Five Elements Community Center

Maybe Tetsu and/or Nobu would want to have a detective agency in the building? Could be a good place to get leads on jobs too...

chougou wrote: I'm honestly not 100% what a lodge does, but it seems to be a good thing for magic users.

It's basically like a magical lab for the big weirder magic. It's far more important for mages than adepts. You can bind spirits that you've summoned, cast ritual magic, learn new spells and other things. It is also a magical barrier that astrally active creatures like spirits, ghouls, vampires, etc can't enter.

That sounds lucrative in its own right

Wow I didn't know there was an update to the site! I don't know if I like the change.

update to this site? I see no update.

Mobile site is “cleaner” but less compressed. I don’t like it.

@Sato - Ah, I don't have a smart phone so I never see the mobile site.




It's probably going to take another couple of weeks of real time for the other team to finish up at the rate they are going, so in the mean time, those of you who are currently on downtime can work on getting the new center finished up and ready for action. So regarding that, I have a few questions for you. We have touched on them a little, but I'd like an official vote just so we get input from most of you (even you guys who are still on mission).

1) Location?
For now you are paying a middle lifestyle for this place. You basically have 3 options for areas so pick one:

#1) A or B rated zone - Your place is built in a nice neighborhood (A = residential, B = commercial). You won't have to worry about crime at all (unless you bring it to your door) and you can attract wealthier clients. The down sides are that it is harder for you guys to get away with less than legal activities as there are frequent police patrols. Also space is more expensive, which translates into a smaller place for your money. A place here would be 80 tatami or about 1400 sq feet. (this is about the equivalent of a 2-3 bedroom home).

#2) C or D rated zone - Your place is built in an average neighborhood (C = residential, D = commercial). It's not super cushy, but you don't have gangs constantly running through the streets. The noodle shop is in a C zone, so this would be where you would want to be if proximity to the noodle shop is your top priority. There is a police presence, so you have to be moderately careful with what sort of criminal activity you get up to, but not super so. The clients here aren't super rich, but the area isn't so bad as to scare them off. A place here is much bigger, measuring in at 110 tatami on average, or about 2,000 sq feet (the equivalent of a decently large 3-4 bedroom home).

#3) Z zone - These places are completely lawless. Anything goes so you really don't need to worry about getting in trouble with the law, but the local riffraff can be an issue. Some of your rent will probably go towards "protection money" to get them to leave you alone. Your clients will mostly be criminals or the poor as more respectable clients are uncomfortable entering the area. the biggest upside is that space is cheap. You can get a fairly spacious 130 tatami place for what you are paying (about 2,400 sq feet).

2) Deal seeking? (yes or no)
Wujen mentioned the possibility of hunting down a place that has a bad reputation. If you want to do that, I'll roll a die and randomly select from the following possibilities in exchange for a 20% discount on your monthly rent (you won't know which it is until we've finalized everything):
1 - haunted (you need to get rid of the ghosts)
2 - fixer upper (you guys need to spend an extra month of rent to get the place up to code)
3 - crackhouse (place is filled with junkie squatters and you need to get them out)
4 - pest problem (some sort of critter has taken over the place. you need to go through and exterminate them)
5 - security (the previous renters rigged the place with deadly security that ultimately killed them. you must remove all the traps and countermeasures before it is safe to use the building again)
6 - cursed (something is wrong with the place. weird things happen, power flickers, people die mysteriously, magic acts strangely, etc and there is nothing that can be done to fix it)

3) Design?
So far I have heard 2 opinions on design. Torpor's got a place sketched out that you can go with. Sato seems to like the idea of a fire house. Lets get a vote on those two.


4) Who is in?
This is mostly meant for the magic people, but the mundanes are free to chip in for the rent. I want to get a final count of who is definitely contributing to the rent and who doesn't really want to be involved.

Once I've gotten a fairly solid idea on the group's plans, I'll open up an IC thread where you guys are introduced to the place, and possibly any issues that may accompany it.

Is it possible to create polls in the forum? I would vote for the one with more rooms as opposed to the firehouse in the C zone if those that want to were able to open a shop in one of the sections. I think it would help offset the rent and be a good front for other activities.

However if that is not the route that everyone would like to take and it was used mainly as a magic hall then my unsolicited thoughts (since Chougou couldn't really use it) are that the D zone would be easier to do...weirder...things in, since anything in a commercial area would be questioned less by the other people going about their business I would think. And a firehouse would be really cool for a magic lodge imho.

Also if we are planning use the noodle shop as a meeting place for clients, we might not want to be too close to it in case we need to scatter and not be found. However if we just want to use it for eating noodles and general revelry, then being as close as possible is a great idea.

Oh and I think it would be really cool to have to clear out vermin before we can use it. That would be a fun mission.

chougou wrote:Is it possible to create polls in the forum?

I think so, but I think you have to do it with a new thread. lemme go check

Looks like you can, but only one question at a time. So you need a new thread for each question

Alright, I made polls, go vote on them. They'll be open for a week or until I've gotten votes from everyone. After that whatever ya'll have voted is what we will move ahead with.

My 2 nuyen…


I tend to think commercial space is better, but that comes with the caveat that commercial space is generally larger than residential.  Your firehouse, for instance would probably weigh in considerably larger than the residential homes you mentioned.  Consider than most house at least 2 and often 4ish full size fire trucks, associated gear and maintenance equipment, and fairly spare barracks for the crews along with their associated common areas like kitchens and a rec/meeting room.

An average warehouse, by another example, often has enough space to put 3-5 whole houses inside it, but it's basically a big empty box with partial occupancy accommodation in the form of an office.

I suppose this might count as the fixer upper.

If there is no difference in the size or quality of the buildings going from residential to commercial, I'm not really bothered by that distinction.

As far as layout, I was thinking sort of the Sons of Anarchy Clubhouse.  It had several bedrooms for the 'officers', a common area where outsiders were welcome so long as they behaved, and an inner sanctum with a seriously beautiful table.  I'm not sure if you would include the garage business it was attached to as part of it.

We need roughly the same kind of space, though perhaps a bit smaller in the inner sanctum---we should not ever be hosting more than a dozen or so at our table, and that's pushing it pretty hard.  However, the common area should be large enough to give some shelter to the needy in a pinch, and while we could certainly use a garage an outdoor space large enough to accommodate a basketball court to hold our various classes is needed.

Converted into a Firehouse, we are probably looking at 2-3 small bedrooms upstairs with shared bathing and cooking facilities, An office downstairs that can be used as the sanctum, the garage area can be fitted for public space, and it likely has a sizeable driveway type area that we could perhaps fence off for a bit of privacy in the lessons.

A firehouse would make for some great off-time. Going to a nightclub and go: "Hey baby, wanna go to my place and slide down my pole?" then taking the girl to the firehouse and going: "Weeee" while sliding down the actual firepole.

There. Revised firehouse picture redone. I figure maybe the driveway in front can be used on nice days with thethe cays open. If not woo go inside and again with bays open for fresh air. If everyone likes it ill do up a front view of the building vs floor plan view

Lol! don't mind the summoning circle under the sofa...

Like that? I figure hey its decoration

And any summoned spirits can immediately make themselves comfortable. Make sure there's a cold beer or some hot tea ready on the coffee table, too, along with some biscuits

Oh, I should probably ask this. Who is signing for the place? It has to be someone with either a SIN or a decent fake. There can be cosigners if more than one of you want to sign for it.

I had assumed I would. I have a national SIN, and as far as I know am the only SINner in the group.

This may cause issues with one of those weird anti-magic groups we discussed, as my father is part of one. I leave it to you to figure out the logic of an anti-magic group that includes elven membership... But since magic never left this world elves might not all be riding that "elves are magic" bandwagon.

Whatchu talkin' bout?

Depends on the group. That particular gang you guys faced hates all metahumans, magic and cyberware. But there are groups out there who just hate magic but have no particular racism towards elves. Elves have no higher prevalence of magic in this world than any of the other races. Their longer lifespan means they have more time to get better at it than other races, which means the oldest magic wielding elves have the most powerful of magic, but that's just an advantage of experience rather than any inherent ability.

I be talking about my backstory.

First, I'm elven, which does slide through the cracks most of the time. I never really found a good character pic and just made the one I use from the forum tools. I should look into clearing up the stubble as it makes me look more human. Originally it was meant to convey that I was dirty and rumpled from lack of access to regular bathing.

When the game started I took money as the lowest priority and as a result I took a street lifestyle. The rationale for that was that my father is rabidly anti-magic. Recently h discovered Little Dragon's nature, and he beat me almost to death and kicked me out of the house. It's why I run the shadows. I have friends friends in the Yamiguchi gang, and was crashing a bit with them (they heavily recruit awakened, but I was resisting joining), when the first run came up.

That said, I am still a legal citizen with a National SIN. Making myself public and advertising my address could attract the attention of my father and his allies. I would imagine having a very public mage son is something of an intensely shameful situation for him, and now I've been on the news and got my 5 minutes of Fame, and then I show up as a founding member of a community center teaching heremetic magic publically...

Probably gonna catch heat for that.

There ain't no ass we can't woop, even if it's your daddy's

Well to hell with them!! If they don't like you because you now have magic then you are better off without them in your life! We're here for you! And I'm a sinner as Well!