Hi all!
For this scenario, you will all be prison guard captains. The game takes place in 1920, in NYC, and will mostly be focused on life in the prison.
To start, you should select your Attributes, your "stats". Each of them is associated with a different "move" you can do.
First, distribute a +2, a +1, and a +0 among:
Willpower: Keeping it together under stress
Fortitude: Ability to endure harm
Reflexes: Ability to avoid injury
Then distribute +3, +2, +1, +1, +0, -1, -2 among:
Reason: Ability to investigate things
Intuition: Ability to read a person
Perception: Ability to observe a situation
Coolness: Ability to act under pressure
Violence: Ability to do harm to others
Charisma: Ability to Influence Others
Soul: Ability to see through the illusion
Character Creation Instructions
Character Creation Instructions
Last edited by drpete on Sun Feb 23, 2020 2:44 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Character Creation
Dark Secrets
Each character has a dark secret. Dark Secrets are things from the character's past which will haunt them in the game.
For us, these will not be things the characters are aware of, and we will leave the details sketchy, to be developed (or not) in play. They are *suppressed* memories, or things about yourself that you do not know *yet*.
Choices:
Chosen One: You have been selected by a god to be its agent or sacrificial lamb.
Curse: You are afflicted by a curse.
Family Secret: Your family has a well kept secret, which has haunted you your entire life.
Guardian: You have been selected to protect an important object, place, or person.
Mental Illness: you or one of your relatives suffers from mental illness.
Pact with Dark Forces: You have sealed a pact with a dark entity.
Returned from the Other Side: You experienced an event where the illusion shattered completely, and you were the only one who returned.
Victim of a Crime: You were the victim of a terrible crime.
Victim of Medical Experiments: You were subjected to medical experiments with unexpected outcomes.
Visitations: You have a history of visitations from "the other side".
Each character has a dark secret. Dark Secrets are things from the character's past which will haunt them in the game.
For us, these will not be things the characters are aware of, and we will leave the details sketchy, to be developed (or not) in play. They are *suppressed* memories, or things about yourself that you do not know *yet*.
Choices:
Chosen One: You have been selected by a god to be its agent or sacrificial lamb.
Curse: You are afflicted by a curse.
Family Secret: Your family has a well kept secret, which has haunted you your entire life.
Guardian: You have been selected to protect an important object, place, or person.
Mental Illness: you or one of your relatives suffers from mental illness.
Pact with Dark Forces: You have sealed a pact with a dark entity.
Returned from the Other Side: You experienced an event where the illusion shattered completely, and you were the only one who returned.
Victim of a Crime: You were the victim of a terrible crime.
Victim of Medical Experiments: You were subjected to medical experiments with unexpected outcomes.
Visitations: You have a history of visitations from "the other side".
Re: Character Creation
Disadvantages
You should select two disadvantages from the list below. These will need to get fleshed out some, and we can discuss the mechanical impact of them as you consider them.
Bad Reputation: For some reason, you have attracted the disapproval/ animosity of the public.
Broken: Some experience in your past has broken your psyche so badly you are unable to recover from it.
Competitor: You have a competitor in the criminal underworld.
Condemned: Your fate has already been sealed, and it is only a matter of time.
Cursed: You are cursed.
Depression: You struggle with depression, which is made worse by dejection and discouragement.
Drug Addict: You are addicted to hard drugs. Name at least one.
Fanatic: You are a fervent believer in an ideology which must not be questioned.
Greedy: You are driven by an unquenchable desire for money and wealth.
Guilt: You carry heavy guilt for your past sins.
Harassed: For some reason, people tend to harass you.
Haunted: You are haunted by supernatural forces.
Infirm: You suffer from a dangerous physical disease or condition.
Involuntary Medium: You are an often vessel for supernatural beings to speak through.
Jealousy: There is someone who has the life you want, and you would do anything to possess it.
Liar: You are a compulsive liar, who invents stories at every opportunity.
Marked: You are marked by the darkness.
Mental Compulsion: You are fixated on a particular idea or action, to the point that it strongly impacts your life.
Nemesis: Through some terrible act, you have made an enemy, who does everything possible to destroy your life.
Nightmares: You suffer from recurring nightmares.
Oath of Revenge: You have sworn to avenge an unforgivable injustice.
Obsession: You have discovered a conspiracy or supernatural phenomenon, and can't stop yourself from trying to get to the bottom of it.
Phobia: You harbor an overwhelming fear of something.
Rationalizer: You refuse to believe anything not confirmed by modern science.
Repressed Memories: You have repressed a particularly unpleasant memory from your past.
Rival: You have an ambitious rival, who will do anything to be in your shoes.
Schizophrenia: You struggle with recurring psychotic episodes and terrible hallucinations.
You should select two disadvantages from the list below. These will need to get fleshed out some, and we can discuss the mechanical impact of them as you consider them.
Bad Reputation: For some reason, you have attracted the disapproval/ animosity of the public.
Broken: Some experience in your past has broken your psyche so badly you are unable to recover from it.
Competitor: You have a competitor in the criminal underworld.
Condemned: Your fate has already been sealed, and it is only a matter of time.
Cursed: You are cursed.
Depression: You struggle with depression, which is made worse by dejection and discouragement.
Drug Addict: You are addicted to hard drugs. Name at least one.
Fanatic: You are a fervent believer in an ideology which must not be questioned.
Greedy: You are driven by an unquenchable desire for money and wealth.
Guilt: You carry heavy guilt for your past sins.
Harassed: For some reason, people tend to harass you.
Haunted: You are haunted by supernatural forces.
Infirm: You suffer from a dangerous physical disease or condition.
Involuntary Medium: You are an often vessel for supernatural beings to speak through.
Jealousy: There is someone who has the life you want, and you would do anything to possess it.
Liar: You are a compulsive liar, who invents stories at every opportunity.
Marked: You are marked by the darkness.
Mental Compulsion: You are fixated on a particular idea or action, to the point that it strongly impacts your life.
Nemesis: Through some terrible act, you have made an enemy, who does everything possible to destroy your life.
Nightmares: You suffer from recurring nightmares.
Oath of Revenge: You have sworn to avenge an unforgivable injustice.
Obsession: You have discovered a conspiracy or supernatural phenomenon, and can't stop yourself from trying to get to the bottom of it.
Phobia: You harbor an overwhelming fear of something.
Rationalizer: You refuse to believe anything not confirmed by modern science.
Repressed Memories: You have repressed a particularly unpleasant memory from your past.
Rival: You have an ambitious rival, who will do anything to be in your shoes.
Schizophrenia: You struggle with recurring psychotic episodes and terrible hallucinations.
Last edited by drpete on Mon Feb 24, 2020 12:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Character Creation
Here is a file with creation rules for this archetype from the forums on the publisher's website...
One thing that would be slightly different is that the "distractions" should be 1920's appropriate.
One thing that would be slightly different is that the "distractions" should be 1920's appropriate.
- Attachments
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- Sleeper.pdf
- (411.65 KiB) Downloaded 39 times
Re: Character Creation Instructions
Environment
You are a guard captain in Blackwell Penitentiary, a castle-like building bursting at the seams with convicts. You were promoted to this position about 6 months ago, shortly after the new warden arrived.
https://youtu.be/cPbzLYQ7D8A (from about 2:00 to 2:30)
This means that you are in charge of a cell block, and you have 10 subordinate guards. Each cell block houses a few hundred prisoners in a succession of narrow cells. All are here because they have been sentenced to extended sentences for serious crimes. Those convicted of more minor offences like vagrancy and disturbing the peace are housed in the Workhouse, a prison on the other side of the island.
1) What types of crimes are the prisoners in your cell block primarily guilty of?
2) Are you in the "new" section of the prison, or the "old" section?
3) There is a fairly extensive black market in the prison. It can provide a good side income. How are you involved?
4) A few powerful gangsters have been convicted of crimes, and in exchange for liberally greasing the guards' pockets, they enjoy a number of perks, making their prison time almost like a vacation. Do you have anyone like this in your cell block? What is your relationship with them like?
https://youtu.be/rQV6CijIzrc (for a sense of how the powerful can live in prison)
5) What kind of work do you supervise during the day (this can be in one or the prison workshops, or maybe you supervise construction crews, or labor in one of the other institutions on the island... hospital orderlies, maybe?) Or have those in your care been restricted from work because they are too difficult to handle?
6) How did you impress the new Warden, Anthony Seymour, so that he elevated you to guard captain?
7) The prison is extremely crowded, and the Warden has been cracking down, trying to squash a violent and rebellious feeling among some inmates. Increased beatings and other rough treatment have kept a lid on things, but a several inmates have died. How do you feel about that? How have you been involved?
You are a guard captain in Blackwell Penitentiary, a castle-like building bursting at the seams with convicts. You were promoted to this position about 6 months ago, shortly after the new warden arrived.
https://youtu.be/cPbzLYQ7D8A (from about 2:00 to 2:30)
This means that you are in charge of a cell block, and you have 10 subordinate guards. Each cell block houses a few hundred prisoners in a succession of narrow cells. All are here because they have been sentenced to extended sentences for serious crimes. Those convicted of more minor offences like vagrancy and disturbing the peace are housed in the Workhouse, a prison on the other side of the island.
1) What types of crimes are the prisoners in your cell block primarily guilty of?
2) Are you in the "new" section of the prison, or the "old" section?
3) There is a fairly extensive black market in the prison. It can provide a good side income. How are you involved?
4) A few powerful gangsters have been convicted of crimes, and in exchange for liberally greasing the guards' pockets, they enjoy a number of perks, making their prison time almost like a vacation. Do you have anyone like this in your cell block? What is your relationship with them like?
https://youtu.be/rQV6CijIzrc (for a sense of how the powerful can live in prison)
5) What kind of work do you supervise during the day (this can be in one or the prison workshops, or maybe you supervise construction crews, or labor in one of the other institutions on the island... hospital orderlies, maybe?) Or have those in your care been restricted from work because they are too difficult to handle?
6) How did you impress the new Warden, Anthony Seymour, so that he elevated you to guard captain?
7) The prison is extremely crowded, and the Warden has been cracking down, trying to squash a violent and rebellious feeling among some inmates. Increased beatings and other rough treatment have kept a lid on things, but a several inmates have died. How do you feel about that? How have you been involved?