Posts

  • Dec 7, 2016

    Dragon's Dogma: Human Enemies

    Copyright 2012 Capcom.

    This post is part of a series on converting Dragon’s Dogma enemies to GURPS Dungeon Fantasy. Please go here for links to all other posts in the series. The first “monster family” I’m covering here is good old humanity! You might say they’re not monsters, but you should see what they get up to from time to time.

    Joking aside, human opposition can be easily built using the 62- and 125-point templates from DF 15, or the full PC templates from the other books for leaders or particularly skilled individuals. The ready-made henchthing templates from Mirror of the Fire Demon are also appropriate.

    Human opponents come in several forms, with the most common discussed below. The writeups focus on combat skills and tactics - feel free to add any other skills and traits appropriate to the specific characters you wish to include in your games.

    Bandits

    A bandit or brigand is someone who hides out in the wilderness and makes a living robbing passing travelers. People can turn to banditry for a variety of reasons. Some are civilians made destitute by a natural disaster and see no other option. Some have been convicted of crimes that would see them dead anyway if they showed their face anywhere civilized. Some, like Robin Hood’s merry men, might use banditry as a way to undermine a ruler they oppose. And some just like killing people and taking their stuff.

    Bandits are never encountered alone - they always bring a few buddies to better shank you with. While usually not very skilled as individuals, they’re clever about picking their battles and only attack when they think they can win. Bandit gangs range from a handful of thugs living in a small forest camp to a large and well-organized unit in a fortified position. These hidden bases are always relatively close to a road or settlement, which provides the gang with their main source of targets.

    Unless a victim looks important enough to be worth ransoming, Gransys bandits don’t usually take prisoners. The dead tell no tales! If a potential victim looks too tough to take on, they either leave or try to negotiate if that is not an option.

    The three largest bandit gangs in Gransys are the Iron Hammers, who occupy the ruins of Aernst Castle to the south; the all-female Labrys Bandits who occupy the ruins of Heavenspeak Castle to the northwest; and a large but nameless band of smugglers holed up in the canyons between Windbluff and Bluemoon towers.

    Bandit Strider

    Most bandits are archers or light skirmishers. They prefer to shoot at targets from high ground and will only draw their swords as a last resort. They are usually fodder, though more powerful examples exist.

    ST 12; DX 11; IQ 10; HT 12

    Dodge 9; Parry 8 (shortsword); DR 2.

    HP 12; Will 10; Per 12; FP 12;

    Basic Speed 6; Move 6.

    • Bow (13): 1d imp. Acc 2.
    • Cheap Shortsword (11): 1d imp or 1d+2 cut.

    Traits: Callous, Code of Honor (Pirate’s), Greed.

    Class: Mundane.

    Equipment: Regular bow, hip quiver with 20 arrows, Medium Hardened Leather armor, cheap shortsword.

    Bandit Bouncer

    These hardier sorts prefer the personal touch. Their job is to keep the targets too busy to get to the archers and spellcasters. They are usually worthies.

    ST 14; DX 13; IQ 10; HT 12

    Dodge 10 (11); Parry 10 (11) (broadsword); DR 3 (2 vs crushing).

    HP 14; Will 10; Per 10; FP 12;

    Basic Speed 6; Move 6.

    • Cheap Thrusting Broadsword (15): 1d+2 imp or 2d+1 cut.
    • Shield Slam (15): 1d cr.

    Traits: Combat Reflexes, High Pain Threshold, Bully, Bloodlust, Code of Honor (Pirate’s), Greed.

    Class: Mundane.

    Equipment: Cheap thrusting broadsword, small shield (DB 1), Jack of Plates, leather pot-helm.

    Bandit Caster

    The brains of the outfit, they hang back with the archers and cast debilitating spells. They are usually worthies.

    ST 10; DX 11; IQ 14; HT 11

    Dodge 8; Parry 11 (Staff).

    HP 10; Will 13; Per 12; FP 12;

    Basic Speed 5; Move 5.

    • Staff (12): 1d+2 cr. Enchanted with the Staff spell.
    • Fireball (14): 1d or 2d burning, costs 1 or 2 FP.

    Spells: Itch-14, Spasm-14, Clumsiness-14, Hinder-14, Debility-14, Create Fire-14, Shape Fire-14, Fireball-14, Foolishness-14, Daze-14.

    Class: Mundane.

    Traits: Magery 2, Psychic Guidance (fireball), Bully, Callous, Code of Honor (Pirate’s), Greed.

    Guards and Soldiers

    These make up the rank-and-file of an organized fighting force. Most are retainers in the service of a noble or wealthy merchant. They can also be mercenaries, working for anyone who can pay their fee. The latter aren’t very popular in Gransys, and are more common in other nations.

    They’re built much like bandits, but tend to have better gear and slightly higher combat skills.

    Marksman

    Marksmen use crossbows, and are trained to form firing lines and fire en masse. In smaller battles they keep their distance and focus on high-value targets like magicians.

    ST 13; DX 13; IQ 10; HT 11

    Dodge 9; Parry 9 (Shortsword); DR 4/2*

    HP 13; Will 10; Per 10; FP 11;

    Basic Speed 6; Move 6

    • Crossbow (15): 1d+4 imp. Acc 4.
    • Shortsword (13): 1d+1 imp or 2d-1 cut.

    Traits: Acute Vision 2; Night Vision 2; Duty (to lord).

    Class: Mundane.

    Equipment: Mail Armor, Steel Pot Helm, Shorstsword, Crossbow, Quiver with 20 bolts.

    Halberdier

    Trained in polearm fighting, these soldiers emply short halberds that are equally useful on and off the battlefield.

    ST 14; DX 12; IQ 10; HT 12

    Dodge 10; Parry 11 (Dueling Halberd); DR 5 (torso); 4/2* (elsewhere).

    HP 14; Will 10; Per 10; FP 12;

    Basic Speed 6; Move 6.

    • Dueling Halberd (16): 2d+4 cut or 1d+3 imp or 2d+3 imp.

    Traits: Combat Reflexes, Duty (to Lord).

    Class: Mundane.

    Equipment: Dueling halberd, steel breastplate, mail sleeves and leggings, steel pot-helm.

    Support Mage

    This spell caster focuses on bolstering and healing their allies.

    ST 9; DX 10; IQ 14; HT 12;

    Dodge 8; Parry 11 (staff).

    HP 9; Will 14; Per 12; FP 15;

    Basic Speed 5.5; Move 5.

    • Staff (12): 1d+1 cr. Enchanted with the Staff spell.

    Spells: Shield-14; Armor-14; Missile Shield-14; Lend Energy-14; Might-14; Minor Healing-14; Major Healing-14; Haste-14; Glue-14; Grease-14;

    Traits: Magery 2, Duty (to Lord);

  • Dec 6, 2016

    Dragon's Dogma: Enemies Overview

    Copyright 2012 Capcom.

    By now we have a pretty complete picture of what the PCs in a GURPS Dragon’s Dogma look like. They can use almost any default Dungeon Fantasy template, or choose to be Magic Archers and Mystic Knights. They can be normal humans, or Pawns and Arisen. They can equip themselves with a variety of gear and they can use a unique form of alchemy to make that gear more powerful. And we know they’ll spend quite a bit of time fighting a variety of enemies and relieving them of their treasure. But exactly who are these enemies? This is what we’ll examine in the next few articles!

    The original game has a huge variety of interesting monsters to fight, and this is something I feel a GURPS adaptation should strive to match. In true JRPG fashion, they are divided into several “families” defined by what model they use, and you meet more powerful members of those families as you progress in the game. Those are a good starting point for organizing the monsters and defining how to split them among future articles. After looking at the spoilerific Bestiary entry in the Dragon’s Dogma wiki and rearranging things a bit, we come to the following list:

    These entries are written in the order I’ll tackle each of them. The idea is to include GURPS stats for all members of that monster family, either as full stat blocks or as variants for a basic stat block. They will also include some information on where the monster can be found in Gransys and what impact its existence has in our adaptation’s setting. As articles are written for each entry, I’ll come back to this post and add the proper links.

    It’s important to note that these aren’t the only monsters that exist in the setting, just the ones that show up on the original game. Anything could be lurking in those dungeons! The GM is free to include additional monsters from the DF line or other sources, or to use these in a generic DF setting.

  • Dec 5, 2016

    Pathfinder Iconics in Dungeon Fantasy: Harsk

    Welcome back to our series of conversions of Pathfinder’s Iconic Characters to GURPS Dungeon Fantasy! This is the seventh post in the series. Previous entries can be found here:

    Today’s template is the Scout which means’s that today’s character is Harsk. Here he is:

    By Wayne Reynolds, Copyright 2008 Paizo Publishing

    Just Look at all that compressed rage! His bio does give him plenty to be angry about. Harsk’s official stats are here. From these we can learn the following:

    • Harsk is a Dwarf from Varisia, a “wild frontier” region that doesn’t have any blatant ties to real-world cultures. He was a bit of an outsider to his own stereotypically Dwarven community, and appointed himself a keeper of justice in the wild places after his brother was killed by raiding giants.

    • He carries his brother’s axe with him, but his preferred weapon is a heavy crossbow he made himself. Understandably, he has giants as a favored enemy and gains bonuses to fight them.

    • He’s skilled in wilderness survival, particularly in mountains, and very perceptive.

    This puts us in something of a pickle. DF Scouts are excellent at shooting bows, but Harsk’s preferred weapon is the crossbow. While that’s much more in line with the dwarven idiom, it’s not supported by the standard Scout template in DF 1. I’m still going to use that template as a base, but I’ll need to range a bit further afield when looking for the right advantages. More specifically, the Heroic Crossbowman advantage and the Quick Reload perk, summarized below for ease of reference.

    Heroic Crossbowman (20 points)

    This is just like Heroic Archer, but for crossbows instead of bows. It gives the same benefits (Acc without an Aim maneuver, eliminates Bulk penalty, halved Fast-Draw and Quick-Shooting penalties), and also give access to perks from GURPS Gun Fu which make sense for crossbows. This advantage wasn’t explicitly written out anywhere that I could find, but it’s trivially derived from Heroic Archer.

    Quick Reload (1 point)

    This perk is from GURPS Gun Fu, which details its workings for various types of guns. The crossbow version of this perk requires Heroic Crossbowman and allows you to reload a crossbow in one turn with a successful Fast-Draw (Arrow) roll. You can use the quick-shooting rules from the description of Heroic Archer in DF 1, p. 14 to attempt to fire your crossbow every turn!

    With these traits in hand, statting Harsk up is fairly easy. Being a Scout, he lacks the spells of his original version, but he scarcely needs them when he can rely on his incredible marksdwarfship. Harsk’s increased Lifting ST from being a Dwarf also allow him to carry a beefier crossbow, and to be one of the only iconics so far who is at No Encumbrance while carrying his full kit.

    Harsk, 250-point Dwarf Scout

    ST 13 {30}; DX 14 {80}; IQ 11 {20}; HT 13 {20}1

    Damage 1d/2d-1; BL 22.5kg; HP 13; Will 11; Per 14 {15}; FP 151; Basic Speed 7.00 {10}; Basic Move 61.

    Advantages

    • Alcohol Tolerance {0}1
    • Damage Resistance 1 (Tough Skin) {0}1
    • Dwarf {20}
    • Dwarven Gear {0}1
    • Heroic Crossbowman {20}
    • Lifting ST 2 {0}1
    • Mortal Foe (Giants) {5}
    • Night Vision 5 {0}1
    • Outdoorsman 2 {20}
    • Pickaxe Penchant 1 {0}1
    • Quick Reload (Crossbow) {1}
    • Resistant to Poison +3 {0}1

    Disadvantages

    • Greed (12) {0}1
    • Honesty (12) {-10}
    • Intolerance (Giants) {-5}
    • Loner (12) {-5}
    • No Sense of Humor {-10}
    • Odious Personal Habit (Dour & Gruff) {-5}
    • Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) {-5}
    • Stubborness {0}1
    • Vow (Own no more than can be carried) {-10}

    Skills

    • Armoury (Missile Weapons) (A) IQ {2} - 11
    • Axe/Mace (A) DX+1 {2}2 - 15
    • Brawling (E) DX {1} - 14
    • Camouflage (E) IQ+3 {2}3 - 14
    • Cartography (A) IQ+1 {4} - 12
    • Climbing (A) DX-1 {1} - 13
    • Crossbow (E) DX+6 {20} - 20
    • Fast-Draw (Arrow) (E) DX+1 {2} - 15
    • First Aid (E) IQ {1} - 11
    • Gesture (E) IQ+1 {2} - 12
    • Hiking (A) HT {2} - 12
    • Jumping (E) DX {1} - 14
    • Mimicry (Bird Calls) (H) IQ+1 {2}3 - 12
    • Navigation (Land) (A) IQ+1 {1}3 - 12
    • Observation (A) Per {2} - 14
    • Prospecting (A) IQ {1}2 - 11
    • Shadowing (A) IQ+1 {4} - 12
    • Stealth (A) DX-1 {1} - 13
    • Survival (Mountain) (A) Per+1 {1}3 - 15
    • Tracking (A) Per+2 {2}3 - 16
    • Traps (A) IQ+1 {4} - 12
    • Wrestling (A) DX-1 {1} - 13

    Equipment

    $1000.0, 21.75kg. No Encumbrance!

    • Bolts x20 [Quiver]: $40, 1kg.
    • Camouflaged Heavy Cloak [Torso]: DB 2. +1 to Stealth in wooded terrain. $150, 2.5kg.
    • Hip Quiver [Torso]: Holds up to 20 bolts. $15, 0.5kg.
    • Leather Jacket [Torso, Arms]: DR 1*. $50, 2kg.
    • Crossbow [Torso]: ST 15. Damage 1d+5 pi. $150, 3kg.
    • Ordinary Clothing [Torso, Limbs]: Free, 1kg.
    • Dwarven Axe [Torso]: Damage sw+2 cut. $250, 2kg.
    • Backpack, Small [Torso]: Holds 20kg of gear. $60, 1.5kg.
    • Blanket [Backpack]: $20, 2kg.
    • Canteen [Backpack]: $10, 1.5kg.
    • Personal Basics [Backpack]: $5, 0.5kg.
    • Rations x4 [Backpack]: $8, 1kg.
    • Rope, 3/8” (10m) [Backpack]: Supports 150kg. $5, 0.75kg.
    • Torch x2 [Backpack]: $6, 1kg.
    • Tea Set [Backpack]: $7, 1.5kg.
    • $224 in coin.

    1. Part of or modified by Dwarf racial package. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

    2. Includes +1 from Pickaxe Penchant ↩ ↩2

    3. Includes +2 from Outdoorsman ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  • Dec 1, 2016

    Dragon's Dogma: Artifacts of Gransys

    Copyright 2013 Capcom.

    Our two previous posts cover “generic” equipment and magic items pretty well, but the original game also has plenty of distinct items with individual names. While some of those are just part of the traditional JRPG upgrade treadmill, others would make fine artifacts for a Dungeon Fantasy game. We’ll discuss them here.

    As described in these supplements, artifacts are magic items that don’t follow the default rules for such in GURPS. In Gransys, their most likely origins are Magical or Material. In either case, they can’t be further upgraded or enchanted via alchemy, as they’re already as good as they’re going to get.

    Any of the artifacts in DF 6 and DF Treasures 2 could end up making their way into a GURPS Dragon’s Dogma game. Obviously, none of them are available for sale anywhere, and no living artisan would know how to make one with the possible exception of some of the consumable items in those books. But thre is one other way in which a PC might come into possession of an artifact, or even of a more normal magic item: Dragonforging.

    Dragon blood has all sorts of magical and mythical properties in a lot of media, and here it’s no different. A weapon or suit of armor bathed in the blood of a dragon as that dragon is killed becomes imbued with the beast’s might! This applies to lesser members of the dragon family as well as to The Dragon.

    The mechanical effects of Dragonforging in GURPS “upgrade” the items worn or wielded by a character in a manner similar to what’s possible with standard alchemy, but much more dramatic. It always “maxes out” an item’s mundane quality descriptors, making it a close to ideal example of its kind. Armor becomes fine; shields become balanced and fine; weapons become balanced and very fine.

    Additionally, the items gain additional enchantments commensurate with the power of the slain dragon. Unlike with traditional alchemy, these are not restricted to what’s available for sale in shops. In fact, this is a perfect way to introduce Artifacts to the campaign! Even artifacts found as loot are likely to have been used by some ancient hero to slay a dragon. The most powerful among them are those used by an ancient Arisen to slay The Dragon.

    Obviously, it costs nothing to enhance an item in this way, other than having to fight a dragon.

  • Nov 27, 2016

    Pathfinder Iconics in Dungeon Fantasy: Valeros

    Welcome back to our series of conversions of Pathfinder’s Iconic Characters to GURPS Dungeon Fantasy! This is the sixth post in the series. Previous entries can be found here:

    Today’s template is the Knight, which means that today’s character is Valeros. Here he is:

    By Wayne Reynolds, Copyright 2008 Paizo Publishing

    His character design is somewhat bland, and while his bio is one of the longest I’ve seen, it’s also one of the least spectacular so far. At least it’s better written than Lini’s, which was kind of confusing to parse. His official stats are here. From these we can learn the following:

    • Valeros is from the nation of Andoran, his world’s “18th century US” equivalent. He’s the typical farmboy who ran away from home and towards adventure.

    • He wears medium armor and fights with paired swords. He likes making lots of attacks on vulnerable enemy locations. He has a bow as a backup for ranged combat.

    And… that’s pretty much it. Anything else I could say here would just be reiterating his biography, which I try to avoid doing too much in these writeups. The most unique thing about Valeros is that he likes to fight with two swords. The standard Knight template is more than enough to cover that, and unlike the d20 Fighter it actually lives up to its reputation as an effective combatant.

    As you can see below, our version of Valeros wields two full-sized broadswords instead of a longsword/shortsword pair, because there’s no restriction preventing him from doing so in GURPS. The Two-Weapon Fighting power-up is from DF 11. He spent 2 of his character points in starting cash.

    Valeros, 248-point Human Fighter

    ST 16 {60}; DX 14 {80}; IQ 10 {0}; HT 13 {30}

    Damage 1d+1/2d+2; BL 25,6kg; HP 16; Will 10; Per 10; FP 13; Basic Speed 6.75; Basic Move 6.

    Advantages

    • Born War Leader 2 {10}
    • Combat Refalexes {15}
    • High Pain Threshold {10}
    • Weapon Master (Broadsword) {20}
    • Two-Weapon Fighting (Broadsword) {6}

    Disadvantages

    • Code of Honor (Pirate’s) {-5}
    • Compulsive Carousing (12) {-5}
    • Lecherousness (12) {-15}
    • Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) {-10}

    Skills

    • Armoury (Melee Weapons) (A) IQ {2} - 10
    • Bow (A) DX+1 {4} - 15
    • Brawling (E) DX+1 {2} - 15
    • Broadsword (A) DX+6 {24} - 20
    • Carousing (E) HT {1} - 13
    • Climbing (A) DX-1 {1} - 13
    • Connoisseur (Weapons) (A) IQ+1 {4} - 11
    • Fast-Draw (Sword) (E) DX+1 {1}1 - 15
    • Knife (E) DX {1} - 14
    • Leadership (A) IQ+1 {1}2 - 11
    • Shield (A) DX+2 {4} - 16
    • Stealth (A) DX-1 {1} - 13
    • Strategy (H) IQ+1 {2}2 - 11
    • Tactics (H) IQ+1 {2}2 - 11
    • Wrestling (A) DX {2} - 14

    Loadout

    $2000.0, 28.48kg. Light Encumbrance.

    • Ordinary Clothing [Torso, Limbs]: Free, 1kg.
    • Mail Shirt [Torso]: DR 4/2*. $150, 8kg.
    • Heavy Leather Leggings [Legs] DR 2. $60, 2kg.
    • Heavy Leather Sleeves [Arms] DR 2. $50, 1kg.
    • Boots [Feet]: DR 2*. $80, 1.5kg.
    • Pot-Helm [Head]: DR 4. $100, 2.5kg.
    • Arrows x12 [Quiver]: $24, 0.6kg.
    • Shoulder Quiver [Torso]: Holds 12 arrows. $10, 0.25kg.
    • Large Knife [Torso]: Damage sw-2 cut, thr imp. $40, 0.5kg.
    • Regular Bow [Torso]: Damage thr+1 imp. $100, 1kg.
    • Thrusting Broadsword x2 [Torso]: Damage sw+1 cut, thr+2 imp. $1200, 3kg.
    • Backpack, Small [Torso]: Holds 20kg of gear. $60, 1.5kg.
    • First Aid Kit [Backpack]: $50, 1kg.
    • Blanket [Backpack]: $20, 2kg.
    • Rations x4 [Backpack]: $4, 1kg.
    • Personal Basics [Backpack]: $5, 0.5kg.
    • Waterskin [Backpack]: Holds 4L of liquid (4kg if water). $10, 0.13kg.
    • Tankard [Backpack]: Holds 0.5L of liquid. $5, 0.25kg.
    • Rope, 3/8” [Backpack]: Length: 10m. Supports 150kg. $5, 0.75kg.
    • $27 in coin.

    1. +1 from Combat Reflexes ↩

    2. +2 from Born War Leader ↩ ↩2 ↩3

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