Building John Carter of Mars

[Susano]

Okay, I've finished A PRINCESS OF MARS and took 3 pages of notes on Captain John Carter, the green Martians, and his weapons. I will read book two and three (all I have) and try and build a character sheet from that. I even have a rough layout of Powers, Skills, and Talents started. My question is: What sort of stats do you give him? And I mean base, human stats, not his Mars stats.

Right now, I have this:

STR 15
DEX 20+
CON 20
BODY 12-14
INT 10
EGO 15-18+
PRE 20
COM 16-18
PD good
ED good
SPD 4-5
REC
END high
STUN

With this added as Powers:
7 Greater Strength: +10 STR; No Figured Characteristics (-1/2), Only
On Mars (-0)
10 Greater Agility: +5 DEX; No Figured Characteristics (-1/2), Only On
Mars (-0)
5 Greater Endurance: +10 END; Only On Mars (-0)

What do others think?

[Captain Obvious]

As an aside, I just picked up A Princess of Mars for $4.99 (not on sale either). Anyone who has never read the John Carter books should be ashamed of themselves if they don't shell out this paltry amount for such a flavorful pulp sci-fi classic.

EDIT: Now back to the main issue at hand, I'd probably just leave his stats at Earth normal and reduce those of the Martians appropriately. This may make stats too grainy for some, but in my opinion, it solves the issue of what to do should other Earthlings find their way to Mars without a stockpile of points to spend.

[OddHat]

Personally, I think I'd give him very good but not at NCM stats across the board, and then add about 10 character points to every physical stat when he gets to Mars. He was a very good but not superhuman soldier on Earth, who had the power / plot device of astrally projecting himself to Mars. I always thought that his real body was probably dead or dying on Earth and that his Mars body was an idealized form, but that was just a personal spin on that (and it has been many years since I read the series).

What you have now works well enough, though I'd err on the high side once he is actually on Mars.

[Lord Liaden]

This looks like a very good start, as I would expect from your work. Personally I think I would lower his Earthly Dexterity a little, maybe to 17 or 18, and increase the boost he receives on Mars - there's little indication that he was that physically exceptional in his terrestrial life. 25 max sounds good, but you might even go to 26 based on some of his later feats. I'd also leave his Speed at 4 on Earth and give him 5 on Mars, or maybe more.

I'm sure you've also considered giving him some extra Leaping. Some of the leaps he's described as making in the books are more prodigious than a 25 STR would allow in HERO.

The first three books should be plenty of source material to build John Carter. He's the focus of those stories (later ones shift to other heroes more often than not), and they almost form a single epic storyline. You see nearly his full development as far as capabilities go by the end of it. There is a major character development in the third book that you'll want to consider accounting for, though: Carter grows into the greatest swordsman on Mars, able to hold the entire crew of a Barsoomian air battleship at bay single-handed. He retains that level of superiority to his foes in every subsequent appearance in the series.

IIRC there's also a brief scene near the end of The Chessmen of Mars in which John Carter is described in the third person, which will give you more details as to his appearance than his first-person narratives. I'll check that and get back to you.

[Susano]

Here is what I have as to his appearance:

"yet I well remember the tall, dark, smooth-faced, athletic man whom I called Uncle Jack."

"He was a splendid specimen of manhood, standing a good two inches over six feet, broad of shoulder and narrow of hip, with the carriage of the trained fighting man. His features were regular and clear cut, his hair black and closely cropped, while his eyes were of a steel gray, reflecting a strong and loyal character, filled with fire and initiative. His manners were perfect, and his courtliness was that of a typical southern gentleman of the highest type."

[AlHazred]

Here is what I have as to his appearance:

"yet I well remember the tall, dark, smooth-faced, athletic man whom I called Uncle Jack."

"He was a splendid specimen of manhood, standing a good two inches over six feet, broad of shoulder and narrow of hip, with the carriage of the trained fighting man. His features were regular and clear cut, his hair black and closely cropped, while his eyes were of a steel gray, reflecting a strong and loyal character, filled with fire and initiative. His manners were perfect, and his courtliness was that of a typical southern gentleman of the highest type."

I have some notes (somewhere) I made when I read the first five books. I found it difficult in Hero terms to model the Green Martians using everything Carter says in the books as gospel (i.e., they can't be as weak as he says on Earth, and as strong as he says on Mars without something else going on). Then I had an epiphany and it all became much easier.

Treat the books as John Carter telling the story to you. He has an 8 Intelligence. He's not really book-smart, and his descriptions are most likely badly-remembered explanations he got when he asked the same questions.

Hmmm... Found my Green Martian writeup.

Green Martian

Val Char Cost Roll Notes
14 STR 4 12- Lift 174.1kg; 2 1/2d6 [1]
11 DEX 3 11- OCV: 4/DCV: 4
15 CON 10 12-
14 BODY 8 12-
10 INT 0 11- PER Roll 13-
14 EGO 8 12- ECV: 5
18 PRE 8 13- PRE Attack: 3 1/2d6
10 COM 0 11-

8 PD 5 Total: 8 PD (0 rPD)
6 ED 3 Total: 6 ED (0 rED)
2 SPD 0 Phases: 6, 12
6 REC 0
30 END 0
30 STUN 1 Total Characteristic Cost: 48

Movement:
Running: 11"/22"
Leaping: 2"/4"


Cost Powers END
12 Tusks: HKA 1d6 (1 1/2d6 w/STR); Reduced Penetration (-1/4) 1
10 Large: Running +5" (11" total) 1
10 Telepathic: Mind Link , Animal class of minds, Specific Group of Minds [Thoats]
8 Smell Water: Detect Water 11- (Smell/Taste Group), Discriminatory
6 Four Arms: Extra Limbs (4), Inherent (+1/4)
7 Large: Stretching 1", Inherent (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2); No Noncombat Stretching (-1/4), No Velocity Damage (-1/4)
6 Large: Knockback Resistance -3"
6 "Huge Eyes, Ear Stalks": +2 PER with all Sense Groups
5 Long-Lived: Life Support (Longevity: Immortality)
10 Protruding Eyes: Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees) with Sight Group
-3 Ears On Stalks: ; Restrainable (-1/2) for up to 10 Active Points of innate Increased Arc of Perception (360 Degrees) for Normal Hearing
Skills
2 Animal Handler (Thoats) 13-
2 AK: Barsoomian Deserts 11-
3 Climbing 11-
3 Concealment 11-
3 Interrogation 13-
2 KS: Desert Flora And Fauna 11-
2 KS: Martian Tribal Insignia 11-
0 Language: Green Martian (idiomatic)
2 Language: Red Martian (fluent conversation)
2 Navigation (Land) 11-
2 PS: Raider 11-
3 Riding 11-
3 Stealth 11-
2 Survival (Martian Desert) 11-
3 Tracking 11-
10 Two-Weapon Fighting (HTH)
4 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Lances, Radium Guns

Total Powers & Skill Cost: 125
Total Cost: 173

200+ Disadvantages
0 Normal Characteristic Maxima No Age Restriction
15 Distinctive Features: Green Martian (Not Concealable; Always Noticed and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses; Not Distinctive In Some Cultures)
20 Enraged: when sensing blood (Common), go 11-, recover 11-
10 Hunted: Red Martians 8- (As Pow, Harshly Punish)
5 Physical Limitation: Large (up to 4m, or 2"; -2 DCV, +2 to PER Rolls to perceive) (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing)
15 Psychological Limitation: Enjoys The Suffering Of Others (Common, Strong)
15 Reputation: bloodthirsty brigands, 11- (Extreme)
10 Rivalry: Professional (with other Green Martian Tribes; Rival is As Powerful; Seek to Harm or Kill Rival; Rival Aware of Rivalry)
15 Social Limitation: Subject To Orders (Frequently, Major)

Total Disadvantage Points: 173

Background/History: The Green Men of Mars are a savage desert-dwelling species. Their society is organized around a chieftain, or jeddak, who wins his position by slaying the previous leader in open combat or by assassinating him. To move up socially, a warrior slays the man ahead of him in the pecking order and takes his weapons and jewelry. The tribesmen live for battle. They cease fighting only to lay eggs (which they deposit in remote glass-covered pits warmed by the sun) and to retrieve the young once they have hatched. Newborns are expected to fend for themselves.

Aside from his weapons, a Green Martian's most prized possession is his mount - a dinosaurian quadruped known as a thoat. Warriors use no reins, controlling their beasts by telepathy so that all their hands are left free to fight. The only other beast domesticated by the Green Men of Mars is the calot, a ten-legged crocodilian that serves them as a hunting dog. They enjoy few luxuries except for silks and furs seized in raids, which they use for bedding material.

Tribes are comprised of tens of thousands of ruthless soldiers. Only the species' high infant mortality rate and ceaseless internal strife prevent them from overrunning Barsoom. It's a good thing they're preoccupied with exterminating each other.

Personality/Motivation: The other inhabitants of Barsoom justly fear and hate these feral desert warriors. The only time they laugh is when another creature suffers. Despite their cruelty, they have a driving sense of tribal loyalty and will throw themselves into battle at the command of a chieftain they hate. Occasionally a warrior, such as John Carter's ally Tars Tarkas, will overcome his savage conditioning and join the larger Martian society, but these individuals are few and far between.

Quote:

Powers/Tactics: The Green Martians' unusual physical abilities derive from their alien anatomy. They have long, rangy bodies that provide extra reach and running speed. Their middle limbs can function as either hands or feet. They have acute senses and can smell water beneath the ground. Their sharp tusks, when they think to use them, can be deadly.

They are skilled riders and hunters intimately familiar with their desert habitat. Green Martians can fight with more than one weapon; both arms on one side are their "good" hands.

Campaign Use: When former Confederate officer John Carter was transported to Mars, he was immediately captured by a race of insect-like carnivorous giants, the Tharks. Carter later learned that his captors were but one tribe of the creatures, which inhabited abandoned cities in the deserts of Barsoom. These vicious beings led a nomadic, piratical existence - preying both on the more civilized (and more human) Red Men of Mars as well as each other. In his memoirs, Carter describes them in detail.

Appearance: The Green Martians are extremely tall six-limbed humanoids. On average they stand 4.5m tall and weigh about 180 kg. Long tusks jut from their lower jaws to the level of their huge round eyes, and they have round, mobile ears on stalks atop their heads. Their nostrils are vertical slits between their eyes. Their skin color is green, of course. They wear little clothing other than a breechcloth but cover themselves with all manner of armbands, weapons harnesses, and other jewelry. When desert temperatures cool they don leather cloaks. Green Martian warriors are normally armed with daggers, longswords, and lances twice as long as their owners are tall. They occasionally carry radium rifles stolen from Red Martian victims. Green Martian females are shorter and lighter in color than the males.

This writeup is vaguely based on Kevin Scribner's. It does not have any changes due to Martian gravity; those can be found in the Star Hero book.

Green Martian.hdc

[Susano]

Here is the initial draft for John Carter as of book one:

CAPTAIN JOHN CARTER
Gentleman of Virgina

Val CHA Cost Roll Notes
15 STR 0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH Damage
18 DEX 0 11- OCV: 3/DCV: 3
20 CON 0 11-
14 BODY 0 11-
10 INT 0 11- PER Roll 11-
18 EGO 0 11- ECV: 3
20 PRE 0 11- PRE Attack: 2d6
16 COM 0 11-

8 PD 0 Total: PD ( rPD)
8 ED 0 Total: ED ( rED)
4 SPD 0 Phases: 6, 12
7 REC 0
40 END 0
32 STUN 0 Total Characteristics Cost: 0

Movement: Running: 6"/12"
Leaping:
Swimming: 2"/4"

Cost Powers & Skills
Martial Arts: Swordsmanship
Maneuver OCV DCV Damage
Disarm
Parry
Thrust
Slash

7 Greater Strength: +10 STR; No Figured Characteristics (-1/2), Only On Mars (-0)
10 Greater Agility: +5 DEX; No Figured Characteristics (-1/2), Only On Mars (-0)
5 Greater Endurance: +10 END; Only On Mars (-0)
Martian Telepathy: Telepathy
Unreadable Mind: Mental Defense (20 points)
Reduced Gravity Leaping: Leaping +10", Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4)
5 "Not Aged Apparently A Moment": Life Support (Longevity: Immortal)
10 Luck 2d6



Perks
Contact: Tars Tarkas, Jed of Thark
15 Follower: Woola the calot (75-point base)
Fringe Benefit: Thark Chieftan
Reputation: Greatest Swordsman on Mars

Talents
Animal Friend (see Fantasy Hero)
Great Agility: Combat Luck (6 PD/6 ED)
Martian Telepathy: Danger Sense

Skills
"Finishing My Man With No Effort": Combat Skill Levels

2 AK: Barsoom 11-
2 AK: Virginia 11-
2 CK: Helium 11-
Climbing
0 Concealment 8-
0 Conversation 8-
0 Deduction 8-
10 Defense Manuver IV
"Manners Are Perfect": High Society
2 "Lived And Fought For Years Among The Souix": KS: Souix Culture And History 11-
2 KS: Thark Customs 11-
0 Language: English (native)
4 Language: Martian (fluent)
0 Paramedic 8-
2 PS: Prospector 11-
2 PS: Confedereate Calvary Officer 11-
Oratory
"Horsemanship... Was A Marvel And A Delight": Riding 16-
0 Shadowing 8-
Stealth
Survival (various locations)
Tactics
2 TF: Martian One-Man Skimmer, Thoat
Tracking
8 WF: Martian Common Melee Weapons, Martian Small Arms, Terran Common Melee Weapons, Terran Small Arms
Total Powers & Skills Cost
Total Character Cost

100+ Disadvantages
Distinctive Features:
DNPC: Deja Thoris
Enraged:
Hunted:
Physical Limitation:
20 Psychological Limitation: Martian Code Of Honor (C, T)
15 Psychological Limitation: "Following A Sense Of Duty, Wherever It May
Lead" (C, S)
15 Psychological Limitation: "A Gentleman Does Not Lie To Save Himself"
(C, S)
Psychological Limitation:
Reputation:
Rivalry:
Social Limitation:
10 Unluck: 2d6
Gentleman of Virgina Bonus
Total Disadvantage Points

Background/History:


Personality/Motivation:


Quote:

Powers/Tactics:


Appearance:


Designer's Notes:


(Captain John Carter created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, character sheet created by Michael Surbrook)

[AlHazred]

Further Items From My Notes:

Radium Rifle: "These rifles were of a white metal stocked with wood, which I learned later was a very light and intensely hard growth much prized on Mars, and entirely unknown to us denizens of Earth. The metal of the barrel is an alloy composed principally of aluminum and steel which they have learned to temper to a hardness far exceeding that of the steel with which we are familiar. The weight of these rifles is comparatively little, and with the small caliber, explosive, radium projectiles which they use, and the great length of the barrel, they are deadly in the extreme and at ranges which would be unthinkable on Earth. The theoretic effective radius of this rifle is three hundred miles, but the best they can do in actual service when equipped with their wireless finders and sighters is but a trifle over two hundred miles…"


Radium Weapons
WeaponOCV RMod Damage STUNx STR Min Shots A/R Notes
Radium Rifle +4 3d6 +1 14 24 124/34 IMR(209,375"), 2H
Radium Pistol +1 +2 2d6+1 +1 12 12 55/17

RE: John Carter's Jumping Ability

A Princess of Mars: "I [jumped] with such marvelous success that I cleared a good hundred-and-fifty feet; nor did I this time, lose my equilibrium, but landed squarely upon my feet without falling. I then returned by easy jumps of twenty-five or thirty feet to the little group of warriors."

From this, we see that John Carter can broad leap at least 150 ft. That translates to 50 yards, or about 25"� in game scale. Since that's probably a non-combat leap, he probably has a normal leap of 13"�. However, he's on Mars, so his normal leaping was divided by the gravity of Mars (0.38). So, multiplying 13"� by 0.38, we see that his normal leap is about 5"�/10"�, respectable indeed for a human, but not outside of human limits.

[keithcurtis]

He needs a huge barge load of Mental Defense. Nobody ever came close to reading his thoughts. Also, 10 pt.s of Telepathy should be an everyman skill for a Barsoomian campaign.

He also needs an insane amount of combat skills.
My minimum suggestion would be:
+3 HTH
+3 Swords
Lightning Reflexes
Deadly Blow, no restrictions on weapons or opponents
The Fencing Martial Art, all moves save disarm. Add Passing Strike if it's not in there.

And finally, if his write-up is intended for a Barsoomian campaign, I would just buy his increased strength straight out. It will never suffer the disadvantage because the stories never take place on Jasoom (earth). Ignore the real world differences in the gravities of Earth and Mars; Carter leaps 25 hexes (~150 feet) with ease, and kills fifteen foot tall giants with casual strength.
I would think 25 STR too little, but perhaps if combined with Skill levels, Deadly blow and a martial Killing strike, it would be enough.

JC is truly an egregiously powerful character, second only to Tarzan in physical prowess (if even then). In the later books, he says he refuses to even draw his sword until there is no alternative, for he knows that doing so is tantamount to killing his oppononet outright. There is no other possible outcome.

And he needs Life Support, unaging, and some perks and contacts appropriate to the Warlord of Barsoom.

As for Disads
PSYCH: Clueless about women
PSYCH: Generally clueless about anything not combat oriented (He regularly misses plot points the size of Phobos)
PSYCH: Martian honor (defend women, neither ask nor receive quarter, never use a greater weapon than you oppononent's)
DF: Jasoomian (white skin, grey eyes)

I got more if you want it.

Keith "can you tell I'm an ERBophile?" Curtis

[Susano]

I got more if you want it.

Go for it. As I said, I have volumes 1-3 only and will work from them. The rough draft I based on book one only and will expand as I go.

Oh, and he does have disarm, he states doing so to several foes near the end of book one.

PS: In the old, old days of DRAGON magazine, they had a character sheet for John Carter. He was a 25th level fighter.

[Supreme Serpent]

He needs a huge barge load of Mental Defense. Nobody ever came close to reading his thoughts.

Could just say "Martian" and "Earthman" are different classes of minds, and the GM won't allow any Martians to buy "Earthman" as a class of minds affected.

[Koshka]

He needs a huge barge load of Mental Defense. Nobody ever came close to reading his thoughts.

It's been a while since I read the books, how much of that is Mental Defense and how much is Humans and Martians being different classes of minds?

[AndyStaples]

Could just say "Martian" and "Earthman" are different classes of minds, and the GM won't allow any Martians to buy "Earthman" as a class of minds affected.

You could... but the unreadability is a clear advantage for Carter. He should pay for it.

[Susano]

You could... but the unreadability is a clear advantage for Carter. He should pay for it.

I agree here.


PS: Loved Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

[Supreme Serpent]

You could... but the unreadability is a clear advantage for Carter. He should pay for it.

If he was a dog or a robot, would you make him pay for it?