Elliot J. Martin, retired soldier and professional adventurer

Name: Elliot J. Martin Alignment: NG
Class/Level: Fighter/6th Deity: Irish Catholic Homeland: USA
Race: Human Size: M Gender: Male
Age: 25 Height: 5’10 Weight: 165 Hair: Br   Eyes: Gr
Speed: 40ft./8sq. With Armor: 40ft./8sq.  
Languages: English, Latin, Greek

ATTRIBUTES MODS
STR 14 +2
DEX 18 +5
CON 14 +2
INT 14 +2
WIS 12 +1
CHA 10 +0

Hit Points: 78
Initiative: +4

AC: 23 (10+ Armor 4+ Dex 5+ 1 Dodge +3 Magic Items)
Touch AC: 19
Flat Footed AC: 19 (23)

FORT: 8 (5+2 Con+ 1 Magic Item)
REF:    8 (2+ 5 Dex+ 1 Magic Item)
WILL: 4 (2+ 1 Wis+  1 Magic Item) +2 vs. Fear Effects

BAB: +7/+2
CMB: 19 (7 BAB+ 2 Str)
CMD: 24 (7 BAB+ 2 Str+ 5 Dex +10)

Proficiencies:
Light Armor Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency,
All Firearms Proficiency

Feats:
Bravery 1 (+1 Will vs. Fear Effects)
Weapon Training: Rifles (+1 Attack/Damage)
Bravery 2 (+1 Will vs. Fear Effects)
Gun Training 1: Rifles (Add Dex Bonus +4 to Damage)
Weapon Focus: Rifles (+1 to Attack)
Weapon Focus: Pistols (+1 to Attack)
Weapon Specialization: Pistols (+2 to Damage)
Point Blank Shot (+1 Attack/Damage within 30ft.)
Dodge (+1 Dodge bonus to AC)
Quick Draw (Draw weapon as free action)
Vital Strike ( Deal 2x Damage on single Attack)
Uncanny Dodge

Skills:
*Acrobatics: 5 (magic item)
Climb: 10 (Str 2+ 5 ranks)
Craft Weapons: 9(Int 2+ 4 ranks)
Repair: 9 (Int 2+ 4 ranks)
Intimidate: 7 (Cha 0+ 4 ranks)
Knowledge Arcana: 11 (Int 2+ 6 ranks)
Knowledge Dungeoneering/Engineering: 9 (Int 2+ 4 ranks)
Knowledge Medicine:  8 (Int 2+ 3 ranks)
Profession Soldier: 7 (Wis 1+ 3 ranks)
Ride: 11 (Dex 5+ 3 ranks)
Survival: 6 (Wis 1 +2 ranks)
Swim: 7 (Str 2 +2 ranks)
Use Magic Device: 6 (Cha 0+ 6 ranks)

AC ITEMS:

Mithral Shirt: +4 AC, Light Armor, Check Penalty: 0, Spell Failure 10% Weight: 10#
Amulet/Natural Armor: +1 AC, Amulet, N/A
This Amulet takes the form of a small silver Crucifix in the traditional style, once the personal posession of Pope Urban II.
Ring of Protection: +1 AC, Ring, N/A
Bracers of Armor +1
These bracers are made of dark leather and worn steel, and are plain except for a raised maltese cross on each.

WEAPONS:

+1 Undead Bane Colt 1911 .45  'Lucy'
This custom made single action .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun is dull black with a slightly raised skull and bones motif on the slide and trigger guard. The grips appear to be ivory, but upon close inspection, reveal themselves to be made of human bone. It’s box magazine holds 7 rounds plus another in the breech.

Type: Pistol  Magazine: 7 Rounds
Weight: 2#
Range Increment: 30 ft.
Crit: 20 (x4)
Attack Bonus: +12/+7 (+13/+8 within 30 ft)
Damage: 1d10+3 (+2 Weapon Spec., +1 magic weapon) (+4 within 30ft.) + 2d6 vs. Undead

+1 Shocking Springfield M1903 .30-06 'Charlene'
This .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle is standard issue to US Army soldiers. It is gunmetal blue with a dark oiled walnut stock. It appears normal except for two crossed lighting bolts that have been hand-etched into the receiver next to the serial number, and the same lightning bolt pattern hand-carved into the left side of the stock. It holds 5 rounds in the box plus another in the breech.

Type: Rifle  Magazine: 5 rounds
Weight: 8#
Range Increment: 100ft.
Crit: 20 (x4)
Attack Bonus: +13/+8 (+14/+9 within 30 ft)
Damage: 1d12+ 6 (5 Dex, +1 magic weapon) (+7 within 30 ft.) + 1d6 Electric

+1 Holy Bayonet
This sawback bayonet is designed to fit a German made Mauser Gewehr 98 rifle. It is well worn, showing evidence of heavy use and repeated sharpenings. It's overall length is 19 inches, with a blade length of approximately 14 inches. It appears ordinary in every way, but was once blessed by the Archangel Michael himself.

Type: Light Blades
Weight:1#
Range: N/A
Crit: 20 (x2)
Attack Bonus: +12/+7
Damage: 1d4+6 (+5 dex, +1 Magic Weapon) +2d6 vs. Evil

Elliot wears his Colt .45 in a shoulder harness under his left arm. He typically keeps it loaded with standard ammunition.  The other side of his harness holds an additional 3 box magazines for his pistol, one of which is also standard ammunition, while the other two are loaded with silver bullets. He wears this harness over his Mithral Shirt and beneath his Army issue greatcoat. He wears his bayonet on a pistol belt, in it's scabbard on his left hip. On his right hip, attached to his pistol belt, is an ammunition pouch that holds 25 additional rounds for his Springfield M1903. Also attached to his pistol belt is a standard issue US Army canteen.

His rifle is equipped with a sling, but when in public he carries it in a nondescript wooden case.

OTHER EQUIPMENT:

WORN:
Mithral Shirt
Shoulder harness (Colt .45, 3 additional mags)
Pistol belt of dexterity+2 (belt pouch w/ 25 .30-06 rounds, Bayonet, canteen)
US Army Greatcoat of Resistance (+1 to Fort, Ref, & Will saves)
This Greatcoat is an olive drab colored, woolen greatcoat. It has obviously seen plenty of use and has been carefully mended in several places. Weight: 2#
Boots of Striding +10 to land speed, +5 to Acrobatics checks)
These are ordinary looking Officer's boots. Well broken in and comfortable. Weight: 1#
Bedroll (attached to rucksack) Weight: 5#
Rucksack Weight: 2#

IN RUCKSACK:

Mwk Artisan's tools (weapon crafting) Weight: 5#
Grappling hook Weight: 4#
50ft. silk rope Weight 5#
46 pistol rounds Weight 5#
16 silver pistol rounds Weight 2#
75 rifle rounds Weight 7#
7 days dry rations Weight 7#
Sewing needle & thread Weight .5#
Flint & steel Weight 1#
Ink vial & pen Weight 1#
Journal 2#

Total weight Carried: 69.5# (Unencumbered)
Total Cash: 129$

Cash running total 119$
Pistol ammo carried 40
Silver ammo carried 16
Rifle ammo carried 70

looks good... keep one thing in mind. Strength is not really that important, Dex is what you need for guns (but maybe you're doing something else and I should just shut up?) lol

whit10 wrote:looks good... keep one thing in mind.  Strength is not really that important, Dex is what you need for guns (but maybe you're doing something else and I should just shut up?) lol

I'm still tweaking things around a bit.. I've got a couple ideas yet. I like adding the dex bonus to gun damage.

Depending on the Melee weapon I build ( +2 Holy trench spike, anyone?) I'm probably gonna switch Dex & Str numbers.

yeah, this will be a bit of an adventure for everyone (myself included). Since guns will be far more prevalent and melee, while still very useful and effective, is far more rare.

I'll allow a fair amount of latitude when it comes to weapons. My only stipulation for exotic weapons is that we stick to what the rules state on them. However, since I just saw last night that the Bard Archetype Archaeologist gets to start with whip proficiency, I might allow some oddball weapon proficiencies.

whit10 wrote:yeah, this will be a bit of an adventure for everyone (myself included).  Since guns will be far more prevalent and melee, while still very useful and effective, is far more rare.

I'll allow a fair amount of latitude when it comes to weapons.  My only stipulation for exotic weapons is that we stick to what the rules state on them.  However, since I just saw last night that the Bard Archetype Archaeologist gets to start with whip proficiency, I might allow some oddball weapon proficiencies.  

I was thinking that a trench spike or bayonet would be roughly equivalent to a dagger.. and my cloak of Protection could actually be an Officer's Greatcoat of Protection, etc. I was kinda looking for ways to make the classic stuff contemporary to fit with the world setting.

yeah, all of that is good. Feel free to make magic items look contemporary, the slots will just have to stay the same (or very similar)

I was born to Irish Catholic parents in Boston, Massachussetts in the year of our Lord 1898. I was Baptised with the given name of Elliot James Martin. Most people call me Eli.

I grew up as an ordinary kid in Boston’s south end. My friends and I spent lots of time playing war in the still wild ‘Fens’ of the far south and the Back Bay area. Then we watched Fenway Park get built there, and were thrilled when it finally opened in 1912, the same year the Titanic sank, and the Boston Americans became the Boston Red Sox. We used to love going to games there..

My childhood was an ordinary and happy one.

War broke out in Europe with the Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in June 1914, and on July 28 the Austro-Hungarians fired the first shots in preparation for the invasion of Serbia. As Russia mobilized, Germany invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, and the Great War was on.

The United States declared itself neutral, but the Lusitania was sunk without a warning in 1915, killing over 120 Americans. One year later, the Sussex was sunk by German U-boats in 1916, the year I graduated high school. Then it was widely accepted that we would be joining the Allied Nations to help push the Central powers back and save Europe from total domination.

In 1916 President Wilson took a stronger stance toward foreign affairs by increasing the size of the military and issuing a warning to the Germans:

Unless the Imperial Government should now immediately declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods of submarine warfare against passenger and freight-carrying vessels, the Government of the United States can have no choice but to sever diplomatic relations with the German Empire altogether.

Eager to fight for freedom and justice, and the imagined glories of combat, I joined the US Army upon turning 18 in 1916. I was sent to Camp Grant in northern Illinois for training, and we all knew that almost certainly we would be sailing to Europe as part of the newly declared American Expeditionary Forces.

The Germans responded by temporarily ceasing submarine warfare until 1917 when German Ambassador Berstorff announced the continuation of submarine warfare and ended diplomatic relations with the United States.

The rumors were that President Wilson planned to give command of the AEF to General Frederick Funston. But after Funston's sudden death, Wilson appointed Major General John J. ‘Black Jack’ Pershing in May 1917.

I was part of the First Division, well trained, and we imagined, combat ready. We landed in France in June 1917, about 14,000 of us altogether, and our Corps of  Engineers got busy directing us in building ship berths, railroad tracks, and running countless miles of telegraph wire.

By November 1917 I was attached to American engineer regiments engaged in construction activity behind the British lines at Cambrai. The British push at Cambrai on November 20th failed its main objective – the capture of German submarine bases – and took a severe toll of British fighting strength. That’s the first time we went face to face with the enemy, having been unexpectedly called upon to go into the front lines during the emergency of the failing offensive. I, along with my regiment and the 11th, 12th, and 14th Engineer regiments thus became the first A.E.F. units to meet the Hun.

Fighting was fierce, and the British had long ago abandoned the heavy assault frontal tactics in which the AEF had been trained. The casualties were simply too heavy. Although we were inexperienced fighters, the Brits were happy to have us along, filling holes with fresh bodies and improving general morale. It was baptism by fire for me.

After that I fought in the Somme offensive alongside the French. On March 25, 1918, at the height at the German drive, Pershing placed the four American divisions at that time ready for combat at the disposal of the French. Only a few American units were engaged. I was still with the 69th Infantry Regiment,  and we fought with the 6th, 12th, and 14th Engineers. Also along were the 17th, 22d, and 148th Aero Squadrons, a total of about 2200 men.

Six months of active fighting on foreign soil had taken it’s toll, and though I longed for home, by then I was a battle hardened soldier. We were confident we could retake all the territory that had been lost on the German’s strong initial push.

Well, we fought the enemy back, winning some and losing some, but my last action of the war came during the St. Mihiel Campaign, between September 12-16, 1918.

There’s no easy way to talk about what happened during those five days. The offensive went so well on 12 September that Pershing ordered a speedup in our attack. My company advanced so quickly, we ended up well behind the German lines. We moved so fast, that on the night of September 15, 1918 we were nearly overrun in our captured German position by the retreating German "Army Detachment C", consisting of eight divisions and a brigade in the line and about two divisions in reserve. The Germans, now desperately short of manpower, had begun a step-by-step withdrawal from the salient only the day before the offensive began.

That’s when it happened to us. The part that will never make it into a history book. We were entrenched in our captured German bunkers, firewatch posted, on a cold drizzly evening when out of the fog the madness came leaping and staggering.
The monsters that fell upon us can’t be described. Before we knew it , before we could respond, the creatures were in our trench. Wolf and bear-men hybrids, wielding trench spikes and bayonets, ripping and tearing our flesh with claws and teeth. We tried to mount a resistance but they were too fast, too strong..

Before I knew it, my rifle was ripped from my hands and a towering, 8 foot tall wolf-man was on top of me. The beast plunged a German sawbacked bayonet deep into my chest and cast me aside like a bundle of twigs, his claws tearing my flesh. I lay in the mud, blood filling my lungs, struggling to breathe. All of other men with me were dead. I knew I was dying too. Out of the fog, I heard the first faint moans. Shapes began to appear, staggering slowly towards me. I hoped for a brief second it was a reserve unit coming to our aid, but it was something more horrible than I can describe.
It was the reanimated corpses of German soldiers. Dragging their own guts, arms severed, all manner of grievous wounds present, it was obvious that they were not among living men.

With my last bit of strength, I began to whisper St. Michaels Prayer.
"Blessed Michael, Archangel,
defend us in the hour of conflict;”

My lifeblood bubbled in my throat. I could no longer even whisper aloud. I used my last bit of fading strength to draw my sidearm. It weighed a million pounds. I managed to lift it and take aim, and squeezed off a couple rounds before I couldn’t hold it up anymore. My bullets had no effect against the horror and my pistol slipped from my grasp into the mud.

I continued my prayer, silently in my head, as my vision sank to darkness..

“Blessed Michael, Archangel,
defend us in the hour of conflict;
be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God restrain him, we humbly pray;
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, thrust, down to hell, Satan,
and with him the other wicked spirits
who wander through the world for the ruin of souls..”

I'll never know what evil magic caused dead Axis soldiers to rise and fight alongside their living allies, or science created the half-man, half-beast creatures that crashed down on us in the trenches. I’m only glad that the war was already lost for the Axis Powers, and the Being that intervened for us did not suffer the undead and the were-beasts to survive and spread during the war..

So anyway, in what should have been my last moments of life, The darkness around me was obliterated by a blinding flash of the purest, whitest light I’ve ever seen. A horn sounded, so loudly the ground shook. I thought I was already dead, and my soul was ascending to heaven. The black night and fog blew away and a winged Being in shining armor crashed down beside my dying form. There is no way to describe him except.. beautiful. He glowed with cleansing energy. His head was surrounded by a nimbus of light, just like the paintings in the cathedrals always showed.

I knew instinctively that he was an Angel of God.

I feebly reached my bloody fingers towards him and he looked down on me and smiled. Although his lips never moved, I heard his voice in my head.

He said to me,
“Fear not, Child, for The Lord of Hosts has heard your prayers and has sent me unto you in your hour of need. Be still and know that God is with you’’
He looked towards the steadily advancing wall of dead and stretched out his arms. His voice boomed like thunder.

“LET THERE BE LIGHT!!”

He exploded in a wave of holy light that must have been brighter than the sun, though I was not blinded by it. It hit the advancing corpse army and many of them were instantly consumed. Many more staggered and fell.

“LIGHT!!!”

He thundered again. And again a wave of brilliance left him and hit the dead. Those who were still standing and advancing were vaporized instantly and we were alone. The darkness of night descended once again..

My vision was almost gone. My lungs wouldn’t move. In the silence I heard my heart take one last trembling beat and then.. nothing. Smiling, he reached down to me and withdrew the wicked looking weapon from my chest. With his other hand, he covered the wound. His touch burned like fire.

“Be healed, child"

were the words I heard his voice say. At once my vision began to return. My heart raced back to life. Under his burning touch my lungs hitched and I sucked in a gasp of cold night air.

Still very injured and weak, the only word I could manage to get out was “who…”

His lips still not moving, he told me..

“I am the Archangel Michael, sent unto you by God on High. He has seen your faith and rewarded you with life. You have work yet to do here on earth, child.”

Smiling down on me he continued..

“Take your weapons and be ready to fight evil, for another war is coming to Earth.”

He closed his eyes, and briefly the bayonet in his hand, recently removed from my chest, glowed with a pale light. He gently laid it beside me. My pistol he recovered from the cold mud in which I lay, and whispered something I could not understand. It too briefly glowed as he laid it upon my chest.

Though I was still badly wounded, I knew I would not die. A warmth and peace stole over me and I began to feel unbearably tired. as my eyes slipped closed he spoke his final words to me..

“Sleep, child, and when you wake, gather your holy weapons and be ready’’

Then I slept.

I awoke in a field hospital in France. When I gave my initial report, the incredulous looks I got made me realize that I ought to lie. After the first time I told my story, I left out all the werewolves and dead bodies and angels and I only said that we were overrun. I told nothing of the extraordinary evil or good that I had experienced that black night. They chalked my first story up to shellshock and I never got tossed in an insane asylum.


I was deemed fit to return to duty on November 9th, 1918 and returned to my Division for reassignment. The war ended with an Armistice declared on the 11th of November and we returned to our forward camps for further instructions. I was eventually discharged, but instead of going home, I began my wanderings in Europe.

For you see, there were already rumors floating around, things whispered in taverns and pubs, not to be taken seriously by educated men. Whispers of monsters and things inhuman rising up..

Things that sounded much like what I had witnessed that cold night in September 1918.

Well, I guess I asked too many questions, or mayne someone saw my first true description of events that night, because eventually in 1925 a man from some office called the OMP came to interview me..

They first caught up to me in a little Parisian cafe. A black military sedan rolled up as I was drinking a coffee. The British unifomed officer driving got out and opened the rear door for a short little man in an impeccable suit and bowler. He walked straight over to me and introduced himself as a representative of something called the OMP.

He accepted my invitation to sit with me, and began asking strange questions. Asked also if I'd been contacted by anyone else, mentioned an American outfit called the Arcanum. I replied truthfully that I hadn't.. and in fact had never heard of either office before.

I didn't tell him much, but it was obvious to me he knew the score. He left me a business card and number, but I'm not sure I trust him so I've yet to call back.

He mentioned some strange happenings in Romania, so with a little coin in my pocket and a curiosity burning inside me, I set out..

More to come. My US military history is a bit rusty.

I'll soon be re-imagining some locations, units, battles, and details to incorporate some arcane stuff, so don't expect too much more historical accuracy from this point until the Treaty of Versailles, at least..

Arcturus2 wrote:More to come. My US military history is a bit rusty.

I'll soon be re-imagining some locations, units, battles, and details to incorporate some arcane stuff, so don't expect too much more historical accuracy from this point until the Treaty of Versailles, at least..

It all sounded good to me, but I am not the guy with a Masters in History, that is your GM   

I'll look it over tonight.

Just off the top of my head: major American battles in France during 1918. Belleau Wood, Argonne Forest (hell, that whole campaign).

U.S. forces were really only committed to battle in 1918. They saw some fighting before that but usually as reinforcement divisions and brigades to make up for British or French losses. General Pershing was dead-set against this and eventually organized U.S. forces into a coherent army of their own (albeit with mostly French equipment)

whit10 wrote:I'll look it over tonight.

Just off the top of my head:  major American battles in France during 1918.  Belleau Wood, Argonne Forest (hell, that whole campaign).

U.S. forces were really only committed to battle in 1918.  They saw some fighting before that but usually as reinforcement divisions and brigades to make up for British or French losses.  General Pershing was dead-set against this and eventually organized U.S. forces into a coherent army of their own (albeit with mostly French equipment)

Yeah, but in WoD , I'm thinking that my guy was embedded with the British in 1917 before the AEF joined combat in October..and ended up working on covert missions with the SAS (or whatever they were called then) under the orders of the OMP. There he was exposed to all things magical and supernatural.

Sound doable?

hmm, let me do some research. That sort of thing was more WWII than the Great War, but I just might not be aware of it... we can always create something as well. I'll get back to you by this weekend on this.

whit10 wrote:hmm, let me do some research.  That sort of thing was more WWII than the Great War, but I just might not be aware of it... we can always create something as well.  I'll get back to you by this weekend on this.

Fair enough. I'm sure we can figure something out...


Under the general label of "subversion," covert operations have a lengthy history in warfare.

Let me know, sounds like we have plenty of time while Matt takes 5,000 years on his epic campaign  

lol.. roger that.

Yeah, I looked things up and, so far, I didn't find anything special forces-ish during that war. It honestly wasn't necessary quite yet given the tactics and weapons of the day.

However, since during the war (the Somme) their was a rather significant display of the supernatural... you could be an American volunteer with the French or British that experienced it. It could explain your current situation and why, perhaps, someone from the OMP or the Arcanum might take an interest in you?