Prepping for the Next Chron

Ok, so everyone has been talking about it. The Next Chronicle is coming.

What this means is that the entire game is getting restarted, and all of our characters effectively get retired. There is, of course, nothing to stop us from making the exact same characters with minor cosmetic alterations, but those dynamics we had will be gone for good.

So what do we do?

We make new ones.

These are my plans for next Chronicle in the three venues I play in nWoD. Now, I listed my current line up of PC's in another post. Those guys, as stated, are very much close to my personality or aspects of them. For this upcoming Chronicle, I want to challenge my self as a role player. As such, this post is my posting my plans, dreams and aspirations. Come May, we'll see what I can do with them.

So let's get down to brass tacks.

Requiem

PC Name: Owen Asteria, formerly Owen Lean

Clan: Mekhet, shadowy investigators and intelligence gatherers

Bloodline: Khaibit, those who can control the literal shadows. If I can't get that approved, then I'd go Alucinor, who focus on dreams, but are inherently insane. I wrote about them a while back, too.
Covenant: Circle of the Crone, of the Semiotician sect. He believes in the power of the rituals, not necessarily the source.

Role: Contacts and Influence.

Profile: Owen is a member of a large Mekhet family known as the Asteria. He's the childe of Genevieve Asteria, played by my awesome friend Abby and the Grand Childe of Ramiel Asteria, played by my also awesome friend Greg. The family is thousands of years old, with Owen being one of the youngest. He's effectively Ramiel's right-hand vamp in the modern day, and serves as an anchor for his GrandSire's interest in things. He's Ramiel's bonsai plant, basically.

Now, Owen is built in mind for deals and politics. He's mostly Social/Intelligence with Physical as a Secondary. His concept is called "The Boon Collector", garnering information and deals from other Vampires. He's effectively a Black Hat, at best Dark Grey.

Goal: To have enough influence in mortal society to make un-life difficult for other vampires in the City.

Means: Blackmail, corruption (through drugs, sex, threats of violence), using his Hotel Monolith as the center of Operations.

Inspiration: Littlefinger from Game of Thrones (this video is what inspired me, NSFW), Mr. Gold from Once Upon a Time (Example) and Pontius Pilate from Jesus Christ Superstar (Example) if he ever comes into power.

And maybe Christopher Walken.

Certain Elements of PCs from this previous chronicle have made their way in. Including :Sebastian Sutter (played by my friend Greg) Power and Social grace, runs a hotel; and Simon Cassio, (played by Dain Geist) one of the more prolific Characters that existed and also a Khaibit.

Playlist: Owen's Playlist is all about Power and Ritual. His Religion is power in all of it's forms. No church in the Wild is probably his unofficial theme song.

Distinguishing Marks/Mannerism: Wears the color purple, moves very coolly and calmly, often using his hands for further expression. Can be explosive.

Challenge: This character is outright evil. All he wants is power, and he'll use anything he has to acquire it. There is some redeeming qualities, in that he's gathering power for a purpose (he's Khaibit after all) but he's going about it the dark way. I tend to play White Hats, good guys, and it takes a lot for me to actually sit and go "how can I be evil?" The challenge will be to be a bad guy.

Rate of Survival: Owen has the most chances of dying. It won't be graceful though, and it won't be alone.

Changeling
PC Name: "Jin" (in Japanese 仁, meaning "Benevolence")

Seeming: Wizened, changeling workers.

Kith: Smith/Soldier, crafter of (mostly) weapons and armor and an expert in using them.

Court: West, the Court of Honor. Experts in Warfare. (Jin will probably be Emperor of the West in New York)

Motley: a group of PCs who work a Goblin Market Stall, including the aforementioned Greg and my friends Ilan and Jill.

Role: Armorer, Engineer, and Instructor. Possibly War-Chief.

Entitlement: (Possibly) Hedge Warden, Guardians of the Freehold from the Hedge-side of things.

Profile: "Jin" was the name given to the man when he was placed into his Durance by The Grand Shogunate, a Gentry who stylized himself after the Samurai of old. TGS waged endless wars, and always needed Soldiers in his army. The man who became Jin was a soldier in the Iraq war. Jin became good at his work, and spent decades as an ageless soldier,fighting against other Wizened. Where many died, he lived, and soon became highly regarded in the Shogunate's Army, and effectively became a retainer (the word Samurai never really enters it, but go for it). He then begins to take on the trade of a Smith, and becomes less killer and more maker.

After attaining as high an Honor as he could attain, Jin is granted a boon from the Shogunate. Anything within his power was his. Jin decided to go home. The Shogunate, who actually values honor (they mimic their sources, this Fae actually understood Bushido to a degree), released him. Jin returned to the normal world. He now serves to arm and train the Changeling's he once fought against any threat to the Freehold.

Goal: Atone for his past as what is effectively the "House Slave" for Changelings.

Means: Producing and making weapons, especially Cold Iron ones, which are supremely damaging to Fae. Also training people as (possibly) Wardens to defend the Freehold.

Inspiration: Miyamoto Musashi, legendary Samurai ( Watch this Documentary), traditional sword smiths (http://youtu.be/PSZKGzGqOt0) , and Hattori Hanzo (Example, and Example)

Playlist: Jin's Playlist, is still in development. This man is born to violence, but there is a quieter edge to him. He's tempered Steel. Iron, by Woodkid, is undeniably his theme song as it touches a lot of point that go into his background and his Court.

Distinguishing Marks, Mannerisms: Preferred colors of black and white (and some blue), bears a brand on his cheek that is the japanese character of his name, a token of his Durance.

Challenge: Jin is a tough act, as he's not a boisterous fighter. He's a cool individual, and deeply intense. How do I temper that intensity? Also, this one is clearly a hitter and will have a lot of weapons. He's not a "grr! You hit me! We fight now!" kind of character. He's read Art of War, he's read Book of Five Rings. He's the long term "I will destroy you, your strongholds and your legacy." I think I may have to go Adlerian for him and channel an animal into the act, maybe use the Court as an example and watch Tigers. Hrrm....

Rate of Survival: He's the flipside of Owen. Jin will probably die, but from doing The Right Thing.

Mage
PC Name: Ides (Real Name is Dylan Swan)

Path: Mastigos, masters of Space and Mind

Order: Guardian's of the Veil, keeping magic safe from Mortal Minds since the founding of Atlantis.

Legacy: The Subtle Ones

Role: Information, Intelligence, Scene Cleaning

Profile: Ides (as in  "...of March") is an Operator. Most likely from one form of Intelligence Agency or another (if I can get an Approval, that Agency may be Centrally located), and is naturally adept at having multiple identities and roles to perform depending on the situation. So when he Awakened to the Realm of Pandemonium, it became very easy for him to continue his work, especially as a Faceless in the Guardians of the Veil.

Ides is a practical man, all business. That's not saying he's without morals, but there less cleanly defined than Owen or Jin. His existence is the job, and he has several different Identities that he keeps going just to keep appearances up. His story is one of Identity, and who he is is a greater mystery.

Goal: Keep the Mysteries of Magic safe.

Means: Cleaning up the scene of Vulgar Magic use. If that means bribing/confusing Witnesses or or the Authorities, or burning the sympathies from the scene (mostly literally), so be it.

Inspiration: Michael Westen from Burn Notice (Example, and Example), Winston Wolff, as played by Harvey Keitel (Example), The Lone Man from The Limits of Control (Example), The Narrator of Fight Club.

Playlist: Ides Playlist is about Action and Identity, there is a noir and investigative slant.

Distinguishing Marks: The focus on Ides is that he doesn't have many distinguishing Marks of his own. His Cover Identities/Masques do. One has a prosthetic leg, another wears only the finest suits, the other wears Darkened Ray-Bans.

Challenge: The Challenge here is that Ides isn't one character, but the base for several. Each Masque will have his own unique background, abilities and flaws. If Ides ever gains a derangment, it will clearly be Multiple Personality disorder. So for him, I will effectively be RPing for at least four.  I need to make each one stand out and be interesting for me to perform.

Rate of Survival: Unknown.


Conclusion: Next Chronicle is going to be very interesting. I know that a lot of people are worried about being up to the task of surviving the game the first few months (a topic I'll address in a later post). I'm more looking forward to these knew roles I have. It'll be a challenge, and definitely out of my comfort zone. But that's why I got into this scene in the first place.

Later.