Headcase
Headcase is a Rodens Engineer Ratkin from the Rat Race Plague.
History
Headcase had had a rough life. He had the misfortune of being captured by Pentex shortly after his First Change, and as a result he knows next to nothing about Ratkin society. Pentex was investigating the effects of cybernetic implants on shapeshifters, and apparently figured the fledgling Ratkin would make an ideal test subject. They started by replacing several of his limbs with bionic substitutes, which worked reasonably well (from their viewpoint, anyway). Things got complicated when they decided to stick a microprocessor in his skull, though. Integrating the hardware with existing wetware (that is, his brain) proved to be extremely traumatic, and if not for his innate regenerative capabilities the procedure surely would have killed him several times over. The process left him mentally unstable, and since Ratkin of his aspect (Engineer) aren't the picture of mental health to begin with the end result was a paranoid, temperamental, and generally crazy rat.
Headcase had a habit of escaping from his room, but since he remembered next to nothing about his previous life he didn't really know what to do with himself once he'd gotten out. He'd look around, play around with whatever he found, and eventually get recaptured by the researches overseeing his project. This became a game of sorts, where the Ratkin would see how much trouble he could get into before his captors found him and the scientists would race to capture him before he caused too much trouble. On balance, he gave a little better than he got.
Headcase was eventually freed from his captivity by a pack of Glass Walkers, raiding the Pentex facility in an effort to shut it down. Since the Ratkin had nowhere to go, and would coincidentally be superb weapon for use in electronic warfare, the Garou offered to give him a home. He doesn't get out much, but the Walkers gave him a nifty computer mainframe to play with so he usually manages to keep himself entertained. Usually.
Image
In contrast to most Ratkin Engineers, to say nothing of most Ratkin born from domestic rat stock, Headcase looks like a perfectly normal Norwegian brown rat. Or rather, that's what he used to look like, before his cybernetic implants turned him into a freak. Now he has bionic limbs in place of his legs and one arm, as well as a nice, shiny dataport at the base of his skull (not to mention a bunch of cyberware inside his noggin). He can still shift forms, since the Glass Walkers awakened the spirits in the cyberware and helped him dedicate them, but since it's a painful process he avoids it if he can. He has three basic mood states: boredom, insane glee brought about by hacking a tough computer network, or terrified paranoia as he thinks of the scientists who made his life miserable.
Stats
Breed: Rodens
Aspect: Engineer
Plague: The Rat Race
Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 8, Stamina 4
Social: Charisma 0, Manipulation 2, Appearance 1
Mental: Perception 4, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
Talents: Alertness 4, Athletics 3, Dodge 4, Primal-Urge 3
Skills: Repair 5, Stealth 3, Survival 3
Knowledges: Computer 5, Investigation 4, Rituals 2, Science 4
Backgrounds: Device 5, Fetish 5, Freak Factor 4, Rites 2
Merits and Flaws: Curiosity, Technological Delusions
Gifts: Absolute Balance, Control Simple Machine, Open Seal, Scrounge, Stash Cache, Crawling Chaos, Mousetrap, Scamper, Control Complex Machine, Summon Electricity
Rage: 3; Gnosis: 5; Willpower: 7
Rank: 3
Rites: None
Equipment: Computer Interface Bioware (halve all computer-related difficulties so long as he has access to a terminal), Replacement Limbs
References
- WTA: Apocalypse, p. 202-203