Welcome.
Watch your step this is not a gentle place.
Nor, is this the place that so many good people pretend to know. Here's a quick grasp of the city you've just crossed into: Toronto. The gap between the rich and the poor has become a sprawling abyss. The obscenely wealthy feast in Yorkville, they conquer on Bay Street and rule places that make demons shudder.
The wretched poor are everywhere like so many cockroaches vying for survival (Ironically they are the ones who will last long after the times their kings have perished). The wage slaves live and die unremembered. Sometimes they are prey to creatures we tell ourselves "don't exist." Sometimes, these horrors drag them screaming into the shadows to be forgotten. Those good citizens who don't succumb to living nightmares suffer an even bitter fate: the casual indifference of their "fellow" man.
Do you wish to know the real terror here? Do you wish to know the truly disturbing secret of city? Here it is: Toronto is on Canadian soil. Imagine a wealthy socialist nation and kissing cousin (or friend with "benefits") to the United States. A global player cast in the role of peace-keeper. On a map in ancient days such a place would be marked as "here be paradise."
This city like the Kindreds own masquerade hides behind a mask of tolerance, benevolence and compromise. This hypocrisy makes the city dangerous beyond words. We've all heard the reports after serial killers are discovered. The tell us about the "guy next door". You know the one who mows his lawn regularly, pays his taxes only and was a pillar of the community. Then we find out he has been stocking his freezer with bodies for the last year. Toronto is no different. It hides it's secrets just as the killer hides his. The only difference: the city is better at keeping away prying eyes.
Until now.
You've made the choice, little duckling. You've come here. You are on your own. But fear not there are always strange friends and bizarre alliances to be made. That's if you can survive long enough.
Good Luck,
Natasha Valea, Proprietor of the Nightly Gazette
Your Requiem: The city is nothing without the vampires that compose it. Read through the VtR players guide and design a concept for a character. Your character is arriving at in the city for the first time as a vampire (though during their mortal life they may have spent time or been raised here). As is the custom with the Prince of Toronto attending and introducing oneself and obtaining the right to stay is a matter of great importance. The Prince entertains new applicants to the city the first Saturday of every month. Create a reason for your character to come to the city and to the Prince's audience.
Post this concept ( one or two paragraphs max) to this thread as a "comment" or email it directly to theironalley@gmail.com. Once we've heard from all players, we will proceed to step 2: Creating your Character!
Please remember the though city is filled with various delights, pleasures, dangers and assorted intrigues that any violation of the Prince's laws will be dealt with severely.
THE CAST OF CRIMINAL INTENT
THE BOSS
THE BRILLIANT ARTIST
THE PRINCE'S HOUND
THE PLAYERS
Natasha Valea, Causefaulha, Dante, Ebenezer White, Duff McKie
22 comments:
Ebenezer White met his first vampire in the trenches of France in 1917 and was haunted by the encounter the rest of his life - literally. The spiteful creature followed Eb throughout his life visiting tragedy after unexplained tragedy upon the man. Loved ones died or disappeared, businesses failed, houses burned down. Finally, on his ninetieth birthday, the fiend finally revealed itself to Eb and visited upon him the final torture, gifting him with vampirism and ushering him into the clan Nosferatu, then vanishing again into the night.
The embrace did not change him much outwardly: he went from appearing as a decrepid old man, to appearing as a very decrepid old man. His liver spotted skin hangs from his gaunt frame in loose folds and whisps of white hair grow in uneven clumps from his scalp. But it has had a profound affect on Eb's mind - the fog of senility has lifted (mostly) - and unholy strength courses through his veins.
In the year since his embrace Eb has stayed confined to his wartime rowhouse in old Toronto coming to grips with his new condition, and building up a seething thirst for vengence against the monster that has toyed with his life for almost a century.
I was never really David Andersmith. It’s the name they give you and then they turn around and spit on you when things go wrong. I might as well say I lived on the Internet for years, the real world didn’t work out. “How can you have fulfilling relationships on the Internet?” they ask you. “Aren’t people fake?” At least on the Internet I can see patterns, watch progressions of character. You can tell if the person is different. It’s a lot easier than seeing the two-faceness of the real world. Whatever, I’m on the train tonight because I finally figured them out. I’m looking for better than this. Causefaulha is on his way.
The Internet is vast and only few can navigate it. Causefaulha travelled to every dark corner of the web just to see who was out there. A loner by choice from the world around him, he found many interesting characters and relationships in cyber space. Recently, one such acquaintance beckoned him to Toronto after years of swapping ideas, tools and values. Causefaulha thought the whole vampirism thing was a fun distraction and a neat story to fictionalize. The reality was even more interesting. All Causefaulha knew was technology, a knack for numbers and how to waste time in between server crashes with a dart board.
Causefaulha – Stats Page
Primary Group: Mental
Intelligence: 2 Wits: 3 Resolve: 3
Secondary Group: Physical
Strength: 1 Dexterity: 3 Stamina: 3
Tertiary Group: Social
Presence: 1 Manipulation: 3 Composure: 2
Primary: Physical
Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
The embrace has filled Eb with infernal stregth, returning to him the vigor of his youth.
Secondary: Social
Presence 3, Manpulation 2, Composure 2
After decades of infirmity, Eb has learned to be beligerent, bullying, wheedling - whatever he needed to do to get people to pay attention to him and meet his needs.
Tertiary: Mental
Intelligence 1, Wits 2, Resolve 3
While the embrace restored Eb's strength of body, it has not done the same for his strength of mind, and he struggles with seniltiy and forgetfulness. Eb has done and seen much in his life, and survived much tragedy, and this has left him with a strong resolve and the steely will of a survivor.
Stats:
Name: Dante Silverman
Date of Birth: September 1st, 1899.
Day of Turning: October 24th, 1929.
Primary Group: Mental
Intelligence: 3 Wits: 3 Resolve: 2
Secondary Group: Social
Presence: 2 Manipulation: 3 Composure: 2
Tertiary Group: Physical
Strength: 2 Dexterity: 2 Stamina: 2
Everything seemed to go to hell that Thursday. America was playing a game where the stakes were too high for her. It was the start of the market crash of ’29.
Dante Silverman, the half-Jewish millionaire bootlegger, drug baron and speakeasy owner in New York City, had played a similar game several nights before. Refusing to pay a 100,000 dollar debt, claiming that the game was fixed, a hit had been ordered. Dante escaped the confrontation with two guns shots to his left leg.
The sun had set, and as he was trying to find his way to a hospital, he collapsed in an alley. He was soon discovered by one of his more mysterious clients; whom only appeared at night. After his discovery that this particular client was an elder of the Ventrue clan, knowing his impending doom, Dante accepted and survived his embrace. He continued to grow his drug ring over decades, and began to expand into Toronto, choosing to reside there to oversee its operations. To remind himself of the initial injuries from the day of his embrace, he began to with a black cane.
Skills
Primary: Physical
Brawl 2
Firearms 2 (rifle)
Stealth 3
Survival 2
Weaponry 2 (bayonet)
Secondary: Social
Empathy 2
Intimidate 3
Subterfuge 2
Tertiary: Mental
Investigation 2 (puzzles)
Occult 2
Skills
Mental:
Computer - 4 (Hacking)
Characters with this Skill have the necessary experience to operate a computer. At higher levels (3 or more) a character can do things like create his own computer programs.
Investigation - 4
The art and science of solving mysteries, examining seemingly disparate evidence to find a connection, answering riddles and overcoming paradoxes. It no only allows your character to get into the head of a character it also allows them to see past the mortal world.
Politics - 3 (Scandals)
Familiar with the way poetical processes work, they’re experienced with bureaucracies and know exactly who to talk to.
Physical:
Larceny - 4 (Security Systems)
A broad skill that covers everything from picking locks to concealing stolen foods and everything in between.
Stealth - 3
Represents a character's experience or training to avoid notice, moving silently, making use of cover or blending into a crowd.
Social:
Streetwise - 2
Characters with this skill know how life on the streets works and are adept at surviving by its harsh rules.
Subterfuge - 2
The art of deception. By possessing this skill your character knows how to lie convincingly and they recognize when they are being lied too.
Merits:
Haven 2 dots
Ebenezer owns a tiny rundown little house in a downtown suburb that is almost as old as he is. Its definitely the spookiest block on the house, with boarded up windows,an overgrown, trash strewn front, and an abundance of stray cats that act like they own the place.
Retainer 3 dots
Ebenezer has a faithful ghoul - A nurse that used to care for him in his infirmity now tends to his new condition.
Herd 2 dots
His day nurse works hard to keep old Eb well supplied with pilfered blood bank supplies, fresh cats, and the occasional nursing student.
The concepts and merits look great everyone! I"m really impressed and it looks like I may have to jack up the pressure if everyone is going to be this solid.
Awesome,
Brett.
Barfly: 1
No matter where he is your character can get into the best night spots with a few words or bribes. There isn’t a bar, restaurant or velvet rope that can keep him out.
Eidetic Memory: 2
You character has a near photo-graphic memory being able to recall vast amounts of observed detail with astonishing accuracy.
Allies, Online Community: 2
These are people who are willing to assist your character, offer aid or owe them a favor. Dots in Allies are specific.
Haven: 2
A haven is place where a vampire sleeps , protected from the sun during the deadly daylight hours. All havens are not created equal some are long forgotten castles protected by traps and minions others are storage lockers with hourly rates.
2 Dot: A large apartment or small family; 3-4 rooms
Name: Duff McKie
Duff won his golden gloves at the age of 19, and went on to fight professionally throughout Canada and the United States.
He was being lauded as the fastest and toughest lightweight to hit the circuit in a decade. The dark Irish Albertan was 5’5 and 130lbs. of speed and determination. Unfortunately, he also had an obsession with motorcycles. After a rather showy victory in Toronto, during a heavy rainfall, Duff’s motorcycle went into a slide on Lakeshore blvd., tossing the young boxer into the guardrail. He was rushed to the hospital, but the prognosis was not good. He had slipped into a coma. When the darkness cleared like a lifting fog Duff found himself in an old abandoned boxing gym in the East end. He felt strange. A hunched over figure in dirty sweats approached him. “Heya champ. I couldn’t let your talent fade away. Gotta keep ya in fightin’ shape.” Duff passed out shortly after, and awoke hungry and alone…
1 year later Duff roams through Toronto at night on his Triumph Scrambler, feeding when he can, forced to find a new safe haven every few weeks.
MENTAL
Intelligence 2
Wits 2
Resolve 3
PHYSICAL
Strength 3
Dexterity 3
Stamina 2
SOCIAL
Presence 2
Manipulation 2
Composure 2
SKILLS
Athletics 3
Brawling (Boxing) 4
Drive (Motorcycle) 4
Intimidation (Stare-downs) 5
Streetwise 2
Medicine 2
Craft 2
MERITS
Fast Reflexes 2
Fighting Style: Boxing 3
Striking Looks 2
Quick update and change to Duff:
Duff McKie will be of the GANGREL bloodline.
To avoid redundant boxing skills and merits I will re-allocate the following:
SKILLS
Athletics 2
Brawling (Boxing) 5
Drive (Motorcycle) 4
Intimidation (Stare-downs) 5
Streetwise 2
Medicine 2
Craft 2
MERITS
Fast Reflexes 2
Iron Stamina 2
Striking Looks 2
Brawling Dodge 1
Duff McKie:
Protean 2
Not a native of Toronto and having no contacts, Duff merges with the soil of St. James' Cemetery for his haven.
Resilience 1
Whenever Duff needs some pocket cash he charges frustrated bar patrons at The Duke -- 10 bucks you can punch him in the stomach, 20 bucks buys you a haymaker to the jaw.
Nightmare 1
Eb is one scarey old dude when he gets riled up.
Obfuscate 1
Eb likes the shadows, and since his embrace, the shadows seem to like him . . .
Vigor 1
Eb's vampiric blood has replaced the strength of his youth with the strength of the grave.
Duff Mckie:
Virtue: Hope
Any boxer wanting to be a champion lives off optimism and dreams.
Vice: Wrath
It's been the inner flame that has allowed Duff to get into the ring with the singular purpose of destroying his opponent. Keeping that fire to a low ember outside the ring has always been a problem.
Charity: Eb has had a lot of tragedy heaped on him, and occasionally goes to great length to prevent it in other people's lives. Watching the undead callously toy with the lives of the innocent infuriates him.
Pride: Eb is used to being the oldest, wisest one around, and is still getting used to the idea that he is now the young kid in town. His age and experience sometimes gets in his way of listening to others who appear younger, and he is rather set in his ways.
Disciplines
Celerity: Superhuman Speed
Causefaulha knows that technology bottlenecks at its slowest component... the user. He works hard to make this a non-issue.
Obfuscate:
Touch of Shadow: Causefaulha has a skill for concealing small items on his person. Maybe with concentration we could work on making something bigger disappear.
Mask of Tranquility: Causefaulha seems to be able to hide true ‘vampire’ nature from people. According to everyone else he’s just that normal guy they can’t remember. Could be useful.
Virtue
Fortitude: Causefaulha is used to relying on himself; when you have to all the time it becomes a skill and you try not to think of it as a survival tactic... What am I saying?! How pathetic. My goals are my goals alone and I will achieve them no matter the odds.
Vice
Envy: They all look out for themselves, why should we be any different.
Well the Alley is being prepared and things of much diabolic intent are set in motion.
One last thing before we get started I'm going to have the character sheets for everyone online this week.
So that means I need all your characters stats posted on the blog before Wed at Midnight.
All the characters look awesome and offer a very unique flavor to watch could be a very interesting game.
Cheers,
Brett, Caretaker of the Iron Alley
Duff will spend his freebie dot raising his STAMINA from 2 to 3.
Looking forward to the game.
Causefaulha is using his extra dot to bring his intelligence from 2 to 3.
Posting this incase you don't get it through email...
Slight change to Duff's skills:
Social skills:
Intimidation (staredowns) 4
Animal Ken 3 (instead of streetwise)
Makes more sense for an Alberta boy to be more used to horses and dogs than hookers and dealers.
Good news! All the character stats are in. The sheets have all been edited - and re-edited.
The hooks for the story are finished being proofed. Look for the action to kick off shortly!
Regards,
Brett (Caretaker of the Iron Alley)
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