Famous Characters As Inspiration

[Fedifensor]

We're currently working on concepts for our first Dresden Files game, and my wife got the idea of creating a bouncer character for a mage bar from the movie Road House.  So, I thought it would be interesting to start a thread for characters from various media sources (movies, TV, comics, etc) that could be used as inspiration for PCs.  I know there have been a few threads highlighting individual characters or series, but it would be good to have a central thread to search for ideas.

However, I would like to set one ground rule - because these are meant to be inspiration for PCs, I'm limiting the maximum power level to Submerged.  Anything higher would be more suited to a solo game, or a version of the character with experience.  For example, Kevin Matchstick is beyond Submerged level at the current point in the Mage comics...but could easily be done at Submerged for his starting power level.

I'll start the ball rolling with Dalton, from Road House:

Dalton (James Dalton)

High Concept:  Not Your Typical Bouncer
Trouble:  "It'll Get Worse Before It Gets Better"

Background:  "Just Lucky, I Guess"
Dalton is well-educated, with a degree in philosophy from NYU.

Rising Conflict: "Pain Don't Hurt"
Despite his education, Dalton has a background that drove him to become a bouncer.

First Adventure (Double Deuce):  "I Thought You'd Be Bigger"
Guest-Starring:  "Doc" Brown, Frank Tilghman, Wade Garritt
Dalton takes a job in a road house that has gotten far too rough. His attempts to clean up the bar put him in conflict with Brad Wesley, the town bully and rich person.

Guest Star (Learning The Trade):  "Be Nice...Until It's Time To Not Be Nice"
Whose Story Was This?:  Wade Garritt
Dalton is taught how to be a bouncer by legendary cooler Wade Garritt.

Guest Star Redux (Kill Or Be Killed): "Nobody Wins A Fight"
Whose Story Was This?:  Unknown (Married Woman)
Who Else Was In It?: Wade Garritt
Dalton gets involved with a woman, unaware that she is married.  The woman's husband pulls a gun and Dalton has to kill or be killed.

Skills:
Superb: Fists
Great: Alertness, Discipline
Good: Endurance, Might, Presence
Fair: Athletics, Empathy, Intimidate, Weapons
Average:  Contacts, Conviction, Driving, Resources, Scholarship

Mortal Stunts:
-1             Footwork (use Fists for all dodge rolls) - Dalton is hard to hit in a fight
-1             Killing Blow (spend 1 Fate for +3 shifts - 1/scene) - This is used in the final fight with Jimmy
-1             Lethal Weapon (W:2 vs no armor, W:1 vs Armor:1) - Dalton can kill with his hands
-1             Martial Arts (roll Fists for some assessments and declares) - Dalton is capable of sizing up foes to gain an advantage
-1             Redirected Force (auto-maneuver on next action after successful defense in close-combat) - Dalton is good at turning the tables on foes in close-combat
-1             Teflon Persona (Armor:1 vs social attacks if known) - Dalton has a rep that makes people think twice about crossing him
-1             Tough Stuff (Armor:1 vs blunt trauma) - Dalton only seems to get seriously hurt when knives or guns are used
-1             Windfall (spend 1 Fate for +4 Resources - 1/adventure) - Dalton lives cheaply, but owns a Mercedes

+2            Pure Mortal

Total Refresh Adjustment:  -6 (Pure Mortal)
Refresh:  4

Stress:
Physical: OOOO
Mental:   OOO
Social:    OOOO
Armor:  1 versus social attacks (if known), 1 versus blunt trauma (fists, sticks, stones)

I think Jack Burton was posted in an earlier thread, so I may try my hand at a beginning version of the Mage characters next (Kevin Matchstick, Edsel, and Sean).

[Fedifensor]

Next up, Kevin Matchstick.  He's pretty tough to do on Submerged, given that he's run over by a subway train in the first chapter of The Hero Discovered.  However, I think I've managed it.  This will be a bit less detailed than Dalton's writeup - if you want more detail, you can find a link to buy the books at Matt Wagner's homepage.

Kevin Matchstick

High Concept: The Reluctant Hero
Trouble:  If You Doubt Everything, You're Never Disappointed
Other Aspects:  Get Me Down From Here!, Seeing Is Believing, Emotion Is The Quickest Form Of Power, Isolation Is My Refuge, The Eternal Struggle Fuels My Power

Skills (7 points unspent):
Superb: Endurance
Great: Might
Good: Athletics, Fists, Weapons
Fair: Alertness, Intimidation, Presence
Average: Discipline, Driving, Rapport, Resources

Powers:
-1             Emissary of Power (Chosen by the Eternal Struggle)
-4             Supernatural Strength - Can punch through a brick wall
-4             Supernatural Toughness - He was run over by a train!
(+1)            The Catch: Grackleflint Venom, Not Serving the Eternal Struggle

Total Refresh Adjustment:  -8
Refresh:  2

Stress:
Physical: OOOO[OOOO]
Mental:   OO
Social:    OOO
Armor:  2 (must be serving the eternal struggle, not versus Grackleflint venom)

Advancement:  Kevin uses his first Major Milestone to buy Inhuman Recovery, and then saves up for a rather expensive Item of Power (the bat) that upgrades his Strength and Toughness to Mythic.  For skills, he starts by increasing Fists, adds minor skills like Investigation and Stealth, and eventually (after getting the bat) upgrades Weapons.  His High Concept eventually becomes The Pendragon Reborn, and he trades out Get Me Down From Here! (his fear of heights) with I Have Accepted My Destiny.

EDIT:  I went ahead and dropped Toughness from Mythic to Supernatural...that allows for an upgrade once he gets the bat.  Maybe he just got lucky when the train ran over him, or the GM allowed him to roll Endurance to resist the damage.  I also gave him Emissary of Power, to reflect his birthright as the Pendragon (which the Umbra Sprite knows about).

[Fedifensor]

Continuing with the characters from Mage: The Hero Discovered - here's Sean Knight.

Sean Knight

High Concept: The Not-So-Friendly Ghost
Trouble:  Losing His Memories
Other Aspects:  Protect Kevin Matchstick At All Costs, Stuck In A Pantomime Of My Old Life, I Believe But I'm Reluctant to Embrace My Destiny, I Was A Damn Good Public Defender

Skills (5 points unspent):
Superb: Intimidation
Great: Alertness, Investigation
Good: Contacts, Scholarship
Fair: Burglary, Conviction, Stealth
Average: Empathy, Endurance, Lore, Presence, Rapport

Powers:
-5             Spirit Form (Poltergeist)
-4             Supernatural Toughness
(+1)             The Catch: Attacks that disrupt ectoplasm, uncovered by research
-1             Supernatural Sense: Detect Supernatural Things (uses Alertness)

Total Refresh Adjustment:  -9
Refresh:  1

Stress:
Physical: OOO[OOOO]
Mental:   OOO
Social:    OOO
Armor:  2

Advancement:  Sean uses his first few Major Milestones to buy a few miscellaneous ghost powers which could be lumped into a form of Sponsored Magic.  He then increases his Toughness to Mythic, though it is not enough to protect him from the worm of the mists, Cromm Cruich.  Finally, he purchases Swift Transition (-2), reflecting his ability to transport himself to the fey realms (his accidental transition when he meets Mirth and Kevin was a plot device, or done by spending a Fate point).  For skills, he works on increasing Lore (assisted by Mirth) and various skills that help him track down the Grackleflints (Investigation, Contacts, etc).

[Archmage_Cowl]

If i ever have time to get around to it i may try my hand at raistlin majere from dragon lance. He has basically been my inspiration to play a mage since... wel almost forever lol.

[Jeckel]

That would be awesome, Raistlin is the man.

[Steed]

Here's a couple little quick ideas for a couple characters from Sin City.  It's basically just the High Concept, Trouble, and some suggested Aspects, and a couple suggested skills.  Unless noted, these are all assumed to be at a Submerged level.  I don't know if you could do many characters from Sin City at a lower level.

Marv
High Concept:  Heroic Sociopath
Trouble:  "I get confused sometimes."
Aspects:  Because She Was Nice To Me, Gladys, "Sometimes I ask pretty hard." "Is that the best you can do, you pansies?", "Walk down the right back alley in Sin City and you can find anything."
Suggested Skills:
Superb:  Fists
Great:  Endurance, maybe Firearms
Good:  Empathy (Marv appears to be surprisingly good at reading people when he's not worried about being confused)

Now, for two versions of the same character!  I justify this because, if you've read the comics, Dwight McCarthy is very different in A Dame To Kill For and The Big Fat Kill.  They're almost two different characters, honestly.  The first Dwight could conceivably be done at a lower refresh level than Submerged, the second, probably not.

Dwight McCarthy (circa A Dame To Kill For)
High Concept:  Thug Trying To Go Respectable (At the beginning of A Dame To Kill For, Dwight's a guy with a wild past trying to go semi-respectable.  Working for a sleazy PI is probably not his greatest choice ever.)
Trouble:  Real Bad Temper
Aspects:  Sucker For The Dames (this will become his Trouble from The Big Fat Kill onward) Lapsed Wild Child, Big Scary Friend (It's established in A Dame To Kill For that Dwight and Marv are actually pretty good friends.)
Skills:
Superb:  Firearms
Great:  Burglary (he was working as the camera jockey for a sleazy PI, dude's probably had to break into his share of places) Investigation
Good:  Fists, Contacts

Dwight McCarthy (circa The Big Fat Kill)
High Concept:  Reluctant White Knight
Trouble:  Sucker For The Dames
Aspects:  "Nobody's killing anybody." (Invoke could involve gaining/maintaining control of a situation and keeping it from escalating, compels should probably involve situations where he really should go right for his guns but is compelled not to.)  Gail's Buttmonkey (Gail is largely responsible for a lot of the trouble Dwight gets into from The Big Fat Kill on.  She's also responsible for saving his ass on numerous occasions.)  Friend's With A Ninja (Deadly little Miho becomes an ally in one of the later graphic novels.)  Nickel-plated Colt .45s (While not as iconic as Gladys, Dwight seems to prefer his Shadow guns.)  Unflappable (From The Big Fat Kill on, Dwight never really seems to get all that bothered by anything.  Including being captured by the bad guys.)  Always Pays His Debts (His dedication to the girls of Old Town goes beyond just being a sucker for the dames.  He owes them more than he can ever repay and he knows it.  But he's going to try anyway.)
Skills:  would mostly be the same

Now for Hartigan.  I'm only doing the one version, since even though lots of time passes during his story, he doesn't really change beyond losing the "bum ticker".  It will be included as one of two suggested Troubles, though.

John Hartigan
High Concept:  The Only Honest Cop in Sin City
Trouble:  Bum Ticker/That One Last Case
Aspects:  His Own Moral Code, To Serve And Protect (He's probably the only cop in Sin City that would get this one.)  Bum Ticker or That One Last Case (whichever wasn't used for the Trouble should be an Aspect, in my opinion) Deadly Enemy (Junior)
Skills:
Superb:  Conviction and Discipline (if a scantily clad Jessica Alba was throwing herself at you, would you be able to resist?)
Great:  Investigation, Firearms
Good:  Contacts, Empathy, Endurance

That's all I've got for now.  You might see a more Dresdenverse version of Hartigan from me later though, because I'm quite taken with the idea of him being a Warden that was about a week away from retirement when the Vampire War broke out.  Now he's one of the few older Wardens left.  I really like that idea.

[Saedar]

I had worked up a version of Elric a little bit ago but I had trouble figuring out Stormbringer within the rules... 

[Deadmanwalking]

Feeding Dependency and Demonic Copilot in an Item of Power leap to mind immediately.

[Crion]

I think I'll take a stab at John Constantine from the Hellblazer comics. Before the bandwagon begins: not the same kind of Wizard, I know, but still a pretty damned interesting character

I know that my version may be a bit off/flawed (still getting into the swing of chargen), so if anyone has any suggestions, please fire away.
There are many ways to adapt this character into the game (especially with how many times he's changed), so I'm just going for an overall approach.

Character: John Constantine
High Concept: Chain-Smoking-Devil-May-Care Occultist
Trouble: On The Road To Hell

Aspects: My Friends Always End Up Dead, I'm the Devil You Know, Always A Sure Bet, Never Here For Long, Beacon of Supernatural Attention

Skills: (35)
Superb (+5): Deceit
Great (+4): Discipline, Conviction
Good (+3): Contacts, Rapport, Lore
Fair (+2): Resources, Investigation, Scholarship, Presence
Average (+1): Survival, Stealth, Athletics, Endurance, Burglary


Powers:
Thaumaturgy [-3]
Channeling (Spirit) [-2]
Supernatural Constitution

• (As Wizard's Constitution; Probably caused by Demonic Blood)

The Sight [-1]
Lawbreaker (Fourth) [-1]

Stunts
Finely Tuned Third Eye (Lore) [-1]
I Know Just The Guy (Contacts) [-1]

Specializations:
Thaumaturgy: Summoning Complexity +1

Item Slots: 4 Unused

Stress Tracks:
Physical: OOO
Mental: OOOO
Social: OOO

I know it can be argued he picks up powers (such as recovery) at times, and others could argue that he has Refinement in Spirit Evocation (due to the number of illusions and mind-bending things he has done), but I found Lawbreaker to be a bit more fitting.

Again, just as idea as I get a feel for character creation. Any thoughts/anything I missed?

[Deadmanwalking]

His Item Slots should be completely filled with various enchanted Items and Potions. John likes his mystical holdouts/toys/one use items.

Also, if you're givng him Lawbreaker, I'd give it twice, it's not actually useful unless you do.

[Crion]

His Item Slots should be completely filled with various enchanted Items and Potions. John likes his mystical holdouts/toys/one use items.

Also, if you're givng him Lawbreaker, I'd give it twice, it's not actually useful unless you do.

Most of what I've seen of John (haven't finished catching up; a bit after his 40th b-day where I last left off) doesn't have him hauling around many items. Most of the times he uses something, it's usually a book or a ritual-based item. Nothing enchanted really comes to mind, and one-shots don't come to memory either.

As for Lawbreaker: Which stunt do you think should be dropped in order to up Lawbreaker then? I found both stunts to be rather fitting; he always seems to know someone with information/materials when he needs them, and he often picks out ghosts and whatnot without even thinking of it.
I am contemplating removing The Sight though, now that I think about it. There were a few occasions that he could/should have used it but never did.

Thoughts?

[Deadmanwalking]

I, meanwhile, have seen him use one-shot items fairly regularly, though my reading has admittedly been sporadic (and mostly a while ago).

I do know that a few years ago, when I was statting him up on the Mutants and Masterminds boards (filled with much bigger comic book nerds than you or I) every version I came across had the Gadgets power and nobody objected when I put it on my version. 

And I'd skip The Sight, I don't think it as such is part of his mythos, IMO.

[Crion]

I, meanwhile, have seen him use one-shot items fairly regularly, though my reading has admittedly been sporadic (and mostly a while ago).

I do know that a few years ago, when I was statting him up on the Mutants and Masterminds boards (filled with much bigger comic book nerds than you or I) every version I came across had the Gadgets power and nobody objected when I put it on my version. 

And I'd skip The Sight, I don't think it as such is part of his mythos, IMO.

I'll continue my reading and see if anything else comes to mind when it comes to a fitting item. Most of the stuff I see him pick up is either a prop for a ritual (robes, sword, candles, etc), a book (such as that big book of demonic names) or some oddity (such as a bible covered with foreskin). Thus why I can't think of anything offhand that is actually fitting as a potion-ranked item. Again, if I see something, I'll consider it; if not, I'm sure whoever wants to use the stats would come up with a few things.

Hell, I'm sure I could come up with ideas that are fitting, but nothing cited directly from canon.

So, here's the revamp after dropping The Sight and adding Lawbreaker:

Character: John Constantine
High Concept: Chain-Smoking-Devil-May-Care Occultist
Trouble: On The Road To Hell

Aspects: My Friends Always End Up Dead, I'm the Devil You Know, Always A Sure Bet, Never Here For Long, Beacon of Supernatural Attention

Skills: (35)
Superb (+5): Deceit
Great (+4): Discipline, Conviction
Good (+3): Contacts, Rapport, Lore
Fair (+2): Resources, Investigation, Scholarship, Presence
Average (+1): Survival, Stealth, Athletics, Endurance, Burglary


Powers:
Thaumaturgy [-3]
Channeling (Spirit) [-2]
Supernatural Constitution
    * (As Wizard's Constitution; Probably caused by Demonic Blood)
Lawbreaker (Fourth) [-2]

Stunts
Finely Tuned Third Eye (Lore) [-1]
I Know Just The Guy (Contacts) [-1]

Specializations:
Thaumaturgy: Summoning Complexity +1

Item Slots: 4 Unused (Fill as deemed appropriate/based on preparation of a task)

Stress Tracks:
Physical: OOO
Mental: OOOO
Social: OOO

Did I miscalculate anywhere with the Skills, Stress Tracks, etc? And what do you think of the Aspects?

Thanks again for the feedback, Deadmanwalking.

[Deadmanwalking]

Everything looks good with the exception of his lack of combat skills. John's no match for most of what he fights, but he's actually quite a nasty little bastard in a fight...he routinely beats up random thugs when it comes up.

[Crion]

Everything looks good with the exception of his lack of combat skills. John's no match for most of what he fights, but he's actually quite a nasty little bastard in a fight...he routinely beats up random thugs when it comes up.

That was actually the part I was debating about. Where I am in the series, he routinely gets his arse handed to him unless he's in a corner fighting to his (or someone else's) life, and even then he's not in the greatest of shape. He proves he's not very good with a gun (see Family Man comic line), and unless he gets a drop on his opponent, or out manuevers them (usually through wit, throw them off via wordplay/insults, etc), he seldom seems to win in a straightup fight. It's mostly skulk around and win the fight before it even begins.

But again, just my reading of things, thus why I'm asking and making sure I haven't missed something (which I tend to do).

Thanks again Deadmanwalking.


Now, I'm wondering what other characters would fit in well at this level. Zatanna, or maybe Dr. Occult if I want to stick with the comic theme? Break out the crews from Black Lagoon, Weiss Kreuz, or Darker than Black (all Japanese Anime, if you were wondering).
Decisions, decisions. . .