Unknown Armies NPC - Adrian LeBarge

I played in an Unknown Armies actual play on 33.3FM, a UA discussion podcast. You can listen to the full series here. It's about a group of occultists in upstate New York, taking on the leader of a local sex cult responsible for the death of their friend.

I played Adrian LeBarge, the con artist who robs cults.

Fanart by Basil

Now that the series is wrapped up, here's Adrian written up like an NPC from Ben's superb Oddities and Endlings blog of UA fan content.

Melissa Shemp’s early life was a sequence of nasty stepparents and nastier foster homes, all of which taught her the value of tricking people into doing what she wanted. Adulthood brought a string of failed relationships that she leveraged into minor success fleecing would-be boyfriends for as much petty cash as she could steal from them. Her big break came when she ripped off a fundamentalist Mormon plutomancer, whose appetite for additional wives outstripped the care with which he guarded his checkbook. Now she makes a living scamming horny wizards and cumbrained cultists. Her current alias is Adrian Lebarge.

USING ADRIAN
Adrian shows up as a background NPC, a devoted groupie of a powerful occult figure. She plays the role, acting submissive or airheaded or fiendishly intelligent, whatever the wizard wants. Behind the scenes, she’s angling to take him for everything he’s got.

Adrian is a great actor, but her paper-thin backstory falls apart if investigated. Exposing her is a good way to win the friendship of the cult leader, though without solid proof she can easily lie her way out of any accusation and turn him against the Cabal. Privately threatening to involve law enforcement gains her short term compliance - then she drops everything and flees, pointing as much trouble as possible at the players. She’s very good at making other people appear responsible for things.

Adrian could be a valuable partner, if the Cabal comes at her straight and offers to cut her in. She’ll agree to a plan that gets them what they want, as long as she walks away with the money. She doesn’t mind a little danger, but steadfastly refuses any plan where she has to fight or cast spells. Magic is something to be carefully avoided, or used by other people to benefit her.

If this sounds like stuff your players won’t engage with, Adrian can be a more direct threat. The players are probably too savvy for their characters to trust a suspiciously attractive stranger who wants access to their bank accounts. But the people they care about aren’t. Maybe one of their Relationships falls for her. Maybe she shows up in the inner circle of an important local Charger. It’s an obvious grift, but how do you break the spell when she’s got the victim wrapped around her finger?

In addition to hitting her stress meters where she’s weak, Adrian has a couple eccentric soft spots.

• Her most prized possession is a VHS tape she got from a new religious movement in Chicago who she briefly freelanced for: Shadow of the Whoreturer, a pornographic adaptation of a book she read as a teenager, and now the only thing she’s ever successfully masturbated to. Someone who stole the tape could blackmail her without consequences.
• She feels genuine guilt over a couple of her past cons. In particular the accidental death of Siorse Siobhan, a cultist with whom she had a real friendship and who died during an orgy. Adrian was a bit “tied up” at the time and the cult successfully shielded everyone involved from consequences, but she still feels like it was her fault.

Original concept sketch by me

ADRIAN LEBARGE - Con Artist Who Robs Cultists
Personality: Adrian sinks into whatever role she chooses, so perfectly it almost becomes a caricature. When she drops the mask, she’s quiet and (mostly) straightforward, good at making deals. Though she can’t resist peppering conversations with a neverending stream of references to obscure media properties. The GM can metagame here, offering something the players will find convincing - Adrian is good at discovering what people want.

Rage: Sanctimonious criticism of her lifestyle. Wizards destroy people’s lives, and you’ve never done shit about it. Now you’re upset at her for ripping them off?
Noble: The game is the game. People who fall for magic mumbo jumbo deserve what they get, but people who aren’t involved shouldn’t get caught in the crossfire.
Fear: Being trapped and unable to get escape. Metaphorically, but also being restrained, locked in an enclosed space or prevented from leaving a dangerous situation. (Helplessness)
Obsession: The getaway. Don’t just escape, do it in style, by the skin of your teeth. And make sure you get the money - you aren’t getting any younger.
Wound Threshold: 50

Con Artist* 60%: Of course I can look like I belong, get people to trust me, pretend I enjoy sex (Subs Lie, Evaluates Self, Coerces Self)
Totally Appropriate Startle Response 60%: Of course I can make people feel guilty when they try to hurt me, react to danger before it reacts to me, make it to the door in time (Provides Initiative, Subs Dodge, Subs Pursuit)

*denotes obsession identity

Notches	Violence	Unnatural	Helplessness	Isolation	Self
Hardened	2	3	5	5	3
Failed	2	1	2		2