Custom Professions
Bureaucrat
xxxxxBureaucrats make the world go 'round. They also can stall even the earth on its axis with the right amount of red tape and paperwork. A lot of people find bureaucrats more of a hindrance than a boon, but in life everyone has to deal with them in way or another. When you get your drivers license, applying for financial aid, or dealing with the edicts of their HOA. While some come to this profession with the want of trying to make a better world, they may become jaded and become a cog in the wheel. Others see the power of information and the control of it as a means of authority and a way to control the world around them.
xxxxxThe Vigil often sees these people stumble into the ranks when they find a misplaced file with a forged identity. The TSA officer that comes across that weird cargo on the carrier. The FBI Agent that happens upon a serial killer who seems to drain the life right out of his victims. The campaign aide who realizes his boss taking night meetings with one of his 'benefactors' who is unusually pale. For many bureaucrats, the need to know and put things in their proper place is almost irresistible. And once they do realize what is going on, ferreting out these societal threats often beckons to them.
xxxxxThose who survive their first encounters with the supernatural will often be snatched up by larger organizations that recognize the power of information: Control, Gathering, and Flow. Bureaucrats are useful at all levels of the hunt, seeing and tracking the comings and goings of people through their paper trail. It is the rare individual who can go through their life without leaving a paper trail, whether on their own, through their contacts, and/or their retainers and assistants. Everything can be traced back somewhere if you simply know where to look.
xxxxxBureaucrats can easily find a home in most of the Conspiracies due to their overall usefulness and their everyday applications. Groups like Task Force VALKYRIE and Malleus Malleficarum find them especially useful and will even seek them out when help is needed, tapping into their knowledge and access to info. The Union as well finds their ranks enhanced with these professionals.
xxxxxBackgrounds: Bureaucrats come from a variety of backgrounds. Many come from middle class lifestyles and have (or had) high aspirations. Many started at entry level positions and then worked their way up. Several may have begun their careers volunteering for a campaign or with their local action committees. Some fall into the work force as paper pushers while others learn their trade in college or specialized institutions of learning for law enforcement or finance, earning certifications that make them valuable.
xxxxxA high mental and social aptitude helps these people navigate difficult waters and move up the ladder. Intelligence and Manipulation can be particularly useful in deliberation and getting what they want. Wits for the quicker minded who rely more on being clever or Presence for those who get by more on their charisma. Physical stats are usually average. Most bureaucrats have some grounding in politics, persuasion, academics (with a specialty tied to their specific profession), and subterfuge. Investigation, larceny, and firearms may be most useful for law enforcement and government agents. Common Merits could be Contacts, Allies, and Bureaucratic Navigator.
Asset Skills: Politics, Persuasion
Rank:
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Assistant
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Field Agent/Secretary
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Senior Agent/Administrator
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Assist. Director/Dept. Head
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Agency Director
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Concepts: Federal Agent (FBI, CIA, ATF, etc), Government Administrator (FAA, FCC, IRS, etc), University Staff, Paper Pusher, Political Aide, Elected Official
Entrepreneur
xxxxxFor every great invention in the history of humankind, there has always been someone at the forefront to propel that idea into the mainstream. Call them visionaries or crackpots, rebels or opportunists, there is always someone who has taken each idea from "Why not?" all the way to "First!"
xxxxxIn this country, founded by an entrepreneur who'd been given his venture capital by the king and Queen of Spain, the lifestyle of "Fail fast / win Big!" has flourished and thrived as perhaps nowhere and no-when else. From their mecca in Silicon Valley to the storefronts of small towns everywhere, the entrepreneur is the barometer and the lifeblood of the modern economy.
xxxxxBackgrounds: Entrepreneurs come from a variety of backgrounds. Every time and place, and every culture and every city has those within it who "think different." Some of those people even turn out to have been right. The loudest of those lucky few earn the mantle of "Entrepreneur" and the wealth and fame that go with it.
xxxxxAt least one high mental and one high social aptitude are needed to help entrepreneurs navigate the difficult and quickly-shifting road to success, enabling them to move on out of the garage lab and up into the limelight.
xxxxxThink fast! Wits is usually the key. To solve a problem is not enough -- it must be solved quickly, "on the fly" and better and sooner than the next girl. Composure is critical, not for "if things go wrong," but for -when- things go wrong. Because they will. Because you're sailing in uncharted waters and you just took out your third mortgage to rent office space in an abandoned fire station. And now the EPA wants to shut down your only working prototype.
xxxxxPresence or Manipulation round out the social nice-to-have's, and a high dexterity is pretty great for typing, texting, and hacking while standing in the train to the airport for a flight to Hong Kong to meet with investors tomorrow.
Asset Skills: Persuasion, Socialize
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Hackathon Participant
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Maker Faire Maven
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Startup guru
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IPO
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Jobs -Creator (Steve Jobs that is)
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Concepts: Small Business owner, Crackpot with a Big Idea, Media darling, Mom and Pop organic grocer, Venture Capitalist, Franchise Founder, Hacker gone Big, Fair-trade coffee farmer
Pilot
xxxxxA bunch of stuff about this should go here eventually. Short version, this is a professional training set that is for professional drivers/pilots/etc. It covers everything from small water craft to airplanes, depending on specs. It includes crafts to reflect the need to repair one's own vehicles.
Asset Skills: Crafts, Drive
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Cone
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Bubba
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Bandit
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Driver
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Air Boss
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Concepts: Getaway driver, Helicopter pilot, Professional gearhead, tank driver, etc.
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