Event OOC - For Sport

[apocalypsehowmods]

For Sport - OOC

Summaries and content warnings for each prompt in the event are provided below. Please pose questions to the designated mod comment, and plot away!

The IC Event Post is located HERE.

Timeline

➥ Breaking It In: 21 July
➥ Move the Goalposts: 23-24 July
➥ Curveball: 23-24 July
➥ Below the Belt: 24 July (night)
➥ Sticky Wicket: 21 July - 5 August

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➥ Breaking It In
cw: mentions of apparent mutilation of/violence against animals and animal death

Characters are given a briefing by Reyes Amador that the kelpie encountered in the TDM prompt has likely come from Essex Bay. They know this due to triangulating disappearances and apparent marine mammal deaths. Reyes invites people to ask them questions about this mission and about ADI. Bonnie is also present to give her opinions.

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➥ Move the Goalposts
cw: kidnapping, violence, sadism

Kelpies appear and attempt to kidnap characters from Gloucester. The only safe haven from the creatures if you can't fight them is ADI HQ and ADI Housing.

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➥ Curveball
cw: kidnapping, violence/violence and mutilation against apparent animals, sadism, body horror, transformation, potential for claustrophobia

Kidnapped characters awaken to find the kelpies tormenting what seems to be a seal. It is not a seal, though. The kelpies cut the animal open to reveal it's a woman who's been trapped inside the sealskin. Kidnapped characters find themselves subject to the same fate. They are wrapped in sealskin and become psychically-linked selkies, hunted by the kelpies through the dark waters of Essex Bay.

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➥ Below the Belt
cw: violence/violence and mutilation against apparent animals, body horror, gore

Characters on the Essex Bay mission arrive to find clever seals in the water being chased by horrible crocodile horse monsters. The kelpies attempt to hunt, capture, and kill the selkies and their would-be rescuers.

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➥ Sticky Wicket
cw: potential for severe burns/injury, pain

Characters are tasked with fetching artifacts from a rundown portion of the Docks. The artifacts, if touched, induce 3rd-degree burns and a burning sensation across one's entire body. Additionally, characters may find themselves having to deal with some of the young punks around town who have claimed this part of the Docks for themselves and want what's in that box.

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A Handy Plotting Form

<p><table style="max-width:600px;width:100%"> <div align="left"><span style="font-family:helvetica;font-variant:small-caps;font-weight:bold;font-size:18pt;">➥ CHARACTER NAME</span></div><div style="border: dashed 2px #572f86; width: 600px;"></div><tbody><tr><td width="600px" align="left"><div align=justify> → <b>Canon</b>: → <b>Housing</b>: → <b>Permissions</b>: <a href="URL">HERE</a> → <b>Breaking It In</b> - → <b>Move the Goalposts</b> - → <b>Curveball</b> - → <b>Below the Belt</b> - → <b>Sticky Wicket</b> - </center> </table></center>

Comments

QUESTIONS

[apocalypsehowmods]

Re: QUESTIONS

[henchgal]

1. At the end of the event, are there any lingering consequences to those who're signed, sealed, delivered? Besides the obvious emotional trauma, ofc?

2. Will those with a physical disability normally be similarly disabled when sealed with a kiss?

[apocalypsehowmods]

1. There might be some lingering discomfort in your own skin. Along with any psychological trauma they might sustain. We'll leave this up to player discretion how much they want to lean into either of those.

2. Yes! We will leave it up to players to interpret how that disability translates to a seal body.

Re: QUESTIONS

[simulatio]

I know the TDM/arrival listed guns, tasers, and knives as the immediately-available weapons in the training room (and I assume characters are able to draw from those for something like this?), but is there anywhere one could procure a sword? Either from ADI or from Lucky, or another source in town!

[apocalypsehowmods]

While ADI will kit characters on this mission out with standard weapons, they would not have a sword available for general use. On the other hand, Lucky may very well have a sword for sale! It's probably even blessed and/or silver-plated...probably. He's most likely to have the kind of swords you can buy at a shop in the mall or on the shopping channel, but Lucky will occasionally get his hands on a blade of decent quality. We'll leave it up to you whether Lucky has a sword available, and whether it's a good one--just keep in mind that he'll expect to be paid for it, so characters who want to buy weapons immediately after arrival may need to get creative in terms of coming up with funds.

Perhaps they were able to catch one of the kelpies at the beach from the TDM? That would probably net them enough cash for a purchase.

[simulatio]

That'll be a goal for the future then! Probably mention to Lucky that he'll be in the market for one in the future and thank him for his time, with an eye toward saving more money going forward 👍

Re: QUESTIONS

[marmoron]

Are there any consequences if a character lets the gang members touch the artifact thus letting them get third degree burns/poss dying?

[apocalypsehowmods]

Is the consequence of Shiro being disappointed in you not enough, Keith?

This boils down to: How severe was the injury and did the character get caught doing this? If not, there will be no to few consequences. A verbal slap on the wrist and possibly a minor dock in pay for the job. Get caught at that and the reprimand is going to be stronger. You'll also likely find yourself paired with someone else for the next pick-up mission, someone ADI thinks they can trust more.

If characters actively let the punk die, rather than just be burned, that will be a much more serious consequence. They'll be barred from taking field missions for at least a week or two, and their pay will be reduced accordingly because they now have to cover that up for you. Thanks.

Characters who let the punks get hurt or actively fight them are also going to find themselves persona non grata around the Docks for a while. They're likely to be harassed more, albeit at a distance.

[marmoron]

screamlol, what shiro doesn't know can't hurt him...

Gotcha! One other question, will ADI be providing any other equipment besides basic weaponry? I'm thinking like tactical gear etc, or will they be insisting on plain clothes so as not to stand out? Keith is pretty likely to attempt missions in paladin armor as a precaution and was just curious if there was any specific policy on things like that.

[bookbrawler]

1. What happens to the seal skins once characters are freed from them? Are they reusable at all?

2. If a character isn't rescued by a PC at the end of the event, will an NPC free them from the seal skin?

[apocalypsehowmods]

1. In theory, they would be reusable, but ADI is going to round-up whatever's left and try to destroy them, or at least lock them away where they can't do any more harm. If a character wants to try to secret one... well, they're likely going to find themselves grappled by it again at some point. And then they're going to need to deal with being a seal until that gets fixed. ADI will not be amused and neither will Bonnie, for that matter.

2. Yes! You can assume NPCs will assist in the rescue for any PCs who aren't otherwise accounted for.

Re: QUESTIONS

[worthallthis]

Are people being sent to do the rescue different from people who are being sent to collect artifacts? Or can people do both?

What happens if you try to pick up the artifact with like a net or a rope or kick it along with your foot? Damage? Or only if it's touched by a part of the actual body?

[apocalypsehowmods]

1. People can do both! Pick-ups will be going on before and after the reconnaissance/rescue mission

2. Nothing will happen except that ADI will probably be annoyed you're kicking a highly dangerous artifact around. Curiously, the artifacts seem to know the difference between being prodded with a stick and being prodded with an artificial limb.

Re: QUESTIONS

[thiccest]

1. Can Chris use the weapons that came with him from his canon? Bullets required are the same as any other modern handgun/assault rifle.

2. Around how many people can fit in a boat for the recon mission?

3. If Chris is attacked by a kelpie as per Move the Goalposts and survives without being kidnapped, is he allowed to bring up making patrols in the late evenings/early mornings? If he's denied this permission and opts to camp out past curfew to do it, will he be sanctioned, or does he just go through the "security won't let you in" thing?

4. If he managed to kill the kelpie in the TDM, would the ADI be able to tell him its weaknesses if he asked?

[apocalypsehowmods]

1. ADI will actively encourage Chris to use his own weapons--that's one less gun they have to supply from their own armory! As with other characters who have proven competent enough with firearms to take one on a field mission, Chris will be supplied with ammunition.

2. The boats are relatively small and light, maxing out at 5 people. Coastal marshes in this area can get very shallow and narrow very quickly, depending on where the tide is, and while ADI's mission is taking place during high tide, they want to make sure their boats can get out easily without getting a propeller stuck in the mud.

3. Going through the "correct channels" will yield success here--if Chris brings this up with ADI security, they will be on board with setting up patrols around HQ and the apartments in the evenings and mornings. They will want anyone who takes on patrol duty to do so in teams of at least two people. Some of the NPC members of the security team will be willing to assist, while others will be view anything outside actual ADI buildings as Not Their Problem. Those who take up patrols will still be expected to be inside by curfew if they live in ADI housing, but are welcome to keep watch inside at the entrances past that time (though the security team that minds the apartments may side-eye them a bit). If they're out past curfew, the ADI HQ building is open for night-shift workers and they're welcome to catch some sleep in the canteen or one of the offices in there at night. There just aren't going to be beds.

4. ADI is still working on analyzing the kelpies killed or captured in the TDM, so unfortunately they don't have a lot of new information. This current mission was intended to be reconnaissance only, to help ADI further assess the threat and come up with better information for their field agents--everyone's going into this encounter a bit blind. At the moment, they know that shooting the creatures works.

[doingmath]

1. Would characters be allowed to research any selkie or kelpie remains? Cassie would be interested in finding out how the bonding process works or, you know, just stare at things through a microscope for an unhealthy amount of time as a coping mechanism. If so, is there anything of interest for her to find?

2. Likewise about the artifacts, is there any official way to take a closer look or help out in any labs or peek over some shoulders?

[apocalypsehowmods]

Characters are welcome in general to take on roles outside of field investigations. The Life in Gloucester section of the FAQ includes a list of departments within ADI, and each character may choose up to two departments in which to work. If Cassie would like to join the Research Department, examining remains and artifacts could become part of her regular job duties (provided she has enough background knowledge/skills to prove herself useful there).

1. In regards to the selkie and kelpie remains, the kelpies appear to have human, equine, and piscean anatomy features. Depending on what stage of their shapeshifting they were killed in, they'll have more of one type of anatomy than the others. Their DNA is all over the place and different organs/features might have different types of DNA, again, depending on whether it appears to be more human/horse/fish at the time the kelpie was killed.

ADI will be destroying the sealskins if they collect them. Characters might be able to secretly keep one to examine, but they'll run the risk of the skin grappling them and selkie-fying them while they're working. ADI will not be amused if they discover this has happened and docked pay or a decrease in research privileges is likely to follow. Characters determined to examine the selkie skins will be able to determine that they're just... sealskins. Or seem to be. There's nothing biologically different about them.

2. In regards to the artifacts, researchers will quickly find that the burning sports gear only burns that which can feel pain--meaning people, mostly. Even artificial limbs will be burned (and will hurt in the process, even if that shouldn't be possible), but prodding the artifacts with a tool that isn't part of one's own body has no effect. Based on her research and what she's learned from just the primer on the Entities, it's likely going to be clear that these items are associated in some way with the Desolation.

[cacophonish]

How actively hostile are the YOUTHSSS at the docks? Like would a fellow punk kid be able to befriend them (or at least get to positive-neutral territory)?

Look, Jeff just wants to make friends his own age and party and maybe score drugs and intel later.

[apocalypsehowmods]

The young punks will be a little more hostile to people doing missions in their territory because you're picking up something they now want. If approached outside the context of missions, they will be suspicious of outsiders and likely demand some sort of proof that Jeff can be trusted. This could be potentially gained over time, but not immediately during this event.

If you'd like to explore this more for the 'intel' portion of things, could you hit us up on the Feedback Page to discuss this as a potential player plot? There's another player who wanted to do some stuff with the gangs around town and we'd love to work them more into the metaplot if that's where interest lies for multiple players. We'd like to know what sort of timeline you're looking at for getting in with the punks and what sort of intel Jeff is looking for.

[blackshades]

1. Will kelpie and selkie bodies be brought back to the ADI, and if so, would he be permitted to perform some autopsies? What kind of info would he glean from a kelpie autopsy? (The selkies seem pretty self-explanatory.)

2. Will any of the seal skins be available to analyze and/or conduct experiments on?

[apocalypsehowmods]

1. ADI has enough in terms of remains from the kelpies per the TDM prompt, so they probably just want to get rid of those bodies. The selkie NPCs, if they're still alive, will be rescued and helped by ADI like they would any other victims of the Entities. The bodies of dead selkies will be collected, if possible and the people within the skins will be extracted and the remains given to the police to get in touch with families. ADI has connections with the police, even if the police don't much like them, so they've dealt with this sort of thing before.

In terms of what Wesker might glean from an autopsy, the kelpies appear to have human, equine, and piscean anatomy features. Depending on what stage of their shapeshifting they were killed in, they'll have more of one type of anatomy than the others. Their DNA is all over the place and different organs/features might have different types of DNA, again, depending on whether it appears to be more human/horse/fish at the time the kelpie was killed.

2. ADI will be destroying the sealskins if they collect them. Characters might be able to secretly keep one to examine, but they'll run the risk of the skin grappling them and selkie-fying them while they're working. ADI will not be amused if they discover this has happened and docked pay or a decrease in research privileges is likely to follow. Characters determined to examine the selkie skins will be able to determine that they're just... sealskins. Or seem to be. There's nothing biologically different about them.

[aelwyn_aberration]

Can anyone already affiliated with an entity feed off of the kelpies for fear snacks?

[apocalypsehowmods]

They can if the sort of fear they can induce in the kelpies is relevant to their patron! For Aelwyn, for example, causing the kelpies pain or killing their comrades to induce a fear of pain and loss would be an excellent source of fear snacks for the Desolation.

[120vision]

If you put, say, your sleeve over your hand and then touch the artifact - will it still burn? What will it burn?

[apocalypsehowmods]

It will still feel like it's burning, but the physical burns will not happen. Clothes will not physically burn.