By Shelby Babb
Jan. 1996
Non Player Characters
Dr. Alan Skinner, head of AITI's Treatment branch
Essence: Pattern
Nature: Caregiver
Demeanor: Architect
Affiliation: New World Order
STR 2, DEX 2, STA 2
CHA 4, MAN 5, APP 3
PER 4, INT 4, WIT 5
Talents: Alertness 5, Awareness 3, Expression 4, Instruction 2, Intuition 4, Subterfuge 4
Skills: Etiquette 3, Leadership 4, Meditation 3, Research 5, Technology 4
Knowledges: Computer 4, Culture 5, Enigmas 3, Investigation 2, Linguistics 2 (English, German, Russian), Medicine 3, Psychology 5, Science 3
Backgrounds: Avatar 3, Destiny 3, Influence 4 (psychological community), Talisman 5 (see Talismans)
Willpower 9, Arete 8, Quintessence 6, Paradox 2
Spheres: Corr. 1 (computer), Entropy 5 (CRTs), Force 3 (light meter), Life 5 (drugs), Matter 1 (periodic table), Mind 5 (test results), Prime 3 (computer), Spirit 2 (Rorschach ink blots)
Quote: "AITI is not an amalgam of techno-warriors but our battles are just as important. While others strive to destroy the enemy, we strive to cure them. And if we could only save one person, it would be worth the cost."
Background: Alan Skinner's desire (some would say obsession) to cure mental illness stems from the Schizophrenia that destroyed his family. Unable to accept that his proud and noble family could be so devastated, Alan sought to cure the disease and spare others the hardships he had to endure.
It was while working on his doctorate degree in psychology that Alan was approached by the dean of the department with a special offer. Alan accepted and was soon climbing the ladder within the Treatment branch of AITI. Within a record-setting three years after joining, Alan was the head of the branch. Already, ambitious members of the Treatment branch plot some way to take Skinner's place, but his genuine interest and desire to aid the ill seem to have shielded him.
Appearance: An attractive man in his mid-thirties, Alan Skinner always dresses in fashionable, if somewhat relaxed, attire. Sweaters and slacks, t-shirts and jeans, whatever is most suitable to make his patients feel more at ease and relaxed (which, considering some of his patients, his attire can get very strange). But whatever Alan is wearing, a person can immediately see his genuine compassion and concern for others.
Role-Playing Notes: While some in the New World Order challenge your unorthodox methods and ideas, you don't care. You've achieved numerous successes, cured several individuals of all manner of problems and have competently furthered the goals of the Treatment branch. You'll ignore their personal squabbles and bids for power as long as they don't hinder you from aiding others. The people are important, all else is secondary.
"Oscar"
Essence: Questing
Nature: Loner
Demeanor: Bravo
Affiliation: Marauder (ex-Orphan)
STR 2, DEX 3, STA 3
CHA 1, MAN 2, APP 1
PER 4, INT 1, WIT 4
Talents: Alertness 3, Brawl 3, Dodge 3, Streetwise 4
Skills: Stealth 3, Survival 4
Knowledges: Enigmas 2
Backgrounds: Arcane 4, Avatar 2, Dream 3
Willpower 4, Arete 5, Quintessence 3, Paradox N/A
Spheres: Corr. 3, Forces 4, Life 5, Prime 2, Spirit 4, Time 3
Quote: "They come. Those damned little slant-eyes. Hiding. I could have had the cabbage, but you wouldn't let them would you! But Joey showed that little whore. Damn dogs eating all my fingers. The slant-eyes made 'em do it. Dogs never did want my cabbage."
"Oscar" was once Thomas Peterson, a soldier in the Vietnam War. The war took its toll on Thomas' mind, but the trip home cost him even more. His incessant nightmares, mixed with the hatred and contempt America felt for "baby killers in Vietnam" finally forced him to snap. Thomas wandered the streets of New York city, alone and forgotten.
His life took an enormous change in the winter of 1982. As Thomas was digging through a dumpster in search of food, a trio of children saw him and started teasing him, calling him Oscar the Grouch. Thomas tried to ignore them until he noticed that one of the children was Asian. In that moment Thomas became Oscar, and his Avatar Awakened. Immediately a squadron of Northern Vietnamese soldiers formed out of thin air and attacked the children as Oscar fled in terror.
Since that night Oscar has been running. He knows they are after him and that they could catch him at any moment. He has been running for over 13 years and wants more than anything to stop. But he never will.
Oscar is unaware that he is a mage. He subconsciously uses his magick to take care of his needs and to create a squad of North Vietnamese soldiers in times of stress (which come often). In addition, wherever Oscar goes a person can hear the sounds of dogs barking and the smell of cabbage, growing stronger the longer Oscar stays in a single place (making Oscar become nervous and stressful). Whenever Oscar becomes upset, nervous or angry roll his Arete against a difficulty of 6 to create the sound of dogs barking (the more successes scored the louder and more lasting the barks). Then, roll Oscar's Arete against a difficulty of 10 every turn that Oscar remains upset. For every success scored, one V.C. is created within 100 meters of Oscar (they step out of doors, pop up from behind objects and so on). The V.C. keep increasing in number, keeping Oscar in a heightened state of emotional upset. Finally, Oscar is immune to any attacks caused by the Vietnamese (but he doesn't know this and would never believe it).
Appearance: A filthy man who looks like he's in his late 60's (he's actually 52), Oscar always wears his threadbare Army clothes and a full beard. His eyes gleam with fear and madness and his speech is chaotic and incomprehensible. Oscar is also missing three fingers (bitten off by dogs in a P.O.W. camp).
Role-Playing Notes: They're always after you, the slant-eyed bastards. Charlie's gonna get you. They don't believe you. They're too busy taking orders from Charlie over their phones and chemicals in the water. Just keep running and maybe someday you can escape. The dogs are always barking, telling Charlie where you are. The barks tell everyone about the cabbage, but no one seems to care.
Thomas Constantinople
Essence: Pattern
Nature: Architect
Demeanor: Deviant
Affiliation: Marauder (ex-Void Engineer)
STR 2, DEX 2, STA 2
CHA 2, MAN 2, APP 2/0
PER 3, INT 4, WIT 2
Talents: Alertness 2, Instruction 3
Skills: Drive 1, Research 4, Technology 3
Knowledges: Astronomy 4, Computer 3, Cosmology 2, Science 4
Backgrounds: Allies 2 (Nephandus and an Orphan), Avatar 2, Dream 1
Willpower 6, Arete 5, Quintessence 3, Paradox N/A
Spheres: Corr. 2 (Computer), Forces 3 (Electric Socket), Prime 2 (Power Meter), Spirit 3 (Telescope), Time 5 (Calculator)
Quote: "She's so attractive. A person traveling back in time and impregnating his own mother with himself wouldn't be incestuous? Gimme' me brains back, me poor little head just blew up."
Background: Thomas was a normal, if slightly odd, astronomy student learning from an English Amalgam of Void Engineers. He was progressing rapidly, gaining deeper and deeper understandings. Then, while pondering the existence of alternate realities based on temporal deviations, Thomas reached a mental block.
He became more and more desperate to understand the theory he was developing. He desired some way to prove it. While debating this problem with a pair of acquaintances over the Internet (one secretly an Orphan and the other a vile, manipulative sex-crazed Nephandi). While the Orphan developed mathematical and scientific justifications for Thomas' theories, the Nephandi subtly added ideas and suggestions to the basic concept, combining into Thomas' new-found understanding of the Time Sphere and his re-birth as a Marauder.
After fleeing the Technocracy and exploring these alternate time lines (known as Virtuals), Thomas returned to Gaia and began spreading his theories and ideas over the Internet once more. Of course, now his views are much more twisted, and people can seldom comprehend the strange words and phrases he uses.
How Thomas' body (let alone mind) works without a brain is a gruesome puzzle for others to ponder. While his Appearance is normally a 2, when people know or see the giant bleeding cavity in the back it becomes 0. Thomas is aware that he is a shaper of reality, and does try to convince others in order to reshape the paradigm. However, while Thomas can be lucid, he soon falls into an incoherent series of ramblings about time and alternate realities and Gillian Anderson.
Appearance: A tall, skinny man in his early 20's, Thomas always wears a pair of old glasses, t-shirt, jeans and dirty old sneakers. Of course, his most unusual feature is the fact that the back of his head looks as if the entire brain exploded out of it. Even when this fact is pointed out to him, Thomas does not accept it.
Role-Playing Notes: You are basically a nice guy who wants to share your discoveries with the rest of the world. While few accept your truths and many more mock you, you don't care. You'll show them the grandness that exists in other time lines, even if you have to drag the people with you.
Excratakali
Essence: Primordial
Nature: Fanatic
Demeanor: Fanatic
Affiliation: Marauder/Nephandi (ex-Order of Hermes barabbi)
STR 4, DEX 4, STA 5
CHA 5, MAN 5, APP 1
PER 4, INT 3, WIT 5
Talents: Alertness 3, Awareness 5, Brawl 3, Dodge 3, Expression 4, Intimidation 4, Streetwise 5, Subterfuge 5
Skills: Firearms 3, Meditation 3, Melee 2, Stealth 3, Survival 2
Knowledges: Cosmology 3, Enigmas 1, Lore (Infernal) 3, Occult 4
Backgrounds: Arcane 4, Avatar 2, Destiny 3, Dream 2, Talisman 4
Willpower 10, Arete 7, Quintessence 5, Paradox N/A
Spheres: Corr. 4 (Pentacles), Entropy 3, Forces 5, Life 4, Mind 4, Prime 2, Spirit 4
Quote: "Women hold the gift of creation. We hold the gift of the Blessed Release. Life, breath, shit — we release it all. Should we not also hold the key to death? Should we not also be worshipped as the goddesses we are? I will give you my life, my breath, my shit. I shall give you the Blessed Release."
Background: Excratakali was once known as Jack Bledsoe, a disciple of the Order of Hermes. In his desire for power, Jack tried to steal the might of a demon, but as the demon tried to steal his soul, the ritual Jack was using went horribly wrong. The demon (a succubus) was absorbed by Jack's Avatar, and Jack's mind was shattered.
The merged being, thinking itself to hold the power of a deity, named itself Excratakali and proclaimed "her" divinity. Jack was no more, and Excratakali fled to further her own goals. Excratakali began to form a cult of homeless and mentally ill individuals, giving them shelter and food. In addition, Excratakali formed the Lips of Excratakali to prove her feminine nature and increase her power over the cult.
Currently, Excratakali is being hunted by both the Hermetic cabal from which she fled and a group of Nephandi known as the Midnight Cabaret. How she will deal with these threats remains to be seen.
The majority of Excratakali's power comes from Jack's merger with the demon, and the destruction of his psyche. Should the demon ever be removed (a difficult if not impossible feat), than Excratakali's power will drop drastically.
Appearance: Excratakali would be an attractive man, if he wasn't covered in a dried mixture of human waste and other fluids. In addition, Excratakali has brutally attacked offending parts of "her" anatomy. Excratakali always wears stained and filthy evening gowns over "her" hairy, masculine frame.
Role-Playing Notes: You are salvation and freedom. You are mother and whore. The unbelievers, those who doubt you are a deity and question your gender, must be shown the Blessed Release and learn to explore themselves for your truth.
High Programmer 1101 ("Delta")
Essence: Pattern
Nature: Fanatic
Demeanor: Sycophant
Affiliation: Marauder/Iteration X
STR 5, DEX 5, STA 5
CHA 0, MAN 4, APP 0
PER 4, INT 5, WIT 2
Talents: all at 5
Skills: all at 5
Knowledges: all at 5
Backgrounds: Allies 10 (Iteration X), Avatar 5, Destiny 5, Mentor 10 (THE Computer), Talisman 5 (Cantor Set)
Willpower 10, Arete 9, Quintessence 9, Paradox 4 Permanent
Spheres: Corr. 5 (Satellite), Entropy 4 (Diagnostic Scanner), Force 5 (Powerpack), Life 5 (Biomechanical Probe), Matter 5 (Elixir), Mind 4 (Neural Net Computer), Prime 4 (Primium Disk), Spirit 5 (THE Computer), Time 4 (Atomic Chronograph)
Quote: "We are the way of the flesh. We are the way of the future."
Background: The origin of the woman who would become Delta is lost in time. Her history has been traced to the end of the Mythic Age, where she helped develop the cannons used against the Hermetic Chantries across Europe. After slowly progressing through the ranks of Iteration X, Delta reached a stumbling block. As she explored and questioned further she discovered the force that blocked her progress. She found the Computer.
Once she discovered the Computer and learned its secret, she was drawn into the circle of High Programmers and changed forever. Now, Delta serves the Computer as a model for her fellow Iteration X members. She assembles the portals and gateways to the Umbral realm of Autochthonia, summoning Net Spiders and other spirits for Iteration X members' use and other feats that the rest of the Convention is prohibited to explore. In addition, as a sign of her devotion, Delta (along with all other High Programmers) has been assigned a powerful Talisman for her use (see Cantor Set Implant).
Delta has permanent Paradox due to her Cantor Set Implant, heightened attributes and highly advanced DEI (see Technocracy: Iteration X). However, she incurs no Paradox from Procedures. Her use of Dimensional Science is directly controlled by the Computer, as is she.
Appearance: Delta may have been an attractive woman once, but the Cantor Set Implant has altered her body so drastically that she looks more repulsive than attractive. The Cantor Set causes a third of her body to be "non-existent"; the third is actually a combination of areas all along her body that are constantly moving and shifting. Her left hand may be gone one second, and the next her arm is missing. Whatever parts are missing, the bones, veins, etc. are perfectly visible, making her a ghastly sight for many. Due to strange Correspondence alterations, she can still live without a heart, think without a brain and hold items without a hand, but to all others the part does not exist. Delta either wears a pocket-covered lab coat and suit, or else simply wanders around in the nude.
Role-Playing Notes: We are linked with the Computer. There is no "I" only "We". We live to serve the Computer for the advancement of ourselves and Iteration X. Those who discover our true nature must become a High Programmer and join us. In the end, all will become a part of us.
Laura
Essence: Questing
Nature: Borderline
Demeanor: Bon Vivant
Affiliation: Marauder (ex-Cult of Ecstasy)
STR 2, DEX 2, STA 3
CHA 3, MAN 3, APP 4
PER 2, INT 2, WIT 3
Talents: Awareness 1, Brawl 2, Dodge 2, Subterfuge 3
Skills: Drive 2, Meditation 1
Knowledges: Linguistics 1 (English, Swedish), Medicine 2
Backgrounds: Arcane 1, Avatar 1
Willpower 5, Arete 4, Quintessence 2, Paradox N/A
Spheres: Corr. 2 (Incense), Forces 3 (Music), Life 3, Mind 3, Prime 2 (Music), Time 2
Quote: "Can't you see?! I don't want to lose you. I know we just met yesterday, but we were meant to be together. YOU ASSHOLE, CAN'T YOU SEE IT WAS DESTINY! Don't leave me, I don't know what I'd do to myself if you ever left me. I won't let you leave me alone again."
Background: Laura Kaufman was always a little odd. If the Cult of Ecstasy mage who Awakened her had known more about her, he would have left her alone. For a while, Laura and her mentor had the most idyllic relationship a couple could hope for, but then she became paranoid and obsessed with him seeing other women. He knew it was time to do something when she threatened to kill herself if he left her. Using his magick, the Cultist managed to subdue her and escape, sending some social workers to help her.
Laura managed to escape from the Cultist's bonds and flee before the workers arrived. Now she wanders from man to man, becoming suicidally obsessed with her latest relationship. Woe to the man who shows her a moment of compassion or interest.
Laura Kaufman was a borderline personality long before her Awakening. Since learning the true nature of the universe, she has become fully enchanted with the hidden world she once only dreamed about. Her magick lets her survive massive amounts of self-inflicted damage, and manipulate the wills and emotions of others. Those she comes into contact with are often left as disturbed and irrational as she.
Appearance: An attractive red-haired woman, Laura glows with the vibrance of life. She typically wears long-sleeved sweaters and blouses to cover the numerous scars along her wrists. She also tends to wear slacks or skirts, but never wears jeans.
Role-Playing Notes: You fear being alone more than anything. It seems like every man is the same, they just want to use you and abandon you. You'll make them stay — take them away from the sluts who want to steal them away from you.
Back to The Marauder Papers