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Detective/True Crime RP, Disco Elysium lore and Metric System

Tlon

An illusion of the internet
Hey folks, it’s been a while since I’ve played any pen and paper type thing but covid has me wanting to try on here. I’m looking for 2-3 players who would be interested in a detective or crime RP, set in the world of Disco Elysium. I’d also prefer to play with people who are also sort of new or rusty, that way we can learn through it together. Familiarity with the lore/world is not necessary - I can help explain and offer pointers on what characters would look like in this world. It’s mostly a modernish setting anyway.

Like Disco Elysium we will be using the Metric RPG System. The Metric system is pretty straightforward. It’s focused more on dialogue and story than combat, which will also be true of this RP. Character sheets look like this:

Name:

Attributes
(Each value must be within 1-6. 12 points total to spend.)
Intellect - Raw brain power, how smart you are. Your capacity to reason.
Psyche - Sensitivity, how emotionally intelligent you are. Your power to influence yourself and others.
Motorics - Your senses, how agile you are. How well you move your body.
Physique - Your musculature, how strong you are. How well your body is built.

Skills
(The attribute value from above is the skill cap for all skills based on that attribute. 2 points to spend along with 1 Signature Skill which increases the skill as well as increasing that skills cap by 1.)
(Intellect Based)
Rhetoric
Drama
Logic
Visual Calculus
Encyclopedia
Conceptualization

(Psyche Based)
Suggestion
Empathy
Authority
Volition
Esprit de Corps
Inland Empire

(Physique Based)
Half-light
Shivers
Physical Instrument
Endurance
Electro-chemistry
Pain Threshold

(Motorics Based)
Composure
Perception
Hand-eye Coordination
Reaction Speed
Savoir Faire
Interfacing

(More description on skills can be found here)

Brief Physical Description: (500 or so words)

A task is accomplished by taking the relevant skill, adding the attribute base, and then a 2d6 roll. If that sum is higher than the difficulty of the task the player succeeds, otherwise they fail. Snake eyes (1s) is always a fail and Boxcars (6s) is always a success, regardless of what the actual skill and difficulty values are. Acquiring more skill points should happen rather quickly, so don’t worry, you’ll have time to pick up other skills.

As far as campaign I have a few ideas, and would leave it up to players to choose which one of the following they’d like to go with:

Interisolary Sequence Killer: Detectives from the Revachol’s Citizens Militia have been dispatched to solve a series of killings, all of them done in a distinct style that has become infamous across Caillou. It becomes clear that the elusive killer is not only becoming more bold but that the killer has also been active on the isolas of Mundi and Graad, evading capture primarily due to the fact that police departments across isolas do not often work together. To help stop the killings the detectives will need to start casting a wider investigatory net.

The Dossier on Isola X: The death of a low ranking Wild Pines executive appears at first glance like a suicide by a man stressed by corporate life. It becomes complicated when the two detectives conducting the routine investigation stumble upon a strange dossier that contains data on the mythical Isola X. Said to exist somewhere in the vast Pale between Seol and Samara, Isola X is said to be a land rich in natural resources, ruled by a people that live in cities made of gold. The detectives don’t know about all that, but they do know that since the dossier has fallen into their possession shadowy figures keep appearing in the corners of their vision…

Magenta Reál: When several lorries inbound from southern Caillou go missing RCM detectives are sent to find their drivers. The case is straightforward: they discover their fellow officers are responsible for the disappeared lorries and that the motive is the money to be made shipping magenta cocaine out to the rest of Elysium. The detectives are threatened with death and blackmail and they struggle with how to proceed. When an ex-dealer comes to them pleading for protection in exchange for testimony their hands are forced. Now they have to try to find which other officers they can trust to uphold their oaths while keeping their witness safe in the streets of Revachol.

Respond here if interested or if you have questions!
 
Glad to hear it! Are you familiar with the lore? Also feel free to post a character using the sheet if you like. I meant to change "Brief Physical Description" to something more broad like "Character Description" so that it leaves a little more leeway, but otherwise the sheet as is should be good to go.
 
Had been itching for a detective rp for a while now. I am not familiar with the lore but am happy to look into it, do tell me if there is something I should know!
 
All you have to know up front is that the setting is sort of like "Weird 80s". There are some modern technologies like landline phones, rudimentary televisual tech, cars (although they look retro-futuristic, like suped up model Ts), and consumer culture. There are some fantastical things too like "aerostatics" (their version of planes), magenta colored cocaine, and most importantly the Pale.

All continents are called Isolas, and are surrounded by water as normal. However, past a certain length of water the Pale begins. The Pale is like a magical anti-matter - the closer one gets to it the more things stop working. Once in it things start to break down - human thoughts, the laws of physics, even mathematics stop working. Travel through the pale has been discovered and is the source of a lot of the psuedo future tech in the world - high tech pale resistant planes, pale resistant mechanical suits of armor - but it is still strenous on the mind. Civilians are allowed only 6 days worth of Interisolary travel (travel through the Pale from one Isola to another) a year. People who go into the Pale for long periods of time will go mentally insane or will not return at all.

I found a map on reddit someone made that explains the major landmasses and their location among the Pale that should help give an idea. Most of the RP will probably take place in Revachol. Revachol is the international city to end all international cities - like if New York and Paris had a baby and it was raised by Rome. At the center of many important Isolas, it is the great crossroads of Elysium - their word for the world.
 
Name: Rufus Winehouse

Attributes
Intellect - 4
Psyche - 5
Motorics - 2
Physique - 1

Skills
Intellect Based
Rhetoric [4]
Drama[4]
Logic[4]
Visual Calculus[4]
Encyclopedia[4]
Conceptualization+1+1[6]

Psyche Based
Suggestion[5]
Empathy[5]
Authority[5]
Volition[5]
Esprit de Corps[5]
Inland Empire+1[6]

Physique Based
Half-light[1]
Shivers[1]
Physical Instrument[1]
Endurance[1]
Electro-chemistry[1]
Pain Threshold[1]

Motorics Based
Composure[2]
Perception[2]
Hand-eye Coordination[2]
Reaction Speed[2]
Savoir Faire[2]
Interfacing [2]

Brief Character Description:
Rufus opts for a black pork pie hat to compliment his rather petite silhouette when a uniform is not necessary, hiding beneath the hat is his curly short brown hair that is carelessly groomed. He is usually spotted with a plain white formal shirt that highlights the unorthodox tie with a psychedelic print of muted colors that was his guilty pleasure, serving as a secret outlet for self-expression. He wears plain-black pants with suspenders.

Rufus appears to be amiable and approachable, his altruism helps to shape his image as a kind and sensitive person. Rufus would usually be the one to lighten up the mood with his optimism for he believes the world would be too monotonous otherwise. Rufus allows himself to act a little absurd at times for the sake of his own entertainment, and thus the occasional conversation with inanimate objects. He could be easily amused by many trivial things and is sensitive to his surroundings. He appreciates creativity and experimental ideas.

Rufus's intention to show people the beautiful visions in his head was pure, for they were sceneries untainted by the world that they were trapped in.

Creating art was what he decided to do for a living in his prime of life, but the ambition was easily crushed when daily meals became a challenge. Some pondering soon brought Rufus to the conclusion that it was only natural for his visions to fail to evoke anything when the people were mentally as trapped as they physically were, he failed to realize his visions meant nothing if the reality was unforgiving enough to blind everyone. Still, he chose to hold onto the optimism and was able to convince himself that there might still be beauty hiding in the world that requires the eyes to seek, if he channeled that drive physically, he might be able to make the world a better place by first becoming a cop(current rank to be decided), realizing his visions slowly with the world as his canvas.
 
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Art Cop! I like it! The only thing I will say is that I meant 2 skill points and 1 Signature Skill to spend across all the 24 Skills, not per group of skills. Looks great besides that though. I am hoping we can at least get one other player so we can have a couple cops work as partners or to have a cop and some underworld contact to play with.
 
Art Cop! I like it! The only thing I will say is that I meant 2 skill points and 1 Signature Skill to spend across all the 24 Skills, not per group of skills. Looks great besides that though. I am hoping we can at least get one other player so we can have a couple cops work as partners or to have a cop and some underworld contact to play with.
I corrected the mistake. Hopefully more will join us!
 
Well, on the chance we don't get another I can draw up a character to serve as another detective and we can do it that way. Do you have any preference as to what scenario you want to go with?
 
Well, on the chance we don't get another I can draw up a character to serve as another detective and we can do it that way. Do you have any preference as to what scenario you want to go with?
Oh, all campaigns sound interesting but I guess I'll go with the first one "Interisolary Sequence Killer", I'll be fine too if you find any other campaign more interesting to work with!
 
Alright so a couple other things I should have mentioned before:

You have both HP (equal to your Endurance skill) and Morale (equal to your Volition skill). You take a hit to HP if you do something that would result in you being hurt - if you have low Physical Instrument and you fail to kick a door down you end up hurting yourself. You take a hit to Morale if you do something that makes you look like an insane fool - attempting to persaude a judge with 2 Suggestion is going to make you feel like an idiot when you fail. If either hits 0 you are incapacitated for the rest of the day.

You gotta roll a 2d6 to try to accomplish a task - what exactly a task is is up to us. In my mind I would say it's something that would require five or more minutes of continued effort but we can hash it out ooc of course. Throughout the game I'll let you know when your character succeeds at some passive skill check. I'm not sure how quick to dole out the XP, that will depend on the rping of course, but for now let's say that its 1 xp on passive succeed and 2 on active, with a new skill every 8.

I'll see if I can get something initial up for the IC thread and start an OOC thread too. Maybe seeing the IC thread will get more people interested.
 
Hmm... I might be interested to throw my hat into the ring, too. I don't know anything about the world or the dice system, but things don't look too complicated. There's a couple of technical questions: Mainly, is there a certain post length you're looking for, and how frequently do you expect posts?

Character-wise, I'm eyeing the stuff in the motorics section, I think - some kind of tinkerer, maybe, haven't thought too much about it yet.
 
As far as post length it will vary - there will be sometimes where you will be free to write a multiparagraph piece, while other times (notably during dialog or noteworthy interactions with the environment) it will likely just be a few sentences to move the story along. Once again, don't feel too worried about not knowing the lore - your various skill checks should provide you with information as we play the game!

Another note: after thinking it through I think XP should only be for active skill check successes - passive skill checks will be a lot more useful for moving the story along.

I've come up with another detective character to go with yours Dreamtique, I should have the IC thread before end of day

Name: Jerome Nowak

Attributes
Intellect - 3
Psyche - 2
Motorics - 4
Physique - 3

Skills
Intellect Based

Rhetoric +1[4]
Drama[3]
Logic[3]
Visual Calculus[3]
Encyclopedia[3]
Conceptualization[3]

Psyche Based
Suggestion[2]
Empathy[2]
Authority[2]
Volition[2]
Esprit de Corps[2]
Inland Empire[2]

Physique Based
Half-light+1[4]
Shivers[3]
Physical Instrument[3]
Endurance[3]
Electro-chemistry[3]
Pain Threshold[3]

Motorics Based
*Composure+1[5]

Perception[4]
Hand-eye Coordination[4]
Reaction Speed[4]
Savoir Faire[4]
Interfacing [4]

Character Description: A third generation Revacholian, Jermaine Nowak’s features defy any clear racial categorization. Occidental, Seolite, even Semenese qualities can be seen in his face. This allows him to to move without much notice among different peoples - a trait that came in handy in his youth when he would sneak into the nice part of East Revachol and pick a few pockets for spending money. His sense of fashion from that time remains largely intact - faded blue jeans, a green jacket with orange abstract designs, and clean white sneakers.

A few close calls scared him away from picking any more pockets. But he still didn’t care to study, so he thought he would join the Revachol Citizen’s Militia and use his criminal knowledge for the greater good. Smooth and brash he made short work of basic training and the detectives exam. To his dismay he learned that “doing good” depended more on lawyers and paperwork than the actual delivery of justice. He wondered if becoming a cop was as foolish an idea as picking pockets.

With this in mind he receives the knowledge of his new partner - the recently minted detective Rufus Winehouse - and his new assignment.
 
Good news! I thought I had lost some work in an unfortunate shutdown, but it seems it was saved! The IC thread is up here. Feel free to start whenever! I will try my best to keep updating as responses come in, but the real may intrude from time to time.

OOC thread is here. I will keep this thread open in case we have any more takers who want to post some characters.
 
Alrighty, that sounds good - just wanted to make sure I'm not in over my head time-wise. I'll see if I can get a decent character concept together.
 
I had not - just checked the wiki for it, though :)

Got a first proposal for a character.
Name: Nola Argall

Attributes
3 Intellect - Raw brain power, how smart you are. Your capacity to reason.
2 Psyche - Sensitivity, how emotionally intelligent you are. Your power to influence yourself and others.
5 Motorics - Your senses, how agile you are. How well you move your body.
2 Physique - Your musculature, how strong you are. How well your body is built.

Skills
(Intellect Based)
Rhetoric [3]
Drama [3]
Logic [3]
Visual Calculus +1 [4]
Encyclopedia [3]
Conceptualization [3]

(Psyche Based)
Suggestion [2]
Empathy [2]
Authority [2]
Volition [2]
Esprit de Corps [2]
Inland Empire [2]

(Physique Based)
Half-light [2]
Shivers [2]
Physical Instrument [2]
Endurance [2]
Electro-chemistry [2]
Pain Threshold [2]

(Motorics Based)
Composure [5]
Perception +1 [6]
Hand-eye Coordination [5]
Reaction Speed [5]
Savoir Faire [5]
Interfacing +1 [6]

Character Description:
Nola Argall doesn't stand out too much. A grey hoodie, black jeans, military boots. A dark camo jacket whenever rain seems inevitable. Long, redbrown hair in a ponytail. Pale skin. Freckles. Brown eyes, always on the move. Two old watches, wrapped around her right wrist. Nothing special. Nothing fancy. Simply practical. Just how she likes it.

Maybe that's why she likes machines, too. They just do what they're supposed to be doing, fulfilling a purpose without questions. Machines don't interfere with each other, unless humans are involved. Makes things simple. Unfortunately, society isn't like that. People have dreams, and plans. Nola doesn't judge them for it. She has her own dreams, after all. But it makes things complicated. Humans interfere with each other. Take what is someone else's just for the sake of having more. Inflict pain, just for the sake of hearing someone scream. The list goes on. Some of it doesn't matter. That rich man, losing a few coins - who cares? But there's a line, there's always a line. What would society become, if people just murder their opposition? Right - a mess. Where noone can thrive, in the end. And that's no good. And thus, Nola Argall does what she does. Dealing with stupid paperwork, just to be there when it actually counts. It's not some fanatical devotion to the law, or the paycheck. Well, the money helps, of course. Gets her more toys to take apart and rebuild from scratch. Like her watches, for example. But she could earn a living with something else, surely. Doesn't, though. To make sure that society doesn't fall apart. So that it fulfills its purpose, whatever that might be, in detail. She likes her machines, and watches. Other people like other things. That's fine, she doesn't judge. As long as noone tries to take society apart. It's not a machine. You can't repair it that easily once it's actually broken.

Thoughts? Comments? Lemme know and I can make adjustments or give it another shot! Do you think there'll be too much overlap with Jerome Nowak?
 
Character looks good! I don’t think we have to worry about overlap too much - once we start accumulating skill points the characters stats should diverge.

An easy to work her in to the story would have her be another detective in a fledgling new department to handle sequence killings - that will probably have to wait till after this first part at the house in Le Jardin tho
 
Alright, I finished the paperwork. Send me out there chief!
Name: Max Barker

Attributes & Skills

2
◆ ◆
INTELLECT

2

◆ ◆
PSYCHE

5

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
PHYSIQUE

3

◆ ◆ ◆
MOTORICS

2
◇◇
LOGIC


2
◇◇◇
VOLITION


5
◇◇◇◇◇
ENDURANCE


4
◆◇◇
HAND/EYE COORDINATION
2
◇◇
ENCYCLOPEDIA


2
◇◇◇
INLAND EMPIRE


5
◇◇◇◇◇
PAIN THRESHOLD


3
◇◇◇
PERCEPTION
2
◇◇
RHETORIC


2
◇◇◇
EMPATHY


6
◆◇◇◇◇
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT

3
◇◇◇
REACTION SPEED
2
◇◇
DRAMA


2J7KfDq.png

3
◆◇◇
AUTHORITY


5
◇◇◇◇◇
ELECTRO-
CHEMISTRY

3
◇◇◇
SAVOIR FAIRE
2
◇◇
CONCEPTUALIZATION


2
◇◇◇
ESPRIT
DE CORPS

5
◇◇◇◇◇
SHIVERS


3
◇◇◇
INTERFACING
2
◇◇
VISUAL
CALCULUS

2
◇◇◇
SUGGESTION


5
◇◇◇◇◇
HALF LIGHT


3
◇◇◇
COMPOSURE


Description: Born and raised in Jamrock, Revachol - that's as much as Barker would say about his origins. Though that doesn't say much about his heritage, family, or past, as he won't mention those if asked, and his appearance certainly doesn't help much. Not that anyone would ask him, as his attitude and looks make sure that most people won't approach him for the sake of small talk.

He has unkempt, dark brown hair and a bit of stubble growing on his chin. He wears a brown leather jacket which is rolled up to just below the elbows, and a pair of generic navy blue pants, complimented by a pair of black work shoes and the right-hand holster where he keeps his Villiers pistol. Additionally, he wears a white, unbuttoned polo shirt underneath his jacket. As per standard of the RCM, a halogen watermark is marked on the back of Barker's jacket, and at the right shoulder.

Max Barker's service with the RCM has lasted for a number of years, and he bears the rank of Sergeant for his faithful service to Revachol. Initially, he was a by-the-book officer that mainly showed a moderate degree of professional courtesy, though that waned as time went on. For the most part, cases that he was assigned were only able to make headway due to luck, criminal incompetence, or the support of other officers.
For some ungodly reason, Barker became more aggressive in later years, possibly due to the patronization of other officers for his inability to solve more complex cases, though the eventual aggression didn't make it any better. Due to this, his superiors have made sure that he is always being supported by another officer, or is the one that has to assist someone else. Think of him as the bad cop to your good cop.
 
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Alright! I think the way to have this work as I said before is having all the detectives to be part of a new department to solve these killings. I'll have Jerome Nowak pop in and out as necessary, mostly I'll leave detecting to the players.

I'll try to find another way to work Max and Nola in soon, most of my notes were focused on this bit first for now.
 

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