[UA] Starting out... (Don't read this if you're in my upcoming game)

[Rich Ranallo]

Wow. Thanks for all the advice, everyone.

Here's how I think it'll go down:

First, I'll play up what an awful person this guy is. He smells bad, is
generally filthy and has an attitude like Morton Downey and David Duke on
amphetamines. He's also a heavy-duty junk collector; most everyone who sees
him thinks he's homeless. He comes in and orders the same meal every day
from this McD's, and the day he gets the Special Order is just the straw
that breaks the camel's back. The characters have probably been dying to
drop one on this guy (they won't have access to Unhappy Meals), but haven't
gotten up the nerve. When he leaves the restaurant, he drops a plastic bag
containing an old 1-meg hard drive (the hard drive is a backup copy of
Brandy Welles' internet ritual archive, which has been sent to the players
after six years by way of the Mak Attax skill).

Once he dies, it's discovered that he was actually a fairly well-off man,
though highly eccentric. For all his racism, sexism and generally bad
attitude, the United Negro College Fund, the Anti-Defamation League and a
whole host of other charitable organizations receive a good half of his
estate. He actually does become a local hero in his death, even if he ws
hated in life--there was a news story a few months back about the
stereotypical "scary old man" who seemed to hate all children, but who
donated his entire estate to children's funds upon his death.

So not only will his funeral be somewhat of a public affair, but it affords
the group an easy way to slip in--posing as reporters. I'm taking the advice
of having a lister suggest that the Special Order could default to an object
that was important to him in life, thus giving a good incentive to
investigate the dry cleaners' when they hear about it.

As for the old man and his missing charge, he does become a ghost of sorts:
one player is planning to play an Anagram Gematriast. At random times when
he "loses" his ability to understand verbal communication, he's going to
perceive whatever is spoken/written as messages from the old guy, who is
alternately pissed and thankful for what happened to him--understandably,
he's quite manic-depressive.

>From Whom It May Concern,
Rich Ranallo

"I don't have any problem with any of the ghosts. Remember, I'm perfect."
- Billy Mitchell, world Pac-Man champion