GI Joe RPG: Influences

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</style>

# Homebrew Influences

### For the GI Joe RPG

Its a New Year and part of my resolutions this year is my desire to delve even deeper into the Nuts and bolts of Essence20 Systems and add more homebrew stuff. Not just Contacts and Factions, though those are fun and I fully expect that to continue, but Influences, Origins, Rolls and Foci (focuses?). For the month of January, just to get my feet wet, I'm going to be contructing two characters into the GI Joe RPG. Those characters are: Risk; the Insurance Adjuster and part-time cage fighter that seems destined to join GI Joe, assuming Duke doesn't kill him first. And John Wick; former assassin only recently returned to the game and defender of good puppers everywhere.

The first spot for creating any character is/are the Influences. What helpes shape the characters and what they did before becoming a part of the Essence 20 system. So first up: New Influences!! Slide them in anywhere regular influences are found. They should be a welcome, balanced edition to your game.

## Insurance Adjuster

You're an avid fan of odds and calculating them. Determining Risk, and by extension, how to mitigate the same. You've been doing it for so long, its almost second nature and helps you get thrugh some of your riskier endeavors now.

#### GI Joe Examples:

- Risk

### Influence Perk

With your encyclopedia like brain, full of tables, actuary charts, and other emphemera about causes and effects, you can always lend assistance, even if you do not have the pre-requisite skills or compatibilities.

### Hang-Up

Every now and then a chart in your head needs updated. Any time you Crit Fail, your next attempt at that same skill is done with a Snag.

### Suggested Characteristics

There are really only two ways to go with this type of character: 1) Adrenaline Junkie, where you count on your skills of risk mitigation to help see you through trouble or, 2) Adrenaline Avoidance. All risk is bad, because eventually odds go the other way.

\columnbreak

##### Insurance Adjuster Bonds

| d10  | Background Bond |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  1  | Your Home Insurance probably covers Meteor and Volcano Damage, which is useful when fighting robot, space, aliens. |
|  2  | Reducing unnecessary ER visits can bring Healthcare costs way down. Blood and Bone, my guy. Blood and Bone. |
|  3  | Your credit score can influence your insurance costs. And you can take easy steps to increase your credit score. |
|  4  | Home Insurance Policies can ban certain dog breeds. You too, can use silly loop holes to your advantage. |
|  5  | Car Insurance policies for male teenagers can be surprisingly costly. Ways to look for trouble makers. |
|  6  | Some employers offer Healthcare for a worker's parents! It pays to shop around. |
|  7  | Many Americans think that Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act are different. Branding can make all the difference. |
|  8  | Insurance is thousands of years old. the 2nd oldest profession. |
|  9  | America's Insurance History predates the American Revolution. Imagine all the charts!! |
|  10  | Insurance policies exist for Death by Excessive LAughter at a movie theater. You can never be too careful |

\pagebreak

## Former Assassin

"Just when you thought you were out; they pull you back in." Michael Corlone

You WERE out. You retired, or did the impossible task, or quietly slipped away in the middle of the night, or even faked your own death and jumped to the other side of the world. But something happened. Something that threatens to bring you back into the fold. Let's see if you can manage to STAY retired.

#### GI Joe Example:

- post Prime GI Joe Storm Shadow
- sometimes ally John Wick

### Influence Perk

You can speak one extra language. As a former assassin, you know the right tool can make all the difference for the right job. You get a **+1 bonus** to all requisition rolls.
### Hang-Up

You have a snag on ALL Social encounters if you are not armed. Maybe one of the guards has a pistol you can "borrow".

### Suggested Characteristics

Assassins run the gamut from stoic hard-asses to cheerful nobodys just happy to live a life in which they no longer take others'. But there is an underlying wariness and you don't ever, EVER, sit with your back to the door. That's just sloppy.

| d10  | Background Bond |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  1  | I show respect to all my Enemies and friends. |
|  2  | Redemption is sometimes just a matter of being given a chance |
|  3  | The skills you used for evil can be the source of your redemption now. |
|  4  | Some people just need killing |
|  5  | "Those who cling to death. Live. those that cling to life. Die" |
|  6  | "Guns. Lots of guns." |
|  7  | I have served. I will be of service. |
|  8  | "People keep asking me if I'm back, and I haven't really had an answer. But now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back!" |
|  9  | "..." |
|  10  | "Then we will fight in the shade." |

\columnbreak

## Member of a clandestine organization

SHIELD. Warehouse 13. The "00" Program. The X-Files. Earth Defense Force.

Members of Clandestine Organizations are active serving members of an organization other than GI Joe, that specialize in one or more extra-legal objectives, generally with no awareness of their activities from the general public. Moonlighters, double-agents, triple-agents, and sleeper agents can all qualify for this Influence.

#### GI Joe Example:
- Mercer
- Sgt Slaughter

### Influence Perk

You learned a trick in the field, or you have been in a similar situation before: Once per adventure, you may make a field repair to one of your weapons and change one or more of the Enhancements, as long as the new enhancements are a downgrade from what was there. The DIF for this roll is equal to the Requisition roll of the new Enhancements.

### Hang-Up

You have a trauma. Whenever you encounter your trauma, you have a downshift to all roles until you are no longer in the presence of your trauma. Work with your GM to figure out what your trauma is.

### Suggested Characteristics

The one common trait in almost all people in this category is a guardedness. These type of people never open up to anyone. Never talk about concerns or fears. They have few friends beyond one or two people "from the old days", most of which have tried to kill them at some point.

| D10  | ackground Bond |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  1  | You can only rely on yourself. |
|  2  | The job is everything. |
|  3  | I need to call this in. |
|  4  | How can I use this to my advantage? |
|  5  | "Roger that."" Or "Copy."" |
|  6  | No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die. |
|  7  | That was...unexpected. |
|  8  | * Snorts * |
|  9  | "The Land Floweth with milk and honey. And this is the fruit of it."" |
|  10  | "..." |