Difference between revisions of "Night Birds"
(→The Series) |
(→The Series) |
||
| Line 21: | Line 21: | ||
=== Dials === | === Dials === | ||
| − | Seriousness: 3 - Situations can get absurd, and the sort of wry, laconic sense of humor characteristic of hard boiled fiction is encouraged, but on the whole things should be played straight. "Goofy" comic relief characters should be avoided or, failing that, shot. | + | '''Seriousness: 3''' - Situations can get absurd, and the sort of wry, laconic sense of humor characteristic of hard boiled fiction is encouraged, but on the whole things should be played straight. "Goofy" comic relief characters should be avoided or, failing that, shot. |
| − | Realism: 3 - This <u>is not</u> but for most intents and purposes <u>might as well be</u> the real world, at least in regard to how things and people <u>generally</u> work. | + | '''Realism: 3''' - This <u>is not</u> but for most intents and purposes <u>might as well be</u> the real world, at least in regard to how things and people <u>generally</u> work. |
| − | 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 - 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. | + | '''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: 3 | + | '''Star Power: 3''' |
| − | Tier and Trait Points: Human tier, 18 points to spend on Traits. | + | '''Tier and Trait Points:''' Human tier, 18 points to spend on Traits (maximum rating 4). |
=== Houserules === | === Houserules === | ||
Revision as of 00:54, 31 July 2019
A slightly surreal dark urban fantasy PbP game of Cartoon Action Hour Season 3 run by Max.
Recruitment/meta thread
OOC thread
IC thread
The Series
Main theme: Julee Cruise, "Kool Kat Walk"
Closing credits: 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, The Big O, film noir, hard-boiled detective stories, urban fantasy and magical realism. The visual style is stark and sharp, with heavy clean 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, heroes or goodhearted crooks with too much decency to merely look away when they see a wrong too great to stomach.
Dials
Seriousness: 3 - Situations can get absurd, and the sort of wry, laconic sense of humor characteristic of hard boiled fiction is encouraged, but on the whole things should be played straight. "Goofy" comic relief characters should be avoided or, failing that, shot.
Realism: 3 - This is not but for most intents and purposes might as well be the real world, at least in regard to how things and people generally work.
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 - 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
Star Power: 3
Tier and Trait Points: Human tier, 18 points to spend on Traits (maximum rating 4).
Houserules
All opposed checks are made against a standard DN of Trait + 6. If the defender has a Quality they could use, they can choose whether to do so after seeing the result of the check.
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 even one more Setback Token, you are DEAD, even if neither of these Defeats is physical in nature.
Player Characters
Player Character Name (Player Name)
Brief description of the PCs look, manner and background.
Base Oomph: 3
Upgrades: Upgrade X, Upgrade Y, Upgrade Z
Signature Quality: Player-Controlled Protagonist
Standard Qualities: A Quality, Another Quality
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
Bartholomew "Boss" Blackwell
The de facto head of organized crime 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.
Helen 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.
The Matchstick Girls
An army of street vendors who sell matchsticks, cigarettes, candy and such assorted niceties. 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 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.
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
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.
Links
Orokos (online dice roller)
