Andrew Glückspilz

Backstory
Andrew Glückspilz wasn't born lucky. He didn't have wealth, power, or social status handed to him on a silver platter, Good Samaritans didn't stop to help him when he was in need, and random chance didn't seem to favor him any more than it did the rest of the world. He wasn't unlucky, of course; he was born to two middle-class parents, lived most of his life in the suburbs of San Francisco, and didn't suffer any especially horrible tragedies growing up. Andrew Glückspilz was the kind of man who made his own luck. Whether through social manipulation, the subtle art of taking things, or just putting in the time to research a situation better than anyone else, Andrew would always make sure the odds were stacked in his favor.

To a certain degree, of course.

As much as Andrew wished it wasn't the case, he couldn't always be sure of what was going to happen. Sure, he could dig up evidence that a school bully was the one who'd broken another kid's nose at recess. But if he presented that evidence to a teacher, would anything actually happen? It usually depended on any number of external factors that he couldn't rig, and that made him very upset. If someone was suitably dedicated and knowledgeable, he thought, why couldn't he find a way to rig all of those factors in his favor? It was a question he would struggle with for all of his life, trying in vain to find an answer until the day of his Awakening. But that's skipping ahead a little! Let's talk about some of his earlier attempts first.

The first solution Andrew turned to, at an age much younger than most children, was lying. If the truth was all that stopped a situation from being completely in your favor, why not just ignore that truth until it's no longer inconvenient? Most people would answer "ethics" or "morality," but Andrew thought that hypothetical question that a point. All he needed was the skill, he thought, and he would be unstoppable. Starting small, he began to practice this kind of subterfuge. He would intentionally turn in assignments late, watching to see which excuses his teachers were most likely to believe. If they did he would spend the rest of the day trying to figure out why, and if not... Oh, would you look at that! He had the report in his backback all along. Must've just forgotten about it.

Unsurprisingly, Andrew's brilliant plan to lie to everyone about everything forever had a few fatal flaws. While nobody seemed to notice what he was doing in elementary school, the kids and teacher in junior high (even more so in high school) dealt with liars and cheats all the time. Earning a reputation as someone who is extremely untrustworthy would have made it difficult for Andrew to rig almost any social situation in his favor, and while lies could hide the truth, they couldn't usually change it. This forced the Sleeper to learn more "socially acceptable" methods of stacking the odds, like the art of Persuasion and Intimidation (which was still better than lying). That was the easy part, though. The hard part was making up for a lack of physical things, a problem that could only be solved through hard work and financial responsibility.

...

Just kidding! Andrew made up for it by stealing.

Like with the lies, he started small. Pencils, erasers, common trading cards... Nothing anyone would really miss, but nothing someone would give to him for free either. After some initial practice, he found that a decent understanding of lockpicking could also help to slant things in his favor. If he knew having a certain item nearby would be helpful in the future, now he could just put that item there, locked doors be damned! But, in a turn of events unrelated to any of his meticulous planning ahead, Andrew discovered something about himself as he began to pick locks and steal. He liked to take things. Not take things from people, per se; he wasn't a kleptomaniac by any stretch of the imagination. What the Sleeper enjoyed was the simple thrill of taking something, perhaps after bypassing some kind of obstacle to attain it. Picking a lock, dodging past a camera, and grabbing an informational flyer he'd forgotten to ask for earlier so he could pretend to have been carrying it all along. He even stole a few cars to satisfy this love of not-quite-stealing, both through the classic lockpick and hotwire combo, and the longer process of going to the dealership and pretending to be a customer who wanted a new set of keys. But after stealing (and eventually returning) two or three cars this way, his fourth attempt almost ended in disaster. A cop pulled him over just a few blocks after he used his newly minted key (thanks, car dealerships!) and took off. He bluffed his way through it, of course, but man had he been close to spending some time in Juvenile Hall! It didn't look like stealing was the answer either.

Or taking. Although taking was extremely enjoyable, and he made a mental note to revisit it in the future.

For a while, Andrew abandoned his hopes of a Grand Unified Solution. He started thinking about a career (becoming some kind of researcher sounded appealing), took up Archery to pass the time, made it through High School with his head mostly kept down, and decided to attend college in Georgia to room with a friend from high school. But throughout all of this, the future Willworker felt... empty. It was like something was missing from his life! Some greater purpose or higher calling, something that would give meaning to all the lies, effort, and sheer time he invested in improving his "luck." Hoping to fill that hole with religion, even though he knew what was really missing, Andrew decided to minor in religious studies. Eventually, around halfway through his Freshman year, his class began dissecting Buddhism. He was introduced to Karma, and something finally clicked.

That was it. The purpose, the thing he needed to fill that hole! He'd been searching for it all his life, and it had never even occurred to him to research if it was actually possible! It was his last, best hope at the omnipresent luck he'd always dreamt of. Solution number 3: leveraging the Occult.

From that point on, Andrew's life had purpose. It had purpose at the exclusion of almost anything else, as he devoted himself night and day to researching anything supernatural that was vaguely tied to luck. Information on rabbits feet, voodoo, West African hoodoo, modern practitioners of Vodun, blessings, curses, and even flat out magic was located and devoured by the obsessive future Mage with almost alarming efficiency, completely eliminating any chance he might have had at a social life. He still had friends, of course, but they were mostly online, and they usually talked more about the online roleplaying games they each participated in than anything that could be considered "small talk." Andrew loved to play games like those: luck was a tangible thing in the world of Dragons and Dungeons, and the games Black Dog put out even let you manipulate luck directly with something they called "magick." In the end, however, his search appeared to have been a waste of time. He had more knowledge about the occult than almost anyone he knew, and was the undisputed expert of anything vaguely related to luck or predestined fate, but magic wasn't actually real. He was just a regular guy with a bunch of bullshit knowledge living in a state very far from home, and without any crazy college stories or work experience to show for it. Even his degree was in English, which (considering the economy) didn't exactly open up a lot of doors for someone with his skillset. Even the savings he'd brought from home were starting to run out!

But despite all of this, and what he considered to be a failure in the realm of having amazing luck always and forever, there was one thing Andrew could genuinely take comfort in; it was all uphill from here.

...

Probably.

Overview

 * Name: Andrew Glückspilz
 * Virtue: Hope
 * Vice: Pride
 * Concept: Lucky Mage on a quest for knowledge
 * Path: Acanthus
 * Order: The Mysterium
 * Experience: 9/10

Main Article
Andrew Glückspilz

Attributes
Power:      Strength  ●●    Presence       ●●●     Intelligence ●●● Finesse:    Dexterity ●●    Manipulation   ●●●     Wits         ●●● Resistance: Stamina   ●●    Composure      ●●      Resolve      ●●

Skills
Mental                  Physical                 Social (-3 Unskilled)          (-1 Unskilled)          (-1 Unskilled) Academics:     ●●         Athletics: ●              Animal Ken: Computer:                 Brawl:                    Empathy: Crafts:                   Drive:                    Expression:   ● Investigation: ●●         Firearms:  ●              Intimidation: ●● Medicine:                 Larceny:   ●●             Persuasion:   ●● Occult:        ●●●        Stealth:                  Socialize:    ● Politics:                 Survival:                 Streetwise:   ● Science:                  Weaponry:                 Subterfuge:   ●●●●

Specialties

 * 1. Academics (Research)
 * 2. Athletics (Bow and Arrow)
 * 3. Occult (F8 Magic)

Rote Specialties

 * 1. Investigation
 * 2. Occult
 * 3. Survival

Arcana

 * F8: ●●●
 * Time: ●●
 * Mind: ●

Rotes

 * F8: Lucky Coin, The Perfect Moment
 * Time: N/A
 * Mind: Sense Consciousness

Traits

 * Willpower: ●●●●
 * Temp.:    □□□□
 * Mana:  5 (Starting) /12
 * Gnosis: ●●●

Merits

 * High Speech: Free with Order membership
 * Sanctum Size – Penthouse Apartment: ●●
 * Sanctum Security: ●
 * Resources: ● - Occult researcher for unpopular tabloid
 * Status (The Mysterium): ●

Wisdom

 * 10:___________
 * 9: ___________
 * 8: ___________
 * 7: ___________
 * 6: ___________
 * 5:   Here
 * 4: ___________
 * 3: ___________
 * 2: ___________
 * 1: ___________

Combat

 * Size: 5
 * Speed: 9
 * Init. Mod: 4
 * Defense: 2
 * Armor: 0
 * Health:  ●●●●●●●
 * Cur. Health: □□□

Weapons and Equipment
Rolls Dex+Ath, Two-Handed, Range equal to 3*(Strength+Size+Athletics), Strength penalties are doubled
 * Bow (●) (nWoD Arm pg. 90) – Bought with 1 temporary Resource dot.
 * Flashlight (No Resources required)
 * 3 cans of Pepper Spray (No Resources required)

Advancement

 * 6 XP spent on two dots of Sanctum Size
 * 2 XP spent on one dot of Sanctum Security
 * 2 XP spent on Status: The Mysterium

Char-gen
Attributes: 5/4/3 // Skills: 11/7/4 (+3 Specialties) // Merits 7 (5th dot = 2 dot cost) // Health = Resolve or Stamina + Size // Willpower = Resolve + Composure // Size = 5 for adult humans // Defense = Lowest of Dex or Wits // Init. Mod = Dex + Composure // Speed = Str + Dex + 5 // Morality = 7