Wednesday, December 6, 2023

CtEA Pregens: Skirmishers

With its suggestion of light armor and Gurps's emphasis on weapon skill, the skirmisher template is a great match for Ein Arris Characters. These characters are quick on their feet and skilled with their weapons. They generally don't hit as hard as other combat characters*, but they will hit more often, and take fewer hits themselves. They also generally have a lot more mobility than other characters, with high moves and two of them are fantastic riders. These characters are more skilled in combat that the fighters they'll be put up against, but may need multiple hits on their foes and are less capable of taking hits. Their High DX also tends to make this bunch sneaky and good shots*. I was also surprised by the amount of desert expertise they ended up with.

*Except Sisal, who hits quite hard and has no ranged attack. Sisal kind of stands out in this group. like he often does.

Lana is a poor country girl who's in the city for the first time. She's tired of her humble beginnings and wants to see the world. She's also woefully inexperienced in the world, unless it involves animals or fighting. She has all the enthusiasm and impulsiveness of youth, and she's probably going to need someone to guide her through all of this. Lana's equipment isn't very good, but she makes up for that with skill and speed. She's a formidable fighter and athlete, and she's familiar (if not expert) with the desert. She has wide experience with animals, and is an impressive rider. 

GCS Sheet    PDF Sheet     Blog Sheet

Halter is a camel racer and dare devil from Kedris who provides caravan security to pay the bills and find people to race camels against. He's bold, courageous, and more than a little cocky. He has a tendency to perform better when others are watching and is constantly showing off and challenging others to contests and making bets. He's a great rider, a solid animal handler, and he knows his way around the desert, speaking languages from both sides. Halter takes the security part of his job seriously as well: he's got great reflexes and fancies himself a swordsman, and not without reason. He's by far the best mounted warrior in these pregens. He's also a pretty good shot with a bow. Just keep an eye on him... he can be a loose cannon at times!

GCS Sheet    PDF Sheet     Blog Sheet 

Sisal is a swordsman and wanderer from another land. He has devoted himself to the study of the sword and the defense of the innocent. Sisal goes from place to place looking for opportunities to help people, and to distinguish himself in combat. He speaks the local language, and others as well, but this is as far as he has come, and the others aren't useful here. He is constantly quoting proverbs, but they aren't the local ones, and can come off as rather odd. Sisal is a world-class swordsman, and this isn't quite his first time in the desert. He doesn't have a ranged option, preferring to rely on his sword.

GCS Sheet    PDF Sheet     Blog Sheet 

Vang is an excitable young man hawking his skills as a caravan guard. He's quite awkward and frequently puts his foot in his mouth, but he's an excellent spearman, he's honest, and he's the fastest runner you're likely to hire. He is a little distractable, but pairing him with someone else should help. Vang doesn't hit hard, but he hits a lot, and its hard to either close with him or hit him. He's picked up a few desert skills in the meantime as well.

GCS Sheet    PDF Sheet     Blog Sheet

They ended up with a variety of different weapons. When I first built the set of characters I noticed almost everyone was using a broadsword. Lana was an early exception to that, and my attempts to diversify the weapons used hit this group the hardest. Only one of them uses the broadsword. Sisal's sword I'm happy with: his high concept is "swordmaster" and a slightly longer sword really underlines that. I'm a little unsure if giving Vang a spear was a good idea or not: if you want to change up his weapon, go right ahead.

Lana's signature disadvantage is that she is poor. I loved building her, but wished I had extra points to fill out her personality in addition to being poor, but left wealth as part of the disadvantage cap. Its quite possible to add -15 more in disadvantages (Stubborn, Curious, Pacifism (Innocents),  and Gullible are good options) to her to boost skills like staff, acrobatics, fast-talk, or survival (Desert).

Hiking was intentionally left off these characters (and all characters) because Ein Arris doesn't recommend or use it. Though I suppose most of the time they ride.

Many of these characters are very close to their weight limit, and they rely on mobility. Because of this, they are often fighting without their tents. In most situations its probably on their camel, which is nice, but could be an issue if they are without their camel or are paranoid about loosing their tent and fight with it on their back.

The pictures are from artflow.ai

I hope you enjoy these characters! Only one set left!

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