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Ready Made Characters
Credits
Written By:
Jason Needham
Developer:
Matt McElroy
Creative Director:
Richard Thomas
Editor:
Monica Valentinelli
Art Direction and Design:
Mike Chaney
Interior Art:
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Cathy Wilkins
© 2014 CCP hf. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written
permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes
of reviews, and for blank character sheets, which may be reproduced for
personal use only. White Wolf, Hunter, and The World of Darkness are
registered trademarks of CCP hf. All rights reserved. Storytelling System,
Vampire the Requiem, Mage the Awakening, Werewolf the Forsaken,
Hunter the Vigil, Mummy the Curse, Promethean the Created, Geist the
Sin-Eaters, Demon the Descent, World of Darkness, and Mortal Remains
are trademarks of CCP hf.
All rights reserved. All characters, names, places and text herein are copyrighted by CCP hf.
CCP North America Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CCP hf.
This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.
Check out the Onyx Path online @ http:///www.theonyxpath.com/
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Table of Contents
The Crossroads Drifters
4
Bruce Haas
Sonia Black
Randy Curtis
Minerva Brambani
Ray Asoau
Storyteller Advice
6
10
14
18
22
26
Ethos5
Story Seeds
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The Crossroads Drifters
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The Crossroads Drifters krewe was founded by a Bound
named Bruce Haas. After several meetings with other SinEater krewes, Bruce felt his itch to perform on the road
put him at odds with other krewes so he resolved to form
his own. Guided by the King in Sequins, Bruce took to
the highways and cities all across America to search for
like-minded folk. In Boston, Bruce invited Sonia to travel
alongside him after watching her read Tarot and play card
tricks. The pair traveled down to Charleston, where they
stumbled into Minerva and her unearthly voice. Eventually,
the growing krewe wound up in Salt Lake City, and Randy
added his musical talents to the Drifters’ performances.
By the time they encountered Ray and his crowd-stealing
dances in Santa Monica, their Geists had developed a
Mythos to give the Drifters a mission: to give the dead one
final show before they pass on.
Between the worlds of the quick and the dead, a mysterious
court lies waiting in the dark. The Lonesome Whistler guides
the supplicants in wordlessly with an eerie melody. The
haunting tune the Whistler carries is the only sound the dead
hears—until the lights go up. The music stops, the darkness
fades, and the King in Sequins announces himself to preside
over the court and judge the new arrivals. Lady Luck steps in
to name each supplicant and share their fate by revealing what
awaits them when they pass on from this world. Though the
court’s attendees may, on some level, understand Lady Luck
is whispering to all of them, her words are only heard by the
listener she addresses. After her final message is uttered, the
King in Sequins lifts his hands and starts to play a requiem.
The Spider of Sound moves with the unearthly rhythm of the
court, while the Queen in Tatters sings her mournful song.
Finally, as the Queen in Tatters’ voice rises to a crescendo, the
King in Sequins rises to bring the house down. As soon as
the dirge’s final notes fade into nothingness, so do the lights.
Then, there is only darkness—and the Lonesome Whistler’s
phantom strain.
On earth the court’s reflections, the Crossroads Drifters,
perform for the living and the dead. They bring words of
hope and peace and the gala to come. The spirits may be
comforted enough to keep facing eternity, or may be moved
on to the court. The living who stop and listen to the
Drifters may feel their troubles slip away—at least for a little
while. The Crossroads Drifters are talented and can draw
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The mythology of the Crossroads Drifters is grounded
in the idea of the traveling performer who wanders from
place to place to put on a show. Never putting down roots,
the mythology offers players the chance to explore ideas
related to permanence and transience. The Drifters’ ethos
shapes these concepts.
The Drifters are a Tier One krewe who, like any other,
has a ban, duty, and destiny that make up their ethos and
flush out this mythology. Unless the Storyteller requires
a bigger krewe for her chronicle, the five characters listed
here should suffice. If needed, this particular troupe of
street performers could be one of several krewes that roam
worldwide.
Ban: The Crossroads Drifters perform for the dead.
While performing, the krewe cannot force the dead to
leave. The Drifters can corral them if they are causing
trouble, silence them with threats, Manifestations, or
Ceremonies, but they cannot remove them unless the dead
have physically attacked the performers or other members
in the audience. At official shows, the dead cannot be
removed until the end of the show. If the krewe is simply
whistling a tune or singing a song, they may stop their
performance to allow the dead to be removed. Whether
this ban applies to Undead or not is a situation the Drifters
have yet to encounter.
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Ethos
Duty: The Crossroads Drifters are tasked with traveling
and bringing peace to the dead in one of two ways: they can
either help them move on or simply escape their problems
for a while. Similarly, when possible the Drifters are to
serve the living as well. However, their duty to help the
dead supersedes their lesser duty to entertain the living.
The Drifters may stay in a specific location and enjoy
themselves for a while, but eventually they must move on
to a new place and find new dead to assist. In this way,
the Drifters truly live up to their name.
Destiny: The more ghosts the Crossroads Drifters assist,
the stronger and more powerful the court gets. Each
member of the court was once human; when the krewe
helps enough souls move on, the human form of each
member will rise again. The Drifters can join with them
and regain full ownership of their bodies once more. By
doing so, this will effectively double their numbers and
create a new type of Sin-Eater. Though this destiny will
create a new way for Sin-Eaters to help their Geist become
what it once was, the Drifters are forbidden from revealing
this secret. To tell is to risk someone (or something) trying
to stop them. If that came to pass, the court would have
a great deal of difficulty convening a new krewe. Indeed,
Ray, the newest member, is not even aware of this destiny,
though the others assume The Spider of Sound knows.
The Crossroads Drifters continue traveling the open
road for now, bringing music, laughter and respite to the
dead. Not all welcome their presence, but few can mistake
the mark the Crossroads Drifters make wherever they go.
The Crossroads Drifters
a crowd, but all too soon after they arrive, they move on to
the text town or city. After all, the road is a harsh mistress.
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Bruce Haas
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“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt ya. I’ll help you get through this.”
“The king is dead. Long live the king, baby!”
Virtue: Charity. Bruce is a kind soul who lives to help others.
Vice: Gluttony. Bruce loves the good life, and everything that comes with it.
Threshold: The Stricken. The good life caught up with Bruce eventually.
Archetype: Celebrant. Life is for living, and Bruce knows it. He always lives large.
Geist: The King In Sequins, who appears as an exaggerated stereotype of Elvis Presley. The King is the leader of the
court and oversees all the entertainment. His sunglasses never come off, and he never fails to sparkle. The King is a
fairly recent Geist and tends to communicates with Bruce in a direct fashion.
Keystone: A Martin D-28 guitar, with the Passion
and Phantasm keys. It looks a little rough from
use. Experienced Bruce has a musical Vanitas, a
guitar piece that builds to a crescendo then cuts
the sound, dropping suddenly to total silence.
Background: Bruce Haas was one of the best
two-bit Elvis Presley impersonators in Vegas.
The man lived large with good food, good
drink, and good company. Though
he was far from clean cut, Bruce
tended to avoid doing drugs
and gambling. Still, he
took his performances
seriously, and worked
long, hard hours to make
the tourists and locals
smile. Unfortunately,
his “work hard, play
hard” motto is what led
to his untimely death.
Chosen by a curious
Geist who similarly
re s o n a t e s w i t h t h e
popular images of Elvis
Presley, Bruce Haas
exploded back into
the world.
A s a S i n - E a t e r,
Bruce feels that he
now has the chance
to do what he couldn’t
in life. When he was
performing twelve hours
a day in the city that never
sleeps, Bruce followed the
traditions of his fellow
Elvis impersonators at
the expense of having his
own life. Now, he wants to
relax and see more of the
world. To Bruce, this
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