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Nessus posted:I imagine Mitchell came up on their list because Scarlett O'Hara was The Southern Belle prototype for much of the country for decades. I really hope she does because she's one of the most  characters to pop up in this book. Although I have a feeling she's likely just there for storytellers to build off rather than an NPC that will get fully fleshed out.
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Jan 19, 2023 20:21
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Nessus posted:I wonder if that Grandmom of Ether gets a write-up elsewhere. I like that she's never called out as anything. It's one of the few attempts during the era of Crossoveritis that it's something that's just weird and never codified.
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Jan 19, 2023 20:34
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Dawgstar posted:I like that she's never called out as anything. It's one of the few attempts during the era of Crossoveritis that it's something that's just weird and never codified.
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Jan 19, 2023 20:48
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Nessus posted:Yeah like I know enough about the setting to infer her deal, but they don't say. They very deliberately point out in the text that no one has figured out her deal because she doesn't ping as supernatural in anyway. I like to think she's just a little old lady who does science and has figured out there is Some poo poo afoot at the Circle K that is the WoD universe. Not a Mage or anything, just a normal rear end person who wants to do her job and clearly doesn't intend harm to Wraiths at least.
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Jan 19, 2023 21:12
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White Wolf notoriously put a Goth Kid faction in Mage. Yet when they did the splatbook, there was barely any understanding of the music or the scene or anything else connected to it. It was bizarre.
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Jan 19, 2023 23:46
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Halloween Jack posted:White Wolf notoriously put a Goth Kid faction in Mage. Yet when they did the splatbook, there was barely any understanding of the music or the scene or anything else connected to it. It was bizarre. How did they gently caress up my precious Hollow Ones?!  WHITE WOLF!!!!!!!Also quick question for the audience, I've got 5 books left in this first round of reviews left, Masquerade core, Masquerade PHB, Changeling core, Storyteller Secrets and Digital Web 1.0. All 5 will get reviewed (with the PHB and BSS likely coming after their cores) but I'm wondering now that I'm winding down Atlanta what I should jump on next. On the one hand, Corebooks and on the other.....a Mage supplement  I leave my fate in your capable hands friends!
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Jan 20, 2023 00:30
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Just listened to the RTFM on Changeling: The Lost and would love to read something more in-depth (NWoD or OWoD).
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Jan 20, 2023 05:42
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Gray Ghost posted:Just listened to the RTFM on Changeling: The Lost and would love to read something more in-depth (NWoD or OWoD). Lost is specifically the nWoD version. Changeling the Dreaming is the oWoD one and it's extremely different, even by the standards already set by the break between the other new/old WoD game lines.
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Jan 20, 2023 06:05
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Dawgstar posted:I like that she's never called out as anything. It's one of the few attempts during the era of Crossoveritis that it's something that's just weird and never codified. It's especially funny how most of the crossover stuff gets explained to death but the books also insist that everyone should be almost entirely unaware of the deal of every other splat. This is more like the actual feeling they apparently wanted to go for - there's this lady who's obviously weird but also isn't explained.
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Jan 20, 2023 13:10
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Halloween Jack posted:White Wolf notoriously put a Goth Kid faction in Mage. Yet when they did the splatbook, there was barely any understanding of the music or the scene or anything else connected to it. It was bizarre.
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Jan 20, 2023 15:44
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 Joylessdivision's World of Dorkness Presents Necropolis Atlanta Chapter Four: The Hierarchy  The chapter kicks off with a bit about the Hierarchy in general, and how the powers that be in Atlanta related to the Hierarchy are at odds with each other, leading some to believe the city is ripe for potential overthrow. Aka: Plot Hooks. The Anacreons Atlanta is ruled over by 7 Anacreons representing each Stygian Legion as well as a representative of the Lady of Fate. Governor Johnson has worked to change the perception of the Hierarchies power structure, spinning the singular figurehead leader position into a more well-intentioned aristocracy than totalitarian military state. The Hierarchy Cohorts -Governor James Johnson  Johnson was the first military Governor of Georgia appointed after the Civil War, and his reputation for fairness carried over into the afterlife. He took control of the Necropolis with little opposition other than the Sons. His plans to reform the image of the Hierarchy without compromising on the laws has been successful. Nature: Judge Demeanor: Director Cohort: Overlord of the Necropolis Passions: Control Atlanta and the surrounding area completely (Lust) 4, Reform the public image of the Hierarchy and gain more support (Pride) 2 Fetters: Georgia State Capital building 3, Governor’s desk 2 Shadow: The Pusher Shadow Passions: Embarrass Johnson publicly (Selfishness) 3, Undermine the authority of the Hierarchy (Hate) 5 Image: Tall, Gray haired and eyed, his face is thin with a hooked nose over a heavy mustache that frames thin lips. Rarely seen without his mask and chains of office, carrying his scythe when going out. Roleplaying Tips: A stern man with a powerful need for order in your city. You know Stygia is keeping a close eye on your city, and you know if you can take complete control of the city, there will be a position of power for you in Stygia waiting. The Legion of the Grim The most powerful legion in Atlanta, made up of the victims of violence and overseen by the Smiling Lord. Ambrose Walton pays reapers to bring the newly dead to him, and he is always willing to make promises of rewards and benefits. An old drunk named Smitty is a fountain of information, and while the Hierarchy believes him to be neutral, Smitty is loyal to Walton as he holds Smitty’s murderer under his servitude. -Ambrose Walton  Ambrose Walton was a Union Captain who was taken out by a friendly cannonball. While he is the Anacreon of the victims of violence, he believes that the increased trade between the North and South is helping to ease tensions, and while violence will always exist, he does not encourage it. Nature: Director Demeanor: Survivor Cohort: Anacreon for the Legions of the Grim Passions: Wishes to make Atlanta into a city where North and South can work together rather than being enemies (Hope) 3, Regrets having killed so many (Guilt) 4, Seeks to strengthen the Hierarchy to better protect the restless against Oblivion (???)? Fetters: Kennesaw battlefield 2, Medals (located at Atlanta Historical Society) 3 Shadow: Martyr Shadow Passions: Desires to take Governor’s office for himself (Envy) 4, Revenge on all things Southern (Hate) 5 Image: Lanky with thinning red hair shot through with grey. A hawkish nose and drooping mustache. When angered or when his Shadow is in control, a gaping wound in his chest where the cannonball hit is visible. He is always dressed in full Union regalia. Roleplaying Tips: You’re a shrewd man, cunning and dangerous. Never turn your back on anyone who could be an enemy and make sure anyone who meets you understands that you are in charge and in control of every situation. If anyone accuses you of cowardice, you will do your best to destroy them then and there. -Jebediah O’Rourke  Born in Ireland in 1810, Jebediah moved to Georgia when he was 22. He took on work as a lawyer and moved to the town of Terminus. Five years later he moved his offices to Decatur where he built his reputation as a smart and fair lawyer. It wasn’t until Jebediah was installed as Judge that his stubbornness became apparent. He was known for ruling how he saw best, and would not be swayed by others. In time his mere presence was enough to deter crime in the town. As he aged, it became clear that something was having an effect on the old man. Admitting it only to his closest friends, Jebediah claimed that he stayed alive out of “Sheer Cussedness”. The truth was Jeb was worried about what would happen to him upon his death due to a family curse. Jebediah lived through the Civil War and was once again reinstated as magistrate after Atlanta fell to the union. It wasn’t until one night during Reconstruction that a band of hooligans murdered Jebediah in his chambers at the Decatur courthouse. Some believed Jebediah’s family curse had finally caught up to him while others believed the murder to be related to a ruling against the Klan. Both were right in their ways. Jeb was murdered by his Grandfather Kieran Riorche, as the family curse was a Soul Pact binding dead family members to the living as Guardians. Kieran was lost in the 4th great Maelstrom and soon Jeb used his notoriety to gain prestige and position with the hierarchy. Jebediah swore he would not cause his grandson to become a Wraith as his grandfather had done to him. This didn’t stop his grandson James from becoming a Wraith regardless. Nature: Architect Demeanor: Judge Cohort: Legions of the Grim - Magistrate Passions: Carry out his duties as Magistrate fairly (Pride) 3, Keep the laws of the Hierarchy (Duty) 5 Fetters: Decatur Courthouse 2, Judge’s gavel now on display at the Atlanta Historical Society 4 Shadow: The Freak Shadow Passions: Make his descendants life hell (Hate) 4, Oppress others to demonstrate power (Arrogance) 3 Image: Stout, tall and heavy-set with brown hair frosted with white. His mustache, goatee and eyebrows are white, and he is often seen dressed in his Magistrates attire of a crimson robe, chains of office and dark cowl. Roleplaying Tips: You’re an important man, and you know it. Sooner or later, everyone gets into trouble and your memory for the smallest slights is as long as your ego is swollen. Revenge comes to all who are willing to wait. You keep a close eye on your grandson and those he associates with. Whenever a Renegade who associates with him is brought before you, the punishment is guaranteed to be harsh. -Smitty  Smitty arrived in Atlanta during the depression and spent his days drunk. He became a fixture of the city in no time, though not everyone liked the old drunk. Robert Dallas had taken to beating Smitty whenever he was also drunk, having convinced himself that the old drunkard must be a child molester or worse. Smitty forgave the beatings until the night Dallas poured a bottle of straight vodka on Smitty and set him on fire. Now Smitty remains in his alleyway, and Dallas is locked in Thralldom. The one time the Hierarchy hinted at freeing him, Smitty stopped talking. Nature: Jester Demeanor: Child Cohort: The Grim Legion Passions: To taste alcohol (lust) 3, Know all the city’s secrets and thereby make himself indispensable to the Hierarchy (Curiosity) 5 Fetters: Majestic Diner 2, Antique vodka bottle in a Buckhead antique shop 2 Shadow: The Leech Shadow Passions: Escape from the pain of the Shadowlands by staying drunk (Fear) 3, Backstab and betray everyone (Hate) 5 Image: A filthy man dressed in more clothes than should be possible, with approximately four teeth and eyes painted with cataracts. Smitty is willing to pass along his vast knowledge of the city to those who have a few Oboli or relic liquor to offer. Roleplaying Tips: You act more drunk than you are, slurring your words and pretending to be asleep. You like everyone, but you never forgive or forget a slight. But you won’t let that get in the way of business. You’ve got a lot of influence and it’s what’s insured that nobody bothers you. Even the Heretics and Renegades know how important you are. The Emerald Legion The second most powerful Legion in the city, they cover the victims of happenstance. There is a strong belief that many of the major accidents that have occurred on the interstate and railroads around Atlanta were arranged by members of the Emerald Legion, and many of those accidents have involved a few members of the Hearse Riders, who owe a great debt to the Legions leader, Sarah Chandler. However, because the Riders are not recognized by the Hierarchy, Sarah has to keep her dealings with them discreet. Sarah and the Riders have an agreement that any who die in accidents be brought to her for either recruitment of thralldom, and because the Riders are so selective in how they choose their own members, there has never been an issue between two parties regarding this agreement. -Sarah Chandler  Sarah was the first person to die in Atlanta, being run down by a carriage. While she is an Anacreon, she is also part of a growing faction of children who had their lives stolen from them by cruel and careless adults. Sarah intends to take revenge on all careless adults, and her Shadow keeps promising her the power to do so. Nature: Child Demeanor: Gallant Cohort: Anacreon of the Emerald Legion Passions: To help children (Love) 2, Wants to experience adulthood (Desire) 3, Rule over Atlanta to the best of her ability (Duty) 2 Fetters: Locket now in a Milledgeville antique jewelry collection 2, Intersection where she died 3, Grave 2 Shadow: Leech Shadow Passions: Kill all adults (Hate) 2, Help Renegades like the Hearse Riders undermine authority (Rebelliousness) 3 Image: A petite, fragile girl of 4’3” with blonde hair and green eyes, she is usually seen in the dress she died in or wearing a “Casper the Friendly Ghost” t-shirt. Roleplaying Tips: If the idiots around you choose to underestimate your abilities, who are you to disillusion them? You tend to listen more than you speak, unless you are around other children. Because of your age at the time of your death and similarities to how you died, you feel an affinity to the Hearse Riders -Nancy Martin  Nancy wanted to have fun like any other young person, and after graduating high school and getting a part time job at the Circle-K, she fell in with a crowd who “Lived for the moment”. Soon some of these friends were partaking in “Recreational Chemistry” on the weekend. Then one night when she was crashing with one of these friends, the cops busted in and before she knew what happened, Nancy was bleeding out on the floor. Upon her entry into the Underworld, Nancy resolved to turn her life around and try to help those without direction like she had been. The Hierarchy seized on this talent of course, but Nancy is still a girl who just wants to have fun, death or not. Nature: Bravo Demeanor: Rebel Cohort: Emerald Legions Passions: Protect Family (Love), Keep Atlanta’s drug scene from killing anymore innocents (Hate) 5, Keep order in her life (Fear)2 Fetters: Parents 2, House where she died 4, Circle-K where she worked 1 Shadow: The Pusher Shadow Passions: Experience everything “Fun” in the Underworld (Lust)4, Let people screw themselves up...after all, isn’t that what the world did to you? (Apathy)3 Image: Slightly overweight at 5’6” with short blonde hair. She’s dressed in the clothes she died in, tight black jeans and men’s dress shirt. She has eight earrings, a nose ring and at least one ring per finger. Roleplaying Tips: If you don’t dwell on the pain, you can make the most of death. Never talk about serious subjects unless you absolutely have to. You try too hard in most peoples opinion, always forcing a smile and talking too fast. The world doesn’t have to be an awful place, even if it was for you. If you can show people that, you’ll start making up for all the mistakes you made in life. -Ominey Stanton  In the late ‘50s, Ominey was a wanderer, riding the rails wherever they took him, meeting new faces along the way. Later an old friend offered Ominey the one job he’d always wanted, conductor on a train, albeit a subway. No one was to blame for Ominey’s death, just bad luck on a rainy day sent him tumbling in front of a subway train. Now he watches the MARTA trains to make sure the Renegades aren’t causing any trouble. Nature: Jester Demeanor: Bravo Cohort: Emerald Legions Passions: Wants his old job back (Envy) 2, Learn more about modern trains (curiosity)3, Work on the Midnight Express one day (Hope) 1 Fetters: Train he rode 2, Old stopwatch 1, Retired engine in a museum 1 Shadow: The Abuser Shadow Passions: Give up hope (Despair) 3, Destroy MARTA trains at any given opportunity (Rage)4 Image: A big man with wide shoulders and a hard, well-muscled body. He has a wide friendly smile, a pencil thin mustache and expressive black eyes. His greying hair and ramrod posture add a certain air of authority to his overall looks. Roleplaying Tips: You have a job to do, and you do it well. Nothing is as important as making sure the trains run on time, even in the Shadowlands. Keep smiling, far as you're concerned, part of your job is making others happy, but never take any lip from passengers. If they give you trouble, off they go. The Legion of Paupers Led by a woman named Sue, the Legion of Paupers handles all those who have died under mysterious circumstances. However, this claim has put the legion at odds with others as the Legion of the Grim lays claim to all who have died violently, while the Paupers would argue that if the wraith does not know who murdered them, they are theirs. Sue frequently uses this argument to woo new Enfants to her side with the promise of assistance in finding their killer. Because of this Sue and the Paupers have gained a great deal of loyalty. -Sue  Sue was born and died a slave, dying during her second escape attempt, she does not know who killed her, though she suspects it was a bear. Raised in the beliefs of her ancestors, she argues vehemently against Christian ways. She loathes the idea of slavery and refuses to wear the chains of her office. Despite these differences of opinion, Sue understands the need for structure to keep things running smoothly, but she finds the recent framing of Stygia’s slavery system as “Feudalism” to be deeply offensive. Despite this, she remains loyal to the Hierarchy and works to protect the fragile relations with the Ivory Kingdom. Nature: Judge Demeanor: Curmudgeon Cohort: Anacreon of the Legion of Paupers Passions: Hatred of racists and slavers (Hate) 5, Wants to promote better relations with the Ivory Kingdom (Hope) 2, Hopes to reform the Hierarchy (Hope) 3 Fetters: Chains she wore in life 4, tattered wedding dress 3 Shadow: The Freak Shadow Passions: Kill all the white people (Hate) 3, Incite racial violence (Rage)4, Destroy the Hierarchy (Hate) 2 Image: Sue is 14, dressed in a pure white dress, hair pinned up. Her wrist and ankles bear the marks of the chains that cut her when she was captured trying to escape. Roleplaying Tips: You don’t take crap from anyone. The last thing in the world you want is an easy day, there’s just too drat much to fix. Anyone tries to give you grief, knock em on their rear end and show them what death is all about. Any racism will set you swinging. You suffered enough of it in life, and you don’t take well to it now, not from anyone or about any race. -David Duvalier  David was a busy boy, between his career as a Karate instructor, his time in school studying for a master's in computer science and his multiple girlfriends, how could he possibly get into trouble? Well, if he hadn’t constantly told his multiple girlfriends that “You’re the only one I’ll ever love”, then girlfriend #3 (who was also fiancée #2), a young lady named Leanne, wouldn’t have shot him 17 times in the crotch and another 12 times in the head for good measure. Leanne is now spending her time in a padded room taking the pills the nice doctors have prescribed for her. Since becoming a Wraith, David has spent his time trying to glad-hand his way into a position of power. Nature: Conniver Demeanor: Traditionalist Cohort: Legion of Paupers Passions: Find true love (Love) 3, Learn more about computer programing (Curiosity) 2, Demonstrate his prowess at Karate (Pride) 2 Fetters: GA State Karate championship trophy 3, Engagement ring (given to 3 different women) 2, box of disks containing original programming 1 Shadow: Director Shadow Passions: Drive off people with offensive behavior (Self-Hatred) 3, Hurt potential girlfriends (Hate) 4, Erase all disks with David’s programming on them (Covetousness) 2 Image: The ideal tall, dark and handsome stranger with wavy black hair and dark brown eyes. His eyes show a great deal of cunning, and his winning smile is almost enough to hide his cold interior. Lean, well-muscled and standing at 5’11” he is typically dressed in a charcoal gray three-piece suit. Roleplaying Tips: You think no one realizes what you're up to but everyone who knows you well is aware of your machinations and simply ignores it. Smile secretively, attempt to woo any female within passing distance, but subtlety. You’re certain that the upper echelons of the Hierarchy are keeping you from becoming the powerful leader you were meant to be, and you’ve recently come up with a new plan to handle the situation. Of course, this plan requires a few Enfants that need to be convinced that you’re right. The Silent Legion Encompassing the victims of Despair, the Silent Legion of Atlanta is lead by Andrew Stevens, though when he is unable to push though his own despair, Mark Creed dons the mask and chains of office to stir up trouble. Despite this disorganization, the state of the living world is such that the Silent Legion continues to grow. -Andrew Stevens  A true southern fancy lad, Andrew lived a life of contentment as a part of the southern aristocracy, with a plantation full of slaves and stables full of the best horses. But Andrew was never truly happy, and all he really wanted was to marry his childhood sweetheart Antoinette. Antoinette, however, wanted nothing to do with him and married a New Yorker instead. In his fancy lad grief, Andrew threw himself into the Peachtree Creek after a heavy rain and his body was never found as the Civil War had just started. Since his death, Andrew searched for Antoinette, following her while she lived and eventually scouring the Shadowlands after her death. When he was unable to find her, he assumed she had transcended upon death. Since then, he has thrown himself into his work to forget about his lost love and has become a fair Anacreon. Nature: Traditionalist Demeanor: Dilettante Cohort: Anacreon of the Silent Legions Passions: Love Antionette, even beyond death (Love) 4, Become the most successful Anacreon in Atlanta (Hope) 3 Fetters: Antoinette’s Gravestone 4, Peachtree Creek 3 Shadow: Perfectionist Shadow Passions: Abandon hope of ever finding Antoinette (Despair) 3, Act irresponsibly in the position of Anacreon (Self Hatred) 4 Image: The perfect southern gentleman, his clothes are antiquated, and his auburn hair is always well styled, and his clean-shaven features are appealing. He never shows signs of weakness, instead standing with quiet dignity as he considers his next moves. When he leaves his haunt, it is always in full regalia of his position. Roleplaying Tips: Never show any real emotion. You’re a glad-hander and a politician. Anger is absolutely forbidden, and you always speak reasonably and with passion. You have a delicate southern drawl, compared to the vulgar twang of so many of the riff-raff around you. You’re a romantic and prefer to remember the past than live in the present. -Mark Creed  Mark was paralyzed at the age of 12 when a drunk driver drove through his living room wall, pinning the boy against a wall, breaking his neck. Shockingly this did not kill him. During his three years in the hospital recovering, he taught himself about computers. Sadly, he wallowed in bitterness for the remainder of his life until he committed suicide with his father's 12 gauge. Now Mark lives the life he wanted as a full person. Nature: Bravo Demeanor: Jester Cohort: Victims of Despair Passions: Experience in death what he could not in life (Envy) 4, Wishes others to suffer as he did in life (Hate) 3, Wants to experience everything (Lust) 4, Learn more about computers (???) 3 Fetters: Parents 2, Shotgun 1 Shadow: Monster Shadow Passions: Kill all irresponsible adults (Hate) 3, Punish his parents for not protecting him (Hate) 3 Image: Heavy-set with tattoos on his arms reflecting his love of heavy metal music (lol). He has dyed red hair, and blue eyes with a long scar running down the left side of his head where no hair grows. He has a bitter smile and a menacing look in his eyes. Roleplaying Tips: Life sucked lemons, so live Death to the fullest. Everything amuses you, and the things that caused you grief in life are the very things you flaunt in the Shadowlands. For the first time in 12 years, you can walk and lift things over three pounds. The Highway Men are a pretty cool group and you’re seriously considering joining them. -Mary Harris  Mary was in desperate need of work. Late on her trailer rent, and with no money for food, she couldn’t feed her twin sons. Had her common law husband Terry stayed after she learned she was pregnant, her death may have come later. Instead, after hearing of a job at the local bank, Mary put on her best clothes and went for the interview, leaving her sons at home. Mary got the job, but by the time she returned home, the entire trailer park had been engulfed in flames. Her trailer had caught fire due to faulty wiring. Mary threw herself in front of an oncoming train shortly after. Terry, overwhelmed with guilt, purchased a monument statue to Mary and the twins in the cemetery, depicting Mary with her face raised to the heavens and a child in each arm. The statue has been known to cry, especially when local children come to the cemetery at night, circling the monument and chanting “Mary, Mary, why did you kill your babies?”. The little ritual has become part of city legends and is performed regularly. Nature: Critic Demeanor: Child Cohort: Victims of Despair Passions: Protect and Defend children (Love) 3, Improve living conditions for Atlanta’s poor (Hope) 4 Fetters: Husband 1, Her children’s graves 2 Shadow: Monster Shadow Passions: Kill those that mock her monument (Vengeance) 4, Punish all fathers who abandon their families (Hate) 5 Image: Mary looks as she did in life, a slightly too thing young woman with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. Her eyes constantly leak tears and her hands are bloodstained. Roleplaying Tips: You are lost in the memories of your dreams, forever searching for what might have been. You’ve been searching for your children for the last 15 years, but to no avail. Now, hoping the children will come to you, you wait by the monument. You won’t leave for fear that the children will come while you’re gone. When other Wraiths come by, you’re eager to answer questions or simply listen as they speak of their own troubles. The Iron Legion Composed of those who have died of old age, the Anacreon of this legion, Justin Whately, works to ensure that the elderly of Atlanta die with unfinished business so that he can claim them. -Justin Whately  Dr. Whately was an upstanding citizen in all outward appearances, doing volunteer work and attending church regularly, as well as making house calls to the worst neighborhoods. What none one knew then or now, is that he is a pedophile. He died of a stroke at 65 and now spends his days making deals, exchanging information or goods for influence or cash. He is very unpopular with the Hearse Riders and the Shattered Chain. Gee, I wonder why the group of child wraiths with a vendetta against adults who harm children wouldn’t like this guy? Nature: Architect Demeanor: Caregiver Cohort: Anacreon of the Iron Legions Passions: Amass as much wealth and power as possible (Greed) 5, “Love” children (Lust) 3 Fetters: Diary 2, Grave 3 Shadow: Monster Shadow Passions: Squander all wealth (Lust) 3, Abuse children (Hate) 5 Image: Short, portly and charming, Justin dresses in 1960’s era fashion, and is obviously very wealthy. He tends to stare at a pocket watch he brought over with him upon his death. He smells faintly of ether. Roleplaying Tips: Oh but you are ever so friendly. Smile and smile some more! Whenever you meet a woman, kiss her hand, and always give a firm handshake to the men. If there is a child around of either sex, pat them affectionately on the head, and if time permits, get a hug or two in. You are smarmy bastard if there ever was one. -Thomas Kershaw  Better known during his career as “The Magnificent Kershaw”, Thomas was a magician from the age of 7, determined to become the next Houdini. While he was good, with several local TV appearances and a national tour, he made a modest living, but Thomas was in it for the love of the craft. He swore he’d retire one day, as soon as he’d done one more trick. Unfortunately for him, his drive to perfect his craft gave him little chance to rest, until an embolism erupted in his brain. Nature: Deviant Demeanor: Deviant Cohort: Followers of the Iron Lady Passions: Continue entertaining people (Love) 5, Discover the “Perfect Trick” (Curiosity) 2 Fetters: Magic props: Cane 1, Top Hat 1, Cards 2 Shadow: Pusher Shadow Passions: Embarrass Kershaw publicly (Self-Hatred) 4, Abandon performing (Despair) 3 Image: Tall and lean with slicked back, dyed black hair and a waxed mustache with grey, defiant eyes. He is always dressed in a tuxedo with tails, white gloves and a cane. When his Shadow is dominant, he carries a top hat and a black rabbit. Roleplaying Tips: You’re amazingly flamboyant and determined to dazzled the underworld with your talents. Sadly, few seem too impressed with rabbits being pulled from hats, but never sit idly by if you hear an argument. The underworld is full of enough suffering, make em smile. The Penitent Legions The legion of the mentally ill, the Penitent reaps from asylums and psychological wards as well as from those who are unable to get the help they need. The Anacreon of this legion, William Miller has begun gathering favors from both the Grey Boys and the Sons of the Imperial Dragon, as his leniency on behalf of both groups has led to a mutual understanding and agreement to aid the Anacreon and his legion. -William Miller  An absolute piece of poo poo human being, William Miller was raised a staunch Southern Baptist and taught the importance of God, Country and White Supremacy. He tried his hand at being a minister but gave it up as his desire for “colored” girls would have destroyed him had he been caught in the act. He returned home and set about being a farmer. When his “Impure thoughts” returned, he joined the Klan and took out his repressed sexual desires through violent torture and murder. Until he and his rear end in a top hat cracker friends picked the wrong house and William met the business end of a shotgun blast. Unfortunately for the people of Atlanta, Millers hatred could not be contained by death and in 1911 he became the Jack the Ripper of Atlanta, murdering 20 women that exceeded the brutality of his namesake. He’s tried to curb his murderous tendencies but has not yet succeeded, having gone on several more killing sprees in the Skinlands, satisfying himself with one or two victims, typically of mixed heritage. Nature: Fanatic Demeanor: Jester Cohort: Anacreon of the Penitent Legions Passions: Show himself to be a component ruler (Pride) 3, Forget his past misdeeds (Guilt) 4 Fetters: Klan regalia 1, knives 4, descendants of his bastards 3 Shadow: The Parent Shadow Passions: Demonstrate the superiority of the white race by subjugating and sexually abusing others (Pride) 5, Remember every abuse and assault ever committed (Shame) 3 Image: Tall with a blonde crew cut and dark grey eyes, he is heavy muscled and lightly freckled. Generally, he’s dressed in farmers’ clothing but occasionally he wears the regalia of his station or that of a Klansmen. Roleplaying Tips: You don’t like letting anyone near you, they might see past the mask you wear and see what you are really like. Speak if you have business to attend to. -Natatia King  Natatia lived a short and tragic life, her father lost his job when she was three due to drug addiction, and by seven she had grown accustomed to decaying apartment complex she lived in as well as the beatings her parents unleashed on her. At eight she was shot by a crazed drug dealer who was attempting to get the money her parents owed him. Now, she harasses her parents and anyone else who tries to live in her building. While many think she’s mad, it’s more that as a child with little information or context for the world around her, she has simply filled in the details and explanations for herself, which has caused her view of things to be out of sync with most others. Nature: Child Demeanor: Child Cohort: Victims of Madness Passions: Understand her parents (Curiosity) 4, Find lost toys (Hope) 3 Fetters: Parents 5, Apartment where she died 4 Shadow: Leech Shadow Passions: Avoid parents (Terror) 3, Kill the man who shot her (Hate) 5 Image: Alternately appearing as a cute little moppet with pink bows and a Sunday dress, smiling and carefree, and as a gaunt, shriveled and bloody child from the endless beatings. She sometimes appears with the gaping wound in her chest that killed her. Roleplaying Tips: You like people, or at least the dead ones and you love playing pranks. A really good prank even gets you new playmates. You’re having fun now and you’ll keep having fun even if it takes killing every living person who enters your building. If that’s what it takes. You’ve got a soft spot for children however, and will play with them given a chance, and tend to hunt down those who would do them harm. The Gaunt Legions Encompassing the victims of pestilence and lead by the Anacreon Carl Hammond, this legion continues to grow without the interference of wraiths. Carl does not agree with slavery and avoids confrontations whenever possible. He and Sue are the most vocal opponents of the Governor’s move toward feudalism. -Carl Hammond  Born in Louisiana, Carl moved to Atlanta soon after the city had developed a reputation for having a more welcoming attitude towards the LGBTQ community. As a gay man in the south, Carl welcomed the community acceptance, and his black belt in Shotokan assured he could handle any less hospitable neighbors. He opened the Queen Mary’s pub a few years before his doctors discovered he had inoperable cancer. The bar is now owned by Carl’s friend Alice who has kept the bar as it was. Carl has watched the development of antibiotic resistant viruses with great apprehension and was always a proponent of better funding for AIDS research, however as the Anacreon of the Skeletal Lord, it is now his responsibility to reap the souls of those who have died of disease, and he fears that his legion will soon be the most populated. Nature: Bon Vivant Demeanor: Gallant Cohort: Anacreon of the Gaunt Legions Passions: Make the transition to the Shadowlands as easy as possible (Kindness) 3, Rule fairly and honestly (Pride) 4 Fetters: Queen Mary’s Pub 5, DeKalb medical center 3 Shadow: The Abuser Shadow Passions: Impede medical research 4, destroy the center for disease control 5 Image: Carl is a slight but handsome youth, with light blonde wavy hair, dull grey-green eyes and a smile. Roleplaying Tips: You had a good life, and you want to make the transition to the afterlife as easy as possible for your friends. Always treat the newly dead gently, let them know they are not alone in Death. The Legion of Fate Mary Anne Robison acts as the Anacreon of Fate, watching over the whole of the city and pointing out where problems are likely to arise. -Mary Anne Robinson  A passion for music and ballet from childhood that was cut short when she was killed in the intersection she now haunts, leaving behind two daughters and an estranged husband who resented that her ballet school made more money than his business. She has been the Anacreon since her predecessor disappeared, likely to have transcended. Nature: Visionary Demeanor: Dilettante Cohort: Anacreon of Fate Passions: Continue to care for her family (Love) 2, Oversee the operation of her ballet school (Pride) 3, Judge all wraiths fairly and honestly 5 Fetters: Husband and Children 3, Ballet School 5 Shadow: The Martyr Shadow Passions: Abandon the arts (Despair) 3, Judge in support of those who support her (Greed) 4 Image: Slender and graceful, tall and willowy she has long black hair typically worn in a knot and dark brown eyes. Her features are striking and she dresses in flowing skirts and leotards. Roleplaying Tips: You are lonely, you miss your family and the children you taught. Still, your position is an important one, and you will do your best to uphold the beliefs of the Ladies of Fate. Smile seldom and make your points as quickly as possible. You seem a little brusque to others, but it is because you are trying so hard to hide your despair. Unbeknownst to you, several of the small children you have adopted are members of the Hearse Riders The Ponce de Leon Ladies Haunting Society A small but influential group among the older Hierarchy wraiths, the three Scarletts are renowned for their quarterly cotillion events held for the elite of the Atlanta Shadowlands. New Wraiths can gain prestige if they can carry themselves with the correct amount of dignity at such an event. The Shattered Chain has made their dissatisfaction with the pompous events known, and rumors swirl before each event that one faction or another plans to cause trouble, though to date none have. The Scarletts don’t bother with politics as they’re too busy planning their next cotillion, maintaining The Dump, and discussing how best to go about finding Margarette Mitchell. They do not condone violence, and the worst conflict they’ve recently dealt with involved the guest list for their next event. -Scarlett Cramden  Born Mrytle Cramden in Teaneck, New Jersey, her family moved to Atlanta when she was three and by sixteen, she had read Gone with the Wind seventeen times. When the movie came out, she attended an afternoon matinee every day the film ran, memorizing the dialogue and all but living the film. Mrytle wasn’t beautiful, but she carried herself with the grace of a Southern belle and by the ripe old age of 22, she married Brett Rutger and planned to live happily ever after. Mrytle soon learned that marriage, like life, required work and she quickly became disillusioned and grew more and more bitter towards her husband, finally suffering a nervous breakdown at 35. For a few years, Mrytle went to a psychologist every week, popping the various happiness pills and pretending that everything was just fine. Of course, it wasn’t, and when she finally couldn’t take it anymore, Mrytle stabbed her husband in the throat then set him on fire, along with the house and herself in a blaze that raged for over 12 hours. Nature: Deviant Demeanor: Bon Vivant Cohort: The Ponce de Leon Ladies Haunting Society Passions: Jealous of the life others led (Envy) 3, Seeks to be the first to discover the manuscript sequel to Gone with the Wind (Jealousy) 4 Fetters: The Dump 1, Family estate in Roswell 1 Shadow: The Perfectionist Shadow Passions: Destroy the Dump to bring it further into the Shadowlands (Jealousy) 3, Prove that Margaret Mitchell never wrote a sequel (Bitterness) 5 Image: Myrtle (or Scarlett), like the other Scarletts, bears a powerful resemblance to Vivan Leigh. She’s a touch older and plumper but otherwise looks remarkably like Scarlett O’Hara. Her clothes look like the tattered castoffs of the Gone with the Wind costume shop Roleplaying Tips: You are the very personification of a Southern Lady, never without a smile and a flirtatious look. Never get angry, simply show displeasure by pretending the offender no longer exists. If a newcomer expresses interest in Southern history, engage them in conversation about the brilliance of Mrs. Mitchell’s work. -Pansy Ledbedder  Born Scarlett Ledbedder in 1947, she suffered from polio as a child and spent most of her life in a wheelchair. She immersed herself in books to make up for her shyness, with a preference for romance novels and history books, and in particular, historical romances like Gone with the Wind. She died in 1980 after surprising the three youths who had broken into her home. She took the name Pansy upon crossing over because it was the original name Margaret Mitchell had used prior to settling on Scarlett in earlier drafts, or at least that’s what she heard. The other Scarletts think this is silly and continue to address her as Scarlett, much to Pansy’s chagrin. Since her death, she’s taken up writing as a way to pass the time and as a tribute to her idol. Nature: Survivor Demeanor: Bon Vivant Cohort: The Ponce de Leon Ladies Haunting Society Passions: Spruce up the Dump without losing its faded charm (Love) 3, Write a romance of her own (Pride) 2 Fetters: Murderers 3, Wheelchair 1 Shadow: Pusher Shadow Passions: Destroy the Dump (Hate) 3, Destroy any writing that Pansy does (Envy) 4 Image: Slender and tall with red hair and green eyes, while she has a passing resemblance to Vivian Liegh, she is less of an imitation than the other two Scarletts. Her smile is infectious and her clothing tends to be frilly but modern. Roleplaying Tips: You really are having a great time as a wraith, for the first time you can dance at cotillions and live life walking. You still want the bastards who killed you to suffer endlessly, so you keep an eye out for them. Smile because you really do love the life you’re living, and you are a passionate soul, never hesitate to tell someone what you think of them. -Scarlett Grant  Abigail Dennehy Grant was murdered by her husband of three years during a drunken rage. The years they spent married were fraught with fights, as her husband demanded she obey his whims and she told him to jump off a building. Abigail won at least half of those fights, either with an uppercut or a pan to the head. He killed her in her sleep, and despite this, she still loved him. They were briefly reunited, and he apologized for how he had treated her before being taken by Oblivion. Despite living and dying before Gone with the Wind’s publication, she read it as soon as a relic copy became available, seizing on the idealized fantasy life. After meeting the other Scarletts, Abigail proposed the founding of the Ponce de Leon Ladies Haunting Society. Nature: Director Demeanor: Bon Vivant Cohort: The Ponce de Leon Ladies Haunting Society Passions: To defend women from abusive relationships (Duty) 3, Preserve the Dump and all other reminders of Margaret Mitchell’s life (Love) 4 Fetters: Wedding ring 2, Collection of romance novels 4 Shadow: The Monster Shadow Passions: Escape into a fantasy life and forget everything about life before the Shadowlands (Terror) 4, Attempt to “Help” people who are abusive by showing them they are loved (Self-Destructive Love) 2 Image: 5 feet tall with a muscular build, her clothing is always the finest pre-civil war fashion, and her black hair is always impeccably styled. Her brown eyes constantly twinkle, except when she’s angry, at which point they blaze. Roleplaying Tips: You don’t take any guff from anyone and have politely reminded people of this fact on more than one occasion. Your temper is legendary in the Atlanta Shadowlands and you use this reputation to your advantage. Never threaten but make it clear you’re in no mood for arguing. If that doesn’t work, smash your aggressor a good one on the head. Mitchell’s Dump consumed in Flame! Ladies Haunting Society Declares week of Mourning On September 17th 1994, the building known as The Dump burned down. Rumors swirled as to the cause of the fire. The living suspect arsonists, though this may have been an effect of the Fog. Some blame the Renegades, as the Dump was not a well defended location and would make for an easy strike against the Hierarchy. Others claim to have seen Harley Williams and Sybil Jannisen leaving the scene. Most fear that the Ladies set the fire themselves as it would bring the Dump completely into the Shadowlands, although it also destroyed a common fetter between them. And thus brings an end to our chapter dedicated to the Hierarchy. I love the Ladies Haunting Society, they’re such a delightfully odd little group, and their collective obsession with finding Margret Mitchell absolutely cracks me up. I’m also quite fond of Jebediah, Sarah Chandler, Smitty, Sue, Mary Harris and Thomas Kershaw, all characters I could see myself using if I were running a Wraith game set in Atlanta. The rest of the characters in this chapter are either just fine and don’t particularly grab me, or they’re pieces of poo poo like William Miller or Dr. Whatley. I don’t object to their inclusion in the book, and honestly, I think they add an interesting bit of darkness and villainy to things. A pedo leading one legion and a white supremacist leading another, it’s almost as if the book is throwing potential plot hooks left and right or something. I’m a little annoyed that in multiple write ups for the characters, the passion associated with their goals was not provided. I assume this was just an editing error that slipped through, and while not a huge issue, it is a bit frustrating to see. There are also two other groups that get brief mentions in this chapter that I really like, the Hearse Riders and the Broken Chain, who are similar to the Railroaders, hell yeah abolitionist Wraiths. The Hearse Riders are one of those ideas that just delights me in the way the Ladies Haunting Society does, it’s unique and offers up potential for various plots or story ideas. And really, who doesn’t love a group of ghost kids that make it their mission to exact revenge on adults who hurt children? We’ll get more into them in Chapter Six. joylessdivision fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Jan 21, 2023 |
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Jan 20, 2023 16:35
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Strong chin game all around.
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Jan 20, 2023 17:07
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Gray Ghost posted:Just listened to the RTFM on Changeling: The Lost and would love to read something more in-depth (NWoD or OWoD). That Old Tree posted:Lost is specifically the nWoD version. Changeling the Dreaming is the oWoD one and it's extremely different, even by the standards already set by the break between the other new/old WoD game lines. Lost is a game where you were abudcted by the fey, changed and turned into their plaything, and escaped only to find that the world has kept on going, and you're still changed. Also they fey may or may not have left behind a doppleganger that has lived your life in your absence so your first taste of freedom is often murder. Changeling the Dreaming is about playing fey souls reborn in human bodies, but being human is so boring that it can kill the fey soul with banality so it's a game about being SPONTANEOUS and ENERGETIC and ignoring all those dumb boring things like LEARNING and SCIENCE. the Vertical splats are "Literal, actual children" "Teenagers" and "Oh my god you're over 20? It's amazing you haven't died and/or committed suicide to release your fey soul back into the world before you Kill it by being BORING". One of the horizontal splats are sex-crazed satyrs. Yes these two splat axes intersect in some pretty gross places.
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Jan 20, 2023 20:53
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There's a reason why nWoD Changeling basically took NONE of oChangeling's ideas
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Jan 20, 2023 21:07
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I was reading the 20th edition of CTD and they did evidently retool the age tiers to be your like, spiritual age, not your literal age. And you could go forwards and back. A grump who got Glamour Blasted and reawoke the silly innocent heart within would go back to Changeling, et cetera. But the thing is: That's a substantial editorial change.
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Jan 20, 2023 21:08
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 Welp it's off the shelf now, so Changeling it is!
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Jan 20, 2023 21:25
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Nessus posted:I was reading the 20th edition of CTD and they did evidently retool the age tiers to be your like, spiritual age, not your literal age. And you could go forwards and back. A grump who got Glamour Blasted and reawoke the silly innocent heart within would go back to Changeling, et cetera. Yeah. Twentieth has to do a lot of lifting to make the game coherent because God knows 2E was only barely interested in it, although they did clean up some mechanical stuff. (And C20 isn't perfect by any stretch, but you get what the game is going for now.)
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Jan 20, 2023 22:38
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joylessdivision posted:
I feel like this is another "legally distinct for copyright reasons" change that was based on The Tabernacle. I am surprised that they didn't include The Masquerade, which is an extremely World of Darkness club that was on Ponce de Leon at the time this book was written.
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Jan 21, 2023 04:37
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Joylessdivision's World of Dorkness Presents Necropolis: Atlanta Chapter Five: The Heretics   The chapter begins with a brief introduction informing us that there are numerous Heretics in Atlanta with as many disparate theological perspectives. The Hand of Retribution The major Heretic cult operating in Atlanta is the Hand of Retribution, a group of devout followers of the Bible who believe they are working for the betterment of all, after all who wants to spend eternity in suffering and damnation when salvation is available? While the Hand tries to embrace as many into its fold as possible, they will not attempt to convert those of other cults or those who follow a different version of their own faith. Those that are members of other cults are considered to worship false prophets, while those that have similar faith as the Hand are simply doing it wrong. It’s Catholics and Protestants in the afterlife baby, and the other guy is doing it wrong! The Hand also believes in using the Bible to justify their actions, spinning from “Turn the other cheek” to “An eye for an eye” when it suits them. Followers of the Hand are also expected to confront those that they see doing wrong, providing a list of the sins committed and the punishments that await them. -The Reverend Peter Ashford  Reverend Ashford started his career in the evangelical preaching business at ten years old, making his way around the tent revival circuit of the south. For all that righteousness however, the Reverend was repaid by dying in a tent fire set by the angry father of a young girl who the Reverend had attempted to heal with his faith. Ironically, the Reverend found his real faith after death, spending the first few weeks of his new existence in shock, pondering the lack of signs of Heaven or Hell around him. Eventually he concluded that the Underworld was in fact Purgatory. He’d found his mission, to convert and lead the souls of the restless around him to heaven, no matter the cost. Nature: Critic Demeanor: Fanatic Passions: Devoutly Religious (Faith 5), Feels for the Heathens (Pity 2) Fetters: Hidden bank account 1, Bible 2, Gold ring 1 Shadow: The Freak Shadow Passions: To corrupt the innocent (Lust 3), Undermine Faith (Vengeance 3) Image: Short, pale and plump with a receding hairline, he wears round glasses and carries a leather-bound Bible. When dealing with his followers, he radiates kindness and friendship, while dealing with “the heathens and unwashed masses” he exudes righteous indignation. Roleplaying Tips: You try to convert the heathens, but so few are willing to listen. Those that will listen are treated with care, don’t want to scare them away now. The foolish who refuse your offers, however, are ignored if they are too well known or “Converted” against their wills, after all you’re not above using the Hierarchies own doctrines against them. The Greyboys Since the end of the Civil War, groups of Wraiths have gone under the name Greyboys, however over the last century the group has changed many times from a Renegade gang to Heretic cult. Presently, the group is being led as a cult by the “Greymaster”, Captain James Rourke. Once Rouke learned of the Hierarchy and their influence on the living world, he became enraged, then brooding and sullen. Finally, after running with the Greyboys as a Renegade gang, he began his conversion to a new philosophy: The Hierarchy exists strictly to control the souls of the Restless, and in so doing have barred the gates of Heaven, locking all restless into the Purgatory that is the Underworld. In time the “Grey” in Greyboys turned from a reference to the uniforms worn by the Wraiths to a description of the pallor of the Shadowlands. While the Greyboys seek to defeat the Hierarchy, they know that numbers alone will not lead them to victory, and they welcome converts but pay no mind to those that refuse their offer. They do not advertise their plans to overthrow Stygia, instead expressing curiosity that no one else seems to realize the facts that are painfully obvious to them. -Captain James Rourke “The Greymaster”  Like his grandfather, James Rourke suffered the family curse. In life James had been a hardworking, romantic and loving man who after getting his girlfriend pregnant did the “Honorable thing” and married her. By the time the child was born, James was in advanced Green Beret training, about to be shipped off to Vietnam. By his sons first birthday, he was on his second tour in the jungles, and the time spent there was showing its effects on the man. He was a cold, calculated killing machine with a penchant for caution that bordered on paranoia. This of course didn’t save him from having part of his head torn apart by a bullet in the jungle. James spent his early time in the Underworld battling the horrors of his own mind and those conjured by the Tempest, until finally returning to Atlanta. Upon returning he found his wife had been forced into prostitution to support their child and with that knowledge, any good that was left in the captain was wiped away and replaced with the cold depths of despair. In time, Rourke learned of the Hierarchy and the various cults and gangs that fought against Charon's rule, leading him to the formation of his own faction to lead his city to greatness. Rourke and the Greyboys have been battling the Hierarchy for twenty years but have little to show for it. That could all change of course as young Kirk Rourke is coming of age soon, and the captain has plans for his son. Nature: Bravo Demeanor: Bravo Cohort: The Greyboys Passions: Wishes to rule Atlanta (Greed 4), Hatred of the Hierarchy and Jebediah O’Rourke (Hate 3) Fetters: Wife 1, Son 1 Shadow: The Director Shadow Passions: Incite people to perish in service to the Greyboys (Hate 5) Image: Dressed completely in grey, lean and hard from his time in Vietnam and with a face of sharp angles topped with red hair and a scruffy Nam beard. When around other Greyboys, he is relaxed and easygoing, but when surrounded by strangers, his face is like stone while his eyes constantly move. Roleplaying Tips: You’re a man with a mission, and that mission is the utter destruction of the Hierarchy. You’ve heard rumors that it was the Restless that caused the war in Vietnam, and you do not feel very forgiving about your untimely death. Explain passionately why you hate the Hierarchy, using your grandfather as the example of the qualities they seek in a leader. -Archibald Stane  Archibald was one of Captain Rourke’s point men, and learned the hard way that tripwires aren’t always attached to landmines. While the sharpened bamboo spikes that tore into him didn’t kill him, the infection from the feces spread on the spikes did. Stane’s final hours were spent being carried by Captain Rourke towards a safe evac position, but it was too late, he slipped into the embrace of death just before the bullets that killed Rourke struck. Upon his return to Atlanta with Rourke, he discovered his family was gone. He has searched endlessly for his wife and twin daughters to no avail. For now, until he can find them, he works with the one man who cared enough about him to try and save his worthless hide. Nature: Fanatic Demeanor: Conformer Cohort: The Greyboys Passions: Must find missing family (Love 4), Racist/hates Asians (Hate 3) Fetters: House in Atlanta where he once lived 1, Dog tags 2 Shadow: The Parent Shadow Passions: Undermine Rourke's authority (Envy 3) Image: A blocky man with brown hair and a serious case of acne and dressed in the standard grey “Uniform” of the Greyboys. Seems imminently bored with everything, unless listening to Rourke, in which case he looks mildly interested. Roleplaying Tips: There are only two things that matter anymore: Captain Rourke and your family. Do whatever Rourke asks, unless it goes against your code of ethics. These days, very little goes against your nature. The Church of Unholy Ecstasy One of the most influential cults following the path to “Hell”, it is claimed that the members of the Church can perform miracles, or at least that’s what they’d like everyone else to believe. Many of the sacrifices made on their altar are all for show, with the “Sacrificed” souls simply being shunted off to a coffer of the Church. The church does not tolerate betrayal nor questions that strike too close to the truth. Anyone who discovers what the Church is truly up to are hunted and destroyed at the first opportunity. -Denzil Taylor  The leader of the Church, Denzil played with the occult in life, until he realized that playing up the “Demonic Stranger” gimmick would be a great way to gain access to women, drugs and money. Unfortunately for Denzil, he met a woman who was a real Satanist who had no hesitation in sacrificing Denzil to her dark lord. Upon his arrival in the Underworld, Denzil decided to give the schtick a second go, this time for real. If this really is Hell, then he’s going to make sure he’s on the winning side of the battle. Nature: Architect Demeanor: Jester Passions: Waiting for summons by demonic lords (Faith 3), Seeks out “Earthly Pleasures” (Lust 2), Fears for his soul (Terror 4) Fetters: Sacrificial Altar 3, The Collected works of Anton LeVay 1 Shadow: The Parent Shadow Passions: Show everyone that Denzil’s powers are all a sham (Self-Hatred 3) Make Denzil look like a fool (Insecurity 2) Image: Standing at 6’3” and in good shape with short brown hair and hazel eyes, Denzil is typically dressed in a white robe with black trim and a hood, along with a featureless mask made of Stygian silver. He rarely leaves his haunt, and when he does, it’s in the finest of Yuppie attire he can find Roleplaying Tips: Never let them see that you are a bastard. Always treat newcomers well and promise them everything they could want. You’re everyone’s best friend, never with anything bad to say about anyone. When it comes to competing Heretic cults, simply smile and shake your head, let everyone understand through your silence that the other cults are simply children trying to play in a grown up world. Perhaps if you can gather enough souls and followers, you can exchange them for your freedom from this nightmare afterlife. I absolutely love that one of his fetters is the complete works of LeVay, a self-acknowledged charlatan who started the Church of Satan to annoy the normies and write a bunch of books that are essentially “Get off my loving lawn you filthy hippies!”. A double lol for being killed by a “Real Satanist”. Followers of Samedi Lead by Raphael Benouvre and following the doctrines presented by Baron Samedi who expects loyalty from his servants, the members of the cult are all members of the Shattered Chain, though the same cannot be said of the inverse. While the Followers would qualify as a Renegade gang in and of themselves, their rituals and the powers they are said to have gained from them have firmly placed them as one of the most dangerous cults in Atlanta. While they believe their rites bring them closer to transcendence, they’ve done nothing to break the Code of Charon, and only sidestep the laws when the problem of white supremacy rears its head. While the Followers and Broken Chain may not agree on everything, they stand united against the Sons of the Dragon who must be stopped and destroyed. While the Followers observe the Code and laws of Stygia, in truth they serve the great Loa, Baron Samedi. There are allegations that the great Loa also works directly through a radical group of Kindred who devoutly follow the spirits wishes and on occasion are filled with the power and spirit of the Loa. The Followers have yet to encounter one of these Kindred as there are none currently in Atlanta. Despite avoiding the wrath of the Hierarchy, the Followers still frequently clash with the Sons of the Dragon and Greyboys, and while not participating in direct conflicts when the Chain moves against the Hierarchy, there are still regular clashes with the white supremacists across the city. The Followers however are a multi-racial group with a surprising number of Caucasian, Hispanic and “Oriental” wraiths in their ranks. For the love of gently caress just use the term Asian, God drat. -Raphael Benouvre  Arriving in the United States on a slave ship from Haiti in the late 1700’s, Raphael escaped multiple times only to be captured and returned. After these escape attempts, Raphael recalled the strange tales he’d heard as a child, and with his familiarity with the basic tenets of Voodoo, he soon learned how to contact entities. He was particularly attracted to the entity calling itself Baron Samedi, and over the next decade distinguished himself to the Loa with his unwavering loyalty and devotion to the Baron. When the Civil War broke out, Raphael fled again, this time to join the fight against the Southerners who had enslaved him. Upon his return to Atlanta with Sherman, he was killed on the first day of combat. Since his death, Raphael has gained power and prestige listening to the voice of the Baron and advising all who will listen. Rumors persist that Raphael can control the Restless and disposes of his enemies by devouring their corpus. These rumors have remained unconfirmed. Nature: Traditionalist Demeanor: Gallant Cohort: Followers of Samedi Passions: To learn more about Voodoo (Curiosity 2), Desires revenge upon those who enslaved him (Hatred 2) Fetters: Chains that bound him in life 2, Chalice he used in his devotions 3 Shadow: The Abuser Shadow Passions: To destroy anything related to the Confederacy (Hate 3), To weaken others faith in Samedi (Bitterness 2) Image: Amazingly lean, athletic and well-muscled with short black hair and dark brown skin, he still bears the scars of beatings past as well as the bloody wounds that killed him. He wears his Union soldiers' uniform with pride. Roleplaying Tips: You smile a great deal, and you frown just as often. Though you try not to show, you bear a great resentment towards the Caucasians who held you as a slave. You also know things that others don’t, which lends a certain degree of smugness to your attitude. When you find a Wraith interested in the occult, do your best to gather information through questions and make them understand that Samedi can offer them power beyond what they now know. I don’t really understand why “Destroy anything related to the Confederacy” counts as a Shadow passion. Typically, these are supposed to be negative aspects of the character that cause them trouble. How the gently caress is a former slave who fought for the Union going to have “Destroy anything related to the motherfuckers who enslaved and killed me” as a Shadow related thing? Bump that bad boy up into the standard passions and it makes much more sense. Never mind that poo poo because here comes a couple of my favorite characters in the book so far. The Life on Mars Coalition Known as “The Lifers”, this cult believes that life in the Skinlands was only a test, an accidental burp in the cosmos that all must endure. There has to be something more, something the Hierarchy is hiding and if the truth is out there, then it must be sought. Ignored and unpopular in life, the Lifers have become a phenomenon in the Shadowlands, with their numbers rapidly growing and their arguments proving the existence of life on other planets are filled with amazingly accurate facts and figures. While they are generally on the quieter side as far as Heretic cults are concerned, they have managed to gather more power in the Necropolis than any of the other cults. The Lifers claim that this is because they only speak the truth, while others claim that the cult's stance that all races and sexes are equal is doing the work of growing their numbers. The Lifers do genuinely believe in equality for all, just as fervently as they believe in the truths recited in syndicated Sci-Fi shows. Some believe that the Void leads to truth, but no one can find the truth until they have prepared themselves for a perfect existence by removing their biases and expanding their minds to conceive of a perfect world of harmony (and the occasional adventure). The leaders of the cult, Bartholomew Bentley and Abdul Il Habib are known as “Admirals” and have taken their positions of power far more seriously than they could have dreamed of when forming the cult. Initially, the cult was formed to stop the preposterous levels of racism running rampant in the Necropolis, but as time passed, they became more convinced that the answers to all the problems of the Restless lay in the stars. There has to be a better solution to the problems of the Restless than just following the doctrines of a crusty old Wraith who died a long time ago, so preach the Lifers. The fate of Gene Roddenberry (creator of Star Trek) remains unknown, and the Lifers seek answers to this question. Some joke that Roddenberry was simply “Beamed up” upon his death, but the Lifers believe he may have found his own way to the truth they seek. While the Hierarchy hasn’t taken up the Lifers on their quest, members of the cult are often seen speaking with Hierarchy Wraiths without issue, with some even going so far as to use phrases from the cult such as “To Boldly Go Where No Wraith Has Gone Before”. While the Lifers are a Heretic Cult, they are far more relaxed about their philosophies than many of the other cults, however this hasn’t kept them from the notice of the Hierarchy or other cults who have noted that the Lifers are gaining influence. In the case of the other Cults, their primary issue with the Lifers is they’ve begun pulling recruits from their own groups. Rumors persist that a Legion is coming from Stygia to show the Lifers the error of their ways. -Abdul Il Habib  Abdul had the double misfortune of being a scrawny, nerdy kid and an immigrant. His family moved to Georgia when he was four, and until he was 17, he did his best to make friends and create a life for himself. His father's shoe store was located next to a video arcade, where he spent many of his afternoons playing games and in time, he made friends and learned of the glories of Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. Abdul and his best friend Arnold Weinstein loved to watch reruns on TV and discuss the finer nuances of life beyond Earth, a life filled with brave new worlds and girls in short skirts. Unfortunately, when the Iran hostage crisis kicked off in the late 70’s, Abdul had the misfortune of running into a group of “Good old Boys” who decided to teach the boy that “America is for Americans” with their fists, boots and knives, all while screaming their outrage that Abdul’s people would dare to hold Americans hostage in their own embassy. That Abdul was from Turkey was of little importance. Nature: Martyr Demeanor: Bon Vivant Cohort: Life on Mars Coalition Passions: Devout in his beliefs (Faith 4), Family (Love 4) Fetters: Family 2 Shadow: The Martyr Shadow Passions: Hatred of an “America” that never accepted him (Hate 4) Image: Tall and lanky with black hair and brown eyes, he is typically dressed in a 60’s era Star Trek uniform, complete with plastic phaser and functioning communicator. Roleplaying Tips: You believe that there is life on other planets, and you believe that someday the aliens will come down and teach the foolish Earthlings the error of their ways. You have no doubt that aliens bear a strong resemblance to E.T. and are peace-loving creatures. Explain the truth to the world, you are soft spoken, but passionate about the simple truth that there is life on Mars, and elsewhere beyond the stars. -Bartholomew Myron Bentley  Bart ate, breathed and slept Sci-Fi lit, movies and RPGs, collecting every gaming and movie magazine and video release he could. His parents thought buying him a computer would help, but they were wrong. Bart soon discovered the wonders of messages boards and continued his life in solitude and fantasy. The only times Bart wasn’t on his computer was when his friends came over on the weekends to throw dice. Bart’s first convention unfortunately was his last after a mishap involving an elevator, a number of rare collectible trading cards and a snapping cable. Nature: Fanatic Demeanor: Jester Cohort: Life on Mars Coalition Passions: Devout in his beliefs (Faith 3), Insatiable curiosity about outer space (Curiosity 5) Fetters: Battered TV 2, TRS80 Computer 4, Issue #1 (first printing of course) of The Dark Knight by Frank Miller 3 Shadow: The Abuser Shadow Passions: Avoid other people (Fear 2), Avoid dealing with the real world at all (Fear 5) Image: A large lad (340lbs), typically dressed in blue jeans and a “Beam Me Up Scotty” shirt, he has thin blonde, almost white hair with blue eyes hidden behind thick glasses. He’s nearly always seen wearing an impossibly long, multi-colored scarf. Roleplaying Tips: You have known all your life that there was something beyond the visible. Your years of devotion to In Search of.... taught you that much. But now a whole new world has been opened up to you, one which the things you once dreamed about are real. Your love of the worlds beyond mere surface reality has been well rewarded in the Underworld, and you want nothing more than to share this sense of wonder and magic with others. Bart is a Goon. -Caroline Martin  Growing up in rural South Carolina, Caroline moved to Georgia in 1984 to attend Georgia State to pursue a double major in English and Computer Science. She hoped to pursue an advanced degree and eventually become a writer. As a quiet young woman, Caroline had fallen in love with Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels during a long stay in the hospital at age seven. After consuming the entire Oz saga as well as the Narnia and Triffids series and the works of Susan Cooper, she moved on to “Grown-up” books. She was delighted when she arrived at Georgia State to find so many others who shared her love of books, but was saddened that so many were bitter, reclusive individuals. She thought that if she could somehow show them how, these people would be much happier and saner. She tried to be the perfect example to her new friends, making the Dean’s List every term and becoming the secretary of the Science Fiction Club and Literary Society. She was a good listener and quickly became the confidant of most of her social circle. Still, Caroline felt that she could do more, and pushed herself to the limits in the name of helping her friends. She was rushed to the hospital during her first term finals her junior year where she was diagnosed with Anorexia. Soon she was on a downward spiral of always trying to do more. She died over Spring Break, two months short of graduation with high honors. Nature: Caregiver Demeanor: Martyr Cohort: Life on Mars Coalition Passions: To protect “Her” boys (Love 3), To make people happier (Joy 2) Fetters: First edition printing of The Time Machine 2, Autographed copy of Dune 1 Shadow: The Perfectionist Shadow Passions: Forget everything real and escape into the world of books (Fear 4), Shatter peoples self-esteem (Hatred 3) Image: Extremely thin, with sandy brown hair that frames a small face with dark sea green eyes, she is typically seen wearing a royal blue t-shirt with the Shakespearean quote “Now I will believe that there are Unicorns” Roleplaying Tips: People need to learn that escapism isn’t the perfect solution to their problems. Sure, you love to get away as much as the next person, but it’s become your mission in life to help people learn to deal with the present as well as they do with the distant past and far future. You’re the only one who can help them now, and you’ll do anything to keep your friends in the Life on Mars Coalition from throwing their existences away. I love the Life of Mars Coalition. They’re easily one of the more charmingly fun groups in this book. How can you not love a group of nerds who have died, and their first action is to form a group to combat racism? Seekers of Paradise Working the Midnight Express and keeping the byways safe for travelers in the Shadowlands is all part of the Seekers job. Their philosophy is a simple one, they believe the way to Paradise is still out there somewhere, simply lost or deliberately hidden by the Hierarchy. Of course, this philosophy doesn’t stop them from working with the Hierarchy, in fact it has increased the enthusiasm with which they do their work. The longer they work the rails, the better their chances of rediscovering a path to Transcendence and all the pleasures that await. Because so many of the Seekers are old hands at the railways, the group has gained a great respect for the simple belief in freedom above all else and cannot tolerate the idea of anyone being bound in chains or imprisoned for a crime. While not fanatical about this goal, the Seekers will do their best to free any Wraith from the bonds of slavery. Of course, this policy has made them popular with the Shattered Chain and has gained the ire of the Hierarchy. The Seekers will gladly assist any stowaways on the Midnight Express, so long as no attempts at duplicity come from the assistance, and any actions taken against the Seekers will result in serious harm to the offender. The Seekers use their own form of morse code, hammering the rails to pass messages across the country. The Seekers do not actively seek new recruits, and never disobey the rules of the Hierarchy when agents of the Hierarchy are present. They see no need to make a bad situation worse or upset their employers or allow them to understand the Seekers true goals. The Seekers of Atlanta are a branch of the Railroaders who survived the attempts by the Greyboys to take them out, and are very secretive, unwilling to express their beliefs to anyone. -Clemson Dewberry  Powerful sideburns on this man. A man of the rails in life, Clemson shoveled coal to power the engines he worked on. When he wasn’t working the line, Clemson made a little money on the side as a bare-fisted boxer, only suffering two loses, both to a man named John Henry. Since his death, Clemson has traveled the spectral rails across the country. He believes strongly that every person should have the chance to pursue Transcendence independently of any Hierarchy interference and has made it his life's mission to save any and all he can from their grasp, and in turn, he is moving closer and closer to personal Transcendence. He preaches a doctrine of acceptance of others and tolerance of differing belief structures. Nature: Caregiver Demeanor: Visionary Cohort: Seekers of Paradise Passions: Sad about the loss of so many Railroaders (despair 1) Longs to travel freely (Envy 3) Longs to help everyone escape the Hierarchy (Pity 5) Fetters: Train Stations at Hartford CT 1, Chicago IL 1, Philly PA 1, NYC 1 Shadow: The Director Shadow Passions: Seeks to destroy himself in a futile battle against the Hierarchy (Self-Hatred 3), Wants to undermine peoples faith in themselves (Bitterness 2) Image: A hulking giant of a man with hands large enough to wrap around an average man’s head with little effort with arms as wide as most men's thighs, with shaggy black hair shot with grey and a large sunburned bald spot on top of his head. Dressed in his train engineer uniform, his face is heavily scarred and despite his intimidating size, his eyes are kind and his face friendly. Roleplaying Tips: You love to tell tall tales, and love to travel. Never hesitate to give a lift to other Wraiths, so long as they are willing to do their share of the work. Most important of all, you search for Transcendence, certain that it is possible if only you can overcome certain aspects and compulsions within. If others question your motives, you take no offense, content to know you are right and that you have only to find the right rail. All the same, you don’t take well to rowdies that give you grief, and you explain very clearly that they can leave your train immediately. This is normally explained with your 12-pound sledgehammer you once used to drive railroad spikes into the ground. I have to wonder if the John Henry that Dewberry took his two L’s from is meant to be the John Henry of folk lore or just another dude. -Joel Chandler Harris  Harris is known for his stories, including the Tales of Uncle Remus. While many made light of his achievements, there were some who looked at him as a hero while many others were repulsed by his accomplishments. For some, this resentment came from the “Bad light” in which he portrayed African Americans, while others felt he simply “Didn’t know his place” and was trying to enter a “White Mans World”. He died in 1908 and continues to write to this day in the Shadowlands. His love of storytelling has afforded him some extraordinary friendships, like the Hearse Riders. The resident storytellers at his old home Wren’s Nest frequently attract his attention and he likes to listen in and make sure the place is being cared for. Nature: Visionary Demeanor: Loner Cohort: Seekers of Paradise Passions: Believes he is misunderstood (Despair 3), Deeply Religious (Faith 4) Fears he may have betrayed his people (Guilt 4), Love of writing (Love 2) Fetters: Original manuscript of his work 3, Wren’s Nest (old home 3) Shadow: Parent Shadow Passions: To depict people in the worst, most demeaning way possible (Rage 3), Foster interracial resentment and tension (Revenge 2) Image: Appears much like his legendary character Uncle Remus, wearing overalls and a flannel shirt. He is round, grey-bearded and always smiling. Roleplaying Tips: You are quiet and introspective; made bitter by the accusations that you betrayed your race with tales that were meant to amuse and delight. As time has gone on, your dreams have become darker and your shadow is coming close to winning the long battle for dominance. You get along well with the Hearse Riders, and you love to tell a tale or two. What in the ever-loving gently caress is going on here? Joel Chandler Harris was a white dude. Born of an Irish woman. I could almost understand if they were trying to play into the angle of “Oh he was Irish and thus not considered white” because lol old timey racism is loving hilariously stupid, but no, they straight up say that Harris was a black dude. Which he wasn't. Which makes this entire write up of this character not only historically inaccurate but also straight up just bizarre. Why take a historical figure and then change their race for no real apparent reason? Does it somehow make the Tales of Uncle Remus better or worse if they were written by an African American? I’m just so loving confused about this choice. The Burning A heretic cult dedicated to keeping the spectral Hellfires of Oblivion at bay, or at least that’s what they tell everyone, though the Hierarchy and the Renegades agree that the cult is up to something sinister. Which they absolutely are, as the cult believes that feeding souls to Oblivion is best solution to keep the flames at bay, via hidden Nihils that only the cult is aware of. Of course while the cult is open about their philosophy of “Keeping the fires at bay for the good of all”, their founders have been consumed by their Shadows and only seek to sacrifice others so that they may save their own souls. -Harley Williams  Born in Atlanta and one of the first to volunteer for the Navy when WW2 reached American shores. Filled with patriotism, Harley was prepared to die fighting either the Nazis or the Japanese, and soon found himself on his way to the Pacific theater. He was one of the first military personnel to see the devastation and ruin of Hiroshima after the bomb was dropped. His amazement at the power of the weapon caused him to ignore the hot flashes he felt for months after. Later he was assigned to a ship off the Bikini Atoll, where he was witness to seven nuclear tests. Once his teeth started to fall out, he began making the connection between the tests and his symptoms, however when the military doctors who were treating him assured him that the nuclear tests had nothing to do with his loss of hair and or his teeth, he decided that the military knew best. (That was a poor choice) In 1964, Harley was diagnosed with colon cancer and died the same year, though by then he had no doubts about what had caused his suffering, as too many of his military friends had suffered similar fates. Harley’s unholy rage at the great betrayal by his own country has led to an existence of tormented rage and hate. Nature: Deviant Demeanor: Survivor Passions: Hatred of American government (Hate 3), Hatred of those who have never suffered (Envy 4), Remorseful for what he has done (Guilt 4) Fetters: Bikini Atoll Beach 1, Hiroshima 1, Childhood home 2 Shadow: The Parent Shadow Passions: Kill all those related to the nuclear and defense industries in anyway (Hatred 4) Image: Long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail with a beard and mustache, he has pale green eyes and darkly tanned skin. He is athletic and typically wears denim jackets and jeans. He’s only ever seen with his false face, one he never had. If not for his ability to shape Plasm, Harley would appear burned and thin with no teeth or hair, skin covered with erupted and crusted over blisters. Roleplaying Tips: You believe the only way to freedom is through the purification of sins. The best purification you know is fire, and while many have suffered under the burden of false hope and false love, you must do your best to convince them of their errors. Show them the way, let them know that the Hellfire burns the sins away and releases the soul to Transcendence. Smile, let everyone know you’re their friend. Again, we’ve got an NPC whose Passions and Shadow Passions make 100% sense. Dude bought into the belief that Uncle Sam gives two shits about his boys in uniform, and learned the hard way that his importance to the American government was as a pawn. I’d be righteously pissed about that too. -Sibyl Jannisen  Sibyl tried acid one time too many, causing her to turn inward towards the strange realities of her own mind. By the time her parents had her committed, she was raving about the things that live in the night and about the great worm that would devour everything by the century's end. One night, when the moon was full and the local dogs were howling with a peculiar ferocity, Sibyl waited until everyone else was asleep and secured in their rooms before running headfirst into the wall of her room until she cracked her skull open. No one is sure why she killed herself, and her only response to those that ask is “It was time”. As a member of the Burning cult, she believes that the only way to stave off the great worm of her visions is to keep it satiated with the souls of unbelievers. Nature: Deviant Demeanor: Caregiver Passions: Wants people to listen to her (Frustration 2), Fears the coming of the great worm (Terror 5) Fetters: Asylum 2, Grave 1 Shadow: Freak Shadow Passions: Frighten everyone into obeying you (Vengeance 4) Image: Mid 40’s with black hair that is turning grey in several areas. Her eyes are blue and she has no eyebrows as a result of electrolysis treatment. Aside from her lack of eyebrows she is utterly unremarkable and average. Roleplaying Tips: Smile a lot, and calmly explain that the great fire is coming again. If any of those pesky Hierarchy types show themselves, run like hell. Explain about simply plucking the right people from the Skinlands to feed to Oblivion will help stop the next great Maelstrom. Make sure that the ones you’ve chosen to let join the cult understand the importance of Oblivion in the great scheme of things. Perhaps it would help if you actually knew what Oblivion wants, but you don’t really mind making it up as you go along. While I think Sibyl is a bit of a bland character, I do really like that she broke her brain enough with acid to basically gain some amount of understanding of the powers at work in the WoD. So, we can put LSD on the “Things that unlock the truth of the WOD universe” list right next to “Being embraced by a Malkavian” and “Mage bullshit” -George Newsome  George was not only the smartest kid, but he was also the smallest. Despite this he was always an overachiever, albeit in some strange ways. He was one of the first to design personal computers and one of the first in the nation to hack into mainframes around the country. Despite the money and brains, George was still having a hell of a time finding a life partner, so he decided to try something a bit different. While his flirtations with the occult had been half-hearted at best, and despite his desire for power, he desperately wanted to be liked. Torn between these two emotions, George took to reading “Occult” texts by candlelight before bed. When the candle on his dusty desk fell and ignited a stack of junk mail, George and his Little Five Points loft went up in flames. Nature: Visionary Demeanor: Loner Passions: To learn more about the Dark Arts (Curiosity 2) Become powerful enough that he’ll never be afraid again (Greed 3) Fetters: Computer company 2, First computer he ever built (now his brothers) 2 Shadow: The Freak Shadow Passions: To torture all those who didn’t respect you in life (Vengeance 3), To find the perfect woman and force her to love you (Lust 2) Image: Short and thin with a receding hairline and a set of Coke bottle glasses perched upon his nose. Typically wears the clothing of a CPA, right down to the pocket protector. If anyone saw him without a shirt on, they would see he has strange symbols carved into his flesh. Roleplaying Tips: Oh, you hate everyone. How dare they be better looking or taller or happier than you? Still, you’ll do almost anything to win friends and influence the Restless Dead. You sigh a lot, and you pout better than most. I feel personally called out by this as I sigh frequently. Rude. -Enrique Donato  Born in Columbia, Enrique made his way to the US as soon as he was able. Often working three jobs to save money with plans to bring the rest of his family to the states to open a restaurant. Unfortunately, in his quest to save money, Enrique lived in Sweet Auburn and was murdered for the money in his pocket. He quickly adapted to his new life as a Wraith, eventually moving up the ranks of the Hierarchy. It was only after gaining some success that members of the Burning approached Enrique about being a spy. After much debate, Enrique agreed, and immediately informed the Governor about his arrangement, and now makes money from both sides by letting secrets slip at the right time. Nature: Conniver Demeanor: Child Passions: Wants revenge on his murderers (Hate 1), Protect Family (Love 2), Gain wealth (Lust 3) Fetters: Wallet 2, Wife (Deanna) 3 Shadow: The Perfectionist Shadow Passions: To betray any all all possible friends and allies (Hate 4) Image: Handsome with long curly hair and a winning smile. Always dressed sharply, either in a three-piece suit or the occasional tuxedo. He smiles seldom and is always in the company of the more prestigious Hierarchy Wraiths. Roleplaying Tips: You don’t walk, you glide. You don’t talk, you purr. You are now what you always wanted to be: rich, popular and well respected. Never let anything get in your way. Destroy anyone who poses a true threat. And that’s it for our chapter on the Heretics. I really enjoyed this chapter, as there’s a broad selection of characters and groups to potentially bring into a game, and purely from the perspective of looking at Wraith as a fictional universe, the various NPC’s detailed in this chapter add so much color and flavor to that universe. I like that we’ve got some gentle ties to the other games, specifically the mention of the Samedi kindred, which I admit I know nothing about other than they are a thing that exists at some point in Masquerade, and the not at all subtle acknowledgement of the Wrym. This chapter is absolutely stuffed with content and suggestions for how players could potentially interact with the various cults described. I’ve skipped over summarizing these elements as it’s not really that interesting to read over unless you’re specifically looking for plot hooks for a game. I am deeply, deeply loving confused about why they turned Joel Harris into an African American. It’s up there with renaming the Sid and Marty Krofft theme park as bits that I cannot understand what would have possessed (ha) the writers to make these changes. If anything, making Harris black and then tacking on the elements of not being accepted in White society or being criticized for the Uncle Remus tales makes the change feel way worse than if they had just left him historically accurate. They could have just addressed the criticisms surrounding a white man writing African folk stories. I’m sure this was something that someone thought would be a great, progressive idea, but good lord it really isn’t. Make up your god drat mind about historical figures White Wolf, are they off limits like MLK and Roddenberry or are we going to do weird poo poo like this? With that complaint out of the way, I adore the Life on Mars coalition, just a wonderfully fun and honestly bright bit of fluff in a game that is otherwise crushingly depressing in its tone and setting, and the image of Abdul and Bart walking around the Shadowlands discussing Star Trek is a delight. joylessdivision fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Jan 21, 2023 |
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Jan 21, 2023 18:13
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The Harris stuff is deeply weird and I never understood it. In happier news, the Greyboys as a Heretic cult instead of Renegades was one of those accidental brilliant ideas (or not, I'd say sometimes WW are sharp but they just said a white man was a black man) but a lot of Lost Cause stuff honestly does revolve around the virtual deification of Lee, Jackson, Dawgstar fucked around with this message at 05:33 on Jan 22, 2023 |
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Jan 21, 2023 22:13
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Lmao how did they miss sending the Life on Mars people to Georgia Tech, it's right there in Midtown and all of them could have pledged Psi Upsilon. What the hell, White Wolf, I know you know gatech.edu is right there.
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Jan 21, 2023 23:08
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Dawgstar posted:The Harris stuff is deeply weird and I never understood it. Midjack posted:Lmao how did they miss sending the Life on Mars people to Georgia Tech, it's right there in Midtown and all of them could have pledged Psi Upsilon. What the hell, White Wolf, I know you know gatech.edu is right there. Gotta be honest, it's the responses like this that make doing these reviews so much fun. I appreciate all you wonderful goons who can add context to this stuff that I as a California boy am unaware of. Also, FYI, I've added the link to the full review at the top of each part so if anyone wants to read the whole thing on my site instead of waiting for me to slow roll it out here on the forums, you can.
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Jan 21, 2023 23:44
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Something I noticed when reading Wraith books a while back was that the NPCs' Arcanoi almost always seem to just be randomly scattered across statblocks without really having any consideration for how those powers would impact their role in a community or their relationship with the living world. Am I just remembering that wrong, or did they do a pretty good job of lining up powers to motivations in the Atlanta book?
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Jan 22, 2023 04:29
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Just Dan Again posted:Something I noticed when reading Wraith books a while back was that the NPCs' Arcanoi almost always seem to just be randomly scattered across statblocks without really having any consideration for how those powers would impact their role in a community or their relationship with the living world. Am I just remembering that wrong, or did they do a pretty good job of lining up powers to motivations in the Atlanta book? I'll be honest, my memory of what all the Arconoi do is pretty hazy, but giving a couple of the Hierarchy characters a glance again just now, I think so? Ominey has Argos 5, and he's a transportation related Wraith so I'm going to say yes.....probably....maybe.
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Jan 22, 2023 05:19
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Halloween Jack posted:White Wolf notoriously put a Goth Kid faction in Mage. Yet when they did the splatbook, there was barely any understanding of the music or the scene or anything else connected to it. It was bizarre. its because while the white wolf audience might include goth kids, it was written by 40 year old men in the shape of a bean
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Jan 22, 2023 14:59
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JD's World of Dorkness Necropolis Atlanta Chapter Six: The Renegades   The Renegades of Atlanta are a diverse bunch and are loosely united in their stand against the Hierarchy. While many of these factions have been active for a century or more, most of the Wraiths that make up these groups are relatively new to the Underworld, as most of the founders of these groups have either been captured or destroyed by the Hierarchy. However, the metaphorical specter of racism is still alive and well in the Shadowlands and is one of the major wedges that keep the various Renegades from uniting against the Hierarchy. The Shattered Chain and the Sons of the Imperial Dragon are constantly at odds, while the Hearse Riders refuse to acknowledge anyone’s right to try and stop them from their mission of ending violence against children and stopping the practice of driving while intoxicated. The Hearse Riders While the Riders aren’t directly hindering the Hierarchy and its goals, and in fact often hunt down other Renegades and Heretics, they are still a constant thorn in the side of the Hierarchy of Atlanta because they are determined to undermine Charon’s greatest law: Not interfering in the affairs of the Living. The Riders have two primary ways they cause accidents, the first (and the most fun) is the possession of delinquent drivers using Puppetry. Those of the Riders who can drive, like Michelle, are also fond of the more direct method of causing damage by piloting a relic vehicle into the Skinlands, Embodying just long enough to cause their victim to swerve uncontrollably to avoid hitting them. Despite the Hierarchies best efforts, the Riders continue to flaunt the Dictum Mortum and avoid punishment. No one ever sees who is behind the wheel of the massive hearse, and the only things to come out of the windows are arms extended with automatic weapons. The Riders have also taken to harassing the Anacreon of Iron for reasons no one has been able to figure out (probably because he’s a pedo). Of course, the Riders have become sort of celebrities, with many Wraiths cheering them on as they tear through the streets, even going so far as to disrupt one of the Ladies Haunting Society cotillions while trying to run down the Iron Legion Anacreon. (Good.) Speculation runs rampant as to the identities of the Riders, and the Hierarchy has an open bounty on information that could lead to their capture, though to this point no one has stepped forward to claim it. Some in the Hierarchy believe the Riders are Spectres, ready to destroy any who get in their way, however no proof to back these claims has come to light as yet. The only certainty regarding the Riders is their passionate hatred of anyone in the Skinlands who drives as poorly as they do in the Shadowlands, and while there have been no major conflicts between the Riders and other groups in the city, it’s always a possibility. Joel Harris is one of the few, if only adults in the good graces of the Riders, as he knows their identities and regularly spins new stories for them. Some of the riders don’t appreciate being “looked after”, while others appreciate the company Harris brings. Despite the dedication the group feels for one another, there are still tensions amongst the gang, with their leader Michelle having a tendency towards being too harsh in her reprimands, and Hank thinking less of several of the younger and smaller children because they have trouble reaching the pedals or seeing over the steering wheel. By comparison to most other gangs or even the mighty Hierarchy itself, the Riders are an extremely tightly unified group. The Riders do not forgive easily, and they are in continuous battle against other Wraiths that they themselves made. They are one of the most dangerous gangs in the city, but one that few Wraiths are willing to do anything about. Because again, kid ghosts who target adults who harm children or intoxicated drivers. I for one welcome our ghost child overlords. -Michelle Alan  Michelle had her young life torn away from her when a drunk driver attempted to beat a red light. He failed, instead plowing into a school bus full of children on their way home from an all-day field trip. Michelle and the rest of her classmates were killed instantly, the bus driver left maimed for life and the drunk driver walked away with some minor bruises. Since then, Michelle and several other Wraiths have banded together to ensure as few children as possible die at the hands of stupid adults, and as the oldest of the group, Michelle has taken on the role of unofficial leader. Nature: Fanatic Demeanor: Fanatic Cohort: Hearse Riders Passions: Wants to experience more of life (Hope 3) Seeks revenge for her death (Hate 5) Fetters: ‘78 Ford Pick-up 2, Intersection where she was killed 3 Shadow: The Director Shadow Passions: Punish anyone who drinks alcohol to excess (Hate 4) Work to make Atlanta safe instead of enjoying her afterlife (Self-hatred 2) Image: 13 years old with braces, freckles and red hair, tall for her age and thin, she died during her “Awkward phase” and dresses in the same clothes she died in, shorts and an Atlanta Braves t-shirt. Roleplaying Tips: You are a very nice girl, but you are driven by a deep hatred for the man that killed you and your friends and by the need to prevent as many such incidents as you can. When you’re “Off duty” you like to watch the Braves play and read a good book or three. You like to converse and discuss the age old mysteries of boys, provided that none of them are around. When you are on duty, it is strictly business. You and your circle drive the streets in your various vehicles and watch for the foolish to cross your path. Your success rate is only around 50/50 and that’s just not good enough. Lately you’ve taken to actively recruiting the young victims of vehicular homicide, sexual crimes and child abuse as well. To hell with the Hierarchy, you and yours have a mission. -Bobby Redmond  Bobby lived the best life he could, despite his parents' constant arguing and his older sister calling him names. He loved them and they loved him, and they’d never been prouder than when his little league team won the state division. Unfortunately, Bobby never got to find out if his team would make the nationals because 5 drunk teens in a Camaro decided that sleepy afternoon was a great time to go for a joyride. Bobby was struck and killed while crossing the street to his home on the way back from baseball practice. Nature: Judge Demeanor: Jester Cohort: Hearse Riders Passions: Save other children (Duty 3), Demonstrate his ability at baseball (Pride 4) Fetters: Family 3, Catcher's mitt 2 Shadow: The Freak Shadow Passions: Kill his murderers (Hate 5), Show that he is better than other kids (Envy 3) Image: Looks about 8 years old, with wide innocent eyes and a pudgy body. He’s always carrying a baseball bat, and you better believe he knows how to use it. As in life, his knees are perpetually scraped up and his hair is a wild, curly mess. Roleplaying Tips: Never suffer a drunk to live, and never pass up a chance to play ball. You had major league plans and they were stolen from you. Now you get to pay them all back. Every grown-up that drinks is your enemy and they will all perish. Your driving passion for baseball is well known and you have been trying to start a little league in the Shadowlands with limited success. OH MY GOD I want Wraith Little League so badly. Sure, the racists manage to form a Ghost Klan but we can’t get this poor kid enough other ghosts to come play some ball? Truly this is a world of darkness. -Hank Moody  Hank grew up in the worst part of the city, and by the age of twelve was running with a gang and selling handguns until he was arrested. When he was released into the care of foster parents, Hank ran away, immediately heading back to his old neighborhood, where he was shot by one his fellow gang members with a pistol that Hank had sold him the week before. The word had gone out that Hank had narc’d to the police and so his death warrant was sealed. It wasn’t until after Hank was already dead that the gang found out that he hadn’t flipped on them. Since then, Hank has turned a new leaf, leaving some of his darker habits behind, content to try and prevent the deaths of more children. He may have been a fool in life, but in death he’s gained the insight to know he wants to prevent the same sorts of messes from exploding in anyone else’s face. Nature: Architect Demeanor: Bravo Cohort: Hearse Riders Passions: Save other kids from violence (Hope 4), Keep guns off the streets (Remorse 3) Fetters: Parents 2, Gun that killed him 4 Shadow: The Parent Shadow Passions: Encourage violence (Hate 4) Alienate people (Self-hatred 2) Image: Lean and dark, dressed in clothes that are obvious hand-me-downs. Never smiling and carrying himself with a cocky arrogance belonging to someone much older than his 11 years (I assume they meant 12) and his hair is a mass of braided dreads and seven piercings in his left ear. He’s never seen without his mirror shades. Roleplaying Tips: Living was tough, and you made tough decisions, but it’s never too late to make up for your mistakes. You still sneer at most people, but you don’t mean it anymore. You just want to see peace and happiness in your old neighborhood, an end to the bloodshed, and you will, even if you must kill a few hundred people before they get the hint. -Mai Ling Pu  Mai Ling was born to a family of recent immigrants from China, growing up with two older brothers and her parents in a loving, if noisy house on near Buford Highway. Her teachers reported she was a bright, inquisitive student with a love of puzzles, but could be as giggly as any other child. Unfortunately, the family's joy was cut short when a youth gang attempted to rob the family grocery. The shooter had been aiming for Mai Ling’s father, but missed and killed the girl instead. To add insult to injury, they stole her one prized possession, a small white jade amulet that had been in her family for literal centuries. She died 17 years ago (1977) and was a founding member of the Hearse Riders. Her innocent features hide a mind that long ago adapted to thinking and acting like an adult. Nature: Traditionalist Demeanor: Gallant Cohort: Hearse Riders Passions: Wants retribution against her killers (Despair 4), Protect children from violence (Duty 2), Make the city a safer place (Duty 2), Find her amulet (Hope 2) Fetters: Jade Amulet 4, Family 2, Store where she died 1 Shadow: The Leech Shadow Passions: Kill those who murdered her (Hate 4), Keep the city wild and exciting (Joy 4) Image: Small and fine boned with long black hair and dark eyes, she wears a flower print dress and black Mary Janes. Her expression of extreme concentration makes her look disconcertingly older than her 9 years. Roleplaying Tips: You keep to yourself around adults, understanding very well that they all look at you as a cute little girl. When the grown-ups are away, however, you are an endless stream of bad jokes and rampant energy. You never get angry; you simply get even. The Sons of the Imperial Dragon The Sons are one of the most dangerous Renegade gangs operating in the Shadowlands, actively recruiting and preparing for war with the Hierarchy, and if they were to unite with the Greyboys, they would have more than enough numbers to potentially take the city from the Hierarchy. While the Sons and the Shattered Chain have made it explicitly clear they do not get along (shocking, I know), the Hierarchy is divided on how best to handle the situation, with general calls of neutrality on the situation, there are some who would eagerly join forces with either of the two Renegade groups. The extremely flawed logic of the Sons is built partially on ignorance and partially on anger. Most of the Sons resent the loss of the Civil War, despite many of them not having been alive to fight at the time, having been raised in life to believe in their natural superiority over other “lesser races”, ie: anyone who isn’t white. Some of these racist shitlords resent that they suffered some kind of violence from someone of another race and have carried this bitterness with them into the Shadowlands. Still others are so full of hate that they’ve aligned themselves with the other hate-mongers. While the Sons are generally focused on taking down the Hierarchy, they’re always looking for an excuse to fight, especially against the Shattered Chain or any other Wraith who does not conform to their vision of “Purity”, going so far as to capture and manacle a victim then drag them through the streets of the Necropolis, screaming racial epitaphs and proclaiming their plans to rid the Shadowlands of the “inferior races” Just a real group of winners here folks. Load each and every one of these racist fucks into a relic rocket, and point that poo poo directly at Oblivion and launch them into the gaping abyss. gently caress these racist pieces of poo poo. -Albert Watts  Albert always tried to do the “Politically Correct” (lol I haven’t heard that term in a long god drat time), recycling his trash, making donations to the local homeless shelter, even marching in the Cobb County protests against the county’s anti-gay referendum. Of course, Albert wasn’t doing this out of the goodness of his heart, he was doing it because it’s what his wife Ellie expected of him. In 1988, Albert and his wife went to the company holiday party. On the way Ellie told Albert she was pregnant, and at the party he learned he had been promoted and that he and his wife and three children would soon be moving to Arizona. Everything seemed to be going so well for Albert. On the way home that night, they were attacked by four youths who were trying to rob them. Albert tried to fight back and while he managed to break the nose of one of the youths, he ended up with a .22 bullet in his gut. He died on the way to the hospital with his wife by his side. What should have been the happiest day of Alberts life had been shattered by a bit of bad luck. The shock of it all broke something in Albert, he didn’t care that the youths were likely blasted out of their minds on some new street drug, didn’t care that the threats against his wife had only been meant to scare him into handing his wallet over faster. All that mattered was the color of their skin. When the Sons approached him, he joined without hesitation. Nature: Director Demeanor: Judge Cohort: The Sons of the Imperial Dragon Passions: Protect his family (Love 4) Fear of Violence (Terror 2) Fetters: Wife and Children 3, Gold pocket watch 2 Shadow: The Matyr Shadow Passions: Kill all “Street Punks” (Vengeance 4), Kill his family to “save” them from violence (Love 3) Image: Looks about 32, dressed in the style of a young urban professional, fair physical condition other than a bit of pudge from sitting at a desk (WHOMST AMONG US DOESNT?!), topped by curly brown hair and hazel eyes. He never smiles. Roleplaying Tips: You were fairly wishy-washy in life, but no more. You’ve decided to become a take-charge kind of guy, and if the only thing you can take charge of is the destruction of low-life scum, hey that’s okay with you. If the people you meet are white or Asian, deal with them civilly. If they are any other color, they are scum. YOU USED ASIAN! YOU DID IT WHITE WOLF! Now that I know you fuckers are capable, can you please stop using God drat Oriental to describe people? Also gently caress you Albert, you whiny little bitch. Boo-hoo you got murdered in a robbery gone wrong, that sucks, but also gently caress you for deciding that the best solution was to join the loving Ghost Klan. -Keith Forsythe  Keith lived the first 20 years of his life in Cobb County, proud to be part of a society with little crime, and even more proud that there were no blacks in his neighborhood. Like generations of scumfucks in his family, Keith was also a proud member of the Klan. Unfortunately for Keith, he was caught while attempting to blow up a church in Mobile, Alabama and was sentenced to 25 years in the Federal pen in Atlanta. Also unfortunate for Keith (but hilarious for the rest of us), Keith’s cellmate Jude “Pitbull” Henderson didn’t take kindly to being called a “friend of the family” constantly and showed his displeasure by breaking a few laws and most of the bones in Keith’s body, including 3 places in his spine and at least 4 in the bigot's skull. Since karmic justice was dealt to him, Keith has spread his doctrine of white supremacy and pointed out on multiple occasions the “Mark of Caine” being visible on the skin of black men. Nature: Bravo Demeanor: Bravo Cohort: Heaven’s Warriors/Sons of the Imperial Dragon Passions: Keep the city safe from blacks (love 3) Educate people about the evil inherent to those bearing the “mark of Caine” (Pity 5) Fetters: Church in Mobile 2, Family home 1 Shadow: Th Pusher Shadow Passions: Kill all “Politically Correct” people (Hate 5), Use force if necessary to convince other Wraiths to follow him (Arrogance 3) Image: Standing 5’10” and well-muscled with the beginnings of a serious beer gut, his brown hair is cropped short in a 50’s style, dressed in blue jeans, t-shirts and a good pair of motorcycle boots. His mouth is twisted into a cocky grin, and his green eyes are constantly searching for something others seemingly can’t see. Roleplaying Tips: You know you’re right, and nothing will separate you from your powerful convictions that blacks are the servants of the devil. You have no hesitation to vigorously explain your point of view to friends or foes. Your militant attitude has made you plenty of enemies, and you’re starting to get a bit paranoid. Worst of all, Pitbull is gathering a group of friends too, and the time may come when you and your boys have to show these upstarts the error of their way. You need recruits and you need them yesterday, because the idea of facing Pitbull Henderson on even terms scares the sin out of you. Okay, let’s address the very large elephant in the room. Yes, the authors dropped the most loaded slur in the American English language here in the description of a character. Yes, it was shocking to see it in an RPG book (that isn’t explicitly made by Nazis), but I’m less inclined to rage over its use, because within the context of the paragraph it appears, it makes sense and doesn’t feel like the authors are trying to be sneaky and slip in a slur for funsies, but to very firmly establish what a piece of poo poo the character in question is, and likewise very vividly establish the scene of his death. -Thad Weidermann  Thad had it all, the best girl in school wrapped around his finger, straight A’s, captain of the football team, and drat good looking if he did say so himself. But that was his junior year of high school. His senior year, he was replaced as captain by a hotshot transfer student, the coach citing Thad’s missing three practices as the reason. Thad of course handled this with grace and aplomb. Wait, no he didn’t, he acted like a big loving baby because his replacement was black and so burned a cross on the players yard with a group of his gently caress up friends. The act was shocking to the Sandy Springs community, and Thad had to open his big loving mouth and tell his girlfriend about what he’d done. Would you believe she went and told her friends after breaking up with him? Thad won her back after much convincing and promised he’d turn himself in after the school year had ended, he had scholarships to think about after all. Word got around to the new captain of the football team and he and Thad settled their differences after school. Thad lost. Then as the school year began to wind down, the new captain took what Thad believed was rightfully his, a football scholarship. To celebrate, Thad got ripped on vodka and decided the best solution to his problems was to firebomb the captain's house. Unfortunately for Thad (and fortunately for the rest of us), while attempting to light the cocktail he intended to throw from his car, he ran himself off the road into a tree, where the makeshift bomb exploded, dousing him and the interior of his car in flames. He died screaming like the stupid bitch he was. Nature: Deviant Demeanor: Bravo Cohort: Sons of the Imperial Dragon Passions: Blame others for all his shortcomings (Hate 4), Demonstrate his physical prowess (Pride 4), Find a girl who’ll love and accept him (Love 2) Fetters: Football Helmet 3, Grave 2 Shadow: The Freak Shadow Passions: Drive away anyone who might help him (Jealousy 3), Abandon athletics (Despair 4) Image: A handsome young man in his late teens, blonde haired and blue-eyed standing at 6’4” with perfect teeth and a body toned by years of football. He normally wears a smile, but it never reaches his eyes if anyone of color is around. Roleplaying Tips: You blame everyone but yourself for your flaws. The only reason you joined the Sons is because they accept you and your skewed view of the events that led to your death. You are filled with hate, ready to burst at the seams. You spend your time conversing eagerly on the sins of blacks and the evils ways in which they conspired to destroy your life. When not preaching, you try to woo your girlfriend from beyond the grave. Lately she’s been very jumpy whenever you show up. You are hoping she kills herself soon so you can be together again. It might happen faster if your Shadow wasn’t so determined to stop you from destroying her. Jesus Tap Dancing Christ. Thad is the biggest loving crybaby bitch I’ve encountered in an RPG. Yes, he deserved to die, and I hope he’s eventually swallowed by Oblivion so the rest of the Shadowlands don’t have to deal with him. Also, God drat dude, I’m pretty sure murdering your living girlfriend so she can be a ghost with you isn’t going to work out the way you expect it to. In fact, because I love irony, I’d say the best resolution to that whole mess is that if he did manage to kill her, either she immediately transcends, or she just absolutely turns on him for killing her. gently caress you, Thad. Also, lol your name is loving Thad. (Apologies to any readers named Thad) The Shattered Chain The Chain and its founders are considered extremely dangerous by the Hierarchy. The Chain feels the same about them, though they do not seek the end of the Hierarchy, only the end to the practice of slavery. Of course, if the Hierarchy is unwilling to listen to reason, as they’ve been so inclined, then the Chain will bring them down. The threat of forced labor as the property of another Wraith is an assault on the principles that all members of the Chain hold as simple truth: No one has the right to own another sentient being. The Hierarchy is unwilling to surrender enslavement as a punishment, and the Chain refuses to accept any less than complete emancipation, and so the battle between the two groups continues until one yields to the other. While the Chain holds the Declaration of Independence as their credo, the Hierarchy was formed long before the document was written and simply “can’t” (IE: won’t) relinquish their primary form of non-lethal punishment. Of course, some in the Hierarchy agree with the basic concepts the Chain preaches, they are unwilling to admit it publicly, for fear that the Hierarchy will not protect them for openly supporting a Renegade gang. Unfortunately, because many of the leaders of the Chain were slaves in life, they carry this racial bias with them as strongly as their greatest enemies the Sons. While this resentment doesn’t usually rise when around white members of the Chain, it still burns deeply and frequently comes out in speeches made by the leaders of the group. The greatest risk the Chain faces comes from their attempts to remove the chains of thralldom from other captured Wraiths. While their intentions are good, their methods are generally violent and often deadly. Many of the Chain’s members were previously part of a group called Cry for Justice, a militant Black Supremacy group who decided to fight fire with fire. Despite the best efforts of Sue to delay the Hierarchy, Stygian forces were called in to “Deal with” the gang and many members were captured and enslaved. Those unfortunate souls who were captured were never heard from again. In retribution, several Hierarchy members were destroyed by the Chain. When dealing with captured Hierarchy members, their fate is left to a mob rule mentality, often leading to a swift verdict of guilt and destruction on the spot. Many of the Chain’s oldest members support the agents of the Ivory Queen, remembering a time when they worshipped their own gods in their homeland instead of the God of Christianity. For many, the simple fact that they did not reach “Heaven” upon their deaths was enough to disprove its existence. While the Chain does not openly speak of the Ivory Queen, many members will openly defy the Hierarchy, swearing they would never condone the foolish belief in a dead God or Charon. The Chain does not stand completely united unfortunately, as the former members of Cry For Justice have made their dislike of the white members of the group plainly clear. Despite these issues, the Chain was started initially as a retaliation to the Hierarchy for even considering slavery as a legitimate punishment. Most of the group's leadership is African American, however they also count numerous White, Asian (THEY DID IT AGAIN! BRAVO!) and Native Americans in the group. The only prerequisite to joining the Chain is a desire to see all Thralls released and a better way to rule the Necropli. While the Ivory Queen’s influence has been subtle in Atlanta, there are many older Wraiths who believe that the increasing power of the Chain and groups like it are a result of the Matriarch of the African Deathrealms. Okay so I don’t agree with the black supremacy bit because c'mon now, it’s just as dumb and wrong-headed as any other group claiming their supremacy, but gently caress yeah Shattered Chain! I can’t even really hold it against any of the Wraiths who were slaves for still being pissed at white people, they are completely justified in this anger. -Arthur Carpenter  Arthur was born a free man and believed he would die one. Sadly, he was wrong. He worked for several years as a mill worker and blacksmith, helping to establish the Underground Railroad after being approached by Harriet Tubman. Arthur was proud of the work he’d done and glad to assist others in escaping slavery. William Christian Calloway (what a name) brought an end to Arthur's freedom by kidnapping Arthur and his wife and children, forcing them into slavery. When Arthur attempted to prove his status as a free man, Carpenter destroyed the papers and beat Arthur severely. Arthur was then locked in a cell in Calloway’s attic where he was forced to listen to the repeated rape of his wife and daughters. Carpenter swore he’d have his revenge on Calloway if it was the last thing he did. Calloway took the threat seriously and buried Arthur alive. A founding member of the Shattered Chain, upon his arrival in the Shadowlands, Arthur was manacled by a Reaper named Theodore Hammet with the intent to sell the Enfant into slavery to the highest bidder. Enraged beyond endurance, Arthur strangled the reaper with the chains binding his arms. He fled into the Tempest. When he emerged from the Tempest, his chains were gone, and to this day he has never told anyone how he was freed. The Calloway Plantation has become the primary Haunt of the Chain, and Arthur still works to free enslaved Wraiths taken by the Hierarchy and others. Despite his wife and children being gone by the time he returned to the plantation; he continues to search for them. And what about that piece of poo poo Calloway? Well Arthur kept his promise, not only killing the man but taking a few chunks of the bastards Corpus that he forged into weapons. The rest of Calloway is currently locked in the same attic cell where both men died. Nature: Fanatic Demeanor: Gallant Cohort: The Shattered Chain Passions: Find Family (Despair 4) Revenge for the death of his wife and children (Hate 3), Free all those enslaved by the Hierarchy (Hope 4) Fetters: Plantation house 1, Underground Railroad house in north Georgia 3 Shadow: The Pusher Shadow Passions: Enslave those who enslaved others (Hate 5) Abandon family (Despair 2) Image: A short man with a mask made of ivory and a set of manacles he wears around his shoulders and waist, though they are not connected to his body. His features are sharp and angular, his eyes burning with an almost psychotic hatred. His hair completely white, his skin dark brown and covered in old scars. Roleplaying Tips: Race is no longer an issue to you. What matters is freedom. You and the rest of the Chain work diligently to free all Thralls, and you’ve had great success. The Chain is the largest faction of Renegades, and as one of the founders, you’re a man in a position of power. You carry yourself with a certain authority, but you try not to let yourself become too self-important. You act more humbly than you feel. -Jude “Pitbull” Henderson  Jude began his life on a small farm in a shanty town in southern Georgia and was content to stay there had it not been for the trouble that came to town in the form of racist rednecks (which is a smidgen redundant). Times were tough in Georgia and the Klan believed that the men in the shanty town were taking jobs away from fine southern gentlemen who needed to support their families. When Jude was ten, the Klan rolled in, burning the shanty town to the ground and murdering his mother and father along with some 30 other residents. Jude fled into the night, bitter and orphaned. Years later after working various menial tasks, he became a wrestler in a traveling fair. When the fair reached Atlanta, Jude met a dozen challengers, besting them all and making a pittance in the process. The final challenger attempted to use brass knuckles to make his displeasure at losing clear, Jude broke his neck in the melee. Consumed with guilt over the accidental killing, Jude was sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder, leaving behind his wife Amelia and three-year-old son Walter. While in prison, Jude met noted piece of poo poo Keith Forsythe. Remembering his past and the death of his family at the hands of the same sort of monster he now shared a cell with, Jude lost control and killed the racist bastard. No good deed goes unpunished, and for his act of valor, Jude was knifed in the stomach by a guard who was friends with Forsythe and left to bleed to death. He joined the Chain at his first opportunity and has become one of their strongest advocates. Nature: Bravo Demeanor: Bravo Cohort: The Shattered Chain Passions: Make amends for having killed someone (Guilt 4), To exist in comfort in the Shadowlands as he never did in life (Greed 2), Protect his wife and son (Love 3) Fetters: Family 2, Federal Penitentiary 3 Shadow: The Freak Shadow Passions: Kill whenever necessary to demonstrate your power (Arrogance 3) Kill all racists (Hate 4) Image: Standing almost 6 and a half feet tall and weighing 374 pounds of muscle. Jude is a very idealized version of how he looked in life, bald and wearing antiquated prison garb with a spiked collar that has earned him his nickname. Roleplaying Tips: You are a listener, always hearing what others say and seldom voicing your own opinions. You tend to brood, crossing your arms and staring intensely at whoever is speaking. Never volunteer information, but if someone asks, tell them what you know. Your hatred of Caucasians is strong but can be overlooked if the individual agrees with you that equality is a two-way street. You are not unreasonable, just scarred by your past. Independent Renegades There are numerous Wraiths in Atlanta that do not claim membership to any circles, preferring to remain independent. The one unifying element is their contempt for the Hierarchy. These independents potentially could provide a unique perspective and act as guides for Wraiths new to the city, if they can put up with the sometimes-abrasive personalities. -Rocking Randolf Slay  Rocking Randy planned his whole life around being a radio DJ, practicing and making connections in the rock world. Unfortunately for him, Uncle Sam came knocking, and Randy was drafted and shipped off to Korea. On his third day in the field, Randy stepped on a landmine. What returned from ‘Nam was a shadow of the man who had left, his legs gone, his left arm ending in a stump and worst of all, he’d been deafened. Bitter and frustrated, Randy turned to drugs for an escape, and died of an overdose less than a year after his return to Atlanta. Once he learned of Wraith society, Randy decided to put his natural talents to use. In time and with a considerable amount of work, Randy now runs a radio station in the Underworld, playing music and chatting with other Restless on WBON, Radio-Atlanta's only Restless 24-hour rock station. Randy’s acidic commentary about the Hierarchy has put a price on his head, but he continues to avoid capture, so far. He is the only member of Radio Free Stygia currently in Atlanta, and while his comments are often taken as anti-Hierarchy propaganda, which is his intent, he’s considered mostly harmless by the Hierarchy at large. Rocking Randolf plays a variety of music and is open for request when he can be found. Not a fan of established governments of any sort, Randy does associate with several groups of Renegades and Heretics though he does not promote the beliefs of any group. Randy doesn’t believe in staying quiet, and seldom tells the whole truth on air. More often than not, he’ll give a list of clues directing the clever to the location of a fight or meeting, meanwhile the Hierarchy sends a patrol to deal with a riot in the wrong part of the city because Randy’s clues are too obtuse for them to comprehend. He is one of the only Renegades to be invited to the Ladies Haunting Society cotillions, though no one is certain if he’s ever actually attended as most only know him by his voice. Nature: Judge Demeanor: Jester Cohort: Independent Renegade Passions: Undermine the authority of the Hierarchy (Bitterness 3), Achieve fame in the Underworld that he never did in life (Greed 40 Fetters: High school class ring lost in Korea 2, Box of 45” records in the basement of a downtown apartment building 5 Shadow: The Freak Shadow Passions: Incite violence (Rage 4), Gain power over others (Envy 3) Image: Rocking Randy is thin, almost completely wasted away, still bearing the needle marks from his time as a heroin addict. He always keeps up with the latest fashion, and this year he’s been exceptionally Goth, with black and silver being the only colors he bothers to wear. He has thick wire frame glasses and short slicked back hair, worn in a style popular in the 50’s Roleplaying Tips: You are merciless in your criticisms, but you’re always “on” and therefore ready to dazzle anyone you meet with savage good humor. Be nice, be friendly, but let everyone know that Death would be a better state of mind without the Hierarchy in the way. -The Deacon  No one knows where the Deacon came from, and the story they tell changes every time. Trailer parks, dumpsters, soup kitchens, Midtown apartments, Waffle houses and the corridors of the Omni blend together into one colorful tapestry of a life well lived. The Deacon was equally colorful, an enormous redneck “transvestite” whose poetry, screamed at 80 decibels over a backbeat produced by a metal pipe clanging against a mortar shell, garnered widespread attention. Anti-drug laws, government corruption, racism, overpriced beer: no societal peccadillo escaped the watchful eye and scathing tongue of the Deacon. The Deacon died in a car crash while on tour with a local blues band. Too mean for Oblivion and too good for Transcendence, the Deacon rose kicking and screaming into the Shadowlands. Thanks to their sharp wit, Atlanta’s Hierarchs are starting to reacquaint themselves with ulcers. Nature: Rebel Demeanor: Deviant Cohort: Independent Renegades Passions: Flout Authority (Duty 4), Protect countercultural kids (Love 2), Shock people (Joy 2) Keep punk poetry alive (Pride 2) Fetters: Just about every stage in every pre-1992 club in Atlanta 2, Various bizarre fetishist paraphernalia 3 Shadow: The Freak Shadow Passions: Keep other poets from success (Jealousy 3) Reporach self about sexuality (Disgust 2) Ridicule and debase others (Contempt 2) Image: The Deacon appears much as they did in life, a burly, ruddy red-bearded 300-pound man with an expansive beer gut barely contained by their floral print dress, bustier and assorted items of lingerie they wear. Occasionally the sport latex breast or odder items, and with the power of Moliate, the possibilities are endless. Roleplaying Tips: LOUD! You like to be the center of attention and have little trouble maintaining that state. To hell with death! To hell with lowdown, yellow-balled, spinless brain-sucking, poo poo eatin, creativity evisceratin, Spectre afterbirth chewin, boil on a roach’s butt Hierarchs who try to keep you from expressing the fragile splendor of your inner child. You seek out and “imbibe” emotional situations with gusto (hell, there’s no goddamn beer in the afterlife, gotta guzzle somethin!) And that brings chapter five to a close. There’s a lot I really like in this chapter, specifically the Hearse Riders and the Shattered Chain as ideas, as well as many of the characters associated with those groups. The Deacon is.....hooboy, this one feels like WW had their heart in the right place, especially for 1994, but in the cold light of 2022/23, the character as written is a bit of a mess. I made the choice to use gender neutral pronouns where possible, as addressing the character as “He” feels awkward. Almost as awkward as seeing the word transvestite being used, which again, it was the 90’s and to the best of knowledge, was the correct term in the queer community at the time, but now is jarringly dated. Also, I feel vindicated that all my screaming about how we (as a society) weren’t using Oriental to describe people in the 90’s has been proven right because they loving use ASIAN twice in this book! Someday I will read one of these books and it will have an Asian character who isn’t described as Oriental and on that day, I will transcend this life and be one with the stars. Or at least I’ll stop having to say, “God drat it White Wolf”, at least for that reason, it’s not like there aren’t plenty of other reasons for me to scream into the void. I appreciate that all of the white supremacists described in this chapter are all just utterly worthless sacks of poo poo who no player or storyteller should feel bad about murdering in their game/feeding to Oblivion. I know I said it earlier in this review, but I would love to either run or play a Wraith game that is either Doomslayers hunting Nazi Spectres or a Circle who hunt down the Sons of the Imperial Dragon. Because forever and always, gently caress racists. Cast the living ones into the sun and the Wraiths into Oblivion I say.
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Jan 22, 2023 16:19
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The personality types of the Sons of the Imperial Dragon hit way too close home. That's very on the money. Always awful but hiding it until they didn't need to anymore, brought up to blame The Other, etc. I'm sure the writers met more than their share like that if they paid attention. I swear the Deacon is based off of somebody who was actually an underground Atlanta fixture and this is a tribute but I couldn't confirm it.
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Jan 22, 2023 21:21
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Dawgstar posted:The Harris stuff is deeply weird and I never understood it. My guess is that the writer conflated Harris with Uncle Remus and the editor just didn't catch it.
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Jan 23, 2023 03:20
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Dawgstar posted:I swear the Deacon is based off of somebody who was actually an underground Atlanta fixture and this is a tribute but I couldn't confirm it. I thought it was a Divine (the performer) reference.
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Jan 23, 2023 05:20
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JD's World of Dorkness presents Necropolis: Atlanta Chapter Seven: The Outsiders   There are of course Wraiths that don’t fall in line with any of the three major factions of the Underworld, and while they are independent, they also face greater challenges than their fellow Wraiths who join a faction. Politically the outsiders are broadly neutral, however minions of the various Dark Kingdoms are present in Atlanta, and if forced to choose sides, they generally err on the side of covert support of the Renegades. None of these various agents of the other Deathrealms are aware of their counterparts in the city. The Dark Kingdoms Each of the Dark Kingdoms has agents' stationed in the Atlanta Necropolis, some hidden away while others walk freely through the city. There is considerable danger for any who side with the Dark Kingdoms, the Hierarchy is known to keep an eye out and use these sympathizers as either examples, scapegoats or tools in the battle for new territory. While there is an uneasy truce between Stygia and the other Deathrealms, the Hierarchy doesn’t really understand the motivations of these other realms, and thus assumes the worst. Generally, these other realms simply seek what is theirs, to reap the dead who died far from home, but that’s not always the case. The presented Outsiders are merely a sampling of Wraiths who work for the Dark Kingdoms of Jade, Ivory and Obsidian, though they do not represent all possible cultural afterlives. As is so often the way of the West, all other cultures are simply lumped into broad groupings, ignoring the differences and variations between peoples and cultures. As such, the Restless of India, the Carribean, Polynesia, Australia and numerous other places do not maintain an active presence within Atlanta, at least for now, but with the coming of the 1996 Olympics, the Atlanta Necropolis is certain to feel a degree of culture shock as representatives of the other Dark Kingdoms make their presence known. The Jade Empire The Jade Empire holds considerable influence in Atlanta, as the influx of Asian peoples into the city has increased. With this influx, there is potential for the Hierarchy to recruit Asian American Wraiths to keep any eye on the Jade Kingdom’s representatives. -Tobias Hillmont  Tobias Hillmont is a fiction, a man who never existed. But Jack Sinclair did. Jack died in Korea fighting for America, a slow gangrenous death after having his arm blown off by friendly fire. A staunch supporter of his country, Jack took his death at the hands of his own countrymen quite personally. When the Jade Emperor offered Jack a chance at revenge, he was quite pleased with the agreement he and the Jade Emperor were able to come to. When Jack returned to Atlanta as a spy for the Jade Emperor, he took the name Tobias Hillmont and invented a background to explain why he was in Atlanta. To help his new spy, the Emperor shaped and reformed Jack into the man he is today. Trained extensively in various Eastern arts and Arcanos before his return to the States, Jack maintains contact with the Emperor. Nature: Rebel Demeanor: Traditionalist Cohort: The Jade Empire Passions: Get information about Stygia for the Jade Emperor (Vengeance 5), Increase his standing in the Hierarchy (Bitterness 4) Fetters: Gun still buried in the Korean jungle 3, House where he grew up in Marietta 4, American flag that used to fly outside his house 2 Shadow: The Pusher Shadow Passions: Kill all Westerners (Hate 4), Blow Jack’s cover to the Hierarchy (Self-Hatred 5) Image: A distinguished gentleman of 6’2” dressed in the height of Victorian fashion, with a top hat and cane his trademarks. His close personal friendship with Governor Jones has made him popular at cotillions and less formal events. He’s been seen several times with Wraiths accused of being Heretics but has never been accused of a crime. Roleplaying Tips: Speak with a sophisticated, well-cultured English accent. You are always a perfect gentleman to ladies and a dear friend to men. When with the Hierarchy, eagerly discuss the best ways to rid the Shadowlands of the Renegades and Heretics. Use the same plan with every other group, always agree with what they’re saying, only disagreeing when you feel they would get hurt by following through with certain plans. You really don’t care what any of them think. They are all going to be crushed by the weight of their own stupidity. Just never let them see that you feel that way. The Dark Kingdom of Ivory While there are many in the Necropolis who claim to serve the Ivory Queen, how many of their claims are true? The Shattered Chain has numerous members who claim affiliation with the Queen, but how can anyone tell? In recent years, there has been a great debate about the Ivory Queen’s reapers in Atlanta. Initially, they claimed all souls of African descent as their own, but much to the surprise of the reapers, a large percentage of the African American souls do not want to go to an African Underworld. They argue that they have lived their lives in America, often for generations, and would prefer to remain in the Underworld of the land they were born and died in. Presently, the local representative is Sharah Abdeldaim, a native Atlantean, she understands the delicate balance of the city as well as her own heritage, which is why she was chosen to represent the Ivory Kingdom in Atlanta. -Sharah Abdeldaim  Born in Atlanta in the 1960’s, Sarah’s father was active in the civil rights movement, and her mother encouraged her to learn more about her heritage, culture and history. A bright girl, Sharah seized on the culture of her ancestors and by the late 70’s she was admitted to Georgia State where she was the center of several campus political groups as well as distinguishing herself as a dancer. She was arrested repeatedly at demonstrations, gaining her a reputation around campus as a champion of civil rights. She considered law school, instead deciding she could make a more direct impact by opening a dance studio in Sweet Auburn in the mid-80's where she taught West African dance along with modern Jazz and Hip-hop. The studio became a central meeting place for anyone interested in African culture and in time she added language classes and workshops on crafts. Business was thriving, but everything changed one December afternoon during Kwanzaa. On her way home from a long day at the studio organizing a protest against a local business that refused to acknowledge Kwanzaa as a “legitimate” holiday, she was attacked by four men with ties to the protested business. While they claimed they were only trying to rough her up, Sharah pulled her revolver and, in the struggle, was killed with her own gun. Upon her arrival in the Shadowlands, she was seized by a representative of the Ivory Queen who had used the power of Fatalism to foresee the accident. Because of her strong connection to her heritage and ability to lead and organize, Sharah had been chosen to represent the Ivory Kingdom in Atlanta. She agreed without hesitation, and in recent years has learned how to work towards her goals without coming into conflict with the Hierarchy, as she says that knowing that there is a place for her across the Tempest is enough to make working with the Hierarchy tolerable. Nature: Visionary Demeanor: Rebel Cohort: Ivory Queen Passions: Promote African culture (Love 5), Keep the peace between Stygia and the Ivory Queen (Hope 3), Revenge for her death (Vengeance 3) Fetters: Dance Studio 4, Police record 1, Ivory necklace passed down through her family 2, Mother 2 Shadow: Perfectionist Shadow Passions: Kill all white businessmen (Hate 4), Incite Violence (Hate 5) Image: A willowy woman in her late twenties with dark hair worn in beaded cornrows, tied back with a scarf. Typically dressed in comfortable, loose-fitting clothing appropriate for dancing with an open and approachable expression on her face. Roleplaying Tips: Atlanta is a hell of a big city, but if anyone can keep track of it, it’s you. You’ve learned in your years on this side of the Shroud when to shut up and play along with the establishment to buy time to do what you need to. There are too many people who need your help finding their way to where they belong, and going down on a technicality isn’t going to help anyone. The Obsidian Kingdom The rift between the realms of the living and the dead was caused largely by the coming of European settlers, and the suffering caused on both sides of the Shroud has caused a great deal of resentment towards the Hierarchy and its interference. In Atlanta, this anger and resentment has led to powerful Spectres that wish to see an end to the Hierarchy and a return to a united Obsidian Kingdom. This anger is so strong that it feeds the Barrow-flame that causes the Necropolis to burn periodically. Before the Europeans arrived, the Obsidian Kingdom held Georgia firmly, and while the Creek tribe tried to reach an accord with the settlers, their plans always fell apart, eventually being forced off their lands by an invading force with a voracious appetite for land and resources. In later years the Cherokee came into the area after being driven from their own lands in an attempt to find a new home. Like the Creek, the Cherokee soon learned that the white men were unwilling to co-exist, and in time they too were driven out of Georgia. In the Shadowlands, the Obsidian Kingdom maintains a small outpost north of the city at the Etowah burial mounds. -Elain Running Deer  Kinfolk to the Garou in life but unaware of her lineage, Elain Running Deer’s grandfather, Howls-In-Battle was a proud Uktena, murdered by the invading Fianna when Elain was 12. While her parents were killed in the same attack, she escaped into the woods, emerging only after the Europeans had fallen asleep. Her families bodies had been left to rot where they’d fallen after being stripped of valuables, except for a rough stone necklace worn by her grandfather. The necklace was a powerful fetish that allowed Howls to speak with the dead, and Elain used it for this purpose once she figured out how it worked. From beyond the Shroud, her ancestors taught her the ways of her people and helped to locate other members of the tribe that had been separated by battle. With the assistance of the ancestral spirits, the Cherokee performed powerful rituals to establish the Etowah outpost. Elain lived another 30 years, avoiding the European invaders before being shot in the back by a man who claimed she was poaching on his property. While married at the time of her death, Elain was never a mother, and thus had no one left to tell her story. Nature: Traditionalist Demeanor: Caregiver Cohort: The Cherokee Tribunal of the Dead Passions: Forgiveness for the ignorant savages that stole the land (Pity 4) Protect heritage (Pride 3) Fetters: Burial Mounds north of Atlanta 4, Garou Fetish 5 Shadow: The Monster Shadow Passions: Destroy those who have no respect for the Earth (Hate 5), Encourage destruction of the land (Hate 2) Image: A heavy-set woman in her 40’s with long black hair with sprinklings of grey with dark brown eyes and weathered skin. Typically dressed in the traditional clothes of the Pure Ones Roleplaying Tips: Although you have a great deal of bitterness over the tragic events that shaped your life, you do not automatically assume everyone who is not Native American is bad. No one is permitted entry into the outpost without first proving themselves worthy, though you generally stay away to assist others in need. The time for war is long over, and you were never a warrior in the first place. The Others This entire paragraph is essentially the same as the previous end of chapter intro to the Independent Wraiths, just worded slightly differently. -Stephen Banner  Some folks have the worst luck when it comes to the fans of their work. Stephen Banner was one of them. He only wrote four science fiction novels before he was murdered by a young man who was certain everything Banner had written was real and that the only way to stop the coming alien invasion was to kill the man summoning them with his thoughts and writing. Banner died while out with his fiancée, shot six times in the back of the head. Since crossing over, he’s spent his time learning all he can about the Underworld and writing his next novel, a ghost story. He’s in Atlanta doing research. If a character knows something about the city, they may be sought out by Banner, or if the characters are new, Banner may prove to be an agreeable companion to discover the city with. Nature: Caregiver Demeanor: Loner Cohort: Independent/Renegade Passions: Finish his manuscript (Love 5), Inspire others to write (Hope 2) Learn about the Shadowlands to be better able to write about it (Curiosity 4) Fetters: Unfinished manuscript 3, Copy of his first novel 2, Jane Walters (fiancée) ?? Shadow: The Perfectionist Shadow Passions: Frighten people through stories (Glee 5), Stop trying to write, you are dead after all (Despair 3) Image: A large, somewhat unkempt man usually seen in a black leather jacket and pegged blue jeans. His grey hair frames his brooding face. Roleplaying Tips: Look around, see everything there is to see, and remember that you are here only to find the truth behind the lies that everyone presents. Be friendly if someone speaks to you, but if they are obnoxious, just walk away. You don’t want to get involved, you just want to see what’s what and who’s who. -Nick Stardust  Born Nicholas Goldberg in 1919 to a strict Orthodox Jewish family, Nick’s talent for singing was discovered while acting as cantor for his family's private worship services. He studied voice in school and the Torah with the men of the temple and listened to them argue the finer points of dogma while he was supposed to be learning Hebrew, always thinking about when he could sing next. His public singing career began on street corners during the Depression, earning pennies and nickles to help support the family. At 20, his uncle Louie gave him the opportunity to sing at the new Crème-de-le-Crème club in the Buckhead district, and under the advisement of his uncle, took the name Nick Stardust. Soon he was booking gigs all over Atlanta, and when air travel became more prevalent, all over the South, though he always loved returning to the Crème where he would sing his best for his Uncle. Rejected for the draft due to fallen arches, Nick’s fame grew during WW2, as did his waistline as he indulged in black market pastries. Black market pastries sound loving delicious and while I realize there is no difference between a pastry bought in a bakery and one bought from a shady dealer somewhere, there’s just something more enticing about a contraband pastry. In the fall of 1952, Atlantic records contacted Nick about producing an album of his favorite songs and he quickly went to work boning up on the popular music of the day, desperate to seem up to date. Unfortunately, his love of pastries and a family history of heart disease did him in suffering a heart attack while enjoying a cherry Danish in his uncle's kitchen the day he was to sign his record contract. He was pronounced DOA at Grady Memorial Hospital shortly after. As a Wraith, Nick feels he’s being punished for his selfishness, driven away by the many changes to the Crème over the years. The club closed when his uncle retired in 1953 and was purchased by a New York restaurateur who turned it into the Triumph Cafeteria and Grill, later becoming the Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant. Nick moved on, taking no pleasure in watching the cook's preparing food, instead traveling to other fetters. He spent time at his sister's home in Atlanta where his ancient Victrolla was located along with his favorite niece and nephew, and to Manhattan where a nice young couple had purchased his antique steamer trunk he’d used for tours. Soon enough, Nick realized the only way he could feel better about his new existence was to sing, and better yet, help others sing through Puppetry. At first he limited himself to helping John, the young man who now owned his trunk, to sing in the shower, but eventually he wandered about Manhattan and Atlanta, looking for hapless souls to “Inspire”. Suddenly a passerby would be gripped by the need to belt out “Some Enchanted Evening” or “Moon over Miami” even if they didn’t know the words. Lately, Nick has benefited from the most recent change the old Crème has undergone, becoming Joe’s Piano Bar and Grill with Laser Karaoke nights on Wednesday nights. Now Nick can perform regularly again, frequently possessing a particularly good singer and dominating the microphone for the rest of the night. Nature: Fanatic Demeanor: Bon Vivant Cohort: None Passions: To Sing (Nostalgia 4) To somehow make up for his selfishness (Guilt 3) To eat fresh pastries, sweets and junk food (Lust 2), To protect and take care of his sister and her children (Love 1) Fetters: Crème-de-la-Crème Club (the building itself 3) Antique Victrolla (still in working order, miraculously 3) Steamer trunk 3, His sister Lily (last living close relative 3) Shadow: The Parent (his Shadow looks curiously like his Mother when in control) Shadow Passions: Punish Nick for wasting his talents (Guilt 4) Make sure no one else makes the mistakes that Nick did, turning from God (Anger 3), Make any business in the Crème building go out of business (Revenge 3) Image: A bit rotund with boyish good looks and a natural charm make him friendly, approachable and attractive. Roleplaying Tips: Your attention is easily distracted by music or the presence of rich sweets in the Shadowlands. You like to shake hands with other Wraiths, but they don’t seem to be too inclined. You love to sing and are always singing in your mellifluous lounge singer tones. Despite the fact you no longer have a PA system (although you’re always looking for one and a drum machine for accompaniment), you talk as if you always have a microphone in hand. I feel like the “Overbearing Jewish Mother” trope is both cheap and lazy in this situation, and it’s my only real complaint related to this character. -Alan Crompton  Alan was a mercenary during the Civil War and later a bounty hunter, amassing a substantial fortune in life, which ultimately led to his murder. Upon arrival in the Underworld, he tore off his own Caul, then Alan sought out his enemies for revenge, and they all died screaming. Since then, he travels between San Francisco where he was murdered and Atlanta where he was born. He still works as a bounty hunter and often takes others with him when traveling, showing them the safest routes to their destinations, wherever they may be. Naturally there is a price, negotiable but steep. Nature: Rebel Demeanor: Bravo Cohort: Independent Doomslayer Passions: Prove that you’re still the best soldier around (Arrogance 3) Always follow through with a job (Pride 4) Fetters: Musket currently on display at the Atlanta Historical Society 3, House in Decatur 2, Street corner in San Francisco where he died 4 Shadow: The Perfectionist Shadow Passions: Sell as many people into slavery as possible (Hate 4), Embarrass Alan (Glee 3) Image: A sun baked cowboy all the way down to the hat and chaps. Always slightly dusty and carrying two six-shooters slung low on his hips. He almost never smiles, and when he does, people tend to scatter in fear. His grin is feral. Roleplaying Tips: You’re a grim man, seldom smiling and always prepared for the worst. Light taught you how difficult it is to find someone trustworthy, and Death only reinforced those teachings. Despite the bitter belief that few can be trusted, you’re still an honest man and you deal with others fairly. You know better than to expect the same in return. You know the ways around the Underworld and could be convinced to work as a teacher, if the price was right. And that brings us to the conclusion of chapter seven. I like that we have another character that is directly tied to the greater WOD universe with Elain and her grandfather being an Uktena, and Nick Stardust is another one of those characters that just tickles me with how fun he is. Dude just wants to sing and eat treats and now he can sing his little ghost heart out at Karaoke. I’m also amused by Tobias Hillmont, partially because the Victorian gentlemen gimmick he’s got going on for himself, also because he’s another in a series of characters in this book that reveal a very strong anti-war streak running through the writers of this book, and a bitterness at the realization that for as much as we Americans love to scream about supporting OUR TROOPS, we don’t actually give a poo poo about them. Or if we did, we’d support them with a better funded VA system. And free therapy. I’ll step off my soapbox now. I also love Alan. I’m pretty sure he’s the first ghost cowboy to appear in Wraith so that’s neat. And now, for our grand finale.....The Appendix Appendix: Atlanta by Night   We start with a brief introduction informing us that this appendix is for Storytellers and players who wish to play Masquerade alongside their Oblivion chronicle, and that the history, politics and characters detailed are well suited for a Wraith crossover game. We’re also informed that while there are only a few characters detailed in this section, Atlanta has approximately 25-30 Kindred running around, and the ST should feel free to detail them as they see fit. Oh, remember when I mentioned that this book goes into some edgelord bullshit later? Yeah, it’s in this chapter. So *WARNING* there are references to CSA (and I’m not talking about the Confederate States of America) later in this chapter during the description of the character Hannah. Here we go folks, let’s get deep into this Kindred poo poo. History of the Kindred There are stories told by the Gangrel of Kindred who passed through the village of Standing Peachtree before the arrival of European colonists, the current day Camarilla’s records show the first Kindred in the city to be an Irish Ventrue named Patrick O’Shaunessy, a whiskey importer on the run from a bloodhunt in London. He opened the first pubs in the area but met his final death when his haven was burned down after a nasty bar fight that led to several whiskey barrels catching fire. Is this offensive to the Irish? I feel like this might be offensive to the Irish. After this, few Kindred stalked Atlanta until the plantation industry began to take hold, at which point a few brave and powerful Kindred from Boston and New York made the trek down south. While not responsible for the institution of slavery in the south, these Kindred certainly prospered because of it, frequently feeding on the vitae of slaves. Soon enough the Kindred political scene of the entire South was moving towards the old style European feudalist model, with individual Kindred lords ruling over their fiefdoms with absolute power, embracing when necessary and slaking their thirst in the slave quarters, and with a bit of Domination and brute force, many became plantation owners themselves. Because of the unlife of luxury they found themselves in, these Kindred became extremely jealous of other Kindred moving through their domains, especially those that intended to settle in the area. Calling themselves the Southern Lords, they ruled the areas in and around North and South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida and Virginia. When the railroads came to Atlanta, some northern Kindred fled, riding the rails to escape the power of the Northern princes. Unfortunately for them, they soon found themselves in a worse situation with the Southern Lords and some of the weaker Kindred who made the trip were somehow “lost in transit” never to be seen or heard from again. Of these fleeing Northern Kindred, was a genteel Malkavian by the name of Bedelia whose derangements ran deep but under control. Her age was considerable and through her grace and charm and manners, she convinced the Southern Lords that she was no threat to them or their fiefs. She visited each on her trek down from Plymouth, Massachusetts and secured permission to pass through their territories. She settled into Atlanta (still Terminus at the time) with the promise that she would not embrace in the city and that she would pass along any information regarding vagabond Kindred arriving in the city to the Lords. For a time, Bedelia and the Lords were at peace, with some even forging friendships with her, particularly the lord known as Ignatius, a Tremere scholar who had come to the area many years prior and had established himself in a secure planation haven with a library full of books from around the world. Bedelia often travelled in a coffin and hearse from the city to Ignatius estate to for the winters. In 1850, Archons from the northern states were sent south to investigate rumors of Masquerade breaches. Reports had filtered up north that some of the Lords had set themselves up as more than just plantation owners, with strange tales of vampire gods, bizarre blood orgies and haunted plantations. All but one of the Archons disappeared, and the one who returned spoke with great respect and terror for the Southern Lords. Sadly, this Archon had developed several derangements as a result of the experience and was shortly put to the torch. It took the Camarilla another ten years before they finally responded to the situation, sending a ghoul messenger to inform the Lords that a Justicar would be coming to visit and inspect the fiefdoms. The messengers returned, after a fashion, usually in pieces sealed in coffins and shipped up north via train from Atlanta. The first to inspect these boxes were driven to daymares, while others were pushed to the brink of insanity. Sorcery was suspected, and more rumors began to filter up north of devil worship, dark Thaumaturgy and consorting with the spirits of the dead. The Lords had seemingly turned to the dark arts in their isolation. For their part, the Southern Lords believed that the Camarilla of the North had grown power hungry and were intent to take their lands from them. The abolitionist movement was blamed on a ploy by northern Brujah, intent to undermine the Lord’s power by focusing on their source of vitae. It became clear to the Camarilla that nothing short of violent retribution would bring the Lords to heel, and when the Civil War broke out a year later, they seized on the opportunity, sending Archons and the Ventrue Jusiticar (along with Dominated northern soldiers) to bring vengeance down upon the Lords. Panic swept through the Lords nearest Atlanta when the war began, with Ignatius and a Toreador named Taylor from South Carolina both fleeing to Atlanta. Bedelia accepted them with open arms and shared her herd of victims with them, although the two Lords proved to have voracious appetites and soon Bedelia was tracking vagabonds and ruffians for them to feed on. When that proved difficult, she took them to purchase a few slaves each, disposing of the bodies in the Chattahoochee River. The Southern Lords and Northern Camarilla weren’t the only awakened beings to make their way to Atlanta during this time, as a tribe of Garou living in the North Georgia mountains began to raid the city, along with several Sabbat making their presence known. Ignatius was seized with the need to take control of the city and set himself as Prince, despite Bedelia being the self-styled Prince of the city since its inception. While she could see that the city needed a stronger leader, she didn’t want the power-hungry Tremere in charge, and secretly embraced a strong young Confederate colonel named J. Benison Hodge. With his embrace, the curse of his clan bloomed into a sort of noble bravery beyond that of a mortal man, and he was incredibly loyal to his sire. Just as Ignatius completed his plans to take control of the city (prior to Sherman and his armies' arrival) Bedelia presented Benison to the two Lords and informed them that he was her heir apparent to the throne of Atlanta, and as repayment for her hospitality, they were to teach Benison some of their disciplines. Outraged, Ignatius sent word to the other Lords, making clear that he wished to ruin Bedelia and Atlanta for this insult. Calling on the boons of the other Lords, Ignatius plotted Atlanta’s doom. The appointment of General John Hood to command the Confederate forces in Atlanta was Ignatius doing, knowing that Bedelia would never hold power in the city again after the North took over. That his little stunt also brought Justicar Baylor’s wrath down upon the city was simply an unfortunate side effect. Of course, the Southern Kindred had no idea of the force that the Justicar would unleash on the city, utilizing Union troops to search the city for Kindred, destroying the few Sabbat members that were found, then staking both Taylor and his recently embraced childe, they too were put to the torch. Bedelia met the Justicar and begged forgiveness, who informed her that she would be forgiven for her crimes against the Camarilla if she aided the Justicar in locating Ignatius. It took several days to find the Tremere, and the Justicar was about to leave the city to pursue the Tremere when Sherman’s men put the city to the torch. From the flames emerged the remaining Sabbat pack, who attacked the Justicar and his men. Benison distinguished himself by battling through the raging flames to protect both sire and Justicar from the crazed war party. Ignatius seemingly disappeared in the burning city and was never seen or heard from again, even the other Tremere reported after the burning of the city that their Thaumaturgy could not detect the continued existence of the former Lord. Instead of returning North, Justicar Baylor remained in Atlanta, keeping an eye on Bedelia and Benison to ensure their continued loyalty to the Camarilla, and using the husk of the city as a base of operations from which he could continue his pursuit of the other Lords. Unfortunately for the remaining Lords, when Ignatius met his final death, the powerful sorcery that had protected them was gone, and they shortly fell in line. As punishment for their treachery, but not wanting to disrupt the Camarilla’s newly gained hold on the area, the Justicar ordered that each Lord must present their progeny (in some cases, their biological children) to be destroyed, and to allow the Emancipation Proclamation to strike the final coup de grace against the Southern Lords power. Aftermath and Reconstruction With the surrender of the South in April 1865, the Justicar left after embracing a new Archon, a distant cousin of General Johnston named Eleanor Johnston to serve as his representative and to use her influence in Atlanta society to bring the city back to civility quickly as possible. J. Benison was appointed Prince of the city in recognition of prowess in battle, while Bedelia was left with a warning to hold fast to the Traditions and to guide her childe in the correct way of things. Benison immediately secured Atlanta, riding out with teams of well-trained ghoul soldiers (known as Benisons Boys) to fight off the Garou and Sabbat wherever they could be found. Having suffered grievous wounds during the battles, Bedelia was sealed into her crypt hidden under the city by Benison, brokenhearted that her beautiful city had been laid to ruin, a pain she said could only heal with time. Reconstruction was a time of near endless conflict between the new Prince and his Archon “Keeper”. As the population of the city began to grow with the influx of Nothern “Carpetbaggers”, several Kindred made their way to the city as well. An ex-slave Brujah named Thelonius Kirby and a prim Tremere named Hannah arrived, forming a rough coterie in the city. The city was split into feeding wards under Benisons supervision and Eleanors guidance. However, the Prince and Archon still frequently clashed on matters of control. Benison wanted to control commerce and the city directly, while Eleanor sought to govern subtly, pushing or prodding when needed, but generally allowing things to develop naturally. Despite their conflict the two Kindred had great respect for each other, several times nearly being caught by the rays of the sun after a night of debating politics, points of view, and even the more mundane topics such as music. One was never far from the other, quarreling constantly. Benison remarked once that if the Archon had been a man, he’d have called her out for a duel long ago. Then on a warm spring evening, Eleanor and J. Benison announced their impending marriage to the Kindred of Atlanta, to the great shock of the Northern Kindred gathered. Speculation about whether this was something the Archon had forced on the Prince or if the Prince was trying to tame the Archon with the bonds of marriage ran rampant through the community. Supposedly, Benison traveled all the way to Chicago by rail to mee with Baylor to ask his permission to marry Eleanor and was only granted the blessing when the Prince reminded the Justicar of a boon owed for defending the Justicar against the Sabbat. The wedding was held before Christmas, and the Justicar attended, along with several of Benisons mortal family. However, just before the ceremony, Baylor stripped Eleanor of her title of Archon, an act that Benison swears to this day he did not ask for and which Eleanor has never forgiven her sire. The couple made their haven under the Kimball House in town until 1928 when they moved to Rhodes Hall, a castle-like mansion that has remained the hub of Kindred politics and culture since. None of the Kindred of the city were aware that the Prince and his consort’s (or as some said, the Prince and her consort) nights were filled with shadows that moved, sounds that came from nowhere and visions of fire that burned without consuming them. The Prince was found more than once fighting unseen specters with his officer's sword in the halls of the mansion. In secret, the Prince sought the assistance of the Tremere Hannah who offered him protection against the spirits, but to no avail. Soon Benison was reading tomes on the occult borrowed from Hannah or purchased from a Yankee bookseller in Boston. This dismayed Eleanor, who believed in ghosts, but feared that Benison was meddling in matters he shouldn’t. 1929 saw the opening of Hartsfield Airport, and the establishment of Delta Airlines. With air travel now serving the city, Atlanta’s population began to swell again. In 1939, arriving from Hollywood, the Toreador Marlene presented herself to the Prince the night before the premiere of Gone with the Wind. A failed starlet, Marlene still held considerable charm and was soon granted haven in the city, despite the high demand for feeding rights. After the film's premiere, it became clear that Atlanta would not remain a sleepy little city, as the attention of the world was, for a little while at least, focused on Atlanta. 1952 saw Bedelia making a return to the city, surprising Benison by introducing him to many of the cities Restless. Apparently, she’d been able to see ghosts in Atlanta since her arrival and had passed the skill along to her childe. With these newfound allies, the drones were driven Rhodes Hall, silencing the dead that had tormented Benison for so long. With Eleanors skilled administration, Atlanta incorporated areas around the city into its fold, expanding the city from 37 to 118 square miles. The restless of course wanted payment for their services, asking that the Prince extend his protection to certain buildings, and that the Kindred would stay out of Oakland cemetery. He ignored them for a time, not wishing to appear weak before the restless. Then hauntings started up again and Benison folded. Now, the Hierarchy of Atlanta has a Kindred Prince exactly where they want him. Benison grew more and more disquieted in the late 50’s and early 60’s, as Thelonius the Brujah whom the Prince had always had disagreements with, had become a silent part of the civil rights movement. While the Prince had never been a slave owner himself, and did not believe in the practice, the thought of equality for African Americans was, to his mind, unthinkable. Still, Benison enjoyed debating Thelonius, and they two clashed several times over the issue of civil rights, with the Prince going so far as threating final death or exile on occasion when the Brujah refused to listen to his edicts against participating in the affairs of the mortals. In 1961, on the eve of the mayoral election between Ivan Allen Jr (who was against segregation) and Lester Maddox (an avowed racist and segregationist) the Prince challenged Thelonius to a formal duel to resolve the question of segregation in Atlanta. While Benison would have, under other circumstances, defeated the young Brujah with his centuries of fencing training, Thelonius was so driven to defeat the Prince that he bent his entire will to the task. The two battled long into the night, matching hit for hit, until as the first light of dawn began to break over the city, Thelonius struck the Prince through the heart. Grievously wounded the Prince conceded just before the two Kindred could burst into flames. Both were able to meld into the earth just in time. Allen won the election and desegregated Atlanta’s schools, proving that the civil rights movement was beginning to make a very real impact. Thelonius was allowed to pursue his political machinations and eventually took over the city's main newspaper, “The Atlanta Journal-Constitution". The 70’s brought further prosperity to the city, and Eleanor spent a few months traveling, gathering her “Executive Board’ of Venture to invite to live in the city. With her Prince’s favor, Marlene attracted more Toreador, to the chagrin of Thelonius who wanted more Brujah to be allowed into the city, or to allow him the right to embrace. The Giovanni arrived in the city in 1977, attracted by the tremendous transportation facilities and intrigued by the rumors of the city's ghostly shadows, the Giovanni found the city a perfect place to set up a base of power. They were, however initially rejected by the Prince, but after deliberations with Eleanor and her Ventrue board, Guiseppi Giovanni was granted permission to bring his Ardus Enterprises to the city. The economic change this brought to the city was staggering and immediate, as major improvements were made to the city, including the MARTA system, wooing big businesses to the city. Politics in Atlanta Despite his clan, Prince Benison is respected by the Kindred of Atlanta, even those that disagree with him cannot help but feel a sense of awe in his presence. While the Prince does have a habit of speaking to people who aren’t there, most Kindred are wholly unaware of his connection to the Restless of the city. Simply put, they all know that their Prince would be willing to fight a Garou or Sabbat pack should they make their presence known. The Prince provides vibrance and progress to the city, while Eleanor provides sweet southern gentility, practicality and hospitality. The Prince likes to think of the Kindred of Atlanta as “One big happy family” and has, over the years, enforced a policy of requiring all the cities Kindred to meet once a week at the Rhodes Hall for his “Prayer meeting and fellowship”, as the Prince remains a devout Christian in unlife, reading long passages from the bible or scraps of the Book of Nod that he’s been able to acquire. And yet, despite all the outward civility, the Kindred are inwardly scheming, hateful and bitter. Sooner or later, someone will shatter the genteel house of cards that has been carefully constructed over the years, and the Prince’s dreams will come crashing down with it. And to bring this thing to a conclusion, tomorrow we'll cover The Kindred of Atlanta joylessdivision fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Jan 23, 2023 |
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Jan 23, 2023 15:48
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juggalo baby coffin posted:its because while the white wolf audience might include goth kids, it was written by 40 year old men in the shape of a bean
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Jan 23, 2023 16:38
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It only hit me later that Wraith's Jade Empire was basically 'what if yellow peril but dead.' Looking forward to the Kindred write-ups. I think of them are special, in varying ways.
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Jan 23, 2023 16:58
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Dawgstar posted:It only hit me later that Wraith's Jade Empire was basically 'what if yellow peril but dead.' They are an interesting group of Kindred for sure. Whoever wrote up Hannah however needs to be slapped repeatedly for introducing a CSA victim as a Kindred. And just to get this poo poo wrapped up: Necropolis: Atlanta The Kindred of Atlanta -Aunt Bedelia  One of the oldest Kindred in the city, and certainly the oldest surviving vampiric presence in the city. Despite being utterly insane, her madness is quiet and civil. A traditional Southern grande dame, she commands respect from all around her, though she seems more like someone’s grandmother. Embraced in Brighton, England in 1760, she made passage to the new world with her sire and settling in Boston for a time. Eventually after winning her freedom from her sire (“quarrelsome” as she describes) and made her ways South with one of her “Boys”, a Ventrue Ancilla named Herbert. Herbert introduced her to the Southern Lords and helped her gain permission to take residence in Atlanta. Herbet hasn’t been heard from since the Civil War, but in truth, he’d grown too fractious with Bedelia and she put an end to him one night with a pick-axe. Despite her claims of “having no head for politics”, she has guided her childe J. Benison from time to time, though she generally stays out of her childes affairs related to Kindred rule, save for the occasional request that are treated as commands by her childe who knows better than to turn down his Aunt Bedelia. If she wanted, she could easily assume power in the city, but she enjoys playing the powerless old woman too weak from her last Torpor, draped in a lace shawl, and pushed around the halls of Rhodes Hall in a wheelchair by a ghouls servant. Often “dozing off” during conversations she doesn’t like, she is nevertheless afforded a place of respect and honor in the Prince’s home, and wise Kindred always pay their respects to her when visiting, offering to fluff her pillows, bring her vitae, or some fresh marigolds which she loves to smell. She is the elder of the four Harpies of the city, and every Saturday night she plays bridge with Marlene, Hannah and Eleanor, discussing the doings of Kindred in the city. While she rarely speaks of such things, it’s understood that a negative vote cast by Bedelia will be followed by the other three Harpies falling into line. Clan: Malkavian Sire: Alabaster Nature: Caregiver Demeanor: Curmudgeon Generation: 6th Embrace: 1760 Apparent Age: 80’s Derangements: Bedelia’s madness is that of an overprotective caregiver, falling in love with men then suddenly becoming their “mother” figure, trying to rule their lives as a means of “Protecting” them. She only becomes violent when her “boy” doesn’t do ask she asks, then she brutally destroys them. She often speaks of her temper in the third person; “Aunt Bedelia’s got a might bad temper, she does..” She becomes psychopathic when she sees a woman wear white after Labor Day, and a few ladies who have indulged in this social faux pas have been found in the woods with their white shoes made a permanent part of their anatomy. She’s also a hypochondriac, pretending to be crippled when she’s perfectly capable of walking. Generally, she’s completely rational and good-natured. Note: Because Bedelia was already an old woman when she was embraced, she realized that she had spent her final years in fear of death. As a result, she can perceive Wraiths, as the fear of death that clouds most mortals vision does not affect her. Image: An ancient woman with long white hair, and a heart shaped face that once may have been beautiful, age and her embrace were not kind. She prefers long dresses, especially made of wool, as she used to wear in the 1800’s. Roleplaying Tips: Sniff a lot. Don’t ever respond to those around you unless you really feel like it. Call out J. Benison whenever anyone upsets you. Respond positively when people do nice things for you. Pretend to be invalid, “Sleep” a lot, while you’re spying on people by using psychic projection. Just don’t tell anyone that. -J. Benison Hodge, Prince of Atlanta  Born in 1830, Hodge grew up in a hardworking and pious family who owned slaves and operated a cotton plantation in Georgia. Hodge’s father, a survivor of the Revolutionary War, had instilled into his sons numerous “manly” pursuits: hunting, boxing, swordsmanship, pistol shooting and riding. Just prior to the Civil War’s start, Benison moved to Richmond, Virgina to try and find his fortunes, but when the war started, he was one of the first to enlist. Distinguishing himself though acts of fearlessness that bordered on the suicidal, going so far as to charge a line of raised muskets. While Benison did not believe in the owning of slaves, he did believe that sharecropping was an acceptable alternative, and if he’d had his way, the South would have operated under a feudal monarchy model. During the Reconstruction, Benison was in Atlanta where he met Bedelia who immediately saw greatness in him and embraced him. Although he was surprised to be offered the position of Prince and while not entirely in love with the job, he has given himself entirely to the role. While most assume that his talking to people who aren’t there is merely a part of his clan’s curse, he is in fact speaking with Wraiths who have helped keep the Prince informed of the goings on in his domain. Clan: Malkavian Sire: Bedelia Nature: Cavalier Demeanor: Director Generation: 7th Embrace: 1866 Apparent Age: 36 Derangements: Completely unafraid of most everything. Considered a benefit by most, it’s a far more dangerous detriment to him. To date, he’s not suffered any grievous wounds due to his recklessness. The only wavering in his bravery is caused by the ghosts that haunt his daytime nightmares. He also fervently believes that God is personally watching everything he does, and that he must “do the right thing” in God’s eyes. Image: A solid, barrel-chested an with bright green eyes, flowing albeit receding auburn hair, and a full bristling beard touched with grey. His bushy eyebrows and mustache make him look as if he’s stepped out of a Confederate re-enactment. While not exactly handsome, he exudes an easy-going charm that can turn into an awesome military presence in a moment. Roleplaying Tips: Speaking a gentle Southern drawl, be ingratiating, courteous, self-deprecating and civilized, but very clear and firm when giving orders. You act with swift and certain surety when you need to. Occasionally, show a deeper sense of self, a sort of faith that backs up your beliefs and words. To ladies especially, be exceedingly gentlemanly and honorable. From time to time, look off to the side and address people who are not there. Then act as if it never happened. -Eleanor  Embraced by the Justicar Baylor, Eleanor is a powerful Kindred, and a fitting match for the warrior king J. Benison. Like Eleanor of Aquitaine, her namesake, Eleanor knew she would be a prize to anyone strong enough to conquer her indomitable will. When she was embraced, her will and wits were directed to a greater purpose, and suddenly she found herself as a powerful woman in a male dominated world. She’s enjoyed learning to use her powers, flexing her vampiric might and enjoying the ways in which the delicate use of her powers could affect great changes. The only man of equal power to her own was Benison, though as Archon she technically overruled him, he was still a terrifying presence who seemingly did not fear or dread her sire. While she never thought she would marry, when Benison proposed to her, he did so with such guile and business acumen that she could not rationally refuse, it was too perfect a merging of their respective spheres of power. Of course, she hates Baylor for stripping her of her title of Archon, and would not have agreed to the marriage had she known it would have cost her the title. Now, she has a secret love affair with her childe Benjamin, doing all she can to keep the secret from Benison, as she knows the Prince would destroy the childe in a jealous rage if he were to find out. Though she and her Prince feed together often, they have never shared vitae. Perhaps because of her particular taste in prey, Eleanor has always supported the civil rights movement, and her actions behind the scenes are what finally caused Benison to relent to the movement being allowed to flourish in Atlanta. Well that and she manipulated him into challenging Thelonius to a duel. Clan: Ventrue Sire: Baylor Nature: Traditionalist Demeanor: Traditionalist Generation: 7th Embrace: 1864 Apparent Age: 28 Notes: Only feeds on African-American men Image: The classic pale Irish-English beauty with high cheekbones and beautiful green eyes, she resembles a lioness, all strength and intelligence. Her hair streams down her back and nearly brushes the ground when unbound, though rare. Always attired in “Proper Clothes”, usually fashion that was popular in the 1890s, her current favorite period of fashion, she dislikes modern business fashion, especially on women and regularly requests that her subordinates wear a skirt when they come to visit her. Roleplaying Tips: Speak quietly, with a soft, genteel Southern accent. Even when you are angry or upset, use the same tone, just insert steel under the silk. Always look down your nose at everyone. You know you’re beautiful, and if you wish it, Kindred will not be able to resist you. You’re used to being in charge and don’t take any guff from anyone. -Benjamin  Born in Atlanta in 1934, Benjamin Brown was the son of a Sweet Auburn grocer named Graham Brown. Graham wanted more for his son than the life of a grocer and helped pay for Benjamin to attend Morris Brown College in Atlanta. While in college, Benjamin discovered a passion for law and pursued a legal degree from the University of Georgia in the late fifties, overcoming segregation policies to attend law classes. Upon graduation, he opened his own practice on Auburn Street, not far from his father's grocery. Soon he was swamped with the sorts of commercial legal caseload that not only brought great success to his little firm, but also brought him into contact with many of the movers and shakers of the Atlanta business community, both white and black. Benjamin turned these contacts into a considerable stock portfolio of companies originating in Atlanta, as well as beginning to take on business advisory roles for several Atlanta corporations, not only as legal representation but also providing advice based on his keen intellect and sharp wit. During the early days of the Civil Rights movement, Benjamin felt he had to hide his true feelings from his employers, but in time he was unable to keep silent as the outrage built inside. One night after attending a prayer meeting where Dr. King had given a sermon, Benjamin returned to his business contacts the next day and informed them he was terminating his contracts with them. He returned to his small one room office and opened his legal services to the entire civil rights movement. Privately he despaired at what he had lost, watching as his stock portfolio slowly decline. He longed for the thrill of the deal, the power to stand up in a boardroom full of executives and command attention. He turned this brooding to the stacks of the Morris Brown Library, reading anything that struck his interest. This was when he caught the attention of Eleanor Hodge, who had been watching the brilliant young lawyer work through the pitfalls of prejudice throughout his career and was impressed not only with his sharp legal mind but his almost uncanny ability to understand the motivations of others. One night, she cornered him in the library and fed on him. After her hunger had been satiated, she had a conversation with him. Seemingly unalarmed that she was a vampire, Benjamin asked incising questions that cut to the core of what being a Kindred was all about. He grasped it all instantly. When Eleanor attempted to make him forget the conversation, she realized his will was too strong to Dominate. With horror she realized she’d been played, how could a childe of a Justicar be involved in such a breach of the Masquerade? And certainly she couldn’t just make Benjamin disappear, he was an important figure in the community and such an act would almost assuredly draw a great deal of negative attention and rumors of kidnapping or even assassination because of his affiliation with the Civil Rights movement. After repeated failed attempts at Domination or other means of control, Eleanor was left with the only solution, the same solution that Benjamin had suggested to her. She embraced him. Unwilling, and a little afraid to tell Benison about her new childe, Benjamin was sent to Oxford, England to further study law and learn the ways of the Kindred from her sire Baylor. Benjamin returned to his office, informed his contacts that he had taken an opportunity to study law in Oxford and that he would return in a few years to further aid the movement. As an apology, he created the Graham Brown Civil Rights Advocacy Fund based on his stock portfolio. He spent the 70’s learning Oxford law and Kindred politics from his grandsire and returned to Atlanta in the early 80’s. Eleanor presented Benjamin to the Prince claiming he was a friend of Baylor, and that he had been sent from Oxford to study under her guidance. The Oxford accent he’d picked up while overseas helped convince the Prince he was genuine. Not that the Prince would ever doubt his dear Eleanor, and if he did, he certainly wasn’t letting on. Since his return, Benjamin has become a major puppeteer of the Atlanta legal world, controlling several State and Superior judges, as well as the State Supreme Court, the local Circuit and District Federal courts. Some say he has a thread of power going as far as D.C. to the Supreme Court itself. What Eleanor doesn’t realize about her childe is that he’s blossomed into an excellent intriguer, able to renew his old business ties and spreading his roots deep and wide through the south side of the city. He owns corporations through holding companies that even his sire has never heard of. He isn’t necessarily interested in supplanting his sire’s power, more in maintaining and holding his own. Outwardly, he is the culturally refined Oxford gentleman. Inwardly, he dislikes Benison for his insanity and hackneyed Old South mentality and resents Eleanor’s patronizing ways. Someday he may reveal the true depths of his power, but for now he waits. He’s become friends with some of the outcast Nosferatu of the city, accepted enough by them to have been taught Obfuscate. Benjamin continues supporting his Advocacy fund through silent partners and “Generous corporate donations”, and his considerable information network has helped Eleanor block the Giovanni’s attempts at expansion in Atlanta. Clan: Ventrue Sire: Eleanor Nature: Architect Demeanor: Traditionalist Generation: 8th Embrace: 1964 Apparent Age: 24 Notes: Benjamin can only feed on people born in Atlanta Image: Young and highly attractive, his hair is closely cropped, and he wears steel-rimmed glasses, with a preference for Saville Row suits, he frequently has is tailor flown in from London. Roleplaying Tips: Engage people's entire attention when speaking with them. You’re impatient, direct, exact and precise. You don’t like glittering generalities or false promises, so don’t accept them from anyone. “Just the facts ma'am”. When you smile, people feel that you genuinely like them, and that you’re not the fierce lawyer you seem to be most of the time. -Thelonious  The face of a man who is sick of your poo poo. Born Kantabi in the Yoruba lands in Africa, Thelonious was taken as a young boy to America via slave ship by way of Haiti. While aboard the ship he met a soothsayer that foretold that he would have a great destiny, that his life would extend past his death and into another great life. This was all quickly forgotten once subjected to the auction block, and soon Thelonius found himself on a failing farm in Virginia. He was worked mercilessly by the overseers, slaves themselves, and soon developed a hardened body covered with whip and torture scars. When the farm eventually went bankrupt, he was sold to a strange looking albino free man who bought him with money raised by abolitionists and taken to Boston to live. In Boston he was taught to read, to act, how to speak and most importantly, how to think. His freedom was granted to him by the same man who had purchased him, only known as Isaac. As he devoured the great works of literature, he came to realize the oppression that his people labored under, and became active in the abolitionist movement, helping slaves escape North via the Underground Railroad. He became so politically active that he drew the attention of Isaac once more, who brought Thelonius to New York and embraced him into the Brujah clan. Since then, he has sworn “eternal enmity with all forms of tyranny over the minds of humanity” as he puts it. Soon he rose to a prominent position among his clan in New York, but with the ending of the Civil War, he felt the call to the South to try and ensure the rights of his brethren there. Meeting the typical Brujah-Ventrue prejudice on top of the black-white prejudice of the time was nearly impossible for the young Kindred to bear, and it was only the contact of two gleaming Yoruba warriors, ghosts bearing collars of pure ivory that appeared to him in dreams that showed him he was on the right track, offering encouragement and secrets. For a long time, he was the only Brujah in Atlanta and is still the only recognized member of his clan in the city, as the Prince can’t stand them (possibly because Eleanor also despises them) though there are several unrecognized Brujah in the city as well. Thelonius controlls all the print media in the city, including the Journal-Constitution and the alternative weekly, Creative Loafing, occasionally sending messages to his fellow clanmates thorugh mysterious personal ads in Loafing. Recently, he’s been having more dreams about the warriors of his homeland, bearing a warning that he has been unable to decipher. Clan: Brujah Sire: Isaac Nature: Visionary Demeanor: Pedagogue Generation: 8th Embrace: 1859 Apparent Age: 26 Image: Handsome with expressive eyes, he usually wears modern business clothes and on occasion, traditional African dress. His hair is short and neat, and he wears glasses. Roleplaying Tips: Very much a soft-spoken Brujah, he rarely raises his voice. Doesn’t generally resort to violence as he is a proponent of non-violence, he does know how to defend himself when necessary. Incredibly well educated, but in social situations he does not reveal the depths of his understanding, seeking to draw people out and discover what they think of him. When playing Thelonius, remember he is very patient and tolerant, until his limit is reached, at which point he becomes a very angry frenzied vampire. -Marlene  Gertie was a two-bit starlet who usually had to visit the casting couch to get a part. A triple threat: couldn’t sing, couldn’t dance and couldn’t act well, there was nothing left to sell but her body. Gertie wanted to be in the movies so badly she decided she’d do whatever it took to get there, even changing her name to Marlene. She caught the attention of a powerful Kindred named Irving who promised her eternal life and complete stardom, she would be his “Beautiful new discovery”, but Irving quickly grew tired of Marlene’s nasal voice and lack of understanding of anything artistic made her repulsive to him. Typical loving Toreador. He made half-hearted attempts to destroy his childe by giving her name and address to a few different vampire hunters. When she fled, she decided to use her industry contacts to get on a plane and made her way out to Atlanta for the premiere of Gone with the Wind. Lucky for her, the Prince accepted her and allowed her to stay in Atlanta. In time she discovered how potent her powers were, and permanently settled in the city, despite all hunting grounds being claimed. The Prince offered her his private stocks and took personal responsibility for her presence in the city. In grand Hollywood tradition, Marlene is a flake, in love with strange California fads and holding seances for herself and friends, becoming quite good at “mediumship” as she calls it. Supposedly she can call spirits to her and ask them questions. The Restless are greatly amused by her antics, and while none have made their presence known to her, they do keep an eye on Marlene and her friends from the other side of the Shroud. She’s always disappointed when nothing strange happens during a session, while the observing Wraiths get a good laugh at the would-be Shirley Maclaine making a fool of herself. She fancies herself a sculptor, taking large pieces of castoff scrap metal and stringing them together into giant art pieces. Her latest work, entitled “Benison’s Ride” dedicated to the Prince’s cleanup of Atlanta hangs in the Prince’s study. The other Kindred of the city have learned (on pain of the Prince’s disapproval) to nod and smile, even if they don’t like the sculpture. Because her “Naughty” beginnings as a starlet, Marene felt immediately drawn to Atlanta’s sex industry, moving in and taking a cut from every pornographer, prostitute, pimp and stripper while in turn providing legal protection to many of the clubs in the city. Chesire Bridge Road is her seat of power, and she has been able to control many of the sex shows, strip clubs and lingerie model places with her Presence alone. Recently she’s become very rich from these strip clubs and is always looking to expand. Clan: Toreador Sire: Irving Nature: Conniver Demeanor: Bravo Generation: 9th Embrace: 1936 Apparent Age: 26 Image: Marlene is pretty, but not beautiful. Though she insists that she is beautiful, she does not actually believe this and her appearance suffers because of this. She especially doesn’t like her largish nose and sometimes squints around it. Never seen in the same outfit twice, as if subconsciously drawing attention away from her nose. Roleplaying Tips: You’re vapid, two-dimensional and extremely catty. Or at least that’s the role you play. You know what people think of you and you don’t really care. You’ve gotten this far on your looks, smarts and guts, and you’re not going to let anyone take that from you. You’re friendly with everyone while speaking to them, but behind their backs, you’re breaking out the knives. -Hannah  *Warning: The following character description includes references to CSA (child sexual abuse)* Grey-eyed, all-knowing Hannah, almost puritanical in her dress and actions, she is nonetheless a powerful Thaumaturgist. Winning her position as head of the Chantry through loyal service to the clan and with continued distinguished service to Vienna. Still, she’s no great schemer and she understands this. Preferring to study magic in her mansion on Ponce de Leon Avenue and only involving herself with Kindred politics when necessary. While this has worked against her in the past, the Tremere need a steady hand and unwavering loyalty in Atlanta more than ever if their secret project is to succeed. No-nonsense and a well-known disciplinarian, often the more “problematic” Tremere are sent to her for refresher training in the proper etiquette of the Kindred and of Clan Tremere. One of her recent students is a Tremere Ancilla named Emaleth, embraced at 8 years old by a vile Tremere Antribu pornographer in Miami who forced the girl to perform for him. Her Child Nature conflicts with her Conniver Demeanor as she tries to be an “Adult” vampire while forever trapped in the body of a child. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat the absolute gently caress. Yes yes, horror game, yes yes dark and gritty blah blah blah, but Jesus Christ, did we really need to introduce a vampire child victim of CSA? We were doing so well with this book, and then you gotta swing in with what is quite possibly the most disgusting and tasteless thing in a book that heavily deals with Southern racism. Marlene is a bit gross too, mostly because of the somewhat cruel tone the book takes with her, but Emaleth might legitimately be the most disgusting thing I’ve encountered in one of these books yet. Anyway, Hannah wants to learn Spirit Thaum, but the Council of Seven keeps denying her. She’s picked up enough information through her own research to gain the first rank in the path but is unable to advance. She senses the mass of Restless that exists in the shadows of the city and wishes to learn how to bind and send them on journeys and tasks. She knows there’s something brewing with the Tremere of Atlanta but can’t get any of her contacts to fess up. Hannah maintains a strict regimen, and expects the same of her young charge Emaleth, rising immediately after sunset and working until just before sunrise copying ancient tomes, setting up lab experiments and sharpening her skills and Disciplines. Clan: Tremere Sire: Abigail Nature: Conformist Demeanor: Traditionalist Generation: 7th Embrace: 1705 Apparent Age: 42 Image: A sever woman with a tightly wrapped bun atop her head, piercing eyes and a stern demeanor, she dresses in plain black dresses all the time. Roleplaying Tips: Play Hannah as the quiet, but powerful schoolmistress, cultivating a sort of dragon lady aura about her. Speak only when spoken to, always sit up straight and never for a minute flinch about giving a command. You are to be obeyed without question, or if there are questions, it should be asked and done with very quickly. I just......god drat it. It’s not even that I’m against the idea of a child Kindred, it’s an idea that could be done well, hell look at Claudia in Interview with the Vampire, that’s an effective and classy way to handle introducing a child vampire into things, but Emaleth is just....why? WHY!? WHO THE gently caress THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA?! -Lorenzo Giovanni  Arriving from the Vatican three years ago, Lorenzo is not a kindred, only a ghoul of the Giovanni. You could say he’s a gabba-ghoul? I’m sorry I’ll see myself out. Despite being just a ghoul, he is powerful and may one day be embraced into the family. By day he’s an investment banker in Atlanta, helping further the profits of the Giovanni’s corporations, and by night he is turned loose, wandering the back streets and cemeteries of Atlanta (particularly Oakland cemetery) looking for spirits to capture and potentially enslave. Secretly, no one knows what Lorenzo’s true purpose in the city is, to find a book called the Black Thorn Codex, a book of numerous Spirit Thaumaturgy rituals that involve the Restless, as well as long and detailed accounts of how to acquire and develop the Necromancy Discipline. However, the codex was stolen hundreds of years ago by the Tremere (it’s always the loving Tremere), and the Giovanni have traced the book to Atlanta. Unfortunately for Lorenzo, he’s been unable to locate the book, and the spirits he’s contacted have either been Drones, Shades or Hierarchy Wraiths who won’t willing help him or simply don’t know anything about the book. The Giovanni clan has considerable business operations in the city as well, and Lorenzo has presented himself to the Prince, allowed 6 months on the pretense of looking after “Family Business”, and because of Eleanors distrust of the clan, if he hasn’t resolved his quest by the time the six months are up, he’s getting the boot. Lorenzo is also a loving creep with a taste for Necrophilia, especially where the Kindred are concerned, and while there are rumors that he and Marlene have shared an evening of pleasure together, he has, in fact has not spent much time with the Kindred of the city at all. Clan: Giovanni Host: Annika Giovanni (6th Gen) Nature: Deviant Demeanor: Gallant Ghouled: 1176 Apparent Age: 28 Note: Lorenzo can call upon the might of the Giovanni clan at need, though he must not do so for trivial reasons. He receives his supply of blood every month, and dutifully drinks all that is sent. He’s worked too long and hard to develop his Disciplines to lose them now. He also has a ghoul bodyguard named Alonzo. Story Concepts for Cross-over Games Because this appendix was written with the explicit intent for interactions with Oblivion games, the following are some suggested story ideas that involve both the Kindred and the Restless characters. Chronicle Concept: Lorenzo’s Toil/Ingatius’ Trove When Ignatius met his final death during the burning of Atlanta, he left behind a vault full of tomes on Thuamaturgy and magic, as well as his laboratory. While this vault has been buried by rubble and built over, Wraith’s who know what they’re looking for can easily access the vault by discorporating. Surprisingly, when Ignatius died, he became a Wraith, and soon found himself at one his principal fetters, a vial of his blood located in the Vienna Chantry. When another Tremere noticed him, thinking the spirit was attempting to attack the Chantry, Ignatius was captured and locked away in a spirit bottle, languishing within the prison for nearly a century and only recently being released. Wraith players could be drawn into this conflict in two ways: As loyal friends of the Prince, they could fight Ignatius and attempt to thwart his plans, or as servants of Lorenzo who seeks the Thorns Codex, they might encounter Ignatius. Kindred and Restless from all areas of their respective societies may be drawn into the conflict, especially if the vault becomes accessible through the destruction of the building built over it, which could potentially be the fetter of another Wraith. -Ignatius the Ur-Kindred  Once the most powerful Kindred in Georgia, with his death in Atlanta, his plans for glory and domination were ended. Now he’s forced to watch as his rival Benison controls the city as Prince, a title that rightfully belongs to Ignatius. He hates Bedelia and Benison for their collaboration against him, and so filled with darkness he’s unaware that his own machinations were what led to the fall of Atlanta in the first place. Because the Tremere are dumb assholes. Once released from his prison, his captor demanded to know who the previously captured spirit was in life. Shocked when the truth was revealed, the Kindred in charge of cataloguing the captured spirits in the Chantry called an impromptu meeting of the Council of Seven. Ignatius for his part took to hanging around the Shadowlands near the Chantry, learning about his Arcanos and assisting his former clanmates with their experiments. With Lorenzo’s arrival in Atlanta, Hannah dutifully reported the news to the Vienna Chantry, which drove Ignatius mad with the need to “Stop the Giovanni” as he put it. The Black Thorn Codex that Lorenzo is searching for is also one of Ignatius fetters, and it was he who stole the tome originally from the Giovanni. If the Giovanni were looking in Atlanta, it was likely they had discovered the connection to Ignatius, and it wouldn’t be long until they put two and two together as to where the book was located. Ignatius returned to Atlanta and has been gathering the aid of wastrel wraiths with particularly strong Shadows that would be willing to assist him in his quest. Now, with his band of near-doppelgangers at his side, he seeks to remove Lorenzo from the equation and recover the tomes for his clan. As a Restless, Ignatius is driven by his passions to destroy those he blames for his own destruction. Former Clan: Tremere Former Sire: Cornelius Nature: Traditionalist Demeanor: Traditionalist Former Generation: 5th Embrace: 1276 Apparent Age: 28 Passions: Recover his lost lore (Envy 3), Gain vengeance on J. Benison, Bedelia and Eleanor (Revenge 5), Consume more knowledge, learn more about magic (Lust for Power 3), Listen to Violin music (Love 1) Fetters: Black Thorn Codex 2, Underground Atlanta 1, Vial of blood in Vienna 2 Shadow Archetype: Freak (The Outcast) - Ignatius’ Shadow is so ancient that it’s paradigm doesn’t fit the modern age. The Outcast is like the Freak, except it demands Ignatius keep his business secret and requires him to never fully cooperate with others. Other Story Ideas Wraith players might be tasked with helping to clear the Prince’s home of Spectres, or perhaps are “Summoned” by one of Marlene’s seances, or attracting the attention of young Emaleth who is trying to establish her own niche within the Tremere. Kindred players could be involved with many Wraith stories as part of Marlene’s seances, Bedelia’s madness, Benisons nightmares, Elenors fears or Hannah’s curiosity. And that brings us to the conclusion of the appendix. I don’t hate most of this chapter, but Emaleth is just....utterly infuriating. Again, I’m not against the idea of introducing child Kindred into the world but this one veers so far off the rails that I honestly can’t believe it made it through editing without anyone saying “Hey this is a loving terrible idea”. To wrap up the book proper we get a page of errata for the corebook, most are minor corrections, such as the addition of two credits: Written by: Jackie Cassada Design and Development Contributors: Ray Winniniger The rest of the errata is corrections to the (Page XX) mistakes and such, although there are two more bits of errata that are of interest. Pg.171 Usury – Wraiths can only soak agg damage through the Moliate art “Martialry” Relics and Artifacts Basically, the writers didn’t feel it fair to make characters pay background points for objects they would have on them at the time of their death, and while this may include weapons if appropriate to the character, any complex machinery still requires Pathos to use. Malkavians and Wraiths If the nature of a Malkavian’s madness is such that they would be able to see Wraiths when they were human, then they are able to see them. On the other hand, a Malkavian who believes themselves to be Dan Quayle (which ooof, that’s gotta be a rough derangement lol) or is a compulsive shopper, would not be able to see Wraiths. Our final pages are an ad for two upcoming Wraith titles, Midnight Express and Haunts, an ad for White Wolf Magazine, an ad for White Wolf Merch (along with what I assume is a long dead 1-800 number) and an ad for White Wolf published novels, including Elric: Tales of the White Wolf, Dark Destiny: The World of Darkness, Death and Damnation and Borderlands 1. Thus concludes our look at Necropolis: Atlanta. I really enjoyed this book, other than the stuff that I explicitly called out as problematic or bad throughout the review. I’m genuinely disappointed by the inclusion of the Emaleth stuff because it’s just so disgusting and leaves a hideous black mark on what is otherwise and incredibly well written book that admirably handles the subject of Southern racism with a degree of grace that I frankly wasn’t sure White Wolf was capable of. As the saying goes, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” and I admit that while I went into this book with a very real trepidation at what I was about to get myself into, I was impressed by the content presented. It’s not a perfect book by any stretch of the imagination, but it carries the tone and dark humor of the corebook forward and does an excellent job of further building out the world of Wraith and the greater World of Darkness. In closing, I enjoyed this book, and despite its missteps and one giant leap into the abyss of “poo poo you shouldn’t put into a god drat role playing game” I maintain my feeling that Wraith: the Oblivion is the best of the World of Darkness games I’ve read so far, and with the exception of the appendix, I would put this book just below Rite of Passage as one of my favorite supplements I’ve read so far. Thank you all again for taking the time to read this review, and thank you again for your patience while I took my hiatus. Next time, we dive back into the land of corebooks with Changeling: the Dreaming 1st Edition. joylessdivision fucked around with this message at 17:43 on Jan 23, 2023 |
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Jan 23, 2023 17:13
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joylessdivision posted:Thank you all again for taking the time to read this review, and thank you again for your patience while I took my hiatus. Next time, we dive back into the land of corebooks with Changeling: the Dreaming 1st Edition. That'll be fun!* Changeling 1E was the first place I ever heard about Emperor Norton so that's cool at least. I had completely forgotten about the CSA stuff, possibly out of a self-defense mechanism but that is probably something you should brace yourself for going forth. The one 'edgy' background of the NPCs. Pointless tidbits: Most of the Kindred described here - maybe all - will be killed during the Sabbat's Crusade up and down the eastern US seaboard in the late 90s. The battle where Benison and the rest are killed is described in the first Vampire Clan Novel, Toreador. It is written by White Wolf co-founder Stewart Wieck himself and is a dreadful read. Said novel does introduce Victoria Ash who is now something of a fixture among the WoD. I was also surprised to read mention of the Southern Lords, which are brought back as a plot hook in the excellent Beckett's Jyhad Diary. The Lords were like half a dozen, maybe a little more, Kindred who were big fans of chattel slavery as a concept and method of feeding and came to America when they learned the 'peculiar institution' was a going thing. They all went into torpor about the time Bedelia's sire vanished and are 'now' (whenever BJD takes place) maybe starting to wake up. They were all pretty old when they crossed over so two centuries later when they wake up and want to reestablish their dominion it could be Bad News Bears. *For varying values of 'fun' up to and including 'watch JD suffer.'
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Jan 23, 2023 21:19
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Dawgstar posted:It only hit me later that Wraith's Jade Empire was basically 'what if yellow peril but dead.' I remember it mostly as Grabowski really hating Qin Shi Huang Di.
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Jan 24, 2023 04:24
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I've been traveling on vacation for most of the last two weeks. While I do plan to get back to the last two parts of Rise of the Runelords, the start of my vacation coincided with the news on the OGL, so I've been soaking in RPG news. Having learned that WotC is an evil company that wants money, I think the only proper response is to pivot away from D&D to
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Jan 24, 2023 04:45
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 Pathfinder Core Rulebook, Second Edition, part one In the beginning, c. 1974, Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax make Dungeons & Dragons, then set out to prove gamers are bad at business, which they succeed at with a lot of help. TSR gets bought out, new owner sets out to prove business people are bad at the games business, and again succeeds. TSR, on the verge of bankruptcy, gets bought by a card-game company. In the year 2000, Wizards of the Coast releases Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition. Alongside it, they release the Open Gaming License, which lets anyone take their rules and release compatible materials. There are a lot of reasons for this. One reason is there's now multiclass business/gamer folk running things, and they've realized that things like splatbooks and adventures, while good for the audience and good for the game, aren't really worth it at the scale WotC is operating. If every Joe and Jane Dungeon Master can write and sell adventures, then there are a lot of adventures for people to play, and all those people will need to buy the D&D rules from WotC to play the adventures. Another reason is good will. TSR had a habit of sending out cease & desist letters, and threatening (or actually carrying out) lawsuits against anyone who seemed to be infringing on their game (one nickname for the company was They Sue Regularly). With the OGL, they signaled, "go ahead and make stuff compatible with our game, it's all good!" And with the rules open, the fortunes of one company could not totally sink D&D (if WotC hadn't bought out TSR and its assets were divided among creditors, what happens if the trademark for Players Handbook goes to creditor 1, and the trademark for the Dungeon Master's Guide goes to creditor 2?) The OGL, D&D3E, and the d20 system are embraced, and a fuckton of supplements comes out of varying quality. WotC tweaks some things and re-releases the game as D&D 3.5, which along with the glut in the market, wipes out some of the 3rd party landscape. Alongside this, WotC decides that, again, at the scale it operates, the magazines Dragon and Dungeon aren't very profitable. Some of the magazine staff spin off into a new company, Paizo, which licenses the magazines starting in 2002. 2007, WotC chooses not the renew the contract, taking the magazines back in house. With a lot of RPG talent and an existing distribution network, Paizo switches to making adventures, both stand-alone and adventure paths combining a monthly adventure with supporting articles. These monthly adventures are published under the title, "Pathfinder", with the first being Rise of the Runelords. In 2008, WotC releases the 4th edition of the D&D game. This edition is not released under the OGL, but instead the Game Systems License, which is more restrictive, including preventing a company that signs on from producing OGL material. Paizo decides not to sign on, as I recall citing factors such as the long delay in releasing the GSL, and that they felt they couldn't tell the stories they wanted to tell (no room for incestuous cannibal ogres). They can continue producing material for D&D 3.x, but, how profitable is it to make adventures for a dead edition? Enter the Pathfinder RPG, released in 2009. It's been called D&D 3.75, and even that might be generous. It's a tweaked version of the 3.5 ruleset, but the 3.5 ruleset from 2003, without the years of supplements. It provides a lot of gamers an alternative to switching to the new edition and brings about a lot of nasty edition warring. It's a big hit, even rivaling D&D for sales for a time (I'll toss in the caveats, as I understand them, D&D 4E was successful, would have been insanely successful for anyone not Hasbro-owned WotC, but wasn't hitting the sales numbers Hasbro required. When Paizo held the top sale spots, I think that was in the period WotC wasn't publishing anything new as they prepared to switch to a new edition). Pathfinder has a lot of loyal fans, and they put out a lot of material. Looking at wikipeida, over 9 years it's 28 rule books, 24 adventure paths (each a 6 part adventure of 96 pages), stand-alone adventures, campaign source books, player companion books... if you want to throw a lot of money at RPGs, you could do that here. But, all things must end. And with and end, there are new beginnings.  Released in 2019, this is the focus of this F&F review. But before that, who am I, and why am I doing this? I've been playing RPGs for over 30 years, the bulk of that has been with D&D, starting with AD&D and working through the editions, and spending some time in Pathfinder 1st edition. At the time of this writing, WotC has stated their intention to change the OGL, which has a lot of the D&D community/diaspora in an uproar. A lot of D&D gamers are wanting to jump ship, and Pathfinder seems like the obvious alternative. Me? I'm less concerned. My main game right now is a 4E game that's going to continue unless WotC starts scanning my computer. I do have a monthly 5E game that meets bi-monthly though, and maybe I want to find something different than that. For me who likes tactical monster killing, Pathfinder has potential (a lot more than one person I saw recommending D&D players switch to Kids on Bikes or Monster Hearts). I did get a little taste of this Pathfinder edition in the playtest, wasn't too impressed, but it was one session, maybe early in the process. I've also heard that this edition both moved much further away from the 3.5 ruleset and is more like 4E. I'm dubious, as it always seemed their fanbase would crucify anyone saying anything positive of 4E. Things I know about these rules, you roll a d20, and everyone gets three actions. Beyond that, I'm heading in blind. Looking at the cover, it's Wayne Reynolds, responsible for the main art of the iconics (Pathfinder's representative of each class, who show up over and over in Pathfinder art). The style looks different, I'm not sure I would have identified it as Wayne without his initials there. Authors are Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Stephen Radney-Macfarland, and Mark Seifter. I don't recognize Seifter. Bulmahn has been with Paizo a long time and was lead designer on the first edition rules. Bonner and Radney-Macfarland have bounced around, both put in a lot of design time with WotC in the 4E period. That's encouraging. Pathfinder is hip and eschewed D&D's 3 book structure. Nope, we're slimming down, there's a monster book (which I have no intention of covering) and the core rules, combining player and gamemaster info in one place, one convenient... 640 page volume. Look, D&D 3 book structure is outdated, unnecessary. But it does mean that each player can have their own book, not too expensive, not too heavy. I'm curious how many copies of the core rules a typical Pathfinder group has. I also think I'm going to have some impressive guns at the end of this review from lifting this slab over and over. Inside, we have eleven chapters, so expect at least 11 parts to this review: Introduction; Ancestries & Backgrounds; Classes; Skills; Feats; Equipment; Spells; The Age of Lost Omens; Playing the Game; Game Mastering; Crafting & Treasure. That's followed by a Conditions Appendix, a Character Sheet (4 pages), and a Glossary and Index. Introduction According to the table of contents, we'll learn the basics of roleplaying games, get an overview of the rules and see and example of play. Also, rules on how to build a character and how to level up. If you're reading this, you probably know what an RPG and dice are, there are no revelations here. We get The First Rule, which is that this game is yours, if any of the rules get in the way of your fun, you can change them (if your group agrees). Levels go from 1 to 20, advancing with every 1000 xp earned. First level characters may fight giant rats or bandits, while a 20th level character might "bring ruin to an entire city with a single spell." I'll try to remember to check for that when we get to spells. Ability scores are still D&D standard six, with most scores ranging from 3-18. It's been 20 years since the ability score has done much of anything besides finding a modifier number, but we dare not change that. A character will also be defined by their ancestry (credit where credit is due, good on Pathfinder abandoning "race"), their background, and their class. They'll also have feats, which are divided up by type (so there are elf feats and wizard feats) and skills. The core mechanic is still the d20+modifiers to beat a target number (here, difficulty class, DC). Adding some new wrinkles, succeeding by 10+ makes a critical success, while failing by 10+ makes a critical failure or fumble (nat 20 and 1 are also criticals). Seems like critical success and failure will happen more often. It looks like instead of 3.x's skill ranks, here you'll have levels of proficiency. At untrained, you'll roll just the appropriate ability modifier. You can be trained, expert, master, and legendary, with each level adding 2 to your modifier, along with your level if you have any training. Encounters stick to D&D 6 second round. On your turn, you can take three actions, with most things you want to do, like drawing a weapon, opening a door, or swinging a sword, taking one action. You can also take free actions, like dropping something, and get a reaction each round. You can use all three actions to attack, but you'll take a -5 on the second attack, -10 on the third (so D&D's iterative attack structure, just not level-locked). Critical successes do double damage, and with those happening on rolls of 10 over the target, low AC versus a skilled attacker could get very ugly very fast. There are two pages of key terms, a lot of which are familiar to D&D players. One thing that stands out is currency, it's the same decimal base that D&D has had for 20 years, but a character will start with 15 gp (or 150 silver pieces). This seems very low for D&D, but maybe Pathfinder has switched to the silver standard. There's also the concept of Rarity, mostly for equipment and magic items, but also spells, feats, and other rule elements. If no rarity is mentioned, it's common, readily available. Uncommon rarity is for those of certain cultures, birthplaces, or with special training At rare, something is impossible to find and only given out by the GM, while unique are one-of-a-kind. I'm very curious how this works out. Two pages for the example of play, a fight with a ghast. Some things of note here: we get an example of casting Bless as taking two actions (with a note that is has somatic and verbal components; I don't know if the number of actions is based on the number of components, or if it's coincidental). The ghast is able to make a second attack at -4 instead of -5 because its claws have the agile trait. Due to a feat, the fighter can make a Sudden Charge, using two action to move twice his speed and make an attack. After that, we start getting deeper into the rules, but I'll save that for the next post.
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Jan 24, 2023 10:43
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joylessdivision posted:They are an interesting group of Kindred for sure. Whoever wrote up Hannah however needs to be slapped repeatedly for introducing a CSA victim as a Kindred. Beyond the whole "it's really gross" my thing with the CSA bit is that it seems to be pointless as well. Suppose the PCs learn this. What are they going to do with it aside from "Wow, Emaleth. That really sucks for you. We're so sorry that happened?" I mean, if you're going to put that poo poo into your book, include some kind of PC hook for it. Like, Emaleth's sire is in Atlanta with his Sabbat pack laying the groundwork for a Sabbat attack while the sire tries to get Emaleth back. You know, set it up so the PCs can intervene in that and dust his evil rear end. Or, y'know, just don't put that poo poo in your book in the first place.
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Jan 24, 2023 16:18
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Everyone posted:Beyond the whole "it's really gross" my thing with the CSA bit is that it seems to be pointless as well. Suppose the PCs learn this. What are they going to do with it aside from "Wow, Emaleth. That really sucks for you. We're so sorry that happened?" I mean, if you're going to put that poo poo into your book, include some kind of PC hook for it. Like, Emaleth's sire is in Atlanta with his Sabbat pack laying the groundwork for a Sabbat attack while the sire tries to get Emaleth back. You know, set it up so the PCs can intervene in that and dust his evil rear end. Or, y'know, just don't put that poo poo in your book in the first place. You make an excellent point. My initial reaction was just that of disgust and confusion, and I didn't even think about it further than that. Adding plot hooks wouldn't really have fixed the core issue with the character (that its loving gross as hell) but it would have at least added the barest of excuses for its inclusion in the book beyond "Hey, Claudia was a cool character in Interview how do we do something like that but make it sufficiently World of Darkness" ignoring that the horror of Claudia is that she's essentially an adult trapped in a child's body for eternity, and just the inherent nature of Vampires in the WoD is horrible enough to drop onto a child character as is. Instead they went speeding over the cliff of edgelord bullshit for.....no real reason or gain other than "Hey everybody, there's a kid vampire in Atlanta who was turned by a Sabbat member, isn't that hosed up?" which I honestly forgot entirely that Antitrbu were the Sabbat side of things, and frankly makes her horrible backstory make more sense but doesn't justify it being gross as gently caress and not belonging in a god drat Wraith book, even if it was in the Vampire appendix. Now I'm realizing that once I start getting into reviewing the Sabbat books, I'm likely to encounter more of this gross edgelord poo poo and I'm going to hate it. But at least those are off in the future of this project, so that's a problem for future me to deal with.
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Jan 24, 2023 17:38
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NPCs like this are terrible enough. It gets even more disgusting when WoD books start actually suggesting that you play a child molester.
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Jan 24, 2023 18:15
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