FWTD: Night Shifts, domestic violence, and the power of strength (sessions 9 and onwards, or 11 and onwards)

These are the last 4 sessions of my FWTD game.

The Utopia Child
(Nathan Trenchard – A diary by the player)Continued after “The First Patrol”…
Day 3/4
On the next evening, during my shift we received a regular call. Apparently some perpetrators had rigged a building with traps. Me, commander Leila and another officer, whose name currently eludes me, went on to respond to the signal.
On arrival, I was charged with interrogating the local citizens about the identities and whereabouts of the trap riggers. I didn’t learn much, but at least got one sure address. Just as I reported my progress to commander Leila, we received a call for back-up from the nearby abandoned building. We responded immediately.
Inside, there was another police officer, Michaela was her name, another very thin and small-framed woman and a young man, his wrists bound with hand-cuffs and sitting on the ground. Commander Leila asked what is happening here. Officer Michaela responded that this was one of the suspects who placed traps around the area. At this point the man, who was actually a juvenile, made a spiteful and angry retort. I kneeled down to his eye level and asked:
“Why did you do this?”
“Fuck you!”, he responded with cold hate.
“Why do you insult me?”
“Because you can stuff your dick up your ass!”
“And why should I do that?”
“I don’t know. Because you like dicks inside your cavities?”, was the sneer reply.
I felt pity for his clearly troubled condition and said:
“I sense a lot of confusion and darkness in your soul. You must calm yourself.”
“I am calm. You, on the other hand, all of you”, he surveyed the room, “will die.”
“Everybody dies sooner or later”, I replied unfazed.
“Oh, but your will be soon. Very soon”, said he with a menace in his tone.
“And why is that?”
“Didn’t I told you to go fuck yourself?”, the young man said, resorting to his earlier contempt-seething insults.
I stood up.
“You have something that troubles you greatly”, I said to him in a soft voice. “You need to meditate and try and find inner harmony.”
“I don’t need any meditation. You will die and that going to happen soon.”
My face hardened slightly. “We’ll see.”
I turned and faced commander Leila, who was laughing again at some unfamiliar notion. Michaela and the other cop were chuckling, too.
“Commander, do you know who this man is?”
She composed herself and manhandled the suspect, knocking him against the wall, adding what I believe to be a few unnecessary extra punches.
“All that there is to know, is that you have to handle these guys with a side order of maximum police brutality,” Leila replied to me. Then she turned and hissed in the man’s ear: “Now, tell me where are your friends, and I won’t break your head open.”
“You’ll get nothing from me, bitch. You will die!”
“Wrong answer,” she said coldly a hit him with her club. He dropped on the floor, panting.
“Huh, this one will be hard to crack” said Michaela nonchalantly.
“Will someone please explain me who this man is?” I asked, having lost patience. “Is he related to some gang or not? You seem to know his lot.”
Commander Leila looked at my helmet and suddenly a devilish smile flashed on her face:
“I will tell you, if you headbutt him.”
“No. That will be against protocol.”
“Suit yourself. I’ll let you then to wonder.”
I hesitated. It was wrong, the deed she asked me to commit. My eyes glanced quickly to the young man. Something was not right about him. But… to hit him while he is helpless? That was low, no matter his crimes.
“Time’s ticking”, said Leila. “Decide already.”
My short time in this city has showed me how dangerous was to be in the dark, without knowledge or information about even basic things. I weighted my options. What good it was to persist? A dead man cannot atone past sins.
I straightened the apprehended man and said to him:
“Forgive me.”
Then gave him a hard blow with the helmet.
“Good”, said commander Leila. “I shouldn’t pity him, though. He is a Collin.”
“What is ‘a Collin’?”
“He’s still new, isn’t he?”, interjected Michaela casually.
“You have no idea” muttered Leila and elaborated on my question: “Collin is a serial killer from the recent past. But instead of killing his victims, he download his consciousness into their bodies. Thus he copies himself.”
“He what– how he does that?” I asked astonished.
Leila looked at me as if I was some sort of a tribal.
“With mental installers, of course! Aren’t you Utopia Childs supposed to be advanced and familiar with technology?”
“We are, but… a mental installer in not something you have in your closet.”
“In principle, yes, but in this city there are a lot of hidden installers left behind since the Freedom Wars. So, in practice, you can have one in your closet, if you are lucky enough.”
I looked wordlessly at the man on the ground.
“So this… this Collin, he… he uses the bodies of his victims to make… copies of himself?”
“Correct.”
“He… he destroys people’s minds?” I felt anger slowly boiling inside me. “He denies them their life in such vulgar and abhorrent way, possibly leaving them with a torn soul?! Disrupting their natural harmony for his own sick pleasure!?”
“Well”, said Leila a little uncertain, “I wouldn’t think of saying it that way, but yes.”
Now I was outraged. Such pervesion was beyond anything I have encountered in my life. Such brutal way of taking one freedom, one’s path of creating his destiny, was beyond salvation. This Collin has to be destroyed, for the good of all of creation.
I turned gave the Collin a vicious kick in the ribs.
“Bravo!”, exclaimed Leila. “Now I like you more.”
I tried to compose myself. Leila and the others chatted for a while. It appeared that this might be a Collin hideout, or at least that was the theory. The little woman didn’t speak much. Michaela questioned her what was she doing here. Overall, I think it was just another civilian trying to do the right thing. The world needed more people like her. And less like Collin. At some point, an expensively dressed and authorital man appeared. He introduced himself as a Bleeder* elder and the teacher of the little woman, a Bleeder herself. It seemed he had some personal stake in the matter, but I let commander Leila to handle the details.
During the talks I scanned the building for a possible hideout. After some investigation, one of the inner walls of the building, which was an abandoned warehouse, turned out to be fake. I kicked it, but it was sollid concrete, yet it sounded hollow. Strange. Fortunately, the Bleeder elder had a wrecking crew on call and he went to bring them. Leila and the other officer went out front, to radio for back-up, taking the arrestant with them. Me, Michaela and the Bleeder woman stayed to guard the place. I circled around the rooms and went to what I presumed to be the opposite face of the hollow wall. To my surprise, the wall here was not concrete, but simple plywood. I picked a spot, focused my inner energy and kicked. My boot penetrated the thin obstruction and my leg sank to its knee.
Immidiately, I called for back-up. Michaela came instantly. While we were staring at the dark gaping hole, suddenly something swooshed from inside and hit my armored uniform. A knife. Seconds later, a man entered the room. Somehow something was not right with him and I yelled him to remain motionless. He did not comply. Instead, he thrust out his hand at Michaela and sprayed her eyes with small pepper spray. Michaela reeled with a yelp and stumbled. The uknown man then brought out a knife and walked towards me.
“Stop! You are under arrest!”, I yelled, tipping my sword in his direction.
He jumped and attacked me. It was short, but intensive fight. I retained my distance, so I could have combat advantage. That was a mistake. The moment I drew myself backwards, he turned and sliced Michaela’s throat while she was still stunned. I screamed in rage and charged the Collin (for now I knew what was he).
I killed him and then hurried to help Michaela. Noises were coming from the broken drywall and the place was too dangerous for triage. I dragged my fellow officer in the next room, where the Bleeder girl looked for us with frightened expression. I had little time, because new attackers could emerge any second, so I hurriedly took out my medkit and started giving first aid. I quickly bandaged the wound and reduced the bloodloss to the best of my abilities.
“Stay with here and guard her!”, I ordered the Bleeder and took out my radio, raising code alarm for officer down and multiple armed and dangerous suspects.
Soon commander Leila and a whole platoon of police officers arrived at the scene. A medical unit took care of Michaela and transported her to the hospital. The Bleeder elder and his wrecking crew also arrived, but their job was already done. We found the fake wall wide open in a concrete double-door fashion.
We cautiously raided the place, but no one was to be found. What was interesting is that in the hidden basement we found a working mental installer. The Collins had started a automatic memory wipe and it had almost finished. I urged for the process to be stopped and some tech guys went forward and tried to halt the memory wipe. They were not doing well, so I decided to step in personally and having little expertise in computers, I did the best layman’s solution… pulling the plug.
The technical team said I saved about 10% data. Better than nothing.
At the far end of the basement there was a solid metal door with a code panel lock. Presumably that’s where the Collins retreated. Nobody could unlock the door and I think even the wrecking crew of the Bleeder elder would have had a hard time with it.
We left the technical team to salvage the portable components under guard and our patrol unit took to the streets again.
It was near the end of the shift when commander Leila suddenly requested of us to remove out badges. I was bewildered, but she gave an order, so I complied. Then we went north in Skin Borgs’ territory. We arrived at the entrance of some secluded building, which was well guarded. Commander Leila took a different posture and said to us to act as her bodyguards. Hmm. So, this was going to be an undercover action. Alright.
We went inside. There was quite the crowd and some form of a pit in which there was some fight going on. (Fight being a relative term) While it lacked real skill, it seemed very brutal. The combatants were savagely swinging at one another and the mob was shouting. Bets were being made.
“Hey, could just stay like this?”, commander Leila suddenly said.
“Yes–, uh, okay.”
She took out some sort of a decorative brooch looking like a flower and clipped it to her shirt. Then, to my surprise the flower made a series of buzzing and clicking noises. After a few minutes, commander Leila said:
“Done. Let me buy you a drink now, boys. You drink, right?”, she asked me.
“Occasionally.”, I agreed reluctantly.
“Then let’s go.”
We went to the bar and the commander ordered three beers. I sipped mine and Leila said:
“Now, look around for this man.” She desribed him. “He’s our informant.”
I scanned the premises, pretending to be doing it casually. There was no need. The informant emerged from the crowd, evidently recognizing Leila. They had a short conversation and he left. We remained for two, maybe three minutes more and then Leila beckoned for us to leave too.
Trouble was waiting for us at the door. We were just leaving, when the guards blocked our way.
“The boss wants to see you three”, rumbled one of them.
“Your boss can see me some other time”, retorted Leila. “I’m leaving.”
“You will come with us”, said the guard, with a threat in his voice.
Leila glanced at us.
“Leave her alone”, I said coldly. “She is my commande…”
“Your commander. Exactly”, the guard responded with satisfaction. “Come with us. Right now.”
Again, I made a mistake. We went with the guards upstairs. On the way, commander Leila glanced at me angrily and muttered something about whose commander is who.
We were brought to a relative small open room, which was overlooking the hall underneath. In the room’s centre was a lounge with a big, authentic-looking throne. There was a woman sitting on the throne. She had above average attractivness and wore a toga. Beside her, two large bodyguards resided.
The woman rose from her throne and said to Leila:
“You have something that I want.”
“And what is that?”, asked commander Leila.
“This trinket on your shirt. Is it for sale?”
“No.”
“Pity. I would have gladly paid for it. But you will have to part with it anyway.”
“I won’t do that,” said Leila firmly.
“Oh, but I suggest you do”, replied the woman with a hollow smile.
“If the commander says she won’t give something, you cannot force her”, I interjected. “We are police officers, representing the authorities here.”
“Oh, but I know you are from the police”, explained the woman sweetly. “That is why I ordered my guards to bring you here. Now, give me the brooch! I will not ask again.”
“Like hell”, exclaimed commander Leila. With lightning reflexes, she pulled a knife and stabbed the neares guard. A fight broke out.
There were two guard beside the woman and the three who brought us here, making a total of five in the immidiate vicinity. Two jumped at Leila, two more at the third member of our patrol unit and one at me. It was going to be a tough battle.
I quickly dispatched my oponent. Leila was doing okay, even better than me. She had already neutralized one of the guard and was attacking the next one. Unfortunatelly, the other police officer received a heavy blow and was out of the fight. The two remaining guards attacked me, but I managed to parry their strikes. I wounded fatally one of them and deflected the blow from the other. Just as I was going to remove him too, he suddenly thrust out his katana in a suicidal attack. The blade tore deeply in my neck, where the uniform was not protecting it. Blood started spilling. Shouts were coming from downstairs.
“Run!”, yelled Leila and bolted.
Me and the other officer supressed our injuries to the best of our ability and shuffled quickly after her. We stomed out of the building, my vision quickly fading from bloodloss.
And there, our salvation was awaiting. The street was swarming with police officers, strike teams and EMTs. We ran straight to them, while the police forces stormed the building. A couple of paramedics stabilized my bleeding and before I know, I was on an ambulance on a way to the hostipal, just as Michaela.
I spend the rest of the day and the day after on bed. The last operation was a close call.

*I presume Bleeders are yet another city gang and from what I gathered, big enough to be recognised on the radar.
(Summary provided by the player)

Dimitri, Orphan
Having killed a Hunter - as you remember, Orphans tend to hate those, because they don't hesitate to kill children, if that's their profile - Dimitri went back. Seeing better opportunities to get influent, he put his special skills on work among Orphans.
Which is to say, he started cooking them free meals, and making them tasty (more with good dice on the Cha+Skill rolls, than with actual skill, but whatever). Keep in mind, the biggest Orphans are maybe in their early 20ies...
Yes. It was a success. He almost got groupies... almost. His generally low charisma impeded him in fully enjoying his popularity, but he didn't mind.
And then he went on to Sexologist turf. Hey, these are the guys we agree with on so many levels...
Yup, he managed to pick up a Sexologist (that was actually roleplayed out, with me and the other players present all assuming the roles of one Sexologist - at the end, it was my chick that fell for him).
The next day, however, he went for a walk of the Orphans' turf despite the highly polluted time. And he met a guy (a Jack) who wanted money - big surprise...
He actually offered him something. "You an Orphan? I happen to know someone in this building is beating his kid a lot!"
Dimitri didn't trust him enough to give him money (and was right), but then he decided to investigate nonetheless. But while he was circling the building, he got himself ambushed by 3 Addict Muggers.
Continued drug use isn't good for your health, and it means your overall combat ability also suffers. Unless you compensate with experience, you'd risk ending up like them. That is, beaten 3 to 1 by a single guy. He ran them away, making them promise they wouldn't make troubles in Orphan turf any more, and an window opened.
"Hey, boy, good job. Want a tea?"
It was a senior shut-in, who had good opinion on Orphans. And she told him a lot about the inhabitants. Turned out, the man at the top floor actually was beating his boy...
That was due to random rolls, not what the Jack said. It was a red herring for all the Jack knew.
Dimitri went up to pick the guy when a young kid of about 12 yo went down to bring beer for the father. He got the father on the WC, and sent the kid out.
"Go out for a walk, I want to talk with him in private", he explained loading his crossbow.
Yeah.
And then when the father, ex-Night Shift, tried to be less-than-polite (verbally), Dimitri shot him. Short fuse.
And then, because we're not in Magic Death Wand land, the father scrambled to get a taser, which was his home protection. Dimitri jumped away. But then the man tried to call ambulance, while Dimitri was re-loading. And the Orphans charged, trying to shoot again.
He never did. The Taser got him well, and he lost conscience. If he had woken up, he would have discovered plastic restraints.
At least, the guy survived, so it's going to "only" be attempted murder instead of a full-blown trial.
But his lawyer is a moron. Good thing he managed to persuade him to send word to the Orphanage.
The Orphans sent him a better one after a vote. But they warned him, he owes them the wages of this guy, gang brother or not. And he gets paid by the hour, because he's that good!
Ouch!
Well, you need the best if you're caught on the scene of an attempted murder. Right?

The Boarder
He joined us recently...and this might be the last we see of him. Whatever.
The boarder is a guy who's incredibly fast and agile, despite his relatively small stature. Well, so much could be expected.
He also happens to dislike conflicts, and doesn't know the city all that well, which makes him a very rare one. But at least, he's got a well-decked out slipboard! (This happens when you're an Indie. Sure, all Boarders get a free slipboard, but the money he actually paid for to add more extras, out of his starting funds?
Our Black Med, and all Street People PCs, start out with less money in total. Virtually indestructible? Check. Jump pack? Check. Alarm system? Check.)
...It all began with a text message. "See you where we met last. There could be good stunting there".
Now, he sees part of the fighting on 145th street every time he goes out - because he lives on 145th street!
Yeah, I guess a slipboard was just a necessary feature in order to avoid the wargangs going in and out...
Anyway. He passed the battlefield like most people pass through drivethru stores, except even faster. At 51 km/h, it's a bit hard for most people to react - especially when they're busy fighting other people. And they were.
For that matter, some of them had been toppled by a Night Shift cop riding a reactive motorcycle. Yes, reactive. Even the Boarder thought this guy is driving dangerous, and that's saying something.
Either way, the PC went on his way, deep into Skin Borg territory. They had to purchase gas masks on the way there, because pollution was high this day. The cost was triple, and one of them remained behind to try and get another bargain.
They're yet to see him, but he has probably decided against the purchase, one of them suggested. It was a rip-off for the new guys, who didn't own gasmasks already.
The rest of them used a building with quite an elaborate stairs in front of it to make better stunts - continuing into the alley of a small park, where they could get maximum speed.
Except there were Skin Borgs on the place, and they were buzzed - more than usual, that is. Actually, the three of them moved to intercept the guys. The PC dodged it, as well as most of the other Boarders.
When they stopped after the chase, they found out they're one down. The 6 of them were amazed, but one explained he had seen him dropping after one of the Skin Borgs has managed to strike him on the head. He then raced after them in order to gather them, but actually slipped and fell, becoming the slowest one (yeah, he rolled a 1 on the driving roll). Well, he did roll with it, and had knee-elbow pads, but still!
So they went and noticed the guy in front of the house. It was then that the three Skin Borgs rushed from a nearby door, swinging lead pipes and skullcrushers. That was a trap, it seemed - and those guys were seriously buzzed.
It was then that the PC lead the...retreat, shall we say. Of course they outran them, but the guy was still there, lying with bleeding foot and face. Only one remained.
(He found them later, and reported he's got a telescopic in the ribs, but had managed to slam his slipboard against a Skin Borg, while jumping. Given the acceleration, that means broken ribs, as everyone knew - even through the high-tech armour Skin Borgs favour).
So, they went back. The guy had lead the Skin Borgs on a chase after that, so they were probably still searching for him. Trouble was, they didn't know how to move the unconscious one without making his condition harder.
So they sent a couple to look for a Black Med, and the rest dragged him into an abandoned house. The med, a latino-looking guy, tried to follow them with his own roller-skates, but tripped and fell, sustaining nasty injuries. After that, he refused to do more than walking.
Be as it may, he managed to help the guy... well, mostly.
"I can fix the open break in his foot, setting the bones together. I can give him something for the pain. I can tell you he doesn't seem to have sustained brain damage. But for the cuts near his eye? Go find a better-equipped doctor, you seem like the kind that has insurance that covers that. It's safer to tamper with his eye when you've got machines."
So they did. And it actually made better impression among indies than trying and failing.
At least one of the Boarders, though, was pissed off. And he asked our guy to help him stage a meeting. It began with the guy addressing them in the following manner:
"Guys and gals, chicas and chicos, none of you's a lady nor a gentleman, and I don't hate you enough to call you brothers and sisters..."
At the end, he talked around 15 of them to jump the Skin Borgs and give them a lesson. (It was especially easy with some of them... a half-Russian chick lugging a broadsword around actually exclaimed "I don't want to do that, but these skin borgs gotta learn that in Mother Russia, the board rides you!" And as far as anyone knows, she's never been in Russia, nor outside of the city for that matter).
Anyway. Our Boarder went for it, too, not willing to show needless restraint. For the fight, they decided to ambush the Skin Borgs near the Lumens, because there are always some of them hanging to maybe catch a cultist. The PC jumped on a balcony, then landed on a Skin Borg, knocking him down - and activated his Jump Drive.
Yeah, this one wasn't getting up any time soon anyway.
The only drawback? The PC got his leg broken by a skullcrusher's swing. Well, the Russian chick brought the other guy down with her swing, but it still hurt.
So the Black med actually got some more business tonight, when they carried him to the same place. The Boarder paid lots more than he was expected to, but so it goes when you don't haggle.

The Black Med
Fixed some people up, and got more than a bit of money from some Indies that needed emergency help. See the Boarder entry.
And one of them asked for a knockout drug. Why? Well, his friend tended to beat her. "He's not that bad...he just needs a little calming down when I say something that makes him angry!" He didn't say anything - other than a price and exact dosage. He also explained what would happen if it happened to become an overdose. Just in case.
(And if you think that "I say something that makes him angry" is a red flag, you're right. But at least once, the "date rape drug" was going to be used to prevent a date rape. And the icing on top, which the PCs might uncover or not? It's not a boyfriend...it's her brother. Yes, I said it's messed up).
 Our doctor also talked with some kid gang. They needed some wounds and rashes taken care of, and he did so - for a kitchenknife spear. And they made a deal.
"See, man - there's these Wells, ya know? We've slept in their building's entry a couple times, and happen ta know them wife is always beating on Mr Softie Husband when there's a power outage. She tends to throw plates. So he usually needs stitches."
"So, I should wait for a power outage?"
"Nah, men - that's why we get 50% of what he pays you. There's going to be a power outage tonight. My nose can predict it."
And there was. The man had something like 12$, but the Street Doctor just said "then you'll owe me... 20$ it is, total. I'll come to collect the other 10$ tomorrow, you can just sleep there on the stairs and not risk the night city".
The guy agreed (and actually saved his life, as my random tables showed).
There's lots of demand for medical services in the city. But it's also not always at convenient places. So sometimes, you gotta create some demand...


The Freak
There is lots and lots of stuff going on with the Freak. So much, in fact, that I'd only notice the important events.
-She hooked up with Yellow. They share a common trait: a sex drive well over the top (and through the roof). Well, if you ask them, they're just bed buddies.
-She managed to find the Black Trader named Natasha (presumably a wrong shortening of the word Anastasya), which should appear in the Utopia Child write-up. That was accomplished by the simplest possible method: Remember she's dressing up Goth style. Find the nearest Goth party. Work the network to get everyone to notice you. Get the bartender to tell her you're looking for her.
Then plant a psychic bug on her guard (who turned out to be gay by the random table, and he didn't approve her hugging him while at work - but then a Freak behaving oddly isn't all that weird).
Then she managed to gather a contingent of several gangs to capture her.
This lead to our Freak learning that yes, the Black Trader has been paid to provide secondary nanotech armour to the Skin Borgs. In fact, it seems they got a -30%, which is a whole lot of money.
-She managed to invite Yellow to the hunt. That's partly why the guards of Natasha were so edgy and expected trouble. (As it goes: she managed to call him while he was fucking a Skin Borg. Well, he came to help them, but also pocketed the prize for the warning).


The Bleeder
Not so many things here...
-She keeps being sent to crime scenes by her master. That's how she managed to obtain blood from Colin: the Night Shift gave it to her. They wanted an insight into his mind.
She managed to sell it at a good price to other Bleeders.
-She kinda screwed up with the whole "get the lover of my daughter off her, because he's beating her" order. She did get him off the chick - the guy was a Day Shift, but that wasn't the issue... the issue was, he was slick and made the girl feel she's guilty for being struck.
Sick, I know, but what would you expect from a corrupt cop with sadistic leanings?
So, she used a spy pigeon, and filmed him getting off with a Sex Worker (whom she paid in advance). Did I mention he's sadistic?
When they uploaded the video, it became an instant hit - because hey, amateur porn sites liked it! And news sites liked it, too.
The trouble was, the Master's daughter not only broke up with him, she also ordered her to kill the guy off. (Her father has no idea, actually - she's just abusing her privileges).
So she enlisted a fellow Bleeder, known as the Bloody Bear (for muscles, not temperament) and they waited for him outside a bar. He paid BB with Collin blood, of course. Well, the Master's daughter owes her a favour.
-The only issue was, they didn't notice a CCTV. A Day Shift visited her soon after to ask for a bribe. She's desperately looking for ways to gain money right now.


That's about it for now. That's more than a couple sessions worth, but not all characters were in all sessions - that's how our group works, and it's not a problem given the sandbox-y style. So, I plan to stop counting sessions from now.
Either way, it's a problem to decide whether the first two - the ones we played as a one-shot - should count. There's definitely continuity, whether they know that or not!

Something one of my players painted for her FWTD character

That's how she imagines her character meeting the NPC Sitting Oak* from my Fates Worse than Death campaign.
If you're wondering, the man is about 230 cm tall due to genetic augmentation (which anyone can purchase in this setting). He's also a powerlifter, and works as a bouncer in a run down hotel his nephew is running, and has a weird sense of humour, so it all fits.

The picture is how we decided their meeting would go, whenever they meet (or if they have met already. We're still talking about it, since it doesn't matter in the game right now).

"When he learns she's a Bleeder, Sitting Oak picks Vian by the neck and puts her on a chair. Then he disappears in the kitchen and comes back with a bowl.
'No running, please. You eat. Now. We'll talk later.'"


*Yes, the name makes no sense in Native Indian traditions. Sitting Oak picked it for a reason when he decided to abandon those. The players don't know the reason. Actually, like most people, they think he's still following them. He's not disabusing anyone of these notions.


Here's her DeviantArt account.

[FWTD] A Black Trader operating in Skin Borgs territory

Antoinette "Big Bill" Griffin

She's the Black Trader near the bridge, who's selling "skins" to the Skin Borgs... since recently, she's been doing so at discounted prices.

Being the charmer, she wants to exploit people sexually.Her "speciality" in illegal business, however, is seeling mental installation time. On top of that, she arranges for addicts to fight to the death. They're given impractical knives, stoned on God Killer, and sent to entertain the public. Antoinette takes a share of the bets and the admission tax.

Recently, her ring has been exposed by a NYPD "sting" and she suspects she has been caught on tape running the show. She's right, as our Utopia child can attest.

Level 2 Trader
Social Class: Indie
Attributes: AWR 10, AGY 7, CHM 11, END 5, INL 11, SPD 9, STH 9, WIL 5, BLD 4, BDY 4, INCY 4
Skills:
    Card Counting (1)
    City Knowledge (2)
    Corporations (2)

    Law (Basic) (1)

    Law (International) (1)

    Mental Programming (3)
    Music (1)
    Network Protocols (2)
    Pathology (1)
    Poisons (4)
    Precognition (2)
    Programming: VR (2)
    Self-defence weapons (2)
    Slam (1)
    Street Drugs (1)
    Trading (1) 

Property:
    In Pockets: Cigarettes and Lighter, Keychain Flashlight, 2 Taser Guns, $30 worth of drugs and the necessary drug paraphernalia
    On Person: Instrument (Electronic), Palmtop (Linework), Sterilization Spray, Drake Blood Poison, Drake Deleriant, Chlorine Cocktail, Laptop (Used), Cellular Modem, Swiss Army Knife (Electronic, Large), Cellphone (Used), Pepper Spray, Gasmask
    Body Modifications: None
    Armor: None

Personality/Psychology:
    Goals: Antoinette wants to be a good member of her religion.
    Sexuality: Antoinette is heterosexual.
    Relationships: Antoinette wants to exploit people sexually.
    Violence: Antoinette uses violence as a tool for making money.
    Self-Improvement: Antoinette thinks she doesn't need to change.
    Fears: Antoinette's greatest fear is a disfiguring disease.
    Social Skills: Outside of business negotiations, Antoinette is shy, awkward or oblivious unless she feels she's holding all the cards.
    Personality: Antoinette is brave, grandiose, wants to control everything.
    Bad Habits: Antoinette thinks in absolutes.
    Hates: Antoinette hates weak people
    Soft Spot: Antoinette always likes/trusts/helps charming people
    Personal Ideals: Cool Under Pressure, Mature Wisdom, Witty Banterer
    Worldviews: Ponderer, Superstitious, Utilitarian
    Neurological Issues: Antoinette has no real problems.
    Religion: Antoinette is Roman Catholic.
    Politics: Antoinette is not interested in politics.
    Drugs: Antoinette is addicted to drugs, not trying hard to quit.

Background:
    Culture/Nationality: Antoinette was raised in America by 'ordinary' Americans and fees pride about her heritage.
    Family: Antoinette's (biological) family lives outside the city, Antoinette keeps her lifestyle secret from them. 

Appearance:
    Ethnicity: Antoinette is mostly or wholly Caucasian.
    Style: Antoinette usually wears an extreme Goth style. She's attractive above the average, probably due to some doctor's skill.
    Outfit: Spiky black hair with long bangs, white face powder, black t-shirt with a band name on it, black pants, elbow-length velvet gloves with fur fringe, shiny black dress-shoes. Sometimes, she dresses in a Roman toga instead, especially on tournaments. In that case, she also sits on a throne.

She's usually accompanied by two bodyguards, former pit-fighters that are genetically modified to be huge.

What are your players ready to do?

After last session in my FWTD campaign, I joked that I'd give a free level in Subway Fighting* if they bring me a clip with them practising it IRL for at least 15 seconds.
I didn't expect anyone to take the offer. However, it seems I was wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IltDw-I4e4g

I'm actually glad I didn't offer them a free level in Seduction, the clip might have been awkward!

Still, what are your players ready to do for a free skill?


*That's the skill in the setting of using the trains and the momentum of the moving subway to your advantage.

FWTD: Violence, justice and the Flying Spaghetti Monster (sessions 7 and 8, or 9 and 10)

Last time, we had played 3 sessions, and I blogged about 2 of them. Now we've had one more, so let me tell you about the other 2 of them.


Dimitri
The man had a score to settle with the guy who had injured him with a bolt. He turned to some profilers (Math Addicts), and was informed that the profile said he would move to their territory for his next strike, and the likely window of time when he would be striking again.
He prowled on a roof, and masked himself. When Roofers passed, they failed to notice him, but he called them to warn them about the Hunter. Since he had unveiled his presence, and had a warning, they decided not to beat him.
He hid below the roofs and started observing. By pure chance, one of the Roofers noticed a bolt with a note. She picked it up, and then a bolt hit next her in the foot.
Then the Roofers started looking for the shooter. Unsuccessfully.
On the other hand, Dimitri had managed to find out where the arrow came from. So he sneaked there, and managed to actually surprise the guy.
It was a naked man who had had the chameleon skin genetic disor... upgrade. All he wore was a crossbow, bolts, and a small tube with something, but that was about it.
Dimitri charged him. Well, he tried to sneak, but the guy sensed him already, and assumed a martial arts stance. So he charged.
The first time, he was stopped by a kick in the chest, and his stab missed. So he tried stabbing him lethally, and missed again, being punished by another kick.
Damn, that one was tough, he thought as he finally managed to stab him in the ribs, too. Then it went his way, with the guy getting stabbed in the spleen, too, in exchange for another bone-wrenching kick. And then another exchange.
Then both looked each other in the eyes, and the Hunter decided it's all or nothing. So he waited for the Orphan to attack him again, and tried to parry and hit him with a kick to the temple.
Dimitri missed the kick, but then the guy also didn't manage to parry. So they both crumbled on top of each other.
The Roofers found them in time to save Dimitri. Nobody bothered with the Hunter, and Dimitri awoke in a room near a roof.
On the other hand, the man had got himself an invitation to a Roofers party - only natural, since he was injured defending one of them who had become a Hunter's target. He agreed, only asking them to notify the Orphans.
First thing that happened, he and the survivor (she was limping even worse than him) got medals for outliving their enemy. That was the idea of the Roofers battle general...
The medals were made out of pumpkin. Actually, they had just cut two round pieces in the pumpkin, one for each of them... than decided to cut a mouth in the pumpkin, and to put a candle inside. Halloween was earlier this year!
But as a bonus, they had a lot of pumpkin, so they made pies with it. Everybody approved them (actually, a few more pumpkins had been necessary, but that meant more Halloween pumpkins at the end).
Dimitri spoke with one of the Roofers' founders, and (probably seduced by the pie), expressed a desire to join them. She was flattered, but didn't show it, and just told him to make friends, and hang nearby. He got directed to Carla, who was big enough without the Giantism genetic augmentation, and she wanted to hear all about his fight.
"This guy didn't look strong to me, what happened?"
"He was kicking and jumping around?"
"Yeah, I hate those guys myself. They don't stand next to you to fight like men!"
However, she soon left him, disappointed by the lack of a blow-by-blow account. Deciding he's not fit to dance, he went below the roof to rest and share a joint. A few more people joined them...
And then they heard screams from the roof. Deciding to check, in the corridor they met 3 Siders. Only one of them had her crossbow readied, though, and the stoned/high Roofers were in their way to the retreat.
The bolt sailed over their heads hamrlessly, though. And though one of the Roofers got stabbed, two Siders had been cut down by Roofers swords.
On the roof, however, there was a carnage. Siders had ambushed the party, shot the guards from one of the sides, and unleashed a volley or two on the party-goers. There were probably no other casualties on the Siders' part than the two they met on the way.
Dimitri tried to help them with the first aid, then went back to the Orphanage. The guys there were glad to see him this time, and gave him a rest. It was rumoured he had found and dealt with a Hunter - one of those that picked their targets at random.
Orphans tend to hate those guys. So he's looking at more respect in the near future.

Meanwhile, an Animalist...
...was looking at his battered friends. They had gone to help some friends - from the Freaks, no less - and found that a Freak had info about a possible "Colin strain", as he put it. Seems like he was a Colin Hunter, too. Anyway, they had gone on to hunt some Colins, and did that - even captured a couple - but 2 or 3 had escaped.
Then, being animalists, they went to have sushi, by the suggestion of one of them who has been born in China, and only arrived to Manhattan recently. He was known for being prone to violence (and being known for that among Animalists means something...), dangerous behaviour (same thing...), playing Tai Chi in the mornings, and for asking people "are you yellow?" whenever someone suggested a sensible course of action that avoided confrontation. Hence, his street name had become, unsurprisingly, Yellow.
"I'm Yellow, but not yellow, just Chinese. You yellow?" was a popular sentence with him. Yeah, he's an ESL, and not really good at English, to boot.
They considered briefly how one can get to hunt Colins. Then they heard about Mauler addicts, and the PC suggested a hunt outside Animal wars. One of the others agreed.
They managed to track them - by scent and skill - and to surprise the addicts in an abandoned house. The plan was to have the PC climb to the window and jump on top of them with claws while the others were preparing to charge them.
And it failed, with the PC dropping from the window after losing balance. The Maulers attacked him.
The other Animalist with him was a martial arts freak. Not only did they break them one by one, they didn't even get hurt...at least not anything all that important. The PC was counting "frags", like in Animal Wars. The other guy was surprised, and he didn't wait to ask him about it.
"Sure, it's necessary to kill them, they were dangerous. But did you enjoy killing them?"
"You mean you didn't?"
Both stared at each other in disbelief, and adjusted their opinions accordingly-and mostly, downwards.
After that, the PC got accosted by Yellow.
"I hear you kill lotsa guys?"
"I did."
"Wanna try a real fighter?"
"Have anyone in mind?"
"Yeah, a Chinese fighter!"
So, that was a challenge? It was-Yellow was establishing the pecking order. And they squared up.
Now, the PC didn't really stand a chance, but Yellow just applied him locks to control him, after disbalancing him. Well, whenever he managed. Once, a boxing pain/stun punch did hit him under the ribs... which he amazed of.
Of course, being used to pain, Yellow was unphased, but he appreciated the skill of the opponent who had reached him. The PC, however, was crestfallen.
"Why did I lose so easily?"
"You not Chinese!"
"You're a racist, huh?"
"You talkin' bull! You not Chinese, so you never seen a real master. Can't compete with Yellow!"
Yeah, I know - the man just wanted to say he's had better teachers. But he had trouble remembering the word that's equivalent to Shifu, "teacher", and the grammar turned out to be beyond him...
"Well, you're really strong. Want to make some money?"
"Yellow never says no when you talkin' money!"
"Want to capture one of those Colins? These Colin Hunters might pay to get one of them. Or the city might pay. Or whoever."
"No! That boring!"
"Boring? Colin is strong."
"No! Colin stupid! Easy to find, just boring!"
"Stupid? I hear he's actually rather smart..."
"No! He stupid. He needs big-ass machine, right?"
"Mental installer? Yeah, sure."
"Yeah, this shit! How many like it in city? Who owns them?"
"Well... mostly black traders and city authorities."
"Yeah! Colin stupid! He needs machine. Go to one of those. Stay outside. Wait for old lady, little child and young man. They go there and kill guards. Then you kill them. That be Colin!"
"Oh... yeah. That's smart!"
"Yellow is smart. He Chinese!"
(He actually means "that's what I used to do in China..." but whatever).
"Yeah, and you're not racist."
"No, Yellow not racist! Go now! Watch machine. Wait. Call Yellow when old lady and little child arrive."
"Shouldn't we call someone else, too?"
"No! If he kills guards, we kill Colin, might take machine for us!"
And with that, Yellow went to his home in the Homosexual district - where he hunts for bi-ladies - and left him to his own devices.
The PC, however, failed miserably when he went to see a Black Trader you've heard about if you follow this blog. He didn't even think to ask to get some mental program installed, and just asked him which Black Traders have mental installers.
Then he tried to bribe the Black Trader. Not being the generous type, he offered... a whole $5.
The Balck trader brought him a glass of water.
"That's what you can get for $5. And do yourself a favour... if you go to another Black Trader, don't ask for sensitive information. Most might think you want to take it from them, these machines are expensive!"
The PC took back his money and showed him the finger going out. The trader stopped the Saints of the Corner who had reached for their weapons, and drank the water himself.
"Sometimes, I can afford a 5$ drink", he mused.
Next, the PC spoke with the Colin Hunter he knows, and realised Colin Hunters don't actually have much money to pay. So he went to sneak around the Church of Colin.
After failing another Climbing check to get on the roof - which is good, because the Roofers are enraged this day - he attracted the attention of a Colinite. He got him to the attention of Reverand Colin McKray, and the PC claimed he has always believed in Colin, secretly.
He was immediately taught the prayer to Colin and how to honour the living god/gods/goddesses. And he got invited to tonight's prayers.
He's still wondering whether he should go.

The guys from out of town...

A Neo had joined the Utopia child in the hotel - or rather, he had been pointed in the same direction. After all, the owner and the bouncer were both from his commune.

The two with the Utopia child briefly exchanged glances, and went to their rooms.

However, they ran out together, when they heard a crack. When they appeared, a trio of armed guys had just toppled the owner and were, more or less, in the process of extracting a rackett payment. The big one with the mace went to them and sent them away.

"Not your job here, little ones!"

The Sitting Oak was nowhere in sight. Probably upstairs. This was a hit and run operation, and well-prepared at that. The Neo turned back.

"Then I should go", he answered, and added to me. "To take my bow and arrows, of course!"

The Utopia child was more straightforward. And he was angry at being called "little", though the man was almost as big as Sitting Oak.

"I need to demand that you leave in peace, or I'd have to apply force."

The big guy swung towards his head, and fell down. The other one was already at the top of the stairs.

Long story short, they curbstomped the guys. Both have been trained in dealing with armed attackers (one of them with RBSD teachers, the other one by Chulukua masters, but their styles didn't even differ too much). Taking the opposition down was fast for both, their defence was good, and they didn't hesitate to stomp a guy once he's down. Oh, and once one of them released the owner, he knocked him down with a thrown beer mug.

That turned out to be plenty. So they gave them to the Sitting Oak half a minute later, when he arrived. The Utopia child had some mistaken notions still.

"You're going to call police, right?"

"What for? We can't convict them for racketeering, we ain't got all the documents and they might close us."

"But you offer a necessary service."

"Documents don't really say that."

"Then shouldn't you call the Math Addicts? It's their turf."

"They're not so territorial, and these guys haven't actually broken their rules."

"Then who are the powers you should give them to?"

"Me", the Sitting Oak answered shortly. "I'm supposed to be the bouncer in this place!"

The sense of duty won and the guy stepped aside, fully assured he's doing as he's supposed to. The Sitting Oak dragged the three away for some more "education", and then they got invited to share the dinner of the owner and Sitting Oak.

The Utopia Child was curious what the two believed in. As it turned out, the owner followed Goddolar, and Sitting Oak claimed adherence to the precepts of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Which he honoured every time there were spaghetti at the table.

Since his utopian commune didn't care what you believe in, as long as it's sincere, he was completely fine with these answers. Both were pretty devoted, as far as he could tell.

Now, both of them were looking for work. The owner offered them a place at the Homosexual district, where a friend of his was looking for a bouncer that's not some backwards guy, and has the restraint not to try and hit on the patrons of either sex, unless his company is clearly wanted.

Both claimed they fit. They were, however, also interested in the Night Shift. As far as he could tell, they were recruiting, too.

Both of them decided to apply.

They did, but went to apply during the day.

Now, the fun part is, the Animalist player is actually a cop IRL. So I'm just going to add his comments.

They got them to fill papers, and write motivational letters. The Neo wrote nothing, and asked the cop, Lopez (a big, blond guy with blue eyes) for advice. "Just write you wanted a job."

The Utopia child wrote that he's in it in order to serve and protect people.

The cop glanced at their motivational letters and told him "first exam: go find the doughnuts machine, bring three donuts".

While he was gone, Lopez asked the Neo. "Are you friends?"

"Yeah, we fought together."

"I see. OK, Night Shift will fit you best, both of you!"

And then he ate all 3 doughnuts that the guy brought to them.

Comment from my player: These guys are just like real cops!

They got to listen to the rules, how to do things by the manual (with maximum brutality when necessary, but only if you can defend your actions), and so on. Things only changed when the Night Shift started arriving in numbers. There Day Shift left many fast food boxes, and pointed them to the two newbies. Bets have been made rather fast, and they were questioned about their motives to want to join.

Then they assigned them three guys that have been hurt to lecture them about the stuff they should know. You know... don't grab a person with dreadlocks, unless you've got good protective gloves. There might be wire in them. Don't let them keep anything that might be used as a weapon-and then remember there might be something you haven't noticed, and they might pull it out and cut you. Don't get hurt. Keep guys with implanted claws at reach, they tend to be good with them. Same for Mauler addicts.

Oh, and don't forget to read them the rights, if you're arresting them. Everybody's guilty, for something if not for another. Ask for reinforcements, attack with superior numbers and tactics. Keep safe at all costs, because the city doesn't want to pay your healing - nor does it want to have you out of work for long. (And always pretend you were going by the manual in front of people, but the thing is, you must first get the job done. However, they noted the Utopia child doesn't find it easy to bend rules. So they decided to leave it to the instructors).

Then we got to their patrol. The two rookies were assigned to patrol on Luther Boulevard, with Leila, a very balanced young Night Shift, showing them the ropes.

First thing the balanced, friendly young lady did, was to attach spikes to her club going out of the police station.

"Why do you transform this weapon into a lethal one?"

"Because lethal force might be necessary."

"You said that's going to be a routine patrol."

"Do you know how many people have died on routine patrols?"

The guy looked at his own swords - he has his own, and has taken the sword of one of the guys he beat. It's actually a quite good one, being forged by the Swordsmiths, although not their best by far. And not really the same as his own masterwork weapon.

So they went, and Leila pointed it out to them.

"First test at police work. Someone is breaking the order, by urinating in public. Stop that!"

The two approached the wino. "Sir, I must demand you stop this and go home!"

"But I'm home, how come I can't piss in my home?"

"No, old drunk, you're at the street!"

"Which means I'm home."

For some reason, they haven't considered the meaning of "street person". While the dialogue continued, the wino finished his job, and went away. They found Leila almost without breath for laughing.

Their second task was a bit more serious. There was a mentally disturbed person who was shouting about the threat of the Kalor. "They're putting thoughts in your heads! They plan to take over the world!"

Yeah, sure.

In short, they tried to negotiate, but a blunder at some point made him start shouting again. So they took him down and restrained him. They had no idea how to stop him shouting, though, if they weren't to strangle him.

Then Leila walked next to the guy and showed him her "upgraded" nightstick. Then she bent to whisper in his ear, while they were still restraining him.

"Shut up and go whereever you call "home". Or I'm going to break your bones, one by one."

"..."

She motioned them to release him.

The guy actually made his roll to restore his calm in order to avoid a beating, and fled. She was expecting him to get violent.

Yes, Leila isn't the best at dealing with mentally disturbed people. Although at this point, my cop player mentioned "man, I'm almost feeling like I'm at work!"

I actually took it as a compliment to my research.

However, after that, things started getting weird. First, they met Imogene “The Dead Woman” Barrett. (from Beyond the Eyes of Madness). Leila recognised her and immediately pretended they've found a real body.
So she arranged to leave them with her. "I'm going to be looking for traces!"
The Utopia child was as steadfast as ever.
"I'm coming with you".
The Neo remained to keep her, but he was much too preoccupied about a possible killer. At the end, Imogene rose and left, leaving the two speechless.
Leila laughed a lot and explained to them it's The Dead Woman, who seeks to entice people into raping her "corpse", and has implants that allow her to look like a corpse. "That's how she gets off. And I wanted to see whether any of you would succumb, because if you're running this way, I'd like to know."
She didn't mention that they would likely be curbstomped when they got back to the police station, before being thrown out of the NYPD. But she presumed it's clear, what police department wants a necrophiliac in their midst?
However, the night was still young, when a pusher gang came up. There were 6 guys selling stuff. Leila jumped on the two rookies, and took them down, then motioned them silent, before crawling away.

She called reinforcements.

"Who are those people?"

"They're working for the mob."

"Shouldn't we arrest them?"

"Yes. Now wait for reinforcements."

The first trio arrived soon-ish, and remained hidden. When the third trio arrived, the pushers noticed them, and knowing they're basically at war with the Night Shift, tried to break away. Except they were surrounded. Leila turned to the Neo, who kept silent.

"I want you to drop the first one that reaches under his clothes for a hidden weapon".

One of them did, indeed, and the guy shot him in the throat with his bow. Then the pushers tried to gang on police officers 2:1 in order to clean a way.

One officer got tackled, another got his face slashed by a machete. In return, Leila dropped a guy with a skullcrusher, and the Utopia child gave a painful cut to one of the gangers. Another got dropped by a cop with a telescopic baton, and another got locked by a tonfa.

At this point, the remaining two tried to surrender. Tried to, because Leila had swung towards the head of one as he dropped his weapon and raised his hands. She didn't manage to stop the hit.

The guy needed emergency help. They were all happy that the Utopia child has medical training, or that knockout blow would have killed him.

Their first patrol was a raging success.

Glossary of Terms in the Fates Worse Than Death setting
Also: as stated at the beginning of this post, here are some terms.
It's the latest session of my campaign in the Fates Worse Than Death setting.
Colin is a self-replicating serial killer that "downloads" his mind in the mind of victims via technology, and "overwrites" their identity, replacing them. Math Addicts, Freaks, Humankalories, Hummingbirds and Orphans are gangs in 2080 Manhattan, and number in the hundreds, some in the thousands. Skin Borgs are an aggressive gang that's contained at 145th street. They're recognisable by, hold on to it, the fact that they wear very heavy armours (or high-tech armours that provide the same protection)!
Pusher gangs are the footsoldiers of the Drug lords, which have a monopoly on the drug market that they have wrested away from the gangs. Gangs are more like mutual protection societies, since they can't sell drugs, the city is monitored against importing guns, and the gang of Sexologists forbids pimps from working. These are, as we know, the three greatest sources of income for organised crime. For example, while the Day Shift is the corrupt part of the NYPD, the non-corrupt cops are practically acting like a gang in the setting, and are known as the Night Shift. They're also accused of acting like a gang more than like cops.
Also, many gang members are part of societies that fight the spread of Colin...while people elsewhere consider him an urban myth. But in the ghetto, there are people worshipping him/them as a god/gods (they're morons and suck, yes, if you ask me, but then nobody threatens them, because Colin might take offence). This makes Colin Hunters that much more useful.
Hope that helps.
Also, I need to remind you that there is a video tutorial for the setting if you're interested to learn more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYoof0c9jao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Kj6V9rIH8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-gLwYaHOs0
As I said, FWTD is an involved setting.
Which makes it similar to all the other settings I like, come to think of it.

FWTD: Chasing Colin and muggings in Manhattan 2080 (sessions 5 and 6, or 7 and 8, depending on how you count)

So, we've got 3 more sessions since the last one I blogged about. Let me see what I can tell you about the last two.

Dorotheia and her runner friend had decided to go to the Omniscients. They did, and after getting off the metro and walking less than a couple blocks, a kid approached them. He (or she, who can tell at that age?) handed them a note.
"Freak, get in the 2nd building left".
And so they did. It was completely dark inside. The Omnscient explained he sees better in the dark. It was probably not an exaggeration.
They explained they're looking for a couple - or maybe 3 - Colin clones. And they asked for help tracking them from the description.
"How am I supposed to do that?", the Omniscient inquired. "I can't just walk the streets and look at everyone that fits your description, right?"
"Then how can you help us?"
"Here, take these bugs in two jars. If you find a Colin, smash one on him, and run. Then send me a note, and I'd have him delivered to you."
In essence, he just gave them two psychic bugs. They even thanked him for it.
After that, they went back to the Colin Hunters. The apartment was empty (the Colins were actually inside, sedated, and kept by a Math Addict. But they didn't know that).
So the Runner left Dorotheia and went to his Black Trader. He sent him on an errand: to deliver a message. And he gave him a bottle of lemonade on a nice red string, which he attached to his belt.
The Runner went on... and he promptly blew his chance to notice he has been followed.
As this happened, he only noticed a trio of guys that were dressed like workers or maybe street persons. There were also 3 Animalist in the same part of the metro, and the three looked at them and rose as one, deciding to go farther away. Well, Animalists are dangerous.
The three passed over the Runner - who even followed them with a glance to make sure the Animalist wouldn't try to kill them or something - but as they passed near him, the train started decelerating.
Which actually meant the momentum was pushing them back towards him. And as it turned out, one of them knew how to use this, by performing a flying kick towards him.
Now, our Runner is a consummate artist with knives. He did manage to sidestep, but the guy passed him by and landed on his feet in a boxing stance. The other two pulled a shiv and a knife.
"Hey, guys, can't we sort this out?"
"Sure. Just give us this bottle".
He had the idea that this was more important than lemonade, and refused. At which point, he had to dodge a shiv.
Actually, he managed that, and tried to go around the boxer.
Well, he did. Except he caught a hook to the head, and fell over.
He was poised for brain damage, but there was actually an NPC with very good Emergency medicine skill (a pacifist, who traveled in the same subway car and just had studied lots of first aid for philosophical reasons).
(To clarify, I generated the passengers in this car of the metro at random, because I expected him to go to the Trader. What I didn't expect him to fail the roll to spot the ambush, but it turned out that he had min-maxed, and his Awareness had taken a plunge. Well, even maximum skill with knives isn't always enough).
So, he could be played in as little as a few weeks of in-game time. It was time for a temporary character. The player decided on an Animalist.

Dimitri from the Orphans, however, lived to tell the story of their first meeting with a Hunter!
After a fight with Skin Borgs, where he had fought next to Hummingbirds, he got invited to a party. Specifically, it was a mud party...but they loaned him protective clothes. Or, as one of them put it, "Youdon'twanttoknowhowdirtythatmudis,sweetie!" Yeah, Hummingbirds often talk like this.
It was a good night, all in all. He got closer to a girl, and enjoyed the music, but during a (live! Can you imagine!) performance from a band that sang about fighting Skin Borgs... she decided to go crowdsurfing towards the scene, gliding over the heads of people.
Except someone dropped her. Good news: she smashed into mud, so the fall wasn't hard.
Bad news: she smashed into mud face-first, and likely swallowed some of it. There are ways to get a nastier disease in Manhattan 2080...but I can't think of any right now.
So, he helped her get up, and after she was over throwing up, volunteered to accompany her to a Black Med (she didn't have insurance).
However, on the way there, he met a weird guy laying in the middle of the street. He was hurt in the leg (which he didn't notice), and he handed him money and a note.
"Take this! It's all for you!"
I don't know what was passing through the player's head - most likely, he decided someone wants to bind him with a contract - but Dimitri only took the note.
The man jumped, thanked him enthusiastically, and ran away.
The note said "you've got 5 minutes to run!" As soon as he took it and the man ran, an arrow struck next to his leg.
Cue ominous music.
Both he and the girl got a City Knowledge check, and she made it.
"I think that's a hunter. Sorry, sweetie, I don't think I can help against one of those sickos... I can send for help, though! Try to live long enough, will ya?"
He promised, and he ran. The only issue was, he didn't make it by a large enough margin.
So he got another arrow, through the calves. Not immediately lethal, but it hurt. And worse of all, he didn't manage to spot whoever was shooting at him.
At this point, he started being cunning... and ran into a store.
"I need bandages!"
Since he was bleeding, the clerk behind the counter decided to gain a bit more.
"$5, mister!"
"Here, and you can have this note as well!"
As he was hoping, the Hunter switched to the clerk, and started sending the crossbow bolts in his hands and feet. Dimitri ran to find a Black Med.
Due to being better at orienting, he found one almost at the same time as the Hummingbird chick. She was impressed with him until he admitted he hasn't killed the Hunter, but passed the note. So she gave him a peck at the cheek, and ran away.
Later the story repeated itself, when he got in the Orphanage. A chick who was fancying him went to help him after his wound got worse - and she calmed him she didn't believe anything people were saying about him.
"Leaving the old man to his fate was just cautious! You might have spent us a war."
"Exactly my thoughts."
"Tell me, how did you run away from this Hunter? I hear he almost killed Orange (a red-head Orphan with round head, who doesn't like Dimitri-note Asen) and his friend Marcel when they went to investigate."
Well, Dimitri was at least honest. He told her how he had dealt with it, and got another peck at the cheek, before she left him, too.
He went back to sleep, figuring out it wasn't the worse option he had available.


And then there was a new PC as well. He's playing an Utopia child who combines anger management issues and military training, having prepared to protect the Utopian community...
BTW, his starting location was picked at random.
An Utopia child went to pick his armour and his sword from a Black Trader.
Granted, that's not the first thing most Utopians do in the city. But this one was special. His community had sent him away and gave him a monthly stipend.
"You have to save the life of someone, to make up for this, before you can submit for examination", his father had said after an anger-related incident. "Until then, you're no longer allowed here".
It was partially for this reason that he went to Manhattan. It was an inner city, and he had heard many people might need help and not get any there.
So, he donned his plate armour and went to see the city in which he had arrived a couple hours ago.
Let me repeat. He donned his armour and went to see the Skin Borgs territory while in it!
Yeah...
It was just a matter of time before he met two female Skin Borgs. They looked at him and, not recognising him, asked him whether he's trying to join.
"Join who?"
"Are you fucking with us?"
Nope, he wasn't fucking with them. Not that he would have minded... or maybe he would have, they didn't dwell on this topic. In short, they told him in no uncertain terms: Skin Borgs and people that want to join them are allowed Skins. Everybody else is advised not to display heavy Skins, like this one.
Actually, he was wondering. But when he heard the explanation "Skins are important, because we love them! They make us feel secure... (etc.)", his face hardened, and he thanked them for the tip.
And then he moved towards 145th street. There were some battles, so he passed through a small passage.
That is, he tried to. He was accosted by dirty, silent people in rags with long, almost animal claws.
(And he had no idea what Maulers even are).
So he kept them at a distance with his sword, until some sounds startled them, and they ran. He put the sword back in the sheath, and moved away.
Next thing we knew, he had approached a Black Med - yes, the same guy - and asked him for directions. The guy, mostly Hispanic-looking, pointed him to a place kept by a guy of mostly Indian descent.
Being well-educated, our Utopia Child pre-paid for the week, which gained him the good attitude of the owner. It was pretty impossible to gain the good attitude of the Sitting Oak, his nephew, who obviously had a genetic mod for size, or just weird genetic. Although that was less likely, with him being almost pure Native Indian, as far as could be determined from a casual observation. The guy, it turned out, was repairing the building as necessary, and acting as a bouncer. He was currently in the process of sharpening his tomahowk.
The PC prayed a lot (it's one of his quirks) and went to sleep.
In the night, he heard a crack, and got a visitation by a mixed group of a man with animal claws, a guy who looked like a nerd...except he was the one who had just kicked the door in, a guy with a cyber-eye and a subliminal truth analyser, and someone else who mostly kept silent.
"What are you doing here, Skin Borg?"
"What?"
"You're a Skin Borg."
"No I'm not!"
The guy turned to the man with the truth analyser.
"Is he telling the truth?"
"As far as he knows it."
Things went better from that moment on. At the end, they even left him $5 for the door. Then he asked them innocently.
"By the way, do you want to pray with me, to whatever you believe in?"
This lead to a mass facepalm - there wasn't a single religious person in that group - and they moved away. Our hero started the praying part of his routine early.
In the morning, he decided to gather some intelligence. Already being aware that his tourist data chip isn't up to date on gangs and stuff, he went up the highest building in the area, and climbed on the roof. From there, he took meticulous notes on the area - and Dragons territory got his attention just as he noticed the Roofers coming to him.
Of course, he had no idea that Roofers consider roofs their own "turf", and are territorial.
Luckily for him, the first couple of Roofers had a more restrained member, and he didn't like the sight of his sword.
Luckily for them, the guy managed to stop the other one from attacking our hero. He went down and headed towards the Dragons territory. There, he tried to get to a building that was rather aside from the rest of them, reasoning that rope bridges wouldn't be usable, and it's therefore not Roofers turf.
There was just one issue - it was an apartment building with Indies. That means they were rich enough to afford a door, locks, and a guard behind armoured glass. Of course, the guard wasn't really up for letting him in.
"Are you living here? Or do you have invitation?"
"Nope. I just want to get on the roof."
"Sorry, can't let you. Besides, why do you want to get the Roofers angry?"
In short, they talked about the Roofers, and the guard told him who are the Dragons. The Utopia Child wasn't really impressed, or not positively.
"And you're just letting them destroy buildings at whim?"
"Well, there's plenty unused buildings!"
"What do the local gangs think, then?"
"The Dragons are the local gang."
"Aren't they supposed to keep order?"
"I suspect the Dragons would argue they're reaffirming the natural order, or something. Never understood their ideas, myself. Apart from electrocuting people you dislike. That part is easy enough."
He had some Italian food and went back to his room to meditate for the day.

A Black Med's day
We already mentioned our Black Med. For OOC reasons, he didn't get much time outside of meeting the other PCs.
He heard a store clerk has been shot by a Hunter. The Night Shift at the scene showed him there have been 9 crossbow bolts involved, the last one through the skull. And they paid him a couple bucks for the expert opinion: was the guy even alive when he has been shot?
His expert opinion said that this was highly unlikely, and the bloodloss would have killed him without the last bolt, too. Whatever conclusions the officer had made about the Hunter, he has chosen not to share.


Glossary of Terms in the Fates Worse Than Death setting
Also: as stated at the beginning of this post, here are some terms.
It's the latest session of my campaign in the Fates Worse Than Death setting.
Colin is a self-replicating serial killer that "downloads" his mind in the mind of victims via technology, and "overwrites" their identity, replacing them. Math Addicts, Freaks, Humankalories, Hummingbirds and Orphans are gangs in 2080 Manhattan, and number in the hundreds, some in the thousands. Skin Borgs are an aggressive gang that's contained at 145th street. They're recognisable by, hold on to it, the fact that they wear very heavy armours (or high-tech armours that provide the same protection)!
Pusher gangs are the footsoldiers of the Drug lords, which have a monopoly on the drug market that they have wrested away from the gangs. Gangs are more like mutual protection societies, since they can't sell drugs, the city is monitored against importing guns, and the gang of Sexologists forbids pimps from working. These are, as we know, the three greatest sources of income for organised crime. For example, while the Day Shift is the corrupt part of the NYPD, the non-corrupt cops are practically acting like a gang in the setting, and are known as the Night Shift.
Also, many gang members are part of societies that fight the spread of Colin...while people elsewhere consider him an urban myth. But in the ghetto, there are people worshipping him/them as a god/gods (they're morons and suck, yes, if you ask me, but then nobody threatens them, because Colin might take offence). This makes Colin Hunters that much more useful.
Hope that helps.
Also, I need to remind you that there is a video tutorial for the setting if you're interested to learn more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYoof0c9jao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Kj6V9rIH8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-gLwYaHOs0
As I said, FWTD is an involved setting.
Which makes it similar to all the other settings I like, namely Modern and Historical games, Eclipse Phase, Blue planet, Equinox, Glorantha, Exalted,  Legend (the one from Dragon Warriors and Bloodsword), Orb (from the gamebooks, yes, the game is still in development), Westeros (from ASoIaF), Dune, and I suspect I might soon add Aethos to that list.
None of these is reading-light, as you might have noticed. Not even my homebrews are reading-light. I've said it already on this blog, but that's probably my greatest strength as a GM, and my greatest weakness. I'm not planning to change either way.