I've made a start of creating my character, but I'm not sure how to determine the starting levels of my bonus skills. Translator just lists the eight skills without starting levels. Should I just copy them from Anthropologist/Historian?
Name: Craig Reynolds
Profession: Translator
Age: 39
Background: Craig Reynolds is a history major from New York who studied at Harvard. He got his Bachelor's degree in 1999 and then continued his studies, earning his Master's degree in the spring of 2001. It was in graduate school that he met and fell in love with a fellow student, Lily, whom he married in 2000. His thesis was about the Soviet invasion of and war in Afghanistan from 1979-1988, which happened when he was a child. His research led him to the uncomfortable and unpopular conclusion that the U.S. government had been secretly training and equipping the mujaheddin for months
prior to the Soviet invasion, and in fact that this action had precipitated the invasion. His committee had asked him tough questions, but he defended his thesis well and the facts bore him out. After attaining his degree, he took on an assistant professorship at Harvard in hopes of eventually getting a tenured position.
He followed news about Afghanistan closely, dismayed at the Taliban's increasing domination of the country and rampant destruction of antiquities and sites of archaeological interest. On September 9, 2001, he heard about the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massood, a leader of the Afghan resistance to the Soviet invasion and perhaps been the one man who could have finally brought peace to and united Afghanistan if the Taliban could be rolled back and defeated. This event raised a major red flag for him, and he knew that something big was in the offing. Before he could put the pieces together, the September 11th attacks happened two days later, and Craig realized that same day that this would swiftly lead to American military action in Afghanistan. Knowing that his expertise would be vital, he immediately applied to join the CIA as a translator. James Carrington was the CIA analyst who interviewed and recruited him, whom he had met previously at a history conference (without knowing his true profession). In October 2001, he was sent to Afghanistan to join the CIA's efforts there to gather intelligence and question prisoners, and where he discovered that American special forces had been present as early as September 13, weeks before the war officially started. He knew from his studies that Afghanistan was known as the graveyard of empires. It had helped weaken the British Empire and helped bring an end to the Soviet Union. He could only hope the same fate would not befall the USA.
While in Afghanistan, Craig had a grueling time, but he performed his duties well and was able to produce much useful intelligence. Once, while he was at a prison helping with the interrogation of Taliban prisoners, the Taliban attacked the prison. While some of the defenders were killed, along with a few of his fellow translators, Craig survived. During his time in Afghanistan, he also discovered shocking things that implicated his own government. While the Taliban had been in charge of most of Afghanistan, they had ruthlessly stamped out the poppy trade. Now that the Americans had driven them back, the poppy trade was flourishing again, and some within the CIA seemed to be participating in and profiting from it too. This, he knew, had to be a way for them to generate secret funds that were not recorded in any official books, which could then be used for all sorts of nasty things. This was similar to the old Air America operations during the Vietnam War. He reported this to James Carrington and was shocked when he told Craig that he already knew. He was quick to add that he was not part of it, but that he knew it was going on and was unable to stop it, for there were forces within the U.S. Government that were far too powerful to oppose openly. It was then that he revealed his affiliation with a secret faction working within the government called Delta Green, which secretly opposed this other faction that he called MJ-12. Craig, desiring to help fight the evil cancer that was becoming increasingly powerful, gladly joined. He had had no idea what would await him.
After some years in Afghanistan, Craig finally was transferred back to the States, where he continued to work in CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Starting in 2013, with a new Cold War starting to simmer, he was moved to the Russian desk, though his expertise on Afghanistan was also tapped. Every so often, he would do secret jobs for Delta Green, usually involving dropping off or picking up materials at dead drops. He never knew what they were for, but he had to believe that he was helping. Very recently, he had been transferred back to Afghanistan. His transfer had been arranged by Delta Green in order to carry out whatever secret objective they had in mind. Fourteen years later, and the war was still not over. Nor was the secret war.
Stats:
STRENGTH: 8
CONSTITUTION: 10
DEXTERITY: 10
INTELLIGENCE: 13
POWER: 17
CHARISMA: 14
Derived Attributes:
HIT POINTS: 9
-1 (8)
WILLPOWER POINTS: 17
-3-1 (13)
SANITY POINTS: 85 - 5 = 80
-4 -2 -1 -1 -2 (70)
BREAKING POINT: 64
Helplessness checks: 1
Brought to Delta Green by: Hard Experience (+10% to Occult, +10% to any four skills other than Unnatural (may go over 80%), -5 SAN, Remove one Bond)
Skills:
ANTHROPOLOGY: 50% + 10 = 60%
ARCHAEOLOGY: 40%
FOREIGN LANGUAGE (Dari): 50% + 10 = 60%
FOREIGN LANGUAGE (Pashto): 40%
FOREIGN LANGUAGE (Russian): 30%
HISTORY: 60% + 20 + 10 = 90%
HUMINT: 50%
PERSUADE: 40% +20 = 60%
ALERTNESS: 20% + 20 = 40%
BUREAUCRACY: 10% + 20 = 30%
FIREARMS: 20% + 20 + 10 = 50%
FIRST AID: 10% + 20 = 30%
NAVIGATE: 10% + 20 = 30%
OCCULT: 10% + 10 = 20%
SEARCH: 20% + 20 = 40%
Bonds: 4 - 1 = 3
- Lily Reynolds, wife (14)
- Michael Reynolds, son (14)
- James Carrington, mentor (14)