Bones: Completed Apes!

I posted about these guys in October, and finished them up a little later. They've been sitting on my desk for months while I've been working on other stuff.

I don't know much more there is to say about these guys. The weapons are mostly gunmetal drybrushed with steel. The big ape's tubing are drybrushed with a pale green over an olive base. I spent a little time detailing the backpack, because I thought it would look a little better if there were more colors to pick out the various shapes.

Peter Dell'Orto painted up his apes in a different scheme, and I'm just amazed at how different it makes them look.

Sample characters for a GURPS Exalted-like game

As part of my thinking on the GURPS Exalted like game, I decided to create a couple of sample characters. They're not exactly ready to play, nor are they characters I would want to play myself. They were more of an effort to see what these kinds of high point characters would be like. Disadvantages were picked more or less at random, and quirks would need to be defined before actual play.

While doing this, I came to the conclusion that requiring everyone to buy double their template's base ST was boring. Too many points got sucked into buying ST, and it didn't leave enough points to do other things. So I changed my mind, and now everyone needs to buy extra ST equal to half the template's base ST, rounded up. That opens 50-80 CP on most templates for other things, but still reinforces the unreasonably strong and tough theme of the game.

This is a companion article to the one on flying steeds, and these characters ride steeds from that article.

Majestic Barbarian 750 points

This dwarf chieftain is about 6' tall and 4' across at the shoulders. He wields an oversize two-handed axe as casually as most dwarves wield their hand axes. Although he's a bit gullible, he's a reasonably talented leader and is quite capable of negotiating the end to a tribal feud.

He wears armor made from dragons he's slain himself, and carries three spare axes to throw at people who annoy him. He rides a wyvern, though not particularly well, and isn't particularly skilled at mounted combat.

This is a pretty straightforward barbarian design, focusing on excessive amounts of strength, hit points, and resistance to damage. I made him a dwarf for Pickaxe Penchant, but I could have done a similar thing using Mr. Smash instead but he wouldn't be as skilled with throwing axes.

ST 37* [63]; DX 15 [60]; IQ 12 [0]; HT 16 [30].
Damage 4d/6d+2; BL 304 lb; HP 48 [20]; Will 12 [0]; Per 14 [10]; FP 19 [0].
Basic Speed 7.25 [-10]; Basic Move 7 [0]; Dodge 12.
(SM +1).
* Conditional +2 from 'Lifting ST'.

Social Background

TL: 2 [0].

Templates and Meta-Traits

Dwarf (Dungeon Fantasy; p. DF3:6) [20]; Dwarves (Dungeon Fantasy; p. DF3:6) [0].

Advantages

Acute Vision 1 [2]; Ally (Wyvern; 50% of starting points; Constantly, *4) [8]; Appearance (Attractive) [4]; Barbarian Damage Resistance 5 (Tough Skin, -40%) [15]; Charisma 3 [15]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Enhanced Dodge 1 [15]; Extra DX 2 (Affects DX, +0%) [40]; Extra HT 2 [20]; Extra IQ 2 [40]; Extra Pickaxe Penchant 3 [15]; Extra ST 20 (Size, -10%) [180]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Injury Tolerance (Damage Reduction (/2), +50) [50]; Luck [15]; Status +3 [15]; Trading Character Points for Money $500 [1]; Trained By A Master [30].
Perks: Akimbo (Two Handed Axe); Disarming Smile; Fearsome Stare; Focused Fury; Follow-Through Shtick; Good with (Wyverns); Reach Mastery (Two Handed Axe); Style Familiarity (Axe Maniac); Sure-Footed (Uneven). [9]

Disadvantages

Bad Temper (12 or less, *1) [-10]; Gigantism [0]; Gullibility (15 or less, *0.5) [-5]; Low TL -1 [-5]; Overconfidence (12 or less, *1) [-5]; Sense of Duty (Adventuring companions) [-5]; Social Stigma (Minority Group) [-10].
Quirks: _Unused Quirk 1; _Unused Quirk 2; _Unused Quirk 3; _Unused Quirk 4; _Unused Quirk 5. [-5]

Skills

Animal Handling (Wyverns) (A) IQ [2]-12; Axe/Mace (A) DX+5 [1]-20; Barbarian! (WC) IQ+2 [48]-14; Brawling (E) DX [1]-15; Carousing (E) HT [1]-16; Climbing (A) DX-1 [1]-14; Diplomacy (H) IQ-1 [2]-11†; Flying Leap (H) IQ-2 [1]-10; Forced Entry (E) DX+4 [1]-19; Intimidation (A) Will [2]-12†; Jumping (E) DX [1]-15; Leadership (A) IQ+3 [2]-15; Observation (A) Per [1]-14; Power Blow (H) Will-2 [1]-10; Public Speaking (A) IQ+2 [1]-14; Riding (Wyern) (A) DX-1 [1]-14; Savoir-Faire (Barbarian) (E) IQ [1]-12†; Sex Appeal (Human) (A) HT [1]-16†; Stealth (A) DX [2]-15; Thrown Weapon (Axe/Mace) (E) DX+6 [4]-21; Two-Handed Axe/Mace (A) DX+8 [27]-23; Wrestling (A) DX [2]-15.
Techniques: Close Combat (Two-Handed Axe/Mace) (H) [5]-19; Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Axe/Mace Swing/Skull) (H) [5]-20.
† Conditional +3 from 'Charisma' when making Influence rolls.

Equipment

1× Cold Dragonscale Harness (All; DR (11); Dragonscale; Fine; Reinforced Vitals; SM +1; $181912.5; 103.95 lb); 1× Great Axe (Hammer; Spear; Dwarven; Silver-coated; Oversized; Balanced; Fine; $4650; 13.5 lb); 1× Hot Dragonhide Undersuit (All; DR (2); Dragonhide; Fine; Reinforced Vitals; SM +1; $17860.5; 14.74 lb); 4× Throwing Axe (Dwarven; Silver-coated; Balanced; Fine; $4800; 16 lb).
$91,000 in additional gear.

Encumbrance

[None]: Basic Lift 304 lb. Ground Move 7 yd. Dodge 12.
Light: Basic Lift 608 lb. Ground Move 5 yd. Dodge 11.
Medium: Basic Lift 912 lb. Ground Move 4 yd. Dodge 10.

Defenses

Parry: 15 (Two-Handed Axe/Mace). Dodge: 12. DR: 13+6 (Torso).

Melee Attacks

Brawling • Punch (15): 4d-1 cr. Reach C,1.
Brawling • Kick (13): 4d cr. Reach C,1.
Great Axe • Primary (24): 6d+7 cut. Reach 1,2*.
Great Axe • Hammer (24): 6d+6 cr. Reach 1,2*.
Great Axe • Spear (11): 4d+5 imp. Reach 1,2*.
Throwing Axe (21): 6d+3 cut. Reach 1.

Ranged Attacks

Throwing Axe (22): 6d+5 cut. Acc 2. Range 37 yd / 56 yd. RoF 1. Shots T(1).

Majestic Knight 747 points

The knight was also a straightforward attempt to get an aristocrat knight with high skill and lots of Extra Attack. ST and DX are higher than they probably need to be, but it's all good. A lot points got spent on techniques, combat perks, and especially style familiarities.

The contact represents a network of cousins, uncles, aunts, and siblings spread across the game world, with a reasonable amount of pull in the local feudal culture. I wanted something different than Barbarian's direct leadership position, though as a Status 2 character, the knight has a fair number of armed retainers available anyway.

She's armed with a variety of high quality weapons (flail, halberd, lance, longbow, longsword) and wears meteoric iron jousting plate with mithril chain underneath. She has enough money left over to replace that armor with massive plate made from celestial steel, for +2 DR, but I wanted to have something that didn't glow in the dark to make sneaking possible. She rides a spirit horse that has layered dragonhide and elven barding for +11 to DR.


ST 27* [40]; DX 17 [80]; IQ 12 [0]; HT 16† [30].
Damage 3d/5d+2; BL 146 lb; HP 33 [12]; Will 12 [0]; Per 12 [0]; FP 16 [0].
Basic Speed 8.00 [-10]; Basic Move 8 [0]; Dodge 12.
* Conditional +2 from 'Striking ST'.
† Conditional +1 from 'Fit'.

Advantages

Ally (Celestial Horse; 50% of starting points; Constantly, *4) [8]; Armor Master Damage Resistance 1 (Only while wearing DR 2+ armor, -20%) [4]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Contact (Eextended Family; Effective Skill Aristocrat!-15; 12 or less, *2; Usually Reliable, *2; Universal, +100%) [16]; Enhanced Block 3 [15]; Extra Attack 2 [50]; Extra Basic Speed +0.25 (Affects Speed, +0%) [5]; Extra DX 3 [60]; Extra HT 3 [30]; Extra IQ 2 [40]; Extra ST 13 [130]; Fit [5]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Injury Tolerance (Damage Reduction (/2), +50) [50]; Luck [15]; Social Regard 1 (Venerated) [5]; Status +2 [10]; Striking ST 2 [10]; Trading Character Points for Money $4,000 [8]; Trained By A Master [30].
Perks: Form Mastery (Knight!); Grip Mastery (Knight!); Quick-Sheathe (Knight!); Reach Mastery (Knight!); Sacrificial Parry (Knight!); Shoves and Tackles (Knight!); Style Familiarity (Archery - Kyudo); Style Familiarity (Armatura); Style Familiarity (Armatura Equestris); Style Familiarity (Boxing - Bare-Knuckle Boxing); Style Familiarity (Knightly Mounted Combat - High Medieval); Style Familiarity (Longsword Fighting); Style Familiarity (Masters of Defence Weapon Training); Style Familiarity (Smasha); Style Familiarity (Spear Fighting - Viking Spear Fighting); Style Familiarity (Wrestling - Combat Wrestling); Suit Familiarity (Layered Armor); Sure-Footed (Slippery); Sure-Footed (Uneven). [19]

Disadvantages

Bad Temper (12 or less, *1) [-10]; Code of Honor (Chivalry) [-15]; Obsession (Slay a specific type of monster; 12 or less, *1) [-5]; Sense of Duty (Adventuring companions) [-5].
Quirks: _Unused Quirk 1; _Unused Quirk 2; _Unused Quirk 3; _Unused Quirk 4; _Unused Quirk 5. [-5]

Skills

Axe/Mace (A) DX+4 [0]-21; Bow (A) DX+4 [0]-21; Boxing (A) DX+4 [0]-21; Brawling (E) DX+4 [0]-21; Broadsword (A) DX+4 [0]-21; Carousing (E) HT [1]-16; Climbing (A) DX-1 [1]-16; Crossbow (E) DX+4 [0]-21; Fast-Draw (Knife) (E) DX+5 [0]-22; Fast-Draw (Sword) (E) DX+5 [0]-22; Fast-Draw (Two-Handed Sword) (E) DX+5 [0]-22; Flail (H) DX+4 [0]-21; Flying Leap (H) IQ-2 [1]-10; Jumping (E) DX [1]-17; Knife (E) DX+4 [0]-21; Knight! (WC) DX+4 [94]-21; Lance (A) DX+4 [0]-21; Polearm (A) DX+4 [0]-21; Power Blow (H) Will-2 [1]-10; Riding (A) DX+4 [0]-21; Shield (Shield) (E) DX+4 [0]-21; Stealth (A) DX-1 [1]-16; Two-Handed Flail (H) DX+4 [0]-21; Two-Handed Sword (A) DX+4 [0]-21.
Techniques: Armed Grapple (Knight!) (H) [3]-21; Close Combat (Knight!) (H) [5]-17; Dual-Weapon Attack (Knight!) (H) [5]-21; Feint (Knight!) (H) [5]-25; Targeted Attack (Knight! Thrust/Face) (H) [4]-19.

Equipment

1× Dragonhide Horse Barding (All; DR (2); Dragonhide; Fine; Reinforced Vitals; SM +1; $17860.5; 14.74 lb); 1× Halberd (Dwarven; Orichalcum; Silver-coated; Balanced; Fine; $7350; 12 lb); 1× Jousting Plate Harness (All; DR (13); Meteoric; Dwarven; Fine; Fluted; Hardened; $291200; 61.92 lb); 1× Lance (Meteoric; Silver-coated; Balanced; Fine; $1680; 6 lb); 1× Large Shield (Mirrored; Orichalcum; Balanced; Fine; $14850; 12.5 lb); 1× Light Mithril Mail Suit (All; DR (5); Mithril; Elven; Fine; Hardened; Reinforced Vitals; $105000; 18.14 lb); 1× Longbow (ST 27; Elven; Balanced; Fine; $4800; 3 lb); 1× Longsword (Orichalcum; Silver-coated; Balanced; Very Fine; $38500; 4 lb); 1× Mail Horse Barding (All; DR (9); Elven; Fine; Hardened; Reinforced Vitals; SM +1; $116943.75; 91.85 lb); 1× Morningstar (Dwarven; Meteoric; Silver; Balanced; Fine; $3920; 6 lb).
$400,000 in additional equipment.

Encumbrance

[None]: Basic Lift 146 lb. Ground Move 8 yd. Dodge 12.
Light: Basic Lift 292 lb. Ground Move 6 yd. Dodge 11.
Medium: Basic Lift 438 lb. Ground Move 4 yd. Dodge 10.

Defenses

Parry: 14 (Knight!). Block: 17 (Shield (Shield)). Dodge: 12. DR: 18+1 (Torso).

Melee Attacks

Boxing (21): 3d+5 cr. Reach C.
Brawling • Kick (19): 3d+3 cr. Reach C,1.
Halberd • Swing/cut (22): 5d+8 cut. Reach 2,3*.
Halberd • Swing/imp (22): 5d+7 imp. Reach 2,3*.
Halberd • Thrust (22): 3d+4 imp. Reach 1–3*.
Lance (22): 3d+4 imp. Reach 4.
Large Shield • Bash (22): 3d cr. Reach 1.
Large Shield • Rush (22): slam+3 cr. Reach 1.
Longsword • 1H Swing (22): 5d+5 cut. Reach 1.
Longsword • 1H Thrust (22): 3d+4 imp. Reach 1,2.
Longsword • 2H Swing (22): 5d+4 cut. Reach 1.
Longsword • 2H Thrust (22): 3d+4 imp. Reach 1,2.
Morningstar (22): 5d+5 cr. Reach 1.

Ranged Attacks

Longbow ST 27 (21): 3d+1 imp. Acc 4. Range 486 yd / 648 yd. RoF 1. Shots 1(2).

Majestic Scout 750 points

This is very much not the kind of character I would design, but my friends might: a half-infernal, half winged elf scout. He's decent but mostly nothing exceptionally socially, but leverages Spirit Empathy and some selective Charisma to get along well with spirits.

There's not much else to say here: scout design for DF is pretty much a solved science, and there's only so much variation. The odd bit is a winged elf riding a pegasus, since the pegasus is a fair bit faster. The pegasus is unarmored, but the elf can fly if the pegasus is killed while airborne.

Armor is a reasonably inexpensive full, heavy mail suit with a giant spider silk liner. Weapons are the obligatory elven balanced composite bow with Weapon Master and a pair of orichalcum sabers that will never break (because they'll never be used). They're stylish, though.

It's a little crazy to say when talking about 750 points, but if I could free up some points I'd want to buy Infernal Dark Vision. If I were designing this character for myself, I'd be a heretic and drop Weapon Master (Bow) and possibly Enhanced Tracking in order to get Infernal Dark Vision, but I know I'm the only person who thinks that way so I went with the conventional build.


ST 20 [30]; DX 17 [60]; IQ 13 [20]; HT 15* [20].
Damage 2d-1/3d+2; BL 80 lb; HP 20 [0]; Will 13 [0]; Per 16 [15]; FP 16 [0].
Basic Speed 9.00 [10]; Basic Move 9 [0]; Dodge 13.
* Conditional +1 from 'Fit'.

Templates and Meta-Traits

Infernal (Dungeon Fantasy; p. DF3:12) [75]; Scout (Dungeon Fantasy; p. DF1:10) [0]; Winged Elf (Dungeon Fantasy; p. DF3:7) [25].

Advantages

Ally (Pegasus; 25% of starting points; Constantly, *4) [4]; Ambidexterity [5]; Charisma 4 (Accessibility: Spirits Only, -40%) [12]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Craftiness 2 [10]; Danger Sense [15]; Enhanced Tracking 1 (Multiple Lock-Ons, +20%) [6]; Extra DX 2 (Affects DX, +0%) [40]; Extra HT 2 [20]; Extra IQ 2 [40]; Extra ST 7) [70]; Forest Guardian 4 [20]; Heroic Archer [20]; Injury Tolerance (Damage Reduction (/2), +50) [50]; Luck [15]; Striker 1 (Infernal Tail; Impaling) [8]; Trained By A Master [30]; Weapon Master (Bow; one specific weapon) [20].
Perks: Eye for Distance; No Nuisance Rolls (Quick Shooting); Patience of Job; Strongbow; Style Familiarity (Archery - Kyudo); Style Familiarity (Shortsword Fighting). [6]

Disadvantages

Callous [-5]; Greed (12 or less, *1) [-15]; No Sense of Humor [-10]; Overconfidence (12 or less, *1) [-5]; Sense of Duty (Adventuring companions) [-5]; Vow (Never sleep indoors) [-10].

Skills

Acting (A) IQ+2 [2]-15; Armoury/TL3 (Missile Weapons) (A) IQ-1 [1]-12; Bow (A) DX+10 [29]-27; Brawling (E) DX+2 [4]-19; Climbing (A) DX-1 [1]-16; Detect Lies (H) Per [4]-16; Diplomacy (H) IQ+1 [8]-14†; Fast-Draw (Arrow) (E) DX+5 [1]-22; Fast-Draw (Sword) (E) DX+1 [1]-18; Flying Leap (H) IQ-2 [1]-11; Jumping (E) DX [1]-17; Power Blow (H) Will-2 [1]-11; Riding (Pegasus) (A) DX+1 [13]-18; Running (A) HT-1 [1]-14; Saber (A) DX+3 [12]-20; Scout! (WC) IQ+2 [48]-15; Shadowing (A) IQ+1 [4]-14; Stealth (A) DX+7 [4]-24; Weather Sense (A) IQ-1 [1]-12; Wrestling (A) DX [2]-17.
Techniques: Combat Riding (Riding (Pegasus)) (H) [5]-22; Hands-Free Riding (Riding (Pegasus)) (H) [4]-18; Mounted Shooting (Bow/Pegasus) (H) [3]-25; Quick-Shot (Bow) (H) [2]-27.
† Conditional +4 from 'Charisma' when making Influence rolls on Spirits.

Equipment

1× Composite Bow (ST 22; Weapon Master Damage Bonus; Elven; Balanced; Fine; $21600; 4 lb); 1× Layered Cloth Undersuit (All; DR (1); Giant Spider Silk; Reinforced Vitals; Thieves; Very Fine; $5922; 4.41 lb); 1× Hooded Mail Hauberk and Leggings (All; DR (9); Athletic; Elven; Fine; Hardened; Reinforced Vitals; Thieves; $89775; 40.82 lb); 2× Saber (Orichalcum; Silver-coated; Balanced; Fine; $54600; 4 lb).
$30,000 in additional equipment.

Encumbrance

[None]: Basic Lift 80 lb. Ground Move 9 yd; Air Move 18 yd. Dodge 13.
Light: Basic Lift 160 lb. Ground Move 7 yd; Air Move 14 yd. Dodge 12.
Medium: Basic Lift 240 lb. Ground Move 5 yd; Air Move 10 yd. Dodge 11.

Defenses

Parry: 14 (Saber). Block: 10 (DX). Dodge: 13. DR: 10*+1 (Torso).

Melee Attacks

Brawling • Punch (19): 2d cr. Reach C.
Brawling • Bite (19): 2d cr. Reach C.
Brawling • Kick (17): 2d+3 cr. Reach C,1.
Saber • Swing (21): 3d+2 cut. Reach 1.
Saber • Thrust (21): 2d+1 imp. Reach 1.
Striker Infernal Tail; Impaling (19): 2d+3 imp. Reach C.

Ranged Attacks

Composite Bow ST 22 (27): 2d+7 imp. Acc 4. Range 528 yd / 660 yd. RoF 1. Shots 1(2).

Sample flying mounts for Epic GURPS Fantasy

I decided to write up some suitable flying mounts for the GURPS Exalted-like game. On the low end, there's a semi-sentient magic carpet and a fairly conventional pegasus. On the upper end, a large wyvern and a celestial spirit horse. The spirit horse design could be easily modified to be a demonic steed like a nightmare.

Flying Carpet (186 points)

A flying carpet is a magical rug, capable of flying at 120 mph while carrying a single rider, or slightly slower with more riders. It is semi-sentient, and can communicate telepathically with its owner, though it has no initiative of its own. It can be summoned at a distance, and always has a general knowledge of its owner's current location.

The carpet's fabric is tough and resistant to damage, and as a heavy (60 lbs) homogeneous object, it is surprisingly difficult to destroy. The carpet will magically repair itself over time.


ST 0* [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 7 [0]; HT 12 [0].
Damage 1d-6/1d-5; BL 80 lb; HP 30§ [0]; Will 10 [0]; Per 10 [0]; FP N/A [0].
Basic Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Move 6 [0]; Dodge 9.
(SM +1).
* Conditional +20 from 'Lifting ST'.

Advantages

Absolute Direction [5]; Damage Resistance 3 [15]; Dark Vision [25]; Detect (Owner; Rare) [5]; Doesn't Breathe [20]; Doesn't Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn't Sleep [20]; Enhanced Move 2 (Air) [40]; Extra Air Move 3 [6]; Extra Basic Speed +0.5 [10]; Extra Hit Points 30  [60]; Extra HT 2 [20]; Extra Perception 3  [15]; Extra Will 3 [15]; Flight [40]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Immunity to Mind Control [30]; Increased SM 1 [0]; Indomitable [15]; Injury Tolerance (Homogenous, +40; No Blood, +5; No Eyes, +5) [50]; Lifting ST 20 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size, -10%) [30]; Mindlink (Owner; 1 person) [5]; Payload 30 (Exposed, -50%) [15]; Regeneration (Slow: 1HP/12Hr) [10]; Special Rapport (Owner) [5]; Telecommunication (Telesend; Only with owner, -80%) [6]; Unfazeable [15].

Disadvantages

Cannot Speak [-15]; Clueless [-10]; Fragile (Combustible) [-5]; Hidebound [-5]; Incurious (12 or less, *1) [-5]; Low Empathy [-20]; No Legs (Aerial) [0]; No Manipulators [-50]; Racial Reduced ST -10 (Affects ST, +0%) [-100]; Reduced IQ -3 [-60]; Reprogrammable [-10]; Sense of Duty (Owner; Individual) [-2]; Slave Mentality [-40]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10]; Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25].

Skills

Aerobatics (H) DX+1 [8]-11; Navigation/TL3 (Air) (A) IQ+5 [8]-12§§.
§§ Includes +3 from 'Absolute Direction'.

Encumbrance

[None]: Basic Lift 240+80 lb. Water Move 1 yd; Air Move 15 yd / 60 yd. Dodge 9.
Light: Basic Lift 240+160 lb. Water Move 1 yd; Air Move 12 yd / 48 yd. Dodge 8. 
 

Defenses

Dodge: 9. DR: 3.

Pegasus (186 points)

Pegasi are an expensive but somewhat common way of flying. They can sprint at speeds up to 70 mph for an hour at a time, or cruise around 35 mph for most of a day. They are slower than flying carpets, but are much more capable combatants and are favored by some very wealthy chivalric orders.


ST 27* [0]; DX 12 [0]; IQ 6 [0]; HT 12 [0].
Damage 3d-1/5d+1; BL 192 lb; HP 27 [0]; Will 11 [0]; Per 12 [0]; FP 12 [0].
Basic Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Move 8 [0]; Dodge 10.
SM +1.
* Conditional +4 from 'Lifting ST'.

Advantages

Acute Hearing 2 [4]; Animal Damage Resistance 1 (Tough Skin, -40%) [3]; Claws (Hooves) [3]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Enhanced Move 1.5 (Air) [30] and Alternate Ability: Enhanced Move 1.5 (Ground) [6]; Extra Basic Move 2 [10]; Extra DX 2 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%) [24]; Extra HT 2 [20]; Extra Legs (4 Legs) [5]; Extra Perception 6 [30]; Extra ST 17 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size, -10%) [85]; Extra Will 5 [25]; Fit [5]; Flight (Winged, -25%) [30]; Increased SM 1 [0]; Lifting ST 4 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size, -10%) [6]; Night Vision 3 [3]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Ultrahearing [5].

Disadvantages

Cannot Speak [-15]; Horizontal [-10]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Reduced IQ -4 (Affects IQ, +0%) [-80]; Restricted Diet (Herbivore; Very Common) [-10]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10]; Weak Bite [-2]; Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25].
Quirks: Cautious [-1].

Skills

Aerobatics (H) DX [4]-12; Brawling (E) DX+2 [4]-14; Flight (A) HT+4 [16]-16; Intimidation (A) Will+1 [4]-12; Mount (A) DX+2 [8]-14; Running (A) HT+1 [4]-13; Survival (Plains) (A) Per [2]-12.
Techniques: Kicking (Brawling) (H) [3]-14.

Encumbrance

[None]: Basic Lift 192 lb. Ground Move 8 yd / 24 yd; Water Move 1 yd; Air Move 12 yd / 36 yd. Dodge 10.
Light: Basic Lift 384 lb. Ground Move 6 yd / 19 yd; Water Move 1 yd; Air Move 9 yd / 28 yd. Dodge 9.

Defenses

Dodge: 10. DR: 1* tough skin.

Melee Attacks

Brawling • Bite-14: 3d-5 cr. Reach C,1.
Brawling • Kick-14: 3d+2 cr. Reach C,1.

Wyvern (375 points)

This huge (3000 lbs) reptilian creature has wings instead of forelegs and a long, wickedly spiked tail that oozes poison. It is immensely strong, and is a favored steed of barbarians and half-ogres, as it can maintain more of its maximum 90 mph flight speed while carrying them than can lesser mounts. It is sometimes used like a chariot, with a rider controlling the creature while two archers loose arrows from its back.

Wyverns are somewhat intelligent and capable of limited speech, though they are not social nor creative. In combat, they prefer to slash with their powerful leg talons or stab with their poisonous tail, but they can batter foes with their wings when grounded. They are also capable of performing a grab and drop on opponents weighing less than 1000 lbs. A wyvern's brain and vitals are so small and well-armored that they might as well be non-existent.

 

 

ST 31 [0]; DX 14 [0]; IQ 8 [0]; HT 14 [0].
Damage 3d+1/6d-1; BL 336 lb; HP 31 [0]; Will 11 [0]; Per 12 [0]; FP 14 [0].
Basic Speed 7.00 [0]; Basic Move 7 [0]; Dodge 11.
SM +2.
* Conditional +10 from 'Lifting ST'.

Advantages

Acute Vision 2 [4]; Claws (Long Talons) [11]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Damage Resistance 14 [70]; Enhanced Move 1.5 (Air) [30]; Extra Air Move 1 [2]; Extra DX 4 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%) [48]; Extra HT 4 [40]; Extra Perception 4 [20]; Extra ST 21 No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size, -20%) [84]; Extra Will 3 [15]; Fit [5]; Flight (Winged, -25%) [30] or Alternate Ability: Striker (Crushing; 2 Wings; Clumsy (-1), -20%; Long (+1), +100%) [4]; Increased SM 2 [0]; Infravision [10]; Injury Tolerance (No Brain, +5; No Vitals, +5) [10]; Lifting ST 10 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size, -20%) [12]; Nictitating Membrane 10 (Hardened, +20%) [12]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Striker (Impaling; Spiked Tail; Long (+1), +100%) [16]; Teeth (Fangs) [2]; Telescopic Vision 1 [5]; Toxic Attack 4 (Follow-Up pm Tail Striker), +0%; Resistible (HT-5), -5%; Severe Pain, +40%) [22].
Perks: Follow-Through Shtick; Immunity to Wyvern Venom. [2]

Disadvantages

Disturbing Voice [-10]; Gluttony (12 or less, *1) [-5]; Hidebound [-5]; Loner (12 or less, *1) [-5]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Reduced IQ -2 (Affects IQ, +0%) [-40]; Restricted Diet (Fresh Meat; Very Common) [-10]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10]; Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25].

Skills

Aerobatics (H) DX-1 [2]-13; Brawling (E) DX+2 [4]-16; Flight (A) HT [2]-14; Intimidation (A) Will [2]-11; Mount (A) DX+2 [8]-16; Survival (Mountain) (A) Per [2]-12; Wrestling (A) DX+2 [8]-16.
Techniques: Kicking (Brawling) (H) [3]-16.

Encumbrance

[None]: Basic Lift 336 lb. Ground Move 7 yd; Water Move 1 yd; Air Move 15 yd / 45 yd. Dodge 11.
Light: Basic Lift 672 lb. Ground Move 5 yd; Water Move 1 yd; Air Move 12 yd / 36 yd. Dodge 10.
Medium: Basic Lift 1008 lb. Ground Move 4 yd; Water Move 1 yd; Air Move 9 yd / 27 yd. Dodge 9.

Defenses

Parry: 12 (Brawling Strikers). Dodge: 11. DR: 14 (Most locations) or 10H (Eyes).

Melee Attacks

Brawling Bite-16: 3d+3 imp. Reach C,1. Born Biter 1.
Brawling Kick-16: 3d+7 cut/imp. Reach C,1–2.
Striker Wings-16: 3d+7 cr. Reach C,1-3.
Striker Tail-16: 3d+7 imp and follow-up 4d tox (HT-5 to resist). Reach C, 1-3.
Wrestling-16: ST43 grab or TrST49 for 4d control points. Usually grapples with mouth (TrST24, 2d+1 CP) or both legs (TrST 28, 3d-1 CP each or 57, 6d+1 together while flying).

Spirit Horse (373 points)

A spirit horse is a celestial being; a divine agent in a horse like form. It is smarter than a normal horse and glows with an internal light.  It can walk on air and travel tirelessly at up to 110 mph. As a spirit, it doesn't need to breath, eat, or sleep and is immune to all poisons and disease.

The master of a spirit horse must purchase at least 5 points in Social Regard: Venerated.

ST 29* [0]; DX 14 [0]; IQ 7 [0]; HT 14 [0].
BL 218 lb; HP 29 [0]; Will 11 [0]; Per 12 [0]; FP N/A [0].
Basic Speed 7.00 [0]; Basic Move 9 [0]; Dodge 11.
SM +1. 

* Conditional +4 from 'Lifting ST'. 

 

Advantages

Acute Hearing 2 [4]; Animal Damage Resistance 1 (Tough Skin, -40%) [3]; Celestial Doesn't Breath [20]; Celestial Doesn't Eat or Drink [10]; Celestial Doesn't Sleep [20]; Celestial Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Celestial Walk on Air [20]; Claws (Hooves) [3]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Damage Resistance 1 [5]; Enhanced Move 2.5 (Ground) [50]; Extra Basic Move 2 (Affects Move, +0%) [10]; Extra DX 4 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%) [48]; Extra HT 4 [40]; Extra Legs (4 Legs) [5]; Extra Perception 5 [25]; Extra ST 19 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size, -10%) [95]; Extra Will 4  [20]; Increased SM 1 [0]; Injury Tolerance (Homogenous, +40) [40]; Lifting ST 4 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size, -10%) [6]; Night Vision 3 [3]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Ultrahearing [5].
Perks: Illumination. [1]

Disadvantages

Celestial Divine Curse [-5]; Celestial Weakness (1d per 30 minutes; Occasional) [-5]; Horizontal [-10]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Reduced IQ -3 [-60]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10]; Weak Bite [-2]; Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25]. 

 

Skills

Brawling (E) DX+3 [8]-17; Intimidation (A) Will+1 [4]-12; Mount (A) DX+2 [8]-16; Running (A) HT+1 [4]-15.
Techniques: Kicking (Brawling) (H) [3]-17.

Encumbrance

[None]: Basic Lift 218 lb. Ground Move 9 yd / 54 yd; Water Move 1 yd. Dodge 11.
Light: Basic Lift 436 lb. Ground Move 7 yd / 43 yd; Water Move 1 yd. Dodge 10.

Defenses

Parry: Dodge: 11. DR: 1+1* (All Over).

Melee Attacks

Brawling • Bite-17: 3d-4 cr. Reach C,1.
Brawling • Kick-17: 3d+3 cr. Reach C,1.

Design Notes

The wyvern is probably the most useful in air-to-air combat, with excellent armor and a good attack, but it's also the largest and uses wings to fly, which means it needs a lot of space to land. It's also expensive to maintain, since it needs about 60 lbs of fresh meat a day. The spirit horse, while more vulnerable to damage in general, can land in much tighter spaces and costs nothing to maintain.

The flying carpet is probably more generally useful than the pegasus: the carpet costs less to maintain, flies much faster, and can navigate. It can't quite carry as much on the high end, and lacks its own attacks, though I'm not sure how much of a disadvantage that is.

While I don't feel the least bit bad in giving Injury Tolerance: No Brain to the wyvern, I originally wanted to give it a lot of DR (Vitals Only) instead of No Vitals. However, Vitals Only is only worth -30%, and it just wasn't cost effective.

Status, followers, and magic items in Epic Fantasy games

I'm still pondering how to run an Exalted inspired game in GURPS. There was a bunch of stuff that I glossed over in my original notes, and I'm going to come back and put down some more detail on them.

Social Traits

In the initial character creation notes, I wrote "another 50 points must be spent on Influence skills and mundane, social related abilities like Attractiveness, Social Regard, or Status." So what specifically can and can't those points be spent on?

• Allies. Since Allies are very efficient in high point games, no more than 20 of those points can be spent on Allies, no Ally can be at 100% or more, and only 1 ally can be built at 75% or 50%. Everyone should be able to have a flying mount or something, but most Allies should be less spectacular. Templates that already have access to Allies out of their discretionary advantages still have access to them normally, so a druid can have a 100% Ally.
• Charisma, Claim to Hospitality, Favor, Languages, and Social Regard. These work as written. I need to come up with a short list of useful languages, but a variation of the D&D ones probably works: Abyssal, Ancient Common (old tomes), Celestial, Common, Draconic, Dwarven (includes gnomes), Goblinish (includes orcs, giants, etc), and Sylvan (includes Elves and Faeries). Should the Elder Things have a language that other people can learn?
• Contacts. I think Contacts as written are overpriced, and the easiest solution is to say that a Contact has a wildcard professional skill (like Mafioso!, Banker!, or Lab Technician!) at the normal price for a Contact.
• Contact Group. Since Contacts already provide wildcard skills, Contact Groups become geographic networks of Contacts. Instead of having a Contact who lives in one place, a character with a Contact Group can always get in touch with their Contact.
• Courtesy Rank, Rank, Status, and Wealth. These are highly revised and extended below.
• Influence and military skills: Acting, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Intelligence Analysis, Interrogation, Intimidation, Leadership, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire, Sex Appeal, and Strategy.

Legal Enforcement Powers, Legal Immunity, Security Clearance, and Tenure are still not available.

Rank, Status, and Wealth

Steve Jackson had a real innovation when he decided to let characters purchase wealth and authority as defined traits. Unfortunately, the mechanics for those traits have never worked well, and eventually led to oddities like the Emperor of Rome (Status 8) also needing to buy Military, Religious, and Bureaucratic Rank 8 in order to command the hierarchies that were inherent in his authority as Emperor. Which then raised the question of what exactly did those 40 points in Status represent?

Whatever the answer to that question is, my point is that the integration of Status, Wealth, and Rank is confusing and difficult for almost all games, and I want something simpler for this kind of game. But I also want people to be the Archbishop of Sord or the King of Rentir or Grandmaster of the Forestry Guilds and have it mean something. Without it also meaning that they have so much Wealth that they can buy their way out of every problem.

Status becomes a leveled 5 point advantage that includes the rank and wealth necessary to support the position. It provides authority over a number of people, 1% of which can assumed to be 62 point Guards or Cultists (from DF15: Henchmen) and another 2% can assumed to be 32 point downgraded versions of Laborers, Servants, or Torchbearers (DF15 again). 0.1% of the people are available as 125 point Henchmen and 0.5% of the people are available at 62 pt Laborers, Servants, or Torchbearers. All these hirelings have Loyalty 12 and are available for adventuring work (assume the same number of people or more are at home, keeping the place running as standing armies and permanent bureaucracies).

The effects of Status are summed up in the table below:

Status	Cost	Authority	Guards/ Cultists	Servants	Henchmen	Examples
1	5	300	3	6	0	Squire, Vicar, Guild Master
2	10	1200	10	20	1	Knight, Abbot, Guild Councillor
3	15	6000	40	80	4	Lord, Lord Abbot, Guild President
4	20	30,000	160	300	16	Earl, Bishop, Guild Grandmaster
5	25	120,000	450	900	45	Duke, Archbishop
6	30	600,000	1500	3000	150	Archduke, Pontiff
7	35	3,000,000	3000	6000	300	King
8	40	12,000,000	12000	24000	1200	Emperor

Status can be bought with the -20% Disloyal limitation, in which case the Hirelings have Loyalty 9, or the -40% Treacherous limitation, with Loyalty 6. On the positive side, the +20% Zealous enhancement gives Loyalty 15.

No one is allowed to buy Wealth. Everyone has $200,000 in starting funds, and additional money for equipment can be bought at $100,000 per CP. Status provides sufficient money for Cost of Living, including inns and support cost for whatever army of hirelings is coming along.

Henchmen have $2000 in equipment, guards and cultists have $1000 in equipment, and servants have $500 in equipment.

Note that routinely traveling with more than 40 guards and 80 servants (Status 3) is likely to cause diplomatic difficulties. A king might have 3000 guards available as an expeditionary force, but if he actually travels with them into the next kingdom, the neighboring king is going to see it as a small invasion.

Courtesy Rank is a Perk, and lets you style yourself as whatever you please: a character may be a Status 3 Lord but titled the King of Grand Fenwick. Alternately, Limited Title is a Quirk, and means that a character's title is lower than their Status: the Lord D'Orleans might effectively be a Status 6 Archduke, but he gets seated at the royal ball with all the other barons.

Magic Items

I've written how I don't like the pricing of magic items in GURPS. However, magic items are part of the fantasy game experience.

I'm currently leaning towards giving everyone a separate pool of 100 CP that can only be spent on Advantages, with the note that those Advantages are provided by magic items. It may not be fair or make a lot of sense, but it puts
everyone on the same page as far as their magical equipment goes. I'd probably further insist that magic items provide "You Must Be This Tall to Ride" type abilities, not further vertical enhancement of a template's abilities.

So magic items should be things like

• 360 Degree or Peripheral Vision
• Clinging, Flight, Super Jump, or Walk on Air
• Dark Vision, Infravision, or Vibration Sense
• Doesn't Breath, Doesn't Eat, or Doesn't Sleep
• Resistance or Immunity to Hazards

Having some points devoted to Affliction, Binding, Extra Attack, Innate Attack or Damage Resistance is probably appropriate, but it shouldn't be the focus of the magic items.

Gadget Limitations

Under the hood, all magic items are gadgets with the Unique [-25%] and Difficult to Repair [-15%] limitations.  They also have -40% worth of limitations in the Durability, Size, and Can Be Stolen categories. Some standard categories:

• Armor: DR 6-15 [-10%], SM -1 [-20%], Thief must remove forcefully [-10%]
• Weapons: DR 6-15 [-10%], SM -3 or SM -4 [-15%], Thief must win quick contest and item must be attuned [-15%]
• Jewelry: DR 3-5 [-15%], SM -7 or SM -8 [-5%], Thief must use trickery [-20%]

These gadget limitations do not in any way effect the amount of CP that can be spent on magic items. Everyone gets 100 CP worth of magical effects, and can't buy more with their starting points or use additional gadget limitations to get more bang from their magical item budget.

Epic Fantasy: What To Do?

There was a little commentary on my article about playing an Exalted type game with GURPS, and the most relevant question was, "what do you do?" I confess that I tend to veer away from that kind of question, at least at first, and get too caught up in the mechanics of character creation and the like. But it is true that heroes are only really defined in relation to their opposition, or at least the challenges they face, and I should probably spend a few minutes thinking about the question.

Defining the Negative Space

There's a lot of things I know I don't want in the game. First off, much of the typical DF style beginner wandering murder-hobo experience is right out. This shouldn't be a game about common bar fights, trawling taverns for rumors, counting coins, or dungeon delving. All those can be enjoyable experiences, in the right game, but not in a self-consciously awesome and epic game. At least, if there's going to be a bar fight, it'll need to be an epic brawl against giants in the halls of the giant king, something more akin to the Norse Sagas when Thor wrestles Death.

Similarly, I don't know exactly who I'd want the Big Threat to be, but I know what it can't be: an invasion by orcs, demons, or the undead. Standard 250 point DF adventurers can handle an invasion by orcs, so that's not a strong enough foe. If all or most of the enemies are demons or undead, that encourages everyone to load up on anti-demon or anti-undead abilities, and I've already seen enough DF encounters shut down by a cleric with a lot of Will and True Faith (Turning). Demons and undead can be occasional foes, and almost certainly should be, but they can't be the enemy main force.

Assembling Pieces

So I know some of what I don't want in broad themes. I should also think about some individual pieces that I do want, and see if they assemble from the bottom up into a picture of the Big Threat.

• Some big diplomatic event in full court, where the PCs have to convince a non-enemy,
  
  non-allied ruler to do something.
• An non-allied ruler that is not EVIL but whose lands still will need to be invaded, because I'd like to use the Mass Combat rules at some point in my life.
• At least one timed dungeon, where the PCs are racing against someone else who entered from a different direction, and the PCs need to find the MacGuffin first.
• Ninja assassinations, because this is the sort of game that definitely needs that.
• A big melee where everyone is flying, either on their own power or on winged steeds / personal flying vessels.
• Dragons. Big dragons are important.

Already I'm seeing the outlines of a MacGuffin hunt, and possibly a conspiracy of some sort. Given the common types of foes I've already ruled out, something involving Elder Things seems appropriate. And honestly, stopping the awakening of Cthulhu or the King in Yellow does seem like the kind of epic quest I've been suggesting.

The Use and Abuse of Prophecy

It's a personal thing, but I find prophecies in fantasy stories to be horribly overused. Chosen heroes guided by fate... I find that really, really boring. Even the relatively light hand of prophecy, like the vague and self-fulfilling prophecies of Harry Potter, or the uncertain version used in David Eddings' books are not my cup of tea.

Still, there is space for predictable events influencing events. If the Eclipse of the 9 Moons is next month, and everyone knows that Elder Things are easiest to awaken during that Eclipse, then it's pretty reasonable to suspect that various shady and crazy groups might be plotting to do dangerous things. It's not some cryptic prophecy from the past, but something more like knowing that Haley's Comet will return in 2061.

A Broad Outline?

Putting this all together, I get something like for a pitch:
"An obscure sage has finally located the ebon moon Arkis, and plotted that the Conjunction of 9 Moons will occur in a few months. The borders between reality and the Far Realm will be at their weakest, and cultists of the Star Spawn will surely be plotting to bring their abominal mockeries of gods into the world. Sightings of agents of the Dragon-King of the North have increased, and those mad assassins are surely preparing the dark ritual sites.
"The sage has called out to some of the great heroes of the Age, for the fate of reality itself is at stake. He has gone to the temporal rulers, and been roundly mocked, for there is always some crazy monk proclaiming the end is nigh. But some heroes have realized the truth of the sage's words, and now seek to derail the Dragon-King's many plans."

It still needs some refinement, but it's a good start. It covers who the big bad is (Dragon-King of the North) and what the overall threat is (invasion by Cthulhu and company). It hints at the enemies (mad cultists of varying power levels) and the tasks (discover and destroy their ritual sites). It even plainly states that the Dragon-King has more than one plan, so it isn't sufficient to just stop one thing: he's got fall-backs and alternates, and even if he doesn't summon Cthulhu he can still summon Hastur or whatever and it's nearly as bad.

One thing I'd definitely want to make clear in the extended prospectus is that the sage is absolutely playable as PC. It's not mandatory, but I think people at this level, even when they're responding to events, should still be driving their own destinies. There's an important difference between "Elminster the quest-giver told you to go solve a problem" and "You realized that there was a problem that needed solving and set out to solve it." In the first case, the PCs are minions. In the second, they're movers and shakers, acting on their own accord.

"But are these things that DF templates can do without the superhero approach?"

Did I answer Shawn Fisher's original question? Did I even address it? I don't think I did.

While I'm perfectly willing to deride epic games that "are just like 1st level, but with bigger numbers", sometimes the bigger numbers are relevant. More points in abilities and more magical gear means the characters can overcome tougher challenges. Tougher challenges aren't enough to make a game epic, but I think if you set up an epic premise for the game, and you add tougher challenges, you can justify superhuman characters for the PCs.

So if I scaled down the opposition to a bunch of cultists led by a ninja, I could probably run most of this game with standard DF characters. But since a typical encounter might be a bunch of Siege Beasts and armored Stone Golems guarding a Mind Blaster Lich while a few Watchers at the End of Time perform hit-and-run attacks, which is pretty unreasonable for most DF groups.

The concept of Exalted in GURPS

Exalted is the former White Wolf's game of over-the-top superheroes in fantasy garb. I'm on record as not liking it very much, finding it mechanically clunky and too complex to meaningfully GM. I'm not enthused about the background, either, which was probably useful in the first edition of the game but has gotten overly baroque over the years.

Still, there are things about the concept that I like. It's an over the top wuxia game with a mostly European sword-and-sandals aesthetic. And the Mecha Against the Giants campaign has really reinforced to me that cinematic, high powered, deliberately awesome gaming can be a lot of fun in an escapist kind of way. So I'm mulling over an Exalted type of game in my favorite system, GURPS.

Prior Art

There have been a couple of attempts to port Exalted over to GURPS, but they're pretty much useless for my purposes. The biggest problem with them is that they're all trying to port Exalted, as written, to GURPS, instead of doing a loose translation into GURPS of the flavor of Exalted. As such, they carry over a lot of the fiddleness and wacky rules of Exalted, like tracking (energy) motes and perfect defenses.

However, I'm not interested in the exact rules of Exalted, nor even the general concept of the rules. I'm interested in the broad flavor of super strong warriors and ultra powerful wizards.

Dungeon Fantasy on Steroids

The basic concept is super powered sword and sorcery, so the place to start is probably Dungeon Fantasy. DF templates are 250 points with attributes in the 10 to 17 range, and almost everyone having DX and HT of 12+. If every archetype had to double it's ST and add 2 to DX, IQ, and HT, then most templates end up costing around 450 points and look reasonably superhuman: the jack-of-all-trades bard is ST 22 DX 14 IQ 16 HT 13, while the powerhouse barbarian is ST 34 DX 15 IQ 12 HT 15 (at ~500 points) and the martial artist is suitably intimidating at ST 22 DX 18 IQ 12 HT 14.

Of course, big attributes aren't enough for this kind of game. Giving every another another 150 points and requiring them to take Combat Reflexes, Injury Tolerance: Damage Reduction/2, Luck, Trained by a Master, and another 30 points chosen from Damage Resistance 1-6 [5/level], Destiny 1-3 [5/level], Enhanced Dodge 1-2 [15/level], Extra Basic Speed 1 [20], Extra HP 1-15 [2/level] and Hard to Kill 1-10 [2/level] should increase survivability nicely. Another 100 points of non-attribute power-ups or skill increases from the template further reinforces these characters as masters of their professions.

Finally, although I'm basing this game on Dungeon Fantasy, I'd like to be more than just a stomp and romp game. All the templates are now IQ 12+, so having some social skills should be reasonably affordable. Another 50 points must be spent on Influence skills and mundane, social related abilities like Attractiveness, Social Regard, or Status.

That puts everyone at about 750 points, which seems like a good place for a super powered game.

Bards, Clerics, Druids, and Wizards

I think giving wizards IQ 17 and 165 points to spend on more IQ and Magery is going to result in a lot IQ 18, Magery 6 characters. Which will in turn intensify everything I dislike about the standard magic system. Even my own College Ritual Book system is possibly not appropriate for this kind of game, since IQ 18 wizards can master a lot of different colleges on the cheap. I'd prefer spellcasters to be a little more focused.

I think spells as powers is the right way to go here. Divine spellcasters can use Divine Powers, which works well for them, and with Divine Favor 14 being easily in reach, they can part the seas or call down insect plagues on a daily basis. But they can only do one thing at a time, though it's usually a big thing. Arcane spellcasters can have multiple arrays of powers, so they can do different things (fly and throw lightning bolts, for instance) at the same time, but their biggest effects are probably smaller than clerics.

Obviously, this needs a lot more development, but it's a good place to start.

Equipment

Big heroes need big gear. I'd use Better Fantasy Armor as a base, of course, but how much money to provide? Top of the line BFA armor costs $700,000 for DR 15 + 3* and weighs 38 lbs, which isn't even light encumbrance for ST 20 heroes. Forbidding the Lighten enchantment increases the weight to about 77 lbs at no real change in cost, and possibly discourages the ST20 people from wearing it. I don't mind players wearing Ultimate Celestial Armor, but I wouldn't want it to be the default option: it should be something that someone chooses and gives up other things for (ie, has to buy Wealth to afford).

With that in mind, I'm thinking a starting wealth of $200,000 sounds good. Everyone can trivially buy a mithril mail undersuit ($80,000 and 9 lbs) with light dragonhide over it ($25,000 and 14 lbs) and still buy plenty of other equipment. A half dozen points in Signature Gear is enough to get a Celestial Steel ultimate harness ($600,000 and 65 lbs) for someone who wants to make the investment.

What Happens Now?

This is a good start on a concept. I need to refine it a bit more: should Super Jumping be added to the mandatory advantages or does that take too much away from the Martial Artist? Is this the level of over the top that I want, or would even higher attributes and skills help anything? Is there room for a character in magitek powered armor, and if so, how to approach that?

I also need to clarify some things. I tossed off "wizards use powers for spells" but there's a lot of background work that would need to be done before I could hand that to a player and let them make a character.

I also need to figure out what kind of adventure I'd want to run. I've bitched before that epic scale D&D too often fails because in the end, the writers idea of epic is "the exact same fight you had at first level in the exact same basement room, only with bigger numbers." But I think epic is more flying to the moon or shooting the sun from the sky. So I'll need to ponder that some more.