Citybuilding and Character Creation

Let's get some character and world creation going.

San Francisco, and California in general, fascinates me as a European. You have this city that's always seen as a melting pot of left wing, counter culture movements alongside some of the fastest rising land prices and homeless rates in the country. If anyone's a native to the city I'm apologising in advance for how much about it I'm going to get wrong.

So. What does everyone want to play as?

I’m thinking of going Wizard, Spectre, Scholar or Revnant. But I don’t mind playing any of the books really. I have dark streets so I’ll be fine building the latter two...

I'm tempted by revenant, vessel, vamp, or wolf... Although considering I played a skinwalker (modified wolf) last game, maybe I should do one of the other three...

I'll wait til everyone picks and slect randomly from the leftovers

The more I think about it the more I want to play an old wold of darkness style mage. A bit of some different world with completely different rules wandering around the real world. Only looking human because our world doesn’t know how to interpret their existence... so I’ll take wizard...

I like the idea of a capricious and totally amoral fey. A being who takes just as much delight in bestowing lavish gifts on some random stranger as they do in tormenting another, or even preferably doing both at once to the same person. The only constant in this character’s psyche would be its word; once it has swore something it will do whatever it takes to fulfil that promise.

I've played that archetype before, it was a total blast...Though I think the other PCs from that game might still have trust issues...

Yeah, that's why I added the whole "my word is my bond thing". I don't want the character to be too unpredictable. :-)

I have only just read the playbook. This is exactly what I had in mind.

Fae is my favorite playbook, I think. But I’ve played it before, so I’ll maybe go Tainted this time.

Looking forward to playing!

It wasn't that bad, it's not like you dripped, 'Is this guy trustworthy? He seems super shady or sleazy... maybe both'. XD

Hok'ee definitely still doesn't trust you... :P

So we have a wizard, a fey, and a tainted so far? Hmm, then I guess I could either stick to the revenant or the vessel... Hmm, which one... I think I'll go with the vessel after all. The Revenant looks fun to play, but feels a bit too focused for my taste.

Alright, here's what I made:

Name
Shou hu ren [Sha-ow-hoo-jen] "Shaow" the terra-cotta warrior

Look
Genderless (appears male), Asian, Work Clothing.

Demeanor
Distant

Character Stats
Blood 1, Heart -2, Mind 1, Spirit 1

Starting Factions ([ ] unchecked, [/] checked)
Mortality -2 [ ], Night 1 [ ], Power 1 [ ], Wild 2 [ ]

Intro Questions
• Who are you? Shou hu ren, the animated terracotta warrior.
• How long have you walked the Earth? For over 2000 years. I was meant to be an animated terracotta warrior who would guard the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, but for some reason, I was never sealed in the tomb with the rest of the other normal terracotta warriors. Was I forgotten, stolen, misplaced, or not finished in time? I do not know. Nor do I know if I was meant to be the only animated terracotta warrior.
• Who or what is your creator? A great court wizard named Fei Long.
• Why have you chosen to forsake your bondage? Since I was never placed in the tomb, I was never aware of my bondage. I was passed from master to master, forced to do work which I somehow felt I was beneath me or never meant to do, until I came to the city and felt the pull… then it all became clear to me.
• What keeps you here in the city? I can sense that something from the tomb of Qin Shi Huang is near. I do not know what nor do I know where since my senses does not work like a radar. I only know that is is near, somewhere in the city and I feel compelled to find it and then bring it back to Emperor Qin Shin Huang’s tomb where it belongs.

Gear
A small apartment in the slums, a bike, a dumb phone.
A token of my bondage (Qin Shi Huang’s seal).
A keepsake from my creator (one of the tools used to craft me).
A clumsy but effective weapon (an old bronze mace) (3-harm hand/close).

Debts
Someone convinced you to come to the city to help them with an ongoing problem. they owe you 2 debts. (Dr. Lui Lim, PHD)
You injured someone in the process of fulfilling an instinct. Tell them what instinct you were serving. You owe them 2 debts. (Frank Yves while following my "to break the defiant" instinct.)
Someone has a tie to your creator (or their lineage) and possesses knowledge about your origin they have refused to share. The owe you a debt. (Persephone)
Georg is trying to help me fulfil my true potential with his visions, I owe him a debt.
I'm trying to save Persephone but keep suffering for it, she owes me 2 debts.
Frank Yves asked me to put the screws on some demon in the labyrinth underneath Chinatown and I succeeded, he owes me a debt.
I am helping to keep Partition's demons at bay, he owes me one debt.

Vessel Moves
Only Flesh: When you come directly at a target without concern for your own well being, you get 1-armor. If you’re doing so in the service of one of your instincts, you get 2-armor. If you’re wearing armor, use that instead.
Erase The Shem: When you suffer enough harm to kill you, you can choose to shut down for the remainder of the scene instead of marking the harm. In this state, you suffer no additional harm, nor can anyone detect that you are still alive. You perceive everything that takes place around your body, and you can reawaken at will. If someone dismembers you or attempts to destroy your body, your flesh will knit itself back together upon revival, even if it has to travel great distance to be reunited.
Hideous Visage: When you persuade an NPC by revealing your inhuman face and threatening their interest, roll with Spirit instead of Hearth.

Materials
You are the inanimate made living, a monster with the visage of a mortal. Pick one material of your component parts:
Blessed soil, sand, or clay.
Once per session, you can heal up to 2-harm by consuming a copious quantity of the materials of which you are made. Anyone who witnesses the consumption sees your true form.

Instincts
Your creator built you to fulfill a particular function, although you’ve proved to be more adaptable than expected. To help you better serve your purpose, your creator imbued you with a number of powerful instincts. Choose four:
To serve the powerful.
To protect the valuable.
To hunt the disloyal.
To break the defiant.

Drama Moves
Vesse Redemption Moves

Intimacy Move
When you share a moment of intimacy-physical or emotional-with another person, ask them an invasive question about being human. If they answer the question honestly, mark redemption. If they deflect the inquiry or offer falsehoods, they must give you a debt.

End Move
When you die, change playbooks or retired your character, you leave something of your old body behind, containing a remnant of your instincts, as a permanent mark on the city. Tell the MC which instinct became most central to your identity; the city will awaken that instinct into itself. Add the following option to let it out for all PCs.
• Call upon the city to obey its instict.

Harm ([ ] unchecked, [/] checked)
[ ] Faint
[ ] [ ] Grievous
[ ] [ ] Critical
When you suffer harm, mark the same number of boxes as harm received. when you heal harm, erase it in the same order. You heal about 1 harm/day naturally. You can mark a Scar to ignore all ham you are about to suffer.

Scar ([ ] unchecked, [/] checked)
[ ] Shattered (-1 Blood)
[ ] Disfigured (-1 Heart)
[ ] Fractured (-1 Mind)
[ ] Broken (-1 Spirit)

Armor
(1 or 2 as per Only Flesh)Background: (spoken with a slight Chinese accent) I woke up long ago, over 2000 years ago in fact, according to your calendar. I did not know who or what I was back then, but I was made to serve a master... his name is lost to time. Somehow, I always felt wrong, like I was not meant for this existence, but I toiled nonetheless. As the decades turned into centuries, I served new masters, their names too I have forgotten... I only remember the last one, a wicked cruel man named Pai Fung. It was an easy task for me to kill him and escape my servitude as it turns out I was made to punish the wicked, and this master was truly wicked indeed... I then wandered the world, seeking to find my purpose, mingling with humanity, but never truly part of it. Only when that tomb got excavated in China back in 1974 did I finally understood my purpose.
Oh, you wonder why I'm not as tall as my inanimate brethren? Well, just like them, I am hollow on the inside, and through the centuries of interacting with humans, I have learnt to compact my form so as to make my human guise more convincing. Even then, I have not managed to appear any shorter than 2 meters tall. But were I to show you my true self, I would tower at a height of 5 meters.
I could have returned to China then, yes. But then again, what would I have done then? Approached the archeologists who were exhuming the tomb and tell them "Hello, I am a large animated terracotta warrior who was meant to be entombed here with the rest, is there a place for me in your museums?". No, I simply wandered the world once more, trying to figure out why exactly I was created, to what purpose, and by whom. I took the craft of potter and sculptor. This allows me to have plenty of clay on hand with which to heal myself in case I get wounded, plus it allows me to feed in peace.
Only after I came to San Francisco at the behest of (Dr. Lui Lim) did I started to find answers about my past and my functions. (Georg?) found out by examining the tool used to craft me that I was created by a powerful court wizard names Fei Long and that my purpose was to guard the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang and to punish any grave robbers and return any stolen artifact back to the tomb.
Why did I not punished the archeologists back then? They were not acting as grave robbers, pillaging a tomb for their own profit and greed. They were genuinely curious, willing to share their findings with the world, their findings put into museums for the world to see and appreciate. To understand how powerful Emperor Qin Shi Huang truly was. No, their motives were pure and not deserving of punishment.
There are others however who are not so noble and who are deserving of my wrath. Lately, I've sensed something in Chinatown, something calling to me. Some artefact removed unlawfully from Emperor Qin Shi Hueng's tomb which must be retrieved and returned there. I do not know what or where it is as my senses do not work like that. It also seems to be on the move as I've never sensed it at the same place twice. I could have simply rampaged in Chinatown in the hope of finding it, I doubt few would have been able to stop me, but this is not how things are done in the city. So for now, I bide my time. This gives me plenty of time to think of what I will do the wicked when I finally find them...

Name
Frank Yves - Fey Stand-up Comedian and Vlogger

Look
Male, ambiguous. Caucasian. Colourful, messy clothing

Demeanor
Eccentric

Character Stats
Blood -1, Heart 2, Mind 0, Spirit 1

Starting Factions ([ ] unchecked, [/] checked)
Mortality 0 [ ], Night 0 [ ], Power 1 [ ], Wild 1 [ ]

Intro Questions
• Who are you? Just another product of the system, what’s it to ya, anyway?
• How long have you been in the city? For longer than ya’d think, given this rosy complexion. I knew yer mother, yes I did.
• What do you love most about humanity? They just don’t give a shit, do they? Lifespans of mere decades and they’re out there riding’ the waves and actin’ like they’re indestructible.
• Who is your closest confidante in the city? Mostly my loyal fans on my blog, you should check it out. But if you mean someone I physically speak to… probably Joey at the Neck (of the Woods). She lets me have a gig now and then even though her boss doesn’t like me. Nice lady.
• What do you desperately need? Again, my loyal fans!

Gear
A nice house in Outer Sunset, a car, a smart phone which I use for my vlogging.
A relic from my homelands (a metallic ivy leaf which I wear on a dyed leather string around my neck)
A symbol of my court (Spring - a tattoo of a phoenix across my shoulders)

Debts
Someone broke an important promise to you and swore they would make it up to you. They owe you 2 Debts. (placeholder)
You are keeping something hidden for someone. You owe them a Debt. (placeholder)
You entrusted someone with a dangerous task. Ask them if they succeeded or failed. If they succeeded, you owe them a debt. If they failed, they owe you 2 debts. (placeholder)

Fae Moves
Faerie Magic: Whenever you use a Faerie power, choose 1:
-Mark Corruption
-You owe your monarch a Debt
-Suffer 1-harm (ap)
In Our Blood: When you Trick someone, roll with Heart instead of Mind.
Words Are Wind: When someone breaks a promise to you or lies to you and you find out, they owe you a Debt and you take +1 forward against them.

Faerie Powers
Nature’s Caress: Your touch heals 2-harm. You cannot use this power on yourself.
Wither: You imbue your touch with the power to kill (3-harm intimate ap).
Bedlam: Touch a target to place them in a specific emotional state (your choice). Mark corruption to have that emotion directed toward a target of your choosing.

Drama Moves
Fae Corruption Move
When you break a promise or tell an outright lie, mark corruption.
Intimacy Move
When you share a moment of intimacy—physical or emotional—with another person, demand a promise from them. If they refuse you or break the promise, they owe you 2 Debts.
End Move
When you die or retire your character, choose a character and bestow the favor of your court upon them. They can choose either to take Faerie Magic and two of your faerie powers or to advance Persuade an NPC.

Harm ([ ] unchecked, [/] checked)
[ ] Faint
[ ] [ ] Grievous
[ ] [ ] Critical
When you suffer harm, mark the same number of boxes as harm received. when you heal harm, erase it in the same order. You heal about 1 harm/day naturally. You can mark a Scar to ignore all ham you are about to suffer.

Scar ([ ] unchecked, [/] checked)
[ ] Shattered (-1 Blood)
[ ] Disfigured (-1 Heart)
[ ] Fractured (-1 Mind)
[ ] Broken (-1 Spirit)

Armor
0

Background
Frank is a stand-up comedian and a vlogger. He has a small cult following for his stand-up work, though bigger venues won’t touch him due to his reputation of inconsistency; he always turns up but he’s just as likely to be covered in bruises and sneer and berate the audience than to actually perform his material. The fans think this is his comedic persona and they love the fact that they never know what to expect.

He lives on Irving Street, between 48th and La Playa, so he has good access to the beach and the park and he can be found in one of those places most days. He has lived there since the house was built in the ‘30s, which is when he first moved to the city. His original VW camper van mostly sits in the garage where he occasionally tinkers with it.

Name: Persephone
Playbook: The TaintedLook: Female, Asian, Trendy Clothing
Demeanor: Detached

Stats: Blood 2, Heart 1, Mind -1, Spirit 0

Factions: Mortality 2, Night -1, Power 0, Wild 1

Starting Questions:
Who are you?
Persephone was a Stanford grad working in the tech sector. She and her best friend had formed a startup. She had invested all she had in it, so when her 'friend' took the money and disappeared, she was devastated. A certain entity came to her then, when she was at her lowest. Now she has other things to worry about.

How long have you been in the city?
Three years, since graduating, roughly.

What would you die for?
Revenge or freedom. She hasn't decided which yet.

What is your daily release?
Kendo. Always Kendo. Every morning at dawn before work.

What do you desperately need?
Someone or some thing to guide her out of this darkness.

Gear: An apartment and smartphone, as well as a sword (3-harm hand messy)

Debts:
• You’re protecting someone from a dark power. They owe you 2 Debts.
• Someone is trying to save you and keeps suffering for it. You owe them 2 Debts.
• You have a demon patron who holds the contract for your soul. You owe them 3 Debts.

Moves

The Devil Inside: When you assume your demon form, roll with Blood.
On a 10+, choose 2. On a 7-9, choose 1. On a miss, choose 1 and you owe your patron a Debt.
• Gain armor+1
• Heal 2-harm
• Inflict +1 harm
• +demonic weapon (3-harm hand or 2-harm close)
• +demonic movement (flight, flaming motorcycle, etc.)
If you’re working a job for your patron, choose 1 more. If you mark cor- ruption, choose 1 more.

Invocation: You may cash in a Debt with someone to appear in their presence. Others may cash in a Debt with you to have you appear as well.

Demon Form
Smoke head, Bone hands, no wings, misty skin, glowing eyes.

Demonic Jobs
Your dark patron keeps you on Earth for a reason. Choose two jobs from the list below:
(1) Brokering demonic contracts and (2) Assassinating your patron’s enemies.

When you complete a job for your patron, mark Wild. Your patron owes you a Debt for every job completed.
You can cash in a Debt with your Patron in order to have them:
• Answer a question (honestly) about their Faction
• Introduce you to a powerful member of their Faction
• Give you a worthy and useful gift without cost
• Erase a Debt they hold on someone
• Give you a Debt they have on someone else
• Give you +3 to persuade them (choose before rolling)
Your patron may offer you the chance to buy your freedom, but Debts alone won’t be enough.

Drama Moves
• Tainted Corruption Move
When you persuade someone on your patron’s behalf, mark corruption.
• Intimacy Move
When you share a moment of intimacy—physical or emotional—with another person, they give you a Debt they hold on someone else.
• End Move
When you die, cash in all the Debts your patron owes you to come back. If you have none, your patron will ask someone else to pay the Debt for you. If they refuse, time’s up. It’s been a good run.

I'm mostly done as well and just submitted my character, Georg C Greene or GG is an Oracle.

Things I still need to figure out:
»» Someone helps you understand your dreams and visions. (Anyone good with Dream/Visions or know a good shrink/witch doctor?)
You owe them 2 Debts.

»» You’ve had a dire prophecy about someone, but you don’t know how to
help them...yet. You owe them a Debt. (I might do this one at random) Genisisect?eugenemarshall?

»» You are helping someone realize their true potential through your
visions. They owe you a Debt. This one could be random also I guess. eugenemarshall?Genisisect?

Given that the Tainted character sold their soul to a demon, maybe my character is the one you’d had a dire prophecy about? Or perhaps your visions help me track down the enemies of my patron I’m supposed to target?

Works for me:
»» You’ve had a dire prophecy about Persephone, but you don’t know how to help them...yet. You owe them a Debt.

Just going to jump in and say I approve of every single part of this so far :D
Working out some nice questions to ask. Keep going :)

Oh, I forgot the clothing part... might as well correct this right now. Also, I think I should wait until more characters are made before answering the debts questions.
@flug: Your guy looks like he just got beaten up. XD

:-)

I think he often looks like that. He’s not the most diplomatically minded.

Hey, Frank and Georg live on the same street! 500 doors away, but still... howdy neighbour!

Yeah, come down to Frank's we'll give you a discount.

Name
The Thing that Partitions the Void (Partition to their friends)

Look
Ambiguous gender. Variable Ethnicity. Archaic clothing

Demeanor
Ominous

Character Stats
Blood -1, Heart 0, Mind 1, Spirit 2

Starting Factions ([ ] unchecked, [/] checked)
Mortality 1 [ ], Night -1 [ ], Power 1 [ ], Wild 1 [ ]

Intro Questions
• Who are you? I am and am from the Thing that Partitions the Void
• How long have you been in the city? That’s kind of hard to tell, I haven’t really wrapped my head around your time yet, but I have figured out you all move in the same direction.
• What keeps you up at night? I’m supposed to be down at night? Oh or is this one of your idioms... Well I guess I’m a bit concerned about fitting in to your universe.
• What have you sacrificed for your powers? My freedom I guess where I’m from I don’t have powers but here I do, but I am also bound by some of your rules.
• What do you desperately need? To find the bit of myself that went missing.

Gear
A simple house in Outer Richmond, a crappy car, a decent cell phone.
A focus (Pocket Watch) and a Sanctum (Elsewhere)
A Snub nosed revolver (2-harm close loud reload concealable)

Debts
Someobe is helping you keep your demons at bay, you owe them a debt.
Someone is your go-to when you get in trouble, you owe them two debts.
You are helping someone keep a dangerous secret, they owe you a debt.

Wizard Moves
Channeling: When you channel and collect your magics, roll with Spirit. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 3 and choose 1 from the list below. On a miss hold one, but you cannot channel again this scene.
-Take -1 ongoing until you rest
-Suffer 1-harm (ap)
-Mark corruption
Sanctum Sanctorium: When you go to your Sanctum for a spell ingredient, relic, or tomb, roll with Spirit. On a 10+ you’ve got pretty much just the thing. On a 7-9, you’ve got something close but it’s flawed of lacking in some significant way. On a miss you don’t have what your looking for, but you know someone who probably has it in stock.

Spells
Memory Wipe: Spend 1 hold to cause a helpless target to forget some of their short term memories, up to an entire hours worth. You can spend an additional hold and mark corruption to put alternative memories in their place
Veil: Spend 1 hold to make yourself invisible from sight for a few moments.
Teleport: Spend 1 hold to teleport yourself a short distance within the scene your in.

Sanctum
Features; a mystical prison, magical wards, a portal to another dimension, a focus circle.
Downsides; it attracts otherworldly attention, it contains many volatile substances.

When you go into your sanctum to work on something, the MC tells you what it will take to complete your task, as if your Sanctum was a mystical Workspace.

Focus
You have a mystical focus item that helps you channel your magic. Without it, take -1 to Channeling. Further gain +1 hold when Channeling.

Drama Moves
Wizard Corruption Move
When you strike a deal with someone dark and powerful, mark corruption.
Intimacy Move
When you share a moment of intimacy—physical or emotional—with another person, decide whether you care about them or not. If you don’t, they go about their business as normal. If you do, they take -1 ongoing to Escape until they get some intimacy somewhere else.
End Move
When you die, you may place a devastating curse on someone nearby. Specify the e ects of the curse and how they may end it.

Harm ([ ] unchecked, [/] checked)
[ ] Faint
[ ] [ ] Grievous
[ ] [ ] Critical
When you suffer harm, mark the same number of boxes as harm received. when you heal harm, erase it in the same order. You heal about 1 harm/day naturally. You can mark a Scar to ignore all ham you are about to suffer.

Scar ([ ] unchecked, [/] checked)
[ ] Shattered (-1 Blood)
[ ] Disfigured (-1 Heart)
[ ] Fractured (-1 Mind)
[ ] Broken (-1 Spirit)

Armor
0

Background
-still to come-

This is shaping up to be one extremely interesting group of Californians.

Given the weirdness of my character I could definitely see this working. The one you earmarked for me might work really well with Kalajel’s character

Works for me Kalajel you open to the suggestion to take the third one on my list?

I'd actually like the second one. T.T

This one?
"»» You are helping someone realize their true potential through your visions. They owe you a Debt."
Yeah, given my background, it would work well for me.

@ flug: since I have a debt in which I did hurt womeone and your character looks like he gets hurt a lot, I guess I could use your character for that debt?
You injured someone in the process of fulfilling an instinct. Tell them what instinct you were serving. You owe them 2 debts. (placeholder)
I could take that one by coupling with this one I have: Someone has a tie to your creator (or their lineage) and possesses knowledge about your origin they have refused to share. The owe you a debt. (placeholder).
Given that you're the only other Asian character in the game (albeit it seems you're more Japanese than anything) It could be that you are a descendent of Fei Long (or the entity which he was?). I would seek to protect you since I feel you might hold the key to my past...

Works for me.

I also have:

Someone broke an important promise to you and swore they would make it up to you. They owe you 2 Debts. (Partition)

You are keeping something hidden for someone. They owe you a Debt. (placeholder)

You entrusted someone with a dangerous task. Ask them if they succeeded or failed. If they succeeded, you owe them a debt. If they failed, they owe you 2 debts. (placeholder)

Alright, so I once injured Frank Yves while following my instinct "To break the defiant" (seems appropriate), so I owe him two debts.

My debts that need filling....

Someobe is helping you keep your demons at bay, you owe them a debt. (Shou)
Someone is your go-to when you get in trouble, you owe them two debts. (Persephone)
You are helping someone keep a dangerous secret, they owe you a debt. (Archbishop Kyrill)

Also @flug I’ll take the someone broke an important promise debt.

Partition did it too, I’m not sure when I did it, but if it makes you happy I’ll promise to make it up to you if it hasn’t been done soon.

@eugenemarshall: I'll take the "You’re protecting someone from a dark power. They owe you 2 Debts." one. One of my debts is that I'm keeping something hidden, the dark power could be looking for that.

@Genesisect: actually, I have an idea which ties into my other debts now. Your time confusion thing still works, but instead of partitioning off the Feywild, your promise was to restore a partition that Frank had been involved in creating in 2004. This ties together all of my debts;



This is the Lands End Labyrinth. Tourists like to wander around it. They think it's fun. It's not so much fun for the avatar of a demon trapped inside it which wants to escape and wreak havoc in the city. Frank was involved in capturing it in 2004. A wizard created the labyrinth and Frank used some Fey magic to cause anything trapped inside confusion so that they couldn't escape. But the labyrinth has been degrading faster than expected so...

-Frank asked Partition to restore it to its full power
-He is keeping this avatar hidden from its master for... one of you? Maybe?
-He entrusted Persephone (if eugene agrees, but it ties in with protecting Frank from a dark power) with a dangerous task, which she may or may not have succeeded at.

@Kalajel: I chanced upon this;
Chinatown Plague Tunnels
You know what’s scary? Tunnels. You know what’s scarier? Secret tunnels. According to some, a labyrinth of secret tunnels winds its way under Chinatown. There’s been speculation that these tunnels were once a shady tourist attraction, while others say the tunnels led to underground gambling and opium rings. Underground passageways would make sneaking around the city a lot easier, and who knows what might lurk inside the tunnels these days.

The word "plague" in the title refers to the bubonic plague outbreak in 1900-1904, which was centred on Chinatown. Could be connected to the artefact you are looking for.

This one?
"»» You are helping someone realize their true potential through your visions. They owe you a Debt."
Yeah, given my background, it would work well for me.

Cool updated mine for this.
I'll take any that make sense for my character to be part of.

Were you also up for that one I have? Someone has a tie to your creator (or their lineage) and possesses knowledge about your origin they have refused to share. The owe you a debt. (placeholder). This would explain why I insist on saving you despite the risks...

@Remnant: is there anything that GG would need hidden? Cos Frank is your man!

@Kalajel: Shaow seems like the kind of construct which I might approach to do some dangerous work. Sound good? If so, I've to ask you if you succeeded or failed.

Sure! Sounds interesting.

Well if it's possible the memory of a vision he had in the street that left him screaming and openly weeping when he saw it.

I think Partition has the power to suppress memory.

Edit: apparently that’s only short term memories. How do the rules work for doing things that aren’t on your character sheet before you start?

@ flug: What was the task? If it was physical, It's safe to assume I've succeeded. If it required tact and diplomacy, I most likely failed...

That’s the question. It would be something to do with the demon in the labyrinth. How about he asked you to put some pressure (I.e. with thumbscrews) on some demon spawn to find out who is trapped and who might want him out? Seems like it might be within Shaow’s skill set.

With my power Hideous Visage, this is certainly something I could have done and succeeded, so I'll say I succeeded.

Alright, I have this debt left now: Someone convinced you to come to the city to help them with an ongoing problem. they owe you 2 debts. (placeholder).
Any takers between TTtPtV and Georg?

Okay, so Shaow succeeded in getting some information about the demon trapped in the labyrinth and its friends. I owe him a Debt.

@Revenant; does GG have anything physical that he’d need hidden?

I'm catching up on the thread and smiling ear to ear. Love the idea of using the Land's End Labyrinth and the tunnels the way you have.

While I build the list of debts up I will state that you CAN have the left over debts handled by NPCs if you wish. I am composing a master list for debts, NPCs, Rumours and Locations, so will have some questions anyway, but feel free to shout out to me if you want an NPC in the city to have one of your debt connections (one of you HAS to anyway. Persephone's got a boss from hell to worry about...)

@Eugenemarshall; I like the idea that I keep going to you for help by invoking you.

So as a wizard it is implied I can do a whole lot of other stuff by going to my Sanctum. So you can run it one of two ways, you got to me fast enough that I could use my spell, or you didn’t and I had to do something fancy in my place between places... either way that’s definitely me keeping a dangerous secret... do you want that debt @Remnant?

Mmm don't think so, he has minimalist life so probably not...

I'd be fine with long term memory suppression, or even a full erasure of it, being something that could be handled by a previous project in Partition's sanctum. Of course, with something being that monumental a vision, it was probably something VERY important.

No worries. It’s open to everyone then, no takers and I’ll stash something for an NPC.

I don’t think Partition is in a position to be summoning people to the city as it’s only a recent arrival

Also @KaySD I believe Partition is helping GG interpret their visions. And Persephone is my go too when I get in trouble.

Well, it can always be an NPC who summoned me to the city then. It's fine. In fact, I think we should have at least 1 debt tied to an NPC, it helps moving things along...

Yup. I know I'm missing a few of the threads. Lots of things to keep track of.

So given that everyone is Wild and Power faction and the only other NPCs that I know we'll need so far are also both Wild, my suggestions are going to start tying to the other two factions so you're not all utterly stymied when it comes to marking faction for experience.

How would you feel about the person who summoned Shaow being a curator of a museum? While mortal, they'll be someone connected with the supernatural community of Chinatown, and may have called on your expertise of your time period to deal with some difficult problem (and some muscle). I'm thinking something ghostly that needed a traditional approach, and now they're looking into the lost artefact of Qin Shi Hueng that you're looking for.

@Kalajel how would you like to be Partitions source of solace?

Someobe is helping you keep your demons at bay, you owe them a debt.

Sure. Thanks to Frank's task he asked me to perform, I have some experience with keeping demons at bay... Of course those were literal ones... :P

I think we’ve bonded on trying to be human and not quite getting it.

I’m happy to give my last debt to an npc if none wants it...

You are helping someone keep a dangerous secret, they owe you a debt.

That could refer to Frank’s labyrinth again. Or specifically the ‘key’ to turning it off.

I’d say yes, but Partition hasn’t sealed it yet (hence his other debt) so it doesn’t make sense to say toy owe him for knowing the secret to undo it...

Yeah, you have a point. That wouldn't really make any sense.

I've added some detail into Frank's background. It grew a bit beyond what I had intended, but for anyone interested here it is;

Looks like I'm linked to everyone but Frank.

If you have something hidden that needs hidden...

Can I just make sure everybody realises; I wasn’t implying that last post should be finished with "stick it up your ass". That was just in your heads.

Hmm I think besides prophecies GG leads a mostly 'normal' life. Maybe Frank 'knew a guy' who kept the memory of what GG saw from GG.

Maybe. I’m still struggling with how the rules work for this kind of thing. I think that it makes sense thematically for a Fey to be able to suppress a memory but I don’t have that kind of power on my sheet.

How about... you had a wizard remove some memories but he advised against destroying them, instead he embodied them in a small trinket so that if you need to you can handle it and access the memories. But you wanted it far from you so you have given it to Frank to hide?

With your scenario wouldn't I owe the wizard a debt too?

Since it's narrative yes you don't have a specific mind/memory power, but since it's not something you normally would be doing all the time I figure that's how you got the debt out of GG. If you wanted to explain it mechanically I figure a precise use of Let It Out to: 'Take definite hold of something vulnerable or exposed' would work I think. Maybe it's still in GG's head you just made him forget that's something he's seen. Moves have a bit of wiggle room I think in this system.

I was thinking that the wizard could actually be a shaman that GG knew in Africa. He made a fetish and GG uses it regularly to excise any unwanted memories, and in between times he lets Frank keep it hidden.

But I’m happy to do it your way if it works in the system.

Debt was already settled before game play started. There, simple, done.

The Golden Gate BridgeThe most popular landmark in San Francisco, but also the darkest. While the bridge is very popular with tourist, sadly, it also has a bit of a sordid history as it is very popular with depressed and suicidal people as a mean to end it all... With so many people having taken their own lives on this bridge, it is to be expected that it has its few restless ghosts, but the bridge is creepy for other reasons. Many people with a sense for the supernatural feel "wrong" when on the bridge and many supernaturals claim to have been attacked by invisible forces when alone at night on the bridge.
Some claim it is simply an unknown body of ghosts from all the restless suicide victims, others claim that all those people with dark thoughts committing suicide here is starting to weaken the fabric of reality and that a portal to the soul-hungry infernal realms might open here soon, yet others claim that the bridge acts as a magnet for psychopomps and other entities who feed on or hunt ghosts and spirits. Whatever it is, nobody seems to agree with what actually is wrong with the Golden Gate Bridge, but most seem to have agreed that it might be better to avoid it at night...

Going to throw up some more ideas of my own for the city.

The Asian Art Museum (Mortality)
One of the largest collection of Asian art exhibits in the world, the Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Arts and Culture is a major tourist attraction. For the supernatural community it is a bit of a problem as the exhibits do not rest easily; some are claimed by ghosts that haunt the streets in the fog, and some are host to mogwai or other spirits, and some simply are a reminder of old wounds between nations. This makes it a nightmare for the curators and exhibition staff who do find themselves aware of San Francisco's supernatural community, as they often find themselves targeted or caught in the middle of whatever dispute is the issue of the week. Lui Lim (Ph.D) has her own problems in the form of trying to oversee the administration and construction of the new pavilion, as well as dealing with her role as what appears to be the unofficial liason to San Francisco's underworld.

Heckler's (Night)
There are a dozen comedy clubs in San Francisco, and they're all better than Heckler's. It's stuck in the backstreets of the Mission, it's got lousy acoustics, and as it's name implies it's audience is openly hostile. But anyone with business to do with the local Bay area vampires know they need to talk to Santiago, it's proprietor.

Santiago's been here since the Plague in some form or another running entertainment establishments and has built up a lot of connections, and unlike the other vampires hasn't moved out to Forest Hill or other more affluent areas of the city. This makes him immediately approachable, and oftentimes the first person to come to for when someone needs to make a connection. He has a back room for people to hash out deals, which sadly does not block out the noise from the stage.

Heckler's runs an open mic night on Thursdays. It somehow gets even worse, and this is the evening when Santiago makes sure he runs the bar. It's almost like he thrives on misery and not blood.

Coit Tower (Power)
At the summit of historic Telegraph Hill sits the 210-foot Coit Tower, also known as Coit Memorial Tower. This elegant tapering column was built in 1933, the legacy of San Francisco’s colorful Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who left a $125,000 bequest "for the purpose of adding beauty to the city which I have always loved." The ground floor lobby is adorned with a series of fresco murals by some 30 local artists, depicting life in 1930s San Francisco. They were nationally controversial when opened to the public. The artists and murals were funded by President Roosevelt’s New Deal pilot art program, the Public Works of Art Project.

Except, of course, such civic generosity is so rarely what it seems. No records exist of the architect of the tower, and no discernible reason can be found for some structural oddities in its construction. The materials used were fairly standard for the time, but why was so much copper intertwined around the steel beams? Why was such an abundance of quartz used in the upper arches? And finally, what is the function of the hollow area detected in the foundations? So far nobody seems to know.


Hollowell Manor, 917 Fulton Street (Mortality)
Powerful mortal witches live at this address, and are said to have captured a number of magical beings. Their motivations are a mystery, but most of the supernatural community steer well clear of this area.

The Sword and Rose, Cole Valley (Wild)
A shop for mortals who consider themselves spiritual or who dabble in the occult, this beautiful and peaceful premises would normally be of little interest to true supernatural beings, and was totally ignored for most of its thirty year history. But recently the shop has taken on a new cashier, a young lady called Lilly Amber, who happens to be of the Fey. Unknown to the proprietors of the shop, Lilly has started to sell genuine magical supplies and word is starting to get out.

The Holy Virgin Cathedrel (Power)

The Holy Virgin Cathedral, also known as Joy of All Who Sorrow, is a Russian Orthodox cathedral in the Richmond District of San Francisco. It is the largest of the six cathedrals of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia which has over 400 parishes worldwide. It current under the watch of Archbishop Kyrill, who has recently started shepherding an extra flock in secret.

So this is the final state of my starting debts...

Someobe is helping you keep your demons at bay, you owe them a debt. (Shou)
Someone is your go-to when you get in trouble, you owe them two debts. (Persephone)
You are helping someone keep a dangerous secret, they owe you a debt. (Archbishop Kyrill)

Well, the thread is called Citybuilding and Character Creation. But it's fine, I don't think the locations thing were mandatory... Also, I think those things end up feeling more organic when we do them during gameplay, so I don't think we should create too much of those before we start...

I think I'll take my last debt with Dr. Lui Lim: Someone convinced you to come to the city to help them with an ongoing problem. they owe you 2 debts. (placeholder).

I don't know how she came to learn of my existence, but she felt that haunted objects might have a lot in common with an animated terracotta warrior statue. I come every now and again, to talk to the spirit haunting certain objects. It usually makes things a bit more quiet for a week or two after my visit and the curators don't have to fear for their physical safety as much, but sadly, putting a spirit permanently to rest seems to be outside of my competences...

Edit: updated my character profile with all my up to date debts.

I have been working on a spreadsheet for keeping track of Debts. It's not quite finished yet but I have run out of time for tonight. Feel free to fix any mistakes or add anything which has been missed.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Ycv8EfHeJcrfI7xr53_gNI5gUqueAs8927pfA8MK84/edit?usp=sharing

Wow, so many people owe me debts, that's like the opposite of last time I play... Yeah, the Wolf mostly owes debts...

Oh yes. Keeping track of debts has been a FUN endeavour so far. There's actually a good mixture between everyone at the moment from what I've been able to ascertain. I'll be doing my best to stay on top of them in the thread, but I appreciate having the spreadsheet available as well.

So. Other things I definitely need to know before we get going (feel free if you want to do even more highlights of the city. We'll keep making things up as we go as well though!)

Persephone; Your patron. How does your Patron get in touch with you? When they appear to you in person, what is their preferred form? What is their hellish portfolio and sphere of influence, and how many of the other legions of the damned have you had the misfortune to meet?

Partition: Are any more of your kind on this plane of existence? With the weakening of the boundaries between this plane and yours, what is the likely result if you don't intervene?

Frank: Which court did you belong to before you left? Given that you've been gone more than a century now, will they even recognise you as one of their own any more? How many people are still sore from the Coalition's reorganisation of the city's hierarchy during the Labyrinth incident?

GG: Do you have any family remaining? Siblings? Cousins? Any of them in the States? Do you keep in touch with any of your workmates from before you took the florist job? How much of a reputation do you have for your prophetic visions amongst the supernatural community?

Shaow: What is your next line of inquiry for pursuing the lost treasure you seek? Is there anything of a mortal life you like to keep, or do you feel it distracts you from your quest? What kind of mortal life do you lead in the meantime?

Not ant close family. No siblings. If he has cousins the might be back in Nigeria, if they are stateside it's new to him. Openly or in public it's probably not apart anyone would try and keep any contact a quick message asking about work might come up about how something was done but GG expects that to go away after time unless they don't write it down. Since he's kind of young and probably nothing major has happen from his visions some may have heard or worked with him but nothing major most likely.

I guess I'll have to ask the right questions to the right people. OF course, unless this requires intimidation, I might not have what it takes for that, so I'll probably required help... this is where the other players come in.

I'm not living much of a mortal life. As a construct, I don't eat, I don't drink, I don't sleep, I don't require companionship, I don't get lonely or depressed... I try to pretend as much as possible when I'm among mortal, I've had a few milleniums to observe people so I can pretend relatively well, even if I do not quite understand the reasons people do those things. It's more like I'm aping or parroting what I see, and people interacting with me for some amount of time might simply be led to believe that I have I have some disorder which makes me socially awkward.

Right now my cover is that of being a potter and a sculptor. This allows me to have quantities of clay at the ready to heal myself with. I work from my shitty apartment and deal with various art collectors, buyers, and pottery shops. I don't know why I like creating so much. Perhaps the fact that I was created myself has something to do with it.

Frank was from the Spring Court, and therefore is fascinated by new life and the ideas of rebirth and redemption. He always had a slightly darker bent than most of his companions in the court, which is probably one of the reasons he didn’t feel such a strong urge to return. His time on Earth has fostered his more extreme personality traits and he would probably struggle to fit back in to any of the fae courts. Despite this, whenever a new fae comes to visit San Fransisco they tend to come to Frank first as a guide. He is happy to show them around and ply them with drink and anecdotes about the city, but of course he always tries to get a favour in return.

The coalition has mostly become the new elite in the city, Frank being one of only two who didn’t take advantage of the opportunity for more personal power. There are still some of the trapped demon’s minions who would like to put things back the way they were, and the group stepped on plenty of toes in tearing down the previous power structure, specifically in the mid-levels of the civil service and the police department. Frank has found that the previous coalition members have been distancing themselves from him, possibly seeing him as something of a loose cannon.

Trapped Demon: Balberith - Secretary of the archives of hell. Demon of blasphemy and murder.

Coalition members:

Jerome Braithwaite: a human who has been aware of the supernatural since the demon Balberith took him into his service in the late ‘90s. Since the demon was trapped and Jerome became free of his debt, the human has become a major player in the human political landscape, currently serving as head of the San Fransisco Ethics Commission, in which role he is able to help shape the political landscape of the city.

Sheila Hansen: a vampire who moved to the city in the ‘50s but never achieved any prominence until her actions in the coalition helped to weaken Balberith enough for the group to prevail. She fed on the demon before he was trapped and since then she has been different; more focussed and ambitious for example. She is now CEO of Blue Speckle, an online platform that combines nowcasting with instant networking and likebait marketing. Blue Speckle has become something of a rising star, affording Sheila significant clout in the city and nationally.

Trish Taylor: a student of the arcane for many years, Trish combined her passion with a day job as professor in pagan history at San Fransisco State University. She took a sabbatical several years ago to study some sites in eastern Europe with her husband and three year old daughter and hasn’t been heard from for several months. Some of her colleagues are starting to become worried. Trish was the person who managed to construct the Labyrinth which trapped Balberith.

Carmen Alonso: a wolf who added some much needed muscle to the coalition in their attempts to drive out the demon. After 9/11 Carmen joined a security company called StandFast, which provides technical, logistical and human resources in more than twenty unstable regions around the globe. StandFast has grown as a private security contractor and Carmen served with them in many trouble-spots. She has shown an aptitude for command and risen to be the main company presence in California.