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View Full Version : RPing a Self-Loathing Mad Scientist Teenager



Leliel
2009-10-20, 10:58 PM
Well, if you've played Genius: The Transgression, you'll know about the Lemurians. For those of you that don't, the Lemurians are a group of mad scientists who have thoroughly convinced themselves they're sane ones despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

That wouldn't be entirely bad, except they also have an institutional tendency towards misanthropy and inability to accept the consequences of their actions.

Now, they're actually a playable-if inherently morally grey-group, and being the maverick that I am, I decided to think of one-still in his embryonic stage-that would accept working with Peers (the good mad scientists).

So, I thought "why not one who really, really doesn't like other Lemurians, but is too attached to his theories and viewpoint to give it up?"

So, the idea is that he was actually sent to be a Lemurian spy on the Peers, creating a magnificent alternate persona that so happens to fool everyone-providing that you count out anyone with half a brain. He himself is aware of this, but keeps it up anyway because he has to keep up appearances for his immediate superior, who he suspects has been partially lobotomized, given his apparent inability to recognize that his badly-disguised spy has been quietly shifted to self-help courses entitled "Dealing With Other People-Reconciling Your World View".

To be frank, while he is a good liar, he really doesn't care for his mission or his employers, and even if he did, the things they try to make him do on a regular basis make him retch.

Of course, the problem with this is that he still is too emotionally immature to give up and say that the Peers are right and join them already, and given that he's still in puberty-17, to be exact-this disconnect has translated to a perpetually dark and glum mood, to the point where the other mad scientists are creating a Wonder that, upon implantation into his spine, will cause a hallucination of giant neon letters saying "STOP WHINING" in various languages every time his Depression derangement gets triggered.

The problem with that is that while it's perfectly fine to annoy other people IC with stereotypical Linkin Park fan behaviors, it can start to irritate the other players, as well. So, the question is:

How do I adequately portray a guy who hates what he is and does without being completely obnoxious to the other players?

Randel
2009-10-21, 01:10 AM
hmm... some rather unhelpful ideas:

1. He's a mad scientist, have him make a robot/clone of himself and program it to be the spy in his place.

2. He researches the hormonal/nutritional balances found in the human brain and develops a serum that neutralists 'angtrogen' found in the teenage brain. He takes it regularly and occasionally alters the mixture when he starts developing an immunity to it. If he starts whining, he takes a swig of 'Liquid stfu batch 9' and stops talking.

3. He gets a girlfriend... possibly robotic, brainwashed, or Harley Quinn style crazy. He makes her his quirky minion to provide some distraction for his teenage angty problem. He uses her as a tool in his spying thing (to keep him on track and distract people as he swipes valuable information).

4. Similar to #2, he or somebody else invents a Happy Helmet that attaches itself to his head and instantly gives him lockjaw if he starts whining.

5. He uses an aging potion to age himself out of his teenage years. He is now cured of whining.

6. He learns to internalize his problems and instead gets a pocket computer that he can whine to when nobody is around. He also uses it as a scheduling device that politly informs him when he has to do something important. Could be replaced with a psychiatrist girlfrient minion who listens to his stuff off-screen and politly reminds him to stay on task when they are doing things. If he has an actual sane boss who is trying to get him to do some actual work for him then it might make sense for him to send a partner to keep him on task.

The others just sort of assume that he got really really lucky or she's really really crazy, or he just pays her alot of money to do this. Of course, it turns out that she is actually quite sane and knows how to manipulate teenage boys and mad scientists... she reports directly to the Boss to make sure that he's doing his job. She's not there to help him blend in... he's there to help her blend into the group. If he messes up, she just pulls out a gun, shoots him, and leaves... possibly resulting in him surviving to join the good guys.


And... well thats about all I can think of without actually knowing more about his world-view or what his boss is like.

Leliel
2009-10-21, 01:45 AM
And... well thats about all I can think of without actually knowing more about his world-view or what his boss is like.

Like I said, he's in the embryonic stage.

However, I always thought of him as one of the Etherite (weird theories and cranks) group of Lemurians, with his pet theory being Vitalism-the belief that all people have a divine spark.

To be fair, that's pretty good as a philosophy, but he views it as an actual basis for science, and grows upset when people point out he's ascribing to Hippocrates not only as a modern physician, but a basis for non-biological science. OK, all Etherites grow upset when someone points out the errors in their theories, him being one of the least (he'll just give you a tongue-lashing, while other Etherites will pull out a death ray).