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WB101 Part 5: The Big Picture
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The hot shot is good at what he does, maybe even the best, and he knows it. The typical hot shot is relatively young, which means his abilities are more likely due to natural talent or unorthodox methods than training and experience. Hot shots are very self-confident, often to the point of dickishness, and therefore…
Here we are nearly halfway through the first month of 2010 and there hasn’t been a new installment of “Hexagrams” since sometime back in September, so you’re probably a little curious about what Hex has planned for the coming year. We’ve meant to update this column for a while, but we’ve been kind of busy…
The lawman is, as you can probably guess, someone who has sworn to uphold the law. Most lawmen are members of a recognized law enforcement organization, but there are a some freelancers (including some super-heroes and particularly law-abiding bounty hunters) who could be considered members of this archetype. Unlike the loose cannon, the lawman…
Anybody can swing a sword and beat up bad guys, but the swashbuckler does it with panache. While the term was originally used to describe swordsmen, its current usage has more to do with a hero’s style than his weapon of choice. In addition to being incredibly skilled (and knowing it), the swashbuckler is…
The Con Man specializes in finding people who want something for nothing and giving them nothing for something. When most people think of a con man, they imagine a ruthless criminal who steals money from little old ladies. While this is sometimes the case, the little old ladies aren’t always blameless. In addition to exploiting…
When Hex wrote M-Force: Monster Hunting in the 21st Century, we included a lot of detail about the organization and all of the support that it could offer a team of monster hunters in the field. Unfortunately, we didn’t include any rules for dealing with this support structure, which meant the competence and response time…
The small-time crook is a person who relies on illegal activities to make a living, but doesn’t have the abilities, resources, or imagination to pull off a big score. Some small-time crooks specialize in a particular brand of illicit activity—for example, drug dealing or stealing cars—but most will take any opportunity to make a quick…
The gambler is a character who makes a living (or tries to) by wagering on contests of skill or chance. Most professional gamblers prefer games that rely on personal skill, such as pool or poker, but a few play games of pure chance (such as slot machines) or bet on the outcomes of events…
In D&D, all characters start the game with a randomly determined number of gold pieces with which to buy equipment. Once the campaign gets started, they keep track of every piece of treasure or equipment they find, buy, sell, or give away, which can lead to very complex accounting and resource tracking once characters reach…