[HoE] Four Templars & A Junker

[DarrinBrig@aol.com]

I thought I'd post some character sketches/ideas and see what you all think. 

When I first got HOE, I was at a loss for character ideas, which scared me a
little because when Deadlands came out I was averaging a character a day for
several weeks.  Mostly my trouble was I didn't have a decent idea of what the
world background was. I'm still waiting for the Wasted West to show up, but
now that I've had some time to digest some of the material, and I eventually
stumbled on a few inspirations.  

Of all the new archetypes, the Templars are what leapt out at me first and
demanded "Play me, play me!" I'm still getting ideas for templars, so I can't
wait for that sourcebook to come out.  My first solid character idea was a
Templar, and a couple others followed.  The junker came later... what can I
say, the tables were confusing but I love tables.  

Garrett Pierce
Concept: Knight in search of the Holy Grail
_Corporeal_
Deft 1d8, Nim 3d10, Str 3d8, Qck 4d12, Vig 3d8
Shootin' Pistol 3, Fightin' Sword 4, Quickdraw 4
_Mental_
Cog 2d12, Knw 2d6, Mien 2d6, Sma 1d12, Spr 4d10
Scrutinize 2, Academia Occult 2, Disguise 1, Medicine 2, Leadership 2, Overawe
2, Survival 2, Faith 3, Guts 3
_Hindrances_
Templar's Oath (-5)
Yearning - Find Holy Grail (-3)
Stubborn (-2)
_Edges_
Arcane Background: Templar (3)
Knack: Blue Veil (5)
Sense of Direction (1)
Nerves of Steel (1)
_Rewards_
Lay On Hands 3
Celerity 2
_Background_
Garrett is based on an idea I had for a Deadlands character, but the concept
works better in HoE, where there's a lot more reasons to be looking for the
Grail.  Garrett is based loosely on Roland from Steven King's Dark Tower
series(just replace the Grail for the Tower). He originally started out as a
Blessed with the Guide miracle, but there was no equivalent in HoE and I wound
up giving him the Blue Veil Knack for finding clues to the whereabouts of the
Grail through visionquests.  

Garrett was in the National Guard when the Last War ended. His unit
deserted/disbanded and he made his way home guarding caravans, but was
horrified to discover that what was left of his family had been horribly
mutated by supernatural mutation.  His father had been killed, but his mother
and sister had been banished to the local mutie colony.  He spent what little
money he had left to help his family, but the locals refused to waste medical
supplies on mutants. He'd heard stories of healers calling themselves
templars, and travelled to Des Moines to see if they could help his family.
The rumors were true, but the Templars refused any help unless Garrett joined
their cause. After passing his initiation, Garrett returned to his family but
his healing powers weren't enough. The first vision came to him then, of a
wooden cup that could heal his family and restore the shattered plague-
stricken lands around him.  Garrett has devoted the rest of his life to
chasing down the Grail, and searches for it with a stubborn ferocity that
rules every part of his being.  He is embarrassed about what has happened to
his family, and doesn't want the other Templars to find out about them, for
they might be judged unworthy and denied any further aid or protection.  His
fellow Templars dislike his single-mindedness, but many of them are intrigued
by his visions and what it may mean if the Grail actually does exist.

Fritz Bowen
Concept: Two-Handed hand-to-hand killing machine
_Corporeal_
Deft 3d6, Nim 3d10, Str 4d12, Qck 3d8 Vig 4d8
Shootin' Pistol 2, Fightin' Sword 4, Quickdraw 1
_Mental_
Cog 3d8, Knw 1d10, Mien 4d6, Sma 3d6, Spr 2d10
Scrutinize 1, Academia Occult 2, Disguise 1, Medicine 2, Leadership 2, Overawe
2, Survival 2, Faith 3, Guts 2
_Hindrances_
Templar's Oath (-5)
Big Britches (-3)
Big Un (-1)
Heavy Sleeper (-1)
_Edges_
Arcane Background: Templar (3)
Two-Fisted (3)
Thick-Skinned (3)
Belongings - Extra sword (1)
_Rewards_
Lay On Hands 2
Armor 3
_Background_
Fritz was my first solid HoE-only character that didn't rely on any other
sourcebooks. As far as concepts go, he's big, not so smart, and a two-handed
killing machine that uses two swords (one in each hand). Not exactly original,
but I think he's a good guide if you're looking for a big-dumb-fighter type,
or want to maximize hand-to-hand damage. It was cheaper to take his second
sword as a belonging rather than take 1 point in dinero and try to actually
buy it. I didn't have any plains to make his belongings-sword "special",
although that might be a nice idea to explore.  

My original idea was Fritz would be some over-confident leader-type who tries
to impress people with his fighting skills, but I'd probably wind up playing
him like Groo - a little slapstick-stupid between killing sprees.  

As for what he's doing in the Wasted West - he's a natural at fighting, and
came to his village's aid against a band of bandits/mutants/etc. when a
Templar showed up to help out. The Templar was impressed with Fritz's courage
and strength, and offered to take Fritz as a squire.  Fritz excelled at the
fighting aspects, was pretty decent at the book-learning stuff, but tends to
be a little short on common sense.  Now a full-fledged Templar, Fritz is
probably out looking for bad guys to decapitate.

Joseph Blackfeather
Concept: Templar that uses War Favors as well
_Corporeal_
Deft 1d6, Nim 2d10, Str 3d6, Qck 4d6 Vig 3d8
Shootin' Bow 2, Fightin' Sword 4, Sneak 2, Quickdraw 1
_Mental_
Cog 2d12, Knw 1d10, Mien 1d6, Sma 2d6, Spr 3d10
Ritual: Paint 4, Tracking 1, Academia Occult 2, Disguise 1, Medicine 2,
Ritual: Pledge 2, Persuasion 1, Survival 2, Faith 3, Guts 2
_Hindrances_
Templar's Oath (-5)
Night Terrors (-5)
_Edges_
Arcane Background: Templar (3)
Keen (3)
Guardian Spirit - Wolf (1)
Light Sleeper (1)
Belonging - Dream Catcher (1)
Belonging - Coup Stick (1)
_Powers_
Lay On Hands 3
Celerity 2
_Favors_
Spirit Weapon
Guiding Wind
Spirit Warrior
Strength of Bear
_Background_
Joseph's my attempt to get around the "no more than one arcane background"
rule. Officially, Templars don't have to be christian, but HoE is very vague
about what happened to indians that gave up the Old Ways for the New Ways.
Joseph can call on favors that only require 1 AP, so the War medicine way was
naturally the way to go, and his two medicine objects double any APs he might
get.  Speed of the Wolf seemed pretty useless, and Spirit Weapon is a must if
you're going to be going up against anything supernatural.  I decided to go
with Night Terrors rather than Heroic, and with Light Sleeper and his
Dreamcatcher he's got a +4 on his sleep rolls.  If only he had Horned Owl's
Fury or Turtle Shell... then he'd kick some major bootay.  It's easy enough to
arrange the points and take medicine objects with those favors imbued, but for
now we'll just worry about what we've got.

I'm a little hesitant to flesh out his background too much before Paul comes
out with the new indian book for HoE, but the way I figure it Joseph is
probably from whatever happened to the Coyote Confederation, and is half-
Comanche/half-Cherokee. He grew up on a reservation where his tribe used guns
and other modern tools but still worshiped the old spirits as best they could,
just in different ways.  Joseph's tribe was overrun by a Doombringer and a
horde of Trogs.  He fought valiantly but was captured and watched in horror as
his people were butchered, boiled, and eaten alive.  He was rescued by a small
group of Templars, but ever since then he's had nightmares about what happened
to his people.  The Templars told him of the coming of the Four Horsemen, and
Joseph joined them to learn more about what had happened to the world and what
could be done to fight it.  He has found himself at odds with many other
Templars about his spiritual beliefs but Simon has gone to lengths not to
restrict his order to any particular religion.  Since becoming a Templar
himself, he has returned to the southwest to look for and provide help to
other indian tribes, but many who still revere the old ways resent an indian
carrying around a white man's sword and wearing a white man's cross.  

Gayle Crawford
Concept: Templar masquerading as a Doomsayer
_Corporeal_
Deft 2d6, Nim 2d10, Str 3d6, Qck 3d8, Vigor 4d6
Shootin' Shotgun 3, Fightin' 4, Sneak 2, Quickdraw 2
_Mental_
Cog 2d8, Know 1d12, Mien 2d6, Sma 1d8, Spr 3d12
Academia Occult 2, Disguise 4, Medicine General 3, Performing 2, Bluff 2,
Survival 2, Faith 3, Guts 2
_Hindrances_
Enemy - Templars (-5)
Cautious (-3)
Yearning - Clear name (-2)
_Edges_
Arcane Background: Templar (3)
Keen (3)
Light Sleeper (1)
Good Eyes (1)
Good Ears (1)
Convincing Voice: +2 Bluff (1)
_Powers_
Lay On Hands 2
Guise 3
_Background_
Gayle was unfortunate enough to stumble onto a protection racket being run by
a fellow Templar, Jarod Fitzhume. Jarod found out about it and managed to
frame it on Gayle before she could report him, and her fellow Templars invoked
the Oath of Blood to hunt her down and kill her.  She managed to escape and
has been on the run ever since. After a few close calls, she used her healing
powers and medicine skills to start masquerading as a Heretic Doomsayer, and
has tried her best to keep a low profile.  Jarod is incensed with hunting her
down and is still after her, and won't stop until she's dead, but luckily the
rest of the Templars aren't as inclined to devote more resources to digging
her up. Gayle tries to avoid both Templars and other Doomsayers for fear of
being found out, and is just beginning to catch her breath over what's
happened to her.  She still carries her sword but uses it only as a last
resort, relying on a shotgun instead. Some people get suspiscious when she
doesn't display any other Doomsayer powers, but they don't ask to many
questions when she starts patching people together. She hopes to one day clear
her name and expose Jarod, but thinks it best to hide for now until the
Templars forget about her.

Zane Cooper
Concept: Two-Fisted Twin Laser Pistols
_Corporeal_
Deft 2d10, Nim 3d6, Str 3d4, Qck 3d8, Vig 2d8
Shootin Pistol 4, Fightin Knife 1, Quickdraw 2
_Mental_
Cog 4d6, Knw 1d12, Mien 3d6, Sma 2d12, Spr 3d6
Scrutinize 2, Search 2, Academia Occult 2, Science: Occult Engineering 4,
Overawe2, Scrounging 4, Survival 1, Streetwise 1, Tinkering 4, Guts 2
_Hindrances_
Heroic (-5)
Greedy (-2)
Curious (-3)
_Edges_
Arcane Background: Junker (3)
Two-Fisted (3)
Dinero (2)
Belonging - Kevlar vest (1)
Mechanically Inclined (1)
_Powers_
Damage, Sensor, Trait
_Junker Gear_
Zane carries a pair of twin minilaser pistols (73 points apiece).  Each pistol
has a small quartz crystal that focuses a laser generated by exciting the
atoms in a chamber filled with ghost rock vapor and excited by ghostrock
radiation.  Each crystal will last about 100 shots before burning out and
needing to be replaced.  The stats are as follows:
GR Drain: 2/shot
Speed 1 ROF 2 Range 10 Damage 3d6
_Background_
Zane fancies himself a Law Dog (Heroic hindrance) but is more motivated by a
deep-rooted love of Hollywood-style action holomovies he watched as a kid
before the Last War than by a profound sense of justice.  When he's not trying
to play the part of the clean-cut good-looking gun-blazing hero, he's
scavenging ruins looking for parts to fund his Junker habit.  His major
weakness (besides trying to play the hero) is his greed, and can often be
motivated by money or parts when his common sense kicks in and over-rules his
heroic tendencies.  He loves guns and weapons in particular, but always relies
on his twin minilasers to get him out of trouble. He hires himself out as a
Law-Dog wannabe to anyone who shares his sense of adventure, but gets restless
easily and will sign up as a caravan guard and wander to somewhere else before
settling down in one place.