Code Indigo: A Mutant City Blues Campaign

Pretty much everyone is getting ready for GenCon, or is otherwise gobsmacked by its imminence. We are therefore in a grace period until Monday following the convention (August 18th). Feel free to continue playing during that time, but I'll have less of a "holy crap, this needs to happen!" attitude towards it all until then.

(That said, having concluded the scene between Haigh and Paul, I believe Ryan's still awaiting Judd's reply to the whole "did we get fingerprints" thing.)

This is the OOC thread for Investigation: Lieutenant Haigh's Office, 5:59 AM. Please direct any purely-OOC conversation, table-talk, attaboys, fan-mail, declarations of weak sauce, or lengthy sidebar discussions to the comments on this post.

"Outsiders" watching the game are welcome to comment here.

Any questions about general policy should refer to the posting guidelines.

A pair of coffee cups in hand, Det. Friel approaches Sergeant Mike Nadler's desk, not far from Lieutenant Haigh's Office. "What sort of mood's Haigh in today, Mike?" he asks, setting one of mugs down on the coaster on Nadler's desk and eying the closed door.

[Tag: Fred] 

This is the OOC thread for Investigation: Back at the Station, July 26th, 2018, 5:43am. Please direct any purely-OOC conversation, table-talk, attaboys, fan-mail, declarations of weak sauce, or lengthy sidebar discussions to the comments on this post.

"Outsiders" watching the game are welcome to comment here.

Any questions about general policy should refer to the posting guidelines.

[Pushing forward since I got no indication of a desire of scene-closure from Ryan or Paul. That said, please feel free to have any scene-finishing discussion back in the appropriate thread. This thread is where we pick back up, at the station, with Judd's character introduced.]

With all said and done, It's a few hours later by the time Friel and Cranston get back to the station. Det. Jonas Talerico is there, early for his shift, with his desk entirely too orderly to belong to a working cop. That said, he's got one incredible-smelling pot of coffee at hand.

[Tag: Paul, Judd, Ryan]

Detective Jonas Talerico, The "Rookie" (Played by Judd Karlman)

No one's quite sure who Jonas Talerico is related to that got him this kind of suction, but the kid was fast-tracked out of the Academy to work in the HCIU, ahead of several others on the waiting list. With his healing abilities and heightened strength, he could certainly be making a better living in the private sector, but here he is.

Investigative abilities:

Cop Talk: 2, Flattery: 3, Flirting: 3, Intimidation: 1, Archaeology: 2, Art History: 2, Forensic Accounting: 4, Occult Studies: 3, Research: 4, Textual Analysis: 2, Chemistry: 2, Fingerprinting: 2

General abilities:

Athletics: 10, Driving: 3, Filch: 1, Health: 13, Infiltration: 1, Mechanics: 2, Medic: 5, Preparedness: 4, Scuffling: 5, Sense Trouble: 1, Shooting: 2, Stability: 7, Surveillance: 7

Mutant General Abilities:

Strength: 17, Regeneration: 8, Healing: 6

Defects:

Messiah Complex: Incipient

Judd, I'll be integrating you into the case when the others get back to the station. Shouldn't be too far off, as I think Ryan's just tying up some loose ends in the scene.

This is the OOC thread for Crime Scene: The Meds, July 26th, 2018, 2:17 am. Please direct any purely-OOC conversation, table-talk, attaboys, fan-mail, declarations of weak sauce, or lengthy sidebar discussions to the comments on this post.

"Outsiders" watching the game are welcome to comment here.

Any questions about general policy should refer to the posting guidelines.

Cranston and Friel pulled the Graveyard for this week, and are using the quiet time to get the usual pile of bullshit paperwork cleared off their desks. Too bad it doesn't last long. A call comes in from a patrolman by the name of Crincks who thinks he has a heightened crime on his hands (or is at least eager to pass the buck on whatever it is he's got).

The scene is down at the Meadows Apartment Complex, or "The Meds" as it tends to be called. Lots of folks on their way into or out of recovery from all sorts of nasty habits, here. It's not a pleasant part of town, but what is, these days? Add to it the Summer heat -- stinking and humid, even at 2am -- and the neighborhood's positively ripe.

Crincks is waiting by his patrol car. His partner (if he has one) isn't immediately visible. Blue and red lights play across the walls of the Meds, occasionally illuminating faces both pale and dark, peering out at the light-show.

[Handoff: Paul, Ryan]

Okay guys, I will do my best to start Code Indigo proper tomorrow (since I'm posting just past midnight, I'm gonna take the easy road and use this to either mean starting Tuesday or Wednesday, ha!). Paul and Ryan have ready characters; we can integrate Judd once his is done (or I can run a side-plot with him; I'm easy).

I was saying to Paul at Origins, I don't plan to go for "standard length" cases here. I'm going to treat it like the big board in a homicide division. You get the cases that come in, when your turn's up. You do the work. If you're lucky or smart, you get to clear one and your bosses don't crap on you for a week. Lather rinse repeat. Some cases will, thus, be short. Others will be giant shitballs that you're gonna be on the hook to untangle. I won't let on as to what's what except by you investigating it.

Ryan and Paul, I want character descriptions, and sort of "my current life" summaries, a few sentences each max, in reply to this post.

Judd -- whenever you get a chance, a character, please!

[Handoff: Players]

I have two of three characters in from the players. I need the third. [Handoff: Judd]

Here's where we are.

---

Ex-Agent Now-HCIU Detective Lionel Cranston (Played by Ryan Macklin)

Det. Cranston used to work for the government. Given his powers -- some of which might not be known to the police force he works for -- some interesting questions exist about his background. His background is broad, but focuses most on the technical analysis side of investigations.

Investigative abilities:

Anamorphology: 2, Anthropology: 1, Architecture: 1, Ballistics: 1, Bullshit Detector: 1, Bureaucracy: 1, Cop Talk: 2, Cryptography: 1, Document Analysis: 1, Electronic Surveillance: 1, Energy Residue Analysis: 1, Forensic Anthropology: 1, Forensic Entomology: 1, Forensic Psychology: 2, History: 1, Impersonate: 2, Interrogation: 2, Intimidation: 2, Languages: 1, Law: 1, Natural History: 1, Photography: 1, Streetwise: 1, Trivia: 1

General abilities:

Athletics: 4, Filch: 3, Health: 13, Infiltration: 4, Preparedness: 2, Scuffling: 8, Sense Trouble: 4, Shooting: 8, Stability: 11, Surveillance: 4

Mutant Investigative Abilities:

Translation: 3, Observe Dreams: 3

Mutant General Abilities:

Empathy: 5, Induce Mental Disorder: 5, Induce Fear: 5

Defects:

Schizophrenia: Incipient.

---

Senior HCIU Detective Morgan Friel (Played by Paul Tevis)

Sr. Detective Friel has been around for a while, and is basically a "cop's cop" with Aquaman powers. Working on the force for a while now has ground him down a bit. As an investigator, his focus is more on the interpersonal angle.

Investigative abilities:

Bullshit Detector: 2, Bureaucracy: 2, Cop Talk: 2, Data Retrieval: 1, Electronic Surveillance: 2, Evidence Collection: 2, Explosive Devices: 1, Forensic Psychology: 2, Influence Detection: 2, Interrogation: 4, Intimidation: 4, Law: 1, Negotiation: 2, Reassurance: 1, Streetwise: 2

General abilities:

Athletics: 4, Driving: 4, Health: 10, Infiltration: 2, Mechanics: 2, Medic: 2, Preparedness: 2, Scuffling: 9, Sense Trouble: 6, Shooting: 8, Stability: 8, Surveillance: 4

Mutant General Abilities:

Gills: 4, Swimming: 4, Sonar: 4, Sonic Blast: 7, Command Fish: 2

I'm back from Origins. Folks should be at least part-way along in statting up their characters by July 4th. Where are folks at with their thoughts and stats?

[Handoff: Ryan, Paul, Judd]

Probably the best ten pages in the playtest file are pages 125-135 that talk about your responsibilities as an HCIU officer, what got you there, and what the *real* rules are behind the "book rules" as a cop. I strongly recommend reading that chapter while we're working on character creation. It also has the advantage that it's short enough for easy digestion.

This post is for discussion of this particular topic, should we care to.

[Handoff (Optional): Ryan, Paul, Judd]

Okay, note that I'm going to be gone at Origins this coming week (as is Paul), so this next bit will probably be spread out over the course of the week. But this is the nitty gritty detailed part, so that's okay!

We all want friction between the locals and the Feds (I feel this was practically telegraphed when DC was chosen as the city!).

While Ryan voted for Feds, Paul and Judd like the local angle so we can explore the seedy elements of DC more.

Judd says he's willing to play the (given the competence of PCs in MCB, talented) rookie newcomer/third wheel.

Ryan wants to be able to work federal cases, or at least tread on federal ground, deal with some of the national government elements. I can give assurances that that will come in, even playing city police. But with that said, Ryan, I'm still okay with you going for the Fed guy among the city police here, but you said you didn't want to play a high-status outsider, so that choice could be tricky.

Paul is looking to play an ambitious detective, looking for a promotion. Paul doesn't want to be a rookie, and doesn't want to be an outsider, so he's sort of going to tell us where the "center" of things is, I think. An established guy within the city police HCIU.

I'd like folks to think about what their character concepts are beyond the above, and give us all a quick two or three sentence bio (you can go longer if the muse captures you) on your guy. This stuff won't be set in stone, but it'll give us a starting point for understanding one another's place in the story. Post these bios as their own comments on this main post.

Then I want each other player to reply to those bios and establish one or more facts about the relationship between their character and the bio'd character.

Example: Amy creates Det. Winehouse, talking about him as seasoned cop just into his 60's and looking at retirement. She ends her bio with a [Handoff: Bob, Chuck]. Bob replies and talks about how his rookie cop always looked up to Det. Winehouse. Chuck replies and talks about how his maverick ways have always rubbed Winehouse wrong, leading to some nasty shouting matches and the rare scuffle.

In parallel to this process, start working up the stats for your characters. I've sent you spreadsheets that should make this process easier. If you have any questions about the spreadsheet, reply to this post so I can answer things for you.

As you stat up your character, reply to this post and talk about the investigative skills that you're focusing on. As Ryan has rightly pointed out, we want to make sure folks spread out their Investigative Ability points enough to give us total or near-total coverage on all of the 40 (!) investigative abilities.

I am a strong believer in character creation as a social activity. I welcome and encourage you all to talk it through in the comments on this post, to the degree that you're interested and willing.

[Handoff: Paul, Ryan, Judd]

Okay, the poll gave us DC 8, Vegas 7, so we're going with DC. Ironic, given that I am the nonvoter and yet live closest to it of all of us. Result: Washington, DC is Mutant City.

Now it's time to talk characters. Before we get to the stats, I want us to think a bit about what structure our three PCs are going to fit into. Cop stories are usually built around the partner angle, but we've got three players here instead of two.

There are a few paradigms we could go with here -- maybe there's a reason that the Hightened Crimes Investigative Unit is inclined to put a group of three guys together, but it's also possible that we've got a "Two plus One" situation here, where the two are partners, and the one is in some way unequal. Could be their commanding officer, or the new rookie on a ridealong -- or he could be an outsider, on loan to the HCIU or otherwise on special assignment.

Since we're talking Washington, DC here, I'm seeing that we have a chance to decide that the HCIU is either a federal entity, a local police entity, or a mixed type task-force -- maybe Homeland Security likes the idea that the FBI or Secret Service should have some oversight on what the DC city police are doing about superpowered crime.

There's a lot of places we could go here. What options have I missed? What ones appeal to folks?

[Handoff: Judd, Paul, Ryan]

Okay, I think we're all amenable to Judd's two suggested cities, and alternatives haven't gotten traction.

So it's time for a vote. You each have 5 points to allocate between these two options; you must allocate all your points. Highest total will win. If it somehow turns into a tie, I will cast the tiebreaking vote (though if my math's right, that should be unnecessary, since there are 15 points total and two options).

For example, Amy might allocate 2 points to Vegas and 3 points to DC, while Bob might allocate 4 points to Vegas and 1 point to DC. In this example, Vegas gets a total of 6 points, and DC gets 5, so Vegas would be the city of choice.

Poll #1209717 Which city? Allocate 5 points among two options.
This poll is closed.
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Choose your mix

[Handoff: Ryan, Paul, Judd]

Okay, the first challenge we have in setting up our game, something I'd like to get sorted out before we do character creation, is one of place. According to Mutant City Blues, the standard place to set a game -- the place to be your campaign's personal Mutant City -- is the city you all live in. Which doesn't work so well for us as an internet game with each player living in a different part of the country.

Anyone have any strong feelings about what to do about this? We could try creating a fictional city (less preferred), or picking a well-known city that all of us feel like we can at least fake it with.

What attributes and what kind of history do we want our Mutant City to have? Consider the differences among New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New Orleans, just to get the idea-ball rolling.

[Handoff: Paul, Ryan, Judd]

Okay! codeindigo is going to be a Mutant City Blues campaign that I'm going to run play-by-post style for ptevis, judd_sonofbert, and macklinr.

Here's my general thoughts about posting processes for this game, which will almost certainly change over the course of play:

- Each scene will be one post. The subject line will give a location and a timestamp as well as other short pieces of information. Something like: "June 21st, 11:53am: Centurion Avenue; One body, male."

- We'll try to keep comments from "nesting" too much. Non-game/community members are on moderated commenting, so while outsiders can weigh in, I'll be trying to "quarantine" such posts to a single Peanut Gallery comment thread.

- Posts and comments must make clear use of handoffs, indicating who the "baton" is getting handed to for the next post. When in doubt, hand the baton to me. So a post should look something like:

Donovan sits forward in his seat, uncomfortable; he might be hiding something, or he might just need to go to the bathroom.

[Handoff: Ryan]

This sort of thing is absolutely crucial to making sure we overcome the typical "dead in the water" issues that plague many a PBP game.

- EDIT: Players (and the GM) should make liberal use of the "Track This" feature of Livejournal. Get LJ to email you when new posts go on this community; when a new post comes up, use "Track This" (it's the thumbtack icon) to get emailed when comments are made even when they're not in reply to you.

Anyone have other guidelines or procedures they'd like this game to follow? Speak up.