Thugs for Hire

Asteria is a dangerous place, and not every threat wears a uniform. Beyond the armies, battles and political struggles of the war, there are countless people willing to do almost anything for the right price. For some, survival means taking whatever work is available, no matter who is paying or who gets hurt along the way.

Ves, Brag and Coop are three such men. They are mercenaries in the broadest sense of the word: willing to threaten, fight, intimidate or simply get their hands dirty if the coin is right. They aren't driven by ideology, loyalty or any particular hatred. Money talks, and who gets hurt is “just business”.

That makes them useful allies as well as dangerous enemies. The players might encounter them working for a rival, collecting a debt or intimidating a vulnerable community. They might just as easily find themselves hiring the three men to deal with a problem of their own. Whether they become recurring enemies, reluctant allies or simply a memorable encounter is up to the GM.

Ves - The Knife Man Ves is a greasy weasel of a man. Short, with long black hair and a perpetual sneer, he is the leader of the group and the one who does most of the thinking. He dresses in a battered black velveteen coat, soiled drab breeches, lace-up half-boots and a battered top hat. He always carries one or two knives, and has no hesitation about using them. Ves can be cruel, particularly when dealing with people he considers weaker than himself. He has no compunction about threatening or hurting civilians if doing so gives him leverage over someone else. He is a calculating fighter who prefers to stack the odds in his favour before violence begins, and would much rather stab someone in the back than face them honestly. If a fight starts going badly, he is usually the first to look for a way out. Ves tells himself that none of this makes him a bad man. It is "just business", as he is fond of saying. If someone paid him well enough, he would happily burn down an orphanage one day and rebuild it the next. To Ves, there is no contradiction. Armour: Helmet Outer Base Skin 0 1 0 0 Speed: Normal Willpower: 13 Initiative: 4 STR STA AGI DEX INT PER EMP CHA D8 D8 D10 D12 D10 D10 D6 D8 Skills: Awareness Athletics Stealth Medical Melee Ranged Brawling D6 D6 D6 D8 D10 D8 D6 Abilities: Cruel: If it is beneficial to do so, they may target civilians, harm prisoners, or otherwise attempt to provoke an emotional reaction. Cold and Calculated: Will always approach combat tactically. Attempts by the players to provoke or manipulate this character emotionally are rolled at Disadvantage. Actions: Multi Attack: Can make two melee attacks per turn Knife. Melee Weapon Attack (1AP): Melee/Normal/2 Fist. Brawling Attack (1AP): Melee/Normal/0 Reactions: Evade (1AP): When attack will attempt to evade the blow. Athletics + Agility, aiming to match or beat the Base Difficulty level of the attack + Precision Level.

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Brag - The Muscle Brag is the muscle to Ves's brains. He stands a good head taller than Ves and is built like a man who has spent most of his life solving problems with his fists, all wrapped up in a leather jerkin. He prefers the blunt efficiency of a heavy club or his bare hands to the knives Ves favours. Brag does what Ves tells him. He rarely concerns himself with questions of morality or whether the people they are hurting deserve it; Ves makes the decisions, and Brag gets on with the job. He is not stupid, but he has found it easier to outsource much of the difficult thinking to someone else. If Ves says someone needs frightening, Brag frightens them. If Ves says someone needs hitting, Brag hits them. He has a temper, however, and when properly provoked he can become fixated on the person who angered him, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else happening around him. Despite his size and temper, Brag is no fool when it comes to money. He knows when a fight has become a bad investment and will back down if the odds turn against him. Offer him more money, and he may even reconsider which side he is fighting for. Armour: Helmet Outer Base Skin 0 0 1 0 Speed: Normal Willpower: 13 Initiative: 3 STR STA AGI DEX INT PER EMP CHA D12 D12 D8 D8 D8 D10 D8 D6 Skills: Awareness Athletics Stealth Medical Melee Ranged Brawling D6 D6 D6 D6 D12 D6 D8 Abilities: Hot Headed: If provoked or attacked they will prioritise attacking the provoking/attacking player. In this state Defence rolls are performed at Disadvantage. Actions: Club. Melee Weapon Attack (1AP): Melee/Normal/2, Close/Normal/2 Fist. Melee Weapon Attack (1AP): Melee/Normal/0. Reactions: Evade (1AP): When attack will attempt to evade the blow. Athletics + Agility, aiming to match or beat the Base Difficulty level of the attack + Precision Level. Tank (2 AP): If incoming damage is 2 or more Hits. Reduce all incoming damage down to a single Hit.

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Coop - The Ringer Coop is a bare-knuckle fighter who has spent years working the underground circuits of cities across Asteria. He is not a permanent member of Ves's crew, but when Ves needs extra muscle, or someone needs putting down hard, Coop is usually the man he calls. Tall and wiry, with long arms and a face marked by old scars, Coop looks like someone who has spent a great deal of his life being hit. He is perfectly happy to strap on a pair of knuckledusters and go toe-to-toe with whoever Ves puts in front of him. Years in the ring have made him remarkably resilient, and he can shrug off blows that would leave most people staggering. Coop is also the most openly bloodthirsty of the three. Once he has chosen a target, he prefers to put them down before worrying about anyone else. He fights aggressively and can be reckless, willingly sacrificing his own defence if it means landing a harder blow. Unlike Ves, he does not spend much time calculating the safest way to win; he trusts his toughness and his fists to carry him through. For all his love of a fight, Coop is still a professional. He fights for money, not loyalty, and has little interest in getting himself killed for someone else's cause. Armour: Helmet Outer Base Skin 0 0 0 0 Speed: Normal Willpower: 12 Initiative: 6 STR STA AGI DEX INT PER EMP CHA D12 D12 D12 D10 D6 D10 D6 D6 Skills: Awareness Athletics Stealth Medical Melee Ranged Brawling D6 D8 D8 D6 D8 D6 D12 Abilities: Bloodthirsty: Prefers to finish off wounded enemies. Will ignore better tactical options to do so. Reckless: Can choose to roll attacks at Advantage at the cost of not performing any active defence actions this round. Actions: Multi Attack: Can make two melee attacks per turn Knuckle Dusters. Melee Weapon Attack (1AP): Melee/Normal/1 Shake it off (3 AP): If they are Grazed then they can spend 3 Action Points to return to full health. Reactions: Evade (1AP): When attack will attempt to evade the blow. Athletics + Agility, aiming to match or beat the Base Difficulty level of the attack + Precision Level. Tank (2 AP): If incoming damage is 2 or more Hits. Reduce all incoming damage down to a single Hit.

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