Ruff

## **Ruff, The Runaway**

A violent criminal from the First Lands, now empowered by eldritch strength and chased by everyone. While his height might be unimpressive, his strength and constitution are inhuman. He can effortlessly pick up and throw grown men around, withstand a blast from fully powered E.B.W. and survive a fall from 15 meters. While his physical strength is a force to be wary of, the same cannot be said about his mental capacities. Ruff relies only on brute force, incapable of planning his moves in advance or even considering the consequences of his actions.

In other words, he’s stupid as hell. He’s impulsive and self-centered, with the most „advanced tactic” he is capable of being intimidating others into submission. The newfound power he gained from his deal with a dark entity in the mines boosted his confidence to the point he thinks of himself as being unbeatable, but if he cannot beat a problem with a blund object or scare it away, his true cowardly self shows, and he runs away from said problem.

## **Story**

Outlaws are rare in the modern times. People who disrespect the law are not protected by it, thus having nothing to lose. The bandits roaming the roads of First Lands were feared far and wide, and exterminated like pests by The Guard, bounty hunters, or sometimes even passing adventurers.

Such was the fate of the dreaded Ruff’s Gang, decimated by a pair of boundy hunters, Kah and Mervil. The brigands were decimated. Some drowned when the abandoned watermill they used as their hideout blew up, some burned to death, some were captured and delivered to The Guard. And just a few, including their boss, fled. Even Ruff figured out that he could do nothing against his opponents – an axe wielding juggernaut and a pyromancer – and ran into the forest, vowing to take revenge one day.

They found and captured him the very next day.

For his multiple crimes Ruff was sentenced to a lifetime in the Black Pit – a high security prison connected to a mine near Anrain. Every day in the depths he cursed the bounty hunters and dreamed the great plans of escaping, plans which were never even close to being successful. All he could do was unleashing his anger on other prisoners, while Kah and Mervil caught or killed the rest of his old gang. As the days, weeks, months and finally years passed on, and many failed escape attempts Ruff gave up. The guards, the bars, the walls, the deepest dungeon he was moved to… he was just not strong enough.

That was when he heard the rumors of a possible way of escaping. A legend of sort, that a beast was dwelling in the blackest pits of the abandoned shafts of the mine who could grant you a wish in exchange for your mind. With his mind already not of the best quality, and nothing to lose, the next time he was taked to do his work for the land he ravaged for years, he killed the guard and ran into the darkness where he wandered for hour, until his lanter ran out of fuel. And then some. There was... nothing. Yet, when he laid down and accepted his fate, something spoke to him from beyond the dark nothing all around.

Whatever it was, it needed someone just like him to do it’s bidding. It said it found him hilarious, and that it was willing to help. Ruff made a deal with the nameless darkness staring at him with a pair of empty red eyes. It wanted him to kill a mage in satra. In exchange, he was granted the strength to break out of his prison.

…

Face of fhe first man in decades who escaped Black Pit was printed on the posters scattered all around Anrain and the nearby towns. The first thing he did after breaching out of the facility and dashing through the mountains was directly disobeying what his benefactor asked him to do, and brutally murdering the people responsible for his incarceration. Then he came back to his old ways, full of pride and lust for violence, fully convinced that whatever allowed him to flee form the mines stayed there, and he was beyond it’s reach.

In his ignorance he did not considered for even a second what the consequences of breaking this deal would be.

## **In-game**

Ruff is a high-tempo engage tank who runs over his enemies. Literally. His lower than a tank average hp is made up with his high mobility and almost constant (as long as he is sprinting) damage resistance effect, alongside some very strong crowd control.

Abilities
When Ruff collides with an enemy while at 6 charge, he will stun the enemy for 1 second and gain 60% resistance for 3 seconds, resetting all charge.
 Unshackled
Afterwards the enemy is disarmed for 2 seconds.
 Overpower
If used while at 6 charge, instead of just grabbing Ruff will dash and grab the first enemy hit.

## **Trivia**

* Ruff was the first tank with the hard difficulty rating.
* Ruff is the first character who interacts in any way with the sprint mechanic.
* Final version of Unshackled was based on Bandage Toss of Amumu from League of Legends.
* Originally Unshackled was supposed to pull the enemy towards Ruff, but this was scrapped due to being too similar to abilities like Star Catcher or Keelhaul.