"Big" Keith is a 13th Generation Malkavian drug dealer and habitual psychedelic blood drinker. He is one of several Ready-Made Player Characters found in V20 Ready Made Characters.
Background[]
From holding a position at a scientific research firm, to taking his knowledge of chemistry to the streets and synthesizing compounds for Kindred and kine alike, Keith’s path has been meandering. These nights, he’s a guru to those seeking spiritual ascension, assisting them through drug-induced vision quests. To some, he’s even a step on the road to Golconda.
Big Keith grew up in Harlem, his father a science teacher and his mother the head of the church choir. His upbringing was disjointed, leading to his spending more time on the streets and at gymnasiums than school. His father was murdered when Big Keith was about to become a dealer, the emotional impact moving Keith to throw himself into study. Determinedly, he earned his degree in chemistry. Finding a career in pharmaceutical research with a company called Magadon, Big Keith took care of his mother and earned a legitimate income. He stayed in touch with the corner boys from his youth, and still worked out with them, but he grew soft from his humdrum life.
A vampire intrigued by the psychedelic effects of drugs changed all that, when she broke into Keith’s laboratory, unintentionally disturbing the scientist as he was seducing an intern. The vampire forced Keith to take the most potent hallucinogens in the lab, and then fed from him. Hit by the drugs’ effects, the Malkavian lost track of both time and the volume of blood she imbibed. Realizing she’d killed him, she Embraced Keith who, in a hallucinogenic frenzy, killed the intern. The two vampires panicked for the next few hours before realizing they needed to hide the body, which remains undiscovered.
Keith hired his criminal friends to steal chemicals, compounds, and equipment, before torching the building. Setting himself up inconspicuously in a laboratory built in an abandoned row-house, Keith continued the work his sire started by sampling pharmaceuticals synthesized in mortal blood, while forming an income by selling more mundane drugs to street dealers.
Keith recently experienced a chemically-induced epiphany. His LSD’s always been top grade, but the latest batch induced hallucinations of oracular ability. These visions allowed him to save a Sabbat vampire from a burning building, indebting the Cainite to him. Keith’s been told he’s somehow tapped a mainline into the Cobweb. Feeling spiritually uplifted by this experience, he’s begun to market his drug to other Kindred. Those who don’t exhibit such dramatic symptoms from drugged blood alone are pushed over the edge through use of his Malkavian powers.
Description[]
Big Keith lives up to his name in all respects. He stands a head above other people, is broad shouldered, thick armed, and has legs like tree trunks. Keith’s gut also pushes its way through whichever slim-fit tonic suit he’s wearing on any given night. His proportions are, in a way, indicative of his bipolar existence: committed to an aspirational ideal, but falling to slothful pleasures and wanderlust.
Big Keith’s hair is in cornrows, and his small beard gets shaved off if he feels like looking a little different one night. He has a disarming smile constantly on show, a single gold incisor apparent to anyone looking. Keith wears two pendants on the outside of his shirt, one being a jade ankh, the other being a long rectangle necklace reading downwards as C20H25N30.
Big Keith has Bipolar Disorder as a Derangement, due to being a Malkavian.
Roleplaying Hints[]
Big Keith is incredibly affable, ever grinning and joking. This warm personality is largely sincere. He’s friendly because he genuinely believes he can help Kindred. He’s always smiling because he knows the answers to the world’s mysteries, within and without. Keith is therefore patronizing without intending to be. He’s smooth when it comes to lovers and feeding. He looks down on those who use Disciplines to assist feeding, but feels no guilt for plying vessels with drugs.
It takes a lot to make Big Keith lose his genial composure. If his mother — whom he still looks after — is mentioned, he becomes defensive. He gets cagey about his time working for Magadon, as the intern he slaughtered is still being looked for by her family and the police.
Character Sheet[]
References[]
- VTM: V20 Ready Made Characters, p. 28-31
