The Hydra’s head glinted in the afternoon light and replied; that I didn't have to try to destroy it. That some dark things may live in caves. That the sun was not entitled to reach its grasping fingers into every corner. That not every hero of antiquity received a shrine; that some lost their thread in the Labyrinth; and some grew tired, and rested by a lake, before they mounted their horse and returned to a familiar roadhouse.
I've described a few characters in my games as "gunmen" or "gunslingers", and have intended this to signify that they are more than mere fellas-who-are-armed-with-firearms — but I've never written any ideas down concretely. Consider this my attempt to repay my damages. Compare and contrast this class to my Zorro, to Walfalcon's excellent Rigatoni Cowboy, to Squig's Gun Priest, and to Spiceomancy's Eboshi.
For those UW lore-heads in the audience: this class uses a corrupted form of Manufacturing, in the manner of the Wizened, Illuminated, Oiled and Unfettered Paladins in their respective ways and Arts.
Guns, too, were invented by the g_ds. But their use has always marked one as parted from their grace: the sword-shepherd knows the secrets of swords and bows, not combat shotguns and assault rifles. Lead is a dark mirror to gold, just as seeds bring new life and powder takes it away. Perhaps you were a mistake.
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| Source: Sketchtember: Gunslinger by Trollfeetwalker |
Class: Gunman
Gunmen have a pool of a resource called grit. This resource fills up your inventory slots, like chi. If something else (i.e. exhaustion, disease, points of obesity, something you really really need to carry) would occupy an inventory slot already occupied by grit, you take 1 point of damage. When you drink a finger (~2 ounces) of whiskey or other spirit, you gain a point of drunkenness and may fill one slot with grit. A fifth of whiskey takes up 1 slot on its own, and contains ~12 fingers. You may spend only 1 point of grit per round per [template] in this class. For each of the following accoutrements you may spend 1 additional grit per round:
- ten-gallon hat, which is invariably destroyed by the end of any gunfight
- jangling spurs, which announce your presence loudly
- costly engravings on your favorite gun, which confer no tactical advantage whatsoever.
You can wear light and medium armor, wield firearms, knives, hatchets, clubs and staffs, and can ride a horse.
Skills: 1. Heavy machinery 2. Astrology 3. Gambling
Starting Equipment: Heavy leathers (as leather), doomed hat (ten-gallons), snapchance (a Horse Pistol), powderhorn (contains 10 doses of powder), bullet pouch and molds (1 slot), hunting knife (light weapon), empty flask (holds 4 fingers, 1/3rd slot)
- A Grit, Dead Eye
- B Bad Idea
- C Killing Hand
- D Hour of Vision
Grit
You may spend any amount of grit to add an equivalent bonus to your to-hit and damage rolls made with a firearm. You may spend 1 point of grit when struck with a projectile: if you do, a dented iron plate falls out from beneath your shirt, and you take 1d6 damage instead of what the projectile actually dealt. Finally, you may spend 1 point of grit to pull the trigger of a gun to fire it. "But Michael", I hear you whine ineffectually, "can't normal people also do that?" No, buffoon. Normal people may only pull the trigger of a loaded gun to fire it. This doesn't grant you extra attacks, unless you're fighting something you don't need to aim at to hit — in which case feel free to use all the grit you're allowed.
Dead Eye
Your skill is inimitable. Attacks with a gun cleave and, within 30', hit touch AC. Those who closely examine your face notice metallic flecks in your sclera.
Bad Idea
You may spend a week of downtime drawing up a blueprint for a gun impossible for anyone else to manufacture, or fire, or understand the basic principle of operation thereof. See the list at the bottom of this class for the basic templates for guns. If you make it yourself (like, roll-the-barrel mold-the-trigger shape-the-wheel make it yourself, in a gunsmith's shop), you can add one of the following features per template in this class:
- Inverted Rifling. +2 to-hit.
- Sharpened Bullets. Bullets sunder shields on hit, and can drill 1' into solid surfaces.
- Skeletonized Grip, Stock, Barrel. Occupies half its usual inventory slots.
- Shoots the Entire Cartridge. Bumps up damage dice.
- Medical-Grade Steel. After a fight, pressing the red-hot barrel against one person's wounds heals 1d8 damage or the amount of damage taken in the fight, whichever is lower.
- Itchy Trigger. Springs to your hand at the start of a fight, over obstacles and through locked doors, from up to 30' away.
- Shaped like a Big Key. Can make an attack roll instead of a lockpicking roll.
- Double-Chambered. Has double the capacity of a normal gun of its type.
- Greased Hammer. +2 initiative, somehow.
- Attached Handmirror. The bullet may bank up 90° midair.
- False Double Load. Once per fight, a miss was just a feint; immediately attack again.
- Really, Really, Really Long Barrel. Range is doubled. Hits touch AC within 60'.
- Gun Bullets. After a successful attack, may make another attack against another target within range of the first target.
Killing Hand
Your hands are webbed with dark veins of lead wire, just under the skin. Other gunslingers will know their own. You may operate a two-handed weapon in one hand, and if dual-wielding one-handed weapons may make two attacks on your turn, one with each. For 3 grit, you may fire a bullet at anything within 30' by pointing a finger and saying "bang". Deals 2d6 damage, and requires an attack roll in combat.
Hour of Vision
The lead's reached the brainstem. All the secrets of gunslinging are open to you. When you see the pattern — you know the one, just count to six — you'll know another gunman passed this way. You can leave messages for each other, and caches. Keep your powder dry, brother.
Simple Gun Rules:
Muzzle-loaders take one minute (ten combat rounds) to reload (this includes swabbing to prevent fouling), so typically you can't do this in a fight. Firing a black-powder gun produces a thick cloud of unpleasant smoke: outdoors an extended gunfight may obscure an area, indoors it may render a room chokingly uninhabitable until the smoke dies down. Firing a gun is, of course, very loud, and may provoke rolls on the Wandering Monster Table. Bullets can easily be recovered, scavenged, and made over the campfire at night. Powder cannot easily be handmade, and generally can only be purchased at market towns and cities.
These guns have "bonus damage triggers", stolen from squigboss. When you meet the requirements of the trigger, you roll 1d12 along with the normal damage and take the higher number as your result. This is more valuable for smaller guns, of course, but is still useful for large and powerful firearms.
Finally, guns have a Control rating, corresponding to how heavy and cumbersome they are to aim and how hard they kick. The Control rating is subtracted from to-hit rolls. Your own strength bonus is subtracted from the Control rating — it cancels out the malus, but can't give you a bonus. I hope that's a clear enough rule. Like, if your gun is a C2 and you have a strength of +1, you have a -1 to-hit malus, and if your strength is +2 it's canceled out entirely, and if you have a +3 it's still canceled out, you don't get bonus to-hit. Does that make sense. I'm sure you're smart enough to figure this out.
Example Firearms:
- Gentleman's Companion, 1d8 damage, one shot, 20' range, one-handed, C1. 1/3rd slot. Trigger: Your target didn't know you had a gun.
- Horse Pistol, 2d6 damage, one shot, 30' range, one-handed. 1 slot. Trigger: You didn't take a step this round.
- Enormous Revolver, 2d6 damage, six shots (each needs to be reloaded individually), 30' range, one-handed, C1. 1 slot. Trigger: Spend two shots.
- Rook Gun, 3d4 damage, two shots, 20' range, two-handed. 2 slots. Trigger: Your target is unarmored.
- Hunting Rifle, 2d8 damage, two shots, 60' range, two-handed, C2. 2 slots. Trigger: Your target's head is below your boots.
- Blunderbuss, 3d6 damage, one shot (requires 2x normal powder charge), 30' range, two-handed. 2 slots, C2. Trigger: Your target is charging you.
