Dark Rider

[Nightvision]

Real Name: Matthew Cannon
Age: 24
Height: 5’9“
Weight: 165 pounds
Eyes: brown
Hair: black

IQ: 12
MA: 11
ME: 14
PS: 23 [+8 to damage]
PP: 22 [+4 to strike, parry, and dodge]
PE: 19 [+2 to save vs. Magic, poison/toxins, +8% vs comma and death]
PB: 13
Speed: 20 (14 mph)

Hit Points: 34
Structural Damage Capacity: 80

Experience Level: 2
Category: Special Training, Hunter/Vigilante.
Education: Special

General Skills:
Pilot: Automobile (72+2%)
Pilot: Motorcycle (74+4%)
Horsemanship: Cowboy (89+3%/79+3% - + 2 to parry and dodge while on horseback, + 1 to initiative, +1 to roll with impact from getting knocked off a horse, +1d4 on any blunt damage on a horse, 2d6+PS damage from a chargeing attack with a blunt weapon or spear)
Mathemetics: Basic (55+5%)
Speak Native Language (98%)
Read and Write Native Language (98%)
Speaks two Languages of Choice (Spanish, German) (70+5%)

Wilderness and Hunting Programs
Camouflage (45+5%)
Detect Ambush (55+5%)
Detect Concealment (45+5%)
Fishing (60+5%)
Land Navigation (60+4%)
Wilderness Survival (70+5%)
Roping (45+5% +2 to strike/entangle with a lasso)
Animal Husbandry (60+5%)
Trick Riding (provides you the ability to try any kind of trick riding stunt on a horse)
Carpentry (50+5%)

Weapon Proficiency Program:
WP Knife (+1 to strike when thrown, +1 to strike, +1 to parry)
WP Revolver (+4 to strike)
WP Bolt Action Rifle (+3 to strike)
WP Automatic and Semi-Automatic Rifle (+3 to strike, +1 to strike with a burst)

Manhunter Program
Hand to Hand Expert
Tracking (50+5%)
Disguise (35+5%)
Find Contraband and Illegal weapons (50+4%)
Intelligence (56+4%)
Streetwise (46+4%)
Prowl (30+5%)
Concealment (24+4%)
Interrogation (45+5%)
Impersonation (40+4% for general impersonation, 20+4% to impersonate a specific person)

Secondary Skills:
General Athletics,
Physical Labor,
WP Archery and Targeting (Two arrows per melee, +1 to strike), WP Axe (+1 to strike, +1 to parry),
Sewing (45+5%),
Auto Mechanics (30+5%),
Card Sharp (28+4%),
Swimming (55+5%),
Climbing (45+5%),
Barter (34+4%)

SPECIAL SKILLS

Disguise Scent: 72+2%
Trap/Snare Animals: 72+2%
Modify Weapon Cartridges: 72+2%
Quick-Draw Initiative: HandGuns
WP Sharpshooter: Revolvers (See bonuses below)

Hand to Hand Combat: 4 attacks per melee, +4 to strike, +8 to parry, +8 to dodge, +2 to roll with fall/impact

Combat with Revolvers: 5 attacks per melee, +2 to initiative, +4 to strike

Equipment:

Indian Scout
–A.R. 6, S.D.C. 182
Top Speed: 75 mph (with Nitroboost) 125 mph
Light Machinegun – 3D6 damage per round, box magazine holds 100 rounds (10 bursts)

Paired Colt .45 Peacemakers – 5D6 Damage per round, 6 rounds.

Throwing knives (well balanced – additional +1 to strike) – 1d6 Damage.

Bow and arrow – 2D6 damage per arrow

12 Gauge Shotgun – 5D6 damage with buckshot, 7D6 with solid slug.

[Nightvision]

People believe that the masked gunfighter of the Old West, the Dark Rider, is just a myth. A legend. A tall tale, like Pecos Bill. Even if not, nobody has heard of him in, what is it now, forty years? Since sometime in the 1880s, that’s for sure. So even if he did exist, he’s long dead. Probably ate a bullet or something.

The Dark Rider, who fought banditry and injustice in the Midwest in the years just after the Civil War, did exist. His name was Caleb Cannon. He retired from crime fighting (after almost getting killed) in the mid-1880s to focus on tending his farm and family. Caleb had wanted his son Walter to take over, but Walter was more interested in turning the farm into a business empire. Having a good head for business, he succeeded at it.

Walter had two sons: Paul (born 1896) and Matthew (born 1899). Paul took after his father and quickly became second in command of the Cannon empire. He took over completely in 1921, when Walter suffered a stroke.

Matt didn’t seem to have his father’s qualities at all. He didn’t have a head for figures. He didn’t have the patience to sit through meetings. He did excel at athletics, had excellent hand-eye coordination, and he seemed to be born fearless. His reckless daredevil stunts resulted in many a physical injury even before puberty. Some people counted their blessings that Matt also had a well-developed sense of right and wrong. Others, who ran afoul of this attribute, came to curse it. The one thing Matt lacked was discipline. It got in the way of adventure.

The only way to keep Matt out of trouble was to get him to spend time with his grandfather Caleb. Matt loved the tales of the Dark Rider that Caleb told him. By the time Matt reached his early teens, he had figured out that Caleb had been the Dark Rider. For Caleb, this was an opportunity to pass on his legacy (and keep Matt out of trouble): he agreed to teach Matt everything he knew, so that Matt could become the next Dark Rider if he so chose.

After several years of training, Matt Cannon is an expert at almost any weapon. His accuracy with his grandfather’s six-guns is uncanny, as is his skill with a rifle, or his skill with bow & arrow, tomahawk or throwing knives. He can ride anything on legs and drive anything on wheels. While not a martial artist, he can more than handle himself in a fight.

When he decided to become the new Dark Rider, Matt slightly altered his grandfather’s costume, modernizing it for the 1920s. He still carries his grandfather’s two six-guns, and has several throwing knives hidden in his costume. In the city, he rides a black Indian Scout motorcycle that he has tricked up a bit (nitrogen speed boost and a machine gun that he can trigger from the handlebars). Outside of the city, he rides a horse, a black mare that is a direct descendant of the stallion his grandfather rode 40 years before. Matt still retains his daredevil/swashbuckling attitudes. While even he believes that he does this because he wants to see justice done, he’s doing it at least as much for the adventure. Fighting crime is fun.

While Matt is out fighting crime, his brother Paul has the problem of generating enough revenue. Paul doesn’t know that Matt is the Dark Rider. He thinks his little brother is being an irresponsible playboy. What Matt doesn’t know, however, is that the family business has fallen on hard times, because Paul made some bad choices. Now, in order to protect the family business, Paul has made some other bad choices, and entered into business with some rather shady associates.

[Nightvision]

In case anyone wonders: the following cover was part of the inspiration for the Dark Rider. Imagine him looking a little bit like this: