Folk Hero Redux

 

The Flare Children of the Imperial hinterlands wage a thankless, bloody, and unending insurgency against the soldiery of the White City. Most were born under occupation and have no personal experience of anything else, but they all grow up nurtured by stories of the cities and cultures that have been so violently denied them, and of the great and undefeated heroes who have fought and died to keep their memory and their dignity aflame. 

Folk Hero

You are an insurrectionist and war leader of the hundred million doomed children of the hinterland. You have more experience of war and its horrors than most mercenaries, and have been actively hunted by the Pragmatists from the moment you became a symbol to others like you. On bad days you cannot tell if your memories of the city of your birth are real or fabulated. 

Skills: one civilian trade (what you did when you had a life outside the forever war), one choice and one roll on the Dead Cultures Matrix abilities table - if your abilities have rules appropriate for NPC allies but not PCs your DM will come up with something appropriate. 

Gear: nondescript clothing, light weapon that conceals well, identity documents for three distinct aliases, one choice on the Dead Cultures Matrix gear table - if your gear has rules appropriate for NPC allies but not PCs your DM will come up with something appropriate.

A - Natural Selection, Tradecraft, Black Mirrors, Raider Captain
B - Lobster Cracking
C - Now and Forever
D - One Life

Natural Selection: Millions of people like you have contested the City and died badly for it. You are the product of pressures and hostilities unimaginable even to most professional soldiers. You have +1 to all derived stats, and are immune to fear damage. 

Tradecraft: You can move silently, avoid notice in a crowd, and forge documents.

Black Mirrors: You are immune to any and all mental effects produced by the cultural apparatus of the White City. Can choose to have either take either -2 or +2 to reaction rolls with White Citizens or their military. You are resistant to poison and radiation, and can choose to make saves against psychoactive and chemical compounds with advantage. You may also choose one of the following skills: mathematics, logistics, chemistry, the Image Game, poisons, ignoble murder (+d8 damage against in melee against enemies who are unaware of your presence). 

Raider Captain: Hirelings and other followers get a +1 bonus to their morale while you lead them. If they are fighting for reasons other than pay, this is instead +[templates]. On a surprise round, you and [templates] hirelings under your command attack twice in melee. 

Lobster Cracking: You may choose for your melee attacks to ignore armour (hit against AC10), or to reduce an enemy's AC by 1/2/3 if light/medium/heavy, to a minimum of 10, on a hit - choose which before you roll. Your crits destroy armour, appropriate to your weapon size, an additional time. 

Now and Forever: You are joined by a young Flare Child retainer, who is perfectly loyal and who trusts you with their life. If you die, they immediately gain their A template in Folk Hero, and your gear (if appropriate to the circumstances of your death). If you want them to, they can also gain your heroic reputation, Dread Pirate Roberts style. 

One Life: Your dignity is unimpeachable, and your cold and bottomless hatred is supplemented by an unassailable reserve of calm. You can choose to be unaffected by pain, which gives you +1 damage resistance against all physical damage, and makes you immune to torture. You are also immune to mental effects of all kinds, unless you wish it otherwise. Once ever, if you die, you can instead choose to survive with 0 hp. The City will fall.