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 Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:39 pm
Franky Black (Francis Blackbourne) is an example of a Staff character - someone who is not a member of the Asterion League, but who is in Aschere and working or spending a lot of time on the League's property. Commentary and concrit on Franky are welcomed and encouraged! NOTE: This is a Staff concept and therefore ineligible for participation in joining events.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:40 pm
NAME Franky Black / Francis Blackbourne
GENDER Male
AGE 19
RACE Human
HOMETOWN
OCCUPATION Franky does odd jobs around the Asterion League property. He'll clean, he'll fix, he'll cook (if the head chef would let him near a stove), he'll carry luggage and show lost people around. The thing is, his skill in most areas, save cleaning, is mediocre at best, and so most people call him the "maid".
APPEARANCE
At a glance, Franky's appearance doesn't betray his occupation. He is a clean-shaven and well kept young man obviously in his late teens. His blonde curls fall, messily, to just above his eyebrows, and make him look younger than he is. Franky's facial features, especially his nose (which is kind of big and round), are fairly pronounced; his eyes are green, but he tends to squint a lot, making it hard to tell.
Franky is on the shorter end of average; he looks like he's in good shape, and his build is a tad on the broad side. His body language is always very relaxed, and, were he to care about it, he would be good at hiding his emotions. Through thick and thin, Franky seems to maintain a stupid smile constantly plastered on his face.
reference reference 2
PERSONALITY
Although his position in life may be a bit disdainful, there’s certainly something charming about this young man – or at least, that’s what Franky likes to think. He is an attention-starved flirt of the worst kind and sadly, this trait seems to overwhelm a great deal of his personality. He loves putting on a show for people, and at times it can get a bit obnoxious.
That’s not to say, though, that Franky is bad at his favorite thing in the world. Quite the contrary: he’s an extrovert; he’s laid back and friendly. Generally, Franky is easy to get along with – the kind of person you don’t mind talking to at length about nothing at all. For all intensive purposes, Franky is a charmer – he just has a nasty habit of going overboard.
It is when you wish to start up a conversation with Franky about something meaningful that you start running into problems. The Asterion League’s hired help pays very little attention to politics or current events or scholarly pursuits; he finds them all incredibly boring. When asked about the inner workings of his psyche, it’s plain to see that he hasn’t given it much thought. As an advice giver, Franky is prone to offering the most simple (and often least helpful) solutions, or taking your request as a joke and coming up with something ridiculous.
In general, Franky doesn’t take things seriously enough. It is this attitude that has put him in his current situation; it is, by all means, a much better situation than what many have found themselves in, but he could certainly be doing a great deal better. Franky’s not so much an “I’ll cross that bridge when I get there” kind of guy so much as the “Oh, there was a bridge there? Whoops!” type. He acts and speaks without thinking (thinking is not one of Franky’s strengths), and generally just interprets life as one big game.
He is a joker and a prankster, but he’s not mean spirited. Franky finds sarcasm and “snark” to be quite unappealing. But potty humor, to him, is the best. All this culminates in a problem, though, in the rare event that Franky does become angry or frustrated, because people think he’s merely kidding around. He has a hard time holding someone’s attention when he’s trying to be serious.
Franky is annoying. And if you aren’t charmed by his personality or you don’t find him funny, he’ll just keep on badgering until you do like him. Like a puppy starved for affection from a neglectful owner, he’ll bother and bother and bother, seemingly unphased by any hints you send his way. The best way to get rid of Mr. Relentless is to be as direct as possible. With any luck, he’ll get it and back off.
Franky has a number of strange quirks, but oddest of them all is probably his obsessive cleanliness. The rest of Franky’s character would perhaps lead a person to believe that this kid is a train wreck, but it’s quite the opposite. Franky takes painstaking measures to ensure that all of his possessions are completely organized. He despises messes and loves to clean – his mop is his best friend. Franky’s favorite hobby is picking up after people and keeping track of their possessions. Were he more focused on his own life, he may be in a better situation. Instead, he would make a great secretary for someone else.
HISTORY
The Blackbournes of Cerastes have a long-standing tradition of military service, political influence and strong loyalty to the crown. In courtier circles, they are among the highest of nobility, and are only limited in soaring higher by the fact that they have yet to marry a daughter or son into the royal family.
Ana Foster and Charles Blackbourne were joined in a marriage of convenience that, luckily for them, became one of love easily. Being fertile little lovebirds, they had seven children in all; smack dab in the middle, at number four, was Francis.
Francis showed himself to be a none-too-bright child, and didn’t fit in well with the family’s conservative nature in general. He was something of a black sheep to the rest of his family, but Ana and Charles, nurturing parents, loved all their children, regardless. While his brothers and sisters excelled in other fields, Francis seemed only to show interest in making noise – banging on pots and pans, blowing on whistles and singing songs. His grandfather, the Marquis, did not approve, but the Marquis also had a slew of other grandchildren to worry about. And so Francis was allowed to go on his merry way.
Francis had taken to being called “Franky” by the time he turned thirteen. He had also taken to skipping his lessons and hiding from his tutors. It got to the point where his parents, frustrated at his lack of cooperation but overwhelmed with the other children, simply stopped hiring teachers for him. Franky certainly wasn’t destined for the political career his elder brothers and father had been meant for, and even if he had been, with the canceling of his lessons, he didn’t have a chance.
At sixteen, Franky was expected to begin working as a page for the king’s advisors, as his elder brothers had done before him. He tried it out, but found it quite unfulfilling and, as he had done with his lessons, simply stopped showing up. These actions stirred rumors of a troublemaker who might potentially disgrace the Blackbourne name.
The Marquis was not pleased, and so, Franky was sent directly to him. Franky seemed to take his grandfather’s yelling with a grain of salt; the lecture hadn’t phased him in the slightest, and he still went on doing things that were not appropriate for a noble boy, like taking up instruments that weren’t the piano or violin and befriending local commoners.
The bad feelings came to a head when the Marquis began blaming Franky’s actions on his parents. Worried that the family patriarch may take action against them and their considerable family, Ana and Charles beseeched their son to mend his ways. Instead, Franky thought of a different way to solve the problem.
Franky went to his grandfather, the Marquis, and made a bargain. “If you let me do what I want, I’ll ‘disappear’.” After explaining what he meant – doffing the Blackbourne name and leaving Cerastes indefinitely – his grandfather agreed. Ana was heartbroken that one of her children would have to leave, but, Franky, being seventeen and practically an adult, anyway, was unstoppable.
Not one to actually plan ahead, our protagonist left Cerastes with few supplies and no money to his name. The untrained street rat got by doing odd jobs for businesses that would let him as he made his way to port, intent on reaching Aschere and making his fortune.
When he arrived at his last stop before the bustling island city, Franky decided that buying a ticket was absolutely out of the question, and an alternate mode of transportation was in order. Out of sheer luck, Franky managed to squeeze himself in with a box of dry fruit. The crate was bound for Aschere.
When the crate was opened again, it was on the Asterion League’s property. There were half as many fruits as was expected, but one more human. Franky was obviously in deep trouble; he offered to pay off whatever debt he had created by working for the League in any way he could.
His offer went unaccepted, and Franky was instead thrown in jail for a few nights. When he was a free man again, he went right back to the Asterion League and asked for forgiveness and for a job. Something seemed to have changed in the last few days, because whoever was in charge at the time accepted his offer and let him stay on and work.
Franky took up residence in one of the small basement rooms in the northern housing complex. For two years he has done a variety of jobs for the Asterion officials. Although he has finished paying off the cost of the fruit, he still continues to work on the property.
COMMON KNOWLEDGE
Anyone within earshot knows that Franky wishes to one day become the most famous [bard] in all of Aludra. He wants to hold concerts for kings and have herds of screaming fangirls.
Outside of his aspirations, Franky is quite an open person, however, as part of his agreement with his grandfather, he will not divulge that he is, in fact, a Blackbourne. Instead, he will acknowledge that he was effectively disowned by his family, but will not reveal their name or location.
MISCELLANY
My aim with Franky is to help him ascend to "stardom" as he increases in levels. I'm going to try to combine the fantasy setting with the concept of a rock star to hopefully create something that fits in the setting but is still very unique. I don't want Franky to be Ye Olde Bard reciting poetry and singing magical songs, because that's not what he is.
Free-reed Aerophone; Franky is quite skilled at playing the free-reed aerophone, a relatively new musical invention played by inhaling and exhaling into specific areas in the mouthpiece. He got his a year or two ago, it's made of brass and, naturally, Franky keeps it as clean and shiny as humanly possible.
Singer; Franky has a powerful voice that he is able to project easily. His singing abilities are rough, as he has never been appropriately trained, but he does have a great deal of natural talent. He does his best to practice, and will sing to whoever will listen.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:42 pm
DIVISION Staff. CLASS PROGRESSION Drudge > Musician-On-The-Side (Factotum) > Headliner DRUDGE As a live-in with no training in any particular area, Franky sees to pretty much anything on the grounds - his specialty, which he seems to enjoy just a bit too much, is keeping things clean. While he's handy with a mop and a broom, can fix most breaks and knows how to mend a paper cut, when it comes to combat experience, the only notches this drudge has on his belt are for particularly large dust bunnies.
Melee +1, Ranged +0, Magic/Other +4
HP >> 35, Evade >> 14
MUSICIAN-ON-THE-SIDE (FACTOTUM) Having saved nearly every penny since he paid off his debt, Franky managed to accumulate enough to purchase himself a rather pricey but unique custom lute. And so, with instrument in hand, Franky's musical training begins. Important to note though, is that he's spent nearly all of his savings, and must still work on the Asterion League property; his time spent and skill developed have done him some good, because he's also gained a bit more respect than your typical drudge.
Although he is still useless in battle, Franky is quite the handyman. He cooks, cleans, fixes, delivers, takes notes and serves beer.
Melee +2, Ranged +1, Magic/Other +5
HP >> 40, Evade >> 18
HEADLINER The time and effort poured into his music seemed to have finally paid off; Franky is a featured musical performer, now, and more than that, he seems to be catching the attention of his peers, and has developed quite a sizable fanbase. As a headliner, Franky's name is known all over Aschere, as well as in parts of the rest of the world.
Wears "smoked glasses" (essentially sunglasses).
Melee +4, Ranged +1, Magic/Other +8
HP >> 40, Evade >> 23 SPECIAL SKILLSSkill Level 01: POISON - Something Gross - Whatever cleaning solution Franky is using on whatever he's cleaning at the time. If any gets on you, it smells horrible and burns - what the hell's in this stuff?! Does 3/6/9 damage for 1/2/3 rounds.
Skill Level 02: DISARM - Sour Note - Since Franky is still just learning how to play his instrument of choice, he is prone to messing up and hitting bad notes. Sometimes, his mistakes are so horrible that they cause those around him to drop what they're holding to cover their ears. Those effected by Franky's musical "talent" must skip one turn to recover their weapon and repair their eardrums.
Skill Level 03: SIGNATURE MOVE - Hey Babydoll - Franky takes advantage of the fact that he has amassed a considerable fan-following, and, with a snap of his fingers, he can call up a herd of frothing-at-the-mouth fangirls to do his bidding. In this case, he has them trample his foes. The girls mostly kick and scrape at the offending attacker before abruptly dispersing. This ability combines Franky's M/O with his Melee and d20, and can be performed only twice in one battle at level three and not consecutively.
Racial Bonus - Skill 04: NEGATIVE STAT EFFECT - What A Mess - Using his feather duster, Franky cleans up a storm, sending grime into the air and into the eyes of a foe; the afflicted target is hit with Blind, reducing their melee and ranged stats by -3/-6/-9 for 1/2/3 turns.
WEAPON (LVL 1) Various Cleaning Instruments (LVL 2) Custom Lute (LVL 3) ...Fangirls and Pelvic Thrusts? LEVEL One POINT ASSIGNMENT Melee (1), Ranged (0), Magic/Other (4) HIT POINTS 35 EVADE 14 OTHER NOTES
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