Choose Your Own Adventure: Urban Fantasy Edition

[blacklight101]

1. Siggy has basic competence with electronics.

2. We both do the same thing, cashiers at the gas station.

[Visivicous]

Choice 1
>(Siggy actually has extensive technological acumen.)

Choice 2
>I move dead bodies for a living. Siggy is a clerk at the medical examiner's office that I have to drag the suspicious or especially soupy ones to.

-Edit

Spoiler: Addition to Choice 1

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I'd like to suggest that for Siggy, whatever job he has is a front. His real work is decidedly less than legal (he's a hacker).

[A_Man]

Choice 1
>(Siggy actually just has basic competence with the standard tech of the day. The main character has mistaken his ability to use Google and operate a USB port as something exceptional.)

Choice 2
>I teach a few classes at the local university. Siggy is a full-time professor there.

[The_Werebear]

>(Siggy actually has extensive technological acumen.)

>I teach a few classes at the local university. Siggy is a full-time professor there.

[GorinichSerpant]

Choice 1
>(Siggy actually just has basic competence with the standard tech of the day. The main character has mistaken his ability to use Google and operate a USB port as something exceptional.)

Choice 2
>Moves dead bodys for a living at a university, Siggy is a professor

Spoiler: OOC

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Everyone is choosing between the morgue or the university and I thought why not both?

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Ziggy IS a tech wizard.

M.E.'s office.

[Xefas]

You move dead bodies for a living. This profession is not wholly unrelated to your first encounter with a vampire, but that's a story for another time.

Walking several blocks, far enough to clear the tenements and urban decay of the once-thriving neighborhoods bordering a now defunct industrial park - the 'bad side of town' - you reach the parking garage where your ride resides.

Choice 1
>I have an old pickup truck. Big, solid, built like a tank. It'd win a head-on collision with most things on the road.
>I have a motorcycle. I attach a spacious side-car for hauling cadavers on the job.
>I have a classic muscle car. Vroom vroom 'Murica.
>I have a tiny economy car. Have you seen the price of gas?
>I have a station wagon. When I'm not moving corpses, or fighting moving corpses, I'm taking the kids to school, or football practice, or piano recitals, or whatever; I need the space.

About 45 minutes later, you reach the Medical Examiner's Office on the opposite side of town. Little perfectly manicured hedges frame an immaculately white, sterile-looking building with lots of glass, its silhouette made a bit less imposing by the other, much larger structures of the medical district that loom on all sides. The sun is up by this point, and a few cars are already parked in the lot.

As you enter the building, a squat, elderly man with a few wisps of bright white hair, wearing a security uniform, greets you from his little desk which, in addition to the metal detector, spans the entire hallway. You idly wonder if these sorts of checkpoints in the city's municipal buildings, seemingly always manned by someone older than the sun, have ever stopped a person from committing a nefarious act. You stick your keys, belt, knife, and amulet in a little plastic box, walk through the detector, wave your clearance card at the guard, retrieve your things and continue on.

Choice 2
>Except my knife. I'm not supposed to bring that inside, so I leave it at the checkpoint.
>The guard is never paying attention, and it's not like I plan to stab anyone.

Further inside, you reach a long white desk set into the wall, a row of not-quite-modern-looking computer monitors poking up from the far edge. Your buddy Siggy sits in a black swivel chair on the other side, his feet up, a paperback novel in his hands. He's a skeletally thin caucasian man, a little over six feet tall, late-twenties with his light brown hair already balding. He didn't shave today. His white collared shirt and tie are pristine, and his slacks are ironed.

The two of you greet one another and make a suitably polite amount of small-talk. The weather sure is the way that it is. Our local sports team sported pretty hard a few days ago. Quickly, you maneuver the conversation towards your intended destination. "Can I use your phone for a few minutes? I need to get some information off this card. It's kind of important." Of course, he starts to ask some uncomfortable questions with 'where' and 'why' and 'who' in them.

Choice 3
>(Tell the truth.)
>(Lie.)
>(Offer no explanation. Just bully him into helping.)
>(Offer no explanation. Just sweet-talk him.)

[Tarlek Flamehai]

1
>I have an old pickup truck. Big, solid, built like a tank. It'd win a head-on collision with most things on the road.

2
>The guard is never paying attention, and it's not like I plan to stab anyone.

3
>(Tell the truth.)

[Need_A_Life]

Choice 1
>I have a tiny economy car. Have you seen the price of gas?

Choice 2
>Except my knife. I'm not supposed to bring that inside, so I leave it at the checkpoint.

Choice 3
>(Tell the truth.)

Them's ma choices.

[Zelphas]

1
>I have an old pickup truck. Big, solid, built like a tank. It'd win a head-on collision with most things on the road.

2
>The guard is never paying attention, and it's not like I plan to stab anyone.

3
>(Tell the truth.)

I'll second this.

[rs2excelsior]

Choice 1
>I have an old pickup truck. Big, solid, built like a tank. It'd win a head-on collision with most things on the road.

Choice 2
>The guard is never paying attention, and it's not like I plan to stab anyone.

Choice 3
>(Tell the truth.)

Can I suggest that we've made Siggy aware of what we do, but he doesn't believe it? Like, he thinks we're either delusional or get into some kind of bad drugs, but he still humors us.

Also, we really need to vote on a gender or a name or something. Using the 1st person plural for the main character is just weird, even if he/she is a conglomeration of our own individual wills.

[blacklight101]

Choice 1
>I have an old pickup truck. Big, solid, built like a tank. It'd win a head-on collision with most things on the road.

Choice 2
>The guard is never paying attention, and it's not like I plan to stab anyone.

Choice 3
>(Tell the truth.)

Can I suggest that we've made Siggy aware of what we do, but he doesn't believe it? Like, he thinks we're either delusional or get into some kind of bad drugs, but he still humors us.

Also, we really need to vote on a gender or a name or something. Using the 1st person plural for the main character is just weird, even if he/she is a conglomeration of our own individual wills.

this earns mah +1.

can I vote "Her" now?

[Amaril]

this earns mah +1.

can I vote "Her" now?

Likewise, on both counts.

[Kane0]

Choice 1
Old pickup truck

Choice 2
The guard never pays attention, and I never go anywhere unarmed.

Choice 3
Half truths and lies of omission. Give him enough to give him an idea and stop him from prying, but not enough to risk his own safety.

Edit: Also voting 'he', but i like the use of 'you' when narrating.

[Zelphas]

I'll vote "him", just to be contrary. I'm fine with either, though.

[Xefas]

Character Sheet

Spoiler

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High Concept: Part-Time Vampire Hunter
Other Aspects: Justice Be Done; Luddite

Skills
Good With Melee Weapons (including throwing them)
Good At Investigation

Equipment
Wallet (No Cash)
Keys
Bowie Knife
Ostensibly Worthless Amulet (Slightly Broken)

Other Possessions
Big Ol' Pickup Truck

"I've picked up knife-fighting vampires as a hobby. One knocked me out last night, and I have reason to believe they've kidnapped someone to turn into their evil hellspawn. I found this broken cellphone near the scene, and it's the best lead I've got. If I can find an address or something, I'm going to go bust down the door like a big damn hero and save the day."

Siggy sets his book down, picks up his mug of steaming coffee, sips from it a few times, puts it back down, raises an eyebrow, and then slides his phone across the counter. "If you can't tell me, you can't tell me. I just hope it's nothing illegal." You pick up the phone, and begin searching its surface for the elusive card slot you need. As you do, he adds "And, uh, I'd be careful talking about stuff like that around here. I know you're joking, but rumor is that one of the examiners got the ol' 'indefinite leave of absence without pay' a few months back. Filed a report about a body being brought in that wasn't human. Wouldn't let it go even when they sent him to the shrinks. The job's pretty morbid; I guess it finally got to him."

You smile and nod, then take a few steps away to give the proper social cue that the conversation has concluded for now. Siggy picks his book back up and continues reading.

The SIM card finally fits into one of the phone's slots. You swear that you'd tried that one a half dozen times already. Regardless, you turn the phone on and search around the menus until you find the list of text messages. Searching through them, you discover several conversations. Most of them are of a personal nature, without divulging anything of interest, including a shockingly banal one with, if the contact information is indeed true, the vampire's (presumably mortal) mother. It's sort of odd reading about a vampire making holiday plans with their parents.

One stands out, however. It's the only conversation in which the contact is left anonymous. The incoming messages are short - simply a date, time, and street intersection each. The most recent message was sent a few days prior and contains today's date, along with an intersection downtown, and a time for about four hours from now.

Choice 1
>I should head to the location sent by that anonymous contact. Chances are that the vampire will keep his appointment. It means I'm sitting on my hands for a few hours, but it's the most solid option.
>I'll send a text message to one of the vampire's friends and try to discreetly get them to divulge where they are, then find them and interrogate them about the vampire's whereabouts.
>I'll send a text message to the vampire's mom, asking her to remind me what her address is because I want to mail her something, then show up at her house and interrogate her.

Choice 2
>And, on the way, I'll stop for breakfast. I'm starving.
>Time is of the essence. Maybe I'll just drive through a fast-food joint.
>Justice has no time for flapjacks and coffee. The hunt is on.

Choice 2
>Also, and this is sort of a random thought, but I have a Y chromosome. A giant, throbbing Y chromosome.
>Also, I suddenly feel like my lack of a Y chromosome is somehow relevant to the situation.

Spoiler

Show

There, you all can have a gender now. Happy?

[Zelphas]

Choice 1:
> I should head to that location sent by the anonymous contact.

Choice 2:
> Justice has no time for flapjacks and coffee. The hunt is on.

Choice 3:
>I have a Y chromosome.

[rs2excelsior]

Choice 1
>I should head to the location sent by that anonymous contact. Chances are that the vampire will keep his appointment. It means I'm sitting on my hands for a few hours, but it's the most solid option.

Too much risk in texting someone the vampire knows. They might realize it's not him and warn him off.

Choice 2
>And, on the way, I'll stop for breakfast. I'm starving.

Choice 3
>Also, I suddenly feel like my lack of a Y chromosome is somehow relevant to the situation.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I think that was the best possible way to phrase the gender question

[GorinichSerpant]

Choice 1:
> I should head to that location sent by the anonymous contact.

Choice 2:
> Justice has no time for flapjacks and coffee. The hunt is on.

Choice 3:
>I have a Y chromosome.

Seconded.

Spoiler

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Is there someone who isn't voting for our Hero to have the same gender as themselves?

[rs2excelsior]

Spoiler

Show

Is there someone who isn't voting for our Hero to have the same gender as themselves?

Spoiler

Show

I did. I think making our Hero a female character would be interesting, and maybe not quite so Dresden-Files-y.

[The_Werebear]

>I'll send a text message to one of the vampire's friends and try to discreetly get them to divulge where they are, then find them and interrogate them about the vampire's whereabouts.

>Time is of the essence. Maybe I'll just drive through a fast-food joint.

>Also, and this is sort of a random thought, but I have a Y chromosome. A giant, throbbing Y chromosome.

[Heliomance]

>head to the meetup

>fast food

>no Y chromosome

[Liodre]

Choice 1
>I should head to the location sent by that anonymous contact. Chances are that the vampire will keep his appointment. It means I'm sitting on my hands for a few hours, but it's the most solid option.

Choice 2
>Time is of the essence. I heard that little mom and pop place has good, fresh bagel sandwiches. I'm pretty sure it's on the way.

Choice 2
>Also, I suddenly feel like my lack of a Y chromosome is somehow relevant to the situation.

[blacklight101]

Choice 1
>I should head to the location sent by that anonymous contact. Chances are that the vampire will keep his appointment. It means I'm sitting on my hands for a few hours, but it's the most solid option.

Choice 2
>Time is of the essence. I heard that little mom and pop place has good, fresh bagel sandwiches. I'm pretty sure it's on the way.

Choice 2
>Also, I suddenly feel like my lack of a Y chromosome is somehow relevant to the situation.

+1, cant pass up that little mom and pop shop.

[Heliomance]

Choice 2
>Time is of the essence. I heard that little mom and pop place has good, fresh bagel sandwiches. I'm pretty sure it's on the way.

Changing my vote from fast food to support this.

[Eldan]

Would you mind if I stole this format? It actually looks a lot of fun as a writing exercise.

[Amaril]

Choice 1
>I should head to the location sent by that anonymous contact. Chances are that the vampire will keep his appointment. It means I'm sitting on my hands for a few hours, but it's the most solid option.

Too much risk in texting someone the vampire knows. They might realize it's not him and warn him off.

Choice 2
>And, on the way, I'll stop for breakfast. I'm starving.

Choice 3
>Also, I suddenly feel like my lack of a Y chromosome is somehow relevant to the situation.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I think that was the best possible way to phrase the gender question

All of this, please.

[Eldan]

Oh yeah, also breakfast and no Y chromosome.

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Location sent by anonymous

Breakfast. A nice greasy diner, no bagels...those are just imitation donuts that failed.

Throbbing Y chromosome. Anita Blake we ain't.

[GrayGriffin]

Choice 1
> Head to the location already sent.

Choice 2
> Pick up fast food.

Choice 3
> I have a Y chromosome, and I'm a girl. Because these things are not mutually independent.

Spoiler: OOC

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We need more trans protagonists!