We are going back to Jackson, IL, and 1985 to see how the characters are doing.
Game Play notes: I will be using the Heroic Touchstones introduced in Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age and further defined in Thirteen Parsecs. I am leaning on a touchstone every three levels, but I might change that to every other level. Have not decided yet.
So far, the game has:
- A psychic
- A theosophist who sees dead people
- A survivor
- An inventor
Yeah. Kind of a motley crew, to be honest, but perfect for this game. Everyone is still first level except for the survivor, who is 2nd. No "Chosen One" though. No game last weekend, so this is from the weekend before Easter.
The NPCs: Duchess & Candella
One of the joys of these NPCs for this game is bringing in NPC the Players (but not always the characters) recognize. Both my oldest and I use Duchess and Candella a lot. They are great fun and always in trouble, either getting in or out of it. So when the players yell out, "What are they doing here?" you know you did something right. He is using them in his 5e D&D-meets-Pokémon game where they are both members of Team Rocket.
Denise & Candy
In the NIGHT WORLD of Jackson, IL, everyone's favorite party girl thieves are Denise "Duchess" Carver and Candace "Candy" Mercer. They are a couple of party girls who are too loud, too promiscuous, drink too much, smoke too much, and skip classes far more than they attend them.
And I absolutely love them.
They walk down the halls with unmistakable swagger. They act like they invented the idea of Best Friends Forever and are working to improve that idea every day. They are good girls, and their loyalty to each other is fierce and complete.
They met in the principal's office the first week of Jr. High. They were in trouble for different reasons, and they instantly bonded and have rarely been apart since. They can't remember what they were in trouble for that day, but they remember what the other one was wearing and what they laughed at. When they get irritated at each other, one will say, "I should have left you in Principal Butler's Office!" and the other will invariably reply, "Yeah, but then your life would be boring!"
The thing about Denise and Candy is that they are a lot smarter and a lot more aware than anyone gives them credit for. Candy's ("Don") dad owns one of the bars downtown, and she helps every chance she gets, her tips all going back to her dad (she really isn't old enough to work there legally), and all their money goes to helping her mom, who is really sick. In fact, Candy has gotten so good at managing her mom's medical issues that she can act as the group's medic in a pinch.
Denise has had it pretty rough, too. Her mom, Jean, is living with her stepdad/mom's boyfriend, Brian. Her dad, Tom, has been gone a while. Brian is not a nice person, and Denise has become one of those people who are sensitive to others' pain and always knows exactly where all the exits are. In 1985, Denise works as a waitress at "Sal's Pizza." The owner and manager, Salvatore, aka Sal, threatens to fire her all the time, and she threatens to quit all the time, but neither happens.
I have already figured out that by the 1986-87 school year, Denise had moved out and was living in a trailer east of town. Candy is always there. This will give the cast somewhere to go when they need patched up since Candy is going to grow into the local "shady medic". Candy, who is always full of laughs and fun, has NO bedside manner. Her idea of cleaning a wound is with Southern Comfort, which also works as a painkiller and a needle sterilizer; if it doesn't make her patient better, it makes her better.
They serve the role of always getting into trouble, but also the ones the characters can go to when they are in trouble, because they don't ask questions and usually have solutions.
There is one other issue.
Both Candy and Denise heard the Bells. Neither the characters nor the girls have any idea why. They don't seem to be supernatural in any sort of way. Just two normal girls with some crappy pasts and hopefully a brighter future. Are they central to the mystery? Maybe. I kinda want to wait and see how the players work it out. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there are so many worlds with these two. Like the Eternal Champion, but a lot more fun, with more alcohol, more Aqua-Net, and very inappropriate humor.
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| Candy and Denise, likely not going to class. |
Candace "Candy" Mercer
2nd Level Survivor, Human (?)
Base Abilities
Strength: 12 (0)
Agility: 17 (+2) P
Toughness: 15 (+1)
Intelligence: 15 (+1)
Wits: 13 (+1) s
Persona: 14 (+1) s
Vit: 6 (2d4+2)
DV: 8
Fate Points: 1d6
Check Bonus (P/S/T): +2/+1/+0
Melee bonus: +0 Ranged bonus: +2
Languages: English, Spanish
Skills: Security Alarms (Disable) (Agl), First Aid (Wits)
Saves: +2 Death Saves and area effects.
Survivor Skills
Improved Defense: -1
Open Locks: 25%
Bypass Traps: 20% (+10%)
Sleight of Hand: 20%*
Move Silently: 30%
Hide in Shadows: 20%
Climb: 80% *
Perception 45%
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'5"
Archetype: The Trouble Maker
Quote: "Don't make it weird, babe." (rigth before she completely makes it weird)
Quirks: Is shockingly good at first aid. Will say something completely inappropriate and laugh it off (she knows what she is doing).
Theme song: "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" - Cyndi Lauper
Candy is the "loud one" of the pair. If she gets quiet then she is serious. Despite her trouble-maker reputation and party girl attitude, Candy is a lot smarter than she lets on.
Candy also flirts shamelessly with everyone. During gym class she shouted out to Valention ("Val") "hey let me see your big bat!" which got the class laughing. Val, being Val, held up the baseball bat she was using, which made her and Denise laugh even more. "It's a good thing he is good looking, she told Denise."
Denise "Duchess" Carver
2nd Level Survivor, Human (?)
Base Abilities
Strength: 11 (0)
Agility: 16 (+2) P
Toughness: 18 (+3)
Intelligence: 12 (0)
Wits: 15 (+1) s
Persona: 15 (+1) s
Vit: 10 (2d4+6)
DV: 8
Fate Points: 1d6
Check Bonus (P/S/T): +2/+1/+0
Melee bonus: +0 Ranged bonus: +2
Languages: English
Skills: Notice (Wits)
Saves: +2 Death Saves and area effects.
Survivor Skills
Improved Defense: -1
Open Locks: 20% *
Bypass Traps: 20%
Sleight of Hand: 25% *
Move Silently: 35% *
Hide in Shadows: 25% *
Climb: 60% *
Perception 55% * (+5%)
Hair: Brunette
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'7"
Archetype: The Party Girl
Quote: "Underachiever and proud of it!"
Quirks: Denise always counts the exits whenever she walks into a room. She knows where all the sharp objects are and she knows who is on edge.
Theme song: "I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor (She has a soft spot for Disco)
Denise is the "quiet one." If she raises her voice, watch out, she is either very pissed or very scared. She usually reacts to fear by getting angry. Living her own life in a constant state of awareness has made her sensitive to others' emotional states. Candy has learned that if Denise ever grabs her hand, then Candy needs to get them both out of whatever situation they are in and fast.
Denise also has a ferret named "Bandit" who likes to bite Brian, her mom's new boyfriend. Named after "Smokey & the Bandit," a movie she used to watch with her dad, Tom, all the time.
I took a page from AD&D 2nd Ed, and adjusted their Survivor skills but kept the point totals. Candy is better at climbing walls and disabling traps aka alarm systems (when it is slow at the bar she reads the alarm system manual). Denise is better at perception and hiding in shadows.
Still not 100% sure why they heard the Bell, but they did and now the PCs have to deal with them too.
Soundtrack, now with Candy and Denise's songs.
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Like I said before, I like the idea of these NPCs surviving and being better versions of themselves. Candy becomes an ER nurse because she can handle the pressure, and she scares most doctors. Denise becomes a social worker because she knows that sometimes a troubled kid just needs someone to show up. Denise brings Candy a ridiculously expensive coffee at work (she is often at the hospital) with what can only be described as an obscene amount of sugar. They laugh way too loudly and scowl at anyone who might suggest they should, you know, get back to work.
And they are both really, really good at what they do. That is, if they can survive till graduation.
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| Candy and Denise, still laughing together |
Every Friday night, they still get together. Only now they can both afford better drinks, and they talk about their jobs, people who annoy them, ex-husbands (1 for Candy, 2 for Denise), and sometimes, when the night gets late, they talk about the time when they were just kids and fighting monsters. Ok, they will agree they didn't do a lot of fighting, mostly a lot of running.
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