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Alexander Theodore Emerson; corrupt Old West small town
mayor
(c) copyright 2000 Brandon Cope
Total Points: 33.5 Points
Age about 40; 5'5"; 175 pounds; a short and pudgy man with
close-cropped black hair and beard - both with noticeable
traces of grey - and wearing an out-of-style but still
presentable suit.
ST 10 [-] - thrust 1d-2, swing 1d
DX 9 [-10] - basic speed 4.75, move 3*, dodge
3
IQ 13 [30]
HT 10 [-]
WL 13 [-]
*modified for Light Encumbrance from
Overweight
ADVANTAGES: Status 2 [10]; Wealth (Comfortable)
[10].
DISADVANTAGES: Cowardice [-10]; Gluttony
[-5]; Overweight [-5]; Reputation -2 (as
corrupt and cowardly, to everyone) [-10].
QUIRKS: Intimidated by his brother; Lets power and authority
go to his head. [-2]
SKILLS: Accounting-12 [2]; Administration-15
[6]; Carousing-12 [8]; Diplomacy-13
[4]; Guns/TL5 (Pistol)-10* [.5]; Law-12
[2]; Politics-13 [2]; Riding (Horse)-8
[1]; Savoir-Faire-13** [0].
*includes +2 for IQ
**free from Status
LANGUAGES: English (native)-13 [0].
EQUIPMENT
Emerson's mayoral duties don't require him to carry much in
the way of equipment... When he is expecting trouble, he
might carry some type of small, concealable pistol
appropriate for the era - such as a .41 double derringer
(1d+, see p.HT124) or a .32 pepperbox.
BIOGRAPHY
Alexander Emerson is the mayor of a small, dying mining town
in western Colorado. Until three years ago, however, he had
never been west of the Hudson River, having spent most of
his adult life as a clerk in a Boston law firm. And he
probably would have remained there until he died of old age,
except that he suffered a series of financial disasters -
all orchestrated by his ne'er-do-well brother, Peter - that
left him penniless. Desperate, he stayed late one night at
the office, supposedly to finish some clerical work.
Instead, he cleaned out the firm's vault - holding over
$3500 at the time - and fled Boston in the middle of the
night.
He stayed for several months in a half-dozen tiny towns on
his trek west, working as a clerk and once - in Kansas - as
a judge. By the time he arrived in Colorado, his ill-gotten
gains were nearly gone, spent to help him escape justice. At
that time, he ran into a familiar face - his brother, Peter
Vincent Emerson, now known as the gunslinger Lefty Hayes.
"Lefty" was also on the run from the law; after the robbery
at Alexander's firm, Boston police first suspected Peter,
even thinking Alexander's disappearance was foul play. Lefty
escaped, but unlike his brother, headed west until he hit
Arizona. There, he met up with a small band of outlaws -
small both in number, and ambition - and committed robberies
across Arizona and New Mexico, finally winding up in
Colorado.
The town in which the brothers reunited was dying, the local
silver mines starting to play out. Most of the better
citizens had left town and the population was down to only
20% of its peak level. The current mayor had lost popularity
and crime was on the rise; the brothers saw their chance.
(Or, more accurately, Lefty saw his chance.) Emerson ran for
mayor, backed by some strong-handed support from Lefty and
several thugs he managed to collect. Emerson proved
successful in the election, and promptly appointed Lefty to
the position of town marshal. The ex-mayor and outgoing
marshal bitterly contested the outcome of the election, and
the week after Emerson took office, a gunfight ensued. After
half an hour, only the Emersons' people were left standing.
Since then, Emerson has run the town in a high-handed
fashion, primarily under the "guidance" of Lefty.
Emerson is completely disliked by the townsfolk, even those
who voted for him. He is easily cowed by his younger
brother, but is happy as long as he has enough power and
wealth to lord it over the locals. Since there is
effectively no resistance to his "rule", there his little
doubt that he will continue to be re-elected mayor as long
as he and his brother are alive. (It is important to note
that Lefty's men will not follow Emerson's orders unless his
brother specifically tells them to.) Ironically, Emerson is
a reasonably competent mayor when his brother doesn't
interfere with him; unfortunately, Lefty interferes
constantly.
CANONICALITY
Alexander Emerson uses standard GURPS rules.
WHAT IF?
Emerson is useful in any setting in which there are frontier
regions with little regular law enforcement; such settings
are common in most fantasy and science fiction
campaigns.
If the GM wants to make life easier on the PCs, the former
mayor and town marshal didn't get involved in a gunfight
with the new town power. They are still around, perhaps,
controlling something important - like the silver mine, or
the judge - so that the Emerson brothers aren't in complete
control. This gives the PCs the chance to play the two sides
off against each other. (See the movies "A Fistful of
Dollars" or "Yojimbo" for ideas...)
Details on Lefty Hayes and his men have been left
intentionally vague. They should be specifically tailored to
fit the power level of the party. In general, Lefty should
be built on about 25 points less than the best PC
gunfighter, with Guns and Fast Draw skills one level lower.
His men - all of whom are deputies - should be built on
40-60 points and should easily be worse with Guns than the
average PC (about 2 or 3 levels worse). There should be one
(in a realistic campaign) to three (in a cinematic campaign)
thugs per member of the party.
ADVENTURE SEEDS
We Want Our Money, Mr. Emerson: For fear of being
embarrassed publicly, Emerson's Boston law firm covered up
the theft, the partners making up for the shortage. They
have, however, hired a detective - perhaps a Pinkerton,
depending on the time period - to track down Mr. Emerson and
get the money back (plus interest, plus the detective's
fee's, of course - they are lawyers, after all). The PCs can
be the detective and his assistants, or perhaps hired guns
the detective has picked up to help him as he has gone
further west (and further out of his element). Of course,
Emerson has no intention of repaying the money, and since
there is no warrant on him - but his brother, on the other
hand, is wanted - the party will have to decide how to
proceed. (As incentive, the PCs are entitled to 10% of any
moneys recovered, divided equally among them).
The Peasants Revolt: The remaining townsfolk have gotten fed
up with the iron rule of the brothers, especially Lefty's.
They hire the party to drive out the pair using any means
necessary. While a showdown is the obvious choice, another
option is for one of the PCs to simply try to beat Emerson
in the next election (conveniently, due in a few weeks'
time). This offers much more opportunity for roleplaying
(though a gunfight after a winner is announced can still be
thrown in). If the previous mayor is still around, an
interesting three-way election race could develop... (It
should be noted that the previous mayor, while moderately
honest and popular, was also incompetent).
- written by Brandon Cope (copeab@hotmail.com)
- editted and formatted by andi jones
(andi@angelwerks.com)
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