(OOC) San Francisco by Night II: A Requiem in Fog

[Ladorak]

Only need to replace one of my aspirations;
1. Everything in now in flux, secure a position of power once the new status quo settles.
2: Show up my Sire.
3: Make a masterpiece commemorating the fire the night of the fire

[Bennosuke]

Apologies everyone again and again and again for my delays in posting. Everything is again work related, though I believe now through the end of next week will be easier. IC post pending

@Ladorak: I like the proposed aspiration, and am updating Lillith's character box.

[Erulasto]

Sorry for the delay. Been crazy busy at work and not getting a proper amount of sleep during the day. I feel like a vampire lately, minus all the cool bits.

Also, 10-Again.

(1d10)[9]

That wasn't a great stealth roll all in all. Hehe

[Erulasto]

10 Again for the Grapple Check

(1d10)[5]

[Erulasto]

Here's the initiative check. Can I use the prior roll for my combat roll for the first round?

And how many ghouls are in there with Zach?

(1d10+7)[13]

As far as how I'd hope this plays out? Hopefully incapacitate the ghouls, or render them unwilling to engage on Zach's behalf. While it'd be neat to convert them to our cause, I don't think that's viable for Aisling even without the Beast riding her hard. Her primary goal will be to take care of Zach in as swift, brutal and merciless a fashion as she can.

Just the notion of venting her Beast on him. Poor sap.

On a side note....maybe we should find a way of making sure the Ghouls aren't going to rat us out? Zach was one of Gorman's henchmen, so I don't think they'd get a lot of support from those involved in killing him....but we've still got enough enemies (Blackstar, for example) who might capitalize on some perceived wrongdoing.

EDIT: Also....the ghouls might be a good source of blood to replenish our stores?

[Bennosuke]

Initiative roll (1d10)[1](1) +4

Attack roll (4d10)[5][3][10][7](25)

I will wait for Ladorak's rolls before resolving everyone's rolls.

EDIT: OOOH. This looks REALLY BAD for Zach.

[Daishain]

Maybe I should have come with you guys after all. Oh well, little late

[Bennosuke]

If you have more time I can start you off with a conversation with Gabe.

[Daishain]

I was more thinking about maybe being able to get them in there a bit more quietly, but sure. Things have quieted down a bit on my end

[Thundercracker]

Maybe I should have come with you guys after all. Oh well, little late

Actually Anna thinks this whole trip is a Very Bad Idea, and there are two reasons she’s going along with it:

1. Coterie cohesiveness. This is OOC. Lilith and Aisling are both relatively new, and really Anna would probably just cut both of them loose because going after this guy unprovoked is a clear violation of the traditions. But because that’s not cool for the game, and because this whole thing was prompted by Aisling’s frenzy risk which erulasto isn’t in control of, I’m making Anna’s choices so its easier to get the two characters integrated into the coterie, rather than out of self preservation which is what she’d probably do if she were alone.
2. She didn’t get to use her new sword against Gorman and she’s thirsty. She might get to kill two birds with one stone here, since there are ghouls present.

[Erulasto]

I’m not going to lie, I think this is a horrible idea as well. Hehe but, really, I’m doing my best to play up the Bestial x2 condition. It’s a balancing act. I don’t want Aisling to become a liability for the rest of her Coterie.

But I do appreciate the help!

EDIT: I'm glad it looks bad for Zach! The last thing I want is to traumatize everyone with an unnecessary fight.

[Ladorak]

Init: dex+composure
1+3
(1d10+4)[12]

[Bennosuke]

So I'm not even going to ask Ladorak to give me an attack roll, his initiative roll pretty much seals this for me. I'm just going to treat this as a "down and dirty combat" and give it to the players.

Also, yes, this is a terrible terrible idea. But that's the point of the beats and conditions system, to encourage the players to make decisions that from a meta or player standpoint, but serve to heighten the drama or drive further storytelling. The players are going to get exactly what they want out of this scene, and a few players will get some extra beats, but you better bet this will have ramifications in the future!

[Thundercracker]

So I'm not even going to ask Ladorak to give me an attack roll, his initiative roll pretty much seals this for me. I'm just going to treat this as a "down and dirty combat" and give it to the players.

Also, yes, this is a terrible terrible idea. But that's the point of the beats and conditions system, to encourage the players to make decisions that from a meta or player standpoint, but serve to heighten the drama or drive further storytelling. The players are going to get exactly what they want out of this scene, and a few players will get some extra beats, but you better bet this will have ramifications in the future!

Honestly the beats and conditions aren't really factoring into it for me (though I definitely won't say no to the beats, there's about 5 things I want to purchase right now). I'm doing it to keep the coterie together. Just curious why you had my character take part in the beating, _and_ cut the guy's hand off when the stated goal was to:
1. keep aisling safe
2. prevent anyone from escaping

Anna isn't under compulsion or frenzy (as far as I know) so actions during the combat should have been mine to determine. I had pictured my character watching impassively while Aisling had her way with him, pulling her off when she went too far, or stepping in if it started looking dangerous for her. The _plan_ (contrived as it was, since my character would have just let Aisling run amok while she safely checked into a hotel) was to say she went with Aisling to make sure she didn't kill anyone. That goes out the window a bit with this guy's hand severed forever (unless we can just stick it back on, curious about that).

I could be ok with it so long as we can justify why things went so pear shaped. Maybe Zach looked like he was getting the upper hand, so Anna relieved him of it?

Also since you're asking, what Anna wants out of this scene is to first step blood bond Zach. That'll leave her at 3 at the start of tomorrow evening which means hunting will be first up on the agenda, and probably second up on the agenda and possibly third.

[Bennosuke]

Just curious why you had my character take part in the beating, _and_ cut the guy's hand off when the stated goal was to:
1. keep aisling safe
2. prevent anyone from escaping

Anna isn't under compulsion or frenzy (as far as I know) so actions during the combat should have been mine to determine. I had pictured my character watching impassively while Aisling had her way with him, pulling her off when she went too far, or stepping in if it started looking dangerous for her. The _plan_ (contrived as it was, since my character would have just let Aisling run amok while she safely checked into a hotel) was to say she went with Aisling to make sure she didn't kill anyone. That goes out the window a bit with this guy's hand severed forever (unless we can just stick it back on, curious about that).

I could be ok with it so long as we can justify why things went so pear shaped. Maybe Zach looked like he was getting the upper hand, so Anna relieved him of it?

My apologies if you felt I forced your character to do something outside of what you wanted... which is obviously not my intention. My description of Anna was partly based on your attack roll with three successes and my interpretation of the following (apologies again if I did misinterpret):

2. She didn’t get to use her new sword against Gorman and she’s thirsty. She might get to kill two birds with one stone here, since there are ghouls present.

I figured given your attack roll, and the above, it was fitting that Anna got to do something cool with her sword as part of the beat down. I had Anna act first, because she had the highest initiative.

Ultimately, I'm happy to just retcon what I posted and have Anna in a more passive position, or however you want to describe her participation. It was simply meant to be a little bit of flare to reward the players for their rolls and help move this along (again, played this out as a beatdown scene rather than letting things drag out with round by round combat on a relatively unimportant fight). Hope this clarifies, and that ultimately we are still cool.

That goes out the window a bit with this guy's hand severed forever (unless we can just stick it back on, curious about that).

While it isn't explicit, I assume the hand can either be re-attached or regrown. The book basically states that vampires can recover from any non-aggrevated damage with enough time and blood, and there are plenty of "cannon" VtR stories with this described. Just my take on it though.

Also since you're asking, what Anna wants out of this scene is to first step blood bond Zach. That'll leave her at 3 at the start of tomorrow evening which means hunting will be first up on the agenda, and probably second up on the agenda and possibly third

VERY INTERESTING . I guess let me know what you want to have had Anna do, then just feel free to RP through the blood bonding.

[Thundercracker]

Yeah we’re cool. Other ppl describing my char’s actions is a pet peeve of mine (be it player or GM).

I actually like the idea of Anna jumping in when (she thinks) Zach looks like he might get the upper hand, stepping back again until he’s beaten to a bloody pulp, then helping Lilith pull Aisling back from the brink. If we’re good with that let’s say that’s what happened.

I’ll post assuming it’s ok.

[Bennosuke]

Sounds good to me. Responding IC in a moment.

[Erulasto]

I’m so sorry for the delay. I’ve had a nasty stomach bug and I’m just able to get out of bed (more or less) now. I’m making posts as I can.

[Bennosuke]

Should I give Lillith or Aisling a chance to act/react, or shall I just close things up???

[Thundercracker]

Should I give Lillith or Aisling a chance to act/react, or shall I just close things up???

Unless something's going to happen, I think we can continue RP in spoilers. Would be nice to have a chat on the way to the hotel as well.

[Erulasto]

I think the notion of continuing via spoilers works fine. I'm sure Aisling is going to get a stern talking to. This was a pretty reckless task for them to undertake. But I hope the immediate benefits outweigh the potential harm. Wishful thinking, perhaps.

[Bennosuke]

Okay, finally had time to catch myself up with everything. I'm going to wrap up the this interlude and give out a few more beats, and address a few things. If the players want to continue "playing out" the end of interlude scenes that's fine by me.

Outside of beats there are a few things to address:
-I was originally going to have one more interlude scene where the characters hunt together, as a coterie, having them hanging out at Mel's Diner and taking down some prey together. I see this as a way give back some lost vitae, but also help establish the coterie as a unit. Does the group still want to do this??? The one issue is it means that I may do a little time warping for characters starting the next Act.

-@Daishain: I still need you to update Karl's aspirations, at the very least replacing the "Kill Schultz" aspiration

-The coterie's haven has been at least partially burned to the ground. However, the coterie still hold's the shared merit "Safe Place" at 3 dots. We can resolve this one of several ways. 1. The three dots can be redistributed to another set of shared merits, the haven is completely wrecked, and a new Coterie Aspiration is obtain a new shared haven. 2. Because the place wasn't fully burned to the ground it will only be a matter of a few weeks till a new and usable structure is built. Being able to control the design and rebuilding, the new haven comes back even better than before. The group's merits are simply on hold, and we assume each individual character has similar dots worth of temporary safe place as they rely on friends or use personal resources. 3. You all are smarter than me and have a better idea that you want to float.

-As always, let me know if you want to update aspirations or spend more XP on anything.

On to the odds and sods of beats and character specific planning.

-Aisling: Aisling gets a single beat for completing this "short" interlude. She gets two more beats for resolving the x2 Bestial Condition, and in doing so, making some new enemies for the coterie. With these three beats, Aisling has 1XP and 2 beats. Let me know if you want to buy anything. Otherwise, my idea for Aisling's first scene of Act 4 is her attending her next Circle coven to continue shaking things up, working towards her third aspiration. Please let me know if you have another scene you would prefer to pursue first.

-Anna: Anna gets a single beat for completing this "short" interlude. She gets a second beat for the blood bonding of Zach which was a terrifyingly brilliant idea. This brings her to 3 beats and 2 xp. Let me know if you want to buy anything or if I'm missing anything. Otherwise, my idea for Anna's first scene in Act 4 would be her attending a formal meeting with the new Prince D'Agostino to spend her boon and ask for the property of the mental institution in San Francisco. This will also possibly feed into the Hound aspiration as well, but please let me know if there's something you would rather start with.

-Karl: So Karl was a little inactive during this last scene, but he gets a single beat for completing this "short" interlude. This brings Karl to 1 beat and 4 XP. Please let me know if you see another way to get a beat. Again, please let me know what Karl's updated aspirations are. In regards to his first scene in Act 4, I think the first thing to address would be a phone call with Fred Rugg, which may require a little bit of time warping if you are okay with it.

-Lillith: Lillith gets a single beat for completing this "short" interlude. I'm giving her a second beat for assisting in the beating of Zach, as this both works towards her old Aspiration of embarrassing the Prince, and towards her new one of establishing her power. This brings Lillith to 1 beat and 2 XP. Let me know what you think, but I think the first scene for Lillith in Act 4 involves her finding out that her Sire has come to town in the unstable political environment of San Francisco.

Please speak up as always if you think I missed a beat somewhere, or if there's something else I can help make this better.

[Thundercracker]

I like option 2 because we don’t need to come up with a new thing, we can just keep working with what we’ve got and keep improving it.

Re: hunting, Anna looks like crap. She has a bullet hole in her shoulder which she will patch up with the first aid kit in her car, and she’s so low on vitae she is not going to be able to seduce anyone, so she’s going to go on her own and find someone in an alley somewhere. Maybe make it look like a mugging. After that she might hunt with the coterie.

I’m good with the starting point. At last starting to get some movement on this aspiration which is good.

[Daishain]

I think Karl would replace his first aspiration with some variant of "Secure an unofficial or unassuming position advising the new prince."
Probably have a couple of subobjectives involving helping clean house after the transition of power, sorting out anyone not likely to accept the new ruler or were complicit in Gorman's crimes. Also likely some work making sure whatever influence he gains is safe, either assuring rivals that he's no threat, or that he's got enough leverage on their activities to bury them for good, whichever fits the situation.

Karl hates being in the limelight, having all the attention is to wear a target on your back. He likes effective power, but he'd much prefer to be the man in the shadows behind the obvious rulers that no one pays as much attention to as they should.

[Bennosuke]

As mentioned in the werewolf OOC thread:

My sincere apologies for being away so long this week. Suffice to say it has been a busy and dramatic week. That said... Happy Halloween! In the spirit of the game and the holiday, I am giving every character one free Halloween beat! I'm not going to tally it up in this post, but you will find updates in your character sheet.

Beyond this, I really hoped to respond to TC and Daishain earlier, so that we could move things forward, but it has been a truly hectic week for me. For the sake of simplicity sake, I'm going to be doing some picking and choosing quotes to reply.

Re: hunting, Anna looks like crap. She has a bullet hole in her shoulder which she will patch up with the first aid kit in her car, and she’s so low on vitae she is not going to be able to seduce anyone, so she’s going to go on her own and find someone in an alley somewhere. Maybe make it look like a mugging. After that she might hunt with the coterie.

Sorry if this was not clear, but my imagination is that the hunting scene would take place at the start of the next evening, rather than at the end of this night... as dawn is approaching. Because of this, Anna's wounds should be fully healed. Per the rules for "Open Wounds", Anna and Karl's Bane, the wounds heal up once you go to sleep.

That said, if you want Anna to hunt once before dawn, and want to jump someone, you can have Anna give me a Dex+ Brawl, or Str+ Stealth roll depending on how Anna is going to go about it.

I think Karl would replace his first aspiration with some variant of "Secure an unofficial or unassuming position advising the new prince."
Probably have a couple of subobjectives involving helping clean house after the transition of power, sorting out anyone not likely to accept the new ruler or were complicit in Gorman's crimes. Also likely some work making sure whatever influence he gains is safe, either assuring rivals that he's no threat, or that he's got enough leverage on their activities to bury them for good, whichever fits the situation.

How would you feel about Karl taking on a role of Hound, like Anna. A hound is basically a go getter for the Sheriff (whomever that may become ), sometimes they are more like toughs, and sometimes they are more like spies or information collectors. They have a bit of power, but ultimately, the extent of their responsibility in Kindred society is doing as they are told. Karl could possibly even negotiate to make his new role "secret" or whatever, so he doesn't draw any more attention.

I know Erulasto is tied up at the moment, but I think Ladorak may have missed my former post. Not to delay things too long, but I will PM him now to check this thread, and will otherwise move the IC thread along first thing in the morning. This will also give TC and Daishain a chance to respond.

[Thundercracker]

Anna is going to hunt first thing tomorrow evening, not before dawn.
She’s still at 1 bashing damage and hasn’t healed it. If the wounds close up over night that’s fine, I was assuming they don’t if the damage remains.

[Bennosuke]

So would you be amenable to the group hunt then?

[Thundercracker]

So would you be amenable to the group hunt then?

Yes sure. Long as she is convinced it’s just as fast of a way to get some blood.

Honestly she’s just going to keep hunting until she is full. Everything else is going on hold the night after the Prince’s death. She’ll also withdraw some cash to replace what she gave Zach.

Edit: oh, does this count as in between chapters and we are allowed to spend resources again?

[Bennosuke]

Yes, this counts as in between chapters. This is more of an extra scene to help establish the coterie as a coterie, a group of vampires who work together.

[Ladorak]

Sorry I missed that, that plot hook sounds great :)