Thursday, October 24, 2013

Officers of the Central District Station

As I shared in my last post I've finished some cops for my ATZ games.  As I was painting them characterizations began to emerge.  What follows are some NPC stats and a bit of background for each of the figures.  I've used attributes from ATZ:FFO and After the Horseman.

Lucy Watkins
Lucy is the youngest of the five officers shown here.  She only just graduated (with honors) from the police academy last summer.  She is a fierce woman, eager to prove she is at least the equal of any male on the force.  Lucy is single and plans to keep it that way, at least for a while.  She is focused on her career.  In a fight she believes she would be decisive and effective but she has not yet been tested under fire.  Though, having been raised with three older brothers, Lucy is tough and knows how to dish it out.  Fight like a girl?  You bet!  And kick your ass doing it!

REP 4, Brawler, BA pistol and Shotgun.

Vince Lewandowski
Vince is an asshole.  Just ask him.  He'll tell you.  Born and raised in South Toledo, the son of an ironworker, Vince knows what he knows and doesn't give a sh*t for what he doesn't know.  He's the kind of man who will tell you just what he thinks and never apologize.  Vince has had girlfriends off and on but his womanizing attitude prevents him from settling down.  He has no children "as far as he knows".  It seems the only "person" Vince loves is his dog, a Beagle-Bulldog mix named Barney.  None of his co-workers would ever guess that Vince, the stereotypical, hard-edged, ass of a "bad cop", would be a softy when it comes to Barney.

REP 4, Loner, BA Pistol and Shotgun

Reuben Wilson
Reuben is the oldest of the five officers shown here.  His father died in a gang related shooting when Reuben was 6 years old.  Reuben's mom never remarried and did all she could to raise her son as best she could.  She was determined that her only child would not fall into the street life that had killed her husband.  Reuben grew up in East Toledo and despite the many barriers, managed to claw his way through school and become a police officer.  He's worked hard his whole life and always at a disadvantage to the more privileged.  His hard work has been rewarding however, as Reuben is one of the most respected of the officers in the Central District.  He has been on the force for 12 years and can honestly say he loves Toledo and his job.  Reuben is married to a beautiful woman, Dafina, and they are raising 3 children, 2 boys and a girl.  Reuben's youngest, his baby girl, is the apple of his eye.

REP 5, Born Leader, BA Pistol

Thanh Gardner
Thanh is the son of a Vietnamese woman and an American man.  His parents met while his father was stationed in Saigon during the war.  Thanh, born in 1970, came to police work as a second career.  His parents moved around the USA a lot while Thanh was growing up with his two younger sisters.  His dad, a career Army Colonel, was often transferred so Thanh never went to the same school for more than two years in a row.  Thanh came to Toledo as a college student to study engineering at the University of Toledo and never left.  He met his wife, Cindy, while he was in college and since her whole family was in Toledo they settled there.  Cindy and Thanh have 2 children.  The oldest is a student at The Ohio State University in Columbus and the youngest is a senior at St. John's Jesuit high school.  Thanh worked as a mechanical engineer for several years before deciding to commit his life to making Toledo a better town.  He became an officer 8 years ago and has enjoyed the work, though he is not fond of working 3rd shift.

REP 4, Logical, BA Pistol

Kevin Cunningham
Kevin has always wanted to be a cop.  His father was a cop.  His grandfather was a cop.  It's the "family business" Kevin has been known to say.  Kevin is fairly new to the force but because of his family connections he is well known.  He has still yet to prove himself on his own but his father's reputation is sometimes enough to open doors for Kevin and give him advantages the other officers might not enjoy.  Kevin is not married but he does have a long time girlfriend, Angela.  His mother thinks Kevin should settle down and marry the girl but Kevin isn't sure he's ready for that.  Kevin is generally a likable person, if a bit nondescript.  He's the kind of person that blends in easily, which makes him ideal for undercover work.  But Kevin's great love and his career goal is to be assigned to the Toledo SWAT team.

REP 3, Friendly, BA Pistol and Assault Rifle


So there are some of my musings on some figures that inspired some characters.  I hope you've enjoyed the read.  Until next time...carry on.

14 comments:

  1. That's a nice set of backgrounds; it really gives me a sense of these people's lives and motivations. I'm interested to see if that depth makes a difference in the way they behave in a game!

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    1. Thanks. I don't suppose it will make much difference in a game but I enjoy creating characters and telling stories so it was fun for me. How it will make a difference is in my interpretations of what unfolds in a game when I write up the report!

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  3. It's great when the character's have some backgound, it makes you care about them even more, great stuff

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    1. Thank you! I like to know the "people" I'm playing with. : )

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  4. This is the kind of stuff I love to read. Great backgrounds like these certainly help to bring a character to life. Thanks for sharing, Ironmonk.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback.

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  5. Backgrounds, whilst not a must are always fun to write up.
    I've used attributes from ATZ-BDTZ, FFO and ATH as well as my own (90+ different ones) and they really help to "play" a charcter along certain lines and aid greatly in their backgrounds too.

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    1. I like how the attributes flesh out a character. I am open to using any from any of the THW books, assuming it fits with the background I'm playing. I'd be interested in seeing some of your homegrown ones. Do you have a list somewhere?

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    2. Hey Ironmonk, I have the list on either word or excel, but other formats may be possible (I'm not that techy). My email is joehcc@hotmail.co.uk.

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  6. Great characters you've created looking forward to there first outing!

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    1. Thank you! I will be putting a game together soon. Tonight it's Zombicide with the family but next week I hope to put together a scenario with these figures.

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  7. I like the characterization of the figures. Gives alot of depth to the game.

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    1. Thanks, Sean. To me the best games are about the characters and story. That's why I like THW so much.

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