The Bow Street Irregulars

[Bjorn]

For various reasons, my thought of a Paranoia game is no longer a valid thought.  Instead, I'm proposing the following:

In 1791, Luigi Galvani published a set of experiments in which he studied the effect he referred to as "animal electricity" -- the now-famous twitching frog leg studies.  Count Alessandro Volta disagreed with the conclusions of these experiments, even though he could replicate them, and his work led him to the invention of the Voltaic pile -- the first battery.  This was the first step onto the path of harnessing electricity, and hence all of modern technology.

It happened in our world.

In another world, much like ours, Volta, while trying to duplicate Galvani's work in 1791, found to his surprise that not only had he made the frog's leg twitch, he had reanimated the entire frog.  Watching the amphibious zombie leap about the experimental table, trailing its entrails behind it, he realized that magic was, after all, very real.

He might have been dismissed out of hand as a crackpot were it not for two things.  The first is that he was a very established and respected scientist, which made it difficult to dismiss his claims out of hand.  The second, even more important, was that the British East India Company's efforts to subjugate the Indian subcontinent had been lagging for several years, due to unexplained and seemingly unexplainable resistance.  One up-and-coming Company officer heard of Volta's results, and suddenly took the military report of the last fiasco quite seriously and literally.

Beleagured as it was, the East India Company was still one of the greatest economic forces in the known world.  Volta quickly found himself rich and ensconed at Oxford University, the first holder of the Aristotle Chair of Magical Studies.  First at Oxford, and quickly everywhere, developing and studying magic became a top priority.

This rapid development was both helped and hindered by the nature of magic.  On the one hand, it seems that anyone can learn to perform magic, even without formal instruction, which allowed it to quickly spread beyond the sheltered confines of the Universities and the upper class.  On the other hand, magic, it seems, is never quite the same for any two people.  One person might need to mutter a few words to summon flame, while another needs no words but does require a piece of flint, while still another might never be able to conjure fire at all.  Even masters and apprentices, though sharing the same general approach, rapidly find significant differences between both their capabilities and their methods.

It is now 1837, and Queen Victoria has just taken the throne of the British Empire.  The public perception of magic is quite inconsistent.  Magic, it is felt, when held in the hands of proper academics and the gentry is quite respectable -- assuming that the magic is of a proper, god-fearing sort, of course.  But those lower-class ruffians and eccentrics who take up magic are quite insane and a danger to the public safety -- a conclusion only emphasized by the rise in magic-related and -abetted crimes in Britain.

Victoria's predecessor, William IV, had formed the Ministry of Magic to overview and regulate the boom.  One of Victoria's first acts was to have Parliament vastly expand the powers and responsibilities of the Ministry.  To the great dismay and vocal objections of the Home Office, the Ministry of Magic now found itself responsible for investigating and prosecuting magical crimes.

In practice, overwhelmed at the sudden new increase in responsibility, it was impossible for the Ministry of Magic to truly meet these new demands, and so most crimes are still the responsibility of the police and the Home Office.  To deal with those cases with which the police could not, either because the magic involved outweighed them, or there was no crime beyond the magic itself, the Ministry formed the Bureau of Magical Enforcement, and set about recruiting investigators, chosen first and foremost for their abilities in and knowledge of the new mystical arts.  That has turned out to be a rather difficult task, seeing as the opportunities for profit available to a modern mage greatly outweigh the best the Ministry (misreably underfunded) has to offer.  Still, some, be it for amnesty, curiousity, or patriotism have taken up the offer, and needs must do....

This campaign will be played using the HERO 5th Edition rule set, using a 75 CP base with a max of 75 CP of disadvantages (max 25 from any one category).  All characters have the 20 CP limitation Normal Characteristic Maxima 20.  The PCs will be investigators for the Bureau of Magical Enforcement.  They will be hired for their paranormal abilities, not necessarily their crime-investigating talents, so you don't have to slant your talents that way.  (Remember, this is less likely to be detective work and more Call of Cthulhu....)

It will be a forum-based game, with IRC sessions whenever appropriate/possible.  I don't expect this to be a tDaT-scale game, but it would be good if you could manage 10 posts or so a week.

The Everyman Skill list is:

English
KNO: Home Country
*Either* KNO: London (for British natives) or Native Language (for non-British)

Maybe others to follow.  Characters will be expected to purchase skills appropriate to their background (i.e., upper class characters need to purchase some degree of Latin, etc.)

European history is essentially the same, with only the two major changes outlined above: the discovery of magic (which led to the essential death of research into electricity), and the fact that the East India Company is engaged in severe struggles with the natives in the Indian subcontinent.  The technology level is early Victorian -- essentially steam-age.  However, I reserve the right to use the AU excuse any time I don't feel like doing enough research.

All characters should have some degree of magic.  Pretty much any abilities can be taken, subject to the GM's approval.  In creating the character, it should be remembered that magic is very unsophisticated, despite everyone's best efforts.  It might be powerful, brutish, and uncontrolled, or it might require painstaking, elaborate rituals.  It might be effective, or it might be easy, but it should never be both.

There will be space for about four PCs.  I should point out that this will be my first experience GMing a HERO campaign.  If you're interested, get in touch with me -- either make a character or (if you don't have the rules) a character concept.  This campaign likely won't start at all until early or mid-August.

Bjorn

[Dracos]

I'm intrigued.  I would be willing to participate, though it might take me a bit to decide on a concept.

Dracos

[Anastasia]

Question - In short, I'm curious about how you are going to execute the setting. How much Call of Cthulu are we talking here? I'm on the interested side of things, but I'm a bit hesitant if it's going to go down that path.

[Brian]

I would also like to play in this game.

WHEEEEE~!

[Carthrat]

Intrest, Expressed. Yes? O_O

However, what genre do you plan on making the game? It does sound like it could fall down many routes.

[Rezantis]

Oh. I forgot to actually say here.  I -am- interested, I'll have to figure out a concept though. :)

[Bjorn]

Question - In short, I'm curious about how you are going to execute the setting. How much Call of Cthulu are we talking here? I'm on the interested side of things, but I'm a bit hesitant if it's going to go down that path.

I'm talking about "underprepared individuals trying to figure out the occult and unexplainable," not "all-powerful beings from beyond the end of time devour your sanity and eventually you."

In the short term, the campaign will be investigative in nature.  I have three possible long-term plot hooks already in mind -- one political, one military, and one mystical (closer to pure fantasy).  Which hook(s) get taken up I plan to leave to the players.

And, of course, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

[Anastasia]

Question - In short, I'm curious about how you are going to execute the setting. How much Call of Cthulu are we talking here? I'm on the interested side of things, but I'm a bit hesitant if it's going to go down that path.

I'm talking about "underprepared individuals trying to figure out the occult and unexplainable," not "all-powerful beings from beyond the end of time devour your sanity and eventually you."

In the short term, the campaign will be investigative in nature.  I have three possible long-term plot hooks already in mind -- one political, one military, and one mystical (closer to pure fantasy).  Which hook(s) get taken up I plan to leave to the players.

And, of course, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Mmmm.

Good, I wanted to make sure I was clear on where you stood on that. I'm a touch hesitant on joining a game at the moment, due to personal issues and a game hanging that I may pick up should events allow me to do. Though, my interest for this game is intact.

I'll let you know within a week. By that point, I should know if I should be able to handle it or not.

[Bjorn]

A few additional notes that have come to light:

I'm currently looking at a max of four players.  

If the player wants, I'll run through an introduction arc in which they get hired/assigned to the Bureau of Magical Enforcement.  However, I expect all characters as part of their background to have a reason to be working the BME.   In other words, the point of the game is to investigate magical events, not convince you to want to conduct such investigations.

I already have the entire staff of the BME outlined.  Any advantages or disadvantages that relate to people within the Bureau will need specific approval.

A mandatory part of background is writing about the type of magic that your character uses, and how he learned it.   The idea here is to outline a theme, one that describes both the effects of the style, the common association with it, and its sphere of influence (which might very well transcend your own character's capabilities).

Examples that are currently in the game one way or the other:

Cantrips:  People born in the new age of magic often pick up a handful of simple spells in the course of their education or work.  Cantrips tend to be based around simple gestures or incantations, can be thematically unrelated, and are generally quite weak or simple.  Appropriate powers would be simple shields or energy blasts, temperature control, low-power healing spells, or temporary stat increases.

Elemental mastery:  A pyromancer, for example.

Alchemy: the power of the alchemist comes from the items he can make.  Potions are the classic example, but more permanent items can also be forged.

Runes:  Runic spells are centered around the drawn rune.  They might be effective immediately, or only triggered when touched.  While they could be used in combat, the need to draw them on the object to be affected rather limits their applicability.

Talent:  A character with a talent has taken a natural ability and refined it beyond human limits.  Someone who had a natural empathy, for example, may have developed it into a full blown telepathy, while another person might use magic to enhance his already formidable strength.  Powers through talents can be quite powerful, and are generally free of the ritualisitc rigamarole that infests most other branches of magic.  The price is versatility -- the talent only does one thing.

That's just a beginning.  You can really choose any approach you want -- the magics of ancient Babylon, druidism, classical magism, etc.  Also, these aren't *fixed* types -- two players might both have alchemists, whose versions of alchemy are radically different.  But keep in mind the next point....

Remember that magic has only been an established reality in the Western world for forty years game-time.  While it has spread incredibly fast, it just doesn't have deep roots.   Before that time, while magic *did* exist (after all, it was being used to frustrate the East India Company), it was rare, secret, (even more) poorly understood, and very, very weak.  Much of what has been happening over the past half-century is rediscovery (which often borders on utter reinvention).  When figuring out your character's magical backstory, you should keep this in mind.

Bjorn