Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Adapt and Strike Again When The Moment Is Right




As you can no doubt discern, I'm not going to be able to complete the 31 Days / 31 Characters Challenge by months end. Again.
 
January is simply waaay too busy a month each year and I was quite sick over this past few days. 

I'd normally be feeling kind of down but today is a special day - Lunar New Year! 

It's the Year of the Snake and it represent wisdom, transformation, and growth! Hopefully I can shed (get it?) the mishaps of this first month and make the rest of the year far more productive. 




Gong Hei Fat Choy! 

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Sunday, January 26, 2025

31 Days / 31 Characters - JAKE TOPAZ

I've wanted to include this character in my 31 Days / 31 Characters posts since the very first year I participated but for one reason or another I never got around to him. A recent chat with the PC's player, my long time friend Nelson Marty, gave me what I needed to finally do this entry.

Nelson and I have been friends since I was in middle school, though he was in high school at the time. He is a few years older than I am. Later I would end up going to that same high school (The High School of Art and Design) and that began many, many years of us gaming together. Nelson's name has appeared on this site quite a number of times, mostly relating to Star Trek, Star Wars, and Superheroes, he began in the hobby just as I did, with Basic Dungeons and Dragons.


Art by Me using Midjourney and Photostudio.


Character: Jake Topaz

AKA: Jake Blue Star

Player: Nelson Marty

System: Dungeons & Dragons, Basic 1st Edition, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st Edition
 
Nature: Medium Length Campaign

Gamemaster: Various, including Nelson himself. 

Circa: 1977-78 to 1980

Origins: Jake Topaz was Nelson Marty's first Player Character but actually began life as an NPC in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign he ran sometime in 1977 or 1978. This would have been Basic Dungeons and Dragons and Jake appeared to be Human but was in fact an Elf stats-wise. Later, Nelson played him as a PC when a friend he regularly GMed for wanted to try his hand at GMing.

When Advanced Dungeons and Dragons came along and his friends switched over to those rules (as a great many of us did), Nelson updated Jake and expanded on his background to flesh out his family. This lead to Nelson retiring Jake Topaz and has, over the decades, played his brothers, grandsons, and distant descendants.

It all started with a Grey Elf in a Mask...

Art by Me using Midjourney and Photostudio.


Backstory: Born Jake Blue Star, he is one of three sons of a Male Gray Elf and Female Human. Jake has largely Human features except for his clearly pointed ears and deep purple hair. His younger brother appears completely Human and goes by the name Silver Star. He became a Paladin when he grew to adulthood. The youngest of the three siblings was Azure Star and was Half-Elven in both appearance and physicality. He eventually became a Fighter/Magic-User and had a great many adventures in the Northern Lands (this is the brother from a campaign I ran).

The Star Family Emblem

Originally worn by Silver Star the Paladin, Nelson retroactively said that Jake wore it too
but sometimes hid it beneath his chestplate. Later, when he gained renown as a hero
he added it to the front of his armor. 


When the trio were still quite young their mother died protecting her husband and children from an attack on their mixed Species village. The nearby elves felt honor bound to take in the children and help raise them. Jake stayed as long as he was able but an insatible desire to see the lands and peoples beyond his home gnawed at him. He eventually left and went out on his own, making his way as a sellsword and an adventurer for hire. Unfortunately he learned that many Human locals did not like Elves overmuch and so he hid his ears beneath a leather mask and took on a new name, Jake Topaz. 

Overview: I was never in a game with Jake Topaz and Nelson himself confesses that he didn't play the character as much [or as long] as he did Jake's brothers and many of the subsequent members of the Star Family lineage. Jake is nonetheless worth mentioning for more than just being first. It was Topaz that began many of the 'Character Traditions' that Nelson's Fantasy PCs would embrace for decades to come. 

Among these are the idea that many of the characters that followed Topaz and his siblings are of the same family, however extended. Sometimes the connection to the bloodline is thin at best but it is certainly there. Oddly, this is implied to be true in some fashion even if the characters exist on different worlds and in completely different games. Though (purposely) never defined or clarified, Nelson absolutely intended to convey that there is some link between his collection of PCs. This creates a dynamic we've likened to Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion

On a practical level this approach helps Nelson as the player, thinking of these individuals as related gives an instant and easy to pocess buy-in. See, there is an automatic investment in your 'new' character if they're a relative of one or more of your 'old' characters (I've seen this myself in my Winghorn Guard/Aerth campaigns). An emotional connection is made more directly between the player and their PC under these conditions.

There is a tendency for Nel's Elvish Fantasy characters (and even some of the Humans) to wear Masks. It's his thing. I don't know why. Now when I say that I don't mean his characters wear them for no reason. There is always a narrative point to why the PC is wearing a Mask but it is funny to think there is a long history of Masked Adventurers like the Dread Pirate Roberts of The Princess Bride. 


Art by Nelson Marty. Most likely from 1984 or 89.


The Highlights: Not sure there highlights to speak of here beyond what has been mentioned above. Nelson didn't recall any particular adventure or event of note involving Topaz. While that's unfortunate, it also isn't unexpected. We are talking about a good 40+ years ago here. 

Game Info: 

The character sheet for Jake Topaz is long gone. While there is a slim possibility that it or a copy of it is stashed in one of Nelson's many archived sketchbooks he has in storage, there was nothing available for this post (time of posting). 

The initial version was a Fighter; even though he was an Elf by species he was written up as a Human Fighter stat-wise. Can you see why Nelson and I became friends and played a $#^%-ton of games together? Right from the get-go he and his group were changing things up to make D&D more interesting and flexible that it was.  

He was converted into an Elven Fighter for the switch to 1st Edition AD&D and managed to get to 6th or 7th level I believe. . 

Notes: Nelson remembers Jake Topaz's primary magical weapon, a variant of the classic D&D magic sword 'Frostbrand'. A long sword in this incarnation, it had the traditional powers of the item as described in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide-1st Edition, with the addition of a 'Cone of Cold' it could project from the blade once per day. 

While he didn't bring it up, I recall Topaz having a companion animal, a black wolf or dog (or wolf-dog) as confirmed by the image above. 

Legacy: 


Art by Nelson Marty


In many ways the through line of this entry is 'Legacy'. Topaz is most memorable at this point for being the first in a long history of characters connected by family and certain traditions. 

Versions of Topaz and his brothers exist as NPCs in my Fantasy setting of Aerth/The Winghorn Guard. 

It's been a very long time since I've gamed with Nelson and according to the man himself he hasn't played at all since the late 90s. That's a shame. Nelson always put the Action and Adventure into action-adventure gaming. He could always be counted on to have his PC swing on a chandelier or leap onto a moving horse. He kept these moving, always striving to push the narrative forward. 

Another custom started by an Elf in Mask named Jake (Blue Star) Topaz.


The oldest image of Jake Topaz that Nelson could find.
It dates back to the early-to-mid 80s
Art by Nelson Marty


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Sunday, January 19, 2025

31 Days / 31 Characters - IVAN PETROVO

One of my longest and best campaigns, at least by my own criteria, was a game of modified classic Traveller called Operation: PALADIN. The campaign began with a large group but not long after the first story arc a few of the players had to drop out for varying reasons. Luckily, a few new players joined including Hans, Dave, and Andy. 

Andy's character was...




Character: Ivan Petrovo

AKA: 
 
Player: Andrew Frank Rodriguez
 
System: Traveller - Classic version w/ modification from MegaTraveller and houserules.
 
Nature: Long Campaign: Operation: PALADIN

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein
 
Circa: 
2013-2015

Origins: Like most classic Traveller Player Characters, Ivan was very much a product of random rolls as much as he was any sort of plan by the player. Andy certainly chose which score went to which Attribute (a houserule - no one has to roll in order) and picked which Career to try for (though he still had to roll to Enlist, Survive, Reenlist, etc.). However he and Ivan both benefited from random generation. 

One of my houserules - which I've discussed before - is that if you fail to Survive a Tour of Duty you can decide to embrace the 'Death by Character Creation' that Traveller is famous for or you can say, "Well, he/she/they didn't REALLY die". If that's the case you stop where you are and only get half the skills/bonuses/whathaveyou of the final Tour. You then roll on some custom 'Alternatives to Death' charts that I made (largely based on Central Casting: Heroes of Tomorrow by the late, great Jennell Jaquays).

Here we learn that Petrovo crash landed on an uncharted planet and was presumed dead. In actuality... 
 
Backstory: ...Ivan survived, gravely injured but luckily found by the world's indigenous sentient species. After a month of healing and recuperation, largely thanks to a native plant with anagathic-like properties, Petrovo attempted to contact the Imperial but could not. His ship was destroyed, its equipment completely totaled. He 
was marooned on this planet where he remained for next three years. He learned to live off the world's resources, became close to the planet's people and learned their customs, and honed additional hunting and fighting skills against the local fauna.

Three of the planet's years later, an Imperial Interstellar Scout Service vessel landed after detecting the wreckage of Ivan's ship while doing a general Type 1 Survey. Telling his indigenous friends to hide, Petrovo makes contact with the Scout Ship's crew. They offer to rescue him and he decides to take them up on it, partially to prevent the Scouts from learning about and disturbing the native culture. 

Dropped off at Bussard Reach, the orbital highport at Leighton IV in the Leighton System (1023 Flux Subsector, Spica Sector), Petrovo searches the public Library Data Systen and discovers he has officially been listed as deceased. In addition, he learns his personal Safari Ship has been berthed at his last assigned base and remains there largely due to Imperial bureaucracy losing the impound order.


Bussard Reach Highport


While on the station trying to decide what to do next, Ivan is approached by a fellow who needs help on the surface of Leighton IV. The guy and his team are zoologists trying to capture an Amanook, a native creature resembling a polar bear crossed with a wolf. There are concerns about the mining operation on Leighton IV effecting the animal's habitat and they need to catch one to aid in the study. Something about Ivan's garb (a mix of standard clothing and accessories from his time on the low Tech Level planet) gave the potential patron the idea that Ivan might be a Scout or Hunter. With nothing else to do and having had a lot of experience with large fauna, Ivan joins the expedition. 


Amanook, Adlult Female
Solitary Arctic Carnivore/Hunter - Leighton IV


After successfully capturing one of the creatures, Petrovo returns to the station and ends up meeting the other PCs. He first encounters the late Dave Cotton's character, who is a Solomani Military Officer investigating some recent goings on in a nearby system (the initial adventure arc). He befriends Petrovo and promises to help him retrieve his ship. He does do this but 'borrows' the ship first to complete a side mission. Eventually the craft is moored at Bussard Reach but Petrovo isn't there at the time, having already left with the other PCs to investigate part of the larger plot. 
 
Overview: I loved Ivan Petrovo. Seriously, what a great character. In a game largely focused on Corporate Espionage and Political Intrigue, Petrovo brought in a much needed dose of action. Ivan wasn't alone in this but he was the most straightforward about it. Ivan was just, ya'know, Ivan. He was a good guy who could fight and would if he felt it was for a good reason. Petrovo wasn't motivated by money, politics, and had no personal agenda beyond 'doing the right thing'. 

What no one realized, including Ivan himself, was that his time on that low tech planet where the ship he was on crashed had changed him. He died during Character Creation, remember? Well it turns out that the native medicinal herbs he was given to save his life contained a unique mix of chemicals and microscopic parasites. The result was an incredible healing factor; a nearly superhuman ability to regenerate. Evidence of the ability revealed itself a few times in the early adventures but it was chalked up to lucky rolls and narrative time passing. It wasn't until a fight with an Aslan Assassin (See Highlights) where he realized, "Oh my gosh! I heal @^#&ing FAST!" 
 
The Highlights:

As other members of the team engaged an Aslan Assassin in hand-to-hand combat, Ivan was setting up on a roof above in hopes of taking the adversary out with a sniper shot from his souped up hunting rifle. The Aslan spotted him somehow and fired a laser weapon that sheered off a few of the fingers on Ivan's right hands and severely burned him. With only his ring finger, thumb, and in serious pain, Petrovo managed to fire off a shot that took the Assassin out completely. Rushed to a medical facility, the entire team, the doctors, and Ivan were stunned when within a day his hand had totally healed, regrown digits and all. It was then that the previous clues to his healing factors fell into place. 

In Andy's own words (slightly paraphrased for context: "The second [big] moment [I recall] was when they (the enemy) unleashed a dang horror out of that satellite vault. A Mech basically. I (Ivan) had to distract it was Hans' character could take out the legs with that massive firearm she'd invented.

The third was when all heck broke lose in the sewer system [of Amaro Highport at Aequine II]. I believe the female Alsan diplomat, Han's character, Marcus' character, his [NPC] sister, and Ivan were literally fighting for our lives as we were being chased by some crazed battle dressed Marines. I sniped 'Master Chief' with what that gun Han's character gave me. Han's kept creating these 'Frankenstein' rail gun rifles and when he finalized the design he was give me the prototype. He was like, 'that one was the experimental version, it's yours now.' lol

When Rex Kinkaid (Marcus' character) went rogue and then seemingly turned traitor, it was Ivan who tried to once last time to talk to him about it. Ivan had become close with Rex's sister Nova and the two had a bond (moreso than anyone else on the team did with Rex the loner). Rex refused to return to the rest of the gang with Ivan but with a nod approved of Ivan and Nova teaming up and maybe more. Rex said, "Take care of her and she'll take care of you." With that, we never saw Rex again. 

Game Info:

Not Available Right Now - Will Update Soon. 

Notes: 

Ivan was great. His simple, straightforward manner and willingness to take action was a wonderful counterbalance to often overly cautious nature of some of his other team members. He could always be counted on to do...not the wisest thing per se...but definitely the 'right' thing. 

In the epilogue of the campaign, Ivan returns to the low tech world where he'd been stranded 7 or 8 years earlier, this time with Nova Kinkaid and a female Aslan warrior who he'd become good friends with in the final 6+ months of the game. They are last seen walking into the dense underbrush, with members of the native species celebrating seeing their old friend once more.

Legacy: I had originally planned a direct sequel to Operation: PALADIN but that project fell apart unfortunately. Given the way Ivan's story 'ends', he certainly could return but I kind of like not knowing exactly what happened next.




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Saturday, January 18, 2025

31 Days / 31 Characters - HE WHO GLISTENS IN THE AUTUMN TWILIGHT BENEATH THE THIRD AND SEVENTH MOONS

This entry is a toast to the memory of one of my dearest friends and greatest gamers I've ever known, Allen Halden.

Allen passed away in the fall of 2017 and not a week goes by where I don't think about him and miss him terribly. As I try to regularly post RPG related subjects to this blog, I can't help but think of Allen as he was such a big part of my best gaming experiences for so many years.

One of my favorites of which, was our Galaxy Quest campaign and one of the reasons it was so good was his character... 




Character: He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons.

AKA: Lt. Commander, Moonbug

Player: Allen Halden

System: Galaxy Quest, The Roleplaying Game, Homebrew based on Teenagers from Outer Space, 1st Edition by R. Talsorian Games. 

Nature: Short Campaign: Galaxy Quest: Galient

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein 

Circa: 2003

Origins: I've told this tale before but to sum it up; originally I was meant to run our regularly scheduled game with my ol' New Jersey group but for one reason or another it couldn't be done. Most everyone was therethough  and I still really wanted to run something so I had a sudden epiphany - a Galaxy Quest game. 

After quickly explaining the rules, everybody pitched me their character concepts. My buddy Allen, already well known for playing strangle looking and quirky characters, decided to take the 'Dr. Lazarus' role (played by the incomparable Alan Rickman) and create a Token Alien who was also our Science Officer (and Second-in-Command). 

Where he got the idea to create this character I couldn't say. Allen was very creative but also great at understanding how to pick and choose the appropriate tropes to include so that his characters fit the setting he was playing or running in.

I do know his choice of the name was a spoof on how so many aliens in Sci-Fi TV and films have names that are easy for the actors to say and audience to remember. This character's parents didn't name him with you in mind. His name makes perfect sense to other members of his species and hey, that's what counts.

Backstory: He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons didn't really have a backstory per se. At least he didn't have any that came up during the course of our campaign. Through dialogue and jokes we developed a little information about his species however. 

The Lieutenant Commander's home planet was warm, wet, and mostly covered by rainforests and jungles. Plants grew very large, particularly flowers, lilipads, and fruit trees.We know it has at least seven moons but it is unclear if that is the total number of natural satellites.  According to the Lt. Commander the most dangerous predators on his world were a type of amphibious reptile described as an alligator/frog hybrid. 

Like everyone else on his planet, He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons has dozens of brothers and sisters. Although this makes the homeworld heavily populated, He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons is the only member of his alien race in the NSEA Fleet and one of the few roaming the galaxy. The Insectoid people (no species name was ever established, though they were sometimes referred to as 'Insectiloids'.) were content to remain on their own world and had little interest in the greater interstellar community. He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons was a very rare exception. 




Overview: Played as both comedically over-the-top and with subtle nuance, He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons' personality is difficult to describe. For the most part he was calm, cool, collected, a consumate professional, and always polite. He could sometimes get frustrated that not everyone shared his views on proper manners and etiquette. This is best exemplified by the use of his name. He would always say it in its entirety when asked what his name was and wasn't fond of other trying to shorten it or give him a nickname. To everyone else his name was too long but to him, it was his name and he didn't shorten yours. 

Eventually the reoccurring joke/real life issue of people tripping over his name caused our friend Lynn's character to call him 'Moonbug' and it stuck. Otherwise people got around the issue by calling him by his rank.

Knowing our Commander had the responsibility and burden of...well...command, He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons tried very hard not to distract her or interfere with her operations. This created a running gag wherein He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons.starts to say, "Commander, perhaps we should...", as the Commander walks past and waves him off or ignores him for the most [while rubbing the bridge of her nose]. The Lt. Commander then falls silent. Later, when the poop really hits those huge unnecessary fans below the catwalk, the Commander would call for ideas, suggestions, or answers and Moonbug would say, "As I was going to say earlier...". 




The Highlights:

I usually prefer to highlight character driven moments and not just action based ones but in the case of Moonbug its been over 20 years, it was a humorous campaign, and his personality was, as noted above, subtle and hard to pinpoint in a single standard out event.

In the very first use of his Token Alien ability, He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons invented 'Communicate with Insects' to prevent a rhino sized beetle creature from attacking the PCs in the first session/adventure. He used it again in the second adventure, talking to a large flutter of butterfly-like insects in order to locate an ancient ruin hidden by the surrounding jungle. This was his most often used ability and therefore became his only permanent Special Ability. Among my favorite uses was his last, wherein he called upon clouds of swarming gnats to distract and frustrate a Meechan Warlord! 

When a murder occurred on the NSEA Spaceport Beta-2 during a Galactic Peace Accord Conference, Commader Krista Packard had her hands full dealing with panicked diplomats, coordinating station security, and getting hassled by her superiors to find answers and fast! He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons made some initial observations and came up with a general guess about what had happened, which he kept to himself for the time.

The rest of the Galient's crew split-up into teams to investigate the situation, including Moonbug heading off with Security Chief Van Pelt. After looking into the mystery and attempting to catch a mysterious group of 'phantom assassins', the Commander called everyone back to give her a run down on what they'd found. Ambassadors from a few different galactic powers barged in demanding to know what Commander Packard and her people had discovered. Packard told them all to have a seat as she was just about to be informed on just that subject. The PCs all gave the evidence they had, testimonies they'd heard, and theories they'd come up with based on their observations. All but He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons. When the Commander asked, "Lt. Commander? Anything to add?"

He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons stood up from his chair, looked to the Commander and said, "Yes Commander, if it would please you and the esteemed assembled dignitaries, I'd like to solve the mystery. Again, if that's all right with you." The Commander, heck everyone, stared at him dumbfounded until she finally shook her head and motioned for him to speak. Allen goes on to say that he actually solved the murder in the very beginning and then waited for everyone to gather proof to back up the answer he'd had all that time. Not only was he right, he worked out additional details based on evidence the PCs had assembled that weren't intended to be part of the mystery [by me].

His idea was BETTER than the idea I had. It was essentially my plot plus. 

Game Info:

While I can't seem to locate the original piece of scrap paper Allen wrote the character on (though I found everyone else's oddly), I do have the one we used for the expanded campaign.
 



Notes: He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons' special abilities included Communicate with Insects (which he used enough to make it part of the 'show's' permanent continuity), Danger Sense (which he successfully used once), Limited Flight (also used once), and Sticking to Walks (used twice). I believe he had one or two other one-shot abilities. 

While Allen didn't affect a funny voice for this character, he definitely had a distinct way of speaking and particular mannerisms. He was polite, very fastidious, and was a being of few words except when directly asked to explain something. Then (as in the Highlights section above) he could go on and on about a subject in great detail.  

Legacy: This character hasn't been used in any capacity since the original Galaxy Quest campaign I ran back in 2003 and that's partially because I've never felt comfortable portraying him the way Allen did. I can't quite nail that certain something that made him so awesome. With Allen gone, it is possible He Who Glistens in the Autumn Twilight Beneath the Third and Seventh Moons may never grace my table again. 

Still...what I wouldn't give to run Galaxy Quest once more. Maybe, just maybe, a shiny green insectoid alien science officer could appear as a background NPC. 

The true legacy of this PC isn't the character itself but Allen Halden - his creativity, talent, warmth, humor, and friendship. 




We miss you Moonbug.

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Saturday, January 11, 2025

31 Days / 31 Characters - GABRIEL ZIMMERMAN

What happens when you create an officially licensed Ghostbusters RPG but spend an unusual amount of energy and creativity on Extraterrestrials and Outer Space early in its incarnation, two things not related to Ghostbusters?

If you're me, you create a Player Character...



Character: Gabriel Poindexter Zimmerman

AKA: Professor Zimmerman, The Innovative Ghostbuster, The Intellectual One

Player: Adam Dickstein, Michael Moss.

System: Ghostbusters, The RPG, 1st Edition - West End Games. Modified with Houserules.
 
Nature: Long Campaign: Ghostbusters: The Home Office 

Gamemaster: Joseph Vitaliano Jr. and others. Adam Dickstein when run by Mike Moss.

Circa: Original Campaign 1986-1989. Returned in 2019 and 2020. Looking forward to future appearances.




Origins: I'm not really a horror guy. I'm a Sci-Fi guy. 

One of the things I love most about Ghostbusters - the setting that is - is that even though the Ghosts are considered 'Supernatural', a few mad geniuses figured out how to effect them using [Super] Science. Science Fiction can fight against the Paranormal here, unlike in many settings where Magic trumps science and technology. 

As such, Egon Spengler was absolutely my favorite character. Thanks largely to the incredible comedic acting talent of the late, great Harold Ramis, Egon is a man as brilliant as he is odd and I wanted in on that action.

As each of the other players pitched their PC concepts for our Ghostbusters: The Home Office campaign, I was happy to hear that no one had created an 'Egon character'; nobody had decided to be our Mad Scientist/Tech Savant guy. 'Perfect', I thought and then jumped in with my idea for Gabriel Zimmerman.I was given the thumbs up by the GM and read some more of the game's rules and setting material to develop more of a story for him. 

As I did, I came across references to UFOs and related phenomena and was very surprised. I also checked out Ghostbusters second pre-made adventure, Hot Rods of the Gods, which (Spoilers!) is a module in which your Paranormal Investigators face off against alien punks in a flying car.




Huh? That's not a Ghostbusters story, it's more Men in Black (which wouldn't come out for another 11 years). However...it did give me an idea. 

Backstory: Originally hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Gabriel P. Zimmerman was a genius student excelling in the studies of astrophysics and astronomy. He was also incredibly socially awkward, excelling in making other students confused and uncomfortable with his often absent minded nature and other peculiarities. Before graduating college he worked at the university observatory, discovering a number of stellar objects and improving the operations of the facility's primary telescope, the latter without permission. It simply wasn't operating as effective as it could be, so he fixed it. Why were people upset? 

Right after graduation Zimmerman was recruited by NASA and eventually assigned to a variety projects at their Space Center in Houston, TX. He was working there when the events of the first Ghostbusters film occurred. Fascinated by the development of the technology being used to 'fight ghosts', Gabriel nonetheless didn't believe in the existence of the paranormal. It was his professional and scholarly assessment that the phenomena the Ghostbusters were encountering had more sensible and logical origins. 

That was until the Ghostbusters themselves arrived at the Space Center, called in amid reports of a 'Phantom Astronaut' moving through sections of the main facility and causing computers and other equipment to go haywire. Dr. Ray Stanz and Dr. Egon Spengler contacted Zimmerman and requested his assistance on the matter. They believed they'd identified the ghost and were informed Zimmerman was particularly knowledgeable about the mission the man had been attached to. He gladly joined the boys in gray in hopes of getting to the bottom of whatever was really going on. 

The Ghostbusters and Gabriel Zimmerman encountered the Spectral Spaceman and there was no denying this entity defied the conventional science that Zimmerman was familiar with. Following the 'Space Ghost''s capture, Gabriel remained with NASA for a time but all the while he read up on metaphysics, parapsychology, and anything and everything he could find on the supernatural. He even went so far as to get several degrees in those fields (in his spare time). Eventually, he quit his job to apply to work for Ghostbusters, Inc. and was hired to work with the Home Office. 

Overview: I don't know what to say beyond I absolutely love this character. He is just so much fun to play and easily ranks among the top 5 most fun characters I've ever had. He isn't necessarily the deepest, his background and personality largely played for story context or laughs but he's enjoyable to portray and that's what matters. 

Since just prior to the Covid Pandemic I've been able to reconnect with some of my high school friends, including many I hadn't seen in almost 35 years. Among them is the brilliant and very funny Michael Moss, an artistically talented guy as well as a truly kind and intelligent person. When I've run Ghostbusters: The Home Office since, Mike has taken over playing Zimmerman on my request and he's not only nailed it, he enhanced the character. I honestly like his take on Zimmerman even more than my own. He just gets the whole theme of subdued zaniness that makes the character special.

The Highlights: 

Boy, this is hard. There were both so many cool moments and it was so long ago that I played him it's very difficult to parse out highlights. 

My best recommendation would be to check out my Tag for 'The Home Office'. I've updated it so all the references to that campaign are under one heading. The exploits of Prof. Zimmerman and the entire gang can be found there. 

Game Info:

Thanks to Joe Vitaliano Jr., my dear friend and the primary GM of our original campaign, I have the 35 year old character sheets for all the Home Office members...except Zimmerman.

*Sob*

It seems I may have taken that one home with me at some point and lost it over the last three decades or so. So pissed I can't tell you. 

I do have his revised sheet from the games where Mike played him and ultizing my homebrew/kitbash system detailed in past posts (Search for Tag 'Ghostbusters').




Notable on here besides his penchant for Birdcalls is his Specialty in Paranormal Phenomena. This indicates his knowledge in areas of supernatural events, commonalities, anomalies, and other such side effects of ghost activity moreso than understanding the ghosts themselves. For example, he is familiar with things like Dimensional Crossrips and Portals, Symmetrical Bookstacking, Cold Spots, and physical beings or objects being transported in another plane of existance. 

Like the rest of the original Home Office team, Gabriel uses a custom Neutrona Wand/Proton Pack assembly known as the Positron Field Generator. This device can function as a standard particle thrower but has two additional functions (actually a single functio
n with two settings):



 
Positron Capture Field: Zimmerman can place a bubble of charge protons around the Ghost, holding it in a fashion similar to a Capture Stream but more stable. The being or creature must be smaller than the maximum field size of 20 feet in diameter. A Technology-Modifications Roll with a minimum of 2 Successes can increase this size but only for a round or two. 

Entities held in this way must roll their PKE versus Zimmerman's Technology + 1D for the Proton Pack. If Gabriel gets more successes than the ghost in this case, he is able to contain it in the bubble field. This allows 1 Ghostbuster per Success over what the Ghost got to take an action (other than Zimmerman himself) so that can position themselves to Blast, ready an additional Capture Stream, or drop a Ghost Trap. 

Position Force Field: Zimmerman can protect himself with a roughly sphereical bubble of Protons that prevent PKE empowered Ectoplasmic entities from touching him. The field is approximately 20 ft. in diameter and forms in a radius around him. In order to use the device in this way he must make a successful Technology-Modifications Roll (only 1 Success is needed under normal circumstances but this can be increased based on a variety of conditions). 

This Proton Bubble reduces the effects of many of their attacks by 1D per Success he achieves with a Technology + 1D Proton Pack Roll. The Force Field will cause Ghosts Ectoplasm damage if they try to push through it. Touching the field is that same as being hit by a Blast Stream; Zimmerman's player rolls Technology + 1D for Proton Pack and the Ghost/GM rolls the entity's Ectoplasm Dice. For every Success Zimmerman does over the number the Ghost gets, the Ghost losses 1 point of Ectoplasm. If the Ghost gets more Successes than Zimmerman it still takes 1 point of Ectoplasm damage but Zimmerman's Proton Pack loses its +1D Bonus and must be repaired to get it back.

Notes: 

Gabriel Zimmerman looks a little like the version of Egon Spengler from 'The Real Ghostbusters' animated series but was actually created just before that show first aired. Literally days before.

There is also a resemblence between Prof. Gabriel Zimmerman and Dr. Jillian Holtzman from the it-should-never-be-spoken-of-again-and-I-will-punish-myself-harshly-for-mentioning-it-here Ghostbusters...film...from 2016. Honestly she was the best part of that debacle. 

Gabriel's next of kin is his younger sister who lives in Chicago and would probably look a lot like the aforementioned character. 

My version of Zimmerman is a tad more scatterbrained than Mike's depiction, thinking so many things so quickly that he's often lost in his own thoughts and unable to find his way back. Mike's take has him as a much more focused, deliberate thinker but one so focused on what's on his own mind he isn't always processing what others are saying until he's finished with the idea in his head. 

Legacy:

Man oh man oh man! I am chomping at the bit to get to run for the ol' Home Office gang again and see what Mike Moss does with Zimmerman next!

Anytime guys, I'll be waiting.




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