Submitted by Lon Teal of New Zealand
Background
The ScareCrow is an insane, murderous, but ultimately tragic figure (re: Dr Fibes for all you old film junkies). Once an eccentric but peaceful inventor the ScareCrow, as he came to be known, lived in Missouri with his wife, Annabelle, before the outbreak of the civil war. Within the first few months of hostilities, however, Annabelle had been bruttaly slain by Northern Red-Legs and amidst the smoking ruins of his home the ScareCrow was left for dead...
Though hideously burned and shot several times (once in the head!) the ScareCrow did not die, and over the next few months his body recovered and his physical wounds healed. Mentally, however, he died in the flames with his wife. His madness has somehow brought him closer to the maleovelent powers of the Hunting Grounds and infernally inspired designs spill from his diseased intellect. Terrible devices created to spread fear, chaos, and death which he employs in his fight against the Northern aggresor. The ScareCrow's efforts are secretly backed by order of President Davis himself (although officially his actions are outlawed in the Confederacy) and this does guarantee him a regular supply of Confederate Ghost Rock for his hellish creations as well as a several "outlaw" henchmen to die in his stead...
Appearance
The skin of the ScareCrow is hideously burned and twisted, leaving him almost unrecognisable, but he hides his ravaged features with a scarecrow mask (hence his name) and wears tattered clothing and a battered wide-brimmed hat - these were the first clothes he came across when he escaped from his ruined home. He is physically a weak man but his warped mind and evil intuition more than make up for his scrawny body.
Quote
SCARECROW:"What's that my pretty...KILL THEM ALL?!...But won't everybody see?....yes, yes, I know you're right...we'll have to kill them too! (giggle)"
HENCHMAN#1(whisper):"Why's the boss talkin' to his gun, Hank?"
HENCHMAN#2(also whisper):"You're new around here ain't ya..."
Statistics
DEFTNESS 3d8, NIMBLENESS 4d8, STRENGTH 2d6, QUICKNESS 2d10, VIGOUR 4d4
Sleight O Hand 3, Pistol 4, Automatics 4, Shotgun 3, Dodge 4, Drivin':Steamwagon 3, Pilotin':Airship 4, Fightin':Axe 2, Sneak 4
COGNITION 4d12, KNOWLEDGE 4d10, MIEN 2d6, SMARTS 2d8, SPIRIT 1d10
Arts:Opera 2, Artillery:Any 4, Academia:Occult 2, Science:Engineering 5, Science:Chemistry 4, Language:English 4, Language:French 3, Overawe 5, Persuassion 2, Bluff 2, Ridicule 4, Tinkerin' 5, Guts 5
Edges:Arcane:Scientist, The Stare, Luck O The Irish, Mechanically Inclined, Tough as Nails (2), Friends in High Places (Davis, sort of)
Hindrances:Night Terrors, Loco (5), Outlaw (4), Ugly as Sin, Mean as a Rattler, Scrawny, Tinhorn
Wind=18, Pace=8/16, Size=5, Terror=5
Special: The ScareCrow has a severely disturbed mind and no longer fears anything, consequently he passes all Guts checks unless magically induced
Gear
All kinds of weaponry and gadgets, including: A giant Airship (Dark Spawn), Ghost Rock Bullets (see later), Bio-mechanical Puppets (appearing later on my Varmits section I'm told...), Various Blueprints for doomsday devices - Earthquake Engine, Deathray Projector, Sonic Oscilator, and others....Also give him any additional gear you might deem appropiate...
Notes Just in case you got the wrong end of the shootin' iron, the ScareCrow is not Harrowed, his body was not killed during the shooting and subsequent fire, merely hidiously burned. His mind, however, is not what it was - his former personallity is gone and has been replaced by that of the ScareCrow, his new self. He is intended to be a "running badguy" in your campaigns, i.e he escapes all the time somehow to plague The Posse again in future, but use him as you wish. I'm told by Lon Teal, the guy who submitted the character, that a full adventure featuring the ScareCrow is on the way...let's hope so!
New Invention - Ghost Rock Bullets!
Not featured on my Gizmos pages simply because this invention is not available through Smith & Robards or, indeed, on the Black Market. They are a unique invention of the ScareCrow and can only be found in his secret lair or on his person....here goes...
Submitted by Lon Teal of New Zealand
Sciences needed:Chemistry
Poker Hand to create Blueprint:Full House
Construction TN:13 - each!
Construction Time: 6 hours (half dozen bullets)
"'Course, since you can't mould these little suckers you gotta carve 'em by hand...still hasn't caused me any harm. 'Scuse me, pardner, wouldn't mind gettin' yer giant rabbit to stop nibblin' at ma hair would ya?"
Ghost Rock bullets are scary. Really scary, in fact the ScareCrow is the only person know to use them...and he's a highly dangerous loony!
Ghost Rock bullets are a glossy black in colour and greasy to the touch. When fired the rounds ignite with a deafening wail and streaks from the barrel of the gun with an eerie green trail
The advantages of this horrible ammo is as follows: They ignore all armour, cutting through it as if it were butter, they cause an extra dice damage, cause wind damage on Harrowed, have a 1 in three chance of igniting clothing (5 or 6 on a d6 roll, "flammable" targets such as dried up Mummies, wood etc ignite on 3,4,5,6!) - use rules for "Small Fire" in Deadlands rulebook, and finally wounds caused by Ghost Rock bullets take twice as long to heal - a natural healin' test every 10 days rather than 5, and leaves a scar when healed that always feels cold for some reason...
Note that GR bullets can constructed to any calibre for use with either rifles or pistols, they are not a universal bullet which can be fired from any firearm y'know!