Shurkhard

[TheNaga]

I need some help with my supernatural being known as Shurkhard.  Shurkhard is the monstrous form of this supernatural being.  Shurkhard does have a human form.  Shurkhard is a multiform character with the Shurkhard form being made with five hundred points.  What is your opinion of what I have on Shurkhard's so far?  I have twenty-six more points left to spend on Shurkhard's skills.  Besides the skills listed below, what other skills do you think Shurkhard should have?  How can I make Shurkhard's description sound better and more detailed?  What do you think the human form would be like?  I am thinking that the human form might be Middle Eastern in appearance.  That might cause me to have change Shurkhard form from being based off of a polar bear to something else.   Do you think this character might be better off in a fantasy setting instead of a superhero setting?

 

Physical Description: This male creature entering into view appears to be a male polar bear that stands six feet tall at the shoulders.  Instead of having fur, his body is covered in thick, plated stone grey scales.  His head is that of a human male with stone grey hair.  Growing out of his head is a pair of enormous backward-curving, crescent-shaped horns with deep ridges on their surface.  His face is wise and powerful looking with a long braided stone grey beard.  Both of his eyes are liquid orbs of stone grey.  A double row of pointed lower teeth and triangular upper teeth line his powerful jaws.  Instead of having four legs like that of a polar bear, he has six long powerful legs with massive paws.  Tipping each one of his six paws’ five toes is a stone grey sickle-shaped claw that measures six inches in length.  On each one of his six legs, he wears a golden ankle band.  Protruding from his shoulders are huge scaled leathery wings.  The joints of the wings are adorned with jewelry.  Extending from the end of his spine is a three feet long reptilian tail that ends in a scorpion-like stinger.  Near the end of his tail, he has a piece of jewelry.

 

Val    Char      Cost    Roll    Notes
40     STR       30    17-        Lift 6,400 kg; 8d6 HTH damage [4]
20     DEX       20    13-
25     CON      5    14-
20     INT        10    13-    PER Roll 13-/15-
20     EGO       13    13-
20     PRE        10    13-    PRE Attack: 4d6
6       OCV       15
6       DCV       15
3       OMCV     0
3       DMCV     0
5       SPD       30         Phase:  3, 5, 8, 10, 12
15     PD          13        Total:  15 (15 rPD)
15     ED          13        Total:  15 (15 rED)
15    REC      11
60    END      8
20    BODY      10
60    STUN      20
Total Characteristics Cost:  247
Movement    Meters        Notes
RUNNING     20m/40m   END [2]
SWIMMING  4m/8m        END [1]
LEAPING      4m              4m forward, 2m upwards
FLIGHT        30m            END [3]

Cost      Powers
             Enhanced Senses
5    1)   Can See In The Dark:  Nightvision
10  2)   Enhanced Sense of Sight:  +5 PER with Sight Group
4   3)   Enhanced Sense of Smell:  +2 PER with Smell/Taste Group
10 4)   Enhanced Sense of Smell:  (Total: 10 Active Cost, 10 Real Cost) Discriminatory with Normal Smell (Real Cost: 5) plus Analyze with Normal Smell (Real Cost: 5)
5    5)   Enhanced Sense of Smell:  Tracking with Normal Smell
18    6)   Hawk-like Vision:  +12 versus Range Modifier for Sight Group

 

15    Plated Stone Gray Scales:  Resistant (+½) for 15 PD/15 ED
30    Bite:  Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 2d6 (4½d6 w/STR) 3
19    Claws:  Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6 (3d6 w/STR), Armor Piercing (+¼) (19 Active Points) 3
20    Leathery Wings:  Flight 30m (30 Active Points); Restrainable (-½) 3
8    Swift:  Running +8m (20m total) 1
6    Six Legs And A Tail:  Extra Limbs  (3), Inherent (+¼) (6 Active Points)
20    Supernatural Mind:  Mental Defense (20 points total)
33    Supernatural Being:  Life Support  (Eating: Character only has to eat once per week; Immunity All terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents; Immunity: All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Longevity: Immortal; Safe in Intense Cold; Safe in Intense Heat; Safe in Low Pressure/Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing; Sleeping: Character only has to sleep 8 hours per week)

      Skills
3    Climbing 13-
2    Concealment 13- (3 Active Points); Self Only (-½)
3    Conversation 13-
3    Deduction 13-
0    Language:  English (completely fluent; literate) (4 Active Points)
3    Navigation (Air, Land) 13-
3    Persuasion 13-
3    Scholar
2    1)   KS: Legends And Lore (3 Active Points) 13-
2    2)   KS: Magical Creatures (3 Active Points) 13-
2    3)   KS: World Mythology (3 Active Points) 13-
2    4)   KS: World History (3 Active Points) 13-
3    Shadowing 13-
3    Stealth 13-
4    Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, Tropical) 13-
3    Tactics 13-

[death tribble]

I expect players to make lots of shark gags, hard and easy gags.

Have the human form as Middle Eastern and this form as the polar bear is fine. It will throw the players off. They will expect Inuit or Canadian types to be the main suspects.

 

I would say more languages as nothing in English or American folklore comes close to this.

Can't think of anything else at the moment.

[steriaca]

Red. Agree with Death Tribble in that he needs more languages. Prehaps English isn't a native language but his native language is some mystical language.  Being a supernatural creacher, prehaps he knows some more occult knowledge of some kind. I assume he is Earth aligned (elemental earth that is). It is a possibility he knows the goings on of some mystical earthen creatures like dwarfs and xorns.

[TheNaga]

I got the idea for this character from Akkadian storm beasts are from A Mess of Monsters: Even More Monsters For The Monster Hunter International Employee Handbook.  The Akkadian storm beast is native to the Middle East and North Africa.

[Lord Liaden]

I notice the character has no Combat Skill Levels. Those would probably be a worthwhile investment.

 

What does Shurkhard's human form do for a living? How does he support himself? Unless he's a professional scholar of Middle Eastern history and mythology, some other Professional Skills would be appropriate.

 

When it comes to animal-based creatures in Middle Eastern mythology, lions and bulls are common. Your description of Shurkhard's face sounds like it could be either or a combination of both. Also the wings of these creatures are typically depicted as bird-like rather than bat-like.

 

Your description of the creature's covering being stone-like plates puts me in mind of the classic video game, Shadow of the Colossus. You might look up the design of its colossi for visual inspiration.

[TheNaga]

The human form Shurkhard being professional scholar of Middle Eastern history and mythology could play into the fact that I gave Shurkhard knowledge in myth and legends and magical creatures.

 

I left out the fact that Shurkhard has Survival: Desert

[HeroGM]

Shrunkhard has the complication that shrunkhard talks in the third person, even in human form.

[TheNaga]

How would I go about making Shurkhard's description fit more in line with things found Middle Eastern myths and legends?  The reason I want to with a Middle Eastern influence to Shurkhard's look is that I wanted to keep Shurkhard having a bearded  and horned male head.  I would to keep Shurkhard looking original if I can possibly do that but still have a Middle Eastern flair to his look.  I would like to if possible keep Shurkhard having six legs.

 

Do know that if I had the points to do so I would give Shurkhard the following powers.

         Paralytic Tail Stinger
10     1)   Stinger:  Killing Attack - Ranged 1d6 (15 Active Points); No Range (-½) 1
21     2)   Paralyzation:  Entangle 4d6, 4 PD/4 ED, Cannot Be Escaped With Teleportation (+¼), Takes No Damage From Attacks All Attacks (+½) (70 Active Points); 4 Charges (-1), No Range (-½), Extra Time (Full Phase, -½), Linked (Stinger; -¼) [4]

 

[HeroGM]

Buy him a tail, which is an extra limb (should be in the books). Stinger more or less as is, but have the entangle/venom as "HKA (stinger) must do body damage" instead of linked.

[Hugh Neilson]

On 10/29/2021 at 12:46 PM, TheNaga said:

Physical Description: This male creature entering into view appears to be a male polar bear that stands six feet tall at the shoulders.  Instead of having fur, his body is covered in thick, plated stone grey scales.  His head is that of a human male with stone grey hair. 

 

Depending on the maturity level of your group, you may want to tone down the "male" references.  I can only think of one way an average person could tell the difference between a male and female polar bear, and it's not "comics code approved".

[HeroGM]

1 hour ago, Hugh Neilson said:

 

Depending on the maturity level of your group, you may want to tone down the "male" references.  I can only think of one way an average person could tell the difference between a male and female polar bear, and it's not "comics code approved".

 

Comics code? What's that....does it even exist anymore?

[Sketchpad]

It looks like the critter you're referencing is also called an Ugallu. To give folks a frame of visual reference, I submit the following ideas and concepts found on Google...

 

Hope this helps.

 

[DShomshak]

I admit, I find the repeated comparison to a polar bear oddly specific, given that Shurkard lacks the white fur that is a polar bear's most distinctive feature. It may be better to say something like, "a compact, bestial body, somewhat bear-like from the barrel trunk and heavy shoulders."

 

 

On 10/29/2021 at 12:32 PM, death tribble said:

I would say more languages as nothing in English or American folklore comes close to this.

Can't think of anything else at the moment.

Or as a powerful supernatural being, Shurkard might have Universal Translator.

 

Dean Shomshak