Having just downloaded my playtest packet a few hours ago, during which time I have been voraciously going through the Beta pdf, I figured it was high time I finally post that character concept I started more than a year ago (
):
"MAKO"Bio:Any Taker crew knows you need the right skills and tools to take advantage of the post-zombie economy, but the best Taker crews are the ones who know that a good laptop and code monkey can be worth more than a pickup full of ammo. Thanks to Gnat and the Ubiq network people who can navigate online databanks and cut through firewalls or digital security systems are still in demand, and this demand is what keeps food on Mako's plate. Nora Adler is a former Berkeley programming undergrad with a dirty streak--in her college years she was a member of an online hacking group that loved to go after the email accounts of 1%ers and air out their embarrassing secrets on social media sites and chans. That ended when one of her net buddies raided the wrong server and got a visit from the FBI as a reward, sending the rest of them scrambling for cover. In the year after the raid Nora worked to keep her nose clean and finish her degree, planning on working straight as an information security consultant for one of the big corporations she'd humiliated as a hacktivist.
Then came the Crash, and suddenly all her technical knowledge and Stick-It-To-Em spirit meant nothing to the screaming undead nightmares on television. And soon, in her university's halls.
Nora's story of survival during the early days of the Crash was more or less the same as everyone else's: a cocktail of random factors some would call dumb luck and the primal driving fear that others call perseverance. By the time the borders between the Loss and the Recession were established Nora was trapped on the wrong side with countless others, in particular a group that would found the enclave of Prosperity within the gates of an old country club. With millions of Casualties and a heavily-defended river between her and any surviving family, Nora gradually accepted that she would never see home again and set herself to making a new one in the Loss. It was during this time that she first met Dante, a medical student, and became involved with him. In hindsight this would turn out to be one of the biggest mistakes of her life, as Dante proved to be a manipulative and deceitful lover. When Nora was bitten but not infected by a Casualty on a supply run--a cold bite--Dante helped her hide the bite from the rest of the community, but led her to believe that she was still at risk of infection unless she received regular doses of "Supressin", a new drug being developed as a possible cure for the Blight. Dante claimed he could get his hands on the drug for her--in reality placebo shots--while also spreading a rumor in the Enclave that she was an Immune, making her paranoid and mistrustful of the other survivors.
Although she didn't recognize it at the time, Nora was trapped in an emotionally abusive relationship. Dante was the only person in the world she believed she could trust, and her fear of being outed as an "Immune" prevented her from seeking outside help. If Dante hadn't been bitten himself while outside the Enclave, she would probably still be stuck with him today. As he'd done with Nora, Dante concealed his bite from the rest of the Enclave until he could return to their compound and dose himself with the actual Supressin-K7864 he had stashed for emergencies--Nora had suffered a serious panic attack just as he was about to leave, and in his hurry to calm her down he'd forgotten to pack it. By the time he made it home the Blight was already bubbling through his system, and just as the two of them were alone in their home the infection reached his brain. Nora embraced him, and he bit a chunk out of her face.
If she hadn't been able to get her hands on his gun, she wouldn't have lived through the next minute. And if she hadn't stumbled across the stashed Supressin injector while digging frantically through Dante's medkit, she would have become a Vector instead of a Latent. When the neighbors arrived to investigate the screams and gunshot, Nora took one look at her mangled wound and knew they wouldn't ask questions before putting her down next to Dante. She grabbed his survival kit, still packed from his trip, and fled into the Loss.
Over the years Nora drifted from community to community, hiding her disfigurement and condition however she could, until she settled with a crew of Takers who were willing to hire on a Latent with useful skills. Her experiences with Dante and life as a Taker have given her an almost pathological distrust of strangers--her joining a crew was by necessity, rather than a desire for companionship, although she slowly learned to rely on them. She still holds a special fear of Vectors, particularly males--psychologists would diagnose her with BPS-related PTSD, if she bothered to see one--and sometimes imagines Dante's snapping face over theirs. To avoid drawing stares and looks of disgust she took to wrapping gauze around her lower face and wearing a shark mouth bandana over it, which earned her the Taker handle "Mako". She rarely speaks--when she does her voice is little more than a low growl or harsh whisper--and gets by with a mix of shrugs, head gestures, and hand signals. Her main role in the crew is as a finder and security specialist, searching for lucrative jobs on Ubiq networks, looking up information on clients and other useful details, and getting past leftover digital safeguards in old world treasure troves--aside from that, she's not bad with a bow.
Her sole dependent is Rourke, an old Gulf War One veteran she met out in the Loss her first year away from Prosperity. Rourke taught everything she knows about surviving as a Taker, becoming almost a surrogate father figure to her despite her condition, until the day Mako hacked his leg off at the knee to save him from a bite. Now she supports him with the Bounty she makes as a Taker, paying for his well-being in the crew's Enclave until the day she can afford to send him over the River and into the Recession. As for herself, Mako hopes to save up enough hard cash to allow her to retire to Leper without having to work as a slave for the rest of her life.
Soft Spot:Helping Victims--Just because the world isn’t fair and people take advantage of each other doesn’t mean you should just sit back and let it happen. This isn't a general desire to help the needy so much as a dislike of seeing others being exploited or used.
Weak Spot:Once Bitten, Twice Shy--Slow to trust thanks to her previous lover. Still sees his face on male Vectors thanks to BPS-related PTSD.
Strong Spot:Latent--Can’t be infected, but hated and feared by most.
STRENGTH 1 -
Health 1Melee 1
Resilience 1
SPEED 2 -
Initiative 2Shoot 1 (Shoot Bow 2)
Sneak 1
Athletics 2
ADAPTABILITY 2 -
Haul 3Awareness 1
Self-Control 2
Criminality 1
INTELLIGENCE 3 -
Meme 3Foresight 1
Research 3
First Aid 1
Profession (Hacktivist) 2
CHARM 1 -
Support 1Networking 1
WILL 2Thoughts?
