GUN SLINGER

"They thought stepping into striking distance meant they had me. Turns out, that’s my favorite range."

— Rilo Vex, Gun Slinger, Dustspire Gambit survivor

Most gunfighters panic when the fight turns close.

Not Gun Slingers.

They’ve trained for point-blank precision, turning pistol barrels into fangs and snapfire into instinct. Whether it's a blade to the throat or a Titan in grappling range, a Gun Slinger never hesitates—because their weapon was always meant to be fired from the hip… or the gut.

You may fire one-handed Ranged weapons even while engaged in Melee range with a hostile target.

This eliminates the usual penalties for making ranged attacks while threatened or adjacent to enemies.

"The trick ain’t shooting first. It’s making sure no one else gets a chance to shoot at all."

— Sykes “The Muzzle” Darrow, Gun Slinger of the Serpent’s Coil

Gun Slingers don’t wait for permission to act. The moment a fight breaks out, they’re already moving—weapons drawn, angles calculated, fingers tightening on the trigger. Every ambush, every brawl, every showdown... it starts with them.

And when they start a fight, they intend to finish it.

"One gun’s for the job. The other’s for the story they’ll tell about it."

— Kess Harlow, before clearing a pirate den in 12 seconds

Where others struggle with coordination, the Gun Slinger flows. Each weapon is an extension of instinct—two hands, one mind. Years of reflex-honed practice have turned them into perfect mirrored killers, firing from both hands with a clarity that defies standard combat logic.

They don’t need to aim twice. They just need two triggers.

You can Dual Wield one-handed Ranged weapons without suffering any penalties to Hit Chance.

You Flip for damage with a Dual Wield Attack rather than doing Low Damage

This applies to all ranged weapon types that qualify as one-handed—pistols, sidearms, light SMGs, etc.

"You think turning your back makes you safer. It doesn't."

— Rilo Vex, Gun Slinger, Dustspire Gambit survivor

Most fighters let a retreating enemy go. A Gun Slinger considers it an invitation.

There is no safe direction once you've entered their range. Forward is a threat. Backward is a mistake. The only move left is to stay and hope they're feeling generous.

They are not.

"Miss once and you've already lost the tempo. I don't miss."

— Sykes "The Muzzle" Darrow, between shots

The Gun Slinger doesn't aim — they synchronise. Each hit lands like a beat in a sequence, tighter and faster than the last. The gun becomes a metronome. The enemy becomes a countdown.

When the rhythm breaks, they feel it. So does everyone watching.

Track your consecutive hits across all ranged attacks. A miss resets the chain to zero. Rounds where you make no attacks do not break the chain.

2 consecutive hits: Your next attack deals +1 Damage.

3 consecutive hits: Your next attack deals +2 Damage and applies Distracted on hit.

Bonus damage and Distracted apply to the next attack only — the chain continues counting after.

"Standing still is how you get shot. I learned that watching other people."

— Kess Harlow

A Gun Slinger's shot isn't the end of a movement — it's a pivot point. Fire, shift, fire again from somewhere else. The target never gets to adjust because the angle keeps changing before they've finished processing the last one.

After making any ranged attack (hit or miss), you may immediately move up to 10ft in any direction.

This movement does not trigger reactions or opportunity attacks.

Usable once per attack made.

"The gun. Not the person. Start with what they're holding."

— Rilo Vex, Gun Slinger

Some fights end faster without a weapon in play. A Gun Slinger doesn't need to outshoot someone — sometimes it's enough to make them stop being a threat for the two seconds it takes to close the distance.

The shot doesn't have to kill to win.

"Why fire once when three makes the point faster?"

— Kess Harlow, unsolicited tactical advice

There's a version of this that looks undisciplined — the barrel swinging wide, the hand a blur, shells hitting everything and nothing. That's not what this is.

This is controlled chaos. Three rounds, three purposes. The Gun Slinger has already decided where each one lands before their finger moves.

"They had the drop on me. Past tense."

— attributed to multiple Gun Slingers, independently

Some fighters are caught off guard. Gun Slingers are caught mid-draw.

The reflex that fires before the brain gives the order isn't luck — it's years of loading that same motion into muscle until it runs without permission. Even ambushed. Even outnumbered. Even half-asleep.

The gun is already out before the situation finishes becoming a problem.

Trigger: Combat begins and you did not initiate it — you were ambushed, surprised, or forced into a fight by another party.

Effect: Before any enemy acts in the first round, make one free ranged attack against any target within range.

This attack fires after initiative is set but before the first enemy action resolves.

Complements First to Fire, Last to Fall — that ability rewards the ambusher; this ability levels the field when you're the one being ambushed.

"Three seconds. That's all it takes to know who dies first."

— Sykes "The Muzzle" Darrow

A Gun Slinger doesn't walk into a room and see people. They see threat values. They see the one who flinches, the one whose grip is wrong, the one whose armour sits loose at the shoulder. The calculation is automatic. The order of operations is already set.

"I've already decided. You're the one I'm killing."

— Rilo Vex, moments before the Lacuna Station job

A Gun Slinger doesn't fight a room. They fight one person at a time — with absolute intention, absolute focus, absolute disregard for everyone else until the job is done.

The Duel isn't a declaration. It's a fact. The target just hasn't been told yet.

"Cover doesn't help if I'm already standing next to it."

— Kess Harlow, tactical debrief, Redline Crossing

Distance is a defensive strategy. Gun Slingers collapse it.

Every hit is a step forward. Every flinch in the target is an invitation. They don't pursue out of aggression — they pursue because closing distance turns their best range into their enemy's worst nightmare.

"The first shot gets their attention. The second one gets the rest of them."

— Kess Harlow

Two weapons isn't just double the firepower — it's double the disorientation. The first hit puts them on the defensive. The second hits before the first has fully registered. There is no recovery window. There is only the second impact.

When dual wielding, if both attacks in the same turn hit the same target, the second hit automatically applies Distracted until the end of that target's next turn.

This triggers regardless of your current Gunfighter's Rhythm chain state.

"You stop improving the day you stop surviving. I'm still here."

— Sykes "The Muzzle" Darrow

Every close call leaves something behind — not damage, but data. The body recalibrates. The mind sharpens. What was instinct hardens into fact.

Increase any one Statistic by +1.

You may not exceed the stat cap of 6.

This increase reflects physical, mental, or cybernetic growth — interpret freely during character development.

"The wall just means they think they're safe. They're wrong."

— Rilo Vex, Gun Slinger

Cover is a psychological crutch as much as a physical one. The moment a target believes they're protected, they stop moving. They become predictable. And a predictable target is a dead one.

A Gun Slinger doesn't shoot around cover. They remind it that it doesn't matter.

"Shaken is halfway to finished. I just help the process along."

— Rilo Vex

A distracted target is an open target. Their guard drifts, their weight shifts wrong, their attention is still on whatever rattled them instead of the incoming shot. A Gun Slinger notices this in the half-second it takes to capitalise on it.

It isn't cruel. It's efficient.

Your ranged attacks against targets that are currently Distracted deal bonus Low Damage in addition to the normal damage result.

This bonus applies whether the Distracted status came from your own abilities or another source.

"This close? This is where I do my best work."

— Kess Harlow

The distance most fighters call "too close to shoot" is the distance a Gun Slinger calls optimal.

The barrel is already touching the problem. There is no arc to correct, no wind to account for, no margin for error on either side. Just the trigger, the target, and the sound that follows.

Your ranged attacks made while adjacent to the target (melee range) deal bonus Moderate Damage on top of the normal damage flip result.

If the target is your Dueled target, the bonus increases to High Damage instead.

"The angle doesn't matter. I've already thought further ahead than you."

— Sykes "The Muzzle" Darrow, post-mission report

Hiding behind cover is a bet on geometry. The assumption is that there's no angle the attacker can reach. Gun Slingers have spent their careers proving that assumption wrong — firing around pillars, through gaps that shouldn't exist, off surfaces that don't look like they'd cooperate.

The shot bends. The target doesn't understand why. By the time they do, it doesn't matter.

"Everyone else in the room is background noise."

— Sykes "The Muzzle" Darrow

Focus is a form of armour. When a Gun Slinger has committed to a Duel, everything peripheral becomes manageable — the chaos around the standoff, the targets that aren't the one that matters. The narrowing of attention is also a narrowing of exposure.

They're not ignoring the room. They've already accounted for it.

While you have an active Dueled target, you gain +1 Defence against all other enemies (not the Dueled target).

This bonus is lost immediately when the Duel ends.

"You started to aim. That was the mistake."

— Rilo Vex, Gun Slinger

There is a window between intention and action — a fraction of a second where the attacker has committed but hasn't yet delivered. Most fighters can't do anything with that window. Gun Slingers live in it.

The shot doesn't wait for permission. The moment they see someone lining up, the barrel is already moving. Their attack resolves first. Their problem is already worse before theirs even starts.

Trigger: An enemy declares an attack against you and you have a one-handed ranged weapon drawn.

Effect: Immediately make one ranged attack against that enemy before their attack resolves.

On a hit: The enemy suffers Distracted and their attack against you is made with Disadvantage.

On a miss: Their attack resolves normally with no modification.

"Three in a row means the fourth one is free."

— Kess Harlow, explaining the math nobody else understands

Rhythm builds pressure. Pressure builds until it doesn't anymore — until the Gun Slinger decides that this is the moment, and releases everything they've been storing in one controlled detonation.

It isn't reckless. It's the opposite. Every hit before this was preparation. This is the point.

"I stopped counting. There's a point where the number stops mattering."

— Sykes "The Muzzle" Darrow

The Gun Slinger doesn't lose control. This is the opposite — total control applied to every available target simultaneously. Two hands, infinite angles, and a calculation that most people would need a minute to run.

They ran it in the time it took to draw.

"I don't set a trap. I set a fact."

— Rilo Vex

A Gun Slinger at rest is still a Gun Slinger. The moment a condition becomes dangerous, the finger is already moving — not because they decided to react, but because the reaction was decided before the threat even arrived.

The trigger is already pulled. The enemy just hasn't done the thing yet.

You may maintain one Overwatch trigger passively — declare one trigger condition at the start of your turn for free (no Action cost required).

This passive Overwatch fires normally when the declared condition is met.

You may only hold one passive Overwatch trigger at a time.

You may still use the standard Overwatch action to set a second trigger on top of this one.

"You'd need to take the hand. The hand isn't available."

— Kess Harlow

There are people who can be disarmed. A Gun Slinger at this level isn't one of them. The grip is part reflex, part structural fact — the weapon doesn't come free because the weapon and the hand have become the same object as far as their nervous system is concerned.

And the rhythm? That doesn't break on a stumble. It bends. It recovers. It keeps going.

You cannot be Disarmed of one-handed ranged weapons.

Your Gunfighter's Rhythm chain now requires two consecutive misses to reset completely. A single miss reduces the chain by 1 stack instead of resetting it to zero.

"Dying's fine. Dying before I'm done isn't."

— Kess Harlow, post-surgery debrief

There is a version of a Gun Slinger that breaks under pressure. That version doesn't survive long enough to reach this point.

What remains is something that sharpens instead of shattering — a focus that the body almost dying somehow makes clearer. The shot that follows is the cleanest they've ever fired. It always is.

Trigger: You are reduced to 25% or below of your maximum HP.

Effect:

Your next ranged attack is automatically a Critical if it hits — no critical range check required.

You may immediately move up to your full movement speed without triggering reactions or opportunity attacks.

"I don't stop. The gun stops. Those aren't the same thing."

— Rilo Vex, Gun Slinger

At this level, the reload isn't a pause — it's just part of the sequence. The hands do it without instruction while the eyes are already on the next target. The weapon is ready again before the previous shot's echo has finished moving through the room.

You never need to spend an Action or Quick Action to Reload one-handed ranged weapons.

Reloading happens automatically between shots as part of normal weapon use.

This does not apply to Heavy weapons or Two-Handed weapons.

"One shot. Everything I know goes into it. It doesn't miss."

— Sykes "The Muzzle" Darrow

This is the shot that doesn't get a chance to go wrong. Not luck — architecture. Every prior hit, every adjusted angle, every read of the target's movement feeds into a single moment of total precision.

The Gun Slinger has done this before. The result was the same. It will be the same this time.

"Done. Next."

— Sykes "The Muzzle" Darrow

There is no pause between. The moment the target drops, the Gun Slinger has already moved — already scanned, already locked, already committed to the next problem in the sequence.

This is not aggression. This is process. The Gun Slinger doesn't experience a kill as an ending. They experience it as confirmation that they were right to start.

Trigger: You kill any target.

Effect:

Immediately move up to 15ft without triggering reactions.

If that target was your Dueled target:

Instantly refresh Mark the Duel — you may declare a new Dueled target as a free action.

Restore your Gunfighter's Rhythm chain to level 2 (two consecutive hits) — as if you had landed two hits in a row.

"You think this is the limit? I've been here before. I kept going."

— Rilo Vex

The body has a ceiling. The Gun Slinger has been testing it for a decade. What they've found is that it moves.

Increase any one Statistic by +1.

You may not exceed the stat cap of 6.

This increase reflects physical, mental, or cybernetic growth — interpret freely during character development.

"I've been waiting for a room worth clearing. This is it."

— Kess Harlow, somewhere loud

This is not a technique. It is a state — the place a Gun Slinger arrives at after a career of standoffs where they were supposed to lose. Every near-miss, every outnumbered exit, every wound that healed wrong has been building toward exactly this.

The room goes quiet. Then it doesn't.