Voyage of the Empress OOC *CLOSED*

[Scrasamax]

Listen, you hear that? That sound of fetid waters lapping at desolate shores. Do you hear the groan of cyclopean cities left forgotten beneath alien stars while madmen laugh and wise men close their eyes and take the poisoned pill? Can you hear the Call of Cthulu?

The Voyage of the Empress is an RP for horror gamers, I will lay out a basic character info sheet to fill out and I will be rolling dice at home for this.

Name:
Player:
Appearance: visual description, include style of clothing, mannerisms, the like.
Occupation: what you do for a living and general level of income

Attributes (1 to 5, with 1 being poor and 5 being human best)

18 points to spend
Strength
Dexterity
Stamina
Charisma
Manipulation
Appearance
Perception
Intelligence
Wits

Abilities
Again, scores are the same as for attributes, 1-5.
27 points

Alertness             
athletics
brawl
dodge
empathy
expression
intimidation
leadership
streetwise
subterfuge

Animal Ken
Crafts
etiquette
firearms
melee
performance
ride
security
stealth
survival

Academics
enigmas
finance
investigation
law
linguistics
medicine
occult
politics
science

Advantages
Virtues

7 points 1-5
Conscience
Self Control
Courage

Willpower is equal to Conscience + Self Control
Sanity is equal to Self Control + courage


Dont miss the boat (will detail later)

[Ancient Gamer]

I am in. I am going to make a character this weekend. Yohoooo!
Quick question: Do the attributes start at 1 or 0? If they start at 0 we have to use 10 points out of 18 just to get them up to 1...

[Scrasamax]

Attributes start with one dot automatically, forgot to mention that.

To those familiar with the system, I am basically using the White Wolf character sheet for this game, and each point of an ability equates to another D10 being added to the action roll.

[Ancient Gamer]

In work...
Name: Charles Edward Dainty Wainwright Jr. ("Ed" is what he is called by the other crewmates on the ship).
Player: Ancient Gamer
Appearance: <PLACEHOLDER> visual description, include style of clothing, mannerisms, the like.
Occupation: Crewman, former student of law and medicine (In the late 19th century and early 20th century people often had several fields of expertise). His family was powerful and wealthy, but went bankrupt. No cash whatsoever beyond his ultra low salary.

Attributes (1 to 5, with 1 being poor and 5 being human best)

18 points to spend
Strength 3
Dexterity 2
Stamina 5
Charisma 4
Manipulation 1
Appearance 3
Perception 2
Intelligence 4
Wits 4

Abilities
Again, scores are the same as for attributes, 1-5.
27 points

Alertness 1           
athletics 3
brawl 1
dodge 1
empathy 1
expression 1
intimidation 1
leadership 1
streetwise 2
subterfuge 1

Animal Ken 3
Crafts 3 - Sailor / Crewmember
etiquette 4
firearms 3
melee 1
performance 1
ride 4
security 1
stealth 3
survival 1

Academics 4
enigmas 1
finance 1
investigation 1
law 4
linguistics 1
medicine 4
occult 1
politics 3
science 2

Advantages -?
Virtues -?

7 points 1-5
Conscience 3
Self Control 4 - Yeah, I know it would be tactically wise to put this at 5 :p
Courage 3

Willpower 7/7
Sanity 5/7

[Murometz]

Name: (Depends on the week) Originally Sam "Pinky" Pinkerton
Player: Muro
Appearance: coming by sunday night
Occupation: (Depends on the week) Basically con man...jack-of-all trades. Finances differ day-to-day. At the present time, broke. Had to "borrow" $ for a ticket on the Empress from a down-and-out banker he met and chatted up at a bar (Manfred)
Attributes (1 to 5, with 1 being poor and 5 being human best)

18 points to spend
Strength 2
Dexterity 3
Stamina 1
Charisma 4
Manipulation 5
Appearance 3
Perception 4
Intelligence 2
Wits 4

Abilities
Again, scores are the same as for attributes, 1-5.
27 points

Alertness 3           
athletics 2
brawl 1
dodge 3
empathy 1
expression 1
intimidation 1
leadership 1
streetwise 5
subterfuge 2

Animal Ken 2
Crafts 1 - Sailor / Crewmember
etiquette 3
firearms 1
melee 1
performance 1
ride 1
security 1
stealth 5
survival 4

Academics 1
enigmas 2
finance 1
investigation 3
law 1
linguistics 2
medicine 2
occult 3
politics 2
science 1

Advantages -?
Virtues -?

7 points 1-5
Conscience 3
Self Control 4
Courage 3

Willpower is equal to Conscience + Self Control
Sanity is equal to Self Control + courage

[Scrasamax]

in the Abilities section, if you dont want to spend points on ability, you are not required to. Just thought I would mention that. 

[Murometz]

After all that math??!!

Oh and Manfred, jump in will ya? Your character has already financed Pinky's cruise

[Ancient Gamer]

in the Abilities section, if you dont want to spend points on ability, you are not required to. Just thought I would mention that. 

Are there any reasons we should NOT spend the points?

[manfred]

Name: Frederic G. Brandford (People end up calling him Fred, he learned to live with it. Keeps his middle name 'Gershwin' private. Prefers 'Mr. Brandford'.)

Player: manfred
Appearance and mannerisms: his clothes still look relatively good, and their quality can handle some tear, but he is slowly, unavoidably descending the social ladder... a possibility that secretly horrifies him. However, he is young and has talent to be a banker, so he feels to deserve a second chance in the Old World. The voyage is a necessary evil he must suffer through - as that new companion (Muro's character) that sticks to him now. Sworn to not drink alcohol during the voyage. Writes himself a diary, but throws out most entries after written as he is unsatisfied. (Another former wannabee-writer.)

Occupation: Used to be a banker, now unemployed. Financial reserves come from a quick sale of his property, and did certainly not improve upon borrowing money to the wrong guy (Muro's character again). Can afford a comfortable voyage, but the future is uncertain, and the ship full of greedy characters.


Attributes (1 to 5, with 1 being poor and 5 being human best) 18 points to spend

Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Stamina 3
Charisma 3
Manipulation 4
Appearance 4
Perception 3
Intelligence 3
Wits 3


Abilities - again, scores are the same as for attributes, 1-5. 27 points

Alertness 2
athletics 2
brawl 2
dodge 2
empathy 1
expression 1
intimidation 3
leadership 2
streetwise 2
subterfuge 3

Animal Ken 1
Crafts 1
etiquette 3
firearms 3
melee 1
performance 1
ride 3
security 3
stealth 1
survival 1

Academics 2
enigmas 1
finance 4
investigation 2
law 3
linguistics 1
medicine 1
occult 1
politics 3
science 1


Advantages - Virtues - 7 points 1-5

Conscience 2
Self Control 4
Courage 4

Willpower is equal to Conscience + Self Control = 6
Sanity is equal to Self Control + courage = 8

[manfred]

Oh and Manfred, jump in will ya? Your character has already financed Pinky's cruise

I did. Then will you finally post some 'name of the week', so I know how to call you during the voyage?

[Murometz]

You may address me as Henri Lamorak, Mr. Brandford, or Henri if you prefer. You see my father was partial to the French spelling being a proud Gaul and all. Did I mention that last night? no..well there you go, how forgetful of me.....May I call you Freddie?

[manfred]

Darn, I told you to do so while I was drunk, now I have to face the consequences.


So... any other players? Anyone willing to die a terrible death and/or never to be found again?

[Ria Hawk]

If I can still get in, I will.  Character forthcoming sometime tonight.

[Ria Hawk]

Name: Mlle. Ilsa Baptiste (Real Name: Ellie Sanders)
Player: Ria Hawk
Appearance: Ellie is of middling height, with long black hair that's always beautifully curled and styled.  While she doesn't exactly have exotic features, she knows how to use makeup to it's fullest effect.  She dresses at the height of fashion, and is usually seen in the company of society's elite, in all the right places.  She affects a slight accent of indeterminate origin, but if she gets stressed out or upset, she fades in and out of it.  When she is the center of attention, her gestures and manner of speaking take on an exaggerated, almost theatrical quality. 

Occupation: Ellie is a mystic, making her living by "channeling the spirits" to help give people guidance or make contact with the departed.  Her preferred method is to go into a trance and make contact with a spirit, who then imparts the desired information through automatic writing.  In reality, she is a very clever fraud.  The trances are phony, as are the messages she "recieves;" she composes the messages herself and has even gone so far as to develop a secondary style of handwriting to use for them.  Through careful observation and innocent questions, she determines what her clients want to hear, then tells them that.  She does occasionally find that she's written messages that she has no memory of, that don't sound like her usual style.  She has no idea what to make of this, but she keeps the messages (and doesn't show them to anyone).
She makes a fairly good living off of this, and has a surprising number of repeat customers.  However, she spends more than she should to put up an impressive facade: despite appearances, she's actually almost broke.


Attributes (1 to 5, with 1 being poor and 5 being human best)

18 points to spend
Strength - 1
Dexterity - 2
Stamina - 1
Charisma - 5
Manipulation - 3
Appearance - 3
Perception - 4
Intelligence - 3
Wits - 5

Abilities
Again, scores are the same as for attributes, 1-5.
27 points

Alertness - 3           
athletics
brawl
dodge
empathy - 5
expression - 5
intimidation
leadership
streetwise - 1
subterfuge - 2

Animal Ken
Crafts
etiquette
firearms
melee
performance - 5
ride
security
stealth
survival

Academics
enigmas - 2
finance
investigation
law
linguistics - 2
medicine
occult - 2
politics
science

Advantages
Virtues

7 points 1-5
Conscience - 2
Self Control - 3
Courage - 2

Willpower is equal to Conscience + Self Control - 5
Sanity is equal to Self Control + courage - 5

[Ancient Gamer]

I'll be posting soon!

[manfred]

Ditto.

Don't you begin without me.

[Ancient Gamer]

For the time being Charles Edward jr. really has no natural reason to be involved with the passengers. He is a crew member and working for the captain. It would be frowned upon should he do something else.

I have read the story thus far and I had intended to post, but I will wait until the time is right.

[manfred]

Oh, and Scras, I do have a question that we should have a knowledge about:

How long is the voyage of the Empress expected to take, approximately? From A to B, not from A to C(thulhu).

[Scrasamax]

The Dragon Empress is scheduled to cross the pond in roughly seven days. It could be done faster, but the ship is an older tub and Saisong sees no reason to endanger the expensive to repair/rebuild engines.

[Murometz]

so do the Zimmermans accept the dinner invite? or choose to ignore me? Either way is fine, just curious.

[Scrasamax]

You will have to forgive Peter, much like me, he is easily distracted!

Other information, I will be heading out of town later this evening and will not be home until late Sunday evening. I will not have any computer access for the duration of the trip. Oh well, thems the breaks.

Scras

[Ria Hawk]

Would the passengers (specifically the knot of us that are all PCs  ) have heard/seen the crate falling on the poor guy?  Also, is he fairly obviously dead?

Unrelated note, probably going to be offline for a couple days; I'm in the process of moving.

[Scrasamax]

The sound of the crate falling was heard on the other side of the ship, but it didnt sound like a crate falling on a man, it was just a sudden loud noise, not all to uncommon with coal fired steam ships.

Good luck on the move!

[Ancient Gamer]

I got the impression the guy died. Should I pull or rewrite my post?

[Scrasamax]

At first I wanted to go with he was wounded, but your post AG, I loved its morbid opportunism, so it has to stay. Will respond more tomorrow morning, I am still pretty burned out from the trip, plus I stayed up entirely too late last night catching up on what I missed.