Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy Influence is the ability to affect the aspects of local government. A character can manipulate the rules, red-tape and regulations that are necessary to run a city. Influence can be attained by amassing contacts or allies among the clerks, supervisors, utility workers, road crews, surveyors, other civil servants and even city councilmen and alderman.
Crescent City’s political and bureaucratic world is vast, sprawling and byzantine beyond compare. Its areas of authority overlap and its various functions, bureaus, and authorities form a labyrinth which few can navigate.
- Trace utility bills
- Fake a birth certificate or driver's license; Disconnect a single small residence's utilities; Close a small road or park; Get public aid ($250)
- Fake a death certificate, passport or green card; Close a public school for a single day; Shut down a minor business on a violation
- Initiate a phone tap; Fake land deeds; Initiate a department-wide investigation
- Start, stop or alter a city-wide program or policy; Shut down a big business on a violation; Rezone areas; Obliterate records for a person on a city or county level
City Specific Areas
City Hall serves as the bureaucratic seat of
Crescent City. It is there the city houses its exhaustively numerous departments, including Archives & Records, Labor Relations, Human Resources, the Office of Cultural Affairs, Compliance… and more… many, many more.
Church
The Church and those associated with it, are no strangers to politics and intrigue. This, of course, is something upon which the opportunistic Kindred can capitalize.
Church Influence usually only applies to mainstream denominations, which include: Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and the Islamic faith Other religions, such as Paganism, would fall under
Occult Influence. Contact and Allies affected by
Church Influence include: ministers, bishops, priests, activists, evangelists, nuns and assistants, as well as attendees.
- Identify most secular members of a given faith in the local area; Pass as a member of the clergy; Peruse general church records (baptism, marriage, burial, etc.)
- Identify higher church members; Track regular church members; Suspend lay members
- Open or close a single church; Find the average church-associated Hunter; Dip into the collection plate ($250 Access private information and archives of a church
- Discredit or suspend high-level church members; Manipulate regional branches of the church
- Organize major protests; Access ancient church lore and knowledge
City Specific Areas
Crescent City is a city of religious diversity. Everything from Catholics to Taoism can be found in
Crescent City. However, only a few of them have a large following.
St. Adam’s Catholic Cathedral
St. Adam’s Catholic Cathedral is the largest place of worship in Crescent City and also boasts the highest weekly attendance and donations.St. George’s Chapel
St. George’s Chapel is both a historical site and the gathering place of the Protestant faith in the city.-
The prominent Jewish Synagogue in the city.
The Northern Islamic Society
This Islamic Mosque is new, having finished construction within the last few years. There has been a slow increase in the Islamic faith, despite American’s fear and hatred of it.
-
The most prominent Buddhist temple in Northern California. It’s tucked away deep in the woods near Crescent City.
Finance
All around us are the trips and trappings of affluence and the rich and famous capture our attention on a daily basis. Kindred who enter into the world of Finance can speak the language of money and investments. They peruse the Wall Street Journal with all the interest another person lends to a fabulous novel. Kindred with this influence know where to find capital; they can access banks, mega-corporations and the truly wealthy of the world. Those with this influence control CEO's, bankers, corporate yes-men, financiers, stock brokers, loan agents and even bank tellers.
- Learn about major transactions and financial events; Raise capital ($1,000 Learn about general economic trends; Learn real motivations for many financial actions of others
- Trace an unsecured small account; Raise capital to purchase a small business (single store or small service)
- Purchase a large business (a few small branches or a single large store or service)
- Manipulate local banking (delay deposits, some credit rating alterations Ruin a small business
- Control an aspect of city-wide banking (shut off ATMs, arrange a bank "holiday" Ruin a large business; Purchase a major company
City Specific Areas
First Providence, People’s Trust, and
Red Shield Bank are the largest multinational banking corporations within the city and control the majority of financial transactions therein.
Health
In this modern age, there are many organizations and places and people that exist and make their living at easing the aches, pains, illnesses and needs of people. These organizations are rife for manipulation and exploitation by enterprising Kindred. Those with this influence control health agencies, hospitals, asylums, medical groups and even nursing homes. Contact and Allies affected by
Health Influence include: nurses, doctors, specialists, lab workers, therapists, counselors and pharmacists, amongst others.
- Access a person's health records; Face vaccination records and the like; Use public functions of health centers at your leisure; Get a single bag (1bp) of Mortal blood
- Access some medical research records; Have minor lab work done; Get a copy of a coroner's report; Instigate minor quarantines
- Corrupt results of tests or inspections; Alter medical records
- Acquire a body; Completely rewrite medical records; Abuse grants for personal use ($250 Have minor medical research performed on a subject; Institute large-scale quarantines; Shut down businesses for "health code violations"
- Have special research projects performed; Have people institutionalized or released
City Specific Areas
Many various institutions can be found in Crescent City, from small, private clinics to dentistry offices. Of them, there are two especially prominent factions in the city’s health sphere:
Crescent City Medical Center
Located in Downtown, Crescent City’s main hospital is the largest 24-hour, level 1 trauma center in the state and has the most visited emergency room in the city.
St. Jude’s Hospital
St Jude's is one of the smaller clinics where most people go, though there is a primary hospital in town for those who can afford luxuries like insurance. But it is the clinics like St Jude's' where gunshot, stab, and needle wounds are treated. The staff works tirelessly around the clock in a city where crime is well above the national average.
Whisperwood Sanatorium
The city’s mental hospital, Whisperwood, currently houses over 200 patients, most of which are criminally insane. The facility focuses on containing the patients rather than rehabilitate them, exercising methods that directly reflect this. The sanatorium is based in The Wastelands.
Banshee Pharmaceuticals
A large Pharmaceutical Corporation that is based in Crescent City. It’s known to have a factory in the Industrial District and a Business Office in a Skyscraper in The Business District.
High Society
There are people in this world that, by dint of birth, possessions, talent, luck or knowing who to blow, have risen above the “unwashed masses.” Those with this influence are able to control and direct the energy and actions of mortals who move amongst society and in the entertainment sector. Contact and Allies affected by
High Society Influence include: dilettantes and debutantes, the old rich and the nouveau riche, movie stars, rock stars, artists, dancers of all sorts, fashion models, trendsetters, critics, and fashion models.
- Learn what is trendy; Obtain hard-to-get tickets for shows; Learn about concerts, shows or plays well before they are made public
- Track most celebrities and luminaries; Be a local voice in the entertainment field; "Borrow" idle cash from rich friends ($1,000)
- Crush promising careers; Hobnob well above your station
- Minor celebrity status
- Get a brief appearance on a talk show that's not about to be canceled; Ruin a new club, gallery, festival, or other posh gathering
City Specific Areas
The High Society in the city revolves around the
Cultural District and the various well-to-do families. Though old money families like the 5 Founding Families tend to
Dominate the social scene and have the most well known names and reputations, the nouveau riche families, fueled by fairly recent successes on the stock market or in banking as well as a few inheritances, have made the biggest splashes in the gossip columns. The main places those of good standing within in the city meet, apart from the numerous annual charity events, galas and receptions is both the
Wendelton Yacht Club and the
Wendelton Country Club, with admittance into both clubs being a proud badge of honor amongst the rich and difficult to attain.
-
-
The 5 Founding Families
Industry
The World of Darkness is rife with the grinding of machinery, the thuds and clangs of smoke-billowing engines, and the ceaseless and thankless toil of its pastry-faced workers whose lives are ended far too early due to the constant exposure to toxins, long-hours and stress. Those with this influence are able to control and direct the energy and actions of mortals who move in the industrial complex, engineers, contractors, construction workers and the poor souls who labor in factories.
- Learn about industrial projects and movements
- Have minor projects performed; Dip into union funds or embezzle petty cash ($500 Arrange small accidents or sabotage
- Organize minor strikes; Appropriate machinery for a short time
- Close down a small plant; Revitalize a small plant
- Manipulate large local industry
City Specific Areas
-
The largest manufacturing employer in the city, their large plant in the manufacturing district mostly constructs cruise missiles and as such is very difficult to gain direct access to without clearance. Most of their workers belong to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers.
America Federation of Warehouse Workers
-
The CCSBC prosperity, like the city’s, seems to be always in flux. Originally one of the largest employers in Crescent City, their property has historically served as one of the main shipyards for the US Navy on the west coast, though nowadays it has seen a recent resurgence as the US seeks to modernize its fleet. These new contracts have not done much to help the blue collar worker, though, as most of the money is going to the engineers and investors.
Legal
In the so-called hallowed halls of Lady Justice, Kindred walk with influence can walk with impunity. Those with this influence are able to control and direct the courts and justice bureaus. Those who enter this influence can even affect the law schools, and law firms attached to the Court system. Contacts and allies can include: lawyers, judges, bailiffs, clerks, and District Attorneys.
- Get free representation for minor cases
- Avoid bail for some charges; Have minor charges dropped
- Manipulate legal procedures (minor wills and contracts, court dates Access public or court funds ($250 Get representation in most court cases
- Issue subpoenas; Tie up court cases; Have most legal charges dropped; Cancel or arrange parole
- Close down all but the most serious investigations; Have deportation proceedings held against someone
City Specific Areas
Crescent City is speckled with numerous law firms, but it is two institutions that stand more prominently over the rest in the city’s legal sector:
-
The seat of justice in the city, the courthouse hears both civil and criminal cases. Secure and generally well respected, the courthouse nonetheless has a tendency to punish minorities harshly and to allow rich white men to get off lightly.
Savage and Morrison (S&M)
Old Media is the eyes and ears of the
Mortal world. At once informative and insightful, it is also considered corrupt and biased. No one is surprised when news people seem to turn a blind eye to big problems and then on the next day, make much ado about something relatively minor. Those with this influence are able to control and direct the printed news and the broadcast news. The Kindred who controls the media is a powerful Kindred indeed, frequently sought to handle breaches and the like. Contacts and allies can include station directors, editors, reporters, anchors, camera people, photographers, and radio and television personalities.
- Learn about breaking stories early; Submit small articles (within reason)
- Suppress (but not stop) small news articles or reports; Get hold of investigative reporting information
- Initiate news investigations and reports; Get project funding and waste it ($250)
- Ground stories and projects
- Broadcast fake stories (local only Kill small local articles or reports completely
City Specific Areas
-
The Examiner serves as the city’s primary news source and newspaper. Concerned with fact-based and logical news reporting, they are quick to dismiss and explain strange occurrences within the city.
The Crescent City Mirror
-
The Northland Corporation owns and maintains the two largest news networks on TV. AZTS News Channel 23 and WPCT News Channel 14.
-
-
Crack of Dawn Radio Station
The Morning Tide Tribune
New Media is the eyes and ears of the local online world. At once informative and insightful, it is also considered less reliable than traditional sources and sensationalist. No one is surprised when news people seem to turn a blind eye to big problems and then on the next day, make much ado about something relatively minor. Those with this influence are able to control and direct digital news and the Twittersphere. The Kindred who controls the media is a powerful Kindred indeed, frequently sought to handle breaches and the like. Contacts and allies can include Website managers, editors, reports, bloggers, tweeters, online personalities.
- Learn about breaking stories early; Submit small articles/video’s (within reason)
- Suppress (but not stop) small online articles or reports; Get hold of investigative reporting information
- Initiate news investigations and reports; Get project funding and waste it ($250)
- Ground stories and projects
- Broadcast fake stories (local only Kill small local articles or reports completely
Occult
The supernatural world and those that move in it are a strong curiosity for a great many people. Many look at the Occult world and its occupants and cannot help but consider it a sham and a fraud. This could not be further from the truth. Those with this influence are able to control and direct the world that comes the closest to the Kindred world. Kindred who have control in the Occult world are able to garner support and information from cult leaders, alternative religious groups, charlatans, would-be occultists and New Agers.
- Contact and make use of common occult groups and their practices; Know some of the more visible occult figures
- Know and contact some of the more obscure occult figures; Access resources for most rituals and rites
- Access vital or rare material components; Milk impressionable wannabes for bucks ($250 Access occult tomes and writings
- Learn of signs of local supernatural activity and possibly contact those involved
- Access occult artifacts and rare occult writings; Control a small cult or circle
City Specific Areas
Crescent City’s occult circles… don’t exist? Perhaps curiously, there’s little significant occult presence in the city… at least, as far as publicly known. One or two pagan groups – centered more around religious practices and stereotype rather than true ritual – can be found in the city, but beyond that, if there is an occult presence in Crescent City, it’s a secretive, insular one… and open to only those select few that can, first, find them and, second, actually fit in.
Life Temple & Seminary
Based in Oceanview out of the home of a couple known simply as Jarilo and Morana, the Life Temple is possibly the most well-known Wicca and New Age group in Crescent City if only by merit of being the most prominent presence in newspaper ads.
The Gathering of Whispers
Led by Gladys Hutchinson. She is rumored to have dead bodies buried in her front yard and mind altering granny candies. She has several kids that live or work for her which are references as Boy or Girl followed by a number.
Political
Politics is an art which even the youngest Kindred knows something about. From the time a
Neonate is introduced to society, he or she begins to learn exactly how complex and convoluted politics in the Kindred world truly is. Many Kindred find it amusing at how cut-throat
Mortal seems, but they themselves know how deadly real politics can be. Individuals which Kindred can latch onto and use include statesmen, pollsters, activists, party leaders and even members, lobbyists, candidates, and politicians.
- Minor lobbying; Identify real platforms of politicians and parties; Be in the know
- Meet small-time politicians; Garner inside information on processes, laws and the like; Use a slush fund or a fund-raiser ($1,000)
- Sway or alter political projects (local parks, renovations, small construction)
- Enact minor legislation; Dash careers of minor politicians
- Get your candidate in a minor office; Enact encompassing legislature
City Specific Areas
- City Hall, and the surrounding City Square, is Crescent City’s political hive.
Street
Overlooked, underappreciated, and even ignored, those who live on the street have their own culture, their own lifestyle and deal with the harsh lot they have been dealt in their own, unique way. Disenfranchised and jaded, insane and ill, those who dwell beneath the underbelly of a city are a force to be reckoned with. Contacts and allies can be found in the darkest of alleys and poorest of slums. Those who can be used by Kindred include: gang members, the homeless, street performers, petty criminals, prostitutes and the forgotten - this would include Veterans and those cast out of mental wards.
- Open an ear for the word on the street; Identify most gangs and know their turfs and habits
- Live mostly without fear on the underside of society; Keep a contact or two in most aspects of street life; Access small-time contraband
- Get insight into other areas of Influence; Arrange some services from street people or gangs; Get pistols or uncommon melee weapons
- Mobilize groups of homeless; Panhandle or hold a "collection" ($250 Get hold of a shotgun, rifle or SMG; Have a word in almost all aspects of gang operations
- Control a single medium-sized gang; Arrange impressive protests by street people
City Specific Areas
Numerous street gangs roam the poorer areas of the city, though many of them are just disaffected youths banded together to cause violence and trouble, or small time street criminals looking to sell a little coke. Very rarely are any truly organized or directly affiliated with the more dominant underworld families in the city.
Transportation
People have to move. They have to travel to and from work, shopping and for business and pleasure. People fly, drive, and travel by train. Goods are hauled over rail, sea, air and via the highways. With the means of moving about, our big old world becomes a much smaller, accessible place. Contacts and allies can be found on the roads, in the airports and in train and bus stations. Those who can be used by Kindred include: cab drivers, bus drivers, pilots, air traffic controllers, travel firms, sea captains and their crews, border guards, and many, many others.
- Know what goes where, when and why; Travel locally quickly and freely
- Track an unwary target if he uses public transportation; Arrange passage safe (or at least concealed) from mundane threads (robbery, terrorism, sunlight, etc.)
- Seriously hamper an individual's ability to travel; Avoid most supernatural dangers when traveling (such as Lupines)
- Shut down one form of transportation (bus lines, ships, planes, trains, etc.) temporarily; Route money your way ($500)
- Reroute major modes of travel; Smuggle with impunity
City Specific Areas
Underworld
Organized crime, the undercurrent that is common in each and every city, large or small. Each group that moves through the Underworld provides a "valuable" if nefarious service and provides access to those who will carry out the most dangerous and questionable of deeds. Contacts and allies can be found in hit men, the Mafia, Yakuza, bookies, fencers and launderers.
- Locate minor contraband (knives, small-time drugs, petty gambling, scalped tickets)
- Obtain pistols, serious drugs, stolen cars; Hire muscle to rough someone up; Fence stolen loot; Prove that crime pays (and score $1,000)
- Obtain a rifle, shotgun, or SMG; Arrange a minor "hit"; Meet someone in “the Family”
- Make white-collar crime connections
- Arrange gangland assassinations; Hire a demolition man or firebug; Supply local drug needs
City Specific Areas
The
Irish Mob and the
Italian Mafia are the two dominant organized crime “families” in Crescent City, both operating directly from and the indisputable masters of their own resident districts. The
Irish Mob focuses their power on the city’s dock, unions, and industries, whereas the
Italian Mafia keeps themselves involved in illegal gambling and protection rackets. Both are considerable “benefactors” of more than a few political representatives. Both are also in constant competitive contention.
Irish Mob – Industrial Zone/The Barrens
Italian Mafia - The Docks/Residential Districts.
Russian Mafia (Bratva) ¬– Industrial Zone/The Barrens
University
Knowledge is power. Everyone knows that, or at the least has heard that.
University Influence is a fairly straight forward influence that covers all aspects of the University life. Contacts and allies can be found in teachers, professors, deans, students, and sororities and fraternities.
- Know layout and policy of local schools; Have access to low-level university resources; Get records up to the high school level
- Know a contact or two with useful knowledge or Abilities; Have minor access to facilities; Fake high school records; Obtain college records
- Call in faculty favors; Cancel a class; Fix grades; Discredit a student
- Organize student protests and rallies; Discredit faculty members
- Falsify an undergraduate degree
City Specific Areas
St. John’s University
-
The Oceanside Academy is the City’s famous Art School.
Comments