# Resurrection City



## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 15, 2004)

I'm not ready to run this yet, but I figured I'll start getting the players lined up.  I have three possibilities lined up already.  This'll be using d20 Modern rules, give me a few days and I'll get you more specific character creation info.  

Storywise, it'll be vaguely Cthulhu-ish, but as it's using Modern rules, it's a bit more survivable.  Exact timewise, we'll be dealing with 1893, and since I don't know if it goes without saying, it is going to be set in London.  I'm not English, so UKers, forgive me if I make any horrible errors.  So I'll whip up what we need to start, and in the meantime, anybody who wants in, chime in!  If you wanna go ahead and come up with a character concept, go ahead.


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## Ferrix (Apr 15, 2004)

i think i might want in, but i'll need to do some figuring out of that time period to get a grasp on what a good character concept would be...


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## Karl Green (Apr 16, 2004)

Kewl... well now lets see, have to think about a character  

Maybe a lay priest or something, Church of England all the way! hmmm to many ideas


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 16, 2004)

I'm game.    I've been waiting to use my d20 Modern book for a while.

Best,
Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 16, 2004)

Yay.  That's three.  I'm probably looking for 4 or so overall.  Next post'll be some  specific stuff on how the campaign will be altered.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 16, 2004)

London of the 1890s is a complicated place, social class-wise.  The classes are, for the most part, segregated by location within London.  Although not entirely accurate, the general divisions of the area are as follows.  Most regions bounded by the River Thames in the south, Bishopsgate Street and Shoreditch in the east, and Hackney Road to the north (the neighborhoods of Bethnal Green, Spitalfields, Whitechapel, and Limehouse, and beyond that the Isle of Dogs) can be considered the East End.  In the 1890s, the East End is mostly a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" in Star Wars terms.  All manner of lunatic, criminal, and poor "unfortunate" (the more socially-acceptable word for prostitute) infest the area.  This area was the haunt of the (in)famous Jack The Ripper and his predecessor, Spring-Heel Jack.

West of Bishopsgate Street and north of the Thames is the West End.  This end of town is a mostly middle-class and upper-class district, and as you travel further west into the neighborhoods of Kensington and Bayswater, the residents are almost exclusively upper-class.  The most notable exception to this is Soho, in the central part of the West End.  This is the domain of the artists and actors - and Seven Dials, a noticable seven-point crossroads towards the edge of the district, is a notorious den of thieves and cutthroats.  On the banks of the Thames is Westminster, very much the seat of government in the city (except, of course, for the Houses of Parliament).

South of the Thames is the South End, the most notable neighborhood being Lambeth.  For the most part, the South End is a low-class residential district.

Academic: Academics of the 19th Century are professors, librarians, and museum curators, much as in d20 Modern.  Typical places of employment for an Academic include universities such as Oxford, Eton, or Cambridge, or the British Museum.  Class Skills - eliminate Computer Use.  

Adventurer: Adventurers of the 19th Century are of two types.  Either they are big-game hunters in such exotic locales as Africa or India, or they are what passes for archaeologists in this time.  Class Skills - as d20 Modern.  

Athlete: Athletes are often cricket players.  Class Skills - as d20 Modern.  

Clerk: Clerks are often employed by some company or another, or as low-level employees of the British government.  Class Skills - as d20 Modern White Collar, except eliminate Computer Use.

Creative: The artists, musicians, poets and actors of this era live in all manner of neighborhoods throughout London, especially Soho.  Most are looked down upon, however.  Class Skills - eliminate Computer Use.

Criminal: Like all big cities, London of the 19th Century certainly has no lack of criminals.  Most, of course, live among the teeming throngs of the East End, but all sections of London have their own sorts.  Class Skills - as d20 Modern.

Dilettante: Dilettantes are often heirs to minor nobility, or simply extremely wealthy.  Only a scarce few actually live in London, most keeping to their estates on the outskirts.  Those who do, however, usually live in the West End.  Class Skills - add Knowledge (nobility) to class skills.

Doctor:  Doctors of the era mostly live in the fashionable West End or Westminster.  Though they may work in the London Hospital, in Whitechapel, not many live there!  Class Skills - replace Computer Use with Research.

Entrepreneur: Entrepreneurs are a rare occupation, usually reserved for owners of large companies such as Lloyd’s, or Messrs. Kearny & Tonge.  Class Skills - as d20 Modern.

Investigative:  Detectives may live anywhere in London or its environs.  Class Skills - replace Computer Use with Bluff.

Laborer: Laborers of the 19th Century include miners, machinists, carriage drivers, hawkers (street salesmen), porters, stonemasons, and any of countless other menial professions.  Class Skills - Craft (mechanical, structural), Climb, Demolitions, Drive, Handle Animal, Intimidate. 

Law Enforcement: Like detectives, policemen may live in any part of London.  Class Skills - as d20 Modern.

Military:  The soldiers and militiamen of the 1890s are often extremely poor, unless of course the have military ranking.  Class Skills - as d20 Modern.

Religious:  Priests in London serve and live anywhere.  Class Skills - as d20 Modern.

Rural: Class Skills - as d20 Modern.

Scientist: Class Skills - as d20 Modern Technician, except remove Computer Use.

Student: Class Skills - as d20 Modern, except remove Computer Use.

We'll be determining money the COC way, not having to refigure the Wealth scores and all was less of a headache for me.  If you don't have the COC book, here's how it is.  Basically roll 1d6 and add or subtract the modifier below for your occupation, then take that number and multiply it by the savings and income numbers below.  So if I say had a 3, I'd have 600 pounds of savings and 300 of income.

Savings: £200
Income: £100

Academic +3 
Adventurer +1
Athlete 0
Clerk +1
Creative -2
Criminal -2
Dilettante  +6
Doctor +4
Entrepreneur +4
Investigative +2
Laborer 0
Law Enforcement +1
Military -2/+1 or above (roll on Military Occupation table in Unearthed Arcana)
Religious +1
Rural 0
Scientist +2
Student 0

Later I'll work on an equipment list.


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 16, 2004)

Sweet post there, Andrew.    I'm contemplating playing a detective, if folks are cool with that.  Just wrote my MA thesis (English lit.) on _Bleak House_, so I've kind of got Bucket and his predecessors in _Household Words_ on my mind.  If others want to be a detective, maybe I could play a doctor, some sort of cross between Woodcourt in _BH_ and Seward & van Helsing in _Dracula_?

Best,
Nick


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## Karl Green (Apr 16, 2004)

Agreed, nice post... I am re-thinking mine and would like to try maybe a Doctor or a Student... hmm I will think about it tonight and post him tomorrow. Looking forward to this more and more


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 16, 2004)

Kajamba Lion said:
			
		

> If others want to be a detective, maybe I could play a doctor, some sort of cross between Woodcourt in _BH_ and Seward & van Helsing in _Dracula_?




A Van Helsing type could be pretty neat as far as the game goes.  Haven't read Bleak House, so I don't know anything about Woodcourt.  Is he going to have spontaneous combustion (that's the only thing I know abut that book)? 

I'm looking forward to this, too.  I love the Victorian era dearly.  The horror stories of that time are my favorites among all horror stories.  In fact, I should've been born about 130 years ago.


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 16, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> A Van Helsing type could be pretty neat as far as the game goes. Haven't read Bleak House, so I don't know anything about Woodcourt. Is he going to have spontaneous combustion (that's the only thing I know abut that book)?




It's a good read.  Woodcourt's basically a _really_ grounded physician--he's almost knightly the way Dickens presents him.  The chapter with spontaneous combustion in Bleak House is great; it's just ingenious (and, despite it's horrific qualities, somewhat amusing, too).  I'll try and post a rough of a character tomorrow night, but I should get back to studying right now. 

Best,
Nick


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## Karl Green (Apr 16, 2004)

D'oh did not read all your post KL, so I am back to thinking about a Priest again... I will have something today 

Anyway I have the CoC d20 book also so no problem... how about Stats and Level? Just to give me and idea what I want to mess around with...


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 16, 2004)

No worries, Karl.  If you want to play a doctor, I'm perfectly happy with a detective.  

Best,
Nick


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## Tonguez (Apr 16, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> In the 1890s, the East End is mostly a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" in Star Wars terms.




its still a hive of scum and villainy now!



> Athlete: Athletes are often cricket players.




and this did make me laugh

No tennis, badminton, football or rugby? what about the ladies with their hockey and of course  upper cass athletes play polo. Oh and what about golf?


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## JimAde (Apr 16, 2004)

*Many thanks.*

Ooh ooh!  Pick me! 

Thanks for the Attn line in the title.  I haven't read the background post yet but I wanted to let you know that I am definitely up for it.  I'll have a concept for you by Monday latest.  

Thanks again.


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## JimAde (Apr 16, 2004)

This looks great Andrew.  

Every good Victorian game needs a representative of the idle rich.  That'll be me.  I'll take the Dilettante occupation, and for class probably Charismatic Hero and/or dedicated hero.  I picture an idle fellow with eclectic tastes and wide-ranging interests.  More details to follow of course.
Just so people know where I'm going.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 16, 2004)

Here's what we have so far.

*Players*
Karl Green - priest
Kajamba Lion - detective
JimAde - dilettante

*Maybe, Not Sure*
Ferrix
Tonguez

As far as creation goes, we'll go with the standard 25-point buy system as on p. 15 of d20 modern, start at say 2nd level.  If anyone happens to play a military character (which it looks as though no-one is), you (or I, if you don't have the book) should roll on the military rank table in Unearthed Arcana.  But either way, I need to know what rank, as higher ranks get more wealth.

Another thing in character creation, you get 1d4 contacts starting out.  These aren't really sidekicks, just people you can call on for favors and such.  They can even be famous people from the era (doctor characters take note: Dr. William Gull is NOT Jack The Ripper in this game; neither is Prince Eddy, or Lewis Carroll, or any of the other famous folks accused of that ).

I might go ahead and open up a rogue's gallery thread a while.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 16, 2004)

Tonguez said:
			
		

> its still a hive of scum and villainy now!



Ahh.  I had heard things about how Whitechapel in particular is better now than it was then (though that's not saying a lot!), but maybe it's not THAT much better...



> No tennis, badminton, football or rugby? what about the ladies with their hockey and of course  upper cass athletes play polo. Oh and what about golf?



It was just the first sport I thought of.  Plus, I was getting tired and didn't wanna type anymore.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 17, 2004)

I've gone ahead and opened a Rogue's Gallery for this, so anybody can go ahead and put their character up when they get him or her done.  Link's in my signature.


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 17, 2004)

Sweet.  I'll post a character later tonight.  

Best,
Nick


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 17, 2004)

I've posted Jamison O'Fingal Diggory, my detective and student of theology & the occult, over in the Rogues Gallery thread.  He's mostly done.  More coming by Sunday.

Best,
Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 18, 2004)

So we have an Irishman and Dennis Miller. 

Here's the first part of the Victorian priceguide, this half is just weapons.  Rest of the equipment soon...

A word on how Victorian coinage works.  The money system's based on the pound/shilling/pence system, with the following conversion:


```
Pence     Shillings     Pound
Pence     1            12            240   
Shillings   1/12       1              12
Pound     1/240      1/20          1
```

Hope that makes sense.  Actually, the full coinage system included florins, guineas, ha'pennies, farthings, etc., but we'll just stick to the main ones.  

Money Symbols/Abbreviations
Pound = that funky L thing
Shilling = s
pence = d


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 18, 2004)

Here's the second half of the document.  This one's miscellaneous items.  Let me know if it doesn't open on your computer, or if you want a piece of equipment not on the list, and I'll see what I can do.  It falls somewhat into the COC trap of "most items are ones a PC won't want or want only rarely", but... hey, at least you don't have to buy your clothes. 

Now, the tedium of making the pricelists finished, I can get on with finishing up the plotline...


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## JimAde (Apr 19, 2004)

Question: What, if anything, should our characters know about the stranger aspects of the world?  That is, should we make our characters with the assumption that 

1) They've never run across the paranormal
2) They may have had one or two experiences they can't explain, but that's it
3) They know for sure that the paranormal exists and have dealt with it before
4) They have breakfast with vampires and buy their newspapers from trolls 

I'm working on my character now.  Thanks.


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## Ferrix (Apr 19, 2004)

i'm thinking i might play a sort of fisticuffs/archaeologist type... maybe sort of an indiana jonesish type character


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 19, 2004)

JimAde said:
			
		

> Question: What, if anything, should our characters know about the stranger aspects of the world?  That is, should we make our characters with the assumption that
> 
> 1) They've never run across the paranormal
> 2) They may have had one or two experiences they can't explain, but that's it
> ...




A mix of the first and second.  Of course, it's not requisite that the character have had any experience with it at all; he may have heard some stories about it, and at the very outside may have experienced a thing or two, but that's it.  Particularly your character, being a lesser noble may have a Hound of the Baskervilles or screaming skull or haunted estate.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 19, 2004)

Ferrix said:
			
		

> i'm thinking i might play a sort of fisticuffs/archaeologist type... maybe sort of an indiana jonesish type character




Cool, that rounds our list out to 4.  I'm sure Jarval'll be up for it, but he posted a little while back that he'll be unavailable for a while.  If he gets in, that'll bump the list of characters up to 5, which is still definitely workable.  So I'll go ahead and close this a while, and once Ferrix posts his guy, we should be good to go!


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 19, 2004)

Hi, all.  I'll have Jamison finished tomorrow night.  It's been a busy day, and I'm going to call it a night.  

Best,
Nick


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## JimAde (Apr 19, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> A mix of the first and second. Of course, it's not requisite that the character have had any experience with it at all; he may have heard some stories about it, and at the very outside may have experienced a thing or two, but that's it. Particularly your character, being a lesser noble may have a Hound of the Baskervilles or screaming skull or haunted estate.



Great.  Thanks for the info.  The bio I've posted so far is not complete.  I hope to add some detail tomorrow.  I'll try to include a nice haunted moor   But Trevor has definitely never had a run-in with the supernatural.  

I'm a little fuzzy on how to do my possessions.  If I assume an aveage Wealth roll (5 on 2d4), then add +6 for my occupation and another 6 for my 2 windfalls, I get a 17 Wealth.  Now how do I buy two estates and a fashionable town house?


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## Ferrix (Apr 19, 2004)

JimAde said:
			
		

> I'm a little fuzzy on how to do my possessions.  If I assume an aveage Wealth roll (5 on 2d4), then add +6 for my occupation and another 6 for my 2 windfalls, I get a 17 Wealth.  Now how do I buy two estates and a fashionable town house?




that's one hell of an establishment


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## Ferrix (Apr 19, 2004)

is a leather-jacket still fair game?

can i saw the end off of a winchester m1887 or find a two-barrel shotgun style gun that is shorter than a full-fledged rifle? hell i'll saw the end off of an elephant gun if that'll work :-D


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## Ferrix (Apr 19, 2004)

character up tentatively for now


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## JimAde (Apr 19, 2004)

Ferrix said:
			
		

> that's one hell of an establishment



Well, 17 puts me in the "Wealthy" category, not "Rich" so maybe it's just one estate 

Seriously, I haven't looked at the equipment list yet, but I doubt real estate is on it.  I wrote in that bit about "depleted coffers" in my bio so it would be plausible for me to have lands, but not enough cash to buy a small country.

Any ideas, Andrew?


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## JimAde (Apr 19, 2004)

*I am a moron*

Okay, so I read your original posts, Andrew, and then when making up the character promptly forgot you were changing the wealth rules.  Sorry.

I still think I'd like to take Windfall twice.  Should I just add 6 to the magic number for my savings and income?  If so this will result in my having an income in the 1300-1900 pound range and savings of twice that.  Is that OK?

I'd be willing to allot 500 pounds of that to upkeep of the house(s) and staff so I don't have to fool around with the bookkeeping if you want to handle it like that.  Just let me know.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 19, 2004)

JimAde said:
			
		

> I still think I'd like to take Windfall twice.  Should I just add 6 to the magic number for my savings and income?  If so this will result in my having an income in the 1300-1900 pound range and savings of twice that.  Is that OK?




That's actually exactly what I was going to suggest.


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## JimAde (Apr 19, 2004)

Then I guess my equipment list will just be "2 of everything" 

Seriously, I will make up a list of unusual equipment, but just about anything that's available normally I'll be able to get.  

Do I, in fact, have an estate in the country and a townhouse?  I believe this was common practice for the peerage at the time.  If you'd like, I will gladly say that the family's Scottish holdings are in the care of my cousin Angus, and not available for my use (though I'll take him as a contact).  But that still leaves me with two pieces of real estate, staff, horses carriages, farmland, etc. which I don't think either of us wants to detail.  I'm willing to gloss over it if you are, allotting a chunk of my income to it.

I am also planning to take a contact high in the government.  Not the PM, but a senior minister of some kind.  Is that OK?


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 20, 2004)

Still working on the history, but I've amended my character to include personality, possessions, and a 2nd contact.

Best,
Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 20, 2004)

JimAde said:
			
		

> Do I, in fact, have an estate in the country and a townhouse?  I believe this was common practice for the peerage at the time.  If you'd like, I will gladly say that the family's Scottish holdings are in the care of my cousin Angus, and not available for my use (though I'll take him as a contact).  But that still leaves me with two pieces of real estate, staff, horses carriages, farmland, etc. which I don't think either of us wants to detail.  I'm willing to gloss over it if you are, allotting a chunk of my income to it.
> 
> I am also planning to take a contact high in the government.  Not the PM, but a senior minister of some kind.  Is that OK?




All sounds good.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 20, 2004)

I see some definite conflicts between Inspector Diggory and Baron Walsingham.


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## Ferrix (Apr 20, 2004)

Kajambe, smart hero doesn't gain a defense bonus at first level.


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 20, 2004)

Oops.  I'll fix my sheet.  Thanks.  

Best,
Nick


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## JimAde (Apr 20, 2004)

Ok, Trevor is updated.  He now has contacts and a list of his most important possessions.  Basically, he's rich enough that he'll either already have or be easily able to buy any sort of "normal" thing.  He doesn't have any weird esoteric skills that would require special equipment or resources (like an advanced library or anything like that) so I didn't list them.  I'm assuming he has all the stuff a wealthy Victorian bachelor would have, like nice clothes, a wine cellar, a Victrola, etc.  One thing we should probably flesh out a little is any employees we might care about.  I know these people aren't under my control and don't even count as contacts, but they should at least get names and a personality trait or two.  Do you want me to take care of that or will you do it?


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## Karl Green (Apr 20, 2004)

I will have my contacts and basic history done today... as for equipment... well I am not sure if I am going to start with much... not a lot of can think of that a pastor would need... I can't see him as even owning a gun or anything, although I might have him carry brass knuckles or something from the "old days"


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 22, 2004)

I know, I know, it's about time you're saying.  I think we're about ready to begin.  Tonight, I'll be looking once more over your guys, and trying to come up with the hook for your character.  Then I'll post them over here, post the game thread and the beginning stuff, and then you guys'll be able to start posting!  How we're handling horrific stuff, I'll let that go until we actually encounter any of that.


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## JimAde (Apr 22, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> I know, I know, it's about time you're saying. I think we're about ready to begin. Tonight, I'll be looking once more over your guys, and trying to come up with the hook for your character. Then I'll post them over here, post the game thread and the beginning stuff, and then you guys'll be able to start posting! How we're handling horrific stuff, I'll let that go until we actually encounter any of that.



W00t


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 22, 2004)

OK, here, I thought on how the various characters have become connected with the first adventure.  The first adventure will be centered around another of the lesser nobility, Lord Arthur Pellgraine.  Here's how the guys come in.

*Ferrix:* Both Aiolos has met Lord Pellgraine before, at the British Museum's library.
*JimAde:* Baron Walsingham is a distant cousin of Lord Pellgraine, your grandmother having been the sister of Pellgraine's grandmother, Andrea.
*Kajamba Lion:* Inspector Diggory is contacted by an individual identifying himself only as Frater DEDI of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.  You, of course, quickly identify the name of the most well-known occult society in London.  And he seems to know quite a lot about you, as well...he asks for your aid "as a fellow son of Hibernia". 
*Karl Green:* Pellgraine's estate is in Loughton, Essex, and since you left his church open, I've assumed Pastor Miller was assigned to St. Nicholas, Loughton where he would have encountered Arthur Pellgraine as a parishioner.

I've bumped it up just a few years - now it's Sunday, April 23rd, 1893.  As for die rolls, since I've forgotten to say anything, I'll let you guys roll your own and basically depend on the trust system.  Try to keep most OOC chatter to this thread, though a short comment or question at the bottom of your action will work, too.

Combat'll be handled like this - basically, I'll put up a little summary sheet thing.  Everybody posts their action, I resolve the enemies' actions, after everyone goes I post another summary, modified with that round's actions.  And so on until the fight's done.  But I don't anticipate a whole lot of fighting, at least not yet.   

Along the same lines, I'll be using a mostly story-driven XP system, like in Call of Cthulhu.

So now I'm going to go over and open up a Game thread, make one or two initial posts setting things up a bit more, and after that... the game's afoot, as they say!

(Yes, if you know who was in the Golden Dawn, you might figure out who DEDI is, but it's not really that important)


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 22, 2004)

And it's posted!


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## Karl Green (Apr 22, 2004)

Ah cool... although I'm going to be totally worthless in a fight


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 23, 2004)

Kajamba: feel free to post anything you want about the meeting between you and Arthur.  I'm not sure what the guys on the train'll want to do.


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 23, 2004)

I'll post something this afternoon (lateish, 3:30/4ish or so).    For now, it's off to work.

Best,
Nick


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## JimAde (Apr 23, 2004)

Karl Green said:
			
		

> Ah cool... although I'm going to be totally worthless in a fight



Join the club.  But Trevor would say, "You have to out-think the opposition, old man!"


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 23, 2004)

*Andrew*: Before I post, how long will it take for the train to get to the Pellgraine estate?  I'd assume normally that Jamison would simply talk to Frater DEDI until such a time as they reached the estate.  Will Jamison be arriving at the same time as the others?

thanks,
Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 23, 2004)

It'll take about forty/forty-five minutes to get there.  Although actually, now that I look at it, I put your name in that last post by accident.  It was to Jim, since his character isn't arriving on the train like you guys or already there, like Karl's.


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 23, 2004)

Fair enough.    Thanks.

best,
Nick


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## JimAde (Apr 24, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> It'll take about forty/forty-five minutes to get there. Although actually, now that I look at it, I put your name in that last post by accident. It was to Jim, since his character isn't arriving on the train like you guys or already there, like Karl's.



Oh.  Okeydoke.  I was trying to be patient, but now I don't have to


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 25, 2004)

Just going to try and take a little feedback, see what y'all think of this so far.  I know we're not very far, but just so I know.  Is everyone happy with the way everything's going?  

Sorry if my wordiness gets on anyone's nerves. I'm a wannabe author, and I never really get a chance to indulge myself.  But hey, it's more Victorian, LOL.

Letting you know up front that this adventure will be fairly short, resolution of the whole deal should come by the end of the day tomorrow (gametime-wise).  Although I do want to continue the story for a bit, as the main stuff of the campaign hasn't happened.  After that... well, it's up to you.


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## JimAde (Apr 25, 2004)

I like it just fine so far.  The genre calls for wordiness, so you'll get it from me, too if that's all right.


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## Jarval (Apr 25, 2004)

I've been away from EN World for the last ten days, and I've only just got back.  Is there still room for me, or am I a bit late getting here?  If I am, then no problem, I fully understand.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 25, 2004)

Jarval said:
			
		

> I've been away from EN World for the last ten days, and I've only just got back.  Is there still room for me, or am I a bit late getting here?  If I am, then no problem, I fully understand.




Yeah, I saw your post about being away.  If you'd like a space in the game, you're more than welcome to make a character.  I think everything relevant is posted on here already, as this isn't 100% by-the-book d20 Modern, but close.  Just FYI, we have four people here already, playing an archaeologist, a police detective and occultist, a priest, and a member of the minor nobility. 

I figured you'd want in, that's why I left the note up.


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## JimAde (Apr 25, 2004)

Andrew: In my post, I massaged Arthur's "aunt" reference to be Trevor's grandmother's sister instead of his mother's (or father's).  These events were 50 years ago, so assuming Trev's parents were 25 when he was born they would only have been 5 at the time.  

Plus this way Arthur and Trevor are 2nd cousins instead of 1st. Sound good?


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 25, 2004)

Re: Spot checks (actually should've asked for this check as soon as you met Arthur, but didn't think of it).  Aiolos & Jamison 



Spoiler



notice a large signet ring on the forefinger of Arthur's left hand.  You can't see it perfectly, but it seems to have a 'Green Man' insignia on it.  DEDI sees it also, and looks quite disgusted at it


.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 25, 2004)

JimAde said:
			
		

> Andrew: In my post, I massaged Arthur's "aunt" reference to be Trevor's grandmother's sister instead of his mother's (or father's).  These events were 50 years ago, so assuming Trev's parents were 25 when he was born they would only have been 5 at the time.
> 
> Plus this way Arthur and Trevor are 2nd cousins instead of 1st. Sound good?




Sure.  It's what was intended, Arthur just said aunt rather than great-aunt. 

Arthur's sort of a pain in the posterior, and I think that's starting to show through somewhat.


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## JimAde (Apr 26, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> Sure. It's what was intended, Arthur just said aunt rather than great-aunt.
> 
> Arthur's sort of a pain in the posterior, and I think that's starting to show through somewhat.



Oh, yes.  Excellent characterization


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## JimAde (Apr 26, 2004)

Andrew, I've had an idea for Trevor's background that I'd like to discuss with you.  Could you please contact me via e-mail: sluggybunbun AT hotmail DOT com.

Thanks.


----------



## Jarval (Apr 26, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> Yeah, I saw your post about being away.  If you'd like a space in the game, you're more than welcome to make a character.  I think everything relevant is posted on here already, as this isn't 100% by-the-book d20 Modern, but close.  Just FYI, we have four people here already, playing an archaeologist, a police detective and occultist, a priest, and a member of the minor nobility.
> 
> I figured you'd want in, that's why I left the note up.




Thanks   I'm going with a doctor who focuses more on exotic brews to cure his patients than on his surgical tools.  I've still got to write up his background and detail his other contact, but here are some stats for my character:


*Dr Richard Hewitt Esq., F.R.S.*
*Smart 2* Doctor (Class skills: Craft (Pharmaceutical), Treat Injury)

STR 10 (+0)
DEX 14 (+2)
CON 11 (+0)
INT 15 (+2)
WIS 10 (+0)
CHA 12 (+1)


*Combat Stats:*
Base Attack Bonus: +1
Melee: +1 [+1 BAB, +0 STR]
Ranged: +3 [+1 BAB, +2 DEX]
Hit Points: 10 [10 (levels) + 0 (CON)]
Defense: 13 [10 + 2 (DEX) + 1 (Class)]
Initiative: +2 [+2 (DEX)]
Movement Rate: 30 feet

*Attacks per round:*
 (+ to hit,  dmg, Error , Threat , Rng , Type , Magazine )
or (+ to hit (melee), + to hit (thrown), , Crit , Error , Threat , Rng )


*Action Points:* 6
*Reputation;* +1


*Saving Throws:*
Fort: +0 [+0 base, +0 CON]
Ref: +2 [+0 base, +2 DEX]
Will: +2 [+2 base, +0 WIS]


*Feats:*
Simple Weapon Proficiency (Free for Smart Hero)
Medical Expert (1st level feat)
Surgery (1st level feat)
Builder (Craft (Chemical), Craft (Mechanical)) (bonus Smart Hero feat)


*Skills:*
Craft (Chemical) +9 (5 ranks, +2 INT, +2 Builder)
Craft (Mechanical) +9 (5 ranks, +2 INT, +2 Builder)
Craft (Pharmaceutical) +10 (5 ranks, +2 INT, +1 Occupation, +2 Medical Expert)
Diplomacy +3 (2.5 ranks (cc), +1 CHA)
Knowledge (Behavioral sciences) +3 (1 rank, +2 INT)
Knowledge (Earth and life sciences) +7 (5 ranks, +2 INT)
Knowledge (Physical sciences) +9 (5 ranks, +2 INT, +2 Savant)
Knowledge (Technology) +7 (5 ranks, +2 INT)
Read/Write Language (Ancient Greek, Latin)
Repair +7 (5 ranks, +2 INT)
Research +7 (5 ranks, +2 INT)
Speak Language (Ancient Greek, Latin)
Treat Injury +7 (5 ranks, +0 WIS, +2 Medical Expert)


*Talents:*
Savant: Knowledge (Physical sciences) (+2)


*Wealth:*
Savings: £1,400
Income: £700


*Gear:*
_Carried:_ Medical Valise (4s 2d): (10 Elastic Bandage (£2), Forceps (3s), Hypodermic Syringes (11s), Laudanum, 1 lb (4s 8d), Liquor Habit Cure, 24 doses (2s), Nerve Pills (3s 6d), Paregoric, 12 ounces (2s 3d), Peruvian Wine of Coca, 16 ounces (3s 10d), Surgeon’s Instrument Set (£4), Assortment of self-made remedies (£?)), Pocketknife (2s 7d).

_House in Kensington (£120):_ Assorted medical and scientific texts, Carriage (buggy) (2 seats) (£13), Good draft horse (£8), Basement full of chemistry and pharmaceutical equipment (£?), Cupboard full of medical supplies (£?).


*Current XP:*
Current: 1,000
Next Level: 3,000


*Contacts:*

Thomas Blizard Curling, Esq., F.R.S.:  Consulting Surgeon at London Hospital.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 26, 2004)

Nice.  You know, it's somewhat eerie how well your collective characters fit into what'll be the plotline later. 

And on first (non-detailed) glance, I thought your contact was Thomas Cutbush.  And I thought, gee, cool, this guy has a Jack The Ripper suspect as a contact.  LOL.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 26, 2004)

JimAde said:
			
		

> Andrew, I've had an idea for Trevor's background that I'd like to discuss with you.  Could you please contact me via e-mail: sluggybunbun AT hotmail DOT com.
> 
> Thanks.




Just wrote you a moment ago.


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## JimAde (Apr 27, 2004)

Andrew, with your permission I would like Trevor to have brought along his brand new Gramophone (just came in from America) and a couple of records.  It seems like the kind of thing that would go over big as after-dinner entertainment.  Is that OK?


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 27, 2004)

Sure.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 28, 2004)

Hey Jarval:
Since the e-mail thing's been disabled, drop me a line here with your e-mail and that way I'll send a message your way when Dr. Hewitt enters the game.  He should be able to come in soon, all things willing...


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## JimAde (Apr 28, 2004)

Andrew: Just let me know when Trevor has gathered his wits again.  This sort of thing just doesn't happen at the club!


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## Jarval (Apr 28, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> Hey Jarval:
> Since the e-mail thing's been disabled, drop me a line here with your e-mail and that way I'll send a message your way when Dr. Hewitt enters the game.  He should be able to come in soon, all things willing...



 My e-mail address is in my user profile if you need it   I'll have Dr. Hewitt's background filled out a little more at some point this evening.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 28, 2004)

Jarval said:
			
		

> My e-mail address is in my user profile if you need it




The link's there, but you come up empty when you try to use it.  Same as the link that comes up in the drop-down menu under your username.  When I go to it, it says that the e-mail function has been disabled by the administrator.  This is on everyone, too, so it's not a problem with your account.  It might be one with mine - I checked on Meta and couldn't find anything about the e-mail being turned off.

I had your e-mail written down from when I was first mulling over this game, but I seem to have misplaced the paper.


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## Jarval (Apr 28, 2004)

Oh, right, I should have checked, sorry     My e-mail addy is jarvalf (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk.


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## JimAde (Apr 28, 2004)

The e-mail function is off for everybody.  I assume they turned it off to cut down the server load (same reason you can't get e-mail notification on subscribed threads any more).  The board is just too darn popular 

BTW, Andrew...Ick!  With the blood and the title and...Ick!


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 28, 2004)

Well, now I feel bad for wasting Meta thread space asking about that.  I suppose I really should reset my start page to start me off on the main news page, rather than the boards, then maybe I'd keep up on these things. 

But thanks, Jarval, he should be able to be worked in after they're done exploring this room.  

Jim: And now another facet of Arthur's personality comes out.  He talks a good deal about the occult and stuff, but can't hack it too well when he's actually confronted by it.


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## Karl Green (Apr 29, 2004)

its' that the way of all possers


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## Jarval (Apr 29, 2004)

I've posted Dr. Hewitt (now with some background and a picture) to the Rogues Gallery thread.


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 1, 2004)

Jim, what kind of stuff is your contact Willie involved in?  I take it things of a criminal nature, but what sort?


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## JimAde (May 1, 2004)

I leave it up to you, but nothing too nasty.  I figure he's the kind of guy who knows what's going on.  He might be involved in fencing stolen goods, numbers games, that sort of thing.  The key point is that he's got connections of his own and a very high Knowledge(Streetwise) modifier.  He's not a major underworld figure, but he knows them and they know him.  I picture the stereotypical weasly little fixer guy (but with a bowler hat and aspirations to the middle class).


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (May 9, 2004)

How do you think we should handle it now that the party's split, at least for a few hours of gametime?  Continue on in one thread or branch it out into two (one for hotel people, one for the manor people) and merge them back later?  I can't really decide, because in a way not much is going to happen during your split, but there will be some things the other parties shouldn't see.  Thoughts?


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## Karl Green (May 9, 2004)

I don't mind either... I totally will not act on anything that happens... Andrew's plan is to read a bit more, and then to retire for the evening... hopefully to peaceful dreams 

It is sometimes fun to read about what the other party is doing in these PbP. You could put in the Title of each of your posts... 'Arthur's Maner' or 'King's Arms' and we would know what we can act on


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## Ferrix (May 9, 2004)

Or you could if something, should not be seen at all, just spoiler it using {spoiler} tags (replace these { } with [ ]).  But really just leave it at one thread, makes it easier, since I assume we'll end up joining back together.  Leave it to player ability to keep it from affecting their in game.


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (May 9, 2004)

OK, it sounds like the general consensus is just leave it at one thread.  So that's what I'll do.  And yes, the group'll be brought back together eventually.


----------



## JimAde (May 9, 2004)

It doesn't matter to me.  If you think it would be easier to stay in one thread, maybe you could put a title on each post saying which group it's for and write everything with spoiler tags.


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 9, 2004)

Some pictures relevant to some of your characters.  

Jim: The first two are yours.  The first picture is a view of Regent Street in 1880, I can't be sure, but I believe taken from Waterloo Place and the south end of Regent, so that the street cutting across towards the front of the pic would be Charles Street.  Just to show what sort of neighborhood Trevor's in.  The second is of the Cafe Royal on Regent Street, a pretty big pub, as you can see.  I imagine Trevor would've done some drinking there.

Karl:  The third's for you.  It's a (modern, sorry) picture of St. Nicholas' Anglican church in Loughton, where Pastor Miller works.  Couldn't find a period photo.


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## JimAde (May 10, 2004)

This is absolutely the coolest thing ever.  Thanks.

It's funny, it doesn't look anything like I pictured it!  Too many bad movies for me.


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 10, 2004)

I'm changing the way we do grisly stuff.  Rather than use the Ravenloft save system, I'll just go with regular ol' Sanity like in COC.

Karl:


Spoiler



Andrew has very troubling dreams, as might be expected.  The dream he remembers best is one in which he's walking through the streets of Loughton.  In front of St. Nicholas' church, _his_ church where all his parishioners are slumped over before the doors.  As he approaches them, their clothing, flesh, and muscle shed away in layers, leaving only skeletons.  He touches one, and it crumbles to dust.  Drawn inexplicably towards the church, inside he finds a huge tree stretching to the ceiling.  On its trunk is carved the word KNOWLEDGE and at its top perches a great black eagle.  The eagle opens its beak and croaks.  "The world tree binds heaven to hell."  Gradually, the eagle changes into a many-headed dragon and slithers down the tree, wrapping itself around it.  "I shall be reborn.  And when I am, you all shall be fodder for me."  The tree explodes in a shower of blood and flesh.


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## Karl Green (May 10, 2004)

Ah cool 

As for Sanity... should we add that to our characters then? We start with WIS x5 as I remember correct? Do we get a bonus for Iron Will  maybe


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 10, 2004)

I'll leave recording Sanity up to you, I've already figured out everyone's starting score and I'll worry about tracking.  After all, you shouldn't really be able to judge how sane or insane you really are.  I'll let you know if you get any insanities or if you're getting really low, since those things can be roleplayed.  But, yeah, it's WISx5.  The Iron Will bit will factor in, as I'm going to have you do a Wisdom check, which'll receive penalties as it decreases.  I'll let Iron Will effect that save.


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## Karl Green (May 10, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> I'll leave recording Sanity up to you, I've already figured out everyone's starting score and I'll worry about tracking.  After all, you shouldn't really be able to judge how sane or insane you really are.  I'll let you know if you get any insanities or if you're getting really low, since those things can be roleplayed.  But, yeah, it's WISx5.  The Iron Will bit will factor in, as I'm going to have you do a Wisdom check, which'll receive penalties as it decreases.  I'll let Iron Will effect that save.




Ah cool


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 10, 2004)

I found something on the Internet today which I found blackly humorous.  It's really neither here nor there and has nothing really to do with the game.  But apparently, when he was 15, the Elephant Man undertook a brief career as a door-to-door salesmen (keep in mind 1877 is before he received his 'disguise').  Wonder how many windows _he_ sold...


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## JimAde (May 10, 2004)

Ok.  That's bent.  Talk about picking a job that doesn't go to your strengths.  Although, from what little I know about him, he was a pretty sharp guy.  Maybe he figured his appearance would get him sympathy sales.

Andrew, I just wanted to remind you that I am going to be mostly unavailable from 5/19 to 6/1.  I'm really enjoying the game and am definitely planning to return, but I won't be able to check the ol' internet much during that time.


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## Karl Green (May 11, 2004)

Man I suck at combat  

well of course my character in Andrew's Conan game is a GREAT in combat! Man can I switch


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 11, 2004)

Karl: Yeah, well, your other guy's also a really big Vanir who swears by Ymir a lot.  And uses a monstrous sword, as opposed to a pool cue.  And the other guys aren't too shabby in a scrap, either - thieves are just plain disgusting once their sneak attacks kick in.  But disgusting in a good way.  I might try out Conan with my RL group, too.  But something tells me they'd all be Cimmerians, and their names would be Conn, Konn, and Konan... 

Jim: OK.  I'll work something out there, just never you fear.


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## Karl Green (May 11, 2004)

I run a Conan and a Spellslinger (opposite weekends) face-to-face. In the Conan game, their is a Nomad, a Border, a Scholar, and a Thief... no Cimmerians 

The Nomad is a total bad@$$ in combat, followed by the Border. The thief can be REALLY bad also with his improved Feint and back-stab ability. The scholar is pretty much totally worthless in combat. He has one spell that is not to bad but he has to touch people to use it...


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## Karl Green (May 12, 2004)

Now Andrew you have to post in the BPRD game! Surprise, Undead, Combat, Action... waiting on Kongming 

NOW as for Pastor Miller, MAN next round I am spending some action dice!!!!


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 12, 2004)

Oh shoot, forgot all about that, Karl!  Dang, who knows what I missed out on...sheesh...goin' over to check it now.  Sorry 'bout that.


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## Karl Green (May 12, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> Oh shoot, forgot all about that, Karl!  Dang, who knows what I missed out on...sheesh...goin' over to check it now.  Sorry 'bout that.




No problem... LOTS happening 

Ah poor Pastor Miller


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 16, 2004)

Since we're winding down to the end of the first adventure, I may as well give you guys some idea about what to expect from here on in.  The rest of the adventures will be a bit more open than this one; i.e., you won't have a sage NPC like DEDI most of the time.  Basically, things are going to start being more driven by you guys and your actions than by the DM.  This adventure was structured pretty simply, as it served mainly to get you guys together and used to each other.  Your contacts might start becoming more useful. 

Kajamba, a question on your background: where was Diggory during the Ripper murders?  He was an inspector, we know that, he seems to have flip-flopped between St. Giles and Whitechapel, which was he in in Aug.-Nov. 1888?  It might be important later.   Those areas were in two separate divisions of the Metropolitan Police, but it seems that, historically, policemen did tend to move quite a bit.


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## Citizen Mane (May 16, 2004)

Hi, Andrew.  Enjoying the game thus far.  It's good stuff.    As for Diggory, he was in Whitechapel at the time.

Best,
Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 16, 2004)

Hmm, interesting, interesting.


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 16, 2004)

*Jarval:*  Question.  Being in the UK, I'm sure you'd know this.  Where's Kew (as in Kew Gardens)?  I found a town that may be it, in Sussex, I think, at a bend of the Thames across the river from Brentford and directly north of Richmond, but my map is kind of fuzzy and I can't read the name of the town really well.  Not far from London on an 1890s map, London might've even gobbled up Kew by now.

*Kajamba:* When are you moving?  I see from your avatar section that you'll be back in Boston soon, and from your "COC Help" thread, I gather that it'll be fairly soon.


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## Citizen Mane (May 16, 2004)

About a month and a half (early July), which is probably not as soon as it feels to me.  

Best,
Nick


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## JimAde (May 18, 2004)

*Out for a while.*

I'll be out from now until June 1st.  Trevor will probably spend the next little while just shaking and being useless.  After a little rest and recuperation (at least a day or two) he'll head on to London unless something comes up to keep him.  This stuff is just way outside his area of expertise 

I'll try to check in on the game once or twice while I'm away, but I'm not sure what my net access will be like.


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 18, 2004)

OK.  Have fun at...umm...wherever you're going!


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 19, 2004)

Hey guys,
I'm thinking of possibly inviting some of the folks from the other, now-apparently-dead, Gaslight game into this one, just as a generous gesture, since some of them really seemed to have a hankering for the Victorian era.  Whether as full players or lurkers would be up to them - and you, of course.  We have 5 already.  Do you think that's a good amount, or should I go ahead and do this?


----------



## Karl Green (May 19, 2004)

I'm cool with it 

The Pastor is a brawling stud BTW... now I know not to use pool clue BUT my brass knuckles whenever I run into anything


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## Citizen Mane (May 20, 2004)

It's up to you, although I should note that in my one (brief) attempt at GMing for a large group (8 person), I found that the size of the group was rather unwieldy.  If they're willing and you're willing, though, I'm certainly game.  

Best,
Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 20, 2004)

Kajamba Lion said:
			
		

> It's up to you, although I should note that in my one (brief) attempt at GMing for a large group (8 person), I found that the size of the group was rather unwieldy.  If they're willing and you're willing, though, I'm certainly game.




Well I haven't gotten any response on that yet, so it might be a moot point.


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## ShortAssassin (May 20, 2004)

I wasn't in the Gaslight game, but I was just browsing the forums and noticed you might be kind enough to open your ranks to a new player or two.  I've been dying to play some CoC.

If you want to allow only the old Gaslight players, no prob and thanks anyway.


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (May 22, 2004)

Hey guys, 
Me and ShortAssassin were talking via e-mail and I've decided to let him in as another player.  But nobody else (I still haven't heard from the Gaslight game, so I'll scrap that idea).  He's going to go with an artilleryman.  The artillery barracks were at the Tower of London.  As there was talk among the police that Jack the Ripper could've been a soldier from the Tower barracks, and Inspector Diggory was in Whitechapel working the Ripper case at the time, maybe there's a connection between those two.  But we'll let ShortAssassin decide. 

BTW, Kajamba, Yeats is making good on his promise and inducting Inspector Diggory into the Golden Dawn.  So you're now also known as Frater V.B.G.A. (Vita brevis, gloria aeternum).  Yes, now you, too, have a nifty Golden Dawn name!  And yes, that Latin phrase (life is short, glory is forever) is the motto on the coat of arms of my Welsh ancestors and the most barbarian-like words I've ever heard.

And lest I forget, each of you get 500 XP.


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## Citizen Mane (May 22, 2004)

Brilliant.  Diggory is proud to be Frater V.B.G.A.    As for the questions you've referred to in the IC thread, I can't seem to find the point where Diggory's said he has more, unless I'm missing something.  Of course, I am trying to write a paper on Scorsese and Lacan so my attention really isn't quite on the boards right now.

[Edit: The whole "vita brevis" part of that reminds me of a phrase that kept on coming up in my Old English class, _lif is sceort_ (life is short, although I may have mauled the spelling), which was pretty much an ethos for the Anglo-Saxons as far as I can tell.]

And, *ShortAssassin*, welcome aboard!  

Best,
Nick


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (May 22, 2004)

Kajamba Lion said:
			
		

> As for the questions you've referred to in the IC thread, I can't seem to find the point where Diggory's said he has more, unless I'm missing something.




That's because now that I find it, it wasn't you who had them.  I'll have to edit accordingly.

Working on finalizing the second adventure thread, I may even be able to get it up tonight yet.


----------



## ShortAssassin (May 22, 2004)

Thanks Kajamba  

My character is done for the most part.  Just have to finish some stuff, contacts and the like.


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## Jarval (May 22, 2004)

*Dr. Hewitt's questions:*

What were the creatures that came into the manor?  (Richard will be carrying out his own autopsy on the one left in the icebox, if it's still available.)

How much of magic is actually real?  What can (and cannot) be accomplished through it's use?

Just what in God's name was that thing that looked like Arthur's grandfather?

What might the _radix pedis diaboli_ be used for, and why was Thomas Pellgraine interested in it?  Does it have any properties beyond the mundane ones of which Richard's aware?

And finally:  If you Golden Dawn fellows ever need the help of a good doctor, my door's always open.  Just try not to bring me anything too disturbing, there's a good chap?  (Richard's not in anyway looking for membership to the Golden Dawn, but he does recognise a pool of well-heeled potential customers when he sees one... )


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (May 22, 2004)

Answering more or less as Yeats would, just paraphrasing (what I'm saying is italicized:



			
				Dr. Hewitt said:
			
		

> What were the creatures that came into the manor?  (Richard will be carrying out his own autopsy on the one left in the icebox, if it's still available.)



Creatures from the Astral, apparently, that came through the rift Thomas opened.  Some people believe that localized rifts can open briefly from time to time, and that the creatures are what's responsible for some of the mysterious bites or scratches associated with poltergeists, or those occasions (_I read about a few of these in Charles Fort_) where a dead body is found covered in small wounds.  Some, most notably those in the Golden Dawn, believe that the so-called 'psychic vampires' are types of those creatures as well.  _I honestly forgot about the one in the icebox.  But it's still in fairly good shape, it hasn't vaporized or anything._



> How much of magic is actually real?  What can (and cannot) be accomplished through it's use?



Don't know fully, as we haven't yet experimented with everything.  What we know so far indicates that many things can be accomplished, usually involving speaking with spirits (who sometimes claim to be ghosts, sometimes demons, sometimes angels, but extradimensional intelligences at any rate).  Nearly every magical effect is believed to be merely an exercise of will (_In game terms, nearly all magic is psychic in nature_).  But it's safe to say that the more spectacular things like turning lead to gold and calling down lightning are impossible.  The magician is usually incapable of actually influencing the physical world, though he can affect the minds of people so that it seems as such (_For example, the Golden Dawn version of invisibility was willing another person not to see the caster_).  More subtle things.



> Just what in God's name was that thing that looked like Arthur's grandfather?



Apparently the Thief of Forms mentioned in the diary.  



> What might the _radix pedis diaboli_ be used for, and why was Thomas Pellgraine interested in it?  Does it have any properties beyond the mundane ones of which Richard's aware?



Among the West African natives, the predominant use of the root is in shamanic trances.  They believe that the root allows them to see into the spirit world.  Thomas may have utilized it in the early stages of the experiments with the Astral which eventually opened the rift.  The root is usually not fatal, if used in small quantities and in a well-ventilated area - in the case of the Cornish Horror (_The Adventure of the Devil's Foot, Doyle_), the problem was that mass quantities of the root were used and the people saw too deeply into the Astral.



> And finally:  If you Golden Dawn fellows ever need the help of a good doctor, my door's always open.  Just try not to bring me anything too disturbing, there's a good chap?  (Richard's not in anyway looking for membership to the Golden Dawn, but he does recognise a pool of well-heeled potential customers when he sees one... )



Excellent.


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (May 23, 2004)

Lest I forget (again), I've posted a second IC thread here.


----------



## EB3 (May 26, 2004)

*Awesome setting!*

Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!!!  

I'm a huge fan of Victorian gaming, and look forward to reading your take!


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## Andrew D. Gable (May 26, 2004)

Guys,
Just letting everyone know that what I've done to bring ShortAssassin in is I'm giving the sergeant his own storyline that'll eventually merge into yours.  I'm giving all the posts on his storyline a header, though, so that you can keep them seperate.


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## ShortAssassin (May 28, 2004)

What were the firearms possession laws c1893?  Was it legal to carry guns, or was a license needed?  Did the military (or ex-military i guess) get any sort of exemption?


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (May 28, 2004)

The way I understand (which may be wrong, but oh well), Victorian London was kind of lax in this department.  Just assume that you can carry a revolver more-or-less freely.  It's looking like the only real restriction was on the size of firearms that could be owned, and the only real exception was criminals, who were of course hauled in if they had a gun.  I believe you could own a bigger weapon, just not carry it around.

So just a pistol, though you'd have access to rifles and shotguns.


----------



## Jarval (May 31, 2004)

Due to some time consuming RL issues with my university study and having a job landed on me, I'm going to be away from EN World until the 12th of June.  I'm sorry for any problems this might cause :\


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## Citizen Mane (May 31, 2004)

Take care, Jarval.  I'll see you when you get back.  

Nick


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (May 31, 2004)

No problem, Jarval.  I'll NPC Dr. Hewitt until you're back.  Good luck.


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## JimAde (Jun 1, 2004)

*I'm baaack*

I'm back from my vacation (just as Jarval leaves).  This game rules!  Andrew, you're doing a great job.  Maybe Trevor can be a little less useless this time around


----------



## Tonyfr (Jun 4, 2004)

Andrew,

I saw your post on the other Gaslight game, Diogneses Club.  I would be interesting in joining your adventure if you are still taking players.

Tony


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## Ferrix (Jun 4, 2004)

i'm thinking that i'm not keeping up at all sufficiently to stay with this game, Andrew, if you don't mind you can always see if someone would care to play Aiolos or just push him as an NPC into the background.

Sorry, it's definately been fun though, but this second adventure I haven't really kept up with at all and I feel so far behind that it'd probably be best if someone replaces me.


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (Jun 5, 2004)

Tonyfr said:
			
		

> I saw your post on the other Gaslight game, Diogneses Club.  I would be interesting in joining your adventure if you are still taking players.



OK.  Ferrix just dropped, so you have two options: you can either make a new character, or you can just take over his (he had Aiolos, the explorer/archaeologist).  Just let me know which you want to do.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jun 7, 2004)

*bumping this off the second page*


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## ShortAssassin (Jun 7, 2004)

So Andrew, I've been in here recently to get the book.  Can you give me some info as to what I would know about the inside of the house?


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jun 7, 2004)

Spoilered, since nobody else knows this.  



Spoiler



The window that's open is where you entered.  The door that's ajar is the library, where you found the book.  You haven't checked out the rest of the house.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jun 20, 2004)

Kajamba: I didn't feel like cluttering the IC thread, so I'll write it here.  I'm more and more of the opinion that McCarthy, as helpful as he acted when the police got there, was mixed up in it horribly.  If he wasn't Jack, I bet he knew who it was.  First and foremost in my mind is why Mary was allowed to rack up such a large amount of back rent and not be evicted.  I wonder if it's really a coincidence that it wasn't McCarthy who was out and about and first found Kelly's body.  Also: this is fairly recent I think, so you might not have turned this up: McCarthy owned practically everything in Dorset Street as of 1888.  All the victims had connections to Dorset Street - so conceivably they were all known to McCarthy. 

Another interesting tidbit was that No. 26, McCarthy's home, and No. 27, his shop, both of which were directly in front of Miller's Court, were owned by another man, McCarthy only leased them.  The man who owned the buildings was named M. Barnett.  I raised a question on some messageboards about that - is it a coincidence Kelly's boyfriend was Joe Barnett?  And that she was killed very soon after kicking him to the curb?


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## Citizen Mane (Jun 20, 2004)

That's neat stuff.    My paper was mostly focusing on the idea of murder as an aesthetic, using Thomas de Quincey's "On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts" (I always maul that title) as a launching point into a quasi-imaginative reading of the Ripper murders, so after a point, my knowledge into the murders gets a bit scattershot (hell, after a point the entire paper got scattershot -- the professor told me that it was "baffling" -- oops).  I had encountered the bit about McCarthy owning most of Dorsett Street, but not any of the rest.  Now that I'm done with school (at least for the next two or three years), I'm going to try and get a hand on it again, do some of the reading that I never finished from that paper.

best,
Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jun 20, 2004)

There's also a good book I have, "The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion" (called the "Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook" in overseas editions, why, I don't know, but they're the same book) by Stewart Evans and Keith Skinner, that would be really good to look at for finding out what Diggory knows.  The book is all the files and things the police had access to, so all the contemporary notions, and none of the latter-day matters that confuse the issue.


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## JimAde (Jun 29, 2004)

Andrew: I just corrected my character sheet.  I didn't calculate Trevor's Reputation bonus correctly.  It's +6!

Dilettante +1
Renown +3
Charismatic Hero levels +2

Just thought I'd mention it.


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## JimAde (Jun 30, 2004)

Help! My subscriptions are gone (just like everybody else) and I no longer have a link to the current game thread. Could someone please e-mail it to me at

sluggybunbun (at) hotmail (dot) com

Thanks.

EDIT: Never Mind!  I found it.  Thanks anyway.


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## JimAde (Jul 2, 2004)

Andrew: I'll be out of internet contact from the 17th to the 25th of July.  You can either run Trevor as an NPC or have him toddle off to do something on his own.  Let me know.

I'm really enjoying this game.  It rocks.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jul 5, 2004)

Kajamba Lion said:
			
		

> My paper was mostly focusing on the idea of murder as an aesthetic, using Thomas de Quincey's "On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts" (I always maul that title)



Heh, you made a blackly humorous remark there, I think.  That story/article whatever was mostly about the Ratcliffe Highway Murders, wasn't it?  And that guy used a maul (a large mallet).

Well, I'm kinda on cloud nine, because (as you might be able to tell) you're starting to get into the meat of the plot now.


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## Citizen Mane (Jul 5, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> Heh, you made a blackly humorous remark there, I think.  That story/article whatever was mostly about the Ratcliffe Highway Murders, wasn't it?  And that guy used a maul (a large mallet).
> 
> Well, I'm kinda on cloud nine, because (as you might be able to tell) you're starting to get into the meat of the plot now.



 Circle gets the square.    Yeah, it's a pretty screwy little essay, but it has some funny stuff in it (particularly the parts about philosophers and murder).  Yeah, I kind of noticed that things had started to pick up there.  Wheels turning, that sort of thing.  I'm having a really good time so far.

On a side note, I'm going to be moving over the next two days (NC to NJ tomorrow, NJ to MA Wednesday).  I'll be out of touch until then, at least, but possibly until Thursday.  So I will catch you all on the flip side.

Best,
Nick


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## ShortAssassin (Jul 8, 2004)

FYI, I'm out of town Friday to Sunday.  Be back on Monday.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jul 10, 2004)

Placed here, well, because I felt like it.  I've gone ahead and started off a new IC thread (http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=93919).  Go ahead and finish up your interrogation of McCarthy; when you're ready to go see Dr. Bond, check out the new thread.


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## JimAde (Jul 16, 2004)

*Out for a while.*

Ok, I am officially gone for a week or so.  I should be back to the computer on Monday, July 26.  Have fun and try not to get my character killed


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## Citizen Mane (Jul 19, 2004)

Hey all.  I'm sorry about disappearing for five days.  I lost phone service completely. Verizon fixed it this morning and all is well.  I have company (currently asleep) that I should tend to, but I'll read what I've missed and jump in again later today.

Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jul 26, 2004)

Hey, just thought I'd check in here and see what's up with everyone.  In the transfer over to the new thread, we seem to have lost a few people.  I'll need to know if you're still in, or if I need to recruit some new players.  You also might've noticed the game's moving slowly.  I'm having _major_ computer troubles, with viruses I can't remove, magically disappearing programs, the inability to install anything (such as antivirus programs, yay!) that alter the .INI files, virus .EXEs that don't even run properly and crash my system, having my system freeze up randomly whether I'm doing anything or not (5 times today, already)... I just need a new computer, that's that.


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## Citizen Mane (Jul 26, 2004)

I'm here.


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## JimAde (Jul 26, 2004)

So am I (that is, I'm back).  I need to catch up on the game, then I'll start posting again.


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## Jarval (Jul 27, 2004)

Due to study and work commitments, I'm going to be away from EN World from the 27th of July until the 5th of August.  Check out this thread for more details.

Sorry for any problems this might cause


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## JimAde (Jul 29, 2004)

So using an online Latin page, my best shot at the translation is:

DEUM NODENTI, FLAVIUS SENILIS POSSUIT PROPTER NUPTIAS QUASUIDITS SUB UMBRA

The God Nodens, Flavius Senilis (Flavius the elder?) is near a marriage of power and trembles under the shadow

I'm willing to bet cash money that's very, very wrong


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## Andrew D. Gable (Sep 1, 2004)

I want to get a hold of D20 Past when it comes out, and see what it has for modifications for this period.  Although plain D20 Modern seems to be working fine.


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## JimAde (Sep 1, 2004)

If nothing else I'm sure they'll have listings for lots of period equipment and services.  That's worth it right there.


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## Citizen Mane (Sep 1, 2004)

I agree with JimAde -- any little bit of support helps.


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## Jarval (Sep 1, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> I want to get a hold of D20 Past when it comes out, and see what it has for modifications for this period.  Although plain D20 Modern seems to be working fine.



D20 what now?  D20 Past?  I've heard nothing of this.  Anyone got a link?

Just I case you haven't guessed, I'm rather interested in this product...


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## Andrew D. Gable (Sep 1, 2004)

Jarval said:
			
		

> D20 what now?  D20 Past?  I've heard nothing of this.  Anyone got a link?
> 
> Just I case you haven't guessed, I'm rather interested in this product...



It's not released yet.  A supplement for D20 Modern coming out next year.  It's only a 96 page splat, blecch, but on the other hand it'll contain stuff for Renaissance, Victorian, WW2-era...


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (Sep 1, 2004)

I'm also pondering whether I should maybe try to pen Resurrection City as a supplement or something after Past comes out.  It would be all good and legal, as far as I know - I need to find out about a few things... and I have plenty of ideas for things to stat out that I'm pretty sure will never show up in-game (like the White Powder from Machen's story).  I'd be using some published stuff, but AFAIK it's all public domain now (mostly Arthur Machen, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Bram Stoker).


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## JimAde (Sep 2, 2004)

That would rock.  I don't know if the d20 Past material will be OGC, but you should be able to do what you want just using the existing SRD.  'twould be cool.


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## Citizen Mane (Sep 2, 2004)

That would be cool.  And, I think, JimAde's got the right of it as far as the SRD.


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## Ashy (Sep 2, 2004)

Are you guys still lookin' for another player?


----------



## Andrew D. Gable (Sep 2, 2004)

We could do with one!  Two seem to have flaked out... so sure.  Review the stuff on character creation and whatnot early on.  

As for a hook, well, the PCs are on their way back to town now.  So try to have some reason why your character is in a small town in eastern Wales.


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## JimAde (Oct 12, 2004)

This is in reply to Kajamba Lion's question.  I didn't want to clutter up the IC thread:
 No you don't have to be a member or anything.  Just follow the link in my post, then navigate to the site's front page.


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## Citizen Mane (Oct 12, 2004)

Hmm.  I had some problems with that before, but I'll try it again.  Thanks.


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## Citizen Mane (Oct 12, 2004)

Tried it again, and it still give me one of those HTTP 500 - Internal server errors.    I'll keep on checking it.  Maybe they're having problems with it.


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## JimAde (Oct 12, 2004)

Sorry about that.  Here's the right link:

http://krisinchico.brinkster.net/rolldata.asp

 You just put in your die type and modifiers and it gives you the result and a link to look it up.


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## Citizen Mane (Oct 12, 2004)

That's where I was.  Still getting the same thing when I try to enter a roll.  :?  No worries, though -- it could be any number of things.


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## JimAde (Nov 4, 2004)

Andrew: I just decided to post here instead of fooling around with e-mails or PMs.  So I went ahead and updated Trevor.  I just took another level of Charismatic (with the Charm talent) and took Trustworthy for my 3rd-level feat.  I'm in double-digit values for diplomacy and Gather information (w00t!) 

 Anyway, I'm shooting for the Personality advanced class, which requires 6 ranks in perform.  I took them, but I don't think it fits.  They are obviously thinking "rock star" with that requirement.  Is there a more appropriate skill you'd like me to put those ranks in?  I already have some Knowledge(Nobility) and that might be appropriate to reflect knowing "the right people".


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## Citizen Mane (Nov 4, 2004)

Jamison takes another level of Smart Hero.
1.  +1 BAB, +1 Will, +1 Defense
2.  Bonus Feat: Studious (+2 Research, +2 Decipher Script)
3.  +2 hp [roll of 3 on d6, -1 Con]
4.  10 skill points: 3 ranks into Research, 1 into Investigate, 1 into Search, 1 into Knowledge/Streetwise, 1 into Knowledge/Theology, 1 into Decipher Script, 2 into Knowledge/Arcane Lore.
5.  Feat: Educated (Popular Culture, Arcane Lore).
6.  +6 AP (5 + 3/2, rounded down).
7.  Wealth bonus check against DC 2 [roll of 19 on d20, +0 Profession, total 19], Wealth Bonus increases to +6 (+1 for 3rd level, +3 for passing the check by 17)


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## Andrew D. Gable (Nov 11, 2004)

JimAde said:
			
		

> Is there a more appropriate skill you'd like me to put those ranks in?  I already have some Knowledge(Nobility) and that might be appropriate to reflect knowing "the right people".



I'll have to check out the class to see if I'd alter it any (probably not), but as to your skill I'd say Knowledge (Nobility) would work well for this time period.  In practice, though, it can apply to "high society" rather than just nobility, however.


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## JimAde (Nov 11, 2004)

Great.  I'll move my skill points around a little bit.  I still want Trev to be able to play piano at a party, but he doesn't have to be great at it.


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## Citizen Mane (Nov 11, 2004)

With all the parties on the horizon for Walsingham, Hewitt, and Diggory, I'd say playing the piano would be a victory in itself. 

Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Nov 14, 2004)

To give some reference here, Queen Tera, her jewel, and Abel Trelawny are all from Bram Stoker's book _The Jewel of Seven Stars_.


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## Citizen Mane (Nov 19, 2004)

I'll have to add that to my (growing) reading list.    I loved _Dracula_, so I'm curious to read more Stoker.

Also, I just wanted to let folks know that I'm going to be away for the weekend (through Sunday night) — my girlfriend's coming into town for two days.

Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Nov 20, 2004)

Note I've taken some liberties with things, though, and the Queen and Jewel in the book aren't *exactly* as they are here.


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## Citizen Mane (Nov 21, 2004)

Certainly.  And I won't be reading it anytime soon, so there shan't be any overlap on my end.  

Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Nov 25, 2004)

Just don't read Bram Stoker's last book, The Lair of the White Worm.  It's pretty...incoherent.  Really weird.  If you already have, well, I pity you.  Some say the movie adapted from The Jewel of Seven Stars (Hammer's _Blood from the Mummy's Tomb_) sucks, but I enjoyed it when I saw it a few days before Halloween.  It changes things fairly drastically from the story and makes the setting a modern one rather than the nifty Victorian era, but it's good in its own right.

I'll also suggest that if you pick up the book, you get the edition with the cover below.  Sure, the cover's pretty "mass market", but I think it has the original ending from the 1903 edition (the publishers changed it in 1913 or so and the changed one was all that was available for the longest time). 

Another note on the fact in the story.  Nicholas Hawksmoor's churches are real.  Most are in the East End, and some people have already noticed that at least two are EXTREMELY near the spots of brutal murders - Christchurch is very, very near Mary Kelly's room (the facade of the church can be seen several times in the movie From Hell) and the original plans for St. George's in the East had it being built on the site of the Radcliffe Highway Murders.  St. George's now is directly south of the crossroads where Williams' staked and beheaded body was buried.  As a secondary bit, Christchurch is also built on top of a huge mass grave used during the outbreak of the plague which immediately preceded the Great Fire of London.

As for the mysterious obelisks and pyramids, I don't know if they're actually at _all_ of the sites.  I know Christchurch, St. George's in the East, and St. Anne's Limehouse have them.  They usually bear some sort of inscription, the one at St. George's being about Solomon.  But even if they aren't there, Hawksmoor seemed rather fixated on the obelisk/spire.


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## Citizen Mane (Nov 26, 2004)

That's some pretty freaky stuff (the Hawksmoor stuff, not the Stoker, although Stoker can be downright creepy).  I'll have to check out the Hammer film, which'll be fun, as I've never seen any of his stuff.  Are you having as much fun running this game as you seem to be?    I'm having a damn good time myself.

Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Nov 28, 2004)

You bet I am. 

I'm running more or less published Cthulhu adventures (from the Gaslight stuff) and then modifying them a heck of a lot.  I see opportunities to throw in bits of my own storyline, and do so whenever I can.  Sometimes this leads to tangents (like where we are currently; the actual published adventure wouldn't pick up until you're at Avebury, so this is all free-form), but that's ok.

The whole thing in the last chapter about Mary Kelly and brain surgery came from Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan".  In the first chapter of that story it had about a doctor who did some sort of brain operation on a servant, said servant becoming pregnant shortly thereafter.  I figured since (at least to me) the story's events seem to be a thinly-disguised version of the Ripper anyway, I may as well finish the job. 

Langan's stone with the Latin inscription also came from the same story word-for-word: in the story, it's a stone pillar at Lydney.

The last chapter was based on a Chaosium adventure, and the woman at the end was originally one of the serpent people.  Initially, I was going to have Queen Tera appear as Mary Kelly (in fact, at one time I was thinking of playing off of the theory that Mary Kelly was not, in fact, murdered and making her a part of EIECET's group), but later I decided on Madame Sosostris.  As far as I know, Sosostris was not real, although she does appear in "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot and later in several Cthulhu stories.

Dr. Bond's suicide did happen, though I played with the timeline a little bit.  The real one happened in 1903, I think.

BTW, I'm going to run another Victorian-era game on another forum, and although I can't exactly follow the plot since one of the players knows _things_ about this game through conversations with me, I think I'll at the very least have EIECET, Langan, Harrington, and your characters pop up.

Hawksmoor is very weird - I intially heard of him during Jack's "tour" chapter in Alan Moore's From Hell (my favorite section, surprisingly for me) and later picked up some Iain Sinclair stuff in which he alludes to the possibility that maybe the churches had something to do with the fact that these murders happened where they did.


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## Citizen Mane (Nov 29, 2004)

I really do need to read From Hell.  I think you're right about Madame Sosostris — I can't recall ever seeing anything that indicated she was real in my studies, and Norton (and most other publishers, too, actually) loves to footnote that sort of thing.  Of course, Norton's also famous for footnotes like this:



			
				Text said:
			
		

> I arrived in Paris (1) early in the morning.





			
				Footnote said:
			
		

> (1) _Paris_: A city in France.




Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Dec 4, 2004)

Thought you might enjoy checking this out -- Bond's RL obituary.


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## Citizen Mane (Dec 4, 2004)

You're right.  I did enjoy that.    I love the _Times_ and old newspapers in general.  If all I had to do to be a grad student was read old copies of the _Times_, I'd probably still be in grad school today.  Good stuff.

Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Dec 9, 2004)

We're not really too close to the resolution of the EIECET/Ripper storyline, but just so I know for future reference, how would you like to handle it after that?  Stop with the conclusion of this plot, or continue on with a few one-shots?


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## JimAde (Dec 9, 2004)

It's hard to say.  You're doing a great job but we seem to be pretty short of players.  Is anybody in besides me and Kajamba?  

I purposely made my character clueless about all this mysticism stuff since I don't know that much about it myself, but I'm feeling a bit useless at the moment.   To be honest I'm a little lost with all the funky names and abbreviations and stuff.  I think Trevor might be willing to put all this behind him if he gets the chance.

At the moment he's motivated to get to the bottom of Edward's involvement since he actually took a liking to the little git.  After that, I'm not sure.


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## Citizen Mane (Dec 9, 2004)

I made Diggory a dabbler for fun (I know little about the occult), but I think he's quickly found that the reality of the world he lives in far outstrips the world he had thought he lived in.  Diggory's willing to keep on pressing through, even if it means all his thoughts and beliefs about his world are stripped away.  

As far as how to progress, I'm happy to continue on with some one shots or what not and see where the campaign goes.  

Did we lose Jarval permanently?  

Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Dec 9, 2004)

I'm not sure if Jarval's still around or not.  I haven't seen him on any other forums for quite a while, either, so maybe not.  But in any case, whether he's still with us or not, I'll be keeping Dr. Hewitt in as an NPC if needs be, because I think a medical opinion would be useful.  Personally, I think three characters is a good number.  We have the believer (Diggory), the skeptic (Hewitt), and the in-between (Trevor).  

Jim: I see what you're saying.  I feel, too, like I've not left enough spaces for Trevor to work.  You know what I mean?  Perhaps it would be better if I put in some sidetreks not directly related to the main action, and maybe could bring Trevor into play more.  Perhaps I could revisit my early-on suggestion about goings-on at the Walsingham house: after all, every good old English family has its screaming skull, or banshee, or ghostly hound, or something.  

And I'm glad you like Edward.  As a teaser, there'll be something _special_ about him later, probably after you "talk" with EIECET.  Just don't metagame the point too much... remember, this is an alternate timeline of sorts and things may not be like they are in RL.  And that is all I'm saying. 

Since I've picked up Masque of the Red Death recently, that's helped spark some one-shot ideas in my mind... and if we go the way of one-shots, I should start planning them now.  I think I am going to try integrating the one-shots into the current series rather than wait until later... if you know what I mean.  Ease up on the thick of things a bit to give Diggory, Trevor and Hewitt a chance to flex their investigative muscles on other matters, too.


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## JimAde (Dec 10, 2004)

Sounds great.  Don't kill yourself trying to accomodate Trevor.  As long as there's somebody to schmooze and an opportunity to be pompous he'll be happy.


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## Citizen Mane (Dec 10, 2004)

That sounds great.  Quite frankly, I'd love to see what happens if Diggory gets dumped into Trevor's world — could be great fun.  

Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Dec 10, 2004)

That settles it, then!  I think the next chapter after this one will be a pleasant holiday (yeah, right ) to Trevor's manor.  It'll be an interesting change for me, too, as I don't have to worry about working all the EIECET, etc. stuff in.  Just a good old-fashioned supernatural story of some type.

Jim: I'm not sure 100%, is the Walsingham in Trevor's title the one in Norfolk?  Somewhat near Raynham Hall?


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## JimAde (Dec 10, 2004)

I know nothing about real British geography.  I found Walsingham on a map while making up the character.   The Walsingham I had in mind _is_ in Norfolk, just north of Little Snoring.  That sounded bucolic enough for me to choose it.

I don't know from Raynham Hall, but there are towns called Raynham a little way Southwest of Walsingham.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Dec 10, 2004)

I think Raynham Hall is somewhere in the vicinity of the Raynham towns; I saw Fakenham near there, and I know that's near it.  Raynham Hall's the site of the famous "Brown Lady", one of England's better-known ghosts (the photograph with the ghostly form descending a stairwell).  I figure the Townshends (the family that are the lords of Raynham) might be subservient to Trevor's family.  Also, I've been reading up in Charles Fort about the area: there's some unexplained things around there.


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## JimAde (Dec 10, 2004)

Outstanding!  I had no idea.  But Trevor's only a Baron.  I don't know if anybody holds "beneath" him.  Do they even do that any more? (As of late 19th century that is).


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## Jarval (Dec 13, 2004)

Hi folks, I'm back.  It's going to take me a day or two to catch back up with the IC events, but once I have, Dr Hewitt will be back to apply his scientific approach to entirely unscientific problems... 



			
				JimAde said:
			
		

> I know nothing about real British geography.  I found Walsingham on a map while making up the character.   The Walsingham I had in mind _is_ in Norfolk, just north of Little Snoring.  That sounded bucolic enough for me to choose it.



Hmm, I live about 20 miles away from Little Snoring, and I've visited a few times (to go to the airfield, to be specific).  It's a nice little place, but just as sleepy and rural as the name suggests


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## JimAde (Dec 14, 2004)

Jarval said:
			
		

> Hi folks, I'm back.  It's going to take me a day or two to catch back up with the IC events, but once I have, Dr Hewitt will be back to apply his scientific approach to entirely unscientific problems...
> 
> 
> Hmm, I live about 20 miles away from Little Snoring, and I've visited a few times (to go to the airfield, to be specific).  It's a nice little place, but just as sleepy and rural as the name suggests



 Glad you're back!  Ever been to Walsingham?


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## Citizen Mane (Dec 14, 2004)

Hey, welcome back, Jarval.


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## Jarval (Dec 15, 2004)

Thanks, it's good to be back 



			
				JimAde said:
			
		

> Ever been to Walsingham?



I have been there a couple of times.  It's quite a tourist attraction actually, as its got the Priory of Our Lady of Walsingham, which (until the dissolution of monasteries in 1539) held a shrine to the Virgin Mary.  It's still a bit of a pilgramage site, and has a whole host of stuff going on that our dear DM might find interesting... 

This site's got a brief history of Walsingham: http://www.authorama.com/what-to-see-in-england-91.html


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## Andrew D. Gable (Dec 15, 2004)

Hey!  Walsingham's got a Black Lion Hotel, like the one Horatio Cartwright burned down! 

Weren't there supposed to be some of those mystical sightings of apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Walsingham?

And ever been to Raynham Hall?  If you have, did you see the Brown Lady?


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## JimAde (Dec 15, 2004)

Jarval said:
			
		

> Thanks, it's good to be back
> 
> 
> I have been there a couple of times.  It's quite a tourist attraction actually, as its got the Priory of Our Lady of Walsingham, which (until the dissolution of monasteries in 1539) held a shrine to the Virgin Mary.  It's still a bit of a pilgramage site, and has a whole host of stuff going on that our dear DM might find interesting...
> ...



 That link is awesome.  If the campaign ever goes to Walsingham, I'll have to do some research.


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## JimAde (Dec 30, 2004)

Just a heads-up that I will be taking a long week-end (as I'm sure many are).  I'll be out of touch tomorrow and through the week-end.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Dec 31, 2004)

JimAde said:
			
		

> That link is awesome.  If the campaign ever goes to Walsingham, I'll have to do some research.



And it will.


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## JimAde (Jan 3, 2005)

I just wanted to chime in and let you guys know I'm back and I am paying attention.  Diggory seems to have the situation well in hand, however.


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## Jarval (Jan 4, 2005)

Sorry I've not got back into the game yet   A combination of being ill twice, and general Christmas/New Years madness has eaten up a lot of my time.  I'll get back up to speed in the next day or two.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jan 8, 2005)

Just wanted to let everyone here know that, due to my Victorianophile nature, I'm starting up a game of Masque of the Red Death (_Unearthing Fear_ over on the Talking the Talk board).  Ownership of that book's not a requirement, though.

And I may include cameos from Diggory, Walsingham and Hewitt in their post-campaign retirement, and maybe a few other NPCs from this game.  As well as some of my PCs from other Call of Cthulhu games.


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## Citizen Mane (Jan 8, 2005)

That sounds wicked fun.  Post a link when it gets going; I'm full up on games at the moment, but I'd love to follow along. 

Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jan 26, 2005)

Lookit these crazy pagans!  This is just a wild Shub-Niggurath festival! 

No, seriously, it's just a bunch of locals at a pub in Highgate doing some crazy tradion they had called 'swearing on the horns'.  If that thing doesn't look like a freaking holy staff of a druid or something Yesset would've mounted over his fireplace...

I like the guy with the shepherd's crook in the very non-Victorian white greatcoat.  And the guy reading looks something like Prof. Armitage.


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## Citizen Mane (Jan 26, 2005)

That's a cool picture.  Where'd you dig it up?


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## Andrew D. Gable (Feb 25, 2005)

Just letting everyone know: I got the OK from Chaosium to do up Resurrection City as a monograph.  It's just a small print run, and it'll be for the original Cthulhu rules, but all the same.  Illustrations will be a mixture of my photographs I like to show off, and some art from two artists I have lined up.  Your PCs will no be immortalized...with your respective OKs, of course.  Don't want to trod on anyone's intellectual property rights.


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## Citizen Mane (Feb 25, 2005)

That's awesome!    Use Jamison anyway you like.  I'm fine with that.


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## JimAde (Feb 26, 2005)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> Just letting everyone know: I got the OK from Chaosium to do up Resurrection City as a monograph.  It's just a small print run, and it'll be for the original Cthulhu rules, but all the same.  Illustrations will be a mixture of my photographs I like to show off, and some art from two artists I have lined up.  Your PCs will no be immortalized...with your respective OKs, of course.  Don't want to trod on anyone's intellectual property rights.




 

That would rock!  Let me know how I can get my hands on a copy.

Just to clarify: Yes feel free to use Trevor however you want.  It should confuse a couple of people in my old group if they see it, as I actually recycled the name from a completely different character I had in a fantasy high sail campaign.  

The only similarity between the two characters is that they're both kind of foppish.


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## Citizen Mane (Feb 26, 2005)

JimAde said:
			
		

> Let me know how I can get my hands on a copy.




Yes, please do.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Feb 28, 2005)

I'll be letting you know.  In fact, if it's A-OK with you, give me your real-life names and maybe I'll put you into the thanks section as the originators of those characters.  I have two artists lined up and I'll be using a lot of the period photographs I'm showing off here.  I found a really nifty Victorian picture of Berkeley Square (I think showing No. 50 in the background, though I can't be sure...all those London townhouses look the same).  I'd love to do a plot using No. 50 and it's madness-inducing phantom (very Cthulhu), but I really have no idea for a plot concerning the house.

Anyway, the note I mentioned on the IC thread concerns the next two adventures.  I'm planning to have you guys stop over in Walsingham for an adventure unconnected to the rest of this (a break from the Pan/Sosostris storyline), letting you help decide the plot -- I have two in mind, so sway me one way or the other!  Then for the next one we'll run to Paris for another adventure (utilizing a well-known Lovecraft figure ).

For the next, Walsingham-set story, would you prefer a witch's curse scenario or just a good old ghost story?


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## JimAde (Feb 28, 2005)

Sounds great.  My real name is... Jim Ade!  (Big surprise).  I tried to get the user name Jade, but as you might expect it was taken.


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## Citizen Mane (Feb 28, 2005)

That sounds great to me, too.  RL name's Nick Mulherin.    Have often thought about trying to pick up the handle Nick, but kind of like Kajamba Lion.


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## JimAde (Feb 28, 2005)

I've been meaning to ask you, what does that mean, anyway?  "Kajamba"?  Your custom title looks like it says "Irish Lion", right?

If I wasn't such a freeloader, I could have a custom title, too.


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## Citizen Mane (Feb 28, 2005)

Yup, the title means Irish Lion (my heritage is mostly Irish and I was bored, and surfing the web for English-Gaelic dictionaries).  As for Kajamba Lion, Kajamba Lion's an amalgam of an old screen name (Kazanjian) and Jambalaya — I was using Kazanjian for a bunch of stuff at the time, and my primary e-mail address at college was kajammin[AT]brandeis[DOT]edu (the result of posting to a messageboard while my hallmates were listening to Bob Marley).  My fantasy baseball team that year became Kajambalaya, making the players Kajambalayans, which eventually turned into Kajamba Lions.  I've since adopted it as my screen name.   It's not a tremendously exciting story, unfortunately.

Nick


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## JimAde (Feb 28, 2005)

At least it's more creative than my screen name.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Feb 28, 2005)

Don't feel bad, Jim, "Andrew D. Gable" isn't too creative either.  You know, seeing that if you got my birth certificate that's what you'd see...

BTW, if we're done in Avebury I'll get your characters back to London for their repective conclusions to the adventure.


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## JimAde (Feb 28, 2005)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> Don't feel bad, Jim, "Andrew D. Gable" isn't too creative either.  You know, seeing that if you got my birth certificate that's what you'd see...
> 
> BTW, if we're done in Avebury I'll get your characters back to London for their repective conclusions to the adventure.



 Sounds good to me!


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## Citizen Mane (Mar 1, 2005)

Works for me, too.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Mar 2, 2005)

As you might have guessed, Edward Alexander Crowley was the real name of Aleister.  Actually, the only reason I changed his name to Edward Langan in the story was to avoid any prejudices -- I was afraid if you knew it was Crowley, you'd automatically assume he was up to no good.  Maybe he is at present, but you should remember that early on -- in his Golden Dawn days -- he was just a rather ambitious and power-hungry young mage, not the Aleister Crowley we all know and love.   

Basically, this story's taking place at a point in time where your actions will determine whether he remains the more or less good Edward Crowley or whether he becomes Aleister.  I dropped a hint to his identity in EIECET's diary, and in fact have been all along (the photo I showed during his first appearance was Crowley, I made several references to his being from Leamington, being reared by a religious family, etc.).  Did either of you figure it out? 

All that Crowley wrote about the magically-created Moonchild, never knowing that in this game, at least, he was one himself all along.  

I'm not spoilering this since although Diggory knows it at present, I assume you're going to tell Trevor at some point.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Mar 2, 2005)

I've started a new thread here,

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=122950

Go there whenever you're completed.  If there's any actions you'd like Trevor or Diggory to make before they leave London, post them in the old IC thread and we'll wrap that up. 

Jim, for purposes of this story I'm assuming Trevor has some relatives, cousins or something, in Walsingham as well.  Who takes care of the manor while Trevor's in London?


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## JimAde (Mar 2, 2005)

I figured he just had a staff, but if you want to have family involved, that's fine.  In his history he is kind of lacking in really close relationships.  He has acquaintances, contacts and casual friends, but no romantic interest, parents or other really close connections.  I like the irony of a "people person" who doesn't really have any people. 

I had absolutely no idea on Crowley.  I don't know enough about him to pick up on stuff like his birthplace and upbringing.  And if I had known, I would have assumed he was a good guy!  What little I do know seems to indicate he's gotten a much worse rep than he really deserved.

I do have a couple of things I want Trevor to do, but they need to be done in Walsingham (I want to check on Willie Stemple, etc.).


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## Citizen Mane (Mar 2, 2005)

Crowley snuck up on me, too, although I wondered if he'd ever show up in the game.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Mar 4, 2005)

It's fudging the timeline a bit.  Crowley actually didn't show up in the Dawn until 1898, but I figured, hey, why not.  I already have Thomas Bond dead, and his suicide was in 1901 IRL.  And I also fudged the timeline with the whole Aleister Crowley being Mary Kelly's kid deal, too.  Canonically (well, according to Joe Barnett, her boyfriend), Mary at least claimed to be 25.  Which puts her being born in 1863 and therefore being only 12 when Crowley was born in 1875.  I fudged things and made both Mary and Crowley a bit older.

At least some claim that Crowley went bad in 1899, when he was living at Boleskine House on Loch Ness (owned by Jimmy Page for a while).  Here, he tried a magical ritual out of the Book of Abramelin the Mage, ignoring the fact that the ritual stipulated that you be 25.  And he was only 24.  Some claim his turn was caused by a magical backlash there.  

He didn't stay in the Dawn long.  I think by 1900 he was gone, mostly because he was angry that Florence Farr wouldn't admit him into the inner grades of the Order and thus he couldn't learn much of any real magic.

Personally, I think it's neat that immediately upon Crowley's initiation, another Dawn member, Allan Bennett, said that "you have been messing with the Goetia (evil spirits)!".  Crowley denied it and Bennett replied, "then the Goetia have been messing with you!".  Paraphrased.

But overall, I agree with Jim that Crowley got a bad rap.  Oh, he was a nutjob, be certain, but generally harmless.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Mar 4, 2005)

(Trevor)
[sblock]Some notes on what you know about Walsingham and the area.  First, as I said, a forest called Oak Wood is near the manor.  Tradition has it that the fabled castle of the Green Knight lies somewhere in this forest.

There is also a rumor that one of your ancestors, Sir James Macallister, was cursed.  Sir James was a witch-hunter, a sort of mercenary employed by the Inquisition to root out blasphemers and witches back in Scotland.  You don't know the details of that story, though.

Finally, the carriage of Lord Townsend doesn't mean much of anything.  The macallisters and Townsends have a good relationship; the servants take care of the place while you're away, and every so often Lord Townsend checks in on them to make sure everything's alright.  Just giving you an opportunity to hobnob with some other nobility.  Even though he lives in Raynham Hall, I'm not bringing in the Brown Lady (the ghost of Raynham).  Though you could mention it for detail and flavor. [/sblock]


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## Citizen Mane (Mar 4, 2005)

Andrew — I'm wicked impressed with your historical knowledge; you know your stuff cold.  Is there a history on the 1890s/turn of the century that you'd recommend?  Because I was studying Dickens, most of my Victorian knowledge skitters back into the mid-Victorian period (and I'm still trying to sort a lot of that out).  

Thanks,
Nick


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## Andrew D. Gable (Mar 6, 2005)

Unfortunately, I'm really more of a "tidbit knower" than a real student -- that is, a good deal on Jack the Ripper and the Golden Dawn and general weirdness, but not so much of a general overview of the Victorian era.  In fact, until yesterday I didn't even know when Queen Victoria reigned -- technically, the Victorian era is from 1837-1901.  That's a long reign...

Most of what passes for knowledge in the game really comes from just watching old British horror movies and reading Victorian ghost stories and Sherlock Holmes.


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## JimAde (Mar 7, 2005)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> Unfortunately, I'm really more of a "tidbit knower" than a real student -- that is, a good deal on Jack the Ripper and the Golden Dawn and general weirdness, but not so much of a general overview of the Victorian era.  In fact, until yesterday I didn't even know when Queen Victoria reigned -- technically, the Victorian era is from 1837-1901.  That's a long reign...
> 
> Most of what passes for knowledge in the game really comes from just watching old British horror movies and reading Victorian ghost stories and Sherlock Holmes.



 But that's what we're after, I think.  Most gamers don't want the nitty-gritty unpleasantness of 19th-century life.  They want to capture the feel of Sherlock Holmes (or maybe Dracula).

I'm having a blast in this game.  Real post coming soon (I'm home with a sick kid today, so no guarantees.  )


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## Citizen Mane (Mar 7, 2005)

That's a good point, Jim. Games need to have the feel of realism, without being oppressively real.


> technically, the Victorian era is from 1837-1901. That's a long reign...



That's a sick long reign.  And the Victorian era in literature is said to have started in, IIRC, 1832 with Carlyle's _Sartor Resartus_ or _Past and Present_ — can't remember which one at the moment.  That's a wicked long time for a literary period (at least post-Renaissance).  When it really gets scary is when you think of the amount of writing the Victorians did during that period — I had a professor at UNC that believed that it outweighed the amount of writing we do today, but, with the advent of the Internet and e-books and small press/alternative media, I find that a bit hard to believe.  It could be true in a per capita sense, though.

Nick


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## JimAde (Mar 21, 2005)

Cool factoid on Walsingham:


			
				Walsingham Parish Council Website said:
			
		

> The pilgrimage revival began in the late 19th century, with the first modern pilgrimage taking place on 20th August 1897 to the Slipper Chapel at Houghton St. Giles, now the Roman Catholic Shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham. The Anglican Shrine was built by Fr. Alfred Hope Patten in 1933-37. Since the 1930's Walsingham has once again become a flourishing Pilgrimage and Visitor Centre.




So pilgrimages are just starting up again during the game.  Very cool.


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## JimAde (Apr 5, 2005)

Andrew, are you still around?  Did I miss a hiatus announcement?

Just want to make sure nobody's waiting for me.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Apr 5, 2005)

Still here, Jim.  Actually, I was just going to post about why I'm not on as much.

Two main factors -- basically, between writing this up for Chaosium is taking up time, and a bigger factor is that I now have a girlfriend, which I didn't before, and of course they take up time as well.  Basically I just don't have as much free time anymore -- never fear, this game will continue.  I'm not relegating it to the same death before its time that is the fate of so many other PbP games.  

So I'll still be posting, just not as much as I was earlier, which was about every day.  I'll be shooting for every few days.

Hope I didn't anger anyone unduly. 

BTW, this game's been going on for nearly a year.  Making it *by far* the longest-lasting PbP I've had.  Thanks, guys.


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## Citizen Mane (Apr 6, 2005)

Thank you.    It's a great game.


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## JimAde (Apr 6, 2005)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> Still here, Jim.  Actually, I was just going to post about why I'm not on as much.
> 
> Two main factors -- basically, between writing this up for Chaosium is taking up time, and a bigger factor is that I now have a girlfriend, which I didn't before, and of course they take up time as well.  Basically I just don't have as much free time anymore -- never fear, this game will continue.  I'm not relegating it to the same death before its time that is the fate of so many other PbP games.
> 
> ...



 No problem at all, Andrew.  I just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed something.  This is a great game.  I can't believe it's been running that long, though.  It seems like we just got started! 

BTW: If I ever catch you neglecting your new girlfriend to post on a forum I will personally smack you in the head.


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