Roddy McCallister, Itinerate Gravedigger

I'm starting to get some of the early prep done on a depression-era Call of Cthulhu one-shot (or prologue to a campaign, depending on what people want to do once the Clone Wars campaign is over). Several months ago, I played in a modern-day Call of Cthulhu one-shot (using the d20 version) and made up a couple of characters (one to play and one to sub if the first one died). The characters are tougher than normal, as the director wanted a more adventurous, pulp feel.

Roddy McCallister is my version of the classic itinerate gravedigger. Roddy seems creepy to most people--he's gaunt, has greasy hair, and is awkward in social situations. He has a voice a lot like Peter Lorre. But maybe he's just misunderstood?

He also keeps a scrapbook full of polaroids he's taken of people he's buried, crime victims he's come across, etc. But Roddy doesn't talk about that.

In the one-shot, which involved an isolated hotel where the guests started becoming possessed by some malevolent influence, Roddy took out six people with his trademark sharpened shovel (five of them deserved it . . . the sixth? well . . . .).

One odd thing about the Cthulhu RPG is it seems to assume people have a lot more in cash and liquid assets than I think is realistic (at least given what I've read about the low rates of saving and high rates of credit card debt in the U.S. and Canada). So, even with a blue-collar occupation like gravedigging, Roddy somehow has over $ 5,000 in his pocket. I imagine a couple grand of that is invested in a beat-up old pick-up truck he drives from graveyard to graveyard, looking for work. Those reddish-brown stains in the back of the truck? Probably from oil and stuff . . .