[MH] Caribbean by Night

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Powerful magicians and supernatural entities generally don't play nice with modern technology, so most cult higher-ups aren't that fond of flying. Automobile engine computer chips, GPS navigation systems or fuel gauges might be unreliable around sorcerers and warlocks, but at least failures while in a car or aboard a ship don't all mean crashing into the ground at terminal veplocity or faster.

Does that mean that warlocks tend to be classic car enthusiasts in addition to everything else?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Apollonian

Does that mean that warlocks tend to be classic car enthusiasts in addition to everything else?

It does.

At least for some of them. J.R. Kessler hasn't done much driving for the last couple of decades, not since he turned eighty, but instead, he sails around on a yacht built in the sixties.

The PCs have been driving around in a fairly unremarkable pre-chip American sedan, whatever that means in automobile terms. A Buick or something, made before digital chips were incorporated into engines, but not so early that it's a legitimate classic car. It's not Signature Gear or important to anyone's character concept, just literally a 'company car' intended for the transportation of employees with magical gifts. So... whatever is the best value for money effectively TL7 (even if built in the 1980s, uses no signature TL8 technologies) automobile, that exists in significant numbers in Texas?

Lucien Lacoste is going to buy a classic Harley, though, and Teddy Smith is probably looking to buy something nicer once his full resources become available to him on the first day of 2019. Alice Talbot will continue to drive a Toyota Corolla that's a couple years old and keeps finding new ways to fail, but remains within its warranty, so they keep having to service it.

But yeah, as far as the PCs know, a number of those occultists who have genuine talent try to surround themselves with classic things that also have some kind of connection to their lives, family or at least a symbolic resonance. It seems to help magicians coexist with technology if the machine in question has a mystic bond with them. So for those magicians who drive, a number of them still drive their old vehicles or have tracked down the same model as their first car lr something.

[dcarson]

Originally Posted by Icelander

But yeah, as far as the PCs know, a number of those occultists who have genuine talent try to surround themselves with classic things that also have some kind of connection to their lives, family or at least a symbolic resonance. It seems to help magicians coexist with technology if the machine in question has a mystic bond with them. So for those magicians who drive, a number of them still drive their old vehicles or have tracked down the same model as their first car lr something.

This makes Arnold Schwarzenegger tracking down and buying the tank he drove during his time in the Austrian army suspicious. A 1951 M-47 Patton, equipped with an 810-horsepower Chrysler V12 twin turbo gas engine.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by dcarson

This makes Arnold Schwarzenegger tracking down and buying the tank he drove during his time in the Austrian army suspicious. A 1951 M-47 Patton, equipped with an 810-horsepower Chrysler V12 twin turbo gas engine.

Huh.

That is pretty suspicious in the context of the way stuff works in my campaign. Ahnold 'the Warlock' Schwarzenegger?

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Huh.

That is pretty suspicious in the context of the way stuff works in my campaign. Ahnold 'the Warlock' Schwarzenegger?

We may have found a way to make your world better than ours - all the tech malfunctions on the set of Terminator 3 resulted in the film having to be aborted, and it was never made. We don't want to get rid of too many of Arnie's movies, of course. Perhaps he started to gain his powers during the filming of End of Days (plenty of ways he could run into the occult while doing such a film). The 6th Day would have had a higher production cost due to all the malfunctions, but by the time of Terminator 3 he's become too powerful (up to you if Collateral Damage had to be aborted or not). Gaining such power in such a short period of time may be abnormal, but Arnold knows how to get those gains.

EDIT: Incidentally, did you ever decide on an alternate ritual location? I'm pulling for Indianola - it seems almost purpose-made for this - but am curious what you ultimately decide on.

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Gaining such power in such a short period of time may be abnormal, but Arnold knows how to get those gains.

Not just steroids (when legal), but the man's from Styria, so arsenic is probably a relevant thing too.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Varyon

EDIT: Incidentally, did you ever decide on an alternate ritual location? I'm pulling for Indianola - it seems almost purpose-made for this - but am curious what you ultimately decide on.

Hmmm... yes, I like Indianola.

But the PCs are going to be trying to use Hidden Lore (Ley Lines and Places of Power), History, Intelligence Analysis, Occultism, Research and Thaumatology to determine what the Keepers of the Last Hearth are going to do next.

I'm pretty confident that Kessler's knowledge of Galveston and tellurgy will result in him suspecting that the cult might be planning something related to the Texas Killing Fiends next to I-45. Also, the fact that there was an ambush of police officers right next to I-45 in Galveston probably means a lot of road blocks around it, to cut off escape. These two factors mean that the proposed ritual site around the Calder Oil Field is probably too dangerous.

In the next two days, hundreds of local police, Texas DPS officers and federal LEOs will be sifting through area around that section of the I-45, looking for Latin American men without local ties, because they suspect some of the ambushers might have escaped and are either hiding in the area until the manhunt dies down or trying to get out on smaller roads. Probably not a good time for a bunch of mostly foreign people, some of whom indeed travel on South American passports, to turn up in the area with some thirty kidnap victims intended as sacrifices.

So, the Keepers of the Last Hearth need to divert their ritual to another site. And I should probably have a list of them that people with high history, research and occultism skills could prepare, along with pros and cons, so that the players can make an in-character guess as to where the villains will be.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Varyon

We may have found a way to make your world better than ours - all the tech malfunctions on the set of Terminator 3 resulted in the film having to be aborted, and it was never made. We don't want to get rid of too many of Arnie's movies, of course. Perhaps he started to gain his powers during the filming of End of Days (plenty of ways he could run into the occult while doing such a film). The 6th Day would have had a higher production cost due to all the malfunctions, but by the time of Terminator 3 he's become too powerful (up to you if Collateral Damage had to be aborted or not). Gaining such power in such a short period of time may be abnormal, but Arnold knows how to get those gains.

Oh, magic rarely makes anything better, in my campaign. No, the result would probably be that Ahnold is kept away from the set and instead CGI inserted like Peter Cushing in whatever the Disney Star Wars are called.

Of course, if Arnold is studying ritual magic, I think he'd be good at it, as he's accomplished pretty much everything he set out to do in life. On the other hand, due to the way the only extant working rituals are written in archaic or obscure languages, as well as wide-spread secular use apparently diluting the effectiveness of magic words and phrases, Arnold would have to learn to speak a ritual language perfectly. Uttering rituals in Vulgate Latin, Koine Greek or Old Norse with an Austrian accent would be ineffective at best and could have catastrophic consequences.

If Arnold overcomes the linguistic barrier, I imagine his goal is changing US election law to allow him to run. Oh, and old classics like maintaining his classic physique and manly prowess in the face of Father Time.

Originally Posted by RogerBW

Not just steroids (when legal), but the man's from Styria, so arsenic is probably a relevant thing too.

I've always found 'Styria' sounds suspiciously like a Hyperborian kingdom.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Oh, magic rarely makes anything better, in my campaign. No, the result would probably be that Ahnold is kept away from the set and instead CGI inserted like Peter Cushing in whatever the Disney Star Wars are called.

Well, if they figure out that Arnold is the problem, which I think the Facade is going to prevent. However, Arnold initially turned down the role in T3 (until Cameron told him he was alright with Arnold going for it, so long as he requested a huge paycheck), so considering that and the fact warlock Schwarzenegger has a good reason to avoid movies, T3 probably lacked Arnold outright (I suspect CGI in 2003 wasn't nearly good enough to look a fraction as convincing as it did in 2013's Rogue One, or even as good as his ultra-brief cameo in 2009's Terminator: Salvation).

Originally Posted by Icelander

Uttering rituals in Vulgate Latin, Koine Greek or Old Norse with an Austrian accent would be ineffective at best and could have catastrophic consequences.

I would not be surprised if Arnie is capable of speaking English with a more American accent, but opts to retain his Austrian accent because it's so much a part of his image. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he can beat the language barrier.

Originally Posted by Icelander

If Arnold overcomes the linguistic barrier, I imagine his goal is changing US election law to allow him to run. Oh, and old classics like maintaining his classic physique and manly prowess in the face of Father Time.

Perhaps he's already gearing up for a 2020 run. Of course, I wonder how well he'd do in the debates when his mic keeps shorting out (although if he's able to just continue on in a sufficiently-loud voice, that might actually help him).

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Well, if they figure out that Arnold is the problem, which I think the Facade is going to prevent. However, Arnold initially turned down the role in T3 (until Cameron told him he was alright with Arnold going for it, so long as he requested a huge paycheck), so considering that and the fact warlock Schwarzenegger has a good reason to avoid movies, T3 probably lacked Arnold outright (I suspect CGI in 2003 wasn't nearly good enough to look a fraction as convincing as it did in 2013's Rogue One, or even as good as his ultra-brief cameo in 2009's Terminator: Salvation).

Yeah, maybe. Though a really bad CGI cameo seems like something that might result from evil supernatural influence.

Originally Posted by Varyon

I would not be surprised if Arnie is capable of speaking English with a more American accent, but opts to retain his Austrian accent because it's so much a part of his image. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he can beat the language barrier.

Most 'warlocks' learn magic faster than they'd otherwise would be capable of by forming a pact with a spirit who speaks the ritual language fluently and can sometimes even teach them in their dreams.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Perhaps he's already gearing up for a 2020 run. Of course, I wonder how well he'd do in the debates when his mic keeps shorting out (although if he's able to just continue on in a sufficiently-loud voice, that might actually help him).

I'll totally make a point of having Arnold be seeking the Republican nomination in preference to a sitting President (which should be impossible, but, hey, Arnold also needs a major legislative change just to be able to run).

As for the mikes, at the very worst, for a world-shaking magical talent, we're still only talking a -4 to Malf. for the newest digital gear, maybe -2 for simple older analog. Which means, more or less, that stuff that can be assumed never to fail in ordinary circumstances will fail in 5-10% of cases.

Annoying, sure. Potentially lethal for a surgeon or pilot. But not crippling for a politician, I think.