Hired Sword - Jester

by Aonaranach

Jester
15gc to hire +5gc upkeep

May be Hired: any warband except skaven, undead, and possessed.

Rating: Increases the warband's rating by +5 points, +1 for each exp

Equipment: Jesting stick (counts as club), sling

Special Rules:

Skills: May choose from speed and academic skills

Taunting - Target warrior within 12" and jester's line of sight must make leadership check. if failed victim must move directly towards the  Jester at maximum rate and try to engage him in hand-to-hand combat. doesn't affect animals or zombies. lasts for one turn. (concept: the jester mocking the target in the hopes of enraging it and luring it into an ambush)

Jesting - The leadership of all friendly models with a 3" radius of the jester is increased by 1. (concept: telling jokes to boost moral)

Distraction - Drops opponent's WS by 1 in hand-to-hand combat (to a min of 1). doesn't affect animals or zombies. (concept: hopping about, singing, etc to distract opponent)

Difficult to Hide - Opponent gets +1 to Initiative for spotting  (concept: bright clothes and little jingling bells make it harder to hide)

I've always had a soft spot for Jesting and after seeing them in a few of the illustrations in the rulebook thought it would be fun to include them in this great game. The idea was to create a character that would be fun to use and useful, but not too powerful.
Looking at what I have here I was thinking that 12" seems a bit long for Taunting, but I can't seem to find a distance that feels right. Also, the Distraction ability just doesn't seem to fit with the overall concept, but I kinda like the idea. I'm not too sure if the hiring cost and/or rating are right. Seems like the Jester might be a bit more useful that an Halfling Scout (who's hiring cost and rating I used for a base).

Any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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