TV-DERIVED CHARACTER ADAPTATIONS
DEXTER MORGAN
Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 15 STR 5 12- Lift 200 kg; 3d6 HTH Damage [1] 14 DEX 12 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5 15 CON 10 12- 12 BODY 4 11- 14 INT 4 12- PER Roll 12- 15 EGO 10 12- ECV: 5 15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6 14 COM 2 12- 5 PD 2 Total: 5 PD (0 rPD) 3 ED 0 Total: 3 ED (0 rED) 3 SPD 6 Phases: 4, 8, 12 8 REC 4 35 END 3 32 STUN 4 Total Characteristic Cost: 71 Movement: Running: 6"/12" Leaping: 3"/6" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills Martial Arts: Cinematic Brawling Maneuver OCV DCV Notes 4 Disarm -1 +1 Disarm; 25 STR to Disarm 3 Hoist 'n' Heave -1 -1 Grab Two Limbs, 25 STR for holding on 4 Kidney Blow -2 +0 HKA 1d6 +1 4 Low Blow -1 +1 2d6 NND 4 Punch +0 +2 5d6 Strike 5 Roundhouse -2 +1 7d6 Strike 3 Tackle +0 -1 3d6 +v/5 Strike; You Fall, Target Falls; FMove 24 Killer's Eye: Detect Killers A Class Of Things 14- (Unusual Group), Range, Sense, Targeting 15 Luck 3d6 Perks 1 Patrick Bateman: False Identity 3 Fringe Benefit: Local Police Powers, Police officer Talents 14 Fearless 5 Resistance (5 points) Skills 12 Killer's Reflexes: +4 with Knives and Needles 6 AK: Miami, FL 15- 7 Breakfall 14- 9 Bureaucratics 15- 7 Climbing 14- 7 Combat Driving 14- 2 Computer Programming (Personal Computers) 12- 9 Concealment 15- 9 Criminology 15- 9 Cryptography 15- 9 Deduction 15- 7 Fast Draw 14- 11 Forensic Medicine 16- 5 Forgery (Papers) 14- 7 Interrogation 14- 7 Lockpicking 14- 3 Mechanics 12- 7 Oratory 14- 9 Paramedics 15- 5 Persuasion 13- 9 Poisoning 15- 11 Security Systems 16- 11 Shadowing 16- 9 Sleight Of Hand 15- 11 Stealth 16- 3 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles, Large Motorized Boats, Small Motorized Boats 9 Tracking 15- 4 WF: Axes, Maces, Hammers, and Picks, Blades, Clubs, Handguns, Rifles, Shotguns, Unarmed Combat 3 Scholar 2 1) KS: Law 12- 2 2) KS: Police Procedures 12- 6 3) KS: Serial Killers 16- 7 4) KS: The Clean Kill 17- 3 Scientist 5 1) SS: Anatomy 15- 4 2) SS: Biochemistry 14- 5 3) SS: Chemistry 15- 7 4) SS: Hemotology 17- 4 5) SS: Psychology 14- Total Powers & Skill Cost: 352 Total Cost: 422 100+ Disadvantages 10 Dependent NPC: Detective Debra Morgan 11- (Slightly Less Powerful than the PC; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID) 30 Dependent NPC: Rita, Astor and Cody 11- (Incompetent; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID; Group DNPC: x2 DNPCs) 10 Hunted: Sgt. James Doakes 8- (As Pow, NCI, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching) 0 Normal Characteristic Maxima No Age Restriction 15 Psychological Limitation: Feels Little Emotion (Common, Strong) 25 Psychological Limitation: Follows the "Code of Harry" (Very Common, Total) 20 Psychological Limitation: Protective of Family (Common, Total) 20 Social Limitation: Serial Killer (Frequently, Severe) 10 Unluck: 2d6 182 Experience Points 422 Total Disadvantage Points
Background/History: Dexter begins killing neighborhood pets as an adolescent. Harry finds the animals' remains and recognizes that young Dexter is a sociopath with an unstoppable need to kill. Harry decides to train Dexter to channel his violent urges in a "positive" direction: he teaches his adopted son to be a cautious, meticulous, and efficient killer and shows him how to leave no clues. Harry also teaches Dexter to live a public life that discourages suspicion, faking emotions and reactions that are expected of him, but which he never actually experiences. Most importantly, Harry gives the boy a system of ethical principles that he comes to call "the Code of Harry." The central tenet of that code is to only kill people who are, themselves, killers.
Dexter claims his first human victim at age 19. Harry, who is dying of coronary artery disease in a hospital, gives Dexter "permission" to kill one of the nurses, who is murdering patients with overdoses of morphine.
Also featured in the series are Dexter's adoptive sister, Deborah, a police detective; his girlfriend, Rita; and Rita's two young children, Astor and Cody.
The first novel and final episodes of the show's first season reveal that Dexter has a brother, Brian. When Dexter was three years old, he and Brian were left in a shipping container full of the blood and the dead body of their mother, whose murder they both witnessed, leaving both boys emotionally numb and prone to violence. Brian also grows up to be a serial killer, and leaves clues for Dexter as a form of "friendly competition" between them. When Dexter finally deduces the killer's identity, he allows Brian to escape. (In the TV series, Dexter reluctantly kills him.)
During a fight with Sgt. James Doakes (who was once a Special Forces operative), Dexter demonstrates considerable skill in hand to hand combat. Later on, Doakes learned that Dexter trained in martial arts while studying in college.
Personality/Motivation: Dexter Morgan is driven to kill to satisfy an inner voice he calls "the Dark Passenger." When that voice can no longer be ignored, he "lets the Dark Passenger do the driving." In Dexter in the Dark, the third novel of the Dexter series, it is implied by a murderous cultist that the Dark Passenger is an independent agent inhabiting Dexter rather than a deviant psychological construction. The Dark Passenger is supposedly the offspring, or "Bastard Child" of Moloch, a god worshipped in Biblical times. Dexter is momentarily frightened into researching supernatural explanations for the Passenger.
Dexter considers himself emotionally divorced from the rest of humanity; in his narration, he often refers to "humans" as if he is not one of them. Dexter makes frequent references to an internal feeling of emptiness, and says he kills to feel alive. Dexter claims to have no feelings or conscience and that all of his emotional responses are part of a well-rehearsed act to conceal his true nature. He has no interest in romance or sex and he considers his relationship with Rita to be part of his "disguise." In the show he shows considerably more attachment and fondness for Rita than in the books. For example, in the first season he is afraid to have sex with her because he might lose her as a result; In the books he seems to view her more as a pet.
There are chinks in Dexter's emotional armor, however. He acknowledges loyalty to family, particularly his dead adoptive (initially foster) father : "If I were capable of love, how I would have loved Harry." Since Harry's death, Dexter's only family is his sister, Debra Morgan, Harry's biological daughter. At the end of the first novel, Dexter admits that he cannot hurt Deborah or allow Brian to harm her because he is "fond of her."
Dexter likes children, finding them to be much more interesting than their parents. The flip side of this affection is that Dexter is particularly wrathful when his victims prey on children. In Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter realizes that Rita's son Cody is showing the same signs of sociopathy as Dexter himself did at that age, and looks forward to providing him with "guidance" similar to that which Harry provided him; in his way, he sees Cody as his own son. This also gives him a reason to continue his relationship with Rita who, as of Dearly Devoted Dexter, he is engaged to because of a misunderstanding (Rita finds a ring that came off a severed finger in Dexter's pocket). In the beginning of the third book it has been shown that Cody is not the only one with violent impulses, as both children pressure Dexter to teach them (although Astor is clearly capable of emotion). Dexter has come to accept his role as stepfather to both children very seriously in Dexter in the Dark, albeit in his typical fashion. For example, while on a stakeout, he begins to wonder if Cody had brushed his teeth before bed and if Astor had set out her Easter dress for photo-day at her school. These thoughts distract him while he is waiting for an intended victim, which thoroughly annoys him.
Animals don't like Dexter, which can cause noise problems when Dexter stalks a victim who has pets. He is quoted as once having a dog who barks and growls at Dexter until he is forced to get rid of it, and a turtle, which hides in its shell until it dies of starvation rather than have to deal with Dexter.
Quote: "I suppose I should be upset, even feel violated, but I'm not. No, in fact, I think this is a friendly message, like "Hey, wanna play?" and yes I want to play. I really really do."
Return to TV-Derived Character Adaptations.