SIN Name:
Dr. Dr. Clarence Harper Jr. (Image)
Known Aliases:
Jonathan DeFoe, Lawrence Price
Nicknames:
Void, D-Doc
Date Of Birth:
January 23 2036 (Age: 34)
Metatype:
Human
Citizenship:
UCAS
Profession:
FBI Senior Special Agent, Human Resources Department
Educational Degrees:
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Applied Psychology
Attributes:
[ Spoiler ]
Physical Attributes:
Body - 3
Agility - 5
Reaction - 4
Strength - 3
Mental Attributes:
Charisma - 4
Intuition - 4
Logic - 5
Willpower - 4
Edge - 2
Essence - 3.78
Skills:
[ Spoiler ]
Active Skills:
Biotech Skill Group - 4
Athletics Skill Group - 3
Stealth Skill Group - 3
Influence Skill Group - 3
Pistols - 4 (+2 Semiautomatics)
Unarmed Combat - 4 (+2 Krav Maga)
+Disarm (2 BP)
Intimidation - 3 (+2 Interrogation)
Dodge - 3
Knowledge Skills:
(KN)Forensics - 5 (+2 Autopsy, +1 College Education)
(KN)Psychology - 5 (+2 Criminal Science, +1 College Education)
(PR)Security Procedures - 4
(PR)Security Design - 4
(PR)Military - 3
(ST)Seattle Shadowrunners - 3
Language Skills:
English - N
Japanese - 3
Positive Qualities:
[ Spoiler ]
FBI Special Agent (10 BP)
Harper works for "the man" - the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to be more specific. As a government operative, he not only has access to some very useful (human) resources and a Top Secret/SCI clearance, but also limited legal authority, the right to use restricted cyberware and gear, and a carte blanche to engage in less-than-legal activities if it's required to get the job done.
On the downside, authority comes with responsibility. While it may not be uncommon for an FBI agent to consort with Shadowrunners (especially to solve these nasty problems concerning corporate extraterritorial rights) or criminals (sometimes, you have to accept the lesser evil to catch a larger one), he is also expected to actually do his (schedule-flexible) job, which can involve anything from paperwork to catching dangerous spies and killers.
Harper's FBI job is also his main source of income.
Erased (fast) (10 BP)
In Harper's field of work, discrepancy or even outright secrecy isn't something optional, but highly mandatory. Dealing with counter-terrorism, counter-espionage, organized and corporate crime, FBI Special Agents tend to form elaborate "fiendships" with many influential groups.
Thus, many agents are matched up with "Datasecurity Specialists". These Hackers (often recruited from elite universities, megacorps or the Shadows) provide their partners in the field with mission intelligence, matrix assistance and, perhaps most importantly, the opportunity to erase any potentially harmful data they leave behind on their operations. Harper can consider himself especially lucky, as his partner Celeste, a hacker on the NSA's payroll, is clearly among the best of her kind and a trusted friend, too.
College Education (5BP)
As Harper's nickname D-Doc (the "D" standing for "Double) indicates, he is a very educated man with PhD degrees and extensive knowledge in the fields of both Medicine and Psychology.
Negative Qualities:
[ Spoiler ]
Killswitch (+10 BP)
Equipping an employee with certain equipment and resources and training him in the art of disguise can be very dangerous for his employer, especially if he also decides to render him virtually invisible on the paper. For this reason, all agents are augmented with killswitch nanoware. When activated, the nanites attack the augmentee's immune system, gradually weakening and - after a few weeks - killing him in what appears to be a bad case of cold, without invoking the mess or suspicion a cortex bomb would inevitably create.
Astral Hazing (+10 BP)
They say too much magic corrupts - maybe they are right. The Harper Magocracy (named so for the excessive influence it held before being busted for conspiracy) had a very strong aptitude for magic ever since the Awakening, and it was not uncommon for it's members to teach (or at least, study) on the famous MIT&T.
Clarence was different, however. If his relatives would be described as shining astral beacons, he'd be the total opposite. In fact, not only is Harper completely mundane - he actually is so mundane that even those around him can feel it and experience difficulties or at least, inconveniences when casting a spell. This "gift" is also what made Harper adapt his street name, "Void", for that's what he is: a mana vacuum sucking in and dissolving all magical energies around him.
Lost Loved One (+5 BP)
Judith "Whisper" Templar was more than just an old friend from the Academy - she and Harper shared an intimate relationship before her sudden, unexplained disappearance. At first, he assumed she simply had to stay under the radar for a while, probably for a rather delicate assignment, but when a month passed with her still missing, he began to investigate. Official records listed her as KIA, but when he dug deeper, neither a body nor a cause of death, but rather, many small inconsistencies could be found. When he eventually received a less-than-encouraging matrix mail telling him to mind his own business, it became clear that there was more to Templar's vanishing - and he decided to take a slightly more active role in uncovering the secrets of her "death".
Records on File (FBI) (+10 BP)
SINner (UCAS) (+5 BP)
Augmentations:
[ Spoiler ]
Cybereyes 4
Flare Compensation
Low-Light Vision
Protective Covers
Smartlink
Thermographic Vision
Vision Enhancement 3
Vision Magnification
Cyberears 4
Audio Enhancement 3
Balance Augmenter
Damper
Select Sound Filter 4
Spatial Recognizer
Increased Sensitivity
Other Cyberware:
Fairlink Caliban Commlink (Alphaware)
2 Datajacks (Alphaware)
Breakable Tooth Compartment (filled Slab)
Sim Module (Alphaware)
Skillwires 3 (with Expert System, both Alphaware)
Bioware:
Sleep Regulator
Vocal Range Enhancer
Synaptic Booster
Software:
[ Spoiler ]
CommLink HD
Matrix Firewall 6
12 Mapsofts 4
One for each district of Seattle plus the Underground
Empathy Software 6
Facial Recognition 6
Voice Recognition 6
Gear:
[ Spoiler ]
Worn Usually:
Sunglasses
Subvocal Microphone
Synergist Slacks
Synergist High-collar Shirt
Synergist Longcoat
Form Fitting Full-Body Suit
Shock Gloves
Small Medical Pouch
+3xAntidote Patch 2
+3xStimulant Patch 2
+4xNoPaint (DSMO Patch)
+2xHyper (Syringe)
+1xCyanide (Capsule)
Concealed Ammo Pouch
+2xClip (10 FMJ Rounds, Pistol)
+2xClip (10 EX Explosive Rounds, Pistol)
Concealed Knife Holster
+Survival Knife
Concealed Quick-Draw Holster
+Colt Government 2066
+2 Clips (10 FMJ Rounds, Pistol)
+Smartlink
+Silencer
+Additional Clip Mod
Carried On Occasion:
Actioneer Business Clothes
Ares High Jacket (WWII style)
Gas Mask
Headjammer 3
Plasteel Restraints (x2)
Forensic Tools
Stored Away Safely:
Nanopaste Disguise Large Container (x2)
Laes (Syringe) (x4)
Leal (Syringe) (x4)
Slab (Capsule) (x4)
Hyper (Syringe) (x2)
Medical Shop
Shares in Ares Macrotechnology
Assortment of (counter-)espionage devices
Vehicles:
[ Spoiler ]
Mitsubishi Nightsky (Service Car)
+Armor Concealed 10
+Personal Armor 2
+Life Support 2
+Hovercraft Upgrade Rebuild
+Pilot Upgrade 6
+Rigger Adaption
+Spoof Chip
+Vehicle Tag Eraser
+Morphing License Plate
+Electromagnetic Shielding 4
+Enhanced Image Screens
+ECM 6
+GridLink
+GridLink Override
+Manual Control Override (Drive-by-Wire)
Chrysler-Nissan Jackrabbit (Undercover Service Car)
+Pilot Program 6
+Anti-Theft
+Manual Control Override (Drive-by-Wire)
20 Questions:
[ Spoiler ]
Background
1) Where is your character from?
Clarence Harper, Jr. was born at his parent's home on the outskirts of Seattle on the 23rd of January 2036, making him the youngest descendant of the Harper Clan's bloodline. Substituting country for family, he considers himself a staunch patriot, supports his country whether it is right or wrong and is a Republican Party registered voter.
2) Does your character have a family?
The already mentioned Harper Clan (or Harper Magocracy, as it's members like to call it) is a family of magicians that rumoredly established it's magical roots quite a few generations before the crash (though Harper believes that it's much more likely that his grand-grandfather was just a loony). While he has about 20 relatives of varying distance, his core family consists of 2 brothers (Jonathan and Jacob), 3 sisters (Leena, Morgaine and Keira) as well as his mother Katrina; his father, Clarence Harper Sr., was killed in 2058, shortly before his graduation.
Due to Clarence's less-than-favorable magical emissions, he has always been an outsider within his family. Rejected by his parents and despised by his siblings, who all viewed him as the Clan's black sheep, he spent most of his time studying in the local library or doing physical exercises as well as hanging out with his best and only friend, a troll going by the handle "The Hulk".
When he learned of his Clan's ties to organized crime (and, rumoredly, even Insect Shamans), few who knew him where surprised at what he did: he arranged a meeting with an FBI representative, provided him with heavy evidence and, in fact, played a vital role in enabling the Lone Star SWAT teams sent in to arrest his family to bypass all the traps his father had installed to keep the law out of his manor. When the cops killed his father who tried to put up a fight, he was overjoyed - this was his very personal revenge on the man that had made his whole life miserable.
3) Does your character have an ethnic background?
The Harper Clan has only began recording it's bloodlines since the Awakening - and because his grandfather was less-than-talkative about his parents, not much is known about the Clan before him. The Harper Clan has been predominantly American, though quite a few of those who married in had been of European and Native American ethnicity.
Appearance
4) What does your character look like?
Harper is about 6 feet tall and of lean, yet athletic build; he wears his jet black hair in a short military cut, shaves regularly and while all the desk work had their impact on his physical shape, he still looks like someone you wouldn't want to mess with (unless you're a troll, that is). He never had any birthmarks (strange as it may sound) and all of his scars (of which he had quite a bit due to taking "fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves" very literally during his youth) have been surgically removed when he joined the FBI.
5) What does your character dress like?
Although his job may require him to disguise himself in order to blend in with a certain group or environment, he - given the freedom to chose his own wardrobe - has a quite distinct style: combat boots, dog tags, black sunglasses (which are more of a fashion accessory than anything else, given that his eyes were made by Ares) and a black Synergist "uniform" (consisting of military-looking slacks, a high-collar shirt with a zipper above a short-sleeved T-Shirt and a trenchcoat with many inner and outer pockets). When acting as Johnson, he likes to wear his trenchcoat closed and to exchange his glasses with a full-face, futuristic-looking gas mask with a built-in vocoder. He hates formal dress, but if it's really necessary (ie, the boss demands it and not complying will result in paygrade cuts), he will put on a custom tailored (and, of course, armored) Actioneer business suit.
Harper's status as FBI Agent allows him to carry a personal weapon with him on all but extraterritorial megacorp territory, a right which he really enjoys to exercise by carrying a concealed holster under his coat.
6) Does your character have physical quirks?
Harper gets slightly uncomfortable when starting a new day without his daily morning hygiene - though otherwise, "nerves of steel" is what comes to mind.
Skills, Attributes and Resources
7) Where did your character learn their Active Skills?
Due to being the only mundane in a Clan of magicians, Harper began honing his physical skills on an early age to compensate for his lack of astral talents. Most of his advanced skills, however, stem from a mixture of natural aptitude and intensive medical and field training at the University of Washington and FBI Academy.
8 ) Where did your character learn their Knowledge Skills?
Harper had always been an excellent student and a bright mind, but sadly, his parents weren't exactly eager to invest a lot of money into his education. Nonetheless though, be it through brilliance or just extreme luck, he somehow managed to get himself a partial stipend for a Public Ivy school: the University of Washington. Now the proud owner of two Doctorate degrees - one in Medicine, one in Psychology, both with a focus on forensics and criminology - and veteran of quite a few rather difficult cases, Harper can consider himself a very educated and experienced man who always knows what he's doing.
9) Where did your character get his goodies?
Being a government operative, Harper frequently needs access to hardware not available to Johnny Civilian. Because he is equipped with a multitude of (lawfully obtained) licenses and special permissions, he is able to obtain what he needs through official channels - at least, within certain limits. Should he ever wish to exceed these, Celeste enters the game: she applies a few quick, temporary modifications to his SIN, and Ares will be more than glad to sell him that prototype Assault Cannon he needs for a friend of his. As she's also able to remove any trail of data his purchase could possibly leave behind, it's also highly unlikely that anyone would ever notice...right?
10) Where does your character live?
While Harper is by no means a snob, he quite likes his Penthouse (complete with private parking, a heavily armed security service including both metahumans and drones, a panic room which may also function as holding cell, a small bar and a swimming pool on the roof) in Seattle's Bellevue district due to it's quiet, safe (and, most importantly, less-than-curious) neighborhood. He also maintains a small medical clinic he ran prior to becoming a Special Agent (which he occasionally rents out to make some extra cash) and a few subterranean safe houses throughout Seattle, some shared installations provided by the FBI, others private vaults, heavily armored and shielded and stocked full of ammo and medical supplies, unknown even to his employers.
Additionally, Harper is officially the owner of his family's estate - however, as the FBI found multiply artifacts buzzing with toxic magic within it during their raid, they declared it a contaminated zone and locked it down. So far, Harper has shown no interest in reclaiming the villa, most likely because he finds the prospect of returning to his old home rather uncomfortable himself.
11) Who are your character's contacts?
If you want to get things done, you'll need friends - a piece of truth Harper knows very well. Aside from his most useful "resource", Celeste, he also maintains friendly (or at least, professional) relationships with a multitude of people in- and outside the FBI (see Contacts section).
12) Who are your character's enemies?
While many criminals would do some very nasty things to Harper if they just *knew* who it was that brought them into jail, there are only two groups of which Harper knows that he has to be cautious about. On one hand, there is his extended family - while not all of them were involved in his core family's schemings, he knows better than to trust them and used his contacts within the FBI to have them monitored at all times.
On the other hand, there is the conspiracy around those who made his partner, Judith Templar, disappear. Harper has to be careful about his investigations, or he'll soon have to find out how much further than sending threatening matrix mails his enemies are ready to go.
13) What is your character's attitude towards Magic?
With most of his experiences regarding magic being rather negative, he maintains a rather cautious stance on it, even though he knows that his nature as an astral black hole would probably prevent the Awakened from invading his mind. Nonetheless, given the opportunity, he most likely would use any non-toxic magical resources at his hands to further his goals and interests.
Personality
14) What are your character's likes and dislikes?
While he is a smart, educated, well-read men, Harper's greatest passion would be the Desert Wars, which he had been following since he was a teenager. Quite possibly, they are the only thing other than his work and country that manage to awaken genuine enthusiasm within him, and he is a small, but regular monetary contributor to Ares' Damage Overwhelming team.
As mentioned already, Harper also is a staunch patriot and declared enemy of the CAS. Other people he despises are mobsters, drug dealers, NIJ members and communists.
15) What is your character's moral code?
While Harper isn't above the odd less-than-legal sale of previously owned cyberware, he views himself as a man of integrity. As such, he tries to justify anything he does by claiming it to serve a higher purpose (which it actually often, but not always, does) and avoids breaking his word; in short, he tries to be a "good person".
16) Does your character have goals?
While he keeps calming his conscience with the idea that it is all for the greater good, power, not necessarily as in authority, but also, capability, is definitely something Harper aims to gain. While he has been quite successful so far, there's still much more to achieve; be it a new assembly of strings to pull, another couple of promotions or a transfer to the CIA's famed Special Activities Division...
17) Does your character have personal beliefs?
Most men need something to put their faith in; be it their country, a religion, a certain political ideology or just they themselves. Harper is no exception to that. He believes there are men that have to do what has to be done - and that he is one of them. For God and Country, Harper will stand first in line in the defense of what is right and good, even if it means committing acts of questionable morality...
18) Does your character have personality quirks?
Describing Harper as "calm" would probably be an understatement, as he applies his well-built discipline not only to his work, but also to his personal life. However, he certainly isn't without emotion, and mistaking his cool attitude for the absence of aggression can be very dangerous, for he definitely knows how to get back at people that try to mess with him.
Running the Shadows:
19) Why does your character run the shadows?
Harper has been dealing with the less savory elements of society ever since he began working at the FBI, though he only began using them to pursue his own agenda since his partner disappeared.
20) How does your character view his/her role as a shadowrunner?
He does what has to be done, and tries to give it no further (moral) thought.
Bonus Round:
1. What happened (if anything) to you during the crash?
During the Second Crash, Harper was temporarily assigned to one of the FBI's HRT teams that stormed the White House. When his team's leader got killed in an ambush, he - heavily wounded - assumed command and kept pushing forward and completing the mission assigned to him (severing one of the power lines supporting the White House's central security system) before collapsing due to blood loss. His survival has been described as a miracle and for his most valiant action, he was awarded the Congressional Silver Medal.
2. What are your principal motivations for being in the shadows?
To find out what happened to his partner Judith Templar and uncovering the conspiracy around her disappearance.
3. What are your short term goals?
See above, plus avoiding any desk work the FBI throws his way. Additionally, Harper's job might involve further goals that are to be accomplished within a reasonable time frame.
4. Any long term goals?
A leading position within the FBI or a place in the CIA would be nice; so would any other position of power that would help him further his (mostly philanthropic) goals. Despite being a (mildly) religious person, Harper is also decidedly transhumanist, and has recently became very interested in Evo's research into cyborg technology.
5. Any family / friends that are important enough for walking plot hooks?
Other than Judith Templar, both Celeste and Vodka may cause Harper to pull strings and more. Additionally, his family may cause quite some trouble; while they can't use their magic against him directly, they are quite influential and some of them may be *very* motivated to get their revenge.