[HOE] Saint Matthews

["Jeff Shoffner" <shoffner@esper.com>]

Normally, I wouldn't write up a saint on something like this, but today, one
of my DL players surprised me with an act of such selflessness, I figured,
hey, why not?

"Doc" Matthews, Saint of Redemption

The story of "Doc" Matthews shows that no act is too small in order to
overcome the powers of evil.  Matthews was a US marshal for a very brief
time during the 1870s.  His greatest, and only claim to fame is that in
early April 1876, he chanced upon a settlement populated by folks previously
thought dead.  The only connection he could make of these people is that all
of them committed mass murder prior to being caught and killed. Through
several conversations, he and his party discovered that this small town was
set up as a purgatory for these folks to redeem themselves in a contest set
up by 'Players" from beyond Earth.  However, problems recently faced the
town as the barriers between the real world and purgatory fell down and
folks from the outside came inside and started trouble.  The path towards
redemption does not allow the people to take aggressive measures even in
self defense.  "Doc" Matthews volunteered to enter the realm where these
"Players" resided to speak for the townspeople in hopes of either changing
the rules of the contest, or finding an alternate solution to help the town.
The "Players" argued considerably over the merits of the townspeople, and in
the end, Matthews offered up his life to serve as the town's marshal; since
he was not part of the contest, he could freely do whatever steps were
needed to protect the town.  Although Matthew's obligation to uphold the law
was a strong factor when dealing with these known criminals, in the end, his
since of justice and fair play required him to bring law and a chance of
redemption to the fallen.

So far, "Doc" Matthews has only showed himself to one Templar; one who came
upon a mob of mutants who had renounced the teachings of Silas Rasmussen and
were trying desperately to outrun a small group of Doomsayers.  The Templar
decided that they deserved the chance of redemption and held off the
Doomsayers while the mob escaped into the countryside.












Marshal's space...



Okay, the truth about "Doc" Matthews.  Matthews really did go to the Hunting
Grounds (unknowingly) and found a small town populated by sinners.  And yes,
in the end, in order to protect the town from a squad of Union soldiers bent
on arresting the entire town, Matthews volunteered to become the town's
marshal, and (sort of) forced the soldiers to leave.  Now, the interesting
part: Matthews is still alive.  This town of Providence is located on the
boundaries of the Hunting Grounds and the real world, isolated somewhere in
the Colorado Rockies.  Because of this, marshal Matthews lives eternally,
protecting the damned (perhaps redeemable?) for all eternity.  However, due
to the "fuzziness" of order in the Hunting Grounds, Matthews is able to help
those he favors in a limited fashion.  Matthews is by no means a saint of
significant power--being alive in the Hunting Grounds hampers his influence.

Deed:  Matthews visits Templars who find a group of folks who'd normally be
unworthy of assistance, but have honestly made an attempt at changing their
ways.  The mutants shown up above is an excellent example.

White Chip: Matthews aids the Templar in defusing a tense, potentially
deadly, situation with bonus of +4 to a persuasion, bluff, overawe, or
riducule roll.  This roll can not be used to break an opponent during a
gunfight; it must be used as a peaceful means of breaking up a fight.

Red Chip: Matthews will bolster the Templar's Faith or Guts roll if the
Templar fails the initial roll by adding +4 to the final total.

Blue Chip: Matthews imparts his heroic unwavering by allowing a Templar to
reroll a busted Faith or Guts roll.

Legend Chip: Templar receives the benefit of Matthews' enduring
perserverance. For the duration of minutes times the Templar's Faith level,
the Templar can ignore any wound penalties, failed Guts penalties, or failed
Tests of Will penalties--he simply shuts off that part of the mind until he
can deal with the pain, horror, or emotion at a later time. (in other words,
after the time limit, the Templar receives ALL penalties he might have been
able to ignore for their full duration)

Vexation:  Matthews can sometimes glimpse the present day through dreaming
and because of this is fairly tolerant of what a Templar must do in order to
fight the Reckoners.  However, he will leave any Templar he feels does not
live up to a 'heroic' lifestyle.  Marshal's call as to what thay means.





So, whaddya think?  Too powerful, not enough, what? I want this guy to be a
minor saint in the whole book of Martyrs seeing how the player just rolled
him up, used him in one adventure, then 'sarcificed' him to solve the
adventure.  I can see most players willing to sacrifice their characters by
blowing up a bad guy, or going down in a rain of lead, but to write one off
just so the character can spend eternity in limbo, well, I figure that has
to merit SOMETHING.

Jeff S