Quote Originally Posted by Landis963 View Post
I personally would loooove to see this. Especially if, in a particular game, they get built up as a rogues gallery.
Wish granted.

The Gentlemen.

A team of operatives, each a legend in their filed, who have been brought together for a single purpose: Protect the world from the forces that would threaten it. They work in shadows, for The Light. Specifically, they are a single Cell in a secret branch of the Imperial government whose duties sometimes put them at odds with the official government. That is, they are tasked with maintaining the balance of power in the New World, even if that means slowing the Imperial advance. Their primary foes are Cthuloid Monstrosities, Vampires, various Monsters, and occasionally Anarchists of every stripe.

Membership
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Jameson
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Race: Imperial
Asset: Resources
Not technically a member, but he was the one who formed the Gentlemen, realizing Dr Tokarev's idea of such a team. Tokarev himself thought it would be a good idea for there to be a team of such vigilantes, but he ultimately decided such a thing would be unethical. Jameson, not so much. Jameson is a secret member of the Shadow Empire, the other secret society whose actions secretly run the whole Empire. Secretly. As such, he possesses the resources and contacts to make such a team of operatives feasible, if not desirable.


Harry Petaint, aka “Le Sorcellerie ”
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Race: Imperial Jamatu
Asset: Clockwork/Steampunk Mastery
Mr Petaint was the youngest son in a family of wizards, and the only one not to inherent any magic powers of his own. Practically disowned by his family after age 15, Petaint dedicated his life to proving himself worthy, even without magic. He proved to be brilliant while attending school and quickly made a name for himself as a “Wizard of Clockwork”, such was his technical abilities. As time went on he created many devices that seemed to rival magic in their application. Dr Tokarev was impressed enough to keep a correspondence with Petaint for several days until he, naturally, lost interest.

Petaint's obsession with proving himself took a turn for the worst though, when he appeared to finally snap, killing a wizard who challenged him to a duel. Petaint accepted the challenge, and then shot the wizard in the back the instant he turned around. Petaint went underground, only to reappear amidst the “Cloak and Dagger War”, the intense Spy vs Spy vs Assassin battles waged in Coterois during the Kinstrife. Petaint made a name for himself among the Imperials as their top double agent. Of course, as was common in Coterois at that time, no one actually knew where Petaint's loyalties lay. His body count, though somewhat low contained primarily high level targets on both sides of the conflict, from Colonels to Generals, politicians and other spies. He was particularly infamous for his flawless disguises, created by some means of his own devising. He could appear as anyone, and often drove his targets mad with fear before striking.

He disappeared again after the war, only to re-appear in the West, now serving Jameson as the leader of the Gentlemen.

Legend Build
Full-buy-in Multiclass Tactician/Tactical Insight/Prof Soldier/Demo-man/Mechanic Savant
(Alternate - Full buy-in Multiclass Rogue/Esoterica/Demo-man/Prof Soldier/Mechanic Savant)

Concept
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Basically, a dark-skinned man with a trimmed beard and a fine suit hiding all manner of tech (including hidden-holsters in the sleeves for his pistols). The Alan Quartermain / Sean Connery of the group, and the leader.



John 'Jack Knife' Sharpes
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Race: Imperial
Asset: Mastery of knives
John Sharpes grew up on the meaner side of Firstport. There he was honed like one of his knives. Life was hard on the streets, but Sharpes was determined to survive. Indeed, he flourished making a name for himself as one of the meanest, orneriest, no-good sonovabitches who ever walked the streets. He worked mostly as a thief and a mugger, but in time he also took to settling assassin contracts once the local guild realized he was just using their men as practice (he had enemies). Sharpes worked part-time as a butcher, remarking that humans and pigs weren't so different once you got right down to it. It being the brutal vivisection of an unwilling subject. Oddly, despite his bloody habits, Sharpes was considered the most courteous man in Firstport, known for politeness to women in particular, and to any man who had earned respect. He could be easily spotted in a crowd because of his clothing, a slap-dash mix of pinstripes, floral designs, checkers and a stove-pipe hat.

The descendant of revolutionaries, Sharpes developed a particularly virulent hatred for anything he believed was Un-Imperial. This included vampires, magic, technology, Jamatu, Natives, Boradoans, other Imperials, Ironmen, even the Emperor Copperton (in fact, Sharpes practically ran Firstport politics during the Kinstrife and tried several times to find candidates to run against him). Oddly, those who claim to know Sharpes will all tell you that, though he holds to his ideals with all the conviction of a saint, he seems to genuinely understand that the modern world is no place for him. He seems at times to be just looking for a noble way to die.

After Copperton fell to an assassin's blade, Sharpes hastily faked his death and left Firstport. He knew that his virulent hatred for the Emperor was well-known, and he knew that his days were numbered by his association with anti-Coppertonians. He left for greener pastures out west, and found himself promptly employed by Jameson for the Gentlemen.

Legend build
Multiclass Paladin/Judgment/Smiting/Swashbuckler (exchange Str for Dex with Multiclass Flex Feat)

Concept
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The Lancer to Petaint. Based entirely upon Daniel Day Lewis from Gangs of New York.



Iron Jacob
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Race: Ironman
Asset: Strength
Jacob was forged by the legendary Iron John himself, making Jacob technically the Martyr's Son. Only a few days old when John wore himself to death in his infamous competition, Jacob was one of the first to flee into the wilderness to enact a form of guerrilla warfare. For years they would sneak into major industrial centers, disguised as the other Ironmen. There, the resistance would sabotage equipment and steal supplies. Jacob felt this was not enough, but his people were too interwoven with the industrial complex. To harm the enemy, Jacob would have to kill his own. Rescuing them was difficult, if not impossible at times due to the countermeasures enacted against such a thing. Jacob rarely was even able to break even through escape attempts, often losing as many as he saved. He became discouraged, but when the Kinstrife began he saw an opportunity. Though the Emperor delayed in Emancipating the Ironmen due to political necessity, the Loyalist states were suddenly ordered not to arrest free Ironmen working for Jacob. Now working from a position of ample supplies and even allies, he could stage more and more daring raids against the Rebels.

As the war wore on, Jacob found his image being used for war propaganda. Signs bearing his name and likeness were issued across the Empire, calling for “All Ironmen to Rise with your Fellow! Liberation! Liberation is with Jacob!” Though newly emancipated Ironmen were indeed convinced to join the war effort, the propaganda just made Jacob's job harder. He found more and more gunmen going after his head. He apparently racked up the highest bounty ever offered by the Rebel States, even higher than Copperton's. Tales of his exploits are still passed around in the Imperial garrisons, most at least mentioning how he marched with General Mattimeo Sasquatcha Potter into the capitol of the Rebel states and left it in rubble.

When peace finally came, Jacob found he could not be happy. Though life was certainly better for his people, he could see the Empire backpedaling on certain promises made to them, leaving his people leaderless and directionless, lost in a world where they had yet to forge a path for themselves. It is unclear why exactly he left the movement to join the Gentlemen instead of leading his people, but according to classified records, there was a falling out among the Ironmen leadership. Jacob was betrayed by his own people, and left to the world.

Legend Build
Multiclass Barbarian/Sentient Construct/Path of Rage/Discipline of the Serpent
(Alternative: Utter Brute in place of Path of Rage)
(Alternative 2: Paladin/Judgment/Sentient Construct/Discipline of the Serpent)

Concept
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A Genius Bruiser, basically a metal Beast from Xmen. He's a beat-down machine, but one that is still recovering from some betrayal.



Rosa Maria Lorenzo Viradonde Vasquez
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Race: Nuevo Boradoan
Asset: The Raw, Untapped Power of the Gods
Born to a wealthy Colonel in Nuevo Borado, Rosa never wanted for anything. She could very well have lived a long, sumptuous lifestyle for the rest of her days without worry. But she was a curious one. At an exceedingly young age she was noted for her innate talent with the machines reverse-engineered from the God's old ruins. By age fourteen she had successfully surgery on herself to replace both her arms with powerful cybernetic prosthetics built from the Gods' technology. Further experimentation cemented her status as the Boradoan Tokarev. By 16, Rosa graduated from the Military College in the capitol (on scholarship). Within a year she had jumped Nuevo Boradoan technology an entire decade forward, bringing them back up to the same level as the Empire after decades of slumping discoveries. But then things went wrong.

Viejo Borado knew of Rosa, knew what she was and what she could do. It was in their best interests to kill her. When assassins began leaping out of the woodwork, Rosa was a little bothered as they tended to interrupt her experiments. Luckily they made excellent test subjects, dead or alive. But when Viejo realized she was untouchable, they went after her family and killed her beloved father. Finally snapped out of her usual stoic-super-science-mindset, Rosa unleashed her full fury upon those responsible. Waging a silent guerilla war of her own, aided by several of her father's old military buddies and even the Blackfox (who was morally outraged at her loss) Rosa eventually caught up with the High Priest Juliato, the man who ordered her father's death. Though her father's death was meant to draw her to Viejo for an ambush, Juliato misjudged her effectiveness, and found himself dead by her hand.

But Rosa was, and is to a degree, a gentle soul. Killing in self-defense was no problem. Even killing for SCIENCE was justified considering self-defense was involved there too. But this was straight, cold-blooded murder, and she couldn't remove it from her thoughts. A little more broken than before, Rosa quietly exiled herself to the Empire, and there was picked up by Jameson. She currently serves as the Gentlemen's tracker and battlefield control.

Legend Build
Multiclass Full Buy-in Sage/Mechanic Savant/Force of Will/Bag-of-Tricks/Tactician Spell-Casting

Concept
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Yeah, this is basically a slightly different flavored Kimiko Ross with a touch of Salma Hayek from the Wild Wild West Movie.



Jackson Crowheart
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Race: Native
Asset: Magic
Jackson was born into the Laqonea tribe of Natives who hailed from the cold Northwest, just south of the Achalka border. Since time immemorial the Laqonea believed that one day a being of fire would appear to them, a Huren or “Firewalker”, and would begin an age of paradise among them, free from the bitter chill of winter. Well, by the time of Jackson's birth, the tribe was sick of waiting. The Shaman of the tribe bound a creature from beyond the Veil into the body of the Chief's youngest son. As the boy grew, he seemed to become a being of raw Earthpower, that is he appeared empowered by Nature itself. The tribe was all but sure of the coming paradise.

As it turns out however, Jackson didn't take well to “old fashioned nonsense”, and considered himself a modernist. He also didn't take the news well that his soul was technically part-Demon. Feeling that his people were too close-minded and beholden to the past, Jackson left to see the world and make a name for himself in the Empire. Turns out that, despite his modern clothes, his modern hairstyle, and his modern tastes, most Imperials see him as one of the Disgruntled Natives due to his tribes anti-imperial stance. As much as he tried to distance himself from this, he couldn't help being jumped by thugs with a grudge. While initially surprised, Jackson proved to be a powerful fighter due to his powers. This put him on the run from the law however as now the Imperials were looking for a rebel Native who set some “upstanding citizens” on fire. While doing so, he was picked up by Petaint and Sharpes for the Gentlemen.

Jackson is the newest member of the Gentlemen, though not the youngest (that being Rosa). This and his mixed reception into Imperial society has left him a bit aloof and disconnected. He's unsure of who he is yet, or where his place might be.

Legend Build
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Full Buy-in Shaman/Demon/(Earth, Wind, or Water) Elemental/(Fire) Elementalist/ Shaman Spell-Casting


Concept
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Something like the Avatar from the Last Airbender series, but also based on Jackson Two-Bears from Cat Ballou, an old Jane Fonda flick that featured an Indian named Jackson whose weariness at the idiocy around him was highly entertaining.




Inter-Party Interaction
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Well, to start off with, Petaint generally gets along with everyone. He considers Jacob his intellectual colleague, and is “sweet on” Rosa due to her own intelligence. He and Sharpes are diametrically opposed in most things, preferring stealth and subtlety over Sharpes usual hack-and-slash routine. He despises Jackson on the grounds that he's a magic user, but also because he sees the boy as a challenger for Rosa.

Sharpes hates Jacob (in his mind for causing the war). In contrast, he sees in Rosa the daughter he never had, and so despite her representing everything he isn't, Sharpes appears incredibly protective of her. For this reason, if nothing else, he apparently harbors nothing short of murderous fury towards Jackson. He not only speaks ill of him to the boy's face, but also puts him through his paces on almost a daily basis. Jacob has hypothesized its less that Sharpes hates Jackson, and more like he wants the boy to be properly prepared to care for Rosa when Sharpes has passed on. It's odd then that he doesn't dislike Petaint, but that might be because he doesn't think Rosa likes Petaint.

Rosa doesn't like Petaint probably due to his arrogance. “If you're going to do SCIENCE,” she says, “Then do SCIENCE, don't just talk about it!” She isn't sure where she stands with Sharpes, mostly due to his rampant racism and hatred of...well...everything, but noting that he doesn't act that way around her. Jacob is a curiosity, something to be taken apart and studied. She's not a bad person, she just forgets Jacob's one from time to time due to his obvious sophistication of construction. Jackson is her best friend at the moment, mostly due to their close ages.

Jackson feels the same about Rosa. He tends to dislike Sharpes intensely (for obvious reasons), but acknowledges his superior's skill and notes that they both prefer the direct approach to a situation. Of course when he pointed out all the similarities between them, Sharpes put him through a truly brutal regimen to “beat that notion,” out of Jackson. Jackson doesn't quite understand the looks he gets from Petaint, but tries to stay out of his way all the same. Petaint for Jackson represents the very society the rejected him, and so he acts coolly around his superior. He tends to look up to Jacob, admiring his strength of character as well as finding commonality in their both being outcasts.

Jacob dislikes Sharpes intensely, for obvious reasons. He also dislikes Rosa, though he tolerates her more as she is so young. He enjoys discussions with Petaint, especially over literature and philosophy. He also notes his similarities to Jackson, and so tutors the boy, as well as actively seeking his extrication from this lifestyle, prefering no one to have to follow the path Jacob has trekked. Having seen his own people fall apart after the Kinstrife, Jacob acts as a group mediator when he can, though not always to success.