10. Notable Sites & Structures in Toronto =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In the temple of love you hide together Believing pain and fear outside But someone near you rides the weather And the tears he cried will rain on walls As wide as lovers eyes --Sisters of mercy Temple of Love 10.1 Sites There are number of sites in Toronto that can be classified as important to at least one faction of the TSNAP parties. 10.1.1 The Seven Gateways Late in 1991, a series of brutal murders of children under age seven garnished the world's attention. Apparently following a geometric pattern, the murders continued until late 1992, when they stopped for no apparent reason. The TSNAP Tribunal beleives that some supernatural entity was directly involved in these killings, As each site was a Garou caern, and there was evidence that the slaying were performed in a ritual manner, draining the victims of a substantial amount of blood. Each site, once a Garou caern, opened a gateway to another world. Those unawakened to the supernatural were unable to see the gateways, but others did. One gateway was explored, and found to lead (at least the only time it was enterred), into another realm, apparently based on the fictional works of Guy Gavriel Kay. Kay, when contacted, had no knowledge or comment other than something about copyright infringement. Each site bears the unmistakeable aura of death and decay, and usually the gateway is found in an unlikely area--such as in a closet, or a washroom. The particularly odd thing about the sites is that when located on a street-map of Toronto, the sites make up an almost perfect Septagram (7-pointed star). There is a region marked out by crossing lines, within which some of the natural laws function only part-time. Mages can cause effects that will incur no paradox. This is inconsistent. The closer one gets to the centre of the septagram, the less chance of paradox being incurred due to vulgar magick. At the very centre of the septagram, one finds oneself in the north end of Mt. Pleasant Cemetary. 10.1.2 Mt Pleasant Cemetary Unknown to most, Mt. Pleasant Cemetary houses a Samedi--a vampire specializeing in the knowledge of death. Visually resembling a rotting corpse, Gavin McDonnell waits for his chance to fight the Sabbat, and earn his right to stand on the Camarila, beside Anna Calanovich's side. He keeps himself busy with writing a treatise on philosophical development, and writing a history f the world he knew. He claims to have become a vampire during the crusades. 10.1.3 High Park Caern High Park was once a Wendigo caern of wisdom. In the time before this file covers, there was a battle, and the carn fell. The Wyrm moved in and set down roots. During the many varied battles throughout the late 1850's and 1860's, the caern site was rediscovered, by a Shadowlord. In the early 1920's, a territorial dispute arose bewteen the Shadowlords and the Silver Fangs. At the centre of it, was the caern. The battles, both politically and actual combat among the tribes over this site were few, but vicious. Finally, in a desperate effort to keep the tribes from fractioning off against each other, The head of the Silver Fangs struck a deal with the Shadow Lords. The site would become a meeting place, a caern for all tribes, in this growing city. By 1945, the High Park Caern was an established meeting place for Garou. When the TSNAP tribunal met to establish the Rites of Direction, the garou head (then, a Shadow Lord), asked that the dedicated site be the High Park Caern. 10.1.4 Larry's Hideaway & Alan Gardens As the High Park Caern acts as the meeting place for the Garou, Alan Gardens plays this role for the Kindred. The site wass chosen almost arbitrarily by the primogen, since no territorial disputes would come under scrutiny. The Prince has declared Allan Gardens and the surrounding area an Elysium. It is here, or in one of the surrounding structures (The Crystal Palace, Larry's Hideaway, etc) that the primogen meets to "elect" a new prince. 10.1.5 Hyde Park Hyde Park is one of the few sites where Sebastian Strauss, the Malkavian elder is known to frequent. Exactly what is there, and why he stays there, (presumably) alone, is unknown. It is known that he is always there on Monday nights to sell information. The Hyde park of this world is untended, and overgrown. Instead of the conservative cemetary beside it, there is a rather crude, garish set of plots. Among them is "The Angel" She is reputed to bleed (a la stigmata) from her wrists, feet, and side, when one who will be embraced appears before her. There is another plot in Hyde Park, from a Mr. Leonard XXXXX. This is Leonard as the malkavian with the Heart-disorder. (See Notable Kindred of Toronto). On it, in marble, a man lays curled in a faetal position. The inscription says, "Weep for me, for my trials are but just now beginning, and the door has yet to open, to show me the way home." While this on its own may do nothing for the players, it is a magical entrance. *IF* the players weep, a panel immediately below the marble figure will (coincidentally) fall aside, displaying a hollow chamber beneath the headstone. If an individual chooses to crawl into the chamber, they will find a passage that leads through many twists and turns. There are rooms within, that sometimes, Leonard sleeps in. Sometimes not. An extended search roll might reveal passagfeways that hook up with the Nosferatu warrens. But nothing is guaranteed. 10.1.6 Queens Quay The Queens Quay , specifically Pier 14, is the centrsal meeting point for the Magi new to Toronto. Unbeknownst to the other species in Toronto, this was changed some time ago. However, the Magi generally maintain enough of a presence in the area, to convey the appearance of the site. Most of the magi in Toronto arrive and make contact with their orders via contacts within their orders. Queens Quay is used most often as a meeting place for the Hollow Ones, or the Orphans. 10.2 Structures These structures are classified a little differently from sites,because they refer to the buildings themselves, rather than the land on whic htese buildings reside. Each of the following places have some importance in the world of Toronto. 10.2.1 Tabitha House, the Prince's Mansion Tabitha house is a giant monstrosity of a house. It is a mansion, spanning one full city block, and it has wandering corridors, hidden rooms and stairwells, and a 4-acre park hidden within its walls. The house itself is haunted by the spirits of many who have died there--including every previous Camarilla Prince of Toronto. This is why it remains the Prince's mansion. Any Prince who rules in Toronto rules with the guidance of his predecessors. 10.2.2 Septon Tower, Penthouse floors. The Toronto branch of Septon Industries International Ltd, houses the chapterhouse of the Order of Hermes. Until recently, the Order in central Canada took its cue from the chantry in Ottawa. However, when the Winnipeg chantry disappeared, and many of the Ottawa mages succumbed to paradox accumulations, the nearest power base of any real effectiveness was in Toronto. Krysia Chydyk, the CEO of Septon Industries is the second in the Order of Hermes in Toronto. She and some of her associates have been manipulating subtle ley-line energies, effectively building a node in the penthouse of their office building. Their chantry is located here. Most high-ritual magick performed by the Order in Toronto, will be performed here. 10.2.3 The Cineplex The Nosferatu have a way of gaining knowledge. They are information gathers, sorters, investigators at heart. When Nosferatu with an aptitude for computers or electronics is embraced, and has undergone a rite of passage, he is "put on shift" in the Cineplex. Located somewhere far, far underground, off of the original King Street subway station, the Cineplex houses most of the Toronto Nosferatu's computing power. There are two basic rules that the Nosferatu who use the cineplex follow: 1) The cineplex must always be manned. So there is always someone hooked up into the system. They act as receptionist, information gatherer, investigator, trouble-shooter, etc. Most often, the "shifts" are composed of software development, philosophical exploration, and exploring the digital web frontier. 2) The Cineplex must grow and change, to adapt to the times. This means that any Nosferatu who use the cineplex, is expected to add to the growth of teh cineplex. Whether it's adding new hardware, or more efficiently wiring the systems, the cineplex must grow. It is for this reason alone, that the cineplex is possibly the most advanced information gathering station in Canada. Items stored in the cineplex range from a VPIG (Virtual Plasm Image Generator), on load from a Virtual Adept who stole it from an Iteration X outpost, to half-composed computers from the 1970's. For more information on the Cineplex, please look for the internet supplement, "AWOH: Toronto: The Cineplex" 10.2.4 The Digital Raven Based on the electronic supplement by the same name, the Digital Raven has four branches in the Toronto area. Each ha a different flavour, and appeals to a slightly different crowd. The Management has made it clear to the TSNAP peoples that they are welcome, but no violence towards its patrons will be tolerated. A new Digital Raven is opening up on Queen Street West (A section of the Rack). However, there is some very definate wyrm influence here. The owner of the chain, one Leonard Fisk, has been subpoenaed three times for incidents related ot the bar, but he has never appeared in court, and the charges have always been dropped. mr. Fisk has never been seen. 10.2.5 The Sanctuary Vampire Sex Club The SVSC is the one place one of the kindred is guaranteed to get a drink. Hrolfgar, a Ventrue who was once the prince of Toronto, runs the establishment. He boasts about having somewhere "in the area of 10,000 litres" of blood stored below the club. Only he and his asistant, Jimmy "The Hand" Cooke, have access to the stores. Recently, Hrolfgar has come under investigation by the Toreador Justicar for possible contamination of the blood-stock. WHile this has lessened the amount of blood sold to Kindred, it has not hurt the clubs popularity. (Hrolfgar keeps the blood-drinks a secret.) Hrolfgar also runs a flourishing prostitution business out of the SVSC. The prices are exorbitant, but the clients are always happy. 10.2.6 Larry' Hide-Away On the outside, it's not much, but Larry's Hideaway is the prefered meeting place of the primogen ,outside the prince's mansion. It's a dingy run-down tenament building, that occasionally has a live band playing. Sometimes blues, sometimes thrash. It is a site so close to Allan Gardens, that many Kindred go there, because it is a declared Elysium from years back. 11. Other Notes on Toronto =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Beware--the waves upon the water are like ripples in your mind, and the shadows cast by nature show the future you may find. --Sabbat ADVENT OF INSANITY 11.1 The Rites of Direction The Rites of Direction stemmed from the need of each race to avoid excessive contact with each other. Once every twenty-five years (usually shortly after the pact is re-negotiated), the rites are renewed. The Tremere elder, A Correspondance mage (usually a Verbena), and a Theurge who has learned the rite meet, and perform the rite together. The spirits are called, and asked ot guide individuals of certain flavours to certain locations. The rite itself is not known to the public (so feel free to make it up, if you want to use it). All that is known is that the redirection to this place of meeting happens coincidentally. 11.2 Those Who Sleep Beneath It is rumoured that many differnet people (primarily Kindred, but not all) sleep beneath the earth covered by Toronto. the most prominently known is Dmitri--a fifth generation Malkavian. It s not known where he sleeps, but it is beleived that he affects the city with his slumber. Well, Dmitri is sleeping away peacefully in A Gurahl's cache. The Gurahl who sanctified the caern site in Tabitha House pulled it into another dimension. He created a pocket realm where the caern's gnosis and power feeds into itself. Then he went to sleep. The Gurahl (and Dmitri) will awaken when the site returns to earth. When this happens, it's probably the Apocalypse. 12. House Rules Used in Playtesting for "A World of Hurt" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I see my reflection in the window, my eyes -- fired yellow like the eyes I see in dreams. -- Jay Wallace Death on the Corner Experience Points During play, Experience points can be spent to advance or gain different aspects of your character. No aspect of the character can be advanced during the story if the ability has not come into play. Backgrounds are exempt from this. They can only be changed through happenings in the story. The advancement, or learning of a new aspect must have a story-based reason for happening. The costs of advancement are as follows: By costliness: A: New Ability 3 A: Faith Cx3 V: New Thaumaturgical Path 7 W: B/A/T Gift Cx3 N: New Numina 10 A: Attribute Cx4 V: New Discipline 10 V: Thaumaturgical Path Cx4 M: New Sphere 12 V: Clan Discipline Cx5 A: Willpower C W: Gift Cx5 W: Rage C N: Numina Cx7 W: Gnosis Cx2 V: Outside Discipline Cx7 A: Ability Cx2 M: Tradition Sphere Cx7 A: Compassion Cx2 M: Arete Cx8 A: Virtue Cx2 M: Sphere Cx9 By Species: A: New Ability 3 N: New Numina 10 A: Willpower C N: Numina Cx7 A: Ability Cx2 M: New Sphere 12 A: Compassion Cx2 M: Tradition Sphere Cx7 A: Virtue Cx2 M: Arete Cx8 A: Faith Cx3 M: Sphere Cx9 A: Attribute Cx4 V: New Thaumaturgical Path 7 W: Rage C V: New Discipline 10 W: Gnosis Cx2 V: Thaumaturgical Path Cx4 W: B/A/T Gift Cx3 V: Clan Discipline Cx5 W: Gift Cx5 V: Outside Discipline Cx7 For Everyone: Specialist: Specialists can use the extra dice from 10's for extra damage dice RATHER than for extra to-hit dice. This applies only to Melee, Brawl, and other related skills. For Mage: New SPellcasting system: For coincidental effects, roll Arete + sum of sphere ratings. For Vulgar effects, roll sum of sphere ratings. The target for both is: [3] + [highest sphere used] + [1/2 next highest used] + [1/other sphere] (round down) Examples: Mage has Arete 4, Life 4, Time 2, Entropy 3 Life 3, Coincidental Effect: Life 3, Time 2 Coincidental effect: Roll: Arete(4)+Life(4) = 8 dice Roll: Arete(4)+Life(4)+Time(2) = 10 dice Target: 3+Life(3) = 6 Target: 3+Life(3)+Time(2/2=1) = 7 Life 3, Time 2, Entropy 2 Coincidental Effect: Coincidental: Roll: Arete(4)+Total of sphere ratings(7)=11 dice Vulgar: Roll: Total of sphere ratings(7)=7 dice Target: 3+Life(3)+Time(2/2=1)+Entropy(1)=8 Making Magic Easier: The amount of quintessence that can be spent to make magic easier is based on your Prime rating. You may spend up to your prime rating to lower the effective target for one effect. Initiatives: If the action is spellcasting, quintessence may be spent to increase initiative RESULT (success, not number of dice) by 2 per dot of quintessence. Paradox: All normal "burining off" of paradox must be done through coincidental effect. Paradox spirits will not be placated by vulgar effects. For Werewolves: Metis Disfigurements: Not all disfigurements have to be physical. Magical, Spiritual, Emotional, Psychological, learning disabilities, etc can all be taken. Garou-Garou offspring aren't always metis. Same tribe almost always produces metis, but inter-tribal coupling has a 30% chane or so of producing metis offspring. For Vampires: Kindred *can* move around during the day. Reflected sunlight (off of non-reflective surfaces, like plaster walls), cause no damage. The Kindred cannot utilize blood for ANY purpose during the sunlight hours. Initiative: Blood points can be spent to increase the number of successes in an intiative roll. Miscellany: Kindred take aggravated damage from Platinum. For Garou: Characters in the Umbra may not interact with characters in the physical world and vice versa. This includes using Gifts, trading equipment, recruiting allies, et cetera. A character may freely interact with other Umbral characters and spirits. Characters in the Umbra may not vote in moots, nor are they affected by any moots while they are in the Umbra. While in the Umbra, an alpha may only declare an attack on another creature in the Umbra. For Mage: The Avatar rating is a representation of the amount of quintessence is flowing through the mage's pattern. meditating in a node will allow the mage to recharge his quintessence up to his AVATAR rating. He also can't gain more than the node holds. Avatar does NOT allow the mage to recharge himself with Quintessence *outside* a Node (Prime 1 does this). A Mage starts the game with as many Quintessence Points as he has in Avatar rating for free. A mage may spend up to either their AVATAR or PRIME rating (whichever is higher) amount of quintessence to reduce the difficulty of an action during one turn. Raw Quintessence: the stuff things are made of Free quintessence: excess quintessence around the things. Items created magically (pattern magic) have raw quintessence, but no free quintessence - they haven't had time to absorb the free quintessence from the environment. TASS: Tass is basically physical, solid, Free Quintessence. As such it can be carried around by Mages and can be tapped at Prime 1 to power effects. See below for details. Making Talismans: ================ To construct a talisman requires a prime of three and the appropriate levels in the spheres of the powers you wish to put in it. The Talisman can have one power of each level up to level 5. You can mix spheres(Level 5 Time, Level 4 Entropy, Level 3 Spirit, Level 2 Time, Level 1 Time). The Talisman has an effective spell casting skill = to its highest level of powers. The base difficulty for making a talisman is the difficulty of the highest level power it will have +5. This means that for very powerful talismans(above level 2), some quintessence will have to be spent to bring the difficulty down to a feasible level: Power Level Difficulty 1 9 2 10 3 11 4 12 5 13 If you are in the Umbra, you roll your arete. If you are in the physical world, you roll dice equal to your skill with that sphere. It takes five successes on the roll to permanently imbue the power into the talisman. It takes 1 day per level of power put into the talisman to make it(8 hours a day). (This means that a Talisman with level 1, 2, and 3 powers takes 6 days). Each doubling of time lowers the difficulty by 1(so in the example, 24 days would lower the difficulty by 2). Once all powers are imbued, you must transfer quintessence into the talisman. It can hold up to five times the highest power level of quintessence. You must transfer either from another source of quintessence or from yourself. Most mages go to the umbra to make talismans because otherwise the vulgar magic of talisman creation will cause them to have big problems with paradox spirits. 13 Afterword =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Theres desperation in the air, it leaves a stain on all your clothes, and no detergent gets it out --MeatLoaf Life is a Lemon, and I want my Money back Well, I hope you've enjoyed it. I enjoyed putting it together. And I know that this is only skimming the surface of how I perceive my game... I'll probably be putting out a lot more stuff soon. Please please please email me with any suggestions, requests, ideas, etc. I like things that make me think.... I can be reached at jtice@nero.uvic.ca for another couple of months, and at wg134@freenet.victoria.bc.ca most of the time. I've purposefully left out the character stats, 'cause I want the storyteller to work them out as necessary for their game. 17. Credits & Sources =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= We can pool information about experiences but never the experiences themselves. -- Aldus Huxley's _The Doors of Perception_ Selected Bibliography =============================================== Talisman creation, johnbil@wam.umd.edu, John Walter Biles Were-bats CHIROPTERIX Jay Turner, trev@cyber1.servtech.com Mortal Psychics Psychics Christopher L. Schneider, nbc2569@dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil Skinwalkers Skinwalker Robert Kelly, Internet ID unknown Lazarite Tribe Lazarites Brian A Campbell, campbelb@gas.uug.arizona.edu WHite Spirit Dancers Spirit Dancers Author unknown, POVINEL4838@SNYONEVA.CC.ONEONTA.EDU Areal Discipline Areal Disc. Author unknown, Internet ID unknown Fusion Discipline Fusion Discipline, Jason W. Tice, based on FUSION, by Author unknown, internet ID unknown. Hanging Spells Magic Made Simple: Hanging Spells, John Sullivan, pp001983@interramp.com Practical Paradox Practical paradox, Author unknown, Internet ID unknown Shades of Pain (all three versions of the groups) =============================================== Bonnie "Fuck it, I Frenzy" Parker Brujah David "Yoda" Edey Nosferatu Eric "But I loved her" Seaton Caitiff Hugh "Theft-of-Vitae" Roberts Tremere Jai "Why I hate Redcaps" Kristjan RedCap Jeremy "But he is Anal-Retentive! " Denton Order of Hermes Jeremy "I'm not an Abomination!" Weber Kinfolk Nosferatu Josh "Starburst" Januska Cult of Ecstasy Lucy "Can I Shoot him now?" Porter Mortal Nathan "I Bite Again" Brown Shadow Lord Robert "Ahroun or Theurge? I'm a Munchkin!" Trubenbach White Howler Sarah "Meals-on-Wheels" Gregory Toreador Veronica "But I Need Souvenirs" Vander Heiden Ravnos Warren "You wouldn't..." Edge Order of Hermes