Let's play Fate! (Pen & Paper RPG)

The Game Room
61

Welp, I finally decided on a name: Luke Derringer. It has a nice, rogue spy ring to it and I figured why not have a little irony that the last name of a guy who hates guns is also the name of a gun. :stuck_out_tongue:

Here’s my updated skill set…I switched out Contacting for Investigation primarily because of the stunts I chose.

Skills:

  1. Superb: Gambling
  2. Great: Academics, Rapport
  3. Good: Alertness, Sleight of Hand, Resolve
  4. Fair: Science, Resources, Athletics, Empathy
  5. Average: Fists, Weapons, Drive, Endurance, Investigation

Stunts:
Never Bluff a Bluffer (Gambling)
Players’ Club (Gambling)
Walking Library (Academics)
Blather (Rapport)
Smooth Recovery (Resolve)

Annnnd here’s the backstory + aspects:

Real/Pulp Name: Luke Derringer
Occupation: Professional Gambler/Rogue Spy

Phase 1: Early Childhood

Luke was born to Charles and Lucy Derringer in New York City. Sadly, Lucy passed away during childbirth but Charles raised his son lovingly. Charles was a salesman by trade and recognized his son’s brilliance fairly quickly. He taught Luke that the greatest asset anybody had was their own mind and encouraged Luke to expand his horizons. Luke skipped several grades early on because of how quickly he absorbed knowledge and was always a teacher’s pet. Other children initially resented Luke for his intelligence, but he was taught well by his father the art of words and with a little work most of his peers’ resentment would fade away and instead they would find him affable and charming.

Aspect 1: “A man’s greatest weapon is his mind.”
Aspect 2: Natural Charmer

Phase 2: Adolescence

Luke graduated from high school when he was 15, and his amazing intellect grabbed him a full-ride scholarship at Oxford. During his college years studying abroad he was introduced to what would be his boon and his vice: gambling. While games of chance would only hold his interest in passing, poker became an addiction. The idea of outwitting his opponents became an obsession: the thrill of using only his mind to achieve victory was fuel to the fire. When he was 17, using his charm and intellect he snuck his way into his first high-stakes poker game and won handily. Because his success at the poker tables was directly related to his father’s upbringing, the first thing he did when he came into money was set Charles Derringer up at a private estate in outer New York. There was an unfortunate side-effect to his gambling. His penchant for intelligent competition made his academia suffer. While he continued to retain knowlege and read often to keep his mind stimulated, he found himself daydreaming and concentrating more on battling wits with others instead of doing his schoolwork. At the age of 18 he graduated in a blaze of mediocrity despite his intelligence, but that didn’t stop The Syndicate from noticing him and offering him a job. Luke accepted wholeheartedly because the world of spies and intelligence was just what he needed to find ways of exercising his mind.

Aspect 3: “Would you like to bet on that?”
Aspect 4: Head in the Clouds

Phase 3: Pulp Novel

Title: Luke Derringer in The Eyes of The Syndicate

Blurb: Luke Derringer - a man whose intelligence knows no bounds; a man who uses his mind to defeat his enemies instead of weapons; a man who isn’t afraid to gamble with his own life. For years on the outside, Luke as made a living as a professional gambler. But the high-stakes tournaments he enters also open doors for his real job: an agent working for The Syndicate, an intelligence agency that’s sources reach the far corners of the world. His success as a field agent has brought Luke into favor with the higher echelons of The Syndicate structure. With a promotion on the horizon he’s been sent to China for his most dangerous mission yet! But when things go wrong and the truths that he thought he knew are put into question, Luke Derringer discovers he must get to the bottom of what The Syndicate is really after. Join Luke as he takes on impossible odds! From a deadly battle of wits in the center of London to a high-speed chase through the streets of New York City, you’ll be glued to the pages waiting to discover just what lies behind the eyes of the Syndicate…

Aspect 5: The Syndicate
Aspect 6: “Ah-Ha!” Moments of Brilliance

Omi, I wanted to clarify what I’m going for with each of my aspects, just in case. (I believe it said to go over the aspects with the GM to make sure we’re on the same page.)

Aspect 1: “A man’s greatest weapon is his mind.”
Basically, he always tries to think his way out of a situation before resulting to violence or brute force. In addition, he’ll directly oppose violence if he believes there’s a solution that can be found without fighting or bloodshed.

Aspect 2: Natural Charmer
I think this one’s pretty simple. Able to charm his way out of situations, smooth talker, etc.

Aspect 3: “Would you like to bet on that?”
This is the aspect window to his gambling problem. Can be used for benefit (in a tricky situation, tries to gamble his way out of it) or for bad (gives away an advantage simply for the thrill of a good battle of wits/high stakes).

Aspect 4: Head in the Clouds
Since he’s so intelligent, when he hits a particular train of thought or is trying to solve a puzzle he’ll be so focused on it that he’ll miss obvious things that apply to the current situation because he’s thinking of other things.
*Note: This goes against the Alertness skill somewhat, but I wanted to clarify while usually he’s got proper attention on something and he’s really on top of things, if a particular puzzle grabs his attention his mind will wander. I’m thinking I might need to come up with a better name for this aspect.

Aspect 5: The Syndicate
Simple, this aspect opens all the doors to The Syndicate and what he knows about them/experienced while working with them.

Aspect 6: “Ah-Ha!” Moments of Brilliance
This kind of follows along with head in the clouds. When faced with impossible odds, sometimes he’ll pull a solution seemingly out of thin air because of his vast academic knowledge/quick wit.

62

Hmm, that looks fine… I like the absentminded aspects in particular, since they represent a reasonable avenue to safely gain Fate points. :slight_smile:

63

Okay, so I’ve got a Pulp Name and a Skill Ladder and a Set of Stunts set up.

I just need to work on the BackStory/Aspects which hopefully I’ll be able to get done in the next 24 hours.

Real Name: David “The Dave” Ballou
Pulp Name: Black Dave or “The Dave” when in Stunt man Mentality
Occupation: Stuntman turned Gunslinger

1 Superb skill: Guns
2 Great skills: Endurance and Athletics
3 Good skills: Resolve, Fists, Drive
4 Fair Skills: Alertness, Intimidation, Engineering, Rapport
5 Average Skills: Survival, Might, Deceit, Gambling(?), Weapons

Stunts:
Last Leg, Bounce Back
Shot on the Run, Trick Shot, Two Gun Joe

64

Oh, I’m glad you’ve listed Engineering! I didn’t want to say anything that would make people alter their plans, but things can and most certainly will explode in my games… I’m glad we have someone who can potentially take advantage of that. :smiley:

65

Ack…okay, so I was thinking about my character and I realized that I needed to switch skills around and stunts. I found one that makes more sense for my character. All I did for skills was switch Resources and Alertness, which fits better with the Head in the Clouds aspect. For stunt, I removed Blather and added Headquarters. Because every rogue spy needs a Headquarters right? :cool:

Skills:

  1. Superb: Gambling
  2. Great: Academics, Rapport
  3. Good: Resources, Sleight of Hand, Resolve
  4. Fair: Science, Alertness, Athletics, Empathy
  5. Average: Fists, Weapons, Drive, Endurance, Investigation

Stunts:
Never Bluff a Bluffer (Gambling)
Players’ Club (Gambling)
Walking Library (Academics)
Smooth Recovery (Resolve)
Headquarters (Resources) - With Added Element Utmost Secrecy

I feel adding the headquarters (with utmost secrecy) makes sense in a story perspective. Rogue spy, The Syndicate will be hunting for Luke so he needs a secret base.

Now, this I need the opinion of you other players on. With the Headquarters addition, I get to have my attached facility equal to my Resources skill instead of Resources -2. The options are either Library or Lab that best suit my character. I’m thinking that since I already have the Walking Library stunt, a Library in my base would be redundant and not very useful. Since Science is a lower trait for me, having a Lab would be more beneficial overall I’d say.

I’ve spent way too much time coming up with my character. Heh. I need sleep. Tomorrow I focus on mafia. :stuck_out_tongue:

66

I feel the Same way…

But here is my total Backstory and new character name (the Stunts/skills are the same but the aspects are added in and the name is changed a wee bit):

Real Name: Dave “The Dave” Fandango
Pulp Name: The Grim Fandango
Occupation: Gunslinger/ Stuntman

Phase 1: Childhood
David Fandango loved Hollywood as a child- not the prissy actresses or the silly suave debonair movie stars- no, he loved the Action! Movies were about explosions, fast cars, and the guys who made that happen! They were the REAL Stars of the movies! David then became quite a studious child- unfortunately not in books, but rather more “practical” matters, such as practicing jumping off his roof onto mattresses below; increasing his agility via hours of video games; and driving, repairing, and tinkering around in old cars. And every weekend, he would spend HOURS at the local theater watching as many of the action movies as he could to learn about how to be a stunt man. David dreamed of the day three days after his high school graduation, when he would be 18, and legally able to leave home and go off to be in the Movies! So it was for his high school graduation, that his father gave to him a pair of black mirrored sunglasses- Dave’s Shades, and a bus ticket to L.A. with the cheesy note: You’ve gotta wear these, because your future’s going to be so bright….

Aspect 1: Dave’s Shades (Beloved Item)
Aspect 2: Good with his Hands
**
Phase 2: College/After High School**
David Fandango never went to college, but instead went off to Hollywood, to learn first hand from the masters of the craft: the brave stunt men and women there. He was seen as a natural for blowing up cars and acting in stunts, and quickly caught the eye of one of Hollywood’s most famous Stunt men: Old’ One Eye himself: Oil Can Harry, the bravest, manliest, roughest, toughest cigar chomping Stunt man of them all! Oil Can Harry taught David that it’s one thing to be good at creating stunts- it’s another thing to BE a Stunt man. To BE a stunt man- you must see the world for what it is: a giant stage filled with props to create the biggest, baddest explosions and stunts the world can bear to witness. A true Stunt man sees how any situation could be made better with an explosion, a car crash, a gun fight, or just general mayhem.
So began David’s tutelage in the art of crashing cars and walking away unscathed, in creating scenes of thrilling excitement, and narrowly escaping death each and every step of the way! A true stunt man laughed in the face of danger, wooed the ladies with their explosions, and the key step here: always referred to themselves in the third person. It was the only way to become the ultimate survivor- able to walk away from crashes and explosions that mere men would soil their pants to even think about! A true Stunt man realized it wasn’t about creating the biggest stunt for a scene, nay- being a True Stunt man was a Way of Life, creating a whole new perception of the world around you….
For four years, David trained under Oil Can Harry, running with his crew in the movies, and making some of the craziest stunts witnessed in the movies today! And after those years, of tutelage- Oil Can Harry bestowed upon David his most cherished items: his very own nickname, and his very own pack of cigars, and thus “The Dave” was born.
Finally, The Dave was ready to take on the world on his own!

Aspect 3: Cigars
Aspect 4: The Way of the Stuntman

**
Phase 3: The pulp novel:**

Title: The Dave in The Dance of the Grim Fandango!

Teaser: Has Dave Fandango, an all around good guy, and stuntman extraordinaire finally met his match? It’s the week that changes our dude’s life forever!  
  When a Mysterious and Magical Tome casts ripples throughout L.A., our awesomely daring Stuntman is caught in its effects just as he was leaving town to shoot a Western! The Dave finds himself locked in a battle of wiles and wills with the most awesomest of foes: HIMSELF!
  David Fandango witnesses firsthand the chaotic mess that is "The Dave" come face to face with an all new and daring persona laying beneath the surface: "The Grim Fandango"! The two persona's clash within our hapless David, and who will reign supreme? The silent, deadly gunslinger, known to the world only as “The Grim Fandango”? Or will the Awesome Stunt man known world over as “The Dave” be able to burst through in explosive fashion, as only he can!?! 
  David Fandango suddenly finds himself facing an internal struggle against two sheer forces of will, each trying to assert their domain over him! How will he hold himself together?

It’s Seven Days of Madness; Six shots of whiskey; Five pounds of Nitro; Four tricked out Mustangs; Three unique clashing personalities; Two dueling pistols; and only one body to inhabit! This unique tale of insanity from the great beyond follows “The Dave” in his first great adventure right from its thrilling, pistol firing start to its final car exploding, barn-burning conclusion, featuring also the exciting origin of The Grim Fandango! Both personalities will settle their differences and plucky young David Fandango’s life will never be the same again!

Aspect 5: “The Dave…”
Aspect 6: Shoot first, Ask Questions Later

1 Superb skill: Guns
2 Great skills: Endurance and Athletics
3 Good skills: Resolve, Fists, Drive
4 Fair Skills: Alertness, Intimidation, Engineering, Rapport
5 Average Skills: Survival, Might, Deceit, Gambling(?), Weapons

Stunts:
Last Leg, Bounce Back
Shot on the Run, Trick Shot, Two Gun Joe
Aspect Explanations:

  1. Dave’s Shades - (Item) *This one’s easy enough, it’s his cherished item, given to him by his father, and the one thing that helps him sleep at night. *

  2. Good with his Hands- The Kid’s a natural when it comes to physical skills using his hands/hand eye coordination.

Aspect 3: Cigars (Item) - *One of the basic Rules of being a Stunt man: Whenever something looks cool, it could have looked cooler if the guy was smoking a cigar right before he did it. *

Aspect 4: The Way of the Stuntman -* This is the Training bestowed by Oil Can Harry on Dave- to see the world for what it is: a giant prop filled set for making the biggest explosions, the coolest entrances, and the craziest effects possible to thrill a crowd. A True Stunt man is able to create a great effect from the most basic of setups, and it’s this training that Oil Can Harry instilled into The Dave: The Way of the Stuntman.*

Aspect 5: “The Dave…” -*This is a personality Aspect: “The Dave” personality is egotistical, cocky, and Awesome. The Dave will always refer to himself in the 3rd person. The Dave will always do that which looks the Most Awesome, even if the situation does NOT call for an explosion or a car crash or a fantastic dive through a glass door. The Dave is the ultimate Stunt man, and is one of the personalities that lies within David Fandango. David tries to control the Dave, using his skills and such that he was taught. But in times of stress, The Dave will take over, because the Dave is FAR better at being Awesome. The Dave knows his post IS his cite. The Dave does not care for your respect nor your applause. The Sound of your jaw dropping as it hits the floor in amazement of The Dave’s actions is music to The Dave’s ears. (Does that sorta give you an idea of what “The Dave” aspect is?) *

Aspect 6: Shoot first, Ask Questions Later -*This is the Grim Fandango’s aspect. He a bit more stoic and intimidating, and certainly less goofy than the Dave. He’s a man of action rather than talking. *

Does this sound okay for a character?
He’s a decent fellow, but he’s sort of 3 people in one. A Silent Gunslinger, a crazy idiot savant of Stuntmen, and an ordinary guy trying to make an honest living…

Lemme know if you can work with this.

67

Good god, that reads as if you had a copy of my campaign notes on reference… it’s absolutely perfect for what we’re going to do, especially with the way your companions are turning out. :smiley:

68

Sounds good. But I think I’m going to take Weapons instead anyway, and use Mr. Z through the Contacting skill as my fencer. This will also fit into a slight change in my aspect list.

When I first thought about aspects it was from a Second Edition SRD, where the number of times you can use and aspect for fate points is limited by how many times you have the aspect for a given session, so it makes sense to have an aspect more than once. However, in SotC, they give you more leeway, in that any aspect can be used at any time provided you have fate points to use with it. (And conversely, forced usage can occur as many times as well.) So it really doesn’t make sense for my character to have Larceny twice, especially since he’s past the petty larceny point for the most part.

So during his training in burglary by Mr. Z’s associates, he was taught that killing is bad for business. A burglar doesn’t kill, for the reason that it complicates everything, and any burglar that develops a repuation for killing his targets won’t be hired for much, since discretion is the better part of valor. The point is not to get noticed, and pools of blood are hard for others to ignore.

So, the six aspects I have so far are revised as follows:

Aspect 1: He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.
Aspect 2: Could make a decent living selling ice to Eskimos.
Aspect 3: Graceful as a mountain goat.
Aspect 4: Jack Dawkins/Charles Peace eat your heart out. (AKA Larceny)
Aspect 5: Why do all my mentors leave in some fashion? (AKA abandonment issues)
Aspect 6: Killing is bad for business.

The aspects that will be revealed in my guest starring roles:

Two are also resources, but they can be used for plot points, so I’m making them aspects as well.

Aspect 7: Trusty Utility Belt (It comes with the standard list of cat burglar gadgets. It has a belt buckle grappling hook, 3 flash bombs, lock picks and other thieves tools, night vision goggles, etc. Seems to always have the tool I need.)

Aspect 8: The Lost Sword of Clan MacGuffin. Jewel encrusted sword, more ornamental than practical. Said to be cursed because every owner always met with gruesome death. Of course, it’s not really cursed, it’s just that in the past many people would kill for a sword like that (and did). Disappeared over a century ago (from modern time). Discovered by me during the events surrounding The Despair Diamond, and turned over to Mr. Z. Later, goes missing again. I vow to find it.

Aspect 9: Trusty Escape Car. Given to me by Mr. Z for use in my pursuit of the Despair Diamond, upon my acquisistion of the Sword of Clan MacGuffin, he gave the car to me free and clear. It’s a nice car, but slightly used. [GM can determine make/model/engine based on my resource level of Good.] Escape car also carries the larger tools of my trade in its trunk (i.e. Cameras and other surveillance equipment.)

Aspect 10: Mr. Z.–Shadowy businessman. As honorable as a high-class criminal can be. By day, he’s a respectable investor and trader, by night, he heads up a lose organization of various criminal types. No one knows much about the organization, including those in it. Everyone works for him on contract, and the only thing you need to know is listed in the contract. You do your role well, you get paid well, it’s that simple. You don’t need to know any more than that, and you really don’t want to know more than that. It’s better for everyone if you don’t. Also, since everything is by contract, most of his contractors pursue their own goals on the side. As long as you get complete your end of the contract, he could care less what else you do.

69

How’s this sound. Since you and I star in each other’s books, we have a true crossover story going. You are the current owner of the Despair Diamond. You won it in a high stakes gambling contest. Mr. Z. has hired me out to steal it. My novel starts out with the events leading up to the burglary attempt going through my betrayal by my uncle, my introduction to Mr. Z., my subsequent training, and small-time fare. The Despair Diamond is my first real test. Your novel starts out with your syndicate dealings, and our to novels meet at the point where I’ve broken into your New York home where the diamond is. Each novel from this point on tells the same story, but from our respective perspectives. Using my Trusty Utility Belt, I’ve bypassed all your security, and have grabbed the display box in which sits the diamond. At that moment an alarm goes off. This strikes me as odd, since I deactivated all the alarms. Before I get a chance to ponder this, you and all your guards show up. You congratulate me on my efforts, and say that you will let me keep the diamond, should I best you in a battle of wits. Having no other choice, I agree. However, the battle doesn’t get to start, because at that moment, Lady Lynx, one of the most world-renowned burglars and beautiful femme fatale drops in wearing a gas mask, fills the room with smoke bombs, and snatches the diamond while everyone’s distracted. Before any of us react, she’s gone, and in her place is a note.

"Thanks for the help, MG. Sorry about the alarm, but it just had to be done. The Syndicate would be very disappointed if I went back to them and revealed that a hack burglar like you beat them to the prize. Oh, and tell Luke they say “Hi.”

I show you the note and say “Looks like that contest will have to wait until later. Follow me if you want a chance of getting that diamond back.”

From here on out, our novels run in parallel. Each telling our own respective spins on the overall story. But I’ll summarize both with the facts. We run to my car, where I start it up and turn on a display in the dashboard. The display shows a map of the immediate area and a blinking dot that is on the move. You ask me if that’s what you think it is, and I confirm, that’s yes indeed, it’s a homing beacon. I reveal that before the smoke overcame me, I was able to secret a tracer in the diamond’s case. As long as Lynx doesn’t look too closely, we should be able to track her. We track her to a large house on the New Hampshire coast. However, she’s not alone. It’s revealed she’s meeting with someone you recognize as from the syndicate and there are a few guards as well. You recognize that this must be one of the syndicate’s safehouses along the east coast. You realize that if we can get a boat, we can approach the place from the water, and should be able to get in and out without too much trouble.

So we drive in my car a good ways up the coast until we find a boat rental place. Pooling our resources, we rent a small but fast inboard. We approach the safehouse, and with our combined abilities and my Trusty Utility Belt, we easily take out the guards (naturally, we don’t kill them). We get the drop on Lynx and the syndicate contact she was meeting with, and recover the diamond. However, there was one other thing that Lynx had on her person as well: the Jeweled Sword of Clan McGuffin. She didn’t have that when she attacked us the first time, so where she got it from I have no idea. Regardless, I pick that up with diamond and we make our escape. You challenge me to a battle of wits over the diamond, but I tell you to keep it. I’ve got the sword now, and that will more than satisfy my boss. We return to my car and I drop you back off in New York. I return to my boss with the sword, and he is ecstatic with my acquisition.

(That is, until it’s stolen from him, but that’s another story.)

My aspects that came out of this story:

Aspect 7: Trusty Utility Belt
Aspect 8: The Lost Sword of Clan MacGuffin.

ETA: And you’ll need to flesh out your part of the story with two Aspects you’ll take from it.

70

Sheesh, this sprang up fast whilst my back was turned. I have some errands to do this morning, but I’ll be back for character generation this afternoon.

Need some help deciding, though; as the private-eye route has already been taken, I’m thinking of going one of three ways, all pulp-inspired.

  1. Man raised by (insert wild animal here)- Lord-of-the-jungle type.

  2. Super-scientist (the kind that always wears a lab coat and talks a lot about the marvels of nuclear energy)

or

  1. Martian. This one already has some backstory in my mind. An actor was playing a martian role in a movie when the change took place, and he literally became that martian. The problem is, as the change is local, there still isn’t really life on mars. Thus, to borrow a comic book cliche, he is the last martian. (While I have a backstory for this one, I have no idea what sort-of things to base a pulp martian around, skill-and-ability-wise.)

Anyone able to help me brainstorm on any of these?

71

Oooh, all over it. Here is my first thought, tell me what you like and what you don’t.

Run with the martian idea, the backstory on that is awesome. But then don’t wory about playing him as a “martian”. Take a page from the Burroughs John Carter of Mars books. You can the combine the wild tough guy from the raised in the Jungle idea, with the super scientist idea. It would be sort of a Mr. Spock and Capt. Kirk lovechild (highly anylitical but with the physical prowess to take on the baddies in hand to hand) but with the intense loneliness that comes from knowing you are the last of your race.

What do you think?

72

Ok, let me get my stuff sort of formal

Background:

Byron Johanson was born to rich parents. It was old money and nobody in his family had worked for time out of mind. His parents, after inheriting their share of the family wealth were not close to the rest of Byron’s family, with the exception of Byron’s Aunt Mable who was like a second Mother to Byron. He grew up in an afluent New England community much like the one seen in The Great Gatsby. Byron was sent to boarding schools and was never close to his partent, who were of the children should be neither seen nor heard variety, but kept up corespondence with his Aunt Mable while he was being educated. He never tried very hard at school, prefering to have a good time with his friends to actually studying, but even so he managed to get himself a decent education. And while most in his class learned how to fence, he spent his time on the shooting range, eventually becoming a champion marksman for his school, winning a Nickle plated Beretta when he took home the gold. He also learned how to drink and hold his liquor.

Aspect
The Millionaire Playboy

Aspect
The Social Butterfly

Aspect
His nickle plated Beretta

Aspect
Champion marksman
The War:

Just before the war boke out it became fashionable amongst his friends to take travels to the far east and learn the ways and secrets of the orient so they could come back home and fight crime. When Byron turned 18 his parents both died in a drunken car crash and he inherited their fortune allowing him to follow some of his friends to India to study with the yogi’s. While he was there he learned to center himself and control his body. His teachers were impressed at how well he took to the studies, as most of the people who came to learn with them were not really good at it. Eventually he learned so much that they had nothing more to teach him, but knowing he was destined for greatness sent him into the mountains in Tibet to study with the great master.

His master had no name that Byron was ever told. He always simply refered to him as “Master”. He was an ancient monk who taught Byron how to use his control over his body to turn it into a weapon, and to highten his senses to a razor edge. Byron was the Master’s greatest pupil and durring his time there Byron started to change. He was no longer interested in going home and fighting crime, he wanted to stay in Tibet and become a monk. But the master saw too much rage and loneliness in Byron, who had never really dealt with the neglect of his parents, or their death and told him that his place was back in America.

When Byron returned home he found that while he was a way the world had gone to war and won but America was now plunged in the depths of an economic depression. He knew that he had a responsibility to use the skills of observation he had learned for the greater good. He met a girl, Daisy and they were married and moved to Los Angeles. He found himself a plucky sidekick, a newspaper delivery boy named Swifty (because he had a limp) and he set up a detective agency dedicated to helping the helpless. Eventually his agency started helping to clean up the crime problems in the city and the mob put out a hit on his life. They captured Swifty and forced him to lead them to Byron’s home where they tortured and killed both Swifty and Daisy right in front of Byron finally beating Byron himself and leaving him for dead.

Byron went back East to stay with his Aunt Mabel while he recovered. His rage, which was once held in check by his training in the far East, and his sense of intense loneliness, which was countered by his wife and sidekick, had taken over. His mission was clear, he must wipe out all crime. Byron Johanson WAS dead, who he was now was a ghost of vengance.

He was THE DARK SPECTRE.

It was important that his enemies never find out that Byron had survived, so he created for himself an alter ego. He used shoe polish to dye his blond hair jet black and put on false spectacles and would be to the world, Charles Montgomery, millionaire playboy. But by night he would go out with his trademark trenchcoat and Fedora and use his hightened senses, detective skills and martial training to take the fight to the criminals. With his Only his beloved Aunt Mable knew the truth of who he was. He would setup his headquarters below her masion.
Aspect
Blind Rage

Aspect
The Spirit of Vengence

Aspect
The Human Weapon

Aspect
His alter ego Charles Montgomery
Aspect
Trained by Far East Masters

Novel:
The Dark Spectre in

THE SPIRIT OF VENGENCE
See the Origin of the Dark Spectre. Thrill at his adventures in the Far East, cry as he loses everything he ever loved. The Dark Specter is really Byron Johanson thought dead by the criminals of the underworld. By day he passes himself off as millionaire playboy Charles Mongomery. But at Night he uses his detective skills and exceptional training by Masters of the Far East to take the fight to the criminals. In this thrilling origin story the Dark Spectre heads back to Los Angeles to take down the Mob boss who killed his wife and plucky sidekick. But when a human weapon decideds that the law of man is no longer good enough he just might give in and become a criminal himself? See the Dark Spectre fight with his trademark Nickle Plated Baretta and his greatest weapon…his fists.
Aspect
Walking the line between hero and killer.

Aspect
Justice at all costs.

So what does everyone think? I think I need to rework my skills again.

73

I’m a fan of the “The Last Martian” with no actual Culture to speak of, that sounds like it could be played to comedic effect quite well.

“My people have left me to watch over this planet and its inhabitants”
“What people?! You used to live down the block from me as kids!?!”

74

Ok, so after writing my final role description I think Fists needs to me by top skill, I shuffled a few other things around too. This is my final list of skills and stunts.

1 Superb skill: Fists
2 Great skills: Guns, Investigation
3 Good skills: Alertness, , Athletics, Endurance
4 Fair Skills: Resourses, Deceit, Contacting, Intimidation
5 Average Skills: Resolve, Might, Empathy, stealth, Academics
Stunts:
Focused Senses
Martial Arts
Clever Disguise
Scary
Scene of the Crime

75

My only thing is: Does “The Dave” make sense? It’s quite tricky and not well explained.

My character is actually David Fandango- a guy who tries to make an honest living by day in the movies and such. At Night, he turns into the silent but deadly Gunslinger known as The Grim Fandango.

The catch is though, that inside these two personalities likes the 3rd one. The 3rd one that- though it is a master of all situations (or so it believes), it really does care for David’s well being and survival. HOWEVER, the 3rd personality is compelled by one simple rule: “What is the Coolest Possible Thing I could do right now?”

That’s basically it. The Dave isn’t really a persona or anything, but just this underlying feature the character- it can break free and take over David in times of stress, or in-opportunity (ie: ANY situation where stealth would have been needed. Or subtlety), or it can take over in time to save his life- as The Dave IS the Ultimate Stunt man and knows how to walk away from anything.

That’s the trick- it’s helpful as a survival personality, however in all other facets of life, The Dave probably causes problems whenever he surfaces, making my character a HUGE liability.

But the Main Character perseveres onwards, trying to do good things even with these personalities in his head.

76

Naf you have one Aspect too many.

Also, if you go by the character creation guidelines, you get two aspects per phase. The first two phases being what happens before you enter the world of pulp, the last three being your novel and the other two novels you guest star in.

Though, there’s nothing wrong with choosing your aspects before the guest star novels and working them into that story.

But the background is good.

77

Okay, between Naf’s suggestion and Ro’s good humor, I’ll definately be going with the whole ‘Last Martian’ idea. I’ll be working on the actually character-foo either later this afternoon or this evening. (And, in homage of Jon J’onz, I’ll be naming my character Sam S’mith)

78

For aspects you need to introduce them 2 at a time, the other 2 you’ll need to bring in via your 2 Guest Starring roles

79

Hmm, I may have overdone it with the Aspects. I can combine them down so there are fewer. Also, I don’t know that they are two sided enough. I will have to think about that a bit more.

80

Ok, let me fix up my aspects, since a couple seem redundant.
Background aspects:

Aspect
The Millionaire Playboy
He is a man who has learned how to drink and how to charm. He knows the social graces that are needed to comport yourself in high society. Did I mention the drinking?

Aspect
Champion Marksman
His training later focused on his fists, but he started off as a man who could win gold medel championships.

The War:

Aspect
The Spirit of Vengence

Fuled by rage and a need for revenge. He helps the needy, but he doesn’t always wait for them to ask for help. He is out to set right all the wrongs of the world.

Aspect
Trained by Far East Masters

He was trained by far east masters to have total control over his body. Since becoming the spirit of vengence he has neglected some of that training focusing more on the fighting and having his body be a human weapon. But he still has endurance and great athletic ability.
Novel:

Aspect
His Nickle plated revolver

It is his trademark weapon.

Aspect
His alter ego Charles Montgomery. He uses his millionair playboy background to keep himself and the few people in his life he still loves safe. He needs to keep his real identity as Byron Johanson a secret at all costs. Byron Johanson is dead.

Ok, that is two per phase.