Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 15 STR 5 12- Lift 200 kg; 3d6 HTH Damage [1] 16 DEX 18 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5 15 CON 10 12- 10 BODY 0 11- 8 INT -2 11- PER Roll 12- 8 EGO -4 11- ECV: 3 15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6 8 COM -1 11- 5 PD 2 Total: 5 PD (1 rPD) 5 ED 2 Total: 5 ED (1 rED) 3 SPD 4 Phases: 4, 8, 12 6 REC 0 30 END 0 26 STUN 0 Total Characteristics Cost: 39 Movement: Running: 8"/16" Leaping: 3"/6" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills 17 Horns: HKA 2d6; No STR Bonus (-1/2), Reduced Penetration (-1/4), END 3 4 Bite: HKA 1 point (1/2d6 w/STR); Reduced Penetration (-1/4), END 1 1 Leathery Hide: Damage Resistance (1 PD/1 ED); Does Not Protect Hit Locations 5 and 12 (-1/4) 4 Goat-Like Legs: Running +2" (8" total), END 1 1 Splay Footed: Usable As Swimming (+1/4) for up to 16 Active Points of Running; Surface Only (-1), Only On Marshy Ground (-1), END 1 3 Sharp Senses: +1 PER with all Sense Groups 1 Eats Anything: LS (Eating: can digest virtually any kind of protein) Skills 9 +3 Move-By, Move-Through, Strike 0 AK: Marshes of Nevia Valley 8- 40 Total Powers & Skills Cost 79 Total Character Cost 75+ Disadvantages 10 Physical Limitation: Near Human Intelligence (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) 10 Physical Limitation: Limited Manipulation (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) 15 Psychological Limitation: Always Hungry; will eat anything, including each other (Common, Strong) 5 Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x BODY Attacks to Location 5 (Uncommon) 115 Total Disadvantage Points
Ecology: Horned Ghosts are swamp and marsh-dwelling humanoids. They live in large herds, numbering in the dozens, and are true omnivores, capable of eating virtually anything (up to and including each other). In order to digest what they eat, Horned Ghosts will swallow nuggets of gold, and an old Ghost has been known to have between 20 to 30 pounds of gold in their gizzards..
Personality/Motivation: Normal animal motivations. If a Horned Ghost has one weakness, it is far too much appetite and too little brain to direct it. Even in the midst of battle, Ghosts have been known to fall upon slain herd members and begin eat them. Wise adventurers can use this to their advantage, by dropping attacking Ghosts with arrows and making good their escape in the feeding frenzy that follows.
Powers/Tactics: Horned Ghosts have fairly simply hunting tactics. They will change anything that looks like prey, performing a Move Through with their horns. They will then pull the (presumed) corpse off of their horns and begin eating. In close combat they will usually thrust and slash with their horns, although some will try and grapple in order to deliver a painful bite. Due to their overpowering hunger, it is rare for Horned Ghosts to flee from a fight.
Appearance: A Horned Ghost has a humanoid form, with the upper body of a minotaur, and the lower body of a satyr. They get their name from their horns, which are similar in size and shape to a Texas Longhorn's but stand up and forward from the top of the had (looking down onto a mob of Horned Ghosts has been described as resembling an asparagus patch of bayonets). Their teeth are sharply pointed (the better to tear with), while their short arms end in four-finger hands (they have no thumbs). A Horned Ghost's legs are splayfooted, and enable them to travel fairly well across mash and swamp. Physically, their only real weakness is a soft spot between the horns. A blow here will almost always kill the Horned Ghost instantly.
Designers Notes: Horned Ghosts are found in the novel Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein. One could easily make then into a sentient race—give them thumbs and tools and you have carnivorous cannibalistic satyrs!—and they make a good swamp-dwelling race to go along with the traditional lizard and frog men. In the same novel Heinlein also mentions the Cold Water Gang. These creatures never actually make an appearance and are said to resemble a man who's been drowned for a week.
(Horned Ghosts created by Robert A. Heinlein, character sheet created by Michael Surbrook)
Horned Ghost's Hero Designer File
Return to Creatures From Literature