Page 241 - Chronicles of Darkness

The Cogs
in the Machine:
Characters
On the hill when
he pulled me from
On the hill when he
the dust, the angel
pulled me from the
said, “You will
dust, the angel said,
see many strange
“You will see many
things. Do not be
strange things. Do not
afraid. You have
be afraid. You have a
a holy mission and I
holy mission and I will
will protect you.”
protect you.” Smug
Smug bastard.
bastard.
— Christopher
— Christopher Moore,
Moore, Lamb:
Lamb: The Gospel
The Gospel
According to Biff,
According to
Christ’s Childhood Pal
Biff, Christ’s
Childhood Pal
240
The Cogs in the machine-characters
If everything on Earth is a function of the God-Machine, then what are the
inhabitants? Are they programs, trusted with will and agency, but ultimately
subservient? Are they self-replicating mechanisms akin to nanobots? Or are they
merely cogs in the machine?
This section examines some of these cogs, Storyteller characters to help bring
your God-Machine chronicle to life. The first part of the section presents human
(if altered) characters who have had the misfortune to become involved with the
God-Machine. Most of them correspond to one of the Tales. For those that don’t,
we provide suggestions on which Tales are most appropriate for their inclusion.
The second part of this section describes angels, the strange, spiritual servants
of the God-Machine. Most of the angels provided correspond to a Tale, but you
should absolutely use these angels as inspiration to create your own for your own
Tales of the God-Machine.
BENJAMIN WAYNE
MASTERS
Charismatic leader of the Cult of Revelations.
Background: Benjamin Wayne Masters grew up as an orphan from the age
of six. Both of his parents died in a car wreck. He was put into the state system,
started in his first foster home at the age of seven, and was in and out of foster
homes until he was sixteen years old. He suffered abuse and neglect in many of
the homes, and his depression and withdrawn personality made him a burden on
even the best of foster parents.
Benjamin ran away from his last set of foster parents, whom he had been with
for a record three years. They had entered him into psychiatric care and were,
by far, the most caring family he had, but by that point it was too late. The one
thing Benjamin latched onto from the family was their religion. He stayed with
one of his church friends for a few weeks then disappeared completely for a year.
When he returned, he attended church regularly and his troubled past seemed to
be behind him. The pastor was impressed by his change and gave him odd jobs
to do around the church.
It wasn’t long before the pastor’s wife found Benjamin molesting a young girl in
the choir room during church. He was expelled and told to never return. Shortly
after, Benjamin joined a missionary group traveling to Nigeria. He impressed
the missionaries with his righteous attitude and gained admittance by offering
to work for his food and lodgings. While there, he spent most of his time on the
compound cleaning and cooking for the missionaries. For the first time in his
life, Benjamin felt at peace with his surroundings and his role in life. On a trip
into the city for supplies, he ran across a group of children playing. He stopped
to ask them if they knew about God. They responded to him in English to tell
him that they did know God. God lived in a clearing to the north and they spoke
with him regularly.