Blatherskite (Gunslinger Archetype)
The word Blatherskite is an American English word that means nonsensical, long-winded talking with no real meaning behind it, or more commonly, someone who engages in such talk, and I can think of no better name for today’s subject.
In the grand scheme of “people who have guns”, there are those who’s bravado and confidence is entirely determined by the fact they have said gun. They talk a big game about their greatness and their command of the situation… right up until the point where their gun goes missing or runs out of bullets. At this point they run away if they can, but they also try their best to save face, calling their escape a “tactical retreat” or a million other such excuses.
Even among this particular brand of underhanded patheticness, however, there is a surprising amount of diversity in the concept, and even the most craven of these desperados can come back again and surprise their enemy once they’ve had time to reload and regroup.
At their best, a blatherskite might be the selfish and self-serving type, looking out for number one while also having enough daring to scream their way through a firefight with more collected foes, while at their worst, they can be backstabbing snakes that falter under the slightest real pressure only to strike at vulnerabilities, including targeting those that can’t fight back purely to get back at the one who defeated them.
That being said, the more heroic tend to have more substance behind them, and can use their reputation for being all talk to their advantage, even if it’s only to gain a brief advantage or cover against more serious attacks.
Stealthy and slippery compared to the average gunslinger, blatherskites also gain a selection of deeds associated with them. The first of which lets them save face by taking a glancing blow and pretending to stagger back in pain, letting them slip into a better position and let their enemy assume they are defeated. They can even spend some resolve to turn a true strike into a similar glancing blow, reflexively shifting it to a nonvital area.
As a coward at heart, these gunslinger’s first reaction when a fight starts it to hide or at least take cover, stepping or even dashing behind cover with a bit of expenditure of their reserves.
They are at their most lethal when attacking the unarmed, however, true to form, striking before others have even drawn their weapons, or those that have lost theirs, to say nothing of what the worst of the worst would do.
Though they are less than honorable or courageous, they are perfectly capable of taking advantage of the assumptions their foes make about them. As such, they can allow themselves to seem defeated by a debilitating effect (or at least pretend to be if they spend a little grit), making their foe drop their guard, making them extremely vulnerable to the blatherskite and their allies catching them off guard.
With how underhanded this archetype is, I can see why it made it into Antihero’s Handbook. If you’re looking for a character that is less than heroic, but still terrifyingly effective when the chips are down, this archetype might be for you. I’d definitely get a decent constitution score though, lest those minimum damage wounds pile up. Beyond that, try to build with stealth and bluff in mind.
The power that seems to be associated with a gun is different than any other personal weaponry. I think this is because when you break them down, pretty much any melee weapon is some variation of club or sharp pointy bit. A gun, on the other hand, kills from afar with little more than a point and pull action, compared to the loading of a crossbow or the pulling back of an arrow. I suppose this is the source of the power trip that the blatherskite revolves around, and why they fall apart as soon as that advantage is no longer working out.
Though the curse has long faded, the gunman Valn never really regained his confidence after being bitten by a chickcharney. Now a broken mess, he relies mostly on the threat of his gun, rather than his skill with it in a fight, but despite his hangups, he is a crack shot when he needs to be.
Ever since the outlaw Murcass shot the captain of the guard and claimed the town under his “protection”, the townsfolk have prayed for salvation from this braggart. If approached by a large group, he will flee, so a small team is needed to hunt him down, though behind is bluster is a wily and vicious opponent.
On the run from their terribly ancient nosferatu parent, Vicau travels far and wide with a firearm they barely understand, using bluster to get their way. However, despite their self-serving priorities, there is more to their character than that, and with the right push, they might just do the right thing.
