Hunter of Artemis [template+characters]

[Belial666]

Hunter of Artemis
Artemis, daughter of Leto and Zeus and the twin of Apollo, is the deity of the hunt, the wilderness and the primal forces of life in the Olympian Pantheon. A recluse with the standards of most other Olympians, she defends nature against the invariably destructive influence of intelligent beings and champions women wherever they are oppressed or exploited by men. Given that civilization needs both nature and women in order to survive, Artemis' function in the Pantheon is far more important than most people may think. In this day and age with both environmentalism and feminism having grown with leaps and bounds, Artemis has found her divine portofolio -and thus her powers- stronger than ever. Just as in old times, the goddess calls to those women both willing and able to give their life for a worthy cause and grants them powers so they can act; To defend the wilds. To protect animals from extinction. To champion women who cannot defend themselves. To hunt and kill those guilty of such crimes. And to slay unnatural predators that threaten the balance.




Musts: A Hunter of Artemis must have a High Concept that refers to her service to the Greek Goddess. Part and parcel of this High Concept is an oath against romantic entanglement with men and the prerequisite of being a female human.
The Hunter of Artemis must also take the Moonbow Item of Power (defined below), which is considered to be the mark of the pact between her and the Goddess Artemis and, as such, requires no aspect other than the High Concept to refer to it.

All hunters of Artemis share the following base powers;

[-2] Inhuman Speed
[-1] Inhuman Toughness, improved to supernatural once a Hunter has at least
      7 points total in Hunter powers. The Catch is knives soaked in animal blood.
[+0] Inhuman Constitution
[-1] Moonbow (Item of Power)
* It Is What It Is: a powerful longbow, Weapon:3. Lifting Strength 3 to draw. Stess bonus from strength powers applies as per all muscle-powered weapons.
* One-Time Discount
* Indestructible
* Divine Purpose: The moonbow is meant to kill, and to defend nature. It cannot be used against animals and if you intend to spare your enemies, true aim doesn't apply.
* True Aim
* Hephaestus-Forged Weaponry: +2 Weapon Rating
* Arrows of Moonlight: Ignores the first 2 points of armor

Options: Each individual Hunter has unique skills and powers best suited to a Hunter's three major tasks; hunting down the enemies of the Sisterhood, standing sentinel over the wilds, and slaying abominations against Nature with their arrows of moonlight. A novice Hunter will have 2 refresh worth of powers from the following list and more experienced hunters have more - and eventually develop their own techniques (stunts) or may gain unique blessings from the goddess. Note that a novice that is otherwise eligible as a Hunter but doesn't have the strength for her moonbow defaults to Inhuman Strength.
[-1] Cloak of Shadows
[-1] Lethal Weapon (for Bows)
[-1] Archery Champion (+1 attack with Bows)
[-1] Echoes of the Beast: Hawk or Wolf (telescopic vision/+1 visual senses for eagle, tracking trapping with alertness/+1 hearing senses for wolf)
[-1] Divine Archery  range of bows increased to match best man-portable modern weaponry
[-2] Inhuman Strength
[-2] Supernatural Speed (as upgrade)
[-2] Supernatural Strength (as upgrade)
[-2] Plague Arrows  arrows fired are venomous (as per power of that name)

Important Skills: Bows and Athletics are the Hunter's primary skills. A hunter must be able to hit what she aims at with the best of them and run down any target. Depending on the Hunter's focus, other skills vary. A Hunter focused on tracking and running down prey will have survival and/or Alertness with Echoes of the Wolf. A Hunter that focuses on being an unseen sentinel or assassin will have high stealth, and a hunter who focuses on slaying one's enemies has endurance and other defensive skills. While the Moonbow requires significant strength to wield, most Hunters develop Inhuman Strength early in their career. Only the rare novice that has both trained up her strength and was interested in a more skill-oriented approach as a mortal eschews it.


The Curse of Artemis:
Once made through the goddesse's blessing, a Hunter is for life - and that life is everlasting. So long as they uphold their oaths and defend the wilds, hunters may either follow the goddess as part of her Sisterhood or act independently. Some of them though eventually betray their oaths for whatever reason. Since the making of a Hunter is for life and cannot be revoked, Artemis and her followers punish errant hunters in two ways. First, any fallen hunter is fair game for their hunting groups and their end is invariably unpleasant and permanent should they be caught. Secondly, falling comes with a powerful curse; fallen hunters are no longer naturally unaging - they must kill once per seven years for the express reason of maintaining their youth - and half their powers (rounded down) are tied to drinking the blood of their victims. The curse may seem harsh but follows Artemis' ruthless ways; fallen hunters have an added physical weakness, are emotionally punished for breaking their oaths, and are now prone to leaving behind clues that faithful Hunters can follow.

Minimum Refresh Cost: -6






Hunter of Artemis (novice)

High Concept: Hunter Goddess Fangirl  Trouble: Vow of Chastity
Aspects: Archery Champion, Hardcore Environmentalist, Pact With A Greek Goddess, Reluctant Assassin, Sparkly Vamps Beware
Stress: Physical  OOOO(OO) armor 1, Social OOO, Mental OOO Refresh and Fate: Up Your Waist/1



Powers and Stunts:
[-1] Archery Champion   +1 to attacks with bows
[-2] Inhuman Speed
[-1] Lethal Weapon (bows)
[-1] Inhuman Toughness   (catch is knives soaked in animal blood)
[+0] Inhuman Constitution  hunters of artemis eventually recover from almost any wound and don't grow old.
[-1] Moonbow (Item of Power)


Skills:
+4: Bows, Athletics
+3: Endurance, Might
+2: Alertness, Discipline, Conviction
+1: Fists, Presence, Survival, Empathy, Stealth






Hunter of Artemis (fallen)

High Concept: Dark Archer Girl Trouble: Vow of Vengeance
Aspects: Archery Champion, Dangerous Outlaw, Curse of Artemis, Assassin for Hire, Sparkly Vamps Beware
Stress: Physical  OOOO(OOOO) armor 2, Social OOO, Mental OOO Refresh and Fate: Submerged/1



Powers and Stunts:
[-1] Archery Champion   +1 to attacks with bows
[-4] Supernatural Speed
[+0] Inhuman Constitution  fallen hunters eventually recover from almost any wound. They still grow old unless they kill a virgin girl every 7 years.
[-1] Moonbow (Item of Power)
[+1] Feeding Dependency: Blood  affecting the following;
      [-2] Inhuman Strength
      [-1] Cloak of Shadows
      [-1] Supernatural Toughness   (catch is knives soaked in animal blood)


Skills:
+5: Bows, Athletics
+4: Stealth, Alertness
+3: Endurance, Discipline
+2: Conviction, Presence, Survival
+1: Burglary, Might, Fists, Intimidate, Lore







Hunter of Artemis (ascended)

High Concept: Divine Archer Trouble: Vow of Chastity
Aspects: Archery Champion, Nature's protector, Handmaiden of Artemis, Plague Of The Wicked, Purge The Corrupt
Stress: Physical  OOOO(OOOO) armor 2, Social OOOO, Mental OOOO Refresh and Fate: 18/1



Powers and Stunts:
[-1] Archery Champion   +1 to attacks with bows
[-1] Divine Archery  any bows wielded by a hunter of artemis have range as long as the most long-ranged man-portable modern weapons.
[-2] Plague Arrows  any bows wielded by a hunter of artemis have the "venomous" ability.
[-1] Echoes of the Beast: Hawk (telescopic vision/+1 visual senses)
[-1] Windwalker  can walk on air like birds fly, leaves a trail of footprints glowing with moonlight instead of having actual wings
[-4] Supernatural Speed
[-4] Supernatural Strength
[-1] Cloak of Shadows
[-1] Supernatural Toughness   (catch is knives soaked in animal blood)
[+0] Inhuman Constitution  hunters of artemis eventually recover from almost any wound and don't grow old.
[-1] Moonbow (Item of Power)


Skills:
+6: Bows, Athletics
+5: Stealth, Alertness
+4: Endurance, Discipline
+3: Conviction, Presence, Survival
+2: Burglary, Might, Fists
+1; Lore, Scholarship, Empathy

[Masurao]

Out of curiosity, how do you come to your value for the Moonbow? Since you're not using standard powers with it, to my untrained eye.

[Falar]

Hmmmm. For a template, I find it non-templately. How about a rewrite like this:

Hunter of Artemis
FLAVOR TEXT GOES HERE!

Musts: A Hunter of Artemis must have a High Concept that refers to her service to the Greek Goddess. Part and parcel of this High Concept is an oath against romantic entanglement with men and the prerequisite of being a female human.

The Hunter of Artemis must also take the Moonbow Item of Power (defined below), which is considered to be the mark of the pact between her and the Goddess Artemis and, as such, requires no aspect other than the High Concept to refer to it.

In addition, the Hunter of Artemis must take the following powers and stunts:

* Archery Champion (stunt)
* Supernatural Speed [-4]
* Inhuman Strength [-2] Or Cloak of Shadows [-1] and Lethal Weapon (Bows, Stunt)
* Supernatural Toughness [-4]
** The Catch [+3] is Knives soaked in Animal Blood
* Inhuman Constitution [-0]

The Moonbow is as follows:

Moonbow [-1] (Item of Power)
* It Is What It Is: Longbow, Weapon:3, requires Might 3 to draw. Gains the xxxx Blows benefit from all levels of Strength powers
* One-Time Discount [+2]
* Indestructible
* Divine Purpose: The moonbow is meant to kill, and to defend nature. It cannot be used against animals and if you intend to spare your enemies, true aim doesn't apply.
* True Aim
* Hephaestus-Forged Weaponry: +2 Weapon Rating
* Arrows of Moonlight: Ignores the first 2 points of armor

Options: A Hunter of Artemis may fall by betraying her oath to the goddess. In which case, the Inhuman Strength, Cloak of Shadows and Supernatural Toughness powers now have a feeding dependency of blood. This may happen at any point in play, as well. Players beware.

In addition, they may take the following powers as they become more attuned to their goddess' will:

* Divine Archery [-1]: Any bows wielded by a hunter of artemis have range as long as the most long-ranged man-portable modern weapons.
* Plague Arrows [-2]: any bows wielded by a hunter of artemis have the "venomous" ability.
* Senses [-1]: telescopic vision negates most distance penalties
* Windwalker [-1]: can walk on air like birds fly, leaves a trail of footprints glowing with moonlight instead of having actual wings
* Inhuman Strength [-2] may be upgraded to Supernatural Strength [-4]

Important Skills: Weaponry, Athletics, Alertness, and Survival are all important skills for a hunter. Might, though not as important of a skill, is also required to receive the full benefits of a Hunter of Artemis.

Minimum Refresh Cost: -9

As a template, I find it pretty inaccessible to a lot of characters, which really puts me off of it. In books, I've seen characters that I swear were nothing more than Feet in the Water be recruited to the service of Artemis and they didn't instantly power up quite this much or really have the feeling of straight-up becoming an NPC - although it is definitely still a risk.

I would move Supernatural Speed [-4] to options, as well as Supernatural Toughness [-4]. This would allow a Feet In the Water character to become a Hunter of Artemis, although they'd still need to sink all their refresh into the template, which leaves them incapable of actually customizing their character.

As another side-comment, for a Hunter, none of these characters are particularly good at tracking down prey. There is also little stunt or power support for going that direction instead of a BEAT EM UP kind of hunter. I'd recommend broadening the template to encompass more Supernatural Senses type things that allow them to track down their prey. After all, if you can't find them, what is the use of having a bow?

EDITED TO ADD: I still dislike the template not having a Must that follows the rules for the Item of Power. Eg, I still think that the High Concept is not enough to encompass the Moonbow and there should be an aspect that specifically refers to the Moonbow. As a GM or a player, I would find it a bit weird to compel a high concept of "HUNTER GODDESS FANGIRL", "DARK ARCHER GIRL" or "DIVINE ARCHER" because the Moonbow was inaccessible.

EDITED TO ADD 2: Here's a suggestion for a power to help with the tracking thing. It might be a little undercosted though. I would recommend it as a basic Must of the Template, probably amending the Must list to Mark and Track, Cloak of Shadows & Lethal Weapon (Bows) OR Inhuman Strength, and the Moonbow.

Mark and Track [-1]
By physically touching any target or residue of a target, the Hunter can place a metaphysical mark upon them that allows them to be hunted and found in almost any place. After placing the Mark, the hunter gains a +2 to any attempt to find and confront them and may use Survival for those attempts, even when it makes no sense to use that skill - eg, following them through traffic or looking for rumors of where they are.

EDITED TO ADD 3: None of the characters listed have Good (+3) Might, which is a prerequisite to using the Moonbow. I'm wondering if I'm misunderstanding that requirement though. Does it require a Good Might to be able to get the Hammer/Lethal/Devastating Blows benefit of Strength powers or do those benefits instead increase the effective Might Score one has for drawing the bow?

[Belial666]

Thanks for the comments and the help Falar. I've fixed all that needed fixing now and downsized the base template to fit all power levels except the least.

[13th~Nineteen]

Out of curiosity, how do you come to your value for the Moonbow? Since you're not using standard powers with it, to my untrained eye.

Well he included the discount in the price.


-1 True Strike
-1 +2 Stress
-1  Armor Pen
 +2 IoP Discount
Total: -1

[synobal]

For some reason I thought the curse of Artemis had something to do with werewolves.

[Falar]

I think you might have missed at least my (many) edits, Belial. Which is totally my fault for not getting them all done on the original post.

I'm confused as to how Moonbow's Might restriction works. It states that you need a Good (+3) Might to draw it, but none of the character examples given have a Good (+3) Might and none of the Strength powers straight up raise your Might rating. They raise it in certain trappings (Improved/Superior/Supreme Lifting increases when lifting or breaking inanimate things, Bruising/Bludgeoning/Unstoppable Strength increases it when used while grappling and Superior/Superlative/Supreme Strength improves it when it modifies another skill), but none of them actually improve a character's Might Score. The Blows line of trappings for the power does not actually affect Might in any way.

Also, when the Moonbow says it gains benefits from Strength powers normally, what does that mean? Does that mean the Blows line also applies to it?

[Belial666]

@synobal;
A fallen Hunter with "Echoes of the Wolf" (one of two options) and needing to drink blood is fairly werewolfish already - at least for the 'act like a wolf' variety rather than the 'assume the form of a wolf' variety. And of course Artemis can curse whomever she likes into a werewolf and then have her Hunters hunt and kill it anyway.


@Falar;
I had it as "effective might", implying strength powers help (i.e. Inhuman Strength automatically satisfies it due to the +3 it gives). Will change it to "lifting strength" instead. And yes, the Moonbow gets the stress bonus from strength powers normally. It IS a muscle-powered weapon to begin with; I just wanted to make it clearer.
I added "Echoes of the Beast" as an option to either get the long range vision bonuses of a hawk or get the hearing bonus and tracking ability of a wolf instead of the Senses power. Hunters can pick the first if they want to be snipers and scouts, or the second if they want to be trackers and seekers. Assassins would benefit from either - though they'd get better bonuses from Cloak of Shadows.
And Plague Arrows are pretty nifty IMHO. Hit an enemy once and he'll go down from the plague eating him from the inside even if he flees. In fact, hit him and then just harass him and run him in circles till he dies like packs of dogs and wolves do to bears.