It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Willie

Despite the fact that the Sci-Fi Campaign is on indefinite hiatus I wanted to post this background for Christian’s character, since he had put so much thought into it (and it gave me a really good chuckle or five). I had been waiting for the others to send me a background, but no one else really got around to it....

(Other player’s take note: this is the sort of thing that garners you bonus bennies, edges, and skills in my game!!)


Mad Willie – Technician – WC (Christian)
Ag d8, Sm d10, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 5, Toughness 6 (8)
Skills: Fighting d6, Shooting d10, Notice d6, Repair d8, Taunt d4, Pilot d6, Knowledge (Starhip Engineering) d8, Knowledge (Computers) d6, Knowledge (Explosives) d4,
Edges: Ambidextrous, Two-fisted, Mr. Fixit, Quickdraw, Marksman
Hindrances: Phobia (Robots), Delusional (minor – believes he’s Scottish), Delusional (Major – doesn’t believe in lasers)
Gear: Syn-Weev Armoured Vest and “kilt”
2x Heavy Pistol (Range 15/30/60, ROF 1, Damage 2d8, AP: 2)


Capt Jackson picked up Mad Willie in a card game one evening while waiting for customs to process at the spaceport on Calixtus III. The Scotsman lost some hands, and basically sold himself into indentured servitude on the Muttonchop (Ach, why not? Ye seem ta be less of a wanker then all these gits around here...). Since then, he has proved a mixed blessing.

Mad Willie is a skilled repairman, able to patch together various bits of the ship whenever called upon. He is less interested in actual preventative maintenance - Anton can handle that. (Anton? What a bloody fairy name). But he is good at getting the ship's engines and computers going again when they stop working. He is also a good man in a tight spot, blazing away with his heavy pistols.

However, people call him Mad for a reason. For starters, he wears a kilt and balmoral, which he has clearly made himself. The kilt is a length of reinforced syn-weave that has obviously been clumsily stitched together and painted plaid. Willie has been seen patching up the paint job several times, but if pressed claims that his brush is actually a sewing needle, and that he is only making repairs to his beloved kilt. Willie claims that he hails from the planet of Glasgae IX, but no such planet has ever existed. When asked about it, he makes up stuff that often contradicts his last story. If pressed, he gets twitchy, and starts reaching for his pistols. His accent ranges from Scots to Irish to something like Russian at times.

Then there is the robots issue. Burt had a perfectly good hospitality robot, but then it blew up. Willie denied responsibility, but seemed much more at ease after the robot was gone. Willie hates and fears robots. The more primitive and clankier, the worse. "Och, I hate them clanky buggers. They give me the willies, stomping around and eating people." Note that Willie does not fear any andriod that appears fully human - "That's nae a robot - it's a person, ye eedjit!". But once an android got cut and started bleeding lubricant, and Willie freaked, and killed it. This caused some trouble for Capt Burt.

Willie also believes that lasers are harmless, despite any and all evidence to the contrary. Anyone shot with a laser is a "wee scared bairn - it's just a flashlight, for christ's sakes!" Anyone killed by laser fire is a hypochondriac, even if missing body parts. "Ach, the poor bugger must really have thought those things are real. The mind is an amazing thing." This means that Willie will basically treat anyone with a laser as an unarmed delusional fool, ripe for the picking. When shot with a laser, Willie will firmly blame the damage on something else, no matter how improbable. "Laser burn? Dinna be a fool, lass. I was standing by a window, and there was a solar flare. Didst tha nae seeit? Lasers. I like thee, lass, but th'art sometimes a wee bit daft." He does have a healthy respect for Plasma weapons, and other such stuff, it's just lasers that he believes to be a scam.

Willie is starting to realize that people don't mean "Mad" in the same way that he does. This is causing him to become madder. That, and the death of Abby "Ace" Grace, who he had a bit of a soft spot for. Willie is starting to think that it would be cool if he started to learn how to blow things up...

"Explosions in me cabin, what do ye mean? That smoke could've come from anywhere. I was probably just jimmying the turbo-oscilliator. Hey, why don't you keep yer big nose to yuirself anyways, ye big fookin' smarty-pants?"