Hindu-themed hero

[Vanguard00]

Not knowing much about the Hindu religion as a whole (except what I gleaned from encyclopedias and a couple of random websites), how would one go about making a character who, through mutation or mysticism, seems to possess certain key aspects of the Hindu gods?

 

For example, let's say our hero goes all Shiva on you...what does he do, sprout arms and sends an autofire EB (representing destruction)? Or if he goes Vishnu (the preserver) what would he do? How 'bout Brahma? Should I incorporate other deities, or stay with the Trimurti concept of these three as the main deities?

 

By the way, I'm thinking mysticism more in line with what might be in the UMA, or just powers from FREd, rather than actual mage-like spells and such. A bit of concentration or something and whammo! Basic background for the character is a young man who first manifested his abilities as a teenager and honestly believes he has been blessed with the power of the gods as part of some karmic incarnation or ascension to a new level of being, or some such (obviously I'm having issues putting that part together, too).

 

Anyway, any ideas y'all might have would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

[Victim]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

The book Lord of Light has some interesting ideas in this area. See if your library has it.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Could just concentrate on one and do something like Krishna, the supercool brick/martial artist.

[Susano]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Take John Wa the Monkey King (from Ninja Hero) and change his name to Hanuman.

[OddHat]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Ultimate Martial Artist details Kalaripayit, one of several Indian martial arts, and Ultimate Mystic has a section on Indian mysic traditions. Almost any set of wild, over the top Martial Arts powers can be justified as being an avatar of a Hindu god.

 

I have a 250 point character in the Pulp forum that could work as the basis for a Hindu hero or villain. Just add 100+ points of mystic powers and update the back story and you're good to go:

AVINASHI CHOPRA, THE HAND OF KALI

Val Char Cost Roll Notes

15 STR 5 12- Lift 200.0kg; 3d6 [1]

20 DEX 30 13- OCV: 7/DCV: 7

13 CON 6 12-

14 BODY 8 12-

13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12-

10 EGO 0 11- ECV: 3

20 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6

16 COM 3 12-

 

5/13 PD 2 Total: 5/13 PD (0/8 rPD)

3/11 ED 0 Total: 3/11 ED (0/8 rED)

4 SPD 10 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12

6 REC 0

26 END 0

29 STUN 0 Total Characteristic Cost: 77

 

Movement: Running: 6"/12"

Leaping: 3"/6"

Swimming: 2"/4"

 

Cost Powers END

17 Yogic Body Control: Armor (8 PD/8 ED), Hardened (+1/4) (30 Active Points); Restrainable (Must be free to move with attacks; -1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (Must be aware of attack; -1/4)

17 Yogic Pain Control: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% (30 Active Points); STUN Only (-1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (Must Be Aware Of Attack; -1/4)

6 Yogic Trance: Healing 1 BODY, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (20 Active Points); Extra Time (Regeneration-Only) 5 Minutes (Character May Take No Other Actions; -2), Self Only (-1/2)

4 Yogic Practices: Life Support (Eating: Character only has to eat once per week; Extended Breathing: 1 END per Turn; Longevity: 200 Years; Sleeping: Character only has to sleep 8 hours per week)

5 Yogic Insight: Mental Awareness

10 Aura Vision: Detect Aura 12- (Sight Group), Discriminatory

Kalaripayit

Maneuver OCV DCV Notes

4 Block +2 +2 Block, Abort

4 Dodge -- +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort

3 Joint Lock (Kattaram) +0 -1 Grab One Limb; 20 STR for holding on

5 Flying Kick +1 -2 9d6 Strike

4 Knifehand Strike -2 +0 HKA 2d6

4 Marman Strike -1 +1 3d6 NND

4 Elbow Strike +0 +2 7d6 Strike

3 Throw +0 +1 5d6 +v/5, Target Falls

8 +2 HTH Damage Class(es)

1 Weapon Element: Blades

1 Weapon Element: Clubs

1 Weapon Element: Urumi

 

Skills

10 Arms of Kali: Two-Weapon Fighting (HTH)

5 Arms of Kali: Rapid Attack (HTH)

5 Defense Maneuver I-II

3 Analyze: Style 12-

3 +1 with Martial Maneuvers

2 AK: India 11-

3 Linguist

2 1) Language: English (completely fluent; literate) (4 Active Points)

1 2) Language: French (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)

2 3) Language: German (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)

0 4) Language: Hindustani (idiomatic; literate) (5 Active Points)

1 5) Language: Nepalese (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)

1 6) Language: Punjabi (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points)

3 Scholar

1 1) KS: Arcane and Occult Lore of India (2 Active Points) 11-

1 2) KS: Ayurvedic Medicine (2 Active Points) 11-

1 3) KS: Hidden Lands (2 Active Points) 11-

1 4) KS: Kalaripayit (2 Active Points) 11-

1 5) KS: Yoga (2 Active Points) 11-

3 Acrobatics 13-

3 Breakfall 13-

3 Concealment 12-

3 Contortionist 13-

3 Lockpicking 13-

3 Paramedics 12-

3 Shadowing 12-

3 Stealth 13-

2 WF: Common Melee Weapons

 

Total Powers & Skill Cost: 173

Total Cost: 250

 

200+ Disadvantages

15 Psychological Limitation: Fanatic Indian Nationalist, will do anything to drive the British from her homeland (Common, Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Deep pride in India, the Indian People, and her own abilities. Reacts violently to insults and disrespect. Does not forgive. (Common, Strong)

5 Social Limitation: Indian Woman (Occasionally, Minor)

15 Hunted: British Government Agents and Law Enforcement 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish)

 

Total Disadvantage Points: 250

 

Background/History: After the murder of her parent in the wake of the Indian War of Independence of 1857 (or, as the British called it, the Indian Mutiny), Avinashi Chopra spent her youth traveling with her grandfather throughout India. A guru and medical doctor, Avinashi’s grandfather taught her the secrets of Yoga, Kalaripayit, Ayurvedic medicine and the Indian mystic world. It was the old man’s dream that his granddaughter would one day avenge her parents, and help to free her people. It was a dream that Avinashi grew to share.

From the 1880s onward Avinashi’s frustration with her own people grew. So many were growing fat and complacent under British rule, while others seemed to her desperate to become British or too afraid to fight back. Her own leadership was rejected time and again merely because she was a woman (and entirely without political skills), despite her many public attacks upon agents and institutions of the British Crown. Even the great Nemo himself seemed to soften his anti-British stance over time. In 1918 the Indian people turned to Mohandis Ghandi and his weakling’s philosophies, and Avinashi withdrew from public life.

Then, in 1933, Avinahi met a man who gave her new hope. His strength of character, his conviction, his willingness to strike with full and unfettered strength against the foul heart of the British Empire earned him Avinashi’s devotion.

 

He called himself Sun Koh, and men called him the perfect Aryan.

 

Personality/Motivation: Avinashi is a failed revolutionary fighting for a cause that many of her own people do not support, using tactics that the vast majority of her people condemn. She is no fem fatal or seductress; she is driven by anger and old pain, and has little tolerance for weakness. Avinashi does not lack the fundamental ability to relate to her fellow humans, but she is not skilled in social interactions. She can be coolly polite when she needs to be, but she will never forgive an insult or a wrong, and her vengeance will be bloody.

 

Quote: I give you this one chance to flee, and to live. Do not test me.

 

Powers/Tactics: Avinashi is meant to be frightening. She goes into combat using both hands and feet, and will typically make a half move followed by a sweep, her Arms of Kali ability allowing her to strike twice with no OCV penalty and only a -2 to her DCV. Allowing her to strike three or four times will make her a terror against most Pulp level characters.

 

Avinashi will block against faster characters, and then attack first when they share a phase. She will only retreat when faced with significantly superior numbers or foes with firearms. She will repeatedly half move and dodge to close on a single foe with a gun, trusting to her Yogic pain control to help her triumph.

 

Avinashi has a number of semi-mystic abilities she can call on outside of combat, most notably the ability to read auras. She will use these to further Sun Koh’s plans.

 

Campaign Use: Avinashi is a powerful lieutenant to a more powerful master, though she could serve as a primary foe on her own in a lower powered pulp game. She combines parts of the roles of Dragon Lady and Indian Mystic, a beautiful and physically deadly woman to bedevil stout hearted heroes.

 

Appearance: Extremely tall, fit and muscular light skinned Indian woman with an obvious accent. Wears the best clothing she can afford, but prefers functional Indian styles and fashions. She seems to be in her early 30s.

 

Character by Robert Dorf

[Susano]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

The Asian Bestiary Volume 1 details some Indian godlings and the like.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

India's Superheroes

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/i/india.htm

 

Indian Superheroes

http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/001405.html

 

Kurt Busiek's: Astro City - The Unclean: A group of at least four New Delhian or Indian superheroes, including a flyer, a wall-walker, a blaster, and a strongman.

http://www.metropolis1.net/wwkbac/

 

Indian Gods - Pictures

http://www.avikatz.net/books/hindu/the_gods.html

 

India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India

 

 

 

More later

 

QM

[OddHat]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Also remember that most of the classic Mystic Powers of the Pulp heroes came from time spent in India and/or Tibet. Many of the old time Strongmen and stage magicians claimed to have learned their arts in India. So, really, anything goes.

[Vanguard00]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Thanks for the ideas, references/resources & links, folks. I'll see what I can work up. I'm outta rep for the 24 hours but I'll get to y'all.

[Blue]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

The Asian Bestiary Volume 1 details some Indian godlings and the like.

Yeh, but where is my ABV1? I keep checking my local store. Isn't there some mythical beast charged with delivering it?

[Susano]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Yeh' date=' but where is my ABV1? I keep checking my local store. Isn't there some mythical beast charged with delivering it?[/quote']

 

I tell ya, you hire a kitsune to do one little job and *poof* they up and vanish on ya....

 

Next time I send a Shen, they can usually be trusted.

[Kristopher]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Just to get this out of the way, so we can get on with the thread...

 

 

YOGA FLAME!!!!

 

 

There, now we don't have to worry about that anymore.

[Susano]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

[Brandi]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Here you can have a look at a genuine Indian superhero comic.

 

Just remember to pick up all the bits of your brain that ooze out of your ears afterwards.

[Susano]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

"CHEESS" has to be the world's greatest sound effect.

 

Oh, and someone hand me a mop... I think my head exploded.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

You might want to check out the Encyclopedia Mythica. Its section on Hindu "myth" is extensive, and may give you some ideas.

 

In the past I've created Indian supers based on three of the avatars of Vishnu: Vamana, who had powers of Growth and Shrinking; Narasimha the lion-man; and Parasurama ("Rama with an axe"), a martial artist with a powerful magic weapon. You can look up all three in the Encyclopedia Mythica.

[John Desmarais]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Here you can have a look at a genuine Indian superhero comic.

 

Just remember to pick up all the bits of your brain that ooze out of your ears afterwards.

 

Wow! That was horrid on so many different levels. A steady diet of that and you could pass your brains through a strainer and there'd be no chucky bits left. (And I won't even go into International Trademark Law).

[OddHat]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Wow! That was horrid on so many different levels. A steady diet of that and you could pass your brains through a strainer and there'd be no chucky bits left. (And I won't even go into International Trademark Law).

 

Whoa! Superman as a murderous idiot, and yet apparently it's not meant to be Iron Age.

[Lethosos]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

You have not seen Bigger than Cheeses yet, have you?

 

Goonie's been on an MSPaint-induced rampage with his bad Superman vs Batman strips. The last one is golden, though...

 

In any case, just to keep on track... Uberworld has a superhero based on one of the Hindu gods. Y'know, the incarnation of the Elephant Man...

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

You might want to check out the Encyclopedia Mythica. Its section on Hindu "myth" is extensive, and may give you some ideas.

 

In the past I've created Indian supers based on three of the avatars of Vishnu: Vamana, who had powers of Growth and Shrinking; Narasimha the lion-man; and Parasurama ("Rama with an axe"), a martial artist with a powerful magic weapon. You can look up all three in the Encyclopedia Mythica.

I might as well mention that for the campaign featuring those three avatars of Vishnu as heroes, I also created an epic villain based on the tenth and last avatar of Vishnu, who in Hindu belief is still to come: Kalki ("Time"), who will appear on a white horse and wielding a scimitar. Kalki will end this era of the world, destroying the unrighteous and ushering in a new age.

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Here you can have a look at a genuine Indian superhero comic.

 

Just remember to pick up all the bits of your brain that ooze out of your ears afterwards.

 

I'd comment on how bad that is, but I keep stroking out whenevere I try and read some of it.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

Getting back to the issue of how a devotee of Hinduism might rationalize gaining superpowers; in later Hindu tradition a common recurring theme is the granting of various divine gifts to persons as a reward for exceptional piety: ethical and honorable conduct, avoidance of temptations of the flesh, and especially, sincere devotion and prayer to the gods. "Piety" in this case appears to be divorced from issues of good and evil as Western tradition defines them. Several individuals of what we would call "evil" nature and motivation were still gifted by the gods for their devotions, even if they used those gifts to harm or oppress their fellow men. This extends even to the greatest demons, or asuras. They were deadly enemies of the devas, or gods, but a few of them were still lauded for their notable piety.

[ThothAmon]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

There's a Hindu hero in 'Watchers Of The Dragon' y'know. Her name is Maya, she's a four-armed martial arts expert

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

And there are three more fully written up in Champions Worldwide; but I get the impression than Vanguard00 would like a rationale for creating his own original characters.

[Vanguard00]

Re: Hindu-themed hero

 

And there are three more fully written up in Champions Worldwide; but I get the impression than Vanguard00 would like a rationale for creating his own original characters.

Pretty much. I try and be original when I can, using other write-ups for inspiration only when knowledge fails me. I'm still doing a bit of research in order to ensure I get the proper feel for Hinduism. The powers of the character might not reflect any one deity or aspect, after all, but after delving into all the info the internet can provide I'm more interested in the background and personality of the character at the moment. I think I'm going to let the powers come from that rather than try and force a power structure first.

 

Again, thanks to all for your input. It's been helpful in narrowing down what I need to know and which directions I should be looking in.