OK? Can I now work on the thing I’m supposed to be working on, brain?
Betty Sparkle [250 pt]
Attributes [105]: ST 10, DX 11 [20], IQ 14 [80], HT 10, HP 10, Will 14, Per 15 [5], FP 10
Social Background: TL: 8 [0]
Cultural Familiarities: Languages: English (Native/None) [0]; Japanese (Native) [6]; Strine (Accented) [4].
Advantages [172]: Appearance (Attractive) [4], Claim to Hospitality (Swagmen) (3) [5], Contact (in home city) (Effective Skill 18) (9 or less; Somewhat Reliable) [3], Magery (3) [30], Magery 0 [5], Mana Enhancer (2) [100], Smooth Operator (1) [15]
Disadvantages [-95]: Bad Sight (Nearsighted) (Glasses) [-10], Code of Honor (Swagman’s) [-5], Greed (12 or less) [-15], Obsession (The big score) (Short-Term Goal) (12 or less) [-5], Secret (Criminal) (Imprisonment or Exile) [-20], Secret (Mage with Mana Enhancer) (Possible Death) [-30], Sense of Duty (Swagmen) (Large Group) [-10]
Quirks [-5]: Attentive [-1], Careful [-1], Chauvinistic [-1], Imaginative [-1], Nosy [-1]
Skills [56]: Acting IQ/A – IQ+1 15 [2]*, Archaeology IQ/H – IQ-1 13 [2], Area Knowledge (Homeline) IQ/E – IQ+1 15 [2], Carousing HT/E – HT+2 12 [2]*, Connoisseur (Visual Arts) IQ/A – IQ+2 16 [8], Criminology/TL8 IQ/A – IQ+0 14 [2], Detect Lies Per/H – Per-1 14 [1]*, Diplomacy IQ/H – IQ-1 13 [1]*, Fast-Talk IQ/A – IQ+1 15 [2]*, Filch DX/A – DX+1 12 [4], Forgery/TL8 IQ/H – IQ+0 14 [4], Gambling IQ/A – IQ-1 13 [1], Gesture IQ/E – IQ+0 14 [1], Guns/TL8 (Pistol) DX/E – DX+1 12 [2], Hidden Lore (Confidence games) IQ/A – IQ+0 14 [2], Hobby Skill (Comics/Manga) IQ/E – IQ+0 14 [1], Merchant IQ/A – IQ+0 14 [2], Panhandling IQ/E – IQ+1 15 [1]*, Research/TL8 IQ/A – IQ-1 13 [1], Savoir-Faire (Swagmen) IQ/E – IQ+1 15 [1]*, Search Per/A – Per+1 16 [4]
Sex Appeal (Human) HT/A – HT+2 12 [2]*/**, Stealth DX/A – DX+0 11 [2], Streetwise IQ/A – IQ+2 16 [4]*, Urban Survival Per/A – Per+0 15 [2]
- *Includes: +1 from ‘Smooth Operator’
- **Includes: +1 from ‘Appearance’
Spells [17]: Apportation IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Clean IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Colors IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Copy IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Dye IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Find Weakness IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Ignite Fire IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Light IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Purify Air IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Rejoin IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Repair IQ/H – IQ+2 16 [2], Restore IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Seek Earth IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Seek Water IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Soilproof IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1], Weaken IQ/H – IQ+1 15 [1]
Stats [105] Ads [172] Disads [-95] Quirks [-5] Skills [56] Spells [17] = Total [250]
Betty needs just six months or so to get her feet back under her. You hear that a lot, but she means it. There’s a plan, and everything, and she’s already done the hard part by clawing her way out of poverty. Now it’s just a matter of consolidating what she’s gotten so far, and using it to get somewhere safe. It can be done. It can be done.
‘Betty Sparkle’ started off as ‘Rebecca Sasaki,’ fifth-generation Nisei from the magical Merlin-1 timeline. Her magery appeared early, as usual; Betty’s mana enhancing abilities, on the other hand, only showed up during her late adolescence, and in a normal-to-high timeline like Merlin’s her ability to boost her personal mana level made Betty extremely dangerous to everyone around her. The official government response was, frankly, not Merlin’s finest hour, and it eventually led Betty to become a homeless fugitive with very few options.
It was at that point that the swagmen (a connected set of conmen and grifters from Homeline with access to multiple timelines) took Betty in, got her off of Merlin, and initiated her into their crooked confraternity. Partially it was from sentiment, and maybe it even partially from principle — but mostly it was because Betty turned out to be a dab hand at forging documents, both magically and mundanely. Betty absolutely took to the life like she was born to it, too. Which happens more often than one would think.
Betty’s main con — the one that has already gotten her out of poverty, and will get her wealthy soon enough, if she stays smart, and keeps her greed under control — is faking and restoring print media. Take, for example, the humble comic book. Betty can do the equivalent of a mundane restoration with a touch, or simply repair the whole thing back to mint condition. If she has the right kind of paper and cover, she can even perfectly duplicate the original artwork onto the new pages. On Merlin, this is all considered forgery when it’s done for commercial use, and they have sophisticated methods for detecting such things; on no-mana Homeline (and its echoes), they do not. And since Betty’s magical enhancing abilities allow her to cast spells normally (albeit, not at range) on Homeline, she’s in a great place to make some serious coin.
The problem is, of course, that the same ability that is making her money hand over fist is one that any government and most organizations would love to get their hands on. That’s why she has two Secrets; Betty doesn’t want Infinity to know that she’s a time criminal, obviously, but she really doesn’t want them to know that she can cast spells normally on Homeline. A stint in jail or Coventry* is one thing; being poked and prodded in a lab is something else entirely.
Betty Sparkle also has one other weakness: the swagmen themselves. She’s a bit more loyal to them than they might be (as a group) to her. The people who know that she’s a mage haven’t quite realized yet that she’s unique; they just figure that not everybody can cast spells, which is of course true. Swagmen will happily hide one of ‘theirs’ with a regular special ability; but will the group collectively keep the secrets of somebody that’d be worth an insane amount of money to sell out? Well… there’s more honor than you’d think among this particular set of thieves, but you’d only need one greedy idiot with a sudden case of realization to wreck Betty’s day.
One final note: if Betty’s ever captured by the regular authorities, ISWAT will swoop down from above to recruit her before she even sees a judge for a formal booking. If ISWAT finds out about her ahead of time, they’ll do their best to make sure that Betty thinks she got ratted out by the swagmen, just on general principles. The exact details of her arrest and recruitment (Betty will respond well to being allowed to use her powers openly, plus getting additional training in spellcraft) can end up reverberating throughout the rest of the campaign.
*The swagmen know how to get one of their own out of Coventry. They also know how to do it without tipping off the I-Cops.
The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the GURPS system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.
GURPS is a registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games, and the art here is copyrighted by Steve Jackson Games. All rights are reserved by SJ Games. This material is used here in accordance with the SJ Games online policy.