[DF] New Race: Swan Maidens (PEACH)

[Cowrie]

Hey. Using some ideas from the faerie folk in DF3, the hengeyokai template in Pyramid 89, the selkie in Fantasy and Chandley's animal templates, I whipped up a swan maiden template for Gurps Dungeon Fantasy. I thought I'd share it here to see what everyone thinks.

Swan Maiden

20 points

Choice Professions: Druid, Scout, Thief, Wizard.
Marginal Professions: None.
Attribute Modifiers: ST-4 [-40]; DX+2 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%) [24]
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: HP+4 [8]; Per+2 [10]; Move-2 [-10]; SM-1.
Advantages: Alternate Form (Human Form; Skinbound, DR 1, Repaired by Healing Rolls, SM -4, Can Be Stolen by Stealth or Trickery, Does Not Work for Thief, Unique, -35%) [11]; Amphibious (Surface Only, -50%) [5]; Animal Empathy [5]; Arm ST 5 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%) [15]; Breath Holding 1 [2]; Enhanced Move 1 (Air) [20]; Feathers [1]; Flight (Winged, -25%; Temporary Disadvantage: No Strikers, -20%) [22]; Magery 0 [5]; Striker x2 (Wings; Crushing; Long, +1 SM, +100%) [20]; Temperature Tolerance 2 (Cold) [2]
Disadvantages: Dependency (Mana; Very Common; Constantly) [-25]; Impulsiveness (15) [-5]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Vulnerability (Meteoric Iron x3) [-15]
Features: Cannot wear humanoid armor. Long Neck, +1 SM.
Swan Maiden Human Form

10 points

Attribute Modifiers: DX+1 [20]
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Per+1 [5]
Advantages: Animal Empathy [5]; Appearance (Beautiful) [12]; Magery 0 [5]; Perfect Balance [15]
Disadvantages: Dependency (Mana; Very Common; Constantly) [-25]; Impulsiveness (15) [-5]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Unnatural Features 2 (Swan-like looks) [-2]; Vulnerability (Meteoric Iron x3) [-15]

Swan Maiden Power-Ups
As faerie folk power-ups, plus the following options:
●Speak with Animals (Specialized, Swans, -80% or Specialized, Waterfowl, -60%) [5 or 10]
●No Vulnerability (Meteoric Iron x3) [15]. Swan maidens who are exposed to meteoric iron multiple times without dying sometimes develop a resistance to it. The GM may limit this power-up to swan maidens who not only have the points but who’ve been damaged by meteoric iron in at least two different encounters!

I know the modifier to the arm ST may be dubious because most of that is buying it back up to human level, but I figured that since the cost is the same as Striking ST 5 (Wings Only, -60%) [10]+Lifting ST 5 (Wings Only, -70%) [5], it wasn't really unbalanced.

[Phantasm]

Do you have any fluff to go with it? Is the swan form a full swan or a hybrid form? If full swan, can they do hybrid forms?

[Cowrie]

Here's the fluff:

Swan maidens are cousins to both faerie folk and the Eastern hengeyokai, but distinct from either. In her natural form, a swan maiden looks like a normal swan, but she has the ability to remove her feathered skin and turn into a woman. If a swan maiden’s skin is lost, stolen, or destroyed, she’s trapped in her human form. While the skin is required to turn back into a swan, a swan maiden in human form can wear her swan skin as a cloak indefinitely without transforming. In human form, they’re exceptionally beautiful, with graceful movements. Human-form swan maidens retain slightly swan-ish looks, having snowy white hair, an unusually long neck and partially webbed fingers and toes. In any form, swan maidens need mana to live, and are vulnerable to meteoric iron.
In her true form, a swan maiden can’t don armor without help, so they usually don’t wear any. If they do chose to wear armor as a swan, use stats for flying animal barding (1.45 times the cost of regular barding) combined with the rules for Tiny Tools.


Not much as fluff goes, but it's about in line with existing DF race fluff. Swan form is fully swan, with no hybrid form, but as I said in the fluff, there are subtle swan-like traits to the human form.

[Plane]

Instead of Strikers + Flight (Winged, Temporary Disadvantage: No Strikers) what about buying the Strikers with the "Limb -20%" limitation from Martial Arts? That's what is used when an existing limb (like an arm or a leg) is used, and I think having a pair of wings could substitute as those limbs.

Throwing kicks doesn't appear to interfere with your leg locomotion, so swatting people with your wings probably shouldn't interfere with flight locomotion either.

Not that it'd be a bad idea to throw in some kind of switchable "lifting your leg to kick makes you function as one-legged for the next second" to prevent people throwing kicks to enemies left and right amidst a Move+Attack while sprinting past using Enhanced Ground Move... I can't figure out a way to prevent horses from doing that.

[Cowrie]

Originally Posted by Plane

Instead of Strikers + Flight (Winged, Temporary Disadvantage: No Strikers) what about buying the Strikers with the "Limb -20%" limitation from Martial Arts? That's what is used when an existing limb (like an arm or a leg) is used, and I think having a pair of wings could substitute as those limbs.

Throwing kicks doesn't appear to interfere with your leg locomotion, so swatting people with your wings probably shouldn't interfere with flight locomotion either.

Not that it'd be a bad idea to throw in some kind of switchable "lifting your leg to kick makes you function as one-legged for the next second" to prevent people throwing kicks to enemies left and right amidst a Move+Attack while sprinting past using Enhanced Ground Move... I can't figure out a way to prevent horses from doing that.

I sort of thought that limb limitation gave a discount as much or more because it was improving already existing way of dealing damage rather than because it didn't add an extra limb. Even so, that's something to consider. I'm not crazy about the increase to template cost that would cause, but I might change it anyways.

[Astromancer]

Swan wings are powerful Strikers in real life. Swans have beaten people to death with their wings. Many swan keepers have had their arm broken by angry swans. Both cobs(males) and pens(females) are dangerous. There beaks and feet can cause nasty injuries too.

Don't underestimate swans.

[Cowrie]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Swan wings are powerful Strikers in real life. Swans have beaten people to death with their wings. Many swan keepers have had their arm broken by angry swans. Both cobs(males) and pens(females) are dangerous. There beaks and feet can cause nasty injuries too.

Don't underestimate swans.

Do you think their feet and beaks are dangerous enough that they should have some form of the Claws advantage and/or Sharp Beak?

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Cowrie

Do you think their feet and beaks are dangerous enough that they should have some form of the Claws advantage and/or Sharp Beak?

I honestly don't know enough. I've been told by both ornithologists and swan keepers that swans can hurt you with both their beaks and their feet. I don't know if they can do enough damage to merit either advantage. Although one ornithologist, who I took a summer school elective course on bird biology (it was neither formal enough nor advanced enough to be called ornithology, in the ornithologist's opinion) had some nasty scars on his arm, which he said a swan gave him.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Don't underestimate swans.

They're royally dangerous.

[chandley]

I like it, though I question making the wing strikers "weapon like". Damaged on Parry make the strikers more "arm" like, without giving them a hand (like buying an extra arm would). Right now, you have a pair of swan wings that can parry, and be parried by, swords without ill effect.

I came up with Long Neck as a feature before Kromm clarified how long-snakey creatures work. WOK is (and this make sense) that your neck, however long it is, is just part of your body. So buy up your SM and occupy hexes that include your head, neck, and body (but not tail). Move your head into the hex (reach C) of the opponent you want to bite. The rest of your hexes follow along.

This means your bite doesnt have reach per-se, but also means your "neck" is treated more like a torso hit. I have to rework what it means to have a neck that is as vulnerable as a human neck while being super long, disadvantage wise. And redo all my dragons (though we have an excellent DF supplement for Dragons now.)

In any case, I recommend dropping Long Neck from your build, Swans have long necks compared to humans, but not enough to give them extra SM or reach in GURPS terms.

Your Arm ST mod is fine in my opinion, though I would go ahead and rename it "Wing ST" to be clear where it is applying to (since you have no Arms due to NFM).