The Dunkelzahn Institute of Magical Research


The Premise: You will be playing the role of a troubleshooter in the employ of the Dunkelzahn Institute of Magical Research (DIMR). Hand-picked from the cream of the crop in your field, you were approached for recruitment due to some phenomenal experience with the paranormal in your past, and especially for the way in which you handled and/or reported that experience. The psych evaluation that judged you to be one of those precious few who could be trusted to do the right thing even if doing so required bending your moral values or breaking a few laws from time to time certainly didn't hurt either.

Officially, you are labeled as a "freelance consultant" in the books (at least as far as your regular salary is concerned), but your true occupation for the organization calls upon your talents in order to attend to matters that are of a rather questionable legal status. The acquisition and smuggling of exotic flora and fauna specimens, theft of magical goods from "private collectors," the investigation of paranormal events or weird happenings, and the oversight and protection of archaeological digs deemed important by the DIMR are all examples of the things you may be called upon to do for the outfit.

In exchange for your services, the DIMR pays you a six-figure salary and grants you access to most of their world-famous resources when you're not out performing a task for them. Fat wallets, a copious amount of free time, access to state of the art toys, and your every need catered to -- it's the dream job for any thrillseeking professional. In fact, the only real drawback is that you can't tell anyone what you actually do for a living...



Character Submissions


At this stage of the game, I do not want to see any character sheets. None whatsoever. Not a single attribute score or skill rating. If you throw any stats my way, you will be cruely mocked and taunted for not reading this paragraph. If you do it again, we shall taunt you a second time. Do it a third time and I'm pulling out the elderberries, bitch.

Okay, with that out of the way, what I do want to see are character concepts. "What the frag is a character concept" you ask? A character concept is a brief outline of your character's history and what lead up to him or her being recruited by the DIMR. What a character concept is NOT is a detailed account of the character's life since birth, or any other superfluous aspects of his life beyond the requested information.

Here are a few things that you should include in your character concept submission:

• Character's Name
• Character's Profession (Race and General Archetype)
• Background Summary: A brief synopsis of who and what the character is.
• Reason for Recruitment: Why did the DIMR recruit him or her?
• Background Flaw: Any flaw of your choosing that's directly related to the character's professional or social life.
• Random Flaw: Any single flaw chosen at random that has NO bearing on the character's professional or social life in any way whatsoever. It should just be some weird quirk the character has.

To give you some idea of what I'm looking for, I'll throw up a hastily-written and remarkably craptacular example.

Jesus Cortez
Intrusion and Military Specialist (Human - Jaguar Rebel)

Quick Background: (Please forgive any discrepencies, I never really got to read the Canon sources on this subject) Jesus was born in Atzlan, a prodigy child who was born to a wealthy land owner. Always top of his class in every aspect, he was quickly signed up to join the Jaguar Guards as an officer in his early years. His military skills led him to many victories over the rebels who sought to overthrow the benevolent leadership of the country. But his greatest victory, according to how he tells it anyhows, was his greatest defeat.

Captured by Rebel forces, he was shown the atrocities his "Benevolent" leaders performed, and it wasn't long before he rallied to the Rebel cause. Now, the greatest of hunters was the most hunted and this only made him even more determined. He personally led multiple raids against the Teocallis of the areas. However, eventually the pressure was too high, and he was forced to flee to Amazonia, it is here that he made deals with the Dunkelzahn Institute, and joined their services. He's worked as an undercover specialist in the field, continueing raids into Aztlan defensive positions.

Reason for Recruitment: Jesus was recruited into the Institute primarily for his in-depth knowledge of the Aztlan tactical methods, Jaguar Training, and his highly efficient methods. Above all though, Jesus has had intimiate workings with the Shamans, both on the Aztlan and Rebel side, and has already spent several years with the Shamans in Amazonia. He's even captured 2 Blood Mages and brought them back to the Institute alive.

Background Flaw (Hunted): Aztlan would love little more than to put the head of Jesus on a plate. He's a highly trained, huge investment that has used the training to aide the Rebels, and then joined with, of all beings, Dunkelzahn in fighting the Aztlan government.

Random Flaw (Pacifist): Oddly enough, although having led many people into battle, and engaging in battle himself many times, Jesus has never killed anyone at all. He always aims to wound, never kill. It's not that he is against hurting people, but to take a life from someone, to take absolutely everything they have or will be with one small act, is more than his morality can handle.

Cool! Wow - this is such a great idea Doc - you're a genius and I *kick* OW! What the hell was that for?

(reads)

Oh.

Well, uh. Consider me interested.

I'd also be interested in playing. Any room for someone with a less than legal background?

Doubtful, but it depends on the circumstances. Submit whatever you'd like to play.

You say tomato...

Hmm... Hmm... I'll have a good bit of thinking time while I'm away on Thursday/Friday... Maybe I'll come up with something good.

Nope. That's the entire point of the quote -- you have no idea what's accurate and what isn't.

Name: Leslie Carmon
Occupation: Field Scientist (human mage)

Background: Leslie was born in the middle of a native village deep in the heart of the African jungles. Her parents, both scientists, saw to it that she got a broad education as she traveled with them as they investigated the wonders of the Awakened world. However, as she reached her teenage years, evidence of her magical powers emerged. She was sent to Boston to stay with her aunt, a teacher at MIT&T, who was to see to it that she was well educated in her new powers.

Leslie still got to spend the summers on expedition with her parents, aiding her parents in the study of the paranormal. She never questioned the fact that she would follow in their footsteps when she was grown. When in class, she threw herself into her studies, hungry for the knowledge that was there to be gleaned.

She went through her schooling with flying colors. Her highest achievement, her doctorate, was overshadowed, however, by the fact that her parents weren't there to share it with her. She had gotten notice two weeks before that her parents had not returned from their expedition to the rainforests of Amazonia. Having read the excitement in their letters over her achievement and expectaton of returning to be with her, she knew that they had not stayed willingly.

Her parents' disappearance only further encouraged her on the path she had chosen. She accepted a position on the staff of MIT&T, using the resources provided to further her studies when she wasn't sharing her knowledge with her students. Perhaps one day she would discover what had happened to her parents.

Reason for Recruitment: Leslie is considered to be an expert in the area of parabotany and parazoology. Though she is a scientist rather than a fighter, she is still capable of defending herself.

Background Flaw (Focused Obliviousness): When engrossed in her studies, a fire fight could break out behind her, and she wouldn't notice.

Random Flaw (Compulsive: Shopping): My name is Leslie Carmon, and I am a shopaholic...

Sparky: Hi Leslie.

Hey... Whizbang's a girl?

We can't get anything past you, can we?

Yep. Real name, incase anyone is wondering, is Melissa. *wonders why so many people tend to assume I'm a guy*

Harry Lonsdale
Infiltration specialist and Face (Social/Physical Adept)

Quick background
Growing up in the mean streets of Tokyo, Harry had to learn how to either talk his way out of a bad situation or failing that, get the hell out of there quick, fast, and in a hurry. When his student Visa went through to attend the premere psycology school in the DeeCee sprawl, he immediately packed and left; at least there he wouldn't be singled out as a gaigin. He was half right, he was no longer a gaijin, but instead he was merely different, technically a Japanese citizen (though his parents were British) and that made him just as much of an outsider as he ever was in Japan. Suplimenting his measily stipend by working in a shelter secretly funded by the Big "D", his talents for working with people to get what was needed came to the attention of Dunklezahn's under-under-under-underlings and he was earmarked as a potential asset.

Recruitment
With the foundation of DIMR, those that watched Harry develop made sure his dossier was examined and he was recruited as a people person, under the guise of field negotiator, an important role for gaining and garnering access to restricted dig sites and maintining status quo with local pontiffs.

Background Flaw
Hunted
A tthe age of 13, Harry was unfortunate to make the aquaintence of one Hideo Tohan, who would grow up one day to head up a Yakuza family. Hiedeo especialy enjoyed singling out Harry at the secondary school where they both attended. Hideo would pick fight after fight knowing that as the son of a major player in a Yakuza family, anyone that struck him would be harshly dealt with, especially if they were white. His bodyguards however saw things differently, they had reported the constant issues the biy was cauing to his father and were instructed to allow Hideo to learn one of life's more painful lessons, that of humility.
The next day Hideo again goaded, cajoled, and punched Harry into another confrontation. When Harry swung back, and connnected Hideo as expected ordered the guards to do something they simply walked away to watch from a short distance. Hideo was able to win the fight, but not before gettign his eye cut pretty badly in the scuffle. He still nurses a grudge for being embarrassed in front of his friends. When he becamce old enough, Hideo gained control of the clan through murdering his own father and the guards that witnessed his embarrassment. He has a standing bounty of 15,000 for bringing Harry before him, alive.

Random Flaw
Ineptitude (B/R Electronics)
In the last scuffle with Hideo, Harry's hand was broken. Ever since he was not been able to handle microtronic tools as effectively as before. He has a constant, dull ache that no amount of healing has been able to erase.

I like originality.

*Looks at Funkenstein's boot*

That's all I'll say.

DONOVAN REESE
[i]Cryogenics Patient, Professor of Paranormal (Human - Hermetic Mage){/i}

Quick Background:
Donovan grew up in the CAS. He always loved magic tricks and used to entertain the children in his neighborhood with tricks. Donovan eventually, after much schooling, made his living as a professor of occult and paranormal phenomena at Texas A&M&M. As he became older, his physique deteriorated some, and he became terminally ill. Donovan had himself cryogenically frozen in an effort to cheat death.

After new medical research found a cure to his unfortunate medical condition, Donovan was thawed, treated, and released from the hospital. With over a decade having passed, the world had seemingly forgotten about him. Things had changed quite a bit, and Donovan found himself disassociated with his surroundings, since they seemed alien to him. After a period of adjustment, lasting several years, and trying to restart his life, with help from one of his last living relatives, Donovan was able to again become an academic scholar of noted ability, though not quite as great as before. He was regarded by many as a relic from the past, which is how he became known as 'Donovan the Sage'. A few months after rebuilding his reputation and prestige, DIMR asked him to join.

Reason for Recruitment:
Donovan was recruited for his knowledge about strange and unexplained phenomena, including magic, awakened creatures, ghosts, and spirits. Someone at DIMR also found it interesting that Donovan was one of the only patients to ever survive being rethawed after cryogenic suspension, as most patients died during the thawing process. He accepted the job, thinking that eventually, it would pay off with new fame and prestige for him to establish a new position as one of the foremost experts in the field of Magic.

Background Flaw (Pacifism):
Donovan doesn't like taking the life of a living being without having cause. He will almost never kill something unless it is a direct threat to his own survival. Generally, he is more content to try and ward off a being with mild harm than to try and seriously injure it.

Random Flaw (Elderly):
Being as old as he is, over 60, Donovan sometimes finds new technological innovations, especially cyberware, to be a bit frightening. He will often try to ignore cyberaugmentations when he sees them, going out of his way to divert the conversation away from any subject involving cyberware when talking to cybered individuals, unless talking about cyberware is absolutely necessary. He doesn't understand cyberware, and he doesn't plan to start now.

I just got a PM from someone who asked for a little inspiration. I'm not sure what she was really looking for, but I thought I'd reply to it here for everyone's benefits nonetheless. Here's a quick list of some sample professions that are along the lines of what I wouldn't mind seeing submitted:

• Æthernaut - A daring and adventurous magician and master of spirits dedicated to exploring and mapping the Astral Plane. His published papers on the metaplanes and his theories on their origins is what lead the DIMR to his doorstep.
• Elite Soldier - A former member of the Russian Spetsnaz special forces who was the sole survivor of a coven of Baba Yagas that his team stumbled upon on a training mission while the witches were performing some dark ritual deep in the Caucaus Mountains.
• International Spy - A government agent who, after witnessing some seriously freaky drek -- such as uncovering the existance of immortal elves, learning of a master shedim, discovering that he himself was a drake, etc. -- was "acquired" by the DIMR through assorted different means.
• Investigative Reporter - An up-and-coming field reporter for some random screamsheet who was caught behind the scenes in Chicago during the Bug City incident. The reports she was able to smuggle out of the zone via a trid pirate she met inside coupled with her tremendous people skills and charisma impressed the DIMR so much they simply had to have her on their side.
• Paranormal Investigator - A former Lone Star detective who, after having an awakening late in life, began to develop some interesting divination and psychometric powers. He eventually left the force to open up a business of his own, and through his experiences therein he discovered all sorts of things most people would rather not know about. But he really captured the DIMR's attention when he was hired to track down a serial killer that turned up to be a blood mage and learned quite a bit about blood magic first hand...
• Student of the Occult - A magician (or even a mundane) specializing in the study of magic or one particular aspect of magic itself. Like the Æthernaut, it was his published works of his theories that piqued the DIMR's interests in him.

Hope that helps. Basically, just have a blast and try to think outside the box a little.

Oh, and remember: Everyone can submit more than one concept if you like, but only four to six players/characters will be accepted... so please don't get your hopes up too high about getting in. It's one of the hardest parts about being a GM, sad to say.

Any stipulation that you have to be able to handle yourself in combat? If not, I have an interesting non-combat concept brewing in my head.

Nope, no requirements of that sort in any way, shape, or form. But you will often be asked to perform dangerous missions, so keep that in mind, too.

Also, don't worry about "balanced groups." If everyone ends up playing a decker, it just means you'll approach your missions in a different way than you would if you were all magicians, all riggers, all soldiers, or any other combination. Just have a blast cooking up your character and let the consequences be damned.

Working on one concept, but a quick question: would spending time coding rather than necessarily being directly online count for the Matrix Addiction flaw? I can see how it would be abusable, so a stipulation that some or all of that time be spent working on something not relevant to the campaign (programming a mod for Quake XXVII in one's spare time, say) might be in order, and it might extend out to things like being continually scribbling code on napkins, etc. even during social situations (not rude per se, but odd).

~J

Sure, I'd allow it in that your time spent coding would count towards satisfying your addiction. Alternatively, you could alter the flaw so that it was a coding flaw to begin with.

But that would be too sensible!

Good point.

~J

Garrick Farber
Orichalcum research/JOAT Mage (Human Hermetic Mage)

Background Summary:
A graduate student in magic at MIT&T, Garrick is a pioneer in novel uses of the magical metal Orichalcum, and has introduced several startling theories about its properties- including a speculative article on the use of Orichalcum in cyberware to negate cyberware-related Magic loss, and a theoretical 'critical mass' in the one-ton range in which a sufficiently large mass of Orichalcum would theoretically release all of its magical energy at once. More practically, he has solved a knotty problem involving Orichalcum power foci interacting negatively with certain Oxygenate formulae to produce potentially lethal air bubbles in the bloodstream, and is responsible for fixing a bug in a commonly-used Force 3 Phantasm formula that made it impossible to make images of Orichalcum items, and he's done some really fantastic things with somehow making Orichalcum transparent and forming lenses with it.
After graduation, Garrick made the unusual choice to experience the practice and application of magic in as many ways as he could: working for S-K for six months, then becoming an entertainer and Phantasm artist for a year, then doing charity work for the Salvation Army for a few months...even providing magical support to a Desert Wars merc unit for a hundred days or so. As such, he has gained magical expertise in a wide variety of fields, and continues to explore his potential.

Reason for Recruitment:
Beyond the brilliant work he's done on Orichalcum, the DIMR selected Garrick because of his wide variety of magical experiences and talents- from pure research to a tour of duty as a combat mage- and also because his unfailing courtesy in Astral Space and unusual respect for the other magical traditions have caused the Loa Legba and, strangely, the totem Shark to take something of a shine to him, providing occasional aid if things look really grim, and occasionally nudging his research in the right direction.

Background Flaw:
Distinctive Style: Garrick spent a summer as the magical consultant for CBS, so his face is recognized by a good many people.

Random Flaw:
Allergy, Uncommon, Severe: If he so much as touches someone who's touched someone who's touched poison ivy, Garrick breaks out in a full-body rash. Actually coming into contact with it is potentially lethal for him.

Frankly this looks fun just from a "let's spend some time thinking of a character" point of view

Lucas Berenger
Bodyguard (Human cyber-enhanced)

Quick Background
Born in the Lambeth Containment Zone, young Lucas Berenger knew he would work till he dropped to get out of there. At the age of 15, he took the traditional route of the poverty-stricken youngster to better himself, lied about his age and joined the Navy. Aptitude testing put him in the Royal Marines; by 17 he was a Marine Commando, and by 19 he had been recruited to the secretive SBS, the Navy's lesser-known counterpart to the famous Army unit. Cutbacks in the Armed Forces left Lucas jobless at the age of 24, but with his skills he was swiftly able to find work as a personal security executive.

Recruitment
Lucas would never have come to the attention of the DIMR were it not for the unexpected consequences of a contract he took. Hired to guard the brilliant but paranoid and reclusive magical research professor John Campbell, he was horrified when the professor's paranoia paid off in the shape of insect spirits trying to use Campbell to get a foothold in the Edinburgh University magical research department. Although Lucas infiltrated the Hive in an attempt to rescue the professor, he was too late; Campbell was absorbed into a flesh-form, and Lucas was forced to kill the creature. Unfortunately, he was unable to prove that Campbell had been possessed, and was charged with murder. He would undoubtedly have been found guilty even on the circumstantial evidence available except that the case came to the attention of someone within the DIMR who arranged expert legal counsel for him. The verdict given was Not Proven, an obscure Scots judgement that essentially translates to "there's not enough evidence to convict you but we think you're guilty."

Background Flaw
Police Record
The verdict of Not Proven is a difficult one for many non-Scots law enforcement officials to understand, and tends to be interpreted as guilty by foreign police.

Random Flaw
Nightmares
Lucas still has nightmares about the Hive. He has never gone into details about what he found in there, not even with his solicitor, but whatever it was wounded him deeply.

Jacque Saint John “Sinjin”
Deep sea explorer, oceanographer, archeologist, anthropologist, Atlantis expert.


Quick Background:
Sinjin is a Menehune Dwarf born and raised in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He grew up in the state ran orphanages in the early 30s. He applied himself and worked hard and won a scholarship to the University of Hawaii. It was there that the listless young Dwarf outcast found his true calling. He would find Atlantis. After reading a book about the mythical city Sinjin felt a deep spiritual awakening. This coincided with the awakening of his magical powers.

Reason for Recruitment:
For years Sinjin has searched the depths of the ocean looking for Atlantis. He has used every mean magical and technological to find the ancient city. He has published a number of papers on drowned cities and ancient civilizations in general. Last year while on a dive in the med, he made his greatest discovery. An ancient temple guarded by a great serpent. The battle was as surprising as it was fierce, but when it was over, Sinjin was still standing. After exploring the temple he found an ancient document that was perfectly preserved. The language on the document has thus far defied translation, nor has the materiel it is written on been carbon dated or even identified. Sinjin is confident that the document is from the Lost City.

Background Flaw (Pacifism):
Sinjin is an academic, an adventure for sure, as well as a powerful hermatic mage, but still an academic. Violence just doesn’t cross his mind as a way to solve a problem. Though he can defend himself and others if the need be.

Random Flaw (Curiosity):
Buttons, levers, switches, knobs, toggles, dials, these things BEG to be turned, pulled, pushed, thrown and otherwise moved.

Morgan Soule
Combat Mage, other assorted titles...(some good, some not so)

Background
Morgan grew up in the urban nastiness of Newark, NJ. He fell in with a gang of wizkids soon after he found the Talent. In his late teens, in between getting trashed and trashing norms, he met a girl. This girl changed his life. He was so smitten with her that he left his gang and followed her back to college (MIT&T). With a little help from some people the girl's daddy knew, Morgan was able to win a good sized scholarship. In addition to a heavy course load, Morgan's new grilfriend had an independant study that could be loosely termed "Blood Magic 101." She managed to convince Morgan to participate in one of her experimental rituals. (Un)Fortunately, despite a violent past, he had difficulties with delivering the killing blow. The subject was a mousy librarian type that tutored Morgan in some basic spell design classes. In the ensuing magical battle, the whole circle of mages was killed. Including the sacrifice.
Despite the bloodbath, Moragn was eventually cleared of all charges snice it was never proven that he know about the sacrafice beforehand. He eventually graduated with honors and enrolled in FBI academy. During his years with the FBI's Paranormal Threat Unit (or whatever its called) Morgan was pretty much married to his job and slowly built up a solid reputation with his coworkers and superiors alike as an in your face mage with a keen mind and a strong hatred of those who perverted the Talent (read: Blood Mages, Toxics, and The Corrupt/Twisted).
When DMIR came calling, Morgan jumped at the opportunity to finally have the resources to make a difference.

Recruitment
A solid rep. The ability to keep his mouth shut. An "ends justifies the means" approach to every case. (Face it, The Big D had his minions do some not so nice things in his time...why should after his time be any different? Think Vic Mackey.). Morgan's hatred of magical threats doesn't hurt either.

Background Flaw (Hunted or Extra Enemy, depending on your POV)
The girlfriend didn't die....Muw-ha-ha-ha-ha.

Random Flaw
Doesn't trust computer generated directions. GPS and sat maps are okay but thats it. Think MapQuest--better yet, if you've ever used MapQuest/YahooMaps/etc and they got you lost (like they tend to do) think about how angry you got...that's what he feels like when they are so much as mentioned. Be prepared for a lecture on why they are flawed.

Hey, Doc: there's a whole bunch of mage-types around here. If you want, I can slap together a muggle.

I know, I know, "...Don't worry about a balance group..." Whatever. I worry.

Edited b/c I reread Doc's first post and noticed that we're not runners.

Like I said before, slap together as many character types as you like and throw 'em up. The more you submit, the greater your chances of one of them making it in! (Which is part of the reason why I only wanted concepts at this point, not sheets that many of us fret over for days at a time.)

Check.

• Character's Name: Luke Nakamura
• Character's Profession : Oni scientist
• Background Summary:
Luke was born to Yoshimitsu and Akiko Nakamura in the Little Japan portion of San Fran way back in 2039. His parents were very strict traditionalists, following the customs of the old country as much as possible. His given name was Nakamura Roku, but Luke chose to have his name changed to Luke Nakamura after losing his status of minor, despite the fact that he couldn’t properly say Luke and it came out as more of a Lruke. He always tried to spite his parents by being more American, be it through his language, actions, style of dress or any other number of factors.

After gaining independence from his parents, Luke went through the proverbial gauntlet of career fields. He first joined up with the UCAS Navy on his eighteenth birthday, doing jobs ranging from gunnery to nuclear engineering. He went on to obtain bachelors or masters in most fields of academia, but he rarely had the commitment to one branch or another to go the distance of a doctorate.

On the 8th of Oktober, 2061, Luke underwent the most dramatic change of his life. SURGE hit him with a vengeance. He was about as fucked as he would’ve been as a tiny white homosexual in a federal prison. Luke double-goblinized, as it were, to Oni, grew the customary third eye with unnatural color on all three included. Tusks also came in to play. But this was only on the physical side. Luke also got te shaft in that he was now a walking-talking astral monstrosity. He was dual-natured with accompanying astral hazing, just to intensify the oni’s anguish.

• Reason for Recruitment:
The DIMR originally contacted Luke because he was a Seattle local and perhaps the most bizarre case of SURGE in the world, certainly at least the UCAS though. When they found out he was also a talented scientist, they decided it would be wise to keep him around. Not only would his skills be useful, but they were interested in studying his progression.

• Background Flaw: Still living. No, just kidding but it could work. Anyways, you can take any one of the aforementioned SURGE problems for this one. My personal favorite is astral hazing though. It’s just so interesting to me for some reason.

• Random Flaw: Uncouth. With all of the problems in his life, it’s no wonder that Luke isn’t the most sociable person. He’s a downright okay person once you get to know him, but till then the oni is little more than a scary monster keeping to himself in the corner of the room.

Andy Curtis (Kertesz Nandor)
Paranaturalist (Human Rigger aka Wildlife Photographer and Researcher)

Background Summary: A Hungarian immigrant born of modest parents, Andy grew up gazing upon the glories of ancient humankind from behind the museum glass where his father worked and wandering its endless halls of history. A teacher, his mother instilled a sense of duty towards bettering human understanding. Captured on his very first camera as he boarded a plane bound for Northeastern University in Chicago, their proud faces still occupy a place on his desk.

After his first year at school, Andy won an internship with the Patterson Paranormal Research Center and promptly began flying all across the globe looking for the exotic and unusual creatures of the world to observe and photograph. His published works received some acclaim, and he managed to finish his schooling abroad. After Patterson, The World Wildlife Fund hired him to continue his study of the natural world, and his education. It was durning a WWF sponsored conference that Andy met his wife Natasha, a lobbyist for Green Party.

Reason for Recruitment: Beyond his published works, a number of closed documents regarding the spread of toxic spirits and their domains came to the attention of the DIMR and his services were purchased to further study the issue. During this period they discovered that Andy possessed natural resistance to toxic magic, and further testing revealed a dedicated mind willing to push legality aside for the greater good. Andy's almost instinctive understanding of nature and his strong desire to stem the spread of toxic domains made the DIMR a natural step up in his work. The fact that he has a Vehicle Control Rig installed, something he's always considered cursory, was also seen as a plus.

Background Flaw (Compulsion): One of the greatest threats to nature's delicate balance is poaching, and in his travels Andy encountered plenty of wanton disregard for nature. While he can - mostly - control himself when stumbling over a small tribe struggling to survive, he will go out of his way to stop poaching by brining the perpetrators to justice. And if that means becoming justice in some situations, so be it.

Random Flaw (Jitterbug): If he's not talking, he's writing, reading, walking, pacing, scraping odd bits of mold and moss, or talking. Constant, never ceasing activity. And if his body wears out before his mind, well, they have drugs for that.

Opps. Just reread the first post. My char's background now reflects that he was not a traditional runner.

Tobias Walker aka Dracophile
Decker, Face, Dragon Obsessed

Background
Tobias Walker was born into an old money family in Toronto, on the northern reaches of the UCAS. As such, he never was left wanting in his life, except for one regard. From a young age, as often children are, he was fascinated with dragons. The problem, as his father would call it, lies in the fact that Tobias never grew out of this fascination. Instead it only grew more ingrained into his psyche. He has passed through the phase where he was collecting dragon toys and mass market junk at least, and that to his parents was a small blessing. What they didn't realize is that when it seemed he was turning his mind to more proper venues, towards computers as a fine young mind should, he was in fact imerssing himself into the Matrix to gather more info, rumors, and lore regarding his chosen fixation.

In his mining of data from archives both open and obscure, Tobias became a rather competant decker, taking on the moniker of the Dracophile. Where others hunted information about dragons so that they might hunt them, or work against their clawed machinations, Tobias sought instead to try and understand them. When he began to notice patterns in the posting in Shadowlands, he knew he was seeing the words of the wyrms themselves, and he sought their conversations and their virtual company. Still not content, however, he began to use his resources, and his parents money, to seek out rumor of draconic operations in the real world, and he began to travel, under guise of wanting to see the world, to try and meet with them. His success proved to cause quite a stir, but not so much as his ability to actually finagle his way into the presence of the wyrms. Most often his encounters were with young dragons, ones who did not see the reason in disposing of this young man, but it proved to be another encounter which drew the attention of the DIMR.

Recruitment
As Dracophile, Tobias had already drawn the attention of Institute recruiters with his insights into draconic physcology, and his uncanny ability to tap into some of their most secrative networks. They were unable to track the mysterious sage, however, and it was not until he steeled up the nerve to actually make a visit to Denver, and to seek audience with Ghostwalker himself, that Tobias was actually pulled aside and offered employment.

Background Flaw (Compulsion: Dragon Info Mining)
Be it the smallest shred of gossip, or the networks of information maintained by dragons themselves, Tobias feels the need to seek out any bit of information he can find when it comes to dragons. Many would consider him addicted to the Matrix, but the addiction extends at times to paper copy as well.

Random Flaw (Dragon Braggart)
Lord help anyone who ever speaks ill of dragons around Tobias, because you'll never shut him up about just how damn perfect they are.

Note: I originally had the flaw Hunted in there, but I figure having SK after him for spilling secrets could result in a very short lifespan.

Peter Weber
Swiss Guard, Vatican Apartments Detail

Background
Peter was born in Geneva, the most cosmopolitan of all the major Swiss cities. Living in Geneva, he was never infected with the rampant prejudice the German Swiss had for metahumans. After his magical talent manifested itself, he was sent to a Catholic school run by the Sylvestrines. Their Imago Dei view of metahumans further shaped his moderate view of the world (that he was an adept with had no real theological implications didn't hurt), which helped in his eventual application to the Swiss Guards. He was acceptable to both the traditionalists in the Curia(Roman Catholic parentage and human) and the more liberal Pontiff. He eventually came to the notice of one Monsignor Oscar Pazzi. Although he was not fully Awakened, his devotion to duty and keen intellect enabled him to become one of Vatican's experts on magical threats. Inevitably however, his Enlightened approach to magic within the Guard was becoming unacceptable to the Curia and was plotting to have him removed. Fortunately, Monsignor Pazzi quickly obtained a Papal writ transfering the young Weber to Boston as a Special Lay Papal Envoy to UCAS, effectively removing him from the Curia's machinations.

Recruitment
Monsignor Pazzi, and as a consequence the Pope, is fully aware of Peter's involvement with the DIMR. In fact it was with this in mind that they sent Peter to Boston. An alliance with the DIMR and the Draco Foundation may lend the Pope leverage in his struggle against the Curia.

Background Flaw
Dossier on File. The Vigilia Evangilica has his Dossier on File, just like every other (past or present) member of the Swiss Guard.
True Believer. He truly believes in the current Pope and his Enlightened message.

Random Flaw
Simsense Vertigo. He can't stand using simsense.

Preston Chase
Mercena- ...er, Freelance Internal/External Security Consultant and Personal Expeditor

Background
Preston was born and raised outside of Worcester, MA. His mother died during child birth. His father was a retired UCAS Marine commander. Preston was raised on warstories. He attended a good prep school on a military scholarship and as graduation neared was urged by a friend of the family to forego standard military life and sign up with Ares. This friend of the family happened to be an instructor for the famed FireWatch units and old Marine buddy of Preston's father. Strangely enough, his father approved ("This man's Corps ain't the same nowadays." and "If yer gonna put your ass on the line for some REMFers might as well be fer some REMFers that'll pay to have it replaced fer ya.")
Taking the advice, Preston went to Boston College where he majored in Psychology with a minor in History. All on Ares' dime. After graduation he "enlisted" with Ares' paramilitary per the rules of his scholarship for a 6 year "tour". Three quarters of the way through his Officer's Canditate School training the Chicago Incident occured. He was offered a one time deal: advanced training and a cancelation of the tour length if he agreed to serve for as long as the CZ was inplace. Preston accepted. He was later attached to (but not actually a member of) a FireWatch unit charged with various seek and destroy missions against the Bugs and the occasional human warlord within the CZ.
When the CZ went down and his "tour" was up, Preston did a stint on the indy circuit and bounced around from global hot spot to global hot spot with a variety of mercenary units. DIMR found out about him form the same friend of the family that suggested he join up with Ares.

Recruitment
Every corp needs men with special talents. Preston came highly recomended. Despite alleged differences in opion between the higher ups of Ares and DIMR, the latter realized that there is a need for highly trained individuals with certain hard to find skill sets.

Background Flaw
There was ork named Max Steele in Preston's unit durning the CZ. He was charged with and latter imprisoned for aiding several warlords during the incident. He has since escaped custody and strongly desires a chance to discuss Preston's testimony with him....Muw-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Random Flaw
Preston's time in the CZ has left him with a compulsion to..um, well, kill insects of any sort should the opportunity present itself.

Well, there's my attempt at a muggle.

David Lloyd

Human Male, Former MIT Grad Student in Vehicle Research and Topics in Drones, Robots, and AI. Programmer and rigger.

Background: Born to upper-middle-class parents in Somerville, MA, David was sent to a boarding school run by Renraku in Japan, but returned to MIT&T for college. He spent his time in college drinking far too much espresso and coding in the Diesel Cafe until closing time. After graduating he went to work in the drone research lab and got a nice house in Cambridge with a coworker in the lab to whom he is now engaged.

Raison du Recrutement: David knows his stuff. He is, while not world-class, an unquestionable authority on artificial intelligence of any form, from dumb frames to robots to Semiautonomous Knowbots. In the ever-continuing quest to make magic accessible for mundanes, David builds and rebuilds, programs and reprograms the simulations and software tools that magical researchers use to try to unlock the connection between magic and existing science. With the help of a colleague, he even devised a program to model the flow of mana corruption around a radioactive source that, while deeply flawed, is accepted to be better than any similar effort thus far.

Background Flaw (Day Job analogue): David has become, while not an integral component, an important figure in the day-to-day magical research of the DIMR. He is continually bombarded by requests for this or that piece of software or simulation, this or that feature, or some timesaving program to make the use of computers even more transparent for the technophobes amongst the researchers (while not numerous, they are certainly vocal). While not an obligation per se, David feels a personal responsibility to fulfill these requests and will often choose them over sleep or similar needs.

Random Flaw (Compulsion): David is a compulsive coder. You give him some free time and something to write on, he'll start scribbling out some code. Don't give him something to write on, and he'll start looking for something. Keep him from writing anything, and he'll start calculating powers of two in his head without the math SPU.

~J

Peter

Human male severe trauma survivor. Amnesiac.

Background: British by birth, Peter was originally a Hermetic magical researcher with the University of Prague who was headhunted away by the DIMR. What he did for the DIMR is now lost. What is not is that he was nearly killed in a violent explosion while in Vladivostok for unspecified reasons. The damage left him without a memory, without his magic, and with multiple cybernetic replacements for lost limbs. For its own reasons, the DIMR has been very quiet to him regarding his past…

Raison du Recrutement: Originally recruited for his skill in magical research. Now he seems mostly to be used as a bodyguard; it is uncertain why he is retained.

Background Flaw (Amnesia): Peter remembers almost nothing of his time before the accident and subsequent reconstruction. Even his name may be new; sometimes he wonders if he might not actually have been created in some bizarre experiment.

Random Flaw (Flashbacks): Fire always fascinated Peter; now it unhinges his mind from reality for minutes at a time.

~J

Jean Dalle

Human male survivalist

Background: Born to well-off Parisians, as a young boy Jean frequently travelled to Africa, Souteast Asia, and Australia where he would accompany his father on long treks through the environs, learning to live off the land and survive under ridiculously harsh conditions. After recruitment by the DIMR he travelled to the Sahara and Sinai deserts, Antarctica, and south South Africa. He has not yet entered the Amazon, and shows no particular desire to, at odds with his cocky attitude towards other challenges.

Raison du Recrutement: Jean was recruited for the more far-ranging expeditions as a guide. Little slips by him, and his presence may have been the difference between life and death on several voyages.

Background Flaw (Distinctive Style): Jean takes too much pride in his background to conform to societal expectations of dress. Plus, who could forget that hair…

Random Flaw (Compulsion): Jean has wanderlust but bad. Short of physical confinement or hospitalization, it is impossible to get him to stay in the same place for more than a week, often less. Trekking through unknown areas is enough of a change of scene, but backpacking across a known city is an insufficient change of venue for Jean.

~J

Roger

Human Male Negotiator

Background: Roger is a negotiator. That is what he is, that is what he does. He showed up on the scene in the early 2050s, and has been an independent negotiator for hire since then. He has not been used heavily by any corp, refusing to commit to any, but is used extensively by private individuals in kidnappings, etc. and occasionally by the police force in a given location. He also inexplicably has taken in a young girl named Dorothy.

Raison du Recrutement: Roger was put on retainer for one reason and one alone: his negotiation skills. Well, that and he's dead sexy.

Well, ok, maybe it's mostly the negotiation.

Background Flaw (Dependents): Roger's butler Norman and Dorothy both depend on him for their lifestyles. While they could no doubt cope on their own, Roger feels some sort of responsibility towards them.

Random Flaw (Distinctive Style): Roger wears nothing but black suits, white shirts, black ties with a white stripe down the middle, and black gloves. Well, at night he wears black pyjamas and a black robe and sometimes he accessorizes with a black fedora or a black trenchcoat, but you get the idea. His hair is also memorable.

~J

Oh, C'mon now. Give it a rest. We get it: you have lots of ideas.

I am giving it a rest. If I just let myself run right now, I'd have no chance of waking up for work tomorrow

~J

Jean-Luc de Rohan
Celtic Druid (Aznevezenti drouizel Breizh, Kevredigezh an heol)

Background
He is a druid of the Sun totem. He is the only child to parents of an unimportant branch of the powerful House Rohan. When his magical talents manifested, his parents leveraged on the family name and apprenticed him to the charismatic Gwendel Le Pellec. As such despite his being a Sun druid and nominally part of the Sun Society, he still owes his allegiance to Gwendel.

Reason for recruitment
He was recruited for his expertise in druidic magic as well as knowledge of the Mist and other magical phenomena. The Institute is also hoping to leverage his position as both the protege of Le Pellec and a member of the Kevredigezh an heol to enable them to more thoroughly investigate the truth behind the Mist. Furthermore, his de Rohan name brings with him substantial political leverage.

Background Flaw
He is a Pacifist, which explains his non-confrontational attitude setting him apart from his more militant Sun society brethren.

Random Flaw
Compulsion: White Knight. He cannot resist any opportunity to be the hero of the day.

Key-ripes. I see I failed the 1D6 roll for my Cursed Karma here; I finally decide to start my own game and BAM! the board goes down for 36 hours. @#&?!

Word, or does this fall under the Gremlins (3) flaw?

So many Pacifists...

I'm probably going to submit one concept a day. And you know what they say... a PC a day keeps the dull GM away.

Ooo, multiple submissions permitted

Good, cos I just thought of this guy:

Nikolai Dragan Gaic
Human Christian Mage/"Shaman" of Michael (depending on whether (a) it's been done, or (b) Doc's willing to thrash it out with me if it hasn't - see my soon to be posted thread in the main discussion group )

Background

Every child has an invisible friend at some point, and Nikolai Gaic was no different. The only thing was, his invisible friend was the Archangel Michael. Fortunately for Nikolai, he grew up in an area of Belgrade still strong in the Orthodox Church, and the local priest chose to see him as touched by God rather than insanity.

Divine or insane, Nikolai soon began to manifest magical abilities. Like their counterparts in Rome, the Orthodox Church had long since accepted that magic was - or at least, could be - a gift from God. The Patriarchs of the Church examined him and declared him free of any demonic taint.

In the due progress of time, Nikolai entered the Church himself and was ordained as a priest. His particular magical gifts soon led him into the Order of St. Michael, a militant order devoted to investigating, and where necessary combatting, manifestations of evil magic. In his time in the Order, Nikolai has faced Insect Spirits, toxic shamen, bocors, blood magi and many other forms of mystical malfeasance.

Recruitment
Nikolai's recruitment into the DIMR came as a result of extended negotiations between the Institute and the Church. Although the Institute was originally looking to recruit an occult investigator with a religious background in general, they latched specifically on to Nikolai (one of several candidates put forwards by the Patriarchs) as a result of a conversation with him in which he mentioned a mission in Bulgaria during which his team faced and foiled a man called Temho and his bizarre spirit servants. Temho, the Institute rep realised, was Russian for Dark...

Background Flaw
Personal Code
A soldier of sorts he may be, but Nikolai is a true son of the Church, and as such there are limits on what he is willing to do.

Random Flaw
Weak Immune System
Growing up in Belgrade was often far from easy, and a lack of proper nutrition and medical care during his childhoos have left Nikolai prone to infections and diseases.