From one of our readers, KJ, comes a James Bond RPG write-up for a few old friends from the 1980s:
THOMAS SULLIVAN MAGNUM IV
Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV was born August 8, 1945. Both his father and grandfather were naval officers and he was born in Detroit, but raised in the region of Tidewater, Virginia. In high school, his football team won a Virginia State football championship. Some members of his family, including his mother, still reside there. His father was a naval aiator killed in Korea. He attended the US Naval Academy in Annapolis and served until 1979 when he resigned his commission at the rank of lieutenant. He was a Vietnam veterean who married a Vietnamese-French woman and has one child, Lily, by her. He was also a POW during the war. He served in Naval Intelligence and with the SEALs.
He resided in Hawaii during the 1980s, living on the estate of Robin Masters, a famed author and playboy whom he assisted early in his career as a private investigator and took over “security” for the estate. He was later returned to duty with the Navy with the rank of commander.
STR: 8 DEX: 8 WIL: 9 PER: 9 INT: 10
HTHD: A SPD: 2 STA: 28 hr RUN/SWIM: 25 min CARRY: 101-150
SKILLS: Charisma 6/15, Diving 7/15, Driving 7/15, Evasion 6/14, Fire Combat 3/11, Hand-to-Hand Combat 3/11, Local Customs 7/17, Lockpicking/Safecracking 10/18, Sixth Sense 1/10, Stealth 4/13
ABILITIES: Photography, First Aid, (Languages — Vietnamese, French)
FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE: American Football, Law, Military Science, Tennis
WEAKNESSES: Close Personal Ties
HT: 6’4″ WT: 205 lbs AGE: 35 (at show start) Appearance: Striking Fame: 44
WEAPON: Colt Officer’s 1911A1 in 9mm
VEHICLE: Ferrari 308GTSi (Robin Master’s)
and…
JONATHAN QUAYLE HIGGINS
STR: 5 DEX; 7 WIL; 9 PER: 6 INT: 13
HTHD: A SPD: 1 STA: 28 hrs RUN/SWIM: 25 min CARRY: 60-100
SKILLS: Charisma 5/14, Fire Combat 7/13, Hand-to-Hand Combat 5/10, Riding 2/9
FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE: Boardgames, Botany, Economics/Business, Fine Arts, International Law, Law, Medicine/Physiology, Military Science, POlitical Science, Rare Collectibles, Tennis
WEAKNESSES:
HT: 5’7″ WT: 165 LBS AGE: 61, APPEARANCE: Normal, FAME: 103
WEAPON: Webley MK VI .455 9see Q Manual, this site.)
[Editorial Note: I pulled the background on Magnum from the notoriously unreliable Wikipedia, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen the show — I remembered him being a Naval Int guy, but not a SEAL; I suspect a later addition to the show’s canon. I think the stats adequately reflect the characters based on what I remember, but if Magnum had been a SEAL, he’s a bit lightweight.
Thanks again to KJ for his write up! I may have to write up a pair of cops from Miami from the same period of TV.
And, as always, the characters and material from Magnum PI are the property of Glen Larson Productions, Belisarius Productions, and Universal Television — no infringement is intended, nor profit rendered from this; it’s an homage…]
23 May, 2012 at 23:10
I don’t remember Magnum having been a SEAL either, but I suppose it may have been mentioned in an episode once and then forgotten. Combat of any kind was definitely not his forte, but water skills and security systems were constantly featured as being areas of expertise.
23 May, 2012 at 23:25
I’d like to see Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs from Miami Vice! 🙂
24 May, 2012 at 10:49
i created these stats just after watching the first four seasons of the show. I found that the only thing he really excelled at was lock picking. Only at the climax of the case (usually in the last 5 minutes of the show) is when he really pulled through in combat or foiling the plan(‘hero points’ are the answer here)
It was because of his faults that he was a really likeable character.
24 May, 2012 at 10:57
Oh, not faulting you, Kj — that’s just sloppy writers when it comes to background of the character.
24 May, 2012 at 16:14
Oh, i certainly didn’t mean to come across as defensive. I’m just sharing my observations to your readers on how i determined his stats. 🙂
Enjoy everyone!
25 May, 2012 at 15:47
scott, I noticed you left out Magnums ‘drive’ skill…Do you think he was that bad of a driver? 😉
25 May, 2012 at 18:16
Nope — I was just typing it on the iPad, which means I was swapping between apps. Just send another comment with it and I’ll amend; I just dumped my trash on the email.
25 May, 2012 at 18:59
Sure thing! magnums Drive skill is: (7/15)
30 May, 2012 at 23:11
He might need a ‘narration’ skill of some sort… 😉
4 July, 2012 at 06:43
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