The city of Alma Delta is a coastal city in the eastern United States. The name sounds a lot more intricate than it actually is: it is merely a city built where the Alma River branches into a delta before flowing into the ocean.
It is a decently sized town; not a sprawling skyscraper-laden city, but certainly with its own share of wealth. Alma Delta’s mild climate, fresh produce from local farms, and proximity to the river have allowed a decently well-off community to grow within it.
Unfortunately, with wealth comes poverty, and Alma Delta’s growth in commercial areas have seen a proportional growth in its slum district. This is in part due to the ease of finding work on the local farms, which has attracted a decent amount of latino immigrants. However, the work is seasonal, and those who do not plan and save during the summer are often left wanting in the winter, and along with that, there are also those to whom the years have just been cruel. The majority of the town’s poor live in a community officially known as San Palermo, but popularly known as the outskirts. Still, it is not without its share of entertainments, the most notable of which is a dance club known as The Snare.
While it is a coastal city, there is not much of a shore to speak of; most of the coastline is covered in saltwater trees or rocks. However, there is a half-mile clearing where the stones give way to sand. This area, known as the Alma Beach, is a very popular local hangout and a vacation hotspot, particularly in the summer. Along with swimming, an open-air bazaar is hosted there monthly, with fresh selections from the local farm being featured prominently. There is also the Alma River for cooling down; however, it is unavailable to the public. The more wealthy citizens of Alma Delta live in a private community called Sparrowalk right on the river’s edge, where they swim and boat unobstructed. It is possible to reach an unsupervised area upstream to Sparrowalk, however, it would require trespassing through the farmlands for several miles with unknown chance of discovery and no marked trail.
The city is, for the most part, peaceful. Crime is certainly not nonexistent, but overall under the radar. To date, the town has had no major contact with the supernatural; sure, there’s the rumor here, a disappearance there, and the odd palm-reader shop, but nothing significant to the town as a whole.
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The story begins with your characters gathered in the parking lot in front of Alma Beach, where the bazaar is being held. Kindly explain what you intend to do there, whether sell, or buy, or beg, or busk, or run off to the beach. Please select your text colors as well.
I hope that my former fellow hunters do not think ill of me for this, but an exp system used in a previous PBP game I was in is so attractive I am going to rip it off nearly wholesale, with a few of my own changes added to fit the tone of this game. This system provided by Fouredged Sword:
Quote:
You will receive exp for three reasons: events, mood, and thought.
Events are good or bad things that happen. Victories or failures that grow your characters.
Spoiler
Small things are not important to the story overall, but provide a momentary sense of victory of failure. These are worth one point. This includes overcoming a dangerous situation, meeting someone who you think is important, or seeing a potential situation that can be ether good or bad in the future. Generally these events shouldn't have taken to long to resolve. These are worth one exp for everyone involved.
Moderate things are long term, but not necessarily decisive. Setting up a safe house and getting it fully stocked, securing a long term ally, or making a new enemy. These events take a while to fully resolve, and change the situation for the hunters longterm. These are worth 3 exp for everyone.
Major things are twists in the story, and result in the hunters learning something powerful, or accomplishing something that severely changes the world around them. These are few and far between, but you will know them when you see them. They are worth 5 exp for everyone.
Mood is much more of a momentary thing.
Spoiler
Whenever a character does something that makes you stop and go "that was cool" that character and the character of the player who stopped and pointed it out both get 1 exp. You can't call cool on your own character, but please remember that other people are relying on you to call out the cool things they do so don't hesitate.
You also have moments of wisdom. Much like moments of cool above but with foresight and intuition. Anytime a character does something that shows planing and good judgement call it out as smart. You and they both get 1 exp.
Then finally there are moments of doh! Anytime a player has something backfire horridly feel free to rub it in. Both you and they will get 1 exp for a lesson learned.
And finally thought.
Spoiler
Thought challenges involve major running theme or motif. These will be things that you should be keeping in mind as you play. If you display strong in-character thought on such points, I will reward such thinking by granting exp to players who answer or at least try to consider these mysteries. What the themes are, are for you to find as the story progresses.
I'll take Dark Slate Gray, just like all my other H:tV characters. :P
Edit: Also, are we gonna have an IC thread?
__________________
-Odentin, Activist for Equestrians for Paraplegics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IRC
[00:37] <@Ryo-Wolf> Naki: "Yay, I built this awesome encounter that is awesome and cool and is gonna be so challenging and fun and-" Odentin: "I drop all my dailies in its face." Naki: "And its already over, ****."
[00:38] <@Naki> He does it EVERY TIME.
[00:38] <@Naki> EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME.
[00:38] <Odentin> Only twice....
[00:38] <@Naki> Which has been every time!
Katherine Milan, known to everyone simply as "Kat", has lived on the streets since her mid teen years, when her father threw her out of the house. Since then, she has done whatever necessary to survive, though somehow she has managed to keep sane in the face of her hardships.
Kat has given up on the idea of leading a normal life, and now does various things to survive such as stealing (mostly from those who can afford it), begging, doing odd jobs (legal and illegal), busking, and when she can get clean clothes and a shower, prostitution. Surprisingly for her scruffy and unassuming appearance, she has an excellent, if untrained, singing voice, and could have been a great singer if she had lead a different life.
Kat is well known in the local community of vagrants, and does her best to look after her fellow homeless, at least trying to keep their spirits up with song when she has no other way of helping them.
Appearance
Spoiler
Though homeless, Kat does often manage to get clean clothes and a shower, mostly stolen in some way, or paid for with stolen money or goods. She usually dresses in jeans, t-shirt, and when the weather is cold, a long coat. When she puts the effort and preparation in, she can still pass as a ordinary, non-homeless person.
Kat is still fairly pretty, with striking blue eyes, and her brown hair is in comparitively well-kept dreadlocks, which she usually wears in a tam.
I'll take teal? Yes, teal looks readable to me.
Kat is at the fair to busk with a borrowed guitar, hoping to earn a few bucks, as she's running a bit low on food and money. She's an indifferent player, but it's good enough to get by with when busking.
I did edit my sheet a little since originally posting it, but it was just shuffling some skills around.
Peggy Lebel's sheet.
Color-wise, I'll go with dark orchid, I think. As for what Peggy's doing at the bazaar...I'm guessing that she's headed for the beach to take her mind off her recent worries.
It's about time for me to write some sort of backstory for Marek.
Spoiler
Marek Kowalski never met his father. He was raised by his mother, her new husband, and his grandmother, who was a Polish emmigrant. Despite his Central European roots, Marek has always thought of himself as American, and doesn't speak a word of Polish - he tried, but found the language impossible.
Marek's childhood and youth was troublesome. He was always strong, but not terribly bright, which allowed him to be talked into various stupid things by those smarter than him. To make things worse, he also has a temper, meaning that he's always been easily provoked.
Things changed when Marek started working as muscle for a shady guy to whom he owed money. When he found out the man was actually a drug dealer, his conscience got the better of him. After his debt had been settled, he cut all ties, moved out and decided to start a new life. And he actually succeeded - he took up plumbing, got a steady job and even started to help others who were in the same situation as he used to be.
It didn't last, though. One day when he was repairing the pipes in an old building, he came across something. It was an old book bound in something resembling human skin far too much for Marek's comfort. Then he did something not very smart - he confronted the owner of the building with it. The owner was furious and did something to Mark... he suddenly started to feel very sleepy. He managed to shake it off long enough to whack the guy with his wrench and get away.
That was the end of Marek's quiet life. Once he found out that there are things he'd never even imagine existed, he couldn't let it lie. He still believes he has a debt to repay for all those years working for criminals. Might as well do it while stopping monsters...
Appearance and personality:
Spoiler
Marek is a towering, muscular man with a square jaw and a crew cut. His nose is crooked, obviously broken at least once. He's got big, firm hands and a calm, composed look in his eyes. He tends to wear simple, cheap clothing.
Personality-wise, Marek is a bit slow, but deliberate. He's a simple man and has little patience for overly complicated issues. He has a deep-seated sense of shame for some of the things he did and thus tends to be a bit overbearing when it comes to abiding the law and morality.
__________________
My FFRP characters. Avatar by Kid Kris. Sigatars by Gulaghar, Kid Kris, Zefir and billtodamax, respectively.
Depending on what Steve is doing, Allison will either be there to help him out or wandering around, just chillin'. Probably both, over the course of the day...
__________________
-Odentin, Activist for Equestrians for Paraplegics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IRC
[00:37] <@Ryo-Wolf> Naki: "Yay, I built this awesome encounter that is awesome and cool and is gonna be so challenging and fun and-" Odentin: "I drop all my dailies in its face." Naki: "And its already over, ****."
[00:38] <@Naki> He does it EVERY TIME.
[00:38] <@Naki> EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME.
[00:38] <Odentin> Only twice....
[00:38] <@Naki> Which has been every time!
Steve will be there to keep up with contacts and friends from the co-op, and as a rep of the board. He's also hoping to enjoy a little time to clear his head and relax, maybe get in a little father-daughter bonding time.
Of course, this being a WoD game, that's a bit unlikely.
Okay. I feel I should apopogize, but hey, live and learn, right? I realized I was setting up a big, elaborate introduction to this whole campaign. However, I forgot two things:
1) I hate big, elaborate introductions, and
2) They typically ring the death bell for any PBP thread.
So you might notice that some of the setup I've been doing here won't be exactly relevant anymore. No worries, though, most of it was just fluff. This doesn't really mean anything as far as your characters are concerned, I just thought I should let you know in case any of you noticed something was up.
Morty: Hmm...
Spoiler
First, character sheet: Professional Training's first dot essentially covers everything the Contacts merit does. Further dots in PT give more benefits as well as added contacts. The Contacts merit is really only necessary for non-hunters, or for those who want contacts outside of their professional sphere, which you apparently don't. Also, you still have one more point available to spend on merits (not counting the one spent on contacts). Everything else looks good.
Backstory note: I was planning on having everyone exposed to the supernatural for the first time in the story, but I suppose your backstory could work. Perhaps, oh, how 'bout we say the book was untranslatable but had some interesting symbology in it. You decided to take it to the local psychic, who is probably just a hack trying to pull a fast one but you think you may have seen similar symbols on his window, and you learn that today he does fortune-teling at the bazaar although God alone knows how he got a permit. I'll stick with that in the story unless you want something different
(don't worry, I'll give you plenty of time to respond.)
Now let's see here, I feel as though I'm forgetting something...
...
...
...
Well, looks like I'm opening with bad rolls. Ah well.
Question, though: Is this sentence incomplete?
Quote:
It was moving quickly toward the lot across the street, where all of the shoppers and vendors had parked their cars, and once it overtook that, it would
__________________
-Odentin, Activist for Equestrians for Paraplegics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IRC
[00:37] <@Ryo-Wolf> Naki: "Yay, I built this awesome encounter that is awesome and cool and is gonna be so challenging and fun and-" Odentin: "I drop all my dailies in its face." Naki: "And its already over, ****."
[00:38] <@Naki> He does it EVERY TIME.
[00:38] <@Naki> EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME.
[00:38] <Odentin> Only twice....
[00:38] <@Naki> Which has been every time!
First, character sheet: Professional Training's first dot essentially covers everything the Contacts merit does. Further dots in PT give more benefits as well as added contacts. The Contacts merit is really only necessary for non-hunters, or for those who want contacts outside of their professional sphere, which you apparently don't. Also, you still have one more point available to spend on merits (not counting the one spent on contacts). Everything else looks good.
Backstory note: I was planning on having everyone exposed to the supernatural for the first time in the story, but I suppose your backstory could work. Perhaps, oh, how 'bout we say the book was untranslatable but had some interesting symbology in it. You decided to take it to the local psychic, who is probably just a hack trying to pull a fast one but you think you may have seen similar symbols on his window, and you learn that today he does fortune-teling at the bazaar although God alone knows how he got a permit. I'll stick with that in the story unless you want something different
(don't worry, I'll give you plenty of time to respond.)
Spoiler
I'm fine with changing the backstory. As for Contacts, what you say is true but his backstory necessitates having contacts among social workers, which his profession doesn't really cover.
__________________
My FFRP characters. Avatar by Kid Kris. Sigatars by Gulaghar, Kid Kris, Zefir and billtodamax, respectively.
Joining a gym? Getting sore? Why Destrude, turn that frown upside down, I'm proud of you
We're still waiting for Des and Morty to post, and I need to sleep, so I'll update tonight. Just in case any of you are interested, I work nights, so most to all of my posts will either be early morning or mid-evening.
PS- I just thought I'd mention this:
Spoiler
LyingTicktock asked in the OP for a slower, more moody and morality-centric game. I promised to deliver, and I have not forgotten that. However, I've noticed form personal experience that when a PBP game uses a long introduction, it tends to flounder. I know that the game is beginning at a bit of a breakneck pace, but I believe that it's easier to slow down from a quicker speed than it is to speed up from a dead stop, especially in a game where the main characters start off not knowing each other. I know I haven't given any of you the opportunity to establish your characters in a non-supernatural world to slowly learn about the supernatural, but I believe this will be more effective. Now you best get focused. There's a black could of possible death coming your way.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Socratov
Predator turned prey
Dangling helplessly at length
Dragons always win
__________________
-Odentin, Activist for Equestrians for Paraplegics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IRC
[00:37] <@Ryo-Wolf> Naki: "Yay, I built this awesome encounter that is awesome and cool and is gonna be so challenging and fun and-" Odentin: "I drop all my dailies in its face." Naki: "And its already over, ****."
[00:38] <@Naki> He does it EVERY TIME.
[00:38] <@Naki> EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME.
[00:38] <Odentin> Only twice....
[00:38] <@Naki> Which has been every time!
In order to keep the game moving, I decided to go ahead and perform some rolls for those who haven't posted their own, specifically, Ticktock and Marek. Let me know if this is alright or if you prefer to make your own rolls.
Destrude, you haven't posted yet, so your character hasn't officially manifested in the game world. If you post, you can assume that you're with Allison outside of the cloud, with a clear shot at the cafe. Otherwise, we'll just say that you were always at the cafe, picking up coffee. Hope all's well.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Socratov
Predator turned prey
Dangling helplessly at length
Dragons always win
You gave me two very reasonable options as to where to place myself in the scene, so of course I had to invent a third option in between the two.
I'm really sorry I've been out of contact, life has been stupid but posting only takes a few minutes so that's really no excuse. Despite the ongoing personal BS, I will endeavor to post at least every other day from here on out.
On a personal note: my boss went to the Area manager to recommend me for a promotion. Before he even finished speaking the AM turned him down. I don't know what my last manager told him, but it looks like it'll be an uphill battle at the very best. More than likely I'll have to get searching for a new job before the holiday season ends and dumps a few hundred people back into the market again. It's a shame too, I actually kinda like this job.
This really doesn't have any relevance, I just felt like sharing.
I told you, bruddah, I check this site incessantly. Even at my new job, where I'm a driver, I check it often at the car wash or in between cars...
__________________
-Odentin, Activist for Equestrians for Paraplegics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IRC
[00:37] <@Ryo-Wolf> Naki: "Yay, I built this awesome encounter that is awesome and cool and is gonna be so challenging and fun and-" Odentin: "I drop all my dailies in its face." Naki: "And its already over, ****."
[00:38] <@Naki> He does it EVERY TIME.
[00:38] <@Naki> EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME.
[00:38] <Odentin> Only twice....
[00:38] <@Naki> Which has been every time!
I'm really sorry I've been out of contact, life has been stupid but posting only takes a few minutes so that's really no excuse. Despite the ongoing personal BS, I will endeavor to post at least every other day from here on out.
A few minutes? That in itself is a bit of BS. Sure, typing up the few sentences/paragraphs that goes into the average posts doesn't take that long, but when you factor in the time it takes to read over previous posts and make a good post that stays in character and contributes to the story, a decent post can easily take half an hour to write. Or at least that's the way it always seems to go for me. No worries, is what I'm saying. Post when you can, we're just glad to have you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Destrude
On a personal note: my boss went to the Area manager to recommend me for a promotion. Before he even finished speaking the AM turned him down. I don't know what my last manager told him, but it looks like it'll be an uphill battle at the very best. More than likely I'll have to get searching for a new job before the holiday season ends and dumps a few hundred people back into the market again. It's a shame too, I actually kinda like this job.
This really doesn't have any relevance, I just felt like sharing.
Don't be ashamed to write about personal stuff here. We're all friends here in the Playground and especially in the world of The Man With No Words, and I feel honored that you'd feel comfortable enough to ask us to listen, even though we haven't really met. You have may sympathies, and I pray everything works out well for you.
sun_tzu: Sorry that things seem to be going so ill for you here. Hope that you aren't thinking that the universe is out to get you (and for the record, neither am I). We're coming up on a more social challenge readily.
I've got a few things going on in my life as well; specifically, after I get off work tomorrow morning I'm going to be driving down to an Open House for a prospective Medical School. How I'm going to stay awake that long is anyone's guess. I'll probably make the next update Saturday night (and by night, I mean probably midnight or later) which should give Morty and LyingTicktock time to make their posts.
Odentin: I apologize- I didn't realize I had left Allison out of the after-action report until I read your post. Still, you seem like you had fun writing it up yourself. Oh, and by the way:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Odentin
Spoiler
I love you, Komodo.
Aww, thanks! You're not to bad yourself.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Socratov
Predator turned prey
Dangling helplessly at length
Dragons always win
sun_tzu: Sorry that things seem to be going so ill for you here. Hope that you aren't thinking that the universe is out to get you (and for the record, neither am I). We're coming up on a more social challenge readily.
Hey, no worries. I just figured I had succeeded and thus didn't need further explanation. If my posts ever get too elaborate, though, just lemme know...
And yeah, I was referring to being able to use my character's speciality in the second post of a game. Its a good feeling.
__________________
-Odentin, Activist for Equestrians for Paraplegics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IRC
[00:37] <@Ryo-Wolf> Naki: "Yay, I built this awesome encounter that is awesome and cool and is gonna be so challenging and fun and-" Odentin: "I drop all my dailies in its face." Naki: "And its already over, ****."
[00:38] <@Naki> He does it EVERY TIME.
[00:38] <@Naki> EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME.
[00:38] <Odentin> Only twice....
[00:38] <@Naki> Which has been every time!
Morty: You just walked through a line of produce stands, so let's say that there's an abundance of hard, throwable objects within arm's reach. No roll to pick up. Since you're attacking a small part of a swarm, a bucket of apples would work better than a single rock. However, this is throwing an improvised weapon in the same motion as picking it up. I'll impose a -1 die penalty. I think that's fair.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Socratov
Predator turned prey
Dangling helplessly at length
Dragons always win
RSS Feeds: 
The Man With No Words OOC (H:tV)
I don't know what my last manager told him, but it looks like it'll be an uphill battle at the very best. More than likely I'll have to get searching for a new job before the holiday season ends and dumps a few hundred people back into the market again. 
It's a shame too, I actually kinda like this job. 
You're not to bad yourself.
