Barracuda
 | |
| Leader of the Hellraisers | |
|---|---|
| Local Man Refuses To Die, More At Eleven | |
| Discord | @Unsurprisingly, Explosions#6325 |
| MSmithVoices | |
| Metatype | Human |
| Street Cred | 21 |
| Notoriety | 3 |
| Public Awareness | 5 |
| Titles and Awards | 0 |
| CDP | 54 |
| D.O.B. | September 2nd, 2056 |
| Age | 28 |
| Folder | [1] |
| Priority | Metatype - E Attributes - A Magic/Resonance - C Skills - B Resources - D |
Character Information
Summary
After a (comparatively) long life in the Puyallup gang scene, bouncing around between a dozen different, short-lived groups, Barracuda has seen poor leadership get more than a few people killed, nearly including himself. But now, after a brief disappearance and a life-changing trip up the slopes of Mt. Rainier, he's back to carve out his own chunk of Seattle.
Goals
- Keep the Hellraisers afloat by any means necessary
- Headhunt the best and brightest he can find in Puyallup
- Take control of Hell's Kitchen
- Beat the everloving shit out of the Leviathan
- Prove to the magic around him that he's worthy of controlling it
Background
Being born in Loveland is generally a pretty grim lot in life; between the rampant crime, gang violence, and the extreme risk of developing lung problems due to the steady snow of grey ash over the entire district, a lot of the younger generation don't exactly have the smoothest childhood. Barracuda wasn't one of the exceptions. At sixteen, he was kicked out of his parents' house entirely after participating in a string of violent muggings, and ever since, he's been a regular in Puyallup's upstart street gangs. He was a member of the Fifth Street Wreckers, the Headsmen, the Bloodshots... a dozen different small-name groups surviving on nothing but petty crime and a vague, aimless sense of ambition. Invariably, they either crumbled in about a year, or took on a mark large enough to remind them they were insignificant against better-trained organizations - usually in a particularly fatal fashion. All the while, the scrawny, scrappy adept in the ranks survived, time after time. While he was never exceptional beyond his status as an Awakened, he was impressively difficult to put down for good; whether it was bullets, stab wounds, or explosions that did the deed, Barracuda was left alive in the aftermath of what used to be his teammates, learning lessons from his failures that less sturdy sorts wouldn't survive to see.
Over time, he grew disillusioned with the small-timers around him. He came to understand one truth: Puyallup was where those young ambitions of infamy, glory, and big scores came to die. But unlike some, who might take that as a perfectly reasonable cue to move onto greener pastures, that same stubbornness that kept him alive filled him with spite. After a few months of operating as a lone criminal, he left town for the east, riding out towards Mt. Rainier to find something only he could see.
Barracuda had originally thought himself an adherent of Shark; after all, imagery of gnashing teeth and blood in the water suited a young, violent upstart pretty well. But the voice that called him up to the caldera definitely wasn't Shark - it rumbled like an earthquake, only growing louder and more fervent as he hiked up the treacherous slopes. When he reached the peak, he found a primordial being roiling in the lava below, speaking of what he could achieve if he were to satisfy his ambitions and calling itself the Leviathan. By the time he left, his face was burnt and the smell of smoke and sulphur had soaked into his clothes, but he felt empowered nonetheless.
Since his return from the caldera, he's gone from a street-level jackass to a genuinely competent shadowrunner. Leveraging his strengths as both a face and an experienced ganger, he's managed to attract a number of people to join the Hellraisers at his side - though it's still far too small to have anywhere near the pull of a regional gang like the Crimson Crush, let alone the Ancients. He's also begun to chafe under the Leviathan's constant demand for battle and bloodshed, and intends to somehow subjugate his own mentor spirit to force it into accepting his idea of dominance.
Narrative Significant Qualities
Positive
Adrenaline Surge - Barracuda has learned at least one lesson after getting beat down time and time again: He who acts first tends to walk away afterwards.
Alibi - Barracuda has a knack for lying audaciously, and doing it well. Give him some evidence, literally any thread to hold onto to create a facade around, and he'll be able to pull out bold-faced lies all day.
Cynic - After nearly getting his shit wrecked by a dual ambush from Firewatch and the Shadowriders at the same time, Barracuda's started to take everything he hears with a bit more than a grain of salt.
Drug Tolerant - After a life of recreational drug usage, Barracuda has discovered that he's got a remarkable talent for shaking off the crashes and withdrawals that might plague most other casual users. Nowadays, he doesn't tend to do too much of the soft stuff, but he does keep a personal supply of Kamikaze, just in case.
Mentor Spirit: Leviathan - Though his mentor spirit is Shark, mechanically speaking, his take on his mentor is colored by a view that life and survival is a form of violence, and that predation is necessary. The Leviathan doesn't make physical appearances outside of communing with Barracuda at active volcanic hotspots, but the twisting, tentacle-like tattoos along his arms have a red, unsettling glow to them on the Astral. Lately, while the Leviathan still provides him a fragment of its magic, he's started to actively fight against its more negative influences.
Revenant Adept - Never Used - Barracuda doesn't know it yet, but his philosophy of magic has a rather interesting side effect. If he takes enough damage to finally do him in after a long career of crime and violence, he's just too stubborn to roll over and die; if necessary, he'll force the magic around himself to put him back on his feet for round two.
School of Hard Knocks - Barracuda grew up in Loveland, and it shows. While he's not the brightest muzzle flash in the firing line, he does have an uncanny ability to read the ebbs and flows of Seattle's gang scene, especially in Puyallup.
The Magician's Way - After getting some teaching from "Philip" the friendly Spirit of Man, Barracuda has taken his first steps on The Magician's Way. As per usual, he's doing things partially out of spite; in this case, because he doesn't want to be told what magic he can and can't do.
Tough as Nails, Toughness, Will to Live 3 - The man just refuses to go down. Even when he's taken more punishment than anyone reasonably should, he keeps on fighting nonetheless.
Negative
Bad Rep - Though he hasn't quite gotten to the point where his infamy precedes him among random passersby, Barracuda's ability (and eagerness) to use the Transmit Damage power has earned him a reputation as being a rumored blood mage or vampire. While his aura is a touch darker than most, neither claim is true; he's just particularly ruthless in a fight.
Ugly and Doesn't Care - While he's got a fair bit of charm, a life of combat and his more recent climb up Rainier has left him looking a bit too scarred up to be considered simply cool or badass. A large burn scar stretches from the left side of his neck to his cheek, and a number of nicks and scars mar what probably wasn't a beautiful face in the first place.
Run History
Affiliations
Contacts
| Contact | Connection | Loyalty | Archetype | Profession | Aspects | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agamemnon | 4 | 5 | Fixer(K,G,N,A) | Infected Crime Lord | Paranoid, Shut-In, Dark Magic Talislegger, Ear to the Ground, Infected Loremaster, Smuggling Network, Student of History, Wretched Hive | Even |
| Goalmaster | 3 | 2 | Custom(G, K, A, N) | Scrapper Knight of the Stanley Cup | One Rink To Rule Them All, The Dregs Of Society, Buy In Bulk, Breathing In The Chemicals, Excaliber, King Of The Rink | Even |
| Agustin Diaz | 2 | 1 | Service | (un)Tortured Artist | I'm an artist you know, I'm kind of a big deal, I bet you've never heard of it | Even |
| Kenneth "Flamesaw" Murphy | 2 | 3 | Custom(A,G,N,K) | Ganger / Tough Guy | Not the Brightest Bulb, Firesaw, Fraggin' Handsome, People Pleaser, WAIT I'm a runner too! | Even |
| Asahiro Kunitoshi | 6 | 2 | Fixer | Vice-President of Imperial Kami Services | For The Corporation, Blademaster, Scholar, Vashionable, Authorization, Spywork, Corpo Gear, Shintoist | Even |
| Gord "Twitch" Rodney | 1 | 4 | Custom(A,G,K,N) | DIY Survivalist and Obnoxious Attic Gremlin | Abrasive Doesn't Begin To Cover It, Cruel And Unusual, One Errant Twitch, The Closest Thing To A Civil Engineer That Lives In Hell's Kitchen | Even |
| Amrei Veidt | 6 | 2 | Generalist | S-K Prime Operative | Actually a Spy, Deck Jockey, Delta Clinic Access, Former Shadowrunner, Information Broker, One Step Ahead, Prime Datahaven Membership, Saeder-Krupp Employee, Fresh off the Assembly Line | Even |
| Kyoko "Wholesale" Nakajima | 1 | 4 | Custom(K,G,N,A) | Totally A Professional Thief | "Booooriiiing", Rooting For The Villain, Where Does She Hear All This?, Rogue's Gallery | Even |
| Vee-Jay | 2 | 1 | Networking | Bouncer/Doctorate Student | We live in a society!, The List, Sociological Education, Bullied Bouncer, Versed in Venues | Even |
| Rodney Goodman | 4 | 3 | Fixer | Bartender | Alcohol Master, Meeting Ground, Arms smuggling, Corporative Connection, Safehouse knowledge | +1 |
| Repo Man | 1 | 1 | Custom(A,K,N,G) | Lonely Phantom | Underground Guide, Scythe Mentor, Chained Haunt, Psychometrist | Even |
| Nobody | 2 | 2 | Service | Assassin | Extremely Driven, Perfected Craft, Trained Assassin, Enhanced Body, Seeing Through Time | Even |
| Mickey Coin | 5 | 2 | Custom (N,G,A,K) | Crime Lord | Cars, Guns, Vegas, Fae, Elven Politics, From Here to Vegas | Even |
| The Champ | 2 | 1 | Generalist | Fighting Spirit | The Champ, Astral Champion 2082, Medicinal K-10 | Even |
| Zenny | 3 | 1 | Custom(A,G,K,N) | Hippie Techno and Hellraisers Cyberdoc | In the Shop, Voiding the Warranty, One of Those Idiots, Chrome Artisan, I Got a Hookup, Man, Secondhand Soul, Who's Scott Green?, The Cyberest of Adepts, Trip Sitter, You Don't Need a License to Heal, Man | Even |
| Zombie Process | 3 | 4 | Custom(A,N,K,G) | Wiz Gang Cyberadept | You're the best! Around!, Ganger Connections, Hacker Feuds, The Boring Stuff, Equal Opportunity, Will Actually Just Kill You | Even |
| Bernie the Spider Boi | 3 | 3 | Generalist | Bug Hunter | Wounded in the line of duty, Drones, Drones, and More Drones, Bugs Spirits Expert, Cyberdecks and Commlinks, Foci | Even |
| "Philip" | 2 | 2 | Legwork | Free Spirit | Rambling Study, Free Spirit, Astral-Metahuman Interactions, Knowledge is Power!, Puyallup-Bound | Even |
| Alexander-James Brodrick Johnson III | 4 | 3 | Networking | CorpKid | Party all Night... What time is it?, Everybody's Friend., Did Someone say Drugs?, Brodie J IN THE HOUSE!, Ride Wrecked? Brodie J's got it!, Oh yeah! I have a job!, Good looks, Money, and a savant-level understanding of rocket physics | Even |
| Ivan | Contact Not Found. Please create contact using Template:Contact. | 2 | You may also see User:Free Sprite for bot instructions. | Even | ||
| Miriam Kazan | 4 | 1 | Gear | Ares Arms Dealer | Shameless Cutthroat, Do I Look Like A Charity?, Corporate Woman, God Bless the UCAS, Cogs in the Machine, Modern Warfare, Little Black Book, Borders are More of a Suggestion, Direct Approaches | Even |
| Amar "Bash" Ruano | 1 | 2 | Service | Semi-Reformed Cyberpsycho | Criminal SINner, Slightly Unstable, Go With What You Know, Street Soldier, Prep Work, Natural Born Doorman | Even |
| Joyride | 5 | 5 | Custom (A,N,G,K) | Party Bus Driver | We Like to Party, The Vengabus, Party ANIMAL, Stunt Driver, Fixer Upper, Puyallup Legend, Known to Deliver A Good Time, Ramming Speed | Even |
Organizations
Allies
| Contact | Position | Connection | Faction Rep | Archetype | Health | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hellraisers | Leader | 1 | 14 | Street Gang | Maintaining | Seattle, Puyallup, Hell's Kitchen |
- Evo: +3 Rep
- Shiawase: +5 Rep
- Draco Foundation: +2 Rep
- Streets of Seattle: +20 Rep
- Shadows of Seattle: +50 Rep
Enemies
- Starscreamers: -5 Rep
- Lone Star: -5 Rep
- Bride of Dunkelzahn: -5 Rep
- Order of the Temple: -5 Rep
- Abuelita - Through a comedic series of events, had a hand in the death of both of her lovely grandsons.
In Character Information
Symbols and Signatures
Barracuda's almost always wearing the symbol of his gang, the Hellraisers. In addition, his tattoos and stylized respirator make him a bit more memorable than the average ganger.
Matrix Search Table
| Threshold | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | A barracuda is a large, carnivorous fish known for its intimidating looks. It's also the title of some pretty good classical music. |
| 3 | There's a gang leader in Hell's Kitchen that goes by Barracuda, rumored to be toxic, infected, a blood adept, or anything in between. There's not a ton of coverage of the man himself, however. Instead, more of the information focuses on the Hellraisers, the gang of misfits he founded. |
| 6 | Though they're hidden behind fake names and left untagged, there are a few videos around MeFeed showcasing daily life at the Iceberg Hotel - which is to say, dumb shit going on at the Hellraisers base. The location isn't specifically named, but it's theoretically possible to figure out from background details as long as you can look past Barracuda sprinting to beat the snot out of a giggling little hobgoblin slitch. There's also mention of a band called Recreational Arson, but it doesn't seem like they've had a show yet. |
Shadow Community Table
| Threshold | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Barracuda's a combat-ready face operating out of Seattle, and while he doesn't look the part, most of his previous team members have noted that he's surprisingly professional. |
| 3 | Oh, yeah, that guy. He's a chaos adept that's really fraggin' hard to kill, and leads some drekhead gang off in the Puyallup Barrens when he's not on the job. Plenty of runners have been there for various reasons - usually, to duel on his roof for some reason. |
| 5 | He's more clever than most gangers, but he still does some really dumb shit now and then. It's a miracle that he's still kicking, really - some of his ideas as a face are audacious as hell. Oh, and even with his rep, there's like a 99% chance he's not actually as bad as they say he is. Unless he's hiding some SERIOUS masking ability, which he doesn't seem to be, there's not a snowball's chance in hell that he's actually infected. |
Assensing Table
| Threshold | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Definitely Awakened. He's slightly unwell, but that's about par for Puyallup folks. His aura tends to be tinged with an opportunistic streak; this is a person who's looking for how to come out on top of a situation. |
| 2 | No cyberware; Barracuda is pure and clean. He's an adept, and carries two qi foci: A set of engraved brass knuckles and a pair of partially-complete sleeve tattoos, both of which carry a red, pulsating, almost angry aura on the astral. |
| 3 | No alphaware. His Essence is higher than that of anyone with any kind of 'ware, though his Magic isn't actually as strong as the most talented un-initiated Awakened. Shows signs of long-term lung damage (most likely from choice of residence), as well as numerous healed-over fractures, lacerations, and other distinctly violent damage. Has a faint signature connecting back to Agamemnon, as well as a feeling of domineering attention staining the outline of his aura. |
| 4 | No bioware or betaware. Barracuda's Essence is an undamaged 6, and his Magic is 5. The astral signatures on his aura appear to be caused by the fact that Agamemnon created his qi foci, and the influence of his mentor spirit, the Leviathan. |
| 5 | Not a deltaware implant in sight; Barracuda is completely free of 'ware. Diagnosis reveals that he's got a particularly high concentration of airborne carcinogens in his body, corresponding with the composition of smog in Puyallup. He has broken each of his limbs at least once, though the severity of each break is varied from one to the next. He's sustained significant cosmetic damage after a severe facial burn and subsequent minor infection that has since scarred over without incident. |
SINs
(Rating 4) Yorick Johansson - UCAS National, Puyallup Bounty Hunter
- (Rating 4) Adept License
- (Rating 4) Driver's License
- (Rating 4) Firearms License
- (Rating 4) Small Blades License
- (Rating 4) Bounty Hunter License
(Rating 6) Akehele Sawyer - Shiawase Corporate Limited, Physical Adept Security
- (Rating 6) Adept License
- (Rating 6) Restricted Armor License
- (Rating 6) Black Panther License
- (Rating 6) Combat Stimulants License
Appearance
Barracuda is a man of mixed, but primarily Polynesian descent. He appears to be in his late twenties or early thirties, though this assessment is a bit hampered by the fact that he near-constantly wears a custom-made, decorated respirator over the lower half of his face, as well as the large burn scar across the left side of his neck on up towards his cheek. He has a number of other, less prominent scars, as well, including one across his right brow and a handful across his arms. Also on his arms are a pair of half-sleeve tattoos, which from a distance appear to be relatively simple tribal designs. Upon closer inspection, the designs include more unsettling imagery: eyes, teeth, and tentacles. He has two other tattoos as well: A pair of what look like particularly gnarly snakes wrapped around his knuckles, and a set of red lines radiating out from his left eye, stopping at the edge of his burn scar.
Clothing
Barracuda is almost always seen in his respirator, a custom model further decorated with a design much like his tattoos. A jury-rigged old holo-projector has been installed along the upper edge, providing a clunky, but serviceable AR interface. For the rest of his usual outfit, he tends to wear a shirt of plasteel chainmail, as well as a sturdy leather jacket over it - though, anything that gets through one piece of armor is likely to get through the next as well. He often wears a pair of thick-soled workman's boots alongside jeans or a similarly sturdy pair of pants to complete his attire.
Matrix Persona
Barracuda has finally changed his matrix persona, turning it from a featureless figure into a recreation of his usual meatspace outfit - with the addition of a somewhat poorly-modeled meteor instead of a head, of course. Since he never enters VR, it tends to be a little bit stuttery, especially if he's connecting from his home in Puyallup.