DOCTOR DAVIAN, DEAN OF DECADENCE, AKA THE CLUB
The Club is a quiet criminal network, but one with pull at
the highest levels. It stays pretty strictly within the confines of white
collar crime, including prostitution, forgery, high-end smuggling, and elite
drug dealing. Doctor Davian’s reputedly the brains behind the organization. He
keeps himself holed up pretty tight in his nightclub, The Seventh Step. Has has
a network of other “legitimate” businesses across the city, but particularly in
Highmark.
Davian cultivates a sinister reputation and appearance,
almost Luciferian. To this end he maintains private parties with strong cultic
overtones. He entertains artists, actors, and other celebrities from across the
East Coast who want to add some excitement to their lives via association. He
draws them into weird midnight ceremonies, secret practices, and pseudo-cultic
worship. All of this ought to have an almost Lovecraftian edge.
That’s in great part a cover for Doctor Davian’s real
activities. Several years ago he came across a mutant with healing abilities. Through
him he’s been able to synthesize and cultivate a drug with young restoring and
healing properties. He’s combined this with other narcotics to create an
addictive substances he carefully plies onto this intended victims. Davian’s
not as clever as he seems- the simple fact that the youth restoring effect
fades over time would probably be enough to keep them in his thrall.
Associated NPCs/Ways In: Underground Mutant Looking for Lost
Friend, Desperate Fallen Celebrity, Spouse of Influential Person Worried About
Cultic Stuff, Scholar Who Can Confirm Ceremonies Are Fake, Chemist Who Works
with the Drugs, Ambitious Madam, Rival Mystic
Hooks: Though he’s a manipulator, Davian has a blind spot.
He has unquestioning faith in a battle-scarred childhood friend who serves as
his investment and financial advisor. Davian ignores some personal problems his
old friend is having (which might be possible blackmail material). Davian’s
head of security is romantically involved with a mutant who shows no outward
signs. He/she has been placed in a crucial role, but absolutely lacks any and
all skills for it.
High Concept: High End Sleaze Peddler with Cultist
Aspirations
Secret: Trade in Addictive Health Enhancers Harvested From
Mutants
Skills: Bureaucracy +2, Espionage +3, Resources +3, Security
+2, Tech +2
THE SUNDOWN BOYS
Smugglers, thieves, and blackmailers the Sundown boys have
the reputation of being able to take whatever they want. Their organization is
distributed across the city- a loose affiliation of villains, gangsters, and
generally bad dudes. They’re much less organized than any of the other major
power players. That’s both good and bad for them. On the one hand, they get
people rolled up pretty consistently. On the other hand, they’re spread out far
enough none of that rolls up hill too far.
They’ve been known to work for other criminal organizations,
carrying out dirty work and acting as freelancers. The probably have the most
influence in Grey Cross, for strange reasons. The Sundown Boys exist in part
because they have deep contacts and influence within the major city builders
and contractors. The city planning commissioner, in particular, is in their
back pocket. The Sundown Boys have a pretty detailed set up maps of the city’s
transit system- and that includes secondary underground transit systems begun
in the early 1900’s, but eventually given up as the move was made to street
cars and elevated trains. A good deal of that came from work among the Moroccan community. But some kept working on it, and the Sundown Boys know how to get
from A to Z the fastest.
Three leaders divide responsibility for the group- with two
decently well known. Fahmi Hannan and Talaal Hanann are figures of fear and
fascination among the Morroccan immigrant community. Their older brother, Badri
Hannan, is rumored to be dead, but he’s actually behind the scenes pulling the
strings.
Associated NPCs/Ways In: Urban Explorer, Upright Moroccan
Sufi, Crime Fixer, Transit Historian, Disgruntled Construction Supervisor,
Overly Greedy City Planner
Hooks: The Sundown Boys know where the Watchman’s base is
located. They’re getting people ready to excavate. Badri Hannan was badly
injured and is currently addicated to a mix of painkillers and alcohol. He
hides this from his brothers. Over the years the Sundown Boys have planted
explosives at key locations around the city in case something really bad goes
down.
High Concept: Loose criminal network under a charismatic
leadership.
Secret: Deep Knowledge of Hidden Transit and Smuggling
Network in the City
Skills: Bureaucracy +1, Espionage +2, Security +2, and
Violence +3
Knee-breakers, gun-dealers, murderers, arsonists,
extortionists…the Throck Syndicate is the classic mob group in Science City.
They’re mostly closely associated with other mafia groups in the United States,
especially the Cleveland and Boston mob organizations. Unlike other places, the
Throck group’s run by a loose ethnic confederation of Belgians, Dutch, and French.
They don’t fool around and have a reputation as ham-fisted, excessive, and
unintelligent. They have dominant control over the Crucible- a mix of
industrial, warehousing, and low-income residential. They also have major control
over the ship building dockyards and associated industrial zones. They’re also
said to be involved in some trans-Atlantic piracy.
However in recent years the Throck Syndicate has become
much, much smarter. On the ground they’re still all fists, baseball bats, and
steel-toed boots. But they’ve been more careful in their handling of upper
level affairs: city contracts, shipping firm pressure, land purchases. They’ve
also seemed to have the upper hand in several gangland throwdowns with The
Sundown Boys and Oriflamme.
That’s due to an incident a few years back when they were
involved in the hijacking of a dirigible coming over from England to Science
City University. Contained within was an experimental calculation engine, based
on designs and materials lifted from several alien invaders. The machine had
been designed as a predictive device, aimed at long term planning. Uncertain
what to do with the loot, Lamont Throck, head of the Syndicate called in his
nephew, Gilbert Throck, an egg-head who had been studying technology and the
sciences at Science City University. Gilbert spent the next several months
figuring out how to work the device and eventually how to program it to serve
the Syndicate’s needs. The Machine, Opus Zero, requires a great deal of
electricity and other resources. Gilbert’s also been quietly using the machine
to chart his own rise to power in his field.
Associated NPCs/Ways In: Resentful footsoldier, rival of
Gilbert Throck at the University, utilities agent, machinist hired to make odd
parts, rival gangster, shop-keeper under the thumb, corporate ship maker who
wants to reduce his payoffs
Hooks: A former associate of the Throck syndicate is running
a pretty obvious exploitative sweatshop off the books from the Syndicate. He’s
respected and has some pull, but if he’s found out they’ll eliminate him.
Throck has been gearing up to deal with Oriflamme. The computer has indicated
that battle needs to be fought soon. To assist with that, he’s been recruiting
super-powered muscle.
High Concept: Old School Mob
Secret: Servants of a Super Computational Engine
Skills: Resources +3, Security +1, Tech +2, Violence +3
THE STEEL HAND
This is an actual small-scale supervillain group, not much
is known about them. They operate up and down the East Coast. There they carry
out daring bank heists and raids. Their numbers have changed over the years,
but there are at least four key members. They avoid costuming, preferring bulky
jackets and almost heavy military uniforms, including hoods and gas masks.
They’re associated with Science City less because they’ve
struck there, but because in several cases they’ve come into conflict with
other criminal organizations there, as well as the late Watchman. Many believe
the Steel Hand have their home base somewhere within the city. This means that
from time to time they act to protect it or more specifically act to protect
their interests there.
The Steel Hand is a family of superbeings. It is led by a
matriarch, Isabella Shaw. She discovered her powers as a medic during the Great
War. Shaped by her experience there, she returned and embarked on a criminal
career designed to enhance her position. She did this to support her three
daughters. Eventually she remarried a wastrel son of a good family, using her
skills to influence and straighten him out. When her daughters came of age, she
brought them into the family business. The current line up consists of Isabella
Shaw (low-key telekinetic powers with amazingly fine manipulation), Miriane
Shaw (Heat Control), Cassandra Shaw (Physical Powers- shift between speed and
strength), and the youngest, Kip Shaw their half-brother (Flight, Air Control).
The third sister, Sara Shaw (Desolidification) has left the business to get
married. There’s some tension there.
The Steel Hand takes pains to disguise their gender. They
try not to operate too heavily in Science City, but this is where they live.
They have a network of suppliers, fences, and underground dealers who work with
them- and they protect them fiercely, hence their clashes with other criminals.
They also don’t like anyone pulling anything big in The Lock.
Associated NPCs/Ways In: Sara Shaw’s husband (Willenieke
Soppers), Douglas Donald Shaw III, former household staff, gear supplier, money
launderer, local expert who saw them fight, federal crime specialist
Hooks: Sara Shaw is considering turning her family in.
Soppers has been quietly selling some of the stolen goods on the side. These
might be tracable and/or he might have some ties to Davian behind his wife’s
back. One of the Steel Hand’s local craftsmen or fences might be known to the
cabal of non-corrupt cops in the city. They haven’t moved on the target because
it might be too big for them.
High Concept: Well-Organized Supervillain Team Based in
Science City
Secret: Old School Supervillain Family
Skills: Resources +1, Security +3, Tech +1, and Violence +3
OTHER GROUPS
Science City Police Department
Corrupt and divided. The current police commissioner keeps
the different neighborhood divisions fighting compartmentalized and competing
against one another. He believes in a weakened police force in thrall to
political interests. The local police see it the other way around. There’s a
“get what’s mine” attitude.
Secret: There exists a small and informal unit of dedicated
cops known as the Fireworkers.
Science City Technical Board
The board of controllers and leaders for the secret. They
select the city controller.
Secret: Riven by disagreements, they can’t get anything done
because everyone’s in the pocket of different special interests.
Science City Courts
The judicial and Court System. Effectively an auction house
for justice.
Secret: Leader District Attorney Lamont Golden is deeply in
the pocket of the Oriflamme which has blackmail evidence on him.
The Radio Stations:
WTWR, WVRH
The Television
Stations: WSCT, WVOP
The Newspapers:
Science City Sentinel, The Science City Free Press
Make sure to keep the pulp 1930’s feel. Telephones. Two-way
wrist radios are expensive. Black and White television a luxury. Gyrocopters
and blimps. Elevated trains, street cars.
Define who controls each one and define the actual area with
an aspect plus an Issue.
Four Points: A
strange mix. It houses a baseball stadium as well as a massive city park. But
flooding, drainage problems and the fire of 1930 has meant that this part of
the city has fallen into decay. There have been efforts at some rebuilding, but
that’s been less successful. Lots of experimental building and pumping
techniques. More industrial locations here. The
Orphanage has major control here.
- Rolling parklands and public spaces.
- City sections decaying before their time.
- Weird uncontrolled flooding.
Tomorrow Way: One
of the major gates to the city. The World’s fair island has a large number of
recreational and amusement park locales. Site of the 1901 World’s Fair. Think
Coney Island. Larger portion of the area heavily controlled by Zinkman. University and technical
research centers here. Local employee blocks ala Disneyland.
- Work village blocks.
- The lingering smell of chemicals.
- Zinkman security forces on patrol.
Crucible:
Densely-packed low income housing. Lots of ethnic neighborhoods. Tight streets
in need of repair. Problems with the street cars. Nicer places down by the
water. Heavy railroad traffic. The major shipyards. Light industrial serving
those interests. Controlled by the Throck
Syndicate.
- Working class heroes trudging home.
- Cooking smells from across the globe.
- Strongarm thugs picking up the daily take.
Grey Cross: A mix
of larger-scale tenements, high-rise work houses, and low to mid-level shops
and stores. This is a lower middle class area, leaning towards the low. More
movie theaters and other entertainments aimed at keeping people from heading
too far west.
- Rundown clubs on the strip.
- Bijou Theater Which Has Seen Better Days
- Servants of the Wealthy Riding to Work.
The Lock: This is
where the political heart of the city lies a mix of Courts, law offices,
financial centers, and areas of public display. Some aim to live here in the
fancy hotel and penthouses, but it’s a stepping stone to other ambitions. City
jail on the island. Political power. The
Steel Hand consider this their place of power.
- The echoing chambers of city hall.
- Public skating park and other sites for tourists.
- Dark oak-paneled private clubs for the members only.
Highmark: The
theater district, the high end shopping district, the restaurant district, the
fashion district. This section of the city contains all of the high end
luxuries the city can bestow. Behind the face are packed in all the middle
class people who make this work and the desperate up and comers. High end
brothels. Distinguished nightclubs. Wonderful places to be seen. Doctor Davian likes to think he runs
things here.
- Dirigible parks for the up and coming.
- Where to Be Seen.
- Glitz and glamour conceals the darkness.
Radium Heights:
This is where the truly wealthy live, with large parcels of land, estates and
grounds. There’s a weird mix of that and services dedicated to keeping them
happy. Craftsmen, upper middle class workers, and so on. Docks and yachts to the
far west. The Oriflamme controls this area, but want to expand.
- Have you seen my regatta?
- Winding roads leading up to the house.
- Clandestine upper scale private homes for liaisons and assignations.
Also note three major bridges into town, plus they’re
working on an underwater tunnel system. Hoping to eventually connect with a
proposed Trans-Atlantic tunnel. Other bridges serve as important joins for
the city.
WHAT NEXT?
I really enjoyed this session. I have two favorite one-shot approaches. The first is a fairly linear Fight-Investigate-Complication-Big Fight set up I use mostly for demo games. The other is to present a wide open problem with lots of dials and let the players figure out how they're going to solve it. They'll always come up with something. I enjoy that Q&A at the beginning as they chip away at the block reveling the texture of their thinking. Different groups will find different approaches. But you need to give them enough raw material to cut through.
On the other hand, I think I overdid it here. I ended up getting too excited about the ideas and writing too much. I ended up doing campaign-level prep rather than one-shot (which is still heavier than my standard session prep). I had the cool map which sort of naturally broke into seven sections so my brain decided I needed seven factions. Mind you the players didn't really interact with a couple of them in play- which is either a feature or a bug depending on how you see it. Next time I'll probably consolidate that down to five factions- and make clear from the outset that's how many there are. That means when they take one down, they can feel the satisfaction of having dealt with a significant chunk of the problem. I've talked before about the importance of demonstrating success to the players.
So what would get consolidated? First, I think Dr. Davian would be shifted to simply be an agent or a face for the Oriflamme organization. They're too close to one another in their trappings right now, something I realized in play. Oriflamme has a weird name and bad guys in hoods; Davian has a whole cult-like vibe going on. Simply fold Davian into Oriflamme and you get a more obvious target for the players to act against. Plus you scratch out some theme duplication. Second, the Orphanage probably ought to go as an adversarial group. I like them since they're more complicated (badly treated Mutant youths turned bad). But they could function better if presented at the outset as a potential source of allies. Downplay them a little and if the PCs go looking for help, offer them up. Alternately, if I want to keep the Orphange on the table, then I need to eliminate either the Sundown Boys or the Throck Syndicate. Both represent a more classic criminal organization. I like that the former is more rough & tumble and the latter is more upscale mafia. But they do hit on a few of the same themes and could be reworked to fit together into one group.
We'll see if I ever get to run this again. I hope I do simply because the amount of work I put into it!
You can see the first half here and a session summary here. I used Venture City Stories for Fate Core as the system.
WHAT NEXT?
I really enjoyed this session. I have two favorite one-shot approaches. The first is a fairly linear Fight-Investigate-Complication-Big Fight set up I use mostly for demo games. The other is to present a wide open problem with lots of dials and let the players figure out how they're going to solve it. They'll always come up with something. I enjoy that Q&A at the beginning as they chip away at the block reveling the texture of their thinking. Different groups will find different approaches. But you need to give them enough raw material to cut through.
On the other hand, I think I overdid it here. I ended up getting too excited about the ideas and writing too much. I ended up doing campaign-level prep rather than one-shot (which is still heavier than my standard session prep). I had the cool map which sort of naturally broke into seven sections so my brain decided I needed seven factions. Mind you the players didn't really interact with a couple of them in play- which is either a feature or a bug depending on how you see it. Next time I'll probably consolidate that down to five factions- and make clear from the outset that's how many there are. That means when they take one down, they can feel the satisfaction of having dealt with a significant chunk of the problem. I've talked before about the importance of demonstrating success to the players.
So what would get consolidated? First, I think Dr. Davian would be shifted to simply be an agent or a face for the Oriflamme organization. They're too close to one another in their trappings right now, something I realized in play. Oriflamme has a weird name and bad guys in hoods; Davian has a whole cult-like vibe going on. Simply fold Davian into Oriflamme and you get a more obvious target for the players to act against. Plus you scratch out some theme duplication. Second, the Orphanage probably ought to go as an adversarial group. I like them since they're more complicated (badly treated Mutant youths turned bad). But they could function better if presented at the outset as a potential source of allies. Downplay them a little and if the PCs go looking for help, offer them up. Alternately, if I want to keep the Orphange on the table, then I need to eliminate either the Sundown Boys or the Throck Syndicate. Both represent a more classic criminal organization. I like that the former is more rough & tumble and the latter is more upscale mafia. But they do hit on a few of the same themes and could be reworked to fit together into one group.
We'll see if I ever get to run this again. I hope I do simply because the amount of work I put into it!
You can see the first half here and a session summary here. I used Venture City Stories for Fate Core as the system.
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