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COTW's second character this week is another for "GURPS
Imperial Rome", a low-level scoundrel to contrast with the
soldiers and politicians that have preceded him.
Marius Laeta; petty and unscrupulous delator
(c) copyright 2000 Volker Bach
Total Points: 23 Points
Age 30; 5'7"; 143 pounds; an unremarkable man with short
dark hair, brown eyes and average features - an entirely
non-descript man.
ST 9 [-10] - thrust 1d-2, swing 1d-1
DX 10 [-] - basic speed 5, move 5, dodge
5
IQ 11 [10]
HT 10 [-]
WL 11 [-]
ADVANTAGES: Ally (Iulius Decimus Celer, clerk of the courts,
6-) [3]; Favors (various, all involuntary)
[20]; Literacy [5]; Reputation +1 (pays
fairly for information, among criminals, 10-) [2];
Wealth (Comfortable) [10].
DISADVANTAGES: Greed [-15]; Low Pain Threshold
[-10]; Odious Personal Habit (Poor Hygiene)
[-5]; Reputation -2 (unscrupulous blackmailer, 10-)
[-5].
QUIRKS: Makes bad attempts at upper-class mannerisms; Speaks
wistfully of retiring to the countryside; Enjoys having
power over women; Drinks only when alone. [-4]
SKILLS: Acting-11 [2]; Area Knowledge (Rome)-13
[4]; Cyphering-11 [1]; Fast Talk-12
[4]; Knife-9 [.5]; Law-10 [2];
Merchant (incriminating evidence)-10/16 [2];
Savoir-Faire-10 [.5]; Shadowing-12 [4];
Streetwise-11 [2].
LANGUAGES: Latin (native)-11 [0].
EQUIPMENT
Marius Laeta travels light - a well-worn tunic, a belt with
a small money-pouch and a pair of sandals will do. In bad
weather he wears a Greek cloak, and on dangerous excursions
he'll be armed with a small knife (1d-3 imp, 1d-4 cut). He
dislikes dressing up and will only wear a fine tunic, let
alone a toga, when meeting with prospective informants, or
victims, or when going to court.
BIOGRAPHY
Born to poor plebeians in the teeming warren of Imperial
Rome, Marius Laeta found out early that a quick mind was no
substitute for physical strength. Weaker than most children,
he grew up to learn three things: that playing fair didn't
pay, that everyone had secrets, and that you could live well
by ferreting them out. He began his business in small ways,
making thieves pay him a percentage of their haul in return
for his silence, and teaming up with prostitutes to
blackmail unfaithful husbands. He quickly acquired both an
unwholesome reputation and modest wealth. Finding his new
line of work rewarding, he decided to make it his life's
calling.
In his quest for the wealth of others, Marius found an
unlikely ally in the courts. Roman criminal law left the
prosecution of offenses to private citizens whom their civic
duty should compel to bring any offense to the state's
attention. To make the prospect more attractive, a
successful accuser was given a share of the fine or the
accused's confiscated estate. Of course many wealthy people
were ready to find an accommodation with a prospective
accuser - even if he had only flimsy evidence - rather than
risk a trial with its attendant scandal. Marius Laeta has
made it his life's purpose to find out the embarrassing
secrets of the well off and keep them under wraps for
cash.
Being realistic, Marius Laeta has never yet tried to
blackmail senators. They are far too powerful - who would
prosecute a purple stripe for offhandedly killing a
guttersnipe? He knows his limits, and while he is aware of
some potentially embarrassing facts of the city's greats, he
prefers to make his living by milking small businessmen and
petty criminals. Occasionally he will prosecute a case, just
to keep the threat credible, but most of the time he prefers
to do his business quietly.
ENCOUNTERED
Marius Laeta is a thoroughly unpleasant character. He is
physically unimpressive, cowardly, dirty and back-stabbing.
Towards anyone who is more powerful - or just physically
stronger - than him he is fawningly servile, while he
gloatingly enjoys his power over those he can blackmail.
Anyone unfortunate enough to fall victim to him will find
that humiliation hurts more than financial loss. He has even
been known to order attractive women to his bed. Shaking him
down for information (something PCs are likely to want to
do) appears easy - he will beg for mercy and volunteer
anything he knows - but Marius is wily and nothing he says
can be trusted. Even more importantly, he is vengeful. No
insult or slight is ever forgotten, and to have Marius Laeta
for an enemy is dangerous.
CANONICALITY
The function of Marius Laeta's Ally - Iulius Decimus Celer,
clerk of the Praetor's court - is really that of a Patron;
he provides support, credibility, protection, and advice.
However, in light of the point values required for Patrons,
he is instead modelled as a rarely available Ally.
Also, Marius Laeta's use of the Favor advantage is meant to
represent a range of people for the GM to customise; in
general, they represent people about whom Laeta knows
something incriminating, whom he can blackmail into doing
things for him.
WHAT IF?
Marius Laeta works in an urban Roman campaign at anytime
between 79 BC and AD 410. Delatores like him were a much
hated and feared presence in the city, eking out a meager
living under 'good' emperors and occasionally amassing huge
fortunes under paranoid or greedy ones. Charges of treason,
levied on the flimsiest pretext, were their favored tool.
Marius Laeta is written to work under a 'good' emperor - in
the reign of Tiberius, Nero or Domitian he could easily be
Very Wealthy and command significant respect, intimidating
even senior senators. After AD 283 (at the latest),
characters like Marius Laeta can be encountered in other
great cities of the empire. With a Greek name, Greek as his
native language and an assessor of the governor's court as
his Ally he could just as well live in Alexandria, Antioch,
Constantinople or Nicomedia.
Marius Laeta is a universally useful character. Give him
another name and language and he fits into any urban setting
up to TL5. Replace Knife with Guns (Pistol) and he can prowl
the streets of any modern urban slum. With Computer
Operation replacing Cyphering and any suitably futuristic
personal weapon, he makes a perfect Cyberpunk NPC. Human
nature, sadly, retains the same shadowy sides.
ADVENTURE SEEDS
An Offer You Cannot Refuse: All PCs have done things they'd
rather not have become public knowledge. One day, Marius
Laeta comes to visit and explains them in painstaking
detail, including the evidence, available witnesses, and
what penalties these transgressions will carry. He then
offers silence in return for money or, even better,
information. Will the PCs agree to betray friends, allies
and clients rather than risk a messy trial? Or will they
find a way to fight back, turning the tables on their
would-be blackmailer?
In Over His Neck: Marius Laeta has bitten off more than he
can chew this time! In following up a dirty little adultery
case he has uncovered a massive political conspiracy - and
the conspirators know. These are men who would kill him as
soon as swat a fly. Running for his life, at his wits' end,
he turns to the PCs to solve this dilemma for him. They may
not want to help this thoroughly unpleasant fellow, but they
will soon find that whether or not they want to be involved,
they already are. The conspiracy cares little about a few
more murders.
- written by Volker Bach
(volker_bach@public.uni-hamburg.de)
- editted and formatted by andi jones
(andi@angelwerks.com)
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