Pat Grisail

Background: Pat Grisail has gone insane. He did not begin life as a crazy person, but when he turned twelve he found he had an unimaginable power. In the beginning it worked for him. He was called ‘the lucky kid’, and everything seemed to go well for him. By the time he hit twenty, he was rich. Around his twenty-fourth birthday, everything went haywire.

Time has no meaning to Grisail, who has the power to control it. You see, Pat can turn back the clock to relive any moment he has already lived. The catch is that if he turns the clock back to, say, 1983, he has to relive every year between then and now to return to the present. He has turned back the clock innumerable times, and has relived and recast a host of experiences from his life. In terms of moments lived, Grisail is over 200 years old. From the point of view of the rest of the world though, Pat is a twenty-five year old head case.

For starters, Pat’s memory is not the best. Anyone who has seen hundreds of permutations of events in their timeline would be hard-pressed to keep them all straight. In this sense, Pat has always seemed a little bit off balance. It may have been this eccentricity that finally caused him to take the big step, or sheer boredom with eternity and endless reruns. Whatever the reason, he did it. Grisail went all the way back.

Back to high school, back to primary school, and on to babyhood. Still he wound the clock back - to the womb. He was still conscious, retaining all his memories of life on the outside. With a mental deep breath, he continued his journey beyond gestation. At this point, the physical Grisail split. He could go back no further. He was at the beginning, floating free as a non-physical consciousness.

Time marched forward again. Pat had expected some kind of explosion, or at least a loss of identity. He only had an instant to contemplate his new, amorphous state before one of the battling sperm hit his mother’s egg. Pat was rejoined. Something was different, though. Pat has not turned back the clock ever since that moment of realization – the horror of change, and having to live through the twenty-four years again. All the time spent as a baby, unable to communicate or use a toilet, with no-one to confide in. Pat’s identity was completely fragmented in that moment at the beginning. Pat was reborn as a little girl.

Clinically insane, Pat has experienced a serious crisis of identity. She is liable to fly into a vicious rage, or to sit weeping in a corner. It would take an extremely significant event to get Pat to turn back the clock, even for an instant.

Pat is tall, with very strong features. She wears her black hair short, and uses little make-up. She does take pride in her clothing, which is always fashionable – if a little mismatched. She prefers unisex clothes, although she is not averse to wearing a dress. Her sexual politics are a complete mess: she alternates between declaring herself celibate and sleeping with anyone she can get her hands on.

These days Grisail spends most of her time drinking and talking to herself in front of various bars. She is at her most lucid when discussing the films of Bill Murray, whom she adores.

In Campaigns: Pat can be of use to a group of characters as a kind of seer. If she can be somehow persuaded to use the powers she is often heard babbling about, she could turn back the clock and find out information that will be of use in the future. Similarly, she could go back and inform the characters of something that is about to happen, stopping it before it does. Of course, persuading her to turn back the clock is nigh impossible. The group would have to do her a great service, or have an extremely convincing argument. Also, do not forget that Pat is insane. Her warnings are likely to be cryptic, and possibly misleading. If the group tries to take advantage of her gift, she will become more stubborn and less understandable. She does not fear death, considering herself to be immortal (actually, she views herself as similar to Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day in this regard, although she has never “died” nor attempted suicide).

An interesting storyline could involve an androgynous woman, who is clearly mad, coming up to a character on the street and giving them an enigmatic message from their future self. The character would have to decipher Pat’s interpretation of the communication, and heed the warning they have been given. Once the crisis has been averted, Pat will inform them of the agreement she had with them in the future, and tell the unfortunate character what they now owe her.

Pat may have had some interaction with the group in a former version of the past. There could be some strong emotional connection between them – one or more of the characters may even feel that they recognize her (they may have known her as a man). If she feels strong love or hate towards a member of the group, her insanity may cause her to act upon it without regard for the consequences.

Finally, if the group can somehow introduce Pat to Bill Murray, she will do almost anything for them.

Game Statistics: Over The Edge

Central Trait: Turn Back The Clock – 2 Dice. Pat Grisail has the ability to, as she describes it, “turn back the clock”. She can travel into the past along her own personal timeline. If she goes back to when she was fifteen, for example, she will be in her fifteen year old body in the past, but with her current memories. (Lucky, finishes peoples’ sentences).

Side Trait: Sleight of Hand – 3 Dice. Due to years of practice when there was nothing else to do, Pat can perform awesome feats of dexterity and magic. (Can flick cards into a hat, excellent at darts).

Side Trait: Book Smart – 3 Dice. Pat has had eternity to read a wide variety of books and magazines. Although her brain is significantly addled, she can often call to mind an amazing variety of facts and opinions (Can quote entire plays, great at trivia nights).

Flaw: Clinically Insane. Pat has very little idea about who she is, and what she has done, due to the effect of turning back the clock so often. This often makes her upset and angry (Remembers events and conversations that never happened).

Hit Points: 14 (Sees no point in fighting – can turn back the clock before she gets hit).

Motivation: To regain her sanity by erasing the memories of her other life.

Secret: Was once a man (Sometimes refers to herself with a male pronoun).

Important Person: Bill Murray. She empathizes with his character in Groundhog Day, and loves his sense of humor.

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