Session 13 Missing in Action

I've got some bad news: Blogger went nusto over the weekend and somehow deleted several posts from our site. I was able to restore both yesterday's post and the other post containing Session 12 summary, but it looks like I lost the session 13 finale. Older posts seem to be intact, it just messed with whatever I typed up during the weekend. I thought I had a copy of Session 13 document on my work computer, thought being the key word. I forgot that Precoat upgraded my old rickety pc last week, essentially overwriting any local files on my system. What this means is that I might have to rewrite session 13 from scratch. I'm a bit pissed off regarding this. and I'm going to check with the IT guys to see if my old hard drive hasn't been wiped. I really don't want to have to type this thing again! Anyways, I'm sorry for the delay. If you guys haven't noticed, Session 12 is up and ready for consumption. I'll keep everyone posted as to 13's progress. Also, this weekend is Nick Havey's wedding so I doubt we will be playing session 14 during this timeframe. Currently, July 14th or 15th looks like our best options.

Some Changes on the Way

A quick shout out to the boyz for an excellent session last weekend! I believe things went down quite nicely. The primarily focus of that session was to prep for the battle with David Simmons (Junior). In the past, downtime was used to do this as players bought gifts, rites, and upped their stats. I chose to instead to integrate these actions directly into the story (like the restructuring of the pack's totem, Rids-the-Pain). The next session will most likely be the last for this chronicle. It's been a long journey, from those first days when the Scars took over Hyde Park. The first mission was to investigate several murders (that Simmons committed) in their new territory. This hunt took them to the Ethros realm, Lancaster, and now the United States. The finale encounter is in sight. Needless to say, I'm eagerly awaiting this showdown. By the by, here are few changes to site I plan on adding in the days to come: -Session Summary for Session 12 -Online character sheets -New page for pack totem with character sheet -Music page for the song "Leave" -New pack pictures

Roleplaying Again

Thanks to everybody for getting together and playing Session 11! As always, you guys indeed rock serious stuff. Highlights from the evening include: 1. It could not, would not, be a Healing Scars session if Adam did not loose his character sheet. Adam, being the team player that he his, kept the tradition alive. This was no surprise, as everyone knew this was going to happen. Yay for tradition! 2. Mad props to Chris for having the foresight and awesomeness to hold on to Adam’s character sheet from our last session eons ago. Chris, being a responsible team player and earning experience points for the deed, will from this day forth hold Adam’s character sheet, much like a parent holding a child’s hand (OK that was too harsh. I kid, I kid). 3. Alex earns some respect for using his character’s free time locked in a meat locker to his advantage. When offered some real food by his captors, he declines and decides instead to "do the caveman" by eating some frozen raw meat. Very nice. Very Nails. 4. And finally some praise needs to be delivered to Ben. While playing Sam and Eric Sky this session, he drew so many warding circles to protect the collective pack I’m surprised he did not get dizzy and pass out. Session 10 (which is horribly late) should be posted tomorrow. If that goes as planned, expect last weekend’s session to be readily available shortly afterward.

Ben is Mad Funny Yo

Question: OK, what do you get when you cross a with a ? Answer: A WERORRIST! Other great quotes for the night: Deacon: Do you know how to fly the plane? Stewardess: Well, not exactly. I sorta never took the classes. Deacon: Let me guess, you were screwing the pilot? Stewardess: Yeah, I mean all we really do is show people how to buckle their seatbelts. I didn't think they'd be an actual emergency. Deacon: Right. (Shoot the girl. Looks at the other stewardess.) What's your name? Stewardess: It's... Star. P..lease don't shoot me. Deacon: You are a stewardess and your name is fucking Star? Did you screw the pilot too? Star: Yes. (Worried) But I DID take the classes. Nails: I'M THE DEVIL! NOW I'M JESUS! WAIT, I'M THE DEVIL AGAIN! (While slaughtering dozens of passengers, wearing they faces, and other nasty things.)

Pentex: Old and New

In White Wolf Game Studio's setting the World of Darkness, specifically the role-playing game Werewolf: The Apocalypse, the Pentex Corporation was a vast fictional conglomerate dedicated to promoting the agenda of the Wyrm. Though primarily staffed by mundane humans unaware of the corporation's sinister mission, its upper management is a group of corrupt humans and outright supernatural beings fully aware of the existence of the Triat and werewolves. The public face of the Pentex corporation itself appears to the public to possibly be a corporate consulting firm or administrative assistance firm. Its true method, however, is to own other businesses. As such, "Pentex" not only refers to the central corporation, but also to hundreds of other companies and businesses, openly owned or secretly controlled by the Pentex upper management. This allows Pentex to achieve vertical integration, allowing them to secure powerful but clandestine monopolies. That was the a definition of the old. As you all know, the new World of Darkenss has completely done away with this corporation. When writing our new stories I thought it would be interesting to reimagine Pentex in our specific setting. It is VERY important to realize that Pentex is not directly related to the old World of Darkness version. There are several important differences. I will list a few below, leaving some ommited because I want you, as characters, to discover them for yourselves. - Pentex is a single corporation. They are located in Alaska. They are powerful but not in the old way of possessing hundreds of subsidiary companies. - It is unknown if they are truly evil in a spiritual sense. Only the connection to their parvovirus production and David Simmons has been uncovered. - The CIA has been keeping tabs on them. This is apparent from Wades confession to Marcus Blair. - They have been performing experiments on children. The latest examples of this are Chelsea and Wendy. Wendy has confessed mutliple thoughts of various individuals have been infussed into her contiousness for reasons unknown. They are plenty more, but that should be enough to spark your imagination. Healing Scars, remember that the clock is ticking towards your death. Finding a cure to the virus can only happen with a clearer understanding of the enemy at hand.

THIS ISN'T THE SUMMARY

But I'm tired of waiting for it so I'm going to tell you part of it. The session began with the trip to Lancaster being discussed. Eventually, the group agrees to leave the apartment and drive to a hotel in Lancaster. On the drive, they stop in a rest area. Nails takes the opportunity to discuss heavy things on his mind and challenges Marcus for authority of the pack. Marcus tries civil discussion with Nails over the matter, knowing that he'd intended to relinquish control to Nails of his own accord after the present matter (Lancaster) was concluded. It comes to a physical challenge between Marcus and Nails, and though Marcus fights admirably and lithely, Nails eventually gets the upper hand. Marcus stops the fight and tries to reason with Nails one last time. Nails, in an uncharacteristic venture, allows the group to decide by a process of vote, more fitting to Marcus's democratic style. Deacon's inclination is to let Nails attempt to be alpha. Eric and Sam are, of course, divided. Marcus, feeling the effects of the battle and short on patience, tries to win the group over but is unsuccessful. Nails is alpha. Sensing that this might cause Marcus to leave the pack to pursue his own impending troubles with the kidnapped Lindsay and the endangered Chelsea, Nails thinks as best he can and offers Marcus beta position at his side. Marcus is, after all, best fit to lead after him, he thinks, but Nails' believes that his insight into Simmons might be best put on point for this portion of their journey. After an honest talk between Nails and Marcus in which they put aside differences, the group continues to travel to Lancaster. A message is waiting for Marcus when they arrive... ah, I forget some of this stuff. And I don't want to spoil some surprises either... Well, let's just say that when Eithan does publish the rest, it'll be a lot more thorough. And he can erase this whenever it goes up.

Conspiracy Files

Enclosed are the documents cryptically given to Marcus Blair by CIA Agent Wade during session 8. Important passages have been highlighted and various notes speculate that a cover-up of sorts exists. What does this all mean? For this GM, mum's the word. My werewolf players, especially Chris, know how much I love using in-game props. Recently, Chris reminded me about one I used for a Dark Ages chronicle years and years ago. It was an ordinary map that, if you folded it a certain way, revealed a hidden location. Definitely cheesy (esp. if you've seen Romancing the Stone) but it gives me a chuckle in remembrance. I also enjoyed creating Rid's banishment docs, and then watching Marcus pour through the text looking for a loophole. I honestly don't know how much time it took to orchestrate these documents, but it was definitely the longest bout of research done for the stories as of yet. I really hope you all enjoy. If you like, feel free to use the comments to analyze the crap out of them.

THIS IS NOT THE SESSION SUMMARY

But I am curious as to when it will be posted. Other than that, what are our plans for the next session? Is this Friday happening, or is there another time that we're considering? Be looking for a new post from Eric, too. It will be... umm... new. -Ben/Eric

A Little Progress

Session Six wrapped up nicely last week. The practice of "free will in roleplaying" challenged me once again to make changes in my original storyline regarding the Sky brothers. This is not a gripe of course. As I explained previously, twisting events and manipulating character's decisions is far more damaging to protect one’s original storyline. And, as a bonus, my "skills" (call them what you will) are put to the test to write new plotlines into future sessions to compliment said changes. Now, as I write the new session summary, I am reminded of several challenges in its proposed documentation. For starters, the length of content is almost too large to be shown in a summarized format. I feel that by narrowing several events on paper, they are not getting their due weight and credit. The creation of the individual character blogs should balance this out, allowing packmates to write about their accomplishments in greater detail and, most importantly, from their point of view. Also I have been incredibly busy with work. Realistically, I would estimate that the session summary will be posted no later than Friday of this week. I’ll do my best to post other off-topic posts to fill in that gap. My only real gripe about the session is the way I handled bringing Eric Sky back. Ben, I promise I will write something to add to the dealings with Rain, the meeting with Shadow Wind (Old Man Diaper), and the events that lead to her giving you the whip. A lot more happened there but due to time constraints (it was already 4 in the morning) it was cut short. Now for a question: What do you think the name of this session should be? I’m having a bit of writers block regarding this. A title like "The Ethros Trial" just really doesn’t do it justice, as the trial was only one part of the session. There was also Sam Sky, the book, the new weapons, etc. I would love to get some feedback on this one. EDIT: After looking this over I suddenly realized that I might be coming off as a bit despressed about these events. Honestly, I'm pleased as punch with how everything is turning out so far! I'm just being a little hard on myself because I want to continue the level of quality with each new gaming experience.

Ben's Summary of Session 4

Ok, since I have a feeling it's going to take a bit for the real summary and our pictures to be posted, I've decided to put this temp summary up for our amusement. Eithan, feel free to take any of, or delete this post if you feel the need. It's simply for happy. -There's a really big building. Enter Asshole. Marcus is all like, "Hey, give us that spirit guy back." Random guy is all, "Well, maybe. That new guy sucks." Asshole is all, "Seven trials. I'll be back later." First trial, Eric tells Marcus to play with a door, then to go play pretend. Nails leaves. Marcus plays with Tom Sawyer. Eric forgets to execute his own plan until Marcus gives hits him with Da Vinci. Second trial. Uh, something. I'm sure it involved rope. A girl is there! Third. The beast. Eric and Marcus prove useless, until the end of combat. Again. Fourth. Sharing is caring. Fifth. It's Tonya. She's all, "I gotta go." Eric's like, "Nope." Marcus is all, "Lets think about this." Nails is like, "I wish everyone would shut the fuck up." The greatest execution of unspoken planning unfolds, the pack argues, Eric insults Nails, Nails hits a girl, Marcus attacks Nails, Nails stabs Marcus, Marcus passes out, Eric plays a drama queen. Then, Nails punches Asshole, and Eric snaps his neck. Cue alarm. Nails gets to carry Marcus, and then he gets an RPG. Eric carries Tonya, and gives her some uzzis. Everyone is about to get stomped. Some quotes I remember: "Everyone speaks Latin in the World of Darkness." "I'd like to make a roll to read the Manticore's body language." "Don't fuck this up." Or, if you'd prefer: "Fuck you."

What I Think your Characters are Thinking

I am very pleased with everyone’s performances. I sound a bit overly optimistic about our group, but the quality of our gaming really has been that good. I’m currently working on the summary for session 3, and I can’t believe how much the Healing Scars accomplished in one night of roleplaying. It’s seriously going to take me a few days to accurately write those events down. An inexperienced group couldn’t have handled half of that content in the same amount of time. Until I finish that project, I leave you guys with some brief internal notes about your characters. Feel free to comment and let me know where you think they are developing as well. Nails is indeed a dark character, but not “Vargus Creed” dark, not by a long shot. Nails is tough, and it’s in his nature to hide his feelings, and actually to kill them off as if they were his opponents. And this type of thinking is working great for him now, but everybody needs to feel something. Now he has been paired against the mysterious David Simmons in a classic battle of good vs. evil. At least Nails would like to think of it that way. But life is more complicated. He has a sketchy past, but it doesn’t plague his waking dreams as it would someone else. His life before really doesn’t concern him, not nearly as much as the future. How long can Nails go through life detached from emotion? Is there really a difference between evil (Simmons) and destruction (Nails)? And, as a natural-born leader, will he eventually challenge Marcus’s authority as pack Alpha? Eric Sky just relived a crucial turning point in his life. He has a twin brother who represents everything he doesn’t want to become. The bonds of blood between the two are thick and there’s little he can do to completely rid himself of his brother’s presence. Eric has an opportunity to take care of the ghost of Shelly Wright, another chance to prove that he is good. Eric knows and fears evil firsthand. When he looks in the mirror, he doesn’t just see himself. He sees the reflection of Sam’s deeds, his hatred, and his wrath. Will he be able to save Shelly? What of the Dark Iron pack and their connections to him? Is there any possibility for forgiveness for Sam? Marcus Blair has shown enormous mental resilience in light of everything that’s happened. His life has sharply turned upside-down. And now he is the Alpha, the one who is supposed to have all the answers. Yet he can‘t answer the simplest question: Who am I? There’s so much raw emotion attached to his family (Lindsey and Chelsea) that blinds his decision-making. Marcus is really two people, his false image (chivalrous, defender, noble) and the real image, the persona of Ben Durbin (prosecutor, liar, and manipulator). He will always have to struggle between the two, and never will one part completely fade away. But Marcus obviously wants to be good; the transformation is already taking place. How will Marcus make up for what he has done to the real Ben Durbin? How will he protect Chelsea? Does he really deserve to protect her in the first place? I personally can’t answer these questions, and that’s what makes him interesting.

David and David vs. the Pack

Well, session 2 brought my very short intro story to a close. I think it played out quite well, and it seems the rest of the group felt the same way. Our next story is a bit deeper than the first, both in length and character development. My Favorite Character Quotes of the Evening "If we don't solve this puzzle tonight, I'm looking up the name David Simmons in the god damn phone book." - Marcus (when the pack discovers that the detective and the son share the same name of the killer) "Hey, I've got a plan!" - Eric (the "thinker" of the group said at LEAST three times during the session) "Stop, motherfucker." -Nails (the greatest/coolest pun of all time, as he bashes his foes with his weapon, a stop sign) Next Session: Fri October 21st.

And So We RPG'ed

It's been a long time (almost a year) since I've roleplayed. THAT'S A LONG TIME. Honestly, I was dreadfully scared that I'd somehow lost the thrill of it all in my absence of gaming. Bow howdy, was I worried for nothing. Thanks to Adam, Alex, and Ben for kicking arse. Weaving stories is such a blast when characters are attuned to the world around them. And you guys most certainly were. I'm not sure how I'm going to post the happenings of each session as of yet. For now, I'm going to post a list of things I liked and disliked about our gaming processes. I might list a few nitpicks here and there; mostly complaints towards myself. Likes Creative Combat. I F'ing love it when people use the environment to their advantage. Not only does it liven the fighting, but it makes the scenes more believable. LARP/Table top transition. I really liked the pace of shifting between these two forms. And not once did I have to urge characters to do this, you folks knew when scenes dictated a storytelling form. That shows the signs of experienced players. Fluidity. Time wasted screwing around = ZERO. That was a very focused bit of playing. Dislikes Alex's CD player. It is the electronic bane of my existence. We'll have to work out something else in the future. Voice over narrations. That was my bad. I need to brush up on that a bit. Perhaps I'll write out certain key passages instead of going for the improv route. I really want certain scenes to hold a level of weight to them and I'm don't want to rob them of this. In case you're interested (probably not) here's the list of music I used. I am a dork and will provide a CD copy upon request, for the also dorky folk. Vast - Touched (3:58) Richard Gibbs - Are You Alive? (5:34) Richard Gibbs - Thousands Left Behind (2:15) Billy Corgan - Disconnected (3:47) Orbital - I Don't Know You People (7:47) The Cardigans - Erase/Rewind (3:36) Phillip Glass - Metamorphosis One (5:38) Gorillaz - White Light (2:08) Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy [Pappy Mix] (4:21) Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy [Mummy Mix] (4:24) Vast - Cello Song (4:36) Gorillaz - El Manana (3:50) Vast - Thrown Away (4:00) Billy Corgan - To Forgive For Nothing Less (3:58) Orbital - Know Where To Run (9:42) Vast - Don't Take Your Love Away (4:56) Vast - I Don't Have Anything (3:45)