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JKahrs
06-29-2004, 08:06 PM
My first attempt at a character please give advice as warrented.

Gavron Devitt

Life was always easy for Gavron. He was born the second son to a wealthy merchant in the port town of Kreigsdam and, while his older brother Joachim learned the business, Gavron lead a life of leisure eventually ending up in the local university where he spent more time playing cards and chasing women than paying attention to his studies. His father’s contacts assured that he would last till graduation and helped him land a job with the prestigious banking house of Grunmiller, Knooster, and Whilstien. The job paid well, but not well enough to support Gavron’s habits.

Though not unskilled at gambling, Gavron fell victim to a run of bad luck (which included the yacht he had bet on sinking with a four length lead.) Suddenly, he found himself owing some very bad people a great deal of money. Then Gavron realized that he was sitting literally on fortunes. The rich people who used the banking house had no idea how much money they had, neither did they care how much any specific transaction made. It was so easy to take a few guilders there, a drachma here. No one noticed. Soon, Gavron was debt free. The thought of stopping the embezzlement never entered his mind.

Years passed, and money slipped like water through his fingers. There always was another game, another race, another bet. Life was good and the living was easy. Then one day, while debating the merits of betting the hard eight, he felt a hand close on his shoulder. Turning, he saw the bright red and gold uniform of the Republican guard. Running was useless, and besides, Gavron felt he could talk his way out of any trouble that arose.

He couldn’t. The trial went quickly, all of the years of embezzlement were revealed. His father hired the best lawyers in the city and managed to get Gavron sentenced to a mere three years in the tower. but the strain and shame of the trial proved too much for the old man and he died of a heart attack shortly after Gavron entered prison.

Gavron landed on his feet. Early in his prison sentence he managed to help the head guard out of a sticky financial situation earning him an easier time of it than most of the prisoners. His bookie directed him to contacts inside that were to prove invaluable.

Gavron has just been released from prison and works as a freelancer for the Kriegrats, a local organized crime syndicate. Joachim, his bother, has set him up in an apartment to give Gavron time to find work and begin to reform himself. Gavron, of course, has no such plans.

Human Male, Age 32, Height 5’9” Weight 140 lbs
Brown hair and Brown eyes that always have a twinkle in them.
Life paths: Born City, Student, Accountant, Criminal.

Perception B6
Will B4
Agility B4
Speed B3
Power B3
Forte B4
Health B4
Steel B4 (+1 for the prison term)
Reflexes B4
Mortal Wound 9 (Su3 Lt5 Me6 Se7 Tr8)

Traits: Charming, Greedy, Poker Face
Skills:
Read B4
Accounting B4
Intimidate B3
Philosophy B2
Streetwise B4
Scribe B2
Bureaucracy B4
Forgery B3
Falsehood B4
Numbers
Knife B3
Gambling B3

Possessions: ROTM knife, clothes, shoes, paper, quill/ink, leather armor, traveling gear, apartment

Contacts: Joachim (minor brother hatred) 1, Kristof (jailor minor, loyal) 4

Affiliation: Kreigrats, (Guild) 20, Capo (Important) 4, Herbert (Bookie minor) 2, Red Phillip (cellmate, murderer, still on inside minor, loyal) 4, Hans the quick (kid lookout, insignificant) 1

Beliefs: I will land on my feet, the world owes me a living, If you let me steal it, you deserve to lose it.

Instincts: Defer to the physically strongest ally, Never pass up a bet, Take advantage of the naïve.

foxandwarlock
06-30-2004, 09:52 AM
Okay, so I started reading the background and sighed when I thought you were headed to the character from money template...but I appreciate that you totally ambushed me somewhere in the middle. The story is great and has so much flavor. Between his history, beliefs, and instincts you have in-game conflict to last a lifetime. You can almost hear some of his responses to stuff based on his Beliefs. So in my amateur opinion (<---NOTE # OF POSTS), nice job- the character is solid.

Kublai
06-30-2004, 11:05 AM
Nice! Rock Solid.

Having played a character similar to this one in my last campaign, you'll find that he has great potential. The Forgery skill is incredibly useful, especially within urban campaigns. Couple that with Accounting and you'll soon find that making money is as easy as you want it to be! :wink:

My one criticism is his last instinct. It's more of a belief than an instinct. Instincts should be very clear and easily translated into direct actions. Going back to the "If/then" format, your instinct would be, "If I meet a naive person, then I take advantage of them." Do you see how this would be very difficult for you and the GM to play out? Your instinct should state HOW you take advantage of them.

"If I am caught gambling, then I run as fast as I can out of there." See how in this example there is no question of what you do in certain circumstances? All instincts should be as so.

JKahrs
06-30-2004, 11:49 AM
Thanks fox and Kublai. I appreciate your advice on the instinct and will work to refine it. I think the most amazing thing is that I bought the books this past weekend and was able to put that character together over dinner having read the CB through once. This is a tribute to the system. It rocks.