"Evening with the Fraternity" gaming

[Nathan of the FoS]

Hey, guys. This is just a note to say that this would be an excellent time to join in the "Evening with the Fraternity" game, if anyone's interested. The Fraternity is having an extraordinary meeting in Souragne, and members from all over the Core and beyond are appearing to share their own research and hear from their fellows--so if you want to, just make a character and declare you're coming!

Character creation guidelines: Your character should be a (relatively low-ranking) Fraternity of Shadows member with 8-10 character levels--or someone who has a good chance of faking Fraternity membership, at least!

Campaign up to this moment: The former Fraternity member Erik van Rijn defected last October in spectacular fashion, becoming a lich and organizing an all-out assault by the Unholy Order of the Grave on the Fraternity's former stronghold in Richemulot, the Manoir de Penombre. When the dust settled, it was learned that, in addition to destroying the Manoir, the newly-undead lich had also made off with plans for the Doomsday Device.

The Fraternity's goals: to find van Rijn, destroy him, and retrieve the plans.

A major sub-plot has also arisen: A Van Richten Society member, known only as "Crow", was present at the ill-fated October meeting and is now attempting to infiltrate the Fraternity. He is perfectly happy to abet the destruction of van Rijn, but after that his plans diverge sharply from the Fraternity's; he hopes to destroy the Device plans once and for all.

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Sounds fun...

Wish Drinnik could get in on the good stuff. He needs to get out more...

[Le Noir Faineant]

While I won't be able to join, I must say that the plot sounds masterfully planned.

[Ronia Sun]

Hmm. I'd surely be interested in joining, but I don't know much about the Fraternity-as-a-story. Is there a good spot around here to learn a bit more about their motives, etc? (I'm leaning toward an infiltrator character... )

[Rotipher of the FoS]

The Fraternity as a whole is detailed in USS 2002, IIRC, and several key members were written up in QtR #10 and 13. To catch up on current events, you can check the "stickies" in the EwtF forum; last Halloween's all-weekend megagame that kicked off the Van Rijn storyline is preserved in the "locked" threads of that same forum.

BTW, if you're looking to play an infiltrator, I'm the pain-in-the-rear who tossed Crow into the mix on Halloween, so could possibly give you a hint or two OOC on how to pull it off, if you pm me. While my bard's too much of a handful as it is, as the game's token "good guy", there are plenty of villains who'd no doubt love to send their spies in to find out what's raised so much ruckus within the Fraternity lately ... not to mention Van Rijn's own agents, who are bound to be keeping tabs on his ex-brethren!

[Nathan of the FoS]

Hmm. I'd surely be interested in joining, but I don't know much about the Fraternity-as-a-story. Is there a good spot around here to learn a bit more about their motives, etc? (I'm leaning toward an infiltrator character... )

That's exciting...more infiltration! If you want to join up, as an infiltrator or not, send me a PM with your character concept and I'll get you the information you need.

[Ronia Sun]

Hmmm. So is Crow dead-set on being the *only* good guy in the mix? 'Cause truth to tell, as much fun as it can be playing a villain I tend to prefer playing 'good guys.' It's a failing. Still, there's no reason why a second infiltrator, though on the side of the angels, wouldn't be working at cross-purposes initially...

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Hmmm. So is Crow dead-set on being the *only* good guy in the mix?

Hey, if you'd rather play a good-aligned PC, go for it! It might be awkward to bring a second VRS spy into the picture, but there are lots of other groups your PC could be affiliated with, not to mention the option of a solo vigilante-type or a plain, old-fashioned adventurer.

Note that several other players have come into the game, not as true or fake members of the FoS, but as bodyguards employed by real Fraternity members. If you'd like to play a non-arcanist, signing on as a bodyguard -- and then spying on your employer -- is probably the best way to go, since the Frat only admits arcane casters into its ranks.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Hmmm. So is Crow dead-set on being the *only* good guy in the mix? 'Cause truth to tell, as much fun as it can be playing a villain I tend to prefer playing 'good guys.' It's a failing. Still, there's no reason why a second infiltrator, though on the side of the angels, wouldn't be working at cross-purposes initially...

It ain't so much that Crow is dead-set on being the only good guy--that was more or less accidental, actually. However, for purposes of this adventure we're considering the Fraternity of Shadows to be the good guys. An infiltrator from the "bad guys" (the Unholy Order of the Grave, mostly) is easy to cover in the current dynamic; an infiltrator from some other source would be difficult to accomodate without changing the focus of the adventure from "Fraternity vs. van Rijn and the Unholy Order" to "Fraternity infiltrators vs. the Fraternity".

I'm sure we could work something out, especially if you had a character who's been in "deep cover"--an apparently loyal Fraternity member for several years, who really is outraged and frightened by van Rijn's actions and wants to help the Fraternity catch him. An attempt to infiltrate the Fraternity ab initio at the present time would probably end...unhappily.

[Dominique]

Ooh, I've been looking to join a game here for time immemorial . . .

When do we have till? I have a friend's wedding coming up and might not be on much for awhile.

[Undead Cabbage]

Actually, I think I might join too. Sounds like fun.

There's one character concept that I've been playing around with. Nathan, I'll be PMing.



Edit:....After I get some things done tonight....

[Nathan of the FoS]

Ooh, I've been looking to join a game here for time immemorial . . .

When do we have till? I have a friend's wedding coming up and might not be on much for awhile.

Well, we're not planning on stopping anytime soon. Heck, it will probably be a few months before we reach the end of the current meeting. So just look in when the wedding's done and see where we are; it shouldn't be too hard to join in.

[Pamela]

The more players, the merrier.