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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
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Post your character concepts and stats here.
Some further notes on the setting:
The Technocracy has a fairly strong presence within the city itself, notably the Syndicate-influenced Financial and Entertainment districts, and the multi-Convention task force in the outlying military installations at Fort Glanton. Across the River, in Ciudad Felix, Mexico, the Mirrorshades tread lightly. Their only notable representatives are part of the Syndicate's drug-money laundering operations, and Iteration X-NWO team operating out of the United States Consulate.
The Traditions are well represented in the area. The nearby Reservation is a Dreamspeaker stronghold. Across the border, a coalition of the Order of Hermes and Euthanatos shares an uneasy control over the Awakened population. Outside the cities, in the mountains and desert, anything goes, as the Gauntlet seems to be especially thin.
Whether vampires or werewolves exist is unknown.
2 million people live in the Los Pilares Metropolitan Area. Across the river another 3 people inhabit the sprawl of Ciudad Felix.
Northwest of the city, looming over the valley, squat and toadlike, sits the mountain that gives the city its name. Los Pilares - the Pillars - refers to twin basaltic columns rising delicately from the bulk beneath like a crown on a blasphemous idol.
The city traces it's beginning to the mid-1590s, when Spanish authorities established a presidio at the pass. There was scarce growth in the area, even after Texas independence and incorporation into the United States, even during the Mexican Revolution, when the city was an important avenue for smuggling arms into Mexico. It wasn't until the first successful atomic test in the nearby Davis Mountains, and subsequent post-war military buildup, the city truly came into its own.
Whoever you are, there are some troubling events going on.
*Why have the Technocrats been sending out large armed groups into the mountains?
*There has been not-so-quiet grumbling by Hermetics on the American side about the Orders heavy handed attitude and directives from across the border. Making matters worse are the disappearances of the city's Hermetic representative, as well as the head of the Euthanatos faction in Ciudad Felix. Who's disappeared them? Is it a powerplay on the part of the Mexican Hermetics. Is the Technocracy behind it? Or do these two not want to be found.
*The local Dreamspeakers point to all this trouble as evidence that the Gauntlet is becoming especially weak. Those in the know tell of spirits sending out warnings. They're on the watch. Something big is coming.
Please subscribe/bookmark this in case you haven't already.
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Jaime Lawrence
Australia
Sydney
New South Wales
See Below.
Evil Bob: Lawful good since 2038!
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Can I do a spin on the Jackie Chan/Kung-Fu guy in the Wild West idea? I'd love to be an Akashic Brother.
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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
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Hida Mann wrote: Can I do a spin on the Jackie Chan/Kung-Fu guy in the Wild West idea? I'd love to be an Akashic Brother.
 Good God, I hope you're not psychic. I was just thinking to myself, "I should come up with a plot hook for the Brotherhood in case one of them wants to be Akashic."
Hell yes, you can be AB!
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Jaime Lawrence
Australia
Sydney
New South Wales
See Below.
Evil Bob: Lawful good since 2038!
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Awesome, Grasshopper. I'll throw together some stats when I'm at home.
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Andrew Goenner
United States
Superior
Wisconsin
Running 5 PbFs
And still sane...mostly
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At the moment I have no idea what I want to be as I played in a short-lived campaign something like 12 years ago, but I'll be looking at the book tonight to decide.
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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
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MasterGeek wrote: At the moment I have no idea what I want to be as I played in a short-lived campaign something like 12 years ago, but I'll be looking at the book tonight to decide.
That's cool. I want y'all to take your time and give your characters a plausible back story. How did y'all end up here? And how did you end up together? That sort of thing.
And let's welcome
John Venables
England
Portsmouth
Hampshire
"Win if you can, lose if you must, but always CHEAT!!!"
to the group. He's our number 4.
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Andrew Goenner
United States
Superior
Wisconsin
Running 5 PbFs
And still sane...mostly
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I'm thinking a member of the Celestial Chorus possibly. Don't have all the details yet, but I thought I'd toss that out there.
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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
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I'm cool with that.
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John Venables
England
Portsmouth
Hampshire
"Win if you can, lose if you must, but always CHEAT!!!"
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tutunaku wrote: MasterGeek wrote: At the moment I have no idea what I want to be as I played in a short-lived campaign something like 12 years ago, but I'll be looking at the book tonight to decide. That's cool. I want y'all to take your time and give your characters a plausible back story. How did y'all end up here? And how did you end up together? That sort of thing. And let's welcome
John Venables
England
Portsmouth
Hampshire
"Win if you can, lose if you must, but always CHEAT!!!"
to the group. He's our number 4.
Hi all,
Looking forward to getting this rolling, Whilst on holiday I intend to get my character done - I'll be playing an Ecstatic, probably fairly well known/notorious on the social scene, so not too hard to tie in with other backstories.
John.
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Brian Cooksey
United States
Nashville
Tennessee
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Charles Osgood, Frater Ex Orient Lux, Adeptus Minor 5=6 of the Los Pilares temple of the Greater Order of Hermes reporting for duty.
Is character generation going to follow what's in the 2nd edition book or will there be any differences?
How much leeway do I have in defining the local Hermetic lodge while I'm writing up Charles's background?
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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
-
Creation will mostly follow the book except for the following"
 You may elect to use the standard 7/5/3, 13/9/5 OR spread 15 among the attributes and 27 among abilities, freely.
 borrowing a page from NWOD, Flaws do not grant additional freebie points; take them as roleplaying fodder, if you wish.
 However, since y'all aren't exactly noobs, and are fairly well established in your respective communities, I'm granting you 23 freebie points to spend.
 Let's keep to Merits and such that are contained in the Core book. However, since I do own most of the splats, if there is just something you absolutely must have, run it by me. The worst I can say is no.
Now, you all have a good deal of leeway in shaping your magickal community, provided you stay within some very broad parameters. You are, after all, not exactly novices anymore. You're obviously low level, but you might be making waves.
Brian, the Order of Hermes in Los Pilares is nominally under the control of the Temple of the Obsidian Mirror, across the River in Ciudad Felix. It's head is Jacobo Zoltowski of House Fortunae. It was upon his ascent to power in 1970 that he entered in coalition with the Euthanatos Adeline Fellowes. There followed a purge in which the other Tradition leaders were either co-opted or killed, a policy he called "plata o plomo", silver or lead, a term borrowed from Porfirio Diaz.
Los Pilares remained untouched, and Zoltowski was only able to extract fealty from the Hermetics and the grudging support of the Euthanatos. This state of autonomy has been eroding, quite rapidly in recent months.
To make matters worse, Adeline Fellowes has disappeared. So has Ben Durant, the Los Pilares Hermetic representative at Zoltowski's court.
The rest you can fill to your leisure: rumors about the disappearances, speculations about his power grab, interesting NPCs, whatever you have in mind.
The rest of y'all will get a similar briefing, based on your Tradition.
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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
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Hida Mann wrote: Can I do a spin on the Jackie Chan/Kung-Fu guy in the Wild West idea? I'd love to be an Akashic Brother.
If you're going ahead with the Akashic, I'm letting you come up with pretty much anything. The AB presence is almost non-existent. There are three others beside you.
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John Venables
England
Portsmouth
Hampshire
"Win if you can, lose if you must, but always CHEAT!!!"
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I'm thinking now of playing an Ecstatic who, disillusioned, and with a narcotics misdemeanour charge, dropped out of college and fell into a biker gang (true anarchist, Kerouac etc. etc.) I've genned a PC based on this, is this acceptable? If so, I'll introduce.
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Jaime Lawrence
Australia
Sydney
New South Wales
See Below.
Evil Bob: Lawful good since 2038!
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Kai Chan, Akashic Brother
Kai Chan, Akashic Brother.
Physical
St: 3
Dx: 4
Sta:3
Social
Cha: 2
Man: 1
App: 3
Mental
Per: 3
Int: 2
Wit: 3
Alertness 3
Athletics 3
Awareness 2
Dodge 3
Do 3
Etiquette 2
Meditation 2
Stealth 2
Survival 2
Enigmas 2
Investigation 1
Linguistics 1
Medicine 1
Occult 2
Spheres: Mind 3, Spirit 3, Prime 1
Arete: 3
Quintessence: 5
Willpower 6
Backgrounds: Arcane 2, Avatar 1, Dream 2, Mentor 3
Higher Purpose (To seek out and free the spirit of his master)
Spirit Mentor
Lifesaver
Enemy - Corrupt Local Landowner
Nature: Martyr
Demeanor: Bravo
Essence: Questing
Kai Chan was the most promising student of Akashic Master Oishi Hakakuro until Hakakuro left for America unexpectedly one day. Trusting in his master, Kai continued working to master his self-discipline and hone his abilities in the temple.
Then, one night as he was meditating, Kai was startled by the spirit of his master appearing to him, writing in pain and begging for help. Kai, ever dutiful, raced to America to find his master, only to discover himself lost in a country where he had no friends and no language.
for a time, he wandered about, tracking his master's spirit and doing good where he could, working to earn his keep, or accepting the gratitude of those who he helped only long enough to find his bearings and continue his quest.
Once, he fell afoul of a Vampire group terrorising a small township. They trapped him and though he could keep one or two of the creatures at bay, the five in the group were too much for him. As he was about to be felled, he knew not how, but he reached out to something in the spirit realms and his mentor appeared, his body gleaming with a golden light. Hakakuro's spirit destroyed the vampires before they knew what was happening to them, unleashing devastating Do attacks and seeming to channel the sun itself.
Kai has tried since then to summon his master's spirit again, but to no avail. He has arrived in Los Pilares empty-handed, having cleaned up a bandit group on the outskirts of town. There is a definite sense that another clue to his master's disappearance lays here somewhere...
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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
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Quote: I'm thinking now of playing an Ecstatic who, disillusioned, and with a narcotics misdemeanour charge, dropped out of college and fell into a biker gang (true anarchist, Kerouac etc. etc.) I've genned a PC based on this, is this acceptable? If so, I'll introduce.
Sure. Fits the Las Vegas on the Border theme.
Ecstatics have been purged from the Mexican side. They had no organization or single leader; also, House Fortunae doesn't like Time mages it can't control. Most are scatter throughout the city; there is also a presence on the Reservation and in the surrounding desert, where there is an annual Burning Man type festival every year. As the game starts, preparations are underway.
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Brian Cooksey
United States
Nashville
Tennessee
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Charles Osgood. Order of Hermes
Charles Osgood
Frater Ex Orient Lux, Adeptus Minor 5=6 of the Los Pilares temple of the Greater Order of Hermes
Essence: Pattern
Nature: Critic
Demeanor: Traditionalist
Physical
St: 2
Dx: 2
Sta: 2
Social
Cha: 2
Man: 4
App: 2
Mental
Per: 2
Int: 4
Wit: 4
Abilities
Alertness 2
Awareness 3
Linguistics 3
Occult 3
Instruction 3
Firearms 2
Culture 3
Research 3
Law 1
Expression 3
Intuition 1
Spheres: Forces 4, Prime 3
Arete: 4
Quintessence: 4
Willpower: 7
Backgrounds: Avatar 3, Library 3, Influence 2
House Flambeau's motto is Ad mortem incurrite or Unto death we charge. No collection of words could better describe Charles Osgood's philosophy. Osgood was an intelligence analyst for the NSA specializing in translating intercepted communications. He was known for working long into the night to get his work done and for a terrier-like tenacity when tackling a problem.
His awakening was, like so many things in his life, planned in advance. The technocracy has its hooks in the intelligence communities of various nations but they're not the only ones. A watcher for the Order of Hermes was stationed in the same office as Osgood and had flagged him as a possible Mage soon after he reported for duty. Through a series of tests and challenges, the young analyst was brought closer to his magickal potential. The process was so gradual that Osgood was barely surprised when he was inducted into the Washington D.C. lodge and told of his lineage.
He rose in the ranks quickly and helped stymie the New World Order's attempted infiltration of the NSA. Osgood's tactics were crude but effective and necessitated his removal from the D.C. area. So he has been sent to Los Pilares to investigate the recent disappearances while things cool down in Washington. He is a professor of cultural anthropology and linguistics at a nearby university and he has been tasked with recruiting new mages should he find acceptable candidates.
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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
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I'm not an Adept of either Entropy or Time, but I foresee a lot of fireballs in my future.
You know, I always thought the Order of Hermes would be good at black ops.
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Jaime Lawrence
Australia
Sydney
New South Wales
See Below.
Evil Bob: Lawful good since 2038!
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Is all my wackiness approved, Mario?
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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
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Yes, both of you are. Of course, I don't mind taking it into gonzo territory if that's where it leads.
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John Venables
England
Portsmouth
Hampshire
"Win if you can, lose if you must, but always CHEAT!!!"
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John "The Revelator" Sayer
Cult of Ecstasy
Essence: Primordial
Nature: Rebel
Demeanour: Competitor
Physical
Str 3
Dex 3
Sta 4
Social
Cha 2
Man 2
App 2
Mental
Per 3
Int 2
Wit 3
Abilities
Alertness 2
Athletics 2
Awareness 1
Brawl 3
Dodge 2
Intimidation 1
Streetwise 2
Subterfuge 1
Drive (Motorcycle) 2
Firearms 1
Meditation 2
Melee 2
Stealth 1
Survival 1
Technology 1
Law 2
Linguistics (Spanish) 1
Medicine 2
Occult 1
Spheres: Time 3, Life 2, Prime 1
Arete: 3
Quintessence: 7
Willpower: 7
Backgrounds: Avatar 3, Resources 1, Wonder 1, Allies 3, Node 2, Influence 3
John came from a rich oil family. When he was old enough to party, he did - Hard. It was at one of the debaucheries he attended that his Libertine mentor saw potential and decided to try and nurture his talent. John was never the brightest, but (through his family's influence and money) he was given a place to study Law at University. His mentor, given the loose organisation that the Cult has, decided to accompany him, to see if together, they could find any like-minded people on campus.
Things started to take a turn when the college authorities found that John had been arranging Frat parties that were, to them, of a most unspeakable nature. He was expelled summarily, his family - in shame - excommunicated him, and furthermore, in the debacle, his mentor had raised a flag with a local group of Technocrats observing the Uni at the time.
Before being captured and broken, he gave John a pocketwatch (Wonder 1) telling him to take care of it, keep running and never look back.
Having always had a path mapped out for him by his family, he decided to strike out on his own, sold everything (except the watch) and bought a 2nd hand Harley (Node 2???.) He used his powers to nurture success at the gambling tables and to stay 2 steps ahead of trouble.
Whilst at a rundown joint, he saw a biker being beaten up and helped him chase off his attackers. Having rejected the authority of Uni and his parents, as well as trying to find himself spiritually on the road - John was looking for something just like the Los Pillares Sundevils MC (Influence 3 & Resouces 1) to focus his drive and attention. He was invited to join as a prospect and got patched quickly. This was, in part, because of his surprisingly accurate "premonitions," where he earned his nickname "John The Revelator."
Given his previous life and his powers, he was particularly useful as an amateur lawyer, a medic, gambling and racketeering, bareknuckle brawling, wise council and troubleshooting - not to mention hosting great parties!!
John was starting to use pain as a focus for his magic at the fights, and at one particular bareknuckle fight across the border, his magic couldn't help him enough as he was beaten to near death by an opponent he suspected to be a werewolf. He awoke sometime later in the house of a Hippy-chick called Neveah (Ally 3.) She's a Verbena that runs a healthfood shop in Los Pillares. John and Neveah grew close in his convalescence, experimenting, sharing rituals, philosophy, thoughts on the world and enjoying each others company.
In fact, they are planning to attend the Los Pillares Burning Man festival together in the near future, as soon as John can conclude some unfinished MC business out of town...
Half hippy - Half road warrior - All confused!!
(Thought the node in a Motorcycle might be pushing it!! - change as much as you like  )
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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
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The Harley-Davidson as node is a bit gonzo, even for me. Maybe the node is out in desert, some abandoned prospector cabin.
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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
-
Three fun concepts from three different genres. I think I just need Master Geek's sheet and we can begin.
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Andrew Goenner
United States
Superior
Wisconsin
Running 5 PbFs
And still sane...mostly
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Sorry 'bout that. Hectic week at work. I'll have mine up this weekend!
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John Venables
England
Portsmouth
Hampshire
"Win if you can, lose if you must, but always CHEAT!!!"
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tutunaku wrote: The Harley-Davidson as node is a bit gonzo, even for me? Maybe the node is out in desert, some abandoned prospector cabin.
Prospector cabin sounds much more rational - let's go with that!
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Mario Perez
United States
Worland
WY
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MasterGeek wrote: Sorry 'bout that. Hectic week at work. I'll have mine up this weekend!
'Sall good friend.
Now. How do a protagonist from a Jet Li vehicle, a spook, and a refugee from a grindhouse film know each other?
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Posted Tue Sep 6, 2011 5:59 am
