Eldritch Gits Character - Franklin Deleanor Smith

We're starting a new game, Eldritch Gits. I'm playing a 4-term soldier who went into the Infantry. As I've mentioned in the Space Gits & Fantasy Gits games, the Gits series takes after Traveller a lot in terms of prior history. You go through each term, gains some skills or abilities, and have an event. I managed to go all 4 terms, the max, without going to prison. As did 2 of the other players. One ended up in prison for initially a 3-year sentence but apparently misbehaved and had 4 years added. Though he ended up getting out a year early for good behavior. 

Randomly rolling my background, Frankie is born to poverty. Born 1893 to an impoverished family, he decided the Army was his way out of the wrong side of the tracks. His first term he gained a bit of smarts due to a good Army education. He also improved his dexterity and gained the Athletics skill. His second term, he specialized and joined the Infantry, learning the machine gun skill as well as gaining even more dexterity and strength. His 3rd 5-year term he had a strange encounter with a gypsy: he learned he was going to die on a boat. And as a side note, the GM had already said we would eventually be on a ship later! I feel I need to play Frankie like Mr. T in the A-Team and refuse to go on boats instead of flying! Frankie also met another player's character in prison. We were doing 1 term per player rounds, and one had "you meet someone" and it ended up being me. As we both ended up being enforcers for our gang later, this was our initial bonding apparently. In the final term, I gained some more skills and also made a pact with something "dark" for a favor. I asked for the name of the boat I was going to die on. Which oddly gives me a sense of immortality: if I never get on that boat I won't die! So Frankie can be pretty aggressive about a few things as he feels he won't die until he is on that boat. 

And I also just realized he would have been in the Great War, World War 1. That was July 1914 through November 1918. He was 19 when it started. And actually, let me see when his birthday is: d12 = June, and a d30 = 17. June 17, 1893. Here are some events for the day little Frankie was born:

• Gold is found in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
• The overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani in Hawaii occurred, with American planters establishing a new government. 
• The Wengernalpbahn railway in Switzerland was opened, connecting Wengen to the surrounding areas. 

Frankie has 4 siblings, 4 younger brothers: John, William and James (top 3 most popular names in the 1890s). Random rolls all ended up being younger brothers. Only 1 was also in the Army for the Great War, John, who is a year younger than Franklin. 

After we all went through our terms, we ended up with 2 enforcers and 2 brains of the party. The other players had some fun backgrounds, especially the one who went through prison. The brains of the party also have eldritch books - what could possibly go wrong?! We have a speakeasy behind the Hurricane Books and Curious. We've hired Joey, a kid, to keep watch for the cops, and added a poker table to the roulette table. Currently we get our liquor and load it through the loading dock at the back of the bookstore, which has a hidden door to the speakeasy. We added curious to the name to explain the potential sloshing of the boxes: snow globes, why yes, we do import snow globes. 

I want to play him as a brash person: he lived through the war and saw the atrocities that man can inflict on fellow man. One of the reasons he joined the gang to operate the speakeasy: man can be cruel, and you may as well fleece them for what you can as they deserve no better. His 20 years in the military taught him to be punctual, dress for the environment, and have a firm sense of hierarchy and command structure. Not sure which of the brains, Dr. Theodore "Ted" Knight or Dr. Winston Forrest Roberts, is the one at the top of that structure. But he views Tommy McCaffery as his equal and treats him like one of his younger brothers. The 2 doctors he will always respond with a "sir" in there somewhere as his army career never got him much higher than a sergeant or some NCO level. He also feels invulnerable and will take risks he should not. But refuses to get on boats. And perhaps also looks over his shoulder a bit, wary of that pact with something dark. He sleeps with the lights on, and a knife always strapped to him. 

Still poking around to find a good character image. 1930s soldiers are not hard to find, though I do want drawn art versus photos. For some reason I really don't like using real people for my games. One of my many quirks I suppose. 

most of the character sheet