First comes smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire.-Roland Deschain, of Gilead
This week I’m working on making the Starfinder NPC stat block as small as possible for as book of NPCs and Pawns that I’m working on.
The next NPC is our Gunslinger, looking at the picture, he’s wearing a red shirt, bandanna, pants, duster, campaign hat, hatband, gloves, cowboy boots, spurs, gunbelt, two holsters, and two revolvers.
I have been toying with the idea of giving American characters $100 starting cash, the UK equivalent would be about £20 although I’m not certain a UK character could get the same equivalents for £20 no matter what the currency exchange rates may say.

The Array
Our hunter is going to be a CR one Combatant, Soldier, with the Gunslinger Archetype, Gunslinger Dodge ability. I put his +4 into Dexterity, +2 into Strength, and +1 into Constitution.
Survival is a class skill for Soldiers l. I put his one Master skill in Survival, it has a lot of uses. Combatants get 2 Good skills, Perception is going to be important, Medicine to stay alive, Engineering to maintain your weapons, Athletics to get around in the wild, Intimidation for some gunfighters might be important.
Let’s get to the Soldier graft, -2 Ref saves, +2 Will saves. No skills are recommended. Ability Mods, Dex, Str, Con for Ranged characters. 1st level Gunslinger Archetype from Owen KC Stephens Really Wild West. Gunslinger’s Dodge ability.
Special Ability
Looking over Feats as special abilities, I am drawn to Improved Initiative and Quick Draw, the question is in the Wild West, how do you have a Gunslinger that DOESN’T have Quick Draw? People that don’t rely on cunning to get the drop on somebody, bushwhack them or bring extra guns to a gunfight.
Alignment
I made him Neutral Good. Frontier and Jungle life isn’t always for Lawful types. Mountain Men, Hunters, trappers, and others who live off the land and avoid civilization might tend towards Neutrality. We know the inspiration for our Gunslinger is fighting the bad guy so let’s make him good, he lives by a code and not the law so we make him Neutral. A chaotic good gunslinger wouldn’t bother with a code.
Gunslinger
CR 1
Gunslinger
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4; Perception +5
Defense
HP 20 RP 4
EAC 11; KAC 13
Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +3
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee hunting knife +5 (1d4+1 S)
Ranged Remington Revolver +8 (1d6+1 P)
Statistics
Str +2; Dex +4; Con +1; Int +0; Wis +0; Cha +0
Feats Quick Draw
Skills Survival +10, Engineering +5
Languages English
Gear Remington Revolvers, hunting knife, professional clothing, $10
Price comparisons
In the 1800s sales copy was always the common, ordinary, good, best made, finest quality, and sometimes you wonder if you should get the best or the one that’s extra(ordinary?. I think they like to use big words and the good better best that we learned in school was maybe more of a guideline to these people.
Our Gunslinger comes out at $63.75 leaving plenty of pocket money from $100 starting funds even with 2 revolvers. $19.75 of that is clothes that might end up being a free outfit in the final version.
Item | US Dollars | UK Pounds | Notes |
Pants | $2 | 13s | Cost of Jeans from Bureau of Labor Statistics cost of living reports |
Shirt | $1.25 | Cost of Colored Shirt from Bureau of Labor Statistics cost of living reports | |
Duster | $7 | Men’s Poplin and Linen Dusters were $1-2, Sacramento daily record-union, June 13, 1882. Leather pricing is similar to Greatcoat $10 Quartermaster’s replacement costs 1883. | |
Bandana | $0.50 | Handkerchiefs were $0.10-0.25 but much smaller than a Bandanna, comparable to a scarf | |
Gloves | $2 | Cost of Jeans from Bureau of Labor Statistics cost of living reports | |
Suspenders | $1 | 4s 6d | Ward’s 1878 page 21, Army-Navy Co-op Catalog 1883 |
Campaign Hat | $1 | Bannerman’s catalog 1903 British and US Cavalry, Quartermaster’s replacement costs 1883 $0.66 | |
Remington Revolvers | $17 each | Ad for Remington .46 Caliber conversion fully Nickel-plated cost | |
Hunting Knife | $2 | A great big Bowie knife, Bannerman had a Bowie Knife with a 6-inch blade and sheath for $0.95 | |
Holsters | $2 each | Bannerman’s catalog 1903, Army-Navy Co-op Catalog 1883 | |
Belt | $2 | 9s 6d | Bannerman’s catalog 1903, Army-Navy Co-op Catalog 1883 |
Cartridges | $3 | | Per 100, Ad for Remington .46 Caliber conversion |
Boots | $3 | Cost of Jeans from Bureau of Labor Statistics cost of living reports |
Our townsfolk at a high level
Name | Array | Class | Notes |
Bartender | Expert | Envoy | Owns the Saloon, takes cowboys’ guns at the door, and keeps a shotgun under the bar. |
Cavalry Officer | Combatant | Soldier | Blitz. The Commander of the local fort carries a saber and revolver. |
Cavalry Soldier | Combatant | Soldier | Hit and Run. The soldier carries a revolver and percussion rifle. |
Cavalry Soldier | Combatant | Soldier | Sharpshoot. The soldier carries a percussion musket and a saber. |
Cavalry Soldier | Combatant | Soldier | Blitz. The Lieutenant carries a revolver and saber. |
Gunslinger | Combatant | Soldier | 3PP Gunslinger Archetype. Carries two revolvers and hasn’t forgotten the face of his father. |
Gunslinger | Combatant | Soldier | Blitz. Carries two revolvers, a lot of bullets, and a spicy attitude. |
Gunslinger | Combatant | Soldier | Hit and Run. Carries a revolver and is liable to smack you with it as shoot you. Bullets ain’t free. |
Lanky Landry | Expert | Operative | Owns the long guns store, and keeps a Whitworth rifle with a scope on the wall behind him. |
Peter Parnassus | Expert | Operative | Owns the pistol palace, revolvers, pepperboxes, derringers, he’s got ’em all. |
Saloon Gal | Expert | Envoy | She’s all charm and smiles until the fighting starts. |
Shop Keeper | Expert | Mechanic | Owns the General Store and when he’s not there, he’s tinkering in his workshop. |
Schooolmarm | Expert | Envoy | Always carrying a book, always reading something, dime novels or classics. |
Name | Array | Class | Notes |
Bounty Hunter | Combatant | Soldier | Hunter. Armed with a rifle and a power glove. |
Airship Pilot | Expert | Operative | No obvious weapons, but she’s ready for anything. |
Airship Pirate | Combatant | Soldier | Blitz. Armed with a revolver and a saber, or is it a navy cutlass. |
Inventor | Expert | Mechanic | His towering intellect is matched only by his enormous wrench. |
Adventuress | Expert | Envoy | The lady’s fascinator is the least interesting thing about her. |
Game Hunter | Combatant | Soldier | Hunter. He’s hunted big game on six of the seven continents. |
Lady Detective | Expert | Operative | Whodunit? She’ll find out, and look stylish doing it. |
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Paul
Evilrobotgames at Gmail.com