A friend is planning to run a Supernatural RPG game set in 1935. She advertises it as a cross between SPN and Indiana Jones, and we’ll be playing a group of hunters specifically working against the Nazi’s Thule Society. It sounds really cool. I wanted a character that would fit, familiar yet different enough to be interesting to play.
When asked what I wanted to play, I’d been on a Venture Brothers kick and was acting silly, so I said “Colonel Gentleman!”. When everyone told me I was being silly, I decided that I had to use Col. Gentleman as a starting point, but dial it back a bit. My other Supernatural character, Ezra Hammer, started with a declaration that I wanted to play Doctor Orpheus, and using that as a starting point I managed to create a pretty cool character.
Let’s start with Connery and the James Bond thing. We’re in the inter-war period. Bond, in the original Ian Fleming novels, had been a Naval Commander in WWII. Making my character a flyer in WWI allowed for a similar-yet-different background, and a similar period of time has passed between that war and the campaign as between WWII and Bond’s original career. I did some research into history, and found ways to make him the equivalent of a Cold War spy, but circa 1935. That was the easy part.
I went to Kleimo for a random name, and what you see is what came up. I figured it sounded suitably British with bad Flemish-esque innuendo, so I kept it.
Another idea that has kept kicking my head is the “gay James Bond” movie that Rupert Everett pitched a few years ago. I was less interested in making any kind of statement than in the roleplaying opportunities. Here’s a character with a really, really deep secret, one that could be used against him in so many ways. Here’s a chance to play Connery’s womanizing Bond, not because he’s a horrid misogynist but because it’s his cover — he never seals the deal. I get to explore ideas and attitudes of the period. At the same time, he’s very staunchly British, very much willing to die for his country, with close ties not only to the soldiers he directly served with but feeling a kinship to all who survived WWI.
All while running around the world foiling Nazis. yay!
The photo is from the 1965 film “The Hill”, selected only because Connery is the right age and has the look I’m going for.
Captain Sir Geoffrey Onan
Agility d8
Strength d8
Vitality d8
Alertness d8
Intelligence d8
Willpower d8
Initiative 2d8
Endurance 2d8
Life Point 16
Resistance 2d8
Skills:
Athletics d8 Perception d8
Covert d8 Pilot d8
Drive d8 Survival d6
Guns d8 Unarmed combat d8
Influence d6
Assets:
Carries a Badge (Special Intelligence Service) d6
Contacts (old war buddies) d4
Cool Under Fire D6
Low Profile (SIS scrubs his records) d2
Wealthy (family fortune) d8 (Lifestyle d10)
Complications:
Dark Secret (homosexual) d6
Duty (will die for King and Country) d12
Hooked (sex) d4
Gear:
Pistol, Medium d6 W 50’ 8
Official biography: Born in 1896, Educated as West Downs School and Winchester College. When
WWI broke out, was commissioned into the 16th Queen’s Lancers and fought on the Western Front,
until transferred to the Royal Flying Corp. After the war, worked for the Secret Intelligence Service
until 1926, when he became a Member of Parliament until 1931. Worked for Secretary of State for
Dominion Affairs from 1931until the present.
In truth, he has worked for SIS Section D since the end of the war, even when serving in Parliament.
His cover in Dominion Affairs serves to explain his long absences when he’s traveling abroad.
Discussion
No comments yet.