The Cermak Street Irregulars – Reginald Blasterwait

December 12, 2017

Design Notes

One of the Professions I wanted to work with when designing this round of characters for Card Catalog was the Journalist.  Simply put, this is a Profession or class that could be an amazing amount of fun in a game that isn’t often explored. Reginald is off to a slow start, however, because the choice of dwarf does make it harder for him to excel in his chosen Profession because of the Charisma skills associated with the Profession and the dwarven penalty to Charisma.   

First, I put a premium on getting his Perception to Step 7 with Charisma not far behind.  These are going to be the two most important Attributes for him. That left only 4 points to spread between the other Attributes so I made him a bit of a frail dwarf and reduced his Strength and Dexterity so I could trade that for an increased Willpower Attribute.  

As a Journalist, Reginald’s Professional Skill, tied to his entire Profession, is Artisan (Writing) which I bolstered by selecting Knowledge (Current Events), Eidetic Memory, Evidence Analysis, and Awareness from his Core Skill listing.  In his Optional Skills, he picked Bribery and Danger Sense. I would have selected etiquette from his background, but it is a Novice Tier Skill. His Free Knowledge slots to start were in Politics and Secrets of the Aristocracy, which we’ll explore the reason for in his Story Notes below. For his other Free Skills, I added a few ranks of a rank of Physician and added a Read & Write rank for German though he can’t speak a lick of it.  Reginald is quite competent in getting answers from Aristocrats and the Upper Class even if he is not a member himself.

When he advanced to the second rank of Journalist, he also advanced a Professional Tier to Novice.  With his additional slots for skills, he added Etiquette and Firearms slots as he discovered what he needed to do better as well finally learning to Speak German and Read French further enhancing his future as a Journalist. Also, the pretty much immediately useful rank in Durability is added as a requirement for longevity. Because Free skills are more expensive than Professional, Core, or Optional skills, bumping up his knowledges and free skills took a lot of Adventure Points especially by adding Knowledge (Court Politics) to two ranks and adding Melee Weapons.

On the low end of the social class scale, there is not much in the way of gear to worry about equipping.  Reginald is far more useful outside the fights than in the midst of them.

Character Notes

Reginald Blasterwait’s family has a long history.  A long history as household servants to the Aristocracy.  His father was regarded as one of the most accomplished Butler’s of his generation.  Reginald was schooled from the back of the great houses on what it meant for a Proper Household to be run.  He learned more from listening to his father explain the needs of the day to the staff than he did from running around outside in the yards and gardens.  

His life was unremarkable in many respects.  As a child, he played when he could, studied when he was told, and lived the life of a youth in her majesty’s Empire.  He met a girl and fell in love. He married and his parents were thrilled to see their family grow. Why, his father’s employer even sent a beautiful and well preserved quill and ink well as a wedding gift showing his fondness for the elder Blasterwait’s service. Despite training to be a household servant himself, Reginald wiled away what time he had reading and even trying his hand at writing stories and poetry.

Something about this relationship between the servants and the aristocracy had left Reginald feeling a bit odd, though.  It wasn’t until two things came about in the past several years that he took on a jaded view of the wealth and power that ran the Empire. The first was Looking Glass Fever – not long after The Rabbit Hole opened, scores of men and women came down with LGF as it was known, and for Reginald, he emerged from the sickness as a Boojum, and specifically a dwarf.  No longer could he “measure up” to his Father’s skill as he was told. Shortly after being let go from the Household, his Father befell a serious injury taking a fall that wrecked both his legs leaving him an invalid. His employer cut him loose without a second thought.

The Blasterwait’s quickly left the countryside for London to try to make a fresh start, but found limited success.  The entire family lives together in a flat just a little too small and a little too dirty while trying to make ends meet.  Reginald’s wife found employment as a maid easily enough, but the real surprise was Reginald’s newfound employment as a Journalist.  It turns out his ear for rumors and mind for words was a perfect fit in the burgeoning press of London. Now, along with the rest of the Cermak Street Irregulars, he finds himself balancing time with his wife, caring for his father, and traipsing into danger and adventure as a multitude of plots unfold in and around the Borough of Hackney.

He and Von Kalben spend a lot of time talking about where society is going and whether the British Empire is going to be the end of humanity as we know it – Reginald isn’t quite as much of an anarchist when push comes to shove.  

Cermak Street Irregulars Here

Reginald Character Sheet Here

Fillable PDF Sheet from FASA Games.  

1879™ is a Trademark of FASA Corporation. The Grosvenor Land™, The Gruv™, and the Samsut™ are Trademarks of FASA Corporation. This fan work does not claim or imply a claim to any marks or copyrights claimed by the FASA Corporation or other copyright holders.  Please visit FASA Games for more information about 1879.  

Liked it? Take a second to support Guard-a-manger on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *