The Barton Detective Agency

After I finish running my Western campaign, I plan on running a sequel set during Prohibition using a combination of Gangbusters and Cthulhu by Gaslamp to flesh out the world some more before my main campaign crosses over with it. 

Bruce is an NPC I have been bouncing around in my head for awhile. 

Bruce staggered up the stairs to the office of the Barton Detective Agency and pushed open the door.  Within, he discovered that his assistant, Mabel, the wife of a retired police officer was waiting inside.  Thankfully, she had already brewed a pot of coffee and it was sitting on the hot plate when he walked in.  Mabel looked at Bruce, instantly taking in his disheveled appearance, his stained and rumpled suit, day-and-a-half beard and bleary eyes and shook her head.

“Damn, Boss. You look like $#!%.  What the %*#@ happened to you?”

Bruce looked at the squat solidly built woman.  She was wearing a dress with a floral pattern and had a pair of glasses that he’d never seen her use perched atop her head.  To all appearances, she looked like someone’s beloved grandmother and with her Eastern European accent, she sounded like one too.  Hell, she probably was, so her use of profanity never failed to surprise him.

“I was eating chicken wings in bed last night and fell asleep.  Well, at some point, I must have decided to cuddle with the chicken.  It turns out that I’m an aggressive cuddler and the box couldn’t handle the strain and burst open.  I woke up covered in grease and hot sauce.  I felt used.  But you know what?  I’d do it again given the chance.”

Mabel trudged toward Bruce on short squatty legs, “You look like a bum.  Take off jacket, change shirt, put on tie.  You have appointment at 9:00.  Nobody hire bum that looks like you unless desperate.”  Mabel already had one of her meaty hands peeling Bruce’s jacket off and she was pressing a fresh shirt into his hands with the other.

“Mabel, you do remember that YOU work for ME, right.”

Mabel tsked him “Shush, get dressed, have coffee, they are here anytime now."

But to make Bruce, I need a starting point. I could just create a d20 character from scratch but then what do I do with the other NPCs from all of the Gangbusters modules I have laying around? So, I decided to make a conversion between Gangbusters and AD&D (because an AD&D to 3e converter already exists).

The charts above are what I came up with. Muscle equals Strength, Agility equals Dexterity, and Observation equals Wisdom. Presence is the same as Charisma. That only leaves Constitution and  Intelligence to account for as there is no corresponding stat in Gangbusters. 

We can tackle Constitution first. Hit points in Gangbusters are determined by averaging Strength and Agility, dividing by 10, rounding up, and then adding 5. We're just going to average the two scores and find the equivalent on the Agility/Observation chart. For Intelligence, we'll roll 1d6 with the following results: 1 = Widom-2, 2 = Wisdom -1, 3-4 = Wisdom, 5 = Wisdom +1, and 6 = Wisdom +2.

We will not convert the Luck or Driving stats (although Luck could be turned into Action Points d20 Modern-style if you wanted to use such a thing). Driving would become a Nonweapon Proficiency or Skill.

I rolled Bruce's stats and came up with the following: 

Muscle: 89
Agility: 78
Observation: 45
Presence: 8
Driving: 51
Luck: 47
Hp: 21*

* In Gangbusters, there are two separate tracks for Hit Points - Wounds and Bruises. Bruises track nonlethal damage. Wounds track injuries that can Kill the character. Because of this, I had thought about using the Vitality/Wounds system from d20 Modern (see below) but, for simplicity's sake (not that making what has ended up being three versions of the same character has been simple), I decided against it.

Punching: 5 
.38 Revolver: 5 

Skills: Lockpicking 45%, Photography 20%, Shadowing 20%, Stealth 20%

Possessions: 2 suits of clothing, including coats, ties, wallet, hat, cheap watch, and toiletries; .38 snub-nosed revolver and box of ammunition (20 rounds), Vest Pocket Kodak Camera and 8 exposures of film, $25 in cash

Height: 5'11"      Weight: 210 lbs.     Age: 24
Appearance: Broad-shouldered with short brown hair and brown eyes, normally clean-shaven but will go for a few days without if working a case, clothing is often rumpled but he stands and speaks with a military bearing that commands respect.

Weekly Expenses: Rent for Small Office ($30/week), Salary for Mabel ($25/week)

While I had planned on Bruce being tough, I hadn't considered his Strength being so high (Exceptional as far as my converter was concerned). I could adjust my chart (but decided against it), lower his Strength (again, no) or come up with a "Why" for it being so high and decided he would be the equivalent of a Warrior-based class (in this case, an Infantry Sergeant in the Great War). This little bit of backstory will probably result in me eventually changing the "disheveled", "stained", and "rumpled" bits of the introduction above.

Taking what we have as a starting point and doing the conversion and spending proficiencies accordingly, I came up with for this....

Bruce Barton: NG Human male Fighter 1
AC: 7 (Leather Armor, Large Wooden Shield)
MV: 12
HD: 1 (d10)
Hp: 12
Saves: PPD: 14, RSW: 16, PP: 15, BW: 17, Sp: 17
THAC0: 20
# att: 1 or 3/2 with Club
Dmg: by Weapon; Club 1d6+4 vs S/M, 1d3+4 vs L; or Sap: 1d2+4 vs S/M/L; or Starwheel Pistol: 1d4 (if a "4" is rolled, roll again and add to the result)
Str: 18/43, Dex: 13, Con: 16, Int: 10, Wis: 10, Cha: 16
Nonweapon Proficiencies (includes bonus from Int): Artistic Ability, Information Gathering *, Observation*
* see Complete Thieves' Handbook for details on these proficiencies.
Weapon Proficiencies: Club (Specialized), Sap, Starwheel Pistol
SA: Weapon Specialization (Club)
SD: Nil
MR: Nil
Morale: Special
Xp Value: 65

Despite being a Warrior, Bruce has a 20% chance to Hide in Shadows and Move Silently, a 5% chance to Detect Noise, and a 50% chance to Open Locks. His artistic ability proficiency is Photography (Sketching if cameras have not been invented in your campaign setting of choice).

The final version of Bruce I will be presenting today uses the rules for 3.5e. The biggest difference in a modern vs. archaic setting is weapons and armor. By the 1920s, most weapons considered to be "Martial" had fallen out of use and armor was essentially a thing of the past as well. Therefore, All Classes only begin play with proficiency in Simple Weapons and no Armor Proficiencies at all.

Bruce Barton
CR: 1
Medium Humanoid (Human) Fighter 1
HD: 1d10+3; Hp: 13
Init: +1; Senses: Listen +0, Spot +0

Spd: 30' (6 squares)

AC: 11 (+1 Dex), t: 11, ff: 10

BAB/Grap: +1/+5; +5 Unarmed: 1d4+4 nonlethal or +5 Sap: 1d6+5 nonlethal or +1 Smith & Wesson Model 10 Revolver: 2d6 (semi-auto)

SA: - -
SQ: - -

Align: NG, Saves: Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +0

Str: 19, Dex: 13, Con: 16, Int: 10, Wis: 10, Cha: 16

Languages: Read/Write and Speak English

Skills: Gather Information +5, Investigate +3, Open Lock +3, Sense Motive +3
Feats: Attentive, Improved Unarmed Strike (b), Personal Firearms Proficiency (b)

Gear: Smith & Wesson .38 Special Model 10 Revolver and box of ammunition (20 rounds), Sap, Lockpick Set, Vest Pocket Kodak Camera and 8 exposures of film