I’ll answer any questions pertaining to the game here.

If at this point, still you don‘t know what I‘m talking about here, refer to pen and paper thread.

SETTING​

The year is 2012, with all the technology that this implies. However, crime and corruption are still widely spread despite the promises of the brighter future. One of the Families in the city of Seattle, led by Preston Varric is an example of successful National Crime Syndicate, however, no press, nor opposing Families cannot pin any blame on the ‘simple American Businessman’. The fact that his family has a substantially lower percentage of Italians, might be another reason of his popularity with local politicians.

However, behind the mortal games of corruption, there is another game board entirely – the word is dark and full of shadows. Sometimes, though, Mortals take notice of the Supernatural, and are driven to their demise by the knowledge. Others, however, may even see a venture of opportunity. And Preston Varric might be called many things, but he is the man of opportunity.

Thus, Preston’s Family, among many other specialized cells, has an entirely different part of business – the so called Shadow Cells. The name is already a rumor between the lesser Family members – it is said that Shadow Cells take care of disloyal members and find the trails of treason within the Family. A Shadow Cell has more resources at its disposal than any other Cell, and usually reports only directly to the Diego Rossellini, a right hand of Preston. Diego is a man who helped Preston assimilate a few smaller Families into his, and has proven to be a capable leader so far for the Shadow Cells, of which there are only three.

Unlike the rumors are saying, the Shadow Cells, are actually groups of capable individuals, who are in the know. Of course, the knowledge they have is extremely limited, but at least they know that something is lurking in the shadow. So far, their job has been observing and taking care of incidents that border on the supernatural, and, this next bit is unknown to anyone but the cell members, Diego and Preston, to take some of the world back into the mortal hands.

The supernatural creatures and beasts might be strong and influential, but their overconfidence and the lack of determination mortals are famed for, proves to be their undoing.

With Preston’s Family fighting for humanity at its worst, will they wake the sleeping beast, or manage a vendetta no one has imagined possible?

A Shadow Cell has disappeared from the city as of two days ago – what does it mean for the Family and the other two Cells?

Characters will take part of one of the remaining Shadow Cells. It is primary a investigative and decision making unit, there are others to be called if there's need to have guns blazing.

OCCULT KNOWLEDGE

Apparently, vampires are real.
Vampire blood is a power imbuing substance, if drunk by mortals.
There is a safe place where some vampire blood is stored for Shadow Cell members who believe in fighting fire with fire.
Vampires die in sunlight. Fire works too.
A wooden stake through the heart immobilizes them. It’s a reason why a wooden stake is standard issue equipment for Shadow Cells.
Vampires are strong and fast and sometimes exhibit strange powers; however a group of four or more humans are enough to take care of one vampire.
It's not really clear how does one make a new vampire.
Vampire motivations seem confusing and differ.


There are rumors of some beast sightings at night in Bainbridge Island, near Gazzam Lake.
No one wants to investigate the rumours further.

CHARACTER CREATION
​

The character creation process comes in four easy parts - attributes, specialization, extras and life. Now, in more detail, with example character (Evan) creation:

ATTRIBUTES:

There are three attributes we will be using - Physical, Mental, Social.
Physical defines your physical shape, agility, resilience, and if it comes to that, capabilities in combat. Social defines the default reactions people have to your appearance, your ability to sweet talk and not to be distracted by others. Mental defines the knowledge you have, be it academic, mathematical or any other, as well as covering senses.
Each of the attributes can have a value from 1 to 5, meaning:
1 - Lower than average.
2 – Average.
3 – Good.
4 - Gifted
5 - Exceptional (human limits)
No other values can be assigned to an attribute.

There are 9 (nine) points to spend among those attributes. Simply distribute the points among the three attributes as you see fit while remaining at 1-5 limits.

Example Evan chooses:
Physical 2
Social 2
Mental 5

SPECIALIZATION

The specialization part is to give a different angle to the character skills and abilities. The usual system uses a tone of those, but we’ll simplify this part a lot. The SPECIALIZATION is twofold – its purpose is to choose a few skills you have learned better than others and to provide a role in the Family.
First, simply go over the list and choose any 3 (three) skills you excel at:
Academics, Animal Ken, Athletics, Computer, Crafts, Drive, Empathy, Firearms, Intimidation, Investigation, Larceny, Medicine, Melee, Persuasion, Stealth, Streetwise.
Then, go through the most important list of them all, and choose an influence field you hold within the Family. Only one (1) can be chosen, and, this is very important, you can’t chose whatever others have chosen already. Each of those signifies connections and experience working with people of the field:
Finance
Hackers
Journalism
Medicine
Police
Politics
Thugs
Weapons

Example Evan Chooses:
Drive, Firearms, Stealth
and
Influence in Transportation, (which never was in the list, because he already chose it )

EXTRAS

Answer a question, and you get something or nothing depending on the choice you make.

Since, apparently, another world lurks in the shadows, are you willing to part with piece of your humanity if it means getting an edge you lack?
At a point in your service to the Family, you were told some secrets, and moved into the Shadow Cell, and had a chance to try out the potency of vampire blood. If you agreed to, here’s what you get:
Ghoul
1/2 BP
Potence 1

Potence is supernatural strength, and BP stand for blood points, where only vampire blood matters. This choice also means drinking some blood every month, and having an addiction to it, as well as not aging until the vampire blood leaves your system and having the potential of unlocking more powers.

If you declined the offer, the only thing you get is being fully Human. In fact, I had planned to simply say that everyone is a ghoul, but I figure the freedom of choice is important.

Example Evan Chooses:
Ghoul
1/2 BP
Potence 1

LIFE

Bring your character to life. That means, if you hadn’t chosen a name – choose it. The action will probably be in Seattle, so think what wouldn’t be out of place, in Settle on 2012. (Note – Mr. Flabbermachericht would be out of place) Then, think about the possible personality; write a descriptive word or two that fit your character. A sentence or two on appearance. And finally, write a few sentences about the history and motivations in the Family.

Example Evan Chooses:
Evan Klein
Nosy, Cheerful
Short brown hair, dark grey eyes, usually wears a high collar. Sometimes has a guitar.
Apparently born in early 80s, has never been a formal part of Family, yet, had cooperated on a few operations, earning himself a title of honorary Associate. He gladly trades information with the Shadow Cells, provided that they don’t disturb his own taxi business.


The finalized character looks thus:

ON SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF​

I’m, apparently, not from Seattle, and not even from America. However, I’m choosing an American city instead of any other because at least I know a few small things about the city. In truth, the name of the city doesn’t even matter, but it might give me a few names which I’ll use instead thinking my own.
If your knowledge of Seattle exceeds mine, I’m asking you to turn a blind eye. (Send me a message or tell me what’s wrong in this thread, don’t argue in the game thread)

I’m also not a specialist of Medicine, Politics, etc. Also, of course, I have never been a part of America’s National Crime Syndicate. The same comment applies.

The maximum number of players I chose, in my opinion would be a bit too high to always travel together, yet staying in one place whenever possible, would reduce the number of clusterfuck involved.

Time is a think that will be judged lightly. I don’t really care how long it takes to take the boat from the main Seattle harbor to the Bainbridge Island, you shouldn’t too, unless it becomes an important part of the story.


On the SYSTEM
If someone cares to know (because it’s entirely my garden), when needed, I’ll roll some dice. (It’s the fastest method) If anyone cares to see the results, I can post a “system” part with each post in the main thread. If no one asks, I won’t.
The rolls are xd10, where x is the number of dice calculated thusly:
Attribute number + 2 if there is a relevant skill taken + 2 if it somewhat falls into the area of influence + (misc) disciplines and other modifiers.
Then, I’ll count all 8s, 9s, 10s on the dice as number of successes and compare to whatever number the opposition has rolled. On some cases, I’ll just check for a certain number of successes or even for a single one.
The bigger side wins.
If someone wants a more detailed explanation, ask.

For Veterans and Newbies:
If you have experience with WoD and/or Vtm, state it.
If you don’t – perfect. ;D
Think before you act in the game.



I hope I haven’t forgotten anything important. If I have, I’ll add it later.
The game will start some time till summer, or when I have 7 created characters in the thread, whichever comes sooner. (With a room for error)
The starting scenes will provide some more info.

The priority player list was there.

 

Kyle Huntsman

Physical 2
Mental 3
Social 4

Investigation
Persuasion
Craft (Counterfeiting)

Journalism

Ghoul

Inquisitive, Cynical

5'6". Rail thin. Black hair, close cropped. Tends to wear an open button down and jeans. Smokes constantly.

Born in '89, Kyle currently finds himself writing for a variety of tabloids to support his own investigation into the freaky shit in the world. And the drug usage and bar tabs. But mostly the former.

He finds himself in the employ of the Shadow Cells due to having an extensive list of contacts, flexible morals, and an eye for detail.

EDIT: Changed Drive to Craft (Counterfeiting). Seems to fit the character concept a bit more.

 

Jerry Lollick

Physical 5
Social 1
Mental 3

Firearms, Melee, Intimidation
Influence in Thugs

Ghoul
1/2 BP
Potence 1

Methodical, Calm

5'3". Shoulder length blond hair. Prefers to wear suites, both on the job and not.

Born in 1969, Jerry is a career criminal. His particular brand of excessive violence has currently found him in the employ of Preston's Family. Doesn't smoke or drink, and gets irritated by others that do so in his presence.

 

Connor McCroft

P-1
S-3
M-5

Firearms
Academics
Medicine

Influence in Medicine

Ghoul
1/2 BP
Potence 1

Calm, Resourceful

5'10", close cut dirty blonder hair, blue eyes, cropped reddish-blonder goatee. Usually he's wearing doctor's coat over a plain button up and bowtie(because bowties are cool). usually has an attache of some kind concealing both doctor's equipment and a gun or two along with a stake.

Connor McCroft was born in Ireland around 1985 but was taken to America with his younger siblings and their mother after their father was killed in a shooting. Connor's excellent memory and nimble fingers allowed for his growing interest in medicine and surgery to become a reality. He heard about the rumors in Seattle and picked up a residency director's job in order to be closer to the source. He eventually was asked to work for the Verric Family, the pay was to good to pass up and now he works for them exclusively as both a consulting doctor and the family surgeon. His skills didn't go unnoticed and soon he was inducted into the Shadow Cells organization.

 

Good, we have 3 characters already.

You should each have a PM in the inbox with some extra info.

If anyone not in the original list want's to join, I figure Sunday is a good day to claim that those in the list had their time ;D

 

Devon Lake

Physical 4
Social 3
Mental 2

Melee
Intimidation
Larceny

Influence in Weapons

Ghoul
1/2 BP
Potence 1

Full name: Devon Lake

Personality: Angry & Thorough

Description: 6' 4” and of built like a tank, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He usually wears a faded leather jacket, t-shirt and old jeans. Numerous tattoos around his body, including a gang sign on the side of his neck from his younger years.

Born in '88, he grew up under a neglectful mother and abusive step-father. He was always bigger than the rest of his class, stronger than them, and he used it to become the biggest bully on the playground. When he hit highschool he mostly blew it off in favour of hanging out with his gang, causing trouble in the city. Eventually this grew to petty theft and later out and out burglary.

Devon did a short stint in King County Juvenile Detention Centre, after which he went straight back into his old lifestyle. Fast forward to adulthood and Devon did a longer stint in an adult prison. This, Devon's skills in breaking and entering, and his silence in regards to colleagues who were not apprehended, caught the attention of Preston Varric's Family. They managed to lower his prison sentence to a more useful, and shorter, period on the condition that he joined up with the Family after being released.

The rest, as they say, is history.

 

The game thread is here:
https://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?p=568040

Those with a character in this thread that have a thumbs up, or remember reading a personal message from me, are free to join in the fun with their character actions, until the moment you die or the game ends.

 

I hope it is not too late to post a character.

Mark Lin

Physical 3
Mental 4
Social 2

Investigation
Firearms
Athletics

Influence in Police

Ghoul
1/2 BP
Potence 1

Serious, Cautious

5'5" and a strong build. Has short black hair and brown eyes. Wears slacks and button up shirts covered by a brown overcoat. He carries a pistol on his right hip and a wooden stake on the inside of his jacket

Born in '86. Mark became a police officer after high school. While on duty, he shot and killed someone. This was not an act of a violent man, but of an officer doing his duty. There was a public outcry, due to the age of the criminal, and he was fired. Many of his fellow officers felt that this punishment was far to great and are willing to help him.

After his termination he was approached by the Varric family with an offer to join them. With few options, he reluctantly accepted the offer. Because of his police training and thefact that he retained many of his contacts from his time as a police officer he was placed into the Shadow Cells.

 

I'm baffled by the fact that it's your first post, but the character looks alright and we do have some free spots.
I'll send you a pm soonishly.

 

Some behind the scenes combat stuff, for anyone who is interested, as per request. It's not full, as I didn't really keep the log of everything.

from this scene
https://forums.darklordpotter.net/showpost.php?p=569789&postcount=33

including a halfway summary
https://forums.darklordpotter.net/showpost.php?p=569987&postcount=41

up to the end
https://forums.darklordpotter.net/showpost.php?p=570344&postcount=45

Usually RPG combats have initiative or something like that. Here, it would be pointless to wait for someone's action to declare your own. So, I used the restricted information method.
First, I took everyone's Physical and Mental stats and added them together for a combined combat information roll.
The results were thus: (number of dice showing up as 8,9,10, here I didn't reroll the 10's)/(dice rolled)
Jerry: 5/8
Mark Lin: 3/7
Connor: 2/6
Devon 2/6
Kyle 1/5

This was the roll judging by which I distributed the information among the people. 5 and more successes are usually regarded as a critical success. (the average is 0.3*X, while throwing X dice, so with 9 dice, the average is ~3). Jerry got the full description of future, Mark got a few sentences cut out of that, Devon and Connor got some info concerning themselves and not each other, and Kyle got a few general lines.
That additional info was sent via PM's.
as the situation was changing I sent the updated more exact versions. Had to send ones to Jerry each time someone posted, to keep him most up to date.

The combat rolls were made with Physical + relevant skill (2) + relevant influence (2) with a maximum dice pool of nine.

Potence had an added damage bonus. The pistols had their damage bonus reduced to zero due to the nature of the enemy. The half-magazine smg had a substantial damage bonus, that was reduced quite considerably, too.

Examples of the rolls made.
Devon Lake vs the Woman from the Lake
Shooting 3/6 (Phy+Weapons), no damage bonus. The shots were targeted at a shoulder, 3 successes are quite enough for a targeted hit. The shoulder is injured pretty heavily.

Then, she closes in, and it's a close combat.
Here Devon has 3/8 (all the before and melee. There's a 10, so add one more dice, but it comes up as 5, I think.). It's a contested roll, the black drowned woman rolls 3/y. It's an equal situation. With the woman concentrated on hurting him, both exchange a wound each - both are helped by their potence. Devon get's his ribs cracked, but doesn't get in a chokehold and manages to slash her, but also misses her neck - but does manage a slice at the shoulder. Purely because his target doesn't really care about where she's hit.

Then, after a few rolls for the shots and combats, I posted the halfway report. (Post nr 41)

Afterwards I also sent some predictions. Some players liked those enough to not change anything. Some posted something new.

An example would be Connor shooting Al (the dead man).
Connor's shot is actually 4/3 (a ten that gives another dice coming up as 8). It's more than he could actually do, so the shot goes right into the eye, and here, the damage bonus from firearms stays the way it is, wounding Al pretty seriously.

Marks shots at Al were handle similarly to Jerry's. There were 3 dice.
I rolled with a rule, that all 1's have a chance of hitting Connor.
There was 1, 8, 9, i think. Two successes for hitting Al. And a bullet, heading... I rolled a single dice. it comes up as 10. So that means he stops without shooting that shot at the least second. 9 would have been a very near miss, 8 - a scrach, and 7 or less a hit on Connor.
Were they not declaring a careful shooting, all 1's would be hits, and I'd roll all 2's to see with the same idea.

After I got all the rolls and declarations done, I finally had a semi-final version I changed around a bit and posted as nr 45 in the thread.


That was basically it. The injures are tracked be me, in a slightly loose way. Also, I'm all for improvising a few effects, or taking a few liberties with the system where it works. It's not an exact science - you want it to be exact, play it on paper, where people have time to count all the bonuses and stuff.

Actually the combat system is slightly leaning onto the variant of WoD rules we were using in a City LARP. There, damage, alike here, comes from two parts - a damage bonus from weapons or the size physical stat and the hit successes combine, the soak value is subtracted and you have a damage amount.
Sadly, can't really say the extents of damage or soaks values, as that would slightly spoil the direness of the situation.