<span class="bbc_u"><strong>My GM Style and expectations</strong></span><br/>I'm a fairly easygoing GM who runs a story that is intended to be fun for everyone involved, myself included. You will never find yourself unable to do or try to do something because i won't allow it, but i do ask that you consider the most important factors of all with any actions you take in and out of character: Will this lead to a fun and interesting interaction for everyone involved? If not it doesn't automatically mean you can't or shouldn't do it anyway, but think it over or just ask me if you have doubts. I encourage players to be clever and creative; i'll do my absolute best to make the setting and all non-player characters your PC's interact with interesting. Meet me halfway and give me some equally interesting characters.<br/><br/>Rule of cool is rule number one with me: If there is something you want to do and there is no mechanic that supports it, i tend to try finding a way to accomplish what you want somehow. That being said, this is a system game and i know the system very well and will use it and ask that you do, too. Certainly back up your use of the mechanics with appropriate roleplay, but at the end of the day no matter how well-written and persuasive your argument is if you fail that Manipulation + Persuasion roll, you aren't convincing the Apex to give up his position and leave town. Keep in mind also that others, both characters and players, can use the system against you as well. Yes, this means that your character might have to take actions you don't necessarily want them to as a result of powers or even plain old social skills but this means that if you decide to turn the rules on someone they will work equally well for you. I like to use the Chronicles of Darkness subsystems like Combat, Social Maneuvering, Investigation and Chases and I know them very, very well. In some scenes the action can shift quickly and dramatically depending on how your characters approach them and sometimes depending on what the dice give us. Part of the fun is reacting to these situations as your character would, even when they are in an untenable situation.<br/><br/>Growth and character development are things you should always strive for; i will always give you opportunities for both and if there is something you want to do or see that i have not introduced as a game element, let me know! If i don't know what you want, i can't incorporate those things into the story.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>House Rules</strong></span><br/>1. Rolling. If you think your character might need to make a roll for something, do so along with your in-character post; this is to save time. If you over-roll we'll just subtract dice from the end of the roll equal to the number by which you over-rolled (which may or may not lower your successes) and if you under-roll i'll roll the missed dice and add the extra successes when i tell you so.<br/><br/>2. Sanctity of Merits. We're using it as per the Chronicles of Darkness rulebook, but i'm also happy to allow you to change or 'retcon' any element of your character that with a good reason; 'this isn't as fun or effective as i'd expected' and 'i didn't consider the ramifications of this' are excellent reasons.<br/><br/>3. Content. This is Elliquiy; we all know what happens here. Obey Elliquiy's rules at all times or you will be reported to the administration and swiftly made unwelcome in this game.<br/><br/>4. Friendly, open, welcome. I like playing with all kinds of people. I do not give a good goddamn if you are male or female, gay, straight, trans or anything else and i will happily accept all kinds of players. Racism, sexism and any kind of intolerance<strong><em>will not be accepted</em></strong>. Having said that: If you are a constantly-offended type of person who can't help preaching your ideals constantly even in a game i will ask you once, maybe twice, to not antagonize others and then you will be ejected. No OOC drama; we're here to have a great writing and roleplaying experience.<br/><br/>5. however.....This is not to say that there may not be some uncomfortable themes. This is a Chronicles of Darkness game and the setting can be incredibly dark at times, but if you are ever uncomfortable with anything that is happening in a scene<em><strong>tell me immediately</strong></em>so that we can fade to black. I do not want to make anyone deal with things that bring up bad memories. There is a disclaimer that must go with this, though: We are playing a game primarily focused on the doings of Beasts; literal nightmare monsters who gleefully do awful things to other people in order to survive and who by and large are okay with what they're doing (some exceptions may exist). Even though I am a huge fan of this game I will not sugarcoat it: Beasts are monsters and they do monstrous things. But it is up to you the player to decide how detailed you want to be with their horrible actions; it is okay to allude and keep the gory details off-screen.<br/><br/>The flip side of this is that Beasts can, like any other kind of character, be unbelievably heroic if they so choose. Many a Beast rejects the 'Monster as Villain' narrative and seeks to be better<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Character Creation</strong></span><br/>Books in Use - Chronicles of Darkness Core Rulebook, Chronicles of Darkness: Hurt Locker, Beast: The Primordial and the Beast Player's Guide will be the primary books we will use for material and between the four of them you'll find nearly anything you need to make an excellent and fleshed-out character of any kind. I highly recommend getting all four, but the only ones you absolutely must have access to in order to play in this game are the Chronicles of Darkness core rulebook and Beast: The Primordial.<br/><br/>Other than that, character creation is as per Beast: The Primordial (or your relevant corebook if a non-Beast), with the addition of 10 Experiences to spend as you wish (or save) at character creation. Instead of prioritizing ability scores and skills in primary/secondary/tertiary categories, you simply have a starting pool of 12 dots for Attributes and 22 dots for Abilities that you can assign as you see fit for your character. Don't forget,<strong>Beasts all gain one dot of the Occult skill for free</strong>. In addition, you can choose to begin with only one Chamber for 2 extra XP (this can be worthwhile, but keep in mind that finding new Chambers can be difficult sometimes).<br/><br/>Lastly, make sure you do the questionnaire on Page 80 of the Beast: The Primordial corebook to determine starting Satiety and learn a bit about your character.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Setting</strong></span><br/>Roanoke, Virginia<br/><br/>Something is happening in this nowhere city in western Virginia; recently an unusual and terrifying uptick in supernatural activity has made life very interesting for its residents. In the past year many people have joined the ranks of the monsters - Awakening struck dozens of people, granting them phenomenal cosmic power, six months ago the faerie hunting ground called the Hedge spilled over into the city, giving numerous fae creatures and Changelings a way to escape back into the mortal world, overwhelming the Star City Freehold while at the same time the beleaguered werewolves of the city's Forsaken tribes were suddenly bolstered in their neverending war against the Pure by a rash of people undergoing the First Change and the Kindred community was met with an unexpected influx of new vampires as those who had long lay in torpor awakened to reclaim their place in the All Night Society and new ones were granted the embrace, willingly or not.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, Avernian Gates around the state tore open and let loose a flood of the dead, including many of the little death gods known as Geists who offered their dark Bargain to those on the boundary between life and death, creating many new Sin-Eaters. All these events paled in comparison to the return of the primordial monster known as the Nightbird, an unbelievably powerful Incarnate Beast who immediately took his place as the Apex of the RoanokeValley and its surrounding areas, ruling both the Dark Dream and the fates of the city's mortal inhabitants from the top floor office of the Wells Fargo Tower, roiling the Land of Nightmares by his mere presence and calling forth Horrors eager to hunt and find human dreamers to join with and empowering those who had long been different from the humans around them with the strength to face their darker halves and achieve their birthrights as Beasts.<br/><br/>This is the city you live in, a chaotic mess of supernatural conflict and mortal struggles. You are Begotten or perhaps one of their many supernatural cousins and now you must navigate this new and dangerous world. Together you might have a chance to survive and even thrive against monsters older and more terrible than you; apart, you will surely be consumed in the conflicts and rivalries of the night folk. Work together, carve out a place for yourselves, and become true legends....or die alone in the night, fodder for those far greater than you.