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Chem the Digger; Historical/Horror Swashbucklers villain
(c) copyright 2000 Volker Bach
Total Points: 72 Points
Age about 35; 5'9"; about 165 pounds; a stocky, unkempt,
brown-haired Englishman, raw-boned and heavily muscled, with
a broad, low-browed face and prominent nose. Usually dressed
in old and soiled working clothes.
ST 13 [30] - thrust 1d, swing 2d-1
DX 10 [-] - basic speed 5.5, move 5, dodge
5
IQ 11 [10]
HT 12 [20]
WL 14 [12]
ADVANTAGES: Extraordinary Luck [30]; Literate*
[5]; Reputation +2 (a lucky hand, among highwaymen,
10-) [2].
*default is Semi-Literacy
DISADVANTAGES: Delusion ("I am performing the work of God,
and stand under His protection") [-10]; Enemy* (Law
enforcement, 9-) [-20]; Obsession (Get revenge on
the gentry and clergy) [-15]; Reputation -4 (brutal
killer and rapist, among people "in the know", 7-)
[-3]; Sadism [-15].
*counts as medium-sized group due to lack of
organisation
QUIRKS: Quotes Scripture; Shows no respect to "Gentlefolk";
Talks a lot about his family; Doesn't care for appearances;
Never swears. [-5]
SKILLS: Agronomy/TL4-12 [4]; Area Knowledge
(Midlands)-13 [4]; Black Powder Weapons/TL4
(Matchlock Musket)-10* [.5]; Black Powder
Weapons/TL4 (Wheellock Pistol)-11* [1]; Brawling-12
[4]; Broadsword-10 [2]; Intimidation-13
[6]; Knife-12 [4]; Leadership-10
[1]; Riding (Horse)-10 [1]; Swimming-10
[.5]; Tactics-10 [2]; Theology (general
Christian, specialises in Leveller) 8/14 [1].
*includes +1 from IQ
LANGUAGES: English (native)-11 [0].
EQUIPMENT
Chem wears old, much-mended and soiled clothing, but always
goes armed. He usually carries a large knife and pair of .60
Belt Pistols (Dam 1d+1+, p.HT111, 124) on his person, and
owns a cavalry sword which he wears "on the job". Generally,
he does not put much store in worldly possessions.
BIOGRAPHY
Born to Essex cottagers in 1628, Chem Taylor grew up in
poverty, earning his keep as a farmhand from an early age.
His parents, though poor, were earnest and devout Puritans
and taught the boy to read Scripture, work hard and not to
swear, gamble, drink or spend his hard-earned money on
frivolities; this severe religious education still shows
through in many of his mannerisms and beliefs. During the
tumultuous years of the Civil War, Chem fell in with the
Levellers, a Protestant sect that preached the abolition of
social divides, common property and the renunciation of
earthly vanities. In 1649 - just secretly married to the
daughter of a cottar, Jane, who was then pregnant - he
joined the Diggers at St. George's Hill. This small group of
Levellers had become serious about common property of land
and freehold for all, and moved into an enclosed pasture to
settle and farm. For a few months the settlement thrived and
Chem thought he had found the fulfillment of his religious
vision. His dreams were shattered rudely when Parliament
soldiers moved in to clear the land, massacring the Diggers
and destroying their cottages and fields. Chem had been away
on errands and returned to find his young wife raped and
killed, his baby spitted on a cavalry lance and his house
burned to the ground. Recognised as a Digger, he fled from
the soldiers and hid in the forest for days before leaving
the area. Somewhere along the line, his sanity gave out.
Chem spent the next years in and out of temporary employment
as a day laborer, with a short stint in the navy. He tried
to banish the recurring horror from his mind by work, drink
and religious exercise, but nothing helped to lessen the
pain. After two years he had finally found the one thing to
ease his pain - revenge. To his mind, the rich - and
particularly the gentry - are to blame for all the wrongs he
suffered. Chem resolved to pay back everything.
Soon afterwards the young man fell in with robbers and
highwaymen, among whom he is respected for his strength, his
habit of thorough planning and most of all his almost
preternatural luck. Chem, of course, sees this as evidence
that the Lord approves his actions and goes on to ever more
daring deeds. He is also known, more widely, as a disturbing
man to be around. Soft-spoken and well-read in the Bible,
Chem is not given to pushing people around (though he is
very good at it if he wants to). With his upper-class
victims, however, a different facet shows through. Not
content with theft or murder, he obsessively delights in
hurting and humiliating them. Torture and rape are his
trademark, the more brutal the better. Unlike some
contemporary pirates, he does not particularly care to have
his name associated with these deeds, but these things
hardly stay secret for long. The words "Chem is abroad"
strike terror in the hearts of the gentry from Dover to
Carlisle.
ENCOUNTERED
Chem can be met among criminals up and down England anytime
between 1651 and 1666. He is often accompanied by temporary
associates, but has no regular gang. Low-class characters
will find him easy enough to get along with, though
reluctant to talk to strangers. If he has any money
(depending on recent successes, his Wealth fluctuates
between Comfortable and Dead Broke) he will readily give
small sums to the needy. Criminal characters may even be
approached by him about a "job". Upper-class characters will
rarely encounter Chem, except as his victims. He studiously
avoids gentlemen.
Anyone who has heard the terrible stories about Chem the
Digger will find it hard to believe that this quiet,
somewhat scruffy man is that monster. Characters seeing Chem
committing his handiwork will probably be repelled and
terrified, and resolve to stop him.
CANONICALITY
Chem the Digger uses the standard GURPS rules; the only
break from convention is that his Strong Will +3 is listed
with his attributes (although the cost is unchanged).
WHAT IF?
This is a "realistic" version of Chem, as an obsessive
serial killer appropriate for a 17th-century historical
game, or a low-fantasy game set at TL4. GMs wishing to be
even more realistic can remove Chem's Luck advantage, and
attribute his successful career to the ineptitude of
contemporary law enforcement.
Horror: In a game of low-tech Horror, Chem might be treated
as a Pyscho Killer (pp.H52-53), and be given Toughness and
several levels of Hard to Kill. For a more cinematic
villain, the GM might also want to raise his combat skills a
few notches.
Psychological Horror: Although serial killers doubtless
existed in the 17th century, the law enforcement and medical
communities of the day had nothing approaching our modern
notions about these monsters, or their motives. Chem fits
the bill ideally; an outwardly normal and unassuming man,
driven by an almost alien thirst for revenge... A popular
(if narrow) sub-genre of crime fiction is to experiment with
modern psychological and forensic techniques in a historical
setting; examples include Ellis Peters' Cadfael books, and
Caleb Carr's tales set in turn-of-the-century Manhattan.
Chem the Digger would make an ideal villain in such a game,
in which the PCs (be they clergy, local constables,
concerned gentry, etc.) try to catch their killer by piecing
together the psychological context that makes him what he
is. In such a campaign, Chem should work anonymously and
have no Reputation advantages or disadvantages; the PCs will
be forced to assemble their profile based on his choice of
victims, pattern of attacks and other modern detective
methods. In a desperate and horrific story of killing and
sleuthing, the PCs must identify and capture Chem before
another clergyman is brutally slain...
Supernatural: A campaign with a supernatural bent could find
a different explanation for Chem's sudden urge to inflict
pain and suffering. What if his feverish, grief-maddened
mind was possessed by some malevolent entity, a bloodthirsty
spirit or demon? Legend already speaks of his "Devil's
luck", and maybe there is more to this than idle talk. If it
is possible to sell one's Immortal Soul for revenge, Chem
would surely have done so...
ADVENTURE SEEDS
Vigilante Justice: Tragedy has struck the tiny town of
Wrotham, a day's ride south-east of London. The minister's
daughter was raped and killed, and the local sheriff's men
have no suspects, no leads and nothing further to say. The
minister - the pragmatic and ironically-named Mr. Gamble -
decides that that is not enough, and dips into his savings
to assemble his own team of mean to track his daughter's
killer down, and bring him to justice. The PCs may be from a
wide range of professions and walks of life; Mr. Gamble will
hire anyone with skill and a willingness to use it. The
killer, meanwhile, has doubtless moved on; the PCs will have
to follow the tales of his crimes, which will lead them to
their man. It could become a simple man-hunt, Chem's
identity widely known. Or it be a jigsaw puzzle of clues and
hints, with Chem's identity as elusive as his capture.
Race Against Time: Word has spread quickly across Devon,
Dorset and Somerset counties: Chem the Digger - thief,
murderer and rapist - has been caught, and he is to be
hanged in two days' time. The PCs will be glad to see him
go, until they are visited late at night by a mysterious
stranger, who tells them a terrible tale. Chem is no longer
a man, but a man possessed; his string of vile crimes is the
work of the Demon that nests in his Soul. And when Chem is
hanged, that Demon will escape and take up residence in
another man. The stranger makes the PCs understand that this
cannot be allowed to happen; if the Demon moves, he will be
lost, and by the time he is found again, countless good
Christians will already be dead. The PCs are asked to do the
unthinkable: they must save Chem the Digger from the
sheriff's men while they are moving him to the execution
grounds... And if they are successful, will the stranger be
able to exorcise the Demon? Will the heroes be saving Chem's
neck from the hangman's noose, or saving his soul from the
clutches of the Devil himself?
- written by Volker Bach
(volker_bach@public.uni-hamburg.de)
- formatting and additional material by andi jones
(andi@angelwerks.com)
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