Ringing Hell's Bells - a Sons of Anarchy inspired game

[Gypsy]

At this point, I think we've got enough interest established (yay, and thank you all!) to start discussing characters and how they fit in, and what connections are shared.  KieraJade and I are working on getting some more information to slap out, including character sheet formatting and getting the threads ready, so there should be some updated information and links posted as soon as we can slap it in a box and throw some ribbon on it.

Meanwhile, please feel free to keep talking here, and, of course, and questions and more interest is certainly still welcome.

[Dariusfallenstar]

I'm down with posting once a week. Preferably with a character that I can weave in/out of story lines as life requires me. I may require a tap on the shoulder, as I get distracted now and then.

GMs: I'd be totally down with playing a disruptive/antagonistic force (rather than just a meddling one as my initial post suggested) if y'all want such a thing.

[Gypsy]

Here is a sample character sheet with the info we'd like -- Feel free to pretty up the format, but if you could keep the order of info, that would be great.

We'll also want to add a little blurb about 'connections', but would like to leave that until discussion moves over to the OOC, and we know who definitely is interested in playing.

Please send the sheet to KieraJade & GypsyRose via PM

Name:                               Rita "Ripley" Russell

Physical Description:       30, 5'7", 120 lbs, black hair, brown eyes, tattoos
                             

Distinguishing Marks:      a trio of skulls with 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' motif on her left shoulder, 'keep it twisted' on her right forearm,
                                         and a tattoo of her father's Harley Davidson softail on her right shoulderblade, a scar near her right eye that goes into her hairline

Overview:                         Ripley prides herself on not showing her emotions to all and sundry, and she had a tendency to make up for what she
                                         lacks in size by going right up into the faces of the men she interacts with, particularly if they don't seem to be taking her seriously. 

Bike (if applicable):         Harley Davidson 2008 VRSCDX Night Rod Special

Paraphernalia:                  A pack of gum, a pocket knife, smartphone, wallet, a marijuana leaf necklace that belonged to her father




Sexuality:      Hetero mostly, but she and Gabriella have been known to share men, and each other
Ons:               The intense, quietly dangerous men, sex after danger
Offs:               Submissive behavior

The Basics:     

Ripley -- nobody calls her Rita unless they were a friend of her father's or don't need their balls anymore -- is Wayne Russell's daughter to the core.  She admits that her father had faults, but in her eyes they are immaterial.  If she worships anyone or anything, it's him and the ideals he set out for the biker life. 

The idea, an impossible idea, was born the same day Ripley Russell awoke to the knowledge that her father was dead. The certainty was as implacable, as emotionless, as the ringing of the telephone that had heralded the news, as was the knowledge that she was going to find a way to bring her father's club back.

Her mother had done everything she could to disassociate Ripley from the biker lifestyle. She'd been her father's high-school sweetheart, and the fascination of the bad-boy biker hadn't lasted through brushes with the law, rivalries, or the trials and tribulations of the biker code. There'd been nothing between her parents but bitterness and anger, and by the time Ripley was a teenager, her mother had deeply regretted taking what she'd considered the 'high road' in not destroying her daughter's affection for her father.

It would have likely been pointless, in any event. Ripley had gravitated toward her father, toward the bikes, toward the bikers and their intense loyalties, intense rivalries, from the start, even before teenage rebellion kicked in. Of course, the teen years and her mother's demands only intensified those feelings, and the harder her Mom pushed, the more she pushed back. By fifteen, she had simply refused to live with her mother anymore, and had left 'Rita' -- her given name -- far behind. Her home was with the families of other bikers in her father's club, or with him when circumstances allowed.

She'd wanted to be part of the Hellions, and in some ways she was, but always in an unofficial capacity. She knew a lot about the business, both the good and the bad, right and wrong, and she'd done things that she wasn't proud of in retrospect. It had been the wife of her father's lieutenant who'd sat her down and opened her eyes, in the woman's typical hard-assed but straight forward fashion, who'd showed her that if she wasn't careful, she'd end up being nothing more than some dumb-ass biker's bitch.

Ripley didn't want to be someone's bitch. If she wanted to be anything, it was her father, but the older she grew the more she started to see that it wasn't possible, at least not in his club or in any of the existing clubs. They were too entrenched, and even the women who were solid support for their men were expected to put up with a lot of shit that Ripley'd sooner shove down their throat.

After a brief stint in jail for a bit of stupidity, Ripley started getting her act together, and with support from her father, she went to a vocational school, learning both mechanics and some principles of art and tattooing. She's worked in garages, bike shops, and tattoo parlors, and while she still has views on personal property and responsibility, standing up for yourself and exactly what society should be able to tell others they couldn't do, she found she could get along better in the real world than she thought she could.

It was a good thing, too, as it was about the time she was finding herself that things went bad for the Hellions. A feud with another gang heated up hot and heavy, dredging up a lot of old grudges from the past, and all the stops were pulled out. People that never should have been pulled into gang business were, and they got hurt badly, and the police moved in hard and fast.

Even that didn't end it, though. Her father had known he wouldn't last long in jail. He'd been able to pass along some information to Ripley, but he urged her to get out while she could. To let it go, and for a while after his death, she had.

But some old bones, some old longings, didn't stay buried. They clawed their way out of the ground and started tearing into your skin, so when she got an unexpected offer of help to reinvent her father's old charter, to take the life she wanted and make it suit her instead of changing to suit it, she couldn't not try ... even if she knows there's more to the story, a reason why the chance got thrown at her out of the blue.

Plot Hooks: 

Ripley wants to make the club successful, a force to be reckoned with in Vegas.  She wants to be known as the leader of the Hellions, a biker to be respected and feared regardless of her gender.  She wants that for herself, for Gabrielle, and for every Hellion who follows her lead.

She wants all those who betrayed the Hellions six feet under, and knowing who put them there and why.

Name:                               NAME

Physical Description:       Age, Height, Weight, Hair, Eyes, Etc.
                             

Distinguishing Marks:      Description of Tats, Piercings, Scars, Etc.

Overview:                         Attitude, etc. - Something that would be noticed right off about the character 

Bike (if applicable):         Self-explanatory

Paraphernalia:                  Important stuff that is usually on their person




Sexuality:      Hetero/Bi/Gay/Appropriate Descriptor
Ons:               Things that get the character going
Offs:               Things that leaves the character cold



The Basics:     

Introduce your character - background and general information

Plot Hooks: 

What the character wants out of life, out of the Hellions -- feel free to pad with what you, the writer, would like to see the character explore in game.  Give us ideas of how we can draw your character in and make them a living, breathing, can't wait to see what happens next part of the story

Code Select Expand


[font=courier][float=left][img width=150 padding=10]https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/61/Biker_tude.jpg[/img][/float]
[b]Name:                               [/b][b]NAME [/b]

[b]Physical Description:       [/b]Age, Height, Weight, Hair, Eyes, Etc.
                             

[b]Distinguishing Marks:      [/b]Description of Tats, Piercings, Scars, Etc.

[b]Overview:                         [/b]Attitude, etc. - Something that would be noticed right off about the character 

[b]Bike [i](if applicable)[/i]:  [/b]       Self-explanatory

[b]Paraphernalia:                  [/b]Important stuff that is usually on their person




[b]Sexuality: [/b]     Hetero/Bi/Gay/Appropriate Descriptor
[b]Ons:         [/b]      Things that get the character going
[b]Offs:         [/b]      Things that leaves the character cold



[b][u]The Basics:[/u][/b]     

Introduce your character - background and general information

[b][u]Plot Hooks:  [/u][/b]

What the character wants out of life, out of the Hellions -- feel free to pad with what you, the writer, would like to see the character explore in game.  Give us ideas of how we can draw your character in and make them a living, breathing, can't wait to see what happens next part of the story

[Doomblade403xxx]

Name:  Havok                             NAME: Jason Thompson

Physical Description:     
Age: 32 years old
Height 6'2
Weight 175 Pounds
Hair Long Blonde Hair
Eyes Brown
                             

Distinguishing Marks:    Gunshot scar left leg, 2 Knife scars on chest, 2 puncture scars back, Confederate flag skeleton tattoo left shoulder, Snake tattoo right forearm

Overview: He is a very scary man. He looks at friend and foe alike with eyes that seem to dissect their weaknesses and search for their darkest fears. He's made it on his own as a smuggler for a long time being a lone outlaw, and it's the fear he inspires that has made it possible.

Bike :   2002 Softtail Duece Chopper



Paraphernalia: Wallet, Keys, Lighter, Leather Gloves, Benchmade Balisong Knife, 3 cell maglite
Sexuality:      Hetero
Ons:               When it comes to sex he's pretty open to whatever his lady wants to do. He is fairly dominant in bed, but he's not overly rough or abusive.
Offs:               No blood, poop, or no shit like that.



The Basics:     

Havok was born Jason Thompson in Georgia, and was a product of the white trash redneck community throughout most of his upbringing.

At sixteen he was already a member of the Klan and the Aryan Nations but by 18 he joined the military and did a tour of Afghanistan for two years under a mechanized infantry unit. Slowly those racist roots began to uproot and not only did he find he had several friends of color, but began dating a black nurse in Atlanta that he met on leave.

He was discharged and went back home to find the nations was pissed about his affiliations and especially his girl. This led to several fights and he ended up killing a a man named Johnny Boone in a barfight and hospitalizing two others. In that assault he was cut twice with a knife and stabbed twice with an icepick. He did two years for aggravated assault and manslaughter, and got out to head west.

He bought an old Harley fat boy and went to California where he spent time running pot across the border to Utah. He discovered a few things about himself in those days. The army made him very aware of threats, and taught him how to deal with those threats with extreme prejudice. He also figured out that he was very good at crime, especially smuggling.

He ran a bit afoul of the Hellions on one of those smuggling sessions and there was some drama that was worked out fairly quickly. There are several stories  about his ruthlessness. One of those stories claims he tracked down a coyote that raped a 14 year old girl and killed him by putting an angry rattlesnake in a bag over his head. Long and the short of the story is that even though he's tough, fearless, and deadly, solitary men don't last long on the fringes. He needs a brotherhood to survive. On the flip side the club needs him as well. They could find a hundred guys that can fight, shoot, and show no mercy, but add to that what he knows about smuggling...it's a perfect fit.


Plot Hooks: 

For the most part he follows orders and does what those in charge tell him to do. It's also understood that if he is given the task, someone is likely to die unless it is specifically stated otherwise.

He doesnt have alot of nobility, but if someone hurts a kid and he hears about it, god help them.

He owns a house in Vegas. A three bedroom two bath affair that is fairly nice but nothing spectacular. He also has that old Fat boy harley in the garage that he promises himself he will fix someday.

He likes the ladies and generally he loves them in distress. His biker sisters he will allow them to stand on their own. The second he feels they are in over their head he is likely to stomp someone to death for showing them disrespect.

[rekhaiyer]

That age is not really realistic for being a doctor in the US, Doogie Howser excepted.  4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, then residencies - at 23, likely they'd still be in medical school.

We'll probably be wanting to start the game out with characters that already have good reason to associate with the club -- and mostly bikers -- though secondary characters will be welcome a bit later once we have the 'core' established.

Kicked of med school, it is then.

Or we could pretend she studied in some other country? I don't know much about the profession.

[Doomblade403xxx]

Kicked of med school, it is then.

Or we could pretend she studied in some other country? I don't know much about the profession.

Perhaps you graduated college early and you're working on your residency at one of the hospitals in Las Vegas?

[Aiden]

Is anyone planning on writing home town kids? I wanted part of my background to have gone to school with some of the kids that later joined up. It was part of life almost, you either get out or are stuck doing some shitty job in this rather small town.

I like the idea (albeit rose colored view) that some see this town as a shit hole, people on welfare and with problems (perhaps an issue with the past) but as the"quaint town" idea spreads, it is bringing new oppertunties. SO things are getting better, but not, big town better.

[Amarlo]

If I inevitably decide to join, I likely will be creating a 'home town kid' that later joined on some level. :P

[rekhaiyer]

Perhaps you graduated college early and you're working on your residency at one of the hospitals in Las Vegas?

I am going for a 'life left behind', kinda feel. Kicked out of med school, no longer allowed to practice etc.

[Rhedyn]

Is anyone planning on writing home town kids? I wanted part of my background to have gone to school with some of the kids that later joined up. It was part of life almost, you either get out or are stuck doing some shitty job in this rather small town.

I like the idea (albeit rose colored view) that some see this town as a shit hole, people on welfare and with problems (perhaps an issue with the past) but as the"quaint town" idea spreads, it is bringing new oppertunties. SO things are getting better, but not, big town better.

I'm planning a hometown kid - Mia 'Chastity' Locke - who became a stripper/dancer to earn quick cash to fix her bike and possibly, depending on what the GMs think, 'inherited' the strip club after the owner had an 'accident' >.>

[Aiden]

I'm shooting for owner of the only gas station/ mechanic ( cars) . Born and raised in the town, left but came back when his parents passed away. Nothing shady, maybe they died on the road. For drama sake, we can say it was an accident caused by one of the Mc members back then. It wasn't malicious, but enough if he ever learned the truth, he would hold a grudge.

So he actually escaped the town, but ended back where he began all along.

[Doomblade403xxx]

I'm planning a hometown kid - Mia 'Chastity' Locke - who became a stripper/dancer to earn quick cash to fix her bike and possibly, depending on what the GMs think, 'inherited' the strip club after the owner had an 'accident' >.>

I like strip clubs....

[rekhaiyer]

Will wait for more feedback before adding more thoughts, traits and other things to MC.

[KieraJade]

Feedback written and sent! We are still steadily working behind the scenes to bring you guys a great game, and thank you for showing such awesome interest!! More info, more links coming soon. Keep making those character connections!!

[Gypsy]

We're in the process right now of just touching base on what has been proposed so far, and will get back to those who've given us basic concepts if we haven't already ... very soon.

For those who've expressed an interest but haven't nailed down more of what you'd be interested in playing, we'd love it if you'd let us know a bit more about what you're thinking -- either with a character sheet, or just a paragraph or two of the concept.  That way, we can start offering some suggestions of how to tie things in with our characters, NPCs, and what we already have planned.

For right now, please assume, if you're going to be in the club, that your character has a connection with Ripley or Gabriella, Cabot James, or one or more members of the original club.



Here's a bit of a Who's Who that may be helpful to offer some connections to the original Hellions club.  It is not complete, but it offers some potential for name dropping and shared histories:

Who's Who

Ripley Russell	Hellions President	daughter of Wayne "Tally" Russell, original Hellions president
Gabriella Lane	Hellions VP	daughter of __________________, original Hellions VP
Cabot James	Contact	shady and connected Las Vegas businessman and budding politician
Rodney Fielding	Body	served as Ripley's & Gabby's ticket to resurrecting the Hellions

ORIGINAL HELLIONS


George “Sonny” Martinez (Gabby's father)

Wayne "Tally" Russell, Hellions President (Ripley's father)

Kurt Sutton, Lieutenant
Charles “Chucky” Johnson
Marcus “Taco” Bowman
Bud Davis

OTHER NOTABLES

Sargent Daniel Zeddies (police officer on the payroll when the club was active)

Tanya "Aunt Tan" Davis (wife of Bud Davis, mother figure for the club and associates)

Jack “Captain” Rosega (mechanic now mostly retired who worked on cars/bikes for the club & other Searchlight residents)

Dr. Jeremy Fern (local doctor who treated injuries 'off the books' for the original Hellions)

[rekhaiyer]

As I said before, I have made a few little changes and have decided to make her a 26 year old woman. Gets rid of a lot of problems concerning realism. I'll wait for Kiera's thoughts before proceeding further.

[Gypsy]

The first post has been updated to include links to:

The Game Info / Approved Characters Thread -- once your character has been approved, either Kierjade or I will post your sheet here.

The Discussion Thread -- once your sheet has been posted in the character thread by one of the GMs, please feel free to start chatting and planning out connections, histories, etc. between characters.

[KieraJade]

Also, for any of those interested, or who have already expressed interest - If you're looking to make/have made a hometown kid, this makes it very easy to have a connection with Ripley or Gabby or one of the original Hellions!! Hell, if your character is old enough, they may have even been a pledge in the original Motorcycle Club. Feel free to PM us, put it up in here, send a carrier pigeon, whatever works, to get those backgrounds going.

[Honeycrisp]

I'm working on a home town girl concept, and hope to have it posted later today.  She's the illegitimate, unrecognized daughter of one of the former members, it doesn't have to be any one super important other than just a member, and she's been in and out of juvie and foster homes her entire childhood.  When she turned 18 and was kicked out of the foster program, she went into the Navy at the strong recommendation of a judge and the DA in exchange for them dropping a burglary charge.  She almost made a complete tour, four years, before getting kicked out and landing once again on her butt.  She craves a family / support system that's not traditional and that won't look down on her for her past or for not being a perfect suburban girl.  Just the rough outline and it will be prettied up.  But she's from the town, has a tenuous connection with the former club, and definitely not an angel but she's desperate to belong to something that makes her feel like she's somebody.

[Honeycrisp]

I need help choosing a motorcycle.  My character's relatively short, 5'02".  Anyone have suggestions?

[Gypsy]

Sadly, I rely on the internet and google for my motorcycle info, along with little tidbits from various shows.   Making fun of anyone's bike choice is a bit of character color that I'll have to leave out of Ripley's repertoire.

If noone else has the expertise to offer a realistic suggestion, just pick whatever you like.  I won't know the difference. ;)

[rekhaiyer]

http://www.motorcycle.com/top10/ten-bikes-for-short-people.html

[Kokaine]

Ok.l'll be writing up a sheet after work today but here's sort of what's in my head...

Mom was home grown but ran off to the city at 17 with the "love of her life" but showed up a few years later pregnant with nothing. Her parents had some mom and pop shop in town so she had a place to go but that was about it. She had my character but after that just spiraled. Got into drugs, prositution, disappeared for lengths of time... basically everybody in town knows my character's mom and has plenty to say about her. Dad is some slick city cop (crooked too) with his own shiny family so he doesn't acknowledge my character except to threaten her if she upsets his life.

So we get my girlie. Very intelligent and should have been outta that town but she's stuck running around after her mom and cleaning up her messes. She's quiet, stable, steady... seems so chill... until shit goes down and you realize girlie is fucking crazy. Very much ride or die. I'd hope she was close enough to a few members to have that family vibe from the start. She's always run with the wrong crowd but her record is pretty minor so far apart from a brief stint in county. Grandparents are still alive and running their shop... not sure about their connection just yet.

Anywho... thats what's in my head. Im hoping she can be one of the original members and possibly an officer. She's okay with guns, better with a knife or her bare hands and a planner/schemer type. Probably learned to ride from one of the OGs who might have had a soft spot for her mom. Apologies if this is too close to anyone else's concept. I haven't read through the others. Im cool if things need to be changed up. Im still pondering face claims as I kind of want her to be a minority... we'll see though.

[Gypsy]

We're very happy with what we've seen so far.

As everyone probably knows, there's a lot of stuff that goes into pulling games - and characters - together.  If anyone is waiting on more input from KieraJade or myself, please give us a poke here or via PM.    I don't want to miss anything or leave anyone feeling as if they're being intentionally ignored.  For myself, it's been a long time since I've really run a group game, so I'm a bit rusty in getting back into the grove.

[Honeycrisp]

http://www.motorcycle.com/top10/ten-bikes-for-short-people.html

Thank you!