Statting Pop Culture: Sonny Crockett
I thought it would be a fun exercise to stat out some characters from pop culture using Savage Worlds Adventure Edition along with Street Wolves rules to fully realize these heroes and villains of the 80s/90s that helped inspire the setting.
A big thank you goes to Morgan Richter for double checking my work. She’s a Gen X pop culture expert and you can find her YouTube channel here and her twitter here.
Please note: The following stats are made cinematically, I’m not going through manually leveling the characters as if they were player characters.
Also note that any item marked with an asterisk * comes from Street Wolves and is not found in Savage Worlds Adventure Edition.
And finally, all characters featured here are Wild Cards, unless otherwise noted.
James "Sonny" Crockett (Miami Vice)
Those who barely know Miami Vice likely know or have impressions of the show based on Crockett’s looks alone. Miami Vice was a groundbreaking series that combined fashion, music, drama, and action to be what was described as “MTV Cops.”
The version of Crockett that we’re statting out today comes from around season 3 or 4, which is important because I’m capturing some very specific events that shaped the character.
Archetype*: Detective
Sonny is a former Vietnam war vet so he could be a Trooper type, but overall he’s a cop through and through. Detective is the perfect fit for a crime solving cop working vice crimes in Miami.
Hindrances: Driven (Major), Shamed (Minor), Unlucky in Love* (Minor)
Driven is a great fit for Detective Crockett. Until the very end of the series he’s dedicated to putting criminal scumbags in jail, even at the cost of his marriage(s), his relationship with his son, and his own mental well being.
I’ve given Crockett Shamed, because there’s a period where he lost his memory and became a bad guy. During this time he killed a bunch of people (all bad!), but it was technically cold blooded murder. He also has some other incidents in his past he regrets, so take your pick because he is a shamed man.
Unlucky in Love was an easy one. Crockett is in and out of relationships like crazy. Most of the time it’s not really his fault, but he fits the definition of the Hinderance. He fell in love with a woman who turned out to be a madam. He also fell hard for a doctor who was addicted to drugs who gave a drug dealer some info that got some cops killed. He also fell in love with a French woman who turned out to be a terrorist! What bad luck!
Edges: Attractive, Dodge, Fashionista*, Getaway Driver*, Hard to Kill, Investigator, Soldier, Streetwise, Trademark Vehicle*
Sonny gets Attractive because he’s Don Johnson at his peak. If you don’t find him attractive, then I pity you.
Dodge is here to reflect he’s always rolling away and running to cover and he almost never gets shot.
He gets Fashionista because not only was his character a trend setting icon, but in the series he’s always wearing the right clothes to social functions to fit in as an undercover cop in Miami’s criminal scene.
Crockett receives Getaway Driver because he has enough fancy moves and fine control of his Ferrari to earn this one.
I’m awarding Crockett Hard to Kill because he took a bullet and lived, survived a massive explosion, and was beaten up multiple times.
Crockett ends up with Investigator despite not being a Sherlock Holmes level detective. On several occasions he’s pouring over paperwork, examining crime scenes, and putting leads together, so he qualifies for this Edge.
Soldier is here to represent his time as a soldier, having served two tours in Vietnam he likely should get this.
Streetwise is an easy one. Crockett maintains a cover as Sonny Burnett and knows all the major players in the Miami crime scene.
Trademark Vehicle makes sense, because he’s got two two different iconic Ferraris through the course of the show. There’s simply no way to separate the show from the cars, especially the white Testorosa.
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d8
Skills: Athletics d8, Boating d10, Common Knowledge d6, Driving d8, Electronics d4, Fighting d6, Healing d6, Intimidation d6, Notice d8, Performance d8, Persuasion d6, Research d8, Shooting d8, Stealth d6, Survival d4, Taunt d4, Thievery d4, Tradecraft d4*
Athletics is high-ish, because Crockett is in shape and he’s a former Florida State quarterback.
Boating is very high because there are multiple episodes where he’s chasing people on boats, and he even won a competitive cigarette boat race. And the fact he lives on a boat, so he knows a thing or two about sailboats.
He gets a decent Driving due to his skills behind the wheel as explained earlier with his Edges.
Crockett knows how to use a computer to file reports and look up some things, so he gets a low d4.
Crockett is a capable fighter with his fists, but I wouldn’t say he’s the world’s greatest hand to hand combatant.
Healing, Notice, and Research are all tied into both his former life as a soldier and his police detective work. He gets some points in Thievery thanks to him getting into the mind of criminals, and he’s shown picking locks on occasion. Performance is geared toward his ability to take on the role of Sonny Burnett and work undercover.
Crockett has a bit of a smart mouth, so he should get some skill in Taunt.
I’m giving Crockett some Tradecraft due to him working with the CIA and being an undercover cop. He had to learn some of it in order to survive that life.
Skill Specializations: Athletics (Swimming, Sports [football]), Boating (Motorized, Sail), Driving (Automobile), Healing (Forensics), Intimidation (Interrogation), Performance (Acting), Shooting (Personal Firearms), Survival (Jungle)
Street Wolves uses specializations and the ones I’ve picked for Crockett are all related to the reasoning behind all the previous choices.
Virtue*: 3
Three is being pretty generous for Sonny. While he is loyal to a fault, a good friend, and genuinely wants to help people, in the final seasons of the show the job is ultimately destroying him. He’s basically the definition of burned out.
I’d argue that he dropped to 0 Virtue at least a couple of times, in particular when his wife is murdered (who was carrying his child). Sonny went and killed the assassin in cold blood. I would even say that Crockett turning evil was the GM taking over his character. While he does work to bring it back up, for instance by trying to make amends with the broken relationship he has with his son and reluctantly going to therapy, Crockett is in a pretty fragile state by the end of Miami Vice.
Conviction: 2
I’m awarding Sonny Crockett two Conviction points. He experienced a bunch of tragedies and triumphs throughout his run in the series, but there were certainly way more tragedies. I’m awarding them for two tragedies (of unequal measure): When his first car was destroyed by a stinger missile, when wife was assassinated.
Relationships*: Billy (Son) 4; Caroline (Ex-wife) 3; Caitlin (Wife) 9; Tubbs (Partner) 8; Jack (Cousin) 3; Gina (Fellow Cop, Former Lover) 7
Poor Crockett doesn’t have many stable relationships in his life. The stress of being an undercover cop has nearly made being a normal person impossible. The strongest relationship that he has is with his partner Tubbs. While that relationship is often strained, the two share a strong bond and are always there for each other.
Trademark Style*: High end suit jacket and monochromatic linen pants, paired with casual shirt, no socks, boat shoes, sunglasses. Blowed dry hair. Pistols in shoulder holsters (The pistols change in the series,
Tactical Uniform*: Crockett sticks with a theme, often appearing on scene in tactical situations in his Trademark Style.
Parry: 5
Toughness: 6
And here’s a image of the basics from Savaged.us.
Legal: Character(s) and series mentioned here are property of their prospective rights holders. They are not endorsing or in any way affiliated with Table Cat Games or Street Wolves. Characters and situations discussed here are portrayed in a manner to make commentary on the shows/movies/games they appeared in.
