GNOLES
ARMOUR: 2 point skin; sometimes also leather
(2 pts.) on body & limbs
SPELLS:
Befuddle; Healing 2; Shimmer 2; Darkwall
SKILLS: Climbing 80%; Listen 80%; Camouflage
90%; Hide in Cover 80%; Move Quietly 90%; Tracking 100% (in forest); Spot
Hidden 50%
Travellers who have journeyed through the very deepest
and most gloomy forests sometimes claim to have caught a glimpse of large
beings moving with uncanny speed and agility through the trees. These are the
fabled gnoles.
The reclusive gnoles care nothing for other races and
are content to ignore anyone who is not determined to bother them. However,
their hidden dwellings are often sought by avaricious and overconfident
adventurers who covet their great treasure. Those who survive the other dangers
of the forest and succeed in reaching one of the gnole lairs rarely live to
brag of it, for the gnoles have several unique abilities that aid them in
disposing of intruders...
Gnoles cannot be surprised. They are so aware of the forest
and all its signs that they get several hours' warning when anyone is
approaching. Moreover, gnoles almost always surprise their opponents; at a distance
of 25 metres a gnole is 90% likely to be undiscernable when stationary.
Gnoles cannot see anything further than 20 metres from them
(although their hearing is very acute and so they will still be aware of beings
beyond this range), but closer than this they have full 360° vision, even
through solid objects. They also have Detect Enemies to a range of 20 metres; this
ability operates continually at no POW cost.
A gnole lair will contain 4-24 gnoles, all in
permanent Mindspeech with one another. In appearance, gnoles are a mottled
brown-black. They are slightly larger and more heavily built than an average
man, but stand somewhat shorter owing to their stooped posture. They have
prehensile hands and feet which enable them to climb rapidly in spite of their
bulk.
Ha! I'm not sure that statting up the gnoles is really any worse than Sime's giving them even a semi-specific form, seeing as they're entirely undescribed in the story (Margaret Sinclair is also a sinner in this regard ...). At least you didn't turn them into anthropoid hyenas!
ReplyDeleteWith the gnoles and the gibbelins, Dunsany does something that Tolkien would later do well with the orcs - create humanoid (presumably!) monsters that are all the more effective and evocative for being barely described. Tolkien was drawing on the Beowulf poet, of course - see all that academic debate about whether Grendel was a man or a monster - but a name, evidence of malignancy and a few grisly details are all that a good monster really needs.
Thanks, JC, you're quite right and that does make me feel a little less guilty. I'm at least I'm in the dock with Sidney Sime for my artistic crimes :-)
DeleteIf you're going to be in the dock with somebody, that's a good one to share it with. For my part, the biggest unfortunatancy is my group doesn't play (or even have) Runequest. We mostly use the Savage Worlds system from Pinnacle. I'd love to see the stats for gnoles for Deadlands. Granted that it's no Empire of the Petal Throne, but I love Deadlands as a setting.
ReplyDeleteI lost track of Runequest in the early '90s so I'm not sure which iteration it's on now. I'm vaguely aware of Heroquest and like the attempt to reflect "myth levels", a concept Oliver and I would have factored into Dragon Warriors if it had continued beyond book 6.
DeleteTalking of Oliver, he's still looking for a system to power his Western campaign, but I think Deadlands may have too much of a steampunk element to be right for that?
I notice too that a Tekumel variant of Savage Worlds is available online. The background material looks good (that much-needed quick intro that Tekumel always needed) but I've never played SW so I can't comment on how well the rules fit with the setting.
Btw when I ran that Spartans scenario a while back I used Runequest rules of the '80s Avalon Hill vintage. I don't know why, other than that RQ being a Ancient World system at heart it just felt right.
DeleteDeadlands has as much or as little steampunk as the GM wishes to emphasize. "Mad Science" is one of several supernatural effects available in the setting. Generally if the players roll into a town, it's going to look and function like a town from the 1870s-80s.
DeleteOliver's campaign is going to start in 1862. One of the things he needs to nail are the weapons -- we're talking about cap-&-ball guns, I think. So any rules that cover that could do, but he also plans some subtly supernatural elements, or so he has hinted. Prophetic dreams and the like. All I can do is point him at the various systems and let him decide which best fits his vision.
DeleteDeadlands covers cap and ball weapons, even if its setting is 1876-79 so far. Honestly, if someone wanted to run a straight, mundane Western game, Deadlands is easily suitable for that. And if you want to add in supernatural or horror elements, you can easily do that as well.
DeleteI'll tell him about it. So far he's considered GURPS 4e (a lazy option, maybe, but we all know the system) and James Wallis's Fugue rules, which I like but may not work with the extended campaign Oliver has in mind. I'll send him a link to a Deadlands review so he can assess it.
DeleteVery much agree with JC's 'less is more' comment at the start of this thread ! Also, Dave, don't despair - think what St Augustine might have given to have his only youthful peccadillo be the conversion of literary monsters into Runequest statistics (is it like pining an imaginary butterfly in a hard glass case, and shining unblinking light upon it ?) ; )
ReplyDeleteBetter to listen to JC than to St Augustine, eh? I think you're right, John.
Delete