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Are you my dad? Am I my OWN dad!? |
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WARNING!! This Unsleeping City PC has been around the block and had adventures past the initial The Unsleeping City episodes. This page contains major plot spoilers for the Chapter II campaign, so proceed at your own risk. |
Peter Conlan, better known as Pete the Plug, is a former drug dealer and currently works at Uncommon Knowledge in New York City. He is also the Vox Phantasma. He is played by Ally Beardsley.
Quick Answers
What is Pete Conlan's occupation at Uncommon Knowledge in New York City?
What is the significance of Pete Conlan's nickname, 'Pete the Plug'?
How does Pete Conlan's appearance compare to a young Hunter S. Thompson?
What is the Vox Phantasma in relation to Pete Conlan?
What kind of items does Pete Conlan sell at Uncommon Knowledge?
Description[]
"Yeah, I'm Pete. Just let me know what you're trying to track down, because I'm sure I can get it. I sell everything and I personally take even more. There's not an errand I can't run after taking a fist full of mushrooms. [...] Pete looks almost exactly like Hunter S. Thompson, only young. It's like, I'm wearing a cowboy hat. I got on shades, like the yellow shades, because they're helping me with seasonal affective disorder right now. I am not doing well on the inside. I did go through a breakup. I did lose The One, and she's thriving. But I'm gonna be okay. And it's cool that I found a doctor that is so cheap, I'm hoping." ― Ally Beardsley
Personality[]
Pete is a young and reckless drug dealer living on his own in NYC. He's good at his job and generally cares about others but struggles to seriously consider choices and take responsibility for his actions. He is not on speaking terms with his family and doesn't really have any friends at the start of the campaign. When the campaign begins, he has just been dumped by Priya and is taking it exceedingly poorly. He also isn't doing well financially. Pete is a trans man and is on both testosterone and anti-psychotic medication.
Appearance[]
Pete is a caucasian human male. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He has two horizontal scars across his chest from top surgery. He often wears a cowboy hat, sturdy boots, his backpack, and yellow-tinted glasses. His style is very modern and often casual. He wears a medical bracelet that gives him various abilities (such as being immune to sleep). After his first encounter with a Mutant Santa Clone, he has a single peppermint tooth. He gets "F-A-N-T" tattooed on his right hand's fingers and "A-S-M-A" on his left hand's fingers.
Background[]
Pete used to live with his family in upstate New York before dropping out of school to move to New York City. He's the only trans person in his hometown.
History[]
Start Spreading the News[]
Pete is first introduced at his check-up with his primary doctor, Dr. Lugash Primjitzski, who is also a doctor for mobsters and other New York criminals. Pete tells Lugash that he is taking anti-psychotics, regularly eating shrooms, taking testosterone, primarily eating microwaved cheese, and not sleeping, all while still healing from his recent top surgery. Lugash expresses concern for Pete and tells him that he "medically has 'a lot going on'".
Lugash leaves the office for a few minutes. While he's gone, Pete notices that a steady drip of water from a radiator is floating up and making a puddle on the ceiling. The reflection of a poster in that puddle speaks to Pete and tells him that magic is real. Pete, who just ate mushrooms a few minutes ago, thinks he's just tripping. Before leaving, Pete is reminded by Lugash that SantaCon has started and Pete dreads having to deal with the Santa addicts. On the train ride home, Pete's supplier, 53\/3N, texts him about the increasing price of a brick.
Pete arrives at his apartment in Greenpoint, where he lives in a converted walk-in closet. When he enters the apartment, he sees his roommates Marta and her grandson, Yagdash Scrovich, and all of his things are in boxes. Marta informs him that she knows he's a drug dealer and that she's kicking him out. Pete tries to deny that he's a dealer and asks Yagdash for help, but he only confirms it. As Pete begs her not to kick him out, Pete's father, Mitch Conlan, arrives.
Pete hasn't seen him in six years and, utterly confused, asks him how he found him. Mitch grabs a box of Pete's things and starts carrying it down the stairs. When Pete follows him, trying to get his stuff back, Mitch says that they hired a private eye to find Pete. Mitch says that they want Pete to come home and Pete immediately protests, saying that he doesn't want to be "the only trans person anyone's ever met in their life". Pete gets a weird feeling as the argument with his dad escalates, and when Mitch goes to call Pete by his deadname, bubbles spill out of his mouth. Mitch, panicking, tries to speak, but only more bubbles come out. Within seconds, the bubbles lift Mitch up into the air and send him out into the skies of New York.
Pete, confused, tries to go back inside but accidentally runs into some trashcans. When the trashcans start to verbally threaten him, he takes off running. He gets to a large puddle and falls through it into an alternate, trippy version of New York. He talks to the Woman in the moon, a unicorn, and Pizza Rat as he desperately tries to figure out what's happening to him. He falls into inky blackness and hears whispers all around him. The voices say that they can make the real unreal and unreal things real: "Whatever you want". They ask him if he wants that power as a glowing, smiley-face button appears on his med bracelet. After a moment's consideration, Pete presses the button.
There is an explosion as he sinks into deeper darkness. He sees a single point of glowing golden light and hears a deep voice speak to him. The voice recites the first few lines of "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra as a golden portal appears, burning Pete's skin and eyes. Pete drops again and sees a gray child's face with inky black eyes and black tears running down its face. The child says, "It's happening. I'm so sorry. Heed the words of Lazarus before it's too late." Pete suddenly wakes up in an alley surrounded by SantaCon goons. One of the SantaCon people with a half-melted face bites Pete in the side of the head.
Ricky, patrolling at SantaCon, rescues Pete from the group of mutant Santas.
Mutant Santa Melee[]
Pigeon Plus Ones[]
Scramble in the Sewers[]
A New York Wedding[]
The War of Bugs and Rats[]
The group confronts the oversized bugs brought into Astoria from his dreams, mistaking their request to get free as asking for a particular type of trip. As soon as he wakes up, he alerts the group and they rush over and defeat them, meeting La Gran Gata during the fight.
We Need to Talk About Pete[]
The group continues their acquisition of magical objects from La Gran Gata's Bodega, but tension is growing about Pete's recklessness, the impact his powers can have, and his flippancy about his actions. Alejandro in particular lectures Pete, and as he does, Pete's wild magic surges against the criticism. Pete steps away from the group, and gets a text from Priya asking to meet up that day, as the group splits up to take care of different things.
Pete reaches out to Alejandro's daughters a few days later, who warm him away from spending much time with Alejandro in the future, as he's still upset, saying that the Society must come first. The girls vanish, and Robert Moses is in a towncar behind them, beckoning Pete over to talk. Pete asks him questions about what happened to his dad, and the Vox Phantasma, but as the conversation continues Moses presents him with a video of the meeting where Kingston Brown declares that between Pete and New York, Kingston will always choose New York. Moses leads Pete to a vampire club, as they talk, saying that every human in the club chooses to be there, drained by vampires for money. Pete texts his friends his location as Moses points out that there's nothing wrong with Pete using his powers for himself, but that the Grey Baby (as Pete calls them) is in the way of Moses's plan, that they forced Pete into this position against his will. Moses uses Pete to pull Nod into the real world - which immediately starts to kill Nod - and as Pete goes to defend Nod, they teleport away to a subway station. As the group rushes to join Pete they all start to head toward the Land of Nod via the L train.
Subway Skirmish[]
Pete joins the fight against Epona, defending the Grey Baby, as Alejandro uses powerful magic to try to get the MTA to run on time and summon the train. Nod apologizes for not asking Pete, explaining they needed someone and bolsters Pete's power, and he's able to tap into a cleaner magic when casting. Pete comments to Kingston that he saw the recording of Kingston saying he would take Pete out.
Pete keeps Nod close, focusing on protecting them, but also opens a Mind Link with Kingston as the fight shifts away from attacking Epona and toward defense as they wait for the train. The train pulls up, and in a wild magic flare, Pete summons a unicorn that rockets the train out of the waking world, and into dreams. Nod wakes up, and as they step off the train Kingston reaches out to Pete across a mind link, expressing his wish to give both an explanation and an apology. Nod expresses the same wish, offering to guide them to a diner nearby that they can talk at.
Borough of Dreams[]
As the Dream Team follow Nod toward a diner, Wally comes out of the front of the train car, having been promoted to conductor. After a touching moment with Kugrash, Wally joins the group and they wend their way to Poseidon's Diner, under the river. Alejandro identifies their items from the magical bodega, including Pete's Grill of Persuasion.
As the group settles into the diner, Nod affectionately leans into Pete, like an adoring younger sibling. Noticing Pete's collection of various pills, etc, Nod creates purple and gold pills, giving them to him as a gift, commenting he seems to like that kind of thing. Pete takes this opportunity to let the group know that as he is trying to process his new reality and powers, he's going to go sober. Nod explains that a Vox Phantasma is chosen to defend the dream realm when it is coming under threat, but due to people's dismissal of their dreams and magic, the Vox Phantasma cannot be contacted before being chosen, since they would just dismiss Nod's attempts to contact them - thus they are just chosen and thrust into their new reality, without a say. Pete responds that being chosen hasn't been a bad thing for him, and that Nod's faith in him means a lot.
Nod then goes on to explain the business with Robert Moses - his highway hex, seeming immortality (selling his soul to fairy and hell), and his seeming goal in whatever it was Pete summoned. Nod explains the power that dreams have - shifting, multifaceted - and how reality strips dreams of everything they could be, and forces them into one thing. As Misty reads Emma Lazarus's 'Colossus', the Golden Door shows itself again to Pete. Nod further explains the concept of a Paragon Dream, and that the American Dream is one of those, created by the dreams of those who came to New York with the dreams of a different future. The Pearly Gates, the Mouth of Hell, and the Door to Fairy were also Paragon dreams - but were the American Dream dragged into the waking world through the Golden Door, it would be locked into one meaning, losing it's ability to have multiple meanings. Moses has to target Nod, because Nod has blocked his access to the Golden Door.
As they wrap up, Nod offers the take Pete to the Metropolitan Museum of Memories, to learn how the other Vox Phantasma learned to manage their powers. In response to this, Pete admits his concern about being a good Vox Phantasma - admitting he's only felt good at selling drugs, and concerned about regressing back to that lifestyle, he starts handing off all of his drugs to Misty and as each pocket empties, Nod fills it will spell components, magic tarot cards, and assorted magic components. Since he can't make any money, the group offers places to stay, but Kingston tensely states that it's still available and Pete says he's sorted then.
Pete goes to Priya's art show, but Priya's attempt to draw Pete into a rip-off performative piece fully snaps Pete out of his remaining romantic feelings for her.
Panic at the Art Show[]
The group arrives at the art show, as the building goes up in flames due to Isabella Infierno and her fellow demons. Pete saves Priya from the flames, and ultimately everyone in the building survives, Infierno is defeated and the demons flee. Willy is also freed from his deactivated state on the ground floor, though he states that strong forces are moving against them.
Home for the Holidays[]
Broadway Brawl[]
Faeries and Feces[]
Showdown at the Stock Exchange[]
The Dream Team arrives at the stock exchange as Robert Moses's ritual begins. Moses uses Power Word: Kill and fully kills Pete, but he is brought back by Kingston's Revivify. While dead, Pete sees Moses spell in front of the door, moving to open the door.
Hall of Heroes[]
Times Squaremageddon[]
Times Squaremageddon Pt. 2[]
Sobriety Mechanic Triggers[]
The sobriety mechanic implemented in The Unsleeping City: Chapter II introduces several triggers for Pete, which could contribute lead to a relapse. These triggers include:
- Thinking of his Ex's
- Thinking of Nod the grey orphan
- Feeling Isolated
Relationships[]
The Dream Team[]
The group largely is understanding of Pete's recklessness, especially since he exhibits significant amounts of personal growth.
Kingston Brown[]
Pete particularly looks up to Kingston, but Kingston can get frustrated by his recklessness, as it puts the people of NYC at risk. But Kingston cares deeply for Pete, and helps him by letting him stay with him when Pete was homeless, and mentors him.
Priya "Danger"[]
An artist, and Pete's ex-girlfriend, their breakup caused him a significant amount of distress, and he texted her obsessively for a little while after. After manifesting his powers, he once visited her in her dreams to see her again, which went poorly. He is eventually able to move on from her after she invites him to an art show, and attempts to draw him into a rip off performance piece about their relationship.
She calls him Peter, rather than Pete.
Nod[]
Rowan Berry[]
Maddie Park[]
Trivia[]
- While Pete is a human, his character is mechanically a Kalashtar. Some of the Kalashtar's abilities, such as advantage on all Wisdom saving throws, appear to be flavored as effects of his medical bracelet.[1]
- Pete's Wild Magic Surge ability is modified to increase each time he passes a roll. With each use of magic, or occasionally other pressures, the number go up, starting at one, going to two, then three, etc. This number resets after Pete fails to roll above the threshold and surges.
- The book he's holding in his Chapter II character art is James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time".
- He convinced Kingston Brown to get a tattoo in between seasons.
- Pete's familiar is in fact not the moon.
- Pete can taste his peppermint tooth, but he is so used to it that it doesn't bother him. Pete also does not drink orange juice, which may or may not be related to the peppermint taste.
- Pete has a varied taste in music, including Lil Wayne and The Prodigy.
- Pete says his favourite movie is the documentary Waking Life, but it's actually A Goofy Movie.
- Ally "demanded" that Pete have a gun despite Pete being a spellcaster.[3]
- His two minis were sold as part of the Dimension 20 The Unsleeping City Auction for $951 and $1,065
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Confirmed by Brennan Lee Mulligan on the Dropout Discord, 7 August 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 In Episode 13: Of Rats & Dragons, Pete mentions that he hadn't been born yet when the movie Big Business (starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin) came out in 1988.
- ↑ Youtube, August 27, 2019: https://youtu.be/Wkg9p0V1GAE