Help with Themes, Threats and Conflicts for New York?

[Watson]

We are about to finally start up our Dresden Files RPG, and we have decided to use New York as our city (or more specifically Manhattan, as NYC is huge).

It would help me as the GM to have some additional stuff when going into the City Creation session, so I thought if you had some ideas in regards to Themes, Threats or Conflicts relating to Manhattan (or NYC)? Themes and Threats are rather straight forward, but Conflicts would be anything that is related to a “current situation” (i.e. what could be the current situation, and who would like to “rock the boat” or “maintain the status quo” and why). I am not asking for anything extensive, and I am thankful for any help that I can get.

Perhaps someone have already made a campaign in New York?

Thanks!

[alisbin]

my group is running a nyc campaign currently, conflicts for us are mainly between the NYPD's "Special Events" unit (which actually exists but in our game acts as the anti supernatural squad in addition to normal duties) and various organized crime groups (who for us are either connected supernaturally or looking to be). summer vs winter is also a notable conflict but that might go without saying in any game...
our GM is a serious NYC history/trivia buff so we play off of NYC oddities, it makes for great hooks. Examples: NYC has an extensive series of subway tunnels that haven't been used in over 50 years, most of manhattan island is honeycombed with natural tunnels, various business consortium's have tried to buy and develop Central Park for various reasons and they've all been dismissed out of hand. we've only seriously investigated the latter and for us it turns out that there's an Outer Gate directly underneath and that summer and winter required a natural space as part of a treaty.
my suggestion, see if someone in your group knows much about NYC, if so use their knowledge, if not, buy a history of NYC or find someone outside your group that does know the city very well. nearly all cities have some interesting oddities that can be twisted slightly to be supernatural, you just gotta find'em.

[Morgan]

I run most of my Dresden Files convention games set in New York City, for Themes I use aspects "The Crossroads of The World" which to me is all about how anyone and everyone comes to New York, and that you can find person or a piece of just about any culture there, which has especially interesting implications in an Urban Fantasy setting. If you need to talk to a Nigerian Witch Doctor, which one do you want to talk to? You need some Yeti gall stone for that ritual? Well Chang's down in Chinatown has the best stuff, but Murry up on 34th street can get it for you wholesale. My other theme is "The City That Never Sleeps" which to me is about the hustle and bustle of New York, people are busy and constantly on the move, "I'm walkin' Here!", "Hey Lady! You want to order already?", the streets are always lit up, and last call isn't till 4am. There is a wonderful energy and vitality to the city, but maybe staying out all night in a setting were the shadows and alleys hide thing far worse than potential muggers isn't the best idea. I then usually tailor my Threat aspect to whatever that particular convention game is about.

Since I run these as fairly tight focused convention games I really don't have much in the way of loose NYC conflicts floating around. But one I do have is the Pixie Gangs of New York. There are tons of parks, gardens, and trees all around New York, and in my games most of them are the turf of various pixie gangs and other wyldfae. They rumble for turf and are constantly trying to expand their territory, or keep it safe from the other gangs. This conflict can run the gamut in tone from West Side Story to The Warriors to Gangs of New York.

[Sanctaphrax]

There should be at least one dragon and one wizard on Wall Street.

PS: You may want to talk to Keryth; he has a thread here about a New York game.

[Richard_Chilton]

I'd rather see a wizard on 4th Street (see Simon Hawke for more), but New York might be too big of a scale.  You might be better off setting a story in Brooklyn (or the Broncs, or any of the five sections) and deal with it.  It could just be me, but I the moods of the Broncs as being different from those of Manhattan or Harlem.

Richard

[Morgan]

Nah, Wall Street's got to have Witches, just like Hetty Green. Of course I totally agree about the Dragon.

Honestly there are probably so many supernatural types trying to get rich off of the stock market that they probably end up all cancelling each other out. Except when they don't in which case very bad things start to happen in the market.

Also The Bronx, not The Broncs.

[Keryth]

There should be at least one dragon and one wizard on Wall Street.

PS: You may want to talk to Keryth; he has a thread here about a New York game.

Here's my forum post Sanctaphrax referenced: http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,29031.0.html

I'm working on templates for it right now, then I'm gonna start on locations and faces, and finally on Themes and such

[Richard_Chilton]

Also The Bronx, not The Broncs.

Sorry about that - when the spellchecker suggested it I went with it.

Richard

[Hadeshorn]

I would think that Central Park would be HUGE for a NYC game.  That strikes me as a massive battleground for Summer and Winter to duke it out, or a haven for some Weres. 

Another interesting thought is you could homage to "Gangs of New York" and have different supernatural groups vying for control of the Five Points.

[Watson]

Thanks for all replies so far. I have more or less decided to go for Manhattan, divided into south-, midtown, upper west-, upper east- and Harlem (as regions, generating more of it's own Theme). Within these, we'll put Locations as per the book. Central Park will be it's own region/Location. I think that we will have to put Locations outside Manhattan as well, but the main action will be on Manhattan.

What did strike me is that Manhattan is an island = surrounded by water (that will be used).

I also found this site, after hours of surfing the web: http://www.weirdus.com/states/new_york/index.php (other states are also available). This gave me a few very interesting things in the state of New York: Bannerman Island (Beacon, upstate), The Abandoned Monastery (Staten Island), The Montauk Project (Staten Island, they did some seriously weird research there!), The Mole People (underground society!), and the weird "Lincoln Tunnel Vortex".

I also got one idea from one of the DFRPG AP podcasts, that the indians that sold Manhattan to the Dutch actually did it as a kind of revenge as a very nasty creature was kept at bay there (Skinwalker?). This nicely ties to the fact that Manhattan is surrounded by water.

If you have any other ideas, please post them. We have our City Creation session today, so I will report what we have come up with later on.

[computerking]

If your characters ever need to find a place totally safe from Faerie influence...
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/

Nothing like a big metal aircraft carrier for Fae-free conversations...

Also, Battery Park is a pretty good place for Fomor to hang out, closest to water, floods every once in a while...

And there's a small lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge that might serve as a nice home for a Troll.

[Watson]

We have now done the City Creation session for New York (Manhattan) and come up with some interesting stuff. The short version is the following:

Three gangs, all more or less involved in drug trade: The Gangas (Haitian voodoo), The Black Tongs (Chinese mob) and The Lennons (hippies, led by John himself, now as a fully changed Changeling). We have the Red Court based out of Bellevue Hospital (using the blood bank as a way to influence people by contaminating their blood) and the White Court (arranging death-fights, feeding from the pain caused by the fighters and the crowd, with Don King working for them, close to the top as a “White Court promoter”), plus a small group of Black Court. The old Warden of New York have been killed recently, and his apprentice have taken over (but the apprentice do not have any real power, creating a power vacuum in the region). The main bad guys are the Dutchmen – the original settlers of New York, led by the a 1600’s sorcerer. The reason why they came to New York to start with was the strong ley lines, that cross themselves at Lower Manhattan. They hate the White Council and their rules and have fought the original Indians that they bought Manhattan from. The Dutchmen have also been behind the numerous outbreaks of the Yellow fever a few hundred years ago. We also have a small representation of the Fey, in Donald Trump (who is an Emissary of the Winter Court) and his ex-wife Ilana Trump (an actual Fey). Plus of course the usual corrupt police and some politicians.

In addition to this, unknown to my players, I have an additional bad guy that eventually will be the focus of the campaign (currently not active, but started to awake as a result of the destruction of the WTC). 

I will start to clean up and fill out the blanks in the coming days. If you have any scenario ideas, you are most welcome to post here or send me a PM.

[Keryth]

Looks pretty good.

Though, it's Ivana Trump, not Ilana