Vikings 4e update

[WholesomeMadScientist]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Mind you, these are quick and dirty conversions done with minimal proofreading and point cost checking. You'll want to double check the templates.

Got it, will do.

[Þorkell]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

The text explains why that is.

Yes and no. Assuming that you're talking about the text on p.31. The customization notes there mention Berserk as an option.

Also, what language is Alvar supposed to be?

[Stormcrow]

The text is making the point that going berserk isn't a central part of how the book (and historical writings) define what a berserker is. The Warrior/Berserker template covers two main categories: professional warriors, who were mostly huscarls, and berserkers, who were any warrior outside the mainstream of society.

The customization notes of the template point out that berserkers will have "at least one additional disadvantage chosen from Bad Temper [-10], Berserk [-15], Bloodlust [-10], Bully [-10], Callous [-6], and Sadism [-15]." There's your Berserk disadvantage, in the customization notes.

Why is it there? A space-saving issue. There really should have been several separate templates: huscarl, berserker, duelist. But that turns into a whole new page of text, so they lumped all the "warrior" types together into one template that then gets customized further. In the first edition of GURPS Vikings, "warrior" and "berserker" character types had separate paragraphs. If you're writing your own conversions, do yourself a favor and separate these roles.

Pursuivant ignored the customization notes when converting the template.

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Þorkell

Yes and no. Assuming that you're talking about the text on p.31. The customization notes there mention Berserk as an option.

Also, what language is Alvar supposed to be?

Apparently the present word in Norwegian is Alver, presumably it's an older/alternate form.

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

The text is making the point that going berserk isn't a central part of how the book (and historical writings) define what a berserker is.

Part of the problem here is that the book (and the category 'historical writings' covers a significant time span during which the meaning of the word drifted significantly. This is compounded by the fact that none of the writings we have exist in the form that was contemporaneous with the events described, they're all heavily glossed by later writers/record keepers, and moreover we simply don't have very many records of any stripe. Almost everything we know today was written down by by Snorri Sturluson, who lived centuries after the events described and was not a communicant of the religious traditions that are foundational to understanding the stories. Even assuming he did his utmost not to let the beliefs he was raised in influence his interpretation, people are human and he didn't do a perfect job. It is likely that at different times during and directly before the viking age 'berserk/berserker" went from meaning "a warrior granted power of a bear (or wolf, sometimes referred to as ulfheþnar) by Odin, a skin-changer" through "a warrior who fights in a trance/frenzy state" (the meaning of the GURPS disadvantage) to "a violent jerk who fights for no good reason".

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Part of the problem here

There is no problem here. GURPS Vikings explains how it uses the term berserker, and its definition is a simplified synthesis of various sources. It doesn't matter what berserker means elsewhere; GURPS Vikings has defined what it means when it uses the term.

[pawsplay]

It looks a little odd to me that every single warrior/berserker has 2 points sunk into Poetry but only the same in a primary weapon skill.

[Farmer]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

It looks a little odd to me that every single warrior/berserker has 2 points sunk into Poetry but only the same in a primary weapon skill.

Poetry was very important in Viking culture. A heroic character is likely to be well versed (heh) in it.

https://sonsofvikings.com/blogs/history/viking-poets

[Anders]

Then you need to make it important in the campaign as well. Otherwise your players may resent being forced to spend points on a useless skill.

[Farmer]

Originally Posted by Anders

Then you need to make it important in the campaign as well. Otherwise your players may resent being forced to spend points on a useless skill.

Absolutely. But as a template, it's reasonable to be in there. GM can remove or keep it and make use of it.

[Anders]

I think skill 10 is much too low for a professional warrior. Benchmark for "I can make a living from this" is skill 12. I'd lower ST and HT by 1 each and raise DX, and then consolidate the two melee skills into one. That should give skill 12.