In the wings (OOC)

Journey with us to an alternative 1898, where history rubs shoulders with imagination. Where ‘what was’ is replaced by ‘what might have been’. Leagues of Adventures presents, for your edification – ‘The Dreaming Spires, episode one of the Great Game Campaign’.

“... A time when science itself stands poised to usher in a new golden age, or doom the world to terrible war.
In the ancient university of Cambridge, the scion of an aristocratic family has gone missing, unearthing a plot which threatens to plunge the British Empire into chaos.
Can the intrepid globetrotters solve the Cambridge conspiracy before it’s too late? What secrets lie hidden beneath its dreaming spires?”

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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by jaysun81 »

My first crack at making a character with the Ubiquity rule-set... I think I got it all correct.
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The Spider's Web

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Rachel Steele walked into the German Embassy arm in arm with the eager young Prussian officer, wearing her fanciest dress. It had been easy enough to convince him to bring her to this party as his date for the evening, and that had gotten her inside. She mingled with the other guests, always on the lookout for useful information, but her real goal was in the ambassador's safe. If her source was right, it contained a list of every German agent operating in Britain. Such a prize would be of incalculable value, and she was just the one to seize it.

The orchestra began to play, and Rachel's suitor led her out onto the dance floor. She danced with all of her characteristic grace, but she allowed him to lead and didn't dance too well, so as not to draw undue attention to herself. The last thing she wanted was to be noticed or remembered. After a few dances, she excused herself to powder her nose and made her way up the grand staircase. She walked through the upstairs halls, guided by the blueprints of the embassy she had studied, making her way to the ambassador's room. A beefy man in uniform stood guard outside the door.

"Halt!" he commanded. "What are you doing here?"

"Pardon me," said Rachel ."I'm a little lost. I was looking for the powder room."

The guard sighed. "Back the way you came, down the hall to the right."

"Thank you." Rachel turned on her heel and rounded the corner.

There had to be another way into the room. Rachel soon located a window, pushed it open, and peered outside. There was a ledge running around the house beneath. While it was narrow, it was nothing she couldn't handle. She climbed out of the window, stood on the ledge, and closed it behind her. Then she carefully made her way around the embassy's exterior along the ledge until she reached a window she knew led into the ambassador's room. She cracked it open and pushed the curtain aside slightly to look inside. The room was dark and empty, just the way she liked it. She opened the window the rest of the way and slipped into the room, which she began to search methodically. It didn't take her long to locate the safe, concealed behind the portrait of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Taking a stethoscope out of her purse, she used it to listen to the tumblers as she turned the safe's dial, soon deducing the correct combination. She oiled the hinges to silence them. Then she turned the handle and pulled.

The safe door opened quietly enough, but immediately there was the sound of breaking glass. Worse than that, Rachel caught a whiff of a scenr that she barely had time to recognize as that of ether before she grew dizzy. She slid down the wall to the floor, and everything went black...
* * *
Rachel was awakened by a different smell, the sharp, pungent odor of smelling salts. Opening her eyes, she found her wrists tightly manacled to the stone wall of a dank dungeon. It was lit by a fireplace on the opposite side of the room. On the right wall, a closed metal door was the only exit. Before her stood a bald German with a monocle who held a bottle under her nose. When he saw her eyes flicker open, he pulled it away.

"So, at least we meet, Mrs. Steele," her captor said with an unpleasant grin. "Your reputation precedes you, but you are not half so clever as you think, or you would not have fallen so easily into my hands."

"Go on, have yourself a good gloat, then," said Rachel with a sigh. "Just exchange me for one of your agents that we've captured and have done with it."

"Oh, no, no, no, Mrs. Steele. Now that I've got you, you won't get away. I'm sure you've realized by now that the source who told you about the list was lying. If you were ever to be released and report back, he would be exposed, and he is to valuable to lose. There never was any list, of course. It was all a trap, and you walked right into it. No, Mrs. Steele, you will spend the rest of your life in this dungeon. But do not worry, it won't be all that long." He cackled with glee.

"If you're going to kill me, get on with it. At least it will spare me having to listen to your voice."

"All in good time, my dear. I'd be well within my rights to kill you out of hand, of course. You are a spy, caught in the act on German soil. But first..." He paced slowly over to the fireplace, picked up the poker, and prodded the fire, holding the end in the flames as he turned to look at her. "First you're going to tell me everything you know."

Rachel met his gaze, defiance in her eyes. "Never! I'll die before I tell you anything!"

He removed the poker from the flames, holding up the red hot end as he approached her. "That is a distinct possibility."

Rachel shuddered, more terrified than she had ever been in her entire life. She didn't think she could stand up to torture. The German laughed maniacally as he stepped up next to her, holding the scorching tip of the poker mere inches from her face. She stared at it with wide eyes, fighting back tears. "The sounds of your screams will be music to my ears, Mrs. Steele. This is your last chance before I have to permanently scar your lovely face."

Rachel clenched her teeth and prepared for the worst. In a novel, the hero would burst in and save her at the last second, which this definitely was. But this was no novel, and nobody was going to come bursting through the door. If she was going to get out of this mess, she would just have to do it herself.

Bracing against the wall, Rachel drove her knee between the torturer's legs with all of her might. He let out a high-pitched squeal, doubling over and dropping the poker with a clatter as the monocle slipped from his eye and shattered on the hard stone floor. A man's chuckle came from beyond the door, no doubt a guard thinking that she had made the sound. Before her captor could recover and simply pick up the poker again, she hoisted her legs up and wrapped them around his neck, squeezing for all she was worth. He clutched at her calves as he slowly asphyxiated, but he was unable to break her iron grip. He fought for a long time, but eventually his face turned purple and he ceased struggling. Rachel exhaled with relief and let him collapse to the floor.

However, Rachel was not out of danger yet, not by a long shot. First, she had to free her arms. Relaxing her muscles, she began to slide her right hand out of the manacle. It took a lot of effort and was very painful, but she was nimble enough to slip it out. Then she took out a hairpin from her coif and swiftly picked the lock on the manacle around her left wrist. Rubbing her hands, she tiptoed to the door and listened at it. Hearing nothing, she tried the handle and found it to be locked. Fortunately, the German had a ring of keys on his belt, and it didn't take her long to find the right one. She cautiously pulled open the door and found a German soldier standing on the other side, his back to her. A swift chop to the back of his neck knocked him out, and she liberated the Mauser automatic pistol from his holster. At the end of the hall beyond the door were stairs leading upwards. She crept upstairs and found herself in a rear hallway in the embassy. Exiting the back door, she hurried across the moonlit embassy grounds towards the fence surrounding it.

"Halt!" cried a voice from Rachel's left. Another embassy guard was there, and he drew his pistol, but Rachel fired first, dropping him with a single shot.

At the sound of the gunshot, more guards began to emerge from the embassy, too many to fight. Rachel sprinted to a tall tree next to the fence. Leaping up, she grabbed a branch with both hands, swinging back and forth to build up momentum. When she had enough, she swung out over the fence just as gunfire rang out behind her. The bullets went wide, and she released the branch as she sailed over the fence, tumbling safely to the ground on the other side. Safe on British soil at last, she sprang to her feet and trotted away, heading for the Diogenes Club to report what she had learned to Mycroft Holmes, after which the German agent who had set her up could be captured. "All in a night's work," she said to herself, rubbing her hands together.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

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Mr Handy - "Bravo, bravo Madam your ability is only outmatched by your charm. Mr Steele is indeed a lucky man to have so formidable a wife. I am certain that if he still lives, somewhere in that damnable jungle, you will find him, I too know the pain of loss only too well. In the meantime her Majesties government is lucky to have such a fine example of British woomanhood in its employ." (Mycroft Holmes)
If you are ready please copy your character over to the finished characters thread in readiness for the off.

jaysun81 - Jonathan seems good to go, if you can create some kind of background which bonds him to the others, fine. If not don't worry as I'm sure it will emerge in play. As with the others, when ready please copy Jonathan over to the finished characters thread.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

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Priest wrote:jaysun81 - Jonathan seems good to go, if you can create some kind of background which bonds him to the others, fine. If not don't worry as I'm sure it will emerge in play. As with the others, when ready please copy Jonathan over to the finished characters thread.
I like Mr. Handy's idea that "Jonathan could know Rachel from being a friend and colleague of her missing husband, Edgar. He might have joined the effort to search for him." As far as the reporter, well if she covered the Edgar's disappearance than as you suggested perhaps he spoke with her. As far as the Big Game Hunter... hmmm, I could have assisted on a hunt before.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

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I've posted my character sheet. I also noticed that Nellie's increased Dexterity hasn't yet been factored into her Move, Initiative, and Defense. All of those should increase by 1.
Doctor Who/CoC Campaign:
(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

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Mr. Handy wrote:I've posted my character sheet. I also noticed that Nellie's increased Dexterity hasn't yet been factored into her Move, Initiative, and Defense. All of those should increase by 1.
Well spotted Mr H, I'll leave it to Lee to carry out the changes
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

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I'll be away over the weekend. However, I'll be back to posting on Monday.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by Mr. Handy »

I'm going to be away too from Wednesday afternoon through Sunday night, as I said in the absence thread in the Lounge.
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The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by Priest »

I believe that we will soon be joined by a new player. Victoria Silverwolf :D

I presume that she is allowed to post on the board, if not could someone please validate her.
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by carnage_lee »

She has been validated by Mr. H and ought to be able to post without any problems.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

Thank you for the welcome.

I was e-mailed some information by our esteemed host, but like the ninny I am, I deleted it, so I have asked for it to be sent again.

I am completely unfamiliar with the Leagues of Adventure system, so please bear with me.

EDITED TO ADD:

Technical difficulties (I can't get to the LOA site) will prevent me from joining in, so please continue as you were.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by carnage_lee »

?? Why do you need to get to the LOA site?
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

carnage_lee wrote:?? Why do you need to get to the LOA site?
Character creation and all that stuff. No worries.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by carnage_lee »

Right, sorry, with you now.

I'm sure that we can help with that.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by carnage_lee »

I've gotten hold of the GENTLEMAN’S ASSEMBLY REFERENCE SHEET which is TAG's version of the quick-start rules (the link is to my drop-box).

Edit:
Sample characters from Rule Book
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

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I think the problem was to do with her accessing game stuff on her works computer. I sent her a link to my dropbox and her computer refused to open it. Anyway she has joined up with Mr Handy's Rome game leaving just us to pursue the adventure.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

Thanks for trying. I cannot get to DropBox. Have a good game!
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by carnage_lee »

Should have thought of this before...
LoA_CGCS_v5.pdf
(791.67 KiB) Downloaded 301 times
Sorry about that.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

Thanks! I'll take a look at this and see what I can come up with.
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Re: In the wings (OOC)

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

I have attempted to create a character. Let me know if I have messed up the math in any way. (I wasn't 100% clear on use of skill points.)

If this is acceptable, let me know which threads I should (and should not) read, and where I should jump in.
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