As tends to be best for any GUMSHOE game it would be good for characters to be designed in tandem with each other so we get a good cross-section of talents, backgrounds and skill sets.

This board will allow for some OOC discussion about character creation so you know who does what and can discuss any connections between each other.

The characters will all start out in business with each other as a small firm of ex-agents and operatives from a variety of previous backgrounds. You've been in business with each other for about a year (though some characters may have known each other for longer for various reasons) taking jobs - of varying degrees of shadiness - from any contacts you may have left in the shadowy world you used to operate in. You haven't exactly been making your fortunes but business has been steady and you're doing alright.

Also happy for you to discuss and agree any particulars of the business such as location of your office and the name of the firm (if you even trade under a name or base it entirely on reputation).
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:01, Mon 01 June 2020.

Well, nice!

A little Surveillance heavy, though that could just make them a very good team for it.  Bernie breaking in to plant bugs, filch important things, and shadow targets. Sidney making bugs, monitoring, and hacking into secure data.  Felix sifting through public data; tracing them through the trails of bureaucracy, receipts, and paperwork.

So, we lack in interpersonal...

I can see Felix being a bit more socially interactive than I first thought...  He's relatively benign looking.  Harmless.  Reassurance, Negotiation, Flattery.  Possibly a little Intimidation...  Maybe play down the Analyst side a bit and bring in more Asset Handler?

Is it just the three of us or any others on the hook, Boss?

Currently it is just the three though I intend to bump the Players Wanted post this week and see if we get any more bites. Could do with one or two more characters to round out the skill sets.

I'm not too worried if the team isn't overly combat focussed. I'm happy to run something with a greater emphasis on investigation and sneaking about than action if everyone is happy to play that. As long as everyone has some proficiency with some form of combat then you can still plough through most mooks!

When it comes to building characters start off as if we have 5+ characters (so 20 investigative points) and then bonus points can be doled out if we get fewer players.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:03, Tue 09 June 2020.

I don't mind switching around some of Bernie's skills as well, to accommodate team needs.

In addition to sorting out characters feel free to sort out the particulars of your business - the main part of that being where it is located. The main action is (subject to how things pan out) going to take place in the United Kingdom and Romania but you could feasibly be based anywhere in Europe - or further afield if you want.

With two-thirds of us (at present) being some flavor of German, Berlin or one of the other German cities would probably make sense as a home city. Unless, of course, there are reasons Felix or Bernie would be unwilling or unable to operate in the country. In that scenario, someplace else that's still sort of central to the UK and Romania might be best; Prague, Vienna, Budapest, etc.

Bernie might have had reason to stay away from Berlin in the past, but I figure enough time has passed he can probably safely operate there now.

Felix would be fine in Berlin.  Home turf and all.

What's our time period?

The heady days of 2015.

I've got a couple more players just working through concepts through RTJ but that should mean we're up to a full house in the near future.

Hello.
Im finalizing my sheet with Director's help. I am looking at being slanted towrd technical and interpersonal. Wayne is: Analyst, Blackbag, Muscle

He has most of the tech intrusion kinds of things covered as well as athletics, hand to hand, weapons, and some other stuff that makes sense with his theme. He is a former thief recruited for his skills in aikido, kung-fu, and (computer) hack-fu. Looking forward to working with all of you.

Hey guys. I’ll be diving in here shortly. Just wanted to get up to speed on the team needs. I was thinking about going for kind of a face character that could be good in a fight. A Michael Westen (Burn Notice) type - Cuckoo and Muscle background.

Doesn’t seem like I’ll be stepping on any toes with that, but wanted to double check here.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:14, Tue 23 June 2020.

In reply to Miles Coldwater (msg # 11):

That is pretty much Wayne. Good at Computers, decent face to face, MoS is Weaponry, but he is good at hand to hand as well.