Character: Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer
Character Sheet (Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer)
Combat Value: 8
You are (Dramatic Pause. The music swells.) Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer! Defender of the weak! Conqueror of dread Constructs! Scourge of evil Sparks everywhere! Your life is an inspiration to good people everywhere, and you always strive to fulfill the role of Hero that fate has thrust upon you.But oh! None know the deep pain of your life! Cursed you were -- cursed to be born as a Spark, one of those creatures possessed by terrible powers, set against the true people of the land! You were a stripling lad of 13 when you first "broke through" -- as if it were some sort of achievement to find yourself constructing a terrible giant Clank one morning, and having to drive it off into the wilderness. And then the curse was driven home scarcely days later, when a terrible giant Clank emerged from the wilderness, wreaking havoc upon your village until you were able to stop it. It was in that moment that you knew that this would be your destiny: to save the world from the scourge of the Sparks, so that the little people would be safe from their threat!
For so many years, you have fought your lonely crusade! Oh, there have been allies along the way. Those well-meaning young men, the Heterodyne Boys, who you allowed to assist you in your fight. Yes, they were Sparks, and yes, this means that would have to kill them eventually. Fortunately, they went and disappeared before that terrible duty fell to you. And there have been some stout men, free from the curse of Sparkiness, who have accompanied you in your travels.
But mostly, there have been the adversaries. Dr. Beetle, malicious ruler of Transylvania Polygnostic University, who spent his life corrupting innocent young minds. Professor Mongfish, who you are certain somehow arranged the disappearance of the Heterodyne Boys. And most of all, the arch-fiend, Baron Klaus von Wulfenbach, conqueror of Europa, despoiler of the people, iron-fisted Monarch of all he surveys, and his snivelling but despotic son Gilgamesh! Oh, that the world should contain such creatures! Your destiny is clear: to kill all of these monsters. And then to kill yourself, in one final tragic-but-noble act, freeing the world of the curse of the Spark forever.
The hero's life is never a calm one, and this past year has been no exception. First, you were captured by the Villain Wulfenbach (Wulf-en-bach -- even his name is sinister, as it rolls around in your mouth), who sought to end your threat to him forever, holding you captive until his fiendish experiments could annihilate you forever. But you broke free in order to save his Plucky Lab Assistant, Agatha Clay, a sweet and innocent girl caught in his clutches. You were tragically separated from her, just after you discovered that she, too, carried the curse of the Spark.
She was going to be a necessary target, tragically sacrificed so that the world would be safe. But then you found that she was actually a Heterodyne! Oh, what a dilemma! As the child of the greatest heroes the world has known (except for you), she was clearly a fellow tragic figure. So you instead adopted her as your Plucky Assistant, and will kill her last. She does not even realize her own heroism yet, but you know her internal stuggle -- how she fights against the demon Spark inside of her, trying to do good despite the instinct to commit hideous, horrible, evil, blood-curdling, gory, blasphemous acts.
When last you saw her, you gave her three months to learn her true place in the world before you would return. You've spent the three months since doing the thing you know best: being a hero. Out in the wilderness, you came across Agatha's cousin Theopholous Mongfish. Oh, the terrible decision he presented to you! A nephew of the Great Villainess herself, Lucrezia Mongfish, and yet a cousin to the innocent girl. You decided to allow him to travel and adventure with you; you'll kill him second-to-last. He is a stout lad, young and as yet untaught in the true tragedy that underlies his life, willing to fight the good fight with you.
Your other compatriot is Moloch von Zinzer, that rarest of men: the true man, untouched by Sparky wickedness, ready to face any fight! Ready to join in the battle against great evil! Oh, you know that it is likely that he will die in the battles that are to come, but he faces them stoutly! You and Theo found him, caged like an animal, being conveyed by the evil Wulfenbachs to a Fate Worse Than Death in Castle Heterodyne. You brought down the airship taking him to this terrible end, and then allowed him to join in your battle for Truth and Justice. It does your heart good to know that such courageous men still exist.
Ah, there is such manly joy in adventuring! The three of you swinging to the rescue, saving the villagers against the Giant Snail of Sandhyrst! Flying halfway across the continent on giant rocs to save the beautiful Princess of Harkovia from Sir Shellgreave's Fire Knights! Wading into battle against innumerable Clanks and Constructs in the vast wilderness as you made your way back to more familiar ground! And all the while sharing in the close comradeship of each others' company. (Not like that. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But this is simple manly comradeship.)
Several weeks ago, Moloch suggested a new course of adventure for you: to investigate the rumors of the reappearance of the Hidden Castle. Adventure beckoned! All know the legend of the Wicked Spark Amagog! Centuries ago, he terrorized the peasants, inflicting all sorts of hideous creatures upon them. Legend has it that a single such creature, the Perfect Construct, remains still within his Castle, hidden from all eyes, waiting for the truest Hero to come and face it. Surely this was a moment of destiny!
On arriving at the Castle, you found the Circus once more! Oh, the joy of reuniting with these brave entertainers, wandering the Wilderness, braving the monsters therein, simply to provide the people with a bit of entertainment! Relieving the tedium of everyday life with tales of the Heterodyne Boys and their mighty adventures! Long have you watched these brave folk, and reveled in their shows! (You are especially fond of their rendition of The Heterodyne Boys and the Race to the West Pole -- their portrayal of the High Priestess is, you must abashedly admit, remarkably hot.)
You had no chance to speak once more to your Plucky Assistant, but you did spend a while talking with your old comrade Embi. While tiny of stature, he possesses the heart of the mightest beast. He has traveled and adventured even longer than you, and long have you admired his exploits. So when he proposed that you brave the Hidden Castle, unseen by human eyes for centuries, you knew that this was surely the time to show the world how a true hero approaches danger!
The good Moloch led you to the Castle (you haven't yet asked him how he knew so much about it), but opted not to enter. You can understand that: while a brave man, he is nonetheless mortal, and Certain Death awaited. So you, Embi, and Theo dove in. Oh, the battle! Diving past deathtraps with scarcely a hairsbreadth of space to spare! Working together, tossing tools from man to man until Theo could disable the rampaging Clanks coming at you! Forced into hand-to-hand battle against fierce creatures, long of tooth and claw, set only to eat you and your comrades! Young Theo, terribly injured, yet stoutly continuing into the Castle with you!
When you finally reached the central laboratory, it was almost anticlimactic. Oh, you knew that Amagog had lived centuries before, depriving you of the chance to confront the villain and do him in. Embi wanted a trophy of the exploit, so he claimed the large crystal at the center of the lab. For you, the true reward was simply in knowing that you had undone all these terrible deathtraps, that otherwise might claim so many lives.
Then, two days ago, you first encountered the Gentlewoman Adventurer Helen. She was confused at first, having adventured here from another world, drawn to this one by the terrible devices in the Castle. At least -- you had found a woman worthy of adventure! And yet, she knew nothing of this world. It fell to you to tell her of the tragic fate that has fallen Europa. How the villain Klaus von Wulfenbach has conquered the land, crushing all under his heel! How he has attempted time and again to kill you, only to be foiled by your basic derring-do!
In later discussion, Helen proposed a cunning plan, which centers on you, of course. She is a scientist as well as an adventurer, and has the remarkable skill of Brain Transfer. (She isn't a Spark, though: she doesn't even know what Sparks are! So you don't have to kill her.) She proposed that you need but capture Klaus Wulfenbach, and then she can exchange your brain and his. Oh, the terrible price! The threat to the world of having that evil brain inside your matchless body! Yet, he does not possess your peerless skill at escape, so if you are properly tied down first, he should be controllable. And then you can go inside the Castle Wulfenbach, and bring down the Evil Empire from the inside. You can order the Jaegermonsters to leave the Wulfenbachs! You can tell all of their Clanks to self-destruct! And finally, you can bring that wicked Castle down in flames, so that the people will be free! Ah, it is an adventure worthy of -- well, worthy of you.
(You have failed to tell young Theopholous about this plan. He idolizes you too much, and might try to prevent you from sacrificing your own body in order to enter that of the evil Wulfenbach. Best that he simply not know.)
You have gathered to you additional allies -- not that they are really needed, of course, but a hero always must have allies. They are a pair of white-coated scientists named Glassvitch and Merlot, and as such they can never be fully trusted: their curiosity about the world will undoubtedly lead to Terrible Evils that you will have to put down. (That is, after all, what scientists do.) But they round out the group with some additional non-Sparks, ensuring that you aren't overwhelmed by an excess of the fundamental wickedness that is the Spark.
How will it all end? Will the Hero triumph? Will the wicked Sparks be foiled, and the happy populace be freed from the Grinding Heel of Tyranny this time? Find out, in the next adventure of (Music Swells) Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer!
Public Info
Personality
Personality? Why, you have the personality of a hero, of course! You are bold and dashing, always standing up to the forces of evil, and never letting them see a moment's weakness!But deep in your heart of hearts, you are always still trying to impress your mommy. You'll show her. You'll be the greatest of all heroes, and then you'll never have to eat broccoli again...
Some People You Know (Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer)
(All of these are how you think of people, mind. Yes, it all makes sense. Roll with it. Note that you have a metagame special ability: even if the player switches buttons for some reason, you still recognize them. Check with the GM is you are unsure of who is who.)
The Gentlewoman Adventurer (Helen Narbon): Charming, brilliant woman, who will undoubtedly assist you in your struggle to save the world!
The Cute But Heroic Fuzzy Animal (Artie): The heart of a lion beats within the frame of a gerbil!
The Cute But Dangerous Fuzzy Animal (Krosp): His devotion to his brave mistress is all that prevents this cat from overthrowing all!
The Plucky Sidekick (Maria Antonia Fantasia Philomel): The innocent, caught in the middle of all of this! She is destined to help you, even if she hasn't fully realized it yet!
The Villain's Beautiful Daughter (Agatha Heterodyne): Corrupted by her father's wicked greed! But perhaps she can yet be saved, and brought around to the side of right! Surely, it is your destiny to teach her the ways of goodness!
The Arch-Fiend (Klaus von Wulfenbach): Conqueror of Europa! The man whose giant heel is on the throat of the people!
The Arch-Fiend in Training (Gil von Wulfenbach): The corrupted child! His terrible lust for The Villain's Beautiful Daughter is unnatural!
The Reformed Evil (Hugo Glassvitch): Once he was a force of wickedness. He claims to have seen the light -- but is it true?
The Envious Scientist (Silas Merlot): He wishes to be great, but his own jealousy drags him down. Can he learn to love the strength within himself, or shall he fall to evil?
The Pirate Queen (Bangladesh DuPree): The woman is the deadlier of the species! But she fights to save her people!
The Brave Adventurer (Embi): This knight from foreign lands serves the cause of all mankind!
The Noble But Common Entertainers (Payne and Marie): Braving the dangers of the Wilderness, they wander for the sole purpose of bringing joy to the hearts of mankind!
The Loyal Soldier (Moloch von Zinzer): The darkness of his past has not dimmed his zest for life!
The Judge of All (Abner): His will shall determine the fate of mankind!
The Hero in Training (Theo): Despite his lineage of evil, his true heart will drive him towards good!
The Warrior Princess (Zeetha): Lost in a strange land, she is your only match in battle!
Male Spark (from Comic) (Status: In Game)
Pictures
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/cgi-bin/gg101.cgi?date=20060127
Plots:
The Brain Transfer (Brain Transfer)
People of the Mirror-World (Mirror-World)
Theft of the Clockwork Crystal (Stolen Crystal)
Abilities and Disabilities
Unable to Kill (Unable To Kill) -- Woe is you! You carry with you a shameful secret: despite your mission in life, to kill all of the Sparks, the fact is that you've actually never killed anyone. Every time you've had a Villain dead to rights, something has gone terribly wrong.
At the metagame level: Othar may think he's supposed to kill the Sparks, but the fact is that killing isn't his karma. Therefore, any time that you have someone completely caught, and you could kill them, it doesn't happen. Roleplay this however you like, and feel free to embroider outrageously, and enlist a GM occasionally if it seems appropriate. Sometimes you simply talk until they surprise you and overwhelm you; sometimes you trip and knock yourself out with your own weapon; sometimes a giant Clank comes out of the woods and attacks you at just the moment when you were going to pull the trigger. But something always prevents it.
Escape Artist (Escape Artist) -- The Forces of Evil have no attention span. You've learned that this is one of your greatest weapons.
If you are held captive, and your captors are at all distracted, you may spend one Point to escape -- you can only be held completely captive while someone is paying close attention to you. However, you must then do something loud and conspicuous: after all, what is the point of escaping if the Dastardly Villain doesn't know you've escaped? Turning around and attacking the Bad Guys again is generally good form.
Also, if you are in a situation of certain death (eg, falling from a thousand feet up, struck by a death ray, etc), something will always happen to allow you to save yourself. (After all, you are the Hero.) You are allowed to invoke preposterous good luck in order to have this happen, and you may reveal arbitrary small gadgets for it, but it should preferably be as amusing as possible.
Resist Intimidation (Resist Intimidation) -- You have spent your entire life learning how not to be overpowered by the strong personalities around you. As such, if someone tries to use the Intimidation ability on you, you may spend one Point and resist it. Roleplay this: you are steeling your nerve to stand up to them, successfully.
Hero (Hero) -- You are, at heart, a hero - and pretty decent at it when you're being genuinely heroic. When someone nearby is just about to get badly hurt, you can save them with your timely intervention. You can either take the hit yourself, or spend a Point - in which case both you and they get off scott-free. (You can't do this just to save yourself, though.)
Historical Background
The following were notes while the character was evolving. They do not necessarily represent the way it came out.
The good guy. At least, he thinks he's the good guy. Othar is utterly, totally bugfuck insane, living in his own little world, but he's too much fun to not have in-game. He is 100% certain that [he is the hero].
Othar's mission in life (v3, p122) is to kill all Sparks. He is utterly certain about the rightness of his cause. However, it is terribly easy for someone (v3, p123) to convince him that they are on his side, and helping with his crusade. In his way, he's pretty lonely.
How does one plan to have Othar in a game chock-full of Sparks - many of them established enemies - without him nigh-constantly either (a) in combat, or (b) locked up / unconscious? I've been in games with this "eternal enemy" dynamic, and it gets very frustrating - either a player spends most of the game locked up, or the people being assaulted feel like the deck's been massively stacked against them. (Of course, in this case, anyone playing Othar should be well aware that he does tend to get captured a lot, and anyone playing opposite him ought to realize that he does inevitably escape, but still.)
Possible solutions: (1) He's been brainwashed or otherwise equipped with a device that alters his behavior. Problem is, then you don't really have Othar. (2) A player is given Othar and some other character who they play while Othar is incapacitated (as he will inevitably be). Problem: could end up with "need-to-be-in-two-places-at-once" problem unless the secondary character has a pretext for being arbitrarily 'turned off'. (Perhaps a Clank?) (3) He has some goal which is important enough for him to put off killing Sparks (at least, some of them) for a little while. Many of his established foes might try to lock him up just on general principle, though. --Darker Justin: my current running hypothesis is some variant of the latter, although the details remain to be clarified. There are several elements here. First, he's being manipulated by someone (probably Helen, but that's still to be seen) who has convinced him that helping them and exercising some discretion will serve his goals. Second, Klaus should probably need something from Othar, so that he can't kill him outright. And bear in mind that he doesn't have all that many enemies per se -- mainly Klaus. (Who is a really big enemy, but that's why he needs to be somewhat separated from his place of power.) So I'm figuring that he's probably in disguise at the beginning of the game, and after that we'll play it by ear. (Although, yes, I must admit that Othar is kind of difficult to disguisse convincingly. Hmm...)
Arnis: (4) Maybe Othar is really good at surviving, but just not all that good at killing people, in general? He's a hero, there are stories about him doing great deeds, but how many people do we know that he's killed? Justin: what a delightful point. Very good observation -- it's clear that Othar has great billing, but we have no clue how true it all is. All we really know is that he's an utterly brilliant escape artist. Oh, I like this... Darker: I'm quite entertained by that idea. I mean, from all we've seen, he's competent at the skills-which-theoretically-let-you-kill-people (shooting, fighting, etc[1]), but in a dramatic sense, he could simply be terrible at actually managing to hurt anyone. Klaus and Gil's contempt for him does seem stronger than their wariness. ([1] = His shooting might have been luck, but if he were terrible at hand-to-hand, I expect he wouldn't have given Klaus such a hard time of it.)
Othar originally assumes that Agatha is [the villain's beautiful daughter]. This is more or less literally true of Mirror-Agatha. Surely, we must do something with this. Indeed, he might be the one person who clearly can recognize the different Agathas -- insanity has its advantages. What is his relationship with Mirror-Agatha in her world? Either she's killed him, or they are accidental lovers. (Imagine her taking him as a lover just to bug Klaus when she's 16.) He must surely be as much of a problem to her there are he is to Klaus. Maybe, just to kick the tension up, he was somehow involved in the accident that led to her killing Klaus?
Othar arguably knows Agatha better than she knows herself. His goofy worldview aside, he understands quite deeply that she is a fellow hero (v4, p111), and he isn't willing to let her forget it. On (v4, p117) he's quite explicit about how well he understands her. Again, this argues that he is, in his odd way, quite perceptive. (Although one kind of wonders if Othar is the new incarnation of Bill/Barry in the Original Heterodyne Story -- he has the same black-and-white worldview, and is sinister in much the same way.)
Othar is a man who hears his own theme music at all times. He thinks in terms of cliche, and interprets everything in those terms. He believes that Agatha was Klaus' [plucky lab assistant], and that she is now [his spunky girl sidekick]. (He now calls her his "assistant" (v4, p108).) This is often [not flattering] to Agatha.
Othar is actually pretty manipulative, and quite willing to [play on peoples' natural sympathy]. Being so utterly certain that he is right gives him a deep willingness to do what it necessary to achieve his ends. But it's not clear whether he ever quite lies, per se.
His self-centeredness can sometimes devolve into a sort of [childlike self-pity]. But it never lasts long -- it requires introspection, and he just sort of bounces off of introspection. He also (v3, p119) likes to talk about himself and his adventures at all times. One does suspect that part of his reputation derives from his relentless self-promotion.
Othar's character sheet has to be written like a penny Victorian drama. "What is Their Sinister Plan? How will our Hero escape and triumph? Find out tonight, in the latest episode of -- Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer!" His speaking style has [a distinctive cadence], and almost every sentence ends with an exclamation point.
Othar really, really [hates Klaus]. In the Otharverse, Klaus is The Villain, with no redeeming social virtues. Curiously, Klaus' bad side tends to come out when Othar is around. He also [apparently considers] Gil to be a villain. He is [remorseless in his opinion that Gil needs to die].
He is a [skilled escape artist]. We probably want to simulate that via the Hero Points. Even when he is [falling to his obvious death from the Castle], Gil assumes quite casually that he'll find a way to survive.
He can be [pretty condescending] when he's in hero mode.
Agatha [quite consciously decided to save Othar] from Klaus. This wasn't necessarily one of her cleverer ideas, as she eventually realized (v3, p125). When the Hive Engine activates and the alarms go off in the Castle, she is [the one who decides to save him]. However, he probably doesn't realize that she was behind it, since [her clank] is the one who actually saves him. What does he do with this Clank afterwards?
Why does Gil believe that Othar is specifically [a danger to Agatha]? Is it simply that she's a Spark, or is it because she's a pretty woman, or that she might be gullible, or what?
Othar is a big fan of the Circus (v4, p106), and loves their Heterodyne shows. He doesn't appear to have ever twigged to the fact that they're mostly Sparks.
He specifically changes his mind about shooting her when he finds out that she's a Heterodyne (v4, p108). Is this simply the usual "Heterodynes are good guys", or is there something subtler going on here?
When Othar leaves on (v4, p117), he says he'll find her again in three months. We might assert that it's been that three months now -- it's not a bad timeframe. Or we might just leave it alone, and stay well out of continuity.
See Othars Avengers, and the others in it, for what's been happening to him lately.
As described earlier, Othar can essentially recognize all of the Agathas. Specifically, he recognizes that Maria is his sidekick, and adopts her as such. He never actually refers to her by name, and there should be nothing indicating that she's specifically Agatha, but he should initiate the tie.
What is Othar's Cunning Plan? He surely has one, somewhat at right angles to reality. It should criss-cross over other peoples' plans, interpreting them through his unique lens. It should probably be similar to Brain Transfer, but a very different view of it.
We probably want to give Othar some sort of Hero Points. No, he's not quite the real hero, but he is supernally lucky, and has a real talent for escaping at the last second. So he should probably have a special ability to reflect that, and to encourage him to do things that are incredibly stupid and dangerous.
Amount of Character Potential: Excellent (Dangerous and tricky to have in-game, but one of the most entertaining and requested characters. He's probably in.)