Depends on who’s cube is damaged or being tampered. Status is still a big thing. Your average Joe isn’t going to get the same treatment as a government official.
Now a damaged cube isn’t that bad as long as the individual is still alive they can just get a new cube. Now if the cube and the person were both destroyed and don’t have a backup (most don’t) that’s called true death.
Tampering a different question. Editing out memories, implanting false ones, or extraction
of memories (hard to do) would come back down to status. Average Joe might be treated as crazy or have his case handled by the local police unless it catches the attention of the higher authorities for some reason. Someone more important or in a higher position of power this would be big cause for concern and would get a reaction. How overwhelming depends on the person’s status.
I’d agree with Solodice and say we jump in where you want us.
We have a grasp of who we are and how the team is connected together now. I tend to build my character mentally as I go along anyway.
I can jump in as and when to cover GMing when you want to tag out.
Discord should have a PM system according to the trust level system. Not sure why Modiphius haven’t activated it. Possibly just makes maintenance more complicated.
First IC post is up. I have more background to provide from your Shentang handler that will provide further color.
However, feel free to formulate some IC questions and choose some gear (if you want anything different/additional from chargen - you’re Imperial Agents, after all). Just keep it fairly standard and low key - you’re not anticipating trouble and are in a home territory.
Let me know if you have any OOC questions for me, in the meantime.
Well only one of us is an Imperial Agent as far as I’m aware
Which is a good question to ask. How does everyone see their characters within the Imperial Service hierarchy?
Lan is a Zhanying Agent (Imperial Agency)
Zhaung is a Celestial Guard (Imperial Service)
Zhang is Judicial Police (?) (Judicial Corps)
Woo-song is (?)
As for additional gear it should still be requisitioned. Might not be paying for it but even the Imperial Service quartermasters can be a stingy bunch when you’re not a Crane Agent.
The way I saw it was that we worked out our history up to this point, but we are all Imperial Agents, on an formal or not basis, now.
So Zhang Wen was a Police officer until a few months (possibly years based on Solodices IC post) ago but then received a tap on the shoulder while at work and introduced to his new boss. With the subtext that this was a transfer that he couldn’t refuse.
Check the Maya and he will show up as a Police Officer still. Though searching his records probably brings up flags to certain people nowadays.
Trying not to be a lore stickler but just trying to lay out a better view of the Yu Jing groups and bureaucracy. A police officer being tapped for the Imperial Service isn’t out of the question.
So there’s the Emperor. He’s the head guy for the judiciary branch of the state. Now this judiciary branch is called the Judicial Corps and it’s made up of three groups: Judicial Police, Imperial Service, and Magistracy.
Judicial Police are the agents of the courts. They enact and enforce the courts decisions and provide security to the courts, prisoners, judges, and procurators. Using an example they’re kind of like the US Marshal Service.
Imperial Service is the special service branch of Judicial Corps. They have a investigation section and tactical section with members alternating between them depending on the mission or case at hand. Within the Imperial Service there is the Imperial Agency. This is the head of the Imperial Service and all its agents serve as the Service’s officers and NCOs. Those from the Imperial Agency are the only ones who are called agents. However, there is much more to the Imperial Service as it has a host of other assets. There are the Celestial Guard who act as the backbone and common ground officer of the Service. More specialized tactical units like the Kanren, Bao, and Su Jian. Penal regiments like the Wu Ming and Kuang Shi. Finally, even criminals are used by the Imperial Service as spies, sources of blackmail, or as an extra hand.
Magistracy covers the judges and procurators.
All 3 groups interact with one another and of course there’s friction between them when toes get stepped on, cases swiped, or good ol’ fashion cross agency fighting and ribbing.
Hopefully that sheds some more light on things. There’s a distinct hierarchy among the Imperial Service and it plays heavily into its themes.
@Evocatus I’ve just been overwhelmed by setting information: I wasn’t even aware there was such a degree of detail for Infinity factions. I think I better take my leave now, as I’m sure I can’t keep up with the other players and I would be hindering your game. Sorry, but better now than later…
@MigRib, no worries if you feel you want to bow out. For the record, this is all casual for me and I’m using the PbP it to learn both the system and the setting.
To be clear, the info dump in my first IC post is simply to ground us in the setting. Trust me, we’ll get down to kicking ■■■ and taking names here soon enough. Fun is the thing.
My second planned IC post will drop some additional world building but will really only be ‘lore’-adjacent, using basic location detail and building out the initial set-up so you will have a sense of what to do once your PCs hit the ground running.
For myself, I will freely raise my hand when I can’t find or don’t understand some basic setting details (in fact, I already have!). Feel free to do the same - I feel confident in speaking for the other players that we’d be glad to help clarify anything. I also reserve the right to just make stuff up on the spot in interest of the narrative. I have only used info from the Core rulebook so far.
Your call but I wouldn’t let the setting detail be a deterrent to you.
That’s my bad there - I didn’t state outright that I was going with the Imperial Agent set-up. Good call and will make sure things are clear going forward.
Re: Woo-sung, is everyone cool with a GM PC? I know there is the stereotype of the GM PC who solves all the mysteries so happy to have him drift in and out when we co-op GMs. Or, happy for another player to run him if you feel you can use his skill-set. Makes no difference to me.
As for his background, man, I’d have to go back and try to recreate my build with respect to the careers I chose. In concept, I think he’s equal parts diplomat, agent, and hacker. Given his Disciplined Student talent, I could see him having been recruited out of a university and given some training. I don’t necessarily see him as a street-smart beat cop or hardened operator.
Well, I was a backer, I have all published material in pdf up until now. I even started playing it, about a year and a half ago, I ran several of the published one shots. But my group of players have a serious laziness problem (I suppose it rubbed on me): they never read the settings, sometimes not even a synopsis, and I end up not getting enough information about settings because, well, I will never need it… I thought I had a better grasp of this setting, but it looks like I forgot most of it (and I never much attention to Yu Jing anyway). But if you think that will not pose a serious problem I can give it a shot anyway.
I get the feeling we are going to be a fairly relaxed group when it comes to the fine details.
I certainly haven’t had the time to go through everything in the books in detail. I’ll grab one to reference if I need to and just roll with what I remember the rest of the time.
As for a GM PC I have no issue with it. When I am GMing Wen will be around in the background doing ‘stuff’ as needed.
Let me know if you want to banter further and/or take the flight/prep in any particular direction. Happy to let that breathe if you want to build some IC rapport.
If not, we can flash forward to landing on Shentang and your meeting with the local handler.
Also, will make a note in the Meta thread that we can use the Infinity point flashback mechanic Nathan D has posted for investigations, i.e. an IP allows a PC to narrate a flashback. Should help in keeping things moving since planning can bog down a game (of course, I’ll have to find exactly where he posted it).
Re: Woo-sung and GM PC, I’ll have him be fairly reactive to avoid spoilers. Feel free to chime in from time-to-time if you want to give him suggestions, e.g. “WS, maybe hack that terminal, etc.”
Oh, if my info dump scared you I’m sorry. It was more to contextualize the group more than anything. The deep inner workings of the Judicial Corps and the Imperial Service will probably never show up for us. All that’s important to know is we’re from a special group with a lot of power to use and call upon.
As I said I’m not a stickler so I won’t be screaming when someone goes a different route. However, I will answer questions if anyone has them on setting info (some of it already given by the books and some inferred info).
Imperial Service has support staff like non-field hackers, analysts, mechanics, you name it. Kind of like other organizations which have field operations they’re backed up by a sizeable support group. Sometimes they get thrown into the field too. Kind of like Jack Ryan (the one from the books and movies not the TV show).
As for the GM-PC I don’t mind. I’ve had to fill in for a PC for one my PbP games and I mostly make him reactivate, last one to do something, or just fill in a hint at the last moment. Not a spotlight hog but helpful but not to helpful, lol.
As we’re hopping over to Shentang we can do some research to gain more info before hitting the dirt. This is mostly done with Analysis or Lifestyle if you’re talking to someone.
So to ask our benevolent GM what would be the possible rolls and what difficulty for Lan’s questions?
We doing a team pool or individual momentum pools?
The Analysis D3 Lan will need some help (since we have little momentum to use right now) and it’s probably a good time to introduce assist rolls. Assisting character pick a skill to help out they are assisting (to keep things from going to crazy I say the GM gets to approve if it is a appropriate skill to assist with). Then they roll a 1d20. If they succeed it will count as a success for the person they’re helping. The one doing the actual roll for the test needs to get 1 success for any successful assists to count.
I generally go with team pools for momentum, helps keep groups working together rather than as individuals.
A combined effort on the 1.b) what his work was about sounds sensible.
Wen will assist with either Analysis, Education or Science (All at skill 11 so will go with Science as it is thematically most appropriate. Education has a focus, but as the difficulty is harder doesn’t feel right)
Roll Science Assist (TN 11, FOC0): 1
1 Success, 0 Momentum (Should have gone for the Education )
Funny enough I found the opposite. Since individual pools players can give their momentum to someone that needs it. They feel a bit more connected to helping someone out instead of just adding something a to a bigger pool for everyone to grab from.
I need a rules clarification here: in Infinity we can assist a roll for a skill (in this case Analysis) with a roll for another skill (in this case Science) if both skills were allowed by the GM?
EDIT: Nevermind the question, I was confusing with Mutant Chronicles. Damn, that is always happening!
Anyway, I can assist with 1b) also, since it is a D3, with an Analysis roll
I guess it depends on your group. Mine tend to approach everything in a communal way so I guess that just led us down the joint pot. (though not since university… )
I can see the other side of the argument though that actively supporting another character gives that more tangible connection than it just being there.
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