Gerry Gingham

Art by Shannon Strucci

> *"We're all gonna die at the [current location]."
> - Gerald "Gerry" Gingham*
>
>

Gerald Gingham (a.k.a.: "Gerry", superhero name: "Sad Sack") is a main player character in the Critical Bits podcast and a member of the Fun Bunch. He is described as being like "Bender from *The Breakfast Club* but with super powers." At the start of the series, he has little regard for school, acts like he doesn't care about much in life, and is a weed dealer at Wallace H. Dale High. His main powers are emotional manipulation and power neutralization.

## Appearance

The podcast does not describe Gerry's appearance in great detail. Confirmed details are that he is a pale, gaunt and lanky older teen with a weirdly punchable face. Official art also depicts him with short dark hair and brown eyes, but the players welcome alternate interpretations.

As Sad Sack, he wears a black Nirvana t-shirt, a jacket, and a paper bag over his head with a frowny face drawn on the front in black sharpie. He also carries around a canvas sack full of doorknobs with him to use as a blunt instrument.

**SPOILERS (for Episode 16)**: In Arc 3, Gerry receives a super suit designed by Spare Parts and Tool Boi. It comes in two parts: a Nirvana t-shirt and a multipurpose doorknob (see "Moves and Abilities"). When pinching and pulling his fingers along the collar of the shirt, Gerry can materialize a mask around his face from the collar. The mask can look like either the original Sad Sack mask or a far creepier skin-tight version of the mask.

## History

Gerry grew up an only child without much attention from his parents. As far back as he could remember, his father Mr. Gingham had been a layabout with no ambitions outside of drinking beer and watching TV. Gerry learned early on that it wasn't worth trying to reach out to him, as the few attempts he made (such as the time he gave him an ironic card for Father's Day) never got through the way he wanted.

His mother Mrs. Gingham seemed to care a bit more. However, Gerry never got to know her that well due to her working constant long hours as a doctor. She would do things like leaving supportive notes and cookies when she could, but mostly she and Gerry only ever saw each other in the house in passing.

Gerry spent a lot of his youth hanging out with his best friend and neighbor Alex Finch. He used to get picked on by other kids a lot, and Alex would always step in to defend him. They would go back and forth between each other's houses constantly and stayed close up through middle school.

It was around high school that Gerry started drifting away from Alex, falling more into delinquent behaviors and smoking/drug use. He started working with a drug dealer named Dylan and became the go-to drug dealer at Wallace H. Dale High (nothing hard, mostly just weed and a few different kinds of pills). Alex tried to stick by him anyway and sometimes they would smoke a bit of pot together, but for the most part he tried to keep his distance. Considering the crowds he had gotten in with, he knew it was best to keep her out of trouble.

It was also around this time that Gerry first discovered his powers. He tested his emotional manipulation ability out a lot on his father to start and got used to using it to his advantage. It is unknown how he first discovered his power neutralization ability.

By his later years of high school, Gerry had developed a routine. He didn't hang out with many people, but he did know his way around all the cliques in school thanks to his weed dealing. He would spend lunch periods on the football field smoking cigarettes. He also found himself constantly in and out of the nurse's office (for getting beaten up) and the principle's office (for pulling the fire alarm). These trips became so frequent that members of staff started up betting pools based around it, which Gerry gladly played into and took advantage of.

It was around this time that Gerry discovered Alex was fighting crime in their neighborhood. He asked her to stop but it was clear from her stubbornness that she wouldn't. So, he told her he would join up with her to make sure she didn't get hurt. What he didn't tell her was that he had secretly been hoping for something a bit more exciting to happen in his life for a while now.

After a few weeks of stopping jaywalkers and muggers, Alex and Gerry got on the trail of the supervillain Ratfink in connection with a string of missing teens. The two broke into Ratfink's house and encountered Kim Bennett, a teen supervillain who had been assigned to guard him. The three fought initially, but after Kim realized that Ratfink was in league with teen kidnappers, she turned to Alex and Gerry's side.

*[Events of the podcast to be added here]*

## Moves and Abilities

At the start of the game, Gerry has two powers:

* Emotional Manipulation: The power to make someone feel whatever emotions Gerry wants them to feel. This power can be applied either selectively or as an area of effect.
* Power Neutralization: The power to turn off anyone else's powers. This power can also be applied either selectively or as an area of effect.

His unique moves in the game are as follows (text from the official Masks playbooks):

* Criminal Mind: When you assess the situation, you can always ask one of the following questions, even on a miss:
	+ what here is useful or valuable to me?
	+ how could I best infuriate or provoke \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_?
	+ what’s the best way in/way past?
* Troublemaker: When you help a teammate through destructive, criminal, or rule-breaking actions, you can give them a +2 instead of a +1 when you spend a Team from the pool.
* Are You Watching Closely?: When you mislead, distract, or trick someone, roll + Superior. On a hit, they are fooled, at least for a moment. On a 10+, choose three. On a 7-9, choose two. On a miss, you’re hopelessly embroiled in it and under pressure; mark a condition.
	+ you get an opportunity
	+ you expose a weakness or flaw
	+ you confuse them for some time
	+ you avoid further entanglement

 **SPOILERS (up to Episode 16):** As the game progresses, Gerry gains several new abilities, including:

* Mind Palace: The power to bring another person's mind into a private mental space he controls. As he improves with this power, he has increased control over what the space looks and feels like (e.g.: at one point he makes the mind palace look like Hell to make his teachers believe they're having a religious experience).
* Power Sense: The power to sense the presence of other powers. With enough effort, Gerry can also determine what those powers are.

He also gains a new official move:

* When I Need It: Take 1 condition to use *any* power. The power only lasts briefly, though. So for instance it can be used to make a quick burst of flame but not a sustained flamethrower-type attack.

 The Sad Sack super suit has a few special abilities as well. The inside of the mask has a heads-up display that can read people's faces and give Gerry insight on how they're feeling (including whether or not they may be lying). In-game, this translates into a +1 on Pierce the Mask rolls.

The Sad Sack doorknob has several functions, each accessed through its own mode:

* Doorknob Mode: It's a doorknob. You can throw it. Ouch.
* Lockpick Mode: The knob can be put on any door to unlock it with a Superior check.
* Cane Mode: A cane comes out of the bottom of the knob. It gives +1 to Directly Engage a Threat rolls.
* Sack Mode: When the knob is used in combination with the sack it came with, it creates an electric charge inside the sack that simulates the weight of an entire sack of doorknobs. This grants one extra effect off of the Directly Engage a Threat list on partial and full successes.

**SPOILERS (for Episode 26):** Gerry taps into a new form of power and switches to the Doomed playbook. He keeps his previous powers of Emotional Manipulation, Power Neutralization, Mind Palace, and Power Sense, and also takes the following abilities:

* Doom: You’re doomed. Your powers may be killing you, or maybe you’re hunted ruthlessly, or maybe you embody an apocalypse. But one way or another, your future is grim. What brings your doom closer? Whenever you bring your doom closer, mark one box on your doom track (five checkboxes). When your doom track fills, clear it and take one of your doomsigns.
	+ Gerry will mark his doom track when he lets innocents get hurt, and when he frightens his loved ones.
* Doomsigns: These are abilities that come to you with your approaching doom. Once you have taken all five doomsigns [...] you must take “Your doom arrives” the next time your doom track fills. Choose one doomsign you already hold at character creation.
	+ *Infinite Powers:* Mark your doom track to use an ability from any playbook, one time.
* Sanctuary: You have a place where you can rest, recover, and reflect upon your powers.
	+ This move most likely applies to The Fun Vault.

## Trivia

* Alex and Gerry live at the end of the same cul de sac. Their usual method of getting to each other's houses is to hop the fence and go through the Jenkins family's yard.
* At some point in the recent past, Gerry tried to get the nickname "Triple G" going (for Gerald "Gerry" Gingham), but no one went for it. As of the beginning of the podcast, he seems to have given up on it.
* Paul accidentally gives Gerry's full name in episode 1 as "Gerald 'Gerry' Geraldo". The players retcon this mistake in the next episode.
* Gerry is terrible at Fortnite.
* Gerry's first roll of the game is shutting down Kim's powers when she attempts to show off. He rolled a full success (9+1).
* His first failed roll was trying to use his emotional manipulation on Brantley. He rolled snake eyes and ended up being overpowered by a sudden urge to slam corn dogs and play Fortnite.
* Has Alex over for Saturday morning cartoons and toaster waffles every week.
* There was a time when Gerry shit his pants as a kid at a McDonald’s play place that his dad loves to tell people about.
* At least some people consider Gerry’s weed to be “shitty skunk weed”.
	+ Rumor has it that the stuff is, like, half oregano.
* Is apparently is the sort of person who would have a fidget spinner on hand randomly.
* His favorite morning treat is ortolan from A Little Bird Told Me.
* 🕰