Cirque du Infierno has been around for hundreds of years, though it hasn't always went by that name, changing its name when suspicions started to get too great. During its history it has always been a haven for those who sought to sow evil where they tread. To satisfy the evil urges of its members the circus would routinely stop at small backwater European villages and towns that it knew wouldn't be missed if not heard from, kidnapping the youngest members and killing everyone else. After coming to North America the circus changed it methods, instead of small towns and villages, it would stop in large cities, and set up on the outskirts of the worst area in town, places where if someone was found dead or came up missing wouldn't raise any suspicions.
The circus is ruled over by a council of three members, the Ringmaster, the Seer and the Fool. The Ringmaster is chosen by the various members of the circus, excluding the clowns and gypsies, though different members of the circus may don the Ringmaster title for performances, there is only one individual that is addressed by the circus as the Ringmaster. The Seer is appointed by the oldest members of the Gregorski gypsies that have been with the circus since its beginning, the current Seer is Papa Georgie. While the Fool is the head of all the clowns in the circus, no matter what the name or makeup the Fool used in the past upon becoming the Fool his former identity is no more, having an all white face, with black accents and a Black and white checkered costume.
When the outbreak happened the Circus was travelling as the Roger Bros. Circus, Sideshow and Carnival. Its last stop was Mayhem City, where it now resides and thrives controlling a good portion the Old Historical Mayhem District, a fairly run down portion of the city, as the evil loving gang they are.
Some pics of my Current Gang:
Clown with Heads and Knife- Jimbo, Knife Thrower- Slade, Midget Clowns- Biffo, Boffo & Baffo, Clown on Ball- Yama, Twho-Headed Freak- Bill and Phil, Fat Lady- Big Ethal |
I have created a new Attribute (currently a WIP) just for a couple of the figures in this gang (the Midget Clowns and the Two-Headed Freak):
Hive Mind- What it does right now (remember this is still just a working draft of the attribute) is allows the figure to ignore the first Out Of Fight or Obviously Dead result against it, though it permanently has its rep and skills all reduced by 1, all other OOF and OD results are treated as normal. Hive Mind also grants the figure the Ambidexterous ability (limited to right handed weapon and one left handed weapon, or one two handed weapon).
The idea behind it is that the characters that make up the mini are so in sync with one another that they think as one entity (or are one two minds sharing one body in the case of the two headed freak). While they can survive losing one of the members (or in the case of the two headed freak one of the heads), it comes at a cost, due to the shock of the loss of one of its "minds" the figure will be unable to function on the level it was, hence the permanent -1 to Rep and all its skills. I added the ambidexterous ability to represent that the figure is made up of more then one individual (or heads) so it can attack with little to no penalty with a second weapon.
I am also goign to be starting a draft for a custom Attribute for Big Ethel, Drake and possibly Madame Estella (though Madame Estella will follow the Psy template in I, Zombie even before the Lazarus project has been initiated, since she is supposed to be a Gypsy Fortuneteller/Psychic). Stats for the gangs members will be in a later post.
All I need to do now is get some more Killer Clown Minis. I am looking at the Eureka ones on Unicycles, just trying to find somewhere stateside to order them from to see if its cheaper that route or order direct from Australia? I also have on my short list of figures to get the other Reaper Chronoscope Killer Clown, the Ringmaster and Herq the Strongman. I also need to find some evil gypsy looking minis too to represent the Gregorski gypsy clan
Most the figures in the gang will be grunts with The Ringmaster, The Fool, Bonzo, Jimbo, The Seer (if I can find a suitable mini to represent him) and maybe one other Clown all being stars. The Stars will represent the Ruling Council and the Clowns will represent the gangs main muscle, the members that all the others follow when away from the circus.
Note: I do not know anything about the true Romani culture (commonly known as Gypsies), or their surnames. If Gregorski is a true Romani name I apologize in advance if I have caused any offense as using it to represent the "evil" gypsy clan that is part of the Cirque du Infierno in my ATZ campaign world, the use of the name is for the purpose of fictional background information for use in a game.
Doug, this is great stuff. I love the background you have come up for your circus and the idea of the Ruling Council. I'll be following this project with keen interest.
ReplyDeleteNot a bunch to, meet in a dark alley (or anywhere else for that matter). Great background fluff to justify the inclusion of clowns (everyone's favourite characters right ?)
ReplyDeleteGood stuff here matey, love the characterisations. By the way, I've put you forward for my Liebster Award it's a bit of fun floating around the blog-o-spere to try and advertise thsose sites you like. Rules are on my site and about.
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