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--Lime--
2011-02-18, 11:09 AM
So I've nearly finished watching the entire run of Due South. I understand it's somewhat frowned upon to put characters into a DnD setting, but I just couldn't resist. For one thing, the show doesn't take itself seriously, and the larger-than-life characters fit perfectly into a fantastical setting.

Something that helps is that Fraser can't carry a gun; he's not licensed to in the United States. So we're back down to other abilities. However, he is a marksman, and I'll be trying to reflect that among many other things.

Not sure on stats or anything just yet, but here's a list of things I've thought about. Any other Due South fans, pile in; my ultimate aim is to make Mounted Policeman into some sort of prestige class.


Resists non-magical sleep
Sleeps very little: can stay awake for at least 37 (?) hours straight, by taking short naps during simple activities, e.g. a 30-second nap while walking downstairs.
Can lower his heart rate and metabolism (resisting poison?)
Bonus to longbow and crossbow (pistol and rifle marksman)
Magical hat - it's a funny one, this, but he is never injured in the show when wearing his hat. He doesn't meta this, of course, and will remove it indoors because custom dictates so. Also, a fall or other such assault on his person will often knock it off, leaving him vulnerable
Must wear uniform while on duty - two uniforms, dress (red) and everyday (brown)
Accomplished horseman, proficient with lance
Encyclopedic knowledge - only very specific things will fox him, like the naming of an obscure drug
Languages - in the programme he speaks Cantonese and Mandarin, as well as having knowledge of a couple of other dialects, and several Inuit/Eskimo languages.
Epic taste and smell - can identify many foods, poisons and soil-types as well as other substances
Adept at singing and guitar
Awful at nuances of language - picking up "the lingo" is often a cause of friction
Lawful Good - to the extreme. Never lies, even when it is advantageous to. Although, on two occasions he's "accidentally" broken these rules in favour of his partner (law enforcement type, not romantic type)
Spot and Listen - excellent hearing, and notices many little details others would not. Range of hearing around 180 feet for normal talking voices, to interpret what they're saying.
Bonus to fortitude saves against cold
Should probably have some ranks in Tumble, too
Attractive to women
Pugilist - a fine fistfighter (though better at defense); able to wrestle bears,
Meditative hearing - Can return his mind to a specific instant and replay the sounds, so as to triangulate better or remember details he didn't notice at first
Oh yes, and of course -
Haunted by the ghost of his father, who disapproves and was always distant during his childhood

-------------------------------

Can throw a knife at a range of about 45 feet with enough force to lodge itself in wood, then throw a followup with enough accuracy to wedge in the handle of the previous one. Also able to catch a knife thrown at him out of the air, but not sure that's a skill he can rely on.
Threw a baseball through a wooden wall.
Furthermore, the trance-like recall for listening also works for what he saw, though it's hardly ever used because his eyes are so good. It's a form of self-hypnosis, and though he lacks knowledge of what image relaxes other people, he can hypnotise them too in a similar way. Add into that a mischievous streak using short-lived post-hypnotic suggestion - and it really is short lived, seems only to work on the same day - and he can effectively turn them "charmed", or a really good diplomacy check. It should be noted that he's not great with this - he hypnotised the room instead of one person by mistake, so it probably shouldn't be made a core of his character going round hypnotising others.
Has been hypnotised/charmed himself, but it was slightly tougher to do so than for a normal person
Able to estimate geographic position in a rough manner (to nearest degree lat/long)
Extended lung capacity for swimming, even in serge and riding boots
Great at identifying species just from sight
Use Rope: Knows a great variety of knots, it seems. However, he was able to tie a complex knot in seconds, yet unable to connect the name to the sort of knot he should tie the next time. The third time he was seen untying several tight and complex knots behind his back, successfully.
Carries a waterproof toolkit (in a belt pouch?) and a handkerchief up his sleeve at all times
Craft (woodwork) - pretty much epic level skills here
Great sketch artist, so probably another craft skill

Animal Companion:
Has a moody, junk-food-addicted, gone-soft-in-the-city, deaf half-wolf who can lipread, and he can understand the half-wolf's responses
The animal can lip-read in more than one language (Inuktuk?) and Fraser can interpret replies, as if having quite a complex conversation.
Half-wolf dislikes wolverines due to an attack while still a puppy, and feels a brotherly bond to beavers, willing to step into harm's way to get them out of danger. Yet paradoxically, has never been fond of rodents (in general, I assume)
Half-wolf able to leap great distances, knocking Fraser or bipedal enemy prone (so probably be modelled as a good trip)
Can sense alignment in a person on the good/evil axis
Half-wolf dislikes Winnebago. Not sure if this is relevant.


This is somewhat of a dump for me to look at while planning how the numbers will fit around his character, but anyone who has seen Due South, please feel free to advise.

Land Outcast
2011-02-18, 03:52 PM
I haven't seen Due South, but from your description I'd stat him as a Fighter 2/Monk 1/Ranger 6 With a lot of knowledge skills.

Given that we are on the hombrew forum I'll take the freedom to switch the Multishot from combat style for Precise Shot...

Just for fun I'll stat something like that up in my next post here (I'm not saying it will be what you want, rather I'm just having some fun).

Debihuman
2011-02-18, 04:21 PM
It's not that it is frowned upon to put such characters in a D&D setting, but that most of these types of characters aren't well suited for a typical Medieval-type setting. However, there's no reason not to go full steam ahead with 3.5 stats. I say go for it.

In fact, I could see a lot of interesting things with guy. Ranger class and an animal companion (Diefenbaker). There is feat from the Ravenloft setting that gives you a Haunted background. There is a Light Sleeper feat here that could also be useful: http://www.dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Light_Sleeper_(3.5e_Feat).

Debby

Land Outcast
2011-02-18, 04:46 PM
Well, instead of buying skills in a ton of knowledges I could have said something about bardic knowledge, but this guy didn't strike me as the bardic type... I might be wrong.

I ketp to the Player's Handbook, mainly for ease of reference.
And didn't give any magical gear or armor because, well, I have some difficulty picturing him as the armor-wearing type. (Though a magical mithril chain wouldn't hurt I guess).

The hat could be an item providing +2 luck bonus to AC, +2 luck bonus to all saves, and a continuous Sanctuary effect (Estimated price: 10000+3/4(8000)+1/2(8000)=20000gp). Constable Benton Fraser (Ftr 2/Mnk 1/Rng 6)
Medium Humanoid (Human)
HD 2d10+4 plus 1d8+2 plus 6d8+12 (65 hp)
Speed 30 ft. (8 squares)
Init: +3
AC 13; touch 13; flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex)
BAB +8; Grp +13
Attack Light Crossbow +12 melee (1d8/17-20) or
Unarmed Strike +9 melee (1d6+1)

[+4 damage vs. humans, +2 vs. animals]
Full-Attack Light Crossbow +12/+7 melee (1d8/17-20) or
Unarmed Strike +9/+4 melee (1d6+1)
or Flurry of Blows +7/+7/+2 (1d6+1)

[+4 damage vs. humans, +2 vs. animals]
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Favored enemy (human +4; animal +2), flurry of blows, spells (not enough wisdom)
Special Qualities: Animal companion (wolf), wild empathy (+6)
Saves Fort +12 Ref +10 Will +6
Abilities Str 12, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 10
Skills: [Bluff, Listen, Spot, Survival vs. humans +4, vs. animals +2]
Climb +6
Jump +8
Knowledge (arcana) +3
Knowledge (arch & eng) +3
Knowledge (dungeoneering) +3
Knowledge (geography) +3
Knowledge (history) +3
Knowledge (local) +3
Knowledge (nature) +5
Knowledge (nobility) +3
Knowledge (religion) +3
Knowledge (the planes) +3
Listen +14
Perform (Singing) +3
Perform (String Instrument) +3
Ride +15
Spot +14
Survival +6
Tumble +11
Feats: Alertness
Endurance [Rng]
Improved Critical (Crossbow, Light)
Improved Unarmed Strike [Mnk]
Improved Grapple [Mnk]
Iron Will
Point Blank Shot [Ftr]
Precise Shot [Rng]
Rapid Shot [Rng]
Quick Draw
Rapid Reload (Crossbow, Light) [Ftr]
Track [Rng]
Weapon Focus (Crossbow, Light)
Organization Solitary
Challenge Rating 9
Alignment Lawful Good

Wolf
Size/Type: Medium Animal
Hit Dice: 4d8+12 (30 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 17 (+3 Dex, +4 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+5
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+3)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Trip
Special Qualities: Evasion, link, low-light vision, scent, share spells
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Hide +2, Listen +6, Move Silently +3, Spot +6, Survival +1*
Feats: Alertness, TrackB, Weapon Focus (bite)
Note: 28 point buy used.

Mulletmanalive
2011-02-18, 04:59 PM
If you can track it down, there are two "races" and connected feats in a Ravenloft product called "legacy of the blood" [i'm not sure it was ever sold in print in Britain, got it in a .pdf batchload off a friend].

One race causes you to acquire ghosts and the feats of another [they're listed as general so you could probably argue to take them, or just meta it] grants you nearly silly levels of knowledge as a result of being somehow related to Frankeinstein...ok, the Ravenloft guy actually IS smart, unlike Frankenstein but you get the drift...

Hear the Unseen is a must too. Well, the one from PHB2 whatever that's called...

--Lime--
2011-02-18, 06:39 PM
You guys are awesome. This is exactly the sort of thing I'd hoped for!

Mulletmanalive
2011-02-18, 07:08 PM
Really wierd one but the single best class for Fraiser is from Spycraft and is called the Schemer [basically a prestige class]. It grants a selection of abilities, not least is the ability to hold onto skill points and asign the as you need them, as a Swift action...

--Lime--
2011-02-22, 12:20 PM
That sounds very interesting. I may have to restrict that to Knowledge skills, but we'll see.

Added from latest episode I've seen:

Can throw a knife at a range of about 45 feet with enough force to lodge itself in wood, then throw a followup with enough accuracy to wedge in the handle of the previous one. Also able to catch a knife thrown at him out of the air, but not sure that's a skill he can rely on.

Furthermore, the trance-like recall for listening also works for what he saw, though it's hardly ever used because his eyes are so good. It's a form of self-hypnosis, and though he lacks knowledge of what image relaxes other people, he can hypnotise them too in a similar way. Add into that a mischievous streak using short-lived post-hypnotic suggestion - and it really is short lived, seems only to work on the same day - and he can effectively turn them "charmed", or a really good diplomacy check. It should be noted that he's not great with this - he hypnotised the room instead of one person by mistake, so it probably shouldn't be made a core of his character going round hypnotising others.

Mulletmanalive
2011-02-22, 01:16 PM
I kinda stop paying much attention to what fraser does after A Mounty on the Bounty in season 3. This is where Goss starts writing and fraser's behaviour goes doolally

--Lime--
2011-02-22, 02:03 PM
The switching of Rays is where the show knows that it's going to end. It's interesting to watch. The old "doesn't need explaining at this juncture" line that was used once? with the original Ray is used every episode, and it progressively takes itself less seriously (and let's be honest, it didn't in the first place) to the point of ridiculing itself.