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Rasputin Must Die! did something that no previous Adventure Path has made me do- want my PC to die so I could build someone from Earth, 1918. However, lacking an adventuring group, I thought I might just drop him here. My thought was that he could be a replacement for Dmitri in area D4- a man who has given his life to first the war, and then to Rasputin's unholy allies.
His name is...
Aleksei Vasiliy Molokov
Human Fighter (Trench Fighter) 9/Assassin 2/Shadowdancer 2
LE Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +5; Senses Darkvision 60ft., Perception +16
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 16, flat-footed 10 (+5 Dex, +1 Dodge)
hp 102 on average (9d10 + 4d8 + 35)
Fort +10, Ref +10, Will +5; +2 vs. Fear, +1 vs. Poison
Defensive Abilities Bravery +2, Evasion, Improved Uncanny Dodge
OFFENSE
Speed 30ft.
Melee +1 Scimitar +15/+10/+5 (1d6 + 4/18-20)
Ranged Mosin-Nagant M1891 Rifle +18/+13/+8 (1d10 + 6/x4) or Mosin-Nagant M1891 Rifle +16/+16/+11/+6 (1d10 + 6/x4) with Rapid Shot or Nagant M1895 Revolver +17/+12/+7 (1d8 + 6/x4) or Nagant M1895 Revolver +15/+15/+10/+5 (1d8 + 6/x4) with Rapid Shot
Special Attacks Death Attack (DC 13), Grit (1), Poison Use, Sneak Attack +1d6, Trench Warfare (Revolver, Rifle), Weapon Training (Heavy Blades +2, Firearms +1)
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +11; CMB +12; CMD 27
Feats Amateur Gunslinger (Gunslinger’s Dodge), Clustered Shots, Combat Reflexes, Deadly Aim, Dodge, Mobility, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid Shot, Skill Focus (Stealth), Weapon Focus (Rifle)
Skills Acrobatics +15, Bluff +12, Disguise +10, Perception +16, Perform (dance) +4, Sleight of Hand +16, Stealth +27, Survival +6
Languages German, Russian
SQ Deeds (Gunslinger’s Dodge), Hide in Plain Sight
Gear It is assumed Aleksei arms himself with at least a mosin-nagant M1891 rifle, a nagant M1895 revolver, and one of the headless cossacks’ +1 Scimitars. Ammunition is likely not an issue given how plentiful it is around Akuvskaya.
I built Aleksei here with the elite array, but his stats can be beefed up as necessary for your campaign; just keeping Dex his highest stat is really the only priority. Ditto his HP: I used the average for the rolls. Fixing him up with some gear mid-campaign should be simple enough with the mercane Zilvazaraat at the PCs' beck and call; even armed only with scavenged Russian gear, he can contribute well to most combats between now and campaign's end.
Aleksei was recruited in 1910 at the young age of 17, but being from a poor household, clung to the soldier's life with startling ferocity; devoted to the state that saved him from starvation, he made of himself an exemplary soldier, with a particular talent for unorthodox tactics; his superiors noticed his devotion and talent for subterfuge, and in 1915 made him a recognized irregular: excused from standard duty, he instead infiltrated enemy encampments to assassinate officers, sabotage supplies and weapons, and gather intelligence. During the war, he met a handful of individuals that would change his life forever, not least of which was an old Russian woman with iron teeth, who taught him to hide in others' shadows. As his effectiveness as an assassin became nearly unprecedented among the Russian forces, Aleksei's superiors turned their heads to the fact that he could literally disappear from sight in anything less than full illumination. Humble (and never good at making a good impression), Aleksei never attracted the notice that was due him until he was sent to Akuvskaya; one of the nosferatu Brothers Three noted his potential, but Aleksei shook their domination a little more frequently than they were comfortable with, so they are using him as food instead. When the PCs storm the prison camp, he asks that they take him with them; confronted with their conveyance, he instantly recognizes the Baba Yaga from tales he was told (and a suspicion that his wartime mentor was the crone herself) and instantly rallies to their cause. Assuming the PCs can use the hand, he joins them and serves their cause with the same vigor he brought to the Army.
Obviously, his training as a modern soldier gives him the trench fighter archetype from page 67 of the same volume. He's got some unusual skills for a soldier, but they all build into the role he makes for himself, eventually making him a talented infiltrator despite dumping Charisma. Despite the roguish multiclassing, he is still very much a ranged combatant. The weapons training for heavy blades is more to reflect the fact that he has been trained to fence with a contemporary weapon than out of any sense of optimization; that can be changed easily to up his firearm-related game. Similarly, the presence of Death Attack rather than the more sophisticated slayer or ninja Assassinate Advanced Talent is meant to show that he was in fact rank and file before he started doing "special" work; if the lack of optimization bothers you, take solace from the fact that the Assassin levels cost him relatively little in combat effectiveness. If the 6th-level soldiers in RMD are hardened veterans, he can still pull off the assassination of various high-level officers (many of whom would likely have aristocrat levels in addition to, if not rather than, fighter ones) with some ease, and sneak out of camp totally undetected with HIPS. Like the heavy blades specialization, they are story-based and can be changed if it irks you.
His relative lack of optimization is easily made up by his use of modern firearms; the ability to hit touch for the first five range increments makes him dangerous to basically everything else the PCs might face in the campaign, and between his Stealth modifier and Hide in Plain Sight he makes an excellent scout. While his Sneak Attack is a pittance, nothing likes getting four (touch attack!) rifle rounds with Rapid Shot, Deadly Aim and Clustered Shots from a surprise-round attack. As long as he loots the hell out of the prison camp, he should never have issues with ammunition. To offset his lack of Rapid Reload, Quick Draw and a brace of extra revolvers should serve to keep his damage adequate; he deals nearly equal damage either way (1d10 to 1d8 isn't much of a loss).
Advancing him is to personal taste; he gains little by advancing in either of his current prestige classes, and gunslinger is less than optimal, but otherwise as long as he picks a full-BAB class he'll probably be able to railgun things to death between now and the end of the AP with little trouble.
*clears throat* So, I'll just leave him, shall I? Better sitting around on the forums than quietly moldering away in my Reign of Winter file.
AWESOME! Very, very cool of you to share.