So, without further ado, the next instalment of The City.
Rocky Peaks
Situated within the park, connected to the city by a narrow winding strip of national road, lies the small town of Rocky Peaks. It is predominantly a tourist town, geared to take advantage of nature-lovers streaming into the park. It has been recently colonized by ex-yuppies eager to escape the rat-race of the city, tending their organic gardens and eating non-GM granola. The older residents of Rocky Peaks are not thrilled to have hordes of SUV driving, green-tinged yuppies colonizing their town, but they cannot deny the extra money they bring. Still, some of the old-timers wish the town was a little … quieter, the way it used to be.
People of Interest
Sam Forrester (Mayor)
Welcome to Rocky Peaks. Lovely town we have here, you gotta be sure to try out the banana cream pie at Sally’s. It’s the best in the state.
Mental: Intelligence 2, Wits 2, Resolve 2
Physical: Strength 1, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social: Presence 3, Manipulation 3, Composure 4
Mental Skills: Politics 4, Craft 1 (Motor Cars), Computer 1, Academics 1 (Town History)
Physical Skills: Drive 2, Firearms 2, Athletics 1, Survival 1
Social Skills: Persuasion 4, Socialize 3, Subterfuge 1, Expression 3
Willpower: 6
Virtue: Prudence
Vice: Greed
Health: 8
Initiative: 6
Defence: 2
Speed: 8
Merits: Contacts 2 (Law Enforcement, City Officials), Status 4 (City Hall), Resources 4
Sam Forrester is the mayor of Rocky Peaks. He has always been the mayor of Rocky Peaks; well except for that one term he lost out to Judd Tanner, but everyone remembers what a disaster that was. His grey hair and easy smile lend him a distinguished yet friendly air. He seems like everyone’s old friend or favourite uncle. Sam walks a careful path in the politics of the town: the old-timers want peace, quiet and serenity, the new-comers want to see the amenities they left behind to move here follow them. Mayor Forrester wants the plentiful votes of the old-timers and the money that new investment will bring to his property holdings in town.
The bigger problem is the unrest amongst the old-timers. There have been one or two fights down at the Moose Head and there are rumblings at the weekly poker games and monthly hunting trips. This makes the sudden disappearance of a number of the new-comers pets very worrying. Especially since he saw old Jim down the lane skinning something that looked suspiciously like a house cat. Sam Forrester is a worried man and no amount of good, home-town charm is going to fix this problem.
Jesse Tanner (Guide)
Well, folks, this is the Lady and Child falls. They say that a lady hid her child under the falls before being killed by Indians. Now, it ain’t haunted and it’s a good swimming hole, but I dare any of you to come out here by full moon. They say her child still lives here, and he ain’t all right in the head. Now, who’s up for a beer at the Moose Head?
Mental: Intelligence 1, Wits 4, Resolve 1
Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 2 Stamina 3
Social: Presence 2, Manipulation 1, Composure 2
Mental Skills: Crafts 2 (Carving), Occult 1, Medicine 1
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Drive 3, Firearms 2, Stealth 1, Survival 2
Social Skills: Animal Ken 2, Empathy 2, Intimidation 2, Socialize 1
Willpower: 3
Virtue: Faith
Vice: Gluttony
Health: 8
Initiative: 4
Defence: 2
Speed: 10
Merits: Unseen Sense (Werewolf), Language 2 (Spanish), Danger Sense, Direction Sense, Iron Stamina, Allies 3 (Park Rangers)
Jesse works as a guide around Rocky Peak and the surrounding parklands. He drives his SUV full of tourists out every day, hits all the fishing spots and a waterfall and brings them back for a nice coffee at Sally’s or a beer at the Moose Head. Jesse is a simple man, although some would say a bit too simple. But he is likeable for all that. His sandy blonde hair and six foot three frame sometimes attract a lady or two but Jesse never really bites. He still stays with his grandmother on the edge of town and takes solicitous care of her.
Jesse’s Unseen Sense merit sometimes gets him into a fair amount of trouble. Jesse gets really twitchy around wolf-blooded folk and downright antsy around full blood Uratha. In Rocky Peaks, this means he spends a lot of time on edge and it helps for him to get out into the forest with his tour groups.
Kyle Monroe (Manager of the Green Pines Hotel)
Welcome to the Green Pines, Mr Berlotti. We have the usual room for you. No, no, don’t worry I will personally ensure that you aren’t disturbed.
Mental: Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 1
Physical: Strength 2, Dexterity 1, Stamina 1
Social: Presence 2, Manipulation 3, Composure 2
Mental Skills: Computer 2, Academics 1, Politics 1
Physical Skills: Drive 2, Stealth 1
Social Skills: Persuasion 2, Expression 1, Empathy 1, Socialise 2, Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 3
Willpower: 3
Virtue: Hope
Vice: Lust
Health: 6
Initiative: 3
Defence: 1
Speed: 8
Merits: Fleet of Foot 1, Allies 1 (Mafia), Contacts 2 (City Hall, Business), Barfly, Resources 3
Kyle Monroe is the manager of Green Pines Hotel. He is a balding middle-aged man, who lives in one of the suites at the hotel after a bitter divorce. He runs the place with an iron fist and tends to skirt the very edges of sexual harassment with the maids employed at the hotel. However, he doesn’t think he is a bad man, just one hard done by (despite the Porsche sitting in the parking lot).
However, he is starting to question his self-perceived morality. It all started when a couple of guys, with some Russian girl, paid him a great deal of money, to take a room and keep everyone else out of it for a day. Then they kept coming, until one day they arrived without a girl in tow. A few hours in the bar seemed to solve that as they headed upstairs with a very drunk tourist in tow. The third time they picked up a tourist, they left with a very heavy black bag. When Kyle inspected the room afterwards, he saw one of the girls shoes under the bed and a small smear of blood on the sink. He doesn’t know anything bad happened, but no one saw the girl leave. Now there is someone in a black car following him around town, and he has the feeling he may just be in this deeper than he wants to be.
Places of Interest
Green Pines Hotel
The Green Pines Hotel is a sprawling establishment on the edge of town. A number of the townsfolk are employed there either full time or part time. The heavy Gothic architecture and old-world charm of the hotel lures tourists from City, looking for a change from the glass and steel of the City. The management here try not to publicise the number of tourists that have ended their own lives in this establishment however.
Sally’s Treats (Coffee Shop)
Sally’s Treats is the quaintest holdover from the time before the influx of new blood into Rocky Peaks. Sally is a darling old widow that runs the sprawling coffee shop situated in her house. She hires the local youngsters to wait the tables, but does the lion’s share of the cooking and baking herself. The decorating style does tend towards doilies, but the cakes, treats and coffee more than make it for it.
The ladies of the town spend a fair amount of their free time in Sally’s. They would say it’s a good thing too. They’d point you to that time that that creepy suspected kiddy-fiddler moved to town. They organized that protest outside his house. Sure, he hadn’t actually done something yet, as far as they knew. And sure, he committed suicide a few weeks later. But at least the children are safe, right?
Average GM Characters
Townsperson
Description: The people here have lived in Rocky Peaks most of their life. They tend to the rural dress style, checked shirts, jeans and boots predominating. They drive pickups and mini-vans.
Storytelling Hints: The good folk of Rocky Peaks don’t really like outsiders. Sure, they bring in money and all. But they are loud, and disruptive and the mess with the cosy sense of community that the town has.
Abilities: Gossip (dice pool 7) – The folks of this good town are neighbourly and friendly and know just about everything there is to know about their friends and neighbours.
Yuppie Immigrant
Description: SUVs, Blackberry’s and casual clothes are the order of the day. These people are independently wealthy and can afford pretty much any luxury they want.
Storytelling Hints: The folks flooding in to Rocky Peaks are retired (though mostly quite young), semi-retired or wealthy. They are here for the escape from the rat-race, the quiet and the tranquillity. Some may wonder why they bring so many parties and so much of the city with them.
Abilities: Business (dice pool 6) – The immigrants earned their money somehow and they still have the savvy that got them that far.
Politics (dice pool 4) - Most of the people here may not have been actively involved politics but they definitely knew the movers and shakers.
So far the outskirts of the City are particularly well suited to a game of Werewolf: The Forsaken. The rural town and wilderness presented here tie in effectively with the themes and setting of the Werewolf game. The abundance of wolf-blooded in the town of Rocky Peaks is a rich source of character connections and the Parklands provide a rich source of loci and even verges.
The opportunities exist for other games to be played out against their backdrop, however. The nearness of the setting to the City makes it perfect for a “night-trip” by a Vampire coterie, possibly even to the Green Pines Hotel, and a motley of Changelings may find curious treasures in the hedge surrounding Blue Rock. A trip to the country for the traditionally city-bound character types can make for a fun and challenging change of pace.
