Heroes of Freeport: Bloody Lucille

The "Heroes of Freeport" series on the Green Ronin News blog has not yet addressed the iconic freebooter depicted on the covers of Freeport: The City of Adventure (FCA) and the Freeport Bestiary. The class's flavor quote (FCA 365) indicates that her name is Bloody Lucille. Freebooters are so central to the Freeport setting that I have decided to not wait any longer to work up her stat block. If Green Ronin does someday release a new "Heroes of Freeport" column about Lucille, then I will adjust her stats to match.

Just as I did for Janica Flamefist, I have attempted to produce a stat block for Bloody Lucille suitable for use with 1st-level Pathfinder adventures such as "The Ironjack Legacy" (in FCA) or Return to Freeport Part One: Curse of the Brine Witch. Design notes follow the stat block.

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BLOODY LUCILLE (CR 1/2)

XP 200
Female human freebooter 1 (FCA 364)
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +3

Defense
AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 11 (+1 armor, +3 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 12 (1d10+2)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will -1; +1 vs. disease, poison, and mind-affecting effects

Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee gladius +3 (1d6+1/19-20) or two gladii +1 (1d6+1/19-20 and 1d6/19-20)
Ranged light crossbow +3 (1d8/19-20)
Special Attacks dirty fighting +1d4

Statistics
Str 12, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 14
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 16
Feats Dodge, Two-Weapon Fighting[B], Weapon Finesse[B]
Skills Acrobatics +7, Climb +5, Perception +3, Profession (sailor) +3, Swim +5
Languages Common
Traits blood of pirates (FCA 424), fencer (Advanced Player's Guide 328)
Gear haramaki (Ultimate Combat 128), gladius (2) (Ultimate Combat 144), light crossbow and 10 bolts, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, flint and steel, waterskin, whetstone, basic pirate clothes (Pirates of the Inner Sea 20), 74 gp, 8 sp, 8 cp

*****

When building Lucille, I tried to embody her race and class as best I could. As with Janica, I used the elite array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) for her stats for simplicity's sake.

Lucille wears little or no armor. For the purposes of this stat block, I have treated her leather vest and her multiple layers of belts and sashes as a haramaki (see Ultimate Combat or Ultimate Equipment). Alternately, her vest, gauntlets, and high boots could be treated as piecemeal leather armor (also a +1 armor bonus; see Ultimate Combat).

The cover of FCA (see above) shows Bloody Lucille wielding two short-bladed swords. The basket hilt suggests a cutlass, but the blade is not curved like one. The optimum interpretation of this weapon is to treat it as a gladius, which is a light weapon (minimizing two-weapon penalties) and can do either piercing or slashing damage (unlike the P-only shortsword).

A 1st level character cannot afford firearms, so I have given her a crossbow instead. By 4th-5th level, she should have plenty of wealth to replace it with a brace of pistols (1,000 gp each, plus the cost of shot, powder, and a gunsmith's kit) and find a way to gain training for Exotic Weapon Proficiency (firearms) and Craft (gunsmith).

At 2nd level, Lucille will gain Flashy Defense. As she advances, her freebooter talents and bonus feats should be chosen to improve her skills with swords and guns, as well as her defenses and maneuverability.