OVERVIEW
For months, the mysterious Hebigumo Foundation has been working in secrecy towards a set of goals wrapped in enigma. Why are they in Harper Rock? What do they want? The only clear motivation they have appears to be perpetuating and protecting the human species, because they require humans to procreate; a delicate symbiosis to reflect opposite the parasitism of vampires. Or at least, that's how one might look at it. Finally, the Sirens, privately controlled by the Hebigumo Foundation, appear to be making a move.
Carefully sectioned off from the rest of the city, hidden behind layers of literal yellow tape and large and hastily constructed steel and cement block walls, they are working on a new project. It is impossible to get a look from above, because there are tarps covering the construction area, and even if there were not, the cement walls are capped by sheets of steel. At all hours of the day, trucks come and go from the area through the single entrance, through a set of intimidating metal gates. Those gates are guarded at all times by a pair of sirens who change shifts at confusing intervals (thus making it hard to figure out when guard changes will occur). The trucks enter empty and exit the small construction compound filled with rock and dirt. Occasionally, explosions can be heard from inside, though they are localized and only send minor tremors through the city blocks surrounding.
The Administrator has admitted his curiosity as to what the Sirens are doing, but says that the area is warded against him, his servants, and Helheim. As such, he has reached out to the vampire community, seeking their aid. Will you brave the dangers present at the construction compound? If you find out vital information, will you pass it along to The Administrator? Or will you hold onto this potentially precious intelligence, to use it at the exact right moment? The choice is yours.
Note for players of human characters: If you would like for your character to participate but they currently do not have vampiric connections, the Hebigumo Foundation construction area is common knowledge. Thus, a human with supernatural inclinations might want to find out what's going on. It's up to you to figure out what they would want to get out of it, as human characters would not have the Administrator as impetus to begin searching.
Carefully sectioned off from the rest of the city, hidden behind layers of literal yellow tape and large and hastily constructed steel and cement block walls, they are working on a new project. It is impossible to get a look from above, because there are tarps covering the construction area, and even if there were not, the cement walls are capped by sheets of steel. At all hours of the day, trucks come and go from the area through the single entrance, through a set of intimidating metal gates. Those gates are guarded at all times by a pair of sirens who change shifts at confusing intervals (thus making it hard to figure out when guard changes will occur). The trucks enter empty and exit the small construction compound filled with rock and dirt. Occasionally, explosions can be heard from inside, though they are localized and only send minor tremors through the city blocks surrounding.
The Administrator has admitted his curiosity as to what the Sirens are doing, but says that the area is warded against him, his servants, and Helheim. As such, he has reached out to the vampire community, seeking their aid. Will you brave the dangers present at the construction compound? If you find out vital information, will you pass it along to The Administrator? Or will you hold onto this potentially precious intelligence, to use it at the exact right moment? The choice is yours.
Note for players of human characters: If you would like for your character to participate but they currently do not have vampiric connections, the Hebigumo Foundation construction area is common knowledge. Thus, a human with supernatural inclinations might want to find out what's going on. It's up to you to figure out what they would want to get out of it, as human characters would not have the Administrator as impetus to begin searching.
PRIZES
The participation prize is 5000 RPP.
The grand prize is a piece of information about the Sirens, or their motives, which may be useful in upcoming chapters. What the winners decide to do with the information is entirely up to them, including whether or not they tell The Administrator.
The grand prize is a piece of information about the Sirens, or their motives, which may be useful in upcoming chapters. What the winners decide to do with the information is entirely up to them, including whether or not they tell The Administrator.
FURTHER DETAILS
LAYOUT
Note: This layout will be the same across all threads, with the same types and numbers of NPCs. Think of it like an 'instanced event'. As such, two side story threads could not split up the number of NPCs, if they are attacking. Yes, I realize this is slightly unrealistic, but it's the best way to ensure fairness across the board. I also realize the options appear to be 'attack' or 'stealth', but feel free to get creative!
ENTRANCE
As you approach the compound, you will quickly realize that there is only one entrance, through a set of large, manually controlled metal gates. At all times, there are two guards on duty, and they do not seem to be worried about looking conspicuous. There are no other security measures visible, such as cameras or alarms.
THE YARD
Past the metal gates is a compound big enough to house a squat cement building with a gaping maw of an opening. The building stands at the very middle of the walled off area, and there are ten guards on duty at all time. They are kept at regular intervals around the structure. To get further in your journey, you will need to find a way past them. The area outside of the 'building' is nondescript, just clay, dirt, and gravel with some heavy duty construction tools.
THE MOUTH
Once you have gotten past the yard, you realize the squat building is essentially a cement mine shaft with an elevator large enough to carry a dozen people and some pretty heavy equipment below. This part is pretty easy at least? Just hit a button and descend into the darkness beneath the city streets. Past the sewers. Past the rock and dirt, and down that narrow shaft into the cool subterranean world.
THE CATACOMB 1
The first catacomb floor is nondescript, a long and narrow tunnel which is scarcely more than a cave with jagged rough edges for walls, just wide enough for two people to get through standing side by side. There appear to be traps laid out along the route leading deeper. There is a lone sentry on guard.
THE CATACOMB 2
At the end of the first catacomb floor is a tunnel leading down into the second floor, which is essentially one large chamber made out of stone. It looks more intentional, and it's almost impossible to miss the large number of bones scattered around. This area is very heavily guarded, but not by the Sirens. Rather, by the undead.
THE CATACOMB 3
At the center of the chamber is a large hole in the ground which leads down into the darkness of a third catacomb floor. This third catacomb floor is decorated with an extensive number of skulls and other bones, which essentially line every surface in complex patterns. The bones are clearly old, but at one point were polished and well taken care of. The third floor is a narrow strip leading constantly down a slope and into a small chamber. In the small chamber, your party will find what appears to be a Lesser Jorogumo with its natural demifae features very apparent. This demifae appears to be insane, waving around scraps of paper whilst muttering several phrases over and over again, such as: "The heart of the sundering." "We just wanted to right HIS wrong." "We never knew."
Once you have discovered the crazed Siren, immediately pause your thread. Once a grand prize winner is selected, further information will become available as to how people can finish their threads.
OTHER INFORMATION
Note: This layout will be the same across all threads, with the same types and numbers of NPCs. Think of it like an 'instanced event'. As such, two side story threads could not split up the number of NPCs, if they are attacking. Yes, I realize this is slightly unrealistic, but it's the best way to ensure fairness across the board. I also realize the options appear to be 'attack' or 'stealth', but feel free to get creative!
ENTRANCE
As you approach the compound, you will quickly realize that there is only one entrance, through a set of large, manually controlled metal gates. At all times, there are two guards on duty, and they do not seem to be worried about looking conspicuous. There are no other security measures visible, such as cameras or alarms.
- The gate is slightly explosion resistant. If blown up, it will alert all of the guards inside, thus negating any potential future stealth rolls.
- The gate can only be opened by the guards unless they are both incapacitated, at which point anyone can open them. If everyone in a group manages to win the stealth roll (details below), you can say that they were able to sneak in when the gates are opened via night delivery (or something like that).
- The two guards are Lesser Jorogumo who appear human. They will be using mirrors to check every person entering. If they realize a vampire is trying to get in, they will attack immediately. Sneaking past them can be done, but each person will need to roll for their individual character, a stealth roll set to 'very difficult'. You may feel free to roleplay that as you desire if everyone wins the roll. Because your characters are still outside of the gates, vampire powers still work 100% of the time, so be creative!
THE YARD
Past the metal gates is a compound big enough to house a squat cement building with a gaping maw of an opening. The building stands at the very middle of the walled off area, and there are ten guards on duty at all time. They are kept at regular intervals around the structure. To get further in your journey, you will need to find a way past them. The area outside of the 'building' is nondescript, just clay, dirt, and gravel with some heavy duty construction tools.
- Bear in mind all restrictions listed in 'Other Information', they will be relevant from this point on.
- The NPCs are all Sirens who appear human. If you are rolling to sneak past them, once again, each member of the thread's 'party' must succeed. Stealth rolls should be set to 'moderate' difficulty. You will need to roll for at least ½ of the NPCs ro reflect those who might see your characters attempting to enter. If anyone fails the stealth roll, all NPCs will engage in combat. They will attack on sight otherwise. If you fight one, you have to fight all of them. They have roughly the same power level as Encantado Shamans.
THE MOUTH
Once you have gotten past the yard, you realize the squat building is essentially a cement mine shaft with an elevator large enough to carry a dozen people and some pretty heavy equipment below. This part is pretty easy at least? Just hit a button and descend into the darkness beneath the city streets. Past the sewers. Past the rock and dirt, and down that narrow shaft into the cool subterranean world.
THE CATACOMB 1
The first catacomb floor is nondescript, a long and narrow tunnel which is scarcely more than a cave with jagged rough edges for walls, just wide enough for two people to get through standing side by side. There appear to be traps laid out along the route leading deeper. There is a lone sentry on guard.
- There are 5 bear traps. You can roll for 'moderate' difficulty as a 'stealth' roll to try and sneak past each of them. If successful, you can automatically disarm them with a mechanics score of at least 15, thus making it so the others in your party do not have to do a stealth roll for them. If any of the traps go off, the lone sentry will set off an alarm.
- The lone sentry has roughly the power of an Encantado Shaman. They must be dealt with quickly if attacked otherwise they will attempt to set off an alarm. However they can be sneaked past with a stealth roll (once again, for each party member), set to 'very difficult'.
- If the alarm goes off, it will seriously complicate matters, making it much less likely to result in a successful thread end, so be sure to be careful with how you handle this particular problem.
THE CATACOMB 2
At the end of the first catacomb floor is a tunnel leading down into the second floor, which is essentially one large chamber made out of stone. It looks more intentional, and it's almost impossible to miss the large number of bones scattered around. This area is very heavily guarded, but not by the Sirens. Rather, by the undead.
- There are 12 undead. Thankfully, they are sluggish, and slow to respond. If you wish to go the stealth route, each of the undead must get a stealth roll, as they are closely grouped. If successful, you can write it as your character managing to get past them however you like. Each stealth roll should be set to moderate. If you fail a stealth roll, the undead will attack en masse.
- If you wish to fight the undead, they are roughly as strong as Mooncalf Titans. If you cannot find a Mooncalf Titan on grid, set the dice roller to 'Very Difficult' and 'Physically Demanding'. If one is attacked, all of them must be attacked. They will attack on sight.
THE CATACOMB 3
At the center of the chamber is a large hole in the ground which leads down into the darkness of a third catacomb floor. This third catacomb floor is decorated with an extensive number of skulls and other bones, which essentially line every surface in complex patterns. The bones are clearly old, but at one point were polished and well taken care of. The third floor is a narrow strip leading constantly down a slope and into a small chamber. In the small chamber, your party will find what appears to be a Lesser Jorogumo with its natural demifae features very apparent. This demifae appears to be insane, waving around scraps of paper whilst muttering several phrases over and over again, such as: "The heart of the sundering." "We just wanted to right HIS wrong." "We never knew."
Once you have discovered the crazed Siren, immediately pause your thread. Once a grand prize winner is selected, further information will become available as to how people can finish their threads.
OTHER INFORMATION
- Communication devices will not work past the gates.
- Tomes will not work past the gates.
- Vampire powers will have a 50% chance of failing, past the gates. Use the dice roller to determine: Pure Luck setting. This limitation extends to activated vampire roleplay powers.
- Vampire powers and tomes used outside of the gated area on a target or location past the gates will not work at all. For example, a vampire attempting to send a telepathic message to someone inside, would be unable to do so, teleporting in would be impossible, summoning someone out would be impossible.
- However, summoning a vampire from one part of the compound to another would work 50% of the time. Regardless of whether or not the power works, it will drain some of the vampire's anima.
- Human powers will work normally, save for in the case of powers borrowed by Blood Thieves.
- You may use one power per forum post. This limitation extends to activated roleplay powers. Be sure not to use more anima in the thread than your character has at max unless they replenish it in character, such as through summoning spirits.
- You may add more 'floors' to the catacomb, but the 3 mentioned are the required minimum.
- Hide in Shadows may be used twice per character for the entire thread, as this is an automatic stealth roll win. For the sake of fairness, this power will work with 100% accuracy when used, despite being a vampire power. You may have your character activate this power after losing a stealth roll to automatically trump the lost roll, but only if you haven't used another power in the same post. So use this one wisely, folks!
RULES & GUIDELINES
There are no sign ups. The side story starts now, and ends on June 11th, 2016 at 11:500 PM EST; which gives participants 2 months.
To be counted for either type of prize, threads links should be PMed to this account by the end date listed above. Late submissions will not be accepted.
To qualify for the participation prize, a character must have posted at least 1000 words in one of the relevant side story threads.
To qualify for the grand prize, a side story thread must:
All RP dice rolls should be public.
All fights with NPCs must be written out. Please find the corresponding NPC on grid and use the 'full report' to get an idea of how the fight will go, but of course, feel free to give it your own spice/twist. Each NPC in the RP should correspond to a grid NPC. The fights should be detailed enough to make it clear you used the full report, as this essentially counts as your 'dice roll'.
Threads may be posted on the hardcore ruleset board.
If you have further questions, please ask here. I realize there is a lot of detail, so if anything is confusing or if you want to know if a particular mechanic works the way you envision, I am totally excited to hear about it and work with you!
The official IC announcement correlating with this side story can be found here.
I will be keeping up with the side story threads as much as possible (so please mark them accordingly), and may use the storyteller account to post to a thread. I will only do this if a group is doing particularly poorly (Such as if they are consistently losing fights), and will provide the characters a way out (Unless you want to write your characters as dying, as that is your prerogative, obviously). If this side story goes successfully, I will be using more of a GM role in future side stories. Not all of them, but some!
To be counted for either type of prize, threads links should be PMed to this account by the end date listed above. Late submissions will not be accepted.
To qualify for the participation prize, a character must have posted at least 1000 words in one of the relevant side story threads.
To qualify for the grand prize, a side story thread must:
- Be at least 5 pages (By the side story end date).
- With a minimum word count of at least 500 per post.
- The thread must use information found in the 'Further Details' section of this post.
- Threads must have at least 2 participant characters who don't belong to the same household or IP.
- The emphasis should be on realism, realistic use of character powers, and making an inventive and intricate plot.
- The grand prize will be given out based on the thread that makes the most sense both as it applies to canon, and as a story. As such, be sure to come up with a strong plot.
All RP dice rolls should be public.
All fights with NPCs must be written out. Please find the corresponding NPC on grid and use the 'full report' to get an idea of how the fight will go, but of course, feel free to give it your own spice/twist. Each NPC in the RP should correspond to a grid NPC. The fights should be detailed enough to make it clear you used the full report, as this essentially counts as your 'dice roll'.
Threads may be posted on the hardcore ruleset board.
If you have further questions, please ask here. I realize there is a lot of detail, so if anything is confusing or if you want to know if a particular mechanic works the way you envision, I am totally excited to hear about it and work with you!
The official IC announcement correlating with this side story can be found here.
I will be keeping up with the side story threads as much as possible (so please mark them accordingly), and may use the storyteller account to post to a thread. I will only do this if a group is doing particularly poorly (Such as if they are consistently losing fights), and will provide the characters a way out (Unless you want to write your characters as dying, as that is your prerogative, obviously). If this side story goes successfully, I will be using more of a GM role in future side stories. Not all of them, but some!
