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roleplaying:hero:resources:horror_hero:myrmidon

Myrmidon

Character created with Hero Designer, version 2006120602
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CHARACTERISTICS

Val Char Base Points Roll Notes
28 STR 10 10 15- HTH Damage 5 1/2d6 END [3]
14 DEX 10 12 12- OCV 5 DCV 5
17 CON 10 14 12-
17 BODY 10 14 12-
7 INT 10 -3 10- PER Roll 10-/16-
8 EGO 10 -4 11- ECV: 3
13 PRE 10 3 12- PRE Attack: 2 1/2d6
6 COM 10 -2 10-
8/20 PD 6 2 8/20 PD (0/12 rPD)
5/13 ED 3 2 5/13 ED (0/8 rED)
4 SPD 2.4 16 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12
9 REC 9 0
34 END 34 0
40 STUN 40 0
6“ Running 6 0
2” Swimming 2 0
5 1/2“ Leaping 6 0

64 Total Characteristics Points

EXPERIENCE POINTS

Total earned: 0
Spent: 0
Unspent: 0
Base Points: 75
Disad Points: 65
Total Points: 140

POWERS

Cost Name END
24 Exoskeleton: Armor (12 PD/8 ED) (30 Active Points); Activation Roll 15- (Exposed areas; -1/4) 0
10 Digging: Tunneling 2” through 2 DEF material 1
8 Ant Senses: +4 PER with Smell/Taste Group 0
10 Mandibles: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6-1 (1d6+1 w/STR) 1
4 Ant Communication: Mind Link , Other Myrmidons (10 Active Points); Must touch feelers (-1), Does Not Provide Mental Awareness (-1/4) 0
4 Compound Eyes: +2 PER with Sight Group 0
5 Compound Eyes: Nightvision 0
8 Ant Strength: +8 STR (Modifiers affect Base Characteristic) 1

73 Total Powers Cost

SKILLS

Cost Name
3 Teamwork 12-

3 Total Skills Cost

DISADVANTAGES

Cost Name
0 Normal Characteristic Maxima
15 Physical Limitation: Mute (All the Time, Slightly Impairing)
20 Distinctive Features: Hideous, unnatural ant/human hybrid (Concealable; Extreme Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)
5 Psychological Limitation: Disoriented by Important Items from Human Life (Uncommon, Moderate)
25 Psychological Limitation: Slavishly Loyal to Leader (Very Common, Total)

65 Total Disadvantages Cost

APPEARANCE

Description: Myrmidons appear like an unnatural hybrid of humans and ants. They brownish-red, chitinous exoskeletal armour covering much of their bodies. The armour doesn't cover their bodies uniformly; instead, seemingly random parts will be exposed revealing almost-human skin beneath. This skin is often slick with some kind of oily substance. Both the armoured and unarmoured parts of the body are usually covered with thick, coarse hairs.

The myrmidons usually appear humanoid in shape, with two arms and two legs. A pair of small, useless, vestigial limbs may grow from their torsoes; the myrmidons have no conscious control over these limbs.

The heads of the myrmidons are large and seem to approach the shape of worker ants. Their small, compound eyes are usually black and many myrmidons have feelers and mandibles. Ironically, the head also often contains some of the most human-looking features – many myrmidons have intact ears or patches of head-hair. Sometimes a beard or mustache remains around the creature's mandibles. If the human form had tattoos, these are often preserved as fairly clear images either on the armour or exposed skin underneath.

BACKGROUND

Back at the beginning of the Anno Domini epoch, the Roman poet Ovid learned the tale of Aegina. A deadly plague sent by the goddess, Hera, killed most of the population of Aegina, and Zeus, in response, transformed the ants of Aegina into an army, fiercely loyal and exceptionally strong. These soldiers, called myrmidons, would later fight with Achilles during the Trojan War. Or so Ovid wrote in Metamorphoses. The truth of the situation, he kept to himself, recorded in personal notes.

Hundreds of years later, a Roman Catholic priest discovered Ovid's personal notes in Costanta, Romania (formerly the Greek colony of Tomis, where Ovid lived, exiled, in his later years). The notes told a different story: how King Aeacus had a mystic prepare a potion that could imbue the people of Aegina with the essential qualities of the ants: strength, armour, and slavish loyalty. Once the potion was prepared, Aeacus had it slipped into water resevoirs and cisterns around the city. What followed was a horrific period of transformation, as citizens of Aegina underwent grotesque changes, finally becoming powerful soldiers. After transformation, the soldiers appeared mostly human, although their armour was now part of their bodies, and their behaviour seemed slightly alien.

Ovid even unearthed part of the recipe of the potion, which was recorded in his notes. These notes eventually found their way into the Vatican Library. In the 17th century, a priest who worked in the library fell under evil influences, and stole many dark tomes and papers (an act that lead Pope Paul V to remove many volumes into a Secret Vatican Archive, where they remain to this day). These works eventually found their way into the occult underground.

Since then, a few dark occultists have gotten their hands on the recipe for the potion. But because it's not completely intact, the victims of the potion never attain the human-like appearance that the ancient myrmidons had. Instead, they transform into disgusting half-ant/half-human creatures. They still have the essential qualities that Aeacus sought: strength, armour and slavish loyalty, but no one who sees a myrmidon can deny that it's a foul, unnatural creature.

PERSONALITY

The myrmidon is a slavishly loyal to their leader. Blood and hair clippings from the leader-to-be are just one of many of the significant ingredients to the potion, and all myrmidons instinctively know who their leader is. While they understand human language, they don't generally have human-level intelligence, and cannot make logical conclusions or solve complicated problems. They can perform limited tool use (build a rock wall to block a tunnel or pile things to be able to climb up over a barrier), but can't use weapons more complicated than a club.

Myrmidons will follow any order their leader gives them, including fighting to the death. Myrmidons tend to cluster in groups when not under any specific order, often keeping busy moving things and walking in circular patterns. Myrmidons are distrustful of outsiders and if strangers come into their space, they'll generally attack, trying to destroy the invader.Myrmidons mostly have no memory of their lives as humans, although if they encounter an object or place strongly associated with their past lives, they might experience some disorientation as if a memory was triggered.

QUOTE

None. Myrmidons are mute.

POWERS/TACTICS

Myrmidons tend to lack subtlety; once they detect an intruder, they attack en masse, biting with their mandibles or hitting. They do work together somewhat instinctively, and can use teamwork to try to bring down foes. One myrmidon might, for example, try to pin an opponent down while another attacks the opponent's appendages with its mandibles.

The transformation process has left them with several ant-related abilities. They have tremendous strength (much higher than an average human), and they often use this strength for lifting rocks and boulders. In combat, their strength can be used with improvised clubs to subdue opponents. They also have extremely thick, chitinous armour on most of their bodies. Although the armour is very effective, the transformation process has often left exposed patches which can be targetted.

Myrmidons have exceptional senses; their compound eyes see extremely well, and in the dark, and they have powerful senses of smell. Myrmidons often make nests underground, and using their strength and mandibles, they are able to dig tunnels very quickly.

CAMPAIGN USE

Two Plot Seeds:

1) Tommy Knockers: Outside of town, Hauptman Mines has been in the news a fair bit lately. It seems that three of its miners have disappeared. One at a time, and on three different days. Now there's talk of all kinds of crazy things. Ghosts. And Tommy Knockers. The miners are getting skittish. Hauptman has had to deal with a number of employees quitting or calling in “sick”. And while this is going on, a rival company is putting pressure on him to sell. And maybe Hauptman should sell, but with the current bad publicity, it'd almost certainly be at a loss. Hauptman wonders if the rival company is somehow involved in the disappearances, but he doesn't suspect the truth: that Lucious Drake, president of the rival mine is using myrmidons to tunnel into the mines and attack his miners.

2) One of the PCs comes home to discover the police at a neighbour's house. There's been a murder. Bob Spolsky can home early from a business trip, and was viciously attacked in his own home. His wife is missing and there's a tunnel in the base of the house. If the PCs investigate, they discover that Mr. Spolsky came home early because his wife has been very ill over the last few days. They may even learn enough to realize that Mrs. Spolsky hasn't been sick; she's been transforming into… something else. And more disturbing: there might be a relationship between Mrs. Spolsky's transformation and the new bottled water service that the Spolsky's signed up for just days ago.

Character created by BC Holmes
roleplaying/hero/resources/horror_hero/myrmidon.txt · Last modified: 2007/01/19 18:35 by 127.0.0.1