Recruitment and OOC thread for Sapphire City

[NezMaster]

Photo (Steve Buscemi, imdb)
http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Events/6265/ActorStev_Steve_14518535_400.jpg

Everyone of your photos says Permission Denied.

[Dr Yes]

Everyone of your photos says Permission Denied.

Yeah imdb seems to stop other web servers making use of their images too many times per day.
Go to the blog/website in my signiture (below) and you will see most images and intro profiles there.  I will continue posting the majority of the npc info on the threads here.

[Dr Yes]

Presuming I can do that..

Yes you can, that is not an unreasonable request.  The agency can provided that to you as part of your deployment.

That's the plan. I'm sure it will go wrong long before I get that far, but that's the plan.
(is this what you had in mind?)

Yes that is spot on.  You outline what you hope to do, we fast forward thru the tedious/slow/boring parts (with maybe a few dice checks if needed) and I bring the action in at the part were things have the potential to be interesting.  Once that part is sorted out, you reveiew you plan from that point and we rinse and repeat.

Just give me a bit of time to set the game thread up and we can get cracking.   
Based on what we have so far we will probably fast forward to your discussion with Graham, and then potentially proceed straight to your discussion with Mike.

[NezMaster]

Duh...I just realized. I have 4 cover Id's and have yet to post any of them...I totally forgot. I've never played a face before. Sorry I didn't post these with the character.

Cover ID 1: Willy the Shark. Known Mob Enforcer, specializing in gambling and gambling debts. A reputation for taking unneccesary risks. (Interests; Stocks, Politics, Profession: Mob Enforcer)

Cover ID 2: Dr. Amos Morrison: Practicing Psychiatrist who has been cited several times for writing phony perscriptions. Never prosecuted, still has liscence.
Interests: Drugs, Sports Profession: Psychiatrist

Cover ID 3: Alvin Spencer: Banker with a rich wife who is vacationing in paris. Reputation for being unfaithful. Interests: Kink, France, Profession: Banker

Cover ID 4: Ken White: Driver: squeaky clean past. Rode breifly in the race circuit, then retired to an elite limo service in North Hollywood. False Bank accounts show previously high balance, but currently very low. Interests: Cars, Racing Profession: Driver

[Dr Yes]

Yeah thats fine, I'm not really trying to catch people out (yet), so minor changes and late admendments are ok.  Obviously as you change things try keep the main character sheet updated.

[spinningdice]

Character is just taking minor finishing touches... Couple of queries while I'm doing so.

1) What sort of mission calibre is likely? Or in other words to function as a hacker am I better off using my Caliber III possessions pick on a computer or leaving to to my Electronics picks (currently leaning towards the latter, but if we're stuck doing caliber I/II missions all the time I'd revise)
2) What sort of contacts do you recommend, going for a vibe with contacts across the criminal underworld, I'd like to flesh out my contacts a little more than just class abilities/skills though - as a follow on question how organised is Organised Crime in the city, I'm envisioning a pretty diverse underworld with all manner of Old School mafia to high tech cybercriminals.
3) How fleshed out do you want lifestyle options, I've taken to not bothering much as it rarely comes up, but would you prefer me to actually quantify my personal vehicle (I used to all the time until I was informed that it's not for use on missions) and home etc.

Finally I note you've already started with Nezmaster, I was wondering if the intention is to have us all doing diverse missions and joining up together only when necessary or if we're supposed to be working together solidly on each others missions.

If I get some answers to these queries I should be able to post up my character later today (if I don't I'll probably post it anyway acknowledging that it's a WiP).

[Dr Yes]

1) Caliber 2 represents your starting gear (which can replace in a batch load now and then). I'm running fast and loose in terms of gear, so you can buy/trade/steal a better computer in game and use that until it gets trashed or comprimised.  Its not an ideal (or balanced) model gear wise, but its quick and easy.

2A) I would suggest you spread your contacts thru an assortment of social levels and organisation (types).  Alternatively hold some in reserve, then during the game declare "one of my contacts works in admin for the motor licensing department" (etc).  Not strictly by the rules, but good enough as long as you don't change them after you use them.  Feel free to pick all or most of them being in Sapphire City.

2B) There is an assortment of crime operations running across the city, most are small "operations" trying get larger without getting shut down.  There are only 2 slightly larger organised crime "families" in the city (one english[+australian], one french[+canadian]) but they still need to go thru the motions of appearing to not be a crime family.  They are suspected by many, but always seem to operate thru intermediaries so nothing "sticks" to them.

3) Its really up to you, the more you make you use of lifestyle options the more you should detail them.  Otherwise just use the level for now until you have need to detail them.

Finally) Some diverse (the shorter easier stuff, especially the one person meeting someone else or doing a background task) and some in small or medium size teams (the more involved stuff, like a bank heist or planing security for an event).  The diverse/single stuff means the game can progress without always waiting for whoever is least active that week.  The single will link up and cross over a bit as well, for example:
+ One single person contact may provide the alarm blueprint needed for your group mission.
+ One of your contacts wants something that someone elses contact has access to.

This post was a bit rushed sorry, hope it answers your questsions.

[Morganti]

After a bit of endless thought.

Dr. Yes, does the group need combat capable, or should i break out the mental bunnie ?

you can toss me a PM about it, and i will post up which ever you feel the group needs more.  Both are strong social characters regardless.

[Dr Yes]

I've put the reply here for the benefit of other potential players as well - use of combat characters/abilities in this game is worth a quick clarification

Its pretty clear from what we have discussed previously that the game will not feature a lot of standard spycraft combat encounters, based on that it might be tempting to think strong combat ability has no place.

I would like to emphasis however that having some of the abilities and appearance of a combat character provides other benefits as well, for example:
1) Some combats can be finished just after they start, by competently and quickly taking out or disabling some opponents (forcing a morale check and/or a revision of the plan on the rest).
2) Some npcs will be less likely to attack when the opposition includes physically intimidating people or those who look like (or have previously demonstrated) they are able combatants.
3) Being combat capable gives you the skills to take jobs that will introduce you to other interesting npcs - bodyguard, security guard, "heavy", street-fighting contestant, etc.
4) If you want to do any assassination/hitman/wetworks operations, having the ability to perform well in the surprise round and the opening round makes the task more viable and playable in this format.


So yes Morganti, the group could do with a combat capable character (with a few other skills/abilities).  But you should of course play something you will enjoy, and a mental character also has its strengths.  Hope this helps answer your question.

[Morganti]

Oh, I enjoy all my charcters

My combot character just doesn't look like shes dangerous,

So I will flip a coin, and post either the DJ with the razor discs, or the hyperactive slueth

[Bubbalin]

Okay, I should have my character ready in by tonight...

How would you like us to enter the game Dr Yes?

[Dr Yes]

So I will flip a coin, and post either the DJ with the razor discs, or the hyperactive slueth

They both sound quite interesting and a bit different, so either should be good fun.
If you really can't decide, post both and do a short mission with each.  

[Dr Yes]

How would you like us to enter the game Dr Yes?

Cool, you have several options:
1) Pick one of the npcs from earlier and plan a way to interact with them (refer to what nezmaster posted before for his outline as an example).
2) Post a plan for something else you feel like doing initially with your character.  You might want to visit a nightclub, line up some choice accomodation, steal a hot car, befriend a hobo, destroy a grabage truck, etc.  In this case outline a similar plan of intent/action for your character.  What you do is pretty open, but it would be good if it fitted in as part of a worthwhile larger goal.
3) Arrange on this thread with another player to meet up with them and help them out (or do some other task together).
4) Ask me for the chance to meet some other npc, giving some idea of what you are ideally looking for.

You can also (optionally) prepare a post on an arriving in Sapphire city, which would cover any interesting story telling up the point of your first actual game post.  Any actions you could perform by taking 10 could be included, as could details of how you got to teh city, where you are intially going to stay, what you are weaing, what you have been recently thinking about, what music was playing in the taxi, etc.  If done well there is a chance of a bonus action dice, emphasis should be on something interesting rather then something long. 
 

[Dr Yes]

This is now also the official OOC (out of character thread) for Sapphire City.

Feel free to use it to plan future/ongoing/joint events where it would seem out of place in the actual game progression threads, advise of long absences, or whatever suits.

When trying to keep in character in the other threads, keep in mind character representation includes what you might be thinking or hoping for, as well as the usual of what you are saying or doing.  Explanation of why your character chose to do a particular thing (where not obvious) are also character representation.
Finally if the OOC comment fits in more by being on the actual game thread, just put it at the bottom or top of your post in italics.

[Bubbalin]

Alrighty... Done an extensive update, which doesn't quite show because I just edited my previous post...

Any comments?

I think I'm ready to join in... I just have some equipment to select, but I can do that pretty quickly.

My thinking is that Reese has just gotten into town, and she's going to try and cause a stir on the social scene. The plan is to dress up looking like a million bucks and get into 'the' venue of choice for the city's movers and shakers... Once we identify some of them, perhaps we can look for leverage.

PS. If you want this to be the OOC thread, you could change the thread name by modifying the title in your first post. Just a suggestion.