seneschal

Dragon Lines + BGB Super Powers = anime mayhem! Two inspirations for kung-fu superheroes: Raven Kabuto, the Golden-Eyed Beast http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104583/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1 Think "Batman vs. Lex Luthor in medieval Japan," and Ninja Scroll http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107692/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1 in which our heroic martial artist must battle what can only be described as a Justice League level team of super villains. Both films have epic fights, truly creepy villain character designs and powers, lots of stuff to steal for a campaign. Unfortunately, they both also have disturbing rape scenes, nudity, and graphic violence. Definitely hard R-rated stuff. Lock the children in their rooms before you put either of these in your DVD player.

Here's the die roller I use: http://wstryder.org/coccg/ Select "Boring Old Humans." The creature creator lets you roll up to 100 individuals at a time, ranging in competence from "Absolutely pathetic" to "Out of This World." I use "Average" for average Joes, "Fantastic" or ""Awesome" for pulp heroes and low-powered supers, and "Fantastic" or "Mighty" for full supers. "Out of This World" feels a bit too much like cheating, unless I really want a team-whipping villain or mega-monster.

Case in point ... Been reading some Marvel stuff to balance out all the DC comics I've been ingesting. Mighty Thor is waaaaaay over the top. Trying to write him up would be as bad or worse than Superman.

Do you discuss with your players what type of character they each would like to play? Or are you just coming up with random characters for them? What I've noticed about the BGB point-buy method is that, while it ensures a character isn't absolutely terrible in any particular stat, it also prevents a character from having any really fantastic stats. So you won't have any wimps or idiots, but you also won't have any geniuses or physical marvels either. What I usually do is roll up 10 to 15 characters at once using an online die roller, then pick out the set or sets of stats that best meets the concept I'm working on.

But ... it's already March 2014 ... I couldn't pull them up either. As far as Western-themed stuff being niche ... if publishers can put out haunted house maps for Call of Cthulhu and mad scientist laboratory maps for GURPS, why not 19th Century maps for wild West play? I mean, in the stories I've read and movies I've watched, many mining and prairie towns are a single street with the same typical buildings -- general store/post office, telegraph office, sheriff's office/jail, bank, city hall, railway station, blacksmith's shop, a few additional shops and private homes, etc. How hard could it be to come up with a generic Western town? After all, Boot Hill wasn't too far behind D&D and Gamma World, and there have always been some Western RPGs around, even if not as many as the fantasy and science fiction ones. Hmmm, lots of usable images on Google, and possible leads for usable gaming stuff ... http://tinyurl.com/lgbgz64 http://www.hawgleg.com/little_warriors_adventures_01.asp http://www.clandunbar.com/tombstone.jpg http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/earp/earpmappage.html http://arch1932010-group4.blogspot.com/2010/01/deadwood-map.html http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse.php?filters=700_2200_0_0_0 No actual maps but a good discussion of what a Western town needs ... http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=21397

We've had write-ups for several villains and heroes. Here's equal time for the mooks: Dr. Zin’s Replicant Troopers Source: Jonny’s Golden Quest, Hanna-Barbera Productions, 1993 Aging scientist and super criminal Dr. Zin created an army of replicants to act as soldiers at his Peruvian jungle hideout – either because human help was hard to find or because he’d come to mistrust the loyalties of his fellow men. These strange bipedal creatures resembled skeletal lizards, always hunched slightly forward. Despite their animalistic looks, the clones possessed human intelligence and were competent to perform espionage and guard duties. They were typically equipped with bulging green night vision goggles and belt-mounted energy pistols (the holsters were their only clothing). Additional gadgets, such as radios or technical readouts, were sometimes built into the goggles, leaving their hands free for combat. They could speak (sort of) in hissing voices. The replicants were only so-so shots, which is why they usually attacked in groups. The agile reptilians were more effective as burglars, second-storey men and kidnappers; they were excellent climbers and adept at keeping out of sight. Other than their inability to blend into a crowd, their chief limitation was an imperfection in the cloning process which caused them to suddenly dissolve into green goo at unpredictable moments. Outnumbered adventurers might suddenly find the odds evened when several of their scaly opponents ran out of time simultaneously. On the other hand, troopers never seemed to melt while performing thefts or grappling with heroes. They usually dissolved only when the good guys were about to question them. STR (3D6) 10-11 CON (1D6+6) 9-10 SIZ (2D6+4) 11 INT (2D6+6) 13 POW (3D6) 10-11 DEX (2D6+9) 16 Move: 10 Hit Points: 11 Damage Bonus: +0 Armor: 2 scales Attacks: Brawl 35%, 1D3+DB; Grapple 40%, 1D3+DB; Energy Pistol 45%, 2D10+2 Skills: Climb 80%, Dodge 62%, Fine Manipulation 45%, Hide 70%, Jump 55%, Listen 35%, Spot 35%, Stealth 70% Notes: Replicant Troopers are intended as pulp action cannon fodder. Individuals are competent enough to give a solo adventurer a good tussle but not tough enough to overcome two or three heroes.

Thanks!

Here's a start on an Atomic Age Cthulhu soundtrack. Some of them are from the early '60s but they still retain period flavor.

I've only seen one or two episodes of the "Real" series. The characterizations were a little jarring for someone only familiar with the original 1960s series (I missed the '80s reboot). Race Bannon with a mullet and Cajun accent? Only Dr. Quest himself, older and stouter, seemed familiar. I found their adventure in Tibet, where they encountered civilized yetis, an interesting contrast to how the subject was handled in the '60s version. On the other hand, I recently watched "Jonny's Golden Quest," which paved the way for a second Quest movie and eventually the latter series. It introduced and explained Jessie, and confronted the still pre-teen protagonist with an aged, decrepit version of Dr. Zin who required an oxygen bottle to survive -- but who was all the more desperate and evil as a result. Zin's lizard-y cloned henchmen were creepy, not only because they were dangerous monsters, but because their genetic imperfections caused them to dissolve into a puddle of goo at unlikely moments. It's a good gimmick for evil minions in your campaign. The random destruction usually occurs only after player-characters have had to fight them but before the PCs get a chance to try to question them. What, you say? The Dr. Zin in "Real Adventures" was even younger and more virile than the character in the original '60s show? Well, that's a spoiler I won't spoil in case you ever get to see "Golden Quest."

Sigh, first Classic Fantasy, then Chronicles of Future Earth, now Swords of Cydoria.

It depends on whether I've written them up as superheroes (who get 500 starting skill points) or as normals (who get 250), and on how many skills it takes to represent the character. Riff Raff and Dr. Mabuse are essentially normal folks with a couple extra perks vs. The Penguin and Hawkman, who are full-on superbeings. Characters who are good at a variety of things are harder to represent than ones who have a more narrow range of abilities. Often I have to ditch skills I wanted to include to boost the ones that are essential to the concept. Of course, in Riff's case, you could say being the villain means never having to say you're sorry (or having to justify your skill point totals). An average player-character often has most skills in the 30-35% range. I've tried to make these write-ups a bit more competent, but I agree. The skill levels frequently aren't has high as I would like them to be. Another challenge is skills characters hardly ever use but possess when the occasion arises. For instance, Batman usually hurls his Batarang while the Joker fires a gun or employs lethal magic shop gimmicks. However, if they're fighting in an old castle or museum and happen to grab swords, suddenly both can fence like Zorro and Errol Flynn. (A good thing, too, since so many of the old stories feature ethnic henchmen who wield big scimitars.) Or guys that are good at everything like Doctor Who, Dr. Benton Quest or Quartermass; as the occasion demands they're knowledgeable about anything from chemistry to particle physics to aircraft engineering. Instead of listing separate skills, you'd almost need to borrow a page from GURPS: Atomic Horror and give them a SCIENCE! roll, enabling them to figure almost anything out

Riff Raff Source: The Underdog Show, Total Television, 1964 Wealthy, rakish, and wolfish, Riff Raff is a powerful mobster in a large, unnamed American city. Although he commands a gang of eight or more crooks, each adept in a particular larcenous field, he still enjoys shaking down hapless victims himself. Riff Raff talks and dresses like a 1920s gangster; he sports a flat top haircut, wears pinstripe suits (complete with a white gardenia in the buttonhole) and homburg hats, and relaxes with fat, smelly cigars. He resembles a bipedal gray wolf but has never been seen to use his formidable dental equipment on opponents (his big fists are another matter). His weapon of choice is a vintage Thompson submachinegun, although he also carries a large-caliber automatic pistol. His most potent weapons, however, are his myriad underworld contacts. Riff Raff’s gang attempts thefts and robberies no other group would consider because he can always locate and hire the criminal experts necessary to pull them off. Fortunately, the law-abiding citizenry usually have Underdog around to protect them. Although he wields a lot of influence, Riff Raff is more interested in gathering ill-gotten wealth than in seizing power. He’ll let crazy inventors like Simon Bar Sinister try to take over the world. He just wants to cram more cash in his personal vault. Unlike many mob leaders, Riff Raff respects and takes good care of his henchmen. He’s worked hard to assemble his team and doesn’t want to lose them. Mooch, the syndicate’s best gunman, is his chief lieutenant, frequently accompanying Riff Raff when the rest of the gang is busy elsewhere. Riff Raff usually meets with his minions in an old farmhouse outside of town but he also maintains a swank office downtown. The latter features a sexy secretary, a well-stocked wet bar, and a hidden trap door in front of his desk for removing visitors who have overstayed their welcome. The gangster’s super powers represent his cartoon character ability to survive both beatings from Underdog and gun battles with the police and rival mobsters. He’s not immortal or invulnerable but he can survive physical punishment that would kill lesser beings. He doesn’t possess a wolf’s Sense or Track skills because his smoking habit has ruined his canine sense of smell. His Drive skill is low because he usually has Spinny Wheels, the gang’s getaway driver, chauffeur him around. Riff Raff comes from a parallel world where regular humans and anthropomorphic animals live side-by-side (and nobody seems to notice the difference). People there fear him not because they think he’s a Gothic monster but because they know him to be a monstrously wicked bully. The gangster likes to intimidate people, but he’d be genuinely offended if he realized Call of Cthulhu investigators or Amazing Adventures heroes were frightened merely by his wide furry ears and long pointed muzzle instead of by his criminal panache. STR 17 CON 15 SIZ 12 INT 14 POW 10 DEX 16 APP 10 Move: 10 Hit Points: 14 (27 CON+SIZ) Damage Bonus: +1D4 Armor: 6 (kinetic) Attacks: Brawl 57%, 1D3+DB; Grapple 57%, 1D3+DB; Thompson M1921 Submachinegun 47%, 1D10+2; Pistol 52%, 1D10+2 Skills: Bargain 37%, Command 37%, Dodge 64%, Drive 20%, Hide 42%, Listen 63%, Spot 57%, Status 47%, Stealth 42% Powers: Thick Fur – Armor 6 (kinetic) (6) Geez, He’s Tough – Regeneration, 5 levels, can heal up to 5 HP at the end of each combat round, costs 1 power point per hit point healed (15) Extra Energy, +30 power points (3) Failings: Greed (+2), Hunted by Police (+2), Must Oversee Gang (+3) Notes: Riff Raff’s stats (except for INT and APP) are those of a wolf, randomly rolled at the “Fantastic” level on the online Call of Cthulhu creature generator. His INT and APP are those of a human. He had 250 skill points plus 140 personal skill points based on INT, total 390. The anthropomorphic mob boss also had 17 power points based on his highest unmodified characteristic plus 7 more for Failings, total 24.

Mabuse is certainly a scary guy, but heroes are measured by the awesomeness of their foes.

Unfortunately, Rubble and Ruin doesn't get a lot of love in the discussions and reviews I've been able to find: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?522694-Atomic-Highway-Barbarians-of-the-Aftermath-or-BRP-Rubble-amp-Ruin http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews.php?products_id=82090 http://catalog.chaosium.com/product_info.php?products_id=5088 Goblinoid Games' Mutant Future is about as close as you can get to the original Gamma World without finding the original on E-bay. http://www.goblinoidgames.com/mutantfuture.html It's old school renaissance rules, but it does have large listings of mutations and critters and ideas for player-character types. The core rules are a free download and could provide a template for adapting BRP mutations, psychic abilities and super powers to an over-the-top setting. If emulating Thundarr the Barbarian is what you're after, a fan has already done the legwork for you: http://www.savageafterworld.com/2012/03/world-of-thundarr-barbarian-sourcebook.html

Secret Wars had some cool bits and humorous character interactions. Like a soap opera, it kept me hooked issue after issue. In the end, though, it was less than the sum of its parts -- too many characters to give each sufficient attention and too many pointless battles. A smaller cast and more focused storyline would have served it better.

In Thundarr, though, the human villagers are largely unarmed while the wizards' troops are equipped with a mixture of primitive and high-tech gear. That's why they depend so much on the heroic barbarian and his fabulous sun sword.

I was pleasantly surprised that Hawkman fit right into BRP's sweet spot. He's tough and can do some cool things, but a squad of gunmen will present a real danger to him. To make him more like the Silver Age version, I might have reduced his super strength in order to give him some Defense, since he was always "just" dodging hails of bullets. Of course, you could say that his Dodge skill plus his 10 Armor fulfill that role.

We've discussed him in the Superworld thread, but he kinda belongs here: Dr. Mabuse Source: Dr. Mabuse: the Gambler (1922) Quote: “I want to become a giant – a titan, churning up laws and gods like withered leaves!” In 1922, German police were baffled by a string of mysterious crimes. First, the theft and mysterious reappearance of Dutch coffee contracts threw the national stock exchange into chaos, costing investors a fortune. Next, a string of wealthy Berliners were humiliated and impoverished while gambling at public and private clubs – either by losing catastrophically after amazing runs of luck or by being exposed as cheaters despite their previous sterling reputations. Based on similarities among the various cases, Chief Inspector Norbert von Wenck became persuaded that a single mystery man was behind them all. A respected psychiatrist and medical lecturer by day, Dr. Mabuse is a ruthless master criminal by night, manipulating and ruining the lives of others for his amusement and profit. He enjoys the loot, of course, but he thrills at the feeling of power he gets from using people as his puppets. Mabuse commits his outrages with the aid of a quintet of colorful henchmen, each of whom possesses illicit skills useful to his enterprises. His minions are fanatically loyal to him despite the fact that he’d cheerfully sacrifice them to save his own skin. This is partially out of fear; associates who are arrested and/or incarcerated tend to meet grisly ends even while surrounded by guards and cops. Their fellow agents do the bloodletting; Mabuse, the brains, stays safely in the background. His knowledge of human psychology and normal powers of persuasion are augmented by Dr. Mabuse’s formidable hypnotic abilities. He can control the perceptions and actions of others from a distance after making only fleeting personal contact. Eye contact and extended trance sessions aren’t necessary. The doctor is also a master of disguise and an accomplished actor, able to slide in and out of multiple identities. On of those identities is Sador Weltmann, a popular Berlin vaudeville hypnotist. The stage performances don’t earn him as much money as his fraud schemes, but Mabuse can’t pass up the opportunity to mesmerize a mass audience on a regular basis. Dr. Mabuse is a tall, thickset man in his forties. He has a fleshy oval face, an unruly shock of white-blonde hair, and large pale eyes. He’s able to make himself look older or younger or shorter, as his role demands. When not in disguise he tends to wear a dark suit, fur-lined overcoat, and top hat. He puts on an air of professional concern, but his general cynicism tends to come out during any extended conversation. Mabuse is utterly unconcerned with the feelings or well-being of others. He’s short with his goons and takes their obedience and successful performance for granted. He’s cold and calculating most of the time, but throws a tantrum if his expectations aren’t met. Though physically powerful, Dr. Mabuse will attack player-characters only if cornered without means of escape. If they inconvenience him, he’s much more likely to attempt to mentally force adventurers to do themselves harm or to send his goons after them. If his schemes start to unravel, he’ll try to pack up and leave town rather than confront the heroes or the authorities. STR 16 CON 12 SIZ 14 INT 16 POW 21 DEX 11 APP 11 Move: 10 Hit Points: 13 Damage Bonus: +1D4 Armor: None Attacks: Brawl 25%, 1D3+DB; Grapple 25%, 1D3+DB; Knife 25%, 1D4+DB; Pistol 20%, 1D6 Skills: Command 43%, Disguise 48%, Fast Talk 43%, Gaming 52%, Hide 41%, Insight 45%, Perform (Acting) 43%, Persuade 64%, Research 56%, Science (Psychology) 48%, Stealth 41%, Strategy 39% Powers: Super Characteristic – +5 POW (15) Super Skill – +40% each to Mind Control, Persuade, Telepathy (12) Extra Energy – +100 power points (10) Psychic Abilities: Mind Control 61%, Telepathy 61% Failings: Sociopath (+3), Hunted by Berlin police (+2) Notes: Dr. Mabuse had 32 power points based on double his highest unmodified characteristic plus 5 more for Failings, total 37. He had 250 skill points plus160 personal skill points based on INT, total 410. At first, Mabuse doesn't seem that tough for a supervillain. A behind-the-scenes kinda guy, his combat skills are so-so. On the other hand, his likely opponents will be normal folks without much defense against his mental abilities -- Call of Cthulhu style investigators or Amazing Adventures heroes. Since the BGB doesn't detail mental super powers, he might even be able to give some superheroes a hard time.

True. Carter (first published in 1911) was sort of Superman in reverse -- an Earthling who gained formidable powers by traveling to another planet. Fortunately, Kal-El never took up fencing and chose to be mild-mannered most of the time. But DC, who published both characters for a while, did do a crossover issue: Superman -- Warlord of Mars.

Thanks! Figuring out the "outrun a train" thing was the hardest part. So far, we've got Hawkman 1961, Wonder Woman 1974, and Superman 1938 written up for BRP. It's a start at the Justice League, although only the first two could be player-characters. If Superman even in his original incarnation is so expensive, I don't dare try to stat up the Flash. With his sheer velocity and myriad speed tricks, the Scarlet Speedster is easily the most powerful (and most build-point hungry) member of the League.

Unless you're Hawkeye or Green Arrow, patiently explaining to a bulletproof super thug why your razor-tipped hunting shaft will be able to penetrate his hide. It actually happened during the original Marvel Secret Wars saga. (See Atgxtg for the exact velocity calculations. )

Whew! OK, here we go ... Superman 1938 Quote: (While putting his street clothes over his uniform at a crime scene after calling the police) “If those policemen decide to search me it’ll be just too bad!” The Man of Tomorrow! The Action Ace! Not yet the “Man of Steel,” Superman at his debut was able to lift tremendous weights (the comics showed him holding up a heavy Depression-era sedan using both hands); able to vault tall buildings and leap one-eighth of a mile; fast enough to outrun a speeding streamline train (beating bullets would come a little bit later); nothing less than a bursting shell could pierce his skin. Superman didn't yet have super senses, but his leaping ability and powerful grip enabled him to pull a human fly act and eavesdrop outside skyscraper windows. He was also smarter than the average human but preferred intimidation to Sherlock Holmes style deduction to get information. (But super brain plus super speed enabled him to scoop rival reporter Lois Lane in his guise of mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent). So how do his powers break down into real-life and BRP terms? To toss around an all-steel automobile, Superman would need to be able to lift five or six tons. A leap of one-eighth of a mile would be a running jump of 660 feet or 201 meters. With a vertical leap of almost 100 meters, Superman wouldn’t be able to hurdle Manhattan’s four tallest buildings (Empire State Building, 381 meters; Chrysler Building, 319 meters; Bank of Manhattan Trust Building, 283 meters; Woolworth Building, 241 meters) but there are plenty of lesser towers he could hop. Although train speed performance has improved with technology, records for unmodified diesel and electric trains from the 1930s top out at 215 km per hour, or 134 mph. Most rail vehicles, even fast ones, were at least 15 to 25 mph slower. STR 60 CON 30 SIZ 15 INT 21 POW 13 DEX 16 APP 11 Move: 10 Hit Points: 23 (45 CON+SIZ) Damage Bonus: +5D6 Armor: 25 (kinetic), 5 (heat) Attacks: Brawl 75%, 1D3+DB; Grapple 75%, 1D3+DB Skills: Climb 80%, Dodge 82%, Fast Talk 65%, Hide 60%, Insight 65%, Jump 75%, Knowledge (Journalism) 55%, Language (English) 105%, Listen 75%, Persuade 65%, Research 75%, Spot 75%, Stealth 60%, Swim 75%, Throw 75% Powers: Tough Skin – Armor, 25 (kinetic), 5 (heat), (30) Leap, 99 levels, +198 meters horizontal leap (99) Super Characteristic – +42 STR, +15 CON, +4 INT (69) Faster Than A Streamline Train – Super Speed, 21 levels, can run 220 meters per combat round, is minus 210% to be hit by a single attack, 21 power points per round when running at full speed (420) Extra Energy, +140 power points (14) Failings: Protective of Lois Lane (+3), Responsible to the Daily Planet (+3), Has the hots for Lois (+2), “I Started A Pop-Cultural Phenomenon” Bonus (+519) Notes: Superman had 500 skill points plus 210 personal skill points based on INT, total 710. His stats were randomly rolled at the “Out of This World” level using the online Call of Cthulhu creature generator. He had 105 power points based on unmodified characteristics plus 8 more for Failings, total 113. Given his energy limitations, Superman can run at full speed for 7 combat rounds. In action, he’ll catch up to a runaway train in great hops, then use his super speed at the last minute to actually grab it. Superman’s skin is as armored as a modern tank but a direct hit by a 10D6 artillery shell is still going to really mess up his day. Perhaps his defenses should be higher, but he’d need 60 AP (kinetic) to shrug off the effects of a shell. It was his movement abilities that put Superman far over the usual build point budget for a player-character superhero. Flight with enough levels to haul around, say, a standalone safe would actually be less expensive. Even with characteristics of all 18, a PC would have only 126 power points to work with, and he’d be able to gain only 63 more with a ridiculous number of Failings. Superman’s one-eight of a mile jumps alone would use up most of that, and Leap doesn’t require energy to use. In play, especially if using miniatures, a single jump would essentially remove him from the game. Being able to chase down a train was even more expensive to model, and Super Speed at those levels uses tons of energy – which is why Golden Age Superman doesn’t zip around like the Flash all the time.

Yep. Unlike the Swiss army knife of abilities he gradually acquired later on, Superman at his 1938 debut was pretty basic: able to lift tremendous weights (the comics showed him holding up a heavy Depression-era sedan using both hands); able to vault tall buildings and leap one-eighth of a mile; fast enough to outrun a speeding streamline train (beating bullets would come a little bit later); nothing less than a bursting shell could pierce his skin. Superman didn't yet have super senses, but his leaping ability and powerful grip enabled him to pull a human fly act and eavesdrop outside skyscraper windows. He was also smarter than the average Earthling but preferred intimidation to Sherlock Holmes style deduction to get information. (But super brain plus super speed enabled him to scoop rival reporter Lois Lane). So the initial version of Superman is perfectly doable with BRP. Power inflation occurred during his 1939-1940 run, greatly influenced by the 1940 Adventures of Superman radio show. Much of Superman's mythology was created for radio -- the melodramatic deaths of his Kryptonian parents (glossed over in the comics), his friends and associates (editor Perry White, copy boy Jimmy Olsen, police Inspector Henderson), the ability to actually fly and hover rather than merely leap, super hearing (which enabled reporter Clark Kent to eavesdrop on telephone conversations). The famous blurb about bullets, trains, and buildings was the introduction to the radio show. In the early comics stories, the elderly Kents adopted the infant they'd discovered only after first taking him to an orphanage. They died about the time he reached adulthood. As Clark Kent, Superman worked for two or three different newspapers and editors before settling down at the Daily Planet. Somehow, Lois Lane managed to be at each one of them -- as secretary, women's pages columnist, or reporter. The comics and the radio shows made clear why Lane hated Kent so much. It wasn't only that she thought him a coward. She'd fought her was to the top of what was considered a man's profession only to be displaced by an inexperienced greenhorn who hadn't even attended journalism school. On radio she didn't lose her job, but in the comics she was actually demoted because of Kent's success. No wonder she was so ruthless and unscrupulous in trying to submit major stories before Kent could.

Tackling the duck/elephant hybrid might be a tad more difficult ...

Whether it's for RuneQuest, Magic World, Cydoria, Cthulhu or Future Earth, somebody has got to do write-ups for these crazy creatures: http://www.viralnova.com/hilarious-hybrid-animals/ Some of them, like the falcon/tiger hybrid, we've seen before in comics, fantasy novels, or even Traveller. But others are truly new and bizarre. A few of the smaller monsters wouldn't necessarily be dangerous to player-characters, but they'd make for weird, atmospheric encounters. My favorites are the Mantaraffe and Nightmare #1, both truly scary. There seems to be a preponderance of pug hybrids. Do they have some superior reproductive strategy that I'm unaware of?