spare not thy protagonists from the vagaries of tWtFatD

The designer is playtesting his own game rules this evening.

And this afternoon, upon reviewing the discussion about what Trials should be like on the http://indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2295">thread about the one-sheet, I'm realizing that enough bits and pieces of the characters got posted there that people might want to see how they actually turned out, and just how much situation and premise ended up in the Trials.

Benjamin Rayl

Trial: A group of eccentric separatists, trying to escape the evils of corporate society, have been living a life of seclusion in the arctic for the past 20 years. They now find their lives in turmoil as their environment and way of life are challenged by the encroachment of Leslie Pointe. They face the question, can someone really escape society.

Annotations:

Corporate Society - Benjamin Rayl is the vice president of corporate finance for Maccyx-Roho's Leslie Point project.

Encroachment - Benjamin's alien presence in the compound is sparking the curiosity of the local children and fueling their desire for something new.

Way of life - Benjamin despises the way the families at the compound live and is trying to convince the children to leave with him.

Escape - Benjamin is desparate to escape the compound and get back to business at Leslie Pointe

Rob Tamac

Trial: The fledgling Leslie Point Mafia has begun dealing with the aboriginal tribe to trade their drug, white hell, on the world black market. While the hallucinogenic extract creates a clean high (meaning no 'down') the mafia bosses know the long term effect is a condition like leprosy. Is the price of power worth destroying those you depend on?

Annotations:

Mafia - Rob Tamac is the oldest son of newer Mafia underling, Frank Tamac, whose family moved to Leslie Point when Rob was 11 to try to make a better life for the family.

Drug - My first experience with the drug was an experiment my father was given to do. His task was to test the effects of the drug two years before, and he asked me in confidence to help him. I knew that he had joined the crime organization, and was willing to help. For full effect, white hell can be injected into the chest, but the preferred way is the arm, but leaves an indent in the skin at each puncture mark. Since that first taste of hell, I have wanted more. My father doesn't know that I am still addicted, or some of the things I have done to continue my habit. If he knew, he would blame himself.

Power - Frank Tamac, still trying to earn respect and trust within the organization, volunteered Rob for the job as a runner, going into the dense jungle and retrieving the raw drug from the aboriginal tribe. If Rob had rejected or fails in the task, Frank will lose respect and potential benefits.

Depend on - I feel so helpless sometimes, and yet so many people are depending on me even if they know it or not. Dad needs me to stay in the group, my family need him to support them, and Jessie, my girlfriend, keeps wanting me to get her more white hell, by any means, even if I betray my family.

Saul Eckley a freelance wildlife photographer

Trial: Maccyx-Roho scientists have discovered a subterranean wonderland beneath the Antarctic ice, but in exposing it have unleashed something awful upon Leslie Pointe. Their ambition fuels their progress, and progress must be had at any cost.

Annotations:

Maccyx-Roho - Gary Hendricks, Maccyx-Roho's head of veterinary science, is friends with Saul, having worked with him on an expedition in New Guinea, and has recommended him to photograph a pictorial planned
for National Geographic.

Subterrean - Saul suffers from extreme claustrophia, because of some childhood trauma that he has otherwised suppressed all memory of.

Something awful - Something killed wildlife wrangler Joseph Hill while on a nighttime photoshoot, and Saul has a fuzzy picture of it - a manlike creature, but smaller and apparently hairless.

Leslie Pointe - Against his better judgement, Saul has found himself irresistably drawn to Joseph Hill's widowed wife and orphaned son, Ashleigh and Joe Jr.

Ambition - Saul is reknown for doing anything to get a job, byline, or picture, including resorting to some very dirty tactics.

Sheriff Cal Jefferson

Trial: It's been about a year since the mood at the Maccyx-Roho Facilities took a downturn. Sure it was apparent before a year ago that people were becoming a little less "interested" in their work at the Facilities, but it wasn't until about a year ago that it started to put a strain on the community of Leslie Pointe as well. Why there hasn't been any productions at the L.P. Community Theater since that bizarre graffiti was discovered scrawled all over the stage area. The once close-knit community in the Immortal River valley is changing and maybe not for the best.

Annotations:

Close-knit community - Calvin Jefferson (Cal) is the sheriff of the close-knit community Leslie Pointe.

Mood - The changing mood of the community is becoming more prevalent to the citizens of L.P. in subtle ways, punctuated by the acts recent acts of Vandals.

Strain - This has led to people becoming more afraid and contacting my office more and more for help or to report disorderly behavior and is putting a strain on the resources of the security department.