Part of the Bestiary for my solo Hell’s Rebels game.

The Lore

The book uses “dottari” both as a singular and a plural, but I kinda want to use “dottario” for the singular both because it fits the pseudo-Italian theming of Cheliax, and because it sounds like “otário” (fool/asshole) in Portuguese.

The dottari are Kintargo’s city guard, responsible for keeping the peace and enforcing the law. From what I see in the books Thrune barely had to do anything to get them to fall in line and begin collaborating on his fascist takeover. There were no big purges, he just replaced their commander with someone who didn’t keep their worst impulses in check.

This tells me your typical dottario has a personality very similar to that of your typical CCG Thug. The only difference between them is that the dottario made the cut to get into the guard and receive its training.

The Numbers

A dottari guard as seen on Scene 01, with equipment matching their role as riot cops. As this is quite heavy, we include some variants afterwards.

They will try to surround and outnumber their opponents, focusing on what they perceive to the the greatest threats and attempting to isolate them from any allies.

Dottari met on patrol will whistle for backup if outnumbered, unless they happen to be doing something even their bosses would not approve of. The higher the area’s general security level, the faster reinforcements will be to arrive.

Dottari Guard

ST 12; DX 11; IQ 10; HT 12;

Dodge 7 (9); Parry 9U (11U) (mace); Block 9 (11);

DR 3/1 in torso, 1 elsewhere.

HP 12; Will 10; Per 10; FP 12;

Speed 6.00; Move 3; SM 0;

  • Mace (13): 1d+4 cr; Reach 1.
  • Shield Bash (12): 1d-1 cr; Reach 1.

Class: Mundane.

Equipment: Light Mail shirt, mace, medium shield (DB 2), whistle, manacles. Medium Encumbrance.

Variants

Dottari Beat Cop: Remove the shield, leaving the dottario at Light Encumbrance with Move 4, Dodge 8, and no Defense Bonus to Dodge or Parry.

Dottari Archer: Add a short bow and a quiver with 12 arrows, and the following attack:

  • Short Bow (13): 1d-1 imp; Acc 1; Range 150/225.

Impressions

ADAB.

Dottari have middling offense when compared to a typical starting delver, but their defense is high enough to be annoying. That shield makes them succeed fairly often at their active defenses unless the PCs spend some effort to bypass it, or to otherwise inflict penalties on them. Feints, Deceptive Attacks, flanking, surprise, anything but facing a solid formation of them head-on.

Other good alternatives against them are stealth and mind-affecting magic, as their Per and Will are only average.