James Strand Character Sketch

[Douglas]

Well, Rechan got here first.  Since he has posted a Dresden Files character based on his observations of the characters at Rick Neal's blog I figured I might follow suit and post some of the ideas I had for one of my own characters I've had over the last few weeks.  This character is incomplete, he's short one aspect, his stunts, and home address, and communal involvement in his novel.

Rechan's character can be found here:
http://rechan.livejournal.com/242957.html

And now, James Strand:

Name: James Strand
Address:
High Concept: Knight of the Underworld
Personal Struggle: His feelings of guilt for his own violence against his desire to find a cause and purpose.
Where did you come from?
    James grew up in a fairly nice part of Ottawa South just off Alta Vista Street.  Wound up in the special education program at school for his Dyslexia.  He was a nice kid, except for a nasty temper that got him in a string of fights and a series of suspensions.  He was finally expelled after seriously injuring his high school principal at age 15; and ran away from home a week later rather than face his family’s reaction.  He lived with a group of squatters for a few months, and then got picked up by the Talons gang as muscle after he beat up a man trying to shakedown his new friends.  While he usually stays away from the dealing he has had a number of run-ins with the cops that have netted him some time in prison and exacerbated his issues with authority figures. 

What shapes you?
When James was little his father would read to him, and when he had trouble learning to read his parents kept reading to him.  Maybe if he’d been fed a little less Dumas and Scott he wouldn’t have grown up with such a...Inconvenient sense of right and wrong.  Telling himself that violence can be a means to fight the injustices of the world has kept him sane after he joined the Talons; fighting off more powerful rival gangs and looking after the people around him was a way to convince himself that he was more than just a thug.  He is increasingly aware of the level of rationalization he is doing and conflicts between his loyalty to his gang and his sense of right and wrong are becoming increasingly difficult to resolve. 

What’s your First Novel?
Hard Days
When Jenny Geary turns up on James Strand’s doorstep bled half to death and raving about vampires James finds his life under siege.  With corrupted police officers and bloodthirsty fiends hunting them through the East end James must choose between his duty to protect his friend and his desire to defend his estranged family from the threat posed by his undead foes.

Aspects
A face like an Angel’s
Lanky
Part of the gang
Beast Within
Rough Code of Honour
Dyslexic

Skills
5-Athletics
4-Fists
4-Weapons
3-Might
3-Endurance
3-Intimidation
2-Rapport
2-Contacts
2-Alertness
2-Stealth
1-Deceit
1-Guns
1-Conviction
1-Burglary
1-Investigation


Well, there he is; still a little one-dimensional I think but at least it's a start.  Explanation of his aspects below.

A face like an Angel’s: Amazingly conspicuous, especially when combined with either a floor-length trenchcoat or a muscle shirt and falcon tattoes.  Still, it has it's benefits where the ladies are concerned.

Lanky: Long and lean, sucks for tight spaces, great for running from the cops.

Part of the gang: Member of the Talons gang; some perks, some responsibilities, and unwelcome legal attention.

Beast Within: James has the temper of an ancient berserker, not necessarily quick but very hot.  When he is well and truly riled he tends to get violent, and not care about consequence or injury.

Rough Code of Honour: He still thinks of himself as someone who protects the helpless, and fights against injustice. Stereotypes aside this can get a little inconvenient for a criminal on occasion, but he sticks it out regardless.

Dyslexic: Not the mild kind, he has extreme difficulties reading that have only gotten worse since he tries to hide the problem from those around him.

[Douglas]

Carrying on, here is the Second draft of James Strand

Name: James Strand
Address:
High Concept: Knight of the Underworld
Personal Struggle: His feelings of guilt for his own violence against his desire to find a cause and purpose.
Where did you come from?
    James grew up in a fairly nice part of Ottawa South just off Alta Vista Street.  He was a nice kid, except for a nasty temper that got him in a string of fights and a series of suspensions.  He was finally expelled after seriously injuring his high school principal at age 15; and ran away from home a week later rather than face his family’s reaction.  He lived with a group of squatters for about, and then got picked up by the Talons gang as muscle after he beat up a man trying to shakedown his friends.  He now lives in Vanier and acts at lookout and enforcer for the rest of the gang.  While he usually stays away from the dealing he has had a number of run-ins with the cops that have netted him some time in prison and exacerbated his issues with authority figures.  The fact that he has become aware that some of the authority figures in the city are associated with vampires hasn’t improved his disposition either.

What shapes you?
When James was little his father would read to him, and when he had trouble learning to read his parents kept reading to him.  Maybe if he’d been fed a little less Dumas and Scott he wouldn’t have grown up with such a...Inconvenient sense of right and wrong.  A belief that violence could be necessary to solving the world’s problems wasn’t exactly an asset to a teenager watching friends get bullied by classmates and ground down by abusive teachers, and he still can’t really feel sorry about what happened.  He may sneer at how he used to believe in storybook morality, but in a very real sense he’s still living it.  Telling himself that violence can be a means to fight the injustices of the world has kept him sane after he joined the Talons; fighting off more powerful rival gangs and looking after the people around him was a way to convince himself that he was more than just a thug.  He is increasingly aware of the level of rationalization involved and conflicts between his loyalty to his gang and his sense of right and wrong are becoming increasingly difficult to resolve.  His growing awareness of the power of the creatures that stalk Ottawa’s night has almost been a measure of salvation for Strand; the Red Court’s power in the city provides a clear enemy and his struggles against vampires and other supernatural predators reassure as well as terrify him.

What’s your First Novel?
Hard Days
When Jenny Geary turns up on James Strand’s doorstep bled half to death and raving about vampires James finds his life under siege.  With corrupted police officers and bloodthirsty fiends hunting them through the East end James must choose between his duty to protect his friend and his desire to defend his estranged family from the threat posed by his undead foes.

Aspects
A face like an Angel’s
Tall Drink of Water
Beast Within
Part of the gang, Measured and Marked
Robin Hood Wannabe
The old codes still matter
?

Skills
4-Athletics
4-Alertness
3-Fists
3-Weapons
3-Contacts
2-Endurance
2-Rapport
2-Might
2-Intimidation
2-Deceit
2-Stealth
1-Driving
1-Survival
1-Guns
1-Conviction
1-Burglary
1-Investigation


First off I would like to thank Rick Neal for his comments on the first draft of the character.

I was sorry to see the dyslexia angle go, but with only seven aspect slots I realized it wouldn't bring the same amount to the character as some of the other options.  In the first draft there were a lot of elements of the character that just weren't communicated well.  Hopefully I'm getting a little better at this.

I shifted his skills around to make him a bit more flexible and well rounded.

As far as new aspects go, I think they're pretty self-explanatory.  Tall drink of water is another way of saying Lanky, Strand's falcon tatoos marking his gang allegiance get metioned at the end of Part of the gang, The old codes still matter is a replacement for rouh code of honour that expresses it more generally, and Robin Hood Wannabe is I think pretty clegar.  I was hoping to put in the last aspect making reference to Strand's relationship with his family, but I haven't figured out how to word it yet.