[OOC] 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝

[Ashgan]

Perception is always god-tier in RPGs :D

So, question to the players: Do you think any of your characters are particularly likely to be the first to start talking? I figure, if everybody is hesitating, I will have Trisha take the lead, but she's not exactly enthusiastic and so would definitely give everyone a fair moment to take heart and start instead.

[DeadDrop]

u first i will post later tonightidk... messa busy ;(

[Poet]

Everyone should get a small 'share' in before we move on. It's just an icebreaker, really. I'm working on another NPC that will be a patient and with the group outside of the therapy session.

[Poet]

Added another NPC that I'll keep with the main cast until it's not needed anymore.

[Ashgan]

Cool, he's a nice addition to the group that contrasts well with the other personalities and stories. Dangerous guy though, not sure how trustworthy he can be. :D

[DJAtomika]

Not sure if you have space for players, but I'm stalking this RP because it's really good reading.

[Poet]

@AshganThere might be some interesting dynamic between him and your character, especially when things get heated.

@DJAtomikaAlways open. It's easy to make a character. We're just getting started.

[Bishop]

This pic looks like modern day Rasputin

_{M O R I A R T Y D R E Y M U N D}

It all started in one of his trips to Africa, where he went as an investigative journalist to interview a tribe that was rumored to hold sacrificial rituals and other voodoo crap. He didn't believe in any of that, of course, but the audience that the magazine/youtube news channel he was working for catered to loved it. He volunteered to undertake the trip, the only one in his whole department. Bunch of lazy bastards, they just didn't want to deal with the mosquito bites or traverse the flora. That, however, was negligible for him as the money more than made up for some small discomforts. To be honest, all he was expecting were the usual human sacrifices, blood drinking, child killings and maybe some cannibalism, all things that have been documented before and that are still happening in that part of Africa. He got way more than he bargained for...

Let's just say that their guide bailed on them halfway, his film crew perished, the whole tribe was slaughtered, he blacked out for 10 days and eventually found himself back where he left from, before taking the plane...naked. The police and ambulance caught up with him, after patching him up he was sent to a psychiatrist for a psychological assessment and... he was in perfect mental condition. Until he blacked out again, this time for 13 days and when he got to it he was locked in a white room being served food and water along with pills on the side, on top of a tray that slid through the bottom of a locked door.

The blackouts have been happening constantly since that day and every time he regained conscience he tried to explain to anyone who would listen that he didn't do those things "they claimed" and that he had no recollection of them. He was locked for 7 years total until the blackouts stopped around 5 years in. He behaved in an exemplary manner for 2 years and even contacted his lawyer for further assistance to convince the administrators to let him go. Now out and about he is still compelled to visit a therapist 3 times a week until the specified time mentioned in the order is reached and the therapist deems him of sound mind.



"I was possessed" holds no value in a court and even the most devout of Christians or fanatics of other religions will say "you are long past the chance of redemption" while looking at him with disgust for the things he has committed, and that is if they actually believe he was possessed. That tribe, his crewman, animals, other people, he killed a lot of them and in a brutal and painful fashion. The only reason that he is free right now and not sentenced to death is the claim that he was attacked and all these "blackouts" that are proceeded by violent outbursts have root to that gruesome massacre that left him scarred for life.

• Blackouts - He never knows when they might reemerge to ruin his life again..
• Alienated - His wife has left him for another with full custody of their 10 year old daughter, all his friends have abandoned him, utterly forgotten. At most he might be mentioned in a conversation during a drunk night out by one of his ex-friends.
• Weak Willed - Things...creatures from beyond the veil have sensed his weak spirit and mind and clutter around him before they stop just short of reaching him, like they see something else before scuttering off and away.
• Haunted - Some though, some decide to stick around, watch his every move, waiting and looking for an opportunity to take control. He can see moving black shapeless figures just at the edge of his vision.
• Loss of control - Besides the blackouts, he often experiences his body doing motions without his knowledge. Not going against his will per say but more like moving some body part or muscle group that he isn't focusing on or paying attention at the moment.
• Spiritually Attuned - When he closes his eyes he can feel a presence, if he is lucky, moving about, circling him. He never feels safe, like constantly having a loaded gun pointed at the back of your head which always stays at your back even when you turn around to look.
• Emotionally deficient - With all the things that have happened during these last 7 years, the toll that the stress took on his mind, he has grown apathetic. Could be seen as a defense mechanism, a way for the mind to cope with what was happening. He lacks the natural reaction that a normal person would have in their daily life or in different scenarios. If he isn't constantly trying to emulate them everyone can tell that he is missing something.
• Pretend it's all fine - With all the other issues he has, he needs to put up a front every time he visits his therapist. And it's not like he is visiting some friend or ordinary person, they are licensed in read the mood and body language. He uses an illegal prescription to calm his nerves and dull his senses.

• Evil Within - Something is inside him, maybe the classical spooky ghost, maybe it is him but a split personality or maybe something much more powerful and evil...I'm certain it's the spooky ghost...Whatever it is, it has kept other supernatural creatures at bay, even that constant lurker at the edge of his vision doesn't dive in. It also affects other outside supernatural forces that attack his mind and spirit to a certain extent.
• Supernatural Reflexes - You see that sniper 368m away equipped with a silencer? His head can move and dodge the bullet at the last possible second so it only grazes him.
• Life Trained Actor - For years now he has learned how to act his part, the part of a normal person going about their daily life. All those emotions, facial expressions and body language need to be emulated on his part. He has to pay attention to every move of his body in order to mimic an action or response adequately.
• Fear the Pain Away - If you were running from a pack of 2 meters tall rabid wolves with red eyes, midnight black fur and blood dripping from their fangs, and in order to escape you'd have to run barefooted across a pathway, littered with burning coal and broken glass, that stretch for meters on end in front of yo-...wait, when did it get behind you?

• Fortitude: 2
• Willpower: 1
• Passion: 0
• Perception: 10
• Violence: 2
• Soul: 10

Oops@DJAtomika
@PoetSorry for the delay, spent a lot of time contemplating on distributing the 25 points, wondering why don't we have 30 points so it is evenly distributed 5 on each or 45 points which would be perfect.
I'm just used to using cheats on every game and cheat the dice roll to get the most points possible.

[Ashgan]

In RPGs with point distribution you often have different point-values for different types of games. For example in Pathfinder, you have:

• Low Fantasy: 10
• Standard Fantasy: 15
• High Fantasy: 20
• Epic Fantasy: 25

The point being that, the lower the values, the more underpowered the characters are. In horror games, lower power values tend to work in favor of the intent, that is, to put characters in peril and situations of failure - or fear of failure. With 25 points in this system, I guess the intent was to make sure that nobody can be even average in everything if they tried to be.

That said, from a power gaming perspective, I'm not yet sure if going for a balanced approach (even distribution) semi-focused approach (3 relatively high stats) or focused approach (2 very high stats) is the best. Time will tell :)

Ah, and it goes without saying: it's all about writing a fun story, not about beating the final boss. :D

[Bishop]

It's not about being underpowered more than not experiencing the full story. For example some scenes, objects, conversations could be locked behind these skills. That's why I took soul power, first of all I wanted to experience every supernatural option that was presented. Then perception since I didn't want my character to miss any clue, hidden item or otherwise.

Usually on these kind of games, one example that I'm currently playing is "Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura". You need to do several playthroughs as different character archetypes to go through every option in the game that is usually limited by the distribution of your skill points on the many attributes listed.

[Poet]

@Bishop Nothing is 'locked' if you don't have enough points. Having equal to or more points than needed will ensure that there are no nasty consequences. You can still do something if you don't have enough points in the required attribute, but there will be some kind of negative consequence after you do it. So, you can try everything, but if your character is not suited for it, there will be consequences, which can be fatal at times.

[Ashgan]

You have a point when it comes to video games, but I think the situation is a little different here - which is good for us. Unlike a game, which has to be coded in a static way and which cannot react to the player's wishes and choices in a dynamic way, the GM in this RP totally can. He's doing this because he has a story to tell us, and he knows we're not gonna do a new game+ either. I would imagine that the skill checks put in place are first and foremost for flavor and to make sure that every character has their moment to shine; not to lock us out of the most interesting story options.

At least, that's my interpretation of it, I haven't questioned Poet's decision to go with skill points so far. Fair question it is.

---

Edit: Ay, ninja'd. Well, there you go. I actually did not know this either. Good to know. xD

[Bishop]

@Poet Wait, sorry for any confusion but my previous post doesn't just have a pic in the hider, it has the CS of my character. I'll change the hider name when I put it in the CS Tab.

[Poet]

@BishopI saw it. I'll read it tomorrow, as I'm off soon.

[Poet]

@BishopLooks good. Change 'Supernatural Reflexes' to 'Quick Reflexes', whereby a distant shot (no silencer) will make him dodge or step aside much faster than a normal person. Post it up in the character tab after this change.

[DJAtomika]

@Poet I'm gonna make a shellshocked war and violent crime journalist, if that's okay with you.

[Bishop]

@Poet Can the occult sign on the board be wiped clean? Along with the other writings?

[Poet]

@DJAtomikaGo for it.

@BishopYes. It has already been erased, but it is still faintly visible. It can be completely removed with a white board detergent.

[DJAtomika]

The Journalist

_{D A V I D S A W Y E R}

"I've seen things."

"Things that you wouldn't believe. Things that no one would ever believe. But the stories are true. Journalism is all about reporting the truth, no matter how fucked up it is."

A weary sigh. The drag of a cigarette and a long, slow exhale.

"When you've been behind the lens of a camera as long as I have, covered the stories I've written, you'll start seeing things too. Weird things. Horrible things. Man twisted into the very essence of evil. Places and things turned on their heads, the very environment turned into a grotesque display of the very savage core of evil."

The soft tap of a cigarette on the rim of an ash tray, the falling ashes gathering in a pile underneath the smoldering tip.

"And...sometimes you find things that keep you awake at night. The stories that linger long after they've been buried by the press. The ones that had...unusual circumstances."

Another drag on the cigarette and the soft crumpling of paper as it was ground into the ash tray.

"You want to hear a story? I'll tell you a story. I was overseas, in Africa, covering a story about piracy. Mogadishu, Somalia. I was alone but I had locals who'd been paid very, very generously to bring me around town to show me the good side of the city that was rebuilding after a disastrous civil war. It was just me, my camera and about a week's worth of time to document how well the city was doing. And it was doing pretty well, all said and done. Up until, one day before the flight back, our convoy was touring the outskirts of the city when it got hit by an extremist group ambush. I had to defend myself in all the chaos and... I had to kill a child. A ten year old with an assault rifle leveled straight at me. I had no choice. With all the chaos, he was right in front of me and my life was in danger. I... I grabbed a rock and smacked him in the head with it as hard as I could. He dropped right to the floor and, in a haze of defensive anger, I got up and bashed his head in. His skull popped like a watermelon, blood poured out all over the dirt."

"I... I've told no one except you this. By the time the dust settled, no one realised what had happened. It was assumed that an explosion knocked a piece of debris into his head that killed him. I flew back to the States with blood on my hands. A secret I've not told anyone until today."

---

"I've been an investigative journalist and part-time photographer for well over thirty years. Covered my fair share of everything, from the mundane to the extreme. Everything from the state spelling bee championships to the most gruesome murders. I've taken assignments from my bosses to go overseas, covering wars, famines, police in Africa fighting back against poachers, the culture of the Yakuza in Japan... I've taken millions of pictures, written thousands of words, published articles about how shit our world is for a variety of news agencies, licensed and independent. My camera has been my best friend through all this, capturing what my eyes see and the emotions I've felt over the many years I've worked at this job."

"Lately, however, the recent case that I told you about that...impacted my life? I left my job because of it. Done a fair bit of soul-searching, trying to get over it. Nothing helped, not until I told myself I needed help. Went to see a local shrink, who told me that the years I spent on the job had given me a major form of PTSD, and that the story I'd just returned from was the biggest tipping point. My personality was acting in defense of all these negative emotions, walling off all feeling and making me numb. Emotionless. A blank. The only triggers were the things I'd seen and witnessed during my stories. The blood, the gore, the noise. It all puts me on edge. When I get nervous and paranoid, the feeling doesn't go away. I get afraid of things. Opening doors, checking the mail, even eating. Sometimes it lasts for a few minutes, other times it goes on for days. I can't stand it."

"I guess...that's why I was referred to this new shrink. My old one recommended me to this one, even wrote a referral letter. Said that there was not much he could do now that my...state of mental health was deteriorating. First session for this new shrink is some sort of...group therapy session, like Alcoholics Anonymous."

"I...one of the things that my old shrink told me to do was to keep a diary. Written or otherwise. This is my diary. One, single voice recorder. This is my first entry. My name is David Sawyer. I'm an investigative journalist. And I'm going crazy. Kinda. I guess."

---

• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - "Loud noises startle me, triggers the stress and breakdowns. Stuff like exhaust backfires, firecrackers, even doors slamming. It puts me in a state of general unease and paranoia."
• Nightmares - "Not a night goes by when I don't dream about what I did and what I've seen. It haunts my being, exhausts me, tires me out, waiting until I make a decision to end it all."
• Paranoia - "It comes after I get startled by any really loud noises. I get paranoid about doing things like eating, drinking, even sleeping, for fear of something untoward happening to me."
• Shellshock - "I've spent the last three decades and then some covering some of the most gruesome news stories I've ever seen. At this point, for all the blood and guts I've seen, I'm numb to it. And I'm not sure if that's a blessing or a curse, because I don't even feel for things any more. I...I've lost control of my feelings."
• Smoker - "Yeah, the stress I've felt is only alleviated by my cigarettes. Before I started, I didn't even smoke. Now I'm up to almost a pack a day. Doesn't help my lung capacity."

---

• Perceptive - "Thirty years behind a lens has honed my eye to a very good degree, I have to admit."
• Tough - "And those thirty years gave me an edge against others. I have more stamina than most people my age; run farther, walk faster, stuff like that."
• Well-Traveled - "Show me a picture of a place and I can probably identify it if I give it enough thought.

---

• Fortitude: 4
• Willpower: 2
• Passion: 4
• Perception: 8
• Violence: 5
• Soul: 2

[Poet]

@DJAtomikaAccepted. Put it in the character tab.