Fletch

Fletch is a ghost human rogue played by Tony.

Backstory

Fletch (née Gar Renett) grew up in Nostob of the Noraandeeve Kingdom. His father worked cleaning trade ships and his mother was a fairly reputable herbalist. For most of his young adult life, Gar lived at home and helped his mother garden and run the apothecary. He was the oldest of four children, so he often served as the second father. With such an uneventful life handed to him, Gar grew restless and left home at age 16.

Gar traveled abroad, searching for a purpose. With little success, he attempted to harvest and sell herbs to street merchants. Although he found plenty of rarities, the demand for herbs was not as high as it was in the port city of Nostob. He found himself dealing in less reputable goods…his desperation for gold turned him to the black market. He grew a little paranoid about getting caught or getting mixed up in something he would regret, so he turned to people he felt he could trust.

Gar was hired by a thieve’s guild, Johdon, in Deevlain. For initiation into Johdon, Gar had to leave his name and past behind him. Although seemingly a big commitment, Gar had nothing to lose and no better prospect. His first mission was to steal a gold dagger from the hilt of a general. Unfortunately, Gar’s skills failed him, and he was immediately detected. He did not resist, nor did he give away Johdon. He was sent to prison and waited there, silently, for two months. The guild was so impressed with his loyalty, they sent another member to pick the lock to his cell and help him escape. A guild officer approached him and questioned his unsolicited loyalty. Gar merely shrugged and handed over a golden arrow. He explained how he spent the two months practicing sleight of hand and nabbed the arrow from the quiver of a passing soldier. The officer laughed, handed back the arrow, and rechristened Gar as Flèche Volée, or Stolen Arrow. The other thieves called him Fletch for short.

Fletch spent a total of 10 years in Johdon. He learned the essential qualities every thief should have, such as picking locks, breaking in through windows, hiding in shadows, and sporting a forgettable face. He picked up a few more nicknames and aliases, such as Nob, Phan, and Tir. As a new thief, Fletch was often tricked into doing others’ bidding. He was tossed around as a puppet and manipulated so much that he lost interest in the guild and became a total independent. People just didn’t interest him anymore.

Fletch became deeply engrossed in studying archery. He learned to craft his own arrows and bows, and sold them to a merchant for a living. In his downtime, he worked on his aim and accuracy endlessly, almost to the point of obsession,. He spent a year and a half training, with limited or incidental human interaction. His craftsmanship was noticed by a wizard elf named Iaa. Someone who could engineer such efficient arrows must have great ability with a bow. Iaa asks the merchant when Fletch will come in with his next supply and personally seeks him out. He tells Fletch that he placed a bounty on a city general, and that only an archer would get it done quickly and quietly. After a day of consideration, Fletch decided it was time to interact with humans again and agreed to the job. He successfully shot the general with one arrow, hidden on a rooftop and no chance of detection. Iaa was impressed with his work and offered him a few more jobs. Fletch developed an affinity for murder.

Life as a bounty hunter came naturally to Fletch. He traveled to another city if he got to know too many people, although that was seldom a problem. In human cities, finding employers was never a problem. He mastered small assassinations and tried taking on a bigger job. He earned a good reputation with Iaa over the years, so he asked Iaa to give him a real challenge.

He sent Fletch to accomplish a seemingly simple task, but with great warning: steal a velvet bag with sparkly rope ties from someone named Verin Lauraen and bring it immediately to Iaa. Fletch was promised 40,000 gold with half of it paid upfront for supplies. Iaa warned that Verin Lauraen and the chest would be difficult to locate, that others would be after the bag and would not think twice about killing those who get in their way, that once Fletch has the bag many others would be after him to steal the bag, and most importantly, that the bag itself may cause danger.

Fletch managed to track down Verin Lauraen and stuck around. After some investigation, he managed to locate the chest. After a carefully planned robbery, with no likely mistakes, Fletch was murdered on site. He was 36 years old.

Fletch re-entered the material world in Nostob. Being newly undead, he did not yet discover how to form any cohesive shape. He was more like an invisible cold mist that could occasionally interact with objects. He immediately felt an aversion to his hometown. Nothing was holding him here, and his family was moving along at their normal, slow pace. He enjoyed spying on people, hiding in the shadows, and the absolute isolation from people. His joys were not enough to quell the constant gravitation toward this unexplained force. It drove him mad, but he couldn’t detect why he felt uneasy. Once he got bored with Nostob, he began to wander. He found that certain towns would put him more at ease than others. It wasn’t until he traveled to 10 or so towns that he noticed a pattern. His uneasiness was directionally related, although the direction was too difficult to discern from small changes in distance.

Fletch developed a better manifestation ability. He first learned to form arms and a mouth. He became very distracted from his feelings and focused on his physicality. Eventually, he could form to a basic human shape, but he was still invisible. Physically, he was a solid being (when he chose to be). Fletch really wanted his bow back. He did not recall where his body was nor what he was doing in the last few months of his life, probably a curse or side-effect of being a ghost. He easily crafted a new bow that would suffice for the time.

Ghost

Special Attacks

• Corrupting Touch
  • Hits a living creature with incorporeal touch attack and deals 1d6 damage. Against ethereal, add Strength modifier to attack and damage. Against nonethereal, add Dexterity to attack only.
• Manifestation
  • I am completely manifested on the Material plane, but can be attacked on the Ethereal plane
• Telekinesis
  • Use telekinesis as a standard action (caster level 12), must wait 1d4 rounds before using it again
    • Telekinesis (p. 292 PH); range 400 +40/lvl ft; duration 1 round/lvl or instantaneous; saving throw will negates (object) or None
    • Sustained force – move object 25 lbs/lvl up to 20 ft/round
    • Combat Maneuver – bull rush, disarm, grapple, or trip, no attack of opportunity, read rules
    • Violent Thrust – push a bunch of creatures over

Special Qualities

• Rejuvenation
  • Destroyed spirit restores itself within 2d4 days, returns to old haunts with successful level check (1d20 + ghost’s HD) against DC 16
  • Ghost’s Natural Turn Resistance – +4

Turning Rules

• Times Per Day: 3 + Charisma mod
• Range: must turn the closest first, no greater than 60 ft, cannot if they are covered (line of effect)
• Turning Check: roll Charisma check to see how powerful a creature you can get (Table 8-9, p. 159)
• My HD: 7 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 19
• See p. 159 for additional details

Merits and Flaws

Blandness 1 Your character can blend into any crowd. Anyone who attempts to describe you can only come up with "He looked kinda average." Anyone who tries to track or physically locate you will have a -1 penalty to spot you. Eerie Presence -2 You may be physically unexceptional, but there’s just a creepy aura about you; choose how it manifests, whether people are simply uneasy around you, if they get the feeling you exude waves of invisible slime, if menace and evil hang over your head like smog, et cetera. You possess a +2 penalty to charisma rolls around most people, though friends may grow to overlook your magical air and some people— often magically active, though many enlightened, self-assured people also possess such capabilities— may automatically overlook it. People with Eerie Presence can seldom detect this presence in other people. Note: My eerie presence manifests itself as a great feeling of cold, or cold shivers, or the heebie-jeebies. People who are around me for extended periods of time get used to it. Hatred -3 You have an unreasoning hatred of a certain thing. This hate is total and largely uncontrollable. You may hate a species of animal, a class of person, a race, a situation or just about anything else, and you constantly pursue opportunities to harm the hated object or to gain power over it. Note: I hate the person who stole the velvet bag from Verin Lauraen and murdered me, although I don’t know who it is yet. I hate the fact that I am restless. I hate that I cannot pass on. When I find out more information regarding my unfinished business, I will stop at nothing to harass the person until I find out where the bag is. Hidden Past -1 Either you’re trying to keep your own past secret, or there’s something about it you yourself are not aware of. Either way, respectable amounts of trouble may ensue when it’s uncovered that you’re not just any orphan, you’re the illegitimate grandchild of a king, or you were once a member of an evil cult. Note: I am hiding the fact that I am dead from everyone I meet. I have one and only purpose: to recover the bag that was stolen from Verin Lauraen and bring it to Iaa. I am constantly uneasy and restless. Infravision 2 You have exceptional vision, and can make out sources of heat in the dark for 30ft. Does nothing for characters who already have it (e.g.. elves). You may not take this merit with the poor sight flaw. Keen Sense 1 You have +1 bonus to all perception rolls with a particular sense (i.e., sight, sounds, smells, tastes, etc). Medium 2 You possess an affinity to sense and hear spirits, ghosts and shades. Though you cannot see them you feel their presence and are able to speak with them when they are in the vicinity. It is even possible for you to summon them (through pleading and cajoling) to your presence. Spirits will not simply aid you or give you advice for free- they will always want something in return. Vindictive -2 Your character is especially vindictive and go out of their way to correct any slight against them, no matter how small. The retribution varies according to the slight. A simple insult might call for a coldly delivered threat or a punch in the face, while an injury almost always calls for the death or maiming of the offending individual. Vindictive characters carry grudges until they avenge the perceived wrong they have suffered.