This is what I get for trying to do this on two hours of sleep. Reading comprehension issues.
Without the Vigil book, I can't help much on why we would all hang out together. The PI probably has the broadest cross-section of social experience, realistically. So it should probably hang on him as the man-in-the-middle, unless there needs to be something hugely elaborate.
OP edited to avoid confusing anyone.
If we're going with a safehouse, I'll drop Morality to 5 and lose Meditative Mind in favour of contributing 2 dots to it.
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ElldrenIs a woman dammitceterum censeoRegistered Userregular
edited August 2008
Mostly for my own sake, here's who is what so far:
Rainfall: ST
Professions in parentheses
Leemo: Mid-level drug pusher turned religious fanatic (Criminal)
[strike]Jacques Cousteau: Gravedigging crazy (Laborer?)[/strike]
Egos: Nosy investigative burglar (Criminal)
Arcanis: Ex-soldier vampire hunter (Not a soldier because he's different)
MacGuffin: Occultist inestigator (Detective)
Elldren: Martial artist defender of the night (Athlete)
MiSTieOtaku: Accountant militant (Professional)
People who have expressed interest but not provided concepts in-thread:
MolotovCockatoo
INNS
Sheep Have Wool
YesNoMu
Wildcat
cytorak
cj iwakura
Jack Tyler was something of a dreamer when he was young. He would fantasize and day dream during class, his grades often lacking as a result. Eventually, motivated out of fear from teachers and his parents about what would happen to him if he didn't study hard, Jack turned to his education, becoming totally focused and career-minded. After College, Jack entered into a career as a business analyst, and a year later had his eyes opened to the Vigil. During a late night stroll through the park back to his apartment, he was witness to an attack on a man by a group of children with completely black eyes. He watched as they asked the man to let them into his car and, almost as though he were in a trance, he complied. Once inside, the 'children' proceeded to kill him.
Jack attempted to stop it, only to be attacked himself. Just when he thought he was going to suffer the same fate as the other man, a group appeared, opening fire on the children and driving them away. It was through this group that Jack was introduced to the Vigil and the Union, receiving the necessary information to join. Since that time, he has read of and seen things that have terrified him but also driven him to continue the Vigil, even at the cost of his life and his career. For him, these things will eventually be necessary sacrifices if it means defending Miama from the creatures that prey on humanity. Of course, he has to keep the Vigil secret, lest he end up in an asylum for the rest of his days.
Oh darn. I'd really like to play, but I won't be back home for a week or so. I hope you guys have a good time (and dibs in case someone drops/dies out).
Without the Vigil book, I can't help much on why we would all hang out together. The PI probably has the broadest cross-section of social experience, realistically. So it should probably hang on him as the man-in-the-middle, unless there needs to be something hugely elaborate.
I'll give it a shot.
I was investigating a case, some people went missing in the middle of the night, all across miami.
Not really mysterious in itself (we're talking about Miami here), it became a true enigma as i found some signs on the walls in the areas, where the victims where last seen.
I also found some suspects (the other characters) in these areas. They where behaving strangely, taking pictures of the signs, investigating the areas, looking for something. As i talked to them i realised that these people where innocent, although they seemed to know as much as i did.
This wasn't just a normal killer, they knew it, i knew it.
Ignoring this feeling and returning to my investigations, i soon found the persons responsible.
A large dark cult, preparing for a sinister ritual.
And they found me aswell.
They knocked me out and dragged me into their hideout.
I found myself in a cell when i regained consciousness, but i wasn't alone, every one of you was also in the cell. You we're looking for the cult aswell,
and you found it.
Kieran was able to open the lock and we we're able to escape.
We returned a while later, armed and working as a team, destroying the cult.
We escaped a cell and found another one.
Yeah, i know this isn't a elaborate or even remotely well written text.
If someone has a better idea or something more elaborate, than please post it.
Also i really want Elldren to own the savehouse, so it can be a dojo. 8-)
I didn't put any points in any of that other stuff because he's not really a professional hunter, he's an Iraq veteran who had some shit happen and things went kind of bad so now he's out for revenge
so he has no Hunter profession or any of the status junk and that's on purpose
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ElldrenIs a woman dammitceterum censeoRegistered Userregular
edited August 2008
Arcanis: The profession thing doesn't mean professional hunter: nobody does that. You don't have to take dots in the professional training merit to have a profession (and therefore the asset skills and free specialty), nor do you have to make money in the field for it to count. A war vet fresh from the front will still have all of his soldiering skills, so it would make sense for your character to have that as his profession no matter what his day job is now.
Just a note: Updated my character stats. There were a few small errors from shifting things around without sleeping enough. Should all be kosher now, and I've takent he liberty of contributing 2 dots to one of the safehouse characteristics. Either size or cache would probably fit this guy.
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ElldrenIs a woman dammitceterum censeoRegistered Userregular
I rejigged my guy to make it straight merit dots I can contribute instead of xp-derived ones (since that would be awkward for pooling purposes).
I am contributing 3 dots, now.
Right. So 8 dots of stuff. MacGuffin wants it to be a dojo (My dojo? No way. Not putting my name on any of that.), which I think is kinda neat. Anyone have any other suggestions?
yup if people (who dont have a book) want a more detailed idea on what each dot does
Size-
0- barely enough space for a pair of characters to fit in
1- a studio apartment- 1-2 rooms
2- a large apartment or small family home- 3- 4 rooms
3- a warehouse , or church or large home, 5 to eight rooms; or a large enclosure
4- a mansion; 9-15 rooms
5- sprawling estate with interconnected tunnel network, countless rooms and chambers
Cache
each dot roughly can hold 5 size points of equipment. (equipment doesn't have to be stored in a cache
in the case of a large house, but interlopers get a -5 to any search).
Secrecy
x- the hunter bought the place or rented using his real name ,etc.
1- hunter went through an intermediary , but cosigned a loan
2- assumed name or paid cash
3-considerable difficulty in tracing property- hunter may just be squatting
4- hunter never goes back to place if he doesn't have to, and never takes the same route
5- the property has a real owner who can testify to the police that they never saw the hunter before
Traps
x- none
1- 1 point of lethal damage to a target or 3 points of bashing damage to a small area
2- 2 points of lethal damage to a target or 6 points of bashing damage to a small area or trap that has a chance of igniting the targets and the house on fire.
3- 3 points of lethal damage to a target or 8 bashing to a small area or a trap that damages a portion of the safehouse reducing its size by 1 (explosives anyone caught in the blast takes 2 lethal damage)
4- 4 lethal damage to a target or 10 bashing to an area or a trap that reduces house Size by 1-3 pts (3 lethal dmg to anyone caught in blast)
5- 5 points of lethal damage or 10 bashing/two lethal to a small area or a trap that completely destroys the safehouse (4 pts of lethal damge to anyone caught in the blast)...
I think a dojo is a pretty good front. You could do like a lot of the old-timey neighborhood gyms and have a dojo on the ground floor of a wholly owned building that includes living quarters upstairs, and a basement full of guns and prisoners. If we have enough in secrecy and size, we could really play around with that concept.
It would also cover our meets very nicely. We just have to schedule a judo exhibition and all attend, for instance. I could actually see having my character put some points into Judo as the chronicle unfolds and he spends time in there.
My character need some form of safehouse for pursuing his criminal activities, also. I would like to be able to use the communal one for this. In character, it wouldn't be a stretch to presume that Zeke was the bankroll behind the real estate purchase, since I think he has more resources available than anyone else. Hopefully this would smoothe over the discrete bit of counting and measuring that happens in the basement every couple of weeks. (No clients would ever be invited to the safehouse, obviously. He just occasionally needs a place to stash product overnight)
Unless other people are kicking in --
Size 3, Secrecy 3, Cache 2 would seem to fit with what I wrote above.
Size 3 would allow for whole-building ownership in a semi-run-down part of Miami.
Secrecy 3 would make sense -- paid in cash, transferred the rights through a holding company over to the Judo Expertise Federation of Miami, a non-profit organization that immediately votes control to a committee determined by another organization that is a subsidiary of Good Times Enterprises, which is a wholy owned...
Cache 2 could accomodate some weapons and possibly 1 dot of this could really help my character out.
ITT we would have to have Secrecy at 5 if we had/want people actually running the Dojo.
If one more person has room for a merit point to contribute, we could run Secrecy 5, Size 3, Cache 1. The cache could be used initially to support Zeke's enterprises and have a few weapons in it, and we could gradually expand upon that. I'm a bit stretched with 3 kicked in already. I don't think we have a pressing need for a large cache starting out.
Zeke could have bought up the gym as a perfect opportunity -- helping disadvantaged kids learn discipline as a Christian act of charity, having a base of operations for his own activities, and looking to the future -- perhaps on advice from the Long Night -- that a base of operations would be necessary.
Finding out he had something in common with some of the other people who frequented the gym could have been a fundamentally organic process. It's a bit of a stretch, but then he could have passed word to someone and they could have passed word and so on and so on until a cell more or less assembled itself.
Tex could've just wandered in by mistake, and made nice with someone else.
Oooh... that's how we could have met. You bought up Amy's dad's old gym when he retired! I'm liking where this is going.
That's a excellent idea right there.
Size 3, Secrecy 3, Cache 2 is also a very good idea, i don't think we need something bigger than 3. 4 and higher could threaten us more than it could help, Cache is obvius and Secrey is, imho, a better choice than Traps.
Kieran was able to open the lock and we we're able to escape.
We returned a while later, armed and working as a team, destroying the cult.
We escaped a cell and found another one.
I think us taking out a whole Cult would be a bit hard. How about us taking out 1-3 supernatural sickos?
You played Bloodlines. Maybe we could imagine a ghoul or mage akin to the guy who harvested organs or the seedy bloodbank?
The whole text was just hammered together.
Maybe i should have specified what i meant with a "cult", i thought of not more than 10 "normal" humans who just happened to pray to Kaine, nothing really threatening for 7 or more hunters.
Considering Arcanis seems to be especially hunting vampires ghoules seem to be a far better idea.
Maybe 3 or 4 abandoned ones who where trying to recreat something there masters once did, to get their attention, or something like that.
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ElldrenIs a woman dammitceterum censeoRegistered Userregular
Oooh... that's how we could have met. You bought up Amy's dad's old gym when he retired! I'm liking where this is going.
That's a excellent idea right there.
Size 3, Secrecy 3, Cache 2 is also a very good idea, i don't think we need something bigger than 3. 4 and higher could threaten us more than it could help, Cache is obvius and Secrey is, imho, a better choice than Traps.
Far better. My character might throw a fit if you decided it was a good idea to blow up her old home.
Oooh... that's how we could have met. You bought up Amy's dad's old gym when he retired! I'm liking where this is going.
That's a excellent idea right there.
Size 3, Secrecy 3, Cache 2 is also a very good idea, i don't think we need something bigger than 3. 4 and higher could threaten us more than it could help, Cache is obvius and Secrey is, imho, a better choice than Traps.
Far better. My character might throw a fit if you decided it was a good idea to blow up her old home.
Someone was saying we'd need secrecy 5 if we expected to have people running the Dojo.
If this isn't true, 3/3/2 seems the best configuration to me, and I think this origin story is working out.
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ElldrenIs a woman dammitceterum censeoRegistered Userregular
Oooh... that's how we could have met. You bought up Amy's dad's old gym when he retired! I'm liking where this is going.
That's a excellent idea right there.
Size 3, Secrecy 3, Cache 2 is also a very good idea, i don't think we need something bigger than 3. 4 and higher could threaten us more than it could help, Cache is obvius and Secrey is, imho, a better choice than Traps.
Far better. My character might throw a fit if you decided it was a good idea to blow up her old home.
Someone was saying we'd need secrecy 5 if we expected to have people running the Dojo.
If this isn't true, 3/3/2 seems the best configuration to me, and I think this origin story is working out.
People who, when questioned, would deny all knowledge of us. They don't have to be willing to do this if we don't want to spend the points.
Someone was saying we'd need secrecy 5 if we expected to have people running the Dojo.
Rainfall is probably the ultimate judge of this. But none of the other secrecy levels mention any occupants or anything of that sort. (It could be like Elldren says)
I'm guessing though if we didn't want a whole Dojo class or whatever ratting us out, and they would be willing to lie. We would definitely need 5.
Someone was saying we'd need secrecy 5 if we expected to have people running the Dojo.
Rainfall is probably the ultimate judge of this. But none of the other secrecy levels mention any occupants or anything of that sort. (It could be like Elldren says)
I'm guessing though if we didn't want a whole Dojo class or whatever ratting us out, and they would be willing to lie. We would definitely need 5.
But, they wouldn't really know. It's not like they're in on the secret. Like, if the Wal-Mart down the road from me had a nuclear missile in the secret sub-basement, I wouldn't expect that the owners would be much concerned about the shoppers sneaking away, picking a few locks, bypassing the security systems, etc.
This would just be a normally functioning, 3-times-a-day judo class, with a normally functioning sensei, going about their business.
Edit: Just saw Elldren's response. It seems like that would be unnecessary. "Yea, that guy comes by to watch matches" isn't so bad. It seems like we've already lost the game at the point where anyone is questioning the judo kids and handing out our photos.
Just saw Elldren's response. It seems like that would be unnecessary. "Yea, that guy comes by to watch matches" isn't so bad. It seems like we've already lost the game at the point where anyone is questioning the judo kids and handing out our photos.
Well the game wouldn't be lost... the safehouse just would be.
Someone was saying we'd need secrecy 5 if we expected to have people running the Dojo.
Rainfall is probably the ultimate judge of this. But none of the other secrecy levels mention any occupants or anything of that sort. (It could be like Elldren says)
I'm guessing though if we didn't want a whole Dojo class or whatever ratting us out, and they would be willing to lie. We would definitely need 5.
Having a whole judo class in there, that knows that we frequently go there seems to be the equivalent of writing our names in big letters on the housefront, probably not a good idea.
We can't really afford Secrecy 5 (without having our Safehouse in a shed, that is), so, imho ther shouldn't be any occupants besides us.
Just saw Elldren's response. It seems like that would be unnecessary. "Yea, that guy comes by to watch matches" isn't so bad. It seems like we've already lost the game at the point where anyone is questioning the judo kids and handing out our photos.
Well the game wouldn't be lost... the safehouse just would be.
I meant the secrecy game, not the chronicle.
From my perspective, a 3/3/2 safehouse barring anyone else kicking in merits is fine. Zeke can be the bankroll on it, and we'll functionally use it the same way, it's really just the form that we're discussing.
So -- midtown warehouse, it is?
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ElldrenIs a woman dammitceterum censeoRegistered Userregular
edited August 2008
Right now I'm wishing we weren't in Miami 'cause we could have a basement.
And Henry and Kieran met in the torture den of some nasty buggers. Leaving Jack and Tex. And bridging between groups.
We could do something where its a collaborative effort between the Long Night, The Union, and The Loyalists. Could easily tie everyone together, if it isn't the best idea.
In the form of a failed amusement park that attempted to compete with SeaWorld
So what else do we have to figure out till we get started?
The Safehouse can be a gym that Zeke has purchased through some legal wiggly diggly, and assistance from a willingness to pay in cashmoney. He justifies this to his lawyer as being an investment, with the intent being to eventually turn it into a hopping nightspot (tentatively named, "Sweat". As a drug lawyer, she should be familiar with the moronic business adventures of her clients, so this isn't going to raise any eyebrows. Officially, it's going to be a chore to actually identify the name of the owner, and Zeke is otherwise off the grid so even that isn't going to be too useful. The gym has a ground floor (equipment room, bathrooms & showers, main gym floor) and an upper floor (office, bedroom, living room, storage room, bathroom).
He's obtained a little bit of assistance in refitting the upstairs from some handy folks who know how to hide things, dealing with them in the paranoid fashion that they're used to (blindfolds, tinted car ride, work by flashlight, pay well and promptly). Entry can be gained from the front entrance (office area) or through the loading area, accessible via the poorly illuminated access alley (this leads to the equipment room). Though all signage has long since been removed, the faint ghosts of the letters "G Y M" can still be seen above the entranceway. It's a serviceable building, with electricity, water and heat. Utilities have been dealt with in the same way as ownership, and are automatically paid from a sequence of deposits originating in a dividend-yielding investment account that just happens to yield exactly the amount required each month. To protect it from vandals, the windows were all boarded up several years ago. Zeke is inclined to leave the boards in place.
Statistics-- Secrecy: 3, Size: 3, Cache: 2
Origin-wise, I suggested earlier we just work it from "Zeke buys a gym because the Long Night suggests it might be a good idea to establish a base, and have an inkling that he's worth a few bucks. Zeke buys it, and then words are spoken in ears that echo to lips that find ears.... and voila, a monster huntin' team!" I assume that the various groups have some level of inter-communication, even if they don't generally agree philosophically. We could be a pilot project, of sorts. A test to see how well the different groups can work together, and maybe an attempt to achieve some kind of unity in the face of our enemies, etc.
Tex is odd man out on that one, still.
Edit: I can change the safehouse back to a midtown warehouse, or keep it as a gym. The gym has more flavour, to me, and might help smarter people than me work out why we know each other. So I'm leaving it like that for now.
I prefer the gym, as it's a very useful way for Amy to get involved in the cell at this point.
Okay. Zeke decides that he needs to purchase a piece of real estate, and finds that Julio Castillo's gym is an appealing asset for a variety of reasons. Castillo insists on meeting the new purchaser, and Zeke complies with this request, albeit in disguise (hair dyed brown, colored contacts, wearing a suit). Julio likes him, because Zeke is a likeable kind of guy.
Julio's daughter is also in attendance, and at the conclusion of business asks Zeke what he intends to do with the gym. Zeke is non-commital, mentioning the possibility of turning it into a nightclub. Amy is a little bit horrified, and suggests a Dojo. Zeke takes this under advisement, asking if that would be "good for the spiritual health of some of the kids around here?". Amy suggests that it would be. Zeke inquires into Amy's interest, discovering her aptitude for Judo.
He briefly contemplates seeing if she'd be interested in supplying some muscle to his criminal enterprises, before realizing that he's never needed any muscle before. But, hey, how often do you meet a Judoka when you're trying to complete a real estate deal. This sparks off a train of thought surrounding his newfound association with the Long Night, and whether or not you can kill a monster with your bare hands. Zeke is pretty sure he can't kill much of anything past a chicken with his bare hands, and views Amy in a new, prospective monster-hunting light. He agrees to keep in touch with her about the gym, and in subsequent conversations susses her out enough with his conversational and listening skills that he divines they're on essentially the same path.
Zeke is overjoyed! Further proof of the existance of an all-powerful and benevolent God. He provides Amy with a key to the gym, suggests she make use of the front door as she's already known in the neighborhood. She's instructed to tell anyone that asks that the buyer has hired her on to be the building manager while he figures out what to do with it, which gives her free access to the equipment. This should attract little attention.
So, there's Amy and Zeke. Now if other people could just integrate themselves into the fabric of this story, we'd be all set.
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ElldrenIs a woman dammitceterum censeoRegistered Userregular
edited August 2008
Julio insists, of course, because he's an old Cuban guy and that's just how it's supposed to be done. He is now retired, having decided to spend the rest of his days in one of the nice retirement communities up in Palm Beach.
Arcanis: The profession thing doesn't mean professional hunter: nobody does that. You don't have to take dots in the professional training merit to have a profession (and therefore the asset skills and free specialty), nor do you have to make money in the field for it to count. A war vet fresh from the front will still have all of his soldiering skills, so it would make sense for your character to have that as his profession no matter what his day job is now.
Posts
This is what I get for trying to do this on two hours of sleep. Reading comprehension issues.
Without the Vigil book, I can't help much on why we would all hang out together. The PI probably has the broadest cross-section of social experience, realistically. So it should probably hang on him as the man-in-the-middle, unless there needs to be something hugely elaborate.
OP edited to avoid confusing anyone.
If we're going with a safehouse, I'll drop Morality to 5 and lose Meditative Mind in favour of contributing 2 dots to it.
Rainfall: ST
Professions in parentheses
Leemo: Mid-level drug pusher turned religious fanatic (Criminal)
[strike]Jacques Cousteau: Gravedigging crazy (Laborer?)[/strike]
Egos: Nosy investigative burglar (Criminal)
Arcanis: Ex-soldier vampire hunter (Not a soldier because he's different)
MacGuffin: Occultist inestigator (Detective)
Elldren: Martial artist defender of the night (Athlete)
MiSTieOtaku: Accountant militant (Professional)
People who have expressed interest but not provided concepts in-thread:
MolotovCockatoo
INNS
Sheep Have Wool
YesNoMu
Wildcat
cytorak
cj iwakura
Edit: Updated
Player: MiSTieOtaku
Chronicle: Penny Arcade PbP
Concept: Jaded Analyst
Virtue: Fortitude
Vice: Pride
Profession: Professional
Cell: Whatever Our Cell Is
Compact/Conspiracy: The Union
Attributes
Intelligence: •••
Wits: ••
Resolve: •••
Strength: ••
Dexterity: ••
Stamina: ••
Presence: ••
Manipulation: ••
Composure: •••
Skills
Mental
Academics: •• (Business Analysis), (Accounting)
Computer: ••
Crafts:
Investigation: •
Medicine:
Occult:
Politics: •
Science: •
Physical
Athletics: •
Brawl: •
Drive: •
Firearms: •
Larceny:
Stealth: •
Survival: •
Weaponry:
Social
Animal Ken: •
Empathy: •
Expression: •
Intimidation: •
Persuasion: •• (Fast-Talking)
Socialize: •• (Formal Events)
Streetwise: •
Subterfuge: •
Other Traits
Merits
Resources: ••
Professional Training: ••
Contacts (The Union): ••
Status (The Union): •
Safehouse Secrecy (Shared): •
Safehouse Size (Shared): •
Tactics
Health: 7
Willpower: 6
Morality: 7
Size: 5
Speed: 9
Initiative Mod: 5
Defense: 2
Armor:
Background
Jack Tyler was something of a dreamer when he was young. He would fantasize and day dream during class, his grades often lacking as a result. Eventually, motivated out of fear from teachers and his parents about what would happen to him if he didn't study hard, Jack turned to his education, becoming totally focused and career-minded. After College, Jack entered into a career as a business analyst, and a year later had his eyes opened to the Vigil. During a late night stroll through the park back to his apartment, he was witness to an attack on a man by a group of children with completely black eyes. He watched as they asked the man to let them into his car and, almost as though he were in a trance, he complied. Once inside, the 'children' proceeded to kill him.
Jack attempted to stop it, only to be attacked himself. Just when he thought he was going to suffer the same fate as the other man, a group appeared, opening fire on the children and driving them away. It was through this group that Jack was introduced to the Vigil and the Union, receiving the necessary information to join. Since that time, he has read of and seen things that have terrified him but also driven him to continue the Vigil, even at the cost of his life and his career. For him, these things will eventually be necessary sacrifices if it means defending Miama from the creatures that prey on humanity. Of course, he has to keep the Vigil secret, lest he end up in an asylum for the rest of his days.
Equipment
Flashlight Baton
Glock 22
Sawed-off shotgun
Reinforced/thick clothing
Duct Tape
Swiss Army Knife
Smartphone
Laptop
The lime dots are the ones I spent the extra XP on.
I was investigating a case, some people went missing in the middle of the night, all across miami.
Not really mysterious in itself (we're talking about Miami here), it became a true enigma as i found some signs on the walls in the areas, where the victims where last seen.
I also found some suspects (the other characters) in these areas. They where behaving strangely, taking pictures of the signs, investigating the areas, looking for something. As i talked to them i realised that these people where innocent, although they seemed to know as much as i did.
This wasn't just a normal killer, they knew it, i knew it.
Ignoring this feeling and returning to my investigations, i soon found the persons responsible.
A large dark cult, preparing for a sinister ritual.
And they found me aswell.
They knocked me out and dragged me into their hideout.
I found myself in a cell when i regained consciousness, but i wasn't alone, every one of you was also in the cell. You we're looking for the cult aswell,
and you found it.
Kieran was able to open the lock and we we're able to escape.
We returned a while later, armed and working as a team, destroying the cult.
We escaped a cell and found another one.
Yeah, i know this isn't a elaborate or even remotely well written text.
If someone has a better idea or something more elaborate, than please post it.
Also i really want Elldren to own the savehouse, so it can be a dojo. 8-)
his day job is a car mechanic
I didn't put any points in any of that other stuff because he's not really a professional hunter, he's an Iraq veteran who had some shit happen and things went kind of bad so now he's out for revenge
so he has no Hunter profession or any of the status junk and that's on purpose
Just make sure to "Save as" when you save individual characters or you will have to go and unclick everything for a new character.
I rejigged my guy to make it straight merit dots I can contribute instead of xp-derived ones (since that would be awkward for pooling purposes).
I am contributing 3 dots, now.
Right. So 8 dots of stuff. MacGuffin wants it to be a dojo (My dojo? No way. Not putting my name on any of that.), which I think is kinda neat. Anyone have any other suggestions?
Size-
0- barely enough space for a pair of characters to fit in
1- a studio apartment- 1-2 rooms
2- a large apartment or small family home- 3- 4 rooms
3- a warehouse , or church or large home, 5 to eight rooms; or a large enclosure
4- a mansion; 9-15 rooms
5- sprawling estate with interconnected tunnel network, countless rooms and chambers
Cache
each dot roughly can hold 5 size points of equipment. (equipment doesn't have to be stored in a cache
in the case of a large house, but interlopers get a -5 to any search).
Secrecy
x- the hunter bought the place or rented using his real name ,etc.
1- hunter went through an intermediary , but cosigned a loan
2- assumed name or paid cash
3-considerable difficulty in tracing property- hunter may just be squatting
4- hunter never goes back to place if he doesn't have to, and never takes the same route
5- the property has a real owner who can testify to the police that they never saw the hunter before
Traps
x- none
1- 1 point of lethal damage to a target or 3 points of bashing damage to a small area
2- 2 points of lethal damage to a target or 6 points of bashing damage to a small area or trap that has a chance of igniting the targets and the house on fire.
3- 3 points of lethal damage to a target or 8 bashing to a small area or a trap that damages a portion of the safehouse reducing its size by 1 (explosives anyone caught in the blast takes 2 lethal damage)
4- 4 lethal damage to a target or 10 bashing to an area or a trap that reduces house Size by 1-3 pts (3 lethal dmg to anyone caught in blast)
5- 5 points of lethal damage or 10 bashing/two lethal to a small area or a trap that completely destroys the safehouse (4 pts of lethal damge to anyone caught in the blast)...
It would also cover our meets very nicely. We just have to schedule a judo exhibition and all attend, for instance. I could actually see having my character put some points into Judo as the chronicle unfolds and he spends time in there.
My character need some form of safehouse for pursuing his criminal activities, also. I would like to be able to use the communal one for this. In character, it wouldn't be a stretch to presume that Zeke was the bankroll behind the real estate purchase, since I think he has more resources available than anyone else. Hopefully this would smoothe over the discrete bit of counting and measuring that happens in the basement every couple of weeks. (No clients would ever be invited to the safehouse, obviously. He just occasionally needs a place to stash product overnight)
Unless other people are kicking in --
Size 3, Secrecy 3, Cache 2 would seem to fit with what I wrote above.
Size 3 would allow for whole-building ownership in a semi-run-down part of Miami.
Secrecy 3 would make sense -- paid in cash, transferred the rights through a holding company over to the Judo Expertise Federation of Miami, a non-profit organization that immediately votes control to a committee determined by another organization that is a subsidiary of Good Times Enterprises, which is a wholy owned...
Cache 2 could accomodate some weapons and possibly 1 dot of this could really help my character out.
edit: also
I think us taking out a whole Cult would be a bit hard. How about us taking out 1-3 supernatural sickos?
You played Bloodlines. Maybe we could imagine a ghoul or mage akin to the guy who harvested organs or the seedy bloodbank?
edit: I'm not sure if we'd have secrecy 5, what with the property having been previously in my character's father's name.
Zeke could have bought up the gym as a perfect opportunity -- helping disadvantaged kids learn discipline as a Christian act of charity, having a base of operations for his own activities, and looking to the future -- perhaps on advice from the Long Night -- that a base of operations would be necessary.
Finding out he had something in common with some of the other people who frequented the gym could have been a fundamentally organic process. It's a bit of a stretch, but then he could have passed word to someone and they could have passed word and so on and so on until a cell more or less assembled itself.
Tex could've just wandered in by mistake, and made nice with someone else.
Size 3, Secrecy 3, Cache 2 is also a very good idea, i don't think we need something bigger than 3. 4 and higher could threaten us more than it could help, Cache is obvius and Secrey is, imho, a better choice than Traps.
The whole text was just hammered together.
Maybe i should have specified what i meant with a "cult", i thought of not more than 10 "normal" humans who just happened to pray to Kaine, nothing really threatening for 7 or more hunters.
Considering Arcanis seems to be especially hunting vampires ghoules seem to be a far better idea.
Maybe 3 or 4 abandoned ones who where trying to recreat something there masters once did, to get their attention, or something like that.
Far better. My character might throw a fit if you decided it was a good idea to blow up her old home.
Someone was saying we'd need secrecy 5 if we expected to have people running the Dojo.
If this isn't true, 3/3/2 seems the best configuration to me, and I think this origin story is working out.
People who, when questioned, would deny all knowledge of us. They don't have to be willing to do this if we don't want to spend the points.
Rainfall is probably the ultimate judge of this. But none of the other secrecy levels mention any occupants or anything of that sort. (It could be like Elldren says)
I'm guessing though if we didn't want a whole Dojo class or whatever ratting us out, and they would be willing to lie. We would definitely need 5.
But, they wouldn't really know. It's not like they're in on the secret. Like, if the Wal-Mart down the road from me had a nuclear missile in the secret sub-basement, I wouldn't expect that the owners would be much concerned about the shoppers sneaking away, picking a few locks, bypassing the security systems, etc.
This would just be a normally functioning, 3-times-a-day judo class, with a normally functioning sensei, going about their business.
Edit: Just saw Elldren's response. It seems like that would be unnecessary. "Yea, that guy comes by to watch matches" isn't so bad. It seems like we've already lost the game at the point where anyone is questioning the judo kids and handing out our photos.
Well the game wouldn't be lost... the safehouse just would be.
We can't really afford Secrecy 5 (without having our Safehouse in a shed, that is), so, imho ther shouldn't be any occupants besides us.
I meant the secrecy game, not the chronicle.
From my perspective, a 3/3/2 safehouse barring anyone else kicking in merits is fine. Zeke can be the bankroll on it, and we'll functionally use it the same way, it's really just the form that we're discussing.
So -- midtown warehouse, it is?
Later on, we can have a subaquatic lair, so it'll be worth it.
So what else do we have to figure out till we get started?
Ezekiel buys old gym from Julio Castillo, meets his daughter Amy, they talk about weird shit. Converts old gym into safehouse for drugs + hunting.
We could do something where its a collaborative effort between the Long Night, The Union, and The Loyalists. Could easily tie everyone together, if it isn't the best idea.
The Safehouse can be a gym that Zeke has purchased through some legal wiggly diggly, and assistance from a willingness to pay in cashmoney. He justifies this to his lawyer as being an investment, with the intent being to eventually turn it into a hopping nightspot (tentatively named, "Sweat". As a drug lawyer, she should be familiar with the moronic business adventures of her clients, so this isn't going to raise any eyebrows. Officially, it's going to be a chore to actually identify the name of the owner, and Zeke is otherwise off the grid so even that isn't going to be too useful. The gym has a ground floor (equipment room, bathrooms & showers, main gym floor) and an upper floor (office, bedroom, living room, storage room, bathroom).
He's obtained a little bit of assistance in refitting the upstairs from some handy folks who know how to hide things, dealing with them in the paranoid fashion that they're used to (blindfolds, tinted car ride, work by flashlight, pay well and promptly). Entry can be gained from the front entrance (office area) or through the loading area, accessible via the poorly illuminated access alley (this leads to the equipment room). Though all signage has long since been removed, the faint ghosts of the letters "G Y M" can still be seen above the entranceway. It's a serviceable building, with electricity, water and heat. Utilities have been dealt with in the same way as ownership, and are automatically paid from a sequence of deposits originating in a dividend-yielding investment account that just happens to yield exactly the amount required each month. To protect it from vandals, the windows were all boarded up several years ago. Zeke is inclined to leave the boards in place.
Statistics-- Secrecy: 3, Size: 3, Cache: 2
Origin-wise, I suggested earlier we just work it from "Zeke buys a gym because the Long Night suggests it might be a good idea to establish a base, and have an inkling that he's worth a few bucks. Zeke buys it, and then words are spoken in ears that echo to lips that find ears.... and voila, a monster huntin' team!" I assume that the various groups have some level of inter-communication, even if they don't generally agree philosophically. We could be a pilot project, of sorts. A test to see how well the different groups can work together, and maybe an attempt to achieve some kind of unity in the face of our enemies, etc.
Tex is odd man out on that one, still.
Edit: I can change the safehouse back to a midtown warehouse, or keep it as a gym. The gym has more flavour, to me, and might help smarter people than me work out why we know each other. So I'm leaving it like that for now.
Okay. Zeke decides that he needs to purchase a piece of real estate, and finds that Julio Castillo's gym is an appealing asset for a variety of reasons. Castillo insists on meeting the new purchaser, and Zeke complies with this request, albeit in disguise (hair dyed brown, colored contacts, wearing a suit). Julio likes him, because Zeke is a likeable kind of guy.
Julio's daughter is also in attendance, and at the conclusion of business asks Zeke what he intends to do with the gym. Zeke is non-commital, mentioning the possibility of turning it into a nightclub. Amy is a little bit horrified, and suggests a Dojo. Zeke takes this under advisement, asking if that would be "good for the spiritual health of some of the kids around here?". Amy suggests that it would be. Zeke inquires into Amy's interest, discovering her aptitude for Judo.
He briefly contemplates seeing if she'd be interested in supplying some muscle to his criminal enterprises, before realizing that he's never needed any muscle before. But, hey, how often do you meet a Judoka when you're trying to complete a real estate deal. This sparks off a train of thought surrounding his newfound association with the Long Night, and whether or not you can kill a monster with your bare hands. Zeke is pretty sure he can't kill much of anything past a chicken with his bare hands, and views Amy in a new, prospective monster-hunting light. He agrees to keep in touch with her about the gym, and in subsequent conversations susses her out enough with his conversational and listening skills that he divines they're on essentially the same path.
Zeke is overjoyed! Further proof of the existance of an all-powerful and benevolent God. He provides Amy with a key to the gym, suggests she make use of the front door as she's already known in the neighborhood. She's instructed to tell anyone that asks that the buyer has hired her on to be the building manager while he figures out what to do with it, which gives her free access to the equipment. This should attract little attention.
So, there's Amy and Zeke. Now if other people could just integrate themselves into the fabric of this story, we'd be all set.
... which is reflected in his skills