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This week features another COTW matched set of characters:
two military officers from a steampunk 19th century Europe,
arch enemies, each obsessed with killing the other...
Major Jean-Francois Delcasse; trim, middle-aged officer
(c) copyright 2001 Volker Bach
Total Points: 103 Points
Age 46; 5'6"; 140 pounds; a wiry, dapper man in blue tunic
and red trousers - bespectacled and bewhiskered - usually
wearing a dress sabre.
ST 10 [-] - thrust 1d-2, swing 1d
DX 12 [20] - basic speed 5.75, move 5, dodge 5
parry
(broadsword) 6*
IQ 14 [45]
HT 11 [10]
WL 14 [-] - fright check 17**
*includes +1 PD from basket hilt
**includes +2 from Collected
ADVANTAGES: Absolute Timing [5]; Appearance
(Attractive) [5]; Collected [5]; Fit
[5]; Military Rank 4 (Major) [20]; Status 1*
[0].
*free from Military Rank
DISADVANTAGES: Code of Honor (Officer's) [-5]; Duty
(to Army, 12-) [-10]; Enemy (Klaus von Ravensberg,
6-) [-5]; Secret (Killed a man in a duel)
[-10]; Vow (Kill Klaus von Ravensberg)
[-10].
QUIRKS: Chauvinistic; Flashy dresser; Dislikes "hands on"
work; Twirls his moustache when thinking; Loves machines.
[-5]
SKILLS: Administration-13 [1]; Area Knowledge
(Franco-German Border)-15 [2]; Armoury/TL(5+1)
(Artillery)-14 [2]; Artist-12 [1];
Bicycling-11 [.5]; Boxing-10 [.5];
Broadsword (Sabre)-10 [.5]; Driving/TL(5+1)
(Tank)-12 [2]; Engineer/TL(5+1) (Steam Vehicles)-14
[4]; First Aid/TL6-14 [1]; Gunner/TL(5+1)
(Vehicle Cannon)-14* [2]; Gunner/TL(5+1) (Rotary
Machinegun)-13* [1]; Gunner/TL(5+1) (Field Guns)-13*
[1]; Guns/TL6 (Pistol)-13* [.5]; Guns/TL6
(Rifle)-13* [.5]; Leadership-13 [1];
Mechanic/TL(5+1) (Steam Engines)-13 [1];
Mechanic/TL(5+1) (Tank Drivetrain)-13 [1];
Orienteering-13 [1]; Riding (Horse)-11 [1];
Savoir-Faire-14 [1]; Savoir-Faire (Military)-13
[1]; Strategy (Land)-14 [4]; Tactics-12
[1]; Teamster (Horses)-12 [.5].
*includes +2 from IQ
LANGUAGES: French (native)-14 [0]; Greek-12
[.5]; Latin-12 [.5].
EQUIPMENT
Jean-Francois Delcasse always wears 'regimentals' - the
red-and-gold embroidered blue tunic and trousers of the
fashionable Régiment Deuxième d'Artillerie
Mobile Cuirassée. His dress coat, for grand
occasions, carries copious gold frogging and three medals
for conspicuous gallantry. His undress coat is more subdued,
but always immaculately spotless. He carries with him a
Swiss-made pocketwatch of unsurpassed precision, a tobacco
pouch and a spare set of steel-rimmed pince-nez spectacles
at all times. In action he carries a saber (treat as
stabbing broadsword), a Chamelot-Delvigne service revolver
in a belt holster (Malf crit, Dam 2d, SS 11, Acc 2, 1/2D
150, Max 1200, Wt. 2.6 lbs, ROF 1, Shots 6, MinST 11, Rcl
-2, Holdout -2), and occasionally a Mousqueton Gras carbine
(Malf crit, Dam 4d+1+, SS 14, Acc 8, 1/2D 700, Max 2300, Wt.
7.25 lbs, ROF 1/4, Shots 1, MinST 12, Rcl -3, Holdout -6).
None of these weapons sees much use.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1843 to a military family with three generations of
glorious service to the Grande Nation, Jean-Francois
Delcasse could hardly become anything but a soldier. His
instructors noticed the boy's impressive mental faculties
early, and he was sent to the prestigious École
Polytechnique to prepare him for the eventual officer
cadetship at StCyr. He entered the artillery late, but with
a string of credentials that assured him rapid promotion. In
no nation other than France would his interest in machines
and technology have been as readily tolerated; there, it
made him something of a star, expected to go to staff
college and eventually rise to the heights of
generalship.
It was not to be. He proved himself an excellent officer in
the Franco-Prussian War, which he fought as a Premier
Lieutenant in the field artillery, but his experiences
changed him forever. Carrying out the orders of
superannuated generals according to doctrines of combat more
suited to the Napoleonic wars than a modern battlefield, he
led brave men to horrible deaths in the lethal barrages of
the German artillery. Outranged, outgunned and outmatched at
every turn, he gave as good an account of himself as he
could before the end.
It was at that time - in the winter of 1870-71, a little
south of Paris - that he first came up against II Battery of
the Prussian 22. Horse Artillery and a young Lieutenant
Klaus von Ravensberg. The two men were evenly matched in
skill, determination, and aggressiveness, and involved their
units in a savage battle. Casualties were staggering on both
sides, and when - towards nightfall - the Prussians decided
to attempt a night raid on the French position, hatred
running high on both sides. The French gunners were taken in
the rear and shot and bayonetted by grey-coated artillerymen
led by a screaming blond giant sabering men left and right.
Delcasse fell, found himself at the feet of the Prussian
expecting death and - was spared. The next morning, his
battery re-organised as a tattered shadow of its former
self, ammunition wagons burned, guns spiked, the men in rags
and unarmed, many wounded, to move to the rear. In burning
humiliation, Jean-Francois Delcasse reported to headquarters
and tendered his resignation.
It was rejected. Delcasse ended the war as a Capitaine in
the artillery, decorated for gallantry and recognised as a
fine officer. He was also broken, embittered, riven with
self-doubt, feeling anger toward a complacent system and a
burning desire for revenge. His driven campaigning for
modernisation gained him no friends, and his naming
expressly those responsible for the debacle of 1870 made him
powerful enemies. Even when - largely at his insistence -
the first steam-driven Chars-Cannon (see Appendix I, COTW
#33c) of the Artillerie Mobile were commissioned, command
over the unit went to another man. Eventually, Delcasse was
made a Major and given command over a battalion of the new
war vehicles.
In the meantime he had also found the name of his nemesis,
the officer who had humiliated him by sparing his life in
that disastrous defeat. Klaus von Ravensberg, a Prussian
artilleryman, became the center of his revenge fantasies. He
followed the man's career, collected information about him,
sought his acquaintance and eventually confronted him,
deftly maneuvering him into a corner and forcing him into a
pistol duel. Delcasse lost, again owing his life to the
mercy of the Prussian. His hatred became obsession. Two
years later, in 1884, he managed to get into a quarrel with
von Ravensberg's brother-in-law, an attorney, and duelled
him. The young man died. Exultant, Delcasse wrote a letter
to Ravensberg explaining the whole story. In return, he
received the briefest of notes: "THE NEXT TIME YOU WILL
DIE."
ENCOUNTERED
Delcasse is an urbane, charming, vivacious man with a
pleasant demeanor, infectious laughter and a sense of humor
and good clean fun. His pace is exhausting to less energetic
people, but he knows how to enjoy himself and is generally
fun to be around. Women especially are likely to be taken in
by his attentions, and he is quite the charmer with a
reputation for amorous conquests. He consorts only with
people of his kind, preferring the company of men of letters
and scientists to that of the officers of the traditional
arms (infantry and cavalry). At work he is a perfectionist,
accepting and delivering nothing short of letter-perfect
performance. He treats his subordinates correctly, even with
some condescending warmth, but he tolerates no weakness or
indolence. Many soldiers have left his unit disgusted with
his demands, though all admit that there is no hypocrisy in
him - he lives up to his own standards.
His secret drives and obsessions are hidden far beyond the
surface, and very few people have ever seen his pleasant
face contorted by rage, his judgement clouded by hatred and
his hands shaking with anticipation of violent revenge. Most
put it down to his fervent hatred for all things German.
CANONICALITY
Jean-Francois Delcasse is fully canonical. His divergent
technical Skills are TL(5+1) according to GURPS Steampunk
(p.ST9), so he is not appropriate to a historical
campaign.
WHAT IF?
Both Delcasse and his nemesis Klaus von Ravensberg can
easily be played in a variety of tones, from cinematic
ultraviolence ("I will get him. Blow up the fucking building
already.") or fierce, brooding obsession to high tragedy
("Why didst thou not speak, Desdemona?") and even high camp
("I am Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to
die."). They should always remain somewhat tragic, sad
figures, however, trapped in a vicious circle of violence
and fixated on past events.
Delcasse works best in a Steampunk or darkened Castle
Falkenstein game. He could be translated into an officer in
a similar situation - a Russian after the defeat in Poland
in 1923, a Chinese officer in 1898 with a Japanese nemesis,
an Austrian after the Italian unification, or a South Korean
in the 1950s. It's probably not worth the trouble,
though.
ADVENTURE SEEDS
Jean Delcasse is a driven man, and any encounter with the
PCs should lead (over short or long) to a confrontation with
his obsession. In a civilian campaign, this is most likely
to take the shape of an intrigue (sophisticated, needlessly
complex and a little too pat, just as Delcasse likes his
plans) to get von Ravensberg in front of his gun (or
otherwise hurt him). Delcasse is an honorable man, within
limits, and quite aware of the obligation his service oath
places him under, so he will do nothing (overtly) that is
unbecoming or reflects badly on France, the French Army, or
his regiment. However, if he were presented with a tempting
opportunity to exploit such an opening he MIGHT just choose
to resign his commission...
If - in the apocalyptic tradition of the darker side of the
Steampunk genre - Europe explodes in warfare (with France
and Germany the likeliest culprits), he will be out on the
battlefield killing /boches/ with unholy delight and hunting
for von Ravensberg quite openly. His arm and unit are not
quite suited to this task, but he knows that if he just
wreaks enough merciless havoc, von Ravensberg will hear of
it and come to the showdown. Of course, if France and
Germany should end up ALLIES, Delcasse will be in a pretty
pickle. This could pose an interesting problem in its own
right for military PCs - trying to liaise co-ordinated
operations between two commanding officers who would like to
do nothing better than kill each other!
Affaires d'Honneur: The PCs meet Major Delcasse in one of
the fashionable spas of the Rhineland, taking the waters and
making the usual social rounds. In good time they will find
him taking an unusually strong interest in getting a young
man to meet a lovely French lady. This youth is Friedrich
von Ravensberg, Klaus' nephew, and the lady a high-class
Parisian courtesan. Once he manages to get the couple to
arrange an assignation (simple enough - young Friedrich is
barely 20 and easy prey) he will storm in and use the
compromising situation to create a duel, a scandal, or a
blackmail opportunity. What (if anything) the PCs choose to
do about it is their business.
- written by Volker Bach (bachv@paganet.de)
- editted and formatted by andi jones
(andi@angelwerks.com)
- much thanks to Hans-Christian Vortisch for help with the
guns
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