Case Black is a group I've recently introduced into my DFRPG Sunday game (going for over a year and a half now!)

I've always enjoyed the idea of mortal monster hunters, so I'm revisiting an old idea with some new life specifically flavored for Dresden Files. What made Kincade interesting to me at first was his claim to be a vanilla mortal with a straight face, even though he patently wasn't. Murphy is much the same - just some gal. Even recent events in Skin Game stressed just how firmly the "not supernatural" element to Murphy is, and yet she's still so damn interesting to see cut loose.

So, Case Black.

It started as a simple observation and hobby group, dedicated to "finding the truth," called Paranormal Observations and Studies. They published a few pamphelets and monographs, got ignored, and no one took them seriously. THEY took themselves seriously, and one of their members, a former Mexican Army officer who emigrated to the US, established a series of color-coded "cases" with responses if each case came true. Case Blue was for potential "in the know" sources, Case Red was for being counter-surveiled, etc. Case Black was the "worst case" scenario, ie discovery and attack.

They were discovered, and attacked. Evidently their observations put them on the trail of a Warlock the White Council was after. Trying to get more info from one of their "in the know" contacts, who happened to be a Warden that was using them as a barometer for what information was publicly available, lead to the Warlock getting snicker-snacked. Which lead to the local White Court, who was trying to draw him into their service, getting pissy and having them declared "free game." As half the members (there were never too many) were killed, Lieutenant Alonso declared Case Black and tried to evacuate people. Only four of the original twelve survived. In their frustration with being casualties of Accord back-and-forth, they decided that -all- supernaturals were equally fair game (with a slight preference for not taking on the White Council since they're nominally human friendly).

Taking the name of their previously disdained worst-case scenario, along with the Lieutenant's avowed Trotskyist socialist tendencies, they're in a full out guerilla revolt against the "system" that they see as sanctioned predation on humanity. They keep their membership a tight secret, launch direct-action operations against catspaws and agents of the various supernatural authorities, and in general are trying to erode the underpinnings of "the system," which is in reality the Victor Valley Compact (a set of rules predating the accords, a local set of laws that was incorporated when the Accords came into being as the law of the world). They aren't quite aware of the Accords as a whole, or how widespread the issue is. So far there's seven of them, operating in the local area, and they're starting to attract attention.

Stats are as a basic mortal with some firearms training. Tactics revolve around discreet approach, thunderous execution. Supernaturals outclass humans - operating doctrine for Case Black (and specifically their Direct Action element, the Rain Dogs), is to approach without warning, using flashbangs, incendiaries, tear gas, anything that disorients the enemy. Hollowpoints and large gauge shotguns are the preferred method.

Currently the three players in the Valley are all aware -someone- is jerking them around, though positive ID's haven't been made since Case Black takes care to operate sporadically as possible. Summer hasn't been a direct target since their operations tend to be less overtly predatory. The White Court has, for obvious reasons, seen a number of its useful idiots get gunned down unexpectedly, though they haven't yet lost an actual house member. Even the White Council strongly suspects this "radical group" is responsible for the murder, eight years prior, of a legal expert and minor (yet in good standing) wizard of the Council who was brought in to politely negotiate with the White Court regarding predation rights.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words so far, I'm glad my idea of a modified version of the Accords works so well in peoples' eyes!

A little more on how the Compact functions:

The Tribunal is not a permanent body. It has no standing membership at -any- time, shockingly. This is because the Valley is not a big or important place, so no faction dumps huge amounts of money into it.

Instead, there is a small staff of representatives that can be appealed to - clerks, basically. If you have a Compact matter that requires Tribunal review, it's lodged with the clerks, who run it by their superiors. If the matter is deemed to be Tribunal worthy, relevant members of each of the three governing bodies will appoint the required officials. In practice, Holden Richter almost always handles White Council matters, the Lady Morrigan or Marquessa Gutierrez stand in for the summer court, while the White Court vampires tend to appoint mid-ranking members of the local house. Just who gets assigned is often a political message in itself, of course!

With Summer by far the strongest power in the Valley, there is a once-annual meeting of the Tribunal to discuss matters of overall importance, held near the summer solstice. Indeed, the compact almost wasn't incorporated into the accords because it was originally a summer proposal. It took the backing of the Council and the White Court to muscle its approval through.

A key example of how Tribunal law functions is the Matter of Vengeance. A specific legal condition under Compact law, it is only a matter concerned with non-natives who have come to the Valley on such matters. You -can- try to pursue vengeance under the Accords without consulting the Tribunal, but it is considered the height of bad manners, and the Tribunal can appoint someone to outright eject you from the area if they think you're going to disrupt the balance of power in the area. Instead, you are encouraged to lodge the matter with the Tribunal, who will appoint an investigator on your behalf. You are allowed to lodge your evidence, the accused is allowed to lodge theirs, and the Tribunal determines if it requires a duel, Wergild, sanction, or whatnot. Since this can bring the Tribunal's reputation into question (people like to come to the Valley to hide, after all), they are very precise and thorough in these investigations. They like quiet results, they don't like to be taken advantage of, and they are adamant that Compact and Tribunal authority be respected. A common arrangement in the Matter of Vengeance is for the accused to agree to remain in the Valley for a specified period of time without being pursued or harmed by the aggrieved party. A fine or restitution is frequently included if the offense was severe enough - often in the form of favors to the aggrieved party's power bloc.

This has lead to friction of course, predominantly with those parties who do -not- have a representing body in the area. The Red Court in particular severely dislikes the Tribunal (which, given as our next storyline concerns the start of the red court war...)

So, I'm running a DFRPG game with some friends of mine, and we decided to set it in my current home, the Victor Valley (primarily a tricity area of Apple Valley, Victorville, and Hesperia) in sunny high desert SoCal.

The Valley has a neat role as a sort of gateway between Southern California and Vegas. Along Interstates Fifteen and Forty, just west of Barstow. The Apple Valley Inn served as a kind of home away from home vacation spot for people like Nixon, Dale Evans, Roy Rogers, parts of the Rat Pack, and other celebrities before it closed down due to Evans'/Rogers' mismanagement of the property.

Given that kind of thing, I created a motif for the area I was wondering if you folks might possibly review for me.

Basically, the theme is Hideaway. The Valley isn't prosperous - Victorville is in economic freefall, and Apple Valley isn't much better off. It's a nice middle class area,but teetering on problems. It's the kind of place people come to get away from bigger areas, to start over or to give up.

I've got three factions in nominal control of the area: the Summer Court (holed up in the Apple Valley inn, and referring to their specific area as the Court of Apples, borrowed shamelessly from a White Wolf changeling faction), the White Council (most predominantly in the form of Holden Richter, a retired warden evoker badass), and the White Court (most notably in the form of Victory Career Solutions, or Vicious - a multilevel marketing scheme posing as employment assistance to enable despair-feeding). 

The part I'm most interested in sharing is the Valley Compact. Since the Valley is a place people come to hide or kill time, the three powers in the Valley created a set of local laws to protect this kind of "respite" mentality. The White Council like having a place to send troublesome people to cool their heels under the eye of a very competent ex-warden, the White Court like desperate people attracted by the low cost of living and unaware of the economic opportunities, and Summer simply have a lot of power in a place like this (where there's more life than you expect, and the summer heat is a weapon in itself).

The Compact predates the Unseelie Accords by about 50 years, and when the Accords came into being the Compact was incorporated into the Accords as a set of comparable laws. Rather than "the Accords don't count here, the Compact does," it's more that the Compact was very similar - Wergild, duelling etiquette, so forth, these were already extant in the Compact. Basically locals are dealt with under Compact specifics, out of towners can choose to duel under Accord or Compact rules, and such things.

The biggest difference is the Compact Tribunal. A semi-formal body of diplomats from the three powers in the area, it basically exists to keep things from getting nasty. If there's a Matter of Vengeance to be lodged, it has to go through the Tribunal (same with duelling requests). If you have evidence of a breachof the peace, you need to bring it by your power bloc, who then bring it by the tribunal.

These are my rough thoughts on the Compact. I hope folks like it, and have some advice for me in how to refine the idea.