"Doc" Emmet Brown
Background
This eccentric Mad Scientist is getting on a bit in years, but oddly claims he wasn't born until the 20th century! The fellow says he was transported back in time from the year 1955 (after first starting in 1985, and then going to the 21st century!) in a "Time Machine"! He now works as an inventor in small "Maze" town of Hill Valley, California.
Peope who know him claim he is charming, intelligent and very well educated and in posession of some extraordinary inventions - although he seems to be somewhat melancholy at times, claiming he misses one of his friends, a Mr McFly, who was supposed to meet him in Hill Valley.
There is another section of town who see "Doc" Emmet Brown as a raving loony who ought to be locked away, but folk around the Maze are used to his type and take it for granted that a Mad Scientist has his delusions and quirks from time to time.
Emmet is reported to be working on a "secret invention" although none know what it is for...more suspicious townsfolk are talking of contacting the Pinkertons lest the "Doc" (who incedentaly has no papers proving him to be a certified Doctor of anything) be creating some kind of infernal weapon for use on the town of Hill Valley (it's been know to happen in the Great Maze apparently!).
The "Doc" is a reclusive, although friendly fellow who keeps very much to himself and insists he gets his ideas for all his Gizmos from "the future"....make up your own mind on the state of his sanity!
Appearance
Emmet looks to be in his late-60's with a shock of white hair and wide eyes - a typical elderly Mad Scientist. His clothes tend to be well tailored and practical and he loves to read "science fiction" novels, claiming one of his favourite authors is "Jules Verne", who is currently unheard of! He is surprisingly tall and full of life but seems to be lacking something in his earthly existance. Friends? Companionship? He is reluctant to discuss these things...
He spends most his time in his makeshift laboratory, littered with half constructed gadgets and Ghost Rock boilers, he becomes very edgey when strangers enter his abode, muttering that they just want to steal his ideas and may see something they rightly ought not to...or some such nonsense. Whether people think he should be tolerated or locked up for his bizarre future delusions there's no doubting that he's a loveable person who in turn does his upmost to help the townsfolk of Hill Valley wherever he can do so
Quote - "Great Scott! This "Ghost Rock" could be the answer to all my problems! If only such a substance had existed in my past.....
Statistics
DEFTNESS 3d6, NIMBLENESS 2d8, QUICKNESS 4d6, STRENGTH 3d6, VIGOUR 1d8
Rifle 2, Sleght O Hand 2, Lockpick 1, Climbin' 2, Fightin':Club 2, Sneak 2, Drivin':Steamwagon 6, Teamster 3
COGNITION 3d8, KNOWLEDGE 6d12, MIEN 4d8, SMARTS 4d10, SPIRIT 3d8
Scrutinize 2, Search 2, Arts:Literature 4, Academia:Sciences 3, Science:Physics 8, Science:Chemistry 4, Science:Engineering 5, Medicine:General 2, Trade:Inventor 2, Demolition 1, Leadership 2, Persuassion 3, Tale Tellin' 2, Bluff 2, Tinkerin' 6, Scroungin' 4, Guts 1
Edges:Mechanically Inclined, Arcane:Scientist, Brave, Belongings (an unusable Delorean Time Machine....maybe...)
Hindrances:Loyal, Pacifist (3), Yearnin' (to get back to the future), Loco (maybe...), Cautious, Curious, Oath (not to interfere with the "past". Too much...), Geezer, Stubborn
Wind=16, Pace=8/16, Grit=0, Size=6
Gear + Inventions - A laboratory, Smart clothes, A Hoverboard (maybe...), Time machine (working on it!), Sleep Inducer (copied from a design he saw in the 21st century apparently!), Ice Maker, Tea Maker, Plenty of other useless things, Telescopic Sniper Rifle, Thought Helmet (working on it!), Colt "Rapid Fire", lots of other junk...
Notes...
Is the Doc really from the future? Or is he simply a raving madman! Well, he's obviously based on the character Emmet Brown from the Back to the Future series, but in the Weird West I play him as a delusional old Scientist who simply thinks all the events from the future actually took place - his "Time Machine" was supposed to take him back to 1885 he claims, yet he ended up in 1876 - and his stories of America's past do not match what is occuring in the present. "Why have you never heard of Ghost Rock?" "Why do you think the war ended in 65?" "Did you not know that California suffered a terrible earthquake?" "Custer was killed at Little Big Horn?" - these are some of the things that townsfolk have been asking Doc since he arrived in Hill Valley in 1875 and he now somehow believes he is responsable for all these changes but cannot work out how...so he is building a Time Machine so he can go further back in time to the 1860's to put things right....
As for adventure ideas the posse could become tangled in a Pinkerton plot to have him captured and questioned, or maybe the townsfolk have had enough of the crazy old man and want him driven out of town, maybe Indians have captured the DeLorean Time Machine from it's cave and he needs it back...this is a useful way of him being able to prove he had a Time machine in the first place - nobody can prove him wrong because he says it's been stolen! There are any number of plots that can centre around Doc Emmet Brown...but keep the posse thinking he's not the real Doc from Back to the Future (althoug at first they will probably assume that he is from the future then decide he's not after a bit of careful consideration)...which means you probably can't have Marty McFly running around too (he was annoying anyway...) but the twist at the end could be that he was from the future after all!...Or not! Happy time-travelling!