[Characters] The Rocket Gang

[SKJAM!]

Inspired by the "Pulparize" thread, and the silly idea of making Pokemon a pulp campaign. Here's the three members of the Rocket Gang our heroes might run into on a regular basis, starting with M.E. Owth.

 

M.E. Owth

 

Player: NPC

 

Val Char Cost

6 STR -4

14 DEX 12

10 CON 0

6 BODY -8

13 INT 3

11 EGO 2

8 PRE -2

8 COM -1

 

4 PD 3

4 ED 2

3 SPD 6

3 REC 0

20 END 0

15 STUN 1

 

4" RUN -4

2" SWIM 0

2" LEAP 1

Characteristics Cost: 11

 

Cost Power

5 Eyes Like a Cat: Nightvision

Powers Cost: 5

 

 

Cost Skill

3 Acrobatics 12-

3 Breakfall 12-

3 Climbing 12-

3 Concealment 12-

4 +2 to Concealment, self only

2 CuK: Circus Folk 11-

3 High Society 11-

2 KS: Salable Items 11-

3 Linguist

0 1) Language: English (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

2 2) Language: French (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)

2 3) Language: Italian (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)

2 4) Language: Spanish (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)

3 Lockpicking 12-

3 PS: Cat Burglar 12-

15 +3 with any cat-burglary related skill

3 Security Systems 12-

7 Stealth 14-

3 Streetwise 11-

3 Trading 11-

0 WF: Fist-Loads, Unarmed Combat

Skills Cost: 69

 

 

Cost Talent

15 Beast Speech

Talents Cost: 15

 

Total Character Cost: 100

 

Pts. Disadvantage

0 Normal Characteristic Maxima

15 Distinctive Features: Midget (Not Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

20 Hunted: Police 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Capture)

5 Physical Limitation: Short (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing)

10 Psychological Limitation: Ladies' Man (Common, Moderate)

Disadvantage Points: 50

Base Points: 50

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

 

APPEARANCE

Hair Color: Brownish-blond

Eye Color: Black

Height: 1.00 m

Weight: 25.00 kg

Description:

M.E. is a man afflicted with dwarfism; thus his arms and legs are disproportionately short compared to his torso. His eyes seem to reflect light in the dark, and he often wears a scraggly mustache in a vain attempt to look more sophisticated. He's a fairly snappy dresser, with a better sense of fashion than his taller teammates, but finding clothes that fit properly is difficult.

 

BACKGROUND

 

According to M.E., his childhood was fairly normal at first. Then his parents discovered that he had dwarfism, and would never grow above four feet tall at the maximum. Unable to deal with this, the Owths sold M.E. to a circus. Circus life wasn't that bad, but M.E. wasn't much for performing in front of crowds, and he wanted more. So he learned to steal from the audience's houses.

 

In his late teens, M.E.'s troupe was wintering near the Mexican border, and he noticed a particularly lovely senorita who often passed by. He became infatuated with her, and resolved to win her hand. M.E. stole books on fine manners and how to speak Spanish, and practiced daily. At last he felt competent to approach the senorita with courtly behavior and sparkling jewelry (stolen, of course.) The senorita was, alas, repulsed by his freakishly small body and made this abundantly clear.

 

Despondent, M.E. left the circus and devoted himself to burglary. Eventually he fell in with the Rocket Gang and was teamed up with James and Jessie.

 

PERSONALITY

M.E. is a fairly easygoing fellow who enjoys the company of attractive women. He's primarily in the burglary business because he's good at it, and most other jobs for little people are kind of demeaning. He's the brains of his team, which is admittedly not saying very much. He enjoys making awful puns, and can be a bit of a bully when he runs into the rare person who's smaller and weaker than himself.

 

QUOTE

"What a dame! She's purr-fect for me!" M.E.'s voice is a little nasal.

 

POWERS/TACTICS

M.E. is an expert cat burglar, and has a gift for languages. He even has an unusual ability to understand animals to a certain extent, and to make his wishes known to them. Unfortunately, this does not translate into animals obeying or even liking him much.

 

M.E. is well aware that he's puny, and will avoid combat whenever possible. If cornered into a fight, he'll use brass knuckles as an equalizer.

 

CAMPAIGN USE

M.E., like the rest of the Rocket Gang, is meant as a minor/comic relief antagonist. He might also make an interesting Follower or Contact for the PCs if they can reform him a bit. If he needs to be more powerful, give him bagh nakh and some combat skill levels.

 

Plot Seed:

 

M.E. and Juliet: It appears that M.E. has finally found an attractive young lady who reciprocates his romantic interest. Unfortunately, her father is a police commissioner who is the personal arch-enemy of Giovanni (leader of the Rocket Gang.) Can M.E. trick the player characters into running intereference for his love affair? And is Juliet what she appears to be?

[SKJAM!]

Re: [Characters] The Rocket Gang

 

Jessie Psuedonym

 

Player: NPC

 

Val Char Cost

10 STR 0

12 DEX 6

11 CON 2

10 BODY 0

10 INT 0

12 EGO 4

13 PRE 3

12 COM 1

 

4 PD 2

4 ED 2

3 SPD 8

4 REC 0

22 END 0

21 STUN 0

 

7" RUN 2

2" SWIM 0

3" LEAP 1

Characteristics Cost: 31

 

Cost Power

16 Dart Pistol: Multipower, 40-point reserve, (40 Active Points); all slots OAF (Pistol; -1), 2 clips of 6 Charges (-1/2)

2u 1) Knockout Darts: Drain STUN 4d6 (40 Active Points); OAF (Pistol; -1)

2u 2) Poison Darts: Drain BODY 4d6 (40 Active Points); OAF (Pistol; -1)

Powers Cost: 20

 

 

Cost Skill

5 Acting 13-

3 Concealment 11-

1 Demolitions 8-

9 Disguise 14-

2 KS: Scams 11-

3 Oratory 12-

3 Paramedics 11-

3 Persuasion 12-

1 TF: Two-Wheeled Muscle-Powered Ground Vehicles

2 PS: Scam Artist 11-

1 PS: Nurse 8-

1 PS: Radio Announcer 8-

1 PS: Sales Clerk 8-

1 PS: Typist 8-

1 SS: Meteorology 8-

1 Seduction 8-

3 Shadowing 11-

3 Stealth 11-

3 Streetwise 12-

2 Survival (Urban) 11-

3 Teamwork 11-

2 WF: Chain & Rope Weapons, Handguns

Skills Cost: 54

 

 

 

Total Character Cost: 105

 

Pts. Disadvantage

0 Normal Characteristic Maxima

20 Hunted: Police 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Capture)

5 Money: Poor

15 Psychological Limitation: Greedy (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Bad-tempered (Common, Strong)

Disadvantage Points: 55

Base Points: 50

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

 

APPEARANCE

Hair Color: Red

Eye Color: Blue

Height: 1.69 m

Weight: 54.00 kg

Description:

Jessie is a handsome woman somewhere in her mid to late twenties. She'd be even better-looking it it weren't for the cruel or angry expressions that normally are on her face. Jessie wears her hair very long when not in disguise, to the point that it's impractical. She likes to dress flashily, and doesn't really have a lot of good taste in fashion.

 

BACKGROUND

Jessie Psuedonym was born in a slum area of one of the world's great cities. Her family was desperately poor, so destitute that snow was considered a delicacy. Not surprisingly, Jessie decided to get out of there as early as possible. She took on a series of jobs, but her abrasive personality and poor luck ensured that none of them lasted very long. Between legitimate positions, Jessie supported herself with petty crime.

 

Eventually, Jessie fell in with the Rocket Gang (which is remarkably progressive in its attitudes toward female members) and was teamed up with James and M.E. She's more or less the leader of the team.

 

PERSONALITY

Jessie is driven by a fear of ending up where she began, trapped in an endless cycle of poverty. Unfortunately, she's become convinced that she'll never be able to succeed in the working world, so she's turned to crime. Jessie is very irritable and prone to losing her temper when frustrated.

 

Despite her constant quarrels with James and M.E., Jessie considers them her best friends in the world, and would seriously consider helping them even if it was disadvantageous to herself. On the other hand, her deprived childhood has left Jessie with a habit of keeping all luxury items for her personal and immediate use.

 

Jessie has shown little to no interest in individual men, though she often mentions that when she is rich, she plans to have all handsome male servants.

 

QUOTE

"Prepare for trouble!"--Her voice is a bit rough.

 

POWERS/TACTICS

Jessie is a scam artist, not a fighter. She's especially good at disguise, even able to pass for male for short periods. (The long red hair notwithstanding.) If forced to fight, she'll use her dart pistol (developed by the Rocket Gang) to disable pursuers, and make a run for it at the earliest opportunity. Jessie has no qualms about using ambushes and other unfair tactics.

 

CAMPAIGN USE

Jessie is a petty/comic relief antagonist, a member of the Rocket Gang. To make her more powerful, give her some skill levels with her dart pistol, and perhaps some disguise-related superskills.

 

Plot Seed:

 

Lucky Ticket: Jessie has somehow come into possession of the winning ticket for a sweepstakes. Perhaps even legitimately! She'll be set for life if she can claim her prize; unfortunately there's the small matter of the police being after her for past crimes. Jessie decides that she needs a player character to front for her to collect the money. She claims that this will be the end of her criminal career--can the PCs trust her? And can she truly trust them?

[SKJAM!]

Re: [Characters] The Rocket Gang

 

James Alias

 

Player: Pokemon

 

Val Char Cost

8 STR -2

12 DEX 6

10 CON 0

11 BODY 2

8 INT -2

10 EGO 0

12 PRE 2

14 COM 2

 

2 PD 0

2 ED 0

2 SPD 0

4 REC 0

20 END 0

20 STUN 0

 

10" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

1 1/2" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 8

 

Cost Power

13 Smoke Bombs: Darkness to Sight Group 4" radius (40 Active Points); OAF (-1), 3 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Extra Phase each (-1)

9 Nausea Bombs: Energy Blast 2d6, No Normal Defense (Holding breath, self-contained breathing, no need to breathe; +1), Area Of Effect (2" Radius; +1) (30 Active Points); 3 Charges (-1 1/4), OAF (-1)

5 Run Away!: Running +4" (10" total) (8 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (Only to run away; -1/2)

Powers Cost: 27

 

 

Cost Skill

3 Acting 11-

7 Disguise 13-

3 High Society 11-

2 KS: Rocket Gang Procedures 11-

0 Language: English (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

1 Language: French (basic conversation)

3 Mechanics 11-

4 Navigation (Air, Land, Marine) 11-

3 Persuasion 11-

2 PS: Con Artist 11-

3 Riding 11-

3 Seduction 11-

3 Stealth 11-

14 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles, Balloons & Zeppelins, Carts & Carriages, Equines, Rafts, Skating (iceskating or rollerskating), Skiing (snow), Small Motorized Boats, Small Planes, Small Rowed Boats, Small Wind-Powered Boats, Submarines, Two-Wheeled Motorized Ground Vehicles, Two-Wheeled Muscle-Powered Ground Vehicles

Skills Cost: 51

 

 

Cost Talent

20 Animal Friendship

6 Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED)

5 Rapid Healing

Talents Cost: 31

 

Total Character Cost: 117

 

Pts. Disadvantage

20 Hunted: Police 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish)

0 Normal Characteristic Maxima

15 Psychological Limitation: Coward in the Face of Physical Violence (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Effete (Common, Strong)

Disadvantage Points: 50

Base Points: 50

Experience Required: 17

Total Experience Available: 17

Experience Unspent: 0

 

APPEARANCE

Hair Color: GM's choice

Eye Color: Blue

Height: 1.73 m

Weight: 59.00 kg

Description:

James is a Caucasian man in his early to mid-twenties, with fine, somewhat effeminate features. His hair is worn rather longer than is fashionable. (And the GM should pick the color, as blue isn't suitable for most pulp games.) He's a fairly snappy dresser, normally, but is often in disguise.

 

BACKGROUND

James is the scion of a wealthy upper-class Southern family, who had a sheltered childhood. As he approached his adult years, his parents made it clear that he was expected to marry Jezebel, the daughter of an equally prestigious family, and set about making babies posthaste. As the young lady in question was physically abusive and insanely jealous, James had no intention of fulfilling his family's dreams. Instead, he ran away (changing his last name to avoid pursuit.)

 

Once on the road, James discovered how hard life was for the regular Joes who hadn't been born rich. In the real world, people wouldn't give you food or shelter just because you existed. He quickly developed a strong distaste for physical labor. James turned out to be a decent actor, but long engagements were too much like work. He drifted for a while, relying on his looks and persuasiveness to pull short-term grifts.

 

Eventually, James was recruited into the Rocket Gang by Giovanni, and assigned Jessie and M.E. as his partners. Now the team goes wherever they're assigned and attempts to commit crimes on the Rocket Gang's behalf.

 

PERSONALITY

James is not a bad person, by his own lights. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, just pull off a job that will allow him to live in luxury without actually having to work for it for the rest of his life. He has an appreciation for the finer things, and detests violence, especially when it's aimed at himself. On the other hand, he has no compunction about stealing or conning people out of their life savings.

 

James considers Jessie and M.E. his best friends, and would only betray them if it were really, really profitable.

 

QUOTE

"This damp is simply ruining my suit."

 

POWERS/TACTICS

James is an accomplished disguise artist, even capable of carrying off female impersonation. (He does it rather too often and enthusiastically for most people's comfort, truth be told.) He's also a quick study at any form of transportation, and can drive or pilot just about anything (though he tends to lose his cool in combat situations.)

 

In combat, James will throw a smoke or nausea gas bomb and run away as quickly as he can manage. His battle cry is "not in the face!"

 

CAMPAIGN USE

The Rocket Gang are comic-relief villains, bumblers who almost never succeed, and even then usually lose all their profits by the end of the adventure. They'll only Hunt player characters if Giovanni orders them to, and only to steal things or annoy the targets.

 

James is already a wimp, so should not need to be toned down. To make him more powerful, give him a selection of Disguise-related super skills, and perhaps more types of gas bombs.

 

Plot Seed:

 

"We Have Always Relied On the Kindness of Strangers": James' parents have never really given up on looking for him. They hire a player character to look for their long-lost son. Naturally, the sweet, innocent boy they describe doesn't really sound a lot like the criminal he's actually become. And James very much does not want to return to a loveless (and scary) arranged marriage.

 

 

 

Thoughts, comments?

SKJAM!

[Barghest]

Re: [Characters] The Rocket Gang

 

Yes. Is it possible to UN-rep you?

[SKJAM!]

Re: [Characters] The Rocket Gang

 

The mods took away that ability away a couple of years ago.