Play@YSDC

Well then, let's start

First, two quick questions for everyone:
1) Have you already played ToC?
2) Do you own the ToC Rulebook or the Player's Guide? (The quickstart rules are fine for playing, but I'll have to give you some additional information for character creation)

If the answer is yes to both, you can already start creating your character. As you already know, it's important to have a balanced party that can cover most (if not all) the investigative abilities. I'll give you the exact number of starting build points once I know the number of players, but you can in the meanwhile start the creation process and discuss here.

As a starter, it would be good if you could post:
A) A general concept of the Investigator.
B) Profession.
C) Drive.

I'll also link this character sheet that can be compiled online, if anyone wants to use it: http://pelgranepress.com/trail/files/Tr ... ble%29.pdf


ADDITIONAL INFO YOU'LL NEED
- The campaign starts in Boston, early 1937.
- For the campaign hook, you'll be summoned by a rich lady with a curious job proposal. You'll need to define why your character was chosen for the task - expertise, skills, reputation. Or you may choose to go to the meeting accompanying another investigator (who must obviously agree).
- You have at disposal 65 points for General Abilities and 14 points for Investigative Abilities.
- Health, Sanity and Stability have a cap of 12.
- All Drive and Occupations are available. Pulp rules for the Occupations do not apply.
- Hypnosis ability is not available.

Overlord87 wrote:Well then, let's start
First, two quick questions for everyone:
1) Have you already played ToC?
2) Do you own the ToC Rulebook or the Player's Guide? (The quickstart rules are fine for playing, but I'll have to give you some additional information for character creation)

My Answers
1) Kind of... I played in a TOC game here (The Primer) but unfortunately we didn't get very far
2) I've got the Quick Start rules

Overlord87 wrote: As a starter, it would be good if you could post:
A) A general concept of the Investigator.
B) Profession.
C) Drive.

What era is this set in? Where is the start - i.e. does it matter what nationality the characters are?

carnage_lee wrote:

Overlord87 wrote:Well then, let's start
First, two quick questions for everyone:
1) Have you already played ToC?
2) Do you own the ToC Rulebook or the Player's Guide? (The quickstart rules are fine for playing, but I'll have to give you some additional information for character creation)

My Answers
1) Kind of... I played in a TOC game here (The Primer) but unfortunately we didn't get very far
2) I've got the Quick Start rules

Overlord87 wrote: As a starter, it would be good if you could post:
A) A general concept of the Investigator.
B) Profession.
C) Drive.

What era is this set in? Where is the start - i.e. does it matter what nationality the characters are?

Yes, sorry, forgot to specify it. I updated the initial post. The starting place is Boston, but generally all the New England area is fine (for your characters to live in/come from). The starting time is 1937.

The quick start rules list the professions and the drives.

The profession defines your field of expertise and what you do for a living. Every character can buy all investigative abilities as 1:1 (1 build point for one ability point). The investigative abilities that are also profession abilities can be bought as 1:2 (1 build point for 2 ability points).

The drive defines why your character is an investigator. It's the force pushing him forward when any other sane person would run away. Is it Pride? Thirst for Knowledge? Duty? Most are self-explanatory, but if you have questione ask me here

The campaign hook is relatively straightforward: a rich lady will invite you to a meeting and propose you a particular job. You can either be invited (and as such must specify a reason why you were chosen, a particolar expertise or skill, your reputation), or accompany one of the other investigators (in this case the other must agree and the drive "Follower" might be an appropriate choice).

Updated the first post with some additional info on character creation

I have played ToC (I was also in The Primer), and I have the Player's Guide in PDF. Since I have a little time now and I have all the instructions, I'll go ahead and build my character; I'll have to add background when I have more time:



Name: Dr. Holly Chastain
Age: 27
Sex: Female
Background: Alienist
Drive: Scholarship
Pillars of Sanity:

• Knowledge is Power
• Resilience of the Human Psyche
• Love Conquers All

Sources of Stability:

• Dr. Edward Chastain, Holly's father and her inspiration to pursue a medical career
• Amelia Chastain, Holly's mother, who has been an endless source of encouragement
• Dr. Michael Kaplan, Holly's mentor at Harvard Medical School, who always believed in her
• Lucy Richards, a patient of Holly's who has made astounding strides

Investigative Abilities:

Academic
*Biology 2
*Languages (German and Latin) 2
*Library Use 2
*Medicine 3

Interpersonal
*Assess Honesty 3
Bargain 2
Bureaucracy 1
Credit Rating 3
Flattery 1
Reassurance 2

Technical
Chemistry 1
*Pharmacy 2

General Abilities:
Athletics 8
Driving 4
First Aid 8
Health 12
Preparedness 8
*Psychoanalysis 12
Sanity 9
Sense Trouble 4
Stability 12

How does this look?

Name: Christopher C. Fontana
Occupation: Parapsychologist
Appearance: Age 42, a little above average height, slightly receding hairline, dark hair conservatively styled with dark intelligent eyes. Has a charming smile and a keen inciteful mind. Drive: Curiosity

Sanity:10 12
Pillars of Sanity: (4)

• Science can explain everything (The absolute truth of the physical laws of the universe and scientific knowledge).
• Staunch moral principles (My work helps humanity/society by exposing charlatans and deceivers).
• There is no worse horror than the horror of war.
• The future will be better than the past.

Stability:12
Sources of Stability:(4)

• Prof. Adam Dempsey, President of the Society for Psychical Research;
• Harry Price*, famous British paranormal researcher; something of a idol of Christopher's and recent correspondent and confident - offering support and advice.
• Beatrice Fontana, Christopher's mother - source of 'no-nonsense' advice and support.
• Captain William T. Kirk (ret.) - Christopher's commanding officer in the 30th Battalion, CEF; helped Cristopher 'keep it together' during WW1 and has kept in touch in the years since.

*Can I have a 'real' person as a source of stability?
Health:10

Investigative Abilities:
Academic
*Anthropology: 2
Architecture: 1
Biology: 1
History: 2
*Library use: 2
*Occult:2
Physics:1

Interpersonal
*Assess Honesty: 2
Bureaucracy: 1
Credit Rating: 3

Technical
Evidence Collection: 2
*Photography:2

General Abilities
Athletics: 6 7
Conceal: 4
*Electrical Repair: 4 6
Firearms: 4
*Mechanical Repair: 4 6
Preparedness:7 8
*Sense Trouble: 4
Stealth: 6

OOC:   I'll edit this as I go. *Corrected my pts allocation (6 more pts distributed (Sanity 2; Athletics and Preparedness 1 each; Electrical & Mechanical Repair 2 pts each (2pt added as those are Occupational Skills)).

@carnage_lee: you have 4 free points in Sanity, 1 free point in Stability and Health. If I counted correctly you included those points in your 65 general abilities pool, while they're separate (and free). You then have 6 additional points to spend.
Since you have 10 points of Sanity, you have 3 pillars of Sanity (not 2). The rest is fine.

@Mr.Handy: no problems with your investigator.

Both of you need to select your Sources of Stability (1 for every 3 full points of Stability). A name and a brief description. These are the people keeping you sane, a network of friends, family and colleagues that help you get back on your feet and keep fighting the good fight.


Regarding the players that have yet to post, I suggest that at least one opts for a "tough" investigator: Military, Private Investigator, Police Detective, something of the sort. While the game will not be Pulp in tone, it would be wise to have one or two investigators capable to handle a gunfight and/or a brawl.

I'd like to switch my Library Use and Assess Honesty scores.

I don't have time tonight to come up with Sources of Stability, so it'll have to wait until after I get back from the convention. I hadn't included them because I thought those were more for pulp games.

@Mr.Handy: you can switch them, no problem. Also no need to hurry with the Sources, I expect we won't start before at least a week.
The game won't be pulp. Not exactly purist, too. I'll keep an hybrid approach.

Overlord87 wrote:@carnage_lee: you have 4 free points in Sanity, 1 free point in Stability and Health. If I counted correctly you included those points in your 65 general abilities pool, while they're separate (and free). You then have 6 additional points to spend.
Since you have 10 points of Sanity, you have 3 pillars of Sanity (not 2). The rest is fine.

Whoops! OK, I've updated my pts. allocation.

Will work on 'pillars of Sanity' - something to do with his work... which is mostly debunking hauntings and phenomenon would these be acceptable (as a start?):

Science can explain everything (The absolute truth of the physical laws of the universe and scientific knowledge).

Staunch moral principles (Charlatans and deceivers must be exposed and brought to account).

carnage_lee wrote:
Whoops! OK, I've updated my pts. allocation.

Will work on 'pillars of Sanity' - something to do with his work... which is mostly debunking hauntings and phenomenon would these be acceptable (as a start?):

Science can explain everything (The absolute truth of the physical laws of the universe and scientific knowledge).

Staunch moral principles (Charlatans and deceivers must be exposed and brought to account).

The first one is perfect.

The second I would rephrase like: My work helps humanity/society by exposing charlatans and deceivers.

Overlord87 wrote:
The first one is perfect.

The second I would rephrase like: My work helps humanity/society by exposing charlatans and deceivers.

Pillars of Sanity added.

carnage_lee wrote:
Pillars of Sanity added.

Perfect

One important thing: while this is not a Pulp campaign, strictly speaking, I've decided I want to have the Sources of Stability play a role. I'll get into the details later on, but for now I'd like for everyone to select your Sources - a name and a few words of description.

Clarence Lanalor - updated


He is Clarence Lanalor, 35, from a noble family bloodline living in Boston, now having to make a living. He is persistant, cautious, but curiousity always gets the better of him.

Drive: thirst for knowledge
Occupation: PI
Age:35
Male
Hit points:4

Sources of Stabilty:
wife
2 children
extended family

Pillars of Sanity:
Truth of physical world & Moral principals - His old tutor gave him a well rounded education, with a strong emphasis on maths, physics, and chemistry. Clarence enjoyed the classical history lessons, and understood these were strong moral lessons, ' act wisely and with compassion , least you be judged by others ' .
Bloodline purity - Having a large number of older, wiser, and wealthier, uncles and aunts, lead Clarence to believe it had something to do with family - in the blood.


Accounting 2

Law 4

Assess Honesty 4
Cop Talk 1
Credit rating 2
Interregation 1
Reassurance 2
Streetwise 1

Evidence Collection 1
Locksmith 4
Photography 4

Athletics 8
Conceal 4
Disguise 2
Driving 2
Firearms 6
Fleeing 3
Health 12
Piloting 3
Sanity 10
Stability 10
Scuffling 2
Shadowing 4
Steath 6
Weapons 4

that's it

Ok laitang, that's fine, just define better your sources of stability: a name and a few words of description (it's ok to keep the two children as a single source of stability though, but give them a name; extended family needs to be better defined).

Overlord87 wrote:Ok laitang, that's fine, just define better your sources of stability: a name and a few words of description (it's ok to keep the two children as a single source of stability though, but give them a name; extended family needs to be better defined).

Sources of Stabilty:
wife - Viola Lanalor, devoted and loving wife, tries to keep Clarence's curious nature in check.
2 children - Ethan and Harriet, both fast approaching their teens, mirrors of his wife and himself.
extended family - uncles: Wilbur, Regan, Ernest, aunts: Betty Bishop and Kate Tyr . As a child, Clarence was showered with gifts from his uncles and aunts, for birthdays and Christmas. But now as a man, they keep reminding Clarence he needs to support his family, thus show good example to his children, and not rely on handouts from the family.

laitang wrote:

Overlord87 wrote:Ok laitang, that's fine, just define better your sources of stability: a name and a few words of description (it's ok to keep the two children as a single source of stability though, but give them a name; extended family needs to be better defined).

Sources of Stabilty:
wife - Viola Lanalor, devoted and loving wife, tries to keep Clarence's curious nature in check.
2 children - Ethan and Harriet, both fast approaching their teens, mirrors of his wife and himself.
extended family - uncles: Wilbur, Regan, Ernest, aunts: Betty Bishop and Kate Tyr . As a child, Clarence was showered with gifts from his uncles and aunts, for birthdays and Christmas. But now as a man, they keep reminding Clarence he needs to support his family, thus show good example to his children, and not rely on handouts from the family.

Ok, good, but pick just one of your ancles/aunts. Maybe your favorite, or the one you spent more time with, or the one who taught you an important lesson. A source of stability should be a single person (I'll make an exception for the two children). The other uncles and aunts will be just part of your investigator's background.

Hello. I will start working on a character. Decisions, decisions.

I've updated my character sheet, swapping those two skills and adding Sources of Stability.

I've added Christopher's sources of stability. One might need your approval, as he is not a fictional character.

carnage_lee wrote:I've added Christopher's sources of stability. One might need your approval, as he is not a fictional character.

Approved

Hi there, folks! Here's my guy.



Name: Ian Morin
Age: 26
Sex: Male
Occupation: Journalist
Drive: Sudden Shock

Pillars of Sanity:
Truth prevails
Love for Boston
Human equal worth
Moral code

Sources of Stability:
Charles Morin, loving father, who raised two boys by himself, keeping them out of the streets.
Sean Morin, younger brother, by which he still feels responsible.
Sophie O'Rourke, co-worker. They share a mutual professional admiration. His father thinks they should marry.
Alessandro "Alex" Longo, best childhood friend.

Ian is the oldest son of Montreal-born baker Charles Morin, 49, and Elizabeth Morin (deceased, maiden name Sullivan). He lived his whole life in East Boston. His mother died when he was 7, and his father never got married again. He's a smoker and a hockey enthusiast, being a supporter of the Boston Bruins (which leads to heated arguments with his Montreal Canadiens-fan father).

Investigative Abilities:
Academic
Accounting 1
*Languages 2 (French and Italian)

Interpersonal
*Assess Honesty 2
Bargain 1
*Cop Talk 3
Credit Rating 2
Flattery 2
*Oral History 3
*Reassurance 2
*Streetwise 2

Technical
Craft 1
*Evidence Collection 2
*Photography 2

General Abilities:
Athletics 8
*Disguise 6
Filch 4
Firearms 5
Fleeing 3
Health 10
Sanity 12
Stability 12
Scufflilng 5
Sense Trouble 3
*Shadowing 6
Stealth 3

@leonardolad: ok, the investigator is fine. Just a quick question: it is possible, for the Sudden Shock drive, to leave it open for future developments - the character has amnesia and does not exactly remember what happened, just that something horrible happened. Are you interested in this kind of approach? In this case I would decide exactly what the sudden shock was, and you'll have to discover it during the campaing. I'm bringing this up since Eternal Lies could implement well this kind of drive. I'll leave the decision to you, don't want to force anything

No problem! Sounds like a good way to insert some mystery in the mix. I'll edit my post

I have a question, though: If my character doesn't remember the shocking episode, how or why does he feels compelled to face the perils to come?

Overlord87 wrote:

laitang wrote:

Overlord87 wrote:Ok laitang, that's fine, just define better your sources of stability: a name and a few words of description (it's ok to keep the two children as a single source of stability though, but give them a name; extended family needs to be better defined).

Sources of Stabilty:
wife - Viola Lanalor, devoted and loving wife, tries to keep Clarence's curious nature in check.
2 children - Ethan and Harriet, both fast approaching their teens, mirrors of his wife and himself.
extended family - uncles: Wilbur, Regan, Ernest, aunts: Betty Bishop and Kate Tyr . As a child, Clarence was showered with gifts from his uncles and aunts, for birthdays and Christmas. But now as a man, they keep reminding Clarence he needs to support his family, thus show good example to his children, and not rely on handouts from the family.

Ok, good, but pick just one of your ancles/aunts. Maybe your favorite, or the one you spent more time with, or the one who taught you an important lesson. A source of stability should be a single person (I'll make an exception for the two children). The other uncles and aunts will be just part of your investigator's background.

Then I will choose Wilbur, the oldest of the uncles, who I spent a lot of time with.

leonardolad wrote:No problem! Sounds like a good way to insert some mystery in the mix. I'll edit my post

I have a question, though: If my character doesn't remember the shocking episode, how or why does he feels compelled to face the perils to come?

Well, you have amnesia, perhaps vague nightmares, glimpses of some kind of horror you've encountered. You want to know more. You never know what might help you recover your memories. And so you push forward.

I don't know if this might work for you. Think about it. It's your investigatore, you must be comfortable with it

Finally arrived at something I like! First time creating a character in this system, let me know if I've messed it up/hopelessly handicapped myself/accidentally made myself a shining golden god.

Name: Father Cecil Flanagan
Age: 50
Sex: Male
Background: Clergy
Drive: Duty
Pillars of Sanity:
•Religious Faith
•Staunch Moral Code (Pacifist, God-given duty to help others)
*Human dignity and value of life
Sources of Stability:
•Cpl Milton Shattuck, a Catholic soldier Cecil met while serving as a military chaplain during WW1, who became a firm friend during the war.
•Father Enoch McCarney, the local priest from Cecil's hometown, who him find solace in faith after his (Cecil's) sister's death at a young age.
*Sarah Flanagan, Cecil's mother, who gave him all her love after the death of his sister.

Investigative Abilities:

Academic
Art History 2
*History 3
*Language (Latin, Greek) 2
*Library Use 3
Occult 2
*Theology 3

Interpersonal
*Assess Honesty 3
Flattery 1
Intimidation 1
*Reassurance 2
*Oral History 2
Credit Rating 2

General Abilities:
Athletics 8
Firearms 5
First Aid 10
Health 8
*Psychoanalysis 4
Sanity 9
Sense Trouble 12
Stability 9
Stealth 10

TheLibrarian wrote:Finally arrived at something I like! First time creating a character in this system, let me know if I've messed it up/hopelessly handicapped myself/accidentally made myself a shining golden god.

Name: Father Cecil Flanagan
Age: 50
Sex: Male
Background: Clergy
Drive: Duty
Pillars of Sanity:
•Religious Faith
•Staunch Moral Code
Sources of Stability:
•Cpl Milton Shattuck, a Catholic soldier Cecil met while serving as a military chaplain during WW1, who became a firm friend during the war.
•Father Enoch McCarney, the local priest from Cecil's hometown, who him find solace in faith after his (Cecil's) sister's death at a young age.

Investigative Abilities:

Academic
*History 4
*Language (Latin) 4
*Library Use 4
*Theology 6

Interpersonal
*Assess Honesty 6
*Reassurance 2
*Oral History 2
Credit Rating 2

General Abilities:
Athletics 8
Firearms 9
First Aid 10
Health 8
*Psychoanalysis 4
Sanity 8
Sense Trouble 12
Stability 6
Stealth 10

Hello TheLibrarian, I thought you had disappeared. OK, we'll be 6 after all - the more the merrier

Remember that you can and probably should buy also abilities that are not occupational, to have more variety.

Your character is probably too well-versed in combat to be a priest - even if he was involved in the war.

You should consider rising your stability to 8 or you'll go crazy real quick (which is not strictly a bad thing, but 6 is really low).

Overlord87 wrote:

leonardolad wrote:No problem! Sounds like a good way to insert some mystery in the mix. I'll edit my post

I have a question, though: If my character doesn't remember the shocking episode, how or why does he feels compelled to face the perils to come?

Well, you have amnesia, perhaps vague nightmares, glimpses of some kind of horror you've encountered. You want to know more. You never know what might help you recover your memories. And so you push forward.

I don't know if this might work for you. Think about it. It's your investigatore, you must be comfortable with it

Yeah, no problem. I'm just figuring out how it will work in game.

I have performed a cross check on your investigators and listed the abilities none of you possess. They are:

Intimidation
Accounting
Archaeology
Art History
Criptography
Geology
Art
Astronomy
Craft
Forensics
Outdoorsman

On the other hand, you have a lot (probably too much) of Evidence Collection, Assess Honesty and Reassurance. While it is not mandatory to cover all abilities, you have left too many gaps for a 5-men party. Try and see if some of those abilities could fit with your character and maybe spend a point or two there. Remember that in Trail of Cthulhu even a single point in an ability is sufficient to use that ability successfully.

One more thing: since all the players are here and all have submitted their investigator, I would like to start this coming weekend, if we manage to fix the last few things in this couple of days.

I think you're right. I'll take a point from Evidence Collection and put it in Accounting.

Oooops. Evidence Collection, Assess Honesty and Reassurance are all Occupational abilities for my character so I would have to take 2 points of one of them to make 1 in Accounting. Hmm.

From what I've heard, there's no reason to have an investigative skill at 4 or higher (other than Credit Rating). 3 is the maximum you should ever need. For occupational skills that come at half cost, you don't always need to buy even numbers of points in them. I didn't. You can get 3 in an occupational skill for 1.5 points, for instance. If you do that twice, you can get two skills at 3 for three points.

Assess Honesty and Reassurance do fit my character, which is why I took them. Reassurance isn't an occupational skill, but it's still something that fits. The others don't really work with her, and I already have a fairly diverse selection.

Mr. Handy wrote:From what I've heard, there's no reason to have an investigative skill at 4 or higher (other than Credit Rating). 3 is the maximum you should ever need. For occupational skills that come at half cost, you don't always need to buy even numbers of points in them. I didn't. You can get 3 in an occupational skill for 1.5 points, for instance. If you do that twice, you can get two skills at 3 for three points.

Oh, ok. I didn't know we could work with half points. I'll take accounting.

One other thing... Don't we still need Quatermass character? Maybe he can cover some of these abilities.

leonardolad wrote:

Mr. Handy wrote:From what I've heard, there's no reason to have an investigative skill at 4 or higher (other than Credit Rating). 3 is the maximum you should ever need. For occupational skills that come at half cost, you don't always need to buy even numbers of points in them. I didn't. You can get 3 in an occupational skill for 1.5 points, for instance. If you do that twice, you can get two skills at 3 for three points.

Oh, ok. I didn't know we could work with half points. I'll take accounting.

One other thing... Don't we still need Quatermass character? Maybe he can cover some of these abilities.

Since theLibrarian came back Quatermass offered to step back to the reserve list. I considered a maximum of 6 players at first, but then I realized it was probably too many. So you'll be 5 players

Overlord87 wrote:

leonardolad wrote:Oh, ok. I didn't know we could work with half points. I'll take accounting.

One other thing... Don't we still need Quatermass character? Maybe he can cover some of these abilities.

Since theLibrarian came back Quatermass offered to step back to the reserve list. I considered a maximum of 6 players at first, but then I realized it was probably too many. So you'll be 5 players

I see. We probably should try to cover some ground ourselves then. I took 1 point from Evidence Collection and put it in Accounting. Also, I took 2 half-points from Cop Talk and Oral History to make a point in Craft.

Very well. I think TheLibrarian can spread his points a little more as well

Had a second stab at it, see the changes above. Any other changes I should make?

Sorry to be such a bother by disappearing! Been an unusually busy couple of weeks, but things have settled down now.

Name: Mungo "Cam" Cameron (he only let's his Grandmother call him Mungo)
Age: 36
Sex: Male
Occupation: Boxer/Bouncer/Body Guard (Profession is Military, Corpsman/Medic, with combat experience)
Drive: (tbd)

Pillars of Sanity:
Patriotism
Benevolence of God
Scientific Progress of Man
Survival of the Fittest

Sources of Stability:
Grandmother, Bridget Campbell: raised Cam in his childhood
Colonel Martin: the Doctor that Cam served under who saw more in him than just someone strong enough to carry stretchers, and encouraged him to go into medicine
Damijan Gavril: Slovakian inmate who served time with Cam and taught him that people can change, and you don't have to be the person that the world sees

Cam was raised by his Grandmother in the backwoods of Tennessee from a very early age. He joined the army, was transferred to serve as a medic, and was kicked out due to a variety of charges. He did some boxing, then fell into a few shady jobs to make some quick cash, and ended up in prison. He is currently trying to get his life straightened out, but he needs money to help support his aging Grandmother.

Investigative Abilities:

Interpersonal
Assess Honesty 1
Credit Rating 2
* Intimidation 4
*Reassurance 4
Streetwise 2

Academic
Cryptography 1
Law 1
Library Use 1
*Medicine 2

Technical
Astronomy 1
*Outdoorsman 4

General Abilities:
Sanity 12
Stability 10
Health 12

*Athletics 10
Driving 4
Electrical Repair 3
*Firearms 10
*First Aid 10
Mechanical Repair 3
*Scuffling 12
Sense Trouble 7

Name: Huang Yan Liu (黃鹽 劉)
Birthplace: Fouken, China
Current Residence: USA [Own Langauge: Chinese]
Age: 37
Sex: Male
Occupation: Doctor/Parapsychologist/Con Artist
Drive: Curiosity, and Boredom

Pillars of Sanity:
Scientific Progress of Man
Personal happiness
Nihilistic morality

Sources of Stability:

• Parents—Memories of his parents often gives him the will and determination to live his life to the fullest and never look back.
• Mrs. Winston-Rogers—She was an affluent and rich individual that he had become acquainted to through scamming a large and select number of the wealthy to believe that Eastern Medicine is synonymous with magic. Her existence is a near-constant reminder to himself that he is still capable of feeling empathy.
• Tobias Jerkins—A friend of his that has inspired him to walk down the path of medicine with a deeper commitment than a con-man really needed.
• Himself—His narcissistic love of himself can often motivate him to do what's he feels is the best for himself.

Backstory: Huang Yan has lived a tough life. His parents had died in poverty as they were selfless and kind to a near-unreasonable level to the poor and the impoverished around them. Their faith in the Buddha and their naïveté had eventually led to their death, and forcing Huang Yan to vow to never walk down that path and repeat the same mistake as his parents did. During his early life, he convinced a Taoist Priest to teach him Feng Shui and other such esoteric arts of eastern occult as he had briefly earned his riches at "Exorcising Ghosts".

As he earned enough money to go to college, he had went and studied both the traditional Chinese herbal medicine as well as Western Medicine after cheating on his entrance exam to Peking university and, as one thing led into another, he had quickly scammed a scholarship to the United States from the Chinese government as he had bribed teachers to alter his exam scores and used plenty of other dirty tricks as he completed his formal education and earned a medical practitioner's license. He 'completed' a PhD in Massachusetts, and quickly befriended a private investigator by the name of Tobias Jerkins, who he had met in a library once and developed a rapport with after discovering that both of them shared similar literary preferences. It was Tobias who had truly inspired him to develop his much more fervent passion of the sciences.

In America, the land of freedom, he had intentionally advertised his "exotic" origins and exaggerated the effects of Eastern Medicine to con gullible rich people out of their cash. While, admittedly, he was a good doctor, but he was far more talented in the art of scamming people out of their hard-earned cash. Of curse, his scam was exposed after two years of conning America's richest to believing acupuncture and herbal medicine will make them live till they're 300 years old through elaborate rouses, Chinese folk legends, and a carefully cultivated 'exotic' accent.

He legged it to Mexico City during February of 1930, as he saw the looming shadows of the Great Depression rear its ugly head, fearing the worst, he learnt Spanish and made an acquaintance of Mrs. Winston-Rogers, after a series of incidents persuaded her to endorse his medical talents. She is of a select group of people he is genuinely friendly with.

Investigative Abilities:

Interpersonal
*Assess Honesty 4
*Bargain 2
*Bureaucracy 4
Credit Rating 3
*Flattery 4
Interrogation 1
*Oral History 3
*Reassurance 3
Streetwise 3

Academic
Biology 1
*Law 4
Library Use 2
Medicine 2
Occult 3

Languages 2 (English and Spanish)

Technical
Evidence Collection 3
Locksmith 1
Outdoorsman 2

General Abilities:
Sanity 12
Stability 12
Health 12

Disguise 6
Driving 4
Firearms 4
First Aid 6
Preparedness 2
Scuffling 4
Sense Trouble 9

I have no problem in principle with the investigator, but you should keep in mind that the adventure is currently under way and the investigators are in Mexico City right now.

In fact, I would have preferred to introduce your character as a local contact for the PCs who could also help with the language. Plus, you should have some kind of past contact with Mrs. Winston-Rogers, who is currently employing the investigators.

...Alright, I'll make the appropriate changes.

Update: the appropriate changes were made.

Thank you.

A few more things. You have 16 points to spend in investigative abilities. For all the professional abilities (each profession has some) you can get 2 points in the ability for each point spent in character creation. So, you should definitely have more points in your investigative abilities.

Done. Bada-bing, bada-bang,

HelplessBystander wrote:Done. Bada-bing, bada-bang,

Ok, keep in mind though that is usually not useful to have more than 4 points in an ability. Unlike CoC, one point is enough to always succeed when using the ability, and additional points are only needed for spends, but spends never provide core clues. So I would suggest spreading your points a little more, if possible covering skills the team is currently lacking.

Anyway, I'll have your character join in the coming days.

...Alright. I'll spread it out a bit more.

Update: How is it now?

Languages aren't individual skills. Instead, there's an investigative skill called Languages. For each point you put in Languages, you know one language beyond your native tongue. You wouldn't need to put three points into Spanish; a single point in Languages covers it.

Ah. Thanks.

Name: Professor Jonathan Cornwall
Age: 47
Sex: Male
Occupation: Archaeologist
Drive: Antiquarianism
Pillars of Sanity:
Atheism
Scientific Method
Knowledge is Power
There is no such thing as luck

Sources of Stability:
Wife, Jennifer Marie Cornwall, 36
3 Children
Childhood friend and bosom buddy, Colin Brewster, 46; they grew up together in a middle class section of London.
Father, Alexander Cornwall, 74, retired Headmaster at a small primary school in London. (Mother died when Jonathan was 12)

Investigative Abilities:
Academic
Anthropology 1
Archaeology 3*
Art History 1
Cryptography 3*
Geology 1
History 2*
Languages 2*

Interpersonal
Credit Rating 4
Intimidation 1
Oral History 1

Technical
Astronomy 1
Evidence Collection 2*
Forensics 2*
Outdoorsman 1

General Abilities:
Athletics 8*
Explosives 2
Firearms 8
First Aid 10*
Fleeing 2
Health 12
Piloting 2 aircraft and boats
Preparedness 2
Sanity 12
Scuffling 4
Sense Trouble 3
Stability 12
Stealth 3

Professor Cornwall is a rough and tumble field archaeologist at the University of London with dig experience from many sites scattered all over the uncivilized world. While at the University, Professor Cornwall has struck up an academic friendship with kindred spirit, Harry Price, a paranormal researcher who has been affiliated with the University of London since 1934. Price has recommended that Prof Cornwall get in touch with Price's colleague Christopher Fontana while Prof Cornwall is on sabbatical from teaching for the next 12 months. It seems that Mr. Fontana is involved in an interesting and important investigation that could use the Professor's assistance...

Seems good to me. Once carnage_lee is back we'll work out how to get your investigators in touch. Then we'll get you in the game

Super. Overlord, are you going to post the Professor to the approved Investigator record sheet thread?

ShyberKryst wrote:Super. Overlord, are you going to post the Professor to the approved Investigator record sheet thread?

Yep. As soon as I have more time I'll double check the numbers and then move it to the right topic.