And now the last PC for Crescendo of Violence – the Suit: What do we know about them so far? They like to hear Chen play, and go out of their way to do so. When Naida had to run and hide from Hallmacken-Reuther’s goons, the suit arranged a safehouse, and presumably some other help. Finally, when Selena was fired from the force, the Suit helped her out in an unknown way. Quite the basis, onward to answering the questions.
Christopher Campos is not from Neo York originally. A mid-level manager for the Nova-Pulsar Security security megacorp, he came to Neo York from the countryside following his dream to become a police officer. Maybe even something cooler, like a homicide detective. He passed initial training with great but not stellar grades. Then he lasted nearly 12 years, becoming more and more disillusioned. At one point he also became corrupt, though as these things go he was still harmless – he would look the other way from time to time if he could still somehow reconcile it with his morals. Still, it became harder and harder both to stay just lightly stained instead of full-blown dirty, with no major transgressions on his conscience and to look into the mirror each morning.
Then he had the “accident”. He never quite figured out who sold out to whom, but the hovercar he and his partner Julie took to get back to the precinct after interrogating some witnesses malfunctioned. Julie didn’t survive, and Chris spent several weeks while the doctors rebuilt him. When he came back he only poked into the accident a little, and immediately was stone-walled. A higher-ranking official told him in private to take the hint and drop it. And several cases Julie and Chris had worked on had ended with perps walking free. As I said, he has no idea who paid off whom. Disgusted, angry, and secretly afraid, Chris left the force. Luckily NPS was hiring. And they saw potential, and Christ did rise to a cushy management job fairly fast. However, his unwillingness to do absolutely everything for profit has led to him being pushed to the side. At the moment he still has his job, but there is a question of how long.
Chris is on the taller side, broad-shouldered, with very obvious cybernetics. His legs are rarely visible, but when they are their skin is dark grey metal, the same as his arms. His eyes are metallic brown orbs with small pupils, with a small NPS logo – he replaced his government-issue cyberwear a short while ago. The accident left him a bit keen on "perfecting" his body. When in the wrong situation, his eyes turn fully grey to hide where his focus lies. His face shows small scars and lines of contact wiring. No matter if on the job or off, he likes to wear dark grey suits with colorful ties. His black hair is shortly cropped on the left side, and the right side is bald. When outside he wears hats, always well coordinated with his coats and suits. And more often than not he has an attaché case at his side, which if we are honest is more affectation than anything in these days of paperless offices.
In his capacity as NPS manager, he has hurt a lot of people. Former employees who lost their jobs due to his judgment, budget cuts, or in some cases political maneuvering – the world of management can be a bit rough. That said, this is rare – Chris usually prides himself on loyalty not only to the job but also to the people he is responsible for. Though these days there aren’t many of those left. Then there are criminals and the relatives of victims when NPS forces decided to play rough. Again, not as common for Chris as other people in a similar position, but they exist. And then there were some customers at Chen’s place that decided to misbehave, and Chris helped the bouncer Jeanne. One of them, a man called Louis, sent some threatening emails later. So far Chris has not paid attention to the threats.
Chris doesn’t like criminals. It is in the nature of NPS business that they sometimes are clients, but NPS will not engage in criminal behavior, not on Chris’ watch. He also learned a while ago that the world is a bit murky, and always had a bit of a soft spot for small-time criminals anyway. He does have a bit of an issue with the Petralia crime family – he suspects they were the ones who arranged the ‘accident’, though he has no proof. Chris believes that in the end, money is what destroys Neo York. At heart, he sees that money corrupts and that the powerful can buy off whoever they have issues with.
Now on to stats – he is a Cyborg, which means he has a flat 2 points in each Path. But he also gets 30 points of Cyberwear, instead of the 15 max other characters can have. He also is a Suit. The reason he is on the outs is that he is not willing to go all the way, morals are damned, for profit. He gets a +1 on Clever (the other choice was Cautious). His Credit Rating is 4D10. His Special Ability is that he may spend a Reserve to gain +1d10 on tests made to overcome, leverage, or manipulate corporate interests, policies, or activities.
Next, Talents. From the Suit list I choose Status Rank I, meaning he adds +1D10 anytime pull with NPS would help. None of the other three (Family Money, Gambler, Corporate Star) fit, so I decide to choose two from the general list. Cold Reading seems like something he might have learned in his career, and it adds +1D10 anytime he tries to read someone. Finally, I give him Danger Sense – if he gets ambushed, he can spend some Momentum to still act immediately.
And then there are three questions about the other PCs:
- Who do you know from the old days, before you worked for a corp? What do they think of your current occupation?
- Who bailed you out of a jam you got into when attempting to get ahead at work? What was the jam?
- Who have you bent the rules for at work? Why? What happens if it’s found out?
Chris has known Chen the longest and has been a regular at the club for a while. Chen isn’t the biggest fan of corpos, but has developed a grudging respect for Chris. Partially since he isn’t as arrogant as most of his ilk, and was willing to help defuse problems with customers once or twice. He also makes a point of not bringing business friends there, only people he knows would fit the vibe.
As for Naida, Chris did bend the rules for her. Naida knew Chris from a few occasions where both companies were hired to establish security protocols for clients, often for special events. When Naida ran after learning that her boss's boss was connected to the Petralia family, she randomly encountered Chris. Not knowing what was happening, he decided to help his acquaintance when some thugs tried to abduct her. Then he greased some palms to make the bodies vanish, and once he heard the whole story he arranged for the safe house, for some people to look away, and for some ‘evidence’ pointing at the Triads having a hand in things. The last bit he never told Naida, and he also kept it a secret that he hopes to use her for his own ends.
This means Selena once bailed him out of a jam when he attempted to get ahead at work. Rather recently a competitor within NPS, Samantha Pritchard tried to trap Chris’ department by having them sign on for the wrong job – the job was to provide security for the transport of some valuables, but the competitor hired a freelance hacker to help make it look like the job was far less dangerous than it actually was. The idea was that Chris would allocate far too little manpower, the job would fail, people would die, the client would be angry, and Chris’ head would roll. Selena randomly heard about that plot while investigating the rival manager on behalf of her wife – she recorded the conversation with the hacker. Selena still owed Chris - when she started thinking about leaving the force her boss, who was one of the few friends Chris still had at his old job, set her up to have a chat with him. Chris was not only the one who more or less made her realize how much she hated the job but also sent some clients her way when she started out. So when she realized what she had recorded, she told him and handed him the evidence. Samantha is now out of a job, and Chris is safe. For now.
As for equipment, I think he would be a bit better armed, and then there is all the cyberwear. And maybe even a Genemod or two. For general equipment, it’ll be the usual, though as Chen did he also gets a Personal Fireaura – he is a manager at a security company, after all. He owns a Heavy Shotgun (kept in his car), and a highly illegal SMG. His cybernetics are a Skinpouch (a compartment inside his body, I will say his right cyber leg, in which he usually keeps the SMG), Cyberarms (+1 Violence), Cyberlegs (+1 Fast), EYEnet Implants with Recorder, and Subdermal Armor. Finally, he has the Genemod Adrenaline Refinment, which allows him to use up Reserves to gain Momentum.
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