ohioisforweirdos | character info

Tom

full name:

Thomas Howell

alias:

Tom, The Woodsman

age/dob:

28 / May 15

pronouns:

He/Him

occupation:

Field Researcher, Youtuber/Blogger, former Librarian

Tier:

Archetype:

Tom is a smart Protector/Investigator who would rather be reading.

BACKTAGGING: Yes
4TH WALLING: If on appropriate meme or with appropriate character
THREADJACKING: With permission
KISSING: Yes, 18+
HUGGING: Yes
SEX: Yes, 18+ and prior relationship preferred (even if it's handwaved)
FIGHTING: Yes, though they're not my favorite to write
INJURY: Yes
ROMANCE: Yes, 18+. Tom is bisexual and polyamorous. By default he has existing partners but I am willing to waive this for memes if necessary.
DEATH: Not without Discussion

permissions

PERSONALITY

Tom is a quiet, somewhat reserved young man with a very dry sense of humor and fierce loyalty to his friends. He can come across as stand-offish when he's still getting to know someone, but he's really just riddled with social anxiety. Having his best friend and platonic life partner Lori (

strangemidwest) nearby (and she nearly always is) helps. In relationships, he can be a bit of a push-over and people-pleaser, and this has gotten him into some bad romantic entanglements in the past. He's a huge nerd that has very strong opinions about libraries and access to education.

Tom is intensely protective of the people around him, despite looking like a beige sweater came to life and became a librarian. He is a naturally helpful person and a problem-solver, which makes him very good to have around in a crisis but he is not especially adept at handling the emotional fallouts. If there is a problem, he wants to figure out a way to fix it, and if it can't be fixed he is at a loss for what to do.

He works as a Field Researcher at Warren-Hill Institute in Columbus, Ohio investigating reports of the strange and supernatural around the American Midwest with his partner Lorelei Eaton (bonded pair, Do Not Separate). They also run a blog (Ohio Is For Weirdos) and youtube channel (Strange Midwest) for their own private investigations. Lori is the face of the channel while Tom is the cameraman and tech wiz. ~~The channel is nearing a million subscribers, which is both exciting and stressful because they jokingly promised a Tom face reveal at 1 mil thinking they'd never get there.~~ Thanks in part to a collab with one of Tom's partners, the channel reached 1 million subscribers and the Tom face reveal stream was done during the Halloween special. It went just fine.

Setting

Tom is from The Magnus Phenomenon, a campaign run under The Magnus Archives Roleplaying Game system (slightly modified to allow for multi-classing). The setting is an alternate universe of the original podcast set in Columbus, Ohio. He is familiar with a growing number of characters from The Magnus Archives (and likely The Magnus Protocol in later sessions), though there are variances due to the alternate universes. The two exceptions to the rule are Jon and Martin, who ended up in London, Ohio after the TMA series finale, because that's close enough, right?

For more in-depth info on the setting and who Tom knows, both from the podcast and original campaign characters, look here!

Unfamiliar with the Magnus podcasts? No problem! It is enough to know that the institute Tom works for is definitely evil and definitely plotting to end the world and he is an unwilling asset in that, trying to escape that inevitability while helping anyone he can in dealing with the Horrors along the way. He is kind of a werewolf but also kind of not.

Appearance / Impressions

5'6 . ~~brown~~ yellow eyes . sandy brown curly hair

Tom is a trans man who has had top surgery and has been on HRT for roughly six years. He has a leanly muscled build. He prefers to keep some stubble on his face. He tends to dress in neutrals and greens, and prefers to keep his torso covered even in hot weather. To the average person, he does not look like he could hold his own in a fight, but those who are particularly observant may notice a hidden strength. Those in tune to the supernatural may notice quite a bit more than that.

Scars: very old bite scar on either side of his left shoulder (appears to be from a very large canine). top surgery scars that are a few years old. very nasty-looking stab scar on lower right stomach. burn/pierce wound scar on right shoulder (burning pickaxe). yet more pierce wounds on both shoulders, symmetrical (grabbed by mothman). animal bite on right forearm. grey curled mark on left elbow (always cold). scar on left thigh from a chunk of flesh being taken out.

Tom is soft-spoken and articulate, but tends to "uh" and "er" when put on the spot. Think large vocabulary, but introverted and a bit socially awkward. He has definitely mispronounced words that he has only read and not heard spoken aloud before in his life, and the mistakes haunt him to this day.

His scent is fairly neutral with a subtle hint of pine trees and old books.

Background

Statement by Thomas Howell, regarding an encounter from his childhood

"I was born in a very tiny, very rural town out in Michigan. A place called Timberlost. Well, that was what was closest to us, anyway... my parents and I lived in a cabin in the woods outside of town. My mom gardened and homeschooled me and my dad hunted, and it was... peaceful. I was eight years old when... something broke in. We had a bay window that I liked to sit in to read. That's what I was doing after dinner. There was a loud crash right next to me, and my mom screamed, and-- I didn't even feel the pain on my shoulder at first. Just the pressure, like someone was grabbing me by it. Only it wasn't a hand, it was the jaws of-- I thought it was the Big Bad Wolf. Like in fairy tales."

"Mom took my dad's shotgun off the wall and shot at it, and my dad grabbed me to try and pull me away from it. It let go, but-- it didn't run off like a normal wolf would have. A normal wolf wouldn't have jumped through the window anyway. My dad shoved me back towards the bedrooms-- I looked at it before I ran. My mom shot it in the head but it didn't seem to care at all. It was coming in the window into our house. I ran into my parents' bedroom, and I-- I was so scared. I locked the door and hid under the bed. ...I don't know exactly what happened after that. I remember my parents screaming, and that thing snarling, and gunshots... and then it was quiet."

"I was too scared to call out for my parents, I kept waiting to hear them again, but... it was so quiet. And then I heard scratching at the bedroom door, like-- like a dog wanting in. I watched from under the bed as it tried to turn the doorknob. It was the kind of lock where the knob would still turn if it was locked, it just wouldn't open. It turned the knob. I saw it. I know I did."

"I don't know why it gave up after all that... I was still too scared to come out. I-- fell asleep, or passed out, under the bed. I was too scared to leave the room, so when I woke up, I stayed in there. Luckily there was an ensuite, so I could use the bathroom and drink from the sink, but... I thought it might be waiting for me outside the door, so I didn't open it, even when I was so hungry that that hurt more than my shoulder. I think I stayed in there for two or three days? Then I woke up to our neighbor calling for me-- he and my dad would go fishing together sometimes, and-- and he found them. I was so weak, I could barely move enough to unlock the door, and he had to carry me out. He tried to keep me from seeing what had happened to them but-- it was all over the house."

"They said it was just a wild animal attack. But it wasn't. Ever since I've had-- dreams. Nightmares. That it was chasing me. Letting me think I'd escaped. And now I've seen other monsters with my own eyes... so maybe that's real too. If it is, and it might find me, I-- people need to know."

"I'm not going to let it kill the people I love again."

History

After the attack that killed his parents and left him forever marked, Tom was sent to live with his grandparents in Dublin, Ohio. As a child, he had a very hard time fitting in with his peers and developed a terrible temper that was understood to be from the trauma he'd endured. It came to a head when he attacked another child that had been bullying him, leaving them bloodied on the ground. His grandparents moved him to another school district, and the incident made him terrified of his own anger.

After high school he attended Hollins University, an all-women's private university in Virginia, where he met Lorelei. His grandparents passed while he was away at college, and it was only after their passing that Tom came out as a man. After graduation, he and Lori moved in together in Columbus and started their blog Ohio Is For Weirdos and eventually the youtube channel Strange Midwest.

Some years later, while driving home from D&D, they stopped for gas and came across a voice memo device laying in the grass with an unnerving message recorded on it. The incident that followed would lead to their being recruited by the paranormal research branch of the Warren-Hill Institute.

Many misadventures have occurred since he began working at Warren-Hill, but the most personal was being sent back to Timberlost after two investigators sent there returned in bodybags with the third still missing. While there, Tom learned the true nature of the monster that's haunted his nightmares: a Hunt Avatar called the Woodsman that would massacre families, leaving one survivor in order to mark them by the Hunt. Those he marked would eventually be drawn back to him, seeking revenge, so he could revel in the fight. With the help of Lorelei and some newer friends, Tom was able to best the Woodsman, taking the Avatar's own weapon from him and killing him with it.

With the monster that killed his family and haunted his steps his entire life gone by his own hand, Tom is now investigating what exactly Warren-Hill is up to and why no one is able to quit their jobs there alongside Lorelei and many others. While investigating, they came to learn that they, along with several other employees at Warren-Hill, were being groomed to fill a "Fear Senate". An Avatar for each Fear entity, caught in the Web, to usher in the apocalypse. Already deeply marked by the Hunt, Tom tried to avoid falling further into it, but ended up falling into those instincts many times in order to protect those around him, until it was only a matter of time. To become an Avatar, you have to experience a death of some sort; for some, it is a metaphorical death. For Tom, it was very literal. While investigating reports of Mothman (yes, really), he was snatched into the sky by Mothman and dropped from several stories up. (Yes, really, he got killed by Mothman!)

Upon his death, Tom was given a choice; to chase or to be chased. He chose the former, and came back... different. Due to his new not-quite-human nature, he needs to feed on the fear of others in order to survive-- and specifically he needs to feed on the fear of being hunted.

Details

stat pools.

stat	pool	edge
might	19	3
intellect	28	3
speed	15	1

skills.

Specialized (eases related tasks by 2 steps)
Perception, Research, Light Bladed Attack, Discerning Motive
Trained (eases related tasks by 1 step)
History, Electronics, Occultism, Driving, Survival, Light Bashing Attack
Inability (hinders related tasks by 1 step)
Intimidation

artifacts

The Hungering Blade

Level: 9
Related Entity: The Hunt / The Slaughter

With well-tempered metal and a wrap failing to cover jutting metal spurs, the Hungering Blade is a fierce, serrated hunting knife, able to pierce any organic material with ease. This comes with an exception: to be used and held effectively, one's hands must dig into those sharp metallic edges, resulting in the user bleeding onto the handle. Each use of the knife comes with immense cost, and while it's only somewhat apparent on the body, it becomes apparent on the mind very quickly.

When used to attack, the Hungering Blade will always attack at a Might of 9, triumphing over most Might Defenses other creatures and entities possess. It also damages the user, inflicting 2 Stress per attack.

Fear: Use of the knife makes the user begin to hunger viciously for violence, feeling the pounding of their heart as war drums in their mind. After 3 turns, users will have to perform Intellect Defense rolls, starting at Level 4, and increasing by 1 per every additional turn of use afterwards. If an Intellect Roll is failed and an enemy is not within striking distance, the user will attempt to strike an ally in their stead.

Rock Eye

Level: 5
Related Entity: The Eye

A smooth piece of round obsidian, with a divot carved where a pupil would be. It is stored in a plain black velvet bag, a pull-cord keeping the bag securely closed.

Someone who takes this carved rock eye from the black velvet bag in eases their Perception tasks by two steps. However, their Intellect-based tasks (other than Perception) are hindered for an hour after they remove the eye from the bag.

Fear: The Abiding Watcher notices the rock eye’s owner.

Security Camera Instruction Manual

Level: 6
Related Entity: The Eye

This ten-page pamphlet purporting to be an instruction manual for a Tecton multi-camera recorder is yellowed, water damaged, and well used. (Someone even put their name in the front, though the handwriting is too poor and blurred with age to definitively make out.) A person who glances through the manual has even odds of seeing a black and white photo of their face printed inside.

Someone who identifies or studies it realizes they can use the following abilities while in possession of the manual, whether or not they have authorized access to nearby security cameras, or even access to a terminal, laptop, or phone. However, each time an ability is used, Horror Mode is triggered, or, if already active, the range increases by 1 until the end of the day (or encounter, whichever is longer).

The manual owner can use their action to see out of any camera within very long range.

The manual owner can delete or insert visual and audio information in digital security camera footage collected by any camera within very long range. The change can be up to a couple of rounds in length per use.

Fear: The manual owner becomes fascinated with it and with watching everyone else using electronic surveillance, so much so that getting them to engage in their regular activities is difficult. The fascinated manual owner can attempt another Intellect roll each day that someone else tries to convince them that their behavior is weird, and if they succeed on three rolls, their fascination ends. If they fail three before that (or fail to attempt any rolls for three days), they are bodily consumed by the nearest CCTV security system, where their spirit remains and watches forevermore.

The Stalwart Hunter's Almanac

Level: 4
Related Entity: The Flesh / The Hunt

This leatherbound book is filled with hunting anecdotes, all grisly. Some focus on hunting animals, while a few seem to be about hunting people. Most such hunts include a wrap-up scene describing how the prey was slaughtered in preparation for a meal.

If an anecdote is read (requiring about ten minutes) and the reader succeeds on a difficulty 4 Intellect-based task to understand it, their tracking tasks are eased for one day.

Fear: A manifestation of The Flesh and The Hunt identifies the reader as its prey, and if and when it catches them, it does terrible things to them, as described in the almanac.

Abilities

Protector.

No cost. Designate a single character as your charge. You can change your charge freely every round but can only ever have one. As long as they are in immediate range, they gain an asset for Speed defense tasks.

Take the Hit.

Cost: 2 Might. If someone you are close enough to touch is struck and will suffer damage, you can take the hit instead. The other person suffers no damage, and you gain 3 points of Stress regardless of the damage that would have been originally dealt.

Missing Detail.

Cost: 2 Int. You listen to the words someone is saying, read a transcript of something that was said, or read an account written by someone and immediately note something that wasn't said. This can be something implied by what was said or written, or something obviously left out. The words written or spoken must be substantial, like someone giving an eyewitness account, telling a story, or giving a statement.

Careful Observation.

Cost: 1 Int. You take a minute to examine your surroundings. If you succeed at a diff 4 Perception task, you take note of an inanimate object within an immediate distance that is related to your current investigation, seeing some detail that another person would have likely passed over (ie color of mud on boots, dust on a bookshelf revealing a recently examined book, etc.). If there is no such detail, you learn that too and know you can move on. If there are two or more such details, you still make one roll and each difficulty level over 4 cleared gains another detail.

Surveillance.

No cost. All tasks involving monitoring, watching, or tailing a person or place are eased. This includes setting up cameras, microphones, or other equipment.

Coping with the Impossible.

Cost: 2 Int. When faced with something supernatural and difficult or impossible to harm by normal means, you improvise a way to use the environment or the situation to cause the target to lose its next turn if you succeed in an Intellect-based task. Once you affect a target with this ability, further attempts to use this ability on the same target are hindered.

Scarred and Hardened.

No cost. You reduce the Stress you suffer from physical injury by 1.

Seen Some... Stuff.

No cost. You reduce the Stress you suffer from mental shock or despair by 1.

Tactical Plan.

Cost: 3 Int. You put in the time (1 hour) to develop a strategy for an upcoming trip to a location you can study records and/or anecdotes about. If you visit afterward, you and up to five allies who accompany you, to whom you explain your plan, gain three of the following benefits (your choice) for that particular visit:
- Ignore first point of Stress
- Ease first Initiative roll
- Ease first Perception roll
- Ease first interaction roll
- Ease first defense roll
- Ease any task to flee and/or escape the location

Applying your Knowledge.

No cost. When you help another character undertake any action that you're untrained in, you are treated as if you are trained in it, granting two assets to their task instead of one.

Supernatural Senses.

Cost: 4 Int, 3 Stress. You have an uncanny intuition when it comes to finding things. While exploring, you can extend your senses up to a 1 mile in any direction and ask a very simple, general question-- usually a yes-or-no question-- about that area, such as "Is there a library nearby?" or "Are there any bodies buried in that yard?" If the answer you seek is not in the area, you receive no information.

Free From Danger.

Cost: 4 Might. If you do nothing else as your action, you can grab up to two allies (conscious or otherwise, and even if they are held fast by something) and move them a short distance. For the remainder of the round, you and they have an asset on defense rolls.

Size Them Up.

Cost: 3 Int. You use an action to study a creature you can see. For the next 24 hours, all your attacks against them, and your defense against their attacks, are eased.

Knowing the Unknown.

Cost: 6 Int. By accessing the resources appropriate to your character, you can ask one question and get a general answer. The GM assigns a level to the question, so the more obscure the answer, the more difficult the task. Generally, knowledge that you could find by looking somewhere other than your current location is level 1, and obscure knowledge of the past is level 7. Gaining knowledge of the future is impossible.

Trapfinder.

Cost: 3+ Int. You find any traps (like a floor that would give way beneath you) or mechanical triggers to a trap or defense system that might pose a threat. You can do this without setting them off and in lieu of making a roll to find them. This ability automatically finds traps of level 4 or below. You can use Effort to increase the level of traps that can be found by 2, so using two levels of Effort can find all traps of level 8 and below.

Perfect Tracker.

No cost. If you find a set of tracks, you can follow them without error unless the conditions absolutely prohibit it (heavy rain, complete darkness, etc.)

Sense Avatar.

No cost. You can identify another Avatar as such if you can perceive them normally and are nearby. An Avatar can attempt to hide their status as an Avatar, but you can still use an action to try to identify them with an Intellect-based task.

Sense Supernatural Activity.

Cost: 2 Int, 2 Stress. If a supernatural creature, artefact, book, or effect is within immediate range, you can sense its presence.

Hairy on the Inside.

Cost: 4 Int, 3 Stress. For ten minutes, your form becomes more bestial and you gain +8 to your Might Pool, +2 to your Speed Pool, +1 to your Might Edge, and +1 to your Speed Edge. While this ability is active, you can't spend Intellect points for any reason other than to try to change to your normal form before the ten-minute duration is over (a difficulty 2 task).

Tough.

You can take punishment beyond what others can. You gain an additional step in your damage track between hale and impaired called hurt. Other than being one step closer to impaired, hurt imposes no changes. Basically, you're sore and bruised, but it's nothing serious. Walk it off.

ooc info:

kai . est .