Hividar "Sid" Macid, grease monkey, and Carl, actual monkey

[Jonkga]

So, rather than have to fish through the other thread for my character info, I figure I'd repost him in his own thread. This way, I can also post his advances to this thread, and track his progress.

Hividar Macid
Called "Sid" by most people who deign to talk to him (a play on the pronunciation of his last name), he is a small, slight, sickly looking man who looks younger than his approximately 30 years. And, as a Kurd from western Turkey, he is obviously a foreigner just about everywhere he goes. His family fled Turkey to avoid the resprisals following the Kurdish uprisings in the late 20's/early 30's, and he found himself in London. His father was working for a wealthy family who came to London so their sons could be educated Eton, but as he was from much lower means, that was not the future for him. Besides, he was already an adult, even if his small stature and poor health often made folks mistake him for much younger. He worked odd jobs, and maintained ready employment once his aptitude for anything mechanical or electrical came to light. His talents got him noticed by some of the various crime factions in London, and to avoid any entanglements, he made his way to America. Now in New York, he works in a garage, and hires himself out for odd jobs as well.

Sid is small, skinny, and not very robust. His workshirts and dungarees always look too big, and his belts look cinched well past the intended lengths. He frequently has a tool belt on and tools around him, and is often covered in grease an oil, though he tries his best to keep clean. He carries a Jaff bag, a shoulder bag made from a woven Kurdish rug, filled with his supplies when he travels. He has a M1921 Bolo Mauser he carries in a shoulder holster, which he acquired as it was a smaller version of the standard Mauser, but which still looks too big in his small hands. He frequently uses a large Crescent wrench as a club if he must fight, but he usually tries to avoid direct combat.

Sid also has a companion, a white-headed capuchin monkey named Carl. It seems that ever since he was young, Sid has had a way with animals. While working in London, a client had an ornery monkey, who didn't like anyone, but took to Sid the second they met. When paying him for his work, the client added Carl to the payment, as he liked Sid better than anyone ever. They've traveled together ever since. Carl has a small leather vest that holds some small wrenches and tools, and he frequently uses his tail to assist Sid while making repairs.

Attributes:
Agility d6
Smarts d10
Spirit d8
Strength d4
Vigor d4

Derived Stats:
Pace 6
Parry 2
Toughness 3
Charisma -2

Skills:
Boating d4
Driving d4
Fighting d4-2
Knowledge: Mechanics d8
Knowledge: Electricity d8
Common Knowledge d10
Lockpicking d4
Notice d8
Piloting d4
Repair d8
Shooting d4

Hindrances:
Outsider: Kurd (-2 Cha) (minor)
Small (-1 Toughness) (major)
Anemic (-2 Fatigue checks) (minor)

Edges:
McGuyver: can improvise when the need for a tool arises. No penalty to Trait rolls for not having correct tool. Can rig improvised devices to escape traps, etc.
Beast Master: animals won't attack unless attacked first, has an animal companion (Extra)

Weapon:
Crescent Wrench Str+d4 damage
Mauser pistol 2d6 damage, 12/24/48 range

Gear:
Jaff bag
Tools

Languages:
Kurdish
Turkish
English

Carl, capuchin monkey
Agility d8, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d10, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Climbing d8, Notice d6, Stealth d6
Pace 6, Parry 3, Toughness 3
Special Abilities:
Acrobat: +2 Agility to perform acrobatics, +1 to Parry if unencumbered
Bite/Claw: Str damage
Prehensile tail: can grip and hold things with tail
Size -2: Carl weighs just under 5 pounds
Small: attackers subtract 2 from their attacks to hit

[Jonkga]

For his 5XP advance, Sid will bump his Smarts from a d8 to a d10 (reflected above). This is in anticipation of skill bumps and edges to be chosen at later advances.

[NukeHavoc]

Common Knowledge isn't something you need to take as a skill. Everyone gets it, and it's based off your Smarts roll. See page 23 of the Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer's Edition:

Instead of asking characters to have dozens of background
skills they rarely need in actual play, we use the concept of
“Common Knowledge.” Your hero knows the basic history of
his land, common etiquette, how to get around geographically,
how to operate common machinery or equipment native to
his time period and location, and who the major players in
his locality are. A Common Knowledge roll is made by rolling
the adventurer’s Smarts attribute.

If a character’s background suggests he should know
something about a subject and he must make a roll, add +2
if most in his area or profession would know the answer. If
the subject is foreign to a character, subtract 2 or more from
the roll. Everyone else breaks even and gets no modifier.
If it becomes important to know how well a character
performs a common task, the GM can ask for whatever roll
is appropriate. Knowing how to do a dance, for example, is a
Common Knowledge roll. If it becomes important to see how
well a character performs the dance, the GM might ask for
an Agility roll (with no bonuses or penalties).

For example, an adventure might read: “Anyone who makes
a Common Knowledge roll detects that this cavern was carved
by civilized hands, not formed naturally.” A dwarf knows more
about stonework than an elf, so give the dwarf a +2 on the
roll. A human has about average knowledge, so no bonus is
granted. An elf who has spent most of his life in a forest won’t
know much about stonework, so the roll is at a –2 penalty.

If you're looking for something that fits a more street-level view of the world, then I think you'd put points into Streetwise.

[EvilGenius]

Common Knowledge isn't something you need to take as a skill. Everyone gets it, and it's based off your Smarts roll. See page 23 of the Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer's Edition:

If you're looking for something that fits a more street-level view of the world, then I think you'd put points into Streetwise.

I think one of the Character Building programs for Savage Worlds includes Common Knowledge as a "Skill" but it's just your Smarts score, it's not a separate skill that you spend points on. That's how I was reading Jon's character stats, anyway.

[NukeHavoc]

I've been thinking about how to best include Sid in adventures, and I'm scratching my head a bit on where to go. I have some ideas, but I thought I'd ask where you see the character going, what you see as his motivations, and what you'd consider a good adventure for him.

Is it about being the group's mechanical troubleshooter? What sort of challenges would you like him to go up against?

[NukeHavoc]

I think one of the Character Building programs for Savage Worlds includes Common Knowledge as a "Skill" but it's just your Smarts score, it's not a separate skill that you spend points on. That's how I was reading Jon's character stats, anyway.

Ah, ok. That makes sense. In that case it should be a d10 since he bumped Sid's Smarts score.

[Jonkga]

I think one of the Character Building programs for Savage Worlds includes Common Knowledge as a "Skill" but it's just your Smarts score, it's not a separate skill that you spend points on. That's how I was reading Jon's character stats, anyway.

Ah, ok. That makes sense. In that case it should be a d10 since he bumped Sid's Smarts score.

Yes, This. Sid is certain not the Streetwise type. And so I adjusted as necessary.

[Jonkga]

I've been thinking about how to best include Sid in adventures, and I'm scratching my head a bit on where to go. I have some ideas, but I thought I'd ask where you see the character going, what you see as his motivations, and what you'd consider a good adventure for him.

Is it about being the group's mechanical troubleshooter? What sort of challenges would you like him to go up against?

So, I'm not quite sure I understand the question. We just did an amazon river expidition where the mystic, the ex-cop, and the professor were just as out of place as the mechanic.

Sid is a Warden for the same reasons the other characters are: he understands there are weird forces out there, and sometimes it is up to a small-group of like minded individuals to turn the tide for good.

As for adventures, yes, as far as the stats go, Sid is a mechanic, so having things to repair would be good. However, I don't know that you need to write with that in mind. For example, in the last session, at the dock, Sid's plan had been to get on top of the forecastle in order to use his mechanical knowledge to drop the yardarm on whatever beastie was coming out of the hold. He didn't make it up there, and things never came out that direction, but that was my plan to use his abilities in the situation in which we were put. Part of that was my mistake, as I could have asked for more description of the docks, in order to see if there were cranes, shipping containers, etc. for him to interact with. As long as we flesh out the environment, there should always be things for him to "repair" into service for the cause.

Does that help?

[NukeHavoc]

Does that help?

Yep. It's not so much a question of a mechanic being more or less out of place than an ex-cop or a mystic, as it is trying to make sure characters have something to do. I can't do that for every encounter, but when working on adventures I do try and throw in the appropriate challenge from time to time. I think that worked well with the Star Wars campaign.

Mostly I wanted to make sure I knew what you wanted to get out of Sid as a character. Knowing what you were hoping to do with the ship is very helpful.

Thanks.

[Jonkga]

Cool, yeah, it probably would have also helped if I explained that during the game.


I see it like the early Jheru, with his Throw Anything ability where I was always asking what was laying around, etc. Sid has a gun, and can swing a wrench, but mostly I see him using his mechanical and electrical knowledge to jury-rig the environment either during combat or to suss out information from the surroundings.