Creature: The Big, Bad Wolf

[seneschal]

The BBW

The Wolf. Yeah, it’s him. The original Big Bad: Sultan of Stealth, Master of Disguise, He of the Herculean Lungs, the terror of little pigs and little girls. What? There are a lot of wolves in the big woods, you say? Maybe that explains how the BBW seems to be everywhere at once. But which of those mangy curs can speak flawless Human, charm potential victims with urbane manners (at least until he loses his temper), and swap into appropriate raiment faster than Clark Kent on a hectic day? What mere flea-bitten canine can, with a little effort (OK, OK, with a lot of effort), emit gale force winds from his muzzle capable of demolishing small buildings, or at least poorly constructed ones? Also, the BBW appears to have more lives than the proverbial cat. Plummeted into a cauldron of boiling soup? Sliced in half by a woodsman’s axe? Drowned in raging rapids by a clever hen? No problem; he always bounces back for more. Hide the goodies, Grandma. The BBW is back in action!

Background

Remus was an unlikely candidate to become one of the best known villains of all time. He was always smaller and weaker than his littermates, the runt. Ordinarily, he would have been killed or cast out of the pack. But Remus was also much smarter than the other wolves and quickly learned to become a master manipulator to survive. The pack may have despised him, but he always found a way to make himself indispensable.

While hunting, Remus stumbled upon a troupe of wandering players who were busy roasting meat for their evening meal. He hid at the edge of the firelight, hoping to snatch scraps, a plateful of food, or even one of the smaller actors for his own repast. Instead, he discovered he could snatch scraps of something else, their words. Intrigued, he shadowed the group for weeks, learning to understand human language, watching and listening as they practiced their lines, constructed and tried on costumes, and perfected feats of juggling and sleight of hand. Alone, away from both the pack and the humans, Remus began practicing himself, trying to repeat the words, mannerisms, and tricks he’d studied. It was heartbreakingly difficult, and Remus had to adopt new ways of breathing to enable his canine mouth, esophagus and lungs to create human words. He also struggled to balance himself on his hind legs as the awkward humans did so he could mimic their movements. As months passed, however, he discovered that not only had the strenuous regimen enabled him to speak, but it had developed his personal stamina to unaccustomed levels. He could run further, stalk prey for longer periods of time without growing exhausted.

The epiphany came one day while Remus was trying to rid himself of horseflies that were persistently stinging his nose. He blew at them, as he’d seen one of the humans blow at a candle. He not only succeeded in removing the flies; he also sent a pair of his brothers tumbling. Remus didn’t stick around for the pack’s retribution. He struck out on his own, counting on his new abilities to enable him to become a more effective predator than the pack’s strongest hunter.

Powers and Abilities

Despite his ability to walk upright on his hind legs and speak human languages, Remus is by no means a super-strong, invulnerable werewolf. Rather he is a canine mutant with human-level intelligence and charm, a being of diabolical patience and cunning. Rarely able to overpower opponents with brute strength, he’s learned that trickery and sheer chutzpah are often more effective in acquiring his prey. He possesses the normal wolf teeth, protective fur, and hunting skills. He’s persuasive but not nearly as good as he thinks he is. Also, given a lungful of air, Remus is capable of blasting opponents (or their dwellings) with damaging gale-force winds. He can huff and puff three times before becoming completely tuckered out for the day.

Disadvantages

Remus, The Big Bad Wolf, is smarter than other wolves but often not as clever as his intended prey. Not that he’d ever admit this to himself. His overpowering self confidence tends to make him his own worst enemy. It’s not as if he needs more. As a wolf, he’d shunned and feared by most humans and demihumans even if he didn’t have the uncanny ability to speak and dress up in costume. The fact that he inevitably chooses other sentient beings for his next meal doesn’t endear him to the populace either.

Appearance

Remus is somewhat small for a wolf, which aids him in seeming less threatening to potential targets. He has dark gray fur, which he keeps carefully brushed and oiled while among humankind. He doesn’t normally wear clothing in the wild (its uncomfortable and restricting) but has collected a whole cave full of costumes and props for his excursions into town.

STR 10

CON 15

SIZ 7

INT 11

POW 6

DEX 13

APP 13

Move: 10

Hit Points: 22 (CON+SIZ method; he’s an epic NPC villain, after all)

Damage Bonus: None

Armor: 2 AP fur

Attacks: Bite 30% (1d8+1/2db); Projection 26% (2d6, wind energy projection)

Skills: Disguise 31%, Dodge 35%, Fast Talk 35%, Insight 31%, Language (Wolf) 55%, Language (Human) 55%, Listen 55%, Persuade 35%, Sense 55%, Spot 55%, Track 55%

Powers: 2d6 wind energy projection, super characteristic (+1 STR)

Failings: socially excluded group (wolf); noxious personal habit (eats people)

Notes

The Big Bad Wolf is a super villain based on the standard wolf write-up (Basic Roleplaying, Page 340). His primary characteristics are unmodified except for STR, which was bought up by 1 point to avoid penalties. As a heroic level super, he got 15 build points based on his above-average CON which were enhanced by two +3 flaws. His miserably low POW rating limits his bad breath to the number of uses we see in fairy tales. His high natural “wolf profession” skills had to be lowered to enable him to acquire human skills; he gained intelligence at the expense of instinct and natural ability. If he seems kind of wimpy, remember that his opponents are typically normal-level characters without powers.

Why bother to stat up the Big Bad Wolf? Well, if Basic Roleplaying is flexible enough to handle that, it is capable of creating aliens for your conspiracy, space opera or planetary romance game or beast men for your fantasy campaign. Besides, after 30 years of BRP, I hadn’t seen anyone else do it.

[rpgstarwizard]

Ok, Ill Bite, LOL, Like the write up, did a great Job

[seneschal]

Thanks!

In light of all the "BRP is easier than other RPGs" discussions I've read here and on RPG.net, I have to say that building the BBW took me at least as long with BRP as it would have with HERO System. But I demonstrated to myself what is possible with BRP.

[Byron Alexander]

I like it. :thumb:

[Charles Green]

I like it too, though he's hardly the "Big" Bad wolf with only a SIZ of 7.

[seneschal]

Yeah, SIZ 2d6+1 (I notice Mongoose Runequest wolves get 2d6+3). About 5 feet tall, 140 pounds. Even Barbie could slap him down, much less Kim Possible. It's the old "roll random and make it work" phenomenon.

Of course, people in the Middle Ages were smaller than they are now.

Edited October 18, 2009 by seneschal

[rpgstarwizard]

BRP and Hero , the two venerable systems. In HERO I havent taken the plunge and gotten 5 yet, still using 4thed. And having no problems.

I still fall back to BRP, though.

[Mechashef]

I like it too, though he's hardly the "Big" Bad wolf with only a SIZ of 7.

However, compared to little pigs, goat kids, hens, little girls (trying to worm their way into their grandmothers will), and wizened old ladies (who don't have the decency to drop dead or live in a convenient location) he is probably big!

[Thrallking]

BRP and Hero , the two venerable systems. In HERO I havent taken the plunge and gotten 5 yet, still using 4thed. And having no problems.

I still fall back to BRP, though.

Ummm, actually, Hero is now on 6th edition. That's right 5th is come and gone, the rules are better, sleeker, and easier to understand than ever before (at least thats the idea). I still find the creation process to be a bit much, and the clarifications lead to new questions, so overall, ... I am sticking with BRP!

[seneschal]

I'm an old hand at HERO (3rd-5th editions) but a relative BRP newbie, which is probably why I took a while to create Wolfie. That said, HERO would have given me 350 total points to build him with (plus disadvantages), while BRP gave me 325 skill points and 15 (plus failings) power points to create his huffing ability with. So even though I rolled up his characteristics in minutes I still had to spend a couple hours calculating how to set up his powers and figuring out how to maximize his skills so he'd be able to do what he's supposed to do. Skills in HERO are relatively cheap compared to BRP. So it would have been easier to make him a really smooth talker (14- on 3d6) and to throw in some acting ability to boot. In BRP, with his non-Wolf Profession skill levels ranging from 26-35%, he's something of a putz. But I suppose that's OK. In the fairy tales he's something of a putz as well.

His powers, though, are pretty equivalent to what I'd have given him in HERO. His 2d6 wind energy projection attack is equivalent to a HERO System 2d6 ranged killing attack; in HERO terms, all BRP attacks are killing attacks. HERO has killing attacks and normal attacks (which do less hit point damage but can stun a character), so I would probably have modified Wolfie's bad breath to be a 6d6 energy blast (worth the same amount of points). Since HERO powers run on Endurance (END), which is 2xCON, Wolfie would be able to huff and puff a lot more in a HERO game than he'll be able to in BRP, where his bad breath is fueled by his pitiful 6 POW.

Edited October 19, 2009 by seneschal