Character: Belit, Queen of the Black Coast (Hyborian Hero)

[Hierax]

With the new Conan game out (Thanks Paul!) I've been inspired and I was re-reading some Conan stuff and so thought that I'd start getting back into Hyboria by revising my write-up of Belit -- Here's Draft Version 0.2, it's basically a conversion of the GURPS Conan write-up with some additions based on many Marvel Comics and a fan's xD&D/d20 write-up. I realize that it's a rather high point value write-up; that's because I've tried to include everything about her from all of the various sources (e.g., Marvel did far more with her than the original Howard story) and slightly expand on the logic of those sources; thus, this write-up errs on the side of "more rather than less" here (maybe too much, but it's easier to delete that add later) but, regardless, I would like to fix and clean it up a bit more based on your feedback...Here's a printable Acrobat/.pdf:     http://www.hierax.com/hero/fantasy/hyborian/belit.pdfBêlit, Queen of the Black Coast (575 Points)

Val	Char	Cost
15	STR	5
23	DEX	48
15	CON	10
15	BODY	10
15	INT	5
15	EGO	10
25	PRE	20
26	COM	11
6	PD	3
6	ED	3
5	SPD	27
6	REC	0
30	END	0
31	STUN	0

8" RUN04" SWIM04" LEAP0Characteristics Cost: 152

Cost	Power	END
15	Combat Luck (Co-Star): Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25%	0
3	Keen Senses: +1 PER with all Sense Groups	0
1	Leaping +1" (4" forward, 2" upward)	1
5	Luck 1d6	0
2	Swimming +2" (4" total)	1
4	Running +2" (8" total)	1

Powers Cost: 30

Cost	Skill
7	Acrobatics 16-
1	Breakfall 8-
1	Bribery 8-
3	Climbing 14-
5	+1 with DCV
3	+1 with Swords
6	+2 with Spears
6	+2 with Knives/Daggers
6	+2 with Bows
3	Concealment 12-
1	Contortionist 8-
1	Conversation 8-
3	Deduction 12-
10	Defense Maneuver I-IV
7	PS: Dancer 16-
11	Fast Draw (Sword) 18-
11	Fast Draw (Bow) 18-
1	Forgery 8-
1	Gambling 8-
3	High Society 14-
1	Interrogation 8-
4	AK: Black Coast 13-
4	AK: Hyborian Coast 13-
3	AK: Shem 12-
2	KS - Pirates 11-
0	Language: Shemitish (idiomatic; literate) (5 Active Points)
4	Language: Argossean (completely fluent; literate)
3	Language: Kushite (completely fluent)
4	Language: Stygian (completely fluent; literate)
5	Language: Suba (idiomatic; literate)
1	Lockpicking 8-
2	PS: Jeweler 11-
4	PS: Merchant 13-
5	PS: Sailor 14-
3	Navigation (Land, Marine) 12-
1	Oratory 8-
1	Paramedics (Healing) 8-
3	Penalty Skill Levels: +2 vs. Range Modifier with a single attack (Shemite Bow)
1	Persuasion 8-
1	Riding 8-
3	Seduction 14-
1	Shadowing 8-
1	Sleight Of Hand 8-
1	Stealth 8-
1	Streetwise 8-
5	Survival - Sea (Marine Surface) 14-
3	Survival - Island/Beach (Tropical Coasts/Pelagic Environments) 13-
2	Survival - Jungle (Tropical Forests) 12-
11	Tactics 16-
3	Teamwork 14-
3	Tracking (Jungle Huntress) 12-
3	Trading 14-
8	TF: Camels, Carts & Carriages, Chariots, Equines, Large Rowed Boats, Large Wind-Powered Boats, Rafts, Small Rowed Boats, Small Wind-Powered Boats
5	WF: Common Melee Weapons, Common Missile Weapons, Off Hand

Skills Cost: 192

Cost	Perk
1	Captain of the Tigress
9	Vehicle - Tigress (Ship)
15	Follower - N'Gora (Sub-Chief)
15	Follower - N'Yaga (Mentor and Shaman)
40	Followers - Suba Warriors (100)

Perks Cost: 80

Cost	Talent
16	Berserk Fury
8	Combat Archery
10	Deadly Blow: +1d6 (any HTH weapon)
7	Deadly Blow: +1d6 (Shemite Bow)
10	Divine Favor
4	Environmental Movement (no penalties on Ships)
18	Evasive
10	Fascination (When Dancing)
14	Fearless
11	Inspire
3	Lightning Reflexes: +2 DEX to act first with All Actions
3	Lightsleep
4	Rapid Archery
3	Resistance (3 points)

Talents Cost: 121

Val	Disadvantages
20	Ambition - Driven to Avenge Father and Regain Royal Rule in Shem (Psychological Limitation): (Common, Total)
15	Bloodlust (Psychological Limitation): (Common, Strong)
15	Greedy (Psychological Limitation): (Common, Strong)
15	Hatred of Stygians, Argosseans, and Slavers (Psychological Limitation): (Common, Strong)
15	Hunted: Navies of Western Hyborian Coastal Nations 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish)
1	Impatient (Quirk)
1	Insists on be paid for fenced goods in Shemite Coin (Quirk)
15	Impulsive/Reckless (Psychological Limitation): (Common, Strong)
15	Jealous (Psychological Limitation): (Common, Strong)
1	Likes Gems and Jewelry Most Especially Rubies (Quirk)
20	Loves Conan/Amra (Psychological Limitation): (Common, Total)
20	NCM
0	Normal Characteristic Maxima
15	Overconfident (Psychological Limitation): (Very Common, Moderate)
1	Proud of Ancestry (Quirk)
10	Reputation - Goddess/Pirate Queen of the Black Coast: , 11-
15	Secret Identity - Shemite Princess (Social Limitation): (Frequently, Major)
1	Sensuous (Quirk)
15	Stubborn (Psychological Limitation): (Common, Strong)
5	Unluck: 1d6
1	Vain about Beauty (Quirk)
15	Vengeful (Psychological Limitation): (Common, Strong)
10	Violent Temper (Psychological Limitation): (Uncommon, Strong)

Disadvantage Points: 241

Base Points: 350Experience Required: 0Total Experience Available: 150Experience Unspent: 150Total Character Cost: 575

Height: 1.75m	Hair: Black
Weight: 59.00 kg	Eyes: Dark Brown

Appearance: Belit sprang before the blacks, beating down their spears. She turned toward Conan, her bosom heaving, her eyes flashing. Fierce fingers of wonder caught at his heart. She was slender, yet formed like a goddess: at once lithe and voluptuous. Her only garment was a broad silken girdle. Her white ivory limbs and ivory globes of her breasts drove a beat of fierce passion through the Cimmerian's pulse, even in the panting fury of battle. Her rich black hair, black as a Stygian night, fell in rippling burnished clusters down her supple back. Her dark eyes burned on the Cimmerian. She was untamed as a desert wind, supple and dangerous as a she-panther.Personality: See Disadvantages.Quote:- Queen of the Black Coast (1934) by Robert E. Howard

- Marvel Comics (1976-01 to 1995-02) by Roy Thomas et al. - A Chronology of Conan's Career, Chapter Three, Corsair of the Black Coast: - Conan Saga (CS) #50, 51, 52, 85, 86, 75, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 38, 39, 95; - Conan the Barbarian (CB) #57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 68, 6, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100; - Savage Sword of Conan (SS) #97; - Marvel Feature (MF) #6, 7.

- GURPS Conan p.121 (1989) by Curtis M. Scott.

- GURPS Conan and Queen of the Black Coast p.31-32 (1989) by Robert Traynor.

- Conan d20 ( http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/hosted/adilbrand/conan/belit.htm ) (2003-01-07) by Vincent N. Darlage.

- Mongoose Publishing's d20 Conan RPG ( http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/conan/ ) [? Will they have a Belit write-up?]

- Dark Horse Comics [? will they recolour the key Belit stories in the upcoming GNs?]

Background: Belit was Conan's Greatest Love and the greatest tragedy of the Conan Saga. She was a Shemite princess turned pirate queen and pseudo goddess. She had hoped to amass enough wealth to reclaim her Shemite royal heritage. However, Belit was slain by an ancient winged ape.Powers/Tactics: Almost but not quite as good as Red Sonja with a sword but better with a knife/dagger.Campaign Use: Feared Pirate Pseudo-GoddessThanks, in advance, for any feedback that you can give me to improve the write-up!http://www.hierax.com/hero/fantasy/hyborian/

[Eosin]

Re: Character: Belit, Queen of the Black Coast (Hyborian Hero)

 

As usual, a good start.

 

A few comments -

 

BODY is a tad high for my tastes as is the PRE.

Overall Damage Reduction versus Combat Luck (3 pts rPD). At the very least you should change the name so as to avoid confusion with Combat Luck. I would add some limits on it - Scripted to Survive: Must be aware or attack, must not be subject of deadly blow (-0) [it just means if someone has "human slaying" +1d6 vs all humans or similar she no longer gets the Damage Reduction]

Deadly Blow - the HTH is too broad. I would limit it to a weapon or two or limit the target down (Those who stole her throne).

I would buy full Breakfall - it is weird to have a 16- acrobatics and an 8- Breakfall.

I would drop the Fastdraws down a notch or two - nobody is going to let you succeed if you roll an 18 anyway.

 

Most importantly - organization. Stuff is scattered all over the character sheet and made it hard to organize in my head. Group the PS's, Group the Skills in Alphabetical order, place seperate groups at the end or begining (CSLs, KSs, and PSs). Also - organize those disads.

 

Always hate critiquing that leaves the feeling it was all wrong - so I will say for posterity - Good overall write up.

[Hierax]

Re: Character: Belit, Queen of the Black Coast (Hyborian Hero)

 

Thanks for the feedback, Eosin!

 

Organization: I'll see what I can do to clean the next draft up a bit. Right now things are just in alphabetical order (as chosen from the Hero Designer listings).

 

BODY/PRE, etc. are basically conversions of the GURPS character, but I'm willing to reassess. In GURPS, Belit has specific Advantage listings for "Charisma" and "Very Beautiful Appearance" which give her rather significant bonuses to reactions.

 

Combat Luck: Sorry, I was just making a statement. Combat Luck is a pet peeve of mine, I think that it is a dangerous talent, it makes characters absolutely invulnerable (unlike armor it has 100% coverage) to little attacks (see the recent Darts thread), I think that Damage Reduction is a better way to simulate the concept of avoiding some of the damage because the character still takes the 'nick' of 1 point of damage (straight rDEF for avoiding being hit just doesn't do it for me). But you are right I'll change the terminology to avoid confusion.

 

Deadly Blow: I was thinking that major characters, like Belit and Conan, generally take down their enemies with very few hits (most often one) and Hyborian combat is a bit more deadly than standard Hero combat tends to be so I wanted to give Conan's Co-Star a bit of an edge in combat.

 

Hey, doesn't anyone else still read Conan? I thought that with all the new comics and d20 game there would be a renewed interest in hyborian stuff

[Tanya-J]

Re: Character: Belit, Queen of the Black Coast (Hyborian Hero)

 

I just found this a few minutes ago as I was searching for Conanesque pirates for what I hope will be a Hero-Conan game. I, for one, love Howard's Conan--and his other material, as well. I'm currently planning on rotating sessions between two different areas, drawing from the pirate period for one group of characters and placing the other group probably in the mountain regions of Stygia, but I'm still deciding. I haven't picked up the d20 stuff, but I do have the GURPS pieces, all the Howard material, as well as the comics, although I'm not as familiar with the comics as Howard's writings. How's your Conan work coming, btw?

 

Tanya

[mangahunterd]

Re: Character: Belit, Queen of the Black Coast (Hyborian Hero)

 

Actually I was just looking at a pseudo new anthology that has collected all of the original Conan called The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian Vol. 1

isbn 0345461517

[Geryon]

Re: Character: Belit, Queen of the Black Coast (Hyborian Hero)

 

I am a Conan purist, and let me tell you that "coming of conan the cimmerian" the new anthology by del rey is actually quite good. I was pleasantly surprised. I haven't got a look at the new conan d20 sourcebook, road of kings, which is supposed to have a story to rules ratio of over 3:1, making it probably good for a hero campaign, but from what I heard they did screw up and use some material from the comic and from other (non-howard) writers. Still, from what I heard it should be pretty good for a conan HERO conversion.

[Tanya-J]

Re: Character: Belit, Queen of the Black Coast (Hyborian Hero)

 

Thanks for the mention! I'm also a Howard purist, and over the years I've shelled out a small fortune collecting the works as they were originally released. Unfortunately there were a few pieces that hadn't been reprinted in original form. Sure, I bought the modified versions, but they're just not the same. Somehow--probably thanks to grad school--I missed hearing about this collection. Come payday, it's mine!

 

Tanya

[Agent X]

Re: Character: Belit, Queen of the Black Coast (Hyborian Hero)

 

Thanks for the feedback, Eosin!

 

Organization: I'll see what I can do to clean the next draft up a bit. Right now things are just in alphabetical order (as chosen from the Hero Designer listings).

 

BODY/PRE, etc. are basically conversions of the GURPS character, but I'm willing to reassess. In GURPS, Belit has specific Advantage listings for "Charisma" and "Very Beautiful Appearance" which give her rather significant bonuses to reactions.

 

Combat Luck: Sorry, I was just making a statement. Combat Luck is a pet peeve of mine, I think that it is a dangerous talent, it makes characters absolutely invulnerable (unlike armor it has 100% coverage) to little attacks (see the recent Darts thread), I think that Damage Reduction is a better way to simulate the concept of avoiding some of the damage because the character still takes the 'nick' of 1 point of damage (straight rDEF for avoiding being hit just doesn't do it for me). But you are right I'll change the terminology to avoid confusion.

 

Deadly Blow: I was thinking that major characters, like Belit and Conan, generally take down their enemies with very few hits (most often one) and Hyborian combat is a bit more deadly than standard Hero combat tends to be so I wanted to give Conan's Co-Star a bit of an edge in combat.

 

Hey, doesn't anyone else still read Conan? I thought that with all the new comics and d20 game there would be a renewed interest in hyborian stuff

Have you looked at the You Only Nicked Me construction in the Champions Genre Book? It might be more to your taste than Combat Luck and it might be more effective than DR 25%.

[Geryon]

Re: Character: Belit, Queen of the Black Coast (Hyborian Hero)

 

Tanya, this anthology even includes a couple of unfinished conan stories, and a few of the stories in "first draft" format. Very fun reads if you are a big fan. It also includes a couple of howards' own maps which are very good if you are planning a conan conversion. They aren't detailed enough (IMHO) to use as "master map" for your campaign, but they are perfect for the sort of thing a character might receive. There is also howard's personal notes so he could keep geography and whatnot straight. Its invaluable stuff for running Conan HERO

[Tanya-J]

Re: Character: Belit, Queen of the Black Coast (Hyborian Hero)

 

Thanks for the info! I'll be sure to pick up copies as soon as my paycheck gets here!

[Susano]

Re: Character: Belit, Queen of the Black Coast (Hyborian Hero)

 

Del Ray's Robert E Howard library will include 3 Conan collections (the stories appearing as REH wrote them and in the order the wrote them), a Solomon Kane collection (hence the character sheet I posted) and a Bran Mak Morn collection. The exact order is:

 

Conan

Solomon Kane

Conan

Bran Mak Morn

Conan

 

I fully intend to try my hand at Conan, Belit, Valeria, and a few others once I have sufficent resources at hand. I also want to do a few REH monsters, like the akanna that Kane encounters (and maybe the dragons from Red Nails).