Pak Protecters in GURPS

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

I'm amazed there doesn't appear to be a GURPS writeup for a Pak Protector template from Larry Niven's Known Space anywhere, but I haven't been able to find one. Offhand, I'd say something like:
Pak Protector (646)
ST:+15 (150)
IQ:+10 (200)
DX:+8 (160)
HT:+10 (100)

Combat Reflexes (15)
Sharp Claws (5)
DR 7 (tough skin -40%) (21)*
Discriminatory Smell (15)
Hard to Kill 5 (10)
High Pain Threshold (10)
Intuition (15)
Less Sleep 4 (8)
Unaging (needs Tree of Life -20%) (12)

Appearance (Monstrous) {-24)
Callous (-5)
Bloodlust 6- (-20)
Intolerance (anyone not related to them in at least a broad fashion) (-10)
Sexless (-1)
Obsession (protect genetic line) (-10)
Sense of Duty (family) (-5)



*'Hard enough to turn a copper knife'; max ST for a large knife is 16, so max thrusting damage for a protector with such a knife would be 7


This is literally done in ten minutes with a copy of Characters, it could probably be improved.

I don't know that a Protector (at least a Pak or Human Protector) necessarily has true Bloodlust Disad. There's no indication that they particularly enjoy either fighting or killing for their own sake, it's a side effect of the 'remove threats to bloodline' programming and they are quite 'controlled' about it. Give a Protector a rational reason not to kill you, in terms of his 'protect my gene-line' imperative, and he'll happily let you live. It's just that you have to give him (or it) that reason on his terms.

The IQ boost might be in line, but there would need to be something restricting it, because for all their brilliance, Pak Protectors are not particularly imaginative. Human Protectors might be a different story, in fact, Brennan seemed to retain quite a bit of his human-breeder imagination as a Protector, to judge by his asteroid-base.

But the true Pak Protector in that story, though he could figure out how to duplicate the fusion rocket engine of Brennan's ship simply by examining it for an hour or two, could not comprehend representative art. It didn't fit anywhere into his mental framework. Maps, yes. Diagrams, fine. Blueprints, right on. But he lacked the necessary imagination to grasp human art as a concept.