Gotham

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Characters:

Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent
The prosecutor. Harvey is an ambitious young man who wants to make cases and make a name for himself. Is justice more important than his career?

Detective Jim Gordon
The investigator. Even though he's new to Gotham, Jim has been around the block. He has an easy, confident way about him. He knows how to do the work and put a case together without cutting corners. Will Gotham corrupt him?

Officer Renee Montoya
The cop. Before being assigned to the Major Crimes Unit, Montoya walked a beat in The Narrows, Gotham's toughest neighborhood. She is as hard as nails and doesn't need to prove anything to anyone. Or does she?

Detective Harvey Bullock
The brute. His cronies in the GCPD will swear up and down that he is a good cop, despite his reputation for taking bribes, police brutality, and ties to organized crime. Harvey always takes the role of "bad cop." Is it just an act?

Lt. Gerard Hennelly
The guns. Jerry runs the Quick Response Team, Gotham's SWAT unit. When it's time to kick down a door, Jerry and his team get the call.

Mario Falcone aka "Roman"
The boss. Mario has fought to establish a powerful criminal enterprise in Gotham and has some of the city government and the police on his payroll. Can he hold on to what he has?

Vincent Hightower aka "Tower"
The dealer. One of Falcone's lieutenants, who runs the drug trade in the Narrows. Poised to make a move and take over territory from his rivals. Will he spark a gang war?

Johnny Crane aka "Scarecrow"
The addict. Johnny is hooked on the heroin that Falcone is pushing in the Narrows. He's almost always high as a kite, but he sees everything that goes on, even if it doesn't always make sense. He sometimes works as a CI for Montoya. Will he make his life work, or succumb to the streets?

Bruce Wayne
The businessman. Wayne runs a powerful Gotham corporation primarily concerned with real estate development, especially in the poorer areas of the city. As the heir of the Wayne family fortune, Bruce's ties to Gotham run deep, connecting him to money and power both legitimate and dirty. Will he profit from human misery, or be an agent for change?

The Kicker:

The Bat
The demon. The bat is a thing of darkness that preys on those whom it deems corrupt and evil. It's a creature of mystery that only a few know to be real and not just urban legend. The Bat has upset the status quo, striking down people of all stripes -- cops, councilmen, criminals, and citizens. Who will learn to summon the demon, and can it be controlled?

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This is The Wire meets The Shield with a touch of Sorcerer, in Gotham City.

We'll use the Anthology Engine, modified. Most significantly, the Owe List will apportion screen presence rather than control which characters recur. In other words, the core cast members can always recur, but if you have your name on the Owe List three times then you have SP 3 when you're in an episode. SP can be crossed off for advantage dice as normal and is earned in the usual way (go into conflict with smaller dice).

The Oracle draws will set up the crimes, opportunities, and situations that the cast will have to deal with for a given episode.

While writing this and poking around on Wikipedia, I found out about Gotham Central, which looks like an interesting parallel idea (less demony, I'll wager). Time to go hunt down the trade paperbacks. I have two of them now and they are very good!

Labels: hack, iawa

posted by John Harper at 1:00 AM