And co…
The People that you meet, or at least some of them.
Allan Stockwell (Current Era)
Born: 1926
Occupation: Technician
Status: Mutant / Technopath
Al never made a home outside of the city he was born in, Los Angeles. His technopath power allows him to make any machine to do almost anything, and it will work… most of the time. In 2013 he accidentally left an all distance quantuum entanglement communicator inside a metamorph who time traveled back to 1947. Now he is linked to all of his hims throughout time. And technically always has been. So now he knows how that happened. He has made a near-religious devotion of not using any knowledge or talents he has later in his “life string” earlier than he knows he should. And thus has not fallen afoul of the Time Police. At current meeting he knows what a struggle he has already about to have faced.
Allan Stockwell (1947 era)
Born: 1926
Occupation: Technician / Science Weenie
Status: FBI Technician
A young technician he worked with the FBI, investigating and detecting sabotage or possible sabotage during the war, recruited for this task out of college, he did not avoid the draft, and was drafted into the army towards the end of the war, and thus was on hand when Laibach was detonated in the Rhineland. For a while this event was believed to be responsible for”Gifts” although Al’s went undetected until the 60s. He found he had an incredible way with machines, and his work was often un-duplicatable by others, leading to him being dubbed a genius. Any number of growing technical and science firms sought him, but the Government had a number of former German Scientists, thanks to project Paperclip, so he stayed with the FBI, to keep an eye on the former NAZIs. Also to help develop science for the government. Later he would move from the FBI technical desk to the Desk of Metahumans, when the Mutant phenomenon became more evident. Later transferring to the Bureau for Utilization of Mutants. Al encountered a group of strange people who claimed to be from the future, and when he shook hands with one, he became linked to his future selves due to the device future him had made within one of them. That’s all you get for now.
Allan Stockwell (1987 era)
Born: 1926
Occupation: Technician / Science Weenie
Status: DMV Technician
The change to the DMV was not a smooth one for the people who had, for one reason or another, found themselves pressed into specific mutant fields of study. For Al it was just another slowly growing bureaucracy getting increasingly in the way of important work. Since the Krell Invasion, a year long war culminating in a hectic last stand which humanity won, the study of mutant kind leapt ahead, and Al was a part of that exciting field. The bodies of so many who gave their lives to save Earth were studied down to their last cell, advancing the understanding of mutancy by decades each year. Eventually the inhumanity of it broke Al, and he was moved off to a Field Office, no longer willing to participate in the cruelty of science. It would be some time before he found a purpose in the DMV again, gathering allies and resources to solve the crisis that… Well, he remembers that about to happen, but you don’t.
Allan Stockwell is based (based it the generous term) on Dean Stockwell’s “Al” character from Quantum Leap. I liked the idea of sending a selection of the DMV kids back in time and seeing if they would fuck up my world more than Soviette already did. I mean, what else could go wrong with Players and Time Travel? Not much, I have the Time Police now, so I can just kill them off if they mess up too much. I wanted them to have feedback on what changes they’d made, initially the Newspaper was how that happened, I was going to have them read the newspapers to see what was going well or bad. I quickly realised that they wouldn’t know enough about history to know what was a wrong article and what was not, and having them read the paper then “Make a roll” to see if they knew if it was good or bad was self-defeating. If I was going to have to tell them about each thing that went wrong or right, why not have an NPC do it? Al immediately came to mind, but how would such a character fit in to the DMV setting? In Quantum Leap, Al knew things because Sam swapped placed with the person he “leaped” in to, so Al could interview them, and there was always Ziggy, who performed statistical analysis on the past. That wasn’t going to work for me, but I was married to the idea by now. So… what about a technopath who would have been alive back then? Dean Stockwell was born in the 30s, wouldn’t be old enough… but it would be reasonable for him to still be alive if born in the 20s. Which would mean they could meet young him in the 40s, he’d be 21 and just coming into his powers. So, a technopathh capable of making devices which work. He doesn’t need to know how, his power makes him assemble the right thing… mostly, I do like the chance of hilarious cock-ups with powers. So he can build a communicator which would, unintentionally work through time, and also because its connected to him, thereby connect somehow his life together, allowing him to sort of have that Life String that Sam Beckett did in Quantum Leap. This also allows him to have a super computer called Z.I.G.I. which could compare news archives Al would KNOW he needed to keep against the ones in the world affected by time in the Present (2013 in my setting) (He would be keeping the archive because young him, being connected to all versions of him, would know he needed to. And his Lab is protected from the effects of time because he built a device, somehow, to protect it.) This means if there is time meddling in the future I want to do, I can have AL show up and get the DMV kids to intervene, instead of deploying Universe Man to smash things flat. Win-Win for adventures!
Bartholomew “Bart” Zharkov
Born: 1919
Occupation: Scientist
Status: Married to “Helga” a former German who acts as a Lab assistant in the S.T.A.R.S. programme
Bart Zharkov was born Baat the son of a Mori Fisherman, D’jei of Mori. D’jei had left Mori tribe as a young man and become a bearer for a British explorer, eventually becoming his Batman during the (first world) war. His wife gave birth to Baat whilst D’jei was away, he sadly never saw his son. Baat changed his name to Bart (Bartholomew) Zharkov during college, in hopes of getting hired based off his European sounding name, mainly due to the strong biases in Western society, he moved to America and married a German lab assistant who had a brilliant mind, and a sorrowful heart. He got a job in Scirantis as a biologist, and began working on trying to make a biological computer, it was not a success, but he was involved in enough successful projects to be poached by the United States Army at the end of the Second Great War. His ideas led to Allan Stockwell developing the Biological computer Z.I.G.I. (Zharkov Inspired Generated Intelligence.) Bart was among the first American scientists to study mutants (called Gifted in those days) and was the man who discovered the genetic hereditary of mutancy, and among the first to speculate on the increase in generational general power, coining the tertm “PL Creep” His son married a Nevada woman, and graduated college as Salutatorian, landing a job with Teradyno’s Bio-science division. Bart Zharkov is still alive in 2013
Bart came about because I needed an ancestor for Wanda, her dad, obviously there’s a thing there, but I needed there to be more. His name is Zharkov, because hers is, but I wanted there to be a cool story about HOW a black family came to be named after the scientist from Flash Gordon (please tell me you realised that) His name “Bart” I took from the main character of Blazing Saddles. I always liked that he was the smartest man int he room, it worked really well for pointing out how dumb racism is. The picture is actually a scientist who worked on Fat Man, so. Smart guy there, he had a determined, intelligent look in his eyes, which I immediately identified with Zharkov. Nonetheless he is still a product of his time and does have some of the thinking common in that era. I also wanted his wife to be German. That was very important to me. In my mind he plays chess very well, but not impossibly so. He leads a clean life, attends the theatre with his wife once a month, and I like to think he is a little nerdy, and out of touch with things, lost in his work.
Francesca “Frankie” Leon
Born: 1989
Occupation: Librarian / School Mistress (Assassin)
Status: Single
Frankie was born to an Irish conman and a German assassin. She grew up learning how to deceive people, count cards, cook books and do sick kung-fu flippy shit. When she was graduating high school it was a career path of criminality or professional wrestling. … Well, that or join a Three letter government agency, but that’s basically being a criminal these days isn’t it? She chose to follow her mother and became an accredited fledgling assassin at the age of 18. She rose rapidly, too rapidly, and her success led to a swollen head, that arrogance repaid her as she broke one too many rules and was reduced back down to novice assassin, and immediately forgot how to run and jump. It makes total sense.
She was given low grade assignments in Los Angeles as a punishment, and was tasked with killing a certain someone when everything went blue. A bunch of students got sucked into a hole in the air, she was sucked in after. Flung further back in time than the DMV kids she had to live out a few months undercover whilst trying to find the bastard that sent her back in time.
She is actually a Librarian, and a school mistress, she enjoys detective stories, action movies with the untouchable badass protagonist and has an eclectic music taste. A relaxing weekend for her would be sunbathing with a good book. It is important to note that she does not scan as a mutant, but is exceptionally well trained.
Frankie was born of the idea that, “Hey, I don’t have any sexy redheads as named NPCs in the setting.” But what possible upcoming character fit that bill? Well, I had an idea for one coming up, but it was a guy, Frank Leon. Well, add an ie and you have Frankie Leon, It would be amusing because the characters would hear about Frankie before they met her. Also “Frankie Goes To Hollywood.” They would be expecting a man, but she’s instead a sexy librarian dom. But it is never good to have a character just to be a sexy object. Well, I wanted to have an assassin character who had been busted back to low rank and to sort of have a bit of fun with the concept of assassins in relation to PCs. I dunno, it could be fun. I also wanted to do the buttoned shirt which hides a hardbody thing again. I like that. Insofar as character goes, I drew upon my Star Wars MMO Bounty Hunter PC, and drew on elements from some anime I watched. I don’t want to write more here, spoilers and such. But it is always fun to throw a sexy woman in front of Roxanne and watch her get all flustered and start missing things. I got the idea of the Librarian thing from a City of Heroes character I teamed with one, called the Librarian, or something similar, but they were a sexualised dark controller. At least it wasn’t a cat girl. There is also an element of allegory on the degeneracy slope we’re on today. You see the assassin is also degenerate in other ways, and like the degeneracy slippy slope we’re careening down in real life, she started out promiscuous with a penchant for violent training, and now… Dominatrix Assassin.
Reggie “Black America” Clay
Relevance: Alvin’s Great Grandfather
Hereditary: Son Clarence > Grandson Anthony > Great Grandson Alvin
Occupation: Soldier / S.T.A.R.S.
Status: Mutant / Married
Reggie Clay was a conscript, didn’t really want to join but had to. During the war he saw what the NAZIs had been doing and it made him regret America’s non-involvement sooner, feeling that this suffering could have been prevented had the U.S.A. arrived sooner. Following the war he left the army to help the family grocery business, which was not doing well. When his mutant powers manifested he re-uped now being a believer that people who can - should do their part to prevent what happened during the war. Reggie preferred to play “Ignorant Negro” around others, hiding his intellect and perception. His abilities allowed him to perform longer and a little better than before, and he is in great shape. He uses a mix of lowered expectations and crafted opinions to get people to do the right thing. He enjoys Moules and Football, and the funny pages of the paper best.
He wields guns and a bullet resistant steel shield.
Reggie was crafted for the adventure, I wanted to do the thing where a bunch of the characters had ancestors who all happened to be in the same place at the same time, which is kind of BS, but its a thing this type of medium does. I wanted Reggie to be a Patriot Pro-Army guy, but I wanted him to have arrived that way because of what he had seen as the Army rolled into Germany and began encountering camps. I also wanted him to be the kind of guy Alvin would have a predisposition against initially, being a little “Roxanne-y” The idea being that Reggie ALSO hides a portion of what he is and plays off what people of the era expect, using it to get the results he wants. The shape of the concept came together when I saw this picture of some cosplay guy. And the whole Black America thing crystalized in my head.
Leigh “Flag Girr” McDonall
Relevance: None to Player Characters
Occupation: Soldier / S.T.A.R.S. / Nurse
Status: Mutant / Single
Leigh was getting media attention in the last months of the war, as a nurse who crawled out of a bombed field-hospital, concealing her nudity in a flag and attacked and killed some German soldiers, (along with a nearby platoon, but the papers didn’t focus on them.) The PR was obvious, she became a symbol, dressed in a flag themed attire. She wanted to actually do more, but was not allowed to, nonetheless she was involved peripherally in several engagements.
Leigh’s powers are enhanced specific hearing over a hundred yard range, and heightened reflexes and is often able to hear the subtle changes in someones voice when they lie, or have great conviction in what hey say. Her background as a Gymnast means she is taking well to her new training. She enjoys crossword puzzles and wanted to become a doctor. They gave her the good shield.
Leigh came about as a “Shit, I need three of them” kind of thing, I quickly looked for girl-Captain-America types and bam. I made her acerbic and a little past people bullshit, a little anachronistic, but she’s seen things man. She is distrustful, and this is what leads her to spy on the Protagonists, revealing they’re from the future. In my mind she’s aggressive and blowing off her frustrations at being held back from actually helping people as a nurse or as part of the action, she has a lot to prove. Then the Protagonists show up talking about how those three don’t do anything, that they’re insignificant and how they probably just die. She felt they stole her dreams, stole her future. Knowing they were telling the truth and were resolved, hope died in her. From that moment on, she was numb.
Alison “Bomber” Richard
Relevance: Great-Aunt to Stefanie Richard
Hereditary: Sister Claire > Niece Lou-Ann > Grand Niece Stefanie
Occupation: Soldier / S.T.A.R.S. / Dancer / Model
Status: Mutant / Single
Alison Richard was a dancer in the USO shows a swell dame with great gams, when her powers manifested she got big. this limited her prospects, she felt. The name “Bomber” got attached to her when someone remarked that “[it’s] like some Dame stepped off the side of a Bomber!” Her powers are limited to great strength, she is always at a certain level of power, but can increase that, but her mass increases as well, which is unladylike. Alison enjoys dancing and playing cards she is in all ways a proper young lady of the era, a little flirtier than is normal, but given her profession that is understandable. Beneath the surface she is quite deviant, being interested in women, not men. On base she can indulge in some less acceptable pastimes, mainly exercise and training. Which are considered appropriate there.
Alison was the second one I made for S.T.A.R.S. I wanted a tall strong woman in the 40s. Scandalous! And when you’re doing that, why not break a few more taboos. ::sigh:: there are too many Bi or lesbian people in my setting. Statistically it’s WAY over represented. It’s become too much of a habit, I always sort of read into X-Men that it was sort of about civil rights, or the Gay issue, so I guess that bled in to this. Maybe in my setting mutancy changes preferences too? I don’t know. I saw Alison as a chance to have a proto-Stefanie. Obviously three seconds of thinking tells you Stefanie didn’t Inherit her powers from Alison. This is because they are not the same power at all. Alison needed to go with the group, mainly because I needed to be able to force un-medicated Bon-Bon and Horndog Roxanne to make distraction checks if things were proceeding a bit too fast. On reflection I didn’t need to do this because I also had sexy fetish librarian along too after a bit.
Colonel Jack Harrington
Relevance: In charge of the S.T.A.R.S. Programme
Occupation: Soldier / S.T.A.R.S.
Status: Married
Jack Harrington was a career Army officer, seeking to advance the cause of peace through strength he latched on to a proposal which passed his desk on the way up to General Hapablap, the project would seek to employ and train a new type of soldier from amongst the newly empowered people popping up after the war. The Programme was approved, but officially suspended after a devastating accident on base. Official sources blame communist sabotage, in reality the incident was an unauthorized FBI directed attempt to dissect Jennifer Jenkins, then trapped in time. The Colonel was officially killed in the “blast”
In reality the project was put to sleep, sent deep into the black. The three candidates were put in freezers to be awoken when their existence would not bring about a brinkmanship resulting in a premature world war 3. The project however was lost when a fire, actually caused by communist spies, destroyed the record of the project and its location in Vault 12. Harrington and his science crew stayed hidden within.
Jack Harrington was a name I pulled out of my ass when I was sitting in front of the keyboard trying to think of a Colonel name. I wanted Jack to be a stern 40s type, but with an open mind, able to see the big picture. Just in case the Players wanted to choose the unexciting “Convincing” route instead of the action methods or the “Metal Gear” methods of resolving the time discrepancy.
Jack really has no personality at inception other than that, he didn’t need it. Maybe one will evolve in game night. In my head he has a wife and son.
Major Thomas “Tom” Fury (later Colonel)
Relevance: Tom Fury’s Father
Hereditary: Son Thomas jr.
Occupation: Major USAF (Later Colonel)
Status: Married
Major Fury made Ace against Japanese fighters in the pacific theatre before being shot down, crashing on a reef where, by happenstance an Atlantean fishing team were harvesting delicious nutrients. They recovered the injured pilot and brought him back to their outpost. There An’alyra, a physician brought him back to health. They questioned him, being isolationist and knowing little of humans. Somehow the Major managed to convince them to end their isolation and assist the allies against the Axis. The Major stayed with the Atlanteans as a liaison, or ambassador, and later married his healer, An’alyra. The couple moved from Stratos to America in the 40’s to raise a family. Mainly so the children would have American citizenship in their own right, but also because their mixed marriage was considered impure by the purist Atlantean elites. They had two children, Tom and Claudia. Major Fury did a brief stint in Nevada during the 50s, then spent the rest of his career touring with the air force, training pilots and even the super soldiers in various things. In the 60s his wife returned to Stratos in accordance with her people’s wishes, they would not be re-united until 2013. Major Fury is calm, considering and relaxed, he’s seen too much to freak out over a little display of power. His wife’s influence on him has led him to be considered an excellent negotiator, respected by his enemies and allies alike. He enjoys flying and poker. Since his marriage he has also taken an interest in wood carving and water polo. As a father he tried to instill conservative American values in his children.
I wanted Major Fury to be the sort of opposite of Tom in a lot of ways, He had to be cool and calm, professional. I also had to keep in mind that the slowing of societal change that is in this setting, so 50s style and slang persisted into the 60s and 60s stuff was later, it gets messy. Vague is always better for these things. Being the early version of him, I had to remember not to have him suggest or draw on things he wouldn’t naturally consider. Like say a Vault Dweller thinking about sniper nests (heh) Or an Army girl NOT thinking immediately about sniper nests. It ended up not mattering, but it distracted me a good bit. Especially since a later version of him might have been exposed to more so might have broader knowledge or intuition base. The Major had to be affable and likeable, and I am not such a person, so I had no idea if he came off that way, but the Players needed to like him. So amping up the casual nature was the best stand in I had.
An’alyra Fury
Relevance: Tom Fury’s Mother, adopted daughter of King Aquillia
Hereditary: Son Thomas jr.
Occupation: Surgeon / Housewife
Status: Married
An’alyra was a bright young woman, curious and diligent, her promised man was found guilty of crimes against the peoples of Atlantis and executed before their marriage. She was single when the strange human man was brought to the outpost she served at. She helped him recover from his injuries. As they spent time together they fell in love, to seal the wartime pact with the humans, she wed the Major, a move considered a sacrifice on her part, but she did not see it that way. She became pregnant and moved to America with her husband, to raise their children and avoid the distaste of the elites. She bore two children, Tom jr. and Claudia. In the 60s she had to return to her people. An’alyra enjoys her work, swimming and flying. She plays board games such as backgammon.
In the way Major Fury was a sort of opposition piece to Tom, I wanted his mother, An’alyra to be the same thing, but for Harmony. An’alyra is a serene, calm pool of still water, radiating charm, grace and civility. Being around her is calming, people feel more at ease. Her eyes are a still deep pool. Harmony is powerful aggressive and arrogant. HER eyes are a promise of a storm tossed ocean. Where Harmony is scantily clad and ripped, An’alyra is clad in elegance and is slender. Harmony’s power is overt, almost masculine in nature, it thunders and puts itself forward. An’alyra’s is reserved, quiet and subtle. I drew inspiration from Galadriel, and tried to draw upon that serene reserve. An’alyra commands whatever room she is in, although no-one would notice, she is like the tide, shaping the coast gradually and inexorably. She is mature. This could be a window into a future Harmony perhaps.
Universe Man
So, I quickly realised that some characters would appear in multiple Campaigns, some I will outsource to their own page. And put a little button, or a picture with a hyperlink in it here. Get used to this.
“Adam Smith”
Relevance: Newspaper Reporter
Occupation: Newspaper Operator / Prepper
Status: Married
Born: Feb 11, 1934
As a young reporter Adam stumbled into a conspiracy of what he believed to be Communists within the American Government, he tried to expose this, only to discover his editor was a part of this group. He was fired, changing his name to Adam Smith he began free-lancing, trying to uncover and expose the corrupt influences in Society. In 1952 he stumbled, again, into a conspiracy to cover up the existance of aliens by the United States, he managed to get photographic evidence of this, but was attacked in the evening by shadowy government agents, and the evidence destroyed. In his words:-
“They burst in through the door, destroyed the film, then I was attacked by a man in black, threatened by an abrasive alien pretending to be a woman, she was a fed, really, she glowed. The man in black then revealed the truth, a half alien, human hybrid, made by the government, sent by the government to destroy proof of their conspiracy. You don’t believe me? Take a trip out to Sha’Mad Conde, peaceful village, the ground opens up and its metal, metal as far as they eye can see. It’s a secret weapon. They don’t want you to know!
“In a lot of ways, they were ahead of the times, the alien girl, the obnoxious fed, she accused me of things, untrue things, but that’s what they do now, they say these things, it jerks emotional cords in your head, you stop thinking, that’s how they operate, If anyone opposes their agenda, they accuse. It used to be communism, then naziism, then sexism, racism, rape you name it. Language is a weapon to them, once they devalue words they have you.”
He fled into the desert, where, ill equipped he dehydrated and collapsed, eventually he was rescued by a team of well prepared preppers belonging to a militia, who had come to find what they believed was “Secret military aircraft” He joined them and continued to seek out the truth, eventually setting up a newspaper called “Warrior” Largely dismissed as rambling gibberish, but appreciated by some as being “far more right than you’d expect” once you peel away the insane ramblings.
“Adam Smith”’s name was never discovered by the party who encountered him in 1952. So I will keep using it here. Adam is sort of like what Fox Mulder would be if he was a newspaper man. And Alex Jones. I wanted to reveal the identity of the man behind the Cold Rocks Warrior for a while, and this was a chance to not only do that, but have the players CAUSE him to be a thing later. Adam’s stroy is one of being stepped on for trying to tell the truth. A reporter who really IS like they are portrayed in Lois & Clark, or any other thing where the reporter is the good guy. They’re not like that in the real world, they’re liars, always have been.
Adam is also behind another newspaper the group have encountered, a less rambling one, with more repute. I wonder if the rambling loony thing is an act so no-one will try to take him out. After all, the raving madman isn’t a threat to the powers that be.
It was important that in 1952, when the players encounter him that he be wholly innocent, a reporter doing his job, legally. Fully within the first amendment, breaking no laws. It was important to me that the player characters had to do something mean and nasty to achieve the good outcome. If Adam had been able to publish, public awareness would have exploded around aliens, causing, I had decided, more discussion of them on our broadcasts, which would have reached the aliens sooner, and brought the follow up encounter sooner than we could have dealt with it. That encounter would have drawn the attention of the Imperium, WAY sooner, and in 2013 the earth would have been gone for decades. They also needed to cause Adam Smith. Adam Smith is a part of history. How did he happen before they time traveled? Maybe you should ask someone IN-GAME that question, if you think you want to.
Claudia Fury (1963)
Relevance: Tom’s Sister
Occupation: Young Girl
Status: Single
Born: August 13, 1947
Claudia is the sister of Tom Fury, I wanted her to be more Atlantean than him, She has minimal powers, because she’s a half breed. Her intellect is high for a human, and above average for an Atlantean. She wishes to pursue a career in science, and wants to travel back to Stratos to study. She resents being a half-breed which is stigmatized among the purity focused Atlantean people. She has many traits of Atlantean women, the literal mindedness and pedantic methodology. She dislikes her brother and views him as too human. She is frustrated by the limited education she can receive in America.
When picturing Claudia in my head I didn’t have a clear image for a long time. But I settled, about nine hours ago, that adult her would look a little like Eva Gardner. Just a total picture of femininity. I wanted her to be a female Tom, irrational, obtuse and unlikeably likeable, but in a female way. A more Atlantean way. I gave young her a disdain for humanity because she sees her brother as an exemplar of humanity, and siblings be like cats n dogs, yo. Claudia is another example of Atlantean normal physiognomy, to contrast Harmony. In my mind, she does not know Tom is alive. She never forgave herself for her failure on that night, Trusting the human to fix her brother’s car is why she double checks all humans work she works with. Despite her reserved exterior, she is deeply passionate about things, and people.
Claudia Fury (Adult)
Relevance: Tom’s Sister
Occupation: Scientist
Status: Single
Born: August 13, 1947
Claudia grew up hard after her brother’s “death” She moved to Stratos with her mother, and had to deal with the prejudice against her. Nonetheless she became a capable scientist, and has recently chosen to specialise in Lemurian Technology. She is not the perfect image of an Atlantean woman, with many human traits, but it too Atlantean to be considered one of them. She took up the harp whilst in Stratos, and enjoys playing. She grows easily impatient, and does not suffer fools well.
General Atton Hitt
Relevance: Evil General
Occupation: General
Status: Divorced
General Hitt’s only concern, in his mind, was America’s safety. A good leader of men, he rose through the ranks driven by his one solitary goal. He gathered a loyal core of men who shared his vision. General Hitt gravitated towards projects which he perceived as being on the cutting edge of defense. In General Hitt’s mind, the ends justify the means, he has championed a number of projects which were rejected by his superiors as being immoral or frankly evil. General Hitt later, frustrated with these “short-sighted” rejections, set up his own secret projects division which tried to pursue some of the rejected proposals the funding cleverly concealed in the military budget by one of Hitt’s subordinates. Hitt is responsible for Project Giant which involved secretly trying to cause specific mutations in unsuspecting civilians.
Hitt wasn’t his original name, his original name was “Come up with something sinister sounding on the night” But Brendon named him inadvertently. I wanted a shadowy government evil that isn’t the normal shadowy government evil… a shadowy government evil the players could defeat. Unlike the election stealing Democrat cheats. Can’t beat them. Not without civil war, you know, like last time. I am only just noticing the general picture I picked for Hitt … his hat has no brim. Isn’t that weird? It doesn’t, look at it. Is he wearing a military cook hat? I guess I’ll have to keep searching… probably will forget about it.
King Therin of Atlantis (in exile)
Relevance: King, Harmony’s Father
Occupation: King
Status: Married
Born: Yes, I guess.
Therin came to power following his Father’s death, and immediately the NAZI underwater Zeppelin Corps attacked Atlantis with Lemurian Allies in 1994. Nergill the Black led a small group of traitors to sabotage Atlantis’ defenses (Also killing King Aquilia,) and the people had to flee to an isolated island which had served as a remote station to them, using their advanced technology and magic they made it into Stratos, the flying island city. Therin and Ilyena married that year and had children. Therin allied Atlantis more strongly with America, but dissolved the relationship following in 1995 after America refused to help re-take Atlantis. Therin’s oldest daughter Harmony disobeyed tradition by refusing to marry an elder statesman as had been arranged, and escaped Stratos to live in America in 2012, Therin had to declare her exile and abomination.
Therin was never intended to be a character players would interact with on a regular basis, but it might be more possible now. Therin was originally envisioned as a distant imperious figure, viewed from afar, radiant and awe inspiring. I abandoned that pretty early on, when making a more relatable yet alien King worked better in my head. After which I stared looking to Namor a bit more. He’s changed a lot since then, and now I’m using him, he’s not likely to change much more just in the development phase way. Therin has a vast suite of powers, derrived from his wife, as Atlantian powers go. He can talk to certain kinds of sea life, draw in and use water and has flight and super strength. From his royal scepter (a spear) he is invested with the mantle of kings, which enables him to wield the power of storms, counjouring up tempests and lightning.
They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains the hottest blood of all.
Doctor Karen White
Relevance: Lint Foundation Aspirant
Occupation: Manager / Consultant
Status: Married
Doctor White grew dis-satisfied with the lack of actual change or movement in the DMV, one Director or another following McLintock failed to achieve anything. She saw the DMV getting weaker and weaker as indecision and committees paralyzed it. She was approached by an ordinary looking man who gently plied her with questions, she saw what he was up to after a while and turned it around. Impressed he invited her to work for The Foundation. She did, what they wanted was not onerous, and things actually got better when they used their leverage to help her force through effective and rapid change. Her effectiveness and loyalty allowed her to learn the name of the Foundation, the Lint Foundation. She was tasked with the challenge of finding a way to co-opt the DMV to be an unknowing arm of the Foundation. She found the task thrilling, but soon encountered the problems to trying to subvert a massive organisation like this one. It was already largely still serving another secret organisation. A large number of DMV members were still holding out for a McLintock comeback. This caused her to meet failure after failure as the spectre of a departed Director thwarted her efforts. Eventually she sought other methods. Settling on chemical indoctrination. She was certain this would result in a heavy handed, but long term control lever. Whilst the chemical effects would wear off, they would do so slowly, and leave the habit of complicity within the subjects. Meanwhile her effective management style granted her a promotion in the DMV, a transfer to Nevada, hardly a plumb assignment, but one with opportunities. Doctor White found a number of irregularities, and with her new clearance quickly found what made Nevada so unusual. And Ideal.
Karen is not a Karen, first off. Secondly I wanted her to be the kind of evil you get when everything feels like it is working against you, that unseen forces are working to negate anything you try. She gave in to those forces in a way, and found even more resistance. Hers is a story of moral compromise over and over. A slippery Slope to immorality and wrongdoing. She had good intentions, still does. She does not like what she has become, but to her, you can’t fight nobly and win, you have to resort to the tactics of the enemy. The Irony is that if she had just remained moral, she would have found so many here who agree with her stances on matters. Perhaps she can still be of use to wise players and wise NPCs. I believe in rehabilitation. Sometimes. We will see what the players want to happen to her.
Doctor Reid
Relevance: DMV Doctor
Occupation: Research Scientist
Status: Married
Wreathed in bright smiles Doctor Reid is a broad jolly seeming fellow, with a wide american smile filled with too-white teeth and a faintly orange spray-tan complexion. He is often seen sporting a jolly christmas sweater, even out of season, and a Cassowary talon ring. He speaks with a dry friendly tone which some consider to conceal hidden malice. Reid often seems on the verge of imminent violence, and even normally invincible mutants often feel there is some harm he can cause them. Despite this Reid is easy to get along with, provided one does exactly what he wants.
I I lifted Reid from some character I saw once, a businessman with a big body guard called Carlos, he spoke like that and had a big wooly sweater on, and a talon ring. He was a crook, obviously. I needed a doctor for the Foundation, and I needed to set up Dr White to fall, even if the Players bungled everything up, so I put in Dr Reid early. This also served to get the PCs face time with one of the major baddies, and establish the Foundation a bit more. Also I needed to introduce the Bodyguard. I also klepped the name Carlos, because giving big alien hulking monsters a simple human name is funny. I think Carlos was also a big alien muscle beef in the thing I lifted Reid from. I sometimes have trouble remembering if his name is spelled Reid or Ried. It's ei ... I think.
“Carlos”
Relevance: Doctor Reid’s Insurance Policy
Occupation: Mobile Menace Platform
Race: Bartgosian / Mertigon
Status: Yes
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy lists Mertigons as “a race of hardy space miners originating in the Bargos Cluster which orbits Bargos, a red dwarf star.” This is at best inaccurate, and at worst, outright insulting. Your average Mertigon is likely to take umbrage at being called a space miner, first because they aren’t mining space, they mine minerals found on asteroids and nebulae in space. You don’t call people who mine in the Earth’s crust for gold “Earth Miners,” do you? Of course not. Secondly they will take umbrage because defining an entire race by a single occupation that the majority take part in marginalizes the REASON for that homogeneity of occupation, to wit, slavery. Mertigons were originally not too dissimilar from Pauliseds, but after their religeous faction lost the civil war, they became a servitor race to the Pauliseds. Their every aspect of living was controlled. Pauliseds enforced eugenics, breeding Mertigons together to produce traits they found useful. Hundreds of thousands of years eventually produced the Mertigon of today, giant near invincible masses of power closely resembling a capital M from a distance. The Pauliseds having a gleaming advanced civilisation and naturally taken a direct action to engineer their perfect servants. Of course, having used Mertigons for all of this meant that the oppressed, and now thanks to genetic engineering, invincible god-like race knew how to use all of their shining advanced technology. And indeed had been used to build it. So it would come as no surprise to learn that some nine hundred years ago the Mertigons rose up against their hated enemy and destroyed their soft, decadent race, and their planet. Now the planet is known as the Bargos Asteroid Cluster. Mertigons as a race sell themselves to those with the money to afford them, giving near all of that money back to their people, so they can use it. For what, they do not say. Thirdly Mertigon is not the name of their race, they and the Pauliseds were the same race originally, the names refer to their Religeous factions. Bargosian is the name of their race. Of course now they have no resemblance to their original race at all, so many people call them Mertigons.
Mertigons hire their own members out to others according to their religion, every contract is unbreakable and signed in blood, no matter the contract they all include these terms in addition to whatever other ones;
The Employee will not execute any instruction or take any act which violates the Code Of Mertag, and may not be punished or reprimanded for doing so.
The Employee must take three days away from work to cover the Convocation of Bargos. Two days off for the observance of Suffrage and Three days off at the mark of every year of Bargos. During this time they must observe religious requirements and may not be contacted or questioned about it.
IF an Employer is discovered to have a link to the Pauliseds, the Employee is required to take custody of them or their remains and return them to Bargos and the Mertigon people.
The contract is concluded if the Employee is recalled to Bargos by the Elders.
Carlos, like all Mertigons is intelligent, on par with humans. Like all Mertigons he does not speak to outsiders (It is a rare and special gift to be allowed to be spoken to by a Mertigon, once) but can write easily, and can learn languages with enviable ease. Carlos is not his name, naturally, but rather one given to him by his employer, as is custom. The name lasts until his employment ends, after which point can only be used past-tense to refer to the Mertigon who WAS. Carlos was the name of the last bodyguard Doctor Reid had, before Carlos ate him. Carlos is a strict adherent to his religion, and while, like all his race, is considered to be menacing and cruel looking by humans, is actually meticulous and careful. He keeps to himself and does not volunteer opinions unless asked. Of the sacred virtues of Mertag he holds Degrence closest.
Bet you didn’t see any of that coming did you? The image of Carlos came to me in something, I think I saw once, a big red M guy, he worked for a businessman. Carlos was an opportunity for me to add another alien race to the lore the players have been exposed to, I also needed an insurance policy to ensure they didn’t just up and off Doctor Reid, so Carlos. In my mind Carlos is not special amongst his people, he’s not the greatest anything, not the strongest, not the special bodyguard expert, not a brilliant scholar. He’s normal. I also decided that unlike sci-fi conventions, his race seem pretty homogeneous, but are individuals from the same society. So Carlos likes animated television, but not card games. Why? No reason. Because people have likes and dislikes. We generally don’t have special reasons. People do that a lot, assigning special mantles to every character affectation. Some how it is not acceptable to have traits exist “Just Because” even though we all have those. Why do you like Ninja Turtles but not Ben10? Sure, it’s because Ben10 is dumb, but that is subjective. Anyway Carlos… I dunno. More NPCs the players will forget exists. Like Kitchwa.
Crate-os
Relevance: Boxarian security officer
Occupation: Military Crate
Race: Boxserian
Status: Sorted
Crateos is a suspicious, twitchy crate, having served long in the military, he sees threats around every corner. In the Krell subsumation, Crateos’ family were slain by General Krell, and he started a one man war against the Crate People’s new gods, slaying many Krell. When General KRell fell whilst attacking Earth and Ning the Nercyless took over he made the wise choice of offering the Boxerians protected status in the Krell Empire. Crateos still does not fully trust the supposed Benefactor. Boxerians are a race of container people. Possibly the result of an alien super science attempt at an “Auto-sorting Storage System” They put value on containing things, and holding on to them. The more valuable the contents the more meritorious the holder. There have been several scandals where important Boxerians have been discovered to NOT be containing things they purported to contain.
Crate People came from a possibly high Ray when the party wanted to sneak into the Krell base on the Dark Side of the Moon. They carried the Black Knight armour in to the base claiming the box was a member of “The Crate People.” They rolled well. Very well. I decided there would be Crate People. And that this incident would sour relations between the Krell and the Boxerians. Their biggest holiday is Boxing Day. The Boxerians are highly xenophobic and have systematically repressed the Bagarians.
Claire Sucresse
Relevance: Who can say?
Occupation: Antagonist
Race: Mutant?
Status: Single
Claire is a self-trained psychomanipulator with exceptional talents and power. Capable of diverting thoughts, perceptions and feelings elsewhere or shifting focus. For example, if someone is suspicious someone could be a spy, she can divert that suspicion onto a bag of chips. Making the person suspicious of the chips. If someone hears something from their left, she could make them believe it was to the right, or a smell. Claire came into possession of the DMV following an accident and hospitalization. She resents full psychics, and humans, for some reason. Her medical records are sealed. She works as a consultant to various departments, but has finished proper training. She has incredible mental abilities, capable of savant level mathematics and logic. Has trouble dealing with people.
I wanted someone capable of circumventing Dex, someone who could go on missions and wouldn’t insta-counter Ad… someone. I wanted it to be a white haired chick. Because I like that. That is the only reason. I also wanted a ha… I also wanted someone who could act a as mystery stir. Gives the players something to be curious about so they don’t ask questions about other things I am doing.
Wilberforce Krush
Relevance: Rival School member
Occupation: Student
Race: Mutant / American
Status: Single
Wilberforce is an easygoing guy most of the time, but as his adrenaline level increases his self control lowers. He can generate force by redirecting his momentum into shockwaves. Gets good grades, and has a lot of friends. He is suspected to be a great descendant of Heracles, or at least that is his family’s lore. Attends the Los Angeles training facility, and was selected by Professor Lumera to investigate matters in Arkham County.
Wilberforce (or Wil’) enjoys working out, listening to all different kinds of music, and watching plays and movies. He has performed on stage at his high school and has filled the roles of Oberon, Mark Antony and Brutus in adaptations of Shakespeare’s works there. His cover identity is as a screen actor, and has been cast as Hercules in an upcoming mythical adventure flick.
I wanted a force manipulator, and another gay guy. So, Wilberforce. I didn’t have a clear idea of how I wanted to portray him, except that he had to be a counter to Claire.
Sarah “Virginia” Dare
Relevance: Descendant of Virginia Dare
Occupation: Archaeologist / Student
Race: Mutant / American
Status: Single
Age: 23
Sarah Dare wanted to live up to her more famous ancestor, applying herself to long forgotten tomes of ancient lore secreted in the family manse, whenever her parents went there for a week each year for thanksgiving, as is family tradition. Her parents forbade such things to her at all other times. When as a child they caught her swinging on a tree, they punished her and forbade her to leave the ground again. They would have none of this adventuring nonsense, and set her on the path to be a housewife. But at school, and after, away from their control she rebelled and pursued her love of history and artifact theft. On her 18th birthday she left home, and traveled to North Carolina to visit her Grandmother, and more importantly her Grandfather, who taught at the University. Once there she set into the family traditions, and quickly uncovered her first historical find. What she found in Massachusetts drove thought from her head, and she was committed to a Sanitarium for just under a year, where her mutant gene was discovered. Upon her release she has worked diligently to make up for her lost progress. She was transferred to the Los Angeles Training Academy in 2013.
I wanted someone who had encountered Anansi before, and someone the group might like. An adventuring type, and someone who could thwart their plans with the crack of a whip. Whilst developing the rival school, her name ws temped as Indiana Jane, but I always knew I wanted something else. Virginia Dare was a the name of a real woman born in North Carolina, so I co-opted it. The players can’t call BS on the name because Virginia Dare is a real persons actual name in history. I still called her Sarah though, after an old friend of mine.
Nada
Relevance: Rival School member
Occupation: Student
Race: Mutant / American
Status: Single
Nada affects an uncaring attitude, he tries to not get too involved in bullshit, but when his friends are threatened he unleashed his tremendous power. In a lot of ways the man named after nothing is the centre of any team he is on. He was selected by the Professor to investigate matters in Arkham County.
Nada was named after the main character in They Live. I am unwilling to disclose more right now.
Doctor Diablery
Relevance: Rival School member
Occupation: Who even knows?
None can describe the esoteric power of DOCTOR DIABLERY! No paltry brief entry into some thrice cursed internet repository can match his impossible mystery. To seek to know DIABLERY is to seek madness and death!
Diablery is a character I straight up ripped off from another thing, the outfit, the mannerisms. The hat. The way he acts and speaks. That’s about it actually. The rest is to suit my purposes. Whatever they may be.
Invisible Girl
Relevance: Almost None
Occupation: Student
Invisible Girl is a lonely person, neglected and ignored. She has learned to fade into the background, and cannot be seen. Brief periods of visibility indicate she may be able to switch off her power with training. Suffering from memory loss she does not remember her own name, after being hit by a car. She has a terrible attendance record. She tends to not speak or draw attention to herself. Others view… look up… regard her with some suspicion, not knowing when she is around, or if she is int he room. This has lead to a degree of ostracization. Underfed and falling behind she only wants affection, or even just companionship. Frankly she’d settle for a stuffed bear.
Invisible Girl is a girl who is invisible. Like the one from 僕のヒーローアカデミア, in that unlike Sue Storm she can’t turn it off, for more than a moment. Personality wise I thought invisible person might become excluded unintentionally from society, then intentionally as suspicion and recrimination set in. What might that do to a young mind? I asked myself. I did not realise until game night this might make her very likeable by the players, who now want to adopt her. Invisible Girl rolled very poorly at their stamina willpower and stealth checks on the night, after getting a cold following around the players, and was discovered way to early. A shame as I liked my little invisible spy.
Shimmer
Relevance: Pop Superstar
Occupation: Musician / DMV Trainee
Recognisable by her trademark mane of blonde hair, Shimmer is a popular artist in Pop, Synth-pop, RetroWave, and is lesser known for Chromatic Rock. A desire to improve peoples lives motivates her, and whilst music can send messages, and uplift spirits, nothing stops a rampaging mutant like Oppressive Governmental overuse of force. The DMV allows her to take extended time off to work on tour, or produce albums, this has slowed her learning pace. Her ability to work in the field is thought to be limited by her power: Shimmer. Which allows her mood and charisma to spread to others who behold or hear her. As a result she has become uncertain if anyone really likes her at all, and are not just under her powers influence. From her position at the top, she understands that One is the loneliest number you could ever do.
Albums & notable singles:
“Never ever in a Vestibule” - a more recent ballad about the lack of vestibules whenever she wants a chocolate bar. Actually about the FUD situation and the problems about patching up a problem instead of solving the root causes.
“Invisible (to you.)” - upbeat pop single from her latest album, said to touch the hearts of those who feel alone and ignored. Actually about a co-worker being overlooked because they are actually invisible.
“A Clockwork” - Latest album, has three Chromatic Rock tracks, and is arranged in a Narrative fashion. Detailing how a man began doing good things, to do good, then started in track 3 doing bad things. The album muses about the morality of mechanistic obedience, moralistic rebellion, and Anarchistic expression. Actually expresses doubts about her own life choices.
“Too Perfect” - debate exists as to if this single is titled “Too Perfect” meaning something or someone was too perfect. Or if it was titled “Too Perfect” meaning to complete or perfect an object or task. The title is not mentioned int he song, and she has never revealed the truth, instead calling the single, “Debatable Single Title”
“Sunrise Cradle” - a top 20 charting single from her album “I have no idea what I’m doing” A pop song following the passage of life.
“Then I turn around.” - Third Album about second chances and taking opportunity. Also one track about Fun Beach parties.
“Then I turn around” - Popular single from the album of the same name, a spooky hallowe’en song with each verse describing a common situation many people would find themselves in, the common hook of “And then I turned around” where upon the chorus would reveal another horror the songs protagonist was confronted with.
Shimmer is a counterpoint to the group dynamic. She gets her team to do as she wants because they WANT to do what she wants, to please her and gain approval. Unlike the main characters who rely on traditional negative authority reinforcement. Corpo-rats that they are. She feels the pressure of responsibility especially keenly since she never wanted it. I made her a musician and a pop artist so she could feel a lack of legitimacy, and be wondering if she was a real musician, or just a manufactured Pop thing. Which is why she experiments with Chromatic Rock, or Rock operas, trying to push through some artistic merit into her generic Pop appeal. She wants to work with Dex because when she was growing up as a young music talent she was aware of the children of popular act, Pete Midnite, developing a crush on similarly aged Dex. Later she developed a genuine curiousness as to why he nor his sister were performers like her. Shimmer can never be certain who likes her genuinely, and thus is insecure and lonely. The revelation that Invisible Girl is immune to her power was a life saver.
Constable Daniel Wilcox
Relevance: Greeted the Students upon their arrival
Occupation: Arkham City Police Officer
Race: American
Status: Single
Wilcox was on the scene as the train pulled in on that rainy day in Arkham. It was he seven members of the Sha’Mad Conde trainee class met first. Wilcox grew up in Bolton, the grandson of a farmer. His grandfather served in the Krell War as a young man and returned to Bolton when the war was done, shaken by the awesome might of the aliens. His grandson (Daniel) was instructed from a young age that there was more than man knew of in the realms of the stars. As such Wilcox has always kept an open mind, more so than is normal for a police man. Wilcox left the farm intending to become a police man and was accepted into training at 19. Whilst training, and indeed serving as a beat cop, he enrolled in evening classes at Miskatonic University in Metaphysics and Occultism. He developed a reputation amongst the other police, who dubbed him “Spooky” Wilcox. Promotion would not be a thing he expected, as he knew of his reputation and the things others said about him. But it was he who brought the doings of the Cult of Yog Shothoth to light, which ended in a daring police raid to end their ungodly rites. And it was he who investigated the animal attacks, and uncovered the strange man with the teeth and paws of a rat. So whilst the other officers do not think him fully proper, it is nonetheless he they seek out if the strange passes their nose. Wilcox continues to surrepticiously try to solve the suspected murder of his father, a DMV agent.
Wilcox is the kind of guy I would play in a certain madness based RPG, a cop leaning into the X-Files nature of things, too curious to survive the campaign. I am a fan of spruce mustaches. He is named Daniel after Daniel Jackson from Stargate, and Wilcox because that is a setting appropriate name. I like to picture characters in my head, and often use reference images for them, Wilcox sounds just right saying things like, “Perposterous!” and “Such sights of antedeluvian evil I had not countenanced!” He is single because that way when the players get him killed it isn’t as tragic as it would be otherwise, and because I imagine most proper women of the area would find him a bit queer, with his interest in occultism and his fascination with strange crimes.
Bakuzan
Relevance: Hell Fist Assassination Style Fighter
Occupation: Mercenary
Race: Unknown
Status: Unknown
Bakuzan won the 3rd annual International Invitational Budokai, defeating Murphy Strong by technicality in the final round. He has a reputation as a merciless fighter who will take the shortest and easiest path to victory. He has little respect for others or the sanctity of life. He works for money and takes jobs ranging from assassination to guard roles. His style the Hell Fist Assassination style allows him to defeat even mutants in hand to hand combat. Punching through normally invincible skin, ignoring super strength and brushing aside mental attacks.
Bakuzan is a monster through and through. Delighting in murder and pain. Each time he defeats a foe, he gets stronger. He is the perfect foe for Derrick, a fighter who just like Derrick delights in fighting, and believes absolutely that only in a fight do you meet the real man. He would like to say hello.
Lumera
Relevance: Professor at LA training facility / Cardinal of the Order of the Iron Stake
Occupation: Professor
Race: Human
Status: Married
Lumera is a devout, pious woman of youthful complexion and sternly kind demeanor. She is on staff at the Los Angeles training facility of the DMV, and has her own staff (not on the DMV payroll) of robed young men. There is much speculation as to exactly what she does with them, other than “Church work.”
Lumera is responsible for Legal training of the students and also ethical and moral instruction. For Christians in the class and on staff, she also performs Sunday service and a sermon as a part of her religious duties.
Lumera, originally Lumere because I was thinking a french sound would be good, is the counterpoint to Maldred, literally. The number of people in my setting who do things for religious or moral reasons is very low, so she shores up the numbers. For once Roxanne didn’t drool over an unattainable attractive woman, which is fine as Lumera acts with a reserved chastity and virtue. Lumera and Maldred have been dealing with the Eldritch horror thing before, and she, like he, has to live with the knowledge that her 13 assistants will die to put them to sleep. She will grieve in her own time.
Vanguard²
Super soldiers, they have their own adventure and page.