Revision [25340]
This is an old revision of NewOrleansGameScaffold made by KellyToyama on 2012-01-16 03:10:42.
Game Specifications
- Set in New Orleans
- All PCs were at the same orphanage - The St. James Orphanage
- Arrive at the orphanage by 1865
- The orphanage will accept children until they’re around 16
- Game will start in 1880s, so PCs need to develop prelude up to that point
- If away from orphanage, write letters, or provide some other type of updates to keep the group knit together.
- No meta power required - Batman will be totally competent in this game - but everyone MUST be a carrier. Any major handicaps must be acquired during life, rather than congenital.
- No requirements for awakening timing.
- Orphanage life was tough. Orphans are neglected, beaten when they misbehave, and spend their days in work houses.
To do:
- (Each PC) Provide:
- Date and age when you arrive at orphanage
- Other minimal character facts (name, e.g.)
- (Kel) organize the characters into a minimal timeline, and set up shell events to get the role playing started. NOTimelineOrphanage Orphanage Timeline
Descriptions:
Vincent and Rose Black run the St. James Hotel. A large hotel that is in the heart of the French Quarter (Address needed. Adjacent buildings needed.)
The children have little interaction with Mr. Black. He is a stern man, tall and thin, with gray edges to his dark black hair. He smokes a pipe and likes to keep to himself. He drinks in the evenings, and generally seems sour and sad. He never talks with the children.
Rose is a very devout Christian and attends Church every Sunday, and participates in all the Church functions. (Church name needed). She insists that all the children attend Sunday service with her. She is the reason that the Orphanage is open, and she wants to make sure to save the children's souls.
The Hotel was used by Confederate Soldiers as a way station during the war. Mr. Black is a strong Confederate supporter, and a Confederate flag hangs in the Black's apartment.
The Saint James Orphanage is attached to the hotel via a small dirty alley, which is the path the children workers take to the hotel early each morning. The Blacks live in an apartment in the hotel.
A long time ago, the Orphanage and the Hotel were a church complex, and it gate still is attached to a small cemetery. The only bit of the Church that remains is what used to be the bell tower, the bells are long gone but the tall spiral tower remains attached to the Orphanage. By crawling out of one of the upstairs windows, and along the rooftop the children can reach the tower which still has a small room where the bells used to be. From this room they can overlook most of the city and hear music floating in from downtown.
The head of the staff is Mr. Martin French. He is a short stout man that is all muscle. He's bald with a thick black beard and a loud voice and smile. He shows up to work every day in his fine pressed tuxedo. He is very proud of his job. He interacts with the children, calling them his "little soldiers." He is not mean, but expects the children to do the jobs they are assigned and is not afraid of beating children who misbehave, or slack off in their duties. As a policy each child is beaten their first day so that they "know what it feels like."
It is unlikely that his last name is actually French, but he does speak fluent French, and will use it to converse with the the Creole staff. He was an officer during the war, and has some wartime connections to Mr. Black, but he does not speak of it. He is very reverent of Mr. Black and will never speak ill of him.
Notes etc below:
<#kate: Hey all. Been thinking about my character (gasp) and was wondering if we could tweak some of the years so that her respective ages could make sense? I'm hoping to have her be 21-22 in 1880, while arriving at the orphanage around 9, putting the "start year" around 1867-68 rather than 1865. I was also hoping she would be the 4th or 5th of the PC's to arrive as well. Not sure if any of that works, but let me know. Happy character developing. Kate. #>
<#ann: I don't have a problem with that. I did some initial investigating, and while the majority of orphanages were single sex, I did find records specifically in New Orleans that referenced sending both male and female children to the same institution, and other records that talk about the Blank Orphanage for Girls and Blank Orphanage for Boys, which imply sister schools, so that's not too much of a problem. I have found numerous references to integrated schools in New Orleans in this period (thought by the end of the century that had changed), so if we decide to be an integrated orphanage, I think we can let that slide. I'm still looking for more detailed information about what it was like to live in an orphanage in this time period, but signs seem to indicate that schooling would be important. Almost every reference to NO orphanages mention 'good education' (though of course the official press is hardly going to say otherwise.) Most mention teaching girls to sew, and several say they teach boys 'a useful trade'. At least one orphanage in NO was doing the laundry of hotels and steamboats, so that might be something to think about.) #>
<#bill: The other option is that was make the game happen earlier....like 1878 or so. I think I would prefer that option, but I can go either way. #>
<#court: Shifting the timing either of the ways mentioned is fine with me! And I think my character would be good arriving at the orphanage earlyish, so that shouldn't be in conflict for arrival order! -ct. #>
<#jonah: JP: I have no problem with that date adjustment. If you have something cool in mind, I'd say let's go for it. (As an aside, don't forget that the new wiki syntax works! I've updated the above text to use the new stuff. #>
<#kate: Syntax in use! Also, I hope these work. Orphans and Orphanages and Orphanages They might be interesting reads and suggest some different family dynamics than just having both parents deceased. - kate #>
Kelly's random thoughts (These are muteable but might give people some things to incorporate) :
1) I think the orphanage is run as a business...my gut is that its attached or nearby a factory / hotel thing and the orphanage provides for the children but they are expected to work at the business "getting real world training to make them productive members of society." (In other words free labor in exchange for room and board).
2) I think the business was heavily involved in the civil war, but with it over, has seen better times. (example if it was a hotel it housed soldiers, if it was a factory it made munitions, etc.)
3) I think the business is run by the male half of a couple, while the female half runs the orphanage. (I can also see the whole family being involved...oldest daughter cooking the kids food, oldest son working as the foreman at the business).
4) I think the orphanage has a tall tower or spire that the kids can climb up and look out over the city.
Ill add more as my brain churns, others can feel free to add as well.
<#kate: I'd like a balcony (maybe iron wrought like they have in all those pictures) where you can hear music and maybe see some of the fancy folks in town. -Kate #>
<#ann: If there is a high tower, would we need a balcony? I sort of like the idea of sneaking out on the roof/tower to listen to the music. It gives it a forbidden air. In response to being a factory/hotel, I would vote for the hotel. There's much more varied work and more physical work in running a hotel than in working in a factory. Learning to sew, do laundry, cook, etc can be useful skills. -Ann #>
<#kate: I'm cool if the tower = balcony. I just wanted a place where my character could hang out (sneak out more probably) and listen to music. In reply to the hotel / factory - could we do both? The girls at the hotel, the boys at the factory? I hate to be stereotypical but I feel like the guys would be put to work in a more physically demanding environment (hauling stuff, chopping, working with machines) while the girls might be more the laundry, cooking route. Either way works for me really, just wanted to voice the option. Since my hope is to have a musically inclined character, could there be a piano in the hotel? - Kate #>
Piano is a go in the hotel.
I would prefer if everyone is in the same place. I can find lots of manual labor for the boys to do (chop wood, haul landry, carpentry, plumbing, etc)
<#ann: It's the physical nature of doing laundry and baking bread that I'm counting on to build my muscles! Sewing is tedious and sedentary, but that's about the only household task that is not back-breaking. But I'm down with making it a hybrid hotel/factory if that's what we want. There's more scope there for people being able to either gain a skill they want to have or make their lives miserable in a particular way, whichever path they want to take with the character-Ann#>
<#court: Factory/hotel/balcony all sound great! I also wanted to bring up the possibility of siblings again... J and Bill I think expressed initial interest, but as everyone thinks about their characters more, I wanted to check in again. I will start an email thread or create a subpage for whoever wants to jump on the bandwagon! My initial thought was to create a family in which mental illness of a parent was a prime factor in the child(ren) going to the orphanage. I've been doing some research and thinking and can bat around ideas with whoever lets me know they'd like to! =) -Court#>
Subpage for the siblings go!
<#bill: l Kel, did you create a subpage somewhere that I'm not seeing? Or are you just telling us to go ahead and create one? #>
<#kate: Hey Court - Sounds fun but I think I'll skip on the siblings at this point. My vote would be for the hotel if we're only doing one. -Kate #>
<#court: Here's that subpage! SiblingsPossibilities #>
NeedsKelly
NeedsJonah
NeedsBill
NeedsAnn
NeedsKate
