While print media is all but a dead art form the journalist and writer lives on in the news sites and blogs. Information is not the problem in the Megapolitian future, finding accurate information is. The writer concept may be a blogger or formally published journalist even a fiction author. It may be important to point out that while the Player Characters may see the forces of the Supernatural daily, these forces never seems to make it to respected news sources.
On the streets where reporters don’t bother to go people have a term for the weird things that can’t be explained. To them it’s the Horror Show, or the play you never want to be apart of. For this weeks Unconventional Combatant we’re going to look a Horror Show Blogger, someone who seeks out these urban mysteries and tries to report the truth.
What are the essential Characteristics for our Inspirational Writer? To begin there is Writing, a variant of the broad Art skill. This defines how well they will be able to convey what they find. However, that’s hardly the only skill our investigator will need. Skills that quickly come to mind are Education, Stealth, Movement: Running, Perception, Tracking, Historical Study: Local Legends, Occult, Religion, Street Smarts, Computers, and Maintenance: Computers. This may seem like a rather scattered set of skills but they serve three essential needs.
Filtering rumors: Education, Historical Study: Local Legends, Occult, and Religion
Following Leads: Movement: Running, Perception, and Tracking
Fast reporting: Stealth, Street Smarts, Computer, Maintenance: Computers
While hardly a skill set for someone on the front line of a battle the Writer’s skills can be critical to information gathering. Additionally, there are some Boons that their skills lend themselves to.
Dart – Mundane
Being able to move quickly in tight situations is frequently crucial to survival. When taking a free movement, the character may move 2 meters instead of the normal 1.Computer Whisperer – Supernatural
The character enters a trance-like state while using any computer interface, allowing them to interact faster than even the most skilled coders.Jury Rig – Supernatural
The character is able, through rough alterations and what some might call force of will, take a broken device and bring it back to working order.Rush Job – Supernatural
The character is no longer a mechanic they are a miracle worker.
The character can reduce the time needed to Jury Rig a device from hours to minutes. A Rush Job lasts for a number of minutes equal to the character’s Maintenance skill instead of hours.
Strangely while the focused on journalism our intrepid Writer seems to share several Boons in common with Hacker or Engineer. These Boons allow the the Character to spend less time worrying about moving out of the way and if their equipment is working than actually working on a story. At the same time there is a host of other events where these Boons may come in handy.
To return to the core concept not just the tools that facilitate that idea this is a Character looking to shine a light on the hidden things of the city. For this reason we select the Slumber for the Character’s Realm, even though the Dark are masters of uncovering secrets. The Slumber allows the Writer to convey concepts and motivate others. This seems to fit closely with the Horror Show Blog ideal of spreading the word on what’s really going on.
Muse – Slumber
The Slumbering Lucid walks between the fabric of dreams. Their presence can often inspire others to greater heights.Inspirational Presence – Slumber
The Slumbering Realm flows through the Lucid, inspiring others as they work.Valiance – Slumber
The forces of the Slumber drive those close to the Lucid to fight on in the face of tremendous odds.
The character may grant a Valiance trait as a supporting characteristic for any roll made by a single target.Personal Valor – Slumber
The forces of the Slumber grant the Lucid the ability to fight on in the face of tremendous odds in the same way they may normally inspire others.Valiant Aura – Slumber
All the allies of a Slumbering Lucid may tap into the fabric of Dreams.
This chain of Boons allows our Writer to begin by aiding other those through his words but as their connection to the Supernatural grows the Character’s very presence is enough to elevate those around them. Their conviction to the Realm of Dreams and Aspirations drives them forward allowing them to compensate for a lack of any formal combat training.
Other Boons to bolster the Writer’s presence might include Dragon Aura to take the intangible influence of the Slumber shaping it into a blinding corona around the Character and Slumbering Dragon bending reality around the Character as they tap into the Slumber to overcome any obstacle.
Next Unconventional Combatant we stop dabbling and delve into the Occultist.
