Aberrant: Infinite Earth - Character - [A&A] James LaHaye

[Fox]

Real Name: James LaHaye
Nicknames: Jim; Jimmy
Occupations: Gentleman adventurer turned Allied agent.
Legal Status: Technically a captain in the RAF.
Aliases: "You asshole limey bastard!", "Get him!", "Die, schweinhund!"
Place of birth: Oxford, England

Born: 01/01/1900
Age: 41
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: The extended la Haye family.
Affiliation: Allies, himself.
Height: 6 feet 1 inches
Weight: 175 lbs.
Eyes: Light Brown
Hair: Brown
Distinguishing Marks: None.
Known Strength Level: Strong and powerful, but within human limits

Known Quantum Powers: A preternatural athlete, LaHaye combines inhuman coodination with innate skill to pull off some truly amazing feats of derring-do. His mind is as sharp as as his reflexes, capable of cool decision-taking and seemingly impossible to faze or fluster - no matter what the world throws at him, laHaye meets it with that same devil-may care smile on his face. His intelligence is off the human scale, manifesting most keenly in his incredible ability to design and tinker. He exhibits a definite gift for people, though it's hard to tell whether it's natural human charm and smooth manners or Dynamic-level social abilities, and usually seems to get the best of people whether at bargaining, cards or in the lists of love.


Abilities/Special Skills: A crack shot, he can sign his name with pistol or rifle. His skill behind the controls of an aircraft is only slightly less impressive. In addition, he has a wide base of knowledge and practical know-how that he's picked up in his years of wandering.

Weapons Used: Guns, fists, knees, elbows, and whatever else is to hand. Despite the cool laid back air, when the chips are down LaHaye fights to win at all costs.

Personality: Smooth, sophisticated, witty, good-humored and as sharp as a scalpel, he also possesses a wild streak a mile wide when there's something dangerous at hand. Whether working or playing, he makes quips, coolly assesses those around him, and leaves others astounded at how easy he makes tricky situations look.

Personal Interests: Travelling, meeting new people, having new experiences and trying not to get bored. He doesn't mind responsibility, but he hates the idea he's supposed to marry and settle down like a respectable pillar of society. La Haye is a skirt-chaser of the highest order. The more inaccessible or ill-advised the conquest, the more he will enjoy the chase. This has already made him one enemy who won't forget being cuckolded, and is likely to make him more. He is not, however, a total pig. Vulnerable women, rape victims, and those that need protection tend to bring out his chivalrous side, usually leading to more trouble for him

Background:

James la Haye was born into the wealthy and aristocratic LaHaye family, one of those rare types of English nobility who not just adapted to the modern world, they thrived in it. Managing the waters of business and politics, and earning glory and honor in service to the Army, Navy and, as recently as World War 1, the Royal Flying Corps, the family has gone from strength to strength. Like all families, however, they have their black sheep...

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It was in the Royal Flying Corps that James LaHaye, second son and one of the most brilliant pilots of the early twentieth century, first made a name for himself as one of the great Aces of the first air war. In truth, he had been a Dynamic since birth, his uncanny reflexes and more than human intuition and intelligence serving him well, but his family decided that it was not in their interests for it to be widely known. The ‘Dynamics’, as they were known, were attracting too much hysteria and hype and one thing any long-surviving aristocratic family, with roots going back to pre-Revolutionary France, knows is to avoid hysteria and hype.

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James developed a keen interest in machines of all kinds, from the internal combustion engine to the Lewis machine gun, and loved to fly from early adolescence, so when he decided to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps and serve his country, none in his family were particularly surprised. He made ace (shot down 5 enemy planes) in his first three sorties, and gained a reputation for handling his biplane with the precision and dash of a master fencer.

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Nobody knows why, and James doesn’t talk about it, but after the War he had changed. Perhaps it was that the taste of action had left him unfit for peace, perhaps the horrors of war, perhaps it was simple burning out, but the young man was ill at ease in the clubs and salons of post-war London. He gambled, drank, womanised and generally disgraced his family name through scandals and outbursts of inappropriate behaviour. More than once, his long-suffering brother, Carlton LaHaye, would have to bail James out from a night in the cells, which he invariably landed in through his binges of opium and alcohol. His Dynamic abilities became public knowledge, and the mix of hero worship and scrutiny seemed to only fan the flames of the younger LaHaye’s self-destructive behaviour. He picked fights, slept with the young and beautiful wives of important men, and raced his car down winding country lanes at breakneck speed. It was a wonder no-one was killed, most of all James himself.

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Then one morning, a year after the signing of the Armistice, James LaHaye vanished from a prison cell. His latest escapade, involving breaking into the Tower of London to, as he put it, ‘make the beast with two backs’ on Execution Green with a member of the Royal household, was kept out of the papers only through the exertion of influence and great expense to his brother. Rumors circulated in upper-crust society but were never confirmed that the Earl LaHay, his father, had disowned him, leaving him this time to the tender mercies of the Crown’s Justice to learn his lesson. Sentenced to 5 years, the young nobleman obviously had other plans, and disappeared from England’s shores.

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The world is a big place, and he lost himself in it. A talent for passing unnoticed when he chose to served the rakish youth well, and by his twentieth birthday he was a seaman aboard a British merchantman, steaming through the Suez Canal to India. He spent many years this way, travelling by land and sea, criss-crossing the subcontinent and the Far East. Restless, always restless, he filled his hungry mind with experiences: studying at Buddhist temples in China, fighting in skirmishes between nomads in Afghanistan, studying and assisting some of the finest minds in the world, hunting man-eating tigers and lions, even pursuing rumors of the elusive Yeti in the Himalayas. He also smuggled opium and alcohol, stole, gambled, whored, and generally tried to lose himself in dissipation. He craved excitement, and when it was not forthcoming he spiralled into self-destruction. Until one day, in the summer of 1938, his brother came to him, finding him in a fleapit whorehouse in Bombay.

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Their father had died, his final wish to be reconciled with his youngest son. He had written James back into the will, and Carlton had come personally to tell his younger brother the news. And to let him know that there were family members who still cared whether or not the Dynamic was alive and well... and to deliver a message from His Majesty’s Government. Carlton was heavily involved in government service, working for the SIS, and had thought of his brother during dark hours.

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There were rumbles of war in Europe and Asia, rumbles of another huge conflict that would span nations. The Crown would pardon James LaHaye of all prior offences if he would take up his old rank and act again to defend King and Country. James refused at first, not wanting any part of another meaningless squabble between fat European politicians, but as Carlton explained what was going on in Europe, the real danger that Hitler and his followers presented, and that England would likely stand alone as the only nation taking the ‘funny little man’ seriously, James slowly experienced a change of heart. He grudgingly agreed to help, but declined to put on a uniform again. His brother had anticipated this, and told James that the rank would still be honoured. Technically, he would be a Captain in the RAF, but his actual orders would be delivered straight from Number 10, Downing Street. Or at least, somewhere close to that august address. In essence, he would be a spy, saboteur, and agent provocateur for the British government... and with that in mind, his first assignment was Burma. The Japanese had overrun China, and though not yet at war with Britain, quiet voices in Whitehall felt that it was only a matter of time before Germany’s ally made a move against the Western powers in the Pacific region. James, with his gift for languages and knowledge of Asia, was a perfect watchman.


Most Notable Power: A smooth British accent and dangerous charm



Nature: Thrillseeker

ATTRIBUTES
Physical
STR ●●●● (Powerful)
DEX ●●●●● (Steady Hand)
STA ●●●● (Tenacious)

Mental
PER ●●●● (Alert)
INT ●●●● (Pragmatic)
WIT ●●●●● (Unfazeable)

Social
APP ●●●● (Roguish)
MAN ●●●● (Smooth)
CHA ●●●● (Charming)

- ( 4 NP spent)

Brawl:
Might: ●
Athletics: ●●●●
Drive: ●●●●
Firearms: ●●●●●
Legerdemain: ●●
Martial Arts: ●●●
Melee: ●●●
Pilot: ●●●●●
Stealth: ●
Endurance: ●●●
Resistance: ●●●
Awareness: ●●●●
Investigation: ●
Navigation: ●●●
Academics: ●●
Bureaucracy:●
Computer:
Engineering: ●●●●●
Intrusion: ●●
Linguistics: ●●●●
Medicine: ●●
Science: ●●
Survival: ●●
Arts:
Biz:
Rapport: ●●●
Intimidation: ●
Style: ●●
Diplomacy:
Interrogation:
Streetwise: ●●●
Subterfuge: ●●
Carousing: ●●
Command: ●
Etiquette: ●
Perform:

- (8 NP)

Merits:

Ambidextrous - 1
Sexy - 1

- (2 BP Spent)

Flaws
Lusty - 1
Addiction: Cigarillos or cigars – 2

Overconfidence -1
Enemy - 3 (A Nazi Dynamic, Doctor Von Krabbs. He is obsessed with the Piecemaker, seeing it as his work, not LaHaye’s. They worked together for a couple of short years, before parting ways explosively.)
Enemy - 3 (Rodney Harrington. A cuckolded man, wants to ruin/break LaHaye. Has some influence and power in the British government)

- (10 BP gained)
Net = 8 BP up.


Backgrounds:

Node ●●
Resources ●●● (His share of the family fortune, administered in trust by his brother)
Reputation ●●●● (He is James LaHaye, flying ace, British Dynamic, and scoundrel extraordinaire)
Contacts ●●●●● (He knows a lot of people, especially in places best described as ‘far flung and seedy’. Yes, this also describes some parts of London, New York, Berlin and Paris )

Gadget ●●●●● (A massive ‘pistol’ called The Piecemaker: see below)
Backing ●●● (An agent of the SIS, the precursor to MI:6, he has the equivalent military rank of Captain)
- (3 NP spent)



Quantum: ●●●
Quantum Pool: 40
Willpower: 6 (6 BP spent)
Taint: 4 (4 from tainted powers)

- Aberrations:

Inhuman Grace


Mega-Attributes:
- Mega Strength ● (Precision)
- Mega-Dexterity ●● (Ace Pilot)
- Mega-Stamina ● (Unaging)
- Mega-Perception
- Mega-Intelligence ● (Engineering Prodigy, Linguistic Genius)
- Mega-Wits ● (Multi-tasking)
- Mega-Manipulation
- Mega-Charisma

- (21 NP spent)

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Powers:

Intuition: ●●●●

Luck: ●●●●

4 NP Spent (4 Intuition and 4 Luck Tainted)

Combat Stats:

Init: 13
Soak: 5B / 3L

Combat Style Bonuses & Maneuvers:
Golden Gunplay, 3 Levels: LaHaye has spent a lot of time perfecting the use of his Dynamic reflexes and agility in order to create a system of combat that uses the Zen focus of the Buddhist masters in combination with the flash and thunder of firearms.

Style Bonuses: +2 bonus dice to hit with Style Maneuvers and Form Weapons, + 1 Damage with Firearm attacks
Style Maneuvers: Aiming, Dodge, Parry, Strafing, Two Weapons, Weapon Forms: Pistol/Revolver, Shotgun, Rifle; Combat Reload, Weapon Strike
Advanced Techniques: Trajectory Twist, Threading the Needle, Whirlwind Barrage, Stop Hit

(18 BPs spent: 6 on Specialisation, 12 on Advanced Techniques)

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Creation Log:

4 NPs on Attributes

8 NPs on Abilities

3 NPs on Backgrounds

21 NPs on Mega Atts

4 NPs on powers

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8 BPs gained from Flaws.

6 Spent on WP

18 spent on Combat Specialisation.

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Equipment:

Brown leather pilot’s jacket, khaki pants, jungle boots.

Parang (machete) +3d10L.

Pair of smoothbore .45 automatic pistols: 5d10L

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Gadget:

The Piecemaker- 5 dot Gadget, 15 option Advancement. A huge pistol of LaHaye’s design, whatever Von Krabbs says. Designed around the cut-down frame of a .600 Nitro Express, LaHaye built the pistol out of super-strong, yet light alloys (those were the doctor’s work) and ended up with something roughly the size of a pump shotgun, but capable of firing .666 caliber slugs of his own design, again designed on the Nitro Express model, but shorter and thus with less overall range. Not that it matters: 65 grammes of high-density metal travelling at speed will ruin anyone’s day. For a field test, LaHaye brought down a rogue elephant with one shot – there wasn’t much left of the head.

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Drawback: The Piecemaker can only be accurately fired by someone with Mega-Strength and Mega-Dexterity of 1. Without the M-Strength, the weapon will do its base damage dice in Bashing to the shooter, with even a single unsoaked level causing knockdown. Without the M-Dex, the shooter suffers a -5 penalty to hit.

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Piecemaker: Acc: +3 (or -5: modifiers don’t stack) Damage: 13d10; Range: 200m; RoF: 1; Conc: T; Cap: 4 Str Min.: Mega 1; Made with light, yet ultra strong alloys, the weapon weighs about 10 lbs. LaHaye carries it in a special holster, with the ammunition worn in a twin-strap bandolier arrangement. It reloads like a revolver, albeit a huge one.

• Alternate Ammunition: Grappling round - 30 metre high-tensile cord, the other end of which remains fixed in the Piecemaker, but can be removed easily. It's worth noting that as long as the Piecemaker is holding onto the other end of the line, it can't be used for further shooting.
• Alternate Ammunition: Explosive round - functions as a concussion grenade: 6d10 B damage to 3m radius, 3d10 from 3-6m. Any unsoaked damage will lead to temporary deafness.
• Alternate Ammunition: Flash Round - 2d10 B, also functions as Strobe with a dice pool of 8, affects sight. 20m effective radius.
• Alternate Ammunition: Phosphorous Round. Based on the Buckingham ammunition first developed in WW1, this round sets fire to anything flammable it passes through, burns hot enough to melt steel, and causes the damage of the shot to be considered Energy rather than Physical damage.