Chapter 3: Power Plays
Posted: 23 Aug 2014, 20:39
Outline
The current chapter joins the city mid-way through its lead up to the municipal elections, after the Prime Minister has just announced that he believes the Mayor of the city should be given more power during this time of crisis. There are 3 main candidates for the position of city Mayor, who are currently neck-and-neck in early polls, but to the discerning eye there are vastly contrasting pros and cons to each, as well as secrets to be discovered.
Your character's actions in the coming months could help to shape the future of the game world. There are motivations and powers at work behind each of the candidates, and whoever wins the election will be given quite a lot of power over matters that could greatly affect vampires, supernaturals, and everyone in between.
You can find out how to influence the chapter by going to the in-game Chapters page, where you can also keep track of the chapter sliders, which show the current chapter situation.
Unlike the previous chapter, this one continues until November the 15th, which is election day in Harper Rock (the election day was pushed back due to the announcement that the Mayor will be given more power than is usual for a Canadian city).
The Candidates
Mikhaila Spencer
- Political affiliation: Conservative
- Has ties to the Hebigumo foundation
- Policies outline: Extremely tough on crime; blames criminal activity in the city for just about all of the problems, from infrastructure to industry declines. She talks a lot about how taking legitimate business back out of the hands of criminals will go a long way in restoring order and affluence in the city. Has otherwise quite surprisingly liberal policies for a conservative candidate. When pressed on the issue of the quarantine zone, she indicates that she is of the mind that the first priority is to ensure that the infection doesn't spread, but doesn't go into much further detail on the means by which this could be achieved. Uses words like "truth" and "transparency" very often, and concentrates on the serial murders (of citizens found with their necks ripped open and bled dry) and how it should be a priority to find the person or persons responsible for those. Is extremely charismatic, witty, and engages often in banter with reporters and other candidates.
Evelyn Gilbert
- Political affiliation: Conservative
- Seems to have a well-funded campaign, but those digging deep enough will find that she has a surprisingly low number of corporations backing her campaign (though not because of her policies, but because she's a relative newcomer), leaving people to wonder where the rest of her funds and support are coming from.
- Policies outline: blames the majority of the city's problems on the outbreak, and says that if she was elected she would push heavily for more rescue efforts and military action inside the QZ, eventually but swiftly leading to demolition of the buildings within the zone. In one interview, she perhaps inadvertently indicated that she would also consider advocating a curfew in the city, in order to deal with the gang violence, among other things. Her other hot points are typically and predictably conservative.
Wyatt Bancroft
- Political affiliation: New Democratic
- Receives funding from some businesses and foundations, but the majority of his campaign funds seem to come from an unknown source that seems impossible to track down.
- Policies outline: is quite a liberal-minded individual with a good deal of charm and intelligence. Speaks a lot of about education, traditional libraries, and the youth of Harper Rock. Believes in concentrating efforts first on the common people of the city, in the hopes that this will in turn slow down illegal narcotics trade, and eventually reinvigorate industrial and commercial avenues. Is generally in favour of a better trained police force, but severely dislikes the idea of any kind of interference from the military in civic affairs, outside of quarantine zone containment. Advocates not destroying the QZ, but instead trying to rescue as many survivors as possible, keeping the area contained for an extended period of time if necessary. Talks a lot about the families of the survivors not having closure. Advocates a temporary extra tax on big businesses, in order to help with reparations and security in the city, as it would be in corporate interests, long-term. Is pressing for better gun control and more metal detectors on major city establishments, to stop violence in heavily populated areas.
- Was leading in polls, before being involved in a scandal involving an "episode" where he was involved in assaulting a man who cut him off while driving. It then came to light that he's in counseling for his temper.
Important Notes
The current chapter joins the city mid-way through its lead up to the municipal elections, after the Prime Minister has just announced that he believes the Mayor of the city should be given more power during this time of crisis. There are 3 main candidates for the position of city Mayor, who are currently neck-and-neck in early polls, but to the discerning eye there are vastly contrasting pros and cons to each, as well as secrets to be discovered.
Your character's actions in the coming months could help to shape the future of the game world. There are motivations and powers at work behind each of the candidates, and whoever wins the election will be given quite a lot of power over matters that could greatly affect vampires, supernaturals, and everyone in between.
You can find out how to influence the chapter by going to the in-game Chapters page, where you can also keep track of the chapter sliders, which show the current chapter situation.
Unlike the previous chapter, this one continues until November the 15th, which is election day in Harper Rock (the election day was pushed back due to the announcement that the Mayor will be given more power than is usual for a Canadian city).
The Candidates
Mikhaila Spencer
- Political affiliation: Conservative
- Has ties to the Hebigumo foundation
- Policies outline: Extremely tough on crime; blames criminal activity in the city for just about all of the problems, from infrastructure to industry declines. She talks a lot about how taking legitimate business back out of the hands of criminals will go a long way in restoring order and affluence in the city. Has otherwise quite surprisingly liberal policies for a conservative candidate. When pressed on the issue of the quarantine zone, she indicates that she is of the mind that the first priority is to ensure that the infection doesn't spread, but doesn't go into much further detail on the means by which this could be achieved. Uses words like "truth" and "transparency" very often, and concentrates on the serial murders (of citizens found with their necks ripped open and bled dry) and how it should be a priority to find the person or persons responsible for those. Is extremely charismatic, witty, and engages often in banter with reporters and other candidates.
Evelyn Gilbert
- Political affiliation: Conservative
- Seems to have a well-funded campaign, but those digging deep enough will find that she has a surprisingly low number of corporations backing her campaign (though not because of her policies, but because she's a relative newcomer), leaving people to wonder where the rest of her funds and support are coming from.
- Policies outline: blames the majority of the city's problems on the outbreak, and says that if she was elected she would push heavily for more rescue efforts and military action inside the QZ, eventually but swiftly leading to demolition of the buildings within the zone. In one interview, she perhaps inadvertently indicated that she would also consider advocating a curfew in the city, in order to deal with the gang violence, among other things. Her other hot points are typically and predictably conservative.
Wyatt Bancroft
- Political affiliation: New Democratic
- Receives funding from some businesses and foundations, but the majority of his campaign funds seem to come from an unknown source that seems impossible to track down.
- Policies outline: is quite a liberal-minded individual with a good deal of charm and intelligence. Speaks a lot of about education, traditional libraries, and the youth of Harper Rock. Believes in concentrating efforts first on the common people of the city, in the hopes that this will in turn slow down illegal narcotics trade, and eventually reinvigorate industrial and commercial avenues. Is generally in favour of a better trained police force, but severely dislikes the idea of any kind of interference from the military in civic affairs, outside of quarantine zone containment. Advocates not destroying the QZ, but instead trying to rescue as many survivors as possible, keeping the area contained for an extended period of time if necessary. Talks a lot about the families of the survivors not having closure. Advocates a temporary extra tax on big businesses, in order to help with reparations and security in the city, as it would be in corporate interests, long-term. Is pressing for better gun control and more metal detectors on major city establishments, to stop violence in heavily populated areas.
- Was leading in polls, before being involved in a scandal involving an "episode" where he was involved in assaulting a man who cut him off while driving. It then came to light that he's in counseling for his temper.
Important Notes
- The roleplay in this chapter will have the greater impact on the outcome. You can write "impact threads", which can then be submitted to myself, with a brief summary of roleplay events, and this will impact largely on the sliders for the candidate(s) in question. The more people involved, the bigger the thread, and the more imaginative the activities, the more it will affect the chapter sliders, negatively or positively. Please keep an eye on the "roleplay planning" forum, as we will shortly be posting a thread of ideas and suggestions about roleplay stories in this chapter, once people have had a chance to get a feel for it.
- There will be several official quests and GMed roleplay chat events hosted throughout this chapter, as well as other side stories and events. Keep checking back on the updates board for information on those.
- All other activities listed on this page will have a slightly smaller effect, compared to roleplaying.
- Business sabotage has been made with this chapter mainly in mind (though it will exist beyond this chapter). As businesses will play quite a large role in the elections due to campaign support, it would be fair game to sabotage a business which publicly supports an undesirable candidate (in the eyes of your character).
- You can donate directly to a candidate's campaign via bank squares. Be aware that the max you can donate per day is $20,000, and you can only donate once per day.
- You can pledge your business' support to a candidate via the business management screen. This will boost their campaign strength daily, and will cost you nothing. The higher your company's net worth, the bigger the daily boost.
- Any dirt you dig up on candidates (picking pockets, hacking, or B&E) can be found randomly, but these are quite rare. When you find one of these events, you'll be given the choice to report the negative information to the press.
- You'll now have a side panel option for handing out flyers to groups of humans, but only while in the same square as one or more humans.
- Humans with the Yao-Jen Sage power are able to see prophetic visions of the chapter outcomes, by going to this page.
- Random events with stories pertaining to this chapter will be added next week.