Cute Characters in the DFRPG

[Richard_Chilton]

Cute and Harry doesn't always go hand in hand - but there's often some cuteness to break up the seriousness of the situation.  Even if it's just Toot-Toot reacting to another promotion.

I've posted some very nasty characters in the past, doing cute ones... That's more challenging...  I found when I was writing up "Envoys of Santa" that doing a cute, Disney flavoured one was harder than writing up a former 'muscle for hire' type who hangs around the Naughty and Nice strip when he's not working for the Fat Man.

So here's a thread for cuteness.  It has to be things that fit inside the world, but other than that cute rules!

And I'll start the ball rolling with a young teenage who just wants to dance at parties.

The Flower Child Changeling


Name: Patricia 'Petals' Jones
Template: Changeling
High Concept Aspect: A True Flower Child of a Flower Fairy
Trouble Aspect: Too Young For Fun

Background:
Once upon a time was free spirited teen name Kelly Jones, who loved to party.  She was open and secure in her sexuality - Kelly knew what she liked and went with it.  Some of that changed when she got knocked up, but not much.  But this isn't her story or even the story of the man (um, creature?) that knocked her up - this is her daughter's story.

Her mother named her Patricia but somehow everyone started calling her Petals.  As a child some people thought she had ADD while others thought her mother just let her run wild.  If she's ever had a time out or had a harsh word said to her then Petals doesn't remember it.  Not believing in rules, Kelly raised her daughter to a free spirit.  For example, if Petals didn't want to get dressed then Kelly would declare it a clothes free day to show Petals that there was nothing wrong with the nudist lifestyle.

When she was old enough to go to school, Petals found it depressing mundane.  She was a popular girl who didn't apply herself and it wasn't so much that she broke the rules as she seemed to forget them.  When ritalin was suggest her mother invented a religious reason against drugging Petals then went out and found a religion that would support her stance.  Kelly even went to a couple of their meetings (dragging Petals along to the "performance art" piece), just in case the school board ever investigated.  Her teachers, deciding that she had untreated ADD, lowered their expectations and ignored her.  Since she didn't cause disruptions in class they tolerated the pretty girl whose mind was often elsewhere.  Most thought that she would grow up to an airhead, but one pretty enough that it didn't matter.

Phase Aspect: An Unbroken Free Spirit


Rising Conflict:
No one stays a little girl forever; Petals stopped being a little girl during middle school.  As Petals blossomed into a young woman she went through more than most girls, because most girls don't have fairy blood running through their veins.  As things started to get really weird her father (Daft Dale - who claims the flower was named for him) even dropped by to say hi to her, ask her name, tell her that she was his daughter, ask her name, say hi, tell her that she was his daughter, ask her name...  Within minutes Petals realised that she was the adult in the situation, or at least the closest thing to an adult in the conversation.  Young as she was, she had questions.  Like how her six inch tall father could have dated her mother and, um, how the pair of them could "you-know".

Daft Dale smiled and showed her some of his fairy magic.  Somehow, as he was showing her how he could grow, Petals' clothes came off - but Daft Dale remembered that she was his daughter before they got could "you-know", turning things into a tickle game.

And a magic lesson.

And almost "you-know" before Daft Dale remembered that she was his daughter, so it went back to a tickle game, then a magic lesson, then a tickle game, then a magic lesson, then some kissing before she told him she was his daughter, so back to the magic lessons.

Petals had always heard that boys only had one thing on their minds, but the fairy who was her father took things to extremes.  Not that she thought he even had that one thing on his mind - most of the time he seemed as brainless as people seemed to think she was - but in a good natured way.  When he told her about the choice she decided not to choose, at least not for a while.  She didn't want to lose her ability to plan (or hold a thought in her head for more than five seconds) and this new fairy magic seemed cool.  Fun even.  Really, really fun!

Petals can't make herself grow, but she quickly mastered a great deal of magic.  She even got some help from pixies and fairies and other Little Folk who think that it's a great joke that she's so big.  Always outgoing, she made many knew friends among the lesser fae.

Her schoolwork didn't suffer from her devotion to the other side of her heritage - she's still a C- "pass her along" student.

For some reason the Summer Court never bothered applying pressure to her, leaving Petals mostly to her own devices.  She doesn't know enough about changelings to realise how rare this is or wonder why.

Phase Aspect: Girls Just Want to Have Fun


The Story: Don't Touch the Fairy!!!!
An adolescent girl with no boundaries and fairy magic? What could go wrong?

Plenty.

So she was at this party with some high school kids, dancing to some great music, when some college boys showed up.  The high school boys were fun but the college boys were ... insistent.  A couple of them were kind of scary.  Not that she left the party when the college boys started causing her trouble; Petals thought that everything would be okay if she did her dancing away from them.  Then she went to the deck to cool down a bit and one of the college boys followed her out.  One thing led quickly to another, with Petals saying things "Oh, you don't understand; I'm in middle school" and the college boy saying she looked old enough for him.  While she was trying to talk sense into him the boy decided to smack some sense into her.

His first punch caused a black eye and shocked her to the core.  Petals had never been in a real fight.  In pillow fights and tickle fights, sure, but she had never been hit.  This type of pain was new to her.

And she didn't like it.

Sometime between the first and second drunken punch, something changed.  Petals tried to pull on her fairy heritage to protect her and somehow it did.  His second punch hardly hurt at all and before he could throw a third one she was off in the shadows and climbing down one of the deck's support beams.  After a bit of a crying jag, Petals decided that she wasn't going to let him ruin the party for her.  Some would say that going back inside was a stupid idea but it made sense to Petals.  Luckily, before she could do that the police arrived to shut down the nosy teen party.  Which was just as well - Petals discovered that her clothes didn't really fit anymore.  That somehow they had grown and if she tried dancing she might have danced out of her pants.

Less than a week later Petals was at another party, wearing a belt and dancing up a storm.  When boys got too insistent she would use veils to sneak away or fade into the darkness, but she wouldn't let anyone spoil her fun.

And so it went.

By the time she reached high school she had lots of friends there - and all of them liked to party.

Then, in grade nine, Petals was at a party where she had to deal with something more than a grabby boy.  A thing was there.  Not a person, an icky, icky thing.  One that following some adult who for some reason was in the kitchen.  Maybe * Guest Star * was a relative of the person throwing the party (Petals didn't know who was throwing it - just that there was a party with good music and dancing) or maybe * Guest Star * was there for another reason, Petals didn't know.

She didn't care why it was there - but she knew that if something didn't happen soon the party would be ruined and then she couldn't dance to the great music.  Someone had to do something and that someone was Petals.  Through imaginative uses of glamour she was able to drive the thing off, then told * Guest Star * what she had before going back to dancing.  * Guest Star * was bemused to be rescued by such a young (and small) girl, even one who was changeling.

Phase Aspect:  No One Ruins the Party!


Guest Star: Whose Path Have You Crossed? (Details to be filled in later)
It depends on who you want her to work with.  I'm half considering making "The Cute Patrol" (a group of loveable teen characters) and she could easily link up with Billy J (Justice Knight) - who would probably get a crush on her.  Other than that, I see her guest star roles happening to around when someone needs her.  She could be sneaking out of a party as the police arrive - hugging the shadows and stumble over someone who needs help.  Maybe someone needs help while she's heading to a party, or an adventure that starts at the mall.  She could easily need rescuing, either from a monster or a mall cop who's perceptive enough to see through the seeming she put on that cute little sweater that she just had to have.  Or maybe she needs rescuing from a guy who wants to do more than just kiss a bit?

Same Aspects could be:  "Of Course All Fairies Are Friendly" and "I Was Never Here".


Power Level: Up to Your Waist
Skill Cap: Great
Skill Points: 25
Starting Refresh: 7
Adjusted Refresh: 2




Skills
Presence: Great - she looks cute and is a very outgoing girl; one with an eerie air to her, but nice.
Rapport: Great
Deceit: Good - she doesn't consider it lying, just describing an alternate (and better) version of reality
Athletics: Good
Contacts: Fair - everyone likes taking to her.  When she asks someone for help and gives them a pouty face, how could anyone say no?
Conviction: Fair - she knows who she is and likes herself just fine
Performance: Fair - she's really into art and performing; she might even make a living at someday,
Alertness: Average - she's not as quite as unaware as people think; she just doesn't care what's happening.
Burglary: Average - she's used to letting herself in and has no moral qualms using a five finger discount.
Endurance: Average - she jogs a lot.
Empathy: Average
Stealth: Average
(note: there are reasons why she doesn't have discipline or scholarship - and she isn't likely to get either of them soon.  Nor does she know much about the hidden world, so no Lore, but she's far more likely to pick up Lore than she is to raise her scholarship to average.)


Stunts & Powers

Ear to the Ground (Contacts): +2 Contacts when working the faerie info network.  They just like to talk to her.

Cloak of Shadows [-1] - the flowers are there at night too.  You might not see them but they can see you

Glamours [–2] - she considers this to be the sum total of fairy magic.  It lets her hide in plain sight and change what things look like - who could ask for more?

Supernatural Toughness [–4] - See the notes before you say "Huh?".  Petals thinks she just is better at dodging than she is, often not noticing attacks that only do 1 or 2 levels of stress have actually hit her.

Catch: Iron [+3] - easy to come by, well known.


Notes:
Daft Dale isn't your average fairy.  The average fairy is wyldfae while Daft Dale is a member of the Summer Court.  He isn't a pixie but a rarer breed - a flower fairy.  In some ways he is linked to daffodils around the world, but in most other ways he's not.  Power wise, Daft Dale has Greater Glamours, Cloak of Shadows, Claws, Wings, Supernatural Speed, Inhuman Strength, Mythic Toughness (with the traditional Fae catches), Supernatural Recovery, and is rumoured to be the guardian of a great Item of Power for a Sidhe lord.  If that last bit is true then Daft Dale may have forgotten where he hid it (or that he ever had it).

The more powers that Petals claims, the more she resembles her father.  She will shrink some as her refresh diminishes but not sprout wings until she chooses.  Until then her high concept can be invoked to make her more flighty than the average teenage girl.

Daft Dale might be watching over his daughter or he might be watching a flower grow.  Okay, he's probably off doing something else, but if he remembers that he has a daughter and learns that she's in trouble (or hurt, or dead) then he'll probably do something.  As long as nothing distracts from his mission he'll stop at nothing to - oh, look! An apple tree.  Maybe there are apple blossom? What do apple blossom smell like? Hey, a fire fly! What's a fire fly doing around an apple tree? Where's that fire fly going?

But even as Daft Dale gets distracted, side tracked, and loses his way, another of the Little Folk might do something to help their friend Petals.  If one notices.


When encounter her in a game, most PCs should feel protective about her.  She might be a changeling with ridiculous toughness but she's still just a 14 year old girl (a bit small for her age) who's never done more than kiss.  Parental instincts and Big Brother complexes should be the order of the day.  Especially if people realise that she's only a major panic attack away from taking so many faerie powers that she makes her choice.

In the meantime, she's a carefree fun loving free spirit who means well.  She doesn't have a mean bone in her body and uses trickery rather than getting into fights.  She doesn't have much emotional attachment to boys she dances with, but that could change.  In a couple of years she'll probably have the Sex Appeal stunt, but right now she's too young for it.  Morally she lacks a compass on the small stuff (underage drinking, shoplifting ("Isn't the greater crime me not wearing that sweater to the party?"), gaining access to places - typical teen shenanigans) but Petals would never take anything truly valuable and she would never knowingly hurt an innocent person or let down a friend.  She probably wouldn't even hurt a bad guy, at least not much, and would be horrified if one of her friends were to kill someone.  Horrified and nauseous.


Using her in a game:
The PCs are in the middle of something and Petals notices them.  She comes over and wants to join in the fun.  And if it's not fun then she tries to make it fun - who says you can't form a conga line on a stakeout?

The PCs are in the middle of a confrontation when a 40 ounce bottle of Colt 45 falls on the ground - dropped by the slightly drunk (or maybe more than slightly drunk) Petals who was veiling herself as she was sneaking past them to go to a party.  She goes "oops, sorry about that" as she picks it, then says "pretend I'm not here" - her presence changing the dynamic of the confrontation.

Something's happen in a mall and Petals is there - either window shopping or using her powers to update her wardrobe.  Either she lends aid or needs it.  Or she's just there, hanging around in her new Herring Red Sweater that looks so cute on her.

One of the Little Folk tells her something about her friends and she passes it on - giving the PCs a critical clue.

They get an urgent summons from Petals.  Rushing to the address they find a party going on; Petals thought they needed a break and insists they stay and have some fun.  And dance! Everyone has to dance!

Someone notices that the PCs are hanging around her and makes the normal assumptions of why adults would be hanging with a girl that age - and starts making trouble for them.

They are in the middle of fight and Petals stumbles over it.  She lends what aid she can - using Glamour to her best advantage to turn the tide.  How will the PCs react to being saved by a little girl? If word gets out, what will this do to their reps?

The PCs have something that the Big Bad wants and he proposes they make a deal.  He sends them the details of where to meet him and in with the details is a photo of Petals - bound up in iron chains and looking scared.

Petals is LOVE! Yes, the big one.  The first one.  Only thing is, she's chasing after a bad boy.  Maybe he's the stoner who deals weed at her school or maybe he's a White Court Vampire or other supernatural predator.  But don't worry - Petals is sure she can change him.

Petals is LOVE! As above, the object of her crush is a PC.  Unless that PC is a teenager then there's a really awkward situation that cannot end well.

Petals is LOVE! As above, but it's a 'nice' supernatural type instead of a bad one.

Petals has been arrested and calls needing help, lots of help - and don't tell her mom! The arrest could be anything from truancy to a minor amount of drugs or alcohol to shoplifting.  Hopefully the police will be satisfied with throwing a scare into her.

Petals has been arrested and calls needing help - as above, but the cop involved is a sadistic brute who won't be happy unless Petals is terrified of him.  They have to help her soon or the cop will start wondering why the "smack some sense in to her" routine isn't working.

Petals has been arrested and calls needing help - because she had been set up.  Maybe someone planted a kilo of coke in her locker or maybe it was the bloody knife used to murder the head cheerleader - whatever it was it's something that the PCs' enemies are behind.  Will the PCs save their sometime ally or will Petals face hard time for helping them?

Petals makes the cheerleading squad and invites everyone to the game where she's going cheer.  The PCs notice that they aren't the only supernaturals watching the game and some of the others don't look friendly.  Hungry, yes; friendly, no.

Petals makes the cheerleading squad and invites everyone to the game where she's going cheer.  Everything is normal except Petals, who panics and uses her fairy magic to make the cheers more impressive.  Someone had to get her to stop with the seemings - and that someone is probably the PCs.

Petals makes the cheerleading squad and invites everyone to the game where she's going cheer - including all of her little friends.  Good nature chaos ensues as the Little Folk prank the other team.

[Sanctaphrax]

Good as usual. Still liking the lighter style.

Plot hooks are especially nice. I think I'll have to start doing those for my Nevernever locales.

As always, would be good to add to Spare Character Concepts.

I'll post a small fuzzy animal to this thread soon.

[Sanctaphrax]

I made some were-creatures a while ago. They were pretty much all tough animals: pythons and sharks and bears. Here's something a little less macho:

Were-Kitten (Feet In The Water)

High Concept: Were-Kitten
Other Aspects: Absolutely Adorable, Cats Can't Talk
Skills (Beast Form): 
Great: Rapport, Deceit
Good: Presence, Empathy
Fair: Alertness, Athletics
Average: Fists, Survival
Powers:
Echoes Of The Beast (Housecat) [-1]
Beast Change [-1]
Human Form [+1] affecting:
Diminutive Size [-1]
Incite Emotion (Adoration) At Range [-2]
Total Refresh Cost:
-4
Refresh Total:
2

PS: The beast form here is socially focused. If you want to make a contrast between human skills and kitten skills, you may want to count human form as the beast shape and the kitten form as the base shape.

[Richard_Chilton]

Good as usual. Still liking the lighter style.

Plot hooks are especially nice. I think I'll have to start doing those for my Nevernever locales.

Thanks.  Sometimes it's just too easy to go dark.  Especially in a world of greys.

As for plot hooks - I find that people are more likely to use something if you give them easy ways to fit it into their games.

As always, would be good to add to Spare Character Concepts.

I'll post a small fuzzy animal to this thread soon.

I'll get around to doing that.

One of the reasons I don't post immediately to that thread is I like having the chance to fix errors.  A couple of times I've overlooked something and fixed it before adding it to that resource thread.

And thanks for the fuzzy animal.  Cute animals can be fun too.

Richard

[Richard_Chilton]

Here's another cute character - a scion who isn't following with the plan.  Note: This was partly inspired by "Good Omens" - a book co-written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

Name: Steven "Stevie" Crawford
Template: Scion
High Concept Aspect: Unwilling Son of Dominator
Trouble: Too Young To Understand

Background:
Many years ago, a couple got involved in a cult.  Mark and Jodie Crawford didn't really believed in what the cult preached - they were in it mostly for the recreational drugs and group sex that happened at its meetings.  Fun loving adults, they left the cult after a night true weirdness - moving to another state so they could break all their ties the group.  Thus they weren't around when the shit hit the fan.  Most of the cult died during the night, which was second night that they made direct contact with the thing that ruled them.

Nine months later after the night that frightened them, Steven "Stevie" Crawford was born.  Mark thought that their baby looked like his father, but he was wrong - the baby looked like his mother's husband, not his real father.

Deep in the Nevernever, Steven's real father laughed.  Dominator's son had been born.  Now his carefully hand picked minions would raise the infant to be a true son of his father.  The thing is, somehow Dominator had forgotten that he had slaughtered those hand picked followers for allowing his unborn son to leave the cult.  Dominator might have huge power and a bigger ego, but he's not always up there in the planning department and terrible at the follow through.

As a result, Stevie grew up surrounded by love but haunted by the occasional dreams of dark things that howled in the night.  He was a bit confused by this, but no more confused than most kids his age.

At school he wasn't a problem for his teachers - in fact he was always volunteering to help for certain things.  If there was a task that involved directing the other students in anyway Stevie was always the first to volunteer.

Background Aspect: Born to Rule


Rising Conflict:
On his 10th birthday, things came to a head.

There were portents.  Many portents.  Blatant portents.  Dominator was basically yelling "I'm going to rule the world now! Bhahahaha!" loud enough that various people (and beings) went their libraries and looked up what to expect.  Then they sighed and got ready to fight the Rising Evil.  Some of the older ones sighed and wondered why they had to do this again - wondering when would that idiot learn his lesson and stop making scions.

A portal from the Nevernever opened and a Hellhound raced out, running full out to be at his master's side.  Wanting to take the most pleasing shape for its master and becoming very confused.

Stevie didn't notice the portents.  He was too busy having fun at his birthday party.  As he saw things, the sole cloud on this otherwise sunny day was how one of the neighbours was speculating that someone should probably give Stevie a birthday spanking.  Then those worries were driven from his mind when a present rushed over to him and started licking his face - a new puppy! Just like he wanted.  He was dancing around with his new friend when somehow he was knocked into the BBQ.  He thought he just hit the table beside the BBQ (the one with the meat on it) but when Stevie stood up he had this weird burn on his arm.

Of course parents (every parent at the party reacted to the situation) surrounded him and tried various first aid treatments, but Stevie kept insisting that it didn't hurt.  Most people felt that this "it doesn't hurt" response meant that the burn was so bad that nerves had been damaged.  His party ground to a halt as he was rushed to the hospital where they put a patch and some cream on the burn.

But it wasn't a burn - it was the Mark of Dominator.   A late arriving birthmark that marked Stevie as his True Father's son.

Stevie didn't sleep well that night - he was upset that his party had been ruined.  He hadn't even gotten to blow out his candles and make a wish.  Oh, he had done it when he got back from the hospital, but it wasn't the same.  He didn't have everyone surrounding him and cheering as he blew and wished.

Then a darkness entered his dreams - and with it came knowledge.  There was a shape, a dark shape, that was yelling about how now was the time for Stevie to take his revenge.  To strike back at all those who had hurt him.  To rule in his father's name and once he had enough followers to open the way for Dominator.

Stevie thought about that, in his dream.  He had missed part of his birthday party but that didn't seem like a reason to take revenge.  He couldn't think of anyone that he even wanted revenge on.  After careful consideration, Stevie told the dark power: "No."

"It is your destiny!" Dominator roared.

"I don't think it is." Stevie answered back.  "And shouldn't there be a 'the' in front of your name?"

Silence.

"Then your brother will rule in your stead!" Dominator shouted back.

"I don't have a brother." Stevie pointed.

Silence.

"Then I'll make one! I'll get a new cult and start fresh!" Dominator vowed.

The forces of light were puzzled when the sun rose that morning.  There hadn't been an evil one to fight in the night.  Some speculated that one of the boy's keepers or perhaps the father himself had slain the lad.  In any event, they went back to fighting the other, lesser evils.  Or greater ones, depending on who they were.

Phase Aspect: I'm The Boss of Me.


The Story: Charting His Own Course
Stevie woke that morning and wondered if it had been a dream.  It slowly sank in that it hadn't been a dream.  That he had odd powers.  That he could have more.

That was the scary part.  Stevie knew that if he wanted her could grow into what that thing had wanted him to be.  The trouble was, he didn't want to be that way.  He didn't want to rule the world.  He just wanted to be a normal kid.

How different he was now was driven home when that neighbour dropped by to give Stevie a belated birthday spanking.  The neighbour was joking about having to put some zip in it to make up for it being late, but Stevie didn't feel a thing beyond contact being made.  After that neighbour left, Stevie walked around the house (trailed by his new puppy) whacking himself with things - and none of them hurt! At least none of them hurt until he tried swinging a wooden spoon against his arm; he felt that one.  Rapid experimentation showed him that only wooden things could hurt him.  He could feel other things making contact as they hit but they didn't hurt.


Stevie wanted to be normal, but he wasn't.  He was different.  Worse, he wasn't a good enough actor to cover up the differences.  He could see in the dark.  He didn't get hurt when he should.  He was getting used to using magic.  The worse thing was, he could make people fear him.

Fear.  He wanted to be normal, not have people fear him.


A year past, but nothing special happening on his next birthday.  Another year past, and again he didn't change.  Stevie began to relax and get better at covering up what he was.  The world was moving on.  Whatever that thing from his dream was seemed to leave him alone.  But the world didn't.  A minor practitioner spotted Stevie and offered to train him.  Stevie pretended to learn but there was nothing that the man was teaching that was new to Stevie.  His natural powers were there and hadn't changed.

Then came a conflict.  Stevie's "mentor" went against something major, something that he couldn't handle - even with the help of * Guest Star *.  After the mentor went down the creature focused on * Guest Star *, never expecting the untrained apprentice to take an active role.  Stevie didn't deliver the deathblow, but he did drop the beastie to its knees so that * Guest Star * could kill it.

After the battle, * Guest Star * offered to find Stevie a new mentor - but Stevie turned him down.  He walked away to find his own path.

Phase Aspect: Taking Them By Surprise


Guest Star: Whose Path Have You Crossed?(Details to be filled in later)
It depends on who you want him to work with.  Being somewhere around 12 to his mid teens he's not going to be taken seriously by most people out there.  One of the Guest Roles should link him to someone who can act a bit as a mentor or teammate.  Another should out him as a scion of an evil creature - letting his secret out to at least a small circle of friends.  He knows that he has freewill and doesn't see why people judge him by his heritage.

Sample aspects include: "But I'm Not Evil!" and "Weird and Popular"


Power Level: Up to Your Waist
Skill Cap: Great
Skill Points: 25
Starting Refresh: 7
Adjusted Refresh: 1


Skills:
Conviction: Great (He knows that he is what he is - and he's sure about that to the core of his bones)
Discipline: Great (He knows that if he doesn't control himself then people will get hurt - and he doesn't want that to happen)

Lore: Good (Mostly from his dreams and his blood)
Presence: Good (He was born to be a leader of men)

Deceit: Fair (he specialises in acting normal)
Endurance: Fair
Might: Fair

Alertness: Average (little gets past him)
Athletics: Average
Empathy: Average (he works hard on this one)
Intimidation: Average (this one comes frighteningly naturally to him)
Stealth: Average


Stunts & Powers
Channeling: Spirit [-2] - note that his spell often appear as sickly looking green 'energy'.  Think horror movie glow more than Green Lantern power.

Cloak of Shadows [-1] - meant to rule in darkness, the night conceals no secrets from him.

Incite Emotion [–1] At Range [–1] (total [-2]) - fear.  All men were meant to fear him.

Supernatural Toughness [-4]

Catch: [+3] wood (+2, +1) (he thinks he's a one off, but Dominator has sent several sons in the past.  All of them failed and many of them left records that research could find - and all bore the same mark on their left arms.  Wood, a simple of natural growth, is for some reason abhorrent to Dominator.)

Wizard’s Constitution [+0] (Stevie was designed to last for an age, if he didn't get killed first)


Items:
Channeling:
Power Ring (+1 Power, defensive; +1 Power, offensive)

Stevie doesn't actually wear this as a ring; he wears it on a chain around his neck and it works just fine there.  Originally just an everyday man's ring that Stevie picked up a garage sales, his dreams and desires turned it into an item he could use.


Rotes:
The Green Glow of Protection
Type: Spirit evocation, defensive block
Power: 5 shifts
Duration: One exchange
Effect: Deflects an incoming attack. If overcome, it vanishes.
Stevie is tough - he knows that.  But there's always wood out there and some things are just too big to for his toughness to handle.  When he brings up this defence Stevie knows it's very unlikely that he will be hurt.


Pantsing
Type: Spirit evocation, offensive maneuver
Power: 4 - 3 shifts for the maneuver + 1 for duration.
Duration: Two exchanges
Effect: Pulls down his opponent's pants and tangles them around the target's legs, giving them the aspect of * Pantsed *.
Stevie is still a kid at heart and this was the first rote he came up with.  He's thinking of replacing with a wedgie spell, but he hasn't gotten around to doing that yet.  Basically, a greenish glow pulls someone's pants and tangles it around their legs - making it a variant of the Entanglement spell from the book.   Note that the young at heart (and in body) Stevie didn't design this to take down someone's underwear so unless the target is going commando or wearing only a single layer of clothing (like a bathing suit) this rote is not as embarrassing as it could be.  Nor does it work on women wearing skirts, dresses, etc (unless he can see their underwear) because Stevie was taught that trying to flip a girl's skirt up was a nasty no-no.


The Sickly Green Dart of Energy
Type: Spirit evocation, attack
Power: 5; Stevie wasn't kidding around when he made this rote.
Control: Roll Discipline as attack roll.
Target: One target in line-of-sight, inflicting physical stress
Duration: One action
Opposed by: Target’s Athletics skill, magical blocks, etc.
Those who think that Stevie is just a cute kid are surprised by this rote while its existence confirms the suspicions of those who believe him to be the spawn of hell.  He knew he needed something like this when his mentor fell in battle.  So far he has never used it against a human, only monsters, and only when he has to.  A part of him fears that his father would approve of this spell.


He also does the occasional evocation veil and will use minor magics (usually covered by the Mundane Effects rules) while playing baseball, basketball, etc to help win.  Often, if it doesn't cost him stress, Stevie doesn't realise that he doing it - the drive to "win" and dominate is just that strong in him.  Sometimes his teammates are the ones who benefit from these actions - a win for the team is a win for Stevie.


Notes:
Stevie doesn't understand why some people judge him by heritage and why those who don't know about his real dad still consider him a freak.  In fact he doesn't understand a lot things.  At his age he now has a new fear - what if he passes his taint to a girl? That fear colours his actions and feelings towards girls.  He also fears getting too close to his friends - Stevie knows that he was born to inspire fear, not love, and what that thing is still watching him and wants to get to him through his friends?

Mostly though, he is a boy (set his age anywhere from 12 to mid teens) that could have been "the evil one" and turned down the job.  He doesn't understand why he can't just be a kid and how he'll never be completely accepted as human (because he's not completely human).

In school and to his peers, Stevie is... Well, he's both weird and popular.  A natural leader, when Stevie runs for something (class president, carnival king, whatever) he's bound to get elected.  Sometimes he's nominated and elected without him doing a thing.  When it comes to picking sides for teams, if Stevie isn't a team captain he's the first one picked.  Especially if there's physical contact in the game - everyone knows that Stevie just shrugs off hits that would send another player to the bench.

And yet... Some people have seen things and rumours have spread.  There was that time that Stevie got really mad at an older boy and that boy peed himself in fear.  Stevie apologised for getting mad (and seemed ashamed of himself when he hadn't done anything), but why was that older boy so frightened?

Stevie doesn't use flashy magic all that often, at least not if he thinks that there are witnesses around, but he has been seen doing some very odd things.  And he hangs around with weirdoes (people attached to the supernatural side of the community - possible including the PCs).

All of that combines to make people (including his teachers and peers) treat Stevie differently - and he doesn't understand the "why" of that either.


In theory he could be trained as a sorcerer (he can be trained in Evocation and Thaumaturgy) but he'll never have the Sight or Soul Gaze and thus never make it to the White Council (even if they would take someone that is only part human).

Without training the following powers are available to him:
Inhuman Speed [–2]
Supernatural Speed [–4]
Inhuman Strength [–2]
Supernatural Strength [–4]
Inhuman Recovery [–2]
Supernatural Recovery [–4]
Mythic Recovery [–6]
Mythic Toughness [–6]
Domination [–2]
Master Dominator [–2] requires Domination
Possession [–3] requires Domination

The follow powers can be his without a mortal teacher, but only if he opens himself up to his father (who will teach him how to do things HIS way).
Sponsored Magic (Dominator)
Evocation [–3] (adding Fire and Earth)
Ritual [–2] - specialising in Summoning and Binding, Mind Magic, Conjuration, or any other speciality that something calling itself Dominator is likely to teach.
Thaumaturgy [–3]

In theory, if Stevie ever became what his father wanted, he would have:
Cloak of Shadows [-1], Wizard’s Constitution[-0], Supernatural Speed [–4], Supernatural Strength [–4], Mythic Recovery [–6], Mythic Toughness [–6], Domination [–2], Master Dominator [–2], Possession [–3], Sponsored Magic (Dominator) [-2], Evocation [–3], and Thaumaturgy [–3] - for a total of 36 refresh!  And that's not counting stunts (he'll need lots of combat and social stunts if he's going to rule the world).  Of course it might take him centuries to grow to that level, but in theory that's possible.  Yes, if Dominator ever learned to let one of his boys mature before unveiling him then the resulting scion would be a force to be feared - but Dominator doesn't.  It's not in his nature to wait so he doesn't.


When out doing "dangerous" things Stevie leaves his dog behind, which is a shame because that Hellhound was made to guard him.

Puddles - The Very Confused Cocker Spaniel
Alertness: Good (+3)
Athletics: Good (+3)
Endurance: Fair (+2)
Fists: Good (+3)
Presence: Average (+1)
Survival: Fair (+2)
Most other physical skills default to Average, the rest to Mediocre (or worse).

Stunts
Catch the Scent (Alertness): Use Alertness instead of Investigation when tracking prey.
Unflappable (Presence):

Claws [–1]
Inhuman Recovery [-2]
Inhuman Speed [–2]
(Yes, most Hellhounds have intimidation, but this is a super powered Cocker Spaniel.  Someone might get intimidated by him in a fight, but not as a skill.)

[Richard_Chilton]

I did not know that there was a maximum message length.  Now I do.

Using him in a game:
PCs hear rumours about that kid who's both popular and weird.  That's odd enough to attract attention to him.

Someone sees Stevie walking away from something (a skateboard wipeout, bike accident, minor car accident, whatever) that should have either taken him out or left consequences - but he wasn't even stressed by it.  What gives?

Someone does the research and discovers that the Son of Dominator will rise on X date - then goes back, remembers to carry the one this time, and sees that the omens pointed to a date a few years before X.  How do the PC react to knowing that they missed the chance to stop the rise of an antichrist type? Do they search him out and find a mostly normal boy?

Maybe his parents (Mark and Jodie Crawford) didn't settle down after they left the cult - and they get busted on drug charges.  Suddenly Stevie is uprooted and placed in foster care - near where the PCs hang out or where one of them volunteers.  He's going to be stressed out from the move, what happened to his parents, and might lose his tempter - then feel really bad about it.

Did Mark and Jodie Crawford have any other kids? It's up to you to decide, but "there's something wrong with my big brother - will you help him?" said by a cute little kid would be the perfect way to introduce Stevie to the PCs.  They know there's something not quite right about him and that his younger sibling(s) love and adore him - so he can't be all evil, can he?

They hear about this kid who can cast spells and decide to make sure that he isn't going warlock.  Is finding a scion better than finding a proto-warlock?

A vampire, ghoul, or other inhuman beastie is pounding on the PCs and Stevie sees what's happening.  He decides to help - lashing out with magic and hitting the creature with fear.  This is a good way to paint him as one of the good guys.

Stevie decides to "play Alpha" - patrol his neighbourhood looking for supernatural evil to fight (the way Billy and his group does).  The PCs run into him to on one of his patrols - and they don't have to save him! They can just watch as this kid takes down some minor nasty. How do they react? Will Stevie let them in his neighbourhood?

At the dog park, a pit bull / doberman / german shepard / or other big breed lunges for Stevie.  Maybe it senses that Stevie isn't completely natural or maybe it was just having a bad day.  Before the PCs can act, Puddles jumps in to save his master and kills or mains the bigger dog.  Stevie is shocked and is beginning to suspect that maybe his beloved pet is more than meets the eye when the PCs start sticking their noses in.

At the dog park, all the other dogs are giving one dog a lot of room.  Do the PCs wonder why the pit bull is acting submissively to a cocker spaniel? And what about that weird kid who's with the dog?

Someone who knows Stevie's secret points him out to the PCs: "See that kid? He looks normal, right? You'll never guess who his father is." - how the PCs react when they know about him and are told how he tries to be a normal kid?

Somewhere there are unspeakable things happening to a very young child.  When the PCs put a stop to that, they discover that the child was being raised to "Destroy The Traitor That Is Thy Brother".  Investigating, they find Stevie working on his bike and generally just hanging with his friends.

The PCs know about Stevie and that he's a nice kid.  Maybe they were one of his guest stars or he guest starred for them - or maybe they met him during play.  Then someone (either a newcomer or someone just finding out about Stevie) reacts with "Are you nuts? He's the evil one! If you aren't going to put him down then step back because I'm going to kill him.  I'll blow up his house and his whole family if that's what takes.".   Do the PCs stand back or do they fight the person who wants Stevie dead? Are they willing to let Stevie die as long as his family aren't killed?

Stevie kind of like-likes a girl and is looking for advice.  He needs answers, like if he kisses her will his inhuman spit do something to her? If they cuddle, will it awaken a monstrous beast inside him? Oh, and how do you make a girl like-like you back? The PCs look like they might know the answers to the questions and he really needs those answers.

Stevie kind of like-likes a girl, then something happens to her.  Does he go on a guilt trip of "it happened because she's my friend" or does he go out and kill whatever hurt her? How to the PCs react to the pint sized avenging "I'm not really her boyfriend now but maybe someday she'll notice me so I have to make you pay for what you did to her - I think" scion when he insists on taking on something nasty?

That neighbour in the background turns out to a really creepy person - sending Stevie looking for advice.  He knows how to handle vampires, ghouls, etc - but what does he do when the monster is a human?

That neighbour in the background isn't a creepy person, but the PCs see that neighbour delivering a birthday spanking and think that they're seeing something very creepy.  How does Stevie convince them that they're wrong?

Same as above, but combine the two - the neighbour's a creep but you can't convince Stevie of that.

Stevie's family treats his strange behaviour as teen rebellion and ground him indefinitely - as a battle with a Big Nasty looms.  It would be great to have Stevie there for the battle, but how do the PCs handle his folks? Note: if the answer is "with violence" then they will have a very pissed off Stevie to deal with; he's got more than enough power to kill or terrorise his parents, but he loves and respects them too much to even think about doing something like that.

[Richard_Chilton]

Note: the basic concept here is the fun loving street kid - one that exists more in pop culture than reality.

Name: Timothy Alex Gregson aka Timmy the Conjurer
Template: Minor Practitioner
High Concept Aspect: Street Kid Conjurer
Trouble: Lives On His Own Terms

Background:
Some people shouldn't be parents - and Timmy was born to two people who should have never had kids. Drinking, smoking up, doing other drugs - that was how they past their days.  Normally there wasn't much actual abuse, just neglect.  From an early age Timmy was doing things for himself, mostly because there wasn't anyone else to do things for him.  If he didn't put food on the table then it wasn't going to get there.  If he didn't dress himself then he wouldn't have clothes on.  If he didn't - well he had to everything for himself if it was going to get done.  That and avoid touching any of the "special" stuff that mommy and daddy loved so much.

Then one night neglect turned into abuse and social services got involved.  The family was split up, but Timmy is confused about why.  He thinks that his parents went to jail and doesn't really remember the family getting broke up.  His memories are confused but a concussion will do it that.  His parents didn't go to jail for domestic abuse but for drug related crimes (they had been under investigation because of "Timmy falling down" and crashing through a sheet of drywall after he spilled some coke, but they were arrested for those other crimes before that investigation went anywhere) and that was after the family had been split up then.

Background Aspect: I Can Do It Myself


Rising Conflict:
Timmy was the last kid to be parcelled out among the extended family - mainly because no one wanted to be on the hook for his medical bills.  Finally Uncle Maxwell stepped up to take the boy in.  "Uncle" Maxwell was actually a cousin and one of the last people the family thought could take care of a boy, but it was that or foster care and the family didn't want that so they accepted Uncle Maxwell as Timmy's guardian.  That meant living in a new place and going to a new school, but Timmy handled the adjustment well - adapting to it like a duck to water.

Maxwell was many things.  A dry academic, someone who was openly gay and sometimes into leather, an emotional eunuch, generally well meaning, and a minor practitioner.  He concealed most of his private life from his new ward, but when faced with a choice between what elements of his life to let slip to a young boy he exposed the magic and concealed the leather.

Timmy had a bit of talent for magic and Uncle Maxwell was able to fan it into a real talent.  Wanting to teach him something "safe" (well, safer than Summoning or World Walking or any of the other forms of thaumaturgy) Maxwell settled on conjuring.

Timmy took to conjuring like a duck to water.  He drank up all the details of conjuring, learning it far quicker than Maxwell thought he would.  Maxwell watched his apprentice with pride, but he should have been watching his cholesterol.  Timmy was barely into his teens when Maxwell suffered a fatal heart attack.  The death hit Timmy hard, but he bounced back.

Phase Aspect: Like A Duck To Water


Rising Conflict:
Timmy kept his meagre inheritance (a pocket watch) when the state stepped in.  Other family members didn't feel like stepping up so Timmy entered "the system".  He ended up in a group home, but stayed there less than a week.  Timmy spent more of that time planning how to leave.  He finally found a situation that he couldn't adapt to and he had to get out.

The streets beckoned and Timmy found them better to deal with than a group home where no one believed in magic.

The streets can be hard, but magic makes them easy.  Timmy can conjure new clothes when he needs them, but keeps a bag with his real clothes for when it rains.

And so he lives - conjuring things as he needs them.  He wants a chair? He has a chair.  He wants new clothes? He has new clothes.  He needs a knife to flash to scare off others? Done.  A sleeping bag, maybe even a mattress? Why not.  Wherever he finds to squat is soon a comfortable corner of the world.  None of it lasts, but everything is temporary, isn't it?

When it comes to food and necessaries of life Timmy conjures money.  Never a lot - and never anything bigger than a crinkled five or ten.  Often he'll conjure change for vending machines.  He tries to make sure the money lasts beyond the shift change so the cashiers don't end up short - until the cashier is an asshole, then Timmy doesn't care if they get fired.  As long as his conjuring works he's got no real problems.  There have been a few times that Timmy has considered trying to conjure a girlfriend, but he doesn't think that would work out.  For one thing, he doesn't know enough about girls to get the details right and for another he isn't sure if he can conjure people.

Of course this life can't last forever - but Timmy isn't worried about that.  He's not worried about anything.

Phase Aspect: I'm Getting By Just Fine


The Story: Life Is More Than A Game
Living on the streets isn't all fun and games, not even for a happy go lucky fellow like Timmy.  He stays below the radar of most things, but there are predators that roam the streets and not all of them are human.  A White Court Vampire was trolling the street looking for a bit of fun.  Timmy didn't have True Love to defend himself, but when the White Court Vampire's henchman gathered Timmy up with some others he did what he had to.  He thought that getting jumped and pulled into a van was the worse thing in the world, but that was before the twist tie went on his wrists and he was stuck in a room that was laughingly called a larder.

It was hard to conjure with his hands bound behind his back, but he managed to make a blade to cut his bindings on.  Then he made a cutting saw for the door, a better knife, a good sized club, and other weapons for what lay behind the door.  Luckily he wasn't the only one picked up; some of the others knew how to use those weapons.  Among them was * Guest Star *, who took what Timmy could produce and put it to good use.

So they escaped the larder and were home free when the White Court Vampire came along.  Half the escapees decided to stop fighting for their lives and to start having sex.  Only * Guest Star * and Timmy resisted the urge to rut; together they took down the vampire.  Well, maybe.  It was probably dead, right?

Then, as they were leaving, the dead vampire got back up.  Working faster than he had ever worked Timmy conjured a rod they used to wedge a door shut.  That gave him enough time to conjure a couple of swords; when the vampire broke through the door they were ready for it.

Timmy pushed himself beyond what he ever thought he could do, and that felt good.  The terror of being taken and having to fight for his life, that didn't feel good.

Phase Aspect: Life Could Be Worse


Guest Star: Whose Path Have You Crossed?(Details to be filled in later)
It depends on who you want him to work with.  He's basically a laid back street kid who skates by with his magic.  He thinks he's seen the worse that the streets have to offer.  He can show up grinning to make just the right thing someone needs for a task and then dance out of a story.  The one thing he's not looking for is a place to stay.  He likes it on the street - with no one telling him what he has to do.

Sample aspects could include: "I've Got What You Need" and "Knows His Way Around The Streets"


Power Level: Up to Your Waist
Skill Cap: Great
Skill Points: 25
Starting Refresh: 7
Adjusted Refresh: 1


Skills
Conviction: Great (he has a great self image - one that can survive almost anything)
Lore: Great (Maxwell taught him well)
Discipline: Good
Endurance: Good

Contacts: Fair (on the street, everyone knows Timmy)
Craftsmanship: Fair (he knows how things should work, which means he can conjure working things)
Deceit: Fair

Alertness: Average (You need to be aware when you live on the street)
Burglary: Average
Presence: Average (the cool kid who doesn't need anything)
Stealth: Average (he scavenges in the urban jungle)
Weapons: Average



Stunts & Powers
Paranoid? Probably. (alertness stunt)
Jury-Rigger(craftsman stunt)

Rituals: Conjuration [-2]
Item of Power: His Uncle Maxwell's pocket watch.
[-1] Cloak of Shadows
[-2] Inhuman Speed
[-2] Inhuman Toughness
[+1] Catch: Water.  Rain not only washes away his conjured items but washes away his toughness.  When he is soaking wet or water is used against him Timmy is as vulnerable as a normal boy.
[+2] IoP
Net: [-2]
(Note: Timmy's first instinct is to run from trouble, but if he can sneak away or has to take a couple of blows then he has to - and thanks to his Uncle's Pocket watch he can.)


Items
Rituals:
Amulet of Conjuring (Focus Item, Complexity +1)
Left to him by his uncle, this amulet helps Timmy conjure what he needs to make.


Emergency Stash:
An empty billfold, this item produces a 20 dollar bill on command.
Piece of paper - complexity 1
Quality: +3 - the twenty looks completely real, being a Good forgery.


"Potion"
Okay, it's not so much a potion as a conjuration that is available at a moment's notice.  It's a formula scrawled on a piece of paper or a bundle of stuff in his pocket - whatever it is will conjure an item when it's needed.  Often Timmy pays a fate chip to get what he really needs when he needs it.


Spells:
He conjures what he needs, including smokes.  He's pretty sure that his conjured cigarettes are harmless to his lungs, but who really knows? Timmy normally has a good fake ID on him that covers him with the authorities.  When it comes to doing magic, well if Timmy ever met Dresden he would envy Dresden's vast resources - but Timmy makes due with what he can scrounge and buy cheaply.


Notes:
Sooner or later Timmy is going to run out of luck, but until then he's living the life he dreams.  A life that most teens would dream of live.  No rules, no curfews, no one telling him what to do - he has it pretty good.  Okay, half the time he eats out of dumpsters but you have to pay to be free, right? Meanwhile he conjures fresh clothing and change for the machines when he needs to wash his real clothes.  When he feels he needs to he conjures enough cash to rent a motel room for an hour or two and showers.  Sometimes he wonders about the girls who work out of those hourly motels, but Timmy (while he acts cool) doesn't have the nerve to inquire about their services.

Occasionally he'll conjure a private school uniform and a school ID to go with it, just to pass as someone of quality.  It's surprising where a schoolboy with the right blazer can go when he looks like he might belong there.  As for actually going to school, Timmy hasn't seen the inside of a classroom since his Uncle Maxwell died.  He doesn't see the need; magic is going to get him through life, not schoolwork.  When you can summon what you need, why do you need to know what the capital of North Dakota is? Technically he's a truant who keeps getting further behind (Timmy is maybe a grade or two behind by now) but since he never plans to go back to school it doesn't worry him.  Tell him that he might need schooling to get ahead as a wizard and he'll just laugh.

He isn't looking for a new home, even though he needs more education to progress as practitioner.  Maybe he could sometime learn channeling or other powers, or maybe he can never get beyond Rituals: Conjuration.  Odds are he could never make it to White Council levels (which would involve changing his template) but he could become as good a practitioner as his Uncle Maxwell was (full scale thaumaturgy).


Using him in the game:
The PCs are in a bad part of town and stumble over him.

One of Maxwell's old lovers hears about Maxwell's death and wants to help Timmy - enlisting the PCs to help find him.  Not that Timmy wants that help - he's too busy enjoying life to want to go back to any sort of structured environment.

Timmy uses his Lore as Alertness to tag one of the PCs as more than he seems.  Timmy decides to introduce himself.

Timmy decides to conjure a girlfriend, but he gets it very wrong.  To start with, since he's never been with a girl he doesn't really know what he's doing or what he should end up.  A mindless, half complete husk wanders off and the PCs stumble over it.  It they trace it back to him then Timmy denies any involvement - he's too ashamed to admit what he did.

Timmy decides to conjure a girlfriend and something moves into the empty body he makes.  Until that body fades there's something from the Nevernever where it shouldn't be and it's wearing a cheerleader's body - a body that resembles a Barbie doll in too many ways.

A PC notices that his wallet is light.  If he's suspicious then he can trace the missing cash back to a conjured bill that he got as change - and trace the missing bill back to Timmy.  An unapologetic Timmy - who feels no guilt when it comes to making fake money.

A more alert PC comes across some conjured cash when he's getting change - which he can trace back to Timmy.

A PC (using Lore as Alertness) notices that a street kid is smoking a conjured cigarette and investigates.

A girl somehow connected to a PC (niece, daughter, cousin, relative to a friend, whatever) become infatuated with Timmy.  Timmy gives her some little presents, but none of those presents seem to last long before they go missing (i.e. the conjured item fades).  The girl (or someone connected to her) get the PCs involved, either to find the missing items (or discover who is stealing those items) or to find out about Timmy.

One of Timmy's relatives surfaces and decides to rescue him from the system.  Problem is, Timmy doesn't need rescuing.

One of Timmy's half remembered siblings surfaces and traces down Timmy, wanting to connect.

One of Timmy's half remembered siblings surfaces and that sibling is in trouble.   Timmy decides (blood being thicker than water) to help the sibling - but he needs help to do it.  If Timmy knows (or knows of) the PCs they make a good place for Timmy to look for help.

One (or both) of Timmy's parents get out of jail and try to make contact with their missing son.

Someone from his parents' past leans on Timmy for some drug debts they used to owe.

Timmy awkwardly pursues a girl that the PCs know or crushes big time one of the female PCs.  He recklessly conjures twenties, fifties, and even hundreds so he can buy something worthy of her - then dons his private school schoolboy disguise and gets her a piece of jewellery.  Of course he gets the size wrong and when the girl goes to store (directed there by the box the piece came in) to get it resized the store wants to know how she got her hands on the stolen jewellery.  Not being stupid, the store put 1 (the cash purchase) and 1 (that exact same amount going missing) and concluded that the money was somehow switched out from the cash and labelled the piece as stolen.  If the crush isn't on a PC then a PC might get a frantic call from a niece, daughter, whatever who needs to be bailed out on a charge of theft over 1k, or 5k, or whatever seems appropriate.

The PCs are going somewhere and a sudden rain squall hits.  Caught in rain, Timmy's clothes are washed off him - leaving him in his underwear.  The PCs can't help but notice the boy's clothing dissolving in the rain - which could introduce them to him.

A PC without a Lore skill picks up something in a pawnshop.  Sunrise happen and the item dissolves into ectoplasm.  Yes, Timmy needed some fast (and real) cash - so he conjured something and pawned it.  If it was an item that the group really needed then they might have trouble replacing it and even if they don't they might assume that Timmy hit them on purpose.

Timmy gets picked up and his fake ID doesn't hold up - or it holds and it doesn't matter because Timmy is actually guilty of some petty crime.  Anyway you look at it, Timmy's in holding and needs help - are the PCs there for him?

A crime happens and a detective decides that he needs a random street person to take the blame - and Timmy gets fingered for it.  He's facing serious time for something that he didn't do and freaking out big time.

The street turns nasty (as the street usually does) and Timmy's comfortable existence is threatened.  He needs help big time.

The PCs lack someone who can conjure and some one recommends Timmy to them.  "He's a real conjurer and he's cheap - he doesn't know how much his talent is worth."

Timmy is wandering at night and (thanks to his Uncle's pocket watch) sees something major.  He might need help or be able to offer the PCs help.

[Sanctaphrax]

Random fact: the maximum message length is responsible for the existance of the Homebrew Stunts Master List.

Timmy's pocket watch is probably only worth +1 refresh. Also, it would be nice to know the story behind it.

Shouldn't Timmy have a decent Discipline if he wants to conjure stuff?

[Richard_Chilton]

Darn, I can't believe did the math wrong...

Discipline - double darn.  I forgot that one.

The story behind the IoP - I'll work on that.  Right now it's just something he inherited, but I'll expand it.

So I've finished five of these characters, then linked them.  As I was linking them I remember that I should have made six - a couple of them had to double up who interacted with who.  The group still needs a name - mostly because they can't decide on a name.

There's:
Conjuring street kid - barely into his teens
young scion who shifts into an adult to fight crime - age 10-12
Flower child summer court changeling - 14
Scion who rejected his father's world domination plan - 12 to mid teens
Troll Changeling - who would be an abuse survivor if her toughness hadn't kicked early - aged 18 - 19

So most of them are in the 13 - 15 range and only one of them takes life seriously at all.  If I can think of a cute adventure I'll see about putting it all together in one place.

Richard

[Richard_Chilton]

Timmy might not know the history of his pocket watch, but Items of Power don't just popup overnight.  This then is the history of the watch as it might be known by a member of the White Council.

The Rabbit's Watch
Many years ago a man named Charles Lutwidge Dodgson devoted himself to researching the Nevernever.  A World Walker and a founding member of the Society for Psychical Research, Charles Dodgson explored areas of the Nevernever that few have ever seen.  While most search the Nevernever looking for ways to increase their own powers or for threatens that need dealing with, Charles Dodgson explored with whimsy in mind.
Not that whimsy is always safe.  Indeed, Charles Dodgson would have died several times over if not for a gift presented to him by a talking white rabbit.  The creature's only price was that Charles Dodgson spread his tale among the mortal lands, which Charles Dodgson conscientiously did - mentioning it in a book where he described some of the more whimsical places he had been.
While the watch was designed with survival in mind, it is survival as seen by a rabbit.  The ability to sneak through darkness.  The speed needed to out run predators.  The fortitude to survive attacks.  As for its weakness, have you ever seen a wet rabbit? No, rabbits don't like water - and talking ones like it even less.  It spoils their waistcoats and it takes forever for the fur to dry.
But exploring the Nevernever is a young man's game.  When Charles Dodgson no longer felt he needed the protection of the watch he passed it on, but the 1863 diary which would have recorded who he gave it to is missing and presumed lost to the ages.  Some speculate that he gave it to Alice Liddell, the daughter of one of his friends who people claim he was close with, but there is no proof of that.
After being missing for over a century it finally surfaced in the hands of a minor practitioner named Maxwell.  Maxwell didn't have the power to join the White Council but the watch kept him safe - at least from external threats.  After Maxwell's fatal heart attack, the watch dropped from sight.  It's whereabouts are currently unknown.

Richard

[Sanctaphrax]

Are you still planning to post the rest? I'd love to see them.

[Richard_Chilton]

Here's the last of the five.  I've got another version for each of them that ties everyone together, but I'm a sample away from posting them together as a package.

Name: Jennifer Abigail Reynolds - Little Jar
Template: Changeling
High Concept Aspect: Survivor Daughter of a Troll
Trouble: Labelled Damaged Goods
Background:
Jennifer Abigail Reynolds has no knowledge of the circumstances of her birth.  Some records were lost or misfiled - all she knows is that she was in the system from a very young age.  Maybe from birth - there's no way of telling.  She knows she ended up with the Raynauds, maybe when she was three or four.  Her foster parents, who may have renamed her, were Jeremy and Tina Reynolds.  They always had her call them Jeremy and Tina, maybe to remind her that she wasn't really their daughter.

Someone might have told Jeremy and Tina that old saw about "Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child", so they didn't spare the rod, or the belt, or the wooden spoon, or the spatula, or anything else that was handy.  The single point in their favour was that they didn't punch or kick her - just beat her bottom.  At one point that hurt and frightened Jennifer Abigail Reynolds (her parents usually call her by her full name and asked that others do likewise), but long before she went to school the beatings stopped hurting so much and she stopped being scared.

But other than those frequent beatings, life wasn't that bad.  Except for that part of her life Jennifer Abigail Reynolds had more or less a normal childhood.

It wasn't until later in grade school when Jennifer Abigail Reynolds saw another child getting smacked that she realised how much smackings were supposed to hurt.  Worse, the person doing the smacking was Tina and Jennifer Abigail Reynolds saw the look on her caregiver's face.  She saw that the woman was enjoying what she was doing, enjoying it in a way that Jennifer Abigail Reynolds couldn't begin to understand.

Leaving her friend with her caregiver, Jennifer Abigail Reynolds went out and cried under a tree.  This wasn't the first time she had cried there, but somehow this time was different.  When she stopped crying she wiped her eyes and put a smile on her face, then went home.

To find the house empty.   The friend had left (going home) but Jennifer Abigail Reynolds expected both Jeremy and Tina to be home.  Looking around she saw something fantastic: It was the middle of summer but for some reason there was frost on the mirror in Jeremy and Tina's bedroom.  Jennifer Abigail Reynolds watched the strange frost fade; it was completely gone before she noticed the blood.  Seeing the blood, Jennifer Abigail Reynolds decided that maybe she should get help.

The police came and told her that they really looked hard but they couldn't find her parents, then they started asking her questions.  Like were there people who were mad at her parents? Did her parents ever mention anyone that they didn't like? When Jennifer Abigail Reynolds explained how they weren't really her parents the police looked further and discovered the missing paperwork.  They also found other things and started to ask how about her parents had treated her and when some pictures of her had been taken.  She tried to help them with all their questions but she didn't know most of the answers.

Background Aspect: Takes More Than A Beating To Get Me Down


Rising Conflict:
From there she went to a group home.  Later, when she was older, Jennifer Abigail Reynolds dug into things and discovered that the police thought her parents had been murdered (there was enough blood from both of them to call it homicide without bodies) by person or persons unknown.  The police also thought that Jeremy and Tina deserved it, and by the time she dug into things Jennifer Abigail Reynolds more or less agreed.

But that was later.  At the group home Jennifer Abigail Reynolds expected to hear her full name so was quickly nicknamed JAR.  That nickname was entered in her file and as a result followed her through life.  The staff at that first group home watched her for signs of abuse and when they didn't see any assumed that she had bounced back quickly while blocking out all her bad memories.  Then they sent her to a less therapeutic group home to make way for a more damaged kid.

That was her life, being shuffled from home to home.  Most of the homes were, well, there was nothing really wrong with them but there was nothing really right either - but they were happy enough places for JAR.  Regular foster care or was out - she was labelled as potentially damaged goods and no one wanted to take a chance with her.  As for adoption, she was older than most kids are when they get adopted and there was that "damaged goods" label to scare people off.

While labelled, JAR was more or less a normal kid.  She wasn't always happy but most of the time she was content.  There wasn't anything very special about her, except that she seemed tougher than the other kids.  Somehow this translated into her looking out for the younger ones - almost as if she was their big sister or something.

Big became soon an important word in her life - when she hit adolescence JAR got a growth spurt that was more than dramatic.  Soon she was head and shoulders above her classmates.  Someone mockingly called her Little Jar and the name somehow stuck, even though most of the other kids eventually more or less caught up to her height.

Phase Aspect: Everyone's Big Sister


The Story: Little Jar's Night On The Town
She was in her mid teens and at yet another group home when some of the other girls there convinced her to go out partying with them on a hot summer night.  They joked that maybe Little Jar could get them into clubs because she was so tall.  That didn't happen but they did end up at a party.

Glancing around, Little Jar could tell that something wasn't right.  It wasn't just the making out and drinking and smoking up, or the presence of * Guest Star *.  No, she couldn't quite put her finger on it.  Deciding that she was freaking over nothing she went outside for some air.  Once outside she saw someone sneaking up on * Guest Star * and called out a warning.

That was when the vampire decided they both had to go.

Little Jar surprised the vampire by not dying during the first attack.  It knocked * Guest Star * through a wall (thankfully a thin one) then focused its attention solely on Little Jar.  Not being an idiot, Little Jar backed away, ended up with back to a tree as the thing stalked her.  Little Jar hit it with her best shot, surprising the vampire by hurting it.  But not hurting it enough - they both knew how this would end.  Seeing the look on the vampire's face, Little Jar braced herself for death.

That was when the troll ate the vampire.  Little Jar wasn't sure who was more surprised - her or the vampire - but the troll just ate the vampire.

There was frost on the tree's leafs as Little Jar's real father introduced himself to her.  Little Jar didn't connect the frost on the tree to the frost on the bedroom mirror until much later - she was too busy freaking out over having a troll for a father.  When * Guest Star * staggered over to try to help, Little Jar found herself explaining that everything was cool.  That this hulking thing was her father.

Her father filled her in on Fairy and the Winter Court and took her to someone connected to the Winter Court who explained to her what a changeling was.  About the choice and how she had tapped the power of her father's blood so much that she had almost made her choice during the fight with the vampire.

Little Jar stayed out all night, talking to father and others from Fairy.  Being gone all night got her booted from that group home but Little Jar thought that was a small price to pay to learn her heritage and she was almost due to be shifted to another home anyway.  Best of all, someone from Fairy "discovered" there was an old life insurance due her, giving her a bit of money of her own.

Phase Aspect: Help Comes From Unexpected Places


Guest Star: Whose Path Have You Crossed?(Details to be filled in later)
It depends on who you want her to work with.  After her first story she finished high school and ended up living in a basement apartment - thanks to those funds the Winter Court provided.  During one of her roles she might cross paths with another PC while looking up the files on her first foster family (and realising that her real father probably ate them too).  She's currently a large woman, but not abnormally so.

Sample Aspects might include: "No One Hurts My Friends" and "You Need A Hug".


Power Level: Up to Your Waist
Skill Cap: Great
Skill Points: 25
Starting Refresh: 7
Adjusted Refresh: 1

Skills
Might: Great
Endurance: Great

Fists: Good
Empathy: Good

Athletics: Fair
Resources: Fair

Alertness: Average
Contacts: Average
Discipline Average
Intimidation: Average
Lore: Average
Presence: Average
Rapport: Average


Stunts and powers
No Pain, No Gain (Endurance)

Inhuman Strength [-2]

Inhuman Toughness [–2]

Superhuman Recovery [–4]

The Catch [+3] - standard troll catch


Notes:
Little Jar is now out of high school and out of the system - and surprisingly well adjusted for what she's been through.  In theory she should be getting on with her life, but for the first time ever she's calling the shots and getting used to the concept of freewill.  The money "found" by the Winter Court is more than enough to keep her.  She's afraid that soon they might take those funds away to get her to choose, but for the moment she's content to live in the moment.

At one time she thought her choice would be easy - just become a troll like her father.  That was before she started living on her own and making her own decisions and she kind of likes the idea of freewill.  On the other hand, Little Jar can't remember a time that she didn't have at least some of her father's toughness.  The idea of being hurt the way a normal person gets hurts - that's scary to her.

She has contacts among the Winter Court, people she knows from the system, and new friends she has made.  Social workers, kids she shared group homes with, people living around her, and some of the people in the local occult community.  A couple of that last group have offered her jobs working as muscle, but Little Jar can't see herself in that role.

As a changeling she can take any of the powers listed under "Troll" in the Our World book - and if she runs out of refresh she turns into one.


Using her in a game:

The PCs run into a bit of trouble and a muscular young woman (18 - 20) steps in to help them.

The PCs are looking to hire some muscle and someone refers them to Little Jar.  She tells them that she's not for hire, but if they really need help then she'll see what she can do.

Little Jar's mother wants the PCs to track down her daughter.  Maybe the woman was in a slow time area of the nevernever or maybe she had to spend a long time recovering from Little Jar's conception and birth.

Little Jar's mother is a big bad sorceress (or other villain type) and while looking for weaknesses the PCs stumble on to Little Jar's existence.

Little Jar is part of a mystic bloodline - maybe the last surviving member of it.  There's something that the PCs need her to do before she chooses to become a troll.  Maybe open a magically sealed vault, destroy a nasty, use an Item of Power - whatever it is their research shows that only Little Jar can do it.

A PC owes a debt to someone in the Winter Court and can pay that debt if they get Little Jar to choose to become a troll.

A PC owes a debt to a troll and he says he'll wipe it clean if they do something for his daughter.  WTF? A troll that cares about his changeling daughter? How rare is that? Is there more to Little Jar (or her father) than meets the eye?

Someone owes a debt to someone in the Summer Court and can clear by screwing with Little Jar.  Will the PCs go after an innocence changeling just to pay off a debt?

The Reynolds weren't just bad people - they were involved with dark forces.  In fact they were holding an Item of Power for a group that the PCs are in conflict with.  Someone should definitely ask Little Jar if she knows what happened to it.  Maybe it was this Item of Power that drove them bad?

One of the PCs is a teen who gets into a bit of trouble and Little Jar (who's everyone's big sister) steps in to help.

The PCs are in the area and Little Jar spots them by using her Lore as her alertness.  Warily, she introduces herself.

The PCs see a muscular young woman about to get pounded by someone (or something) and are surprised when the girl starts doing the pounding.

The PCs are at a bar or coffee house that caters to the supernatural crowd and run into her - she stays a nameless background "there's that muscular woman at her usual spot" NPC until the PCs decide to talk to her or she is otherwise needed in the game.

[Thugorp]

These characters are very enjoyable. I would love to see them all written up as a group, or at least with the guest star part and full back-story written in. Also, I would very much enjoy reading Maxwell's wright-up if you would enjoy writing it. :-)