This will be our out of character thread. In the game that we inherited our characters from, we had already established our relationships. Please first of all use this thread to State what connections you have with the other characters.

Debts

-You’re protecting someone from a dark power. They owe you 2 Debts.

'Talon' aka-Kian Fraser is having trouble with the criminal element which may have demonic sponsorship of unfamiliar demon lord. This patron is wary of Jake's Patron, so he has the human criminals steer clear when Jake is around Kian's gigs.

-Someone is trying to save you and keeps suffering for it.

You owe them 2 Debts.
Danielle Grimm tried to reconnected me with my dead wife, but suffered some ill effect Jake suspects his own Patron is responsible for. However, Danielle never speaks of it around Jake, or communicates in any way. Jake feels guilty for her suffering this on his behalf.

-You have a demon patron who holds the contract for your soul.
You owe them 3 Debts.

Known only as 'Hell's Inquisitor', this demon has a dark shape of someone always covered in the shadows, so no details can be made about their appearance. Their main purpose is to keep demons loyal to hell,  and often sends Jake to deliver messages, threats, or to collect renegades and bring them back to the portal to the underworld. They can be brought back alive or dead...

-Xavier tried to summon a ghost and missed the mark a little, He accidentally summoned a demon. Due to the weird summoning ritual used the demon couldn’t be banished the normal way so he went to Jake for help, who proceeded to destroy the creature and bring it back to the hellportal. Xavier owes me a debt.

-Nora Doe, the fae, <gm edit> had something to do with setting someone up. Jake were supposed to get a demon in question at my Patron's command. However, I was also commanded to warn said demon about the Fae's presence, thus allowing them to escape. As a result, the fae suffered the wrath of their own leaders. Now I owe them 2 debts, even though I never wished to betray anyone.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:00, Thu 10 Sept 2020.

Hi new MC! Thanks again for picking up this game. As for Debts...

• Someone, or someone's progenitor, was involved in your death. They owe you a Debt.

Twenty years ago, Danielle was planning on skipping town, and asked her uncle Brendan to drive her to the airport so she didn't have to deal with NYC public transport. However, they never arrived at their destination, as a sudden and violent traffic accident took Danielle's life and nearly crippled Brendan.

• Someone is watching out for a family member of yours. You owe them 2 Debts.

Currently open! (Was owned by Kian "Talon") Danielle's parents have since moved away from the city, but there's still a hot-headed uncle who Danielle would like to keep tabs on...

• You are haunting someone and they know it. You owe them a Debt.

Danielle could tell that Nora wasn't exactly from this world, and spent a bit of time snooping around her apartment/house before being caught. Danielle has since apologized, but sometimes she'll still sneak in to use Nora's computer, or read some of her books.


While Danielle was around, Nora persuaded her to "unlawfully borrow" an object from a rival Fae. What exactly Danielle pilfered is up to Nora and the MC, but Nora owes Danielle a Debt for putting herself at risk.

As mentioned previously, Danielle did try her best to help Jake reconnect with his late wife. However, Jake's patron must have gotten inside Danielle's head somehow, as she finds herself strangely silent when Jake asks her about it. Jake owes Danielle two Debts.

Hey all!
I’ll post my info down below. I’m not sure if everyone is coming over, and I think I have Kian on my sheet for something so I’ll have to remove that.

Xavier Marsh
Look: Male; Black; Comfortable clothing
Demeanor: Ominous


Who am I?
I'm a wizard problem solver.  People around the neighborhood know me and find me and ask for help.  And I try to come through.
What keeps you up at night?
Knowing things are hurting people that don't know about them.  Power imbalance.
What have you sacrificed for your power?
I've given up my past.
What do you need desperately?
A good night's sleep.
Gear
Nice Apartment, crapy car, cell phone
Focus
Ring of Solomon (1 additional hold)
Sanctum
Ancient Relics, Mystical Prison, Focus Circle, Apothecary
Contains volatile substances, location is known by many
Weapon: 9mm Glock (2harm, close, loud)

Debts

Wizard Moves

 Channeling: When you channel and collect your magics, roll with Spirit.
On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 3 and choose 1 from the list below. On a
miss, hold 1, but you cannot channel again this scene.
• Take -1 ongoing until you rest
• Suffer 1-harm (ap)
• Mark corruption
Your hold lasts until you spend it. You can spend it to cast any spell you
have as per the spell’s details.

 Sanctum Sanctorum: When you go to your sanctum for a spell ingredient,
relic, or tome, roll with Spirit. On a 10+, you’ve got pretty much just
the thing. On a 7-9, you’ve got something close, but it’s flawed or lacking
in some significant way. On a miss, you don’t have what you’re looking for,
but you know someone who probably has it in stock.

Spells
Teleport: Spend 1 hold to teleport yourself a short distance within a scene
you’re in.
Elementalism: You conjure the elements to strike out at your enemies.
Spend 1 hold to use unleash an attack with your magic as a weapon
(3-harm close or 2-harm close area).
Tracking: Spend 1 hold to learn the location of someone. You must have
a personal object that belongs to the target or recent leavings of their
body (a lock of hair, fingernail clippings, their blood, etc.).

Wizard Corruption Move
When you strike a deal with someone dark and powerful, mark corruption.
Intimacy Move
When you share a moment of intimacy—physical or emotional—with another
person, decide whether you care about them or not. If you don’t, they go
about their business as normal. If you do, they take -1 ongoing to escape
until they get some intimacy somewhere else.
End Move
When you die, you may place a devastating curse on someone nearby. Specify
the effects of the curse and how they may end it.

CORRUPTION MOVES
The Dark Arts: When you unleash an attack with magic or psychic
energies, mark corruption to roll with Spirit instead of Blood for the rest of the scene.
Upon a Pale Horse: Mark corruption and speak the true name of an NPC
in the scene to inflict 3-harm (ap) on them.
Black Magic: Mark corruption to ignore a requirement set by the MC
when using your sanctum.
Warding: Mark corruption to create a magical ward the size of a small
room. The ward lasts for a month and a day or until you release it.

I’ll move all of this over to the Character sheet.

Danielle, I’m glad to see you made it to the new game.

Hey! Will be updating stuff this afternoon. Spoons are... tricky right now.
I'm super glad folks made it over here! And I hadn't noticed until now that I'm gonna be haunted by Danielle, which amuses me to no end.

I'm going to include Kian/Talon as an NPC that you can call on if you want to. Still a vampire, still a musician.

This game will initially be set in the Bronx. You can go other places, but your apartments and your jobs will be in the Bronx.

In addition to doing odd jobs for the powers-that-be, what is your daily occupation? I think everyone has a sort of side-hustle that occupies their waking hours.

Nora deals hallucinogens and various black market goods, as well as rare imported foods. No weapons unless she -really- trusts the client.

In reply to MC: Master of Ceremonies (msg # 8):

I would figure I have a job as a skip tracer/bounty hunter because it allows me to do my real job-demonic bounty hunter-much easier. All set up by my patron of course.

Oh, also, I think Nora at times has sold 'fairy protection charms' which are completely useless, but lull suckers into a false sense of security, which is exploitable. She only does this to complete tossers she doesn't like.

Danielle doesn't really have any bills to pay given her sorry state, but when she does need cash she likes to deal in information and secrets. It's easy for her to snoop around, and sometimes she'll even get info that can be used in more supernatural matters.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:27, Thu 10 Sept 2020.

So it's up to Jake to decide who he wants to bring into this investigation. He might want all of you, or just one of you, or to take this one alone. Whomever is left over, I'll create another job for you.

The other PC's could be hanging out at Kian's club, and I would there because the corpse had its throat ripped out. Then I notice them there and remember they can be very useful.

Right now it's about 0730, which is not the natural time for nightclubs, vampires, or rock musicians.

In reply to MC: Master of Ceremonies (msg # 15):

Ah, good point. Vamps here are sun-phobic, yes?

I could text everybody...

Sure, easily. Just include that note on your next post.

In reply to Jake Montello (msg # 16):

Danielle doesn't technically have a cellphone? She probably bit the dust with a flip phone, but I can't imagine they have good service in the space between life and death.  We can totally just write this off as her being with Nora or Xavier though, when they get the texts.

In reply to Danielle Grimm (msg # 18):

Well, if you have a working car-why not a phone?

The core rulebook is really open-ended as to what gear the Spectre has. All we have to go off of is "Whatever was on your person when you died, albeit spiritual versions of each."

It's ultimately the MC's decision, but I personally took this as "anything you were actively holding/carrying when you died." So relatively trivial things, such as office supplies or sentimental trinkets, or (MC permitting?) an old flip-phone that somehow still works.

You definitely have a cell phone. It doesn't work via satelites, it works by the connection you have with the people you call. So it gets better reception with people you know well, less good with strangers, and you can't dial a random number at all.

But yes, Danielle has a phone. It's a phone circa the era she died, so it's kind of old by today's levels.

That's a really interesting work around! I'll update my character sheet with the new spirit phone and hop into the roleplay shortly.

Here's a question.  I don't have any relationship with Danielle (debts at least).  So do I know her or is this their first meet.  It seems like Jake may reach out to everyone for assistance pretty often from the way he sent that email.  It's possible Danielle and Xavier know each other, just don't owe each other.

What do you think Danielle?

In reply to Xavier Marsh (msg # 23):

Oh, sure. Danielle's pretty amicable, so they would probably know each other as acquaintances through Jake.

There's a map, taken from the Dark Streets book, of the Bronx, in the 'Locations and Places' thread. As other areas become relevant to the campaign story, I'll add those as well.

Sorry, sorry! I think I mis-indicated what I was trying to get across with my actions. To wit; Jake, Nora is standing across the street -from you-, waving her phone in your direction, asking about the text.

Yeah, I think everyone is together now.

In reply to Nora Doe (msg # 26):

Oh sure, but he would still call you...and then look up and actually see you.

Let's just assume that everyone has been filled in with knowledge to avoid Jake's player having to retype everything I've said, and that everyone is seeing the same crime scene. Someone make a Move.

Note that 'what's in it for me' for Nora doesn't have to be a capital-D Debt. It could just as easily be a nice dinner, a new pair of roller skates, or something else equally odd.

Oh, and one thing I forgot to do. Sue me, it's my first time playing or running this system.

At the beginning of every session, announce which character your
character trusts the least; their player will spotlight a Faction for
your character (that isn’t already marked). Mark that Faction. Tell the
MC about a rumor or conflict that you’ve heard about that Faction,
building on previous established information if you’d like, and roll with
the Faction.
On a 10+, you’re prepared for the conflict you laid out: you’ve got a
Debt on someone in that Faction or a useful piece of information or
equipment, your choice. On a 7-9, you’re neck deep in it: you owe
someone in that Faction a Debt, and someone in that Faction owes
a Debt to you. On a miss, you’re caught flat-footed, unprepared, or
unaware: the MC will tell you who is coming at you.

Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that mechanic as well. I'd say that Danielle trusts Xavier the least. Not in a hostile way, she simply doesn't know him well enough to make a judge of character.

Since we're doing play-by-post, what would you consider to be the "start" of each session?

I'll tell you when a session is over.

Here's the thing. I'd like to say 'Xavier', too, but I don't want to lean double on someone who doesn't already have a post up. I think Danielle and Nora trust each other pretty well, so I'm sorry, Jake, it's gonna have to be you. :(

In reply to MC: Master of Ceremonies (msg # 31):

10:51, Today: Jake Montello rolled 10 using 2d6.  Night faction roll.

Jake has heard about various vampires using a form of human trafficking. As the need for blood is paramount, most of the victims are often never seen again even without vampires being involved. Thus making a useful food source and entertainment. Needless to say, some in the Night community find this so awful they are willing to inform on thier fellow undead...and Jake has plans on dealing with these creatures.

As for which PC Jake trusts the least it would certainly be Nora. Demons may be awful, but they do tend to make rational, if selfish, choices. With the fae you can never tell...
This message was last edited by the player at 15:23, Mon 14 Sept 2020.

I'm so pleased I got the untrusted! Nora is absolutely that. :D

In reply to Nora Doe (msg # 36):

Please note...Jake still thinks you are fun to be around. He just would not trust you to have the keys to his bike is all...

Sorry, life got in the way.


I'll Spotlight Power for Danielle.

What faction are you picking for Xavier?

Jake, I'm spotlighting Blood for you. Whatcha got for me?

Blood rumor: The top two vamps in the city -very suddenly- cut off their months-long war with each other. The peace seems forced. Either someone is forcing them to 'play nice', or their getting their ducks in a row against a much bigger threat.

Jake, it seems like you want to be prepared for a conflict with Night, is that right? Or would you prefer to have a Debt on someone in the Night faction?

Xavier, looks like you'll be dealing with the Wild faction. As for rumors among Power...

A local unhinged Oracle has been making waves in the faction, ranting and raving that the "end of days" is already upon the world, with demons hiding among us and the dead roused from their slumber. While the more respectful soothsayers in the faction have ignored this celebrity, the Oracle has amassed a bit of a cult following, and might be planning a more aggressive recruitment campaign.

In reply to MC: Master of Ceremonies (msg # 40):

Conflict. Jake sorta deals with these things head on.

In the Bronx, many vampires gain blood by arrangement. They pay humans with cash or with drugs in exchange for blood. For the vampire on the go, who has little time for negotiating with humans, often they will have agents who recruit suitable candidates. Sometimes they will collect the blood in bags to deliver to the vampire, while other times the candidate and the vampire will meet for a feeding. Usually the human will survive. There are a fair amount of humans in the Bronx who occasionally 'donate' in this manner.

In reply to MC: Master of Ceremonies (msg # 43):

So human trafficking is still looked down on for blood purposes? I figure Jake would be interested in dealing with this, as would the more 'civilized' vamps.

Disappearing humans attracts more attention and is less convenient in the long run. Better to keep them alive and revisit them later. As yet, Jake has no hard intelligence on human trafficking for blood purposes, at least not in the Bronx.

In reply to MC: Master of Ceremonies (msg # 45):

What about 'specialty' orders from outside the city and brought in?

There have been none such lately.

In reply to MC: Master of Ceremonies (msg # 47):

So I should just go with the debt then? It does not seem the vamps are doing anything out of the ordinary with their feeding habits.

What I just told you is the information you need to be ready for the conflict.

This game is all about helping your characters shine. As much fun as it is to have your characters work together, there are times when they would also benefit from a little solo attention.

I'm going to be running subplots with each of your characters individually. The events of these subplots will occur in October, so they all occur after the current main story line. It might be a little tricky to keep track of what resources you earned so far because we're going to be playing them parallel but the events are going to be happening sequentially. Let's just do our best.

Prior to beginning the in character adventure, there will be an out of character discussion for you to tell me a bit more about your character. I will open up a thread for each of these discussions individually. Stay tuned for yours. You may also read along in the other people's to enjoy learning more about your total players characters.

I think this is a pretty neat idea. Hopefully it won't get timey-wimey weird (hey! I lost a hand in this adventure, but I'm ambidextrous in my solo!) but beyond that, I'm all for the fun and chaos!

I'm working on all of your subplot stories. Right now, I'm waiting for someone to do something in the main plot.

So, been talking to the MC about Nora's glamour, and he offered me two options:



Now, I will admit, the first one is easier to 'hide', and thus perhaps better mechanically.
But the second just seems to 'fit' with Nora as a character.

I'm open to thoughts and opinions on this!

I would say that the detective is willing to answer one significant question about the case at this time. If he doesn't have the intelligence now, he may send it to you later. Other than that, you are free to inspect the crime scene for superficial details as you wish. The cop is also willing to answer any number of superficial questions, such as what the address is another obvious details.

Wild Rumor:
Xavier heard of someone moving into town collecting by hook or by crook any special artifacts and antiquities having to do with transformation. According to his books, this level of zeal could mean a dragon is in town.

Nora- I’d take that second one. Seems more fun and dramatic.

Of course for that first one, could be something slightly off about the glamour but still subtle. Maybe the hair is constantly moved by a slight breeze. Or all of the glamour smell like lilac, or blood, or pine needles or sea water or something. Maybe the glamour always glows just a bit. Hard to see in the daylight but hard to hide at night or in a dark room.

Does discussing your favourite podcasts count as a moment of intimacy for Danielle and Xavier?

I don’t think so... I think it’s mostly small talk until the people you know come back to the party, lol. At least at this level.

Now if they were recommending podcasts... that’d be another level.

Sorry for my absence of late. Things are... tough out here for someone with chronic depression who lives alone (well. Cat. But no humans). Realized last night that in the past 174 days I've been in the same room with another human being five times. We're not built to be like this.

That being said, I didn't really see a response to Nora's discussion with the cop, so I wasn't sure where to go with things. I'll jump back in now.

Should I ask the detective another question? He has not been responding to my last post, and I really wanna hear what Xavier managed to see, but IC I dont know what he did or if he's even here.

Yeah sorry, I kind of thought it went unsaid but I should have made it clear. He accepted your card and then basically wrote you out of his mind.

In reply to MC: Master of Ceremonies (msg # 60):

That is pretty much what I excepted him to do, and better than what he could have done.

So win-win!

Hehehe

:)

Yeah, you rolled okay and Nora helped. Now, if you were trying to take some pieces of evidence or something else controversial, things might go badly.

Yeah Nora, that sucks. Hope things are looking a little better for you, even if it’s just those clouds clearing away. Depression, ennui... they’ll get you.

I’m a pretty staunch introvert and love love love my time to myself, but even I am looking forward to seeing people in Corona World. It’s pretty wild. So if it’s like that for me, I know a ton of other people are feeling the isolation.

Ha! I'd just been thinking about body positioning from above. Once we get the projection info dump, I figure Nora will consider that as well, especially as the assailant seemed -really- set on making sure our boy was standing in a specific space in a specific way. Ritual murder, anyone?

Can I make a faction roll via calling a contact? Or do I have to go in person?

For 'Hit the Streets,' you absolutely must go out in person. For 'Put a Face to a Name,' you can do it as soon as you hear the name or meet someone new.

In reply to MC: Master of Ceremonies (msg # 66):

So I can put a face to a name on our murder victim, but because I have to describe the murderer I have to talk to someone directly. Got it.

It seems a bit stupid to me, but let's play with rules as written for now and see how that goes.

So Jake is going to hit up the local Wild bar. It'll probably be about 8 a.m. by the time you get there, but some people keep weird hours. Meanwhile, are Xavier and Nora going to go upstairs and check on the roof? You can roll mislead distract or trick, and one of you can help the other.

Xavier will help her get up to a roof.

Do I need to roll to assist or how does that work?

You're looking for the lend a hand move.

Woah, you never told us we were getting a new player! Welcome Grecia, glad to have you on board!
This message was last edited by the player at 03:17, Wed 30 Sept 2020.

Welcome new player!

Yeah, I was surprised too. Somehow she found the game we were all in and then followed the trail to where we are now.

Hello. I look forward to playing with you all.

So, just to clarify...



Is any of this possibly contaminated blood still available for a sample, or did Danielle completely miss her chance after the officer got ill?

Put it this way. At this point, you can either wait for a hypothetical future opportunity when the body will be left alone long enough for you to open up the bag and get at it long enough to be draw sample out from its flesh; or you can Damn the Torpedoes, open up the bag in plain sight, and do it while everyone's watching. This is the tough choice I'm making you make.

If you want to create a post in the thread for locations and characters that will have the information about a new character you've met, so that everyone else can see it as well, that's fine with me.

Is anyone finding it confusing that there are so many tell the thread publicly viewed? I can set them so that everyone can see only their own solo thread until they're finished.

I don’t have a problem with all the threads.

Second ed is on kickstarter...

https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...adows-second-edition

Sorry. Really busy with work. I’ll get an update in soon.

So I know Jake's player is still playing. I'm pretty sure Xander's player is still trying to play. Do I have anybody else?

Roll call. If you haven't been posting, can you let me know if you're still playing by Saturday?

Still here!

Jake, you can have 1 advance for being loyal.
I am recruiting some more players. The October thread will continue, but I will bring the new players in to a new story set in September.

In reply to MC: Master of Ceremonies (msg # 85):

Yah! Advance! Weeeeee!

*Spends hours over agonizing which advance he wants...and then takes the one he was gonna take all along.*

Cold Blooded:
When under emotional distress rolls Blood instead of spirit to keep your cool.