Difference between revisions of "The Needle (Dark Champions - New Venice)"

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Latest revision as of 09:58, 15 January 2013

The Needle

Background:

Benson Reed was born and raised in Free Town, New Venice. He grew up on an agricultural plantation inherited by a group of freed, slave families from Henri Dubois, a prominent, abolitionist and philanthropist, who willed the property to their community as a "new beginning for a new age". The families have largely intermarried over the years forming a sort of tribe.
Benson had little, formal education growing up, but rather received hands-on instruction in agricultural, trade skills from an early age. Beatrice Reed, the unofficial "tribal" matriarch and his aunt, judged during his adolescence that due to his slight frame and curious nature he would be best suited specializing in the traditionally female role of gardening. As a result, he was unpopular with boys his own age, and spent most of whatever free time he had embracing his special role in private study, even to the point of expanding his niche to herbal medicine and soil science, much to the benefit of his extended family.
From his time in public libraries he developed and implemented plans for farming earth worms, managing and selling decomposition, irrigation, crop cycling, and whatever else his eager, thriving, green thumb could find to do. His contributions greatly improved harvest, sales profits, all of which funneled into the community fund operated by the matriarch based on need, so much so his plantation and tribe became the "go-to" for all matters agricultural. In turn, they became the wealthiest, most influential plantation in the area, even unto becoming a sort of unofficial, representative, local government. Throughout all this, Benson neither earned nor wanted a single ounce of recognition, preferring the tomes of his recorded findings and his earthworms to politics or actual human contact.
As a teenager, he befriended Min Tzo, an equally timid, local, Chinese girl, whose immigrant family had also been greatly reduced to physical labor. His exposure to Chinese culture through her, and his shy romantic interest led him to expand his medical repertoire, which then consisted of only herbal medicine, to include the pseudo-sciences of acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropracty. His admiration for the reserved, Asian culture was so evident that Min's brother, Jun Tzo, even instructed Benson in the arts of Tai-Chi to "better protect Min".
Benson's romance never reached full fruition, when Min Tzo was married away to a wealthy, inner-city bureaucrat on her eighteenth birthday, "for the welfare of her family." He maintained his relationship with Jun, in part, out of an obvious pretense for occasional updates on Min, the "prettiest flower" he had ever known. Direct contact would have been both painful and improper.
Further tragedy struck when Benson's father was killed, and his mother, Briana Reed, was blinded by over-exposure to an experimental, pesticide issued by an agricultural subsidiary of Viper Security Consultants. Benson became even more withdrawn, spending more and more time in the seclusion of his green house. Trusted with the sole responsibility of caring for his blind mother, he "adopted" Tamara Reed, his cousin, exchanging her living expenses for tending to his mother's needs.
"The Needle" originally began as an alter ego for Benson, allowing him the feeling of compensation for his perceived failure in the protection of his mother, father, and the object of his affection. He would dress in costume and patrol the byways of Free Town, presumably protecting it from the cruelties of his experience. He never thought he would actually have to act as a guardian. Another pesticide-related death occurred in a more prominent neighborhood, resulting in its being recalled. One night on patrol he discovered Viper employees illegally disposing of the poisonous product in a marsh on the outskirts of Free Town. Finding an outlet for his rage, and projecting his personal injuries onto the mercenaries, Benson "The Needle" Reed gave the Viper employees a taste of their own poison; literally. Their bodies were never discovered and the incident was written off as an accident due to its nefarious nature. Remorseless, and liberated from a feeling of helplessness, Benson sought out new opportunities to fulfill his self-prescribed mandate to "keep Free Town free" as "The Needle".

Appearance:

Benson Reed is a thin, black male in his early thirties with green eyes and graying, short black hair. On his home plantation he is usually seen barefoot in rags for his daily work. He has poor posture due to much time spent bent over books and plants. He remains unseen as much as possible, and people generally don't notice him due to his plain features and timid demeanor.
"The Needle" wears a black, silk, traditional, Chinese robe with a gray, embroidered heron on the back. He wears matching black slippers and a gray-colored "false face" mask with blank expression. His green eyes are visible beneath it, and his black skin is visible on his hands and face, which seems unusual considering his Chinese attire. He wears a gray, silk, shoulder sash filled with herb compounds, and his needles are bound in rows on a gray, leather bracer on his left forearm, the pins of their heads color-coded according to their affect. During the day he wears a rice hat to further conceal his features. Oddly, "The Needle" has excellent posture.

Characteristics:

Value-Characteristic-Expenditure
  • 10 STR 0
  • 16 DEX 12
  • 20 (25) CON 10
  • 10 (20) BODY 0
  • 15 INT 5
  • 16 EGO 6
  • 10 PRE 0
  • 4 OCV 5
  • 5 DCV 10
  • 6 MOCV 9
  • 6 MDCV 9


  • 15 PD 13
  • 15 ED 13
  • 4 SPD 20
  • 8 (13) REC 4
  • 40 END 4
  • 30 STUN 5


  • RUN 12m 0
  • SWIM 4m 0
  • LEAP 4m 0

Total: 127 points


Skills/Talents:

Non-Combat
Language: Creole 2
Language: Mandarin 1
CK: Free Town 3
AK: Agriculture 4 (Farming, Gardening, Botany, Horticulture)
AK: Civil Engineering 2 (Crop Cycles, Irrigation, Landscaping, Greenhouses)
AK: Soil Science 2
AK: Animal Taming 2 (Earthworms)
Survival 2
Climbing 3
Operate Vehicle 2 (Pick-Up Truck, Farm Equipment)
Streetwise 3
Shadowing 3
Stealth 3
Deduction 2 (Impaired by Superstition)
Perfect Pitch 2 (Harmonica)
Boosted BDY (+10) 8 (Growth Hormone)
Boosted CON (+5) 4 (Pain Killers)
Boosted REC (+5) 4 (Antibiotics)
2x Favors 1 (As Benson, for Reed Plantation Contributions)
Combat
Martial (Tai Chi)
Defensive Strike 5
Martial Dodge 4
Martial Escape 4
Martial Disarm 4
Martial Leg Sweep 3
Weapon Element 1 (Acupuncture Needles)
Fast Draw 5
Concealment 3
D. Maneuvering 2
Paramedics 3

Total: 87 points


Powers:

Multi-power (50) 40 (Herb-Tipped Needles)
Restorative
Healing Needle (5d6) 4 (Heal)
Ambrosia Needle (1d6) 4 (Recover Ailment)
Awaken Needle (1d6) 4 (Recover Consciousness)
Stat Altering
Drain Needle(+1/2) 4 (Reduce Enemy Stat)
Boost Needle (3d6) 4 (Any one CHAR x1/2; -1PT/MIN x1)
Enhance Needle (1d6) 4 (All CHAR x4; -1PT/HOURS x2 subject takes 2d6 NND when it wears off)
Offensive
Throw Needle (10d6) 4 (EB)
Numbing Needle (3d6) 4 (Induce Paralysis)
Dark Needle (3d6) 4 (Induce Blindness)
Sleep Needle (5d6) 4 (Induce Sleep NND)
Life Support
Poison Resistance 2 (Increased Immunity vs Plant-based Poisons)
Disease Resistance 2 (Increased Immunity vs Plant-based Diseases)
Reinforced Immune System 2 (Increased Resistance vs Unnatural Ailments; Blind, Paralyze, Sleep)

Total: 86 points


Complications:

Superstitious 15
Dependence on Brewed Teas 10
NPC: Briana Reed (Blind Mother) 10 (Common; High)
NPC: Tamara Reed (Cousin/Housekeep) 5 (Uncommon; Moderate)
NPC: Jun Tzo (Friend) 5 (Uncommon; Moderate)
NPC: Min Tzo (Childhood Friend) 10 (Rare; High)
Rube 5

Total Complications: 60 points

Grand Total: 300 points