City Hall

[Хahar 🤔]

Ummm... so how goes this?  I haven't checked in for over a month.

The idea's been scrapped and replaced, basically.
I want to be a corrupt old scumbag who was first elected 40 years before as a young socialist reformer!

[Hash]

I want to play either a Emerson-like opportunistic scumbag or Williams-like tough guy.

[afleitch]

I'd be a young and slightly naive city councillor and planner who wants to pull everything down...unless it's in his patch

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I want to be a corrupt old scumbag who was first elected 40 years before as a young socialist reformer!

40 isn't really plausible; it'd mean that you'd have been first elected before the First World War (edit: during, actually. There were no elections during the war). And bearing in mind how old councillors tend to be, you'd be dead by now. Having your initial character first elected for a slumland ward in the '30's, say, is certainly possible. It would also mean that you might get to be Lord Mayor.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Comments welcome here also...

-----------------------------------------------------

2. Characters

This is really very, very simple. There are two (and half) forms of character; player characters and NPC's. The former are played by, well, the players, the latter by the GM. Anyway...

a) Player Characters

There are two ways to create player characters; the first is to submit a character creation form, the second is to take over an NPC. There are advantages and disadvantages to both; taking over an NPC may give you more power (at first) than creating a character of your own, but the character (and its flaws) will have been created by the GM. Yes, the Deputy Leader of the Generic Party Group and Chairman of the Housing Committee may look extremely powerful, but it could easily be the case that he's on the fiddle, a drunk or both.

i) Character Creation Form. Easiest way to do this is just to post a draft one. Basically you fill in stuff. The first section is public...

Name:
Age:
Party:
Address:
Place of Birth:
Occupation:
Brief Biography:
Other:

Quick notes; your character may not be younger than 21, you may stick religious affiliation (if any) under other but you don't have to, you don't have to invent a full address, just stick in a ward name (as the game progresses this will change slightly) if you like... and under brief biography I do not want to see anything like this; "...John grew up on a farm (the son of a farmer) and had to scrape to find the funds to send himself to university. At university...". This is not an American fantasy, this is Birmingham (sort of) in the 1950's.

Note that you do not have to run for election in the ward that you actually live in, but you must have some other excuse (such as property (inc. renting), a business, work, etc). You don't even have to live within the city.

The second section is not submitted publically, but is instead handed to the GM...

Conflicts of Interest:
Past Scandals:
Sexuality:
Addictions:
Medical Conditions:
Bigotries:
Corrupt Activity:
Other Criminal Activity:
Other:

You can leave that section blank if you want (though don't announce that publically!) and play the game clean. But that might not be so much fun. As for what to put; remember, we start the game in the 1950's.

You may also choose a picture to represent your character (a load will be up online shortly). You don't have to, though.

ii) Taking over an NPC

Very easy; if you find yourself characterless (you may not play more than one role at the same time) you can just ask the GM to show you the Form for an NPC of your choice. If you like what you see, you can then take over the character. This will be announced officially, somewhere.

iii) Defeat, Retirement and Death

Your characters do not last forever. You may retire or kill them off whenever you like, however you like. You may also chose to drop a character felled by the Electoral Reaper and start afresh. Don't be afraid of doing this if you think that your existing character is stuck in a rut. Be warned; once characters reach a certain age, the GM may start playing nasty tricks with their health and so on. A dead character is dead. Retired and defeated characters may only be brought back at a later date if they're under the age of 65. Ex-player characters may become NPC's, but only with the consent of the former player.

b) NPC's

Much of the above applies equally to NPC's. What's different is that, in their case, everything comes from the imagination of the GM and less is made public. With a few exceptions, NPC's will generally be rather crude caricatures. Don't assume that they all are though.

C) the GM's Character

The GM may chose to create a character as well... this character will work like an NPC but may not be take over by another player. While the GM's character may not use secret information to his own advantage, for other reasons it may be best not to trust the GM's character much.

D) The Black Book

Finally, a word on the Black Book. Every group gets one of these; it's run by the group's Whip and may be viewed by no one but the Whip (not even the Leader). It contains details of various dubious activities that members of his group have been getting up to and is the source of most of the Whip's power. The Whip gains this information by keeping his ears open to what players in his group say and so and (most of all) by asking the GM for information. How much the GM tells them is up to the GM. When a Whip is replaced, the old Whip must give the Black Book to the new Whip (whether they chose to edit it or not is up to them. Wiping it would be a big mistake). Former Whips should note that blackmail is illegal...

---------------------

With this now out of the way, there's not much that has to be done before the game can start. Maps is one thing, more stuff on committees and so on is another, background information is the third.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

A sample character creation form... obviously your bio sections will be longer, more descriptive and can include political views if thee likes...

Section One

Name: Stanley James Taylor
Age: 56
Party: Municipal Socialist
Address: Henchard, Chamberlain
Place of Birth: St Jude's, Chamberlain
Occupation: Industrial Mechanic
Brief Biography: UEU Shop Steward, Member of Chamberlain City Council 1945-Present (Henchard Ward)
Other: Anglican (weak), a member of the United Engineering Union

Section Two

Conflicts of Interest: none
Past Scandals: A member of the Communist Party in the early 1920's. Is, amusingly enough, now fiercely anticommunist and firmly on the Right of the MSP.
Sexuality: straight
Addictions: alcohol
Medical Conditions: alcoholic
Bigotries: doesn't like all these brown people moving into his ward, doesn't like Catholics, doesn't like homosexuals, is paranoid about freemasons.
Corrupt Activity: none directly, but has cheerfully covered up for the corrupt activity of others.
Other Criminal Activity: beats his wife when drunk. Is also responsible for repeated punishment beatings inflicted on his enemies in the local UEU
Other: nothing to add

[Хahar 🤔]

I want to be a corrupt old scumbag who was first elected 40 years before as a young socialist reformer!

40 isn't really plausible; it'd mean that you'd have been first elected before the First World War (edit: during, actually. There were no elections during the war). And bearing in mind how old councillors tend to be, you'd be dead by now. Having your initial character first elected for a slumland ward in the '30's, say, is certainly possible. It would also mean that you might get to be Lord Mayor.

That sounds good.

[afleitch]

I take it we can pretty much make up place names

Section One

Name: David Abercrombie
Age: 32
Party: Moderate
Address: Arrow Hill Park, Chamberlain
Place of Birth: Arrow Hill Park, Chamberlain
Occupation: Civil Servant
Brief Biography: Son of Martin Abercrombie MP. Attended Campion School for Boys, Cambridge University, Sparkwood and Bates Architectural Firm, then Civil Service. Elected to Arrow Hill Ward.
Other: Catholic, Chairman of the Arrow Hill Rugby Supporters Association

Section Two

To be given to the GM

[Filuwaúrdjan]

"Arrow Hill Park" sounds right, if thee knows what I mean. Where you thinking "Edgbaston" area, or "Moseley", "Selly Oak" and so on... or "Solihull", "Sutton Coldfield", etc.

Btw; if you're going to be Mr Abercrombie, delete the second half of that form, else give everyone else an unfair advantage

Further btw, Mr Taylor will be used as an NPC (the name just fits so well), but his actual section two might not be the same as above. Might.

[afleitch]

I've edited part two I'll divulge all to the GM when the thing gets going.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I've edited part two I'll divulge all to the GM when the thing gets going.

---

Obviously the city must have newspapers, so here they are;

The Chamberlain Evening Mail - a downmarket, trashy rag, yet also the local paper that most people in the city read. Tends to swing around in the breeze politically.

The Chamberlain Post - the city's serious newspaper. Right-wing, linked to certain local industrialists. Far less people read it than the Meaning Evil.

If a negative story appears about a player in the Post, it's probably not that serious (unless the story is inherently serious or if the player is ambitious and in the Moderate group). If a negative story appears on the front page of the Meaning Evil, it's frequently (though not always) curtains for that career.

There is no rule against players taking positions in either paper. If that's what they want to do.

[Hash]

Section One

Name: David Harriman
Age: 62
Party: Municipal Liberal
Address: Convent Vale, Chamberlain
Place of Birth: London
Occupation: Economist
Brief Biography: Headed various financial and service societies pre-war. Councillor for Convent Glen (1935-present)
Other: Anglican.

Section Two


That's it for now.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

An interesting character, that. A few minor quibbles on details though...

Party: Municipal Liberal

Presumably via an electoral pact with the Moderates

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Glen doesn't really work in an English (or mock English) place name. Convent Valley (say) or (urgh) Convent Vale would sound very like English suburbs though.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Methinks you should make him a pre-war councillor instead; it would explain why he has the sort of power that he still apparently has, despite his party.

[Hash]

Changed to Convent Vale and 1935.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Changed to Convent Vale and 1935.

I'll just repeat that that's a very interesting character you've come up with. Based on anyone in particular [qm].

[Hash]

Changed to Convent Vale and 1935.

I'll just repeat that that's a very interesting character you've come up with. Based on anyone in particular [qm].

David Emerson, and I'll try to mix in a bit of Maurice Duplessis in there.

[Хahar 🤔]

Section One

Name: Sean Hardie Morris
Age: 62
Party: Municipal Socialist
Address: Bexwick, Chamberlain
Place of Birth: Irish Sea (on a ship)
Occupation: Trained as a carpenter, but has not done any work for a good many years.
Brief Biography: Born to Irish parents, Member of Chamberlain City Council 1932-Present (Bexwick Ward)
Other: Nominal Catholic, a member of the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers

[Hash]

I changed my Place of Birth to London, btw.

[afleitch]

I have to say I like the lack of social mobility in these profiles Which makes it, sadly, accurate.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

A basic landuse map;



It's based on a real life one from about 1950 or so. You'll note that I've also rejigged the boundaries somewhat; this is to make it slightly less hellish to draw the ward map (which will be a coming this very afternoon, I hope).

Grey is build-up areas (including some industry and so on), Green is parks and woodland, White is everything else. I'll do a special transportation map at some point also.

Edit: Ward Map is complete, numbered and coloured with a crude class thingy (based on real life statistics from the '50's on rates). It'll be posted when I've finished little descriptions of each ward.

[afleitch]

A basic landuse map;



It's based on a real life one from about 1950 or so. You'll note that I've also rejigged the boundaries somewhat; this is to make it slightly less hellish to draw the ward map (which will be a coming this very afternoon, I hope).

Grey is build-up areas (including some industry and so on), Green is parks and woodland, White is everything else. I'll do a special transportation map at some point also.

Edit: Ward Map is complete, numbered and coloured with a crude class thingy (based on real life statistics from the '50's on rates). It'll be posted when I've finished little descriptions of each ward.

Cool

Do I see a 'Solihull?

I notice places to 'build' on if you will. I like. Could you give us a county setting for the city? Is it within a county or does it cross a few historical ones?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Do I see a 'Solihull?

Yep

You must be logged in to read this quote.

It will be a County Borough, so not in any administrative county. For ceremonial purposes it is all counted as being part of Ardenshire. Historically most of the Chamberlain under the pre-1957 boundaries was in Ardenshire (with the exception of greater "Handsworth", part of Trentshire, and IIRC some areas in the southern fringe, part of Sabrenshire), but the eastern Ash Country towns were largely in Trentshire. "Sutton Coldfield" and "Solihull" were both part of Ardenshire.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Please note that I can tell players a lot more information about any ward they're curious about.

I: once a solidly middle class area, this ward has frayed around the edges somewhat as the middle classes move out to the suburbs. Demographic change appears to be bringing political change; once a solid Moderate ward, it's recently been flirting with becoming a marginal. The ward also seems to be unusually popular with low income Commonwealth immigrants.

II: like I, this ward has seen a slow trickle of immigrants (in this case mostly Irish or from the West Indies) in recent years. But it's a working class area and safe for the Socialists.

III: historically one of the poorest parts of Chamberlain, III was bombed out during the war and has been radically rebuilt since. Where once stood decaying slums and (often derelict) workshops, stand council houses and new tower blocks. It has always had a strong Socialist presence and has recently turned into one of the party's safest wards. It also home to many new immigrants.

IV: a working class inner city ward on the edge of Chamberlain proper, full of industrial land and railway lines. Popular with immigrants. Votes the way you'd expect.

V: another working class inner city ward (though not so poor as, say, III). It's often claimed that levels of Commonwealth immigration here are the highest in the city. Solidly Socialist, but never overwhelmingly so.

VI: an extremely working class ward at the very heart of Chamberlain. Arguably even poorer than III. While a very safe Socialist ward now, a long serving Moderate councillor (who has since retired) was able to get re-elected in a reasonable election for the Socialists only a couple of years back.

VII: a curiously shaped ward that covers the central business district, before sweeping south to the houses of the bourgeoisie, VII is a ward increasingly difficult to justify (indeed, there were angry scenes in the council chamber when it emerged that it would not be abolished with Chamberlain's annexation of its surrounding boroughs) and will probably not survive the next re-warding (whenever that is). It's solidly Moderate.

VIII: an industrial and utterly working class ward to the east of the CBD, since it was gained by the Socialists in the early 1920's it has failed to vote for the party just once (in the Götterdämmerung of 1931). The area has seen a large influx of immigrants, mostly Irish construction workers, recently. It includes Chamberlain's first ever tower blocks.

IX: this ward was once a borough in its own right, but was annexed to Chamberlain in one of first of the cities expansionist drives. It's an industrial, working class and inner city ward and is home to one of the city's two football clubs (Aston Wanderers*). A Socialist stronghold.

X: one of Chamberlain's first suburbs and the traditional home of the city bourgeoisie, X is still the richest ward within the city's old boundaries and is home to the University of Chamberlain and to Ardenshire County Cricket Club. One of the safest Moderate wards in the city, even post expansion. Still, it's not quite so affluent as once was, and concerns have been raised about subdivisions in the north of the ward.

XI: inter-war suburbia (mostly) and very middle class. Always a staunch Moderate ward.

XII: historically a bit of an oddball; despite being suburban and largely middle class, this was actually a dependable Socialist ward before the 1930's. It is possible that this had something to do with the influence of a certain chocalate manufacturing dynasty, who built a company town here and who's onetime head was a longtime (first Reform, then Socialist) councillor for the area. But those days are gone and the ward as trending strongly Moderate since the end of the War.

Ach! Disaster! The next XII is the pink one

XII: Made up largely of giant inter-war council estates, XII isn't as working class as its history would suggest, yet it votes strongly Socialist all the same. There are fears that the ward might be capable of producing massive swings (as often seen in XIII) but, so far, this has not happend.

XIII: a very strange ward that combines more inter-war council estates, middle class suburbia... and a large car factory. It has normally voted Socialist, but is prone to wild swings often caused by strange turnout patterns and the health of the motor industry.

XIV: nice enough, but rather dull, middle class suburbia. Some estates on its fringes. Votes Moderate, but not always massively.

XV: middle class suburbia, often quite new. Again, some estates on the fringes. Solidly Moderate.

XVI: yeah, same again I think.

XVII: the same again... but often quite a bit richer. We're almost into "Solihull" here and it shows. A weak ward for the Socialists; and there's still a Reform presence here.

XVIII: in many ways the epitome of affluent inner-suburbia and it votes like it... but... it's fraying a little around the edges here and there. Subdivisions are becoming common in places, much to the horror of residents.

XIX: a solidly working class inner-suburb and safely Socialist since 1945, but the area has become popular with prostitutes recently and there are concerns that this may cause property values to fall, thus becoming more popular with...

XX: poor, inner city, working class and with a large Irish population. The Socialists have always done very well here and continue to do so. Locals have expressed concern about Commonwealth migrants.

XXI: another working class inner-suburb with a steadily increasing population fo immigrants (both Commonwealth and Irish). Home to Chamberlain City FC. Votes Socialist.

XXII: very like XXI, but without the football ground. Oh, in both areas (and in this part of the city in general) we're dealing with late 19th century terraced housing, rather than traditional slumland (since redeveloped). This will become important later one.

XXIII: like the last two, but a bit more affluent and a bit more suburban... tends to be a swing ward though.

XXIV, XXV, XXVI: dull (in a nice way) suburbia. XXIV is usually Socialist, the other two are unpredictable swing wards.

done it again

XXVI: (the bigger of the two XXVI)... home to many new council estates (many of which are very recent and some private suburban development. Unusually affluent for a safe Socialist ward.

XXVII: working class, Socialist-voting suburbs. The Socialist vote here seems to be more solid than in many inner-city areas as the party held on easily in the worst elections of the late '40's.

XXVIII: contains 19th century terraces, some newer suburbs and is very industrial. Normally solidly Socialist, but the Moderates have won enough fluke victories here of late to worry the local Party.

XXIX: an industrial area and one of the Socialists safest wards in the city. Historically the home to the traditional skilled working class produced by the engineering industries, this was one of the Socialists earliest strongholds. As a historical note, it also used to be home to most of the city's Jews.

XXX: an odd ward, containing a working class, strongly Irish and increasingly inner city area with various forms of suburbia. Generally decent turf for the Socialists, but capable of strong swings against the party.

XXXI: mixed suburbia with a middle class lean; capable of voting Socialist, but rarely does so.

XXXII: mixed suburbia with a working class lean; it should be a swing ward, but isn't. Socialist control here hasn't been under threat since the late '40's.

XXXIII: dominated by a giant 1930's estate, XXXIII is a Socialist stronghold, but turnout can swing wildly and the Socialist vote with it. The ward is safe, but might be vulnerable on a low poll.

XXXIV: see XXXI

XXXV: historically a middle class urban area and a Moderate stronghold, majorities have fallen in XXXV recently. The reasons for this are as yet unknown, though the increasing tendency for housing in the south of the ward to be subdivided and so on have been blamed by local Moderates.

XXXVI: suburban, middle class and Moderate voting. The trends seen in XXXV and I don't seem to have struck here, perhaps because the housing stock is newer.

All S wards: rich (very rich in some cases; SI especially) suburbia and far safer even than X. There has been discontent in both (soon to be former) boroughs about the expansion of Chamberlain. While this may cause the Moderate group some headaches, the party's grip on these wards is total.

BI to BIV: while basically part of Chamberlain, Fauldswick grew up as an entirely seperate industrial Ash Country town... and would have prefered it if things had stayed that way. The town has been a stronghold of the Socialists for decades and the only one of the new wards that doesn't seem to be very safe is BI; which includes some newer suburban developments. Concerns have been raised recently in Fauldswick about Commonwealth immigration. It is unknown whether this will have much of a political effect as numbers here are smaller than in Chamberlain proper.

BV to BVII: like Fauldswick an industrial town and strongly Socialist, Western Broom hasn't really physically merged with the Chamberlain sprawl. Local feeling against the political merger was strong, especially as the case for the town remaining its own borough seemed hard to argue against. Nonetheless, it is expected that any political effects from this will be felt from within the Municipal Socialist Group. BVII is the exception to this; it does actually include some genuine (and middle class, strangely for the borough) Chamberlain suburbs and is unlikely to be as strongly Socialist as BV or BVII.

*A prize to anyone who gets the reference!

[Хahar 🤔]

I call XX!

[Hash]

What do you recommend for me, Al?

I'm tempted to take X.