Rock Musician

[martinl]

Hailah

250-point Half-Ogre Scout

Hailah is the runt 17th daughter of an Ogre “King,” but her tribe was wiped out by a competing tribe led by an evil wizard a long time ago. She was then adopted by the “Halvsies,” a mercenary group of assorted outcasts, halfbreeds, and mongrels that sold the united military talents of various socially marginal folks to the highest bidder, where she learned the ways of civilization and the arts of the skirmisher. Most recently, she followed the halfling virtuoso Larryn Pippan as an apprentice and bodyguard, developing her own unique musical talents on the way. Larryn recently switched guards, claiming that she caused too much drama. Hailah has set off on her own to make her name with her unique brand of sling-accompanied “Rock Music” but has not been very successful. She is willing to fall back on the more martial applications of her chosen instrument to make some coins, and maybe she will find some fast friends on the way.

ST 15 [50]; DX 14 [0]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 13 [30]
Damage 1d+1/2d+1(1d+2/3d-1 Sling); BL 45 lbs.; HP 15 [0]; Will 10 [0]; Per 13 [15]; FP 13 [0].
Basic Speed 7.00 [5]; Basic Move 7 [0]; Move 7 (5 with Light Enc)
Dodge 10/8 ; Parry 13 (Club); Block 13 (Shield)

Advantages
Fearlessness 1 [2]
Heroic Slinger [20] (As Heroic Archer, but for slings instead of bows.)
Sling Music (Can use heroic slinger and fast draw to fire sling once per second without rolling – for musical purposes only)
Night Vision 3 [3]
Outdoorsman 2 [20]
Tough Skin 1 [3]
Weapon Bond (Sling) [1]
Weapon Master (Sling) [20]
Whipcord Elbow [1] (As Stongbow, but for slings.)

Disadvantages and Quirks

Appearance Ugly [-8]
Bloodlust [-10]
Compulsive Carousing [-5]
Code of Honor – Soldier's [-10]
Odious Personal Habit – Loud Singing of Scurrilous Rock Songs[-5]
SoD Adventuing Companions [-5]
Social Stigma (Savage) [-10]
Vow – Chastity (actually, will only marry an Worthy Ogre Prince – good luck) [-5]
Wealth – Struggling [-10]

Evangelical about “Rock” Music [-1]
Insists she is a lost princess [-1]
Sings loudly during battle [-1]
Thinks halflings are a half “Ling” crossbreed [-1]
Secret fan of deeply cheesy romance novels [-1]

Skills

Armory (Missile Weapons)-9 [1]
Broadsword-16 [8]
Brawling-14 [1]
Camouflage‑13† [2]
Carousing-13 [1]
Cartography-11 [4]
Climbing-13 [1]
Fast Draw (Club)-14 [1]
Fast-Draw (Sling)-14 [1]
Fast-Draw (Sling Ammo)-15 [2]
First Aid-10 [1]
Gesture-11 [2]
Hiking-13 [2]
Knot-Tying-14 [1]
Mimicry (Bird Calls)‑11† [2]
Musical Instrument (Sling)-9 [2]
Navigation‑11† [1]
Observation‑13 [2]
Scrounging-13 [1]
Search 13 [1]
Shadowing-11 [4]
Shield-16 [4]
Singing-13 [1]
Sling-17/18 [16]
Stealth-13 [1]
Survival (Forest)‑14† [1]
Swimming 13 [1]
Tracking‑15† [2]
Traps-11 [4]
Wrestling-13 [1]

† Includes +2 from Outdoorsman

Equipment

$496.8, 64 lbs (Medium Encumberance)

Backpack, Small, (holds canteen, rations, personal basics) $60, 3lbs.
Canteen. Full. 1 qt. Water. $10, 3lbs.
Club 1d+2/2d+2 cr (1) $10, 3 lbs.
Coins. $3.2
Clothing. $0, 2lbs.
Furs, Heavy Leather on Body and Head (DR 3), light leather (DR2) elsewhere $243, 25.8 lbs.
Heavy Sling, 3d+7 cr, Rng 51/102 Acc 1, Shots 1(2) (uses scrounged rocks, -1 skill) $20, 1 lb
Medium Shield, has convenient pouch for sling bullets to allow sling reloading DB 2, $60, 15 lb
Rations, (6). $12, 6 lb. **
Personal Basics . $5, 1 lb.3.5
Pouch (coins and bullets, usually hooked to shield). $20, 0.2 lb
Sling (weapon bond) Acc 0, Shots 1(2) $20, 0.5 lbs

*Scrounged rocks – 3d+5 pi, Rng 102/170 Skill 17
*Balanced Bullet (32) – Skill 19, 3d+6 pi, range 204/340, Skill 19 $16, 2 lbs.
*Silver Coated Meteoric Balanced Bullets (8) $20.8. 0.5 lb

Notes:
Hailah spent 5 points less on extra Basic Speed because of the +1 HT from her racial template. It was spent on advantages and on template skills.

Hailah can use her sling and shield at the same time, and thanks to heroic archer, move around almost freely while doing so. There's no point in standing still to keep Acc with a sling, but while traditional bow scouts often need that acc to aim for soft or unarmored spots, Hailah does enough basic damage thanks to ST, whipcord elbows and weapon master that she can take easier shots (note vitals are only -3 at take x3 from piercing). To shoot every round she needs to fast draw a bullet (roll vs 15) and then roll vs. sling skill at -1 (16), and then suffers -1 skill to attack, leaving her at a base of 18 before other modifiers. She also has a club if she needs to mix it up, and a heavy sling to throw heavier stuff if it is needed.

Her use of the sling as a musical instrument is still fairly tentative and experimental, mainly using “woosh-woosh” noises from swirling it and “CRACK” or “thump!” from slinging a stone into a boulder or ground. She tends to stick to basic baseline rhythms (“Woosh-woosh, thump! Woosh-woosh, thump!) at +2 to skill while accompanying it with songs about rocks. We will rock you/ Thunder/ Shake, rattle, and roll. (etc.) When she scores some cash, she's considering going with really big hair, silver studded black armor, and black and white clown makeup, to impress the rubes.

While she uses the half-ogre template, she believes herself to be a full-ogre runt. There is no game mechanical effect if this is true, and it isn't possible to prove it one way or another anyway. Her royal status, while technically legit in Ogre circles, is not likely to be recognized by anyone, even other Ogres.

[stranger38]

Very nice!
Finally someone who knows how dangerous a sling is!

[benz72]

How is a sling reloaded while holding a shield?

[martinl]

Originally Posted by benz72

How is a sling reloaded while holding a shield?

Technically:
In GURPS, a non-buckler shield is strapped to the arm, so minor stuff like using the shield hand to reload is well within the realm of "Heroic Missile Weapon," which also allows, for example, fully proficient use of longbows while grappling.

But more fun:
She keeps bullets in her mouth[1] and spits them into the sling pouch with pinpoint accuracy.

[1] Yes, they are lead pellets. No, long term lead poisoning is probably nor worth tracking in a fantasy setting.

[Blind Mapmaker]

Amazing work, martini! Would you mind if I swiped her as a convention game pregen? I'm probably not running straight DF anytime in the future, but he concept is just too good not to ask.

[benz72]

Originally Posted by martinl

Technically:
In GURPS, a non-buckler shield is strapped to the arm, so minor stuff like using the shield hand to reload is well within the realm of "Heroic Missile Weapon," which also allows, for example, fully proficient use of longbows while grappling.

But more fun:
She keeps bullets in her mouth[1] and spits them into the sling pouch with pinpoint accuracy.

[1] Yes, they are lead pellets. No, long term lead poisoning is probably nor worth tracking in a fantasy setting.

Would you allow a Heroic Archer to use a shield? I'd be very skeptical of that (but I suppose it would be OK for someone with 3 or more hands).

[Anders]

Slings easily outclass any other missile weapon if you have the strength. Except possibly thrown axes. The swing/thrust divide is brutal.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

Amazing work, martini! Would you mind if I swiped her as a convention game pregen? I'm probably not running straight DF anytime in the future, but he concept is just too good not to ask.

Sure, go for it.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by benz72

Would you allow a Heroic Archer to use a shield? I'd be very skeptical of that (but I suppose it would be OK for someone with 3 or more hands).

If you have three arms+hands I'd say go for it, even without heroic archer.

Without three hands, you'd need a plausible way to hold the shield and draw the bow at the same time, but Heroic Archers can shoot without penalty while grappling, so it wouldn't have to be too plausible.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by Anders

Slings easily outclass any other missile weapon if you have the strength. Except possibly thrown axes. The swing/thrust divide is brutal.

With the caveat of similar TLs, maybe, but the acc loss is not trivial. High point totals where high ST and unrealistic skill are both available are a big deal here but are also cinematic.

That said, the thrust/swing divide is a bigger GURPS problem than the sling/bow divide.