11. QUINTAIN QUIXOTE
(jousting dummy) (militarist)
Sin: Sadism
Everyone looks on him like a doddering old fool. Never mind they can't land a clean blow.
To paraphrase Shaw, "If you beat the villeins for pleasure, avow your object frankly, and play the game according to the rules, as a foxhunter does; and you will do comparatively little harm. No foxhunter is such a cad as to pretend that he hunts the fox to teach it not to steal chickens, or that he suffers more acutely than the fox at the death."
Intercessor - In his youth, he showed an unusual enthusiasm for whipping the gawks. Now, either through change of heart, or a curse, or paranoia that the God might indeed walk about in human form, he has dedicated himself to absorbing such blows. As such, on a save vs. Death Magic he can take damage intended for another, and at -d6 damage to boot.
12. HALEY'S PALADIN
(stormcrow) (skyrider)
Sin: Secrecy
Possibly an angel or something. He is on something of a circuit. Hither and thither.
"When I heard that Shadowfax had come back riderless, I rejoiced at the return of the horse, but still more at the lack of the rider; and when Eomer brought the tidings that you had gone at last to your long home, I did not mourn. But news from afar is seldom sooth. Here you come again!"
Punctual - The oft quoted assertion by Gygax that Gandalf is a mid-level cleric makes more sense that a paladin who is a mid-level cleric is quite a paladin indeed. He sure is in a hurry! "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" In a pinch, can cast an additional spell at 2 levels higher. As a penalty (or a bonus, hello and goodbye impending tpk) he then disappears for d20! rounds as he is about. "I am afraid I have to leave you here now..." Hope he has a henchman!
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| Julie Sanger |
13. JURASSIC FOP
(sole survivor) (squire)
Sin: Indolence
It was a good run, while it lasted. Many thousands of years, perhaps — great deeds and towers and wonderful artifice. Alas. There remains only a single last one — their final paladin.
Not the best by any means. Maybe not even a knight proper, but he's all that's left. His heart is in the right place. Maybe the words get all jumbled up. Maybe he dribbles a bit. But he is an authentic antique. A type I treasure.
"It wasn't very ice in all this rain and everything, but the dear fellows seemed keen on it . . . Besides, it was nice for the brachet to have a little outing It was a pity that it could never keep unwound, but there, you couldn't interfere with nature. He would have to spend all tomorrow scrubbing his armor. Well, it would give him something to do . . . which was better than wandering about all the time, with this eternal sorrow gnawing at his heart." - T. H. White, The Witch in the Wood
Aspirants - The culture has outlived itself. It collapsed under its own weight, but there too are those who wish to finish gravity's job. They are always a step or two behind. The survivor, whatever other deficits, has an excellent grasp of how to avoid them. All their arrival usually accomplishes is get him out of other varieties of hot water. Once per day, he can summon his pursuers - and evade them, their attacks falling on an alternate target. Stats as 1d6 ogres.
Save vs. Spells to dispel them again (ducking behind the table for instance and they run off after shadows). If he fails the save, he'll have to deal with them now.
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| Jovan Rakic (study) |
14. RELUCTANT ESCORT
(wolf-child babysitter) (votary)
Sin: Rebellion
Not in fact a Lone Wolf and Cub situation. Quite the contrary. The wolf is the child. There are probably triplets or quadruplets. They need a Mary Poppins. They got this guy instead.
Holy Terrors - 1d10 of them. Families were bigger back then. Stat as 1/2 hit dice monsters, immune to non-magical weapons. Unless the DM is REALLY ambitious, they can all do the same action. Each turn, roll 1d8 to see what (and what not) they are doing:
| 1 | BRAWLING | Each other | 5 | WANDERING | Off – Where are they? |
| 2 | SOBBING | For their “mother” | 6 | STALKING | Some sort of dangerously large animal |
| 3 | GOBBLING | Up all the food | 7 | SINGING | Off-key |
| 4 | OPENING | Doors – Secret + Overt | 8 | FIGHTING | Anyone who looks at them halfway funny |
15. BABELSASCENSOR
(tower climber) (wyrmslayer)
Sin: Idolatry
A native of the plains of Shinar.
He will tell you it is untrue that the riot of languages all of a sudden caused the fall of that wonderful Tower. Rather, it was rendered completely invisible and carried off piecemeal. Rampant jobsite theft ensued. "They said to each other, 'Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.'" When the one shift boss says break time is "yunquenta" and the other says it's "ma-mi-a-tim," you take your revenge how you find it. What remains of the tower is like embers from a conflagration, marked by whisps of smoke.
He is collecting the remnants, to build his fortress of them, or reconstruct the Tower, or a tomb. He finds them here and there. They are thoroughly cooked now, you would think.
Ascencion - It looks a lot like climbing. A little bit like a clumsy swimmer. Once per day, as a levitation spell, he can clamber up ANY surface toward a brick, which he will chisel out and take back with him (this will take 1d8 turns. (there has to be a wall, and there has to be a brick — no floating freeform). Although it is priceless to him, and worthless to anyone else, the rescued brick is worth 200gp in XP for experience purposes.
His friends will naturally be quite skeptical of its "value," crumbling old thing.
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| Jovan Rakic |
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