Aris Katsaris
2007-08-25, 08:25 PM
A disclaimer -- I've never played any table RPGs. Never. So apologies for intruding into this forum with my inexperience, but after reading a sizeable portion of this forum I wondered how the "gunslingers" from Stephen King's The Dark Tower series could be best played as a prestige class. So please tell me all the ways that I've messed up with what follows. (Particularly I'm not really sure of the relative power of the special abilities I gave the class and whether they should be rearranged, etc :-)
And since the core material don't seem to contain much info about guns, I guess "bowslinger" will do. :-)
DESCRIPTION
Once the elite defenders of Good and Law, with the collapse of the kingdoms that once supported them, the remaining bowslingers still hold onto the traditions (if not always the values) their predecessors had. Sometimes descending into personal quests of esoteric significance, and doing anything their conscience will allow them to achieve those quests, no attribute of the bowslinger is perhaps more significant than his awareness of self and of his position in the universe, of purpose and of fate (which they traditionally call ka).
REQUIREMENTS
Alignments: Any
Feats: Alertness, Weapon Focus(Ranged Weapons), Precise Shot
Skills: Knowledge(History) 6 ranks
ABILITIES
Class skills: Concentration, Gather Information, Intimidate, Knowledge(History), Knowledge(Religion), Sense Motive, Listen, Spot, Survival
Skill Points per Level: 4 + Int modifier.
{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st|+1|+0|+1|+1|The bowslinger coda
2nd|+2|+0|+1|+1|See me well.
3rd|+3|+1|+2|+2|Ka like the wind
4th|+4|+1|+2|+2|"White Over Red...", "All Hail the Crimson King...",
5th|+5|+1|+3|+3|Forming a ka-tet
[/table]
The bowslinger coda (replace "he" with "she" as appropriate)
"I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I aim with my eye."
"I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot with my mind."
"I do not kill with my bow; he who kills with his bow has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart."
A bowslinger uses his WIS bonus instead of his DEX or STR bonus, in all attack and damage rolls involving a ranged or thrown weapon.
"See me now and see me well"
Α bowslinger using this ability gets:
-a +2 bonus on all Intimidate checks
-a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks towards characters of the same or neighboring alignments.
-Once used however, the bowsligner gets a -2 penalty on Bluff checks against the same character, in perpetuity.
"White Over Red, Thus [insert good deity of choice] Wills Ever" / "All Hail The Crimson King"
A Good bowslinger gets double his +WIS bonus on attack and damage rolls against Evil creatures, if he's currently on an altruistic quest. (DM's judgment)
An Evil bowslinger gets double his +WIS bonus on attack and damage rolls against Good creatures, if he has full awareness of his own alignment and no delusions about promoting anyone's good but his own. (DM's judgment)
Ka like the wind
Bowslinger, depending on their own person alignment with the forces of the universe, can either reinforce or dismiss the whims of fate.
For X times per day, where X is the number of bowslinger levels:
-If a Lawful bowslinger gets a natural 20 in an attack roll, his next round of combat is also seen as a natural 20.
-If a Chaotic bowslinger gets a natural 1 in an attack roll, he is allowed to dismiss the result and reroll.
-A Neutral (to the Law-Chaos axis) bowsligner is allowed to use either of the above abilities, but only for X/2 times per day.
Forming a ka-tet
A "ka-tet", a "group bound by fate", can be formed from any group of characters containing atleast one bowslinger of the adequate number of bowslinger levels. This bowslinger is considered the "ka-dinh", the leader of the group.
- In initiative rolls, the whole ka-tet can take the best roll X of any member of the ka-tet, and behave as if each of them had rolled X+1.
- Each member of the ka-tet instinctively knows if another member of the ka-tet loses hp, and the severity of such, even if miles or even planes separate them.
- Each member of the ka-tet, if they try, can instinctively feel how far apart other members of the ka-tet are, or whether they're separated by whole planes.
- A ka-tetcan enlarge itself by getting new members (all of the existing members must acknowledge such an enlargement), but it can't be reduced, and it can only be broken by the betrayal or death of any member of the ka-tet. Once broken the ka-tet is broken for ever and the ka-dinh can't form a new ka-tet containing other members of the previous one. (Resurrecting dead members in any way doesn't restore the ka-tet, which remains broken).
And since the core material don't seem to contain much info about guns, I guess "bowslinger" will do. :-)
DESCRIPTION
Once the elite defenders of Good and Law, with the collapse of the kingdoms that once supported them, the remaining bowslingers still hold onto the traditions (if not always the values) their predecessors had. Sometimes descending into personal quests of esoteric significance, and doing anything their conscience will allow them to achieve those quests, no attribute of the bowslinger is perhaps more significant than his awareness of self and of his position in the universe, of purpose and of fate (which they traditionally call ka).
REQUIREMENTS
Alignments: Any
Feats: Alertness, Weapon Focus(Ranged Weapons), Precise Shot
Skills: Knowledge(History) 6 ranks
ABILITIES
Class skills: Concentration, Gather Information, Intimidate, Knowledge(History), Knowledge(Religion), Sense Motive, Listen, Spot, Survival
Skill Points per Level: 4 + Int modifier.
{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st|+1|+0|+1|+1|The bowslinger coda
2nd|+2|+0|+1|+1|See me well.
3rd|+3|+1|+2|+2|Ka like the wind
4th|+4|+1|+2|+2|"White Over Red...", "All Hail the Crimson King...",
5th|+5|+1|+3|+3|Forming a ka-tet
[/table]
The bowslinger coda (replace "he" with "she" as appropriate)
"I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I aim with my eye."
"I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot with my mind."
"I do not kill with my bow; he who kills with his bow has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart."
A bowslinger uses his WIS bonus instead of his DEX or STR bonus, in all attack and damage rolls involving a ranged or thrown weapon.
"See me now and see me well"
Α bowslinger using this ability gets:
-a +2 bonus on all Intimidate checks
-a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks towards characters of the same or neighboring alignments.
-Once used however, the bowsligner gets a -2 penalty on Bluff checks against the same character, in perpetuity.
"White Over Red, Thus [insert good deity of choice] Wills Ever" / "All Hail The Crimson King"
A Good bowslinger gets double his +WIS bonus on attack and damage rolls against Evil creatures, if he's currently on an altruistic quest. (DM's judgment)
An Evil bowslinger gets double his +WIS bonus on attack and damage rolls against Good creatures, if he has full awareness of his own alignment and no delusions about promoting anyone's good but his own. (DM's judgment)
Ka like the wind
Bowslinger, depending on their own person alignment with the forces of the universe, can either reinforce or dismiss the whims of fate.
For X times per day, where X is the number of bowslinger levels:
-If a Lawful bowslinger gets a natural 20 in an attack roll, his next round of combat is also seen as a natural 20.
-If a Chaotic bowslinger gets a natural 1 in an attack roll, he is allowed to dismiss the result and reroll.
-A Neutral (to the Law-Chaos axis) bowsligner is allowed to use either of the above abilities, but only for X/2 times per day.
Forming a ka-tet
A "ka-tet", a "group bound by fate", can be formed from any group of characters containing atleast one bowslinger of the adequate number of bowslinger levels. This bowslinger is considered the "ka-dinh", the leader of the group.
- In initiative rolls, the whole ka-tet can take the best roll X of any member of the ka-tet, and behave as if each of them had rolled X+1.
- Each member of the ka-tet instinctively knows if another member of the ka-tet loses hp, and the severity of such, even if miles or even planes separate them.
- Each member of the ka-tet, if they try, can instinctively feel how far apart other members of the ka-tet are, or whether they're separated by whole planes.
- A ka-tetcan enlarge itself by getting new members (all of the existing members must acknowledge such an enlargement), but it can't be reduced, and it can only be broken by the betrayal or death of any member of the ka-tet. Once broken the ka-tet is broken for ever and the ka-dinh can't form a new ka-tet containing other members of the previous one. (Resurrecting dead members in any way doesn't restore the ka-tet, which remains broken).