Characters: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

[AlHazred]

Jules Verne's masterpiece, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea (1870), has something of an interesting history. Literature critics on the continent praised Verne for the scientific fact that peppers the narrative, and lauded his rich, three-dimensional characters. Meanwhile, critics in England and America complained about the lack of science in a science fiction novel, and thought his two-dimensional characters were little more than caricatures. For over a century, this was the state of things.

 

Then, in the mid-1970s, Walter James Miller put out The Annotated Jules Verne: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. In it, he described how he discovered that the original translator of Verne into English, a man named Mercier Lewis, did such a poor job that he ruined the story. Fully 23% of Verne's novel was cut for the Lewis "translation," including most of the science and much of the characterization. Those scientific explanations that Lewis did translate were often wrong, as if Lewis was both scientifically illiterate and poorly educated in the French language. For example, in one much-criticized passage, Lewis has Captain Nemo say that steel has a density ".7 to .8 that of water." In fact, steel has a density 7.8 times that of water, as Verne originally wrote. The many factual errors and editing cuts made the story seem trite and poorly researched to English speakers, when in fact the opposite is the case.

 

Nevertheless, despite the scrutiny critics and science-fiction historians placed Verne's writing under, no-one detected the subterfuge until recently. As Miller points out, Mercier Lewis' "translation" is now in the public domain, and most publishing houses will prefer to use the free translation available to them, rather than paying to have a new translation made. And so Lewis' translations continue to plague the vintage science fiction market.

[AlHazred]

Re: Characters: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

 

The Nautilus

 

The Nautilus -

VAL...CHA...Cost...Total...Roll......Notes

15....Size....75...15................Length 32", Width 16", Area 512", Mass 3.3 kton, KB -15

85....STR......0...85......26-.......HTH Damage 17d6 END [8]

14....DEX.....12...14......12-.......OCV 5 DCV -5

25....BODY.....0...25......14-

10....DEF.....24...10

.3....SPD......6....3................Phases: 4, 8, 12

.0....RUN....-12...0"................END [0]

22....SWIM.....0..22"................END [2]

.0....LEAP.....0...0"................0" forward, 0" upward

CHA Cost: 105

Cost...POWERS

.......Power Systems

12....."Bunsen's Contrivances": Endurance Reserve (30 END, 30 REC); OIF Immobile (-1

........1/2), Only Powers Electrical Devices (-1/4) - END=0

.....

.......Propulsion Systems

.8.....Propeller-Driven Vessel: Swimming +20" (22" total); Limited Maneuverability (-

........1/2), Side Effects, occurs automatically (only affects the environment around vehicle;

........propeller does KA 2d6 to anyone coming in contact with the bottom stern of the vehicle;

........-1/2), Costs Endurance (-1/2) - END=2

.....

.......Tactical Systems

.3....."Armored Spur": Stretching 1", Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); Only To Cause

........Damage With Move-Throughs (-1/2), Always Direct (-1/4), No Noncombat Stretching (-1/4),

........No Velocity Damage (-1/4) - END=0

22....."Electrified Stair-rail": EB 4d6, Trigger (Zero Phase Action, resets

........automatically; failed Security Systems roll; +3/4), No Normal Defense (defense is having

........insulated rED; +1); IIF Bulky (electrified stair-rail; -3/4), No Range (-1/2), Real

........Weapon (-1/4) - END=5

.8....."Water Pumps": EB 5d6; Does Not Work Underwater (-1), IIF Bulky (-3/4), Real

........Weapon (-1/4) - END=2

.5....."Water Pumps": 1 more Water Pump (total of 2) - END=2

.....

.......Operations Systems - END=

12....."Powerful Electric Reflector": Sight Group Images Increased Size (128" Cone Fore

........And Aft; +1 1/2); Only To Create Light (-1) - END=2

.....

.......Personnel Systems - END=

.1.....Submersible: Life Support (Safe Environment: High Pressure) - END=0

.6....."Watertight Bulkheads": Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing); Partial Coverage

........(125 hexes; -3/4) - END=0

10....."Watertight Bulkheads": 3 more Watertight Bulkheads (total of 4; each protects

........one-fourth of the ship) - END=0

.6.....Airlock: Change Environment 1" radius, Varying Effect (restore or remove normal

........pressure and breathing environments; +1/4) - END=1

.....

.......Other Vehicles

.1....."The Small Boat": use Canoe, TUV page 61, but add a Sail and make it large enough

........for 20 people - END=0

POWERS Cost: 94

Value..DISADVANTAGES

25.....Distinctive Features: "Giant Narwhal"/"Piratical" Submersible Craft (Not

........Concealable; Extreme Reaction [fear]; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

DISADVANTAGES Points: 25

Base Pts: 186

Exp Required: 0

Total Exp Available: 0

Exp Unspent: 0

Total Character Cost: 199

 

Fiction's first fully-realized submarine, the Nautilus is a spindle-shaped submersible 70 meters long and 8 meters thick at the widest point. Made of riveted steel plates, it mounts a long ram with a triangular cross-section on the front, and a six-meter diameter screw on the back. Steering vanes (like ailerons on a plane) stud the rear half of the vessel. The pilot house and external lights of the Nautilus can be caused to sit flush with the surface of the submarine, allowing it to achieve 50 miles per hour at its highest speed.

 

The front half of the lower level of the Nautilus contains an air reservoir, a small chamber (which became Dr. Arronax's quarters, the Captain's stateroom, a huge parlor, a library of 20,000 books, a formal dining room. At the center, a shaft with a ladder leads to the upper deck, which contains the retractable pilot house at the fore end. Also at this point is the access hatch for the Captain's dinghy, which can be entered while the ship is underwater - the dinghy is shipped watertight, though it is incapable of operating underwater itself.

 

The rear half of the lower level of the Nautilus is less well described. It contains the airlock, the crew's mess (which doubled as a cell for the three castaways), at least one bunkroom for the crew, another bunkroom which was used by Ned Land and Conseil, and an engine compartment which contained the generator and batteries in the front half and the machinery for the screw in the back half. It is likely that the upper level of the back half of the ship contains an accessway to service the powerful retractable lamp. It is also in a side chamber near the airlock that the diving suits are stored.

 

Captain Nemo brags that the submarine draws power from the sea itself. Although the exact method of electrical generation is not described, it would seem from some portions of the book to use sodium. Since sodium can be extracted (in minute proportions) from seawater, yet reacts violently with water to emit extreme heat, Verne might have been on to something there. The electricity the generators develop is stored in large Bunsen cells, and from there goes to power everything aboard the vessel. Aside from the air-guns, everything aboard ship is powered by electricity, a first in the 1800s.

 

The Captain's dinghy (which communicates with the sub via a wire that it plays out behind it) is likely large enough to hold the entire crew. At one point Ned Land takes it for a whale hunt, at which point it comfortably housed at least eight people.

 

The Nautilus is crewed by twenty men of uncertain nationality, who have severed all ties with Mankind, much like their Captain. Aboard ship, they speak only Nemo's created language ("Nautilan") and are extraordinarily quiet and robot-like.

 

The Nautilus contains enough air for the crew for a day – two days at most, with deleterious effects on the crew’s health. Every day, therefore, the Nautilus must surface and open vents to release the built-up carbon dioxide and refresh its air reservoir. Although there were methods known at the time to scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, Nemo doesn’t use them, possibly because he still doesn’t know how to create the oxygen the crew needs. Nevertheless, this only becomes an issue at one point in the story, so I decided it seemed like more of a plot point than a limitation. Aside from this limitation, the Nautilus seems to have a significant range – Nemo mentions a depth of eight to ten miles at one point, and it’s possible he’s gone much deeper.

 

The Nautilus.hdc

[AlHazred]

Re: Characters: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

 

Captain Nemo

aka Prince Dakkar of Bundalkund

 

Captain Nemo - Prince Dakkar

VAL...CHA...Cost...Total...Roll......Notes

13....STR......3...13......12-.......HTH Damage 2 1/2d6 END [1]

14....DEX.....12...14......12-.......OCV 5 DCV 5

13....CON......6...13......12-

10....BODY.....0...10......11-

18....INT......8...18......13-.......PER Roll 13-/15-

17....EGO.....14...17......12-.......ECV: 6

15....PRE......5...15......12-.......PRE Attack: 3d6

14....COM......2...14......12-

.4....PD.......1...4.................4 PD (0 rPD)

.3....ED.......0...3.................3 ED (0 rED)

.4....SPD.....16...4.................Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12

.6....REC......0...6

26....END......0...26

24....STUN.....0...24

.6....RUN......0...6"................END [1]

.4....SWIM.....0...4"................END [2]

.3....LEAP.....0...2 1/2"............2 1/2" forward, 1" upward

 

CHA Cost: 67

 

Cost...POWERS

.2.....Strong Swimmer: Swimming +2" (4" total) - END=1

.4....."Superior... Vision": +2 PER with Sight Group - END=0

.6....."Superior... Vision": +4 versus Range Modifier for Sight Group - END=0

 

POWERS Cost: 12

 

 

Cost...SKILLS

16......+2 with All Combat

......

.0......Acting 8-

.0......AK: India 8-

.5......AK: The Seven Seas 14-

.0......Climbing 8-

.0......Concealment 8-

.3......Conversation 12-

.3......Deduction 13-

.3......Electronics 13-

.3......Inventor 13-

.3......Mechanics 13-

.4......Navigation (Marine) 14-

.3......Oratory 12-

.0......Paramedics 8-

.3......Persuasion 12-

.2......PS: Organist 11-

.2......PS: Sea Captain 11-

.0......PS: Soldier 8-

.0......Shadowing 8-

.0......Stealth 8-

.4......Survival (Marine) 14-

.3......Systems Operation 13-

.3......Tactics 13-

.1......TF: "Diving Apparatus", Submarines

.4......WF: Common Melee Weapons, Handguns, Rifles

.2......Weaponsmith (Firearms) 13-

.3......Linguist

.3......1) Language: "Nautilan" (idiomatic)

.3......2) Language: English (idiomatic; literate)

.2......3) Language: French (idiomatic)

.3......4) Language: German (idiomatic)

.0......5) Language: Hindustani (idiomatic; literate)

.1......6) Language: Latin (completely fluent)

.3......Scientist

.1......1) SS: Botany 11-

.1......2) SS: Chemistry 11-

.1......3) SS: Electrical Engineering 11-

.1......4) SS: Linguistics 11-

.1......5) SS: Mathematics 11-

.4......6) SS: Mechanical Engineering 14-

.4......7) SS: Oceanography 14-

.1......8) SS: Political Science 11-

.1......9) SS: Zoology 11-

 

SKILLS Cost: 100

 

Cost...PERKS

30......Followers: the Crew of the Nautilus

15......Money: Filthy Rich

40......Vehicle: The Nautilus

.3......Well-Connected

15......Assorted Contacts: various industrial concerns and rebel groups

 

PERKS Cost: 103

 

Value..DISADVANTAGES

15.....Hunted: Wanted By The British Empire 11- (Less Pow, NCI, Capture/Kill)

.0.....Normal Characteristic Maxima

15.....Psychological Limitation: Hates The British Empire (Common, Strong)

10.....Psychological Limitation: Identifies With Conquered People (Uncommon, Strong)

15.....Psychological Limitation: Loyal To The Crew Of The Nautilus (Common, Strong)

10.....Reputation: Prince Dakkar, rebel/terrorist leader, 8- (Extreme)

10.....Social Limitation: Outlaw (Occasionally, Major)

 

DISADVANTAGES Points: 75

 

Base Pts: 75

Exp Required: 132

Total Exp Available: 132

Exp Unspent: 0

Total Character Cost: 282

 

APPEARANCE

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Hazel

Height: 1.93 m

Weight: 91.00 kg

 

Description:

Nemo is described as a tall, well-built man with handsome features. Pictures of Captain Nemo from the original edition of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea show him with a full mustache and beard, standing somewhat taller than Ned Land. His nationality is not immediately apparent to any of the three castaways he lets on-board. He wears clothes made entirely of fibers from sea plants.

 

BACKGROUND

Although we never learn the full story in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, Nemo proved to be such a popular character that Verne returned to him in a later book, The Mysterious Island. There, we learn that the man known as Captain Nemo was born in 1819 as Prince Dakkar of the territory of Bundelkund, in India. Educated in the finest schools of Europe, he excelled in all manner of study, arts, sciences and literature, but returned home at age 30 to help throw off the yoke of British rule.

 

As a loyal son of his country, in 1857 Dakkar took part in the final battle that spelled the doom of the Sepoy Rebellion, but survived. He returned home to find his whole family — wife, children, father, mother — all slain due to the actions of a traitor. Disgusted at the perfidy of mankind, he gathered about him the remains of his fortune and his twenty most trusted companions and removed himself to a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean.

 

Using parts ordered under false identities from industrial concerns scattered across the world, Nemo designed and built the Nautilus. Staffed by his friends and soldiers-in-arms, he embarked on a campaign of terror against those nations who attempted to subjugate their colonies across the seas. He made himself a champion of the oppressed.

 

 

In order to demonstrate his severing of the ties that formerly bound him, he took the name "Nemo" as his own, as well as developing an artificial language for the use of his crew.

 

When fate dropped Pierre Arronax, Conseil, and Ned Land on his doorstep, he took the opportunity to embark on a journey of scientific exploration, possibly as a way to expiate the sins he felt he had committed by making war on his foes.

 

PERSONALITY

Captain Nemo is a man driven by loss — the loss of his family and his country. Whenever he comes across a vessel belonging to his hated foe, he becomes possessed by a great rage and sinks her with no compunction; afterward, he drops into a melancholy state where he fights his inner demons for peace of mind.

 

Nemo considers himself a champion of the oppressed, and provides funding and resources for a variety of separatist groups around the globe. The funding he gets by raiding wrecks of treasure fleets, or by mining his own resources out of the sea bed. In this respect, he bears an uncanny resemblance to certain terrorist leaders of the twentieth century. Verne was indeed a visionary of rare ability.

 

QUOTE

“I’m the law, I’m the tribunal! I’m the oppressed, and there are my oppressors! Thanks to them, I’ve witnessed the destruction of everything I loved, cherished, and venerated — homeland, wife, children, father, and mother! There lies everything I hate!"

 

POWERS/TACTICS

Nemo is something of a superman. Aside from being visionary genius enough to design and build the Nautilus, a submarine a century ahead of its time, he was also a skilled commander of soldiers, a statesman, a scientist, and a man of letters. When faced with adversity, Nemo considers carefully all apparent solutions, and then quickly orders the correct one to be carried out. He is a skilled warrior, considering a knife adequate protection against sharks. He is a scientist, able to invent any technology he needed to bring about his vision of living life purely by the bounty of the sea.

 

Against sea-going foes of oppressor nations, Nemo prefers to play cat-and-mouse, using his superior technology to cause his foes to expend their energy fruitlessly. Against British ships, Nemo issues his challenge, then holes their ships with the Nautilus' spur "like a needle through sailcloth".

 

CAMPAIGN USE

Nemo makes an excellent tragic villain figure for Pulp games. In many ways, he strongly resembles the attitudes of modern terrorist leaders, making him an interesting vehicle for social commentary in the context of the game. If you like that sort of thing.

 

Captain Nemo.hdc

[AlHazred]

Re: Characters: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

 

Dr. Pierre Arronax

 

Dr. Pierre Arronax -

VAL...CHA...Cost...Total...Roll......Notes

10....STR......0...10......11-.......HTH Damage 2d6 END [1]

.9....DEX.....-3....9......11-.......OCV 3 DCV 3

.8....CON.....-4....8......11-

10....BODY.....0...10......11-

15....INT......5...15......12-.......PER Roll 12-

11....EGO......2...11......11-.......ECV: 4

10....PRE......0...10......11-.......PRE Attack: 2d6

10....COM......0...10......11-

.2....PD.......0....2................2 PD (0 rPD)

.2....ED.......0....2................2 ED (0 rED)

.2....SPD......1....2................Phases: 6, 12

.4....REC......0....4

20....END......2...20

19....STUN.....0...19

.6....RUN......0...6"................END [1]

.3....SWIM.....0...3"................END [2]

.2....LEAP.....0...2"................2" forward, 1" upward

CHA Cost: 3

Cost...POWERS

.1....."Good Swimmer": Swimming +1" (3" total) - END=1

POWERS Cost: 1

 

Cost...SKILLS

.0......Acting 8-

.0......AK: France 8-

.3......AK: The Seven Seas 12-

.0......Climbing 8-

.0......Concealment 8-

.0......Conversation 8-

.0......Deduction 8-

.1......Navigation (Marine) 8-

.5......Paramedics 13-

.0......Persuasion 8-

.2......PS: Doctor 11-

.2......PS: Scientist 11-

.0......Shadowing 8-

.0......Stealth 8-

.1......Survival (Marine) 8-

.0......TF: Equines

.3......Linguist

.1......1) Language: English (fluent conversation)

.0......2) Language: French (idiomatic; literate)

.1......3) Language: German (fluent conversation)

.1......4) Language: Latin (fluent conversation)

.3......Scientist

.1......1) SS: Botany 11-

.1......2) SS: Chemistry 11-

.1......3) SS: History 11-

.4......4) SS: Oceanography 14-

.1......5) SS: Paleontology 11-

.1......6) SS: Zoology 11-

SKILLS Cost: 32

Cost...PERKS

.3......Follower: Conseil

.4......Fringe Benefit: Membership: Assistant Professor of Natural History at the Museum

.........of Paris

.2......Fringe Benefit: Upper Class

.5......Money: Well Off

PERKS Cost: 14

Value..DISADVANTAGES

.5.....Age: 40+

.0.....Normal Characteristic Maxima

.5.....Psychological Limitation: Fear Of Vicious Sea Creatures (Uncommon, Moderate)

15.....Psychological Limitation: Scientific Curiosity (Common, Strong)

DISADVANTAGES Points: 25

Base Pts: 25

Exp Required: 0

Total Exp Available: 0

Exp Unspent: 0

Total Character Cost: 50

 

APPEARANCE

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Blue

Height: 1.79 m

Weight: 85.00 kg

 

Description:

Pierre Arronax is usually depicted in art as being similar to Jules Verne himself. That would make him a tall man, slightly built, with black hair and a clean-shaven face. He usually wears fine clothes which indicate his status and wealth.

 

BACKGROUND

Pierre Arronax is the narrator of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea". A scientist by profession, he is an Assistant Professor at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. After spending some years as a doctor of medicine, he was offered a position in the Museum which he eagerly accepted. His academic background receives short shrift in the book, but it is mentioned that he is the author of a two-volume book called "Mysteries of the Great Submarine Grounds," an overview of oceanographic science. From inferences, we can determine that he is considered something of an expert on marine life, and when shipping first begins to be affected by a supposed "sea monster" (the Nautilus) he writes an article which deduces that the creature is a giant narwhale.

 

Shortly after he returned from the badlands of Nevada bearing fossils destined for the Museum, he received a telegram requesting his presence aboard the Abraham Lincoln, which was setting out to find and neutralize the narwhale. As he felt that his professional reputation was on the line, he acquiesced, and he and his manservant Conseil found themselves aboard the United States' expedition as its lone French members. They made the acquaintance of Ned Land, who is the only other French-speaker on board, and their discussions of the nature of the "sea monster" sets the stage for the rest of the story.

 

PERSONALITY

Pierre Arronax is a scientist and pacifist. When he discovers himself aboard a submarine vessel, his excitement at the new scientific discoveries he can make completely obcures the fact that he is a virtual prisoner aboard the vessel. He is completely in thrall to Captain Nemo. His passifism makes him the last of the three to agree to escape the submarine at the first opportunity.

 

As an (relatively) high class individual, Arronax has all of the standard prejudices of a man of his station and time. When Nemo makes an apartment available to him or invites him to dinner, it doesn't even occur to Arronax to include his manservant Conseil or fellow-prisoner Ned Land, both of whom are beneath his station. Although the Captain convinces Arronax that the plight of conquered colonial peoples (we would now call them "Third World") is a heinous crime, it never occurs to him to apply that logic to his own culture.

 

QUOTE

"Let’s be guided by events, and let’s do nothing, since right now there’s nothing we can do."

 

POWERS/TACTICS

Arronax is a completely normal human being. As a scientist, he is completely untrained in any of the martial sciences, and is unfamiliar even with the knife that Nemo gives him at one point as defense against sharks.

 

Pierre Arronax.hdc

[AlHazred]

Re: Characters: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

 

Conseil

 

Conseil -

VAL...CHA...Cost...Total...Roll......Notes

13....STR......3...13......12-.......HTH Damage 2 1/2d6 END [1]

11....DEX......3...11......11-.......OCV 4 DCV 4

15....CON.....10...15......12-

10....BODY.....0...10......11-

13....INT......3...13......12-.......PER Roll 12-

10....EGO......0...10......11-.......ECV: 3

20....PRE......0...20......13-.......PRE Attack: 4d6

10....COM......0...10......11-

.3....PD.......0...3.................3 PD (0 rPD)

.3....ED.......0...3.................3 ED (0 rED)

.3....SPD......9...3.................Phases: 4, 8, 12

.6....REC......0...6

30....END......0...30

25....STUN.....0...25

.6....RUN......0...6"................END [1]

.2....SWIM.....0...2"................END [1]

.3....LEAP.....0...2 1/2"................2 1/2" forward, 1" upward

CHA Cost: 28

Cost...POWERS

.5....."Little Disturbance At The Different Surprises Of Life": +10 PRE; Only To Protect

........Against Presence Attacks (-1) - END=

POWERS Cost: 5

Cost...SKILLS

.0......Acting 8-

.0......AK: Flanders, Belgium 8-

.3......Climbing 11-

.0......Concealment 8-

.3......Conversation 13-

.0......Deduction 8-

.0......Language: French (idiomatic; literate)

.4......Language: German (idiomatic)

.0......Paramedics 8-

.0......Persuasion 8-

.2......PS: Valet 11-

.5......SS: Taxonomy 14-

.0......Shadowing 8-

.0......Stealth 8-

SKILLS Cost: 17

 

Value..DISADVANTAGES

.5.....Distinctive Features: always refers to the Professor in the third person (Easily

........Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

.0.....Normal Characteristic Maxima

20.....Psychological Limitation: Devoted To Professor Arronax (Common, Total)

.5.....Psychological Limitation: Diffident And Servile (Common, Strong)

.5.....Social Limitation: Lower Class (Occasionally, Minor)

DISADVANTAGES Points: 35

Base Pts: 15

Exp Required: 0

Total Exp Available: 0

Exp Unspent: 0

Total Character Cost: 50

 

APPEARANCE

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Height: 1.77 m

Weight: 82.00 kg

 

Description:

Conseil is little-described. He is about 30 years old, a man in excellent health (Arronax says "he enjoyed excellent health that defied all ailments") with solid muscles and a total devotion to his master. He usually wears the clothes of a servant, and always addresses Arronax in the third person, even when his master would desire it otherwise!

 

BACKGROUND

Conseil's history is extremely abbreviated in Verne. We know that he's been devoted to the Professor's service for some ten years in 1867 when the book opens. We know Conseil was born in 1837 in Flanders, Belgium. In 1857, he took service with the Professor and accompanied him as his man-servant on expeditions all over the world.

 

PERSONALITY

Conseil tries to be the perfect valet. He is so devoted to this goal that he maintains a diffidence and servility all out of proportion to his relationship to the Professor. In fact, one of his defining marks is his always referring to the Professor in the third person even when the Professor asks him not to. During the unnatural isolation of the party aboard the Nautilus, his dissociation with events becomes even more pronounced and he throws himself into his work classifying the myriad forms of new sea life the party encounters.

 

QUOTE

"Did monsieur ring for me?"

 

POWERS/TACTICS

Conseil has no powers beyond being reasonably intelligent and in good health.

Conseil has, in the course of his service to Arronax, become an expert in taxonomy, the science of classifying organisms into the commonly-accepted hierarchy.

 

CAMPAIGN USE

Conseil is Dr. Arronax's devoted manservant. By being obsessed with taxonomy, he provides Verne with an excuse to educate his readers in some elementary information about the denizens of the oceans.

 

Conseil.hdc

[AlHazred]

Re: Characters: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

 

Ned Land

 

Ned Land -

VAL...CHA...Cost...Total...Roll......Notes

15....STR......5...15......12-.......HTH Damage 3d6 END [1]

14....DEX.....12...14......12-.......OCV 5 DCV 5

15....CON.....10...15......12-

12....BODY.....4...12......11-

13....INT......3...13......12-.......PER Roll 12-/14-

15....EGO.....10...15......12-.......ECV: 5

15....PRE......5...15......12-.......PRE Attack: 3d6

12....COM......1...12......11-

.5....PD.......2...5.................5 PD (0 rPD)

.4....ED.......1...4.................4 ED (0 rED)

.4....SPD.....16...4.................Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12

.6....REC......0...6

30....END......0...30

30....STUN.....2...30

.6....RUN......0...6"................END [1]

.2....SWIM.....0...2"................END [1]

.3....LEAP.....0...3"................3" forward, 1 1/2" upward

CHA Cost: 71

Cost...POWERS

.4....."Great Vision": +2 PER with Sight Group - END=0

POWERS Cost: 4

 

Cost...SKILLS

10......+2 with HTH Combat

.4......+2 OCV with Harpoons

.6......Penalty Skill Levels: +4 vs. Range Modifier with Harpoons

......

.0......Acting 8-

.2......Animal Handler (Aquatic Animals) 12-

.0......AK: Home Country Or Region 8-

.3......Climbing 12-

.1......Concealment 8-

.0......Conversation 8-

.0......Deduction 8-

.4......Language: English (idiomatic; literate)

.0......Language: French (idiomatic; literate)

.2......Navigation (Marine) 12-

.0......Paramedics 8-

.3......Persuasion 12-

.5......PS: Fisherman/Harpooner 14-

.0......PS: Seaman 8-

.0......Shadowing 8-

.3......Stealth 12-

.4......Survival (Marine, Tropical) 12-

.3......Tracking 12-

.3......TF: Large Motorized Boats, Large Wind-Powered Boats, Rafts, Small Rowed Boats

.4......WF: Handguns, Javelins and Thrown Spears, Polearms and Spears, Rifles

SKILLS Cost: 57

Cost...PERKS

.4......Reputation: The King of the Harpooners (seamen) 14-, +2/+2d6

PERKS Cost: 4

Value..DISADVANTAGES

15.....Enraged: when confined or otherwise "unfree" (Uncommon), go 11-, recover 11-

.0.....Normal Characteristic Maxima

15.....Psychological Limitation: Idealistic (Common, Strong)

15.....Psychological Limitation: Loves To Hunt (Common, Strong)

.5.....Social Limitation: Lower Class (Occasionally, Minor)

DISADVANTAGES Points: 50

Base Pts: 50

Exp Required: 36

Total Exp Available: 36

Exp Unspent: 0

Total Character Cost: 136

 

APPEARANCE

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Brown

Height: 1.90 m

Weight: 106.00 kg

 

Description:

Ned is over six feet tall and strongly built. Although his exact features are never described by Arronax, he most likely bears the stereotypical French Canadian features, or at least what those features were thought to be in France in the 1870s.

 

BACKGROUND

Ned Land is a French Canadian, born in Quebec, Canada, in 1827. From a family of fishermen, he naturally gravitated to life at sea. Joining a crew, he served for many years before his skill with a harpoon became legendary. Now forty years old, he was a natural choice to join the crew of the Abraham Lincoln, sent to capture or kill the "giant narwhal" that threatened shipping.

 

PERSONALITY

Ned Land is a man more complicated than he initially appears to be. As a Canadian living during a time of the end of Empires, Ned is devoted to the ideals of freedom and self-expression; in some cases, to a great and violent degree. His is the first voice raised in anger when he and his friends are imprisoned, and he is the first to speak of escape. On the other hand, he is quite capable of planning and forethought, and is not as unintelligent as others might think. While on board the Nautilus, he consistently punctures Professor Arronax's self-possession.

 

As befits the King of the Harpooners, Ned is easily swayed by the promise of a good hunt. While he is best known for his ability to harpoon whales, he is also quite capable of surviving on land, as he demonstrates when given a chance. This skill is probably the result of his immense competitive streak - he loves to rise to challenges and thrills to hunting and living off the land.

 

QUOTE

"To my way of thinking, a man is not really alive unless he is free."

 

POWERS/TACTICS

Ned Land is extremely good at fighting with his harpoon, using his skill to good stead on a number of occasions. Complementing his harpooning skill is his fantastic eyesight, good enough to spot a dark shape in the water at night from the deck of the Abraham Lincoln - no mean feat! Ned's typical reaction to danger is one of violence, but he is quite capable of using good tactics when the need arises.

 

Ned Land.hdc

[AlHazred]

Re: Characters: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

 

References:

• Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: The Definitive Unabridged Edition Based on the Original French Texts, edited by Walter James Miller (U. S. Naval Institute Press; 1993)
  
• Jules Verne's Nautilus (website by Michael & Karen Crisafulli; especially good is the comparison of various interpretations of the Nautilus)
  
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Seas, translated by F. P. Walter (on the Jules Verne Virtual Library page)
  

I am also indebted to Bill Beane for coming up with a Hero Designer template that uses only vB code. Without it, it would have been a difficult undertaking. Thanks!

[AlHazred]

Re: Characters: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

 

Nemo's Technology

 

Nemo invented several devices to help his men function underwater, a regular deep-sea diving suit. They look like this:

 

Cost...POWERS

.......Diving Equipment

..3.....1) "An Impervious Dress": Armor (4 PD/4 ED); Double Listed Mass (-1 1/2), OIF Bulky

.........(-1), Real Armor (-1/4) - END=0

..7.....2) "Rouquayrol-Denayrouze Apparatus": Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing), 1

.........Continuing Fuel Charge lasting 9-10 Hours (+0); OIF (-1/2) - END=[1 cc]

..1.....3) "Diving Apparatus": Life Support (Safe Environment: High Pressure); OIF (-1/2) - END=0

..7.....4) "Ruhmkorff Apparatus": Sight Group Images 1" radius, +2 to PER Rolls, 1 Continuing

.........Fuel Charge lasting 9-10 Hours (+1/2); OAF (-1), Only To Create Light (-1), Limited

.........Range (12"; -1/4) - END=[1 cc]

163.....5) "Air-Gun": RKA 5d6, Only Works If Rouquayrol-Denayrouze Apparatus Charge Is Still

.........Functioning (+0), 20 Charges (+1/4), No Normal Defense (defense is insulated rED; +1),

.........Does BODY (+1); OIF (-1/2) - END=[20]

 

The Ruhmkorff Apparatus is a waterproof electric lantern that the diver hangs from his belt. The Rouquayrol-Denayrouze Apparatus is a tank the diver wears high up on his back; full of air at a pressure of 50 atmospheres, it provides enough oxygen for 9-10 hours of work. Although Nemo describes using the diver's tongue to regulate air coming in or going out, the divers sleep in their suits so it must have a regulating valve.

 

The Air-Gun is an air-powered rifle, connected to the Rouquayrol-Denayrouze Apparatus, which fires bullet-shaped electric capacitors. The capacitors carry enough of a charge to kill sharks and other marine life. In The Mysterious Island, Nemo uses one of his rifles to kill a number of pirates; each victim's corpse is unmarked, save for a small red dot indicating where the capacitor hit him.

 

The full diving apparatus weighs a lot; Nemo's men wheel suited divers to the airlock on carts, since without the water to buoy them, they're too heavy to move.

 

CaptainNemosTechnology.hdp

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Characters: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

 

This whole thread is just SWEET!

I'm especially grateful to know that there is a superior translation out there...now I'm going to have to go find it and read it!

[AlHazred]

Re: Characters: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

 

I have a link just for you AmadanNaBriona. Walter James Miller's talk to the Library of Congress on the progress of the rehabilitation of Jules Verne in America. Some interesting points, as well as some pointers to other Verne editions that have been rehabilitated. I don't know about you, but I'll have to expand my wish list.