Blades

Re: Low-point characters, intelligence doesn't benefit knowledges? I play a varient for low point characters. [Decimal heros]. I let a spreadsheet (Excel) roll the dice. I use this as my dice rolling equation. RAND()*5+RAND()*5+RAND()*5+3. The rand()5 rolls a random decimal number between 0 and 5, like 2.345. So I get a number between 3 and 18 like 10.654. Then if i don't round off the stat or skill rolls, every point (or fraction of a point) matters. IQ 10 has a char roll of 11. IQ 11 has a char roll or 11.2. Same concept for skills rolls. You can extend this concept for everything. Only speed does not handle decimals well. You can also raise char or skills by less then a full point. If your not playing where a computer is practical, you can pre-print a page of these die rolls and cross them off as they are used. Probably works best for small groups at first.

Re: Ring of Fire - Fantasy Hero style I wanted to try a Ring of Fire scenario into 1631 medieval. My problem is that my players are fantacy players with the mentality of kill creatures and take their stuff. In Ring of Fire the players would already have the best gear that they can get and would have no motivation to go adventuring. Most of my players are neutral greedy and not motivated to help the Germans. I got as far as making profiles for about a dozen modern and german archtypes.

Re: Char: Richard Burton (2) Not sure exactly what you want. I Sent you an email

Re: Char: Richard Burton (2) Repost of the char on the first post of this thread. Shaved off 30 points, making better use of Skill Levels and enhancements. THe second post of this threat explaims his skills. Astericks after a skill name indicate a skill level further modies the skill I must be using HD3 wrong, because tunring Language Familiarity on or off does not have the point cost, and if anyone should benifit from the Language Familiariy chart it is Richard Burton. I tested added another lang and there are no new options then either.

Re: Char: Richard Burton (2) Captian Sir Richard Burton Val Char Cost Roll Notes 13 STR 3 12- Lift 151.6kg; 2 1/2d6 [1] 20 DEX 30 13- OCV: 7/DCV: 7 17 CON 18 12- 12 BODY 4 11- 18 INT 8 13- PER Roll 13- 18 EGO 16 13- ECV: 6 16 PRE 6 12- PRE Attack: 3d6 14 COM 2 12- 7 PD 5 Total: 7 PD (0 rPD) 5 ED 2 Total: 5 ED (0 rED) 4 SPD 10 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 7 REC 2 40 END 3 33 STUN 5 Total Characteristic Cost: 116 Movement: Running: 7"/14" Leaping: 2"/4" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers END 10 Hypnotism: Multipower, 50-point reserve, (50 Active Points); all slots Extra Time (5 Minutes, -2), Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (0 DCV; -1), No Range (-1/2), Requires A Skill Roll-Hypnotist (Active Point penalty to Skill Roll is -1 per 20 Active Points; -1/4) 1u 1) Heightened Suggestability: Mind Control 8d6 (Human class of minds) (40 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses about half of its effectiveness (Cannot achieve Results Greater than Ego+10; -1), Extra Time (5 Minutes, Only to Activate, -1), Concentration (0 DCV; Character is totally unaware of nearby events; -3/4), No Range (-1/2), Requires A Skill Roll Hypnotist (Active Point penalty to Skill Roll is -1 per 20 Active Points; -1/4) 4 1u 2) Accessing Memories: Telepathy 10d6 (Human class of minds) (50 Active Points); Extra Time (5 Minutes, Only to Activate, -1), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Incantations (Requires Incantations throughout; -1/2), Mandatory Effect EGO +20 (-1/2), No Range (-1/2), Requires A Skill Roll-Hypnotist (Active Point penalty to Skill Roll is -1 per 20 Active Points; -1/4) 5 1u 3) Planting False memories: Major Transform 1d6+1 (20 Active Points); Extra Time (5 Minutes, -2), Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (0 DCV; -1), No Range (-1/2), Requires A Skill Roll-Hypnotist (Active Point penalty to Skill Roll is -1 per 20 Active Points; -1/4) 2 Perks 2 Access Notes: Access to any British Foreign Office or Embassy (even when in disguise and no documents) 15 Contact: Foriegn Office (Contact has useful Skills or resources, Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (15 Active Points) 12- 4 Contact: Gen Charles Napier (Br Commander, India) (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact has significant Contacts of his own) 11- Notes: Lt. Burton worked directly for Gen Napier, bypassing the entire chain of command 3 Contact: Generic Central Indian tradesman or priest, Organization Contact (x3) (3 Active Points) 8- Notes: Represents the many friends and contacts Lt.. Burton developed 2 Contact: Royal Geographic Society (Contact has significant Contacts of his own) 8- Notes: The Royal Geographic society became Burton's patron/employer for his explorations of the Nile and East Africa. This also opened many contacts in upper British society for Burton 1 False Identity Notes: Burton usually had a prepared ID, that he spent 2-4 months preparing. He lived the ID in a safe area and made real contacts giving him letters of recomandation ect. 9 Fringe Benefit: Captain, CIA employee, License to practice a profession, Priest Notes: Licence is Survey Engineer, Priest is 'Ordained' Brahman Hindu priest. 'Secret Agent' for the British Foriegn Office 0 Fringe Benefit: Age 66, Member of the Lower Nobility Notes: Captian Burton was Knighted at Age 66, late enough that he could not use the influence during his active years Talents 6 Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED) Skills 3 Acrobatics 13- 5 Acting * 13- 3 Animal Handler * 12- Notes: Horses and Camels, sometimes donkeys and even elephants 1 Breakfall 8- 1 Bribery 8- 1 Bureaucratics 8- 3 Climbing * 13- 1 Sabre: +1 with any single attack with one specific weapon 1 Knife: +1 with any single attack with one specific weapon 6 Swords: +2 with any three maneuvers or a tight group of attacks 3 Pistol, Rifle, Lance (Service Weapons): +1 with any three maneuvers or a tight group of attacks 10 +2 with DCV 3 Concealment * 13- 1 Contortionist 8- 3 Conversation * * 12- 1 Cryptography 8- 3 Deduction 13- 1 Demolitions 8- 7 Disguise * 15- 3 Sword: Fast Draw 13- 1 Forgery 8- 1 Gambling 8- 3 Eastern Only: High Society 12- 1 Interrogation 8- 3 Linguist Notes: Burton is reported to be fluent in 26 languages and know 89 dialects, and that was before he went to and learned langueges in Arabia or Africa. He should have about 8 more Indian lang then shown here. 2 1) Language: Afgan (completely fluent) (3 Active Points) 2 2) Language: Arabic (completely fluent) (3 Active Points) 2 3) Language: Bengali (completely fluent) (3 Active Points) 1 4) Language: East African 1 (basic conversation) 1 5) Language: East African 2 (basic conversation) 1 6) Language: East African 3 (basic conversation) 1 7) Language: East African 4 (basic conversation) 1 8) Language: Egyptian (fluent conversation; Linguist) 0 9) Language: English (idiomatic) (4 Active Points) 1 10) Language: Farsi (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points) 1 11) Language: French (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points) 1 12) Language: Greek (basic conversation) 4 13) Language: Gujarati (imitate dialects) (5 Active Points) 4 14) Language: Hindustani (imitate dialects) (5 Active Points) 1 15) Language: Italian (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points) 1 16) Language: Latin (basic conversation) 4 17) Language: Nepalese (imitate dialects) (5 Active Points) 2 18) Language: Persian (completely fluent) (3 Active Points) 2 19) Language: Punjabi (idiomatic; Linguist) (3 Active Points) 1 20) Language: Romany (Gypsy) (basic conversation) 1 21) Language: Russian (basic conversation) Notes: I have no evidence that RB learned Russian, but his job was to travel in Afganistan, including interacting with Russion spy / explorer / traders and learn what they were doing, so it would make sence if he knew a little Russian. 1 22) Language: Sanskrit (dead Language) (basic conversation) 1 23) Language: Spanish (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points) Notes: Spanish was not listed as one of RB's languages, but I gave RB some Spanish. First it is a very common language. Second, RB's 'Heros' were some Portugesse explorers in India, and on leave he would travel the routes they took and stay at villa and keeps and study what they left. He made a study of their works. So I gave him some skill in Spanish. Even though Portugesse is not exaxtly the same thing. 1 24) Language: Turkish (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points) 3 Traveler 4 1) AK: Cental India (5 Active Points) 14- 3 2) AK: East Africa (4 Active Points) 13- 2 3) AK: Himaliayan Mountains (3 Active Points) 12- 5 4) AK: Northern India (6 Active Points) 15- 3 5) AK: Pakastain, Afganistain (4 Active Points) 13- 2 6) AK: Persia, Arabia, Egypt (3 Active Points) 12- 1 7) AK: Western Europe (2 Active Points) 11- 2 8) CK: Bombay (3 Active Points) 12- 6 9) CuK: Central & Northern India (7 Active Points) 16- 2 10) CuK: East Africa (3 Active Points) 12- 3 11) CuK: Himalyian (4 Active Points) 13- 4 12) CuK: Pakastan, Afganistan (5 Active Points) 14- 4 13) CuK: Persia, Arabia, Egypt (5 Active Points) 14- 0 14) AK: Home in France, Collage in England 8- 3 Scholar 2 1) KS: African Tribal Religions (3 Active Points) 12- 1 2) KS: Desert (Traveler) (2 Active Points) 12- 2 3) KS: Falconry (3 Active Points) 12- 4 4) KS: Hindu Religion (5 Active Points) 14- 1 5) KS: Jungle (Traveler) (2 Active Points) 12- 4 6) KS: KS:Hindu Religion (5 Active Points) 14- 3 7) KS: Mountains (Traveler) (4 Active Points) 14- 3 8) KS: Muslim Religion (4 Active Points) 13- 5 9) KS: Mystisium (Eastern) (6 Active Points) 16- 2 10) KS: Narcotics (3 Active Points) 13- 5 11) KS: Seduction (6 Active Points) 15- 1 Lockpicking 8- 5 Navigation * * 14- 3 Oratory 12- 3 Paramedics 13- 3 Persuasion * * 12- 3 Riding * 13- 5 Seduction 13- 3 Shadowing 13- 20 +2 Overall 3 Explorer (Climbing, Riding, Animal Handling): +1 with any three related Skills 6 Explorer/Spy (Navigation, Conversation, Persuasion): +2 with any three related Skills 3 Spy (Disguise, Acting, Trading): +1 with any three related Skills Notes: Traveling Merchant was one of his common disguises 3 Sneaky (Concealment, Stealth, Streetwise): +1 with any three related Skills 3 Survival (Mountain, Tropical, Desert): +1 with any three related Skills 3 Jack of All Trades 2 1) PS: Artist (3 Active Points) 12- 2 2) PS: Auther (3 Active Points) 12- 4 3) PS: Explorer (5 Active Points) 14- 3 4) PS: Hypnotist (4 Active Points) 13- 1 5) PS: Officer (2 Active Points) 11- 2 6) PS: Secret Agent (3 Active Points) 12- 3 Sleight Of Hand 13- 3 Stealth * 13- 3 Streetwise * 12- 4 Survival * (Mountain) 14- 4 Survival * (Tropical Forests, Tropical Plains) 14- 2 Survival * (Desert) 13- 1 Tactics 8- 3 Tracking 13- 3 Trading * 12- 4 WF: Small Arms, Blades, Lances 2 WF: Indian Weapons: Blades, Staffs 1 Weaponsmith 8- Total Powers & Skill Cost: 354 Total Cost: 470 200+ Disadvantages 5 Hunted: Moslim Death Sentence for entering Mecca 8- (Less Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish) 0 Normal Characteristic Maxima 5 Age: 40+ 10 Psychological Limitation: (Common, Moderate) Notes: Addicted to aclohal and most drugs at one time or another 10 Psychological Limitation: (Common, Moderate) Notes: Obsession with Seduction. 5 Psychological Limitation: (Uncommon, Moderate) Notes: Disregard for military protocol 5 Psychological Limitation: (Uncommon, Moderate) Notes: Compulsive interest in the occult and religion 5 Reputation: As a 'rake', mostly be cockled officers, 11- (Known Only To A Small Group) Notes: Also not suitable to deal with British gentrey 5 Custom Disadvantage: Illness Notes: During long periods, Burton was hampered by maleria and other tropical illnesses and infections. 10 Reputation: Rep with other officers as 'going native', not maintaining military bearing, 11- (Extreme; Known Only To A Small Group) 5 Rivalry: Professional (other officers and agents strongly resented Burtons competence and success, try to sabatoge his missions), Rival is Less Powerful, Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival, Rival Aware of Rivalry, Custom Adder Notes: This is strong enough to count as a 5 pt disadvantage. It prevented his promotion and advancement 205 Experience Points (30 points unspent) Total Disadvantage Points: 470 Background/History: Personality/Motivation: Quote: Powers/Tactics: Hypnotism represnted the 'Realistic' Hypnotism from Mentalist Book. I cannot justify the cinamatic version, but Burton probably knows how to improve his Hypnotism using drugs and opiates. Campaign Use: One of the best linguests in history. World class (top 5 in world in his time) in Sword Fighting, Disguise, Ethnologist (culture knowledges), Orientalist (Area knwledges) , explorer (navigation), and interest in seduction. (roughly 17+ skill rolls) Legendary skill in acting (disguise), climbing (mountain and urban), conversation (espiange), religious knowledges, and mountaineering. (roughly 16+ skill rolls) Highly skilled as a Hypnotist (roughly 15+) and other skills. Asterisk (*) after a skill name indicates it is further modified by "Skill Levels"

Re: "Super" Doctor skill set Some mundane items: Perk: Fringe: Medical Licence (possibly validation in Several countires) Prof Skill MD Knowledge skill: Superheros Knowlege Skill: Aliens ??? depending on the campaign Knowledge Skill: Unusual Injuries Knowledge Skill: exoic diseases Knowledge skill: most recent medical research Equipment: Some kind of long range radio reception to find where needed Some form of rapid transport

Re: Char: Richard Burton (2) I did use Linguist and Traveler, saving a lot of points. . Since he has 8 knowledges, Scholar would save 5 points. Most of them are religions, so maybe some kind of SL:Religion may also work. He has 6 Professional skills, so Jack or all trades would save 3. I was considering dropping his PS:artist. He never earned money at it. He studied art in school and used his skill to draw enemy fortresses and terrain features to include in his reports, but was not used signifigantly.

Re: Char: Richard Burton (2) ok, my second post, explaining the character finally showed up, so you can read it now, 48 hours late for the discussion.

Re: Char: Richard Burton (2) Kipling also has several dinners with Richard Burton. Kipling is suppose to have used RB's stories about Afganistan as backround for "The man who would be king" and used RB as the model character for the Coronel in "Kim"

Re: Char: Richard Burton (2) I posted a long writeup justifying the character build and history summery, but for some reason it has not yet shown up on the forum. HawksoorSD: Your probably right. It is possible that some skill levels like SL:Explorer (Nav, Climbing, riding) +1 for 3 points. Or SL:spy (Acting, Disguise, streetwise) and SL: Diplomat (Conversation, Persuasion, trading). Would save about 9 points. Shadowcat1313: I was wondering if any other historical character would be worth more points. I considered TH Lawerece, but did not think he was as high. To be very high on points a character would need to be very good in a broad range of skills. I was thinking possibly Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, or possibly Teddy Roosivelt or Churchill because of their military adventures followed by their political carreer. You could probably create a modern (seal, Special Forces, ranger) type character with a lot of points. But a lot of their skills are very parishable and that is not well represented in hero system.

Re: Char: Richard Burton (2) As 5th Ed transitions to 6th, I wanted to post this character. Discussion followed by template. This is probably more of a Victorian character then Pulp. I wanted to see what the highest point real character I could reasonably justify to create would be. I was trying to only give skills that were supported by documentation and a skill levels that I could justify. For this I chose Captain Burton. I will try to justify my assessment of Capt Burton’s skills below. I believe that the hero system writeup for Miyamoto Musashi was 503 points. In this template of HB, he came out at exactly 500 points. I could probably try to get him higher, but that is how he came out with the references I have. [i use the phrase WORLD CLASS to indicate one of the 5 best people in the world with a skill at his time, around 17 or 18 skill roll, I use the term Heroic for the level of skill around 15 or 16 skill roll] Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (“Ruffin Dick”) (1821-1890) “Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (March 19, 1821 – October 20, 1890) was a British explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke twenty-nine European, Asian, and African languages. [Wikipedia]. He was posted to India as an Inf Lt. He learned a lot about the culture. His reputation in skills allowed his as a Lt to work directly for the Br commander in India as an explorer, scout, spy and to a lesser degree diplomat. Working mostly in disguise, exploring the area that is now Pakastan, Afganistan, and northern India during the “Great Game”. While still in the Army, he was “recruited” to work for the British Forgien Office. Based out of Egypt to explore and spy into what is now Saudia Arabia, Irag, Syria, and Yeman. His exploits got him recognized by the British Geologic Society and hired to explore east Africa (during the Stanley and Livingston period). ------------------------- This section justifies the skills I gave to Richard Burton. 1) Linguistics. Captain Burtons strongest field. He would be considered a WORLD CLASS Linguist in his day and one of the best in history. [see Story 1 below] . 2) Overall Skill levels x 2. RB has so many skills that I have no problem justifying the overall skill levels. Without the Overall Skill levels he would be worth about 160 more points. 3) Area Knowledge’s. Richard Burton is a WORLD CLASS explorer. First European in some areas of Afghanistan, and Arabia, explored Mecca in disguise. Discover of the African Great lakes, that are source of the Nile (but he did not realize that), on pair with Stanley and Livingston. Probably knows more about Arabia then ANY European of his day. 21 points divided into 8 areas. 4) Culture Knowledge’s. Capt Burton is listed as an orientalist and ethnologist. He learned the cultures of India so well that he could pull off almost ANY disguise of any kind of an individual. However, “Going native” was considered fatal to his carrier by his military peers. RB is famous for how well he knew many cultures as well as his depth of knowledge. 21 points divided into 6 areas. 5) Other Knowledge’s Knowledge Hindu Religion <16 By one reading of the story RB is the ONLY European to EVER be adopted (on merit) as a full member into the Brahman Hereditary Priest class on India. Knowledge Muslim Religion <13 [see Story 2] Knowledge African Tribal Religions <12 KS: Mystisium (Eastern) <16 “ordained” Brahma priest, studied to be a muslem priest, studied Kubbala for years. Lifetime study of Occult. KS: Falconry, Author of several works on Falconry <12 KS:Seduction skills in seduction are probably heroic, but his study and interest in the field (author of Kama Sutra, Arabian Nights ect, and highly active ethnologist field work) exceed even his practical experience and is close to WORLD CLASS for his day. <15 6) Combat Skills I have seen one list that listed Richard Burton as one of the 10 best swordsmen of all times. [also included Robert the Bruce and Miyamoto Musashi] [see Story 4 below] Capt Burton fought many duels, mostly with Cuckold husbands.. “He also earned the name "Ruffian Dick" for his "demonic ferocity as a fighter and because he had fought in single combat more enemies than perhaps any other man of his time” [Wikipedia]. This seems to justify claiming Capt Burton is a WORLD CLASS swordsman. Note that RB’s many fights and duels seem to be quantity over quality. He had lots of fights, but no real mention of him fighting and beating a famous or skilled fighter. However, unlike the other great swordsmen, Capt Burton was not a full time fighter. I believe that his many other pursuits prevented him from having time to reach WORLD CLASS skill as a swordsman so I place him at the high end of Heroic. I am not sure of his primary weapon. Before he joined the army he learned fencing in College and attended a fencing school. But his service sword would have been a cavalry saber, or in the later years the straight cavalry officer’s claymore would have been the service weapon. But these would not have been good dueling swords, or practical in the jungle, or an arab disguise. He used a scimitar in Arabia, and sometimes only traveled with a knife when in disguise for months on end. Because of this lack of weapon specilization, I did not give him any special martial arts (weapon) type skills. 6a) Capt Burton survived many duels, and a couple of large fights [see story 4], Since he does not have a martial arts or other defensive skill, I am giving him 2 lvls of DCV to justify his few wounds and combat luck. 6b) Gave RB minimal Fast draw skill with blades and his pistol 7) Captain Burton is a WORLD CLASS explorer. To represent this I am using the skills climbing (Heroic), survival, Terrain KS, Animal Handling, Navigation (Heroic), Riding (Heroic), PS:Explorer, and Tracking. I did not think he was focused enough to raise any one of these singlely to the world class level. 8) Captain Burton was a spy for the British Foreign Office throughout Central and Western Asia. He was not the best spy they had in over the 60 years of the great game, but probably the most versatile. Spying here represents traveling to mostly unknown areas, mapping them, meeting the tribes and determining their factions and how to influence them. Also tracking the movements of the Russian agents and interfering with their actions. It is mostly exploring and diplomacy. He needed to keep and send encrypted messages. I am giving RB these skills to represent his broad heroic reputation as a spy. Bribery, Concealment, Conversation (Heroic), Cryptography, Forgery, Interrogation, Oratory, Persuasion (Heroic), PS:Spy, and Shadowing. I did not include lock pick and sec systems as inappropriate. Note that Burtons spying exploits are mostly 2nd hand from his supervisors praise, he did not record his exploits in his journals (and considered them secret), and most of them can only be judged by the successful results. 9) Captain Burton was a master of Disguise. He can pretend to be almost any Indian or Arab and natives cannot detect a flaw. He did disguise himself as a porter or vender on his own military base and his own friends cannot recognize him when told them, he was there. His language and culture skills are covered under those areas. I am giving him Disguise (Heroic) Acting (Heroic), Conversation, Persuasion, Streetwise, and trading since he often used a traveling merchant as a disguise. He is probably WORLD CLASS in disguise but in the espionage field the experts don’t get enough publicity to compare him. 10) Cat Burglar. In his early years, Captain Burton developed a reputation as a rake for sneaking into bedroom windows of lonely wives and protected daughters. Although there were duels with cuckold husbands, he was mostly successful. Also see stories 2 and 3 below. As a spy he also did some 2nd story sneaking around hostile cities. Using story 3, I am giving him heroic skills in this area. His climbing skills are already covered as a mountain explorer. Skills Acrobatics, Breakfall, Stealth (Heroic) 11) Seduction. Captain Burton, As with most teenage boys, shows a great interest in KS:Seduction that may exceed his practical skills in seduction itself. But RB’s actual skills include many wives and daughters visited in the night. The fact that none of the harem wifes [story 3] reported him. I feel comfortable saying that his seduction skill is heroic. But his KS:Seduction skill exceeds his physical skills, up to WORLD CLASS. Although he did not write the “Kama Sutra”, he chose that as his major work of translation into English. He collected folklore throughout his travels in Arabia and assembled them into the 10 volume legends of the “Arabian Nights” that are mostly pornographic. As he explored what amounts to about 25% of the world’s people and cultures, his learning of their cultures also focused on their sexual practices. The only possible person that might compare to his knowledge on the subject might be the most famous geisha or French or Italian courtesans. Also used this to justify a slight skill in contortionist. I only gave him a KS:Seduction <15 skill, because his physical skills were not on par with his knowledge. 12) Military Service. Captain Burton had a troubled military service. He ended his distinguished career as a Captain; anyone else would be at least a Coronel. He contently made serious enemies (personnel and profesional) of his peers, but the senior officers found his skills and accomplishments VERY useful. This applies to his relations with the Foreign Service as well. I am giving him minimum bureaucratic, and some tactics. I am notably not giving him any teamwork. 13) Captain Burton had a life long interest in Mysticism. Shown by his adoption into the Brahma Caste in India and his interests and reported skills with meditation and hypnosis. 14) Richard Burtons career roughly splits into 3 periods a) As a Lt. in India playing the great game. At this time he was at his physical and fighting peak, but did not yet have his influence. Exploring Arabia. He developed his Foreign Service contacts here. At his best in disguise here. c) Exploring Africa. Past his prime in physical and fighting skills, (but see story 4). Fame allows him important contacts in some English circles. 15) To justify Burtons contacts with the British Foreign office. Several times RB would show up unexpectedly in disguise at a British consulet. Even disguised as a begger, he could talk his way inside without blowing his cover. Several times he would show up unexpectedly, at a consulet and leave with a fortune to bribe a tribal king, or influence a war. He could also get any proper documents and any forgeries he needed with a visit. He could be unexpected, no one knew him and he was in disguise with no documents to prove his identity, and still accomplish these perk, without blowing his disguise cover. His exact status or position in the Foreign office has never been published. [The British Foreign office is like the US State Department with some CIA mixed in] 16) A 1 point Familiarity in a skill gives a roll of 8, a three point skill gives a roll of 13+2 (overall skill levels) =15. So it is hard to represent skills that should be about 11 or 12. Overall skill levels are not suppose to be added to familiarity, but I recommend that RB’s overall skill levels be added to his familiarity of [bribery, Cryptography, Demolitions, Forgery, and Gambling] representing passable skill rolls of <10 17) Hypnosis. RB is suppose to be an expert at Hypnosis. He learned it in India, could amaze his fellow officers. I gave him the ‘Realistic’ Hypnotis from the mentalist book. He used self-hypnosis as part of his preparation for some disguises. In addition there is one example of him slipping opiates in drink to help him hypnotis an important India businessman. A few stories used as examples to justify some of his skills. [story 1] British officers can receive a pay bonus for being able to speak useful foreign languages. After then Lt Burton had studied both the common Indian languages and several of the related languages, he applied for the language bonuses. His unit did not have anyone that already knew the languages well enough to test his fluency. They applied to the Foreign Office to locate an expert to administer the test. His unit was told that the ONLY European in India that knew the languages well enough to administer the tests would be Richard Burton himself. [The only other reported time that is happened was when TH Larewence (of Arabia) applied to learn his languages before WW1.] [story 2] The Foreign office asked Richard Burton to travel through Arabia (Saudi Arabia) and spy?/learn what was going on there. After studying up on the language and culture, RB traveled in disguise throughout the region. Then he traveled to Mecca and Medina even though it was (and still is) a death sentence for a non-Muslim to go there. He explored the twin holy cities and passed as a Muslim pilgrim. Burton successfully traveled in Arabia for about a year in disguise the whole time. [story 3] [Continuing story 2] While he was disguised in Mecca. He decided to sneak into the harem of the Pasha inside the fortress. He successfully go into the well guarded and secure harem, spent the night with wives (probably not sleeping), undetected (at least by the guards) and got out without raising the alarm. (This story may be an exaggeration) [story 4] Capt Burton and another explorer were sleeping alone along a riverbank in hostile East Africa. 200+ natives attacks at night with surprise. The two explorers woke up in their tent, grabbed their weapons and fought back. Capt Burton’s friend was injured; RB took a Javelin though both his cheeks (the only combat injury I find mention of in all his years of fighting). RB assisted/carried his friend (with 11 wounds) in a fighting retreat to their canoe and they got away. When Capt Burton returned the next day (with witnesses) there were 26 dead natives. Native stories confirm the number of attackers and put the number of wounded natives in the 60’s. (RB is in his forties and past his physical and fighting prime at this time.) RB has some representation in fiction. His friend Kipling was suppose to have used RB to model the Col in :Kim”. Also some of his stories helped Kipling in “The Man who would be King” . Also a character in Riverworld by Farmer. I worked on this to offer for Digital Heros but never got it finished.

Captian Sir Richard Burton Val Char Cost Roll Notes 13 STR 3 12- Lift 151.6kg; 2 1/2d6 [3] 20 DEX 30 13- OCV: 7/DCV: 7 17 CON 18 12- 12 BODY 4 11- 18 INT 8 13- PER Roll 13- 18 EGO 16 13- ECV: 6 16 PRE 6 12- PRE Attack: 3d6 14 COM 2 12- 7 PD 5 Total: 7 PD (0 rPD) 5 ED 2 Total: 5 ED (0 rED) 4 SPD 10 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 7 REC 2 40 END 3 33 STUN 5 Total Characteristic Cost: 116 Movement: Running: 7"/14" Leaping: 2"/4" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers END 10 Hypnotism: Multipower, 50-point reserve, (50 Active Points); all slots Extra Time (5 Minutes, -2), Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (0 DCV; -1), No Range (-1/2), Requires A Skill Roll-Hypnotist (Active Point penalty to Skill Roll is -1 per 20 Active Points; -1/4) 1u 1) Heightened Suggestability: Mind Control 8d6 (Human class of minds) (40 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses about half of its effectiveness (Cannot achieve Results Greater than Ego+10; -1), Extra Time (5 Minutes, Only to Activate, -1), Concentration (0 DCV; Character is totally unaware of nearby events; -3/4), No Range (-1/2), Requires A Skill Roll Hypnotist (Active Point penalty to Skill Roll is -1 per 20 Active Points; -1/4) 4 1u 2) Accessing Memories: Telepathy 10d6 (Human class of minds) (50 Active Points); Extra Time (5 Minutes, Only to Activate, -1), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Incantations (Requires Incantations throughout; -1/2), Mandatory Effect EGO +20 (-1/2), No Range (-1/2), Requires A Skill Roll-Hypnotist (Active Point penalty to Skill Roll is -1 per 20 Active Points; -1/4) 5 1u 3) Planting False memories: Major Transform 1d6+1 (20 Active Points); Extra Time (5 Minutes, -2), Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (0 DCV; -1), No Range (-1/2), Requires A Skill Roll-Hypnotist (Active Point penalty to Skill Roll is -1 per 20 Active Points; -1/4) 2 Perks 2 Access Notes: Access to any British Foreign Office or Embassy (even when in disguise and no documents) 15 Contact: Foriegn Office (Contact has useful Skills or resources, Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (15 Active Points) 12- 4 Contact: Gen Charles Napier (Br Commander, India) (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact has significant Contacts of his own) 11- Notes: Lt. Burton worked directly for Gen Napier, bypassing the entire chain of command 3 Contact: Generic Central Indian tradesman or priest, Organization Contact (x3) (3 Active Points) 8- Notes: Represents the many friends and contacts Lt.. Burton developed 2 Contact: Royal Geographic Society (Contact has significant Contacts of his own) 8- Notes: The Royal Geographic society became Burton's patron/employer for his explorations of the Nile and East Africa. This also opened many contacts in upper British society for Burton 1 False Identity Notes: Burton usually had a prepared ID, that he spent 2-4 months preparing. He lived the ID in a safe area and made real contacts giving him letters of recomandation ect. 9 Fringe Benefit: Captain, CIA employee, License to practice a profession, Priest Notes: Licence is Survey Engineer, Priest is 'Ordained' Brahman Hindu priest. 'Secret Agent' for the British Foriegn Office 0 Fringe Benefit: Age 66, Member of the Lower Nobility Notes: Captian Burton was Knighted at Age 66, late enough that he could not use the influence during his active years Talents 6 Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED) Skills 3 Acrobatics 13- 7 Acting 14- 5 Animal Handler 13- Notes: Horses and Camels, sometimes donkeys and even elephants 1 Breakfall 8- 1 Bribery 8- 1 Bureaucratics 8- 5 Climbing 14- 1 Sabre: +1 with any single attack with one specific weapon 1 Knife: +1 with any single attack with one specific weapon 6 Swords: +2 with any three maneuvers or a tight group of attacks 3 Pistol, Rifle, Lance (Service Weapons): +1 with any three maneuvers or a tight group of attacks 10 +2 with DCV 5 Concealment 14- 1 Contortionist 8- 7 Conversation 14- 1 Cryptography 8- 3 Deduction 13- 1 Demolitions 8- 9 Disguise 16- 3 Sword: Fast Draw 13- 1 Forgery 8- 1 Gambling 8- 3 Eastern Only: High Society 12- 1 Interrogation 8- 4 KS: Mountains (Traveler) 14- 2 KS: Jungle (Traveler) 12- 2 KS: Desert (Traveler) 12- 5 KS: Hindu Religion 14- 3 Linguist Notes: Burton is reported to be fluent in 26 languages and know 89 dialects, and that was before he went to and learned langueges in Arabia or Africa 2 1) Language: Afgan (completely fluent) (3 Active Points) 2 2) Language: Arabic (completely fluent) (3 Active Points) 2 3) Language: Bengali (completely fluent) (3 Active Points) 1 4) Language: East African 1 (basic conversation) 1 5) Language: East African 2 (basic conversation) 1 6) Language: East African 3 (basic conversation) 1 7) Language: East African 4 (basic conversation) 1 8) Language: Egyptian (fluent conversation; Linguist) 0 9) Language: English (idiomatic) (4 Active Points) 1 10) Language: Farsi (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points) 1 11) Language: French (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points) 1 12) Language: Greek (basic conversation) 4 13) Language: Gujarati (imitate dialects) (5 Active Points) 4 14) Language: Hindustani (imitate dialects) (5 Active Points) 1 15) Language: Italian (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points) 1 16) Language: Latin (basic conversation) 4 17) Language: Nepalese (imitate dialects) (5 Active Points) 2 18) Language: Persian (completely fluent) (3 Active Points) 2 19) Language: Punjabi (idiomatic; Linguist) (3 Active Points) 1 20) Language: Romany (Gypsy) (basic conversation) 1 21) Language: Russian (basic conversation) Notes: I have no evidence that RB learned Russian, but his job was to travel in Afganistan, including interacting with Russion spy / explorer / traders and learn what they were doing, so it would make sence if he knew a little Russian. 1 22) Language: Sanskrit (dead Language) (basic conversation) 1 23) Language: Spanish (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points) Notes: Spanish was not listed as one of RB's languages, but I gave RB some Spanish. First it is a very common language. Second, RB's 'Heros' were some Portugesse explorers in India, and on leave he would travel the routes they took and stay at villa and keeps and study what they left. He made a study of their works. So I gave him some skill in Spanish. Even though Portugesse is not exaxtly the same thing. 1 24) Language: Turkish (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points) 3 Traveler 4 1) AK: Cental India (5 Active Points) 14- 4 2) AK: East Africa (5 Active Points) 14- 2 3) AK: Himaliayan Mountains (3 Active Points) 12- 5 4) AK: Northern India (6 Active Points) 15- 3 5) AK: Pakastain, Afganistain (4 Active Points) 13- 2 6) AK: Persia, Arabia, Egypt (3 Active Points) 12- 1 7) AK: Western Europe (2 Active Points) 11- 2 8) CK: Bombay (3 Active Points) 12- 6 9) CuK: Central & Northern India (7 Active Points) 16- 2 10) CuK: East Africa (3 Active Points) 12- 3 11) CuK: Himalyian (4 Active Points) 13- 4 12) CuK: Pakastan, Afganistan (5 Active Points) 14- 4 13) CuK: Persia, Arabia, Egypt (5 Active Points) 14- 0 14) AK: Home in France, Collage in England 8- 4 KS: Muslim Religion 13- 5 KS: KS:Hindu Religion 14- 3 KS: African Tribal Religions 12- 6 KS: Mystisium (Eastern) 16- 3 KS: Falconry 12- 6 KS: Seduction 15- 3 KS: Narcotics 13- 1 Lockpicking 8- 9 Navigation 16- 3 Oratory 12- 3 Paramedics 13- 7 Persuasion 14- 2 PS: Officer 11- 5 PS: Explorer 14- 3 PS: Secret Agent 12- 3 PS: Auther 12- 3 PS: Artist 12- 4 PS: Hypnotist 13- 5 Riding 14- 5 Seduction 13- 3 Shadowing 13- 20 +2 Overall 3 Sleight Of Hand 13- 5 Stealth 14- 5 Streetwise 13- 6 Survival (Mountain) 15- 6 Survival (Tropical Forests, Tropical Plains) 15- 4 Survival (Desert) 14- 1 Tactics 8- 3 Tracking 13- 5 Trading 13- 4 WF: Small Arms, Blades, Lances 2 WF: Indian Weapons: Blades, Staffs 1 Weaponsmith 8- Total Powers & Skill Cost: 384 Total Cost: 500 200+ Disadvantages 5 Hunted: Moslim Death Sentence for entering Mecca 8- (Less Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish) 0 Normal Characteristic Maxima 5 Age: 40+ 10 Psychological Limitation: (Common, Moderate) Notes: Addicted to aclohal and most drugs at one time or another 10 Psychological Limitation: (Common, Moderate) Notes: Obsession with Seduction. 5 Psychological Limitation: (Uncommon, Moderate) Notes: Disregard for military protocol 5 Psychological Limitation: (Uncommon, Moderate) Notes: Compulsive interest in the occult and religion 5 Reputation: As a 'rake', mostly be cockled officers, 11- (Known Only To A Small Group) Notes: Also not suitable to deal with British gentrey 5 Custom Disadvantage: Illness Notes: During long periods, Burton was hampered by maleria and other tropical illnesses and infections. 10 Reputation: Rep with other officers as 'going native', not maintaining military bearing, 11- (Extreme; Known Only To A Small Group) 5 Rivalry: Professional (other officers and agents strongly resented Burtons competence and success, try to sabatoge his missions), Rival is Less Powerful, Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival, Rival Aware of Rivalry, Custom Adder Notes: This is strong enough to count as a 5 pt disadvantage. It prevented his promotion and advancement 235 Experience Points Total Disadvantage Points: 500 Background/History: Personality/Motivation: Quote: Powers/Tactics: Hypnotism represnted the 'Realistic' Hypnotism from Mentalist Book. I cannot justify the cinamatic version, but Burton probably knows how to improve/augment his Hypnotism using drugs and opiates. Campaign Use: One of the best linguests in history. World class (top 5 in world in his time) in Sword Fighting, Disguise, Ethnologist (culture knowledges), Orientalist (Area knwledges) , explorer (navigation), and interest in seduction. (roughly 17+ skill rolls) Legendary skill in acting (disguise), climbing (mountain and urban), conversation (espiange), religious knowledges, and mountaineering. (roughly 16+ skill rolls) Highly skilled as a Hypnotist (roughly 15+) and other skills There is a 2nd page coming, it got seperated by the board being moderated re-entered character below, same char, making better use of skill enhancers and skill levels brining the cost down to 470 character points.

Duplicute post, deleted

Re: Space Warfare II - Stealth Reconsidered I assume your trying to approach an enemy without being detected. I dont think there are any long term solutions without resorting to Sci-Fi solutions. But there can be short term solutions. But most of them require knowing where the enemy is located in advance. Reflected light can be reduced by painting the ship with absorbant colors, ie black. That will reduce the visual reflection to about 1%, still detectable when you get close enough. Visual light will be re-radiated as IR light, and the internal heat of the ship will also radiate as IR heat. Most forms of engines will both raise the heat of the ship and leave a trail of hot gas/plasma/ions behind that are also detectable, so most of the approach to the enemy needs to be coasting at a high speed. 1) mount a probe off the bow (in the direction of the enemy), and use it to spray a cold mist of H2. Some of the IR photons will go straight through, but some will hit the H2, and be re-radiated and a cooler frequency at random directions. The result could mask probably 95-98% of the IR signature, untill the H2 runs out. 2) since it is Sfi-Fi, use a force field in front of the ship that is opaque to photons, then no reflected light or IR signature. 3) arrive on the far side of the sun from the target. Dive past the sun and approach from the sun side of the target, perferably with the sun directly behind or slight offset. I dont think any IR detection system could pick out your appraoch aiming directely into the sun. The ship will still pass in front of distant objects as it closes. For a small fast ship that is a little careful in its approach, this is not a very big problem. For a big ship or ship making slow approach, this will eventurally revield the ship, but not quickly. The enemy is also moving and that will occasionally cause stars to be occluded. So the enemy would have to keep a 360 watch and use powerful computers over time, to identify several times that the approaching ship occuded stars to prove it is there and estimate its course. So if the approaching ship can approach in days, it will probably not be found this way, but if it takes months, it will be found. All the electrical motors on the ship radiate an EM signature. So every toaster, electric razor and electric watch all contribute some to the ships EM signature. But I presume the power source (and the electrical Generators off the power source) and drive engines cause most of the radiation EM. Unless a Sci-Fi force field can block it, at some point, it can be detected. So powering off most electronics will be required during approach So my point is that an approaching ship is not invisable, but if it can make ita approach in a couple of days (instead of months), it should be able to get within several hours of a target or closer before detection. At some point it will be detected, but it may already be in long weapon range. Note that this was assuming a coasting ship. It will probably still need to slow down unless it is only making one pass.

I was trying Google Earth as a GM tool and think it has promise. In my case the villain was going to attack a large church in Hudson City. So I used pictures of St John’s Cathedral in NY and printed out pictures for an overview, and to show ingress and egress routes. It worked very well and made my presentation more “Professional”, and cuts down on a lot of description and misunderstandings. (FYI Google Earth is free and takes about 90 sec to install) Would work best if the computer (w/internet access) is near the gaming area, or if you can print out pictures in color. Slight disadvantage is the default for Google is to shift gradually from overhead view to a street level view as you zoom in, so just then you are getting close enough, to worry about scale, and how far a person could run, you lose your overhead view. Also it only shows outside views so it does not help with floor plans. Could also be used for Pulp Heroes for locations that don’t change much, like Effal Tower, Grand Canyon, or Taj Mahal. A gaming tool might be a table like this of special and typical locations that you could hyperlink of clip and paste into Google earth or other mapping program. Other examples could be generic strip mall, rich coastal mansion, sprawling corporate HQ, oil refinery, or other places they are common plot locations for a champions or Dark hero’s campaign. These are some locations I am including so you can test the idea. You should be able to clip these locations (not the names) and paste them into the Google Earth – search – fly to box and have it jump to there. You may need to zoom in, since I don’t see how to paste the elevation in. You can then rotate the view to get the desired viewing angle. St Johns Cathedral 40.80333, -73.96198 Generic Warehouse 40.69826, -73.97071 Large Cemetery 40.88902, -73.87321 Generic NY apartments 40.77945, -73.94908