LE isn't too bad but I do have reservations. I had a LE PC play through Rise of the Runelords. Gray Gardeners might worship Norgorber but he was a recruit and ran away... Norgorber is outlawed in most places, it'd be too big of a thing to basically force the party to accept him as legal in the country. Switching up the deity to be one that's not evil might help or even just a LE one. A LE character can certainly fit in cracking down on bandits.
Well, the idea behind his leaving wasn't issue with who he worshiped, but more so with the fact that Gray Gardeners kill people indiscriminately as scapegoats as opposed to people who are found guilty in a court or by reason of a legal decree. Hence, the Lawful Evil alignment. Unfortunately, the build doesn't really 'work' without him worshiping Norgorber, for actual mechanical reasons. Not only does he have an Norgorber-specific trait, but also the Reaper of Secrets archetype is restricted to Norgorber as well.
I didn't really intend for him to be an open worshiper, seeing even the Gray Gardeners don't worship him blatantly. He would likely masquerade as an evil follower of Abadar (assuming the party realizes he's evil), and keep his actual religious beliefs to himself. If the party were to discover it and refused to accept him adventuring with them, I would be willing to scrap the character and bring in someone new. Actually worshiping a LN god doesn't really make sense given other things about him. Most LE gods are also forbidden from being worshiped, so I'm not sure the difference it would make.
If the character concept simply doesn't mesh with your ideas for this game, I'll just bow out. Compromising the entire character to play the mechanics on the sheet isn't something I'm interested in, but I'm definitely willing to work with you to make the character work in the game you run.
How do you feel about evil characters? I have a LE character for Kingmaker that would work very well, but I understand if that idea gives you pause. He's a former Gray Gardener recruit from Galt who fled to Brevoy after a falling out with his 'brothers'. When he heard of the charter to the Stolen Lands, he was interested and mentioned his interest to a member of the noble house, House Surtova, he had taken up serving since his arrival. From there, he'd be trying to get access to a charter.
The character in no way is intended to work against the party, but because Gray Gardeners worship Norgorber he's at best going to be Neutral, and that doesn't really 'fit' the whole Gray Gardener schtick in my mind. LE always feels a little... less worrying than NE, and it fits his backstory plenty. He's not meant to secretly be in league with another villain or trying to screw over the party from behind the scenes; he earnestly wants them to succeed because it benefits him to make strong allies, and the best way to do that is to help them. He figures by the time they figure out he's evil, if they do, they'll realize he's been helpful and that he isn't out to get them.
The character is an Inquisitor of Norgorber with the Reaper of Secrets and Sanctified Slayer archetypes. Let me know if that'll be a problem. This was a version of the character made for a recent recruitment, feel free to look it over but it uses some house rules that I'd have to change.
Here's JDPhipp's full submission, complete with answered questions.
1. Who would play your character in the film version?
Charlie Cox. More specifically, Charlie Cox from Daredevil; he has a certain unnerving quality to him in that show, like an aura of intensity that he puts out at all times. It doesn't really come across in normal pictures of him, though.
2. Why did you decide to submit this character?
The first iteration of this character was actually from a Kingmaker game that died before we left the Trading Post... or before we finished the combat, really. I also played a similar concept in a Golarion Apocalypse, but that game also died before I really had time to play him at all. I feel like Kingmaker is an amazingly fitting game for a Gray Gardener—not only with the possibility of being a force behind the throne, but just geographically as well—so I really wanted to give him another shot.
3. Give me a short character background
Samuel was born in Galt and like many, was a victim of the constant political turmoil. His father died in one of the many civil wars, and his mother died from illness. He survived as a thief on the streets until he caught the attention of a Gray Gardener tracking down an enemy of the state; he was viewed as a potential candidate and brought into the fold. While he embraced his new life as a recruit in their secretive organization—and a new inductee into the cult of Norgorber—he eventually learned that those they executed were never really investigated for guilt. They used the populace to keep themselves in power via execution, and he eventually fled north to escape the country. Ending up in Brevoy, he pledged himself to the service of House Surtova to find some time to prepare defenses against his former brothers who would no doubt track him down. When an expedition into the Stolen Lands was planned, he volunteered his services to keep track of the expedition and aid them in clearing out the bandits in the Greenbelt.
Selection Questions:
Is the character appropriate for the AP and story?
I think this character is well suited for the AP, especially in terms of kingdom roles. He's basically tailor-made to be the Royal Assassin/Spymaster, and he'll take a very unique approach to solving problems that might not be considered palatable to good-aligned characters. I fully intend to discuss things OOC to make sure they're alright before I do them, but Samuel is certainly willing to do more than most.
Is the character well-rounded, and able to contribute in multiple facets of play (combat, diplomacy, etc)?
In combat, Samuel is going to focus on intimidating foes. He'll take feats to maximize the effectiveness of having foes be shaken—things like Cornugon Smash to intimidate easier, Hurtful for an extra attack, Shatter Defenses to make Sneak Attacks easier—and taking a detour for Redirect Attack.
Out of combat, Samuel has a lot of roles. He can function as a scout with high Stealth, Perception, and Disable Device. He's also capable with social skills so he can function as a party face, and his Survival will help with wilderness survival. He'll have some Knowledge skills later on as well. My spells will be a mix of combat-oriented and thematic for a Gray Gardener, with things like Detect Thoughts being must picks. I intend to take some teamwork feats that will do more than help in combat; for instance, I'm planning to take Bonded Mind to be able to communicate with people on a one-way basis. That will be more useful with any and all city-related encounters, but I think it'll be fun and thematic.
Am I interested in seeing this character grow and develop?
I hope so? I think he has a lot of potential. When we start building a kingdom he'll have a lot of stuff to do, and I think he'll be a good foil to other players in that regard. He'll have a harder edge and be willing to do more to protect the kingdom from its enemies. I think my later plans of taking Leadership to gain an informant network will also be interesting. Also, watching him grow into his own in being a sort of hidden figure behind the throne sounds like a lot of fun. I want him to feel unnerving but still loyal to the party, very much a situation of 'The devil you know versus the devil you don't. Once the party realized he's evil, I'm hoping it'll be late enough in the game that in-character the others will have bonded with him and will realize his worth to the party and overlook his... potentially troubling alignment.
Will this character work well with others I've selected?
Unless you pick a Paladin, I don't forsee any real problems. My character wants to work with the others and doesn't intend on betrayal, so as long as they aren't physically barred from working with evil characters it'll be fine. In fact, I plan for him to be almost unbelievably helpful to the other characters to garner their trust to keep him safe. While he does have selfish motives for their friendship, those selfish motives still entail keeping them alive and himself in their good graces.
Thanks for the allowance on the Noble Born change. I actually haven't heard of Redirect Attack before, so I may just try to go for that instead. I plan to up my Intelligence and it isn't like Dodge is such a horrible feat. Thanks for pointing me toward it! My build plan doesn't absolutely require a ton of feats, so I should be able to fit it in. I think it'll be very fitting for the character either way.
Although, would you consider adding Agile Maneuvers to your list of automatic feats? It's basically the CMB version of Weapon Finesse, so I thought maybe you'd be on board with that? I'll have to fit it in if not, since CMB checks would be difficult without it.
Just a quick draft of the mechanics on my Gray Gardener, some stuff is pending to change. For the Campaign Trait, I was at a bit of a loss; I decided to tweak Noble Born slightly to signify that he'd been in the employ of a noble family as an information gatherer. I don't imagine he has any loyalty to them beyond coin, so even if they did send him on the adventure, he wouldn't have any qualms about leaving them behind and working with the party instead. If that idea's not okay with you, let me know and I'll swap it for something else.
I'm fine with bringing in other people if they're interested, although I'm not sure that I have any character concept I'm really intrigued with at the moment. I'm sure something will come to me, but for the time being I'm a little stumped on making something I'd enjoy playing.
There's nothing wrong on your end, I've just been busy getting into school, and I've had a hard time figuring out the direction I've really been wanting to take Sam in this adventure. This whole adventuring, Weird West kind of stuff is so new to him that I figure he'd latch on to whomever he meets who really seems to understand the whole thing, which is either Wyatt or Doc; combine that with his natural inclination towards following the law, and that makes Wyatt the better choice. I'd love for him to establish a more personal connection with the lawman so that it changes something in Sam later on, but I'm not sure how to go about it, other than basically posting:
"Gee whillickers, Mister Earp! Won't you notice me, senpai?"
So I've been trying to figure that out for a while, and coupled with the fact that I've been sick and behind on all my games, this one just ended up being the one that got left at the bottom of the pile. I like Sam, and I like my ideas for where he ought to go, but I'm not sure how I want him to get there.
I'm assuming we could have grabbed our guns beforehand? We did hear that Morgan was dead, after all.
As Wyatt bristles with rage, Samuel looks once towards the lawman, and then his eyes narrow. "I..." he mutters, his rifle slowly raises to his shoulder. "You no good, rotten sons of b*tches," he says slowly, a strange look of rage on his face. "You're not gettin' away with this. Not this time." After a moment's hesitation, Samuel aims and fires for one of their chests and blows him away, a massive hole appearing in his chest as he falls backwards, dead in the dirt.
Shooting:1d8 ⇒ 2 Wild:1d6 ⇒ 3
Shooting:1d8 ⇒ 5 Wild:1d6 ⇒ 5
Damage:2d8 ⇒ (7, 8) = 15 Damage; Ace:1d8 ⇒ 2 Total of 17.
Samuel seems fairly collected as they head to the courthouse and doesn't say much, but you can see his face sour as the two Cowboys take note of the posse heading inside. Still, he doesn't do much other than begin to absentmindedly shuffle a few loose cards from an old, incomplete deck in between his fingers... until Johnny Ringo and Doc have their little stare-down. In an act of uncharacteristic aggression, the young man flicks the three cards from his hand towards Johnny's head; two soar just past with just barely a crackle of green lightning, but the last strikes the man's hat off his head and leaves it pinned to a support beam. Samuel walks by them as Curly Bill leads his fellow away, feeling oddly accomplished.
-----
Samuel stands up in court, every bit the image of an Eastern gentleman; he's worn his nice coat today despite the heat along with his finer clothes. "Your Honor, I've not been here in Tombstone for very long. I'm a Boston man, myself, as I'm sure my accent shows; I was only here for a gambling tournament along with settling some of my late father's property outside of town. Before we even arrived here in town, I'd had a run-in with some of Ike Clanton's gang when they tried to ransack the train myself and my fellows were riding in on. Not long after we arrived, meeting the defendant along with some of his family at the Oriental, we had another run-in with them that ended in a brawl after one of them threw a punch." Samuel pauses, straightening his coat, before continuing on with his testimony. He coughs once, trying to think of the best way to make sure the judge would be paying attention when me mentioned his family. "Now, we Warrens have never been fighters, but I did what I could to keep myself and my new companions safe. But at the O.K Corral, well... they were armed and dangerous, Your Honor. We'd been deputized by Virgil, and..."
Samuel pauses for a second, now unsure of himself. "I learned to shoot from my father, but I'd only ever shot at clay pigeons. That gunfight, it was... it was a bloodbath, Your Honor. When the shooting stopped, two dozen men were dead on the ground by our hands. The whole thing is, I must admit, something of a blur. But I remember one thing very clearly; Wyatt wasn't the first to draw his gun. That honor, if you could call it that, belongs to one of the twenty-four men that met God that day." As he speaks, Samuel seems almost surprised at what comes out of his mouth, but he hides his emotions well. "Ike Clanton, and the rest of his lot, are ruffians and scum. They may be employed by Bayou Vermillion, but... but the Baron doesn't own this town, and I trust you're a good enough man to see that. I know that Bayou Vermillion brings a lot to this town, and you're all loathe to cross the Cowboys for fear of reprisal, but they're not the only folks with money nor an eye for business. Whatever your decision, Your Honor, know that the good people of Tombstone won't starve because you crossed a man that deserved to be crossed."
After a second or two of silence, Samuel shakes his head slightly. "Thank you, Your Honor." With that, he steps away from the podium and rejoins the others.
"Testify? I'd be happy to," Samuel says, clearly agitated at the news. "I don't know how much it will mean out here, but my family has quite a bit of clout out on the East Cost. I might be able to throw our weight around a bit and deal with this mess. If not, well... we'll deal with it some other way, I suppose." Samuel frowns, putting the paper down. "They really do have a lot of nerve, don't they?"
Samuel gives Doc a wry smile, before he lets himself bask in the audience's cheering. After the festivities are over, he approaches the other gambler, a drink in both hands, before giving one to Doc. "You know, you're legendary even out in Boston; my father'd never believe I played a hand with Doc Holliday, much less that I won it. You play a mighty fine hand yourself, y'know," Samuel says, taking a long sip of his whiskey. "The West is so... different; Boston is, well, perhaps a bit less lawless, and certainly more sophisticated. I would never have expected... I helped put down a band of outlaws! It's crazy!" Samuel, clearly not a man who holds his liquor well, must have had at least a few drinks before this one. A bit drunk, he gives Doc a small grin. "Can you believe that? A city-slicker like me, getting all rough'n'tumble out here? It's nonsense, but it's true!"
... I don't suppose our Bennies refreshed, huh? Ah well.
Samuel, still in the tournament, continues to impress. In the first several rounds of the day he does reasonably well, knocking two competitors out in a single play; after managing only just hang on for a few hours, he knocks several competitors out after managing to draw all four Aces. Around midday he hits a streak of bad luck, and folds for several rounds before coming back with a vengeance. In the last two rounds of the day, he manages to win a hand with his best play being a pair of fours, and follows it up by convincing the others he was bluffing before revealing he'd managed a Royal Flush in the next round, busting them all after they went all-in.
Rolls:
Gambling:1d10 - 2 ⇒ (8) - 2 = 6 Wild:1d6 - 2 ⇒ (6) - 2 = 4 Wild; Ace:1d6 ⇒ 1 Total of 6; one success.
Gambling:1d10 ⇒ 5 Wild:1d6 ⇒ 1 Total of 5; two successes.
Gambling:1d10 - 2 ⇒ (1) - 2 = -1 Wild:1d6 - 2 ⇒ (1) - 2 = -1 Total of -1; two successes.
Gambling:1d10 - 4 ⇒ (10) - 4 = 6 Wild:1d6 - 4 ⇒ (5) - 4 = 1 Gambling; Ace:1d10 ⇒ 3 Total of 9; four successes.
"I spotted him, actually" Samuel says, a bit startled as Wyatt makes his presence known. "He was trying to pick the lock to Lady Boyle's room; he wasn't really hiding, but he was... hard to see. I don't know how else to explain it. We saw each other at the same time, and he made a break for it. I tried to catch up to him, but the others had some better luck getting through the crowd."
Samuel finally catches up with everyone else, panting up a storm as he reaches those near the man. "Have we... caught him? What... happened, did you shoot him?" Samuel asks, eyeing the now-still body as the body still lies on the ground bleeding. "There are likely... to be others here soon," he continues, before taking a moment and finally catching his breath. "We ought to tell them about how he tried to break into Lady Boyle's room."
"Hey, what're you--get back here!" Sam yells, doing his best to barrel through the crowd towards the mysterious figure. "Follow me, and stop him!" Samuel points to the mysterious man, already finding it hard to stick with him in the crowd. Undeterred, he pushes his way past bystanders and others in an attempt to apprehend him. "See if you all can cut him off somehow, I'll keep making chase!"
Sam spends the night just outside the lady's chambers with the others, nervously flipping the top of his card case open and closed. "If I want to be in any shape for the tournament, I probably ought to sleep..." he yawns, rolling his arms in an exaggerated fashion. His eyes flick over to the window as his mouth closes, the hand not holding his deck of cards hovering close to the derringer holstered inside his vest. "As if being deputized wasn't strange enough, two warring societies of wizards playing cards against one another? My, I've gotten wrapped up in something strange here in Tombstone..."
Notice:1d6 ⇒ 3 Wild:1d6 ⇒ 6 Wild; Ace:1d6 ⇒ 5 Total of 11.
Hey guys, I'm posting this in all my active games so everyone is aware of it; I'll be traveling abroad to Iceland for about three weeks through my university starting on Thursday. I should have reasonable access to internet while I'm there since we're primarily staying in its two larger cities, but I don't know how often I'll have the time to post since I'm on a trip through school and not traveling by myself. I imagine I'll be able to post on a semi-regular basis, but I want everyone to know I probably won't be posting once a day for the next three weeks or so. Some days I'll probably post fairly regularly, and others I might not be here for a few days. I'll try to keep you guys updated on when I'll be around and when I won't, but the truth is I don't exactly know.
If I'm gone for a few days, feel free to take control of my character if we need to move on or if there's something specifically relating to me needing to post, as I can't guarantee I'd be able to answer it in a timely fashion. Anyway, I'll still be here for the next few days, and if I'm not around for a while, have fun gaming!
"I'm... sure it's not so bad as it seems. Surely they wouldn't go so far as to have someone killed--" Samuel says, before his expression changes, his tongue running across his canines as it dawns on him what he's just said. "Claire, I know it might be crazy, but I think you're right in being safe rather than sorry. I would have set it's crazy my father would be killed by a gambling rival, but it happened. I'd say to leave it to security, but as you said, that's the job you signed up for." Samuel thinks for a second, rubbing the fingers of his right hand together as some sort of nervous tick. "We ought to tell Doc about it; I doubt he'd be in much danger, but there's no guarantee they wouldn't try to force him out of the running."
"Need I remind you that just a few days ago, we killed some unnatural beast that'd made corpses stand up and attack us?" Samuel smirks at Claire, his normal attitude back, at least for the moment. "I'm not saying it doesn't sound insane, as it certainly does, but does it really surprise you at this point?
"I knew enough to call myself a Huckster, but... not much else, other than a bit of magic. The only other thing my father really taught me was, what did he call it? 'Dealing with the Devil', I think?" Samuel takes the card and holds it in his hand for a moment before placing it into one of his pockets. "As for this whole business, wouldn't you think Doc is better suited to dealing with this whole business than I am? Judging by how he's done so far, it seems that luck has certainly been on his side more than it has mine. I've barely managed to scrape my way into the next round, while Doc is the talk of the tournament." Samuel runs his fingers through his hair, exhaling heavily while he mulls over the offer. "If you want me, though, you have me. It's not as though I was intending to lose, after all."
"I... wouldn't know?" Samuel says, shrugging. "My father died just recently, he hadn't finished training me in the magic he knew so well; he'd never even taught me not to practice it in public since I spent so much time in the manor. If we worked for either side of, well, whatever it is you're talking about, he never once related it to me." Samuel scratches his head, thinking for a moment about anything that might be related. "I... don't know, honestly. But, if you know of a man named Gilligan Harris, whatever side he was on my father certainly wasn't. Truth be told, I'm surprised the man isn't here... or perhaps I just haven't seen him. The two hated each other with a passion, and I sincerely doubt that was some kind of front. Harris had my father killed, even if no one can prove it."
"But that's not important, is it? You want to know what side I'm on, not my father..." Samuel pulls the pack of cards from his vest, the ones embossed with his family's seal that he seems so fond of, and flicks the top of the deck's case open and shut. "I fight for what I think is right, ma'am, and as far as I can tell my morals and those of the Earps, and by extension Doc's, seem to line up well enough." Finally, Samuel snaps the case shut and holds it in his off-hand. "I'm guessing that if Doc sent me to talk to you, the both of you are wrapped up in this together. So, who do you work for, Lady Boyet?"
As Sam finished up his few rounds of cards, he finally approaches Lady Boyet, a confident grin on his face. "Miss Boyet, I believe? My name is Samuel Warren--you may have heard of my father, Gabriel Warren--and I believe we share a mutual acquaintance in good Doctor." As Samuel takes a sip from his glass, he gives a welcoming nod to Eddy. "And, I suppose we now share one in Mister Milford here, as well. We've been helping out the Earps with maintaining the peace and doling out justice... and Mister Holliday implied that I might have some talents you'd be interested in." With a snap of his fingers, a small green flame pops into existence in Lady Boyet's hand, obscured from the view of others by his own body, and it disappears just as quickly.
"I admit, my father did not teach me everything he knew... I have never known that so well as I do now, but nonetheless I was encouraged to make your acquaintance." Samuel takes another swig from his glass, leaning closer as his voice becomes quieter. "If Doctor Holliday is right... perhaps we might be able to talk more about this a bit more in depth?"
Sam starts off the tournament quite well, easily getting past the preliminary round and winning his first hand with a straight flush. He rounds out the next with a solid hand on a pair of Queens, feeling quite pleased with himself. As he continues, however, he barely manages to hide his dread as his best hand is a pair of twos. While it certainly took a bit of luck, he manages to bluff his opponent into folding, before revealing his hand with a smirk. His next round doesn't go very well, and he folds fairly quickly. Finally, he ends up with nothing but an Ace high, but somehow manages to bluff his way into breaking even for the hand.
So, as I've mentioned a lot of other places (so most of you have probably seen this) I was in a really bad car accident. I'll be doing my best to keep up, but I'm on a tight schedule for another day or two before I have a lot of free time to devote to things I'd like to be doing, and then I've got a follow-up with my family doctor to make sure the hospital didn't miss anything important that might, you know, kill me or something.
Samuel is more than willing to help the muscle men stake their claim on the gold, and help foot the bill to pull it all out of the ground, if we're all so inclined. I'll go with what they want to do on that.
"Eddy, I'm a little more accustomed to the life of dealing with claims and things of that nature; if you'd like to stake a claim on that vein that we found, I'd be glad to help you deal with the paperwork, and even muster up the funds to get it all extracted." He grins as they talk about the tournament, cracking his knuckles. "While I appreciate the offer, I'm... quite well off myself, I can handle the fee for entry. It's actually why I'm here in town, or one of the reasons at any rate." He takes a look out towards the country, evidently thinking about whatever else brought him here to town, but doesn't seem inclined to mention it much.
At the tournament...
Samuel notices Doc amongst those in the crowd, and waves a hand as he approaches the other gambler. After explaining some pleasantries, he motions to Holliday to follow him, wanting to speak in private. "Doc, you mentioned there were some people who might... want to speak with me? I'm guessing when you were talking about being good at cards, I'm guessing playing a mean hand of poker wasn't what you meant." He pulls the deck of cards from his vest pocket, the lid popping itself open with a flick of green lightning, not unlike a lighter. "You meant something more like this?"
Samuel does in fact enter the tournament, by the way.
"That's... very kind of you. Isabelle told me I ought to have hired bodyguards before I left, actually; and news of the Cowboys hasn't made it anywhere near Boston! She'll be positively speechless when she hears I was involved in not one, but two shootouts... I certainly didn't expect this to be quite so exciting of a trip." Samuel grins, chuckling a bit under his breath. His hands shuffle a deck of cards between them as he guides the horse with his knees, the cards tumbling from hand to hand in a difficult-to-follow display. "It certainly hasn't been dull, I'll tell you that."
"How interesting, Eddy..." Samuel says, clearly distracted in his own right. "Obviously I've never had, well, any kind of adventure like that. But on the subject of gorgeous redheads, I've got a story of my own. My father made a living on a lot of things, but one of them was gambling. When I was younger I would stay with my mother when he traveled for tournaments--not unlike the one coming up here in Tombstone--but as I grew older and my sister fell ill, it was easier for me to travel with him than to be a burden to my mother at home." Samuel smiles, likely remembering fond times with his family. "My father had begun to teach me to gamble, and I played my first tournament with him in New York several years ago. A man like my father makes a lot of enemies, and he was no exception; Gilligan Harris was a rival of my father's, and a horrible man. He had lied and cheated his way into a fortune, and had clashed with my father on numerous occasions, I assume because he made his living as an honest man."
"Gilligan had a daughter, a young woman named Isabelle. She was a beauty, but of course the two of us had more or less never spoken, because of the enmity between our parents. We first met that time in New York, my father and Harris in a horrid argument. He challenged Gilligan that I could beat him in a game of poker, and Gilligan was so sure he'd have me beat that he said I could name whatever prize I wished." Samuel grins sheepishly, his face reddening a bit. He runs one hand through his hair as he shrugs, continuing his story. "Well, I had now spent the better part of an hour talking with his daughter, and I daresay I'd fallen for her; I said my prize would be her hand in marriage. When it came time to play, luck hadn't been on my side. But, on the final hand, my luck turned! A royal flush! Naturally, I went all-in, knowing I had the hand. Gilligan, either believing me to be bluffing or confident he had the better hand, took the bait. He was furious when he lost, threatening to shoot me and my father, calling us cheats and scoundrels... a threat he made good on, eventually." Sam looks forlorn for a moment, both his hands sitting heavily on the neck of his steed. "Of course, my father insisted the deal be honored, and his daughter and I were married. She's waiting for me at home, even now; I can only imagine her face when I tell her of what we've gotten mixed up in."
"I... well, I do have some business to take care of out of town," Samuel says, with some trepidation. "But I don't believe it'd be too far from there. I have to deal with some property business on behalf of my father; it's why I came here in the first place. Well, that and the poker tournament. However, I couldn't tell you in good faith I wasn't a bit curious. I'll give you a hand as well, when do we leave?"
Samuel quickly reshuffles his deck of cards, pulling them all into one hand. He moves forward into the crowd of Cowboys, his hands glowing full of magical energy. He starts to draw one card before thinking better of it, and instead fans the whole deck out in his hands before chucking it into the crowd, the remaining fifty or so cards discharging the arcane static that clung to them as they sliced through clothes and skin. "You should have surrendered when you had the chance!" Samuel yells, already drawing another deck from his vest.
Combat Rolls:
Spellcasting:1d8 ⇒ 8 Spellcasting; Ace:1d8 ⇒ 7 Wild:1d6 ⇒ 3 Total of 15.
Damage:2d10 ⇒ (1, 9) = 10 Damage:1d6 ⇒ 3
Casting Burst, and positioning myself so as many Cowboys are in the cone as possible. I'm unsure of whether or not a raise on this Spellcasting roll deals extra damage; if so, I rolled it separately. Regardless, all Cowboys caught in this flurry need to roll Agility versus a 15.
Biff, you'd roll 3d6 if you're spending 6 PP; it's only three if you keep it at 2d6 per bolt.
Samuel, rifle still at his back, shuffles his deck of playing cards from hand to hand, fingers of green static crackling between them. As bullets start to fly, he flicks three of the cards into his right hand, now fully engulfed with eldritch lightning. "Would you look at that? Three of a kind!" he says, fanning the cards out before whipping them through the air, one each for a different Cowboy. Two are sent spiraling for their own targets as well, but one cuts a wide arc and threatens to slice open one of the ruffians whom Biff attacked just previously.
Samuel takes his Winchester in hand, but soon slings it over his shoulder as he pulls the more intricate deck of cards from his vest pocket and shuffles them together. "Virgil, are you certain there's no other way we could handle this? I know these men are dangerous, but perhaps I could talk to them..." Samuel shrugs, gesturing to the cards in his hand."I'm not unskilled with words, and if they're being paid... well, it might be I could offer them more."
"Biff, I'm... actually, I'm positively certain that isn't how that works. I'm no doctor, but I'm fairly certain that can't be good for your brain." Samuel says, picking up a cue for the game of pool. "My father was always better at this than me, but I'd say I'm a fair shot. As for those two fellows in the alleyway, I doubt they mean to start anything now. But I doubt they're very happy with us, after all that business with Clanton. Watching us, deciding on their next move, I'd bet."
"Should we... do something? I mean, these two look like they have it well in hand, but..." Samuel peeks around the corner at Clanton, keeping his derringer in his vest. "Claire, follow me. Maybe we can calm him down, get him to lower than gun long enough that those two can get the drop on him." Without waiting for much of a response, Sam walks out from around the corner slowly, hands raised to show he isn't a threat. A pack of playing cards is held openly in one hand, but it's obvious he isn't brandishing any weapons.
"Whoa there, friend! Why don't you stop waving that rifle around, scaring the townsfolk. This isn't any way to try and deal with Holliday, no matter how he wronged you. All this'll do is bring the law down on you, and I don't see a way to get even with Holliday from inside a jail cell." If Clanton doesn't otherwise threaten to shoot him, Sam moves a bit closer, hands still raised. "Just put that thing down, and go deal with Holliday when you're good and sober. You wouldn't want drink to rob you of your revenge, would you?"
"Somehow I doubt I'd be of much use with that... but if he starts shooting it's likely better for us if I've something to return the favor with." Samuel slides his derringer into the pocket of his vest, and pulls out a pack of playing cards, absentmindedly shuffling the deck between his hands as he waits for the others. "If those two want to try their hand at beating the poor fool down, I welcome them; likely better than starting a shoot-out in the middle of town."
Samuel dusts himself off after slamming two of the thugs out into the streets, and straightens the tie still around his neck. "Err... my apologies, I think something got the better of me there." He listens as Wyatt and the other discuss the Cowboys, nodding at Claire's assertion. "They seem awfully fond of fights, don't they? I have a feeling they'll be looking for any excuse to start something with us... especially now that we've thrown in our lot with the law," he continues, motioning towards Wyatt again. "Not that I'd do it differently a second time around, but I doubt they'll take kindly to us after that."
Samuel takes a wild swing for another man with his fist, but just barely misses the man with his punch. He squares off into the best fighting stance he can muster, but isn't much one for being up close and personal. He keeps his hands up in front of his face, hoping he'll manage to hold off anyone who comes in for another swing.
If no one objects, I'll use a banked raise to get rid of that complication.
Samuel, still unsure of what to do since his first successful shot from a bottle, opts to grab a stool from the bar and swing it wildly over his head. Unfortunately, it shows pretty clearly that Samuel's never been in a bar fight, and his only accomplishment is narrowly avoiding taking out part of the Oriental's door frame with the seat of the stool.
Sam remains quiet the remainder of the ride into Tombstone, mostly fiddling with his decks of cards; either shuffling them or playing a one-man card game by himself at night. Lost in thought, he walks with the rest of a group almost in a daze, until finally ending up at the Oriental. He doesn't register them asking for his guns for a moment, focused on the man sitting towards the back. 'Doc Holiday? This tournament just got a lot more interesting... I'll have to deal with the land before I get caught up in all this.' Shaking his head, he hands his rifle and derringer over to the bartender, then gives him a polite nod.
"In all truth, just a glass of water for me. I have a land deal I'll need to see to some time later today, and it's probably best I'm not drinking beforehand." He gestures with his head back towards the door as the Earp brothers leave. "Speaking of which, if I wasn't sober I'd think I was seeing things. Why of all people is Wyatt Earp dealing cards here in Tombstone?"
Samuel recoils in horror as the beast plummets from the ceiling and tears deep into Eddy's flesh, but manages to compose himself long enough draw three of the razor edged playing cards and send three flying towards the beast. One of the three glances off the creature's hide, but the other two slam full-force into it, the green light dissipating in a large explosion of arcane power. "Don't worry! I've got you!" he shouts as he moves to draw more cards from his deck if the beast isn't put down.
"Then let's flush it out, then. Like... a boar hunt, right? A giant, insectoid boar hunt. Right." Samuel brings his rifle up again, moving towards the cave. "We shouldn't fight it out in the open... we'll need to draw it out." Samuel looks about for a moment, before gingerly picking up the corpse of one of the spider-like creatures. He holds it away from himself, before chucking it underhand as far into the cave as he can muster, hoping the death of its offspring will have the creature leave its lair.
"If that doesn't work... who wants to lure it out?"
I know the "standard" trapping is acupuncture, but I was imagining acu"punch"er. They take one good look at the wound, size it up, and give it a good whallop until it decides it's had enough punishment and just seals back up.
Samuel goes to retrieve the playing card now speared through the corpse's chest, wiping it off before placing it back in the deck. "Neither am I, I'm afraid. My mother once taught me some first aid when I was younger, but I'm afraid whatever I once remembered is long since gone." Samuel stares at the entrance to the cave, and takes a step towards it ahead of the others. "Claire's right, the mother must be inside. We need to be careful in there, or we'll be in real trouble. These creatures were bad enough, I can't imagine one being all grown up..."
Watching one of the corpses give Eddy a devestating wound, Samuel quickly pulls the set of fancier playing cards from his coat, flipping open the lid and sending a single card whizzing towards the creature's torso. Crackling with arcane energy, the card slams with unnatural force into the corpse's midsection, the crackling green aura surrounding it exploding with light. "Where's the beast that escaped the train? Something this small couldn't rip a man in half..."
Combat Rolls:
Spellcasting:1d8 ⇒ 3 Wild:1d6 ⇒ 5 Total of 5.
Damage:3d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 6) = 14 Damage; Ace:1d6 ⇒ 3 Total of 17.
