The Mastermind
So, I'm getting to grips with the basics of the Leverage rpg, at least enough to stat some characters. I also write waaay too much about them.
You hear about people going postal, but how many genuine criminal masterminds started out working for the US Postal Service?
Vance Burke did.
Born in 1960, Vance grew up on a farm outside Ames, Iowa. He'll tell you that he was a bit of a rascal, and was often the brains behind a lot of stupid stunts. He never got into serious trouble though, maybe he just manage to wriggle his way out of it.
After a stint in the army (Logistics, on a base in West Germany), Vance went to university and got a degree in psychology. The people he studied with remember him as a smartass, but with actual brains to back it up. ”Looking back, I guess he kinda saw everything as a system to be gamed, you know?”, remembers student buddy Lorraine Fadden.
After graduation he raised a bit of hell, and was honestly a bit rudderless (and often quite drunk). He gambled, but quickly found out that most games were either seriously rigged, or not worth gaming.
It was Vance's love of systems that lead him to enter the US Postal Inspection Service. Here was a huge system full of parts that people was trying to take advantage of. Mail fraud, contraband, letter bombs, even robberies. A lot of stuff to contend with.
Throughout the 80s, Vance hunted several grifters who worked the mail angle (fraudulent advertisements, Ponzi schemes, and advance-fee fraud). Busted a few small-time child porn rings too.
He also got shot one time in Lafayette, Indiana, while stopping a particular idiotic stick-up artist. It didn't keep him out of commission long though.
A few incidents lead Vance to realize that there were harmful matter sent through the mail, stuff that seemed to be outside his conception of how the world worked.
Incident #1: A particularly grubby individual had been apprehended for disseminating kiddy porn, and Vance had assigned a junior inspector to go through the pile. ”Don't look at it too much” Vance had warned. ”You can't afford a drinking habit on your salary”.
Vance had begun writing his report when the man started screaming. ”They're all over meee” he howled, while scratching himself violently. He had to be subdued by Vance and another inspector.
What he had found was an oblong object, about the length of a hand, seemingly made from beetles glued together.
On a hunch Vance didn't touch it, but simply set fire to it with his cigarette lighter. He was later reprimanded for this.
The young inspector is in an institution to this day. Something very lively seems to reside under his skin.
Incident #2: A man came into his local post office in St. Joseph, Missouri, starting to shoot up the place. When apprehended, he claimed that someone had sent him ”The Book of Earth”, and that he wanted to ”end it's contagion”.
Vance's last job for the USPIS in 1996 was a big deal. The Omniplan fraud put several businesses out of commission, involved many federal agencies, and yet it wasn't enough for Vance.
He'd grown bored with the limitations of the USPIS, filing expense accounts, and the tedious predictability of most cases. Besides, it seemed like the guys on the other side of the law could have much more fun. If only they'd grow a brain.
After he left the USPIS, he recruited a couple of small-time crooks and ran a few well-planned and wildly successful jobs. While the criminal underworld was initially wary of this new player (earning Vance a few beatings), he quickly got a rep in the Midwest as the man to see if a job was to be genuinely well-planned. He'd become a consulting criminal!
Vance could have happily lived out his life as a mastermind-for-hire, if it hadn't been for the Rapid City job. The job that descended down beyond pear-shaped and into a fresh circle of Hell.
He'd been hired for a simple, yet interesting job. Some obsessed book collector, Theodore Young by name, desperately wanted a copy of some moldy tome. Obstacle: owner would under no circumstances sell. Solution: have some pros steal it.
Things went well up to a point. The tech-head he'd found defeated the security systems handily, and after that it was plain sailing for the twin cat burglars. Sure, Vance had to be a bit more hands-on than he'd like, and personally punch out some low-rent security good, it's all in a day's work.
The book, Cthaat Aquadingen if you must know, had a room of its own, and it was just picking the lock, waltz in and take it.
Except that when one of the twins touched the book, reality burst like a ripe fruit. Walls, floor, everything revealed itself to be the scaled snake-like necks and blindly groping heads of some deep-sea abomination. It filled the world. It was the world.
Only Vance and one of the twins were the only ones to get out. She's picking pockets on the Atlantic City boardwalk these days. No B&E. No, Sir.
Vance hit the road and found himself in a motel outside Seattle. He drank, brooded, drank some more when his thoughts frightened him. Sometimes the walls would close in and he'd walk frantically around the parking lot. Sometimes the rain smelled like salt water and seaweed.
Then he researched. He haunted bizarre corners of the internet, made casual inquiries to his contacts. Many thought he'd lost it, but some told strange stories. Conjurers. Bad juju. Dead men and hungry things.
Vance made a decision. He'd cross back over and become a white hat, but on his own terms. Now there was something real to fight. Something vast and horrible, and it would take the best minds and nimblest hands of crime to take it on.
He began assembling a team. The stars of crime, but the ones like himself. Ones that had seen their resolve and cunning evaporate in the face of something they didn't understand.
It took some time, but now it is 2010, and Vance is heading a crew unlike anything the world has ever seen.
Vance is a slightly portly man around 50. He looks and sounds like an Iowa farmer in his church suit. During a con this may lead some people to underestimate him, which is just how he likes it.
To his crew he can be a bit of a bastard on occassion. Hectoring, lecturing and not as funny as he thinks. He's got a gift for being persuasive too, however, and when things go haywire he's the calm center with the right advice at the right moment.
ROLES
Grifter: d6
Hacker: d6
Hitter: d8
Mastermind: d10
Thief: d4
ATTRIBUTES
Agility: d6
Alertness: d8
Intelligence: d10
Strength: d8
Vitality: d8
Willpower: d8
Distinctions: Smartass, Hayseed, Stubborn.
Specialities: Federal Bureaucracy (Mastermind), Psychology (Grifter)
Talents:
Sea of Calm
When everything goes to hell, that’s when you step up and pull the team together.
Role: Mastermind
Activation: Any Crewmember that you’re in contact with fails a roll that’s part of a Contested Action or a Timed Action.
Effect: The next Crewmember (that you’re in contact with) to make a roll may add your Mastermind die to the roll.
Stay On Target
You encourage your Crew to ignore distractions and keep their goal in mind.
Role: Mastermind
Activation: The Fixer rolls a Complication die as part of a roll against a Crewmember you’re in contact (verbal or electronic) with. You must spend a Plot Point to activate this Talent.
Effect: You nullify that Complication, eliminating it for the duration of the Job.
ROLES
Grifter: d8
Hacker: d10
Hitter: d4
Mastermind: d6
Thief: d4
ATTRIBUTES
Agility: d8
Alertness: d10
Intelligence: d10
Strength: d6
Vitality: d6
Willpower: d8
Distinctions: Smarter Than You Dear, Favorite Aunt, Old-School
Specialities: Department of Defense (Hacker), Counterculture Cred (Grifter)
Talents:
Fake Money, Real Problems*
Most finance is done on computers these days, which means you can shut it down pretty easily.
Activation: You are making a Hacker roll involving the Mark’s money or resources. Spend a Plot Point for an additional effect.
Effect: Add a d8 to your roll. If you spend a Plot Point, nullify one Trait of a Supporting Character
that relates to his wealth or material resources, for one scene only.
PDQ Rembrandt
You have an artist’s eye, and you’re quick about it.
Activation: Use your Hacker die in a roll involving creation of forged artwork, documents, or photographs, including ID cards.
Effect: You complete the task in a fraction of the usual time: hours rather than days, or minutes rather than hours.
*This Talent is not in the book, but was created by the mighty Steve Darlington. Thanks, Steve!
Vance Burke did.
Born in 1960, Vance grew up on a farm outside Ames, Iowa. He'll tell you that he was a bit of a rascal, and was often the brains behind a lot of stupid stunts. He never got into serious trouble though, maybe he just manage to wriggle his way out of it.
After a stint in the army (Logistics, on a base in West Germany), Vance went to university and got a degree in psychology. The people he studied with remember him as a smartass, but with actual brains to back it up. ”Looking back, I guess he kinda saw everything as a system to be gamed, you know?”, remembers student buddy Lorraine Fadden.
After graduation he raised a bit of hell, and was honestly a bit rudderless (and often quite drunk). He gambled, but quickly found out that most games were either seriously rigged, or not worth gaming.
It was Vance's love of systems that lead him to enter the US Postal Inspection Service. Here was a huge system full of parts that people was trying to take advantage of. Mail fraud, contraband, letter bombs, even robberies. A lot of stuff to contend with.
Throughout the 80s, Vance hunted several grifters who worked the mail angle (fraudulent advertisements, Ponzi schemes, and advance-fee fraud). Busted a few small-time child porn rings too.
He also got shot one time in Lafayette, Indiana, while stopping a particular idiotic stick-up artist. It didn't keep him out of commission long though.
A few incidents lead Vance to realize that there were harmful matter sent through the mail, stuff that seemed to be outside his conception of how the world worked.
Incident #1: A particularly grubby individual had been apprehended for disseminating kiddy porn, and Vance had assigned a junior inspector to go through the pile. ”Don't look at it too much” Vance had warned. ”You can't afford a drinking habit on your salary”.
Vance had begun writing his report when the man started screaming. ”They're all over meee” he howled, while scratching himself violently. He had to be subdued by Vance and another inspector.
What he had found was an oblong object, about the length of a hand, seemingly made from beetles glued together.
On a hunch Vance didn't touch it, but simply set fire to it with his cigarette lighter. He was later reprimanded for this.
The young inspector is in an institution to this day. Something very lively seems to reside under his skin.
Incident #2: A man came into his local post office in St. Joseph, Missouri, starting to shoot up the place. When apprehended, he claimed that someone had sent him ”The Book of Earth”, and that he wanted to ”end it's contagion”.
Vance's last job for the USPIS in 1996 was a big deal. The Omniplan fraud put several businesses out of commission, involved many federal agencies, and yet it wasn't enough for Vance.
He'd grown bored with the limitations of the USPIS, filing expense accounts, and the tedious predictability of most cases. Besides, it seemed like the guys on the other side of the law could have much more fun. If only they'd grow a brain.
After he left the USPIS, he recruited a couple of small-time crooks and ran a few well-planned and wildly successful jobs. While the criminal underworld was initially wary of this new player (earning Vance a few beatings), he quickly got a rep in the Midwest as the man to see if a job was to be genuinely well-planned. He'd become a consulting criminal!
Vance could have happily lived out his life as a mastermind-for-hire, if it hadn't been for the Rapid City job. The job that descended down beyond pear-shaped and into a fresh circle of Hell.
He'd been hired for a simple, yet interesting job. Some obsessed book collector, Theodore Young by name, desperately wanted a copy of some moldy tome. Obstacle: owner would under no circumstances sell. Solution: have some pros steal it.
Things went well up to a point. The tech-head he'd found defeated the security systems handily, and after that it was plain sailing for the twin cat burglars. Sure, Vance had to be a bit more hands-on than he'd like, and personally punch out some low-rent security good, it's all in a day's work.
The book, Cthaat Aquadingen if you must know, had a room of its own, and it was just picking the lock, waltz in and take it.
Except that when one of the twins touched the book, reality burst like a ripe fruit. Walls, floor, everything revealed itself to be the scaled snake-like necks and blindly groping heads of some deep-sea abomination. It filled the world. It was the world.
Only Vance and one of the twins were the only ones to get out. She's picking pockets on the Atlantic City boardwalk these days. No B&E. No, Sir.
Vance hit the road and found himself in a motel outside Seattle. He drank, brooded, drank some more when his thoughts frightened him. Sometimes the walls would close in and he'd walk frantically around the parking lot. Sometimes the rain smelled like salt water and seaweed.
Then he researched. He haunted bizarre corners of the internet, made casual inquiries to his contacts. Many thought he'd lost it, but some told strange stories. Conjurers. Bad juju. Dead men and hungry things.
Vance made a decision. He'd cross back over and become a white hat, but on his own terms. Now there was something real to fight. Something vast and horrible, and it would take the best minds and nimblest hands of crime to take it on.
He began assembling a team. The stars of crime, but the ones like himself. Ones that had seen their resolve and cunning evaporate in the face of something they didn't understand.
It took some time, but now it is 2010, and Vance is heading a crew unlike anything the world has ever seen.
Vance is a slightly portly man around 50. He looks and sounds like an Iowa farmer in his church suit. During a con this may lead some people to underestimate him, which is just how he likes it.
To his crew he can be a bit of a bastard on occassion. Hectoring, lecturing and not as funny as he thinks. He's got a gift for being persuasive too, however, and when things go haywire he's the calm center with the right advice at the right moment.
ROLES
Grifter: d6
Hacker: d6
Hitter: d8
Mastermind: d10
Thief: d4
ATTRIBUTES
Agility: d6
Alertness: d8
Intelligence: d10
Strength: d8
Vitality: d8
Willpower: d8
Distinctions: Smartass, Hayseed, Stubborn.
Specialities: Federal Bureaucracy (Mastermind), Psychology (Grifter)
Talents:
Sea of Calm
When everything goes to hell, that’s when you step up and pull the team together.
Role: Mastermind
Activation: Any Crewmember that you’re in contact with fails a roll that’s part of a Contested Action or a Timed Action.
Effect: The next Crewmember (that you’re in contact with) to make a roll may add your Mastermind die to the roll.
Stay On Target
You encourage your Crew to ignore distractions and keep their goal in mind.
Role: Mastermind
Activation: The Fixer rolls a Complication die as part of a roll against a Crewmember you’re in contact (verbal or electronic) with. You must spend a Plot Point to activate this Talent.
Effect: You nullify that Complication, eliminating it for the duration of the Job.
ROLES
Grifter: d8
Hacker: d10
Hitter: d4
Mastermind: d6
Thief: d4
ATTRIBUTES
Agility: d8
Alertness: d10
Intelligence: d10
Strength: d6
Vitality: d6
Willpower: d8
Distinctions: Smarter Than You Dear, Favorite Aunt, Old-School
Specialities: Department of Defense (Hacker), Counterculture Cred (Grifter)
Talents:
Fake Money, Real Problems*
Most finance is done on computers these days, which means you can shut it down pretty easily.
Activation: You are making a Hacker roll involving the Mark’s money or resources. Spend a Plot Point for an additional effect.
Effect: Add a d8 to your roll. If you spend a Plot Point, nullify one Trait of a Supporting Character
that relates to his wealth or material resources, for one scene only.
PDQ Rembrandt
You have an artist’s eye, and you’re quick about it.
Activation: Use your Hacker die in a roll involving creation of forged artwork, documents, or photographs, including ID cards.
Effect: You complete the task in a fraction of the usual time: hours rather than days, or minutes rather than hours.
*This Talent is not in the book, but was created by the mighty Steve Darlington. Thanks, Steve!