[OOC] The Silent Service, Very Special Agents

[Skullcrusher]

If i go with either the Blacksmith with Gigantism or the Seasoned Mountain Man I will be playing the dead serious to the point type with a temper. Either will get more chearful the intoxicated they get...but it takes alot for one and not some much for the other.

[ErhnamDJ]

Let me see... he'd have moved to the States when he was ten, so that would have been in 1838. Which would mean they were fleeing... Lutherans, if memory serves. He'd have fought in the civil war, then joined the Pinkertons for a spell.

In the party, I picture him as acting something akin to Helsing, only not so far gone mentally. Bumbling, but harmless. Competent, but overboard in his histrionics. Zany to his detriment. Passionate, unrelenting. It was him that kept after having some sort of bureau created. Because of the things he saw, if only out of the corners of his eyes, if that makes any sense. It does to him. He's a madman, but dead serious about it. If there ever was a straight man, it was him. He doesn't joke about it, because he understands it. His understanding might be wrong, he is willing to admit, if only hesitantly. But one thing is sure: whatever it is that's out there, it's no laughing matter.

They're all occult investigators. Anyone that cares to open their eyes is. But he is the occult investigator, the same as Aristotle was the philosopher. There were others, sure, but he was the one. That's how this fellow views himself. He's on a mission. Maybe it's personal. Maybe he's obsessed. But maybe he's been chosen, maybe He has decided from On High that this one man is to be His servant on earth. Because there are things that need to Be Done.

[Skullcrusher]

I am leaning towards the Blacksmith. Is it too early to latch onto a character? Or should I still consider both?

I figure the blacksmith had his supernatural encounter while working out west as an armorer for the cavalry. Not sure what exactly it is yet but he saw something and used to talk about it but learned quickly not to. Sometimes he will speak of it when the Scotch is a plentiful.

The Mountain man would've run across many o'strange thing in his travels in the mountains and dealings with indians.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Skullcrusher

I am leaning towards the Blacksmith. Is it too early to latch onto a character? Or should I still consider both?

It is certainly far too early to do any such thing.

What I want from potential players now is not any latching, but dialogue between them of how they can best cooperate to make an interesting group of characters. I don't want anyone to develop a concept in isolation and resist attempts to refine it so that it complements other characters.

Think of a television series. The characters there are designed so that they may have interesting interactions, bring each other's personalities and quirks into focus and drive stories that involve the others. If you had different authors write each character with no reference to the other cast of the series, it would be shambles.

So what I want now from prospective players are ideas for characters that could be Special Agents of the US Postal Service and what dramatic and functional roles they would enjoy portraying. Don't hesitate to suggest what other characters in the group you would enjoy seeing, either.

Summa summarum, think about brainstorming for the whole group, not just for a hypothetical 'your character'. Once we finish brainstorming, you will have sole responsibility of a single character, it is true, but it is better to delay that until we have a solid group.

[Skullcrusher]

I totally see this like the A-Team. We should have an overconfident Leader, The Crazyman, Faceman and the Muscle.

I see whomever i am playing as the backup man. Someone who is not the leader but would follow the leader to hell and back...although he would grumble and be in a bad mood along the way but when the chips are down he is a stnadup guy.

[Adina]

I have an interest in this, it's an interesting echo of RMBB.

My first thought would be to play the doctor. Depending on the group dynamics he would be the cynical pragmatist. First draft I would pick wilderness survival and frontier culture, a small town/country doctor. For combat either the shotgunner, rider, or sharpshooter; preferably the sharpshooter.

Country doctor who hunts, in short.

Jeff

[Skullcrusher]

Originally Posted by jmurrell

I have an interest in this, it's an interesting echo of RMBB.

My first thought would be to play the doctor. Depending on the group dynamics he would be the cynical pragmatist. First draft I would pick wilderness survival and frontier culture, a small town/country doctor. For combat either the shotgunner, rider, or sharpshooter; preferably the sharpshooter.

Country doctor who hunts, in short.

Jeff

Take the sharpshooter. either one of my character concepts will use a shotgun...but there is nothing saying everyone can't use a shotgun.... :{D

[sir_pudding]

Possibly a lawman (Texas Ranger?), who tried to Homestead somewhere on the frontier. One day when he was away for some reason, his family was killed and his stock destroyed brutally (Chupacabra-like?). The official story is that it was Indians, but he'd fought Indians for years so he knew that it wasn't anything like even the most brutal of Commanche raids. He began an obsessive personal quest to understand what happened to him; a quest that lead him to correspondence with Sen. Conklin and then eventually to this team.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Possibly a lawman (Texas Ranger?), who tried to Homestead somewhere on the frontier. One day when he was away for some reason, his family was killed and his stock destroyed brutally (Chupacabra-like?). The official story is that it was Indians, but he'd fought Indians for years so he knew that it wasn't anything like even the most brutal of Commanche raids. He began an obsessive personal quest to understand what happened to him; a quest that lead him to correspondence with Sen. Conklin and then eventually to this team.

Sounds good to me. Texas Ranger would be nice. Experience at warring with Comanches is also good.

What can he do?

Is he good with people? What, if any, is his style of investigation like?

He's obsessed, you say? John Wayne in The Searchers obsessed? That suggests intensity, lack of humour and little frivolity. Probably not a man for carousing or hobbies. Unless drinking to forget, I guess. Tell us more about proposed personality. What kind of characters would complement him? Who'd be a natural foil for him? Do you see him as the friend of any of the other PCs?

What style of combat does he prefer? Weapons? He a horseman?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Icelander

What can he do?

Leadership, political liaison, police stuff.

Is he good with people? What, if any, is his style of investigation like?

Good question. Do we want an Augustus McCrae or a William Call? Not sure really. Regardless of his approach (affable vs. unfailingly polite) he'll be good at talking to people. At this point I'm leaning more towards Call, to fit the backstory. Of course he could be manically obsessed instead...

He's obsessed, you say? John Wayne in The Searchers obsessed? That suggests intensity, lack of humour and little frivolity. Probably not a man for carousing or hobbies. Unless drinking to forget, I guess.

That was my initial thought. Although now the possibility of a manic version seems interesting. Given the same background Kurt Russel and Richard Dean Anderson played a melancholy and a manic Jack O'Neil(l), respectively. The manic version does seem less cliched, now that I think about.

Tell us more about proposed personality. What kind of characters would complement him? Who'd be a natural foil for him? Do you see him as the friend of any of the other PCs?

Still in flux, I think. What do you think?

What style of combat does he prefer? Weapons? He a horseman?

That's easy. If he's a Ranger, he's a classic point-shooter. Definitely a Horseman.