Character and World Creation

My new character is Herman Niederfelt, from Las Vegas (trailer park) originally. Wannabe comic-prop magician but working as a breaker because he's still mostly a card-trick-hack-hustler and getting a stage-act together takes money/time that as trailer-trash he doesn't have, also there might be some real magic lying around in a dimensional crack. He is superstitious, interested in the occult because lot's of magic-shoppes have books, tarot cards and knowing about that stuff might help him with his act someday. He always has a paperback with him about something mystical, occult: stonehenge, alistair crowley, whatever. (and a deck of cards of course - gotta practice)

How does someone like that end up working for or with an place like Fiona's and Arthur's institution?

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Changing gears a little, I wrote Vegas into Herman's background but I assume our setting is not in the high-desert, southwest. New York City would be my knee jerk first guess.

I do not know. It does not feel like Vegas, it does feel like US, but I don't even know that for sure. This is all up to the players.

I think it was decided that this was where all the breaks were happening, that they were not a world-wide phenomenon. We don't know why, yet.

Then we are in Toronto of course - saves on our game budget - and everybody is so polite.

I don't think budget is a consideration. :)

He filled out an application for "driver" on ziprecruiter? beats working at a robo-mcdonalds.

Whatever. I am a charismatic, enthusiastic flunky who would gladly take minimum wage (if there's health insurance even better).

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OK. Could be.

If so, were you waiting in the van till the other two decided they needed you (or, more likely, needed something from the van:) and called you in?

I see Herman (still not visible to the other players) has Arcane. How surprised were you when you found that magic actually works in the break? Or is that related to the reason you applied to go in? Did you have a suspicion that something over there may be 'magical'? Were you disappointed?

Or I had an audition to be a warm up act at a cabaret - and had to take a bus across town when I saw the news, got a text. Hopefully the team brought my go-bag with them.

This is tonally very different to the game so far. Do we think the other characters have a hard time taking Herman seriously? Would they bother to bring his 'go-bag'? Or was it just already in the van?

What do we all think?

I don't mind if Herman is tonally different, but, yeah, Fiona would def not take Herman seriously and would likely think of him as "the help." Is that ok @lemagne?

I think-sume that there are breaker fanboys & girls over on reddit where they discuss all sorts of conspiracy theories about the what-why-how of the breaks. I applied to be a driver to some anonymized profile for the "institute". I did not know who I would be working for until day one when they shoved an NDA in my face. But I had read the rumors of "magic" on reddit because of my already established interest in those sorts of things and I said a blessing over my rabbit's foot that now I might see some *real* magic.

My tagline should be, "Dude woooah" And at some point in my first breaker mission I dropped my flashlight and then my lighter wasn't working but I really wanted some light as I was uselessly flicking the bic when suddenly voila and, "dude wouah, I have tinker bell hovering over my thumb"... "I wonder how long this will last?"

Yes Herman is a flunky - he is the "Ernie" (ghost busters) to the group at least for now.

So your first break was not 'the first break'? How long have they been going on for before your team got involved?
So the institute had dealt with breaks before y'all did? Enough to be recruiting?
Magic is, as it says, very dangerous. I hope you are good with not lasting all that long if this is how it goes.

Do you cast magic with Insight 'awareness, understanding, smarts'? Does high Insight match your description? I am not sure 'willpower, fortitude' matches Herman better, but it is likely to come into play with Arcane as well.

for the last couple years sporadically and the government tries to keep it as much as possible on the down-low - Kinda the way the NJ plague of drones has been handled.
Or I was gonna be a receptionist and volunteered to drive one day?
But I imagine that it is not obvious that magic is dangerous a priori to Herman - I might get to be a living lesson in the danger of magical hubris.
Good question - I chose Insight b/c in my head 'magic-user should have at least a 15 int.' But this character is more a magical John Belushi so willpower might be better. eg the willpower to get on stage and suck is necessary for Herman's ambition.

and the willpower to go to a job and not worry that everyone thinks you are a flunky and a red-shirt.

No, but I am making sure the player knows that you might kill (or worse) your character with you choices. You were warned.
This is not that game. Insight is not Int. Magic is dangerous and no one is a 'magic user', you just channel the energy through your brain and hope you can hang on long enough to not blow yourself up (if you are lucky). Take this warning seriously.
"Change your shirt, man!" :)