10 Days of Halloween XI: Jack Torrance from 'The Shining'

Posted by thejackolantern 
10 Days of Halloween XI: Jack Torrance from 'The Shining'
October 29, 2019 05:43AM
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“Here’s Johnny!”



Jack Torrance




John Daniel Edward Torrance

F: Gd (10)/Ex (20)
A: Typ (06)
S: Typ (06)/Gd (10)
E: Gd (10)/Ex (20)
R: Gd (10)
I: Ex (20)/Gd (10)
P: Typ (06)

Health: 42/50
Karma: 36*
Resources: Typ (06)
Popularity: 0

Talents:
Jack Torrance has the following talents:
Teacher
Profession: Writer
Repair/Tinkering
Business/Finance

Powers:
Jack Torrance is a mostly normal person with a troubled background and a history of both drinking and violence. Although Jack has sobered up at the beginning of the novel, the ghosts of the Overlook and the pressures of both his past and solitude drive him slowly insane and make him susceptible to spiritual possession. Prior to becoming ‘The other’ or ‘the beast’ as outlined in the novel, Jack’s FASERIP are represented in the first column, while the time when Jack is ‘possessed’ is represented in the second column. Jack has some potential for the Shining, as stated in both in The Shining and in Dr. Sleep, hence the higher intuition, which is further supported by the miniseries of the same name. Despite this, when fully possessed by the Overlook, Jack undergoes a subtle but important transformation:
Possessed
Jack’s possession is not as obvious or as direct as one would assume. From the moment of Jack’s arrival in the Overlook Jack is slowly brought into the hotel’s sway, working to unravel his psyche and allow full possession of his facilities. When Jack is fully subsumed by the ghosts and hotel, Jack’s FASERIP change to reflect a manic desire to murder his family, especially his son Danny. In the novel, Jack is no longer referred as Jack, but rather as the monster. AS such, Jack is completely at the whim of the ghosts and has the following abilities:
  • Increased FASE: Jack’s Fighting, Strength, and Endurance go up while possessed, and while not superhuman, are greater than his normal abilities. Jack is able to take several mallet blows to the head and still function, as well as recovering from being knocked unconscious more quickly. Jack’s strength increases mainly due to his near manic insanity, and while fully in the thrall of the ghosts, Jack doesn’t require an Endurance FEAT when suffering great damage (Like trying to dump the boiler during the mini-series which burns him). Jack’s Intuition actually goes down representing the possession, and while Jack gains health from his increased attributes, he can no longer gain karma unless completing his goals set by the ghosts.
  • Psychic Potential: Although not directly stated, it’s implied both in the novel and the 1997 miniseries that Jack may have some small ability at the Shining, and due to his drinking and other problems he may have repressed it. In the cases where Jack is being ‘reached’ with psychic power, Jack gains a +2cs to overcome the possession he is under. In addition, Jack is able to exist at some level past death, appearing in the 1997 miniseries as a spirit to his grown son and in Dr. Sleep to help Danny against Rose the Hat. It is heavily implied also by Stephen King that Jack was more than represented in the 1980 movie version. Jack can perceive the ghosts of the Overlook without them necessarily manifesting, however this isn’t something that is as common as their purpose is to drive him further towards their goals.
  • Overlook Protection: The Overlook will occasionally aid or protect Jack in unusual ways. First, as seen in all versions of The Shining, The ghosts in the hotel will manifest to provide assistance in limited ways – such as freeing Jack from the freezer. Second, should an attempt to dissuade or ‘reach’ Jack be attempted, first Jack will make an appropriate Intuition/Psyche FEAT, and if he fails, the Overlook will then make a FEAT for Jack. Please see my write-up from several years ago on The Overlook for more details. For the purposes of Psyche/Intuition FEATS, the Overlook provides +2cs to Jack's appropriate attribute.


Contacts:
Due to Jack’s previous history and drinking he has few remaining contacts. Along with the scandal that Jack had while teaching in college, Jack’s professional career is mostly destroyed.

Limitations:
Jack’s Limitations range from his personal limitations to the limitations as being the earthly force for the ghosts of the Overlook:
  • Alcoholic: Jack is a recovering alcoholic; whose past is violent and well-known to the authorities. Due to his drinking Jack accidently broke his son’s arm as well as engaged in an affair with a student which ended his academic career. As such, Jack’s recovery is tenuous at best, and one of the things used by the ghosts of the overlook to drive him further towards destruction.
  • Karma Use: Jack cannot gain Karma through any normal activity while at the Overlook, and can only gain Karma while under the sway of the ghosts and completing their goals. Jack can spend from the Overlook’s karma pool while ‘The Monster’, as effectively Jack is just a part of the hotel at that point. Jack cannot spend Karma for kill results.
  • Insanity: Jack is considered ‘insane’ while possessed and has little memory of his activities early on when issues happen.
  • Dark Secret: Jack is rife with dark secrets, ranging from accidently hurting Danny to having an illicit affair with a student.
Notes:
This is a combination of all the current representations of Jack Torrance in The Shining and Dr. Sleep. I drew a lot more from the novel than the Kubrick movie as for characterization, and added the 1997 miniseries aspects that were greenlit by King. I wanted to reflect the Jack Torrance who was the more complete version as presented by all three initial appearances. I tried to avoid some spoilers for Dr. Sleep, but I figured since I did Danny Torrance twice over the last eleven years it wasn’t too bad.

One thing I wanted to make sure to capture was that Jack Torrance was in fact something else when he was possessed. I think that as King stressed this in the novel and in the 1997 miniseries, I felt that it was important to differentiate the FASERIP qualities. I also think that adding the karma and resistance from the Overlook was important.

Here are links to associated write-ups:

Danny ‘Dr. Sleep’ Torrance
Danny ‘Doc’ Torrance
The Overlook Hotel
 
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