[1989] Awake or Asleep

[Ashdown Crier]

You’re back at the bottom of the stairs. The treads creak up into the gloom. The scarlet fabric hangs in tatters. The fairy lights glow an angry red.

Detective Kuroda leans against the wall at the top of the stairs, his hand clutched over a bloody wound in his side that doesn’t seem to be bothering him as much as it should be. He waves you in with his free hand - “It’s all ages tonight. Honor system. Don’t cause trouble.”

The little shrine of photographs by the door is pristine. Untouched.

Liam is still at the bar, filling glass after glass with tonic water, a look of deep concentration in his pale eyes. Temperance sits in front of him, her back against the bar, stabbing the olive in her drink over and over and over and over and over.

Erin appears to be about seven beers in and is face-down on the bar.

At their table, Shiloh, Jamie, and Dana all look like they have just crawled out of a pile of rubble, their hair and clothes dusty and covered in gravel, their faces littered with cuts. The basket on their table is upended, fries everywhere - they pick at the remnants.

Jeremiah holds court alone over a table marred with scorch marks.

Onstage, Mika Do and Sibyl go through the motions of their pre-show, checking mics and setting props. The stage is perfectly intact. (The sleeve of Mika’s kimono smolders slightly.)

A gaping void has appeared in the floor just in front of the stage. It is inky and endless.

“If you don’t have a drink yet,” Sibyl suggests to the crowd, her voice smooth and silky and surprisingly high, “now’s a good time to get one.”

By the stage, one can see and speak to Sibyl Liberties and Mika Do.

Down at the bar, you can find Liam, Erin, and Temperance.

Over in the booths, you can find Shiloh, Jamie, Dana, Shun, and Jeremiah.

The mood is somber. Nobody seems to feel much like drinking or dancing.

Full cast bios here.

 

[Ashdown Crier]

persuasion.
Making it successfully through the meta will be largely predicated on the characters' ability to find the information they need in a timely manner. Persuasion is not an easy thing in an era where the player characters don't belong, so this is much tougher than it sounds. Persuasion is based on a single d20 roll for every question you ask or favor you request. This means if you make one roll to get an NPC to give you an answer to your question, that doesn't carry over and mean they'll answer your next question. You must roll anew for every new question.

Please remember we are roleplaying. Just because you roll high doesn't mean that a character will automatically open up to you and spill all the beans; you still have to earn their trust first! Consider spending a little while buttering them up or intimidating them first: particularly successful attempts will earn persuasion roll bonuses at the discretion of the GMs.

Each NPC has a different threshold for persuasion, which is in the cast post of your main thread. The lower the number, the easier to persuade. Low-rating NPCs are unlikely to have valuable information to share, however.

Sharing information will be vital to the event. You may create your own PRP threads in the event forum for this purpose.

If you chose to purchase an upgrade to your ability to persuade in phase one, please note this at the top of your post. There are three or four people handling each thread, so this makes it easier for all of us to keep track of who's got what bonuses.

Quick Reference of Persuasion Rolls
Sibyl Liberties: 20
Mika Do: 14
Liam Noor: 18
Temperance Clark: 12
Erin Alda: 5
Shun Kuroda: 10
Jeremiah Tailor: 15
Jamie Delacroix: 8
Shiloh Beaumont: 8
Dana: 12

 

[Ashdown Crier]

combat.
Combat will be very simple. Combatants roll 1d20 per round. The lower number takes five damage. Everyone has a pool of 25hp, which is persistent throughout this section of the meta: unless healed by another character, your hit points will not increase or decrease outside of combat. Should both combatants agree (oocly), the fight can end or be interrupted before a combatant is knocked out. Reaching zero means that your character cannot join any other fights for the rest of the meta unless healed. Some fights have the chance to end in death or incapacitation: these will be clearly labeled and clearly avoidable.

There are some exceptions to the five damage rule:

>Your character has a firearm. Firearms inflict 10 damage, but they also subtract 3 points from your roll. You must call that you're using a firearm when you make your original roll and this cannot be retracted.
>Your character is using magic. Magic inflicts 10 damage, absolute, no matter what your opponent rolls, but it takes a round for your character to focus enough to make it do. So you'd call magic (with no roll) in the first round, take 5 damage from your opponent, and in the second round (if you're still standing) your opponent takes ten damage from you. You must still roll to dodge their attack.
>Your character is healing another. Healing doesn't require a roll. You just post that you're healing and who the target is, and they regain 5 health.
>You can't perform two actions on the same round. You can't attempt to block and heal at the same time; nor can you attempt to attack and heal.


ADDENDUM:
In a 2v1 situation where one character is attempting to block for another, all characters still roll. Blocking doesn't automatically succeed. For the block to be successful, both characters (blocker and blockee) have to roll above the attacker. The attacker takes no damage in this situation.

Formula:
A = Attacker
B = Blocker
C = Defended

A outrolls B + C: A succeeds in attacking C, C takes 5 damage.
A outrolls B, but not C: B takes 5 damage, block is successful.
A outrolls C, but not B: B fails to block, but does cause damage to A. A + C take 5 damage.
A is outrolled by both B and C: No one takes damage. Block is successful.

 

[Ashdown Crier]

xxx  

[Smerdle]

Rabbit Vaughn; stairs -> bar; 22/22
+1 persuasion, -1 combat

He had eventually chosen gin—since he didn't normally drink it and therefore, in his mind, doing so now was the perfect cover—and just as he had nodded his thanks to Liam and was bringing his second glass of the stuff to his lips, the pressure dropped. The bar whined and shouted, and Rabbit was on his feet again for a single second before he was slipping, back braced against the wall as he took an unintended seat halfway up the flight of stairs.

"What in the ******** was that?" he whispered.

He pushed himself upright, the explosion still ringing in his ears as he scrambled back into the bar, too stunned to think of escape until he was already in the middle of the somber crowd. There should have been crying, screaming, people hurrying to patch up their obvious wounds, but instead, everyone was back to doing what they had been when he'd arrived, at least to some degree. There was bleeding and plaster dust and a giant hole into endless space, but not a one of these puppets was paying any of it any mind. It would probably be for the best if he did the same.

Rabbit crossed the room on shaky legs and took the stool to one side of Erin that he'd had before, waving a hand at Liam. "Jack and Coke? Please?" He rested his arms on the counter in front of him, only just noticing the scratches amongst his tattoos and the pulsing ache of what must have been a slightly larger cut across his cheek. He hoped they paid as little attention to his injuries as they were their own. Rabbit glanced at the hole, wondering if they were all going to end up jumping in this one too.

silverahbobah

drink pls

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance Clark | 22/22
-1 combat rolls

In a disorienting whirl, Temperance was back at the stairs. Reaching out a hand, she braced herself against the wall, noticing the small cuts that littered her arms. Small enough to be ignored for now. She moved up the stairs, each step sounding heavier than before. The cloth was in tatters, everything spoke of an aftermath.

Everything spoke of an aftermath, except for the players. Kuroda spoke, and it was the same words as before, the same sort of inflection. Temperance's eyes slid down, onto his wound and she frowned. She avoided him like the plague, but this she couldn't. Duty calls, even before confusion or figuring out what in the world happened.

"Hey - let me help. I'm a nurse." She pointed to his wound, moving closer. Temperance could see the blood staining his finger tips. "How did you get this wound?" She reached out her hand to move his.

shibrogane

silverah

 

[Silverah]

Liam hands Rabbit a glass of tonic water.

Smerdle

 

[Silverah]

Shun looks down at his wound, seems faintly surprised by it but otherwise unaffected. "Oh," he says. "I don't... huh. How did that get there?"

the semblance of unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance Clark |25/25
-1 combat rolls

"You don't know," she says in a deadpan. Everything was beyond weird, like a reset after a computer freeze. Only with lingering damage.

"Move your hand, please."

silverah

want to use stitch witch on him

 

[Silverah]

Shun moves his hand.

You can't actually find the source of the bleeding. It's just... there, blood smeared all over his skin and clothes. The air smells rusty.

"I don't just check IDs," he says, looking down at Temperance. "Is everyone else okay? I'm supposed to keep them safe."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[Smerdle]

Rabbit Vaughn; bar; 22/22
+1 persuasion, -1 combat

He didn't want tonic water, but he didn't want to draw attention more.

Rabbit slid the glass closer but otherwise ignored it, looking up at Liam's army of cups with the tiniest shake of his head. Then, he poked Erin's arm and waited to see if she'd respond.

silverahbilverah

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance Clark | 25/25
-1 to combat

Her fingers slowly pressed into his skin. Once she was certain there was no wound, she searched odd lumps, tenderness, but there was nothing. "T-there's nothing there, Kuroda. If there's nothing there, why is there so much blood?" Temperance was mainly muttering to herself even as she addressed him. At his word, she looked up, tugging his shirt back into place.

"I don't know - we need to check. How do you not know how you got this on you? What's the last thing you remember?" She frowned. It was like an incomplete reset - the superficial remained, but the components looped back. His pupils at least seemed okay, she thought peering at him.

silverah

 

[Silverah]

Erin sat up - slow, jerky, like an automaton woken from sleep. Her head swiveled as she looked over at Rabbit. "Have we met?" she slurred.

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Rabbit Vaughn; bar; 22/22
+1 persuasion, -1 combat

"Nope!" He smiled, an itch blooming in his stomach that felt a little like oncoming hysteria. "Just wanted to make sure you were okay." He slid his glass back, leaving it in front of her instead. "And I've got a question." Rabbit looked past her at the smear of nothing that spread across the floor in front of the stage.

"Do you see anything weird..." He pointed. "Right there?"

silverahwheee

i should have rolled for this i'll be back later hur hur

 

[Silverah]

Shun frowns, brows furrowing towards each other. "I got off work at the precinct. Came over here for the wake. Fought with Jerry, he said I should go home... he always tells me to go home. I mean, I know he took the fall for me when they kicked him off the force but..."

He lifts his hand, stares at the blood.

"It's my life to live," he says. "Mine to ruin, too. Least he could do is show he cares sometimes. World's cruel enough without us being a fistful of assholes to each other."

the s3mblance of unity