Control/Freaks players briefing

(Information for the Control/Freaks game).

As mentioned in the teaser, you are a newly trained agent of a secret organisation known only as "Control". Until abouta year ago you were a (relatively) normal member of society until something profoundly weird happened in your life. Whatever this weirdness was, it brought you to the attention of Control, who have recruited you as an agent.

Your training has taken place at a secret, well-equipped and very clean base in an undisclosed location in the British countryside, although from the scenery you may think that it was somewhere in the Highlands. For those of you familiar with Over the Edge, this means that your central trait will be "Agent of Control", which will cover various aspects of espionage, subterfuge and conspicuous disapproval of weirdness. You have learned very little about Control itself, apart from the fact that it is lead by a man called Malcom Weatherspoon, who no one seems to have met but everyone reveres, and that its sworn mission is to try to make the world a less ambiguous, less confusing and altogether saner place.

Your motivation for being a member of Control is yours to decide: while they have trained you, they haven't particularly indoctrinated or brainwashed you. Perhaps you genuinely believe that the world is too strange, dangerous and unpredictable a place and you feel bound to do something about it. Maybe your life was just boring before and this is the most exciting opportunity you've ever had. Maybe you have come to hate the black-and-white viewpoint that drives Control and have vowed to undermine them from the inside. No one knows but you.

The rest of your character will be informed by who you were before you joined Control. Things to think about include:

• General ideas about who you are/were. This includes your name (really!), what you did for a living, who your friends and family are (and how you keep in touch, if you still do), where you lived and what your personal passions are.
• What it was that made Control take an interest in your life. This can be anything weird, from a friend attempting to recruit you into a conspiracy to dismantle the United Nations in order prepare the world for the arrival of the Space Brothers to a moment of personal revelation when you realised that you had to spread the news that all dogs are secretly called "Albert".
• Two other (side) traits. These can be skills (gambling, acrobatics), interests (cookery, hypnotism), fields of academic interest (economics, occult history, mad science), personal attributes (cool under pressure, ruggedly handsome), or fringe powers (x-ray vision, breathing fire). One limitation is that no PCs will be allowed to have psychic abilities such as telepathy, empathy or mind control, as they tend to ruin game balance and any sense of mystery.
• A flaw. This can be anything from a physical disadvantage (one leg, extreme halitosis), a personality defect (painfully shy, prone to fits of hysterical shouting) or something more unusual (believes in an imaginary friend, occasionally abducted by aliens).
• Your motivation. This is what drives you as a person, separate to your role within Control. Maybe you want to just make the world a better place, or you want to see the face of God. You might want to lead as exciting a life as possible, or maybe you only want to take as many other people as possible out with you when you go.
• A secret. This is something deeply personal, possibly dark and shameful that you desperately need to keep hidden from others. It could be that you have some unusual sexual fetish (such as modifying Barbie dolls to be anatomically correct) that you don't think others would understand. Maybe it's that you have webbed toes and know that everyone will think you're a freak if they find out. Or possibly it's that you have come to hate Control and everything it stands for.
• An important person. This is anyone who helped shape who you are today, albeit a family member, a great historical figure (like Albert Fish) or the leader of that satanic cult you joined in your teens. You should note who the person is and what their specific influence was.

We'll go through the character generation itself during the first session, but it would help if you at least thought about some of these things beforehand.