tkdguy

Thanks for the tip. I'm actually using a lot of the 7th Sea sourcebooks to detail the countries and NPCs. And I did research on how to do the astrophysics and geology and meteorology (no kidding, I really did all that research). I borrowed someone else's map, but I adapted it to my own use.

Actually, my friends and I borrow one another's dice all the time. We've been friends since college, you see.

I'm not too impressed with the Warhammer system. My friends have been trying to get me into 40K, but it's like Magic the Gathering and computer games. I'll play it with my friends if they feel like playing, but I won't go out of my way.

The reason I picked HERO is because of all the nice maneuvers. D&D is sadly lacking when it comes to detailed combat, and it's not made for a nonmagical campaign. I have the GURPS books, and I'd have less conversions to do, but I've never played or GMed a game, so I'm not comfortable using it.

Thanks for the correction, Ouroboros. Defrocked is the term I was looking for, althoughI heard of "disrobed" applying to Catholic priests as well. No, people, I'm not talking about the current scandals about the Church! Shame on you all!

On a more serious note, yes, I know that Robin Hood was 12th century or earlier. I only used that as a reference because the characters are starting out on the wrong side of the law (their decision, not mine). One of them will have to go into politics to clear his name, and I suspect the others will be dragged in it as well. As for exploration and exploitation of the New World, it will have to wait until I detail that continent. Keep in mind this is not our earth they are in, just another world approximating that era and culture.

The martial arts involved will either be western styles or eastern styles adapted to the west. There won't be any wuxia-style fighting, and I'll probably reduce additional damage classes to +1 or +2 maximum. Acrobatics and breakfall will still be included to allow for cinematic combat. Can't be a swashbuckler without it!

The campaign is a mostly based on 17th century Europe with a few Asian influences (belief in reincarnation, eastern martial arts styles). One player isn't into politics, but it will raise its ugly head because of another player's character. Likewise, pirate adventures won't be too common, but they'll probably make an appearance or two. So far, I have an outlaw campaign like Robin Hood. Here's the roster of chaaracters:

A young nobleman whose family has been unfairly accused of treason. His father was killed, and he was forced to flee his homeland. He now has to clear his family's reputation, avenge his father, and reclaim his lands.

A peasant who turned to banditry out of desperation. He does have a code of honor (no robbing or killing women and children) and has a grudge with the local magistrate for raping his girlfriend (the traumatised girl later committed suicide).

A disrobed priest trained in Ghost Fist (combination of Kung Fu and Tai Chi). He was expelled from the clergy when he defended a man being assaulted and accidentlly killed the assailant.

I'm still detailing the countries in the continent. I'm trying to detail the NPCs involved in the campaign.

If the press found out about it, then the general population has already been informed. This brings to mind several questions:

1. What is the public's reaction? Will people even believe the report as credible or just tabloid sensationalism? If they believe the report, how do they react? Superheroes exist already, but having powerful people saving the world is one thing. Having people who beheadi one another to gain ultimate power is another.

2. What is the government's reaction? Will the different law enforcement agencies arrest evey immortal they know about for murder? Remember, they have a Watcher chronicle on hand. Will they force immortals to be registered, like the Mutant Registration Act in the X-Men? And what about the Watchers? They could be charged as accessories to murder for not reporting the killings, or aiding and abetting a criminal if they helped hide the dead bodies.

3. How do the immortals react? Many will already be unhappy about learning that certain mortals have been spying on them for centuries. Now their carefully guarded secret is out in the open. The police are breathing down their necks. The paparazzi are filing through their garbage. And people in general are staring at them, pointing a them, and avoiding them; and those are just the mild reactions. And relationships will change, if not end, when someone is revealed to be immortal; it happened in the series.

That's a lot of stuff happening in the campaign. Add to all this the fact that someone leaked out the info to the press. If PRIMUS didn't, who did? There's a lot of roleplaying opportunity there, and I find the concept interesting, but I suggest looking at the consequences before things get out of hand. Otherwise, you'll end up with a big mess and a big headache. Still, it may be fun finding out.

I'm starting a new campaign. I loosely call it fantasy because it's set in another world. However, there are no supernatural elements here; no dragons, elves, or magic. The world is a "scientific" world because the laws of physics, chemistry, biology, etc. are identical to ours.

I had originally suggested including mentalists, but one of my players suggested I exclude them when I told him I had a hard time integrating them into the campaign.

Considering this varies from the "normal" fantasy game, how well would you receive it? What would you want to see in it? There's already a lot of swashbuckling swordplay and kung fu. I wanted to add court intrigue, but one of the players isn't too keen on that. Suggestions?

I have a question for you guys. How much hard science do you put in your games, especially when you build worlds? I've been trying to use scientific principles for a world I'm building. I know my astrophysics pretty well, but my knowledge of geology is rudimentary at best. Even with the websites on world building I found still don't answer all my questions.

How about Big Trouble in Little China, with Kurt Russel? That movie had everything. Guns, knives, swords, magic, kung fu. Even a couple of monsters.

Sounds like a good modern fantasy to me.

So the dragon/wyvern debate continues. I searched high and low for a picture of the beast with no luck. However, I do have a sourcebook about dragons and wyverns. It's from The Enchanted World Series from Time-Life Books. Here are the types of dragons listed in pages 32-33:

Heraldic Dragon: It is described as having "massive fangs, four clawed legs and a ridge of sharp spines that stretched from its spiked nose to its barbed and stinging tail."

Wyvern: Wyverns have "a coiling trunk that bore a pair of eagle's legs, which were tucked beneath its wings." There's no mention of a stinger here, but see the heraldic dragon.

Amphiptere: This one is described as a "legless, winged serpent."

Guivre: This wyrm is legless and wingless and "would have seemed a mere serpent...except for its massive dragon head, horned and bearded." (It's REALLY ugly!)

Lindworm: The lindworm has "a serpentine body with one pair of legs. It was flightless." Marco Polo allegedly reported seeing some in Central Asia.

So drawing from folklore instead of TSR's depictions, we can infer that wyverns are a subspecies of dragon. That is, all wyverns are dragons, but onot all dragons are wyverns.

Okay, no more lecturing. Now for the weird stuff. I came up with the idea of a Highlander/Dragonslayer crossover. The last two immortals fight for the Prize. The last surviving dragon swoops down and eats the winner. But the Quickening released is so powerful, they both explode. No, I don't sit around all day thinking up this stuff. This type of "inspiration" comes to me at random intervals. I actually did get a friend to post it on the Highlander online rpg.

Oh wow! I didn't know PRIMUS has a base in San Francisco. And to think I would go through the street all the time without noticing it. Hey, maybe I'll apply for a job.

Seriously, I'll check it out. The sourcebook I mean.

I think a GI Joe campaign should be like the comic series, where people actually do get killed, including a few Joes and COBRA leaders. It is rare for a major charcter to die, but that goes for all TV shows. Maybe damage reduction and a point or two of Luck would help keep the PCs alive. But the nameless grunts are still canon fodder.

Just to clarify a few things:

1. Does not bleed: Yes, I know immortals bleed, but their bleeding stops before it significantly hinders them. That's why I included the does not bleed advantage. If your campaign does not use the bleeding rules, feel free to discard it.

2. Regeneration: Regrowing limbs now costs extra 5 points. I didn't include that in the cost, so immortals do not regrow lost limbs If you want that feature, pay extra. I suggest doing it the way "Blade of the Immortal" does it. The hero, Manji, cannot regrow limbs, but he can reattach them within a certain amount of time.

Skills: I included the PS because the character had to do something before he/she became immortal. I assume the immortal found a teacher who told him about the Game and trained him for combat; that's why I included WF: Swords and combat skills. You can ignore them if you wnat to paly a newly awakened immortal who hasn't found a teacher yet. Concealment is necessary in the modern world, where people normally don't go around with swords, and would be arrested if they did. If you set your game in an earlier era, it may not be necessary. Then again, only nobles and samurai could wear swords in feudal Japan, so the concealment skill may be necessary there.

I actually ran a Highlander campaign once. I hadn't played the HERO system enough to be comfortable GMing it, and nobody wanted to use the 2nd Ed. AD&D rules. So I used a long-forgotten system where my players could roleplay immortals. Or vampires. Or werewolves. Or ninjas, Shaolin priests, bionic men/women, psychics, or paranormal investigators. The campaign died out before the aliens invaded, but BOA (see my GI Joe thread) did make a couple of appearances.

But I digress. How do immortal players interact? It's up to the players. My players had their characters doing their own stuff and rarely interacted. I just ran separate scenarios for them simultaneously.

I don't know if anyone is familiar with the Recon game published by Palladium. It's supposed to be a Vietnam War rpg, but my friend is trying to modernize it. I did state that it shouldn't become a GI Joe campaign. Maybe I'll convince him it should.

I actually have Legacy: War of Ages. It's kinda like World of Darkness Lite. But I like the fact that it's less convoluted than the Storyteller system. And all you have to do is use the right language, which Black Gate Publishing couldn't do.

I actually included a vulnerability to beheading. Watching reruns of the series, it does make sense. Somehow the writers forget it takes a powerful swing to take off a head in one blow, not a mere flick of a wrist. And let's not forget how some immortals were beheaded: with a rapier, two daggers used like a pair of scissors, and even a spear. A SPEAR??????

There are quite a few sites about building worlds if that's what you want. I like to use astrophysics and geology to create worlds. It would make more sense physically than a lot of the game worlds out there. However, it is time consuming, and it turns your brain to mush if you work on it too long in a given period of time.

The main thing I'd change is reinforcing the command structure. In the comic and the cartoon, you'd have corporals giving orders to captains! That doesn't make sense in any army.

I am a fan of the new series. I never thought COBRA Commander was scary until this one came out. I'm glad he's being portrayed as a ruthless killer instead of comic relief.

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys.

Oops! I intended this to be a reply to Mark Rand about his ideas in the immortal package thread. I guess I hit the wrong button. Sorry about that!

Magic definitely defines fantasy; maybe non-magical fanasy is better described as fiction. As for Robin Hood, check out BBC's "Robin of Sherwood." That definitely had magic in it. The spirit of King Arthur even makes a cameo appearance in one episode. And there is an Arabic Merry Man, which Costner's film borrowed to make Morgan Freeman's character. Except this guy fights with twin scimitars (Drizzt Do'Urden, anyone?).

Your idea could work. However, don't forget that the hero may have a few tricks up his sleeve. Maybe friends who are superheroes or Watchers. They could take out the bad guys (subdue, not kill) without a Quickening. Also the police are not going to stand idly by. They will try to send a SWAT team if they can.

Another thing you may want to consider is will the public believe the villain? Most people would probably think he's just nuts. Of course, if the hero blindly charges in to the rescue without thinking, that will all change. He will be charged with murder, and other immortals will be mad at him for exposing the game. It's one thing to make an outrageous claim. It's another thing altogether to prove it.

Just my 2 cents. Let me know how it works out. I'm not dismissing your ideas, just giving some possible plot twists. I like the idea. Kalas actually threatened to expose the Game in "Finale," the Season 3 finale. Try to see that episode for ideas on how to pull it off (it's a two-parter, by the way).

I adapted the 4th Ed Bestiary to my package deal. I guessI have to work on it to bring it up to date. Thanks for the heads up!

Re dragons/wyverns

The main difference between dragons and wyverns is that dragons had four legs (the heraldic dragon) and the wyvern had only two. The dragon in the movie had 4 legs; it's definitely a heraldic dragon.

I was wondering if anyone ever did a GI Joe campaign, or anything like that. I know a group of people have a campaign using d20 modern, but why play d20 when you can play HERO, right?

I actually created a terrorist organization like COBRA. Except I called it BOA. Originally it stood for "Bastion of Anarchy," but I thought "Bastion of Autocracy" made more sense. It had a very unusaul method of recruiting troops. People would kidnap the homeless, brainwash them into believing society was to blame for all their woes, then turn them into shock troops. One of my players thought BOA should stand for "Bums Of America" instead.

Suggestions?

Watchers exposing the Game: I think this would be a violation of their oath. However, given the fact that they've already interfered with the Game so many times, anything is possible. However, immortals will be very angry about their cover being blown, and many of them will hunt down the Watchers. Immortals who already know about the Watchers sometimes hunt them down for spying on them. Jacob Galati hunted down Watchers in "Judgment Day" (Season 4 finale) and "One Minute to Midnight" (Season 5 premier).

Quickening: STUN damage seems good. I just considered a penalty to all actions to give the players a fighting chance. Immortal duels are usually kept secret, but the loser's buddy may be hiding somewhere near. Also, if a mortal or pre-immortal takes the head of an immortal, the Quickening goes to the nearest immortal in the area. That happened in "One Minute to Midnight" and in in the Raven episode "The Lauren Files" (don't quote me on the latter title; I may be wrong there).

Holy Ground: I originally made this a psychological limitation, but I changed it to a physical limitation to represent the immortals' conditioning against killing on holy ground; even mortals are safe from them there. I don't know which episode you are talking about, Kodiak, but I'll keep an eye out ofr it. Darius was killed on holy ground ("The Hunters" Season 1 finale), but his killers were mortal. Nothing unusual happened, as far as I remember. It's only when one immortal kills another on holy ground that stuff may occur. Dawson regaled Duncan with a rumor on "Little Tin God" (Season 5) that two immortals fought in a temple near Mt. Vesuvius, thus precitating the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Then again, Sanctuary was supposed to be on holy ground, and Jacob Kell took all those heads in Endgame.

I think there should be consequences to an immortal killing another in holy ground. If nothing else, other immortals could learn about the incident and hunt down the offender mercilessly. Not that Kell would care; he was just that powerful.

Multiple Gatherings: I think a roleplayer invented that one to explain the inconsistensies between the movies and the series. Davis/Panzer explained the movies and series as alternate universes. In the series universe, the Gathering takes place over the course of years, then got put on hold, so the series (and the franchise) could continue.

Wow, just when I thought this thread was already dead, it turned out to be immortal, like the franchise (the actors are mortal, but the franchise just won't die)! Maybe DOJ should contact Davis/Panzer and ge the rights to make Highlander HERO. Thunde Castle got the rights years ago. It made a card game, but bailed on the rpg.

Here's my take on vampires, based on Forever Knight.

VAMPIRE PACKAGE DEAL

COST ABILITY

10 Self-contained breathing

3 Does not have to eat

9 Safe Environment: low pressure/vacuum, high pressure, high radiation, intense cold, intense heat

5 Longevity: immortal

10 Immunity to all terrestrial diseases and bio-warfare agents

10 Immunity to all terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents

21 Healing 3d6 (Regeneration 3 BODY per day), Resurrection (can be stopped by burning the body, driving a stake through the heart, or beheading), Reduced Endurance (0 END +1/2), Persistent (+1/2); Self only (-1/2), Not against silver or wood (-3/4) Extra Time (3 BODY/Day –2 ½), Resurrection only (-1/2)

5 Bite: 1 pip HKA

8 Blood Drain: 1d6 RKA, Continuous, Requires successful Grab

(-1/2), No range, 0 DCV Concentrate

9 2d6 Major Transform human to vampire, cumulative, no range,

0 DCV Concentrate, takes 1 minute, only once a day per victim

(-1), linked to blood drain

2 Running +1†(Base 7â€)

17 50% resistant physical damage reduction, not vs. silver or wood (-3/4)

2 Damage Resistance: 4rPD/2rED, not vs. silver or wood

10 5d6 Mind Control, needs eye contact (-1), takes full phase

3 PS: former occupation 12-

2 KS: hobby 11-

20 Flight 10â€

3 Stealth

10 Clinging

15 Does not bleed

DISADVANTAGE

-5 Physical Limitation: Sterile

-30 Berserk 11- at sight of blood (common), recover 11-

-20 3d6/Turn when on holy ground

-15 2d6 RKA from holy water and blessed objects

-10 Dependence on blood once/day (3d6, -3 to Characteristics/day)

-30 Susceptibility to sunlight: 3d6/Turn

-20 Vulnerability: 2x damage from fire

-15 Distinctive Feature: Vampire (easily concealable, extreme reaction)

-10 Hunted by Vampire Hunters 11- (less powerful, will kill)

-15 Reputation 14-: Monster

6 TOTAL COST

4 pounds is a bit heavy for a sword, considering rapiers and long swords (broad sword is a misnomer; it actually refers to a naval sword in later times) weigh at 3 pounds. Not significantly heavy at first, but when you've been swinging it for a while, you will feel it.

When I do kumdo, I use a sword that is heavier than the other swords. Trust me, I feel it after a while.

Still, it's rare to find a sword that's both full tang and made of high carbon steel. Just don't get into any swordfights unless you're immortal.