For today's pre-made hero, we're taking a turn away from the shining lights of Theah and heading to one of the more foreboding parts of the world, the dark lands of war-torn Eisen.
One of the elements of 7th Sea that has remained consistent between first and second edition is that the setting's equivalent to Germany is recovering from a thirty-year long war of faith, a war that left the would-be nation teetering on the edge of calamity, only persevering due to the iron determination of its surviving people. But with second edition, Eisen has generally become a more sinister place, as there truly are monsters lurking in the woods and the dead don't always stay resting in their graves.
To combat those threats, there are men and women who learn the finer points of slaying monsters and hunting the undead, even if that means learning dark and disturbing practices in order to do so...
Rolf Volker Wyman, Eisen Monster Hunter
Traits:Brawn 3, Finesse 2, Wits 3, Resolve 3, Panache 2
Backgrounds: Hexe, Monster Hunter
Skills: Aim 3, Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Hide 2, Intimidate 3, Notice 3, Ride 1, Tempt 1, Weaponry 3
Advantages: Cast Iron Stomach, I Won't Die Here, Indomitable Will, Sniper, Sorcery x2, Staredown, Survivalist
Arcana: Astute (Virtue), Relentless (Hubris)
Starting Reputation: 0
Starting Wealth: 0
Languages: Avalon, Eisen, Old Thean
Hexenwerk: Major - Corpse Tongue, Spectral Prison, Minor - Father's Fury, Revenant Venom, Summer's Smile, Winter's Scowl
Personal Items: Broadsword, boar spear, crossbow, leather jerkin, pouches filled with various herbs and ingredients
Appearance:A tall, strapping Eisen man, with a hard-worn face, scraggly dark brown hair and matching beard stubble. Wears homespun linens reinforced with sturdy leather, along with a dark grey half-cloak and wide-brimmed hat for protection from both rain and sun.
Background: Rolf's family has long practiced the forbidden arts of hexenwerk, using their dark knowledge to help protect their fellows from the many restless beasts and spirits that prowl within the forests and shadows. Having learned under the direct tutelage of his father, Rolf presumed he would simply inherit the "family business" much as his forebears had. That changed when he returned home from a long sojourn to visit his childhood sweetheart in a neighboring village only to find that his own village had been razed and the local folk brutally slaughtered, including his father. With the grim resolve for which the people of Eisen are known, Rolf took up his father's mantle and set out find and slay the thing responsible for the slaughter.
Notes: After I ran my initial one shot, one of the players suggested the idea of a PC that was a monster hunter for use in potential future adventures, inspired by his recent playing of The Witcher 3. Now I've never played a game in that series, so I did a bit of research, and eventually came up with Rolf. I seem to have done a good job, as the player was very happy with how this character turned out. He is indeed quite skilled at hunting monsters, with the only thing needed to truly make him a deadly combatant is a Duelist school to boost up his melee combat prowess. But even lacking that, Rolf's dangerous in a fight, though it should be noted that his magic is focused on dealing with the undead, something the player and the GM of the one-shot that I played Estevan in didn't quite realize. As should be clear, Rolf is not a nice guy, but given that it's his lot in life to hunt down the sort of nasty things that most people outside of Eisen refuse to admit exist, that's to be expected.
Fair warning about the hexenwerk sorcery that Rolf has, what's listed as being the required ingredients to create them can be pretty unsettling for the squeamish, and I give credit to John and his design team both for not shying away from that fact but also being up front and warning readers before delving into the sorcery.
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