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Game Proposal: Into The Strange

Nina

By Nina,
in Into The Strange

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Nina Mentor

Nina

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Hi all been thinking of taking the plunge and giving this a go. Several People have mention in chat an interest in a Strange game and i really like it so Im offering myself up as a game runner/storyteller. so if there is interests let me know. As for the game itself i have all of the published Numenara/The Strange books published to date. if there are any questions please ask here or pm me an I will try to answer as best as I can.

 

  • Game System: Cypher System (The Strange/Numenara)

  • Story Teller: NinaBMM

  • Game Name: Into The Strange

  • Number of PCs Desired : 3 - 5  (more PCs are possible if there is enough interest)

  • ST Posting Frequency : 1/week and as needed for game advancement.

  • Player Posting Frequency: 1/week and as applicable to respond to ST posts

  • Starting PC Power Level: 1st Tier

  • Open to New Players? Yes

  • Setting Description: The Game will be using the The Strange default Setting with the following modification; The Ninth World (Numenara) exists not as a Recursion but as the future of this game's Earth and will play a significant roll as the game progresses. So yes there will be sort of crossover between the settings through Time Travel not accessible to PC's at the start of the Campaign.

  • The primary focus of this game will be the exploration of the recursions found within the Strange and the solving of a growing mystery and potential threat to Earth and all of Reality.

  • Starting Characters will  be native Earth humans who will be Either Active Agents Who have Translated at least once or Brand new recruits to The Estate which the default game Organization on Earth secretly exploring the Strange and protecting the earth from whats out there and whats already translated through.

    Character Creation follows the Core Book Rules. Your Concept should include why the Estate Recruited you If you need assistance in creating a character Please PM me. Further Information for The Strange's game system and setting can be found here http://www.montecookgames.com/welcome-to-the-strange/ please PM if you have any further questions.

    A Note on Descriptors and Foci, there are numerous player created descriptors and foci that can be found on the internet on site such as http://theninthworld.com/ , most of them are geared toward Numenara but can be used with some tweaking as a Strange descriptor or foci. I you find one of these you would like to use pm me and I will see if it is compatible with this game. Also do not concern your selves with the Intial Link to First Adventure Options

 

Since this is my First ever game proposal im sure i am leaving something out so please lets discuss.

 

thanks

nina

 

 

Additional Setting Material

This is what every PC knows Some of you may have more information depending on your Concept.

 

Earth

Only a tiny percentage of Earth’s population is quickened (and thus have abilities beyond the normal), and an even smaller number know about the Strange. The truth is dangerous and devastating, and so far at least, the organizations that monitor or exploit the dark energy network find it in their best interest to keep it a secret.

Except for those amazing secrets, Earth of The Strange is just like our real world Earth. Though PCs may be exploring the crypts of soulshorn in the recursion of Ardeyn or fighting spore worms in the recursion of Ruk, on Earth most people go to work every day, pay their bills, watch TV, and probably absorb themselves in a hobby or two, such as in your case, the occasional tabletop roleplaying game. So you already know what it’s like to live on Earth. You live it every day, and you know how the calendar works, the basics of world geography, some history, and so on. You might even be up on current events and watch football (Americans call it soccer, but regardless we all know the World Cup is happening as I write this).

Of the organizations who know about the Strange, the most cohesive and active groups on Earth include the Estate and OSR.

The Estate

The Estate employs operatives (usually, the PCs) to explore recursions, defend Earth, and create conditions to keep Earth safe from creatures that leak from recursions up to Earth. The Estate is careful to keep its actual motivations and activities a closely guarded secret. To the world at large, the Estate is a philanthropic institute interested in funding research in several scientific fields of inquiry, and is best known for the yearly scientific awards they give, called Morrison Fellowship Prizes. Researching those prizes is actually a great way for the Estate to learn about events around the world that stretch the normal.

 

 

 

Office of Strategic Recursion (OSR)

PCs could also be OSR agents instead of Estate operatives (or freelance recursors).

The Office of Strategic Recursion is a secret agency of the USA that has ties to governments around the globe. Like other agencies that thrive without possessing any “official” existence, OSR is funded through misleading accounting, misdirection of seized funds, and other less palatable sources. Imagining the existence of such departments usually falls to conspiracy nuts, but when it comes to OSR, they wouldn’t be wrong. The fact that OSR agents employ black suits and use cyphers only provides more fuel for conspiracy forums and late-night talk shows.

OSR is well aware of recursions. It monitors groups like the Estate. In fact, it’s a policy of the OSR to feed the Estate leads on a regular basis to foster the belief that OSR is on the same side.

The truth is, OSR isn’t working for the same goals. Sure, OSR will put down a rogue dragon from Ardeyn or deal with a Karum-aimed paradox trying to set fire to Washington, D.C. But its ultimate policy goal is to discover ways that elements of the Strange can be weaponized for use on Earth.

 

Recursions

Fallout from recursions is what the Estate and OSR spend most of their time dealing with. Recursions are unique but limited worlds hosted in the dark energy network of the Strange. Each recursion has its own laws of science, super-science, or even magic, which means that amazing things can occur within a recursion that could never happen on Earth.

Many recursions were seeded into the network by the creative resonance of pure imagination (so called “fictional leakage”), and over time these recursions have matured into places that are quite real. In some recursions, fairy creatures hang the stars at night, in others monstrous evil sleeps beneath the waves, while in others, Native American gods still wander.

Among the many recursions created by fictional leakage there are a few created by conscious design, including the sorcerous land of Ardeyn and the shipwrecked recursion of Ruk.

All told, hundreds of recursions speckle the dark energy web around Earth. Each recursion is a place of wonder, adventure, danger, and opportunity for those who can travel to them, explore them, or even create them.

And here’s the wonderful thing; as player characters, you have the ability to travel into recursions, using a process called translation. Who knows how many recursions have been seeded around Earth? The only way to know is to begin exploring!

 

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Nina Mentor

Nina

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cool and no rush i understand with the baby coming mala :)  and the impending holidays are going to screw with everyone's scheduled to some degree or other. if there is any game that can tolerate characters coming and going it is this one.

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Jordan Proficient

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right now I a contemplating a guy who had an encounter with something strange related when he was younger that marked him as "other" in some way.  Ever since he's been trying to find out everything he can about the Strange and the abilities that were awakened in him.  Right now I am going with a Strange Paradox who Solves Mysteries.

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Nina Mentor

Nina

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THE ESTATE

To the world at large, the Estate is a philanthropic institute interested in funding research in several scientific fields of inquiry. While that’s partly true (the facade works because the Estate does award scientific grants to various deserving causes on a yearly basis), the Estate’s actual goal is to protect the Earth—and all of its life forms— from all threats to its existence from the Strange. As one of only a handful of organizations cognizant of the dark energy network, the Estate is uniquely positioned to deal with the threats the Strange represents.

 

MORRISON FELLOWSHIP PRIZES

The Estate is careful to keep its actual motivations and activities a closely guarded secret. To the world at large, the Estate is best known for the yearly scientific awards they distribute (called Morrison Fellowship Prizes) to between thirty and fifty people, working in any field, who “demonstrate remarkable talent and the promise for continued creative work.” The prize is $500,000, paid over seven years in biannual installments, and comes with no strings attached.

As wonderful as that might be for awardees, the prize gives cover to Estate field teams who show up to investigate strange events and accomplishments to see if they’re actually Strange events and accomplishments. It’s amazing what the lure of a cash prize will do to even the purest of motivations.

The funding required to pay out such large sums is charitably provided by various named and anonymous donors, most of whom believe they are supporting a philanthropic foundation.

Of course, the Estate spends far more cash than just the yearly prizes. Additional funding is generated by operatives working inapposite gates to bring valuable material up from Ardeyn or Ruk, which is sold to various third-party companies who’ve discovered it’s best not to ask where the odd coins, minerals, or gems

come from if they wish to keep their contracts.

RECRUITMENT

The Estate wants associates and operatives that are skilled and can handle themselves in a variety of situations; they also have to be mentally stable enough to take knowledge of the Strange in stride. Someone who meets all

these qualifications would be a fine asset to the Estate—possibly even suitable for working on a field team. However, the Estate values a potential recruit far more if she is quickened.

A quickened recruit can dispense with a lot of the red tape others have to deal with, including an extensive background check. A quickened PC with a questionable past is not an issue for the Estate (though individual Estate operatives may decide to keep a close eye on such a PC, especially if that “questionable” past puts the

PC too far outside normal moral behavior).

After the Estate becomes aware of a potential recruit and determines suitability (possibly without the PC ever knowing about it), the organization approaches the character, probably under cover of determining whether

the PC is a good candidate for a Morrison Fellowship Prize. At some point during that meeting, the PC is introduced to the Strange, and if he isn’t already aware of them, to his own quickened abilities.

Estate Roster

A few select members of the Estate.

Katherine J Manners : Lead Operative, a founding member of the Estate, and one of the institution’s most important field agents. She was an associate of Carter Strange back in the day.

Lawrence Keaton : Investigations Chief, tends to monopolize operatives. A functional alcoholic, balancing on the edge of being put on administrative leave for related lapses.

Edward Kincaid: Special Operative, a felon that the Estate freed to exploit his amazing skills of theft and infiltration. So far, Kincaid has been a strong asset, though some consider him a security risk and are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Liza Banks: Chief of Public Relations, a reformed(?) con artist who’s become a respected and important member of the Estate, despite occasional irregularities. Liza hands out Morrison Fellowship Prizes.

Hertzfeld: Research Chief, a native to a recursion formed by fictional leakage from a random blend of science

fiction novels and manga comics. He returns there yearly on a secret sabbatical where he tends what he calls the “Orchid.”

The Fixer (AS FAR AS THE PCS ARE CONCERNED THIS PERSON IS A MYTH): No one officially knows who the Fixer really is; it’s better that way. If operatives are in trouble with local authorities on Earth, a call to the Fixer smooths things over. The Fixer can take care of complications following a gunfight (including hiding bodies), get operatives out of custody, and even spring operatives from prison. But a word to the wise: those who overuse the Fixer’s services risk that the Estate will ask the Fixer to “fix” them.

 

 

Estate_zps1c13da0d.jpg

 

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Nina Mentor

Nina

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THE ESTATE HEADQUARTERS

The Estate keeps its headquarters in the Seattle region, having purchased a local airline company’s unused office parks for its own purposes. Several buildings make up the Estate, all behind a checkpoint through which

visitors are allowed only if accompanied by an operative or associate, or by appointment. Here, staff issue visitor badges, and they take security very seriously.

 

HQ houses offices for administration, offices for operatives, a cafeteria, a dojo for combat training, analytics, a communication center, a garage that holds a variety of vehicles, a computer lab, meeting rooms, an auditorium, security center, IT, and more, including the following:

 

Lodging. Full-time Estate members have the option of staying in functional dormitory-style rooms. They aren’t extraordinary, but they’re clean, warm, and safe. Operatives who choose to live off-site can still requisition an emergency dorm for special circumstances.

 

Visitor’s Center. A visitor’s center, devoted to telling the story of the Morrison Fellowship Prize, is a five-minute drive off-site. It’s staffed entirely by employees who don’t know anything about the Estate’s real purposes, who do a great job in popularizing and advocating for the Prize.

 

Gate House. The Gate House (which is always under strict security) contains several permanent recursion gates (mostly translation gates, but a few inapposite gates) connected to various locations in Ardeyn, a few places in Ruk, and several lesser-known recursions. Most of these recursion gates require a key or password.

 

Recursion Lab: Research on the nature of gates, the interaction of laws, the nature of fundament, and the like is conducted in this stand-alone structure. One hot research topic is finding ways to seal recursion gates quickly and completely. Some researchers prefer a quicksealing expanding foam, while others prefer a “negation charge” (which doesn’t leave behind a gate that could be unsealed later).

 

Library: This structure houses an extensive archive and library of hard-to-find books and similar documents. A lot of material regarding recursions predates the Internet, and the Estate library gathers as much of it as it can.

 

Holding: Connected securely to the Gate House and Recursion Lab, Holding is a kind of detention center for keeping dangerous individuals, whether that means an OSR spy, an operative who temporarily lost her marbles by spending too long in the Strange, or a creature from another recursion bent on destruction. The facility contains a variety of cells, including a couple of experimental pocket dimension secure chambers where the law of Substandard Physics operates, which provide no foci and dampen the abilities of quickened individuals.

Translating out of a cell in Holding requires a difficulty 9 translation roll.

 

The Vault: The Vault stores dangerous artifacts from other recursions brought to Earth through inapposite gates, as well as items that (like cyphers) translate to Earth but remain incredibly dangerous.

 

Armory: The Estate stores arms and ammunition in this bunkerlike structure. Here, weapons are also aintained and repaired, issued to authorized users, and tested. Combat training is also conducted on the extensive firing range beneath the armory. Most kinds of legal firearms are stored in the armory, as well

as a few weapons normally available only to the military. The armory also contains several cypher weapons, carefully stored to avoid deletion chain-reaction. These cyphers may be issued to operatives for important missions.

 

Mission Briefing Rooms: When operatives are assigned to an official mission, they receive a mission briefing in a set of conference rooms designed to pass information quickly and efficiently. During such a briefing, the PCs receive any necessary handouts, photos, and information. They can also request a mission kit, which could include a cypher or two, some “spy” equipment, and a car from the garage. Operatives who return equipment after use are more likely to continue to enjoy the privilege of receiving mission kits.

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Nina Mentor

Nina

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looks like we have some solid interests in this

 

I have the following folk working on characters

 

 

Jeremy - Curtis Shane, an Intelligent Paradox

Salmonmax - a Vector

Jordan - a Really cool looking dude

Mala - (as the baby allows) Alexandra Scire a strange Paradox

Asa - Tentative

 

 

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Nina Mentor

Nina

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for those of you who haven't already done so please get your preliminary backgrounds to me asap. I would like to have all characters finished by the 26th so i can go over them during the Thanksgiving Holiday. 

 

I would like to make my First Post on December 7th and start the game.

 

Posting requirements will be relaxed due to the holidays of course, but i really want to at least get it started.

 

Thank you

Nina

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