The deadly warrior is any stalwart combatant—such as a veteran, an adventurer, a mercenary, or a military commander—who wields far greater skill than a simple soldier, guard, bandit, or warlord. Although deadly warriors might command other warriors, that is not their forte. They focus on personal combat and skill with their own blade.
Motive: Exploration, adventure Environment: Anywhere Health: 28
Damage Inflicted: 10 points Armor: 3
Movement: Short
Modifications: Attacks and makes Might defense rolls as level 7; Speed defense as level 8 (in part thanks to shield).
Combat: A deadly warrior can make a single attack with her weapon for 10 points of damage, but she can also attack two different foes as a single action, inflicting 8 points of damage with each attack. Each deadly warrior also has something unique thanks to her equipment or training:
d100 Ability
01–10 Warrior resists mental attacks as level 8. 11–20 Warrior’s attacks ignore an opponent’s shield. 21–30 Warrior’s attacks ignore an opponent’s Armor.
31–40 Warrior can always move a short distance and attack as part of the same action.
41–50 Warrior has a cypher affixed to her weapon that inflicts 2 additional points of fire damage.
51–60 Warrior has a cypher that creates a force field around her, adding 2 points to Armor.
61–70 Warrior has a cypher that allows her to fly through the air at normal speed.
71–80 Warrior has five random level 6 detonation cyphers. 81–85 Thanks to an affixed cypher, warrior
can fire a barrage of four long-range energy blasts that inflict 5 points of damage (each to different targets or all to the same target).
86–90 Warrior is an archer. Thanks to affixed detonation cyphers, half of her arrows explode in an immediate radius for 5 points of damage in addition to dealing normal damage.
91–00 Warrior does not have a shield but instead wields a huge, heavy weapon that inflicts 12 points of damage. In addition, she has a cypher that boosts her strength, giving her 2 additional points of damage with the weapon.
Interaction: A deadly warrior is arrogant to the point of
overconfidence. Flattery and bribery often works to sway her, but an enraged warrior is likely to be satisfied only by blood. Use: Any time the GM needs to throw a master swordsman, a
veteran gladiator, or an extremely powerful bodyguard into the campaign, a deadly warrior is the NPC to use.
A deadly warrior often has a level 3 companion: an animal, a shield bearer, or a sidekick. This companion doesn’t make attacks on his own but instead assists the warrior, making her 1 level higher for all attacks and Speed defense actions.
GM Intrusion: The
character is knocked down and disarmed by the deadly warrior, who offers the PC a chance to surrender.
CHARACTERS: DEADLY WARRIOR - POISONER
POISONER
6 (18)
A poisoner is an extremely skilled assassin who kills his victims with a variety of toxins, venoms, powders, and (more rarely) diseases. The poisoner is likely the most feared person in the world of courtly intrigues.
Motive: Murder (usually for hire) Environment: Anywhere
Health: 18
Damage Inflicted: 6 points Armor: 1
Movement: Short
Modifications: Conducts all stealth and deception actions as level 8; resists poisons of all kinds as level 9.
Combat: A poisoner usually wears a leather jerkin and carries a dagger, and he probably also has a blowgun or dart thrower. He always has a level 6 poison to coat his weapons. This is a straightforward toxin that forces anyone cut by the blade to make a Might defense roll or move one step down the damage track. In addition, a poisoner always has a secret, unexpected backup weapon, such as a
ring or glove with a hidden needle, a fake tooth filled with poison gas to blow in a victim’s face, or a glass vial containing an insect with a venomous sting. This poison is level 7 and is usually incapacitating rather than deadly. Roll for the effect:
d100 Effect
01–30 Victim coughs, chokes, wheezes, and struggles for breath for one round. She cannot act, and the difficulty of any defense rolls she makes is increased by two steps. 31–60 Victim is stunned and disoriented, unable to act other than attempting a new
Might defense roll each round. Success indicates recovery. 61–80 Victim falls asleep for ten minutes.
81–95 Victim is struck blind for one hour.
96–00 Victim’s mind is greatly harmed. She suffers 10 points of Intellect damage.
Last, a poisoner carries one level 8 idiosyncratic poison. This is often a dram of liquid, a pinch of powder, or a secret capsule to slip into someone’s food. In other words, it’s usually not something to use in combat. Roll for the effect:
d100 Effect
01–30 Victim is sickened for one month. The difficulty of all tasks is increased by two steps. 31–50 Victim begins to discorporate, suffering 1 point of damage per round. This
stops when she succeeds at a Might defense roll, attempted each round. A slain character (but not his possessions) disappears.
51–60 Victim begins to see all friends, family, and allies as foes, and all foes as close allies. The effect is gradual (over a few days) and lasts for about a week after it takes hold.
61–75 Victim becomes extremely susceptible to suggestions from anyone (difficulty to resist is increased by five steps).
76–90 Victim moves two steps down the damage track if he does not imbibe a dose of a
The poisoner usually carries antidotes for his poisons or has hidden them nearby.
GM Intrusion: The
character loses her next turn, stunned, as she recognizes the poisoner to be the same murderer who killed someone important to her in her past.
AERENDAGAST
5 (15)
Aerendagast moves from place to place, usually as far from other creatures as he is able, cognizant that during one of his “fits” his mind is submerged in a splintering tide of change. When in his placid state, Aerendagast is a man with brown hair and eyes, usually wearing a white robe and hood. He can go for months without suffering a fit, but sooner or later, something triggers a terrible change that lasts for hours or days.
Then, whatever Aerendagast touches is changed, and where he walks, miracles follow—as do disasters. His body ripples, changes color and substance, and even alternately swells and shrinks in size, just as his mind teeters between joy, despair, constructive concern, and destructive rage. Motive: Unpredictable
Environment: Anywhere far from regular human habitation in the Beyond Health: 30
Damage Inflicted: 5 points Armor: 1; 6 when suffering a fit
Movement: Short; long when suffering a fit
Combat: While he is suffering a fit, Aerendagast’s touch inflicts damage, if he wishes. When he touches a creature, regardless of whether the touch inflicts damage, the creature must succeed on a Might defense roll or be affected as indicated on the table below. Anyone who touches Aerendagast against his will or attacks him with a melee weapon is similarly affected.
d100 Effect
01–10 Damage (ambient) is inflicted on the target.
11–13 The target’s clothing and non-numenera possessions melt into green goo. 14–18 The target becomes unable to speak or think words beginning with “D.” 19–25 The target is deluded into believing it is a slurge for one hour.
26–30 The target sprouts a crop of tasty yellow berries from its skin. 31–33 The target’s Might, Intellect, or Speed improves by 1. 34–36 The target’s Armor improves by 1.
37–46 The target loses all its hair; if already bald, it grows thick red locks. 47–49 10d10 shins shower down from the sky around the target.
50–53 The target’s cyphers are consumed, forming a sentient device with powers related to the cyphers and a personality that is likely hostile to the PC. (The GM determines the powers and personality.)
54–58 The target is teleported 1d100 miles in a random direction.
59–62 The target becomes invisible for one day or until it attacks something. 63–65 The target can ask the datasphere one question and receive a good answer. 66–69 One non-anoetic cypher in the target’s possession becomes an artifact. 70–79 The target’s skin becomes translucent.
80–84 The target’s head grows 20% larger, and its Intellect Edge improves by 1. 85–87 The target becomes blind in normal light unless wearing dark lenses.
88–90 The target begins to suck heat and inflicts 1 point of damage to any living thing touched. 91–95 The target loses the ability to speak without rhyming, singing, or clapping along. 96–99 The target gains 4 XP.
00 The target turns to solid, unliving synth.
Interaction: Aerendagast is aware that some people hunt him, thinking him an avatar of good, while others seek to slay him for the destruction he has perpetrated. Thus, he tries to be anonymous in
GM Intrusion: A PC
touched by Aerendagast is turned to solid iron. Glowing white numerals on the character’s iron forehead begin counting down from 84 hours— though to what, it isn’t clear. When the time is reached, the PC becomes living flesh once more, and she remembers everything that happened while she was mute metal.