Theme Document
Tone:
From him: Dresden Files, Angel, Noir Urban Fantasy...
From her: Fafrd & the Grey Mouser, Undercover Blues, Buddy hijinx, 50 Detective Movie... more upbeat than Angel, and a bit more than Dresden
From me: "Reminds of Cast a Deadly Spell, starring Fred Ward..."
Setting: San Francisco, 1950's
Elevator Pitch: A husband and wife team of detectives, specializing in magical cases in a world that pretends magic doesn't exist. ("He's a clairvoyant veteran of a special World War 2 army unit, she's a chinese american descended from the Celestial Court... together, THEY FIGHT CRIME!")
The Player Characters:
The Supernatural Questions:
- How common is magic? On a scale of 1 to 10? 3
- What is magic's general feel? Weird and somewhat seductive ('easy and quick' ways to do things tend to be a slippery path)
- What kind of creatures? No skin walkers. Anything is fine, provided the lighter tone of the setting is respected.
- Who knows about magic? Those whose background relates to it.
- How is it acquired, learned, and taught? Magic techniques can be taught, though one can be born into native abilities, or be the victim of magical curses or blessings.
- Who can do it? Anyone can learn it, though people can still have natural aptitudes or a 'knack' for it that makes them the preferable student.
- Are there places of power? Yes. Stonehenge, a particular cable car, the world's largest ball of twine...
Magic level: Moderate (13 Magic tokens for each player).
Situation: Two weeks ago, a son of the Chinese "Celestial Court" (read: Chinese seelie court), traveling abroad for the heck of it, was killed in a San Francisco Chinatown brothel/opium den. The Celestials are sending someone to investigate.
NP Cs/Villains:
- Head of the local Tong
- High Celestial Inspector Fong (aka: The Jade Dragon of the East)
- Emperor Norton
- Cable Car 12
- Curator of the Pan Asian Museum
- The Wild Woman
Magical Facts:
- Clairvoyants exist (bought by Dave during chargen)
- Chinese celestials can breed with mortals (bought by Margie during chargen)
- Hedge magic exists (bought by Dave during chargen)
- Chinese dragons exist (bought by me during support cast chargen)
- Chinese dragons can assume human form, but there is some telltale in their appearance that even mundanes can sense. (GM created)
- Chinese Sorcerers can paralyze people with a look, but it can be contested (GM created)
- Chinese Sorcerers can summon Ancestor Spirits to defend them, but it fatigues the Sorcerer (GM created)
- Chinese Celestials are resistant to magic, but they can't resist magic and use magic at the same time (Margie)
