Hi! I’m Blake Barton. Welcome back to Monster of the Week, my blog/devlog/word-vomit dive into how I’m building NPC stat blocks for my in-development post-apocalyptic TTRPG and weak attempt at proving that I exist. Feels like punching in a dream.

Last week I introduced some of the fundamental concepts of the game, the stat block template, and the Commoner stat block. I’ve been busy (read: manic) in the past seven days and have come up with a ton of new stat blocks to share. Right now I’ve got 166 stat blocks planned and 34 complete (~20%). I have a huge scope creep problem, so that planned number could increase, and it doesn’t include rival adventuring parties, vehicle squadrons, or followers, but I’m happy with the progress regardless!

This week I’ll build on the basic commoner with a more interesting humanoid — one that exemplifies the lethality of ranged combat in the game. It’s a common, popular archetype in any genre. The gunslinger, the wanderer, the Ranger.

Click here to jump straight to the stat block.

Inspiration

The first part of creating a stat block (or anything for the game really) is the spark of inspiration. This isn’t something I consciously work on necessarily, more me communing with the muse (thinking about cool cowboys).

The post-apocalypse is set in the wasteland. The wasteland, in essence, is a return to the desert, the wild west, a land roamed by bandits, outlaws, and the lone gunslingers that hunt them down.

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

Stephen King, The Gunslinger

The following images are just a few of the inspirations I had in mind while I designed the ranger.

Concept

Using my inspirations, I form a concept, which I split between a fantasy (the feeling of the character) and the goal (the role they fill in the game).

Fantasy

A dusty, weather-beaten, leather strapped, spur jingle jangling, big iron on their hip, stoic, taciturn, eagle-eyed gunslinger.

Goal

Make a humanoid that can use old west era weaponry with lethal force. The ranger should not only be a fast shot, but know their territory intimately.

Action Traits

Before the stat block, here’s a glossary of keywords that help define the Ranger’s actions. These traits are codified for all NPCs because I’ve seen fit to use them more than three times. I shouldn’t expect the Game Master to remember a keyword that’s used with less frequency than that. Notice that most of these deal with firearms.

• Burst Fire – Fires multiple projectiles in a single action. The attack costs ➡️➡️🔚 and the accuracy roll is made with a bane🔻(I’ll explain this more in another post).
• Damage – The attack deals the specified damage value and type.
• Defense – This weapon provides this much defense when used to Block or Parry.
• Full Mag – This action requires the weapon to have not been fired since it was last reloaded.
• Force Reload – Using this action will empty all ammo from the weapon, requiring it to be reloaded.
• Magazine – How many shots the weapon can fire before it needs to be reloaded (most weapons use the Reload tag instead to make the Game Master’s life easier. This tag is reserved for things with very few shots like a single shotgun or double barrel shotgun. I know a double barrel shotgun doesn’t use a magazine.).
• Melee – Attacks targets in reach.
• Ranged – Attacks targets at range. Comes with a list of accuracy modifiers in (CLOSE, MEDIUM, LONG) format. Range modifiers are pre-calculated to take the NPC’s stats into account.
• Recharge – After using this action, the character must roll 1d6 and get the listed number or above in order to use it again.
• Reload – Before using this weapon, the character rolls the listed reload die.
  • On a 1, the character is completely out of ammo.
  • On 2-3, the weapon runs out of ammo and must be reloaded.
  • Anything else means the weapon is ready to fire.
• Overwatch – A coded action that prepares a reaction shot with the specified weapon.
• Slow Reload – Reloading with this weapon ends the character’s turn.
• Spread – The weapon fires in a cone. Attacks must specify a primary target (I’ll explain this more in another post).
• Two-Handed – Must wield this weapon in two hands.

Ranger Stat Block

RANGER | MEDIUM | ARTILLERIST | HIGH THREAT
Types: Humanoid
Health: ❤️8
DT: 🛡️1 ⚡1 🧪1 ☢️0
Speed: 🏃‍♂️6

STR 💪8 (+1)   AGI 🖐️11 (+2)  END ♻️8 (+1)
PER 👁️11 (+2)  MIN 🧠8 (+1)   CHA 🤠10 (+2)
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TRAITS
- Home Advantage. The ranger has a boon🔺 on initiative rolls in their home terrain (see options below).

- Quickdraw. The ranger can switch between their weapons without taking the Interact action.
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ACTIONS
- Lever-action Rifle (Slow Reload 1d8) ⚔️➡️🔚. Ranged (C: +1. M: +3, L: +0). Damage: 2d8 piercing. Two-handed.
---> Overwatch (Lever-action Rifle) ⚔️➡️🔚

- Revolver (Slow Reload 1d6) ⚔️➡️🔚. Ranged (C: +2. M: +3, L: -2). Damage: 1d10 piercing.
---> Overwatch (Revolver) ⚔️➡️🔚
---> Fan the Hammer (Full Mag, Force Reload) ⚔️➡️➡️🔚. Fire a six-shot burst fire volley with the revolver in a two meter spread.

- Combat Knife ⚔️➡️. Melee. Damage: 1d4 + 1 slashing or piercing. Defense: 0.
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INVENTORY
Lever-action Rifle, Revolver, Leather Armor, Medium Caliber (TN 5, 1 unit), Small Caliber (TN 5, 1 unit)

Alternate Ranger Primary Weapons

I have three different tables of ranger variants (for a total of 6 x 4 x 6 = 144 possible unique ranger variants) focusing on the fantasy of the ranger I covered earlier — the weapons and the terrain.

Default Primary Weapon: Lever-Action Rifle

1. Light Lever-Action Rifle (Slow Reload 1d8) ⚔️➡️🔚. Range: (+2, +4, +0). Damage: 1d12 piercing. Two-Handed.
2. Bolt-action Rifle (Reload 1d6) ⚔️➡️🔚. Range: (+0, +4, +2). Damage: 2d10 piercing. Two-Handed.
3. Light Bolt-Action Rifle (Reload 1d6) ⚔️➡️🔚. Range: (+1, +3, +1). Damage: 2d6 piercing. Two-Handed.
4. Marksman Rifle (Reload 1d8) ⚔️➡️🔚. Range: (+0, +4, +2). Damage: 2d10 piercing. Two-Handed.
5. Pump-Action Shotgun (Slow Reload 1d8) ⚔️➡️🔚. Range: (+4, -1, -4). Damage: 1d6 x 4 piercing. Two-Handed.
6. Double-Barreled Shotgun (Magazine 2) ⚔️➡️🔚. Range: (+4, -1, -4). Damage: 1d6 x 4 piercing. Two-Handed.
   • Double Shot (Full Mag, Force Reload) ⚔️➡️🔚. Fire both barrels at once. Damage: 1d6 x 8 piercing.

Note on shotguns: You might read “1d6 x 4” and wonder, “why not 8d6?” Shotguns fire pellets (I know four pellets is unrealistic. Think of it as an abstraction.), and each pellet deals damage to the target individually. This means that shotguns have potential for extremely high damage against low-armored targets like unarmored humans and animals, but armored targets like knights and powered infantry can shrug off the low-damage pellets with ease.

Alternate Ranger Sidearms

Default Sidearm: Revolver

1. Magnum Revolver (Slow Reload 1d6) ⚔️➡️🔚. Ranged (C: +1. M: +2, L: +0). Damage: 2d8 piercing.
   • Fan the Hammer (Full Mag, Force Reload) ⚔️➡️➡️🔚. Fire a six-shot Burst Fire volley with the magnum revolver in a two meter spread.
2. Pepperbox Pistol (Slow Reload 1d4) ⚔️➡️🔚. Ranged (C: +3. M: +1, L: -5). Damage: 1d8 piercing.
3. Semi-Automatic Pistol (Reload 1d8) ⚔️➡️🔚. Ranged (C: +3. M: +2, L: -3). Damage: 1d8 piercing.
4. Sawed-Off Double Barrel Shotgun (Magazine 2) ⚔️➡️🔚. Range: (+5, -2, -6). Damage: 1d6 x 4 piercing. Spread: 3 meters.
   • Double Shot (Full Mag, Force Reload) ⚔️➡️🔚. Fire both barrels at once. Damage: 1d6 x 8 piercing

Ranger Terrains

1. Forest🌲
2. Desert/Wasteland🏜️
3. Tundra❄️
4. Urban🌆
5. Mountains⛰️
6. Plains🖼️

Explanation

Here’s my thought process for some of the less self-evident elements of the stat block:

Role: Artillerist

Artillerists specialize in ranged attacks. They stick to the edges of the battlefield and try to take down high priority targets from behind allied infantry.

Threat: High

Any character with a gun is going to be a high threat. The Ranger can be dispatched quickly, but they can easily put an exposed player character down in 1-2 actions if they get a chance.

The maximum possible damage of the Ranger’s lever-action rifle is 16, which is enough to kill a human NPC twice over. Player characters can take double their health ❤️ before they drop dead, so a PC with ❤️8 can sometimes be killed in a single shot if they aren’t wearing armor.

Health: ❤️8

For humanoids, I stick to Health = Endurance to keep in line with the lethality pillar of the game.

DT: 🛡️1 ⚡1 🧪1 ☢️0

The ranger wears leather armor, which I’ve given DT of 1 in all categories but radiation☢️ to mark it as the “standard” light armor. It’ll help with light hits, but bullets will rip right through.

Speed: 🏃‍♂️6

Humanoids follow the following formula for speed:

• Speed (meters) = (AGI🖐️ + SIZE) / 2 [Small = 1, Medium = 2, Large = 3, etc.]

Attributes

I don’t picture the lone ranger archetype being particularly bad at anything.

• Strength💪: Shouldn’t be super high, but someone that needs to lug multiple weapons around the wasteland should be stronger than average.
• Agility🖐️: They don’t call ’em “the fastest gun in the west” without reason.
• Endurance♻️: Same explanation as STR.
• Perception👁️: I mentioned the “eagle-eyed” gunfighter earlier. The ranger needs to be able to process sensory information quickly and accurately.
• Mind🧠: Not a genius, but certainly not dumb. Filled with knowledge of survival and terrain.
• Charisma🤠: I literally use the cowboy emoji for this. It has to be high.

Traits

• Home Advantage: My attempt at reflecting the Ranger’s knowledge of terrain in combat. When they’re familiar with the area, they can respond faster to danger to get the upper hand — also plays into the “Draw!” fantasy.
• Quickdraw: I imagine the Ranger ducking from cover to cover, popping heads at long range but quick to clear leather with the revolver as soon as someone gets too close. Switching weapons should never be a concern for the gunslinger.

Actions

I focused all of the weapons on classic cowboy tropes. Lever-action rifles, six shooters, and double barrel shotguns. Not only are they iconic weapons, but they provide interesting alternate weapon abilities like Fan the Hammer and Both Barrels. These add flavor and danger to the Ranger that I couldn’t add with a simple semi-automatic. A player is going to remember the time their character got shredded to ribbons by six point blank shots from a Ranger’s revolver.

Taking it to the Next Level

I had one more idea for the ranger after I finished designing the stat block. It goes just a bit outside my desired power level for a generic NPC, but I could see it being used for a western bandit themed adventuring party in the future.

One of my favorite gameplay features in a shooter is bullet time. Red Dead Redemption and Overwatch, two inspirations I pulled from earlier, even use the same name for their respective cowboys’ special ability: dead eye.

Here’s my idea for a “Deadeye” ability that I could see a “Boss” ranger using. It’s actually a combo ability — a setup and a finish drawn up like an Overwatch shot on steroids.

• Square Off ✨➡️🔚. The ranger reloads their revolver in the blink of an eye, holsters it, squares their feet, and hovers their hand next to their hip. Performing any action other than Draw! causes the ranger to exit their stance.
• Draw! (Boss Action, must be Squared Off, Force Reload). The ranger fires a shot at up to six visible targets. Targets in soft cover or no cover are automatically hit. The ranger can choose to fire at any given target any number of times.

Boss Actions are 1/encounter actions taken after any character on the other team takes an action, similar to reactions but without a required trigger and much more powerful. Theoretically, a player could prevent the Draw! action by killing the Ranger with their first action, but they better not miss.

Conclusion

Okay! That was my first crack at writing about an NPC more complicated than “it can hit things with a stick.” I think next week I’ll go into something a bit more uniquely post-apocalyptic. Until then 🙂