The Academic studies the world from her desk. Everything is interconnected via logical rules
of causality, yet she suspects something must be wrong. Pieces refuse to fall into the safe,
predictable patterns of common scientific models. Worse, shadowy forces silence new and
alternative fields of research. Those who question the scientific establishment and its rational
worldview risk disgrace and the destruction of their research, reputation, and revenue.
Does she dare to look for the truth?
OCCUPATION
Choose your Academic’s occupation from the list below, or invent one of your choosing:
Professor, Student, Ph.D. candidate, Teacher, Public servant, Advisor,
Politician, Author, Television show host, Aristocrat, Researcher,
Psychologist, Archaeologist, Dilettante, Antiquarian.
DARK SECRETS
Choose 1 or more Dark Secrets. Suggestions:
◊◊Forbidden Knowledge
◊◊Guardian
◊◊Occult Experience
◊◊Returned from the Other Side
◊◊Strange Disappearance
DISADVANTAGES
Choose 2 Disadvantages. Suggestions:
◊◊Nightmares
◊◊Obsession
◊◊Phobia
◊◊ Repressed Memories
◊◊Rationalist
◊◊Stalker
ADVANTAGES
Choose 3 Advantages from the list below.
◊◊Academic Network (Charisma)
◊◊Authority (Charisma)
◊◊Elite Education (Charisma)
◊◊Collector (Reason)
◊◊Data Retrieval (Reason)
◊◊Expert (Reason)
◊◊Occult Studies (Reason)
◊◊Elite Sport (–)
ATTRIBUTES
Assign the modifiers +2, +1, and +0 to the three passive attributes:
Fortitude, Reflexes, and Willpower.
Assign the modifiers +3, +2, +1, +1, +0, −1, and −2 to the seven
active attributes: Charisma, Coolness, Intuition, Perception,
Reason, Soul, and Violence.
LOOKS
Select or come up with your own distinguishing features for
your character. Some suggestions:
Clothes: Tweed, carefree, ill-fitting, mottled, proper, suit,
casual, nerdy, or old-fashioned clothes.
Face: Childish, round, ravaged, tired, pale, square, disproportionate,
narrow, beaky, ugly, handsome, aged, or
bearded face.
Eyes: Skeptical, arrogant, analytical, disinterested, curious,
shy, intelligent, distracted, authoritarian, glasses-framed, or
tired eyes.
Body: Thin, chubby, tall, wispy, bent, weak, athletic, out
of shape, slow, angular, rigid, impaired, large bellied, fat,
short, compact, or hairy body.
NAME
Choose a name for your character, suitable to the locale in
which the campaign is set.
RELATIONS
Everyone introduces their character by name, looks, and
personality. Take your turn. Write down the other player
characters’ names. Go around the table again to establish
your Relations.
If you know any of the other player characters from before,
choose one of these options to establish the relationship
between the two of you.
◊◊ One of the characters studied at the same campus
as you, and you became good friends.
Take +1 Relation with each other.
◊◊ One of the characters is your relative.
◊◊ One of the characters met you at a
seminar.
◊◊ You hired one of the characters as an
assistant for a research project.
◊◊ One of the characters is your
lover. Take Relation +1 or +2
with them.
Decide the nature of three additional
Relations: One neutral
(0), one meaningful (+1), and
one vital (+2).