[HOE] Saint T

["Nick Zachariasen" <zacharin@pluto.dsu.edu>]

O.K., here he is.  Yes, it's a bit silly, I know, but come on- it's Mr. T!

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Saint Lawrence Tureaud (a.k.a. Mr. T)
Saint of Toughness

Born in 1952, Lawrence Tureaud grew up on the south side of Chicago with his
seven brothers and four sisters.  His father left when he was 5, leaving the
family to live on welfare. T once reflected, "As a kid, I got three meals a
day. Oatmeal, miss-a-meal and no meal."  He was heavily influenced by his
very religious mother to keep his life on track and live right.
When he grew up, he served in the military and at one point actually served
as a bodyguard for Muhammad Ali.  In the early 1980s, he began acting in TV
and movies, starring as Clubber Lang in Rocky 3, gaining his longest-lasting
recognition ffrom his role as B.A. Baracus in the TV Series The A-Team
(vidslugs of which have actually served as inspiration for a team of four
Junkers calling themselves the J-Team).  It is this role that seems to
manifest in a large part of T's blessings.  This role also, along with his
brief professional wrestling career, made his trademark gold chains famous.
T used his fame well.  His fight against the forces of the Reckoners came
not from killing vampires or halting the evil machinations of cults, but
rather through the simple spreading of hope among children.  Indeed, unlike
St. Wayne, T was never any more aware of the supernatural than any average
person.  T helped create youth centers and start physical fitness programs
in urban areas, giving hope to underprivileged children who lived there and
simply helping them have fun.  He tried to teach the kids to either "be
somebody or be somebody's fool"
Eventually, after his acting heyday was over, T developed, oddly enough,
T-cell lymphoma.  The fight left him financially drained to the point where
he had to sell off his gold chains, which he had worn to symbolize the
struggle of blacks in Africa.  In an interview, he stated "I don't wear gold
chains no more.  The gold is in my heart."  Eventually, though, T managed to
stave off the cancer.  He wrote a book about his experience, whcih resulted
in him giving hope to a whole new group of people: cancer patients. Like
John Wayne, T also lived to a ripe old age and died of natural causes.

Deed: T blesses those who seek to help the less fortunate, children in
particular.  He will come to those who try to help others live better lives,
whether through teaching them how to take care oif their bodies or how to
simply live better lives through their interaction with their fellow man.
Additionally, he will also aid Templars who are falsely accused of a major
trangression, especially if it involves the military or the Templars.  He
may also aid those rare Templars who own a van.  For any power involving
Junker Powers or Tool Tricks, use the Templar's Faith in place of Science:
Occult Engineering.

White: For the next 5 minutes per Faith level, the Templar may either use
his Faith in place of the following or gain a bonus equal to it:
     Drivin': any land vehicle except motorcycles; if the vehicle in
question is a van, the Templar's Drivin' rolls are considered to
automatically succeed
     Fightin': brawlin'
     Overawe
     Scroungin'
     Shootin':pistol, rifle, shotgun, or any basic Vietnam-era military
weaponry that saw widespread use among ground troops in general (such as the
AK-47 or the bazooka); where appropriate, this extends to the Artillery
Aptitude
     Throwin': all
     Tinkerin'

Red: For 1 hour per Faith level, the Templar effectively has access to the
Cyborg power Duct Tape at a level equal to his Faith.  However, this also
costs him 1d4 Wind (don't reroll Aces) for every Durability step repaired.
A;ternately, the Templar may use the Junker Tool Tricks Reload and Weld.

Blue: For 1 minute per Faith level, the Templar and his allies gain a very
powerful Edge in combat.  Reminiscent of The A-Team, wherein there was lots
of gunfire but nobody ever got seriously hurt, no single hit from any weapon
can cause more than 2 wound levels to any single location to the Templar or
anyone on his or her "side".  Even if the Templar was in the middle of
fighting someone, the two ceasing to fight each other and fight someone else
qualifies as being on the same side under the logic that "the enemy of my
enemy is my friend."
For instance, say the Templar and his friends are fighting an Anti-Templar
and his warband, and both sides are then attacked by a group of Black Hats.
The Templar and Anti-Templar and their respective companions decide to
temporarily set aside their differences and fight the Combine troops.  The
Templar invokes this power, and shortly a Black Hat throws a grenade at a
member of the Anti-Templar's warband.  Damage is rolled and 5 wound levels
are rolled, with the hit locations rolls placing wounds in the left leg, the
guts, the right leg, and the guts again.  Typically, this would mean that
the warband member would be auditioning for a new set of intestines.
However, since he's fighting a common foe with the Templar, he receives only
a Heavy Wound to each leg and his guts.  Once the Black Hats are dispatched,
the two sides start fighting again.  This time the Templar slices through
the Anti-Templar with his sword, dealing 4 Wound levels.  This damage is
handled normally because the two are no longer allies in any sense.
Note that this ability does not protect whatsoever against magical sources
of damage, such as hexes, Doomsayer miracles, Syker, powers, etc.  This
includes things like the cards produced by the Cardsharp hex (as detailed in
the Weiird West book Hexarcana)- it only protects against man-made weaponry,
excluding Junker tech.  However, against normal weaponry that's been somehow
enchanted (such as by the Glow Weapon toxic favor, the Loaded for Bear hex,
or the weapon being a Relic), the weapons still work normally as per their
enchantment, but they can deal up to a Serious Wound instead of only a
heavy.

Legend: For 1 day per Faith level, the Templar functions as though he had
the Arcane Background: Junker.Edge.  The limit to the Templar's contruction
capability is equal to a total TN equal to his Faith times 5.  For instance,
he may construct a device with a TN of 13 and a device with a TN of 11, or
he could construct 5 devices with a TN of 5 each.  Any such combination will
work so long as it is less than or equal to the limit.  When activating this
power, the Templar may choose a number of powers equal to his Faith from the
following list. All Tool Tricks except for Miniaturize may be taken on a
3-for-1 basis (Minaturize counts as 2 Tricks for these purposes) and the
Templar automatically gets Weld for free.
     Tool Tricks: Bar, Brace, Debug, Finish, Light, Minaturize, Reload, Spit
& Polish, Tool
     Powers: Ammo, Armor, Gunsmith, Light, Locomotion, Weaponsmith

Extra notes: A Templar blessed by Mr. T also gains some other abilities.
First, Fate Chips may instead be used to raise the Templar's Strength die
type by a number of steps equal to its "value" for his Faith in rounds.
Second, he gains the Martial Arts maneuver Throwin' (people) and a tendency
to use it whenever he can!
Third, The Templar's throwing ability is intensely magnified.  He can throw
10 times farther than he would be able to without T's blessing.  However,
this does not work on weaponry- only living or mechanical creatures and
inanimate objects being used in a non-offensive manner, plus this ability
can only be activated (though once done, it's lasts as long as T's blessing
does) by spending a Legend Chip for this specific purpose.  If T forsakes
the Templar and returns, this ability is still active.
Fourth, every 20 pounds of gold chains the hero wears around his neck
confers AV 2 against solid objects and explosives, AV4 vs. energy
weapons/blasts, and deflects any sort of pure light attack entirely.  The
latter two only work if he keeps the chains clean.  Note that this drops the
Templar's Nimbleness die type for all purposes except for Drivin' and
Fightin' by two steps for each 2 levels of Armor provided in tis way.  Your
waster may be blessed by Mr. T, but he'd better not start thinking that he
IS Mr. T!
Those blessed by T also tend to unconsciously make use of his catch phrases
("I pity the fool", "Shut up, fool!", etc.).  They also gain the Heroic
Hindrance if they don't have it already, and if they do they become
extra-Heroic, because to quote T, "When punks start hasslin' decent people,
ah make it mah bidness!"

Vexation:  There are several things one can do to lose T's favor.  Don't
reroll Aces on any of the listed durations unless they state otherwise.  For
the verbal slipups, T won't completely abandon someone who really needs him
(i.e., life or death situations for him or his friends).
T once said "Any man who don't love his momma can't be no friend of mine."
Mr. T abandons anyone who badmouths someone's mother (unless the stuff he
says is true) for 1d4 days.  He'll return sooner if an apology is made.
Also, Mr. T don't want none o' that "Saint" jibba jabba being thrown around
about him.  He feels that using the word so loosely cheapens it, so he
prefers people to call him Mr. T, or if they must, just T.  Calling him
"Saint" causes him to leave for 1d4 hours.
Mr. T also doens't go for any obscene jibba-jabba.  Rather than leaving, Mr.
T causes the individual to feel a punching sensation in the gut and lose 1d4
Wind (reroll Aces, but don't take the character's total below 0 Wind).  If
there's a child under 18 present, roll 1d8 for the Wind loss AND let the
character go below 0 Wind, but not far enough to cause any Wound levels.
Lastly, T will permanently leave anyone who knowlingly and willingly either
commits a traitorous act or turns his back on any who deserve the blessed
character's help, especially children, regardless of the worthiness of the
rest of a settlement.  T doesn't turn his back on decent people!  However,
if helping them is outside his capability or there are other mitigating
circumstances (Marshal's call), T understands.  He ain't no fool, sucka!
His favor can be regained by proving oneself worthy once again.
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Nick Zachariasen
Editor Emeritus
Trojan Times