This ability confers information to the Immortal to
his benefit, i.e., it allows an Immortal to "know" things which he
could not normally know. It is similar to Danger Sense and Empathy; it
also conveys the Immunity to Delirium (25 pts.) advantage.
This ability allows for some balance between the Immortal character
and the other WoD inhabitants (vampires, lupines, etc.), allowing, for
example, the Immortal to sense other supernatural creatures or pre-immortals.
It is to be used at the GM's discretion and rolled against an Immortal's
IQ and the GM should never use this to intentionally confuse the PC. For
an extra 5 pts. per level, an Immortal can increase the value of The Last,
as follows:
- Level 1 (base cost of 15, included in template)= IQ
- Level 2
(5 pts.)= IQ+1
- Level 3 (10 pts.)= IQ+2
- Level 4 (15 pts.)=
IQ+3
- Level 5 (20 pts.)= IQ+4
- not to exceed Level 5
--
after character creation, this ability can be increased through the use
of QP only, paying double the cost between levels.
Note: an
Immortal can only activate one power per turn, but is not restricted to
using only one power per turn. Ex. -- "Richie" activates Augmentation
(Speed) in turn one. In turn two, he activates Charge Sword; "Richie"
can now use both Aug. (Sp) and CS during turn two and any succeeding turns
until the time limit runs out or he decides to power down.
Gaining
Quickening
The only way for an Immortal to gain
Quickening is to behead another Immortal and absorbing the escaping
Quickening. This is accomplished in game terms by taking the total
point value of the beheaded Immortal and multiplying by a percentage.
Depending on the type of game you want to play (slowly building up power or
gaining power quickly -- it's the Gathering!), use 1 - 5% (rounding
up). Two percent has proven to be a good balance between the two gaming
extremes, although 1% is not bad. These points can then be spent
by the victor on any of the Quickening powers he
chooses, remembering that the point cost for raising levels is now
doubled (with the exception of the Healing powers). Ex.:
Immortal
"A" takes Immortal "B"'s head:
Immortal "B"has a total of 475
pts.
475 x 2%=(9.5) rounding up, 10 points.; Immortal "A" now
has 10 points to spend in the Quickening powers.
Only these
"banked" Quickening points can be used to increase Quickening powers;
character points awarded by the GM cannot be used to do so.
In the situation where an Immortal gains Quickening and wants to buy a
power he does not currently possess he can do so (remembering that the
cost is now double) as well as receiving a skill level equal to IQ -
(20 - IQ) -- for example, a PC with IQ
of 14: 20 - 14 = 6;14 - 6 = 8 -- and that skill level can only be
increased through the use of character points (and the successful use
of the power).
Holy Ground and Two (or more) on One fights
Because
these are part of the Rules of Engagement presented in the franchise,
the following is used to explain and enforce these rules. Immortals do
not fight on Holy Ground (consecrated places, Cairns, Nodes, etc. -- at
GM's discretion) because the Holy Ground is considered the victor in
any such fight. The beheaded
Immortal's Quickening is automatically absorbed by the Holy Ground
(with the other Immortal gaining nothing), while the "victorious"
Immortal loses one level in a randomly selected Quickening power
(by rolling a die), as follows:
- 1 -- No
effect
- 2 -- Healing
- 3 -- Augmentation
- 4 -- The Last
- 5 -- Charge Sword
- 6 -- Roll Again
And the
Immortal must pay double points to regain the lost level (with the
exception of Healing).
In Two on One fights, the victorious
Immortal (the one who actually takes the head) takes the beheaded
Immortal's Quickening and some of the remaining Immortal's as well.
Ex.:
Immortal "A" and Immortal "C" team up against Immortal
"B." After a fight, Immortal "A" takes "B"'s head, thus gaining his
Quickening as per the above rules. Also, Immortal "A" gets some of his
teammate's Quickening. Immortal "C" rolls a die as per the Holy Ground
rules above, losing one level in a power. The
difference in the point cost of the "lost" level and the "new" level go
directly to Immortal "A." For example, Immortal "C" rolls a 4 -- The
Last. He had Level 3 in that power and must now
reduce that to Level 2; Level 3=10 points & Level 2= 5 points -- 10 -
5= 5 points going to Immortal "A."
Spending Quickening
points
Points gained by beheading another Immortal can
only be used to increase the levels of Quickening, not the skill
required to use them (such as in Charge Sword and Augmentation); the
skill can be increased by character points, awarded by the GM. Nor
can Quickening points be used to increase "regular" skills, or
temporarily increase Quickening power skills, i.e., they are not used
like Blood Points in V:TM.
Fatigue after Gaining
Quickening
An automatic 5 points fatigue to the victor
after the beheading.
Character Creation
To
reflect the idea that "older" Immortals may have "been around" and
learned various skills (not to mention taken a few heads), the
following table is used for starting points:
- 0 -- 100 (in
years) = 450 points (75 pts. in Quickening powers; up to 50 in
Disadv.)
- 101 -- 250 = 500 (100 pts. in Quickening powers; 55
in Disadv.); a 5 point advantage.
- 251 -- 500 = 550 (125 pts.
in Quickening powers; 60 in Disadv.); a 10 point advantage.
- 501 --1000 = 600 (150 pts. in Quickening powers; 65 in Disadv.); a
15 point advantage.
- 1001 -- 1500 = 650 (175 pts. in Quickening
powers; 75 in Disadv.); a 25 point advantage.
The
remaining points go to attributes, advantages, and skills. Also, if a
character has been out of commission for a long while (thus not
"hanging around," picking up skills), but is created at a higher age
bracket, an Unusual Background cost will be applied to compensate, at
GM discretion.
A detailed history
is required of all PCs, with extremely detailed histories being awarded
extra character points to spend (this will help when choosing
advantages, disadvantages, and skills).
Misc.
Advantages
-- High Pain Threshold (10 pts.) is highly recommended.
-- An Immortal can buy a Watcher as an Ally, as per GURPS Basic rules.
Disadvantage
-- Enemies (B 39): this can be used in two ways. One, a PC can
take this disadvantage for a specific unfriendly Immortal, and/or,
two, the GM and PC may decide that all Immortals can be
potential enemies and vary the amount of this disadvantage accordingly.
Damage & Death
An Immortal's body is very much like a vampire's in that it is
immortal, but there is only so much damage a body can take before it
simply falls apart, i.e., immortality is not invulnerability. An
Immortal can take up to -10 x HT before the body simply ceases to be
a body and the Immortal dies. If there is any Immortal within range
when this happens, they are considered the "victor" and receive the
escaping Quickening, otherwise, the Quickening simply dissipates
into the ether.
Regeneration of non-essential body parts, i.e., those which
are not intrinsic for the body to survive (hands, limbs, ears, etc.),
does not occur in an Immortal, although, say, a lost heart would
regenerate. Also, damage to the neck area, if severe enough (critical
success) or caused by aggravated damage, leaves a scar (determined by
failing a HT roll).
Reawakening: similar to Resurrection, Reawakening allows for an
Immortal, when they �die,� to start healing immediately at the rate of
Regeneration they possess (1 HT/min. at minimum), the exception being,
of course, if they lose their head. Unlike Resurrection, the Immortal
character does not lose 25 points every time they die."
And what about all those headless bodies, anyway?
You can choose to play this as you like. You can have the
authorities in the campaign simply ignore the headless bodies, as if
they weren't even there (as in the series), or add some spice and have
an intrepid detective asking questions about the Immortal PC (as in
the movies and first season of the series), or come up with some other
explanation, such as when the Immortal's head is dislocated, then the
retarded aging process catches up with the Immortal and his body slowly
fades to dust (but what to do about those "new" Immortals, eh?). It's
up to you.
And what if you don't want to play in the World of Darkness?
Easy. Merely take out any cost incurred for those advantages/powers.
In this case, the cost of the template is now 185 points (subtract
Potent Blood and 25 points from The Last for the Delirium advantage).
Afterward
When I first saw Highlander (the
movie) I was . . . amazed (but this word is inadequate), to say the
least. This was well before I was into playing GURPS. Sure I'd played
D&D a couple times and some other games which I believe are now defunct
(ah, Superworld, where are you now?), but GURPS came much later, only a
few years ago. Then, of course, the big thing was GURPS Vampire: The
Masquerade, a game which I still enjoy immensely. Then one day, while
cruising the "information superhighway," i.e., the world wide web, I
came across Hank Driskill's and John Gavigan's Highlander: the
Gathering, 2nd edition (based on the White Wolf
Storyteller system). I thought, "Cool! A Highlander role-playing
game!" But I was unfamiliar with the Storyteller system; how could I play?
"Ah-hah!" went my brain. "Why not make a GURPS
Highlander?" "Okay," I said to myself. So I got together with a friend
of mine and we battled it out (on paper and in our heads) what a GURPS
Highlander RPG should be like. Betwixt the twain, we came up with the
above "rules." I put that word in quotes because I think the best thing
about GURPS is its flexibility; if you don't like a rule or it doesn't
quite fit, you can change it or throw it out. We've had to play a
little fast and loose with the "evidence," i. e., the information
presented in the movies and television show, but I think they work, so
far (we're still playtesting). If you can come up with better or
additional rules, let me know -- collaboration is what makes GURPS fun.
Check back, as things are constantly changing.
If you would like to respond to these rules or offer suggestions, please
do.
Other links of interest. . .
- My associate, Travis L.
Sparkman
maintains a mirror site of the above rules. You can also email him
about these rules.
- A few other people have their own rules for a GURPS Highlander too:
- Links which are Highlander related:
Come back soon!
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