Malcolm Patterson
Appearance
Malcolm is a tall, well built teenager with another year or two of growth. His light brown hair is cut short and straight. His complexion is mostly clear, but he is that awkward stage when he has to shave every few days to even out the odd patches of facial hair. His teeth are perfect. He is always well dressed and manicured, even in jeans and (designer) t-shirt.
Powers
Malcolm was an uncontrolled empath as a child. He lacked the maturity to interpret the input from this sixth sense and he was a very emotionally troubled child. (If you notice below, the Empath power is "paid for" by Doom cards--this ties into the bad karma he experienced because of this power).
His psychic blast emerged as a defense mechanism and an outlet for his own emotions. The blast is accompanied by a scream or yell. The power works even while gagged or in a vacuum, so the shriek does not represent a limit of the power. The blast radiates as a cone outward from Malcolm and affects everyone, friend or foe, in front of him. Malcolm lacks the control to turn this area of effect off.
Personality
Malcolm does not have much positive experience around people. He is neither shy nor extroverted but he is often misinterpreted as being glum. He wants to reach out to people but lacks the proper tools. Those who are friendly and open to him will receive the same treatment in return. When confronted with hostility, anger, or other negative emotions, Malcolm goes out his way to be calm, polite, and respectful. He has no patience for duplicity. He takes an immediate dislike to manipulative people even if done with the best intentions.
History
Malcolm's teachers described as moody, easily frustrated, and a troublemaker. The psychiatrists believed he suffered from bipolar disorder and attention deficit syndrome. Fact was, he was just sensitive. Unable to interpret the emotions he felt from others, he would internalize and amplify them. If someone was angry with him, he would become hostile and he was prone to tantrums. By himself, Malcolm was an ordinary child with no signs of emotional troubles. It was only when he got near others that he become a problem. He was removed from private school and tutored at home.
He had quite a talent writing and had a good artistic eye. Malcolm was always active and quite athletic. He loved the outdoors, where he could be away from people and be at peace with himself. His favorite activities were rock climbing and horseback riding.
His blue-blooded parents did the best they could for him. They always gave him love and support, but their own frustration and confusion contributed to Malcolm's problems. The tutors met with mixed success and the turnover rate was very high. After the last tutor left in tears and threatening to sue (they settled out of court), his parents became desperate.
They brought him to a new psychologist who used less-than-traditional methods including primal scream, birth regression, and other "alternative" mental health practices. In fact, this psychologist was such an emotional wreck himself and his methods so radical, that he only made Malcolm's problems escalate. Determined to see the program through the end, his parents clung to this last hope for their son. During an especially traumatic and emotional session, Malcolm's psyche finally broke free in a psychic blast that knocked the psychologist unconscious. Like releasing a pressure valve, Malcolm sat alone in the room until his time was up, walked home, and never returned.
Slowly but steadily, Malcolm's control over his Empathy matured and he gained control over the Psychic Blast. He spent another year with private tutors and during his 16th year, he was anxious to re-enter school society.
Goals
When he made the decision to enter a real school, Malcolm wanted friends and maybe a girlfriend. He wants to live the normal life or a teenager and not the sheltered, lonely life he had lived up until now. Ultimately, he wants to go to college, though he does not know what he wants to study: art or journalism.
Abilities
Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game (aka the Marvel SAGA rules)
Ability: Score (Skills)
Strength: 7C (Boxing, Climbing)
Agility: 6C (Boating, Equestrian)
Intellect: 4C (Computers, Linguistics)
Willpower: 10B (Art, Photography, Writing)
Power: Score (Stunts)
Empathy: 12 (None)
Psychic Blast: 11 (Psi Screen, Area Effect)
Other
Edge: 1
Hand Size: 3 (17)
Hindrances: None
Calling: Peace of Mind (Protector)
Character Creation
The Marvel SAGA system, which involves drawing cards and assigning them to abilities and powers. For reference, this is how it game out. Given that the characters were teenage, new mutants, we had to redraw any card that was 8 or higher.
Cards Drawn
1 INT 4 --> Intellect 4C
2 WILL 6 --> Willpower 6C
3 WILL 5 --> Psychic Blast 5 (Psi Screen)
4 DOOM 5 --> Empathy 7
5 STR 7 --> Strength 7C
6 WILL 6 --> Raise Psychic Blast 11 (Area Effect)
7 AGI 6 --> Agility 6C
8 WILL 1 --> Calling
9 DOOM 7 --> Raise Empathy 12
10 WILL 4 --> Raise Willpower 10B
Looking over the choice of powers, I was attracted to sonic powers but I had a difficult time fitting what I wanted with the cards I had. I decided to go with the what the cards gave me, so Malcolm's abilities were taken straight from the cards. Once I assigned the single INT, STR, AGI cards to abilities, all I had left were DOOM and WILL cards. It seemed obvious that a mentalist was in order. Then, I picked Empathy and Psychic Blast. I then built up the character background and it was obvious that this kid had had problems early on, and this is reflected by assigning all the DOOM cards to Empathy. The Psychic Blast evolved out of his mastering of his power and asserting his will, so I split the WILL cards between Willpower and Psychic Blast. By the end, I thought everything tied together very nicely.
The rules require you to spend one card on your character's calling. You get an extra card if you choose the calling as shown on the card you burned. I really wanted Peace of Mind or Protector as his calling, but I did not have those cards. So, I ended up just tossing my lowest card away and taking the calling I wanted. You can also get extra card draws by taking limits on powers or hindrances for the character, but I chose none of these and thus did not get any extra cards.
Originally, I had Sedate as one of his of Psychic Blast stunts. But after the game started, I realized that this stunt represented more control than I thought Malcolm had. I created a new stunt, Area Effect, which is normally applied to physical energy blasts. With Area Effect, the psychic blast is quite powerful, but Malcolm cannot selectively choose who in the area to attack. This limits the power's ability if Malcolm does not want to attack his own allies. Since this was a balancing limitation, I did not think it was worthy of drawing an extra card.
Malcolm is a tall, well built teenager with another year or two of growth. His light brown hair is cut short and straight. His complexion is mostly clear, but he is that awkward stage when he has to shave every few days to even out the odd patches of facial hair. His teeth are perfect. He is always well dressed and manicured, even in jeans and (designer) t-shirt.
Powers
Malcolm was an uncontrolled empath as a child. He lacked the maturity to interpret the input from this sixth sense and he was a very emotionally troubled child. (If you notice below, the Empath power is "paid for" by Doom cards--this ties into the bad karma he experienced because of this power).
His psychic blast emerged as a defense mechanism and an outlet for his own emotions. The blast is accompanied by a scream or yell. The power works even while gagged or in a vacuum, so the shriek does not represent a limit of the power. The blast radiates as a cone outward from Malcolm and affects everyone, friend or foe, in front of him. Malcolm lacks the control to turn this area of effect off.
Personality
Malcolm does not have much positive experience around people. He is neither shy nor extroverted but he is often misinterpreted as being glum. He wants to reach out to people but lacks the proper tools. Those who are friendly and open to him will receive the same treatment in return. When confronted with hostility, anger, or other negative emotions, Malcolm goes out his way to be calm, polite, and respectful. He has no patience for duplicity. He takes an immediate dislike to manipulative people even if done with the best intentions.
History
Malcolm's teachers described as moody, easily frustrated, and a troublemaker. The psychiatrists believed he suffered from bipolar disorder and attention deficit syndrome. Fact was, he was just sensitive. Unable to interpret the emotions he felt from others, he would internalize and amplify them. If someone was angry with him, he would become hostile and he was prone to tantrums. By himself, Malcolm was an ordinary child with no signs of emotional troubles. It was only when he got near others that he become a problem. He was removed from private school and tutored at home.
He had quite a talent writing and had a good artistic eye. Malcolm was always active and quite athletic. He loved the outdoors, where he could be away from people and be at peace with himself. His favorite activities were rock climbing and horseback riding.
His blue-blooded parents did the best they could for him. They always gave him love and support, but their own frustration and confusion contributed to Malcolm's problems. The tutors met with mixed success and the turnover rate was very high. After the last tutor left in tears and threatening to sue (they settled out of court), his parents became desperate.
They brought him to a new psychologist who used less-than-traditional methods including primal scream, birth regression, and other "alternative" mental health practices. In fact, this psychologist was such an emotional wreck himself and his methods so radical, that he only made Malcolm's problems escalate. Determined to see the program through the end, his parents clung to this last hope for their son. During an especially traumatic and emotional session, Malcolm's psyche finally broke free in a psychic blast that knocked the psychologist unconscious. Like releasing a pressure valve, Malcolm sat alone in the room until his time was up, walked home, and never returned.
Slowly but steadily, Malcolm's control over his Empathy matured and he gained control over the Psychic Blast. He spent another year with private tutors and during his 16th year, he was anxious to re-enter school society.
Goals
When he made the decision to enter a real school, Malcolm wanted friends and maybe a girlfriend. He wants to live the normal life or a teenager and not the sheltered, lonely life he had lived up until now. Ultimately, he wants to go to college, though he does not know what he wants to study: art or journalism.
Abilities
Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game (aka the Marvel SAGA rules)
Ability: Score (Skills)
Strength: 7C (Boxing, Climbing)
Agility: 6C (Boating, Equestrian)
Intellect: 4C (Computers, Linguistics)
Willpower: 10B (Art, Photography, Writing)
Power: Score (Stunts)
Empathy: 12 (None)
Psychic Blast: 11 (Psi Screen, Area Effect)
Other
Edge: 1
Hand Size: 3 (17)
Hindrances: None
Calling: Peace of Mind (Protector)
Character Creation
The Marvel SAGA system, which involves drawing cards and assigning them to abilities and powers. For reference, this is how it game out. Given that the characters were teenage, new mutants, we had to redraw any card that was 8 or higher.
Cards Drawn
1 INT 4 --> Intellect 4C
2 WILL 6 --> Willpower 6C
3 WILL 5 --> Psychic Blast 5 (Psi Screen)
4 DOOM 5 --> Empathy 7
5 STR 7 --> Strength 7C
6 WILL 6 --> Raise Psychic Blast 11 (Area Effect)
7 AGI 6 --> Agility 6C
8 WILL 1 --> Calling
9 DOOM 7 --> Raise Empathy 12
10 WILL 4 --> Raise Willpower 10B
Looking over the choice of powers, I was attracted to sonic powers but I had a difficult time fitting what I wanted with the cards I had. I decided to go with the what the cards gave me, so Malcolm's abilities were taken straight from the cards. Once I assigned the single INT, STR, AGI cards to abilities, all I had left were DOOM and WILL cards. It seemed obvious that a mentalist was in order. Then, I picked Empathy and Psychic Blast. I then built up the character background and it was obvious that this kid had had problems early on, and this is reflected by assigning all the DOOM cards to Empathy. The Psychic Blast evolved out of his mastering of his power and asserting his will, so I split the WILL cards between Willpower and Psychic Blast. By the end, I thought everything tied together very nicely.
The rules require you to spend one card on your character's calling. You get an extra card if you choose the calling as shown on the card you burned. I really wanted Peace of Mind or Protector as his calling, but I did not have those cards. So, I ended up just tossing my lowest card away and taking the calling I wanted. You can also get extra card draws by taking limits on powers or hindrances for the character, but I chose none of these and thus did not get any extra cards.
Originally, I had Sedate as one of his of Psychic Blast stunts. But after the game started, I realized that this stunt represented more control than I thought Malcolm had. I created a new stunt, Area Effect, which is normally applied to physical energy blasts. With Area Effect, the psychic blast is quite powerful, but Malcolm cannot selectively choose who in the area to attack. This limits the power's ability if Malcolm does not want to attack his own allies. Since this was a balancing limitation, I did not think it was worthy of drawing an extra card.
Labels: Character
posted by Patrick at 10:59 AM
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