I got bored at work so I drew this dungeon using tiles from the 4″ Hex Geomorphs. The nice thing about hand drawing them is it allowed me to see that I could come up with a few new tiles that will increase the modular construction of the dungeons. This is only like my second time trying the cross hatch fill that is really popular these days. I still need more practice at it.
I made a portrait and landscape versions of the hex grid in Adobe Illustrator and you can download the pdf HERE
Last time I discussed, in my own disorganised way, my thoughts on 7″ hex tiles. Now I’m going to delve into the 4″ hex tile. As I’ve stated a few times before the thought first came to me when I saw the Tabletop Hex Terrain Toolkit on Kickstarter. This is going to be a great tool for making some wonderful terrain for both RPG’s and Wargames. However the scale is just slightly off for my tastes (as discussed here). I may eventually redesign the tool for use with proper one inch horizontal hexes, until then I am making four inch tiles to use for my GURPS Dungeon Fantasy games.
The 4″ Tiles can only support single and double width corridors (1 hex = 3′) compared to the three widths in the 7″ tiles. Also the number of connections is reduced dramatically to the four examples in the following image, compared to the 9 images for 7″ tiles.
Corridor options
Although there are fewer options I don’t think the four inch tiles are inferior to the seven inch. The four inch tiles will certainly allow for more dense dungeons, and with a bit of thought and planning will be able to offer some very complex designs. Also you can make any Hex Dungeon look just like any Square dungeon. All it takes is manipulating the width of the horizontal corridors. If the corridors are the same width they will not match up when a horizontal corridor attaches to a vertical corridor. The horizontal corridor will be too wide.
Both horizontal and vertical corridors are the same width, the horizontal is too wide
The horizontal corridor is now slightly smaller than the vertical. H: 3.43, V: 3.9
I can live with this slight alteration as it now gives me more options when designing. I can now have corridors that turn at 90° just like you would with a square tiled dungeon.
90° left hand turn
Single width corridors and room tiles, just a fraction of the possibilities
An example of what can be made 1 hex = 3′ (1 meter)
What I like from the example above is how at any given time the orientation of the dungeon can turn 60° giving the dungeon a more natural feel. If you’re digging a dungeon why would you limit yourself to a grid? Also once you add the double width corridors your increasing your options and complexity. I’ll be adding more as I have time.
I’ve got plans to make full 3D dungeons using the 4 inch tiles and plaster molds such as those you can get from Hirst Arts, Linka World, and 4bot Industries. The issue is I will have to make a lot of custom pieces and custom molds so I’m going to be shelving this project for the mean time.
I think switching from the 7″ to the 4″ tiles was the right choice for me. When I get time I will go ahead and place the 30+ 7″ colour tiles I’ve already made if anyone is interested in trying them out. I’ll do the same for the 4″ but not until I get a large amount ready.
Pro
Con
In my last post I gave a brief overview of how my different hex dungeon maps evolved. This time I just want to discuss briefly on some hex maps but mostly the 7 inch hex tile. There are two ways to place a hex onto a map. Vertical and Horizontal sometimes referred to Flat to Flat and Point to Point. Now if you are using your map for miniatures the standard movement is 1 inch for the base. If you want to the distance from top of your tile to the bottom of the tile to be 1 inch this means you have two different possible sizes for your hex. However most people would just stick with the 1 inch distance flat to flat as that will perfectly allow even miniatures with round bases to fit within the entirety of the hex. Not to mention that a 1 inch Vertical hex tile is the industry standard for miniature bases.
I’ve heard some people refer to them the opposite way but I view it as the direction of travel in a straight line via the flat edge. Very few games that I can recall use the Horizontal grid. I’ve mostly seen older wargames that use counters, Star Maps (although can use both), and probably most recognised in the gaming community Icosahedral World Maps. I’m sure I’m missing a few.
icosahedral world map using Horizontal Hex Grid
However if your playing with miniatures on a battle map you really want to have a facing edge. Also I play GURPS which uses Vertical Hexes if players want to use battle maps. So that narrowed my choices down to, well, one.
Now in my previous posts I’ve mentioned how I used hex grids on square mats and the problems that can lead to as you need duplicate maps for each directions as each square would have half hexes and quarter hexes. It really wasn’t ideal.
1) Square tile, hex grid
2) Rooms cut to fit, hex grid
3) Flower Tiles
4) Hex Tiles
I did experiment with Flower Tiles. I liked Flower Tiles as they are interlocking but you would require a larger number of varied tiles to make a proper system and it was just too much. I wanted something simpler.
Flower Tiles
Flower Tiles interlocking
Then I came across the idea, after discussions with Andorax (a World Works Games forum user), to use Hex Tiles. This allowed me to rotate the hexes in any direction and have all the tiles line up. The only thing we disagreed on was whether to use Horizontal or Vertical. I prefer the Vertical so I went with that.
There is a great blog post by Phil Wright “Mapping with Master Hexes” where he goes into in depth detail about how to choose the proper tile size. I’d like to say I did the same thing but honestly I just got lucky. I wanted to fit a tile on a sheet of paper with as little waste so for A4 or US 8.5×11 that ended up being a 7″ Vertical Tile. I’ve made dozens of these tiles and even printed out a few on good quality photo paper. Most Wargames are done in 6 inch sections however that just won’t work with a 6 inch hex tile. As with a square tile the 6 inch hex tile has too many irregularities for it to be functional. 4″, 7″ are best. you could use 10″ and 13″ but that is starting to get a bit large for me. 5″ hexes would also be feasible but it personally did not suit me.
7″ Vertical Hex tile made in Campaign Cartographer 3
120° Corridor
The Horizontal corridor is not as wide as the Vertical corridor
Now I refused to be confined to all my corridors turning at 60° and 120°. However because of the 120° angle of the outer edges it means that the corridors meet at a slant. If the walls are all the same, then the walls cutting across the angle wouldn’t match up with the walls that hit it flat on. So this means all horizontal, or cross cutting would be a better term, corridors have to be slightly smaller. I’m crap at maths, I’m a visual guy so I kept scaling until it looked right. It is roughly 13-15% difference in size depending on the width of the corridors.
First off I should clarify that in GURPS each hex is 3 feet. Which is about the area that a normal human would occupy. So with the seven inch tiles it allowed me to have 3′, 6′, and 9′ corridors and with the 7 inch tile I could off an array of options of how the corridors connect.
Corridor connecting guide for 7 inch tiles
I also experimented on how to use a standard dungeon map and force it onto the 7 inch tiles. This takes away modularity but makes for some fun map tiles that only work for a specific map.
This map was randomly generated using http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/dungeon/ then placed into multiple 7 inch battle tiles
How a few tiles repeated over and over can create a maze.
Pro’s and Con’s of the 7″ Tiles
Pro
Con
However with my purchase of Kickstarter for Tabletop Hex Terrain I’ve started to think about moving to smaller 4 inch hex tiles. However not just flat tiles but full three dimensional dungeons. This idea was reinforced when the Hexomorfo System was released. Plus 4 inch tiles would allow me to fit the wargaming niche as well because I could build them in one foot sections. However 4 inch battle tiles is a discussion for another post.
LINKS
Game Dev “Vertical vs. Horizontal”
Mapping with Master Hexes by Phil Wright. This is a great blog post and gets more indepth than I did for the actual reason for the size of my tiles.
Bat in the Attic “Mapping with Hexes”
Hexagon Measurement Calculator
If you read back through the blog you can see my slow (very slow) transition of how I make my geomorphs. I started with just making the rooms and corridors and cutting them out at the wall. Looks good, you can do a lot with it, however you need to make separate vertical and horizontal parts for each option. Not very efficient.
October 2008
2008 using Dungeon Siege textures, these are “Flower Hex” tiles
Then after several discussions with people I know, one of which was Andorax, from the World Works Games forums (now defunct). The idea of making the tiles Hexagonal in shape that way you can rotate them in any direction without the need to make Vertical and Horizontal versions for each tile.
March 2009
March 2009
I made the tiles 7 inches from flat side to flat side to reduce the paper waste. One of these hexes would fit on either A4 or US 8.5×11 sheet of paper. If your using high quality photo paper then you really don’t want to be throwing a bunch of it away. The other nice thing about the 7 inch tile was you could have single (3′), double, and triple width corridors giving you a varied dungeon. Now to connect the walls together when you’re running them at a 60° turn means that the horizontal corridor has to be slightly smaller for the walls to match up at the edge. This way you can place your 4 way cross roads and all four corridors will match up to the next tile no matter how you rotate them. Plus you then don’t have to be confined to just 60° turns as I’ve seen many people do.
I also played around with how to make 3D Hex Dungeons
January 2008
January 2008
2009-2010
2009-2010
These were overly complex but a good start. Unfortunately I no longer have the files for these. Then last November during my routine searches for Hex Maps and Hex Dungeons I found the Kickstarter for Tabletop Hex Terrain. You can read my thoughts about it in the blog post linked above. I now have the Hex jigs but I think I’m going to scale them up to get a true 1″ hex and have them laser cut. I can still use the original Hex Jigs for Battletech and Mechwarrior: Dark Age.
Then in December the Hexomorfo System came out using the same conclusions I was using (but only using vertical corridors not horizontal as well) but the smaller scaled 4″ tiles, a bit like the Hex Jig that I discussed in November. My only issue with the 4″ tiles is you can not have triple wide corridors without needing four hexes for the length of two that you would need for single or double wide. I had considered going to 6″ tiles but it would be bulky for the 3D version although easier to build using Hirst Arts bricks. However I’m going to have to custom make 1″ hex tiles for the Hirst Arts as Bruce doesn’t seem interested in making any.
So now I’m currently making tiles for the 4″ system and I’m hoping to get about 100-150 done before experimenting with the 3D tiles. I’ll keep posting updates when I reach them.
“Scavengers are ugly, pathetic creatures who survive off of carrion and corpses too diseased to attract any other carnivores. I did once meet a raggedy fellow who claimed that he had trained one of the beasts to bring him large rats to eat, but I’m sure the story is utter nonsense.”
— Abd al-Hazir
Scavengers are ugly creatures who survive off of carrion and corpses too diseased to attract any other carnivores. Unlike most carnivores of this type however, they are extremely aggressive and will not hesitate to attack those unfortunate enough to encounter them.
Scavengers have powerful legs which they use for swift springing attacks, striking at vulnerable faces and throats. Their anatomy bears a striking resemblance to that of the leapers of the Aranoch desert, and thus, many researchers classify the two groups as part of the same family of creatures.
Scavengers are more dangerous than they seem. They move with blinding speed and often swarm their prey with their numbers. They make difficult targets due to their speed, their constant moving, and their ability to burrow.
ST: 7 HP: 10 Speed:6.25
DX: 12 Will: 6 Move:6
IQ: 6 Per: 8
HT: 11 FP: 11 SM:-2
Dodge: 9 Parry: 9 DR: 1
Attack (Skill or Resistance): Claws: 1d-4 cut; Bite 1d-4 cut
Traits: Acute Hearing 3; Acute Vision 3; Animal (Bestial, Cannot Speak, Hidebound, No Fine Manipulators); Appearance (Hideous); Claws (sharp); Damage Resistance 1; Fur; Night Vision 3; Super Jump 1; Teeth (sharp); Tunneling (Tunneling Move +4)
Skills: Brawling-12; Jumping-15; Running-12; Stealth-12; Swimming-11
Class: Dire
Notes:Unwilling to negotiate. Truly evil
A standing Super Jump is 1yd, 1ft. High Jump: 1yd, 2ft, 3in, In-Air Speed: 5.85 yd/s
The Khazra were originally human, part of the Umbaru race found in the thick Torajan Jungles in the Teganze region of Sanctuary’s eastern continent. During the Mage Clan Wars a race of sorcerers known as the Vizjerei required an army using demon-possessed victims, and the peaceful Umbaru clans seemed to fit the Vizjerei’s needs. To fight off the Vizjerei the Umbaru captured a wizard to help them not only gain control over their transformed clan mates, but to have themselves transformed as well in order to fully drive the Vizjerei out of the Teganze. Their strategy worked, but it was not without its price. They found themselves bound in servitude to the demon Zagraal in exchange for their cursed power. They became furious marauders, driven to raid villages and caravans to sate their bloodlust and procure sacrificial victims for their demonic master. This is also when they became known as khazra, which roughly translates as “demon” or “devil” in the Umbaru tongue.
After years of this terror, their previous brothers, the Umbaru of the lower Teganze, sent their Witch Doctors to eradicate the khazra’s threat to the region. Filled with otherworldly power, the Witch Doctors cut a swath of destruction through the khazra until they confronted Zagraal himself. In a now-legendary battle, the valiant heroes fought to the last man before finally bringing Zagraal down.
The khazra continued to wage war on humanity, but without a source of demonic power to draw from, their strength diminished.
Khazra choose from the following templates
Blood Clan
Death Clan
Fire Clan
Flesh Clan
Hell Clan
Ice Clan
Moon Clan
Night Clan
Stone Clan
Attribute Modifiers: ST+2; DX+1; IQ-2; HT+1
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will-1
Advantages: Acute Hearing 1; Claws (Hooves); Damage Resistance 1; Perfect Balance; Striker (Crushing, Horns); Teeth (blunt)
Disadvantages: Appearance (Hideous); Bad Smell; Bad Temper (12 or less); Bestial; Bloodlust (12 or less); Disturbing Voice; Fanaticism (demon Zagraal); Intolerance (one group, Humans); Social Stigma (Monster); Stubbornness
Perks: Fur
Features: Affected by Pentagram; Leg, foot, and head armor isn’t interchangeable with human armor. Tail (neither a manipulator nor enough of a problem to interfere with
armor).
Source: Diablo I – III
Attributes
ST 17 HP 22 Basic Speed 6
DX 13 Will 10 Basic Move 7
IQ 10 Per 12
HT 13 FP 13 SM +1
Dodge 9 +0 Parry 9 +0 DR: 0+1
Block 7+0
MELEE Attacks
Brawling Punch (13): 1d+1 cr at reach C, 1.
Brawling• Bite (13): 1d+1 cratreach C, 1
Brawling• Kick (li): 1d+3 cr at reach C, 1.
Poleaxe • Axe (17): 3d+3 cut at reach 2. 3*•
Poleaxe • Hammer (17): 3d+3 cr at reach 2. 3*•
Striker (Crushing) (13): 1d+3 a at reach C.
Traits
Barbarian (Dungeon Fantasy).
Skills
Animal Handling quines—10; Brawling—i 3; Camouflage—14; Climbing—i 3; Disguise/TL3 (Animals)—8; Fishing—16; Forced Entry—13; Hiking—12; Intimidation—12; Lifting—12; Mimicry (Animal Sounds)—12; Naturalist Earth)—12; Navigation/TL3 (Land—l 7; Observation—1 1; Polearm—1 7; Running—12; Spear Thrower—i 4; Stealth—i 3; Survival Plains)—i 5; Swimming—i 3; Tracking—i 5; Weather Sense—i 0; Wrestling—i 3.
The Burning Dead are skeletons whos bones are burning constantly. Anyone touching the aura or within close combat will take damage. This includes weapons striking the Burning Dead. If that wasn’t bad enough once the Burning Dead reach 0 HP they will explode causing burning damage and hot bone fragments. One vulnerability is they can not be equipped with any armor as it interferes with their exploding ability when they die. Another vulnerability is water which causes considerable damage. Weapons they use must not contain combustible items and as such most weapons are steel or iron with nothing special on the grips and are usually heavily damaged from the constant heat. Soft metals should not be used either.
They have a considerable resistance to heat and fire which allows them to be placed in groups without damaging each other.
Attribute Modifiers: ST-1; DX+2; IQ-2
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Basic Speed+1
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; DR 2; DR: 10 (Limited Heat/Fire); Flaming Bite (Burning Attack); High Pain Threshold; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards; Immunity (All mind control); Innate Attack: Flaming Aura [13]; Innate Attack: Explodes on Death [9]; Indomitable; Injury Tolerance (No Blood, No Brain, No Eyes,
No Vitals, Unliving); Single-Minded; Temperature Tolerance 10; Unaging; Unfazeable; Vacuum Support
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous; Universal, +25%); Automaton; Cannot Learn; Dependency (Mana; common, constantly); Fragile (Brittle); Fragile (Unnatural);
Mute; No Sense of Smell/Taste; Reprogrammable; Skinny; Social Stigma (Dead); Unhealing (Total); Vulnerability (Crushing Attacks; x2); Weakness: Water (1d per minute) Occasional; Wealth (Dead Broke)
Quirks: Cannot Float; Sexless
Features: Affected by Control Zombie, Pentagram, and Turn Zombie; No mental skills; Skull has only 2 total DR
Flaming Aura: Innate Attack: 1D burn (Cyclic: 1 sec +100%, Aura +80%, Melee Attack: Reach C -30%) [13]
Explodes on Death: Innate Attack: 2D-3 burn (Incendiary +10%, Explosion: 1 +50%, Fragmentation (Hot Fragments) +15%; Trigger: Common (on death) -20%) [9]. Those caught within 2 yards will take 2d-3 Burn damage in the same hex, 2d-3/3 for 1 hex away, and 2d-3/6 points of damage 2 yards away. Fragmentation Hot Fragments: Cyclic (Six 10-second cycles) is 5 yards and taking 1d(0.2) burn damage if hit.
Source: Magic [152], Diablo I & II
The Plague Bearer looks no different from other Zombies with the exception of what appear to be fresh puss filled boils on their body. When they touch exposed flesh they transfer a deadly disease to their victims. This Plague is magical in nature and can only be caught by direct contact from the original host (the Plague Bearer) material. So an individual who has caught the plague can not spread it to another person. However touching any of the original material will infect a person. Whether it is from direct contact from the Plague Bearer or from accidentally touching the remains of the Plague Bearer such as its corpse (you must burn the corpse to make it free from containment), or even by cleaning off your equipment after battling one. One Plague Bearer shuffling through a town could infect anywhere from 5-50 victims. Thankfully they are easy to spot/smell.
Attribute Modifiers: ST +1 [10]; IQ -3 [-60];
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: HP +5 [10]
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; High Pain Threshold; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards; Immunity (All Mind Control); Innate Attack [6]; Indomitable; Injury Tolerance (No Blood); Single-Minded; Temperature Tolerance 10; Unaging; Unfazeable
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous; Universal); Bad Smell (Reek of the Grave); Cannot Learn; Disturbing Voice; Fragile (Unnatural); No Sense of Smell/Taste; Reprogrammable; Social Stigma (Dead); Unhealing (Total); Wealth (Dead Broke)
Skills: Brawling 10 (DX+0, 1), [B182]
Plague Touch: Innate Attack: 1D tox (Cyclic: 1 sec +100%, Contact Agent (no AoE) -30%, Resistible: HT-2 -20%) [6]
Source: GURPS Magic [152], Diablo II
Back in September of this year Steve Jackson Games ran a contest for a Dungeon Fantasy Character Backstory, the winner was randomly chosen. Sadly I didn’t win but it did give me a great idea for a character.
While hunting and foraging in the forested foothills of The Neverending Rise, Falddinor came upon an old human man practicing Martial Arts. Falddinor watched the old man and learned the forms in secret until he was found out by the old master. Falddinor was eventually accepted as a disciple and spent fifteen years learning the art of the Five Element Sword, the Eight Diagram Sword Technique and the Bāguà zhǎng style. He fights predominantly with dual weapons. He now wanders the world of “Jianghu” in search of spiritual knowledge, physical challenge, and to uphold righteousness.
Falddinor has long dark green hair which he braids a dart at the end of, and bright green eyes. He is lean and muscular with a hawkish nose. He carries a pair of antler hook swords as his preferred weapon, uses Deerhorn Knives in close quarters, a long knife strapped sideways across the small of his back and “Scholars Pens” hidden in his sleeves. Although skilled with a bow he does not use them. He prefers loose clothing that allows him to move freely but not so baggy that it will hinder his movement.
He is curious to the point of being annoying, loves to talk about anything and everything and appreciates a good joke even if the joke is on him. He is respectful to those he admires and will mercilessly tease those he does not. When asked what people think of Falddinor “Laughing Wind” the most common response is you either love him or hate him.
The following is Falddinor Pinebrook at a medium level of technique. This 250 point version does not take into account him learning the higher techniques.
Miniature made with https://www.heroforge.com/
Falddinor Pinebrook Wood Elf (250 points)
Attributes
ST 10 HP 10 Basic Speed 7.25
DX 17 Will 11 Basic Move 9
IQ 10 Per 10
HT 12 FP 12 SM 0
Dodge 10 +0 Parry 11 +0 DR: 0
Block 9 +0
MELEE Attacks
Bite (17): 1d-3 cr at reach C.
Deer Antlers • Knife (19): 1d-1 cut at reach C ([5, 7]).
Deer Antlers • Main-gauche (15): 1d-1 cut at reach C ([5, 7]).
Hook Sword • Hilt punch (17): 1d-2 cut at reach C ([4, 5]).
Hook Sword • Swing (17): 1d+1 cr at reach 1 ([5]).
Hook Sword • Thrust (17): 1d-1 cr at reach 1.
Hook Sword • Hook (17): 1d-4 cut at reach 1 ([3, 7]).
Karate • Punch (17): 1d-2 cr at reach C.
Karate • Kick (15): 1d-1 cr at reach C,1.
Long Knife • Knife Swing (19): 1d-1 cut at reach C, 1.
Long Knife • Knife Thrust (19): 1d-2 imp at reach C, 1.
Long Knife • Shortsword Swing (15): 1d-1 cut at reach 1.
Long Knife • Shortsword Thrust (15): 1d-2 imp at reach C, 1.
RANGED Attacks
Throwing Dart (14): 1d-2 imp, ACC of 1, range of 25 / 35, ROF of 1.
Traits
Martial Artist (Dungeon Fantasy); Wood Elf (Dungeon Fantasy).
Skills
Acrobatics–16; Blind Fighting–10; Body Control–12; Breath Control–13; Broadsword–17; Esoteric Medicine (Chi)–11; Fast-Draw (Sword)–17; Hiking–11; Judo–17; Jumping–17; Karate–17; Knife–19; Light Walk–18; Meditation–10; Pressure Points (Human)–11; Push–18; Running–11; Stealth–18; Tactics–10; Throwing–16.
I imagine Falddinor wearing something similar to this
This next version is 300 points and represents him at a more advanced level
Falddinor Pinebrook Wood Elf (300 points)
Attributes
ST 10 HP 10 Basic Speed 7.25
DX 17 Will 11 Basic Move 9
IQ 10 Per 10
HT 12 FP 13 SM 0
Dodge 11 +0 Parry 12 +0 DR: 0
Block 9 +0
MELEE Attacks
Bite (17): 1d-2 cr at reach C.
Deer Antlers • Knife (17): 1d cut at reach C ([5, 7]).
Deer Antlers • Main-gauche (13): 1d cut at reach C ([5, 7]).
Exotic Hand Strike (Karate) (17): 1d cr at reach C.
Hammer Fist (Karate) (17): 1d-2 cr at reach C.
Hook Sword • Hilt punch (17): 1d-1 cut at reach C ([4, 5]).
Hook Sword • Swing (18): 1d+2 cr at reach 1 ([5]).
Hook Sword • Thrust (18): 1d cr at reach 1.
Hook Sword • Hook (18): 1d-3 cut at reach 1 ([3, 7]).
Karate • Punch (17): 1d-1 cr at reach C.
Karate • Kick (15): 1d cr at reach C,1.
Long Knife • Knife swing (17): 1d cut at reach C,1.
Long Knife • Knife thrust (17): 1d-1 imp at reach C,1.
Long Knife • Shortsword swing (18): 1d cut at reach 1.
Long Knife • Shortsword thrust (18): 1d-1 imp at reach C,1.
RANGED Attacks
Throwing Dart (17): 1d-1 imp, ACC of 1, range of 28 / 39, ROF of 1.
Traits
Martial Artist (Dungeon Fantasy); Pa Kua Chuan (Martial Arts); Wood Elf (Dungeon Fantasy).
Skills
Acrobatics–17; Animal Handling (Equines)–11; Arm Lock (Judo)–17; Blind Fighting–11; Body Control–12; Breath Control–13; Broadsword–18; Climbing–17; Disarming (Broadsword)–18; Dual-Weapon Attack (Broadsword)–18; Dual-Weapon Defense (Broadsword)–12; Dual-Weapon Defense (Knife)–10; Esoteric Medicine (Chi)–11; Evade (Judo)–17; Exotic Hand Strike (Karate)–17; Fast-Draw (Sword)–17; Hammer Fist (Karate)–17; Hook (Broadsword)–15; Judo–17; Jumping–17; Karate–17; Knife–17; Light Walk–18; Meditation–11; Navigation/TL3 (Land)–11; Parry Missile Weapons–18; Philosophy (Taoism)–8; Pressure Points (Human)–10; Pressure Secrets (Human)–9; Push–18; Reverse Grip (Broadsword)–12; Running–12; Shortsword–18; Stealth–18; Sweeping Kick (Judo)–14; Tactics–10; Thrown Weapon (Dart)–17; Whirlwind Attack (Broadsword)–15.
I like to get inspiration from video games which I think is only natural as they got their ideas from Tabletop RPG’s. However many games will have several, if not up to a dozen, different subclasses of the same creature. Let’s take the Diablo franchise. Between I & III there are over 12 types of zombies. So I thought it would be fun to make some of them as a little surprise to my players. I have yet to get GURPS Zombies so please take that into consideration. I may have made a few mistakes in this. Such as I don’t know if the Drowned Carcass needs a special Advantage to be able to transform into a Crawling Torso and I disagree with the Disadvantage Lame (Legless) to have a Basic Move of 0 as it does not take into account the ability to crawl or drag yourself by your arms. However I can imagine this to be a fun turn of events as I remember to my surprise the first time a Walking Corpse turned into a Crawling Torso in Diablo III
Please feel free to add some suggestions on how to fix any issues I may have overlooked.
Drowned Carcasses are found in/near bodies of water like lakes, ponds, swamps, rivers, etc. Their bodies are bloated from time spent within the depths of the water. They move slower and are less intelligent than bog standard Zombies (pun intended) but have a higher strength to compensate. The touch of a Drowned Carcass carries with it the cold of the deep water which will cause fatigue damage to exposed skin.
Attribute Modifiers: ST+2 {20}; IQ-3 {-60}; HT+1 {10}.
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Basic Move -1 {-5}; HP +4 {8}
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; High Pain Threshold; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards; Immunity (All Mind Control); Innate Attack: Cold {6}; Indomitable; Injury Tolerance (No Blood, Unliving); Temperature Tolerance 10; Unaging; Unfazeable;
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous; Universal); Automaton; Bad Smell; Cannot Learn; Dependency (Mana; common, constantly); Disturbing Voice; Fragile (Unnatural); No Sense of Smell/Taste; Reprogrammable; Single-Minded; Social Stigma (Dead); Unhealing (Total); Wealth (Dead Broke)
Quirks: Sexless {-1}
Skills: Brawling 10 (DX+0, 1), [B182]; Wrestling 9 (DX-1, 1) [B228]
Chilling Touch: Innate Attack: 1D+1 fat (Melee Attack: Reach C -30%, Contact Agent (no AoE) -30%) [6]
The Drowned Carcass has one in three chance of transforming into a Crawling Torso upon it’s ‘death’. It is at this time a new monster with the sacrifice of its lower Torso to heal it and transform it into a new creature. It loses it’s Innate Attack.
A Crawling Torso is the remains of the lower half of a Zombie. These pathetic, yet disturbing creatures will lay in wait for its victims grabbing at their legs and feet and to trip them up so they might crawl on top to consume their prey.
Attribute Modifiers: ST+1 {10}; IQ-2 {-60}; HT+1 {10}.
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Basic Move +4 {20}; HP +4 {8}
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; High Pain Threshold; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards; Immunity (All Mind Control); Indomitable; Injury Tolerance (No Blood, Unliving); Temperature Tolerance 10; Unaging; Unfazeable;
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous; Universal); Automaton; Bad Smell; Cannot Learn; Dependency (Mana; common, constantly); Disturbing Voice; Fragile (Unnatural); Lame (Legless); No Sense of Smell/Taste; Reprogrammable; Single-Minded; Social Stigma (Dead); Unhealing (Total); Wealth (Dead Broke)
Quirks: Sexless {-1}
Skills: Brawling 10 (DX+0, 1), [B182]; Wrestling 9 (DX-1, 1) [B228]
Note: Lame (Legless) disadvantage gives a Basic Move of 0, hence the need for an increased Basic Move +4 to indicate rapid crawling. The Crawling Torso can not move and attack with its arms, but can move and attack with Bite.