Interest Check for Occult Investigators Game

[Kythia]

This is a concept I've been toying with for a while now, and I now have enough time to do it. If anyone wants me to, of course.

In this game the PCs will work for "MI4" a branch of Her Majesty's Government, the UK government, that investigates occult threats (there is a longer in-universe history to it, but I'm trying to present bare bones here).  Usually, though not exclusively, entry level positions (which is what you'll all be - this is your first assignment) are recruited from other careers.  Someone may have been in the military, or the police, or a scientist, or whatever before joining MI4.  There are however some who have been recruited steaight from university, usually to fill a specific position (Oh no!  We need an expert in 11th century percussion instruments for this!).

All characters are 100% human and are vetted carefully for any previous exposure to the occult with only people who have had no previous exposure allowed, again there are in-universe reasons for this which I will expand upon if the game happens.

The game will be basically an episodic thing.  You will be briefed on and then dispatched to a specific mission.  Once that is complete, if people want to continue playing then you'll be briefed on and dispatched to another mission, etc.  Characters should be designed with that structure in mind - at this moment in time I don't anticipate "down time" or anything between missions.

From the point of view of the players, this will be systemless.  I'll actually be tacking the FATE syste on to it from my side but that'll be invisible in game play.

The other big thing is that I'll be paying no attention to character or player O/Os.  If site rules allow it, then it may appear in the game.  If there's a specific allowed-by-the-site thing that you as a player simply cannot bear to read about then this is not the game for you as I can't guarantee that it won't emerge and, given the nature of the game, it may be very hard to avoid. 

There will be a certain amount of sexy content but also a certain amount of non-sexual but still adult content (the game would go in extreme)

Because its very much a group based game the speed of it running will be highly dependent on the players.  As such, if you're interested please give some sort of indiciation for what sort of speed you prefer a game to run at.  I can manage 4-5 posts a week as GM but obviously not every player post requires a GM post and some GM posts can cover multiple player posts.

If you want an overview of my GMing, here is the only other group game I've run on E which died when I went on hiatus.  If you have any questions, shout them below.

I'd be happy running this for 1 player up to 5-6.

[AndyZ]

No ideas yet, but this might be cool, so I'm going to keep an eye on it ^_^

[Geeklet]

This has an interesting potential. I dont know how well ignoring peoples O/Os will work out, but i will be keeping an eye on this

[Kythia]

This has an interesting potential. I dont know how well ignoring peoples O/Os will work out, but i will be keeping an eye on this

I'll level, Geeklet, neither am I.  However, what I wanted to sress is that the situation is what it is and I won't be tailoring it to the specific players (I will be tailoring it a little to characters) I get.  And that necessitates a certain blindness to Offs.  If it doesn't work then we'll all decide on someone who;s not me to blame it on and carry on with our lives, if it does we'll all laud someone who is me and continue playing.

[BlackStone]

Color me interested.  It this taking place in modern time or near future?   My reasoning is I had a SAS character who experience nerve damage as a result of combat wounds and has cybernetic circuitry to compensate.  If not near future I can still go with the SAS who encountered spooky shite while on a mission and because of that encounter was transferred to MI4.

[Letexta]

This could definitely be interesting. I like the idea of ex military, or maybe police getting involved with this...

[greenknight]

Does "no prior exposure" rule out a background of the "pre-agent" getting involved in an operation and kept on? For example, an inspector investigating a brutal murder in parallel to the classified MI4 operation and he takes takes down the "monster" or gets seconded to MI4 when he gets too close and the decision from on high is he's too good to just liquidate or "exile."

[Kythia]

Does "no prior exposure" rule out a background of the "pre-agent" getting involved in an operation and kept on? For example, an inspector investigating a brutal murder in parallel to the classified MI4 operation and he takes takes down the "monster" or gets seconded to MI4 when he gets too close and the decision from on high is he's too good to just liquidate or "exile."

It does rule it out, yes (and this goes to BlackStone as well).  The issue here is that there is a specific story and meta-story I want to tell and allowing some contact with the occult beforehand would make juggling the variables a little difficult.

Color me interested.  It this taking place in modern time or near future?   My reasoning is I had a SAS character who experience nerve damage as a result of combat wounds and has cybernetic circuitry to compensate.  If not near future I can still go with the SAS who encountered spooky shite while on a mission and because of that encounter was transferred to MI4.

Modern times unless people would strongly prefer that sort of near future setting (I'm actually not terribly bothered)

[BlackStone]

I can understand and can get behind the no prior exposure rule.  My apologies for not noticing it before, I normally not so lax with missing such details.  Also as I said, current time frame or near future does not chance the the concept too much.

And must say, love the profile picture, Letexta!

[Beorning]

I might be interested in this... I love occult investigation games!

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Interested,  have a concept of a professor who is 36 years of age.   She is a professor that will be recruited from Oxford University.  A historian,  with specialized areas of history.   The Gnostic gospels, The Malleus Maleficarum   and the cult of Valentinians along with other approximately 13 to 14 more likewise cults in history.   What these cults all had in common were history's sex cults.     

Her drive was study the influences of what drove society throughout history.  To turn to suppression against the feminine aspect in divinity and religion.  At times to such a degree that brutality had been visited on women through out history and for much of it forced subjugation.  Which she has published a thesis on the subject.   

To a lesser degree,  she has considerable knowledge on the Vatican and Catholicism.  As often her research into her fields would lead in her into learning about the church of Peter.     

Through it might seem she is a feminist.   She is not,  she is a scholar and found what she became enthralled with fascinating.   As said a scholar,  she has no martial skills or other combat skills.   Through she likely will have a good range of investigative skill.   

[Kythia]

That character works really well, Elven Sex Goddess.   And it looks like it might be worth me putting some flesh on the bones so people have a bit more of a clue what is going on.  Gimme a moment...

[lillisa]

This sounds really amazing, but don't know if I can commit to another game.

I did want to say: there really was an MI unit that was supposedly searching for paranormal and extraterrestrial threats called MI7. Perhaps looking them up could help?

[Kythia]

This sounds really amazing, but don't know if I can commit to another game.

I did want to say: there really was an MI unit that was supposedly searching for paranormal and extraterrestrial threats called MI7. Perhaps looking them up could help?

MI7 are propaganda I believe.  Would be really good to have you if you fancied it.

Anyway,  An expanded intro:

Mission One: Kidnappings in Kent

The headquarters of MI4 is in the ultra-modern Ministry of Defence head office in London.  They have a floor.  And the directory by the side of the lift quite clearly labels them:  "Floor 5, MI4 - Occult/Paranormal/Supernatural".  Since being contacted you've noticed they have an official website, with a .gov.uk URL.  They have funding, which with a bit of digging is publicly available.  They have a director and a Wikipedia page, letterheaded paper and allocated parking spaces.  They have, in short, everything you would expect a government department to have and that's...that's fucking strange is what it is.  The UK government has a fairly well funded department for investigating ghosts and goblins which it has apparently made no attempt whatsoever to hide and you've simply never heard of them.  Neither has anyone else you talk to.  How did you not know this?  How is this not the laughing stock of every single newspaper, the go-to example for government waste.  Why...What about the...When did... Every time you try to phrase all the questions this raises you get stuck there.  Just, why. 

You certainly want to know some answers, even if you're utterly incapable of formulating the questions.  And so when the invite came to do some freelance work, and to meet with Oliver Mantell, Deputy Director, at half eleven on Tuesday you made sure you could.  Your name and identification is checked by a soldier at the door, then another one as you emerge from the list on to the fifth floor.  A receptionist smiles professionally and directs you through to a meeting room where a coffee machine and a jug of water have been placed on the centre of a conference table.

A few moments after the last of you enter a rather chubby man wearing an expensive-looking suit enters.  "Good..." he looks at his watch "...morning.  Thanks all for coming" he looks round and does a quick count.  "Yes, everyone's here.  My name is Oliver Mantell, and I'm the Deputy Director of MI4.  One of the Deputy Directors, technically, but the one who'll be directly responsible for you and, at the moment the only one you need to bother about. We've been doing this, in one form or another, for almost six and a half centuries now - where by this I mean giving an induction to new people - so I'm going to ask for your trust that I'm doing this the right way.  There are reasons for..." he chuckles "...well, I was going to say everything we do but that might be going a little far.  Some of the things we do."  He pours himself a cup of coffee in to a Styrofoam cup and takes a seat, waving anyone still standing down as well.

"Imagine, if you will, that some mentally ill person believes that they can summon a demon.  They are insane, I reiterate, but they are not negligent or stupid.  They have researched historical practices and decided that killing a certain number of people in certain ways on certain dates, etc. will meet their goal.  As I hope you can see, having specialists within law enforcement on these sorts of matters can aid in capturing this person.  We can look at the pattern and determine that his next target will be a...oh, I don't know... a blonde taxi driver on a Sunday.  Or whatever.  At this stage in the process, the acceptance of that fairly uncontroversial truth is all I'm asking of you.  Having specialists in the occult can help to identify criminals who are inspired by the occult.  Many of you will be burning with questions about other things, but at this stage in the process I do not wish to address them.  I just wish you to accept the common sense of law enforcement having specialists in that sort of thing"  He glances round for confirmation before continuing.

"Our recruitment process is multiple step, and is focused on getting people out in to the field as quickly as possible.  The reason for that is quite simple: people have so many questions about us that attempting to answer them all before true recruitment leads to us getting nowhere.  Some of the questions are sensible, some not, some serious, some not, some valid, some not.  Getting people in to the field as quickly as possible allows people to gain some of the answers and, more importantly, some crucial context and makes the Q and A session that happens before their second assignment considerably easier and quicker.  I'm hoping that makes sense, I'm also hoping that that explains why I'm not stopping to ask for questions.  As I've hinted, this is the beginning of a recruitment process that, if you are happy and we are happy, will culminate in your working for us.  At the moment you do not, and will simply be paid an hourly rate.  After one field assignment - actually, more in some cases but those are rare - we will either offer you a job or thank you for your time.  You will either accept the job or not.  Feel free to have any lawyers or experts you wish look over the contract, I assure you you'll find nothing to be concerned about in there."

"Here is..." he taps a button on a laptop then swears under his breath when nothing happens.  After a moment of clicking and frowning he eventually connects a cable in to the side of the laptop and hits a button again.  A projector screen lights up showing an image of a farm.



"Sorry about that, bloody IT.  Bane of my life.  Anyway.  Here is Old Ash Farm, near Canterbury, down in Kent.  Over the last couple of decades there have been a number of missing persons cases spread up and down the country, too widely spread and too different for us to have connected them until quite recently.  A few days ago, though, we managed to join some dots and connected them all to this farm and the owners.  It is owned by a... an organisation calling itself variously the "Order of Life" or "Ordo Vitae"  I know some of you here speak Latin" - he points at one or two of you - "but for those who don't the Latin is just a translation of the English.  They are a cult interested in various occult matters, please remember that we agreed earlier it was entirely possible for crimes to be committed for occult reasons."

"Sadly, shortly after we connected these dots and identified the farm as somewhere of interest, two things happened.  First, the local police force made a similar connection and second the Order, who we suspect have at least one member in the local police force, became aware that they were under suspicion.  They fled to another place, in Scotland should you care but it doesn't directly affect you.  Here is what we wish of you.  The local police are a few days behind us but will be investigating the farm towards the end of this week.  We wish you to travel down tomorrow and perform an investigation before the local police do, looking for matters specifically of interest to us.  What did they believe they were going to achieve through these kidnappings.  Are the victims still alive.  Are they in contact with other cults.  What reference works are they using.  Realistically the possibilities are endless and without actually being there and saying "That thing, that is interesting" I can't really give a full list of what we may be looking for.  However, none of you are particularly stupid or foolish, all of you are adept in your own ways and I am certain that you will be able to correctly identify the sorts of things that would interest you.  My hope is that that makes sense, and my hope is that you'll agree to work with us on this project even if after that our ways part."

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Further details on character submitting for approval.

In the past we learned that Gloria is a professor at Oxford, and what fields she is a respected authority in.   Gloria full name is Gloria Madeline Pennington.   Besides her passion for her scholarly endeavors.  Gloria is into body art with having a full sleeve tattoo and various other tattoos. 

Gloria has natural ginger hair coloring, pale skin and brown eyes with a amber hue to them.   Gloria doesn't workout,   still her body frame and type is lithe and nubile.   Not a extremely short woman,  at 5'4", through she does only weigh 126lbs.   Which of course attributes to the lithe figure.   Her ginger hair showing a touch of Irish mixed in to her Welsh ancestry.   

When not lecturing in class at Oxford.   Where she will wear long sleeve outfits and be in proper decorum in dressing.  Gloria outside of Oxford, wears sleeveless tops.   An she is into her final fetish that is high heels ranging from platforms to stiletto heels of at least 6 inches.   To go with the sleeveless tops is always casual.   Blue jeans,  shorts,  and skirts.   With her tattoos one might think her a lady of metal, especially with her choice for dressing.   To finally she is a nudist.   Through such is practiced at home.   Where she will wear just heels around the house.   

[Ebb]

Dang it.

Interest: Checked.

[Verasaille]

This sounds very interesting. I would like to ask a few questions if I may?

I am not as familar with the English countryside or the local ways, being American. Would it be feasible to bring in a character who is a student studying on a student exchange program? Perhaps she is of Irish ancestry and welcomed the chance to study in the UK. A way for her to try and connect to her roots in a way. She would be an American and with the accent of a Midwesterner. I thought this would be a good way to allow me to explore the English ways vicariously and excuse any faux pas in a natural way.

I would put her expertise in geology and general science courses. Rocks and maybe with a secondary degree in Cultural Anthropology?

[Kythia]

This sounds very interesting. I would like to ask a few questions if I may?

I am not as familar with the English countryside or the local ways, being American. Would it be feasible to bring in a character who is a student studying on a student exchange program? Perhaps she is of Irish ancestry and welcomed the chance to study in the UK. A way for her to try and connect to her roots in a way. She would be an American and with the accent of a Midwesterner. I thought this would be a good way to allow me to explore the English ways vicariously and excuse any faux pas in a natural way.

I would put her expertise in geology and general science courses. Rocks and maybe with a secondary degree in Cultural Anthropology?

Absolutely no problems with this idea, no.  Plus there are a couple of other options available to people who don't feel they're intelligent, good looking, refined and modest enough to convincingly play someone from the UK.

Further details on character submitting for approval.

In the past we learned that Gloria is a professor at Oxford, and what fields she is a respected authority in.   Gloria full name is Gloria Madeline Pennington.   Besides her passion for her scholarly endeavors.  Gloria is into body art with having a full sleeve tattoo and various other tattoos. 

Gloria has natural ginger hair coloring, pale skin and brown eyes with a amber hue to them.   Gloria doesn't workout,   still her body frame and type is lithe and nubile.   Not a extremely short woman,  at 5'4", through she does only weigh 126lbs.   Which of course attributes to the lithe figure.   Her ginger hair showing a touch of Irish mixed in to her Welsh ancestry.   

When not lecturing in class at Oxford.   Where she will wear long sleeve outfits and be in proper decorum in dressing.  Gloria outside of Oxford, wears sleeveless tops.   An she is into her final fetish that is high heels ranging from platforms to stiletto heels of at least 6 inches.   To go with the sleeveless tops is always casual.   Blue jeans,  shorts,  and skirts.   With her tattoos one might think her a lady of metal, especially with her choice for dressing.   To finally she is a nudist.   Through such is practiced at home.   Where she will wear just heels around the house.   

Looks good to me, ESM.  I'll put up a formal char sheet over the weekend and there might be a question or two I want answering, but the core concept looks good.

[Kythia]

I'm very sorry, my internet went down yesterday and then I've been busy most of today.  I'll aim to get some stuff up pretty shortly.

[Kuroneko]

Hmmm, color me interested. Considering a character with either expertise in Druidic practices or Shinto/Buddhism. Maybe a medical forensics specialist or doctor with the above as a side interest?

[WhatLiesAbove]

I may look into this more when character sheets come up. Always fascinated with the occult!

[Ebb]

I'm thinking of playing a homicide detective with Scotland Yard. No knowledge of the occult, but great investigative skills and very good at reading people. He'll be a skeptic, at least initially.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

I think his name is Martin. Or something along those lines.

[Kythia]

I'm thinking of playing a homicide detective with Scotland Yard. No knowledge of the occult, but great investigative skills and very good at reading people. He'll be a skeptic, at least initially.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

I think his name is Martin. Or something along those lines.

He looks like a Martin.

Anyhoo.

I haven't yet seen a concept I dislike or disapprove of, but I'm holding off any formal decisions until I get formal entries.  At one point in the sheet you'll be asked for "skills".  Could I request that they're in the following style -

a list of five skills ("investigating", "knowing about buddhism" and "gnostic studies" are examples of some that have been mooted).  Prefix one of them with "Expert", one with "Good", two with "Satisfactory" and one with "Dabbling".  Feel free to adapt that syntax for grammar: ("Expert Investigator rather than Expert Investigating, for example)

If you're interested could you please fill in the following:

Pic:
Name:
Background:
IC thoughts about the situation:
IC plans for next week (after the mission ends):
Skills:

[Kuroneko]

Is this a formal character sheet, Kythia? Or more of a general interest sort of thing? Just curious. And should we post it here or PM it to you?

[Kythia]

This is the formal character sheet.  It's deliberately lightweight and deliberately somewhat character focused.  Post it here or PM it as the mood strikes.