Undertown RPG ~ San Francisco: Shaking the Foundations

[paul_Harkonen]

There are four types of cities that are being put up here, and since you have more options than god, I figured a couple of comments might be helpful.

1)  High crime cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington DC  etc.  (could put Detroit in here, but it gets a different note later.)
All of these cities have incredibly high crime rates (Baltimore and DC were fighting for the murders per capita title for quite a while).  Most of your ideas here are likely to revolve around the criminal element (as there's a lot to pull from).  There's also plenty of desperation, greed, and poverty to play around with in the cities.  You could focus on the pseudo utopia distopia dynamic between the richest and the poorest.

2)  Empty Cities:  Detroit, although there are others like it.
Half of Detroit's population has left in the past five years.  There are empty buildings everywhere, a ton of desperation, and lots of empty urban darkness.  The themes here are likely to focus on the city falling into decline and the things that have moved in to either take advantage of the people, or the space.

3)  Mystical Cities:  Washington DC.
DC's roads and city layout are copies of famous Masonic symbols.  A quick google search will be able to provide more detail, but suffice it to say, the entire city is a series of masonic and occult symbols and ideas.  It's not the only one like this, but the one most famous for it.  Clearly there are plenty of ideas to be spawned from why that's so, who still uses them (heck, maybe the Free Masons are still around in your game world, working their magic and political intrigue).

4)  Low Crime Cities:  San Francisco et. al.
Just because your city has a low crime rate does not mean there isn't plenty to play with.  Maybe the creatures of the Never-Never have their own version of the mob, with the understanding that you must clean up after yourself.  Maybe the creatures are so busy focusing on their own agenda that they leave the Humans largely alone (except when they get caught in the cross fire).  Maybe the city police department is run by entities of the Never-Never and so they know to stay away or are otherwise corrupt.  Plenty of things to work with, themes are likely to focus on the clean exterior with muddy waters underneath, or the disconnect.

Just some thoughts on the "types" of cities, and setting your environment based on what type of city you are looking for.

[Knight Disciple]

I put Boston down for the history. I mean, that city is chock full of it. It's old. Quick off-the-cuff research suggests the crime rate fluctuates, but is lower than others.

Actually, I'm going to be ornery and change my choices.

1.)Philadelphia
2.)Boston
3.)Kansas City

2 for history, 1 for "I actually know the place!".

[Aine]

Just a bump reminder that City Creation is going to be starting at 7 pm Pac/10 pm Eastern tonight! 

[Ahrrie]

Okay.. okay don't hate me! I swear I am not this long winded for actual gaming.. (Okay that's a lie.. when I get carried away in scenes I typically go a little overboard with sensory details and things like that but... okay now I am just rambling so I'm gonna shut up and get on with it.) I was going through and making notes while reading, and gathering my thoughts... and I realized a lot of this stuff is going to come up tonight.. what's more... is not only is it going to come up tonight but it is going to come up.. OFTENER than I really want to explain to a bajillion people. So... what am I about to do? I'm about to melt your face off with a wall of text. Don't worry. I'm going to color coordinate so that you know what you need to read. That being said.. I'm about to get creative with my bad self.

****Other Note: I'm just going to update this post whenever I need to add information, so you may have to check back here in the future, but don't worry.. I will let you know when that needs to be done.****

Blue: Category! Because I am organized and shit.
Red: Important Information That You Should Most Definitely Positively Read Immediately. But only once. And not more than that. Well, perhaps twice, but only if your reading comprehension is made of fail. In which case... you shouldn't be on a forum. Most probably.
Green: Is for other facts. Like in the general section and things we've already established.
Anything in Black, or regular font... you probably can just skip right over. It's mostly my ramblings.


GENERAL
Things we have already Established:
   -Who is the GM?! That'd be me. The lady in the red mask. Yeap. K thanks. Move along now.
   -Can we have more than one character? Why certainly my friend! but I ask that you alternate them fairly regularly so that one doesn't become a major waste of time and space… not to be mean but I've got a lot to keep up with as it is the last thing I need is to keep up with another character you aren't even using.
   -Power Level : Chest Deep. Why?  Because it opens up more options for those experienced players we have in our group.

STORY
        - Don't worry, I'm going to fill this in later with information when we've discussed it as a group.

GAME FORMAT
Since we're an online group I thought it would be best to discuss this, if only briefly. (Ha ha)

For starters you will need to have TWO WINDOWS open. One will be your In Character window, where you will write out your character's actions/observations/whatever. The other will serve as our Out of Character chat. OOC chat will be used for group discussion, dice rolling totals, and deliberation. This keeps the story moving, and allows us to banter when we need to. A third room and window may be necessary for any Non-Game-Related chat you may want to participate in. This may be changed up a little depending on if we alter the chat room to better suit our needs or not. But for now, this is what is going to work best.

Fate Points: How we'll keep track.

As the GM I am going to attempt to keep track of who is using their Fate points. I encourage everyone to keep their own record as well. When using a Fate Point for whatever reason, make sure you put in CAPITAL LETTERS and PARENTHESIS (FP) so that I know you're using it. I'm not telepathic. And you're probably not right next to me.

Posting and describing your actions: Some people make their 'posts' (as we'll be calling them.. because my old habits die really hard.. they're like Bruce Willis on steroids) in first person point of view.. An example of such would be something like:

"I walk into the room and take a look around, shrug my shoulders and turn to walk back out… but stop because I think I see something out of the corner of my eye." (Dresden Files is written in First person.)

This has its benefits, but I usually find it to be more distracting and complicated than anything. There is also the Third person option. The example I am going to use is my SI character from the other Dresden RPG that I run (without the dice and everything else.. it's mostly creative collaborative writing… so don't expect to see anything about Aspects, fate points, etc. because there won't be any in this post):

"Pen`Delancy sighed and shook her head, "It isn't even Hallowfuckinween yet." She muttered as she sipped her coffee, turning away from the scene. What do you do with a case like this? It's probably a cold case.. no doubt about that.. but it was one of those things that SI had to deal with.. which was seriously fucked in her opinion. Pen pushed her hair out of her face, sulking a little. "Officer Delancy.. you wanna come take a look at this?" A forensics guy was hailing her from a few feet away, gesturing to something on the ground by his feet. He had a camera in hand, the flash mingling with the red and blue lights of the police cars ringing the scene. Pen walked over and knelt down, brows furrowing as she reached for the gloves the Forensics tech was handing off to her. She pulled them on and picked the book up out of the dirt.. her head tilting slightly. It was charred beyond readability, and what she could make out looked like egyptian hieroglyphs, but not. "Curiouser and curiouser.." She mumbled to herself, "File it." She said to the tech, setting the book back down and walking to her car. " (I know that's a little lengthy, but I get carried away sometimes.)

As another note, and probably an important one. That post was made to set up the story, or scene, that we were playing in that night. Pen`Delancy is the nickname I was using at the time, and this was made on an IRC program. You'll notice a severe lack of awkwardness in pointing out observations… but this is my style, and you should probably expect me to post things for us in a similar fashion. I play my NPCs as though they are actually my character (even though nine times out of ten they are not).

I don't mind how you kids decide to post. You can pick either or for yourselves, just pick the style that is most comfortable for you. Remember, your actions are going to be put in the in character room, and any explanation or dice rolls or anything like that will go in the room we're using for deliberation.

Dice are a little trickier. I will happily role for you if you give me permission to do so, or if you don't want to log onto www.invisiblecastle.com, register, and all that nonsense. I trust all of you implicitly, so if you roll something and say you did, I'll believe you. I'm gonna be a little skeptical if you start doing so great that the odds look a little funny.. but then I'll just make things harder for you =) So be aware that cheating is not advised. Ogres or a Faerie Queen might be in your immediate future for an offense like that.



SAN FRANCISCO: SHAKING THE FOUNDATIONS
Welcome to San Francisco, a Gateway of the United States.
Theme:
    - The Idea: The high homeless population presents a problem.. and an opportunity
    - The Aspect: "Prime Hunting"
    - The Faces: Coming Soon

Threat:
    - The Idea: The White Court is trying to expand their power base within the city
    - The Aspect: "Lax Morals and Loose Inhibitions: The Platform for your Politician"
    - The Faces: Coming Soon

Threat:
    - The Idea: The Asian mafia factions are taking a new approach to Old conflicts
    - The Aspect: "Old World, New Chinatown"
    - The Faces: Coming Soon

The Balance of Power:
    - Supernatural Status Quo: The Fae are maintaining their usual power struggle. The White Court is taking over City Hall in their usual manner. The Red Court is making a play to take back power lost.
    - Mundane Status Quo: The Politicians have fallen to the White Court. The Asian mafia is taking over Chinatown with some magical assistance, and the homeless are disappearing faster every year...

Movers and Shakers: Coming Soon

Locations: Coming Soon

Faces: Coming Soon



CHARACTER CREATION
As some of you are already aware, I'm being really really flexible with your options and ideas. I want this game to be for you more than it is for me. I'm just here to provide some conflict and action, and of course exercise my creative writing a little.

But I want to be creating characters as a group. Some of you already have a good idea of what you're going to be doing, and a good grasp on how to work through the process (which seems pretty complicated) but there are some who aren't as solid. Luckily.. working characters out in a group might give someone with only a vague idea of what they want to play some really awesome ideas for a solid character that they will enjoy playing thoroughly.

So the plan is to put up a schedule of nights, with two- three names on each one.. On those nights we'll work through someone's characters with whoever is around and wants to throw out some ideas.

Keep in mind that -I- need to know about your characters. If I am not here and you all want to be doing character creation please feel free to do so! But send me a message on the forum with the details that I have missed, so that I can make note of them and keep everyone in the loop.

Nights that I can be around are:
Monday after 3 pm/6 pm Pac/Eastern time
Tuesday all day
Wednesday after 1 pm/4pm Pac/Eastern Time
Thursday: Whenever I get off work
Friday: Whenever I get off work
Saturday: Sometime after 3/6pm Pacific/Eastern Time
Sunday: See Saturday

Although my attention span will be iffy, given that I am moving in a week… roughly. I'm not exactly sure -when- I will be back after the move.. it would be within a couple of days. In the mean time anyone whose character isn't finished yet should be working on that, and the players could be delightful and come up with some scenes and storyline stuff they might want to work out. Just.. you know.. a suggestion… like stop signs.


DUAL GAMES YOU SAY?
There are a lot of people interested… a -lot-. That's a lot for my little brain to keep up with, and it will also make game play a little slow… which means blocking out more time for play than what some of us can afford to on any given night. So I suggest this:

I can, and will, run two games. Here's the catch. I would prefer it if both games were in the same city.. and do expect that the scenes will be ran similarly and consecutively (as much as possible), with alterations only to the characters. The main ideas will be the same.. THIS WAY… people can come to whatever night they want, and jump in without too much confusion and complications.

[Ahrrie]

Incidentally, some time later I am going to post a list of questions we'll be covering tonight.. that way they are here for any late joiners and for Tuesday as well =)

[Aine]

If you don't vote, don't whine later that your city didn't get picked. 

(I know it's the American Way.  I just don't want to hear it. )

[Soulless Mystic5523]

Hmm.

[Themostocles]

Hmm.

^ is that significant?  Is contemplative?  Evil pondering?  Should we worry? 

[Chelle]

^ is that significant?  Is contemplative?  Evil pondering?  Should we worry? 

It's Mystic.  We should always worry.

[BookLover♥]

*worries*

 

[Aine]

Voting is closed, SF takes it. 

Whee!

*Wizards at the Gay Pride Parade*

[Ahrrie]

Homework Assignment #2:

Because Ahrrie has a migraine and can't do everything on her own, much as she hates to admit it.... you have a task.

It would be lovely if you would each create one of the "Faces" and one of the "Locations" For San Francisco. This means you might have to look through your PDFs for ideas, or you may already know what you want to do. Please post them here, in an orderly fashion, and next time we meet (To be decided very soon) We'll pick as a group where they fall in the grand scheme of things. Everyone will have a stake in the game that way. Please bear in mind they need to relate, somehow, to the themes and threats.

For the Locations:
Name:
Description:
Theme or Threat?
The Idea:
The Aspect:
The Face:


For the Faces:
Name:
Is the face of....
with the High Concept...
and Motivation....
With these relationships...


OPTIONAL: Do some research about San Francisco! Interesting facts, ghost stories, legends, urban myths. Anything that you think is awesomely amazing.

ALSO: Please put in your post somewhere two days that would work for you to do your character creation as a group.

Thanks guys =)

[luminos]

  I'll do some other locations and their faces as well, just to get some volume to the stuff.

Broadway Street
A red light district with lots of bars and clubs. 
Theme
Loose inhibitions make this a good feeding ground for White Court vampires
No Inhibitions
Carlton Raith - Shamelessness is a virtue

Alcatraz
This island in the San Francisco Bay has been used as a lighthouse, a military garrison, a prison, and is now a tourist attraction.  The negative memories attached to the island has allowed poltergeist's to manifest themselves in the facility, which feed on the negative feelings tourists have about the place. 
Theme
Poltergeist's stir feelings of unease in tourists, and feed on those emotions
Melancholy Prey
Chad Hoover - Oblivious tour guide
Chad leads tours through Alcatraz, but he is as in the dark as mortals come.  He enjoys his job, and will scare tourists with spooky stories about Alcatraz that he doesn't believe.  His happy attitude about touring Alcatraz makes him immune to the feeding habits of the poltergeist's

Japantown
Six city blocks of Japanese business's, people, and culture.  The Yakuza shake down many of the business's here for protection, but they generally keep a low profile.  The Yakuza here don't want to make their wealth come at the expense of the respectability of the neighborhood, so they are very nervous about the much more aggresive Triads that are trying to expand into Yakuza territory.  The Yakuza's backlash against the Triads threatens to create a full scale mob war.
Threat
The Yakuza want to protect their territory, while still making money off of local business's
Aspect: The Yakuza's Own It
The Face: [Akahito Genda] - Yakuza enforcer
Akahito is convinced the best way to deal with the triads is to meet their aggression with more aggression. 

Ujarak Strongfoot - A face of Prime Hunting - High Concept: Cannibalistic Cult Leader
Ujarak leads a cult of cannibals that worship a Native American death god called the "Body of Stone".  They abduct the homeless, eat their flesh, and expect to be rewarded by their god by doing so.  Ujarak wants to make his god more powerful so that he can rule over a portion of the Earth when the "Body of Stone" comes back into power.  He may have already been granted many strange powers by the people he has eaten and the service he has given...


Days for character creation:  Not the weekend

[Aine]

I volunteered City Lights Bookstore as the city site of Accorded Neutral Ground, so I'll flesh that out a little more. 

Also, I really like the idea of incorporating El Camino Real and the Spanish Missions, so I'll see what I can do with that too.

[paul_Harkonen]

I'm going to do 3 places I've actually been in the City

I'm looking at Sts Peter and Paul Church near Washington Square

Fort Mason (near Ghiradhelli Square overlooking the Bay and intended to defend the Gate)

The San Francisco Botanical Gardens.

I'll update this post once I've got things fleshed out.