Stating Nicky Holroyd

[Pursuivant]

For a 1950s jazz musician, Addiction (Tobacco) would be very likely, at least at the Quirk level (Smokes Cigarettes).

Another likely Quirk is Broad-Minded. Not only does he regularly work with members of minority and counterculture groups, but as a man with serious Secrets he's in no position to be judgmental.

Possibly demote Callous or Lazy to Quirk level unless they're defining traits.

For background skills, just about every healthy American male would have been drafted into the military from the mid-1940s on. Unless he figured out a way of avoiding the draft, he will have a smattering of military skills (Soldier or Seamanship, Guns (Rifle) at minimal level, and a technical/military skill). If he's a native New Yorker and/or has access to magical transport, he might not have Driving skill.

[Astromancer]

I can't find a book I used to own that said Montreal Canada had an active and respected Jazz scene in the 1950s. The book also said most New York Jazzmen and Blues men worked their too. Can anyone confirm this?

Do you think Nicky might have French at Broken and a low Area Knowledge for Montreal?

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

For a 1950s jazz musician, Addiction (Tobacco) would be very likely, at least at the Quirk level (Smokes Cigarettes).

Another likely Quirk is Broad-Minded. Not only does he regularly work with members of minority and counterculture groups, but as a man with serious Secrets he's in no position to be judgmental.

Possibly demote Callous or Lazy to Quirk level unless they're defining traits.

For background skills, just about every healthy American male would have been drafted into the military from the mid-1940s on. Unless he figured out a way of avoiding the draft, he will have a smattering of military skills (Soldier or Seamanship, Guns (Rifle) at minimal level, and a technical/military skill). If he's a native New Yorker and/or has access to magical transport, he might not have Driving skill.

Good points. I'll work some of it in.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

For background skills, just about every healthy American male would have been drafted into the military from the mid-1940s on. Unless he figured out a way of avoiding the draft, he will have a smattering of military skills (Soldier or Seamanship, Guns (Rifle) at minimal level, and a technical/military skill). If he's a native New Yorker and/or has access to magical transport, he might not have Driving skill.

Probably at least a point in Savoir-Faire (Military).

[Johnny1A.2]

I'm talking about the movie version.

Regarding his Disads:

We don't know how determined the 'magical community' is to stay hidden. If they are really determined, then collaborating on a book about them is possibly personally risky. Likewise, revealing too much of the magical underground to the mundanes is also risky, so he's taking a risk for potential monetary reward.

Depending on how risky the risk is, he could be assumed to have Greed, to motivate him to take such risks. Or possibly however you want to model extreme recklessness.

Regarding social stuff: he could possibly take Gillian as an Ally or a Patron. By his own admission, Gillian is substantially more powerful than he is, but we're not sure how far she goes to protect him, either. But she shows up often and can do a lot if she's motivated. She also seems to be financially successful both before and after losing the magic, so she might be able to help Nicky get by in spite of his own money issues. So Ally or Patron seems at least reasonable.

As he himself put it, 'Gil could hex the whole stock market', or words to that effect.

He and Shep seem to get on well, even after Shep falls out with Gillian, so Shep might qualify as a Contact. Shep doesn't have a lot of political and social power, but he might be able to help you land a job, so that could be worth something.

He almost surely has access to a certain amount of Forbidden Lore. The nature of that lore depends on how you assume the magic works. The movie was never quite clear on that...but depending on how the magic works, the magic itself could carry some serious downsides, you'd have to decide the nature of the magic to determine that.

A couple of things suggest that the magic itself might be shady: Nicky teases Gill at one point about her being 'scared' to use her power to the full, and she doesn't entirely disagree, making some comment about what can happen if you 'go too far with it'. Also...human love seems antithetical to the power, which also looks a little 'questionable'.

So there might be some downsides to his point totals that go along with the powers.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Do you think Nicky might have French at Broken and a low Area Knowledge for Montreal?

Honestly Montreal is English enough for him to not learn French and manage to get by.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Honestly Montreal is English enough for him to not learn French and manage to get by.

Would he be likely to have Area Knowledge (Montreal)?

[Astromancer]

Remembering the movie, we have a scene where Shep finds Nicky at Zodiac Club. Nicky is doing musical arrangements for the band. Note: In period there were times when a Jazz combo wouldn't improvise, they might use musical arrangements for that. Also, while one performer was holding the spotlight, the others would play set music for the spotlighted performer to improvise in reaction to.

Would musical arrangement be an expert skill or is it an aspect of Musical Composition?

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Remembering the movie, we have a scene where Shep finds Nicky at Zodiac Club. Nicky is doing musical arrangements for the band. Note: In period there were times when a Jazz combo wouldn't improvise, they might use musical arrangements for that. Also, while one performer was holding the spotlight, the others would play set music for the spotlighted performer to improvise in reaction to.

Would musical arrangement be an expert skill or is it an aspect of Musical Composition?

It's certainly not an Expert Skill; those provide knowledge but don't enable you to perform tasks.

I think that it's an application of Musical Composition; it seems that when Mozart, or Beethoven, or Sousa wrote a musical piece for an orchestra or band, the writing clearly included decided what instruments should play what parts. Though I might allow taking Arranging or Orchestration as an optional specialization of Musical Composition; it's clearly easier than writing an original piece.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Would musical arrangement be an expert skill or is it an aspect of Musical Composition?

Treat it as a Hard Technique which defaults to Singing-4, Musical Composition-2, or Musical Instrument-3. Maybe allow it to go as high as Default skill+2.

Musical Improvisation, which any self-respecting jazz musician would also have, might be a Technique which defaults to Singing-4, Musical Composition-3, or Musical Instrument-2. That one should definitely allow a max of Default+2 or better.

Possibly allow different genres of music to be Average techniques which default to prerequisite skill+0 and which can be improved to prerequisite skill+2 or else allow knowledge of different genres of music to be optional specializations for certain instruments.