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| Artwork ©2016 Kraken-Steelklaw |
For generations the Buckburr family was renowned for breeding dogs long sought by hunters across the kingdom. Like her father, her brothers, and all her cousins, Ayla, the sole daughter of her father's family, was a budding kennelmaster. Were it not for a chance meeting with Jasper during their shared youth, she most likely would never have seen the lands beyond her home village.
During her 20th summer, Ayla was wandering the woods when she came across a big-pawed, floppy-eared pup of a dog drinking from the stream. Mutually surprised, the two eyed each other suspiciously for a moment before Ayla took the first step.
Calling to the dog, she knelt down and offered a piece of beef jerky to him. Jasper, as Ayla came to call her new friend, wolfed the offering down and licked Ayla's face in appreciation. Ayla quickly offered up her entire lunch, which Jasper made short work of. The two sat by the stream for some time and formed the foundations of a bond through which Jasper told his story as best he could. Sensing her new friend's feelings of loss, Ayla invited Jasper to live with her and the rest of the Buckburr clan.
As Jasper waited outside, Ayla began to work her charms on her parents and older brothers. Bringing the pup into the house, she quickly introduced him to her family. Bartleby, her father, was reluctant to simply adopt Jasper, citing the fact that they already had a breeding pair and their large litter to feed. Ayla won them over however, and spent the rest of the summer tending to her chores and playing with Jasper in her free time. Despite his misgivings, Bartleby quickly came to see that Jasper was something special, for he was brighter than his new kennelmates. Ayla's bond with Jasper grew over the next two seasons. Sadly, that did not last long as Ayla's father sold Jasper to a hunter who turned out to be cruel and abusive. Before long, Jasper escaped and made his way back home, much to Ayla's delight, her father's surprise, and the hunter's anger.
Ayla's father sent Jasper back with his would-be master, but the pup soon found his way back again. This time, however, Ayla hid him away. The hunter, incensed at the dog's defiance, returned to the Buckburr farm with eyes afire. Bartleby tried to convince his daughter to give Jasper back, but she refused to give him up. Frustrated with his daughter's refusal to do what he thought was the right thing, Bartleby gave the hunter his money back. Sadly, it wasn't enough. The hunter, still demanding he receive a dog, took the family's prize dam as he left.
Fearing his business ruined, Bartleby was furious. In a fit of rage, he threw Ayla out of the house and banished her from the family farm. Now homeless, Ayla and Jasper made their way to human lands. Along the way, Jasper taught Ayla what he knew of survival in the wilderness and protected her from wild animals.
The two soon found themselves in a large human village at the edge of the woods. Being the only halfling in town made life hard for Ayla, but Jasper provided her with companionship and protection. At first the pair tried to raise money for food by doing acrobatic and riding tricks in the town square. Sadly, what little they raised was barely enough to feed the two once a day. However, their act had caught the eye of the captain of the guard, who suggested they join the militia.
When the captain of the guard introduced Ayla and Jasper as the newest recruits, the other militia members practically fell out of formation in laughter. Undeterred, Ayla refused to be laughed out of room and board. For the first month, she and Jasper seemed to be nothing more than mascots for the militia. "Small but mighty" they fancied themselves. Ayla, however, was out to prove herself, and Jasper was equally determined.
Ayla fixed up a makeshift saddle and tack for Jasper. At first he didn't care for it, but he soon got the hang of having a rider. The two quickly became able to read each other's body language and improved their synergy as rider and steed. The young halfling also took up archery and found she was most proficient with the bow. Being a halfling, a human-sized shortbow worked well as a halfling-sized longbow. Before long, the two began putting on "performances" for the militiamen, demonstrating Ayla's skill as a mounted archer and Jasper's agility as her steed.
As autumn set in, Jasper and Ayla's bond grew more powerful and soon Jasper was able to communicate with Ayla as well as any other person. On the last full moon of the harvest, Jasper demonstrated another unusual talent of his faerie upbringing. The night of All Saints' Eve, the ghost of a long-forgotten murder victim haunted the village square. Fearing the ghost was an ill omen, the townsfolk began locking their doors and staying in when it was normally a festive time of year. Unafraid of the ghost, Jasper, who had a keen sense for the presence of spirits, aided Ayla in leading the ghost to its final rest in the village graveyard.
During the winter, when goblins began attacking nearby farms in search of food, Ayla and Jasper volunteered to act as scouts. The two quickly learned the best ways to track and avoid the foul creatures and led a band of militia soldiers right to their cave. In the end, the goblins were driven from the region and the pair were hailed as heroes, being made true members of the local militia.
Ayla Buckburr, Halfling Outrider
Class: Warrior-Rogue Level: 1 Title: Observer Alignment: Lawful
DEX: 15 (+1) STR: 10 (+0) CON: 12 (+0) INT: 12 (+0) WIS: 10 (+0) CHA: 8 (-1)
Hit Dice: d10
Hit Points: 10
Armor Class: 13 (leather armor); 14 (leather armor + wooden shield)
Initiative Bonus: +2 Initiative (DEX bonus + Initiative Bonus + Level): 4
Base Attack Bonus: +1 Total Attack Bonus: +3 (Weapon Specialization + DEX Bonus + BAB)
Skills: Animal Lore, Direction Sense, Stealth
Knack: Weapon Specialization (Bow): +1 to hit, +2 to damage
Special Abilities
- Fortune's Favor (p.11, BtW)
- Halfling Spirit (p. 31, BtW)
- Small Stature (p.31, BtW)
Saving Throws
Poison 14
Breath Weapon 17
Polymorph 15
Spell 17
Magic Item 16
Fortune Points: 5
Equipment: A dagger, a very fine saddle, bags filled with food and rations, leather armor (+2 AC), a wooden shield (+1 AC), bow, quiver with 12 arrows, and 12 silvers
Jasper, Loyal Outrider Cohort
Class: Warrior-Rogue Level: 1 Title: Observer Cohort Alignment: Lawful
DEX: 9 (+0) STR: 16 (+2) CON: 17 (+2) INT: 12 (+0) WIS: 13 (+1) CHA: 7 (-1)
Hit Dice: d10
Hit Points: 10
Armor Class: 13 (leather armor); 14 (leather armor + wooden shield)
Initiative Bonus: +2 Initiative (DEX bonus + Knack + Initiative Bonus + Level): 4
Base Attack Bonus: +1 Total Attack Bonus: +2
Skills: Animal Ken, Survival
Knack: Fleet (+1 Initiative)
Special Abilities
- Fortune's Favor (p.11, BtW)
- I'm A Dog: Dogs have a base AC of 12, receive a +1 bonus to bite (1d4 damage), and have no hands.
Saving Throws
Poison 14
Breath Weapon 17
Polymorph 15
Spell 17
Magic Item 16
Fortune Points: 5
Equipment: Specially made leather barding/armor (AC+2)
Design Notes: While Beyond the Wall does have the Village Bear playbook, it doesn't really have anything with regard to playing other intelligent animals in the vein of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia or even anthropomorphic animals along the lines of Brian Jacques' Redwall series. This is something I intend to write on at a later date, but with this particular project in mind, I went through the Village Bear playbook and basically modified it for a dog by substituting the dog stats from the rulebook bestiary for the bear stats given in the playbook.
Oddly, the Village Bear playbook initially gives the character the Warrior-Rogue class, but later talks about the character's class being Village Bear. In light of the synergy I wanted to establish between Ayla and Jasper, I stuck with the Warrior-Rogue class. At the same time, I thought it better to give Jasper the Animal Ken skill, which I better defined for my games here. In short, Animal Ken is the better choice as it gives Jasper the ability to speak with other animals.
In order to get the pair's backgrounds, skills, and abilities to have the right synergy, I built both characters by hand, picking entries from the tables as I saw fit, trying to keep in mind the fact that the only restriction Ayla faces as a halfling is a maximum STR score of 10. The Halfling Outrider playbook can be found in the free Dwarves, Elves and Halflings supplement or Heroes Young and Old. Ayla's title of "Observer" comes from the article "Scouting for More Options" by Kim Eastland, which appeared in Dragon #161. The full table of titles for the scout class (or in this case the halfling outrider) is as follows:
Level - Title
1 - Observer
2 - Spotter
3 - Pointman
4 - Outrider
5 - Vanguard
6 - Forerunner
7 - Huntsman
8 - Spy
9 - Scout
10 - Master Scout
The stats for the Black Boar can be found on page 3 of The Village. If you want stats for Jasper's would-be master, the cruel hunter, use the stats for the Wicked Hunter on page 2 of Beyond the Cave.
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