ROBERT E HOWARD CHARACTERS
SOLOMON KANE
Version 2
Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 20 STR 10 13- Lift 400 kg; 4d6 HTH Damage 16 DEX 18 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5 15 CON 10 12- 18 BODY 16 13- 10 INT 0 11- PER Roll 11- 14 EGO 8 12- ECV: 5 20 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6 10 COM 0 11- 6 PD 2 Total: 9 PD (3 rPD) 5 ED 2 Total: 8 ED (3 rED) 4 SPD 14 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 8 REC 2 40 END 5 40 STUN 4 Total Characteristics Cost: 101 Movement: Running: 7"/14" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills Martial Arts: Fencing Maneuver OCV DCV Damage 4 Bind +1 +0 Bind, 30 STR 3 Cut +2 +1 Weapon Strike 4 Froissement -1 +1 Disarm; 30 STR to Disarm 5 Lunge +1 -2 Weapon +4 DC Strike 4 Parry +2 +2 Block, Abort 4 Riposte +2 +2 Weapon +2 DC Strike, Must Follow Block 5 Thrust +1 +3 Weapon Strike 1 Martial Arts: Fisticuffs; Use Art With Clubs Maneuver OCV DCV Damage 4 Crush +0 +0 8d6 Crush, Must Follow Grab 4 Martial Dodge -- +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort 4 Martial Escape +0 +0 35 STR vs. Grabs 5 Offensive Strike -2 +1 8d6 Strike 7 Unflinching Courage: Affects Desolidified (ghosts; +1/4) for up to 20 Active Points of STR, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) 5 Implacable Expression: +10 PRE; Only For Fear-Based Presence Attacks (-1) 2 Long Swinging Strides: Running +1" (7" total), END 1 5 An Occult Keenness Of The Deeper Senses: Detect Supernatural Menaces 11- (Hearing Group) 4 Piercing Gaze: +2 PER with Sight Group 5 Divine Providence: Luck 1d6 Perks 6 Contact: N'Longa, the Voodoo Man of the Slave Coast (Contact has extremely useful Skills or resources, Very Good relationship with Contact) 8- 4 Fringe Benefit: Captain 2 Reputation (rogues throughout Europe) 11-, +2/+2d6 Talents 6 Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED) 3 Lightning Reflexes: +2 DEX to act first with All Actions 3 Lightsleep Skills 16 +2 with All Combat 6 +2 with Fencing 3 Analyze: Style 11- 3 Climbing 12- 5 Defense Maneuver II 3 Navigation (Land, Marine) 11- 3 Paramedics 11- 2 PS: Sailor 11- 2 PS: Soldier 11- 5 Rapid Attack (HTH) 3 Riding 12- 3 Shadowing 11- 3 Stealth 12- 4 Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, Tropical) 11- 3 Tracking 11- 2 TF: Large Wind-Powered Boats, Small Rowed Boats 7 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Early Firearms, Javelins and Thrown Spears, Off Hand, Thrown Knives, Axes, and Darts 3 Linguist 1 1) Language: African River Dialects (fluent conversation) 1 2) Language: Bantu (fluent conversation) 1 3) Language: English (imitate dialects; literate) 1 4) Language: German (fluent conversation) 1 5) Language: Pidgin (basic conversation) 3 Traveler 2 1) AK: Africa 11- 1 2) AK: England 11- 1 3) AK: France 11- 1 4) AK: Germany 11- 1 5) AK: Italy 11- 1 6) AK: Spain 11- 190 Total Powers & Skills Cost 291 Total Character Cost 75+ Disadvantages 5 Distinctive Features: Puritan (Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses; Not Distinctive In Some Cultures) 10 Distinctive Features: Style (Not Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Large Group) 20 Enraged: when those under his protection are harmed (Uncommon), go 14-, recover 11- 0 Normal Characteristic Maxima 15 Psychological Limitation: "Puritan's" Code Of Honor (Common, Strong) 15 Psychological Limitation: Wanderlust (Common, Strong) 10 Social Limitation: Religious Minority (Frequently, Minor) 5 Unluck: 1d6 136 Experience 291 Total Disadvantage Points Equipment Flintlock Pistol: RKA 1d6; Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), -1 1/4), OAF (-1), STR Minimum 11 (STR Min. Cannot Add/Subtract Damage; -1), Activation Roll 12- (-3/4), 6 Charges (-3/4), Concentration, throughout (1/2 DCV; -1/2), Side Effects, (-4 RMod; -1/2), Beam (-1/4) plus Armor Piercing (+1/2) for up to 15 Active Points of RKA, Required Hands (One-Handed; +0); Extra Time (1 Turn, -1 1/4), OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-1/4), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4), Only Works Against Low-Tech Armors (-1/4) [Notes: Act 12-; Conc; Range 110"; DEF 3, BODY 4.] Dagger/Dirk: HKA 1d6-1 (1d6 w/STR), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Ranged (+1/2); OAF (-1), STR Minimum 6 (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4) [Notes: S; Can Be Thrown; DEF 5, BODY 3.] Rapier: HKA 1d6 (1 1/2d6 w/STR), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); OAF (-1), STR Minimum 10 (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4) plus +1 with HTH Combat; OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-1/4) [Notes: DEF 5, BODY 5.] Staff Of Solomon: all slots OAF (-1) 1) Sharp Spear-Point: HKA 1 1/2d6 (2d6+1 w/STR), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); OAF (-1), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), STR Minimum 8 (-1/2) 2) Warded Against Supernatural: RKA 8d6, Damage Shield (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Uncontrolled (+1/2), Affects Desolidified (+1/2), Continuous (+1), NND (defense is Force Field; +1), Does BODY (+1); OAF (-1), Only Works Against Supernatural Creatures (-1) 3) Dream-Sending: Mind Link , with N'Longa, ju-ju man of the Slave Coast, Any distance, No LOS Needed; Extra Time (1 Minute, -1 1/2), OAF (-1), Concentration (0 DCV; Character is totally unaware of nearby events; must go to "sleep"; -3/4), Gestures (Requires both hands; cross arms over breast and staff; -1/2)
Background/History: Driven by an unstoppable urge to wander, Solomon Kane left his home town of Devon for a life of adventure. Sailing for a time with his friend Sir Richard Grenville, he apparently gave that up when most of the rest of his companions became buccaneers. He spent time in a Turkish galley as a rowing-slave, became a Captain in the French army, fought Indians in the New World, journeyed through most of Europe, and made several journeys to Africa. In this time, he developed a reputation as an implacable unbeatable swordsman, mainly through his defeat of a rather large number of villains: murderers, highwaymen, pirates, degenerate noblemen, etc. A one-time friend of Sir Francis Drake, he never spent too much time in one place before his wanderlust drove him onward.
When he had first journeyed to Africa on a mission of rescue, he had felt a primal stirring deep within his psyche; something about the savage new continent called to him. In the later half of his adventuring career, he returned to Africa on a personal quest. His "blood-brother," the tribal shaman N'Longa, gave him a powerful magical staff. Armed with this and his fighting skills, he went on a personal odyssey through the African interior, destroying ancient evils and uncovering lost civilizations.
Personality/Motivation: Solomon Kane claims to follow a tightly Puritan code of conduct, but in reality his personal ethics resemble those of a latter-day "knight in shining armor:" he tries to defend the weak and helpless (especially women), finds it necessary to fight evil wherever he finds it, and follows a life of some asceticism. In truth, he has something of the feral savage in him, although he would be shocked to hear it. Many times, he takes on a mission to destroy some villain due to his personal feelings when coming upon a victim. For the most part dour, Kane seldom laughs or enjoys entertainment.
Quote: "It hath been my duty in times past to ease various evil men of their lives."
Powers/Tactics: Kane is an awesome combatant, either with bare hands, blades, or flintlocks. In bare-handed combat, he wades into his foes, usually breaking their necks or dashing their heads in with the stock of his guns. As a fencer, he is technically perfect, fighting with an economy of action that conserves his energy while allowing him to test the limits of his opponent; he frequently defeats more flamboyant opponents by wearing them out. If he gets a chance to attack at range, he is a crack shot with his two flintlock pistols or flintlock musket, although the latter usually sees more use as a large club.
One weapon of note is his magical staff. Strangely carved rod with a cat's head on one end and a spear point on the other, this item enabled him to end several supernatural and not-so-supernatural threats in the African interior. He ultimately discovered that the rod was an ancient relic from before recorded history, already ancient when an Egyptian priest had carved the head of Bast on the end and inscribed the shaft with hieroglyphics. It was then carried by Moses out of Egypt, used by Solomon to drive out the djinns, and eventually found it's way back to Africa and thence to Solomon Kane's hands. The Staff of Solomon was proof against supernatural terrors, frequently killing with one blow a creature otherwise immune to physical damage; it's mere touch was enough to destroy the monsters. The shaman N'Longa laid an additional enchantment upon the item: if a person laid it upon their breast, folded their arms over it, and slept, N'Longa was capable of communicating directly with them in their dreams.
Appearance: Tall and lean, with long rangy arms and legs that belie his great strength, Solomon Kane appears almost sepulchral. His gaunt, pale face is framed by straight black hair cut short at the shoulders. His piercing sapphire-blue eyes gaze from a stern, unforgiving countenance.
He typically wears a long-brimmed featherless slouch hat, a starched high white collar and white shirt, black vest, black pants, black coat, and black cloak, unrelieved by any ornamentation. He wears a leather belt over a virulent turquoise-green sash of Oriental silk. In his belt he usually has two black-hilted flintlock pistols, rapier, and dirk. His boots are of black Cardovan leather. He sometimes carries a flintlock musket, and in his African adventures is often seen with a weirdly-inscribed staff, carved with a cat's head on top and a sharp point at the bottom.
Campaign Use: Solomon Kane was active during the late 1500's, and would make an interesting character to introduce in games set in that period. His iconoclastic style, unpopular moodiness, and Puritanical religious tendencies would tend to minimize his impact on the campaign, allowing the GM to introduce him for specific scenes and ignore him the rest of the time.
In the later Solomon Kane stories, there seems to have been some "bleed-over" from Howard's other popular character, Conan—Kane becomes more feral in combat and his original calculating fighting style gives way more frequently to barbarianesque rages. Or maybe deepest Africa just got to him.
(Solomon Kane created by Robert Ervin Howard, character sheet created by Roland Volz.)
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