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

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.

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

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.)

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

Not yet, but I could certainly push them up further. Dark*Matter gorgons aren't too hard to stat up.

While I've obviously been doing Magic-as-Powers for any innate abilities so far, I'd definitely say that magic in the generic sense would be more likely to lean toward Ritual Path Magic in Dark*Matter. You're right in that it's more fitting for Fortean conspiracy-style magic.

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

Gorgon [42 Points]
Advantages: Affliction 1 (Paralysis, +150%; extended duration, x30, +60%; respiratory agent, +50%; secondary heart attack, +60%; unconscious only, -20%; uncontrollable, -30%) [37], Claws (Sharp claws) [5], Paralyzing Touch [26].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Hideous) [-16]; one of either Bad Temper (12), Berserk (12), Bestial, Loner (6) – all [-10].

Gorgonism is a recessive genetic mutation that originated in Greece, but has since spread with Mediterranean bloodlines across much of the world. A human with gorgonism (hereafter referred to as a gorgon) is always female, tends to be around twenty generations separated from the last gorgon in her family, and has an appearance that is marked by ruddy skin, clawed fingers, extreme facial deformity, and a head coated in keratin-"scaled" tendrils rather than hair. Neurotoxic venom is found on a gorgon's claws, and her exhalations can produce paralytic pheromones, both an obvious hazard for human interaction.

Gorgonism does not necessarily manifest immediately. Indeed, most gorgons that are born with their mutation apparent are killed out of fear or loathing. Even those that transform at a later age, however, are likely to suffer psychological trauma from both the pain of mutation and social ostracism at best and regress into an animalistic state at worst. Gorgons with most of their mental faculties intact (those with Bad Temper, Berserk, or Loner rather than Bestial) tend to put points into the Guns, Stealth, Survival, and Tracking skills, and wear heavy hooded clothing to mask their deformities.


Gorgons in Non-Dark*Matter Settings
GURPS Atomic Horror: What hath science wrought?! Gorgons in an Atomic Horror game could easily be either some manner of experiment in weaponized human beings, an experiment gone horribly wrong rather than horribly right, or a species of monstrous mutant born from radiation.

GURPS Greece: In a Greek campaign that focuses on lower-key powers (Exotic rather than Supernatural, more or less), the creatures of Greek mythology might all be strange forms of mutant life. Perhaps Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa are the names of the most wizened and aware members of an entire tribe of mutants that live on a secluded island in the Mediterranean, their toxic natures allowing them to kill wayward travelers who might spread their secrets to the mainland.

GURPS Space: The pseudoscientific explanation for gorgons makes it easy to transition them from horror figures to space aliens, having evolved their paralytic arsenal either to subdue prey or deter predators. Attempting negotiations with such a species might be particularly difficult as well, requiring safety gear to even attempt in the first place!

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

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

Mole Person [27 Points]
Attribute Modifiers: DX +1 [20], IQ -1 [-20], HT +2 [20].
Secondary Attribute Modifiers: Per +2 [10].
Advantages: Night Vision 2 [2].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Unattractive) [-4].
Quirks: Photosensitivity [-1].

Lurking beneath the streets of our great cities, the mole people are tribes of haggard, grimy mutants that some believe to be an atavistic throwback to troglodytic ancestors. Their appearance is that of a rough-skinned, grimy human with various minor deformities such as atypical numbers of digits or assymetrical eye placement. Mole people are typically clad in multiple layers of ratty clothing decades out of style, attempting to pass themselves off as human beggars in their brief forays to the surface. Such forays come in one of three forms: missions to scavenge refuse, panhandling to buy luxury items such as alcohol, or "raids" that involve startling and muggling subway or street pedestrians. Some particularly well-organized clans of mole people will even have a few members that pretend to be humans on a long-term basis in order to collect welfare to allow them to live in slightly better conditions than most of their kind.


Variant: Mole Person Newt [145 Points]
The apex of mole person evolution, the newts possess prodigious longevity and extreme regenerative capabilities that rival those of starfish. All newts are genetic replicas of each other that reproduce by budding, indicating that there was (and possibly still is) an ur-newt that branched off from the other mole people in the past. Increase Night Vision to 9 [7] and add Extended Lifespan 3 [6], Regeneration (Fast) [50], Regrowth [40], and Resistant (+8 against metabolic hazards) [15].


Mole People in Non-Dark*Matter Settings
GURPS Cliffhangers: What better beings to stalk the subterranean ruins of some lost civilization than the mole people? They might be squatters from the Hollow Earth, some manner of primitive troglodyte, or perhaps even the degenerated descendants of the ruined civilization itself!

GURPS Lands out of Time: Mole people are effectively another variation on the Victorian perception of "cavemen", albeit with brute strength exchanged with durability and some modicum of finesse, and can be slotted in easily for the same role. Adding in mole person newts as well can make for a potentially shocking encounter, as well.

GURPS Space: A sci-fi take on the mole people could have them as genetically engineered mining servants for some interestellar empire, toiling beneath the surface of some mineral-rich planet. Newts might be introduced as an unintended rare side-effect of the gene therapy, or as an attempt to prevent mining accidents from cutting down on profits by allowing the workers to quickly heal their own wounds.


The mole person is originally from Dark*Matter Campaign Setting, copyright Wizards of the Coast, 1999.

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

This is a wonderful effort. Good stuff!