War Cry Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 I have narrowed my game down to a Norse fantasy hero theme and have reached the point where I need a decent beastiary to keep travel interesting and provide the pc's a chance to obtain honor and glory. My sources seem to be woefully lacking. What I have gleaned from my source material is the following - giants, trolls, dragons, sea serpents, nicor, undead, shapeshifters, dwarves, elves, nis, and mermen and mermaids. The easiest solution is to use a lot of prehistoric critters - sabre-toothed cats, cave bears, and various other mammals that are large and frightening. I've gone through my books and there are a few that appear to fit quite nicely such as the bunyip, leucrotta, catoblepas, various breeds of "fantasy wolves", and "sub-species" of all of the above. I guess what I'm looking for are things a bit more........fantastic. Such as a Viking version of a vampire or a demon such as a succubus. I can't find one, and for me at least, it is a neccessity. Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help As a general mythological research source, I recommend the online Encyclopedia Mythica. The section on Norse mythology is pretty comprehensive for an online repository, and would direct you to other sources to look up more details. For quality ready-to-run HERO writeups, Surbrook's Stuff is the most diverse source on the Net, and includes a sizeable section on creatures drawn from medieval bestiaries, which you'll find here. Just skimming through it I found a few creatures appropriate to the regions that the Norseman would have operated in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help . . . In more contemporary swedish stories, there is a creature called Maran -- "the Mare," maybe? She is an ordinary woman by day, but at night, a curse compells her to haunt men. She rides them chests and sucks their life out of them, making them experience dreadful dreams. A Mara can be cured from her curse, if someone knowing her being one, states so while touching her with iron. A legend tells of a wandering minister who got invited in over the night with a farmer. The house was cramped, so the minister had to sleep in the little living room. The maid of the house sat at her rocking wheel, spinning, while the minister made himself comfortable on a bench. He started to drift into sleep, when he noticed the girl becoming see-through and vanishing. As the wheel stopped turning, he sat up, realising what had just happened (for he was a man of education). He waked the rest of the night with a poker in his hand, and when daybreak neared, he saw the girl appearing again, and the rocking wheel statred spinning. When the maid was firm and solid, he touched her with the iron and called, "Mara!" The girl, shocked, began crying, and hugging the minister, she said, "That was most kind of you, and never again do I heve to go abroad stealing men's breaths. But, minister, could you not have waited until all of me was back?" And so, for the rest of her life, she had to go without her left pinkie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War Cry Posted August 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help Kewl beans. Thanx guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help I guess what I'm looking for are things a bit more........fantastic. Such as a Viking version of a vampire or a demon such as a succubus. I can't find one' date=' and for me at least, it is a neccessity.[/quote'] Giants and trolls. In norse mythology, giants and trolls are not just big guys with clubs (in fact, some giants were human-sized and cute). They are just magical beings. So your "succubus" could easily be a human-sized, amazingly cute giant, who just so happens to have 40 STR, proficiency with great axe, the magical ability to freeze blood and marrow while it's still in situ (an NND RKA) and a bad attitude. Your "troll" could look like a man except for his hooved feet - but still have 60 STR and spell-casting ability. Both of these examples are taken from late norse myths. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War Cry Posted August 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help Giants and trolls. In norse mythology, giants and trolls are not just big guys with clubs (in fact, some giants were human-sized and cute). They are just magical beings. So your "succubus" could easily be a human-sized, amazingly cute giant, who just so happens to have 40 STR, proficiency with great axe, the magical ability to freeze blood and marrow while it's still in situ (an NND RKA) and a bad attitude. Your "troll" could look like a man except for his hooved feet - but still have 60 STR and spell-casting ability. Both of these examples are taken from late norse myths. cheers, Mark This is good to know. It looks like I'm making a classic mistake and assuming a fixed definition for the creatures from myth. I think I got what I needed - my imagination has been sparked. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help You go -- uhhm, person! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help . . . In more contemporary swedish stories' date=' there is a creature called [i']Maran[/i] -- "the Mare," maybe? She is an ordinary woman by day, but at night, a curse compells her to haunt men. She rides them chests and sucks their life out of them, making them experience dreadful dreams. A Mara can be cured from her curse, if someone knowing her being one, states so while touching her with iron. A legend tells of a wandering minister who got invited in over the night with a farmer. The house was cramped, so the minister had to sleep in the little living room. The maid of the house sat at her rocking wheel, spinning, while the minister made himself comfortable on a bench. He started to drift into sleep, when he noticed the girl becoming see-through and vanishing. As the wheel stopped turning, he sat up, realising what had just happened (for he was a man of education). He waked the rest of the night with a poker in his hand, and when daybreak neared, he saw the girl appearing again, and the rocking wheel statred spinning. When the maid was firm and solid, he touched her with the iron and called, "Mara!" The girl, shocked, began crying, and hugging the minister, she said, "That was most kind of you, and never again do I heve to go abroad stealing men's breaths. But, minister, could you not have waited until all of me was back?" And so, for the rest of her life, she had to go without her left pinkie. You know this in English as a "Nightmare." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help Yup. Has the legends survived at all, or just the name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help Yup. Has the legends survived at all' date=' or just the name?[/quote'] These days... just the name. But older English legend and folklore mention being "ridden" by the night mare. Also, studies have been done on the "old hag" effect, which is a world-wide common myth of horrific old hags who paralyze a person, sit on their chest, and suck out their breathe. I did a HERO System character sheet for it as part of my Digital Hero Ghosts article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help This is good to know. It looks like I'm making a classic mistake and assuming a fixed definition for the creatures from myth. I think I got what I needed - my imagination has been sparked. Thanks. Markdocs comments about Trolls and Giants in Norse myth go for their undead and serpentkind (Sea serpents, wyrms, dragons etc) as well. The Fantasy Gamer had a great article about using Norse undead many years ago, but I can't find a copy online anywhere, so you're SOL there... Suffice to say, however, that they have as much or more variation than Trolls & Giants. Grettir's Saga has some good examples, IIRC. Off the top of my head, some of the more unusual abilities exhibited by draugar include immunity to bladed weapons (this one is very common, also found among berserks and trolls), the ability to eat anothers luck, some fairly common gaming undead abilities like consuming souls, paralying foes with terror with their gaze, and (most notably) the kind of contagion usually only found in various Zombie movies. I seem to recall one story where one wight turns an entire village undead in a fairly short period of time. Its one of those cases where not only will being killed turn you, but so will being bitten, breathig the ashes after burning the body, eating an animal that has breatheed the ashes, drinking water that the wight has touched,or letting any of the small critters that try and escape the pyre get away... the undead spirit will try and flee the flames as a horde of small crawly flapping critters of darkness, and each one may hide and grow up to cause additional contagion. Done right, norse monsters are SCARY. Probably comes from living someplace where the winter months are marked by long periods with no real sunlight. Makes you morbid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help Done right' date=' norse monsters are SCARY. Probably comes from living someplace where the winter months are marked by long periods with no real sunlight. Makes you morbid [/quote'] . . . . . . I once posted a Norse-themed undeadie on the Boards . . . I'll see if I can find the thread. EDIT: Found it! Wailing Rotter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help Off the top of my head' date=' some of the more unusual abilities exhibited by draugar....[/quote'] I submitted a draugar to Digital Hero. Uhm... I forget what issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help I submitted a draugar to Digital Hero. Uhm... I forget what issue. Did you also do the DH write up of Grendel (Available in the free samples, IIRC)? I remember being suitably impressed, and wondering if my monster hunter character from our old Epic Norse campaign could pull a Beowulf and take him in a wretling match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help Did you also do the DH write up of Grendel (Available in the free samples' date=' IIRC)? I remember being suitably impressed, and wondering if my monster hunter character from our old Epic Norse campaign could pull a Beowulf and take him in a wretling match.[/quote'] Yes. I sent Dave a lot of monsters and stuff early on. Left overs from some unfinished projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War Cry Posted August 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help [quote Off the top of my head, some of the more unusual abilities exhibited by draugar include immunity to bladed weapons (this one is very common, also found among berserks and trolls), the ability to eat anothers luck, some fairly common gaming undead abilities like consuming souls, paralying foes with terror with their gaze, and (most notably) the kind of contagion usually only found in various Zombie movies. I seem to recall one story where one wight turns an entire village undead in a fairly short period of time. Its one of those cases where not only will being killed turn you, but so will being bitten, breathig the ashes after burning the body, eating an animal that has breatheed the ashes, drinking water that the wight has touched,or letting any of the small critters that try and escape the pyre get away... the undead spirit will try and flee the flames as a horde of small crawly flapping critters of darkness, and each one may hide and grow up to cause additional contagion. Done right, norse monsters are SCARY. Probably comes from living someplace where the winter months are marked by long periods with no real sunlight. Makes you morbid Yeah, that's pretty much what I have gathered from the undead, though the bit about consuming luck is new to me - and the story afterwards. Looks like no major rewriting on stock critters - just adding new and scary abilities. Seems simple enough. The real problem is going to be iron. A LOT of Norse baddies are immune to it and I have already established that iron based weapons and armor are the standard - steel is very rare and can only be acquired from foreigners, either by raid or trade. It might be frustrating to the players at first, but I think I can work in a deadly innate weakness on some of these. Wood and fire appear to be common methods of defeating quite a few monsters. Just need to keep it somewhat varied so tough and scary critters don't become pushovers. Darn it. given out too much rep, blah blah blah. Note to self - L. Marcus, Susano, and Amamamadanama - y'know, Celtic dude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help . . . Iron is a problem. Supernatural beings in later stories (late medieval and onwards) were very sensitive to it. As a gaming trope, it's not very handy, except maybe for flavour. I mean, how many characters don't carry around at least a knife? I advise to ignore this bit. On the other paw, different critters can be sensitive to different herbs and woods -- like rowan, and whatchamacallit, deadly nightshade. Since each critter has its own specific Achilles heel that the characters have to figure out, that can be a major task if up against some really big monster . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help The real problem is going to be iron. A LOT of Norse baddies are immune to it and I have already established that iron based weapons and armor are the standard - steel is very rare and can only be acquired from foreigners' date=' either by raid or trade. It might be frustrating to the players at first,[/quote'] So do what *real* norse heroes would do - hit it with your sword, it warps so you hurl it down and grab the creature and either a) tear its arm off or break it's back in your iron grip... cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help Ogres. The Norse enviroment could be deadly to an unsheltered human, so there was a sacred obligation to offer hospitality to anyone who knocked on your door. Ogres took advantage of this. Sometines ugly, sometimes attractive, they had homes in out of the way places. When a traveler would knock on their door, seeking shelter, they would lure them in, then rob, kill (and in some versions of the story, eat) them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help So do what *real* norse heroes would do - hit it with your sword, it warps so you hurl it down and grab the creature and either a) tear its arm off or break it's back in your iron grip... cheers, Mark Thats why Grimwald, my Epic Norseman, had a HKA "Rend/Break" maneuver among his Wrestling maneuvers. Tho, to be fair... picking up a large treelimb and/or a big rock and proceeding to pummel the "invunerable to iron" badguy to goo seems to be a favored alternate method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War Cry Posted August 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help So do what *real* norse heroes would do - hit it with your sword, it warps so you hurl it down and grab the creature and either a) tear its arm off or break it's back in your iron grip... cheers, Mark You're not speaking from experience.....or are you? Might be a little hard for pc's to do this. Characters are going to be starting in the 125-150 point range. Hmmmmm....I'll have to come up with some Nordic "feats".....backbreaking, arm ripper, head crush, ect. Should be easy enough as variants of deadly blow and HA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help You're not speaking from experience.....or are you? Might be a little hard for pc's to do this. Characters are going to be starting in the 125-150 point range. Hmmmmm....I'll have to come up with some Nordic "feats".....backbreaking, arm ripper, head crush, ect. Should be easy enough as variants of deadly blow and HA. Or wrestling moves in a nordic Wrestling MA. Take at look at my Beowulf for more: http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptionsassorted/beowulf.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help You're not speaking from experience.....or are you?. Nah, just going off Beowulf and Grettir's saga cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help If your characters need some fighting styles, this may be useful for your campaign. More info on this style here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kortay Mirlor Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 Re: Norse Beastiary - a little help Hey, don't forget the Neanderthals! Thank you, Michael Crichton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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