Susano

GNORRI Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 18 STR 8 13- Lift 400 kg; 3 1/2d6 HTH Damage 11 DEX 3 11- OCV: 4 / DCV: 4 13 CON 6 12- 15 BODY 10 12- 13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12- 11 EGO 2 11- ECV: 4 13 PRE 3 12- PRE Attack: 2 1/2d6 10 COM 0 11- 8 PD 3 Total: 8 PD (2 rPD) 6 ED 3 Total: 6 ED (2 rED) 3 SPD 9 Phases: 4, 8, 12 7 REC 0 26 END 0 31 STUN 0 Total Characteristics Cost: 49 Movement: Running: 1" / 2" Swimming: 5" / 10" Cost Powers & Skills 2 Scaled Body: Damage Resistance (2 PD / 2 ED) 2 Large Size: Knockback Resistance (-1" KB) 5 Water Dweller: Life Support (Expanded Breathing: Breathe Underwater) -10 Water Dweller: Running -5" (1" Total) 3 Water Dweller: Swimming +3" (Total: 5"), END 1 15 Long Tentacle/Lower Body: Stretching 3â€, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); No Noncombat Stretching (-1/4), No Velocity Damage (-1/4) Skills 4 Tail Grapple: +2 OCV with Grab 0 AK: Home Territory 8- 0 Analyze Animal 8- 0 Concealment 8- 4 Language: Dreamlands (fluent) 0 Language: Gnorri (native) 0 PS: Gnorri Abilities 8- 0 Shadowing 8- 0 Stealth 8- 0 Survival (Marine) 8- 1 WF: Harpoon/Spear 26 Total Powers & Skills Cost 75 Total Character Cost 75+ Disadvantages 5 Physical Limitation: Large, up to twice human size (I, S) 0 Experience 80 Total Disadvantage Points OPTIONS Cost Gnorri Powers 6 Multiple Arms/Tail: Extra Limbs (3-4 arms, plus tail), Inherent (-1/4) 9 Talent: Ambidexterity (no Off Hand penalty) Ecology: The gnorri are a form of mermen, who dwell in the oceans of the Dreamlands. They can breathe water as well as air and make their homes in shallow waters near the coasts. They live off of fish and cultivate some undersea crops. Personality/Motivation: Normal sentient humanoid motivations. For the most part the gnorri are a peaceful race and trade with surface-dwellers. Powers/Tactics: The gnorri typically go about armed with spears, tridents, and harpoons, and fight with those weapons. When combating air-breathers, the gnorri aren't above using their lower bodies to drag their foe under the surface and hold him there. Appearance: The gnorri have a humanoid head and torso (with long hair and a thick beard), with a long (15-20 feet) "tentacle" for a lower body. A gnorri will have anywhere from 2-4 arms, with 3-armed gnorri having a STR and DEX of around 13-15, and a 4-armed gnorri having a STR of 10 and a DEX of 18. Designer's Notes: The gnorri is a race of beings of the Cthulhu/Dreamlands Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. This design was based upon the gnorri presented in the 5th Edition of The Complete Dreamlands. Game Masters may wish to add certain skill packages from pages 117-119 of "Monsters, Minions, and Marauders."

GNOPH-KEH Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 30 STR 20 15- Lift 1600 kg; 6d6 HTH Damage 14 DEX 12 12- OCV: 5 / DCV: 5 23 CON 26 14- 22 BODY 24 13- 16 INT 5 12- PER Roll 12- 21 EGO 22 13- ECV: 7 23 PRE 13 13- PRE Attack: 4d6 6 COM -2 10- 15 PD 9 Total: 15 PD (9 rPD) 14 ED 9 Total: 14 ED (9 rED) 4 SPD 16 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 11 REC 0 46 END 0 50 STUN 1 Total Characteristics Cost: 155 Movement: Running: 9" / 18" Leaping: 3" / 6" Swimming: 2" / 4" Cost Powers & Skills 23 Cold: Elemental Control, 35-point powers; No Range (-1/2) 23 1) Blizzard: Change Environment, 64" radius, Long Lasting (1 Hour), -4 for Sight and Hearing Group PER Rolls, 1 point NND RKA (defense Life Support [safe Environment: Intense Cold]), Personal Immunity (+1/4); No Range (-1/2), END 7 31 2) Intense Cold: Change Environment, 64" radius, Long Lasting (1 Hour), -6 Temperature Level, Personal Immunity (+1/4); No Range (-1/2), END 7 25 Horn: HKA 1 1/2d6 (3d6 with STR), END 2 15 Claw: HKA 1d6 (2d6 with STR), END 1 9 Thick Fur And Hide: Damage Resistance (9 PD / 9 ED) 8 Heavy: Knockback Resistance (-4") 2 Creature Of Ithaqua: Life Support (Safe Environment: Intense Cold) 6 Fast On Its Feet: Running: +3" (9" Total), END 2 6 Six Legs: Extra Limb, Inherant (+1/4) Skills 10 Combat Skill Levels: +2 with Hand-to-Hand 0 AK: Greenland 8- 0 Analyze Animal 8- 0 Concealment 8- 3 Winter Coat: +4 to Concealment; Self Only (-1/2), Only In Snow/Ice (-1) 0 Language: Gnoph-Keh (native) 0 PS: Gnoph-Keh Abilities 8- 0 Shadowing 8- 0 Stealth 8- 2 Winter Coat: +2 to Stealth; Only In Snow/Ice (-1) 0 Survival (Artic) 8- 163 Total Powers & Skills Cost 318 Total Character Cost 75+ Disadvantages 5 Physical Limitation: Large, Twice Human Size (I., S) 5 Physical Limitation: Reduced Leap; can only leap half as far as STR indicates (I, S) 15 Physical Limitation: Very Limited Manipulation (F, G) 5 Reputation: Servant Of Ithaqua, 8- 213 Experience 318 Total Disadvantage Points Ecology: The gnoph-keh are a rare race of beings who dwell in the far north, usually on glaciers and ice caps. They may come down into the lowlands if food is scare of the weather is extremly harsh. It is possible a degnerate tribe of humans worships the gnoph-keh, using them as a totem beast and as a go-between to Ithaqua. Personality/Motivation: Normal animal motivations. The gnoph-keh are quite intellegent and often do Ithaqua's bidding (such as it is). Powers/Tactics: The gnoph-keh have two major forms of attack: their claws and horns, or intense areas of cold and snow. Prey items will be attacked with claws and horns and devoured shortly there-after. A large group (such as a village) will be subject to the blizzard and intense cold effects. The gnopgh-keh often use this power to demonstrate the displease of Ithaqua. Appearance: A gnoph-keh is a huge beast covered with thick hair. It has six legs, sharp claws, pleanty of teeth, and a long horn on its nose. The general appearence is of a six-limbed polar bear. Designer's Notes: The gnoph-keh is a creature of the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. This design was based upon the gnoph-keh presented in the 5th Edition of Call of Cthulhu.

Been there, done that. Actually, there are several cryptids in the book, since most of them are part of local legend and lore anyways. There will not be mundane animals (beyond cryptids) in the book as the is meant to be a sourcebook of the fantastic (unless Steve says otherwise).

I own the Sengoku book (and agree with you 100%). I also own the Davis and Ross books. I found other Hearn books, but not that one, so I'd love to see the relevant parts. The same goes for the Tyler book.

I recently dug out a spiral notebook detailing some notes about my old Phenomena Department game. (See: http://surbrook.devermore.net/pdepartment/pdepartment.html) The players consisted of a close friend of mine, his daughter, the daughter's (then) boyfriend, and a mutial friend of the latter two. The cast was as follows: Mack Williams -- Black ex-op from New York. Played by the father. Lin Foo Wong -- Blue-skinned and white-haired Chinese ghost. Alexander Maximilian -- Slightly stuff English sorcerer. Yuki Hari -- Japanese swordswoman and monster hunter. The initial run was cribbed directly from the Hellboy story "The Corpse." No one else had read it (which is why I used it). The PCs had to bury a corpse before dawn (in a Christian grave) in order to recover a kidnapped child. Mack received +1 XP for basically giving me Hellboy's line (to the corpse) of "You're dead, what do you need gold for?" when the corpse argued the PCs should try and recover a cache of gold from under a bounding stone. The next run hast he team up against toxic waste mud monsters. Leading too: Sheriff Platt: What does he [Alexander] want road flares for? Lin Foo Wong: He's British. Later on the team went to Japan... Lin Foo Wong (to Yuki Hari upon seeing the 9' tall oni): Try negotiation. Yuki's player garnered +1 XP for the following: "Shut up, I'm being cinematic!" She also had: "Goal for next time: kill more stuff." And (I think) the following was said about Alexander: "Special as in 'mommy thinks I'm special'." Then comes the following set of lines that have no ready context. Lin Foo Wong's player: Can we skip the never-ending taunting and get to the fighting? GM (me): Gotta pay for that Phys Lim: Dead some how. Alexander's player: That's the blood loss talking. Belinda's [new] player: My god! She turned into dandruff! IIRC, the last line was said about Mara the Ice Demoness upon assuming her desolid form as a cloud of ice crystals.

Correct. I want to go to the source, as even the GURPS stuff (IMO) does a little too much of "let's just make it up". I do own GURPS China and Japan, don't need Russia for this book, and also have GURPS Undead, Blood Types, and Monsters. India, Faerie, and Spirits sound good, by my RPG budget is directed to HERO products for the moment. Of course, if anyone cares to send me selected titles from the aforementioned book's bibliograhy's I'd be very grateful.

Ooohh... nice.

In some ways yes. The books does have character sheets for "Cat-people," "Gorrila-people" and the like.

As you may have seen, the HERO System Asian Bestiary is scheduled for 2005. What this means is I have the rest of 2004 to make it better. What I'm looking for is books with information in creatures of Asia (specifically southeast Asia), India, Mongolia, and so on. And by books I mean reference books. not other companies RPG books. I want to go straight to the source and no duplicate things seen elsewhere. Thnak you in advance.

WOOOO!!!

Thanks! It was a lot of fun to write. Now... if I can only convience Steve to let me turn it into an e-book.

Re: I'm curious to see what characters people have created. I have scads of charcters posted here, many of which you might find useful (and recognizable) in developing your own characters. http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/

What did people think of that article anyway? I never heard any feedback.

I try.

I thought about an immunity, but wasn't sure how to define it. Going strictly off of mechanics, his HKA means he doesn't need it, since he's destroying something (eating is just SFX). I find it hard to believe that Viz would only release two volumes of Patlabor, considering how popular it seemed to be. Riot, OTOH, I was less than impressed with.

BOLT CRANK Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 30 STR 20 15- Lift 1600 kg; 6d6 HTH Damage 18 DEX 24 13- OCV: 6 / DCV: 6 18 CON 16 13- 13 BODY 6 12- 14 INT 4 13- PER Roll 12- 19 EGO 18 13- ECV: 6 20 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6 16 COM 3 12- 10 PD 4 Total: 10 PD (0 rPD) 8 ED 4 Total: 8 ED (0 rED) 4 SPD 12 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 10 REC 0 36 END 0 37 STUN 0 Total Characteristics Cost: 121 Movement: Running: 9" / 18" Swimming: 2" / 4" Cost Powers & Skills 110 You Are What You Eat: Variable Power Pool ("Gadget" Pool), 60 base + 30 control cost; No Skill Roll Required (+1), Powers Can Be Changed As A Half-Phase Action (+1/2); Powers Limited To Things Bolt Has Eaten (-1/2) 15 Can Eat Anything: HKA 1/2d6 (1d6+1 with STR), Penetrating (+1/2) 10 Not Easily Impressed: PRE +20; Defensive Only (-1) 5 Doesn't Seem To Age: Life Support (Longevity: Immune To Aging) 12 Bites A Bullet Out Of The Air: Missile Deflection (bullets/shrapnel); Will Not Work Against Heavy Missiles (-1/4) 6 Fast On His Feet: Running +3" (Total 9"), END 2 Perks: 3 Contact: Margot the Mechanic (useful skills) 11- 9 Reputation: World's Greatest Explorer (worldwide; 14-), +3/+3d6 Skills: 24 Combat Skill Levels: +3 with Combat 5 Accurate Sprayfire 2 AK: Dragon Mountain 11- 3 Climbing 13- 3 Combat Driving 13- 3 Combat Piloting 13- 0 Concealment 8- 0 Conversation 8- 3 Deduction 12- 3 KS: Explorers And Their History 12- 0 Language: English (?) (native) 4 Navigation (Air, Marine, Orienteering) 12- 0 Paramedic 8- 3 PS: Explorer 12- 5 Rapid Autofire 0 Shadowing 8- 3 Stealth 13- 3 Streetwise 13- 6 Survival (Deserts, Mountains, Temperate/Subtropical) 12- 2 TF: Grav Vehicles/Hovercraft (Aeropod, Flying Bike, Flying Boat), Small Motorized Boats 3 Tracking 12- 6 WF: Small Arms, Blades, Grenade Launchers, General Purpose/Heavy Machine Guns, Shoulder-Fired Weapons 251 Total Powers & Skills Cost 372 Total Character Cost 150+ Disadvantages 20 DNPC: Assorted Females In Distress (normal) 14- 15 Psychological Limitation: Keeps His Promises (C, S) 15 Psychological Limitation: Obeys The Letter, Not The Spirit, Of A Contract (C, S) 15 Psychological Limitation: Protects The Innocent (C, S) 15 Reputation: World's Greatest Explorer 14- 142 Eat-Man Bonus 372 Total Disadvantage Points Background/History: Bolt Crank (also known as "Eat-Man") lives in a world that is not our own. It has magic, monsters, mermaids, high technology, dragons, and all sorts of assorted strangeness. As for Bolt, he is what is known as an "Explorer," which in his case seems to be a combination bodyguard, bounty hunter, guide, and mercenary. He is known, and justifiably so, as the world's greatest Explorer, a reputation that has proven to both an aide (it gets him jobs), and a hassle (it gets him interference with others trying to muscle in on his reputation). But for the most part, Bolt simply wanders the world, doing odd jobs, saving damsels in distress, stopping marauding gangs, delivering lost treasures, and generally acting the part of the hero -- albeit in a very quiet and understated manner. Personality/Motivation: For the most part Bolt is quiet and reserved. he doesn't go in for grandstanding theatrics (much) and exudes quiet confidence. If he accepts a contract, he will follow it through to the end, although he has been known to obey the letter of a contract, and not its intent from time to time. For example, when asked to guide a group to the top of a mountain, he did just that, but never lifted a finger to help defend the group against monsters (that isn't what they'd hired him to do, you see). In another example, he defended a girl for an hour against all comers -- including the people who hired him in the first place -- and then left after exactly 60 minutes. Although seeming amoral, there is a method is Bolt's means, and in many cases his creative interpretation of a contract coincides with his desire to protect the innocent and helpless (such as the aforementioned girl). Quotes: "Doesn't matter to me if you believe me or not." "Don't worry, I'm just like you. I keep my promises." "Nothing personal, but a deal is a deal." Powers/Tactics: Bolt's nickname of "Eat-Man" is well deserved. He has the ability to eat just about anything -- guns, swords, rocket launchers, radios, acid bullets, speedboats.... Anything. One he's eaten something it resides in his stomach (or something like that) until he extrudes it from his right hand. There seems to be no limit to the size of something he can eat, as he's produced massive autocannons longer than he is tall, as well as a full-sized (and fully equipped) boat. He can also pull such stunts as drinking pure alcohol and then projecting it from his hand while holding a lit match to produce a cloud of flames, or eating his way out of a net and later projecting it on a crowd of pursuers. This power isn't foolproof, however, as Bolt must eat *every* part of an object before he can produce it again, leading to the image of a man constantly snacking on screws and bolts as he walks along. Aside from his rather unusual culinary habits, Bolt has a variety of superhuman characteristics. For starters he is immense strong, capable of holding a large autocannon at arm's length without any effort (as well as firing said weapon with one hand). There is also strong evidence he doesn't age (or if he does, it is very slowly). Bolt is also quite self-assured and virtually impossible to rattle or panic (unless he loses a needed screw). Physically it's hard to say how tough he is, as he is virtually never hit -- although he does take a direct shot from a demon king's force bolt and is only slightly staggered. Appearance: Tall and board-shouldered, Bolt has shoulder-length white hair and blue-gray eyes. He wears a long trenchcoat covered in straps and buckles, a tunic under the coat, a scarf around his waist, black trousers and boots. Designer's Notes: Eat-Man strikes me as what you'd get if you combined DC Comic's Matter-Eater Lad with Steve Long's Harbinger of Justice. He certainly has one of the strangest powers I've ever seen in any manga or comics. He appears in two graphic novels produced by Viz Comics, and something like 11 volumes back in Japan. I have to wonder if the additional Japanese volumes explain anything about his origins or who he is. There is also a 26-episode TV series, Eat-Man '98. Naturally, Bolt's Power Pool is subject to GM needs. You can easily make it larger or smaller as required, depending on what you want him to be able to produce. To be honest, some of his guns might just be larger than 60 Active Point weapons, so a pool size of 75-100 point might be required, especially as he can store multiple items at a time. (Bolt Crank/Eat-Man created by Akihito Yoshitomi, character sheet created by Michael Surbrook)

Gotta love REH's sense of fashion.

I just wanted to give people this heads up: Recently I found the following in a Barnes & Noble. "THE COMING OF CONAN THE CIMMERIAN" "The Original Adventures of the Greatest Sword and Sorcery Hero of All Time!" It's a DEL REY/Ballantine Book containing the *original* text of 13 Conan stories (in the order they were published), as well as notes, first drafts, maps, and background information. Illustrated by Mark Schultz. The book is around 465 pages, trade paperback-sized, and priced at $14.95! ISBN: 0-345-46151-7 Inside it is listed as Conan of Cimmera Volume 1. Naturally, I snapped it up in a flash.

Right here!: https://secure.compnetco.com/herogames/browse.jsp?categoryID=4 And here: http://surbrook.devermore.net/kazei5/kazei5.html And here: http://k5pbem.devermore.net/k5PBEM.html

Shion: I prefer the term "esper," myself. Or, if you must... "esper weapon." While crude, it does describe what I am.

Ming? More like Kang the Conquerer I'd say. And I don't mind Isthva or her points (you should see the revised 5th edition version of Shion Nys I've been developing -- she's now 900 points [and growing...]). She fits her niche.

I will probably do a generic "undead pirate" write-up. I was thinking one for Will Turner as well.

Hmm.. I might add these in as options. I thought about the Hunted and dropped it. I don't think the Navy is after him per se... more like he's subject to hanging if they ever find him (his Social Lim.).

I'm not satisfied with that one. All my Conan stories are packed, and I'd like to get the Fantasy Masterworks books and give them a total read through before redoing him (which I intend to do). Conan (IMO) quickly goes from being a 150-175 point character in his early stories to just scads of points. He's incredibly strong, fast, agile, tough, durable, with sharp senses, and knowns a little bit of dang near everything. The idea that Conan is a lunk-headed barbarian is utter hogwash as well. He reads and speaks multiple languages and knows (as I've said) a little about a lot of people and places. He also deserves a lot of "superskills" -- such as Clinging defined as climbing and Combat Luck defined as super dodging (I htink he defines fantasy Combat Luck). And maybe even the "It's Only A Flesh Wound" power from NINJA HERO (he does bounce back awful fast...). But, as I've said, the rewrite will have to wait for now.

Hmm.... interesting idea.