Char-Gen Orgy '10 - Orpheus

The Game: Orpheus
The Publisher: White Wolf Game Studios
Degree of Familiarity: Played a couple abortive games, tried to run it once or twice to doomed results. Still bloody love it, though, and it wasn't the GAME's fault there
Books Used: Orpheus core rulebook, Crusade of Ashes (Merits & Flaws), Shades of Gray (Roles), and Shadow Games (Stains)

Ahh, Orpheus. Great game, one of those (and that is admittedly a long list) I wish I'd had more chance to play in its heyday, and one I'd run again if I could ever find the group to do it... alas, other days..

For the uninitiated, the story of Orpheus somewhat ties into both the past and the (then) future of the World of Darkness; it was an unofficial sequel of a sort to the discontinued Wraith: The Oblivion (which I also absolutely adore -- I'm a ghost enthusiast, yes), and was also patient zero for the "limited run" games that would become popular and prevalent in the WoD's current incarnation, and saw the first hints of a few changes made to the core Storyteller system that would become standard features of the revamped Storytelling rules. However, we're getting a bit far afield, so I digress....

Orpheus starts out on a simple premise: in the 1980s, a cryogenics company (the titular Orpheus Group) deiscovers that some of their patients are actually 'projecting' from their frozen bodies and out into the world again -- only they're discovering that they are not alone: the shades of the restless dead wander about in a strange, purgatorial world...

Fast forward to the present (the far-off year of 2003!); and the Orpheus group has found a new corporate niche -- hiring out its agents to play Ghostbusters on the books, and off them... well, a lot of shady stuff on the side, from espionage to theft to assassination, and even ironically a few boo jobs of their own. Of course, the plot grows tenser and much more epic than these beginnings as the series progresses -- the storyline itself is worth the books' price alone in my honest opinion, with a lot of twists and turns as the Orpheus Group's checkered past comes due and the stakes of the at-first mysterious events that started with the enigmatic "Maelstrom" in 1998 become deadly-clear, as Orpheus' Spooks eventually cross the Shroud and the Stormwall alike to face....

..well, that would be spoiling, and I don't care if the game's over six years old at this point, if you like the whole conspiracy genre, ghosts, or thrillers.. you ought to pick it up at your local shop should they still have it, or shy of that order it online in PDF format. Great stuff that deserves to be read.

Anyhow, rambling again.. the first decision we have in making an Orpheus character is where to set ourselves in the series' ever-expanding metaplot, but for simplicity's sake we'll go with the corebook's assumptions and say we're new hires for Orpheus, fresh out of orientation.

Step One is to work out our Concept, which is a bit more involved in Orpheus than in some other games; I think I want a little something edgy here, something that can pull the occasional 'wisdom from the gutter' trick. All Spooks have survived (or, not, in some cases) various brushes with death, and I have cheated a bit and already know what Shade we're going for (more on Shade below), I know what sort of character we need.. a bit controlling and. take-charge. The signature character for the Shade in question is a tough, crusty old war vet, but I want something a little more sleek, a bit more elegant. Someone slick. My main inspiration suddenly comes to fruition, basing our fledling Spook around Lady Heather, Gil Grissom's somewhat-recurring contact and at times confidante, from C.S.I., so since none of the Roles (templates defining yoru character's life and brushes with death prior to joining the Orpheus Group) in the core rulebook fit, we'll pop open the Shades of Gray supplement... ah, there we are.. "Sadomasochist"... fun stuff, no? Not precisely what we're looking for, but it suits us as well as we can hope.

As hinted above I already have a Shade in mind -- our fair lady is a Skinrider, a Shade of strong will who can use that strength of personality to overtake the bodies of others, or even force their will upon the physical world by refusing to acknowledge their own limitations. That decided, we now look at Laments -- if Shades are 'classes', then Laments are our 'races', of which there are four total: Projectors (living men and women who, as it may suggest, project their souls out of their mortal bodies) are divided into Skimmers and Sleepers, whereas Ghosts (and yes, Orpheus Group is an equal opprotunity employer and does not discriminate based on one's pre- or post-mortem status) are either the traditional Spirits or the souls of the departed who sampled the hip new street drug known as Pigment during life, the Hues. Liking the image of "mind over body" that a dedicated enthusiast of the dark side of erotica could well possess, we'll go with a Skimmer here, a Projector who uses yoga and mediational techniques to go into shamanic-like trances to project.

The next step of our Concept stage is to choose our Nature; Skinriders tend to have a Nature of Autocrat, Bureacrat, Competitor, Director, Leader, Mentor, Pedagogue, or Traditionalist, but we're not bound by that in any way. Let's have a look at the recommended options... let's stay within usual bounds and go with Mentor -- our Mistress genuinely wants to spread on wisdom and help others learn to succeed and unlock their true potential, but is not above a firm hand and a bit of practical experience being brought to bear. We'll also decide our gal's Demenor, the face which she shows the world most often... in this case, she outwardly revels in her illicit pleasures, making her firmly a Rake. That has us done with the Concept

ROLE: Sadomasochist
SHADE: Skinrider
LAMENT: Skimmer
NATURE: Mentor
DEMEANOR: Rake

Okay, that done, now we move onto Attributes, which is Step Two; we prioritize Physical, Mental, and Social, then assign a total of 6 Dots to our primaries, 4 Dots to our secondaries, and 3 Dots to our tertiary Attributes, all of which start at 1. The Sadomasochist Role recommends a setup of Social / Physical / Mental, and thats fine for our purposes; we'll go for above-average competency all across the board socially, with two dots into each of Charisma, Manipulation, and Appearance; two dots into both Strength and Dexterity and three into Stamina sort out our Physicals -- our girl's used to taking a beating and dealing with pain, and it shows. Lastly, we're strictly all-around average in the Mental department, with a dot into each of our Perception, Intelligence, and Wits. That's Attributes done...

PHYSICAL
Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Stamina 3

SOCIAL
Charisma 3
Manipulation 3
Appearance 3

MENTAL
Perception 2
Intelligence 2
Wits 2

Next is Step Three, Abilities. Consulting our Role again I see a recommendation of a Skills / Knowledges / Talents split, but this time I think I'm inclined to disagree with the set template, setting Talents first, Knowledges second, and Skills in third. With 11 Dots to spend in Talents, and nothing allowed to go above a 3, we'll put 2 dots each in Empathy, Intimidation, Intrigue, Intuiton, and Leadership, and our last dot into Streetwise -- our mistress can work people like a pro and despite what some might think, she's a great choice to take control when the shit htis the fan. Moving onto Skills, we have 4 Dots to distribute; we'll set up an even spread of 1 dot each into Etiquette, Meditation, Melee, and Security -- good at dealing with high society, Skimmer training, able to play with her wicked toys, and not a stranger to the odd lock or restraint. Lastly we finish with our Knowledges, of which we have 7 Dots' worth: two dots each into Academics and Medicine, and a dot each of Finance, Law, and Politics -- she managed her own books, and can occasionally surirpse other Spooks with her insight into various sort and sundry topics from theology to Shakespeare. That has step three done...

TALENTS
Empathy 2
Intimidation 2
Intrigue 2
Intuiton 2
Leadership 2
Streetwise 1

SKILLS
Etiquette 1
Meditation 1
Melee 1
Security 1

KNOWLEDGES
Academics 2
Finance 1
Law 1
Medicine 2
Politics 1

Step Four is Advantages -- our legs up on the world, both supernatural and mundane. Backgrounds first, which are a little wonky in Orpheus, divided into Mundane and Orpheus Group backgrounds, and we have 2 dots in each. For our Orpheus backgrounds, we'll take a dot in Arsenal -- our dominatrix has an extensive collection of wicked melee weapons, restraints, and chemical aids of questionable legality, all of which might prove useful in her new vocation -- and a dot of Health Insurance -- given her proclivities, its probably recommended. For Mundane backgrounds, we'll go with a dot of Influence -- favors and secrets of past clientele -- and a dot of of Resources -- she was a small-time operator, but it paid the bills with a bit to spare. Our starting Horror (Spooks' ghostly powers) is Puppetry, and as for our Stains (the marks of our dark emotions -- usually hidden but as our our Spite grows they can become more prominent and, eventually, permenant) the only two in the core book that suit us is Martyred and we need two more; we'll crack SHADOW GAMES and take both the very evocative Hypnotic Markings, as well as the suitably subtle Stinger. That has our Advantages finished!

BACKGROUNDS
Arsenal 1
Health Insurance 1
Influence 1
Resources 1

HORRORS
Puppetry

STAINS
Hypnotic Markings
Martyred
Stinger

Step Five is our last, Finishing Touches. We start by calculating our Vitality, Willpower, and Spite, which are affected by our Shade and our Nature; Skinriders start with Vitality 4, Willpower 6, and Spite 2, and Mentor adds Vitality 3, Willpower 1, and Spite 1, so our (current) totals are Vitality 7, Willpower 7, and Spite 3. Now for Freebie Points, and although its not covered in the core book, the game's first supplement, Crusade of Ashes, gives rules for Merits and Flaws, and as this is the part of the OWoD system I miss most, bet your ass that we shall partake. Cracking CoA, we'll start with Flaws... our gal will start with a 2-point Weird Appearance Flaw -- she's got that spooky, tatooed goth thing going, and hot as that can be it's going to freak out conservative types. We'll compound this by having a 2-point Criminal Record Flaw -- maybe a few busts for minor drug possession, solicitation, or public indecency when some kinky game went too far? No matter, just like our source material, the law doesn't have much trust for our mistress. We'll also take Bully as a 1-pointer; she tries to be noble and even lies to herself about it, but if our girl's being honest, she enjoys power over others, and sometiems her games just go too damned far. Lastly, try as she might to deny it, another part of this gig is that, society be damned, our lass just enjoys her bedsports a bit too much, and so sometimes can get hoisted by her own petard as it were; we'll take Lustful at 2 Points. That gives us 7 dots to play around with for Merits before our basic 15 Freebie Points are affected; we'll thus take Enchanting Voice at 2 Points, Smooth for 1 Point, and both Flirt and Sexy for 2 Points each -- when our girl sets someone in her sights, she doesn't even need her power to control others while projecting to wrap people around her fingers like twine. Merits and Flaws seen to (and we'll stop there, with those), we'll move on to our default 15 Points of Freebies; we'll go ahead and buy our Shade's next Horror, the physically-potent Juggernaut, for 7 of those, then add a dot into each of Empathy and Intimidation, and add two dots into Subterfuge

MERITS
Enchanting Voice 2
Flirt 2
Sexy 2
Smooth 1

FLAWS
Bully 1
Criminal Record 2
Lustful 2
Weird Appearance 2

VITALITY: 7
WILLPOWER: 7
SPITE: 3

...aaand, there we go... 'Mistress' Elisabeth Coventry (yeah, that's a real name) is a recent hire of the Orpheus Group, and some wonder if she's worth the trouble she causes, for all her talents at pulling people's strings both in the flesh and out of it. Still, ever since she was recruited by an Orpheus headhunter who happened to be a client of hers, she's proven quite adept and.. enthusiastic about her work, even if the intensity sometimes makes people a bit uncomfortable -- and thats if the tattoos and piercings don't do the trick. Still, despite all her games, she's loyal to the Crucible, and does genuinely want to help them be all that they can be.. even if her methods are... a wee bit eccentric.

* * * * * * *

NAME: Elisabeth Coventry
ROLE: Sadomasochist
SHADE: Skinrider
LAMENT: Skimmer
NATURE: Mentor
DEMEANOR: Rake

-=ATTRIBUTES=-

PHYSICAL
Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Stamina 3

SOCIAL
Charisma 3
Manipulation 3
Appearance 3

MENTAL
Perception 2
Intelligence 2
Wits 2

-=ABILITIES=-

TALENTS
Empathy 3
Intimidation 3
Intrigue 2
Intuiton 2
Leadership 2
Streetwise 1
Subterfuge 2

SKILLS
Etiquette 1
Meditation 1
Melee 1
Security 1

KNOWLEDGES
Academics 2
Finance 1
Law 1
Medicine 2
Politics 1

-=ADVANTAGES=-

BACKGROUNDS
Arsenal 1
Health Insurance 1
Influence 1
Resources 1

HORRORS
Puppetry
Juggernaut

STAINS
Hypnotic Markings
Martyred
Stinger

MERITS
Enchanting Voice 2
Flirt 2
Sexy 2
Smooth 1

FLAWS
Bully 1
Criminal Record 2
Lustful 2
Weird Appearance 2


HEALTH: 7
VITALITY: 7
WILLPOWER: 7
SPITE: 3

* * * * * * *

...and there we are, our newly-minted Spook readied to go out and get her feet wet and her hands dirty.. which, honestly, sounds kinda kinky in it's own right...

..yeah, I'm terrible, I know. Don't act so damned surprised.