Editing Night Birds
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
− | A slightly surreal dark urban fantasy PbP game of ''Cartoon Action Hour Season 3'' run by | + | A slightly surreal dark urban fantasy PbP game of ''Cartoon Action Hour Season 3'' run by Max. |
[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/interest-planning-cah3-cartoon-noir-with-a-touch-of-dark-urban-fantasy-or-magical-realism.849494/ Interest thread] | [https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/interest-planning-cah3-cartoon-noir-with-a-touch-of-dark-urban-fantasy-or-magical-realism.849494/ Interest thread] | ||
Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
== The Series == | == The Series == | ||
+ | |||
+ | Main theme: [https://tinyurl.com/yyo8eonr Julee Cruise, "Kool Kat Walk"] | ||
<!-- | <!-- | ||
− | + | Closing credits: [https://tinyurl.com/yyxka4ly Julee Cruise, "Until the End of the World"] | |
− | |||
− | |||
--> | --> | ||
− | '''''Night Birds''''' takes place in a world combining 1930s fashions and moods with 1980s technology, inspired by things like ''Batman: The Animated Series'' | + | '''''Night Birds''''' takes place in a world combining 1930s fashions and moods with 1980s technology, inspired by things like ''Batman: The Animated Series'', ''The Big O'', ''film noir'', hard-boiled detective stories, urban fantasy and magical realism. The visual style is stark and sharp, with clear strong lines, solid black shadows and sparingly used highlights of bright color. The soundtrack is dominated by '80s dreampop and contemporary synthwave. The protagonists are various people entangled in some way with the crime and corruption of the city, imperfect heroes or goodhearted crooks with too much decency to merely look away when they see a wrong too great to stomach. |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
=== Dials === | === Dials === | ||
Line 34: | Line 28: | ||
'''Violence: 3 (4?)''' - There will be blood, there will be death, and either might be yours. As a rule, the series aims for at most a TV-14 rating in terms of on-screen portrayal of sex, drugs and violence. When in doubt, err towards stylishly coy rather than explicitly graphic. | '''Violence: 3 (4?)''' - There will be blood, there will be death, and either might be yours. As a rule, the series aims for at most a TV-14 rating in terms of on-screen portrayal of sex, drugs and violence. When in doubt, err towards stylishly coy rather than explicitly graphic. | ||
− | '''Continuity: 2''' - | + | '''Continuity: 2''' - Episodes are mostly self-contained, but connected by some overarching storylines and character arcs, and the events of any given episode can change the status quo of future episodes. |
=== Player Character Guidelines === | === Player Character Guidelines === | ||
− | '''Star Power:''' | + | '''Star Power: 3''' |
'''Tier and Trait Points:''' Human tier, 18 points to spend on Traits (maximum rating 4). | '''Tier and Trait Points:''' Human tier, 18 points to spend on Traits (maximum rating 4). | ||
− | |||
− | |||
=== Houserules === | === Houserules === | ||
Line 50: | Line 42: | ||
You lose one Setback Token after each scene in which you appear. If you are Defeated by physical injuries, you do not lose any Setback Tokens until you receive proper medical care. | You lose one Setback Token after each scene in which you appear. If you are Defeated by physical injuries, you do not lose any Setback Tokens until you receive proper medical care. | ||
− | You can get back up and rejoin the action at any point after being Defeated, but if you do so and gain | + | You can get back up and rejoin the action at any point after being Defeated, but if you do so and gain even one more Setback Token, you are DEAD, <u>even if neither of these Defeats is physical in nature</u>. |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
== Player Characters == | == Player Characters == | ||
− | === Player Character | + | === Player Character Name (Player Name) === |
− | [[File:filename.jpg|right| | + | <!--[[File:filename.jpg|right|400px]]--> |
− | + | Brief description of the characters background, manner and looks, including one signature piece of color (blue suit, red tie, gold dress, green eyes etc). | |
'''Base Oomph:''' 3 | '''Base Oomph:''' 3 | ||
Line 92: | Line 55: | ||
'''Upgrades:''' Upgrade X, Upgrade Y, Upgrade Z | '''Upgrades:''' Upgrade X, Upgrade Y, Upgrade Z | ||
− | '''Signature Quality:''' | + | '''Signature Quality:''' Player-Controlled Protagonist |
'''Standard Qualities:''' A Quality, Another Quality | '''Standard Qualities:''' A Quality, Another Quality | ||
− | '''Traits:''' Trait 4 (Special Rule), Trait 3 (Special Rule), Trait 3 (Special Rule), Trait 2, Trait 2, Trait 2, Trait 2 | + | '''Traits:''' Trait Name 4 (Special Rule), Trait Name 3 (Special Rule), Trait Name 3 (Special Rule), Trait Name 2, Trait Name 2, Trait Name 2, Trait Name 2 |
− | === | + | == Other Characters == |
− | |||
− | + | === Anita Voorheisen, Chief of Police === | |
− | ''' | + | By some miracle, an honest cop on top of the pile. A confirmed old maid. Runs a kennel in her spare time. |
+ | |||
+ | === Bartholomew "Boss" Blackwell === | ||
+ | |||
+ | The ''de facto'' head of organized crime in the city and notable philanthropist. Big, loud, flamboyant, likes white suits and cheap cigars. | ||
− | + | === Charles Donovan, Mayor === | |
− | + | Richer than the rich and more crooked than the crooks, but quite popular, largely due to his unapologetically brash public persona. Always seems shorter than expected in person. | |
− | + | === The Ineffable Giraud === | |
− | + | Notorious astrologer, clairvoyant and crimefighter. Alluringly mysterious, roguishly charming and insufferably competent. | |
− | === | + | === The Matchstick Girls === |
− | |||
− | + | An army of street vendors who sell matchsticks, cigarettes, candy, flowers and other such small things. Some also offer more suspect merchandise for customers who know when and how to ask. | |
− | + | === The Newsboys === | |
− | + | Omnipresent public service criers and newspaper hawkers. Usually the first ones to hear of everything. Will snoop (or not snoop) for a price. | |
− | + | === Sarah Sarandon === | |
− | + | A celebrated singer, actress and socialite with a taste for slumming. | |
− | + | == The City == | |
− | === | + | === Downtown === |
− | |||
− | + | ==== The Beauregard ==== | |
− | + | A popular speakeasy, a public secret. The ground floor offers family friendly dining and dancing to the general public, trusted customers can descend a flight of stairs in the back into an underground nightclub for drinks and gambling, and deeper below a secure suite is available by reservation for more private entertainment. Almost no one knows the owner, but it must be someone in good standing with the authorities. | |
− | + | ==== The Lake of Black Swans ==== | |
− | + | A large, still pond surrounded by a small public garden, home to a flock of semi-tame black swans. A favored spot for families by day and lovers by night. | |
− | + | ==== Police Headquarters ==== | |
− | ' | + | Tall, grey and blocky. Features one of the city's great architectural mysteries, an inexplicable gaggle of gargoyles perched at every ledge and roof corner. |
− | == | + | === Harbor === |
− | + | Opening south-east onto the Larramet Bay, this was once a major hub of maritime transport but now many of its docks and warehouses sit rotting in silence, abandoned and empty. Most of the facilities still in use are haunted by groups of dockhands and sailors looking for work. Seagulls wheel, eerily quiet, above the drifting fog. | |
− | |||
− | + | ==== El Verde Grande ==== | |
− | |||
− | + | The wreck of a cargo ship resting level as if carefully placed on display on a rocky reef near the north bank of the river mouth. In the absence of anyone willing to claim ownership or responsibility, the jolly green hulk has become a local landmark, an accidental island often explored by bored kids and sometimes used as a concert stage. | |
− | |||
− | + | === Outskirts === | |
− | |||
− | + | ==== South Cemetery Park ==== | |
− | |||
− | + | A communal area of tended woods, lawns and hedges next to the former site of the city's oldest graveyard (now an open air cinema). Populated by murders of talking crows. | |
− | |||
== Episodes == | == Episodes == | ||
=== Pilot: ''Le Cri Sans Voix''=== | === Pilot: ''Le Cri Sans Voix''=== | ||
− | + | An evening at the Beauregard is interrupted by screams and sirens. Hijinks ensue and a dark thing comes to light. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | An evening at the Beauregard is interrupted by screams and sirens. Hijinks ensue. | ||
== Links == | == Links == |