Nick Diamond, Private Eye

[Doc Shadow]

Nick Diamond

 

Val Char Cost Roll Notes

15 STR 5 12- Lift 200.0kg; 3d6 [1]

17 DEX 21 12- OCV: 6/DCV: 6

16 CON 12 12-

16 BODY 12 12-

13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 13-

13 EGO 6 12- ECV: 4

15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6

14 COM 2 12-

5 PD 2 Total: 5 PD (0 rPD)

3 ED 0 Total: 3 ED (0 rED)

3 SPD 3 Phases: 4, 8, 12

7 REC 2

35 END 2

35 STUN 3 Total Characteristic Cost: 80

 

Movement: Running: 7"/14"

Leaping: 3"/6"

Swimming: 2"/4"

 

Cost Powers END

3 Observant: +1 PER with all Sense Groups

3 Quick Healing - heals at twice normal rate: (3 Active Points)

 

Martial Arts: Brawling

3 Right Cross +1 +0 6d6 Strike

5 Left Jab +1 +3 4d6 Strike

5 Kick in the Nuts +1 -2 8d6 Strike

4 The trick is not to let them tag you -- +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort

4 +1 HTH Damage Class(es)

 

Perks

7 Money: Wealthy

6 Contact: Lenny Seltzer - bookie (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact has useful Skills or resources, Very Good relationship with Contact) 11-

4 Contact: Race Witherspoon - gay photographer (Contact has access to major institutions, Good relationship with Contact) 11-

1 Reputation: Tough Guy (A small to medium sized group) 14-, +1/+1d6

20 Lincoln Monk: Follower (30 Active Points); Activation Roll 14- (-1/2)

 

Talents

5 Eidetic Memory

6 Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED)

 

Skills

3 Acting 12-

5 AK: Hudson City 14-

4 AK: Greater Miami 13-

4 AK: Mid Atlantic Coast 13-

3 Combat Driving 12-

2 Computer Programming (Personal Computers) 12-

3 Conversation * 12-

5 Criminology * 13-

3 Deduction * 12-

3 Fast Draw 12-

2 Gambling (Horse Racing) 12-

3 High Society 12-

2 KS: Current Affairs - Sports 11-

2 KS: Police Etiquette and Procedures 11-

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

3 Language: Spanish (completely fluent)

3 Lockpicking 12-

2 PS: Finance 11-

2 PS: Photography 11-

5 PS: Private Investigator * 14-

2 SS: Psychology 11-

3 Shadowing * 12-

3 Stealth 12-

3 Streetwise * 12-

3 WF: Small Arms, Blades

8 +1 with All Combat

3 +1 with Pistols

10 Detective Skills: +2 with a *

 

Total Powers & Skill Cost: 171

Total Cost: 250

 

150+ Disadvantages

5 Dependent NPC: Dr. Vivian Tylo, MD - girlfriend 8- (Normal; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills)

10 Dependent NPC: Kit Diamond - mom 8- (Normal)

10 Hunted: Guy he sent to jail 8- (As Pow, Harshly Punish)

5 Physical Limitation: Addicted to tobacco (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing)

5 Physical Limitation: Slow Riser -1 to all skills until after he's had his morning coffee (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing)

10 Psychological Limitation: Code of Honor - Private Eye's (Common, Moderate)

10 Psychological Limitation: Sense of Duty to clients (Common, Moderate)

10 Psychological Limitation: Stubborn (Common, Moderate)

10 Psychological Limitation: Overconfident (Common, Moderate)

10 Reputation: Honest, 11-

5 Rivalry: Professional (Sgt Harry Dane - ex-partner; Rival is As Powerful; Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival; Rival Aware of Rivalry)

5 Social Limitation: Bad rep with cops - fired from the State Police for being a "bush-league f***ing hot dog". (Occasionally, Minor)

5 Unluck: 1d6 - plays the horses but usually loses

 

Total Disadvantage Points: 100

 

Background/History: Nick Diamond is a 3rd generation private eye. His grandfather, Blake Diamond, operated in Chicago during the mid to late 20s before moving to San Francisco in 1930. He married his secretary, Jessica Lord, in 1928 and they had one child in 1931.

 

Sam Diamond followed in his father's footsteps after getting out of the Army in 1955. Sam operated in the Greater Miami area throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s. In 1967 he married millionairess Kit Forester, Nick was born three years later. In 1982 Sam was murdered by Al Mungar, an ex-con that he had put away 20 years earlier. Blake came out of retirement to bring Mungar in aided by Sam's friend Waldo "The Horse" Gronsky.

 

Blake and Jessica moved to Florida and helped Kit raise Nick who grew up on his grandfather's stories of Chicago during Prohibition and Frisco in the 30s. Blake and Jess died just weeks apart in 1988. They say that Blake died of a broken heart after he lost Jessica, but Nick isn't so sure.

 

In 1992 Nick graduated from Hudson City University with a degree in Criminology. He joined the State Police shortly after. Nick got considerable practical experience while working out of the Stewart County D.A.’s office, but the States were a bad fit for him and he felt too pressured to conform. He was a good investigator but his constant tendency to throw the book away led to his being fired in 1998 for being “a bush-league f***ing hot-dog.” But, by that time, Nick figured that he’d already gotten what he needed from the job.

 

In 1998 Nick opened the latest version of Diamond Investigations. Currently he works out of an office above the Hudson City Five Cents Savings Bank at the corner of Beaufort Ave. and N. Adams Street. Business has been decent but could be better, a lot of it is routine – serving of court papers, insurance investigations, and background checks – but a few times a year a case comes in the door that reminds him that the Hollywood myth about private eyes does have some basis in reality.

 

Nick’s dodged his share of bullets over the years and even had a couple dug out of his flesh but, as his assailants have found out, Nick Diamond is a hard man to kill. Yeah, he knows that somewhere out there is the bullet that really does have his name on it, but he figures that it’ll get to him when it gets to him, so there’s no point in worrying about it.

 

Nick lives on 7th Avenue near the Kurtland Blvd. overpass in the same apartment that he occupied when he was a student at HCU. He keeps himself in shape by jogging three times a week and pumping iron at the HCU weight room.

 

Over the years he’s developed a strong friendship with Lincoln Monk, a freelance leg-breaker who once saved his neck when he was a cop. Another of Nick’s friends is Lieutenant Frank Mallory of the HCPD Homicide Squad, although Mallory has no great love for Nick, he knows that Nick is both a good investigator and honest, and that counts for a lot, even if he is a pain in the ass sometimes.

 

The most important person in Nick’s life remains his mother, Kit, who now lives in West Palm Beach, but he has recently begun a relationship with Dr. Vivian Tylo, an ophthalmologic surgeon at HCU Hospital, that is showing a lot of promise.

 

Personality/Motivation: Nick Diamond is tough, cynical, world-weary, and a smartass. He will frequent expose "Diamond's Rules", most of which he makes up as he goes along. He enjoys needling people, mainly thugs and pompous idiots, whom he figures deserve it. But sometimes he'll be a pain in the ass just cause he's in a rotten mood. He always figures that his clients are hiding something or lying to him about something.

 

Deep inside Nick longs for the kind of life his grandfather led in the thirties. Life may have been tough and there was a lot of crime, but there were also a lot of genuinely nice folks that needed help. Something that he feels is in extremely short supply in Hudson City. In spite of his cynicism, in a very real sense Nick is still a kid at heart, who believes in right and wrong. But his profession has forced him to accept the fact - albeit grudgingly - that sometimes the best you can do, is to do what you can, not what you should.

 

Quote: Honey, I'm too damned old to listen to bullshit. Tell me what your problem really is and maybe I can help you. Otherwise stop wasting my time.

 

You're a sporting man, Joe, so I'll make you a bet. In fact I'll make you two. One - you won't kill me because you want to know what I know and there's no percentage in killing me without finding out why. And Two - if your pet pork chop over there tries to hassle me I'll take his piece away from him and clean his teeth with it. Even money.

 

Nick: Viv, we should be on that plane. Heading for someplace sunny and warm. I don't know why I stay here sometimes, I really don't. The weather stinks, the cops are a pain in the ass and nine times out of ten my clients have lied to me about something. I mean it's not like I need the money.

Vivian: People are people, Nick, and lying is almost a part of the human condition. Particularly in Hudson City.

Nick: That's the point. I could do this somewhere else so why do I stay here?

Vivian: Because nowhere else can you make as much of a difference as you do in Hudson City. What you won't admit is that you'ld like to be Sir Gawain but you were born six centuries too late.

Nick: Eight centuries.

 

Powers/Tactics: Nick Diamond is armed with .357 magnum Colt King Cobra. Although most everyone has switched over to semi-autos by this time, Nick prefers the power and simplicity of the wheel-gun, which he normally loads with hot .38 Specials rather than full magnum loads. He sometimes carries a .38 caliber snub-nosed Taurus 617 revolver in an ankle holster as a back up. If he needs really heavy firepower he’ll load up his Mossberg 500, 12 gauge shotgun.

 

Although skilled with firearms, Nick prefers to avoid a shooting confrontation by using his fists instead. A skilled brawler, he has been known to needle thugs into a fistfight, which he invariably wins, just to see what happens. This ties into Diamond's rule # 7 - When the investigation's stagnant, punch out a bad guy to get it moving again.

 

Personal Habits:

 

Nick smokes unfiltered Camel cigarettes. Although he’s been trying to quit he has yet to manage it. He has cut his intake down to about a pack a week. Like his father and grandfather Nick likes to play the horses. Lenny Seltzer, an old timer who operates out of a booth at the Patriot Tavern in Bayside, is his bookie. Lenny is also an occasional source of information if a case involves gambling.

 

Nick’s alcoholic beverage of choice is draft Guinness beer, but he has been known to drink neat bourbon when stressed and also has an appreciation for Moet et Chandon champagne. When it comes to non-alcoholic drinks Nick goes with coffee – usually instant Folgers, or Coca-Cola.

 

Nick drives a Ford Mustang GT that he bought new in 1998. Although he likes the car the powerful V-8 is getting expensive to operate as gas prices continue to climb. He’s considering trading the car in on something a bit more fuel efficient.

 

 

Appearance: Nick rarely wears a tie although he does have several. His customary dress is casual – jeans or dockers, a jersey, a jacket or coat and loafers or athletic shoes. Although he looks good in a suit, he dislikes wearing one and will only do it if he has to. Both Monk and Frank Mallory have been known to needle him about clothes once in a while. Almost unbelievably, Nick owns a tux, which he has worn exactly three times.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Nick Diamond, Private Eye

 

My my... I would design a campaign just to give such a well thought out character a chance to be played!

 

Bravo!

[Doc Shadow]

Re: Nick Diamond, Private Eye

 

Thank you.

 

I created him for a campaign that Misterbaldy was going to run.

 

Figured people might enjoy taking a look at him.

[DusterBoy]

Re: Nick Diamond, Private Eye

 

Nick Diamond

 

Val Char Cost Roll Notes

15 STR 5 12- Lift 200.0kg; 3d6 [1]

17 DEX 21 12- OCV: 6/DCV: 6

16 CON 12 12-

16 BODY 12 12-

13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 13-

13 EGO 6 12- ECV: 4

15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6

14 COM 2 12-

5 PD 2 Total: 5 PD (0 rPD)

3 ED 0 Total: 3 ED (0 rED)

3 SPD 3 Phases: 4, 8, 12

7 REC 2

35 END 2

35 STUN 3 Total Characteristic Cost: 80

 

Movement: Running: 7"/14"

Leaping: 3"/6"

Swimming: 2"/4"

 

Cost Powers END

3 Observant: +1 PER with all Sense Groups

3 Quick Healing - heals at twice normal rate: (3 Active Points)

 

Martial Arts: Brawling

3 Right Cross +1 +0 6d6 Strike

5 Left Jab +1 +3 4d6 Strike

5 Kick in the Nuts +1 -2 8d6 Strike

4 The trick is not to let them tag you -- +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort

4 +1 HTH Damage Class(es)

 

Perks

7 Money: Wealthy

6 Contact: Lenny Seltzer - bookie (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact has useful Skills or resources, Very Good relationship with Contact) 11-

4 Contact: Race Witherspoon - gay photographer (Contact has access to major institutions, Good relationship with Contact) 11-

1 Reputation: Tough Guy (A small to medium sized group) 14-, +1/+1d6

20 Lincoln Monk: Follower (30 Active Points); Activation Roll 14- (-1/2)

 

Talents

5 Eidetic Memory

6 Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED)

 

Skills

3 Acting 12-

5 AK: Hudson City 14-

4 AK: Greater Miami 13-

4 AK: Mid Atlantic Coast 13-

3 Combat Driving 12-

2 Computer Programming (Personal Computers) 12-

3 Conversation * 12-

5 Criminology * 13-

3 Deduction * 12-

3 Fast Draw 12-

2 Gambling (Horse Racing) 12-

3 High Society 12-

2 KS: Current Affairs - Sports 11-

2 KS: Police Etiquette and Procedures 11-

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

3 Language: Spanish (completely fluent)

3 Lockpicking 12-

2 PS: Finance 11-

2 PS: Photography 11-

5 PS: Private Investigator * 14-

2 SS: Psychology 11-

3 Shadowing * 12-

3 Stealth 12-

3 Streetwise * 12-

3 WF: Small Arms, Blades

8 +1 with All Combat

3 +1 with Pistols

10 Detective Skills: +2 with a *

 

Total Powers & Skill Cost: 171

Total Cost: 250

 

150+ Disadvantages

5 Dependent NPC: Dr. Vivian Tylo, MD - girlfriend 8- (Normal; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills)

10 Dependent NPC: Kit Diamond - mom 8- (Normal)

10 Hunted: Guy he sent to jail 8- (As Pow, Harshly Punish)

5 Physical Limitation: Addicted to tobacco (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing)

5 Physical Limitation: Slow Riser -1 to all skills until after he's had his morning coffee (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing)

10 Psychological Limitation: Code of Honor - Private Eye's (Common, Moderate)

10 Psychological Limitation: Sense of Duty to clients (Common, Moderate)

10 Psychological Limitation: Stubborn (Common, Moderate)

10 Psychological Limitation: Overconfident (Common, Moderate)

10 Reputation: Honest, 11-

5 Rivalry: Professional (Sgt Harry Dane - ex-partner; Rival is As Powerful; Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival; Rival Aware of Rivalry)

5 Social Limitation: Bad rep with cops - fired from the State Police for being a "bush-league f***ing hot dog". (Occasionally, Minor)

5 Unluck: 1d6 - plays the horses but usually loses

 

Total Disadvantage Points: 100

 

Background/History: Nick Diamond is a 3rd generation private eye. His grandfather, Blake Diamond, operated in Chicago during the mid to late 20s before moving to San Francisco in 1930. He married his secretary, Jessica Lord, in 1928 and they had one child in 1931.

 

Sam Diamond followed in his father's footsteps after getting out of the Army in 1955. Sam operated in the Greater Miami area throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s. In 1967 he married millionairess Kit Forester, Nick was born three years later. In 1982 Sam was murdered by Al Mungar, an ex-con that he had put away 20 years earlier. Blake came out of retirement to bring Mungar in aided by Sam's friend Waldo "The Horse" Gronsky.

 

Blake and Jessica moved to Florida and helped Kit raise Nick who grew up on his grandfather's stories of Chicago during Prohibition and Frisco in the 30s. Blake and Jess died just weeks apart in 1988. They say that Blake died of a broken heart after he lost Jessica, but Nick isn't so sure.

 

In 1992 Nick graduated from Hudson City University with a degree in Criminology. He joined the State Police shortly after. Nick got considerable practical experience while working out of the Stewart County D.A.’s office, but the States were a bad fit for him and he felt too pressured to conform. He was a good investigator but his constant tendency to throw the book away led to his being fired in 1998 for being “a bush-league f***ing hot-dog.” But, by that time, Nick figured that he’d already gotten what he needed from the job.

 

In 1998 Nick opened the latest version of Diamond Investigations. Currently he works out of an office above the Hudson City Five Cents Savings Bank at the corner of Beaufort Ave. and N. Adams Street. Business has been decent but could be better, a lot of it is routine – serving of court papers, insurance investigations, and background checks – but a few times a year a case comes in the door that reminds him that the Hollywood myth about private eyes does have some basis in reality.

 

Nick’s dodged his share of bullets over the years and even had a couple dug out of his flesh but, as his assailants have found out, Nick Diamond is a hard man to kill. Yeah, he knows that somewhere out there is the bullet that really does have his name on it, but he figures that it’ll get to him when it gets to him, so there’s no point in worrying about it.

 

Nick lives on 7th Avenue near the Kurtland Blvd. overpass in the same apartment that he occupied when he was a student at HCU. He keeps himself in shape by jogging three times a week and pumping iron at the HCU weight room.

 

Over the years he’s developed a strong friendship with Lincoln Monk, a freelance leg-breaker who once saved his neck when he was a cop. Another of Nick’s friends is Lieutenant Frank Mallory of the HCPD Homicide Squad, although Mallory has no great love for Nick, he knows that Nick is both a good investigator and honest, and that counts for a lot, even if he is a pain in the ass sometimes.

 

The most important person in Nick’s life remains his mother, Kit, who now lives in West Palm Beach, but he has recently begun a relationship with Dr. Vivian Tylo, an ophthalmologic surgeon at HCU Hospital, that is showing a lot of promise.

 

Personality/Motivation: Nick Diamond is tough, cynical, world-weary, and a smartass. He will frequent expose "Diamond's Rules", most of which he makes up as he goes along. He enjoys needling people, mainly thugs and pompous idiots, whom he figures deserve it. But sometimes he'll be a pain in the ass just cause he's in a rotten mood. He always figures that his clients are hiding something or lying to him about something.

 

Deep inside Nick longs for the kind of life his grandfather led in the thirties. Life may have been tough and there was a lot of crime, but there were also a lot of genuinely nice folks that needed help. Something that he feels is in extremely short supply in Hudson City. In spite of his cynicism, in a very real sense Nick is still a kid at heart, who believes in right and wrong. But his profession has forced him to accept the fact - albeit grudgingly - that sometimes the best you can do, is to do what you can, not what you should.

 

Quote: Honey, I'm too damned old to listen to bullshit. Tell me what your problem really is and maybe I can help you. Otherwise stop wasting my time.

 

You're a sporting man, Joe, so I'll make you a bet. In fact I'll make you two. One - you won't kill me because you want to know what I know and there's no percentage in killing me without finding out why. And Two - if your pet pork chop over there tries to hassle me I'll take his piece away from him and clean his teeth with it. Even money.

 

Nick: Viv, we should be on that plane. Heading for someplace sunny and warm. I don't know why I stay here sometimes, I really don't. The weather stinks, the cops are a pain in the ass and nine times out of ten my clients have lied to me about something. I mean it's not like I need the money.

Vivian: People are people, Nick, and lying is almost a part of the human condition. Particularly in Hudson City.

Nick: That's the point. I could do this somewhere else so why do I stay here?

Vivian: Because nowhere else can you make as much of a difference as you do in Hudson City. What you won't admit is that you'ld like to be Sir Gawain but you were born six centuries too late.

Nick: Eight centuries.

 

Powers/Tactics: Nick Diamond is armed with .357 magnum Colt King Cobra. Although most everyone has switched over to semi-autos by this time, Nick prefers the power and simplicity of the wheel-gun, which he normally loads with hot .38 Specials rather than full magnum loads. He sometimes carries a .38 caliber snub-nosed Taurus 617 revolver in an ankle holster as a back up. If he needs really heavy firepower he’ll load up his Mossberg 500, 12 gauge shotgun.

 

Although skilled with firearms, Nick prefers to avoid a shooting confrontation by using his fists instead. A skilled brawler, he has been known to needle thugs into a fistfight, which he invariably wins, just to see what happens. This ties into Diamond's rule # 7 - When the investigation's stagnant, punch out a bad guy to get it moving again.

 

Personal Habits:

 

Nick smokes unfiltered Camel cigarettes. Although he’s been trying to quit he has yet to manage it. He has cut his intake down to about a pack a week. Like his father and grandfather Nick likes to play the horses. Lenny Seltzer, an old timer who operates out of a booth at the Patriot Tavern in Bayside, is his bookie. Lenny is also an occasional source of information if a case involves gambling.

 

Nick’s alcoholic beverage of choice is draft Guinness beer, but he has been known to drink neat bourbon when stressed and also has an appreciation for Moet et Chandon champagne. When it comes to non-alcoholic drinks Nick goes with coffee – usually instant Folgers, or Coca-Cola.

 

Nick drives a Ford Mustang GT that he bought new in 1998. Although he likes the car the powerful V-8 is getting expensive to operate as gas prices continue to climb. He’s considering trading the car in on something a bit more fuel efficient.

 

 

Appearance: Nick rarely wears a tie although he does have several. His customary dress is casual – jeans or dockers, a jersey, a jacket or coat and loafers or athletic shoes. Although he looks good in a suit, he dislikes wearing one and will only do it if he has to. Both Monk and Frank Mallory have been known to needle him about clothes once in a while. Almost unbelievably, Nick owns a tux, which he has worn exactly three times.

 

Boy, you haven't read Robert B Parker's "Spenser" stories at all, have you?

 

[DusterBoy]

Re: Nick Diamond, Private Eye

 

Boy, you haven't read Robert B Parker's "Spenser" stories at all, have you?

[freakboy6117]

Re: Nick Diamond, Private Eye

 

and there was me thinking this was a thread on the The Diamond Brothers who star in a series of teenfiction books by Anthony Hor0witz (the guy who brought you Stormbreaker/Alex Rider) there pretty good fun a nice combination of comedy and serious pulp detective novel trappings.

 

well it was either that or the commentator on celebrity death match which woudl make less sense.

[Vondy]

Re: Nick Diamond, Private Eye

 

Any relation to RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR?

[Doc Shadow]

Re: Nick Diamond, Private Eye

 

No to both. To be honest I wasn't even aware of the Diamond Brothers until I checked out the link.

 

There are elements of Tony Rome and Philip Marlowe in him as well as a generous portion of Spenser. But there's a lot that is found in none of those characters too.

 

For more check out the Thrilling Detective website. It's a frickin' goldmine.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: Nick Diamond, Private Eye

 

Nickname suggestion: Nick the dick.

[Doc Shadow]

Re: Nick Diamond, Private Eye

 

It takes a tough man to admit he's a dick.