Deadeye Slim is based on 125 points and the Archer template from Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen.
For more pre-made henchmen from my game, check the DF Henchmen page.
"Deadeye" Slim the Slinger
Slim is well named - he's pretty lean and skinny. "Wiry" is how he describes himself. He's a crack shot (really) with a sling, and he's strong, too, giving his sling bullets some pop. He tends to hunt on his own in the mountains to keep up his skills, but his desire for gold often overcomes his distaste for the company of others.
ST 13 HP 12 Speed 6.00
DX 13 Will 10 Move 7
IQ 10 Per 12
HT 11 FP 11
Dodge 10 Parry (Knife) 11
Large Knife (16): 2d-3 cutting Reach C,1; or 1d impale; Reach C.
Sling (17): 2d piercing or 2d crushing. Acc 0, 260/325.
Traits: Combat Reflexes; Greed (9); Reduced HP -1 (included above); Wealth (Struggling); Skinny; Weapon Bond (Sling); Wounded.
Quirks: Carves "Deadeye Did This" into sling bullets; Delusion: anything can be killed if you sling at it hard enough; Loner.
Skills: Armoury (Missile Weapons)-10; Brawling-14; Climbing-13; Fast-Draw (Bullet)-14; Knife-16; Knot-Tying-13; Navigation (Land)-10; Sling-16; Stealth-13; Survival (Mountains)-12; Swimming-11; Weather Sense-9; Wrestling-12.
Gear: Boots (Feet DR 2); Clothing; Large Knife; Light Leather arms, torso, legs (DR 1); Personal Basics; Pouch w/20 sling bullets and 10 stones; Sack; Sling.
Notes: He's dropped his HP from 13 to 12; this fits the theme of "wiry but fragile" that keeps him in the rear ranks and not mixing it up. He's not quite maxed out his disadvantages, either, but makes up for that with his quirk. He also breaks the template a bit by choosing Knife as a main melee weapon; this can be treated as a new option on Archer:
3. Knife (E) DX+3 [8]-16.
Mostly that's not on the actual template because it's a really bad idea. But the mini I chose has a sling and a knife, so therefore Slim has a sling and a knife.
He spent some discretionary points on improved Basic Move.
Also, in my own games, I make sling stones do crushing damage and sling bullets do piercing, instead of both doing piercing. This gives the sling a little more flexibility as a weapon.
His mini, which I can't find a picture of at the moment, is the "thief with sling" from the old AD&D Monks, Bards, and Thieves minis set.
Whats the story with "Wounded?" There has to be a story about it!
ReplyDeleteThe true story is that he needed 5 points and that's not a bad excuse for him having 12 HP. He has 12 HP because I wrote down "HP 12" on my scratch sheet when I whipped him up for his first session, and he got wounded in action before I realized I'd done that. Like a lot of hirelings, I do some very quick notes on what they have, and consult the templates to fill in details as-needed in the session. If they survive, I complete the writeup. Deadeye took a 14 HP shot from a poisoned arrow and dropped unconscious in his trip to Felltower, so I like the idea that the wound hasn't really healed right. He clearly was vulnerable (HP 12 but ST 13, so he's fragile for his strength), and he wasn't healed up but just carried out. Being poor, he didn't get healed up magically, and it just didn't knit together right . . .
DeleteSo I like the idea that he's lost a HP and picked up wounded in the process.
I should note this guy is a Freebie Hireling despite his high point total! Sometimes, you luck out with the unreliable volunteers.
I like your idea of giving sling stones crushing damage and piercing to actual bullets. It feels right. Do you still allow sling stones to target eyes, even though they're technically out of bounds for crushing dam.?
ReplyDeleteI'd say no, and I'm assuming they are a bit too large to get past the eye socket and achieve real penetration. So I limit them to "normal" crushing targets.
DeleteBut they are free, and useful against targets that otherwise would shrug off most piercing attacks, such as Unliving targets, so it's a good tradeoff.
I like slings. I would allow some Heroic Archer variation particularly for Halfling Scouts.
ReplyDeleteBut they are pretty viable with any high strength character. A Mystic Knight could do intetesting things with that Swing Damage.
DX 13 + HT 11 = Speed 6.00, so "Reduced Speed (included above)" looks like a mistake.
ReplyDeleteFixed.
DeleteI love your NPC profiles. I play GURPS regularly. Keep 'em coming and let me know if you ever need another warm body.
ReplyDeleteI will keep them coming! They're pretty fun to write, use, and post, too.
Delete