Hey, guys. I'm new to Inquisitor but am hoping to get a bit of a campaign running with some friends in the future. It'll probably be at Inq28 scale if I'm going to win people over though. I'm still fumbling around with the rules at the moment, but I've drafted up this character as my way of dipping my toes into the mechanics. The idea is the campaign will revolve around trying to find this guy, and when he's in game he'll mostly be running away. Any thoughts you guys could give would be great as I have no idea what constitutes balance in the game, but I do imagine this guy to be significantly weaker than the other people in the campaign. I'd be very grateful for any time you can spare.
Slick Rick is one of the deadliest men in the galaxy, but also one of the most dashing. He has bedded princesses, beaten the very best gunfighters to the draw and bested Brigadier Generals at chess. He is an incomparable swordsman and an irrefutable wit. He is a lover and a poet; a man whom all others wish to become.
Or at least... that's what he'll tell you. In actual fact he's a raving incompetent, a drunk and a terrible shot.
He acquired the name 'Slick' not because of his devilish charms (of which he has none) or his lighting fast guns (which comprise of a rusty stubber and a toy pistol) but because of his greasy hair. He is a thin man by appearance, with pale, ragged skin and a terribly unkempt moustache. What armour he does have is patched together from bits of scavenged metal, second hand body armour (note: blood spattered and riddled with bullet holes) strips of leather and old socks. His clothes are usually shabby and vomit stained, and his boots are literally falling apart.
Despite this, though, and despite having a list of enemies longer than his arm, Slick Rick has managed to evade death and capture at every turn. Nobody can explain how he is still alive - a man so ill-equipped and blind stinking drunk wouldn't stand a chance in the backstreets of the 41st millenium - but he is very much alive and kicking. A lot of this may be attributed to his remarkable talent for saving his own skin. In fact Rick has left behind him a veritable phonebook of dead friends, imprisoned partners-in-crime and tipped-off policemen, and it is a list that grows longer by the day.
The son of a henchman serving the Supernova Syndicate, Slick Rick was raised in an enviroment filled with blood, drugs, women and alcohol. He never knew his mother, and if he asked his father he would always be told with a smirk: 'she was one of the many that got away'. After Rick was left on the doorstep of a Supernova safehouse he was doomed to become the man he is today.
At thirteen has was to see his father gunned down by enforcers, and at fifteen see his best friend take a bullet between the eyes in a weapons deal gone bad. It was these two events that led him to adopt the philosophy of 'look out for number one', having learned that people die at the drop of a hat and to care for them would be rather silly. And so, in a drink-fuelled stupor he burst into the headquarters of the Supernova Syndicate, armed with two pistols with as much ammo as they would take, with the plan of wasting everybody inside and cracking the safe. However, Slick Rick proceeded to miss with every shot and somehow took out a power generator instead.
The lights went down, and to Rick the only memory of those few minutes is banging and screaming, but soon after he emerged into the street with a bullet in his leg, a bag of credits in his hands and a throbbing headache.
And so he had made his first enemies, but they would far from be his last. With the Supernova at his back and the enforcers closing in he had no choice but to jump onto the next shuttle heading off-world, toward an unkown destination and a bleak and blood soaked future. And Slick Rick would have been destined to be nothing more than another crook in a multitudinous history of deadbeats and gunslingers, were it not for what he was to find in the vault of an Imperial bank.
Whilst partaking in a little light robbery in the form of a bank heist that - as usual for Rick - had gone wrong, he was handed a bag of loot by one of his co-theives. Said co-theif was swiftly killed by security and Rick, taking this as his cue, left the bank robbers to their fate and vaulted through a back window, right into the midst of a K-9 unit. Guessing his proverbial goose to be cooked he was about to throw up his hands when the cyber-mastiffs turned on their handlers and ripped them into dog meat. Rick could only surmise that their circuitry was busted and took it upon himself to vacate the area with quite some haste, and hid himself in a nearby warehouse.
Later, once the chaos had cleared and his bank robber friends had all been gunned down or arrested, he felt it safe to open the loot, and suffice to say he was dissapointed. A few measly credits; some broken jewellery; a funny shaped orb; three velvet gloves. Not exactly the big score to see him into retirement. So he threw away the jewellery and the gloves and pocketed the credits, but could't bring himself to relinquish the orb. He tried, but it was as though some deeper part of him longed to keep it, and he couldn't explain it. He wouldn't be able to fence it and as a paperweight it would just roll off the desk, and so was useless. But still, he could not let it go, even despite its boring and unremarkable appearance.
And so the bank filed its insurance reports and informed its customers of the thefts, and within hours a man bearing the insignia of the Inquisition had stormed into the bank, bawled at the staff and shot the manager for incompetence.
And since then on numerous occasions Slick Rick has found himself the victim of ambushes by raging mutants and robed figures and, were it not for his timely efforts of thrusting women and children into their path, he might not have escaped as he had. And even with seemingly the whole galaxy out to get him and that blasted orb, he still finds himself unable to part with it. And he is beginning to come around to the idea that, with so many people interested in it, maybe it is valuable after all.
WS:50 BS:30 S:51 T:54 I:82 Wp:46 Sg:40 Nv:39 Ld:41
Equipment:
2 Stubbers with 2 reloads each and 1 Flechette bullet each
Flak Armour on chest, groin and arms
Knife
Mysterious Orb
Absolutely brilliant story and character!
I read the first paragraph and thought 'Oh God, here we go, it's a Mary-Sue, isn't it?', but persisted beyond. I quickly realised i'd been duped, and the story became the sort of thing I would expect to read in a Terry Pratchett novel.
I can't particularly comment on the stats, but i thought I'd comment just to say that it was a brilliant story with a wicked sense of humour. Thank you for brightening my evening.
EDIT: Actually, one thing - you may want to include that orb under the equipment section.
Wow, that's actually a really awesome backstory, well-written and very nice ^^
The stats seem pretty accurate for the type of man he's portrayed as too.
An amusing backstory, but I'll move on to the profile...
BS 30 is pretty well described as "never used a gun in their life - just about knows which end is the dangerous one", so I'd say it's on the low side.
I 82 - I've seen characters described as lightning fast assassins who sport lower Initiatives! I can understand you wanting to ensure he has a high speed to avoid the PCs just easily catching him, but Initiative values that high probably don't really belong in the hands of a "raving incompetent". A lower speed, but some skill that increases his running and sprinting rates would probably be a more appropriate solution.
I'd also suggest adding the Plain Dumb Luck skill - it sounds like he enjoys far more good fortune than he deserves, so that sounds like a good start.
Actually, Marco makes a good point with the I thing. As a suggestion for a skill to add in place of an exceptional initiative, what about
Skill: 'He who runs away lives to fight another day'* - When fleeing an opponent 'Slick' Rick gets to double his movement, provided he makes no actions other than those necessary to escape, and that he is running AWAY from danger (or at least what he perceives as away from danger - he may turn a corner to find a bigger threat!).
If double is perhaps too fast (20 yards instead of 10 may be pushing it) then what about 150%? Another effect you might consider is that if he fails the risky action of sprinting over difficult terrain (or jumping over obstacles etc...), he gets to re-roll, to represent his determination to place as much distance between he and his pursuers as possible.
*(a quote from the Skaven army book - i didn't make it up myself)
Or, alternatively, he could just be afforded re-rolls on some/all failed action dice if all his actions are "escaping" actions.
After all, it doesn't take much thinking to decide to keep running...
Love the character, reminds me a bit of my own dear Evandon. I've always liked characters whose personal motivations are not really anything to do with the inquisition but who nevertheless find themselves embroiled in its business.
BS 30 is generally 'no experience of firearms' but since from his background he seems to be an unusually poor shot it seems ok. I 82 is very high, and seems a touch out of place. Something is keeping him alive though, which seems to be an ability to size up a situation swiftly and act to secure his own safety, so on the mental awareness side of the initiative stat it makes some sense.
Thanks for replying, guys.
Quote from: Brother_Brimstone on March 09, 2010, 11:30:52 PMEDIT: Actually, one thing - you may want to include that orb under the equipment section.
Ah, good point. Thanks. :)
Quote from: MarcoSkoll on March 09, 2010, 11:54:39 PM
BS 30 is pretty well described as "never used a gun in their life - just about knows which end is the dangerous one", so I'd say it's on the low side.
Okay, thanks for that. I'm not familiar with power levels so thought even that sounded a little high. Would 35-40 be a better figure? He really is an awful marksman and I can see his skill with guns regressing as he has more adventures, rather than improving. I guess all the alchohol has soaked his brain or something.
Quote from: MarcoSkoll on March 09, 2010, 11:54:39 PMI 82 - I've seen characters described as lightning fast assassins who sport lower Initiatives! I can understand you wanting to ensure he has a high speed to avoid the PCs just easily catching him, but Initiative values that high probably don't really belong in the hands of a "raving incompetent". A lower speed, but some skill that increases his running and sprinting rates would probably be a more appropriate solution.
Oops, sorry if I've stepped too far here. The logic behind it was I wanted to represent his remarkable ability for self preservation; i.e he can't shoot straight, can't fight for toffee but is very quick to recognise when he's in danger and when it's time to leave and so would react before everybody else. I like the idea of giving him skills instead, and will lower his I. I'm thinking early to mid 60s?
Quote from: Brother_Brimstone on March 10, 2010, 12:13:53 AMSkill: 'He who runs away lives to fight another day'* - When fleeing an opponent 'Slick' Rick gets to double his movement, provided he makes no actions other than those necessary to escape, and that he is running AWAY from danger (or at least what he perceives as away from danger - he may turn a corner to find a bigger threat!).
If double is perhaps too fast (20 yards instead of 10 may be pushing it) then what about 150%?
This a great idea. It feels true to his character. I like the thought of it being 150% as then he'll be able to leg it, but won't disappear off the board before the game has had chance to get going. Thanks.
Big thanks for the feedback, guys. Keep it coming if there's anything else I'm being rubbish on.
Great stuff, Myriad. Thanks. I admit the I does seem a little high. How does this sound for a new statline?
WS:50 BS:35 S:51 T:54 I:66 Wp:46 Sg:40 Nv:39 Ld:41
Skill: Cowardly - Slick Rick sees fighting up close as a one way ticket to the morgue. If he succesfully breaks off from combat he may add an extra 50% to the distance in which he runs.