Princes of the City: Anyone Want to Bite?

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:49 pm

Sure. The only thing I'm still really waffling on is 5 dots of melee & a library vs being personally richer than Croesus.

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 11:54 pm

My character will be finished immediately following people finalizing their pool contributions. Any points left undeclared in the pool will be placed in Contacts.

This is also the final chance to introduce a group-owned business/property. As an example, I earlier mentioned purchasing a mobile slaughter unit and hitched tractor, so as to not only lend a modicum of plausible deniability to murders gone awry, but to contribute to the Night Rider 2000 thing Verge has going.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 10:56 pm

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can finalize by then. Basically a lot of mildly annoying but cumulatively frustrating stuff came up so I wasn't in any mood to post for the last few days.

Still going through heavy writer's block so I'll donate 4 points to the group for an employed Supernatural Companion (Upto you guys. I was originally thinking Teleporting, Illusionist Vampire for quick cover ups. Prak mentioned Earthbound, but the wiki is vague about what they can actually do.)

Since teleportation is a thing, is there anything we can do to protect ourselves from Scry & Die tactics?

I'll also pool another 5 for company allies. Some ideas:
- Professional Skeptic/'Debunker' (courtesy of GURPS Illuminati)
- Deprogrammer (Same)
- Psychiatrist (Same)
- Do we have any contacts in news media?

I'm down with the mobile slaughter unit.

I've been thinking about the animal spies thing. If we do put cameras on them, is there some way to make it so that the camera melts or something if an animal gets captured and/or dies? Just in case someone actually finds one of those.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 1:25 am

Rad, check your pms.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 3:36 am

radthemad4 wrote: Prak mentioned Earthbound, but the wiki is vague about what they can actually do.)

That's because they're refrigerator trapped boss monsters who you were expected to finally defeat by forming a tag team with Satan.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 6:10 am

Whipstitch wrote:
radthemad4 wrote: Prak mentioned Earthbound, but the wiki is vague about what they can actually do.)
That's because they're refrigerator trapped boss monsters who you were expected to finally defeat by forming a tag team with Satan.

I'd think an Earthbound would have the class to be trapped in an industrial laundry steamer, rather than a refrigerator.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 6:13 am

They're sort of the Elders of Demon the Fallen (because DtF is basically Werewolf+Vampire). They burn out human vessels, but if they have a reliquary they're cool. They can provide awesome minor powers to our mortals.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 6:25 am

Okay, I think I know what I'll do now.

I'll switch back to Humanity, freeing up three points, dump my resources, and remove two points from my pool contribution.

I'll use those to buy Likeness of a Saint (Robert Paterson) and Auspex 4.

I'll just keep the Zen Buddhist thing as flavor, under the assumption that AH won't force my to roll to determine what Hollywood mental illness I get if I accidentally cut someone off in traffic.

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 1:48 pm

hyzmarca wrote:remove two points from my pool contribution.

Cool. That still leaves 3 points in the pool for you to allocate. If you write up a Contact/Ally blurb, or whatever you want it to represent, I'll edit it into the background post.

radthemad4 wrote:I'll also pool another 5 for company allies.

The same applies here. If either of you guys don't feel like writing brief descriptions please go ahead and say, and it can get kicked to the group. The only media contact currently is at the local television station, and I suggested having someone at the Juneau Bureau of the AP.

The animal spies thing was somewhat discouraged due to not having a way to influence the animals without taking away from Kel's bear party. Maybe the group could subsidize a Community Watch security camera initiative, ostensibly open to the public, but kept on delay.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 9:28 pm

OKay, sort out the final details and spend the final point. The in-character thread begins Monday, when I can get off my ass and post it. We'll sort out any other little details as they come up, though I may prompt a couple of you with specific questions.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Sun Mar 22, 2015 12:35 am

I'd be fine with throwing the dot into Herd and just calling it my latest batch of "patients."

Prak wrote:They're sort of the Elders of Demon the Fallen (because DtF is basically Werewolf+Vampire). They burn out human vessels, but if they have a reliquary they're cool. They can provide awesome minor powers to our mortals.

If we're looking for minor custom doodads from a separate splat, then my vote would be for a mummy for the following reasons:

1. Mummies are good enough at crafting potions and amulets that they can cover a lot of the same knick knacks and buffs territory without compromising the loyalty of our herd. The systems for such things are a bit "Mother May I?" but I'm confident in AH's ability to make Mr. Wing's Dubious Emporium into something fun.

2. By World of Darkness standards mummies are pretty chill dudes that don't have too much stake in things. That aimlessness makes for lousy PCs but decent additions to your friend list, whereas the Earthbound are crazy asshole boss monsters from a splat that was balls deep in Christian god bothering. I'm sure AH would be willing to meet us halfway on having a useful Earthbound NPC around, but canonically it's safe to assume that any given Earthbound wants to skull fuck all creation, which can make collaboration sort of awkward.

3. The oldest known mummies in the world are from South America and the most famous are from Egypt. I'm playing Mesoamerican Setite hailing from the time of the Aztecs. Call me self-centered, but ginning up a connection there wouldn't really be hard.

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Sun Mar 22, 2015 3:47 am

Hell yeah! Mummies.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Sun Mar 22, 2015 10:00 am

Nebuchadnezzar wrote:
radthemad4 wrote:I'll also pool another 5 for company allies.
The same applies here. If either of you guys don't feel like writing brief descriptions please go ahead and say, and it can get kicked to the group.

Sure, I'll leave it up to you guys.

So... two votes for mummy and one for earthbound. I'll wait a bit.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Mar 22, 2015 9:03 pm

Honestly, a mummy is probably better. I know more about the fallen, but mummies seem more useful to us in general, while an earthbound would really only be able to pimp our ghouls and followers in exchange for faith and provide us with a combat nuke at the cost of mortals.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Sun Mar 22, 2015 9:51 pm

Whipstitch wrote:Sure. The only thing I'm still really waffling on is 5 dots of melee & a library vs being personally richer than Croesus.

Given the nature of the game, Melee probably won't come up much.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Sun Mar 22, 2015 11:26 pm

Oh, more backgrounds is by far the more useful option even if we were playing a Super Friends game. 2 dots in abilities costs the same as 4 dots in backgrounds, so even if you just want extra face stabbing it's hard to recommend over Allies or Retainers. It's simply in no way comparable to the Military Forces background from Elysium. With all that said, I still sorta like the idea of being able to throw down like it's 1450.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Sun Mar 22, 2015 11:36 pm

My extra contribution to the Group pool is as follows: 1 resource dot, 1 contacts dot, and 1 allies dot.

Resources -

Vampire Mobile: A small cell phone company that owns a number of cell phone towers in State f Alaska area and surrounding wilderness. Vampire Mobile builds towers in underserved areas at a loss, taking advantage of state and federal subsidies and various tax deductions to make a profit while at the same time providing affordable smartphones phones through exclusive deals with Nokia. Vampire Mobile offers both contract plans and pay as you go prepaid cards.

It might also, hypothetically, have the ability to intercept and listen to any cell phone call in it's coverage area.

Vampire Mobile doesn't have complete control of Juneau's cell phone coverage. There is still some competition from AT&T and Verzion. Still, Vampire has reciprocity agreements with both companies, and Verizon, as part of it's 4G upgrades, has opted to enter an agreement with Vampire instead of spending the money to convert all of it's towers in the area to GSM.

In addition, it provides free cell phone service to low income households under the federal lifeline phone service program, with an optional upgrade to an ad-supported smartphone.

Any cell phone conversation in Juneau has an 80% chance of going through at least one of Vampires towers, and this increases to 100% as one gets away from the city and into the wilderness.

Resource:
Thunder: A heavily modified Hatteras 100 Raised Pilothouse Motor Yacht, Thunder's pilothouse and interior decks are fully enclosed is fully enclosed. Windows have been replaced by LCD screens and camera feeds from the outside. It can be piloted without the slightest risk of sun exposure.

Ally
Peter Washington, Senior Internal Revenu Agent.

Peter Washington is a 43 year old IRS agent stationed in Fairbanks Alaska. He was born and raised in Boston, and spent half of his carreer there, but found himself in the Fairbanks office due to a faux-pax involving his supervisors adult daughter and a broken condom.
In 2010 Peter's stalled career got significant boost when he suddenly found himself in possession of documents that Juneau-area land developer Theodore Williams had underported his income by 5 million dollars. The subsequent investigation had resulted in Williams's imprisonment for tax fraud and Washington's promotion to Senior agent.

Since then Washington's mysterious benefactors have delivered him information on two other occasions. The first occasion greatly damaged one of Vampire mobile's competitors. The second occasion destroyed one of Verge Caldwell's personal enemies.

Washington is vaguely aware that he's being fed information by a cabal that secretly controls Juneau and that has been tightening it's grip recently. He does not care. It means more prestige and less work for him. If these people are using the IRS as a weapon against their enemies, then so be it. In his mind, tax cheats deserve to get caught.
He doesn't particularly dwell on the possibility that some of this evidence might be fabricated.

Resource:
Sex on a Banana: Sex on a Banana is an Indie Metal band formed by Verge during a short and ill-fated attempt to "do the Lestat thing." It turns out that he's a terrible singer. Verge pulled out of the band to the fact that he was holding him back, but he maintains a trademark on the band's name.

Minor contact:
Scott James Lee, Guitarist: 23 year old Lead guitarist of Sex on a Banana, not quite a friend. Scott always wanted to be a rock and roll legend. He started his first garage band with he was 10. The guy eats and breaths rock and metal, but hasn't yet hit it big. He and his band are currently relegated to playing at nightclubs fill of cocaine addicts, but he's building a strong internet presence and hopes to get a record deal soon.

Major Contract:
Joe Juneau
Founder and namesake of the City of Juneau, Joe is currently dead and has been since 1899. He still hangs around the city, though, and is prominent amongst is bodily challenged residents. If you need to know what's going down in the Twilight, he's the ghost you should ask. And he's fairly knowledgeable on the affairs of the city's living residents, as well.

And, of course, my character's personal resources:
KITT: A classic Trans-Am T-Top heavily modified to resemble the car from Knightrider. It isn't a perfect reproduction, as it has been ruggedized for use in the Alaskan climate. The windscreen been replaced by a combination of smartglass and a transparent OLED display. With a push of a button it can switch from providing a normal exterior view to being completely opaque to sunlight with exterior cameras feeding the outside view to the OLED in order to facilitate daytime driving.

Loft and Antique Shop: A loft apartment above a small antique shop called Nash's Curiosities. This shops makes a negative profit and is a drain on his resources when he bothers to open it, which is rarely. Yes, it's totally ripped off from Highlander. None of the objects in the shop are particularly valuable, just because something is ol that doesn't mean it's actually wroth anything.

Airplane: A 1937 Fairchild 24H

Guns
Blaser R93 Rifle
AR15 Rifle
Walther PPK pistol (Jame's Pond's gun)

Speedboat: A Phantom Model 14 two seat smini speedboat.

Wardrobe: Lots of trenchcoats and dusters.

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 2:57 am

Thank you! I've incorporated everything but the personal resources into the group writeup, and added a couple of sentences to other entries. Once I sober up a little bit I'll write some expository nonsense for the remaining backgrounds, aiming for Contacts 8/Allies 5. I'm staying out of the minor supernatural companion deal entirely, so someone has to post a description.

Professional Skeptic
Psychiatrist
Crackpot
Journalist
Service org chair (Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, whatevs): to put a shiny face on community surveillance initiatives etc.

Deprogrammer seemed like it might step a bit on Max's toes, while a psychiatrist working at Bartlett Regional Hospital could focus on placing people under involuntary observation/coerce into entering treatment at New Lodge.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 3:04 am

Nebuchadnezzar wrote:Thank you! I've incorporated everything but the personal resources into the group writeup, and added a couple of sentences to other entries. Once I sober up a little bit I'll write some expository nonsense for the remaining backgrounds, aiming for Contacts 8/Allies 5. I'm staying out of the minor supernatural companion deal entirely, so someone has to post a description.

Professional Skeptic
Psychiatrist
Crackpot
Journalist
Service org chair (Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, whatevs): to put a shiny face on community surveillance initiatives etc.

Deprogrammer seemed like it might step a bit on Max's toes, while a psychiatrist working at Bartlett Regional Hospital could focus on placing people under involuntary observation/coerce into entering treatment at New Lodge.

Deprogrammers are also, generally speaking, quacks. While techniques like love-bombing and social isolation are used by some cults and are effective at producing a sense of belonging, the idea of brainwashing is generally bullshit. That is to say, brainwashing doesn't work, and attempts at brainwashing by governments have all been abject failures after the subject is removed from a controlled environment.

Deprograming is basically pseudo-science that consists of kidnapping and torture done by people with no real psychological training.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 5:55 am

Sorry, I mixed up the term with Exit Counselor which is what I initially thought Deprogrammer meant when I first heard the term and doesn't even have a separate article on wikipedia. Though, the psychiatrist could probably do this as well.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 6:15 am

So, I'm calling Kel done. I kind of want to shuffle things around to drop Green Path and Protean to get Biothaum 4, and then scrounge 7 points to make it Biothaum 5 so we can all have better stats, but this isn't that sort of game, so I'm holding off (and remembering it for the next Vampire game I play where cheese is very much a good thing)

It occurs to me that if we had a Malefactor as an ally their entire schtick in Demon was improving and enchanting equipment, so we could have magic guns and coats and shit.

edit- also it's not like the manor is actively in disrepair, it's just overgrown. Structures are kept up, but aside from his garden, Kel doesn't worry about what nature's doing outside.

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:40 pm

I was wondering what people thought should go into a vampire's bugout bag, since each character has one stashed at the safe house. Currently it consists of a heavy-duty bivy sack, set of nondescript clothing, handgun with 2 clips each conventional and silver ammunition, burner phone, falsified ID, and $5000. If someone had access to the Principal of Vitae Infusion ritual a week's worth of iron rations would be cool. Does anything else come to mind?

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 5:01 pm

Nebuchadnezzar wrote:I was wondering what people thought should go into a vampire's bugout bag, since each character has one stashed at the safe house. Currently it consists of a heavy-duty bivy sack, set of nondescript clothing, handgun with 2 clips each conventional and silver ammunition, burner phone, falsified ID, and $5000. If someone had access to the Principal of Vitae Infusion ritual a week's worth of iron rations would be cool. Does anything else come to mind?

Passports. Flashlight. Duct Tape.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 5:16 pm

Flare Gun? I don't know if there are special rules about vampires using them, but they're supposed to be pretty awesome to use on vamps, right?

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Mon Mar 23, 2015 6:49 pm

A heavy duty trash bag, twine, hand sanitizer, map, compass, and a swiss army knife or multi-tool would also be nice.

As far as flare guns go, yeah, they're OK since they can easily force rotschreck rolls. In terms of lethality though they tend to be a bit overrated unless you're using them en masse. Aggravated damage doesn't get soaked and halved like Bashing damage does, but most MCs tend to treat flare guns as single shot weapons with intensely shitty damage dice, so dark sorcery or just whaling on vampires with a fire ax often turns out better. Plus, it should be remembered that vampires heal like Michael Myers and not Wolverine--they can't heal while actively locked in combat, so if you can keep the pressure on right to the end it doesn't matter too much if the damage is lethal or aggravated.