Butcherbird Character Discussions

This thread is for discussing Butcherbird's character please do not post anything here that is not related to Butcherbird's character and yes collaborating with Butcherbird is consider fair postings.

I've got in mind a character with no magical powers of his own. A traveler who is perfectly fine talking with and dealing with humans, but who might not be so stoic when faced with something paranormal. Aside form background details, there isn't much to say about him I suppose, save that he keeps a small variety of guns for different purposes, but mostly he'll probably stick with his shotgun. His goal in life is to simply travel the West until he can find a place to settle and be comfortable, but come on. This is Deadlands. The odds of that are slim. Of course, his background is where I intend to spice things up a bit with an otherwise simple character.

Okay but also keep in mind you are part of a Posse so do not make to self-contained perhaps one of the other players is your relative or sibling and while your looking for a place to settle down your sticking with them until you do -- aka its something on your radar with the hope that the other person will settle down with you when you find that place -- thoughts?

Oh, I have no intention of playing some lone-wolf character who can't work within a group. Related or not. As for who he has some kind of relation to, in whatever way, I'm completely open for it, I just want to wait and see what everyone else is playing so I can make a connection then.

Well anyway, character concept I have so far: Callum Kelly, an Irish immigrant who worked in a small railroad town in Arkansas, working for Black River Railroad. As with most immigrant workers, he wasn't particularly happy with his life there, but couldn't very well leave. He signed a contract, and he had to buy his way out of it. His relationship to other members of the party could include people he's worked with (He not only worked laying track, he also took odd jobs in town, like as a gun on wagons, or ranch hand, things like that), people he's met with while working, or maybe he met them as he left Arkansas and has been traveling with them for some time already. Open to other ideas, too.

So, Callum Kelly, the Irish immigrant traveling the lands with his trusty mule, Victoria. I've got a stat block for him here:

Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d8
Skills: Fighting (d10), Guts (d6), Notice (d6), Riding (d10), Stealth (d6), Shooting (d10), Throwing (d6), Tracking (d6)
Pace: 28 ft, Parry: 7, Toughness: 6, Charisma: 0, Grit: 0
Weapons: Colt Peacemaker (x2), Winchester '73, Winchester Lever-Action Shotgun, Bolas (x4), Lariat, Bowie Knife
Gear: Boots, Chaps, Duster, Longjohns, Trousers, Winter coat, Work shirt, Stetson, Backpack, Bed roll, Canteen, Handcuffs, Harmonica, Hatchet, Iron skillet, Lantern, Lantern oil (1 gallon), Matches (box of 100), Mess kit, Rope (20 yards), Shovel, Tobacco (pouch), Trail rations (x5), Watch, Gun belt, Holster (x2), Rifle boot, Shotgun thong, Speed-load cylinder (x2), Mule (Victoria), Saddle, Saddlebags, Wood ax
Hindrances: Enemy (Major), Tenderfoot (Minor), Pacifist (Minor)
Edges: Quick Draw, Knack (Seventh Son)

The general idea being that he might work fine as a bounty hunter or hired gun, or maybe a ranch-hand, so he's traveling to get away from where he was and find decent work. He's a bit of a pacifist in that he doesn't engage in lethal combat if he doesn't feel he has to, but he will still plug someone with lead if he doesn't think he has any other choice. Most of his time in America has been working for the Railroad and living in one town, so he's a Tenderfoot. There's more to his backstory, of course, but I should ask if that's the kind of stuff the GM should be worked with privately or if he'd rather we open our characters up entirely on these forums. Either way.

Pace is wrong ;) Grits wrong (or maybe not)

Also I while I have Tenderfoot I also have Novice similar but different -- basically a Novice is a 0 Rank by leveling character and the Tenderfoot while 0 Grit (I think) is still Rank 1

The private or open is entirely up to you and the other players -- if its open they might provide suggestions but again it might ruin the mystery of it all

Still keep in mind I plan to make you all a posse that is inter-connected somehow that does not mean you all know everyone but it means more A knows B who knows D who knows C -- or some more complicated connectivity and the "know" part could be a good friend, a sibling, or just about anything else you all want to put into play -- I mean sometimes romance can be a fun part of the game but I do not push anything -- I simply ask questions and let you the players make your own decisions

Tenderfoot is -1 to Grit and starting Grit is 1, so it is 0. I'm not 100% certain what you mean in your explanation there, so I don't know what my Grit should be for your ruling? I'm not trying to argue against it or anything, I just don't understand. And as for Pace, humans have 6 Pace normally, though I see you're using some other calculations for it. I assume this is a house rule? In that case, I'll update the Pace.

Edit: Just re-read your creation parameters and see you're measuring distance in feet traveled where the book normally uses grid spaces. So I understand now, and have updated accordingly. Still need input on what my Grit should be though.

Look at my guidelines for Pace -- I converted that to facilitate PbP and to make it a bit more dynamic and wee bit more realistic ;)

As to what I mean -- okay

Tenderfoot = Rank 1 character starts just like everyone else (with adjustments as outlined) and levels just like everyone else

Novice = Rank 0 lower starting values (similar to the Tenderfoot) but starts at Rank 0 meaning when they have gained 20xp they will become Rank 1 however the bonus to this one is you gain more Advancements than you would normally so that when you finally get to Rank 1 you are actually slightly better than a Rank 1 and you got to choose more dynamically where all those points went on the fly rather than up front

Secondly you could actually combine Novice with Tenderfoot -- and really really be green and wet behind the ears and with a Grit -1 woo doggie the west is truly a scary place

Lol alright. So am I unable to take Tenderfoot then? Since it's a rank higher than me in that case? If I am able to take it, is my Grit still 0 right now, or is it -1? I just want to be sure I got it correct.

No no Tenderfoot is fine -- just letting you know that there was a different but similar Hindrance that you had not been aware of

Ah got it. Thank you.

This is a public backstory for Callum Kelly, so everyone can read it and see if/how they would like to fit their characters in.

Callum is an Irish immigrant who worked in Arkansas in a rail town for Black River. He worked under a contract that he needed to buy off, but naturally his meager pay all but prevented that from ever happening. To try and raise money, he took side jobs as a ranch hand taming horses or herding cattle, or tracking lost animals, or sometimes he would work as a hired gun for a wagon for the local Wells Fargo or whoever needed another gun. Life was rough and rowdy in the small town, and comforts were scarce (at least, comforts that weren't going to riddle you with disease). You could smoke, you could drink, and when you weren't doing those, you were working.

Callum saw his opportunity to leave, finally, when he spotted a camp inhabited by a single man, and a bound and gagged woman. By being quiet and laying low, he discovered that she was a wanted woman, and the man was a bounty hunter bringing her in. When the man slept, Callum snuck in to his camp and ran off with the bounty target, turning her in to the local sheriff before the man could find out he'd been robbed. The pay was great, enough for Callum to finally pay off his debt, and even buy a few traveling goods before he set out. He was rather pleased with himself, but felt a little bit of shame for leaving his fellow workers, who he had grown fond of over the years, in such a way. When they asked him how he finally managed to pay his way out, he lied and told them he was rebelling and that he would be running away and coming back another time. This sparked a worker's riot in the town, and even though Callum was long gone by now, they used him as their figure-head, firmly cementing his position as a target for Black River, despite having already paid his way out.

Now he's traveling and looking for work, largely unaware of just how badly Black River is gunning for him. Not only did he incite a town to riot against them, the woman he turned in for a bounty was one of their gang bosses. Callum's got the luck o' the Irish alright: the kind of luck that fixes all the problems you currently have, only to bring much, much more down.

There's also a minor encounter with something supernatural in his story, though the GM and I haven't completely worked out what the details of that are just yet. Sorry if it's a bit long-winded or a pain to read.

TL;DR: Callum worked for Black River Rails, incited a riot on accident, and is out traveling and looking for work while they are gunning for him.