Play@YSDC

Welcome gentlemen, (and ladies of course ) to the OOC room set aside backstage for your use and enjoyment to relax and discuss things of interest. I do hope you will find the room to your taste, I have had Jameson organise a few extra seats and refill the drinks cabinet.
Please feel free to put your character concept here before embarking on the hazardous business of Character Creation.
Thus far we have;
Miss Nellie Bly, a reporter. Played by Mr Carnage_Lee
The Honourable, Lord Peter Roxborough, Big game hunter of repute. Played by Mr Papa Gateaux
Both of these heroic individuals are returning following the events of 'The Dragons of London'.

You may note that the introduction to our adventure, 'Revolutionary Times' has been posted. You will not be able to reply yet, it is merely to present a taste of what is to come.
For those considering a character may I suggest that you think on investigative types.

Great! Looking forward to this, I love the setting.

Mrs. Rachel Steele, British secret agent: Rachel is married to the famed explorer Edgar Steele, who vanished while on an expedition to the Amazon some years ago. Rachel led a search for him that was unsuccessful in the end, but she still holds out hope that he lives. Determined to do something productive with her life, she joined Her Majesty's Secret Service, where she found that she has a natural talent for espionage. She puts it to good use in service to the British Empire, though she does feel guilty about the deception necessary to do her duty. She reports to Mycroft Holmes, the brother of the legendary consulting detective Sherlock Holmes.

I'll have my concept up by tomorrow.

Priest wrote:

In the Wings (OOC)

The Honourable, Lord Peter Roxborough, Big game hunter of repute. Played by Mr Papa Gateaux

Woohoo! Roxy is back, hungering for adventure and gastronomy!

As an aside I'm Papa Gateau. not Gateaux. There is only one of me - I am singular!

Papa Gateau wrote:
As an aside I'm Papa Gateau. not Gateaux. There is only one of me - I am singular!

Ah! Sorry old chap It seems at times there are so many of you.

But welcome, welcome, one and all. Do gird your loins for the forthcoming adventure, for, as a certain famous detective once said, "The game is afoot". Oh and you already are aquainted with each other, how and why I leave entirely to yourselves

Your character sheet should look basically something like this;

Character sheet

Name:
Player:
Archetype:
Motivation:
League:

Primary Attributes:
Body:
Intelligence:
Charisma:
Strength:
Dexterity:
Willpower:

SECONDARY ATTRIBUTES:
Initiative:
Size:
Perception:
Defense:
Move:
Stun:

SKILLS:

TALENTS:

RESOURCES:

FLAWS:

WEAPONS:

Jonathan Hornsbee - An explorer escaping from the life he had and never truly wanted. What was the life? Well, he's not talking. Jonathan is a man who prefers not to be chained down, but rather craves the thrill of adventure. The idea of getting lost in the unknown has appealed to him since before he can remember. To him the mundane life that many live isn't really living... which is a shame. After all, the world is a big place, with so much to see.

Nice! Perhaps 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.

Great stuff
So we have an explorer (Jonathan Hornsbee), a secret agent (Mrs Rachel Steele), a journalist (Miss Nellie Bly), and a big game hunter (Lord Peter Roxborough). If everyone has access to the core rulebook please feel free to begin character creation. I have a feeling that the Empire is in safe hands.

Character Name:	Ms Nellie Bly	Player:	Carnage_Lee
Archetype:	Reporter	Motivation:	Truth
Style:	3	Health	5

Primary Attributes:
Body:	2	Charisma:	3
Dexterity:	3	Intelligence:	3
Strength:	2	Willpower:	3

Secondary Attributes:
Size:	0	Inititative:	5
Move:	4	Defense:	4
Perception:	8*	Stun:	2

Skill	Base	Levels	Rating	Average
Art: Photography	3	1	4	2
Art: Writing	3	2	5	2+
Con	3	3	6	3
Diplomacy	3	2	5	2+
Investigation	3	2	5	2+
Interview			6	3
Linguistics	3	2	5	2+
Stealth	3	2	5	2+
Streetwise	3	2	5	2+
Rumours	3	5	5	2+
Firearms	3	1	4	2
Pistols			5	2+
Empathy	3	1	4	2

Talents:
Alertness*	+2 Perception - bonus already included
Attractive	+1 Charisma rating when dealing with people

Resources:
Rank 0	(Women's Suffrage Society +1 Social Bonus)

Flaws:
Honesty	(+1 Style point when honesty causes trouble)

Weapons	Rating	Size	Attack	Average
Punch	0N	0	0N	(0)N
Light-Revolver	2L	0

italic = specialisation

So, Nellie had 25 xp to use
After some cogitating, I did like to do the following*:

Primary Attribute boost: Dexterity +1 (3) Spend = 15 pts (new lvl x5)

New Skill - Firearms lvl 1 - Rationale: "Oh yes.. Roxy has been giving me shooting lessons, ever since that dreadful incident in the sewers; he's such a good teacher .. I can hit the side of a barn at thirty paces now..." Spend 2pts.
[Would be base (dex) 3) lvls 1 rating =4]

Skill Specialisation - Pistol lvl 1 - Rationale: only allowed to shoot pistols: Spend 3pts.
[Would be Rating 5, pistols only]

Skill Specialisation - Con - Fast Talk: Spend 3pts
[Would be Fast Talk 7]

New Skill - Empathy lvl 1: spend 2pts
[would be base (Int) 3, lvls 1, rating 4


How does that sound?

*Rules state that no trait can be increased by more than 1 point at a time.

Lee - Miss Bly looks good to me. Feel free to put her on the finished character thread once you are happy with her.
All - once the characters are polished to your liking put them on the finished character thread.

Character sheet



Name: Mrs. Rachel Steele
Player: Mr. Handy
Archetype: Spy
Motivation: Duty
League: Women's Suffrage Society

Primary Attributes:
Body: 3
Intelligence: 3
Charisma: 2
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 4
Willpower: 2

SECONDARY ATTRIBUTES:
Initiative: 7
Size: 0
Perception: 5
Defense: 7
Move: 6
Stun: 3
Health: 5

SKILLS:
Acrobatics 4+1 = 5 (2+)
*Brawl (Punch) 4+2 = 6 (3)
*Con 2+3 = 5 (2+)
Firearms (Pistol) 4+2 = 6 (3)
Investigation 3+2 = 5 (2+)
Larceny 4+2 = 6 (3)
**Spying 3+2 = 5 (2+)
**Stealth 4+2 = 6 (3)

* 0-level skills from League
** other 0 level skills

TALENTS:
Agile (+1 Dexterity)
Finesse Attack (Brawl)

RESOURCES:
Rank 0 (Women's Suffrage Society; +1 Social Bonus)
Follower 0 (Maid)

FLAWS:
Overconfident

WEAPONS:
Punch (Rating 0N, Size 0, Attack 7N, Average (3+)N)
Brass Knuckles (Rating 1N, Size 0, Attack 8N, Average (4)N)
Heavy Revolver (Rating 3L, Size 0, Attack 10L, Average (5)L)

BACKGROUND:
Mrs. Rachel Steele is a tall, lithe woman with dark hair who carries herself with grace and wit. While she takes her work seriously, she also displays a sense of humor. Since childhood, she has always chafed at prevailing attitudes that girls were inferior to boys, and she set out to prove that she could do anything they could do - and do it better. She joined the Women's Suffrage Society, aggrieved by the unfairness of being denied the right to vote. From the Society she learned jiu-jutsu for self-defense as well as how to best use her feminine wiles to achieve her goals.

Rachel Steele is married to the famed explorer Edgar Steele, who vanished while on an expedition to the Amazon some years ago. Rachel led a search for him that was unsuccessful in the end, but she still holds out hope that he lives. Determined to do something productive with her life, she joined Her Majesty's Secret Service, where she found that she has a natural talent for espionage. She puts it to good use in service to the British Empire, though she does feel guilty about the deception necessary to do her duty. She reports to Mycroft Holmes, the brother of the legendary consulting detective Sherlock Holmes.

Mr Handy - if you're happy with Mrs Steele please add her to the finished characters thread.

Just Jonathan Hornsbee (jaysun81) to come. Once he's sorted we shall begin.

How's this?



Name: Jonathan Hornsbee
Player: jaysun81
Archetype: Explorer
Motivation: Escape
League: The Alpine Club

Primary Attributes:
Body: 4
Intelligence: 3
Charisma: 2
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 2
Willpower: 2

SECONDARY ATTRIBUTES:
Initiative: 5
Size: 0
Perception: 5
Defense: 6
Move: 5
Stun: 4
Health: 6

SKILLS: (base + levels) = rating
*Athletics: 3 + 3 = 6 (3)
**Brawl: 3 + 2 = 5 (2+)
Connoisseur (Tobacco): 3 + 1 = 4 (2)
Investigation: 3 + 2 = 5 (2+)
Medicine (First Aid): 3 + 2 = 5 (2+)
**Melee: 3 + 1 = 4 (2)
Pilot - Balloon: 2 + 3 = 5 (2+)
*Survival: 3 + 3 = 6 (3)

* 0-level skills from League
** other 0 level skills

TALENTS:
Direction Sense
Tough

RESOURCES:
Rank 0
Follower (Dog)

FLAWS:
Poor Vision

WEAPONS:
Dagger (Rating 1L, Size 0, Attack 5L, Average (2+)L)
Punch (Rating 0N, Size 0, Attack 5N, Average (2+)N)

BACKGROUND:
Jonathan Hornsbee - An explorer escaping from the life he had and never truly wanted. What was the life? Well, he's not talking. Jonathan is a man who prefers not to be chained down, but rather craves the thrill of adventure. The idea of getting lost in the unknown has appealed to him since before he can remember. To him the mundane life that many live isn't really living... which is a shame. After all, the world is a big place, with so much to see.

I edited in the average values for my skills, which I'd forgotten to do (Jonathan should have the same). I still need to expand the background when I have time and calculate the values for my weapons before I'm finished.

Jonathan would be better off with Tough rather than Iron Jaw. Tough gives +1 Body (which includes +1 Stun and other benefits besides), plus it can only be taken at character creation, while Iron Jaw can always be taken later to further increase Stun.

Nellie could know Rachel from the Women's Suffrage Society. She also could have interviewed her and/or Jonathan before, especially if she covered the story of Edgar's disappearance and the search for him.

Mr. Handy wrote:Jonathan would be better off with Tough rather than Iron Jaw. Tough gives +1 Body (which includes +1 Stun and other benefits besides), plus it can only be taken at character creation, while Iron Jaw can always be taken later to further increase Stun.

Great idea. Thanks.

Gentlemen and Ladies, may I suggest we set Wednesday coming for the off. So please finish and transfer the finished character to the appropriate thread by that date.

Nuts, I just saw in the Gear section that a revolver (even a light one) has a minimum Strength of 2, so I'm going to have to rework some things.

EDIT: I've adjusted my character sheet, reducing my Charisma to 2 to increase Strength to 2. After recalculating my skills, I discovered that I had shortchanged myself by a point, so I added it to Con to make up for the lost point of Charisma. I've also added weapons, and now I just have to finish my background. I also intend to write a short background story about one of Mrs. Steele's past exploits.

EDIT 2: I hadn't shortchanged myself a point, I'd spent it on specializations (which I've rearranged). I took the extra point out of Acrobatics.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

I'll be away over the weekend. However, I'll be back to posting on Monday.

I'm going to be away too from Wednesday afternoon through Sunday night, as I said in the absence thread in the Lounge.

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

I presume that she is allowed to post on the board, if not could someone please validate her.

She has been validated by Mr. H and ought to be able to post without any problems.

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.

?? Why do you need to get to the LOA site?

carnage_lee wrote:?? Why do you need to get to the LOA site?

Character creation and all that stuff. No worries.

Right, sorry, with you now.

I'm sure that we can help with that.

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

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.

Thanks for trying. I cannot get to DropBox. Have a good game!

Should have thought of this before...
Sorry about that.

Thanks! I'll take a look at this and see what I can come up with.

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.

Sorry Victoria I completely missed your recent posts. Me very bad.
I shall check over your character for you soon. As to starting, hold on until a suitable opening presents itself.

Everyone - I shall be away from the computer from Friday (22nd) to Monday (25th July).

No worries. Take your time.

Sorry I've been hit and miss when it comes to posting... after 17 years of renting my wife & I decided to buy our first house and we've been slowly moving into it. Next weekend will be the final big push, once that's out of the way I should be back to posting consistently, assuming there's no hiccups.

First there were four, then there were three, now we are down to one and a very occasional two. If nonone wishes to continue this adventure any more, please tell me so I can move on.

I still want to continue.

I just got my internet hooked up at my new house. Give me a day or so to catch up and I'll be back in the game. Sorry for the delay, but as I said before my wife and I bought a house so we've been moving.

jaysun81 wrote:I just got my internet hooked up at my new house. Give me a day or so to catch up and I'll be back in the game. Sorry for the delay, but as I said before my wife and I bought a house so we've been moving.

Got you. When you're ready

Are we done? Or merely on pause?

Sadly, due to real life issues, I am going to have to close the curtains on this game. Thankyou for your participation.

I'm sorry to hear that, but I understand. We should leave the board where it is for a little while to give the other players a chance to see this. When you're ready, which you can indicate by posting here, I'll move the game to the Graveyard. I can always pull it back out later so we can resume it if you have time in the future.

Hang tight on removing anything; I'm pretty certain that I'll take over the reins of this - if we can scare up 2 players to take over the character's I'm currently running. I don't have the scenario/campaign (yet) - I'll make a firm decision after my holiday 23rd ish.

It'll be a shame to fold this game.

That's great news! I'm looking forward to continuing.

Oh? That would be cool.

Ok... I've got the PDF of this scenario give me a couple of days to get up to speed and we'll continue.

Heads up... I will be away at a conference from Thursday (3/9) until Monday (3/13).

I assume it's safe to say this game has been cancelled, shelved, forgotten?

jaysun81 wrote:I assume it's safe to say this game has been cancelled, shelved, forgotten?

Well, I hope not - I've posted a quick scene... I do hope you're willing to carry on.

It's the usual story I'm afraid, a sudden lack of time ... I would like to carry on and bring this game to a successful conclusion (and maybe run something more suitable one I get my hands of the up-coming 'Leages of Cthulhu' supplement). One of the issues (apart from lack of time) was the fact that some key information had already been divulged (too early in the game) but I've had some time to work things out in a new order