New Character: The Man on the Corner

“Happy” Francais Blatti is The Man On The Corner, a character that can be used easily in Rotwang City, or Cape Noire, or really any other setting. Sometimes folks in a community may have need to get a message or a plea to the local mobster or gang boss. The question is how do you do that without endangering yourself? How are you supposed to get a message to someone that the police can’t always find or, frankly, don’t even know to look for? The answer is while the hapless questioner is looking around and asking for someone’s help, some guy that everyone knows is all-mobbed-up (but no one knows how or can prove it) hears the plea. He says nothing, but within a day or a week (after considering the request) the query is seemingly responded to. The guy on the corner has done his job; he’s put the request through to the right…er…wrong people. Everyone on the block knows that he knows, but no one will talk about it.

Hey, I told that guy at the coffee shop about being robbed. He said thats tough, and asked if there was anything I could get back, what would I be? My wife’s jewelry and my trombone. He didn’t say anything else, just finished his tiny cup of black coffee, stood up, and left. Three days later, there was a long, cloth covered crate on my stoop. Inside is my wife’s jewelry and my trombone.
I don’t know what happened after that guy left, or even if it wasn’t just a coincidence. Truth is, I’m not sure what I know. One thing’s for certain, I won’t rat him out–not for nothing…no how.

The man on the corner is just a name, not the only name. Different neighborhoods may have different titles for this quiet loner. He could be Mr. So-And-So, The guy in the coffee shop. That guy who feeds the pigeons, etc. One thing that never changes is that he gets things done if you know to ask. Oh yeah, if you’re not from the neighborhood, he won’t talk to you at all.

Archetype: The Man on the Corner

Core Abilities

INT: +2 • WIL: +2 • PER: +1 • XFC: +1 • MAG: +1

Conditions
Code: Occultus r7 • Code: Officium r7• Reputation (to Neighborhood people): All-Mobbed-Up (or otherwise connected) r5 • Reputation: Will Fix Your Problems r5

Abilities
Contacts: The Mob +1 • Favors: He is Owed Several Favors by the Local Mob and Neighborhood People +1 • Lore Skill: Secret Knocks and Passwords +1 • Lore Skill: Secrets Confessed by Locals +1 • Streetwise +1

Worlds of Pulp Character “Happy” Francais Blatti

Core Abilities

CBT: 6 • AGL: 5 • MGT: 5 • TGH: 8 • INT: 10 (+4) • WIL: 10 (+4) • PER: 10 (+2) • XFC: 10 (+2) • MAG: 7 • HITS: 21 • IM 18.9

Conditions
Behavior: Always Has an Arrogant Smirk r7 • Code: Occultus r8 • Code: Officium r8• Reputation (to Neighborhood people): All-Mobbed-Up r8 • Reputation: Will Fix Your Problems r5

Abilities
Contacts: The Mob r10 (+4) • Evade Pursuit 8 • Favors: He is Owed Several Favors by the Local Mob and Neighborhood People r7 • Lore Skill: Secret Knocks and Passwords r10 • Lore Skill: Secrets Confessed by Locals r10 (+12) • Read Lips r7 • Stomping Grounds: The Neighborhood He Operates In r10 (+12) • Stealth r7 • Streetwise r9

Equipment
Brass Knuckles • Lucky Coin • Nice suit • Racing Form • Silver Hair Comb • Switchblade Knife r5 (+2) damage

Description
Francais Blatti is below average height, with a boxy build; almost no one sees his brilliant, blue eyes which seem permanently hidden behind his squinting eyes. Most days Blatti can be found hanging out on one street corner or another (usually near an alley). No one ever sees him doing anything besides sitting on a bench feeding birdseed to the pigeons, or quietly flipping his lucky coin. No one sees anything, but most people from the neighborhood know what’s-what; he listens to problems, rarely says anything, and if the problem needs to be remedied, it gets handled a few days later.

When Francais was a kid, he was a troublemaker who had aspirations of joining a gang. It wasn’t much, but they were the only dreams an orphan kid had back in those days, everyone’s attention was focused on the Great War, so they didn’t care much what a group of kids were doing. All and all, he managed to keep his nose clean in spite of an appetite for crime. A lot of his friend’s were not so lucky. They landed in the joint. He stayed close with them after they got out out; they all grew up in the system and the mean streets. Francais watched his buddies go from street trash to a band of tuffs, to expensive cars and fast women. He gave them information when he could. He had fulfilled his dream-he was finally close to the mob. Since they had all been pals on the street, there was trust.

It wasn’t long before people in the neighborhood realized that he was someone they could bring their problems to, and he might even bring the matter to the mob on their behalf. Because of his ever-present smirk his buds called him “Happy.” The name has stuck ever since.