MOVIE-DERIVED CHARACTER ADAPTATIONS
JASON TRIPITIKAS
Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 13 STR 3 12- Lift 151.6 kg; 2 ½d6 HTH Damage [1] 18 DEX 16 13- 16 CON 6 12- 13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12- 12 EGO 2 11- 13 PRE 3 12- PRE Attack: 2 ½d6 6 OCV 15 6 DCV 15 3 OMCV 0 4 DMCV 3 4 SPD 20 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 6 PD 4 Total: 6 PD (0 rPD) 5 ED 3 Total: 5 ED (0 rED) 6 REC 2 32 END 3 10 BODY 0 30 STUN 5 Total Characteristics Cost: 103 Movement: Running: 12m/24m Leaping: 4m/8m Swimming: 4m/8m Cost Powers & Skills 2 Faced The Jade Warlord: +5 PRE; Only To Protect Against Presence Attacks (-1) Martial Arts: Kung Fu Maneuver OCV DCV Effect 4 Block +2 +2 Block, Abort 4 Dodge -- +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort 5 Flying Kick +1 -2 6 ½d6 Strike 5 Kick -2 +1 6 ½d6 Strike 4 Knife Hand -2 +0 HKA 2d6 3 Legsweep +2 -1 3 ½d6 Strike, Target Falls 4 Punch +0 +2 4 ½d6 Strike 3 Throw +0 +1 2 ½d6 +v/10, Target Falls 1 Weapon Element: Staffs 16 Bo: Hand-To-Hand Attack +4d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OAF (-1), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-¼) plus +1 OCV; OAF (-1) plus Reach +2m 8 Can Take A Punch Or Two: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25%; STUN Only (-½), Character Must Be Aware Of Attack (-¼) Perks 7 Contact: Old Hop (a.k.a. Lu Yan) (Very Good relationship with Contact) 14- Skills 10 +2 with Kung Fu 5 Hang On!: +5 with DEX Rolls; Only For Grabbing Ledges (and similar things) (-2) 2 AK: Ancient China 11- 3 AK: South Boston Chinatown 12- 3 Acrobatics 13- 3 Breakfall 13- 3 CK: South Boston 12- 4 "You're Not Listening!": Language: Mandarin (idiomatic) 3 Power: Kung Fu Stunts 13- 3 Riding 13- 3 Survival (Desert, Temperate/Subtropical Forests) 12- 1 TF: Equines, Two-Wheeled Muscle-Powered Ground Vehicles 1 WF: Staffs 3 Scholar 1 1) "Kung Fu. Hard Work Over Time To Accomplish Skill.": KS: Kung Fu And Kung Fu Philosophy 11- 3 2) "Ten Tigers Of Kwangtung. This Is Gold.": KS: Martial Arts Cinema 13- 3 3) "That's A Northern Type-Style Bo Staff.": KS: Martial Arts Weapons 13- 3 4) "The Thriteen Monks [Who Saved] The Tang Emperor.": KS: Martial Arts History 13- 3 5) "There's A Guy In Virtual Fighter 2....": KS: Martial Arts Styles And Techniques 13- Total Powers & Skill Cost: 127 Total Cost: 229 175+ Matching Complications (50) 10 Distinctive Features: Style (Not Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Large Group) 15 Psychological Complication: In Love With Golden Sparrow (and her reincarnation) (Common; Strong) 15 Psychological Complication: Wishes To Live Up To His Teacher's Expectations (Common; Strong) Total Complications Points: 50 Experience Points: 54
Background/History: As a young man living in South Boston, Jason Tripitikas’s life revolves around the martial arts. Or, to be more accurate, martial arts cinema. He regulalry bikes into South Boston’s Chinatown to visit Lu Yan’s pawnshop, where he buys imported Hong Kong DVDs of such classics as The Bride With White Hair and Ten Tigers Of Kwangtung. However, during one such shopping trip, he comes across a heavy bronze staff, a staff he says he’s seen before, in his dreams. Old Hop, the proprietor of Lu Yan’s tells Jason the staff has been in his possession for years, and was held be his father before him, and his grandfather before that. The staff, Hop says, is waiting to be returned to its rightful owner.
Later, Jason is accosted by Lupo, a South Boston street thug, and forced to return to Lu Yan’s. When Hop answers the door, Lupo and his gang force their way in, and then proceed to rob the place. Hop tries to defend his shop with the staff, but is shot. He then hands the staff to Jason and tells him to run. Jason tries to flee, but in the process of running away falls off of a rooftop… and lands in ancient China.
Once he wakes up, Jason quickly finds his troubles aren’t over. Soldiers of the Jade Warlord are capturing village girls, killing any who resist. They also want Jason’s staff, and his capture is only narrowly averted by the arrival of Lu Yan, poet, beggar, and master of Drunken Style kung fu.
Jason then discovers the staff he’s holding belongs to the Monkey King, who was tricked by the Jade Warlord some 500 years ago and turned into a statue. Now it is up to him to return the staff to Five Elements Mountain, free the Monkey King, end the reign of terror of the Jade Warlord, and restore harmony to the universe. And he doesn’t now an ounce of kung fu.
What follows is a journey of self-discovery, in which Jason, accompanied by Lu Yan, Golden Sparrow, and the Silent Monk, learns what what kung fu really means, as well as the philosophy behind all of the martial arts he loves so much. He also learns to fight himself, undergoing incredibly intense training under the tutelage of two accomplished masters of the fighting arts. He even manages to restore the staff to the Monkey King and is an integral part of the defeat of the Jade Warlord.
Upon his return home, Jason uses his new-found skills to defeat Lupo. He also finds Hop still alive, with the implications that Hop is in fact, the Lu Yan he met hundreds (or thousands) of years ago in China’s mythic past. He also continues to train, embarking on his own warrior’s journey as Lu Yan’s finally comes to an end.
Personality/Motivation: Initially, Jason is just another Westerner who enjoys martial arts cinema. He knowns the films, the styles, the weapons, and the techniques, but in many ways he doesn’t understand what he sees. He also doesn’t seem to fully grasp the concepts behind the martial arts. By the end of the movie, he has a great appreciation and understanding of the martial arts and the philosophy of kung fu and related styles. He’s also come to understand the tenant of what kung fu really means—“hard work” and that anything one does can be kung fu, if you truly apply yourself to it. Interestingly, at the beginning of the movie, Jason asks about learning all sorts of special techniques (see Quote), but towards the end, when facing Lupo, he’d rather not fight and initially tries to avoid conflict.
Quote: “You think you'll teach me the No Shadow Kick? Oh, and the Buddha Palm Technique. There's a guy in Virtua Fighter 2, who does the Buddha Palm Technique. And he does the Iron Elbow. And he does the One Finger Death Touch.”
Powers/Tactics: Having undergone some rather extreme martial arts training, Jason has become an accomplished hand-to-hand combatant. He can battle bandits and the Jade Warlord’s soldiers with some measure of skill, but pales when compared to such individuals as Ni Chang the white-haired witch, or Golden Sparrow. Against such heavyweights as Lu Yan, the Silent Monk, or the Jade Warlord, he wouldn’t last a second. That said, he’s quite strong, agile, and quick, and can take some solid hits and still get back up. When fighting he tends to block, following up with quick punches and kicks. If his foe is Stunned, he might go for a Legsweep or Throw, and has performed such stunts as performing a Flying Kick against two oncoming soldiers, or trapping a solider’s sword and using it to cut the man’s throat.
Appearance: Standing 5’7”, with a slight build, Jason looks like your average 21-year-old (actually, he looks more like he’s 16 or so). He dresses in casual fashions.
Designer’s Notes: Jason Tripitikas is the protagonist (but not the “star”) of the 2008 Hollywood martial arts film The Forbidden Kingdom. A lose reworking of the Chinese epic “Journey to the West”, The Forbidden Kingdom presents Western audiences with a variety of characters and events from Chinese myth, folklore, and adventure stories. Jason himself is based on the character of Tripitaka, the monk who made the titular “Journey to the West.”
As depicted here, in this character sheet, Jason has returned from his adventure and once again lives in South Boston. I’ll admit to being a bit generous with some of his Skills, but feel it makes for a more interesting character. Also, as a friend of mine put it, the movie makes a great super hero origin story, and even at 229 points Jason could work as a street-level crime fighter. However, if you wish to make him more powerful, up his STR, DEX, CV, defenses, and add a few Damage Classes to his martial arts.
Jason Tripitikas's Hero Designer File
(Jason Tripitikas created by John Fusco and Michael Angarano, character sheet created by Michael Surbrook.)
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