Today's character could work with either my Victorian setting or Spirit of '76 for a lot of the same reasons.
I have always been a big fan of Bruce Lee. I first saw him on the old Batman series as Kato and then later in interviews. I am not sure what the first Bruce Lee movie I saw was, but likely it was "Enter the Dragon." Later I learned of his legacies of how Asian-American actors were treated in Hollywood, his invention of Jeet Kun Do, and his atheism. He was in every respect of the word, an icon and all-around good guy.
He was huge in the 1970s, especially after his death, and he was central, or at least he heavily influenced the TV series Kung-Fu. That gives him an "in" to both eras I am gaming with this month.
So in the tradition of the series(es) Kung-fu I have a character idea that would work for both times. This is an alternate world (NIGHT SHIFT) where Bruce Lee's "Jun Fan Gung Fu" (just Gung Fu from here on out) was a classical style (and totally missing the point of what Lee was trying to do I know...).
Victorian Era
Here a young British Lord and his Chinese wife had a son, Lee Jun-fan. But they were killed in the Taiping Rebellion. Their son, whom they feared would also be killed, was left with monks where he was raised to learn Gung Fu. Here he trains for his first 30 years of life. He returns to his father's home in England where he deals with the racism of 1880s Victorian England. He is protected by title and wealth, but still, things are not easy for him. He is also a master of Gung Fu and learns of the vast Occult Underground London has to offer.
Think of it as "Kung Fu by Gaslight."
Spirit of '76
In 1976, Lee Jun-fan's great-grandson, also named Lee Jun-fan, but going by "Lee Young" (yes, I know Lee was a family name) now lives in America, but his legacy will soon be tested.
Here he is (both versions use the same stats) for Night Shift. NIGHT SHIFT is available from the Elf Lair Games website (hardcover) and from DriveThruRPG (PDF).
Lee Jun-fan (Lee Young)6th level Mystical Martial Artist (Human)
Archetype: Martial Artist in a Strange New World
Strength: 18 (+3) P
Dexterity: 19 (+3) S
Constitution: 16 (+2)
Intelligence: 13 (+1)
Wisdom: 14 (+1)
Charisma: 16 (+2) S
HP: 33
Alignment: Good
AC: 5
Attack: +3
Fate Points: 1d8
Skills
Athletics, Steady Hands, Body Control, Insight
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In both campaigns, the emphasis for this character is he is close enough to the world he living in at the time, but still an outsider. But he is also an outsider with this amazing power.
In both cases, I would want to feature his sense of humor. Bruce Lee had a wicked sense of humor and my Lee Jun-fan would also. I also want a character who despite all the hardships and reversals he has faced wants to believe that people, in general, are good and they act how they do out of fear.
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