Lord of the City

The game is set in the fictional city of Neopolis, a huge city within the United States. Comparable in size and influence to any city with the USA, Neopolis is a city of vast wealth and crushing poverty, with multimillion dollar penthouse suites not far from crime ridden slums. Perhaps Neopolis, the new city, is a little darker than it’s sibling cities. A little more dangerous, a little more mysterious, a little more corrupt.

Neopolis exists in a world that superficially resembles our own world. It is the year 2014, Barack Obama is president, the Winter Olympics were in Sochi, people eat at McDonald’s and watch Game of Thrones on HBO. But it is not our world. In this world, supernatural creatures exist and have kept themselves hidden through out the ages, preying on, manipulating, and in some cases protecting humanity along with striving to keep their existence secret from humans.

In Neopolis, a number of powerful factions of supernaturals vie for control of the city. Sometimes fighting, other times forming temporary alliances, always trying to remain in the shadows or cover their tracks.

You control one of these supernatural factions and you must represent the interests of your kin, weaken your rivals, accumulate mystical and temporal power, and keep the existence of the supernatural secret from humanity. Other players will be your rivals, allies, or both. You may have to form alliances, with even hated foes, for your mutual benefit to combat bigger threats.

Choose below from the list of factions which you might control. First come, first serve. The different factions aren’t entirely unified, though the each player representing a faction can direct that faction but will have to deal with rivals. After all six factions have a player representative, other players may join as leaders of sub-factions.  

New World Vampires

These are creatures much like we know from myth and legend, the undead who sleep during the day and drink the blood of humans to maintain their humanity. The truly ancient vampires dwell in the Old World, the vampires that inhabit the New World and Neopolis specifically, are quite young and thin blooded by comparison to their Old World kin. 

These young vampires, many no more than a few years undead, are not as conservative as their older relatives. Many are familiar with technology and modern culture and even those decades dead keep an interest in blending in with mortals to better feed. Vampires tend to be violent and ruthless by their nature, they also have enough self control to avoid violence in most circumstances and only require a relatively small amount of human blood to survive on.

Vampires are, as the legends say, unaging. They are also undead, though unless they are low on food, they appear to have a weakly beating heart and cool (not cold) skin, which is often but not always pale. These New World vampires can go out in the daylight, though it makes them as physically weak as humans and is very painful to their eyes skin. Vampires are quite strong and fast, several times that of their mortal days, and regenerate from damage at an advanced rate especially if they consume large amounts of blood. They seem to have supernatural charisma and some can even mesmerize humans by looking into their eyes. Some say that there are vampires which turn to ash within a few second of exposure to the sun, that can flip cars with ease, or move faster than a speeding bullet - those may be the Old World variety, they are not these vampires. 

There are two New World vampire “species” that are common to Neopolis, often called the Dampyr and Nosferatu. Dampyr require only animal blood to survive, though human blood is more pleasurable for them to consume. Dampyrs tend not to be that politically organized, with various Dampyr through out the city acting independently of each other and trying to avoid stepping on each other’s toes. Though they do respect their creators and elders, which tend to be the organizers among them in times of need. Nosferatu must have human blood and have paler skin than do the Dampyr, though they considerably stronger and faster than Dampir. Nosferatu have sharp cuspids which grow longer when they become hungry, while the Dampyr must extract blood with a blade of some sort. Traditionally, these two vampire species have been rivals, they have now made a temporary truce in Neopolis. Nosferatu tend to be territorial and divide up the city by which vampire, or group of them, owns what parts of the city - sometimes even engaging in a kind of gang warfare with each other. 

Vampires exist in relatively large numbers, as they can create new vampires relatively easy, and with the greater organization of new leadership, this practice has been limited slightly. Vampires use their emotional powers to gain wealth and power, but usually only on the personal scale, though this may change in the near future. Vampires tend to be libertines who enjoy wild parties, sex, blood drinking, enjoying wealth and opulence, and (un)living the good life. When vampires do exert influence into politics, as they do increasingly, they tend to support more permissive cultures where their wild lifestyles (which allows for drinking blood more easily) is allowed and where the occasional disappearance may not be as noticed.  

Old World Vampires

The vampires of Europe are ancient compared to those of the Americans and have strict traditions and hierarchies. Theoretically, these vampires have divided up the world under their rule, with a feudal chain of command which goes back to the ancients. In practice, this ruling structure has relatively little power in the Americas as old vampires are loath to travel and only those willing to go to the Americas were those who were young and progressively minded, which lead to New World vampires above being the predominant vampires in Neopolis. 

Despite this, there are still a few vampires within Neopolis who are old enough to cling to the ancient ways and who have loyalty to the Blood Courts of Europe. These old and potent blooded vampires have greater physical power than their young thin blooded kin, though they are also more set in their ways and also have more supernatural weaknesses than their New World cousins. Old World vampires are more patient and calculating than New World, though they are also more ruthless and cruel.

Elder vampires, of which there are a few in Neopolis, have vast physical prowess. They can move with incredible dexterity, are dozens of times stronger than humans, and can quickly regenerate from most forms of damage. They have superhuman charisma and can dominate humans with eye contact, erasing memories or adding new ones. Elders can also cloud the minds of mortals, becoming invisible to sight or making themselves appear as different people. Many have additional powers as well, such as flight or control over animals. 

Elders have weaknesses as well. They must sleep during the day, they cannot wake even if they tried. Their appearance is inhuman to varying degrees without the illusion - some are inhumanly pale and corpselike, some have animalistic features, some even appear as bat-like creatures with fur and wings. Sunlight burns the skin of these vampires like fire should they ever be exposed to the sun’s light, and this damage takes days to heal from as opposed to seconds for most other forms of injury. They require relatively large amounts of human blood to survive, if they grow too hungry they lose self control and will attack mortals at random.  

The elders are rare and they are served by younger vampires who have sworn fealty to them. These younger vampires are much like the Nosferatu New World vampires, though they have greater physical prowess because of their more potent blood but also find their flesh burned in the sunlight, though at a slower rate than the elders. 

Old World vampires of Neopolis have sworn fealty to a single elder who rules this region of the USA. While well over 1000 years old, this elder is quite young by the standards of vampires across the Atlantic. Old World vampires detest the New World vampires as traitors who must be brought to heal. There are far fewer Old World vampires than New World, largely because their reproductive traditions exist to preserve the purity of their blood at the expense of numbers. Until recently Old World vampires have bided their time, as ancients are patient, as the young vampires of America held dominance. The ruling elder has just awakened from a long sleep though, and it may have plans that change this.

The Cambion Families

At some point in the ancient past, demonic creatures mingled their blood with ancient noble families. The children of these unholy unions had any of the supernatural powers of their demonic parents, as well as their temperaments.  Through out the millennia, these creatures bred with each other, keeping their bloodlines pure and retaining their demonic heritage through out the ages. Now these families still exist and wield large amounts of supernatural and worldly power, though they are inbred and insular, stuck in the past and losing ground relative to other factions. They are still, however, a force to be reckoned with. 

The Cambion Families are horribly cruel and evil as well, incestuous and sexually perverted, delighting in causing suffering and aliens to mercy or compassion. They survive through strict traditions of family loyalty and oaths, the importance of which have increased through out the years. Cambion children are home schooled and isolated from the mainstream of culture, many have accents of languages that disappeared centuries ago. Imagine, if you will, the Addams Family with all humor and comedy removed, leaving only deadly seriousness - dark and twisted with children be raised to delight in torture, sadism, and perversion. 

The Cambions are very conservative by their nature, ruled by ancient Cambions hundreds of years old or older, and their resources are tied to old money and power. Old moneyed families, nobility, manufacturing companies, land holding, old fashioned investments. These are the sources of Cambion wealth and with each year, they dwindle ever so slightly. With each change in the economy - the freeing of slaves, the shift from agriculture to industry, the modern banking system, the computer age - the Cambion Families become slightly less relevant. They still have access to vast wealth and supernatural abilities when that fails them, some innovators among the Cambions have dreamed about a rebirth of Cambion power by helping to move them into the modern world. Others wish to drag the world back to when the Cambions had their peak of power.

There are a number of Cambion Families, each with their own characteristics, traditions, and supernatural powers. In the past the families were violent rivals, but in Neopolis, they have a grudging alliance with each other to stand against rival creatures. There are four major Cambion families who have power within Neopolis. The Ascania, beautiful and passionate Cambions with seductive powers as well as the ability to summon and control hell fire. The Sklavi, cruel and inhuman Cambions with the ability to shape their flesh and that of others as well as the power to control insects. The Mordua, an all female family who have control over darkness, cold, space, and time. And the Ivorix, Cambions who have mastery over illusion, dreams, nightmares, and people’s worst fears. All Cambions are supernaturally strong, fast, and tough with the ability to quickly regenerate from most forms of damage and lifespans from from many times that of humans to virtual immortality. Cambions also tend to practice black magic, which allows them to create a number of horrifying and potent magical effects. The more pure blooded (and inbred) the Cambion, the more potent their supernatural abilities, though that comes with the price of being less human in both mind and body. Cambions also become more powerful and less human with age, often developing strange inhuman features as they grow older and becoming more cruel and malevolent with the centuries. 

Psychics

These are humans are have developed remarkable mental abilities. It is not yet understood why some humans have these powers and others don’t. They do not seem to be heritable and the way that they work defies physical laws as we understand them. Despite this, of any faction, it is the psychics who most desire to understand and develop their abilities, who look at the world in a scientific way, and seek to study and master supernatural forces in the world.

This is the youngest faction by a significant amount. While the occasional psychic may have appeared here or there in the past, they were very rare and their powers relatively subtle. In the past few centuries, the number of psychics has risen dramatically, especially in the 20th and 21st centuries. It was only in the early 20th century that psychics really discovered each other’s existence and banded together for their mutual benefit and protection. 

Unlike many other beings here, psychics have only a mortal lifespan (or in some cases, only slightly more) and live and die as humans do. This gives them an advantage though in learning and understanding as well as blending in to the mortal world. Psychics have a number of powers, most commonly this includes telepathy, precognition, telekinesis, electrokinesis, emotional control, clairvoyance, body control, or technological control. Most psychics only master one of the above power sets, though a few have mastered two or three. The most recent and potent power seems to be the ability to mentally interact with computers - an ability which gives the psychics nearly perfect computer hacking powers as well as numerous advantages such as controlling electronic devices, extracting information, and so on. With many psychics’ scientific approach to the supernatural, some have used relatively subtle abilities as massive force multipliers.

Since organizing, psychics have used their abilities and their influence gained from them to learn more about the supernatural world and to gain greater understanding of their powers. This has lead to a general increase in psychic potency and efficiency as well as much accumulated knowledge about other supernatural beings and how the laws of physics interact with said creatures and powers. While the abilities of psychics aren’t as powerful as those of other supernatural beings, especially in a direct conflict, creative uses of psychic powers can bring great wealth and power - such as using precognition to invest in the stock market or technokinesis to hack bank accounts. 

Many, and as an organized group, psychics tend to have a progressive world view. They see psychic powers becoming more common and understood, combined with technological and social progress to create a more pleasant world for everyone. Of course, psychics can be selfish and petty as well, just as every human is, but they also tend to see themselves as humans and are a little more protective of humanity’s interests then many other supernaturals. 

There are two major groups of psychics within Neopolis. One group is called the Enlightened Society, a group formed during the Victorian Era when psychics first began to organize themselves. This is a scientifically minded group which strives to learn about the world and further science, both psychic and mundane science. The other group is the Sorellians, who were founded by a psychic named Jacob Sorell in the 1960’s, who are essentially a left wing group of psychics who wish to use their powers to bring about a utopia and collapse the current power structures. 

Changelings

It is unknown why the fae would exchange their children with those of mortal babies, but it has been a practice of the fae to do just this for millennia. Such children are surrounded by a fae glamour which causes them to appear to be the child which they replaced. These children grow up raised in human household, knowing that there is something strange about them, but not realizing what. It is not until they reach their teen years when the begin to manifest their faerie powers and it is then when an older changeling will most likely take the teen under its wing to teach it the ways of the fae - or at least of changelings. 

As changeling age and grow more powerful, they become less attached to the mortal world and more drawn towards the realm of the fae. At a certain point, the changeling becomes powerful enough and so removed from humanity that it slips away from our reality entirely, joining the true fae in their magical realm. The nature of which is unknown to earth bound changelings. Alternatively, changeling who fail to use their magic become supernaturally weaker and detached from their faerie nature - with the eventual result of becoming a mortal and forgetting about their faerie lineage forever. Changelings who form an earthly community are those who are between these two extremes, young and weak enough to remain in the earthly realm, and old and magical enough not to become mortals. 

The powers of the changeling commands heavily depends on the kind of fae the changeling descends from. There are two common types of Changeling that are found in Neopolis and the surrounding areas - Shifters and Sidhe. There are both kinds of changeling among the Unseelie and Seelie Changelings, though both kinds tend to have loyalty to their type as well as the Seelie or Unseelie affiliation. 

There a number of different types of changelings - Sidhe, Sluagh, and Pooka. 

Sidhe are the fae children who have replaced human ones, raised in the world of mortals to perhaps one day grow into true fae. Sidhe are are tall and thin changelings, nearly universally good looking, that exude an aura of charm and majesty which makes mortals attracted to them and inclined to obey them. Sidhe also have powers over illusions and can become invisible or appear as other beings. Additionally the Sidhe are amazingly dextrous and have enhanced senses. Sidhe find the presence of iron to make them uncomfortable while the touch of iron or even steel to a lesser degree causes painful burns to them. The more quickly Sidhe advance in power, the sooner they are drawn away from the mortal world, so most survive a few centuries before being drawn away.

Sluagh are those human children stolen by the fae, raised in the faerie world and returned to the world of mortals to serve some purpose by their masters. Sluagh often have a sickly pale look to them, or have strange mutations they have acquired in the faerie realms. Some have been transformed to be incredibly physically powerful though all have enhanced healing abilities and toughness. Sluagh have grown to adulthood in the faerie realm and often have alien mindsets. They know fae magic which allows for a number of supernatural effects or reality manipulation. Iron can help to protect from a Sluagh’s magic and can retard their regenerative abilities, but does not burn them or cause them pain. Sluagh often take leadership roles among changelings, protecting Sidhe while serving the interests of the true fae. The longer that Sluagh remain in the mortal world, the more their powers dwindle until they become mortals again and start to age. For this reason, they often live for several centuries, just like the Sidhe.

Pooka are animals who have been replaced by a faerie child. These creatures are raised as a certain kind of animal and have an animal mindset. Eventually, the greater natural intellect of the fae comes through and they manifest physical powers, including the ability to assume human forms. Pookas are raised as a certain kind of animal and are forever linked to that animal - the animal form is that which is most comfortable to them, they can communicate with that kind of animal, and can even control them, read their minds, or see through their eyes. Pookas can assume a human form which will resemble of young human that has a slightly feral quality to it. Pookas can also assume a dire form, huge version of the animal they are linked to which is ferocious in combat. Pooka regenerate form damage and are superhumanly tough and healthy. Though they are unaffected by iron, the touch of silver is painful to them and damage from it halts their regenerative abilities.

Frequently, Slaugh find young Sidhe or Pookas and help tech them about their true nature and organize Changelings into a unified faction. Some Slaugh, called the Fuath, go rogue and try to destroy other Changeling as revenge for being turned into slaves by the fae.

Necromancers

Necromancers are humans, or once were humans, who have become masters of the magic of life and death. While their magic is most often associated with animating zombies or draining life from the living, the heart of necromancy is the magic of the soul, of control and enslaving the spirit of a once living or even currently living creature.

Mastering the dark arts is quite difficult and few humans have the potential to control these magics at all and those who due seldom have the mental fortitude to become truly proficient. This makes Necromancers quite rare, though for each Necromancer there are likely several apprentices serving them, gaining a few minor powers from their master in exchange for service. 

Necromancers are ruled by liches, ancient Necromancers many hundreds or thousands of years old who have used their magic to keep their body animated in a state of eternal undeath. These ancient being command incredibly powerful magic and know the secrets of the ages, but they also tend to be entirely removed from modern human society, sometimes not even speaking or understanding modern languages or having the slightest clue about how modern technology operates. These ancient dead rule over the Necromancers but must depend on their underlings to connect with the world of the living. They often isolate themselves in abandoned ruins or deep within the wilderness, away from the prying eyes of mortals. 

Necromancers are primarily scholars and mystics, without much interest in social interaction. Despite this, they still find worldly power to be extremely useful in acquiring mystical power, arcane knowledge, or merely ensuring that they exist for as long as possible. To accumulate worldly power, Necromancers use enslaved spirits of the dead. This usually requires the body or part of the body of a dead human. With the right rituals, the Necromancer can force the deceased spirit to share all of it’s secrets with the necromancer or to act as a spy to gather information. In either case, this information can be used to further the Necromancer’s agenda in a variety of ways. Necromancers also have the ability to prolong their lives and the lives of others, which allows for a great deal of temporal power to be accumulated - as the wealthy and powerful are often more than willing to do anything that is required to extend their lives.

Necromancers can do more than merely speak to or control spirits, they can animate dead zombies, can slay living beings with a glance, or numerous other feats of dark magic. To really master necromancy requires complete callousness to human suffering, as the enslavement of a human soul condemns the victim to a horrifying existence of suffering and despair s they are denied the peace of the afterlife until their soul is freed somehow. As Necromancers accumulate power by enslaving mortal souls, they are seldom willing to part with the source of their power. For this reason, those supernatural creatures who understand Necromancy often frequently take a dim view of Necromancers. 

Necromancers enjoy their independence and aside from servants, enslaved souls, and apprentices - they don’t have any social structure among themselves. A single lich resides in Neopolis and is the de facto ruler of the Necromancers there, though there is also human Necromancer who leads a small faction who does not swear loyalty to the Lich, Necromancers who hail from the Caribbean who mix their Necromancy with spiritual traditions of Africa and Central America. 

Nymphs

Nymphs are creatures of nature, appearing as beautiful eternally young women, they live within deep untouched forests in various remote parts of the world. Each nymph has a tie to a certain aspect of nature and has magical power of it. An oread, a nymph of earth, can cause earthquakes, move small mountains, or animate giant stones at her command. A dryad, a nymph of trees and plants, can animate plants, cause plants to grow or die, transform herself into a large tree-like creature, or do similar feats. There are dozens of types of nymphs, each with their own unique command over a natural force. Nymphs also feel perfectly at ease in nature, needing no food or sustenance, being immune to cold or heat (aside from fire), and having at peace with animals and insects. They all have a sense of the woods around them, can walk without leaving tracks or stretching themselves on thorns, can always find their way, and never injure themselves on natural hazards. 

Nymphs are also immortal, not only don't they age but if slain, they will return to life within several years. When a nymph dies, another nymph of the same sort will become pregnant and give birth to her sister, reincarnated. 

Despite being very old, all nymphs have a youthful sense of wonder about them. To a nymph, each day is new and wondrous, each romance carries the same passion as a first love, each beautiful sight is as awe inspiring as if it was seen for the first time, each game is as exciting and when a child first plays it. Nymphs are a playful and generally kind race, enjoying childish games as well as erotic pleasure. They usually avoid humanity and stick to their own company, though in some rare cases they will befriend or even fall in love with humans who are particularly attuned to nature and psychologically compatible with the nymph.

While immortal, nymphs can become weakened or suffer pain from the destruction of their forest homes. In the last century or two with large scale deforestation and development, many nymphs have become embittered and turned from their carefree ways to start using violence to defend their wilderness homes from encroaching humans. Some of these nymphs have become ecoterrorists of sorts, some of the more extreme ones even advocate using their powers to destroy cities and kill the majority of humanity - though thankfully these nymphs remain a small minority.

For the most part, Nymphs remain deep in the wild areas, far away from cities of humanity and Neopolis is no exception. The only Nymphs who have a presence in Neopolis are the Maenads who are Nymphs or frenzied abandon, parties, drinking, merriment, and passion. These strange Nymphs enjoy human interact and living in the city.

Peak Human

You do not control a group of supernatural creatures in the city, you simply represent one highly accomplished human. You have incredible physical prowess, enough to compete in the Olympics if such a sport were your focus, though most of your training is in combat - both close combat and modern combat. You’re a billionaire with a large corporation under your control and access to cutting edge technology. You’re also a genius, a polymath who excels in numerous academic fields and who can pick up others with a bit of study.

With your financial resources and great intellect, you have learned about the existence of the supernatural in the city. Now that you have this information, it is up to you to react appropriately, allying or fighting with the creatures as you see fit. As you fear that their influence extends beyond the city and that there may be dire consequences for the existence of the supernatural becoming common knowledge, you will refrain from making any of your information public.