IHMN: Some thoughts for the Beginner in Designing an Adventuring Company, Part 8c (My Characters for you to use!)

Mandrake is a magician whose work is based on an unusually fast hypnotic technique. When Mandrake "gestures hypnotically", his subjects see illusions, and Mandrake has used this technique against a variety of villains including gangsters, mad scientists, extraterrestrials, and characters from other dimensions. While dealing with an extraterrestrial threat from another dimension (sound familiar?) Mandrake and his companions Lothar, the Prince of the Seven Nations and Princess Narda of the European nation Cockaigne also find themselves trapped in 1895!

Name: Mandrake the Magician

Pluck: 2+

Leadership: +2

Speed: 2

Fighting Value: +1

Shooting Value: +3

Talents: Fearless, Martial Arts, Mystical Powers: Up to 30 points of Mystical Powers (not included in the character's cost).

Basic Equipment: The Cloak of Levitation (same power as Levitate), The Top Hat that Mystifies (same power as Clouding Men's Minds), the Wand of Making a Dapper Dresser look Cool (same talent as Spitfire), pistol

Armor: 10

Cost: 72

 "Who knows what evil lurks in the minds of men? The Shadow knows!"

 The Shadow is a mysterious American of contradictory origins. No one is quite sure who he is though he is branded a vicious vigilante by some and a hero by others.  His past and identity are ambiguous. Mr. Sherlock Holmes does not approve of his methods but when asked if they had met he did not answer.

Name: The Shadow Pluck: 2+

Leadership: +2

Speed: 2

Fighting Value: +2

Shooting Value: +6

Talents: Terrifying, Fearless, Lightning Draw, Gunslinger, Iron Will (Optional: Master of Disguise; if used add 10 points)
Mystical Powers: Clouding Men's Minds, The Path of Shadows, Zone of Shadows

Basic Equipment: Two pistols

Armor: 9

Cost: 93

 “ This is only pleasure for poor bhisti”

Name: Gunga Din, Regimental bhisti

Pluck: 5+

Leadership: 0

Speed: 0

Fighting Value: +1 (Did you see him bayonet that Thuggee?)

Shooting Value: +0

Talents: Inspirational, Medic

Basic Equipment: Water bag (Medic), bugle (Inspirational - an exception since he is not a leader), knife, and any weapon he can pick up on the battle field.

Armor: 7

Cost: 21

  The Sergeants Three: SGT Archibald Cutter (Cary Grant), SGT 'Mac' MacChesney (Victor McLaglen), and SGT Thomas 'Tommy' Ballantine (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) sculpted during the part of the movie when SGT MacChesney orders and leads the charge of his command across the rooftops of the fictional town of Tantrapur.

 Cary Grant as SGT Archibald Cutter, always on the look out for treasure.

Name: SGT Archibald Cutter, Royal Engineers

Pluck: 3+

Leadership: +1*

Speed: +1

Fighting Value: +3

Shooting Value: +3

Talents: Bayonet Drill, Engineer, Erudite Wit, Fearless, Grenadier, Tough

Basic Equipment: Brigadine, Pistol, and sword. May also purchase a Military Rifle (+9 points). May also purchase a Congreve Rocket Gun (+7 Points) and must purchase the rocket grenades separately. May also carry any kind of grenade but must pay the appropriate points.

Armor: 9

Cost: 58

*Special Leadership Rule: All of the Sergeants Three have a Leadership of +1. They can combine their leadership for Initiative and any pluck rolls that can benefit from Leadership if the figures are in range. This rule is negated if their are any British officers present; then it is just a +1.

"Now you're all under arrest. Her Majesty's very touchy about having her subjects strangled."

 

 Victor McLaglen as SGT 'Mac' MacChesney: A tough, get the job done with little respect for the local inhabitants.

Name: SGT "Mac" MacChesney, Royal Engineers

Pluck: 3+

Leadership: +1*

Speed: +0

Fighting Value: +4

Shooting Value: +3

Talents: Bayonet Drill, Beserker, Engineer, Fearless, Tough

Basic Equipment: Brigadine, Pistol, and sword. May also purchase a Military Rifle (+9 points). May also purchase a Congreve Rocket Gun (+7 Points) and must purchase the rocket grenades separately. May also carry any kind of grenade but must pay the appropriate points.

Armor: 9

Cost: 63

One of the most poignant moments of the movie is when Colonel Weed, the senior officer, reads lines from the "newly" written poem by the war correspondent Rudyard Kipling as they are burying Gunga Din: "Though I've belted you and flayed you / By the living God that made you / You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din." A tear runs down MacChesney's eye as Din is made a Corporal of the regiment and will be forever listed among the honored dead.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, as SGT Thomas "Tommy" Ballantine: "You displease me greatly, and I ignore the both of you."

Name: SGT Thomas "Tommy" Ballantine, Royal Engineers

Pluck: 3+

Leadership: +1*

Speed: +1

Fighting Value: +3

Shooting Value: +3

Talents: Bayonet Drill, Duelist (Sword), Engineer, Fearless, Lightening Draw (Sword), Tough

Basic Equipment: Brigadine, Pistol, and sword. May also purchase a Military Rifle (+9 points). May also purchase a Congreve Rocket Gun (+7 Points) and must purchase the rocket grenades separately. May also carry any kind of grenade but must pay the appropriate points.

Armor: 9

Cost: 65

"The trouble is you don't want a man for a husband! You want a coward who will run out on his friends! Well, thats not me, never was, and never will be. I don't care how much I love you! And I do very much. I'm a soldi... I mean I'm a man first!"

 

Subedar Bikram Singh, IOM, is a rising star in the Indian Army. As a young student, he considered becoming a doctor. He was an exceptional student of Zoology and Biology. But the wars of the late 19th Century motivated him to join the army. When asked whether he ever regrets the choice made, Bikram said, "If I were ever to be born again, I would only join the Indian Army." Colonel Armstrong remembers him for being a 'soldier's soldier' for spending time and working hard with his troops on the ground. Bikram Singh also carries the Khanda Sword of Justice given to him by his father, Subedar-major Ranjit Singh.

Name: Subedar Bikram Singh, IOM

Pluck: 3+

Leadership: +2

Speed: 0

Fighting Value: +4

Shooting Value: +2

Talents: Duelist (sword), Fearless, Inspirational, Iron Will, Tough, Skirmisher, Stealthy

Basic Equipment: Jack, pistol, The Khanda Sword of Justice (+3 Weapon bonus; -2 Pluck penalty)

Armor: 8

Cost: 67

 "Snowy! How did we get here?"

  "Tintin! Are we dead? Say yes or no but answer me!"

 Yep, it's Tintin and he is also trapped in 1895. Born on January 10, 1929, the world famous Tintin and his faithful companion Snowy (a War Poodle) are trapped in the year 1895. Though only 18 years old, he is the most overpaid reporter from Belgium as it appears he has never posted an article. Fortunately he is a top notch detective and adventurer who despises the thought of evil going unpunished . . . and let's face it, the kid is just darn lucky. 

Name: Tintin

Pluck: (you guessed it) 2+ 
Fighting Value: +2
Shooting Value: +4
Speed: +1
Points: 60
Talents: Leader +1 (only for bumbling detectives, absent minded scientists and/or professors and alcoholics. To use this skill with anyone else requires a pluck roll), Engineer, Mechanic, Fearless, Lightening Draw (pistol), Swimming, and Intuitive. Also likes punching communists.
Basic Equipment: Pistol and Brigadine

Among his friends, Snowy comes first. Admittedly he is a dog (but a War Poodle), but he is above all, the faithful friend of Tintin with a generous spirit.

Name: Snowy Pluck: 4+ 
Fighting Value: +2
Shooting Value: N/A
Speed: +2
Points: 31
Talents: Erudite Wit, Fearless (except against spiders and arachnoid type creatures which causes terror) Intuitive, War Poodle (+1 Weapon bonus). Also likes biting communists.
Basic Equipment: Teeth, claws, fur (Armor 9)

"The combat was soon over, and, with his foot upon the neck of the dead monster, Tars Tarkas became jeddak among the Tharks. His first act was to make me a full-fledged chieftain with the rank I had won by my combats the first few weeks of my captivity among them." From the journals of Captain John Carter.

Tars Tarkas is a great warrior and leader among his people (the brutal and mirthless Tharks), He possesses a sense of compassion and empathy uncharacteristic of his race. With the help of the newly arrived Earth man John Carter, he becomes Jeddak, or king, of the Tharks. 

Name: Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark

Pluck: 3+

Leadership: +2

Speed: 1

Fighting Value: +4

Shooting Value: +3

Talents: Beserker, Duelist (Sword), Fearless, Fortitude, Inspirational, Intuitive, Sword Master, Tough

Basic Equipment: Long Sword (Large sword and requires only one hand), short sword (sword), dagger (fighting knife) and radium pistol. May purchase a radium rifle for 24 points and has the option of adding the Hunter Talent for 5 points.

Armor: 8

Cost: 92
Tars Tarkas can lead the Tharks and any Green Martian war band except for the Warhoons. Tars Tarkas can lead a mix force of Green Martians and other Martians if John Carter joins the group or is part of the plan that brings them together. 

 John Carter of Virginia, former Captain of Cavalry, Confederate States of America.

John Carter of Virginia, ex-Confederate Captain of Cavalry, gold prospector, Prince of Helium, Jeddak of Jeddaks and Warlord of Mars. Arguably, John Carter is the greatest swordsman of his time, regardless of the extra strength and dexterity his Earth muscles give him on Barsoom (Mars). Let's face it, John Carter is a freaking force of nature and beware the bad guy that gets between him and his princess. 

Name: John Carter of Virginia, Prince of Helium, Jeddak of Jeddaks and Warlord of Mars

Move: 9"/6" Pluck: 2+

Leadership: +3

Speed: 2

Fighting Value: +5

Shooting Value: +3

Talents: Duelist (Sword), Fearless, Immortal (Campaigns Only), Fortitude, Jumping, Inspirational, Intuitive, Intervention, Iron Will (no Martian can penetrate his mind), Leadership +3, Lightening Draw (FV), Martial Artist (+1 to Speed in Fights), Sword Master, Tough

Basic Equipment: Long Sword (Large sword and requires only one hand), short sword (sword), dagger (fighting knife) and radium pistol. May purchase a radium rifle for 24 points and has the option of adding the Hunter Talent for 5 points.

Armor: 8

Cost: 142
I have not included the cost of Immortal (10 points) in the above. If you are playing a campaign game you better add it . . . if you have thoats or other riding beasts, you can pay the appropriate points for the Talents Cavalryman and Trick Riding is so desired. 

New Talent: Jumping (same as Levitate but not a Mystical Power)

Special Rule: Dejah Thoris. If Dejah Thoris is in base to base contact of an enemy figure, or if an enemy figure moves within one inch of Dejah Thoris, John Carter MUST move toward the enemy and attempt to kill him or her (count as knocked out because John Carter would never kill a women) or it or whatever threatens his princess. If Dejah Thoris is killed (THE HORROR!) John Carter automatically gets the Beserker and Numb Talents (the pain and anguish of losing his princess) for free but loses Fortitude and his Leadership drops to +2. No matter what the scenario, John Carter now ignores it and any objectives and is now locked into the "Last Man Standing" scenario and will now attempt to kill every enemy figure in the game. You don't mess with Dejah Thoris. 

"She was indeed the proud daughter of a thousand jeddaks, every inch of her dear, precious little body; so small, so frail beside the towering warriors around her, but in her majesty dwarfing them into insignificance; she was the mightiest figure among them and I verily believe that they felt it".

Name: Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium

Pluck: 3+

Leadership: +1

Speed: 1

Fighting Value: +1

Shooting Value: +2

Talents: Erudite Wit (Have you heard her speeches as recorded by her husband!), Inspirational, Medic, Unearthly Beauty (Come on! She's Dejah Thoris!)

Basic Equipment: Sword, dagger (fighting knife) and The Royal Halberd of Helium (Halberd). May also purchase a radium pistol for 8 points.

Armor: 8

Cost:52 points

Hopefully this gave you an idea of what you can do with IHMN in creating those heroes you always wanted, or wanted to be, for the game. 

Next up: The Villainous Leaders I have not mentioned yet. Also in future posts: The locales of my games, what IHMN Adventuring Companies I have used and the IHMN Adventuring Companies I have created.