Gaming the Movies - The 'Hood: Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

So I recently picked up a copy of Groundhoggoth Game's The 'Hood.  I've been having a fun time reading through it.  As I was going through the pages I realized something.  Quite a few of the playbooks remind me of characters from the Guy Ritchie film, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.  So I thought it'd be a fun little exercise to look through the four main characters.  (It's a Guy Ritchie film there's a plethora of people that could be considered main characters.  But I'm just going to stick with the four mooks who get cheated out of their money at a card game and set off the events of the movie).  Then stat them up in the 'Hood.  Alright everyone let's Barf forth some Brittanica.

Our protagonists (I wouldn't dare call them heroes) from the left to the right.  Eddie, Bacon, Soap and Tom.

Eddie (The Borrower) 

Eddie acting as a plant and lookout while Bacon hawks stolen
jewelry.

Name: -1
Hush: +1
Brass: +1
Wise: +0
Straight: +2
Moves of Note: Scrounger
I'll be honest with you, Eddie was the hardest of the four to choose a playbook for.  The whole premise of the film is that he is two-bit crook who can hustle a few quid here or there.  But his main talent lies in cards and gambling with cards.  Yet from what we see in the movie he's not particularly good at his talent.  He's not particularly reliable, hence his Name of minus one.  He can be somewhat discreet, subtle and he's nothing if not bold (he enters a card game with notorious East-End gangster Hatchet Harry and sasses the man upon meeting him) hence his Hush and Brass of plus one.  He's not particularly smart though, he doesn't have a plan outside of climbing into a bottle.  When he loses the card game and honestly isn't aware of the fact that Harry was cheating.  Hence his Wise of plus zero (the lowest I could finagle with this particular playbook).  Otherwise he's pretty much a law-abiding citizen, other than hanging around with some unsavoury types.  I chose to make him a Borrower since  throughout the movie he seems to do nothing but leech off of his friends.  Relying on them to put together most of the hundred thousand pound stake in Hatchet Harry's card game.  He also seems to work primarily with Bacon for a source of income, a very parasitic activity.  When he's not leeching off of them he's leeching off of his father JD the owner of the local pub.  Hence why I chose the move Scrounger to reflect how JD turns his back on Eddie towards the end of the movie.

Bacon giving the best sales pitch I've ever heard to buy stolen
jewelry.

Bacon (The Merchant)
Name: +1
Hush: -1
Brass: +0
Wise: +2
Straight: +1
Moves of Note: Clearance Sale
When I first came up with the idea for this post, I knew Bacon was going to be The Merchant.  The opening scene of the movie has him hawking stolen jewelry on a street corner.  As he says "Handmade in Italy, hand-stolen in Steppney.  It's as long as my arm, I wish it was as long as something else."  (Apparently Jason Statham actually worked as a street vendor before making his debut with this film.  Watching this scene I can believe it).  He obviously has the credibility and the connections to get ahold of stolen merchandise.  Hence the plus one in Name.  He's not particularly subtle about selling his wares and according to the original script he got his nickname after getting arrested a lot when he was younger.  Hence his minus one to Hush.  He also appears to be the most Streetwise of the bunch, giving him a  Wise of plus two.  I went with the Clearance Sale move to reflect his street-hawking with Eddie as a lookout.  He seems more concerned with selling his stock for cash rather than hanging onto it.

Soap (The Drone)

The Knife Incident.

Name: +0
Hush: -1
Brass: +1
Wise: -1
Straight: +2
Moves of Note: Store Room, Office Supplies
Soap gets his name because he likes to keep his hands clean of anything illegal.  He's proud of his legitimate job as a Chef, so he was a natural pick for the Drone playbook.  He doesn't appear to be very well respected among the criminal community so I gave him plus zero Name.  He also isn't very subtle or good at keeping his mouth shut.  Demonstrated when he pulls out a bundle of knives in a Pub when it's decided that the lads are going to rob the neighbours.  By the same token he seems incredibly enthusiastic and determined about the whole thing.  So he gets minus one Hush and plus one Brass to reflect these characteristics.  Also due to the public display of the knives and a big fuck-off machete, as well as his distancing himself from the underworld.  He demonstrates that he's not the most streetwise of people earning him a minus one Wise.  I've gone ahead and given Soap the Store Room and Office Supplies move.  Again related to the incident where he shows up with a bundle of knives.  Now while they don't look like something you'd find in a kitchen knife-block.  It was a better choice for the character than any of the other moves.

Tom in the middle of negotiations with Nick the Greek.

Tom (The Go-Between)
Name: +2
Hush: +1
Brass: +1
Wise: +0
Straight: -1
Moves of Note: Negotiator, Fence
Tom has a lot in common with Bacon in that he sells stolen merchandise.  He's not a street vendor though and he seems to be the character most involved in illegal dealings.  Since when they decide to rob the neighbours he's the one who does the negotiating with Nick the Greek.  In order the sell the weed on to a potential buyer.  So I personally think that that makes him a Go-Between.  As the narrator says he's the entrepreneur of the group.  He's seems incredibly well-respected in the underworld (despite constant jokes about him being fat when he's in fact skinny) earning him a plus two in Name.  While he's also much more discreet than seemingly anyone else in the group.  Earning a plus one to Hush.  He also seems quite bold and determined reflected in how handles himself when Nick tries to give him the run-around.  I went with the lowest Wise there was for the Go-Between Playbook since he hangs onto the incriminating shotguns.  Instead of disposing of them, all because he wants to get back the seven-hundred quid he paid for them.  Again he's the most crooked of the bunch so he has the lowest straight.  I went with Negotiator to reflect how wonderfully he handles Nick trying to screw him over.  "Not when the price is two-hundred pounds and not when you've got Liberia's deficit in your sky-rocket."  Fence is kind of self-explanatory since that seems to be his primary job.

So there you have it, the four main protagonists from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.  Statted up with playbooks from the 'Hood.  This was a fun little experiment for me.  I hope you guys enjoyed reading it.  Until next time be sure to +1, comment, follow and reshare.  Box cars all around and have a nice day.    

Night Witches: Character Concepts the Return

So a while back I wrote some character concepts for Night Witches.  You can find those here.  Essentially they're characters I came up with after an initial glance at the prompts in the Night Witches playbooks.  I've been wanting to write a continuation to that post for quite some time now.  Only now am I finally getting around to it.  So without further ado here they are.  (Now with pictures courtesy of Marc Benson over at the Night Witches Google+ Community).

Sergeant Hanna Ruttmann 

Something like what Hannah looks like.  Perhaps a
little older and more haggard looking after her time
in the gulag.

Sex: Female
Uniform: Threadbare
Body: Cringing
Eyes: Cold
Home Town: Verkhoyansk (Siberia)
Who you write to back home: No one

Hanna is a Sparrow Zealot, a combination of someone devoted to the Soviet state, while trying to run away from their past.  In Hanna's case she is not devoted to the Soviet Army out of any kind of loyalty.  Rather she is loyal because she knows better than anyone what the state can do to those they suspect of treason.  Verkhoyansk was the camp where she and her family were held after the German invasion of the Rodina.  As Volga Germans they were taken from their village outside of Saratov and their possessions confiscated.  Hanna was eventually released from the gulag at Verkhoyansk, due to a need for trained pilots (she had received training in an agricultural club) and for her cooperation with the NKVD, while in the camp.  It has turned into a deal with the devil as the Politruks now expect her further cooperation on threat of being sent back.  A fate she is determined to avoid, she'd prefer going to hell for suicide over returning to Verkhoyansk.  I see Hanna more as a replacement character rather than being an initial member of the regiment.

Sergeant Maryam Bakradze

Maryam, the photo might be a candid shot of her in the
middle of a joke.

Sex: Female
Uniform: Tattered
Body: Wiry
Hands: Calloused
Home Town: Krasnodar
Who you write to back home: Your sister Sonya

Maryam is a pigeon a bird that is vaguely ridiculous and most comfortable in a crowd.  Essentially she's a the class clown.  Always cracking jokes at both her own expense, the expense of others and the expense of the brass.  She's also kind of wild and tends to do things that are sort of ill-advised.  Sort of like how a pigeon will fly into a window, she'll fly a little dangerously.  As such I can see her alternating between the two roles of Adventurer and Misanthrope.  Also unlike a lot of characters there's an opportunity to meet her family.  Since her hometown of Krasnodar is near one of the Regiment's duty stations.  There's an opportunity to really show the hardship of war by having something happen to her family during the fighting around Krasnodar.  This character is somewhat inspired by Sergeant William "Gonorrhea" Guarnere from Band of Brothers.

What Vera probably wants to look like by the end
of the war against the Hitlerite bandits.

Junior Lieutenant Vera "just Vera, thanks" Gromova
Sex: Female
Uniform: Full dress
Body: Aristocratic
Face: Handsome
Home Town: Suzdal
Who you write to back home: Mother and father

Vera is a Raven, a carrion bird that feeds off of corpses.  Which reflects her leadership style to a tee.  She is not afraid to throw a superior officer or a comrade under the bus if it advances her career.  If sacrificing the lives of her airwomen means a successful mission.  You can bet that she'll sacrifice them without a second thought.  If other officers are fathers to their men, then she is a deadbeat.  I imagine her bouncing back and forth between Zealot and Leader.  Zealot if she is not in control and Leader since she advances if one of her section dies under her command.  Reflecting her leadership style.  She is largely inspired by David Schwimmer's portrayal of Herbert Sobel in Band of Brothers.

So there you have it three more natural-born Soviet Airwomen.  Feel free to just read for entertainment purposes or use them in your own game if you feel a little uncreative when creating characters.  Be sure to +1, comment, reshare, and follow.  As always have a nice day and may the dice be ever in your favour. 

Masks the New Generation: Character Concepts

Once again I have decided to do some character concepts for another Powered by the Apocalypse game.  This time I decided to take a crack at Magpie Games' game of teenage Superheroes.  Masks the New Generation.  A game meant to portray stories, reminiscent of Young Justice or X-Men Evolution.  The drama that results when you take the angst of being a teenager and then throw in Superpowers.  You can find the play-sheets here.  Without further ado let's jump into our first character concept.

Kensei (The Beacon Playbook)

Real Name: Brandon Williams   

Gender: Man

Ethnicity: Asian or South Asian

Face: Smiling

Clothing: Stylish 

Costume: Gaudy 

Abilities: Swords and Martial Arts

Brandon's playbook is that of a Beacon.  One that doesn't have any particularly extraordinary powers and no real purpose to be a hero.  Other than that it's fun.  In Brandon's case it's all he ever wanted to be.  His grandparents are descendants of a Samurai family that later ran a Kendo school in Japan.  A heritage they later came to be ashamed of once World War Two ended.  With their country in ruin and their livelihood outlawed by the occupying American government.  They cast aside their past and immigrated to Halcyon City and from that point on became obsessed with Americanizing themselves.  They even went so far as to push Brandon's mother into marrying an American.  

They of course didn't count on Brandon learning about his family's past.  Which he discovered when his elementary school assigned a project on family history.  Discovering his family's past awakened something in him, something that he had always been searching for.  A purpose something to dedicate himself, an ideal.  From that moment on he knew that he wanted to become a modern-day samurai.  Somebody dedicated to virtuous warriordom.  (The ideal isn't exactly realistic or historically accurate.  But then again nothing about being a superhero is). 

Backstory

How did you gain your skills?

Brandon ended up dedicating himself to learning various martial arts after his revelation.   Including Karate, Judo and most importantly Kendo.  He dual-wields, but has no formal training in that style. 

When did you first put on your costume?

Shortly after he finally had all the necessary pieces.  His first time taking it out in public?  On a small-time patrol against a neighbourhood grocery store stickup.

Who, outside of the team, thinks you shouldn't be a superhero?

It would most definitely be his parents and grandparents.  If they knew, they'd be horrified.  Otherwise it could be any number of established heroes who think Brandon's way in over his head.

Why do you try to be a hero? 

Brandon tries to be a hero, because he believes that it brings out the best in him.  It's the same as the samurai ideal, that he idolizes.  He's at his best when he's saving people and fighting evil-doers.  

Why do you care about the team? 

The team is a brotherhood.  A group of likeminded individuals, with similar powers that he can interact with.  He see kindred spirits in them, ones that he could never find anywhere else.  

As you can see Brandon is a little overeager and perhaps naive about this whole hero thing.  Which I think fits perfectly for the Beacon playbook, which is meant to be something of a thrill seeker.  For starting moves I would personally pick Won't Let You Down to reflect his enthusiasm for teamwork.  I would also pick Suck it Domitian to reflect his dedication to the ideals of Bushido.  Later on down the road I could also see him taking No Powers and not nearly enough training.  He also seems to have an affinity for taking moves from the Legacy or Janus playbooks. 

I imagine this is somewhat like what the original design for Kensei's costume looked like.
This was created on Hero Machine 2.5

Myrmidon (The Legacy Playbook)

Real Name: Alexandra Ormond 

Gender: Transgressing

Ethnicity: White 

Clothing: School Uniform

Costume: Traditional 

Insignia: None 

Abilities: Divine Armour, Magic Weaponry, God-Like Beauty (Legacy Powers she doesn't have: mythic might, legendary speed). 

The Legacy is the latest member of a long tradition of a superheroes and Alexandra Ormond is no different.  Her legacy is the hero Myrmidon.  The legacy is passed down through a suit of armour and weapons, that her great great grandfather Aristotle Ormond a British Archaeologist (and contemporary of T.E. Lawrence, though it might be more fitting to call him a grave-robber) found while on a dig near Anatolia while looking for the ruins of Troy.  The armour became part of Aristotle's private collection of artifacts, which followed him to America when he immigrated to Halcyon City after World War 1.  It was eventually inherited by his son Alexander Ormond the First.  Alexander the First discovered the divine power of the collection by accident.  When his home was burglarized by members of the Thule Society in the late 1930s.  He put the Nazi burglars to flight and shortly thereafter took up the persona of Myrmidon!  Fighting against whatever evils plagued the nation, ultimately fighting in costume for the United States when World War 2 rolled around.

Since then there have been two other Myrmidons and two other Alexander Ormonds.  Alexander Ormond the Third was Alexandra's father, who died during the Bronze Age.  Becoming the first Myrmidon in the history of the legacy to fall in battle with the enemy.  Shortly before Alexandra was born.  Refusing to let the legacy die with his only son, Alexander Ormond the Second (still alive but retired from a life of heroism) took it upon himself to train his granddaughter in the ways of combat.  In hopes that the family tradition would never die.

Legacy
Name the different members of your legacy (at least two):

Alexander Ormond the Second is retired and quite judgemental.  Nothing Alexandra ever does seems to live up to his high expectations.  Besides being a disappointment on account of her sex.  Alexandra has also failed to manifest the signature mythic might and legendary speed of the Myrmidon legacy.  Instead only being able to wear the armour, wield the weapons and having the traditional good looks of the Greek Heroes of old.  Only being able to really look the part, rather than actually playing it.

Ares the God of War is the greatest opponent your legacy has ever faced...and is still at large.  The God of War has been a foe ever since Alexander the First faced him during World War 2.  When the god was revealed to have been supporting Nazi Germany from behind the scenes!  Since then he has been a constant thorn in the side of the Myrmidons.  He was also the one responsible for the death of Alexandra's father!

Background
When did you officially become a part of your legacy?
Despite being trained to fight with spear, sword and shield in full armour since childhood.  The collection's powers only manifested when Alexandra turned fifteen.  The traditional age at which boys in Ancient Greece were considered to be men.  As you can guess this hasn't done much for her self-esteem.

What's the greatest accomplishment of your legacy?
The defeat of Ares during the fall of Berlin in 1945.

How does the public perceive your legacy?
With an attitude akin to "Cerebus the Three-Headed Dog that guards the underworld has been unleashed in the land of the living, somebody get Myrmidon!"  Otherwise they a pretty much left in peace, ignored and only called upon when something requiring their special skills happens.  Kind of like how you only call upon a hero who constantly time-travels when you need something to do with time-travel fixed.

How does you legacy tie into your reasons for being a hero?
It doesn't.  Alexandra was never asked if she wanted to be a hero.  It was just expected of her as a child (note the term) Myrmidon legacy.  It's a burden that was forced upon her from birth, which has brought her nothing but stress, disdain and a gender identity crisis.  If she could walk away from it, she probably would.

Why do you care about the team?
Simply put, because they're the only friends that she has.  Her grandfather never let her have a normal childhood, which includes friends.  They were weaknesses that could be used against her, nosey children that could accidentally uncover the identity of the family.  Unleash unspeakable evils of the Ancient World.  They were never allowed over at the Ormond's Mansion and she was never allowed to leave the house for what her grandfather referred to as "childish games".  He tolerates the team because they are "peers" rather than friends, fellow heroes and potential allies.  For the first time in her life Alexandra has a group of people that can be thought of as friends.  That's why she care's about the team.    

Alexandra is someone who struggles with her identity.  In that she doesn't have one other than what her Legacy tells her it should be.  That's partly why I put her gender as transgressing.  She knows that her grandfather begrudges her being born a girl when all of the Legacy's members have been men.  Yet he has always treated her the same way he might treat a boy.  Making such comments as "Take it like a man" or "You fight like a girl" all of which are comments he frequently makes during daily sparring.  She's not sure what she's supposed to be and has never been given an opportunity to figure it out for herself.  It's part of the reason I think one of her starting moves should be The Legacy Matters.  To reflect the control that her Grandfather has over her.  I also think she should have the move I Know What I Am.  For the one thing that she has clarity in her life about.  She knows that she cares about her teammates, it's one of the only things in her life that feels right and normal.  Later on down the line, I can see her gaining the mythic might and legendary speed as she matures.  Which will be a major milestone for her character.

What the Myrmidon armour and weapons look like in the display case at the Ormond mansion.
Also created with Hero Machine 2.5

Inferno (The Nova Playbook)

Real Name: Dante Torres

Gender: Man
Ethnicity: Hispanic/Latino
Skin: Normal
Clothing: Dark
Costume: None
Abilities: Elemental Control (Fire)

Dante's creation owes a lot to the character Warren Peace, from the Disney movie Sky High.  That character's concept always interested me, a teenager that has a mom who's a Super Hero and dad who is a Super Villain.  Dante was the result of my desire to explore this interesting concept.  What happens when a Super Hero and a Super Villain have a child?  What sort of conflict can arise from such a relationship.  I decided early on that Dante is the son of two Bronze age supers.  A superhero that upheld the values of her Silver Age predecessors named Firebird.  His father a former Protege or Beacon type super (who I have not come up with a name for) that slowly became disillusioned with Heroism, slowly sliding into Anti-Hero vigilantism, before finally going full-blown super-villain.  Sort of along the lines of the Red Hood.  I figured that was the only way such a relationship could really result, as people who fall in love tend to share similar ideals (at least at first).  The couple eventually separated (divorced) after Dante's father escaped from a intervention on the part of some of his former super-heroic colleagues.

Background
When did you first use your powers?  Who was the first person you accidentally hurt with your powers?
The answer to these questions is linked.  When Dante was thirteen years old, his Dad showed up after having been missing for almost eight years.  Dante hadn't seen him since he was about five.  He remembered the man who had been his father, had been someone he'd looked up to and been proud of.  So rather than contacting any of his mother's colleagues he went for a walk with his dad.  Just to hear him out.  As the conversation wore on though Dante realized he didn't like what his father had to say.  When dear old dad grabbed him in a fit of rage, that's when it happened.  Dante unleashed a burst of flames that horribly scarred the entire right side of his face.  The enraged Super-Villain fled under a stream of curses, screams of pain and the smell of burning flesh.  That was six years ago.

Who outside the team helps you control your powers?
The answer would be Firebird Dante's mother.  Their powers are almost identical so she is naturally the best candidate when it comes to the technical aspect.  The problem is that Dante is almost as estranged with his mom as he is with his dad.  Talking with her tends to make him angry, which in turn tends to make it harder to control his powers.  The techniques are solid, when he uses them.  It's just that going through the learning process with her infuriates him.

Why do you continue to use your powers?
Honestly if he could he would just shut them off and leave them it at that.  Unfortunately trouble has a way of following Dante wherever he goes.  The kind of trouble that usually requires him to use his powers against it.

Why do you care about the team?
He doesn't, they just keep turning up where he is.  Further dragging him into a world where he doesn't want to be.  I guess deep down despite his reluctance Dante still inherited his parent's desire to see right done in the world.

Now for Dante's demeanour locked down is the obvious choice.  He doesn't like to get close to people, the way he sees it.  Everyone he's ever been close to has ended up hurting him in the end.  First his Mother when she told him that Dad was never coming home.  Then his Dad when he finally did come home.  In terms of Moves Dante can probably choose whatever Flares seem appropriate.  Later on down the line he might want to pick up moves from the Bull and the Delinquent Playbooks.

Warren Peace the inspiration for Dante.

So there you have it three character concepts for Masks a New Generation.  I had a lot of fun writing these and I hope you enjoyed reading them.  Feel free to use these these in your own game if you need inspiration or the like.  Be sure to +1 and Re-share.  Have a good day and may your rolls always be high.

World Wide Wrestling RPG: Character Concepts

Now to start with, I am not a fan of wrestling.  I grew up without cable or satellite as a kid (we watched movies on the VCR).  As a result I never saw wrestling on television.  I grew up to be a nerd in the years leading up to and including High School.  Sports of any kind were out, in terms of watching them, they just didn't interest me.  To this day I don't even get excited when the Olympics are being streamed on Youtube or the like.
So why am I interested in the WWW RPG if I have no interest in Wrestling itself.  It's because Wrestling isn't a sport, it's theatre.  I have a background in theatre and writing, so while I might not be interested in a particular medium.  I am always interested in a well executed story.  The World Wide Wrestling RPG by Nathan D. Paoletta is the the game that taught me that.  You can find the game's website here.  Reading the game as Nathan presents it really sets my blood to boiling.  The same way it boiled when I watched Fury Road or when I hold the wooden sword I have in my room.  It unleashes that wave of testosterone everybody gets when they do something, that's kind of ridiculous but at the same time so freaking cool!  So in honour of this wave of crazy testosterone I thought I'd write up some character concepts for the WWW RPG.  These are just some awesome Wrestlers that I thought up after taking a glance at the Gimmicks for WWW RPG.  Feel free to use them in your own game or just read for the entertainment value.

Black Knight (The Monster Gimmick)
This ain't your Monty Python's Black Knight.  This guy is one bad dude.  No one knows where he came from and he never talks about it, he's too busy bashing his opponents onto the canvas.  I imagine his entrance as overblown and kind of odd.  It involves him riding out on a gigantic Shire Horse in full jousting tack, while he sits atop in full armour.  (Sword, lance and all).  Meanwhile a medieval cover of War Pigs kind of like this plays, while the lights are dimmed and smoke machines bathe the stadium in mist.  He's meant to feel otherworldly, like he's stepped through the fabric of myth and time to do battle against the modern era's mightiest warriors.  His costume in the ring is made-up of a black tunic/surcoat and his head is covered by a Great Helm at all times (a great Prize for "for the Mask" match. For those of you concerned about safety the WWW-RPG rulebook does say that this is wrestling if it had an unlimited Special Effects Budget).  Black Knight is definitely a Heel, there is no question about it, his gimmick is based on one of the oldest villains in Western Storytelling.  I very much see him as having the Intimidating Move to start.  As well as the "Not of this World" move.  His signature match would be "The Battle of the Bridge" like the old stories.  If you want to cross the bridge you have to defeat the Black Knight that's guarding it.  I'm imagining they actually replace the ordinary mat with a replica of a stone bridge and put it over a pool filled with water.  Whoever gets dunked first, loses.

Demon King Nobunaga (The Ace Gimmick)
This previous winter I really got into the Sengoku era of Japanese History.  So that's what inspired this character, I decided to use to the Ace from the International Incident to represent the first Shogun since the Sengoku started.  Demon King Nobunaga is top of his division and Creative really plays this fact up.  They give him the biggest budget possible for his entrance.  Which is High-Concept and Production filled.  The entrance involves him being proceeded by an army of extras dressed in replica Sengoku-era foot-soldier armour.  Carried in on a portable shrine (like the kind you might see at a Japanese festival) surrounded by a harem of models dressed as (incredibly sexualized) Geishas.  All of this while a J-Rock song by the Japanese equivalent of Sabaton (about one of Oda Nobunaga's greatest victories) plays over the loud speakers.  I imagine Demon King Nobunaga as looking something like a beefed up version of Toshiro Mifune in Throne of Blood.  Dressed in a sleeveless kimono in the Oda colours of Black and Yellow.  I definitely believe that his starting move should be Amazing Entrance since it's meant to have the biggest budget of the division.  To overshadow any other player character's entrance, to give them something to aspire to pull the rug out from under.  It goes without saying that the Demon King is a Heel.

The Kid (The Technician Gimmick)
The Kid is a relative newcomer to the division.  He started out as an indie wrestler in his home city of Calgary.  Where he was discovered by one of the division's scouts.  They latched onto him and gave him his persona The Kid.  The Kid is a modern-day cowboy, creative wants to turn him into something of an American Icon.  (Again he's Canadian)  I personally wanted thought that a subplot about a minor scandal over his origins would be kind of interesting.  Speaking as someone who's been on the internet for a while, fans tend to latch onto the stupidest little details.  (Such as an American Icon actually being from Canada).  The Kid's entrance is Generic and kind of Easy.  He rides in on a Harley Davidson, while Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive plays.  The Kid's costume is made up of a Poncho (ala Clint Eastwood in the Dollars Trilogy), Boots and the ever-present Hat with stampede string.  In terms of moves I would give him Versatile (meant to reflect the Outlaw nature of his persona) and Excellence of Execution, to get the most out of his finishing move.  Speaking of his finishing move, The Kid is the only one these characters that I've given a named finishing move.  His finishing move is the Bronco Buster (it's really just a Camel Clutch, some announcer called the Bronco Buster and the name stuck, much to The Kid's Dismay).

So there you have it.  My attempt at creating a stable of Wrestlers for the Worldwide Wrestling RPG. Be sure to +1, share and comment if you liked this post.  Have a nice day and may the dice be ever in your favour.

Night Witches: Character Concepts

I love the Powered by the Apocalypse Game Night Witches by Bull Pulpit Games.  Unfortunately I don't get a lot of opportunity to play it.  Due to a lack of players and interest from the players that I do have.  I also don't get a lot of opportunities to actually play as a player.  So I thought I'd write up some character concepts that pop into my head after cursory glances over the Playbooks.  All of these characters use prompts from their respective Playbooks.  The only thing that is new about them is how I've interpreted those choices to make characters that I find interesting.

Junior Lieutenant Yulia Salenkova
Sex: Female
Uniform: Ill-fitting
Body: Broken
Eyes: Expressive
Home Town: Bryansk
Who you write to back home: Your dead Child
Yulia is a Sparrow a bird prone to flying away from its problems.  She comes from Bryansk a town that was overrun by the Hitlerite Bandits early on in the war.  During the initial invasion she lost her young daughter and was separated from her husband (who perhaps can show up a soldier or a partisan later on in the game).  Yulia is a Dreamer, she lives in her own world.  A world where her daughter is safe and well staying with relatives far from the front.  Mentally she is broken and defeated, deep down she joined the 588th as a way to commit suicide by War.  I imagine her using the move Reach Out a lot to write letters to dead daughter.  Accumulating a bundle of unsent letters that her comrades might discover in her foot-locker in the event of her death.  As a game progresses she might evolve to become a Protector and constantly volunteer to act as Vedomaya for other aircraft.  A huge inspiration for this character is that of Calamity Jane as portrayed by Larry McMurtry in his book Buffalo Girls.

Sergeant Polina "Polya" Makarova
Sex: Female
Uniform: Sloppy
Body: Tough
Eyes: Laughing
Home Town: Zhelenogorsk
Who you write to back home: your baby sister Valya
Polya is from Zhelenogorsk, compared to Saratov or some of the other places in Western Russia it's in the middle of no-where.  Her father wanted two sons, but ended up with Polya and her baby sister Valya.  She received her training as a pilot from the local youth agricultural club.  Polya is a Hawk and something of tom-boy.  I see her starting out as an Adventurer and slowly becoming a Misanthrope.  Only avoiding disciplinary action on account of her skill at the stick and a chestful of medals.  The one thing I decided when I came up with her concept was that she wouldn't be a rank climber.  Meaning she wouldn't sleep with higher ups to advance her career.  For all of her wild behaviour Polya is an incredibly chaste girl.  In fact having grown up in the country she knows to be suspicious of boys that sweet talk.  Since usually all they want is a roll in the hay.

Junior Lieutenant Dariya "Dasha" Yegorova 
Sex: Female
Uniform: Regulation
Body: Graceful
Face: Honest
Home Town: Moscow
Who you write to back home: "The Editor"
Dasha is an Owl and a Zealot.  A bit of a cliche when it comes to Night Witches.  What makes her special is the reasoning for this combination.  She's an undercover correspondent for Pravda, the Soviet Propaganda newspaper.  I don't see Dasha as being a Zealot in the traditional sense of an unflinching fanatic.  I more see her as an enthusiastic student that truly believes in Marxism.  Perhaps not realizing that the reality of the Soviet State is not the same as what she reads and writes in her literature.  A huge inspiration for the character is Joseph Fiennes character in Enemy at the Gates.  I see Dasha as latching onto a Ace Pilot among the group (someone playing the Hawk Playbook would do nicely) and reporting on their exploits.  For an advancement the Raven move Permanent File would be a great way of simulating her articles in Pravda.  

So there you have it three Natural Born Soviet Airwomen.  Feel free to use these concepts in your own game if you like.  If you like this post be sure to comment and +1, who knows I might write a sequel.