(Banner art “Pale Bill” by Spinebender)
Hey, there! Luis here! Have you heard? The gunslinger’s back, in 2E form! As someone who’s running his own fantasy western game, I’m excited to see the gunslinger back in action. Since a lot of people will be taking the time to playtest the gunslinger (and inventor) in the coming days, I figured I would port over a monster to serve as a good foe for the upcoming playtests. The pale stranger is an undead gunslinger featured in both Pathfinder First Edition and Starfinder, so it’s only right to bring it to 2E so that it can take aim against all these new gunslingers. Let’s have a look!
Pale Stranger Creature 10
NE, Medium, Undead
Perception +22, darkvision
Languages Common, Necril
Skills Acrobatics +22, Athletics+17, Intimidation +22, Gun Lore +19, Stealth+17
Str +3, Dex +7, Con +0, Int +0, Wis +4, Cha +3
Items +1 leather duster (leather armor), +1 striking dueling pistol (x2)
AC 27; Fort +19, Ref +22, Will +16
HP 135 (negative healing); Immunities death effects, disease, paralyze, poison, unconscious; Resistances piercing 10, slashing 10
Frightful Presence (aura, emotion, fear, mental) 10 feet, DC 26
Stranger’s Luck [reaction] Trigger The pale stranger is target with a ranged attack by an attacker it can see; Effect The pale stranger gains a +2 circumstance bonus to AC against the triggering attack. This increases to +4 if the ranged attack is from a firearm.
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] fist+21 (agile, magical), Damage 2d10+11 bludgeoning
Ranged [one-action] pistol +25 (concealable, fatal d10, range 30 feet, versatile B), Damage 3d6+20 piercing
Pistols A pale stranger fights with two pistols. While pistols normally consume bullets and black powder when fired, a pale stranger’s pistols supernaturally reload the instant it fires them, allowing the pale stranger to fire multiple times in quick succession. In addition, a pale stranger’s never misfire.
Disarming Shot [one-action] (attack) The pale stranger attempts to shoot a foe’s weapon out of their hands. The pale stranger attempts to Disarm a creature within 30 feet using its attack bonus for its pistol Strike rather than its Athletics bonus. The pale stranger takes a –2 circumstance penalty to its check.
Stranger’s Shot [three-actions] The pale stranger takes careful aim to fire a single, ruinous shot. The pale stranger makes a pistol Strike. This counts as three attacks when calculating the pale stranger’s multiple attack penalty. If this Strike hits, it gets a critical hit. If it roll a critical hit, the attack deals an additional 4d6 piercing damage in addition to the normal critical hit damage. Whether or not it hits, the pale stranger becomes stunned 1 and flat-footed until the start of its next turn.
Warning Shot [one-action] The pale stranger fires its gun in the air to startle its foes. It attempts to Demoralize a foe within 30 feet. This check doesn’t take the –4 circumstance penalty if the target doesn’t share a language with the pale stranger.
Sometimes death itself cannot come between a gunslinger and its final revenge. When a gunslinger is slain by a hated enemy, or murdered before it can achieve vengeance against a hated foe, the anger and wrath can animate its remains as a vengeful undead monstrosity. When a pale stranger first rises, it seeks out the source of its anger to finish the job—thereafter, it wanders the desolate parts of the world looking for new victims to vent its unending rage upon.
That’s it for this week! If you end up introducing the pale stranger into your game or you have any request for a future Monstrous Physique, please drop me a line at KnowDirection@hotmail.com.
