Hotlanta, GA

[Kowandz]

Welcome to the city of Atlanta, Ga.

The first step in city creation is to identify 3 themes or threats in the city.

idea1: Atlanta served as the effective capitol of the Southern US back to the days of slavery and succession and harbors many old hatreds. While in mortals the animosity is receded some, old mind cling to old hatreds. In the city of Atlanta cultural mistrust is elevated. Mortals in the know tend to be less likely to trust anything supernatural, and even the two families of white court vampires can't work together for any length of time.
Theme: You MIGHT be all right, but I don't really trust your kind.

idea2: Cities tend to rise up in places of power. There used to be a confluence right where the center of the city is now, but it receded a long time ago(several centuries at least). The N-S ley line along 75/85(interstate) has been there all along, but an old ley line running E-W has started to rise up again along I-20 and a confluence is gaining power right smack in the middle of the city. If all that nonsense with highways and ley lines isn't enough, then just for your personal amusement my I introduce 285. 285 is a big freaking circle of a highway around the city. People in the city call it the perimeter. Where you live is described as inside or outside the perimeter. This just has to mean something.
Theme: Rising Power

idea3: Someone shot the warden. Right through the back of the head. They got the drop on a guy that grew up the child of slaves. The warden in Atlanta was a bad motha and kept the city power structure in check. Everyone wants to further their agenda, but NOBODY knows who killed the warden. The timing is awfully convenient, with that new confluence and all. The death looks like a simple mugging, but there is NO way a mortal mugger could get to the warden without outside help.
Threat: Power vacuum


I've also created a few NPC's to help populate the city.  The campaign will probably start at the wardens funeral.  Just need my PC's to get caught up to me so we can make their characters before I can start writing actual stories for them. 

[Kowandz]

These are the first two characters I have stated up. They are a team. First is Otis. Otis is a Champion of God. His concept is God's Seeing Blind Man, and his trouble is Drunken Vagrant.
Other aspects:
I See Who You Really Are
Spike is my Buddy
Got any Spare Change
Local Celeb
Sneak up on a Were-wolf(meant to be any supernatural creature, were-wolf sounded cooler.)

skills
Superb: Lore, Conviction
Great: Endurance, Stealth
Good: Weapons, Contacts
Fair: Fists, Burglary, Presence
Average: Guns, Deceit, Empathy, Athletics, Investigation

Stunts and Powers:
Bless this House[-1]
Guide my Hand[-1]
Holy Touch[-1]
Righteousness[-2]
The Sight[-1](permanently open; Reason Otis is a stinking drunk now)

Finely Tuned Third Eye[-1]
Swift and Silent[-1]

Otis spent his whole life avoiding God's Call, until he was blinded in Nam. After being blinded, Otis offered himself to God for the chance to see, and was granted The Sight. Seeing everything this was has messed up Otis's mind, and he tend's to be drunk because. Still he wonders downtown and always seems to be where someone needs his help. He is followed around by a Were-Dog that seems to have lost touch with his human side. Otis always sees Spike as a dog because of The Sight, but Spike is only in dog form when fighting or playing.


Spike
HC: Loyal Were-Mutt
Trouble: Thinks He is a Dog

other aspects:
Otis is My Master
Little Beggar
Squirrel!!!!!!!!!
Grrrr.....A Monster
I'm a Good Dog

skills:
Superb: Athletics, Alertness
Great: Endurance, Fists
Good: Stealth, Survival
Fair: Investigation, Intimidation, Deceit
Average: Empathy, Presence, Lore, Performance, Might

Stunts and Powers:
[-1]Beast Form
[-1]Echos of the Beast
[+1]Human Form
affecting
[-1]Claws
[-2]Inhuman Speed
[-2]Inhuman Strength

Spike was orphaned and raised by a pack of stray dogs. He has no idea that he is human. He is not stupid, just messed up in the head. Probably from an extreme consequence in his childhood. Some college students were making fun of Spike one day, when Otis chased them off for taunting the poor doggie. Otis fed and watered Spike that day, and now Spike is Otis's good little doggie. Because Spike really has no sense of modesty or clothing, I will allow the clothes to be taken up in transformation and returned when back to human form because I really think the character idea is cool other then that.

These characters are meant to be NPC's, but I built them as PC's to get a better feel for creation. Any input is welcome, especially on the skills

[SaintAndSinner]

Where are you located?  Is Atlanta 'home'?  We are north of town in Sandy Springs.  I'm currently running a monthly Amber Diceless game and I know my son would love to find out about Dresden games locally.

Thanks,
Scott

[Kowandz]

I wish I was still in Atlanta, would love to do this with natives.  In Rhode Island now, my group doesn't want to be set somewhere they know so they are having me set up ATL for them.  On the bright side I can have a little more creative control over things I want in the city.  Any input on Atlanta is very welcome though, the city is a sprawling area to think about.  Sandy Springs seems like a perfect place to have a group like the alphas, any idea's there?

Thanks,
(oddly enough) also Scott

[Kowandz]

1st wizard
Name:Nick Franklin
High Concept: Wanna-be tech boy wizard (The concept is that the character loves technology, even though being a wizard makes that a little difficult)

Trouble: Draft-dodger

I flushed this character by using the story method of character creation used in Your Story(YS). I started with the concept and the trouble and started to learn Nick's story.

Background: Nick comes from a normal middle class family in New Mexico. His parents had plenty of money, and had to have all the cool new technology as it came out. They were the first on there block to have a computer, a DVD player, and a lot of other new toys that were coming out. Nick was very young and knew nothing at all about magic, and his talents let him excel with technology. From an early age Nick loved science and technology.
Aspect: The Science of Magic (This aspect is meant to be a double-edged sword. Nick could spend Fate points to help make technology work better at opportune times, or accept Fate points to just blow up technology at inopportune times)

Rising Conflict: Any one as smart as Nick is curious about everything, and wants to know a little about near everything.
As Nick learned about magic, he learned that magic and technology don't mix. When Nick learned that magic and technology don't mix, Nick's magic learned that it didn't mix with technology. One day in class Nick had a very emotional moment. As he raged on the inside, all the computers and cell phones on campus blew up. Light bulbs, cars, calculators, flashlights, and other assorted electronic equipment never worked again. Fortunately for Nick an alchemist lived nearby. When he heard about the massive failure of technology, he had a good idea what had caused the problem. The alchemist(character is no further then that concept yet, going to be powerful, and unnecessary at this point) took Nick under his wing and taught Nick magic. Nick accepted his apprenticeship and left his precious technology behind.
Aspect: I can do alchemy too! (aspect is designed to help Nick with "on the fly" thaumaturgy, as alchemy is not evocation) (generally) (see that any idea well justified that can make the story cooler will probably be made to work) (Attack the GMs sense of cool)

1st story - "Going Home" - Nick has run away from his expected duties fighting as a warden for the White Council. His teacher the alchemist understands his mistrust of the White Council, but must maintain political decorum. Nick flees home to the border of New Mexico and Mexico. When he gets home he discovers that the Red Court has set up considerable influence on his old home. He is able to enlist the help of his former mentor plus the help of a couple of border cops in the know to repel the Red Court menace from his hometown. Nick is now highly pissed and wants to fight the vampires for his own reasons, but he is not going to listen to the council.
Aspect: Dragged into this war. (This aspect exists for compels. Nick is a sucker when it comes to fighting the Red Court. This is a Fate point feeder, as wizards start every new story with low Fate points)

1st guest story - "Rising Power" - I plan on actually writing this as a short story. I haven't written anything in a very long time and I am kind of anxious about writing the story out but this is the summary(first draft).
Nick follows his leads about Red Court activity to the city of Atlanta, GA. On his first night there he finds the local supernatural bar. He starts asking too many pointed questions about the Red Court, assuming that everyone in the bar would be against them. When he leaves the bar, he gets jumped by several Red Court vampires. Nick is doing ever thing he can against the vampires, but there are just too many of them for him. Enter Otis and Spike to save Nick's butt.
Otis and Spike are the weirdest pair of people that Nick has ever met, but Nick knows divine intervention when he sees it so he does't complain. Otis and Spike help Nick break into a warehouse that is supposedly a Red Court hideout, only to discover that the place is a trap. Within moments the authorities arrive at the warehouse to throw Nick, Otis, and Spike in jail.
24 hours later, the police are forced to release the trio. Our heros discover that a new ley line is rising up in the city, and the confluence is right at 5 Points station, downtown. 5 Points is the central hub for mass transit in Atlanta, and one of the busiest parts of the city. With no more warden left in the city to help protect people, it's left to Nick, Otis, and Spike to keep the confluence from being corrupted by the vampires.
Aspect: It's always easier with allies (another double-edged sword, the GM can throw Fate points at Nick to make him do something by himself, or Nick can use this aspect to spend Fate points when he has allies around)


2nd guest star - "Center for Disease Control" - Technically vampirism counts as a disease. Red and Black Court are infectious diseases, and White Court is hereditary. When ever there are strange, inexplicable deaths the CDC is sent in to ensure that there are no infectious diseases present. Doing this job, the CDC has encountered the supernatural many times. They have created a supernatural strike force to ensure that a sight has no hostile supernatural forces present before sending in the clean-up crew. The CDC also realizes that if the general public became aware of the existence of vampires and the supernatural that there would be panic, so they clean all evidence from the sites after the strike force has cleared the zone. They mostly focus on vampirism.
The office itself is loaded with expensive technology, so they can't have a wizard work there, so they used to contract the old warden when ever he was available to help out. The old warden is dead, and having someone like a wizard around is extremely useful when dealing with the supernatural. When Nick meets their leader at the local supernatural bar, the leader offers him a job contracting with the CDC. Nick has already decided that he can help more against the vampires from Atlanta then from New Mexico, so he accepts the job and officially moves to Atlanta.
Aspect: This is MY home now!! (Any real threat to the city of Atlanta and it's people is not something that Nick will abide by.)


Stat Sheet for Nick Franklin
HC: Wanna-be tech boy wizard
Trouble:Draft Dodger

other aspects: The science of magic, I can do alchemy too!, Dragged into this war, It's always easier with allies, and This is MY new home!

skills
(+5 superb): Discipline
(+4 great): Lore, Scholarship
(+3 good):Endurance, Weapons, Conviction
(+2 average):Alertness, Empathy, Rapport, Investigation
(+1 fair): Deceit, Driving, Fists, Presence, Resources

Supernatural Powers
[-3] Evocation
[-3] Thaumaturgy
[-1] The Sight
includes [-0] soulgaze
[-2] Refinement

total refresh: 1 (starting with base 10 refresh)

Evocation(earth[control bonus +2], air, spirit[power bonus +1]) -first point of refinement on earth control-
comes with 2 focus item slots
Thaumaturgy(alchemy control +2, potions complexity +1) -spent the second point of refinement on the alchemy-
comes with 2 focus item slots

Focus Items
Taser gun: Nick has bought an all plastic taser gun. In place of the batteries Nick secured a large crystal to hold power. He inscribed every inch of the plastic with intricate designs to help focus his magic. Nick uses this focus to manipulate electricity and magnetism in order to place offensive maneuvers, and to attack offensively. Offensive control +1(earth)
Bracelet of magnets: Nick bought one of the magnetic bracelets from a holistic medicine shop. He has invested quite a bit on his will into the bracelet in order to use it to casts magnetic defense spells. Defensive power +1(earth)
Toy lightsaber: Nick grew up a nerd of the first class. He loves Star Wars, and when after he discovered he could do magic he had to have his very own lightsaber. After buying the toy, Nick replaced the batteries with another large crystal and inscribed every inch of the plastic with intricate designs. He uses this in battle when he has no choice but to stand and fight. Nick is usually more of a "use my magic for maneuvers" kind of guy, but sometimes you have no choice. Offensive power +1(spirit)

Trading in last focus item for 2 enchanted items, both being used on:
Alchemy vest: Alchemy can be a dangerous thing. Alchemists tend to create themselves a vest to both hold and protect alchemical supplies, and protect the alchemist from anything that wants to go boom. Holds all alchemical supplies safely somehow, and acts as Defensive armor +4, with 3 uses per session.


Rote spells: lore is (+4 great) so Nick can hold 4 spells at Rote status. Everything about these spell must be the same each time it is cast. When casting rotes spells, no roll is required to control the spell. If a separate roll is required to target the spell (say at a moving target) that contested roll must still be made.

1 - "Confundir" - maneuver: place temporary aspect "Stunned" on target.

2 - 'Magnetizado' - maneuver: place temporary aspect "Magnetized" on floor in 1 zone.

3- lightsaber - "makes bad attempt at sci-fi special effect noise" - Nick uses his will to fill the cheap plastic part of the sword with raw light energy. He then uses his focus as a Weapon. His lightsaber satisfies the catch as sunlight for anything that hates sunlight.

4- "Proteger" - Nick's rote shield spell - Using the magnetic bracelet, Nick is able to create a magnetic barrier to any form of metal passing through. This includes the iron found in flesh and blood. This is a highly limited defensive spell, but Nick is never that keen to be in the front when the action starts.


Notes: Nick is not a big fan of the nevernever, seeing as magnetism is a pretty flimsy defense in a place that isn't all that physical. Nick tends to emulate technological effect with much of his magic, either that or manipulate physical forces already present. Electricity and Magnetism are his stronger effect, but he also like to play with sound, light, gravity, and the like when he can. He is going to have to figure out a better defensive spell at some point in time, but likely he will have to get stronger before that happens. Nick is my first attempt at a wizard, and came up with a lot of my ideas for what he would do by asking myself what I would do if I was Nick, so I hope he turned out pretty cool. Once others have been through the rules themselves, I would like to see if I interpreted everything right, or if anyone thinks something should be different in the stats. Thank you.

[SaintAndSinner]

I wish I was still in Atlanta, would love to do this with natives.  In Rhode Island now, my group doesn't want to be set somewhere they know so they are having me set up ATL for them.  On the bright side I can have a little more creative control over things I want in the city.  Any input on Atlanta is very welcome though, the city is a sprawling area to think about.  Sandy Springs seems like a perfect place to have a group like the alphas, any idea's there?

Thanks,
(oddly enough) also Scott

Sandy Springs is pretty sedate.  I wouldn't put Alphas here unless it was a place to go to get away from the action.  Only thing going on is the encroaching city onto neighborhoods.  I'd look into "little 5 points" seems like an artsy, possibly seedy area to have up and comers living.

[Kowandz]

  I'm still just trying to populate the city a little, get a feel for the different factions there and what they would be doing.  I am waiting for the group that will be playing to finish a DnD campaign and to go through the PDF's to figure out what they want to do.

   I liked putting a group like the Alphas in Sandy Springs because it is a little quiet.  I figured that it was the kind of place that a group of college students would want to keep safe.  Alpharetta, Decatur, Marietta, or Stone Mountain might work as well (Alphas from Alpharetta has a little ring now that I think about it).

[ryanroyce]

Cool, my friends and I are also staging a game here in Atlanta (we're all natives), so poaching ideas from each other could be fun.  I'm not the GM, so I don't have the notes with me, but here are a few of our ideas:

THEME: Just Passin' Thru
 Atlanta is and has always been an important Crossroads in America, starting out as the railroad hub of Terminus and now as home of one of the largest and busiest airports in the world.  A lot of supernatural wierdness comes through Atlanta on its way to elsewhere in the mortal world, as well as mundane threats like the drug trade and smuggling.  The border with the Nevernever is particularly thin here.

THREAT: Summer in the City
 Atlanta is also known as Hotalanta for a reason -- the Summer Court dominates Atlanta (it is considered a major offensive if Winter manages to put snow on the ground for two whole days), based out of the Botanical Gardens.  They are represented by a treant and its dryad symbiote.  Winter is only represented by a feeble Winter Squire at the Georgia Aquarium, protected somewhat by its massive amounts of running water.

 Papa Limbo, a voodoo priest whose Waffle House serves as Atlanta's MacAnally's.

 Little 5 Points is the home of our "Ordos Lebes", a collection of young gothy witches, minor talents and focused practitioners.

 House Cadiz (ka-deez), a White Court clan of fashionistas (they feed on Envy) with a stranglehold on the Buckhead club scene.  House Raith wants to take these upstarts down a peg.

 Los Lobos, a gang of latino werewolves/lycanthropes that are among the top dogs of the gang scene. ;-)

 "Order of the Lone Gunmen" (i don't recall their actual title), a club consisting of Georgia Tech students who have all witnessed supernatural events... and completely, utterly misinterpreted them.  They see the world in terms of conspiracy theories, alien infiltrators, corporate empires, and shadow governments.  Everyone knows that Magic doesn't exist!  There's a rational explanation for everything!

 "The King", unofficial leader of Atlanta's homeless population, who 'holds court' at Centennial Olympic Park (the park is also a site of Accorded Neutral Ground).  Impressive source of information about what is really going on.

 "Our Lady of the Interstate", aka the huge Church of the Apostles along I-75.  Serves as Atlanta's "St. Mary of the Angels" church and beacon for wayward travelers in need of aid.  Father Guthrie serves there as the "night shift priest".

 The spirit of General Sherman (not just his ghost, his actual spirit) is bound to Stone Mountain as a sort of genius loci... and he's rather pissed about it.  Stone Mountain also serves as a major confluence of ley lines.

 "Holy Grounds", a combination coffee shop and religious/occult book store run by a True Believer.

 The idea of I-285, aka the Perimeter, as a big damn magic circle that binds SOMETHING to the area, is one that our group has considered, too.

[Kowandz]

  I really like your ideas for the fae courts and the order lebes of goth chicks in little 5.  I went to GA Tech, I think I met those kids. 

   Los Lobos beats my Alpha's idea by a lot!  I also have an idea for a necromancer's street gang in College Park.  Talk about a gang war!

   I think I like the idea for the white court vampires too!  Please tell me more of House Cadiz!

I want to put my rising confluence right at 5 Points station, high stakes for the mortal populace.  Maybe Centennial Olympic Park?

I am sure the CDC knows of vampires.  The idea is a CDC taskforce that is responsible for clearing unusual  sites from any possible vampire menace before the rest of the CDC begins testing for mortal diseases.  The team is also dedicated to finding potential cures for the disease, and eradicating any pockets of infection before they can spread.  This team runs by their own agenda, and may not take too kindly to the PC's in every situation.

[ryanroyce]

 In our game, the CDC has a small handful of 3-4 clued-in scientists who get handed the "x-files" of the bureau, with a relationship similar to Chicago PD and the SI Dept.  The other scientists want to get rid of those "gutter-science miscreants", but the upper-level bureaucrats remind them that spending cuts in one year just mean budget cuts the next year.  So, until it becomes politically popular to cut the CDC's budget (not gonna happen), the Gutter stays.  Thus, since they exist no matter what, the other departments find it convenient to shunt their "messy" cases to the Gutter and artificially inflate their success statistics.

 Our PCs have yet to actually meet them, but we'll do so sooner or later.

More later, going home now.

[Cardamon]

Welcome to the city of Atlanta, Ga.

The first step in city creation is to identify 3 themes or threats in the city.

idea1: Atlanta served as the effective capitol of the Southern US back to the days of slavery and succession and harbors many old hatreds. While in mortals the animosity is receded some, old mind cling to old hatreds. In the city of Atlanta cultural mistrust is elevated. Mortals in the know tend to be less likely to trust anything supernatural, and even the two families of white court vampires can't work together for any length of time.
Theme: You MIGHT be all right, but I don't really trust your kind.

Your history needs a little work.  Capital of the confederacy was Montgomery, Alabama, Richmond, Virginia, and briefly Danville, Virginia.  Atlanta was an important travel hub of railways even then, and certainly a bastion of the South, but to call it a capital in any sense is stretching it.

idea2: Cities tend to rise up in places of power. There used to be a confluence right where the center of the city is now, but it receded a long time ago(several centuries at least). The N-S ley line along 75/85(interstate) has been there all along, but an old ley line running E-W has started to rise up again along I-20 and a confluence is gaining power right smack in the middle of the city. If all that nonsense with highways and ley lines isn't enough, then just for your personal amusement my I introduce 285. 285 is a big freaking circle of a highway around the city. People in the city call it the perimeter. Where you live is described as inside or outside the perimeter. This just has to mean something.
Theme: Rising Power

Circles mean barriers.  Barriers mean containment.  Carry on.

idea3: Someone shot the warden. Right through the back of the head. They got the drop on a guy that grew up the child of slaves. The warden in Atlanta was a bad motha and kept the city power structure in check. Everyone wants to further their agenda, but NOBODY knows who killed the warden. The timing is awfully convenient, with that new confluence and all. The death looks like a simple mugging, but there is NO way a mortal mugger could get to the warden without outside help.
Threat: Power vacuum

Says who?  The dead warden maybe?  Last I checked, Wardens bled just as easy as any mortal, a little easier than many supernatural beasties, and as a rule tend to specialize in fighting monsters and wizards rather than mooks and thugs.  Not saying the premise is bad...just that one unqualified conclusion seems to depend on a large amount of PC genre savvy to get where you want it to go.

[Victim]

Don't most cities have highways looping around them?  It's not a special feature of Atlanta, even if you do have a nickname for it.

[ryanroyce]

You'd think so, but not really.  Most major cities are next to coastal areas or mountains that prevent circular interstates from forming, but there are a few others out there... interestingly, one of them is Baltimore the Sample City (695) and another is Washington DC (495).

[Victim]

You'd think so, but not really.  Most major cities are next to coastal areas or mountains that prevent circular interstates from forming, but there are a few others out there... interestingly, one of them is Baltimore the Sample City (695) and another is Washington DC (495).

Yeah, and Davenport IA, St Louis MO, Houston, San Antonio, Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita Kansas. Denver is mostly looped. 

[Kowandz]

I really like the idea that in all of these cities there may be a force that someone desires to keep trapped in the city.  Maybe some kind of ritual used by people in the past to try to ensure that that the city becomes successful.  That would especially make sense in DC, where the masons had a lot to do with the layout and creation of the original city structure.  What if DC was the first time the masons trapped this force to aid in city growth, and the masons kept the ritual for later use.


I think I am finally getting an idea where I want to go w/ the 285 thing now.   Awesome, thanks!


Now the next question is what force would you attempt to trap in order to aid in city growth?  It would have to be some sort of creature from the never-never I imagine.  Probably not the same type of creature for each city either.  I'll marinate on this for a while, thank you!