OK, for all my Volunteer NPCs, here are some notes for each of the NPCs.
It goes without saying, but please only read your own spoiler. This is mostly for my volunteers. Normally it wouldn’t matter, since they’re all GM controlled characters anyway, but I’d like my volunteers to have fun by not knowing
everything that’s coming.
If you have any questions about your character beyond what I’ve outlined here, please ask me in the OOC thread via a spoiler tag, PM, or email immediately. Thanks again for all your help, and I’m looking forward to watching how this all unfolds!
Bandit, Ronin, Bclements, Mister Juan (yes this is for all of you) –
[ Spoiler ]
If you are not familiar with Professional Ratings, use this as a guideline.
A character will retreat when their wounds (Physical or Stun) exceed a threshold equal to 25% times their Professional Rating.
So for example, if a character has Professional Rating 2, more than when 50% (2 * 25% = 50%) of their Physical or Stun damage track is filled in, they will begin to try to escape. Professional Rating 4 characters fight until they are dead or another motivation convinces them to leave the fight.
Bandit –
[ Spoiler ]
Blaze’s goal is simple: Rescue his cousin, Melissa Walker, a.k.a. Lady Dove in the flavor posts. He knows what she looks like from a picture her mother (his Aunt Margaret) gave him. He will do anything and everything to achieve this goal, up to and including sacrificing his own life for her if necessary to ensure her safety.
If you’ve studied Blaze at all, he’s a typical Leopard shaman. Aggressive, emotional, not very strategic or tactical (i.e. not like Virgil), basically once he knows Melissa is here, he will charge headfirst (figuratively and perhaps literally at your discretion) to help her. Anything that gets in his way…too bad for that thing. Although he is not a particularly intelligent fighter, he is experienced, and while extremely aggressive, will not act stupidly in pursuit of his goal. He should be played intelligently in combat, but single-mindedly.
Keep in mind that Melissa does not know who Blaze is. She will not recognize or know him, so he’ll have to convince her of his intentions. He does have the picture of her and her Mom’s phone number which he can call to convince her, so that’s two possible ways of convincing her.
Consider his Professional Rating 4. Only death or a firm belief that it’s better to live to try and help her again later will stop him from walking away from the warehouse with Melissa.
Ronin –
[ Spoiler ]
ETG’s primary objective is to rescue Melissa Walker as he was contracted to do by Blaze; his secondary objective is to bodyguard Blaze and keep him alive. He knows what Melissa looks like from a picture with Blaze.
Feel free to determine his personality and methods. Just remember he’s got a very big machine gun, and he loves to use it. He is a professional mercenary and is proficient in combat, tactics, teamwork, etc. Basically unless you have anything else you want to do, play him like our usual tactically sound, munckiny combat-oriented characters.
Consider his Professional Rating at a minimum of 3. He’s a true professional, but he’s not going to get killed over this. If you deem it appropriate based on what you come up with for his personality, go ahead and raise his Professional Rating to 4.
Bclements –
[ Spoiler ]
Cao Jaan is just trying to help people. He does not know the ‘runaway’s’ name or anything about her. The girl arrived with a letter from Keira McKay, asking Cao Jaan to hide her until she (Keira) could figure out what to do, but beyond that he is clueless as to the situation. He will protect her fervently because of his own beliefs and his friendship with Keira.
Keira and Cao Jaan are friends because they seek a similar goal (helping others) in a similar location (Redmond. The Respite isn’t too far away, about 20 minutes away perhaps). They’ve served at each other’s shelters several times, and there’s a genuine friendship (but not romantic interest) between the two of them.
Cao Jaan gave Keira a present for her birthday shortly after he saved her from a roving street gang the day they met, so she has a strong emotional connection to it. She sent this trinket along with the girl and the letter to convince Cao Jaan of its authenticity.
If Cao Jaan is convinced John and Max are trying to help the runaway and especially Keira, he will do anything in his power to assist them.
Cao Jaan is an experienced fighter, and will fight intelligently and tactically, but as a total pacifist, under no circumstances whatsoever will he kill. His primary objective will be to protect as many people as possible and get innocents out of the warehouse safely. He’s focus will be on protecting/saving people, fighting only to the extent necessary to get that done.
Consider Cao Jaan to have a Professional Rating of 4 only for the purposes of helping/saving/protecting others. He is willing to fight to the death to help and protect others with a particular attachment to Lady Dove and Knight, but will retreat if there’s no one else he can help or save.
Once this occurs, for example, if all the innocents are already dead/have escaped, consider his Professional Rating a 1. He has no interest in dying here, preferring instead to stay alive and help others. Once there’s no one left for him to help, winning the fight means nothing to him.
For the purposes of the note above, an innocent is defined as anyone who is incapable of protecting themselves. Basically, all the unnamed people in the shelter and the runaway girl.
Also note that there are several Crimson Sickles gang members in the warehouse who act as security help and will fight against anyone who tries to harm Cao Jaan, Lady Dove, or Knight. These are allies in a fight and will be controlled by me.
Mister Juan –
[ Spoiler ]
Knight is the proverbial knight in shining armor, a beacon of nobility and gallantry in a world gone badly. On the other hand, maybe knight-errant is more like it. He was sheltered and pampered most of his life, and is actually only working this job because he has too little skills, experience, abilities, and rep to get any other job in the shadows.
He has a good heart and is willing to help people, but isn’t going to get himself killed to do so. Cao Jaan and Lady Dove are pretty much the only two friends he has in the city (outside of his contacts), so he’s willing to risk a lot for them. In his time here, they’re more like friends than they are employer/employee, and he’s grateful for the opportunity to get his bearings in a new life in the shadows here.
Knight flat out lacks serious combat experience. Most of his combat experience is limited to running away and not getting himself killed. However, he takes his job here seriously and will do his absolute best to protect the warehouse. His focus is not on killing the bad guys so much as not dying, as well as a focus on making sure Cao Jaan and Lady Dove are safe. Knight isn’t going to overpower, out-tactical, or probably even out-smart anyone serious. What he has going for him are sincerity and a willingness to lay his life on the line for what he believes is right.
Consider Knight to be Professional Rating 2, but raise it to 3 (possibly even 4, if you feel it’s appropriate) if he’s acting to protect or save Cao Jaan or Lady Dove. Otherwise, he’ll try to escape to fight another day.
Also note that there are several Crimson Sickles gang members in the warehouse who act as security help and will fight against anyone who tries to harm Cao Jaan, Lady Dove, or Knight. These are allies in a fight and will be controlled by me.
) + 7 quality = 30