seneschal

And her highest destiny is to hook up with a Conan wannabe on an alien world? I suppose it worked out for John Carter, but come on, Niven, it's been done already.

Angel wrasslin'. Sort of like gator wrasslin' but with greater collateral damage. 😁 There does seem to be a difference in how angels are depicted in the Old and New Testaments. In the latter, angels are all glowing and dressed in white robes and the humans immediately know something unusual is up. In the Old Testament angels show up incognito looking like anybody else, and the human host only figures out that the guy in the dusty hoodie isn't a traveling salesman about halfway through the conversation. "Oh, boy! I'm in trouble now!"

But that's the point I was making earlier; the relationship is supposedly what drives the plot of the book (and indeed the course of human history) but at the end Brown casually tosses Wu aside as if she'd only met him the night before and hadn't gone home with him. I'm like, "Wait just a darn minute, y'all."

Jacob survived, with his hip permanently out of whack. Hate to have his chiropractor bills. 😉

"The [Mosuo] women are not deferential," says Choo. "Women speak very confidently. And if they have a strong opinion, they won't hesitate to voice it loudly and firmly." Hmmm, my wife is neither Chinese nor from a matriarchal culture but she has no problem expressing her opinions -- strong or not -- loudly and firmly. 😳 And you're taking your life in your hands if you dare call her a Jezebel. Speak softly -- and put down that stick, you fool! Don't want to provoke her. I wonder if the female rabbi is overstating her case. After all, there are other queens (and female judges) in the Bible. And in the gospels Mary and her cousin Elizabeth talk their heads off but we barely hear a peep out of Joseph or Zechariah (of course, the latter was struck mute by an angel). The instances I can think of when a biblical woman addressed someone as "my lord" or referred to herself as "your maidservant" are when she was confronted by an angel or other divine presence (Mary talking to Gabriel) or dealing with a social superior (Ruth talking to her boss Boaz). In similar circumstances the guys are deferential, too (don't want to piss off a divine messenger capable of casually destroying cities).

Many strong-but-can't-lift-cars characters are better known for their secondary powers or special skills. What can your hero do that stronger characters can't?

"Murder in the Footlights" is free and simple. I'd downplay henchman Otto if possible. He might be too much for a lone adventurer to tackle. https://www.chaosium.com/content/FreePDFs/CoC/Adventures/Murder in the Footlights - A Free Adventure by Chaosium.pdf

Now, if you want a character who can lift and maybe toss cars around, STR 60 is certainly the way to go.

Captain America certainly has peak human strength but lifting a Jeep should be beyond him. For comparison, my villain Aurochs has a STR of "only" 40, enough to barely lift a small missile or trainer plane but not enough to hoist a VW Beetle overhead. I would use the BGB object SIZ chart to determine how strong your prospective hero will be. http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/c/captainamerica.htm Captain America max lift 800 pounds.

"But it's got great, pointy teeth!" Is it just me or does that initial article on medieval cats have a whiff of anti-Christian, or at least anti-Catholic, bias about it? The other references listed seem to depict a much more positive view of our furry feline friends. "Turn again, Dick Whittington, lord mayor of London!"

Reaper Bones line also has a nice pack mule model, a companion for their suitably laden pack rat figure! I couldn't resist.

I think the whole "burn the daub and wattle buildings every 80 years" thing is interesting. Intentional clearing the city of accumulated vermin or the result of war/civil conflict? Or maybe someone just got careless with a lamp.

Not as bad as Gor and much more respectful toward women, but still a big distraction, especially when the reader is 17. Plus, in retrospect the "romance" was a major plot point but was totally undone by the book's conclusion. Either bad writing by the author or bad editing by the publisher. I think it was added in by the latter in an addle-headed attempt to increase the book's "appeal." You know it is gratuitous when even the characters joke about it. 🙄 Reduced my interest in reading the rest of the series.

To treat Manu's query more seriously, that reminds me of the scene from "Pirates of the Caribbean" where the zombie buccaneers walked across the sea bottom to attack a target because they didn't have to breathe and couldn't float. Now that was creepy! Something like that in a game would freak me out.

The NBA wasn't founded until 1946 but we've seen Indiana Jones' adventures stray into the '40s and '50s. Who we gotta sacrifice to sign Imhotep, Jr., there? 😉

Hmmm, that would be "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini," 1966. Unfortunately, the spectral anatomy covered by said bikini was also invisible. 😩

Eek! I thought broo were only deer and antelope type things. If you're throwing pachyderm things at us that's a whole new level of threat.

Don't forget its modern incarnation Cryptworld. http://www.lulu.com/shop/daniel-proctor-and-tim-snider/cryptworld-perfect-bound/paperback/product-21194205.html

Gumshoe? So compatible with Trail of Cthulhu?

The Mythras folks are coming out with a game based on the ghost stories of M.R. James. Does that count? I have "Bumps In the Night." While it is definitely non-Mythos it isn't exactly Dracula or Turn of the Screw either, though you could mix its scenarios in with more traditional horror fare.

So, your intrepid player-characters are surprised by a group of mutants (average STR 10). Their brawny leader sizes up the adventurers' NPC guide, flexes a bicep (STR 16-17) and casually one-punches him with a smirk. The leader's scrawny sidekick (STR 3-4) swaggers up to your toughest PC and promptly breaks his knuckles on the hero's iron jaw. Hijinks ensue.

If they are all the same type of critter, you could just give them all the same average stats. So a STR 3d6 monster would tend to have 10-11 strength. Why make more work for yourself by rolling them up individually? 😉 The exception would be if you wanted your opponents to have an especially capable leader or a particularly wimpy comic relief member of the team.

I'm not as deep into the lore as you guys, but it seems to me that Arthur & Company are the superheroes of their era. Superman doesn't apologize for using his strength against evil, nor does Green Lantern feel that he is somehow cheating when he uses his power ring. Why should Gawain feel guilty about whacking the bad guys with his solar strength?

Something like this? Definitely not the traditional Greek model.

Based on those assorted barbarians books I read in the mid to late '80s, Celtic Christianity was more laid back about evangelization than the Roman Catholic variety that ultimately replaced it. In fact, I got the general impression that the Roman missionaries were sort of disgusted by their co-religionists' lackluster performance and that it was that as much as any doctrinal disagreements that caused them to root out and replace their predecessors.