1,001 Characters #22: Mr. Jazzek

22. Mr. Jazzek    717769   ex-Other       Age 34      4 Terms

Skills: Shotgun-1, Streetwise-2, Gambling-1

Benefits: Cr65,000, Shotgun

 

     Mr. Jazzek is known as the most wanted man on Indid, he is regarded with fear and awe by most in the criminal underworld, and also a significant portion of the police force. He never backs down, ever, and lets his gun do the talking, a lot. He's been in seven major gun battles, two with major gangs and one with a group of mercenaries hired to kill him, and no one has managed to shoot him yet. In a fight he refuses to hide (take cover) and will either stand out in the open or walk steadfastly towards the enemy firing all the while, emptying his shotgun, and calmly reloading, while bullets whistle past him. How he has survived this long is a mystery; It's like the bullets just veer away from him.

       Despite his reputation Mr. Jazzek is a terrible shot (DEX 1), this is why he uses a shotgun (Shotgun-1). During his vigilante career Mr. Jazzek has acquired an intimate knowledge of the workings of the criminal underworld (Streetwise-2) and has developed an interest in, and familiarity with, games of chance (Gambling-1).

    Indid      0802     A433779-D     N     Na Po                         G

Referee: Mr. Jazzek was born one Jasmine Eloise Kendrick. As a child she was diagnosed with a particularly nasty terminal illness (referees choice), she has known she was going to die horribly for years. Unwilling to do it herself, she sought a cleaner death at another's hand. She challenged a known criminal, expecting him to kill her. To her horror and enduring mortification the man took pity on her, disarming her instead, and telling her to go see a counsellor. She was forced to slink away, with the jeers and laughter of his companions and onlookers, ringing in her ears. She returned later, disguised as a man and in the ensuing firefight, she not only gunned down her man, but most of his companions as well. Since her late teens she has disguised herself as a man known simply as Mr. Jazzek. When not gunning down criminals, Mr. Jazzek, lives quietly as the ailing Miss Jasmine Kendrick. She has begun to feel that her time is nearing it's end (Ageing: -1 STR and -1 DEX), and is desperately seeking the end she craves.  

    PCs could be hired to find and eliminate Mr. Jazzek. They could be involved in criminal activity and Mr. Jazzek appears out of nowhere shotgun blazing. Mr. Jazzek may appear out of nowhere to aid the PCs against criminals they're fighting. Mr. Jazzek could be convinced to join the PCs on a desperate and near suicidal mission. If Mr. Jazzek is with them long enough, his true identity may be discovered. Who knows maybe the characters have heard of a cure on a higher tech world, like Brulli or Horwan.

    Note: Mr. Jazzek/Jasmine is suffering something I've heard called Doc Holliday Syndrome (real or otherwise). This is what drives the character, living on borrowed time, knowing he/she will die horribly, he/she chooses to seek a cleaner death. 

    How does one create a situation where this type of character can prevail a bit longer than they would normally last in the Traveller combat system. I choose to look at it more as a side effect of the characters reputation. In game terms this means that when Mr. Jazzek enters a fight, his reputation makes his opponents freeze in momentary shock and horror as they realise they are facing their boogeyman. This gives Mr. Jazzek a full turn of surprise (no matter when he enters the fray). Furthermore his opponents are now terrified that this unkillable killer is after them personally, they now forget all their training and are treated as if they have no weapon skill (-5 to hit and +3 to parry/block). 

    Of course, if you take Mr. Jazzek off-world where his reputation does not precede him, he's as good as dead. Perhaps this is why Mr. Jazzek/Jasmine finally leaves Indid by joining the PCs.

    While writing this character up I had the following personalities floating around in my head, Doc Holliday, John Wick, Paul Kersey, The Punisher, any of the hired hoods in "The Immortals" with a touch of Lady Cornelia Locke in "The English". I even envisioned a Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven/Battle beyond the Stars thing happening with the PCs hiring Mr. Jazzek as one of the seven.