Maximilian "Max" Hammerschmidt

Basic Info:

Player: CadaverCommander

Position: Heavy Assault Specialist/Facility Security

Demeanor: Big, boisterous, amicable, and more than a little dense.

Nature: Max is about as subtle and inconspicuous as a buffalo in a tutu with sticks of dynamite taped to its horns. He's a hard man to miss. Chances are if you smell cigar smoke and hear deep, booming laughter, he's somewhere nearby. Max is a big, big man in more ways than just the physical, and he's always ready with a smile, a spine-cracking bear hug, and a bad joke. He never flinches at the prospect of a fight, and stands by his squad no matter how dark the situation seems, supplying positivity, a helping hand, and good old fashioned muscle wherever he's needed.

Description: Imagine if a drunken sculptor tried to carve a statue of Paul Bunyan out of pork, and you've got a pretty good impression of Max's general appearance. Standing at 6'5” and tipping the scales with 370 pounds of what is probably muscle, Max is a smiling, bearded, cigar-chomping hulk of a man. Shaggy nut-brown hair that laughs in the face of combs everywhere, baby-blue eyes, and a permanently ruddy complexion that lets everyone know that Max is very much full of blood.

Stats:

Health
  • Physical Health: 7
  • Mental Health: 7
Attributes
  • Physical Defense: 6
  • Mental Defense: 4
  • Perception: 2
  • Agility: 2
  • Strength: 6
Skills
  • Melee: 4
  • Ranged: 5
  • Survival: 2
  • Persuasion: 1
  • Engineering 2
  • Medical: 2
Specialties
  • Brute Force: 5. Max won't be winning any marathons or dancing ballet anytime soon, but he's got biceps the size of most people's thighs. +5 to Strength outside of combat or when grappling.
  • Max-imum Durability: 4. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but if Max knows how to do anything, it's take a hit and keep fighting. +4 to Physical Defense if Physical Health falls below 3.
  • Heavy Metal Thunder: 3. They didn't call him “The Hammer” during the war for nothing. +3 to Ranged when using a firearm of considerable size.

Gear:

List everything your character carries on their person here. Be reasonable.

  • Cigar case
  • A flask of something that burns real nice going down
  • Combat-grade first aid kit.
  • “Henrietta”, an M60 7.62 mm caliber belt-fed light machine gun
  • Knuckle tape
  • Set of brass knuckles
  • Leather bomber jacket
  • Backpack
Equipment:

Possessions:

List everything your character keeps in their room at Site-77. Anything that's not listed here or in the sections above will be difficult for the character to retrieve.

  • Various awards and medals from his time in the Army
  • A photo album, containing various photographs
  • Harmonica
  • Six or seven assorted books
  • Wedding band

Personal History:

Maximilian “Max” Hammerschmidt was born on August 9th, 1915, on a small farm in northern Texas. As a baby, Max suffered from poor health and a general failure to thrive, and his parents were concerned that they were due to lose their son to a respiratory ailment. However, he rebounded, and either by luck or God he defied the odds and rapidly became a large, powerfully strong child.

Max's family were never particularly well-to-do, but were never on the verge of starvation either, and as a result his childhood was as peaceful as one could wish for. He received minimal schooling until the age of 13, where he left and dedicated his time to helping run the family farm. Max spent the days waking up before dawn and working hard until sundown, putting his naturally impressive size and strength to good use. By the time he was 17, he had already grown to a height of 6'2” and a weight of 250 lbs, and developed a work ethic and moral code as strong as his body. Max loved his mother and father dearly, and they loved him in return, imparting in him important lessons: how to treat people, how to have courtesy and manners, how to show respect, how to use his great strength for the benefit of others, and the difference between right and wrong. He met a girl, and he loved her with all his heart, and he married her. And they were happy.

But by 1934, the Great Depression had begun to sink its teeth into America's neck, and the Dust Bowl had begun to leach the life from the ground itself. The crops withered, no one was able to buy what little harvest the Hammerschmidts had, and times began to turn desperate. Max couldn't bear to watch his parents try to hide tightening their belts so that he could eat, so he resolved to do the only thing he could think of that would allow him to both survive and support his parents and wife until they could rally.

Max joined the army.

This was difficult for Max at first, as he had until this point had little experience with difficult people, and he was loathe to leave his love behind With his great size, kind demeanor, and overall less-than-keen wits, he was a natural target for bullying and mistreatment in his early days of service, but kept to heart a common lesson from his days in church: turn the other cheek. Max kept up his smile, worked hard, and continued to show good cheer and respect to everyone around him. Some were unimpressed, but others saw through to warming up to him, and he found his way to making fast friends. He worked his way through the ranks at a steady pace, earning his keep with the strength of body and sureness of mind that can only come from being a farmer's son.

By the time America resolved to enter the conflict raging just outside its doorstep, Max had worked his way to Staff Sergeant, and had earned a reputation as a dependable and straightforward leader. Max and his battalion were shipped to France, to die on a beach. He kissed his wife goodbye, likely for what was to be the last time.

It was there that Max shook hands with Death, and watched Him take a great many of his friends away. It was there that Max carried bleeding, broken men across fields of screaming bodies. It was there that Max lifted great weapons, and used them to slay others that he did not and never would get to meet. It was there, after many months of death and pain, that he was given a series of letters, which told the brief and miserable tale of his wife's sickness. It was there that Max, despite his great strength, learned that he was not strong enough to save his love. And it was there that Max learned another lesson: that the world is cruel, and that sorrow strikes harder than any mine, missile, or bullet.

And it was there that Max did not break. Instead, he smiled as often as he could, and bore up his men upon his great shoulders, on through the heart of Germany and toward a victory hard-won.

After the war, Max found himself confused, and unsure of what to do with himself. The love had gone from his life, and he was only able to see duty before him. He stayed with the Army for a long time, distinguishing himself through hard work, discipline, and honor. A time passed, and during that time Max was happy, in a way. He sent his money home, and he did right by all he served with as well as he was able. He maintained his body and mind rigorously, and saw many more great and terrible things. He allowed his painful memories to soften, and fade. Life was simple, but uneventful. He felt himself growing older, and less content.

And that was when the Foundation found Sergeant Major Maximilian Hammerschmidt's service record.

The rest is history.

Languages

  • English
  • Understands German fairly well, but non-fluent in speech

Miscellaneous:

Max is a pretty talented cook, and is best known for his Maximum Meat Pie, a dread monstrosity of a shepherd's pie that has been known to cause cardiac incidents in the weak-willed by aroma alone. He is also decent at the harmonica, enjoys literature as much as he enjoys comic books, and once wrestled a moose.

XP: 0

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