Author Topic: Better Angels: The Chosen Few  (Read 8763 times)

Leshrac

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Better Angels: The Chosen Few
« on: May 31, 2016, 09:03:41 PM »
(I realize this might be the wrong section of the forum for this. I didnt realize it had defaulted back here. Please if needed move it to a different section as it doesnt seem to be allowing me.

I am posting this here rather than the FB group because its a wall of text, and that's just rude on FB.  Feel free to comment here or on the linked FB post based on which is more convenient for you.

Intro
4 Terrible people are dying of terminal illnesses.  They suddenly all come up on the replacement list at the same point.  And as they come out of recovery, they realize they have a voice in their heads.  A voice they don't quite understand.  That voice tells them of the great power, and encourages them to slide into darkness.

GM Info
A great demon has risen in a new host.  Only recently released from hell, he is not so concerned about this one host.  He was set up for a specific reason.  4 Very Accomplished Hellbinders had been keeping his protégées at bay.  And that is simply not acceptable.  So he picks new hosts, intentionally seeking out 4 broken people who will be weak to the temptations of hell.  He then cons his host into making a powerful device, one that when they are killed will suspend them from returning to their medallions.  He convinces his host he is an angel, and that they are evil and need to be taken out (which isn't entirely wrong).  He then arranges these organs to be placed on the transplant list, and implanted into these 4 new hosts.  How?  Well because his Host is the Chief of Surgery at this hospital, a proud and egotistical doctor, who cannot recognize his own mistakes, and who assumes he always makes the best decisions.

In the chaos of this though enough power is thrown around that it gets the attention of another source, a powerful angel.  That angel embodies a simple man, a custodian of the Portland Metropolitan Museum.  Why there?  Because the Hellbinders hid their medallions were no one would be likely to touch them if they did die.  They hid them in the exhibits themselves as anonymous donations.  This angel knows they will come for them eventually.  So it watches.  And waits.  It doesn't know what specifically happened to draw its attention...but it knows the answers will reveal themselves.

The Characters

Anna
Ana is a model who has been once since she is small child and it is the entireity of her identity. She is selfish and proud but was so intense about her desire to maintain the industry that she developed anorexia to maintain her lifestyle.  Eventually this is dangerous though and she was facing heart failure and needed a new heart to survive. 
She was gifted with the perfect Demon, Lasciel (think Dresden). Familiar with vanity and desire this seems like the perfect host..  Aspects: Giant, Cloven Hooves; Powers: Impossible Beauty (Alien Like), Wither

Pele Kalili
Idealistic once she is a life long martial artist from Hawaii who moved to the states with her parents when they were forced to move for work.  Pele has always had an anger issue, a problem that greatly conflicts with her desire to work in social services.  She was facing kidney failure due to pushing herself so far physical and taking so many kidney strikes that eventually the organ crashed.
Axiom the Dissembler is in a hard place now.  Used to dealing in abstract concepts, he has found only one weakness, she hates the system, instead of fighting the goverment from the outside she can destroy the system from the top, breaking everything around her.  Wouldnt that be faster. Aspects: Giant, Ghost Form; Powers: Terror, Dead Ringer

Kevin Chase
He was once a good cop, but then he got to drink, and liked it a bit too much. Liked it so much he lost his job because he was coming in drunk, liked so much that he had to go to AA due to traffic offenses, but even then he still refuses to drink, but hes found it useful.  He found a younger girl, seeking guidance, and so he offered it, in the gross and creepy way.
Agalianept, General of Hell is not sure what to do with this one.  He is used to war and conflict, but this man doesnt really fight any more, hes just a lowely docks security gaurd.  But perhaps his anger and ambition to lead them both to great things. Aspects: Horned, Carapace; Powers: Terror, That Hideous Strength.

Ben Stineman
Ben is the only one who didnt start his condition, but he certinally made it worse.  Ben developed lukemia fairly young, but never got treatment, and never got the help nessecary due to laziness and obsessiveness with other things.  Now he needs a bone marrow transplant to survive.  What are his obsesions: Drones, and Survivalism (no those arent a creepy combo in the slightest).  He might also have certian thoughts about the end times and how much better off the world would be with a few million less people.
He of the Formless Thought and Shape cares not for the kind of host he has.  He finds humans to be weak and simple creatures. But if they are given what they want they are easily maliable.  And he knows....everything. Aspects: Non Euclidean, Ghost Form; Powers: Arrogance, Souless Materialism

1st Session
After recovering from surgery they all found themselves in the same room, and for a few moments while deep in Anesthisia they had brief conversations with their new demons, an open exchange where both minds were tired and weak.
Then they came out of surgery to find each other in the same room and the opportunity to meet.  Their demons all knew each other some how as did the previous hosts though some of them were more subtle acting as secret villains corrupting things in subtle ways that didnt destroy their lives.

They discovered a second problem.  For some reason their insurances wouldnt pay for their surgery, even if it had been approved before, and Charity care wasnt willing to cover it.  They each owed alot of money. 5 Money Units Worth (Roughly 250k). They had no idea how to manage this, and then they were given a clue.

They were all contacted by an old villian they had all heard of.  An old but withdrawn villian known as The Coachman.  He is known primarily for abducting very wealthy people and ransoming them back, while putting them in terrible death traps that they almost always escape.  He has been a Hellbinder for a very long time, and walks a fine line.  He also carefully hides his money being an experienced accountant (may sound similar to someone from No Soul Left Behind).  He gave them clues on what it meant to be a Hellbinder, and the danger of Demons, but also offered to help them deal with thier money.

So they had to figure out how to make money..and robbing a bank just seemed to extreme.  But Ana had some very famous friends, so she decided to arrange a massive fundraiser.  A few applications of impossible beauty, dead ringer, and a very creative use of That Impossible Strength to win an arm wrestling match later, they had made enough to pay their balances owed, and get a bit left over for each of them as well.

But now what to do with their demons?  What to do with these new lives.

Plan for Next Game:  They are suddenly going to experience even more financial problems, more fears of the future.  They might think this is The Coachman which is deliberate as their true enemy wants him removed from the game, and is willing to throw a fellow demon back in his medallion to do it.

Thoughts:  I don't really have a hard plan on how to specifically hurt each of them, but any ideas forward, as well as how to get them focused on being villains.  None of them are really fully embracing the darkness, but they also aren't really planning super villain identities yet. 
The challenge is they also haven't quite used enough powers to really expose themselves yet.  I need something to inspire them to really push the limits and either remind themselves of how dangerous power is and the need for the identity, or really decided what supervillian means to them.  I think they are planing to subtle and not really falling into the roll yet.\

« Last Edit: May 31, 2016, 11:45:14 PM by Leshrac »

Leshrac

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Re: Better Angels: The Chosen Few
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2016, 11:42:39 PM »
So i realized at least one step of the next game.

I have already set up that their enemy is another more powerful demon. If he has cloven hooves..he just convinces a few street gangs to turn target each of them and their personal lives at the same time. Potentially hurting people they care about, or at least putting them at risk.
Then afterwards..they have a collection of in the small picture relativally fragile enemies.  Enemies that if they kill them begin their slide further towards darkness.



trinite

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Re: Better Angels: The Chosen Few
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2016, 06:04:45 PM »
Awesome campaign premise.
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