UNDERLINGS

This page is intended to illustrate how to translate one's character ideas, personal preferences and game goals into the design of a character and Villain. These are the thought processes behind Boris "The Invincible" Grishin, the second example on the Example Characters page.

I am someone who wants a lighter game and am amused by the comedic element of some of the James Bond villains. Therefore I've gone with a character with an ironic name. I've chosen Geist because he seems like a suitable underdog, plus I like the aesthetics of Epicentre and James Bond feel of Egomaniacs.

I don't really want to read turnsheet responses about gory experiments and I don't intend to get involved in such plans, but I don't have a strict limit¹⁾. I might join someone else's action where they go to kidnap a rival Villain's minion, for example, but don't want the GMs to introduce torture into the response²⁾. I am therefore selecting Darkness & Themes: 2 “Things should be pretty cheery for me, but one or two darker things might happen if they come up naturally.”

I won't be too bothered by failing to succeed on my actions, which is why I've generated an inept character. My character might be bothered, but personally I'm not in this game to 'win' everything and I don't mind failing if it provides entertainment and ongoing plot. Therefore, I am selecting Chances of Success: 1 “I want a low chance of success. Everything will be one step forward, two steps back.” It would be counterproductive, and difficult for the GMs, if I created an inept character with no Quirks which help me succeed and then selected Chances of Success: 5 “I want things to be pretty easy for me. While there may be some unexpected twists, things will generally go the way I planned.”, so I haven't done that!

For me, forming a romantic relationship with another character is neither an ambition nor a no-go so I've chosen Ballgowning (Romance and Close Relationships): 3 “I have no strong opinions about ballgowning in the game.”

On this theme, my character has an amusing story where he's too inept to get jobs. This is described in the “Background” section and “Your relationship to the Villain” section, respectively stating that my fellow Underlings distrust me and that I'm on probation. Part of the reason I've chosen Geist is that he seems to be an underdog, which fits the determined-to-succeed, yet currently failing, vibe I want. If I were to create my own Villain, I would do something similar e.g. selecting Power 1: very limited power, so that my character is operating on a similar level of relative aptitude as my Villain.

I am representing my character's ineptitude by taking the Quirks 'Tis But A Scratch! and Collateral Damage. I foresee this coming into play with my character taking wounds that are problematic, yet non-gorily described due to Darkness & Themes 2, due to my character screwing something up as per usual.

Given I've chosen this chance of success, Teacher's Pet seems very relevant: “Your Villain is surprisingly forgiving, and seems fond of you. You have a lot of leeway when it comes to failure, letting your Villain down rarely carries severe consequences. It probably isn't a good idea to rely on this too much, though.” Therefore, even though I'm failing a lot, I shouldn't experience too much punishment, thus keeping my game reasonably light in keeping with my Darkness & Themes: 2.

I've chosen the Lab Rat Quirk just because I think it'll be fun to get a surprise when my Villain experiments on me.

This is +6 from 'Tis But A Scratch, Teacher's Pet, and Lab Rat. I only get +4 free, so I need to choose a -2 Quirk to allow the extra +2 Quirk, so I went with Collateral Damage.