Gnat:[ Spoiler ]
Breakdown (128 Build Points)
Attributes: 32 (64 points)
Skills: 43 (43 points)
Resources: 5000 (0 points)
Race: Human (0 points)
Magic: Adept (25 points)
Edges/Flaws: -4 (-4 points)
General information
Real name: Nathaniel Trick
Street name: Gnat
Archetype: Paranormal Investigator
Age: 25
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 166 lbs
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Finances: 0¥
Lifestyle: -
Initiate grade: 0
Karma pool: 1
Good karma: 0
Total karma earned: 0
Attributes and Pools
BOD: 6
QUI: 6
STR: 3
CHA: 5
INT: 6
WIL: 6
Reaction: 6 (10)
Initiative: 1d6 (3d6)
Essence: 6.0
Bio-Index: 0.0
Magic: 6
Armor: 6/5 (4)*
Combat Pool: 9
Spell Pool: -
Astral Pool: -
*Number inside parenthesis is the value used to calculate layering and quickness related penalties
Edges/Flaws
Edges
Friendly Face
Good-looking and Knows It
Quick Healer
Flaws
Phobia: Mimes (Uncommon/Mild)
Allergy: Silver (Uncommon/Mild)
Extra Enemy
Impulsive
Distinctive Style*
*Constantly humming or singing to himself in public while idle
Skills
Active
Pistols: 6 (9)
Pentjak-Silat: 5*
Athletics: 5
Stealth: 6
Etiquette/Street: 4/6
Interrogation: 5
Negotiation/Fast talk: 5/7
*Maneuver(s): Close Combat
Knowledge
Magic Background: 6
Police Procedures: 5
Singing: 6
Musical Composition: 6
Paranormal Critters: 5
Language
English: 6
Sperethiel: 5
Cyberware/Bioware
Cyberware
Bioware
Adept Powers
Improved Reflexes: 2 (Geas: Talisman*)
Thermographic Vision
Kinesics: 2
Improved Pistols: 3
*A small, circular earring hand carved from a yellowish-white shark tooth. Gnat’s grandmother gave it to him as a present when he was young, and he couldn’t remember a time when it had not been adorning his left ear.
Metamagics
Equipment
*Note: [x] denotes worn equipment.
Weapons, ammunition, and accessories
[x]Ruger Thunderbolt (Smartlink II, Personalized Grip)
[ ]12-round clip (Regular) <qty=10>
[x]12-round clip (Ex-Ex)
[x]Concealable quick draw holster
Clothing and armor
[x]Armor vest w/ plates, urban camouflage design (4/3)
[x]Kevlar leggings, urban camouflage design (0/0.5)
[x]Densiplast forearm guards (0/1)
[x]Combat boots (0/0)
[x]Form-fitting body armor (2/0.5)
[ ]Large riot shield (2/3)
Miscellaneous
[x]Handset cell phone
Backstory
You think you've had a tough childhood? Try being the human son born from a father with a pair of tusks and a mother with two pointed ears. I bet the Almighty had himself a grand old time with that one. Too bad it wasn't nearly as amusing for me - I was immediately ostracized from all the social circles back in primary school when the kids dug that bone out of the closet. Truth be told, I spent an embarrassingly lengthy period of my life hating my parents for that; I was such a little shit back then. Considering that the school environment wasn't much of a welcoming or comforting place for me, it didn't really surprise anyone when I hooked up with a local street gang and branded myself a struggling anarchist fighting to overthrow the oppressors. My parents were horrified when they found out, and tried doing everything they can to turn me back to the light side, but their efforts were futile...I was simply enjoying myself far too much. That is, until that demanding old bat called "Consequences" eventually reared her ugly head and bit me right where it hurts.
We were only planning to set fire to the guy's Christmas tree, but who knew that the entire lawn would be roasted? Or the whole house, for that matter? Lucky for us, the family that it belonged to was out eating dinner at some fancy restaurant when we accidentally burned down their home, but they were mighty pissed off when they found out about it. Unfortunately, the daddy was a bigshot in some triple A corporation, and managed to scrounge up enough funds to hire the slick-talking lawyer who landed our entire gang in juvie hall. Coincidentally, my magical talent decided right after the trial that it was time to show up and say hello to everybody. Lone Star was in a bit of a dilemma when one of their scouts pegged me as an adept - do they leave me in juvie and let my rare and valuable ability go to waste, or do they try to turn a profit by securing it for themselves? They opted to take the road most traveled and cut me a deal - if I entered their training program and signed an eight year contract to work for them afterwards, I'll be set free. I, of course, agreed immediately, as I didn't find the prospect of being locked up until I hit eighteen a very attractive one.
I learned fast, I shot straight, and I graduated with honors six years later and entered the force as a patrol cop. A couple of years after that, I had climbed the ladder to detectivehood in Lone Star’s homicide division - if it weren't for the rebellious tendencies that my childhood had long ago cultivated in me, I would probably have gone higher still. I can honestly say that I was amongst the best of the best during my stint in Homicide, although that's not saying much considering that the best mostly consisted of spineless weasels who kept their balls locked up in a Kevlar padded steel chest until their shift was over. Well, what can I say? I had fun as a keeper of the peace in Lone Star - yes, you heard me right, I said fun. I had a lot of interesting adventures on the gritty streets of Chicago that opened my eyes a bit and helped me grow up a little more, but those are stories for other days. Unfortunately, the last one brought my chosen career path to an end with a two ton battle axe.
Anyone who has watched flatvids will know what they're dealing with when they see a suburban family lying on the living room floor of their home, all deader than Mrs. Santa Claus’s sex drive with bite marks on their necks. And anyone with any brainmeat in their skull will walk away from the scene of the crime and leave the case to Martin De Vries. I mean, what the hell was I thinking, taking on a vampire? I probably would've followed the captain's advice and left the case alone had I not known that that advice came from the briefcase filled with a hundred thousand nuyen of certified cred left outside his doorstep the previous night. I've always had a special disdain in my heart for those who accept bribes, and ended up tackling the case by myself just to spite the bastard. Biggest mistake of my life. My instincts were too sharp for my own good, and when I successfully backtracked the trail of the crime, it led not to one vampire, but a whole coven of them. Turns out that the son of their patriarch got a little too overenthusiastic during his first feeding night by himself, and got carried away with the killing. Amazingly enough, I managed to walk out of their mansion with my red fluids still contained inside my veins and all my vital organs intact. Of course, the bloodsuckers didn't let me off that easily. Not a day later, another murder had been committed, and there were both eyewitness and electronic testimonies that I was the one who had done it. With illusions spells so prominent amongst the criminal element these days, that wasn't enough to convict me, but it was enough for the captain to throw me out of the police force.
Soon after that, Lone Star captured a bunch of "vampires," nailed them to the crime, and executed them. Funny, these weren't the same guys I found. I was seething with fury after that, but there was nothing I could do. I had been outmaneuvered, and good. With my job gone, I had to start looking for other sources of work - that was when it hit me. Why not become an investigator in all things creepy and crawly? The vampires had gotten me interested in the paranormal, and after a few months of study, I became confident enough to open up my own business. Officially, I'm a private investigator, but word soon got out on the street that I'm not afraid to handle some of the more unusual cases. The money hadn't exactly been pouring in, but it was enough for me to get by and even start saving up some. Maybe one day my path will cross with the cabal of bloodsuckers that murdered an entire family and got away with it cleaner than antibacterial hand soap. And when it does, they'll be cursing their parents for giving birth to their nasty black hearts. Count on it.
20 Questions
Background
1. Where is your character from?
He comes from a middle class family in the Westside district of the Windy City. He’s the only child of an ork father and an elven mother, both of whom are immigrants from the NAN. Due to his mother’s heritage, he grew up speaking Sperethiel in the household with her, and is nearly as fluent with that tongue as he is in English.
2. Does your character have a family?
Father: Harrison Trick is currently the owner of a small, homely bar called the Red Dawn on the corner of 6th and Snow Street, but things weren’t always as good. When he first came to Chicago with his wife, he had not even a dime in his pocket, and was forced to sell his services as a bouncer to a seedy night club that paid below minimum wage. The clients of the club were rowdy and belligerent, and Harrison slowly learned the principles of down and dirty street fighting during his stint there. Eight years and a whole bunch of scars and broken bones later, he had saved up enough money to open up the bar, which he now operates with his wife. Gnat’s father is a passionate fan of Urban Brawl, believing that it’s by far the best thing metahumanity had ever conceived, and is constantly looking for an ear to hear his opinions on the various teams and players, much to the annoyance of his wife and son.
Mother: While Harrison was out winning bread for the family, Johanna Trick was the keeper of the home. She tried her best to nurture a strong sense of morality and ethics in Gnat while he was a child, and nearly died from worry during the phase of his life when he ran around as a troublemaking delinquent. Gnat still feels guilty about doing that to her. Johanna is an expert storyteller, and even now, Gnat still drops in on her occasionally to hear one of the many Native American folk tales that she has been enthralling him with ever since he was a kid. She works as a waitress in the Red Dawn, and handles most of the numbers while her husband tends to the counter.
Grandmother: Magnolia Randall is Gnat’s gran on his mother’s side of the family. She’s living in a small apartment in Evanston despite urges from her daughter and son-in-law to move in with them – she says that she likes the peace and quiet that she gets in her current residence, and besides, all her friends are living in the neighborhood as well. Magnolia is a strong-spirited old lady with hands toughened by a life of hardship…Gnat has felt the backs of them more than once when he was a kid. She has a fierce love for her only grandchild and constantly sends him little trinkets and artifacts that she crafts in her spare time.
Uncle: Sherman Trick is a pudgy, repulsive middle aged human man who moonlights as a courier for a grassroots Mafia organization that's just beginning to set up shop in the Chicago underworld. He's the type of guy who's willing to do anything to turn a buck, and burns every dollar he brings in on alcohol, BTLs and prostitutes. He has cut off all contact with his family out of sheer humiliation after an incident at a Thanksgiving dinner two years ago when he got himself drunker than a skunk and tried to put the move on his brother's wife. He nearly got his skull split in two when Gnat's grandmother beaned him over the head with her cane, but Sherman managed maintained consciousness long enough to flee the house with Magnolia chasing after him screaming vicious threats about genital dismemberment.
Jane: Jane is Gnat's Ruger Thunderbolt. 'Nuff said.
3. Does your character have an ethnic background?
Gnat is a true blood Amerindian on both sides of his family.
Appearance
4. What does your character look like?
Gnat is a gangly human male in his mid-twenties. His weathered light-brown skin reflects his Indian heritage, and the scars embellished upon it are testaments to a life of hard knocks. He has a shock of dark black hair that he keeps in a practical military cut, and his wary brown eyes contain the constantly roving gaze that he’s learned to develop over the years. Gnat has friendly, easygoing face that most people warm up to immediately, and grins in an almost child-like manner when something he finds amusing happens. Though normally hidden by his clothes, his torso is illustrated by an array of green tattoos of gypsy origin.
5. What does your character dress like?
He despises expensive and fancy clothes with a passion, believing that they do nothing more than showcase the wearer’s vanity. He has a battered old long coat that he likes throw over a flannel t-shirt, khakis, and Timberland boots. He does have an Armani with gold cufflinks that he keeps in the closet for those special occasions when he can’t avoid dressing in money, but he wouldn’t touch it unless he has no other choice.
6. Does your character have any physical quirks?
Gnat is an expert at maintaining his game face during emotionally trying times, but those who know him well will be able to identify the drumming of his fingers on a flat surface as a sign that he’s slowly, but surely getting pissed off. He talks in a crystal clear voice that’s ghostly and compelling, and had spent a brief time in the chorus during his high school years due to his talent.
Skills, Attributes, and Resources
7. Where did your character learn their Active Skills?
Gnat’s combat and technical skills were trained in the Lone Star academy that he attended, and honed to a fine edge by his experience as a cop on the street. His social skills, however, can mostly be attributed to being gifted with a silver tongue at birth, although he did pick up some basic interrogation techniques at the academy.
8. Where did your character learn their Knowledge Skills?
He learned some of them through the studies that he had to do as a fledgling trainee, some through interaction with his fellow police officers as well as the criminal element of Chicago, and the rest through personal interest. Gnat began doing hardcore research on magic and paranormal animals after he decided to open up his own agency.
9. Where did your character get his goodies?
Almost all of Gnat’s street gear was issued by Lone Star, and he lost everything when he was fired from the job. Though he managed to get a lot of it back after opening his business, he recently lost a high stakes gambling match with a mob boss and had to sell off most of his equipment as collateral. He’s hoping for a new job opportunity so he can earn some cred to buy the things that he needs to operate again.
10. Where does your character live?
Gnat was evicted from his apartment in the Noose after missing his payments for three consecutive months. He’s currently living in a seedy coffin hotel with a host of colorful neighbors, such as a gothic troll who wears shades at night and a crazy old man who believes that he’s Damien Knight’s father. He knows that he can probably crash at his folks’ place if he asks them, but he finds his situation embarrassing and doesn’t want to let them know about it.
11. Who are your character’s contacts?
Ivanova Crest (lvl. 1 fixer) – The first time Gnat met Nova was when he busted her for illegal arms dealing back in the good old days when he was still but a rookie. Nova found his devotion to justice humorous, and jokingly tried to convince him to cross over on the long ride back to the station in his patrol car. Gnat was not amused and tossed her into a jail cell as soon as they got back. He came back to work the next morning to find the cell completely empty. When he stormed into the captain’s office demanding an explanation, he was told that Nova was actually the daughter of one of the board members of Lone Star. Apparently Daddy had called and threatened to fire the entire precinct if they didn’t release his baby immediately, and the captain, being the gutless worm that he typically is, had set her free. Gnat was pissed off, but knew that he couldn’t do anything about it. Gnat and Nova had run into each other many times over the years, and despite himself, he slowly developed a liking for the woman. He’s also become a little wiser, and has learned the harsh reality that sometimes to do the right thing you have to do the wrong thing. Nova is the woman that he relies on during those times when he needs to do the wrong thing.
Wesley Stuart (lvl. 1 Lone Star sergeant) – Wesley was one of the few good cops in the force that Gnat knew while he worked there, and the two have a solid mutual respect for each other. West is bloody smart and has eyes that can pick out a liar in a crowd of two hundred. Gnat knows that the man would’ve become station chief by now if the top of the ladder wasn’t eaten away by the corrupt and the cowardly. West was outraged when he found out about Gnat’s discharge from the force. He was considering throwing his badge in the captain’s face and walking out as well, but Gnat convinced him that crooked as Lone Star was, he could probably do more good inside it than outside it. To this day, the two remain good friends, and West is Gnat’s source of insider information when he needs intelligence that only Lone Star can provide.
12. Who are your character’s enemies?
Barry Quick – Barry is a sniveling weasel of a drug dealer whom Gnat bagged a couple of years ago. There wasn’t enough evidence to convict him, but the bust had made the dealer lose ten packs of Novacoke – what’s worse was, it belonged to someone else. Barry’s bosses eventually came looking for him, demanding compensation, and when he couldn’t pay up, they took it in the form of his right hand. Barry has a deep hatred for Gnat and blames him for the torture that he suffered learning how to live life with only one hand.
Hyrum Kirk – Hyrum is an obese and egotistical ork who was operating a paranormal investigation agency in the Elevated before Gnat showed up and stole half his business from him. Gnat is not guilty in the least, because he knows that the ork has been ripping off his clients since day one, but Hyrum sees things differently. He initially tried threatening Gnat to make him find another line of work, but quickly backed down when he found the business end of a pistol pressed against his temple. Now he merely resorts to talking trash about the younger man to anyone who would listen, and is looking for any opportunity to tarnish his reputation.
13. How did your character learn magic?
Lone Star taught him how to manipulate his magical talent and channel it effectively when he was a recruit in their training program. He became interested in delving deeper into the magical arts after he became a paranormal investigator, and is currently seeking a group to initiate with.
Personality
14. What are your character’s likes and dislikes?
Gnat perceives himself to be a sort of modern day bard, and loves acting, writing, and music. His specialty is singing, and he has dreamed of being a musician for a long time before Fate turned him down other roads. His hobbies include gambling, flatvid movies, and shooting. He hates alcoholic beverages, porn without a plot, and ballroom dancing. He had a bad experience on the dance floor when he was at his high school prom – to make a long story short, the girl left with two bruised and swollen feet and he left with his dignity in shreds.
15. What is your character’s moral code?
First and foremost, Gnat believes in loyalty, He thinks that it doesn’t matter what a person’s other qualities are if they’re not loyal to their friends. He despises cowardice after seeing so much of it during his time in Lone Star, and would immediately lose respect for anyone who isn’t willing to stick their neck out on the line to accomplish their goals. He has no problems with killing as long as it’s necessary – men, women, children, it doesn’t matter, though he’ll need a damn good justification to geek a kid.
16. Does your character have any goals?
Gnat has no delusions about completely ridding the planet of all scumbags, although he does plan on doing his share of it during his time on Earth. He wants to get back at the cabal of vampires that cost him his job at Lone Star, but isn’t really on a passionate quest for vengeance or anything cheesy like that. Eventually, he plans on earning enough money as an investigator to retire on. By that time, he hopes to have found a good woman to settle down and live the rest of his life with.
17. Does your character have any personal beliefs?
Gnat judges everyone equally, regardless of race, and despises the bigoted propaganda that’s spouted by organizations like Humanis, which is understandable given his background. He’s been on the street for most his life, had witnessed how prostitutes have been used and exploited by their johns, and believes that all pimps should be shot on sight. He doesn’t really like the big megacorporations that much, but he knows that the world of the twenty first century is structured such that it wouldn’t be able to function without them.
18. Does your character have any personality quirks?
Gnat has a deeply imbedded phobia of mimes. When he was eight, a mime hired by the local fast food restaurant had a nervous breakdown halfway through his performance while Gnat was eating there. The man pulled out a hunting knife from God knows where, shouted out obscenities that would give a sailor a heart attack and starting attacking the customers like a crazed Tasmanian devil. Three people died, and four were injured before he was brought down. Ever since then, Gnat has had an irrational distrust of all mimes and feels uncomfortable whenever one is within looking distance.
Running the Shadows
19. Why does your character run the shadows?
He runs because he believes that a job that provides thrills, a schedule that you decide on, and the potential to make a difference in the world is, as far as he’s concerned, a perfect job. The fact that he already has the skills and contacts necessary for the profession from his time in Lone Star and doesn’t need to get retrained is a bonus, too.
20. How does your character view his/her role as a shadowrunner?
Gnat believes that shadowrunners as a whole are mostly scumbags without morals, although he’s met a few that defy the standard. He thinks that the glorification of the profession and the false sense of camaraderie amongst some of the people in the shadow community are both quite silly, and wouldn’t hesitate to accept a job against another runner if it pays well.
Contribution: ...71 bucks. :(
[CHAR] Bug City, Character Sheets Only
May 27 2005, 09:25 AM
