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Hargo Leadtongue

December 14th, 2015

Alex Riggs

Exotic Encounters Archive

                Today is the beginning of Kineticist Week, and if there's ever a class that you would want to have pre-made NPCs for, it's the kineticist, because this class is complicated, and the average GM just doesn't have the time to carefully build a kineticist from scratch. Well, if you're in the mood for a CR 10 dwarf geokineticist, then you're in luck, because that's exactly who we have for you today!

 

Hargo Leadtongue, Stonecaller

                This dwarf's beard is a dark brown flecked with occasional streaks of dark red. His skin is ruddy and tanned, and his breastplate is worn but well-tended. His expression is calm, but the lines on his face speak of hard times.

HARGO LEADTONGUE, STONECALLER                              CR 10
XP 9,600
Male dwarf kineticist (geokineticist) 10
N Medium humanoid (dwarf)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +16 (+18 to notice unusual stonework)

DEFENSE

AC 25, touch 13, flat-footed 23 (+8 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 natural, +3 shield)
hp 108 (10d8+60)
Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +7; +2 vs. poison, spells, and spell-like abilities
Defensive Abilities defensive training (+4 dodge bonus to AC vs. giants); DR 5/adamantine

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.
Melee +1 morningstar +8/+3 (1d8+1)
Ranged earth blast +9 (5d6+9) or metal blast +9 (10d6+14)
Special Attacks +1 on attack rolls vs. goblinoid and orc humanoids, blast wild talents (earth blast, metal blast), burn (3/round, 7 maximum), defense wild talent (flesh of stone), earth mastery, elemental overflow (max +3/+6, +2 size bonus), infusion wild talents (entangling infusion, extended range, impale, pushing infusion, snake), utility wild talents (basic geokinesis, earth glide, earth walk, jagged flesh, kinetic cover, shift earth, tremorsense)

STATISTICS

Str 10, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 6
Base Atk +7; CMB +7; CMD 20 (24 vs. bull rush or trip)
Feats Deadly Aim, DiehardB, EnduranceB, Medium Armor Proficiency, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Toughness
Skills Appraise +1 (+3 to assess metals or gemstones), Heal +16,  Intimidate +11, Knowledge (nature) +11, Perception +16 (+18 to notice unusual stonework), Sense Motive +13
SQ expanded element (earth), gather power, infusion specialization (–2), internal buffer (1 point), metakinesis (empower, maximize), metalsense
Languages Common, Dwarven, Terran

ENCOUNTERS

Entourage solitary
Gear +1 heavy steel shield, +1 morningstar, +2 breastplate, amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +1, potion of fly, ring of protection +1
Boons Hargo is slow to make friends, and it rarely occurs to him to offer boons, even when they might be appropriate. That said, he is more than happy to use his abilities to assist with excavation, and has an uncanny insight into the properties of various soils and earth. His family connection allows him to provide a discount on the services of mercenaries from the Leadtongue clan.

SPECIAL ABILITIES

                Earth Mastery (Su): Hargo gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls if both he and his foe are touching the ground. If an opponent is airborne or waterborne, he suffers a –4 penalty on attack and damage rolls. These modifiers apply to bull rush and overrun maneuvers, whether Hargo is initiating or resisting these kinds of attacks. (These modifiers are not included in the statistics block.)

                Metalsense (Su): Hargo has an innate sense for finding metal deposits, and can naturally reproduce the effects of a rod of metal and mineral detection.

 

Background

                The Leadtongue Clan is an old and proud clan of dwarven mercenaries, known for being completely and totally without any sense of diplomacy or tact, even by dwarven standards. Though their famous "lead tongues" can often cause tension between themselves and their employers, their skill as warriors has always allowed them to get away with their bombastic and confrontational behavior, and their complete unwillingness to listen to clients' irrational demands has helped them turn several potentially costly losses into victories.

                Hargo was never particularly skilled in combat, and had a placid, quiet attitude, not suitable for the harsh realities of mercenary work, which led to a rather rough childhood, as the Leadtongues assign little value to anything beyond the skills of a mercenary. Hargo's father, Gorgin, is one of the clan's four major generals, and the fact that his only child was not a strong warrior was difficult for him to accept, a frustration which he vented largely on Hargo himself. Hargo worked hard to try to please his father, but the man's respect was always out of reach. He spent much of his childhood packing and unpacking camp, cooking, and other tasks that are generally not handled by the mercenaries themselves, at least amongst the Leadtongues.

                All of this changed when Hargo reached adolescence, and tapped into his latent connection with the earth. This psychic power, a rare but regular occurrence amongst dwarves in the region where the Leadtongue clan operates, occurs in perhaps 1 out of 10,000 dwarves, although never before in a Leadtongue. As his powers began to manifest, the combat applications became clear: instant fortifications and trenches, undermining enemy strongholds, and so much more, not to mention Hargo's gift for finding rare metals and minerals.

                Hargo served for some time amongst the Leadtongues doing just that, but eventually was forced to admit that his heart just wasn't in warfare. It was difficult for his family to comprehend, but, when he announced that he would be retiring from the clan to live the life of a hermit, they were forced to admit that he had served well enough and with distinction during his time that retiring was his right, even if it was much earlier than normal.

                Hargo now lives in a small mountain-top cottage, communing with nature and living a peaceful, contemplative life. He occasionally consents to do surveying and similar work for those that are willing to make the trek out to his secluded home, and, as such, his fame has begun to slowly grow, to the point where he is considering discontinuing this practice. While he is not warlike, he is no less gruff and insulting in his speech than the rest of his family.