Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Terry Pratchett's Carrot Ironfoundersson


It's been some time since my last Barbarians of Lemuria character conversion.  Since I'm currently rereading my way back through the Watch sequence of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, I thought I'd take a shot at converting Constable Carrot Ironfoundersson, honorary dwarf and king-in-waiting of Ankh-Morpork (not that he wants anything to do with the crown).  As I've done throughout this series, I've opted to convert Carrot as he is at the moment of his first appearance in Guards! Guards!—beginning Barbarians of Lemuria characters are generally quite robust, effectively emulating most sword-and-sorcery protagonists.  (After all, like Conan, Fafhrd, and the Mouser, Carrot has gone from zero to hero long before he makes his initial entrance into the narrative.)

Carrot is not just too big for a dwarf; he's also bigger than your average human.  I've therefore given him Strength 2 to reflect his size.  I could have added a point of Agility by dropping Carrot's Mind to -1, but—as those who oppose him soon realize—simple doesn't mean stupid in Carrot's case.  Appeal is set at 2; Carrot's just that likable.  Combat scores are all set at 1, reflecting Carrot's rational, measured approach to policing.  As for careers, an initial career of Noble represents Carrot's birthright as the last heir to the throne of Ankh-Morpork—but is set at 0 to reflect Carrot's initial ignorance of his heritage (and probably stays there even as he comes to learn of his ancestors).  Miner 1 is a variant of Laborer; it has a score because Carrot does know quite a lot about mining and dwarven battle bread.  (It might even be possible to convince me to rename the career "Dwarf.")  Scholar 1 is there for Carrot's memorization of the Morporkian legal code and his pleasure reading of tax codes, while Guard 2 is a non-brainer.

In addition to his sword, Carrot carries the crossbow and truncheon assigned to every Watchman.  Even though Watchmen are provided with helmets, chain mail, and breastplates, I've only given Carrot light armor: Barbarians of Lemuria punishes heavier types of armor with Agility penalties, and that's not something I see affecting Carrot.  In fact, Carrot's armor is more of a character device (i.e., the extent to which he keeps it polished reflecting his worrisome devotion to duty) than an actual means of protection.

The Boon "King in (Voluntary) Hiding" is a Discworld variant of "Marked by the Gods," giving Carrot an extra Hero Point.  I thought briefly about giving Carrot a variant of "Valgardian Blade" since he does carry the sword of the ancient kings of Ankh-Morpork, but then I decided against this: Carrot's sword is one of the most resolutely ordinary objects in all of Discworld.  I'd prefer to let the character use Hero Points to achieve some of the special effects he achieves with the blade in the novels.  The Flaw "Country Bumpkin" is, well, definitional: Carrot is one of the bumpkiniest bumpkins in all of fantasy literature, believing that "seamstresses" really are just women who sew.  So the Flaw is exactly right for him at this point in his career.  (Later on, I suspect he buys it off with AP even as he continues to pretend that he's a clueless hick.)

Attributes
Strength 2
Agility 0
Mind 0
Appeal 2 

Combat
Brawl 2
Melee 1
Ranged 0
Defense 1

Careers
Noble 0
Dwarf 1
Scholar 1
Guard 2

Resources
Lifeblood 14
Hero Points 6

Gear
Light armor (protection d6-2)
Crossbow (d6+1, 2 rounds to load, range 80')
Sword (damage d6)
Truncheon (damage d6-1, range 10')

Boons
King in (Voluntary) Hiding
Hard-to-Kill

Flaws
Country Bumpkin

2 comments:

  1. It should be Dwarf.

    My memory is probably imperfect on this, but I don't recall him doing anything exceptional with a ranged weapon. You might consider dropping that to a '0' and boost Brawl to a '2' to represent his tendency to non-deadly resolutions.

    Just my two rat-on-a-sticks worth.

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  2. Those are two good rats' worth, actually. I'll make the changes now—I must have had the end of Men at Arms (with its sword throw) in mind when I opted for Ranged 1. But Brawl 2 makes more sense, especially when one factors in Carrot's single-handed victory over all of the thugs in the Mended Drum at the start of Guards! Guards!. Thanks for the feedback!

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