Homo drakensis

[Peregrine]

If you recognize the thread title, you know what I'm talking about.

Has anyone done HERO stats for the drakensis?

[Peregrine]

I'll take that as a 'No'.

[Dog Soldier]

I do and I find the concept to be disturbing:eek:

[Peregrine]

Why disturbing? I think that the whole plot of Drakon could be played out as a HERO game adventure - stop the extra-dimensional invasion before it starts.

Of course, the Final Society itself is quite disturbing - a look into the darkest corners of humanity, a 'what-if' of baser desires given free rein, without an objective moral code to restrain behavior. Just the thing to highlight the heroism of Our Heroes - and, hopefully, make them (and their players) rethink some of their most cherished personal and social assumptions, even just a bit.

[Dog Soldier]

A Drakon invasion of a dimension of four-color hero's...hmm:cool:

[Peregrine]

Well, if you use the scenario in Drakon, Gwen Ingolfssen is going to have an easier time of reproducing molehole tech in a four-color setting, what with all the super-tech floating around. On the other hand, if Our Heroes get wind of what she's up to, she's easier to stop, because our Heroes are more powerful than the protagonists Gwen faced in the novel. On the gripping hand, you have Ken LeFarge...

Here's another idea I once had. Drop Gwen into a Pulp Heroes game, sometime in the mid-30s. Sure she's got a longer tech curve to overcome, but can she be stopped before WWII takes a really ugly turn?

[Dog Soldier]

On the Pulp Hero idea. Nazi's might imagine themselves as a master race, do you suppose they would take kindly to a Drakon ? Suppose the Nazi wished to capture Gwen and milk her for genetics knowledge and perform a few experiments on her. A hero team that didn't know her true nature might attempt to protect her or even rescue her. That could lead to some nasty plot twist. A four color game would be great fun, four color heros would be appalled at the Drakon , some might even reconsider their CvK.;)

I'd need to reread the books to put together a Drakon NPC.

[Peregrine]

Remember how the Draka saw the Nazis in their own world? Gwen, being an adult before the Final War, grew up on the stories of the Eurasian War. She'd see the Nazis as allies to be used and discarded, possibly betraying her Nazi associates to Our Heroes when she was finished with them. I could actually see her playing both sides against the middle, working from a Caribbean base (as she did in Drakon, as I recall) and skimming the scientific genius of both sides. Remember, the drakensis are non-creative, generally speaking, but otherwise they are of genius intelligence, and are manipulators par excellance.

[Dog Soldier]

I really need to read the novels again. You're absolutely right about the Drakon though. I think their lack of creativity would be their most serious weakness.

[Dog Soldier]

I just went diving into my stack of old books and The Stone Dogs is the only Draka novel I can find:( I'm wondering if we're the only two Hero gamers on this board to read that series.

[Peregrine]

I wonder as well. It's been a while since they were published, and while they were wildly popular with those who did read them, I don't know how they sold compared to other books of the time.

As for the lack of creativity being the drakensis' greatest weakness... yeah, I'd say so. That, and unarmored eyeballs. :)

[Dog Soldier]

Let me go over the list of things I remember about Drakon They're physically tough, fast, quick and strong. They also have pheromones that allow them to dominate and control normal humans. They learn extremely quickly but they're not creative. They're arrogant and apparently without any moral code. Humans that had their mindset simply couldn't have a functional society but they're not human so they do. Think that about covers it?

[Peregrine]

Here's a website that has a decent drakensis write up for GURPS:

http://members.fortunecity.com/centurion2001/draka.htm

Nice job, but in the absence of a solid GURPS-to-HERO conversion, less useful than I'd like.

[Gawain]

GURPS to Hero conversion (http://www.devermore.net/surbrook/herosource/gurpshero.html)

[Peregrine]

Ah. Many thanks. Though, from a quick perusal, there are some GURPS items on the drakensis write-up that aren't covered by the conversion. Still, it's a fine place to start.

[Gawain]

Glad I could be some small help to you.

[cubist]

How many books are there in the series? I've read part of Drakon and just finished reading Drakas! today, but want to read them all. Oh, what are the names of the other books as well?

[Peregrine]

Marching Through Georgia
Under The Yoke
The Stone Dogs

All of which are, I believe, out of print. They were also collected (with an all-new framing story) into a hardcover volume called Domination.

[cubist]

Thanks Peregrine! :)

[Peregrine]

Anytime. I think the Draka make fascinating adversaries. Imagine if Gwen had come through into the Champions Universe, and became a superhero to gain access to super tech without having to worry about the supers hunting her down...