Beach Patrol: Saturdays has 4 players, all are experienced and since March 2020 we have been playing RPGs over video chat.
Player: Kevin. Character: ‘Perfect’ Skip Carter. Archetype: Veteran Lifeguard; (Best of the Best). Traits: Glory Hound, Charismatic, Fleet of Foot. (No one runs faster than Art in slow motion.) Tagline: Description: ‘Perfect’ Skip Carter. Friends call me “Art” because when your body looks this good, you are simply a work of art
And great hair!
Player: Mark. Character: ‘Doc’ Ricketts. Archetype: Experienced Lifeguard; (Focussed Training - Medic). Traits: Perceptive, Insightful, Quartermaster. Tagline: Description: Older than the average beach patroller and semi-retired from the lifeguarding world. Now living over a workshop on the beachfront where I produce bespoke surfboards and custom artwork to decorate speedboats ... and have the occasional flashback to ‘Nam (‘the way the surf broke both ways, man ... just incredible ... ’).
Player: Michaela. Character: Angela Winters ‘Winter’. Archetype: Teenager; (Teen). Traits: Perceptive, Resolute, Sneaky. Tagline: ‘No, go away’. Description: Aged; 17 and 8 months . Goth, forced into spending time at the beach by her mother as a way to ‘make friends’ , ‘experience the outdoors’ and ‘enjoy the days of her youth’. Helps out the beach patrol to avoid other teenagers as none of her actual friends (all 2 of them) would be seen dead at the beach. Reapplies her factor 50 sunscreen every hour to keep her pale complexion. Only wears black, any equipment she gets from beach patrol she paints black, ‘standards’ be damned. Is somehow sneaky despite her excessive jewellery (all black/silver with skulls and or spikes).
Player: Paul. Character: Stella Verjen. Archetype: Experienced Lifeguard (Focussed Training - Charismatic). Traits: Lucky, Quartermaster, Resolute. Tagline: “I knew that, don’t judge me”. Description: Aged 32 (and a bit). Tall, blonde, athletic and tanned. Stella’s open, accepting countenance radiates the concern that she feels for everyone, and everything around her. Her sparkling blue eyes miss nothing, and understand even less.
Once Stella was a Pan Am stewardess, one of the aristocrats of the air, now she uses her familiarity with mobile catering and high risk hostessing to help those in need on the beach.
As much at home in the air as she is on the ground or in the sea, Stella is a gal you can rely on (so long as you keep reminding her what’s going on).