[OOC] The Silent Service, Very Special Agents

Icelander · 06-02-2011, 10:58 AM

“Do you think it was road agents?”

“Look like knife work to you?”

“It was some animal, then. Mountain lion or maybe a bear.”

“Not unless your animal can think and plan and bear a grudge. Whatever did this; it drew their fire and only attacked when their guns were empty. Killed them slow and deliberate. Like a torturer with claws and fangs.”

“... Who did you say you were?”

“United States Postal Service. Special Agent of the Division of Mail Predations.”

This is the rational 19th century. The theory of evolution, electricity, the telegraph and even the electric light bulb are all understood, at least by leading scientists. Nevertheless, there are those who prefer to cling to medieval superstitions. A group of such men, armed with questionable evidence and bolstered by the assistance of various politicians willing to credit their theories at least enough to pester their political allies, has insisted for years that the Federal government needed to investigate various ‘anomalous phenomena‘. In 1879, after years of bureaucratic infighting, the Postmaster General David M. Keys is finally pressurised by Senator Roscoe Conklin (R-NY) to consent to administratively own this ticklish problem.

He agrees to employ these men in the Division of Special Agents and Mail Predations. They will have badges, salaries and even $1,000 per month in operational funds that can be wired to them wherever they may find themselves. Employees of the post offices around the country shall be briefed to provide assistance, within reason, and ask no questions when presented with their badges. But Postmaster General Keys warns them that he will deny any stories that they publicly tell about being employed by him to seek out bugaboos, Big Foot or ghosts. In fact, he makes it very clear that his only concern is that they do not embarrass him or indeed impinge further upon his awareness. Having employed them, his service to Senator Conklin is rendered and he washes his hands of the matter. Their immediate superior will be Chief Special Agent Parker and be it on his own head if he chooses to pay any heed to tall tales of the supernatural.

The players will take on the role of these men. At least one of the PCs will be a credible person who has for years lobbied the government to take action in the field of supernatural phenomena. The others will either be persons that he has contacted and share his belief or they will be others who have spoken out about the supernatural in some way that has come to the attention of the government. Other plausible reasons for being involved are also welcome. Potential players will please explain why their character is interested in the supernatural and what his experience of it is before we start play.

The rule system is GURPS and in general, the harshest, starkest, most realistic rules will be in play. On occasion, there will even be houses rules, generally small changes too fiddly for official publications. I’ll respond to questions about them, but in general, fiddly rule stuff will be handled by the GM exclusively and players won’t have to worry too much about rules. Just assume that what would work in real life ought to have a chance of working. You know, if real life had cryptids, monsters, secret magic and supremely skilled and courageous men who faced all these things.

The Wild West featured in this game will be the Wild West of Deadwood or Unforgiven. It is dirty, foul-mouthed, rough and sometimes lawless, but it features more murders than shootouts and more brawls than anything else. Obviously, the vast majority of the American West during even the ‘Wildest’ period in its history was a low-crime area filled with peaceful homesteaders or ranchers. These, however, are not the areas that we are interested in. I guarantee that if play ever visits such places, it is because something is lurking behind that peace.

I shall not commit to a weekly schedule, instead aiming to look frequently at the thread and keep play moving at some pace that suits everyone. If, for some reason, it is necessary to coordinate schedules for some parts, this OOC thread will do fine for that purpose.

I will select players entirely arbitrarily and without revealing my reasons. I want around four, but I’d rather have fewer than I’d accept someone just to make up numbers. Posting reasons of why you should be selected in the OOC thread is fine, as is posting potential ideas for characters. Getting attached to a character concept before the players who are chosen have thrashed out between themselves how to divide functional and dramatic roles in the group is not fine.

I’ll post a list of what functional roles I’ll want filled and welcome further discussion of it. As for dramatic roles, I expect that potential players will have their own ideas and look forward to them coming up with some. At the minimum, PCs will have backgrounds that differ enough to bring each character into sharp contrast. It would also be good if they had different outlooks toward some important issues that could come up, such as morality (endless possibilities), the supernatural and even politics and their erstwhile superiors. That being said, the PCs will have plausible reasons for starting together and staying together.

It is possible that PCs may have some supernatural talents. If so, these are subtle enough so that they can’t prove them to others, unless such people are already willing to believe. All PCs should be able to handle a wide variety of challenges, ranging from mysteries to solve, complex social situations, outdoors adventures, manhunts to brawls and deadly shootouts. They ought to be plausible as real people, but may all be outstanding examples of real people, intelligent, hearty, successful and lucky.

My preferred method of generating characters, once players have been selected, is to arrive at the dramatic niches and specialities within the team in consultation with the players. The players will then describe their characters, as they would any fictional person, and I use GURPS rules to build stats for them. I’ll then send the stats to each player for comment and revision.

Finally, I am the GM. I wear the Viking Hat. Discussion is welcome. Errors may be pointed out. Criticism is encouraged. Lack of appropriate genuflection to the authority of the Hat, however, as this imperils the fun of everyone, will be dealt with by ceremonial humping. No homo. Nobody is enjoying it. But furious humping.

06-02-2011, 10:58 AM	#1
Icelander Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Iceland*	[OOC] The Silent Service, Very Special Agents “Do you think it was road agents?” “Look like knife work to you?” “It was some animal, then. Mountain lion or maybe a bear.” “Not unless your animal can think and plan and bear a grudge. Whatever did this; it drew their fire and only attacked when their guns were empty. Killed them slow and deliberate. Like a torturer with claws and fangs.” “... Who did you say you were?” “United States Postal Service. Special Agent of the Division of Mail Predations.” This is the rational 19th century. The theory of evolution, electricity, the telegraph and even the electric light bulb are all understood, at least by leading scientists. Nevertheless, there are those who prefer to cling to medieval superstitions. A group of such men, armed with questionable evidence and bolstered by the assistance of various politicians willing to credit their theories at least enough to pester their political allies, has insisted for years that the Federal government needed to investigate various ‘anomalous phenomena‘. In 1879, after years of bureaucratic infighting, the Postmaster General David M. Keys is finally pressurised by Senator Roscoe Conklin (R-NY) to consent to administratively own this ticklish problem. He agrees to employ these men in the Division of Special Agents and Mail Predations. They will have badges, salaries and even $1,000 per month in operational funds that can be wired to them wherever they may find themselves. Employees of the post offices around the country shall be briefed to provide assistance, within reason, and ask no questions when presented with their badges. But Postmaster General Keys warns them that he will deny any stories that they publicly tell about being employed by him to seek out bugaboos, Big Foot or ghosts. In fact, he makes it very clear that his only concern is that they do not embarrass him or indeed impinge further upon his awareness. Having employed them, his service to Senator Conklin is rendered and he washes his hands of the matter. Their immediate superior will be Chief Special Agent Parker and be it on his own head if he chooses to pay any heed to tall tales of the supernatural. The players will take on the role of these men. At least one of the PCs will be a credible person who has for years lobbied the government to take action in the field of supernatural phenomena. The others will either be persons that he has contacted and share his belief or they will be others who have spoken out about the supernatural in some way that has come to the attention of the government. Other plausible reasons for being involved are also welcome. Potential players will please explain why their character is interested in the supernatural and what his experience of it is before we start play. The rule system is GURPS and in general, the harshest, starkest, most realistic rules will be in play. On occasion, there will even be houses rules, generally small changes too fiddly for official publications. I’ll respond to questions about them, but in general, fiddly rule stuff will be handled by the GM exclusively and players won’t have to worry too much about rules. Just assume that what would work in real life ought to have a chance of working. You know, if real life had cryptids, monsters, secret magic and supremely skilled and courageous men who faced all these things. The Wild West featured in this game will be the Wild West of Deadwood or Unforgiven. It is dirty, foul-mouthed, rough and sometimes lawless, but it features more murders than shootouts and more brawls than anything else. Obviously, the vast majority of the American West during even the ‘Wildest’ period in its history was a low-crime area filled with peaceful homesteaders or ranchers. These, however, are not the areas that we are interested in. I guarantee that if play ever visits such places, it is because something is lurking behind that peace. I shall not commit to a weekly schedule, instead aiming to look frequently at the thread and keep play moving at some pace that suits everyone. If, for some reason, it is necessary to coordinate schedules for some parts, this OOC thread will do fine for that purpose. I will select players entirely arbitrarily and without revealing my reasons. I want around four, but I’d rather have fewer than I’d accept someone just to make up numbers. Posting reasons of why you should be selected in the OOC thread is fine, as is posting potential ideas for characters. Getting attached to a character concept before the players who are chosen have thrashed out between themselves how to divide functional and dramatic roles in the group is not fine. I’ll post a list of what functional roles I’ll want filled and welcome further discussion of it. As for dramatic roles, I expect that potential players will have their own ideas and look forward to them coming up with some. At the minimum, PCs will have backgrounds that differ enough to bring each character into sharp contrast. It would also be good if they had different outlooks toward some important issues that could come up, such as morality (endless possibilities), the supernatural and even politics and their erstwhile superiors. That being said, the PCs will have plausible reasons for starting together and staying together. It is possible that PCs may have some supernatural talents. If so, these are subtle enough so that they can’t prove them to others, unless such people are already willing to believe. All PCs should be able to handle a wide variety of challenges, ranging from mysteries to solve, complex social situations, outdoors adventures, manhunts to brawls and deadly shootouts. They ought to be plausible as real people, but may all be outstanding examples of real people, intelligent, hearty, successful and lucky. My preferred method of generating characters, once players have been selected, is to arrive at the dramatic niches and specialities within the team in consultation with the players. The players will then describe their characters, as they would any fictional person, and I use GURPS rules to build stats for them. I’ll then send the stats to each player for comment and revision. Finally, I am the GM. I wear the Viking Hat. Discussion is welcome. Errors may be pointed out. Criticism is encouraged. Lack of appropriate genuflection to the authority of the Hat, however, as this imperils the fun of everyone, will be dealt with by ceremonial humping. No homo. Nobody is enjoying it. But furious humping. __________________ Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!