Are you still in? Yeah, why? Meet me at the usual spot. Be in good shape. What's the rush? We've got a new job. Details? Encrypted. Meet me. Fine. Give me 30. [EOT]
Took you long enough. Traffic's a nightmare. What's so urgent? We're hitting a [D̡̗͍̘̬̜̎̕A̦̲̤̩̓́̅̇T̛͖̠̄͊̃̂A̰͑͒̎ ̢̜͔̎ͅC̪̅̇́͒Ò͔̫̙̺͇̍̒͝ͅR͍̎͐́̆͝R̘̘̺̩͍̀̇̉͗͊Ù͈̦̻̒̌̽͝P͕͇̼̈̀T̻̘̓͋̽̐͊̈́I̛̗̺̣̠͛̚͜͝ͅO̮̮̼͕̥͛̆͊̓̐͆N̪̥͍̩̄͑͊]. Again? This one's different. They're up to something big. What kind of something? Not sure. But someone's willing to pay a fortune for it. Sounds risky. That's why they hired us. Any backup? Just us. Great. What's the plan? Infiltrate, retrieve, get out. Simple enough. Don't underestimate it. We move in five. [EOT]
You good? Yeah. You? Got what we came for. What about security? Dealt with, permanently. So now what? Lay low. Wait for our next move. Should we be worried? Always. [EOT]
Welcome to Neon-York! The year is 2177, human cybernetic augmentation and robots are commonplace, and recently, a series of crimes have reverberated the Pyramid-City of Neon and Chrome across all of its three city layers. From the lower-city districts to the upper-city penthouses, no one seems safe, as a clear connection between them is missing save for one: a complete wipe of the victim's brain. As private investigators, fembot fatales, slumdog mentalists, and possibly mental cases too, you will deep-dive into crime scenes, computer systems and cybernetic minds across the city to uncover the madness behind the mystery.
Don’t be a d*ck (but don't be too easily slighted either).
We play a minimum of once-weekly updates.
Rolls will be made using FateBot on Discord (link will be PM'ed to players).
Though roleplay may involve mature themes, there will be no explicit 18+ roleplay.
Anything else can be discussed and determined by the group in OOC.
The GM decides on matters that can’t be resolved by the group, and can always be consulted.
Keep real-life politics, religion, and drama 'off the table'.
Most importantly: Have fun!
The Fate Accelerated PBP system (thread): in this game we will use the Fate Accelerated system adapted to play-by-post. It is a minimal system of rules for collaborative storytelling games (see the thread if you want a thorough explanation with many examples, or here for a one-pager quick-reference). As it is a narrative-first system, play will not be very different from your usual RPG on this site. The changes will mostly be in how challenge and conflicts are resolved (elements of randomness), in that players are rewarded for acting in-character (even when that means getting into trouble, or failing sometimes), and in how players can add to the setting. If you have any questions about it, please don't hesitate to ask me. I will remind players of the rules as they become relevant, and will check-up with you, and update these as we learn what does and doesn't work.
Submit your Character Sheet for approval in OOC or via PM, using the template in the Resources below. Notice how it is quite minimal. This is on purpose: this lets other players quickly understand your character and how to interact with them, it gives you a lot of freedom in how to apply and develop your character in-game, and through the Fate system, these aspects can come back to help you (without your character becoming overpowered), or bite you in the ass. In my experience, it works best to focus on a few meaningful aspects you’d find interesting to play rather than choosing what you think is ‘optimal’, or very rigidly pre-defining the entirety of the character. Also consider if it fits the established setting (see the Glossary below).
Resources
[header with the character name, colored by IC speech color - check if it is sufficiently legible and different from other players'!] [optional image representing the character - if possible, credit the source]
Name: character name, colored by the speech color you'll use in-character Gender: M/F/W Refresh: how much Fate Points this character starts with each chapter, usually 3 Description: a 1-paragraph summary of the character, including appearance, personality, skills and history
Approaches: how does this character approach challenges: Careful, Clever, Flashy, Forceful, Quick, Sneaky?
Good (+3) at: pick 1 approach
Fair (+2) at: pick 2 approaches
Average (+1) at: pick 2 approaches
Mediocre (+0) at: pick 1 approach
Aspects: 5 short-and-sweet descriptions of the character, 1 for each of the following categories. Each aspects has to be one single meaningful and descriptive fact/aspect about the character. These can be invoked in-game for 1 Fate Point to get bonuses on rolls, or can be used to compel you into action, so make sure to think about how you want to actually play this character. Any flavoring, details and interesting or fun facts about the character are better put in the description, writing sample, and the trivia sections.
High Concept: short phrase summarizing your character as a whole
Trouble: short phrase summarizing a flaw or obstacle that frequently complicates this character's life
Want: short phrase summarizing what this character wants, or what's really important to them
Relationship: short phrase summarizing their relationship with another (preferably player) character
Extra: short phrase summarizing any other thing you think is important to know about this character
Stunts: special abilities/traits/items the character can use for 1 Fate Point
Because I am/have/know trait/item/ability, I can create an effect/get a bonus when some in-game condition is met.
add more, up to 5 in total; try to vary them, some utility, some combat, some trivial, some 'ultimates'. Ask GM for help if needed.
if you want MORE than 3, up to a max. of 5 stunts, your Refresh will be decreased by 1 for every stunt over 3 as a trade-off. That means each chapter you'd start with LESS Fate Points, and therefore would be able to USE your Stunts/Aspects less often out of the gate!
Making Stunts is often the most difficult thing to get right on the first go. SO ASK GM IF YOU'D LIKE HELP!
Trivia: anything else you want to add about this character that isn't essential, but still fun to know
Possibilities: face claim, speech color, theme song, other fun facts (favorite drink, NPC connections, etc.)
Writing Sample:2-3 paragraphs of IC writing illustrating this character (for example their life, mindset, potential storylines and themes).
Name: Lola Shon Gender: F Refresh: 3 Description: Based on her utilitarian looks alone, you'd never take her for the feisty and ruthless business woman she is. With short black hair, tanktop, several guns hidden in the pockets of her cargopants, critical eyes, and a blabbermouth that would put the Mid-City Neurovid actors to shame, Lola Shon is a large personality in a petite frame. No surprise too: a brainstim-dealer's job is a hard life - a successful one, even harder - and Lola has quite the resume. Currently endebted to the Staten Island Thugs, she scours the city with her Centurion Hoverbike and trusty guard dog for their next big job.
Approaches:
Good (+3) at: Sneaky
Fair (+2) at: Quick, Flashy
Average (+1) at: Forceful, Careful
Mediocre (+0) at: Clever
Aspects:
High Concept: I am the hottest brainstim-dealer in this blasted city.
Trouble: I only look out for numero uno.
Want: I need to pay off my debt to the Staten Thugs, and soon.
Relationship: Bacchi is my trusty guard dog, and my only friend.
Extra: I’ve kitted out my hoverbike with some surprising modifications.
Stunts:
Because I Always Shoot First, I can gain a +3 bonus on Attacking Quickly during the first round of a Conflict.
Because I Have The PR_SEC v.12 Package Installed On My Neural Chip, once per chapter/session, I may declare I found a way past or out of trouble.
Because I Have Many 'Medicinal' Stims, once per chapter/session, 1 Mild Consequence may be Recovered on anyone during a conflict.
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Actions: actions plus rolls ex. Attack Forcefully + Invoke (1+2+2 = 5) | FP: FP cost of the action, ex. -1 | Stress: if any stress boxes have to be ticked, ex. tick 1 | Consequences: if any consequences are taken, ex. Concussion (2) Tag: player tags, ex.@MrSkimobile
↦ AI: Artificial Intelligences are computer programs that imitate (some would say surpass) biological brain functions. Though some are highly specialized, most general-purpose ‘local’ AI are limited to human-level intelligence due to energy and compute limitations.
↦ Bits: the currency of the world in 2177. Though it comes in different forms, from parallel resource and reputation systems, to company-internal productivity points and monthly allocated processing power, everything can be reduced to bits in the end.
↦ Cybernetics: broad term for technological augmentations. Robotic limbs, multi-spectral eye-cams, neural interfaces, pheromone dispensers, smartwatch skin-graft, multi-functional nanite-tattoos. You name it, they probably have it. Most bio's are augmented in basic ways.
↦ Extranet: once advertised as ‘the internet, but more!’, this network of networks of information systems, digital twins, AI’s, roaming Minds, and layers upon layers of augmented and virtual reality, has grown to permeate most of everyday experience, with most physical objects in some way being linked to it.
↦ Human: good old-fashioned (mostly) flesh-and-blood humans.
↦ Neon-York: the massive arcology city formally known as ‘New York’. It is made up of 3 interconnected layers stacked on top of each other like a pyramid, shielded from the outside environment. The Lower City comprises its original boroughs plus a sprawl of many more recent ones, with a tangle of high-speed skylanes and optical datalanes for travel running throughout. The Lower City houses most of the city’s inhabitants, from the ungoverned and indentured to the neo-religious communes, sub-urbanites and data center tenants. The City Center is its second tier, mostly made up of commercial, cultural and governance districts, and houses the travel hubs connecting it to other megacities. Last, but not least, the Upper City is a truly mysterious place, said to be occupied only by the most important influences of the city.
↦ Omni-fab: devices able to (dis)assemble most items to and from a raw ‘basepaste’ and (bought and paid for, of course) specification files. A.k.a. replicator, fabricator, 'fab. Small-scale devices found at servicing stations are often called 'microfab', whereas 'macrofabs' are used in large-scale fabrication.
↦ PID: ‘Persistent Identifier’, collection of a personality’s records (birth/creation/modification timestamps, passport) and other tracked data (certificates, digital wallet, medical/criminal/ads/communications/purchase/travel history). Used as a form of official identification, but also for communications, payments, and to authenticate aspects of a personality (clearances, subscriptions). A.k.a. Profile.
↦ Power: ah, power, that most wanted and despised thing… But who wields it in this world of ruthless business interests, AI anarcho-trolls, government gangs, and x-celebs? A good question! To which not even the quantum computers, cracking chaos theory conundrums 86.400.000 milliseconds a day 7 days a week, have an answer. Skulls may crack and bits may clank, but who truly owns the soul of a man?
↦ Shape: the physical form a ‘personality’ currently inhabits. A.k.a. form, case, container, can, bin. These can be "bio's" such as the trad-born and pod-born, but also cyborg, robotic, or even entirely digital.
Previously on...
(this will hold the story recap once we get a bit further into the story)
Group of Buzz-Drones, "Flying Electric Buzzsaws", Good (+2) at: Quick. Bad (-2) at: doing anything when our Tactical Drone is destroyed. Stress Boxes: 1-2-3.
Sniper-Controller, "Hide-and-seeker with a SMRT-13 Sniper Rifle...", Good (+2) at: Sneaky, Bad (-2) at: Forceful. Stress Boxes: 1, Consequence Slot: Mild (2).
First introductory post is a-go (party crackers all-round).
Please add your CS in the character tab, and then we're off. I'll send you the discord link via PM
Next week's post, I'll introduce some complications into your scenes (feel free to write some setups yourself that I can bounce off of, if you'd like), and then we'll get a bit more into the rolling and that good stuff. For now: have fun :)
(just a reminder that we'll use the FateBot on Discord for our rolls, with the /roll2 [modifier] [description] command)
(also, just to be clear, and I can't emphasize this clearly enough: the rolling is to make the story a bit less 'on rails', if you will. I may set difficulties and play out the opposition, but I'm not actually against you as players, so even if rolls fail we'll just roll with it (hehe) and try to make it interesting in some other way than 'yay! we succeeded')
@Expendable I was in a rush to finish the post before going on vacation so I may have skimped on details. The information you have is that there's a surveillance drone and armed guards about, so it's likely one of those. As I was writing I was imagining one of the guards, but if you want, you can choose yourself if you have something cool in mind (maybe someone's trying to escape?). I also imagined your neural interface collar to be an upgrade to the one you had, with wifi if you will, hence some of the suggestions for hacking their comms. As for weapons, I don't think lethal guns are an option quite yet, but some kind of stun weapon or another utility tool (jammer, smart-net launcher, holo-decoy, flashbang mini-drone, quick-hardening cryo-foam dispenser, or again, if you have something cool on your mind, I'm not gonna stop you, unless it's a pocket nuke or something. If you feel unsure, you can always pm me). Still, your partner has lethal weapons, so if you feel like it or if push comes to shove, you can always control her for a bit (like how AwesomeZero did with Mr. Rizzo during his chase). Keep in mind certain things might draw more attention than others ;)
In general, if I don't fully describe things, I'm giving you full permission to use the ambiguity to do awesome things or insert some of your own ideas in the story... Within reason, of course. I can be more explicit about this in the future if wanted. If you are unsure or want my or the other players' input, always feel free to ask via pm or the discord. This is what EvilEdd did for the blutwolfe and Kaz did for his electric brass knuckles, for example.
@Izurich@Eviledd1984@AwesomeZero5@KazAlkemi@Expendable OK, so this seems like a good point to end the session and start a new one. Everyone has either gone through some action, or are in the middle of a bit of a cliffhanger. So imagine the dramatic music swelling, all your scenes cut to black, credits roll with a ‘next time on Neon Noir’, and all that jazz.
With each new session, your fate points (the points you use to invoke aspects to influence rolls, or to use your stunts/abilities) are refreshed to at least your character sheet’s refresh rate. If you have more, you keep them all.
Furthermore, I think that we’ve hit a minor milestone here - everyone has had a significant enough event or choice in their story to develop in some way -, so for the next session you may CHOOSE from the following as a reward:
RENAME a character aspect
SWITCH the bonuses of 2 approaches
REPLACE an existing Stunt
GAIN a new Stunt
@KazAlkemi I changed Varis Hark's name because I liked the 'Harm' typo (?), makes him more ominous.
1x Thank
