Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Notorious NPC: Carlotta, Assassin-For-Hire

Carlotta, Assassin-For-Hire
8th Level Pure Human

STR: 14 --- INT: 12
DEX: 15 --- WIL: 12
CON: 21 --- CHA: 19
HPs: 154 --- AC: 5
Mutations: none

In the Mutant Future wastelands, there is one name that strikes fear into nearly everyone -- Carlotta. The assassin-for-hire is feared by bounty hunters, men-for-hire, and other ne'er-do-wells. Carlotta is, bluntly, the deadliest non-mutant alive. It's said that, if she comes for you, you might as well blow your own head off with a lazer pistol as she's never -- NEVER -- failed in a mission.

Carlotta is a strikingly beautiful pure strain human (and she knows it). She often wears tight, revealing clothing, knowing that her -- ahem -- assets both distracts and disarms her male opponents. She's humorless, all business, with a swift (and injurious) response to fools and annoyances. (Flirting with Carlotta is a bad idea, as she'd just as soon stick a knife in your eye as speak with you.) Carlotta views members of society as a means to an end. You're either an employer, a target, or faceless rabble.

In combat, she's quick and deadly, receiving 2 attacks per round with bonuses of +1 to hit (both hand-to-hand and missile combat) as well as a +2 damage bonus to any attacks she makes. She's fast, giving her -1 to her AC and +1 initiative. Her resistance to poisons and radiation are also formidable, giving her a +3 to poison saves and +2 to radiation saves.

In combat, Carlotta is equipped with an eyepiece targeting system, which gives her an additional +2 to hit with ranged weaponry. She prefers to take out her opponents from a distance with a long range sniper rifle or similar weapon. In close quarters combat, she'll use her vibro-bladed staff (1d8+16) to subdue a "client" before finishing him off with a well-placed plasma pistol (7d6) shot to the head. Carlotta is not a fool in combat, preferring to kill them from a distance or with a trap she's set. If she enters one-on-one combat and it turns against her, she will retreat and attack another day -- perhaps months later, when her quarry's guard is down (and she'll take on other "clients" in the meantime). She has also been known to hire a group of toughs to attack her "client." If her hirelings kill him, her contract's terms are met. If they fail, she then sweeps in to attack the now-injured and weakened prey.

Carlotta does not reason, bargain, or take pity on her "clients," as "it's just business." Those who hire her are assured of the target's eventual death. (And her fees reflect this efficiency.) And those who turn on her, compete against her, or simply get in her way are summarily disposed of. It's this ruthlessness and lack of known failures that gives her such a feared reputation. The phrase "being an Enemy of Carlotta" has come to mean "someone with a deathwish," as in "You want to enter that Hazmat Zone? What are you, an Enemy of Carlotta?"

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for coming up with this. She makes for a great NPC in an ongoing game. Something to make the players lose their sense of invulnerability!

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  2. Very cool NPC! Very nicely done!

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  3. Is the art work Clyde Caldwell?

    ERIC!

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  4. Y'know, I'm not sure. I had the concept for Carlotta hammered out, and then I stumbled across this image. It was perfect, so I glommed it.

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