J'kara

[Nothere]

So I was making the old evil queen of the evil african city who on capturing the hero tries to make him her mate. Overall Not bad, but there are a few problems. For one thing where to put her. I'm thinking somewhere in west africa, which is simple enough. But what would the regions predominant language be, and does that mean I need to change her eliete gaurd from the panther men to something else? Also I'm debating giving her quasi mystical powers with the points I didn't spend. Powders that make darkness, and sap the will maybe? Anyway here's as far as I got.

 

J’kara

　

13 str 3

18 dex 24

13 con 6

13 body 6

13 int 3

20 ego20

20 pre 10

18 com 4

6 pd 3

3 ed

4 spd 12

6 rec

26 end

27 stun

8 run 4

4 swim 2

3 breakfall 13-

3 climbing 13-

3 concalment 12-

2 english

2 african

0 ls hatar

3 mimicry 12-

3 oratory 13-

3 persuasion 13-

3 seduction 13-

3 shadowing 12-

3 stealth 13-

3 tracking 12-

1 survival jungle 12-

1 wf staff

6 +2lv staff

2 ak surrounding area

2 ks animals

2 ks plants

2 ks local villiages

3 queen of Hatar

5 Wealthy well off

15 psyche Wants to restore Hatar rule (c,s)

15 psyche seeks worthy mate (c,m)

15 hunted local tribesmen (ap, nci, 8-)

10 hunted heros (ap, 8-)

15 berserk not obeyed (11- go, 11- recover)

15 social limitation minority

5 social limitation woman

 

For hundreds of years the Hatar were the most feared tribe in their region of Africa. The stone city they carved from the nearby mountain enabled them to attack thier neighbors with impunity. Finally the Hatar's enimes joined forces for one last desperate battle to try and stop the Hatar. The alliance managed to drive them back to their stone city, but it again proved impregnable. Then in what was taken as a sign from the gods an earthquake struck. The very mountain that built the city collapsed cutting it off from the outside world. Outside the city the tribesmen declared the area around Hatar forrbiden, and they city soon became nothing but legend. Inside the city, a civil war broke out. Between the two wars and starvation the Hatar's strength was broken.

Whenthe war was over a new royal family had emerged. They began working to clear the blocked passes. 30 years ago the Hatar broke through, but after decades of isolation the King was in no hurry to reconnect to the outside world. His daughter J'kara was of a different opinion. Haaving spent her life hearing stories of the Hattar's former glory, she felt her father's policies were mere cowardace. After several arguments, she killed him and took the throne. Her next step was to send out the panther men to kidnap people so she could learn about what had transpired during Hatar's isolation. Thus she learned about the coming of the white men with their strange machines, and weapons more powerful than any she had ever heard of. J'kara decided to use these white men as part of her conquest of Africa. So as soon as she can, she'll kidnap an english or french lord and force them to marry her. With the devices of the white men it sill be a simple matter to take africa, and she'll have a base for conquering this europe.

[Badger]

Re: J'kara

 

Well, the Leopard Man Society were predominant in certain western/central African regions. You could look them up. They are always interesting for a Pulp African campaign.

 

Cant help you at all with language though.

[Barwickian]

Re: J'kara

 

Don't really know West Africa (I know East Africa), but Ga is spoken in Ghana, Ewe and Yoruba in different parts of Nigeria. Most tribes will have their own languages, though some may count as dialects of a related tribe's language; I think most of them are in the Bantu family, but I wouldn't swear to that.

 

Wikipedia should help.

[DusterBoy]

Re: J'kara

 

A couple of points: first, there is no such language as "African" as there is "English" or "French" and, second, if she's the "old, evil queen", I don't see her as having a Strength and Body of 13, or a PD of 6, since that's for really tough guy heroes. Other than that, it's a good build.

[Lucius]

Re: J'kara

 

A couple of points: first' date=' there is no such language as "African" as there is "English" or "French" and, second, if she's the "old, evil queen", I don't see her as having a Strength and Body of 13, or a PD of 6, since that's for really tough guy heroes. Other than that, it's a good build.[/quote']

 

I don't think he's saying there IS such a language; I think he meant "African" as a kind of placeholder for "some appropriate African language."

 

The thing about West Africa is that, for some reason I don't think has been clearly explained, it's incredibly linguistically diverse - a linguist's version of what the Galapagos Islands are in biology. I'm told that if you grow up in a village and move two villages over, people talk funny. Another day's walk, another village, you can barely understand. Next village it's, what did they say??

 

The odds are, your queen and her subjects speak a language no one else reasily understands, especially after centuries of isolation. If she's lucky, tribes living nearby can make an INT roll to get the gist and vice versa.

 

Of course, a great deal depends on how linguistically realistic you want to be.

 

edit: Wait a minute. She's ruler of her city and has "social limiation: minority" and ":woman???"

 

Lucius Alexander

 

What's the word for palindromedary?

[Susano]

Re: J'kara

 

I don't think he's saying there IS such a language; I think he meant "African" as a kind of placeholder for "some appropriate African language."

 

The thing about West Africa is that, for some reason I don't think has been clearly explained, it's incredibly linguistically diverse - a linguist's version of what the Galapagos Islands are in biology. I'm told that if you grow up in a village and move two villages over, people talk funny. Another day's walk, another village, you can barely understand. Next village it's, what did they say??

 

The odds are, your queen and her subjects speak a language no one else reasily understands, especially after centuries of isolation. If she's lucky, tribes living nearby can make an INT roll to get the gist and vice versa.

 

Of course, a great deal depends on how linguistically realistic you want to be.

 

edit: Wait a minute. She's ruler of her city and has "social limiation: minority" and ":woman???"

 

Lucius Alexander

 

What's the word for palindromedary?

 

India is supposed to be like that as well. Which is why English has been adopted as a sort of common tongue there.

 

I agree with you on the Social Limitations... they make no sense. She can't be a minority in her own country and if she's Queen SL: "Woman" makes no sense. Also, I'd argue for more wealth (at least 10 points) and if she's one of those Pulp-era ageless beauties, give her a COM of more than 18.

[Badger]

Re: J'kara

 

India is supposed to be like that as well. Which is why English has been adopted as a sort of common tongue there.

 

I agree with you on the Social Limitations... they make no sense. She can't be a minority in her own country and if she's Queen SL: "Woman" makes no sense. Also, I'd argue for more wealth (at least 10 points) and if she's one of those Pulp-era ageless beauties, give her a COM of more than 18.

 

Yeah, minority should only apply if she is gonna travel somewhere. I could see Woman being a limitation despite being queen. Because there is a tendency in some cases to be unaccepting of women rulers for long term. But, I assume she has been a queen long-term, so that kind of nullifies that out most likely.

[Lucius]

Re: J'kara

 

Yeah' date=' minority should only apply if she is gonna travel somewhere. I could see Woman being a limitation despite being queen. Because there is a tendency in some cases to be unaccepting of women rulers for long term. But, I assume she has been a queen long-term, so that kind of nullifies that out most likely.[/quote']

 

If she's got that kind of problem - people not accepting a queen - that should be either Hunted by Rival Claimants, or Watched by the Populace.

 

Royalty usually IS a minority but that's not a Social Limitation: Unless being of royal blood or being ruler is associated with noticeably troubleseome taboos or restrictions on behavior.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary has a Social Limitation: Secret

[Nothere]

Re: J'kara

 

I took woman and minority because I needed the disad points and couldn't really think of anything else at the time. So I flipped through Masterminds and Madmen. Both those limitations were used for Li-ming Jade and Drisana so I figured they'd work. Though I do like the watched by her subjects idea.

[Susano]

Re: J'kara

 

I took woman and minority because I needed the disad points and couldn't really think of anything else at the time. So I flipped through Masterminds and Madmen. Both those limitations were used for Li-ming Jade and Drisana so I figured they'd work. Though I do like the watched by her subjects idea.

 

Okay, taking "woman and minority because I needed the disad points" violates not only the spirit of the rules, but the rules themselves (a Disad that's not a Disad isn't worth any points.) As for Li-ming Jade and Drisana, I think those Disads are these because they do interact with the West, and those, will have these relations colored by their sex and ethnicity (however, I do question the logic of applying "minority" to a character to lives in China and/or India... although both countries were under the control (to an extent) of European powers.

 

As for J'kara, if she's the queen of her own, long-isolated country, I don't see "minority" how applies, since there's no one over her power-wise. Woman might, as a Western man of the 1930s would certainly treat her differently then he would a male king. On the other hand, PCs might be genre-savy enough to know not to mess with a pulp-era queen of a lost civilization.

[Lucius]

Re: J'kara

 

I took woman and minority because I needed the disad points and couldn't really think of anything else at the time. So I flipped through Masterminds and Madmen. Both those limitations were used for Li-ming Jade and Drisana so I figured they'd work. Though I do like the watched by her subjects idea.

 

Okay' date=' taking "woman and minority because I needed the disad points" violates not only the spirit of the rules, but the rules themselves (a Disad that's not a Disad isn't worth any points.) .[/quote']

 

Not only that, but - no, no you DON'T really need the Disad points. This isn't a player character. I too like to build by the guidelines, but NPCs really don't have to be built like PCs.

 

By the way, is that Berserk really meant to be Enraged? I can see the latter, but the former could be problematic...

 

If you reall want some Social Complications, try Public ID (probably the more conventional way to represent what I was thinking when I said "Watched by the Populace") or as I said, taboos and restrictions on her behavior. Example: Maybe custom says a king may declare war, but not a queen, unless in response to being attacked. To begin her war of conquest, she has to manipulate another tribe into attacking first..

 

Distinctive Features is another one to consider, or Physical Limitation: Ignorant of modern technology and culture, or just plain Ignorant of the modern world. That's a big one right there. She probably doesn't realize for example how much bigger and more powerful the British Empire is than any of the kingdoms her city's history would tell her of...

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary wonders if she is named Ayesha

[Badger]

Re: J'kara

 

Not only that, but - no, no you DON'T really need the Disad points. This isn't a player character. I too like to build by the guidelines, but NPCs really don't have to be built like PCs.

 

By the way, is that Berserk really meant to be Enraged? I can see the latter, but the former could be problematic...

 

If you reall want some Social Complications, try Public ID (probably the more conventional way to represent what I was thinking when I said "Watched by the Populace") or as I said, taboos and restrictions on her behavior. Example: Maybe custom says a king may declare war, but not a queen, unless in response to being attacked. To begin her war of conquest, she has to manipulate another tribe into attacking first..

 

Distinctive Features is another one to consider, or Physical Limitation: Ignorant of modern technology and culture, or just plain Ignorant of the modern world. That's a big one right there. She probably doesn't realize for example how much bigger and more powerful the British Empire is than any of the kingdoms her city's history would tell her of...

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary wonders if she is named Ayesha

 

Actually, I never even consider building NPCs by guidelines (under most circumstances, especially villains) and this character might be a good example of why. Build a villain NPC by guidelines and you destroy the flavor of the villain in many circumstances. (From my experience at least)

 

Note: Not to say I wont be near guidelines either under most circumstances. But, squeezing points with NPCs is definitely a waste of time to me.