Character a Day 2023: Day 4: The Axis

January 20, 2023

The Axis is a bit different than the others as it was a supplement blending Fate Core and Gumshoe – my first stab at this combination. Reading the premise, I'm sure you can figure out the inspiration.

Once upon a time, you were only out for yourself. Many would consider you a bad guy- hell, much of the time you'd agree with them. But something happened – a turning point that made you realize some of the people you worked with didn't have your code. You only went after the big guys, but there were little guys out there being taken advantage of by people even worse than you. And some of these people were too big to really pay a consequence, and the weak and helpless suffered.

But the one thing you can say about these big players- they might seem too big to fail, but just like a boulder at the top of a mountain, if you find the turning point a little force can bring it tumbling down. You put yourself in the business of finding The Axis.

Part 1: Envisioning the Character

Using a generator for this one, I come up with Annie Torrance, a British national.

She grew up in an upper class neighborhood- her father was from old money and her mother was never talked about. She knew growing up that she was East Asian, but no one would talk about her. She grew to resent her family, though her father was excluded for some reason. The others would whisper and she'd hear how fortunate it was that she displayed so little of her mother, but her father was sad, and though he never talked of her, she could see in his eyes that he didn't feel the same. She rebelled against her upbringing, and it was all they could do to keep her exploits from becoming more public- more for themselves than her. No one came after her when she ran away that last time after her father died, and she spent her senior year of high school in the streets, never graduating. She fully embraced life on the streets, and though at times it was difficult, she eventually made a name for herself- her experience in dance and gymnastics growing up along with he sharp mind helped her become an able thief. A chance meeting on a job changed all of that. Never having seen her mother, she didn't know how much she resembled her- but one of her marks did. While scouting the location, she was surprised when an older woman approached her- she thought she'd been made. But the woman, Nora Hester, was an artist that knew her mother. That first meeting threw her off her game, and she abandoned the job, denying the ID as just mistaken identity. But for a woman that had no family, the allure was too much. She got to know Nora, and through her, her mother- Hale- came to life. Finding out about her mother healded a wound that she didn't know that she'd been holding on to, and she began to use her skills through Nora's contacts to help people instead of stealing from them, returning to them precious things that had been lost.

Part 2: Building the Character

Aspects

High Concept: Former Thief looking for Redemption Problem: Criminal Past that still haunts her Inner Turmoil: Seeks family and validation Child of the Aristocracy Finished School in the Streets

Approaches

Bold: +2 Brutal: +1 Insightful: +2 Precise: +3 Swift: +4

Skills

Athletics: 3 Fray: 2 Guns: 2 Infiltrate: 4 Notice: 3 Pilot: 1 Sense Trouble: 3 Deceive: 3 Empathy: 2 Etiquette: 2 Provoke: 3 Persuade: 3 Streetwise: 4 Hardware: 3 Criminology: 4

Contacts

Nora Hester – 5

Part 3: Final Character and Conclusions

I skipped some parts – specifically the section on building ties with the rest of the crew- because this was just a sample character built alone. I do see some areas that I'd need to revisit in order to make the character creation a seamless process, and see why the lack of examples in the text was one thing that brought down the rating on this game.

Name: Annie Torrance

Background: She grew up in an upper class neighborhood- her father was from old money and her mother was never talked about. She knew growing up that she was East Asian, but no one would talk about her. She grew to resent her family, though her father was excluded for some reason. The others would whisper and she'd hear how fortunate it was that she displayed so little of her mother, but her father was sad, and though he never talked of her, she could see in his eyes that he didn't feel the same. She rebelled against her upbringing, and it was all they could do to keep her exploits from becoming more public- more for themselves than her. No one came after her when she ran away that last time after her father died, and she spent her senior year of high school in the streets, never graduating. She fully embraced life on the streets, and though at times it was difficult, she eventually made a name for herself- her experience in dance and gymnastics growing up along with he sharp mind helped her become an able thief. A chance meeting on a job changed all of that. Never having seen her mother, she didn't know how much she resembled her- but one of her marks did. While scouting the location, she was surprised when an older woman approached her- she thought she'd been made. But the woman, Nora Hester, was an artist that knew her mother. That first meeting threw her off her game, and she abandoned the job, denying the ID as just mistaken identity. But for a woman that had no family, the allure was too much. She got to know Nora, and through her, her mother- Hale- came to life. Finding out about her mother healded a wound that she didn't know that she'd been holding on to, and she began to use her skills through Nora's contacts to help people instead of stealing from them, returning to them precious things that had been lost.