Alien Gunfighters and their Gun Fu Styles

DAT · 05-05-2012, 08:27 PM

I’m thinking about running a convention game with a story inspired by The Seven Samurai / The Magnificent Seven / Battle Beyond The Stars set in a “many alien races” Space setting using the GURPS Gun Fu styles and rules.

For the setting, I thought I’d use the Space Atlas campaign setting with the Alien Races from the 3e GURPS Aliens.

What I’d like some feed back on is the aliens I plan on using and some of the style assignments I made for them

I see the potential alien gunfighters from GURPS Aliens as:
An Phar– Pig-like humanoids with a love of philosophy
Engai – Ageless, brilliant but decadent and ruthless (Space Elves)
Gerodians – An elder race with a bent for medicine and psychology
Jaril – A race of tech savvy giants
Kaa – Greedy, ruthless, imperialistic snake-men (an individual who isn’t a coward)
Kronin – A race of honorable warriors and mercenaries with telepathy
Markann/Xenomorph – Secretive race’s copy of a secretive race
Sparrial – Quick, individualistic … and compulsive thieves.

And I’ll have a human to round out the mix.

A short recap of the GURPS Gun Fu styles:
Double Trouble – Users of this style Dual Wield pistols or SMGs combining physical artistry and finesse (acrobatic leaping, jumping, and sliding) with gunplay (dodge and shoot). Examples are John Woo’s “bullet ballet” films, and Lara Croft in “Tomb Raider”

Future Kill – Users of this style do impossible feats, such as semi-guided bullets, inhuman accuracy, and blindingly fast draws. Examples are Neo in “The Matrix”, and the Gun Kata “clerics” in “Equilibrium”.

One-Man Army – Users of this deal death with big guns (mini-gun, machine gun, rocket launcher, etc), big arms, and lots of explosions and mayhem. Examples are John Rambo in the “Rambo” films and Dutch in “Predator”, etc.

Sniper – Users of this style deal death from long range with incredible accuracy. One shot. One Kill. Examples are Gunnery Sergeant Bob Lee Swagger in “Shooter“ and Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett in “Sniper”.

Ultimate Shootist – Users of this style have deadly proficiency with any gun that comes to hand. Examples include James Bond, Harry Tasker in “True Lies”, Jason Bourne in the “Bourne” trilogy, and Major Korben Dallas in “The Fifth Element”.

Way of the Galaxy – Users of this style are the inheritors of the feats of the cowboy gunfighters of legend, with blazing fast draws and deadly accurate shots. An example, probably the most famous of this archetype, is Han Solo in “Star Wars” films (IV – VI).

Double Trouble stylist:
- Markann/Xenomorph
- Sparrial

Future Kill stylist:
- Engai

One-Man Army stylist:
- Jaril
- Kronin

Sniper stylist:
- Kaa

Ultimate Shootist stylist:
- Human

Way of the Galaxy stylist:
- An Phar
- Gerodians

Any thoughts on the alien race choices for gun fighters?

Any thoughts on the style choices for the gun fighters?

-Dan

Dammann · 05-05-2012, 10:58 PM

Man, I really love this combination. You have mashed up two of my favorites, Aliens 3e and Seven Samurai/ The Magnificent Seven.

I see the Kronin as the Yul Brynner Character, and the Human as the Steve McQueen one. I guess I would think of the Kaa as the Robert Vaugn type? I donno. Maybe Chico is the human. I'd probably leave the Markann / Xenomorph out if it were me, but that might be a fun character to play.

Anyway, awesome! I would definitely love to play in this game. Heck, I would probably go to a convention just to play in this game. SO cool.

Dammann · 05-05-2012, 10:59 PM

I am probably seeing the Kronin as Brynner mostly because of the baldness, but I still think it fits pretty well.

DAT · 05-06-2012, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dammann

Man, I really love this combination. You have mashed up two of my favorites, Aliens 3e and Seven Samurai/ The Magnificent Seven.

I see the Kronin as the Yul Brynner Character, and the Human as the Steve McQueen one. I guess I would think of the Kaa as the Robert Vaugn type? I donno. Maybe Chico is the human. I'd probably leave the Markann / Xenomorph out if it were me, but that might be a fun character to play.

Anyway, awesome! I would definitely love to play in this game. Heck, I would probably go to a convention just to play in this game. SO cool.

I had been thinking of the Markann / Xenomorph as the Robert Vaugn character, being paranoid and expecting a group of Markann crazies grab you at any moment, fits with the Vaugn character actions.

The Kaa I had sort of thought of as the James Coburn character.

I thought the An Phar would do well for the Chico role. The majority of the "villiager" (miners in this case) will be An Phar.

I go back and forth for who the leader should be, the Human or the Kronin.

Any thoughts on the styles I selected?

Dammann · 05-06-2012, 01:38 PM

OK; I can buy into a shapeshifting Vaughn.

WRT to styles; having the Kaa operate as a sniper makes it less likely that he can bring his hypnotic abilities into play. James Coburn is perfect as an analogue, though. I am on the same page there for sure. Maybe the hypnosis is just something that comes out with the knife?

An Engai Future Stylist is a great fit. Jaril works well as a One Man army, for reasons of strength; you could really load him down with weapons! I am not super familiar with Gun Fu or the templates in it. I own it, but haven't gotten around to reading it in detail. Your descriptions of these roles is pretty helpful, though.

For villagers, An Phar is a good species, and An Phar Chico is good. You're right about making the Chico character and the villagers of a species, even if there is no love interest. On the other hand, looking at this from a Seven Samurai angle, I am not sure that An Phar Toshire Mifune feels as right. I do love the idea of these villagers taking tons of baths, all talking the ethics of resistance over. I think the villagers could also be Jaril, Human, or if you'd included them, Cidi. Not including Cidi saves a lot of scale related headaches, so I can't fault you for leaving them on the shelf.

DAT · 05-08-2012, 03:51 PM

I'm not sure how close I should mirror either of the films with the player characters. In one sense it is fun to have a PC with some recognizable traits with a characters from one of the films - an easter egg for some one real familar with the films. But I don't want 4 people wanting to play the "Chris" equivalent and no "Chico" equivalent because of the characters in the film.

Dammann · 05-08-2012, 06:07 PM

Well, I cannot speak for anyone else, but I would be thrilled to play any of these characters. Playing Chris would be one of my last choices, even though Kronin are cool. A Sparrial Double Trouble Slinger sounds awesome (Bronson? See the great thing is that it isn't obvious from the template choice).

There are so many tropes of ensemble adventure going on in the two movies that you have a rich vein to mine, but you also have a lot of room to make choices and subvert some tropes. This sort of fiction already superficially resembles classic RPG adventure, with just a bit more preamble than most campaigns would trouble with.

If these are pre-mades, you can (of course) hew as close as you like or diverge. I have some small preference for closer adherence, but just making these guys aliens introduces some big differences, which is cool, too. Also, the way they're played is going to be a variable that alters them from the characters from the sources, with big fans more inclined to play "Toshiro Mifune as Chico Lo Phar, wannabe gunslinger." People without the same relationship to your source material will bring novel surprises.

05-05-2012, 08:27 PM	#1
DAT Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho	Alien Gunfighters and their Gun Fu Styles I’m thinking about running a convention game with a story inspired by The Seven Samurai / The Magnificent Seven / Battle Beyond The Stars set in a “many alien races” Space setting using the GURPS Gun Fu styles and rules. For the setting, I thought I’d use the Space Atlas campaign setting with the Alien Races from the 3e GURPS Aliens. What I’d like some feed back on is the aliens I plan on using and some of the style assignments I made for them I see the potential alien gunfighters from GURPS Aliens as: An Phar– Pig-like humanoids with a love of philosophy Engai – Ageless, brilliant but decadent and ruthless (Space Elves) Gerodians – An elder race with a bent for medicine and psychology Jaril – A race of tech savvy giants Kaa – Greedy, ruthless, imperialistic snake-men (an individual who isn’t a coward) Kronin – A race of honorable warriors and mercenaries with telepathy Markann/Xenomorph – Secretive race’s copy of a secretive race Sparrial – Quick, individualistic … and compulsive thieves. And I’ll have a human to round out the mix. A short recap of the GURPS Gun Fu styles: Double Trouble – Users of this style Dual Wield pistols or SMGs combining physical artistry and finesse (acrobatic leaping, jumping, and sliding) with gunplay (dodge and shoot). Examples are John Woo’s “bullet ballet” films, and Lara Croft in “Tomb Raider” Future Kill – Users of this style do impossible feats, such as semi-guided bullets, inhuman accuracy, and blindingly fast draws. Examples are Neo in “The Matrix”, and the Gun Kata “clerics” in “Equilibrium”. One-Man Army – Users of this deal death with big guns (mini-gun, machine gun, rocket launcher, etc), big arms, and lots of explosions and mayhem. Examples are John Rambo in the “Rambo” films and Dutch in “Predator”, etc. Sniper – Users of this style deal death from long range with incredible accuracy. One shot. One Kill. Examples are Gunnery Sergeant Bob Lee Swagger in “Shooter“ and Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett in “Sniper”. Ultimate Shootist – Users of this style have deadly proficiency with any gun that comes to hand. Examples include James Bond, Harry Tasker in “True Lies”, Jason Bourne in the “Bourne” trilogy, and Major Korben Dallas in “The Fifth Element”. Way of the Galaxy – Users of this style are the inheritors of the feats of the cowboy gunfighters of legend, with blazing fast draws and deadly accurate shots. An example, probably the most famous of this archetype, is Han Solo in “Star Wars” films (IV – VI). Double Trouble stylist: - Markann/Xenomorph - Sparrial Future Kill stylist: - Engai One-Man Army stylist: - Jaril - Kronin Sniper stylist: - Kaa Ultimate Shootist stylist: - Human Way of the Galaxy stylist: - An Phar - Gerodians Any thoughts on the alien race choices for gun fighters? Any thoughts on the style choices for the gun fighters? -Dan

05-05-2012, 10:58 PM	#2
Dammann Join Date: May 2011	Re: Alien Gunfighters and their Gun Fu Styles Man, I really love this combination. You have mashed up two of my favorites, Aliens 3e and Seven Samurai/ The Magnificent Seven. I see the Kronin as the Yul Brynner Character, and the Human as the Steve McQueen one. I guess I would think of the Kaa as the Robert Vaugn type? I donno. Maybe Chico is the human. I'd probably leave the Markann / Xenomorph out if it were me, but that might be a fun character to play. Anyway, awesome! I would definitely love to play in this game. Heck, I would probably go to a convention just to play in this game. SO cool.

05-05-2012, 10:59 PM	#3
Dammann Join Date: May 2011	Re: Alien Gunfighters and their Gun Fu Styles I am probably seeing the Kronin as Brynner mostly because of the baldness, but I still think it fits pretty well.

05-06-2012, 01:38 PM	#5
Dammann Join Date: May 2011	Re: Alien Gunfighters and their Gun Fu Styles OK; I can buy into a shapeshifting Vaughn. WRT to styles; having the Kaa operate as a sniper makes it less likely that he can bring his hypnotic abilities into play. James Coburn is perfect as an analogue, though. I am on the same page there for sure. Maybe the hypnosis is just something that comes out with the knife? An Engai Future Stylist is a great fit. Jaril works well as a One Man army, for reasons of strength; you could really load him down with weapons! I am not super familiar with Gun Fu or the templates in it. I own it, but haven't gotten around to reading it in detail. Your descriptions of these roles is pretty helpful, though. For villagers, An Phar is a good species, and An Phar Chico is good. You're right about making the Chico character and the villagers of a species, even if there is no love interest. On the other hand, looking at this from a Seven Samurai angle, I am not sure that An Phar Toshire Mifune feels as right. I do love the idea of these villagers taking tons of baths, all talking the ethics of resistance over. I think the villagers could also be Jaril, Human, or if you'd included them, Cidi. Not including Cidi saves a lot of scale related headaches, so I can't fault you for leaving them on the shelf.

05-08-2012, 03:51 PM	#6
DAT Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho	Re: Alien Gunfighters and their Gun Fu Styles I'm not sure how close I should mirror either of the films with the player characters. In one sense it is fun to have a PC with some recognizable traits with a characters from one of the films - an easter egg for some one real familar with the films. But I don't want 4 people wanting to play the "Chris" equivalent and no "Chico" equivalent because of the characters in the film.

05-08-2012, 06:07 PM	#7
Dammann Join Date: May 2011	Re: Alien Gunfighters and their Gun Fu Styles Well, I cannot speak for anyone else, but I would be thrilled to play any of these characters. Playing Chris would be one of my last choices, even though Kronin are cool. A Sparrial Double Trouble Slinger sounds awesome (Bronson? See the great thing is that it isn't obvious from the template choice). There are so many tropes of ensemble adventure going on in the two movies that you have a rich vein to mine, but you also have a lot of room to make choices and subvert some tropes. This sort of fiction already superficially resembles classic RPG adventure, with just a bit more preamble than most campaigns would trouble with. If these are pre-mades, you can (of course) hew as close as you like or diverge. I have some small preference for closer adherence, but just making these guys aliens introduces some big differences, which is cool, too. Also, the way they're played is going to be a variable that alters them from the characters from the sources, with big fans more inclined to play "Toshiro Mifune as Chico Lo Phar, wannabe gunslinger." People without the same relationship to your source material will bring novel surprises.