A Metallic Abstraction: Supernatural Urban Warfare, OOC and Character Creation

[aurorastorm]

"All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful, but the beauty is grim." - Christopher Morley

IC thread

Prelude --

Demons are a reality, and they always have been. They have appeared throughout history and have always left destruction and change in their wake. The Demons hold one event above all else to be sacred, and that is a series of competitions they call Aether. Where Aether is present, Demons will appear and hold their twisted games. It has been rumored that there is a prize beyond all comprehension which awaits the mortal or Demon who emerges victorious at the end of Aether, though none remain who have ever actually won said prize. This is the story of the city of Samhain, its residents and the events which occurred in the year 2012 and 2013, in which Samhain became the home of Aether, and the Demons arrived as a result.


Setting---

In the early 1990’s the United States Senate allowed for the creation of the Weather Modification Operations and Research Board, after witnessing the destruction caused by Hurricane Hugo. Within three years, the department was able to effectively launch neutralization campaigns to mitigate any threat of hurricanes from striking the United States. With their primary function a resounding success, the department turned to using their research to perfect aesthetic weather changes.

Welcome to the city of Samhain, just inside the mouth of Delaware Bay, a sister city to New York and one of the strangest examples of urban structure as of the last 50 years. Samhain is a large metropolis divided into four districts throughout its body. It was this city, which had already begun the process of separating their city by a strange seasonal theme that agreed to host the prototype weather generators the department had created under the direction of the city’s mayor, Regina Augustus.

These weather generators were a mixed success. Originally intended to give a mild flavor of seasonal atmosphere to a given area, they instead created a permanent effect over the respective districts, eternally casting them into their titular seasons.
As noted above, the city is still divided into four districts.

Summer District: Located at the northernmost portion of the island, is a thriving metropolitan area that is populated by tourists and the obscenely wealthy. While it lacks a sense of culture and class, it compensates with its hedonistic appeal. Beaches are found along the districts north shore and most of the district is populated by hotels and casinos. As far as living accommodations are concerned, the premier two being the Four Seasons and the Lunasa, both owned by resort tycoon Victor Snell. There is a notable checkpoint separating Summer District from its fellows, so as not to let in anyone who would be a detriment to the over-all happiness of the tourists.

Autumn District: Sandwiched between Summer District to the North, and Spring District to the South. Autumn District is the cultural center of Samhain. It houses art and history museums, historic buildings and monuments, and has a thriving upper-crust nightlife. It is also home to the government of Samhain, with the mayoral residence being a prominent centerpiece to the District. Within Autumn District’s spectacular colors are mansions new and old, and a very rustic charm. While it is less expensive to visit than Summer District, people residing in Autumn District are stereotyped within the city as elitists who do not remember their roots, as many of the successful artists came from lower-class cities or even the lower-class Winter District of Samhain.

Spring District: The largest of the four districts, located south of Autumn District and wrapping around Winter District on three sides, is the primary business and residential area of Samhain, as many people who work in the city do not actually live in it, but commute by ferry. Due to its large size, Spring District is divided into separate neighborhoods, most of which have their own image and subculture. Most people in Spring District are middle to upper-middle class. Spring District is also home to the docks and wharfs that are used as a prime harbor for Atlantic trade. The district is primarily rainy and also has a number of large parks within its lush green expanses.

Winter District: surrounded on three sides by Spring District and on the fourth by the Delaware Bay, Winter District is a cold, bleak environment that once housed a number of manufacturing plants, most of which have been shut down in the last decade and left to rot. Shoddy tenement apartments line some streets and crime is high compared to other parts of the city. The primary source of revenue for the people living here is the Samhain Arts Institute which is located in Winter District. The Art Institute draws a crowd of young artists who wish to experience a sense of grit to add to their artistic talents and repertoire. For this reason, a number of closed-down buildings have recently begun to be re-opened as underground art galleries and concert venues for the young. However, this small wave of re-gentrification is still minor and Winter District remains something of a blemish to the city’s reputation in the eyes of many tourism departments. Several times there have been arguments made to try to restore Winter District, but all of these plans have fallen through due primarily to lack of interest by those involved.

---------------------------------

The Party ---


Despite its condition, Winter District does house a series of notable individuals, though. A series of people from various walks of life all banded together under their patronage of Winter District, and under the group name of the Beltane Foundation.

To an outsider looking in, the Beltane Foundation is a series of charitable organizations run within Winter District to help the areas homeless population. Their institutions function in a similar manner to many homeless shelters and soup kitchens from across the country, providing aide to the poor families of Winter District while also helping them to seek jobs and steady themselves in the world. What has set them apart from other aide stations is their policy of not accepting volunteers who have the means to help themselves. Instead, the organization is overseen in its daily operations by the very homeless people that it provides for. Donations are accepted from others, but the actual labor force is made up of the poor and residents of Winter District.

The organization was founded by Henry Beltane, a former conman residing in Winter District. While to many others the group appears to simply be a charitable organization that the man runs, the charitable portion is primarily a front for the inner circle of the group known as the “Beltane Family”. This is a group of people who have been screened by Beltane himself and act as not only an administrative sector for the charity, but as something of a mafia within Winter District.

By mafia, I do not mean that they are dealing in drugs, racketeering, nor are they Sicilian. Instead, I mean that they are a small group who, through some means or another, have obtained influence in the city. The group primarily operates by simply obtaining part-time jobs around the city and using these jobs as a basis for establishing connections. The Family shuns criminal activity that might be considered “common”, actions such as thievery, murder, and drug dealing are all activities which are barred to Family members. They do occasionally commit crimes to further their aims, however. They are thought to be rather major figures in several blackmail cases that have occurred throughout the mid thousands, exposing the scandals of several powerful figures from behind the anonymous veil of public internet access and their own homelessness for said figures failure to pay blackmail fees. Despite this acceptance of blackmail, the Family is still mostly a small special interest group that just puts an intensive focus on establishing connections and putting its members on a fast-track to prominence in the city. There are several prerequisites for entry, however, listed below:

1) A member of the Beltane Family must have formerly been a member of the Beltane Foundation, and must be accepted into the Family by Henry Beltane.
2) Members of the Beltane Family must never identify themselves as such outside of meetings with other members. The Organization thrives in the looseness and low-key attitude of its members, having only Beltane as a face for the group.
3) Members of the Beltane must be financially independent. Though there have been a few circumstances of members who were 16 or 17 and had dropped out of school, they are the exception and these members were the primary caregivers of a family. The Beltane’s will still provide help to homeless minors as a part of the Beltane Foundation, but they will most likely not be permitted into the Beltane Family.
4) If a member is found to be “compromising the secrecy, values, or structure” of the Beltane Family, then they may be expelled from the Family.

---Gameplay---

The first phase of the RPG will be a series of introductory situations to the story I have planned as we follow the Beltane Family and introduce the plot of the Aether event that has begun in Samhain.

After this introductory phase, the game will become an open-city RPG in which players may choose to go about the city of Samhain and explore it as they see fit, either becoming embroiled in various human-world problems or beginning to compete openly in Aether. This open-city segment will take place day-to-day for one year in-game (excluding some events that may involve time travel). During this one year, I will make plans for most events the players want to embark upon. At certain times in the calendar year, a scheduled event will occur, such as certain boss fights or celebrations that will lend themselves more to the main plot of the RPG. At the end of the year, a certain number of characters will vanish from the world to take part in the final Aether competition. If your character does not get picked, do not worry, there will be other RPG’s in this plot-line which your character may be taken from as well.

Most mechanics of competition will be dealt with in such a way that I hope will inspire a challenge for the players, a fair challenge, of course, but still a challenge. You need not fight to be considered a good participant in Aether, as Aether is meant to judge the best of people in all facets of their lives, not simply those who can fight the most efficiently.

Throughout the year in which Aether takes place in Samhain, and we follow the Beltane Family as they compete (willingly or unwillingly) there will be encounters with Demonkind. Demons hold Aether in high regard and as such, Demonic and supernatural activity surges when Aether begins in an area. Demons in this RPG are ranked into various hierarchies, and the higher ranked the demon, the more powerful they are. There are some unifying rules of all demons, however. For example, they hold night to be sacred, and may only gain sustenance by feeding upon emotions which they cannot feel. Fear, Pain, hate, anxiety, sadness, these are among the emotions which demons subsist upon. Demons will not actively seek to kill people for this reason. However, it is a consequence that in their hunts for these emotions, demons may end up killing humans. For this reason, there is a threat of death in this RPG.

Death will be handled in such a way that I think is fair. The rule essentially is to not do anything stupid. Now of course that’s subjective. However, bear in mind that at least at the beginning we will be playing normal humans. If an average human attempts to rush into a fight against a twelve-foot tall demon with axes for arms and all manner of supernatural powers, I would expect that player not be completely bewildered when their character is killed in this fight. However, to be fair, I am including a type of “status” measure for characters. Essentially, this will only come into play in a life-or-death situation. I will not OHKO characters without the players permission. However, if a player’s character is hit by something which would normally kill them, their status will be changed to “CRITICAL”. While in this status, the character should be considered gravely injured. If a character in CRITICAL status does not obtain treatment of some kind within a short amount of time in-game, or they are hit again in a separate post, they will die. Once a character is dead, they cannot come back unless a supernatural power to revive the dead is used. For this reason, I’d think it wise that you have at least two characters ready to be party members, should an unfortunate event befall one of them. (However, I would ask that you only control one active party member at a time, unless there is some reason you think you should control more than that.)

Later on in the RPG, powers will be introduced. These powers are formed by the result of a human becoming the host of a kind of demonic parasite called a Fy. Fy normally cannot communicate with their human hosts and survive off of their host’s emotions as well as the emotions their host inspires in others through the use of their powers. A Fy normally may grant their host three distinct powers, in a sort of leveling mechanic. Oftentimes, when a Fy’s powers level up the host will lose their previous power, though this is not the case with all Fy.

A single human body may host up to three separate Fy in a lifetime. Fy can be taken from other hosts, however taking a Fy from one person and giving it to someone who already has a Fy will result in the former Fy disappearing completely.

Finally, I will be awarding Achievement Points throughout the RPG for various accomplishments. If you roleplay in-character well, perform in ways which are new and exciting, or in general do well within the city, you will receive points which (while not made public), will be sent to each of the players via PM to keep track of. Points can be spent on various attributes for your character. These are listed below, and the attributes can be found in more detail in the character sheet:

New Skill point: Number of point*2 = points required

Specialty in Skill: 2 points

Level-up Fy: 100 points

Level-up Directional Sensibility by one: 5 points

Blaze: 20 points. (Blaze is a special ability which can only be used when the character is in CRITICAL. Activating Blaze allows the character to gain a sudden surge of strength for up to one minute before promptly dying. If a character is killed after activating Blaze, they may transfer any remaining Achievement Points to their next character.


---Character Sheet---


((A bit of a warning: My character sheet is rather intensive for this game, I placed the RPG in High casual because I am generally not a stickler about post size, but my game does have some rather intensive gameplay mechanics involved. Just a warning, as I said))

Name:

Age: (16 is the youngest I will allow for party members who have dropped out of school. However, teens should be the minority)

Birthday: (When is it? Your character might get something on it)

Sex:

Sexuality:

Hometown: (Where does your character come from?)

Clothes: (Your character starts out with three sets of clothes. Hot (for hot weather), Cold (for cold weather), and Business)

Personality: (What makes your character tick? What kind of person are they?)

Relations: (While not common, I do not wish to say that these Family members are incapable of being loved. List any close family members or friends they have outside of the Beltane Family. Also, you may go and edit this to include members of the Beltane Family who your character particularly likes and works well with, though I do also request that you include some people who your character does not like in the group.)

Ambitions: (What does your character seek to do, to accomplish, to make themselves known by?)

Appearance: (What does your character actually physically look like? Make sure to include height, weight, and a general body type descriptor in this. Are they fit for their age or not? Also make a factor of their general level of cleanliness in here. Even as homeless people, the Beltane's are able to maintain a basic level of cleanliness if they so choose.)

Likes: (what are some things your character likes)

Dislikes: (Some things your character would rather do without)

Fears: (What does your character fear? Note: you will be expected to behave irrationally around your fears, treat them as if your character is actually afraid of them.)

Trinkets: (What objects does your character tend to carry around with them? This is limited by holding space and common sense.)

Money: (Between 0 and 200 dollars. This is the money you are going to be starting out with. You can earn money by doing jobs or lose money by purchasing things. On average days in the city, your character will lose 25 dollars daily from normal expenditures unless you expressly state that they will forage, in which case a d20 will be rolled against their foraging skill to determine success.)

Sponsor: (This will appear later in the game, basically it is who you ally with during Aether, be it a formal team or a wealthy person who you compete under)

Background/Circumstances: (Give your character some background here. Tell us how they got to Samhain, what their family life was like, where they’ve been in life and how it has influenced them.)

Powers: (These will appear later.)

By all means, if you want to add other stuff about your character, answer surveys with them in mind, add a theme song, etc. I will gladly take that info into account and might work it in somehow.


---Points---


Now then, let's begin with the point distribution system. Throughout this game there will be several stats which may be improved upon through the acquisition and expenditure of Achievement Points. However, during character creation your character will be given a certain amount of points to be spent initially in these categories. For those familiar with the table-top game "World of Darkness" some of the formulas may seem familiar, however some have been changed to suit this particular RPG. Your character will start off with a point total equivalent to their age. So a character who is 19 will be given 19 points to spend, while a character who is 40 will have 40 points.



Foraging Skill: (Foraging determines your success at finding food when a free meal is unavailable or when there is not money readily usable to purchase food. There is a minimum foraging requirement based on the age of the character, and 20 is the maximum. The minimum beginning values are listed below:
16-19: 1
20-30: 2
30-40: 3
40-50: 4
50+: 5)

Directional Sensibility: (This stat determines your characters familiarity with the city of Samhain. A map of the city will be provided in my next post alongside a gridded map dividing the land area into a total of 59 squares. Each point in Directional Sensibility equates to one square on the map. While in this square (which you choose) your character cannot become lost. However, when your character enters into an area they are unfamiliar with, they will not be able to accurately find their way around as easily as they would in a familiar area. There are some exceptions to the characters' familiarity, the red island at the northern end of the map is unfamiliar to all party members initially, as only the extremely wealthy are able to visit said island. Similarly, the subway lines that run through the city are also unfamiliar to the party members and are only truly navigable with a Directional Sensibility of 60, like Foraging, Directional Sensibility has an innate requirement based on age. That being:
16-19: 14
20-30: 16
30-40: 18
40-50: 20
50+: 22)

(so, by this point there is a minimum expenditure requirement of 15 if one is playing the youngest character at 16. This player will have one initial talent point left to spend in the next category, Skills. However, when picking talents, as one will see, there are three classes that one is sorted into. Mental, Physical, and Social, and one will get additional points to spend only in talents. Each Skill initially has a maximum Level total of 5. (this will be changed to 6 once players gain a Fy and are able to figure out a way to use their power to improve their competence at Skills). During character creation, there is no penalty for adding points to particular Skills as the player pleases, but during the actual game there will be a more complex formula for leveling up Skills.

Mental
Chemistry:
Anthropology:
Technology:
Cryptography:
Electronics:
Finance:
Forensics:
Forgery:
Streetwise:
Mechanics:
Medicine:
Politics:
Academics:


Physical
Acrobatics:
Brawl:
Crafting:
Driving:
Contortionism:
Firearms:
Lockpicking:
Sleight of Hand:
Survival:
Night Vision:
Running:
Weaponry:
Stealth:


Social
Bluffing:
Finesse:
Instruction:
Haggling:
Expression:
Seduction:
Diplomacy:
Empathy:
Torture:
Hearthwise:
Computers:
Sense Deception:
Service:

The next post will also detail what each skill does. Just remember, with the initial age based talent points, one may distribute without the need for the formula. After one has distributed all of their age based talent points, they will choose their class. What this simply means is that the player must distinguish the Mental, Physical, and Social skill classes as either: Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary for their character. The player will then be given additional points for each category to spend as they please: 11 for Primary, 7 for Secondary, and 4 for Tertiary.

Finally there are specialties. In a player's primary skill class, any three skills with a skill level of 3 or higher may receive a specialty, which will effectively bump up the level of that skill by 1 when the specialty is involved. A player's secondary class may contain two specialties initially and a player's tertiary class may contain one specialty. Let me reiterate: Specials may only be applied to Skills with a level of three or higher.

The post detailing skills and with the gridded map will be up later tonight. Have fun, and let the games begin!

[aurorastorm]

Okay, now then, continuing:

The first thing you all will need is a map of the city of Samhain.

The city, as mentioned above, is divided into four districts: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. (Summer is yellow, autumn is orange, spring is green, winter is grey)




or to put it into terms where buildings are visible:



Here's a key for this one.

Summer Key

Red island - Lunasa
Orange - beaches
Yellow - Four seasons
Lime Green - amusement park
Dark red - Shopping Mall
Green - greenery
Dark Green - Park
Turquoise - Hotel/Casinos
Blue - pier shops
Light blue - entertainment (clubs, theaters, shooting ranges,
Purple - Houses
Light Grey - businesses
Maroon - Gated community
Hot Pink - apartments
Brown - restaurants
Olive - casino
Peridot - Monument/public art
Light Yellow - Convention halls/sports arenas
Mauve - offices
Teal - spa
Dark Grey - government offices

Autumn Key

Red - Governors Mansion
Purple - Mansions
Maroon - historic houses
Hot Pink - apartments
maroon - wall
orange - beach
green - greenery
dark green - park
grey - shops/offices
brown - restaurants
light blue - museums
lime green - concert stage
light yellow - Zoo/aquarium
olive - government offices
blue - churches
yellow - hospital
Red (not governors mansion) - hotels
orange - school
yellow - hospital
Teal - country club
black - parking lots

Spring Key

Red - hotels
Dark Green - park
Light green - greenery
Pink - Apartments
Purple - houses
Brown - Restaurants
light blue - shops
yellow - shopping mall
Orange - School
blue - church
Maroon - Hospital
Olive Yellow - Museums
Olive Green - Theater
Dark Red - Warehouse

Winter Key

Blue - Industrial buildings
Maroon - Art Institute
yellow - mall
grey - shop
brown - lot
dark red - student housing
orange - apartments
pink - warehouses
light green - abandoned building
dark yellow - restaurant

Finally, here is a version of the map with the grid set up for Directional Sensibility




So yes, in your DS stat please list the number score as well as the squares which your character is familiar with. (Only use the squares with some land in them).

Now then, here's what the different skills are and what they entail.


Mental

Chemistry: Chemistry entails your knowledge of chemical compounds, reactions, and your ability to mix chemicals to produce effects or make new items.

Anthropology: Anthropology deals with your knowledge of groups of people; how groups are likely to behave and what actions certain people are going to take.

Technology: This is your character's proficiency with technology in a more academic sense. This deals with programming, hacking, and knowledge of systems.

Cryptography: Cryptography is one's knowledge of passwords, secret codes, and other methods of hiding information. The Cryptography stat will let you know

Electronics: Electronics is separate from technology, and has to do with your character's proficiency around a fusebox, fixing appliances and other electrical appliances.

Finance: Finance has to do with your characters knowledge of investments, betting on good odds, and in general their ability to handle money effectively.

Forensics: The Forensics skill allows your character to better understand what has occurred at a particular place or to a particular person through careful observation.

Forgery: Forgery improves your character's ability to create counterfeit objects and to identify counterfeit or poorly made objects.

Streetwise: Streetwise has to do with your character's knowledge of systems around the city. You know the train schedule, the good places to catch a cab, and some of the general occurrences on the city's clock.

Mechanics: Your characters competence around mechanical appliances, both in the maintenance and repair fields.

Medicine: Medicine is how well your character is able to treat injuries or diseases on themselves or another, it also involves proper diagnosis and knowledge of remedies.

Politics: Politics is your knowledge of notable people around the city, their habits, personal traits, and tendencies.

Academics: Academics is your character's knowledge of more academic fields such as mathematics, biology, literature, and other finer arts.


Physical

Acrobatics: Your character's skill at jumping, quickly maneuvering, and also parkour as a specialty.

Brawl: Your character's skill in a fistfight and skills at martial arts. This is partially altered by your body type, age, and general health.

Crafting: Your character's skills at building, constructing, and crafting new objects. Also their skill at understanding structures.

Driving: Your character's skill at navigating traffic, driving fast and accurately, and stunt driving at higher levels.

Contortionism: Your character's skill at both fitting into small spaces and escaping small spaces.

Firearms: Your skill at using a gun, both understanding them and using them effectively.

Lockpicking: Your skill at picking locks.

Sleight of Hand: Your skill at pickpocketing, doing card tricks, and taking objects without others noticing.

Survival: Your skill at survival, both in surviving wounds and illnesses and at making due with less food than other people.

Night Vision: Your capability of navigating in the dark and functioning easily in said darkness.

Running: Your capability as a runner, both in speed and endurance. This is also tempered by your age, body type, and health.

Weaponry: Your knowledge and competence with melee weapons and improvised weapons.

Stealth: Your character's ability to remain hidden and act stealthily.


Social

Bluffing: Your capacity to lie effectively, either by omitting information or fabricating a story.

Finesse: Your manners in high society, your grace and etiquette.

Instruction: Your capacity to instruct people in skills you know. The use of the Instruction skill will allow you to temporarily transfer a number of points to another person (this amount cannot exceed the instruction skill, nor can it exceed the amount of skill points you have in the skill you are attempting to teach. Finally, you may not instruct a person who has a higher level in the skill you are attempting to instruct them in.)

Haggling: Your ability to haggle with shopkeepers and find better prices at stores. This is less likely to work in large chains as it is with small merchants.

Expression: Your ability to communicate your messages effectively to audiences and persuade people more effectively of your point.

Seduction: Your ability to seduce people.

Diplomacy: Your ability to negotiate arguments between two or more parties, and effectively play diplomat between arguing factions.

Empathy: Your ability to understand a person's emotional state and more effectively empathize with their plight.

Torture: Your ability to extract information from another person by identifying their fears and knowing what will cause them pain.

Hearthwise: Your knowledge of rumors, and where to get information around the city.

Computers: Your knowledge of social networking websites and social media trends, and the effective usage of them.

Sense Deception: Your ability to sense whether or not you are being lied to or not, or whether a person is concealing information.

Service: Your competence regarding the upkeep and modification of a building. This can either involve restoring and fixing up old run-down places, or upgrading a building to have special fortifications and modifications to it.

If you want any more information, please ask.

--Characters

Family Members

Henry Beltane

Chester Duvall

Harold Millions

Rodger Tinsdale

Antonio Vasquez

[Khanman]

Name: Chester Duvall

Age: 68

Birthday: August 11, 1943

Sex: Male

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Hometown: Bridgeton, NJ

Clothes: In all outfits – A pair of thick, round glasses, of an old prescription that is now slightly off.
Hot – A pair of beige cargo shorts; a collared, short-sleeve polo with blue and white stripes; and a light pair of sandals.
Cold – A dark brown duster; a pair of fingerless, black, woolen gloves; a knitted, dark blue cap; and layers underneath consisting of clothing from his other sets.
Business – A black tuxedo (from his magician days), threadbare now and of mediocre quality to begin with; a white undershirt, collared with long sleeves; a black tie, again old; a pair of black socks; and a pair of black dress shoes.

Personality: Chester is a natural optimist. He assumes things will go well enough, and when they don't he still tends to wave away the gravity of the consequences. He is not happy to such an extreme that he is entirely removed from reality, but he is relatively happy for someone that is homeless and frequently unemployed.

He is also a risk-taker. This is likely influenced by both his optimism and his history in a gambling atmosphere. While daredevil feats of physical fitness are beyond him, Chester still enjoys the tension of high-stakes situations, and generally performs better in them. When the potential prize is extremely big, Chester will even put his life on the line, as he has “already had a good run.”

Relations: Chester is friendly with many, but only friends with a few. He used to be close to many of the employees of Tir na Nog (see Background), including the other dealers and the more frequent musicians. He had a romantic entanglement with one of the cocktail waitresses, Diane Walters. He does not seem them often, but he would recognize most of them if they passed him on the street.

In his more current setting, Chester remembers a few of the people that watch him preform magic. Generally, the more generous a donation they make, the better he remembers them. One nuclear family in particular, the Palmers, stand out in his mind; both of the children enjoy his tricks, and the parents have been very kind to him.

Henry Beltane - Having been with the Family for some time, Chester knows Henry pretty well. He is on good terms with the man, but doesn't always take what he says at face value. He acknowledges Henry's motivations, and tries to keep them in mind during their interactions.

Harold Millions - Unfortunately, the age gap between Chester and Harold limits their relations. Chester approves of the young man's vigor and investigative skills, but he is completely against his tastes, and deals with him minimally outside of business.

Rodger Tinsdale - Chester approves of Rodger, as he seems to be one of the most upstanding members of the Beltanes. While they are friendly, Chester has noticed that Rodger is reluctant to follow his plans and advice, but it doesn't bother him much.

Antonio Vasquez - Chester has more or less bought into Antonio's happy demeanor. However, because Antonio does not talk about his past much, Chester assumes there is more to the young man, but leaves it alone out of politeness.

Frederick Marshal - Chester is used to Marshal's attitude, and finds it amusing some of the time. However, when that attitude comes out in public, which is frequent, he is far less approving. As a showman, Chester is averse to the idea of being rude to strangers (potential customers). He calls Marshall by his first name.

Ambitions: To “win big,” a phrase Chester applies liberally to many situations. He is not focused on any particular goal, as he has accepted that he is unlikely to achieve much more in his lifetime, but he wants to enjoy himself the rest of the way.

Appearance: At 68, Chester looks his age. He is a light, slender man, standing at 5'7” straight-up, though he has a significant stoop. He is Caucasian, neither incredibly pale nor tan, with wispy grey hair that has receded from the front half of his scalp. He has a weathered face, with pronounced laugh lines and often more than a little stubble. He has bright blue eyes and surprisingly nice teeth. His left leg is slightly stronger than his right. Overall, Chester tends to keep up appearances, and manages to stay relatively clean when the opportunity is available.

Likes: Magic tricks, high stakes, jazz, children, the unexpected, and most jokes.

Dislikes: The jaded and disillusioned, drunkards, electronic music, and the two more extreme weather generators (Summer and Winter).

Fears: Fluids with unknown origins and/or properties. The greater the volume, viscosity, and color, the greater the aversion.

Trinkets: Two full decks of playing cards, plus a few extras; a set of three small balls and three shells; a Swiss Army knife; and a toothbrush.

Money: $29.76

Sponsor:

Background/Circumstances: Born in Bridgeton as an only child, Chester was raised by his single mother, as his father never returned from the second World War. From a young age, Chester was implanted with an interest in magic (particularly card tricks) from an uncle. In his late teens, his mother became seriously ill, and Chester spent much of his time helping her around the house and making an income.

When he was 23, his mother passed away, and Chester moved away from Bridgeton. Looking to make a name as an entertainer, he gravitated toward the larger cities, finally deciding on Samhain. The first place he tried his act was the Tir na Nog, a casino in the Summer district. While the owner of the establishment, Devlin Malachy, was not interested in a magician, he did take note of the man's card-handling. With a quick training session, Chester became a dealer, starting with blackjack and eventually expanding into other games. Secretly encouraged to use his sleight of hand, he became an asset to the house, and was generally called in to clean up patrons that had been too lucky for too long. Chester enjoyed the atmosphere and his coworkers, so he settled down in the area, buying a house on the mainland with some savings. His wages kept him comfortable through his time at Tir na Nog, an additional 26 years.

One night, he got caught, and it was over in an instant. Scrambling to maintain his institution's credibilty, Devlin feigned ignorance and fired Chester on the spot. As soon as he was outside, he was jumped by the “associates” of his intended target, and ended up in the hospital. Between the resulting bills and unemployment, Chester made it through, but he could not continue to make payments on his house. He was forced to move to the slums of the Winter District, where he's been ever since.

Chester was accepted into the Beltane Foundation, and eventually the Beltane Family, soon after its creation. His knowledge of the Summer district, and numerous contacts within, have been of use to the organization, as most Winter residents are unwelcome in the area. He splits his time between the Family and performing magic on the streets in Spring.

Powers:

Foraging Skill: 16

Directional Sensibility: 22 (E1, B2, C2, D2, E2, C4, D5, E5, D6, E6, B7, C7, D7, E7, B8, D8, E8, B9, D9, E9, B10, C10)

Mental: Secondary
Chemistry: 0
Anthropology: 2
Technology: 0
Cryptography: 1
Electronics: 0
Finance: 1
Forensics: 1
Forgery: 1
Streetwise: 3 (specialty; Shortcuts)
Mechanics: 0
Medicine: 1
Politics: 3 (specialty; Summer District Politics)
Academics: 2

Physical: Tertiary
Acrobatics: 0
Brawl: 0
Crafting: 1
Driving: 1
Contortionism: 0
Firearms: 0
Lockpicking: 0
Sleight of Hand: 5 (specialty; Card Tricks)
Survival: 2
Night Vision: 0
Running: 1
Weaponry: 0
Stealth: 1

Social: Primary
Bluffing: 4 (specialty; Misdirection)
Finesse: 2
Instruction: 2
Haggling: 2
Expression: 3
Seduction: 0
Diplomacy: 2
Empathy: 1
Torture: 0
Hearthwise: 4 (specialty; Rumors About the Summer District)
Computers: 0
Sense Deception: 4 (specialty; Body Language)
Service: 2

Self-Appointed Theme Song: "Sing, Sing, Sing"

[Mastermind001]

Name: Harold Millions (Artist Alias: Clash Man)

Age: 32

Birthday: 5/13/1980

Sex: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Hometown: New York City, specifically the Bronx

Clothes:

Business and Cold Business

Harold's power suit is a three piece suit that is shade of blue. It consists of a jacket, vest, and pants. The dress shirt underneath the jacket and the vest is an ivory white with grey buttons. The tie around his neck has a white and blue stripe design set at an angle of 30 degrees. The fedora he wears is the same shade of his suit. His right wrist has a golden wrist watch that exposes the inner workings with roman numerals. On his hands are black leather gloves with leather shoes that have black laces.

His other power suit is less formal and more of the thuggish variety, unfortunately. As an artist, street artist to say Harold puts on a gas mask with red tinted ski goggles, a thick black hoodie and slacks. He also has on a red puffed vest and underneath his clothing is black thermal underwear. Harold also wears very thick winter gloves. On his back is a black and white back pack, which he carries his gear and any supplies he might need.

Summer+ Autumn+ Spring

A forest green collar suit with a single white across the shirt and blue jeans for pants with a black belt and silver buckle. On his face is a pair of white sunglasses with red and blue lens like the old 3D glasses of the 50's. On his middle fingers are ivory rings and onyx rings on his pinkies. He wears a brown cap and sometimes a grey zip up grey sweater jackets.

Winter

Harold dons thick black gloves, a grey, black and white sport wear winter jacket that is also water resistant, a black winter mask, and a heavy fedora. The pants are usually jeans, blue or black with steel toe boots.


Personality:

Harold Millions is passionate and impulsive when it comes to his art either with a spray can or a brush. As a free lancer photographer/ reporter, Harold is unyielding when it comes to a scoop seeing it to the end. He has anxiety about the future and about his certain spray painting activities with getting away with it. However, regardless of his anxiety, Harold still goes out to create his art either out of bravery or pure stubbornness. In general, Harold can have quite the Ego, but is overall very friendly and loyal to his clients. The tarot card that best represents Harold is "The Chariot", always charging into the battle as if assured the outcome would be certain victory or certain death.

Relations:

Samhain Institute of Art -

Beltane Foundation- Around 2001, Harold has cut his ties with the foundation that was assisting him. He hasn't been seen in any of their services either receiving help or helping others ever since.

The Beltane Family- Through Harold is still poor and is not apart of the charitable foundation any longer, he has always been an active member of their inner circle referred to as the Beltane Family, which is Samhain's mafia. He has gone to great lengths to ensure his connections to the Family are hidden well. His role for the Family, is the information gatherer. Using his connections to the local media as well as his own investigation skill, Harold is there go to guy for black mail information as well as anything deemed important.

->Chester Duvall: Respects the aging magician for his optimistic views on life, but doesn't care for that risk taking nature of his. Even as Chester proves that he does his best work in those high risk situations, Harold fears one day that the old man will actually have his good run.

-> Henry Beltane: Harold is grateful for what Henry's foundation and the family has done for others and himself. However, Harold also knows the ugly truth about Henry that is a self serving con-man and has a distaste for his lack of scruples thus he assists Henry, because it also helps others. A necessary evil for the greater good.

Ambitions: To have his art featured on all the districts stirring up emotions, rekindling memories and the like.

Appearance:

Harold Million is short with a height of 5' 6" and a slender body. His hair is gelled and in the style of a quiff, which is a variation of the pompadour. The color of his hair is a dark brunette, and the irises of his eyes is a blue grey. He keeps himself in good shape with jogging and long walks and his cleanliness is like the average man, showers daily and etc and keeps himself well shaven.

Likes: Reading, Paints, Spray Cans, Abandon buildings, Blank Surfaces, The Winter District, Psych, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Side Scrollers, First Person Shooters, Doofenshimtz, Jones Soda

Dislikes: His particular fear, Capcom's issue with Megaman, Matthew Mcconaughey, Chad Michael Murray, Perry, The CW,

Fears: Sexy female clowns. To Harold, they are impossible, couldn't be done. Everything else can become sexy, but clowns, no way. Its just a horror show for poor old Harold if some chick attempted that on Halloween. Its like combining It and a super model and if a result happened, Harold would be comatose.

Trinkets:

-i phone

-Nikkon Camera

- Wallet


Money: 200

Sponsor:

Background/Circumstances:

At age 17, Harold Millions attends the Samhain Institute of Art around august 1997. In the year 2000, Harold graduates, but the job market as he soon found out was cruel and cold. He was grateful for the Beltane Foundation's assistance as they helped him with some financial issues he had around his last year of studies and wanted to pay them back for it. Now despite having a diploma, applying for any job was made even more difficult than before as business owners and the like either expected that he would eventually find another job thus quitting the one he got or they assumed he was overqualified. Yet again, Harold tuned to the Beltane Foundation for assistance. He became a member of the family after he landed a job as a free lancer for the local paper, four months later.

2012, the media may have changed and the days of black and white papers are gone, but what remains the same is the needs of Harold's expertise. His investigative skills still remains the best there is, just his photo's have become even better thanks to modern technology and camera applications on cell phones.

Powers:


Foraging skill: 3
Directional Sensibility:18 (B2, E3, C2, C4, C3, D7,E7, C6, A10, C8, D9,E9, B3, B4, E1, E6, D5, E5)

Primary -> Mental (11)
Chemistry: 1
Anthropology: 3 (Specialty; Popular Stores)
Technology:0
Cryptography:0
Electronics: 2
Finance:0
Forensics: 4 (Specialty; Objects)
Forgery:0
Streetwise:4 (Specialty; Weather Awareness)
Mechanics:0
Medicine:0
Politics:1
Academics:0

Secondary->Social (7)
Bluffing:0
Finesse:0
Instruction:0
Haggling:0
Expression: 3 (Specialty; Graffiti Art)
Seduction:0
Diplomacy:0
Empathy:0
Torture:0
Hearthwise: 3 (Specialty; Events)
Computers:0
Sense Deception:3
Service:0

Tertiary->Physical (4)
Acrobatics:0
Brawl: 3
Crafting:0
Driving:0
Contortionism:0
Firearms:0
Lockpicking: 0
Sleight of Hand:0
Survival:0
Night Vision:0
Running: 3
Weaponry:0
Stealth: 3 (Specialty; Hiding)

Theme Song:

E-Pro by Beck

[aurorastorm]

((A few things. MM, your points do not add up. You have one point too many in your talents. Please make the appropriate adjustment to this. Also, I have changed the appearance section since the last iteration of this RPG to include a portion about your character's overall health and cleanliness. Also, add in the squares that you are familiar with to directional sensibility))

((Khanman, you are missing two points. So you may add 2 to your talents.))



Name: Henry Beltane (occasionally uses the alias Henry Higgins)

Age: 47

Birthday: July 17th, 1964

Sex: Male

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts

Clothes:

Cold: A long, black overcoat over a blue long-sleeved sweater. He also wears denim blue jeans, worn black leather gloves, a black skull-cap and a long black muffler. For shoes, he wears brown Timberland hiking boots and wool socks.

Warm: A t-shirt from the Peachtree Road Race which he claims to have run when he was in college. Denim blue jeans, the same pair of hiking boots and only occasionally wears socks.

Business: A black button-down shirt with a worn-out black vest, black slacks and an old pair of brown loafers. He also owns a wool black trench-coat which he uses both for his Cold outfit at times and to hide his products in.

Personality: Henry Beltane is above all other measures, a self-interested conman. He founded both the Beltane Foundation and the Beltane Family, neither of which have been terribly profitable ventures in the fields of monetary gain, however Henry's purpose has always been about gaining influence and status over money. Henry tends to stay only loosely connected to other members of the organization, preferring to oftentimes deal with his own ventures and goals separate of the Family members. Though he is mostly self-interested and lacking in scruples, he will help those that he is in debt to and those who he thinks may be able to provide him help in the future. Henry is a greedy soul willing to go to great lengths to establish connections, often signing up for ridiculous jobs or tasks that would not seem to be jobs at all hoping to turn some sort of profit out of it.

Though he may seem like a simple eccentric at times, Henry is in truth, a rather paranoid and damaged individual. He is often convinced that others are plotting against him and does not fully trust anyone. He has developed higher blood pressure in recent years for this reason and has also taken on a severe case of insomnia, often going some nights with only one or two hours of sleep

Relations: Henry had a wife at one point, Amelia, who divorced him and abandoned him in the early 1990's. He now has no real connections outside of the Family and various students at the Samhain Art Institute who have talked with him and established acquaintance-ships over time.

Chester Duvall - Henry has a respect for Chester due to the man's past in Summer District, and often asks him about ways to get business in the wealthy area.

Harold Millions - Henry is not terribly fond of Harold, as he finds the man's possessions and dress to be ostentatious and potentially damaging to the public image of the Beltane Foundation. He does recognize Harold's competence as a reporter, however, and will occasionally work alongside him in information gathering.

Rodger Tinsdale: Henry has something of a respect for Rodger as well as a rivalry with the man in terms of who can fix a house better.

Antonio Vasquez: While Henry remains somewhat wary of the fairly new member to the Family, he at least has a grudging respect toward Antonio's vigilance, as it mirrors many of his own paranoid delusions.

Ambitions: To become a wealthy man with massive political influence, untouchable by anyone.

Appearance: Henry is a tall pale man standing at 6'4", and weighing in at 253 lbs. He has something of a beer-gut from drinking and not eating properly. He is gaunt and looks as though he doesn't get enough sunlight, despite spending a good amount of time outside. Henry has a face covered in stubble which he is able to shave every so often, but does not let grow into a beard fully, as he says it looks unprofessional. He is mostly bald, with a few tufts of hair remaining on the sides of his head, though he normally covers his head with a hat of some form. His eyes are green with dark bags underneath them due to a certain lack of sleep he has developed out of his deep-seated sense of paranoia. In spite of being homeless, he is able to keep himself mostly clean through washing his hands and face in public fountains and bumming showers off of art-students in Winter district who are members or affiliates of the Beltane Family. He does have relatively decent health, though he has a pollen allergy which afflicts him strongly in Spring District. While not very fast, Henry is rather strong and bulky, and though he could have developed skills at running while working as a conman, Henry instead opted to work on his speech, landing him some nights in the slammer as he developed. Overall, while not the most threatening looking individual, he looks somewhat conniving and rather like a man who is very obviously hiding something; a fact which he is aware of and does not like.

Likes: fresh-caught fish filet, honey-braised country ham, Zinfandel strawberry wine, the feeling of money, a good massage, having power and fame, Humphrey Bogart, A good cigar on a cold Winter night

Dislikes: Sweets, bright colors, beggars (he maintains that a person should work for their money), children, things that remind him of his past (and there are several), poetry (dislikes most poetry but especially detests Robert Frost)

Fears: Henry fears any flying, stinging insect; including bees, hornets, wasps, and yellow-jackets. He does not quite understand this fear, as he has never been attacked by any in some significant way, nor is he allergic, but nevertheless the fear persists, though Henry does not have to deal with it as much anymore now that he lives in Winter District.

Trinkets: Henry carries several fake Rolex watches which he tries to sell to unsuspecting passers-by, fake tickets for local theaters, a small cellphone (he cannot make calls with it, but he uses it as a camera), and a lockpick (he has never stolen anything from anyone, he carries it more out of paranoid tendencies and an unwillingness to allow people their own privacy).

Money: 150 dollars

Sponsor:

Background/Circumstances: Henry Beltane was born in Boston and spent most of his childhood there. He came from a middle class family and moved to Samhain in his teens. He was able to go to college but fancied himself too smart and well-adjusted to study anything in detail, as such, he flunked out and began to work as a conman on the streets of Samhain. He did get married to a good woman who eventually kicked him out due to his continued shady dealings. After some time, he wound up homeless in Winter District and began to gather other homeless around him, forming a loose alliance which he called a self-help group. This later grew into the Beltane Family, around which Henry built the Beltane Foundation as a sort of cocoon, business front, and entryway into the Family.

Henry has helped quite a number of homeless and low-income people to advance their station, but he has never intended to do so for himself, reasoning that he has more power as the head of the Beltane Foundation than he ever would as a member of the middle-class working population, and so he has stayed on for a full 14 years, the entire duration of the Family's existence thus far.

Powers:

Foraging Skill: 7

Directional Sensibility: 20 (C4, D4, D5, E5, D6, E6, B7, C7, D7, E7, B8, C8, D8, E8, B9, C9, D9, E9, C10, D10)

Mental -> Tertiary

Chemistry: 0
Anthropology: 2
Technology: 0
Cryptography: 0
Electronics: 0
Finance: 3 (better turn profit)
Forensics: 0
Forgery: 2
Streetwise: 2
Mechanics: 0
Medicine: 0
Politics: 1
Academics: 0


Physical -> Secondary

Acrobatics: 0
Brawl: 3 (sucker punches)
Crafting: 0
Driving: 0
Contortionism: 0
Firearms: 0
Lockpicking: 3 (combination-locks)
Sleight of Hand: 0
Survival: 1
Night Vision: 0
Running: 0
Weaponry: 2
Stealth: 0


Social -> Primary

Bluffing: 5 (exaggeration)
Finesse: 2
Instruction: 0
Haggling: 3
Expression: 2
Seduction: 0
Diplomacy: 0
Empathy: 0
Torture: 2
Hearthwise: 3
Computers: 0
Sense Deception: 3 (body language)
Service: 3 (Beltane Family HQ)

[aurorastorm]

By the way, I've noticed a good number of people browsing this thread and others have expressed interest in the Interest Check thread. Can I get a kind of headcount just to see who all is making profiles for this?

[Vulture]

I'm working out the details, mainly just trying to stump out the points system. I'll try and have one up some time tomorrow.

[aurorastorm]

Awesome possum. I look forward to it.

[Kratesis]

I'm also working on a character, probably have one up tonight or tomorrow.

[Khanman]

Hey Storm, I was wondering where Beltane HQ is located. I assume the family operates out of a certain area, maybe in the Winter District, and you mention an HQ in Henry's skill set. Could you point that out on the map?