Posts
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Dragon's Dogma: Goblins
Copyright 2012 Capcom. We eats when we wants and sleeps when we're tired of eating! - Goblin MottoThis post is part of a series converting Dragon’s Dogma enemies to GURPS Dungeon Fantasy. Please go here for links to all other posts in the series.
In the last post we saw that Gransys has a serious bandit problem, but it’s not nearly as bad as its goblin problem. A lone goblin is not much of a threat to anyone trained in fighting, but they’re never alone! The danger posed by a force of goblins grows out of proportion to their individual might, as they quickly organize themselves under the leadership of “goblin kings”.
Despite this, they don’t have anything resembling a complex culture: there’s no goblin language, and “goblin art” is almost an oxymoron. Goblins live in mountain caves and obtain most of their complex tools by stealing them from humans. A goblin king is simply a goblin who’s smarter or stronger than usual and who manages to browbeat a group of his fellows into obeying. Capable enough monarchs soon find themselves in command of a small army, and might manage to even enslave larger monsters such as cyclopes. Much of the Duke’s strategy with those centrally-controlled border fortresses aims to protect Gransys from goblin raids originating in the mountain chains west of the duchy.
Smaller groups are everywhere within Gransys, operating like more chaotic bandits. Despite their common interests, goblins and human bandits don’t get along well - goblins are just as happy to attack them as they are to attack civilians.
Goblin
Your average goblin is a small humanoid with reddish skin, pointy ears and teeth, and cat-like eyes. They’re rarely more than about five feet tall, and their intellect is nothing to write home about. They use improvised or scavenged weapons.
Racial Template (-51 points)
Attribute Modifiers: IQ-2 {-40}; HT+1 {10}.
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM -1; Basic Move -1 {-5}
Advantages: Infravision {10}; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards +3 {10}; Teeth (Sharp) {1}; Giant Weapons 1 {1}.
Disadvantages: Appearance Ugly {-8}; Bully (12) {-10}; Cowardice (12) {-10}; Laziness {-10};
Goblin Rabble
These are typical representatives of the goblin stereotype. They live in caves or crude camps and love to rob and torment passing travelers. One of them is still a credible threat to an unarmed civilian, and they always come in large numbers.
ST 10; DX 11; IQ 8; HT 11
SM -1; Dodge 8; Parry 9U (light mace); DR 0;
HP 10; Will 8; Per 8; FP 11
Basic Speed 5.5; Move 5.
- Cheap Small Mace (12): 1d+2 cr.
- Punch (10): 1d-3 cr.
- Grapple (10): Uses Wrestling.
Traits: As per the Goblin racial template.
Class: Mundane.
Equipment: Cheap small mace, rags.
Hobgoblin
These are much bigger and stronger than normal goblins. It’s unknown whether they are a separate species or not, but a group of them can often be found bossing smaller goblins around. Hobgoblins are more sophisticated than their smaller, lazier cousins: they can make their own equipment and are more skilled and disciplined in combat. Despite this, individuals aren’t all that smarter than normal goblins.
Racial Template (-6 points)
Attribute Modifiers: ST+2 {20}, IQ-2 {-40}; HT+1 {10}
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will+2 {10}; Per +2 {10}
Advantages: Infravision {10}; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards +3 {10}; Teeth (Fangs) {2}
Disadvantages: Appearance Ugly {-8}; Bully (12) {-10}; Bloodlust (12) {-10}; Sadism {-10};
Hobgoblin Grunt
The hobgoblin rank and file are more enthusiastic about fighting than common goblins. They roam in small bands, sometimes with an accompanying gaggle of goblins. They use swords, shields and mail armor of hobgoblin make. Their overall behavior is more in line with that of human bandits than common goblins, but they consider human bandits to be prey like any other human.
ST 14; DX 11; IQ 8; HT 13
SM 0; Dodge 9 (10); Parry 10 (11) (sword); Block 10 (11); DR 4/2*.
HP 14; Will 10; Per 10; FP 13;
Basic Speed 6; Move 6.
- Cheap Thrusting Broadsword (14): 2d+1 cut or 1d+2 imp.
- Shield Bash (14): 1d cr.
- Grapple (14): Uses Wrestling. Effective ST 16.
Class: Mundane.
Traits: As per Hobgoblin racial template.
Equipment: Cheap thrusting broadsword, mail armor, small shield.
Variants
Not all goblins are average! The sample enemies given above are the equivalent of humans built with the 62-point templates in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen. Exceptional individuals built with the Brute, Skirmisher or Killer 125-point templates and one of the racial templates above are relatively common, and the variations below may also be found.
Goblin King
This is a remarkably intelligent member of the species, able to forge the usual goblin rabble into a more efficient fighting force. Raise IQ by 2+, add one or more levels of Born War Leader and the skills covered by that talent. The smarter and more talented the king, the larger the force they can command! Really strong kings might be built with the Knight template from DF 1.
Goblin Mage
Some exceptional goblins delve into the arcane arts rather than contenting themselves with brute force. Minor shamans with IQ 11, Magery 1 and around 10 spells are as likely to lead small goblin bands as a king. More powerful examples exist as part of larger communities or deep in the mountains. Build them with the Apprentice or Wizard templates.
Grimgoblins
These terrible creatures hint at the true origin of goblins. They look like an albino version of normal goblins or hobgoblins, but are much more dangerous than either! Most people have never seen one, and think they are a myth. The coming of the Dragon will make them see their error.
Build a normal goblin or hobgoblin first, using any of the templates and variations above. Change Class to Demon. Raise ST by 5, DX and HT by 2, combat skills by 2 or more. Change Resistant to Metabolic Hazards to Immunity to Metabolic Hazards. Grim Kings and Mages are proportionally smarter and more dangerous as well.
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Pathfinder Iconics in Dungeon Fantasy: Sajan
Welcome back to our series of conversions of Pathfinder’s Iconic Characters to GURPS Dungeon Fantasy! This is the eighth post in the series. Previous entries can be found here:
- Amiri the Barbarian
- Lem the Bard
- Kyra the Cleric
- Lini the Druid
- Seelah the Paladin
- Valeros the Fighter
- Harsk the Ranger
Now, this should really have been the seventh post in the series, as the Martial Artist template comes before Scout. In any case, we’ll address it today, which means our character is Sajan. Here he is:
By Wayne Reynolds, Copyright 2008 Paizo Publishing I think he looks kinda awesome. Anyway, his bio and his official stats give us the following information:
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He was born in Vudra, his world’s India analogue, where he was a member of the warrior caste along with his beloved twin sister Sajni. Even after they were posted to separate barracks at the age of 12 they still met regularly to spar and hang out.
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Sajni was given away as part of a peace agreement, and Sajan ran after her. He tracked her down to Absalom, his world’s “big cosmopolitan city”, and has been looking for her since.
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As a monk he’s quite acrobatic and prefers to rely on his flurry of blows in combat. He might also grapple or trip opponents with his hooked “temple sword” if that’s more tactically advantageous.
The biggest difficulty I see in building Sajan as a DF Martial Artist is that his Pathfinder version uses unarmed strikes a lot more often than the sword, and those are harder to make effective in GURPS. My version of him has a bigger focus on the temple sword, which I statted up as a khopesh from Low-Tech. As a Weapon Master, he can cause quite a bit of damage with swings, and he’s almost as skilled with grapples and unarmed strikes. The gauntlets help him punch armed and armored opponents without hurting his hands. Sajan’s special skills cover many of the abilities d20 Monks have, as well. His very limited equipment loadout means I didn’t need to spend any character points for extra starting cash!
Sajan, 250-point Human Martial Artist
ST 11 {10}; DX 16 {120}; IQ 10 {0}; HT 12 {20}
Damage 1d/2d-1; BL 12.1kg; HP 11; Will 11 {5}; Per 10; FP 12; Basic Speed 7.00; Basic Move 8 {5}
Advantages
- Chi Talent 2 {30}
- Striking ST 2 (Chi, -10%) {9}
- Super Jump 1 (Chi, -10%) {9}
- Trained by a Master {30}
- Weapon Master (Temple Sword) {20}
Disadvantages
- Disciplines of Faith (Chi Rituals) {-10}
- Honesty (12) {-10}
- No Sense of Humor {-10}
- Obsession (12) (Find my sister) {-10}
- Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) {-5}
- Vow (Vegetarianism) {-5}
Skills
- Acrobatics (H) DX-1 {2} - 15
- Broadsword (A) DX+1 {4} - 17
- Climbing (A) DX-1 {1} - 15
- Fast-Draw (Shuriken) (E) DX {1} - 16
- Judo (H) DX {4} - 16
- Jumping (E) DX {1} - 16
- Karate (H) DX {4} - 16
- Meditation (H) Will-1 {2} - 10
- Running (A) HT-1 {1} - 11
- Stealth (A) DX-1 {1} - 15
- Tactics (H) IQ {4} - 10
Special Skills
All include +2 from Chi Talent
- Flying Leap (H) IQ+1 {2} - 11
- Immovable Stance (H) DX+1 {2} - 17
- Parry Missile Weapons (H) DX+1 {2} - 17
- Power Blow (H) Will+1 {2} - 12
- Pressure Points (H) IQ+1 {2} - 11
- Push (H) DX+1 {2} - 17
- Throwing Art (H) DX+1 {2} - 17
- Body Control (VH) HT {2} - 12
Loadout
$710, 10kg. No encumbrance!
- Ordinary Clothing [Torso, Limbs]: Free, 1kg.
- Cloth Armor [Torso]: DR 1*. $30, 3kg.
- Cloth Sleeves [Arms]: DR 1*. $20, 1kg.
- Leather Leggings [Legs]: DR 1*. $40, 1kg.
- Gauntlets [Hands]: DR 4; $100, 1kg.
- Shoes [Feet]: DR 1*. $40, 1kg.
- Belt Pouch [Torso]: Holds 1.5kg of small items.
- Star Shuriken x5 [Pouch]: Damage thr-1 cut. $15, 0.25kg.
- Spike Shuriken x5 [Pouch]: Damage thr-2 imp. $15, 0.25kg.
- Temple Sword [Torso]: As a khopesh from Low-Tech. Damage sw+1 cut or thr-2 imp; Parry 0U; can hook enemies. $450, 1.5kg.
- $290 in coin.
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Dragon's Dogma: Human Enemies
Copyright 2012 Capcom. This post is part of a series on converting Dragon’s Dogma enemies to GURPS Dungeon Fantasy. Please go here for links to all other posts in the series. The first “monster family” I’m covering here is good old humanity! You might say they’re not monsters, but you should see what they get up to from time to time.
Joking aside, human opposition can be easily built using the 62- and 125-point templates from DF 15, or the full PC templates from the other books for leaders or particularly skilled individuals. The ready-made henchthing templates from Mirror of the Fire Demon are also appropriate.
Human opponents come in several forms, with the most common discussed below. The writeups focus on combat skills and tactics - feel free to add any other skills and traits appropriate to the specific characters you wish to include in your games.
Bandits
A bandit or brigand is someone who hides out in the wilderness and makes a living robbing passing travelers. People can turn to banditry for a variety of reasons. Some are civilians made destitute by a natural disaster and see no other option. Some have been convicted of crimes that would see them dead anyway if they showed their face anywhere civilized. Some, like Robin Hood’s merry men, might use banditry as a way to undermine a ruler they oppose. And some just like killing people and taking their stuff.
Bandits are never encountered alone - they always bring a few buddies to better shank you with. While usually not very skilled as individuals, they’re clever about picking their battles and only attack when they think they can win. Bandit gangs range from a handful of thugs living in a small forest camp to a large and well-organized unit in a fortified position. These hidden bases are always relatively close to a road or settlement, which provides the gang with their main source of targets.
Unless a victim looks important enough to be worth ransoming, Gransys bandits don’t usually take prisoners. The dead tell no tales! If a potential victim looks too tough to take on, they either leave or try to negotiate if that is not an option.
The three largest bandit gangs in Gransys are the Iron Hammers, who occupy the ruins of Aernst Castle to the south; the all-female Labrys Bandits who occupy the ruins of Heavenspeak Castle to the northwest; and a large but nameless band of smugglers holed up in the canyons between Windbluff and Bluemoon towers.
Bandit Strider
Most bandits are archers or light skirmishers. They prefer to shoot at targets from high ground and will only draw their swords as a last resort. They are usually fodder, though more powerful examples exist.
ST 12; DX 11; IQ 10; HT 12
Dodge 9; Parry 8 (shortsword); DR 2.
HP 12; Will 10; Per 12; FP 12;
Basic Speed 6; Move 6.
- Bow (13): 1d imp. Acc 2.
- Cheap Shortsword (11): 1d imp or 1d+2 cut.
Traits: Callous, Code of Honor (Pirate’s), Greed.
Class: Mundane.
Equipment: Regular bow, hip quiver with 20 arrows, Medium Hardened Leather armor, cheap shortsword.
Bandit Bouncer
These hardier sorts prefer the personal touch. Their job is to keep the targets too busy to get to the archers and spellcasters. They are usually worthies.
ST 14; DX 13; IQ 10; HT 12
Dodge 10 (11); Parry 10 (11) (broadsword); DR 3 (2 vs crushing).
HP 14; Will 10; Per 10; FP 12;
Basic Speed 6; Move 6.
- Cheap Thrusting Broadsword (15): 1d+2 imp or 2d+1 cut.
- Shield Slam (15): 1d cr.
Traits: Combat Reflexes, High Pain Threshold, Bully, Bloodlust, Code of Honor (Pirate’s), Greed.
Class: Mundane.
Equipment: Cheap thrusting broadsword, small shield (DB 1), Jack of Plates, leather pot-helm.
Bandit Caster
The brains of the outfit, they hang back with the archers and cast debilitating spells. They are usually worthies.
ST 10; DX 11; IQ 14; HT 11
Dodge 8; Parry 11 (Staff).
HP 10; Will 13; Per 12; FP 12;
Basic Speed 5; Move 5.
- Staff (12): 1d+2 cr. Enchanted with the Staff spell.
- Fireball (14): 1d or 2d burning, costs 1 or 2 FP.
Spells: Itch-14, Spasm-14, Clumsiness-14, Hinder-14, Debility-14, Create Fire-14, Shape Fire-14, Fireball-14, Foolishness-14, Daze-14.
Class: Mundane.
Traits: Magery 2, Psychic Guidance (fireball), Bully, Callous, Code of Honor (Pirate’s), Greed.
Guards and Soldiers
These make up the rank-and-file of an organized fighting force. Most are retainers in the service of a noble or wealthy merchant. They can also be mercenaries, working for anyone who can pay their fee. The latter aren’t very popular in Gransys, and are more common in other nations.
They’re built much like bandits, but tend to have better gear and slightly higher combat skills.
Marksman
Marksmen use crossbows, and are trained to form firing lines and fire en masse. In smaller battles they keep their distance and focus on high-value targets like magicians.
ST 13; DX 13; IQ 10; HT 11
Dodge 9; Parry 9 (Shortsword); DR 4/2*
HP 13; Will 10; Per 10; FP 11;
Basic Speed 6; Move 6
- Crossbow (15): 1d+4 imp. Acc 4.
- Shortsword (13): 1d+1 imp or 2d-1 cut.
Traits: Acute Vision 2; Night Vision 2; Duty (to lord).
Class: Mundane.
Equipment: Mail Armor, Steel Pot Helm, Shorstsword, Crossbow, Quiver with 20 bolts.
Halberdier
Trained in polearm fighting, these soldiers emply short halberds that are equally useful on and off the battlefield.
ST 14; DX 12; IQ 10; HT 12
Dodge 10; Parry 11 (Dueling Halberd); DR 5 (torso); 4/2* (elsewhere).
HP 14; Will 10; Per 10; FP 12;
Basic Speed 6; Move 6.
- Dueling Halberd (16): 2d+4 cut or 1d+3 imp or 2d+3 imp.
Traits: Combat Reflexes, Duty (to Lord).
Class: Mundane.
Equipment: Dueling halberd, steel breastplate, mail sleeves and leggings, steel pot-helm.
Support Mage
This spell caster focuses on bolstering and healing their allies.
ST 9; DX 10; IQ 14; HT 12;
Dodge 8; Parry 11 (staff).
HP 9; Will 14; Per 12; FP 15;
Basic Speed 5.5; Move 5.
- Staff (12): 1d+1 cr. Enchanted with the Staff spell.
Spells: Shield-14; Armor-14; Missile Shield-14; Lend Energy-14; Might-14; Minor Healing-14; Major Healing-14; Haste-14; Glue-14; Grease-14;
Traits: Magery 2, Duty (to Lord);
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Dragon's Dogma: Enemies Overview
Copyright 2012 Capcom. By now we have a pretty complete picture of what the PCs in a GURPS Dragon’s Dogma look like. They can use almost any default Dungeon Fantasy template, or choose to be Magic Archers and Mystic Knights. They can be normal humans, or Pawns and Arisen. They can equip themselves with a variety of gear and they can use a unique form of alchemy to make that gear more powerful. And we know they’ll spend quite a bit of time fighting a variety of enemies and relieving them of their treasure. But exactly who are these enemies? This is what we’ll examine in the next few articles!
The original game has a huge variety of interesting monsters to fight, and this is something I feel a GURPS adaptation should strive to match. In true JRPG fashion, they are divided into several “families” defined by what model they use, and you meet more powerful members of those families as you progress in the game. Those are a good starting point for organizing the monsters and defining how to split them among future articles. After looking at the spoilerific Bestiary entry in the Dragon’s Dogma wiki and rearranging things a bit, we come to the following list:
- Humans
- Goblins
- Wolves
- Saurians
- Undead
- Eyes
- Gargoyles
- Harpies
- Cyclopes
- Chimerae
- Ogres
- Gryphons and Cockatrices
- Golems
- Hydras
- Lesser Dragons
These entries are written in the order I’ll tackle each of them. The idea is to include GURPS stats for all members of that monster family, either as full stat blocks or as variants for a basic stat block. They will also include some information on where the monster can be found in Gransys and what impact its existence has in our adaptation’s setting. As articles are written for each entry, I’ll come back to this post and add the proper links.
It’s important to note that these aren’t the only monsters that exist in the setting, just the ones that show up on the original game. Anything could be lurking in those dungeons! The GM is free to include additional monsters from the DF line or other sources, or to use these in a generic DF setting.
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Pathfinder Iconics in Dungeon Fantasy: Harsk
Welcome back to our series of conversions of Pathfinder’s Iconic Characters to GURPS Dungeon Fantasy! This is the seventh post in the series. Previous entries can be found here:
- Amiri the Barbarian
- Lem the Bard
- Kyra the Cleric
- Lini the Druid
- Seelah the Paladin
- Valeros the Fighter
Today’s template is the Scout which means’s that today’s character is Harsk. Here he is:
By Wayne Reynolds, Copyright 2008 Paizo Publishing Just Look at all that compressed rage! His bio does give him plenty to be angry about. Harsk’s official stats are here. From these we can learn the following:
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Harsk is a Dwarf from Varisia, a “wild frontier” region that doesn’t have any blatant ties to real-world cultures. He was a bit of an outsider to his own stereotypically Dwarven community, and appointed himself a keeper of justice in the wild places after his brother was killed by raiding giants.
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He carries his brother’s axe with him, but his preferred weapon is a heavy crossbow he made himself. Understandably, he has giants as a favored enemy and gains bonuses to fight them.
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He’s skilled in wilderness survival, particularly in mountains, and very perceptive.
This puts us in something of a pickle. DF Scouts are excellent at shooting bows, but Harsk’s preferred weapon is the crossbow. While that’s much more in line with the dwarven idiom, it’s not supported by the standard Scout template in DF 1. I’m still going to use that template as a base, but I’ll need to range a bit further afield when looking for the right advantages. More specifically, the Heroic Crossbowman advantage and the Quick Reload perk, summarized below for ease of reference.
Heroic Crossbowman (20 points)
This is just like Heroic Archer, but for crossbows instead of bows. It gives the same benefits (Acc without an Aim maneuver, eliminates Bulk penalty, halved Fast-Draw and Quick-Shooting penalties), and also give access to perks from GURPS Gun Fu which make sense for crossbows. This advantage wasn’t explicitly written out anywhere that I could find, but it’s trivially derived from Heroic Archer.
Quick Reload (1 point)
This perk is from GURPS Gun Fu, which details its workings for various types of guns. The crossbow version of this perk requires Heroic Crossbowman and allows you to reload a crossbow in one turn with a successful Fast-Draw (Arrow) roll. You can use the quick-shooting rules from the description of Heroic Archer in DF 1, p. 14 to attempt to fire your crossbow every turn!
With these traits in hand, statting Harsk up is fairly easy. Being a Scout, he lacks the spells of his original version, but he scarcely needs them when he can rely on his incredible marksdwarfship. Harsk’s increased Lifting ST from being a Dwarf also allow him to carry a beefier crossbow, and to be one of the only iconics so far who is at No Encumbrance while carrying his full kit.
Harsk, 250-point Dwarf Scout
ST 13 {30}; DX 14 {80}; IQ 11 {20}; HT 13 {20}1
Damage 1d/2d-1; BL 22.5kg; HP 13; Will 11; Per 14 {15}; FP 151; Basic Speed 7.00 {10}; Basic Move 61.
Advantages
- Alcohol Tolerance {0}1
- Damage Resistance 1 (Tough Skin) {0}1
- Dwarf {20}
- Dwarven Gear {0}1
- Heroic Crossbowman {20}
- Lifting ST 2 {0}1
- Mortal Foe (Giants) {5}
- Night Vision 5 {0}1
- Outdoorsman 2 {20}
- Pickaxe Penchant 1 {0}1
- Quick Reload (Crossbow) {1}
- Resistant to Poison +3 {0}1
Disadvantages
- Greed (12) {0}1
- Honesty (12) {-10}
- Intolerance (Giants) {-5}
- Loner (12) {-5}
- No Sense of Humor {-10}
- Odious Personal Habit (Dour & Gruff) {-5}
- Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) {-5}
- Stubborness {0}1
- Vow (Own no more than can be carried) {-10}
Skills
- Armoury (Missile Weapons) (A) IQ {2} - 11
- Axe/Mace (A) DX+1 {2}2 - 15
- Brawling (E) DX {1} - 14
- Camouflage (E) IQ+3 {2}3 - 14
- Cartography (A) IQ+1 {4} - 12
- Climbing (A) DX-1 {1} - 13
- Crossbow (E) DX+6 {20} - 20
- Fast-Draw (Arrow) (E) DX+1 {2} - 15
- First Aid (E) IQ {1} - 11
- Gesture (E) IQ+1 {2} - 12
- Hiking (A) HT {2} - 12
- Jumping (E) DX {1} - 14
- Mimicry (Bird Calls) (H) IQ+1 {2}3 - 12
- Navigation (Land) (A) IQ+1 {1}3 - 12
- Observation (A) Per {2} - 14
- Prospecting (A) IQ {1}2 - 11
- Shadowing (A) IQ+1 {4} - 12
- Stealth (A) DX-1 {1} - 13
- Survival (Mountain) (A) Per+1 {1}3 - 15
- Tracking (A) Per+2 {2}3 - 16
- Traps (A) IQ+1 {4} - 12
- Wrestling (A) DX-1 {1} - 13
Equipment
$1000.0, 21.75kg. No Encumbrance!
- Bolts x20 [Quiver]: $40, 1kg.
- Camouflaged Heavy Cloak [Torso]: DB 2. +1 to Stealth in wooded terrain. $150, 2.5kg.
- Hip Quiver [Torso]: Holds up to 20 bolts. $15, 0.5kg.
- Leather Jacket [Torso, Arms]: DR 1*. $50, 2kg.
- Crossbow [Torso]: ST 15. Damage 1d+5 pi. $150, 3kg.
- Ordinary Clothing [Torso, Limbs]: Free, 1kg.
- Dwarven Axe [Torso]: Damage sw+2 cut. $250, 2kg.
- Backpack, Small [Torso]: Holds 20kg of gear. $60, 1.5kg.
- Blanket [Backpack]: $20, 2kg.
- Canteen [Backpack]: $10, 1.5kg.
- Personal Basics [Backpack]: $5, 0.5kg.
- Rations x4 [Backpack]: $8, 1kg.
- Rope, 3/8” (10m) [Backpack]: Supports 150kg. $5, 0.75kg.
- Torch x2 [Backpack]: $6, 1kg.
- Tea Set [Backpack]: $7, 1.5kg.
- $224 in coin.
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