In 2012 I ran my first Fate game using the Dresden Files RPG setting/rules. The game was closer in nature to Supernatural, with the players driving across the US in “cool cars” solving mysteries and hunting monsters. This is the write-up of Claire Renfield, monster hunter who fought the monster within.
Claire Renfield
Age: 19
Template: Psion
High Concept: Fiery, Feisty Firestarter
Trouble: Am I Hunter or Monster?
Background
Claire was born into hunting. Her mother died when she was three and her father, Marcus, vowed revenge on the sorcerer who killed her. Claire takes after her mother, with bright red hair and a tiny frame and a 4’8″ height.
Aspect: Little
Example Invoke: Dodge, squeeze through small spaces and otherwise take advantage of your small size
Example Consequence: Make it harder for you to run, jump or reach things on high shelves
Rising Conflict
Though short (often causing her age to be questioned), as she matured, Claire found she could turn male desires to her benefit. She often played the “tease” working with her father to distract authorities/guards.
Aspect: Vamp
Example Invoke: Get your way with charm, persuasion, and womanly wiles
Example Consequence: Have your opinion marginalised, because people think you’re just a pretty face
First Story: Boiler Room
Claire had assisted her father since she was 10, but had not been part of the hunt (research, wheel-man, etc.). That was, until at age 16, she ran into an factory to help save Marcus and, in a panic, set a pack monsters on fire with her mind! …And, uh, whoops, her dad, too.
Aspect: Urged by an Inner Demon
Example Invoke: Remember cursory details in exacting detail / Improve any roll dealing with fire by +2
Example Consequence: Have adverse effects on those around you, but as far as you know have no impact on you. Go on, take the free Fate Point, what could possibly go wrong…
Initial Team-Up: Firebranded
Guest Star: Narsimha “Mac” Mohin
When hunting a Revenant, Claire ran into a friend of her father’s and fellow hunter, Mac. The Native American was patient and focused on his research, which the firestarter only found aggravating. She rushed in and used her power against the undead. And fire is one of a Revenant’s greatest weaknesses…
Aspect: Impulsive
Example Invoke: Act first and fastest! (Maybe even interrupt another person’s stated action)
Example Consequence: Act quickly, and realize too late what you’ve just done.
Secondary Team-Up: Frostburn
Guest Star: Nicola Christino
When faeries are stealing babies for their circles, it’s time for a hunter to step in–regardless of how many one has to face. Or how many two have to face, when joined with a fellow hunter (who seemed to have her own secret powers).
Aspect: Face the Onslaught
Example Invoke: Fight against foes that outnumber you
Example Consequence: Keep you from escaping a battle
Background
Claire was born to Kayleigh and Marcus Renfield. Marcus was a rally racecar driver and Kayleigh managed most of his races. Not that Claire really got to see their blissful family life; when she was three, her mother was abducted (possibly seduced? her father wasn’t too clear in his retelling) by a sorcerer. A confrontation between the sorcerer and Claire’s parents left her mother dead on his father on the warpath. As Claire grew up, both she and her father were introduced to a world where magic and monsters both existed. There were only two worlds in the redhead’s life: racing and hunting. Education came from her father and friends and was anything but formal.
Marcus wasn’t reckless with his daughter–he never brought her into hunt proper. Instead, Claire’s duties were research, mapping, interacting with locals, and (once she was fourteen) driving. Her years of playing the investigator left her with a strong command of social skills. She could utilize her small frame and lack of height to play the innocent or charm information from the locals–whatever was best suited for the mark. It was a good, if abnormal, life.
A lot changed when the redhead reached the legal age of driving. Despite her father’s wishes, Claire wanted to experience more of the hunt. When he went into an older factory-turned nest of ghouls, Claire bided her time and eventually followed Marcus into the building’s inner bowels. She saw him fighting the monsters and it didn’t look like the fight was going his way. An inner voice made her reach out with her mind, touching the nearby boiler and it exploded. The fire killed most of the ghouls and frightened the rest away, but also consumed her father. She rushed her father to the hospital and he managed to survive, but at the cost of his legs. Marcus could no longer hunt nor race.
Eventually, her father began utilizing his knowledge to help hunters build or obtain custom inventions or devices they could use against the monsters. He became a contact for various hunters (mostly in the western half of USA and Canada). He never found out that it was his daughter who caused the explosion, only that it was she who took him to the hospital.
Claire, meanwhile, picked up where her father left off, as a hunter. She earns any needed cash in under-the-table races. Survival isn’t her problem, though. It’s her power, and the voice inside her head that seems to drive it. Claire isn’t entirely sure whether the she’s a psion or has some sort of evil manifestation within her–though no tests seem to indicate a supernatural presence. So, she keeps the knowledge of her power a secret. But that doesn’t stop her from using it when necessary or, when unnoticed, even when not actually required.
Base Refresh: 8
Total Refresh: 2
Skills
Superb:
Great: Driving, Presence, Rapport
Good: Conviction, Deceit, Empathy
Fair: Lore, Investigation, Stealth
Average: Athletics, Endurance, Weapons
Powers & Stunts [-6]
Power: Pyrokinesis
Stunt: Eat Chrome!
Stunt: Honest Lies
Stunt: Pin the Tail
Stunt: Sex Appeal
Power & Stunt Descriptions
Pyrokinesis: The ability to manipulate (but not create) fire from a live flame. A live flame can be strengthened and directed. Conviction is used for the strength of the flame, but Discipline is required for fine control (something Claire notably lacks–she’s more of a flamethrower than a blowtorch). A pyrokinetic can manipulate fire but is not immune from it; they can be burnt like any other human. Example usage: turn the flame from a zippo into a fiery spray like a movie’s hairspray + lighter; force a charcoal-style boiler to explode; turn a campfire into a bonfire or forest fire.
Eat Chrome!: Receive +1 to Driving when using the skill to attack or block.
Honest Lies: Whenever incorporating a real, valuable piece of the truth (however marginally valuable it may be) into a lie, you gain a +2 on your Deceit efforts to pass off the untrue parts.
Pin the Tail: You’re a tough person to shake once you get on someone’s trail. Gain +2 to your Investigation rolls when trying to keep track of a target during surveillance. When Shadowing someone using Stealth, you may use Investigation to complement your Stealth skill.
Sex Appeal: Folks attracted to people of your gender cannot help but notice you. You’ve got “it”. Receive a +2 to the roll on any seduction attempts you make with Rapport, provided that the target is someone who could be receptive to your advances.
Stress Tracks
Physical 000
Mental 0000
Social 0000
Recent Comments