Troika Backgrounds

This feature is a reprint from Unwinnable Monthly #150. If you like what you see, grab the magazine for less than ten dollars, or subscribe and get all future magazines for half price.

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The Ghost of Samuel Morse
You lead a cursed existence – all anyone remembers are the dits and the dahs! Not the man, not the paintings, not the cravat! The CRAVAT!

Advanced Skills

Possessions
A bunch of paintings proving that you were an artist first 
A fancy cravat with “What Hath God Wrought?” embroidered on it
A spectral guide to Morse Code (noncorporeal – must be summoned into existence to be used by anyone not a ghost)

Special
Communication Breakdown: You can only communicate via a series of dits-and-dahs rapping on tables, walls, etc. This is frustrating and would be much less so if you could just find a HAM radio operator or if one of your companions had a copy of a Morse code manual.

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The Great Boston Fire of 1872
You’re like…a fire. A chemical reaction, but sentient. You can’t carry possessions, that would be weird.

Advanced Skills

Special
Burns Too Brightly: When you come into contact with a living being, you can Test Your Luck to avoid burning them. If you fail, they take 1 STAMINA damage. They can Test Their Luck to avoid this damage.

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The Great Diamond Hoax
Look, it’s not your fault people want to get rich without working for it. If you happen to convince them that there’s an untapped source of diamonds across the sphere, well, it’s on them for believing it.

Advanced Skills

Possessions
Bounties on your head (3)
Generic maps (2) (With a little bit of work, these can be made to look like any part of any sphere)

Special
Con Man’s Bluff: Once per Sphere, if you can convince someone in a position of power that you’ve discovered a diamond mine, a mining rush will be triggered. For d6-2 (minimum 1) days, everyone in town will be obsessed with getting in on the action. After this time has elapsed, the fraud is revealed and you probably don’t want to stick around or ever come back there again. Gain another bounty on your head.

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Newborn Socialite Edith Rockefeller
You’ve got several decades of society parties and hanging out with Carl Jung ahead of you. Some people might call your father a Robber Baron, but to you he is “goo goo da.”

Advanced Skills

Possessions
Inherited wealth (Test Luck to see if your family owns something. If they don’t, Test Luck to buy it)
Small stature (as Light Armor) 

Special
Adorable: All attacks directed at this character suffer a -2 penalty to hit.

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The Mary Celeste
You were famously found adrift and abandoned off the Azores. What happened to your crew is a mystery to everyone.

Everyone but you, that is….

Advanced Skills

Possessions
Cargo of denatured alcohol
d6-1 lifeboats
Missing crew

Special
Shipworthy: You can act as nautical transport for up to ten other characters. Whether they all make it to the destination is up to you.

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Yellowstone National Park
You’re America’s first national park, and while you’re over two million acres in area, it’s unclear if that’s all densely packed into your current form or if you’re some form of avatar.

Also, you sit atop a caldera that’s probably going to explode one day.

Advanced Skills

Possessions
A plethora of visitor’s badges (as Light Armor)

Special
Geothermal Activity: You are immune to cold and can generate heat that will warm a small room or a large vehicle. When acting in combat while Geothermal Activity is active, Test Your Luck to contain yourself. If you opt not to or fail to do so, a geyser of superheated water erupts from your chest and does 2d6 stamina damage to anyone in the way. You take half that stamina damage. They can Test their Luck to avoid.

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BRIAN TAYLOR STOP FROM PITTSBURGH WAY STOP DON’T COME HERE STOP HOUSING OUT OF CONTROL STOP