Re: [HOE] Road Warrior Second Chance!!!???

["Nick Zachariasen" <zacharin@pluto.dsu.edu>]

Well, after some thinking and after looking back over The Destroyer, I
realized that a legend Chip is indeed much too great a reward. I still feel
that the Templar, who's blessed by the Saint of Mercy, is deserving of some
sort of reward beyond a simple Fate Chip. Therefore, I realized that the
perfect reward is a new Blessing. Saint Hise would be good if he'd actually
protected Frankie or something. What he did, though, was heal him and,
instead of telling him "get outta here before I change my mind", he sent him
to Boise with a note of referral, hoping to get Frankie to mend his ways
such that he may even decide to join to Templars himself.

The problem is that there's no Saint of Second Chances. At least, there's no
such OFFICIAL Saint. There is one who does fit the bill, and I posted him
some time back. I actually had to go into the archives to find him, and here
he is, reworked a bit to not be quite so complicated. I both welcome and
request any input anybody can give on this one, as I intend to actually give
it to him in some form. I just don't know if this version is too powerful or
complicated.

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Saint Lawrence Tureaud (a.k.a. Mr. T)

Saint of Toughness



Born in 1952, Lawrence Tureaud grew up on the south side of Chicago with his
seven brothers and four sisters. His father left when he was 5, leaving the
family to live on welfare. T once reflected, "As a kid, I got three meals a
day. Oatmeal, miss-a-meal and no meal." He was heavily influenced by his
very religious mother to keep his life on track and live right.

When he grew up, he served in the military as an M.P. and at one point
actually served as a bodyguard for Muhammad Ali. In the early 1980s, he
began acting in TV and movies, gaining his longest-lasting recognition from
his role as B.A. Baracus in the TV Series "The A-Team" (vidslugs of which
have actually served as inspiration for a team of four Junkers calling
themselves the J-Team). It is this role that seems to manifest in a large
part of T's blessings. This role also, along with his brief professional
wrestling career, made his trademark gold chains famous.

T used his fame well. His fight against the forces of the Reckoners came not
from killing vampires or halting the evil machinations of cults, but rather
through the simple spreading of hope among those who would not otherwise
have it. Indeed, unlike St. Wayne, T was never any more aware of the
supernatural than the average person. He helped create youth centers and
start physical fitness programs in urban areas, giving hope to
underprivileged children who lived there and simply helping them have fun.
He tried to teach the kids to either "be somebody or be somebody's fool"

Eventually, after his acting heyday was over, T developed, ironically
enough, T-cell lymphoma. The fight left him financially drained to the point
where he had to sell off his gold chains, which he had worn to symbolize the
struggle of blacks in Africa. In an interview, he stated "I don't wear gold
chains no more. The gold is in my heart." Eventually, though, T managed to
stave off the lymphoma. He wrote a book about his experience, which resulted
in him giving hope to a whole new group of people: cancer patients. Like
John Wayne, T also lived to a ripe old age and died of natural causes.



Deed: T blesses those who seek to help the less fortunate, particularly
children. He will come to those who try to help others, whether by allowing
the wicked an honest chance to reform themselves or teaching people how to
simply live better lives. T may also aid Templars who are falsely accused of
a major transgression, especially if it involves the military or the
Templars.

For any power involving Junker Powers or Tool Tricks, use the Templar's
Faith in place of Science: Occult Engineering.



White: For the next 5 minutes per Faith level, the Templar may either use
his Faith in place of the following or gain a bonus equal to it:

Artillery: any that saw widespread use among infantry

Drivin': any land vehicle (including constriction equipment) except
motorcycles and recreational vehicles like ATVs and snowmobiles; if the
vehicle in question is a van, the Templar's Drivin' rolls automatically
succeed

Fightin': brawlin'

Overawe

Scroungin'

Shootin': any small arm commonly issued to infantry

Throwin': all

Tinkerin'



Red: For 1 hour per Faith level, the Templar effectively has access to the
Cyborg power Duct Tape at a level equal to his Faith. However, this also
costs him 1d4 Wind (don't reroll Aces) for every Durability step repaired.
Alternately, the Templar may use the Junker Tool Tricks Reload and Weld.



Blue: For 1 minute per Faith level, the Templar and his allies gain a very
powerful Edge in combat. Reminiscent of The A-Team, wherein there was lots
of gunfire but nobody ever got seriously hurt, no single hit from any weapon
can cause more than 2 wound levels to any single location to the Templar or
anyone on his or her "side". Even if the Templar was in the middle of
fighting someone, the two ceasing to fight each other and fight someone else
qualifies as being on the same side under the logic that "the enemy of my
enemy is my friend." Basically, if the two are fighting the same enemy (such
as a Templar and Anti-Templar who both have to fend off an attack from a
Doombringer), this applies. However, once the common threat has passed, it's
a whole new ballgame.

Note that this ability does not protect whatsoever against magical sources
of damage, such as hexes, Doomsayer miracles, Syker, powers, etc. This
includes things like objects produced by hexes like Sliverspray- it only
protects against man-made weaponry, excluding Junker tech. However, against
normal weaponry that's been somehow enchanted (such as by the Glow Weapon
toxic favor, the Loaded for Bear hex, or the weapon being a Relic), the
weapons still work normally as per their enchantment, but they can deal up
to a Serious Wound instead of only a heavy. This power may only be called
upon once a day.



Legend: For 1 day, the Templar functions as though he had the Arcane
Background: Junker Edge. The limit to the Templar's construction capability
is equal to a total TN equal to his Faith times 5. For instance, he may
construct a device with a TN of 13 and a device with a TN of 11, or he could
construct 5 devices with a TN of 5 each. Any such combination will work so
long as it is less than or equal to the limit. When activating this power,
the Templar may choose a number of powers equal to his Faith from the
following list. All Tool Tricks except for Miniaturize may be taken on a
3-for-1 basis (Miniaturize counts as 2 Tricks for these purposes) and the
Templar automatically gets Weld for free.

Tool Tricks: Bar, Brace, Debug, Finish, Light, Minaturize, Reload, Spit

& Polish, Tool

Powers: Ammo, Armor, Gunsmith, Light, Locomotion, Warhead, Weaponsmith



Extra note:

Those blessed by T also tend to unconsciously make use of his catch phrases
("I pity the fool", "Shut up, fool!", etc.). They also gain the Heroic
Hindrance if they don't have it already, and if they do they become
extra-Heroic, because to quote T, "When punks start hasslin' decent people,
ah make it mah bidness!"



Vexation: There are several things one can do to lose T's favor. Don't
reroll Aces on any of the listed durations unless they state otherwise. For
the verbal slipups, T won't completely abandon someone who really needs him
(i.e., life or death situations for him or his friends).

Mr. T once said "Any man who don't love his momma can't be no friend of
mine." He abandons anyone who badmouths someone's mother (unless what he
says is true) for 1d4 days. He'll return sooner if an apology is made.

Also, Mr. T don't want none o' that "Saint" jibba-jabba being thrown around
about him. He feels that using the word so loosely cheapens it, so he
prefers people to call him Mr. T, or if they must, just T. Calling him
"Saint" causes him to leave for 1d4 hours.

Mr. T also doesn't go for any obscene jibba-jabba. Rather than leaving, Mr.
T causes the individual to feel a punching sensation in the gut and lose 1d4
Wind (reroll Aces, but don't take the character's total below 0 Wind). If
there's a child under 18 present, roll 1d8 for the Wind loss AND let the
character go below 0 Wind, but not far enough to cause any Wound levels.

Lastly, T will permanently leave anyone who knowingly and willingly either
commits a traitorous act or turns his back on any who deserve the Templar's
help, especially children, regardless of the worthiness of the rest of a
settlement. T doesn't turn his back on decent people! However, if helping
them is outside his capability or there are other mitigating circumstances
(Marshal's call), T understands. His favor can be regained by proving
oneself worthy once again.

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Nick Zachariasen
Editor Emeritus
Trojan Times