Role-playing Rants: My favorite player characters: Part Six
This is it, the final chapter of my favorite character series. I'm not gonna lie, these posts were a joy to write, and this particular one is especially dear to me.
Of all the Classic World of Darkness games, Hunter: The Reckoning is my personal favorite. Yeah, I know it's an underdog and the red-headed stepchild of the whole setting, but to me it's one of my favorite RPGs of all time. One day I will write a full review of this title, but for now let me just tell you that some of my best role-playing memories came from playing Hunter with my close friends years ago. The chronicle, the atmosphere, the props that we were using during our games, and finally... the characters. The characters were simply epic, and since HTR was the game in which we've played a single, longest campaign of all, they took a lot of time to develop, mature and evolve. Seeing their progress, their journey - it was pure joy. As much as I love WFRP, it is Hunter: The Reckoning with which I have, probably, my best role-playing memories of all time.
Now onto the heroes... or rather the antiheroes! There were quite a few of them over the years, but for this article I'll be talking about the most important ones, the original team, the OG's of Hunter: The Reckoning - the very first agents of the infamous Cell 6!
By the way, all of the photos used in this article are of the actual characters. I've just dug 'em up from my ancient H:TR chronicle folder. The only exception here is Łukasz Rogowski, since he never got his own, unique portrait. That said, I've decided to give him one just now!
1. Major Marcin "Soldier of Fortune 996" Strzelecki, leader of Cell 6 (played by Martin)
The main man, the leader of Polish Internal Security Agency's Cell 6, and the best, damn hacker in the world. Marcin was a middle-aged man with taste for expensive cigars (Cohiba Esplendidos was his favorite brand) and a mild paranoia (he believed in vampires running the whole world) which made him check every room for bugs and spy cams. His contacts inlcuded a madam who owned her very own bordello and a shady tech wizard who always supplied him with excessive ammounts of parabolic microphones and heat-sensitive cameras.
Marcin was a Judge, an Imbued that had a knack for solving inner-team problems and was generally possessed of a strong, reasonable mind. The men under his command were often misfits, alcoholics, drug users and mavericks - Cell 6 was considered a "black sheep" of the ISA, and so Strzelecki had to really work his ass to keep everyone in line. He usually succeeded. Well, most of the time that is. He himself got this "job" because of a screw up during an operation, which resulted in a important politician commiting suicide in a bathroom.
What I really liked about this character was his skill in improvisation and adaptation. Someone closed a door before him? He went in through a window. He succesfully negotiated a deal with a corrupt prosecutor, befriended a Russian mob boss Davidoff and driven off Maria, a corrupted Ananasi. He made a deal with Karol, vampiric pariah and a pretender for the position of the Prince of Warsaw, and with Tamara, a young sorceress with penchant for burning things. As a Judge, Strzelecki understood that the Imbued, no matter how numerous and well organised, wont be able to defeat the supernaturals by brute strength alone. That's why he was willing to make deals with some them, as well as with the more level-headed members of the Society of Leopold. To see Martin, the player who RP'ed Strzelecki, seamlessly navigate the politics of the creatures of the night, was a real joy.
Strzelecki was trying hard to maintain a semblance of a normal life, as a way to ease his mind from the constant stress of the hunt. He started a relationship with a beautiful lawyer, not knowing that she was working for the enemy. When he discovered the truth, he poisoned her with the syringe that she intended for him. When his son was gunned down in front of his eyes by a Pentex mercenary, something broke inside him, and he never truly returned to his old self. It was the true end of Marcin Strzelecki.
Alas nothing lasts forever. Betrayed by the woman he loved, as well as his superiors, broken after the loss of his only child, and left for dead by the servants of the Wyrm, Strzelecki suffered the same fate as the rest of his team at the time - he was gunned down by a Pentex First Team, his body riddled with bullets, never to be found. A sad end for such a great man, and a huge blow for the Polish Imbued.
2. Corporal Krzysztof "Panzernik 150" Konstantynowicz, Cell 6's chemist and savvy tech wizard (played by Chris)
The chaos factor of the team, the man without a plan - Konstantynowicz was a loose cannon who played by his own rules... which even he didn't understood. His apartment was protected by a complex system of traps, including high explosives mounted in the hall. He loved to tinker and create new toys for the hunt - like the table tennis balls filled with semtex! In the ISA he spent most of his time in the lab, examining bodies, analyzing strange substances and looking for clues which could help Cell 6 in their quest to rid Warsaw of evil that stalked her streets.
One of the more interesting quirks of his character was... dress-up. Konstantynowicz was a fan of quirky, unorthodox and weird costumes, and he had a closet full of them, for almost any occasion. That alone would probably be nothing too special or problematic, but the fact that he constantly went to work dressesed for Halloween, certainly was. Strzelecki regularly reprimanded him for his "unique" fashion design, but to no avail. The most modest dressing option consisted of a pair of vintage aviator goggles, that Konstantynowicz wore almost constantly. Kinda tells you a lot about his character, doesn't it?
As I've mentioned before, Konstantynowicz was a loose cannon. He had a problem with following orders and generally being a team player. Perhaps it had something to do with him following the Visionary creed, who knows. He wanted to do things his way... like buying a harpoon to use against a Assamite vampire or mounting a pair of AK-47's on the front of his car. Most of the time the rest of Cell 6 quelled his enthusiasm, but from time to time some of his crazy ideas actually worked.
Emphasis on the "from time to time" part.
Konstantynowicz was a risk-taker as well. He once returend home with a bag full of prime-grade semtex, which he stashed outside his house in a sewer drain. In the middle of the city. With people around. Naturally he got arrested and only an intervention from a Camarilla goon, the infamous "Blond Man from the Internal Affairs", managed to save his career, as well as the careers of the rest of Cell 6.
"From time to time", remember?
Or that one part where he got himself captured and tortured by a bunch of trigger-happy Society of Leopold goons. Knife to the leg? No big deal! After they've let him go, he immediately went to... the Warsaw's main Caern! Because it's not enough to have your leg skewerd by a combat knife, when you can have your abdomen slashed by a pissed of werewolf. Krzysztof wanted to negotiate with Fera, alas his diplomacy skills were for shit, comapared to, for example, Strzelecki. His reckless actions actually induced the changing breeds to attack a part of the city which was controlled by a Necromancer, so it wasn't a complete disaster...
As for Konstantynowicz - he managed to crawl his way to the edge of the forest, where a passer by found him and called an ambulance for him. Later he was placed in an ISA hospital in which he passed away... or did he? Strzelecki and the rest of the team recieved the news of his passing, but there is a chance that he might still be alive. Who knows, maybe he's holed up in a small cabin in the mountains, continuing the fight against the supernatural threat, with only an old, irritable woman, following the Hermit creed, for company. Who knows.
3. Sergeant Marek "Gray Ivor 452" Smolar, Cell 6's designated driver (played by Mark, rest in peace)
If there ever was such a thing as the Markiest character ever made, then this title belongs to Marek Smolar, the driver of Cell 6, and a absolute badass. A former soldier serving in Kosovo with the IFOR, he learned to drive fast, shoot even faster and take no shit from anyone, even his own superiors (something Marcin Strzelecki could attest to). Follower of the Avenger creed, Smolar was the "muscle" of the team, but he was far from a mindless trigger-happy brute which is often associated with this trope. He was a fast-thinker with a penchant for improvisation, and his wits saved the life of other Cell 6's members more than once. In short, he was a perfect man to have by your side during a high-speed chase or a shootout.
He once infiltrated a business meeting between a high-ranking Magadon executive and a Tzimisce vampire, and managed to escape unscathed, together with Strzelecki. Not to be content with that feat of pure badassery, the both of them managed to rescue a comatose comrade from the clutches of a corrupt Ananasi, the same one that got her face scorched by Strzelecki. In fact it happened during that exact operation, which was a success, also thanks to Marek's impressive driving skills. Escaping in the middle of stormy night from a pissed off spider lady, with a drugged-up comatose agent in the back seat, is no easy feat, let me tell you.
Smolar was a man of many talents. Aside from his crack driving skills he was also a master knife fighter, using a Blackhawk Tatang combat knife that he recieved as a gift from a US Marine in Bosnia. When the team raced to the hospital in which Konstantynowicz's life was in danger, it was Marek who defeated one of the Pentex mercenaries in a knife fight. He even managed to take a stab at a Assamite assassin from the Web of Knives, and survived the whole ordeal. Like I've said before - badass.
In his spare time he enjoyed working out, tinkering with his car and playing old Novalogic games on his ancient PC ("Commanche" was one of his favorite titles). He had a lot of common with Konstantynowicz, in that he also had a problem with authority. You see, Mark took a character flaw "Lazy", which made Smolar oversleep all the time, sometimes even at work, not to mention being generally, well... lazy! Strzelecki usually let it slide, but from time to time a serious talk was required to bring Sergeant Smolar back in line. Good times! Oh, and his ghoulish sense of humor got him into trouble more than once, but at the same time it became his signature mark, something that he was well known for. The fact that Mark, his player, possessed a similar, morbid approach to humor, certainly helped things.
We've stopped playing Hunter a couple months before Mark's passing, and so his character never recieved a definitive ending to his arc. When we've returned to the game, almost half a year later, and with a completely new squad, I've decided that Smolar got transffered to the southern part of the country. He became an instructor in ISA, and he's the only member of the original Cell 6 that is confirmed to be still alive and kicking ass. Hunting monsters, driving cars and being a pain in his current supperior's ass. I like to think that at least here nothing bad can happen to him, and that he's safe.
4. Lieutenant Łukasz "Yogi Bastard 309" Rogowski, the charmer and handsome rogue of Cell 6 (played by Lukas)
Marcin Strzelecki's second in command, lieutenant Łukasz Rogowski was a real piece of work, and no mistake. Hard drinking, drug-using womaniser with roguish good looks and a dry, witty sense of humor, he was the perfect man for the more socially-oriented missions. He could practically charm anyone he wanted, drink a gallon of booze before passing out, and insert more coke into his nose than Tony Montana. This was the kind of guy who could party all night, and then go to work at 8 in the morning.
Despite being an ex-military and an Avenger with the "Short temper" flaw, Rogowski possessed a cool, analitycal mind and sense of reason which often greatly benefited Cell 6. He often advised caution and restraint, and always tried to find more than one approach to any given problem. Unfortunately this philosophy didn't extend to his private life, which was a mess. He had drugs stashed all over his house, constantly slept with random women, drank and abused narcotics, and was generally a "no fucks given" person, especially when it came to his personal wellbeing.
Sadly this character lasted only for a single "season" of Hunter (there were total of 4), and in the final confrontation with a Sabbat vampire he got heavily wounded. Lukas didn't played with us during the second "season", and so Rogowski was relegated to a plot device, laying in a hospital, and being preyed on by a nasty Ananasi woman. Fortunately Smolar and Strzelecki managed to rescue him, and asked Davidoff, one of their shadier contacts, to send him to a luxurious health facility in Russia. It is unknown if he's there still, or if he even arrived at the place at all, since Davidoff proved to be a traitor working for Pentex. Just like with Konstantynowicz, Łukasz Rogowski's ultimate fate remains uncertain and unknown.
So there it is - final part of my favorite RPG characters series. This one was probably hardest for me to write, both because of emotional baggage, as well as logistics - I had to scour old Facebook conversations and sift through lots of old character sheets, notes and records. But it was worth it. Damn, was it worth it. In a couple of years I may not remember these characters and their stories, but thanks to my blog, I will always be able to remind myself just why I love this hobby so much, as well as the people that I enjoy it with.
One day I will create similar series detailing my favorite NPCs and... villains. One day. Soon.
Next time I'll be back with more Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. For now, however, let me walk the rainy, dark streets of Warsaw one last time, with some of my favorite Classic World of Darkness anti-heroes while listening to some good, old Blade Runner Blues by Vangelis...
Until next time!
Xathrodox86
Now onto the heroes... or rather the antiheroes! There were quite a few of them over the years, but for this article I'll be talking about the most important ones, the original team, the OG's of Hunter: The Reckoning - the very first agents of the infamous Cell 6!
By the way, all of the photos used in this article are of the actual characters. I've just dug 'em up from my ancient H:TR chronicle folder. The only exception here is Łukasz Rogowski, since he never got his own, unique portrait. That said, I've decided to give him one just now!
1. Major Marcin "Soldier of Fortune 996" Strzelecki, leader of Cell 6 (played by Martin)
 |
| No matter the situation or circumstance - Strzelecki always had a cigar at hand! (photo taken from Shutterstock) |
Marcin was a Judge, an Imbued that had a knack for solving inner-team problems and was generally possessed of a strong, reasonable mind. The men under his command were often misfits, alcoholics, drug users and mavericks - Cell 6 was considered a "black sheep" of the ISA, and so Strzelecki had to really work his ass to keep everyone in line. He usually succeeded. Well, most of the time that is. He himself got this "job" because of a screw up during an operation, which resulted in a important politician commiting suicide in a bathroom.
What I really liked about this character was his skill in improvisation and adaptation. Someone closed a door before him? He went in through a window. He succesfully negotiated a deal with a corrupt prosecutor, befriended a Russian mob boss Davidoff and driven off Maria, a corrupted Ananasi. He made a deal with Karol, vampiric pariah and a pretender for the position of the Prince of Warsaw, and with Tamara, a young sorceress with penchant for burning things. As a Judge, Strzelecki understood that the Imbued, no matter how numerous and well organised, wont be able to defeat the supernaturals by brute strength alone. That's why he was willing to make deals with some them, as well as with the more level-headed members of the Society of Leopold. To see Martin, the player who RP'ed Strzelecki, seamlessly navigate the politics of the creatures of the night, was a real joy.
Strzelecki was trying hard to maintain a semblance of a normal life, as a way to ease his mind from the constant stress of the hunt. He started a relationship with a beautiful lawyer, not knowing that she was working for the enemy. When he discovered the truth, he poisoned her with the syringe that she intended for him. When his son was gunned down in front of his eyes by a Pentex mercenary, something broke inside him, and he never truly returned to his old self. It was the true end of Marcin Strzelecki.
Alas nothing lasts forever. Betrayed by the woman he loved, as well as his superiors, broken after the loss of his only child, and left for dead by the servants of the Wyrm, Strzelecki suffered the same fate as the rest of his team at the time - he was gunned down by a Pentex First Team, his body riddled with bullets, never to be found. A sad end for such a great man, and a huge blow for the Polish Imbued.
2. Corporal Krzysztof "Panzernik 150" Konstantynowicz, Cell 6's chemist and savvy tech wizard (played by Chris)
 |
| This is the most accurate depiciton of Krzysztof Konstantynowicz in existence. It is a scientifically proven fact! (photo taken from Shutterstock) |
One of the more interesting quirks of his character was... dress-up. Konstantynowicz was a fan of quirky, unorthodox and weird costumes, and he had a closet full of them, for almost any occasion. That alone would probably be nothing too special or problematic, but the fact that he constantly went to work dressesed for Halloween, certainly was. Strzelecki regularly reprimanded him for his "unique" fashion design, but to no avail. The most modest dressing option consisted of a pair of vintage aviator goggles, that Konstantynowicz wore almost constantly. Kinda tells you a lot about his character, doesn't it?
As I've mentioned before, Konstantynowicz was a loose cannon. He had a problem with following orders and generally being a team player. Perhaps it had something to do with him following the Visionary creed, who knows. He wanted to do things his way... like buying a harpoon to use against a Assamite vampire or mounting a pair of AK-47's on the front of his car. Most of the time the rest of Cell 6 quelled his enthusiasm, but from time to time some of his crazy ideas actually worked.
Emphasis on the "from time to time" part.
Konstantynowicz was a risk-taker as well. He once returend home with a bag full of prime-grade semtex, which he stashed outside his house in a sewer drain. In the middle of the city. With people around. Naturally he got arrested and only an intervention from a Camarilla goon, the infamous "Blond Man from the Internal Affairs", managed to save his career, as well as the careers of the rest of Cell 6.
"From time to time", remember?
Or that one part where he got himself captured and tortured by a bunch of trigger-happy Society of Leopold goons. Knife to the leg? No big deal! After they've let him go, he immediately went to... the Warsaw's main Caern! Because it's not enough to have your leg skewerd by a combat knife, when you can have your abdomen slashed by a pissed of werewolf. Krzysztof wanted to negotiate with Fera, alas his diplomacy skills were for shit, comapared to, for example, Strzelecki. His reckless actions actually induced the changing breeds to attack a part of the city which was controlled by a Necromancer, so it wasn't a complete disaster...
As for Konstantynowicz - he managed to crawl his way to the edge of the forest, where a passer by found him and called an ambulance for him. Later he was placed in an ISA hospital in which he passed away... or did he? Strzelecki and the rest of the team recieved the news of his passing, but there is a chance that he might still be alive. Who knows, maybe he's holed up in a small cabin in the mountains, continuing the fight against the supernatural threat, with only an old, irritable woman, following the Hermit creed, for company. Who knows.
3. Sergeant Marek "Gray Ivor 452" Smolar, Cell 6's designated driver (played by Mark, rest in peace)
 |
| I remember spending a lot of time searching for a perfect portait for each of my players. I'm especially proud of this one, as it perfectly encapsualtes Smolar's sheer badassery (photo taken from Shutterstock) |
He once infiltrated a business meeting between a high-ranking Magadon executive and a Tzimisce vampire, and managed to escape unscathed, together with Strzelecki. Not to be content with that feat of pure badassery, the both of them managed to rescue a comatose comrade from the clutches of a corrupt Ananasi, the same one that got her face scorched by Strzelecki. In fact it happened during that exact operation, which was a success, also thanks to Marek's impressive driving skills. Escaping in the middle of stormy night from a pissed off spider lady, with a drugged-up comatose agent in the back seat, is no easy feat, let me tell you.
Smolar was a man of many talents. Aside from his crack driving skills he was also a master knife fighter, using a Blackhawk Tatang combat knife that he recieved as a gift from a US Marine in Bosnia. When the team raced to the hospital in which Konstantynowicz's life was in danger, it was Marek who defeated one of the Pentex mercenaries in a knife fight. He even managed to take a stab at a Assamite assassin from the Web of Knives, and survived the whole ordeal. Like I've said before - badass.
In his spare time he enjoyed working out, tinkering with his car and playing old Novalogic games on his ancient PC ("Commanche" was one of his favorite titles). He had a lot of common with Konstantynowicz, in that he also had a problem with authority. You see, Mark took a character flaw "Lazy", which made Smolar oversleep all the time, sometimes even at work, not to mention being generally, well... lazy! Strzelecki usually let it slide, but from time to time a serious talk was required to bring Sergeant Smolar back in line. Good times! Oh, and his ghoulish sense of humor got him into trouble more than once, but at the same time it became his signature mark, something that he was well known for. The fact that Mark, his player, possessed a similar, morbid approach to humor, certainly helped things.
We've stopped playing Hunter a couple months before Mark's passing, and so his character never recieved a definitive ending to his arc. When we've returned to the game, almost half a year later, and with a completely new squad, I've decided that Smolar got transffered to the southern part of the country. He became an instructor in ISA, and he's the only member of the original Cell 6 that is confirmed to be still alive and kicking ass. Hunting monsters, driving cars and being a pain in his current supperior's ass. I like to think that at least here nothing bad can happen to him, and that he's safe.
4. Lieutenant Łukasz "Yogi Bastard 309" Rogowski, the charmer and handsome rogue of Cell 6 (played by Lukas)
 |
| Yeah, that's pretty much how he looked. Handsome, roguish and a bit of a prick (author of the photo unknown) |
Despite being an ex-military and an Avenger with the "Short temper" flaw, Rogowski possessed a cool, analitycal mind and sense of reason which often greatly benefited Cell 6. He often advised caution and restraint, and always tried to find more than one approach to any given problem. Unfortunately this philosophy didn't extend to his private life, which was a mess. He had drugs stashed all over his house, constantly slept with random women, drank and abused narcotics, and was generally a "no fucks given" person, especially when it came to his personal wellbeing.
Sadly this character lasted only for a single "season" of Hunter (there were total of 4), and in the final confrontation with a Sabbat vampire he got heavily wounded. Lukas didn't played with us during the second "season", and so Rogowski was relegated to a plot device, laying in a hospital, and being preyed on by a nasty Ananasi woman. Fortunately Smolar and Strzelecki managed to rescue him, and asked Davidoff, one of their shadier contacts, to send him to a luxurious health facility in Russia. It is unknown if he's there still, or if he even arrived at the place at all, since Davidoff proved to be a traitor working for Pentex. Just like with Konstantynowicz, Łukasz Rogowski's ultimate fate remains uncertain and unknown.
So there it is - final part of my favorite RPG characters series. This one was probably hardest for me to write, both because of emotional baggage, as well as logistics - I had to scour old Facebook conversations and sift through lots of old character sheets, notes and records. But it was worth it. Damn, was it worth it. In a couple of years I may not remember these characters and their stories, but thanks to my blog, I will always be able to remind myself just why I love this hobby so much, as well as the people that I enjoy it with.
One day I will create similar series detailing my favorite NPCs and... villains. One day. Soon.
Next time I'll be back with more Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. For now, however, let me walk the rainy, dark streets of Warsaw one last time, with some of my favorite Classic World of Darkness anti-heroes while listening to some good, old Blade Runner Blues by Vangelis...
Until next time!
Xathrodox86
Good lord, what a bunch of reprobates! Surprised there are any damn vampires left in Poland...
ReplyDelete" I like to think that at least here nothing bad can happen to him, and that he's safe. "
NGL, I'm going to pour one out for this, and I never even knew the fella.
I've sent you an email already, but wanted to thank you once again, right here. As for the fangs - after the dust settled, they've certainly learned to be more afraid of "normal" humans, that's for sure.
Delete