[IW] Fortune Teller, Con-woman and Blackmailer (Britannica-6)

[Michele]

JULIE BEAUREGARD
Fortune Teller, Con-woman and Blackmailer (Britannica-6)

(c) copyright 2010 Michele Armellini

Base Setting: GURPS Infinite Worlds

Total Points: 170

Age: 32 Height: 5'5" Weight: 130 lbs. Description: A beautiful brunette, with black eyes, high cheekbones and full lips
ST 10 [0] HP 10 [0]
DX 11 [20] Will 13 [0]
IQ 13 [60] Per 13 [0]
HT 11 [10 ] FP 11 [0]

Basic Speed: 5.5 Move: 5
Basic Damage: Thrust 1d-2, Swing 1d
Basic Lift: 20
[Total Attributes: 90]

DR: 0 Dodge: 8 Parry: 8 (DX) Block: 0

Reaction Modifiers: Appearance (Beautiful, Androgynous) (+3), Charisma (+1), Reputation (+2), Talent (Smooth Operator) (+1), Social Stigma (-1).
Fright Check: 13

ADVANTAGES AND PERKS: Ally (50%, on 12 or less, Minion) [6]; Appearance (Beautiful, Androgynous) [12]; Charisma +1 [5]; Contact (Underworld, on 9 or less, Skill 18, Usually Reliable) [3]; Reputation +2 (Fortune teller and seer, British higher classes, some of the time) [3]; Sensitive [5]; Talent (Smooth Operator 1) [15]; Wealth (Comfortable) [10]. Honest Face [1].
[Total Advantages: 60]

DISADVANTAGES AND QUIRKS: Addiction (Tobacco) [-5]; Bad Sight (Nearsighted, correctable) [-10]; Callous [-5]; Enemy (Another fortune teller, on 6 or less) [-5]; Greed (on 15 or less) [-8]; Social Stigma –1 (Second Class Citizen, woman) [-5]. Careful [-1]; Dislikes any sign of weakness [-1]; Hates showing she's nearsighted [-1]; Loves fine clothing [-1].
[Total Disadvantages: -42]

SKILLS:
Acting-15* [4]; Artist(Drawing)-11 [1]; Carousing-12* [2]; Current Affairs/TL5(People)-14 [2]; Dancing-11 [2]; Detect Lies-14* [4]; Fast-Talk-15* [4]; Forgery/TL5-12 [2]; Fortune Telling(Astrology)-15** [2]; Fortune Telling(Tarots)-16** [4]; Gambling-12 [1]; Guns/TL5(Pistol)-11 [1]; Holdout-13 [2]; Intimidation-14* [2]; Makeup/TL5-13 [1]; Merchant-14 [4]; Observation-12 [1]; Occultism-13 [2]; Psychology-13*** [2]; Public Speaking-15**** [2]; Savoir-Faire(High Society)-14* [1]; Scrounging-13 [1]; Sex-Appeal-16***** [4]; Singing-11 [1]; Streetwise-13* [1]; Panhandling-15*** [1]; Shadowing-12 [1]; Stealth-11 [2].
TECHNIQUES: Eliciting Information through Fortune Telling(Tarots)-15** [2].
* Includes +1 from Smooth Operator 1.
** Includes +1 from Charisma +1, +1 from Sensitive.
*** Includes +1 from Sensitive, but only to detect weaknesses (Callous).
**** Includes +1 from Charisma +1, +1 from Smooth Operator 1.
***** Includes +1 from Smooth Operator 1, +3 from Appearance.
[Total Skills and Techniques: 59]

TL: 5 Cultural Familiarities: Western [0].
LANGUAGES: English (spoken native; written native) [0]; French (spoken accented, written broken) [3].
[Total Cultural Familiarities and Languages: 3]

EQUIPMENT: Julie owns a small town house in Manchester, but she goes there only to rest or when she has to "lie low"; she doesn't work in that city, where, by the way, the cost of living is much lower than in London. Apart from that, she likes to "travel light": in London or Edinburgh she lives in rented rooms or respectable pensions, and most of her belongings are always already carefully packed. She owns a small never-leave-without case containing valuables, jewels and other important items, such as her ancient and valuable Tarot deck; a suitcase for her best clothes and key props for a makeshift "boudoir" (see below); and finally a trunk with clothing and things she can abandon in an emergency.
When it comes to the less refined methods, Julie owns a pair of duel pistols, the best quality money can buy (Fine weapons using metal cartridges in her standard setting), and a tiny Derringer, easier to hide. On top of that, her hats always come with a big hatpin that can serve as an improvised dagger; she's not trained, but has used it on occasion as a last-ditch defense.

BIOGRAPHY: Julie Beauregard was born June Hopkins somewhere on the road to York. Her family said they were "traveling entertainers"; to the authorities, they were vagrants, beggars, when not criminals. As a child, she learned to panhandle, woo and exploit the people they met, and distract the targets while her brothers picked their pockets. After puberty, her father forced her to do things she doesn't want to think about even today, both with paying customers and worse. These experiences hardened her, making her Callous, and her family's poverty probably is the reason of her insatiable Greed.
Soon, however, she discovered she had a knack for "understanding" the people, and she joined her mother the fortune teller. She learned how to use her beauty and her guiles to obtain what she needed, and since most of her mother's customers were women, she noticed that she was quite liked by them, too, not just by men. Women, however, did not want from her what she did not like to give; they just seemed willing to give her their money for nothing more than hearing her say what they wanted to hear.
So that became her specialization. Unfortunately, his father still wanted most of the earnings, and was very obnoxious when drunk. At 19, June split with a man. Today, she says he was a French high bourgeois, M. Beauregard, who eloped with her to marry her; but, alas, he died a few years later, leaving her a comfortable and respectable widow. Actually, she has never been married, the guy was the first of a series of young men she turned into obedient accomplices.

MODUS OPERANDI: June, now Julie, never spends too many months in the same city, moving mostly between London and Edinburgh, though in the past she has been in Dublin, New York, somewhere in Louisiana and New Delhi (this is why she has no Area Knowledge at all). Her current helper is Sir John Houghton-Sykes. Although impoverished (and, thus, depending on her schemes for his living), he's a nobleman, which gives her access to high society. What counts more is that he's entirely enthralled by Julie, a true minion.
Julie's bread and butter still is fortune telling, only she's more selective about her customer base nowadays: rich noblewomen (this is where staying abreast with the Current Affairs of important people helps her). She's good at making them believe she's really predicting their future because of her natural gifts, because she intensively researches her subjects before their first meeting, and because she can pump the subjects themselves for information. This is why she has high levels in Fortune Telling and related skills (Psychology, Detect Lies etc.), while not having invested great effort in any formal training.
She graciously accepts "gifts" for her services, and the more gullible of her victims gradually grow dependent on her support, approval and even advice. This is where her second money-making system kicks in; she can easily come to know when a given aristocratic family has money to invest. At that point, either Sir John or, preferably, an apparently unconnected entrepreneur presents them with a too-good-to-be-true investment opportunity. When asked for advice, Julie won't say: "pour your husband's money in this project", but rather something like: "this is a good time to be bold!". Then the new company disappears, and with it, the invested money.
The third and most dangerous, but also most profitable activity is outright blackmail. The victims are rich men whose weakness (usually having to do with sex) Julie comes to know about through her other activities, common gossip, and Sir John's snooping in clubs and smoking-rooms. Julie is not above framing them by making use of her own assets; she usually manages to end up in possession of extremely compromising letters signed by married men. Here's where several of her more questionable skills are put to good use. Albeit greedy, she's Careful too, which means she almost never squeezes her victims too much. Even so, her departure from New York was very hasty, and she lost a small fortune there.
She has cultivated her social skills to be acceptable in palaces her parents would only see from the outside; she can easily pass for a high-class, respectable widow when she wants to. To that end, she has to hide the tobacco Addiction she acquired in Louisiana, because it's uncommon and scandalous for a woman.

ENCOUNTERED: These days, Madame Beauregard can be found at an almost fashionable address close to Regent Park. But you don't happen to visit her, not even if you urgently need her services as a fortune teller; she won't receive you. You've got to be introduced in genteel society, and you can meet her in many mid-to-high social functions. In those circumstances, she won't reveal much about her arcane abilities; maybe a hint or two, or a palm reading if she wants to begin establishing a contact with you. Only when she's sure she wants a new customer, she'll welcome her in her "boudoir". Wherever she happens to be living, this is the room that's her workplace: always suitably prepared to impress the customer, with proper lighting, incense burners, exotic-looking paraphernalia.

[Michele]

CANONICALITY: Julie Beauregard has a custom Technique listed. Since it is possible to use Fortune Telling instead of Interrogation, in given circumstances and at a penalty, Julie herself has devised a Technique that we can call Eliciting Information through Fortune Telling. It allows her to draw information, under the pretense of telling the subject's fortune (under the conditions stated on p. B196). This Technique has Fortune Telling as the obvious prerequisite, and can't exceed the level of that skill; this is in compliance with the rules outlined on p. B229.

ADVENTURE SEEDS:
Business as Usual (GURPS Infinite Worlds: Britannica-6): Julie's usual way of living is enough of an adventure. Any of her schemes may involve a group of PCs. They could be the friends or faithful retainers of a blackmail victim or hopelessly duped lady, or policemen, or a gang of conmen in competition with Julie for the same quarry, or casual bystanders. Julie, of course, can try to use her tricks on them, too...
Enlightenment (GURPS Infinite Worlds: Britannica-6): while there are enough customers who believe in Julie's stuff, on Britannica-6 enlightened reason is the only guide to many. Julie runs afoul some nobleman who is a rationalist crusader, and he becomes a stubborn enemy of Julies and her ilk. Can she get a handle on him, or will she have to decamp? PCs can work for either side... or both.
Centrum Arrives (GURPS Infinite Worlds): Julie's plan is extremely ambitious this time: the womanizer she targeted is the Chancellor of the Exchequer. If she acquires leverage on him, she'll become extremely valuable to Centran agents, who have now begun meddling with Britannica-6 politics. Maybe Julie will be willing to cooperate, if the price is right, or maybe she'll balk at being manipulated – that's what she does to others. The adventurers may be locals as above, or Patrolmen working to foil Centrum's plans – or, the Centrans.
The Tarots Do Work (GURPS Cabal): even though Julie thinks she's fooling her customers as always, actually that ancient deck she acquired has something to it. Not only her predictions become almost unfailing, but also they draw the attention of somebody powerful who wants that deck. The PCs can be Cabalists on a retrieval mission, members of any rival organization, muscle that Julie hires for protection after a first worrisome accident, or, again, any of the groups mentioned in the adventure seeds above.
For King and Country (GURPS Espionage, GURPS Infinite Worlds): any of the scenarios above can take a turn towards intelligence, or counter-intelligence. Julie is ideally suitable for collecting information, and she could be recruited, for a handsome consideration, by the British Crown… or by its enemies. PCs can be agents of all sorts.
Stranded Somewhere Else (any): Julie accompanied the eccentric, foolish noblewoman to Stonehenge; the old lady had a fixation for the place, and Julie thought she could extract her money more easily if she indulged her. Only, something strange happened that night, lights and loud noises and dizziness. And the motor coach is no longer there to wait for them… Julie will have to start anew in a brave new world, though she's still as shrewd as always.

RECRUITMENT BY OUTTIMERS:
As mentioned, Julie could be a valuable source of local intelligence. If her capabilities get boosted by outtime training and tech, she'll probably have a shot at pumping information from the wives of ministers, bankers, admirals and dukes. That would be priceless to all outtime powers.
Additionally, even if removed from her home world, Madame Beauregard could be a useful "humint" (human intelligence) agent in many other environments, especially low-tech ones... though they burn witches in many of them.

- written by Michele Armellini (miarmel@tin.it)

[Michele]

This was an experiment about the snowballing effect of Talents with other Advantages, I hope my calculations were right. I also figured out a Technique. Comments welcome.

[Astromancer]

Useing Fortune-Telling to pump information from the gullible (and often not so gullible) is common enough in our real world that there should be rules on it is the Social Engineering book.

Further, some people with the real world equivelents of the Empathy and Intuition advantages have been know to unconsciously pump the people whose fortune's they were reading for information. Folks like this could believe they are really gifted. A great way to make a delusion more dramatic.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Useing Fortune-Telling to pump information from the gullible (and often not so gullible) is common enough in our real world that there should be rules on it is the Social Engineering book.

Yes, I agree. And thanks for the input.

[hari]

This brings to mind someone I know, an old family friend. She's notorious enough to have even been written about in two different books.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by hari

This brings to mind someone I know, an old family friend. She's notorious enough to have even been written about in two different books.

Really? I had no literary inspiration, actually, at least that I'm aware of.