Where in the City is Gemstone Diamond? (DEAD)

AN: I keep coming up with quest ideas and then not doing them. This time, I'm going to give it a shot. This is probably a terrible idea, but we'll do it live!


Everyone knows that magic doesn't exist. Oh, there are stories, internet tales, the like, but nobody really takes that seriously. Magic is the realm of childish fantasies and ancient, superstitious cultures, not the rational, modern world of science and technology that people actually live in.

They should know all this. After all, a lot of very persistent people worked very hard for a very long time to make sure they knew it.

Those people are the ones who know the truth: magic does exist. Spirits and spells, witches and warlocks, vampires and werewolves, and so many more things do actually lurk in the shadows. They don't rule the world; and most of them don't want to. Why would they? They have enough problems with their own lives. They just want to be left alone.

Thus, every magical person, human and non-human alike, was taught to never reveal their nature to the Mundanes, especially since technology meant that any hint of the unnatural would be halfway around the world before any response could get its boots on. It took some doing, and there were many close calls, but they were able to keep their existence under wraps.

Then everything went to hell.

It all started in an instant, when a shadowy beast appeared from nowhere in the otherwise unremarkable American city of Mayberry. It started to wreak havoc, only to be defeated on live television by a masked, armored girl with a diamond sword, who then vanished as suddenly as her enemy had appeared.

For the ordinary humans, it was a moment of awe tinged with fear. There had been rumor, myths, even urban legends of the supernatural, but now there was proof. Proof that was resisting the best efforts of the skeptics, though some were still trying. What could it mean, and how would it change the world that just hours before they'd thought they had all figured out?

For the magical communities, it was cause for utter panic, since not only was their carefully-hidden world suddenly in danger of being blown wide open, they had no idea who had caused it! They had to do something, fast, or everything they'd fought for for centuries would be wiped away, but all normal avenues of misdirection were failing in the face of corroborated video evidence.

Everyone agreed: more needed to be known about this mysterious Diamond Girl, as the media had started calling her. And when things need to be discovered, it falls to you to find out.

You are…


[] A member of the Eldar Alliance
For centuries; the non-humans of the world, or Eldar as they call themselves, were rivals. They vied with one another for power and influence, sometimes bloodily so. However, as humanity grew in numbers and (unknowingly) claimed the title of Masters of the World, many of the ancient powers realized that they had to work together or go extinct alone. Thus, a loose alliance was formed to curb the most noticeable conflicts, allowing the vampires, werewolves, and many others continue their shadowy existence. They will lash out at any who threaten it. You are a Hunter, one whose mission is to discover and, if needed, eliminate those threats.

Pros:
-More than a man: Although less numerous than humans, Eldar are almost universally stronger, faster, more magically gifted, or all of the above than even mortal magi.
-Ageless: While only a rare few Eldar are truly immortal, most measure their lives in centuries rather than decades, and thus have more experience to draw on.

Con:
Ancient Mistrusts: Not all eldar joined the Alliance, and even those who did have trouble forgetting their old rivalries. Thus, you can't always be completely confident of the loyalty of your allies.
Shackles of Birth: For all your strengths, your kind has its curses and drawbacks that can hinder you, such as the vampiric need to drink blood and weaknesses to certain metals or charms.

Options:
Vampire, Werewolf, Changeling, Artificial, Shade, The Accursed.


[] A member of the local Council of Magi
Mortal magicians have always been around, men and women able to tap into arcane powers through various methods to inflict their will upon the world. While there are many schools of magic, recently the various groups have started working together as the Masquerade is threatened more and more. You are a Fixer, a mage whose job it is to uphold the Masquerade for as long as possible, even though everyone knows in their hearts that it won't last forever. But it won't end because of this crazy upstart, not if you have anything to say about it.


Pros:
Versatile: Because of the many different schools of magic, when magi work together they are able to overcome almost any challenge.
Blending In: Despite your powers, you are still human, and thus you can go almost anywhere a human can go.

Con:
The Pressure's On: Your superiors want this problem solved, and if you're progress is not fast or steady enough for their liking, they will become impatient.
The Spotlight: The Mundanes have become very interested in the supernatural due to the Diamond Girl, so if you're not careful you may win the battle but lose the war of secrecy.

Options:
Witch/Wizard, Alchemist, Summoner, Druid, Augment, Psychic.


[] A Muggle: (Hard mode)
A baseline human, you wield no magical powers or hidden talents, but you find yourself drawn into the mystery of the Diamond Girl all the same. Maybe you're a police officer, trying to keep the peace. Perhaps you're a reporter, out for the scoop of the century. Or maybe you're a private investigator who happens to know a little more about the supernatural than you let on…


Pros:
Little to hide: You may have your secrets, but they're nothing compared to those that others have to deal with, so you have more freedom in your actions.
Strength in numbers: You'll be getting plenty of help and support from like-minded humans.

Con:
Vanilla: You have no magical ability, and even if you knew it existed before the Diamond Girl you have little context as to its true nature. You will be at a severe disadvantage in any situation requiring arcane arts or knowledge.
Recovery time: Magical people have many ways to quickly recover from wounds. Muggles? Not so much.

Options:
Officer, Reporter, PI.


Mechanics question: (see mechanics post for explanation.)
[] Less random: Only one d20 rolled for chance during events.
[] More random: Two d20s rolled for chance during events.

Upcoming: Your Party

Upcoming: Dramatis Personae

Mechanics:
Note: this is my first time running anything like this, so suggestions and constructive criticism are welcome.

General:
The basis of this game's mechanics is Black Closet, with a few modifications. All characters will have 6 stats: the original Social, Intimidation, Observation, and Stealth, as well as two new ones: Magic and Combat.

Whenever the character takes an action, one or two of these stats are combined, any bonuses from items, planning, or other factors are added in, and a "chance" d20 is rolled. The same is done for the target. If they overcome the target by more than 10, then they succeed. If the two numbers are within 10 of each other, it's too close to call and could go either way, but you won't know for certain which way without more information.

One thing I'm thinking of changing is adding some randomness by having the Chance part of actions be 2 d20s rather than just one: the benefit is that it makes it easier for a clearly-outclassed character to get lucky, which makes things more variable; but that could also be a problem in that the players could get really unlucky and potentially lose out on important clues that you should have gotten. I'll leave the decision up to you all.

Actions:
The day will be divided into 4 segments: Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Night. In each segment, a character can take 2 actions, including such things as Traveling, Investigating, Guarding, Staking Out, etc. Different locations will have different actions that can take place there, depending on what's going on at the time, what you know has happened there in the past, ect.

Backup:
In the original game, aside from a few special missions, assigning more than 2 people was a waste because missions required at most 2 stats, and the game would only look at the best stat in the entire group. In this quest, every character in a group will contribute something to the success of the mission. The mission will first check the two best stats in the entire group, just like the original. However, then anyone who has not contributed to the mission will take their best stat that relates to the mission, divide it in half, and then add that to the total. If for some reason, there is another character that would contribute to the same stat that someone's already helping, they then only provide 1/3 of their stat, and so on.

Combat:
I originally had an elaborate system where, rather than wounds, characters took damage to their stats, but eventually I scrapped it to go back to something simple. Normal humans have 2 wounds, though they can get more with armor, while more magical creatures can go higher. When two or more characters engage each other, they roll their Combat stats against each other, possible with other stats. If the results are within 10 of each other, then both characters take one wound, if one character wins by 11-20, the other takes one wound, 21-30 is two wounds, etc. When all wounds are lost, a character doesn't necessarily die, but they won't be able to do much until they've healed.

Training Stats:
I forget where I first saw it, but I remember an RPG where you didn't get experience from succeeding, but from failing at a task. I must admit something about that appeals to me, so that's what I decided to go with: whenever a character fails a task, they'll get some training points. You can, at any point, give up a part of the day to use up to 4 points to increase your stats. However, there will be diminishing returns, so if you give up a second part of a day, you only get to use 3 points, then 2, then 1, so in total you can use 10 points for a full day of training.

Another factor is that there is a limit to what your combined stats can be: for normal humans, that limit is 150, for Mages, it's 200, and for Eldar it's 300 (Your main character gets a 25 bonus to your species limit). After that, training would involve moving stat points around.

Note, not everyone will play by the same rules : )

Stress:
Like the original Black Closet, there will be a meter to prevent you from running yourself and your minions ragged. Unlike the original, it will not be 5 for every action, every time. Easy things, such as travel, will only add 1 stress, relatively simple things like questioning a compliant witness will add 3, more difficulty things will add 6, and really hard stuff will add 10. Also, if they reach their stress level, they're not necessarily unable to act; they'll instead have imaginary wounds that will affect their abilities. One action that can always be taken is to Rest, which will take off some stress, though resting in your home base will be better for you than doing so on a crime-scene.

Spells:
Almost every magical person or being has some way to manifest their power: be it by traditional incantations or some sort of natural technique. In all cases, a spell is cast using only the character's Magic stat and any bonuses (previous preparations, specific equipment, etc.), against the Challenge of the spell as well as any difficulties (rushed for time, outside interference, etc.). There are five levels of spell:

Simple = 25
Hard = 50
Epic = 75
Ritual = 100 and any outside interference automatically causes it to fail.

Of course, magic has a price; whenever used the character will temporarily decrease their Magic stat by one or more d3 if the spell succeeds or d6 if the spell fails. Because of the greater scope of Ritual spells, they will take off d6s for success and d10s for failure.

A pretty clear win for vanilla humans; I will admit not what I expected, but it'll make things interesting. One thing, if you're voting for a plan, it would make it easier if you didn't also vote for the individual options: it didn't matter so much in this case since there weren't that many votes, but it might make a difference later.


Character Creation:

You are human.

Maybe you know it, maybe you don't, but you live in a world where vampires remember a time before Europeans set foot in the Americas, where summoners call up the spirits of the planet itself to do their bidding, where any face you see on the street could in fact be merely a mask. You should be meaningless in the grand scheme of things, especially when it comes to arcane forces.

And yet it is not these entities that control the world, reshaping it in their own image. It is humanity, men and women like you, who are the Masters of the World. Alone and unarmed, a human is next to nothing, but united and backed by the wonders of knowledge, science and technology, you are strong. Magic has come to your city, and it is time to make a stand. It still won't be easy, but you have a chance.

But why? Why are you drawn to the case of the Diamond Girl?


[] For Duty:
You are a detective of the Mayberry City Police Department. You have trained for tense and dangerous for years, strived to prove yourself worthy, and now it is time to put your skills to the ultimate test. Perhaps the details are wildly different than what you're used to, but you will find out who or what is putting the people of Mayberry in danger, and you will set things right.

Pros:
Authority: As a police officer, you are a face of stability and authority, especially in times of crisis. This means that, despite the tensions that sometimes come with your power, many civilians will be willing to aid you in this situation.
Well Equipped: You have the backing of your department. Whatever they can offer, be it tools, information, reinforcements, a safe space, you will have access to it. Hopefully, that will be enough.

Cons:
Rules and Regulations: As an officer of the law, there are rules you must follow. You will need evidence to back up your claims, reasonable suspicion to obtain warrants, and anything you do will be scrutinized.
Into the Darkness: In all your training and experience, shadow monsters and magical swords shockingly never came up. While you'll still be able to draw upon investigative techniques and general strategies, you'll have to be inventing some of the specifics yourself.


[] For Knowledge:
You are a reporter of the Mayberry Witness, the local newspaper, and you are ecstatic. This is the biggest thing to happen in the world ever, and it's happening right on your doorstep! You can already see the Pulitzers you'll get if you're able to get this story out to the world. There may be risks, sure, but in the end the people deserve to know the truth, and you're going to tell them if it's the last thing you do.

Pros:
Freedom of the Press: Your mission is to bring the truth of events to the public, and as such there are far fewer rules that you have to follow in your pursuit of that mission. You can't
Simplicity of Purpose: Since all you're trying to do is find out about the Diamond Girl, you don't have to worry as much about the thorny "and then what?" questions. While the things you discover may change your mind, at the moment the only concern you have is whether you'll be able to

Cons:
Defenseless: The most dangerous thing you've done prior to this case is a minor corruption scandal a few years back, nothing that would put you in any real danger. Hopefully this will be the same, but that shadow monster didn't look very friendly, and who knows what or who else might object to your poking.
Outsider: While you have your friends and contacts, you're not part of either the official or unofficial solution to the issue: which means that there are going to be a lot of people who are less that enthused about you poking around. You'll have to work twice as hard to get the vital information that others will have easy access to.


[] For Money:
It seems a great many people are willing to pay a lot of money to find out about the Diamond Girl, and when it comes to discreet inquires, you're one of the best. You also have the advantage that this isn't your first brush with magic, and although you cannot claim to truly understand it, you can tell that this is different than before. Hopefully, that knowledge will be helpful in fulfilling your contract with…

-[] a very rich man: You're not sure why Manfred Karlsson, an upper manager in a large financial firm, is interested in learning about the Diamond Girl, and you're not sure that you want to. This is especially true as he contacted you in person, rather than through an intermediary. All you know is that he's willing to pay an awful lot of money for that information, and that he somehow heard that you were a good person for the job.

-[] a Mage: Within minutes of your hearing about the Diamond Girl, you were approached by an old "friend:" the mage who you'd run into on a missing person case a few years ago, the case where you learned just how big the world was. He'd apparently argued against having you "disappeared" for knowing too much, instead demanding a promise that you would never discuss what you knew (not that anyone would have believed you before today). Now, he's calling in the favor: the Council is so desperate to cover this all up, that they're willing to reach out to you for help.

-[] an unknown party: You don't know who the intermediary who approached you is working for, but she promised that, if you were willing to take the job on and keep it quiet, you would be handsomely rewarded. Something about the messenger set you on edge, but money is money, and someone in your line of work can't always be picky.

Pros:
In the Know: You know about magic, and you have a few contacts who will be able to give you useful information, if you can only convince them to part with their secrets.
Balanced: As a private investigator, you are not as stringently bound as true law enforcement, while still having more training and licenses than the average Joe. Hopefully, it will be enough to do your job.

Cons:
Secret Keeper: In order to avoid an unfortunate fate for learning about magic, you had to promise that you would not reveal the existence of magic. You might be able use a loop-hole to talk about the Diamond Girl, but if you push your luck too much, the magical community might decide to… clean up some loose ends.
Lone Wolf: For the most part, you work alone. You have some friends you'll be able to call upon, but not nearly so many as other factions will be able to bring to bear.

Finally, tell us more about yourself.

[] You are...
-[] Name
-[] Gender
-[] Optional picture