OOC: Chapter 1 - NEW YORK, Starts 12th Jan 1925

[Raiko]

That was probably my last IC post of chapter one, I'll give you all a day or two to post replies while in prepare the beginning of chapter two.

The rest of the voyage will be storm free, and the view of the eclipse is excellent.

You can decide for yourselves whether your characters suffered from seasickness during the storm. For anyone who wants to make a roll for it, the rules used in Beyond the Mountains of Madness require a CONx2 percentage check to avoid seasickness during such a storm on a relatively small vessel.

As Laraqua said there are rules for skill gains at sea in Masks, I'll post them later, unfortunately you can mostly only boost academic skills that are below 10%, as you are assumed to be receiving such increases merely from reading a textbook.

I've not sorted out the main skill checks yet, hopefully I'll get them done tonight, together with the summary list of clues from chapter one.

[Decrepit]

I think we missed out on about three RL months of RPing the shopping.

[Raiko]

I apologise!

[imme]

Good. So, let's talk about hats ...

[Decrepit]

These are some insane hats.

[trixie]

So, are we to go ahead and post and just make up what our character would be doing, or are you bringing us into the scene Raiko?

[coffee demon]

Question for Raiko:

Should we say how we're packing weapons? Are firearms legal in England at the time?

Andrei's WWI officer's pistol is at the bottom of his trunk, with no ammunition. He's packed eight bullets seperately, inside a metal container holding some of his important documents.

At first, Andrei was lugging around the pistol (and a sabre) as keepsakes, but the pistol has become more useful now.

[Raiko]

So, are we to go ahead and post and just make up what our character would be doing, or are you bringing us into the scene Raiko?

I've left it so that you can all just gi ahead and post whatever seems right for your characters.

Unless I need to post a response for one of you, I'll be waiting for a day or two and then posting about the rest of your voyage, the arrival in Liverpool and your train journey to London.

That will mark the beginning of Chapter Two.

If nobody posts anything, then I won't be upset and I'll begin chapter two tomorrow.

Question for Raiko:

Should we say how we're packing weapons? Are firearms legal in England at the time?

Andrei's WWI officer's pistol is at the bottom of his trunk, with no ammunition. He's packed eight bullets seperately, inside a metal container holding some of his important documents.

At first, Andrei was lugging around the pistol (and a sabre) as keepsakes, but the pistol has become more useful now.

All firearms in Britain required a firearms licence after 1920, except for shotguns.

Astonishingly it appears that even the BAR could be licensed in Britain until the 30's, when modifications to the Firearms Act, based on the Assault Weapons Bill in the US, banned all fully-automatic weapons.

I've tried to find out how the Firearms Act applied to foreign visitors, but as I can't find anything conclusive, I'll say that you can obtain a firearms licence with the rest of your travel documentation.

Note that the BAR must still be smuggled into Britain as it's a stolen/blackmarket weapon, and easily identified as such if it's carefully checked.

It's also worth remembering that gun-crime was extremely rare in Britain during the 1920s, so you should think carefully before actually shooting any of them.

[Raiko]

I'll begin Chapter Two ASAP, hopefully tonight, but I might not get chance to post from home.

I've decided to drop Wrl101 from the new players, as he's not been online for a couple of weeks, and hasn't sent me a character sheet or background yet. He also dropped out of Ash without any explanation.

I've had to slightly modify this post, as a result of removing his character. You'll possibly not even notice the difference.

If anyone has any objections to me moving the game onto chapter two right now, then please let me know and I'll hold off for another day or two.

[Maksim Rukov]

I don't suppose his newlywed couple's therapy could give him a skill increase in psychoanalysis? Or his seasickness coddling grant him an increase in Medicine? Not pushing for much. A 1d3 in psychanalysis as it's pretty high - or perhaps a bit more if I was allowed Medicine since I believe it's quite low. Not pushing for both. Just angling here. Be fine if refused.

Don't move it off into Chapter 2 just yet. Give us a few more posts. A rare moment of joy before you kill us all.

[Laraqua]

Maksim will have tried to mother Andrei whether he likes it or not. He would have been brought cups of coffee, cookies and the like when he stays up late and Maksim would have offered to play cards or brandy once in awhile, though it is clear that there is no pressure. Maksim also ensures Andrei has plenty of newspaper or books to keep himself occupied and will treat Andrei's hiding as a dignified retreat necessary for the war-against-cult effort, rather than as hiding away, thus allowing Andrei to do so with dignity. He will treat it like that whenever alone with the other investigators, and encourage them to think the same way.

If allowed in to spend time with Andrei, he will try to use his psychoanalysis talents to try and help Andrei feel more comfortable. He will not attempt to pry Andrei out of his room and into the public, respecting his privacy. He will also adjust his tone to be more subdued, thus not freaking Andrei out.

[Grafster]

It's also worth remembering that gun-crime was extremely rare in Britain during the 1920s, until a number of high profile incidents involving running gun battles between gangs of foreigners caused such a furor that Parliament was forced enact to the strictest gun control policy of any nation in the world during an emergency session.

Johnny "Shotgun" Wong, died serving multiple life sentences in the Tower of London in April of 1977. His last words?

"You all owe me your lives"

Fixed that for ya.
Some rping on the boat would be neat.
I think most folks are mostly in the "my character is slowly turning paranoid" mode though.

I have some family in town, and some classwork to deal with. But I -will- start taking advantage of the wiki soon.

[Maksim Rukov]

My new happy and sulky Maks piccies. Couldn't find the others. These are appropriately young though.

[Raiko]

It turns out that I probably won't get chance to write a long post today anyway (like I need to to start the new chapter), so you'll have at least anyother day to roleplay onboard the ship. I'll try to post something tonight regarding the eclipse at least.

I'll see how things are going tomorrow, if everyone's still having fun on the ship I can always concentrate on moving along my other game until next week.

It's also worth remembering that gun-crime was extremely rare in Britain during the 1920s, until a number of high profile incidents involving running gun battles between gangs of foreigners caused such a furor that Parliament was forced enact to the strictest gun control policy of any nation in the world during an emergency session.

Johnny "Shotgun" Wong, died serving multiple life sentences in the Tower of London in April of 1977. His last words?

"You all owe me your lives"

Fixed that for ya.

Don't move it off into Chapter 2 just yet. Give us a few more posts. A rare moment of joy before you kill us all.

Fair enough.

Masks suggests 1d4-1 point skill increases during ocean voyages, and only among a short list of skills.

But as I'm such a nice keeper , I'll allow 1d3 to any one single skill that you can justify increasing. I'd hate for you all to roll 0s.

So yes, Maksim can boost his Psychoanalysis or his medicine, your choice.

My new happy and sulky Maks piccies. Couldn't find the others. These are appropriately young though.

I only see the happy face at the moment (I can see forum avatars, but not imageshack images while I'm at work).

It's nice to see Maksim looking happy again...
For a little while anyway.

[Laraqua]

http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1311095

1! Whoopdydool. Adding it to psychoanalysis. And yeah, those two piccies look largely the same anyhow. Just a mood change. Makes them more appropriate.

[coffee demon]

The most sensible skill increase I can imagine for Andrei is Occult. He's been very interested in the documents they've collected, and is looking for solutions among the ancient myths and strange stories. I rolled 1%.

BTW, Raiko, are you going to roll for our SAN gains? Or should we? What did you say, 1d6?

[Raiko]

The most sensible skill increase I can imagine for Andrei is Occult. He's been very interested in the documents they've collected, and is looking for solutions among the ancient myths and strange stories. I rolled 1%.

That's fine.

BTW, Raiko, are you going to roll for our SAN gains? Or should we? What did you say, 1d6?

You can roll if you like, yes it's 1d6, but you can't exceed your starting SAN.

I'll be getting the skill check stuff sorted out ASAP, it's a long list.

[Laraqua]

http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1312170

5 skills.

[Maksim Rukov]

5 sanity that is.

Also, up to Raiko's whether it's a real diamond ring though perhaps a cheap one. I figured he may have won them at gambling ages ago though I'm willing for the diamond ring to be only as good as his Credit Rating deserves.

Don't worry, Maks ain't just gonna be random.

Caroline might even see that there is a plan behind it all (she has high psychology). She's only gotta figure out what.

[trixie]

Holy hell in a handbag Maksim!!!!

Timour feels so left outta the loop.....lol. Popping the question? Just like that???