Undead Generator

[Jerander]

Originally Posted by b-dog

Dominating Vampire Bite: A vampire may bite a victim and drain his blood without killing him but this will leave a permanent mark on the soul of the living. A vampire who takes the blood of a PC will forever be at advantage over the PC when using mind control powers.some vampires will use their gaze to easily control those they have fed upon before while other more powerful vampires can use mind control with their voice alone. The PC is forever susceptible to a vampire who has drained their blood and this can not be stopped with a mere Remove Curse spell., instead the vampire must be slain for the PC to be free of this affliction.

I'm enjoying your power suggestions! I'm going to set up another thread just for your (and hopefully others') suggestions. That way the base template generator doesn't get lost in the powers. Here it is.

[Jerander]

Here's what I've worked up for Speech capabilities for undead. It's based on a couple assumptions. The first is the one implied in GURPS Fantasy: that spirits can talk better to those in the spirit world than those in the physical world. The second is that...Okay, maybe it's just the one assumption, but I have broadened it some to encompass what I did with undead mentalities. Feel free to look these over and let me know what you think...

Oh, second assumption is that mindless undead can (potentially) talk, but only when ordered to do so or if it fits their "programming."

Table 5A: Speech for Bestial Corporeal Undead
Roll 1d:
1-3: Mute [-25]
4-6: Cannot Speak [-15] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).

Table 5B: Speech for Mindless or Sapient Corporeal Undead
Roll 1d:
1-2: Mute [-25]
3-4: Cannot Speak [-15] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
5-6: Can speak (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).

Table 5C: Speech for Bestial Spirits (Astral Entity, Haunt, or Unmanifested Spirit w/o Manifestation)
Roll 1d, 1d:
1,1-2,3: Mute [-25]
2,4-3,6: Cannot Speak [-15] and Mute (Substantial Only, -10%) [-9] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
4,1-5,3: Cannot Speak [-15] and Quirk: "Vocalizing in the physical world costs 1-FP/min" [-1*] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
5,4-6,6: Can speak (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).

Table 5D: Speech for Bestial Spirits (Outsider, Specter, Spirit, Threshold Entity, or Unmanifested Spirit w/ Manifestation)
Roll 1d, 1d:
1,1-2,3: Mute [-25]
2,4-3,6: Cannot Speak [-15] and Mute (Only While Insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-8**] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
4,1-5,3: Cannot Speak [-15] and Quirk: "Vocalizing in the physical world while insubstantial costs 1-FP/min" [-1*] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
5,4-6,6: Can speak (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).

Table 5E: Speech for Mindless or Sapient Spirits (Astral Entity, Haunt, or Unmanifested Spirit w/o Manifestation)
Roll 1d, 1d:
1,1-1,4: Mute [-25]
1,5-2,2: Cannot Speak [-15] and Mute (Substantial Only, -10%) [-9] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
2,3-2,6: Cannot Speak [-15] and Quirk: "Vocalizing in the physical world costs 1-FP/min" [-1*] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
3,1-3,4: Mute (Substantial Only, -10%) [-22] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
3,5-4,2: Mute (Substantial Only, -10%) [-22] and Not Mute (Costs Fatigue 1, 1-FP/min, -5%) [21] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
4,3-4,6: Cannot Speak [-15] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
5,1-5,4: Cannot Speak (Substantial Only, -10%) [-13] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
5,5-6,2: Cannot Speak (Substantial Only, -10%) and Quirk: "Speaking in the physical world costs 1-FP/min" [-1*] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
6,2-6,6: Can speak (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).

Table 5F: Speech for Mindless or Sapient Spirits (Outsider, Specter, Spirit, Threshold Entity, or Unmanifested Spirit w/ Manifestation)
Roll 1d, 1d:
1,1-1,4: Mute [-25]
1,5-2,2: Cannot Speak [-15] and Mute (Only while Insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-8] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
2,3-2,6: Cannot Speak [-15] and Quirk: "Vocalizing in the physical world costs 1-FP/min" [-1*] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
3,1-3,4: Mute (Only While Insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-20] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
3,5-4,2: Mute (Only While Insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-20] and Not Mute (Costs Fatigue 1, 1-FP/min, -5%) [19] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
4,3-4,6: Cannot Speak [-15] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
5,1-5,4: Cannot Speak (Only While Insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-12] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
5,5-6,2: Cannot Speak (Only While Insubstantial, 10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-12] and Quirk: "Speaking in the physical world costs 1-FP/min" [-1*] (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).
6,2-6,6: Can speak (Roll 1d: 1-3: Disturbing Voice [-10].).

* Fantasy computes Difficult Speech by creating a new advantage, "Not Mute," and giving it cost that negates "Mute (Substantial Only, -10%) [23]," then applying "Costs Fatigue, 1-FP/min, -5%" to that new advantage. Which results in a net disadvantage. When trying to do the same with Cannot Speak, the Costs Fatigue did not yield any point savings due to rounding, so I just made it a quirk. An example of the full entry would be:

Cannot Speak [-15] + Mute (Only While Insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-8] + Not Mute (Costs Fatigue 1, 1-FP/min, -5%) [8] + Quirk [-1].

** Value of Mute computed by subtracting the [-15] from Cannot Speak from the value of full Mute [-25].

[Jerander]

Updated Speech.

To Do List:

1) Appearances.
2) Vampirism.
3) Weaknesses.
4) Powers.
5) Lenses.

[Jerander]

Please note that these are mechanical appearances, not descriptive fluff. I may produce random description tables, I may not. Personally, I'm leading towards not. Feel free to offer suggestions if you'd like to see one.

Table 6A: Appearances (Mummified, Rotting, and Skeletal Corporeal Undead)
Roll 1d:
1-3: Appearance (Horrific; Universal, +25%) [-30]
4-6: Appearance (Monstrous; Universal, +25%) [-25]

Table 6B: Appearances (everything else)
Roll 1d:
1: Appearance (Horrific; Universal, +25%) [-30]
2: Appearance (Monstrous; Universal, +25%) [-25]
3: Appearance (Hideous; Universal, +25%) [-20] (Roll 1d. 1-3: Supernatural and/or Unnatural Features, see Tables 6C to 6D).
4: Appearance (Ugly; Universal, +25%) [-10] (Roll 1d. 1-3: Supernatural and/or Unnatural Features, see Tables 6C to 6D).
5: Appearance (Unattractive; Universal, +25%) [-5] (Roll 1d. 1-3: Supernatural and/or Unnatural Features, see Tables 6C to 6D).
6: Roll 1d. 1-3: Appearance (Average) [0]; 4-6: Appearance (Attractive; Universal, +25%) [5] (Roll 1d. 1-3: Supernatural and/or Unnatural Features, see Tables 6C and 6D).

Table 6C: Supernatural and/or Unnatural Features
Roll 1d:
1-2: Unnatural Features [-1/level, roll 1d-1 for number of levels, minimum 1].
3-4: Supernatural Feature(s) (roll on Table 6D).
5-6: Unnatural Features [-1/level, roll 1d-1 for number of levels, minimum 1] and Supernatural Feature(s) (roll on Table 6D).

Table 6D: Supernatural Features (intact corporeal undead)
Roll 1d, 1d:
1,1-1,4: No Reflection [-10] (Basic Set, p. 157.).
1,5-2,2: No Shadow [-10] (Basic Set, p. 157.).
2,3-2,6: Cannot Close Eyes [-5] (Horror, p. 26.).
3,1-3,4: Cold Spot [-5] (Horror, p. 26.).
3,5-4,2: Long Tongue [-5] (Horror, p. 26.).
4,3-4,6: Malformed Feet. Roll 1d. 1-3: [-10]; 4-6: [-1]. (Horror, p. 26.).
5,1-5,4: Rugose Skin [-10] (Horror, p. 26.).
5,5-6,2: Witch's Mark. Roll 1d. 1-3: [-5]; 4-6: [-2]. (Horror, p. 26.).
6,3-6,6: Roll twice more, ignoring duplicated results (No Body Heat, Pallor, Malformed Feet, and Witch's Mark can be upgraded, if rolled a second time.).

Table 6E: Supernatural Features (everything else)
Roll 1d, 1d:
1,1-1,3: No Body Heat. Roll 1d. 1-3: [-5]; 4-6: [-1]. (Basic Set, p. 157.).
1,4-1,6: No Reflection [-10] (Basic Set, p. 157.).
2,1-2,3: No Shadow [-10] (Basic Set, p. 157.).
2,4-2,6: Pallor Roll 1d. 1-3: [-10]; 4-6: [-5] (Basic Set, p. 157.).
3,1-3,3: Cannot Close Eyes [-5] (Horror, p. 26.).
3,4-3,6: Cold Spot [-5] (Horror, p. 26.).
4,1-4,3: Long Tongue [-5] (Horror, p. 26.).
4,4-4,6: Malformed Feet. Roll 1d. 1-3: [-10]; 4-6: [-1]. (Horror, p. 26.).
5,1-5,3: No Pulse [-5] (Horror, p. 26.).
5,4-5,6: Rugose Skin [-10] (Horror, p. 26.).
6,1-6,3: Witch's Mark. Roll 1d. 1-3: [-5]; 4-6: [-2]. (Horror, p. 26.).
6,4-6,6: Roll twice more, ignoring duplicated results (No Body Heat, Pallor, Malformed Feet, and Witch's Mark can be upgraded, if rolled a second time.).

As always, feedback is certainly welcome.

[Jerander]

Well, I was hoping for a little more interaction with the development of this thing, but even so, I'll keep chugging along as work and grad school allow. Feedback is always welcome.

Riffing off the Spirit Meta-Traits in GURPS Fantasy and remembering that spirits in GURPS Spirits 3e could be more or less oblivious to the physical world, it seems reasonable to assign random sense capabilities to spirits and other undead. The big question is, where to put such sense rolls? Are these part of the "base" undead template, or do these belong in powers/abilities and or weaknesses?

Until that question in answered, I'm building up some meta-traits for lower senses in spirits. To generate spirits that are out of touch with the physical world, I'd use the traits:

Blindness (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-40]
Deafness (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16]
No Sense of Smell/Taste (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-4]
Numb (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16]

If they can perceive the physical world with effort, add:

Can Smell/Taste ([4] base cost; Costs Fatigue, 1-FP/min, -5%) [4]
Not Blind ([40] base cost; Costs Fatigue, 1-FP/min, -5%) [38]
Not Deaf ([16] base cost; Costs Fatigue, 1-FP/min, -5%) [16]
Not Numb ([16] base cost; Costs Fatigue, 1-FP/min, -5%) [16]

Since Deaf, Numb, and Smell/Taste builds result in no savings for the effort, I'd consider adding the following Quirks to the advantages above:

Quirk: Hearing the physical world costs 1-FP/min. [-1]
Quirk: Feeling the physical world costs 1-FP/min. [-1]
Quirk: Smelling/Tasting the physical world costs 1-FP/min. [-1]

Any thoughts, feedback?

Thank you,
Jerander.

[Bruno]

I'd be inclined to file them under Weaknesses myself.

My other inclination would be to make it an escalating set of "no senses", rather than checking for each individually or getting a ghost that's blind and anosmic but can still touch and hear, which seems... odd.

So

No Touch, or
No Touch, No Taste/Smell or
No Touch, No Taste/Smell, No Hearing, or
No Touch, No Taste/Smell, No Hearing, No Sight

[Jerander]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I'd be inclined to file them under Weaknesses myself.

My other inclination would be to make it an escalating set of "no senses", rather than checking for each individually or getting a ghost that's blind and anosmic but can still touch and hear, which seems... odd.

So

No Touch, or
No Touch, No Taste/Smell or
No Touch, No Taste/Smell, No Hearing, or
No Touch, No Taste/Smell, No Hearing, No Sight

That's a good idea. Then I can add Costs Fatigue to one of them and Accessibilities to the rest so that it costs 1-FP/min to activate all the senses instead of potentially 4-FP/min to activate all four...

[Bruno]

Thinking on Appearances, some more things from various fantasy undead:

Chiang Shi (chinese hopping vampires) sometimes come with white or green fur (probably inspired by grave mould)

Deathly skin colour other than "pale/ashy"
- the dark blue-purple bruise of frozen-thawed corpses gets used for norse themed undead. Not sure how historical that is, but this is random undead so I think fantasy tropes work fine :)
- the sallow yellow of the nospheratu is drawn from the look of someone who's died from liver failure, yellow/brown "whites" of the eyes from the corpses eyes being left open to start drying out and oxidizing like a slice of apple.
- And just a plain old umbral appearance, even for perfectly physical undead that don't have Body of Shadow.

[Jerander]

Originally Posted by Bruno

No Touch, or
No Touch, No Taste/Smell or
No Touch, No Taste/Smell, No Hearing, or
No Touch, No Taste/Smell, No Hearing, No Sight

How do these look?

1. Numb (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16]
   
2. Numb (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16], No Sense of Smell/Taste (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-4]
   
3. Numb (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16], No Sense of Smell/Taste (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-4], Deafness (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16]
   
4. Numb (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16], No Sense of Smell/Taste (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-4], Deafness (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16], Blindness (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-40]
   
5. Numb (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16], Not Numb ([16] base cost; Costs Fatigue, 1-FP/min, -5%) [16], Quirk: Feeling the physical world costs 1-FP/min. [-1]
   
6. Numb (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16], No Sense of Smell/Taste (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-4], Not Numb ([16] base cost; Costs Fatigue, 1-FP/min, -5%) [16], Quirk: Feeling the physical world costs 1-FP/min. [-1]
   
7. Numb (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16], No Sense of Smell/Taste (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-4], Deafness (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16], Not Numb ([16] base cost; Costs Fatigue, 1-FP/min, -5%) [16], Quirk: Feeling the physical world costs 1-FP/min. [-1]
   
8. Numb (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16], No Sense of Smell/Taste (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-4], Deafness (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-16], Blindness (Only while numb, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-40], Not Numb ([16] base cost; Costs Fatigue, 1-FP/min, -5%) [16], Quirk: Feeling the physical world costs 1-FP/min. [-1]

[Jerander]

Another thought I had with senses might be minus to Perception. Such as:

Per -1 (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-4/level]

I thought about doing a similar thing for each sense, but since there are no "Dull Sense" disadvantages, that'd leave me with:

Bad Sight (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-20]
Hard of Hearing (Only while insubstantial, -10%; Substantial Only, -10%) [-8/level]

Could we do a limited Perception loss, say, Per -1 (Only for sight, -x%)?

I could also add the Costs Fatigue meta-trait bit on these, giving:

No Minus to Perception (Base cost [4/level]; Costs Fatigue 1, 1-FP/min, -5%) [3.8/level]
No Bad Sight (Base cost [20]; Costs Fatigue 1, 1-FP/min, -5%) [19]
Not Hard of Hearing (Base cost [8]; Costs Fatigue 1, 1-FP/min, -5%) [8]
Quirk: Hearing the physical world clearly costs 1-FP/min [-1]

Any feedback?

Thank you,
Jerander