The Gatekeeper
The first wall. The last courtesy.
Who they are
Every fighter who steps into Blindspot meets the Gatekeeper first. He stands where the corridor ends and the arena begins, and he has stood there long enough that nobody remembers a time before him.
He doesn't hate you. He doesn't even particularly want to fight. The Gatekeeper is what happens when an old soldier decides the world has enough chaos and not enough discipline, then volunteers to be the difference. His armor is light, his stance economical, and his patience finite — three rounds, no more, before the courtesy of fortified guard burns away and the work begins.
They say if you can pass the Gate, the rest of the campaign is just consequences. They are mostly right.
The Gate
The corridor stretches ahead, lit by flickering torches that cast long shadows across the stone walls. A low hum vibrates through the floor — the arena's heartbeat, waiting. Two paths branch before you. The left passage is carved with runes that pulse faintly to the rhythm of his fighting style; some say if you read them long enough, you can predict his rotation. The right path opens onto the training yard — scarred dummies, broken weapons, old bloodstains. This is where the Gatekeeper drills. Every challenger who has reached the arena door has passed through this room first, and most of them left something here.
Strengths
The Gatekeeper opens with light armor that shrugs off the first wave of damage. If you swing wild in round one, you teach him your rhythm and waste your charge. He hits hardest when you're already committed — punishing reckless opens with a clean counter, then pressing forward as your stamina dips.
His low INT (5) makes him predictable to anyone paying attention, but predictability isn't the same as soft. Every move he throws is leveraged through high END (10) and disciplined STR (8) — fewer attacks than a Berserker, none of them wasted.
Weaknesses
His Achilles is INT — an Arcane build with high ability damage tears him apart while he's still saluting. Strikes work too: his moveWeaknesses table reads strike +10%, ability +20%, so anything that bypasses the early armor is doubled in effect once round three lands.
The winning shape is patience for two rounds, then escalate. Hold pressure on round one, conserve stamina round two, and unload on round three when his Fortified Start has worn through. If you can keep your charges alive through the opening, the back half of the fight is yours.
Signature moves
Fortified Start
Rounds one and two, the Gatekeeper wears light armor that absorbs flat damage off the top. By round three the plating has burned away and the courtesy is over.
First Blood
His opening strike carries +10% damage. He doesn't telegraph it — he just hits harder when nobody is bleeding yet.
Card traits
- Fortified Start. Starts with light armor that fades each round
- First Blood. +10% damage on the opening strike
The Enforcer archetype
Enforcers are the rules made flesh. They don't fight to win — they fight to make sure the rules win. Every blow is a reminder of who sets the boundary, and what crossing it costs.