Sydney Forsaken VSS
The Sydney Forsaken pages are to provide information relating to the local Awakening game in the National 2013 reset, including a summary of all characters. Contact the VST for information and suggestions.
Timeline of Sydney History Before White Settlement The Fire Touched Pack "Keepers of Stories , is established no one can give a precise date but the stories go as far back as the dreaming.
1805 - Settler and convict Forsaken clash with each side harboring ill will towards the other over land, kin and language. The conflict takes the form of raids kidnapping of kin and pitched battles culminating in the battle of the hill 1805. The two major packs leading these battles, beaten and bloody realise the error of their thinking and decide that there must be a pack formed from both their traditions to help bridge the gap and foster more peaceable relations between settler and convict packs.
1806 - Forsaken pack the Vinegar Battalion is formed the first alpha a Bone Shadow "Enforces the Laws" sets about establishing a place of peaceful meeting for both native and forsaken packs. It is agreed that in all meetings in Sydney of the people a member(s) of the pack will be present to ensure peace
1902 - Sydney The federation of Australia
1925 - Formation of the Pack "Strength through Unity. A pack of predominantly Iron master's is formed with territory around the working class areas of Newtown and Redfern with the center being the Sydney Brickworks. The first Alpha Jacob (Sounds the Call) O'Reily. is known in the area as a union hard man and a tough but fair boss for humans and werewolves alike.
1939 - Outbreak of World War 2 and Forsaken and Pure packs alike serve honorably in Australia armed forces. For many it is their first, and last journey outside of Australia.
1945 Pure and Forsaken return to Sydney to the great joy of their families the Pure speak of the great wonders they say there, the powerful war totems wielded by friend and foe alike and of the great heroes that rose up from among them to claim victory. They also told of powerful pure packs and families that existed in Europe at the time.
1947 - The Forsaken Pack "Renewal Through Trial" is formed by fellow Forsaken returned from WW2 headed by the Storm Lord Iratha know simply as "Survivor". They settle in Bondi.
1949 – A Ivory Claw pack Lineage of Kings establishes itself in the CBD under the cover of a legal and accounting firm RH & Sons. They become a leading law firm in Sydney within a few short years providing legal advice to many of societies big political entertainment and business leaders.
1950 – The return of normality is shattered when the court of pain made fat by the trauma brought back from WW2 veterans makes a play for dominion over Sydney. The Forsaken tribes unite under Survivor to drive back the more powerful pain spirits and help restore order.
1951 - The Enforcement of the write Australia policy post war saw many Greek and Italian refugees settle in Sydney and the surrounding areas particularly the Blue Mountains as part Snowy River Project. This is where the Ivory Claw pack first enter Australia. As with many Ivory Claws they bring there Kin with them, known as the "Exypiretós" enter Sydney and eventually settle in the Blue Mountains driving out the local Forsaken Pack Dreamers of the Songs. The Pure pack and their kin are instrumental in the Snowy River Project. Their name before they came to Australia is not know by those outside the pack. However, it is known that at the end of the the Snowy River Project they took the name Tamers of the Wild.
1952 - The survivors of the Dreamers of the Song resettle in Cronulla
1965 - The Keepers of Stories move into Sydney with many of their Kin setting up residence in the Waterloo Potts point area.
1979 - Alex "Leaps the Fire" Walk the Omega of the Keepers of Stories is murdered when a hail of silver bullets are shot through his home. This unique nature of the crime is reported by the media and the Death of Alex become a rallying cry for many in the indigenous and migrant communities of the complete disregard that “White Australia” has for them. And so a riot is sparked that lasts over a month. Beneath this a war between the Forsaken and Pure. This riot/war rages for over a month until the city itself cry for peace sending visions to members of the remain Pure and Forsaken packs to meet and form a treaty. The meeting occurs and a treaty is decided. Its terms are:
1. No Werewovles or their packs are able to enter Sydney without the permission of the treaty enforcer "The Law"
2. Both the Forsaken and the Pure will, in the case of a first change in Sydney be able to send a representative accompanied by two others to retrieve them.
3. Under no circumstances will death rage be allowed in Sydney and such occurrences will be harshly punished.
4. These laws are to be adhered to for 38 years
At this point all permissions for resident packs were revoked and the Alphas and their Totems' disappear.
History 1979 - Present
A forsaken pack Wardens of Remembrance is formed based around Rookwood Cemtery and their job is to bury many of the Forsaken and Pure that died in the great conflict including Leaps the fire. The also act as a first contact point for the city of Sydney to and are often the first forsaken to know of new changes in the exclusion zone.
A similar Pure pack establishes itself in Willoughby calling itself Truth's Beacon it centers around a, then small, Radio station 9HI over the 80's and 90's it develops into a major Sydney radio station headed by its lead presenter Robert “the Golden voice” Smith.
House Rules
No Forsaken above spirit rank 3 at start without SIGNIFICANT justification.
No more than 1 renown above 3 at start.
Whilst I will not mandate it I would STRONGLY ENCOURAGE all players that come in at start to have a Pack.
Lone wolves will not be able to hold territory that is recognized by other wolves and spirits without SIGNIFICANT justification.
Territory Merits can only be gained by sending in Pack downtime's
Each merit can only be bought by each pack member spending the Pack downtimes equal to the dots of the merit securing and patrolling that aspect of their territory. For example 3 dot merit = 3 months of downtimes. This number may change with how impressed I am with your downtime.
No more than double the number of merit dots in a Territory as their are members of a Pack.
Kinfolk are welcome but please be aware that I will be staying truer to canon than has previously been the case in Sydney. As such, any kinfolk in play at beginning of chronicle MUST be attached to a Werewolf.
I would also encourage all players to have at least one dot in occult, those without it may have difficulty understanding any talk regarding spirit totems etc.
Style of Play Description Rating
Action Combat and Challenges 4
Character Development Personal dilemmas and choices 4
Darkness PC death or corruption 3
Drama Ceremony and Grand Story 4
Intrigue Politics and Negotiation 1
Manners Social etiquette and peer pressure 2
Mystery Enigmas and investigation 4
Pace How fast do stories emerge, develop, and resolve? 4
Action - Combat and Challenges - 4 Combat and challenge forms the fabric of Forsaken society from a persons initial awakening to their joining of a tribe and pack, even the familial relationships after the change. Indeed any story that I run will have some combat elements to it However, I combat for its own sake can quickly get dry , oh look another Pure Pack So I like to or even winning combat will advance the plot in the the PC's favor
Character - Development Personal Dilemmas and Choices – 4 At the bases of anyone enjoying getting the type of long term campaign its taking a character with a starting set of ideas and seeing that morph and change due to story, character interaction and player interests. In my view my whole role is to facilitate that connection. Helping a player engage, work through and solve personal dilemmas helps create more three dimensional characters that are more interesting to play and better for the game as a whole. Not to mention that seeing characters grow and change through a chronicle is one of the really joys I get from Sting.
Darkness - PC Death or Corruption - 3 Death is a part of werewolf life the very nature of their role means that for many life is a constant battle to maintain their life and sanity. Indeed,many PC will have examples of heroic and not so heroic death to tell around a pack gathering to encourage others to acts of glory, cunning or to illustrate foolhardy behavior to their brothers and sisters. On a personal level I don't want to put the Characters in a bubble so those who act foolishly will meet their end. However, these years are important ones for the Forsaken of Australia so if PC's do take their last breath I'd like it to have some meaning.
Drama - Ceremony and Grand Story - 4 The bread and butter of LARP. Drama is what makes for a cool game. Without drama, the game is cold, mechanical. It’d be like watching The Matrix acted out by a pair of mimes on stage. Sure, a little amusing at first, but it would get old fast. The drama, the speeches, the tension, the suspense and the mystery are all what make a LARP so much fun. There is no other system better equipped to deliver it. A personal goal of mine is to increase the drama rating of your game. It’s good, but it could be so much better. You can help by helping the flow of the game. If your arch-enemy is in mid-speech, don’t shoot him in the face, let him finish if at all possible. Relent to challenges, narrate a scene between yourselves without lame mechanics and you’ll have more fun.
Intrigue - Politics and Negotiation – 1 Whilst this is often dealt with between PC's there will be as much of it here as I can encourage from the PC's from a story perspective the ability to discuss negotiate and discuss things with NPCs spirts other pure will be very important.
Manners - Social Etiquette and Peer Pressure - 2 Respect and appropriate forms of address are important in Forsaken, particularly when one pack is speaking to another. This, to a large extend will not be enforced by the ST 's but will rely on players to enforce them IC.
Mystery - Enigmas and Investigation - 4 I have found that games that have a good mix of combat and investigation/ mystery both mystical and mundane have something for all the players to do
Pace - How Fast do Stories Emerge, Develop, and Resolve? - 4 I tend to run games that are plot heavy the idea being that there is always something at a personal, pack and clutch level for a player to do when they come to game.