Captain Ernesto Medina y Soto

This is a write-up of an NPC from a pirate-themed GURPS campaign I’m currently running. Based largely on the Seas of Daring, Seas of Dread setting presented in Ken Hite’s amazing excellent GURPS Horror, 3rd edition. The setting does somewhat resemble that of a popular movie trilogy, but this is purely coincidental. I’ve had to leave out some details because my wife, a player in the campaign, does read this blog.

Captain of the sloop Fata del Mundo, Ernesto Medina y Soto has managed to keep a low enough profile that he and his prate crew travel the Spanish Main with impunity. They take just enough to live large and have even earned a reputation as employable for extra-legal activities that require a ship. They’ll honor any paid commission to the letter, even having gone so far as to hand over to one employer a fortune in plundered doubloons they took from a captured ship when no one would have been the wiser.

Having worked the Caribbean for better than twenty years, Captain Medina y Soto is no stranger to the supernatural happenings that abound just beyond the edges of civilized society. He keeps rock-salt–loaded pistols at all times for the occasional zombie, meticulously observes those “superstitions” that have kept the dark forces of uncreation away from his ship, and damn well what the Inquisition is really after. He’s a damn good shot, too.

Medina y Soto is a lech. Any woman who spends more than half a minute with him will have to fend off his advances. Fortunately his advances—though ardent, passionate, and sincere—are also easy to rebuff. He takes rejection in good grace, seeing it as part of the challenge to overcome all demurs.

Medina y Soto is astonishngly ugly. He is not just fat, but profoundly so. His skin is marred by acne scars, and a generous wen lies to the side of his nose. And his conviction that any form of personal hygiene will make him vulnerable to duppies and darker things means that he reeks most foully. No amount of elaborate and colorful dress—which he does affect—cancels out his smell.

This makes it all the more astonishing that his personal charm is often enough to win over the good graces of even cautious maids.

He talks loud, lives large, and acts at all times with unshakable confidence. His considerable bulk only adds to the sense he projects that he belongs in any space he occupies. And the cruel jabs and demeaning bluster he hurls at his crew is backed up by not one whit of real threat. He loves his comrades, and they know it.

Captain Medina y Soto generally shows up as an employable entity with a ship for parties of PCs who don’t otherwise have access to one. Early in a campaign set in the magical secret history of Seas of Daring, Seas of Dread, he can also be an invaluable mentor, initiating gormless PCs into the terrible realities that await them on the high seas and giving them a few tools to help them survive just one more day.

GURPS stats

Ernesto Medina y Soto

Attributes [165]

ST 15 [50], DX 12 [40], IQ 14 [80], HT 11 [10]

HP 15, Will 14, Per 14, FP 11

Basic Lift 45, Damage 1d+1/2d+1, Basic Speed 5.75

Advantages [87]

Ally (Crew) (50% of starting points) (Group Size (6-10); Constantly) [48], Charisma (3) [15], Fearlessness (2) [4], Signature Gear (Fata del Mundo (a sloop)) (20) [20]

Perks [1]

Alcohol Tolerance [1]

Disadvantages [-46]

Appearance (Ugly) [-8], Fat [-3], Lecherousness (12 or less) [-15], Odious Personal Habit (Doesn’t bathe . . . ever) (-2) [-10], Social Stigma (Outlaw) (-2) [-10]

Quirks [-3]

Almond-sized wen on the side of his nose [-1], Keeps a skin of sack with him at all times [-1], Keeps two pistols loaded with rock-salt shot at all times [-1]

Skills [57]

Area Knowledge (Carribbean) IQ/E - IQ+0 14 [1], Boating/TL4 (Sailboat) DX/A - DX-1 11 [1], Brawling DX/E - DX+2 14 [4], Gunner/TL4 (Beams) DX/E - DX+0 12 [1], Guns/TL4 (Pistol) DX/E - DX+7 19 [24], Intimidation Will/A - Will-1 13 [1], Knife DX/E - DX+1 13 [2], Leadership IQ/A - IQ+2 16 includes: +3 from ‘Charisma’, [1], Merchant IQ/A - IQ-1 13 [1], Navigation/TL4 (Sea) IQ/A - IQ+0 14 [2], Occultism IQ/A - IQ+3 17 [12], Ritual Magic (All) IQ/VH - IQ-3 11 [1], Seamanship/TL4 IQ/E - IQ+0 14 [1], Shiphandling/TL4 (Ship) IQ/H - IQ-2 12 [1], Shortsword DX/A - DX-1 11 [1], Strategy (Naval) IQ/H - IQ-2 12 [1], Tactics IQ/H - IQ-1 13 [2]

Add comment June 28th, 2007