Day 25: The Rat
#CharacterCreationChallenge
Another day, another werecreature, but this time, it’s a little more disturbing than the previous ones. Ratkin - wererats - purpose was and is population control, often through spreading diseases. They are the most numerous species of werecreature in the setting of Werewolf: the Apocalypse, and the vast majority of them are Rodens, born as rats. In order to become one, one has to be infected with the birthing plague, a disease that causes several days of high fever, hallucinations and, almost always, death. The survivors - those with enough Ratkin blood in them - turn into Ratkin, although many keep some of the madness that almost consumed them.
Francis ‘The Mouse’ Allen
Background
Growing up in northern Florida, Francis always struggled in life - his parents were not poor, but far from wealthy. He had trouble focusing on anything he was meant to do in school, and spent more time daydreaming about fascinating worlds he created in his mind than learning about maths or spelling. After dropping out, he worked a variety of service jobs, including a three month stint in a… large theme park commonly associated with a rodent. It was while working there that he was found by a pack of Ratkin who recognised his heritage and infected him with the birthing plague. After a week of fevered madness, he found he was no longer employed, but was convinced that he was the exiled King of the Kingdom of Vermin, known as ‘The Mouse’, and that he had been deposed by enemies of the realm that were led by his archenemy, a Weasel known as The Sanctimonious. He began to travel, searching for allies that might help him take back his realm. When he came across a group of other shapeshifters on a quest of their own, he decided to join them despite their protestations.
Appearance
A haggard-looking young man, usually still wearing the uniform of a sales clerk from the souvenir shop he last worked at, Francis is not a pretty sight. He is twitchy, usually conceals his eyes behind a pair of sunglasses and clearly has not seen a shower in months - but his voice has a quality to it that few people can resist when he starts talking.
In his Rodens form, he is only slightly larger than a typical brown rat, and his Crinos form is barely larger than he is as a human, albeit bulkier and a lot more monstrous, appearing to be a hairless, upright-walking rat.
Character Concept
Concept: Disturbing Visionary
Changing Breed: Ratkin
Aspect: Munchmausen
Breed: Homid
Attributes:
Strength 1, Dexterity (Twitchy Reflexes) 4, Stamina 1
Charisma (Infectious Madness) 4, Manipulation (Doubletalk) 4, Appearance 2
Perception 2, Intelligence (Creative Logic) 4, Wits 2
Abilities
Talents:
Alertness 2
Athletics 1
Brawl 1
Empathy 2
Expression (Storytelling) 4
Intimidation 2
Primal-urge 2
Streetwise 2
Subterfuge (Big Lies) 4
Skills:
Animal Ken 1
Drive 2
Etiquette 1
Larceny 2
Performance 1
Stealth 3
Survival 1
Knowledges:
Engimas 2
Investigation 1
Occult 1
Rituals 2
Advantages
Backgrounds:
Fetish 1
Rites 2
Contacts 2
Gifts:
Cloak of Shadows
Eau de Rat
Persuasion
Renown:
Infamy 2
Obligation 1
Others
Rage 5
Gnosis 2
Willpower 3
Rank 1
Backgrounds
Fetish: The Standard Issue Sunglasses make him beneath notice to humans no matter the form he is in.
Rites: In addition to the Rite of Talisman Dedication, he also knows the Hazer Tag rite, which allows him to redirect all attempts to track him towards an unsuspecting patsy (in a rather gross fashion).
Contacts: Francis knows a few people - his former manager at the theme park who regrets having to let him go, and a Jacksonville police officer who he went to high school with. Neither of them would go far out of their way to help him, but they might be willing to trade favors.
Gifts:
Cloak of Shadows: Francis can hide himself and allies he touches in shadows, at the cost of a point of Gnosis, as long as he succeeds on a Manipulation + Stealth roll.
Eau de Rat: At the cost of a Gnosis point, the character can increase his body odour to the point where anyone in the immediate vicinity (within 6 metres) loses 2 dice from all dice pools.
Persuasion: A successful roll of Charisma + Subterfuge reduces the difficulty of all social rolls by one for the rest of the scene and allows successful rolls to have unusually strong impacts.
Character Sheet
Published at NZDT