Marseilles Madness OOC

  • Marseilles Madness OOC

    Posted by mercy on August 28, 2017 at 2:35 pm

    This is the OOC for the new sub-thread for Song of Patterns. The action is mostly taking place in and about Marseilles, France, as investigators try to unravel a puzzle.

    mads838a replied 6 years, 4 months ago 6 Members · 787 Replies
  • 787 Replies
  • bakuinvestigations

    Member
    August 28, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    Hello everyone.

    I will be playing an / the investigator in Marseilles. It will take me a bit to get all of the threads together for a proper introduction to the character, but here is a brief overview.

    The character appears to be a young Human male of Eastern European decent (Romanian, specifically) named Dominik Ripnu.
    I say “appears,” because this is a Physical Mask spell. In reality, he is a Oni male from Japan.
    He is a Mystic Adept, of the Qabbalism Tradition.

    EDITed to add:
    Character Sheet v0.9 (Google Docs)
    Contacts WIP (Google Docs)

  • Imladir

    Member
    August 29, 2017 at 8:05 am

    Hey o/

  • mercy

    Member
    August 29, 2017 at 11:48 am

    Cool. I encourage the two of you to use this OOC, or some other means, to coordinate activities and help me do this as a collaborative thread, with each of us doing some work to draw out the scenes and the action. Do not be afraid to write stuff without talking to me first. Describe your surroundings and the people you see/meet, even hold entire conversations with your contacts or minor NPCs. I will let almost anything go forward as long as it does not truly negatively impact the other PCs or some of the major NPCs. For example, please consult with me before killing anyone off, other than minor thugs and the like. Just be aware that actions can result in reactions and many of the NPCs have friends or relatives.

    We can start with each of you setting up your current environment in an introductory post. Baku is in Paris and Margot is in Marseilles. A nice post will get the balls rolling to get you two together to start on the meat. Just remember, my threads tend to move slower, in-game time-wise, than other games and you might be a few posts before getting together. If you need an example, look no further than Jungle Drums (JD). At some point, I will have the two players in that thread meet up and continue the adventure, but there is more to the game than simply taking one post and getting from Marseilles to Bogota. If we had done that, there would not now be the impetus for the Marseilles Madness (MM) thread. The fun is in the adventure.

    I may even try to bring another new player into the thread if I feel that he is serious about playing and posting.

    Let’s make this work.

  • bakuinvestigations

    Member
    August 29, 2017 at 3:41 pm

    If I understand you correctly, at least at first as we set up the scene, we should not expect much dialog per post.

    Example: When I get my introductory call from Rhea Kynn, I should expect several posts in the back and forth setting up the details.

    Is that a correct interpretation?

    For reference, I am just trying to judge pacing expectations.

    EDITed to add:

    Sorry, one more question before I write my intro post. What time of year is it? Roughly, at least. I’m trying to determine what typical weather should be.

  • mercy

    Member
    August 29, 2017 at 4:59 pm

    You can set up your introduction scene as you like, and I hope that there is enough detail in what I do to keep you interested. You are correct about the initial contact from Rhea Kynn to you, as there will perhaps be several back and forth posts as she gives you instructions and you ask for clarification, etc. I generally find that I like the conversations to go relatively back and forth if they are between major players but feel free to do several back and forths on your own if you are chatting with an NPC and do not require my input to do it. That is usually the call of the player and we can work through any issues that might pop up. My reasoning is that I want to give you the opportunity to respond to a point without having to go back and edit a post to do that. And it helps if you give me the same opportunity to respond as if this were a real conversation.

    I appreciate you wanting to judge pacing expectations since that is the one thing that can destroy a good group dynamic. Imladir is a very active poster in my Tangled Currents (TC) thread for Cynthia and I expect that he will keep up with Margot in this thread. We have over a thousand posts and a number of real-life months between us and are only a few game days from where I started her solo thread. We started on Shadow Grid and moved to Dump Shock. We tried to merge two threads by bringing Jeremiah in, but that player just sort of vanished after a bit. It is not meant to be a game where I demand a certain number of posts a day, but I think we can keep the flow going here as long as we are conscientious about reading and posting, taking into account slowdowns for vacations and other real life events.

    Do we need to try to set an expectation? For myself, I try to get to every thread at least once a day…………the operative word there is try.

    The current date is Monday, March 22, 2077. The call to you from Rhea will be come in at just a bit after midnight that morning, so the time ought to be about 0015 or so. I know that you have said you rarely have a woman in your bed, but let me know if this would be one of those rare times. You can set that up in the introductory post for Baku.

  • bakuinvestigations

    Member
    August 29, 2017 at 6:59 pm
    2293 wrote:

    Do we need to try to set an expectation? For myself, I try to get to every thread at least once a day…………the operative word there is try.

    Hmm… That didn’t go quite as I expected. Let me try again.
    While the amount of “input” considered the bare minimum has decreased as the long distance gaming technology has improved, I normally limit myself to three to four sentences at a minimum. If I can’t come up with more, I need to think on it more.
    If you are looking at a more… (Meta)human pacing to the conversations, one sentence might legitimately be all that can be posted.
    I was trying to judge if that would be considered “not even trying” or acceptable – assuming I’m not trying to get away with one sentence posts continuously.

    2293 wrote:

    The current date is Monday, March 22, 2077. The call to you from Rhea will be come in at just a bit after midnight that morning, so the time ought to be about 0015 or so. I know that you have said you rarely have a woman in your bed, but let me know if this would be one of those rare times. You can set that up in the introductory post for Baku.

    Hmmm… That is later / earlier than I was planning. Glad I asked first.

    Alright, post forthcoming.

  • mercy

    Member
    August 29, 2017 at 7:33 pm

    I fully do expect that there WILL be some very short posts and that is acceptable on occasion. I can go with three or four sentences, but sometimes it is just one if you want to see what someone posts in response. Most of the posts will be much more that this so do not stress if a few are short. I am quite flexible.

  • always_overkill

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 1:05 am

    Looking forward to joining up, here is my sheet and background for the archives; I am currently working on a tie that will bring Lany to France, as well as new contacts.

    Character Name: Elaina Argyle
    Alias: Lany; Pandora; Samantha McGregor (Cover)
    Archetype: Face/Assassin
    Race: Elf

    Attributes:
    Body: 5 (-6-)
    Agility: 6 (-9 -)
    Reaction: 5 (-8 -)
    Strength: 5 (-6-)
    Willpower: 5
    Logic: 2
    Intuition: 4
    Charisma: 6
    Edge: 3
    Essence: 1.37

    -Limits-
    Physical: 9
    Mental: 5
    Social: 7

    Skills:
    Acting Skill Group: 5
    Firearms Skill Group: 5 (Semi-Automatics)
    Gymnastics: 6 (Parkour, Dodging)
    Running: 3
    Sneaking: 5
    Etiquette: 4
    Unarmed Combat: 6 (Muay Thai)
    Palming: 3
    Disguise: 4
    Negotiate: 1
    Thrown Weapon: 1
    Computers: 1
    Perception: 6
    Locksmith: 3

    Knowledge Skills:
    English(N)
    French: 4
    German: 4
    Japanese: 2
    Megacorp Politics: 2
    Megacorp Security: 1
    Popular Culture: 1

    Augmentations:
    Wired Reflexes 1 (Alphaware)
    Suprathyroid Gland
    Pain Editor
    Reaction Enhancers 1
    Bone Augmentation 2
    Orthoskin 2
    Muscle Toner 2
    Synch
    Smartlink
    Thermographic Vision
    Vision Magnification
    Flare Compensation
    Spatial Recognizer
    Shock Hand
    Datajack w- Sim-Rig
    Sleep Regulator

    Qualities:
    Photographic Memory -6
    Cat-Like -7
    Negative Qualities:
    Insomnia +10
    Code of Honor +15

    Gear:
    Renraku Sensei Earbud Commlink
    Ares Predator V (w-Suppressor)
    -100 Rounds Standard Ammo (6 Mags)
    -100 Rounds XExplosive Ammo (6 Mags)
    -100 Rounds Stick and Shock Ammo (6 Mags)
    -100 Rounds APDS Ammo (6 Mags)
    Yamaha Raiden (w- Gas Vent 3 & Shock Pad) “Fiona”
    -180 Rounds XExplosive Ammunition (3 Mags)
    -180 Rounds APDS Ammunition (3 Mags)
    -180 Rounds Stick & Shock Ammunition (3 Mags)
    PPSK-7 Collapsible MP w- Integral Smartgun, Suppressor
    150 Rounds APDS (5 Mags)
    150 Rounds XExplosive (5 Mags)
    150 Rounds Stick and Shock (5 Mags)
    HK Urban Combat
    160 Rounds APDS (4 Mags)
    160 Rounds XExplosive (4 Mags)
    120 Rounds Stick and Shock (3 Mags)
    Auto Assault-16 w- Smartgun, Gas Vent 3, Shock Pad “Winifred or Winnie”
    160 Rounds APDS (5 Mags)
    160 Rounds Flechette (5 Mags)
    160 Rounds XExplosive (5 Mags)
    Colt American L36- w Suppressor, Smartlink “Agnes”
    -40 Rounds XExplosive Ammunition ( 3 Mags)
    -40 Rounds Stick and Shock (3 Mags)
    Streetline Special “Isabella”
    -30 Rounds Standard Ammunition (5 Mags)
    Chameleon Suit
    Form-fitting Body Armor
    Armor Vest
    Full Body Armor
    Armor Jacket
    Zoe Nightshade Evening Gown
    Lockpick Set
    Sequencer: 3
    Autopicker: 3
    Fake SIN: 3
    Fake License: 5 (Predator)
    Lifestyle (Low)
    Microtransceiver
    Respirator 4
    Meta Link (Burner) x2 (1 Work, 1 Play)
    Endoscope
    5 Flashbang Grenades
    5 Flashpacks
    5 Frag Grenades
    5 High Explosive Grenades
    5 Smoke Grenades
    5 Thermal Smoke Grenade

    Nuyen remaining: 2,310

    Elaina “Lany” Argyle.
    Runner Name: Pandora
    Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland; 2060
    Archetype: Face, Assassin
    Age: 17
    Height: 5′ 1″
    Weight: 118 lbs
    Hair: Auburn, pulled back into a single thick braid
    Eyes: Dark Blue

    Born to blue collar parents in 2060 in Edinburgh, Scotland; Lany was an acting prodigy from a young age. Between the ages of 9-11 she won a series of young aspiring actress awards that earned her international attention. She was offered numerous scholarships to prestigious acting schools upon her graduation, but instead of waiting took an apprenticeship at a Horizon studio for young talent in L.A., leaving behind her parents and friends. What she found when she got there was not the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle everyone outside the city thinks of, more like a boot camp for young actors who were legally indentured to the studio. They put her and her fellow students through every test imaginable, physical and mental. As Lany began to set herself apart from her classmates, she was taken into one on one training with some experienced actors, often following them on-set as they traveled to remote filming locations. As this continued she was told that she was finished with training in the studio school. Shortly after saying her goodbyes to friends at the school, she was told her Mother, Father, and siblings were killed in a fire at their home in Edinburgh. She was only 12, and now felt like she was alone in the world.

    After the studio had given her some time to mourn the loss of her family, she found that she was no longer training with anyone she recognized as an actor. Her on-set excursions ended, and she spent most of her time training with men and women wearing mostly suits, and found that reading scripts for movies had changed into exercises in impersonation and improvised performance. She soon realized that they were teaching her to imitate actual executives from rival Megacorps, how to lie her way past security guards and low-level Mob thugs, to get where she wasn’t supposed to get. When she asked why she was learning these skills, she was told she was being groomed for a very important part in one of Horizon’s biggest ventures. She acted excited, but deep down she knew they were not training her for any movie.

    She was then transferred to a new school where she was told she would learn about dance and stage fighting, but when she got there she found herself thrown into advanced marksman training and learning defensive combat skills. Not long after this began, the memories in Lany’s head began to get blurry. In fact, it was the first time in her life that she couldn’t remember clearly. She remembered seeing the trainer who had brought her here arguing with a rather small man in a suit; he was yelling that she wasn’t ready for this, and the small man in the suit saying just one word in response,”regardless”. After that things went black; then a storm of disconnected images and flashes and words. And pain. My God the pain.

    The next thing she remembered was being on the street. It was night, but the lights of the city glowed bright and people were still moving up and down the streets. Lany didn’t know where she was, but felt like she knew where she was going even if she couldn’t think of why she was, or even what she should do when she got there. Despite all the confusion her pace was fast, she felt like she was getting close. Lany noticed that she was moving further away from bright lights and the bustle of people, into darker slums and a strange silence that hung over the area ominously. She saw a door leading into an old warehouse, it looked abandoned, but something flashed in her vision as she glanced in its direction. That was where she was going. Lany was confused, and scared; something didnt feel right. She felt strange like somehow more disconnected from the world around her than she had been before. All the misgivings aside, she was headed for that door. She had no choice in that and she knew it. Something was definitely wrong.

    When she reached the door, she realized it was locked. Now what was she going to do? The question seemed to answer itself as before she had even finished thinking of it she reached into her pocket and produced a fancy electronic device. A sequencer; this was a Maglock, she realized. She began inputting some numbers as the sequencer began to decode the lock, and soon she heard a barely audible click as it finished its work. How did I do that, she thought. She had never picked a lock in her life, yet that had seemed easy, as if she had done it 1,000 times before. Surprised, and oddly proud of herself, she opened the door.

    As she walked through the door, 3 men jumped up startled. They hadn’t heard the lock disengage over there conversation, and pulled their guns on Lany before she could say anything. They appeared disarmed when they realized it was a young girl, and one seemed to be concerned that she was out there alone. As he approached to talk to her, he dropped down on one knee to get to her level. Lany tried to ask him where she was, what was going on, but she couldn’t. The words wouldn’t come out. She looked up at the man, trying to communicate through her eyes the utter confusion she was in. But as she looked him in the eye a red crosshair appeared, and she quickly saw his expression change to fear when he saw the gun Lany had pulled out. She didn’t have a gun was all she thought as she pulled the trigger. The bang of the gun broke the brief calm that had settled over the scene, not nearly as loud as she thought it would be that up-close. But as the men rushed to pull their guns back up, it all seemed like slow motion to her. She spun around, burying a kick into one of the men, slowing him down, while her gun leveled on the other. She didn’t want to shoot him, but it was all happening regardless of what she felt or wanted. As the man hit the ground, she returned to the guard she had spin kicked, knocking the gun from his hand with another, then vaulting off the wall for the third to get the extra push she needed to get his bulky ork frame to the ground. As the ork laid on the ground trying to figure out what had hit him she pounded down into his chest with the palm of her hand, feeling a sudden jolt of electricity pass from her hand into his chest, driving the air out while the shock rendered him unconscious. Then in horror, she went and picked up the gun she had dropped; she hadn’t realized she dropped it, and strode over to his defenseless form. She aimed the gun down at his forehead, and despite the terror of what she was doing, executing him, she fired; and continued further into the building.

    This was a nightmare. It HAD to be a nightmare. She felt disgusted with herself, she had killed three people back there, two of them in cold blood. A man who was trying to help her, and an ork who was down and no threat to her, and she had done it without the slightest bit of hesitation in the execution of her movements. Her mind had screamed no, but her body hadn’t seemed to notice her objections. What else had she done? What else was she capable of? The thoughts disturbed her. She was still pressing onward, she noticed her footsteps didnt make a sound. She saw a woman step out from behind a corner up ahead, giving her a confused look as Lany aimed and fired. She was on the ground. Lany didn’t slow down, just shot her prostrate form as she walked past. What was she doing? A man shouted out behind her running up to the woman’s body to see if he could help her. Lany didn’t know if he had seen her, but she turned and shot him dead anyways. She heard people stirring all around her, they must have heard that man’s shout. She started running, up a set of stairs, she felt like she was getting close. Someone reached out from the side, trying to grab her, but she tripped him and shot the back of his head on his way down. She kept going, now under pistol fire coming from a doorway up ahead. He had good cover, but she was able to aim around it easily with her targeting reticle. The exchange of gunfire drew the more people, she felt a shot rip into her back from behind, but she kept going, the suit she was wearing must have been armored. She produced a grenade and threw it behind her, not waiting to watch the results of the blast, the shots from behind her ceasing being the only confirmation she needed, and surged ahead towards a doorway down the hall. This had to be it, this must almost be over. She felt where she had been shot, there was a hole in her armor; her skin had somehow stopped the bullet. What the frag was going on? What was she?

    She burst through the door before she could finish the thought. There were 7 people in the room, most of them armed, but somehow Lany knew who she had to kill, it was an A.I. named Fury. He was downloading himself into a young Native American man, his head still jacked into a cyberterminal. If Lany killed him, she knew the A.I. would be lost. She led with her gun, shooting a man who had stepped in front of the man she knew to be her target, then another coming at her from the side. A third shot at her mark went off course as her gun was knocked to the ground by a tough-looking dwarf with a pair of brass knuckles on, but Lany spun around striking with the back of her hand against the dwarf’s face. The momentum behind the strike had knocked a couple of the dwarf’s teeth out, but he was still standing, and took a swing with his obviously cybernetically enhanced muscles driving the blow. Lany was able to duck the first blow, but the second blow from his left landed like a wrecking ball. The dwarf felt like he had just punched a wall, and the little girl just kept coming, kicking him in the side before landing a strike into his chest, another jolt of electricity passing from her hand to the now unconscious dwarf. After seeing he was going down, Lany dove for her gun, picking it up and firing a round into a woman who had also went for her gun, then drawing the crosshairs in her vision on Fury himself. Before she fired, his host lashed out at her with a blinding bolt of energy, striking the skilljack Lany did not even know was right beneath her right ear. As the bolt struck home, Lany could feel something let go, whatever had been driving her to do what she did was cut off; she felt back in control. But the moment was brief, before she could thank whoever had freed her from her nightmare, she blacked out and lost consciousness.

    It was months later before Lany came out of the comatose state that Fury’s host’s bolt had put her in. She recognized the face of Lefey, a young technomancer that had been there when she had tried to kill Fury and his host. Lany didn’t understand why they had helped her after what she had done, why they didn’t just kill her. But Fury and Lefey told her that what had happened was not her doing; she had been changed into a living weapon by Horizon, against her will. As Lany regained her strength, the feelings of confusion over what had happened to her began to change to anger over what they had done. They had used her, turned her into a killer. Her dreams for life were shattered, her innocence was gone, and there was blood on her hands. But as she trained and discovered the skills and abilities Horizon had left her with, she found a new dream; revenge. Lefey recommended bringing in a more experienced runner to help provide Lany some guidance in her skillset, introducing her to “Nikki the Knife” Meadows, an accomplished assassin. Nikki began to give Lany her first real lessons as a professional hitman, and it wasn’t long before Lany was ready to start running the shadows, eager to prove herself and get back at Horizon for all they had done to her.

    Lany came to Europe about 8 months ago. She had been sent their to lay low after assassinating two top Horizon Recruiters, responsible for bringing in young talent; and a Horizon executive who served on the Entertainment board. She spent her first 3 months in the AGS, initially living in Berlin, then Stuttgart, keeping a low profile and staying under the Megacorps’ radar. Eager to get back into the shadows, Lany moved
    to Southern France, making contact with the anticorporate groups Attack! and Grun Zellen to help her in her efforts to stop the Megas from continuing to exploit, torture, and destroy the lives of countless children just as they had done to her.

  • bakuinvestigations

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 7:48 am

    For the (game) mechanically inclined: Whenever Baku casts “just enough to get the job done,” he is casting at the highest Force that still only produces the minimum Drain Value and buys 2 Hits (3, if it is an Illusion), and buys 2 Hits to resist Drain.
    For example: Physical Mask is a Force -1 Drain spell, so he casts at Force 3.

    Should a spell have a positive Drain modifier that is greater than +1, he will never consider casting it “just enough to get the job done.”

    In unrelated news:

    Wow, my little solo act has grown! 😉 This should be quite fun.

    EDITed to add:
    If any are curious where I got Baku’s fee rates from:
    Run Faster pg. 254 under “Services” has Highly Skilled Labor at 50 nuyen per hour. I figure a 10 hour day at most. A stay at a Low Lifestyle level hotel / motel calculates to about 70 nuyen per day, rounded up to 100 nuyen. Then there are travel expenses, and some room for negotiations, to put the opening bid at 1000 nuyen.

  • mercy

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 9:01 am

    Tangled Currents was the solo act. I am trying to see if I can get and keep three people interested in this thread. We will see how it falls out.

  • mercy

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 10:41 am

    Just in case anyone is wondering, I can access this site during the day, so will be able to monitor it and even post once in a while. I cannot access the other gaming sites.

  • bakuinvestigations

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 10:45 am
    2302 wrote:

    Tangled Currents was the solo act. I am trying to see if I can get and keep three people interested in this thread. We will see how it falls out.

    Oh, my mistake then. No matter, I don’t have any issue either way. Unfortunately, when it comes to RP, “The more the merrier” doesn’t quite pan out… But more is certainly welcome.

  • mercy

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 11:09 am

    Yes, I agree that the more the merrier does always work out well. However, I think I that all three players can be relied on to post and that is good. Now we just need to see if everyone can get along……………………………………..

    I am still waiting for the other characters to be finalized, but there is still plenty of opportunity for us to RP with Baku before he gets to Marseilles.

  • bakuinvestigations

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 11:46 am
    2309 wrote:

    I am still waiting for the other characters to be finalized,

    That reminds me. I gotta get all of the ideas in my head down on paper, so to speak, and get appearance / description and background / history up for Baku.

    Oh, that leads me to another question: Characters are being “hosted” (for lack of a better word) on Obsidian Portal. I noticed that many have a tag in the name, such as “All – ” and “TC – .” What should I put on my characters names? “MM – ?”

  • mercy

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    Yes, please. I would ask that you use MM.

  • bakuinvestigations

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    I took a little liberty with the abilities of the CU^3 drone in my last post. Except for Perception (Clearsight), the drone defaults on everything at 1 die. But the game expects this to be enough for it to pilot around and track it’s user, so I think that should also be good enough to track notes, and appointments. As you noticed, Baku didn’t trust it to schedule a cab. 😉

    By “basic” Russian language tutorsoft, I mean a Rating 2 (2 Availability, 800 nuyen base). Thanks to the Linguistics Adept power, Baku only needs 6 hours exposure to it to pick up Russian at rank 1. I figure he can get two to three hours pretty easily before reaching Marseilles.

    And finally, I need to apologize for the length of the post. It seems kind of ironic, considering my questioning if one sentence posts can be acceptable from time to time… But there it is. There is still more to do, but at the shower seemed to be a good pause point.

  • mercy

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 1:19 pm

    No problems with any of that. It is good to invent things and what you have done is good work and I thank you for adding the details you did.

    No need to apologize for the length. There was nothing there that I really needed to respond to except for Rhea’s text back and that is easily done as we did it. I expect that there is a lot more to do and look forward to seeing it.

  • bakuinvestigations

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 6:48 pm

    New character sheet up on Obsidian Portal. I still need to clean it up a bit, because formatting doesn’t work as expected… But otherwise, that is Baku ready to go.

    I’ll be adding my contacts as NPCs, and the cover ID for Baku eventually. But shouldn’t be too long.

  • mercy

    Member
    August 30, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    Cool. Thanks very much. I know that is a lot of work.

  • bakuinvestigations

    Member
    August 31, 2017 at 7:49 am
    2323 wrote:

    I’ll be adding my contacts as NPCs, and the cover ID for Baku eventually. But shouldn’t be too long.

    After a bit of insomnia this morning, I have the contacts up. I have to do background on most of them still. They are linked from my character page as well, to make things a bit easier and cleaner.

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