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General Category => Role Playing Public Radio Podcast => : Cthuluzord January 22, 2013, 08:31:21 PM
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So we are starting the new campaign. I thought I'd post what information I can now so anyone wishing to write up their character has a place to.
The Setting
Brighter Futures Academy: The centerpiece of the whole campaign—The Brighter Futures Academy (owned by the Channing Cooperative Educational Group) is located in a low-rent residential neighborhood in downtown St. Louis, surrounded on all sides by major highways heading to better places. The school is a single story tall and located on what used to be (and sometimes still is) an active drug corner, flanked by a gas station, empty lot, and its bus garage. The floorplan is relatively small, with a modest cafeteria and a single gym. There are still enough students to organize the hallways by separate subjects, but it is still far smaller than the failing St. Louis schools around it. Brighter Futures accepts tuition from students but primarily operates off a controversial school voucher program recently passed in the city. This is its second year of operation.
The Players
PC's can be anyone regularly attending the school: students, teachers, administrators, janitors, IT professionals, nurses, lunch staff.
The World
Superheroes have always existed, though their popularity and acknowledgement as "superheroes" is the product mass media rise. The phenomenon of supercrime and heroism is only about 70 to 80 years old, though there are many tales of extreme superhuman feats as far back as history cares to mention. Previously thought to be poetic license, these events have taken the shape of Silver Age super-people tropes, likely because that is how they were reported for a number of decades, turning the message into the medium.
History hasn't been much altered. The ability to kill stuff with your eye lasers, while useful, doesn't typically make impacts large enough to alter the world stage. Some supers fought in the big wars, a few assassinations were successful that otherwise wouldn't have worked out, but otherwise stuff is the same.
The internet exists, as do cellphones, but they are much larger, more crudely made, and plagued by ugly interfaces. Cars are reminiscent of the 70's and 80's, and weapons aren't much beyond that time period either (cops still carry revolvers; the army still has M16's). A lot of time was wasted in the industrial age research abandoned superhero artifacts (that weren't actually using super science so much as divine magic). Ultimately, society has all the capabilities of 2013, but in a much cruder, less-user-friendly form. Think of John Holmes movie, but with text messaging and facebook (even though it is called "myeblackbook.net").
The Demons
I'm not elaborating on that yet. Demons are liars. Whatever explanation for demons the book suggests that the PC's want to use is fine by me. Even if they give elaborate explanation to the humans as to how they are the human collective unconscious given psychic form, it could just be a hellspawn having fun. If they want concrete information as to the existence of higher powers, they will have to pay for that information with sin.
The Mystery
I'm not ready to talk about that yet either. Suffice it to say that when events kick off, players will be reliant on their demons for information as well as power. Nothing is free in the devil game, so a major mechanic will be bargaining with demons (and other players) for plot information. Who gives up a piece of their soul for the next plot hook? Among other things...
So yeah...that's it so far. Character write-ups are welcome. It's good to have a fleshed out human before we start factoring in the demons and super-personas and whatnot.
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Oh boy, Caleb running a campaign where players really have devils on their shoulders (or in their mind or whatever). I bet there's a PC lunch lady that slightly poisons food just enough to not get fired.
Also, the players design their demons? Then I'm excited to hear what crazy shit they think up (I believe I saw Ross post his, which made me excited).
And Caleb. Dude. You're awesome. Can't wait to have this madness unleashed into my ears.
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Demon
Surala The Ever-Truthful
Surala is odd as demons go, in that he will never tell an outright lie. He will always tell the truth, endeavoring to be completely, brutally honest. His favorite adage is that no good deed goes unpunished, and corruption comes from those acts of "good" that cause unseen harm. Random acts of kindness turn into intolerable cruelty with a bit of forethought, and there is no evil more powerful than those acts performed for "the greater good." Except, perhaps, the evil that triumphs when good men do nothing...
The good is a double-edged sword, because he will actively encourage seemingly good acts when only the demon knows where the more potent evil lies. Every act he encourages will carry with it the burden of allowing a lesser evil to triumph, or laying the groundwork for some greater evil that grows from the seeds of "good" he encourages.
Do you listen to him? Do you perform the acts of kindness? Or do you allow evil to win the day by ignoring his words?
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I'm thrilled to reward this kind of roleplaying with points.
Surala the Ever-Truthful has +1 for Nurture and +1 for Corruption to spend on his mortals sheet. After all, he views them as one and the same.
P.S. On a side note, I was doing demons wrong. If the Sinister strategy is higher than the Virtuous, then the demon is always AWARE of what is going on, but they still can't speak unless spoken to. Demons with primary strategies that are too low are deaf, blind, AND mute until invoked. Getting this rule right will certainly make the table a little less crazy next time around.
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My apologies. This turned out longer than I thought it would. Everyone wanting to read the whole thing, start at the bold title below. But here are the Cliff's Notes for everyone/anyone else.
1948- Born
1966, age 18- Joined army
1986, age 38- left army, went to College
1990, age 42- graduated (slightly accelerated course study plus CLEP,) began teaching.
2012, age 65- retired.
2013, age 66- present day; became librarian at the Charter School.
Bran Roark, The Life And Times Of A Librarian
One could say that the man now known as the Charter School's librarian has lived three lives. All three of these lives have made him the man he is today, so we must go through each in turn to understand how he came to begin life again at the school.
Bran was born in 1948, the eldest of three children born to Malcolm and Keira. Malcolm was a coal miner, a fair man who instilled the virtues of hard work for honest pay in his children; Keira was a gentle woman with a quiet sense of humor, who taught her children to smile every day at life's little miracles. Bran was studious, helping his brother Edan with his schoolwork every day, until Edan was old enough to assist their sister Muriel with both Catechism and arithmetic. Both boys hunted regularly, supplementing the table with wild game; Malcolm, however, was adamant that school came first for all three. He wanted his sons to have an education, a better life; his life was one of toil and hard labor, a lot he would NOT allow to fall upon the boys.
Bran's graduation from High School in 1966 was marked with news of conflict oversees. Vietnam was erupting in violence, and the draft was in full force to shore up the ranks of America's standing armed forces; everyone spoke of the coming conflict as "when," not "if." Both Bran and Edan were fit and healthy; one of the two was bound to be drafted. Bran enlisted, as the recruiter assured him that if one brother would serve the other would become ineligible for the draft (a false claim; there is a "sole Survivor" policy, but for it to be in force Bran would have to die in combat.)
Bran's second life began then at 18, in the U.S. Army. Bran's work ethic carried him through boot camp with flying colors and command of a squad, and his experience with a rifle led to marksmanship certification. His first active wartime service was Vietnam. Bran went from boot camp directly to the front lines, and two tours later (1970) he was given a brief leave to attend Malcolm's funeral; the Roark patriarch succumbing to Black Lung. Bran went home, and then went back to Vietnam just in time for the Cambodian Campaign of 1970.
Edan's letters from home kept Corporal Roark in good spirits. While Bran had fought and bought his brother's freedom, Edan had completed medical school and met a girl! Keira's letters told a clearer tale, of Sofie setting her cap for the oblivious Edan and pursuing him; according to their mother, Sofie had fallen in love with the top of Edan's head over the top of a copy of Grey's Anatomy. Two tours later, Bran had an extended leave to return home and stand as best man to his younger brother's groom. Edan and Sofie were married in 1974, with Muriel conspicuously absent. (Bran would later learn that his sister was in jail; her protests of the war her eldest brother fought had turned violent.)
Sofie and Edan went to the Bahamas for their honeymoon, but a tragic parasailing accident ended their life together...together. Devastated, Bran reenlisted; his promotion to Staff Sergeant was met with no fanfare whatsoever.
1976, Korea, border incident. 1978, Zaire. 1980, Sinai peninsula; Operation Bright Star. 1981, Libya. Every year brought further conflicts, from which Bran emerged alive and well... mostly. Over his twenty year career, he was decorated three times with Silver Stars and a cross for distinguished service. Lebanon, Egypt, Grenada; a stray bullet added a purple heart to his numerous decorations, forcing him to take a stateside assignment at Fort Bragg, training new recruits to be soldiers like him. A final letter from home ended First Sergeant Roark's career- Keira was dying. Bran retired.
The cancer had taken its toll, ravaging Keira's liver, lungs, and pancreas. Her eldest child brought out the same quiet joy she always lived by, though, and she smiled again when Bran came home, this time to stay. Conflict on three continents and a constant dance with death did not prepare Bran for this fight; he watched his mother slowly shrivel and die, and he was powerless to stop it. Three months after he moved back home, Bran buried his mother. Muriel attended in matching bracelets, chained together, with an armed correctional officer in close escort.
Muriel's fifty-year incarceration had scarcely begun. She told of her time with an anti-war protest group, of the situation getting out of hand, of the bombing. Muriel had turned on her cohorts, testifying against them under the condition that she got the same judgement as them all; the blood of innocents was on her hands, and she stated her intent to serve every year of her sentence in penance.
Thus, Bran began his third life, the one his parents had intended for him years before- College. He began in 1986, majoring in English, with a focus on literature and library sciences. Four years later, First Sergeant Roark became "Mr. Roark."
He taught English for twenty years, reaching students that other teachers had long ago given up hope of educating. Keira's bottomless reserve of joy inspired him to see the best of all his kids, Malcolm's steady resolve showed him patience, and Edan's love of learning came through in every lesson plan. Muriel showed Bran all about taking ownership; every child in Bran's class was "MY student," "MY pupil;" First Sergeant Roark firmly informed Mr. Roark that every failure was his own, that a single child he couldn't teach meant failing all of them. His tactics were often dirty, his methods proven; parents knew the moment their children's grades slipped below a B-, and those who dropped to the C level got extra counseling after school. The one D+ student had suppertime visits for a week until he understood what Mark Twain was getting at with Huckleberry Finn; the girl who had a D- at midterm refused to say what happened, but her final grade of a B+ got her a gift of Dante's Divine Comedy.
Muriel died in 1993, her liver failing after a bout with Hepatitis C. One of Muriel's former comrades had contracted the disease and poisoned a shiv with her blood; Muriel's death occurred within a week receiving the shallow cut.
Union rules forced Bran's retirement in 2012 at the age of 65. After two months of doing nothing, Mr. Roark dug until he found a loophole in the union regulations; he couldn't teach, but there was absolutely nothing preventing him from working in a school library.
*Present Day*
Bran is quiet, but friendly, greeting students and faculty alike with a smile. He dons his uniform on Veteran's Day, but refuses to talk of his experiences (calling them "things that happened a lifetime ago" and changing the subject.) Mr. Roark rarely speaks of his family; the rare occasions when he does are marked by the absence of his trademark smile. His standard clothing is dress slacks, a turtleneck, and a blazer or sport's coat; he carries a walking stick, barely leaning on it except when the weather is bad (he has a metal plate riveted his right femur.)
Edit: One last note: he has not touched a firearm since he left Fort Bragg.
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For his detailed write-up, David can give Bran +1 Nurture and +1 Greed (he is, after all, entitled to it after all he has been through) ;)
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It occurred to me after seeing character creation for the one-shot that we may want to encourage more cooperation between angels and demons in the future. I'm not taking away the rights of demons to pick powers and aspects, but we should at least ask the humans what kind of super-villian they want to be.
In the spirit, I made some optimal power builds for certain "types" of players. These can be taking wholesale and applied a villainous theme of the players choice, or they could just be ideas. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a build that doesn't work once Devlish Devices come into play since they can basically do anything so long as the player is willing to pay the price.
Tank (Armor, That Hideous Strength/ Carapace, Flame-Wreathed)
Key Strategy: Sly/Cunning
Key Tactics: Cruelty, Cowardice
Poltergeist (TK, Clairvoyance/ Ghost Form, Darkness Shrouded)
Key Strategy: Cunning/ Devious
Key Tactics: Deceit, Espionage
Infiltrator (Dead Ringer, Teleport/ Ghost Form, Invisible)
Key Strategy: Devious/Sly
Key Tactics: Deceit, Corruption
Social Monster (Arrogance, Impossible Beauty/ Cloven Hooves, Darkness Shrouded)
Key Strategy: Cunning/ Devious
Key Tactics: Cowardice, Corruption
Shape Shifter (Animal Form, Dead Ringer/ Darkness Shrouded, Carapace)
Key Strategy: Cunning/ Devious
Key Tactics: Espionage, Deceit
The Devil Himself (Terror, Body Control/ Horns, Flame-Wreathed)
Key Strategy: Sly/Devious
Key Tactics: Cruelty, Deceit
Sniper (Prey on Weakness, Dominator Strike with Enervating/ Invisible, WIngs)
Key Strategy: Sly/Devious
Key Tactics: Espionage, Cruelty
Quartermaster (Summon, Wither or Banish/ Carapace, Cloven Hooves)
Key Strategy: Cunning/Devious
Key Tactics: Greed, Corruption or Cowardice
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For his detailed write-up, David can give Bran +1 Nurture and +1 Greed (he is, after all, entitled to it after all he has been through) ;)
Wouldn't a free specialty in military knowledge or teaching make more sense as a reward? Just a thought.
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Ross loses all his points in everything for backseat GMing...forever.
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Ross loses all his points in everything for backseat GMing...forever.
Ross Payton
Power Source: Paranormal
Power Permission: Theme (Horrible Monster)
Back-Seat GMing 10hd
Command Hyperskill
Permanent +4, Always On -1, Native +1
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I'm thrilled to reward this kind of roleplaying with points.
Surala the Ever-Truthful has +1 for Nurture and +1 for Corruption to spend on his mortals sheet. After all, he views them as one and the same.
For his detailed write-up, David can give Bran +1 Nurture and +1 Greed (he is, after all, entitled to it after all he has been through) ;)
Wouldn't a free specialty in military knowledge or teaching make more sense as a reward? Just a thought.
If i may weigh in on this real quick? I didn't *quite* catch it on the demon, but I see where Caleb is going with these. Surala's points balance out, a bonus in a negative tactic and a bonus to a positive one as well; this way, Surala might have a touch more power to start, but his human's a touch more virtuous too.
I noticed this on Bran, too. Nurture fits his back story (and his overall theme of self-sacrifice) extremely well, so this extra point is perfectly reasonable. However, in order to maintain balance, Caleb is granting an extra point to a negative tactic.
For the record, I'm also planning to purchase at least one of those specializations too.
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I thought it might fun to use my template at work to show his last clinical admit evaluation. As for the start of the game, Jesús has been in Independent Living with Broad Horizons for two months with his Case Worker frequently checking in on him. He has been doing well for the most part and is attending Brighter Futures Academy in the MO-Op program if available. He also works as a janitor cleaning a nearby rundown boxing gym, where he spars and keeps in shape.
Riverside Teen Services
Clinical Admit Note
Name: Jesús Santiago
Date of Birth: 21 November 1995
Date of Admission: 05 July 2012
Presenting Problems: Why is client being admitted into residential care?
Jesús is being admitted due to increased struggles in the home environment after being placed with a foster family in St. Louis, MO. Prior to this placement, he had completed his treatment at Second Chances in Kansas City, MO. Jesús has a history of defiant, aggressive, and threatening behavior, especially when he perceives authority figures as treating him or his peers unfairly. Possible triggers include bullying behavior. Indeed, Jesús has expressed a significant loathing for verbally and emotionally degrading language or physically domineering attitudes. His history indicates an individual who is unwilling to back down from any altercation. Jesús has placed at least a dozen adults and twenty youths in the hospital. As such, if Jesús becomes physically aggressive, staff are to immediately call the police.
Prior hospitalization, and/or residential placement prior to admission:
Second Chances in Kansas City, MO from 12/20/11 to 06/10/12 for eloping from foster family. Grandview House near Rolla, MO from 03/11/11 to 10/16/11. Sentenced for 1 year at Juvenile Detention Center in St. Louis, MO for assault from 03/11/10 to 03/11/11. For more information on placements prior to March 2010, see client's record.
Diagnosis:
Severe Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, Post-Tramautic Stress Disorder.
Aftercare Plan:
The aftercare plan is for Jesús to enter Independent Living in St. Louis, MO, where he will complete the Missouri Options Program at Brighter Futures Academy.
Does the child present any of the following:
1) Run Risk: Yes. Jesús has eloped from multiple facilities and foster homes.
2) Self-harming behavior: No. However, Jesús will put himself in harm's way to prevent an individual from becoming physically or emotionally abused by a bully.
3) Sexual Acting out: No. Jesús is sexually active but poses not sexual risk to other individuals.
Additional Information:
Jesús witnessed his older brother, José being shot by his father, Hector Santiago, who had grievously beaten Jesús. Hector Santiago regularly abused and hospitalized Jesús and his siblings after his wife's passing; however, Jesús received the majority of the abuse as his father blamed him for the death of his mother. Jesús is highly aggressive and appears to show little to no remorse toward those he harms.
In client's own words. Transcribed from the journal of Jesús Santiago
The consilers at dis new place wan me to rite down my feelings but wats the point. Fate—shes a twisdid bich!!! and God...shit he give no fucks!! At leest dats how I sees it. Its like were some big fucking expeariment or sum shit. And he sits up there all comftable laffing wile we just be trying to figur out dis crazy shit down heare. Like a dedbeat dad...like the kind who run out on you. Wisht mine run out on me but no mine was more like to beat me just for sucking air Well fuck him thats why he rotting away in dat cage. Serves dat mothafuck right. Dats wat he get for killing José. I wish I cood go back and save him. Stop that gun sumhow. Turn it on Pa.
I cant rember Josés face or his voice. Its been 8 years sence they took Maria and Carlos and sent me to my abuela house. She died and nobody wood take me. Tía didnt have much but she was allredy taking care of Maria and Carlos. They made me award of the state or sumthing like that. Im not shure. I lost trak of how many placemints I ben in..maybe 20....30? I went to juvie three or four time. And they sed if I didnt do better here I wood end up in jail cause Im no longer a minor cording to the state. Fuck Missouri and FUCK RIVERSIDE!!!
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As for the demon I'll portray, Tom wants me to play some predator-type demon, but I just thought how fun it might be to play a eerie little girl (think The Shining) who is all sweet and innocent. She speaks with a childlike speech impediment and displays a vulnerable exterior. While I'm still toying around with a name, I thought she might go by Lily but actually be Lilith in disguise.
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For his clever write up, Jason gets +1 Honesty to spend on Jesus; the boy is tired of liars, and he responds to nothing more favorably than the blunt truth.
He also gets +1 Cruelty. It's hard out here on these streets.
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Demon for Tom's character
Lilith, the Temptress, the First Turned, and Mother of Beasts
For this, I am using the the classic World of Darkness representation of Lilith adapted from Judeo-Christian mythology. While she still represents the epitome of the strong, independent woman, she has become more subtle in the last few millennia. Although she was created to be man's counterpart, she sees herself as his better. Man was God's first attempt, and he is a flawed design. Likewise women are defects, but even moreso, because they descend from Eve, who came from a small piece of the faulty Adam. Lilith regards herself as superior to these wretched individuals, and thus, must force them submit to her will. However, mankind rejected her leadership and spurned her direct methods of exercising her "rightful" place as their sovereign. Since the error could not have been due to her judgment, Lilith concluded that man's flaw made him, as well as women, too feeble-minded and weak to accept her as their better. Thus, her touch became more delicate and complex in its manipulation. She guides men and women to her side through acts of temptation. Appearing as someone vulnerable and in need of protection works best. After all, humans pride themselves in their supposed superiority; they never consider those who they perceive to be their lessers as any threat to themselves in body, mind, or soul.
For Tom's character, she will appear as "Lily," a young school girl, who seems sweet and innocent. She stutters and mispronounces words in a very childlike manner. Lily is somewhat shy and vulnerable, preferring to play with her dolly, a ragged distorted thing, than interact with other people. Although she may seem skittish around others, she is rather affectionate toward Tom's character. In a way, Lily is like the daughter he never gets to see...like he had been awarded custody of her instead of his monster of a wife.
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You know, this game does not sound like it will GO GrimDark at all ::)
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Lilith gets +1 Deceit to spend on Tom, and +1 Nurture. She may be lying about her true nature, but kids need love.
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Andrews, Henry
DOB: 03/16/1979
Place of Birth: Chicago, Il
Henry Andrews grew up just a few dozen yards away from the perimeter fence of O'Hare International Airport. To most, living in the neighborhood, the constant sound of planes taking off and landing were a source of intense noise pollution. To young Henry, the planes were a source of endless fascination. At the age of five, he would often go to the fence and watch the planes coming and going, trying to identify each one. While most kids his age had bookshelves full of comics or fantasy novels, his were filled with books on aircraft, from Cessna's to 747's. The fascination with planes had a two-fold importance. For one, Henry truly loved them. For another, it was a great distraction from his tyrannical mother and depressed alcoholic father. His mother ruled the household with an iron fist, never missing an opportunity to tell Henry what a disappointment he was, or his father how much she hated him. His father, despite being a successful venture capitalist, never argued with her. He just drank scotch and tried to ignore her. Henry did his aircraft identifying ritual every chance he got. It got him away from his mother, and it gave him a few brief moments of happiness. He knew that whatever he did with his life, he wanted to be involved with airplanes. Not a pilot, as Henry did have an unfortunate fear of heights. But he wanted to work with them, in some way.
At the age of ten, his mother died suddenly of a stress induced heart attack. His father was utterly grief-stricken, plunging deeper into alcohol and depression. Henry, on the other hand, felt an incredible relief. It was as if a great weight had been lifted from him. He thought that his father would eventually get over it as well, remembering just how much his wife had tormented him. But that never happened. He had never realized just how whipped his father had been. Soon, Henry's father was having trouble performing at his job. He would come home and go straight to the bottle, leaving Henry to largely take care of himself. It destroyed him to see his father in the state he was in. By the time Henry graduated high school in 1997, he had begun to suspect that his father was in that state because Henry had never properly mourned his mother. It was untrue, of course. But Henry believed it enough to have it always in the back of his mind.
Despite the setbacks, Henry decided to pursue his goal. He enrolled in a technical institute, hoping to learn all he could about avionics and aircraft engines. As it turned out, Henry had quite a knack for such things, and he found himself at the top of his class. His time in the school became the greatest time of his life. He was away from home, working on things he was passionate about, and he didn't think about the self-imposed guilt about his mother. He graduated in 2001, and wasted no time getting into his desired field. The obvious choice was to go to work at O'Hare Airport, the very place he had idolized as a kid. Within a few weeks, he had gotten a job as an aircraft mechanic. The job fit him like a glove. His apprenticeship was over in record time, and he developed a reputation as one of the top mechanics at the airport.
His focus on his job was interrupted by a phone call from his father's attorney in 2004. He was told that his father had been killed in a drunk driving incident. He had wrapped his car around a streetlight, with a blood alcohol level of eight times the legal limit. Despite the years as a venture capitalist, Henry's father's funeral was a small, modest affair. A few people from the firm had shown up, as well as his father's golfing friends. One person who did show up was James Kramer, a kid that Henry had lived next to back in the old neighborhood. They had been friends, but not particularly close. After the funeral, James took Henry out for a drink. While not normally a drinker, Henry was pouring them back like a pro. James told him that he was a lawyer now, and was working in a prestigious Chicago law firm. Over the course of the evening, Henry loosened up and admitted to James that he had hated his father almost as much as he hated his mother. While his mother was a tyrant, his father just took all the abuse. He never once stood up to her, and as a result, Henry had never really had a father. Though drunk, Henry vowed that if he ever had kids, he would be a better father than his own.
Weeks after that night, James introduced Henry to Monica Hughes, a legal secretary from his firm. It was set up as a blind date, and Henry at first wasn't very enthusiastic. When they met, however, that changed. Monica was a gorgeous young woman, and was very smart to boot. By the time the first date was over, Henry was absolutely smitten with her. They dated steady for four months before Henry realized that Monica was the one. She was who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He proposed to her a week later. She agreed, and on May 4, 2005, Monica and Henry were married at a lavish ceremony. Henry paid for most of it with the inheritance he had received from his father. They honeymooned for two weeks in the Bahamas. Henry couldn't believe how lucky he was. He figured that the next logical step was a family of their own. It was a chance to do a better job than his own parents had done with him.
That dream, as it turned out, was slow to come. For several years, all their attempts to have children failed. Henry was discouraged, but he vowed to not give up. That sooner or later, their perseverance would pay off. His dedication to his job went much more smoothly. In 2009, he was made a senior mechanic at the airport. With the increased pay and benefits, Henry was able to purchase a dream house in the city. Monica quit her job at the firm, claiming she wanted to dedicate herself to the house and the eventual family that would they would have. Henry made more than enough to support them both, and he agreed. He simply devoted himself entirely to his job. It was as he did so that he failed to notice a change in Monica. He didn't quite notice her becoming less open with him, as well as not talking like they used to. That was lost in his pursuit of his job and house.
Finally, in 2011, Monica became pregnant. Henry had come home early one day to surprise Monica with a night out. He came home to her finishing a pregnancy test. He surprised her, but she laughed it off. The real surprise occurred when the test results came up. She was pregnant. Henry felt an uncontrolled wave of joy. He hugged her close, telling her that he knew this day would come. The dinner they went out to that night was a night to remember. That weekend, Henry wanted to call everyone he knew to tell them the good news. Monica disagreed, saying that she wanted to invite all their friends and family over to tell them in person. Henry loved the idea, and let her make all the plans.
That Monday, Henry went in to work, still enthralled by the events of the last weekend. Around noon, however, several Chicago police officers arrived at the airport with a warrant for his arrest. They told him that he was being arrested for assaulting his wife. Henry was sure that it was all a huge misunderstanding. At the station, he tried to call Monica, but there was no answer. He called James Kramer next, asking for a lawyer. Kramer told him that he couldn't come by, but that he would send someone from the firm to represent him at the arraignment.
The next morning, Henry was taken before a judge to enter a plea. He pleaded not guilty. The prosecutor asked that he be remanded without bail. The young clerk Kramer had sent over argued against it, but that changed when Monica entered the courtroom. She had bruises and cuts on her face, and one eye was swollen shut. She didn't enter dramatically, but just enough for the court to take notice. Her presence was enough for the judge to remand him without bail. Henry tried to ask her what had happened, but Monica recoiled from him like he was a monster.
The next few months were like a nightmare. For weeks, he couldn't get any information about what had happened to Monica. It wasn't until the trial that he learned some of the truth. When Monica took the stand, the real horror began. She told the jury that Henry was an abusive monster who had hit her constantly throughout their marriage. She told them that she was terrified for her life every day. When the prosecutor asked her what had set him off that morning, she told the jury that she had revealed that she was pregnant. That news had sent Henry into a rage, and he had beat her nearly to death. She tearfully said that it was then she decided to go to the police, as she feared now for the safety of her child.
That would have been bad enough, but then the prosecutor brought forward their neighbors as witnesses. These were the housewives that Monica often socialized with. They told stories of how cold and angry Henry was, and that they had seen him almost hit her countless times. His own lawyer barely cross-examined any witnesses, and Henry felt the whole courtroom despise him. The jury deliberated for only three hours before they brought back a verdict. He was found guilty of assault. The day before sentencing, Henry asked Kramer to watch over his accounts and affairs while he was in prison. Kramer agreed, and vowed to get behind what had really happened. The next morning, Henry was sentenced to four years in prison.
TBC
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Henry's time in prison was silent. He never heard from James Kramer, Monica, or anyone else. Every call he tried to make was never returned. He lay in bed all night, trying to fathom what had happened. He did not fare well in prison, and had more than one incident of humiliation. He tried to keep his head down, and just get through the nightmare intact.
Henry was released after eighteen months for good behavior. The very first thing he did upon release was to go directly to James Kramer's law firm and demand to know why his call were never returned. He found that James no longer worked there and had moved away over a year before.He tried to look up Monica, but she too had vanished. He then went to his old bank to try to access his accounts. To his horror, he found that all of his accounts had been closed a year ago. Penniless and homeless, Henry didn't have a clue what to do then.
A few days later, as Henry was eating at a local soup kitchen, a man who identified himself only as Luther came to see him. He was a very large man, and obviously a bruiser. Luther asked him if he was Henry Andrews. Hesitantly, he told the man he was. Luther then proceeded to tell Henry a very horrific story. Almost two years ago, Monica had come to him with a business proposition. She wanted Luther to beat her, so she could frame her husband for it. He was promised a thousand bucks to do so, half up front, and half after she framed her husband. Incredulous, Henry asked him why he was telling him this. The answer was "bitch left town before she paid me the other half." He felt that instead of demanding his pay, he would let her duped husband know about the arrangement when he was released. Before he left, Henry asked Luther how Monica had found him. He said that a lawyer that had represented him in court sent her to him. Henry didn't ask who. He knew in an instant.
It took some time, but Henry finally found out that James Kramer had moved to St. Louis. Henry worked odd jobs for a while to earn enough money for a train ticket. With his prison term, no one wanted to hire him, despite his skills. He did whatever jobs he could find. In St. Louis, he found out what he already suspected. Monica had married James Kramer and had sold off all the Chicago assets. They were living a wealthy lifestyle, now with Henry's own children. Twin girls named Alice and Kaitlin.
Henry found a job at some place called The Brighter Futures Academy, a filing cabinet for doomed children. He managed to get on as the head custodian, which in itself was impressive. It was impossible to get a job with his record, and he only got it because he was so insanely overqualified. With a source of income, Henry began to look in on his ex-wife. Over a year, he has learned some sickening things. First, using some disreputable private investigators, Henry learned the name of a doctor back in Chicago that James Kramer had paid money to seven times in the past. He found out that the payments were for abortions for Monica. She had been pregnant seven times during their marriage, and she had gotten rid of all of them. The only reason that she had the twins was that Henry had found out about them before she could get rid of them. He also found out that Monica had been sleeping with James almost thier entire marriage. And finally, James had used his influence to get power of attorney over all of Henry's assets and transferred it all over to Monica. It was from this money that Monica convinced their old neighbors to testify the way she wanted.
It was at that point that Henry realized he had done exactly what his father had done. He had let his wife dominate him completely. Only, instead of threats and screaming, Monica had done it with smiles and words. Something snapped in him at that point. He still works at the school, and he still finds himself watching the Kramer family. He knows that his daughters have been told what a monster their old daddy was. They want nothing to do with him. He still watches them. Henry often finds himself outside their house at night, a small .38 pistol in his pocket. He doesn't quite know why he has the pistol, but he knows he brought it. He then leaves, vowing he will never go back. He always does.
Henry is planning something. What that is, or whether or not he will go through with it remains to be seen.
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And now for something completely different. :)
Concept sketch of Bran from a friend of mine.
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Tom why is it every time I read one of your backstories I'm left hoping your character murders at least 1 person listed in the story. First I've been waiting for Chirop to find the specific agents involved in his wifes murder and literally rip them apart.
Now I want this new guy to take on a full aspect of his demonic possesion to hide all involvement in it and just straight up murder his ex and her new husband.
Or at least use his demons powers to make the truth come to light.
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I saw discussion about this campaign falling apart elsewhere and just wanted to clarify some things.
The campaign not working out had zero to do with the system. It is a great system that is interesting, concise, and novel. It has great mechanics for extended play and is very well written. I would still very much like to play/ run it some day.
It is true that the "everyone plays two characters" dynamic can complicate matters if someone doesn't show up, but it really isn't that bad. If one player doesn't show up, another player has less work for the night (e.g. doesn't have to play the demon) and the GM has to do a couple lines worth of impression. It is no big deal.
The problem occurs when two or three players don't show up, without notice, for the very first sessions of the campaign. There is nothing any GM or system can do to overcome no one actually being present to play the game, and it is hard to bring people into a campaign's story when they miss the very first sessions.
To give you some insight on what I'm talking about here, I last edited the Word document entitled "The Spared and the Spoiled" on Nov. 3. It was ready to go then. Granted, we alternate campaigns every other week, but as of the last week of March we had played exactly two times...since November. Every other occasion involved the few who did show up sitting there, awkwardly picking a movie to watch or scrambling for something to play at the last second.
The whole thing began to stress me out and wasn't fun anymore. I don't know if it my concept wasn't attractive and no one had the guts to say so. Maybe it was just some sort of scheduling curse. It doesn't matter; no one was having fun and that is the purpose of the endeavor. So I pulled the plug. I just want it to be clear that it has nothing to do with the game. Greg wrote a great system set in an interesting genre. Anybody that gives the game a shot will have a good time, and don't let this campaign's dissolution turn you off the book. The two have nothing to do with each other.
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Thank you for the clarification, Caleb. I'll admit: I was beginning to worry that there was a problem with the game itself.
I actually have a question related to the game I'd like to ask you:
The concept of the demon being constantly invoked or not seems to make a large difference in the way the game is played, at least from listening to the actual play. Do you have any advise for how to design pregens from a convention scenario? Specifically, is it a good idea to have a situation where any of the players demons are constantly invoked? If so, should the entire group be designed that way or does it work if only some are?
Basically, I have to make six pregens. What hazards might I run into that aren't readily apparent?
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Tom why is it every time I read one of your backstories I'm left hoping your character murders at least 1 person listed in the story. First I've been waiting for Chirop to find the specific agents involved in his wifes murder and literally rip them apart.
Now I want this new guy to take on a full aspect of his demonic possesion to hide all involvement in it and just straight up murder his ex and her new husband.
Or at least use his demons powers to make the truth come to light.
This. This is why. (http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2007/09/podcast-episode/episode-1-gencon-wrapup/)
22:20 in.
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Thank you for the clarification, Caleb. I'll admit: I was beginning to worry that there was a problem with the game itself.
I actually have a question related to the game I'd like to ask you:
The concept of the demon being constantly invoked or not seems to make a large difference in the way the game is played, at least from listening to the actual play. Do you have any advise for how to design pregens from a convention scenario? Specifically, is it a good idea to have a situation where any of the players demons are constantly invoked? If so, should the entire group be designed that way or does it work if only some are?
Basically, I have to make six pregens. What hazards might I run into that aren't readily apparent?
I actually made that mistake as well. No demons are constantly invoked. Even if a demon has a higher Sinister Strategy than a Virtuous one, that only means that the demon is aware of everything the human is doing. The demon still cannot speak unless directly spoken to. This keeps table talk and side conversations to a minimum, and the game is otherwise unplayable unless that rule is in place.
Really, the "always on" rule won't have much play in a con game. It really just allows the demon to make a case for Sinister raises that a human could otherwise hide from an uninvoked demon. It's part of the sinful death spiral mechanic. In a con game, I doubt it will make much of a difference.
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Excellent, that makes me feel a lot better. I was worried about trying to keep control of a whole table doing double duty nearly all the time.
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Just to add further clarification. We wrapped up Iron Heroes in late January and started playing soon after. But after nearly two months or so of only playing the pre-campaign scenario, one session of the actual campaign, and multiple last-minute cancellations, the game was scrapped. And no amount of begging and reassurance from my end at school could convince Caleb otherwise. I don't blame him. It was a very unfortunate situation. I still hope I can play Jesús and Lily sometime though.
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I'm surprised that Caleb hasn't mentioned this, but the campaign may soon be resurrected. Jesús lives again!
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So, the campaign rebooted. We retconned the first episode a bit and started up with episode 2 with some new characters. Two sessions and a total of seven hours later we finished the first objective with the team holding a brewery hostage, irradiating the beer by turning a man's arm into uranium, and holding a shapeshifting clydesdale hostage.
All in all, a rousing success.
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What is the over under on the posting of the AP? Nov 2015?
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So, the campaign rebooted. We retconned the first episode a bit and started up with episode 2 with some new characters. Two sessions and a total of seven hours later we finished the first objective with the team holding a brewery hostage, irradiating the beer by turning a man's arm into uranium, and holding a shapeshifting clydesdale hostage.
All in all, a rousing success.
Yesss! Hope it doesn't collapse into the notfuns again. Dirty World mechanics in a farcical supervillain campaign with Caleb at the wheel, ugh, fuck yes.
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IT LIVES! I look forward to seeing what horrors this system brings, I also look forward to Aaron somehow invoking the Reign of Satan On Earth in order to save a puppy or something. :)
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IT LIVES! I look forward to seeing what horrors this system brings, I also look forward to Aaron somehow invoking the Reign of Satan On Earth in order to save a puppy or something. :)
you're in for a huge surprise next episode then!
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I was not interested in the system yet. But Caleb's running got me into Eclipse Phase as well. So I will follow this :)
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I'm really excited for this campaign! I picked up Better Angels at Gen Con this past year immediately after playing in one of Greg Stolze's games, though I haven't run anything for my group yet. Hopefully hearing you guys should provide some inspiration.
I am totally excited for Caleb's Better Angels book though.
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I've just finished listening to the first session and it's really good. I got a little lost with tribes of Tokyo and lost interest but this campaign has me excited again.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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Is the Crown Royal bag of dice a common thing?
I only game with the same people, and one of them does in fact have a crown royal purple bag.
Weird.
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There's only three places to get cloth dice bags:
1) Crown Royal bags
2) Game stores that sell felt thingys
3) Rock and gem shows
Non-cloth dice carrying options include zip-lock bags, pencil boxes, and burlap sacks sealed with plastic bread ties.
Some people might tell you that gaming stores and online dealers sell other options but these are common urban myths.
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Crown Royal bags are not only excellent dice bags, but bags for all sorts of objects! I learned very quickly from my musician father that Crown Royal bags make great cable storage and the like. I personally use a felt bag my mother made me years ago along with headphone bags I have acquired through my job.
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I use microphone bags I got with my Shure M-57 mics. They zip up and are quite sturdy. 8)
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Apparently I've been using a Crown Royal bag for my dice for years, but I never bothered looking at the stitching so when Caleb mentioned a CR bag full of dice in episode one I thought "'alcohol paraphernalia?' Who keeps their dice in whiskey bags?" ???
What was David's supervillain name again? I know we have Shifty, Master Debater, and the Unseen Chupacabra but I can't remember what the friendly Vietnam vet turned librarian turned demonic villain decided to call himself.
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Caped Corvid, I believe.
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Glad you could make it out. I knew he was the caped something but I didn't hear the second part clearly. I know he dresses like Tuxedo Mask though. Minus the hat and with longer hair.
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David's whole thing was a crow theme. It will become VERY apparent as the game goes on. No one stuck to their schtick harder.
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HOLY SHIT... I am about to fall out of my chair laughing with episode 3. Between the gang proving just how much they're horrible monsters to the brewery takeover I am laughing my ass off. Bill's fucking Smith & Wesson line is beautiful. Great job guys, great job.
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Every superhero begins with everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I'm glad to see the same goes for supervillains!
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Bravo to Tom for his peanut gallery quips. I did a spittake at his sing-song "swear to meeee!"
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I don't know what it is about Better Angels that turns otherwise perfectly normal players into insane dervishes. Every game I've run (home and convention) ends up not too dissimilar from this. However, the effects do seem to compound in a campaign so I can only assume it gets way "worse" from here.
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Holy shit. That was some inspired madness right there. Ross did literally the last thing he should do and then told the government about it. Amazing. Simply amazing.
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The Horse was in on it.
*whispers* It was an inside job!
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(http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT2DzXl_82BvKQmhSO9mWTPSxu3k6Gl-Gab6zErgO0iZXBC-GF8)
DUN-DUN-DUUUUUNNNNNN!
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This is quickly turning into the funniest RPPR campaign by far. Know Evil and HONA are still my favorites plot-wise, but Spared and the Spoiled is definitely the most lolworthy.
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When this gem turn into product (No Soul Left Behind) how easy it would be to run it with regular Wild Talent? My regular group doesn't sound too excited about the demonic supervillain premise, though I might try it out as one-shot before committing into full campaign so they might be converted...
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Every session all I can think of is
(http://i.imgur.com/xgXeC1N.jpg)
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This is only partially related to the Better Angels campaign, more an inspiration from two of Ross's characters from this campaign and The Unspeakable Oath AP of Nazi's in Cthulhu America.
A Weird Kid skill idea Inspired by Ross's character choices:
Relationship: Ig-Keli (An Eldritch Horror) x3
HANDS: "Radioactive Snake Arm" (Defense:[Shielded Containment Glove] Tough x2, Attack:[Radiation] Awesome x2, Area x1, Burn, Gnarly x1)
=2d
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Whenever I hear "Sparkly Wizard Vampire Deathmatch" mentioned I can't help but imagine Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. I mean technically Dio is a vampire and the Stands and stuff are pretty magical, plus it is incredibly FABULOUS!
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I'm just listening to the zombie episode.
Someone with artistic skills.
Can you please, please please draw Ronald posing on top of the zombie horde?
Do it for the keedz !
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Can someone give me a quick explanation of how combat works in this system.
I keep hearing things about sliding and obliterating.
Relating it back to Wild Talents I feel like its a stat/skill thing and you can either take damage to your stat or skill, skill first then stat.
I'm sure I'm over simplifying or misunderstanding.
I know the system is based in rhetoric so you can fight with words or powers similarly to Dirty World but I never 100% understood the sliding mechanics in that either.
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It is very much Dirty World with superpowers. It's pretty much the exact character mechanics with new names and superpowers tacked on.
So everything is paired. Strategies are the equivalent of stats. Each Strategy can be paired with four Tactics (like skills). There are three of these groups, each roughly addressing Mental, Physical, and Social actions. Certain powers allow you to pair Strategies from different areas with Tactics from another area.
Every Strategy and Tactic has an opposite. So if Insightful is the Virtuous Strategy, Deceit is the Sinister. A slide means one dot from the Sinister side moves to the Virtuous side (Deceit to Insightful, in this example) or vice versa. Tactics work the same way.
When you roll, you use the dice pool of your combined Strategy and Tactic for that option. The tricky part about BA is that these are expressed in moralistic terms, but the only person that really needs to know what dice pool to use is the GM. So, to punch somebody stronger than you, roll Open (Virtuous) Courage (Virtuous Tactic). To hit an unarmed person, roll Open (still Virtuous because he aren't trying to hide your actions, at least) Cruelty (Sinister Tactic because you're being an asshole). Shooting a puppy would be Sly (Sinister, because the gun is doing the dirty work for you) Cruelty (again, for being a bastard).
You roll your pool. There's also possible bonuses for weapons (in physical actions), surprise (combat and mental actions), and knowing secrets (social interactions). Bonuses are between 1-3 dice, and the player gets to choose when to use them. They can use them for extra dice BEFORE the roll, making a 5d pool into an 8d pool. Or they can roll their unaltered pool and take the bonus as extra width. To return to the previous example, the 5d pool with a +3 bonus rolls 2x3, but that becomes 5x3.
Width is important because it determines speed and damage (in ORE and real life, speed kills). This is where sliding and obliterating comes in. For rolls of 2 or 3 width, the targeted tactic slide to its opposite. So if I guilt trip your character with Devious Nurture (persuade with decency), I declare an attack on your Corruption. If I get a 3x4 and you get nothing to defend, your Corruption die SLIDES over to Nurture. I've made you a better person, or at least made it harder for you to be a shitty person.
For rolls of 4 width, serious damage starts. At 4 width, I don't slide the dot; I remove it. You don't reallocate your character's dice pool, you lose one from it permanently and have to perform sin/repentance to level it back up. If you are already down to zero in a Tactic, I remove a die from the Strategy attached to it and it has negative effects on all four Tactics linked to it.
At 5 width, I skip the targeted Tactic altogether and remove a Strategy attached to it. It doesn't matter if there's Tactics left in the target, the damage jumps up and does damage to every other Tactic as well by attacking the attached Strategy.
To provide an example from the game, David's Grackle Cannon was a great weapon. The birds it fired attacked Generosity by stealing money and things with their beaks. Now, what David would do, he'd forgo the weapon bonus to hit and use it for damage. He'd get this paltry 2x5 set or something, but then he'd boost it with his bonus dice. A 5x5 hits the attached Virtuous Strategy (Patient) and wipes out the dice. This would take the target's Patient down to zero really quick, and a character with no Patient left either goes completely berserk or runs away. Essentially, his plan for every fight was to annoy his enemies so much with birds that they made stupid choices.
Does that make sense? It's easier to get the weird moralistic expressions of every action if you're already familiar with ORE, I'll admit, but once you play a few sessions its easy to get the hang of. And it's a fun system. There are multiple solutions for ever problem. You can talk down the big bad or sucker punch your allies. It makes for unpredictable, fun roleplaying.
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Thanks a ton! It makes a lot more sense now.
I've played quite a bit of Wild Talents at this point so luckily ORE isn't completely foreign to me.
I was just having trouble with how some of it works and since the newest session was so combat heavy I wanted to make sure I was understanding everything.
So when you talk about sliding, does it work like WT where you have up to a 5d in each stat(ie strategy) so you can have something like 3 open and 2 sly? Or does having one stat preclude having the other completely.
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They can't overlap. I'm not sure how it works out mathematically, but that's the main rule. If you slide something over or earn a dot that would cause a Strategy Tactic to overlap, it just gets removed. It's easier to explain with a character sheet in front of you. Each Sinister/Virtuous pair looks something like
Sinister0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 Virtuous
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Well despite my system ignorance I love the concept of this campaign. I especially like how fluid the tone can be. Usually tone is kind of binary.
Either it's grim dark super cereal or it's adventure time.
This seems like it could easily be played either way and be equally fun.
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I think the intention of the author is for the tone to swing wildly from scene to scene. Sort of; it's all fun and games!... until it's not.
The theme when I've run it has always been that of a disfunctional self-help group. I like to open with everyone playing the demons, bragging about the previous session, and then cut to the players, sitting in a garage with coffee and donuts talking about how they can be better.
Any number of binding groups could work for the humans. I've considered running a game were a group of police personal open up an old box while executing a search warrant and get demons.
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The theme when I've run it has always been that of a disfunctional self-help group. I like to open with everyone playing the demons, bragging about the previous session, and then cut to the players, sitting in a garage with coffee and donuts talking about how they can be better.
Do you mind if I borrow this for my campaign? It sounds like a fantastic and hilarious idea.
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Do you mind if I borrow this for my campaign? It sounds like a fantastic and hilarious idea.
Go right ahead.
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This campaign is full of awesome!
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Woo Hoo Congratulations to the new school Principal!
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I got curious after episode 8 and went to see if something like SalvationStarter was a thing. I found a lot more than I was expecting:
Three Christian crowdfunding sites, including FaithLauncher, which is particularly interesting because unlike Kickstarter, they keep the money even if they don't hit their goals:
http://crowdfundingwebsites.blogspot.com/2013/07/religious-crowdfunding-sites.html
http://www.faithlauncher.com/
Three Muslim sites:
http://www.ummahhub.com/
https://www.launchgood.com/
http://muslimcrowdfunding.com/#_
And "Jewcer" for the Jews:
http://jewcer.com/
It's too bad but unsurprising that there aren't any Buddhist sites, and the evangelical atheists look like they prefer kickstarter and Indiegogo.
I'm also just going to leave this one here:
http://www.furstarter.com
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My roommate and I fucking lost our collective shit at the description of the demonic hell-scanner. ;D
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My roommate and I fucking lost our collective shit at the description of the demonic hell-scanner. ;D
It's just a common, ordinary scantron machine. Haven't you seen the older ones? It's practically an antique, really; we only break it out when we have a lot of things to scan; oh sure it's a little noisy at first, but once you get used to the sound you'll hear it ALL the TIME, EVERY WAKING MOMENT, screaming, screaming always screaming...
Where was I? Ah yes, just an ordinary scantron that absolutely positively is NOT fueled by the souls of the damned. It's perfectly safe to turn your back on it; if you do and then look back it's NOT going to be closer to you, that's just your mind playing tricks on you.
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I'm on episode 4. Love it so far. Ross keeps getting the harsh end when it comes to his power. It can be used at range, but he keeps having to touch. Unseen Chupacabra is my favorite.
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I'm on episode 4. Love it so far. Ross keeps getting the harsh end when it comes to his power. It can be used at range, but he keeps having to touch. Unseen Chupacabra is my favorite.
Yeah, when I made my character, I was using the BA playtest draft. I eventually noticed after I read the final print version.
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I'm on episode 4. Love it so far. Ross keeps getting the harsh end when it comes to his power. It can be used at range, but he keeps having to touch. Unseen Chupacabra is my favorite.
Yeah, when I made my character, I was using the BA playtest draft. I eventually noticed after I read the final print version.
So long as the Unseen Chupacabra continues to reap destruction upon the city, I'm cool.
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I was re-reading some Dresden Files novels as prep for the new one that just came out, and all of a sudden it dawned on me.
"Better Angels lifted most of their ideas on how demon possession works straight from the Denarians"
1. You have a talisman/coin that connects you to the demon.
2. The demon offers you power and knowledge in stead of control.
3. Even the best of people are doomed to subcome to the demon eventually.
4. The horrible monsters are the possessed that naturally want the same things as the demon.
5. God has some mother F-ing bad asses to counter you and when they show up you run.
5b. Those F-ing bad asses can't do anything to you if you give up, play on their goodness.
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The hiring drive for Brighter Futures Academy is looking... promising? (http://comparablesubstitute.tumblr.com/post/88547095663/thedisneyfan-godbless-st-cyr-a-compilation)
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Insurance premiums they have to pay must be murder.
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Brighter Futures Tumblr/Twitter needs to be a thing now.
"real talk the parent volunteers at this school creep me out, there's always this one asian guy hanging out fuckng EVERYWHERE"
"fell asleep in 3rd prd bio nd when i woke up the school was surounded by zombies. fml"
"holy shit we finally get some awesome guests for assembly meetings PARTY JUICE FUKC YEAH #YOLOOOO"
"MISTER A. MISTER A. MISTER A. MISTER A."
"HOLY FUCK YOU GUYS DON'T GO INTO THE TEACHER'S LOUNGE THE FUCKING SCANTRON MACHINE TRIED TO FUCKING EAT ME"
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Ross: "Oh god! Senishao was the horse all along! Trojan horse! We should have known!"
Caleb: "Beer in the nose! Beer in the nose!!"
Bill: "I see what you did there..."
Caleb: "There is a farm with paths on it..."
Ross: "Become the Clydesdale! Double Trojan horse! Aha!"
Caleb: "I'll see your horse... and raise you a horse..."
I had to write those down as I heard them. too perfect not to commemorate. haven't gotten all the way through, but do we learn who the other two candidates for the Schrodinger hero was? or is that book bait?
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Can we look foreword to a post mortum for this campaign as well?
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Definite +1 for the post mortem. Great and super entertaining game to listen to!
I'm curious to hear details about how and why this campaign came back from the brink.
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Thirding a postmortem, but I'd rather skip the personal scheduling details and hear more about the challenges and experiences Caleb had running Better Angels as a campaign.
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As much as I too would like a postmortem on this I'm not really sure if it'll happen. I thought I saw somewhere on here that because it's going to be a published book there probably wouldn't be postmortem. I can't find it now, of course, so I could just be talking out of my ass. NEVERMIND. Either way, good job with the campaign guys! Can't wait for the release.
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I had a strange half dream. (I was dozing off at my computer last night so I was like half awake.)
Frank Cooper from Accounting was the demon inside a new super villain named The Bureaucrat. He held everyone in a bank hostage, not for money but to force the Bank manager to approve 0% interest home loans for everyone in the bank, even people who weren't there to get loans.
I don't know why he was doing this but apparently playing Payday 2 and listening to No Soul Left Behind are a weird combination.
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I had a strange half dream. (I was dozing off at my computer last night so I was like half awake.)
Frank Cooper from Accounting was the demon inside a new super villain named The Bureaucrat. He held everyone in a bank hostage, not for money but to force the Bank manager to approve 0% interest home loans for everyone in the bank, even people who weren't there to get loans.
I don't know why he was doing this but apparently playing Payday 2 and listening to No Soul Left Behind are a weird combination.
Is there some sort of RPPR payday 2 guild we can join?
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I had a strange half dream. (I was dozing off at my computer last night so I was like half awake.)
Frank Cooper from Accounting was the demon inside a new super villain named The Bureaucrat. He held everyone in a bank hostage, not for money but to force the Bank manager to approve 0% interest home loans for everyone in the bank, even people who weren't there to get loans.
I don't know why he was doing this but apparently playing Payday 2 and listening to No Soul Left Behind are a weird combination.
Is there some sort of RPPR payday 2 guild we can join?
We have a steam group: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/rpprfans - use that to organize games with rppr listeners and/or us
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I had a strange half dream. (I was dozing off at my computer last night so I was like half awake.)
Frank Cooper from Accounting was the demon inside a new super villain named The Bureaucrat. He held everyone in a bank hostage, not for money but to force the Bank manager to approve 0% interest home loans for everyone in the bank, even people who weren't there to get loans.
I don't know why he was doing this but apparently playing Payday 2 and listening to No Soul Left Behind are a weird combination.
"Surala, what was the plan here again?"
"The loans get approved, all these people buy homes they can't afford for cheap, the property values around those homes drop *just* a little, and then the owners sell before the bottom drops out and then we buy up all the ones for sale and flip entire neighborhoods when the zero-interest people default and get evicted."
"It seems a bit... circuitous."
"One way or another we're gonna flip property through villainy. The concept works!"
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I'm really getting the feeling that if the RPPR crew does another Better Angels campaign it'll be about the evils of the housing market and real estate. Gotta flip these house for a good cause or go to hell!
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If I ever get the chance to be player in someone's No Soul campaign, or BA in general really, Gramma Stuffum will be my character!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLVIvaY-U8k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vicUf3etSTM
Also, yes, that is GWAR, under the guise of RAWG, parodying their own music on a kid's cartoon.
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What I want to see is a fusion Better Angels/Base Raiders campaign, where first they play pre-Ragnarok supervillains gaming the housing market to set up their base and then raiders post-Ragnarok going in to steal their stuff.