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Vercingetorix aka Voltmaster
Vercingetorix aka Voltmaster
#1
(God, I love it when a long and arduous process of composition falls into /dev/null because of a hiccup in my connection.)

I don't know if there'll be room for it in the final product, but surprisingly little work is needed to reconcile the historical Vercingetorix of the Arverni with Mark Johnson's Voltmaster (Super Scum, pp.54-55). The biggest thing Johnson got wrong is identifying the character as Germanic rather than Celtic, and as an emortal, he was already on my shortlist of important people. In fact, here's the stat block I derived from his SS writeup:

?Voltmaster [969 points]
    ST 11 [10], DX 15 [100], IQ 15 [100], HT 13 [30].
    Per 16 [5].
    CF: Celtic [0], Chinese [1], Roman [1], Western [1].
    Languages: Gaulish (Native) [0], English (Native) [6], French (Native) [6], German (Native) [6], Italian (Native) [6], Latin (Native) [6], Mandarin (Native) [6], Portuguese (Native) [6].
    Advantages: Artificer 2 [20], Attractive [4], Binding 10 (Rapid Fire 2, +40%; Breakable: DR 10, SM -4, -25%; Can Be Stolen: Contest of DX, -30%; Limited Use: 4 per day, -20%; Melee Attack: C1, -20%; Unreliable: 14, -10%) [7], Combat Reflexes [15], DR 1 (Force Field, +20%; Electricity, -20%; Limited: energy, -20%) [4], DR 10 [50], Electricity Talent 2 (Elemental + Super) [10], Enhanced Block 2 [10], Filthy Rich [100], Gadgeteer [25], Goggles and Headset (Hyperspectral Vision [Extended High-Band +30%; Extended Low-Band +30%], Microscopic Vision 2, Radio, Resistant to Psionics +3; Breakable: DR 5, SM -6, -25%; Can Be Stolen: Contest of DX, -30%) [41], Hands of Taranis (Burning Attack 7; Armor Divisor 2, +50%; Damage Modifier: Surge, +20%; Electricity, -20%; Melee Attack C1, -20%) [46], Healer 2 [20], High Pain Threshold [10], Mathematical Ability 3 [30], Photographic Memory [10], Rapid Healing [5], Unaging [15], Unusual Background: Super [10].
    Disadvantages: Absent-Mindedness [-15], Code of Honor (Villain's) [-10], Delusion ("War is good for humanity"; major) [-10], Duty (Deadly Dozen, 12 or less) [-10], Enemy (Hero group, 6 or less) [-15], Reputation (Criminal) [-15], Secret (Identity) [-20], Secret (his long history) [-5], Sense of Duty (to teammates) [-5].
    Quirks: Amateur science fiction writer; Donates regular large sums to charity; Only watches PBS; Video game fanatic; Wants desperately to travel to space. [-5]
    Skills: Accounting-19 [8]+, Acrobatics-15 [4], Administration-15 [2], Area Knowledge (World)-17 [4], Area Knowledge (Europe)-18 [8], Armoury/TL9 (Body Armor)-18 [8]*, Armoury/TL9 (Small Arms)-16 [4], Biology/TL9 (Genetics)-14 [4], Brawling-17 [4], Broadsword-14 [1], Carpentry-16 [2], Chemistry/TL9-17 [12], Computer Operation/TL9-16 [2], Computer Programming/TL9-18 [16], Diagnosis-21 [20]**, Driving/TL9 (Automobile)-14 [1], Economics-14 [2], Engineer/TL9 (Bombs & traps)-21 [8]*+, Engineer/TL9 (Communications)-21 [8]*+, Engineer/TL9 (Computers)-21 [8]*+, Engineer/TL9 (Electronic Weapons)-21 [8]*+, Engineer/TL9 (Holographics)-21 [8]*+, Engineer/TL9 (Medical Electronics)-23 [16]*+, Engineer/TL9 (Security Systems)-21 [8]*+, Engineer/TL9 (Sensors)-23 [16]*+, First Aid/TL9-17 [1]**, Gesture-16 [2], History-21 [28], Jeweler/TL3-17 [12], Judo-15 [4], Karate-15 [4], Market Analysis-16 [1]+, Mathematics/TL9 (Applied)-17 [2]+, Mechanic/TL9 (Small gadgets)-16 [1]*, Merchant-16 [4], Physician/TL9-21 [20]**, Physiology/TL9-18 [8]**, Piloting/TL9 (Multi-engine jet)-15 [2], Prospecting/TL9-16 [4], Research/TL9-18 [12], Savoir-Faire (High Society)-16 [2], Scuba-15 [2], Seamanship/TL9-16 [2], Shield-16 [2], Smith (Iron)/TL3-16 [1]*, Surgery/TL9-21 [24]**, Swimming-14 [2], Traps/TL9-15 [2], Writing-15 [2].
    * Includes bonus from Artificer.
    ** Includes bonus from Healer.
    + Includes bonus from Mathematical Ability.

The biggest thing we'd need to resolve is whether the "Vercingetorix" who surrendered to Gaius Julius at the Battle of Alesia, and was ultimately reported to have been executed after Caesar's Gallic Triumph, was the real deal or a volunteer impostor. Also, it occurred to me, based on his Chinese connections and his stated desire to start a global war, that he may have placed at least as much of a role in manipulating events to provoke World War III as anyone from Infinity.

?Comments?

EDITED to add his gear.
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#2
Nice conversion. Love the name dropping for the Gaulish storm god, very nice touch. I settled the question in my campaign history by simply adding Unkillable to Voltmaster's template. It just added to the Highlander-ish feel for the immortals in the population. I also changed his origins a bit to explain the immortality; in my campaign he's actually half Loi Super Mutant and half human. The electrical powers were his human half's seeder genes activating as a result of the lightning strike; the immortality from his father's Loi physiology.

I like the idea that he was behind manipulating the Chinese.

In my campaign, he's chief military adviser to the former Professor Possessor (who now rules Somalia from a captured spaceship, equivalent to a Traveller Tigress class...very long story) along with the rest of the former Deadly Dozen.

M
Michael R. Smith (lastfreehuman@gmail.com)
GURPS IST Aleph Wordpress (http://istaleph.wordpress.com/)
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Trek This! Wordpress (http://dthiller.wordpress.com/)
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#3
Unkillable does fit the concept; if the advantage had been around in '89, it would've been reasonable for Johnson to include it in the 3e writeup. Not sure I'm in favor of incorporating the Loi into official IST canon, but if it works for your campaign, go with it.

Your campaign has a lot of fun stuff going on, and this deal in Somalia sounds like another thing I'd consider incorporating, or at least drawing inspiration from, if I were Bob.
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#4
Yeah, the Loi thing sort of happened because I wanted a stand-in for Kryptonians that worked with an Infinite Worlds backdrop. I need to finish up my timeline and post some bits, it explains the whole Loi connection and basically positions Earth in the middle of a multi-polar war that has been going on since the dawn of time and which extends into deep future.

M
Michael R. Smith (lastfreehuman@gmail.com)
GURPS IST Aleph Wordpress (http://istaleph.wordpress.com/)
GURPS IST Aleph Twitter (http://twitter.com/IstAleph/)
Trek This! Wordpress (http://dthiller.wordpress.com/)
My Blog (http://lastfreehuman.wordpress.com/)
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#5
Last Free Human Wrote:Yeah, the Loi thing sort of happened because I wanted a stand-in for Kryptonians that worked with an Infinite Worlds backdrop.

That'll do it, sure. In fact, now that I think on it, the whole Atomic Horror xenology is well-suited for an Atom Age supers campaign.
Quote:it explains the whole Loi connection and basically positions Earth in the middle of a multi-polar war that has been going on since the dawn of time and which extends into deep future.
I'm guessing your campaign's Y2K Invasion was a front in that war.
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#6
Yeah, I wanted to explore the era of Atomic Age supers and decided that Atomic Horror adapted really well and let me tie into the regular setting with some cool back-channel conspiracy stuff I wanted to explore in my campaign. Yeah, the Y2K Invasion is the culmination of the Ancient Astronauts deciding they can no longer ignore our world as a potential threat. Ages ago they came into conflict with the species we know as the Seeders, and that fight (and its manifold repercussions) have reached Earth for the second time (the first time wiped out the civilization of the Neanderthals). They were hoping they could conquer Earth without a fuss and deny us to the Seeders as future allies. They know they didn't wipe out all the Seeders, though they did effectively destroy several of their allies (such as the Gerodians and the Xenomorphs) leaving the Seeders to hide and attempt to regroup. The Alphans are one of the Ancient Astronaut servitor races now as are several other species from Aliens and elsewhere.

The Y2K Invasion marks the first time in almost 10,000 years where a species not only repelled the Ancient Astronauts, but killed three of their number in combat.

M
Michael R. Smith (lastfreehuman@gmail.com)
GURPS IST Aleph Wordpress (http://istaleph.wordpress.com/)
GURPS IST Aleph Twitter (http://twitter.com/IstAleph/)
Trek This! Wordpress (http://dthiller.wordpress.com/)
My Blog (http://lastfreehuman.wordpress.com/)
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