BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
JACK BURTON
Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 18 STR 8 13- Lift 303.1 kg; 3 1/2d6 HTH Damage [4] 15 DEX 15 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5 20 CON 20 13- 12 BODY 4 11- 13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12- 13 EGO 6 12- ECV: 4 13 PRE 3 12- PRE Attack: 2 1/2d6 14 COM 2 12- 8 PD 4 Total: 8 PD (0 rPD) 6 ED 2 Total: 6 ED (0 rED) 3 SPD 5 Phases: 4, 8, 12 8 REC 0 40 END 0 31 STUN 0 Total Characteristic Cost: 72 Movement: Running: 6"/12" Leaping: 3"/6" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills 2 "He Showed Great Courage": +5 PRE; Only Defend Against Presence Attacks (-1) 35 "It's All In The Reflexes": Missile Deflection (Thrown Objects), Missile Reflection, Reflect At Any Target 15 The Luck Of Heroes: Luck 3d6 Perks 0 "The Porkchop Express": Vehicle Skills 10 "It's All In the Reflexes": +5 with Missile Deflection 3 AK: Pacific Coast 12- 3 CK: San Francisco 12- 3 Combat Driving 12- 1 Disguise 8- 2 Gambling (Mahjongg) 12- 2 Language: CB Lingo (fluent conversation) 0 Language: English (idiomatic; literate) 3 Mechanics 12- 3 Oratory 12- 1 Persuasion 8- 2 PS: Truck Driver 11- 2 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles 4 WF: Small Arms, Blades, Thrown Knives, Axes, and Darts Total Powers & Skill Cost: 91 Total Cost: 163 75+ Disadvantages 15 DNPC: Truck, the "Pork Chop Express" 11- (Normal) 0 Normal Characteristic Maxima 15 Psychological Limitation: "Everyman Hero" Mentality (Common, Strong) 15 Psychological Limitation: Overconfident; "Tough Guy" Mentality, A Legend In His Own Mind (Common, Strong) 5 Psychological Limitation: Protective Of His Truck (Uncommon, Moderate) 10 Unluck: 2d6 28 Experience Points Total Disadvantage Points: 163
Background/History: Jack is the would-be "hero" of Big Trouble in Little China, who muddles through the movie totally clueless as to most of what is going on, but unwilling to stand by while his friends take all the risks. Besides, he has to get his truck back (stolen by the Lords of Death after Jack and Wan Chi ran from a fight between the Chang Sings and the Wing Kong).
Personality/Motivation: Jacks' two Psych Lims can best be illustrated via some of his quotes. The "Everyman Hero" psych is a combination of bravery ("Ready, Jack?" "I was born ready."), courage ("They have this place where they hang out." "Sharpen their knives, eh?" "I can't ask you to..." "Where is it?" Thanks, Jack"), loyalty ("Like two, I said I was going."), and determination ("Hey, you never know until you try."). This Psych lim basically means he will stick by his friends regardless of the outcome, it also means he tends to try and do the "right" thing and help others if asked. The "Overconfidence" Psych comes from the fact Jack Burton thinks he is a "legend in his own time." In other words, Jack has to walk the walk and talk the talk or else he will fail to live up to his own mental self image. Thus, we see him punch Rain (after watching Rain blast the ceiling of a building apart), tell Rain "Why don't you come over here and fight like a man?", banter with David Lopan (and risk getting sent to the "Hell where people are skinned alive!"), and utter such lines as "If we're not back by dawn, call the President".
Quote: "It's all in the reflexes."
"Son of a bitch must pay!"
Powers/Tactics: Unlike just about everyone else in Big Trouble, Jack doesn't have any special skills, knowledge, martial arts training or magical powers. What he does have is reflexes. He's pretty quick, and his hand-eye coordination is demonstrated very early in the movie when Wang Chi tires to cut a bottle in half with a machete in the Chinese market. Wang's chop sends the bottle flying across the table at Jack's face, and Jack snatches right out of the the air. "It's all in the reflexes."
Later on, in the climatic fight scene with Lo Pan's minions, Jack tosses his knife at Lo Pan and misses. Lo Pan picks up the knife ("A good knife. Goodbye, Mr. Burton.") and throws it back at him, at which point Jack grabs the knife out of the air and hurls it back at Lo Pan, hitting him square in the forehead and killing him almost instantly. (And thus illustrating the law of fiction heroes. Fictional heroes always roll whatever they need to ensure the proper outcome at the right time. Here, Jack put his STR into the HKA boot knife, getting a 1d6+1 HKA, hit the head location and rolled a 6 on the damage dice. 6+1 [x2 for a head shot] means 14 Body, more than enough to put Lo Pan down.)
Jack keeps a throwing knife in one boot, and for most of the film carries a Tec-9 machine pistol (until Thunder punches it into dust). For all of Jack's complaining about bizarre things, he does seem to blow off most of the weird stuff fairly easily, so I felt a little PRE defense to be justified (for example: the scene with the Guardian.)
Jack's Gear:
10 Boot Knife: HKA 1d6-1 (1d6+1 with STR), Ranged (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END ; +1/2); OAF (-1) 14 TEC-9: RKA 1d6+1, -1 RMod, Autofire (5 shots; +1/2), 32 Charges (+1/4); OAF (-1)
Appearance: Jack is fairly tall and well muscled, with shoulder-length brown hair and an unshaven chin. His normal mode of dress looks to be brown moccasin boots, blue jeans and a white tank top. Tucked into one boot is a knife.
Designer's Notes: As an amusing side note, did anyone ever notice the amazingly blatant rip-off of Jack Burton featured in Normals Unbound? Go look up the entry for "Mack Bordan" and tell me that's not Jack... go ahead, I dare you. It is also pretty obvious the "Everyman Hero" from Feng Shui was at least partially inspired by Jack.
(Jack Burton created by Gary Goldman, David Weinstein, W.D. Richter and John Carpenter. Character sheet created by Michael Surbrook)
Jack Burton's Hero Designer File
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