G&G: Pacific State Stories

[RinKou]

Since I won't likely have time to run the full version of this game any time in the near future, I've been toying with the idea of putting together a little RPG/CYOA-style side-game set in the same universe.

While most of the game will be played out free-form, encounters will be solved with a simple 3d6 system - for each encounter, players choose to allocate 3 dice across four stats: Offense, Defense, Accuracy, and Reflex. O determines how much damage you deal, D determines bonus HP for the encounter (on top of base 10), A is directly contrasted to your target's R to determine hits. You also gain +1 damage for every interval of 2 greater your A roll is compared to your target's R roll. Weapons have differing stats, adding either additional O dice that cannot be reallocated, or a flat +X damage bonus.

Players will briefly arrange targeting priority and dice allocation at the announcement of each encounter, and the same allocation will be rolled as many times as necessary to resolve the encounter.

Since this system does require all characters to be in the same party, anyone who submitted a faction within the Bannermen organization for the main game can reprise any of their characters, while any new players or players with a character outside the main organization will have to whip up a new character, and choose one of the existing crews to align with [under Smyg, Huojin, Snacks or Gesar].

I'll be finishing up the first campaign throughout this week or so. In the meanwhile, character claims go in this thread, and I'll post the game thread whenever I'm finished with it.

[Huojin]

NAME: Johnny Guo (Guō Qiáng)
CREW: Westminster Honghuzi (Pacific Bannermen)
TRAIT: "Chan Clan Kung Fu"
BACKGROUND: "Professional"

BIO: The Honghuzi Motorcycle Club once ruled the streets for the Bannermen. After all, when you needed muscle for a job, who better to turn to than Charlie Guo - hardman from homeland turned enforcer and crime boss? Well, perhaps someone not in jail.

Since his father's arrest, Johnny has taken on leadership of the family business - legitimate and less-so. The Honghuzi took a lot of knocks in their moment of weakness, but things are looking up for the time being; the dojo is up and running, and promising talent is making its way up the ranks. And in seeking to restore a little of of the gang's influence, Johnny has found that occasionally wearing a suit and being charming is an excellent way to compliment displays of strength - and that the latter can prove useful for the relief of frustrations garnered during the former.

[Snacks]

NAME: Rachel Huang (Rachel Huang)
CREW: Stuff4U4Cheap (Pacific Bannermen)
TRAIT: Hacker (has one waiting in a van somewhere, anyway)
BACKGROUND: Hedonist
BIO:The only child of Manchurian expatriate and early Pacific Bannerman Lucius Huang (Huáng Mǐn- Red Banner), Rachel was uninitiated in Bannermen affairs before her father's death and inherited only a shrine previously owned by her mother's family- along with her father's characteristic air of self-assuredness. Head of a small-scale fencing operation, Rachel accepted the offer of a position in the Bannerman extended following her cousin's move to the States, but is currently occupied by more mundane disputes with local developers and bureaucrats, and remains both largely ignorant of and unconcerned with traditional Banner conduct, largely associating with non-Manchu criminals. Time will tell whether her way of working will be an asset or a liability to the New Pacific Bannermen.

[Gesar]

NAME: "Fatimah Ashanti"
CREW: New Afrikan Lioness Army (Black Panther Party Pacific Bannermen)
TRAIT: Intimidating
BACKGROUND: Feminist
BIO: So maybe things went south real quick when the pigs started another crackdown on the Panthers. Maybe I still get dirty looks from these chauvinistic Yaks when I tell them exactly what "no pimps, no pushers" means. Maybe I've still got to wear mirrored shades and a balaclava to all the meetings, and can't even look half these fucking rats straight in the eye for the shit they try to pull.

But hey, we don't always get to make these choices. Especially when they've got your number.

Besides, the girls are safe, and so's Lincoln and Harbor. It's not too hard to be a Den Mother, once you get the pride in order. A few dirty looks, filed-off serial numbers, and some extra heat from the pigs make it worth it. Right?

[RinKou]

Red Banner Year

L'Chateau Rouge is what classy folk call a fucking travesty, only with more words, and less of them vulgar. Most folk, though, call it a good time. The biggest casino-hotel south of the 405, L'Chateau opened nearly a year ago in '8X, a pet project of former JAV starlet Remy Scarlette, and it shows. Straddling the border between official Yakuza territory and the small-time fiefs of the Bannermen and Kkangpae, L'Chateau has remained the most hotly contested piece of officially neutral ground in the greater LA area.

To reinforce her officially neutral stance, Mme. Scarlette has extended an invitation to the feuding Bannermen and Kkangpae to celebrate New Year's Eve with her at L'Chateau, and the only beef allowed on the premises is going to be coming from the kitchen. That means no guns and absolutely no scuffles. L'Chateau makes a lot of money for the city of Long Beach, and there are plenty of people on every side of the law who would like to uphold that arrangement.

Between a sumptuous twelve course meal, the two floors worth of gaming attractions, and the hottest club in the LBC, there's no shortage of good times to be had. Oh, and if you did happen to sneak in an ace up your sleeve, well. Wait for the fireworks to start before you make too much noise.

GAMEPLAY UPDATE:

Everything's about ready. You all also get to choose one of the following traits and one of the following backgrounds that will give benefits to picking up clues. The game will also feature a system not unlike Etiquettes from the recent Shadowrun CRPGs - special speech options available based on a character's background, lifestyle, or intimate knowledge thereof. In this case, they'll allow you to get more clues in conversation with NPCs that share these traits with you. Other traits will help you find clues outside of dialogues.

Mr(s). Holdout: Your character has smuggled a small, concealed weapon into the casino.
Semper Paranoidus: Your character claims to be prepared for any circumstances, though that's not the word others would use. Your character wore a kevlar vest to this soiree, and gets an extra Defense die in every encounter, but also will be a little stiff and sometimes sweaty.
Chan Clan Kung Fu: Your character is adept at finding and using improvised weapons in a pinch. Your character gets an extra d3 Offensive die in every encounter.
Intimidating: Either through physicality or demeanor, your character is intimidating, and can get extra information out of weak-willed characters.
Hacker: Your character is adept at getting access to digital devices and the information therein.
Perceptive: Your character put points into Perception either because this is your first play through and/or you don't intend to have ED-E as a companion. Your character will notice things others won't.
Medical Training: The best pun I could come up with for this was "Fist Aid Kit". If you're smart enough to be medically trained, I assume you're smart enough to figure out what this skill does on your own.

Hedonist: Your character has an extensive history with illicit drugs, top shelf liquor, and acquaintances of ill-repute. I'll bet you even snuck in a little something in case the party needed a little spicing up.
Professional: Your character is a no-nonsense type, and takes security particularly seriously. Other professionals and particularly salty bosses will find you more trustworthy.
Suit: Your character is a buttoned-up suit. This dedication to business garners extra respect among the high-ranking bosses. Downside, you're the last person you want at a party, and guess where we are.
Feminist: Your character believes in equality for women. Given that this place is basically a glorified strip club, your character is probably going to be about as welcome as the Suit. Characters that share your views will be more willing to lend a hand.
the Unfavorite: Your character's parents had a favorite child, and no extra points for guessing who it wasn't. Characters with something to prove will be more open with you.
Happa: Your character doesn't fall into a neat ethnic category, either coming from mixed heritage, or happens to be particularly divorced from the traditions of the homeland. Given that this is a very ethnically rigid patriarchal secret society, you're probably sharing a table with...a couple of these other backgrounds, actually.

Go ahead and edit in your desired trait and background.

[Huojin]

Updated! And once Smyg posts we can see if anyone from althistoria wants to play. Though they might need a more comprehensive run down of the world and setting from RinKou

[OYID]

NAME: Harry "Black Bear" Zhao
CREW: Westminster Honghuzi (Pacific Bannermen)
TRAIT: "Mr. Holdout"
BACKGROUND: "Professional"

BIO: They call him Black Bear because he never takes off his black suit, but you'll do well to remember this one's less of a Suit and more of an uppity killer. The real Suits don't forget it, and they'd be dumb to do so: no tailor in the Pacific States has yet been able to come up with an outfit that will cover face tattoos, such as the red Yazi dragon that coils up from his arm over his neck and bellows at his right jaw. Too stiff for the common thugs, too thuggish for high society, he's more at home with the top-tier Professional assassins you sometimes see around here, the kind of guys who don't mess around and make little friends when on the job, or even after it for that matter.

Careful now, though he may look like a flexible hitman he's a Honghuzi man through and through, making a mark for himself in the new era and earning the gang's trust as an essential asset in its recovery. Just stay out of his way, kid, don't stare too obviously at his tattoos or his bald head and whatever you do don't talk smack about his company, or you might find yourself in the business end of the Black Bear's famous .22's.

Unless that's what you want, of course. Oh, I'm serious about the pistols: he's got a reputation for somehow always being prepared.

[Smyg]

NAME: Tommy "Dreamer" Tulisen
CREW: Pacific Bannermen
TRAIT: "Perceptive"
BACKGROUND: "Hedonist"

Dreamer didn't get to the top - if "top" can be defined as being the local sales director of Greater East Asian Tobacco Import Co. - by playing nice. He got there by consuming copious amounts of opium. Also by charming, intelligent, and very violent, but it's not like the Devil's in the detail, so who cares. Mr. Tulišen Tomo is in the house, ladies and gentlemen.

[Coin]

Too late to sign-up? Before Huojin kills me >_>

[RinKou]

No way, man. Hop on in.

[Coin]

NAME: Michael Zhang
CREW: Westminster Honghuzi (Pacific Bannermen)
TRAIT: Intimidating
BACKGROUND: Hedonist

In a crew that tends to be led by professionals, you'll find the unprofessional stick out. So it is with the Honghuzi. Michael might not be slick, but as Johnny's cousin and a handy man in a fight, he's somehow not got himself killed by being useful in a fight and lucky enough to win most of them them... so far anyway.

[Drew]

NAME: Thorin Hai Ling
CREW: Armour Square Treasure Dragons (Pacific Bannermen)
TRAIT: Semper Paranoidus
BACKGROUND: Happa

This party is a terrible idea. Get together a large number of the most violent jerkoffs you can find and put them in the same room, then get them fucked up on coke and booze and probably some ket and meth. Make sure they're from rival sets too, no way any beefs get settled here. No way some foot solider gets a drink thrown on him and pulls the heat he's got stuffed down his drawers. No way we all end up on a Channel Six special report. Yeah, it's hosted by Remy Scarlette, and I'd plow her like a peasant in the great leap forward. Yeah, there's assurances on all sides that there'll be no trouble. I don't put much stock in that. The guys in charge agreeing to play nice doesn't always keep dipshits from being dipshits. But what the fuck do I know, right? I'm just a mutt who's good at selling coke to rich white kids from the suburbs will buy anything as long as you tell them it's the purest shit in the south side. Don't get me wrong, I'm going. I'm just not hanging around so many fucking Kkangpae without my steel toes and my IIIA vest on.

[Huojin]

cough

[Huojin]

Just wanna post here to complain at OYID and Coinneach. The latter especially, Mr. I Keep Forgetting To Post. Some gangsters you two are