A Question

[Academia Nut]

"Long has there been rumination upon the lines that divide man from beast and about what makes a human being become a monster. Is it something innate? Are all the evil men of the world simple born as is and wait for the right time to express it? Many would protest this as a general rule and say that it is circumstance that moulds a person's soul, and that while some are made of stronger stuff than others even the weak can find nobility of action and the strong can fail when faced with the choices that truly matter.

"But what if there is no choice? What if the only choice is between a number of equally bad options. What if a man is presented with an offer for a 'gift' from an agent that cannot be trusted, and the gift cannot be refused. If there is no choice, not even the option to refuse to decide, then how do we judge a man? Do we judge him by his intentions when making the choice? But do we all not agree that the road to hell is paved with good intentions? Does it make a man a monster for being forced to do business with monsters? Or do we judge by the decisions made after the deed is done?

"And what if we expand this question? What if the offer is not 'accept this gift' but 'choose your gift'? What if a man has a choice in the roads of damnation he walks, even if he cannot turn back? Do we judge a man based upon the desires in his heart when forced to expose them. What if the devils presenting this gift already know what lurks there? Can we slice hairs and say that one gift is worse than another, that when given no option it is sinful to make the most of a deal you do not want?

"But you all say, when is such an occurance realistic? When are our options only those of damnation in equal measure? Have we not all the choice to refuse to decide, or to pick the less rather than the greater evil? I ask, 'How do you know you have never encountered this?'"

~Ruminations of a Mad Philosopher, 1907

---

Ahem. This is a bit of an oddball idea I have been kicking around for a free form roleplay set in the modern day, in a world not unlike ours on the surface. The genre will be supernatural conspiracy for the most part, but action scenes are more than likely to crop up. Character creation is simple: create a character. Create a person, give them a backstory, dreams and goals, and they may be as sinister or as noble as you wish. As a general guideline though your character should fit somewhere in a vaguely working-to-middle class spectrum of adult age. Other than that though, your character is up to you. Doctor, lawyer, scientist, steel worker, student, farmer, gem-cutter, miner, sales clerk, engineer, technician, soldier, detective... whatever. You may "tag" up to three skills you think your character is particularly good at. The more specific you tag something, the better you are at it, but also the less broad the application of your skills. Some sanity is required of course, and some explanation for how you acquired these skills, but generally if a human being could possibly learn it you could pick it.

Then tell me how your character would have got aboard a plane flying over a mountain range in Costa Rica. Are they there for work, for tourism, or for something else? Find a reason they might be aboard such a plane, gazing out at the blue-violet flashes of lightning across the clouds at night as a storm approaches.

Finally, tell me what is that your character truly desires. What lies at the core of their heart? Is it money, fame, strength, a need to be loved, a thirst for knowledge? If the devil showed up with a contract already signed for their soul but the price line blank, what would they fill in? That is the question.

Let us see who answers and how. If you have your own questions, I will endeavour to answer them.

[Losonti Tokash]

This sounds interesting. I'll try to write something up for you by tomorrow afternoon.

[fgalkin]

Interesting, indeed. I am considering joining this as well.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Academia Nut]

Oh excellent. I already know a few basic details of the character Losonti wants to make, but what sort of character are you interested in fgalkin?

[Squidgey]

Intriguing concept indeed. Ignoring most of the other parameters asides from adult roughly middle class spectrum of scope, the whole you're someone on a plane is quite intriguing as a basis. I'll think on this and maybe write something up.

Cheers,

Squidgey.

[Cynical Cat]

I'm somewhat interested, but I'm having difficulty coming up with mundane human character ideas that I like.

[Soontir948]

I'm somewhat interested, but I'm having difficulty coming up with mundane human character ideas that I like.

I am sort of in the same boat as well. I thought up a character but then it was just Villa (cowardly thief) from Blake's 7.

[Academia Nut]

Well if you're interested but can't come up with an idea, then worst case scenario just rip off yourself. Not like I would know the difference, although you would and if self-insertions make you burn up inside then perhaps you shouldn't.

In any case, I fully intend to allow the characters to do a lot of the setting of the intensity level of the supernatural as a consequence of their actions. I'll only really kill you for doing something truly stupid, but ill thought out ideas or deliberate intent will escalate things. I'm thinking of sort of starting it out somewhere around Lost meets Bourne Identity meets Call of Cthulhu, but by your choices and actions your character need not remain mundane.

That said, just because everyone gets a non-fantastic origin does not necessarily mean they must have a mundane origin. If you think you can play it, feel free to go nuts with your character. There are a lot of people in the world with a lot of backgrounds. A woman born in Montreal to Haitan immigrants who was raised in the traditions of a vodou witch doctor is acceptable if you can do it well, as is an officer in the German Bundeswehr or a Harvard educated lawyer. If you can think up a character, find at least a half reasonable excuse for them to be on a plane over Costa Rica (tourist is always acceptable) and then play that character, you're golden.

[Cynical Cat]

This issue isn't that I can't think of any ideas, it's that I can't think of any ideas that I want to play. I'm not in the mood for a mundane.

I'm going to browse through Kult and see if I get any ideas.

[Academia Nut]

Not to give too much away, but think of it like rolling up a World of Darkness character and then not going the final step of adding the supernatural. Yet.

[Cynical Cat]

Not to give too much away, but think of it like rolling up a World of Darkness character and then not going the final step of adding the supernatural. Yet.

I figured that out. That's why I'm interested in playing at all. Also, trying to create a character that way doesn't work. Horribly corrupt LAPD detective from the 1930s? Nightmarish occult experience? Horrific cult heritage? Nope. None of those work because I'm starting as a fucking mundane.

I'll let you know when I latch on to something I like.

[fgalkin]

Not to give too much away, but think of it like rolling up a World of Darkness character and then not going the final step of adding the supernatural. Yet.

That's what I thought, da.

As for what I'm playing, to be honest, I haven't given it that much thought. I've been pretty busy this week. I'll come up with something soonish.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Cynical Cat]

Dane Karlsson

At age five Dane was found in his house by police, covered in blood. His parents and infant sister had been horribly butchered and odd, ritualistic markings had been painted in blood on the walls, ceilings, and floors. His older sister was missing and never found. There wasn't a mark on Dane and he had no memory of what happened.

He went from one foster home to the next, eventually joining the army at age eighteen. When he got out he went to university and then joined the RCMP, but by then he had begun to develop a drinking problem and was forced to retire.

Now thirty-three and having gotten a grip on his drinking problem, Dane works in the private detective and private security field. He is haunted by nightmares he can't remember and the ancient crime whose solution eludes him.

Abilities

At 191 cm and 87 kg, Dane is on the tall side and physically fit. He is trained in the use of weapons and hand to hand combat, as well as being a professional investigator with a bachelors degree in criminology. He isn't extraordinarily proficient in any particular field, although he does have good reaction speed and an excellent sense of when a situation is going to degenerate into violence. He has problems with his temper and drinking, which are mostly under control, but which could flare up again.

[Academia Nut]

Excellent, excellent. I was going to say when I got less busy that knowing about hints of things not right in the world would be totally acceptable, you just couldn't have your character submerged from birth in the supernatural. Looking good there. If I may make a few presumptions, Dane here seems to be good in combat, criminology, and investigation, that sort of thing? And what he wants most in the world is information and knowledge, specifically about what happened to his family? That about sound right?

[Cynical Cat]

Yes.

[Losonti Tokash]

Zachary Edenfield

SAN DIEGO-A pair of human corpses found last Tuesday have been confirmed to be that of missing paramedic Sarah Williams and Fred Beckel, police say.

The two bodies had been disemboweled and impaled into a tree roughly 30 feet into the air, baffling investigators. A police spokesman refused to comment, citing the ongoing investigation, but a source speaking on condition of anonymity claimed that detectives suspected multiple persons were involved, due to the difficulty of placing the bodies in the location and position found.

Williams and Beckel, along with police officer Brian Frazier, had been missing since May, when Williams and her partner Zachary Edenfield responded to a 911 call by Beckel near San Ysidro. The events resulting in their disappeance have not yet been released, although Edenfield has been placed on administrative leave since the incident.

CRITICAL INCIDENT REPORT, 22 MAY 2009

The following is, to the best of my knowledge, an accurate recounting of the events that occurred on 19 May 2009.

My partner and I responded to a call near San Ysidro around 2100. Dispatch reported a hysterical man claiming that he had been assaulted with a knife and that police would meet us at the scene.

Upon on arrival, partner and I met with officer Brian Frazier. Frazier reported he had secured the scene and escorted us into the house, which was unlit. We made contact with the patient, who presented with an altered mental status and was very combative. Beckel was critically injured, with several puncture wounds and lacerations across his thorax and upper extremities.

I left to the ambulance to inform base of our status and started to make my way back inside the house when someone began screaming and I heard several gunshots. I entered the hallway to see Frazier struggling with a large figure. Partner and Beckel were nowhere to be seen. Frazier told me to get out and call for help, and so I ran to his squad car and did so.

I did not re-enter the premises until escorted by additional police officers, by which time Beckel, Williams, and Frazier had disappeared.

I attest that this statement is a factual accounting of the events that occurred on this day. The statement is true, and unembellished.

Respectfully submitted,
Zachary Edenfield

[Academia Nut]

Well, out of the four people who have shown interested two have cooked up characters and I should have another party from offsite roped in pretty soon. Any more interest out there?

[fgalkin]

Just a quick question: what kind of plane is it? Large airliner, smaller domestic jet, private plane, bush plane that takes eco-tourists to their jungle campground, etc.?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Academia Nut]

The plane is a mid-sized propeller driven commercial transport with two screws. It carries about forty people when full, but its only about half full on this trip, and its primary use is local transport between cities and towns in Costa Rica and other Central American countries. Some people aboard are eco-tourists, some are there for some sort of business, probably government on NGA work of some sort. The plane makes numerous stops at small places with airfields big enough to handle it, and it is basically the airborne equivalent of a Greyhound Bus.

[Cynical Cat]

Then tell me how your character would have got aboard a plane flying over a mountain range in Costa Rica. Are they there for work, for tourism, or for something else? Find a reason they might be aboard such a plane, gazing out at the blue-violet flashes of lightning across the clouds at night as a storm approaches.

He's no longer a cop, but he's an ex-cop and ex-military. He's heading to South America on consultation job about kidnapping prevention.

[fgalkin]

Well, I've had some ideas for a character on the train ride home today.

1) "I'm a Doctor, not an...uh..doctor."- Mid thirties, working for a major pharmaceutical. Is a doctor...of history. After a failed career in academia, decided to do some good, and is currently working as a supply officer for the GSK regional center in San Jose, overseeing the distribution of medicines to local hospitals. Wishes he was an actual doctor, but is utterly hopeless in any kind of hard sciences.

Motivation: A genuine desire to help the world, combined with the inability to do so in a greater capacity. Wishes he was a researcher, but figures if he can't make new medicines, he could at least get them where they are needed.

Reason for being on the flight: Returning from an inspection trip to a remote region.



2) The Misanthrope - Late teens. A NYC model on a trip to get away from it all. Adopted from Russia as a young girl, she did not get along with her new family and eventually left home as a liberated minor. Worked various odd jobs to support herself, eventually entered modeling, which supported her through high school. Utterly hates the fashion industry and her colleagues, yet could not abandon an opportunity to earn 40k a year working part-time. Is currently a freshman in college, majorly depressed, thoroughly disillusioned with people, and is on a trip to the jungle to get as far away from them as possible.

Motivation: Complete disillusionment and disgust with the human race, combined with a desire to find belonging.

Reason for being on the flight: Eco-tourism



3) The Wanderlust King- mid-thirties, travel writer. Ran away from home at 15 and never looked back. Hitch-hiked all across the US, then all over North America. Has been working as a travel writer for the past 10 years, which enabled him to travel to every part of the globe. Has been to all 7 continents. Is currently working on a guidebook on Tortuguero National Park for Lonely Planet.

Motivation: No strong motivations beyond the desire to see the world. Has usually dealt with problems by leaving them far behind.

Reason for being on the flight: Writing a guidebook to Costa Rican jungle.



4) The Lord of War. Late thirties to early 40s, an NGO official. On the surface, a dedicated OAS bureaucrat, tirelessly working to ease the plight of the poor. In reality, he is using his position as a cover for his true job- a facilitator for gun and drug smuggling. Extremely ruthless and manipulative. Obviously, the "evil" option.

Motivation: Greed and a desire for adventure- he loves living on the edge, risking being discovered or killed. (at the moment, might change if I decide to develop this character further).

Reason for being on the flight: Inspecting various poor regions, and scouting out potential buyers in the process.



I'm not sure which one of these I will choose, or maybe I will come up with something entirely different tomorrow. If I do decide to go with one of the above, will expand their background in a separate post. If AN or my fellow players have a preference as to which one of these you want me to play, let me know.

EDIT: Formatting

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Academia Nut]

Anyone of those ideas should work, although the last one might be a touch problematic at times. I think the second and third options might hold some more promise though. I will admit to GM bias on the third one though because I can do a few fun things with that one. I have no overwhelming desire to promote or kill any of your ideas though at the moment.

[Soontir948]

Here I go.

Andy Throckmorton is 25 years old and loves trains. He attended college for two years majoring in mechanical engineering after high school but rising medical costs by his ill mother forced him to find a good paying full-time job when the family savings started to run dry. Passing the required examination, he becomes a train conductor and later on an engineer (driver) fulfilling one of his biggest dreams. Ever since he started driving a subway train, he's been seeing things that couldn't be.

Skills: General knowledge of science; first year physics, chemistry, etc., general mechanic skills, first-aid & CPR (conductor training).

Tourism: After spending a few years being underground most of the time, he decided to take the money he saved and go on a trip to see new things, forget about his dead mother and whatever seems to be in the tunnels.

Although his fantasy of becoming a train driver was fulfilled, he hadn't had female companionship for a long time. If there was anything he gained when working the long hours in the tiny train compartment, it was the sense of isolation and lack of hope for a chance to meet the love of his life.

(I want to go with loneliness for now although I feel like giving him something more ambitious like trying to fulfill one of his other dreams such as wanting to start up his own train manufacturing company but the problem of raising capital and the stiff competition from the already few other train companies out there crushes any chances he believes he has.)

Thoughts?

[Academia Nut]

Looks good. Hmmm... great, now I can see you guys being able to successfully hijack a train to make a get away later on. Oh well.

Also, sorry about the delay, I was (still am technically) waiting for a response from someone else who has yet to post here. In any case, I think we can start this Friday at the latest whether anyone else shows up or not.

[fgalkin]

Looks good. Hmmm... great, now I can see you guys being able to successfully hijack a train to make a get away later on. Oh well.

Also, sorry about the delay, I was (still am technically) waiting for a response from someone else who has yet to post here. In any case, I think we can start this Friday at the latest whether anyone else shows up or not.

Uhh... I think a NYC subway train is quite different from your typical railroad locomotive. I mean, I've seen the controls in them, and they're rather...simple. Granted, all you need is "go" and "brake" but still, a subway train operator is not the same as a railroad train engineer.

EDIT: I am going with Character #2. I'll post an expanded version today or tomorrow.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin