Day 07: A viking OR IS HE?

 Steinulf Björnsson, Viking, possible vid-game escapee (another KillSector character).

Steinulf is a conflicted man. He distinctly remembers the longship, the body odor, the glorious combat and the andalusian gold. He remembers the king’s great hall, the hearthfire, and the honor bestowed upon him. 

Except, sometimes he remembers gray stasis. He remembers distant voices, otherworldly yet too close, talking of ‘codes’ and ‘crunch’. He remembers nap pods, the body odor, the fear of something called ‘laioffs’, and complete erasure.

By Heimdall’s arse, WHO IS HE? 

Steinulf has joined FunWar as a way to solve this existential riddle. If he dies a warrior, he will be welcomed in Odin’s great hall. If he dies a runaway knot of code, nothing of consequence will be lost. (If he’s an overworked coder lost in a reverie, who knows?)

If he wins he’ll have more gold than Abu Jafar al-Mansur’s treasure chamber. 

160 HP / 50 EVA / 6 SPD / 2 HAND

Base attack: Melee / 0 / very weak bludgeoning

2 pt ///Claymore (sword)

Melee / 0 / very strong slashing, min. 40 / 2 hands

If the natural die roll for the claymore’s damage is less than 40, treat it as if it’s 40.

1 pt ///Light Armor

You have 10 External Protection. Reduce damage taken from any external source by this

amount; it does not work against damage dealt from within your body itself, such as everbleed

2 pt ///Battle Cry

Once per gauntlet, as a move action, make all attacks you and your allies perform go up one rank in damage for the rest of the wave.

3 pt ///Berserker

Once per wave, as a free action, you can choose to enter a berserk rage for the rest of the wave. Melee attacks deal +25 damage, you gain +25 on athletics checks, and you take 25 less damage from attacks. However, you can only use melee weapons, and you must attack every round. You must attack something clearly visible to you in that given moment. If you cannot find an enemy, you will attack your friends. If you cannot find friends, you will attack yourself. 

You cannot rage during inter-wave rests.

2 pt ///Dodge

+15 evasion against ranged attacks.

1 pt ///Battle Wisdom of Tyr

You can tell someone’s exact evasion just by looking at them. 

Additionally, once per wave, you can “run the simulation” on a specific skill check or roll to hit (examples: “jumping over this ravine” or “bypassing the security on this terminal”). You need

to be the one attempting to perform the check. You are informed of the exact DC required to succeed at that check. If it’s an opposed check - like escaping a grapple - you’re instead informed of the modifier to the check that your adversary has.

If you perform the check by the beginning of your next turn, you gain a +5 on the roll due to being prepared. If you take too long to perform the check, the circumstances might change in such a way that the DC changes - if this happens, the bonus granted by running the simulation may no longer apply, according to GM discretion.

Running the simulation takes no action - you can do it at any time, even on the enemy’s turn.

Weakness 1 pt ::: Wanted

There is a dark force hunting you - an operative calling themself Retrieval.

In addition to whatever forces and enemies the GM has planned, at some point during the gauntlet, this enemy will show up to hunt you down.

The enemy is designed by the GM; they're a 5-point NPC - three points of which are recommended (but not required) to be one purchase of Resourceful, so that they can adapt to your fighting style. Their weapons and equipment are hyper-specialized to them - you cannot scavenge from them once they're dead.

When fighting, they will default to only targeting you, and cannot be persuaded from

otherwise - either you die, or they die; they cannot and will not be talked into a truce or allegiance. Once you’re dead, they will leave, taking no qualms with the rest of the party. They will only fight the rest of the party in self-defense. Whether or not this new enemy works alongside the enemies already in play is at GM discretion.

Retrieval

80 HP / 35 EVA / 6 SPD / 2 HAND

1 pt ///Revolver

12 squares / 0 / strong piercing / 1 hand / 1 cylinder of 6 rounds

1 pt ///Pain Magic

Perception / affliction 125 / disarmed / 1 per wave

Target feels sharp, intense, searing-hot pain, dropping everything in their hands. If they are operating a vehicle or other heavy machinery, they momentarily lose control of it. If the affliction

succeeds by 50 or more, they also fall prone to the ground.

This is a biological and emotional effect - it doesn’t work on machines or robots, or those that

cannot feel pain.

3 pt ///Resourceful

Once per gauntlet, at any time as a free action or reaction, you can apply any 0-or-1-point

function to your character

0 pt ///Soulless

You are supernaturally stoic, as you have no spirit to break. You cannot be affected by emotional effects (like Anxiety Ray) or effects that target souls (like Soul Eater). However, you completely lack a soul, meaning you cannot be brought back to life by

any means once slain.

0 pt ///Hyper-Specialized Gear

Your gear is specifically crafted for you and you alone to wield, meaning nobody else can use it unless they make a DC 90 knowledge check, or DC 60 instead if you attempt to explain how to use it. 

This exclusivity extends to allies as much as it extends to enemies.