Better Than Luck -- Grit Drawback
“Some gunslingers claim they belong to a mystical ‘way of the gun,’ but it’s more likely that the volatile nature of firearms simply prunes the unlucky and careless from their ranks.”
But there are also a rare few gun-magicians walking the lonely darkness, working the will of an unseen and inhuman sponsor in a weave of iron, brimstone & gunsmoke, blessed with a deathly-steady hand, an eerily keen eye and the dark one’s own damnably good fortune.
You should know. You happen to be one of them.
Brought to you absolutely free to enjoy, to test & to share – as always – by the fine folks of my Patreon; inspired by the excellent Wretchedor30.
Prerequisite: Grit class feature; this Drawback must be taken when the 1st level of the Gunslinger class is selected; see Special, below
Effect: Grit and Deeds are always considered to be Supernatural abilities (rather than Extraordinary abilities) when used by you. Thus, for example, you may not use Grit or Deeds while in the area of an antimagic field and you may not gain levels in the Anti-Witchcraft Armor Integrated Combat Enhancile Prestige Class.
Choose any one named sentient creature with a total Challenge Rating no lower than 12 and no higher than 19 (or just below the “ceiling” of CR for your campaign, as described by your GM) to serve as your Sponsor.
This creature must be approved by your GM; many of the creatures listed as “Voldemorts” here might function as appropriate Sponsor. Within the Bloodlines & Black Magic setting, this creature may not be one of the Grand Archons but is instead always assumed to be a Lesser Goetic Spirit.
With your GM’s permission, you may work together to build an appropriate Sponsor for your character; remember that your Sponsor is not in service to you, and that you cannot command nor control your Sponsor in any way.
If you find yourself hoping to beg a favor from your Sponsor, remember that she is under no obligation to assist you … and in most cases would actively benefit from not helping you, since you work for her.
Be advised that your Sponsor is, in many ways, similar to a Witch’s Patron; your GM is the final arbiter of what creature might serve as an appropriate Sponsor for your gifts.
Your alignment may not be diametrically opposed to the alignment of your Sponsor, if your Sponsor’s alignment is known.
For example: Jacqueline Lopez is a Mysterious Stranger in service to Amaana Qaruun, Golden Daughter of Erebus, a creature known to be Lawful Evil; Jacqueline may not be Chaotic Good but may otherwise follow her own desires as she sees fit.
“Opportunity” Knox, meanwhile, is a Bolt Ace drawing power from Rysha Spurr, who possesses an alignment that is not known to Ms. Knox. As such, Opportunity may possess any alignment that she chooses & may behave accordingly.
Once per game session, your Sponsor may make a request of you, such as delivering a simple message that is dictated to you in a dream or found stamped on the back of a dollar bill.
These requests always arrive to you via mysterious means: a note found in your possessions, an unbidden & alien impulse, a voice in the dark or a scrawl in the steam clinging to a cold mirror. You may always choose not to perform this favor, but doing-so immediately costs you access to all supernatural abilities granted to you by the Gunslinger class for a number of days equal to one-half your Gunslinger level (rounded down) +1d6 days, rolled secretly.
Sample Favors [roll 1d12]:
Transcribe a short message & hand-deliver it to a particular address.
Watch a certain person for 1d6+1 hours during a specific day.
Purchase a singular item (costing less than 10 gold) and leave it in an odd but nearby place within 24 hours.
Sit on a rooftop (or in the woods) and count all of one kind of animal (such as crows or foxes) that you see within a three-hour period.
Cook a sumptuous meal (a task requiring a minimum of one hour) and leave it in a specific place at a specific time within the next week.
Create an art object and leave it in the home of a specific person known to you without being seen by anyone.
Write a poem and burn it. Smear the ashes on the door of an enemy.
Stand unarmored (but not unarmed) at a specific spot at midnight.
Shoplift a specific palm-sized object with a value no greater than 10 gold and place it in your shirt pocket.
Kill a specific creature with a Challenge Rating no greater than half your HD within the next 24 hours.
Locate & speak to a specific individual known to you for at least one half hour within the next 24 hours.
Make a specific marking at a specific location (or on a specific object) within the next hour without being seen by anyone while making the mark.
Your GM may always choose to refrain from having your Sponsor make a request of you for any reason or for no reason, unknown to you.
If your Sponsor is ever killed or destroyed, you immediately lose all access to all supernatural abilities granted to you by the Gunslinger class until such time as your Sponsor is reinstated in its power or until you acquire a new Sponsor: a process requiring a great deal or research, roleplay and at least a month of in-game effort.
Special: You may, if you choose, select both this and another Drawback such as Arcane Bonds of Obedience, Buried Memories or Warded Against Nature. If you do so, you may gain a single feat instead of gaining a Trait.
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