The Rouges of Sci-Fi

[Michael Hopcroft]

Starting some discussion on the classic rogues of science fiction and how to play them in HERO.

 

And who better to start with than....

 

[b]The Stainless Steel Rat - James Bolivar "Slippery Jim" diGriz[/b]

[b][u]VAL[/u]   [u]CHA[/u]   [u]Cost[/u]   [u]Total[/u]   [u]Roll[/u]      [u]Notes[/u][/b]
12    STR     2   12      11-       HTH Damage 2d6  END [2]
18    DEX     24   18      13-       OCV 6 DCV 6
13    CON     6   13      12-
10    BODY    0   10      11-
18    INT     8   18      13-       PER Roll 13-
18    EGO     16   18      13-       ECV: 6
18    PRE     8   18      13-       PRE Attack: 3 1/2d6
12    COM     1   12      11-
8    PD      6   8             8 PD (0 rPD)
8    ED      5   8             8 ED (0 rED)
3    SPD     2   3                 Phases:  4, 8, 12
6    REC     2   6
40    END     7   40
23    STUN    0   23
6    RUN      0   6"                END [1]
2    SWIM     0   2"                END [1]
2    LEAP     0   2"                2" forward, 1" upward

[b]CHA Cost: 87[/b]



[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]SKILLS[/u][/b]
5      Acting 14-
3      Bribery 13-
3      Bugging 13-
3      Bureaucratics 13-
3      Climbing 13-
5      Concealment 14-
5      Conversation 14-
7      Criminology 15-
3      Cryptography 13-
5      Deduction 14-
3      Disguise 13-
3      Electronics 13-
8      Forgery (Documents, Money (Counterfeiting)) 15-
3      Interrogation 13-
5      KS: Scams and Con Games 14-
2      KS: Galactic Politics 11-
2      KS: Space Naval Architecture 11-
7      Lockpicking 15-
3      Mechanics 13-
5      Navigation (Air, Land, Marine, Space) 13-
5      Persuasion 14-
5      PS: Criminal 14-
3      PS: Secret Agent 12-
9      Security Systems 16-
5      Sleight Of Hand 14-
3      Stealth 13-
3      Streetwise 13-
4      Systems Operation (Communications Systems, Environmental Systems) 13-
3      Tactics 13-
3      Trading 13-
2      WF:  Small Arms, Unarmed Combat

[b]SKILLS Cost: 128[/b]

[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]PERKS[/u][/b]
3      Anonymity
1      False Identity
3      Contact:  Professor Coypu (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact has useful Skills or resources) 8-
12      Contact:  Harold P. Inskipp and the Speical Corps (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact has useful Skills or resources), Organization Contact (x3) (12 Active Points) 8-

[b]PERKS Cost: 19[/b]

[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]TALENTS[/u][/b]
3      Absolute Time Sense
3      Lightning Calculator
1      Resistance (1 point)
4      FTL Pilot

[b]TALENTS Cost: 11[/b]
[b][u]Value[/u]  [u]DISADVANTAGES[/u][/b]
20     Hunted:  The Kekkonshiki 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish)
20     Hunted:  Inskipp and the Special Corps 14- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)
15     Hunted:  Most other Law Enforcement Agencies in the Galaxy 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Mildly Punish)
20     Psychological Limitation:  Can't Resist a Good Crime (Very Common, Strong)
20     Psychological Limitation:  Refuses to Kill (Common, Total)
15     Psychological Limitation:  Kleptomania (Very Common, Moderate)
20     Social Limitation:  Married to Angelina diGriz (Very Frequently, Major)
15     Social Limitation:  Subject to orders from Speical Corps (when he can't get away) (Frequently, Major)

[b]DISADVANTAGES Points: 145[/b]

Base Pts: 100
Exp Required: 0
Total Exp Available: 0
Exp Unspent: 0
Total Character Cost: 245

 

Background/History: Most of what is known about the man known as the Rat is of dubious reliability, especially the information he supplies himself. What is certain is that he was a successful career criminal, trained by the master thief known as the Bishop, who had spent years living from scam to scam and crime to crime until he was at last caught up to by the Speical Corps, a galactic police organiztion composed entirely of reformed criminals like himself. Ever since, the Rat has been in a tenuous relationship with his employer, performing vital missions for them when not off committing minor crime scprees out of their sight. Along the way he married Angelina, another ex-criminal and Special Corps agent whom he had helped the agency track down.

 

Personality/Motivation: The Rat is a master of rationalization, who seems to genuinely believe that his acts of extreme selfishness are actually for the public good. While he accepts little interference with doing what he wants, he does have a peculiar code of ethics that restricta what he does and who he robs (he tries to ensure they are insured for the loss before making a move). When on a mission for the Corps, he will follow through to the ends of the Universe complaining the whole while. The one crime he has never committed is murder; the Rat refuses to kill, even in the most dire of circumetances.

 

Quote: "It is a proud and lonely thing to be a Stainless Steel Rat."

 

Powers/Tactics: A reluctant secret agent at best, the Rat tries to avoid combat. Where he excels is in all the skills of the professional criminal, which he puts to use on his Special Corps assignments -- there are few documents he cannot forge, few places he cannot break into, few security systems he cannot breach, and he knows every scam in the book and is in the process of writing new chapters. He tends to rely on his considerable charm and charisma to get him out of trouble, and is endlessly inventive.

 

Campaign Use: The Rat's dual life as supercop and supercriminal means that he can find himself opposed by both sides of the law; even the Special Corps itself must frequently expend a great deal of energy to bring him into line. If the PCs are the targets of one of his schemes, they likely won't even know it until he's absconded with his prize. As an adversary, he is relentless and tends to be an extreme nuisance.

 

Credits: The Rat is the creation of Harry Harrison.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: The Rouges of Sci-Fi

 

I'm glad to hear that the CFL will be around in the Stainless Steel Rat's time.

 

 

 

(If I have to explain that a "rouge" is a 1-point scoring play in Canadian football, it isn't as funny. Fortunately, it isn't funny at all.)

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: The Rouges of Sci-Fi

 

Ouch. Eye hat typoes.

 

The Rat would call it something else anyway, being a "native" speaker of Esperanto,

[Susano]

Re: The Rouges of Sci-Fi

 

Hmm... should he have some levels? Especially overall ones? It's been a long time, but I recall him being very good at, well, most everything.

[Jaxom]

Re: The Rouges of Sci-Fi

 

I'm glad to hear that the CFL will be around in the Stainless Steel Rat's time.

 

 

 

(If I have to explain that a "rouge" is a 1-point scoring play in Canadian football, it isn't as funny. Fortunately, it isn't funny at all.)

 

This clearly falls into the list of things I will have to remember when talking to 12-year-olds in Warcraft. Off I go to see what kind of even more obscure references I can use it for.

 

 

I like the writeup of the Rat. I should clearly spend more time thinking about Star Hero and other future-tech campaign settings...

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: The Rouges of Sci-Fi

 

Hmm... should he have some levels? Especially overall ones? It's been a long time' date=' but I recall him being very good at, well, most everything.[/quote']

 

He has most of his skills at 13-. He won't fail rolls all that often. But I do see your point.

 

I'm trying to figure out how to write up Retief, the rogue diplomat of Kieth Laumer's fiction, who is a character in a similar vein.

[Susano]

Re: The Rouges of Sci-Fi

 

He has most of his skills at 13-. He won't fail rolls all that often. But I do see your point.

 

I'm trying to figure out how to write up Retief, the rogue diplomat of Kieth Laumer's fiction, who is a character in a similar vein.

 

Yes, but that 13- doesn't count for any penalties due to time, poor tools, or the environment.

 

As for Retief... he was also very good at most everything, had a high INT, EGO, and a lot of PRE Defense. Oh, and Luck and something like +4 Overall.

[tancred]

Re: The Rouges of Sci-Fi

 

And don't forget Retief is a "two-fisted" diplomat.

He should definitely have some skill in hand-to-hand combat. I think maybe Dirty Infighting, or perhaps Commando Training.

[Susano]

Re: The Rouges of Sci-Fi

 

And don't forget Retief is a "two-fisted" diplomat.

He should definitely have some skill in hand-to-hand combat. I think maybe Dirty Infighting, or perhaps Commando Training.