Numbers as a Campaign Hook

[Michael Hopcroft]

I've recently seen a few episodes of the CBS drana Numbers and have been wondering what kind of use the series' concepts could be in a police-based Dark Champions campaign.

 

The series involved an FBI agent who is frequently put on high-profile and rather puzzling cases, ranging from celebrity stalkings to brazen robberies linked to kidnappings. And the agent, although he isn't stupid, is frequently in over his head when it comes to the cleverness of the felons he is trying to track down. Luckily he can get the help of his brother -- a math professor at a local univeristy (I'm thinking UCLA, since the show seems to be set in los Angeles) who has already been doing consulting for the FBI on things like handwriting-recognition software. And this brother has an uncanny ability to apply mathematcial principles to anything and make them make more sense.

 

Satisfying as many of the peisodes can be to watch (it's relatively well-written for a US cop show and the plots are usually full of intriguing twists and turns), I was wondering how one could work an arrangement like this into a game. Would the mathematician borther be a viable PC? He never goes out into the field -- he still has classes to teach, research to do, and a very interesting social life to lead (sociually, the action-man FBI agent is just as awkward as he is, perhaps more so because in a show like this you expect the he-man to be the babe magnet). But he's a really fun, likable character who looks like he would be fun to play.

 

How would people handle a set-up like this?

[freakboy6117]

Re: Numbers as a Campaign Hook

 

buy the brother as a follower, contact or even a dnpc

 

would probably work best as a contact as really he has no active effect on his brothers field work.

 

or you could buy powers and skill levels with the brother as the special effect

[Vanguard00]

Re: Numbers as a Campaign Hook

 

I enjoy the show a lot. Rob Morrow (remember "Northern Exposure"? He was the doctor) does a nice job as the FBI agent.

 

To answer your question, I don't know that it's a viable setting. The mathematician is very active in the overall plot, but never in the field (well, once, but he wigged and probably won't do it again). In order to make this a viable character you'd have to give him enough skills to not be useless in combat (which isn't difficult; a single level with a gun and he's at least a capable agent).

 

However, if you make him a follower/DNPC/NPC, you risk overshadowing the other, less cerebral PCs.

 

His skills, by the way--in addition to a butt-load of math-related KS, PS and SS--would probably be very similar to the Dark Champs Precog Clairsentience power (I forget the name); 0 END, extra time (minimum 5 minutes), precog only, no range, requires a deduction and a math/statistical analysis roll. Something like that. You could also do a Mind Scan variation in order to find a guy by running various equations.

 

Still, while the mathematician presents an intriguing character, it's potentially unbalancing IMO, either because he'll be the center of attention or because he'll be left out. That's as-is, of course; modified versions would probably fit better.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Numbers as a Campaign Hook

 

I really like the show too. Ive seen maybe 5 or 6 episodes and while some of the solutions offered by the math genius brother are a bit contrived to fit the time format (as is typical of cop/detective shows), theres enough solid hooks to keep it semi-plausible. Mostly the draw of the show is that the acting is better than par -- Rob Morrow is a fantastic and under utilized actor, and David Krumholtz is suprisingly good as the math genius brother (the last time I had seen him in a role was when he danced in his underwear in Slums of Beverly Hills so I didnt expet much). The supporting characters are interesting too, though the genius hotty romantic interest just doesnt ring true.

 

Anyway, as far as adapting the show to a Dark Champions game, I think it would work fine in a PBEM. In a face to face however, I would take the opposite tact. The focus of the show is really on the math genius. He's the real star, the lynch pin of the plots, the raison d'etre for the show.

 

He's the PC, and the FBI brother is a DNPC/GMs tool. Rather than trying to make the intellectual brother more suitable for combat and basing the game around that, I would instead take the approach that the PC's were all "brains" and special talents with various specialties that are called upon by the feds and cops to help them solve crimes. Not much combat, but plenty of dramatic tension. And baddies can always come after the brain trust directly if they become aware of them if more action is desired.

 

Several detective type shows of late are taking the tact of focusing on unusual approaches to crime solving rather than the more typical mean-streets style shows of the past. Interrogators, forensics specialists, medical examiners, and scientists are all viable as crimesolvers, plus more traditional detectives.

 

 

Imagine this campaign:

 

One PC is a mathmatician ala Epps from Numbers. He is able to predict and deduce an astonishing amount of information by applying mathematical principles to certain types of crimes. He is also able to do statistical analysis that can narrow areas of unknowns, drastically reducing the amount of time and information necessary to define bounding areas and search grids. In addition to his math he's also just generally hyper-intelligent and is capable of intuitive leaps independent of getting math involved. However, he's somewhat sheltered and not playing on the same field as "normal brained" people. His social skills suck.

 

Another PC is a skilled profiler. With a strong psychology background coupled with simple down to earth understanding of human nature, this character can discern a ridiculous amount of information about someone from anecdotal evidence and unobserved behavior. Thier ability to predict courses of action based upon their profiles make them powerful assets in getting the jump on criminals. Their grounding in what makes people tick also makes them very savvy and socially adept.

 

Another PC is a gifted forensics specialist with a background forensic medicine as well as field forensics. Able to find a massive amount of information and clues from a crime scene or from a corpse, this character is a modern day sleuth armed with an evidence kit and a microscope. With years of noticing what others miss under thier belts, this character also has a very high PER check, which comes in handy time after time.

 

Another PC is a gifted data analyst with very strong computer skills and a business background. Info tech is their balliwick, and they are masters of it. If its stored or transmitted digitally, this character has a pretty good chance of being able to suss it out. Their ability to attain and make sense out of financial documents, follow banking and credit transactions to terminals, sniff out unusual deposits of cash, set up and use existing analytical databases, and knowledge of available federal and educational systems makes this character particularly good at tracking white collar and corporate crime, but their general techie know how makes them generally useful in almost any circumstance.

 

And so on......

 

Together, they fight crime!

 

 

It could work, but it would take a group of intelligent players of a certain bent. Ive had a few groups in the past that this would have been totally doable with, but the majority of groups Ive played with and seen couldnt pull it off (and most wouldnt want to, being into more lowbrow, action oriented gaming).

[ThothAmon]

Re: Numbers as a Campaign Hook

 

I haven't seen it but it sounds like a modern twist on the Sherlock / Mycroft Holmes relationship...

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Numbers as a Campaign Hook

 

I haven't seen it but it sounds like a modern twist on the Sherlock / Mycroft Holmes relationship...

A modern day Mycroft would hold a Ph.D. in Poolitical Science and work at an uber-influential think-tank. After all, in his day prime Minsters came and went, but it was Mycroft who determined the course of the British state.

[Pogo]

Re: Numbers as a Campaign Hook

 

I haven't seen it but it sounds like a modern twist on the Sherlock / Mycroft Holmes relationship...

 

An equally apt comparison would be Archie Goodwin/Nero Wolfe, although Charlie (the mathematician) is significantly lighter and less self-assured than Mr. Wolfe.