A man must have a hobby. Three
Bear’s hobby is killing powerful occult underworld figures and making
Dipsomancy significant vessels out of their skulls. This makes him a lot
of enemies, but also a Robin Hood figure for the enemies of his
victims. You don’t get to the top without stepping on people, and those
people are usually happy when you get your comeuppance. And Three Bear
is generous with the spoils.
Personality: An egotistical
drunk obsessed with the mysteries of the body. Generous, but prone to
episodes of violence and cruelty while drunk, which he later regrets
while also drunk.
Rage: Being delayed or stopped while trying to leave a place.
Noble: When Three Bear makes a new skull cup, he gives one of the old ones alway to a struggling Dipsomancer who doesn’t have a significant vessel.
Fear: Suffocating on his own vomit (Helplessness)
Obsession: The things inside of a man.
Wound Threshold: 99
Dipsomancer 61*%: Gains Charges, Casts Rituals, Casts Gutter Magick
Woodsman 99%: Of course I can track my next victim, set nasty traps, detect an ambush (Subs Struggle, Subs Secrecy, Provides Wound Threshold)
Backwoods Alchemist 40%: Of course I can distill my own spirits, avoid poisoning in strange territory, taxidermy a corpse (Subs Knowledge, Protects Violence, Medical)
Rage: Being delayed or stopped while trying to leave a place.
Noble: When Three Bear makes a new skull cup, he gives one of the old ones alway to a struggling Dipsomancer who doesn’t have a significant vessel.
Fear: Suffocating on his own vomit (Helplessness)
Obsession: The things inside of a man.
Wound Threshold: 99
Dipsomancer 61*%: Gains Charges, Casts Rituals, Casts Gutter Magick
Woodsman 99%: Of course I can track my next victim, set nasty traps, detect an ambush (Subs Struggle, Subs Secrecy, Provides Wound Threshold)
Backwoods Alchemist 40%: Of course I can distill my own spirits, avoid poisoning in strange territory, taxidermy a corpse (Subs Knowledge, Protects Violence, Medical)
Appearance: Three Bear is just barely average height, but everyone remembers him taller because he abuses appearance enhancing magick. His face is blotched with rosacea, he shaves regularly because he hates ice or water collecting on his beard. He wears outdoor gear chosen for long term durability, good jackets and hiking pants he can easily wash vomit out of.
Possessions: Three Bear owns a lot of skull goblets, made from the heads of underworld figures he killed. He keeps them in a display in his palatial Unabomber cabin, which he imaginatively calls the wall of skulls. He loves to experiment with different styles, from jeweled ritual kapala to neolithic drinking bowls. They serve as significant vessels for Dipsomancy casting purposes.
- Skull of legendary Sleeper Sutter Fuge, converted to a gaudy tiki mug with ports in the removable skullcap for multiple straws.
- Skull of the short lived godwalker MaidenMotherCrone, now a Tibetan style bronze-and-silver chalice with blood red spinels set in the eye sockets.
- Skull of Renunciation agent Alhambra CREATO, cap inverted to make a shallow dish, edges carefully sanded for safe sipping.
- Skull of the giantess Magna Mater, made into a large bowl for serving punch or mixing extra large cocktails.
- Skull of a Surgeon, coated in a shiny purple enamel that stops it mysteriously disappearing.
The aforementioned outsized cabin is also where the Dipsomancer brews cider and brandy from apples. Both are tasty but nonmagickal, served out of bottles sealed with purple wax and stamped with a three headed bear.
Three Bear gives away most magick items he takes from his victims, but hung on to a couple he really liked.
ARTIFACT: BREATHLINE
Power: Significant
Description: A fire ax. The head is a rich tyrian purple instead of red. It smells like wine.
Effect: This ax is drawn to the neck of anyone the wielder swings at. It deals firearms damage unless the target is wearing armor that specifically protects the neck, then it does unarmed damage. The wielder gets a -30% shift against anyone who knows the ax targets the neck, and alters their fighting/fleeing style to keep their head near obstacles or protect it with a held object.
ARTIFACT: GOOD ODDS
Power: Significant
Description: A brass ring set with a used bullet, deformed into a mushroom shape. This projectile was removed from the skull of an Entropomancer who fatally shot himself in pursuit of a major charge.
Effect: If the wearer of the ring is hit by an attack that would kill them, the ring forces the attacker to reroll. If the reroll doesn’t kill the wearer, they survive but the ring’s power is expended. It provides no further protection until someone dies while wearing it, which charges it up and makes it usable again.
CUSTOM FORMULA SPELL: BEER GOGGLES
Cost: 2 minor charges
Effect: For the next hour, the caster appears either more attractive or more intimidating to anyone with alcohol in their bodies, depending mostly on their sexual preferences. If used on a player character, the player gets to decide which. The effect does not compel anyone to action, or provoke a stress check (unless it acts on a pre-existing phobia). It can easily backfire if used on people who react violently to things that make them uncomfortable.
Three Bear gives away most magick items he takes from his victims, but hung on to a couple he really liked.
ARTIFACT: BREATHLINE
Power: Significant
Description: A fire ax. The head is a rich tyrian purple instead of red. It smells like wine.
Effect: This ax is drawn to the neck of anyone the wielder swings at. It deals firearms damage unless the target is wearing armor that specifically protects the neck, then it does unarmed damage. The wielder gets a -30% shift against anyone who knows the ax targets the neck, and alters their fighting/fleeing style to keep their head near obstacles or protect it with a held object.
ARTIFACT: GOOD ODDS
Power: Significant
Description: A brass ring set with a used bullet, deformed into a mushroom shape. This projectile was removed from the skull of an Entropomancer who fatally shot himself in pursuit of a major charge.
Effect: If the wearer of the ring is hit by an attack that would kill them, the ring forces the attacker to reroll. If the reroll doesn’t kill the wearer, they survive but the ring’s power is expended. It provides no further protection until someone dies while wearing it, which charges it up and makes it usable again.
CUSTOM FORMULA SPELL: BEER GOGGLES
Cost: 2 minor charges
Effect: For the next hour, the caster appears either more attractive or more intimidating to anyone with alcohol in their bodies, depending mostly on their sexual preferences. If used on a player character, the player gets to decide which. The effect does not compel anyone to action, or provoke a stress check (unless it acts on a pre-existing phobia). It can easily backfire if used on people who react violently to things that make them uncomfortable.
WHAT YOU HEAR
Three Bear relies on his prey’s reputation to find them. If they’re important enough for their skull to become a significant vessel, he should know their name just by carousing places where magick users congregate. Next step is cursory surveillance, using Astral Stumble to clandestinely observe the target. The actual kill is usually straightforward. Drink alcohol, stack Dipsomancy buffs on himself, catch the target alone, hit them with a sig blast and cut their head off. If the target is resistant to magick, he’s got an ax.
Unknown Armies player characters rarely begin the game as important underworld figures, which means Three Bear isn’t going to target them. When he shows up in the underworld, is role is similar to Demons’ Souls’ masked assassin Silent Chief Yurt, or Termina’s sadistic mobster Caligura. A guy who goes around the game world killing off important NPCs. He never threatens the players when they spot him in a bar, or drinking at night on the footpath of a bridge. He’ll even share the spoils after he confirms the kill. If they want to keep their local chargers alive, they had better put a stop to his antics, and watch out when he slings significant blasts in self defense.
If the players want to kill someone important, Three Bear could be their best friend. They just have to find him and convince him the target is worthy enough prey that their skull would count as a significant vessel. And if they aren’t important enough to be worth targeting, a well enacted caper could raise their profile until their reputation is fearsome enough that it’s worth the Dipso’s time to kill them.
If the players are important enough to have a wide ranging reputation across the occult underworld, Three Bear hunts them and tries to kill them. He can be scared off with serious damage or a failed stress test, but has trouble accepting defeat long term. For all his fearsome reputation, he’s not that difficult to kill.
Three Bear is a good patron and mentor for adepts who are just getting started with Dipsomancy. Actually, he’s more like an evil patron, but an evil instructor is more interesting and more fun.
Three Bear’s dream is an item that lets him turn blood into alcoholic drinks, or at least something he can ferment and distill. If he killed someone who was really a big deal, like Alex Abel or Monica Barberry, he could turn their blood into a rare spirit and get a major charge out of it. He hasn’t thought of what he would spend it on, and honestly doesn’t care. The audacity of it is the important thing.
Unknown Armies player characters rarely begin the game as important underworld figures, which means Three Bear isn’t going to target them. When he shows up in the underworld, is role is similar to Demons’ Souls’ masked assassin Silent Chief Yurt, or Termina’s sadistic mobster Caligura. A guy who goes around the game world killing off important NPCs. He never threatens the players when they spot him in a bar, or drinking at night on the footpath of a bridge. He’ll even share the spoils after he confirms the kill. If they want to keep their local chargers alive, they had better put a stop to his antics, and watch out when he slings significant blasts in self defense.
If the players want to kill someone important, Three Bear could be their best friend. They just have to find him and convince him the target is worthy enough prey that their skull would count as a significant vessel. And if they aren’t important enough to be worth targeting, a well enacted caper could raise their profile until their reputation is fearsome enough that it’s worth the Dipso’s time to kill them.
If the players are important enough to have a wide ranging reputation across the occult underworld, Three Bear hunts them and tries to kill them. He can be scared off with serious damage or a failed stress test, but has trouble accepting defeat long term. For all his fearsome reputation, he’s not that difficult to kill.
Three Bear is a good patron and mentor for adepts who are just getting started with Dipsomancy. Actually, he’s more like an evil patron, but an evil instructor is more interesting and more fun.
Three Bear’s dream is an item that lets him turn blood into alcoholic drinks, or at least something he can ferment and distill. If he killed someone who was really a big deal, like Alex Abel or Monica Barberry, he could turn their blood into a rare spirit and get a major charge out of it. He hasn’t thought of what he would spend it on, and honestly doesn’t care. The audacity of it is the important thing.
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