Updated character info:
Singed Sarah
Aspects:
- Phase 1, Childhood:
- Sarah was born in a bad part of Philadelphia to a couple of poor, ignorant, working-class people. She showed signs of mental imbalance right from the start. However, being poor, nothing was done about it. Nothing good, anyways. Her parents, not understanding her situation at all, beat her in an attempt to get her to "straighten up". Her most prolific neurosis ended up being Pyromania. She quickly landed herself in juvy after a couple arsons, and when she proved to be too much for them, she was brought to the newly built Byberry Asylum in 1912, one of its first 30 patients. However, conditions in the institution quickly went sour - especially with Sarah around.
- Pyromaniac
- "Byberry is a damned hellhole!"
- Phase 2, The Great War:
- Sarah was still in Byberry when the war started. However, as she had showed signs of great intelligence (especially for planning and strategy) under her insanity, she was taken by the military in 1915 in their experiments for Project PASMAT, or "Psychological Adaptation for Self-control of the Mind for Advanced Tactics". While the experiments were a success and Sarah was now able to control her insanity, having it "on tap" as one officer put it, the war ended before Sarah could be given a formal military education and be put to use. She did learn a thing or two on her own during the experiments, though.
- Meticulous Strategist
- Insanity on Tap
- Phase 3, Post-War Antics, in Book Form:
- Singed Sarah in Taking Over the City of Brotherly Love: Some say she escaped from a secret underground military base. Some say that she was just let free after funding for the project in which she was experimented on got cut after the Great War ended. Some say that the project isn't over. Whatever the case, the pyromaniacal and meticulous Singed Sarah was out now, and ready to come home, to take over Philadelphia's criminal underworld!
- Project PASMAT Subject Gone AWOL
- The Iron Fist Holding Philly's Streets
- Phase 4:
- Phase 5:
Skills:
- Superb (+5):
- Resolve
- Great (+4):
- Intimidation
- Leadership
- Good (+3):
- Burglary
- Resources
- Contacting
- Fair (+2):
- Guns
- Endurance
- Deceit
- Stealth
- Average (+1):
- Empathy
- Alertness
- Academics
- Sleight of Hand
- Rapport
- Composure: 8
- Health: 6
Stunts:
- Inner Strength [Resolve]
- Still Standing [Resolve]
- Driven [Resolve]
- Subtle Menace [Intimidation]
- The Serpent's Tongue [Intimidation]
edited 19th Apr '10 4:51:33 PM by Matrix
Alright, now spiffify! The most powerful aspects are interesting ones, since they can show up all over the place. It's Aspect-rating time. - is bad, 0 is just fine, + is good. Don't worry about changing the 0s unless you get a flash of inspiration
- Pyromaniac (0)—simple and solid
- Former Inmate at Byberry Asylum (-)—it doesn't have very much zazz/content for its length.
- Meticulous Strategist (0)—solid
- Insanity on Tap (+)—very evocative
- Escaped From A Secret Military Base (-)—too long for too little
- Crime Boss of all Philadelphia (-)—ditto
Go ahead and take a look at section 3.1.2 for some tips.
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.Now try to say everything you want to say within six words or less. Aspects should be short and punchy. Also, details, man, details! Think of the difference between "Crime Boss of all Philadelphia"/"I control Philadelphia'a underworld" and "Queen of Brotherly Love". How do both of those differ from "King of Philadelphia"? What about "Philly's Dark Heart"? Each one says something a bit different and can come up in a situation that has nothing to do with the city. For example, calling her the "Queen" gives a sense of pride and regal bearing. You get more bang for your buck with stuff like that.
Exercise: Try to think of three situations where the Aspect could come up. If you have trouble, you probably want to rename it.
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.I don't think I have time to play in this right now, but I might in the future. I guess I'll go ahead and make a character now, as Ironeye suggested.
What do we have so far? Kara is a globetrotting hotshot business socialite, Lance is a Mad Scientist with a jetpack, and Matrix is a conditionally insane pyromaniac crime boss?
Millie Diamond
Phase 1: Background
- Millie was born to a successful Baltimore newspaper magnate (not in the same league as, say, William Randolph Hearst, but still wealthy enough to buy pearls and mink for his only child) and a cousin of one of Britain’s minor noble houses. Her early life was glamorous, but slightly lonely—she spent more time being cooed over by rich senior citizens than connecting with children her own age. She often diverted herself by reading the family publication, especially when the news concerned the fascinating discoveries being made in the Orient and Polynesia and Darkest Africa.
- My Name’s in the Papers
- Xenophile
Phase 2: The Great War
- Millie spent the Great War mostly in London, receiving her secondary education from the storied Oxford professor Charles Rochester and striking up a friendship with the brilliant but shy graduate student Maximilian Gentle. Whenever he could arrange safe travel, Rochester took her on trips to the Continent, exposing her to the cultures of the Allied nations and allowing her to witness the suffering that the war inflicted on Europe’s poor. Wherever they went, Rochester’s friends became hers…but it all came to a crashing end on November 12, 1918, when the professor was fatally shot by an unknown assailant as he, Millie, and Max were leaving a colleague’s Victory Party.
- The Professor’s Pet
- Help the Little People!
Phase 3: Millie Diamond and the Mysterious Mistress of Memphis!
- Baltimore heiress Millie Diamond has it all—looks, money, connections, and a wonderful fiancé in the person of the world-famous archaeologist Dr. Maximilian Gentle. But when Max disappears on the eve of their wedding, leaving only a note written in strange hieroglyphics, Millie is thrust from her comfortable world into a storm of danger and intrigue in distant Egypt! Can she thwart the machinations of the sinister Lady Victoria Pride? Will she ever see Max again? And can she solve the ancient mystery of the Mistress of Memphis? Find out in this, the first spine-tingling Millie Diamond adventure!
- Rivalry with Cousin Victoria
- "I’ll never give up on Max!"
Phase 4:
Phase 5:
Skills:
- Superb
- Rapport
- Great
- Contacting
- Resources
- Good
- Empathy
- Investigation
- Resolve
- Fair
- Academics
- Alertness
- Deceit
- Leadership
- Average
- Athletics
- Art
- Drive
- Guns
- Mysteries
- Resolve: 7
- Health: 5
Stunts:
- Walk the Walk [Contacting]
- Network of Contacts [Contacting]
- Five Minutes Friends [Rapport]
- International [Rapport]
- Smooth Recovery [Resolve]
edited 19th Apr '10 9:43:17 PM by Karalora
Dana "Great Dane" McCallister
Phase 1: Childhood
- Dana was born in Chicago to a relatively poor pair of factory workers. His parents labored in order to ensure that he could attend school and make a better life for himself some day. However, when he was only three years old, his parents were both killed in a fire that claimed the factory in which they worked. Several days later, as the legal authorities were still struggling to locate and contact any of the McCallisters' living relatives, a British business mogul named Alistair Bentham arrived, and offered to adopt young Dana. With a little bribe to grease the wheels, the matter was quickly wrapped up and Dana moved to London to live with Bentham as his benefactor and foster father. Bentham, however, was much more than a mere businessman: he was also the head of an organization known as the Ordo Corvi (Order of the Raven), an international crime ring specializing in methods more elaborate and subtle than simple larceny and contract killing. Dana developed into a very driven young man, focusing intensely on his studies and driving himself to ever greater heights of achievement, determined to earn his keep as Bentham's ward and prove himself a worthy successor to his business. He found that his greatest skills lay in an understanding of what made other people tick, and that he seemed to have an almost unnatural talent for winning people over and getting them to do what he wanted. Instead of merely intuiting their personalities through social interaction, he could almost solve them like logic puzzles.
- Challenge Seeker
- People Are Puzzles
Phase 2: The Great War
- The Ordo Corvi were thrown into chaos with the start of the war, as travel between European countries became a far more arduous task and America increasingly isolated itself. Bentham finally revealed the organization's existence to Dana, who Jumped at the Call to apply his talents on such a dynamic, high-stakes playing field. Expressing disgust with the war for reasons beyond mere inconvenience, Bentham imposed one unbreakable rule on Dana that was to apply to all his activities in service of the Ordo Corvi: he couldn't kill except in absolutely necessary self-defense. "Murder," as Bentham put it, "is so very distateful." Dana began conducting missions of espionage and sabotage, at first to serve the interests of the Ordo Corvi, and later directly in aid of the Allies once the organization committed to bet on their victory. As his missions ascended to ever greater heights of Refuge in Audacity, he came to realize that his talents had a literally supernatural quality to them. Bentham encouraged him to develop his abilities further, and provided him with the necessary materials to study the more practical applications of the occult. By the war's end, Dana had very nearly mastered his hypnotic abilities and was set to take his place as Bentham's right hand in the Ordo Corvi. He had also earned the nickname "Great Dane" within the organization for the astounding deceptions he had pulled off during the war.
- "Murder is So Very Distasteful"
- Refuge in Audacity
Phase 3: Great Dane Mc Callister and the Grasp of the Black Talon
- The Great Dane's most critical assignment to date finds him searching for a traitor within the ranks of the Ordo Corvi, only to be confronted with the shocking revelation that his mentor may have had a hand in his parents' death. Betrayed by his family of eighteen years, the Dane sets his sights ever higher and aims not only to build a new life for himself, but for the entire world as well. But can even he escape... the Grasp of the Black Talon?
- Wayward Son of the Ordo Corvi
- Benevolent Megalomaniac (a.k.a. 'The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it!')
- Skills
- Mysteries (+5)
- Empathy (+4)
- Resources (+4)
- Academics (+3)
- Resolve (+3)
- Weapons (+3)
- Athletics (+2)
- Contacting (+2)
- Deceit (+2)
- Rapport (+2)
- Alertness (+1)
- Endurance (+1)
- Intimidation (+1)
- Investigation (+1)
- Stealth (+1)
- Stunts
- Headquarters [Resources]
- Mesmerist [Mysteries]
- Hypnotic Speech [Mysteries]
- Mind's Shadow [Mysteries]
- Enthrall [Mysteries]
- Health 6
- Resolve 7
edited 23rd Apr '10 9:20:19 PM by arimnaes
@Matrix: Do the three-situation test on the asylum aspect if you haven't already. If you have, I'm interested in seeing what you came up with.
@Kara: Those are all good or great. We'll have to discuss exactly what they mean, of course, but I can see how they would all come up in both good and bad ways. Also, Victoria Pride—if you're interested in her appearing again (as I assume you are, given that aspect), you're welcome to give me all of the details you have thought of (up to a mostly completed character sheet) so I can use her in the campaign. Note: For an NPC, you can just come up with Aspects independent of time period/adventures.
Also, I need a player count for character creation (not necessarily for the first session—it's generally easy to come in late if you already have a character). My current list:
- Matrix
- Kara
- Lance
- Jinxed
- arim
- Me—I'm making a Centurion so that I can play if someone else wants to GM for a weekend, and so that I have an exposition button in the Century Club whenever I need one (such as the the first third of the first session). He won't be making any skill rolls, tapping Aspects, etc. in my games unless the player characters drag him into a situation where I don't intend him to be, which I know that none of you would ever think of doing.
Since this is a new system, this weekend (Friday?) will just be character creation and rules discussion, with actual play beginning in a week and a half.
Edit: @arim: I'm worried about Benevolent Megalomaniac—it doesn't seem like the quality of a pulp action hero. Master Manipulator is a bit too generically beneficial to be a good aspect. Challenge Seeker is fine as-is, but is the one I'd be most tempted to jazz up after the first two are dealt with.
edited 19th Apr '10 11:24:43 PM by Ironeye
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.Byberry Aspect Situations:
- Easily angering Sarah (when sane) by mentioning the place. (Her Resolve makes her difficult to emotionally manipulate - mentioning Byberry pretty much bypasses that)
- Making Sarah (when insane, on mention) more likely to be compelled by Insanity on Tap, forgetting that she can turn the tap off.
- Triggering a sidequest to take down Byberry and whatever secrets it may hold behind its walls (evil Mad Scientists and their horrid experiments, most likely)
edited 19th Apr '10 11:24:08 PM by Matrix
@Matrix:
- How many people know that she was there? How often will this come up completely unconnected to #3?
- There is no roll on a Compel—I just offer a fate point and use choose whether or not to buy out
- This one's good.
edited 19th Apr '10 11:27:31 PM by Ironeye
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.She's tried to take it down before and failed - some people are bound to have noticed and put two and two together.
I never meant to imply that there was a roll for Compels, just that compelling this when she is insane can be an easy segue into compelling Insanity on Tap.
Ah, see, now that's a detail you needed to add in the backstory. I'd suggest having that as the focus of her first pulp adventure instead of using "Singed Sarah in Taking Over the City of Brotherly Love". Are two of the heroes really going to help her take over the Philadelphia underworld? I'd think it's more likely that they would aid her in her quest to investigate a corrupt organization.
Anyway, regarding the compel of Insane On Tap, I'd just hit that directly. Really, that situation would be folded into the previous one, since "someone else mentions it and it riles her up" is the situation, independent of sanity.
edited 19th Apr '10 11:52:11 PM by Ironeye
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.Re: Benevolent Megalomaniac - Amidst all the Serious Business in the writeup, I may have failed to articulate the core of the character concept, as I see it. He's basically a Challenge Gamer in the game that is life, and to Take Over the World is the ultimate challenge. (Incidentally, although there is a certain moral obligation behind his Technical Pacifist vow, the other reason he sticks to it is as a Self-Imposed Challenge - he's basically doing a Pacifist Run of real life.) Though he might not admit it, he quite possibly might have eventually up and left Ordo Corvi even had events not directly set him in that direction, because he'd pretty much reached the limit of his possible advancement there and was starting to get bored. What's more, after all his exhilarating wartime adventures, the prospect of inheriting what is fundamentally a business organization suddenly looked rather uninteresting. For sure, if he ever actually succeeded at taking over the world, he'd probably relinquish it within a day as soon as he realized that actually running the world involves a lot of tedious bureaucracy. Bottom line is, I imagine the way this aspect would manifest itself during gameplay would be primarily through M. Bison-esque hamminess and his insistence that everything is going Just As Planned. I personally think it could work in the setting, but I could take the character's motivation in a different direction if you'd rather.
Re: Master Manipulator - Yeah, although this one was a significant part of how I conceived the character, it probably doesn't function too well as an aspect since it's pretty universally positive. I'll see if I can rework this. Perhaps I could switch it to something like "People Are Puzzles," and although he's very good at solving those puzzles, he starts to get a little unhealthily obsessive whenever he meets someone that he can't easily figure out. (Tying back into his desire to meet any challenge presented him. Also, I just realized that this sort of makes him sound like The Riddler, huh.)
edited 20th Apr '10 12:24:49 AM by arimnaes
I had some other post written up, but I think I solved at least most of the problems. Also, I've implemented a tip that Kara gave me for her name and how it rolls of the tongue. Thanks, Kara.
Sarah the Singed
Aspects:
- Phase 1, Childhood:
- Sarah was born in a bad part of Philadelphia to a couple of poor, ignorant, working-class people. She showed signs of mental imbalance right from the start. However, being poor, nothing was done about it. Nothing good, anyways. Her parents, not understanding her situation at all, beat her in an attempt to get her to "straighten up". Her most prolific neurosis ended up being Pyromania. She quickly landed herself in juvy after a couple arsons, and when she proved to be too much for them, she was brought to the newly built Byberry Asylum in 1912, one of its first 30 patients. However, conditions in the institution quickly went sour - especially with Sarah around.
- Pyromaniac
- Disdain for Ignorance
- Phase 2, The Great War:
- Sarah was still in Byberry when the war started. However, as she had showed signs of great intelligence (especially for planning and strategy) under her insanity, she was taken by the military in 1915 in their experiments for Project PASMAT, or "Psychological Adaptation for Self-control of the Mind for Advanced Tactics". While the experiments were a success and Sarah was now able to control her insanity, having it "on tap" as one officer put it, the war ended before Sarah could be given a formal military education and be put to use. She did learn a thing or two on her own during the experiments, though.
- Meticulous Strategist
- Insanity on Tap
- Phase 3, Post-War Antics, in Book Form:
- Sarah the Singed in 'The Byberry Assault': Some say she escaped from a secret underground military base. Some say that she was just let free after funding for the project in which she was experimented on got cut after the Great War ended. Some say that the project isn't over. Whatever the case, the pyromaniacal and meticulous Sarah the Singed was out now. She returned home to Philadelphia and made her nest by grabbing its criminal underworld with an iron fist! Now with a secure network of resources to draw from, she sets her sights on the devil from her past with a dark secret: Byberry Asylum! Can she stop the horrid and dastardly happenings and save the lives and wellbeing of the mentally ill held there?
- Project PASMAT Subject Gone AWOL
- The Iron Fist Holding Philly's Streets
- Phase 4:
- Phase 5:
Skills:
- Superb (+5):
- Resolve
- Great (+4):
- Intimidation
- Leadership
- Good (+3):
- Burglary
- Resources
- Contacting
- Fair (+2):
- Guns
- Endurance
- Deceit
- Stealth
- Average (+1):
- Empathy
- Alertness
- Academics
- Sleight of Hand
- Rapport
- Composure: 8
- Health: 6
Stunts:
- Inner Strength [Resolve]
- Still Standing [Resolve]
- Driven [Resolve]
- Subtle Menace [Intimidation]
- The Serpent's Tongue [Intimidation]
This new version of the story has her defeating Byberry - but perhaps one of the Mad Scientists escaped and plans revenge?

I don't think there are any issues with that stunt set.
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.