Play@YSDC

Dear Players-

Welcome to Joint Task Force- Special Operations.

This thread has been created to allow for some broader meta-game conversation about the game, rules, procedures, information or other tidbits as necessary. So welcome, say hi and we'll soon get started.

Hey there, sorry - busy weekend. Back to charter generation self tomorrow!

Hey Snapper-

No worries. Just got back to VA from NY and catching up on stuff too. I think the first game will be a lot of fun but mostly its about character development and perhaps meeting some important NPCs.

Hi Team,

I'm going to post the basics of my characters here. Proper write up is going to have to wait until Wednesday night.

EPA S/A
STR 11 CON 12 DEX 15 INT 15 POW 12 CHA 12
Federal Agent skills plus Computer Science.
Bonus skills: Helicopter (x2), Dodge, Science - Chemistry, Science - Environmental, Accounting, Navigate and Survival.
Career history - enlisted in the Army, 10th Mountain Division, ultimately trained as a combat helicopter pilot, this was followed by some time out west working for the Park Service as a law enforcement ranger, and more recently to EPA after working towards a degree in chemistry and environmental science.

Name and Codename:

Profession:

Employer:

Nationality:

Sex:

Age and DOB:

Education and Occupational History:

STR

CON

DEX

INT

POW

CHA

HP

WP

SAN

BP

Physical Description:

Bonds:

Disorders and Motivations:

San Loss without going insane

Violence:

Helplessness:


Accounting (10)

Alertness (20) 

Anthropology(0)

Art(0)

Artillery (0) 

Athletics (30) 

Bureaucracy (10)

Computer Science (0)

Craft (0)

Criminology (10)

Demolitions (0)

Disguise (10)

Dodge (30)

Drive (20)

Firearms (20)

First Aid (10)

Forensics (0)

Heavy Machinery (10)

Heavy Weapons (0)

History (10)

HUMINT(10)

Law (0)

Medicine (0)

Melee Weapons (30) 

Military Science (0)
Navigate (10)

Occult (10)

Persuade (20)

Pharmacy (0)

Pilot (0)

Psychotherapy (10)

Ride (10)

Science (0)

Search (20)

SIGINT (0)

Stealth (10)

Surgery (0)

Survival (10)

Swim (20)

Unarmed Combat (40)

Unnatural (0)

Foreign Languages and skills:

Wounds and Ailments:

Armor and Gear:

Weapons:

Personal Details and Notes:

Developments Which Affect Home and Family

Special Training/stat or skill used:

Why/how agent recruited/past supernatural event:

Name and Codename:
Jackson Conroy
Profession:
Special Agent

Employer:
EPA CID

Nationality:
US

Sex:
M

Age and DOB:
38

Education and Occupational History:

Jackson grew up in the Frank Church - River of No Return National Park. His father was a professional hunter and trapper, and his mother a member of one of the local Native American tribes. His life was basic and Spartan but seemed idyllic to a young boy, and Jackson was left with a love of the natural world. When Jackson was a teenager, however, his mother "disappeared", presumed murdered. From that point onwards, Jackson was aware of the many strange and dangerous people living in the park.

Jackson was determined to leave as soon as possible and on turning 18, enlisted in the Army, 10th Mountain Division, ultimately training as a combat helicopter pilot. After a decade in the military, disillusioned with operations overseas and wanting to focus on environmental protection, Jackson resigned and spent some time out west working for the Park Service as a law enforcement ranger, and more recently to EPA after working towards a degree in chemistry and environmental science.

Jackson has a daughter from a brief and failed relationship back in his army days.

STR 11
CON 12
DEX 15
INT 15
POW 12
CHA 12

HP 12
WP 12
SAN 60
BP 48

Physical Description:
Tall and lean. Dark hair with a topknot and a short beard. Several military and Native American tattoos on your arms.

Bonds:
1. Father, Ted Conroy
2. Daughter, Lisa Conroy
3. 10th Mountain Air Wing

Disorders and Motivations:
1. Protect the Wilderness.
2. Defend the Country.
3. Bring criminals to justice.
4. Defend the innocent.
5. Self improvement.

San Loss without going insane

Violence:

Helplessness:


.Accounting (10) 30
Alertness (20) 50
Anthropology(0)
Art(0)
Artillery (0) 
Athletics (30) 40
Bureaucracy (10) 40
Computer Science (0) 50
Craft Electrical (0) 40
Craft Mechanical (0) 40
Criminology (10) 50
Demolitions (0)
Disguise (10)
.Dodge (30) 50
Drive (20) 50
Firearms (20) 50
First Aid (10) 30
Forensics (0) 40
Heavy Machinery (10) 50
Heavy Weapons (0)
History (10)
HUMINT(10) 60
Law (0) 30
Medicine (0)
Melee Weapons (30) 
Military Science (0) 40
.Navigate (10) 50
Occult (10) 20
Persuade (20) 50
Pharmacy (0)
.Pilot Helicopter (0) 50
Psychotherapy (10)
Ride (10)
.Science - Environmental (0) 50
.Science - Chemistry (0) 30
Search (20) 50
SIGINT (0)
Stealth (10)
Surgery (0)
.Survival (10) 50
Swim (20)
Unarmed Combat (40) 60
Unnatural (0)

Foreign Languages and skills:

Wounds and Ailments:

Armor and Gear:
Kevlar helmet and vest.
Standard equipment for federal agent.

Weapons:
Glock 19 pistol
AR-15 assault rifle

Personal Details and Notes:

Developments Which Affect Home and Family

Special Training/stat or skill used:

Why/how agent recruited/past supernatural event:

Name and Codename:
Javier Gonzalez Profession:
Special Agent

Employer:
DEA (FAST)

Nationality:
US

Sex:
M

Age and DOB:
35

Education and Occupational History:
Javier' s parents are Cuban exiles settled in Miami. He was raised to absolutely believe the US has offered his family a better life and that is a debt that must be repaid. Javier attended college on a Naval ROTC scholarship. On completing his studies, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lt in the Marines and served for five years. Javier then joined the DEA, determined to help fight what he saw as the biggest threat to society, drugs.

Javier worked his way into the FAST teams. With looks that help him blend combined with decent language skills, Javier has spent the last five years in Central and South America attacking the cocaine production and transport processes from different angles.


STR 11
CON 15
DEX 14
INT 13
POW 12
CHA 12

HP 14
WP 12
SAN 60
BP 48

Physical Description:
Latin American, with dark hair and a moustache

Bonds:
1. Father, Enrique Gonzalez
2. Mother, Esmeralda Gonzalez

Disorders and Motivations:
1. Defend the Country.
2. Protect the innocent.
3. Bring criminals to justice.
4. Fight in the war on drugs.
5. Improve self.

San Loss without going insane

Violence:

Helplessness:


Accounting (10)
Alertness (20) 50
Anthropology(0)
Art(0)
Artillery (0) 
.Athletics (30) 50
Bureaucracy (10) 40
Computer Science (0) 50
Craft (0)
Criminology (10) 50
Demolitions (0)
Disguise (10)
.Dodge (30) 50
Drive (20) 50
.Firearms (20) 70
First Aid (10)
.Foreign Language - Spanish 50
.Forensics (0) 50
Heavy Machinery (10)
Heavy Weapons (0) 30
History (10)
HUMINT(10) 60
Law (0) 30
Medicine (0)
Melee Weapons (30) 
Military Science (0)
Navigate (10)
Occult (10) 20
Persuade (20) 50
Pharmacy (0) 30
Pilot (0)
Psychotherapy (10)
Ride (10)
.Science - Chemistry (0) 20
Search (20) 50
SIGINT (0)
.Stealth (10) 30
Surgery (0)
.Survival (10) 30
Swim (20)
Unarmed Combat (40) 60
Unnatural (0)

Foreign Languages and skills:

Wounds and Ailments:

Armor and Gear:
Special Operator

Weapons:
Beretta 92 pistol
AR-15 rifle

Personal Details and Notes:

Developments Which Affect Home and Family

Special Training/stat or skill used:

Why/how agent recruited/past supernatural event:

Hey Snapper-

Thanks for posting this. Given that our characters are all kind of mid-career, we should assume some acquired skill given past work experience and training. So I'd like to grant a few extra points to help your character, and the others out.

Let's start with Jackson Cody.
Given his experience and prior work experience, I would think your character is familiar with heavy machinery and certainly would know something about helicopter maintenance for sure, as well as many of the other machines we could expect related to both the forestry service and some of the heavy industry related to environmental regulation. As an EPA person you will need some science chops. Plus military background as a pilot.

Do you have the Agent's Handbook? I think the basic skills look pretty good and a re a bit enhanced. Bump Forensics to 40%- and that would probably be generic. Heavy Industry, bump to 30%. Bump your helicopter to 50% for military experience and I think Craft Electrical and Mechanical at 40% each. Ride to 25% with past experience prior to EPA and current work experience and past should take Environmental to 50% and Chemistry to 30%. 10th Mountain div. Althletics should be bumped up a bit 40%, First Aid 30%, Military Science 40% , Navigate to 50%, Survival needs a bump- 50%. According to Agents Handbook 10th Mountain can also choose 3 from Computer Science 40%, Craft 40%, Demolitions 40%, Foreign Language (one) 40%, Heavy Machinery 50%, Search 60%, SIGINT 40% and Swim 60%. Given the helicopter piloting while in the 10th Heavy Machinery 5%0 Craft 40% and pilot to 50% makes sense to me. What do you think?


Feel free to flush out the DEA agent.
Given background discussed he's a cross DEA Fed agent/ military intel type - The Handbook has the FAST DEA as a cross military/ fed agent-
Alertness 50% Bureaucracy at 40%, Criminology at 50%, Drive 50%, Firearms 50%, Foreign languages (one) at 30%, Forensics 30% , The FAST DEA has heavy weapons at 30% but I am not sure that fits, HUMINt 40% but I would go with the 60% for federal agent, LAW 30%, Persuade 40-50%,Pharmacy 30%, Search 50%, Unarmed Combat at 60%. The FAST agent has suggested bonus skills at Athletics, Firearms, Forensics and Search but the other DEA positions have suggested bonus as criminology, pharmacy, science (chemistry), Search, accounting, forensics, computer sci, SIGINT, Criminology, Law. The military background might add some dimension, but if he's an intelligence officer, I think the crossover is a bit consistent.

Name: Miranda Waterhouse
Profession: NSA Cryptanalyst (Computer Scientist)
Age: 30



Stats:
STRENGTH: 8
CONSTITUTION: 10 (+1) 11
DEXTERITY: 13
INTELLIGENCE: 17 (+1) 18
POWER: 14
CHARISMA: 10 (+3) 13

Miranda Waterhouse's parents Larry and Susan Waterhouse are both brilliant at math and computers, and Miranda has taken after them. Growing up with computers and the Internet, they have always been part of her world. Miranda loves solving puzzles, and she enjoys computer games, particularly adventure games. She also makes her own games and is as skilled at creating fiendish puzzles as she is at solving them. Miranda is a consummate geek and was bullied a lot growing up, but once her parents sent her for tae kwon do lessons, she was soon able to handle them. She rarely even had to use martial arts; merely demonstrating a few moves and her reputation was enough to keep all but the most determined at bay. She took to college life very well, having been accepted to her dream school, MIT. She excelled in her studies and got a job with the NSA in Ft. Meade, Maryland straight after graduation. There she has put her codebreaking talents to good use, cracking encryption used by a variety of criminals, terrorists, and foreign powers.

Derived Attributes:
HIT POINTS: 10
WILLPOWER POINTS: 14
SANITY POINTS: 70
BREAKING POINT: 56

Violence Checks: 0
Helplessness Checks: 0

Skills:
Accounting(10%) 50%
Alertness(20%)
Anthropology(0%)
Archaeology(0%)
Art(0%)
Artillery(0%)
Athletics(30%)
Bureaucracy(10%) 50%
Computer Science(0%) 60% (+20) 80%
Craft(Electrician) (0%) 30%
Craft(Mechanic)(0%) 30%
Craft(Microelectronics)(0%) 40% (+20) 60%
Criminology(10%)
Demolitions(0%)
Disguise(10%)
Dodge(30%)
Drive(20%)
Firearms(20%) (+20) 40%
First Aid(10%)
Foreign Language(Mandarin Chinese) (0%) 40%
Forensics(0%)
Heavy Machinery(10%)
Heavy Weapons(0%)
History(10%)
HUMINT(10%)
Law(0%) 40%
Medicine(0%)
Melee Weapons(30%)
Military Science(0%)
Navigate(10%)
Occult(10%)
Persuade(20%)
Pharmacy(0%)
Pilot(0%)
Psychotherapy(10%)
Ride(10%)
Science(Mathematics) (0%) 40%
Search(20%) (+20) 40%
SIGINT(0%) 40% (+20) 60%
Stealth(10%)
Surgery(0%)
Survival(10%) (+20) 30%
Swim(20%) (+20) 40%
Unarmed Combat(40%) (+20) 60%
Unnatural(0%)

Motivations: 5

1. Solve puzzles
2. Have fun
3. Challenge my abilities
4. Serve my country
5. Explore the unknown

Bonds: 3

1. Larry Waterhouse, father, age 57 (13)
2. Susan Waterhouse, mother, age 58 (13)
3. Bethany Phillips, best friend, age 29 (13)

Equipment:

Name: Lee Shaftoe
Profession: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent, Homeland Security (Federal Agent)
Age: 38



Stats:
STRENGTH: 17
CONSTITUTION:14 (+2) 16
DEXTERITY: 13
INTELLIGENCE: 10
POWER: 10 (+3) 13
CHARISMA: 8

Coming from a long line of tough, patriotic guys, Lee Shaftoe joined the United States Marine Corps on September 11, 2001. After grueling training, two tours in Afghanistan, and one in Iraq, he decided he had had enough. He then joined Immigration and Customs Enforcement, figuring it was a better way to protect the country he loves. He specializes in stopping human trafficking. While he can be intimidating, he's actually a nice guy once you get to know him.

Derived Attributes:
HIT POINTS: 17
WILLPOWER POINTS: 13
SANITY POINTS: 65 (-5) 60
BREAKING POINT: 52

Traumatic Background: Hard Experience
Violence Checks: 0
Helplessness Checks: 0

Skills:
Accounting(10%)
Alertness(20%) 50% (+20) 70%
Anthropology(0%)
Archaeology(0%)
Art(0%)
Artillery(0%)
Athletics(30%) (+20) 50%
Bureaucracy(10%) 40%
Computer Science(0%)
Craft(0%)
Criminology(10%) 50%
Demolitions(0%)
Disguise(10%)
Dodge(30%) (+20)(+10) 60%
Drive(20%) 50%
Firearms(20%) 50% (+20)(+10) 80%
First Aid(10%)
Foreign Language(0%)
Forensics(0%) 30%
Heavy Machinery(10%)
Heavy Weapons(0%) 50%
History(10%)
HUMINT(10%) 60%
Law(0%) 30%
Medicine(0%)
Melee Weapons(30%) (+20)(+10) 60%
Military Science(0%)
Navigate(10%)
Occult(10%) (+10) 20%
Persuade(20%) 50% (+20) 70%
Pharmacy(0%)
Pilot(0%)
Psychotherapy(10%)
Ride(10%)
Science(0%)
Search(20%) 50%
SIGINT(0%)
Stealth(10%) (+20) 30% (+10) 40%
Surgery(0%)
Survival(10%)
Swim(20%)
Unarmed Combat(40%) 60% (+20) 80%
Unnatural(0%)

Motivations: 5

1. Protect the innocent
2. Defend my country
3. Bring criminals to justice
4. Be righteous
5. Keep physically fit

Bonds: 2

1. Robert Shaftoe, father, age 64 (8)
2. Lisa Shaftoe, wife, age 34 (8)

Equipment:

Sorry, insane couple of weeks. Get back to this tomorrow morning my time.

Ok folks we are near to getting started I think and soon can post your characters to our character board. One request for all players is to up their occult to 20%. We'll discuss why later. Let's just say, for now, all your characters have something of a passing interest in things..... strange.

Snapper-

No worries bud. I've been dealing with an aging parent and my summer session of teaching just kicked in. This summer, my course is doing democratic backsliding, democracy and authoritarian government, contentious politics, revolutions and social violence. Should be fun, but the work just kicked in. I had thought to be back home by now but it seems I am stuck for a few days.

Handy-
Funny thing, I advised by brother and his wife to train both nephews in Tae Kwon Do so they wouldn't get their asses kicked, and they both got to be school aged blackbelts (and didn't asses kicked). Like the pictures for your character. I like seeing "The Rock" for your door kicker.

Ok, Miranda- I am looking at the Agent's Handbook recent edition and I am thinking she's in Computer or Scientist. For Computer Scientist, the handbook says-
RECOMMENDED STATS: INT
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»» Computer Science 60%
»» Craft (Electrician) 30%
»» Craft (Mechanic) 30%
»» Craft (Microelectronics) 40%
»» Science (Mathematics) 40%
»» SIGINT 40%
Choose any four of these that you don’t already have:
»» Accounting 50%
»» Bureaucracy 50%
»» Craft (choose one) 40%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 40%
»» Heavy Machinery 50%
»» Law 40%
»» Science (choose one) 40%

Scientist looks similar
RECOMMENDED STATS: INT
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»» Bureaucracy 40%
»»Computer Science 40%
»» Science (choose one) 60%
»» Science (choose another) 50%
»» Science (choose another) 50%
Choose any three of these:
»»Accounting 50%
»»Craft (choose one) 40%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 40%
»» Forensics 40%
»» Law 40%
»» Pharmacy 40%
BONDS: 4

Then you get Intelligence Analyst-
RECOMMENDED STATS: INT
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»» Anthropology 40%
»» Bureaucracy 50%
»» Computer Science 40%
»» Criminology 40%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 50%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 50%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 40%
»» History 40%
»» HUMINT 50%
»» SIGINT 40%
BONDS: 3

So a couple of quick thoughts given her NSA background and interests- I think the Craft Electrician should get a boast to 40%, I like your micro-electronics, bump criminology to 30% given recent work experience, Military science to 25%, Science (Math) should go to 60% given her personal history. From your story, it seems her computer, electronics skills come through her interest in math, so that would make sense.

Darren- again like the picture. Send me a pm about the -5 on Sanity. Given your background doesn't place him in SOCOM but three tours of duty in combat (I assume the -5 comes from that). I'd think his skills are somewhat akin to if he had Force Recon, which is somewhat enhanced from a Marine.

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»»Alertness 60%
»»Athletics 60%
»»Demolitions 40%
»»Dodge 50%
»» Firearms 60%
»»Heavy Weapons 50%
»»Melee Weapons 50%
»»Military Science (Land) 60%
»»Navigate 60%
»» Stealth 60%
»» Survival 60%
»» Swim 50%
»» Unarmed Combat 60%
BONDS: 1
SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Drive, Firearms, SIGINT,
Survival.

Given his career in ICE and his past involvement. He might have been one of these fellows-
Special Response Team (SRT)
Provides SWAT support for ICE operations. SRT
members are all volunteers, most of whom have regular
“day jobs” as agents in other ICE divisions.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»»Alertness 50%
»» Bureaucracy 40%
»»Criminology 50%
»»Dodge 50%
»»Drive 50%
»» Firearms 50%
»» Forensics 30%
»»Heavy Weapons 50%
»»HUMINT 60%
»» Law 30%
»» Persuade 50%
»» Search 50%
»» Stealth 40%
»» Unarmed Combat 60%
BONDS: 2
SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Dodge, Firearms, Criminology,
Melee Weapons.
EQUIPMENT: Per TOOLS OF THE TRADE: SWAT (page 85).

A lot of your stats seem on spot, as either ICE or a Federal Marshal. Do me a favor and up some of the numbers due to his past marine years. Swim 50%, Survival 50% (because he probably had some training), Stealth 50%. military science at 40%, Navigate 40%, Demolitions at 25%.

That's one timely course.

The Tae Kwon Do is actually from my own background. I got beaten up a lot when I was little, and my parents had me train in Tae Kwon Do in the summer when I was eight. I took two eight week courses and never progressed beyond white belt, but I didn't need to ever use it in a fight. Just being able to show the moves scared off the bullies, and it was very rare that I was beaten after that.

Thanks, I was inspired to use The Rock as Shaftoe's avatar. A couple weeks ago I saw a bunch of his movies on TV. He fits perfectly!

Miranda is a Computer Scientist, and I picked her skills based on that. It looks like the only changes I need to make for her is to raise her Occult to 20%, Craft(Electrician) to 40%, Criminology to 30%, Military Science to 25%, and Science(Mathematics) to 60%. Do I need to spend points to do that, or are these free boosts?

For Lee I used the Federal Agent template and added the bonus points to specialize him. The SRT would fit him, but I'd have to recreate his character sheet if I use that, and he'd be down to 1 Bond. I'm already at -1 Bond for the Hard Experience trauma, which resulted in the -5 SAN. I'll send you my idea for what that could be in a PM. It's actually something that happened while working for ICE, not in Afghanistan or Iraq. Are the boosts for him (Swim 50%, Survival 50%, Stealth 50%, Military Science 40%, Navigate 40%, and Demolitions 25%) free?

Dr. Jakob Kaminski – Forensic Pathologist



Description

Approx 5’10”, stocky build. Short dark hair, going grey at the temples, neatly trimmed beard/stubble. Brown eyes. Age 39. Unmarried and lives alone.

Background

Jakob is an orphan from the Serbian Wars of the 1990s. He doesn’t know his birth parents (or even his place or date of birth) having been abandoned at a young age and being brought up in the brutal state-run orphanage system.

As the war came to an end with NATO intervention, Josef was adopted by an older American couple but the placement didn’t work out; Josef couldn’t cope with not knowing about his family and they couldn’t cope with the trauma that engendered. Being raised a war zone hadn’t equipped him with necessary skills to deal with people in a calm and controlled manner. He was heading off the rails when a church youth worker took an interest in him and worked with Jakob to get his life more or less back on track.

Determined to succeed despite of his background, Josef put himself through college with the aid of the ROTC and an HPSP scholarship. Leaving college to take up his mandatory military service, he served in Japan, Iraq and Afghanistan. In the latter he saw the results of the burgeoning Taliban/Al Qaeda insurgency campaign at close quarters, treating injured combatants and civilians and narrowly avoiding becoming a victim himself when a supply convoy he was travelling with was ambushed. Josef swapped his scalpel for and M4 carbine to help repel the attackers before heading straight into the operating theatre to try to save the lives of the injured and dying once they got back to base.

Whilst in Iraq, Jakob found himself called as a witness in a war crimes investigation, and subsequently seconded to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps for a three month period while a backlog of cases was cleared. Here he found himself working alongside the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit which was reviewing charges levied against US servicemen.

With four years’ service under his belt, Jakob returned to the States and studied post-med forensic pathology before landing a job with the FBI, where he's currently working his second year on the job.

PROFESSION: Forensic Pathologist
EMPLOYER: Federal Bureau of Investigation
DIVISION: Criminal Investigation Division

Strength (STR) 12
Constitution (CON) 14
Dexterity (DEX) 12
Intelligence (INT) 15
Power (POW) 12
Charisma (CHA) 12

Hit Points (HP) 13
Willpower (WP) 12
Sanity Points (SAN) 60
Breaking Point (BP) 48

Skills

□ Accounting (10%) 10%
□ Alertness (20%) 20%
□ Anthropology (0%) 0%
□ Archeology (0%) 0%
□ Art (0%) 0%
□ Artillery (0%) 0%
□ Athletics (30%) 30%
□ Bureaucracy (10%) 50%
□ Computer Science (0%) 0%
□ Craft (0%) 0%
□ Criminology (10%) 30%
□ Demolitions (0%) 0%
□ Disguise (10%) 10%
□ Dodge (30%) 30%
□ Drive (20%) 20%
□ Firearms (20%) 40%
□ First Aid (10%) 30%
□ Forensics (0%) 50%
□ Heavy Machinery (10%) 10%
□ Heavy Weapons (0%) 0%
□ History (10%) 10%
□ HUMINT (10%) 10%
□ Law (0%) 20%
□ Medicine (0%) 60%
□ Melee Weapons (30%) 30%
□ Military Science (0%) 0%
□ Navigate (10%) 30%
□ Occult (10%) 10%
□ Persuade (20%) 40%
□ Pharmacy (0%) 50%
□ Pilot (0%) 0%
□ Psychotherapy (0%) 60%
□ Ride (10%) 10%
□ Science - Biology (0%) 60%
□ Search (20%) 40%
□ SIGINT (0%) 0%
□ Stealth (10%) 10%
□ Surgery (0%) 50%
□ Survival (10%) 30%
□ Swim (20%) 20%
□ Unarmed Combat (40%) 40%
□ Unnatural (0%) 0%

Foreign Languages and Other Skills:
□ Serbo-Croat 40%

Professional skills/Bonus skills
OOC: Additional skill points taken

Haruto ‘Harry’ Shibatu – FBI Special Agent, Organised Crime Taskforce



Description

Approx. 5’9”, compact build. Japanese American (family has lived in the US since the 1960s). Brown eyes. Dark brown hair. Often smiling, frequently wears sunglasses and chews gum, constantly.

Harry is married with a son. He married his university sweetheart when he returned from his tour of duty but hadn’t realized how much they had both changed. The marriage is unhappy and he suspects his wife is now having an affair with a colleague from work.

His parents have recently moved closer to help out with childcare, but their presence has only exacerbated tensions between them.

Background

Brought up in a bi-lingual Japanese American household and a multi-racial neighbourhood, Harry developed a gift for languages early on. It stayed with him through school and inevitably it took him to university, from which he planned to join one of the big banking firms plying their trade on both sides of the Pacific. Fate intervened in the shape of the ROTC however, and Harry decided to see more of the world with the USMC.

Postings in Okinawa and the Philippines followed before he completed his mandatory term and returned to Seattle. Despite the encouragement of his soon-to-be wife, Harry decided banking wasn’t for him and signed up as a neighbourhood cop with the local PD. Wanting to do more to tackle the scourge of drugs that blighted the neighbourhoods where he worked, he first trained up to join the SWAT team before deciding to join the FBI to tackle the organised crime gangs that caused so much misery for the people he saw every day.

His work in combating transnational organized crime groups (including the Triads and the Bōryokudan) took him undercover and Harry found himself in some tough situations. Perseverance paid off however, and Harry and his team thought were close to a breakthrough. A drugs raid went wrong and Harry was ‘made’. While the hunt for a potential mole goes on, Harry has found himself hastily sidelined into some special taskforce on the other side of the country, distinctly unhappy with the way things have turned out…

PROFESSION: Federal Agent
EMPLOYER: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Strength (STR) 13
Constitution (CON) 15
Dexterity (DEX) 13
Intelligence (INT) 12
Power (POW) 11
Charisma (CHA) 13

Hit Points (HP) 14
Willpower (WP) 11
Sanity Points (SAN) 55
Breaking Point (BP) 44

Skills
□ Accounting (10%) 10%
□ Alertness (20%) 50%
□ Anthropology (0%) 0%
□ Archeology (0%) 20%
□ Art (0%) 0%
□ Artillery (0%) 0%
□ Athletics (30%) 50%
□ Bureaucracy (10%) 40%
□ Computer Science (0%) 40%
□ Craft (0%) 0%
□ Criminology (10%) 50%
□ Demolitions (0%) 0%
□ Disguise (10%) 10%
□ Dodge (30%) 30%
□ Drive (20%) 50%
□ Firearms (20%) 50%
□ First Aid (10%) 10%
□ Forensics (0%) 30%
□ Heavy Machinery (10%) 10%
□ Heavy Weapons (0%) 0%
□ History (10%) 10%
□ HUMINT (10%) 60%
□ Law (0%) 30%
□ Medicine (0%) 0%
□ Melee Weapons (30%) 50%
□ Military Science (0%) 0%
□ Navigate (10%) 10%
□ Occult (10%) 10%
□ Persuade (20%) 50%
□ Pharmacy (0%) 0%
□ Pilot (0%) 0%
□ Psychotherapy (0%) 0%
□ Ride (10%) 10%
□ Science (0%) 0%
□ Search (20%) 50%
□ SIGINT (0%) 0%
□ Stealth (10%) 50%
□ Surgery (0%) 0%
□ Survival (10%) 10%
□ Swim (20%) 40%
□ Unarmed Combat (40%) 60%
□ Unnatural (0%) 0%

Foreign Languages and Other Skills:
□ Japanese (30%) 50%
□ Mandarin (0%) 50%

Professional skills/Bonus skills

OOC:I've not yet taken the 8*20 points because I'm not sure what to do about Harry's skill in Japanese. Brought up in a dual nationality household, he would most likely be able to speak the language but does that come out of the skill points? (I've actually done that with Jakob, not sure if that's right?

Points taken in Athletics (20%), Archeology (20%), Computer Science (40%), Japanese (20%), Melee Weapons (20%), Stealth (20%), Swim (20%)

Hi there GM,

Apologies again for the slow response time. Ditto the aging parents issue, made all the worse by this current zombie apocalypse. And any number of other things have cropped up the last two weeks.

Both characters ready for you to look further at. Obviously, I'm a big fan of Pedro Pascal's portrayal of DEA S/A Javier Pena in the tv series Narcos and so my DEA agent is more than a bit inspired by him.

Few other thoughts and comments:

1. I do own the pdf of the DG Agents Handbook, I just haven't got around to ever reading it. Will now though.

2. It's funny we're talking about obscure Federal law enforcement agencies. This week I started watching the new tv show Hightown and one of the leads plays a Special Agent with the National Marine Fisheries Service!

3. Happy with any and all suggestions you have as GM. I'm Tommy Foreigner and my knowledge of the US comes primarily from novels, tv and movies...

Dear Players-

No worries. I appreciate the time and effort you guys are putting into the game. My only real concern at the moment is a bit of the pacing. I am comfortable with it as it allows us some time to develop character and story. If you like I can post more.

Ok, story wise, I tend to allow quite a bit of deference to characters in talking about what their characters are up to, but I would caution that much of the backstory, the plot, the NPC behaviors, everything other than your characters is left to the story plot. So please be careful about what you add into the story or back story,as you may be taking the tale in an unanticipated direction. This is, in many ways, an interactive process of writing- I like a game that reads a bit like a novel, with the players determining their characters behavior in response to the circumstances shaped by the keeper. It might takes awhile to figure out the proper boundaries but we are starting fine.

To help along the way, I am going to create two NPCs that will be germane to this episode. Claire McKenna, the Asisstant US Attorney and a second agent, DEA Agent Antonio "Tony" Lapis, a seasoned DEA vet and someone who is a bit familiar with NY. For the most part, your characters are either recent transplants to the city or, if they have lived here for awhile, have been fairly focused on their assignments. Given that two of our players I think are Aussies (Viva Australia!), I think that might be helpful. Snapper- I think a knowledge of NY from movies and films is fine.

Claire McKenna serves as basically your supervisor and broadly utilizes her authority with the US Justice Department as lead prosecutor to oversee the functioning of the task force. She's also a lawyer and can help if you get into legal trouble (within some limits). But she's not an investigator and is handling other cases- so she's a bit of a character like "Skinner" from the X-files. The person who send you into the field to investigate and the co-between between you and the administration, but you are not sure how far you can trust her because you really are not 100% sure of her agenda. For now, she's the one who assigns you and gives you, your marching orders. Tony Lapis is basically here to help you orientate and perhaps introduce you to some potentially important NPCs, and allows me, as keeper, to help get you settled into the game. Like all agents, he comes with some past and has his own part to play in our unfolding story.

Again, our setting is NY about a year from now, after an election in which Trump got elected but there are significant questions about the authenticity of the results. Many think that the vote was "rigged". Covid continues to plague us as does the economic consequences and now racial protests. There is a lot of distrust everywhere- between the government and the "Deep State", between the police and society, between rich and poor. Lots of folks are out of work, economic recovery is slow. Homelessness is on the rise in winter, medical care is breaking down as infrastructure crumbles. It's been a long, cold and bitter winter in NY in many ways, and there is a lot of anger in the streets, much directed to the police and law enforcement. Many see the recent election as fraudulent and there is fear that factions of the left might strike as well as fear that factions of the right might favor more repression. The country is polarized, they are angry with an array of grievances, and they are armed. Meanwhile other problems seem to be lurking. A more aggressive China, Iran, Russia and other countries are getting more active as Europe largely shifts away from the US. The US is pregnant with potential instability and uncertainty, and the systemic effects are widespread. The broad feeling is that things are likely to get worse rather than better.

Our first investigation is here to get us started and orientated. Remember, this may be "horror" or "weird" and "macabre" but it is not necessarily Lovercraftian Mytho. Or it might be. Don't assume you'll be seeing Deep Ones or Cthulhu or Narly any time soon. I am not saying that they won't manifest, only that you shouldn't be looking for common monsters. Part of good horror, I think, is dealing with the unexpected and that your assumptions about the way the world works might be, fundamentally, off. We can expect some monsters but most of those monsters may be terrible people, not Elder Gods or Old Ones.

Cool?

Sounds good to me. I'm fine with the slower pace.

Fine with me.

All good!

Hey Folks-

Excellent. OK, I want to get us started. I've already posted a 1st post and will be posting a couple more about our NPCs.

Feel free to post your characters up to Personnel File.

Our first case takes place in a neighborhood called "The Hole" in Brooklyn. I'll post more about the area in our reference board.

Feel free to post up. Most of you have personal vehicles. If you are currently a field agent, you would probably have a car that you've signed out from your agency if you are FBI, DEA or ICE. Feel free to discuss your homes, where you live and give your character some personality.

The reference stuff and first posts will give you some more details about the backdrop. Remember, this is NY in March- so it's cold, wet, rainy. Sometimes we get a late snow. The year has been a bad one and the neighborhood, which is usually a "lost" city comprised mostly of vacant properties, dilapidated buildings and individuals that generally shun others, is becoming increasingly occupied by those made recently homeless. It's a dangerous neighborhood. Many people have taken shelter in abandoned buildings and trucks, but a new presence has come to the little community. It's wet, which means the hole is flooding.

The local police precinct is the 73rd Precinct.

I don't have enough time to read all of the posts and get started tonight. I'm hoping I can catch up during the week, but it may have to wait until next weekend.

Snapper and Phil, good time to be arriving. Your agents would converge on McKenna's SUV and you should be able to make out the vehicle not only because of its appearance but because of the government license plates. Handy, can you take your character from call to the scene? I'll be posting some pics for our NPCs.

Handy if you can't post I'll NPC your characters until you can.

Gents note that at present we don't know how much involvement Saudi Arabia has in the case, but its their property. Why would they buy property in The Hole, a forgotten if not 'lost' neighborhood in NY is unclear, but it might be that the government is doing a favor for some Saudis of import. But what the Saudi connection is will be one of the key issues that your team has to sort out. A second question will be "why it house explode?" and then there is the question is "who is behind the fire and explosion."

But it is also Saudi Arabia, and the US government has been very kind to the Saudis over the last administration (basically doing little in response to the death of a journalist who had a 'green card' and was planning to become a US resident who was decapitated by a Saudi "kill team" in their embassy in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia has been the key player in confronting Iranian expansion in the Persian Gulf, and we can see the war in Yemen being basically a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran in their tussle for regional influence, with the US backing the Saudis. Consequently, it can be guessed that the reason why the team has been called and the interest of the federals is not just to get to the bottom of what happened but to avoid any bad press about possible Saudi bad behavior in the US. So it's national security and politics.

Good news is that most of the current news is focused elsewhere, on violent riots and protests happening in some of the poorer areas of the Bronx and Harlem.

And folks, dont' forget, it's Covid time so everyone is wearing masks.

Hey there,

Will post tomorrow! I am in awe of the detail provided BTW, very good effort! Been working all weekend but I should be in my right or at least more creative mind tomorrow.

Two quick thoughts:

1. I had in mind the Camry was Conroy's own vehicle rather than an agency vehicle as he was operating in his own time, sort of. Not 100% sure how agency vehicles and personal vehicles work in the US. Might perhaps ret-con the post to a US make and model? Something appropriately nerdy.

2. Re the pollution of the Hudson - LAUGH! That was basically a guess that it would have big pollution issues but sadly the reality comes as no surprise at all.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to post tonight, but I'm still not done reading all the text. I'll try my best to get something posted tomorrow night.

Addendum to last post:

I'm going to go ahead and ret-con it to a Ford Fusion hybrid.

Also added a bit to Javier about trying to stay warm.

Hey folks-

Handy no worries. We all get busy these days, so no worries. If you need me to NPC your people, fine.

Snapper- There's a good chance your EPA investigator might be doing work related to the Hudson or the Port of NY. But oh damn the Hudson used to be bad. Much of the port of NY is basically dead, in large part because longshoreman unions were demanding more than the local docks could pay, so there really is very little shipping in the old parts of NY, but once upon a time, during World War 2, one could walk from Brooklyn to Manhattan on the decks of the aircraft carriers being built. The Hudson River, NY's main river, runs way upstate and there has historically been a lot of industry up that river - thus the PCBs. But a lot of that has stopped due to de-industrialization as well as regulation under the US Clean Water Act. Upstate New York does a lot of agriculture (lots of small farms and apple orchards), so a lot of the pollution probably comes from run-off from agriculture. There are a lot of tributaries on the Hudson.

New York Harbor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Harbor also includes the Port of Newark and Elisabeth. If you recall the movie War of the World's, Tom Cruise's character is an elevator operator long-shoreman working the docks of the container port in NJ. Later when he's crossing a river with his family, that river is probably the Hudson at Newbourgh, a crossing north of West Point (and the it is really pretty country). That said, the NJ side of the harbor is generally awful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_N ... New_Jersey Elizabeth is probably the reason most people think New Jersey literally stinks because of all the methane, natural gas plants in the area, and the port is the 3rd busiest in the US (which is really quite substantial). American's know this because one of the may traffic corridors in that part of the country is I-95 which in NJ becomes the New Jersey Turnpike and you get to drive right through that stinky industrial area.

As per the port, about 30 years ago, oil discharges from vessels were a major problem and the area continues to have problems related to a port town. Still the area is an interesting mix of port and working class neighborhoods. Bayonne has a large Muslim population. Newark has had racial issues for a long time, suffers a lot of poverty, and although it has NYC's second international airport, Newark has been referred to as the armpit of NJ, and NJ is the armpit of the US. That's harsh (and there are places in the US that are much worse). If you go across from Manhattan to Jersey City, you actually get some of the best views of NY City. Consequently, lots of people who can't afford Manhattan have moved to NJ as well as the other NYC burroughs, and not much further afield you actually find some really nice places in NJ.

Hey Folks-

One issue we will probably need to deal with is who plays supervising or lead investigator of the unit. Such a position would want the investigators to have a lot of discretion but would also be the person who wants to maintain coordination and perhaps represent the team as its spokesperson.

So far McKenna, Lapis and Wade are all NPCs that are with the JTF and part of the team, but this is your game so I am going to pull those players back a bit over the next few days. McKenna will likely talk to the NYPD to announce the federal interest and the need for discretion as well as the limit of your involvement, but then will probably leave the scene, with Wade, to return to the office. Wade's job is basically security for McKenna, so where McKenna goes, so does Wade, but that also means that Wade's involvement is very limited.

Some advantages. A lot of the library research, document research that you may want to do can perhaps be done through McKenna. If McKenna doesn't do it, she can probably assign Justice Department Staff to do the work for her officially. That doesn't mean you can't take the lead on that side of the investigation, nor does it mean you always want to move through "official channels." It may be that you don't want the Justice Department of McKenna to know all the details of your investigation. My advice is to use McKenna as a resource- a source for legal support and jurisdictional power when you need it and potential resource for research support. Wade would be a more limited resource given her primary responsibilities are as security detail, not as investigator.

So neither McKenna nor Wade will be point investigators but potential backstops at best, support when you need it.

Lapis, on the other hand, is part of your team and being an older investigator who has been in NY for awhile, knows a few people of importance, and can help your players adjust to the city. Realistically it would make sense for Lapis to play that role as lead investigator, but that would undermine your game, so Lapis will bow out if the suggestion is made and offer a reason that connects to the case he refers to earlier in the narrative. That said, Lapis's role in the game (at least for me) is to offer you a different perspective and some background to New York City, especially for those players from abroad, as well as allow me, as Keeper to offer some nudges if I suspect you guys have gone too far off course. But, as far as I am concerned, his role should be primarily supportive to your game. He's suppose to help, but not play a lead role.

Whoever it is, I would prefer it not be me. I've been playing in Mr Handy's game since I started on this forum recently, and Philulhu is clearly another experienced hand. Either or is fine with me. Also, I wouldn't want to be holding the team up if I had a busy week in the RW.

For preference, I think I'd rather we kept Lapis as boss but he took a background role as you suggested.

My RP experience has almost entirely been in team settings without an obvious PC team leader in charge.

Mr Handy has far more experience than me but I know he’s got many games on the go. I’m happy to defer to him if he wants it.

Aaarrghh!!!!!

I forgot the frustration that comes when you've been posting a thoughtful message to a game, brimming with useful information, only to realize that the message has taken too long, that you've been logged-out, need to log in and then the message is forever lost!

I want to scream my fury!!

(But that would have waken up spouse who would have asked me what was I doing and then giving me the cold shoulder of indignation for having awoken her with my howls of grievance, a fate no well-intended keeper should risk).

Tried to post in response last night, but it got lost and realized, despite my frustration, that I didn't have the time to redo and get the sleep necessary for a morning 3 hour zoom meeting. Catching up with work (grading and reading) but will try to post more today or tonight. Apologies for the delay.

I am so tempted to send Carnage a message asking if the automatic log-out can have further delay.

Crap. I haven't been able to access the forum since Friday.

Hey Snapper-

No worries. I tried to log in over the weekend and I think the site was down. I couldn't get in, so am pleased to see it up and running again. We're moving a bit slower than I had thought, but that's ok too. No real rush and the story is a bit.. complicated, even in the first chapter.

The site was undergoing maintenance, but it took a lot longer than I thought it would. About a week and a half ago I was notified that it would happen starting on Friday the 26th at 10:00 PM Eastern time, and it should have come back up by Saturday at 8:00 AM, but I had then forgotten about it until Friday night, when the site went down while I was in the middle of posting shortly before 11:00 PM. It's been down until today, and I saw that all the posts I made Friday night were gone, as they must have backed the site up some time before they took it down. A spammer I had eliminated was also back, so I had to get rid of it again.

Unfortunately, the weekend was the one time I'd have been able to catch up again, so now it'll have to wait until next weekend. Fortunately, I'll be off from work next week, so I should have no trouble keeping up then.

Cool, cool. I'm just happy we're back!

No worries. I am moving the game a bit forward. I suspect McKenna will soon remove herself once the introductions are made and the local PD knows that the federal gov has an interest and demands some secrecy. After that, McKenna and Wade are mostly back-up and support, leaving the investigators to investigate.

Hey Players-

So I've thrown a lot at you pretty quickly. More clues will soon be revealed. How goes the story thus far? Are you having fun with it? Let me know if you think I am being a bit too rushed in the story or if the pace is right. I can go either slow it down or speed it up.

A couple of thoughts. The building really is a ruin that has been tainted by the consequences of putting out the blaze, so a lot of physical evidence is likely to be tainted. It will take time to unbury some of that evidence. The local community is suspicious of the police but there are folks that are willing to talk. But you are getting witnesses and physical evidence.

Although you don't have a local office yet, there are two diners nearby where you might want to gather at some point, discuss what you've found and how to proceed. Plus, diner's usually do a good 24 service and serve breakfast.

I’m enjoying it

As you say, we’re just starting to gather evidence so pieces are slowly starting to emerge.

I'm really enjoying having the chance for once to play using the DG rules. Setting and detail etc is fabulous. (Also, I'm a colossal X-Files fan. Have been watching again with my teenage son, for whom it is all first time, and are halfway through Season 4.)

My only concern is your posts as GM are magnificently detailed. Unfortunately, I rarely have time to write really lengthy posts in response. I guess my concern is: how much detail do you want / hope for from us as players?

Hey Players-

Glad you are enjoying this. Honestly, the inspiration of this story came out of a video on The Hole and I thought it would make a wonderful place for a CoC adventure. I often think that CoC doesn't pay enough attention to gritty modern urban story. I think the Love's Lost Children was a notable exception to the rule, which I recall involved a punk band, a prostitute and a porn shop.

As for detail, no worries. Post what you can. What I am more concerned about is having players take a bit too much license that it disrupts the story, and then finding the right amount of freedom so you guys can really enjoy the game. Most of all, we just want to have some fun with this.

I'm enjoying it too, but I guess it has been moving too fast for me, as I fell behind and there was just too much reading for me to catch up on what I'd missed, especially when the site went down over the weekend. I've almost caught up now, and if I don't have time to post tonight, I should be able to do it tomorrow. Now that I've read almost everything so far, I expect to be able to keep up with it from now on provided I don't fall behind again.

Hey bud-

No worries. I am looking at where Miranda's investigation goes and hoping Darren stops Lapis and Dowd from opening up the truck, booby-trapped by a bunch of terrorists, and the end result is our game disappears and "the Hole" is about 10 feet deeper.

Just kidding.

Hey Players-

Snapper asked a good question about communication and honestly, I don't have an answer, but would think US agents probably have some kind of encrypted communication system for cell phones and that their cell phone conversations may be subject to some centralized communication system. This would not be exclusive- probably agents have their own cell phones, but official communications would probably need to be kept recorded and secure. Assuming updates and especially recent concerns about encrypted software in the US, shall we keep this simple?

A cellular frequency and communications line that would allow all agents to conference call, text each other as well as make regular calls to each other? More closed systems tactical gear would make sense for more tactical situations, but short of that, I think a cell phone line would make sense.

Sounds perfect. I know some people in state and Federal policing here in Australia and am aware many teams unofficially just started using WhatsApp because it does everything you describe. The various employers are playing catch up to create something more official but the problem is the free app is easy to use! Friends in IT assure me Signal is better/more secure though.

If the team has a phone app that can replicate WhatsApp or similar, and is more secure, perfect.

That sounds good to me too. Miranda Waterhouse may even have had a hand in setting up the system.

Hey Handy-
Well recall, this game actually is multiple episodes, so despite some of the language earlier in the game, things will change and this game will become more semi-permanent, even if I think this adventure will be a relatively short one. As the game extends, it may become necessary for the players to begin to develop a separate form of communication as some villainy may be coming from within the government itself. As for this episode, I actually think the pieces are starting to fall into place pretty quickly. We could, theoretically, be done with this episode by August or Sept.

Which actually is kind of fine. The goal of this adventure really is to start putting pieces in place that will have more meaning as we progress. There are a bunch of stories stewing around in the NY area but I actually see this game taking us next to the mountains, then to the border, and then to Latin America, perhaps with a trip to the beach in between, followed by, maybe a trip to Greenland, Atlanta, Arizona... Damn, almost a whole season in the making!

Brief outage there from the forum again, I think.

Hey Folks-
Apologies about slow response. I am wrapping up a summer class this week, and we are nearly there and had to help my wife with some Covid outreach in VA, so a bit of a pile of real life. Still, scheduling is clearing so I should be more available. Funny think is that i've come up with four more episode ideas for future games, one a bit light and the other a bit more odd and convoluted, a another really sudden and violent, and a fourth... well. So expect a lot of episodes to come.

Great!

Sorry Chaps, very busy week because of this RW goddamn zombie apocalypse.

Hey Snapper- No worries. Been a bit nutty this week on my end too.

Dear Players-
A bit worried the pace is going a bit slow. Let me know if this is working for you or if we need to speed it up a bit.
best
welsh

The pace is good for me. Of course, I only really have time to read the long posts on weekends.

Sorry Chaps, I'm lagging a bit at moment, getting crushed with work because of this goddamn zombie pandemic. - Snapper

Hey Players-
Apologies for the delay in posting. Work has crept up as semester approaches. So apologies for the delays.

All good, all excellent so far in fact. And I've been periodically flattened with work lately myself!!

Team, I think we're in danger of information being lost. Does everyone want to summarise what their characters have discovered so far, then we could decide on priorities maybe? I'll go first...

Gonzalez:
- Has 2 educated and hopefully reliable local witnesses who have described a battle of faith that has taken place between the local Christian church - which may have African mystical leanings - and the Muslims who moved into the blown up building. The Muslim sect in question may also have had mystical leanings. Both churches may have been influenced by older, more primitive and animalistic (and dangerous) religions.
- People have been disappearing in this area recently.

Conroy:
- Weird red dust everywhere at the site. Doesn't belong. Vey dry. Visions of the desert.
- Evidence of military grade weapons suggesting possible terrorist activity?
- Most alarming of all, bags of child body parts in the trunk of an Audi at the site.

A good idea. Claire Mckenna is expecting a call from DOJ for an update and a decision needs to be reached about federal jurisdiction and confronting the Saudis about the fire soon.

Sorry all, very busy right now, I'll be able to post on Monday.

Hey Snapper-
No worries, brother, I've been buried in teaching the last two weeks and barely time to get my head up.

Sorry everyone for the delays. First weeks of semester have been kicking my butt and on-line teaching is a pain in the ass. Will try to post more.

Hey Folks-
I hope to post this weekend, once I get a head on some grading and finish an exam. Here is a question on the exam that reveals I am thinking about you guys-

"The State of Harduk enters into a scientific agreement with the State of Mack to utilize Mack's space center, located on a remote tropical island of the South Pacific. Mack plans to send a crew of astronauts to a passing comet that soars past the earth only once every 100,000 years and is due to burn up into the sun and promises to share its scientific discoveries with Mack.

Everything is set to go when disaster strikes. Out of the water a giant monster arises. It is Cthulhu, the Great Old One, awaken from its death-like sleep and howling to the stars! Mack quickly tries to evacuate who ever it can, it cancels the space flight in order to rescue whoever it can, before the island is destroyed. While Mack is able to rescue a handful of people, everyone who does not escape the island and sees the creature is driven into a state of madness and begins to chant " Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" while the giant sea monster consumes the spacecraft, the space center, and everyone it can grasp in its tentacles. Having consumed all it can, the creature emits the deep rumble of a satisfied digestive burp for its recent snack, and then returns to the deep to continue its eons-long slumber beneath the waves. As it settles into the ocean floor, it causes a seismic quake that triggers to a massive volcanic blast that splits the island and sinks the ruined island and space center to the ocean floor. Above the earth, the comet soars past the earth before it burns up in the sun, it strange secrets lost forever.

Harduk sues Mack for the lost space craft and crew, as well as any losses due to the opportunity to visit the comet arising out of Mack's failure to provide the agreed upon services of the space center. "

What exam is that?

Thanks you. There's no rush on posting, as I still haven't posted myself. If I don't get it done tonight, I should be able to tomorrow.

What you wrote above is cool, but it's not actually a question.

Hey folks-

Actually its a fact pattern for my international law question- the question really is about defenses to a failure to perform an international treaty and the different potential defenses that can be raised. But one of the issues is "Act of God" and so... hmm... what if that god happens to be Cthulhu?

In which case, I expect any insurance you took out to be very much null & void...

A) Won't be able to post for about another 2 days as busy beaver.

B) Love it. The Act of Great Old One insurance clause / defence!

Did I mention I was watching the movie "Underwater" a few weeks back (killing time on a night shift) and suddenly was going, hang on, are those Spawn of Cthulhu eating the deep sea underwater mining complex? And then, wait, is that ...

(It also has the lass from Twilight running about in bathers.)

OK, I'm back!

Hey Gents-

Quick message to apologize for not posting in ages. If its any relief, I am behind in grading and letters of recommendation as well, so I am buried. Good news is that there is relief in sight. Our semester ends early this year (before Thanksgiving). I do plan to post, but it's been awfully slow. After Thanksgiving I have about 7 weeks of relative easing. I hope to post more between then, probably tomorrow evening as we watch the polls close in the US election.

Couple quick thoughts. Our time is basically split into two different types of investigators- lab type researchers (an forensic pathologist, a environmental lab fellow, and a tech/financial analyst) and then three door breakers (an FBI, DEA, ICE). There is a lot of evidence for our lab types to get their teeth into. The bodily injuries and especially the children found in the car, the strange red dust and soil samples might offer some clues not yet uncovered, and then a deeper dive into property and personnel records of Saudi purchases and perhaps the tracking the movement of containers through that Saudi shipping company- these might all offer useful clues. Likewise, we have some hard leads for the door busters- a Christian church that might not be all it promises to be, the culprits behind the fire are probably near and hiding in some derelict building or vehicle, and there is a meth lab in the area, the container with connections to terrorist networks, and let's not forget some crooked cops among the local PD. It will take some time to dig out that live body beneath the rubble, so you can make some progress with regard to your next moves in the interim.

Dear Players- Just a quick message and apologies for the long silence. Good news is that the semester is almost wrapped up. I have to get grades in next Monday and hope to start posting again soon and hopefully we can wrap up this episode sometime by early January. I also suspect next semester will not be nearly as oppressive so I should be able to see us through wrapping this up and perhaps, if you are willing, starting further adventures.

Hey Folks-

I am relatively free for the next 4 weeks or so and am hoping to post up to 3-4 a week to keep us moving along. But it might be worth summing up where we are in the game.

Some setting- We are in late March 2021 in a world in which the Pandemic has mutated and evolved. We can assume the vaccines are not working and that President Trump still runs the US, raising all sorts of issues as to whether the US is transitioning from a democracy to hybrid government.

Our band of investigators are exploring the explosion of a building linked to government of Saudi Arabia and a Muslim organization. Currently the feds are keeping hands off this one and leaving this to the police, but evidence is growing that the federal government will eventually have to take jurisdiction over this case. The US government hasn't yet because it's not sure it wants to cultivate the attention or any alarm. Race riots and gang violence in other parts of the NYC- mostly in the Bronx. Federal resources are a bit stretched thin so the federal government is trying to leave little real foot print in the case.

The explosion has taken place in a neighborhood called "The Hole" a lost neighborhood between two relatively busy secondary roads between Brooklyn and Queens. Generally populated by abandoned trucks and houses in relative state of decay, the neighborhood has often received little police presence and is something of a "wild west" by tradition, somewhat overseen by an NGO of black cowboys who regularly walk their horses through the neighborhood. The neighborhood is the lowest part in Brooklyn, lacks proper functioning sewers and is frequently flooded. Recent rains have led to some local flooding and might have helped damper any fires related to the recent explosion. Recently the are has seen an increase in people due to the economic declines and the virus spreading. Most of the people are homeless vagrants passing through, and the local property owners are a bit suspicious.

The property was apparently paid for by the Saudi government and has its own odd history. The Saudi's passed the property over to a religious organization, that sought to convert locals to Islam. In past years there has been some rivalry between a Muslim religious center and a local African Zionist Church over converting people that escalated into some hostility. The leader of the Muslim Center moved out and the property changed hands with some new occupants, who have withdrawn and have stopped trying to convert locals and have become significantly more withdrawn. Reports have also spread about missing people around the Hole, mostly of the passing vagrants, who have largely gone unnoticed. Again, historically there has been little police presence.

The building exploded fairly early in the morning. Evidence suggest that prior to the explosion it had been lit afire by local teenagers, at least one of whom was grievously burnt in the process and later died and some of the others might have been injured and are hiding out somewhere in The Hole. The building itself seemed to have been fortified, almost like some kind of bunker, such that when the building exploded, the roof essentially lifted up and then collapsed upon the basement. Those living in the upper part of the building seemed to have been killed in the collapse of the building, while those on the lower parts of the building seemed to have been virtually torn apart. A number of people have been found of different ethnicities and races, as have weapons, ammunition crates, and ammunition. Three vehicles were at the house when it exploded, all damaged, a taxi cab, a expensive sedan and a van. Ammo crates and shells were found inside the van. Bags of what appears to be the body parts of children were found in the sedan, perhaps linked to other body parts that have washed up on shores of local beaches.

The explosion also caused significant damage around the house, knocking over trucks and causing injury to local vagrants sleeping in nearby structures and vehicles. Most have already been taken to a hospital.

One container knocked aside is locked up and seems to have moved through a Saudi Arabian Import/Export firm called Red Wind, that has ties to terrorist networks, illegal criminal networks and various armed conflicts.

Police investigating the site have been combing through the wreckage looking for weapons, bodies and evidence. Sniffer dogs have revealed the presence of at least one survivor beneath the building and rescue workers are trying to dig the body out.

Among the various leads-
(1) The mysterious red dust seems virtually everywhere. This dust appears to have been kicked up by the explosion and is descending on the explosion site. It may be possible to trace this dust through some kind of a chemical or content analysis.
(2) The dead in the house can be identified further and a full examination of the body parts from the car seems warranted.
(3) The survivor in the basement remains to be recovered- but there is little to be done there that isn't at the moment.
(4) Those who started fire are still at large in the Hole. There is reason to believe it might be connected to a local methamphetamines network run by local organized crime types.
(5) The African Zionist Church remains worth looking into as the underlying cause may have something to do with competition over local converts.
(6) The Container from Red Wind remains locked, its contents unknown. A warrant is being sought.
(7) The Saudi connection has yet to be fully explored.

Team,

We might do better if we just focused on a few of the various leads we have. We can circle back to other leads later. And now we have the CIA adding to the melee.

I'm biased but obviously Gonzales is keen to follow this church that may be at war with the Islamic centre, and Conroy has powder etc to follow up.

Conroy can probably operate solo but Gonzales would definitely need back up.

What would the rest of you like to follow up on first? I have no problem with anyone suggesting something they think is a higher priority than my plans.

Lee Shaftoe can follow up on what ICE has on the various foreign nationals. Miranda Waterhouse would like to find out what's inside that sealed container, once the warrant comes back.

Both sound like good plans. I wonder what the time frame of getting the warrant is?

Hey Snapper- Holding back to let you ask Kromkowski the CIA guy some further questions. I'll edit the the post to address the warrant for the container.

Hey Folks-

I've picked up the pace a bit as things are getting a bit "tasty" but let me know if the pace is going a bit too quickly.

It’s fine for me.

All good!

I was okay with it up until about a week ago, but I was off from work for a week. Now that I'm working full time during the week again, I may not have time to read lengthy posts and reply to them until the weekend.

Hey Folks-

Just wanted to shoot a quick message. Buried in grading (it's end of term) so its papers, exams, more papers- until grades are in. But there is light at the end of the tunnel so I hope to post soon.
best
welsh

All good Mate, happy to wait if you're happy to keep going.

Ok, thanks for letting us know

No worries, I'm happy to wait too.

Hey Mates-

Again, apologies for keeping you waiting. Grading is happily over and done, but spouse and I had to go off to visit my 92+ year old Mom for the first time since the pandemic, and internet access has been spotty as hell. I will be posting a few pm's soon and then hopefully get out something a bit more in the next couple of days. Have not forgotten us in this cliff-hanger moment.

Ok. I hope your mum’s well and you have a safe trip.

Harry’s SAN check (55%) - 1d100

The same for me.

Miranda's Sanity roll (current level 70):
d%

Hey guys-

Thanks. Mom is well, which is kind of remarkable for a 91 year old.

Holding back as Snapper has to make a couple of rolls - for Conroy and for Javier. I've shot Snapper a pm. But I can roll for him as well. I'll give it till Weds. Snapper, if you can pm the rolls that would be great. If not, I'll roll up for him.

But at the moment, the two characters that really are in play are Harry and Miranda. Harry, passes his sanity check, no sanity loss there. You can see the pm. Miranda is not so lucky. Handy, let's take those rolls through pm.

The dice roller doesn't work from within a PM, so I'll have to make any rolls here.

Hey Handy-

No worries, we play by an honor system. Feel free to roll and let me know what you get via pm. I'd like to get Miranda's mental state worked out before we make more moves.

Plus, I am holding back for Snapper.-- On second thought, seems Snapper has been away since May. I can roll for him.

The only PM I got about Miranda was the one asking for a Sanity roll, which I rolled above and failed. I didn't get any instructions for additional rolls beyond that. Is the Sanity roll in the IC thread for all characters, including Miranda again? I'll need to know how much Sanity I lost first if that's the case, as that will determine what I need to roll against with the second one.

I'm also running out of space for PMs. I still have some room left, but eventually I'll have to start deleting old PMs, and I'd rather avoid that.

Back with you!

Unhappily, fails for both Conroy and Gonzalez.

Should I post for both of them anyway or wait to hear how they react?

Hey gents- sorry I have been awfully slow posting. I’ve had a bunch of things going on and am currently abroad. I should be back around Aug 1. Again, apologies for the delay.

Hey Folks-

Sorry to do this but I am sending some further apologies for being an absent dungeon master/handler/Keeper. Things have been hectic, in part because of being abroad, then aging family, then I got hit with some serious health issues, and now back on campus teaching. I was recently diagnosed with Cancer and while it is treatable, it does mean I need to focus on that, while also balancing work obligations. So apologies for the delay in continuing the game. I haven't forgotten this or you guys, and do plan to return to the game soon- or at least once things get settled down. So apologies for the delays and hopefully I will be able to return to gaming- and honestly, I could use the distraction and fun of it.

Hi welsh,

Take all the time you need. Your health’s the most important thing.

Finger’s crossed for you.

Phil.

I'm willing to wait as long as you need too. Take care of yourself, and I hope things get better for you.

Fuck me, that's no good Mate. It's a good thing the last 18 months haven't been completely hellish on top of that, no wait...

Your health is your priority. I'll still be here. (Assuming the internet doesn't globally collapse, and if that happens then Winter is Here.) Feel better soon!