Joint Task Force Special Operations- Welcome and chat

[welsh]

Dear Players-

Welcome to Joint Task Force- Special Operations.

This thread has been created to allow for some broader meta-game conversation about the game, rules, procedures, information or other tidbits as necessary. So welcome, say hi and we'll soon get started.

[Snapper]

Hey there, sorry - busy weekend. Back to charter generation self tomorrow!

[welsh]

Hey Snapper-

No worries. Just got back to VA from NY and catching up on stuff too. I think the first game will be a lot of fun but mostly its about character development and perhaps meeting some important NPCs.

[Snapper]

Hi Team,

I'm going to post the basics of my characters here. Proper write up is going to have to wait until Wednesday night.

EPA S/A
STR 11 CON 12 DEX 15 INT 15 POW 12 CHA 12
Federal Agent skills plus Computer Science.
Bonus skills: Helicopter (x2), Dodge, Science - Chemistry, Science - Environmental, Accounting, Navigate and Survival.
Career history - enlisted in the Army, 10th Mountain Division, ultimately trained as a combat helicopter pilot, this was followed by some time out west working for the Park Service as a law enforcement ranger, and more recently to EPA after working towards a degree in chemistry and environmental science.

[Snapper]

Name and Codename:

Profession:

Employer:

Nationality:

Sex:

Age and DOB:

Education and Occupational History:

STR

CON

DEX

INT

POW

CHA

HP

WP

SAN

BP

Physical Description:

Bonds:

Disorders and Motivations:

San Loss without going insane

Violence:

Helplessness:


Accounting (10)

Alertness (20) 

Anthropology(0)

Art(0)

Artillery (0) 

Athletics (30) 

Bureaucracy (10)

Computer Science (0)

Craft (0)

Criminology (10)

Demolitions (0)

Disguise (10)

Dodge (30)

Drive (20)

Firearms (20)

First Aid (10)

Forensics (0)

Heavy Machinery (10)

Heavy Weapons (0)

History (10)

HUMINT(10)

Law (0)

Medicine (0)

Melee Weapons (30) 

Military Science (0)
Navigate (10)

Occult (10)

Persuade (20)

Pharmacy (0)

Pilot (0)

Psychotherapy (10)

Ride (10)

Science (0)

Search (20)

SIGINT (0)

Stealth (10)

Surgery (0)

Survival (10)

Swim (20)

Unarmed Combat (40)

Unnatural (0)

Foreign Languages and skills:

Wounds and Ailments:

Armor and Gear:

Weapons:

Personal Details and Notes:

Developments Which Affect Home and Family

Special Training/stat or skill used:

Why/how agent recruited/past supernatural event:

[Snapper]

Name and Codename:
Jackson Conroy

Jackson.jpg (40.34 KiB) Viewed 1361 times

Profession:
Special Agent

Employer:
EPA CID

Nationality:
US

Sex:
M

Age and DOB:
38

Education and Occupational History:

Jackson grew up in the Frank Church - River of No Return National Park. His father was a professional hunter and trapper, and his mother a member of one of the local Native American tribes. His life was basic and Spartan but seemed idyllic to a young boy, and Jackson was left with a love of the natural world. When Jackson was a teenager, however, his mother "disappeared", presumed murdered. From that point onwards, Jackson was aware of the many strange and dangerous people living in the park.

Jackson was determined to leave as soon as possible and on turning 18, enlisted in the Army, 10th Mountain Division, ultimately training as a combat helicopter pilot. After a decade in the military, disillusioned with operations overseas and wanting to focus on environmental protection, Jackson resigned and spent some time out west working for the Park Service as a law enforcement ranger, and more recently to EPA after working towards a degree in chemistry and environmental science.

Jackson has a daughter from a brief and failed relationship back in his army days.

STR 11
CON 12
DEX 15
INT 15
POW 12
CHA 12

HP 12
WP 12
SAN 60
BP 48

Physical Description:
Tall and lean. Dark hair with a topknot and a short beard. Several military and Native American tattoos on your arms.

Bonds:
1. Father, Ted Conroy
2. Daughter, Lisa Conroy
3. 10th Mountain Air Wing

Disorders and Motivations:
1. Protect the Wilderness.
2. Defend the Country.
3. Bring criminals to justice.
4. Defend the innocent.
5. Self improvement.

San Loss without going insane

Violence:

Helplessness:


.Accounting (10) 30
Alertness (20) 50
Anthropology(0)
Art(0)
Artillery (0) 
Athletics (30) 40
Bureaucracy (10) 40
Computer Science (0) 50
Craft Electrical (0) 40
Craft Mechanical (0) 40
Criminology (10) 50
Demolitions (0)
Disguise (10)
.Dodge (30) 50
Drive (20) 50
Firearms (20) 50
First Aid (10) 30
Forensics (0) 40
Heavy Machinery (10) 50
Heavy Weapons (0)
History (10)
HUMINT(10) 60
Law (0) 30
Medicine (0)
Melee Weapons (30) 
Military Science (0) 40
.Navigate (10) 50
Occult (10) 20
Persuade (20) 50
Pharmacy (0)
.Pilot Helicopter (0) 50
Psychotherapy (10)
Ride (10)
.Science - Environmental (0) 50
.Science - Chemistry (0) 30
Search (20) 50
SIGINT (0)
Stealth (10)
Surgery (0)
.Survival (10) 50
Swim (20)
Unarmed Combat (40) 60
Unnatural (0)

Foreign Languages and skills:

Wounds and Ailments:

Armor and Gear:
Kevlar helmet and vest.
Standard equipment for federal agent.

Weapons:
Glock 19 pistol
AR-15 assault rifle

Personal Details and Notes:

Developments Which Affect Home and Family

Special Training/stat or skill used:

Why/how agent recruited/past supernatural event:

[Snapper]

Name and Codename:
Javier Gonzalez

Javier.jpg (38.17 KiB) Viewed 1358 times

Profession:
Special Agent

Employer:
DEA (FAST)

Nationality:
US

Sex:
M

Age and DOB:
35

Education and Occupational History:
Javier' s parents are Cuban exiles settled in Miami. He was raised to absolutely believe the US has offered his family a better life and that is a debt that must be repaid. Javier attended college on a Naval ROTC scholarship. On completing his studies, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lt in the Marines and served for five years. Javier then joined the DEA, determined to help fight what he saw as the biggest threat to society, drugs.

Javier worked his way into the FAST teams. With looks that help him blend combined with decent language skills, Javier has spent the last five years in Central and South America attacking the cocaine production and transport processes from different angles.


STR 11
CON 15
DEX 14
INT 13
POW 12
CHA 12

HP 14
WP 12
SAN 60
BP 48

Physical Description:
Latin American, with dark hair and a moustache

Bonds:
1. Father, Enrique Gonzalez
2. Mother, Esmeralda Gonzalez

Disorders and Motivations:
1. Defend the Country.
2. Protect the innocent.
3. Bring criminals to justice.
4. Fight in the war on drugs.
5. Improve self.

San Loss without going insane

Violence:

Helplessness:


Accounting (10)
Alertness (20) 50
Anthropology(0)
Art(0)
Artillery (0) 
.Athletics (30) 50
Bureaucracy (10) 40
Computer Science (0) 50
Craft (0)
Criminology (10) 50
Demolitions (0)
Disguise (10)
.Dodge (30) 50
Drive (20) 50
.Firearms (20) 70
First Aid (10)
.Foreign Language - Spanish 50
.Forensics (0) 50
Heavy Machinery (10)
Heavy Weapons (0) 30
History (10)
HUMINT(10) 60
Law (0) 30
Medicine (0)
Melee Weapons (30) 
Military Science (0)
Navigate (10)
Occult (10) 20
Persuade (20) 50
Pharmacy (0) 30
Pilot (0)
Psychotherapy (10)
Ride (10)
.Science - Chemistry (0) 20
Search (20) 50
SIGINT (0)
.Stealth (10) 30
Surgery (0)
.Survival (10) 30
Swim (20)
Unarmed Combat (40) 60
Unnatural (0)

Foreign Languages and skills:

Wounds and Ailments:

Armor and Gear:
Special Operator

Weapons:
Beretta 92 pistol
AR-15 rifle

Personal Details and Notes:

Developments Which Affect Home and Family

Special Training/stat or skill used:

Why/how agent recruited/past supernatural event:

[welsh]

Hey Snapper-

Thanks for posting this. Given that our characters are all kind of mid-career, we should assume some acquired skill given past work experience and training. So I'd like to grant a few extra points to help your character, and the others out.

Let's start with Jackson Cody.
Given his experience and prior work experience, I would think your character is familiar with heavy machinery and certainly would know something about helicopter maintenance for sure, as well as many of the other machines we could expect related to both the forestry service and some of the heavy industry related to environmental regulation. As an EPA person you will need some science chops. Plus military background as a pilot.

Do you have the Agent's Handbook? I think the basic skills look pretty good and a re a bit enhanced. Bump Forensics to 40%- and that would probably be generic. Heavy Industry, bump to 30%. Bump your helicopter to 50% for military experience and I think Craft Electrical and Mechanical at 40% each. Ride to 25% with past experience prior to EPA and current work experience and past should take Environmental to 50% and Chemistry to 30%. 10th Mountain div. Althletics should be bumped up a bit 40%, First Aid 30%, Military Science 40% , Navigate to 50%, Survival needs a bump- 50%. According to Agents Handbook 10th Mountain can also choose 3 from Computer Science 40%, Craft 40%, Demolitions 40%, Foreign Language (one) 40%, Heavy Machinery 50%, Search 60%, SIGINT 40% and Swim 60%. Given the helicopter piloting while in the 10th Heavy Machinery 5%0 Craft 40% and pilot to 50% makes sense to me. What do you think?


Feel free to flush out the DEA agent.
Given background discussed he's a cross DEA Fed agent/ military intel type - The Handbook has the FAST DEA as a cross military/ fed agent-
Alertness 50% Bureaucracy at 40%, Criminology at 50%, Drive 50%, Firearms 50%, Foreign languages (one) at 30%, Forensics 30% , The FAST DEA has heavy weapons at 30% but I am not sure that fits, HUMINt 40% but I would go with the 60% for federal agent, LAW 30%, Persuade 40-50%,Pharmacy 30%, Search 50%, Unarmed Combat at 60%. The FAST agent has suggested bonus skills at Athletics, Firearms, Forensics and Search but the other DEA positions have suggested bonus as criminology, pharmacy, science (chemistry), Search, accounting, forensics, computer sci, SIGINT, Criminology, Law. The military background might add some dimension, but if he's an intelligence officer, I think the crossover is a bit consistent.

[Mr. Handy]

Name: Miranda Waterhouse
Profession: NSA Cryptanalyst (Computer Scientist)
Age: 30



Stats:
STRENGTH: 8
CONSTITUTION: 10 (+1) 11
DEXTERITY: 13
INTELLIGENCE: 17 (+1) 18
POWER: 14
CHARISMA: 10 (+3) 13

Miranda Waterhouse's parents Larry and Susan Waterhouse are both brilliant at math and computers, and Miranda has taken after them. Growing up with computers and the Internet, they have always been part of her world. Miranda loves solving puzzles, and she enjoys computer games, particularly adventure games. She also makes her own games and is as skilled at creating fiendish puzzles as she is at solving them. Miranda is a consummate geek and was bullied a lot growing up, but once her parents sent her for tae kwon do lessons, she was soon able to handle them. She rarely even had to use martial arts; merely demonstrating a few moves and her reputation was enough to keep all but the most determined at bay. She took to college life very well, having been accepted to her dream school, MIT. She excelled in her studies and got a job with the NSA in Ft. Meade, Maryland straight after graduation. There she has put her codebreaking talents to good use, cracking encryption used by a variety of criminals, terrorists, and foreign powers.

Derived Attributes:
HIT POINTS: 10
WILLPOWER POINTS: 14
SANITY POINTS: 70
BREAKING POINT: 56

Violence Checks: 0
Helplessness Checks: 0

Skills:
Accounting(10%) 50%
Alertness(20%)
Anthropology(0%)
Archaeology(0%)
Art(0%)
Artillery(0%)
Athletics(30%)
Bureaucracy(10%) 50%
Computer Science(0%) 60% (+20) 80%
Craft(Electrician) (0%) 30%
Craft(Mechanic)(0%) 30%
Craft(Microelectronics)(0%) 40% (+20) 60%
Criminology(10%)
Demolitions(0%)
Disguise(10%)
Dodge(30%)
Drive(20%)
Firearms(20%) (+20) 40%
First Aid(10%)
Foreign Language(Mandarin Chinese) (0%) 40%
Forensics(0%)
Heavy Machinery(10%)
Heavy Weapons(0%)
History(10%)
HUMINT(10%)
Law(0%) 40%
Medicine(0%)
Melee Weapons(30%)
Military Science(0%)
Navigate(10%)
Occult(10%)
Persuade(20%)
Pharmacy(0%)
Pilot(0%)
Psychotherapy(10%)
Ride(10%)
Science(Mathematics) (0%) 40%
Search(20%) (+20) 40%
SIGINT(0%) 40% (+20) 60%
Stealth(10%)
Surgery(0%)
Survival(10%) (+20) 30%
Swim(20%) (+20) 40%
Unarmed Combat(40%) (+20) 60%
Unnatural(0%)

Motivations: 5

1. Solve puzzles
2. Have fun
3. Challenge my abilities
4. Serve my country
5. Explore the unknown

Bonds: 3

1. Larry Waterhouse, father, age 57 (13)
2. Susan Waterhouse, mother, age 58 (13)
3. Bethany Phillips, best friend, age 29 (13)

Equipment:

[Mr. Handy]

Name: Lee Shaftoe
Profession: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent, Homeland Security (Federal Agent)
Age: 38



Stats:
STRENGTH: 17
CONSTITUTION:14 (+2) 16
DEXTERITY: 13
INTELLIGENCE: 10
POWER: 10 (+3) 13
CHARISMA: 8

Coming from a long line of tough, patriotic guys, Lee Shaftoe joined the United States Marine Corps on September 11, 2001. After grueling training, two tours in Afghanistan, and one in Iraq, he decided he had had enough. He then joined Immigration and Customs Enforcement, figuring it was a better way to protect the country he loves. He specializes in stopping human trafficking. While he can be intimidating, he's actually a nice guy once you get to know him.

Derived Attributes:
HIT POINTS: 17
WILLPOWER POINTS: 13
SANITY POINTS: 65 (-5) 60
BREAKING POINT: 52

Traumatic Background: Hard Experience
Violence Checks: 0
Helplessness Checks: 0

Skills:
Accounting(10%)
Alertness(20%) 50% (+20) 70%
Anthropology(0%)
Archaeology(0%)
Art(0%)
Artillery(0%)
Athletics(30%) (+20) 50%
Bureaucracy(10%) 40%
Computer Science(0%)
Craft(0%)
Criminology(10%) 50%
Demolitions(0%)
Disguise(10%)
Dodge(30%) (+20)(+10) 60%
Drive(20%) 50%
Firearms(20%) 50% (+20)(+10) 80%
First Aid(10%)
Foreign Language(0%)
Forensics(0%) 30%
Heavy Machinery(10%)
Heavy Weapons(0%) 50%
History(10%)
HUMINT(10%) 60%
Law(0%) 30%
Medicine(0%)
Melee Weapons(30%) (+20)(+10) 60%
Military Science(0%)
Navigate(10%)
Occult(10%) (+10) 20%
Persuade(20%) 50% (+20) 70%
Pharmacy(0%)
Pilot(0%)
Psychotherapy(10%)
Ride(10%)
Science(0%)
Search(20%) 50%
SIGINT(0%)
Stealth(10%) (+20) 30% (+10) 40%
Surgery(0%)
Survival(10%)
Swim(20%)
Unarmed Combat(40%) 60% (+20) 80%
Unnatural(0%)

Motivations: 5

1. Protect the innocent
2. Defend my country
3. Bring criminals to justice
4. Be righteous
5. Keep physically fit

Bonds: 2

1. Robert Shaftoe, father, age 64 (8)
2. Lisa Shaftoe, wife, age 34 (8)

Equipment:

[Snapper]

Sorry, insane couple of weeks. Get back to this tomorrow morning my time.

[welsh]

Ok folks we are near to getting started I think and soon can post your characters to our character board. One request for all players is to up their occult to 20%. We'll discuss why later. Let's just say, for now, all your characters have something of a passing interest in things..... strange.

Snapper-

No worries bud. I've been dealing with an aging parent and my summer session of teaching just kicked in. This summer, my course is doing democratic backsliding, democracy and authoritarian government, contentious politics, revolutions and social violence. Should be fun, but the work just kicked in. I had thought to be back home by now but it seems I am stuck for a few days.

Handy-
Funny thing, I advised by brother and his wife to train both nephews in Tae Kwon Do so they wouldn't get their asses kicked, and they both got to be school aged blackbelts (and didn't asses kicked). Like the pictures for your character. I like seeing "The Rock" for your door kicker.

Ok, Miranda- I am looking at the Agent's Handbook recent edition and I am thinking she's in Computer or Scientist. For Computer Scientist, the handbook says-
RECOMMENDED STATS: INT
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»» Computer Science 60%
»» Craft (Electrician) 30%
»» Craft (Mechanic) 30%
»» Craft (Microelectronics) 40%
»» Science (Mathematics) 40%
»» SIGINT 40%
Choose any four of these that you don’t already have:
»» Accounting 50%
»» Bureaucracy 50%
»» Craft (choose one) 40%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 40%
»» Heavy Machinery 50%
»» Law 40%
»» Science (choose one) 40%

Scientist looks similar
RECOMMENDED STATS: INT
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»» Bureaucracy 40%
»»Computer Science 40%
»» Science (choose one) 60%
»» Science (choose another) 50%
»» Science (choose another) 50%
Choose any three of these:
»»Accounting 50%
»»Craft (choose one) 40%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 40%
»» Forensics 40%
»» Law 40%
»» Pharmacy 40%
BONDS: 4

Then you get Intelligence Analyst-
RECOMMENDED STATS: INT
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»» Anthropology 40%
»» Bureaucracy 50%
»» Computer Science 40%
»» Criminology 40%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 50%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 50%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 40%
»» History 40%
»» HUMINT 50%
»» SIGINT 40%
BONDS: 3

So a couple of quick thoughts given her NSA background and interests- I think the Craft Electrician should get a boast to 40%, I like your micro-electronics, bump criminology to 30% given recent work experience, Military science to 25%, Science (Math) should go to 60% given her personal history. From your story, it seems her computer, electronics skills come through her interest in math, so that would make sense.

Darren- again like the picture. Send me a pm about the -5 on Sanity. Given your background doesn't place him in SOCOM but three tours of duty in combat (I assume the -5 comes from that). I'd think his skills are somewhat akin to if he had Force Recon, which is somewhat enhanced from a Marine.

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»»Alertness 60%
»»Athletics 60%
»»Demolitions 40%
»»Dodge 50%
»» Firearms 60%
»»Heavy Weapons 50%
»»Melee Weapons 50%
»»Military Science (Land) 60%
»»Navigate 60%
»» Stealth 60%
»» Survival 60%
»» Swim 50%
»» Unarmed Combat 60%
BONDS: 1
SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Drive, Firearms, SIGINT,
Survival.

Given his career in ICE and his past involvement. He might have been one of these fellows-
Special Response Team (SRT)
Provides SWAT support for ICE operations. SRT
members are all volunteers, most of whom have regular
“day jobs” as agents in other ICE divisions.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»»Alertness 50%
»» Bureaucracy 40%
»»Criminology 50%
»»Dodge 50%
»»Drive 50%
»» Firearms 50%
»» Forensics 30%
»»Heavy Weapons 50%
»»HUMINT 60%
»» Law 30%
»» Persuade 50%
»» Search 50%
»» Stealth 40%
»» Unarmed Combat 60%
BONDS: 2
SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Dodge, Firearms, Criminology,
Melee Weapons.
EQUIPMENT: Per TOOLS OF THE TRADE: SWAT (page 85).

A lot of your stats seem on spot, as either ICE or a Federal Marshal. Do me a favor and up some of the numbers due to his past marine years. Swim 50%, Survival 50% (because he probably had some training), Stealth 50%. military science at 40%, Navigate 40%, Demolitions at 25%.

[Mr. Handy]

That's one timely course.

The Tae Kwon Do is actually from my own background. I got beaten up a lot when I was little, and my parents had me train in Tae Kwon Do in the summer when I was eight. I took two eight week courses and never progressed beyond white belt, but I didn't need to ever use it in a fight. Just being able to show the moves scared off the bullies, and it was very rare that I was beaten after that.

Thanks, I was inspired to use The Rock as Shaftoe's avatar. A couple weeks ago I saw a bunch of his movies on TV. He fits perfectly!

Miranda is a Computer Scientist, and I picked her skills based on that. It looks like the only changes I need to make for her is to raise her Occult to 20%, Craft(Electrician) to 40%, Criminology to 30%, Military Science to 25%, and Science(Mathematics) to 60%. Do I need to spend points to do that, or are these free boosts?

For Lee I used the Federal Agent template and added the bonus points to specialize him. The SRT would fit him, but I'd have to recreate his character sheet if I use that, and he'd be down to 1 Bond. I'm already at -1 Bond for the Hard Experience trauma, which resulted in the -5 SAN. I'll send you my idea for what that could be in a PM. It's actually something that happened while working for ICE, not in Afghanistan or Iraq. Are the boosts for him (Swim 50%, Survival 50%, Stealth 50%, Military Science 40%, Navigate 40%, and Demolitions 25%) free?

[Philulhu]

Dr. Jakob Kaminski – Forensic Pathologist



Description

Approx 5’10”, stocky build. Short dark hair, going grey at the temples, neatly trimmed beard/stubble. Brown eyes. Age 39. Unmarried and lives alone.

Background

Jakob is an orphan from the Serbian Wars of the 1990s. He doesn’t know his birth parents (or even his place or date of birth) having been abandoned at a young age and being brought up in the brutal state-run orphanage system.

As the war came to an end with NATO intervention, Josef was adopted by an older American couple but the placement didn’t work out; Josef couldn’t cope with not knowing about his family and they couldn’t cope with the trauma that engendered. Being raised a war zone hadn’t equipped him with necessary skills to deal with people in a calm and controlled manner. He was heading off the rails when a church youth worker took an interest in him and worked with Jakob to get his life more or less back on track.

Determined to succeed despite of his background, Josef put himself through college with the aid of the ROTC and an HPSP scholarship. Leaving college to take up his mandatory military service, he served in Japan, Iraq and Afghanistan. In the latter he saw the results of the burgeoning Taliban/Al Qaeda insurgency campaign at close quarters, treating injured combatants and civilians and narrowly avoiding becoming a victim himself when a supply convoy he was travelling with was ambushed. Josef swapped his scalpel for and M4 carbine to help repel the attackers before heading straight into the operating theatre to try to save the lives of the injured and dying once they got back to base.

Whilst in Iraq, Jakob found himself called as a witness in a war crimes investigation, and subsequently seconded to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps for a three month period while a backlog of cases was cleared. Here he found himself working alongside the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit which was reviewing charges levied against US servicemen.

With four years’ service under his belt, Jakob returned to the States and studied post-med forensic pathology before landing a job with the FBI, where he's currently working his second year on the job.

PROFESSION: Forensic Pathologist
EMPLOYER: Federal Bureau of Investigation
DIVISION: Criminal Investigation Division

Strength (STR) 12
Constitution (CON) 14
Dexterity (DEX) 12
Intelligence (INT) 15
Power (POW) 12
Charisma (CHA) 12

Hit Points (HP) 13
Willpower (WP) 12
Sanity Points (SAN) 60
Breaking Point (BP) 48

Skills

□ Accounting (10%) 10%
□ Alertness (20%) 20%
□ Anthropology (0%) 0%
□ Archeology (0%) 0%
□ Art (0%) 0%
□ Artillery (0%) 0%
□ Athletics (30%) 30%
□ Bureaucracy (10%) 50%
□ Computer Science (0%) 0%
□ Craft (0%) 0%
□ Criminology (10%) 30%
□ Demolitions (0%) 0%
□ Disguise (10%) 10%
□ Dodge (30%) 30%
□ Drive (20%) 20%
□ Firearms (20%) 40%
□ First Aid (10%) 30%
□ Forensics (0%) 50%
□ Heavy Machinery (10%) 10%
□ Heavy Weapons (0%) 0%
□ History (10%) 10%
□ HUMINT (10%) 10%
□ Law (0%) 20%
□ Medicine (0%) 60%
□ Melee Weapons (30%) 30%
□ Military Science (0%) 0%
□ Navigate (10%) 30%
□ Occult (10%) 10%
□ Persuade (20%) 40%
□ Pharmacy (0%) 50%
□ Pilot (0%) 0%
□ Psychotherapy (0%) 60%
□ Ride (10%) 10%
□ Science - Biology (0%) 60%
□ Search (20%) 40%
□ SIGINT (0%) 0%
□ Stealth (10%) 10%
□ Surgery (0%) 50%
□ Survival (10%) 30%
□ Swim (20%) 20%
□ Unarmed Combat (40%) 40%
□ Unnatural (0%) 0%

Foreign Languages and Other Skills:
□ Serbo-Croat 40%

Professional skills/Bonus skills
OOC: Additional skill points taken

[Philulhu]

Haruto ‘Harry’ Shibatu – FBI Special Agent, Organised Crime Taskforce



Description

Approx. 5’9”, compact build. Japanese American (family has lived in the US since the 1960s). Brown eyes. Dark brown hair. Often smiling, frequently wears sunglasses and chews gum, constantly.

Harry is married with a son. He married his university sweetheart when he returned from his tour of duty but hadn’t realized how much they had both changed. The marriage is unhappy and he suspects his wife is now having an affair with a colleague from work.

His parents have recently moved closer to help out with childcare, but their presence has only exacerbated tensions between them.

Background

Brought up in a bi-lingual Japanese American household and a multi-racial neighbourhood, Harry developed a gift for languages early on. It stayed with him through school and inevitably it took him to university, from which he planned to join one of the big banking firms plying their trade on both sides of the Pacific. Fate intervened in the shape of the ROTC however, and Harry decided to see more of the world with the USMC.

Postings in Okinawa and the Philippines followed before he completed his mandatory term and returned to Seattle. Despite the encouragement of his soon-to-be wife, Harry decided banking wasn’t for him and signed up as a neighbourhood cop with the local PD. Wanting to do more to tackle the scourge of drugs that blighted the neighbourhoods where he worked, he first trained up to join the SWAT team before deciding to join the FBI to tackle the organised crime gangs that caused so much misery for the people he saw every day.

His work in combating transnational organized crime groups (including the Triads and the Bōryokudan) took him undercover and Harry found himself in some tough situations. Perseverance paid off however, and Harry and his team thought were close to a breakthrough. A drugs raid went wrong and Harry was ‘made’. While the hunt for a potential mole goes on, Harry has found himself hastily sidelined into some special taskforce on the other side of the country, distinctly unhappy with the way things have turned out…

PROFESSION: Federal Agent
EMPLOYER: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Strength (STR) 13
Constitution (CON) 15
Dexterity (DEX) 13
Intelligence (INT) 12
Power (POW) 11
Charisma (CHA) 13

Hit Points (HP) 14
Willpower (WP) 11
Sanity Points (SAN) 55
Breaking Point (BP) 44

Skills
□ Accounting (10%) 10%
□ Alertness (20%) 50%
□ Anthropology (0%) 0%
□ Archeology (0%) 20%
□ Art (0%) 0%
□ Artillery (0%) 0%
□ Athletics (30%) 50%
□ Bureaucracy (10%) 40%
□ Computer Science (0%) 40%
□ Craft (0%) 0%
□ Criminology (10%) 50%
□ Demolitions (0%) 0%
□ Disguise (10%) 10%
□ Dodge (30%) 30%
□ Drive (20%) 50%
□ Firearms (20%) 50%
□ First Aid (10%) 10%
□ Forensics (0%) 30%
□ Heavy Machinery (10%) 10%
□ Heavy Weapons (0%) 0%
□ History (10%) 10%
□ HUMINT (10%) 60%
□ Law (0%) 30%
□ Medicine (0%) 0%
□ Melee Weapons (30%) 50%
□ Military Science (0%) 0%
□ Navigate (10%) 10%
□ Occult (10%) 10%
□ Persuade (20%) 50%
□ Pharmacy (0%) 0%
□ Pilot (0%) 0%
□ Psychotherapy (0%) 0%
□ Ride (10%) 10%
□ Science (0%) 0%
□ Search (20%) 50%
□ SIGINT (0%) 0%
□ Stealth (10%) 50%
□ Surgery (0%) 0%
□ Survival (10%) 10%
□ Swim (20%) 40%
□ Unarmed Combat (40%) 60%
□ Unnatural (0%) 0%

Foreign Languages and Other Skills:
□ Japanese (30%) 50%
□ Mandarin (0%) 50%

Professional skills/Bonus skills

OOC:I've not yet taken the 8*20 points because I'm not sure what to do about Harry's skill in Japanese. Brought up in a dual nationality household, he would most likely be able to speak the language but does that come out of the skill points? (I've actually done that with Jakob, not sure if that's right?

Points taken in Athletics (20%), Archeology (20%), Computer Science (40%), Japanese (20%), Melee Weapons (20%), Stealth (20%), Swim (20%)

[Snapper]

Hi there GM,

Apologies again for the slow response time. Ditto the aging parents issue, made all the worse by this current zombie apocalypse. And any number of other things have cropped up the last two weeks.

Both characters ready for you to look further at. Obviously, I'm a big fan of Pedro Pascal's portrayal of DEA S/A Javier Pena in the tv series Narcos and so my DEA agent is more than a bit inspired by him.

Few other thoughts and comments:

1. I do own the pdf of the DG Agents Handbook, I just haven't got around to ever reading it. Will now though.

2. It's funny we're talking about obscure Federal law enforcement agencies. This week I started watching the new tv show Hightown and one of the leads plays a Special Agent with the National Marine Fisheries Service!

3. Happy with any and all suggestions you have as GM. I'm Tommy Foreigner and my knowledge of the US comes primarily from novels, tv and movies...

[welsh]

Dear Players-

No worries. I appreciate the time and effort you guys are putting into the game. My only real concern at the moment is a bit of the pacing. I am comfortable with it as it allows us some time to develop character and story. If you like I can post more.

Ok, story wise, I tend to allow quite a bit of deference to characters in talking about what their characters are up to, but I would caution that much of the backstory, the plot, the NPC behaviors, everything other than your characters is left to the story plot. So please be careful about what you add into the story or back story,as you may be taking the tale in an unanticipated direction. This is, in many ways, an interactive process of writing- I like a game that reads a bit like a novel, with the players determining their characters behavior in response to the circumstances shaped by the keeper. It might takes awhile to figure out the proper boundaries but we are starting fine.

To help along the way, I am going to create two NPCs that will be germane to this episode. Claire McKenna, the Asisstant US Attorney and a second agent, DEA Agent Antonio "Tony" Lapis, a seasoned DEA vet and someone who is a bit familiar with NY. For the most part, your characters are either recent transplants to the city or, if they have lived here for awhile, have been fairly focused on their assignments. Given that two of our players I think are Aussies (Viva Australia!), I think that might be helpful. Snapper- I think a knowledge of NY from movies and films is fine.

Claire McKenna serves as basically your supervisor and broadly utilizes her authority with the US Justice Department as lead prosecutor to oversee the functioning of the task force. She's also a lawyer and can help if you get into legal trouble (within some limits). But she's not an investigator and is handling other cases- so she's a bit of a character like "Skinner" from the X-files. The person who send you into the field to investigate and the co-between between you and the administration, but you are not sure how far you can trust her because you really are not 100% sure of her agenda. For now, she's the one who assigns you and gives you, your marching orders. Tony Lapis is basically here to help you orientate and perhaps introduce you to some potentially important NPCs, and allows me, as keeper, to help get you settled into the game. Like all agents, he comes with some past and has his own part to play in our unfolding story.

Again, our setting is NY about a year from now, after an election in which Trump got elected but there are significant questions about the authenticity of the results. Many think that the vote was "rigged". Covid continues to plague us as does the economic consequences and now racial protests. There is a lot of distrust everywhere- between the government and the "Deep State", between the police and society, between rich and poor. Lots of folks are out of work, economic recovery is slow. Homelessness is on the rise in winter, medical care is breaking down as infrastructure crumbles. It's been a long, cold and bitter winter in NY in many ways, and there is a lot of anger in the streets, much directed to the police and law enforcement. Many see the recent election as fraudulent and there is fear that factions of the left might strike as well as fear that factions of the right might favor more repression. The country is polarized, they are angry with an array of grievances, and they are armed. Meanwhile other problems seem to be lurking. A more aggressive China, Iran, Russia and other countries are getting more active as Europe largely shifts away from the US. The US is pregnant with potential instability and uncertainty, and the systemic effects are widespread. The broad feeling is that things are likely to get worse rather than better.

Our first investigation is here to get us started and orientated. Remember, this may be "horror" or "weird" and "macabre" but it is not necessarily Lovercraftian Mytho. Or it might be. Don't assume you'll be seeing Deep Ones or Cthulhu or Narly any time soon. I am not saying that they won't manifest, only that you shouldn't be looking for common monsters. Part of good horror, I think, is dealing with the unexpected and that your assumptions about the way the world works might be, fundamentally, off. We can expect some monsters but most of those monsters may be terrible people, not Elder Gods or Old Ones.

Cool?

[Mr. Handy]

Sounds good to me. I'm fine with the slower pace.

[Philulhu]

Fine with me.

[Snapper]

All good!