Arthur Cecil Campbell, Canny & Curious Earthborn Scientist (John Carter of Mars, Modiphius)

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Preamble

Somewhere around 2008-2010, I accidentally started a literature review of the late 19th - early 20th centuries roots (yes, I'm well aware the roots run far deeper) of science-fiction and fantasy. Mostly, I was grabbing everything I could from multiple Project Gutenburg sites. One corpus of work was Edgar Rice Burroughs's adventures on the world of Mars - known by its native name, Barsoom. 

Although I thoroughly enjoyed the books, I honestly couldn't imagine how I would roleplay adventures in Barsoom - until I made this character.

First, I'm usually going to play a Canadian if I can. After that, likely someone from Ireland, Scotland, or England. Those are voices I'm comfortable with. I'm rather steeped in Canadian history, most of it rather disappointing in terms of humanity, but also quite a bit of genuinely good intentions.

Channelling all that, I invented this chap.

Warning - Very likely the following text contains anachronistic words that cause emotional distress. 

Concept: 

Arthur is a self-espoused Renaissance man of the right old age of 20 years enrolled in scientific study at the University of Toronto where he also enjoys gentlemanly pursuits of fencing, rifles, and various athletics. The American Civil War has just ended, and there is scuttlebutt that the Canada will purchase Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company, increasing the territory of the Dominion. On a lark one evening he joins a pair of chums to balance the party as the birds they were swooning after wouldn't attend unless their third friend had a male companion as well. The play is boring, and the sextet leave as his chums and their birds are being scandalous leaving Arthur with the last young lady, who, with her friends gone, finally breaks the ice and the two join a gathering of spiritualists. The whole thing seemed utterly silly to Arthur's rational, scientific mind, but they have coffee and absinth and Gertrude was easy to look at. 

Arthur kept his mouth shut as the spiritualists attempted to extract from him an opinion about their dealings with the other world. It was a time of enlightenment after all and even the kooks, as long as they were harmless, should be permitted their kookery. Ultimately he agreed, in the name of science, to participate in their seance. He believes he must have imbibed too much absinth by then or perhaps the oriental smokes in the room affected his perceptions, but he clearly heard voices and saw images of an alien landscape during the seance when none in the room admitted to any of it. 

After, Gertrude helped him to a cab, and he made his way home, despite the splitting headache and vertigo, certain he just needed to sleep and worried he wouldn't make the polo match the next day.

He wouldn't.

Arthur woke, naked as the moment of his birth, on a plateau, the alien vistas of his absinth visions, real before his eyes, and echoing in his mind, the word, Barsoom.

"Bloody hell."

Character

Name: Arthur Cecil Campbell

Race: Earthborn

Archetype: Scientist

Descriptor:  Canny

Title: none

Attributes

  • Cunning: 4
  • Daring: 5
  • Empathy: 6
  • Might: 7
  • Passion: 3
  • Reason: 7

Flaw:

  • Curiosity killed the Banth: Lose 3 Momentum if fail to explore mystery, unknown location, or strange new culture. (That's what put him in this situation. He'd like to say he was just being generous with his chums, just indulging the young woman's foolishness, but he was really curious to meet any girl even casually, and he genuinely wanted to know more about the spiritualist movement, even just to study them.)

Talents:

  • Leaps & Bounds 2
  • Wealth of Knowledge 1 - he is a true bookworm
  • Mighty Athlete 2 - only on Barsoom, otherwise he's fairly middling on Earth
  • Expert Rifleman 1 - his father taught him, and he is a member of a rifle club
  • En Garde 1 - he took up fencing 
  • Scientific Mind1
  • Rational Mind 1
  • One Scholar to Another 1 - passionate about knowledge

Equipment:

  • none, naked

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