I think I've ST'd myself into a corner

[WarKitty]

First off, if any of your forum names are Artemis97, Destro_Yersul, or Madmal...SHOO!!!

Ok, here's what I'm trying to do. This is innocents/hunter (mostly innocents atm). What I want them to discover is that they are all descendants of one particular individual, that their families were all killed by his enemies (though notably not by the same monster or group of monsters - this is important), and that they are or may be at risk themselves.

What I have so far is that they have a school project to research their family history. Between them, they have a diary belonging to the mother of one of the PC's and stamped with an arcane symbol, a musket ball stamped with that same symbol, and a book about witches that talks about the witches "of the bridge" (spoiler: DuPont) and has that same symbol in it. I'm slowly working on figuring out lines of descent for each of them.

Story behind the family history is that there's actually one guy who's learned to give himself immortality using parts of monsters. He's actually the ancestor of all of them, but he has been posing as various members of the family. Now the legitimate family has fallen into disgrace, so he's turning to these three girls as potential heirs to his monster-hunting emporium.

So, yeah, I'm just having a hard time getting it to where something interesting is going on without giving away the whole plot. I really don't want to spend a huge amount of time on this whole slow research thing, but I do want to build some tension.

Any suggestions? Or things I could clarify?

[Honest Tiefling]

Well, if I understand this correctly, Mr. Immortal thinks that these three youngsters will make for excellent monster hunting heirs. But he either has to test them, train them, or recruit them.

For the testing, weakened monsters are set at them. Examination of the monster reveals they have some personal items of the girl they were sent after. This tact probably won't work if you intend to follow through with this deal, but it could be creepy. Especially if the monsters were weakened to prevent the girls from dying, so not only were they attacked by a werewolf, but one with substantial burns, bruises and broken limbs.

For the training, accidents happen. One of the girls is in the drama club? Flood the auditorium. Go get a better hobby. The track all-star is selected to compete instead of one of them? Break her legs. Pool is broken, preventing the swim club from meeting? Mysterious donation!

Perhaps the latest persona this guy is using is a doctor. See, there's been...Concern in the area because quite a few families have tested positive for a genetic condition that makes one susceptible to something or the other. He's calling, even if the family really hasn't spoken, due to concerns of them possessing these genes.

Or heck, he's just doing some research into his own family tree and he keeps seeing this symbol...Oh, you see it too? Let's compare notes! Your mother is suddenly injured from a mysterious animal attack? The poor dear, I'll take care of hospital expenses, and you need a car to get to school, use mine. Perhaps one of the girls did legitimately see the attack, and he can try to subtlety direct her to correct information, and hint that he's got some military training, he could show her a thing or two...

...Is there anyway for this guy to arrange a family reunion? I mean, its cheesy, but that's how most people get back into touch with far flung relatives, yes? And then monsters can crash it...Or they are weakened types of monsters from the first bit of advice.

And when in doubt, one of the monsters sets a building on fire. That'll grab their attention, and they probably want to figure out why someone tried to commit arson to kill them to prevent it.

[WarKitty]

The one thing here is none of these girls have any living relatives that they are aware of. They're all in a foster care system. So prior to this project, they had absolutely 100% no idea they're related to this big family or to each other. In fact, at this point, they still haven't figured it out.

If it matters, they're currently 10 years old.

[Honest Tiefling]

...Oh. Well then! I was assuming a more serious Buffy type of situation. My bad!

You know, when I was in elementary school, we had this project where we compared our phenotypes with that of our parents. and be somewhat related to the material of a family tree. I don't know what would work, but they could all three have traits that are recessive and rarer in whatever population happens to be dominant in the area. (For now, I will assume standard American populations, because lazy). I believe the inability to roll a tongue is a common example? You could tuck this event in quietly, hiding it behind a different purpose (some kid tries to bully them by stealing the work sheet or making fun of the fact they don't have a family) and have it be a lingering hint.

A woman could be going to the school, claiming that as a teenager, she got pregnant but was forced to give up the child. She's actually a monster, or controlled by one. She's trying to convince the foster parents to let her spend time with one of the girls, or to find out where they live. The monster could change their opinion on this matter (Hey, some might have maternal instincts!), or try to attack, only for the man in question to destroy the monster.

There's always the ol' standby that he tries to get a job at the school as a P.E. teacher or the like. The kids have reason to suspect him! The last one disappeared all of a sudden! He could be a vampire because he hates garlic! I think that's a trope plot, actually.

Or...Kill the foster family and someone tries to become the new foster family, I'm not really sure how dark this game is supposed to be.

Through if I was in this odd situation, I'd try to lure the children into taking some karate classes. I never thought I'd type that sentence, but that way you know they can defend themselves a little better. Maybe have the mentor himself pose as an orphan, and have a slightly older kid encourage them to go to her father's classes because he's SUCH A DORK and she wants some friends there.

[WarKitty]

Right now they have a school project to trace family background. This is roughly modern-day so you can assume access to things like the internet and all those various sites where you can trace your family history, plus probably go poking around government records and whatnot if you're so inclined. The family they're from is actually pretty famous in the area in real life, so there would be plenty of records of them.

We're looking at the eastern seaboard of the U.S. - think a bit south of Philadelphia.

I was thinking that the old monster hunter probably has his hooks in the creation of the orphanage. It's meant to be a cross between a foster home and an orphanage, where children who are considered "troubled" or too old to be adopted easily live in foster families within a larger complex that can provide extra support, such as on-site tutoring and counseling. It's exactly the sort of modern project a wealthy donor would fund.

[Honest Tiefling]

Well, that gives an answer. I'd do some sort of dummy plot, such as a science project fair to string things together. A B-plot, if you will, to establish personalities.

Can I ask what the monster hunter's plan is? Presumably he has more of an idea of what to do then acquire orphans. And did he make them orphans?

[Thrudd]

So he knows they are there, and wants them to find out about him so he can start mentoring them? And he knows this project is happening (he maybe even suggested it to the teachers, as the wealthy patron of the place they tend to do what he says?)

He puts up a website that they easily find when they do a search for the symbol they all have in common, that associates him with the symbol. There is also a personnel file conveniently left somewhere they will find it at the orphanage, which gives him as their closest living relative, and his address. Somewhere else in the orphanage, is his framed photo with a plaque that says he is the patron of the place - they can ask the staff about him.

Skip to them being reunited with their long-lost uncle scaryguy, who takes them from the orphanage to a big creepy house in the countryside, and the game begins as they start their training. Maybe throw someone spying on them lurking around while they go to school, and a staff member or two at the orphanage who act suspiciously when the girls ask about him or notice the results of their research, and then disappear before he shows up. Maybe at the last minute before they meet, there's an attack by a monster, and uncle scaryguy saves them.

I mean, I assume this is basically the prelude to the teen girl monster hunter squad adventures, "scaryguy's angels", and eventually they are going to learn that uncle scaryguy is shady as hell and what he's been up to and that all the monsters aren't necessarily bad guys, their uncle is really the bad guy and has just been using them to preserve his immortality. There will be conflict, because they have treated the monsters like monsters all along, and now they might try to ally with some monsters against their uncle, but nobody can really trust anyone else.

[WarKitty]

Well, that gives an answer. I'd do some sort of dummy plot, such as a science project fair to string things together. A B-plot, if you will, to establish personalities.

Can I ask what the monster hunter's plan is? Presumably he has more of an idea of what to do then acquire orphans. And did he make them orphans?

The idea is that the various enemies he's made over the years have made them orphans, presumably to prevent him from doing exactly what he's doing now.

Mind, this is WoD, so the monsters aren't nice. Uncle/grandpa/pa/brother (weird incest vibe intended) isn't nice either. Again, it's WoD, this isn't a world with a lot of nice guys in it.