The Initiative:Dr Arnold Michaels

Dr Michaels as played by Jack Coleman

Dr Arnold Michaels is a PC in the Spycraft 2.0 PbP The_Initiative.

Arnold Michaels is pushing forty-five now, and has been with the Initiative since recruitment halfway through his doctoral thesis - research he was pursuing at the time was determined to overlap with the reverse-engineering project then current. Michaels became instrumental in the final design schematic for the EP-7 Beta run (Energy Pistol-7) and lost all interest in going in for civilian work - this was far more interesting to him, and he'd heard enough of other projects in the weekly roundtables to realise that there would be new research projects for the rest of his life.

In 1992 he successfully lobbied to be attached to a field unit so that he could examine downed craft, terrestrial base sites, etc, first-hand to get more of an idea of how their technology worked in situ, off the back of the revelation that a particular, more powerful alien handheld computer only worked within the powerfield generated by a craft - which explained why the quest for its power source had set research back five weeks. Since 1998 he's been studying field medicine technique in his free time and, as a field scientist, developing rudimentary forensic techniques for the alien bodies.

Dr Arnold Michaels has written seven books and forty-six uncollected articles. Two books and ten articles have been deemed sufficiently non-classified to be published outside the Initiative. He has become increasingly obsessed with alien technology as the answer, not only to running the enemy off the planet, but also to revitalising the planet and reversing the environmental damage wrought by humanity.

Vital Statistics

Name: Dr Arnold Michaels

Code Name: KINGFISHER

Player: Phantom Stranger

Class: Scientist 4

Origin: Brainy Contract Professional

Reputation: 2

Experience: 1000

Action Dice: 3d4

Attributes

STRENGTH: 10 (+0)

DEXTERITY: 13 (+1)

CONSTITUTION: 11 (+0)

INTELLIGENCE: 18 (+4)

WISDOM: 14 (+2)

CHARISMA: 12 (+1)

Vitality: 23 Wounds: 11 Subdual Threshold: 11 Stress Threshold: 14

Unarmed: +2 Melee: +2 Ranged: +3 Defense: 15 Initiative: +2

Knowledge Check: +10 Request Check: +5 Gear Check: +5

Fortitude: +1 Reflex: +2 Will: +6

Skills

Acrobatics +4/+5 (4 ranks)

Analysis: +13/+11 (7 ranks, 19-20 threat range)

Blend*: +4/+4 (3 ranks)

Computers: +13 (7 ranks, 19-20 threat range)

Cultures: (0 ranks) [North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe]

Drive: +5 (4 ranks) [Standard ground vehicles, rotary-wing aircraft]

Electronics: +18/+16 (12 ranks, 19-20 threat range)

Investigation*: +5/4 (3 ranks)

Mechanics:+ 12/+10 (8 ranks)

Medicine: +14/+12 (8 ranks, 19-20 threat range)

Notice: +10 (6 ranks, 19-20 threat range)

Profession: +6 (4 ranks) [Materials scientist, Pop-science author]

Resolve: +9/+7 (7 ranks)

Science: +11 (7 ranks) [engineering, super-science, fabrication, biology]

Search: +13 (7 ranks, 19-20 threat range)

Sneak: +5/+5 (4 ranks)

• cross-class skill

Abilities

Proficiencies: Handgun, Edged, Shotgun

Origin Abilities: +2 Int, -2 STR, +1 skill point per level (4 at first), Talented, 1 contact grade, 1 Resources Request check without spending AD, Medicine skill cap increase by 1, Mechanics skill cap increase by 1 (at level 4)

Class Abilities: Professor, Intense Study, Ph. D (Electronics), Bright Idea

Feats: Professor, Intense Study, Ph. D (Electronics), Bright Idea

Interests: Classic Cinema, Alien Conspiracy Twaddle, French Cuisine

Wealth

Lifestyle 3:

Possessions 4: Tactical Jacket (Personal tailoring, Weight Reduction), Colt M1911A1, First Aid Kit II, Electronics Kit I, Mechanics Kit I, Forensics Kit I

Spending Cash 1: $100

Gear Picks: 2G, 1E, 1S, 1 CHA

Contacts

Rudy Jacobs, Head of Initiative R&D

Acquaintance: Don Walsh (Priority Request) – Don handles labwork priorities.

Associate: Dr Denise Jacobi (All The Right Questions I) – Denise is an expert in organising reverse-engineering operations.

Subplot

Fear

Early on, Dr Michaels barely survived an encounter with an alien telepath. While he knows them to be rare – or believes them to be rare, at any rate – he's nervous whenever one is confirmed present on a mission.