With the LV portion of the PP's free for download, I grabbed it and have been coming up with ideas for action. Thought you guys might like to see this, in all it's rough unglory.
Title -- Side Tracked
Something’s up with the Las Vegas monorail… passengers are coming up missing. Just one or two a week… until recently…
To those in the know around Las Vegas, know human trafficking is real. There are sellers and buyers for many reasons within and beyond the obvious. With the decline in the national (and thus area) economy, keeping up with demand has become a challenge. Tourists who fit the right profile are becoming scarce and suppliers are being pushed to find alternate sources. One plan has been hatched that’s been reaping rewards since just after the first of the year. The perps don’t plan on stopping any time soon.
The Perps: Within the White Court community in Las Vegas, there exists a specialized (and thus very limited) market for those with Fae blood in their veins. Connoisseurs (calling themselves The Diner’s Club) being what they are, they prefer the best that money can buy. But funds are a bit low right now and rarity sometimes forces one to accept lower quality because that’s all that can be had. The ‘best’ comes from those often referred to as Changelings; the half-bloods with one mortal parent and one from… the other side, and who have not yet made their Choice. Whether the Fae parent was Winter, Summer or Wylde makes no difference. They know what they like and are willing to pay top dollar for top quality.
Failing that, anyone who has even a smidgen of faerie blood will do. It is, after all, the principle of the thing, and something is, indeed, better than nothing.
Until very recently a highly organized group ensured a satisfactory supply for the Fae-Blooded market. With the recent troubles that supply was cut off. Completely. For months now. On the verge of turning their sights to locals – and thus competing with other suppliers gathering for other buyers, and… other complications… an elegant and sustainable solution was proposed by the leader of the Club. It would save them some money and is almost completely fool-proof. Fools being what they are the vampires took precautions against discovery – and the plan went into effect.
The Plan: Part 1. The large bronze statue of Elvis Presley enshrined at the LV Hilton has long been subject to tourist attention for a variety of reasons. One such reason is the urban legend that touching the statue prior to gambling will one lucky. This has been going on for decades. The statue has patinaed long since, except for its hands and a few other spots (chin, shoulders, etc.) where tens of thousands of people have brushed, poked, prodded and patted The King in hopes of winning money, and have left those areas looking bright and shiny. The statue has been enchanted with the ability to detect whether someone touching it bears Fae blood [Supernatural Sense: Fae Blood]. When detecting a target, the statue then hits it with a 10-shift pre-loaded Domination. For those who (usually) fail, the order given is to board the south-bound monorail. The Domination also damages their psyche a little bit, ‘tagging’ them for what’s to come. Those who resist get a major case of the creeps from touching the statue and probably never come back to the property again – perhaps even cancel trips to Graceland and lose good feelings for Elvis while they’re at it. Part 2: Roughly mid-way between the LV Hilton and the monorails’ next stop at Harrah’s, a WCV lackey has been posted just inside a NN portal situated along the monorail’s tracks. When the tagged game passes by the portal, the lackey, who can see the psychic stain, reaches across the border and pulls them across. The game is then packaged and transported to their final destination. Part 3: Once used, the statue’s abilities must be refreshed. When a victim is received a phone call is made, some money transferred and a utility man is sent to the LV Hilton to reset the trap.
Meet The Players:
The White Court. A half-dozen members of the Skavis (who feed on despair) want to keep their “private stash” secret from the rest of the family. They’re low-life’s even among their own kind. White Court vamps traditionally use “Cat’s Paws” to do their dirty work for them. The more layers and more indirect their maneuvering, the better they like it. This special group has been forced by exigency to work almost directly on their problem – getting enough of what they like best to eat. If discovered they will be so heavily dishonored among their own kind they will be killed; culled to improve the breed. No such ham-handed actions can be tolerated, even here. Needless to say, they won’t take busybodies lightly.
Members include: Aldon, Claudia, Laurent, Nathaniel, Raven and Tariq Skavis. Only Aldon is of any consequence. This whole thing is his idea. He’s made all the arrangements and set it all up. Just ask the others. They’ll tell you. The others can be run using any “basic WCV” template. Aldon is detailed later.
Sgt. Stella Andrews & the LVPD “Special Vices Squad”. This Squad, self-dubbed “The Hard Way Squad” is unofficial, receiving no formal support from the department (which doesn’t even know it exists), and live in constant danger of being outed. Sgt. Andrews is nominally in charge of the group; roughly a dozen semi-clued individuals who just cannot turn a blind eye to how Las Vegas really operates. Sgt. Andrews has decided that the string of unsolved disappearances must have some ‘unusual’ nature to it and has begun dedicating limited manpower to figuring it out.
Katrina Morrison - Ex-Red Court Flunky. Morrison is a board member of Sunset Holdings, Ltd., a major front for the late Red Court. She’s heavily addicted to red spit. Now that the Reds are history, she can’t get a fix, which makes are a bit twitchy. But that doesn’t mean that business can’t still happen. She’s the one supplying the ‘utility man’ (a “Level Two Paranetter” under her control) to recharge the Elvis statue at the LV Hilton. She’s more than willing to out those involved if it means protecting herself, even if it means strengthening the rest of the Whites.
USEFUL INFORMATION (In no particular order of importance)
Investigation or “Official” Sources – Police, Political, Medical, etc.
• Surveillance footage shows each victim boarding the south-bound monorail at the LV Hilton, but not being on the car at the next stop (Harrah’s).
• Recent ‘stakeouts’ along various points of the route between the Hilton and Harrah’s have discovered no one exiting the monorail in motion.
• Not all victims have seen a show, gambled or eaten at the Hilton before boarding the monorail.
• There is no link like age, gender, or socio-economics between them that police can determine.
Contacts or “Street” Sources – Gangs, Friends, Rumors, etc.
• Victims always a little “out of it” (tired, edgy, preoccupied, etc.) just before getting on the tram.
Scholarship or “Research” Sources – Broadcast and Print Media of various sorts.
• Monorail security is separate from hotel/casino security. Only by viewing this separate footage (for each case) will anyone eventually ‘tip’ (Research vs. Difficulty 5) to the fact that all victims touched the Elvis statue on site for luck. Without resorting to other investigative techniques, this will take two entire scenes of time to figure out (one of three or more characters work on it together); the researching character(s) will be unavailable for any other activity during that time.
Other Sources – Supernatural in one form or another.
• The Elvis statue at Hilton is enchanted to detect Changelings and ‘tag’ them for kidnapping. When it has tagged a subject, it sends a signal to the trapper on the other side of a passive NN portal who then waits along the monorail route to remove the subject.
• The monorail runs through a passive NN portal along its route where ‘tagged’ subjects are removed.
• All subjects are Changelings being taken to the NN to be transported to their deaths.
• Practice makes perfect. The slow increase in the kidnappings is a result of the “utility”man getting better at doing what he’s doing; becoming more efficient and therefore faster.
NPCs
Level Two Paranetter (On The Beach)
High Concept: Compromised Member Of Paranet
Other Aspects: Little Fish, Magical Community, Deadly Secret
Skills:
Good: Lore, Contacts
Fair: Conviction, Discipline
Average: Resources, Alertness, Scholarship, Investigation, Driving
Stunts:
Paranet Member (Contacts): +2 to Contacts when contacting other members of Paranet.
Powers:
Ritual (Domination) [-2] Could also be Channeling or any minor ability except for Marked By Power. Some psychic abilities are also possible.
Total Refresh Cost: -3, Refresh Total: 1
This guy’s secret is up to you to create. It doesn’t have to be all that big, just enough to make him susceptible to blackmail/extortion. Making it relevant to your group is what’s important… something they can get a little sympathetic with. If you can make a connection of some sort with the group, fine. If/when the plan blows up, he’s toast one way or another. That can give the characters’ some guilt or grief issues as baggage to tote around. Make his death obvious, public… and messy so it sends a message. Don’t invest a lot of time in him, though.
+++++++
Aldon Skavis
High Concept: Sleazy White Court Vampire
Trouble: Doing What Ought Not Be Done
Other Aspects: Angry But Afraid, Bottomless Pit
Use the general White Court Vampire template but ensure he has Weapons at (+4) Great (he really likes to use paired straight razors). In addition to Incite Emotion[Despair], he can also Incite Emotion[Fear]. Oh, and his Might should also be at a minimum of Fair(+2).
This guys is a real weasel and no small amount of coward. He’ll bolt at the first real opportunity (Concession early is his thing provided he can leave right afterwards) and look for a way to set an ambush for any pursuers or come after them some night when they’re asleep. Or just hire a killer to take them out. If he’s not with the rest of his Club, he’ll get with them asap for safety in numbers.
++++++++
White Court Lackey: Generic White Court Vamp template. He’s armed with a 3-Million volt personal defense stungun [Weapons at Great(+4)]. When he sees the “tainted” target, he uses his Speed to jerk them through the portal and zaps them totally senseless in seconds. A few zip ties, some duct tape and a whiff of ether completes the ensemble. If the group actually discovers him personally, like crossing the portal to his position, he’ll bolt for all he’s worth. If he gets cornered, he’ll bargain for his life and spill what little he knows (which is enough to damn Aldon) including Aldons’ name and the Club’s location (ironically enough in a “lost” maintenance room at the LV Hilton.
Enjoy
