About Rex TrickshotRex Trickshot, the Faceless Assassin (Crossbow poisoner, mage slayer, divine assassin) The Code:
Rex Trickshot rarely kills without cause. The deadly poisons are the trickiest to use properly; paralysis and unconsciousness work just as well against guards and nosy observers. He takes pride in a job well done, and a kill cleanly made—there is no sadness or shame in an unworthy or accidental kill, simply a lack of substance. Assassination is a work of skill, and admiration, and any fighting that happens outside his work or intention is merely another boring bit of rote housekeeping, not worthy of the same attention to deadliness. When the bolts he uses disappear seconds after firing, leaving no trace but small wounds and poison-tainted blood (and when he changes his face for each job), there is little danger in the threat of witnesses to his crime. The Diabolic Lord Hsurha revels in stopped breath, and the Faceless Killer prays to him when he can, doing his best to watch his enemies breathe their last, wearing a different face each time. He does not leave a signature or parting line behind with his victims, but he tries to smile at each, if he can, before their end. Naturally a tall, wiry creature with a darting red tail, Rex prefers to keep his features indistinct, average, and always slightly different. His greatest treasures are his poisons, carefully collected over decades of work. Many are exotic, or foreign, traded or killed for from distant merchants; he still mourns, sometimes, over those he has lost through a careless application or bungled spell. Rex is no alchemist, but a curator and priest, keeping his poisons fresh and replenished with magic, taking care to give each of his poisoned arrows a turn serving his god of death. The Job:
Rex rarely wears his own face, and never when he’s on a job. Even to his confederates, he has few features save a general sense of lanky tallness and the low, growling voice he uses when it is not disguised. He is no master of forms, but a tiefling in the wrong city sticks out like a guilty thumb, and the magic disguises he carries let him show a highly unmemorable face to the world. Sometimes he is a silent woodcutter, or a tired coach driver; at buxom serving wench, or an orphaned child shivering in the gutter at night when the right man walks by. Always, he prefers being one of the smallfolk, the sort his targets would pass over with a single glance; he does his best to carry no trophies or signature flourishes that might give him away to a clever eye. Rex Trickshot has killed from a distance—the blessings of his god helping his arrows fly true over hundreds of feet—but he prefers up close and personal. More accurately, he prefers to get just close enough to his targets to watch and ensure their end. With a faint click, his spring-loaded crossbows slide silently out of the sleeves of whatever coat he wears; after a split-second blessing, he catches victims in a torrent of arrows that vanish on impact, leaving behind half a dozen magically-copied doses of as many foreign and deadly poisons. And that’s all he is—a few flashes of silent silver, a burst of magical darkness that obscures the room, and then the Faceless Killer is gone, leaving behind an old man choking to death on the floor as the poison stops his heart. There are few tradesmen willing to take out mages in Coran; though he doesn’t advertise it, Rex takes jobs of this sort with pleasure. He’s learned where to buy arrows of silence and darkness that block spell casting, he’s got a fair bit of talent at shrugging off spells, and it takes fewer shots to take down a wizard than a soldier. * * * And perhaps this helped him catch the attention of the Thieves’ guild. He’s worked with some of their members before, but as turmoil rocks the surroundings, it’s become a bit more practical to recruit a full-time member capable of sniping out a skilled wizard from two hundred feet away in cold blood. The god of stopped breath will have his tribute in time, but his is patient and understanding, and Rex knows that danger and death lies on the path ahead, one way or another. The (Brief) Backstory:
Rex was raised as the altar boy in a rather illegal death cult. Assassins in the service of a Diabolic Lord of death, the small monastery happily took in the Tiefling orphan, as his brothers bore much respect for any such child born “with a touch of Hell.” The right sort of people would come to the hidden convent, delivering great payments in exchange for the services of his religion—but in truth often things stayed quiet, the order long forgotten other than an occasional peasant kidnapped and sacrificed. And, of course, in time, the Paladins came, and the mages, burning his monastery to the ground and killing the trained assassins who taught him. The escaped young Tiefling sought revenge, for a time—but as he grew more learned in the teachings of his patron, he understood that the god of stopped breath had no interest in revenge. His servants had died, as all must; but Rex could serve him best by becoming a truer, swifter agent of death, improving and succeeding where his mentors had failed. He learned subtlety and anonymity first and foremost, cultivating his skill over generations, choosing jobs with care, and gradually making contacts in the Thieves’ guild and other disreputable social circles. The Combat Role:
-Swift-cast Abundant Ammunition plus poisoned ammo is a neat and powerful combo, the sort sneaky and evil enough to only be appropriate on a team like this -Ranged DPS, who deals of Con/Str/Dex damage as he attacks, crippling and paralyzing enemies or simply knocking them unconscious with Drow Poison -Other trick arrows, as well as a bit of Darkness and Silence for shutting down dangerous enemies (combining nicely with his Darkvision) -Good AC and saves, looking quite a bit hardier than much of the group; can stand on the front lines in a pinch -High initiative, long-range blessings allow underhanded sniping against mages The Crunch:
Rex Trickshot, Gunslinger (Bolt Ace) 5 / Warpriest 2 LE Medium Outsider (Tiefling Male) (Deity: Hsurha, the Duchess of Winds and Diabolic Lord of Last Breaths) Init +9; Senses Perception +16 (Darkvision) -------------------- DEFENSE -------------------- AC 22, touch 16, flat-footed 16 (+5 Armor, +1 Kilt, +5 Dex, +1 Dodge) CMD 21 HP 73 (5d10 + 2d8 + 7 con) Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +8 Resist Cold 5, Fire 5, Electricity 5 -------------------- OFFENSE -------------------- Speed 20 ft. Most Common Attack: Deadly Aim Point-Blank Rapid Crossbow +13/+13/+8 (1d6+12) (DC 11 + 2 per hit Fort save or unconscious) Ranged: +2 Light Crossbow +16/+11 (or +14/+14/+9 with Rapid Shot) 1d6+7 (19-20/x4) (use grit to hit vs touch) Common Modifiers: Point-Blank Shot (+1/+1) Deadly Aim (-2/+4) Grit: 3/3 -------------------- SPELLS -------------------- 1/day Darkness
Level 0 (4):
Level 1 (3/day):
-------------------- STATISTICS -------------------- XP ? Str 8, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 8 Base Attack +6/+1; CMB +5; CMD 21 Feats Weapon Focus: Light Crossbow (Warpriest 1), Gunsmith (Bolt Ace 1), Point-Blank Shot (1), Precise Shot (3), Rapid Reload (Bolt Ace 4), Deadly Aim (5), Rapid Shot (7) Feat Wishlist: Two-Weapon Fighting (Warpriest 3), Improved Two-Weapon Fighting or Improved Critical (9) Traits Reactionary, Highlander Armor Check Penalty 0 Favored Class Brawler (+1 level unarmed damage, +3 CMD vs Grapple, Disarm) Skills Acrobatics +15 (7), Bluff +11 (7), Disguise +14 (5), Heal +7 (1), Kn (engineering) +6 (1), Kn (local) +6 (1), Kn (religion) +6 (1), Perception +16 (7), Sense Motive +9 (3), Stealth +18 (7; +17 in mountains), Survival +7 (1) Points: 38 (Gunslinger 20, Warpriest 4, Int 14, Favored 2) Languages Common, Orcish Weapons +2 Hand Crossbow
Armor
Accessories
Specialty Ammo (Abundant)
Consumables
Cash
Cash several spare coins Encumbrance Light -------------------- SPECIAL ABILITIES -------------------- Prehensile Tail Fervor (4/day, cast spell swift) Blessings (4/day) Zephyr’s Gift (Standard action, 1 minute, no range penalties) Storm Strike (Standard action, 1 minute, +1d4 electricity damage) Crossbow Training: +Dex to damage with Hand Crossbows, +1 Crit Multiplier Deeds:
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