Steve Long Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Hey folx! While getting back up to speed on typing I've been puttering around with various little odd projects. I had an idea for an HPA that I'm calling The Great White Hunter's Bestiary -- a compilation of creatures that Pulp characters might encounter. So far my list includes a couple large versions of standard creatures, with a twist here and there (e.g., Congolese Black Ape, Malaysian Giant Viper, some abnormally large spiders...), man-eaters (lion, tiger, wolf), tomb scarabs, cave bear, monstrous boar, giant eagle, and of course the justly-feared Dire Chinchilla. But I figured it might be fun to see what other critters y'all would like to see. Here are the guidelines: 1. Has to be appropriate for a Pulp Hero sort of story; nothing mystical, ultra-weird, or what have you -- just unusual animals that could exist in the wild in a Pulp setting. 2. No dinosaurs. We gots enuf o' dem in print already. The same generally applies to other "prehistoric survivors," for the most part. 3. Nothing that can already be found in the HSB or the like. I don't mind tweaking existing write-ups if appropriate (as with my man-eaters), but I don't want to reprint stuff. 4. Nothing created by Weird Science or magic. These should be "natural" creatures, allowing for Pulp distortion of reality. So, what other potential game animals would you like to see? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJackBrass Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary And there was much rejoicing! Hmm, how about a thylacine? I'd also be interested in one of the "twists" for existing man-eaters (or reputed man-eaters) being an unusual degree of intelligence, as was attributed to the wolf Lobo by Ernest Thompson Seton. Bigger and stronger is one thing, but when those supposedly dumb animals suddenly seem to be out-thinking the PCs... that's much scarier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Well, I think by definition any man-eater worth writing up would have to be unusually clever and sneaky as well as physically powerful. Hmm, how about a thylacine? Not really threatening or weird enough to base an adventure around, I'd think. I have been trolling through some sites on cryptids and related beasties and found a few possible candidates, but like the thylacine most of them are just plain ol' animals if they do exist... and what fun is that? I've also discarded things like Bigfoot and other hominid cryptids, since if they do exist in a Pulp setting you wouldn't want to be shooting them because they're probably intelligent and have a hidden city somewhere nearby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJackBrass Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Not really threatening or weird enough to base an adventure around' date=' I'd think.[/quote'] Fair enough. So what about a rabid thylacine? On steroids? With a gun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Are you looking just at what they might be hunting, or would you include what they might be hunting with? Not every hunter heads out with a faithful companion, but brief packages for hounds, pointers, retrievers, etc., would give any hunter some added color. Also, while most of them are already written up, will there be any notes on the Big Five? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary I know you aren't looking for a lot of "prehistoric survivors," but perhaps you might consider the Phorusrhacos. I consider being chased by a flock of, essentially, giant carnivorous ostriches to be one of the cooler experiences in adventure gaming. I've also always wondered how to build that meathook-claw/wing sweep attack of theirs in HERO. Note that while some of the Phorusrhacidae species were probably fast runners, some of the more massive species, like the Brontornis, were likelier to have been ambush predators; so you can have varied encounters depending on the species. For something slightly more mundane, how about giant electric eels for rivers deep in the South American jungle? You could pump up their electric discharge to lethal levels -- not unprecedented for real-life examples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary My copy of PH is on loan, so not sure if this sort of thing is already covered there, but if not a section on example native warriors that might be encountered - poison-blowgun toting pygmies, headhunters and other tribal types - could be useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary If you haven't found it already, the 'Fortean Times' website would have a number of ideas. http://www.forteantimes.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary So what about a rabid thylacine? On steroids? With a gun? Oooooo..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Are you looking just at what they might be hunting, or would you include what they might be hunting with? Not every hunter heads out with a faithful companion, but brief packages for hounds, pointers, retrievers, etc., would give any hunter some added color. It's a Bestiary, so I'm only interested in what they'd be hunting. While I don't dislike the idea of expanding on the Pulp archetypes at all, I don't envision this as a "Great White Hunter Sourcebook." That might make for an interesting series of HPAs, though! Also, while most of them are already written up, will there be any notes on the Big Five? Sorry, but I don't understand who you're referring to here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary a section on example native warriors that might be encountered - poison-blowgun toting pygmies, headhunters and other tribal types - could be useful. I'd rather avoid humanoid foes in this Bestiary, since I don't want to imply that you should be running around shootin' the natives. Besides, I think between the various examples in HPAs and elsewhere there's probably enough for GMs to go on. If and when I get to revise PH, though, I should definitely include some of these in the Generic NPCs section at the back of the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary perhaps you might consider the Phorusrhacos OK, that's definitely gotta go in there. Good suggestion! And, and, what if the Dire Chinchillas were riding phorusrhacoses??!?! MWAH hah hah hah hah!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Main Man Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary A Nemean Lion knockoff A "Man-Eating" Package Deal for the more... gentle creatures would probably be a decent service as opposed to entire write-ups. Animals with longer teeth, fangs, tusks, horns, etc than normal. Animals with teeth, fangs, tusks, horns, etc that normally don't. Come to think of it, a bunch of Power Builds and Package Deals to help customize basic animals would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Well, the HSB already has plenty of templates you can apply to animals; I'm not going to add any in an HPA that's just devoted to fun Pulpish critters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary And, and, what if the Dire Chinchillas were riding phorusrhacoses??!?! MWAH hah hah hah hah!!!! You fiend! You'll never get away with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary I know you aren't looking for a lot of "prehistoric survivors," but perhaps you might consider the Phorusrhacos. I consider being chased by a flock of, essentially, giant carnivorous ostriches to be one of the cooler experiences in adventure gaming. I've also always wondered how to build that meathook-claw/wing sweep attack of theirs in HERO. Note that while some of the Phorusrhacidae species were probably fast runners, some of the more massive species, like the Brontornis, were likelier to have been ambush predators; so you can have varied encounters depending on the species. For something slightly more mundane, how about giant electric eels for rivers deep in the South American jungle? You could pump up their electric discharge to lethal levels -- not unprecedented for real-life examples. OK' date=' that's [i']definitely[/i] gotta go in there. Good suggestion! And, and, what if the Dire Chinchillas were riding phorusrhacoses??!?! MWAH hah hah hah hah!!!! I posted a write-up of one of these to the Hero Vault a year or two ago. Here it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary OK' date=' that's [i']definitely[/i] gotta go in there. Good suggestion! And, and, what if the Dire Chinchillas were riding phorusrhacoses??!?! MWAH hah hah hah hah!!!! The paralyzing mirth of their enemies at that sight would leave them helpless before the Chinchillas' assault! OTOH, humans using Terror Birds as mounts, impractical as that would be for several reasons, has been such a common motif in fiction over the years -- from natives of Flash Gordon's Mongo, to the "chocobos" in the Final Fantasy game series -- that it would be a shame not to mention the possibility. Riders using them in battle could strap steel spurs onto those wing claws to make them deadlier, as is sometimes done today with the leg spurs of fighting roosters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Heck, there are races/characters in WoW that ride giant birds. IMO, to a man they all look ridiculous -- but I agree it's a Fantasy/Pulp trope. You fiend! You'll never get away with this. HA! That's what you think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Living Fetish Dolls! with blow guns. And big knives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Main Man Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Random idea: Pitch-Black Lions - the lion equivalent to the panther - who stalk their prey in the dead of night, invisible to their prey who are slaughtered before they know it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Maybe a giant catfish, great white whale, or other aquatic great prey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Random idea: Pitch-Black Lions - the lion equivalent to the panther - who stalk their prey in the dead of night' date=' invisible to their prey who are slaughtered before they know it.[/quote'] Or how about The Ghost and the Darkness, the Tsavo maneating lions? Even though their era is Victorian rather than Pulp, and some of the facts of their story are contested; what Great White Hunter wouldn't want to go up against a pair of unnaturally cunning and brutal psychotic lions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Main Man Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Or how about The Ghost and the Darkness' date=' the Tsavo maneating lions? Even though their era is Victorian rather than Pulp, and some of the facts of their story are contested; what Great White Hunter wouldn't want to go up against a pair of unnaturally cunning and brutal psychotic lions? Yep, I thought of that too but I was too lazy to look up where they took place. That reminds me of the Beast of Gevaudan, which IIRC was believed to have been a werewolf but now experts think that it was a particularly vicious wolf. I think that what's to be gained from this is either a wolf so deadly that it needs no pack or else a pack full of the ferocious beasts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Sorry' date=' but I don't understand who you're referring to here.[/quote'] Big Five Game. Basically, the most dangerous game, General Zaroff's preference notwithstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary Maybe a giant catfish' date=' great white whale, or other aquatic great prey.[/quote'] Ernest Hemingway agrees with you. Just beware of sunken cities at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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