OOC talk : Horror on the Orient Express

[Black Goat]

I'd be quite grateful for minimal activity in this game until at least the start of December. Not that I can't check in at all, but I may not be able to give the action the thought it deserves.

[Howerd Phillips]

Any update?

[Howerd Phillips]

Just a friendly weekly check in...

[Tabs]

I'm still here too.

[Howerd Phillips]

G-returner, everything OK?

[G-Returner]

Howerd Phillips and kabukiman have expressed interest in reprising their characters.

I haven't heard from Tabs yet.

Black Goat had to decline due to lack of time, and I don't think Cearlan still visits the site.

So we are looking at at least two replacements needed to get going again.

[G-Returner]

Tabs doesn't want to return, so we only have two players at the moment.

We will need more before we can resume.

[Mr. Handy]

I didn't see a thread for character creation, so I'll just post my character here if that's all right. I did have time tonight after all.

Character creation rolls (STR, CON, POW, DEX, APP, SIZ, INT, EDU) (3d6=7, 3d6=12, 3d6=9, 3d6=12, 3d6=12, 2d6+6=12, 2d6+6=16, 3d6+3=18)

Name: Felicity Hayward
Player: Mr. Handy
Age: 24
Sex: Female
Occupation: Bright Young Thing (Dilettante)
College, Degrees:
Birthplace: London, England



Characteristics:
STR 7
CON 12
SIZ 12
DEX 12
APP 12
INT 16 (Idea - 80)
POW 9 (Luck - 45)
EDU 18 (Know - 90)

Sanity: 45
Current Sanity: 45
Phobias/Mental Disorders: None

Hit Points: 12
Current Hit Points: 12
Magic Points: 9
Current Magic Points: 9
Damage Bonus: +0

Appearance & Personality: Felicity is a well-to-do, pretty young socialite from London. Bubbly and outgoing, she loves to have fun and is never bored, able to find enjoyment in anything. She is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds, with short black hair. Felicity is a modern woman, not particularly caring what other people think of her attitude, though she is generally good at getting people to like her, and she likes meeting new people. Her mother wants her to get married and settle down, but she isn't ready and hasn't met the right man yet. She's having far too good a time for that. Currently she is taking a tour of continental Europe, riding on the Orient Express - unchaperoned. She has really been looking forward to this trip, hoping to satisfy her thirst for adventure and romance.

Background: Felicity is from a wealthy London family. Her father Cedric, 45, is a businessman who owns an oil company, and her mother Agatha, 44, is a prim and proper lady. Felicity has inherited her mother's looks, but not her attitude. Her wild exploits sometimes make the pages of the scandal papers, much to the mortification of her parents.

Skills: (professional one in italics, .private preceded by a dot; non-base scores bolded)

Accounting (10%):
Anthropology (01%):
Archaeology (01%):
Art(Dancing) (05%): 45%
Astronomy (01%):
Bargain (05%):
Biology (01%):
Chemistry (01%):
Climb (40%):
Conceal (15%):
Craft(Crochet) (05%): 30%
Credit Rating (15%): 75%
Cthulhu Mythos (00%):
Disguise (01%):
Dodge (DEX×2): 24%
Drive Auto (20%):
Electrical Repair (10%):
Fast Talk (05%): 65%
.First Aid (30%): 60%
Geology (01%):
Hide (10%):
History (20%):
Jump (25%):
Law (05%):
Library Use (25%):
.Listen (25%): 55%
Locksmith (01%):
Martial Arts (01%):
Mechanical Repair (20%):
Medicine (05%):
Natural History (10%):
Navigate (10%):
Occult (05%):
Operate Heavy Machine (01%):
Other Language: French (01%): 31%
Other Language: German (01%): 31%
Own Language: English (EDU×5%): 90%
Persuade (15%):
Pharmacy (01%):
Photography (10%):
Physics (01%):
Pilot (01%):
Psychoanalysis (01%):
Psychology (05%): 60%
Ride (05%): 35%
Sneak (10%):
.Spot Hidden (25%): 60%
.Swim (25%): 55%
Throw (25%):
Track (10%):

Hand-to-Hand:
Fist/Punch (50%):
Head Butt (10%):
.Kick (25%): 60%
Grapple (25%):

Firearms:
Handgun (20%):
Machine Gun (15%):
Rifle (25%):
Shotgun (30%): 60%
SMG (15%):

Equipment:
to be determined

[G-Returner]

Looks good!

I suppose you have met the others during the train journey - we can think of a way to introduce you to the current state of the story (I'll try and finish the summary today).

[kabukiman]

I'm sure Luigi will love meet her

[Mr. Handy]

"The feeling is mutual, darling."

I realized that the picture in my character sheet wasn't showing up, but I found it located somewhere else and edited it, putting in a larger version.

[Laine]

Name: Oya Sevim
Occupation: Chengis Dancer (Belly Dance)
Age: 20
Sex: Female
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3435538/

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3435544/

Str: 8 Dex: 12 Int:14
Con: 10 App: 14 Pow: 12
Size: 11 Edu: 9

Idea: 70
Luck: 60
Know: 30
San: 60

Hp: 11
MP: 12

SKILLS : Using Criminal Occupational Skills.
(non-default skills in BOLD)

Accounting (10%):
Anthropology (01%):
Archaeology (01%):
*Art (05%):
Chengis Dance 65%
Zills: 25%
Astronomy (01%):
Bargain (05%):
Biology (01%):
Chemistry (01%):
Climb (40%):
Conceal (15%)
Craft (05%):
Credit Rating (15%):
Cthulhu Mythos (00%):
Disguise (01%): 51%
*Dodge (DEXx2): 44%
Drive Auto (20%):
Electr. Repair ():
Fast Talk (05%): 50%
First Aid (30%):
Geology (01%):
*Hide (10%): 25%
History (20%):
Jump (25%):
Law (05%): 10%
Library Use (25%):
*Listen (25%): 30%
Locksmith (01%): 6%
Mech. Repair (20%):
Medicine (05%): 10%
Natural History (10%):
Navigate (10%):
Occult (05%): 10%
Opr. Hvy. Mch. (01%):
Other Language Italian (01%): 5%
Other Language English (01%): 25%
Own Language (EDUx5): Turkish 45%
Persuade (15%):
Pharmacy (01%):
Photography (10%):
Physics (01%):
Pilot (01%):
Psychoanalysis (01%):
Psychology (05%): 10%
Ride (05%):
Sneak (10%): 36%
Spot Hidden (25%):
Swim (25%):
*Throw (25%): 31% (knives)
Track (10%):

Hand-to-Hand:
Fist/Punch (50%):
Head Butt (10%):
Kick (25%):
Grapple (25%):

Firearms:
Handgun (20%):
Rifle (25%):
Shotgun (30%):

Oya was born into poverty in the streets of Istanbul in 1905. Although her family was poor they were rich in dance, music and culture. She has spent her child hood traveling from market to market and festival to festival with her mother, aunts and cousins entertaining with music and dance. Often times as their parents performed, Oya and her cousins would pickpocket from the unaware audience. Life however wasn't always easy and due to their place in society her mother was often raped or otherwise abused by men. Oya herself didn't go through childhood unharmed and was often abused herself. As she grew older she turned to opium in order to dull the experiences she has gone through.

She often performs in rather seedy environments such as opium dens, prostitute houses, night clubs as well as in typical areas such as markets, fairs and festivals.
It was during a performance at a night club that she was taken as 'payment' for debts owed by her mother and sold into underground slavery to Milan several years ago. It was during this time she became addicted to opium in order to dull her experiences working and performing in brothels. However she became determined to return home and after many sleepless nights in servitude she bolted from her capturers and with what little money she had she boarded the Oriental Express in hope to return to Istanbul and find her family.

Oya is a rather attractive 20 year old who moves with a certain amount of flamboyance and grace when performing, but has become rather withdrawn due to her life experiences. She carries with her several dancing out fits, but generally appears in rather plain clothing for the era otherwise. She has a strong will and a when feeling disrespected will quickly make her opinion known.

I really would like to play this concept, however I fear the language barrier might be very difficult to overcome. Due to her edu score she barely knows her own language let alone the languages across Europe. I also not sure how this plays into skills such as fast talk when she may not speak the languages of other characters. Can other factors such as body language come into play in such situations?

[Mr. Handy]

"I'd love to learn how to dance like that!"

Great character concept! Note that EDU is rolled on 3d6+3, not on 3d6, so you should actually have a 9 in the stat. This gives you 45% in Turkish, a Know score of 45, and an extra 60 occupational skill points.

[G-Returner]

Great concept

Indeed, you should have an EDU of 9 instead of 6.

Turkish will prove useful, but to at least be able to communicate fluently with the other investigators I recommend that you spend some of these extra skill points on obtaining a reasonable level of English speaking. Generally speaking, a language level of around 25% means you can make yourself understood in a "broken" version of the language, i.e. you will make mistakes but be understandable, while a level of around 75% indicates perfect fluency. A score above that percentage means you are particularly talented and likely to know very rare words, etc.

[Laine]

Thanks for the skill approval. Anyway, I edited my character sheet to reflect the additional skill points I diveded them between English, Disguise and Sneak. Hope to get started soon.

[G-Returner]

We are almost ready to go, how do you two suppose you met the other investigators, and where are you currently? Ideally you should be with the team at the Gremanci factory so you can start playing right away - that involves a little bit of history rewriting, but I don't mind.

[Howerd Phillips]

Looking like we are getting started soon!

[kabukiman]

I don't want to spoil the idea of Laine character, but our investigators may have some reserves with a turkish char after what we heard before. She will have to proove herself a lot. Oh, and italians didn't liked turkish at that time (and the feeling was mutual) for historical reasons.

[G-Returner]

True, but this will provide good opportunities for some in character bickering

By the way, I'm changing "Istanbul" in your character sheet to "Constantinople", which is what the city was known as back then.

[G-Returner]

Another option that I'm thinking of to avoid having to do too much "rewriting history" is that the two new investigators could unexpectedly come face to face with the others at the factory, being also (for some reason that they can come up with) searching for the simulacrum pieces, or maybe something else entirely. This would allow for an in character meeting.