Dealmaker

Lots of people were self-centered assholes before The Fall, so imagine what happened after food and water ran out. Striking deals is extremely hard when everyone is ready to cut the next guy's throat, most people are trying scam you, and trust is more scarce than clean water.

Finding common ground between tribes warrying for water is a fool's errand. Yet, Dealmakers are people who have managed to make a living out of this challenging activity, and excel at bargaining deals, while avoiding (immediate) bloodshed.

Most of them are simply merchants and businessmen, but lots of them are expert scammers and conmen, and a few of them are politicians and leaders inside their communities, diplomatic envoys to other tribes, and you could also find a couple of authentic peacemakers.

Bear in mind that business in the Afterfall is not as it was in the times of the Ancients. Business is violent, ruthless, and very risky, and the use of mercenaries is extensive. Merchandise is moved between settlements in caravan convoys that need to be prepared to repel sudden raids by cannibals and nomad tribes. A price rivalry can easily and suddenly become a full-blown gang war.

All dealmakers know how to read and write according to the custom and lingo of their hometown, and are knowledgeable arithmetics.

Dealmakers are experts at developing, strengthening and exploiting one-on-one relationships to achieve very precise things. Performers, on the other hand, focus on influencing a masses, but in a rather unspecific way. Dealmakers are strong users of the Business System, Relationship System, and the Negotiation & Debate System.

  Special Skill: None.

Setups:

• Politician:
• Merchant:
• Diplomat:
• Propose your own: .

Looks:

• Clothes: Clean, Distinguished, Elegant, Expensive, Foreign.
• Face: Smiling, Happy, Poker, Arrogant, Cruel, Uptight, Worried, Pale, Wrinkled.
• Eyes: Cool, Warm, Honest, Proud, Intelligent, Cunning, Staring, Suspicious.
• Body: Stocky, Fat, Slim, Fragile, Tall.

Drives:
What drives your character forwards. Choose one primary and one secondary drive.

• The Quest for Power
• Family first
• Live to Compete
• The Smart-Ass
• Herd Behavior

  Edges:
On character creation, choose two:

• Let's chill. - defuse a tense situation.
• Silver Tongue - develop trust by flattery and small favors, using the Relationship System.
• Convenient Agreement - bonus on negotiating small and big (Negotiation & Debate System)
• Uneasy Partnership - forging unlikely alliances between factions to achieve common goals
• Socially Savvy - Bonus to certain types of social rolls.
• Able Manager - Advantages that help you run a profitable business, using the Business System.
• Informant Network - News travel faster for you, and you glean info quickly and discreetly.
• Well Travelled - You have bonuses when navigating in the wasteland, and blending in ans communicating with people in other settlements.

  Relationships:
  You must state relationships with other characters.

• One of them has worked for you in the past as a merc, bodyguard or assassin.
• You befriended one of them in a caravan trip, a long time ago.
• One of them saved your life from an assassin sent by your rivals.
• One of them saved the life of a close relative of yours.
• One of them is a supplier or loyal customer.
• One of them is a family member to one of your employees.
• One of them is envious of your respectable position.
• One of them is a threat to your position, keep your enemies close...
• One of them is a troublemaker.
• One of them belongs to your informant network.
• One of them is a potential business associate.
• One of them is a supporter or detractor to your political cause.

Starting Gear:

• 420 Barter.
• 1 Carbon Pencil.
• 1 Pen.
• 1 small ink bottle.
• 1 Notebook.
• 1 flask of moonshine.
• 1 water canteen.
• 1 saber.
• 1 dagger.
• 1 compass.
• 1 satchel.
• 1 oil lantern.
• 1 oil bottle.
• 1 common horse.
• 1 business: Shop or Bar.