Summary: If you haven't played Hotline Miami, that's fine. This summary is to give you the idea of the game-if you're interested say so, if you're intrigued read more, if you're not interested at all, I wish you happy hunting.
This game will use the nWoD system and splats, and will also include the fan made
Princess: The Hopeful splat. We will NOT be using GMC updates or any of the story elements from that book (partly because only Vampire, Princess, and Werewolf are updated to GMC, and partly because I don't like some of the story elements of GMC). All splats are allowed, though I advise against the use of Vampire and Promethean as they don't sync well. The book does say that Princesses/Nobles weren't around until later-in fact it says only one appeared in 1987. We can ignore this if more then one person wants to play a Noble.
That's right, this is a crossover game. Some of Hotline Miami's plot elements will make it into this, but it won't be a 'you're following the plot' kind of game. Like all my games, I pick what I like and then do my own thing. The game will be set in Miami during the late 80s, probably 1987. The plot will start with a series of brutal murders being conducted around town and also involve a lot of blurring of the lines of 'reality', to the point where it'll start becoming really hard to tell what's the dream and what's real. After that, well...don't want to give the game away too early, now do we?
Setting: The year is 1987. The cold winter months give way to spring, but cold to Miami is 'slightly chilly'. President Ronald Reagan, after having surgery, has returned to office in the midst of the Iran-Contra affair. Just two months prior, Penn State upset Miami in the Fiesta Bowl for the college football championship. And on March 10th, 12 people are found dead in a house used for the creation and distribution of drugs. There's more to the story then what the media even knows. The 12 men were all killed within a few minutes, and some of the bodies were mutilated in a way human hands couldn't have done-especially not in that short of a time frame.
The many factions are all eyeing each other, suspecting one or the other of breaking the Masquerade. The Kindred Covenants are looking deep within themselves, convinced it was one of their own through their collective narcissism. The Forsaken also suspect one of their own, but curious glances are tossed at the Mage Orders, with the Forsaken wondering if this is part of their plan. The Mages suspect everyone, ruling out no possibility. The Changelings think that a wandering Promethean is to blame, and the Sin-Eaters wonder if a crazed Wretched did the deed.
Among this subtle paranoia and constant looking over everyone's shoulder, another shocking event is about to occur-the return of those chosen by a powerful Light, the Nobles. If any one event could throw the entire balance of power into a maelstrom of chaos, it would be that. And amidst this all, an unlikely, motley crew of supernatural beings may find out the truth of the killings, the revival of the nobles, and far more...or they may be consumed by the darkness they look into...
Rules: There won't be many here, as I don't like doing a lot of rules. If I think of something, or something comes up, I'll post it here. For now, the following:
1: Make characters using the standard rules in the Pre-GMC splatbooks. This means that anything you take must be Pre-GMC.
2: Most characters are allowed. I advise against Vampires, Prometheans, and 'enhanced' Mortals (this doesn't rule out Hunters, I'm referring to stuff like from Second Sight, where you are still mostly mortal). This doesn't mean you can't play them, but if you do WANT to, see below.
2a: Vampires will have to have some reason for wanting to work with the rest of the group. I have given you a pretty big one-wanting to find who did the murders-but I like it when Vampires actually understand they can get more work done by working with a team instead of scheming to stab everyone in the back.
2b: Prometheans are technically fine, but do know that Disquiet will fuck you in the ass repeatedly. If you're fine with that, go ahead.
2c: Enhanced Mortals are going to be lapped very quickly. In fact, you'll start out being lapped. Again, if you're fine with it, have fun.
3: Mummies are the only thing I'm outright banning from the beginning. It's not because I don't like them, I just don't think they work very well in a crossover game like this. Sadly, Mummies are a no.
4: Any characters made from a book that's not as major as the big splat books must be talked about with me. I reserve the right to say no.
5: This may be controversial...okay it is, but I'm going to disallow raising the Power Stat (Blood Potency, Primal Urge, etc) with merit dots and only allow it to be raised with XP. This one I will justify: I'd like everyone to start at about the same level of power, and players that start with higher power stats can leave the other guys in the dust. So, I'm locking you all to 1 at game start. Soon as the game starts, go ahead and save up the 16 to go to Power 2, but at game start, 1.
6: You are allowed to drop Morality (whatever your kind is called) for XP at character creation (dropping to 6 gets 5 XP, dropping to 5 gets 10 XP). I will warn you, if you ever should hit 0, I WILL be taking your character away-and look at all these wonderful toys that XP bought!
So, come one, come all, into the World of Darkness...in the 80s!
Additional setting information, detailing what the major factions are up to. This is generic information that anyone connected to the supernatural scene would know. Before game start, I will be contacting players and divulging more relevant info to them:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K4nlTxDMPTgXKZPa0kztZh81mNZqHdF7lWFLue8lbrI/pub
