The Ace of Spades!
Mar. 22nd, 2014 12:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
powersthatbe| THE ACE OF SPADES: A Noir Gangster Murder Mystery In Jazz Age Brooklyn The year is 1930. Just off the Narrows Strait in New York there’s a pair of neighborhoods called Bensonhurst & Gravesend, just north of Coney Island Amusement Park. It’s a quiet part of town, if you’re not in a jazz club, and it has its own quiet little war. And in that war, there’s a casualty upcoming. On the night of April 7th, two people had a meeting in an alleyway. A raucous crowd of drunks stumbled in, just in time to interrupt the local heat from putting the hammer down on them, but something was left behind when those two shades split into the crowd. An ace of spades. Now, maybe in some countries they use those things to play cards, but this was 51 pieces of pasteboard short of a pick-up game, and that means only one thing. Somebody’s been put ‘on the spot.’ That is, money’s changed hands between a person with a grudge and a violin player, and pretty soon the latter’s going to be playing a dirge for some unlucky slob. A contract killing, in case you missed that. But nobody knows who the victim’s going to be. Or who the killer is. Or who hired that killer, and why. There’s even a chance these anonymous gentlefolk were still in that crowd of drunks (about half of them out-of-towners, judging by their dress) when the bulls (the police) ran them all in and tossed them in the drunk tank to stew overnight. Those “drunks,” of course, were freshly arrived Travelers. As far as the infiltrators among them are concerned, they just stumbled out of the party in the back room of the Midnight Rose, and there are all sorts among them - flappers, jazz musicians, society types, gangsters (one crime family in Bensonhurst, one in Gravesend), flatfoot detectives, even the odd G-man laying low. Some of them will have seen the Ace, or heard the cops flapping their jaws, and they’ll know the score. Veteran investigators, too, know what an entrance like this one means. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out why a Jaunt takes place, and sometimes it’s easy. When everyone’s dumped into the middle of a would-be murder mystery, the way out of town again is clear. Find the victim. Find the shooter. Find the money. And then find out whether the forces that brought you here did so to stop the killing… or make certain it goes through as planned. LOCATIONS; Midnight Rose - a candy store by day, speakeasy by night, in Gravesend territory but open to all. The Green Light - an exclusive Bensonhurst speakeasy, famous for its imported absinthe. Ocean’s Place - a pool hall in Gravesend, less welcoming than the Rose. Le Chateau Blanc - a classy restaurant in Bensonhurst, considered neutral territory. Litchfield Manor - home of the Gravesend crime families, held in trust. Capitol Row - a residential street where most of the Bensonhurst families have their houses. Coney Island Amusement Park - besides the rides, the beach, and the famous boardwalk, also home to a number of condemned buildings convenient for some quiet business. Ebbets Field - home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. GUIDELINES; TVTropes on Film Noir & How To Write Film Noir. CASTING CALL; -the mob heir’s decadent, independent best friend (Gravesend) -a retired mobster who’s gotten out of the game (Gravesend) -a naive mob heir (Bensonhurst) -an ambitious mob heir (Bensonhurst) -a traditionalist mob boss (Bensonhurst) -a traitorous mobster (we’re not telling) -an undercover cop or G-Man (also not telling) -a cynical PI (independent) -a hitman (independent) -a murderer (independent) -a spoiled, slumming millionaire (independent) The casting call is full, but more infiltrators to be friends and family & otherwise be involved in the plot are very welcome! If you want one of the above infiltrator roles with plot significance, make a screened comment here telling the mods which of the above parts you’d be interested in before you make your plotting comment here. Any of the above roles unfilled by PCs will go to NPCs, but we’d prefer as much player involvement as possible. These characters will be given certain secret tasks or information to be released at certain times or under certain conditions - but the rest of the time, what you do with them is totally up to you! If you’re interested in playing an Infiltrator but NOT being involved in the plot, sky’s the limit! You’re welcome to play a part like one of those above, or anything else you can imagine. Just make sure your in-universe backstory picks one of the two mob outfits to be aligned with (or neither, if you’re an independent operator). An infiltrator CR meme is up here for those of you who want to do more in-depth and specific plotting beyond just leaving your concept in the comments below. The plot will kick off with a pair of mod-posted event starters on the 7th, and follow-up events with new plot developments or clues will come once a week (on the 14th, 21st, 28th. etc) until the Investigation is complete! |
