New type of Undead for GURPS
Steven Smith
One comment: There is a "psycho-killer" character in GURPS Horror, which covers
the genre. I've used it, and it works pretty well.
Another note, I'm not sure how you got a basic speed of 9.75 for the living
slasher(DX: 11 HT: 17 = 28/4 = 7), and the undead version would
have DX: 12 / HT: 21 = 33/4 = 8.25. Given the slow, never running nature of
these guys in the movies, I'd up your Decreased Move from -2 to maybe -4, giving
them a top speed of 4. Which lets folks outrun them until they inevitably twist
their ankles...
(all but the stuff related to their speed snipped)
> ATTRIBUTES (220)
> (these are typical attributes for an undead slasher. The slasher would have
> had these same statistics when he was alive)
>
> ST: 17 (100)
> DX: 11 (10)
> IQ: 11 (10)
> HT: 17 (100)
>
> Speed: 9.75
> Move: 9
> Dodge: 9
>
> Height: 6'4"
> Weight: 240 lbs (all muscle)
> ____________________
>
> ATTRIBUTE MODIFIERS (130)
>
> ST: +5 (60)
> DX: +1 (10)
> IQ: +1 (10)
> HT: +4 (50)
>
> Reduced Move -2 (-10)
>
Steve
CSInnes
cancelled this earlier post]
I just got a copy of GURPS:Undead. It is an excellent book, if a bit
expensive.
One type of undead it doesn't mention though is the undead serial killer
like Jason Vorhees from "Friday the 13th", Micheal Myers from "Halloween"
(I'm not sure if the Micheal Myers character is supposed to be undead, but
he should be considering the amount of damage he took) and the Maniac Cop
from "Maniac Cop".
The Revenent template comes closest to matching this type of undead, but
doesn't quite capture the nature of these creatures. Here is a character
description I have written which describes a generic type of undead serial
killer. Some of the statistics may be incomplete or inaccurate as I do not
have all the recommended GURPS supplements. I also made up a few
Advantages/Disadvantages.
Comments anyone?
___________________
** The Undead Slasher (420 points) **
DESCRIPTIOM
The Slasher is the main protagonist of the "Slasher" sub-genre of horror
films, whose heyday was the 1980's. The slasher is an insane psychopath
driven to coldly and methodically murder specific people -- as well as
anyone else who gets in his way.
At the end of the movie the slasher is always killed. Yet the producers
might decide to produce a sequel. As a plot device, they might decide the
Slasher returns from the grave as an unliving corpse. The Slasher has now
become the Undead Slasher, free to continue his task.
The undead slasher is a frightening figure -- superhumanly strong,
unspeaking and utterly implacable. His victims can outrun him, but he is
untiring and will wear them down eventually. He can take an incredible
amount of damage before being destroyed. But destroyed he normally is --
but not before he has inflicted a substantial amount of damage.
A PC cannot normally be an undead slasher -- undead slashers are totally
evil, insane and complete loners.
____________________
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND EQUIPMENT
While alive, the slasher was invariably a very powerfully built man
possessing extraordinary strength. In undeath, he appears much the same,
except his face and body are usually decayed and mutilated.
The slasher needs little in the way of equipment. He typically wears
distinctive clothing, often including a mask. He also carries one or two
edged weapons. That's all the equipment he needs.
____________________
ORIGIN
Force of Will. The slasher is normally animated by a combination of
willpower, insanity and the driving need to destroy his victims. This
combination is very rare, meaning there will only ever be very few of these
beings.
____________________
FORM
Corporeal
____________________
MOTIVATION
The slasher is primarily a restless type of undead. However, he also
possesses considerable free will and a will to exist. If he succeeds in his
self-appointed mission or is definitively thwarted, he may extend his
vendetta to encompass a much wider group of people. This ensures he can
continue to exist and can rise again for the sequel.
____________________
ATTRIBUTES (220)
(these are typical attributes for an undead slasher. The slasher would have
had these same statistics when he was alive)
ST: 17 (100)
DX: 11 (10)
IQ: 11 (10)
HT: 17 (100)
Speed: 9.75
Move: 9
Dodge: 9
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 240 lbs (all muscle)
____________________
ATTRIBUTE MODIFIERS (130)
ST: +5 (60)
DX: +1 (10)
IQ: +1 (10)
HT: +4 (50)
____________________
SKILLS (65)
Area Knowledge-11 (1)
Brawling-12 (2)
Climbing-12 (2)
Group Skill Bonus in all Hand-to-Hand Weapons-12 (12)
Group Skill Bonus in all Missile Weapons-12 (12)
Group Skill Bonus in all Thrown Weapon-12 (12)
Jumping-12 (4)
Stealth-13 (8)
Swimming-12 (2)
Throwing-11 (4)
Tracking-13 (6)
____________________
ADVANTAGES (205)
Doesn't Breath (20)
Doesn't Eat or Drink (10)
High Pain Threshold (10)
Immunity to Disease (10)
Immunity to Poison (15)
Injury Tolerance (No Blood) (10)
Night Vision (10)
Single-Minded (5)
Temperature Tolerance (10)
Unaging (15)
____________________
Emotionless (15)
An enhanced version of "Imperturbable". This reflects the fact that the
slasher is almost emotionless, and hence not normally subject to the
weaknesses that human emotions brings. He can still be affected by
emotion-based psionic or magical attacks, but all such attacks are at a -2
penalty.
____________________
Seeker (10)
The slasher can usually sense the location of his next victim.
___________________
Rise from the Dead (40)
The slasher is impossible to completely destroy. There is always the
possibly that he will rise from the dead yet again to inflict more havoc.
This will alway take at least one year.
When he does rise from the dead, assume he has the same attributes as
before. He will often appear slightly more decayed and mutilated. In
addition, if a hidden weakness was used to destroy him, then he will have a
new weakness (see Disadvantages).
___________________
Uncanny Knowledge of Machinery (25)
If the slasher comes across a piece of machinery that will enable him to
either:
(a) pursue his victims more effectively;
(b) slow his victims down;
(c) inflict a gruesome, imaginative death on the next person unfortunate
enough to get in his way;
then the slasher will usually, somehow, know how to operate it.
____________________
DISADVANTAGES (-200)
Appearance (Monstrous) (-25)
Loner (-5)
Mute (-25)
Nocturnal (-10) (the slasher rests during the day)
No Sense of Smell/Taste (-10)
Obsession (Kill People) (-15)
Reduced Move -2 (-10)
Social Stigma (Dead) (-20)
Sterile (-10)
Stubborness (-5)
Unhealing (heals normally while resting during the day) (-20)
_________________
Secret Weakness (-25)
The slasher normally has some hidden weakness. This weakness will either
paralyse him for a few rounds, or else will enable the characters to destroy
him (at least until he rises from the dead for the sequel).
This weakness will not be easy to discover. Furthermore it will only work
once ever. But, luckily for the heroes, each time the slasher rises from
dead he will acquire a new, different weakness.
_________________
Prefers Melee Combat (-20)
The slasher prefers killing his victims in close quarters, using either his
bare hands or whatever sharp implements come to hand (usually his trademark
weapon, see Quirks). If absolutely necessary, he may use thrown weapons or
bows, crossbows, etc. However he will almost never use firearms, beam
weapons or explosive (although he can use them effectively if necessary).
____________________
QUIRKS AND TRAITS
Wears Distinctive Clothing
Carries a Trademark Weapon (nearly always an edged melee weapon, such as a
machete or axe)
Cannot be turned by True Faith
Untiring, but cannot use Fatigue for special moves
____________________
VARIANTS
* Some of these undead may only operate for a few days, or only one day,
during the year. These days often coincide with the anniversary of their
death or with a day of special occult significance. This would be worth a
significant penalty.
* Although undead slashers are normally instantly recognizable as being
dead, some may be able to pass for being alive. These variants can also
often talk (unlike most of their kind, who are completely mute).
* Most of these undead are completely evil, hunting down and killing
innocent people. Some may become vigilentes hunting down and killing
violent criminals. This is still evil, however. It is also possible for
them to have goals/obsessions which don't involve killing people -- however
they will still be likely to kill anyone who get's in their way.
* Undead slashers may occasionally form alliances, either with fellow
supernatural creatures, with violent criminals or with occultists. Due to
their essential loner nature, though, these alliances normally don't last
very long.
====================
cinne...@my-dejanews.com
Steven Smith wrote in message <366E9857...@midway.uchicago.edu>...
>
>
>One comment: There is a "psycho-killer" character in GURPS Horror.....
>
Oh well. I hope my version comes close to the GURPS Horror one.
>Another note, I'm not sure how you got a basic speed of 9.75 for the living
>slasher(DX: 11 HT: 17 = 28/4 = 7), and the undead version would
>have DX: 12 / HT: 21 = 33/4 = 8.25. Given the slow, never running nature
of
>these guys in the movies, I'd up your Decreased Move from -2 to maybe -4,
giving
>them a top speed of 4. Which lets folks outrun them until they inevitably
twist
>their ankles...
>
Very good idea. I made that mistake by somehow managing to work out that
17+11=39.
I think I'll also have to give a Decreased Dodge (if such a thing is possible)
while I'm at it. BTW I gave the DX and INT bonuses because these guys
seldom seem to slip up or miss a beat in the movies.
I hope that no-one minds me posting this character description -- it is a
bit long (256 lines/8 kb) but I have seen other long posts in rec.games.frp,
and a bit of original material makes the group more interesting (I hope). I
know it is not a good idea to post really long material (such a scenarios) --
that's what web-sites are for.
Rereading GURPS Undead I noticed the Necrophilia disadvantage. I thought
this was very original. A character with this disadvantage could be a lot
of (depraved) fun to play. It reminds me of this character I saw in this
Italian zombie movie. He was an undertaker with an attraction to female
corpses, the more decayed the better. A female character was (for some
reason) attracted to him, so he got her to play dead for him! Of course
things got much hairier when his other girlfriends started moving around.
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Dr Kromm
> Rereading GURPS Undead I noticed the Necrophilia disadvantage. I thought
> this was very original. A character with this disadvantage could be a lot
> of (depraved) fun to play. It reminds me of this character I saw in this
> Italian zombie movie. He was an undertaker with an attraction to female
> corpses, the more decayed the better. A female character was (for some
> reason) attracted to him, so he got her to play dead for him! Of course
> things got much hairier when his other girlfriends started moving around.
You might also like _Kissed_ (Stopkewitch, 1996) and _Cemetery Man_ (Soavi,
1995).
Kromm.
--
Sean M. Punch o E-mail: o 4122 rue Rivard
(a.k.a. Dr Kromm) | At SJG: kr...@io.com | Montreal, Quebec
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GURPS Line Editor | WWW: | Home: (514) 288-9600
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SD Anderson
>> One comment: There is a "psycho-killer" character in GURPS
>> Horror.....
> Oh well. I hope my version comes close to the GURPS Horror
> one.
There's also the "Human Vampire" template in BloodTypes. This
character comes with some very expensive disads in the 'racial'
package, effectively costing -50 points. Makes a '100 point'
character a 150 pointer etc.