Guest Worldmaker Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 I need a fresh idea as to why a person would become an insane killer clown-type villain. Everything I seem to be coming up with today feels like either the Joker or Black Harlequin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Does it have to be a person? How about a malfuctioning robot with a clownish exterior? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterhawk Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Re: Character Background Help You need a reason?!...I thought all clowns were evil psychopaths Seriously, I had an assassin called Gunplay who adopted the clown motiff simply because it was creepy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Re: Character Background Help I need a fresh idea as to why a person would become an insane killer clown-type villain. Everything I seem to be coming up with today feels like either the Joker or Black Harlequin. Try the Insane Clown Posse. They're also wrestlers. JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farik Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Just to clarify. You want a background for a clown motif villain? May I ask why you decided that a clown motif would be the first defining feature of this character? Have you defined any other features like motive or power sets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wormhole Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Maybe all those years of doing birthday party entertainment for little spoiled brats finally made him snap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Might i suggest the character start out as a clown, instead of just adopting the outfit/motiff? I have an idea, but not sure how well it would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Trent Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Maybe all those years of doing birthday party entertainment for little spoiled brats finally made him snap? Sounds like you've had experience in that field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Worldmaker Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Does it have to be a person? How about a malfuctioning robot with a clownish exterior? Yes, personhood is a prerequisite. Tom Foolery started out as a clown, I know that already... the part I'm having a problem with is his descent into murder and evil toy design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Worldmaker Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Just to clarify. Have you defined any other features like motive or power sets? The character came first with this one, and as always when the character sheet comes first, the background is causing me problems. His name is Tom Foolery, and he's a bad guy in the Rogue's Gallery of a vaguely Batmanesque hero in San Francisco. He's got a Multipower called "bomb juggling", the Focus of which are rigged juggling balls. He's got a martial art called "Yo-Yo Fu", and another one based on gymnastics. He's got some other rigged toys (the 100,000 volt joybuzzer, the acid-laced soap bubbles, and so on) but doesn't do the "new toy every encounter" VPPP like Black Harlequin does. He's got the usual martial-artists load of skills, plus some engineering/inventor based skills. Ah, hell. I'll try and get the character sheet up as soon as I can transcribe it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farik Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help So what is his motivation? Like Joker is he trying to pull off the ultimate joke? Is he "dancing macabre" in an attempt to teach people something? Does he not realize he's murdering people? Or is he just a sociopath who would be just as happy with a lumberjack motiff but he thought of clowns first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Yep, they all pretty much feel stolen. Hmmm. An international assassin, our villain once dressed up as a clown in order to get close to a Russian Ambassador so he could assassinate him. In intelligence circles he became renowned for that stunt. It became his calling card. Each subsequent killing was followed up with some kind of clown symbolism, to let those "in the know" be aware that it was his work. But at last it all caught up with him. Captured by a group who wanted revenge for the death of one of their leaders, he was smeared with clown makeup and beaten to death. ...But not quite. He awakens in the hospital in clown makeup with no memory of who he was due to the beating. Covered in grease paint and filled with rage, he killed two guards and escaped into the night... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help The character came first with this one, and as always when the character sheet comes first, the background is causing me problems. His name is Tom Foolery, and he's a bad guy in the Rogue's Gallery of a vaguely Batmanesque hero in San Francisco. He's got a Multipower called "bomb juggling", the Focus of which are rigged juggling balls. He's got a martial art called "Yo-Yo Fu", and another one based on gymnastics. He's got some other rigged toys (the 100,000 volt joybuzzer, the acid-laced soap bubbles, and so on) but doesn't do the "new toy every encounter" VPPP like Black Harlequin does. He's got the usual martial-artists load of skills, plus some engineering/inventor based skills. Ah, hell. I'll try and get the character sheet up as soon as I can transcribe it. Great name and character concept, Jack. I wish my game lent itself to such character types, but we're just too Avengerish to work with a villain like that. And I have a very logical reason such a bad guy might adopt a clown motif: It's a disguise. Simple, but reasonable. Perhaps his Secret ID is as a very somber scientist or engineer and the clown motif not only throws off identification but also lets him really cut loose because none of his friends or family would recognize him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Worldmaker Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Yep, they all pretty much feel stolen. Hmmm. An international assassin, our villain once dressed up as a clown in order to get close to a Russian Ambassador so he could assassinate him. In intelligence circles he became renowned for that stunt. It became his calling card. Each subsequent killing was followed up with some kind of clown symbolism, to let those "in the know" be aware that it was his work. But at last it all caught up with him. Captured by a group who wanted revenge for the death of one of their leaders, he was smeared with clown makeup and beaten to death. ...But not quite. He awakens in the hospital in clown makeup with no memory of who he was due to the beating. Covered in grease paint and filled with rage, he killed two guards and escaped into the night... I like this... its got a nice comic-booky feel to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S7Michelle Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help How about something like this: Tom Foolery was born and raised a circus performer. His family had owned a traveling circus for generations, performing was in their blood and they were good at it. But times started getting tougher. The band of performers was having trouble bringing in enough money to pay for their expenses. Some of the entertainers began engaging in petty crimes to supplement their income while they were in the smaller towns. Ultimately it backfired on them, and thanks to a corrupt cop and some vigilante justice, some of Tom’s family ended up badly injured/dead and the circus, unable to carry on without them, was no more. Now Tom Foolery wants Revenge and in honor of the circus he loved and the family he misses, he does it while wearing his clown costume. Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Worldmaker Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help How about something like this: Tom Foolery was born and raised a circus performer. His family had owned a traveling circus for generations, performing was in their blood and they were good at it. But times started getting tougher. The band of performers was having trouble bringing in enough money to pay for their expenses. Some of the entertainers began engaging in petty crimes to supplement their income while they were in the smaller towns. Ultimately it backfired on them, and thanks to a corrupt cop and some vigilante justice, some of Tom’s family ended up badly injured/dead and the circus, unable to carry on without them, was no more. Now Tom Foolery wants Revenge and in honor of the circus he loved and the family he misses, he does it while wearing his clown costume. Michelle That's another good idea... heck, I might be able to combine the two... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug McCrae Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Silver Age Sentinels also has a villain called Tom Foolery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KA. Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Worldmaker, Even though this is somewhat similar to another suggestion, how about something like the flip-side of Robin, all grown up? Acrobatic family, circus under pressure from crooks, an "accident" is arranged, the parents die in a tragic fall. Except in this story, either the "Batman" character didn't show up, or just blew it in some way. So, this youngster is filled with rage and hatred. There is no one to steer him in a postive direction. He stays with his circus "family", because he has nowhere else to go, but it is slowly driving him mad. One day, at the circus, the laughter of the crowd while watching the clowns is just too much. The crowd laughs while the clowns fall, while the clowns appear to get hurt. But he knows all too well, that when people fall and get hurt there is nothing funny about it! So, he decides to become a "clown" himself. But he isn't going to make people laugh. He is going to make them pay. KA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help This might be considered a variation or elaboration on KA's suggestion: Ever hear the song "Send In The Clowns?" In the circus if one of the performers suffers a serious accident, clowns are sent in to distract the crowd while the victim is tended to. Perhaps Tom Foolery was at a circus as a child when something terrible happened to someone he cared about; the arrival of the clowns became an image he associated ever after with suffering and death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Worldmaker Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Silver Age Sentinels also has a villain called Tom Foolery. What is "Silver Age Sentinels"? I'm serious, I've never heard of it. My "Tom Foolery" started out as a group of "stupid villains", a'la C.L.O.W.N. The membership was Mister Laughs the Evil Clown, Buffy, Bunny, and Bambi (collectively known as the Kung Fu Cheerleaders), Toys (the Evil Orangutan Inventor), and Yo-Yo (the badest 14 year old you'd never want to meet). I recently decided to collapse them into a single character, called "Tom Foolery". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill_CCHKK Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help What is "Silver Age Sentinels"? I'm serious' date=' I've never heard of it.[/quote'] It's the "Guardians of Order" Superhero RPG. GoO is the company who is co-developing "Reality Storm" with Hero Games. There is both a d20 version of SAS, as well as a tri-stat version. I've looked at the tri-stat version and didn't care for it all that much. Tri-stat is the original system (I believe) used by GoO for "Big Eyes, Small Mouth", which is a system for doing Japanime. It also has one of my favorite game titles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help If a child was born to Mr. & Mrs. Foolery and a) they had not changed their last name prior to his birth and actually named their child Tom, Thomas, etc. Then that's pretty much license to put on a clown costume and go nuts right there. He can team up with his childhood sweetheart, Anita Bath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Worldmaker Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Okay, guys... here is what I went with. Tom Foolery I used a couple of your ideas... even to the exact wording. Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterhawk Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help Okay, guys... here is what I went with. Tom Foolery I used a couple of your ideas... even to the exact wording. Thanks for the help. Very sweet idea...almost an Elseworlds Dick Grayson...the Powers sections looks like its for someone else BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Re: Character Background Help My "Tom Foolery" started out as a group of "stupid villains", a'la C.L.O.W.N. The membership was Mister Laughs the Evil Clown, Buffy, Bunny, and Bambi (collectively known as the Kung Fu Cheerleaders), Toys (the Evil Orangutan Inventor), and Yo-Yo (the badest 14 year old you'd never want to meet). I recently decided to collapse them into a single character, called "Tom Foolery". I'm sorry to hear about the demise of the group Tom Foolery (I always liked them) but I do like the new solo psycho. Except for one thing: he has no defenses. Nothing. 5 pd & ed for a 400+ character...is he supposed to be the glass jaw kind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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