Identity
Hired Guns are the salaried Gunslingers — Echelon-Corp shadow-contractors, Black Meridian crew-leads on retainer, Halcyion reservist marksmen who took the better-paying side gig, freelancers with verified-reputation tags on the bounty boards. They are not the lone-wolf legends of the frontier; they are the ones the legends call when the job is too large for one shooter. They keep their gear immaculate, their medical kits stocked, and their crew alive — because a dead crewmember is one less referral. They are professionals in the sense that the work pays and the work continues.
Features
- L3 Contract Bonus
At the start of any encounter — or any time you have one minute to study a target — you may declare a single creature within Near range as your **Mark**. Your firearm attacks against the Mark deal an additional 1d6 damage of the weapon's type, and you have advantage on the first attack roll you make against the Mark each round. A Mark lasts until the creature is reduced to 0 HP, you finish a short rest, or you declare a new Mark. Additionally, you have proficiency in one of Insight, Investigation, or Persuasion (your choice) representing the negotiation half of the work.
- L7 Combat Medic Field
You carry a field-medic loadout and you know how to use it under fire. As a bonus action, you can spend one **Field Kit** charge to restore hit points to a willing creature within Engaged range equal to 2d6 + your DEX modifier; the target also gains a +1 bonus to AC and saving throws until the end of their next turn. You have a number of Field Kit charges equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended charges when you finish a long rest. If a creature you treat with Field Kit is at 0 HP, the healing stabilizes them automatically in addition to restoring HP.
- L11 Knows the Trade
You have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks made to assess, identify, or gather information about criminal syndicates, corporate security contracts, mercenary outfits, bounty boards, or any organization that hires professional shooters. You can also, with 1 hour of effort and access to a comms unit or a tap-room, locate the local Hired Gun network — the bar, the broker, the broadcast frequency — in any settlement, station, or fortified position large enough to support one (GM's call on what counts as large enough).
- L15 Crew Loyalty
You are the Hired Gun other Hired Guns want to work with. While at least one allied creature is within 30 ft of you and can see or hear you, each such ally gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls and saving throws. Allies who have been with you on at least one prior contract (or one prior session of play, GM's discretion) instead gain a +2 bonus. Additionally, when an ally within 30 ft is reduced to 0 HP, you can use your reaction to expend one Field Kit charge to stabilize them at range and restore 1d6 + your DEX modifier HP — no line-of-sight required, but they must be within 30 ft and you must know they're in trouble.
- L18 Reputation Precedes
Your contract record has become an aura. When you roll initiative or you take the Attack action against a creature for the first time in a combat, each hostile creature within Near range that has a Challenge Rating or class level lower than half your Gunslinger level must succeed on a Wisdom save against your Trick Shot DC or become **Frightened** of you until the end of their next turn. A creature that succeeds on the save is immune to this feature from you for 24 hours. Outside of combat, NPCs in mercenary, corporate-security, or syndicate professional contexts recognize you on sight, granting you advantage on Charisma checks made in their professional space (parallel to a Pilot's Living Legend reputation, but in the gun-for-hire trade).