The Hunter's Guide to Xenoforms: Dark*Matter Creatures Converted to GURPS

[Fossilized Rappy]

After over a decade of adherence to another roleplaying game system, I recently became a wholehearted convert to GURPS several months ago. This thread is my first attempt to go further and become an active part of the greater GURPS community. Like the myriad of Dungeons and Dragons conversion threads, this one is designed to convert another roleplaying game's materials to GURPS: in this case, the creatures of Dark*Matter.


What is Dark*Matter?
As one of its attempts to branch away from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons into other genres, TSR created the science fiction roleplaying game Alternity in 1998. The next year, they expanded the game further with the introduction of a campaign setting known as Dark*Matter. The premise of Dark*Matter is that almost all conspiracies and aspects the paranormal are quite real: magic, cryptids, aliens, and secret societies all hide in the shadows. Four sourcebooks (not counting the core campaign setting guide) were written before the line was discontinued, and the setting had some of its iconic entities reappear when Wizards of the Coast created its d20 Modern Roleplaying Game.


How Are Things Handled?
In this thread, I'll be converting creatures from all Dark*Matter books other than the adventure book The Killing Jar (which I don't happen to own). The creature statistics will be in racial template style as per the precedent set by GURPS Horror (with a select few exceptions for the few unique entities of the setting, which will be statted as characters), and each entry assumes you know the contents of GURPS Basic Set, GURPS Horror, GURPS Powers, and GURPS Power-Ups 2 and 6 (Perks and Quirks, respectively). Any materials pulled from other GURPS books will be given an annotation after the template block. In addition to statistics, an abridged version of the creature information provided in Dark*Matter will be provided, as well as three ideas for utilizing the creature in settings outside of Dark*Matter.

The actual conversion process is two-fold. First, the ability scores of the creatures are converted from Alternity to d20 Modern using the free conversion sheet provided by Wizards of the Coast. These ability scores are then converted again with Bruce Grubb's D&D to GURPS method (as well as some personal tweaking if numbers feel off), with any of the skills and traits of the original Dark*Matter creature being approximated to their closest GURPS equivalent.


The Grand List
The following is a list of all creatures being converted. They will not be converted in alphabetical or even book order, instead being more or less based on what "feels right" to convert by my mood at the time. Individual posts will be linked in the index as they are converted.

Creatures from Dark*Matter Campaign Setting
Armodont
Bering Demon, Greater Demon
Bering Demon, Nali
Bering Demon, Yrgling
Ekimmu
Elohim
Etoile
Ghost
Ghoul
Grey
Homunculus
Kinori and Blackscale Kinori
Luciferan
Man in Black
Mole Person and Mole Person Newt
Mothman
Mummy
Sandman
Sasquatch
Yeti

Creatures from Xenoforms: Aliens, Demons, and Aberrations
Basilisk
Black Dog
Blood Devil
Bunyip
Congoraptor
Crawfordsville Monster
Demon, Drabbuk
Demon, Isci ba Fan (Unique)
Demon, Kwarikan
Demon, Meddler
Doppelganger
El Chupacabras
Energy Probe
Fader
Flying Snake
Frogman
Gargoyle
Goblin
Gorgon
Harpy
Ikuya
Internet Ghost
Kabbalist Golem
Kraken
Litterman
Living Dead
Machine Intelligence
Mapinguari
Martin Hammond (Unique)
Megalodon
Montauk Monster
Naga
Nataska
Neanderthal
Outback Dragon
Pterosaur
Reiko
Revenant
Sauropod
Sea Serpent
Series VII Mutant
Shade
Sidhe
Starchild
Thunderbird
Wendigo
Werewolf, Lycanthrope
Werewolf, Shapechanger

Creatures from The Final Church
Demon, Baal-Phegor (Unique)
Demon, Chernabog (Unique)
Demon, Irvund
Demon, Oni
Demon, Rakshasa
Demon, Xic

[Fossilized Rappy]

Fader [247 Points]
Attribute Modifiers: ST +4 [40]; DX +2 [40]; IQ +3 [60]; HT +3 [30.
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will +3 [15].
Advantages: Dimension Walk [25], Doesn't Eat or Drink [10], Fade [88], Fuse Flesh [29], Single-Minded [5], Unaging [15].
Disadvantages: Bad Temper (9) [-15], Callous [-5], Dependency (Electromagnetic energy, daily) [-15], Disturbing Voice [-10], Low Empathy [-20], No Sense of Humor [-10], Obsession (Gather information for the "other side") (6) [-20], Pacifism (Reluctant Killer) [-5], Selfish (6) [-10].

On October 28, 1943, the Naval ship USS Eldridge was transported to another dimension as part of an experiment in teleportation technology known as Project Rainbow, or the Philadelphia Experiment. While the teleportation itself was a success, the side-effects were horrific: crewmen were either immolated, driven insane, or killed after being fused into the very metal of the ship...and then there are some who had the misfortune of becoming faders. While they may look the same as they did before their brush with a world beyond, faders have had their minds subsumed by an extradimensional intelligence that has access to all of the memories of their vessels. This intelligence is uncaring, unfeeling, and prone to anger, and cares only for gathering more and more information on the human dimension. Their ability to phase in and out of reality and fuse flesh and metal allow them to act both offensively and defensively in this pursuit.

It is unknown just how many faders exist. Only around six were reported from the USS Eldridge, but reports of similar experiments in the USSR during the Cold War and anomalous appearances seem to indicate that their numbers are certainly greater. When they do appear, however, they tend to create personas of scientists or engineers to keep close to both information and electromagnetic energy, which they require for sustenance. Others are willing to work with secret societies where the exchange knowledge of extradimensional technology for human political history and easy access to EM fields. A fader faced with combat always prefers to use its abilities to escape rather than engage in a battle - nonetheless, most tend to have levels in Guns (Pistol) or Brawling just in case or as part of an occupational template from their human body, often Soldier (GURPS Template Toolkit 1: Characters, pg. 33) or Spy (GURPS Martial Arts, pg. 38) due to their frequent military origins.


New Abilities: Dimensional FX
These three abilities are a conversion of "Dimensional FX", a form of supernatural power granted to several different monsters in Xenoforms: Aliens, Demons, and Aberrations, including the fader.

Dimension Walk (-75%): Warp (Costs fatigue, 4 FP, -20%; drift, -15%; preparation required, 1 minute, -20%; range limit, 100 miles, -20%) [25]. 25 points.
Notes: The being slowly warps the fabric of space and time (reflected by the Preparation Required limitation), teleporting somewhat erratically within 100 miles.

Fade (+10%): Insubstantiality (Can carry objects, light encumbrance, +20%; costs Fatigue, 2 FP, -10%; partial change, +20%; preparation required, 1 minute, -20%) [88]. 88 points.
Notes: Rather than teleportation, the being uses its ability to warp space-time to slowly fade into the cracks between dimensions, becoming intangible to most beings in standard dimensions.

Fuse Flesh (+45%): Binding 10 (Costs fatigue, 2 FP, -10%; engulfing, +60%; environmental, only when victim is touching metal, -20%; melee attack, reach C, cannot parry, -35%; only damaged by burning, corrosion, or cutting, +10%; severe pain, +40%) [29]. 29 points.
Notes: The victim is entrapped by "welding" their flesh to nearby metal. This not only traps the target, but causes them to experience great agony.


Faders in Non-Dark*Matter Settings
As the Philadelphia Experiment is a real world conspiracy theory rather than one created wholesale for Dark*Matter, it is easy enough to simply transplant it into any supernatural campaign such as GURPS Monster Hunters or GURPS Black Ops. The following, however, are three hooks for taking them out of the modern shadows and into other lights.

GURPS Space: The bleak darkness of space is a perfect fit for the harsh, uncaring, and often intangible faders. Perhaps they are a sort of extraterrestrial zombie that skulks around the dark corridors of starships, or what really happens when one makes contact with a black hole (shades of Event Horizon, even).

GURPS Supers: When applied to a high-cost occupational template, faders can potentially make for great supervillains with the potential to harass heroes time and again. Their origins could remain the same, or they could become the heralds of an alien intelligence, the results of a super-soldier experiment, or perhaps even a particular manifestation of a reality warper's superpowers! A four-color or otherwise more lighthearted supers setting may wish to remove the Fuse Flesh ability from the fader's repertoire.

GURPS Weird War II: Taking the fader back to its roots in World War II seems almost too obvious. Rather than secretive, they might even be active participants in the war, with Nazi mad scientists even attempting to replicate the Philadelphia Experiment to create their own faders.

The fader is originally from Dark*Matter Xenoforms: Aliens, Demons, and Aberrations, copyright Wizards of the Coast, 2000.

[apoc527]

OMG, this is amazing, since my next game is going to be GURPS Dark*Matter! Keep it going and I'll help if I can!

[Icelander]

Yeah, pretty cool.

I loved Alternity. All my players want to keep playing it, though those who care about rules have admitted that their PCs would probably work better in GURPS.

[Anders]

The thing is, we don't know what Dark Matter is. It's just a placeholder name until we figure out... what? Not that Dark Matter? I'm just being silly?

Sorry.

:D

[trechriron]

Would you consider adding these to the GURPS repository under a Tag for Dark Matter? :-)

This is awesome btw - keep it coming!

[Fossilized Rappy]

Originally Posted by apoc527

OMG, this is amazing, since my next game is going to be GURPS Dark*Matter! Keep it going and I'll help if I can!

I'm glad you're finding use for it! That was my main goal, after all.

Originally Posted by trechriron

Would you consider adding these to the GURPS repository under a Tag for Dark Matter? :-)

This is awesome btw - keep it coming!

Thank you for the kind words, and I'll indeed get around to doing so once I've gotten a bit of a buffer of stats up.

Speaking of buffers, I'm currently working on finishing up the sidhe and abilities for their Druidism Miracle FX powers. It should be up later tonight or tomorrow morning.

[Fossilized Rappy]

Originally Posted by abe ray

have you considered doing d20 modern urban arcana monsters to the creatures that your going to do?

I have all the official d20 Modern books, so I may do non-Dark*Matter monsters from those as a separate thread (it's all good practice, after all!). For right now, though, the focus is on these guys.

[Fossilized Rappy]

Sidhe [390 Points]
Attribute Modifiers: ST +6 [60]; DX +3 [60]; IQ +3 [60]; HT +3 [30].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will +2 [10]; Per +3 [15].
Advantages: Acute Hearing 2 [4], Appearance (Very beautiful/handsome; androgynous) [16], Call the Sky Father [90], Kinship of Beasts [32], Life Endures [35], Surge of Greenery [5].
Disadvantages: Chummy [-5], Intolerance (Humans) [-5], Overconfidence (9) [-7], Sadism (12) [-15], Sense of Duty (Nature) [-10].
Skills: Bow (A) DX-1 [1], Intimidation (A) Will+1 [4], Knife (E) DX+2 [4], Shadowing (A) IQ+1 [4], Stealth (A) DX-1 [1], Tracking (A) Per-1 [1].

The sidhe, also known as the Tuatha de Danann, the Green Folk, or faeries, are a species of extradimensional beings that appear to be tall, slim, and exceedingly attractive humanoids with long pointed ears and vibrant eyes that are said to be able to match the colors of any flower's petals. While their appearance may be wondrous to humanity, however, the feeling is not reciprocated. The sidhe see humans as child-like savages that were to be guided by a select few – namely, the Celts – chosen by the sidhe before they left the human realm. When the tide of dark matter, the magical energy of the universe, increased and allowed the sidhe to once again return, they found that the Celts had been destroyed and humanity had created vast empires of smog and steel. Their belief is that pollution and rapid industrialization is the result of some form of powerful magic, as it would be impossible for mere human engineering to destroy the planet in such a capacity, and the leadership of the sidhe is determined to root out and destroy the magicians at fault.

The handful of sidhe on Earth tend to gather together in small groups out of loneliness, for protection, and out of a distaste for human companionship. These “scouts” attempt to ferret out the source of the magic of pollution, moving through the human world as fast as they possibly can. Humans that attempt to intervene in sidhe business meet the brunt end of their ill-tempered natures. Out of either familiarity or a misplaced sense of chivalry, a martial warrior will be fought with a long and thin dagger known as a sidhe blade (use the statistics for a long knife, GURPS Low-Tech pg. 69). Civilians or those using firearms are attacked with either bows or the sidhe's supernatural powers. Most, but not all, sidhe have some experience with greater magical powers beyond their own inate miracles: these individuals have at least Magery 3, if not higher.


New Abilities: Druidism Miracles
Druidism Miracles are a form of FX power originally presented in the Alternity book Beyond Science, but given four examples in Xenoforms: Aliens, Demons, and Aberrations as favored powers of the sidhe. As Druidism Miracles are defined as being FX powers that can only be manifested in areas not rife with technology, almost any supernatural advantage could theoretically be turned into a Druidism Miracle by adding the Nature power modifier from GURPS Powers.

Call the Sky Father (+50%): Control Weather 3 (Costs Fatigue, 6 FP, -30%; natural phenomena, +100%; nature, -20%) [90]. 90 points.
Notes: The miracle-user can manipulate the weather to their whims.

Kinship of Beasts (-30%/+10%): Animal Empathy (Costs Fatigue, 2 FP, -10%; nature, -20%) [4] + Speak With Animals (Costs Fatigue, 2 FP, -10%; nature, -20%; sapience, +40%) [28]. 32 points.
Notes: The miracle-user is capable of speaking with and coercing an animal.

Life Endures (+15%): Healing (Nature, -20%; nuisance effect, cannot use on the same target for 4 hours, -5%; xenohealing, all earthly life, +40%) [35]. 35 points.
Notes: With a laying on of hands, the miracle-user is capable of using their vital essence to heal others.

Surge of Greenery (-50%): Binding (Costs Fatigue, 2 FP, -10%; environmental, target must be in thick vegetation, -20%; nature, -20%) [5]. 5 points.
Notes: Plants are invigorated with life-giving energy, causing a surge of growth. While it has no appreciable effect on trees or short grasses, areas of thick undergrowth lash violently around any individuals moving through them, effectively allowing the miracle-user to entrap them.


Sidhe in Non-Dark*Matter Settings
GURPS Celtic Myth: In an ancient Celtic setting, the sidhe go from extradimensional warriors against modern industrialism to wondrous and terrifying neighbors. The "Kindly Folk" are willing to impart boons to those who please them, but are just as prone to violent outbursts against those that draw their ire.

GURPS Lands out of Time: The sidhe of a lost world setting are effectively the ultimate avatars of nature and most likely deified. Even the mighty Tyrannosaurus bows to them, and the native people either worship and placate them or try their best to stay out of the tree gods' sights. It would take a truly mighty hero to dethrone these rulers of the primordial lands.

GURPS Steampunk: The rapid industrialization of the Victorian era is rife for some sidhe fury. In such a setting, they can be the fiery hammer of the faerie peoples, their strongest warriors against a changing world. A Luddite or anarchist group may even be willing to placate a sidhe for its powerful aid.

The sidhe is originally from Dark*Matter Xenoforms: Aliens, Demons, and Aberrations, copyright Wizards of the Coast, 2000.

[apoc527]

Are you using RPM or GURPS Magic for the magic system in your conversion? I am leaning towards RPM, since it's more conspiracy-ish and less overt, but I'm curious if you feel differently. Certainly, the standard GURPS Magic system is quite similar mechanically to the F/X spells-as-skill paradigm of Alternity.

(P.S. I've done a pretty thorough conversion of Star*Drive to GURPS if you are interested. Just PM me.)