Chrissie Walker

I recently shared the thought process I went through creating my new Aberrant character. This is the result, as given to my GM. The second session is tonight and I'll be sharing a few ways in which she's developed from the paper to the game after that.

January 1998. London.

Christina ‘Chrissie’ Walker.

Parents: Harold and Linda

Sibling: Peter. 6 years older. 80’s materialistic. Successful businessman

Assorted cousins etc.

Mentors:

• Margaret Turner, A&E Matron. Was Chrissie’s tutor when she was training and assisted her in getting a job at the hospital. She manages to combine strict and no-nonsense with fun and supportive, as the occasion demands. Chrissie has a lot of respect for her, both as a nurse and a mentor, and will turn to her with career, medical and certain personal enquiries.
• Bill Drakeford, owner of the Styx nightclub (Chrissie’s favourite haunt). Chrissie’s known Bill for many years – he was friends with her brother at school – and he has helped shape her music tastes. If she feels threatened or generally stressed, he’s her port of call. They’ve been friends too long for the relationship to be more than siblingly.

Friends:

• Janet Wilkins, hospital receptionist and fellow metalhead. The same age as Chrissie, she wants to find a nice man and have kids. Chrissie thinks she’s mad.
• Tanya ‘Tanny’ Hart; Max Sanders; Evan Lewis – drinking buddies
• Sandra King; Angela Beauford; Esther Jenson – nursing buddies
• James Reed; Martin Parker, Barbara Downes – GP buddies

Rivals:

• Dr Williams, A&E GP. Late 40’s. Does not appreciate being shown up by a nurse but doesn’t stay up-to-date with current practice. From her point of view, he is pig-headed, arrogant, unwilling to learn and prepared to risk patients to protect his reputation. From his point of view, she is insubordinate and doesn’t know her place.
• Sian Brewer – there was some dispute some years ago involving a guy. Accusations were thrown. Sian is now married to him but there is still anger between them. Mostly they just try to avoid each other.

Chrissie qualified as a nurse a bit over a year ago and now specialises in A&E – she thrives on the adrenalin driven aspects of the role and doesn’t mind the antisocial hours. In her job, she is neat, exact and organised; at home (a rented small one-bed flat), clothes litter the floor and the washing up needs doing. She is friendly with her nursing colleagues and firm with her patients. She is learning to stand up to some of the doctors when they get things wrong; she likes those who are happy to accept her comments but with one in particular – Dr Henry Williams – conflict is threatening to brew. At the moment, it’s pretty low level but as her experience increases it’s likely to get worse.

Chrissie is not particularly close to her family. No falling out, they’ve just drifted apart. She doesn’t feel she has much in common with her brother and, between work and socialising, she doesn’t have much time to spend with her parents.

To relax, she’s a metalhead and will usually be found in the centre of the moshpit. Her favourite band is probably Pantera. One of the advantages of London is the clubbing scene – she often takes the anti-social shifts in A&E so appreciates being able to go out on the nights she has off and not be limited in choice of where to go. The days she has off are often out exercising – to be a successful A&E nurse, she needs to keep her stamina high – or, if the weather’s bad or she’s feeling knackered, curled up in her duvet with a library book. She’s a bit of a thrill-seeker and will generally agree to accompany her friends to theme parks or on more adventurous holidays: abseiling, hand-gliding, scuba diving... she may not be good at the activity, but she will give anything a try.

Being a good nurse is important to her; she loves the feeling of helping people and works well in high-stress conditions. She doesn’t often think about the future – if asked, she vaguely imagines she will be married with children in 10 years, but more because that’s what’s done than because she’s actively seeking it. For now, she wants to progress in her work and enjoy her social life.