East Texas: Beer Pong and Punching

So, last time, the characters saw a bunch of birds, chatted, kvetched, and tackled a thief breaking into a prof's office. This time, there was even more excitement!

The characters had their usual day of classes (nothing especial to focus on there, except that Josh's theater prof had his sketchbook back). And then that evening, as they hung out in the dorm doing study-things, and Josh's roommate texted all of them.

Josh, you see, has a kind of annoying roommate named Donnie Gayle. Donnie manages to trip headfirst into stupid situations, and he usually texts everyone first. But this time, he texted photos of the folks from Low Shoulder - they were at a party in Greek Row. Lula was down (and let her friend Kelly know, since Kelly was very much looking forward to bedding Nikolai). Dante, likewise, was always up for drunken shenanigans, and Doug and Josh kind of figured "ah, hell, sure" and tagged along.

They got there and found the party was already going nuts - lots of drinking, beer pong, and people trying to get close to Nikolai and his drummer. Donnie showed up and acted drunk and stupid, but the real excitement was when Doug noticed a bunch of frat guys eyeing him in an angry sort of way. And then one of them stomped over, made a slurred accusation about Doug banging his girlfriend, and slugged him ineffectually.

Doug lit out for safety (he is not a fighter), and Dante launched himself over the pool table like Batman at the dudes. He wound knocking one down, as did Josh, but got a beer bottle to the head for his trouble and wound up Wounded. Lula crept around the throng with Kelly, but bounced a quarter off a frat dude's head and made him trip over a table, taking him out. Doug, meanwhile, had made his way over to Nikolai and told him that if he helped out, Doug would make sure he met Kelly, who was entirely willing to do depraved things with him.

Nikolai let Doug hide behind him, and then the sheriff showed up and everyone got quite a talking to! And also tickets for disorderly conduct and so on. Lula's cop buddy, Peter Lopez, showed up and pretended to write her a ticket, but actually gave her his number. Dante got a towel with ice to put on his head, and everyone started walking back toward Whitehall (the dorm they live in).

Donnie, meanwhile, had put a bunch of photos of the party up online, and Dante noticed that Peter had been there before the violence started. He excused himself and went to campus police, and talked Peter into rescinding his ticket (it's not really illegal for Peter to be there but it doesn't look good). He rejoined the others, who were in the midst of obtaining pizza, and they looked at the photos some more. They realized that the thief they'd tackled the day before had been there, too, handing what looked like a book to a dude that Doug recognized from the business center, who was then photographed getting all up in Nikolai Wolfe's face.

Some drama was going down, the characters just weren't sure what. They headed back to the dorm, ate pizza and hung out a bit. Tomorrow's the concert, after all. Gotta rest up.

Night's Black Agents: Planning & Entrapment

Yesterday was Night's Black Agents. Back to Belgrade!

The agents all entered Serbia using various covers (Gambone made one just for the occasion); their preliminary research showed them that their faces and names were out in the open, probably due to the snafu in Paris. MacAteer entered the country separately, a few days later, and although they let him through, he got the distinct impression he was being tailed. 

Meanwhile, the agents had set up surveillance near the hospital. Ess, using his cover as an orderly (with a little doctoring of records and licensure from Hanover) took a job there, and snuck a bug into their computer system. Hanover looked through records and found a work order for a drawer in the morgue that hadn't been fixed in years, but kept getting bumped to the bottom of the queue. Ess put a camera on the wall facing it, just to see if someone was using it as a bed, but the agents never saw anyone open it. Storage, maybe?

MacAteer contacted the others and told them he was probably made. Gambone got in touch with Janos Strayovich, a cop who'd busted Gambone once (and then let him off after a bribe). Strayovich agreed to help out, but he warned Gambone that someone was gunning for him. 

They set up the fake bust - the cops pulled MacAteer over, MacAteer ran, Strayovich pretended to lose him, and Parker, wearing a disguise and a new cover as a cop, took the van with the guns "to impound" (really to a safehouse to remove the guns, then to impound). Meanwhile, Ess, in the crowd, spotted Ava Kingsilver. He snuck up close to her and listened to her conversation (which Gambone had to translate, since Ess doesn't speak Russian); she was watching for the agents and told someone listening to "check perches." Ess debated stabbing her, but he didn't have any serum and wasn't sure he could take her in a fight. Instead he slipped a tiny tracking device into her hair. Hanover tracked her, and saw that she was staying in a building near the hospital - she was watching for the agents.

Having obtained their gear, the agents moved houses and debated their options. They hadn't been made yet; if they were they'd be dead. Gambone suggested blowing up Kingsilver's building, but a little research revealed it was an apartment building that rented to hospital employees and families of long-term patients - not a safe target, even to take Ava off the board. The agents talked about it; Ess was strenuously in favor of taking her out, but the other argued that Kingsilver was ultimately a pawn - she was dangerous, but low-level, and if they took her out the conspiracy would just replace her. And it would tip the agents' hand. No, better for now to investigate the hospital and the museum.

Gambone and Ess broke into the museum and found that the office of Ograd Bugarcic (the curator) had been left in kind of a hurry; consistent with what they'd seen before. They searched it and found nothing untoward. He'd been running the museum pretty much legit. They did find travel records, and he'd traveled mostly within the Continent, except for one overseas journey a few years back to Shoreham, New York. Looking into that little town, they found it was the site of Wardenclyffe. Maybe a trip to the States is in the offing? Dangerous, though. 

They also found a storeroom protected with a much more serious alarm system and lock. Breaking in, they found an empty filing cabinet, a folded-up bed, a desk, and a chair. Very Spartan and obviously not in use. A safe house for a vampire, perhaps?

Figuring they'd seen all they would see at the museum, they moved on the hospital. Ess pushed Gambone in, covered on a gurney (as a corpse, you see). Parker waited in the lobby with flowers, while MacAteer and Hanover waited in the van and watched the front of Kingsilver's building. Ess opened the drawer and found a "corpse" in a body bag, but it turned out to be a dummy with the torso missing. In its place was a box. Inside, they found six vials of blood, labeled with an alphanumeric code.

And then Parker saw security massing at the elevator. Hanover saw armed men leaving Kingsilver's building. The agents were made.

Next time, we'll see how that ends.

Character Creation: Byron Falls

I have a few minutes, sure, let's do a quick character.

The Game: Byron Falls
The Publisher: John Wick Presents
Degree of Familiarity: None, but it ain't like it's complicated.
Books Required: Just the one.

 
Byron Falls hits a lot of the same notes as Monsterhearts, but it's much tamer and much less fully realized. It's apparently the result of a dare, and it's kind of thrown together; the rules are being revised or change in the text of the game, which doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence (like, if it's worth publishing, it's worth firming up, just IMO, but then again my Kickstarter didn't make a million bucks so what do I know?).

Anydangway, Byron Falls is a small town with a lot of supernatural creatures, and also clever, pretty, witty girls, who are supposed to be the PCs, except that the rule about everyone playing girls was apparently dropped.

Starting off, we need a name, which has a secret symbolic meaning that only a few people will figure out. I think I want my character to be the bored scion, latest issue in a long line of Byron Falls-ians. In fact, hell, his family name is Byron (what, you thought it was named after the poet? Ha. It's named after my great-great-great-grandfather). His first name is Perry.

Now I get Interests. These are stats, basically. I get 3 points, but there are five Interests, so most of them are gonna be zero. I'll put one into Sports, one into Drama and one into Detention (which gives me like a 50/50 in anything I'm doing, which is meh, but whatever, I see Perry as kind of smirky and half-hearted in general).

Now, Friends. I get 10 points, and I can have at most 5 friends. No one friend can have more than 5 points. These can be NPCs or PCs, but since it's just me they'll all be PCs.

OK, so, my sister, Liz Byron, gets four points. She's a year older than Perry. They used to be closer than they are now, but she's drifting away now she's getting older and on the swim team and so on.

Bailey Bonner gets three points. He's a delinquent - in detention all the time. He also sells Perry pills sometimes. He has deep, soulful eyes, which Perry swears he's never noticed.

Finally, for three points, we've got Sera Raist. The Raist family has been close to the Byron family forever, and Sera and Perry were childhood friends. Sera spent last year studying abroad, but she's back in Byron Falls for high school.

Now I need an Enemy. The book tells me this should be another PC (anything else would be "wimpy") but a) I disagree and b) I don't have any other PCs anyway. Perry's enemy is Trisha Geistmann. Trish and Perry were friends in grade school, but Perry finds her clingy and coarse.

I list my Grade as freshman (it says "class" on the sheet, but whatevs) and that's actually it! Oh, I get 10 Soul Points, which I can use to succeed on rolls, but if I lose them all I die. Maybe. Maybe become a monster. It's all very loosey-goosey.

Anyway, that's me done!

Game prep! Oh, myyyy!

Back at the table and high on life. Let's prep some games!

I don't have a lot of philosophical blather this time, so I will instead link this poem I recorded over on Soundcloud. It's "The Hangman" by Maurice Ogden, it's one of my favorite poems, and I felt it was kinda topical. I linked it before, but I'm just filling space now so that my players don't click on this and see something they shouldn't.

Good? Good. On we go.

Feng Shui: Dimly Hazily Recollected Memories of Monday

Monday was Feng Shui and I really, really did intend to do the write-up on Tuesday, but then I flew to Oklahoma and spent much of my free time redlining a Beast book, so it didn't get done. So here we are.

The Dragons, having bested Errol and his Cheerful Chimps and battle, decided to join forces with them and head into the trees to take on Thrill Kill Mandrill and his peeps. Errol warns them that fortress is well-guarded, but that he and his Chimps will help. They come upon a suspicious-looking clearing and Johnny, ever the master of stealth, strides in confidently and declares his presences.

Whereupon a hail of arrows, bullets, and rocks come flying at Johnny. He isn't harmed (because mooks), but the battle is joined.

This battle is mostly mook-monkeys, but since they're all attacking at a distance, whenever they attack, they attack in a volley and someone gets hurt. Tang and Wildfire take some shots to the torso from arrows, Bai leaps up into trees and starts kicking monkeys out - and also mixes it up with Albrect, a huge gibbon with a swatch of white fur, who swings around on vines and mimics the style of who he's fighting (monkey see, monkey do!).

The characters, aided by some off-screen arrows from Errol, defeat the monkeys (though Albrecht escapes). Regrouping, Errol tells them that once they pass the second marker, the Cheerful Chimps can no longer help. He shows them a Simian Army tattoo and claims that an explosive underneath it will detonate if he crosses the second marker. Tang doesn't necessarily buy it, but they part ways (and he gives Johnny a bow and some arrows).

The Dragons approach the second marker, and now they're in the ruins of Hong Kong - they recognize this block. They're near Genomic Solutions, where they fought Thrill Kill Mandrill way back here. The Dragons, in the trees, look across to see monkeys on buildings, monkeys in the streets - man, so many monkeys. They note, in particular, a huge silverback gorilla who looks like a badass...and Drunky Monkey (Bai's lip curls with hatred).

Celeste, figuring that it's better to get the drop on them, shoots one, misses, and everything goes whack-a-ding-hoy.

The monkeys attack, launching arrows and bullets at the Dragons, and Wildfire is the only one who's healed up. The Dragons also don't have much in the way of distance attacks (Celeste has her gun, sure, but that's about it). Bai leaps into the fray and engages with Drunky Monkey, leading to this delightful back-and-forth where he stabbed Bai, Bai pulls the knife out of his own shoulder and stabs Drunky, who screeches, pulls out the knife, and stabs Bai back.

Wildfire jumps down from the tree and engages Silverback, only to take a whack to the knee from Slugger-angutan and his huge club. Meanwhile, Sneaky Monkey, a tiny colobus with a sharp sword, creeps down and stabs Wildfire, but Johnny enters the fray and locks up with monkey (and Sneaky just can't get a shot in on Johnny to save his life).

Tang teleports in to help Wildfire with the gorilla, but then the other major player in this fight show himself: Bab-BOOM! Bab-boom is a baboon with a grenade launcher and a total lack of regard for his friends, and he damages a lot of the Dragons throwing explosives around. In particular, he blows Tang through a wall and straight out of the fight (the player, playing the odds for once in his life, elected to stay down rather than risk multiple Marks of Death).

Noting that the Dragons were slowly whittling through the mooks and damaging the leaders, though, the monkeys elected to run. Silverback, Sneaky, Drunky, and Bab-boom fled successfully, but Wildfire caught Slugger and tore out his throat. The Dragons helped Tang to his feet; he was stunned, but alive.

But in the distance, over the main building, they saw a storming brewing up, and Bai sensed evil sorcery. What business are those monkeys doing!?

Feng Shui Prep

So, here's where I blather a bit I get into the meat of things. I don't honestly have much to say because I basically burned myself out making that character for that bloody awful game. Is that enough blather? I think perhaps it is.

(Seriously, I would normally talk about why the level of granularity that would lead one to make a skill called "Well-Digging" is a bad thing, but a) I think it's kind of obvious and b) I don't have the wherewithal.)

Character Creation: Tales of WynD'mere

Once more into the breach, dear friends. If I can get one character a week done, assuming I don't buy any more RPGs (ha), I'll be done with this project in just shy of five years. (That's actually less than I'd have thought, though of course I've only done 21 characters this year, which is pretty pathetic. Maybe I can make up the difference over Xmas break. LOL.)

The Game: Tales of WynD'mere
The Publisher: Shield of Faith Studios
Degree of Familiarity: None. I'm reading it as I go, but it's not showing me anything new.
Books Required: Just the one.

Tales of WynD'mere is a high fantasy game, but it suffers from the same problem a lot of fantasy games do: It doesn't have a reason to exist beyond "D&D doesn't quite scratch the designer's itch anymore."

The game talks about...well, have a look (I can't c/p because they fucking disabled that in the PDF):

So...it's an RPG? Like, none of that speaks to theme or interesting setting or anything. It's just "you've got options, man!" Well, yeah, this is true of literally every other RPG ever.

Anyway, this game came out in 2001, which was the same year I got hired by White Wolf, so I guess I can't be upset that it reads like an old game. I have this weird blind spot where if a game's on PDF I keep thinking it's current. Obviously this is not the case.

So, character creation proceeds in six steps. What I find interesting, though, is this:

Basically instead of defining a starting character by level, we're defining the character by heritage or formative events. I mean, sure, this is how Fate works, so it's not exactly groundbreaking now, but again, 2001 game. Plus I like lifepaths, so maybe this won't be terrible.

Well, Step One is primary stats. There are (good lord) 12 of them, and I get (holy cats) 200 points to divvy up. Of note: This is a percentile system, which means that anything below 50 is going to suck in play, no matter what the book says is "average."

But on we go! And since we're putting stats before lifepaths (Life Aspects, I guess), it's hard to do concept. I really like playing magic users in fantasy settings, so probably that's what I'll wind up doing.

Strength
Reflexes
Coordination
Endurance
Health
Judgement
Perception
Empathy
Will Power (why two words? Dunno!)
Memory
Presence
Grace

A lot of overlap there, I think. Reflexes is "instinctive reaction speed" while Coordination is "hand-eye coordination." I dunno. Seems redundant. Anyway, I've been watching Voltron of late and I enjoy how Hunk is big and beefy but isn't dumb, he's actually very technically adept. I'm interested to know if I can make a slow, strong, steady magic-user. Dividing my points evenly puts them at 16 each with 8 left over, just for reference.

So let's say:
Strength 20, Reflexes 10, Coordination 10, Endurance 18, Health 17, Judgement 19, Perception 15, Empathy 21 (it includes supernatural perception), Will Power 20, Memory 12, Presence 18, Grace 20. Sounds good.

Now Life Aspects. I get one Background, two Major, and three Minor, but they're drawn from some of the same pools (it's not well presented, so this may take me a minute).

OK, so the aspects have different benefits depending on whether you take them as major or minor, and Background (which is where you spent your youth/adolescence) counts a major. Got it. I see my dude as being a man of the land, so I'll take Rural Upbringing as his Background aspect. That means I get 100 Skills Points to the Domestic, Rural skill list (I am already dreading Skills), 15 to the Huntsman skill list, and 80 to any mix of Domestic, Rural, Laborer, Smithing, and Woodworking. Okies.

Now for the Majors. Feels like I should do magic here. Oh, actually, before I do that I'll take Guild Training as a Major Aspect. I think it makes sense that my dude did some work with his hands back on the farm, and then got into an apprenticeship to better his fortunes. So that gives me 150 skill points to one of: Apothecary, Artisan, Laborer, Performance, Physician, Smithing, or Woodworking. And then 30 more points in one of those lists, and then 15 points in General Education.

Magical Studies has several sub-paths to choose from. I think Enchantment makes the most sense, though I'm also intrigued by Summoning (maybe for a Minor Aspect). I get 30 Skill Points to Mana Gathering, 10 to Magical Conflict Reaction, 25 to Read/Write Magical Glyphs, 130 to Animation, Boons, Curses or Ensorcellment, and then 65 to spend on any of those or Alchemy, Artificer, or Sage. I'll say one thing, you can't say this game doesn't give you options.

Right, now three Minor Paths. I think I do want Summoning. That gives me 15 to Mana Gathering, 25 to Read/Write Magical Glyphs, 50 to Object, Creature, or Demonic, and 30 to those or Artificer, Alchemy, or Sage.

I feel like I should have something combat-related, here. I'll take Hunter/Gatherer as a Minor Aspect. That gives me 15 to Melee Conflict Reaction, 50 to Huntsman, and 30 to Huntsman, Scout, Weapons (Commoner) or Wilderness Survival.

Last one. How about Combat Sorcery? That gives me 15 to Mana Gathering, 25 to Read/Write Magical Glyphs, 50 to Elemental Combat, Warcraft, or Psychic Combat, and 30 to those or Artificer, Alchemy, or Sage.

Oof. OK, now what? Secondary Stats. I assume there's nothing in other traits that'll change these (ha). I do all the math (and holy shit, there is no consistency to these formulae), and the only one I'm missing is base damage because it's a class, not a number, and I have to look it up. Blearhg.

OK, now Skills & Spells! I am really hoping this is going to be easier than I think. LOL NOPE. We've got this stupid "spend X to buy the base skill, then spend Y to raise it" going on. WHY WHY WHY ok let's do this. Some of the things I get from Life Aspects are Skills (like Read/Write Magic Glyphs) and some are Skill lists (most of them). So I'll fill in the skills first and then figure out the paths.

Not as many as I'd have liked. Let's figure out one Skill, then I've gotta go shopping. Right now I've got 75 in Read/Write Magical Glyphs. Assuming I won't put any more points into it (I won't), I spend 30 to buy it at the base level (Memory x 3, or 36) and then it's 6 more per 1 point I raise it. JESUS CHRIST. I can raise it another 7.5 points; assuming fractions fall away, that puts my score at 37. That's pathetic.

Anyway. I've been gone for a few hours shopping, but you didn't notice because that's how text works. Why do I always seem to pick these long-ass chargen systems when I have other things to do? Probably because I always have other things to do. Ah, well.

So Mana Gathering. I have 60 points right now to dump in. I get base for 25 (which is 20) plus another 7. 27. Ugh. Well, I have a shitload of other points I could dump in there. Or I could just say fuck it and speed this up. Yeah, that one.

Melee Conflict Reaction: Same drill. Ha! I can't even buy it, the base cost is 20 and I only have 15. Nice going, guys. Moving on. Domestic, Rural. I have 100 points and then possibly 80 more that I could use.

THERE IS A SKILL FOR WELL-DIGGING. WHAT. IS. NO. Fuck it, I'm taking it. I take Butchery, Cooking, Agriculture, and Animal Handling, too. I bump my skill in Animal Handing up to 59 because I think it'll be what I'd actually roll, but really who the fuck knows.

You know what? Let's list what I have left to do:

Huntsman 65
Domestic, Rural, Laborer, Smithing, or Woodworking: 80
Apothecary, Artisan, Laborer, Performance, Physician, Smithing, or Woodworking: 180
Gen Ed: 15
30 to Huntsman, Scout, Weapons (Commoner) or Wilderness Survival

JFC. OK. I seriously need to finish this and do my game prep for tomorrow.

So, Huntsman: Skinning Lore costs 10, Tracking costs 20 and I'll dump the rest of my points into that, plus one from the other thing, and put it up to 32. Let's check Woodworking. The only one that makes sense is Carpentry, so I'll just put all my points there, which puts me to 55, making me a fairly skilled carpenter.

I regret ever doing this character. I regret buying this game. It came with the Haiti bundle. Next time, may the earthquake strike WynD'mere instead.

Ahem. Moving on. I have OH FUCK ME 180 points in various things. Fine, let's get this over with. I know there's nothing else in Woodworking I want, so how about Laborer? No, not really. Apothecary? Eh. Artisan? Oh, here we go. Tanner fits in with my other skills, as does Tailor. I'll take those two and split the other 150 points among them. I'm a pretty skilled tanner, too.

Gen Ed: I only have 15, which is enough to buy a base but not increase the score. Fine, I speak a language. I'll leave it blank; if I had a group, I'd pick whatever language was most useful but then, if I had a group that wanted to play this I'd kill them out of mercy and put their bodies in my crawl space.

Finally, I have 29 more points for that last group. I'll take Bola because I need a weapon, and up it by 5 whole points with the remainder. Yay.

Oh, fuck me, I need to do magic. OMG I hate everything. 130 to Animation, Boons, Curses or Ensorcellment, and then 65 to spend on any of those or Alchemy, Artificer, or Sage. 50 to Object, Creature, or Demonic, and 30 to those or Artificer, Alchemy, or Sage. 50 to Elemental Combat, Warcraft, or Psychic Combat, and 30 to those or Artificer, Alchemy, or Sage. Let's see how this works!

Spoiler: Same way as for skills, basically. I think I want Animation to be my main focus for magic. I'll take Chaotic Movement (a 20-lb thing flies about randomly) and Directed Movement (a 20-lb thing flies where I tell it). The bases cost me 35 from my 130, giving me a base score of 27, which sucks. Let's see. 47 points into Chaotic ups my score by 15, and 48 into Directed ups the score by 12. FINE. Oh, wait, got 50 more. I'll take Autonomous Movement, just because the math is easy. That's Enchantment, then.

Summoning! I can't decide if it makes more sense for him to conjure objects or animals. I'm good with both. I think I'll go with objects; I think he feels weird about summoning animals and then skinning them. So Conjure Crafted Materials costs 25 for the base, and then 55 more points translates to a score of 38.

Finally, Combat Sorcery. Elemental Combat seems like my jam, here. I'll take Elemental Blast and Elemental Wall (and say it's Stone for both of them). 50 buys me the bases, and then 15 each buys me up to an even 30 for each score.

Now I do Fortes and Failings. I get 5 Goody Points to buy Fortes. I am not making this up and I hate everything about it. Normally I take flaws for more points, but I am not doing that here. I'll take Robust Physique (more Body Points and a higher Wound Threshold) and Minimalist (I get by with minimal sleep and food).

Last step is a history and a name. Normally at this point I would read a bit about the setting and tie my character in, but I just don't care. Seriously, I have made characters for some shitty games, but very few suck the fun out of chargen like this one.

OK, but I approach chargen as earnestly as I can. So. This guy's name is Hrundle. Hrundle was the son of a farmer - his family raised cattle and sold meat, hide, and milk. But Hrundle had a clever mind for carpentry, too, and after he redesigned the barns to fit more cows during milking season, a nearby family suggested he go and become an apprentice carpenter. Hrundle learned how to build things and got an offer to join a caravan traveling to a city, and figuring he could send money home to his family, he joined up.

One of the other folks traveling with him was a very powerful mage, and recognized some potential in Hrundle. He started teaching Hrundle how to infuse magic into the world, and Hrundle feels pretty good about his learning so far; eventually he wants to learn how to make magical items, but so far his infusing is pretty basic (just making things move or appear).

Sounds good. Fun character to play in a better game.