OOC - [d20 Cthulhu - Fathers]

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Peter Octavian

Peter is a true life professional private eye, unfortuately for him he seems to have the missfortune of getting hired by the strangest people. He is forever getting clients that believe ther're vampires, witches, satanists,werewolves, psychics, wizards, there was even a guy that though he was jesus christ reborn.
Most of the time they're really just crack pots or D&D geeks gone wild, but they pay the bills so who is he to judge.

Peter works out of a smallish occult boookstore tucked away in a basement in the middle of Harvard square, the store is owned by his "uncle" Phynious Trent. Uncle Trent was the life long friend, and buisness partner of Peters father, Jack. Uncle Trent lets peter use his fathers old office rent free, so Peter sticks around, although he strongly suspects that the nature of his clientel is directly related to the location of his office.

Peter never really had a relationship with his father, Jack was always off acquiring new books for the store or locked away in his office studing his private collection. When he was 12 his mother, Rachel, "found god" and demaned that Jack stop "trafficing in the work of the devil". Of course Jack would do no such thing, so Peter's mother left them. He hasn't seen or heard from her since.

Five years ago peters father was knifed in a Morracan bazaar, it seems that he could not get a certain fellow to agree to sell him a rare tome for his personnal collection. Jack tried a snatch and run, it didn't work out well. Peter was dissapointed that his father would do something that foolish.

Jack left a large enough trust found to allow Peter to get by on, but he always felt wierd about living off money from a man didn't have much of a connection with, so he has touched a penny of it since he graduated from collage and started the P.I. business. There is one thing his father left him that he finds valueable, his father's private library, it contains text with some very "interesting" information.

Peter is a 26 year old male cuacasion, his hair and eyes are dark brown, he stands six feet tall and wieghs around 190lbs. He dresses in simple clothes, t-shirts, jeans,and a leather jacket. His hair his a little longer then is fashionable and he always seems to have a five o'clock shadow. He's not horribly strong but he stays healthy and is a good shot with a gun. He may not be the most charming guy, but he has a quick mind and in his line of work thats far more important.

 

[The Crimster]

Whooohooo! Another Cthulhu game! Hopefully we will begin to spread like some benign yet eldritch disease.

 

[Shalimar Shiawase]

I started a thread in the rogues gallery for the game. It has my completed character in it.

http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10388

 

[dscrank]

Whooohooo! Another Cthulhu game! Hopefully we will begin to spread like some benign yet eldritch disease.

We should probably come up with a new subject header, lest [d20 Cthulhu] becomes confusing. Maybe something as simple as [d20 Cthulhu--Fathers]. Anyway, I have some background information thought out. I'm still not sure whether I really want to get involved in another game, but you could always kill me off early on. Anyway, here we go.

Shane McDonald

Arthur McDonald, renowned explorer and archaeologist, is still a controversial figure among his colleagues. Some admire him for his adventurous spirit and ability to obtain priceless artifacts. Others consider him a dangerous maverick whose dubious means made him little better than a grave-robber. His son, Dr. Shane McDonald, falls in the latter group.

As a boy, Shane longed to join his father on his many quests, but he always failed to live up to his father's expectations. Shane's pronounced stutter made him seem timid, and his physical frailty reinforced that impression. Thus Arthur never considered him capable of joining him on his journeys. When Shane's University education in Archaeology introduced him to the more negative view of his father's work, Shane slowly began to believe that illegal activity was the reason why his father never allowed the young man to travel with him. The two were barely on speaking terms when Arthur died on one of his journeys.

With his father's death, Shane inherited his notes and books, a trust fund he's never deigned to draw from, and a number of artifacts which Arthur had not yet sold off to American museums. Shane has been attempting to return each artifact to the legitimate government of origin, but that has proven difficult. Many come from places where "legitimate government" is hardly the proper term, and a few have proven strangely difficult to identify.

Since that time, Shane has taken an Assistant Professorship in Archaeology at (place University here) with a specialization in Babylonian history. He has been on several Archaeological digs, but he has refused to take part in globe-trotting adventures like his father's. Instead, he prefers the careful, scientific approach of carefully exploring a location with the permission of the local government, though that hasn't stopped him from going places where there is significant risk.

Dr. Shane McDonald is still a young professor at 30, with sandy hair and a clean-shaven face. He's tall but thin, making him look frail and awkward. People tend to consider him shy and timid because of his stutter, though he does not apply either of those descriptions to himself. He is ambitious, like most University professors, and eager to right his father's wrongs.

---

I really haven't thought about Feats, although I think skills would probably be some combination of Professor and Archaeologist. Since Babylonian dualism provides fertile ground for occultism, I think Knowledge(occult) would be appropriate. Maybe even Spellcraft, though on a purely academic level. I'll let the GM decide that.

 

[Valkys]

I agree. Thread name changed. It's good to differentiate. After all, don't want people reading the thread against their will. dscrank, I'll use the iconic stats unless you'd prefer those that you rolled. I'll email you the character sheet in a few minutes.

It's been sent.

So, location is presenting a problem. I want it to be a coastal city in New England, however, I know nothing about any coastal cities in New England. Boston sounded nice, but I know absolutely nothing about Boston. It will be probably be Boston, and I will do some online research. If I make glaring errors here, someone correct me and help me get them right, at least.

And I always liked Miskatonic University from good old H.P., so the starting setting will be the Boston campus of Miskatonic.

 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I want it to be a coastal city in New England, however, I know nothing about any coastal cities in New England.

Believe me there isn't much to know about coastal new england, i think Boston will be a fine choice.

 

[Tay-Dor]

Alright...I'm dumping the psychic idea. The character I want to play jelled really well after I thought about his ability scores. And I printed a copy of the character sheed pda file off of the WOTC site. So that's helped me think of skills and such as I wait for the book.

Here's amy basic concept.

Antonio "Whisper" Calavichi
Str 9, Dex 13, Con 8, Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 15
The son of a Boston Mafia don. (Woulda been New York, but since we're starting in boston...an easy change) Antonio's father was grooming him to take over the Family "buisness" eventually, but their enemies struck too quickly. In the dead of night, their house was set on fire, claiming the life of Antonio's father, Don Calavichi. Antonio suffered severe smoke inhalation and was taken into hiding by some loyal retainers. When Antonio has recooperated, it was too late, someone else had taken over and Antonio's power base was too small to do more than become another Soldier for the Family. Antonio is of course dreaming of the day he can avenge his father and recaim what is his.

Some permanent damage from the smoke inhalation explains why his Str is 9 and his Con is 8.

His core skills, with approval from the kindly GM are:
Bluff, Diplomacy, Forgery, Gather Information, Hide, Innuendo, Intimidate, Knowledge (Mafia), Listen, Move Silently, Sense Motive, Spot.

Reasoning: The social skills, knowledge, and forgery were what he was being trained in by his father. Then after his father's death, he had to pick up some of the other skills for survival and use as a Soldier type.

He'll start out with a +6 Diplomacy and Intimidate. I might take the Persuasive feat, but I'll wait and check the CoC book when I get it in a couple days.

 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Cool character, Tay-Dor.

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

Valkys - Can we manipulate our point spread at all?

I'd like to change one of my 15 and 9 scores to 12 & 12.

That ok?

Can you explain the psychic feat?

 

[Valkys]

Sorry, Ash, no manipulations allowed. The only option you've got, if the rolls are tough is to take iconic stats: 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15. And looking at your stats, as rolled, you don't want to do that, cause it'd be a step down. You'll just have one stat has a penalty instead of a bonus.

Psychic Feats:

Sensitive Prereq: Cha 15+ Vague feelings and allows access to:
Psychometry Reading Objects
Mind Reading Read Surface Thoughts
Mind Probe Find Secrets
Biofeedback Trance Double Healing, Feign Death
Psychokinesis Move Objects
Dowsing Follow Supernatural Energy trails
Remote Viewing See distant locations
Second Sight See invisible, as long as it is Supernatural
Telepathy Speak Mind to Mind

And most of them have costs, like Wis damage and sanity loss. One of the NPCs has a pair of psychic feats because I want to try them out. I haven't used them, but they don't look all that helpful to me. We'll see, I guess.