A Little Job for the Patrician
A GURPS Discworld Scenario
by Phil Masters
This scenario for GURPS Discworld also requires GURPS Discworld Also, as it involves one of the settings detailed in that book. It starts in Ankh-Morpork, and the PCs must have some reason to agree to undertake an unofficial mission on behalf of the Patrician, Lord Vetinari. Actually, most characters have a large number of such reasons (starting with a fondness for breathing, if push really comes to shove), but some are more specifically likely to get stuck with such missions than others. Fortunately, it's usually pretty easy to find excuses for involving PCs in this sort of thing.
If they should happen to work for the Watch, well, orders are orders, though it may seem most appropriate if they've done something to annoy someone official lately. (As if any PC would.) If they're criminally inclined, they may well have carried on this profession somewhere near Ankh-Morpork without ensuring that their relationship with the Thieves' Guild (or, in some extreme cases, the Assassins' Guild) has been properly formalized -- and the players shouldn't then be too surprised to learn that the Patrician has somehow found out all the details, whatever their characters think. In general, some kind of blackmail, favors owed or traded, or other excuse is pretty easy to come by in these cases.
So they get an invitation to come along to the palace and find out more about the task which they have found themselves volunteering to perform.
Prologue and Scene One
The PCs gather in the Oblong Office. This is a chance for them to introduce themselves to each other, if they haven't met before, and to talk, or at least to size each other up, although if they only meet in the office itself, they may feel slightly constrained by the fact that the Patrician is sitting behind the desk, going through some papers and apparently paying them no attention whatsoever. The GM may like to mention that a large red-haired Watch captain and an ash-blonde Watch sergeant (looking slightly embarrassed and amused respectively) are standing at the back of the room, if only to act as a calming influence on the high spirits of some players.
Eventually, just after the last PC arrives and sits down, Vetinari looks up from his paperwork and begins talking as if all necessary introductions have already been made.
"You have all undertaken to do some work for the city, for one reason or another," he says, "and now is the time to discuss that work. Have any of you heard of a gentleman named Leonard of Quirm?"
It's likely that at least some of the PCs will be able to say yes to this (matching the fact that their players may have read the relevant books); the GM might permit IQ-2 or Appreciate Beauty rolls for anyone else to at least know Leonard's name and reputation as an all- round creative genius. (See GURPS Discworld Also, p. DA12-13, and novels such as Men At Arms, Jingo, and The Last Hero for details if the players or GM need help), but even if everyone claims ignorance, the Patrician will simply raise an eyebrow and say "Oh well, I'm sure that you can find out anything that you'll need to know."
"Unfortunately," Vetinari will continue, "some of Leonard's work -- his intellectual property, one might say -- has come onto the open market, despite his own wishes. It's all very incomplete, I'm told, but to avoid loose ends, it really does need to be recovered.
"It takes the form of a leather-bound notebook, full of Leonard's characteristic handwriting -- he writes as if in a mirror -- and his very detailed drawings. It has been traced to a second-hand bookshop, whose owner now remembers selling it only recently -- to a nautical fellow named Ruscoff Jomzring, in fact. Mr Jomzring in turn was last heard of setting sail for the Brown Islands. Unfortunately, Ankh-Morpork law doesn't technically run that far, so we can't send any sort of official mission . . . but perhaps some public- spirited folk, who seem by chance already to have booked passage for a holiday in those parts, could look into this?"
Then he will look at the most reliable, trustworthy member of the party (who needn't be very reliable), and add "I think you may want to look after this." (He hands over a packet, containing some tickets and a sealed envelope.) "There are, I believe, some one-way tickets in there, and also a letter to our trade representative in the Brown Islands, asking him to make sure that you all get a return passage when you've finished your holiday."
Then, he turns back to his paperwork. If anyone tries to ask him further questions, he will be polite, straightforward, and terse, primarily suggesting that the PCs should be able to find out anything else important from whatever their usual sources might be.
The Ship
When the PCs look at the tickets, they will realize that their ship departs the next day, on the morning tide. (Just to keep them on their toes.) Specifically, they're being given (very) second-class passage on a ship named the Indolence. It's easy to locate down at the city docks, where the crew are doing plausible just-before-departure things. The PCs have those last few hours to sort themselves out and make personal arrangements. If any of them oversleep, well, someone from the Watch or the Patrician's Office will drop by soon enough to wake them up, and it's easy enough to catch up with the vessel in the first few hours of its voyage; it will be lurching stickily down the Ankh, after all. Getting aboard may involve a flying leap off a dock, mind you -- and falling in would mean, well, an encounter with the "waters" of that river.
This ship is mostly a cargo hauler. If anyone asks the captain or crew, or just scouts around, they can easily determine that there are no other passengers, and they will be told that it's carrying "Important cargo" -- here, the speaker taps his nose -- "much prized by people out there, or so we're told." Beyond that, any sailor will turn silent, seeking to maintain his nautical mystique. However, if the PCs push hard enough, which probably means sneaking below decks, the cargo turns out to be turnips and cabbages, for sale to the Ankhian community in Port Duck.
The trip to the Brown Islands (which are on the map of the Disc in GURPS Discworld, p.DI22-3, and discussed in GURPS Discworld Also, p.DA74-82) takes some three to four weeks. The GM should probably try to whip through this time as fast as possible, unless the players have specific (good) ideas for things to do, but GMs who so choose can always fill things out with a few gratuitous jokes about seasickness, suicidal albatrosses which have to be dissuaded from diving into the path of warrior PCs' weapons practice, sea shanties which don't rhyme, scan, or indeed make any sense, nautical jargon, and anything else that comes to mind.
It's also possible that some of the PCs will use this time to attempt to get a look at the contents of Vetinari's letter to the city's representative on the Brown Islands. This means lifting the (large, intricate, and carefully applied) wax seal from the envelope; characters with Streetwise or Administration skills will know techniques for achieving this, using a slim, hot knife, but it will probably require a roll against DX at a significant penalty. GMs can make it as hard as they like, within reason, and assess the results of failure as they see fit. In any case, even if they succeed, or use some other method (such as magic), all the PCs will find is a fairly predictable note, saying that these people (listed by name, complete with unflattering personal descriptions) are to be given passage back to Ankh-Morpork if they show up with Leonard's book in hand.
Optional scene: One little joke can be run near the end of the trip, and will work best if the players haven't investigated the cargo. As it makes its way past the first few islands, the Indolence is approached by a pirate ship. (One can tell by the terribly menacing flag, as well as by the multi- national crew wearing assorted colorful costumes with a lot of headscarves and tricorn hats, waving cutlasses, and talking especially impenetrable nautical jargon to their parrots.) Let the PCs work out their initial responses to this, while a few of the crew disappear below. Then, those crewmen reappear -- holding cabbages and turnips, which they wave at the pirates.
Exactly what follows can depend on whether the GM feels like running a fight scene, and whether the players insist on such things periodically. Most likely, the pirates will veer off with audible cries of disappointment and the odd apology -- "Should 'a known 'ee, lads, arrrh -- sorry ta have bothered 'ee." However, they may still come on aggressively, to the surprise and annoyance of the Indolence's crew ("Stap me vitals, they must be desp'rate men, or much given to cabbages.") It's also possible that the pirate ship will pause for a while as the ruffians take a vote as to whether they are indeed such truly desperate men or not, giving the Indolence time to start fleeing, and any especially talented PCs (especially wizards) time to show off anything that might help them decide.
For that matter, if the players are the sort who aren't happy with some gratuitous violence, but the GM doesn't feel like running a full battle, they can fight a few rounds of combat, until the Indolence's crew, pelting the attackers with cabbages and annoyed remarks, persuade them to depart.
(If anyone actually asks why the pirates should not attack just because the Indolence is carrying agricultural produce, the crew will shrug. "There's not much of a black market for root vegetables. Or so we're told. Arrrh.")
Port Duck
This bustling if slightly underdeveloped-looking town is described in GURPS Discworld Also, p.DA79-82, and the GM should describe the PCs' first sight of it in detail, mentioning the many shaky-seeming wooden houses and the incomplete fort overlooking the bay. Then, once the ship has docked and the PCs have recovered their land legs, they can start to explore, and eventually look for clues.
The GM (and the players) can spin this out for a while, or cut to the chase, according to taste. Obviously, tracing Ruscoff Jomzring is the task in hand; the PCs can try what they like, but a fair amount of hanging around in bars and making Streetwise rolls is probably inevitable. This can lead to various diversions, barroom brawls, and encounters with nautical characters with parrots, drunken expatriates dreaming of cabbages, Agatean tourist parties (all neatly and formally organized, and quite capable of trampling someone who falls over or is lying drunkenly in their path when they are looking to one side at something their guide has pointed out), crossbow- packing Agatean cops and gangsters, and other such features of the setting.
Some PCs might also seek out Ankh-Morpork's official representative in the city at this point. This is of course Lord Bulack (p.DA80-1), who will probably be off surfing on a nearby beach. Once located, Bulack will usually be amiable and may help a little, but Vetinari's letter doesn't actually tell him to provide assistance other than those return tickets, and there is a limit to what he can really do.
The Clue
Sooner or later, the PCs should be able to determine that Jomzring was last heard of working as a legman for someone called Dooli the Arranger, down at Brick's Café Ankh-Morporkian (p.DA82). Unfortunately, Jomzring isn't around any more -- something about trying to extract the recipe for blonde hair dye from an Amazon tribe on an outlying island. ("Poor chap. Poor chap. It's a very secret recipe, apparently. We don't like to talk about it. Well, they didn't like to talk about it . . . Amazon tribes, you know -- staying in to wash their hair is very important to them . . . ") But perhaps Dooli can help?
The Bar
Visitors to Brick's will of course first be struck by its resemblance to the Mended Drum -- although it's slightly too new, clean, and tidy -- assuming that they are not first struck by Brick, or by one of the patrons. Once they're over any of that, Dooli, a dark-skinned fellow of Klatchian extraction, is easy to locate. He's a man who prides himself that he can arrange anything, and he is currently usually to be found conducting the Café's house band in an intricate, subtle, instrumental version of a traditional Sto Plains tune ("Gathering Rhubarb"). Once that's finished, he can be persuaded to help the PCs with information, but it will take cash, trickery, or perhaps some kind of appeal to his finer sensibilities.
(If details are required, Dooli has IQ 13, other attributes 10, and the skills Conducting-13, Detect Lies-12, Diplomacy-13, Flower Arranging-14, Leadership-12, Merchant-13, Musical Composition (specialized in arrangements)-12/18, Musical Instrument (Piano)-14, Musical Instrument (Trumpet)-14, and Streetwise-13. Brick is an ordinary sedimentary troll whose skills are normally Brawling-12, Merchant-6, Streetwise-8, and 2-Handed Axe/Mace-9 -- but note that his troll brain is badly affected by the local heat, reducing his IQ and mental skills.)
What Dooli knows is that Ruscoff Jomzring traveled to Ankh-Morpork for him to acquire some books which a client wanted. The client's name is Soso Sung. If asked about this client, he shrugs and smiles. "Fellow has a place in the jungle a little outside town. Keeps to himself, mostly." (Really shrewd PCs might guess or determine that Sung did not request, or pay quite enough for, total anonymity. He was just plain careless in this.)
If the PCs aren't getting enough help here, one way or another, Brick the Troll will overhear something of the conversation and blunder in (to Dooli's mild annoyance). "Oh yeah," he says, "you sent Mr. Jomzring out to dat place inna jungle wid my many-an'-two cousins." If asked, Brick will say that his cousins were "big old-type trolls from der old country." (This extra clue isn't required, however; Dooli can offer quite enough help to be going on with, and the GM may prefer to keep some surprises in hand.)
Given this start, shrewd PCs may ask around and find out more about Sung from rumors. They can determine that he's a wealthy Agatean (as his name and activities suggest), and that he has an interest in getting people to bring him all sorts of Cool Stuff, but not much more. Sooner or later, a trip into the forest will be inevitable.
Out of Town
The trip to Soso Sung's house can be quite simple, although it may be hot and miserable. The GM may determine that the place is on or near the coast, in which case the PCs could take a boat.
The "house" is actually a fair-sized if rather flimsy pagoda in a small clearing. (There's also a small well nearby, and there might be other structures around, at the GM's option; see below.) It has several floors, linked by a narrow but rugged spiral staircase which runs all the way up the center.
Working from the bottom up:
The ground floor is of course the largest, and is divided into an entrance hall, a small kitchen, and a typically minimalist Agatean- style room where Sung receives visitors. The next floor up consists of two rooms, Sung's private dining room/library, and a small chamber for washing. (Leonard's book is usually shelved here -- along with dozens of other books and scrolls on various themes, albeit mostly related to engineering. There is no clear logic to the ordering, and searching would take burglars a while.)
The next room up is rather different, although the decoration is again very simple -- in fact, non-existent. An intruder who sneaks or peers in here in daytime is likely to get the impression that the floor is covered in boulders, at least until he catches the sound of very slow, deep snoring, and sees something move a little. In short, this is a troll dormitory; see below for details of the occupants.
Soso Sung sleeps on the floor above that, in yet another Agatean- style room, complete with a wooden pillow and a few chests filled with fine silk garments. Lastly, the top floor and room belongs to Igor (see below), with a straw-filled mattress and a rough wooden box acting as a dressing table, on which are perched some jars and pots. Intruders peering too closely at those should definitely be in for a fright check. Igors will be Igors, wherever they are.
(If anyone asks at any stage, the pagoda has no toilet because its occupants go outside for such purposes. No mystery, and no, the writer didn't forget.)
There's also a large basement, which is entirely occupied by Sung's workshop and the thing he's been building . . . but we'll come back to that. If any PCs manage to sneak down there, they should be interrupted fairly soon by Igor, Sung, or a troll, though they'll get a glimpse of Sung's masterpiece first.
Optional Additional Feature
GMs who want to complicate things and throw in an additional problem -- which clever PCs or dramatic convention may turn into an advantage -- can add another feature to this site, thanks to Sung's habit of collecting Cool Stuff.
Specifically, the clearing may contain other structures. Most of these are small, but if the PCs investigate, one of them will prove to be a big pen. A very little more inspection will determine that this is occupied by something large, scaly, and toothy. The players, if not their characters, will recognize this as a dinosaur. One finds such things on lost tropical islands, if one looks hard enough.
See below for game details. It would take a great deal of determined PC ineptitude, or a particularly convoluted cunning plan, to release this creature immediately, but shrewd PCs may bear its existence in mind for later.
Entry and Encounters
Whether they knock on the door or sneak in, PCs will be greeted first by Igor, who is pretty typical of his kind -- except that he has implanted purple hair. (PCs who haven't met an Igor before might suffer a fright check.) He seems oddly pleased to see them.
"Ith about time. Have you got pitchthworks? No? No sense of tradition, thome people . . . "
He prefers not to talk about the hair, but if pressed, or if the conversation moves the right way, he may talk a very little about the mathter.
"He thase we all look alike to him, tho he hath to hath color- coding."
In truth, this is one of the many things that slightly annoy him about Sung (along with having to do virtually all the servant work around the house). He's a bit irritable, and planning to leave soon; he senses that this job is winding down.
Eventually, the PCs will meet the mathter, whether they break in and come face to face with him unexpectedly, or knock on the door and are invited in for tea. GMs should try and play this out without violence; if the PCs seem likely to stab first and talk later, some of the hired trolls might be around to deter them.
Soso Sung
Sung is Agatean, slim, with very androgynous good looks and a distinctive glossy black hair style; see below for his character sheet. He is evasive but polite -- except that he will always ask dwarfs what sex they are. If someone asks outright, he will admit (with a degree of polite circumlocution) that, yes, he does own that book. He will offer to sell it back for what he paid for it -- actually a fairly low price, $400 (AM$20) -- if specifically asked, "As I have now finished translating and transcribing the material." But he isn't giving up the content. (Whether the PCs regard this as a problem or not is presumably a matter for their consciences.) If anyone even hints that they might resort to violence, he will announce that "Your threats matter little. My masterwork is complete." He will not actually say what he wanted the book for, but if asked outright, he will offer to demonstrate.
(Well, he's going to anyway.)
The fact is, his main concern right now is to show off the wonderful machine which he's been building. The PCs are pretty sure to provoke him, one way or another. If they don't, well, the merchants in town have been overcharging him, and he has decided to take revenge.
("They think that I do not realize. Ha! Even an honorable aristocrat knows that five dollars for a cabbage is excessive. And not even a good cabbage. Well, now I will go and discuss the grocery bill, if you delivery boys will excuse me.")
The Rest of the Staff
Sung also has five trolls around the place, each with a different color of moss growing on his head; green, blue, orange-brown, black, and yellow-white. They are typical trolls -- see the character sheet below -- rendered especially stupid by the local heat and accustomed to jumping to Sung's orders. They're here primarily to provide a power source for Sung's great invention, but GMs can also use them for other purposes.
Sung's workshop is in that basement. The trolls will trek down there on command -- that is, when Sung decides to show off his creation.
The Mechanism in Action
Anyone in earshot at this point will hear a lot of clanging and bumping, and then a pause, and then a series of calls in deep trollish voices. Sung has the trolls well drilled, and they indicate readiness for action verbally:
"One arm troll, put it together!"
"Other one arm troll, put it together!"
"One leg troll, put it together!"
"Other one leg troll, put it together!"
"Troll inna middle, put it together!"
This will be followed by a lot more clanking and grinding. Then the cellar door will burst open, closely followed by the pagoda door (which will also lose its frame). Then Sung's machine will be on the rampage.
The Climactic Mindless Violence Scene
What Sung has built, based on the detailed drawings in Leonard's book, is nothing less than a five-troll-powered gigantic humanoid legged vehicle -- a walking statue. It's impressive in its way, though not without teething troubles. See below for the technical details. Sung himself rides in the head, steering it.
Sung will pursue anything in sight that has annoyed him recently, probably including the PCs, but he is definitely planning to head down and devastate Port Duck eventually. Fortunately, the design has a problem; putting five trolls together in a cramped metal box in tropical conditions gets very hot, very quickly -- hot enough for the trolls to stop working altogether. Hence, the mechanism will occasionally have to take breaks to cool down; Sung will try to steer it to the nearest river (or the sea) and make it lie down in some shallow part. After a few minutes, it will then be ready to return to the fray. (This will give it rust problems, of course, but not in time to help the PCs.) Exactly how often this heat problem kicks in is up to the GM; the best idea is probably to roll a few dice in secret, smile thoughtfully, and then apply dramatic license.
PCs can use tactics, ingenuity, brute force, or a dinosaur to stop Sung. (In the latter case, if the dinosaur wins -- rather than merely helping wear down the mechanism -- dealing with it afterwards is another question. But no PC would release a dinosaur without a plan to make it safe again later, to be sure.) Of course, it's also possible that they'll just run away -- but they're not going to get home very easily if Port Duck is stomped to splinters, so some kind of solution does seem required.
This should lead to a lot of running round the jungle, pursued by an inexorable if slow machine. Igor is likely to be around somewhere with a sack full of his possessions (and the odd valuable acquired in passing). He may make some suggestions, such as using pitchforks. "Ith traditional."
The Wrap-Up
To come out of this ahead, the PCs will need to acquire the book, defeat Sung's machine, and get back to Port Duck intact. They probably won't be hailed as heroes there, but good self-presentation might accomplish something. Anyway, they can certainly use that letter (assuming that they haven't lost it) to get a trip home. They could even consider staying in the Brown Islands for a while, although it would be safest in that case to find a way to get the book safely back to the Patrician.
Major NPCs and Equipment
Soso Sung
ST 11; DX 13; IQ 15; HT 12
Speed 6.25, Move 6
Dodge 7, Parry 11Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Composed (+2 to Fright Checks); Fashion Sense; Gadgeteer; Handsome ("Bishonen Look": +3 Reactions from both sexes); Hard to Kill +4; Literacy; Status 3; Very Wealthy.
Disadvantages: Broad-Minded; Curious; Obsession (building mecha); Reputation -3 (among Agatean aristocracy); Social Stigma (Overdressed Foreigner); Stubbornness; Xenophilia.
Quirks: Always polite, except when asking about a dwarf's sex; Assertively heterosexual (if anyone asks); Has a weird thing about color-coded hair; Subtly but intensely camp; Wears gold silk kimonos with red embroidery.
Skills: Abacus-15; Alchemy (Discworld)-12; Appreciate Beauty-14; Artist-14; Bow-10; Calligraphy-11; Detect Lies-12; Driving (Mecha)-11; Engineer (Low-Tech Mecha)-15; Fast-Draw (Katana)-15; Games (Shibo Yangcong-san)-13; Heraldry (Agatean)-14; Katana-15; Mathematics-13; Mechanic (Clockwork)-13; Mechanic (Primitive Machines)-13; Naturalist-13; Origami-13; Philosophy (Classical Agatean)-13; Research-15; Riding-11; Savoir-Faire-17; Tea Ceremony- 13; Thaumatology-11.
Languages: Agatean-15 (native); Ankhian-15; Ephebean- 14.
Notes: The "Bishonen Look" version of Handsome is described in GURPS Mecha (p. ME33); it indicates androgynous good looks which manage to be equally appealing to both sexes. If forced into personal combat, Sung uses a katana two-handed (p.CII26, or treat this as a fine bastard sword, and give him Two-Handed Sword- 15), and he might sometimes wield a composite bow (actually a daikyu, for Japanese weapon fans).
Igor
ST 11 (13 in right arm); DX 11; IQ 13; HT 12/14
Speed 5.75, Move 7
Dodge 5, Parry 5Advantages: Composed (+2 Fright Checks); Literacy; Modified Arm ST (+2, right arm only); Night Vision, Patchwork Man; Toughness (DR 1).
Disadvantages: Broad-Minded; Disturbing Voice; Hunchback; Sense of Duty (to employer, until things fall apart); Ugly; Unnatural Feature (purple hair).
Quirks: Waiting somewhat impatiently for mathter to be overthrown.
Skills: Axe/Mace-11; Architecture-11; Blacksmith-12; Carpentry-12; Mechanic (Clockwork)-13; Mechanic (Primitive Machinery)- 13; Running-10; Savoir-Faire (Servant)-14; Scrounging-13; Stealth-13; Weird Surgery-13.
Languages: Uberwaldian-13 (native); Agatean-11; Ankhian- 12.
Notes: If forced to fight, Igor hefts a hammer with his stronger arm.
The Hired Trolls (Rented Rubble)
ST 25; DX 10; IQ 8*; HT 14/18
*But currently with severe temperature problems.
Speed 6, Move 4.
Dodge 6.Advantages: Sedimentary Troll; Disease-Resistant; Fearlessness +5; High Pain Threshold; Night Vision; Strong Will +1.
Disadvantages: Illiterate; Intolerance (dwarfs); Odious Personal Habit (Hitting People With Rocks: -1 reactions); Status -1; Struggling; Troll Brain; Ugly.
Skills: Brawling-11; Two-Handed Axe/Mace-10.
Languages: Ankhian-8.
PD 1, DR 4 (6 vs. crushing).
Notes: If they fight in person, the trolls will usually simply punch opponents.
Design Notes
As it's the creation of two Discworld technological geniuses, the tech level of this contraption is more or less indefinable. It has a TL5 Heavy frame, metal armor, and mechanical controls, the muscle engines are TL4, and the arm motors and legged drivetrain use the rules for TL(5+1) technology from GURPS Steampunk (p.STM72). Cramped Crew Stations for trolls (abbreviated TCCS) are 60 cf, 60 lbs., and $200, while the trolls themselves are assumed to weigh 500 lbs. each.
For most purposes, this "vehicle" can be treated as a ST 50 creature with a Move of 2 and the same Basic Speed as its driver. It can punch for 5d+2 cr damage, and has PD 3, DR 10. Use the operator's Driving (Mecha) skill in most cases when a roll is required; the arms have the equivalent of the Bad Grip disadvantage, giving a -4 penalty on many tasks including weapons use (but not punching).
The Mechanism
This is the sort of thing that happens when people get hold of more technology than is good for them, expressed in GURPS Vehicles terms. It takes the form of a 24' tall humanoid figure, with enough room in the head for a human operator, enough in the torso for three trolls all pedaling and cranking furiously, and enough in the legs for another hard-working troll each. The rest of the interior is taken up with chains, wires, cables, gears, drive rods, and cogwheels.
Subassemblies: Body +3, Turret (head: limited rotation) +1, two Arms +2, two Legs +2.
Power & Propulsion: Five 0.5 kW Muscle Engines (each require ST 25) w/2-kW legged drivetrain.
Occupancy: 1 NCS [Tur], 3 TCCS [Bo], 2 TCCS [Leg]Armor: 3/10 (all)
Equipment
Arms: Arm motors, bad grip, ST 50.Statistics
Size: 24'x11'x9' Payload: 2,700 lbs. Lwt.: 18,310 lbs.
Volume: 432.8 cf SizeMod: +4 Price: $141,586 (AM$7,079.30)HT: 12
HP: 612 [Body] 174 [Tur] 354 [Arm] 309 [Leg]gSpeed: 4 gAccel: 2 gDecel: 20 gMR: 1.5 gSR: 1
Low Ground Pressure, Off-Road Speed: 3.Captive Tyrannosaurus
ST: 100, DX: 14, IQ: 3, HT: 15/50
Speed: 7.25, Move: 17
Size: 13
Dodge 7, PD 2, DR 3
Attacks: Bite for 5d+2 imp (reach C,1,2)This is a cinematic carnivorous dinosaur, more stop-motion than CGI. (Details are borrowed from GURPS Dinosaurs .) It's hungry, aggressive, and dumb as a rock; its redeeming feature is an active willingness to pick on things approximately its own size. It's about 30' long, including its tail, and weighs four tons. It's also an effective predator; all its sense rolls are 14. It does have a certain instinctive talent for tactics, and will use speed and agility against a lumbering mechanical opponent, running rings around it, jumping on its back, and using retreating dodges.
Article publication date: November 14, 2003
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