Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness
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As someone who's played Law Enforcement on a WoD MU before, here's my take on things.
I don't give a fuck about what the majority of Crime PCs do on the grid. You want to be a drug dealer, or have your little den of sin, who the fuck cares. The issue of PC vs PC arises (at least for me) when someone does something monumentally stupid as fuck. Like if you decide you want to open fire in the middle of the street, I see no reason why Police PCs can't open fire right back. Aside from that, I have little issue with people getting busted for possession and then let go the next day or something like that being hand-waved. It creates RP, it creates contacts and relationships between characters.
That being said, some sort of Metro Task Force would be a good way of going about things and probably makes sense given the state of things post-9/11. I would also suggest making Law Enforcement Mortal only. Nothing sucks more monkey dick as a detective than Mages coming in and rolling all sorts of dice to "solve" the case in a handful of turns. And I say this as someone who genuinely likes Mage.
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The game will be big enough (12+ million NPCs) that any one criminal can get by undetected unless they decide to go and directly harass the cops or something.
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@Thenomain said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
@ThatOneDude said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
@Thenomain said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
How about we fix the reason for police PCs so they aren't always creating antagonists of other PCs? While it's good to makes sure that characters always have some level of checks and balances, I never got the impression that police PCs vs. other PCs was very fun.
The way most staff in Mu*'s use police in WoD / CofD like it is RL is fucking lame...
Hopefully this is a step in the right direction.
A little different than what I was talking about. PCs vs. PCs is my concern. PCs vs. NPCs is not, because its theme is easily described. All things being World of Darkness, the cops are on the front line against a pretty damn dark dimension; they have every right to be brutal.
Either that, or mortals are snack-cakes and the police should be the Keystone Cops, bumbling around without a clue.
Either that, or we take a page from the original Vampire, and the system is corrupt from the top. Making friends with the Prince means not having any mortal legal concerns. The immortal concerns for drawing mortal attention could leave you dead or worse.
Yes this is my point... One of these stances should be taken because MONSTERS are fucking with the system. More so its a game that is being played, we should be looking for things that enhance play...
Then when it's all over and the rest of you are ready for Dead Animal Pickup, I'm gonna go balls deep into Dahl. But only because she asked me to. Sweet-like. - Riddick (2013)
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@ThatOneDude said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
its a game that is being played, we should be looking for things that enhance play
Which style of play? There are dozens, probably more. Without context, I could read that equally as "Vampires controlling the Cops is fun for everyone" all the way to "I didn't like the way I was treated once".
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos -
@Thenomain For me any of them except the "This is the real world" is cool with me.
Players of the game can chime in but I'd imagine with the way vampires operate they'd have a lot of control over police activity even if its through proxies like local crime and the like.
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@Rucket said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
As someone who's played Law Enforcement on a WoD MU before, here's my take on things.
As someone who's played Law Enforcement on a WoD MU before here's my take on things:
Do whatever you want but please, for the love of Cthulhu, don't ask me to have to memorize and use real-life response codes, radio protocols and advanced cop lingo for everything. I didn't like it on TR even though I liked the RP and most of the people involved just for that reason, sometimes I had no damn idea how to respond to things.
- He who takes offense when not intended is a fool. He who takes offense when intended is a greater fool.
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@Arkandel Just throwing out that was post my tenure on TR as Law TL
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@tragedyjones said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
How pissed off would people be if police PCs were disallowed? Because, frankly, the number of Police Departments in the LA Metro area is absurd and would mean your effective jurisdiction is fuckall.
I think you're injecting too much realism here.
Being a PC cop is not just a valid concept: it's an important one. Maybe not for Vampires, but certainly for Changelings and Werewolves.
I don't think you should disallow the concept, but you may want to put the warning out there that there's no staffer devoting their time 24/7 to running a true-to-life law enforcement game.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
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@Ganymede said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
@tragedyjones said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
How pissed off would people be if police PCs were disallowed? Because, frankly, the number of Police Departments in the LA Metro area is absurd and would mean your effective jurisdiction is fuckall.
I think you're injecting too much realism here.
Being a PC cop is not just a valid concept: it's an important one. Maybe not for Vampires, but certainly for Changelings and Werewolves.
I don't think you should disallow the concept, but you may want to put the warning out there that there's no staffer devoting their time 24/7 to running a true-to-life law enforcement game.
I disagree, re: werewolves.
In fact, while there is a Lodge in 1E of copwolves and whatnot, the entire splat seems entirely ill-suited towards lawkeeping the mortal world. Uncontrollable rages and the capacity to turn into a rampaging, unstoppable murderbeast seem like logical disqualifers.
I would argue it's possible to be a copwolf, but that it's far from an important thing for werewolves to be able to be cop PCs. unless you're trying to roleplay some analogy to the type of people who get into law enforcement so they can have an out to their own violent tendencies, but that should be the exception, not the rule.
"Excuse the hell out of you. He's a bag of dicks. I'm a carefully curated box of cocks." -- to @GirlCalledBlu upon being misrepresented.
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@Arkandel said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
@Rucket said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
As someone who's played Law Enforcement on a WoD MU before, here's my take on things.
As someone who's played Law Enforcement on a WoD MU before here's my take on things:
Do whatever you want but please, for the love of Cthulhu, don't ask me to have to memorize and use real-life response codes, radio protocols and advanced cop lingo for everything. I didn't like it on TR even though I liked the RP and most of the people involved just for that reason, sometimes I had no damn idea how to respond to things.
Yeah, I agree with you on this.
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@Ganymede said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
I think you're injecting too much realism here.
Being a PC cop is not just a valid concept: it's an important one.
Disallowing concepts in general should be something games need to be more careful about. Sure, as @Coin mentioned there are certain practical realities that need to be observed -- a Vampire being a kindergarten teacher would be iffy because how the hell are they going to operate during mornings or an Uratha whose career is in professional boxing is a disaster waiting to happen but simply forbidding things in CGen discourages people from even coming up with something potentially creative.
Yes, also quite possibly potentially stupid, too. But the two are often related.
Maybe the player is counting on those issues becoming evident in play to force a change of venue for the character... or maybe they just want the drama and being at the center of attention. Staff always retains the right to say 'no' if the concept doesn't feel right for the circumstances anyway. -
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@Coin said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
I would argue it's possible to be a copwolf, but that it's far from an important thing for werewolves to be able to be cop PCs. unless you're trying to roleplay some analogy to the type of people who get into law enforcement so they can have an out to their own violent tendencies, but that should be the exception, not the rule.
That's a good point, so I'll amend. It isn't important, but it opens up some avenues of good RP.
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Mostly adding this to piss off @Coin, but isn't the Lodge of the Shield redone in 2E as an Iron Master lodge?
I'm a rodeo clown.
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@tragedyjones said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
Mostly adding this to piss off @Coin, but isn't the Lodge of the Shield redone in 2E as an Iron Master lodge?
Probably. Still just as equally illogical, IMO.
That, or it's a bunch of werewolves who go into law enforcement as a means to exact their violence on others "legitimately", which makes them absolutely horrible people.
But then, most werewolves are absolutely horrible people.
"Excuse the hell out of you. He's a bag of dicks. I'm a carefully curated box of cocks." -- to @GirlCalledBlu upon being misrepresented.
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@Coin said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
Probably. Still just as equally illogical, IMO.
I disagree. Iron Masters go after humans. What better way to do it than through law enforcement? You've got the tools, apparent authority, and weapons to hunt down and isolate prey, and then take them down nice and quick. I can see an Irraka or Elodoth going down this road.
Plus, there's the pack: if not the werewolves, then their pack could fit into a law enforcement unit well.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
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And also not all police officers are beat cops... you could be a detective mainly involved in the hunt; tracking down clues, gaining access to crime scenes (which spirits may have had a part in), investigating murders... it doesn't all need to be done as per Hollywood full of car chases, and shootouts/fisticuffs with the perps.
Or just play it for the consequences. Yes, you lost your temper again and another suspect's scattered parts had to be buried in an unmarked grave outside town; IA is starting to get pretty damn suspicious, other wolves are pretty pissed off at your dumb antics but it was always your dream to be a cop just like your dad and his dad before him. How long can you keep this going? How long should you?
- He who takes offense when not intended is a fool. He who takes offense when intended is a greater fool.
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I enjoy playing cop PCs. I had a lot of fun on TR playing my lazy cop in a department full of supercops and big city detectives (whom all ended up in Aleswitch of all places). On a big multisphere game chances are the only characters I would play would be mortals, and a law enforcement sphere is the best place to be for that. You get instant contacts, instant tie ins to things going on.
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To sum up: Cop pcs will be allowed, they will not be aligned with any sort of real world jurisdiction. The goal of law enforcement pcs is not to harass criminal PCs (and vice versa). Lastly, if a character DOES engage in any criminal behavior that is egregiously fucking stupid they may end up arrested.
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@Ganymede said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
@Coin said in Interest/Volunteer Check: Major Multisphere Chronicles of Darkness:
Probably. Still just as equally illogical, IMO.
I disagree. Iron Masters go after humans. What better way to do it than through law enforcement? You've got the tools, apparent authority, and weapons to hunt down and isolate prey, and then take them down nice and quick. I can see an Irraka or Elodoth going down this road.
I'm not saying it doesn't make sense in that regard; I am saying that the risks make it pretty illogical. As a cop, you have to deal with a large amount of paperwork and legalities that would make it horribly difficult for werewolves to operate and achieve the things they want. As with most things, this varies on interpretation, though. Sure, you can have a pack of werewolves whose hunts operate "within the confines of mortal law", but lulz when one of them Kuruths.
I'm not even saying the concept can't be fun or can't work: Eldritch had an NPC pack of werewolves who were cops. But they were also highly manipulative of the police force and were almost exclusively SWAT (and had a monopoly on who could be and couldn't be SWAT)--they were called when violence was pretty much a given.
I'm not saying the concepts aren't possible, I was just disagreeing they are important or even particualrly fitting. Any concept can work if the players and storytellers are interested in making it work; some are just against theme and some are just very challenging (I think this is the latter).
Plus, there's the pack: if not the werewolves, then their pack could fit into a law enforcement unit well.
Different kettle of fish, though. The non-werewolf parts of the pack are supposed to blend into human society, have jobs, etc., that's their function in the Pack. In fact, most of Werewolf 2E with regards to the pack stresses that the wolf-blooded and human members are usually the ones with jobs and careers because it allows them to economically fund the werewolves's endeavors as Uratha.
