Longshot, a pirate turned bodyguard. After losing his crew due to a sea monster, Longshot finds himself protecting a young girl by the name of Buiflie. She became the leader of the Butterfree race on Insect island but is at constant war with the beedrill tribes located on the otherside of the island. Longshot does all he can to help her and protect her.
It doesn't really have to be modern. If you look at it from a purely technological point of view, rifles already existed from the late 15th century; it's true that compared to today's rifles they were very noisy, generated a lot of gunpowder smoke, were single-shot and required reloading (although the fact that it's a single-shot weapon is an advantage, as it fits better into the D&D system in a balanced way), used ball bullets, and didn't have a long range... but the effective range was up to 100 meters, and in expert hands even a little more (but the arquebus only had a range of up to 50 meters). At this point, they were more or less on par with the crossbows that existed, but I suppose they were already replacing them because loading the crossbow bolt required a great deal of strength (very strong soldiers had to use their legs/feet to do it), so the crossbow certainly had a fatigue and strength factor that gunpowder weapons didn't have. And regarding the "sniper" thing, it could very well simply refer to the fact that he added an analog scope or made the barrel much longer (a longer barrel provides more stability and better guidance for the bullet, making the shot more accurate and even allowing it to reach greater distances; just like with revolvers that could be fitted with a stock and barrel extension, as seen in the second film of the Dollars Trilogy, my favorite one).
But if we consider magic; in Pathfinder 1e (which is the system/setting I know best) there's a Wizard archetype/variant called "arcane gunslinger" who has a kind of rifle that's technically like an empty barrel that the wizard uses to fire their spells... something similar to an "arcane archer" who either deposits spells into arrows or whose arrows are actually spells. If something like that works in D&D, I think I heard that in 5e there are some Feats that increase range a lot... which would really make him a sniper. D&D has always made these weapons magical or connected to magic because that allows them to use an argument for limit or prohibit the use of these weapons by any character (just as they do with alchemists and their "grenades" or "molotov"). This way, ordinary people, Barbarians, or Fighters can't pick up and use that firearm or grenade, as that would unbalance the system. That's why D&D also imposes the artificial limitation of restricting alchemists to only being able to create a few potions, if they create more than that limit per level the first ones they created lose their magic and become mundane objects with no effect. Firearms can easily throw the whole system off balance. A 6-shot revolver can still be considered balanced, given that actions per turn increase with level, but I think a novice or even any person in quite short time could fire one of those two or three times in six seconds and be accurate at close range. However, with semi-automatic weapons, you can fire more than six shots in those six seconds, even at level 1, and maintain that for three turns if the pistol has a 20-shot capacity. Imagine the amount of damage if each shot is 1d6.
But real life is NOT balanced. Real life isn't a game; a single arrow, and especially a single bullet, can instantly kill anyone, regardless of whether they're level 1 or level 20 (it would be fine if everyone stayed at only 6 to 10 hit points). And anyone can fire a crossbow to do that. In that sense, Traveller RPG is much more realistic, since it doesn't limit which weapons you can buy/use, and your hit points don't increase with each level... the only limitation is the amount of money things cost.
It doesn't really have to be modern. If you look at it from a purely technological point of view, ri
You posted this a year ago, right? How has the story/campaign developed? I mean, because the description you gave sounds like it's from the beginning of that campaign. Has there ever been an ending, or what was the outcome the last time the story continued? Or is the campaign still ongoing? Also, that young girl, Buiflie... I suppose she's from that same insectoid race, but since you don't mention it, she might even be human, who knows? Which leads me to ask: Was the campaign a single-player one or did you have a group with you?
Also, I just realized your name is "Bear" but you created a raven/crow? Strange... XD Anyway, I myselft have the image of a mouse but in D&D-like worlds I almost always create kobolds X3
You posted this a year ago, right? How has the story/campaign developed? I mean, because the descrip
I get it; he works as a blacksmith now, it's the old "opened a bookstore," "opened a tavern," "opened a magic item shop" thing, right? I mean, he retired. Well, it's always possible the campaign will end in TPK/death, right? So it's perhaps not a dramatic ending, but a happy and discreet one.
I found your character because I started looking around to see what other members of the community had done with kenku/tengu out of curiosity because I'm preparing the start of a campaign and a friend is going to create one of these guys. I think his Class will ultimately be melee Ranger, but, you know about the Pathfinder 1e archetypes?, I think what best suits him, the plot, and environments is a somewhat homebrew mix of three Ranger archetypes, taking advantage of the clear modularity between them. Perhaps later I'll share the contribution here as a way of leaving the footprint.
I get it; he works as a blacksmith now, it's the old "opened a bookstore," "opened a tavern," "opene
Well, Longshot was one of the first characters I made for DnD. That campaign ended abruptly for me unfortunately and I coulnd't complete his story there. He was a powerful sniper. He was in search of a legendary artifact that could help his people fly again. However it was protected by a powerful sea monster. He was kidnapped by pirates and forced to become one himself, his crew ended up dead. He was kicked out of his second family, that DnD campaign, He ended up going to another island where he found this small girl who was being attacked by Beedrill mechs, he saved her and has protecting her ever sense. Then a group of adventurers came and helped him and Buiflie around 10 years later. He picked up blacksmithing after seeing the farmer bugs needing weapons, he's able to mimic and create what he's seen so basic weapons and armors were easy for him to produce. Now, the newest campaign, he continues to make weapons for people. He put his prized sniper up and learned and eventually mastered how to make weapons properly. This is roughly 5 years after that war between the Beedrills and Butterflies. He's still a very skilled sniper but he doesn't fight anymore.
Well, Longshot was one of the first characters I made for DnD. That campaign ended abruptly for me u
That sounded like a pretty complete milestone count of his adventure life.
So, his last moment, the present, is 15 years after arriving on the Insectoid Island? Or are those 5 years you mentioned at the end something that happened in between, making it 10 years from his arrival on the island to the present? His adventures before settling on Buiflie's Island were quite striking: a quest for a legendary artifact that was supposed to help the Kenku fly? (now I understand the phrase written in the image, and I think I read somewhere that the Kenku have a belief/religion that they use to explains they don't have wings because a god took them away as punishment?). A powerful sea monster. But his quest was interrupted when he was captured by pirates... but after that, did he simply forget about the mission he had set for himself? I understand he got involved in other things, but after at least a decade on that island... I mean, if he started working as a blacksmith instead of continuing to be an efficient sniper or taking on insectoid apprentices to teach blacksmithing, then I suppose the war or the danger isn't as intense anymore, right? Hasn't he considered returning to that mission he set out to do at the beginning, or does he just feel too old now?
Besides, all those adventures seem like a quite some time has passed and he ended up as a relevant figure, being a bodyguard to a... kind of a queen, right? Depending on the size of the island, I suppose. But on the other hand, it seems like he end up being mostly just a blacksmith... that sounds like a low-level job for someone who was a queen's personal bodyguard. Was the campaign like structured with one adventure per level, so after five adventures, he was only level 5? The fact that weapons and armor wasn't very good at first but they were towards the end fits with him being around level 5 or 6.
That sounded like a pretty complete milestone count of his adventure life. So, his last moment, the
Well it depends on the timeline. Right now, he hasn't forgotten his dream to help his people fly again, however he has to take care of Buflie and her people. Because of that he had to give up on his dream to find that artifact in order to protect the people. He still acts like a sniper if needed but he fell into a rhythm of blacksmithing. For the party yeah he's making basic gear. He can make stronger stuff but needs materials for that. He has made maybe one weapon that killed a powerful creature, Bee's Golden Gauntlets. But other than that he really only makes basic stuff as it's easier to sell. Might make his quest an actual quest the players can pursue if they want.
Well it depends on the timeline. Right now, he hasn't forgotten his dream to help his people fly aga
