Basic Info:
Player: Lazar
Position: Field Engineer
Demeanor: Talkative, but in a very matter-of-fact way. Generally converses about ideas, things and events. Avoids strong emotions. Uncomfortable speaking for anyone other than himself. Among friends and close colleagues, outgoing and snarky.
Nature: Outwardly ambivalent, he cares deeply about those he considers his friends and will go to great - extreme, depending on who you ask - lengths to protect those he cares about.
Description: Jean has dark brown hair of short length, dark brown eyes. Rather tall at 1.9 m. Suffers significantly scarring on face, left arm, and chest from injuries sustained fighting in Vietnam as a paratrooper in the French army. This scarring is only emphasized by his pale complexion from working long hours indoors in recent years. Wears business attire or a military-style uniform whenever possible to conceal the more severe scarring. Not particularly fit, but not particularly out of shape, either.
Stats:
Health
- Physical Health: 7
- Mental Health: 7
Attributes
- Physical Defense: 5
- Mental Defense: 5
- Perception: 4
- Agility: 4
- Strength: 4
Skills
- Intimidation: 3
- Melee: 3 (1+2)
- Ranged: 4
- Survival: 1
- Engineering: 5
Specialties
- Insurgent Tactics: (3) The Vietnamese were masters of guerrilla warfare and asymmetric fighting. Jean picked up a few of their strategies while he was over there. (+3 to engineering when setting traps and sabotage)
- A Trained Eye: (3) Similarly, Jean has learned to spot evidence of such tampering. (+3 to perception when attempting to detect traps and booby-trapped items)
- A Prepared Defense: (3) Viet Minh ambushes were common, and brutal. It's a shame that he never figured out exactly how they did it until after he was captured. (+3 to ranged after an enemy triggers one of Jean's traps)
- Shoe Is On The Other Foot: (3) Jean doesn't like to talk about where his scars are from. But being on the receiving end of that sort of business did improve his ability to inflict it… (+3 to intimidate against a helpless e.g. surrounded/surrendered opponent)
Equipment:
Always:
- Modèle 1935 pistol
- M1956 bayonet/fighting knife
- Lighter
- French military ID
- 150 francs (~$1300 in today's money), in cash
- Pack of playing cards
When in the field/appropriate:
- MAT-49 submachinegun OR MAS-49 rifle
- Set of wirecutters
- Tool kit
- 4 kg of plastic explosive in 10 bricks with blasting caps and detonators.
- Tripwires and other triggering tools
- Entrenchment tool
- Two gas masks with enough filters for twelve hours
- Flashlight/torch
- First aid kit
- Canteen
- Three day's rations
- Military backpack
Possessions:
- One flute, with music and music stand
- A collection of French literature and other texts. Includes mathematics, sciences, and engineering.
- An antique broadsword
- Two antique paintings
- A small collection of bullet fragments stored in a jar, recovered from his injuries
Personal History:
Born in 1930, only child. In 1940 his family fled to sub-Saharan Africa and fought with the Free French after the German invasion. His schooling was completed during these travels, where he excelled in practical applications of math and physics. His parents, both of whom were major figures in the Free French, died near the end of the war - his mother in an automobile accident, and his father in a plane crash. Lived with close friends of his parents for a time. As soon as he turned 18, in 1948, he enlisted in the newly reformed French Army as a paratrooper.
Immediately after training his regiment deployed itself into the ongoing First Indochina War, where French forces fought the Viet Minh in an effort to maintain their colonial holdings. Jean took part in many engagements at this time, and gained a deep respect for Viet Minh tactics and the power of irregular warfare.
Jean was critically wounded and captured by the Viet Minh after the Battle of Đông Khê, where he spent two years imprisoned. Jean himself only has hazy, unpleasant memories of what actually happened inside that prison, but he does recall that the scars he sustained on his face and chest were not from battle.
After two years, he was inadvertently released from prison due to a clerical error. He attempted to return to French holdings in Indochina, but was sent to France instead, where he pursued a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Institut National des Sciences Appliquées. However, while pursuing his degree, he struggled to reintegrate into civilian life.
At this point, the Foundation offered him a job. With no ties to the civilian world, nor anything left behind, Jean took the opportunity.
Languages
Any languages your character speaks. English is required. Languages should be justified by background or academics.
- English
- French
- Vietnamese
Miscellaneous:
The flute, the paintings and the broadsword are all family heirlooms - they are virtually all that Jean has left of his family. He has continued to attempt to learn the flute, but his progress is slow.
XP: 15
| Name of Source/Purchase | XP Change | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Tall trees, Tall man | 4 | April 15-16, 2017 |
| The Windscale Reactor Incident | 3 | April 19-20, 2017 |
| Where You Hang The Heads Of Your Family | 4 | December 16-17, 2017 |
| Where Nobody Comes From | 4 | January 20, 2018 |