OOC: Chapter Two- The Death of a Sea Captain

[Raiko]

Back again

Please feel free to resolve any actions for your character in chapter one before (or at the same time as) posting in this chapter.

[BlackGoat]

dunno what happened but for like 2 days i couldn't even view the site, but all is well now. I've reviewed everything and i'm posting this because i thought everyone might enjoy it.

I had a dream a few days back and suddenly out of the normal flow of the dream the lexington-starkweather conflict became an issue of conversation and it was said that they are competing before starkweather was the butler of the lexington residence LOL. When i woke up and thought back to it i was laughing.

[Decrepit]

Time permitting today, Jack would like to carry out as many of the research tasks as possible that I outlined in the Chapter One post. Basically, he wants to check with any of his police contacts about the Lexington affair and try to find out why the sudden change of heart from the daughter.

[Raiko]

I'd suggest an IC (or OOC) brainstorming session again for now, don't forget to share information between characters, as long as your character trusts the others. 8)

I don't really want any of you to leave the Rose Room for now, and I definitely don't want you leaving the hotel as I've got a little more to post here still. I'm giving you all the chance to discuss recent events first though. I was going to make my next 'plot post' tomorrow as a 'Sunday plot push,' but I'll give it a couple more days due to the recent server problems. I'll probably make small posts for NPCs in the meantime, but the I'll allow you up to three days from now to discuss things IC/OOC.

If nobody seems to be posting then I'll move things on earlier.

Just so that you don't worry too much about getting the game off track - chapters two and three cover events between now and the new departure date (9th September), so between the two chapters they'll cover much less game time than chapter one did.

So if you don't do any investigating, then depending what other events the future holds these two chapters will rapidly by completed by three more days of "cargo checking."

If you do choose to investigate things then you have two real-life months the resolve your actions for these three days, without impacting my "schedule." 8)

Basically the game now has much more opportunity for more intensive role-playing. I intentionally skimmed through chapter-one as it would take months to play in more detail, and I was worried the whole campaign would bog down.

[Henrik]

There's a lot to investigate:

1) Why the Arkham Sea Captain died for once. Visiting his brother would be a good idea.

2) The Lexington woman and the murder of her father. Perhaps we even could get hold of that supposedly missing book by Poe.

3) The mysterious letters addressed to Professor Graves. Who has sent them?

This is what I can think of presently. Is the Dyer Report summarised somewhere? It would be an interesting read.

[Raiko]

The Lexington woman and the murder of her father

Surely you mean suicide.

Is the Dyer Report summarised somewhere? It would be an interesting read.

Graves and Jack each have a copy of the Dyer Summary Report from their trip to Arkham. If they share it with you I'll PM a copy to you, I've not posted it as if takes a full night for each character to digest. Decrepit or Charles Graves are welcome to post an IC summary themselves though, to save Olof reading it.

It's probably also available at the NY Public Library.

[Raiko]

I forgot to say that as nobody except me and Charles_Graves seems bothered about the standard CoC “skill check” system for experience, I’m going to stick with it. As I said I “hate” it, but as long as most of you don’t then there’s no problem – and I think it’s probably best to avoid house rules wherever possible in pbp.

“Hate” is actually stronger than I really feel anyway, it’s quite a “realistic” system I think, particularly for it’s time, I just dislike the randomness of it a bit.

So I’ll be double checking the skill checks for the prologue, and updating the character sheets tonight. I’ve decided to lump together chapters 1-3 and the start of chapter 4 for “skill check” purposes, so your next improvements will occur when the Gabrielle eventually departs during chapter 4.

This is because, depending on your actions chapters 2 & 3 could be very short (indeed we may end up going straight from chapter 2 to chapter 4). Keeping the whole New York section as one “skill check period” seems more logical (and in tune with the chapter structure of traditional globe-trotting Chaosium campaigns eg MoN or SoYS).

I’ll break up the rest of the campaign into logical sections, for example the whole voyage south will probably count as one period.

[Decrepit]

Jack can stay put for now.

Looks like we have at least two reasons to meet up with the police.

If someone asks Jack for the Dyer report summary, he'd divulge it. He's seen no reason not to trust anyone in the group yet, and the report isn't exactly secret anyway.

[Steerpike]

Jack can stay put for now.

Looks like we have at least two reasons to meet up with the police.

If someone asks Jack for the Dyer report summary, he'd divulge it. He's seen no reason not to trust anyone in the group yet, and the report isn't exactly secret anyway.

Well McRaven is feeling out of sorts now that he's been cheated out of his talk with the commander. Right now he needs to link up with Jack and figure out some way of getting to the captains room and do a search similar to the one they conducted in lawrences room. Maybe even check with reception and see if the capt had any phonecalls.

So he and jack can maybe mull over a course of action with Mcphearson, something to think about.

[Raiko]

@Steerpike: McRaven has time to follow Isugtag out if he likes, he could grab Jack and Sean to accompany him if he likes, but there would be slightly more chance of loosing Isugtag that way. Nobody else particularly noticed Isugtag leaving.

Or he can just talk to Jack, as planned.

Nobody else has time to leave before the stranger walks in and takes a seat, you are all still talking. Everybody still present notices the stranger, no spot hidden rolls required.

[BlackGoat]

I think the investigative checklist was compiled good lol.

I personally have a feeling Dyer will be going down soon.

Sean is currently just trying to fit in. He knows the group has already been through some dirt, and now that he's in on it too he just wants to fit in. He'll be trying to establish some social commonplace with a few of the characters as you've seen. You can almost guarantee if anyone asks for volunteers to accompany them...he'll be almost always up for it.

[Raiko]

Upon seeing Callum & Nils approaching the docks James hurries to greet them "I have had a chat to Moore & would like to let you know what I have learnt if you can spare a moment"

I think you've got a little mixed up, James spoke to Moore on the 5th, it's now the 6th.

Everyone except Isugtag and McRaven are still in the Rose Room of the hotel.

Please could you edit your post, and talk to Callum and Nils (or anyone else who's there) in the rose room.

I'll post later tonight, I've got a couple of things to do first.

EDIT: The above is mostly my fault I guess, I got excited when the fprums reappeared last week, and posted the start of Chapter 2 when some of you probably hadn't even had chance to read my last posts of chapter 1. Sorry about that.

[Raiko]

OrionUK has updated James’ previous post now; to speed things up you can assume that all your characters now the details of James conversation with Moore, and of Moore’s worries about the 1930 expedition.

@Steerpike: McRaven sure gets to visit all the best parts of town.

One of the other Keepers (welsh) has suggested placing a “plot synopsis” thread in each game, I think that that’s a good idea, so I’m going to try and write one up. Hopefully this will make things much easier to remember in the months ahead, as well as helping new players and readers of the campaign.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

And what do you all think so far? I'd appreciate any feedback, you're mostly still here so hopefully the game is enjoyable, but I'd like to know anything that could make it better.

[Decrepit]

It'll have been over two weeks by the time my computer at home will (probably) get fixed. Sorry for the sporadic posting.

More on-topic, do I remember how Jack feels about Hanson, or should i just make something up?

[Raiko]

I sent you a PM about Hanson when he first appeared, it's still in my outbox so you must have missed it.

It describes what Jack knows about him, you can decide for yourself whether Jack likes him or not.

[Decrepit]

Sorry. I'd seen that PM but had forgotten about it after catching up on posts.

[Decrepit]

As Jack really doesn't know where Douglas is, he's probably just going to tell the detective what he knows, which isn't much (mainly that he was going to meet with Douglas for an interview) -- unless someone would like to play this differently. As I tried to suggest in my last IC post, Jack has a favorable impression of Hanson, with whom he's had something of a working relationship.

[Raiko]

I've just been giving people a little time to notice that the boards are back up on the new server before continuing.

I'll post again tonight, I can't continue the story at the Westbury until Mister Juan, or Steerpike have posted though.

[Charles Graves]

Just thought I'd mention to those of you in Britain that one of the specialist subjects on the quiz show Mastermind tonight is HP Lovecraft (8pm BBC2).

[Charles Graves]

Oh well, according to the Radio Times magazine it was supposed to have been HP Lovecraft as one of the subjects today on Mastermind.