Entry in the Unique 3e NPC Contest.
Nabir Splintershield, hill dwarf male
Nabir Splintershield grew up in an independent mixed asteroid port of moderate size (3000+ permanent residents). Though he was carefully schooled in dwarven ways he found himself drawn to the excitement of the port's many independent thieves, smugglers, and black-marketeers. With no guild to control them they seemed to have the freedom to do whatever they wanted. By the time he'd reached adulthood, Nabir's parents had given up on him and all but kicked him out. They concentrated on keeping their other children from following in their eldest's path. Nabir appreciated this as things could be hard enough without his siblings trying to tag along and alternately "help" him or squeal on him.
Nabir was a successful but average thief when things changed. A small group of toughs moved into the port and began trying to forcibly organize the local thieves, fences, and smugglers into a guild. Unknown to most (including Nabir) was that a minor Tenth Pit operative was sponsoring the move in order to gain notice by senior Tenth Pit members. Nabir was among the vast majority of local thieves who didn't want to come under someone else's control. A nasty underworld war soon broke out. With magical support (a minor mage and two minor priests--one of a thieving deity and the other of the planar church of Hades) and a tight knit group the newcomers at first did well, leaving several young thieves dead and their families terrorized. The local thieves began to organize themselves under various fences to coordinate activities and visiting smugglers supported their efforts (they liked the better prices competition brought vs. dealing with just one guild) with muscle and magic, even a few mercenaries. Things began to escalate as the newcomers brought in forces of their own and the Tenth Pit leadership became interested in the operation. Local authorities were becoming overwhelmed and the Tenth Pit saw an opportunity to gain power by offering to help (and thereby coming to control both illegal and legal activity).
Nabir found his chance to shine. Dwarves have always been a hardy people, able to push back when pushed around. With a reputation for not letting others muscle in on him he'd gathered a small group of friends who looked to him for leadership and protection. Nabir didn't fail them, he led them in defending their independence and even killed a couple thugs that tried to make an example of them. Nabir went on the offensive after his best paying fence was knifed. He ambushed a couple minor thugs and then staged something bigger: he attacked a warehouse used by the newcomers with his little gang. Unknown to Nabir the warehouse was holding several slaves at the time, including two children of powerful local leaders. It also had a visitng Tenth Pit lieutenant. Nabir's band surprised the guards and in the ensuing fight a fire was started (the lieutenant was a mage that used burning hands to defend himself) that brought the authorities. The authorities took the lieutenant's bodyguard prisoner, freed the slaves, and found the lieutenant's body and personal effects, including enough information to firmly link the gang to the Tenth Pit. All of which attracted the interest of the sphere's Company of the Chalice who helped throw out the Tenth Pit influence. Nabir and his surviving friends got away.
The Tenth Pit didn't take long to find out who caused the disaster and they sent assassins to deal with Nabir. But Nabir was elusive so they settled for attacking his father and two of his siblings in the street. One of his brothers was killed and his father crippled in the attack. Nabir realized it was time to flee.
Nabir has since relocated to the asteroid empire. Here he's unknown and easily able to blend in with the large spelljamming population. He feels secure in that the asteroid empire is not well connected to the general spelljamming community and they are foes of the Tenth Pit. Nabir knows he isn't safe, however. The Tenth Pit are still looking for him and they have placed a bounty on his head.
Nabir now works as a guard for hire. He does some spelljammer work but is more familiar with the city and so prefers warehouse and dock work. He is known to be a reliable person, as long as he's paid. He supplements his income with little bit of pick pocketing and the occasional minor burglary. Nabir is always looking for the easy buck and would like to get in on a big deal or even just regular, high-paying work. He worships Abbathor but only based on his parent's stories (meant as warnings), he has never had any actual contact with Abbathor's worshippers. He would dearly love to, however. Nabir knows several local fences and smugglers who frequent the area and is available for dishonest as well as honest labor. He's as loyal as money can buy, as long as he's not at real risk himself (he knows most of guarding is all about being an obstacle and deterrent). He can be bought off but demands significantly more than he's currently being paid unless his failure can be somehow covered (he knows that betraying an employer will seriously hurt his reputation and thus his chances of being hired again).
Personality: Nabir is extremely self-centered for a dwarf. He is not truly interested in the community or his people, just in what he wants. He craves excitement, power, and wealth rather than hard work, perfection of a craft, and loyalty to clan and gods that typifies most dwarves. Nabir is trustworthy so far as he feels he has nothing to lose by it or that it's to his ultimate gain. He is no stranger to killing but prefers to avoid bloodshed (in dwarven communities it can lead to generations long feuds and there's always the problems with the law to think about) when possible. Nabir is not a hardened criminal and is not afraid of hard work, it's just that the gain is usually smaller and takes longer to achieve. Nabir usually looks ahead to the future as much as possible when making decisions. He also has some racial pride and the usual prejudices of spacefaring dwarves. The latter especially will color his decisions (he won't work with or for goblins, orcs, etc. and their kin for instance).
Equipment: soft soled sandals, cloak, bedroll (he's used to sleeping on docks, in alleys, and in warehouses), shortsword, 3 daggers, hand axe, studded leather armor, belt pouch with 15 cp, 12 sp, and 8 gp, stash of 140 gp, 9 pp, and 18 sp, small wooden chest, 3 sets of clothes (1 is a black suit for when "working")
F3/Rog2 (2d6+3d10+20); hp 46; Init +1; MV 20'; AC 15 or 12 (does
thieving without armor); Atk +6 melee (1-6+2/crit 19-20, shortsword) or
+6 melee or missile (1-4+2/crit 19-20, dagger) or +6 melee (1-6+2,
handaxe); AL CE; SV Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +1; S 14; I 12; W 11; D 14;
Cn 18; Ch 10
languages: common, dwarf, draconic (he's worked with several lizard
men)
skills: appraise (+6), pick pocket (+7), hide (+7), move silently
(+7), disable device (+6), listen (+5), open lock (+7), search (+6),
spot (+5); climb (+8), jump (+5)
feats: martial weapons, simple weapons, heavy armor, light armor,
medium armor, shield proficiency, dodge, alertness, blind-fight, quick
draw
special abilities: evasion, sneak attack+1d6
AC 7 or 10 (doesn't wear armor when thieving); F3/T3 (ghetto fighter
kit from CBoD); hp 26; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon; AL CE; THAC0 18; S 13; I
12; W 11; D 14; Cn 17; Ch 11 (12 to dwarves)
proficiencies: common, dwarvish, dwarf runes, endurance(+1),
leatherworking, read/write common, spacemanship, blind-fighting,
gaming, appraising, alertness, disguise, jumping, hand axe, throwing
axe, dagger, shortsword, throwing dagger
kit notes: gains +1 to hit and damage with daggers and knives, can
use two weapons at once with only a -2 to hit with second weapon,
suffers -3 reaction penalty from law enforcement
PP: 40% (+5% unarmored) OL: 40% F/RT: 20% MS: 30% (+10% unarmored) HS: 30% (+5% unarmored) DN: 30% CW: 65% (+10% unarmored) RL: 0%
