The Orphans of Gateshead (Now Accepting Applicants)

[resonanteve]

First, I'm very impressed. Do you have any plans to make other RPs in the same setting?

Onto my questions:

You mention the orphans being trained to fight the "Sweeps", but then Father Baich doesn't allow them to go out at night? I'm confused here.

Along with the above, you make combat against the "Sweeps" seem like the inevitable solution, but then also make it seem like it'll be impossible to defeat them. More confusion?

If combat's going to be involved, what weapons are generally available?

If we're going to have to beat them by ingenuity alone, how much are we able to affect the local environment via engineering? How much can I bend real-world physics and its laws?

Also, once you get the requisite number, will you be able to start immediately?

Thanks!

[Crovonovin]

All excellent questions!  I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability.

I may very well expand upon this setting in the future and allow for other stories, but for now this is the only one that I have given much thought to.  It has been stuck in my craw, so to speak, for quite some time now.

Firstly, the general public is completely unaware of the Sweep's existence.  A city-wide curfew is always in effect, but it isn't strictly regulated by law enforcement officials.  The need to be inside and behind closed doors by nightfall has become so ingrained into the culture of Gateshead that very few even question it.  The fairy tales told to children are simply a reminder, and a tool used to ensure that each successive generation continues to stay inside obediently once the sun has set.  Those who do not generally wind up dead, as they have no idea what to expect.  Now, I will note that Father Baich is not the one who will be training them to work against the Sweeps.  Most adults are far too cowed to dare go out at night.  There is a very good reason why the protagonists of this story must be orphans.

This is probably something I should have been more clear about.  Combat is perhaps the wrong word to use in this situation.  Survival is a more apt way of putting it.  The Sweeps are on an inhuman level.  The ultimate predators.  In straight up combat--without the use of heavier ordinances, which I will come to later--the orphans do not stand a chance.  That includes attacking one all at once.  Emphasis is put on avoiding and escaping, rather than out and out brawls.  That will come much later.  I should not that the plot of the story will not be strictly about defeating each and every last Sweep.  That is an undertaking beyond the scope of the orphans.  The day will be the time for the orphans fists and combat skills to really shine, when they are performing jobs, searching for materials, or otherwise exploring the city.  Once night falls, running is the best available option.  Think horror, where the victims rarely actually fight against their pursuer until the ultimate climax.

Weapons are whatever happens to be lying around!  Fists, pipes, hunks of rock or brick: basically anything you can find can be used in melee.  Gateshead is rather strict when it comes to gun control, but eventually the orphans will need to obtain some...likely by way of sublegal activities.  Heavy ordinances are also within the realm of possibility, though a Sweep would have to be otherwise distracted for it to be any use.  Each one is a puzzle in itself, with different habits and traits that work both for and against it.  It will be up to the orphans (and myself, with small hints) to figure these out and exploit them.

Though I want to keep things semi-realistic, I cannot ignore the fact that much of Gateshead falls into the fantasy genre.  The level of technology is far higher than it should be, as is often the case in steam and clockpunk settings.  Creations are only limited by imagination and availability of materials.  By the end, it is fully within the realm of possibility for the orphans to have constructed some sort of mobile fortress, or a kind of 'mecha'.  It is at that stage that physics would begin to get thrown out the proverbial window, and allow the orphans to fight on almost-equal footing with the Sweeps.  In any event, sheer brute force will not be enough to combat all of them, and some will always remain impossible to defeat.

Unfortunately, I realize that I have a great deal of work still to go on the mechanics of this game.  I have to figure out the best way to lay out the city, how to direct the plot past the beginning to where I'd like it to end, and how to go about making building materials genuinely difficult to find.  It wouldn't be very entertaining if they managed to just find a scrapyard and get everything they could possibly need to build weaponry!  These are still young kids we're talking about here, not quite adults.  The mechanics involved here would probably be beyond some of them at the start.  If you (or anyone!) happens to have some suggestions concerning this problem, do let me know!  This will be the first game I've actually run, so it's a bit nerve-wracking.

That being said, the actual start may be further away than I had initially projected for myself.  I do not have a set number of people at the moment, though I would say no more than six players.  Each player could of course create multiple characters, if they feel confident enough to maintain them to a satisfactory degree, and everyone can create side npcs and the like.  Anything someone isn't sure they should create can contact me directly for input.  While I have set up the framework, I am fully open to others working with me to flesh out any nooks and crannies that I've left in place.

[resonanteve]

Consider me signed up for as soon as you're ready to start.

Making building materials difficult to find is a matter of scarcity; it'll be just as scarce to us as it is to anyone else, so to acquire them requires trade/theft/payment. They're a valuable resource, after all.

I think keeping this game freeform will actually solve more headaches than it will cause.

[Crovonovin]

I completely agree!  I didn't mean a system in a literal sense, but some sort of specific setup for the players.  IE: locales where certain materials might be found, how to go about getting them, and the possible repercussions for being caught.  The finer, gritty details of the world.  I will of course allow players to come up with things for themselves, as I always loved player input back when I used to run stories elsewhere.

[Aeval]

Name: Alexandra Vandol
Nickname: Lexi
Age: 16



Personality: She was a calm, quiet, girl not prone to tantrums or even getting angry. If someone did not take the time to see that she was there, they would not know she was present. This aided her many times in hearing things others did not mean for her to hear. The information could be valuable and while she did not like to use it against people, sometimes, she had no choice. Lexi was fiercely loyal and to those she would call 'friend' they knew she would ALWAYS have their back. On the other hand, if Lexi did not like you, or if you had betrayed her, for any reason..then beware! She did not purposely bring evil or punishement on anyone but she did not step out of the way to help you if you had treated her or anyone she cared about unfairly.

History: Lexi had been raised by a loving and skilled mother who had the ability and gift to 'heal'. She had talked to Lexi about it ever since she was old enough to understand. Her mother had studied how to manipulate by way of pressure points, a more holistic way of understanding the ailments of the body.
Lexi had watched her mother use this method of curing ailments many times: to alleviate pain and help in childbirth. Lexi's mother died when she was 11 of an unknown disease. She had been taken to hospital by the overseers and never come home. Once she left their house, Lexi never saw her again. Lexi did not know who her father was- her mother never spoke of him and so, he remained a mystery.

Skills:  Father Baich had trained her in first aid.  He is a very understanding individual, and placed importance on supportive roles as well as combative ones.  He had taught her the more traditional medical techniques such as cleaning wounds, suturing cuts, setting broken limbs, etcetera.  Dirty work, but literally life-saving.  She wasn't an expert by any stretch of the imagination and had little practice at the orphanage to use her craft everyone thinking she was always too young to let her try! One other thing they were not aware of..she was gifted in the method of healing that her mother had passed on to her..it wasn't magic by any means..it was a natural use of the energy in a person's body. Still, she had only seen her mother use it and now, she knew, she was able to draw on this method as well. She had been taught this from her mother who had been born in Gateshead.

[Crovonovin]

I just wanted to post here to confirm that I will still be running this in due time, but that it may take longer to get going than I had anticipated.  As I did say that before, I hope those who have pledged their interest can be patient with me.

[Aeval]

Not a problem Shihong- I am a patient person. :-)

[strudel]

Just reaffirming my interest in this :) I'll be around, take your time.