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Old 05-27-2021, 12:07 PM   #11
Icelander
 
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Default Re: Steampunk National Security Character Type Help Needed

I've forgotten to mention a staple character, the tough-looking chaps in suits and bowler hat. They have the income to dress middle-class, due to their loyal service to their betters and their occasionally useful ruthless ferocity, but their lower-class origins are betrayed in their speech and their fashion sense.

As far as I can determine, an actual class of people who handled security, violence and intimidation on behalf of various powerful people in 19th century Britain, in and out of government. Sort of like successful criminals, smart enough not to commit crimes without the backing of a patron.
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Old 05-27-2021, 04:01 PM   #12
arnej
 
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Default Re: Steampunk National Security Character Type Help Needed

Perhaps a survivor of the Great Game, skilled enough in Disguise to go deep undercover in India and Afghanistan. Since Russia was the other major player in the Great Game, our disguise master could even have picked up some Russian.
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Old 05-28-2021, 10:38 PM   #13
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Default Re: Steampunk National Security Character Type Help Needed

Also consider:

The Gentleman Thief. Not truly bad, but prone to committing burglaries as an antidote to boredom and as sort of white hat hacker. As a security op, his job is to look for physical and organizational security holes and to catch those who attempt to exploit them.

The globe-trotting Remittance Man who found his calling as an intelligence operative. Could be a White Hunter type, a professional tourist, or lounge lizard from the spas and grand hotels of the continent. Serious family issues and Not Quite Respectable, but looking for a chance for redemption by working for Queen and Country.

The Counterspy Master. An ever-so-respectable, seemingly bland, upper middle class Whitehall bureaucrat, possibly with a legal background, who nominally shuffles papers for a living. His actual role is to serve as staff officer to Lord Whatshisname and to perform administrative and logistical magic. His secondary role is to act as sage and "computer hacker" since he has access to all manner of interesting government records and the means to correlate them. Sort of like M in the James Bond movies, but a bit more savvy, inscrutable, and dangerous.

It's a much more American trope, but also consider the Pinkerton. In the 19th century they were nominally detectives, but more often skip tracers and corporate security and anti-union operatives. During the Civil War, they were the precursor to the Secret Service.
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Old 05-29-2021, 09:07 AM   #14
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Default Re: Steampunk National Security Character Type Help Needed

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
The Counterspy Master. An ever-so-respectable, seemingly bland, upper middle class Whitehall bureaucrat, possibly with a legal background, who nominally shuffles papers for a living. His actual role is to serve as staff officer to Lord Whatshisname and to perform administrative and logistical magic. His secondary role is to act as sage and "computer hacker" since he has access to all manner of interesting government records and the means to correlate them. Sort of like M in the James Bond movies, but a bit more savvy, inscrutable, and dangerous.
Mycroft Holmes.
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