Appropriate disadvantages for Ghurka?

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by fredtheobviouspseudonym

As a Nepali he is probably a Buddhist, albeit with some modifications on the pacifism part.

A Rajah's child is likely to be Muslim or Hindu. Close association (to use a polite euphemism) is therefore unlikely -- most Muslims are pretty hostile to Buddhists (check the Qur'an) and close connection with a Buddhist would cost caste for a Hindu lady. Any such young female (relative of a Rajah) might have a Buddhist Gurkha as bodyguard but would also be accompanied by an elderly and very suspicious female attendant. (Think "battleaxe") who would, regardless of religion, stand a good chance of being executed by the Rajah ASAP if any hanky-panky occurs. Also the girl.

Oh, well the princess read absurd foreign literature while her chaperone was not looking and got idiotic ideas out of it. The Ghurkha of course knows better than to be unprofessional. It can still be funny.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

Minor correction:

Fixed. Thanks for catching it.

[mr beer]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Assuming a retired ex-military character or current military who somehow ended up in the UK.

Thank you, this is very thorough, I have used some of these to round him out.

[mr beer]

Lalbahadur “Larry” Thapa Magar

Profession: Monster Hunter (Warrior) in Victorian England
Year of birth: 1845 (age 33)
Height: 5’2” / 157.5 cm
Weight: 10 stone 3 lbs / 65 kilos
Appearance: Small Nepali gentleman with excellent posture. He has extremely well-pressed clothing and highly polished boots. He is unusually muscular but lean so this is not obvious when clothed.

Attributes: ST 17 [70]; DX 14 [80]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 14 [40].

Secondary Characteristics: Damage 1d+2/3d-1; BL 58 lbs.; HP 20 [6]; Will 13 [15]; Per 12 [10]; FP 14 [0]; Basic Speed 7.00 [0]; Basic Move 7 [0].

Background: Cultural Familiarity (Western) [1]; English (Accented) [4]; Hindu Language (Native).

Advantages: Brave [1]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Courtesy Rank (Jemadar, Rank 3, native troops or old India hands only) [1]; Fearlessness 3 [6]; Fit [5]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Luck [15]; Off-hand Weapon Training (Blade!) [1]; Temperature Tolerance 1 (Cold) [1]; Weapon Bond [1]; Weapon Master (All muscle-powered weapons) [45].

Disadvantages: Distinctive Features (Nepali) [-1], Sense of Duty (Teammates) [-5], Shyness (blond women, -1 to social skills) [-1], Social Stigma (Minority Group -2 Reaction) [-10], Teetotal [-1], Vegetarian [-1].

Wildcard Skills: Blade! DX+2 [48]-16.

Primary Skills: Brawling (E) DX+2 [4]-16; Crossbow (E) DX+1 [2]-15; Hidden Lore (Cryptozoology) (A) IQ [2]-10; Hidden Lore (Demons) (A) IQ [2]-10; Hidden Lore (Free Willed Spirits) (A) IQ [2]-10; Hidden Lore (Vampires) (A) IQ [2]-10; Occultism (A) IQ+1 [4]-11; Throwing Art (H) DX [4]-14; Wrestling (A) DX+1 [4]-15.

Secondary Skills: Axe/Mace (A) DX+1 [4]-15; Blind Fighting (VH) Per-1 [4]-11; Climbing (A) DX [2]-14; Leadership (A) IQ [2]-10; First Aid (E) IQ+1 [2]-11; Parry Missile Weapons(H) DX [4]-14; Soldier (A) IQ [2]-10; Staff (A) DX+1 [4]-15; Stealth, both (A) DX [2]-14; Tactics (H) IQ-1 [4]-10.

Background Skills: Guns (Pistol) (E) DX [1]-14; Guns (Rifle) (E) DX [1]-14; Fast-Draw (Pistol) (E) DX+1 [1]-14†; Hiking (A) HT-1 [1]-13; Immovable Stance (H) DX-2 [1]-12.

† Includes +1 from Combat Reflexes.

190 + 31 + 5 + 106 -19 + 48 + 26 + 30 + 5 = 422 points

[Michele]

Originally Posted by fredtheobviouspseudonym

Any such young female (relative of a Rajah) might have a Buddhist Gurkha as bodyguard but would also be accompanied by an elderly and very suspicious female attendant. (Think "battleaxe") who would, regardless of religion, stand a good chance of being executed by the Rajah ASAP if any hanky-panky occurs. Also the girl.

I think the main point would not be religion, it would be that she's betrothed since forever in a long-planned dynastic move.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by mr beer

Hindu Language (Native).

Nitpicky, but do you mean Hindi? Technically a Ghurka would be more likely to speak Nepali as a native language ... or possibly Urdu (which I'm told is mutually intelligible with Hindi but there are social nuances that I'm not well informed enough to understand between the two). I'm guessing the Rajah and his family would speak Hindi though.

Literacy might be an interesting point - I wouldn't be at all surprised to find a Ghurka of that era illiterate in Nepali and only able to read and write in Urdu or English (based on where he had received formal education - the Army of India was apparently still employing scribes for its men well into the C20, a courtesy not extended to illiterate British soldiers). Of course, if it doesn't suit the campaign literacy is often handwaved.

[mr beer]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Nitpicky, but do you mean Hindi? Technically a Ghurka would be more likely to speak Nepali as a native language ... or possibly Urdu (which I'm told is mutually intelligible with Hindi but there are social nuances that I'm not well informed enough to understand between the two). I'm guessing the Rajah and his family would speak Hindi though.

Yeah I meant Hindi and you are right, Nepali makes more sense. Will fix.

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Literacy might be an interesting point - I wouldn't be at all surprised to find a Ghurka of that era illiterate in Nepali and only able to read and write in Urdu or English (based on where he had received formal education - the Army of India was apparently still employing scribes for its men well into the C20, a courtesy not extended to illiterate British soldiers). Of course, if it doesn't suit the campaign literacy is often handwaved.

I'm handwaving it for that reason.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

. . . Urdu (which I'm told is mutually intelligible with Hindi but there are social nuances that I'm not well informed enough to understand between the two).

A while ago, they were the same language. Now they are different "registers" of Hindustani. They have been undergoing linguistic evolution under pressure of nationalism: Hindi towards classical Sanskrit, and Urdu towards Arabic. In the present day, everyday speech in the languages is mutually comprehensible, but formal and diplomatic language is increasingly easy to misunderstand across the language gap.

In the 1890s, the evolution hadn't progressed so far, and the languages could be treated as mutually comprehensible. There could be a Cultural Familiarity barrier between Muslim Urdu-speakers and Hindu Hindi-speakers, if they hadn't been exposed to each other's cultures. Nepal is definitely in the Hindu cultural sphere.

[Inky]

Hindi and Urdu are usually written in different alphabets, though. Hindi is written in the Devanagari alphabet (as are Nepali and Sanskrit), Urdu in the Persian version of the Arabic alphabet. According to Wikipedia this has indeed been the case since before the time this game is set. So a character who spoke Hindi (or Nepali) but not any languages written in Arabic wouldn't necessarily be able to read Urdu. Doubt if it'll ever come up in a game set in Victorian London, just discussing it because it's interesting.

As Johndallman said, they're basically dialects of the same language, but trying to act like separate languages because of politics.

What's a Nepali doing with 2 points in Hidden Lore (Vampires)? Not a part of the world you usually hear vampire legends from, unless I've missed some. Are there vampires in that part of the world in your game, or has he just been monster hunting in Europe for long enough to pick these things up?

[mr beer]

Originally Posted by Inky

What's a Nepali doing with 2 points in Hidden Lore (Vampires)? Not a part of the world you usually hear vampire legends from, unless I've missed some. Are there vampires in that part of the world in your game, or has he just been monster hunting in Europe for long enough to pick these things up?

He started with cryptids in Nepal but since being recruited by a British shadow agency, he has learned about other monsters.