TEXT: GURPS Shapeshifters Playtest Files
  Discussion is going on in the playtest discussion board.
  Chapter 1 - The History and Mythology of the Shapeshifter Text HTML
  Chapter 2 - Shapeshifting
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  Chapter 3 - Campaigns
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  Chapter 4 - . . . Of All Shapes and Sizes. . .
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  Glossary
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  Entire Archive as ZIP files:
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  @A-HEAD:The History and Mythology of the Shapeshifter 
  @TEXT:<I>Nothing in the entire universe ever perishes, believe me, but things vary, and
  adopt a new form. The phrase "being born" is used for beginning to be something different
  from what one was before, while "dying" means ceasing to be the same. Though this thing
  may pass into that, and that into this, yet the sums of things remains unchanged.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> Ovid, <B>Metamorphoses<B><I> 
  @TEXT:It is impossible to point at any one civilization or myth and say, "<I>There!<I>
  That's where we get were-creatures from!" The myth of the shapechanger or the
  shapestealer is one of the oldest in human history. There is virtually <I>no<I> culture
  on the face of the Earth that does not have a shapeshifter myth; mankind has ever been
  fascinated and/or repulsed by the difference between humans and beasts <\#208> and the
  idea that this difference can be transcended. 
  @B-HEAD:Prehistoric Shapeshifters 
  @TEXT:The origin of the shapeshifter in myth and legend traces back to the very beginning
  of humanity itself. Deep below the Pyrenees, there is a cave in which can be found a
  Paleolithic wall painting known as the "Sorcerer of Trois Fr<\#143>res." It depicts a
  figure of mixed animal and human traits. While he stands upright, his posture threatens
  to turn into the four-footed gait of the bear, whose paws he possesses. Proudly antlered,
  with a wolf's tail and other animal features, he stands firmly on the threshold between
  human and not-human, a figure of shamanic power acquired by <I>becoming<I> the animals
  who are the source of that power. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Wolf vs. Werewolf 
  @TEXT-BOX:Before the 20th century and cinema, European folkoric descriptions made it
  clear that there were visible differences between a werewolf and a "real" wolf. One of
  the oldest, most common <\#208> and most noticeable <\#208> of these was the surprising
  claim that the werewolf has no tail, although other more obscure or arcane "marks" have
  been cited. 
  @TEXT-BOX:There is of course a straightforward reason for this which is unassociated with
  any supernatural cause. Real wolves tend to be too alluring and attractive, and not
  horrific enough, to be the traditional "monster" required by both folklore and medieval
  religious dogma. It became necessary to distinguish between the natural (if despised)
  predator and the hellborn creature who shared its general appearance. 
  @TEXT-BOX:This wasn't a static, one-time change, though; as the werewolf became both
  increasingly demonized by the Church and feared by the common people, it grew
  increasingly distant from the animal on which it was based. Eventually, the image of the
  humanoid man-wolf (later popularized by horror movies) appeared across Europe as the
  ultimate alternative to the natural wolf's appearance. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Game Use 
  @TEXT-BOX:Incorporating this traditional feature will add considerably to the flavor of a
  campaign set in or strongly influenced by medieval European were mythology. When the
  campaign employs several different shifter types (as is the case in Yrth), the GM may
  choose the same trait for all of them, or may provide separate tell-tales for each
  individual variety. Of course, the more flag traits there are, the more "false positives"
  may occur, and woe to any poor innocent strangers who are found in the vicinity of an
  ordinary animal with an unfortunate deformity.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:GMs who are considering this option in their games should see the Revealing
  Trait disadvantage on p. 00. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Shamans and Hunters 
  @TEXT:The assumption of an intimate connection between man and beast is perhaps the
  primary characteristic of primitive thought. It manifests most commonly in the rituals of
  the hunt and of the shaman as a kind of sympathetic magic. 
  @TEXT:Primitive hunters sought to assume into themselves the qualities of those predators
  who prowess they envied. To this end they would don the skins of such animals with the
  intent of gaining their "virtues" and thereby becoming better hunters. Cave paintings
  dating back to 6,000 BCE and earlier show hunters wearing the pelts of leopards and other
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  predatory beasts as they make their kills. If studies of surviving primitive peoples are
  any indication, a conceit or actual belief that (under the right conditions) they were
  able to take the actual form of their "totem" soon followed. 
  @TEXT:The shaman held a complementary position as the mediator between men and both
  animals and spirits. The spirits of animals exploited or killed were of concern to early
  man; the shaman's duties included not only placating these spirits after a kill, but
  getting their permission and cooperation beforehand. Because these spirits dwelt in the
  land of the dead, the shaman's authority stemmed from his ability to control his own
  spirit sufficiently to enter the land of the dead as an ersatz animal, co-opting an
  animal's spiritual power to accomplish his goals. 
  @TEXT:Here then are the ultimate ancestors of the shapeshifter: the hunters who sought to
  take on a predator's skills, and the shaman who masqueraded as the spirit of an animal.
  Almost every shapechanger which has since appeared in any culture owes something to these
  two fundamental sources. 
  @B-HEAD:Classical Shapeshifters 
  @TEXT:By the start of recorded history, most of humanity had replaced shamanism with more
  organized religions, each with its own body of folklore and myth. Within this lore, a
  faint memory of the older ways, of the rituals of hunter and shaman, remained; mutating
  and changing as the culture evolved, they became the basis for new stories and added
  color to old ones. At the same time, certain cults preserved aspects of the ancient ways
  more accurately (and a few such would even survive into modern times). 
  @C-HEAD:The Middle East 
  @TEXT:The earliest literary traces of the shapeshifter are found in Mesopotamia and date
  from approximately 2,000 BCE. The <I>Epic of Gilgamesh<I> includes a short passage in
  which the goddess Ishtar turns a shepherd into a wolf. This is the first known trace of
  the creature that would become the archetypical shapeshifter millenia later: the
  werewolf. 
  @TEXT:At the same time, the Egyptians performed rituals which drew upon ancient shamanic
  traditions. Unsurprisingly, these rituals expanded the Egyptian fascination with cats to
  include some distinctly were-like beliefs. In a process called "the passage through the
  skin," for example, a panther tail was worn about the waist or knotted about the neck
  with the intent of drawing on, in yet another "skin-changing" ritual that owed much to
  more primitive rites, the power of the animal to help protect and strengthen the wearer. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:St. Patrick and His Werewolves 
  @TEXT-BOX:According to <I>Kongs Skuggsjo<I> (also known as <I>Speculum Regale<I>), a
  Norse account from 1250, Patricius (better known as Saint Patrick) was subjected to
  considerable harrassment during the mission he undertook to then-pagan Ireland. The text
  says that "one great race" (most likely meaning one of the larger Celtic tribes) was
  quite hostile to him, even going so far as trying to injure or kill him. He met with the
  men of this "race" in a great assembly, but when he spoke they heckled him by howling
  like wolves. Then, as the account says: 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>.<!s>.<!s>.he became very wroth, and prayed God that he might avenge it on
  them by some judgement, that their descendents might forever remember their disobedience.
  And great punishment and fit and very wonderful has since befallen their descendants; for
  it is said that all men who come from that race are always wolves at a certain time, and
  run into the woods and take food like wolves; and they are worse in this that they have
  human reason, for all their cunning, and such desire and greed for men as for other
  creatures. And it is said that some become so every seventh year, and are men during the
  interval. And some have it so long that they have seven years at once, and are never so
  afterwards.<I> 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Europe 
  @TEXT:It was the ancient Greeks, though, who took their half-forgotten memories of these
  prehistoric traditions, filtered and revised them, and formed from them a vast panoply of
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  theriomorphs. Starting with the myth of Lycaeon (itself probably a distorted memory of a
  wolf-brotherhood of hunters), through Euanthes' story of Antaeus and the isle of Circe in
  Homer's <I>Odyssey,<I> to Ovid's definitive <I>Metamorphoses,<I> classical Greek myth and
  literature is littered with stories of men changed to animals, and to none more
  frequently than the wolf. 
  @TEXT:Uniformly, though, the Grecian transformations are <I>involuntary<I> <\#208> they
  happen either as a punishment or at the whim of some divine agency. It is not until the
  Roman poet Virgil's eighth <I>eclogue,<I> written approximately 30 BCE, that the
  voluntary shapeshifter re-appears from the mists of memory. In that tale, the warlock
  Moeris can turn himself into a wolf at will, among all his necromantic and other powers.
  While his sympathetic and indeed benevolent characterization is a complex precursor of
  the Baltic lands' werewolf traditions, he also presaged other, less morally complicated
  images; a far simpler stereotype of the sorceror/shapechanger <\#208> with a mandatory
  infernal twist <\#208> later became the Inquisition's orthodox definition of the were. 
  @TEXT:Not all Grecian shifters were relegated to tales of the gods; some were part of
  day-to-day life. Around 500 BCE Herodotus recorded that the Scythians apparently believed
  that the Neuri, a neighboring tribe, were werewolves. And a hundred years later,
  according to second-century writer Pausanias, an Arcadian boxer named Damarchus who had
  spent nine years as a wolf won an Olympic victory. 
  @TEXT:Further west, the Druids' mystique included a reputation for taking animal forms.
  Celtic lore also included the <I>f<\#135>elad,<I> those families who numbered lycanthropy
  among their legacies. Then there is the tale, told in the Fourth Branch of the
  <I>Mabinogion,<I> of how the magician Gwydion turned Blodeuwedd into an owl. 
  @TEXT:To the north, the shamanic traditions were re-emerging in the root sources of the
  Old Norse myths, especially the <I>V<\#154>lsungasaga<I> <\#208> Sigmund must, like a
  shaman of old, learn the ways of animals in order to return from the land of the dead.
  Bodvar Biarki, one of the first werebears, appears in <I>Hr<\#151>lfs Saga Kraka.<I> And
  outside of the sagas, the warriors known as
  <I>ulfhe<t-42f"Times-Italic">d<t-4b3.5f$>-<b$>nar<I> and <I>beserkrs<I> (see p. 00), like
  their prehistoric forebears, wore the skins of wolves and bears respectively to draw to
  themselves the animal's prowess in battle. 
  @C-HEAD:Elsewhere 
  @TEXT:In MesoAmerica, the shifters took other forms, familiar to the native peoples. The
  Yakis, Tarahumaras and Seris Indians worried in the dark of night about the
  <I>nahuales,<I> warlocks given to taking the form of black-furred coyotes. Their cave
  drawings clearly depict the werewolf-like creatures that received their attention. The
  <I>nahual<I> was both the magician and the magic, the primitive spirit possessed by each
  person; if a man could come to know it, they believed, he could practice magic and cure
  the sick <\#208> once again, a holdover of shamanic beliefs. 
  @TEXT:Their cousins the the south, the Aztecs, didn't fear the <I>nahuales<I> <\#208>
  they venerated them. The empire protected the sorcerors as sacred to Tezcatllipoca, the
  god of the war and sacrifice. 
  @B-HEAD:The Medieval and Renaissance Shapechanger 
  @TEXT:As Europe slowly recovered from the fall of the Roman Empire, the classical
  shapeshifter eventually reconverged with older traditions native to the once-conquered
  territories. In parallel with the growth of new cultures in those lands, new myths
  formed, often far different from those which spawned them. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Skinchanger: Ann of Meremoisa 
  @TEXT-BOX:According to <I>Estonia I: Werewolves and poisoners, in Early Modern European
  Witchcraft<I> by Maia Madar, in a 1623 trial in Estonia the defendant, known only as
  "Ann", testified to a four-year career as werewolf, although the extent of her damages
  was limited to one horse and several small animals. A wolfskin, which she kept hidden
  under a stone in a field, was required for her change. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:Scandinavia spawned the werebear, who was usually a heroic figure. This tradition
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  was, along with much else, shared with Germanic mythology. (Later, they would migrate
  into modern fantasy gaming via the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.) Scandinavian folklore also
  had its share of evil shifters; magpies, for example, were believed to be sorcerers
  flying to unholy gatherings. 
  @TEXT:Legends grew in Scotland of humans who could change into seals, and seals who could
  change into humans <\#208> <I>selchies<I> or <I>selkies.<I> Their origin was varied: most
  commonly, the selkies were seen as a separate race, related to but separate from mankind,
  but ordinary humans could become selkies as well, either because of a curse or by working
  magic upon themselves. In the most extreme tales, they were seen as angels fallen from
  grace, but not so far as to become demons. 
  @TEXT:In France was born the man-wolf. Unlike most other European weres, the creatures
  that would be called <I>loup-garou<I> were diabolical, driven by cannibalistic urges and
  the desire to do harm to innocent folk. (See sidebar, p. 00.) Not surprisingly,
  Inquisition seized upon the loup-garou, with its unredeemably evil nature and sorcerous
  roots, as the "standard" werewolf of medieval Catholic belief. As a result of its
  subsequent distribution throughout Europe, the French cannibal werewolf became the
  dominant shifter stereotype in Western culture (and from there through most of the
  world). 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Lycanthropy and Cannibalism 
  @TEXT-BOX:By at least the 1400s, both the Church and the law in Europe <\#208>
  specifically, in medieval France <\#208> had conflated the state of being a werewolf with
  a variety of mental disorders which drove their few victims to cannibalism (much like the
  late Jeffrey Dahmer). 
  @TEXT-BOX:The definitive instance of this practice would be the so-called Werewolf of
  Chalons, who was discovered in circumstances so bloody and grotesque that the Paris court
  which convicted him on 14 December 1598 suppressed almost all documents bearing on the
  case. The accusation of lycanthropy leveled upon him was based entirely on the evidence
  of his murders, almost as if it were an automatic assumption: mass murderer/cannibal =
  werewolf. 
  @TEXT-BOX:As with the Werewolf of Chalons, the evidence of cannibalism alone was in
  almost every case sufficient grounds to accuse and convict the individual of lycanthropy
  as well, even if no "witness" to his transformation or depredations in animal form could
  be found or manufactured. The punishment for both crimes was always the same <\#208>
  death by one unpleasant means or another. 
  @TEXT-BOX:It is something to keep in mind, especially when playing in a campaign set in
  medieval Europe. A particularly evil or vicious Enemy may well decide to rid himself of
  one or more pests (read "PCs") by arranging for them to appear to be cannibals. Escaping
  such a charge, especially with properly bribed witnesses to back it up, would be all but
  impossible. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The question of <I>why<I> medieval France had <I>so<I> many cannibals (or
  werewolves, depending on the frame of reference) that such a precedent and protocol for
  dealing with them had developed is left up to the reader. (And to the GM, to decide for
  the edification <\#208> or detriment <\#208> of his players.<!s>.<!s>.) 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:In contrast, the werewolves of the Baltic and Russian (and some near-Mediterranean)
  areas were far more benevolent, and occasionally even comical. Typical of these were the
  Benandanti (see pp. 00-00) and similar descendants of ancient fertility cults. These
  self-proclaimed werewolves saw themselves taking animal form "in the service of God."
  Other, more folkloric, werewolves prowled villages in search of beer and liquor, or
  played pranks on the unwary. 
  @TEXT:The classic bipedal "wolf-man," far from being an invention of low-budget cinema,
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  dates from this period and is in fact an element of both the French and Baltic medieval
  were lore. Naturally, the details differed. The Baltic werewolf was an ordinary wolf
  which walked on its rear legs, while the Gallic variety was closer to the cinematic
  half-man. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Garou in A Historical Perspective 
  @TEXT-BOX:Although at first glance the Garou of <BI>GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse<$>
  appear to be inspired solely by the cinematic werewolves of the 20th century, they in
  fact have a much more "authentic" pedigree. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The Garou are composed in roughly equal parts of traditions from both Eastern
  and Western Europe; they are the spiritual descendants of both French and Baltic
  werewolves, partaking equally of both in a unique fusion. Their "soldiers of a higher
  power" aspect is directly descended from the Benandanti (pp. 00-00) and other Baltic
  werewolves, while their savage nature and predatory impulses (not to mention their very
  name!) are the heritage of the Gallic cannibal <I>loup-garou<I> so feared by the medieval
  Roman Catholic Church. Nor is the <I>crinos<I> wolf-man form of the Garou a movie
  invention; it is, in fact, typical of the Baltic werewolves (and, while rare, not unknown
  in the Western European variety, either). 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Asia and the Pacific 
  @TEXT:During this period, the greater part of Japanese shapechanger folkore evolved,
  bringing with it the concept of the <I>hengeyokai<I> <\#208> animals who can become
  humans (see p. 00). While not unknown in the rest of the world, the Japanese turned the
  usual arrangement on its head, with human-to-animal shifters (inimical or otherwise)
  almost unknown while the far less malevolent <I>kitsune<I> and <I>tanuki<I> predominated
  in the tales told from generation to generation. 
  @TEXT:At the same time, though, more sinister weres appeared in the folklore of mainland
  Asia, India and the Pacific basin. In India as in parts of Europe, were-creatures were
  believed to be physical forms housing the spirits of evil persons being punished after
  death. Throughout the Indian subcontinent, they took the form of the "man-tiger" (the
  tales of which were corrupted into the "manticore" when they reached Europe). It would
  seem that as a post-mortem punishment it was less than effective, for the man-tigers were
  no less evil than they had been in life, and far more destructive. 
  @TEXT:Other were-cats were less inimical. Malaysian legend has its sympathetic
  were-felines. And Buddhist lore tells the story of Milarepa, Tibet's poet-saint, stranded
  for six months in the Great Cave of Conquering Demons; he transformed into a snow leopard
  in order to survive. 
  @TEXT:Polynesian cultures, as closely tied to the sea as they were, generated legends of
  ocean-going weres. Possibly the most frightening of all were-creatures comes from their
  stories; the were-shark was a tireless, rapacious killer possessing no redeeming
  qualities. 
  @C-HEAD:Africa 
  @TEXT:While it is likely that the wide variety of African beliefs actually stabilized far
  earlier, it is at this point that a few Europeans were first exposed to them. As in Asia,
  the majority of African weres are felines, although owls and even alligators had their
  were counterparts. But unlike many other regions, here the ancient shamanistic beliefs
  persisted, though evolving as well. Shapeshifting, according to typical African beliefs,
  was a divine gift from a spirit or a god, provided for the purpose of socially-endorsed
  revenge. The African were did not rampage like his Gallic cousins, instead attacking only
  those who had harmed them in their human forms. Like the Benandanti and similar groups in
  the Americas, bands of men who shared a transformation would gather for military or
  ritual purposes. The best known of these were the various groups known collectively as
  the "leopard societies," which survived up until the early 20th century. 
  @TEXT:Still, not all African shifters were benign or feline. Folklore warned of sorcerers
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  who took the shape of owls to work mischief in the night. And werejackal legends <\#208>
  perhaps as part of the eternal cat-dog dichotomy <\#208> were as common as as the
  were-lions and were-leopards. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:An "Angry Ghost" <\#208> The Werewolf of Anspach 
  @TEXT-BOX:During 1685, a large, vicious wolf terrorized the town of Anspach (now Ansbach)
  in Bavaria. It accumulated a significant death toll, including many women and children,
  and a large number of domestic animals. For reasons not entirely clear, the town came to
  the conclusion that the wolf was a werewolf. And not just any werewolf, but the
  reincarnation of Anspach's thoroughly detested and recently deceased burgomeister
  (mayor). 
  @TEXT-BOX:Local hunters eventually cornered and killed the wolf, which inconveniently did
  not turn back into the late mayor. To make up for this failure, the townsmen dressed the
  animal's carcass as the burgomeister, going so far as to wrap it in a flesh-colored suit
  and put a mask and beard on it in order that it might better resemble the late and
  unlamented mayor. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The carcass thus costumed, it was hung on a gibbet in Anspach for all to see.
  Later, it was put on permanent display in the town musuem as proof of the existence of
  werewolves. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Mesoamerica 
  @TEXT:At this same time, the Aztecs and the other pre-Columbian civilizations of the
  Americas began forming their various animal warrior cults. Like so many others, these
  bands <\#208> roughly equivalent in function and status to Europe's various orders of
  knighthood <\#208> sought to achieve prowess in battle by emulating the predators they
  admired; it is not surprising that were-myths sprang up around them. 
  @TEXT:The best known of these cults were those centered around the jaguar <\#208>
  especially in the form of a black panther. Its importance was surprisingly universal: The
  Arawak believed that the ultimate shapechange was the transformation into the man-jaguar.
  The Olmecs built monuments to it. And both the Aztecs and Mayans were obsessed with the
  power inherent in becoming half-human, half-jaguar. 
  @TEXT:While the jaguar warriors and other predator cults died out with the coming of
  Europeans <\#208> slaughtered in battle or suppressed by the Church <\#208> the
  <I>nahual<I> survived. Sheltered in folk belief, it remains active in South and Central
  American folklore to this day. 
  @TEXT:Further north, Native American myth was replete with both werewolves and
  werecoyotes; called "mai-coh" by the Navajo (the word for "wolf", which literally means
  "witch"), these were typical skinchangers, who by dint of study and an enchanted pelt or
  hide could turn into a wolf, owl, or other predator. As with their European counterparts,
  they were closely associated with sorcery and cannibalism. On the other hand, were-bears
  were common in the myths of the Pacific Northwest, and in general were viewed as
  benevolent and even heroic figures. 
  @TEXT:Above and beyond these simple weres, though, North American myth had something else
  entirely: the beings the Navajo called <I>yee naaldlooshii<I> and Mohawks called
  <I>limikkin,<I> the "skinwalkers". The nature of the skinwalkers is somewhat confused;
  some tales call them sorcerers in the same vein as the mai-coh, while others describe
  them as beings of a completely different order from humans. Either way, unlike the
  shamans who worked "within the system" with nature to assume animal natures for ritual
  purposes, the skinwalkers ignored the natural order to take any shape they pleased, even
  inanimate objects. Tales are told, for example, of skinwalkers masquerading as tents in
  order to steal the goods placed within by the unwary. 
  @D-HEAD:Colonial America 
  @TEXT:Toward the end of this period, Europeans had settled in the Americas. Not
  surprisingly, they brought their shapeshifter beliefs with them. Not surprisingly, these
  beliefs mutated and adapted to the new land. Descended primarily from the Inquisitorial
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  "standard", these beliefs often converged with and drew from Indian myths, often mutating
  into something completely new and different. For example, anecdotal evidence suggests
  that the wererat, rather than being a native of the dank sewers of Europe as one might
  expect, may well have been born in the woods of Pennsylvania. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Historical Were: Susanna Martin, the Werecat of Salem 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>"No, my thoughts are my own when they are in, but when they are out, they
  are another's." <\#208> Susanna Martin, executed for witchcraft, 1681<I> 
  @TEXT-BOX:Susanna Martin was tried as a witch at Salem, Massachusetts on June 29, 1692,
  and according to the testimony of one Robert Downer (as found in part III of Cotton
  Mather's book <I>The Wonders of the Invisible World<I>), she had gone about transformed
  into a cat: 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>VI. Robert Downer testifyed, That this Prisoner being some years ago
  prosecuted at Court for a Witch, he then said unto her, He believed she was a Witch.
  Whereat she being dissatisfied, said, That some Shee-Devil would Shortly fetch him away!
  Which words were heard by others, as well as himself. The Night following, as he lay in
  his Bed, there came in at the Window the likeness of a Cat, which Flew upon him, took
  fast hold of his Throat, lay on him a considerable while, and almost killed him. At
  length he remembred what Susanna Martin had threatned the Day before; and with much
  striving he cryed out, "Avoid, thou Shee-Devil! In the Name of God the Father, the Son,
  and the Holy Ghost, Avoid!" Whereupon it left him, leap'd on the Floor, and Flew out at
  the Window.<I> 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>And there also came in several Testimonies, that before ever Downer spoke a
  word of this Accident, Susanna Martin and her Family had related, How this Downer had
  been Handled!<I> 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:The Modern Era 
  @TEXT:The Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and the Atomic Age did surprisingly
  little to dismiss shapechangers from the popular imagination. Eventually the Church's
  obsession with werewolves faded away, and the advent of scientific thought did quite a
  bit to dismiss the belief in shapechangers, but the myths and legends remained, and
  survive even up to today. 
  @TEXT:With the invention of motion pictures, that survival was assured. Ransacking both
  the literary products of the Romantic movement and collections of folklore for ideas, the
  early screenwriters eventually rediscovered the werewolf. The particular image they
  seized upon was the direct descendant of the Gallic cannibal, and thus it is that
  particularly savage version which has come to dominate the imagination of the Western
  world for the past century, and as American media creeps into other cultures, it works
  its way into them, as well. For example, Japanese folklore never had a wolf-to-man
  shapeshifter until Hollywood reached them, and now the <I>okami-otoko<I> (literally the
  "wolf-man") is as widely known as <I>kitsune<I>, maybe more so. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Leopard-Men of the Congo 
  @TEXT-BOX:In the early part of the 20th Century, belief in witches who could take animal
  form was still widespread and strong in Central Africa. Several groups took advantage of
  these beliefs (or perhaps sincerely believed themselves that they were using such
  magicks) to act against their enemies. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In the 1930s, a secret society of "leopard-men" from the Anyoto tribe went on a
  murderous rampage across the Belgian Congo. They dressed in bark costumes painted with a
  leopard-skin pattern, and used claw-shaped knives to kill their enemies after stalking
  them through the jungle. Another band of leopard-men took over a village near Lagos,
  Nigeria in 1946 for a short time. And in 1946, British newspapers reported on a group of
  Tanganyikan "lion-men" who managed to murder 50 persons before being apprehended. 
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  @TEXT-BOX:While not "true" were-creature incidents, events like these certainly reinforce
  existing beliefs and might even engender new myths. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Spirituality and Sorcery 
  @TEXT:But the presence of the were in modern cultures extends much farther than simply
  images of entertainment. The original spiritual aspect of shapeshifting still survives to
  this day. In addition to those native cultures in the Americas and elsewhere who have
  held onto their traditional beliefs in the face of Church pressures, there are also
  thousands of Neo-Pagans who follow shamanistic paths that often include symbolic and
  not-so-symbolic assumption of animal traits and imagery as part of their rituals.
  Overlapping slightly with the latter are the growing communities of so-called "furries"
  and theriomorph found on the Internet <\#208> people who believe that they possess an
  internal animal nature that they need to express in a positive way. 
  @TEXT:Sadly, modern belief in lycanthropy is not always as benevolent as these examples.
  Believe it or not, werewolf panics and trials continue to this day. In one case in the
  late 1960s, a witch doctor in an emerging African nation had agreed to turn himself into
  a crocodile in order to kill a client's mother-in-law. He was arrested before the killing
  could take place, tried, and found guilty <\#208> not only of conspiracy to commit
  murder, but also of "conspiracy to commit sorcery, and illegal metamorphosis into a
  crocodile leading to the death of a citizen". And in October 2000, a vigilante mob in
  Lagos, Nigeria captured and turned over to police a man whom they accused of turning two
  children into dogs. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:An Account of Were-Jackals 
  @TEXT-BOX:Another story to come out of the Congo in the 1930s claimed an English
  physician had managed to spy upon a secret tribal ceremony which culminated in the
  transformation of a <I>nyanga<I> ("witch-doctor") and a woman into jackals. The complex,
  involved ritual involved both potions and a jackal skin (worn by the <I>nyanga<I>), and
  the witness claimed he actually saw the transformation at its end. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:Less extreme, but just as disturbing on some levels, was the effect that the belief
  in werewolves had in Argentina. There, the traditional werewolf was the lobis<\#151>n, a
  bloodthirsty creature born the seventh son of human couple. (Some accounts say the
  seventh son of s seventh son.) The belief and the fear it engendered were so strong that
  it caused the widespread abandonment of children suspected of being a lobis<\#151>n.
  Unlike many modern werewolf stories, there is something of a happy ending in this case
  <\#208> the practice died out in the 1930s after the Argentine government passed a law
  which automatically made that nation's president the godfather of any seventh son, and
  gave the child a full scholarship for his studies until he reached 21 years of age. The
  law is still on the books, apparently, and the presidents of Argentina are said to still
  attend some of the baptisms <\#208> usually when campaigning for re-eelction. 
  @C-HEAD:Day of the Dolphin 
  @TEXT:Despite modern "enlightenment" and science, the social and spiritual forces that
  drove the evolution of the original were myths have done anything but stop. That they are
  still at work today is evidenced by the continuing life of a body of were myth from South
  America. It is centered around the <I>botos<I>, or pink dolphins of the Amazon, a
  freshwater variety of porpoise with startling pink skin and flippers that end in five
  stubby fingers. Like selkies, they leave their watery home to dance with and seduce
  humans, only in a distinctly Brazilian style. Uncontaminated with European fears of
  cannibalism and devil worship, the <I>botos<I> are relaxed, fun-loving and musical, and
  are looked upon with fondness by Brazilians and Peruvians even though humans who interact
  with them rarely come out well in the end. 
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  @TEXT:The mythic elements surrounding the <I>botos<I> and their cousins <\#208> tales of
  were-pigs, were-horses, were-snakes, were-jaguars and werewolves are all active elements
  in modern Amazon folklore <\#208> are vibrantly alive and dynamic <\#208> proving that
  the were-creature is far from dead, no matter how much science and rationality might
  beseige the human imagination to render it otherwise. 
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  The History and Mythology of the
  Shapeshifter
  Nothing in the entire universe ever perishes, believe me, but things vary, and adopt a new form. The
  phrase "being born" is used for beginning to be something different from what one was before, while
  "dying" means ceasing to be the same. Though this thing may pass into that, and that into this, yet the
  sums of things remains unchanged.
  -- Ovid, Metamorphoses
  It is impossible to point at any one civilization or myth and say, "There! That's where we get
  were-creatures from!" The myth of the shapechanger or the shapestealer is one of the oldest in human
  history. There is virtually no culture on the face of the Earth that does not have a shapeshifter myth;
  mankind has ever been fascinated and/or repulsed by the difference between humans and beasts -- and
  the idea that this difference can be transcended.
  Prehistoric Shapeshifters
  The origin of the shapeshifter in myth and legend traces back to the very beginning of humanity itself.
  Deep below the Pyrenees, there is a cave in which can be found a Paleolithic wall painting known as the
  "Sorcerer of Trois Frères." It depicts a figure of mixed animal and human traits. While he stands upright,
  his posture threatens to turn into the four-footed gait of the bear, whose paws he possesses. Proudly
  antlered, with a wolf's tail and other animal features, he stands firmly on the threshold between human
  and not-human, a figure of shamanic power acquired by becoming the animals who are the source of that
  power.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Wolf vs. Werewolf
  @TEXT-BOX:Before the 20th century and cinema, European folkoric descriptions made it clear that
  there were visible differences between a werewolf and a "real" wolf. One of the oldest, most common --
  and most noticeable -- of these was the surprising claim that the werewolf has no tail, although other
  more obscure or arcane "marks" have been cited.
  @TEXT-BOX:There is of course a straightforward reason for this which is unassociated with any
  supernatural cause. Real wolves tend to be too alluring and attractive, and not horrific enough, to be the
  traditional "monster" required by both folklore and medieval religious dogma. It became necessary to
  distinguish between the natural (if despised) predator and the hellborn creature who shared its general
  appearance.
  @TEXT-BOX:This wasn't a static, one-time change, though; as the werewolf became both increasingly
  demonized by the Church and feared by the common people, it grew increasingly distant from the animal
  on which it was based. Eventually, the image of the humanoid man-wolf (later popularized by horror
  movies) appeared across Europe as the ultimate alternative to the natural wolf's appearance.
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  @D-BOXHEAD:Game Use
  @TEXT-BOX:Incorporating this traditional feature will add considerably to the flavor of a campaign set
  in or strongly influenced by medieval European were mythology. When the campaign employs several
  different shifter types (as is the case in Yrth), the GM may choose the same trait for all of them, or may
  provide separate tell-tales for each individual variety. Of course, the more flag traits there are, the more
  "false positives" may occur, and woe to any poor innocent strangers who are found in the vicinity of an
  ordinary animal with an unfortunate deformity...
  @TEXT-BOX:GMs who are considering this option in their games should see the Revealing Trait
  disadvantage on p. 00.
  (((END BOX)))
  Shamans and Hunters
  The assumption of an intimate connection between man and beast is perhaps the primary characteristic of
  primitive thought. It manifests most commonly in the rituals of the hunt and of the shaman as a kind of
  sympathetic magic.
  Primitive hunters sought to assume into themselves the qualities of those predators who prowess they
  envied. To this end they would don the skins of such animals with the intent of gaining their "virtues"
  and thereby becoming better hunters. Cave paintings dating back to 6,000 BCE and earlier show hunters
  wearing the pelts of leopards and other predatory beasts as they make their kills. If studies of surviving
  primitive peoples are any indication, a conceit or actual belief that (under the right conditions) they were
  able to take the actual form of their "totem" soon followed.
  The shaman held a complementary position as the mediator between men and both animals and spirits.
  The spirits of animals exploited or killed were of concern to early man; the shaman's duties included not
  only placating these spirits after a kill, but getting their permission and cooperation beforehand. Because
  these spirits dwelt in the land of the dead, the shaman's authority stemmed from his ability to control his
  own spirit sufficiently to enter the land of the dead as an ersatz animal, co-opting an animal's spiritual
  power to accomplish his goals.
  Here then are the ultimate ancestors of the shapeshifter: the hunters who sought to take on a predator's
  skills, and the shaman who masqueraded as the spirit of an animal. Almost every shapechanger which
  has since appeared in any culture owes something to these two fundamental sources.
  Classical Shapeshifters
  By the start of recorded history, most of humanity had replaced shamanism with more organized
  religions, each with its own body of folklore and myth. Within this lore, a faint memory of the older
  ways, of the rituals of hunter and shaman, remained; mutating and changing as the culture evolved, they
  became the basis for new stories and added color to old ones. At the same time, certain cults preserved
  aspects of the ancient ways more accurately (and a few such would even survive into modern times).
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  The Middle East
  The earliest literary traces of the shapeshifter are found in Mesopotamia and date from approximately
  2,000 BCE. The Epic of Gilgamesh includes a short passage in which the goddess Ishtar turns a shepherd
  into a wolf. This is the first known trace of the creature that would become the archetypical shapeshifter
  millenia later: the werewolf.
  At the same time, the Egyptians performed rituals which drew upon ancient shamanic traditions.
  Unsurprisingly, these rituals expanded the Egyptian fascination with cats to include some distinctly
  were-like beliefs. In a process called "the passage through the skin," for example, a panther tail was worn
  about the waist or knotted about the neck with the intent of drawing on, in yet another "skin-changing"
  ritual that owed much to more primitive rites, the power of the animal to help protect and strengthen the
  wearer.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:St. Patrick and His Werewolves
  @TEXT-BOX:According to Kongs Skuggsjo (also known as Speculum Regale), a Norse account from
  1250, Patricius (better known as Saint Patrick) was subjected to considerable harrassment during the
  mission he undertook to then-pagan Ireland. The text says that "one great race" (most likely meaning one
  of the larger Celtic tribes) was quite hostile to him, even going so far as trying to injure or kill him. He
  met with the men of this "race" in a great assembly, but when he spoke they heckled him by howling like
  wolves. Then, as the account says:
  @TEXT-BOX:...he became very wroth, and prayed God that he might avenge it on them by some
  judgement, that their descendents might forever remember their disobedience. And great punishment and
  fit and very wonderful has since befallen their descendants; for it is said that all men who come from that
  race are always wolves at a certain time, and run into the woods and take food like wolves; and they are
  worse in this that they have human reason, for all their cunning, and such desire and greed for men as
  for other creatures. And it is said that some become so every seventh year, and are men during the
  interval. And some have it so long that they have seven years at once, and are never so afterwards.
  (((END BOX)))
  Europe
  It was the ancient Greeks, though, who took their half-forgotten memories of these prehistoric traditions,
  filtered and revised them, and formed from them a vast panoply of theriomorphs. Starting with the myth
  of Lycaeon (itself probably a distorted memory of a wolf-brotherhood of hunters), through Euanthes'
  story of Antaeus and the isle of Circe in Homer's Odyssey, to Ovid's definitive Metamorphoses, classical
  Greek myth and literature is littered with stories of men changed to animals, and to none more frequently
  than the wolf.
  Uniformly, though, the Grecian transformations are involuntary -- they happen either as a punishment or
  at the whim of some divine agency. It is not until the Roman poet Virgil's eighth eclogue, written
  approximately 30 BCE, that the voluntary shapeshifter re-appears from the mists of memory. In that tale,
  the warlock Moeris can turn himself into a wolf at will, among all his necromantic and other powers.
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  While his sympathetic and indeed benevolent characterization is a complex precursor of the Baltic lands'
  werewolf traditions, he also presaged other, less morally complicated images; a far simpler stereotype of
  the sorceror/shapechanger -- with a mandatory infernal twist -- later became the Inquisition's orthodox
  definition of the were.
  Not all Grecian shifters were relegated to tales of the gods; some were part of day-to-day life. Around
  500 BCE Herodotus recorded that the Scythians apparently believed that the Neuri, a neighboring tribe,
  were werewolves. And a hundred years later, according to second-century writer Pausanias, an Arcadian
  boxer named Damarchus who had spent nine years as a wolf won an Olympic victory.
  Further west, the Druids' mystique included a reputation for taking animal forms. Celtic lore also
  included the fáelad, those families who numbered lycanthropy among their legacies. Then there is the
  tale, told in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogion, of how the magician Gwydion turned Blodeuwedd
  into an owl.
  To the north, the shamanic traditions were re-emerging in the root sources of the Old Norse myths,
  especially the Völsungasaga -- Sigmund must, like a shaman of old, learn the ways of animals in order to
  return from the land of the dead. Bodvar Biarki, one of the first werebears, appears in Hrólfs Saga Kraka.
  And outside of the sagas, the warriors known as ulfhed-nar and beserkrs (see p. 00), like their
  prehistoric forebears, wore the skins of wolves and bears respectively to draw to themselves the
  animal's prowess in battle.
  Elsewhere
  In MesoAmerica, the shifters took other forms, familiar to the native peoples. The Yakis,
  Tarahumaras and Seris Indians worried in the dark of night about the nahuales, warlocks given to
  taking the form of black-furred coyotes. Their cave drawings clearly depict the werewolf-like
  creatures that received their attention. The nahual was both the magician and the magic, the
  primitive spirit possessed by each person; if a man could come to know it, they believed, he could
  practice magic and cure the sick -- once again, a holdover of shamanic beliefs.
  Their cousins the the south, the Aztecs, didn't fear the nahuales -- they venerated them. The
  empire protected the sorcerors as sacred to Tezcatllipoca, the god of the war and sacrifice.
  The Medieval and Renaissance Shapechanger
  As Europe slowly recovered from the fall of the Roman Empire, the classical shapeshifter
  eventually reconverged with older traditions native to the once-conquered territories. In parallel
  with the growth of new cultures in those lands, new myths formed, often far different from those
  which spawned them.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Skinchanger: Ann of Meremoisa
  @TEXT-BOX:According to Estonia I: Werewolves and poisoners, in Early Modern European
  Witchcraft by Maia Madar, in a 1623 trial in Estonia the defendant, known only as "Ann", testified
  to a four-year career as werewolf, although the extent of her damages was limited to one horse and
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  several small animals. A wolfskin, which she kept hidden under a stone in a field, was required for
  her change.
  (((END BOX)))
  Scandinavia spawned the werebear, who was usually a heroic figure. This tradition was, along with
  much else, shared with Germanic mythology. (Later, they would migrate into modern fantasy
  gaming via the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.) Scandinavian folklore also had its share of evil shifters;
  magpies, for example, were believed to be sorcerers flying to unholy gatherings.
  Legends grew in Scotland of humans who could change into seals, and seals who could change into
  humans -- selchies or selkies. Their origin was varied: most commonly, the selkies were seen as a
  separate race, related to but separate from mankind, but ordinary humans could become selkies as
  well, either because of a curse or by working magic upon themselves. In the most extreme tales,
  they were seen as angels fallen from grace, but not so far as to become demons.
  In France was born the man-wolf. Unlike most other European weres, the creatures that would be
  called loup-garou were diabolical, driven by cannibalistic urges and the desire to do harm to
  innocent folk. (See sidebar, p. 00.) Not surprisingly, Inquisition seized upon the loup-garou, with its
  unredeemably evil nature and sorcerous roots, as the "standard" werewolf of medieval Catholic
  belief. As a result of its subsequent distribution throughout Europe, the French cannibal werewolf
  became the dominant shifter stereotype in Western culture (and from there through most of the
  world).
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Lycanthropy and Cannibalism
  @TEXT-BOX:By at least the 1400s, both the Church and the law in Europe -- specifically, in
  medieval France -- had conflated the state of being a werewolf with a variety of mental disorders
  which drove their few victims to cannibalism (much like the late Jeffrey Dahmer).
  @TEXT-BOX:The definitive instance of this practice would be the so-called Werewolf of Chalons,
  who was discovered in circumstances so bloody and grotesque that the Paris court which convicted
  him on 14 December 1598 suppressed almost all documents bearing on the case. The accusation of
  lycanthropy leveled upon him was based entirely on the evidence of his murders, almost as if it
  were an automatic assumption: mass murderer/cannibal = werewolf.
  @TEXT-BOX:As with the Werewolf of Chalons, the evidence of cannibalism alone was in almost
  every case sufficient grounds to accuse and convict the individual of lycanthropy as well, even if no
  "witness" to his transformation or depredations in animal form could be found or manufactured.
  The punishment for both crimes was always the same -- death by one unpleasant means or
  another.
  @TEXT-BOX:It is something to keep in mind, especially when playing in a campaign set in
  medieval Europe. A particularly evil or vicious Enemy may well decide to rid himself of one or
  more pests (read "PCs") by arranging for them to appear to be cannibals. Escaping such a charge,
  especially with properly bribed witnesses to back it up, would be all but impossible.
  @TEXT-BOX:The question of why medieval France had so many cannibals (or werewolves,
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  depending on the frame of reference) that such a precedent and protocol for dealing with them had
  developed is left up to the reader. (And to the GM, to decide for the edification -- or detriment -- of
  his players...)
  (((END BOX)))
  In contrast, the werewolves of the Baltic and Russian (and some near-Mediterranean) areas were
  far more benevolent, and occasionally even comical. Typical of these were the Benandanti (see pp.
  00-00) and similar descendants of ancient fertility cults. These self-proclaimed werewolves saw
  themselves taking animal form "in the service of God." Other, more folkloric, werewolves prowled
  villages in search of beer and liquor, or played pranks on the unwary.
  The classic bipedal "wolf-man," far from being an invention of low-budget cinema, dates from this
  period and is in fact an element of both the French and Baltic medieval were lore. Naturally, the
  details differed. The Baltic werewolf was an ordinary wolf which walked on its rear legs, while the
  Gallic variety was closer to the cinematic half-man.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Garou in A Historical Perspective
  @TEXT-BOX:Although at first glance the Garou of GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse appear to
  be inspired solely by the cinematic werewolves of the 20th century, they in fact have a much more
  "authentic" pedigree.
  @TEXT-BOX:The Garou are composed in roughly equal parts of traditions from both Eastern
  and Western Europe; they are the spiritual descendants of both French and Baltic werewolves,
  partaking equally of both in a unique fusion. Their "soldiers of a higher power" aspect is directly
  descended from the Benandanti (pp. 00-00) and other Baltic werewolves, while their savage nature
  and predatory impulses (not to mention their very name!) are the heritage of the Gallic cannibal
  loup-garou so feared by the medieval Roman Catholic Church. Nor is the crinos wolf-man form of
  the Garou a movie invention; it is, in fact, typical of the Baltic werewolves (and, while rare, not
  unknown in the Western European variety, either).
  (((END BOX)))
  Asia and the Pacific
  During this period, the greater part of Japanese shapechanger folkore evolved, bringing with it the
  concept of the hengeyokai -- animals who can become humans (see p. 00). While not unknown in
  the rest of the world, the Japanese turned the usual arrangement on its head, with
  human-to-animal shifters (inimical or otherwise) almost unknown while the far less malevolent
  kitsune and tanuki predominated in the tales told from generation to generation.
  At the same time, though, more sinister weres appeared in the folklore of mainland Asia, India and
  the Pacific basin. In India as in parts of Europe, were-creatures were believed to be physical forms
  housing the spirits of evil persons being punished after death. Throughout the Indian subcontinent,
  they took the form of the "man-tiger" (the tales of which were corrupted into the "manticore"
  when they reached Europe). It would seem that as a post-mortem punishment it was less than
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  effective, for the man-tigers were no less evil than they had been in life, and far more destructive.
  Other were-cats were less inimical. Malaysian legend has its sympathetic were-felines. And
  Buddhist lore tells the story of Milarepa, Tibet's poet-saint, stranded for six months in the Great
  Cave of Conquering Demons; he transformed into a snow leopard in order to survive.
  Polynesian cultures, as closely tied to the sea as they were, generated legends of ocean-going weres.
  Possibly the most frightening of all were-creatures comes from their stories; the were-shark was a
  tireless, rapacious killer possessing no redeeming qualities.
  Africa
  While it is likely that the wide variety of African beliefs actually stabilized far earlier, it is at this
  point that a few Europeans were first exposed to them. As in Asia, the majority of African weres
  are felines, although owls and even alligators had their were counterparts. But unlike many other
  regions, here the ancient shamanistic beliefs persisted, though evolving as well. Shapeshifting,
  according to typical African beliefs, was a divine gift from a spirit or a god, provided for the
  purpose of socially-endorsed revenge. The African were did not rampage like his Gallic cousins,
  instead attacking only those who had harmed them in their human forms. Like the Benandanti and
  similar groups in the Americas, bands of men who shared a transformation would gather for
  military or ritual purposes. The best known of these were the various groups known collectively as
  the "leopard societies," which survived up until the early 20th century.
  Still, not all African shifters were benign or feline. Folklore warned of sorcerers who took the
  shape of owls to work mischief in the night. And werejackal legends -- perhaps as part of the
  eternal cat-dog dichotomy -- were as common as as the were-lions and were-leopards.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:An "Angry Ghost" -- The Werewolf of Anspach
  @TEXT-BOX:During 1685, a large, vicious wolf terrorized the town of Anspach (now Ansbach) in
  Bavaria. It accumulated a significant death toll, including many women and children, and a large
  number of domestic animals. For reasons not entirely clear, the town came to the conclusion that
  the wolf was a werewolf. And not just any werewolf, but the reincarnation of Anspach's thoroughly
  detested and recently deceased burgomeister (mayor).
  @TEXT-BOX:Local hunters eventually cornered and killed the wolf, which inconveniently did not
  turn back into the late mayor. To make up for this failure, the townsmen dressed the animal's
  carcass as the burgomeister, going so far as to wrap it in a flesh-colored suit and put a mask and
  beard on it in order that it might better resemble the late and unlamented mayor.
  @TEXT-BOX:The carcass thus costumed, it was hung on a gibbet in Anspach for all to see. Later,
  it was put on permanent display in the town musuem as proof of the existence of werewolves.
  (((END BOX)))
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  Mesoamerica
  At this same time, the Aztecs and the other pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas began
  forming their various animal warrior cults. Like so many others, these bands -- roughly equivalent
  in function and status to Europe's various orders of knighthood -- sought to achieve prowess in
  battle by emulating the predators they admired; it is not surprising that were-myths sprang up
  around them.
  The best known of these cults were those centered around the jaguar -- especially in the form of a
  black panther. Its importance was surprisingly universal: The Arawak believed that the ultimate
  shapechange was the transformation into the man-jaguar. The Olmecs built monuments to it. And
  both the Aztecs and Mayans were obsessed with the power inherent in becoming half-human,
  half-jaguar.
  While the jaguar warriors and other predator cults died out with the coming of Europeans --
  slaughtered in battle or suppressed by the Church -- the nahual survived. Sheltered in folk belief, it
  remains active in South and Central American folklore to this day.
  Further north, Native American myth was replete with both werewolves and werecoyotes; called
  "mai-coh" by the Navajo (the word for "wolf", which literally means "witch"), these were typical
  skinchangers, who by dint of study and an enchanted pelt or hide could turn into a wolf, owl, or
  other predator. As with their European counterparts, they were closely associated with sorcery
  and cannibalism. On the other hand, were-bears were common in the myths of the Pacific
  Northwest, and in general were viewed as benevolent and even heroic figures.
  Above and beyond these simple weres, though, North American myth had something else entirely:
  the beings the Navajo called yee naaldlooshii and Mohawks called limikkin, the "skinwalkers". The
  nature of the skinwalkers is somewhat confused; some tales call them sorcerers in the same vein as
  the mai-coh, while others describe them as beings of a completely different order from humans.
  Either way, unlike the shamans who worked "within the system" with nature to assume animal
  natures for ritual purposes, the skinwalkers ignored the natural order to take any shape they
  pleased, even inanimate objects. Tales are told, for example, of skinwalkers masquerading as tents
  in order to steal the goods placed within by the unwary.
  Colonial America
  Toward the end of this period, Europeans had settled in the Americas. Not surprisingly, they
  brought their shapeshifter beliefs with them. Not surprisingly, these beliefs mutated and adapted
  to the new land. Descended primarily from the Inquisitorial "standard", these beliefs often
  converged with and drew from Indian myths, often mutating into something completely new and
  different. For example, anecdotal evidence suggests that the wererat, rather than being a native of
  the dank sewers of Europe as one might expect, may well have been born in the woods of
  Pennsylvania.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Historical Were: Susanna Martin, the Werecat of Salem
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  @TEXT-BOX:"No, my thoughts are my own when they are in, but when they are out, they are
  another's." -- Susanna Martin, executed for witchcraft, 1681
  @TEXT-BOX:Susanna Martin was tried as a witch at Salem, Massachusetts on June 29, 1692, and
  according to the testimony of one Robert Downer (as found in part III of Cotton Mather's book
  The Wonders of the Invisible World), she had gone about transformed into a cat:
  @TEXT-BOX:VI. Robert Downer testifyed, That this Prisoner being some years ago prosecuted at
  Court for a Witch, he then said unto her, He believed she was a Witch. Whereat she being dissatisfied,
  said, That some Shee-Devil would Shortly fetch him away! Which words were heard by others, as well
  as himself. The Night following, as he lay in his Bed, there came in at the Window the likeness of a
  Cat, which Flew upon him, took fast hold of his Throat, lay on him a considerable while, and almost
  killed him. At length he remembred what Susanna Martin had threatned the Day before; and with
  much striving he cryed out, "Avoid, thou Shee-Devil! In the Name of God the Father, the Son, and the
  Holy Ghost, Avoid!" Whereupon it left him, leap'd on the Floor, and Flew out at the Window.
  @TEXT-BOX:And there also came in several Testimonies, that before ever Downer spoke a word of
  this Accident, Susanna Martin and her Family had related, How this Downer had been Handled!
  (((END BOX)))
  The Modern Era
  The Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and the Atomic Age did surprisingly little to dismiss
  shapechangers from the popular imagination. Eventually the Church's obsession with werewolves
  faded away, and the advent of scientific thought did quite a bit to dismiss the belief in
  shapechangers, but the myths and legends remained, and survive even up to today.
  With the invention of motion pictures, that survival was assured. Ransacking both the literary
  products of the Romantic movement and collections of folklore for ideas, the early screenwriters
  eventually rediscovered the werewolf. The particular image they seized upon was the direct
  descendant of the Gallic cannibal, and thus it is that particularly savage version which has come to
  dominate the imagination of the Western world for the past century, and as American media
  creeps into other cultures, it works its way into them, as well. For example, Japanese folklore never
  had a wolf-to-man shapeshifter until Hollywood reached them, and now the okami-otoko (literally
  the "wolf-man") is as widely known as kitsune, maybe more so.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Leopard-Men of the Congo
  @TEXT-BOX:In the early part of the 20th Century, belief in witches who could take animal form
  was still widespread and strong in Central Africa. Several groups took advantage of these beliefs
  (or perhaps sincerely believed themselves that they were using such magicks) to act against their
  enemies.
  @TEXT-BOX:In the 1930s, a secret society of "leopard-men" from the Anyoto tribe went on a
  murderous rampage across the Belgian Congo. They dressed in bark costumes painted with a
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  leopard-skin pattern, and used claw-shaped knives to kill their enemies after stalking them
  through the jungle. Another band of leopard-men took over a village near Lagos, Nigeria in 1946
  for a short time. And in 1946, British newspapers reported on a group of Tanganyikan "lion-men"
  who managed to murder 50 persons before being apprehended.
  @TEXT-BOX:While not "true" were-creature incidents, events like these certainly reinforce
  existing beliefs and might even engender new myths.
  (((END BOX)))
  Spirituality and Sorcery
  But the presence of the were in modern cultures extends much farther than simply images of
  entertainment. The original spiritual aspect of shapeshifting still survives to this day. In addition to
  those native cultures in the Americas and elsewhere who have held onto their traditional beliefs in
  the face of Church pressures, there are also thousands of Neo-Pagans who follow shamanistic paths
  that often include symbolic and not-so-symbolic assumption of animal traits and imagery as part of
  their rituals. Overlapping slightly with the latter are the growing communities of so-called
  "furries" and theriomorph found on the Internet -- people who believe that they possess an
  internal animal nature that they need to express in a positive way.
  Sadly, modern belief in lycanthropy is not always as benevolent as these examples. Believe it or not,
  werewolf panics and trials continue to this day. In one case in the late 1960s, a witch doctor in an
  emerging African nation had agreed to turn himself into a crocodile in order to kill a client's
  mother-in-law. He was arrested before the killing could take place, tried, and found guilty -- not
  only of conspiracy to commit murder, but also of "conspiracy to commit sorcery, and illegal
  metamorphosis into a crocodile leading to the death of a citizen". And in October 2000, a vigilante
  mob in Lagos, Nigeria captured and turned over to police a man whom they accused of turning two
  children into dogs.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:An Account of Were-Jackals
  @TEXT-BOX:Another story to come out of the Congo in the 1930s claimed an English physician
  had managed to spy upon a secret tribal ceremony which culminated in the transformation of a
  nyanga ("witch-doctor") and a woman into jackals. The complex, involved ritual involved both
  potions and a jackal skin (worn by the nyanga), and the witness claimed he actually saw the
  transformation at its end.
  (((END BOX)))
  Less extreme, but just as disturbing on some levels, was the effect that the belief in werewolves had
  in Argentina. There, the traditional werewolf was the lobisón, a bloodthirsty creature born the
  seventh son of human couple. (Some accounts say the seventh son of s seventh son.) The belief and
  the fear it engendered were so strong that it caused the widespread abandonment of children
  suspected of being a lobisón. Unlike many modern werewolf stories, there is something of a happy
  ending in this case -- the practice died out in the 1930s after the Argentine government passed a
  law which automatically made that nation's president the godfather of any seventh son, and gave
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  the child a full scholarship for his studies until he reached 21 years of age. The law is still on the
  books, apparently, and the presidents of Argentina are said to still attend some of the baptisms --
  usually when campaigning for re-eelction.
  Day of the Dolphin
  Despite modern "enlightenment" and science, the social and spiritual forces that drove the
  evolution of the original were myths have done anything but stop. That they are still at work today
  is evidenced by the continuing life of a body of were myth from South America. It is centered
  around the botos, or pink dolphins of the Amazon, a freshwater variety of porpoise with startling
  pink skin and flippers that end in five stubby fingers. Like selkies, they leave their watery home to
  dance with and seduce humans, only in a distinctly Brazilian style. Uncontaminated with European
  fears of cannibalism and devil worship, the botos are relaxed, fun-loving and musical, and are
  looked upon with fondness by Brazilians and Peruvians even though humans who interact with
  them rarely come out well in the end.
  The mythic elements surrounding the botos and their cousins -- tales of were-pigs, were-horses,
  were-snakes, were-jaguars and werewolves are all active elements in modern Amazon folklore --
  are vibrantly alive and dynamic -- proving that the were-creature is far from dead, no matter how
  much science and rationality might beseige the human imagination to render it otherwise.
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  @A-HEAD:Shapeshifting 
  @TEXT:<I>Well, I like you. You're nice, and you're funny. And you don't smoke. Yeah,
  okay, werewolf, but that's not all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I'm not
  much fun to be around either.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> Willow to Oz, in <B>Buffy the Vampire Slayer<B><I> 
  @TEXT:Over thousands of years of myth, legend and fiction, mankind has created a vast
  variety of creatures and beings of variable form. Despite their apparent differences,
  certain common themes and mechanisms can be found among them, regardless of their
  origins. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:About This Chapter 
  @TEXT-BOX:The rules in this chapter supplement and in some cases supercede those found in
  <BI>Compendium I<$>'s various shifting advantages and disadvantages. Specifically, the
  game effects described for Animal Form (p CI33), Shapeshifter (pp. CI43-44), and
  Untrained Shapechanging (p. CI100) are now subsumed under the were-form rules in the main
  text on pp. 00-00. Similarly, as far as weres are concerned, Multiple Forms (p. CI62),
  Transformation (p. CI68) and Uncontrolled Change (p. CI105) no longer apply. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Taxonomy 
  @TEXT:When stripped of their special effects and their unique stories, virtually all the
  shapeshifters in fiction and myth <\#208> and in gaming <\#208> can be reduced to two
  distinct varieties: the <I>morph<$> and the <I>were<$>. 
  @C-HEAD:The Morph 
  @TEXT:The <I>Morph<$> is the creature of a thousand forms. Whether or not it possesses a
  "native" shape matters little <\#208> it survives day-to-day with its ability to assume
  almost any other form. It may do so either for protection or predation; it may require a
  simple visual contact, or genetic samples, or wholesale consumption to acquire a pattern
  to duplicate. It may acquire the original's memories, or simply its appearance. But in
  the end, it can be anything or anyone, and in some cases, all of them at once. 
  @TEXT:Examples of the morph include "Odo" from <I>Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,<$> The
  Thing from the 1982 John Carpenter movie of the same name (as well as "Who Goes There?",
  the John W. Campbell story on which the film was based), and the T-1000 "liquid metal"
  terminator in the film <I>Terminator 2.<$> 
  @C-HEAD:The Were 
  @TEXT:The <I>Were<$> (short for "were-creature" <\#208> see the glossary, p. 00) is a
  being which alternates between a fixed set of two or more pre-defined bodies <\#208> none
  of which are necessarily human. Its ability to change may be entirely voluntary, or
  completely out of its control. Unlike the morph, it often demonstrates different
  personality traits and even different personalities in its different bodies. 
  @TEXT:The majority of shapeshifters in myth and legend are weres. Furthermore, this
  definition is very broad and includes many types of shapeshifters who at first glance may
  not appear to be the same type of creature as a werewolf; but any being which possesses
  two or more distinct, predefined bodies, no matter the reason or mechanism, is a were. 
  @TEXT:Examples of the were range from the classic werewolf of legend and its various
  cousins from the world over, through its more monstrous incarnations in horror films, to
  such apparently unlikely candidates as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde and victims of the Jusenkyo
  curses of the Japanese manga/anime <I>Ranma 1/2.<$> 
  @B-HEAD:That Thing You Do <\#208> Basic Mechanisms 
  @TEXT:Excluding spells and certain magic items, there are two primary mechanisms for
  creating shapeshifting characters in <BI>GURPS<$>. Which to choose depends on the nature
  of the character being designed. Remember, all that matters on the game level is
  <I>how<$> those changes are quantified, not <I>why<$> they happen. So a person under a
  shapechanging curse (as in <I>Ladyhawke<$> or <I>Ranma 1/2<$>) is as much a were as a
  Garou from <BI>GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse;<$> and any creature that can steal or copy
  another's shape (<I>DS9<$>'s "Founders", "The Thing") is a morph. Another good rule of
  thumb is that (by default) a morph never undergoes a personality change no matter what
  form he takes, while a were frequently does. 
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  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Spells and Devices 
  @BODY:Shapechanging via "outside" means such as spells and magic items is not really
  shifting as defined by this book. No matter how "internalized" his spell and his mana
  are, a mage with a Shapeshift spell is simply <I>not<I> a morph or a were. 
  @BODY:But Ensorcelled Shapeshifts (see p. G39) and items which grant similar effects are
  gray areas. There's little functional difference between a person Ensorcelled with Great
  Shapeshifting, and a Morph with a Cure/Cursebreak limitation. Likewise, no few creatures
  of myth that would otherwise be defined as standard weres resemble ordinary people with
  extraordinary magic items. 
  @BODY:When it comes to items, if the item works only for the individual <\#208> like the
  skins of Selkies (p. 00) and the feathered cloaks of Swan Mays (p. 00) <\#208> the
  character is a shifter. If anyone with the correct knowledge and the Fatigue to spend can
  trigger the effect, then the owner is just someone with a standard magic item. 
  @BODY:The use of a Shapeshift spell in the usual manner does not make a were or morph of
  the recipient. But Ensorcelled versions are a different matter; if the problem of
  dwindling IQ is somehow defeated where necessary, they effectively turn the recipient
  <I>into<I> the appropriate kind of shapeshifter. The GM should feel free to calculate the
  point total for an equivalent shapechanging advantage <\#208> and Unusual Background, if
  needed in the campaign <\#208> and assess that cost against the character. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Building A Morph 
  @TEXT:In <BI>GURPS<$>, a morph character is built with the super advantage of the same
  name, found on p. 61 of <BI>GURPS Compendium I.<$> (This is a generic, "baseline" morph
  ability; if more flexibility is desired, consult the version found on p. 63 of <BI>GURPS
  Supers.<$> While it is a bit more expensive and has its own limitations, it is also far
  more flexible in terms of the range of sizes and shapes possible.) 
  @TEXT:Variations on the basic Morph ability <\#208> such as changes in the number of or
  need for memorized forms, access to a subject's memories, and the like <\#208> are
  handled with the standard enhancement/limitations rules found on pp. CI107-112. Some new
  morph-specific enhancements and limitations can be found on pp. 00-00. 
  @TEXT:Morph characters may also find the Change Control (p. CI138) skill useful. 
  @TEXT:For the most part, Morph characters are simple and straightforward in design. As a
  result, there is little need to cover the process of their creation in detail. However,
  this should not be taken to mean that all morphs are alike <\#208> quite the contrary.
  Several examples of Morph-based characters and races are provided in Chapter 3 in order
  to demonstrate the range of possibilities available to the player. Don't be fooled into
  thinking that one morph is like any other morph! 
  @TEXT:By default, a morph has the following characteristics: He can memorize any form
  which he has seen, whether in person or at a remove, such as via television or a
  photograph. None of the original model's knowledge is acquired <\#208> only appearance.
  Within the size/mass limits of the Morph advantage, the copied form is a perfect
  duplicate, visually, but the morph's internal structure and genetic code (if any) do not
  change. He has complete control over his changes to and from his memorized forms, with no
  involuntary or compulsive aspects to the shift, but cannot blend or mix forms. The change
  is limited to the body; clothing is not acquired or lost in the transformation, although
  it <I>can<I> be simulated as an integral part of a memorized shape. 
  @B-HEAD:Building A Were 
  @TEXT:Compared to a morph, building a were character is somewhat more complicated. The
  Quick-and-Dirty creation rules provided on p. 98 of <BI>Bestiary, Third Edition<$> (and
  reproduced in the box on p. 00) describe the basics of the process, but they result in
  only the simplest of weres <\#208> specifically, those with a change to animal form that
  is always under the character's control. 
  @TEXT:At the heart of the Quick-and-Dirty rules is the process of turning an alternate
  form into an advantage (or, in some cases, a disadvantage), which can be then added to a
  character's point total. The alternate form itself is usually a combination of an animal
  template (see pp. BE104-113) and any additional character traits needed to define the
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  form properly. (In some cases, though, the template may not be for an animal, but for a
  human or some other sentient race. See the sample character "Ripper" in the sidebar on p.
  BE98.) 
  @TEXT:The alternate form is, in effect, an "overlay." It is the sum of all the
  differences between the base form and the were-form, differences that come into play only
  when the alternate form is activated. It is not a full character in and of itself, even
  if it possesses a Split Personality. It is, rather, a Switchable advantage, built from a
  number of subsidiary advantages and attribute boosts, with a set of attendant Temporary
  Disadvantages (a Nuisance Effect limitation, as described on pp. BIO137-9 and in the box
  on p. 00). 
  @TEXT:By default, a Quick-and-Dirty were has the following characteristics: The shifter
  has complete control over his changes to and from the were-form, with no involuntary or
  compulsive aspect to the shift. The change is limited to his body <\#208> clothing and
  equipment must be removed first, or risk entanglement or damage. Unless otherwise altered
  at creation, the animal form will have an animal's IQ, mental limitations, and
  priorities. And finally, the character will normally possess no special vulnerabilities
  or weaknesses except those normally possessed by the template animal. 
  @TEXT:Like the morph, some weres will find the Change Control skill useful to their
  character conception. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Quick-and-Dirty Shapeshifting 
  @TEXT-BOX:The following "rule of thumb" for fast creation of a character with a were-form
  comes from p. 98 of <BI>GURPS Bestiary, Third Edition.<$> It assumes the simplest case:
  an animal wereform with completely voluntary control over the change. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Treat an alternate form as an <I>advantage,<$> with the point cost calculated
  as follows: 
  @TEXT-BOX:<B>1.<$> Create the beast form as you would any character. (<BI>GURPS
  Compendium I<$> lists many traits suitable for beasts. <BI>GURPS Bestiary, Third
  Edition<$> lists a number of animal templates suitable for were-forms.) <I>Exclude<I> any
  physical traits the base form already possesses (for example, Combat Reflexes). 
  @TEXT-BOX:<B>2.<$> Total everything with a positive cost to produce a "positive point
  total" (PPT). Total all negative values to get "negative point total" (NPT). For changes
  in attribute levels and existing traits, use the <I>difference<$> in the costs between
  the forms (e.g., a ST 11 human who has ST 15 in beast form adds 50 points to PPT; a
  Wealthy human who turns into a Dead Broke beast adds -45 points to NPT). 
  @TEXT-BOX:<B>3.<$> Apply NPT as a percentage limitation on PPT (e.g., NPT -40 becomes a
  -40% limitation on PPT). The limitation cannot exceed -75%, regardless of NPT (e.g., NPT
  -100 would give only a -75% limitation). Moreover, the point savings due to the
  limitation cannot exceed 80% of NPT (e.g., NPT -50 and PPT 100 would result in a -50%
  limitation, normally worth -50 points, but since this would exceed 80% of -50 points, or
  -40 points, it is reduced to -40 points). (This is the Nuisance Effect: Temporary
  Disadvantage limitation; see sidebar, p. 00.) 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Going Beyond Quick-And-Dirty 
  @TEXT:While this may be perfectly acceptable to many players, some may want more control
  over the specifics of their PCs' shapechanging abilities. To this end, new disadvantages,
  enhancements, and limitations specific to the shapeshifting character are provided on pp.
  00-00. 
  @C-HEAD:The Template 
  @TEXT:The first step in the process of designing a were is to select what creature is the
  basis for the were-form, and define it as a template <\#208> a "racial package" for a
  specific type of animal. Several sample animal templates are found in Chapter 4, and many
  more can be found in the <BI>Bestiary.<$> If the species you want isn't among these, you
  can build your own from scratch using Chapter 5 of <BI>Bestiary,<$> or you can use the
  ones in this book as models. 
  @TEXT:A template for a natural animal will normally include many traits that may be
  inappropriate or unwanted in the final character, such as Bestial and Presentient. Do
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  <I>not<I> remove these from the template. They contribute to the final proper cost of the
  "racial package," and even if they are just going to be bought off later, eliminating
  them at this point can often be a false economy. <I>Keep the template self-contained.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>Exceptions:<I> One exception to this is, as noted above, any template trait
  already possessed by the base form which is desired in the were-form. Although it fails
  the "reality check" for a racial package, it is less trouble to simply leave it out of
  the template than to buy it twice and buy it back once. 
  @TEXT:Another exception is a hybrid form, like the classic wolf-man. These can frequently
  get far too complicated and inefficient when built off an animal template. In such cases,
  it is enough to simply delineate all the changes without worrying about modifying a
  pre-existing package. 
  @C-HEAD:Fleshing Out the Were-Form 
  @TEXT:At this point, the were-form <I>is<I> the animal template. For players seeking a
  no-frills, no-complications were, this will be sufficient, but the were-form will then be
  little more than a normal animal who has a vague memory of having been human. Many
  players will want to change this. 
  @TEXT:The were-form is not modified by changing the animal template, but by tabulating
  the desired changes separate from but alongside of it. Remember, the template is like a
  racial package <\#208> traits are not removed from the package, simply bought off or
  modified in the individual character. 
  @TEXT:The most common changes will be raising the form's IQ and buying off the more
  severe mental disadvantages like Bestial, Presentient and Innumerate. Certain physical
  advantages and disadvantages are also inappropriate to a were-form and should be bought
  off in all but the most unusual circumstances. Early Maturation and Short Lifespan in
  particular, because most were-forms are not limited by the animal template's life cycle
  and lifespan, but anything else that would be nonsensical or contradictory should be
  eliminated. 
  @TEXT:<I>Exception:<I> If the character is a child, Early Maturation could be retained to
  describe a were-form that matures faster than the base form. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:You Turn Into WHAT? 
  @TEXT-BOX:Most gamers will be aware that were-creatures are by no means limited to
  wolves. However, as counterintuitive as it might appear, the alternate form of a were
  need not be an animal. In fact, it need not even be a different species from the base
  form. Fiction is filled with people who change into different human bodies: Saotome Ranma
  from Takahashi Rumiko's <I>Ranma 1/2<$> is one example; Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (from the
  story by Robert Louis Stevenson) can be interpreted as another. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Alternate forms may also be other intelligent races, as in the case of the
  legends of dragon shifters who frequently took human form. But the options do not stop
  there. Japanese anime and manga are particularly rich sources of unusual weres: <I>Ranma
  1/2<$> has (among others) Pansuto-Tarou, whose shifting curse incorporated a half-dozen
  different animals into a single hybrid monster, and the girl Rouge, who turned into an
  animated (and malevolent) statue of a Hindu demon. <I>Birdy The Mighty<$> postulates a
  symbiotic relationship between a human and an alien sharing a body that alternates
  between their two forms (and genders!). <I>Tenchi Muyo!<$> demonstrates the
  <I>weremachine<$> (p. 00) in the form of Ryo-ohki <\#208> a rabbit-sized creature that
  can turn into a giant crystalline starship. And even more exotic possibilities can be
  found. If you can build it with points and play it as a character, you can turn it into a
  were-form. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Raising Attributes 
  @TEXT:Remember that when raising or lowering attributes from the animal template's
  levels, you are buying off an advantage or disadvantage and pay points accordingly.
  Bringing a were-form's IQ, for example, up from 4 to 10 costs 50 points, not 80. 
  @D-HEAD:Other Changes 
  @TEXT:Buy back any of the animal template's other traits that are not wanted in the final
  were-form, although these will probably be few. Similarly, any traits of the base form
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  which are not wanted in the were-form should be bought off or back as well. 
  @TEXT:This is also the time to add new features specific to the were-form, starting with
  the mundane and extending up into such supernatural or racial traits as the traditional
  Vulnerability and/or Weakness to silver, an Infectious Attack, and so on. If the base
  form is subject to some infirmity <\#208> such as One Hand or Lame: Crippled Leg <\#208>
  that is not desired in the were-form, buy it off at this time, too. However, some traits
  <\#208> such as Split Personality, Reciprocal Rest and Non-Reciprocal Damage <\#208>
  should actually be taken by the base form. 
  @C-HEAD:Calculating Costs 
  @TEXT:After assembling the final collection of changs that will comprise were-form, the
  next steps are the same as in the Quick-and-Dirty rules. Add up everything with a
  positive point cost to come up with the "positive point total" (PPT). Do the same for
  items with a negative point cost to produce the "negative point total" (NPT). 
  @TEXT:<I>Example:<I> Alison is building a wereleopard. After she finishes customizing the
  were-form, it has a PPT of 205 and an NPT of -183. 
  @TEXT:Next, apply NPT as a percentage limitation on PPT (e.g., NPT -40 becomes a -40%
  limitation on PPT). The limitation cannot exceed -75%, regardless of NPT (e.g., NPT -100
  would give only a -75% limitation). Moreover, the point savings due to the limitation
  cannot exceed 80% of NPT (e.g., NPT -50 and PPT 100 would result in a -50% limitation,
  normally worth -50 points, but since this would exceed 80% of -50 points, or -40, it is
  reduced to -40 points). 
  @TEXT:<I>Example:<I> Alison calculates costs. NPT -183 is larger than -75, so it becomes
  a -75% limitation. -75% of the PPT is -154 points. But that's larger than 80% of NPT,
  which is -146 points. The final discount is -146 points, for a were-form cost of 205 -
  146 = 59 points. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Morph or Were? 
  @TEXT-BOX:Whether adapting a shifter from an outside source or creating a new character
  from scratch, at some point the question will be raised: is this a morph or a were? 
  @TEXT-BOX:As self-evident as this might seem, it is not always clear from the source or
  concept. One example would be the so-called "true were," from Spider Robinson's later
  <I>Callahan's<I> stories, who turned into whatever he was closest to when the full moon
  rose. Despite the name, this character was clearly a morph (at least in <BI>GURPS<$>
  terms), as he had no predefined alternate form. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Modifying The Were-form 
  @TEXT:The final step, above and beyond the Quick-and-Dirty rules, is to modify the entire
  were-form itself. At this point the player may choose to apply enhancements and
  limitations that affect the accessibility and usefulness of the were-form as a whole. For
  example, a traditionalist may decide that his character is subject to a Cyclic Change,
  being forced to shift with every full moon. Another may make his character's change
  Absorptive, so he need not worry about clothing and equipment. 
  @TEXT:<I>Example:<I> Alison wants her wereleopard to have to change on the full moon.
  Going with the default minimum duration of one hour, this is a -20% limitation (see box,
  p. 00), which makes the final cost 59 points less 20% = 48 points. 
  @B-HEAD:Advantages and Disadvantages 
  @TEXT:Under these rules, certain existing <BI>GURPS<$> advantages and disadvantages have
  special applications. Others are overruled entirely. In addition, there are a number of
  new traits that apply only to shapechangers. 
  @C-HEAD:Existing Advantages 
  @D-HEAD:Animal Form . . . . p. CI33 
  @TEXT:This advantage has been superceded by these rules. 
  @D-HEAD:Lycanthropic Dominance . . . . p. CI60 
  @TEXT:This advantage must be purchased by the base form, and cannot be bought off during
  the construction of were-forms. <I>Exception:<I> If the were-form is a Split Personality,
  <I>it<I> may buy this advantage instead of the base form. 
  @D-HEAD:Multiple Forms . . . . p. CI62 
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  @TEXT:Usage for were-creatures superceded by these rules. 
  @D-HEAD:Non-Reciprocal Damage . . . . p. CI41 
  @TEXT:This should be purchased by the base form. It may be "bought off" in any were-form
  the character possesses, if the player so chooses; in that case, the selected were-form
  and the base form share any damage suffered. 
  @D-HEAD:Reciprocal Rest . . . . p. CI43 
  @TEXT:This should be purchased by the base form. It may be "bought off" in any were-form
  the character possesses, if the player so chooses; in that case, the selected were-form
  does not rest when not in use. 
  @D-HEAD:Reputation . . . . p. B17 
  @TEXT:In settings where weres and morphs are part of the established social or religious
  order, or where they are seen as representatives of and/or messengers from totem spirits
  or gods, they will have a positive Racial Reputation. 
  @D-HEAD:Shapeshifter . . . . pp. CI43-44 
  @TEXT:Superceded by these rules. 
  @D-HEAD:Transformation . . . . p. CI68 
  @TEXT:Usage for were-creatures superceded by these rules. 
  @D-HEAD:Unusual Background . . . . p. B23 
  @TEXT:In many campaigns, being a were will require an Unusual Background. The point cost
  is paid by the base form. Also, while it is not part of the were-form, this advantage may
  not be bought off as part of its construction. 
  @D-HEAD:Vampiric Invulnerability . . . . p. CI70 
  @TEXT:Certain types of weres <\#208> including (but not limited to) the Garou from
  <BI>GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse,<$> demonstrate an ability to shrug off the effects of
  vast amounts of damage. Use Vampiric Invulnerability to represent this. The built-in
  weakness to fire can be retained or changed to another attack form (usually silver) at
  the player's (or GM's) choice. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Animal Template: Wolf 
  @TEXT-BOX:Adapted from p. BE112, this is a standard, "natural" wolf. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> ST -1 [-10]; DX +4 [45]; IQ -5 [-40]; HT +2 [20]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$> Acute Hearing +4 [8]; Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8];
  Alertness +5 [25]; Claws [15]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Discriminatory Smell (Works as
  Empathy within 2 hexes, +50%) [23]; Enhanced Dodge [15]; Enhanced Move
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2 [5]; Four Legs [5]; Penetrating Call [5]; Sharp Teeth [5];
  Thick Fur [29]; Ultrahearing [5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> Bestial [-10]; Chummy [-5]; Color Blindness [-10];
  Dull [-1]; Gluttony [-5]; Horizontal [-10]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine
  Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Short Lifespan
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>5 [-50]; Sleepy (50%) [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]; Staid
  [-1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Skills:<$> Brawling-DX [1]; Running-HT [4]; Stealth-DX [2]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:PPT: +235; NPT: -272. Cost as a racial template: -37 points. Cost as a
  Quick-and-Dirty wereform: 59 points. Note that if used "as-is" for a wereform, the
  character becomes a beast in mind as well as body, with only the broadest strokes of his
  personality remaining when changed. He will retain all his memories, indecipherable as
  they may be to his wolf-mind, as well as his feelings for friends and enemies. 
  @TEXT-BOX:While this is consistent with some werewolves in myth and fiction, it may be
  less than enjoyable for some players. Feel free to revise the template as necessary to
  fit the player's conception of the wereform. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Existing Disadvantages 
  @D-HEAD:Addiction . . . . p. B30 
  @TEXT:A were might be addicted to a drug which caused (or prevented!) his change <\#208>
  or to the change itself! 
  @D-HEAD:Code of Honor . . . . p. B31 
  @TEXT:A character who can change shape because of his religious or cultural heritage (see
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  pp. 00-00 and the Jaguar Warrior, pp. 00-00) may possess a Code of Honor defining the
  proper and improper uses of his shifting talent. Gross violation of that code may
  restrict or prevent his use of the talent, depending on its source. 
  @D-HEAD:Compulsive Behavior . . . . p. B32 
  @TEXT:If a were-form possesses any kind of Compulsive Behavior, it must be indulged at
  least once each time the were-form manifests. 
  @TEXT:<I>Morally Opposed:<I> A were-form which is one part of a Split Personality may
  have a Compulsive Behavior to act in a manner opposite to the base form's moral and
  ethical leanings. This does not automatically make the were-form an NPC (see p. 00), but
  it does make it an excellent candidate for that optional rule. -10 points. 
  @TEXT:<I>Lifewrecker:<I> Like "Morally Opposed" but worse. The were-form not only acts
  opposite to the base form's moral and ethical code, it goes out of its way to do harm to
  the base form's life and friends. This can range from mysterious animal deaths that point
  suspiciously at the base form to killing the base form's friends and lovers. In the most
  extreme case, if the were-form is reasonably invulnerable, it will leave incontrovertable
  evidence that it <I>is<I> the base form where authorities (or perhaps just villagers with
  torches and pitchforks) can find it. -15 points. 
  @D-HEAD:Delusions . . . . p. B32 
  @TEXT:One obvious delusion is "I am not a shapeshifter." While this could be bought off
  in were-form, it may be amusing and fun to play someone in an animal form <I>and<I> in
  denial about it at the same time. 
  @TEXT:Another might be, "There is a cure for my were-form." This can be paired with an
  appropriate Obsession for a particularly single-minded character. 
  @TEXT:A morph might suffer from the delusion "I really am who I appear to be," or its
  inverse, "My base form is just another shape I can take; I have no real identity of my
  own." 
  @TEXT:Of course, a shifter who insists on discussing his ability in an otherwise mundane
  setting will have a delusion in the eyes of others <\#208> which he must take in the base
  form. 
  @D-HEAD:Duty . . . . p. B39 
  @TEXT:A character who is shapechanger because of his religious or cultural heritage (see
  pp. 00-00 and the Jaguar Warrior, pp. 00-00) may have a duty to an institution or
  organiztion that endorsed or provided his alternate form(s). Failure to live up to that
  duty might result in the reduction or elimination of his accessibility to those forms. 
  @D-HEAD:Enemies . . . . p. B39 
  @TEXT:Most weres would all-too-likely have special enemies <\#208> the police,
  monster-hunters, rival weres, the Church in medieval Europe, and so on. Even in cultures
  where shifters are accepted or even respected, they may have enemies in the form of
  citizens or agents of enemy nations or members of opposed religions. 
  @D-HEAD:Infectious Attack . . . . p. CI97 
  @TEXT:This disadvantage can be taken only by were-forms, not the base form. 
  @D-HEAD:Lecherousness . . . . p. B34 
  @TEXT:When possessed by a were-form, this could be either of two different behaviors.
  First, the were-form could have a strong physical desire for the opposite sex of the same
  animal template as the were. If the base form and the were-form share the same mind, the
  were will pursue and enjoy his liaisons while in were-form, but may feel quite
  differently about it when back in his normal shape! 
  @TEXT:The second option is classically cinematic: the were-form, no matter what its
  animal template, has an inordinate fondness for attractive members of its base species'
  opposite sex. 
  @D-HEAD:Odious Personal Habit . . . . p. B26 
  @TEXT:In most game worlds, "Eats Sentients" is a 15-point Odious Personal Habit. Note
  that if all weres are thought to eat humans, that's a Reputation. If all weres <I>do<I>
  eat humans, that's an Odious <I>Racial<I> Habit .<!s>.<!s>. and possibly a Dependency,
  depending on <I>why<I>. 
  @D-HEAD:Reputation . . . . p. B17 
  @TEXT:In settings where weres and morphs are portrayed as bogeymen, or actually <I>are<I>
  creatures of evil, they will have a bad Racial Reputation unless they are completely
  underground. 
  @D-HEAD:Split Personality . . . . p. B37 
  @TEXT:Were-creatures traditionally suffer from some level of Split Personality, and
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  particularly "enthusiastic" morphs may also display this disadvantage. At the -10 point
  level, the forms are all aware of each other and each can access vague, fuzzy memories of
  what the other forms did. At the -15-point level, each form suffers complete blackouts
  during the time another form is in control, memories are rigidly compartmentalized
  between the forms, and the character may not even be <I>aware<I> that he is a
  shapeshifter. 
  @TEXT:See the box for details on how to handle the standard Split Personality mechanic
  within the context of a were character. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Split Personality and Were-Forms 
  @TEXT-BOX:The Split Personality disadvantage normally results in multiple character
  sheets whose point totals must <I>average<$> out to the campaign starting value. However,
  were characters already have their alternative character sheets "rolled into" their main
  sheet, albeit in a highly-compressed form. 
  @TEXT-BOX:If he wants to, a player certainly can use the Split Personality mechanic and
  build separate characters. But it's unnecessarily cumbersome. It's simpler to take Split
  Personality in the base form; the were-form(s) automatically becomes one of the
  personalities. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Optional Rule: NPC Were-forms 
  @TEXT-BOX:If the player so desires, the were-form can be an NPC, under the complete
  control of the GM <\#208> often appropriate for games set in or inspired by classic
  horror films. This normally requires the -15-point level of Split Personality, as well as
  a good in-character reason (demonic possession, an especially nasty curse, or the
  were-form is an otherwise normal animal are all good rationales). If the GM approves,
  make the final point value negative and take the were-form as a disadvantage. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Uncontrolled Change . . . . p. CI105 
  @TEXT:Usage for were-creatures is superceded by these rules. 
  @D-HEAD:Untrained Shapechanging . . . . p. CI100 
  @TEXT:Superceded by these rules. 
  @D-HEAD:Unusual Background . . . . p. B23 
  @TEXT:In many campaigns, being a shapechanger will require an Unusual Background. The
  cost can vary widely, depending on the nature of the campaign and the power of the
  shifter. It must be paid by the base form. 
  @C-HEAD:New Disadvantages 
  @D-HEAD:Form Continuum . . . . -5 points/Alternate Form 
  @D-HEAD:Prerequisite: 2 or more were-forms 
  @TEXT:(Weres only.) The shifter has more than one were-form, but he cannot access them
  directly; he must move through a predefined sequence to reach the form he wants, taking
  the usual change time for each one. The player selects the sequence at character
  creation; once defined, it will never change. If for any reason he acquires a new form,
  he must select a place for it in the continuum. He must also take another level of this
  disadvantage, although as with any disadvantage gained during play, it is not actually
  worth any more points. 
  @TEXT:The Garou of <BI>GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse<$> have a five-step Form Continuum. 
  @TEXT:<I>Special Limitation:<I> Random selection. You cannot choose which of your
  were-forms you'll take when you shift out of base form, or (if you have more than two)
  from one were-form to another. Determine the new form randomly, but you'll never get the
  form you started from. -30%. If the base form is included in the random determination:
  -45%. 
  @TEXT:This disadvantage must be taken by the base form, and cannot be bought off in any
  of the were-forms. 
  @TEXT:Morphs can suffer a similar restriction; see the "Morph Continuum" limitation on p.
  00. 
  (((START BOX))) 
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Signs of Being A Were 
  @TEXT-BOX:Folklore and fiction are filled with "markers" which indicate that an
  individual is a shapeshifter of some sort: 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Born "differently:" with a caul (especially on Christmas or the Winter
  Solstice); after an unusually long pregnancy; to a woman who died in childbirth;
  Caesarean birth; feet-first (breech birth); with teeth; the seventh son of a seventh son. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Born during the twelve nights between December 24 and January 6
  (Epiphany). 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Conceived at the new moon. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Possesses hairy palms, or their eyebrows meet in the middle. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Has six fingers on one hand or an extra vertebra. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Has fur growing "on the inside." 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> A woman with extra nipples may be a werejaguar, in Brazilian lore. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Which, if any, of these indicators are true in any given campaign is, of
  course, up to the GM. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Revealing Trait . . . . Variable 
  @TEXT:Something about you is sufficiently strange or different that an average person
  might guess that you are a shapeshifter even without seeing you change. Mirrors might
  reflect your other form instead of the one you're in, your presence may spook nearby
  animals, or you may simply have some physical characteristic(s) in either/any of your
  forms which local folklore associates with shapechangers (see the box on p. 00 for some
  examples). While <I>Revealing Trait<I> can represent a unique and new characteristic, it
  can also subsume such existing disadvantages as No Reflection, No Shadow (both p. CI103),
  Frightens Animals (p. CI97) and under the right conditions even Social Stigma (p. B27);
  when creating a new trait, use these disadvantages as guidelines for determining its
  point value. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Skills and Were-Forms 
  @TEXT-BOX:Any skills possessed by the base form are retained by a were-form <\#208>
  <I>always.<I> Unlike advantages and disadvantages, skills <I>cannot<I> be bought back in
  the process of building a were-form. Even if the alternate form cannot make use of them
  (Running for a were-eagle, for instance) they remain present and (at least theoretically)
  available. <I>Exceptions:<I> A were who retains the Presentient disadvantage (p. CI103)
  in his alternate form loses access to all M/A and harder skills when in that form, and
  his M/E skills are limited to his IQ. And a were with Split Personality can buy
  completely different skill sets for each personality. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Shiting-Related Skills 
  @TEXT:<BI>GURPS Compendium I<$> lists two skills that relate directly to shape-changing. 
  @D-HEAD:Change Control (Mental/Hard) . . . . p. CI138 
  @TEXT:There are no alterations to the use of Change Control under these rules, except
  that morphs as well as weres are explicitly allowed to possess and employ it. 
  @TEXT:Note that morphs may include a target's clothing as part of a copied shape, and
  such clothing is actually part of the morph's body. The GM may, at his option, allow a
  morph with the this skill to "swap" outfits between different memorized forms on a
  successful skill roll, as though they possesed the Improvised Forms enhancement.
  Differences in relative sizes may be handled automatically, or the GM may use the degree
  of success on the Change Control roll as an indicator of how well the "new" clothes
  "fit". 
  @TEXT:Not being able to use the Change Control skill is a limitation on your were-form or
  your Morph power. See p. 00. 
  @TEXT:<I>Note:<I> If you have the leveled super-power variety of Morph from p. SU63
  instead of the version found in <BI>Compendium I<$>, you don't need the Change Control
  skill. Use your skill level for the super-power instead. 
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  @D-HEAD:Shapeshifting (Mental/Hard) . . . . p. CI144 
  @TEXT:This skill was originally published in <BI>GURPS Voodoo<$> (p. VO57) and applied
  only to spirits which could manifest in the physical world. Its availability to morphs in
  <BI>Compendium I<$> is an error and should be ignored. (Use Change Control instead.) It
  is still available to planar travelers of various types, but note that its use causes
  only a cosmetic change in the character. For more substantive alterations to an astral or
  dream body, see "True Astral Were-Forms" on p. 00. 
  @B-HEAD:New Enhancements and Limitations for Shifters 
  @TEXT:Various special enhancements and limitations are available for both the Morph
  advantage and were-forms, in order to fine-tune how they work for a given character. Some
  of the following are suitable for both types of shifters, while others are specific to
  one or the other and will be so noted. Of course, shifter characters are not limited to
  only these; many of the existing enhancements and limitations found on pp. CI00-00 and
  SU49-54 can also be applied to a shapechanging talent. 
  @C-HEAD:Enhancements 
  @D-HEAD:Absorptive Change . . . . +5% to +25% 
  @TEXT:(Weres only.) When a shifter changes forms, his clothes don't normally change with
  him. This can have results ranging from the comic to the tragic, depending on the
  resilience of the clothing and the size of the were-form. This advantage allows the
  shifter to absorb clothes and carried items when he changes form; they return intact and
  in place when he shifts back. The cost is +5% per Encumbrance level that can be absorbed:
  +5% for No Encumbrance, +10% for Light, and so on through to +25% for Extra Heavy
  Encumbrance. 
  @TEXT:As noted, the Absorptive Change is on one direction of change only. It need not be
  on the transition from base form to were-form; if the player so chooses, it can be on the
  change <I>back<I> to base form, especially if there is a great difference in relative
  sizes. Buy this enhancement <I>twice<I> to handle changes in both directions; in such a
  case, the encumbrance levels need not be the same. 
  @D-HEAD:Active Change . . . . +10%/+20% 
  @TEXT:(Weres only.) The shifter can remain active during his change. At +10%, he can move
  and react to his surroundings, but cannot run, fight, cast spells or use any skill. The
  were can roll to Dodge attacks while changing, but only succeeds on a 3 or a 4. At +20%,
  the shifter can use any skill or ability possessed by both forms. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Shifters and Martial Arts 
  @TEXT-BOX:A character can know and use Karate or Judo, and even more advanced martial
  arts abilities, in his shifted form, provided the form's IQ is 7 or higher. (Below that,
  the were just doesn't have enough brainpower for anything beyond simple brawling.)
  However, since such most martial arts were designed for human beings, only humanoid
  shapes with hands can use these skills effectively. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Of course, it is entirely possible to create a martial art designed expressly
  for use by non-human forms. A race of weres, for instance, may well develop two styles of
  Karate: one for their base form and another for their alternate. Such specialized combat
  styles would count as separate skills (perhaps defaulting to each other at -4 or more).
  See <BI>GURPS Martial Arts<$> for details on customizing martial arts styles. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Copies Personality . . . . +100% 
  @D-HEAD:Prerequisite: Telereceive or the "Needs Sample" limitation. 
  @TEXT:(Morphs only.) In addition to acquiring a target's shape, the morph also gains
  sufficient knowledge of memories and personality traits to eliminate the need for the
  Acting skill while impersonating him. The morph does not have access to anything beyond
  personality information and memories of friendships; he will know, for instance, how to
  greet a friend the target has known since childhood, but won't know the combination to
  the safe in the target's office. This knowledge is only available while in the
  appropriate form, and only as long as that form is one of your memorized shapes. 
  @TEXT:If the GM allows it, acquiring the <I>complete<I> memories and personality of the
  target is an additional +100% (and may take much longer <\#208> again, GM's option). This
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  can include some skills <\#208> Area Knowledges and some social skills are good
  candidates, but most scientific and physical skills are not. Skills are acquired at the
  target's level or the morph's appropriate attribute, <I>whichever is lower.<I> Access to
  the target's knowledge in other forms adds +50% to the cost. The ability to retain this
  knowledge after removing the form from your "morph memory" is another +100%, and <I>all
  subsequent earned experience must be dedicated to paying for any skills or skill levels
  acquired in this manner!<I> 
  @TEXT:In either case, you <I>temporarily<I> acquire all the target's mental advantages
  and disadvantages, and all his quirks, for as long as you retain his shape. If necessary,
  you can turn them off and revert to your own personality, but by default they are
  dominant and control your behavior. They <I>do not<I> replace or remove your own existing
  mental traits; instead they simply take precedence for as long as you let them. 
  @D-HEAD:Fast Change . . . . +25% 
  @TEXT:You shift your shape faster than others of your kind. Weres change form in a single
  turn. Morphs change instantly, as a free action (see p. B97), although they may only
  change shape once in a turn. 
  @TEXT:This enhancement cannot be combined with the Morph Continuum or Takes Extra Time
  (p. CI112) limitations. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Change 
  @TEXT-BOX:While a morph takes but a single second to shift his shape, the default were
  change lasts 2d6 seconds, during which the were can do nothing else. (However, see the
  Active Change enhancement, p. 00.) An involuntary change (Cyclic, Triggered) in progress
  cannot be halted or reversed by any means; it must run its course, no matter what. The
  same is true of a <I>voluntary<I> change except under the most unusual circumstances
  (GM's option, but at the barest minimum, a successful roll against Change Control should
  be required). 
  @TEXT-BOX:A were's change is a strange and terrifying process. Witnesses who have never
  seen a change before, or didn't know the character was a were, must make an immediate
  Fright Check. The GM may require those who succeed to make a Will roll or else stop what
  they're doing and stare in fascination until the change is complete. (This is a
  non-magical fascination, and won't prevent someone from defending himself or providing
  for his own safety, but it might make both sides of a combat break off while the change
  is happening, and it would certainly make an enemy easier to surprise.) Of course,
  friends and family may grow used to the change; the GM may allow them to ignore both the
  Fright Check and the fascination if they've witnessed the character change often enough.
  This is by no means an absolute, though <\#208> see Innocuous Change (p. 00) and
  Horrifying Change (p. 00). 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Genetic Match . . . . +50%/+100% 
  @D-HEAD:Prerequisite: The "Needs Sample" limitation at no less than -15%, or the
  Improvised Forms enhancement. 
  @TEXT:(Morphs only.) As part of your change, you generate a "shell" of flesh, skin and/or
  hair whose cells exactly mimic the physical and genetic structure of the original model
  whose form you are copying. You can also produce matching bodily fluids as needed for
  blood tests and the like. Any samples taken from you and any remote genetic scanning
  performed on you will thus register you as "genuine". (Biopsies and other deep samples
  will still reveal your real genetic structure.) 
  @TEXT:This layer of skin also generates all the proper scents and pheremones for the
  individual or racial type which you are duplicating, and reacts automatically to
  irritants and allergens as the original would. If you need to, you can suppress these
  functions with an IQ roll. 
  @TEXT:Note that the production of body fluids is <I>not<I> an automatic function, nor can
  you store such altered fluids in your body any longer than is needed for taking a sample.
  For example, if your blood is normally green, and you are shot while mimicking a human,
  you'll still bleed green, not red. 
  @TEXT:At the +100% level, your entire body replicates the original target's genetic code
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  and physical structure, "hiding" your true nature all the way down to a cellular level
  throughout your body. Only some means of actually scanning cell structure in detail will
  reveal your real cells "masquerading" as mitochondria or other organelles. 
  @TEXT:Morphs with both this and the Improvised Forms enhancement (see below)
  automatically produce a valid generic DNA signature for the race or species as which they
  are masquerading <\#208> even if that race is imaginary or a chimeric blend!
  (Unfortunately, it can't be used to make clones or for genetic engineering of any sort.)
  Otherwise, the character must have some way of acquiring a sample to duplicate. 
  @TEXT:This enhancement is of reduced utility in any setting where genetyping is unknown
  or unreliable; halve its value if bloodtyping and other simple checks are all that are
  available, and disallow it entirely if not even that is possible. 
  @D-HEAD:Improvised Forms . . . . +75%/+100% 
  @TEXT:(Morphs only.) You are not limited to the forms you have memorized. At the +75%
  level, with a successful Change Control roll you can mix and match parts from your
  memorized shapes to create a hybrid form. At the +100% level you can, with a successful
  roll, create new shapes out of your imagination, although you cannot acquire abilities
  that do not have a completely physical origin (for example, a dragon's flaming breath).
  In either case, in order to keep the new form after its first use, you still need a free
  morph "slot" to hold it. 
  @TEXT:If you have both Improvised Forms and Genetic Match, you automatically generate a
  valid but inspecific genetic signature appropriate to the creature type you are
  impersonating. (If that happens to be an imaginary creature, the DNA so produced may be
  shocking to geneticists, but will prove unviable for cloning or other purposes.) 
  @D-HEAD:Innocuous Change . . . . +5% 
  @TEXT:Your transformation between forms is so mild in appearance that it inspires neither
  dazed fascination nor Fright Checks in those not used to it (see box, p. 00). You may be
  cloaked in golden haze that hides you from prying eyes, or you may "blip" suddenly from
  one shape to another, with no intervening stages. This enhancement does not alter the
  <I>time<I> it takes you to shift, simply the appearance of the process. 
  @TEXT:This enhancement is not compatible with Slow Change or the "painful" level of
  Fatiguing Change. 
  @D-HEAD:Shapestealer . . . . +100% 
  @D-HEAD:Prerequisite: The "Needs Sample" limitation. 
  @TEXT:(Morphs only.) You literally steal the shapes you take. The process of copying
  someone's form leaves the victim a fluid mass of jelly-like protoplasm. They lose all
  identifying characteristics, even down to species and order, and are rendered comatose.
  If you have the "Cannot Reuse Forms" limitation, the victim regains their shape (and
  consciousness) as soon as you stop using it; otherwise, they only regain their shape when
  you drop it from your repertoire. Ultratech methods, Weird Science or Weird Magic may
  also be able to restore your victims' shapes (or give them new ones), but nothing else
  will. 
  @TEXT:Because of the potential for abuse in this enhancement, GMs may require the "Cannot
  Reuse Forms" limitation <I>must<I> be taken with it. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Shifters and Mana 
  @TEXT-BOX:Magical shapechangers will normally revert to their base form in a no-mana
  area. Once they leave the no-mana zone their ability to change will usually return.
  However, if this is inconvenient for the campaign, the GM may rule that all magical
  shifters must possess the basic 25-point level of the Mana Enhancer advantage (p. CI40),
  making them mobile low-mana zones, capable of shifting <I>anywhere.<$> 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Limitations 
  @D-HEAD:Cannot Reuse Forms . . . . -50% 
  @TEXT:(Morphs only.) Each form you copy can be used only once. You have no time limit on
  how long you can use it <\#208> or on how long you can wait <I>before<I> you use it
  <\#208> but once you shift to something else, it's no longer available to you. 
  @D-HEAD:Cannot Use Change Control . . . . -5% 
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  @TEXT:The character cannot blend aspects of his various forms (be they Morph slots or
  were-forms) using the Change Control skill <\#208> his shapeshifting is always
  all-or-nothing. He cannot even learn the skill. 
  @D-HEAD:Cure/Cursebreak . . . . variable 
  @TEXT:(Weres only.) Your were-form is unwanted, maybe even dangerous to the people around
  you, and there is some way to get rid of it <\#208> or perhaps it's a gift with strings
  attached. Either way, if some special condition is fulfilled, your shapeshifting ability
  will go away. This is a limitation because it is a drastic vulnerability for the
  were-form <\#208> enemies will try to exploit it, and well-meaning friends may try to
  accomplish it for you regardless of your wishes in the matter. 
  @TEXT:Cures may range from relatively simple (renounce the cult you serve, or undergo an
  exorcism) to difficult (bathe in the water of a particular spring in a remote province of
  China) to the nearly-impossible (a lost Hermetic ritual during which the were must hold a
  piece of moon rock). Alternately, a cure might risk (or guarantee!) harm to the were; a
  good example is the tradition that states amputating a limb will cure a were. The easier
  it is to break the curse, or the less harm the cure inflicts, the more this limitation is
  worth, from -50% for simple or harmless conditions to -5% for impossible and/or
  potentially fatal ones. 
  @TEXT:<I>Add<I> an additional -5% to the value if the cure is easily discovered through
  research or folklore, or -15% if it is common knowledge. 
  @TEXT:<I>Reduce<I> the value by -10% (minimum final value 0%) if the cure only works if
  the victim cooperates. 
  @TEXT:If the cure is only <I>temporary,<I> halve the final value of the limitation
  (rounding down) and define the conditions under which the were-form will return. 
  @TEXT:If the character has more than one were-form, it is not necessary to apply this
  limitation to all the forms, although it would be appropriate if they are linked
  thematically. 
  @TEXT:Furthermore, if the nature of the cure is such that it would normally cause damage
  either directly or indirectly, and the were-form possesses Invulnerability or Vampiric
  Invulnerability, the were-form <I>must<I> take a Vulnerability to the cure! 
  @TEXT:It is up to the GM whether the points spent on the were-form(s) either disappear or
  are available for some other use by the player when the curse is broken. (Of course, this
  does not apply to were-forms with "temporary" cures.)  In the case of "educational" minor
  curses (see p. 00), it is certainly allowable for the PC to buy off the offending
  disadvantage(s) with the points so freed. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Searching For A Cure 
  @TEXT-BOX:Note that just because the were-form has a cursebreak, it does not
  automatically follow that the character knows what it is, or even that it exists! More
  than a few weres in fiction spent a great deal of their time and energy on finding out
  whether or not their condition had a cure. GMs wishing to maintain any amount of suspense
  over this issue may wish to obfuscate the precise enhancements and limitations applied to
  were-forms (particularly infectious or latent ones) in their campaign. One possibility
  would be to simply give the player an aggregated modifier value along with as large or
  small a list of known "features" as the GM wishes. As the player spends time in his
  were-form, more information about it can be doled out as is necessary. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Note that this option is more appropriate for a character who has acquired a
  were-form than for a member of a shapeshifting race (unless the latter has grown up
  ignorant of his abilities). 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Cyclic Change . . . . variable 
  @TEXT:(Weres only.) The character is forced to assume his were-form on a regular basis.
  He has no choice in the matter; he changes automatically at the appropriate time. He must
  also remain in the were form for a certain minimum amount of time. 
  @TEXT:The base discount depends on the frequency of the change: 
  @TEXT:Less than once a year . . . . no discount 
  @TEXT:Annually or Semi-annually . . . . -5% 
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  @TEXT:Quarterly/seasonally . . . . -10% 
  @TEXT:Monthly . . . . -15% 
  @TEXT:Full Moon . . . . Special (see box) 
  @TEXT:Weekly . . . . -30% 
  @TEXT:Daily . . . . -40% 
  @TEXT:Cycles more frequent than "Daily" are possible, but are virtually unplayable. 
  @TEXT:The change period need not be strictly linked to the clock or calendar, as long as
  it is invariably regular. The GM may interpolate a value for an unusual period (as with
  the lunar cycle, above), or simply assess it at the smaller of the values between which
  it falls. 
  @TEXT:These values assume that the were is able to change at will at all other times. If
  the cyclic change is the <I>only<I> way he can change, it is worth an additional -25% to
  the limitation value. 
  @TEXT:Weres with a Cyclic Change must have a Minimum Duration as well <\#208> see p. 00. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Lunar Changes 
  @TEXT-BOX:All references to lunar-linked changes here assume Earth's moon or one with a
  similar cycle. Earth's lunar month is shorter than a calendar month, and the full moon
  usually spans two to three successive nights. This is a slightly special case for the
  Cyclic Change limitation (p. 00), worth -20%; the shifter is compelled to change not once
  at the "peak" of the cycle, but once per night during that peak. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In settings with a different lunar cycle or more than one moon, this value will
  vary, perhaps wildly. Single moons are simple; choose or interpolate a value from the
  table in Cyclic Change that reflects the appropriate frequency; adjust appropriately for
  the duration of the full moon. Multiple moons can be a bit more complicated. Does the
  were change with <I>any<I> full moon, or just one of them? The latter case is obviously
  another simple cycle. But in the former case, if there are enough moons that the
  appropriate phase could happen at almost any time, use an External Trigger (p. 00)
  instead. Alternately, divide the number of days in a month by the total number of full
  moons in a month, and use the resulting averaged figure as the length of a cycle for the
  purposes of determining the limitation value. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Try not to link a Cyclic Change to a moon with an extremely short period
  <\#208> it will be far more trouble to both GM and player than it is worth. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:External Trigger . . . . variable 
  @TEXT:(Weres only.) Some environmental condition triggers your change, whether you want
  to or not. Some weres have triggers which toggle their change on and off. Others have a
  trigger that forces a shift only in one direction. Some weres have <I>two<I> triggers
  <\#208> one to change, and one to change <I>back.<I> 
  @TEXT:The value of a trigger is based on how common the trigger condition is: 
  @TEXT:Very Common (sunlight, cold water, darkness) . . . . -30% 
  @TEXT:Common (a particular type of garden plant, a specific emotional or physical state,
  electrical fields in a technological setting) . . . . -20% 
  @TEXT:Occasional (a given range of normal air temperature, a certain food, a specific
  mineral) . . . . -10% 
  @TEXT:Rare (a tropical plant, a special drug, radiation) . . . . -5% 
  @TEXT:These values also assume that the were is able to change at will at other times. If
  the external trigger is the <I>only<I> way he can change, it is worth an additional -25%
  to the limitation value. 
  @TEXT:If the trigger only works for a change in one direction, halve its value. 
  @TEXT:Weres with an External Trigger often have a Minimum Duration as well <\#208> see p.
  00. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Using and Abusing External Triggers 
  @TEXT-BOX:Enterprising players will attempt to manipulate an External Trigger to their
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  advantage, to gain as much control over their conditions as possible. Some of this is
  acceptable; for instance, a Dark Ages were whose change is triggered by the smell of
  roses need not be restrained from running to the nearest bower if the Vikings attack his
  village. On the other hand, if the same were took to carrying a packet of dried rose
  petals with him, to sniff whenever his were-form might come in handy, it is no longer
  precisely an External Trigger, but something closer to an item-based change (see box, p.
  00). The GM may declare that his were-change has become triggered only by dried rose
  petals, or worse, only by that <I>particular<I> packet of rose petals, and no other will
  do. Since item-based changes tend to be cheaper than other versions, this has no
  immediate negative impact on the character beyond lowering his point value <\#208> until
  the first time the packet is lost or stolen.<!s>.<!s>. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Fatiguing Change . . . . -10%/-20% 
  @TEXT:The shifter finds the change physically exhausting or even excrutiating. At the
  -10% level, he loses 1d Fatigue each time he changes (which cannot reduce his Fatigue
  below 0) and suffers an equal <I>shock<I> penalty on the turn following the change, per
  p. B126. Fatigue lost due to the change may only be regained by rest. At the -20% level,
  <I>Painful Change,<I> he is also Mentally Stunned for 2d rounds following the change, and
  must make a Will roll for each form into or through which he changes (see Form Continuum,
  p. 00) to avoid crying out in pain. 
  @TEXT:A character who suffers from Painful Change may need to make a Will roll to change
  in a non-emergency situation. Characters with Cowardice or Low Pain Threshold will have
  to make a Will Roll at -5 to change voluntarily at all. 
  @D-HEAD:Flawed . . . . -10%/-35%/-50% 
  @TEXT:(Morphs only.) While you may copy a person's shape, there is always an error or
  flaw in the result: the wrong eye color, a double navel, missing (or extra) scars or
  birthmarks, a tell-tale tattoo, or a finger may not bend properly. (It could even be
  something non-structural, like a constant vague smile or an inability to feel strong
  emotion.) The flaw is determined at character creation, and manifests in every form that
  you take, including (optionally) your native one. If the target form already has the same
  flaw on its own, you are in luck; otherwise, it's a pointer to the fact that something's
  wrong. 
  @TEXT:At the higher levels, the copied form is not just Flawed, it is <I>Crude<I> <\#208>
  it only vaguely resembles the original (-35%, impersonation attempts at -10), and may
  only vaguely resemble its <I>species<I> (-50%, specific impersonations are impossible,
  and Horrific Appearance may apply). All character traits unrelated to appearance are
  unaffected by a Crude transformation. 
  @TEXT:Some characters may start with a Crude transformation and gradually improve it
  through practice. Halve the value of this limitation; now for every ten uses of a
  particular form, its level of accuracy improves by one step, to a maximum of Flawed.
  Quarter the value of this limitation for five-use steps, or for the ability to reach a
  perfect representation. 
  @D-HEAD:Genetic Trait . . . . -0% 
  @TEXT:(Weres only.) Your were nature is encoded in your genes as a dominant trait; you
  received it from your parents, and you will pass it on to your children. 
  @TEXT:A genetic were-form can be either active or latent. If it is active, then this
  "limitation" is nothing more than a special effect <\#208> your shifting gift is
  "switched on." A character with a latent were-form, though, cannot use it until he is
  exposed to a trigger condition, at which time the were-form becomes available for use.
  The trigger is determined by the GM at character creation (see the adjacent box for
  inspiration), but to be fair it should be something the character has a chance to
  encounter. 
  @TEXT:A genetic were-form cannot have a permanent cursebreak (see p. 00), although
  temporary "cures" are perfectly acceptable. They rarely, if ever, have Infectious Attacks
  or Lycanthropic Dominance. Most other change-related traits are available, although
  common sense should rule in their choice and use. 
  (((START BOX))) 
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  @C-BOXHEAD:How To Become A Were 
  @TEXT-BOX:If you're not a were by virtue of birth or bloodline, or your genetic were gift
  requires a "trigger" turn it on, legends list any number of ways to gain the ability to
  shift in addition to the traditional bite. While most of these are specific to
  werewolves, there's no reason (beyond a GM's ruling, that is) they cannot be used for any
  variety of were. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Annoy (or please) a wizard, sorceress, or god. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Be called by an animal spirit, or take a specific animal as your
  spiritual totem in the proper ritual. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Drink water or eat dust from a wolf's footprint. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Drink water from certain springs, especially in the Harz Mountains in
  Germany. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Drink downstream from wolves. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Possess and wear a moonstone. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Eat a wolf's brain. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Sleep at night in the open with the moon on your face on a certain
  Wednesday or Friday in summer. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> In a medieval Christian setting, be denounced from the altar and remain
  impenitent. Or be excommunicated for seven years. Of do not get shriven or use holy water
  for ten years. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Pluck and wear a rare white marsh flower from the Balkans. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Anoint yourself with a special ointment (recipe available in the
  grimoire of your choice). 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Wear the enchanted skin of a dead wolf or werewolf. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Wear a belt made of wolf's leather (or human skin, especially the skin
  of a hanged man), adorned with the signs of the zodiac, and with seven tongues on the
  buckle which must be put into the ninth hole. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Horrifying Change . . . . -5%/level 
  @TEXT:The manner in which you transform is particularly gruesome; perhaps you shred your
  previous shape in an explosion of flesh and gore, or maybe between your forms you melt
  into a pulsing mass of flesh accompanied by wet and disgusting sound effects. Whatever
  happens, it is far a more terrifying sight than an ordinary shift (see box, p. 00). For
  each level of this limitation you have, witnesses to your change take a -2 penalty to
  their Fright Checks. Furthermore, companions and family will <I>never<I> become inured to
  the change, and must always make Fright Checks at the specified penalty. 
  @D-HEAD:Linked Curses . . . . -25% 
  @TEXT:(Weres only.) Also known as the "Ladyhawke" option. You and another person (or
  persons, although it is most commonly a pair) are jointly afflicted with were-forms whose
  activations are connected. Whenever one of you changes, no matter how far apart you are,
  you force the <I>other<I> to change at the same time. The link may be synchronized (you
  both shift into were-form and back together) or inverted (only one of you can be human
  <\#208> or whatever base species you are <\#208> at a time). The type of link is
  determined at character creation and cannot be changed afterwards. 
  @TEXT:Although their animal templates need not be the same, both characters must have
  otherwise identical were packages. These usually include a Cyclic Change (with the two
  characters' periods complementing each other), an obscure and difficult Cursebreak, and,
  of course, this limitation. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Item-Based Shifting 
  @TEXT-BOX:A common trope in myth is the shifter whose change is facilitated by some item.
  Such an item can be virtually anything, but usually involves some symbolic or physical
  link to the animal template (for weres) or the model being copied (morphs). Normally, the
  item becomes part of the new form, reappearing only upon the change back. A typical
  example is the skinchanger from myths the world over <\#208> a were who dons a complete
  hide of the appropriate animal template to take his were-form, and who can't change
  without it. 
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  @TEXT-BOX:Item-based shifting combined with an Addiction or a Dependency on the change
  can make for an interesting character. 
  @SB-SUBHEAD:Item Modifiers 
  @TEXT-BOX:Shapechange items are built using the super equipment rules found on pp.
  SU68-70. The heart of these rules are a set of enhancements and limitations that are
  applied to the alternate form to specify its characteristics as a device. All shapechange
  items must take the modifiers <I>Can Be Stolen<I> and <I>Unique<I> in addition to any
  others the player may choose. Item-based modifiers are applied separately to the
  alternate form after any other enhancements and limitations the player may have chosen. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The following is an abbreviated list of gadget modifiers. See <BI>Supers<$> for
  complete listings. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Awkward . . . . -10%<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX:The item, like many skins and hides, is bulkier than a wadded-up trenchcoat. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Breakable . . . . -5%/-10%<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX:This item can be damaged; repairable items can be fixed if not totally
  destroyed. 
  @TEXT-BOX:DR 15 or less <I>and<I> it has 75 or less hit points: -15% 
  @TEXT-BOX:DR 16+, and/or 76+ hit points: -5% 
  @TEXT-BOX:If irreparable, add an additional -15%. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Can Be Hit . . . . varies<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX:The item is obvious and can be targeted in combat. It must be Breakable. The
  penalty on the attacker's to hit roll determines the value: No penalty: -25%. -2: 20%.
  -4: 15%. -6: -10%. -8: 5%. -10 or more: No bonus. 
  @TEXT-BOX:If the item has a -5% Breakable modifier, divide the value by 4. If the item is
  absorbed in the change, halve the value. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Can Be Stolen . . . . varies<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX:The item can be taken away from you. The difficulty determines the value: 
  @TEXT-BOX:Easily snatched with DX roll: -40% 
  @TEXT-BOX:Needs Contest of DX or ST: -30% 
  @TEXT-BOX:Requires stealth or trickery: -10% 
  @TEXT-BOX:Halve the value if the object is inobvious or is absorbed in the change. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Halve the value if the object would not work for the person who took it. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Halve the value if the item is absorbed during the change. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Not Absorbed in Change . . . . -5% or -15%<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX:The item does not become part of the were-form, and must be carried or
  protected against future use. If the item is not needed for the change back (see below),
  this modifier is worth only -5%; otherwise it is -15%. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Not Needed For Change To/From Base Form . . . . +25%<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX:The item, while required for the change in one direction, is not needed for the
  opposite change. 
  @TEXT-BOX:This modifier can only be applied to items which are not abosrbed in the user's
  change. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Unique . . . . -25%<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX:Once this item is gone, that's it. No replacement is possible. Character points
  spent on it are lost. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Maximum Duration . . . . Variable 
  @TEXT:The character cannot stay in his shifted form longer than a given amount of time.
  If he tries, he automatically changes back to his base form. (Unless he also has a
  Minimum Duration, he can change back at any time before that.) 
  @TEXT:The shorter the duration, the more this limitation is worth: 
  @TEXT:Less than 30 seconds . . . . -75% 
  @TEXT:30 seconds to 1 minute . . . . -65% 
  @TEXT:1 to 10 minutes . . . . -50% 
  @TEXT:10 to 30 minutes . . . . -25% 
  @TEXT:30 minutes to 1 hour . . . . -10% 
  @TEXT:Sunrise to sunset or vice versa . . . . 7% 
  @TEXT:1 to 12 hours . . . . -5% 
  @TEXT:Greater than 12 hours . . . . -0% 
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  @TEXT:A character with a Maximum Duration may not have a Minimum Duration longer than the
  Maximum. 
  @TEXT:This limitation cannot be combined with Cyclic Change. 
  @TEXT:<I>Note to GMs:<I> This limitation is open to abuse by "combat monster" shifters
  who do nothing in their alternate form(s) but fight. Feel free to disallow it if
  necessary. 
  @D-HEAD:Minimum Duration . . . . Variable 
  @TEXT:The character must remain in his shifted form for some minimum amount of time
  before he can change back for any reason. 
  @TEXT:Less than 1 hour . . . . +0% 
  @TEXT:1 to 8 hours . . . . -5% 
  @TEXT:8 to 12 hours, one night or equivalent . . . . -10% 
  @TEXT:12 to 24 hours . . . . -15% 
  @TEXT:1 day to 1 week . . . . -20% 
  @TEXT:1 week to 1 month . . . . -25% 
  @TEXT:Greater than one month . . . . -30% 
  @TEXT:A were with a Cyclic Change must also have a Minimum Duration. This minimum is
  variable, but cannot be longer than one-half the cycle length. 
  @TEXT:A character with a Minimum Duration may not have a Maximum Duration shorter than
  the Minimum. 
  @D-HEAD:Morph Continuum . . . . -30% 
  @TEXT:(Morphs only.) Similar to the Form Continuum disadvantage for weres, this
  limitation forces a Morph to progress sequentially through his memorized forms in order
  to shift from one to another, at the usual rate of one form per turn. The player should
  maintain an ordered list of the "slots" in which the PC's memorized forms are kept. 
  @TEXT:This limitation cannot be combined with the Fast Change enhancement. 
  @D-HEAD:Needs Sample . . . . variable 
  @TEXT:(Morphs only.) You cannot copy a person's shape without sampling them in some way.
  The exact value of this limitation varies with the extent of the sample required: simply
  touching the target is worth -5%, a fingernail, drop of blood, strand of hair or scrap of
  flesh is -15%, and consuming the target whole is worth -50% <\#208> and you'd better have
  some way of absorbing or eating the victim <I>quickly<$> <\#208> if a sample requires
  flesh or other organic materials, it must be fresh and undecayed. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Nuisance Effect: Temporary Disadvantage 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>EDITOR:<$> Please insert this limitation from pp. BIO137-8 here. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Projected Were-form . . . . -25%/-50% 
  @TEXT:(Weres only.) Your were-form is actually your soul, traveling outside your body in
  a manner similar (but not identical) to astral projection. While it does so, your "real"
  body goes into a trance. If your physical body is killed while you are in your other
  shape, both it and your were-form will usually die together, unlike regular astral
  projection. Also unlike regular astral travel, your were-form is just as solid and
  physical as your "real" body, and has no range limits and no duration limits other than
  your ability to last out a trance. When you leave the trance, the were-form vanishes. 
  @TEXT:When you go into your were-form, you do not have to manifest it at the same
  location as your physical body. You can make it appear anywhere within direct line of
  sight, or at a location within IQ<f"symbol"><\#180><f$>10 yards that is well enough known
  to you that you can visualize it clearly. Similarly, you do not have to return to the
  location of your unconscious form to dismiss your were-shape. 
  @TEXT:At the -25% level, you are still "in" your physical body even when using your
  were-form. (You are effectively operating it by remote control.) It still takes a great
  deal of your attention and energy, though, and you are only barely aware of your
  surroundings. You can hold slow, halting conversations with someone nearby, be led
  around, make Passive Defense rolls, or even be carried (gently). Any great shock or
  distraction (such as a successful attack or a vigorous attempt to "wake you up") can
  break you out of your trance and cause the were-form to vanish <\#208> make a Will roll
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  to ignore anything short of receiving a wound. 
  @TEXT:At the -50% level, you fall into a deathlike coma while in your were-form, as your
  soul completely leaves your body. You must take special precautions to protect or hide
  your body, as you are vulnerable and can be mistaken for a corpse (a Physician roll is
  needed to determine that you aren't really dead). 
  @TEXT:<I>Surviving Death.<I> While a character with a projected were-form will usually
  die if his base form is killed while he is projecting, a critical success on a Will roll
  at the moment of death will allow him to survive in his alternate form. Although the
  surviving form is corporeal, it is actually a kind of ghost, and as an undead creature it
  is subject to all the weaknesses thereof as defined in the particular campaign:
  vulnerability to the Banishment spell and to exorcisms, Compulsive Behaviors and so on;
  see <BI>GURPS Undead<$> for ideas and guidelines. So-called "angry ghost" weres (see p.
  00) are frequently created in this manner. 
  @TEXT:For characters whose "normal" astral bodies are animals, see the box on p. 00. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:True Astral Were-Forms 
  @TEXT-BOX:In some traditions (particularly those of a shamanic nature), the were-form is
  an entirely spiritual construct. Unlike weres built with the <I>Projected Were-form<I>
  limitation (p. 00), this kind of were-form is never physical and rarely if ever interacts
  with the corporeal world. It is instead used to communicate with spirits of nature and
  the dead, in the appropriate realms. (Strictly speaking, it isn't even really a "true"
  were-form as defined by this book.<!s>.<!s>.) 
  @TEXT-BOX:This is simply the psionic power Astral Projection (p. P10-11), with a special
  enhancement: <I>Astral Body Is An (animal type).<I> For +10%, you may use any animal
  template costing up to 0 points as the basis for your astral body. While in astral form,
  you possess all the "physical" attributes of an "average" animal of that type and any of
  its mental advantages, but retain your IQ and all your mental traits. For animal
  templates above 0 points in cost, add another +10% to the enhancement value for every 50
  additional points or fraction thereof that the template is worth. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The template's physical characteristics directly translate into astral
  equivalents: The animal's ST, DX, HT, hit points and Dodge supercede the human values.
  Claws and teeth cause extra damage in astral combat. Natural PD and DR are
  <I>cumulative<I> with that granted by the power (astral PD is of course subject to the
  usual limit of 6). Tracking abilities, Discriminatory Smell and the like allow pursuit in
  astral space where it would normally be impossible. And as a bonus, flying and swimming
  animals add their Speed to the character's Power level to determine Astral Speed. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The specific animal template is chosen at character creation and cannot be
  changed. (In an explicitly shamanic context, it will often represent the character's
  totem animal.) However, if the GM allows, the character may buy more than one template,
  either at creation or with earned experience. Each template so purchased is a separate
  enhancement, as well as a separate form <\#208> attributes of two different templates may
  not be combined; the Shapeshifting and Change Control skills <I>cannot<I> be applied to
  this kind of were. Furthermore, the psi by default cannot change forms in the middle of
  an astral journey; he must choose one form at the start and remains in that form until he
  returns to his body. 
  @TEXT-BOX:For an additional +5% per template, an animal astral body can be made
  <I>switchable<I>, allowing the psi to change at will from it to a "normal" astral form or
  any other switchable template he might possess, without having to return to his body
  first. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Please note that while the above description refers exclusively to astral
  bodies and astral travel, this enhancement is also available for any other ability that
  allows a character to project their spirit into an alternate metaphysical plane <\#208>
  such as the Marches of <BI>GURPS In Nomine<$> or even some varieties of cyberspace. It
  does <I>not<I> apply to any power or gift which allows a physical transition to such a
  plane! 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Slow Change . . . . -10%/-25% 
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  @TEXT:The character's changes take longer than usual. At -10%, the change time is
  measured in minutes instead of seconds. At -25%, it is measured in hours. If the
  character also has a Cyclic Change, the time to change plus any Minimum Duration must
  <I>always<I> be shorter than half the cycle length! 
  @TEXT:At the GM's option, change times can be much more flexible. Under this option, the
  -10% level can make the change take from one minute up to an hour, while the -25% could
  last a whole day. The GM and the player should determine the exact duration <\#208> and
  whether there is any random element involved <\#208> at character creation. 
  @D-HEAD:Template Susceptibility . . . . variable 
  @TEXT:(Morphs only.) You are not in full control of your shapechanging ability. Any time
  you come into contact with someone with a Will equal to or greater than your own, you
  must win a Contest of Will to avoid changing your shape to theirs. You are not affected
  by other shapeshifters, though. 
  @TEXT:The base value for this limitation is -20%, and you only need a Contest of Will
  upon physical contact. For an additional -5%, the target need not touch you, but merely
  be in the same hex. Each additional -5% expands this area by a one-hex radius. If more
  than one such individual is in your radius at a time, roll Contests in descending order
  of target Will until you either change or run out of templates. Choose randomly between
  templates with equal Wills. 
  @TEXT:If you have no available morph slots, you must immediately replace your least-used
  form with the new form you have been forced to take. 
  @TEXT:Once you win a Contest of Will with an individual, you don't have to run another
  one until the next time you meet them (base version) or the next time they enter your
  radius. If you become intimately familiar with an individual <\#208> roommate, spouse
  <\#208> you automatically resist their template unless they come upon you unawares and
  surprise or alarm you. 
  @TEXT:Once you copy a form, you will not be susceptible to another template for (Will)
  minutes. 
  @TEXT:Template Susceptibility is not compatible with Unstable (below). 
  @D-HEAD:Unstable . . . . -25% 
  @TEXT:Your hold on your alternate form is tenuous, either because you are just learning
  how to manifest it, or because it is very difficult to maintain. If you are surprised or
  shocked while changed, you must make a Will roll or immediately revert to your base form.
  (A critical success means you need not check again for the duration of the current
  encounter regardless of what happens; a critical failure indicates you may not return to
  your were form for a like amount of time.) Combat for which you are prepared does not
  usually require a roll, although <I>unexpected<I> damage as from an ambush or accident
  does. You also automatically revert to base form if you fall asleep or unconscious while
  shifted. 
  @TEXT:If one of your forms (base or other) has the Unfazeable advantage, it cannot be
  forced by surprise or shock to yield control, and need not make a Will roll. 
  @TEXT:While more suitable for weres, this limitation can also be used with Morph; in such
  a case, it applies to <I>all<I> the forms the morph can take. It cannot be used with an
  exclusive Cyclic Change, or where an External Trigger is needed to transform back to the
  base form. 
  @TEXT:The GM should allow the player to buy off this limitation without any special
  explanation, especially if it represents inexperience with shapeshifting. Optionally, it
  may be bought off <I>incrementally,<I> with each -5% eliminated with earned points
  granting a +1 on the Will roll until the entire limitation is removed. 
  @TEXT:<I>Option: War of Wills.<I> In a character with Split Personality, Unstable can be
  used to represent a constant struggle between personalities for control of the body.
  There is no change in the limitation value, but the Will Roll now applies to <I>all<I>
  forms; it becomes a Quick Contest of Will between the personalities, modified (at the
  GM's option) by how strongly the contesting minds feel about matters at hand. This use of
  Unstable should <I>not<I> be bought off easily, if at all. 
  @TEXT:Unstable is not compatible with Template Susceptibility (above). 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:"Once Only" Shifting 
  @TEXT-BOX:This is optional rule, inspired by the Zerg from the game "Starcraft" as well
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  as any number of comic books, movies and cartoons. The character possesses a reserve of
  points which he may use <I>once<I> to radically alter his form and abilities. 
  @TEXT-BOX:At character creation, the player sets aside a block of points, unused. He then
  buys a "placeholder" change advantage at a cost of one point for every 10 points reserved
  (minimum 1 point). As long as the block remains unused, he can add to it with earned
  experience, should he so choose. For every 10 points or fraction thereof added to the
  block, he must spend one additional point on the placeholder. (This is, in effect, a +10%
  enhancement.) 
  @TEXT-BOX:At any time during play, the player can invoke the change. He "spends" the
  placeholder, losing its points permanently. The block of reserved points then becomes
  available. He can use these points to raise his attributes and buy or upgrade advantages
  (and, at the GM's option, skills). 
  @TEXT-BOX:With the GM's approval, the player may "buy back" some existing advantages
  (Appearance, for instance) and use those points as well. He can also take any number of
  Disadvantages appropriate to the new form or abilities, but these are considered
  "acquired in play" and do not give any points back. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Any character trait that has no point cost (details of appearance like hair and
  skin color, for example) may be freely changed at this time as well. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Once the changes have been determined, they are applied to the character
  permanently. Any unspent points are lost. Multiple blocks and placeholders can be bought,
  but only at character creation time, and of course, each set is that many points by which
  the character is weaker than other PCs <\#208> until he uses them. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Predefined Changes 
  @TEXT-BOX:If desired, one-time shifts can be predefined; by sacrificing flexibility, the
  player can save <\#208> sometimes substantially <\#208> on point cost. This can be quite
  useful for describing races that undergo periodic metamorphosis as part of their
  lifecycle, similar to butterflies. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Add up <I>all<I> changes to the character, including the costs of new
  disadvantages acquired with the form, as if it were a racial package. This total
  <I>must<I> be positive. There must be a net improvement in the character; a predefined
  change <I>cannot<I> reduce a character's point total except by the amount of the
  "placeholder," which is still paid as above. The final total becomes the block of points
  set aside. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Typical Limitations 
  @TEXT-BOX:Obvious modifiers the GM may impose include "incubation" or "metamorphosis"
  times, perhaps with an actual cocoon involved; requiring the new abilities be
  specifically related to the situation which triggered the change; requiring the new form
  to always be Ugly, Hideous or Monstrous; requiring two or more predefined changes to be
  sequential, building on one another; and so on. Limitations discount the reserved block
  <I>only<I> <\#208> the "placeholder" is never discounted, and is always based on the
  "true" point value of the change, not the limited value. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The GM should be aware that the potential for abuse exists in this rule <\#208>
  which is why it is optional. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Varieties and Flavors 
  @TEXT:No two shapeshifters are exactly alike. This section explores some of the themes
  and special effects a player can employ in customizing a shapechanger to make him unique
  and different <\#208> even among a race of similar beings. 
  @TEXT:Some are related to the special enhancements and limitations found on pp. 00-00,
  inasfar as they are specific applications thereof. Others are more in the line of
  "color," without specific game mechanics but a lot of flavor. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Paradigms 
  @TEXT-BOX:When creating a shapechanger, it's important to select the source of your
  changing ability. While this usually has no direct effect on point costs, it <I>can<I>
  have considerable impact on both character design and game play. 
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  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Magic.<I> Your shifting talent is a spell, curse or other sorcerous process
  affecting you. Unless otherwise specified (see the box on p. 00), it can be suppressed or
  dispelled with countermagic, it will deactivate in no-mana zones, and may misbehave in
  high-mana zones. 
  @TEXT-BOX:One variety of the Magic paradigm, the <I>magic item<I> works just like
  inherent magic, except all the power to change is invested in a gadget. Unlike most of
  the other paradigms described here, this <I>can<I> change your point costs <\#208> see
  the box "Item-Based Shifting" on p. 00. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Psi.<I> Your ability to shift is a function of the extraordinary power of
  your mind. Anti-psi prevents your change, as do any drugs which dull your thought
  processes. You are likely to be limited to forms roughly your own mass and size. Your
  mental traits may cause odd side effects to your change. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Natural.<I> This is the way you were born, possibly because your race
  evolved this way. (In most cases, though, magical and psionic races should be considered
  those types.) Unless the game world is <I>very<I> strange, you probably can't gain or
  lose mass in a shift, and you need to pay attention to most other relevant laws of
  physics. On the other hand, you are unaffected by mana level or anti-psi. Changing may
  take a long time for you, though, as you have to let "normal" bodily processes take their
  course. Your shift may also be subject to environmental or hormonal factors, and maybe
  special poisons. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Technology.<I> Some scientific mechanism, be it internal or external, allows
  you to shapechange. (This need not be a literal device; it could be a genemod, surgical
  procedure or other process derived from science, be it current tech or advanced.) Tech
  shifts are similar to "Natural" above, in that you're probably limited to your own body
  mass and you have to be "realistic" in other regards (although this is not a hard and
  fast requirement, especially with classic "rubber science"). Under some conditions, the
  mechanism may be jammed or run out of power. If it is an actual physical device, it may
  be taken away from you, and like the magic item, this can affect your point costs <\#208>
  again, see "Item-Based Shifting". 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Super.<I> The catch-all paradigm. Although the "typical" Super shapechange
  is an inherent power unaffected by countermagic, mana level, or anti-psi, it can also
  resemble any of the other paradigms. In all but the most realistic settings, though, it
  lacks most of their weaknesses, but it may well suffer from its own more exotic
  vulnerabilities. The primary drawback, though, is that you need to be playing in a
  <BI>Supers<$> game.<!s>.<!s>. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Curses and Enchantments 
  @TEXT:Most of the classic were-creatures of myth and media are victims of curses or
  enchantments. This is a long tradition dating back to prehistory, best exemplified in the
  werewolves of Arthurian lore, French medieval myth, and horror movies from the middle of
  the 20th Century. 
  @TEXT:Such a victim usually suffers a complete split personality with an inimical or
  savage were-form at the worst, or a bestial one at the best. This type of curse is
  usually imposed as a punishment or an act of revenge, usually by a skilled spellcaster
  who specializes in such things, or by a supernatural soource. Note that the current
  victim need not have been the offender <\#208> a particularly aggrieved party may turn
  the curse into a genetic trait afflicting generations of descendants. 
  @TEXT:On the other hand, a particularly evil person may well embrace a truly monstrous
  curse and revel in it. Seeing it as a tool for sowing terror and chaos, or simply to
  inflict revenge on those whom he thinks wronged him, such a character may be so in touch
  with his own bestial nature that he may not suffer a Split Personality when he enters
  into his were-form. Such was the primary view of werewolves in the medieval church. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:What Makes A Curse? 
  @TEXT-BOX:While the main text discusses curses in the literal sense of the word, a curse
  need not be a malicious magic. A "curse" can be metaphorical rather than literal <\#208>
  Dr. Jekyll's Mr. Hyde was born of science, but the impact Hyde had on the doctor's life
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  certainly qualified him as a curse! 
  @TEXT-BOX:A literal magical curse need not be malicious, either. Christian apocrypha is
  filled with stories of curses cast by saints as tools of moral instruction and
  correction. One example is the werewolves of Ossory, Ireland, who were cursed for their
  wickedness by St. Natalis, and "compelled to take two by two a wolf-shape for seven
  years, returning to their own form at the end of that time." While that particular case
  is almost certainly not suitable for player characters, this kind of shapeshifting curse
  can be anything from campaign background color to a convenient plot element. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:"Minor" Curses 
  @TEXT:Less severe curses are also possible. Far from being fodder for horror stories,
  these "minor" curses may be imposed to teach a moral or social lesson to the victim; by
  giving the victim a form subject to problems and stresses usually alien to him, he may
  learn empathy for others or simply much-needed etiquette. Often these shapes are no more
  than simply inconvenient, either due to their trigger(s), cycles, or time limit(s), or
  due to the attributes of the were-form. 
  @TEXT:Such a character usually has one or more mental disadvantages that encompass the
  behavior being punished. Odious Personal Habits, Intolerances, Greed and other "deadly
  sins" all make good candidates. 
  @TEXT:Examples of such curses can be found in many medieval tales of Christian saints, as
  well as in some modern light fiction. 
  @D-HEAD:Breaking A Curse 
  @TEXT:Implicit in the concept of a curse is the prospect of breaking it. This is rarely a
  simple prospect <\#208> else what would be the value of a curse as revenge or a lesson?
  For "minor" curses, the break could simply be learning the lesson or behavior intended
  <\#208> which may be just as difficult as finding the rare Gila-gila herb in the jungles
  of the Amazon, depending on the character. 
  @TEXT:One authentic cure for lycanthropy found in medieval records is simple to effect,
  but may not appeal to most players: according to several early texts, the amputation of a
  hand/paw immediately and permanently destroys the character's shapechanging abilities.
  Naturally, this is contradicted for gruesome dramatic effect in later folklore and
  fiction; the GM is, as always, final arbiter. 
  @TEXT:The player and the GM should jointly determine the were-form's cure. Properly
  defined, the cursebreak could add an entire level of structure to a campaign even if the
  were never takes a central role in the game, by virtue of the underlying search motif it
  imposes. For "educational" curses, they are built-in tools and goals for character
  development. 
  @TEXT:Several cures from various cultures can be found in the box on p. 00. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Shapeshifting and Childbearing 
  @TEXT-BOX:The effects of a shapechange upon a child in the womb vary with the nature of
  the shifter. If the character is a member of a shapeshifting race, there is no problem
  <\#208> the child automatically shifts with the parent. Similarly, if the talent is an
  inheritable genetic trait, the child matches the parent's form. Any change that is the
  result of ultratechnology should allow for this situation as well. Magical changes may or
  may not know what to do about a pregnancy <\#208> the GM must decide these on a
  case-by-case basis. But a shift from human to animal that doesn't take a fetus with it is
  a tragedy waiting to happen. 
  @TEXT-BOX:And of course, all this assumes the character remains the same gender between
  forms. But this isn't necessarily the case. A female-to-male change, especially where no
  genetic component is involved, could be disastrous for both parent and child. Possibly
  worse, the fetus may simply disappear when the parent is in the "wrong" form, put "on
  hold" until the parent becomes female again <\#208> with the side effect of possibly
  extending a pregancy for weeks or even months! 
  (((END BOX))) 
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  @C-HEAD:Hengeyokai <\#208> Reverse Weres 
  @TEXT:Mythologies the world over are rife with the mirror image of the were-creature:
  tales of animals that can change into humans can be found in almost every culture.
  Japanese myth and legend are particularly rich in this regard <\#208> and from them comes
  the name used here for this class of creature: <I>hengeyokai<I> (which can be translated
  as "changing spirit"). Perhaps the best known example of the hengeyokai is the Kitsune
  (see p. 00). 
  @TEXT:Hengeyokai (also called simply "henge") always have at least two forms <\#208>
  their natural animal body, and a fully human alternate form. Additionally, some species
  have a third, intermediate form combining aspects of the other two. In Asian and other
  myths, the human form also retains some obvious feature that is indicative of the henge's
  animal nature <\#208> tails that must be hidden, hair coloration similar to fur patterns,
  sharp noses that resemble a bird's beak, and so on. 
  @TEXT:Almost any animal may be a hengeyokai. Cats who can become human are common in both
  Asian and European folklore, although in the latter they tend to have a demonic
  characterization. In Asian myth, hengeyokai birds, fish, shellfish, dogs, rats, spiders,
  and monkeys have also all appeared. 
  @TEXT:What makes a henge different from other animals of its kind varies widely in myth.
  For many there is no explanation; they simply <I>are.<I> Others are spirits, possessing
  or incarnated into an otherwise ordinary animal. Some, like the Japanese <I>kitsune<I>
  and <I>tanuki,<I> are <I>both<I> <\#208> an ordinary animal that is at the same time a
  spirit of great power. For the GM wishing to insert this kind of shapeshifter into his
  campaign, virtually any rationale is plausible. 
  @D-HEAD:Playing Hengeyokai 
  @TEXT:Such "reverse weres" make for entertaining characters. Because this is more a trope
  than a specific creature, no definitive single <I>hengeyokai<$> package is practical.
  There are many general traits such creatures have in common, though. They are built like
  any other were, except that the animal template is used as a racial package for the base
  form. Tote up the changes that are needed to adjust from the animal template to the
  desired human form into PPT and NPT and calculate the cost of the form as noted on p. 00.
  Note that almost universally, hengeyokai are considered creatures of magic; most if not
  all will probably possess at least the 25-point version of the Mana Enhancer advantage
  (p. CI40), Magery and a variety of innate spells. Most frequently these will be from the
  Illusion and Creation college. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Transferring Damage Between Were-Forms 
  @TEXT-BOX:Unless the character possesses the Non-Reciprocal Damage advantage (p. CI41),
  damage taken by one form will be expressed in all other forms. Damage is carried over
  <I>proportionally,<I> based on the ratio of the two forms' hit points. Divide damage
  suffered by the ratio when changing to a form with fewer hit points, and multiply it when
  going to one with more. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Example:<I> Tory has HT 12 in her human form and HT 12/6 as a were-fox; her
  hit point ratio is 2 (12 divided by 6). If she takes 4 points of damage as a human and
  then shifts, her fox form manifests with (4 / 2) or 2 points of damage. Tory-fox then
  takes another 3 points of damage before she returns to human; she is now down 10 points
  <\#208> (5 <f"symbol"><\#180><f$> 2). 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Death and Dismemberment 
  @TEXT-BOX:A were killed in were-form will normally revert to his base form at the time of
  death. If the were loses a limb, that limb will immediately change back to the base form. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Psionics 
  @TEXT:The psi with a strong enough Psychokinetic talent and a keen awareness of his own
  body structure may well be able adjust that structure at will. Strictly speaking, this is
  more of a choice of special effect than anything else, but designing a shifter using only
  "realistic" limitations can be an intriguing challenge and can result in an unusual
  character who can fit into all but the hardest-science games without overwhelming them. 
  @TEXT:An astral shifter of either variety is the easiest to justify, especially since the
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  "True Astral Were" found in the box on p. 00 <I>is<I> a psionic to begin with. For those
  players desiring a more physical experience, both morphs and weres can be in-genre with
  suitable modifications, the former more so than the latter. In each case, the same
  "theoretical" basis underlies their power; but while the morph has complete mastery over
  the shape of his body, the were represents someone who has mastered one alternate form
  and has come to a dead end. 
  @TEXT:Except in the most rubber-science settings, psionic shapechangers of a physical
  nature are limited by a variety of "real-world" considerations. Chief among these would
  be the requirement that they cannot change their basic skeletal structure. This is
  normally a -15% limitation (although GMs whose campaigns include a large number of
  physically different races should feel free to increase its value). Such shifters can
  hide limbs within their flesh, but cannot form new ones. (Optionally, the GM may allow
  the creation of non-structural "cosmetic" limbs held rigid by cartilage or tensed muscle
  instead of bone. Such limbs would only be for show, and would be incapable of carrying
  any amount of weight.) 
  @TEXT:Similarly, the GM may require that the shifter's total mass remain constant. There
  are exceptions, though <\#208> shapechangers in the <BI>GURPS Wild Cards<$> setting
  (whose powers are all psionic in origin) can often change their mass, either by the
  temporary inclusion of so-called "virtual particles" or by absorbing nearby matter for
  the duration of the shift. 
  @TEXT:Other typical limitations for the psionic shifter would emphasize the mental roots
  of the ability. To begin with, if the GM disallows psi-based shifting as a solo "wild
  talent", it will require the prerequisites of both Psychic Healing along with enough
  Telekinesis to lift one's own body. Beyond that, it would not be out of place for a
  <I>physical<I> psionic shifter to have a need for concentration, or a Fatiguing or Slow
  Change. Telepathic shifters could easily have Copies Personality. For increased realism,
  require the Needs Sample limitation. And in the grand tradition of anime shapeshifters, a
  Flawed or Horrifying Change is alway appropriate. 
  @C-HEAD:Shapeshifting Races 
  @TEXT:As interesting as individual shapeshifters can be, an entire race of them can be
  even more interesting <\#208> or more terrifying. From the Garou of <BI>GURPS Werewolf:
  The Apocalypse<$> to the doppelg<\#138>ngers and mimics of classic fantasy gaming to the
  many shape-changing races of science fiction, a race of shifters almost always poses a
  threat to <I>someone<I> <\#208> a threat that can drive a campaign. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Fictional Were-Race: J.R.R. Tolkien's "Beornings" 
  @TEXT-BOX:One of the models for the were-bear of modern fantasy gaming, Beorn and his
  people appear in chapter 7 of <I>The Hobbit.<I> Descended from the Edain of the First Age
  (among whose number were skinchangers, the <I>Silmarillion<I> states authoritatively),
  Beorn learned how to take the form of a bear and passed this gift on to generations of
  his descendants. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The Beornings were a forest folk, living as woodsmen. Like the bears whose
  forms they could assume, they were big, bulky, and heavily muscled. To a one they were
  black-haired and shaggy, the men sporting heavy beards that emphasized their ursine
  appearance. The coarse woolen clothing they wore only added to the effect. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In addition to their were-form, the Beornings were known to be berserkers,
  fearsome axe-men, and skilled foresters. Beorn himself was a vegetarian, but it is
  unknown if this trait extended to others of his people. While the Beornings were more a
  tribe (or later a nation, in the Native American sense) than a truly separate race, they
  certainly could be given a unique racial package, considering their differences from
  mainstream humanity. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:When designing a race with shape-changing ability, never forget to ask, "Why?" Even
  magical races have a reason for their shapeshifting. Is it in response to environmental
  pressures? For protective coloration? Or to better sneak up on their prey? Perhaps they
  are a race of warriors or infiltrators. Were they artificially created, or did they
  evolve naturally? Answer these questions, and the race practically designs itself <\#208>
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  mental and physical attributes immediately become obvious, and possible plotlines begin
  to form. 
  @TEXT:Don't overlook diversity within the race, though. Subcultures and subraces can not
  only provide helpful verisimilitude, they can also keep players on their toes. 
  @TEXT:If not a naturally magical race, such creatures will have to respect the laws of
  physics to a certain degree. As with psionic shifters, there may be limits to the sizes
  and shapes they can take, and the degree of change that they can undergo. Remember,
  though, that even if major skeletal changes aren't allowed, a biped is not that far from
  that of quadruped <\#208> especially if a race's proportions are different from
  humanity's. 
  @TEXT:For players, the advantage of being a member of a shapeshifting race is that their
  characters need not feel the isolation of being a unique or nearly unique creature,
  possibly unnatural <\#208> unless they are unaware of their heritage, which in itself can
  drive a storyline for a campaign. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:"What Do You Mean, You Ate While You Were a Mouse?" 
  @TEXT-BOX:One of the more annoying issues raised with weres is the effect of meals across
  forms. Can a thimbleful of seeds eaten by a were-mouse adequately nourish his human form? 
  @TEXT-BOX:If a were-form's animal template includes the Reduced Life Support advantage,
  then a meal eaten in the were-form will remain filling and completely nutritious when the
  character returns to his larger base form. However, the inverse is not true. A large
  were-form possessing the Increased Life Support disadvantage is <I>not<I> sufficiently
  fed by a meal taken in base form. Buying off either of these traits during character
  creation will negate their respective effects; in this case, the larger form will only
  suffer from some degree of hunger immediately upon a change to it only if the base form
  was hungry. 
  @TEXT-BOX:This rule of thumb obviously does not pass the reality check for any kind of
  "scientific" shapeshifting. The GM seeking "realism" may impose hunger upon <I>any<I>
  change to a larger form regardless of the Life Support trait(s) possessed. (It's not
  recommended that the GM enforce the opposite conditions in <I>any<I> setting <\#208> most
  players won't appreciate having their were-squirrel character explode because they
  changed too soon after a hearty meal.) 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Shifter Supers 
  @TEXT:While the Transformation advantage (p. CI68) exists for use by super-types, and
  Morph had its genesis as a leveled advantage in <BI>GURPS Supers<$> (p. SU63), it is
  possible to use the rules for weres to handle some varieties of shape-changing
  metahumans. Leaving aside those elements of horror fiction and film which have
  infiltrated the super-hero genre, many character concepts could just as easily be
  implemented as were-forms as any other way. 
  @TEXT:The Incredible Hulk is an almost archetypal example of the were super, even if the
  Hulk's <I>body<I> isn't animalistic. It's even more telling that the earliest version of
  the Hulk had a Cyclic Change, trading control with Bruce Banner at sunset and sunrise.
  Wolvesbane from the New Mutants is explicitly a werewolf, although one who suffers from
  no automatic shift. And while the owner of the Guyver (from the manga, anime and live
  film of the same name) technically activates a battlesuit, that battlesuit is a living
  part of his body; he effectively becomes a different order of being when it wraps itself
  around him. His primary foes <\208> the Zoanids and their ilk <\#208> are certainly
  weres, able to tap into ancient genetic potential to turn into monstrous beasts. 
  @TEXT:On the other hand, morphs have an equally long history in comics, dating back to
  Chameleon Boy (and his villaneous counterpart, Chameleon King) from DC's <I>The Legion of
  Super-Heroes<I>, and even further. They are more frequently found as villains (or
  villains' minions) than as heroes, but depending on the tone of the campaign, they can
  make excellent team players. 
  @TEXT:These few examples barely scratch the surface. A surprising number of character
  concepts work as well with a were-form as with any other mechanism; don't overlook this
  option when trying to implement that obscure design. Supers require less justification
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  than most other varieties of shifter, which allows for greater flexibility. 
  @TEXT:Of course, genre considerations do come into play. External triggers for weres and
  the need for samples for morphs are both common. Super weres often suffer from extreme
  cases of split personality; super morphs are often insane, ranging from relatively simple
  megalomania (based on the "obvious" fact that if they can be anyone at all, they
  <I>must<I> be better than everyone) to a near-schizoid depression (if I can become
  anyone, is there really a <I>me</>?). 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Shapeshifting and the Absorb Super-skills 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>GURPS Supers<$> includes among its many options three super-skills which
  may be of interest to players trying to implement a unique or unusual design. <I>Absorb
  Attribute<I> (p. SU55), <I>Drain Skill<I> (p. SU59) and <I>Drain Super Ability<I> (p.
  SU60) all allow the character to "borrow" abilities from other characters. It is possible
  and in some cases desirable <\#208> to Link (p. CI00) a shapeshifting advantage to one of
  these skills. Doing so can turn the super-skill into a "power supply" or catalyst for the
  change. This can take two forms: In the first, the character may only shapechange when he
  is "charged up" with absorbed points. A morph using this option may be required to steal
  points from someone whose shape he wants to copy. In some ways, this would be similar to
  applying the "Cannot Reuse Forms" and "Needs Sample" limitations. In the second option,
  the character automatically changes into his alternate form upon absorbing the points,
  and cannot change back until the absorbed points have worn off. For even more confusion,
  characters with multiple forms may have a different Absorb superskill linked to each one. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Players considering this combination should note that the three superskills
  have radically different durations spanning several orders of magnitude, and should
  design their characters accordingly. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Weremachines 
  @TEXT:Ultratech and ultramagic societies may seek to fuse a pleasing form with necessary
  function by creating creatures who can become needed tools and machines at will or need.
  Such beings are called weremachines. They are as much companions as equipment; in some
  ultramagic civilizations they are often engineered to be familiars as well. They are
  sometimes unique creatures (suitable as McGuffins in the appropriate plots), but in some
  settings they will be mass-produced. 
  @TEXT:Each "species" or model will have a specific machine form that it can assume. These
  are rarely small and simple devices <\#208> one does not design an expensive
  bioengineered creature simply to become a toaster. Rather, they turn into large machines
  that can benefit from ease of maintenance and portability during their downtimes: cars,
  starships, or weapons, for example. Some are specialty equipment <\#208> sensors,
  professional tools, and other devices which are small, valuable, and frequently fragile,
  which could profit from a sturdier alternate form. A few are bodyguard robots or escape
  pods. They will rarely be any kind of device that is static and unmoving, like a
  refrigeration unit. 
  @TEXT:A culture making extensive use of weremachines could possibly have dozens or
  hundreds of varieties living among them, either as pets or as almost-wildlife, available
  to any to use. Depending on the culture's viewpoint on such things, they may be sterile
  or fertile; fertile weremachines will not only breed, but evolution and natural selection
  will improve both the animal <I>and<I> the machine forms. It will be rare, however, for
  different kinds of fertile weremachines to be interfertile, because the results will be
  unpredictable <\#208> the thought of what might result should the howitzer-cat and the
  lynx-guardian breed can intimidate even the most anarchic of biodesigners. 
  @TEXT:For the convenience of their masters, they are often sentient. As such, they can
  make good player characters <\#208> or at the very least dependents and allies. Character
  weremachines should build their machine form using the rules found on pp. 5-52 and 82-91
  of <BI>GURPS Robots<$>, treating their "model package" like an animal template (p. 00). 
  @TEXT:Machine forms are built with a cyborg brain; the "natural" brain of the base form
  carries over into the machine. Weremachines will also almost always have a skill
  appropriate to their mechanical function, such as driving or piloting for those which
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  turn into vehicles, or a combat skill for those which become weapons. 
  @TEXT:Base animal forms are best based on some variety of small mammal: cats, dogs,
  ferrets and rabbits all make good starting places. Restrictive cultures may build them
  with Slave Mentality, Dependencies, and other disadvantages that would ensure control
  over them. 
  @TEXT:The definitive example of a weremachine in fiction is Ryo-Ohki from the various
  versions of the anime <I>Tenchi-Muyo!:<$> a hand-sized cat-rabbit hybrid which can turn
  into powerful, beweaponed starship and back again. In one edition of the story, she is a
  unique ultratech creation; in another, she is one of a breeding species. In yet a third,
  she turns not into a starship, but a humanoid mecha. Certainly a most versatile
  creature.<!s>.<!s>. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Spellcasting While Changed 
  @TEXT-BOX:Shamanic shifters, hengeyokai, and other varieties of shapechangers may have
  the desire or need to cast spells while in an animal form. If the gameworld does not
  allow the optional Spell Ritual rules (p. B00), they're out of luck unless the GM grants
  them special dispensation. If the Spell Ritual rules <I>are<I> in effect, the were must
  possess a sufficient level of skill in the desired spell to perform it within the
  limitations of his animal form (Mute and/or No Fine Manipulators usually being the
  deciding factors). 
  @TEXT-BOX:In either situation, some GMs may allow unencumbered spellcasting by weres
  whose animal forms are sufficiently close to human <\#208> simians such as apes or yeti,
  primarily, but generally anything with functional hands and a voice should qualify. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Spellcasting shifters whose base forms are have no manipulators, are mute or
  both (such as some varieties of Hengeyokai <\#208> see pp. 00-00) will almost always
  possess spells which can be cast without difficulty in those forms. Any shifter with
  <I>innate<I> spells will also suffer no penalties for their use in any of their shapes. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Undead and Shapeshifting 
  @TEXT:Traditionally, vampires are shapeshifters as well as undead; wolves and bats are
  the two animals into which they most frequently change. While the <BI>GURPS<$> standard
  vampire package already accounts for such abilities, GMs or players may choose to create
  their own custom variants. In such a case, combining the vampire's basic abilities with a
  full were-form or two <\#208> or worse, Morph <\#208> can result in a subtle and deadly
  character <\#208> or foe. 
  @TEXT:Other undead-were connections can be found; possibly best known is the undead state
  of the victims of a werewolf described in the film <I>An American Werewolf in London.<I>
  But many traditions provide a more immediate link. 
  @D-HEAD:The Werewolf-Vampire Connection 
  @TEXT:In Eastern Europe and other parts of the world, were-creatures and the local
  variety of vampires are often intimately connected. The "standard" movie (and gaming)
  vampire can shift into a wolf, and even today the Greek and the Slavic languages
  frequently use the word <I>vryk<\#151>lakas<I> or its cognates to refer to both
  creatures. In Gypsy folkore vampires and werewolves are related, though two different
  beasts. Similarly, the Filipino <I>aswang,<I> the Portuguese <I>bruxsa<I> and
  <I>cucubuth,<I> and the Serbian <I>wurdalak<I> all display vampiric traits. The latter,
  though, is emblematic of the most typical belief in many regions: a werewolf is
  <I>guaranteed<I> to become a vampire upon its death. 
  @TEXT:Returning as a vampire <\#208> perhaps as one of the more exotic varieties found in
  <BI>GURPS Bloodtypes<$> rather than the default <BI>GURPS<$> vampire <\#208> may be an
  attractive option for some players of were-characters. Of course, the newly-undead PC
  will find he possesses far different priorities than he used to have. If the GM chooses
  to implement this bit of folklore in his campaign, it is best to cloak it in as much
  confusion and contradiction as possible, to prevent exploitation by his players. 
  @D-HEAD:Werewolves and Ghosts.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT:In Western Europe, were-creatures <\#208> particularly werewolves <\#208> were
  sometimes called "angry ghosts." A typical example is the case of the Werewolf of
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  Ansbach, who plagued that German city in 1685 and was rumored to be the town's dead
  mayor. If such a creature were to appear in a game, it would likely have a ghost,
  revenant or similar being as its base form. (See <BI>GURPS Undead<$> for complete racial
  packages describing many possible candidates). Additionally, the undead/werecreature
  would have to have a <I>very<I> good reason <\#208> at least in its own opinion <\#208>
  for coming back to prey upon the living in such a manner. 
  @TEXT:Alternately, the ghost-were may well be the lingering shifted form of an individual
  who was employing a Projected Were-form (see main text, p. 00) when he passed away.
  Depending on the manner in which he died, such a ghost may or may not be angry <\#208>
  but either way, it probably will have a serious agenda to pursue. 
  @TEXT:Those that do would tend to be Obsessed or suffer from Compulsive Behaviors, like
  many other ghosts. They may not always be the best company <\#208> and any other
  characters had best be sure that they are not included among the people central to the
  ghost's particular motivation! 
  @C-HEAD:"Scientific" Shifting 
  @TEXT:Besides the nanosystems and other possibilities expressed in <BI>GURPS Biotech,<$>
  there are other ways to quantify shapeshifting in a scientific or pseudo-scientific
  manner. Most of these fall properly in the realm of "rubber science," but as such are
  perfectly valid in any but the most restrictive "hard science" game. Genres from modern
  (<I>X-Files<I>-style) conspiracy through <BI>Atomic Horror<$> all the way to any of a
  million varieties of <BI>Space<I> and <BI>Cyberpunk<I> can accept weres and morphs with
  the proper hand-waving. 
  @TEXT:Most of the possibilities for "scientific" shape-changing revolve around an odd,
  damaged or enhanced metabolism. Again, the GM and the player should collaborate on the
  specifics <\#208> controlled cyclic forms of cancer, the ability to activate traits
  encoded in the character's introns (the genetic "dead space" in his DNA), "atavistic
  regression" using biofeedback methods, an engineered body exchanged with the natural one
  using a dimensional shunting system.<!s>.<!s>. the possibilities are only limited by your
  grasp of technobabble. 
  @TEXT:The intent to remain "scientific" will of course demand more rigorous attention to
  realism when desigining the shifter. If there is a noticeable difference in mass between
  forms, special effects and disadvantages representing the need to absorb and dispose of
  that mass may be needed. The change may impose strange biological processes or needs that
  may be expressed as Dependencies, Vulnerabilities and Life Support issues. Worse,
  shifting that comes from odd metabolic traits or strange diseases may also carry along
  "timebomb" disadvantages like Terminally Ill. 
  @TEXT:No matter the cause of the change, it is certain that mind-body interface issues
  will impose personality changes on the character. These may be large enough to merit
  quantification with mental disadvantage such as Split Personality, Overconfidence, or (at
  the very worst) the retention of an animal template's Bestial and Presentient traits. The
  precise changes are of course dependent upon the shifter's base personality and the
  nature of his alternate form(s). 
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  Shapeshifting
  Well, I like you. You're nice, and you're funny. And you don't smoke. Yeah, okay, werewolf, but that's not
  all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I'm not much fun to be around either.
  -- Willow to Oz, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  Over thousands of years of myth, legend and fiction, mankind has created a vast variety of creatures and
  beings of variable form. Despite their apparent differences, certain common themes and mechanisms can
  be found among them, regardless of their origins.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:About This Chapter
  @TEXT-BOX:The rules in this chapter supplement and in some cases supercede those found in
  Compendium I's various shifting advantages and disadvantages. Specifically, the game effects described
  for Animal Form (p CI33), Shapeshifter (pp. CI43-44), and Untrained Shapechanging (p. CI100) are now
  subsumed under the were-form rules in the main text on pp. 00-00. Similarly, as far as weres are
  concerned, Multiple Forms (p. CI62), Transformation (p. CI68) and Uncontrolled Change (p. CI105) no
  longer apply.
  (((END BOX)))
  Taxonomy
  When stripped of their special effects and their unique stories, virtually all the shapeshifters in fiction and
  myth -- and in gaming -- can be reduced to two distinct varieties: the morph and the were.
  The Morph
  The Morph is the creature of a thousand forms. Whether or not it possesses a "native" shape matters little
  -- it survives day-to-day with its ability to assume almost any other form. It may do so either for
  protection or predation; it may require a simple visual contact, or genetic samples, or wholesale
  consumption to acquire a pattern to duplicate. It may acquire the original's memories, or simply its
  appearance. But in the end, it can be anything or anyone, and in some cases, all of them at once.
  Examples of the morph include "Odo" from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Thing from the 1982 John
  Carpenter movie of the same name (as well as "Who Goes There?", the John W. Campbell story on
  which the film was based), and the T-1000 "liquid metal" terminator in the film Terminator 2.
  The Were
  The Were (short for "were-creature" -- see the glossary, p. 00) is a being which alternates between a fixed
  set of two or more pre-defined bodies -- none of which are necessarily human. Its ability to change may
  be entirely voluntary, or completely out of its control. Unlike the morph, it often demonstrates different
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  personality traits and even different personalities in its different bodies.
  The majority of shapeshifters in myth and legend are weres. Furthermore, this definition is very broad
  and includes many types of shapeshifters who at first glance may not appear to be the same type of
  creature as a werewolf; but any being which possesses two or more distinct, predefined bodies, no matter
  the reason or mechanism, is a were.
  Examples of the were range from the classic werewolf of legend and its various cousins from the world
  over, through its more monstrous incarnations in horror films, to such apparently unlikely candidates as
  Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde and victims of the Jusenkyo curses of the Japanese manga/anime Ranma 1/2.
  That Thing You Do -- Basic Mechanisms
  Excluding spells and certain magic items, there are two primary mechanisms for creating shapeshifting
  characters in GURPS. Which to choose depends on the nature of the character being designed.
  Remember, all that matters on the game level is how those changes are quantified, not why they happen.
  So a person under a shapechanging curse (as in Ladyhawke or Ranma 1/2) is as much a were as a Garou
  from GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse; and any creature that can steal or copy another's shape (DS9's
  "Founders", "The Thing") is a morph. Another good rule of thumb is that (by default) a morph never
  undergoes a personality change no matter what form he takes, while a were frequently does.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Spells and Devices
  @BODY:Shapechanging via "outside" means such as spells and magic items is not really shifting as
  defined by this book. No matter how "internalized" his spell and his mana are, a mage with a Shapeshift
  spell is simply not a morph or a were.
  @BODY:But Ensorcelled Shapeshifts (see p. G39) and items which grant similar effects are gray areas.
  There's little functional difference between a person Ensorcelled with Great Shapeshifting, and a Morph
  with a Cure/Cursebreak limitation. Likewise, no few creatures of myth that would otherwise be defined
  as standard weres resemble ordinary people with extraordinary magic items.
  @BODY:When it comes to items, if the item works only for the individual -- like the skins of Selkies (p.
  00) and the feathered cloaks of Swan Mays (p. 00) -- the character is a shifter. If anyone with the correct
  knowledge and the Fatigue to spend can trigger the effect, then the owner is just someone with a standard
  magic item.
  @BODY:The use of a Shapeshift spell in the usual manner does not make a were or morph of the
  recipient. But Ensorcelled versions are a different matter; if the problem of dwindling IQ is somehow
  defeated where necessary, they effectively turn the recipient into the appropriate kind of shapeshifter.
  The GM should feel free to calculate the point total for an equivalent shapechanging advantage -- and
  Unusual Background, if needed in the campaign -- and assess that cost against the character.
  (((END BOX)))
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  Building A Morph
  In GURPS, a morph character is built with the super advantage of the same name, found on p. 61 of
  GURPS Compendium I. (This is a generic, "baseline" morph ability; if more flexibility is desired,
  consult the version found on p. 63 of GURPS Supers. While it is a bit more expensive and has its own
  limitations, it is also far more flexible in terms of the range of sizes and shapes possible.)
  Variations on the basic Morph ability -- such as changes in the number of or need for memorized forms,
  access to a subject's memories, and the like -- are handled with the standard enhancement/limitations
  rules found on pp. CI107-112. Some new morph-specific enhancements and limitations can be found on
  pp. 00-00.
  Morph characters may also find the Change Control (p. CI138) skill useful.
  For the most part, Morph characters are simple and straightforward in design. As a result, there is little
  need to cover the process of their creation in detail. However, this should not be taken to mean that all
  morphs are alike -- quite the contrary. Several examples of Morph-based characters and races are
  provided in Chapter 3 in order to demonstrate the range of possibilities available to the player. Don't be
  fooled into thinking that one morph is like any other morph!
  By default, a morph has the following characteristics: He can memorize any form which he has seen,
  whether in person or at a remove, such as via television or a photograph. None of the original model's
  knowledge is acquired -- only appearance. Within the size/mass limits of the Morph advantage, the
  copied form is a perfect duplicate, visually, but the morph's internal structure and genetic code (if any) do
  not change. He has complete control over his changes to and from his memorized forms, with no
  involuntary or compulsive aspects to the shift, but cannot blend or mix forms. The change is limited to
  the body; clothing is not acquired or lost in the transformation, although it can be simulated as an integral
  part of a memorized shape.
  Building A Were
  Compared to a morph, building a were character is somewhat more complicated. The Quick-and-Dirty
  creation rules provided on p. 98 of Bestiary, Third Edition (and reproduced in the box on p. 00) describe
  the basics of the process, but they result in only the simplest of weres -- specifically, those with a change
  to animal form that is always under the character's control.
  At the heart of the Quick-and-Dirty rules is the process of turning an alternate form into an advantage
  (or, in some cases, a disadvantage), which can be then added to a character's point total. The alternate
  form itself is usually a combination of an animal template (see pp. BE104-113) and any additional
  character traits needed to define the form properly. (In some cases, though, the template may not be for
  an animal, but for a human or some other sentient race. See the sample character "Ripper" in the sidebar
  on p. BE98.)
  The alternate form is, in effect, an "overlay." It is the sum of all the differences between the base form
  and the were-form, differences that come into play only when the alternate form is activated. It is not a
  full character in and of itself, even if it possesses a Split Personality. It is, rather, a Switchable advantage,
  built from a number of subsidiary advantages and attribute boosts, with a set of attendant Temporary
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  Disadvantages (a Nuisance Effect limitation, as described on pp. BIO137-9 and in the box on p. 00).
  By default, a Quick-and-Dirty were has the following characteristics: The shifter has complete control
  over his changes to and from the were-form, with no involuntary or compulsive aspect to the shift. The
  change is limited to his body -- clothing and equipment must be removed first, or risk entanglement or
  damage. Unless otherwise altered at creation, the animal form will have an animal's IQ, mental
  limitations, and priorities. And finally, the character will normally possess no special vulnerabilities or
  weaknesses except those normally possessed by the template animal.
  Like the morph, some weres will find the Change Control skill useful to their character conception.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Quick-and-Dirty Shapeshifting
  @TEXT-BOX:The following "rule of thumb" for fast creation of a character with a were-form comes
  from p. 98 of GURPS Bestiary, Third Edition. It assumes the simplest case: an animal wereform with
  completely voluntary control over the change.
  @TEXT-BOX:Treat an alternate form as an advantage, with the point cost calculated as follows:
  @TEXT-BOX:1. Create the beast form as you would any character. (GURPS Compendium I lists many
  traits suitable for beasts. GURPS Bestiary, Third Edition lists a number of animal templates suitable for
  were-forms.) Exclude any physical traits the base form already possesses (for example, Combat
  Reflexes).
  @TEXT-BOX:2. Total everything with a positive cost to produce a "positive point total" (PPT). Total all
  negative values to get "negative point total" (NPT). For changes in attribute levels and existing traits, use
  the difference in the costs between the forms (e.g., a ST 11 human who has ST 15 in beast form adds 50
  points to PPT; a Wealthy human who turns into a Dead Broke beast adds -45 points to NPT).
  @TEXT-BOX:3. Apply NPT as a percentage limitation on PPT (e.g., NPT -40 becomes a -40%
  limitation on PPT). The limitation cannot exceed -75%, regardless of NPT (e.g., NPT -100 would give
  only a -75% limitation). Moreover, the point savings due to the limitation cannot exceed 80% of NPT
  (e.g., NPT -50 and PPT 100 would result in a -50% limitation, normally worth -50 points, but since this
  would exceed 80% of -50 points, or -40 points, it is reduced to -40 points). (This is the Nuisance Effect:
  Temporary Disadvantage limitation; see sidebar, p. 00.)
  (((END BOX)))
  Going Beyond Quick-And-Dirty
  While this may be perfectly acceptable to many players, some may want more control over the specifics
  of their PCs' shapechanging abilities. To this end, new disadvantages, enhancements, and limitations
  specific to the shapeshifting character are provided on pp. 00-00.
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  The Template
  The first step in the process of designing a were is to select what creature is the basis for the were-form,
  and define it as a template -- a "racial package" for a specific type of animal. Several sample animal
  templates are found in Chapter 4, and many more can be found in the Bestiary. If the species you want
  isn't among these, you can build your own from scratch using Chapter 5 of Bestiary, or you can use the
  ones in this book as models.
  A template for a natural animal will normally include many traits that may be inappropriate or unwanted
  in the final character, such as Bestial and Presentient. Do not remove these from the template. They
  contribute to the final proper cost of the "racial package," and even if they are just going to be bought off
  later, eliminating them at this point can often be a false economy. Keep the template self-contained.
  Exceptions: One exception to this is, as noted above, any template trait already possessed by the base
  form which is desired in the were-form. Although it fails the "reality check" for a racial package, it is less
  trouble to simply leave it out of the template than to buy it twice and buy it back once.
  Another exception is a hybrid form, like the classic wolf-man. These can frequently get far too
  complicated and inefficient when built off an animal template. In such cases, it is enough to simply
  delineate all the changes without worrying about modifying a pre-existing package.
  Fleshing Out the Were-Form
  At this point, the were-form is the animal template. For players seeking a no-frills, no-complications
  were, this will be sufficient, but the were-form will then be little more than a normal animal who has a
  vague memory of having been human. Many players will want to change this.
  The were-form is not modified by changing the animal template, but by tabulating the desired changes
  separate from but alongside of it. Remember, the template is like a racial package -- traits are not
  removed from the package, simply bought off or modified in the individual character.
  The most common changes will be raising the form's IQ and buying off the more severe mental
  disadvantages like Bestial, Presentient and Innumerate. Certain physical advantages and disadvantages
  are also inappropriate to a were-form and should be bought off in all but the most unusual circumstances.
  Early Maturation and Short Lifespan in particular, because most were-forms are not limited by the
  animal template's life cycle and lifespan, but anything else that would be nonsensical or contradictory
  should be eliminated.
  Exception: If the character is a child, Early Maturation could be retained to describe a were-form that
  matures faster than the base form.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:You Turn Into WHAT?
  @TEXT-BOX:Most gamers will be aware that were-creatures are by no means limited to wolves.
  However, as counterintuitive as it might appear, the alternate form of a were need not be an animal. In
  fact, it need not even be a different species from the base form. Fiction is filled with people who change
  into different human bodies: Saotome Ranma from Takahashi Rumiko's Ranma 1/2 is one example; Dr.
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  Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (from the story by Robert Louis Stevenson) can be interpreted as another.
  @TEXT-BOX:Alternate forms may also be other intelligent races, as in the case of the legends of dragon
  shifters who frequently took human form. But the options do not stop there. Japanese anime and manga
  are particularly rich sources of unusual weres: Ranma 1/2 has (among others) Pansuto-Tarou, whose
  shifting curse incorporated a half-dozen different animals into a single hybrid monster, and the girl
  Rouge, who turned into an animated (and malevolent) statue of a Hindu demon. Birdy The Mighty
  postulates a symbiotic relationship between a human and an alien sharing a body that alternates between
  their two forms (and genders!). Tenchi Muyo! demonstrates the weremachine (p. 00) in the form of
  Ryo-ohki -- a rabbit-sized creature that can turn into a giant crystalline starship. And even more exotic
  possibilities can be found. If you can build it with points and play it as a character, you can turn it into a
  were-form.
  (((END BOX)))
  Raising Attributes
  Remember that when raising or lowering attributes from the animal template's levels, you are buying off
  an advantage or disadvantage and pay points accordingly. Bringing a were-form's IQ, for example, up
  from 4 to 10 costs 50 points, not 80.
  Other Changes
  Buy back any of the animal template's other traits that are not wanted in the final were-form, although
  these will probably be few. Similarly, any traits of the base form which are not wanted in the were-form
  should be bought off or back as well.
  This is also the time to add new features specific to the were-form, starting with the mundane and
  extending up into such supernatural or racial traits as the traditional Vulnerability and/or Weakness to
  silver, an Infectious Attack, and so on. If the base form is subject to some infirmity -- such as One Hand
  or Lame: Crippled Leg -- that is not desired in the were-form, buy it off at this time, too. However, some
  traits -- such as Split Personality, Reciprocal Rest and Non-Reciprocal Damage -- should actually be
  taken by the base form.
  Calculating Costs
  After assembling the final collection of changs that will comprise were-form, the next steps are the same
  as in the Quick-and-Dirty rules. Add up everything with a positive point cost to come up with the
  "positive point total" (PPT). Do the same for items with a negative point cost to produce the "negative
  point total" (NPT).
  Example: Alison is building a wereleopard. After she finishes customizing the were-form, it has a PPT of
  205 and an NPT of -183.
  Next, apply NPT as a percentage limitation on PPT (e.g., NPT -40 becomes a -40% limitation on PPT).
  The limitation cannot exceed -75%, regardless of NPT (e.g., NPT -100 would give only a -75%
  limitation). Moreover, the point savings due to the limitation cannot exceed 80% of NPT (e.g., NPT -50
  and PPT 100 would result in a -50% limitation, normally worth -50 points, but since this would exceed
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  80% of -50 points, or -40, it is reduced to -40 points).
  Example: Alison calculates costs. NPT -183 is larger than -75, so it becomes a -75% limitation. -75% of
  the PPT is -154 points. But that's larger than 80% of NPT, which is -146 points. The final discount is
  -146 points, for a were-form cost of 205 - 146 = 59 points.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Morph or Were?
  @TEXT-BOX:Whether adapting a shifter from an outside source or creating a new character from
  scratch, at some point the question will be raised: is this a morph or a were?
  @TEXT-BOX:As self-evident as this might seem, it is not always clear from the source or concept. One
  example would be the so-called "true were," from Spider Robinson's later Callahan's stories, who turned
  into whatever he was closest to when the full moon rose. Despite the name, this character was clearly a
  morph (at least in GURPS terms), as he had no predefined alternate form.
  (((END BOX)))
  Modifying The Were-form
  The final step, above and beyond the Quick-and-Dirty rules, is to modify the entire were-form itself. At
  this point the player may choose to apply enhancements and limitations that affect the accessibility and
  usefulness of the were-form as a whole. For example, a traditionalist may decide that his character is
  subject to a Cyclic Change, being forced to shift with every full moon. Another may make his character's
  change Absorptive, so he need not worry about clothing and equipment.
  Example: Alison wants her wereleopard to have to change on the full moon. Going with the default
  minimum duration of one hour, this is a -20% limitation (see box, p. 00), which makes the final cost 59
  points less 20% = 48 points.
  Advantages and Disadvantages
  Under these rules, certain existing GURPS advantages and disadvantages have special applications.
  Others are overruled entirely. In addition, there are a number of new traits that apply only to
  shapechangers.
  Existing Advantages
  Animal Form . . . . p. CI33
  This advantage has been superceded by these rules.
  Lycanthropic Dominance . . . . p. CI60
  This advantage must be purchased by the base form, and cannot be bought off during the construction of
  were-forms. Exception: If the were-form is a Split Personality, it may buy this advantage instead of the
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  base form.
  Multiple Forms . . . . p. CI62
  Usage for were-creatures superceded by these rules.
  Non-Reciprocal Damage . . . . p. CI41
  This should be purchased by the base form. It may be "bought off" in any were-form the character
  possesses, if the player so chooses; in that case, the selected were-form and the base form share any
  damage suffered.
  Reciprocal Rest . . . . p. CI43
  This should be purchased by the base form. It may be "bought off" in any were-form the character
  possesses, if the player so chooses; in that case, the selected were-form does not rest when not in use.
  Reputation . . . . p. B17
  In settings where weres and morphs are part of the established social or religious order, or where they are
  seen as representatives of and/or messengers from totem spirits or gods, they will have a positive Racial
  Reputation.
  Shapeshifter . . . . pp. CI43-44
  Superceded by these rules.
  Transformation . . . . p. CI68
  Usage for were-creatures superceded by these rules.
  Unusual Background . . . . p. B23
  In many campaigns, being a were will require an Unusual Background. The point cost is paid by the base
  form. Also, while it is not part of the were-form, this advantage may not be bought off as part of its
  construction.
  Vampiric Invulnerability . . . . p. CI70
  Certain types of weres -- including (but not limited to) the Garou from GURPS Werewolf: The
  Apocalypse, demonstrate an ability to shrug off the effects of vast amounts of damage. Use Vampiric
  Invulnerability to represent this. The built-in weakness to fire can be retained or changed to another
  attack form (usually silver) at the player's (or GM's) choice.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Animal Template: Wolf
  @TEXT-BOX:Adapted from p. BE112, this is a standard, "natural" wolf.
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST -1 [-10]; DX +4 [45]; IQ -5 [-40]; HT +2 [20].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Acute Hearing +4 [8]; Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8]; Alertness +5 [25];
  Claws [15]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Discriminatory Smell (Works as Empathy within 2 hexes, +50%)
  [23]; Enhanced Dodge [15]; Enhanced Move ¥1/2 [5]; Four Legs [5]; Penetrating Call [5]; Sharp Teeth
  [5]; Thick Fur [29]; Ultrahearing [5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Bestial [-10]; Chummy [-5]; Color Blindness [-10]; Dull [-1];
  Gluttony [-5]; Horizontal [-10]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead
  Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Short Lifespan ¥5 [-50]; Sleepy (50%) [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian)
  [-15]; Staid [-1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Brawling-DX [1]; Running-HT [4]; Stealth-DX [2].
  @TEXT-BOX:PPT: +235; NPT: -272. Cost as a racial template: -37 points. Cost as a Quick-and-Dirty
  wereform: 59 points. Note that if used "as-is" for a wereform, the character becomes a beast in mind as
  well as body, with only the broadest strokes of his personality remaining when changed. He will retain
  all his memories, indecipherable as they may be to his wolf-mind, as well as his feelings for friends and
  enemies.
  @TEXT-BOX:While this is consistent with some werewolves in myth and fiction, it may be less than
  enjoyable for some players. Feel free to revise the template as necessary to fit the player's conception of
  the wereform.
  (((END BOX)))
  Existing Disadvantages
  Addiction . . . . p. B30
  A were might be addicted to a drug which caused (or prevented!) his change -- or to the change itself!
  Code of Honor . . . . p. B31
  A character who can change shape because of his religious or cultural heritage (see pp. 00-00 and the
  Jaguar Warrior, pp. 00-00) may possess a Code of Honor defining the proper and improper uses of his
  shifting talent. Gross violation of that code may restrict or prevent his use of the talent, depending on its
  source.
  Compulsive Behavior . . . . p. B32
  If a were-form possesses any kind of Compulsive Behavior, it must be indulged at least once each time
  the were-form manifests.
  Morally Opposed: A were-form which is one part of a Split Personality may have a Compulsive
  Behavior to act in a manner opposite to the base form's moral and ethical leanings. This does not
  automatically make the were-form an NPC (see p. 00), but it does make it an excellent candidate for that
  optional rule. -10 points.
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  Lifewrecker: Like "Morally Opposed" but worse. The were-form not only acts opposite to the base form's
  moral and ethical code, it goes out of its way to do harm to the base form's life and friends. This can
  range from mysterious animal deaths that point suspiciously at the base form to killing the base form's
  friends and lovers. In the most extreme case, if the were-form is reasonably invulnerable, it will leave
  incontrovertable evidence that it is the base form where authorities (or perhaps just villagers with torches
  and pitchforks) can find it. -15 points.
  Delusions . . . . p. B32
  One obvious delusion is "I am not a shapeshifter." While this could be bought off in were-form, it may be
  amusing and fun to play someone in an animal form and in denial about it at the same time.
  Another might be, "There is a cure for my were-form." This can be paired with an appropriate Obsession
  for a particularly single-minded character.
  A morph might suffer from the delusion "I really am who I appear to be," or its inverse, "My base form is
  just another shape I can take; I have no real identity of my own."
  Of course, a shifter who insists on discussing his ability in an otherwise mundane setting will have a
  delusion in the eyes of others -- which he must take in the base form.
  Duty . . . . p. B39
  A character who is shapechanger because of his religious or cultural heritage (see pp. 00-00 and the
  Jaguar Warrior, pp. 00-00) may have a duty to an institution or organiztion that endorsed or provided his
  alternate form(s). Failure to live up to that duty might result in the reduction or elimination of his
  accessibility to those forms.
  Enemies . . . . p. B39
  Most weres would all-too-likely have special enemies -- the police, monster-hunters, rival weres, the
  Church in medieval Europe, and so on. Even in cultures where shifters are accepted or even respected,
  they may have enemies in the form of citizens or agents of enemy nations or members of opposed
  religions.
  Infectious Attack . . . . p. CI97
  This disadvantage can be taken only by were-forms, not the base form.
  Lecherousness . . . . p. B34
  When possessed by a were-form, this could be either of two different behaviors. First, the were-form
  could have a strong physical desire for the opposite sex of the same animal template as the were. If the
  base form and the were-form share the same mind, the were will pursue and enjoy his liaisons while in
  were-form, but may feel quite differently about it when back in his normal shape!
  The second option is classically cinematic: the were-form, no matter what its animal template, has an
  inordinate fondness for attractive members of its base species' opposite sex.
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  Odious Personal Habit . . . . p. B26
  In most game worlds, "Eats Sentients" is a 15-point Odious Personal Habit. Note that if all weres are
  thought to eat humans, that's a Reputation. If all weres do eat humans, that's an Odious Racial Habit ...
  and possibly a Dependency, depending on why.
  Reputation . . . . p. B17
  In settings where weres and morphs are portrayed as bogeymen, or actually are creatures of evil, they
  will have a bad Racial Reputation unless they are completely underground.
  Split Personality . . . . p. B37
  Were-creatures traditionally suffer from some level of Split Personality, and particularly "enthusiastic"
  morphs may also display this disadvantage. At the -10 point level, the forms are all aware of each other
  and each can access vague, fuzzy memories of what the other forms did. At the -15-point level, each
  form suffers complete blackouts during the time another form is in control, memories are rigidly
  compartmentalized between the forms, and the character may not even be aware that he is a shapeshifter.
  See the box for details on how to handle the standard Split Personality mechanic within the context of a
  were character.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Split Personality and Were-Forms
  @TEXT-BOX:The Split Personality disadvantage normally results in multiple character sheets whose
  point totals must average out to the campaign starting value. However, were characters already have
  their alternative character sheets "rolled into" their main sheet, albeit in a highly-compressed form.
  @TEXT-BOX:If he wants to, a player certainly can use the Split Personality mechanic and build
  separate characters. But it's unnecessarily cumbersome. It's simpler to take Split Personality in the base
  form; the were-form(s) automatically becomes one of the personalities.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Optional Rule: NPC Were-forms
  @TEXT-BOX:If the player so desires, the were-form can be an NPC, under the complete control of the
  GM -- often appropriate for games set in or inspired by classic horror films. This normally requires the
  -15-point level of Split Personality, as well as a good in-character reason (demonic possession, an
  especially nasty curse, or the were-form is an otherwise normal animal are all good rationales). If the GM
  approves, make the final point value negative and take the were-form as a disadvantage.
  (((END BOX)))
  Uncontrolled Change . . . . p. CI105
  Usage for were-creatures is superceded by these rules.
  Untrained Shapechanging . . . . p. CI100
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  Superceded by these rules.
  Unusual Background . . . . p. B23
  In many campaigns, being a shapechanger will require an Unusual Background. The cost can vary
  widely, depending on the nature of the campaign and the power of the shifter. It must be paid by the base
  form.
  New Disadvantages
  Form Continuum . . . . -5 points/Alternate Form
  Prerequisite: 2 or more were-forms
  (Weres only.) The shifter has more than one were-form, but he cannot access them directly; he must
  move through a predefined sequence to reach the form he wants, taking the usual change time for each
  one. The player selects the sequence at character creation; once defined, it will never change. If for any
  reason he acquires a new form, he must select a place for it in the continuum. He must also take another
  level of this disadvantage, although as with any disadvantage gained during play, it is not actually worth
  any more points.
  The Garou of GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse have a five-step Form Continuum.
  Special Limitation: Random selection. You cannot choose which of your were-forms you'll take when
  you shift out of base form, or (if you have more than two) from one were-form to another. Determine the
  new form randomly, but you'll never get the form you started from. -30%. If the base form is included in
  the random determination: -45%.
  This disadvantage must be taken by the base form, and cannot be bought off in any of the were-forms.
  Morphs can suffer a similar restriction; see the "Morph Continuum" limitation on p. 00.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Signs of Being A Were
  @TEXT-BOX:Folklore and fiction are filled with "markers" which indicate that an individual is a
  shapeshifter of some sort:
  @TEXT-BOX:• Born "differently:" with a caul (especially on Christmas or the Winter Solstice); after an
  unusually long pregnancy; to a woman who died in childbirth; Caesarean birth; feet-first (breech birth);
  with teeth; the seventh son of a seventh son.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Born during the twelve nights between December 24 and January 6 (Epiphany).
  @TEXT-BOX:• Conceived at the new moon.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Possesses hairy palms, or their eyebrows meet in the middle.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Has six fingers on one hand or an extra vertebra.
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  @TEXT-BOX:• Has fur growing "on the inside."
  @TEXT-BOX:• A woman with extra nipples may be a werejaguar, in Brazilian lore.
  @TEXT-BOX:Which, if any, of these indicators are true in any given campaign is, of course, up to the
  GM.
  (((END BOX)))
  Revealing Trait . . . . Variable
  Something about you is sufficiently strange or different that an average person might guess that you are a
  shapeshifter even without seeing you change. Mirrors might reflect your other form instead of the one
  you're in, your presence may spook nearby animals, or you may simply have some physical
  characteristic(s) in either/any of your forms which local folklore associates with shapechangers (see the
  box on p. 00 for some examples). While Revealing Trait can represent a unique and new characteristic, it
  can also subsume such existing disadvantages as No Reflection, No Shadow (both p. CI103), Frightens
  Animals (p. CI97) and under the right conditions even Social Stigma (p. B27); when creating a new trait,
  use these disadvantages as guidelines for determining its point value.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Skills and Were-Forms
  @TEXT-BOX:Any skills possessed by the base form are retained by a were-form -- always. Unlike
  advantages and disadvantages, skills cannot be bought back in the process of building a were-form. Even
  if the alternate form cannot make use of them (Running for a were-eagle, for instance) they remain
  present and (at least theoretically) available. Exceptions: A were who retains the Presentient
  disadvantage (p. CI103) in his alternate form loses access to all M/A and harder skills when in that form,
  and his M/E skills are limited to his IQ. And a were with Split Personality can buy completely different
  skill sets for each personality.
  (((END BOX)))
  Shiting-Related Skills
  GURPS Compendium I lists two skills that relate directly to shape-changing.
  Change Control (Mental/Hard) . . . . p. CI138
  There are no alterations to the use of Change Control under these rules, except that morphs as well as
  weres are explicitly allowed to possess and employ it.
  Note that morphs may include a target's clothing as part of a copied shape, and such clothing is actually
  part of the morph's body. The GM may, at his option, allow a morph with the this skill to "swap" outfits
  between different memorized forms on a successful skill roll, as though they possesed the Improvised
  Forms enhancement. Differences in relative sizes may be handled automatically, or the GM may use the
  degree of success on the Change Control roll as an indicator of how well the "new" clothes "fit".
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  Not being able to use the Change Control skill is a limitation on your were-form or your Morph power.
  See p. 00.
  Note: If you have the leveled super-power variety of Morph from p. SU63 instead of the version found in
  Compendium I, you don't need the Change Control skill. Use your skill level for the super-power
  instead.
  Shapeshifting (Mental/Hard) . . . . p. CI144
  This skill was originally published in GURPS Voodoo (p. VO57) and applied only to spirits which could
  manifest in the physical world. Its availability to morphs in Compendium I is an error and should be
  ignored. (Use Change Control instead.) It is still available to planar travelers of various types, but note
  that its use causes only a cosmetic change in the character. For more substantive alterations to an astral or
  dream body, see "True Astral Were-Forms" on p. 00.
  New Enhancements and Limitations for Shifters
  Various special enhancements and limitations are available for both the Morph advantage and
  were-forms, in order to fine-tune how they work for a given character. Some of the following are suitable
  for both types of shifters, while others are specific to one or the other and will be so noted. Of course,
  shifter characters are not limited to only these; many of the existing enhancements and limitations found
  on pp. CI00-00 and SU49-54 can also be applied to a shapechanging talent.
  Enhancements
  Absorptive Change . . . . +5% to +25%
  (Weres only.) When a shifter changes forms, his clothes don't normally change with him. This can have
  results ranging from the comic to the tragic, depending on the resilience of the clothing and the size of
  the were-form. This advantage allows the shifter to absorb clothes and carried items when he changes
  form; they return intact and in place when he shifts back. The cost is +5% per Encumbrance level that
  can be absorbed: +5% for No Encumbrance, +10% for Light, and so on through to +25% for Extra
  Heavy Encumbrance.
  As noted, the Absorptive Change is on one direction of change only. It need not be on the transition from
  base form to were-form; if the player so chooses, it can be on the change back to base form, especially if
  there is a great difference in relative sizes. Buy this enhancement twice to handle changes in both
  directions; in such a case, the encumbrance levels need not be the same.
  Active Change . . . . +10%/+20%
  (Weres only.) The shifter can remain active during his change. At +10%, he can move and react to his
  surroundings, but cannot run, fight, cast spells or use any skill. The were can roll to Dodge attacks while
  changing, but only succeeds on a 3 or a 4. At +20%, the shifter can use any skill or ability possessed by
  both forms.
  (((START BOX)))
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Shifters and Martial Arts
  @TEXT-BOX:A character can know and use Karate or Judo, and even more advanced martial arts
  abilities, in his shifted form, provided the form's IQ is 7 or higher. (Below that, the were just doesn't have
  enough brainpower for anything beyond simple brawling.) However, since such most martial arts were
  designed for human beings, only humanoid shapes with hands can use these skills effectively.
  @TEXT-BOX:Of course, it is entirely possible to create a martial art designed expressly for use by
  non-human forms. A race of weres, for instance, may well develop two styles of Karate: one for their
  base form and another for their alternate. Such specialized combat styles would count as separate skills
  (perhaps defaulting to each other at -4 or more). See GURPS Martial Arts for details on customizing
  martial arts styles.
  (((END BOX)))
  Copies Personality . . . . +100%
  Prerequisite: Telereceive or the "Needs Sample" limitation.
  (Morphs only.) In addition to acquiring a target's shape, the morph also gains sufficient knowledge of
  memories and personality traits to eliminate the need for the Acting skill while impersonating him. The
  morph does not have access to anything beyond personality information and memories of friendships; he
  will know, for instance, how to greet a friend the target has known since childhood, but won't know the
  combination to the safe in the target's office. This knowledge is only available while in the appropriate
  form, and only as long as that form is one of your memorized shapes.
  If the GM allows it, acquiring the complete memories and personality of the target is an additional
  +100% (and may take much longer -- again, GM's option). This can include some skills -- Area
  Knowledges and some social skills are good candidates, but most scientific and physical skills are not.
  Skills are acquired at the target's level or the morph's appropriate attribute, whichever is lower. Access to
  the target's knowledge in other forms adds +50% to the cost. The ability to retain this knowledge after
  removing the form from your "morph memory" is another +100%, and all subsequent earned experience
  must be dedicated to paying for any skills or skill levels acquired in this manner!
  In either case, you temporarily acquire all the target's mental advantages and disadvantages, and all his
  quirks, for as long as you retain his shape. If necessary, you can turn them off and revert to your own
  personality, but by default they are dominant and control your behavior. They do not replace or remove
  your own existing mental traits; instead they simply take precedence for as long as you let them.
  Fast Change . . . . +25%
  You shift your shape faster than others of your kind. Weres change form in a single turn. Morphs change
  instantly, as a free action (see p. B97), although they may only change shape once in a turn.
  This enhancement cannot be combined with the Morph Continuum or Takes Extra Time (p. CI112)
  limitations.
  (((START BOX)))
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  @C-BOXHEAD:The Change
  @TEXT-BOX:While a morph takes but a single second to shift his shape, the default were change lasts
  2d6 seconds, during which the were can do nothing else. (However, see the Active Change enhancement,
  p. 00.) An involuntary change (Cyclic, Triggered) in progress cannot be halted or reversed by any means;
  it must run its course, no matter what. The same is true of a voluntary change except under the most
  unusual circumstances (GM's option, but at the barest minimum, a successful roll against Change Control
  should be required).
  @TEXT-BOX:A were's change is a strange and terrifying process. Witnesses who have never seen a
  change before, or didn't know the character was a were, must make an immediate Fright Check. The GM
  may require those who succeed to make a Will roll or else stop what they're doing and stare in
  fascination until the change is complete. (This is a non-magical fascination, and won't prevent someone
  from defending himself or providing for his own safety, but it might make both sides of a combat break
  off while the change is happening, and it would certainly make an enemy easier to surprise.) Of course,
  friends and family may grow used to the change; the GM may allow them to ignore both the Fright
  Check and the fascination if they've witnessed the character change often enough. This is by no means an
  absolute, though -- see Innocuous Change (p. 00) and Horrifying Change (p. 00).
  (((END BOX)))
  Genetic Match . . . . +50%/+100%
  Prerequisite: The "Needs Sample" limitation at no less than -15%, or the Improvised
  Forms enhancement.
  (Morphs only.) As part of your change, you generate a "shell" of flesh, skin and/or hair whose cells
  exactly mimic the physical and genetic structure of the original model whose form you are copying. You
  can also produce matching bodily fluids as needed for blood tests and the like. Any samples taken from
  you and any remote genetic scanning performed on you will thus register you as "genuine". (Biopsies and
  other deep samples will still reveal your real genetic structure.)
  This layer of skin also generates all the proper scents and pheremones for the individual or racial type
  which you are duplicating, and reacts automatically to irritants and allergens as the original would. If you
  need to, you can suppress these functions with an IQ roll.
  Note that the production of body fluids is not an automatic function, nor can you store such altered fluids
  in your body any longer than is needed for taking a sample. For example, if your blood is normally green,
  and you are shot while mimicking a human, you'll still bleed green, not red.
  At the +100% level, your entire body replicates the original target's genetic code and physical structure,
  "hiding" your true nature all the way down to a cellular level throughout your body. Only some means of
  actually scanning cell structure in detail will reveal your real cells "masquerading" as mitochondria or
  other organelles.
  Morphs with both this and the Improvised Forms enhancement (see below) automatically produce a valid
  generic DNA signature for the race or species as which they are masquerading -- even if that race is
  imaginary or a chimeric blend! (Unfortunately, it can't be used to make clones or for genetic engineering
  of any sort.) Otherwise, the character must have some way of acquiring a sample to duplicate.
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  This enhancement is of reduced utility in any setting where genetyping is unknown or unreliable; halve
  its value if bloodtyping and other simple checks are all that are available, and disallow it entirely if not
  even that is possible.
  Improvised Forms . . . . +75%/+100%
  (Morphs only.) You are not limited to the forms you have memorized. At the +75% level, with a
  successful Change Control roll you can mix and match parts from your memorized shapes to create a
  hybrid form. At the +100% level you can, with a successful roll, create new shapes out of your
  imagination, although you cannot acquire abilities that do not have a completely physical origin (for
  example, a dragon's flaming breath). In either case, in order to keep the new form after its first use, you
  still need a free morph "slot" to hold it.
  If you have both Improvised Forms and Genetic Match, you automatically generate a valid but inspecific
  genetic signature appropriate to the creature type you are impersonating. (If that happens to be an
  imaginary creature, the DNA so produced may be shocking to geneticists, but will prove unviable for
  cloning or other purposes.)
  Innocuous Change . . . . +5%
  Your transformation between forms is so mild in appearance that it inspires neither dazed fascination nor
  Fright Checks in those not used to it (see box, p. 00). You may be cloaked in golden haze that hides you
  from prying eyes, or you may "blip" suddenly from one shape to another, with no intervening stages.
  This enhancement does not alter the time it takes you to shift, simply the appearance of the process.
  This enhancement is not compatible with Slow Change or the "painful" level of Fatiguing Change.
  Shapestealer . . . . +100%
  Prerequisite: The "Needs Sample" limitation.
  (Morphs only.) You literally steal the shapes you take. The process of copying someone's form leaves the
  victim a fluid mass of jelly-like protoplasm. They lose all identifying characteristics, even down to
  species and order, and are rendered comatose. If you have the "Cannot Reuse Forms" limitation, the
  victim regains their shape (and consciousness) as soon as you stop using it; otherwise, they only regain
  their shape when you drop it from your repertoire. Ultratech methods, Weird Science or Weird Magic
  may also be able to restore your victims' shapes (or give them new ones), but nothing else will.
  Because of the potential for abuse in this enhancement, GMs may require the "Cannot Reuse Forms"
  limitation must be taken with it.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Shifters and Mana
  @TEXT-BOX:Magical shapechangers will normally revert to their base form in a no-mana area. Once
  they leave the no-mana zone their ability to change will usually return. However, if this is inconvenient
  for the campaign, the GM may rule that all magical shifters must possess the basic 25-point level of the
  Mana Enhancer advantage (p. CI40), making them mobile low-mana zones, capable of shifting
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  anywhere.
  (((END BOX)))
  Limitations
  Cannot Reuse Forms . . . . -50%
  (Morphs only.) Each form you copy can be used only once. You have no time limit on how long you can
  use it -- or on how long you can wait before you use it -- but once you shift to something else, it's no
  longer available to you.
  Cannot Use Change Control . . . . -5%
  The character cannot blend aspects of his various forms (be they Morph slots or were-forms) using the
  Change Control skill -- his shapeshifting is always all-or-nothing. He cannot even learn the skill.
  Cure/Cursebreak . . . . variable
  (Weres only.) Your were-form is unwanted, maybe even dangerous to the people around you, and there
  is some way to get rid of it -- or perhaps it's a gift with strings attached. Either way, if some special
  condition is fulfilled, your shapeshifting ability will go away. This is a limitation because it is a drastic
  vulnerability for the were-form -- enemies will try to exploit it, and well-meaning friends may try to
  accomplish it for you regardless of your wishes in the matter.
  Cures may range from relatively simple (renounce the cult you serve, or undergo an exorcism) to
  difficult (bathe in the water of a particular spring in a remote province of China) to the nearly-impossible
  (a lost Hermetic ritual during which the were must hold a piece of moon rock). Alternately, a cure might
  risk (or guarantee!) harm to the were; a good example is the tradition that states amputating a limb will
  cure a were. The easier it is to break the curse, or the less harm the cure inflicts, the more this limitation
  is worth, from -50% for simple or harmless conditions to -5% for impossible and/or potentially fatal
  ones.
  Add an additional -5% to the value if the cure is easily discovered through research or folklore, or -15%
  if it is common knowledge.
  Reduce the value by -10% (minimum final value 0%) if the cure only works if the victim cooperates.
  If the cure is only temporary, halve the final value of the limitation (rounding down) and define the
  conditions under which the were-form will return.
  If the character has more than one were-form, it is not necessary to apply this limitation to all the forms,
  although it would be appropriate if they are linked thematically.
  Furthermore, if the nature of the cure is such that it would normally cause damage either directly or
  indirectly, and the were-form possesses Invulnerability or Vampiric Invulnerability, the were-form must
  take a Vulnerability to the cure!
  It is up to the GM whether the points spent on the were-form(s) either disappear or are available for some
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  other use by the player when the curse is broken. (Of course, this does not apply to were-forms with
  "temporary" cures.) In the case of "educational" minor curses (see p. 00), it is certainly allowable for the
  PC to buy off the offending disadvantage(s) with the points so freed.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Searching For A Cure
  @TEXT-BOX:Note that just because the were-form has a cursebreak, it does not automatically follow
  that the character knows what it is, or even that it exists! More than a few weres in fiction spent a great
  deal of their time and energy on finding out whether or not their condition had a cure. GMs wishing to
  maintain any amount of suspense over this issue may wish to obfuscate the precise enhancements and
  limitations applied to were-forms (particularly infectious or latent ones) in their campaign. One
  possibility would be to simply give the player an aggregated modifier value along with as large or small a
  list of known "features" as the GM wishes. As the player spends time in his were-form, more information
  about it can be doled out as is necessary.
  @TEXT-BOX:Note that this option is more appropriate for a character who has acquired a were-form
  than for a member of a shapeshifting race (unless the latter has grown up ignorant of his abilities).
  (((END BOX)))
  Cyclic Change . . . . variable
  (Weres only.) The character is forced to assume his were-form on a regular basis. He has no choice in the
  matter; he changes automatically at the appropriate time. He must also remain in the were form for a
  certain minimum amount of time.
  The base discount depends on the frequency of the change:
  Less than once a year . . . . no discount
  Annually or Semi-annually . . . . -5%
  Quarterly/seasonally . . . . -10%
  Monthly . . . . -15%
  Full Moon . . . . Special (see box)
  Weekly . . . . -30%
  Daily . . . . -40%
  Cycles more frequent than "Daily" are possible, but are virtually unplayable.
  The change period need not be strictly linked to the clock or calendar, as long as it is invariably regular.
  The GM may interpolate a value for an unusual period (as with the lunar cycle, above), or simply assess
  it at the smaller of the values between which it falls.
  These values assume that the were is able to change at will at all other times. If the cyclic change is the
  only way he can change, it is worth an additional -25% to the limitation value.
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  Weres with a Cyclic Change must have a Minimum Duration as well -- see p. 00.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Lunar Changes
  @TEXT-BOX:All references to lunar-linked changes here assume Earth's moon or one with a similar
  cycle. Earth's lunar month is shorter than a calendar month, and the full moon usually spans two to three
  successive nights. This is a slightly special case for the Cyclic Change limitation (p. 00), worth -20%; the
  shifter is compelled to change not once at the "peak" of the cycle, but once per night during that peak.
  @TEXT-BOX:In settings with a different lunar cycle or more than one moon, this value will vary,
  perhaps wildly. Single moons are simple; choose or interpolate a value from the table in Cyclic Change
  that reflects the appropriate frequency; adjust appropriately for the duration of the full moon. Multiple
  moons can be a bit more complicated. Does the were change with any full moon, or just one of them?
  The latter case is obviously another simple cycle. But in the former case, if there are enough moons that
  the appropriate phase could happen at almost any time, use an External Trigger (p. 00) instead.
  Alternately, divide the number of days in a month by the total number of full moons in a month, and use
  the resulting averaged figure as the length of a cycle for the purposes of determining the limitation value.
  @TEXT-BOX:Try not to link a Cyclic Change to a moon with an extremely short period -- it will be far
  more trouble to both GM and player than it is worth.
  (((END BOX)))
  External Trigger . . . . variable
  (Weres only.) Some environmental condition triggers your change, whether you want to or not. Some
  weres have triggers which toggle their change on and off. Others have a trigger that forces a shift only in
  one direction. Some weres have two triggers -- one to change, and one to change back.
  The value of a trigger is based on how common the trigger condition is:
  Very Common (sunlight, cold water, darkness) . . . . -30%
  Common (a particular type of garden plant, a specific emotional or physical state, electrical fields in a
  technological setting) . . . . -20%
  Occasional (a given range of normal air temperature, a certain food, a specific mineral) . . . . -10%
  Rare (a tropical plant, a special drug, radiation) . . . . -5%
  These values also assume that the were is able to change at will at other times. If the external trigger is
  the only way he can change, it is worth an additional -25% to the limitation value.
  If the trigger only works for a change in one direction, halve its value.
  Weres with an External Trigger often have a Minimum Duration as well -- see p. 00.
  (((START BOX)))
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Using and Abusing External Triggers
  @TEXT-BOX:Enterprising players will attempt to manipulate an External Trigger to their advantage, to
  gain as much control over their conditions as possible. Some of this is acceptable; for instance, a Dark
  Ages were whose change is triggered by the smell of roses need not be restrained from running to the
  nearest bower if the Vikings attack his village. On the other hand, if the same were took to carrying a
  packet of dried rose petals with him, to sniff whenever his were-form might come in handy, it is no
  longer precisely an External Trigger, but something closer to an item-based change (see box, p. 00). The
  GM may declare that his were-change has become triggered only by dried rose petals, or worse, only by
  that particular packet of rose petals, and no other will do. Since item-based changes tend to be cheaper
  than other versions, this has no immediate negative impact on the character beyond lowering his point
  value -- until the first time the packet is lost or stolen...
  (((END BOX)))
  Fatiguing Change . . . . -10%/-20%
  The shifter finds the change physically exhausting or even excrutiating. At the -10% level, he loses 1d
  Fatigue each time he changes (which cannot reduce his Fatigue below 0) and suffers an equal shock
  penalty on the turn following the change, per p. B126. Fatigue lost due to the change may only be
  regained by rest. At the -20% level, Painful Change, he is also Mentally Stunned for 2d rounds following
  the change, and must make a Will roll for each form into or through which he changes (see Form
  Continuum, p. 00) to avoid crying out in pain.
  A character who suffers from Painful Change may need to make a Will roll to change in a
  non-emergency situation. Characters with Cowardice or Low Pain Threshold will have to make a Will
  Roll at -5 to change voluntarily at all.
  Flawed . . . . -10%/-35%/-50%
  (Morphs only.) While you may copy a person's shape, there is always an error or flaw in the result: the
  wrong eye color, a double navel, missing (or extra) scars or birthmarks, a tell-tale tattoo, or a finger may
  not bend properly. (It could even be something non-structural, like a constant vague smile or an inability
  to feel strong emotion.) The flaw is determined at character creation, and manifests in every form that
  you take, including (optionally) your native one. If the target form already has the same flaw on its own,
  you are in luck; otherwise, it's a pointer to the fact that something's wrong.
  At the higher levels, the copied form is not just Flawed, it is Crude -- it only vaguely resembles the
  original (-35%, impersonation attempts at -10), and may only vaguely resemble its species (-50%,
  specific impersonations are impossible, and Horrific Appearance may apply). All character traits
  unrelated to appearance are unaffected by a Crude transformation.
  Some characters may start with a Crude transformation and gradually improve it through practice. Halve
  the value of this limitation; now for every ten uses of a particular form, its level of accuracy improves by
  one step, to a maximum of Flawed. Quarter the value of this limitation for five-use steps, or for the
  ability to reach a perfect representation.
  Genetic Trait . . . . -0%
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  (Weres only.) Your were nature is encoded in your genes as a dominant trait; you received it from your
  parents, and you will pass it on to your children.
  A genetic were-form can be either active or latent. If it is active, then this "limitation" is nothing more
  than a special effect -- your shifting gift is "switched on." A character with a latent were-form, though,
  cannot use it until he is exposed to a trigger condition, at which time the were-form becomes available
  for use. The trigger is determined by the GM at character creation (see the adjacent box for inspiration),
  but to be fair it should be something the character has a chance to encounter.
  A genetic were-form cannot have a permanent cursebreak (see p. 00), although temporary "cures" are
  perfectly acceptable. They rarely, if ever, have Infectious Attacks or Lycanthropic Dominance. Most
  other change-related traits are available, although common sense should rule in their choice and use.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:How To Become A Were
  @TEXT-BOX:If you're not a were by virtue of birth or bloodline, or your genetic were gift requires a
  "trigger" turn it on, legends list any number of ways to gain the ability to shift in addition to the
  traditional bite. While most of these are specific to werewolves, there's no reason (beyond a GM's ruling,
  that is) they cannot be used for any variety of were.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Annoy (or please) a wizard, sorceress, or god.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Be called by an animal spirit, or take a specific animal as your spiritual totem in the
  proper ritual.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Drink water or eat dust from a wolf's footprint.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Drink water from certain springs, especially in the Harz Mountains in Germany.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Drink downstream from wolves.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Possess and wear a moonstone.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Eat a wolf's brain.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Sleep at night in the open with the moon on your face on a certain Wednesday or Friday
  in summer.
  @TEXT-BOX:• In a medieval Christian setting, be denounced from the altar and remain impenitent. Or
  be excommunicated for seven years. Of do not get shriven or use holy water for ten years.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Pluck and wear a rare white marsh flower from the Balkans.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Anoint yourself with a special ointment (recipe available in the grimoire of your
  choice).
  @TEXT-BOX:• Wear the enchanted skin of a dead wolf or werewolf.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Wear a belt made of wolf's leather (or human skin, especially the skin of a hanged man),
  adorned with the signs of the zodiac, and with seven tongues on the buckle which must be put into the
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  ninth hole.
  (((END BOX)))
  Horrifying Change . . . . -5%/level
  The manner in which you transform is particularly gruesome; perhaps you shred your previous shape in
  an explosion of flesh and gore, or maybe between your forms you melt into a pulsing mass of flesh
  accompanied by wet and disgusting sound effects. Whatever happens, it is far a more terrifying sight than
  an ordinary shift (see box, p. 00). For each level of this limitation you have, witnesses to your change
  take a -2 penalty to their Fright Checks. Furthermore, companions and family will never become inured
  to the change, and must always make Fright Checks at the specified penalty.
  Linked Curses . . . . -25%
  (Weres only.) Also known as the "Ladyhawke" option. You and another person (or persons, although it is
  most commonly a pair) are jointly afflicted with were-forms whose activations are connected. Whenever
  one of you changes, no matter how far apart you are, you force the other to change at the same time. The
  link may be synchronized (you both shift into were-form and back together) or inverted (only one of you
  can be human -- or whatever base species you are -- at a time). The type of link is determined at character
  creation and cannot be changed afterwards.
  Although their animal templates need not be the same, both characters must have otherwise identical
  were packages. These usually include a Cyclic Change (with the two characters' periods complementing
  each other), an obscure and difficult Cursebreak, and, of course, this limitation.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Item-Based Shifting
  @TEXT-BOX:A common trope in myth is the shifter whose change is facilitated by some item. Such an
  item can be virtually anything, but usually involves some symbolic or physical link to the animal
  template (for weres) or the model being copied (morphs). Normally, the item becomes part of the new
  form, reappearing only upon the change back. A typical example is the skinchanger from myths the
  world over -- a were who dons a complete hide of the appropriate animal template to take his were-form,
  and who can't change without it.
  @TEXT-BOX:Item-based shifting combined with an Addiction or a Dependency on the change can
  make for an interesting character.
  Item Modifiers
  @TEXT-BOX:Shapechange items are built using the super equipment rules found on pp. SU68-70. The
  heart of these rules are a set of enhancements and limitations that are applied to the alternate form to
  specify its characteristics as a device. All shapechange items must take the modifiers Can Be Stolen and
  Unique in addition to any others the player may choose. Item-based modifiers are applied separately to
  the alternate form after any other enhancements and limitations the player may have chosen.
  @TEXT-BOX:The following is an abbreviated list of gadget modifiers. See Supers for complete listings.
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  @TEXT-BOX:Awkward . . . . -10%
  @TEXT-BOX:The item, like many skins and hides, is bulkier than a wadded-up trenchcoat.
  @TEXT-BOX:Breakable . . . . -5%/-10%
  @TEXT-BOX:This item can be damaged; repairable items can be fixed if not totally destroyed.
  @TEXT-BOX:DR 15 or less and it has 75 or less hit points: -15%
  @TEXT-BOX:DR 16+, and/or 76+ hit points: -5%
  @TEXT-BOX:If irreparable, add an additional -15%.
  @TEXT-BOX:Can Be Hit . . . . varies
  @TEXT-BOX:The item is obvious and can be targeted in combat. It must be Breakable. The penalty on
  the attacker's to hit roll determines the value: No penalty: -25%. -2: 20%. -4: 15%. -6: -10%. -8: 5%. -10
  or more: No bonus.
  @TEXT-BOX:If the item has a -5% Breakable modifier, divide the value by 4. If the item is absorbed in
  the change, halve the value.
  @TEXT-BOX:Can Be Stolen . . . . varies
  @TEXT-BOX:The item can be taken away from you. The difficulty determines the value:
  @TEXT-BOX:Easily snatched with DX roll: -40%
  @TEXT-BOX:Needs Contest of DX or ST: -30%
  @TEXT-BOX:Requires stealth or trickery: -10%
  @TEXT-BOX:Halve the value if the object is inobvious or is absorbed in the change.
  @TEXT-BOX:Halve the value if the object would not work for the person who took it.
  @TEXT-BOX:Halve the value if the item is absorbed during the change.
  @TEXT-BOX:Not Absorbed in Change . . . . -5% or -15%
  @TEXT-BOX:The item does not become part of the were-form, and must be carried or protected against
  future use. If the item is not needed for the change back (see below), this modifier is worth only -5%;
  otherwise it is -15%.
  @TEXT-BOX:Not Needed For Change To/From Base Form . . . . +25%
  @TEXT-BOX:The item, while required for the change in one direction, is not needed for the opposite
  change.
  @TEXT-BOX:This modifier can only be applied to items which are not abosrbed in the user's change.
  @TEXT-BOX:Unique . . . . -25%
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  @TEXT-BOX:Once this item is gone, that's it. No replacement is possible. Character points spent on it
  are lost.
  (((END BOX)))
  Maximum Duration . . . . Variable
  The character cannot stay in his shifted form longer than a given amount of time. If he tries, he
  automatically changes back to his base form. (Unless he also has a Minimum Duration, he can change
  back at any time before that.)
  The shorter the duration, the more this limitation is worth:
  Less than 30 seconds . . . . -75%
  30 seconds to 1 minute . . . . -65%
  1 to 10 minutes . . . . -50%
  10 to 30 minutes . . . . -25%
  30 minutes to 1 hour . . . . -10%
  Sunrise to sunset or vice versa . . . . 7%
  1 to 12 hours . . . . -5%
  Greater than 12 hours . . . . -0%
  A character with a Maximum Duration may not have a Minimum Duration longer than the Maximum.
  This limitation cannot be combined with Cyclic Change.
  Note to GMs: This limitation is open to abuse by "combat monster" shifters who do nothing in their
  alternate form(s) but fight. Feel free to disallow it if necessary.
  Minimum Duration . . . . Variable
  The character must remain in his shifted form for some minimum amount of time before he can change
  back for any reason.
  Less than 1 hour . . . . +0%
  1 to 8 hours . . . . -5%
  8 to 12 hours, one night or equivalent . . . . -10%
  12 to 24 hours . . . . -15%
  1 day to 1 week . . . . -20%
  1 week to 1 month . . . . -25%
  Greater than one month . . . . -30%
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  A were with a Cyclic Change must also have a Minimum Duration. This minimum is variable, but cannot
  be longer than one-half the cycle length.
  A character with a Minimum Duration may not have a Maximum Duration shorter than the Minimum.
  Morph Continuum . . . . -30%
  (Morphs only.) Similar to the Form Continuum disadvantage for weres, this limitation forces a Morph to
  progress sequentially through his memorized forms in order to shift from one to another, at the usual rate
  of one form per turn. The player should maintain an ordered list of the "slots" in which the PC's
  memorized forms are kept.
  This limitation cannot be combined with the Fast Change enhancement.
  Needs Sample . . . . variable
  (Morphs only.) You cannot copy a person's shape without sampling them in some way. The exact value
  of this limitation varies with the extent of the sample required: simply touching the target is worth -5%, a
  fingernail, drop of blood, strand of hair or scrap of flesh is -15%, and consuming the target whole is
  worth -50% -- and you'd better have some way of absorbing or eating the victim quickly -- if a sample
  requires flesh or other organic materials, it must be fresh and undecayed.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Nuisance Effect: Temporary Disadvantage
  @TEXT-BOX:EDITOR: Please insert this limitation from pp. BIO137-8 here.
  (((END BOX)))
  Projected Were-form . . . . -25%/-50%
  (Weres only.) Your were-form is actually your soul, traveling outside your body in a manner similar (but
  not identical) to astral projection. While it does so, your "real" body goes into a trance. If your physical
  body is killed while you are in your other shape, both it and your were-form will usually die together,
  unlike regular astral projection. Also unlike regular astral travel, your were-form is just as solid and
  physical as your "real" body, and has no range limits and no duration limits other than your ability to last
  out a trance. When you leave the trance, the were-form vanishes.
  When you go into your were-form, you do not have to manifest it at the same location as your physical
  body. You can make it appear anywhere within direct line of sight, or at a location within IQ¥10 yards
  that is well enough known to you that you can visualize it clearly. Similarly, you do not have to return to
  the location of your unconscious form to dismiss your were-shape.
  At the -25% level, you are still "in" your physical body even when using your were-form. (You are
  effectively operating it by remote control.) It still takes a great deal of your attention and energy, though,
  and you are only barely aware of your surroundings. You can hold slow, halting conversations with
  someone nearby, be led around, make Passive Defense rolls, or even be carried (gently). Any great shock
  or distraction (such as a successful attack or a vigorous attempt to "wake you up") can break you out of
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  your trance and cause the were-form to vanish -- make a Will roll to ignore anything short of receiving a
  wound.
  At the -50% level, you fall into a deathlike coma while in your were-form, as your soul completely
  leaves your body. You must take special precautions to protect or hide your body, as you are vulnerable
  and can be mistaken for a corpse (a Physician roll is needed to determine that you aren't really dead).
  Surviving Death. While a character with a projected were-form will usually die if his base form is killed
  while he is projecting, a critical success on a Will roll at the moment of death will allow him to survive in
  his alternate form. Although the surviving form is corporeal, it is actually a kind of ghost, and as an
  undead creature it is subject to all the weaknesses thereof as defined in the particular campaign:
  vulnerability to the Banishment spell and to exorcisms, Compulsive Behaviors and so on; see GURPS
  Undead for ideas and guidelines. So-called "angry ghost" weres (see p. 00) are frequently created in this
  manner.
  For characters whose "normal" astral bodies are animals, see the box on p. 00.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:True Astral Were-Forms
  @TEXT-BOX:In some traditions (particularly those of a shamanic nature), the were-form is an entirely
  spiritual construct. Unlike weres built with the Projected Were-form limitation (p. 00), this kind of
  were-form is never physical and rarely if ever interacts with the corporeal world. It is instead used to
  communicate with spirits of nature and the dead, in the appropriate realms. (Strictly speaking, it isn't
  even really a "true" were-form as defined by this book...)
  @TEXT-BOX:This is simply the psionic power Astral Projection (p. P10-11), with a special
  enhancement: Astral Body Is An (animal type). For +10%, you may use any animal template costing up
  to 0 points as the basis for your astral body. While in astral form, you possess all the "physical" attributes
  of an "average" animal of that type and any of its mental advantages, but retain your IQ and all your
  mental traits. For animal templates above 0 points in cost, add another +10% to the enhancement value
  for every 50 additional points or fraction thereof that the template is worth.
  @TEXT-BOX:The template's physical characteristics directly translate into astral equivalents: The
  animal's ST, DX, HT, hit points and Dodge supercede the human values. Claws and teeth cause extra
  damage in astral combat. Natural PD and DR are cumulative with that granted by the power (astral PD is
  of course subject to the usual limit of 6). Tracking abilities, Discriminatory Smell and the like allow
  pursuit in astral space where it would normally be impossible. And as a bonus, flying and swimming
  animals add their Speed to the character's Power level to determine Astral Speed.
  @TEXT-BOX:The specific animal template is chosen at character creation and cannot be changed. (In
  an explicitly shamanic context, it will often represent the character's totem animal.) However, if the GM
  allows, the character may buy more than one template, either at creation or with earned experience. Each
  template so purchased is a separate enhancement, as well as a separate form -- attributes of two different
  templates may not be combined; the Shapeshifting and Change Control skills cannot be applied to this
  kind of were. Furthermore, the psi by default cannot change forms in the middle of an astral journey; he
  must choose one form at the start and remains in that form until he returns to his body.
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  @TEXT-BOX:For an additional +5% per template, an animal astral body can be made switchable,
  allowing the psi to change at will from it to a "normal" astral form or any other switchable template he
  might possess, without having to return to his body first.
  @TEXT-BOX:Please note that while the above description refers exclusively to astral bodies and astral
  travel, this enhancement is also available for any other ability that allows a character to project their spirit
  into an alternate metaphysical plane -- such as the Marches of GURPS In Nomine or even some varieties
  of cyberspace. It does not apply to any power or gift which allows a physical transition to such a plane!
  (((END BOX)))
  Slow Change . . . . -10%/-25%
  The character's changes take longer than usual. At -10%, the change time is measured in minutes instead
  of seconds. At -25%, it is measured in hours. If the character also has a Cyclic Change, the time to
  change plus any Minimum Duration must always be shorter than half the cycle length!
  At the GM's option, change times can be much more flexible. Under this option, the -10% level can make
  the change take from one minute up to an hour, while the -25% could last a whole day. The GM and the
  player should determine the exact duration -- and whether there is any random element involved -- at
  character creation.
  Template Susceptibility . . . . variable
  (Morphs only.) You are not in full control of your shapechanging ability. Any time you come into
  contact with someone with a Will equal to or greater than your own, you must win a Contest of Will to
  avoid changing your shape to theirs. You are not affected by other shapeshifters, though.
  The base value for this limitation is -20%, and you only need a Contest of Will upon physical contact.
  For an additional -5%, the target need not touch you, but merely be in the same hex. Each additional -5%
  expands this area by a one-hex radius. If more than one such individual is in your radius at a time, roll
  Contests in descending order of target Will until you either change or run out of templates. Choose
  randomly between templates with equal Wills.
  If you have no available morph slots, you must immediately replace your least-used form with the new
  form you have been forced to take.
  Once you win a Contest of Will with an individual, you don't have to run another one until the next time
  you meet them (base version) or the next time they enter your radius. If you become intimately familiar
  with an individual -- roommate, spouse -- you automatically resist their template unless they come upon
  you unawares and surprise or alarm you.
  Once you copy a form, you will not be susceptible to another template for (Will) minutes.
  Template Susceptibility is not compatible with Unstable (below).
  Unstable . . . . -25%
  Your hold on your alternate form is tenuous, either because you are just learning how to manifest it, or
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  because it is very difficult to maintain. If you are surprised or shocked while changed, you must make a
  Will roll or immediately revert to your base form. (A critical success means you need not check again for
  the duration of the current encounter regardless of what happens; a critical failure indicates you may not
  return to your were form for a like amount of time.) Combat for which you are prepared does not usually
  require a roll, although unexpected damage as from an ambush or accident does. You also automatically
  revert to base form if you fall asleep or unconscious while shifted.
  If one of your forms (base or other) has the Unfazeable advantage, it cannot be forced by surprise or
  shock to yield control, and need not make a Will roll.
  While more suitable for weres, this limitation can also be used with Morph; in such a case, it applies to
  all the forms the morph can take. It cannot be used with an exclusive Cyclic Change, or where an
  External Trigger is needed to transform back to the base form.
  The GM should allow the player to buy off this limitation without any special explanation, especially if it
  represents inexperience with shapeshifting. Optionally, it may be bought off incrementally, with each
  -5% eliminated with earned points granting a +1 on the Will roll until the entire limitation is removed.
  Option: War of Wills. In a character with Split Personality, Unstable can be used to represent a constant
  struggle between personalities for control of the body. There is no change in the limitation value, but the
  Will Roll now applies to all forms; it becomes a Quick Contest of Will between the personalities,
  modified (at the GM's option) by how strongly the contesting minds feel about matters at hand. This use
  of Unstable should not be bought off easily, if at all.
  Unstable is not compatible with Template Susceptibility (above).
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:"Once Only" Shifting
  @TEXT-BOX:This is optional rule, inspired by the Zerg from the game "Starcraft" as well as any
  number of comic books, movies and cartoons. The character possesses a reserve of points which he may
  use once to radically alter his form and abilities.
  @TEXT-BOX:At character creation, the player sets aside a block of points, unused. He then buys a
  "placeholder" change advantage at a cost of one point for every 10 points reserved (minimum 1 point).
  As long as the block remains unused, he can add to it with earned experience, should he so choose. For
  every 10 points or fraction thereof added to the block, he must spend one additional point on the
  placeholder. (This is, in effect, a +10% enhancement.)
  @TEXT-BOX:At any time during play, the player can invoke the change. He "spends" the placeholder,
  losing its points permanently. The block of reserved points then becomes available. He can use these
  points to raise his attributes and buy or upgrade advantages (and, at the GM's option, skills).
  @TEXT-BOX:With the GM's approval, the player may "buy back" some existing advantages
  (Appearance, for instance) and use those points as well. He can also take any number of Disadvantages
  appropriate to the new form or abilities, but these are considered "acquired in play" and do not give any
  points back.
  @TEXT-BOX:Any character trait that has no point cost (details of appearance like hair and skin color,
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  for example) may be freely changed at this time as well.
  @TEXT-BOX:Once the changes have been determined, they are applied to the character permanently.
  Any unspent points are lost. Multiple blocks and placeholders can be bought, but only at character
  creation time, and of course, each set is that many points by which the character is weaker than other PCs
  -- until he uses them.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Predefined Changes
  @TEXT-BOX:If desired, one-time shifts can be predefined; by sacrificing flexibility, the player can save
  -- sometimes substantially -- on point cost. This can be quite useful for describing races that undergo
  periodic metamorphosis as part of their lifecycle, similar to butterflies.
  @TEXT-BOX:Add up all changes to the character, including the costs of new disadvantages acquired
  with the form, as if it were a racial package. This total must be positive. There must be a net
  improvement in the character; a predefined change cannot reduce a character's point total except by the
  amount of the "placeholder," which is still paid as above. The final total becomes the block of points set
  aside.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Typical Limitations
  @TEXT-BOX:Obvious modifiers the GM may impose include "incubation" or "metamorphosis" times,
  perhaps with an actual cocoon involved; requiring the new abilities be specifically related to the situation
  which triggered the change; requiring the new form to always be Ugly, Hideous or Monstrous; requiring
  two or more predefined changes to be sequential, building on one another; and so on. Limitations
  discount the reserved block only -- the "placeholder" is never discounted, and is always based on the
  "true" point value of the change, not the limited value.
  @TEXT-BOX:The GM should be aware that the potential for abuse exists in this rule -- which is why it
  is optional.
  (((END BOX)))
  Varieties and Flavors
  No two shapeshifters are exactly alike. This section explores some of the themes and special effects a
  player can employ in customizing a shapechanger to make him unique and different -- even among a race
  of similar beings.
  Some are related to the special enhancements and limitations found on pp. 00-00, inasfar as they are
  specific applications thereof. Others are more in the line of "color," without specific game mechanics but
  a lot of flavor.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Paradigms
  @TEXT-BOX:When creating a shapechanger, it's important to select the source of your changing ability.
  While this usually has no direct effect on point costs, it can have considerable impact on both character
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  design and game play.
  @TEXT-BOX:Magic. Your shifting talent is a spell, curse or other sorcerous process affecting you.
  Unless otherwise specified (see the box on p. 00), it can be suppressed or dispelled with countermagic, it
  will deactivate in no-mana zones, and may misbehave in high-mana zones.
  @TEXT-BOX:One variety of the Magic paradigm, the magic item works just like inherent magic, except
  all the power to change is invested in a gadget. Unlike most of the other paradigms described here, this
  can change your point costs -- see the box "Item-Based Shifting" on p. 00.
  @TEXT-BOX:Psi. Your ability to shift is a function of the extraordinary power of your mind. Anti-psi
  prevents your change, as do any drugs which dull your thought processes. You are likely to be limited to
  forms roughly your own mass and size. Your mental traits may cause odd side effects to your change.
  @TEXT-BOX:Natural. This is the way you were born, possibly because your race evolved this way. (In
  most cases, though, magical and psionic races should be considered those types.) Unless the game world
  is very strange, you probably can't gain or lose mass in a shift, and you need to pay attention to most
  other relevant laws of physics. On the other hand, you are unaffected by mana level or anti-psi. Changing
  may take a long time for you, though, as you have to let "normal" bodily processes take their course.
  Your shift may also be subject to environmental or hormonal factors, and maybe special poisons.
  @TEXT-BOX:Technology. Some scientific mechanism, be it internal or external, allows you to
  shapechange. (This need not be a literal device; it could be a genemod, surgical procedure or other
  process derived from science, be it current tech or advanced.) Tech shifts are similar to "Natural" above,
  in that you're probably limited to your own body mass and you have to be "realistic" in other regards
  (although this is not a hard and fast requirement, especially with classic "rubber science"). Under some
  conditions, the mechanism may be jammed or run out of power. If it is an actual physical device, it may
  be taken away from you, and like the magic item, this can affect your point costs -- again, see
  "Item-Based Shifting".
  @TEXT-BOX:Super. The catch-all paradigm. Although the "typical" Super shapechange is an inherent
  power unaffected by countermagic, mana level, or anti-psi, it can also resemble any of the other
  paradigms. In all but the most realistic settings, though, it lacks most of their weaknesses, but it may well
  suffer from its own more exotic vulnerabilities. The primary drawback, though, is that you need to be
  playing in a Supers game...
  (((END BOX)))
  Curses and Enchantments
  Most of the classic were-creatures of myth and media are victims of curses or enchantments. This is a
  long tradition dating back to prehistory, best exemplified in the werewolves of Arthurian lore, French
  medieval myth, and horror movies from the middle of the 20th Century.
  Such a victim usually suffers a complete split personality with an inimical or savage were-form at the
  worst, or a bestial one at the best. This type of curse is usually imposed as a punishment or an act of
  revenge, usually by a skilled spellcaster who specializes in such things, or by a supernatural soource.
  Note that the current victim need not have been the offender -- a particularly aggrieved party may turn
  the curse into a genetic trait afflicting generations of descendants.
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  On the other hand, a particularly evil person may well embrace a truly monstrous curse and revel in it.
  Seeing it as a tool for sowing terror and chaos, or simply to inflict revenge on those whom he thinks
  wronged him, such a character may be so in touch with his own bestial nature that he may not suffer a
  Split Personality when he enters into his were-form. Such was the primary view of werewolves in the
  medieval church.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:What Makes A Curse?
  @TEXT-BOX:While the main text discusses curses in the literal sense of the word, a curse need not be a
  malicious magic. A "curse" can be metaphorical rather than literal -- Dr. Jekyll's Mr. Hyde was born of
  science, but the impact Hyde had on the doctor's life certainly qualified him as a curse!
  @TEXT-BOX:A literal magical curse need not be malicious, either. Christian apocrypha is filled with
  stories of curses cast by saints as tools of moral instruction and correction. One example is the
  werewolves of Ossory, Ireland, who were cursed for their wickedness by St. Natalis, and "compelled to
  take two by two a wolf-shape for seven years, returning to their own form at the end of that time." While
  that particular case is almost certainly not suitable for player characters, this kind of shapeshifting curse
  can be anything from campaign background color to a convenient plot element.
  (((END BOX)))
  "Minor" Curses
  Less severe curses are also possible. Far from being fodder for horror stories, these "minor" curses may
  be imposed to teach a moral or social lesson to the victim; by giving the victim a form subject to
  problems and stresses usually alien to him, he may learn empathy for others or simply much-needed
  etiquette. Often these shapes are no more than simply inconvenient, either due to their trigger(s), cycles,
  or time limit(s), or due to the attributes of the were-form.
  Such a character usually has one or more mental disadvantages that encompass the behavior being
  punished. Odious Personal Habits, Intolerances, Greed and other "deadly sins" all make good candidates.
  Examples of such curses can be found in many medieval tales of Christian saints, as well as in some
  modern light fiction.
  Breaking A Curse
  Implicit in the concept of a curse is the prospect of breaking it. This is rarely a simple prospect -- else
  what would be the value of a curse as revenge or a lesson? For "minor" curses, the break could simply be
  learning the lesson or behavior intended -- which may be just as difficult as finding the rare Gila-gila
  herb in the jungles of the Amazon, depending on the character.
  One authentic cure for lycanthropy found in medieval records is simple to effect, but may not appeal to
  most players: according to several early texts, the amputation of a hand/paw immediately and
  permanently destroys the character's shapechanging abilities. Naturally, this is contradicted for gruesome
  dramatic effect in later folklore and fiction; the GM is, as always, final arbiter.
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  The player and the GM should jointly determine the were-form's cure. Properly defined, the cursebreak
  could add an entire level of structure to a campaign even if the were never takes a central role in the
  game, by virtue of the underlying search motif it imposes. For "educational" curses, they are built-in
  tools and goals for character development.
  Several cures from various cultures can be found in the box on p. 00.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Shapeshifting and Childbearing
  @TEXT-BOX:The effects of a shapechange upon a child in the womb vary with the nature of the shifter.
  If the character is a member of a shapeshifting race, there is no problem -- the child automatically shifts
  with the parent. Similarly, if the talent is an inheritable genetic trait, the child matches the parent's form.
  Any change that is the result of ultratechnology should allow for this situation as well. Magical changes
  may or may not know what to do about a pregnancy -- the GM must decide these on a case-by-case basis.
  But a shift from human to animal that doesn't take a fetus with it is a tragedy waiting to happen.
  @TEXT-BOX:And of course, all this assumes the character remains the same gender between forms.
  But this isn't necessarily the case. A female-to-male change, especially where no genetic component is
  involved, could be disastrous for both parent and child. Possibly worse, the fetus may simply disappear
  when the parent is in the "wrong" form, put "on hold" until the parent becomes female again -- with the
  side effect of possibly extending a pregancy for weeks or even months!
  (((END BOX)))
  Hengeyokai -- Reverse Weres
  Mythologies the world over are rife with the mirror image of the were-creature: tales of animals that can
  change into humans can be found in almost every culture. Japanese myth and legend are particularly rich
  in this regard -- and from them comes the name used here for this class of creature: hengeyokai (which
  can be translated as "changing spirit"). Perhaps the best known example of the hengeyokai is the Kitsune
  (see p. 00).
  Hengeyokai (also called simply "henge") always have at least two forms -- their natural animal body, and
  a fully human alternate form. Additionally, some species have a third, intermediate form combining
  aspects of the other two. In Asian and other myths, the human form also retains some obvious feature
  that is indicative of the henge's animal nature -- tails that must be hidden, hair coloration similar to fur
  patterns, sharp noses that resemble a bird's beak, and so on.
  Almost any animal may be a hengeyokai. Cats who can become human are common in both Asian and
  European folklore, although in the latter they tend to have a demonic characterization. In Asian myth,
  hengeyokai birds, fish, shellfish, dogs, rats, spiders, and monkeys have also all appeared.
  What makes a henge different from other animals of its kind varies widely in myth. For many there is no
  explanation; they simply are. Others are spirits, possessing or incarnated into an otherwise ordinary
  animal. Some, like the Japanese kitsune and tanuki, are both -- an ordinary animal that is at the same time
  a spirit of great power. For the GM wishing to insert this kind of shapeshifter into his campaign, virtually
  any rationale is plausible.
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  Playing Hengeyokai
  Such "reverse weres" make for entertaining characters. Because this is more a trope than a specific
  creature, no definitive single hengeyokai package is practical. There are many general traits such
  creatures have in common, though. They are built like any other were, except that the animal template is
  used as a racial package for the base form. Tote up the changes that are needed to adjust from the animal
  template to the desired human form into PPT and NPT and calculate the cost of the form as noted on p.
  00. Note that almost universally, hengeyokai are considered creatures of magic; most if not all will
  probably possess at least the 25-point version of the Mana Enhancer advantage (p. CI40), Magery and a
  variety of innate spells. Most frequently these will be from the Illusion and Creation college.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Transferring Damage Between Were-Forms
  @TEXT-BOX:Unless the character possesses the Non-Reciprocal Damage advantage (p. CI41), damage
  taken by one form will be expressed in all other forms. Damage is carried over proportionally, based on
  the ratio of the two forms' hit points. Divide damage suffered by the ratio when changing to a form with
  fewer hit points, and multiply it when going to one with more.
  @TEXT-BOX:Example: Tory has HT 12 in her human form and HT 12/6 as a were-fox; her hit point
  ratio is 2 (12 divided by 6). If she takes 4 points of damage as a human and then shifts, her fox form
  manifests with (4 / 2) or 2 points of damage. Tory-fox then takes another 3 points of damage before she
  returns to human; she is now down 10 points -- (5 ¥ 2).
  @D-BOXHEAD:Death and Dismemberment
  @TEXT-BOX:A were killed in were-form will normally revert to his base form at the time of death. If
  the were loses a limb, that limb will immediately change back to the base form.
  (((END BOX)))
  Psionics
  The psi with a strong enough Psychokinetic talent and a keen awareness of his own body structure may
  well be able adjust that structure at will. Strictly speaking, this is more of a choice of special effect than
  anything else, but designing a shifter using only "realistic" limitations can be an intriguing challenge and
  can result in an unusual character who can fit into all but the hardest-science games without
  overwhelming them.
  An astral shifter of either variety is the easiest to justify, especially since the "True Astral Were" found in
  the box on p. 00 is a psionic to begin with. For those players desiring a more physical experience, both
  morphs and weres can be in-genre with suitable modifications, the former more so than the latter. In each
  case, the same "theoretical" basis underlies their power; but while the morph has complete mastery over
  the shape of his body, the were represents someone who has mastered one alternate form and has come to
  a dead end.
  Except in the most rubber-science settings, psionic shapechangers of a physical nature are limited by a
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  variety of "real-world" considerations. Chief among these would be the requirement that they cannot
  change their basic skeletal structure. This is normally a -15% limitation (although GMs whose campaigns
  include a large number of physically different races should feel free to increase its value). Such shifters
  can hide limbs within their flesh, but cannot form new ones. (Optionally, the GM may allow the creation
  of non-structural "cosmetic" limbs held rigid by cartilage or tensed muscle instead of bone. Such limbs
  would only be for show, and would be incapable of carrying any amount of weight.)
  Similarly, the GM may require that the shifter's total mass remain constant. There are exceptions, though
  -- shapechangers in the GURPS Wild Cards setting (whose powers are all psionic in origin) can often
  change their mass, either by the temporary inclusion of so-called "virtual particles" or by absorbing
  nearby matter for the duration of the shift.
  Other typical limitations for the psionic shifter would emphasize the mental roots of the ability. To begin
  with, if the GM disallows psi-based shifting as a solo "wild talent", it will require the prerequisites of
  both Psychic Healing along with enough Telekinesis to lift one's own body. Beyond that, it would not be
  out of place for a physical psionic shifter to have a need for concentration, or a Fatiguing or Slow
  Change. Telepathic shifters could easily have Copies Personality. For increased realism, require the
  Needs Sample limitation. And in the grand tradition of anime shapeshifters, a Flawed or Horrifying
  Change is alway appropriate.
  Shapeshifting Races
  As interesting as individual shapeshifters can be, an entire race of them can be even more interesting -- or
  more terrifying. From the Garou of GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse to the doppelgängers and
  mimics of classic fantasy gaming to the many shape-changing races of science fiction, a race of shifters
  almost always poses a threat to someone -- a threat that can drive a campaign.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Fictional Were-Race: J.R.R. Tolkien's "Beornings"
  @TEXT-BOX:One of the models for the were-bear of modern fantasy gaming, Beorn and his people
  appear in chapter 7 of The Hobbit. Descended from the Edain of the First Age (among whose number
  were skinchangers, the Silmarillion states authoritatively), Beorn learned how to take the form of a bear
  and passed this gift on to generations of his descendants.
  @TEXT-BOX:The Beornings were a forest folk, living as woodsmen. Like the bears whose forms they
  could assume, they were big, bulky, and heavily muscled. To a one they were black-haired and shaggy,
  the men sporting heavy beards that emphasized their ursine appearance. The coarse woolen clothing they
  wore only added to the effect.
  @TEXT-BOX:In addition to their were-form, the Beornings were known to be berserkers, fearsome
  axe-men, and skilled foresters. Beorn himself was a vegetarian, but it is unknown if this trait extended to
  others of his people. While the Beornings were more a tribe (or later a nation, in the Native American
  sense) than a truly separate race, they certainly could be given a unique racial package, considering their
  differences from mainstream humanity.
  (((END BOX)))
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  When designing a race with shape-changing ability, never forget to ask, "Why?" Even magical races
  have a reason for their shapeshifting. Is it in response to environmental pressures? For protective
  coloration? Or to better sneak up on their prey? Perhaps they are a race of warriors or infiltrators. Were
  they artificially created, or did they evolve naturally? Answer these questions, and the race practically
  designs itself -- mental and physical attributes immediately become obvious, and possible plotlines begin
  to form.
  Don't overlook diversity within the race, though. Subcultures and subraces can not only provide helpful
  verisimilitude, they can also keep players on their toes.
  If not a naturally magical race, such creatures will have to respect the laws of physics to a certain degree.
  As with psionic shifters, there may be limits to the sizes and shapes they can take, and the degree of
  change that they can undergo. Remember, though, that even if major skeletal changes aren't allowed, a
  biped is not that far from that of quadruped -- especially if a race's proportions are different from
  humanity's.
  For players, the advantage of being a member of a shapeshifting race is that their characters need not feel
  the isolation of being a unique or nearly unique creature, possibly unnatural -- unless they are unaware of
  their heritage, which in itself can drive a storyline for a campaign.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:"What Do You Mean, You Ate While You Were a Mouse?"
  @TEXT-BOX:One of the more annoying issues raised with weres is the effect of meals across forms.
  Can a thimbleful of seeds eaten by a were-mouse adequately nourish his human form?
  @TEXT-BOX:If a were-form's animal template includes the Reduced Life Support advantage, then a
  meal eaten in the were-form will remain filling and completely nutritious when the character returns to
  his larger base form. However, the inverse is not true. A large were-form possessing the Increased Life
  Support disadvantage is not sufficiently fed by a meal taken in base form. Buying off either of these traits
  during character creation will negate their respective effects; in this case, the larger form will only suffer
  from some degree of hunger immediately upon a change to it only if the base form was hungry.
  @TEXT-BOX:This rule of thumb obviously does not pass the reality check for any kind of "scientific"
  shapeshifting. The GM seeking "realism" may impose hunger upon any change to a larger form
  regardless of the Life Support trait(s) possessed. (It's not recommended that the GM enforce the opposite
  conditions in any setting -- most players won't appreciate having their were-squirrel character explode
  because they changed too soon after a hearty meal.)
  (((END BOX)))
  Shifter Supers
  While the Transformation advantage (p. CI68) exists for use by super-types, and Morph had its genesis
  as a leveled advantage in GURPS Supers (p. SU63), it is possible to use the rules for weres to handle
  some varieties of shape-changing metahumans. Leaving aside those elements of horror fiction and film
  which have infiltrated the super-hero genre, many character concepts could just as easily be implemented
  as were-forms as any other way.
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  The Incredible Hulk is an almost archetypal example of the were super, even if the Hulk's body isn't
  animalistic. It's even more telling that the earliest version of the Hulk had a Cyclic Change, trading
  control with Bruce Banner at sunset and sunrise. Wolvesbane from the New Mutants is explicitly a
  werewolf, although one who suffers from no automatic shift. And while the owner of the Guyver (from
  the manga, anime and live film of the same name) technically activates a battlesuit, that battlesuit is a
  living part of his body; he effectively becomes a different order of being when it wraps itself around him.
  His primary foes <\208> the Zoanids and their ilk -- are certainly weres, able to tap into ancient genetic
  potential to turn into monstrous beasts.
  On the other hand, morphs have an equally long history in comics, dating back to Chameleon Boy (and
  his villaneous counterpart, Chameleon King) from DC's The Legion of Super-Heroes, and even further.
  They are more frequently found as villains (or villains' minions) than as heroes, but depending on the
  tone of the campaign, they can make excellent team players.
  These few examples barely scratch the surface. A surprising number of character concepts work as well
  with a were-form as with any other mechanism; don't overlook this option when trying to implement that
  obscure design. Supers require less justification than most other varieties of shifter, which allows for
  greater flexibility.
  Of course, genre considerations do come into play. External triggers for weres and the need for samples
  for morphs are both common. Super weres often suffer from extreme cases of split personality; super
  morphs are often insane, ranging from relatively simple megalomania (based on the "obvious" fact that if
  they can be anyone at all, they must be better than everyone) to a near-schizoid depression (if I can
  become anyone, is there really a me?).
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Shapeshifting and the Absorb Super-skills
  @TEXT-BOX:GURPS Supers includes among its many options three super-skills which may be of
  interest to players trying to implement a unique or unusual design. Absorb Attribute (p. SU55), Drain
  Skill (p. SU59) and Drain Super Ability (p. SU60) all allow the character to "borrow" abilities from other
  characters. It is possible and in some cases desirable -- to Link (p. CI00) a shapeshifting advantage to one
  of these skills. Doing so can turn the super-skill into a "power supply" or catalyst for the change. This
  can take two forms: In the first, the character may only shapechange when he is "charged up" with
  absorbed points. A morph using this option may be required to steal points from someone whose shape
  he wants to copy. In some ways, this would be similar to applying the "Cannot Reuse Forms" and "Needs
  Sample" limitations. In the second option, the character automatically changes into his alternate form
  upon absorbing the points, and cannot change back until the absorbed points have worn off. For even
  more confusion, characters with multiple forms may have a different Absorb superskill linked to each
  one.
  @TEXT-BOX:Players considering this combination should note that the three superskills have radically
  different durations spanning several orders of magnitude, and should design their characters accordingly.
  (((END BOX)))
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  Weremachines
  Ultratech and ultramagic societies may seek to fuse a pleasing form with necessary function by creating
  creatures who can become needed tools and machines at will or need. Such beings are called
  weremachines. They are as much companions as equipment; in some ultramagic civilizations they are
  often engineered to be familiars as well. They are sometimes unique creatures (suitable as McGuffins in
  the appropriate plots), but in some settings they will be mass-produced.
  Each "species" or model will have a specific machine form that it can assume. These are rarely small and
  simple devices -- one does not design an expensive bioengineered creature simply to become a toaster.
  Rather, they turn into large machines that can benefit from ease of maintenance and portability during
  their downtimes: cars, starships, or weapons, for example. Some are specialty equipment -- sensors,
  professional tools, and other devices which are small, valuable, and frequently fragile, which could profit
  from a sturdier alternate form. A few are bodyguard robots or escape pods. They will rarely be any kind
  of device that is static and unmoving, like a refrigeration unit.
  A culture making extensive use of weremachines could possibly have dozens or hundreds of varieties
  living among them, either as pets or as almost-wildlife, available to any to use. Depending on the
  culture's viewpoint on such things, they may be sterile or fertile; fertile weremachines will not only
  breed, but evolution and natural selection will improve both the animal and the machine forms. It will be
  rare, however, for different kinds of fertile weremachines to be interfertile, because the results will be
  unpredictable -- the thought of what might result should the howitzer-cat and the lynx-guardian breed can
  intimidate even the most anarchic of biodesigners.
  For the convenience of their masters, they are often sentient. As such, they can make good player
  characters -- or at the very least dependents and allies. Character weremachines should build their
  machine form using the rules found on pp. 5-52 and 82-91 of GURPS Robots, treating their "model
  package" like an animal template (p. 00).
  Machine forms are built with a cyborg brain; the "natural" brain of the base form carries over into the
  machine. Weremachines will also almost always have a skill appropriate to their mechanical function,
  such as driving or piloting for those which turn into vehicles, or a combat skill for those which become
  weapons.
  Base animal forms are best based on some variety of small mammal: cats, dogs, ferrets and rabbits all
  make good starting places. Restrictive cultures may build them with Slave Mentality, Dependencies, and
  other disadvantages that would ensure control over them.
  The definitive example of a weremachine in fiction is Ryo-Ohki from the various versions of the anime
  Tenchi-Muyo!: a hand-sized cat-rabbit hybrid which can turn into powerful, beweaponed starship and
  back again. In one edition of the story, she is a unique ultratech creation; in another, she is one of a
  breeding species. In yet a third, she turns not into a starship, but a humanoid mecha. Certainly a most
  versatile creature...
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Spellcasting While Changed
  @TEXT-BOX:Shamanic shifters, hengeyokai, and other varieties of shapechangers may have the desire
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  or need to cast spells while in an animal form. If the gameworld does not allow the optional Spell Ritual
  rules (p. B00), they're out of luck unless the GM grants them special dispensation. If the Spell Ritual
  rules are in effect, the were must possess a sufficient level of skill in the desired spell to perform it
  within the limitations of his animal form (Mute and/or No Fine Manipulators usually being the deciding
  factors).
  @TEXT-BOX:In either situation, some GMs may allow unencumbered spellcasting by weres whose
  animal forms are sufficiently close to human -- simians such as apes or yeti, primarily, but generally
  anything with functional hands and a voice should qualify.
  @TEXT-BOX:Spellcasting shifters whose base forms are have no manipulators, are mute or both (such
  as some varieties of Hengeyokai -- see pp. 00-00) will almost always possess spells which can be cast
  without difficulty in those forms. Any shifter with innate spells will also suffer no penalties for their use
  in any of their shapes.
  (((END BOX)))
  Undead and Shapeshifting
  Traditionally, vampires are shapeshifters as well as undead; wolves and bats are the two animals into
  which they most frequently change. While the GURPS standard vampire package already accounts for
  such abilities, GMs or players may choose to create their own custom variants. In such a case, combining
  the vampire's basic abilities with a full were-form or two -- or worse, Morph -- can result in a subtle and
  deadly character -- or foe.
  Other undead-were connections can be found; possibly best known is the undead state of the victims of a
  werewolf described in the film An American Werewolf in London. But many traditions provide a more
  immediate link.
  The Werewolf-Vampire Connection
  In Eastern Europe and other parts of the world, were-creatures and the local variety of vampires are often
  intimately connected. The "standard" movie (and gaming) vampire can shift into a wolf, and even today
  the Greek and the Slavic languages frequently use the word vrykólakas or its cognates to refer to both
  creatures. In Gypsy folkore vampires and werewolves are related, though two different beasts. Similarly,
  the Filipino aswang, the Portuguese bruxsa and cucubuth, and the Serbian wurdalak all display vampiric
  traits. The latter, though, is emblematic of the most typical belief in many regions: a werewolf is
  guaranteed to become a vampire upon its death.
  Returning as a vampire -- perhaps as one of the more exotic varieties found in GURPS Bloodtypes rather
  than the default GURPS vampire -- may be an attractive option for some players of were-characters. Of
  course, the newly-undead PC will find he possesses far different priorities than he used to have. If the
  GM chooses to implement this bit of folklore in his campaign, it is best to cloak it in as much confusion
  and contradiction as possible, to prevent exploitation by his players.
  Werewolves and Ghosts...
  In Western Europe, were-creatures -- particularly werewolves -- were sometimes called "angry ghosts."
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  A typical example is the case of the Werewolf of Ansbach, who plagued that German city in 1685 and
  was rumored to be the town's dead mayor. If such a creature were to appear in a game, it would likely
  have a ghost, revenant or similar being as its base form. (See GURPS Undead for complete racial
  packages describing many possible candidates). Additionally, the undead/werecreature would have to
  have a very good reason -- at least in its own opinion -- for coming back to prey upon the living in such a
  manner.
  Alternately, the ghost-were may well be the lingering shifted form of an individual who was employing a
  Projected Were-form (see main text, p. 00) when he passed away. Depending on the manner in which he
  died, such a ghost may or may not be angry -- but either way, it probably will have a serious agenda to
  pursue.
  Those that do would tend to be Obsessed or suffer from Compulsive Behaviors, like many other ghosts.
  They may not always be the best company -- and any other characters had best be sure that they are not
  included among the people central to the ghost's particular motivation!
  "Scientific" Shifting
  Besides the nanosystems and other possibilities expressed in GURPS Biotech, there are other ways to
  quantify shapeshifting in a scientific or pseudo-scientific manner. Most of these fall properly in the realm
  of "rubber science," but as such are perfectly valid in any but the most restrictive "hard science" game.
  Genres from modern (X-Files-style) conspiracy through Atomic Horror all the way to any of a million
  varieties of Space and Cyberpunk can accept weres and morphs with the proper hand-waving.
  Most of the possibilities for "scientific" shape-changing revolve around an odd, damaged or enhanced
  metabolism. Again, the GM and the player should collaborate on the specifics -- controlled cyclic forms
  of cancer, the ability to activate traits encoded in the character's introns (the genetic "dead space" in his
  DNA), "atavistic regression" using biofeedback methods, an engineered body exchanged with the natural
  one using a dimensional shunting system... the possibilities are only limited by your grasp of
  technobabble.
  The intent to remain "scientific" will of course demand more rigorous attention to realism when
  desigining the shifter. If there is a noticeable difference in mass between forms, special effects and
  disadvantages representing the need to absorb and dispose of that mass may be needed. The change may
  impose strange biological processes or needs that may be expressed as Dependencies, Vulnerabilities and
  Life Support issues. Worse, shifting that comes from odd metabolic traits or strange diseases may also
  carry along "timebomb" disadvantages like Terminally Ill.
  No matter the cause of the change, it is certain that mind-body interface issues will impose personality
  changes on the character. These may be large enough to merit quantification with mental disadvantage
  such as Split Personality, Overconfidence, or (at the very worst) the retention of an animal template's
  Bestial and Presentient traits. The precise changes are of course dependent upon the shifter's base
  personality and the nature of his alternate form(s).
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  @A-HEAD:Campaigns 
  @TEXT:<I>Stormrider nodded to the two hunters who served this week as the guards to
  Runs-With-Deer's tent. They returned the nod and stepped aside to allow him to enter. 
  @TEXT:The shaman looked up at him as Stormrider pushed aside the tentflap and stepped
  into the darkened interior. Thickly-scented smoke swirled arouond Runs-With-Deer as he
  returned his attention to the brazier before him. "Are they ready?" 
  @TEXT:Stormrider blinked away the stinging the smoke brought to his eyes. "Yes. The
  hunting party is in place." 
  @TEXT:Wordlessly, Runs-With-Deer rose and exited the tent. Stormrider followed him as the
  shaman made his way into the forest, out of sight of the encampment. "Here," he said
  simply, and Stormrider grunted in agreement. 
  @TEXT:"I'll have the herd in the meadow by mid-morning," the shaman continued. "I'll see
  you then. Good hunt, Stormrider." 
  @TEXT:"Good hunt, Runs-With-Deer." The two men clasped hands, then the shaman backed off.
  He closed his eyes. There was a swirl of light, and in his place stood a magnificent
  stag. The stag inclined its great antlered head to Stormrider once, turned, and vanished
  into the forest.<I> 
  @TEXT:While shapechangers can be plunked down into virtually any campaign setting as
  bogeymen and opponents, that's far from the most satisfying course in anything but
  horror/mystery campaigns <\#208> especially for PC shifters. History, myth and fiction
  all show far more complex and interesting possibilities of which a GM can make use. 
  @B-HEAD:Shifters In Society and Religion 
  @TEXT:In Western lore, shifters are usually outcasts of one form or another, divorced
  from the society and religion that spawned them. However, as often as not, shifters in
  other cultures are integral parts of their communities, and even intrinsic to their
  structures and rituals. For the GM willing to do the minimal work, it is possible to
  incorporate shapechangers into large societies with complex religious structures <\#208>
  in a role other than "boogeyman." 
  @C-HEAD:Privilege and Power 
  @TEXT:Perhaps the easiest way a culture can make use of shapechangers is to make them a
  part of the power elite. Perhaps the best example of this approach are the Jaguar
  Warriors prominent in many Pre-Columbian South and Central American cultures. (A fantasy
  variant on the jaguar warriors can be found on pp.00-00.) A definitive science fiction
  model would be the "Founders" of the Dominion in <I>Star Trek: Deep Space 9.<I> 
  @TEXT:In such a system, shifters will be a special caste or class within the society,
  often with specific ritual or governmental functions. If the ability to change shapes
  does not naturally appear within the population, the authorities, be they secular or
  religious, will likely have some ability to grant it. In either case, there will often be
  regular "examinations" to find new candidates for the caste. Embracing and empowering
  shifters turns potential rebels and enemies into staunch supporters of the status quo. 
  @TEXT:Of course, in some societies, only the <I>right<I> kind of shifter may be favored.
  Other varieties may be shunned or even actively hunted. Justification for such biases may
  be historical, political or religious, as needed by the GM. 
  @TEXT:Since the ability to shift into the appropriate form(s) is <I>de facto<I> proof of
  a person's membership in the privileged caste, magic or technology which duplicates the
  caste's shifting abilities is an issue that the GM must address. In repressive or
  especially static societies, or those where the gift is inherited, the use of such magic
  may well be outlawed with severe, perhaps fatal, penalties for violators. Alternatively,
  some cultures may view the ability to cast such spells as evidence of one's fitness for
  the caste. 
  @TEXT:In such a system, Status will be a mandatory part of a shifter package, as well as
  Wealth. If the shapechangers take an active role in goverment and society, Leadership and
  Administration may be needed, and/or various other military skills. If the character is
  of the "wrong" type, Enemy, Social Stigma, and other disadvantages would be required. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Shapes of the Gods 
  @TEXT-BOX:The idea of shifters as an elite class can be taken to its logical extreme by
  setting them up as objects of worship <\#208> representatives or even avatars of gods
  with animal aspects. Perhaps the most striking of the historical examples available is
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  the Arcadian cult of the Wolf-Zeus (also known as Zeus-Lycaeus), in ancient Greece. 
  @TEXT-BOX:As told in Ovid's <I>Metamorphoses,<I> Lycaon, King of Arcadia, sought to test
  the divinity of a disguised Jupiter by feeding him a "hash of human flesh", and was
  turned into a wolf in punishment. In historical times, Mount Lycaeus in Arcadia became
  the home of a cult of wolf-worshippers. According to contemporary accounts, the priests
  prepared an annual sacrificial feast that echoed the mythic events by including human
  flesh blended with more ordinary meat. Legend said that whoever tasted it became a wolf
  and could not turn back into a man unless he abstained from human flesh for nine years.
  Other accounts, among them one written by Plato, describe a somewhat different rite: one
  where a wolf was instead sacrificed and eaten; its "essence" was said to be absorbed by
  the cult's devotees who became one with it and called themselves <I>Lukoi<I> (wolves). 
  @TEXT-BOX:The conflicting, contradictory accounts of the wolf-cult make it an excellent
  inspiration for any number of similar religions a GM may want to establish in his
  campaign. Are weres running the cult as a front to gain themselves a safe haven? Or are
  they indeed god-touched? Do participants only symbolically become wolves? Or is the cult
  a "breeding ground" through which an infectious variety of shifting is passed to new
  recipients? Is cannibalism actually a part of the ceremonies, or is it, too, symbolic? Or
  some combination? GMs are directed to <BI>GURPS Religion<$> for further advice and
  suggestions for constructing cults. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Independent Shifters 
  @TEXT:A privileged class of shapechangers does not necessarily need either ecclesiastic
  or temporal authority to exist within a given society. The Viking
  <I>ulfhe<t-42f"Times-Italic">d<t-4b3.5f$>-<b$>nar<I> and <I>beserkrs<I> (sic) are good
  examples. These wolf- and bear-skin warriors constituted a highly-regarded, autonomous
  fighter class within Viking society, recruiting and fighting but answering to no
  authority but their own. While their reputation as skinchangers was (at least in the real
  world) either age-distorted folklore or clever propaganda, they are an excellent example
  of how an independent but not malicious group of weres could function in a campaign
  setting. 
  @TEXT:In settings such as these, shapechangers must take at least one level of Status or
  Military Rank, depending on the requirements of the culture. Some combination of Duties,
  Codes of Honor, Patron, Sense of Duty and Vows would probably be required; those
  societies which <I>create<I> their shifter elite would probably do so with a Cursebreak
  (p. 00) or an Ensorcellment condition that would destroy the talent if the recipient
  betrays them in some way. Alternately, they may pamper and indulge the shifter, buying
  and ensuring his loyalty with with all manner of luxuries and indulgences. The GM may
  count this as Wealth, or as a higher level of Patron. Ally Group is particularly
  appropriate, as well. 
  @TEXT:Groups without any official sanction won't receive as much in the way of
  advantages. Status and/or Rank would still be present, albeit probably lower than for the
  equivalent state- or church-backed group. Resources and Patronage would be much less, but
  Ally Group may well be higher in level and in frequency of appearance. 
  @TEXT:Either variety will of course possess all necessary skills for their function.
  Whether this is military, religious or something else entirely, a level of 12 or the
  appropriate Attribute is a bare minimum. Reputations <\#208> especially among their usual
  enemies <\#208> are also common. 
  @C-HEAD:Skin-Changers and Other Shamanic Manifestations 
  @TEXT:Less advanced or complex societies may not institutionalize castes of shifters, but
  they can still have critical roles within the culture. In tribal, nomadic or other early
  civilizations, a shapechanger may be particularly suited to the role of shaman. 
  @TEXT:In many shamanic traditions, it is part of the function of the shaman to take on
  metaphorically the form of an animal of which the tribe has need, either as a lure or as
  an appeasement. In other views, the shaman directly represents the totem animal of the
  tribe with metaphoric trappings. In magically active worlds <\#208> that is, worlds with
  shapechangers <\#208> this need not be metaphor. Two options present themselves: 
  @TEXT:<I>The shaman as Morph.<I> Those with the talent learn to become animal(s) as
  needed. They defend the tribe with the shapes of dangerous beasts, use acquired knowledge
  and instinct to help with hunts, and so on. Morphs are seen as blessed and in touch with
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  the powers of nature. This best works with animist and pantheist religions, but can also
  be blended with totemism (see <BI>GURPS Religion,<$> pp. 126-9). 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Modern Shamans 
  @TEXT-BOX:Shamanism survives to this day in a number of guises. There is, of course, the
  assiduously "reconstructed" shamanism found in many varieties of Neo-Paganism. Most
  varieties content themselves with emulating American Indian beliefs, or attempting to
  extrapolate the long-forgotten shamanic traditions of Europe. A small subset of these,
  though, explicitly tie lycanthropy into their belief systems, although it is most usually
  employed as a metaphor for the shamanic empathy/sympathy with animal spirits. 
  @TEXT-BOX:A number of other religions show distinctly shamanistic elements. In
  particular, Santeria and its sister belief systems from the many syncretic Afro-Caribbean
  cultures can frequently involve channelling animal spirits in a manner reminisicent of
  the earliest duties of the shaman. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Assuming that a shamans' ability to communicate with spirits is a real part of
  the game world, then if these religions and any others with similar features are present,
  they should be considered "shamanistic", at least for the purpose of determining who can
  reach the other side and who cannot. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:<I>The shaman as Were.<I> Whether granted the ability with the position, or the
  position because of the ability, the shaman can take the form of a specific totem animal.
  In a parallel with Voudoun tradition, the totem may then "incarnate" into the shifted
  shaman. (This may be either a Split Personality or an actual spiritual contact, depending
  on the game world.) Or the shaman may symbolically "share" the totem's strength with the
  tribe through ritual or more literal means. 
  @TEXT:In either scenario, competition and conflict may be common, with the "wrong" kind
  of shifter automatically an enemy within a given tribe or village. Politics between
  totems (or the shamans thereof) <\#208> alliances, neutralities and enmities <\#208> will
  affect relations between villages/tribes and between individual weres. Of course, there
  will also be certain totems known to be neutral or friendly to all. But pity the were
  born in a village or tribe where he's the "wrong type." 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Shifting Drugs 
  @TEXT-BOX:In Victorian literature (among other sources), drugs and potions of all types
  have been known to cause shifting or shifting-like behavior. <BI>GURPS Steampunk<$> lists
  one such drug, based on the mysterious mixture consumed by Henry Jekyll in Robert Louis
  Stevenson's <I>The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde:<I> Atavismine, the use of
  which can result in permanent <I>ethomorphism<I> (see pp. 00-00). 
  @TEXT-BOX:Not all such compounds need have so drastic a set of side effects; presumably
  drugs which cause shapechange-like effects will be safer and more controllable as the
  biosciences progress. The fact that the manufacture of such compounds as Atavismine are
  even possible at TL5, though, may mean that they have as much in common with primitive or
  medieval magics as science. Folk traditions abound in mystic and mysterious mixtures
  which grant shapeshifting abilities to their users. Whether such are true magics or
  misunderstood "natural" sciences is up to the GM and the campaign. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Attention Editor:<$> I received the following text directly from the author
  of Steampunk; please replace if it differs from what made it into print. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Atavismine 
  @TEXT-BOX:This drug produces temporary evolutionary regression to a more primitive state
  ruled by impulse. A character who takes it, such as the unfortunate Henry Jekyll,
  acquires a temporary Split Personality at the 15-point level. Basic IQ is unchanged, but
  psychological traits that reflect self-control and humanity are lost (for example,
  Empathy, Code of Honor, and Sense of Duty), while traits that reflect impulsiveness and
  brutality become worse (for example, Bad Temper to Berserk) and new ones may be acquired.
  Finally, the character's appearance changes, making him unrecognizable; in the process he
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  becomes one level less attractive through a subtle quality of deformity. A Will roll is
  required each time the drug is taken; on a failure the character becomes addicted, on a
  critical failure the character becomes vulnerable to flashbacks (treat as Split
  Personality), and on a natural 18 the atavistic personality becomes the baseline
  personality. Cost is $0.05 per dose. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Investment 
  @TEXT:How much divine power is actually associated with shifting talents is up to the GM.
  Obviously, in a world with no gods or no visible gods, shifters have only their innate
  talents available. This may or may not include spell-casting <\#208> shamans are
  traditionally users of magic in many forms, and spells are among them. 
  @TEXT:Potentially more interesting is a world with active gods. GMs have a wide variety
  of options for equipping shamans with "clerical magic": <BI>GURPS Voodoo, GURPS Magic<$>
  and <BI>GURPS Religion<$> all have useful information and suggestions. The spirit-based
  magic "path" system in <BI>Voodoo<$> lends itself especially well to shamanic-style
  magic. And of course the shamanic system found in <BI>GURPS Old West<$> is tailor-made
  for this situation. In the face of all these options, however, do not forget that the
  primary qualification of a shaman is his ability to shift. The attentions of the
  gods/spirits/totems and the gifts they grant will be in some way related to his talent,
  supplementing or extending it to better serve both them and their people. 
  @TEXT:<I>Other traits.<I> In addition to any such gifts the character may or may not
  possess, he will certainly have an appropriate Theology skill at 12 or IQ, whichever is
  higher. In addition, Psychology, Herbalism, Naturalist, Physician, Tracking and any
  number of other skills appropriate to a shaman are recommended. The character also will
  possess at least one level of Status. Any rivalries/alliances with other totems or tribes
  that may directly affect him should be expressed as a combination of Allies, Enemies, and
  Reputations. 
  @TEXT:In those settings where the shaman's gods/spirits are real and active, Clerical
  Investment, Duties, Vows and Patrons will also play a major role in the design of the
  character. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Werewolf and Medieval Christianity 
  @TEXT-BOX:In one of those peculiar developments that seem at times to all but define
  Roman Catholicism during the Middle Ages, the Church became somewhat fixated upon the
  topic of werewolves. Along with witches <\#208> with which they were usually conflated
  <\#208> werewolves were at the top of the Church's list of active works of the Devil on
  Earth. So firmly was this anchored in the medieval Catholic mindset that doubting or
  denying the existence of werewolves was considered heresy and, in some areas, grounds for
  an Inquisitorial visit. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Any church or denomination which preserves and preaches medieval Catholic dogma
  <\#208> either by descent from Roman Catholicism, or through some mechanism of parallel
  development <\#208> is likely to include these beliefs among their teachings. Oddly
  enough, the Church in Yrth appears to be somewhat <I>more<I> relaxed on the subject than
  its forebear, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the presence of actual weres among the
  population. (This may be because it was founded by individuals who were transported to
  Yrth <I>before<I> the medieval Christian werewolf paranoia reached its peak.) 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Were-Forms As Punishments From The Gods 
  @TEXT:In some campaigns, there will no "fortunate" weres; they will always be victims of
  curses or their own lusts for power or wealth. (This is not an option that supports
  Morphs easily, for obvious reasons.) The medieval Catholic church espoused this opinion,
  and most horror films have followed its model. While obviously well suited for campaigns
  set in a "realistic" medieval Europe or some derivative thereof, it plays equally well in
  other settings. Oddly enough, there need not be active gods in the campaign for this
  option; the punishment can be an automatic consequence of the sin, and curses may be
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  inflicted upon the innocent by a perfectly worldly source. 
  @TEXT:To the modern way of thinking there is a clear qualitative difference between
  someone like the mythical medieval witch who takes on a were-form as a means of sowing
  chaos and mayhem, and a person on whom an animal shape is inflicted as a torment.
  Religious authorities may not see things that way, though. One religion may differentiate
  a curse victim from a servant of evil, seeking to save the one and destroy the other.
  Another religion may see no difference whatsoever, regarding both as tainted with
  darkness and sin, and both as deserving of whatever measures are prescribed in their
  dogma. 
  @TEXT:And simply trusting to the mercies of an "enlightened" religion may not help; even
  sympathetic religions may see execution as the only possible mercy in the case of the
  cursed. 
  @TEXT:Worse yet may be the case where both types of were are known in folklore and
  popular myth <\#208> falsely. Only one type may actually exist <\#208> and only the weres
  know for sure which. Imagine the possibilities for mayhem if only evil shifters existed,
  yet folklore insists that some shifters are innocents trapped by the machinations of
  evil. And imagine the potential for tragedy in the opposite case. 
  @D-HEAD:Mechanics 
  @TEXT:Under this option, weres are reduced to two different varieties. Note that these
  characterizations are by no means definitive; 
  @TEXT:<I>The Cursed<I> have a Split Personality with an inimical were-form. Their change
  is Cyclic or Triggered, and they have no ability to shift at will. If they are lucky,
  there is a Cursebreak, but it is rare, dangerous, uncertain, or some combination of all
  three. The alternate form may be of any species; it is pure animal, or it may have
  Bestial and/or Presentient bought off and IQ equivalent to the base form. In either case,
  it will usually possess some compulsion to do harm to others ranging from the
  inconvenient (chasing off and/or killing local livestock) to the deadly (hunting the base
  form's family and friends). A highly ethical or strong-willed were will try to lock
  himself away when the Change comes upon him; this will not always be successful, given
  the cunning and intelligence of the average curse were-creature. 
  @TEXT:The source of the curse can vary <\#208> a hereditary condition or an Infectious
  Attack, perhaps, or it could have been deliberately inflicted. In the latter case, who,
  why and how all are excellent campaign hooks. 
  @TEXT:<I>The Evildoer<I> has an agenda: terror, chaos or just personal profit. They will
  possess one or more of the classic "evil" disadvantages <\#208> they are usually selfish,
  greedy or sadistic, at the very least. Certainly they have a lust for power which has
  grown dangerously large, for they have called upon some form of supernatural Evil to
  grant them their desires. Depending on the involvement of the divine in the campaign,
  they may have made a pact with Dark Forces, or they might simply possess certain banned
  grimoires. Either way, they have acquired the ability to shift. 
  @TEXT:The Evildoer's change is also a were-form. It is almost always at will <\#208>
  although it would be more than fitting for the Evildoer to also be Cursed as part of his
  power. Medieval European myth specifies that this variety of were normally takes the form
  of a cat or a wolf, and their change is often linked to some item <\#208> an ointment
  which is applied to the skin, or a belt or skin (of the appropriate beast, of course)
  which is worn when the power is invoked. They always have full possession of their
  faculties in their alternate forms, although they may be seized by odd compulsions or
  obsessions. Judging from testimony given to the Inquisition, they  would specifically
  attack and terrorize those persons whom they felt had harmed or inconvenienced them in
  some way <\#208> even when doing so was blatantly self-destructive. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:"Real" Lycanthropy 
  @TEXT-BOX:Assuming for the sake of argument that weres do not exist in the "real world",
  what inspired the legends? Setting aside the half-remembered remainders of shamanic
  traditions the world over, there may well be other sources. A number of medical
  professionals have suggested certain genuine conditions that may have contributed to the
  myth. GMs running a "totally realistic" medieval game can use these diseases to add an
  unexpected flavor of surprise, horror and danger to the campaign without having to
  incorporate fantasy elements which might be out of place. Or perhaps a werewolf attack in
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  Yrth or another fantasy setting may turn out to be a far different prospect.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Dementia.<I> There is a specific variety of mental illness called
  "lycanthropic disorder," whose sufferers believe that they turn into wolves (or, less
  frequently, other animals). They experience full-sensory hallucinations of changing
  physical form, are given to outbursts of inexplicable violence, and feel insatiable
  cravings to drink blood. GMs and players can quantify this condition as a combination of
  Flashbacks, Delusions, and the Compulsive Behaviors of Violence and Drink Blood. Sadism
  is sometimes appropriate. Also, such a character will never have any form of Pacifism,
  Empathy, or similar traits. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Rabies.<I> Of the options presented here, rabies is probably the best
  candidate for a "realistic" encounter with an apparent were-creature. There is a historic
  correlation in medieval Europe between rabies epidemics in both humans and animals, and
  concurrent werewolf trials. According to reliable contemporary accounts, rabid wolves
  were known to travel long distances, besiege villages, and fearlessly attack all humans
  in their path. They showed no fear and charged relentlessly, decimating settlements and
  terrorizing peasant and noble alike with the hair-raising sounds they made with their
  disease-paralyzed larynxes. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Similarly, there is a correlation in behaviors between human rabies sufferers
  and the "traditional" werewolf: victims of rabies are said to rage deliriously, howl, and
  go into frenzies, attacking nearby persons and frequently biting them. And, the better
  for inserting a note of horror into an otherwise "mundane" setting, rabies is just as
  contagious as any infectious were curse <\#208> and more destructive of its victim. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In game terms, a character bitten or scratched by a rabid animal contracts the
  disease unless he makes a HT-5 roll. Incubation time can be anywhere from 10 days to two
  <I>years,<I> but for most victims it will be one to three (HT/5) months. The first
  perceptible symptoms after incubation are a fever and a general sense of unwellness.
  After two or three days of feeling ill, the victim becomes irrational as his brain cells
  begin to die (-3 to IQ, Bestial, Berserk, Compulsive Behavior: Bite People, Paranoia, and
  the GM's choice of other mental disadvantages, including buying off Pacifism and other
  "good" disadvantages) and he suffers from violent mouth and throat spasms. Although
  victims are also intensely thirsty, the spasms worsen if the victim tries to drink water.
  At this point, death occurs within the next few days <\#208> there is no HT roll to
  recover, and victims lose 1d-1 HT (minimum 1) per day once the spasms start. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Untreated, rabies is almost 100% fatal. However, rabies treatments are
  available starting in TL5 <\#208> it was one of the first vaccines ever developed, first
  used in 1888 by Louis Pasteur. Unlike many vaccines, it can be administered effectively
  <I>after<I> infection. Before late TL7, treatment was a series of 8 to 20 injections to
  the deltoid muscle; after 1980, this had been reduced to one vaccination into the wound
  itself, followed by five more in the deltoid. Late TL7 treatements are almost 100%
  effective; earlier treatments are somewhat less so. Individuals who are promptly treated
  recover with no long-term ill effects. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Porphyria.<I> Most commonly proposed as the "real" source of vampire myths,
  congenital porphyria has also been suggested for werewolfism. It is a rare inherited
  disease caused by an abnormality in the blood's hemoglobin. The symptoms vary, but the
  most extreme cases include severe psychological disorders such as manic-depression,
  extraordinary sensitivity of the skin to light (with subsequent discoloration,
  blistering, and mutilation), discoloration of the teeth, and occasional cravings for
  blood or other substances. While it cannot be contracted like an infectious disease, it
  can be latent and triggered by alcohol, barbituates, pregnancy or even just too much
  sunlight. Sufferers have a Weakness to sunlight (Very Common, 1d per 30 minutes). Every
  time they take more than HT/2 points of damage from sunlight in one exposure, they must
  make a HT roll or permanently lose one level of Appearance; Appearance <I>can<I> be
  reduced to Monstrous or Horrific in this manner. They also possess Chronic Depression or
  Manic-Depressive (or up to -25 points of other mental disadvantages, if the GM approves),
  and Compulsive Behavior: Unnatural Food Cravings. 
  @TEXT-BOX:There is no cure for porphyria, nor even a treatment to suppress its effects. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Congenital Generalized Hypertrichosis.<I> Also called "Werewolf Syndrome."
  Another hereditary disease, hypertrichosis is an extremely rare genetic condition which
  leaves its victims covered in dense hair. Like porphyria, it cannot be contracted except
  by inheriting it. Characters with hypertrichosis grow hair all over their body, unless
  they take pains to shave or otherwise remove it. There are no other effects. In game
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  terms, this is a maximum Appearance of Unattractive; in settings where it is important to
  look "normal" or like a certain racial/cultural ideal (such as medieval or even modern
  Japan), Monstrous or Horrific may be the maximum. A Social Stigma or other negative
  reaction modifiers may also apply. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Detecting and Thwarting Shifters 
  @TEXT:Whether as the good guys or the bad guys, there will eventually come a time when
  the shapechangers in a campaign will want to be someplace where they are not supposed to
  be, and will use their abilities to get there. Naturally enough, there will also be those
  who want to catch them at it. 
  @TEXT:Depending on the paradigm(s) under which shapechanging operates in a given
  campaign, there may be many ways to discover a shifter, or none. Before introducing any
  variety of shapechanger to his campaign world, the GM should think carefully about the
  countermeasures available for use against them. The herb moly (see box, p. 00), for
  instance, is a low-tech method from classical literature, but requires the user discover
  the shifter via other means. (It probably also requires the shifter be magical in nature
  <\#208> although that is not necessarily so. Imagine a carefully orchestrated
  infiltration of high-tech morphs into a low-tech society foiled because a rare herb
  disrupts their changing mechanism!) 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Moly 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Black was its root, but milky-white the blossom that it bore.<I> 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>The Immortals call it 'Moly' <\#208> to dig it where it springs<I> 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Is hard for a mortal man; but the Gods can do all things.<I> 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#208> Homer, <I>The Odyssey<I> 
  @TEXT-BOX:Given to Ulysses by Mercury to protect him from Circe's magic, moly is better
  known as "sorcerer's garlic," although the variety of wild garlic known by that name
  today bears little resemblance to the black-rooted, white-flowered herb of myth. In
  addition to being a medicinal plant sovereign against "blights, mildews, and damps"
  according to one source, it is best known for its ability to thwart charms and
  enchantments. As a member of the garlic and onion family, it has a pungent odor which is
  somewhat unpleasant, and its leaves taste quite bad. The flavor of moly root is not
  described in ancient texts, but it is probably not unlike cultivated garlic. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>GURPS Magic Items<$> describes both an alchemical elixir called "Moly" and
  an amulet of the same name (p. MI113 and pp. MI116-7, respectively). The effects given in
  their entries, though, are inconsistent with descriptions given in the Odyssey and other
  texts, being both rather weak and overbroad, so the following alternative is offered to
  the GM. 
  @TEXT-BOX:A sprig of moly can be used, just as Ulysses did, as a shield against
  transformation spells. (When employed in this manner, treat it as an appropriate
  Counterspell of power 20.) It can also be used to dispel any magic which changes its
  subject's shape <\#208> a single leaf, intact, placed in the mouth and held there, will
  undo any shapechanging spell and force weres and morphs back into their base forms,
  taking 1d seconds to do so. Furthermore, an alchemist or herbalist can use moly to brew a
  foul-tasting elixir that can suppress the Change in an inherent or inherited were for 1d
  months, and will cure an acquired infectious were-state outright. This elixir (available
  only in potion form) is compounded of a sprig of moly plus other ingredients costing a
  minimum of $1,000; it requires an alchemist who is familiar with the Circe elixir as well
  as shapeshifting and/or shapeshifters, and who possesses a skill level of at least 18. It
  takes five weeks to brew. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Moly's virtue lasts only as long as it is fresh; once it wilts (usually within
  a day or two), it loses its power. It cannot be preserved in any way that maintains its
  magical power except for its potion form, which remains efficacious for six months after
  brewing. 
  @TEXT-BOX:White-flowered moly is rare and difficult to harvest without destroying its
  inherent magic. ("Moly-Harvesting" is a MVH skill for those characters who absolutely
  must have it.) Fresh sprigs sell for $2,500 each <\#208> more in areas plagued by
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  were-creatures or hostile magic. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:The majority of the following suggestions assume that the "opposition" is a morph,
  although some should be just as applicable to weres. Many of the suggestions tend more
  toward the (pseudo-)scientific end of the spectrum, but there is no reason why that
  should make them any less valid in a more fantastic setting. As always, the GM should
  tightly control this information. Some "folklore" or "common knowledge" might be
  available, but it can easily be wildly inaccurate, misleading, or even hazardous! 
  @TEXT:Note, by the way, that this is not necessarily <I>just<I> a checklist of ideas for
  player characters besieged by shifter enemies. Sufficiently clever NPCs should think of
  any (or all!) of these methods should the PCs be the ones doing the besieging! 
  @C-HEAD:Anticipation and Suspicion 
  @TEXT:Outside of a high fantasy campaign, where just about anything might be expected, or
  a horror game where those involved know what they're up against, a shapechanger may well
  come as a complete surprise. Still, there are ways to anticipate the possibility. 
  @TEXT:If the shifter is a natural part of an unfamiliar ecosystem, be it another planet,
  a different plane, or simply an isolated ecology in some "lost" part of the world, it's
  likely other creatures around it will have similar abilities. Witnessing a flock of
  grazing animals suddenly turning into birds to escape a predator would be a good
  indicator <\#208> and may reveal useful clues to their nature. Even more telling would be
  the predator similarly changing shape to pursue its prey! If the ecosystem favors morphs,
  having an unintelligent morphing creature attempt (however inadequately) to duplicate one
  of the outsiders can be humorous or disturbing, depending on how the GM plays it <\#208>
  and can set the stage for a far more competent interloper later. 
  @TEXT:If the shifter is an infiltrator, its feeding habits may give it away. Predators
  are far more likely to be shapechangers (and vice versa) than prey species for a number
  of reasons both scientific and mythological. A sudden increase in predation rates
  (especially among skittish herd animals or protected domestic beasts) with no apparent
  increase in the natural predator population may well indicate something out of the
  ordinary has inserted itself into the food chain. Sentient shapechangers might give
  themselves away by showing too much intelligence and planning in their kills, or
  conversely, excessive sadism or bloodlust. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Vulnerabilities 
  @TEXT-BOX:It is usual in both legend and cinema for werewolves and other shapechangers to
  be invulnerable to all forms of damage <\#208> save for silver. Similarly, a curable were
  who is immune to all other forces must be vulnerable to the means or methods of his cure!
  While this is far from universal in legends and stories across the globe, it does raise
  the question: what are the frequencies of appearance for various countermeasures, so
  Vulnerabilities (p. CI106) can be properly priced at character creation? 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Silver.<I> The traditional weakness of werewolves is available at TL 1.
  Although it is a precious metal, it is easily acquired in almost every culture that has
  metal-working; it is not, however, omnipresent. Silver is an <I>Occasional<I> substance,
  worth -10 points per level as a Vulnerability. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Holy or blessed objects.<I> When cited in myth, this almost always refers to
  items consecrated to the dominant religion in the region. In such a case it's likely
  that, as in medieval Europe, almost every town and village will have at least one priest
  and sanctuary of that religion serving its people. Assuming no other complications
  (disbelief in weres, legal strictures, and so on) cloud the issue, getting or making
  consecrated items will relatively easy, making them <I>Common,<I> and worth -15 points
  per level. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Alchemical compounds.<I> Any mixture of ingredients that is intended to be
  applied to the were, whether or not it is actually prepared by a real, magically-gifted
  alchemist, falls under this heading. These recipes can vary wildly from legend to legend;
  the rarest item in the ingredient list sets the availability level of the mixture itself. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Other.<I> For everything else, this rule of thumb may be helpful: 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> If you can't walk down the street without running into it, it's
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  <I>Common<I>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> If you can walk into a stranger's house or a mall and be pretty sure
  you'll find it, it's <I>Occasional<I>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> If you can only find it by going to a nearby specialty store, or if it
  costs a lot of money, it's <I>Rare<I>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> If you can only get it by mail order from a distant dealer, or it costs
  vast amounts of money, it's <I>Very Rare<I>. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Tactics and Countermeasures, Or, Finding The Infiltrator 
  @TEXT:Regardless of the justifcation for a shapechanger's abilities, at least one of the
  following strategies is likely to prove a fruitful avenue of investigation when it comes
  time to find a way to detect the creature: 
  @D-HEAD:Energy 
  @TEXT:<I>Shapeshifting may require a large amount of energy, especially if it is
  "complete to the atomic level". Look for the burst of waste heat that accompanies the
  shift. Or conversely, sudden and unexpected cold spots, if the change requires the
  <I>absorption<I> of energy from the local environment to initiate or complete the
  process. 
  @TEXT:In a high-tech setting, a computer-controlled environment system could be
  programmed to monitor the thermostat sensors in each room, allowing a shape-shifting
  event to be tagged in time and location. Either way, a temporarily elevated body
  temperature can indicate a person who has been duplicated (it will probably take some
  time to cool down to "normal" after a shift). 
  @TEXT:Look for the internal features unique to the shapeshifter. A duplicate can't be
  <I>completely<I> identical to the original, or it would be unable to ever change again
  (since the original can't change). So it must retain the shapeshifting mechanism, and
  (unless it can somehow draw on external power) the energy storage that fuels it. Does it
  have energetic nitrogen molecules suffusing its internal organs? Does it have extra
  mitochondria, or excess ATP? 
  @TEXT:Look for the energy recharge mechanism. Does the shapechanger have an incredibly
  voracious appetite after shifting? Does it chow down on candy bars or even raw sugar? Or
  plug in to a nearby electric outlet? Does it bask in front of a microwave beam? Fantasy
  shifters are notoriously dependent upon local mana <\#208> perhaps the mana level around
  them drops precipitously for a short time during the change, or for as long as they're in
  their alternate form (making them even more of a threat than usual to spellcasters). Some
  shifters have the Mana Enhancer advantage <\#208> the local magic level might go <I>up<I>
  when they're around. 
  @TEXT:Similarly, shifters may have identifiable <I>patterns<I> to their energies, even if
  they don't appear to consume or radiate excess power in the wake of their changes.
  Psionic shapechanging will probably have its own specific signature which a Sniffer or
  other sensitive might detect, for example. Fantasy shifters who are otherwise
  well-cloaked may be revealed by the proper use of Analyze Magic. And so on. 
  @D-HEAD:Structural/Biological Traits 
  @TEXT:As noted above, if the shifter retains the ability to change, that mechanism has to
  be present <I>somewhere<I> in the body. By extension, so must the "original plans" for
  the creature. Does it keep two sets of DNA? Or does it rearrange the introns ("dead,"
  inactive sequences) in its DNA and swap which parts are turned on and off? Genetic
  testing would probably detect the first, although the second would probably confuse both
  experts and software unfamiliar with the phenomenon. 
  @TEXT:Unless it also undergoes a complete personality shift as well, its brain structure
  can't change too radically. A CAT scan or MRI might reveal the truth, as might an EEG. On
  the other hand, the brain inside the copied skull might be a "dummy", with the real one
  hidden somewhere else in the body, perhaps disquised as another organ. (X-rays or other
  non-intrusive procedures may or may not detect such a hidden brain.) Natural shifters
  will rarely have such an extreme ability, but it may well be a "standard feature" for
  <I>manufactured<I> shapechangers, especially those designed to infiltrate other races. 
  @TEXT:Any replication that is less than cell-for-cell perfect may mimic the <I>form,<I>
  but not all the functions. Detection may rely upon the fact that certain reflexes or body
  processes might not be copied, or copied imperfectly. For example, in John W. Campbell's
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  Golden Age SF story "The Brain Stealers Of Mars", space travelers discovered the alien
  morph among them in just that way: presented with pepper up the nose, the alien couldn't
  duplicate a reflex that involved some 500 sets of muscles and an autonomic nervous system
  tuned by millions of years of earthly evolution <\#208> the sneeze. 
  @D-HEAD:Mental/Social 
  @TEXT:Against those morph types who do not gain an extensive copy of their target's
  memories, non-body-specific identifiers may be sufficient. These include various social
  behaviors <\#208> such as religious rites, idiosyncratic behaviors and cultural
  preferences <\#208> and obscure skills or items from personal history, specifically
  catalogued for just this purpose, which a morph undergoing a simple body-only change will
  find hard or impossible to duplicate. 
  @C-HEAD:Knowing Your Own 
  @TEXT:Opposition that knows what it's facing may develop some explicit method of
  identification that can't or won't be copied by any kind of change. This is possible in
  many worlds, regardless of background or technology. For example, it's possible in
  virtually any TL 6+ setting to give vulnerable personnel regular doses of stable but
  uncommon isotopes (Carbon 13 and Nitrogen 15 would be a good bet). Upon their return from
  field missions, personnel would be quarantined until the isotope ratio could be confirmed
  by whatever means is at hand, be it mass spectroscopy or a multiscanner. Someone
  <I>without<I> the isotopes, or with the isotopes in the wrong quantities, would be
  examined far more carefully <\#208> or even summarily executed. 
  @TEXT:Magic can provide similar benefits. Use Ensorcel from p. 39 of <BI>GURPS
  Grimoire<$> to imbue possible targets with a minor spell (possibly a custom one developed
  for the purpose), using an unlikely but simple spell-break provision to make the process
  as cheap as possible. Using Mage Sight or even Identify Magic, scan personnel on a
  regular basis, and examine anyone who has been in the field immediately upon their
  return. Anyone who is found to be lacking their ensorcelment is, of course, a possible
  morph. 
  @TEXT:Sufficiently-motivated players or GMs can no doubt come up with even more effective
  methods, regardless of the setting. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Traditional Cures For Werewolves 
  @TEXT-BOX:Both film and folklore hold out hope of a cure for those suffering from a
  shapeshifting curse. However, as if to further exacerbate the horror in which these
  sufferers must live their lives, these cures are often breathtakingly rare or all but
  impossible to accomplish. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Alternately, these can be seen as weaknesses to exploit when attacking an evil
  shapeshifter. However, some folklore claims that for any cure to work, the were must
  sincerely want to be cured. Without that, even the most powerful working will fail. Worse
  yet (for player character weres, at least), some of the most extreme cures work by
  killing the sufferer to save his soul. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Traditional Cursebreaks 
  @TEXT-BOX:The following is a list of traditional cures for lycanthropy, as testified to
  by folklore and legend. It's anything but exhaustive, being more a sampler extracted from
  the most common myths, but players and GMs alike should find it useful and inspirational.
  It is, as always, up to the GM if any, all, or none of these work, for how long and for
  which weretypes; and it is quite within the GM's purview to allow a were-form with a
  Cursebreak (p. 00), but <I>not tell the player what the cursebreak <B>is<B>.<I> 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Exorcism.<I> A traditional Church solution to all seriously evil problems.
  The justification is that the were-form is actually a malevolent spirit possessing the
  victim (or cooperating with a witch). A priest can perform the full "bell, book and
  candle" ritual; for the unordained, simple prayer, sprinkling holy water, and proper
  invocations of the victim's baptismal name in the name of the Trinity are said to be
  efficacious. (The GM may require True Faith or another "holy" advantage for an "informal"
  exorcism to succeed, though). In the case of calling the victim's name, three repetitions
  in the presence of the animal form is the prescribed ritual. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Alchemical/magical approaches.<I> Some of these operate on the same
  priciples as exorcism, being attempts to expel a hostile spirit. Others treat lycanthropy
  as a spell that has to be broken or dispelled. However it is approached, though, the
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  process usually requires a great number of odd and unusual ingredients combined according
  to an improbable recipe, and/or a complex ritual that would put a full Catholic mass to
  shame. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Doctrine of Opposites.<I> To the mind versed in medieval European thought,
  the world was balanced in many ways. For every evil there was an opposing good to be
  found somewhere <\#208> a natural counter, remedy or antidote, thoughtfully provided by
  God. In the case of lycanthropy, there was wolvesbane, or even moly (see p. 00).
  Wolvesbane's reputation is evenly split between poison and cure; the latter seems more
  common as part of an alchemical formulation. Some claim that the fruit of <I>Rauwolfia
  serpentina,<I> a woody shrub native to Thailand and India and which has dozens of
  legitimate medical uses, can also cure lycanthropy and even suppress morphing talents. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Physical trauma.<I> The poor man's exorcism; the idea is to break the spell
  or drive out the lycanthropic spirit by damaging the body of the victim until the magic
  can no longer reside in it. This can range from simple beatings, through more complicated
  tortures up to and including coating the victim with a boiling mixture of molten tar,
  sulfur and various poisonous herbs (which of course overlaps with the alchemical cure),
  to simply killing the victim outright in order to save his soul. (By similar logic,
  suicide will also break the curse according to some traditions. One must be careful with
  this "cure", though <\#208> other equally sincere traditions claim this guarantees the
  individual will <I>return<I> as a werewolf.) 
  @TEXT-BOX:One particular version of this method which has strong support in folklore is
  amputation. A number of folktales cite it, and it was pivotal in at least one
  "historical" case of lycanthropy, that of Raimbaud de Pinetum, the infamous "Werewolf of
  Auvergne." In order to free himself of his lycanthropy, Raimbaud had a woodcutter chop
  off one of his paws <\#208> "For they say that amputation of a limb frees such men from
  their calamitous condition." 
  @TEXT-BOX:Note that not just <I>any<I> damage will have the desired effect, but only that
  inflicted for the sole purpose of ending the victim's lycanthropy. This method possesses
  the dubious virtue that it can be performed by unskilled labor using tools and materials
  immediately available at any farm or blacksmith's shop, which no doubt contributed to its
  popularity. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Self-control.<I> The lycanthrope must restrain himself from attacking humans
  for some period of time, usually nine years. This is best suited for weres who retain
  some fraction of their mind and/or personality while in their alternate form, while at
  the same time suffering from a reduced impulse control or compulsions to do violence. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Blood.<I> Another method requires the highly dangerous task of extracting 3
  drops of blood from the lycanthrope while he is in animal form. Boiling a king's tooth in
  werewolves' blood and molten silver is also reputed to be an effective cure, but how this
  mixture is to be employed is not specified; hopefully, it is not intended to be
  swallowed.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Cinematic cures.<I> Of course, movies and TV have added their own inventions
  to the mix over the years. Universal's first werewolf movie, 1935's <I>The Werewolf of
  London,<I> has its were, Dr. Wilfred Glendon, dependent upon "marifasa" (a rare Indian
  flower that only blooms during the full moon) to suppress his transformation.
  Unfortunately, it works only for one night at a time. The gothic soap opera <I>Dark
  Shadows<I> had the "moon poppy", which when eaten while in were-form would end the
  affliction forever. It also had gypsy spells capable (at great cost, of course) of curing
  lycanthropy. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Bloodline cures.<I> In stories where lycanthropy can be transmitted via a
  bite, a cure usually involves the specific creature that infected you. The most dangerous
  of these options involve hunting down and killing the "parent" beast; some cures require
  eating its heart as well. A somewhat more disgusting but less life-threatening cure
  specifies mixing the saliva of the were with water from an English moor, but whether the
  combination is to be drunk or applied to the wound is not clear. One thing is certain
  <\#208> this cure must be mixed and applied before the first dawn after the attack, or it
  is ineffective! 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Utterly random.<I> According to several Germanic tales, throwing a hat at a
  werewolf can cure him. Other stories say hitting him on the forehead with a key will do
  the trick. Similarly, the afflicted person could strike his own forehead three times with
  a knife. 
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  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Prejudice and Pride: Lions of The Pure 
  @C-HEAD:A Sample Shapeshifter Campaign 
  @TEXT:Following is a brief concept for a campaign incorporating shapeshifters as a major
  element. It demonstrates how a were-creature element can be added to a campaign in
  progress, in this case a historical or otherwise non-magical, low tech setting (although
  it can also be used as the basis for a stand-alone game). 
  @C-HEAD:.<!s>.<!s>.And In Paradise They Dwelt 
  @TEXT:<I>In the blessed name of Mevek, may He watch ever over us, amen.<!s>.<!s>.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>The invaders called themselves Glinizi. They fell upon us in the thirteenth year
  of the reign of our lamented King Ta’an, bearing the sticks of fire against which no
  mortal man could stand. From the sea did they come, in swarms like locusts from out their
  great ships, and they overran all the lowlands. They enslaved our people and called it
  "liberation"; they seized Nilesh Mithana, the capital, and set themselves up as rulers
  over all the people of Chanarkesh.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>As part of their tyranny, the Glinizi forbade the worship of Mevek (blessed be
  His name!). When the king and the priests protested, the Glinizi murdered them,
  desecrating the altar of Mevek with their blood. When the people rose up in protest, the
  Glinizi slaughtered them in the streets.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>Knowing they could not stand against the Glinizi and their sticks of fire, One
  Hundred of the faithful of Mevek (blessed be His name!) escaped to the Vangkesh Hills.
  There they made supplication unto Mevek and prayed for a way to deliver our land and our
  people from the invaders. And Mevek (blessed be His name!) heard their prayers and
  answered them.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT:A peaceful subtropical nation. An occupying army with a technology beyond that of
  the natives. And a vengeful god who emphasizes personal initiative and responsibility.
  Three ingredients whose combination has had unexpected results <\#208> for the invaders. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Adapting The Setting 
  @TEXT-BOX:This campaign seed was inspired by (but should not be construed to
  <I>represent<I>) some aspects of the Anglo-Sikh Wars of the 1850-60s. As such, the
  intended flavor of this setting is British Colonial India circa the middle of the 19th
  Century (albeit leavened by a kind of hybrid Thai/Cambodian aesthetic). 
  @TEXT-BOX:Even so, no details here are exclusively specific to that place and time; this
  campaign seed can be adapted for any game set somewhere between TL3 and TL5. The primary
  ingredients needed for this are a distant, aggressive imperial nation, a tropical native
  population in a land colonized or conquered by that nation, a suitable wilderness zone,
  and an appropriate religion. The military forces fielded by the empire should be
  technologically advanced (at least +1 TL) compared the natives, making them apparently
  invincible. 
  @TEXT-BOX:As written, this setting can be dropped into almost any standard fantasy game,
  as well as more historical settings. All that will be necessary may be changing the names
  and perhaps some of the politics, and the nature of the Glinizi "firesticks". If the
  world background is ostensibly non-magical with distant and uninvolved (or non-existent)
  deities, all the better. 
  @TEXT-BOX:With a little research and effort, the GM can even quickly adapt this material
  back into its inspiration, turning a more conventional British India campaign into
  something out of Rudyard Kipling's darker nightmares. While it can serve as an
  interesting twist to a "real world" game, it can also work in a gameworld with active
  magic, especially if the GM leaves misleading clues about the nature of the natives'
  ability to change. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Protagonists and Antagonists 
  @TEXT-BOX:The setting is also written such that either side (or both!) can be played as
  the "good guys", depending on the needs of the game. In fact, it works best if neither
  the Chanarkeshi weres nor the Glinizi invaders are portrayed as outright evil, but rather
  responding as best they can to a complicated situation. While it is possible to reduce
  either side to predatory stereotypes preying upon the valiant forces "liberating" their
  land, no small amount of the flavor of this setting will be lost. 
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  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Chanarkesh 
  @TEXT:Located in a fetile subtropical zone, Chanarkesh is a land of lush farmlands, moist
  rain forests, and wooded, rocky hills. The innumerable family farms dotting the
  well-watered lowlands provide bountiful crops, while the upland forests produce a wide
  variety of woods for carving and building. Add to it the fine stonework Chanarkeshi
  craftsman have learned over centuries of building elaborate temples, and you have the
  three primary exports of this small but rich coastal nation, whose sea-going tradition
  includes both merchants and fisherman. 
  @TEXT:The Chanarkeshi are said to produce fishermen, farmers, traders and scholars in
  equal proportion; they live under a clan system capped by the combined power of the king
  and the priests of Mevek, the lion-god whom they have worshiped since time immemorial.
  Mevek is distant but benevolent, paternally encouraging both individual achievement and
  loyalty to clan and nation. It has been hundreds of years since Mevek took a direct hand
  in the affairs of Chanarkesh, but this does not discourage his followers. Instead, they
  point to it proudly as evidence they have followed his commandments <\#208> Mevek only
  intervenes when the people have turned from him, or if utter catastrophe looms. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Inside The Chanarkeshi 
  @TEXT-BOX:While they are are learned and peaceful people, the Chanarkeshi are also
  stagnant. This may be partially by design <\#208> Mevek certainly favors stability and
  predictability, despite his aspect of a wild animal. However, what works for Mevek
  doesn't necessarily work as well for Chanarkesh <\#208> the land is steeped in, and
  choking from, highly respected tradition and an increasingly hidebound caste system.
  Chanarkeshi bards love to tell the tales of famous heroes of yore who climbed the social
  ladder from dirt farmer to king, but anyone trying to emulate them today is more likely
  to be imprisoned for breaking his caste than honored for the effort. 
  @TEXT-BOX:This is particularly encouraged by the priesthood of Mevek, who enjoy a
  comfortable (and all-but-hereditary) position at the top of the social ladder. Not
  surprisingly, they are going to be hostile to the very idea of the lion-men. Commoners
  approaching Mevek without their intercession, indeed! 
  @TEXT-BOX:The truth is, despite its prosperity and comfort (or perhaps because of it),
  Chanarkesh is headed for social collapse. The civilization is stagnant and petrifying,
  with entirely too much focus on past glories and self-congratulatory festivals. A growing
  underclass (one is always allowed to move to a <I>lower<I> caste, after all) is finding
  itself more and more marginalized even as it shoulders more and more of the country's
  day-to-day support. 
  @TEXT-BOX:If Chanarkesh is to survive, it needs to be shaken up <I>badly<I> <\#208> and
  the Glinizi just may be the thing to do it. If they don't destroy the country first. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Geography 
  @TEXT:Chanarkesh is a roughly trapezoidal nation, set on a peninsula extending southwest
  out of the main body of the continent of which it is part. Its western coast, running
  north-northwest to south is the trapezoid's longest side at just over 300 miles; the
  southern coast stretches for 200 miles almost due west until it intersects the main
  continent. Wrapping around the other two "sides" is a long chain of steep, rocky hills
  spotted with light forest, which mark a border with two of Chanarkesh's neighbors and are
  in fact the foothills of an impressive mountain range somewhat further inland. Known to
  the Chanarkeshi as the Vangkesh Hills, a number of passes run through them, linking
  Chanarkesh with its inland neighbors. 
  @TEXT:The Vangkesh Hills are inhospitable and, while arable, not worth the effort of
  farming with so much moist, fertile land to the south. A number of rivers flow through
  the hills from the mountains beyond, but they do so with great force through deep chasms
  cut into the bedrock, making them all but unusable for agriculture. There are several
  Chanarkeshi settlements in the hills <\#208> they are home to a dozen or more quarries
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  and hundreds of mines <\#208> but nothing to match the towns and cities in the lowlands. 
  @TEXT:At the base of the hills, most of the rivers spread out, delta-style, into broad,
  wet zones <\#208> all but swamps, really <\#208> threaded with creeks and streams. Rooted
  deep into this moist land and getting the most benefit from the water there, is the band
  of lush, semitropical rainforest from which Chanarkesh harvest the exotic woods employed
  by their crafstmen. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:About Mevek 
  @TEXT-BOX:The lion-headed god of the Chanarkeshi, Mevek claims Chanarkesh as his sphere
  of influence. He is said to know all things that happen in the land, and all things that
  may affect it. He does not often choose to interfere in mortal matters, though, for in
  addition to basic moral laws (called the Rules of Just Behavior), his teachings emphasize
  what have become known as The Five Virtues: Wisdom, Strength, Truthful Insight,
  Self-sufficience, and Loyalty to Clan and Nation. He has made it clear in the past that
  he does not want weak, fawning children for worshippers, but strong, independent adults,
  worthy of being partners to a god. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Orthodox Mevekism 
  @TEXT-BOX:In the three or so centuries since the last known physical manifestation of
  Mevek, his church has collected and standardized the stories and teachings of their god.
  In addition to the Rules of Just Behavior and the Five Virtues, Orthodox Mevekism teaches
  the following as articles of faith: that Mevek is supreme over all other deities (the Law
  of Primacy); that the role one is born to in the world may not be improved (the Law of
  Caste); that any challenge to the social and political order is an affront to Mevek, who
  made it so (the Law of Earthly Perfection); and that the only proper mediator between
  mortal man and Mevek is the priesthood (the Law of Intercession). 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:Once out of the rainforest, the rivers settle down again into single great streams,
  broad and shallow and easily tapped for irrigation. These are the fertile lowlands, home
  to most of the Chanarkeshi. It is also home to thousands of square miles of farms, dotted
  with villages and towns, and threaded through with worked stone roads that have served
  the land for centuries. Here are found the great cities of Chanarkesh, which can be seen
  for miles around in the broad, flat plains. 
  @TEXT:Through the center of Chanarkesh runs the River Asariaz, the greatest river in the
  land, sometimes reaching five miles in width. After dropping precipitously over the
  Davisad Falls at the center of the Vangkesh Hills to the north, the Asariaz meanders
  gently southward along the center line of the nation, spreading finally into a river
  delta at the southmost tip of the land, where the city of Sanjit Kumahal was built to as
  a trade gateway between sea-going traders and Chanarkeshi merchants. The Asariaz holds
  special meaning to the Chanarkeshi; it is said to be lifeblood of the land, and that he
  who controls the Asariaz controls the nation. This is why Nilesh Mithana, the capital
  city, was built at the exact midpoint between the Davisad Falls and the sea, to symbolize
  its position at the heart of Chanarkesh. 
  @TEXT:Today, the Glinizi control all the major cities on the Asariaz, and have actually
  renamed Sanjit Kumahal to Port Dilaz. A Glinizi presence can be found in every other
  coastal city, but Port Dilaz is the port of entry for all Glinizi coming to Chanarkesh,
  and can be considered <I>their<I> capital for the land. 
  @C-HEAD:The Glinizi 
  @TEXT:Although Chanarkesh has lived in relative peace with its neighbors <\#208>
  themselves equally prosperous and peaceful <\#208> for centuries, this was not to last.
  The peaceful land was thrust into war when invaders came from over the sea. 
  @TEXT: The exact origin of the Glinizi is a mystery to the Chanarkeshi; "far away over
  the sea" is all anyone has learned. They came in great ships unlike any the Chanarkeshi
  or their neighbors built; they came with weapons of fire and steel against which none
  could stand. They came to steal the land of Chanarkesh. 
  @TEXT:Within three months of their first appearance on the beaches of Chanarkesh, the
  Glinizi had penetrated deep into the interior. Overwhelming all opposition with ease,
  they marched on the capital city of Nilesh Mithana, and after a two-day siege, captured
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  it, the king and the highest levels of the priesthood of Mevek. 
  @TEXT:Since then, they have all but conquered the land, although they neither call it
  that, nor (to be honest) see it that way. The Glinizi <\#208> most of them, at least
  <\#208> sincerely believe that they are to oversee Chanarkesh on behalf of the natives,
  for their own good. Of course, at the same time they have systematically plundered the
  country, shipping resources back to their own homeland on a vast scale. While Chanarkesh
  has not yet been rendered a pit of abject poverty, many Chanarkeshi think it's only a
  matter of time. And when the Chanarkeshi have objected, they have been brutally
  suppressed <\#208> the death toll from one such "pacification" reached into the
  thousands. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Inside The Glinizi 
  @TEXT-BOX:A young and vital empire based on another continent some two months' sail away,
  the Glinizi have been in an expansionist phase for the last two centuries. With their
  prosperous economy, advanced technology and vast holdings, they have developed something
  of a cultural/racial superiority complex, and see themselves as far above the "primitive"
  peoples of the lands they have expanded into. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Unfortunately for the Glinizi, about twenty years ago, they encountered
  another, older empire <\#208> the Pueranlo. Located on the opposite side of Glinizi lands
  from Chanarkesh, the Pueranlo were slightly more advanced in technology and viewed the
  Glinizi as another future province to acquire. Since the beginning of active hostilities
  between the two empires five years ago, the Glinizi have been desperately seeking
  supplies of raw materials and manpower not already claimed by the Pueranlo in order to
  bolster their war effort. The conflict has not been going well for the Glinizi, and they
  are starting to panic. This panic is in part responsible for some of the atrocities the
  Glinizi have committed when putting down potential rebellions. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:The Creation of the Jayagat Tendrab 
  @TEXT:In order to accomplish their task of stripping the country bare as quickly as
  possible, the Glinizi have taken to impressing young Chanarkeshi men into forced
  servitude. This practice is slavery in all but name; no one knows any man taken by the
  Glinizi who has been freed, although many know of one or more who has dropped dead from
  the labor. 
  @TEXT:It is not surprising then that many young men, not the least of which were the
  educated and low-level military officers, chose to flee to the hills. The Glinizi have
  little concern for that region; they do not need the stone, and the mines produce none of
  the metals they need. A small Glinizi force based in Dilak Divatri, at the base of the
  Davisad Falls, "pacifies" the hills, but is in truth far too small to police the whole of
  the chain. 
  @TEXT:It is thus that the hills have become home to a unique resistance movement. As
  young educated men <\#208> those who might have been called "radicals" by the elder
  compatriots in the temples and schools <\#208> made their way there, they met up with one
  another and formed something of a fellowship. In their common despite of the Glinizi,
  their hope for their land's eventual liberation, and in their radical views on religion
  (and other social issues), they found a unity and a purpose <\#208> and a leader: Jevon
  Afari, the third son of a cadet branch of a lesser clan of the aristocracy, a compelling
  speaker, and a natural commander of men. 
  @TEXT:It was at Afari's suggestion that they made the experiment. According to the elder
  priests it was heresy <\#208> the priesthood was Man's intermediary with Mevek, and only
  a priest could address Mevek; for someone impure, uninitiated to dare address the god was
  inviting his wrath not only upon the offender, but upon all of Chanarkesh. But Afari and
  his companions reasoned, somewhat impiously, that Chanarkesh was already suffering the
  Glinizi's wrath, and that Mevek's couldn't be much worse. So he issued the request
  <\#208> that all who dared, petition Mevek for aid against the Glinizi. In one great
  night of prayer and fasting, one hundred men and women called upon Mevek and begged for
  his help. 
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  @TEXT:Mevek heard <\#208> and answered. 
  @TEXT:Taking the physical form of a massive lion-headed man, Mevek appeared before the
  Hundred and praised them for their courage and their devotion to their land. He
  acknowledged the threat the Glinizi posed to his people, and he granted them a gift
  <\#208> the ability to fight in his image. Mevek bade them swear oaths that bound them to
  him in purity, and promised that as long as they kept those vows, his power was theirs.
  Finally, he commanded them that as a sign of the compact that they had made with their
  god, each was to take a new name, and as part of that name should be the word
  <I>Maimat,<I> meaning "Lion" for men, and <I>Gilan<I> "Lioness" for women. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Vows of the Jayagat 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Serve Mevek with all one's heart, and embody the Rules of Just Behavior
  and the Five Virtues. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Defend the people of Chanarkesh from all that would harm them. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Never use the Maimat (lion-form) for personal gain or for any purpose
  offensive in the eyes of Mevek. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Purify one's self in a ritual bath at least once a week. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<\#165> Abstain from alcohol. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The Vows of the Jayagat constitute a -10-point Discipline of Faith. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:Each of the Hundred so swore, and Jevon Afari became the first to take his new
  name, calling himself "Asudhri Dhavik Maimat" <\#208> "New Lion of the Dawn". And as each
  swore and took his name, the power of Mevek filled them, and each became a being that
  partook of both lion and man. Mevek then foretold how others would join their cause, and
  instructed the Hundred in how to purify and prepare newcomers to also gain the power.
  With a final benediction, the god then departed. 
  @TEXT:The Hundred then rejoiced, and declared themselves to be the <I>Jayagat Tendrab<I>
  <\#208> the Company of the Pure. 
  @D-HEAD:The Jayagat Today 
  @TEXT:It is under that name that they have come to strike fear in the hearts of the
  Glinizi. Against the invaders of their land, they fight a guerilla war, invisible until
  the moment they strike. Their numbers grew quickly as word of Mevek's intercession spread
  among the people, and now there are at least a thousand Maimat and Gilan striking at the
  Glinizi, either alone or at the head of bands of brave folk who chose to follow them. 
  @TEXT:There would be more Jayagat, save for an unexpected enemy <\#208> the surviving
  priests of Mevek. Accustomed to <\#208> and profiting from <\#208> their monopoly on
  mediating between mortals and Mevek, the church is openly hostile to any who dare
  challenge its position and power. They brand the accounts of Mevek's appearance to the
  Hundred as lies and heresy, and the Maimat as blasphemous forgeries born of dark sorcery.
  Not every priest shares this view, but those that don't are few and far between, and most
  dare not challenge the church's pronouncements. 
  @TEXT:This conflict with the established church is a bigger problem than it seems <\#208>
  for some ineffable reason, Mevek left his warrior avatars vulnerable to weapons
  consecrated by his priests! 
  @C-HEAD:Jayagat Package . . . . 120 points 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Maimat Were-form [181] (Cure/Cursebreak: Violate
  Disciplines of Faith (Easy, must cooperate): -40%; External Trigger: Worshipper of Mevek
  in danger: -10%). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Disciplines of Faith (Jayagat, see box, p. 00) [-10];
  Enemy: Glinizi [-15] (Roll: 6 or less, <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2); Enemy: Priesthood of
  Mevek [-10] (Roll: 6 or less, <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2); Fanaticism [-15]; Intolerance:
  Glinizi [-5]; Minority Group [-10] (Reaction: -2/+2). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Theology (Mevekite, Reformed)-10 [4]. 
  @TEXT: 
  @D-HEAD:Maimat/Gilan ("Lion-man"/"Lion-woman") Form . . . . 361 points 
  @TEXT:(PPT: +422, NPT: -77) 
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> ST +24 (Natural -40%) [87]; DX +3 [30]; HT +5 [60] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$> Alertness +8 [40]; Claws [15] (Damage: cr 2d+3); Combat
  Reflexes [15] (Fright Check: 12); Fur [4]; Night Vision [10]; Reputation +3 (to
  Chanarkeshi, as Divine warrior) [7] (Reaction: +3; Recognized by: Large class,
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2); Temperature Tolerance <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1 [0] (Zone
  Center: 63; Min. Temperature: 27 1/2; Max. Temperature: 97 1/2); Vampiric Invulnerability
  [150]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> Appearance (Monstrous) [-25] (Reaction: -5); Attentive
  [-1]; Bloodlust [-10]; Disturbing Voice [-10] (Reaction: -2); Gigantism [-10]; Reputation
  -3 (among Glinizi, as vicious supernatural monster) [-5] (Reaction: -3; Recognized by:
  Small class, <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/3); Vulnerability <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1 (Items
  consecrated to Mevek) (Common) [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Quirks:<$> Feline mannerisms. [-1] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Skills:<$> Brawling-DX+1 [4]. 
  @TEXT:The Maimat form of a Jayagat warrior takes the form of a giant (minimum 7 feet)
  human with a lion's head. (Calculate the Maimat's height based on the strength of the
  human form, not the Maimat's Enhanced ST. Calculate weight normally.) His hands and feet
  are heavily clawed, and his body is covered with tawny fur. The shape of a lion's mouth
  is not conducive to speech, but they manage, although the sound is often quite
  frightening. 
  @TEXT:When applied to a Jagayat character, the Maimat takes a Cure/Cursebreak limitation:
  Simple condition, requires cooperation, -40%; and External Trigger: Worshipper of Mevek
  in danger, -10%, for a final discount of -50%. A Jayagat has complete control over his
  changes <I>unless<I> he witnesses a worshipper of Mevek in danger, in which case the
  power of Mevek forces him to change in order to fulfil the second term of his vows. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Player Characters 
  @TEXT-BOX:PCs can be from either side of the Chanarkeshi conflict. Glinizi troops range
  from 75-point infantry to 150-point officers. Ordinary Chanarkeshi guerillas will range
  anywhere from 50 to 125 points. A Jayagat warrior will always be a minimum of 150 points,
  and a member of the Hundred will likely be 200 points or more. If for any reason Pueranlo
  troops appear, treat them as Glinizi troops save for the +1 in TL. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Tech Levels 
  @TEXT-BOX:For the purposes of this campaign seed, the Chanarkeshi are considered the base
  TL. Glinizi characters must take the High Technology advantage at 20 points, and Pueranlo
  characters must take it at the 50-point level! If the GM does not find that appealing,
  make the Glinizi the base TL. The Chanarkeshi then get one level of Primitive, and the
  Pueranlo must only pay 20 points for their High Technology. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Ultimate Outcome 
  @TEXT:Despite the fact that the Jayagat are tailored for warfare, there is another
  possible result here than the wholesale slaughter of one side by the other. Under the
  right conditions, and with the right people in the right places, the Glinizi-Chanarkeshi
  conflict could turn into a partnership rather than a conquerer-conquered relationship. If
  this happens, both sides win <\#208> Chanarkesh is reinvigorated and stagnation/collapse
  avoided, and the Glinizi get not only resources but a cadre of unstoppable warriors to
  help with the effort against the Pueranlo. If the GM wants, this has been Mevek's plan
  all along <\#208> because Mevek is also one of the primary gods of the Glinizi under
  another guise. Or maybe he's approached the Glinizi pantheon about a divine merger. Or
  perhaps someone in the Pueranlo pantheon insulted or offended him. 
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  Campaigns
  Stormrider nodded to the two hunters who served this week as the guards to Runs-With-Deer's tent. They
  returned the nod and stepped aside to allow him to enter.
  The shaman looked up at him as Stormrider pushed aside the tentflap and stepped into the darkened
  interior. Thickly-scented smoke swirled arouond Runs-With-Deer as he returned his attention to the
  brazier before him. "Are they ready?"
  Stormrider blinked away the stinging the smoke brought to his eyes. "Yes. The hunting party is in place."
  Wordlessly, Runs-With-Deer rose and exited the tent. Stormrider followed him as the shaman made his
  way into the forest, out of sight of the encampment. "Here," he said simply, and Stormrider grunted in
  agreement.
  "I'll have the herd in the meadow by mid-morning," the shaman continued. "I'll see you then. Good hunt,
  Stormrider."
  "Good hunt, Runs-With-Deer." The two men clasped hands, then the shaman backed off. He closed his
  eyes. There was a swirl of light, and in his place stood a magnificent stag. The stag inclined its great
  antlered head to Stormrider once, turned, and vanished into the forest.
  While shapechangers can be plunked down into virtually any campaign setting as bogeymen and
  opponents, that's far from the most satisfying course in anything but horror/mystery campaigns --
  especially for PC shifters. History, myth and fiction all show far more complex and interesting
  possibilities of which a GM can make use.
  Shifters In Society and Religion
  In Western lore, shifters are usually outcasts of one form or another, divorced from the society and
  religion that spawned them. However, as often as not, shifters in other cultures are integral parts of their
  communities, and even intrinsic to their structures and rituals. For the GM willing to do the minimal
  work, it is possible to incorporate shapechangers into large societies with complex religious structures --
  in a role other than "boogeyman."
  Privilege and Power
  Perhaps the easiest way a culture can make use of shapechangers is to make them a part of the power
  elite. Perhaps the best example of this approach are the Jaguar Warriors prominent in many
  Pre-Columbian South and Central American cultures. (A fantasy variant on the jaguar warriors can be
  found on pp.00-00.) A definitive science fiction model would be the "Founders" of the Dominion in Star
  Trek: Deep Space 9.
  In such a system, shifters will be a special caste or class within the society, often with specific ritual or
  governmental functions. If the ability to change shapes does not naturally appear within the population,
  the authorities, be they secular or religious, will likely have some ability to grant it. In either case, there
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  will often be regular "examinations" to find new candidates for the caste. Embracing and empowering
  shifters turns potential rebels and enemies into staunch supporters of the status quo.
  Of course, in some societies, only the right kind of shifter may be favored. Other varieties may be
  shunned or even actively hunted. Justification for such biases may be historical, political or religious, as
  needed by the GM.
  Since the ability to shift into the appropriate form(s) is de facto proof of a person's membership in the
  privileged caste, magic or technology which duplicates the caste's shifting abilities is an issue that the
  GM must address. In repressive or especially static societies, or those where the gift is inherited, the use
  of such magic may well be outlawed with severe, perhaps fatal, penalties for violators. Alternatively,
  some cultures may view the ability to cast such spells as evidence of one's fitness for the caste.
  In such a system, Status will be a mandatory part of a shifter package, as well as Wealth. If the
  shapechangers take an active role in goverment and society, Leadership and Administration may be
  needed, and/or various other military skills. If the character is of the "wrong" type, Enemy, Social
  Stigma, and other disadvantages would be required.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Shapes of the Gods
  @TEXT-BOX:The idea of shifters as an elite class can be taken to its logical extreme by setting them up
  as objects of worship -- representatives or even avatars of gods with animal aspects. Perhaps the most
  striking of the historical examples available is the Arcadian cult of the Wolf-Zeus (also known as
  Zeus-Lycaeus), in ancient Greece.
  @TEXT-BOX:As told in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Lycaon, King of Arcadia, sought to test the divinity of
  a disguised Jupiter by feeding him a "hash of human flesh", and was turned into a wolf in punishment. In
  historical times, Mount Lycaeus in Arcadia became the home of a cult of wolf-worshippers. According to
  contemporary accounts, the priests prepared an annual sacrificial feast that echoed the mythic events by
  including human flesh blended with more ordinary meat. Legend said that whoever tasted it became a
  wolf and could not turn back into a man unless he abstained from human flesh for nine years. Other
  accounts, among them one written by Plato, describe a somewhat different rite: one where a wolf was
  instead sacrificed and eaten; its "essence" was said to be absorbed by the cult's devotees who became one
  with it and called themselves Lukoi (wolves).
  @TEXT-BOX:The conflicting, contradictory accounts of the wolf-cult make it an excellent inspiration
  for any number of similar religions a GM may want to establish in his campaign. Are weres running the
  cult as a front to gain themselves a safe haven? Or are they indeed god-touched? Do participants only
  symbolically become wolves? Or is the cult a "breeding ground" through which an infectious variety of
  shifting is passed to new recipients? Is cannibalism actually a part of the ceremonies, or is it, too,
  symbolic? Or some combination? GMs are directed to GURPS Religion for further advice and
  suggestions for constructing cults.
  (((END BOX)))
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  Independent Shifters
  A privileged class of shapechangers does not necessarily need either ecclesiastic or temporal authority to
  exist within a given society. The Viking ulfhed-nar and beserkrs (sic) are good examples. These wolf-
  and bear-skin warriors constituted a highly-regarded, autonomous fighter class within Viking
  society, recruiting and fighting but answering to no authority but their own. While their reputation
  as skinchangers was (at least in the real world) either age-distorted folklore or clever propaganda,
  they are an excellent example of how an independent but not malicious group of weres could
  function in a campaign setting.
  In settings such as these, shapechangers must take at least one level of Status or Military Rank,
  depending on the requirements of the culture. Some combination of Duties, Codes of Honor,
  Patron, Sense of Duty and Vows would probably be required; those societies which create their
  shifter elite would probably do so with a Cursebreak (p. 00) or an Ensorcellment condition that
  would destroy the talent if the recipient betrays them in some way. Alternately, they may pamper
  and indulge the shifter, buying and ensuring his loyalty with with all manner of luxuries and
  indulgences. The GM may count this as Wealth, or as a higher level of Patron. Ally Group is
  particularly appropriate, as well.
  Groups without any official sanction won't receive as much in the way of advantages. Status and/or
  Rank would still be present, albeit probably lower than for the equivalent state- or church-backed
  group. Resources and Patronage would be much less, but Ally Group may well be higher in level
  and in frequency of appearance.
  Either variety will of course possess all necessary skills for their function. Whether this is military,
  religious or something else entirely, a level of 12 or the appropriate Attribute is a bare minimum.
  Reputations -- especially among their usual enemies -- are also common.
  Skin-Changers and Other Shamanic Manifestations
  Less advanced or complex societies may not institutionalize castes of shifters, but they can still
  have critical roles within the culture. In tribal, nomadic or other early civilizations, a shapechanger
  may be particularly suited to the role of shaman.
  In many shamanic traditions, it is part of the function of the shaman to take on metaphorically the
  form of an animal of which the tribe has need, either as a lure or as an appeasement. In other
  views, the shaman directly represents the totem animal of the tribe with metaphoric trappings. In
  magically active worlds -- that is, worlds with shapechangers -- this need not be metaphor. Two
  options present themselves:
  The shaman as Morph. Those with the talent learn to become animal(s) as needed. They defend the
  tribe with the shapes of dangerous beasts, use acquired knowledge and instinct to help with hunts,
  and so on. Morphs are seen as blessed and in touch with the powers of nature. This best works with
  animist and pantheist religions, but can also be blended with totemism (see GURPS Religion, pp.
  126-9).
  (((START BOX)))
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Modern Shamans
  @TEXT-BOX:Shamanism survives to this day in a number of guises. There is, of course, the
  assiduously "reconstructed" shamanism found in many varieties of Neo-Paganism. Most varieties
  content themselves with emulating American Indian beliefs, or attempting to extrapolate the
  long-forgotten shamanic traditions of Europe. A small subset of these, though, explicitly tie
  lycanthropy into their belief systems, although it is most usually employed as a metaphor for the
  shamanic empathy/sympathy with animal spirits.
  @TEXT-BOX:A number of other religions show distinctly shamanistic elements. In particular,
  Santeria and its sister belief systems from the many syncretic Afro-Caribbean cultures can
  frequently involve channelling animal spirits in a manner reminisicent of the earliest duties of the
  shaman.
  @TEXT-BOX:Assuming that a shamans' ability to communicate with spirits is a real part of the
  game world, then if these religions and any others with similar features are present, they should be
  considered "shamanistic", at least for the purpose of determining who can reach the other side and
  who cannot.
  (((END BOX)))
  The shaman as Were. Whether granted the ability with the position, or the position because of the
  ability, the shaman can take the form of a specific totem animal. In a parallel with Voudoun
  tradition, the totem may then "incarnate" into the shifted shaman. (This may be either a Split
  Personality or an actual spiritual contact, depending on the game world.) Or the shaman may
  symbolically "share" the totem's strength with the tribe through ritual or more literal means.
  In either scenario, competition and conflict may be common, with the "wrong" kind of shifter
  automatically an enemy within a given tribe or village. Politics between totems (or the shamans
  thereof) -- alliances, neutralities and enmities -- will affect relations between villages/tribes and
  between individual weres. Of course, there will also be certain totems known to be neutral or
  friendly to all. But pity the were born in a village or tribe where he's the "wrong type."
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Shifting Drugs
  @TEXT-BOX:In Victorian literature (among other sources), drugs and potions of all types have
  been known to cause shifting or shifting-like behavior. GURPS Steampunk lists one such drug,
  based on the mysterious mixture consumed by Henry Jekyll in Robert Louis Stevenson's The
  Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Atavismine, the use of which can result in permanent
  ethomorphism (see pp. 00-00).
  @TEXT-BOX:Not all such compounds need have so drastic a set of side effects; presumably drugs
  which cause shapechange-like effects will be safer and more controllable as the biosciences
  progress. The fact that the manufacture of such compounds as Atavismine are even possible at
  TL5, though, may mean that they have as much in common with primitive or medieval magics as
  science. Folk traditions abound in mystic and mysterious mixtures which grant shapeshifting
  abilities to their users. Whether such are true magics or misunderstood "natural" sciences is up to
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  the GM and the campaign.
  @TEXT-BOX:Attention Editor: I received the following text directly from the author of
  Steampunk; please replace if it differs from what made it into print.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Atavismine
  @TEXT-BOX:This drug produces temporary evolutionary regression to a more primitive state
  ruled by impulse. A character who takes it, such as the unfortunate Henry Jekyll, acquires a
  temporary Split Personality at the 15-point level. Basic IQ is unchanged, but psychological traits
  that reflect self-control and humanity are lost (for example, Empathy, Code of Honor, and Sense of
  Duty), while traits that reflect impulsiveness and brutality become worse (for example, Bad
  Temper to Berserk) and new ones may be acquired. Finally, the character's appearance changes,
  making him unrecognizable; in the process he becomes one level less attractive through a subtle
  quality of deformity. A Will roll is required each time the drug is taken; on a failure the character
  becomes addicted, on a critical failure the character becomes vulnerable to flashbacks (treat as
  Split Personality), and on a natural 18 the atavistic personality becomes the baseline personality.
  Cost is $0.05 per dose.
  (((END BOX)))
  Investment
  How much divine power is actually associated with shifting talents is up to the GM. Obviously, in a
  world with no gods or no visible gods, shifters have only their innate talents available. This may or
  may not include spell-casting -- shamans are traditionally users of magic in many forms, and spells
  are among them.
  Potentially more interesting is a world with active gods. GMs have a wide variety of options for
  equipping shamans with "clerical magic": GURPS Voodoo, GURPS Magic and GURPS Religion all
  have useful information and suggestions. The spirit-based magic "path" system in Voodoo lends
  itself especially well to shamanic-style magic. And of course the shamanic system found in GURPS
  Old West is tailor-made for this situation. In the face of all these options, however, do not forget
  that the primary qualification of a shaman is his ability to shift. The attentions of the
  gods/spirits/totems and the gifts they grant will be in some way related to his talent, supplementing
  or extending it to better serve both them and their people.
  Other traits. In addition to any such gifts the character may or may not possess, he will certainly
  have an appropriate Theology skill at 12 or IQ, whichever is higher. In addition, Psychology,
  Herbalism, Naturalist, Physician, Tracking and any number of other skills appropriate to a
  shaman are recommended. The character also will possess at least one level of Status. Any
  rivalries/alliances with other totems or tribes that may directly affect him should be expressed as a
  combination of Allies, Enemies, and Reputations.
  In those settings where the shaman's gods/spirits are real and active, Clerical Investment, Duties,
  Vows and Patrons will also play a major role in the design of the character.
  (((START BOX)))
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  @C-BOXHEAD:The Werewolf and Medieval Christianity
  @TEXT-BOX:In one of those peculiar developments that seem at times to all but define Roman
  Catholicism during the Middle Ages, the Church became somewhat fixated upon the topic of
  werewolves. Along with witches -- with which they were usually conflated -- werewolves were at the
  top of the Church's list of active works of the Devil on Earth. So firmly was this anchored in the
  medieval Catholic mindset that doubting or denying the existence of werewolves was considered
  heresy and, in some areas, grounds for an Inquisitorial visit.
  @TEXT-BOX:Any church or denomination which preserves and preaches medieval Catholic
  dogma -- either by descent from Roman Catholicism, or through some mechanism of parallel
  development -- is likely to include these beliefs among their teachings. Oddly enough, the Church
  in Yrth appears to be somewhat more relaxed on the subject than its forebear, in spite of (or
  perhaps because of) the presence of actual weres among the population. (This may be because it
  was founded by individuals who were transported to Yrth before the medieval Christian werewolf
  paranoia reached its peak.)
  (((END BOX)))
  Were-Forms As Punishments From The Gods
  In some campaigns, there will no "fortunate" weres; they will always be victims of curses or their
  own lusts for power or wealth. (This is not an option that supports Morphs easily, for obvious
  reasons.) The medieval Catholic church espoused this opinion, and most horror films have
  followed its model. While obviously well suited for campaigns set in a "realistic" medieval Europe
  or some derivative thereof, it plays equally well in other settings. Oddly enough, there need not be
  active gods in the campaign for this option; the punishment can be an automatic consequence of
  the sin, and curses may be inflicted upon the innocent by a perfectly worldly source.
  To the modern way of thinking there is a clear qualitative difference between someone like the
  mythical medieval witch who takes on a were-form as a means of sowing chaos and mayhem, and a
  person on whom an animal shape is inflicted as a torment. Religious authorities may not see things
  that way, though. One religion may differentiate a curse victim from a servant of evil, seeking to
  save the one and destroy the other. Another religion may see no difference whatsoever, regarding
  both as tainted with darkness and sin, and both as deserving of whatever measures are prescribed
  in their dogma.
  And simply trusting to the mercies of an "enlightened" religion may not help; even sympathetic
  religions may see execution as the only possible mercy in the case of the cursed.
  Worse yet may be the case where both types of were are known in folklore and popular myth --
  falsely. Only one type may actually exist -- and only the weres know for sure which. Imagine the
  possibilities for mayhem if only evil shifters existed, yet folklore insists that some shifters are
  innocents trapped by the machinations of evil. And imagine the potential for tragedy in the
  opposite case.
  Mechanics
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  Under this option, weres are reduced to two different varieties. Note that these characterizations
  are by no means definitive;
  The Cursed have a Split Personality with an inimical were-form. Their change is Cyclic or
  Triggered, and they have no ability to shift at will. If they are lucky, there is a Cursebreak, but it is
  rare, dangerous, uncertain, or some combination of all three. The alternate form may be of any
  species; it is pure animal, or it may have Bestial and/or Presentient bought off and IQ equivalent to
  the base form. In either case, it will usually possess some compulsion to do harm to others ranging
  from the inconvenient (chasing off and/or killing local livestock) to the deadly (hunting the base
  form's family and friends). A highly ethical or strong-willed were will try to lock himself away
  when the Change comes upon him; this will not always be successful, given the cunning and
  intelligence of the average curse were-creature.
  The source of the curse can vary -- a hereditary condition or an Infectious Attack, perhaps, or it
  could have been deliberately inflicted. In the latter case, who, why and how all are excellent
  campaign hooks.
  The Evildoer has an agenda: terror, chaos or just personal profit. They will possess one or more of
  the classic "evil" disadvantages -- they are usually selfish, greedy or sadistic, at the very least.
  Certainly they have a lust for power which has grown dangerously large, for they have called upon
  some form of supernatural Evil to grant them their desires. Depending on the involvement of the
  divine in the campaign, they may have made a pact with Dark Forces, or they might simply possess
  certain banned grimoires. Either way, they have acquired the ability to shift.
  The Evildoer's change is also a were-form. It is almost always at will -- although it would be more
  than fitting for the Evildoer to also be Cursed as part of his power. Medieval European myth
  specifies that this variety of were normally takes the form of a cat or a wolf, and their change is
  often linked to some item -- an ointment which is applied to the skin, or a belt or skin (of the
  appropriate beast, of course) which is worn when the power is invoked. They always have full
  possession of their faculties in their alternate forms, although they may be seized by odd
  compulsions or obsessions. Judging from testimony given to the Inquisition, they would specifically
  attack and terrorize those persons whom they felt had harmed or inconvenienced them in some
  way -- even when doing so was blatantly self-destructive.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:"Real" Lycanthropy
  @TEXT-BOX:Assuming for the sake of argument that weres do not exist in the "real world",
  what inspired the legends? Setting aside the half-remembered remainders of shamanic traditions
  the world over, there may well be other sources. A number of medical professionals have suggested
  certain genuine conditions that may have contributed to the myth. GMs running a "totally
  realistic" medieval game can use these diseases to add an unexpected flavor of surprise, horror and
  danger to the campaign without having to incorporate fantasy elements which might be out of
  place. Or perhaps a werewolf attack in Yrth or another fantasy setting may turn out to be a far
  different prospect...
  @TEXT-BOX:Dementia. There is a specific variety of mental illness called "lycanthropic
  disorder," whose sufferers believe that they turn into wolves (or, less frequently, other animals).
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  They experience full-sensory hallucinations of changing physical form, are given to outbursts of
  inexplicable violence, and feel insatiable cravings to drink blood. GMs and players can quantify
  this condition as a combination of Flashbacks, Delusions, and the Compulsive Behaviors of
  Violence and Drink Blood. Sadism is sometimes appropriate. Also, such a character will never
  have any form of Pacifism, Empathy, or similar traits.
  @TEXT-BOX:Rabies. Of the options presented here, rabies is probably the best candidate for a
  "realistic" encounter with an apparent were-creature. There is a historic correlation in medieval
  Europe between rabies epidemics in both humans and animals, and concurrent werewolf trials.
  According to reliable contemporary accounts, rabid wolves were known to travel long distances,
  besiege villages, and fearlessly attack all humans in their path. They showed no fear and charged
  relentlessly, decimating settlements and terrorizing peasant and noble alike with the hair-raising
  sounds they made with their disease-paralyzed larynxes.
  @TEXT-BOX:Similarly, there is a correlation in behaviors between human rabies sufferers and
  the "traditional" werewolf: victims of rabies are said to rage deliriously, howl, and go into frenzies,
  attacking nearby persons and frequently biting them. And, the better for inserting a note of horror
  into an otherwise "mundane" setting, rabies is just as contagious as any infectious were curse --
  and more destructive of its victim.
  @TEXT-BOX:In game terms, a character bitten or scratched by a rabid animal contracts the
  disease unless he makes a HT-5 roll. Incubation time can be anywhere from 10 days to two years,
  but for most victims it will be one to three (HT/5) months. The first perceptible symptoms after
  incubation are a fever and a general sense of unwellness. After two or three days of feeling ill, the
  victim becomes irrational as his brain cells begin to die (-3 to IQ, Bestial, Berserk, Compulsive
  Behavior: Bite People, Paranoia, and the GM's choice of other mental disadvantages, including
  buying off Pacifism and other "good" disadvantages) and he suffers from violent mouth and throat
  spasms. Although victims are also intensely thirsty, the spasms worsen if the victim tries to drink
  water. At this point, death occurs within the next few days -- there is no HT roll to recover, and
  victims lose 1d-1 HT (minimum 1) per day once the spasms start.
  @TEXT-BOX:Untreated, rabies is almost 100% fatal. However, rabies treatments are available
  starting in TL5 -- it was one of the first vaccines ever developed, first used in 1888 by Louis
  Pasteur. Unlike many vaccines, it can be administered effectively after infection. Before late TL7,
  treatment was a series of 8 to 20 injections to the deltoid muscle; after 1980, this had been reduced
  to one vaccination into the wound itself, followed by five more in the deltoid. Late TL7 treatements
  are almost 100% effective; earlier treatments are somewhat less so. Individuals who are promptly
  treated recover with no long-term ill effects.
  @TEXT-BOX:Porphyria. Most commonly proposed as the "real" source of vampire myths,
  congenital porphyria has also been suggested for werewolfism. It is a rare inherited disease caused
  by an abnormality in the blood's hemoglobin. The symptoms vary, but the most extreme cases
  include severe psychological disorders such as manic-depression, extraordinary sensitivity of the
  skin to light (with subsequent discoloration, blistering, and mutilation), discoloration of the teeth,
  and occasional cravings for blood or other substances. While it cannot be contracted like an
  infectious disease, it can be latent and triggered by alcohol, barbituates, pregnancy or even just too
  much sunlight. Sufferers have a Weakness to sunlight (Very Common, 1d per 30 minutes). Every
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  time they take more than HT/2 points of damage from sunlight in one exposure, they must make a
  HT roll or permanently lose one level of Appearance; Appearance can be reduced to Monstrous or
  Horrific in this manner. They also possess Chronic Depression or Manic-Depressive (or up to -25
  points of other mental disadvantages, if the GM approves), and Compulsive Behavior: Unnatural
  Food Cravings.
  @TEXT-BOX:There is no cure for porphyria, nor even a treatment to suppress its effects.
  @TEXT-BOX:Congenital Generalized Hypertrichosis. Also called "Werewolf Syndrome." Another
  hereditary disease, hypertrichosis is an extremely rare genetic condition which leaves its victims
  covered in dense hair. Like porphyria, it cannot be contracted except by inheriting it. Characters
  with hypertrichosis grow hair all over their body, unless they take pains to shave or otherwise
  remove it. There are no other effects. In game terms, this is a maximum Appearance of
  Unattractive; in settings where it is important to look "normal" or like a certain racial/cultural
  ideal (such as medieval or even modern Japan), Monstrous or Horrific may be the maximum. A
  Social Stigma or other negative reaction modifiers may also apply.
  (((END BOX)))
  Detecting and Thwarting Shifters
  Whether as the good guys or the bad guys, there will eventually come a time when the
  shapechangers in a campaign will want to be someplace where they are not supposed to be, and
  will use their abilities to get there. Naturally enough, there will also be those who want to catch
  them at it.
  Depending on the paradigm(s) under which shapechanging operates in a given campaign, there
  may be many ways to discover a shifter, or none. Before introducing any variety of shapechanger
  to his campaign world, the GM should think carefully about the countermeasures available for use
  against them. The herb moly (see box, p. 00), for instance, is a low-tech method from classical
  literature, but requires the user discover the shifter via other means. (It probably also requires the
  shifter be magical in nature -- although that is not necessarily so. Imagine a carefully orchestrated
  infiltration of high-tech morphs into a low-tech society foiled because a rare herb disrupts their
  changing mechanism!)
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Moly
  @TEXT-BOX:Black was its root, but milky-white the blossom that it bore.
  @TEXT-BOX:The Immortals call it 'Moly' -- to dig it where it springs
  @TEXT-BOX:Is hard for a mortal man; but the Gods can do all things.
  @TEXT-BOX:-- Homer, The Odyssey
  @TEXT-BOX:Given to Ulysses by Mercury to protect him from Circe's magic, moly is better
  known as "sorcerer's garlic," although the variety of wild garlic known by that name today bears
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  little resemblance to the black-rooted, white-flowered herb of myth. In addition to being a
  medicinal plant sovereign against "blights, mildews, and damps" according to one source, it is best
  known for its ability to thwart charms and enchantments. As a member of the garlic and onion
  family, it has a pungent odor which is somewhat unpleasant, and its leaves taste quite bad. The
  flavor of moly root is not described in ancient texts, but it is probably not unlike cultivated garlic.
  @TEXT-BOX:GURPS Magic Items describes both an alchemical elixir called "Moly" and an
  amulet of the same name (p. MI113 and pp. MI116-7, respectively). The effects given in their
  entries, though, are inconsistent with descriptions given in the Odyssey and other texts, being both
  rather weak and overbroad, so the following alternative is offered to the GM.
  @TEXT-BOX:A sprig of moly can be used, just as Ulysses did, as a shield against transformation
  spells. (When employed in this manner, treat it as an appropriate Counterspell of power 20.) It can
  also be used to dispel any magic which changes its subject's shape -- a single leaf, intact, placed in
  the mouth and held there, will undo any shapechanging spell and force weres and morphs back
  into their base forms, taking 1d seconds to do so. Furthermore, an alchemist or herbalist can use
  moly to brew a foul-tasting elixir that can suppress the Change in an inherent or inherited were for
  1d months, and will cure an acquired infectious were-state outright. This elixir (available only in
  potion form) is compounded of a sprig of moly plus other ingredients costing a minimum of $1,000;
  it requires an alchemist who is familiar with the Circe elixir as well as shapeshifting and/or
  shapeshifters, and who possesses a skill level of at least 18. It takes five weeks to brew.
  @TEXT-BOX:Moly's virtue lasts only as long as it is fresh; once it wilts (usually within a day or
  two), it loses its power. It cannot be preserved in any way that maintains its magical power except
  for its potion form, which remains efficacious for six months after brewing.
  @TEXT-BOX:White-flowered moly is rare and difficult to harvest without destroying its inherent
  magic. ("Moly-Harvesting" is a MVH skill for those characters who absolutely must have it.) Fresh
  sprigs sell for $2,500 each -- more in areas plagued by were-creatures or hostile magic.
  (((END BOX)))
  The majority of the following suggestions assume that the "opposition" is a morph, although some
  should be just as applicable to weres. Many of the suggestions tend more toward the
  (pseudo-)scientific end of the spectrum, but there is no reason why that should make them any less
  valid in a more fantastic setting. As always, the GM should tightly control this information. Some
  "folklore" or "common knowledge" might be available, but it can easily be wildly inaccurate,
  misleading, or even hazardous!
  Note, by the way, that this is not necessarily just a checklist of ideas for player characters besieged
  by shifter enemies. Sufficiently clever NPCs should think of any (or all!) of these methods should
  the PCs be the ones doing the besieging!
  Anticipation and Suspicion
  Outside of a high fantasy campaign, where just about anything might be expected, or a horror
  game where those involved know what they're up against, a shapechanger may well come as a
  complete surprise. Still, there are ways to anticipate the possibility.
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  If the shifter is a natural part of an unfamiliar ecosystem, be it another planet, a different plane, or
  simply an isolated ecology in some "lost" part of the world, it's likely other creatures around it will
  have similar abilities. Witnessing a flock of grazing animals suddenly turning into birds to escape a
  predator would be a good indicator -- and may reveal useful clues to their nature. Even more
  telling would be the predator similarly changing shape to pursue its prey! If the ecosystem favors
  morphs, having an unintelligent morphing creature attempt (however inadequately) to duplicate
  one of the outsiders can be humorous or disturbing, depending on how the GM plays it -- and can
  set the stage for a far more competent interloper later.
  If the shifter is an infiltrator, its feeding habits may give it away. Predators are far more likely to
  be shapechangers (and vice versa) than prey species for a number of reasons both scientific and
  mythological. A sudden increase in predation rates (especially among skittish herd animals or
  protected domestic beasts) with no apparent increase in the natural predator population may well
  indicate something out of the ordinary has inserted itself into the food chain. Sentient
  shapechangers might give themselves away by showing too much intelligence and planning in their
  kills, or conversely, excessive sadism or bloodlust.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Vulnerabilities
  @TEXT-BOX:It is usual in both legend and cinema for werewolves and other shapechangers to be
  invulnerable to all forms of damage -- save for silver. Similarly, a curable were who is immune to
  all other forces must be vulnerable to the means or methods of his cure! While this is far from
  universal in legends and stories across the globe, it does raise the question: what are the
  frequencies of appearance for various countermeasures, so Vulnerabilities (p. CI106) can be
  properly priced at character creation?
  @TEXT-BOX:Silver. The traditional weakness of werewolves is available at TL 1. Although it is a
  precious metal, it is easily acquired in almost every culture that has metal-working; it is not,
  however, omnipresent. Silver is an Occasional substance, worth -10 points per level as a
  Vulnerability.
  @TEXT-BOX:Holy or blessed objects. When cited in myth, this almost always refers to items
  consecrated to the dominant religion in the region. In such a case it's likely that, as in medieval
  Europe, almost every town and village will have at least one priest and sanctuary of that religion
  serving its people. Assuming no other complications (disbelief in weres, legal strictures, and so on)
  cloud the issue, getting or making consecrated items will relatively easy, making them Common,
  and worth -15 points per level.
  @TEXT-BOX:Alchemical compounds. Any mixture of ingredients that is intended to be applied to
  the were, whether or not it is actually prepared by a real, magically-gifted alchemist, falls under
  this heading. These recipes can vary wildly from legend to legend; the rarest item in the ingredient
  list sets the availability level of the mixture itself.
  @TEXT-BOX:Other. For everything else, this rule of thumb may be helpful:
  @TEXT-BOX:• If you can't walk down the street without running into it, it's Common.
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  @TEXT-BOX:• If you can walk into a stranger's house or a mall and be pretty sure you'll find it,
  it's Occasional.
  @TEXT-BOX:• If you can only find it by going to a nearby specialty store, or if it costs a lot of
  money, it's Rare.
  @TEXT-BOX:• If you can only get it by mail order from a distant dealer, or it costs vast amounts
  of money, it's Very Rare.
  (((END BOX)))
  Tactics and Countermeasures, Or, Finding The Infiltrator
  Regardless of the justifcation for a shapechanger's abilities, at least one of the following strategies
  is likely to prove a fruitful avenue of investigation when it comes time to find a way to detect the
  creature:
  Energy
  Shapeshifting may require a large amount of energy, especially if it is "complete to the atomic
  level". Look for the burst of waste heat that accompanies the shift. Or conversely, sudden and
  unexpected cold spots, if the change requires the absorption of energy from the local environment
  to initiate or complete the process.
  In a high-tech setting, a computer-controlled environment system could be programmed to
  monitor the thermostat sensors in each room, allowing a shape-shifting event to be tagged in time
  and location. Either way, a temporarily elevated body temperature can indicate a person who has
  been duplicated (it will probably take some time to cool down to "normal" after a shift).
  Look for the internal features unique to the shapeshifter. A duplicate can't be completely identical
  to the original, or it would be unable to ever change again (since the original can't change). So it
  must retain the shapeshifting mechanism, and (unless it can somehow draw on external power) the
  energy storage that fuels it. Does it have energetic nitrogen molecules suffusing its internal organs?
  Does it have extra mitochondria, or excess ATP?
  Look for the energy recharge mechanism. Does the shapechanger have an incredibly voracious
  appetite after shifting? Does it chow down on candy bars or even raw sugar? Or plug in to a
  nearby electric outlet? Does it bask in front of a microwave beam? Fantasy shifters are notoriously
  dependent upon local mana -- perhaps the mana level around them drops precipitously for a short
  time during the change, or for as long as they're in their alternate form (making them even more of
  a threat than usual to spellcasters). Some shifters have the Mana Enhancer advantage -- the local
  magic level might go up when they're around.
  Similarly, shifters may have identifiable patterns to their energies, even if they don't appear to
  consume or radiate excess power in the wake of their changes. Psionic shapechanging will probably
  have its own specific signature which a Sniffer or other sensitive might detect, for example.
  Fantasy shifters who are otherwise well-cloaked may be revealed by the proper use of Analyze
  Magic. And so on.
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  Structural/Biological Traits
  As noted above, if the shifter retains the ability to change, that mechanism has to be present
  somewhere in the body. By extension, so must the "original plans" for the creature. Does it keep
  two sets of DNA? Or does it rearrange the introns ("dead," inactive sequences) in its DNA and
  swap which parts are turned on and off? Genetic testing would probably detect the first, although
  the second would probably confuse both experts and software unfamiliar with the phenomenon.
  Unless it also undergoes a complete personality shift as well, its brain structure can't change too
  radically. A CAT scan or MRI might reveal the truth, as might an EEG. On the other hand, the
  brain inside the copied skull might be a "dummy", with the real one hidden somewhere else in the
  body, perhaps disquised as another organ. (X-rays or other non-intrusive procedures may or may
  not detect such a hidden brain.) Natural shifters will rarely have such an extreme ability, but it
  may well be a "standard feature" for manufactured shapechangers, especially those designed to
  infiltrate other races.
  Any replication that is less than cell-for-cell perfect may mimic the form, but not all the functions.
  Detection may rely upon the fact that certain reflexes or body processes might not be copied, or
  copied imperfectly. For example, in John W. Campbell's Golden Age SF story "The Brain Stealers
  Of Mars", space travelers discovered the alien morph among them in just that way: presented with
  pepper up the nose, the alien couldn't duplicate a reflex that involved some 500 sets of muscles and
  an autonomic nervous system tuned by millions of years of earthly evolution -- the sneeze.
  Mental/Social
  Against those morph types who do not gain an extensive copy of their target's memories,
  non-body-specific identifiers may be sufficient. These include various social behaviors -- such as
  religious rites, idiosyncratic behaviors and cultural preferences -- and obscure skills or items from
  personal history, specifically catalogued for just this purpose, which a morph undergoing a simple
  body-only change will find hard or impossible to duplicate.
  Knowing Your Own
  Opposition that knows what it's facing may develop some explicit method of identification that
  can't or won't be copied by any kind of change. This is possible in many worlds, regardless of
  background or technology. For example, it's possible in virtually any TL 6+ setting to give
  vulnerable personnel regular doses of stable but uncommon isotopes (Carbon 13 and Nitrogen 15
  would be a good bet). Upon their return from field missions, personnel would be quarantined until
  the isotope ratio could be confirmed by whatever means is at hand, be it mass spectroscopy or a
  multiscanner. Someone without the isotopes, or with the isotopes in the wrong quantities, would be
  examined far more carefully -- or even summarily executed.
  Magic can provide similar benefits. Use Ensorcel from p. 39 of GURPS Grimoire to imbue possible
  targets with a minor spell (possibly a custom one developed for the purpose), using an unlikely but
  simple spell-break provision to make the process as cheap as possible. Using Mage Sight or even
  Identify Magic, scan personnel on a regular basis, and examine anyone who has been in the field
  immediately upon their return. Anyone who is found to be lacking their ensorcelment is, of course,
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  a possible morph.
  Sufficiently-motivated players or GMs can no doubt come up with even more effective methods,
  regardless of the setting.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Traditional Cures For Werewolves
  @TEXT-BOX:Both film and folklore hold out hope of a cure for those suffering from a
  shapeshifting curse. However, as if to further exacerbate the horror in which these sufferers must
  live their lives, these cures are often breathtakingly rare or all but impossible to accomplish.
  @TEXT-BOX:Alternately, these can be seen as weaknesses to exploit when attacking an evil
  shapeshifter. However, some folklore claims that for any cure to work, the were must sincerely
  want to be cured. Without that, even the most powerful working will fail. Worse yet (for player
  character weres, at least), some of the most extreme cures work by killing the sufferer to save his
  soul.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Traditional Cursebreaks
  @TEXT-BOX:The following is a list of traditional cures for lycanthropy, as testified to by folklore
  and legend. It's anything but exhaustive, being more a sampler extracted from the most common
  myths, but players and GMs alike should find it useful and inspirational. It is, as always, up to the
  GM if any, all, or none of these work, for how long and for which weretypes; and it is quite within
  the GM's purview to allow a were-form with a Cursebreak (p. 00), but not tell the player what the
  cursebreak is.
  @TEXT-BOX:Exorcism. A traditional Church solution to all seriously evil problems. The
  justification is that the were-form is actually a malevolent spirit possessing the victim (or
  cooperating with a witch). A priest can perform the full "bell, book and candle" ritual; for the
  unordained, simple prayer, sprinkling holy water, and proper invocations of the victim's baptismal
  name in the name of the Trinity are said to be efficacious. (The GM may require True Faith or
  another "holy" advantage for an "informal" exorcism to succeed, though). In the case of calling
  the victim's name, three repetitions in the presence of the animal form is the prescribed ritual.
  @TEXT-BOX:Alchemical/magical approaches. Some of these operate on the same priciples as
  exorcism, being attempts to expel a hostile spirit. Others treat lycanthropy as a spell that has to be
  broken or dispelled. However it is approached, though, the process usually requires a great
  number of odd and unusual ingredients combined according to an improbable recipe, and/or a
  complex ritual that would put a full Catholic mass to shame.
  @TEXT-BOX:Doctrine of Opposites. To the mind versed in medieval European thought, the world
  was balanced in many ways. For every evil there was an opposing good to be found somewhere -- a
  natural counter, remedy or antidote, thoughtfully provided by God. In the case of lycanthropy,
  there was wolvesbane, or even moly (see p. 00). Wolvesbane's reputation is evenly split between
  poison and cure; the latter seems more common as part of an alchemical formulation. Some claim
  that the fruit of Rauwolfia serpentina, a woody shrub native to Thailand and India and which has
  dozens of legitimate medical uses, can also cure lycanthropy and even suppress morphing talents.
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  @TEXT-BOX:Physical trauma. The poor man's exorcism; the idea is to break the spell or drive
  out the lycanthropic spirit by damaging the body of the victim until the magic can no longer reside
  in it. This can range from simple beatings, through more complicated tortures up to and including
  coating the victim with a boiling mixture of molten tar, sulfur and various poisonous herbs (which
  of course overlaps with the alchemical cure), to simply killing the victim outright in order to save
  his soul. (By similar logic, suicide will also break the curse according to some traditions. One must
  be careful with this "cure", though -- other equally sincere traditions claim this guarantees the
  individual will return as a werewolf.)
  @TEXT-BOX:One particular version of this method which has strong support in folklore is
  amputation. A number of folktales cite it, and it was pivotal in at least one "historical" case of
  lycanthropy, that of Raimbaud de Pinetum, the infamous "Werewolf of Auvergne." In order to
  free himself of his lycanthropy, Raimbaud had a woodcutter chop off one of his paws -- "For they
  say that amputation of a limb frees such men from their calamitous condition."
  @TEXT-BOX:Note that not just any damage will have the desired effect, but only that inflicted for
  the sole purpose of ending the victim's lycanthropy. This method possesses the dubious virtue that
  it can be performed by unskilled labor using tools and materials immediately available at any farm
  or blacksmith's shop, which no doubt contributed to its popularity.
  @TEXT-BOX:Self-control. The lycanthrope must restrain himself from attacking humans for
  some period of time, usually nine years. This is best suited for weres who retain some fraction of
  their mind and/or personality while in their alternate form, while at the same time suffering from a
  reduced impulse control or compulsions to do violence.
  @TEXT-BOX:Blood. Another method requires the highly dangerous task of extracting 3 drops of
  blood from the lycanthrope while he is in animal form. Boiling a king's tooth in werewolves' blood
  and molten silver is also reputed to be an effective cure, but how this mixture is to be employed is
  not specified; hopefully, it is not intended to be swallowed...
  @TEXT-BOX:Cinematic cures. Of course, movies and TV have added their own inventions to the
  mix over the years. Universal's first werewolf movie, 1935's The Werewolf of London, has its were,
  Dr. Wilfred Glendon, dependent upon "marifasa" (a rare Indian flower that only blooms during
  the full moon) to suppress his transformation. Unfortunately, it works only for one night at a time.
  The gothic soap opera Dark Shadows had the "moon poppy", which when eaten while in were-form
  would end the affliction forever. It also had gypsy spells capable (at great cost, of course) of curing
  lycanthropy.
  @TEXT-BOX:Bloodline cures. In stories where lycanthropy can be transmitted via a bite, a cure
  usually involves the specific creature that infected you. The most dangerous of these options
  involve hunting down and killing the "parent" beast; some cures require eating its heart as well. A
  somewhat more disgusting but less life-threatening cure specifies mixing the saliva of the were with
  water from an English moor, but whether the combination is to be drunk or applied to the wound
  is not clear. One thing is certain -- this cure must be mixed and applied before the first dawn after
  the attack, or it is ineffective!
  @TEXT-BOX:Utterly random. According to several Germanic tales, throwing a hat at a werewolf
  can cure him. Other stories say hitting him on the forehead with a key will do the trick. Similarly,
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  the afflicted person could strike his own forehead three times with a knife.
  (((END BOX)))
  Prejudice and Pride: Lions of The Pure
  A Sample Shapeshifter Campaign
  Following is a brief concept for a campaign incorporating shapeshifters as a major element. It
  demonstrates how a were-creature element can be added to a campaign in progress, in this case a
  historical or otherwise non-magical, low tech setting (although it can also be used as the basis for a
  stand-alone game).
  ...And In Paradise They Dwelt
  In the blessed name of Mevek, may He watch ever over us, amen...
  The invaders called themselves Glinizi. They fell upon us in the thirteenth year of the reign of our
  lamented King Ta'an, bearing the sticks of fire against which no mortal man could stand. From the
  sea did they come, in swarms like locusts from out their great ships, and they overran all the lowlands.
  They enslaved our people and called it "liberation"; they seized Nilesh Mithana, the capital, and set
  themselves up as rulers over all the people of Chanarkesh.
  As part of their tyranny, the Glinizi forbade the worship of Mevek (blessed be His name!). When the
  king and the priests protested, the Glinizi murdered them, desecrating the altar of Mevek with their
  blood. When the people rose up in protest, the Glinizi slaughtered them in the streets.
  Knowing they could not stand against the Glinizi and their sticks of fire, One Hundred of the faithful
  of Mevek (blessed be His name!) escaped to the Vangkesh Hills. There they made supplication unto
  Mevek and prayed for a way to deliver our land and our people from the invaders. And Mevek (blessed
  be His name!) heard their prayers and answered them...
  A peaceful subtropical nation. An occupying army with a technology beyond that of the natives.
  And a vengeful god who emphasizes personal initiative and responsibility. Three ingredients whose
  combination has had unexpected results -- for the invaders.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Adapting The Setting
  @TEXT-BOX:This campaign seed was inspired by (but should not be construed to represent) some
  aspects of the Anglo-Sikh Wars of the 1850-60s. As such, the intended flavor of this setting is
  British Colonial India circa the middle of the 19th Century (albeit leavened by a kind of hybrid
  Thai/Cambodian aesthetic).
  @TEXT-BOX:Even so, no details here are exclusively specific to that place and time; this
  campaign seed can be adapted for any game set somewhere between TL3 and TL5. The primary
  ingredients needed for this are a distant, aggressive imperial nation, a tropical native population in
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  a land colonized or conquered by that nation, a suitable wilderness zone, and an appropriate
  religion. The military forces fielded by the empire should be technologically advanced (at least +1
  TL) compared the natives, making them apparently invincible.
  @TEXT-BOX:As written, this setting can be dropped into almost any standard fantasy game, as
  well as more historical settings. All that will be necessary may be changing the names and perhaps
  some of the politics, and the nature of the Glinizi "firesticks". If the world background is
  ostensibly non-magical with distant and uninvolved (or non-existent) deities, all the better.
  @TEXT-BOX:With a little research and effort, the GM can even quickly adapt this material back
  into its inspiration, turning a more conventional British India campaign into something out of
  Rudyard Kipling's darker nightmares. While it can serve as an interesting twist to a "real world"
  game, it can also work in a gameworld with active magic, especially if the GM leaves misleading
  clues about the nature of the natives' ability to change.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Protagonists and Antagonists
  @TEXT-BOX:The setting is also written such that either side (or both!) can be played as the
  "good guys", depending on the needs of the game. In fact, it works best if neither the Chanarkeshi
  weres nor the Glinizi invaders are portrayed as outright evil, but rather responding as best they
  can to a complicated situation. While it is possible to reduce either side to predatory stereotypes
  preying upon the valiant forces "liberating" their land, no small amount of the flavor of this
  setting will be lost.
  (((END BOX)))
  Chanarkesh
  Located in a fetile subtropical zone, Chanarkesh is a land of lush farmlands, moist rain forests, and
  wooded, rocky hills. The innumerable family farms dotting the well-watered lowlands provide
  bountiful crops, while the upland forests produce a wide variety of woods for carving and building.
  Add to it the fine stonework Chanarkeshi craftsman have learned over centuries of building
  elaborate temples, and you have the three primary exports of this small but rich coastal nation,
  whose sea-going tradition includes both merchants and fisherman.
  The Chanarkeshi are said to produce fishermen, farmers, traders and scholars in equal
  proportion; they live under a clan system capped by the combined power of the king and the
  priests of Mevek, the lion-god whom they have worshiped since time immemorial. Mevek is distant
  but benevolent, paternally encouraging both individual achievement and loyalty to clan and nation.
  It has been hundreds of years since Mevek took a direct hand in the affairs of Chanarkesh, but this
  does not discourage his followers. Instead, they point to it proudly as evidence they have followed
  his commandments -- Mevek only intervenes when the people have turned from him, or if utter
  catastrophe looms.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Inside The Chanarkeshi
  @TEXT-BOX:While they are are learned and peaceful people, the Chanarkeshi are also stagnant.
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  This may be partially by design -- Mevek certainly favors stability and predictability, despite his
  aspect of a wild animal. However, what works for Mevek doesn't necessarily work as well for
  Chanarkesh -- the land is steeped in, and choking from, highly respected tradition and an
  increasingly hidebound caste system. Chanarkeshi bards love to tell the tales of famous heroes of
  yore who climbed the social ladder from dirt farmer to king, but anyone trying to emulate them
  today is more likely to be imprisoned for breaking his caste than honored for the effort.
  @TEXT-BOX:This is particularly encouraged by the priesthood of Mevek, who enjoy a
  comfortable (and all-but-hereditary) position at the top of the social ladder. Not surprisingly, they
  are going to be hostile to the very idea of the lion-men. Commoners approaching Mevek without
  their intercession, indeed!
  @TEXT-BOX:The truth is, despite its prosperity and comfort (or perhaps because of it),
  Chanarkesh is headed for social collapse. The civilization is stagnant and petrifying, with entirely
  too much focus on past glories and self-congratulatory festivals. A growing underclass (one is
  always allowed to move to a lower caste, after all) is finding itself more and more marginalized
  even as it shoulders more and more of the country's day-to-day support.
  @TEXT-BOX:If Chanarkesh is to survive, it needs to be shaken up badly -- and the Glinizi just
  may be the thing to do it. If they don't destroy the country first.
  (((END BOX)))
  Geography
  Chanarkesh is a roughly trapezoidal nation, set on a peninsula extending southwest out of the main
  body of the continent of which it is part. Its western coast, running north-northwest to south is the
  trapezoid's longest side at just over 300 miles; the southern coast stretches for 200 miles almost due
  west until it intersects the main continent. Wrapping around the other two "sides" is a long chain
  of steep, rocky hills spotted with light forest, which mark a border with two of Chanarkesh's
  neighbors and are in fact the foothills of an impressive mountain range somewhat further inland.
  Known to the Chanarkeshi as the Vangkesh Hills, a number of passes run through them, linking
  Chanarkesh with its inland neighbors.
  The Vangkesh Hills are inhospitable and, while arable, not worth the effort of farming with so
  much moist, fertile land to the south. A number of rivers flow through the hills from the mountains
  beyond, but they do so with great force through deep chasms cut into the bedrock, making them all
  but unusable for agriculture. There are several Chanarkeshi settlements in the hills -- they are
  home to a dozen or more quarries and hundreds of mines -- but nothing to match the towns and
  cities in the lowlands.
  At the base of the hills, most of the rivers spread out, delta-style, into broad, wet zones -- all but
  swamps, really -- threaded with creeks and streams. Rooted deep into this moist land and getting
  the most benefit from the water there, is the band of lush, semitropical rainforest from which
  Chanarkesh harvest the exotic woods employed by their crafstmen.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:About Mevek
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  @TEXT-BOX:The lion-headed god of the Chanarkeshi, Mevek claims Chanarkesh as his sphere of
  influence. He is said to know all things that happen in the land, and all things that may affect it. He
  does not often choose to interfere in mortal matters, though, for in addition to basic moral laws
  (called the Rules of Just Behavior), his teachings emphasize what have become known as The Five
  Virtues: Wisdom, Strength, Truthful Insight, Self-sufficience, and Loyalty to Clan and Nation. He
  has made it clear in the past that he does not want weak, fawning children for worshippers, but
  strong, independent adults, worthy of being partners to a god.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Orthodox Mevekism
  @TEXT-BOX:In the three or so centuries since the last known physical manifestation of Mevek,
  his church has collected and standardized the stories and teachings of their god. In addition to the
  Rules of Just Behavior and the Five Virtues, Orthodox Mevekism teaches the following as articles
  of faith: that Mevek is supreme over all other deities (the Law of Primacy); that the role one is
  born to in the world may not be improved (the Law of Caste); that any challenge to the social and
  political order is an affront to Mevek, who made it so (the Law of Earthly Perfection); and that the
  only proper mediator between mortal man and Mevek is the priesthood (the Law of Intercession).
  (((END BOX)))
  Once out of the rainforest, the rivers settle down again into single great streams, broad and shallow
  and easily tapped for irrigation. These are the fertile lowlands, home to most of the Chanarkeshi. It
  is also home to thousands of square miles of farms, dotted with villages and towns, and threaded
  through with worked stone roads that have served the land for centuries. Here are found the great
  cities of Chanarkesh, which can be seen for miles around in the broad, flat plains.
  Through the center of Chanarkesh runs the River Asariaz, the greatest river in the land,
  sometimes reaching five miles in width. After dropping precipitously over the Davisad Falls at the
  center of the Vangkesh Hills to the north, the Asariaz meanders gently southward along the center
  line of the nation, spreading finally into a river delta at the southmost tip of the land, where the
  city of Sanjit Kumahal was built to as a trade gateway between sea-going traders and Chanarkeshi
  merchants. The Asariaz holds special meaning to the Chanarkeshi; it is said to be lifeblood of the
  land, and that he who controls the Asariaz controls the nation. This is why Nilesh Mithana, the
  capital city, was built at the exact midpoint between the Davisad Falls and the sea, to symbolize its
  position at the heart of Chanarkesh.
  Today, the Glinizi control all the major cities on the Asariaz, and have actually renamed Sanjit
  Kumahal to Port Dilaz. A Glinizi presence can be found in every other coastal city, but Port Dilaz
  is the port of entry for all Glinizi coming to Chanarkesh, and can be considered their capital for the
  land.
  The Glinizi
  Although Chanarkesh has lived in relative peace with its neighbors -- themselves equally
  prosperous and peaceful -- for centuries, this was not to last. The peaceful land was thrust into war
  when invaders came from over the sea.
  The exact origin of the Glinizi is a mystery to the Chanarkeshi; "far away over the sea" is all
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  anyone has learned. They came in great ships unlike any the Chanarkeshi or their neighbors built;
  they came with weapons of fire and steel against which none could stand. They came to steal the
  land of Chanarkesh.
  Within three months of their first appearance on the beaches of Chanarkesh, the Glinizi had
  penetrated deep into the interior. Overwhelming all opposition with ease, they marched on the
  capital city of Nilesh Mithana, and after a two-day siege, captured it, the king and the highest levels
  of the priesthood of Mevek.
  Since then, they have all but conquered the land, although they neither call it that, nor (to be
  honest) see it that way. The Glinizi -- most of them, at least -- sincerely believe that they are to
  oversee Chanarkesh on behalf of the natives, for their own good. Of course, at the same time they
  have systematically plundered the country, shipping resources back to their own homeland on a
  vast scale. While Chanarkesh has not yet been rendered a pit of abject poverty, many Chanarkeshi
  think it's only a matter of time. And when the Chanarkeshi have objected, they have been brutally
  suppressed -- the death toll from one such "pacification" reached into the thousands.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Inside The Glinizi
  @TEXT-BOX:A young and vital empire based on another continent some two months' sail away,
  the Glinizi have been in an expansionist phase for the last two centuries. With their prosperous
  economy, advanced technology and vast holdings, they have developed something of a
  cultural/racial superiority complex, and see themselves as far above the "primitive" peoples of the
  lands they have expanded into.
  @TEXT-BOX:Unfortunately for the Glinizi, about twenty years ago, they encountered another,
  older empire -- the Pueranlo. Located on the opposite side of Glinizi lands from Chanarkesh, the
  Pueranlo were slightly more advanced in technology and viewed the Glinizi as another future
  province to acquire. Since the beginning of active hostilities between the two empires five years
  ago, the Glinizi have been desperately seeking supplies of raw materials and manpower not already
  claimed by the Pueranlo in order to bolster their war effort. The conflict has not been going well
  for the Glinizi, and they are starting to panic. This panic is in part responsible for some of the
  atrocities the Glinizi have committed when putting down potential rebellions.
  (((END BOX)))
  The Creation of the Jayagat Tendrab
  In order to accomplish their task of stripping the country bare as quickly as possible, the Glinizi
  have taken to impressing young Chanarkeshi men into forced servitude. This practice is slavery in
  all but name; no one knows any man taken by the Glinizi who has been freed, although many know
  of one or more who has dropped dead from the labor.
  It is not surprising then that many young men, not the least of which were the educated and
  low-level military officers, chose to flee to the hills. The Glinizi have little concern for that region;
  they do not need the stone, and the mines produce none of the metals they need. A small Glinizi
  force based in Dilak Divatri, at the base of the Davisad Falls, "pacifies" the hills, but is in truth far
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  too small to police the whole of the chain.
  It is thus that the hills have become home to a unique resistance movement. As young educated
  men -- those who might have been called "radicals" by the elder compatriots in the temples and
  schools -- made their way there, they met up with one another and formed something of a
  fellowship. In their common despite of the Glinizi, their hope for their land's eventual liberation,
  and in their radical views on religion (and other social issues), they found a unity and a purpose --
  and a leader: Jevon Afari, the third son of a cadet branch of a lesser clan of the aristocracy, a
  compelling speaker, and a natural commander of men.
  It was at Afari's suggestion that they made the experiment. According to the elder priests it was
  heresy -- the priesthood was Man's intermediary with Mevek, and only a priest could address
  Mevek; for someone impure, uninitiated to dare address the god was inviting his wrath not only
  upon the offender, but upon all of Chanarkesh. But Afari and his companions reasoned, somewhat
  impiously, that Chanarkesh was already suffering the Glinizi's wrath, and that Mevek's couldn't
  be much worse. So he issued the request -- that all who dared, petition Mevek for aid against the
  Glinizi. In one great night of prayer and fasting, one hundred men and women called upon Mevek
  and begged for his help.
  Mevek heard -- and answered.
  Taking the physical form of a massive lion-headed man, Mevek appeared before the Hundred and
  praised them for their courage and their devotion to their land. He acknowledged the threat the
  Glinizi posed to his people, and he granted them a gift -- the ability to fight in his image. Mevek
  bade them swear oaths that bound them to him in purity, and promised that as long as they kept
  those vows, his power was theirs. Finally, he commanded them that as a sign of the compact that
  they had made with their god, each was to take a new name, and as part of that name should be the
  word Maimat, meaning "Lion" for men, and Gilan "Lioness" for women.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Vows of the Jayagat
  @TEXT-BOX:• Serve Mevek with all one's heart, and embody the Rules of Just Behavior and the
  Five Virtues.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Defend the people of Chanarkesh from all that would harm them.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Never use the Maimat (lion-form) for personal gain or for any purpose offensive
  in the eyes of Mevek.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Purify one's self in a ritual bath at least once a week.
  @TEXT-BOX:• Abstain from alcohol.
  @TEXT-BOX:The Vows of the Jayagat constitute a -10-point Discipline of Faith.
  (((END BOX)))
  Each of the Hundred so swore, and Jevon Afari became the first to take his new name, calling
  himself "Asudhri Dhavik Maimat" -- "New Lion of the Dawn". And as each swore and took his
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  name, the power of Mevek filled them, and each became a being that partook of both lion and man.
  Mevek then foretold how others would join their cause, and instructed the Hundred in how to
  purify and prepare newcomers to also gain the power. With a final benediction, the god then
  departed.
  The Hundred then rejoiced, and declared themselves to be the Jayagat Tendrab -- the Company of
  the Pure.
  The Jayagat Today
  It is under that name that they have come to strike fear in the hearts of the Glinizi. Against the
  invaders of their land, they fight a guerilla war, invisible until the moment they strike. Their
  numbers grew quickly as word of Mevek's intercession spread among the people, and now there
  are at least a thousand Maimat and Gilan striking at the Glinizi, either alone or at the head of
  bands of brave folk who chose to follow them.
  There would be more Jayagat, save for an unexpected enemy -- the surviving priests of Mevek.
  Accustomed to -- and profiting from -- their monopoly on mediating between mortals and Mevek,
  the church is openly hostile to any who dare challenge its position and power. They brand the
  accounts of Mevek's appearance to the Hundred as lies and heresy, and the Maimat as
  blasphemous forgeries born of dark sorcery. Not every priest shares this view, but those that don't
  are few and far between, and most dare not challenge the church's pronouncements.
  This conflict with the established church is a bigger problem than it seems -- for some ineffable
  reason, Mevek left his warrior avatars vulnerable to weapons consecrated by his priests!
  Jayagat Package . . . . 120 points
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Maimat Were-form [181] (Cure/Cursebreak: Violate Disciplines of
  Faith (Easy, must cooperate): -40%; External Trigger: Worshipper of Mevek in danger: -10%).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Disciplines of Faith (Jayagat, see box, p. 00) [-10]; Enemy:
  Glinizi [-15] (Roll: 6 or less, ¥1/2); Enemy: Priesthood of Mevek [-10] (Roll: 6 or less, ¥1/2);
  Fanaticism [-15]; Intolerance: Glinizi [-5]; Minority Group [-10] (Reaction: -2/+2).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Theology (Mevekite, Reformed)-10 [4].
  Maimat/Gilan ("Lion-man"/"Lion-woman") Form . . . . 361 points
  (PPT: +422, NPT: -77)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST +24 (Natural -40%) [87]; DX +3 [30]; HT +5 [60]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Alertness +8 [40]; Claws [15] (Damage: cr 2d+3); Combat Reflexes
  [15] (Fright Check: 12); Fur [4]; Night Vision [10]; Reputation +3 (to Chanarkeshi, as Divine
  warrior) [7] (Reaction: +3; Recognized by: Large class, ¥1/2); Temperature Tolerance ¥1 [0] (Zone
  Center: 63; Min. Temperature: 27 1/2; Max. Temperature: 97 1/2); Vampiric Invulnerability
  [150].
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous) [-25] (Reaction: -5); Attentive [-1];
  Bloodlust [-10]; Disturbing Voice [-10] (Reaction: -2); Gigantism [-10]; Reputation -3 (among
  Glinizi, as vicious supernatural monster) [-5] (Reaction: -3; Recognized by: Small class, ¥1/3);
  Vulnerability ¥1 (Items consecrated to Mevek) (Common) [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Feline mannerisms. [-1]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Brawling-DX+1 [4].
  The Maimat form of a Jayagat warrior takes the form of a giant (minimum 7 feet) human with a
  lion's head. (Calculate the Maimat's height based on the strength of the human form, not the
  Maimat's Enhanced ST. Calculate weight normally.) His hands and feet are heavily clawed, and
  his body is covered with tawny fur. The shape of a lion's mouth is not conducive to speech, but they
  manage, although the sound is often quite frightening.
  When applied to a Jagayat character, the Maimat takes a Cure/Cursebreak limitation: Simple
  condition, requires cooperation, -40%; and External Trigger: Worshipper of Mevek in danger,
  -10%, for a final discount of -50%. A Jayagat has complete control over his changes unless he
  witnesses a worshipper of Mevek in danger, in which case the power of Mevek forces him to
  change in order to fulfil the second term of his vows.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Player Characters
  @TEXT-BOX:PCs can be from either side of the Chanarkeshi conflict. Glinizi troops range from
  75-point infantry to 150-point officers. Ordinary Chanarkeshi guerillas will range anywhere from
  50 to 125 points. A Jayagat warrior will always be a minimum of 150 points, and a member of the
  Hundred will likely be 200 points or more. If for any reason Pueranlo troops appear, treat them as
  Glinizi troops save for the +1 in TL.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Tech Levels
  @TEXT-BOX:For the purposes of this campaign seed, the Chanarkeshi are considered the base
  TL. Glinizi characters must take the High Technology advantage at 20 points, and Pueranlo
  characters must take it at the 50-point level! If the GM does not find that appealing, make the
  Glinizi the base TL. The Chanarkeshi then get one level of Primitive, and the Pueranlo must only
  pay 20 points for their High Technology.
  (((END BOX)))
  Ultimate Outcome
  Despite the fact that the Jayagat are tailored for warfare, there is another possible result here than
  the wholesale slaughter of one side by the other. Under the right conditions, and with the right
  people in the right places, the Glinizi-Chanarkeshi conflict could turn into a partnership rather
  than a conquerer-conquered relationship. If this happens, both sides win -- Chanarkesh is
  reinvigorated and stagnation/collapse avoided, and the Glinizi get not only resources but a cadre of
  unstoppable warriors to help with the effort against the Pueranlo. If the GM wants, this has been
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  Mevek's plan all along -- because Mevek is also one of the primary gods of the Glinizi under
  another guise. Or maybe he's approached the Glinizi pantheon about a divine merger. Or perhaps
  someone in the Pueranlo pantheon insulted or offended him.
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  @A-HEAD:.<!s>.<!s>.Of All Shapes and Sizes.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT:In this chapter are sample shapechangers from a variety of genres. Where
  appropriate, notes on crossover and multigenre uses are provided, expanding the range of
  settings in which they can be used. 
  @B-HEAD:The Arthurian Werewolf 
  @TEXT:<I>.<!s>.<!s>.Sir Marrok, the good knight that was betrayed with his wife, for she
  made him seven year a werewolf,.<!s>.<!s>.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> Sir Thomas Mallory, <B>Le Morte D'Arthur<B>, Book XIX, Chapter 11<I> 
  @TEXT:Among the many tales of King Arthur and Camelot, there can be found two references
  to werewolves. Sir Marrok and Sir Gorlagon, two knights of honor, were both afflicted
  with lycanthropy. Gorlagon was the victim of a unique magic item with ties to his family
  lineage, but Marrok was a were more along the usual lines. Through the machinations of
  his unfaithful wife, Sir Marrok found himself trapped in his wolf form for seven years.
  When he finally was able to return to human shape, he took his revenge upon the woman.
  Despite this, Sir Marrok was honored with a seat at the Round Table, where he served the
  king for many years, including as one of his personal honor guard. 
  @TEXT:<BI>GURPS Camelot<$> contains a description of werewolves like Sir Marrok, but it
  is based more on the werewolves of Yrth than the actual legends, which describe a
  condition notably different in some ways from the "typical" gaming werewolf. The
  following description is closer to the spirit of the original tales, and may be used in a
  <BI>Camelot<$> campaign instead of the version found in that volume. 
  @TEXT:Arthurian werewolves are ordinary wolves in their were-form except for their IQ,
  which is always at least 10, and usually the same as their human form's IQ. They rarely
  if ever suffer from Split Personality, so they are usually in control of their wolf
  forms. For the same reason, most quirks, mental disadvantages and mental skills from the
  human form will also be possessed by the were-form. 
  @TEXT:Only one source gives details on the specifics of their change: <I>Bisclavret,<I> a
  medieval <I>lai<I> by Marie de France (a contemporary of Chr<\#142>tien de Troyes). It is
  the tale of a werewolf knight, the eponymous Bisclavret. Bisclavret may well also be Sir
  Marrok of the Round Table, given the similarities of their stories. (The fact that
  "bisclavret" is simply the Breton word for "werewolf" lends some indirect support to this
  assertion.) Therein it tells how Bisclavret is forced to leave his wife for three days
  and nights each week when he changes into a wolf. This is clearly a Cyclic Change with a
  period of one week and a Minimum Time of half that. 
  @TEXT:Before he can change, an Arthurian werewolf must remove all his clothes. This is an
  absolute requirement <\#208> the were cannot change while dressed! Furthermore, he must
  hide and protect his clothing carefully, because unless he has the clothing he was
  wearing before his change to wolf form, he cannot change back! Sir Marrok's wife hid his
  clothing and forced the knight to remain a wolf for seven years, until he could find his
  clothes. The werewolf doesn't need to do anything with the clothes, just stand in the
  same hex with them. They must be reasonably intact <\#208> a few holes won't affect the
  change, but being sliced to ribbons will! Although an Arthurian were cannot change while
  wearing armor, the armor is not considered part of the clothing that must be present for
  the change back. Arthurian weres must change at the full moon for an entire night, even
  when it does not occur during their usual three-night cycle; they can change at will at
  other times. 
  @TEXT:Unlike the traditional werewolf, the Arthurian were does not transmit its
  shapeshifting ability through its bite. Weredom is more likely to be the result of a
  curse or (less commonly) some form of penance. The GM should require PC weres to explain
  how they came to acquire the ability to change. Depending on the cause, it can make an
  excellent Secret. 
  @C-HEAD:Building the Arthurian Were 
  @TEXT:The Arthurian werewolf uses the Wolf template (see box, p. 00), with the following
  modifiers: Buy back IQ to the character's normal level. Also buy back Bestial [10];
  Presentient [20]; and Short Lifespan <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>5 [50]. Don't forget to
  account for any losses of Status, Wealth, Reputation and other social advantages that a
  wolf would not possess. 
  @TEXT:The following modifiers are then applied to the were-form advantage: an
  Accessibility limitation for the change itself, Cannot Change to Were-Form While Wearing
  Clothes, -20%; Cyclic Change (Weekly), -30%; and Minimum Time: 72 hours, -20%. The
  clothing requirement for the transformation back makes it an item- based change. The item
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  is generic clothing, with the following modifiers: Not Needed For Change to Were Form
  +25%, Awkward -10%, Breakable (DR 0, HP 2) -15%, Not Absorbed in Change -15%, Can Be
  Stolen by Stealth or Trickery -10% and Unique -25% (although clothes are easily replaced
  and different sets will count as this item at different times, once the change is made
  only the one set will allow the were to change back!). This exceeds the maximum
  limitation value of -75%, so becomes that value; the final cost for the wolf form
  (assuming the theoretical character cited above) is 21 points. 
  @TEXT:The Arthurian were is subject to an unusual combination of a Cyclic Change and an
  Accessibility Limitation that can prevent the change. This does <I>not<I> mean that the
  character can avoid changing simply by never taking off his clothes. Instead, the
  character suffers a growing compulsive <I>need<I> to change that comes to occupy his
  thoughts completely. The character must make a Will roll every hour to resist the
  compulsion, at a penalty equal to the number of hours elapsed since the change should
  have taken place. If the roll is failed, he must make another Will roll at the same
  penalty to avoid simply ripping off his clothing and changing on the spot, regardless of
  location and/or witnesses. When the victim finally changes, his cycle resets accordingly. 
  @TEXT:Note that the wolf form has <I>no<I> special protections or vulnerabilities;
  neither silver nor holy objects affect it adversely, and all manner of weapons wound it
  without difficulty. It is, in all ways except intelligence and behavior, a normal wolf. A
  cursebreak (p. 00) is implied by the source material, but no details are ever given. GMs
  and players may wish to skip this aspect; if not, make sure that the cure remains
  faithful to the original genre. Exorcism or a difficult, pious quest would be in keeping
  with the source material. And of course, at the very least drinking from the Grail should
  unfailingly expunge the curse! 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Lost or Destroyed Clothing 
  @TEXT-BOX:Possibly the worst fate that can befall an Arthurian werewolf is the loss or
  destruction of his clothing while he is in his wolf form. By the strictest interpretation
  of <I>Bisclavret<I> and Mallory, he is then forevermore trapped as a wolf. However, the
  average PC wouldn't care for such a fate <\#208> nor would his player. In the absence of
  magic that can undo the curse (as is the usually case in Arthurian England), the GM may
  be inclined to relax the conditions of the enchantment slightly. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Completely lifting the clothing restriction saps the Arthurian werewolf of his
  unique flavor and reduces him to an "ordinary" were; this is not recommended. However,
  the GM may feel free to allow <I>other<I> sets of clothes to satisfy the terms of the
  curse. These must be clothing belonging to the character and worn by him on a regular
  basis <\#208> more than once or twice. A brand-new suit of clothing, never worn by
  anyone, would be useless, and recently-acquired or rarely-worn garb almost as bad. If the
  GM feels that this is still too lenient, further requirements, such as the proper phase
  of the moon and perhaps a Will roll, can be applied. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Campaign Use 
  @TEXT:While of course in-genre for Mythic and Cinematic <BI>Camelot<$> campaigns, the
  Arthurian werewolf is out of place in a purely realistic Historical setting. If for some
  reason the GM wants to put weres in an otherwise Historical game, the Arthurian werewolf
  is both subtle enough and sufficiently low-powered so as not to seem too out of place.
  But unlike in other Camelot settings (see below), a werewolf character is likely to
  become the target of a vigorous hunt, even if his supernatural nature is never revealed. 
  @TEXT:When used in a Mythic/Cinematic Camelot game, being this variety of werewolf brings
  no negative Reputation or Social Stigma. It is regarded as something that is done
  <I>to<I> a person, not something the person <I>is.<I> Like any other evil enchantment a
  knight might suffer, it is a challenge to be overcome and from which to gain glory
  thereby. (Of course, when it is a commoner who is afflicted with the curse, opinions may
  differ greatly.<!s>.<!s>.) 
  @TEXT:The only exception to this tolerance would be those knights who find they take a
  dark and perverse pleasure in being a wolf and preying upon the innocent. These knights'
  souls are damned, especially if they have tasted human blood and/or flesh while in wolf
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  form. 
  @TEXT:Despite all this, in the <I>Morte d'Arthur,<I> lycanthropy is little more than a
  background detail that distinguishes one knight from scores of other knights. GMs can
  continue this convention, or depart from it by making the curse and its cure a more
  prominent part of the campaign. 
  @D-HEAD:Other Settings 
  @TEXT:In addition to Arthurian and standard fantasy campaigns, this variety of werewolf
  is suitable for any game where a touch of magic is not out of place, but where horrific
  prowling monsters of the movie variety simply do not belong. The Arthurian weres' simple
  wolf-nature, with no extraordinary abilities other than their change, allows them to
  blend into many "hidden magic" and similar settings. They fit quite well into such
  close-to-reality milieux as <I>X-Files-<I>style worlds as well, precisely because they
  are, in general, so low key. A GM who wants to shake up his players' preconceptions might
  even work one into an ostensibly "realistic" setting <\#208> supported with a suitable
  pseudoscientific explanation, of course. 
  @TEXT:They work less well in high fantasy and outright horror worlds, because while they
  are supernatural, they are far more subtle and considerably lower in power than the other
  creatures around them. Their small advantages over humans may give them a false, perhaps
  misleading, sense of confidence. Of course, if that's what the GM wants to
  foster.<!s>.<!s>. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Sample Character: Sir Marrok . . . . 250 Points 
  @D-HEAD:The Werewolf Knight of the Round Table 
  @TEXT:Male; age 35; 5'11''; 160 lbs.; a well-built man of middle age with salt-and-pepper
  hair and grey eyes. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 14 [45]; <B>DX<B> 13 [30]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [0]; HT 12 [20] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.25; Move 6. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 6; Block 7; Parry 7. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 1d-1; <I>Kick:<I> 1d+1; <I>Thrust<I> 1d;
  <I>Swing<I> 2d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Companion of the Round Table [15]; Knighthood [20];
  Reputation +3 [5] (Reaction: +3; Recognized by (Britain): Large class,
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2; 1 level free from Companion); Status 3 (3 levels free from
  Companion, Knighthood and Wealth) [0]; Strong Will +4 [16] (Will: 16); Wealth (Wealthy)
  [20] (Starting Wealth: $5,000); Werewolf (Arthurian, as described on p. 00) [23]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Chivalric Code of Honor [-15]; Extremely Hazardous Duty
  (member of Arthur's Bodyguard) [-20]; Sense of Duty to Arthur and the Round Table [-10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Body-shy; Distrustful of women; Fiercely loyal to Arthur;
  Gentle and courteous. [-4]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Animal Handling-10 [1]; Area Knowledge (Britain)-14 [4];
  Axe/Mace-14 [2] (Parry: 7); Brawling-14 [1] (Parry: 9); Broadsword-15 [4] (Parry: 7);
  Falconry-10 [1]; Flail-13 [2] (Parry: 6); Heraldry-10 [1/2]; Knife-13 [1/2] (Parry: 5);
  Lance-15 [4] (Parry: 7); Riding (Horse)-15 [4]; Savoir-Faire (Britain)-14 [0];
  Savoir-Faire (Elsewhere)-12 [0]; Shield-15 [2] (Block: 7); Survival (English
  Countryside)-15 [8]; Tracking-15 [8]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> English (native)-14 [2]; French-11 [1]. 
  @TEXT:The werewolf knight of the Round Table, Sir Marrok is mentioned twice in Mallory.
  The first was in Book V, Chapter 8 as part of Arthur's personal bodyguard during the war
  with Emperor Lucius (one of five knights so trusted <\#208> Lancelot and Kay were two of
  the others). The other citation is quoted on p. 00; it comes from the list of knights who
  tried to heal Sir Urr<\#142> of Hungary. As noted elsewhere, given the similarities in
  their stories, it seems likely he is also the knight called Bisclavret in Marie de
  France's <I>lai<I> of the same name. 
  @TEXT:The exact origin of his curse is unknown, as is whether there were a cure for it or
  not. Oddly, this lack of information seems to have bothered nobody. It in fact delighted
  his wife, who used the transformation against him; loving another knight better than he,
  she stole the clothes Marrok needed in order to return to human shape, and forced him to
  remain a wolf for seven years. 
  @TEXT:His return to human form came about when the King, out hunting, was taken with a
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  wolf who acted like a loyal servant in his presence; forbidding his retinue to kill the
  beast, Arthur brought the wolf back home to Camelot with him. There, the wolf was gentle
  and friendly, showing the qualities of a good knight to all persons save two <\#208>
  Marrok's unfaithful wife and her lover. The king, noticing this, questioned the pair
  until they confessed. Upon recovery of the hidden clothing by the king's men, Marrok was
  able to return to human form, and Arthur banished the wife and her lover. 
  @TEXT:In the years after his ordeal, Marrok devoted himself fully to the service of his
  king and his country, eventually earning a place in Arthur's personal bodyguard. He
  survived the Grail Quest, unlike so many other Companions, which points to great faith,
  great self-control, or both. While he is not mentioned by Mallory after the healing of
  Urr<\#142> in AD 462, it seems reasonable to assume that he continued in the service of
  his king to the very end of Arthur's reign. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Benandanti <\#208> The Witchhunter Werewolves 
  @TEXT:<I>Questioned: How does one enter this company of the benandanti?<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>He replied: All those who have been born with the caul belong to it, and when
  they reach the age of twenty they are summoned by means of a drum the same as soldiers,
  and they are obliged to respond.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> testimony of Battista Moduco before the Inquisition, June 27, 1580<I> 
  @TEXT:Born with a caul, born to answer a call, they were the <I>Benandanti<I> <\#208> the
  "Good Walkers." Indistinguishable from their countrymen in the regions around the Baltic
  and Mediterranean seas, these undercover werewolves were protectors, not predators; on
  the behalf of their friends, families and neighbors they took on the forces of Hell
  <\#208> <I>strige<I> and <I>stregoni,<I> sorcerors, undead, and demons of all
  descriptions. 
  @C-HEAD:Benandanti were-form . . . . variable 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> <B>ST<B> 10 [+10] <B>DX<B> 14 [0] <B>IQ<B> 10 [+40]
  <B>HT<B> 12 [0] (Costs may vary depending on human form.) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Magic Resistance +2 [4]; Strong Will +4 [16]. Remove Four
  Legs [-5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Wolf Template (p. 00) [-37]. Duty: Fight the Devil and
  the Forces of Hell (Utterly Formidable Group, Appears Rarely) [-20]; Enemy: Forces of
  Hell [-20] (Roll: 6 or less, <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2); Sense of Duty to fellow
  Benandanti [-5]; Sense of Duty to Humanity [-15]. Remove Bestial [+10]; Horizontal [+10];
  No Fine Manipulators [+30]; Presentient [+20]; Short Lifespan <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>5
  [+50]; Sleepy (50%) [+10]. Optionally, include Enemy: Inquisition, werewolf hunters, etc.
  (Large Group, Appears Rarely) [-15] in the appropriate milieux. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Whip (Iron Whip)-DX [2] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Basic Cost:<$> Without Enemy: Inquisition, PPT: +302, NPT: -202; basic
  cost 140 points. With Enemy: Inquisition, PPT: +302, NPT: -217; basic cost 128 points.
  These must be adjusted to reflect the character's attributes before final point cost is
  calculated. 
  @TEXT:If the character is a part of the traditional Benandanti "army" (see below), the
  resulting were-form advantage is then modified with an External Trigger: Quarterly call
  to arms (Only to were-form, occasional, not exclusive, -50%). In historic medieval
  campaigns set in the Baltic and Mediterranean regions, Benandanti will also possess a
  Reputation: usually +2 in their home village, where they are recognized all the time, and
  +1 elsewhere in territory with active Benandanti, recognized rarely (4 points total),
  along with an Unusual Background (Born with a Caul), worth 5 points. The GM may also
  require that Benandanti in later periods take a -20 point Secret. 
  @TEXT:(Please note that this is the template for a physical-change Theiss/Friuli-style
  Benandante, based on testimony from the relevant Inquisition records. Many variations are
  possible and likely; see the text below.) 
  @C-HEAD:Werewolves of God 
  @TEXT:Marked at birth by a caul <\#208> a fetal membrane enclosing their head <\#208> the
  Benandanti (singular Benandante) were called to battle the beings called variously
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  <I>Malandanti<I> (the Evil Walkers), <I>strige<I> (witches) and <I>stregoni<I>
  (sorcerers): the forces of darkness who cursed harvests and poisoned seeds. Although the
  Benandanti of northeastern Italy's province of Friuli are the best known of these obscure
  bands, similar groups existed all over Southern and Eastern Europe during the Middle
  Ages. The members of these groups believed that they had been called by divine forces to
  act as the guardians of their neighbors. 
  @TEXT:Thought to be the historical remnants of prehistoric shamanic and/or fertility
  cults, these groups (predictably) varied from one another in the details of their beliefs
  and traditions, but on one thing they all agreed: in order to accomplish their "mission,"
  they had been granted the power to turn into wolf-human hybrids. Using these forms, they
  engaged the servants of Hell in direct physical combat on a regular basis. Because of
  these fundamental similarities, scholars have tended to call all these groups
  "benandanti" after the Friuli tradition, although many bands had other names for
  themselves. 
  @TEXT:As they were firmly entrenched in their local cultures and folklore as forces for
  Good, the many bands of Benandanti saw no reason to hide. Their membership was an open
  secret, and they enjoyed the respect and gratitude of the people they protected. In
  Friuli and in other areas, they even coexisted peacefully with the Church, whose local
  representatives were (at least at first) more interested in learning about their beliefs
  than supressing them. 
  @D-HEAD:The Inquisition, What A Show.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT:Inevitably, though, such enthusiastic deviation from medieval Catholic dogma
  attracted the notice of the Inquisition <\#208> quite a bit of it, in fact. For more than
  a century, agents of the Inquisition pursued, captured and tried members of the
  Benandanti from all over eastern and south-eastern Europe, accusing them of all manner of
  heresies and specifically of witchcraft. It is through their records, in fact, that much
  of the extant information on the Benandanti comes. 
  @TEXT:In these self-proclaimed werewolves, though, the Inquisition ultimately met its
  match. Put to the test and commanded to confess to witchcraft, Benandanti across Europe
  insisted that they <I>fought<I> witches, confusing their inquisitors and threatening to
  overturn the entire structure of medieval Catholic dogma. After a century of this
  Inquistorial effort, the Friuli Benandanti in particular eventually admitted to being
  witches, but insisted (to the consternation of their Inquisitors) that they were in fact
  <I>God's<I> witches. It is a testament to the Benandanti's devotion to their beliefs that
  the Inquisition never broke fully them. While individuals may have given in to the
  torture, the Benandanti as a whole outlasted the Inquisition, which effectively gave up
  on them <\#208> both individually and collectively. 
  @C-HEAD:The Nature of the Beast 
  @TEXT:While there were almost as many variations on the Benandanti beliefs as there were
  bands, certain core elements remained more or less constant. Perhaps the most detailed
  and evocative account of the Benandanti beliefs comes from the Inquisitorial records of
  an eighty-year-old man known only as "Theiss." Theiss lived in the Livonian town of
  Jurgensburg, on the eastern side of the Baltic Sea. During 1692, in one of their last
  public efforts, the Inquisition put him on trial on charges of being a witch and a
  werewolf. Theiss didn't deny the accusations made of him; instead, he volunteered a
  detailed confession that threatened to demolish utterly the Inquisition's werewolf
  orthodoxy. 
  @TEXT:Theiss claimed that he and other Eastern European werewolves of both genders
  gathered three times a year to do battle with the forces of the Devil. On the feast
  nights of Saint Lucia, Pentecost and Saint John (the seasonal changes), they would storm
  the gates of Hell. There, armed with iron whips (a unique detail in werewolf lore), these
  self-styled "hounds of God" would do battle with the Devil and his army of sorcerers,
  witches and assorted undead beings; most of these were were inexplicably armed with
  broomsticks wrapped with horsetails. Theiss testified that an undead witch named Skeistan
  had actually broken his nose with one such weapon. 
  @TEXT:According to Theiss, these "witches" (who actually included among their number
  assorted undead beings) annually tried to filch freshly-sprouted shoots of grain from the
  fields both in order to steal the crops for Hell and to inflict a famine upon the land.
  To restore the fertility of the fields, Theiss and other werewolves would form a legion
  of their own and mount a counterattack. If, however, the Benandanti were slow in their
  response, the witches would successfully bar the gates of Hell, and the crops, livestock,
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  and even the fishing catch would suffer. The "hounds of God" helped mankind by preventing
  the Devil and his forces from carrying off the bounty of the earth. 
  @TEXT:And his band was not alone in their efforts. Theiss emphasized that there were
  werewolves in Germany and Russia who also also fought Satan and his witches. They were
  all part of a great (if somewhat anarchic) army that protected Earth and the common folk
  from the depradations of hellspawn. 
  @TEXT:Theiss' testimony astounded the inquisitors who heard his case; the degree to which
  it clashed with medieval Catholic orthodoxy regarding werewolves was beyond their
  experience. By necessity they tried to force Theiss into their paradigm, but the old man
  held up under their questioning. When asked what became of the souls of the werewolves,
  Theiss said they went to heaven. In the face of accusations to the contrary, he denied
  that he had ever signed a pact with the Devil. He also refused to see the parish priest
  who was sent for to chastise him, saying that he was a better man than any priest. 
  @TEXT:Despite considerable pressure from the judges and interrogators, Theiss never
  recanted, and only yielded to their cosmology so far as to admit that Hell was
  underground instead of "at the end of the sea" as he had initially declared. At a
  complete loss as to what to do with someone who wouldn't play by their werewolf rules,
  the judges sentenced Theiss to a mere ten lashes for acts of idolatry and superstitious
  beliefs. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations on the Theme 
  @TEXT-BOX:Other accused Baltic werewolves of the same period told much the same story as
  Theiss. Details varied <#\208> the number and schedule of "battle days" in a year (four,
  at the solstices and equinoxes, being more common than Theiss' three), different periods
  of activity (often centered upon the span between Christmas and Pentecost), the presence
  or absence of a "leader" figure who summoned them to battle, and so on. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The use of weapons was a point of wide variance <\#208> some bands used none,
  while the Friuli Benandanti in particular were said to employ iron whips like Theiss'
  group. The role of women was another; in some bands they fought alongside the men, while
  in others they were dreamwalkers, acting as much as scouts as seers. The greatest
  deviation between groups of Benandanti, though, was in the very nature of the shifting
  gift. For some it was explicitly physical, in the medieval Catholic and later folkloric
  tradition. For others, though, it was purely spiritual <\#208> an astral phenomenon where
  battles were fought on some metaphysical plane between ghostly forms. (The latter were
  often the same groups whose women were dreamwalkers.) 
  @TEXT-BOX:One detail, in addition to their shifting ability, was almost universal: the
  majority of active Benandanti, the forces who directly engaged the powers of Hell, were
  between the ages of 20 and 40. Those younger than 20 did not "hear the call", although
  they were usually aware of their potential. And given the nature of both their mission
  and life expectancies in the Middle Ages, few lived to reach 40. Those that did probably
  served as advisors, non-combatant strategists, or perhaps even as rear guards. Theiss was
  unusual in that he claimed still to be active even in his eighties. 
  @TEXT-BOX:For all their differences, though, there is still a remarkable unity of theme
  and description between these often widespread and certainly unconnected accounts. The
  fossil remains of the ancient fertility rituals which spawned the Benandanti are clearly
  visible within the stories and traditions in which they feature. Later accounts make them
  out to be more buffoonish than heroic <\#208> roaming about in rowdy bands, breaking into
  cellars to steal wine and beer <\#208> but no matter the period, the Baltic
  werewolf/Benandanti is dramatically different from the malevolent, cannibalistic werewolf
  of Gallic legend which became the model for Western folklore and Hollywood alike. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Psychology 
  @TEXT:Unlike his counterparts farther to the west, the Baltic werewolf is more the pack
  predator than the solitary hunter. Devoted to the community in which he dwells, he is
  dedicated to the protection of humanity as a whole, and immersed in a support group of
  similar beings with a long-standing set of traditions. A Benandante is usually a social
  being, well-adjusted and comfortable with his dual nature, which he has known about since
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  his birth. He has no reason to hide and is in fact a respected member of his community,
  well regarded by his neighbors whether he is the mayor or a dirt farmer. 
  @TEXT:Between his holy charge and his long membership in the group, the Benandante (at
  least during the medieval period and earlier) is almost always an ethical being, rarely
  if ever using his shifting abilities for personal advantage. Some Benandanti never shift
  except when called to do battle; others may make limited use of their abilities in more
  mundane situations. In any case, a sense of responsibility toward their neighbors tends
  to govern their behavior, in wolf form or not. 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  @TEXT:Despite their special abilities, Benandanti are born from normal humans, and these
  almost exclusively from eastern and southeastern European ethnic groups; northern Italy
  and the eastern reaches of Germany are as far west as the Benandanti ever ranged, and far
  more were based around the Baltic Sea. (In a modern or future setting, of course, a
  Benandante can appear virtually <I>anywhere<I> <\#208> often without any idea what he
  is.) 
  @TEXT:The Benandanti shifting talent is not a dominant trait and rarely if ever runs in
  families. It is far more likely for them to appear at random among families of every
  social and political station, marked at birth by the caul, making necessary the
  Benandanti's close relationship to the midwives and other healers of their communities. 
  @C-HEAD:Culture 
  @TEXT:The Benandanti consider themselves part of the culture in which they are born, and
  although they do form cohesive groups, they do not consider themselves separate from the
  other humans in their communities. They live ordinary lives among those without the gift,
  working hard, going to church, making friends and choosing wives and husbands from among
  "normal" people. They maintain especially strong ties to the midwives and other
  folk-healers who may be called upon to oversee births, so as to ensure that all with the
  gift are identified as soon as possible. 
  @TEXT:Any suggestion that they form their own Benandanti-only communities would be met
  with puzzlement at best and derision at worst. They do not see themselves as a race
  apart, but simply as humans with a special gift that allows them to protect their
  neighbors. 
  @TEXT:They do maintain a body of detailed oral tradition about their natures and duties,
  though, and thoroughly transmit these traditions to new members. A young Benandante will
  usually have other Benandanti from the local band as godparents, who will see to his
  education at the proper time. He is usually made aware of his talent and fellows about
  the time he can talk. 
  @TEXT:All Benandanti will be at least nominally Christian. While there are no Jewish
  Benandanti in the historical setting, in later, more cosmopolitan milieux intermarriage
  may produce Benandanti of almost any religious and ethnic background <\#208> particularly
  in those unware of their heritage. 
  @C-HEAD:Politics 
  @TEXT:While any given Benandante may be as political as he cares to be about his local
  community, Benandanti groups as a whole are apolitical. They serve and protect the people
  against the forces of Hell; in comparison to that, interhuman conflicts are petty
  squabbles unworthy of consideration. It would take a regime or individual of
  extraordinary evil (at least as bad as the <I>strige<I> and <I>stregoni<I>) to make the
  Benandanti even consider using their gifts against other humans. 
  @C-HEAD:Benandanti in the Campaign 
  @TEXT:Benandanti are a natural addition to a <BI>GURPS Russia<$> campaign, and can be
  added to just about any other game set in medieval Europe. A strictly historical setting
  can make use of the Benandanti, either as a deluded fertility-cult holdover or as a
  surprise "colony" of real magic. In either case, they will be an open secret wherever
  they operate, supported by farmers (who benefit, theoretically, from their efforts),
  midwives (who identify the next generation as they are born), and (on occasion) by
  sympathetic members of the clergy (who either are aware of the war they fight, or are
  simply tolerant of what they see as harmless peasant traditions). The average peasant
  will probably know of them, but anyone higher socially than the local mayor or town
  priest will probably be unaware of the Benandanti's existence <\#208> unless they have
  roots or connections in the lowest levels of society. 
  (((START BOX))) 
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Other Settings 
  @TEXT-BOX:In addition to historical Earth (where they may or may not actually have
  shapechanging abilities), Benandanti are easily inserted into any medieval (or earlier)
  setting with an appropriate Good-Evil polarization in the local religions. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>GURPS Fantasy:<$> Yrth, for example, is a perfect candidate; the Banestorm
  simply swept up a pack of Benandanti along with all its other Earthly transportees.
  Whether or not the mysterious "commander" cited by some groups exists in or can reach
  Yrth is up to the GM's intent and his interpretation of the Benandanti's testimony. If
  the "commander" is a supernatural being, he may be able to oversee two groups in two
  different universes at once, or perhaps the Benandanti have died out in modern Earth and
  he has turned to their extraplanar descendants. Or perhaps another master entirely has
  adopted the Yrth Benandanti.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The relationship between the Benandanti and the various Earth-born religions in
  Yrth remains the same <\#208> both Christian and Muslim orthodoxy revile them, and Jews
  will treat them with suspicion. The attitude of the bizarre
  Shinto-Buddhist-Zen-Monty-Python hybrid religion of Sahud is less clear; in general,
  though, the Sahudese seem to regard the Benandanti (and other weres, as well) as
  <I>hengeyokai</I> (see pp. 00-00), and thus a fact of life which is either ignored or
  placated as needed. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>GURPS WWII:<$> The Nazis were perhaps the greatest evil to arise in Europe
  in centuries, and the impact they had on Eastern Europe.<!s>.<!s>. The Benandanti who had
  survived to the Twentieth Century may well have said, "These <I>are<I> the forces of
  Hell," and founded, joined, or simply aided the Resistance in every Nazi dominated
  country where they dwelt. But powerful as they are, the Benandanti are not immune to
  bullets, so the fight is more balanced than it may seem at first. Add in the mysterious
  SS "Werwolf" troopers, and the struggle may be even harder. This kind of campaign can
  range from a "straight" WWII setting with the Benandati as the only outre element, all
  the way to a "High Weirdness" WWII incorporating SS werewolves, Nazi sorcerors and even a
  quest for the Spear of Destiny. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Modern settings:<$> In worlds like those of <BI>GURPS Black Ops<$> or
  <I>The X-Files,<I> the Benandanti can make for unsuspected neutrals or even surprise
  allies, depending on the level and type of conflict the players encounter. The Company
  and its operatives would unfortunately suffer a certain level of prejudice against the
  Benandanti, though, leading to at best a tense state of detente between the two groups
  and at worst a war of extermination. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:Depending on the player characters involved, the Benandanti can be Patron or
  pursued, friend or foe. Parties with strong connections to the Catholic Church (or the
  campaign equivalent) can find themselves tracking down the werewolves on behalf of the
  Inquisition. Whatever their role in the campaign, though, the Benandanti will most likely
  remain hidden in plain sight, like a random-dot stereogram <\#208> invisible unless and
  until one looks for them in just the right way. 
  @D-HEAD:All Benandanti, All The Time 
  @TEXT:An innovative GM may choose to run an all-Benandanti campaign. Such a game could
  have much in common with "team espionage" campaigns, as the PCs attempt to dodge both the
  Inquisition and agents of Hell while still fulfilling their obligations to the simple
  farmers who rely upon their protection. While historically the Benandanti tended to be
  more or less permanently based in supportive communities, the classic "wandering
  do-gooders" campaign model could still be employed without fatally disrupting the core
  paradigm. In either case, the game can be tuned from meticulously realistic to mythic
  with ease; the primary concern being finding the right mix of goals and opposition for
  the party to face. At one end of the scale, the flavor can be rather like an odd medieval
  pulp/noir novel, as the possessors of hidden and strange power work for the good of
  Mankind amidst the shadows of a hostile world. At the other end, the game may grow to
  resemble <BI>GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse,<$> only without the oppressive, fatalistic
  air of imminent doom. 
  (((START BOX))) 
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Benandanti in <BI>GURPS In Nomine:<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX:In the world of the War Between Heaven and Hell, the Benandanti are the
  forgotten Soldiers of Uriel, established by him shortly before the Purification Crusade
  as Earth's last defense against the creatures of myth. Knowing his attention would be
  turned elsewhere for a long time, Uriel arranged for membership in his mortal forces to
  be hereditary, and the groups themselves self-perpetuating and self-governing. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Partly as a sop to Jordi (who was already up in arms over his ethereal
  activities), Uriel patterned the organization of his Soldiers after wolfpacks, and gave
  them the secret Corporeal <I>Song of Wolf,<I> (see box) which turns its singer into a
  man-beast fighting machine. He also provided them with the Corporeal Song of Dreams, with
  which they were intended to communicate with Uriel's "base camp" in the Marches. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Uriel's long-term plan was to hand command of the Benandanti over to Jordi
  outright in exchange for a reduction or cessation of Jordi's hostility toward the
  Archangel of Purity. But Uriel never got around to presenting his "peace offering" to
  Jordi, and told no one else but his loyal lieutenants about the Benandanti, before he was
  recalled into the Higher Heavens. 
  @TEXT-BOX:And no one told the Benandanti that Uriel was gone. During the Middle Ages, the
  occasional Tsayadite would appear to dispatch orders to the Benandanti. In recent
  centuries, though, this has dwindled off as the Tsayadim grew more and more concerned
  with the Marches. But the Benandanti persevere, maintaining their traditions and
  loyalties. Meanwhile, their uncounted, ignorant descendants may be found not only in
  Europe, but scattered across the globe, simply awaiting the proper Song to awaken fully
  to their heritage. Not every person born to a Benandanti bloodline has to potential to
  become a Soldier, but those that do are far more common than in the rest of humanity. 
  @TEXT-BOX:It is perhaps the ultimate irony that in his bid to create a final line of
  defense against the old creatures of myth, Uriel effectively created a <I>new<I> creature
  of myth. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Benandanti in <BI>GURPS In Nomine<$> will usually have a minimum of 150 points
  (and frequently more). They do <I>not<I> use the "racial" package given on pp. 00-00, but
  instead use the following alternate template: 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Benandante . . . . 69 points plus the skill cost of the Song. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> ST +2 [20]; HT +2 [20]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Awareness (Symphony) [15]; Essence Control/8 [23]
  (minimum); Power Investiture (Corporeal)/2 [20] (minimum); Unusual Background
  (Benandanti) [5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Duty to Heaven (originally Uriel) (6 or less) [-2];
  Enemy: Forces of Hell [-20] (Roll: 6 or less, <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2); Sense of Duty
  to Humanity [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Whip (Iron Whip)-DX [4]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Songs:<$> The Corporeal Song of Wolf-19 (an effective level of 16 on the
  Corporeal plane) [variable] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Congenial [-1]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The Unusual Background cost represents being born into a Benandanti bloodline.
  (The requirement of a caul is mere folklore in this setting.) While the Iron Whip skill
  is automatically acquired upon "awakening" (it is encoded into the Benandante genes), an
  actual iron whip is not. Such whips are Corporeal or Ethereal artifacts forged by the few
  remaining Tsayadite crafters of such objects. 
  @TEXT-BOX:"Unawakened" Benandanti are unaware of or otherwise distanced from their
  heritage, and have not learned the Song of Wolf, nor do they have the Duty to
  Heaven/Uriel or the Enemy. Their Awareness and Investiture often lead them into
  "mystical" occupations and hobbies, and they occasionally become Soldiers for other
  Archangels. (Not surprisingly, these Soldiers serve Jordi more often than any other
  Superior.) It is also possible for an unawakened Benandante to become a Soldier of Hell
  <\#208> in such a case, though, they permanently lose all ability to use the Song of
  Wolf. 
  @TEXT-BOX:An Aware Benandante can detect a potential or active Benandante Soldier with a
  simple IQ roll if he is within one hex. 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Song of Wolf 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Corporeal Only (Secret) 
  @TEXT-BOX:This Song was created by Uriel in the middle of the sixth century AD for the
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  sole use of the Benandanti, the special Soldiers he created in the early part of the
  Christian era. The Song seems to be keyed specifically to some hereditary trait possessed
  by the Benandanti; those without this trait cannot successfully perform it. At the
  present time, only those Benandanti who still follow the old ways know and teach the
  Song; it is unknown to any existing Celestial except perhaps a select very few of the
  Tsayadim. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Briefly, the Song of Wolf turns its singer into a humanoid wolf-man of fearsome
  countenance and impressive combat ability. To accomplish this, it seems to combine the
  features of several other Songs into a single composite result. Not surprisingly, it
  costs a large amount of Essence, with a corresponding Disturbance in the Symphony. The
  "flavor" of the Song's Disturbance is unique and easily-recognized, although few
  Celestials have ever encountered it, and fewer still know what it <I>is.<I> 
  @TEXT-BOX:The Song of Wolf appears to combine Corporeal Form, Numinous Corpus Fangs, and
  Numinous Corpus Claws, along with an undeniably unique Numinous Corpus Ornamental which
  is responsible for the majority of the user's physical transformation. The singer sprouts
  fur and muscle, his head and face become notably canine, and his feet and legs become
  digitigrade, adding an apparent six to ten inches to his height from the reconfiguration
  of the ankles and toes. The hands remain human in form, allowing tool (and weapon) use. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Affiliation:<I> Purity, Animals 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Base Cost to Perform:<I> 5; 3. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Duration:<I> (Degree of success) <f"symbol"><\#180><f$> ten minutes 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Additional Disturbance:<I> the Degree of Success, <I>after<I> the user
  returns to human form. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Variations 
  @TEXT:As noted elsewhere, some historical Benandanti described their transformations as
  spiritual, not physical. To represent this, add the <I>Projected Were-form<I> limitation
  (p. 00) at the -25% level to the package described on p. 00. 
  @TEXT:Most such bands which claimed a spiritual transformation also had gender-linked
  abilities for their members. While men were capable of the wolf form, women were
  dreamwalkers. In such a case, female Benandanti could be quantified either with Astral
  Projection, or with the Path of Dreams from <BI>GURPS Voodoo<$> (p. VO74-74). Note that
  dreamwalkers who use Astral Projection may also possess True Astral wereforms (see box,
  p. 00). 
  @TEXT:Finally, modify or remove the Duty, Enemy and External trigger value as needed for
  campaigns that do not use a medieval European setting or some facsimile thereof. 
  @D-HEAD:Benandanti Characters 
  @TEXT:Benandanti characters work best in campaigns with a point total of at least 150 and
  preferably more. At the lower end, a basic Benandante will probably be a typical medieval
  villager, other than for his gift <\#208> one or two attributes raised slightly, a small
  range of skills at good levels, including one profession at a somewhat higher level
  <\#208> competent, but not exceptional, even in were-form. Campaigns with higher point
  budgets will allow more flexibility and more impressive performance, but may tend to
  crowd non-Benandanti out of the picture unless equally exotic options are available for
  other character types. 
  @TEXT:Remember, too, that Benandanti are undercover special agents for a force that
  transcends mortal authority. In almost all cases they will be productive and outgoing
  members of whatever society into which the GM sees fit to insert them, often model
  citizens; whether their role as supernatural protectors is known to their neighbors
  depends on the setting as well. 
  @TEXT:Whether publicly-known or not, Benandanti in more modern or future settings will
  tend toward professions in which they protect and serve others <\#208> police, military,
  medical (particularly paramedics and other emergency personnel), even security guards and
  private investigators. In less sophisticated game worlds, they are more likely to be
  farmers, blacksmiths, and other occupations that do not take them on the road; they
  prefer to stay in the communities where they grew up and where they know all their
  neighbors. 
  @TEXT:This assumes the Benandanti in question are aware of their heritage. If they are
  not, they can be in almost any trade, and may not discover their ability to change until
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  time of great stress or during exposure to great evil. In a campaign with sufficient
  points and a compatible background, the Benandanti shapeshifting talent would make an
  excellent Secret Advantage (p. CI16). 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Carlo Ravelli . . . . 150 points 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Blacksmith and Benandante 
  @TEXT-BOX:Age 29; 5'9"; 170 lbs.; a homely fellow with a ready grin, curly black hair,
  brown eyes and an olive complexion. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 14 [45]; <B>DX<B> 11 [10]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [0]; HT 12 [20] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.75; Move 5. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 5; Parry 8. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 1d-1; <I>Kick:<I> 1d+1; <I>Thrust<I> 1d;
  <I>Swing<I> 2d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Animal Empathy [5] (Reaction: +2/+4); Benandante were-form
  [65] (External Trigger: Quarterly call to arms, only to were-form, occasional, not
  exclusive: -50%); Reputation: Benandante, among other Benandanti +2 [1] (Reaction: +1;
  Recognized by: Small class, <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/3; Frequency of Recognition:
  Sometimes (10-), <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2); Reputation: Benandante, in home village +2
  [3] (Reaction: +2; Recognized by: Small class, <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/3); Unusual
  Background: Born with a caul [5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Appearance (Unattractive) [-5] (Reaction: -1);
  Bloodlust [-10]; Compulsive Generosity [-5]; Enemy: Inquisition [0] (Roll: 6 or less,
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2; Included in Benandante package); Pacifism (Cannot Harm
  Innocents) [-10]; Post-Combat Shakes [-5]; Sense of Duty: Villagers and nearby farmers
  [-5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Careful; Congenial; Prays before every meal; Quietly proud of
  his smithcraft; Speaks slowly and carefully. [-5] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Animal Handling-12 [1]; Area Knowledge: Home Village-12 [4];
  Area Knowledge: Local Countryside-12 [4]; Axe/Mace-12 [4] (Parry: 6); Blacksmith/TL4-14
  [10]; Brawling-12 [2] (Parry: 8); Hidden Lore (Benandanti)-12 [6]; Intimidation-10 [1];
  Iron Whip-11 [0] (Parry: 5; Included in Benandante package); Leadership-12 [5];
  Lifting-11 [1/2]; Packing-11 [1/2]; Swimming-10 [1/2]; Teamster-13 [1]; Veterinary/TL4-11
  [1/2]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> Italian (native)-11 [1]; 
  @TEXT-BOX:Carlo Ravelli is an accomplished blacksmith living in a small village in the
  north of Italy during the late 17th century. He is also a Benandante <\#208> a werewolf
  appointed by the forces of heaven to protect the crops and lives of the peasants in his
  area from the depredations of the forces of Hell. In this alternate, secret-magic Earth,
  those forces are very real, and so is Carlo's ability to transform into a 6'6" wolf-human
  hybrid. 
  @TEXT-BOX:For nine years, Carlo has been a member of a small band of Benandanti based in
  his village. Numbering seven all told, it formerly numbered eight, but in the last winter
  raid upon the gates of Hell, the band's last nominal leader was killed by one of the
  cursed <I>stregoni<I>. Forced by circumstances to rally his band in the midst of the
  combat, Carlo has since found himself stuck with the job of leader by the general
  acclimation of his fellows. Even though he is unsure he wants the job, he has learned
  quickly and well, and none of the other Benandanti in the group has had any complaints
  about his performance. Of course, he rarely has to do <I>anything<I>, but that suits the
  others just fine. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Carlo has a slow and careful way with words that sometimes deceives strangers
  into thinking he's dull-witted <\#208> an opinion often reinforced by his willingness to
  give his last lira to a friend or neighbor in need. While not the most skilled of
  blacksmiths, he still turns out quality work in which he takes a quiet, private pleasure.
  He is a widower, having lost his young wife to smallpox several years back. Despite his
  homeliness, several young ladies in the village would eagerly become his second wife, but
  he still mourns and shuns any suggestion he should remarry. 
  (((END BOX))) 
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  @B-HEAD:Bionitech F2-ATV Biodroid 
  @TEXT:New for this season! The F2-ATV Biodroid is the go-anywhere, do-anything accessory
  of the year! Sleek styling and classic fur patterning combine with Bionitech's patented
  Multi-Form<\#170> technology to produce a delightful accessory-pet that is both
  sophisticated <I>and<I> rugged. Equally at home in the drawing room and on a mountain
  trail, the F2-ATV is the premiere biomorphic companion/vehicle on the market today! 
  @TEXT:<\#208> Fall 2157 Bionitech (LLC) Advertising Flyer 
  @TEXT:In one distant future, technology has advanced extraordinarily far in both the
  materials and biological sciences, until an unexpected common ground was found between
  them. This surprising synergy revolutionalized dozens of fields, not the least of which
  were robotics and transportation. 
  @TEXT:The Bionitech Corporation is the premiere commercial organiation exploiting these
  discoveries; the introduction of its first "biodroid" made the company an overnight
  success. It was the first manufacturer to successfully merge inorganic and organic
  technologies into a seamless, shapechanging whole. 
  @TEXT:Its most recent release is the high-end F2-ATV <\#208> an off-road sport/utility
  vehicle which is also a handsome and charming pet suitable for almost any household.
  Described in the sales brochures as "attractively bimorphic," the F2-ATV spends its "down
  time" in a form that is constructed from a combination of the most attractive features of
  both cats and ferrets. Low-maintenance and "conveniently pre-housebroken," the F2's
  bioform is safe around children and furniture, is easy to train, and is extremely loyal
  and affectionate. 
  @TEXT:If that were all there were to the F2-ATV, though, it would be far from a
  top-of-the-line bio-engineered product. What sets the F2 apart from any number of other
  chimeric and cloned pets is its ability to turn into a full-featured off-road vehicle.
  The F2's SUV form is a far cry from the 4<f"symbol"><\#180><f$>4s of the 20th Century,
  though. Its smooth organic lines emphasize its flexible segmented chassis. Combine that
  with its four independent axles, eight wheels and a top-of-the-line gyrobalance system,
  and the F2-ATV is clearly a vehicle designed for the rough-and-tumble requirements of the
  true outdoorsman. 
  ((( START BOX ))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Campaign Roles 
  @TEXT-BOX:A good example of the weremachine, the F2-ATV is, by design, something of a
  cross between a tool and a Dependent. The intended effect is Lassie incarnated as a Jeep. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Most of the time, the F2 will be an NPC, run by the GM. Such a character will
  of a necessity be relegated <\#028> <I>usually<I> <\#208> to a support role. Fortunately,
  this is not the sole case. An F2-ATV, like any other character, earns character points,
  and can improve itself thereby. The "apocryphal" stories of independent-minded F2s are
  not urban legends, but accounts of those vehicles which were able to buy off their Slave
  Mentality disadvantages and which chose to remain loyal to kind owners. Such a character,
  particularly among open-minded compatriots, could become a very valuable member of an
  adventuring party. 
  @TEXT-BOX:On the other end of the spectrum, it is possible for an F2-ATV to "go bad." As
  a result of any number of traumas and stresses, an F2 could acquire mental disadvantages
  that would effectively break its Slave Mentality and let it go "rogue". (The GM is
  directed to the films "Christine" and "Duel" for inspiration here.) The result can be an
  unpredictable "bug hunt" adventure, spent chasing a shapeshifting SUV across every type
  of inconvenient terrain the GM desires. 
  @TEXT-BOX:A variant on this adventure seed would be to present an ostensibly "rogue"
  F2-ATV, seemingly attacking people at random in its vehicle form; but if the PCs take the
  time to determine just what drove it rogue, they will find the murder of a beloved owner
  or some other injustice that it feels it needs to redress in its own limited way. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Possibly more interesting (and unexpected) would be the inverse of this
  situation <\#208> an F2-ATV continuously in the background of the apparent main action,
  acting in all ways normal and seemingly on innocent business, but which turns out to be a
  rogue of unusual intelligence and subtlety. By maintaining the appearance of its usual
  routine, it hides a secret that may be the key to the matter at hand <\#208> or to an
  intriguing subplot. 
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  ((( END BOX ))) 
  @C-HEAD:F2-ATV Biodroid (TL10) . . . . 179 points 
  @C-HEAD:Base (Pet) Form 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> ST -6 [-50]; DX +4 [45]; IQ 7 [-30]; HT +3 [+30]; Reduced
  Hit Points -8 [-40]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$>Acute Hearing +4 [8]; Acute Taste/Smell +4 [8]; Alertness
  +5 [25]; Catfall [10]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Decreased Life Support [10]; Discriminatory
  Smell [15]; Early Maturation <f"symbol"><\#180><f$> 2 [10]; Enhanced Move
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$> 1/2 [5]; Faz Sense (3-hex range, -20%) [8]; Four Legs [5]; Night
  Vision [10]; Perfect Balance [5]; Sharp Teeth [5]; Ultrahearing [5]; Were-form (Vehicle;
  Absorptive Change to base form, Light Encumbrance, +10%; Exclusive External Trigger:
  Owner Request, -45%) [294]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Attentive [-1]; Bestial [-10]; Dull [-1]; Horizontal
  [-10]; Inconvenient Size [-15]; Innumerate [-10]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30];
  Nosy [-1]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Short Arms [-10]; Short Lifespan
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$> 6 [-60]; Sleepy (50%) [-10]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property)
  [-10]; Staid [-1]; Sterile [-3]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Racial Quirk:<$> Extremely Loyal to Owner [-1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Jumping at DX [1]; Stealth at DX+2 [8]. 
  @C-HEAD:Vehicle Form (TL10) . . . . 421 points 
  @TEXT:(PPT: +571, NPT: -188) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> ST 600 [50 plus Model Package]; DX 13 [-15]; IQ 8 [10]; HT
  12 [-10]; Extra Hit Points +300 [40 plus Model Package]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Remove Catfall [-10]; Enhanced Move <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>
  1/2 [-5]; Faz Sense [-8]; Four Legs [-5]; Sharp Teeth [-5]. Add F2-ATV Off-Road Robot
  Model Package [402]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Remove Bestial [+10]; Inconvenient Size [+15]; No Fine
  Manipulators [+30]; Short Arms [+10]. Add Inconvenient Size [-10]; No Manipulators [-50];
  Slave Mentality [-40]; Unhealing [-30]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Driving (Self) AT DX+1 [4]. 
  @D-HEAD:F2-ATV Off-Road Robot Model Package . . . . 402 points 
  @TEXT:<I>Brain:<$> Normal cyborg brain (small bioengineered animal, .33 lbs., .01 cf,
  $12,500, 80 points); companion brain is standard with sentient and +2 DX booster options
  (10 lbs., 0.2 cf, $33,750, 0 points with cyborg), Complexity 5. 
  @TEXT:<I>Sensors:<$> Basic sensors with radar imaging/1 (1 lb., .02 cf., $3150, LR6, 50
  points). 
  @TEXT:<I>Communicator:<$> Basic communicator (.25 lb., 0.005 cf., LR6, $125, 15 points). 
  @TEXT:<I>Drivetrain:<$> Wheeled drivetrain with 15 KW motive power (52.5 lbs., 1.05 cf,
  $1050, 15 KW). 
  @TEXT:<I>Accessories:<$> Gyrobalance ($1250, 15 points); Inertial Navigation System (10
  lbs., 0.2 cf, $12,500, 5 points); Spotlight (2.5 lbs., 0.05 cf, $25). 
  @TEXT:<I>Power:<$> Power requirement 15 KW. One TL10 hydrogen fuel cell with 15 KW output
  (100 lbs., 2 cf., $500). Five-gallon self-sealing fuel tank gives an endurance of 22.22
  hours (0 points). 
  @TEXT:<I>Subassemblies:<$> Eight wheels. 
  @TEXT:<I>Body Design:<$> Body houses all components except wheels, including eight
  exposed normal passenger seats (320 lbs., 160 cf, $800) and a 10 cf trunk. 
  @TEXT:<I>Wheel Design:<$> Eight wheels (3.4705 cf). 
  @TEXT:<I>Surface Area:<$> Body 200, wheels 14. 
  @TEXT:<I>Structure:<$> Standard medium, biomechanical and flexible, 642 lbs., $160,500. 
  @TEXT:<I>Hit Points:<$> Body 300, wheels 5 each. 
  @TEXT:<I>Armor:<$> DR 3 ablative (7.704 lbs., $61.63, LR 6, PD 2, 58 points). Waterproof
  ($428). 
  @TEXT:<I>Other:<$> Safety interlock prevents transformation back to pet form if a living
  creature greater than 1 lb. in weight is in any of the seats. Option packages available. 
  @TEXT:<I>Statistics:<$> 1,653.78 lbs. (2,651.73 lbs. with eight passengers and full
  trunk), 177 cf (22' long), MSRP: $226,840.13. Body ST 600 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%)
  (276 points); DX 13 (30 points); IQ 8 {-15 points); HT 12/300 (1460 points). Ground
  speed: empty: 34.07 (71.75 mph); loaded: 26.9 (56.65 mph) (35 points). Floats. Legality
  Class 6. Model Point Cost: 402 points. (Model point cost divided by 5 for completely
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  nonhuman appearance per p. RO50.) 
  @TEXT:While some potential buyers may feel that its near-quarter-million-dollar price tag
  is unnecessarily exorbitant, Bionitech hurries to disagree. The company is quick to point
  out that the price of a comparable high-end off-road vehicle from a manufacturer such
  Land Rover or BMW-Rolls can match or exceed that of the F2-ATV yet still lack the unique
  dual nature that makes the F2-ATV so distinctive. 
  @C-HEAD:Personality 
  @TEXT:The F2 is designed to be as much a companion as transportation, and to that end,
  the model has been engineered to be as compatible with humans as possible. They are
  affectionate and gregarious, and while they demonstrate a cat's independence and ability
  to care for itself, they have none of the typical feline aloofness. Furthermore, they
  have been known to "imprint" or "bond" with their owners, demonstrating an almost canine
  loyalty that has surprised their designers. Playful and frolicksome in pet form, the F2
  is all business when it turns into a vehicle <\#208> those that aren't never make it out
  of the manufactory. 
  @TEXT:It is known that individual vehicles often develop widely divergent personalities.
  While much of this can be attributed to the random factors involved in the use of an
  organic brain, clearly just as much comes from the "life experience" of the vehicle. And
  of course, the effects of environment and experience do much to shape the vehicles'
  "minds." 
  @TEXT:Nowhere is this last more pronounced than in the case of gender identification.
  Although technically neuter, F2s often acquire an ersatz gender identity, if only by
  association from the terms of address used by their owners. Since the majority of owners
  tend to refer to their vehicles as "she," most F2s view themselves as female. Oddly
  enough, despite the lack of any biochemical cues one way or another, signficant and
  consistent <\#208> some say stereotypical <\#208> behavioral differences emerge, with
  "females," "males," and the few who retain a neuter identity all developing radically
  different styles of interaction with their owners and other F2s. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Names 
  @TEXT:F2-ATVs are almost always named by their owners; the kind of person who
  <I>wouldn't<I> name at least the pet form would not buy this product. As F2s have no
  "native" culture of their own, there is precious little consistency among their naming
  save that imposed by the demographics of their owners. Their names can range from the
  distressingly cute to the bluntly macho to the coyly pretentious, depending on the social
  status of the owner and the primary use to which the vehicle is put. The listing of
  entrants in a cat or dog show <\#208> both full names and nicknames <\#208> can be a
  useful resource for naming one or a flock of F2-ATVs. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Performance 
  @TEXT:Bionitech understands the special bond between pet and owner, and with this in mind
  (according to their literature) has avoided so-called "planned obsolescence" in the
  design of the F2-ATV. Using as their base the "natural" lifespan of the bio-engineered
  cat-ferret hybrid that makes up the "pet" form of the vehicle, Bionitech engineers
  created a vehicle design that, with regular care and maintenance, should provide
  exceptional service for at least 15 years. Owners are warned, though, that once the pet
  form reaches the end of its lifespan, the vehicle will cease to be operational. This is
  an unfortunate consequence of the F2-ATV's dual nature; despite the apparent mechanical
  construction of the vehicle form, it is in all regards as "alive" as the pet form, and
  despite the great difference in appeance and abilities, it is <I>not<I> a separate entity
  distinct from the "pet." It is, as the corporation's bioengineering department says,
  simply a different expression of the same potentials. 
  @TEXT:And, as Bionitech so aptly demonstrates, that expression can be controlled. The
  F2-ATV <\#208> as delivered <\#208> has no ability to shift from one form to the other on
  its own initiative <\#208> it can only do so at the request of its owner. That owner is
  the individual or individuals to whom the "pet" form has bonded, and to whom it displays
  loyalty. The pet can split its loyalty between at most two persons, facilitating both
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  joint ownership and resale. In the latter case, while "command rights" are immediately
  transferred to the new owner, the actual bond of loyalty takes several weeks to shift
  <\#208> an unavoidable consequence of using an organic brain as part of the system. 
  @TEXT:Another control built into the vehicle is a safety interlock that prevents a
  transformation to pet form while living creatures (greater than 1 pound in weight) are in
  any of the seats. The F2-ATV "takes along" any cargo it is carrying with its vehicle form
  whenever it assumes pet shape, obviating the need to unpack the trunk just to deactivate
  the vehicle. While in theory this "storage" should have no detrimental effects on living
  beings, and the safety of nonliving objects has been clearly demonstrated, prudence (and
  the Bionitech legal department) suggested the necessity of a safety interlock to prevent
  unfortunate and unforeseen accidents. 
  @TEXT:Of course, with any vehicle as revolutionary as the F2-ATV, there are bound to be
  rumors, stories and even urban legends circulating about it. Apocryphal tales tell of F2s
  with near-human intelligence and the ability to transform at will; that have retained a
  doglike devotion to their original owners despite being sold or traded away; of
  individuals in the <I>trunk<I> of a vehicle during a shift.<!s>.<!s>. and what happened
  to them. Bionitech takes no stand on such tales except to discount them as unfounded
  stories unworthy of serious consideration. However, privately, certain engineers within
  the corporation's design division are concerned about those such incidents which are
  well-documented; others express delight at the creation exceeding the creator's intent. 
  ((( START BOX ))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Settings 
  @TEXT-BOX:In the form described here, the F2-ATV can be found in any setting that
  supports both engineering and biotechnology at TL10. As the sample character below shows,
  it's a perfect adjunct to a colony or other "primitive" settlement on a distant world; it
  can also be a rich man's toy in more "civilized" milieux. The GM who feels that TL10 is
  not advanced enough for such a "technomagical" device should feel free to raise the
  minimum tech level needed before the F2 can be created; however, it will require redesign
  so that it properly reflects its new native TL. And of course, the F2 can always be the
  product of Weird Science at virtually any tech level above 6 (5, if the GM is twisted
  enough to set a self-willed steam engine loose upon his world). 
  @TEXT-BOX:Similarly, the inverse corollary to Clarke's Third Law (sufficiently advanced
  magic is indistinguishable from technology) can apply here: a vehicle like the F2-ATV can
  be the product of concentrated long-term effort by a large circle of enchanters <\#208>
  or one of their backfires. Or it can be the result of a single warped genius with a
  sufficient grasp of Weird Magic. In either case, it is far more likely to be a unique
  artifact rather than a mass-produced item, making it all the more valuable and more
  likely to be a McGuffin than a simple piece of equipment <\#208> assuming it's not a
  character in its own right. 
  ((( END BOX ))) 
  @C-HEAD:F2-ATV Characters 
  @TEXT:As noted elsewhere, a "stock" F2 is probably best employed in the "native bearer"
  role, especially if the campaign starting point total is below 150. With higher starting
  points, and a suitably cinematic mindset, there is no reason an F2 can't be a full member
  of an adventuring party in its own right. (Whether or not this is actually <I>known<I> by
  the other members of the party is up to the GM and player; a "secret" PC can be fun to
  play.<!s>.<!s>.) 
  @TEXT:At a starting total of 150 points, it would be hard to play an F2, but not
  impossible. An older vehicle near the end of its life, one in need of minor repairs, or
  possessing unusual personality quirks, could work at this level. A 175-point budget would
  be more workable, but the F2-ATV character really comes into its own at 200 points and
  higher. Here the character can buy off Slave Mentality at creation and still have the
  points for a wide variety of expanded abilities. (If well-treated, though, most such F2s
  will take a Sense of Duty to their owner and his family in place of the Slave Mentality.)
  It is even possible for an F2 to buy off the Bestial disadvantage, although this is a
  rarity; it represents a radical change in the "wiring" of the organic brain and the GM
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  may feel free to disallow it without sufficient in-game explanation. 
  @TEXT:Despite the Bestial disadvantage, F2-ATVs can buy all manner of skills; many simply
  cannot be used while in pet form. It is not uncommon for professionals who own an F2 to
  teach it something of their field so that it can act as an informal assistant. F2s have
  also demonstrated the ability to pick up skills entirely on their own. (Some of the more
  obscure or difficult skills, or those far divorced from its basic nature, may require an
  Unusual Background cost. As always, such determinations are up to the GM.) 
  ((( START BOX ))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Rockhound . . . . 200 points 
  @TEXT-BOX:Independent F2-ATV, 6 years old, 22 feet long, 1654 lbs., cream-colored in both
  forms. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 4 [0]; <B>DX<B> 14 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [30]; HT 13/5 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.75; Move 6. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 6. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 0d; <I>Kick:<I> 0d; <I>Thrust<I> 0d; <I>Swing<I>
  0d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Bought off Slave Mentality [+40]. F2-ATV Racial package
  [179]; Reputation +1 (Among colonists as heroic, trustworthy near-person, all the time)
  [5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Brontophobia (Mild) [-10]; Combat Paralysis [-15];
  Sense of Duty to {owner} and family [-5]; Sense of duty to colonial survey team [-5];
  Stubbornness [-5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Chatty while in vehicle form; Fiercely protective of "her
  people"; Can't get enough of the local "tikka" fruit; Vaguely uncomfortable with the
  Bestial aspect of her pet form; Hides the fact that she has the Change Control skill.
  [-5] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Area Knowledge (Colony Settlement)-12 [4]; Area Knowledge
  (Surrounding terrain)-13 [4]; Change Control-10 [4]; Geology/TL10-9 [2]; Planetology
  (Earthlike)-9 [1]; Prospecting-10 [2]; Savoir-Faire (Colony)-10 [1]; Surveying/TL10-9
  [1]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:"Rockhound" is an F2-ATV technically owned by Dr. Clothilde Pollotta,
  geologist, planetologist and surveyor currently settled in the new colony on Kessler's
  World, an earthlike (though geologically active) planet with great potential mineral
  wealth. As the leader of the colony's survey and exploration team, Dr. Pollotta (and by
  extension her family) was granted effective ownership rights to one of three F2-ATVs
  assigned to the settlement. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Actual ownership rights vanished quickly. In the rough-and-tumble early years
  of the colony, colonists gained experience and expertise quickly <\#208> and so did their
  F2s. Named "Rockhound" by Clothilde's then-12-year-old daughter Emily, this particular F2
  demonstrated unusual intelligence and an eagerness to serve. 
  @TEXT-BOX:But it was only when an unexpected natural gas blowout during a survey left
  most of the team injured and forced Rockhound to rescue them on her own initiative that
  the F2 shattered the artificial bonds on its personality and will. Tossing aside the
  remains of her Slave Mentality, Rockhound pushed herself far beyond her operational
  limits and discovered that she could draw upon aspects of one form while in another. By
  blending features from both pet and vehicle forms, she was able to bring the team to
  safety as she radioed the colony for help. Although the incident left her with a mild
  fear of loud noises, the respect and praise she received in its wake has only helped
  solidify her new personality into its current helpful, energetic form. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Since then, Rockhound has surprised Clothilde by being an enthusiastic (if not
  always stellar) student in the fields in which she finds herself most commonly employed.
  She has learned quite a bit from accompanying Dr. Pollotta on surveys and exploration
  runs, and once Clothilde discovered this, she decided to tutor Rockhound directly to turn
  her into a more useful asset. While Rockhound in no way is capable of acting as a
  professional in her own right, she knows enough be an able assistant. Furthermore, her
  independence and high intelligence allow her to run errands and perform chores that the
  other F2s in the colony are as yet incapable of handling on their own. 
  @TEXT-BOX:So far, no one has really noticed that Rockhound has broken free of her Slave
  Mentality, and it's arguable whether at this time anyone in the colony would care if they
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  knew. She is known and trusted throughout the colony, and in fact is appreciated all the
  more for her initiative and common sense. 
  @TEXT-BOX:GMs please note that Rockhound is built on the assumption that all action takes
  place on Kessler's World. If for any reason the action leaves the colony planet, her
  point value will drop as her Reputation base will change from "Everyone in the campaign
  setting" to "Small group." 
  ((( END BOX ))) 
  @B-HEAD:Bioprobes 
  @TEXT:<I><B>NASA Communications Transcript, Ceres I Asteroid Belt Mission, 28 June
  2036:<B> 
  @TEXT:<B>Ceres:<B> Say, Houston, we got an anomaly on the infrared. 
  @TEXT:<B>Capcom:<B> Say again, Ceres? 
  @TEXT:<B>Ceres:<B> Houston, we've got a hot spot on the dark side of this rock. Scope
  says the damn' thing is almost a hundred degrees C. 
  @TEXT:<B>Capcom:<B> We copy, Ceres. You are authorized to investigate. 
  @TEXT:<B>Ceres:<B> Roger that, Capcom. Firing maneuvering thrusters and turning on the
  headlights. ETA 20 seconds. 
  @TEXT:<B>Capcom:<B> Acknowledged, Ceres. 
  @TEXT:<B>Ceres:<B> What the [expletive deleted]? Look at that! 
  @TEXT:<B>Ceres:<B> Houston? You're not going to believe this. There's something
  <B>eating<B> the asteroid. 
  @TEXT:<B>Capcom:<B> Say again, Ceres? 
  @TEXT:<B>Ceres:<B> There's something on the asteroid, Houston, and it's alive...<I> 
  @TEXT:The first of their kind sppeared on the hubward edge of settled space no more than
  70 standard years ago. Since then, their numbers have grown in periodic bursts. 
  @TEXT:With rare exceptions, they do not communicate with anything other than their own
  kind. Face-to-face diplomatic efforts are ignored, or worse, "harvested." Attempts at
  telepathic contact invariably fail, running into a blank, black wall of psionic vacuum.
  And while it's clear that they are intelligent, after a fashion, it's not at all certain
  that they <I>think<I> in any way recognizable to us. 
  @TEXT:They arrive singly and depart en masse, consuming voluminous resources in the
  process <\#208> resources that start with asteroids and sometimes extend to unlucky
  spaceships, orbital colonies and their occupants, as well as the occasional remote
  settler <\#208> resources that some have chosen to defend, to their detriment. The mere
  arrival of one in a system is justification for a military deployment on a scale
  sufficient to repel an interplanetary invasion. They are hated, feared, dissected,
  studied. 
  @TEXT:They have no name of their own that galactic civilization is aware of. Spacers call
  them "asteroid termites," "star moles," and "those damned things." Colonists have called
  them "wolf-locusts." Certain governments call them "the plague." Biologists call them
  living machines, bioengineered lifeforms designed to live their lives in vacuum and
  microgravity, traveling from star to star. The general public knows them as "bioprobes." 
  @TEXT:They are an unknown civilization's answer to the problem of exploring the galaxy
  <\#208> a civilization that either didn't know or didn't care that there may be others
  already making use of the resources their probe-creatures would covet. They consume the
  flotsam of solar systems and reproduce themselves, swarming in all directions with the
  apparent intent to fill the observable universe. And woe to anyone who tries to stop
  them.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT:If their remote anscestors ever had a single specific homeworld, its
  characteristics cannot be determined from their biology. Between the adaptations that
  suit them for life in deep space and the wild changes individuals can undertake at a
  moment's notice, it is not likely any of their original genotype survives in quantities
  sufficient to plot their world of origin. 
  @C-HEAD:Advantages and Disadvantages 
  @TEXT:There are three distinct varieties of bioprobe, corresponding to the stages in
  their lifecycle and utilizing the optional "once only shifter" rules found in the sidebar
  on p. 00: 
  @D-HEAD:Larval Form . . . . 423 points 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> Enhanced ST 40 [180]; HT +2 [20]; Extra Hit Points +10
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  [50]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Claws [40]; Clinging (Requires 0 G, - 50%) [13]; Collected
  [5]; Damage Resistance +5 [15]; Disease-Resistant [5]; Doesn't Sleep [20]; Flight (Space
  Acceleration 1G, +25%; inertialess) [50]; Mindshare (Hivemind, intelligent drones,
  system-wide, 100-999 drones) [95]; Once-Only Shapeshift plus "placeholder" [33];
  Predefined Once-Only Shapeshift to Factory/Mother form (Only usable in Rover form, -5%)
  plus "placeholder" [10]; Predefined Once-Only Shapeshift to Rover form plus "placeholder"
  [10]; Single-Minded [5]; Six Legs [10]; Tunnel [40]; Unaging [15]; Vacuum Support [40]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Acceleration Weakness [-5]; Bad Grip [-10]; Callous
  [-6]; Centauroid [0]; Clueless [-10]; G-Intolerance [-20]; Hidebound [-5]; Illiteracy
  [-10]; Increased Life Support <f"symbol"><\#180><f$> 4 (vacuum-and-microgravity organism
  with exotic silicon biochemistry) [-40]; Mute [-25]; No Sense of Humor [-10]; Odious
  Racial Habit: Treats Other Sentients as Animals and Raw Materials -3 [-15]; Reclusive
  [-10]; Reputation -4 (Dangerous, unpredictable monsters, known throughout galactic
  civilization, all the time) [-20]; Staid [-1]; Sterile [-3]; Stubbornness [-5]; Weakness:
  Cold, 1d/30 minutes [-10]; Weakness: Free Oxygen, 1d/minute [-40]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Survival (deep space) at IQ+1 [4]; Engineer/TL1 (Mining) at
  IQ+2 [8]. 
  @TEXT:"Pre-adapted" larvae (see p. 00) use the absolute minimum number of points
  necessary to adjust to their birth environment. Any points left over are retained as a
  smaller Once-Only Shapeshift of proportionally lower utility. 
  @D-HEAD:Rover Form . . . . 9 points 
  @TEXT:As larva, but with following changes: 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> Apply -40% "No Fine Manipulators" limitation to ST [-72]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Remove Placeholder for change to Rover form [-1, doesn't
  count against Rover total]; Six Legs [-10]; Tunnel [-40]. Add Damage Resistance +5 [15];
  Doesn't Eat or Drink [10]; Hyperflight [50]; Passive Defense +2 [50]; Super Flight
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$> 2 [40]; 3D Spatial Sense [10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Remove Bad Grip [+10]; Centauroid [0]. Add No
  Manipulators [-50]; Short Arms [-10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Add Astrogation (Hyperflight) at IQ+2 [6]. 
  @TEXT:Like larvae, rovers may be "pre-adapted." 
  @D-HEAD:Factory/Mother Form . . . . 8 points 
  @TEXT:As rover, but with the following changes: 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> Although DX becomes meaningless, points spent on it do not
  change and are not reallocated. Extra Hit Points +20 (Sessile, -75%) [25]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Remove Doesn't Eat or Drink [-10]; Claws [-40]; Flight
  [-40]; Hyperflight [-50]; Placeholder for change to Factory form [-1, doesn't count
  against Factory total]; Super Flight [-40]; 3D Spatial Sense [-10]. Add Damage Resistance
  +15 [45]; Extra Arms (4, +2 hex length, plus +2 hex length on default arms) [160]; Fangs
  [10]; Passive Defense +1 [25]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Remove No Manipulators [+50]; Short Arms [+10]; Sterile
  [+3]. Add No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Sessile [-50]; Terminally Ill [-50]. 
  @TEXT:If the GM allows player character bioprobes, they are always <I>rogues<I> <\#208>
  see p. 00. 
  @D-HEAD:Rogue Larva. . . . 285 points 
  @TEXT:As larva, but with following differences: 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Remove Mindshare [-95] and the Predefined Once-Only
  Shapeshift to Factory/Mother form plus its "placeholder" [-10]. Add Psionic Resistance
  +10 [20]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Add Enemy: Other Bioprobes, 6 or less [-20]; Total
  Amnesia [-25]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Remove Engineer/TL1 (Mining) [-8]. 
  @D-HEAD:Rogue Rover. . . . 284 points 
  @TEXT:As rover, but with following differences: 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Remove Mindshare [-95]; Predefined Once-Only Shapeshift to
  Factory/Mother form plus "placeholder" [-10]. Add Psionic Resistance +10 [20]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Add Enemy: Other Bioprobes, 6 or less [-20]; Total
  Amnesia [-25]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Remove Engineer/TL1 (Mining) [-8]. 
  @TEXT:There have been as yet no known cases of rogue factory/mothers; rogues appear to
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  lose the ability to metamorphose into the final stage of the bioprobe lifecycle. Some
  experts believe that this is because they have been cut off from a theoretical
  "meta-hivemind" that presumably approves and triggers colony formation. 
  @TEXT:Rogues' Psionic Resistance represents the last vestiges of the lost hive mind's
  impenetrability to telepathy. The Enemy is because ordinary bioprobes treat rogues as
  cancerous "cells" to be ruthlessly exterminated. 
  ((START BOX)) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Names 
  @TEXT-BOX:The bioprobes are a race of hiveminds. Individual larvae and rovers have no
  need of personal names, unless they are rogues. Each colony may well have a unique
  personal designation, but as they do not communicate with other species, this is unknown.
  Galactic civilization refers to individual colonies by the name of the system they have
  inftested. What, if any, racial name the entire species of bioprobes calls itself is
  unknown. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Rogues tend to be eclectic and somewhat random in their choices once they
  understand the need for names. "Fred," "Licorice Mauve," "Watering Can," and "Puppy 39"
  are examples of self-selected rogue names. 
  ((END BOX)) 
  @C-HEAD:Pyschology 
  @TEXT:If normal bioprobes have any kind of sophisticated psychology, it isn't apparent to
  any of the trained observers who have attempted to deduce it. That they are indeed some
  variety of hivemind has been determined through a long series of field experiments.
  Direct observation has revealed behaviors that seem indicative of human-level
  intelligence, but experience warns that one sentient's "intelligence" is frequently
  another sentient's "instinct." 
  @TEXT:One thing they certainly possess is a well-defined sense of property and ownership.
  Unlike animals such as the jackdaw and the packrat, which gather collections of shiny
  items, bioprobes are apparently able to enumerate and distinguish between individual
  objects. Evidence suggests they "inventory" the materials they acquire for the
  mother/factory's use, especially if those materials are stockpiled instead of fed
  directly into its consuming maw. They understand theft (at least theft from themselves),
  and will unflaggingly pursue thieves to the best of their ability (which can be
  substantial, since the hivemind allows all bioprobes of a colony to identify the stolen
  items and those who took them). There are accounts of larvae bioprobes attacking
  starships whose owners had managed to recover "scavenged" equipment and remount it. 
  @TEXT:Unfortunately for many asteroid miners and the inhabitants of several O'Neill
  colonies, sentient beings of all kinds <\#208> and their dwellings <\#208> are
  occasionally considered "raw materials." 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  @TEXT:While almost nothing is known about their psychology, the biology of the bioprobes
  is at least partially understood. They are a silicon-based lifeform with a body
  temperature close to 100<\#161> Celsius. Unlike most silicon species, though, their
  bodies are not constructed around the stonelike oxides of silicon, but rather from many
  varieties of silicone polymers. They do possess a rocky outer skin, but it is analagous
  to the armor of an armadillo rather than indicative of their internal structure. The
  combination gives them extraordinary flexibility and speed for a species not based on
  carbon, as well as remarkable durability; they are disturbingly hard to kill. 
  @TEXT:Their physical structure, as one noted researcher has commented, is "mostly coiled
  potential." Although analogies are at best fraught with inaccuracies, the best comparison
  to be made suggests that many, maybe even most, of a bioprobe's cell-like organelles ride
  constantly on a point equivalent to the threshold of cell specialization in a fetus. Any
  given organelle, at the proper electrochemical signal, can immediately specialize as
  needed, becoming connective tissue, bone, new organs <\#208> literally anything that the
  organism needs. Even more importantly, the creature's physical organization on that level
  is such that drastic changes can be implemented in seconds without apparent harm. Several
  universities and biotech firms are studying bioprobes in the hopes of discovering a way
  to reproduce this startling ability in carbon-based creatures. 
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  @TEXT:Secondly, as noted elsewhere, the bioprobes are clearly an <I>engineered<I> race,
  as evidenced by the self-destruct mechanism in the factory/mothers and a concise,
  efficient genetic structure that lacks introns <\#208> the accumulated "garbage code"
  that naturally-evolved species possess in abundance. They were designed to spend their
  entire (rather substantial) lives in vacuum and microgravity <\#208> in their default
  forms, bioprobes die when exposed to anything approaching "normal" (Earthlike)
  conditions: their internal organs collapse under their own weight in a gravitional field
  greater than .1G (their native flight abilities are inertialess and thus do not stress
  their bodies); they burst into flames when exposed to free atmospheric oxygen (a
  consequence of their silicon biochemistry); and they tend to "freeze" to death in any
  environment that allows them to radiate their excess body heat faster than they do in the
  insulation of vacuum. 
  @TEXT:However, because of the race's remarkable adaptability, individuals and groups have
  been encountered who have overcome one or more of these restrictions. Occasionally a
  rover manages to reach a planetary surface by adapting to oxygen and gravity even as it
  undergoes re-entry. Obviously, on many worlds they may not even have to deal with oxygen,
  making survival that much easier. And settlers on May's World have reported encountering
  a colony of bioprobes which had taken up residence in a tropical ocean basin. 
  @D-HEAD:Rogues 
  @TEXT:Occasionally, the bioprobes' adaptability works against them. Some very small
  fraction (biologists estimate approximately 1 in 100,000) of the creatures mutate into
  independent sentient beings. These rogues are normally killed and "recycled" by their
  compatriots, but occasionally one escapes. Those which have survived their initial
  contact with galactic civilization (they tend to be targets of opportunity in many
  locales) have unfortunately been unable to shed any further light on the workings of the
  hivemind; they are always <I>tabulae rasae,<I> devoid of pre-independence memories and
  lacking the ability to tap into the group mind network. 
  @TEXT:Player character bioprobes will always be rogues. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Bioprobes in the Campaign 
  @TEXT-BOX:As written, bioprobes can function as a combination villain/natural hazard. The
  exact proportion between the two is dependant, of course, on the needs of the campaign,
  but the GM can easily tune a colony's personality anywhere between mindless ants and
  malicious monsters. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Although intended for <BI>GURPS Space,<$> with tweaking the bioprobes can be
  used in other settings. Both <BI>Atomic Horror<$> and <I>X-Files<I>-style settings can
  exploit probes which have adapted themselves to planetary surfaces. It's recommended that
  larval Flight abilities be removed to provide a more traditional "ground war against the
  monsters" type of campaign; however, retaining their ability to fly and even leave the
  atmosphere makes for a greater challenge. <BI>Cyberpunk<$> and other SF settings that do
  not normally deal with creatures from outer space would also be good targets for a probe
  infestation; "business as usual" it most certainly will <I>not<I> be. 
  @TEXT-BOX:On a completely different front, little needs to be changed to turn them into
  magical monsters suitable for anything from a standard <BI>Fantasy<$> game through
  <BI>GURPS Mage: The Ascension<I> into <BI>Cthulhupunk.<$> The GM may wish to alter their
  nature and origin <\#208> be it to a previously-unknown Umbral denizen or some variety of
  Elder spawn <\#208> or decline to explain them at all, leaving them shrouded in mystery
  and paranoia. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In any case, GMs planning on using bioprobes as invaders or monsters may want
  to consult <BI>GURPS War Against the Chtorr<$> for useful advice and inspiration. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Lifecycle 
  @TEXT:Being adapted to deep space, bioprobes normally spend their entire life cycle in
  hard vacuum and microgravity. Their usual "habitat," to use the term loosely, is an
  asteroid or protocomet belt (Oort cloud). They show a general preference for rocky
  asteroids, but make frequent use of metallic asteroids as well, which frequently earns
  them the enmity of belters and miners. 
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  @TEXT:Their primary "foodstuffs" are raw silicates and metallic ores. However, they
  appear to require a wide variety of trace compounds, based on the many unusual "harvests"
  that have been reported. Witnesses have seen larvae target and acquire starship and
  habitat parts, depleted radioisotopes, dead powercells, discarded plastics, water
  contaminated with pesticides, fertile topsoil, and any number of organic compounds,
  including meat, blood and even entire animals. 
  @TEXT:There are three basic stages to the life of a bioprobe: 
  @TEXT:<I>Larvae.<I> Bioprobes start their lives as larvae spawned by a factory/mother.
  Larvae are insectoid creatures, vaguely centaur-like in structure, approximately 8 feet
  long and three high when on all sixes. Their front two legs are adapted for cutting and
  crushing, with bioceramic blades hard and sharp enough to slice through light body armor,
  but they also have rudimentary hands with which they can grasp and lift. Additionally,
  they have a vacuum-tight "pouch" capable of holding volumes up to one cubic yard; gasses
  held in the pouch can reach a maximum pressure of 60 PSI. Materials harvested are stored
  in the pouch until they can be returned to the factory/mother, where they are consumed. 
  @TEXT:The larval bioprobe is a combination warrior/worker, capable of both defending the
  colony and gathering its supplies with equal ease. Lightly armored and as strong as five
  men, it can survive both a mine cave-in and small arms fire, and cut its way out of both
  dangers. It also possesses a low-powered pseudo-organic inertialess drive, allowing it to
  travel across an entire solar system in search of the raw materials the colony needs.
  Sometimes these raw materials include samples from gas giants; larvae have been witnessed
  making long, skimming flights through the upper reaches of such planets' atmospheres. 
  @TEXT:In addition to defense and "harvesting," some larvae appear to be information
  gatherers. Dispatched throughout the host solar system, their behavior suggests that they
  are exploring and investigating. Some larvae have been known to orbit planets for weeks
  at a time, and to tag along with intrasystem space traffic. These have been apparently
  entirely passive save for their motive systems, and unlike other larvae prefer to flee
  rather than fight. 
  @TEXT:<I>Rovers.<I> Eventually, the factory/mother reaches what is thought to be a
  saturation point. What triggers this is unknown, but when it happens, the factory ceases
  to create new larvae, and recalls its spawn. All larvae abandon their current tasks and
  return to the mother one last time; exactly why this is done is unknown, as there is no
  contact or exchange between the two. There each one undergoes a transformation into the
  form commonly called a "rover." Rovers are roughly cigar-shaped, and measure about nine
  feet long by three across. They are completely enclosed by a thick, rocky shell. Their
  six legs remain in a vestigal form, with just enough strength to anchor a rover to a
  surface in zero-g. They retain any adaptations they may have undergone while in larval
  form. The primary feature of the rover, however, is its stardrive <\#208> the bioprobe
  rover is one of the few creatures known to be capable of FTL speeds under its own power.
  As far as can be determined, their top speed is twice that of light. 
  @TEXT:Upon their transformation, the rovers all launch into deep space. One rover always
  returns back along the factory/mother's original arrival trajectory. (It is believed that
  this is a report to the probes' unknown creators, but tracing the full route back to them
  has never been attempted.) 
  @TEXT:The rovers have a tropism for starlight, and target a random star in their field of
  view when engaging their interstellar drive. Months or years later, they arrive at their
  destination. If no suitable raw materials are found, or if an existing factory/mother is
  detected, it surveys the system briefly. Then a new star is selected from the field of
  view and the rover continues onward. A rover which was "pre-adapted" by its
  factory/mother will tend to favor its birth environment, but will not reject a "standard"
  habitat outright. 
  @TEXT:This ability to adapt is the common feature of the larva and rover that makes them
  both so dangerous and so successful at their mission. In addition to the form changes
  they undergo as part of their lifecycle, immature bioprobes are able to make drastic and
  dramatic changes to their biochemistry and physical structure in order to respond to
  danger or a hostile environment. They can only do this once before exhausting the
  potential of their ductile forms, but the changes are virtually instantaneous and always
  appropriate to the conditions. 
  (((START BOX))) 
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Bioprobe Player Characters 
  @TEXT-BOX:As noted elsewhere, all PC bioprobes must be rogues. This is mainly because
  there is no such thing as an individual bioprobe when it is connected to the system
  mass-mind, and that mind is going to be far too alien to interact meaningfully with other
  characters. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The biggest challenge facing a bioprobe character is communication. Being both
  mute and resistant to psionic contact makes it hard to interact meaningfully with other
  species. Gesture or Sign Language is an option for larvae, and both larvae and rovers can
  easily use minicomps for text transmissions. Lacking these, some rovers have had to
  resort to slates and chalk. The latter two options, of course, require the PC to buy off
  the species' Illiteracy. 
  @TEXT-BOX:A second challenge is the automatic enmity from "normal" bioprobes that every
  rogue faces. Any time a rogue ventures into territory known to be the home of a bioprobe
  colony, it risks a mass attack. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Assuming a typical <BI>Space<$> campaign, rogue bioprobe PCs would probably be
  best suited as part of the staff of an orbital outpost. Given their relatively slow FTL
  speed, they would not make good additions to a campaign based on any but the slowest
  starship, unless it were feasible to provide the life support mechanisms needed to carry
  them aboard the ship. (This of course assumes that they do not use their adaptive change
  to reduce their life support requirements.) As part of a survey ship, they'd be
  invaluable for their ability to travel quickly through a system under their own power
  while carrying a relatively large load of instrumentation. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In a campaign with relativistic star travel or very slow FTL, a rogue bioprobe
  could become a scout, searching out new systems for the colony ship with which it was
  affiliated. In an interstellar war, they can be spies, scouts and forward observers. And
  how better to approach an invasion plot than with a turncoat on your side? 
  @TEXT-BOX:Even in a setting without starflight like <BI>Terradyne<$> or <BI>Transhuman
  Space<$>, a bioprobe PC is possible. The most likely scenario would make the rogue a
  solitary visitor to an inhabited system unfamiliar with the race. For a GM intrigued by
  the possibilities of an invasion plot, however, the probe PC could be an escapee from an
  in-system infestation like that found in the opening vignette. 
  (((END BOX) 
  @TEXT:<I>Factory/Mother.<I> If a suitable source of raw materials is found, be it in an
  asteroid or protocomet belt around the star, or in another environment (such as a
  planetary surface) to which the rover is already adapted, the cycle begins anew. The
  rover affixes itself firmly to the chosen object, and metamorphoses into a
  factory/mother. This is the final stage in the bioprobe lifecycle, a pseudo-organic
  manufacturing plant capable of churning out larvae as fast as it can be fed the raw
  materials needed to spawn them. It is also the hub of the system-wide bioprobe hivemind. 
  @TEXT:A factory/mother resembles nothing more than a dome of rock some thirty to forty
  feet across, permanently anchored into the substance of an asteroid or protocomet. At one
  end is a circular maw approximately five feet in diameter, lined with sharp teeth on jaws
  that can spiral shut like the iris of a camera. The six legs of the original larva
  reappear as tentacle-like limbs three yards long, spaced equidistantly around the mouth.
  Its stony shell provides armor that is proof against both attackers and the inevitable
  micrometeorites. It also retains any "wild card" adaptations it made in larval or rover
  state, which can conceivably allow it to base itself in otherwise hostile terrains. 
  @TEXT:Approximately 35 hours after transforming, the factory/mother spawns its first
  larva, spending a signficant fraction of its own mass to do so. Once the larva starts
  feeding it, the factory consumes voraciously and produces continuously <\#208> one larva
  every 35 hours for anywhere from one to two and a half standard years. (Larvae spawned by
  a factory/mother adapted to and living in an otherwise hostile environment <\#208> such
  as the aquatic probes on May's World <\#208> are "pre-adapted" for that environment by
  the factory/mother. If the factory/mother is operating in a "standard"
  vacuum/microgravity environment, its larvae receive no "pre-adaption".) 
  @TEXT:At the end of its productive period, the factory/mother issues a recall to its
  spawn as noted above, and begins a shutdown process. When all the larvae have changed to
  rovers and have launched, the factory/mother dies, usually within 2-4 weeks. At the
  moment of death, acid sacs strategically positioned within its body burst, destroying its
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  internal structure. 
  @TEXT:Larvae and rovers are technically neuter; factory/mothers are effectively female. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: "Worthington Blue Vanilla" . . . . 400 points 
  @TEXT-BOX:Age 12; 8'10" long; 700 lbs.; Rogue Bioprobe Rover, a bluish-black rocky
  ellipsoid with metallic highlights. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 44 [2]; <B>DX<B> 12 [20]; <B>IQ<B> 13 [30]; HT 12/22 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.00; Move 6. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 6. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 4d; <I>Kick:<I> n/a; <I>Thrust<I> 4d+2;
  <I>Swing<I> 7d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Extra points in Once-Only Shapeshift plus "placeholder"
  [22]; Literate [10]; Patron (Galactic Survey Service), 6 or less [20]; Rank 4 [20];
  Reputation +1 (Service members, all the time) [2]; Rogue Bioprobe Rover [284]; Status 1
  [free from Rank]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Curious [-10]; Duty to Survey Service, 15 or less
  [-15]; Gullibility [-10]; Sense of Duty to crewmates [-5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Enjoys human literature, particularly late 19th- to early
  20th-century British; Affects 19th-century British "vocal" mannerisms; Aware of his
  Gullibility and is trying hard to learn enough to offset it; Wants to be a writer of
  great, universal literature; Endlessly debates using his Once-Only Shapeshift to adapt to
  normal atmosphere and gravity. [-5] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Area Knowledge (Known Space)-15 [4]; Astrogation
  (Hyperflight)-15 [0]; Brawling-12 [1]; Chess-17 [4, hobby skill]; Computer
  Operation/TL-15 [4]; Electronics Operation (Communications)/TL-15 [6]; Electronics
  Operation (Sensors)/TL-15 [6]; English-13 [2]; Literature-13 [4]; Planetology-14 [4];
  Savoir-Faire (Survey Service)-13 [1]; Writing- 13 [2]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> Galactic Standard-13 [2]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:"Worthy," as his crewmates call "him," is the only rogue bioprobe in the
  Galactic Survey Service, and as such enjoys a certain amount of notoriety among his
  fellow Service members, not to mention a certain degree of latitude from his commanders.
  The Service as a whole clearly appreciates his worth, as it has repeatedly fitted the
  ships on which he has served with quarters and accessways designed for his exclusive use
  <\#208> that is to say, in vacuum with no artificial gravity. Of necessity, he is
  physically isolated from his crewmates, but thanks to a keyboard-equipped com unit
  permanently affixed to his rocky shell he can keep up a steady stream of "conversation"
  from almost anywhere in the ship. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Worthington certainly earns his way in the Service. Being able to flit about a
  system under his own power and without the need for expensive life support means a
  substantial savings in the budget for any ship on which he serves. Able to carry hundreds
  of pounds of equipment, he frequently wears a custom-built scanner unit that feeds
  directly to the ship's main computer, letting him function as the equivalent to a one-man
  scoutship at a tiny fraction of its cost. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Personality-wise, Worthington is still coming to terms with both his own
  independence and the existence of other sentients. He is especially fascinated by humans
  and their literature; Kipling and his contemporaries have caught his imagination to the
  point that his "speech" has picked up many stereotypical British mannerisms from the
  period between the Raj and the First World War. This is not because of any desire to be
  humorous <\#208> Worthington, like virtually all bioprobes, does not understand humor
  <\#208> but because of an inexplicable feeling of kinship with and admiration for the
  British explorers, conquerors and settlers of that period. 
  @TEXT-BOX:His greatest weakness, in Worthington's own opinion, is his lack of experience
  and knowledge about the peoples and cultures of the Galaxy. Combined with his general
  trusting nature, this manifests as a Gullibility that he despises, and which he is
  working to eliminate with a thorough education. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:The Cinematic "Monster" Werewolf 
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  @TEXT:<I><B>Jack:<B> Now, I'm really sorry to be upsetting you, but I have to warn you. 
  @TEXT:<B>David:<B> Warn me? 
  @TEXT:<B>Jack:<B> We were attacked by a werewolf. 
  @TEXT:<B>David:<B> I'm not listening to this! 
  @TEXT:<B>Jack:<B> On the moors, we were attacked by a lycanthrope, a werewolf. I was
  murdered, an unnatural death, and now I walk the earth in limbo until the werewolf's
  curse is lifted. 
  @TEXT:<B>David:<B> Shut up! 
  @TEXT:<B>Jack:<B> The wolf's bloodline must be severed; the last remaining werewolf must
  be destroyed. It's you, David. 
  @TEXT:<\#208> from <B>An American Werewolf in London,<B> 1981<I> 
  @TEXT:As sympathetic as many recent portrayals have been, some weres are still monsters.
  This is one such. Inspired not as much by classic Universal horror films as by more
  recent movies like <I>Wolfen<I> and <I>An American Werewolf in London,<I> this is the
  original Werewolf From Hell: 200-plus pounds of snarling death and infectious curse,
  three or more feet high at the shoulder and splattered with the blood of its innocent
  victims. It would make an excellent villain in a <BI>Horror<$> or <BI>Supers<$> campaign. 
  @TEXT:A were this terrifying should probably not be inflicted upon a PC as a curse unless
  the characters are very tough, or the were-form manifests very seldom (once a month or
  less). The unfortunate soul who suffers from this were-form almost never will be in
  control of it. The -15-point level of Split Personality is the norm, and if the optional
  NPC were-form rule (see sidebar, p. 00) is used, the player will <I>never<I> have any
  control over it. The character will simply black out, then wake up the next morning in a
  cave or a cellar, soaked in someone else's blood. 
  @C-HEAD:The Werewolf From Hell 
  @TEXT:(PPT: +449, NPT: -152, to be adjusted for the character who suffers from this
  were-form before final point cost calculated.) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> <B>ST<B> 14 [0] <B>DX<B> 12 [0] <B>IQ<B> 8 [+45] <B>HT<B>
  15 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Dire Wolf Template (see box, p. 00) [28]. Change Claws to
  40-point level [+25]; Sharp Teeth to Fangs [+5]. Danger Sense [15]; Dark Vision [25];
  High Pain Threshold [10]; Immunity to Poison [15]; Increased Speed <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>
  2 [50]; Magic Resistance +5 [10]; Recovery [10]; Regular Regeneration [25]; Silence +3
  [15]; Vampiric Invulnerability (vulnerable to silver instead of fire) [150]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Appearance: Monstrous [-25]; Bad Temper [-10]; Berserk
  [-15]; Bloodlust [-10]; Compulsive Behavior: Spread terror and bloodshed [-15]; Dread:
  Wolfsbane, 2-hex radius [-6]; Frightens Animals [-5]; Gigantism [-10]; Odious Racial
  Habit: eats humans [-15]; Overconfidence [-10]; Vulnerability: Silver/3 [-30]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Prefers to focus on people and places known to its human form
  [-1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Intimidation at IQ+3 [8]; Jumping at DX [1]; Shadowing at IQ+2
  [6]; Tracking at IQ+2 [6]. 
  ((START BOX)) 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Dire Wolf Template . . . . 28 points 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> ST +4 [45]; DX +2 [20]; IQ -6 [-50]; HT +5 [60]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:PPT: +300; NPT: -272. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In all other ways save size (approximately as big as a Shetland Pony) the dire
  wolf template is identical to the wolf template found in the box on p. 00. 
  ((END BOX)) 
  @D-HEAD:Required and Optional Traits 
  @TEXT:In keeping with the movie traditions, the cinematic werewolf's were-form is limited
  with a Cyclic Change on a Lunar schedule, for a -20% point cost modifier (but see the box
  on p. 00, if it's not being used in a campaign set on Earth). A temporary Cure/Cursebreak
  (p. 00) is commonly found in these weres, and in many cases, the Genetic Trait limitation
  (p. 00) will apply. Those without Genetic Trait will normally have an Infectious Attack
  (-5 points, p. CI97). 
  @TEXT:The Cinematic Werewolf is also a good candidate for the optional "NPC Were-form"
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  rule found in the sidebar on p. 00. At the very least, it will likely have the Compulsive
  Behavior "Morally Opposed" or "Lifewrecker" (p. 00). 
  @D-HEAD:Requirements for the Base Form 
  @TEXT:As noted above, the character who suffers from this were-form should take Split
  Personality at the -15-point level. (Exception: a truly evil person who takes great
  pleasure in the damage he does to other might have complete conscious control over the
  were-form.) The Non-Reciprocal Damage and Reciprocal Rest advantages are highly
  recommended as being particularly in-genre, but they are not mandatory. If the intended
  flavor is more "classic monster movie" than "modern monster movie", do not use
  Non-Reciprocal Damage. And of course, a Secret is always appropriate. 
  @C-HEAD:The Classic Background 
  @TEXT:A good cinematic monster always needs a backstory. Surprisingly, the cinematic
  monster werewolf is just the latest incarnation of a proud tradition stretching back
  hundreds of years. In many cultures, were-creatures are at the best shy and harmless, and
  at the worse no more bloodthirsty than any other natural predator. However, the medieval
  French developed a truly despicable variety of were. Vicious, willfully evil, and
  gleefully cannibalistic, the French <I>loup-garou<I> became the yardstick by which the
  Inquisition measured <I>all<I> the shapeshifter traditions it encountered around the
  world. (See pp. 00-00.) 
  @TEXT:In its translation from folklore to film, the <I>loup-garou<I> became, if anything,
  even more monstrous. All but invulnerable and implacably murderous, it was usually a
  parasitic entity imposed as a curse upon an otherwise good man. Invariably, he who was
  forced to watch as it destroyed everyone and everything he loved, one moonlit night at a
  time. 
  ((( START BOX ))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Cinematic Werewolf in the Campaign 
  @TEXT-BOX:The cinematic werewolf is probably best suited for use as a "monster" to be
  countered and ultimately defeated. Although hunting down and killing such a creature is
  certainly one option, the plot need not be quite so literal. Discovering that the beast's
  alter ego is a clueless innocent may transform the goal from a "bug-hunt" to a mad search
  for the ingredient or ingredients necessary to cure (or at the very least suppress) the
  change. Or perhaps an academic has become convinced that the monster is actually a
  "fossil" lifeform, a dire wolf inexplicably surviving into the modern age, and has
  contracted the party to recover it <I>alive.<I> 
  @TEXT-BOX:While it's likely that a cinematic werewolf is more likely to be a "one-off"
  opponent in most games, one whose human side is in complete accord with the bestial
  nature of his were-form could make for a good recurring villain for a <BI>Horror, Atomic
  Horror,<$> Weird Modern/<I>X-Files</I> or even a <BI>Black Ops<$> campaign. 
  ((( END BOX ))) 
  @TEXT:In keeping with the source material, this were-form usually appears in one of two
  modes. The first is the <I>ancestral curse,<I> identifiable by the Genetic Trait
  limitation (p. 00) applied to the were-form. Some remote ancestor of the character
  offended someone extremely powerful <\#208> so powerful that they planted a small gift
  into the family's genetic code to make their lives miserable for generations to come. The
  second is the <I>infectious werewolf<I>, where the curse spreads like rabies to
  individuals who otherwise would have had no inclination towards shapeshifting. Appearing
  most rarely are those cases which combine the two <\#208> a genetic predisposition that
  requires the bite of an active werewolf to "awaken". 
  @C-HEAD:Psychology 
  @TEXT:The monster werewolf usually has little in the way of psychology above and beyond a
  compulsion to inflict terror and death on everyone it encounters. It almost never shares
  any of its hosts' better qualities (although an evil host may well embrace it and vice
  versa). To the extent that it can think about itself at all, it sees itself as the top of
  the food chain, the rightful predator upon humans. Those who are an inflicted curse,
  especially when they possess the "Lifewrecker" Compulsive Behavior (p. 00), see the base
  form, his friends and his loved ones as toys to play with for their pleasure. 
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  (((START BOX))) 
  @SB-HEAD:Cinematic Monster PCs 
  @TEXT-BOX:In general, it would be a bad idea to allow a player character to suffer from
  this particular curse <\#208> unless, of course, the point of the game is to kill all the
  other members of the party or turn them into werewolves, too. Even so, the resulting game
  might not be to the liking of most players, even with its supernatural overtones. 
  @TEXT-BOX:However, one possibility may be for the GM to conspire with a player to bring
  in an PC afflicted with this were-form <I>unknown to the other players<I>. This would
  work best if the "ringer" is or has been in the game for some time before the character's
  advent. A single adventure or an entire campaign could then flow from the undue attention
  the party members find focused upon themselves in the wake of the were-form's predations
  in their vicinity. Only, as their own investigations begin to bear fruit, they realize
  evidence points to one of their own number.<!s>.<!s>. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  @TEXT:The cinematic werewolf doesn't truly have an ecological role in the world. As an
  unnatural beast, it is imposed upon the existing order without properly being part of it.
  (Certain abilities will reveal this to the observer: Awareness does so automatically, as
  will an Occultism or Weird Magic roll. A suitably open-minded Naturalist might also
  detect something "wrong" about a cinematic werewolf on a roll -4.) 
  @TEXT:That being said, it is first and foremost a predator of awesome power and appetite.
  Even more so than its closest natural counterpart, the now-extinct dire wolf, it is a
  formidable killing machine, and it regards almost every living creature as potential
  prey. Even were it not driven by its bloodthirstiness and antipathy toward life, it would
  be dangerous to encounter; as it is, the creature is absolutely deadly. Furthermore,
  these weres <I>do<I> need to eat, as their massive bodies consume far more energy than
  their hosts are able to provide, and their hunger drives them just as much as their
  inimical intent. 
  @TEXT:Being a creature of magical origins, it does not reproduce in the usual way and
  thus has no mating drive. Those varieties which possess an infectious bite do not
  normally seek victims for the purpose of spreading the infection; this is usually a side
  effect of an unsuccessful attack (i.e., one in which the victim escaped). 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Sample Character: David Henry Heresford . . . . 200 points 
  @TEXT:Male; Age 32; 5'7''; 145 lbs.; blonde and blue-eyed British male whose slightly
  roadworn appearance belies his cultured speech and behavior 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 10 [0]; <B>DX<B> 11 [10]; <B>IQ<B> 13 [30]; HT 12 [20] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.75; Move 6. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 5; Parry 7. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 1d-3; <I>Kick:<I> 1d-1; <I>Thrust<I> 1d-2;
  <I>Swing<I> 1d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Cinematic "Monster" Werewolf [154] (Percent (Temporary
  Cure: Must perform an act of contrition at a Celtic holy site; relapse triggered by lying
  or oathbreaking): -15%; Percent (Cyclic Change, Exclusive, Lunar): -45%); Status 1
  (Lawyer) [5]; Wealth (Comfortable) [10] (Starting Wealth: $10,000). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Enemy: Scotland Yard [-10] (Roll: 6 or less,
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2); Guilt Complex [-5]; Secret (He's a werewolf) [-30]; Split
  Personality [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Cultured and polite in his speech; Determined to prove himself
  innocent of his fiancee's murder; Is developing a loathing for all things Celtic; Tries
  hard not to be an oathbreaker; Twitchy and nervous. [-5] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Acting-12 [1]; Area Knowledge (England)-14 [2]; Bicycling-11
  [1]; Boxing-10 [1] (Parry: 6); Brawling-11 [1] (Parry: 7); Climbing-10 [1]; Detect
  Lies-11 [1]; Escape-8 [1/2]; Fast-Talk-13 [2]; Guns (Pistol)/TL6-14 [2]; Lifting-10 [4];
  Law-15 [8]; Hidden Lore (Celtic curses)-12 [1]; Riding (Horse)-11 [2]; Running (Move:
  6.875)-9 [1/2]; Savoir-Faire-14 [2]; Stealth-11 [2]; Streetwise-12 [1]; Survival (British
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  Countryside)-12 [1]; Swimming-11 [1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> English (native)-13 [0]; French-11 [1/2]; Latin-11 [1/2]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Much to David Henry Heresford's despair, one of his distant ancestors was a
  Saxon thief, an honorless rogue whose oathbreaking and lies offended a powerful Druid.
  The Druid, not one to waste an opportunity, cursed the thief and his descendants to
  become ravening wolfbeasts whenever their truthless nature came to the fore, then had him
  returned, drugged into unconsciousness, to the village of invaders from which he came.
  There, he hoped, one of the Saxons' own would be their undoing. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Centuries later, the thief's descendants had apparently either died out or
  learned their lesson <\#208> until the latest (and only) scion of the clan, David
  Heresford, became a lawyer in 1925. Still, he was a reasonably honest man, and it took
  several years of working civil cases before he found himself tempted to take liberties
  with the truth <\#208> and awoke the ancient curse buried in his genes. 
  @TEXT-BOX:At the next full moon, the beast emerged and ran rampant through London, ending
  its spree by slaying his fiancee, Amelia. Since then David has been on the run from
  Scotland Yard, which wants him for her murder (they believe the marks of the beast's
  attack on her were cleverly faked). For the last two years, he has roamed the length and
  breadth of England evading the police and searching for a permanent cure to his
  "condition". In discovering the misdeeds of his distant, unnamed ancestor, he has also
  found a temporary respite: performing a ritual of contrition at a Celtic holy spot will
  suppress the beast <\#208> but only until he utters his next lie or false oath.
  Unfortunately, given the fugitive life he lives, that's never far away, and the surviving
  holy places are few and far between.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Although David is a 200-point character, most of that is the cost of his
  were-form, which is also responsible (through its actions) for most of his disadvantages.
  Without the were-form, David would not be out of place in a 100-point campaign. The
  were-form possesses the Compulsive Behavior: Lifewrecker disadvantage in addition to the
  others in its package, and delights in destroying utterly anything into which David has
  invested any affection. To minimize its depredations, he tries not to form any ties with
  people or places, and takes care to be in the open countryside at the full moon. 
  @TEXT-BOX:David is designed for a 1920s-30s era <BI>Horror<$> campaign that focuses more
  on individual terrors than Lovecraftian Things From Beyond. With some stretching of the
  setting, he could be usable in a <BI>Cliffhangers<$> game, and almost no changes are
  needed to relocate him to any post-Medieval European setting. It would take some
  alteration to fit him into a game set in any later period, but it <I>is<I> possible
  <\#208> he is almost the prototypical <I>X-Files<I> monster-of-the-week, for example. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Doppelg<\#138>nger 
  @TEXT:<I>Liodan nodded blandly as he apologized and wrenched her cart free from the other
  shopper's, but within she was a quivering mass of nerves. There were too many templates,
  too strong, surrounding her, and her control was fraying rapidly. She should have waited
  until midnight and gone to a convenience store, but her hunger had grown beyond her
  ability to ignore it.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>Stifling her mounting agitation, Liodan waited patiently through the express
  checkout and then wheeled her purchase out to the van. With a studied casualness that
  belied the panic coursing through her veins, she carefully transferred the bags from the
  cart to the back of the vehicle, then climbed in after them. She shut the doors with a
  solid thud.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>Inside, in the dark, she relaxed; the unassuming facade of the blonde suburban
  soccer mom melted away to reveal her true form. As she ripped open a bag of potato chips,
  Liodan gave silent thanks for the van's heavily tinted windows.<I> 
  @TEXT:They call themselves the Tsir'lech, but to those few humans who know of their
  existence, they are known by the names they acquired in myth and legend: Shapestealer.
  Skinwalker. Fetch. 
  @TEXT:Doppelg<\#138>nger. 
  @TEXT:They haunt human society, living among us but not of us. Some are timid, living in
  terror of discovery by humans <\#208> or by something else they fear so greatly that they
  never speak its name. Others are hunters, stalking the humans whose form they mimic and
  devouring their lifeforce at the moment of death. Sister species and interfertile, they
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  are a culture hidden deep beneath the surface of our own. 
  @D-HEAD:Hider Doppelg<\#138>nger . . . . -2 points 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> IQ +2 [20]; HT -1 [-10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Cultural Adaptability [25]; Morph (Only humanoid forms
  -40%, Cannot copy another doppelg<\#138>nger's "natural" form -5%, Template
  Susceptibility -20%) [14]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Broadminded [-1]; Careful [-1]; Combat Paralysis [-15];
  Edgy [-5]; Obsession: Hiding [-15]; Secret: doppelg<\#138>nger [-20]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Acting at IQ+3 [6]. 
  @D-HEAD:Hunter Doppelg<\#138>nger . . . . 22 points 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> ST +1 [10]; IQ +2 [20]; HT -1 [-10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Combat Reflexes [15]; Cultural Adaptability [25]; Morph
  (Only humanoid forms -40%, Cannot copy another doppelg<\#138>nger's "natural" form -5%)
  [22]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Broadminded [-1]; Dependency: Human Death, Weekly
  (Occasional, Illegal) [-30]; Loner [-5]; Obsession: Hiding [-15]; Secret:
  doppelg<\#138>nger [-20]; 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Acting at IQ+2 [4]; Brawling at DX [1]; Shadowing at IQ [2];
  Stealth at DX [2]; Any melee weapon at DX [2]. 
  @C-HEAD:General Description 
  @TEXT:In their rarely-seen "natural" form, doppelg<\#138>ngers are humanoids similar in
  size and build to human beings, except that their skins are uniformly gray and hairless,
  with almost no variation between individuals. Their eyes are large and seem to be a muddy
  hue from a distance; at close range, though, it is clear that their eyes are surprisingly
  beautiful, with irises composed of every color of the rainbow scattered in glittering
  swirls. 
  @TEXT:Their internal structure is sufficiently close to human that most doctors won't
  realize that they are a different species unless they administer an extraordinarily
  thorough examination. Any variety of surgery, x-rays, MRI or other medical scanning will
  reveal small but telling differences almost immediately, although most doctors won't
  realize what they are seeing at first. 
  @C-HEAD:Pyschology 
  @TEXT:Doppelg<\#138>ngers are completely geared, mentally and physically, toward
  camouflage and concealment. Although technically they hide "in plain sight" thanks to
  their morph abilities, mere physical disguise is not enough. They demonstrate a
  remarkable ability to adapt to any human society in which they find themselves. (Possibly
  <I>too<I> remarkable; anywhere they are actively hunted by the people among whom they
  hide, such as in the world of <BI>GURPS Black Ops,<$> such ease of transition between
  cultures is often used as a flag to indicate <\#208> not always successfully, of course
  <\#208> those who might be other than they seem.) 
  @TEXT:Unlike their extraterrestrial counterparts, the Xenomorphs (see p. A126-7),
  doppelg<\#138>ngers don't actually deceive themselves into believing that they are the
  human beings they pretend to be. They are, however, consummate actors. Furthermore, they
  rarely attempt to impersonate specific individuals (although they can do so, when
  necessary). Instead, they become an entirely new person. Although this task has grown
  more and more difficult as time goes on and government (and corporate) records grow
  increasingly comprehensive and detailed, the doppelg<\#138>ngers have coped; it is
  believed that they have made a policy of insinuating themselves into jobs where they can
  falsify the records needed to establish identities. 
  @TEXT:As part of their disguise, doppelg<\#138>ngers take part in almost all aspects of
  human society. They hold jobs, they take hobbies, they socialize to a limited extent.
  They try to amass sufficient wealth and/or power to ensure their own safety and comfort.
  They even date, court and marry <\#208> usually humans and not members of their own
  species <\#208> become parents, and raise children. (Of course, those children will have
  to be adopted if the doppelg<\#138>nger has taken on a male role.<!s>.<!s>.) 
  @TEXT:Beyond this point, though, the psychologies of the two varieties of
  doppelg<\#138>nger diverge. 
  @TEXT:<I>Hider doppelg<\#138>ngers<I> are concerned with preserving their own safety and
  secrecy. They are more likely to throw themselves into relationships and activitives that
  provide them with "protective coloration" while staying away from anything that could
  draw attention specifically to them. Because of cultural and social forces, they have
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  historically taken female roles of middle class or above unless no other choices were
  open to them; up until the last few decades this has given them a reason to be relatively
  reclusive while still appearing a "proper" part of society as a whole. It also allowed
  them to reproduce unquestioned. 
  @TEXT:Central to the Hiders' psychology is the need to remain hidden. This appears to be
  a genetically-encoded imperative, as even doppelg<\#138>ngers raised by humans feel
  compelled to disguise themselves and blend in once they understand their abilities. In
  some individuals, this need is frequently magnified and accompanied by full-blown
  paranoia. In other cases, such as the famous "Human Chameleon" of the 1930s, the
  compulsion becomes an uncontrollable reflex, although usually in a less obvious manner
  than his. 
  @TEXT:Those who do not have a "steady" role, such as a human's spouse, often leap from
  identity to identity every few years. These Hiders more than any others make use of the
  informal network of co-racialists insinuated into record-keeping jobs. 
  @TEXT:Exactly <I>why<I> they feel compelled to hide is unclear. It's certainly not to
  avoid contact with their "cousins," the so-called "Hunter" doppelg<\#138>ngers (see
  below); the Hunters apparently cannot feed off of other doppelg<\#138>ngers, and do not
  seem to have any real antipathy towards the Hiders. Nor does humanity really have any
  (known) history of persecuting them, even in the secret records to which Argus and The
  Company have access in the <BI>Black Ops<$> world. What little has been learned from the
  Hiders themselves is tantalizing but sketchy: <I>Something<I> pursues them, and sometimes
  catches them. Just what, though, Argus has yet to learn. 
  @TEXT:(This unknown pursuer of the Hiders is left to the GM <\#208> and any Hider players
  <\#208> to define. It may be a racial Delusion, or it may be real. If real, however, it
  is powerful and itself hidden from both human and doppelg<\#138>nger sight.) 
  @TEXT:<I>Hunter doppelg<\#138>ngers<I> are predators, plain and simple. Although for the
  most part they subsist on a diet similar to that of humans and Hider Dops, they must
  frequently supplement it with what can only be described as the death energies of human
  (or humanoid) beings (excluding other doppelg<\#138>ngers). Feeding in this manner leaves
  a corpse with psychic "marks" not unlike those found on a victim of a Soul-dog or other
  similar creature, leading some to suspect that the Hunters are actually eating souls. 
  @TEXT:They prefer to kill their prey themselves, but this is not a requirement <\#208>
  several Hunters have been found working in emergency rooms and on ambulance teams. If
  they cannot make use of such opportunities, modern Hunters prefer to kill with weapons,
  especially in urban areas; however, it is believed that in more primitive times they used
  their retractable claws and then disguised their kills as victims of violent animal
  attacks. 
  @TEXT:They are less inclined to be paranoid, although they are equally compulsive about
  hiding themselves. They always know at least one and frequently several melee weapon
  skills, despite the fact that they can easily kill with their claws. They often have a
  wide variety of Thief/Spy skills in addition to their racial Shadowing and Stealth. Most
  will try to vary their kills to avoid easy detection, but in recent times some have taken
  pride in being serial killers, to the point of having Trademarks and other possibly
  self-destructive behaviors. 
  @TEXT:Hunter doppelg<\#138>ngers appear to have no preferences for their apparent gender
  and chosen social class. 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  @TEXT:It is unclear whether doppelg<\#138>ngers are relatives of humanity or not.
  Doppelg<\#138>nger physical structure is very close to the human norm. Their basic diet,
  regardless of subspecies, appears to be if not identical to then at least not
  incompatible with that of humans. They seem to need (or prefer) the same environmental
  conditions as well, which suggests that if they are not related to us, then they and
  humanity evolved under much the same conditions. 
  @TEXT:There are more differences than similarities, though. In particular,
  doppelg<\#138>ngers are all parthenogentic females. They do not need to exchange genetic
  material in order to reproduce, although they will do so as a matter of course when
  encountering another doppelg<\#138>nger in an appropriately private setting. The "mating"
  process of the species is distinctly unlike that of humans, and is somewhat disturbing to
  witness. (A Fright Check is required for non-doppelg<\#138>ngers who stumble upon on one
  in progress.) 
  @TEXT:Gestation is nine months, like humans, and all children are parthenogenetic females
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  like their mother. Single births are the rule; twins and other multiple births are almost
  unheard of. Still, a doppelg<\#138>nger can display remarkable fecundity, and large
  broods are not unknown. (In fact, families with three or more daughters and no sons are
  another indicator The Company uses to detect a suspected Dop.) 
  @TEXT:A doppelg<\#138>nger's children are always born female, in a form matching that
  which the mother is holding at the time of birth. (Few dop children are actually born in
  the race's "natural" form.) They remain "locked" in that shape until puberty, usually
  ignorant of their true nature. Only when their morph abilities unlock does the mother
  inform and instruct them; if the mother has died before then, it is not unheard of for
  the young morphs to continue through their lives ignorant of both their own nature and
  doppelg<\#138>nger society. 
  @C-HEAD:Culture 
  @TEXT:As far as can be determined, doppelg<\#138>ngers have no "native" culture of their
  own. (Whether it dwindled away in the face of their proclivities to hide, or it was
  abandoned, or if it never existed at all is a point of contention among those few
  academics who are aware of them and debate such issues.) Instead, they adopt <\#208>
  necessarily, as part of their roles <\#208> the culture of whatever species or individual
  they are imitating. 
  @TEXT:As mentioned above, they do maintain an informal network among themselves. This is
  more for the aid of those Dops who need documentation to support a new identity than for
  any kind of cultural continuity. If they have any coherent body of history or myth among
  themselves, it is unknown to Argus and other observers. Likewise, most pay at least lip
  service to human religions; if they have a religion of their own, it is even better
  hidden than they are. They retain some fragments of their original language <\#208>
  including their racial name <\#208> but they rarely use it, and only a dozen words in the
  tongue are known to The Company's Science division. 
  @C-HEAD:Politics 
  @TEXT:Doppelg<\#138>ngers mimic human politics along with everything else. If they have
  internal factions beyond the Hunters and the Hiders, they have not been discovered. 
  ((START BOX)) 
  @C-HEAD:Doppelg<\#138>nger Names 
  @TEXT:Although they clearly have their own language, doppelg<\#138>ngers do not take
  names in it. Those born into roles bear the names given them at birth for human society;
  those who jump roles always do so into new human identities, and again take human names. 
  ((END BOX)) 
  @C-HEAD:Doppelg<\#138>ngers in the Campaign 
  @TEXT:Doppelg<\#138>ngers as described here are natives of the world of <BI>GURPS Black
  Ops.<$> There, Argus learned of their existence only ten years ago, at which time it set
  a dedicated Science team to study them thoroughly. The information given in this
  description, plus a binder full of confusing medical data, is the sum total of Argus'
  information on the race. 
  @TEXT:Although some ops lump them in with the vampires and the so-called "werewolves,"
  Argus officially considers them a separate category of creature. Hunter Dops are priority
  targets when they are discovered <\#208> which, unfortunately for the Hunters, is more
  frequently than they believe. Psi-ops with Psychometry or Sense Aura can, if they have
  seen a Hunter victim before or have been shown what to look for, determine if a dead body
  has had its soul eaten by a Hunter (and not, say, a Soul Dog) with a simple touch and a
  skill roll. 
  @TEXT:Hiders are a different story <\#208> informal Argus policy is to observe but not to
  bother them. There are certain concerns that Hunters and Hiders may be the same species
  in two different stages of life, but Argus is more concerned about what the Hiders are
  afraid of. If it's something more than just humanity or one of the various other species
  of which Argus is already aware, if it's something new and nasty, Argus wants to know
  about it <\#208> and as much about it as possible, as soon as possible. 
  @TEXT:As with other shapeshifters, the Science department is intensely interested in the
  mechanisms by which doppelg<\#138>ngers of either stripe perform their changes. However,
  unlike the "werewolves," the secret of whose shapeshifting still eludes them, Science
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  thinks they have something of an idea how the Dops do it. Of course, they need more
  research, and more Dops, to test and refine their theories.<!s>.<!s>. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Other Settings 
  @TEXT-BOX:It goes without saying that doppelg<\#138>ngers fall easily into the "creature"
  slot in any given campaign. Hiders are good in the role of the "monster that isn't,"
  being (usually) shy and inoffensive. Hunters are good for real "monsters," especially in
  campaigns where they would be unexpected. Either variety could spawn an exceptional
  representative suitable as a Patron or Enemy, as well, depending on the party. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Horror:<$> The monster masquerading as human is a classic horror trope.
  Hunter Dops work best for the traditional implementation, leaving Hiders completely out
  of the picture to simplify the good-evil polarization. Then again, the GM may choose to
  use a Hider as a red herring in a complex plot <\#208> clearly a non-human "monster," but
  a timid one innocent of any wrong-doing. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Atomic Horror:<$> Two words: Pod People. Add the "Copies Personality"
  enhancement (p. 00) to their Morph for an effect closer to any number of classic
  B-movies. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Fantasy:<$> Classic fantasy roleplaying games have long included creatures
  which could mimic human and humanoid forms. Both Hunter and Hider doppelg<\#138>ngers
  could be dropped into a <BI>GURPS Fantasy<$> campaign unaltered to provide the same kind
  of experience and challenge. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Illuminati:<$> As noted elsewhere, the doppelg<\#138>ngers can be a
  powerful conspiracy, especially if the other power blocs in the Illuminated world are
  unware of them.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Old West:<$> Hunter doppelg<\#138>ngers can be the maleveolent skinchangers
  of Amerind myth, such as the skinwalkers of whom the Navajo tell tales. These creatures
  could take the form of <I>anything<I> <\#208> up to and including teepees and wigwams.
  Stories are told of warriors who left their possessions in what they thought were their
  own tents, only to find the tent missing upon their return, and all their goods stolen by
  the shapeshifter who had deceived them. While inimical to man, they are not homicidal
  <\#208> except to protect their secret existences. Remove the humanoid limitation on
  Morph, and the dependency on human death. Also, skinwalkers should use the leveled
  version of Morph from <BI>GURPS Supers,<$> (p. SU63) with a Power of at least 15 and
  probably higher. Add "improvised forms" to Morph, and Kleptomania to disadvantages. Add
  the racial quirk "Will kill to protect their secret." Finally, they are carnivores. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Doppelg<\#138>nger Characters 
  @TEXT:As NPCs, doppelg<\#138>ngers can be <I>anyone<$> <\#208> even a character the PCs
  have known for years. And any "ordinary" NPC encounter can operate on two different
  levels with a doppelg<\#138>nger hidden within the character. 
  @TEXT:Players wishing to design a doppelg<\#138>nger PC have several options. The
  simplest is to play a Dop who is ignorant of his heritage, for whatever reason. Early
  death of the doppelg<\#138>nger parent is usually the cause in such cases, but the GM may
  want to develop more interesting (or sinister!) reasons. Such a character may or may not
  be aware of his morph abilities. The Partial Amnesia disadvantage would be a useful tool
  for this kind of character; he's not actually amnesiac, just unaware of certain facts and
  implications about his life. 
  @TEXT:A particularly sneaky GM may turn this around <\#208> and make a PC who has taken
  Partial Amnesia a Doppelg<\#138>nger without the player knowing at all.<!s>.<!s>.
  Similarly, a character with a Secret Disadvantage (see p. CI75) may be a
  Doppelg<\#138>nger <\#208> the secret disadvantage being a combination of the racial cost
  and a complementing Secret. 
  @TEXT:Another option is to conspire with the GM. Doppelg<\#138>ngers will not normally be
  introduced into a campaign without some overarching reason <\#208> being as they are
  almost an entire conspiracy in and of themselves, they likely will be serving some
  long-term plot goal, especially in an otherwise mundane campaign. A Dop character
  designed in conjunction with the GM can operate on both levels <\#208> as a PC, and as
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  part of the vast Doppelg<\#138>nger Conspiracy. Carefully handled and subtly played, the
  Dop character can aid or hinder his companions as needed, and can even impersonate (or
  actually be!) some of the NPCs they encounter. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Sgt. Patricia MacNichol . . . . 100 Points 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Policewoman/Hunter Doppelg<\#138>nger 
  @TEXT:Age 27; 5'7"; 120 lbs.; Usual form: intense-seeming Anglo woman with auburn hair
  and hazel eyes, slender and tightly-strung. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 11 [0] <B>DX<B> 12 [20] <B>IQ<B> 12 [0] <B>HT<B> 10 [10] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.5; Move 5. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 5; Parry 8. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 1d-3; <I>Kick:<I> 1d-1; <I>Thrust<I> 1d-1;
  <I>Swing<I> 1d+1 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Hunter Doppelg<\#138>nger (see text) [22]; Legal
  Enforcement Powers [5]; Patron (Police Department, 9 or less) [10]; Rank/2 (Police
  Sergeant) [10]; Wealth (Comfortable) [-10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Hunter Doppelg<\#138>nger (see text), plus: Cannot Harm
  Innocents [-10]; Duty to Police Department, 12 or less [-10]; Honesty [-10]; No Sense of
  Humor [-10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Turns down desk jobs and promotions that would take her off
  the street; Prefers to feed off the mortally wounded rather than hunt her own prey;
  Resents suggestions by other doppelg<\#138>ngers that she is a "carrion eater"; Honestly
  cares about the people in her precinct; Prefers to work night shifts. [-5] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$>  Acting-14 [racial]; Area Knowledge (City)-14 [4]; Area
  Knowledge (Precinct)-14 [4]; Brawling-12 [racial]; Computer Operation/TL8-13 [2];
  Criminology/TL8-15 [8]; Detect Lies-12 [4]; Driving-12 [2]; Forensics-13 [6]; Gun (.38
  Revolver)-14 [1]; Judo-13 [8]; Knife-12 at DX [racial]; Law-13 [6]; Shadowing-12
  [racial]; Shortsword (Baton)-12 [2]; Stealth-12 [racial]; Streetwise-14 [6]; Tonfa-12
  [4]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> English (native)-12 [0]; 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Maneuvers:<$> Arm Lock (Judo)-15 [1]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Sgt. Patricia MacNichol is a decorated 10-year veteran in the police force of a
  major city some time during the early years of the 21st Century. Dedicated and concerned,
  she is a model police officer who has resisted all attempts to promote or transfer her
  off the street. 
  @TEXT-BOX:She is also a hunter doppelg<\#138>nger who feeds off the dying victims of
  urban violence. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Unlike most of her fellow Hunters, Patricia sees the humans among whom she
  lives as more than just cattle. Still, she is realistic about her own needs. She
  reconciles the two by serving as a street-level police officer, protecting the masses
  while still coming into contact with enough dying humans to feed on as needed without
  having to kill. While this earns her the occasional accusation of "scavenger" and
  "carrion eater" from the other Hunters she has encountered, it allows her to sleep at
  night. If forced by circumstances to hunt, she will exclusively target violent criminals. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Her identity is solidly-anchored and, as far as she is concerned, permanent.
  However, she has no qualms about using her shapeshifting abilities to further her
  investigations <\#208> she is, in effect, the ultimate undercover officer, even if her
  superiors don't know it. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Patricia is a 100-point character designed for any kind of contemporary,
  near-future or recent past campaign, and is suitable for use as a PC. As an NPC, she can
  serve as an Ally, Contact or even a Patron; if the PCs are on the other side of the law,
  she can be a formidable Enemy. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:The Enyyn 
  @TEXT:<I>Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. 
  @TEXT:<\#208>Sergeant Tom Highway (Clint Eastwood), in <B>Heartbreak Ridge<B> (1986)<I> 
  @TEXT:Evolution, when presented with a difficulty which it must overcome, can take two
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  routes: specialization or generalization. Specialization leaves a species uniquely suited
  to overcome the problem at hand. But generalization leaves a species suited to overcome
  <I>anything.<I> 
  @TEXT:The Enyyn are the absolute embodiment of that principle. 
  @TEXT:Their homeworld is Go'h'elaan <\#208> a cold 2 G rockball a bit larger than Earth,
  with a methane/nitrogen atmosphere. It orbits a binary star whose whipsawing
  gravitational fields leave the planet a seething cradle of tidal-spawned volcanic
  activity. The blend of radiations from the mutually-orbiting red giant and white dwarf
  would have rendered any other world sterile, and make the planet's entire atmosphere glow
  with a permanent, world-wide <I>aurora borealis.<I> Sharp upthrust outcroppings of
  igneous rock form much of the landscape, and are constantly battered by violent storms.
  Shallow ocean basins with vast tide plains, filled with ammonia seas, make up the rest of
  the surface. The plants are difficult to distinguish from the rocks, and the animals are
  difficult to distinguish, period. 
  @TEXT:It is stark, beautiful, and deadly. And it is home to a race of peaceful
  philosophers. 
  @D-HEAD:Enyyna . . . . 465 points 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> IQ +3 [30]; DX +2 [20]; HT +4 [45]; Extra Hit Points +4
  [20]; 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Damage Resistance +50 [100]; Doesn't Breathe [20]; Extra
  Flexibility [10]; Immortality [140]; Injury Tolerances (No Brain, No Neck, No Vitals)
  [15]; Morph (Genetic Match, +50%; Improvised Forms, full, +100%) [100];
  Radiation-Resistant [5]; Reputation +2 (philosophers and deep thinkers, galaxy-wide)
  [10]; Temperature Tolerance/5 [5]; 360-Degree Vision [25]; Unfazeable [15]; Universal
  Digestion [15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Appearance: Monstrous [-25]; Attentive [-1];
  Broad-minded [-1]; Charitable [-15]; Chummy [-5]; Edgy [-5]; Staid [-1]; Invertebrate
  [-20]; Late Maturation <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>4 [-12]; Pacifism (Total Non-violence)
  [-30]; Reduced Move <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>3 [-15]; Undiscriminating [-1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> +2 to Philosophy (Any) [3]; +1 to Soft Science subgroup [6]. 
  @TEXT:Enyyn "sports" replace the racial Pacifism with Megalomania [-10] and Fanaticism
  (Self) [-15], for a racial cost of 470 points. 
  @C-HEAD:General Description 
  @TEXT:When completely relaxed, the Enyyn (singular Enyyna) resemble yard-wide hemispheres
  of brightly-colored jelly in which is embedded blobs and strands of contrasting colors
  and textures. However, they are almost never completely relaxed. Even in the depths of
  the most profound meditation, an Enyyn's form is constantly shifting and flowing,
  responding unconsciously to environmental changes and stresses; unfortunately, the
  resulting changes in appearance and form are disturbing and in fact somewhat nauseating
  to most other races (effectively a Monstrous Appearance). They weigh an average of 160
  pounds. 
  @TEXT:An Enyyna will have a diameter of 3.5 inches for every point of ST (minimum
  diameter 2 feet), and will weigh 4.5 pounds for every inch of diameter. 
  @TEXT:Enyyn who dwell among offworlders tend to pick an offworlder shape which they wear
  by default in their neighbors' presence. 
  ((START BOX)) 
  @C-HEAD:Names 
  @TEXT:The Enyyn language is a complex combination of sounds and quickly-varying skin
  colorations, and as such is not easily spoken or transcribed by offworlders (M/VH for
  non-Enyyn, with a maximum skill of 12). As a result, the names which Enyyn use among
  offworlders are either abbreviated "nicknames" which employ only those sounds easily
  vocalized by other races, or are "usenames" adopted from the language of another species.
  (The subset of the Enyyn language useable by other races is heavy on hard consonants and
  voiced sibilants, with short, punchy vowels.) "Native" Enyyn names are formed from a one-
  to three-syllable personal identifier (Narzhal, Vog, Ketelek) and the rough equivalent of
  a patronymic. The latter always begins with the particle "av'" and combines the first
  syllables from the names of each parent; given the species' mating habits, this produces
  a surname anywhere from two to six syllables long (av'Oronad, av'Kegaz, av'Paquatamacol). 
  @TEXT:Among themselves, true Enyyn names are long, complex, and uniquely identifying
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  <\#208> they are never repeated among members of subsequent generations. 
  ((END BOX)) 
  @C-HEAD:Pyschology 
  @TEXT:Born and raised in an environment given to extreme shifts from hour to hour <\#208>
  and unaffected by most of it <\#208> the Enyyn are mellow almost to the point of
  anesthesia. If it's not an immediate threat, it's not worth worrying about. If it
  <I>is<I> an immediate threat, deal with it as quickly as possible and then get back to
  something more important, like formulating an internally-consistent system of ethical
  behavior for a hypothetical 5-dimensional lifeform that subsists solely on decayed quarks
  and stale donuts. Almost nothing bothers an Enyyna short of a planetary catastrophe or an
  apparently unsolvable philosophical conundrum. 
  @TEXT:Their basic biology rendering them at ease in the most dangerous of environments,
  the Enyyn expend almost all their efforts in intellectual pursuits. They tend to focus on
  philosophy, but no small number of Enyyn pursue the "soft" sciences such as psychology,
  history and the like; furthermore, they do not limit themselves to their own species, but
  include the efforts of other races in those disciplines. Some actively specialize in
  other races; most off-world cultures number several Enyyn among their most noted
  ethicists, legal scholars and psychoanalysts. Those few Enyyn who enter the hard sciences
  are almost equally exceptional. 
  @TEXT:For all their mental and physical adaptability, though, the Enyyn are not
  completely immune to insanity. The race produces extremely rare psychotic "sports"
  <\#208> some believe them to be throwbacks to a more violent stage of their evolution
  <\#208> who are incapable of cooperating with other Enyyn and often seek to gain power
  over their fellows. Most are successfully treated by Enyyn psychiatric professionals. The
  few remaining are not only incurable, but usually the most extreme cases. Forbidden by
  their own racial ethics to kill such dangerous individuals even in the face of their
  mounting violence and hostility, the Enyyn usually exile them <\#208> with sufficient
  warning to Galactic civilization <\#208> and allow other races to punish or try to cure
  or rehabilitate the outcast as appropriate. <I>Exile<I> for an Enyyna is a -5 point
  disadvantage similar in cost and application to Excommunicated (p. CI78). 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  @TEXT:Like the rest of their ecosystem, the Enyyn are nominally carbon-based, although in
  this (as in just about everything else) they have been known to be surprisingly flexible.
  Their actual evolutionary precursors are uncertain; they share significant
  characteristics with both the coelenteroid and mollusc-like analogue lifeforms found in
  the seas of Go'h'elaan, but are almost exclusively land-bound. On the other hand, no less
  than one-quarter of their body mass is undifferentiated protoplasm, which makes them
  similar in structure to their world's analogues of amoebae. All of an Enyyna's physical
  functions, from digestion to cognition, are handled on a distributed basis throughout its
  entire body with no function permanently fixed in any one location or organ, making the
  comparison to an amoeba even more apt. 
  @TEXT:Even more remarkable than their unique structure is the degree of control they have
  over it. At will, Enyyn can change color and texture, extrude limbs of remarkable
  dexterity and strength or incredible delicacy and fineness, create sensory organs, and
  even turn into into any variety of creature, real or imaginary. When imitating a specific
  race, they are frighteningly accurate and cannot always be told from the genuine article;
  with sufficient knowledge they can even form proper (if not necessarily functional)
  internal organs and bodily fluids as needed. Their sole limitation in this regard is that
  their total body mass is invariable and, of course, they are not genetically compatible
  with true members of the species in question. (There are persistent Galactic legends,
  though, that tell of Enyyn who <I>could<I> interbreed with other races. These, of course,
  have never been confirmed.) 
  @TEXT:They are omnivores in the truest sense, able to eat just about anything from any
  kind of carbon-based biosphere and thrive on it. Unlike most races, they have no manner
  of respiration and produce little to no wastes; some fringe xenobiologists have suggested
  that the Enyyn are actually biological total conversion reactors, possibly engineered by
  a long-gone Precursor race as living garbage disposals. 
  @TEXT:Like many other things about the Enyyn, their mating habits are unique. Although
  they are monosexual, they do exchange genetic material; anywhere from two to six Enyyn
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  can join in an act of mating. Mating partners flow together to form a single mass of
  protoplasm, which then consumes almost its own weight in foodstuffs (usually brought by
  the participants). Anywhere from 24 to 72 hours later, the conjoined Enyyn split back
  apart into the original participants plus an equal number of half-sized "newborns." Each
  parent then raises one child, who possesses a random genetic heritage from all the
  participating parents. 
  @TEXT:Mating and offspring are rare, though. Xenobiologists note that nothing organic
  seems to prevent them from reproducing as often as possible. However, the Enyyn try to
  keep their population as close to a steady state as they can while still maintaining a
  positive growth; it is not uncommon for individuals to go centuries or even millenia
  between offspring. When asked about their abstinence, Enyyn simply note that carefully
  managing one's resources and living space is the only ethical choice as well as simple
  common sense. At the moment, the race is believed to number close to a million
  individuals on their homeworld, and approximately 10,000 more off-planet. 
  @TEXT:Perhaps as a side effect of the drastic environmental stresses the race lives
  through, no less than one in 20 Enyyn are psionically active. The vast majority of Enyyn
  psionics possess either telepathy or ESP or both; a fewer number are telekinetics. Even
  rarer still are all the other psionic gifts; occasional individuals may manifest them,
  but they are considered almost freakishly unusual. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Enyyn Characters 
  @TEXT-BOX:Enyyn characters are best built on a minimum of 500 points, but 1,000 points or
  even far more would not be uncommon for a particularly old Enyyna, some of whom might be
  well over a quarter of a million years in age. Add psionics to the mix, and the point
  budget can rise even higher. This obviously puts player character Enyyn out of the range
  of any but the most cinematic of campaigns. NPC Enyyn, on the other hand.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Also remember that even though they are immortal and adaptable, that doesn't
  mean Enyyn can't be quirky and odd. Unlike the Engai, who edit antisocial tendencies out
  of themselves, Enyyn <I>can<I> be bad-tempered, prejudiced (if such prejudice doesn't
  conflict with their particular philsophical specialization), and even bizarrely deluded
  without being one of the psychotics they exile. However, the GM should remember that no
  matter what, Enyyn are intellectual and logical, and any strangeness they exhibit should
  be supported by a chain of logical reasoning <\#208> however spurious! <\#208> drawn from
  their experiences and studies. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Culture 
  @TEXT:Unlike some of the other immortal races such as the Engai (pp. A108-111), the Enyyn
  have not retreated to hedonism in order to cope with their endless existence. Instead,
  they have turned to a life of focused intellectual investigation. Primarily this is
  approached through the study of philosophy. In what approaches a racial obsession, each
  Enyyna chooses one branch or category of philosophy to pursue during the course of its
  life. This may be as general or as specialized as they care to make it. Alternately,
  individuals may also pursue any of the "soft" sciences <\#208> theology, sociology,
  anthropology, psychology, and the like. By the time of their first contact with other
  races, the Enyyn had developed a sophisticated ethical system which had become the
  accepted foundation for not only all their dealings with each other, but for their
  relations with Galactic civilization. 
  @TEXT:First contact several thousand years ago proved to be intellectually profitable for
  the Enyyn, as they absorbed the myriad philosophies, ideologies, theologies and other
  organized systems of thought available in the galaxy and began to explore them. After a
  disastrous first attempt to offer their conclusions back to one of their offworld
  sources, though, the Enyyn no longer volunteer the fruits of their thoughts. They wiil,
  however, willingly and enthusiastically entertain questions brought to them. 
  @TEXT:Enyyn society appears to run, for the most part, on a system of ethical anarchy and
  enlightened self-interest. Some have likened it to the various communistic and
  socialistic systems proposed at one time or another by members of every civilization,
  with certain notable differences: one, it appears to have evolved organically as an
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  outgrowth of the Enyyn's ethical pursuits rather than having been imposed; two, the Enyyn
  don't have anything approaching an economy as most races know it; and three, it works. It
  appears also to serve a further purpose in detecting the rare antisocial "sport" simply
  by making their maximally-selfish behavior extremely obvious after a reasonably short
  time (relative to the Enyyn lifespan, that is). 
  @TEXT:Outside of enough psi-tech to build a world-web (to repel both invaders and
  returning revenge-driven exiles), the Enyyn have shown no real interest in importing
  off-world technology. Most of it <\#208> even most military field-grade equipment <\#208>
  is simply too fragile to survive the conditions on Go'h'elaan; native devices are both
  sturdier and rarely obvious, looking like opaque crystals or pieces of the landscape.
  Enyyn technologists do acquire and study individual devices produced by other races in
  order to reverse engineer them, recreating them using local materials and methods. 
  @TEXT:Additionally, archaeologists have discovered the remains of an earlier techological
  Enyyn civilization on Go'h'elaan, dating to no less than 350,000 years ago. Many experts
  believe that this civilization collapsed at approximately the same time the Enyyn
  immortality gene complex manifested in the species. (The Enyyn themselves have been
  uncharacteristically reticent on the subject of these remains.) Occasional caches of
  ancient Enyyn tech <\#208> as durable and long-lived as its makers, and ranging anywhere
  from TL9 to TL12 <\#208> are discovered every few decades. 
  @C-HEAD:Politics 
  @TEXT:The Enyyn have no national or planetary politics. The Enyyn have no appreciable
  political system. This being said, they tend to be cordial to almost all species, partly
  because their ethics require it, and partly because their ability to adapt and survive
  allows them to view even the most dangerous races with a sanguine equanimity. However,
  the Enyyn are not guileless naifs, exploited by the galaxy at large. They
  <I>understand<I> politics possibly better than any other race <\#208> after all, they've
  been studying the subject, in both native and off-world varieties, with typical Enyyn
  singlemindedness for millenia. 
  @TEXT:As a result, the Enyyn frequently find themselves in the roles of advisers and
  consultants. More often than not this requires that the supplicant actually go to
  Go'h'elaan and find the right Enyyna to ask <\#208> usually an adventure in itself.
  However, a growing number of Enyyn can be found in universities and capitols across the
  galaxy, acting as researchers, arbiters and teachers. Since they make little distinction
  between races, alliances and politics, they frequently raise the ire of nationalist
  and/or chauvinist groups. 
  @TEXT:The Enyyn are aware of the Markann's cloaked presence amid Galactic civilization.
  They have had their own encounters with this hidden race of mad scientists in the distant
  past, encounters that usually left the Markann involved enraged and frustrated <\#208>
  the Enyyn are particularly well-suited to not only survive the Markann's brand of
  destructive testing, but then turn into a piece of innocuous lab equipment and escape
  behind their backs, all the while studying <I>them.<I> After several centuries of futile
  effort, the Markann could no longer tolerate the very concept of a race they could not
  break. They erased their own knowledge of the Enyyn and declared Enyyn space off-limits
  under pain of death. Of late, certain Enyyn have noticed patterns in their studies that
  suggest their old nemeses are at work in the galaxy at large, but have not done anything
  about it yet <\#208> they've only just begun to gather the data, after all, and it will
  take a few decades of evaluation at least before they can produce any useful conclusions
  to share with the other races. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations 
  @TEXT-BOX:As designed, the Enyyn are intended for use with <BI>GURPS Space<$> settings,
  but they can easily be adapted (or imported untouched) to other milieux. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>GURPS Lensmen:<$> A race of pacifist philosophers would fit in quite well
  in the civilized sectors of this Universe. While obviously unsuitable for the Patrol
  because of their nonviolence, they can still serve in their usual roles of sage and
  adviser. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Fantasy:<$> The Enyyn can be imported with or without explanation as the GM
  sees fit. Thaumatology is added to the fields they include in their ruminations, making
  them some of the greatest experts on magical theory in the world, although few (if any)
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  of them are active mages. Their psionic potential should probably be eliminated unless
  the game world mixes magic and psi. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Atomic Horror, Black Ops,<$> and similar settings: The Enyyn make an
  excellent "good-guy" race, able to work among humans without setting off their prejudices
  (unless their true form is discovered.<!s>.<!s>.) and willing to share their expertise to
  help this primitive race in its fight against more powerful alien opponents. As pacifists
  they refuse to do any of the fighting themselves, leaving human characters in the
  forefront of any action, but they are more than capable of specializing in <I>military<I>
  philsophy and advising their allies on strategy and tactics. In a <BI>Black Ops<$> game,
  Enyyn PCs are easily possible, but they will never be Ops themselves and may suffer some
  degree of mistrust or outright prejudice from all levels of The Company, despite their
  status as allies. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Enyyn in the Campaign 
  @TEXT:Where any kind of "soft" science is concerned, especially matters of philosophy or
  ethics, the Enyyn are the people to see. They are sages, consultants, archivists and
  theoreticians; there's often at least one in the capitol city of every spacegoing
  culture, and any large organization concerned with law or ethics usually attracts an
  Enyyn employee or officer. Many universities boast an Enyyn on staff, frequently (but not
  exclusively) in the Philosophy department. They also make good librarians, and are as
  often found in this position as professor when encountered in a college environment. 
  @TEXT:Enyyn adventurers are rare but not unheard of; they frequently have a field of
  interest that cannot be adequately investigated using archival materials, or which by its
  nature <\#208> such as xenology <\#208> requires you to go to the subject matter rather
  than vice versa. For obvious reasons, the Survey Service, the Patrol, many militaries,
  and a number of intelligence agencies all actively seek to recruit Enyyn members;
  however, if the job does not offer an intellectual challege to match the obvious physical
  challenges for which they are desired, they will pass. And no normal Enyyn will take a
  front-line military role. 
  @TEXT:The rare Enyyn psychotic can make a very good master villain. Their typical
  megalomania usually leads them into areas where they can gain power through the exercise
  of their personal abilities, be they physical or mental: white collar criminal,
  revolutionary, anarchist, mercenary. While not as obsessed with intellectual fulfillment
  as his brothers, the Enyyn sport is still a specialist in his chosen field, and often
  many others. He more than capable of planning hypercompetently for all contingencies.
  (The GM seeking a lighter touch may want to quantify the Enyyna's madness by letting his
  intellect go all the way <I>through<I> competency to come out the other side.<!s>.<!s>.) 
  @TEXT:Whether he is a classic "spider in a vast web" or a solo operator, he will not be
  brought down easily, and will always have a hidden exit through which to escape, be it
  literal or metaphorical. Unless he is an out-and-out revolutionary, he will usually be
  cloaked in respectability, often several layers; multiple IDs (and shapes) are common as
  well, to allow him to work at differing levels within his organization (if any). Some
  sports seek out pre-First Contact civilizations and seek to remake them in their own
  warped image. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Narzhal av'Oronad, aka "Conqueror" . . . . 875 points 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Exiled Enyyn Megalomaniac 
  @TEXT:Age 2270; 36" diameter; 158 lbs.; as "Richard Carey"/"Conqueror" he appears to be a
  robust middle-aged human male, 5'8", 140 lbs., with piercing blue eyes and black hair
  greying at the temples. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 12 [20] <B>DX<B> 14 [20] <B>IQ<B> 15 [20] <B>HT<B> 16/20 [20] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 7.5; Move 7 (human form), 4 (natural form). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 8; Parry 12. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 1d-2; <I>Kick:<I> 1d; <I>Thrust<I> 1d-1;
  <I>Swing<I> 1d+2 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Charisma +3 [15] (Reaction: +3); ; Combat Reflexes [15];
  Enyyn "Sport" (see text) [470]; Status 8 (Ruler of most of Earth) [40]; Strong Will +3
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  [12] (Will: 18). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Exiled [-5]; Extravagance [-10]; Glory Hound [-15];
  Guilt Complex [-5]; Jealousy [-10]; Obsession: Revenge himself on the Enyyn for his exile
  [-15]; Secret: He's an alien, not a mutated human [-5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Habitually wears the form of a human male of indeterminate
  middle European extraction; Sincerely cares about the welfare of the people he rules;
  Still suffers nightmares about the world accidentally destroyed by his research programs;
  Dotes on his wife and adopted daughter; Responsive. [-5] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Powers:<$> Telepathy 10 [50]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Acting-18 [8]; Administration-17 [6]; Anthropology-15 [2];
  Area Knowledge (Earth)-18 [6]; Area Knowledge (Galaxy)-14 [2]; Area Knowledge
  (Go'h'elaan)-17 [4]; Astrogation/TL11-15 [2]; Axe/Mace-15 [4]; Bard-21 [8]; Beam
  Weapons/TL8-17 [2]; Beam Weapons/TL11-17 [2]; Biochemistry/TL8-13 [2]; Brawling-17 [8]
  (Parry: 11); Broadsword-15 [4] (Parry: 7); Chemistry/TL8-14 [2]; Computer
  Operation/TL8-16 [2]; Computer Operation/TL11-17 [4]; Detect Lies-18 [10]; Diplomacy-15
  [4]; Fast-Draw (Pistol)-16 [2]; Free Fall/TL11-13 [1]; Genetics/TL8-15 [8];
  Genetics/TL9-15 [8]; Guns (Revolver)/TL8-16 [1]; Guns (Rifle)/TL8-17 [2]; Guns
  (Semi-automatic Pistol)/TL8-18 [4]; Intimidation-18 [8]; Knife-15 [2] Parry: 6);
  Leadership-21 [8]; Merchant-17 [6]; Philosophy (Nietzchean)-18 [6]; Piloting
  (Starship)/TL11-14 [2]; Politics-19 [10]; Psychology (Human)- 16 [4]; Savoir-Faire
  (Earth)-17 [0]; Savoir-Faire (Galactic Civilization)-15 [0]; Strategy (Air)-18 [10];
  Strategy (Land)-18 [10]; Strategy (Naval)-18 [10]; Strategy (Space)-15 [4]; Swimming-14
  [1]; Tactics-15 [4]; Xenology/TL11-16 [4]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Psi Skills:<$> Emotion Sense-16 [6] (Fatigue: 0, Range: 100 yd, Area:
  subject, Maintain: infinite, Resist: MS, Page: P20); Mental Blow-17 [8] (Fatigue: 1,
  Range: 100 yd, Area: subject, Resist: MS, Page: P21); Mind Shield-18 [10]; Telereceive-18
  [10] (Fatigue: 0, Range: 100 yd, Area: subject, Maintain: min., Resist: Will+MS, Page:
  P25); Telesend-18 [10] (Fatigue: 0, Range: 100 yd, Area: subject, Maintain: min., Resist:
  MS, Page: P26). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> English-15 [2]; Enyyn (native)-15 [0]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Narzhal av'Oronad is an Enyyn psychotic exiled from Go'h'elaan in the early
  1700s, and who has sworn to return and decimate the world of his birth. In his native
  timeline (an alternate version of the <BI>GURPS International Super Teams<$> setting), he
  has completely reshaped Earth into his chosen tool of vengeance. 
  @TEXT-BOX:After spending several decades planning and studying in the civilized sectors
  of the galaxy, Narzhal struck out into unexplored space to find a primitive planet to
  turn into a machine of vengeance upon his homeworld. Dinalvar, the first such world he
  conquered, was accidentally destroyed by a runaway doomsday weapon test. After a narrow
  escape in his dilapidated starship, Narzhal made his way to Earth, where he crashlanded
  in 1896. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Over the next 100 years, using a human form, the identity of "Richard Carey,"
  and scavenged equipment from his wrecked starship, Narzhal became a driving force in
  American industry and politics. With the advent of the first supers in the 1930s, he used
  his ship's computer to develop a serum which activated latent powers, and bartered it at
  the start of the Second World War for a commission as a general in the US military.
  Leading the Allies' 10,000-man metahuman task force, he significantly altered the course
  of WWII. When London and Washington were siimultaneously destroyed by Nazi atom bombs in
  1943, he used the opportunity to orchestrate a takeover of both nations to form the
  British-American Hegemony. 
  @TEXT-BOX:From this merger of the British Empire and the United States, he slowly
  expanded his influence, absorbing nations either by military conquest (through which he
  gained the sobriquet by which he is now best known), or voluntary annexation. By the end
  of the 1980s the increasingly-repressive Hegemony, ruled by a metahuman elite and
  decidedly fascist in its politics, controlled over 80% of the globe -- and Narzhal
  controlled <I>it,<I> with an iron hand. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Narzhal/Carey himself is an intriguing mix of contradictions. Ruthless and
  sociopathic when it comes to the destruction of the Enyyn, he honestly cares about the
  beings he rules. (Of course, he sees them more as useful, intelligent <I>pets<I> than
  real people, but still.<!s>.<!s>.) Although he has drastically curtailed civil liberties
  in the Hegemony and his regional lieutenants often have bloody and violent domestic
  policies, he tries to ensure that no one is hungry, homeless or unhealthy, and not just
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  because he plans to deploy almost every able-bodied human in a massive invasion force
  against Go'h'elaan; he unabashedly seeks the best for his subjects and wants them to love
  him. (And many do.) He is still haunted by the destruction of Dinalvar, and the billions
  of lives lost to the runaway hellbomb prototype which reduced the planet to slag. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Ethomorph
  @TEXT:<I>Now the hand of Henry Jekyll (as you have often remarked) was professional in
  shape and size: it was large, firm, white, and comely. But the hand which I now saw,
  clearly enough, in the yellow light of a mid-London morning, lying half shut on the
  bed-clothes, was lean, corded, knuckly, of a dusky pallor and thickly shaded with a swart
  growth of hair. It was the hand of Edward Hyde.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>I must have stared upon it for near half a minute, sunk as I was in the mere
  stupidity of wonder, before terror woke up in my breast as sudden and startling as the
  crash of cymbals; and bounding from my bed, I rushed to the mirror. At the sight that met
  my eyes, my blood was changed into something exquisitely thin and icy. Yes, I had gone to
  bed Henry Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> from <B>The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,<B> by Robert Louis
  Stevenson<I> 
  @TEXT:For those who believe the ancient rede that the form without reflects the spirit
  within, the Ethomorph is the defining example: one individual, who oscillates between two
  shapes with opposing personalities and appearances. One form, usually unattractive or
  even deformed, embodies all the individual's darker emotions and desires, manifesting as
  an almost demoniacal depravity; the other, handsome and noble, is home to a nearly
  saintly virtue. 
  @C-HEAD:Ethomorph . . . . variable 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> Variable; ethomorphic alternate forms tend to be more
  physically powerful than their base form, as well as more resistant to the debilitating
  effects of their chosen vices <\#208> ST and HT are often higher than those of the base
  form. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Remove any Appearance, Empathy and Animal Empathy, and any
  Social advantages intimately linked to personal identity (for example, Reputation). Add
  Combat Reflexes [15]; Fearlessness +4 [8]; No Hangover [5]; Strong Will +2 [4]. Toughness
  and Extra Hit Points are common. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Remove any "positive" disadvantages such as Code of
  Honor, Sense of Duty, Honesty and so on. Add Appearance (Unattractive) [-5] or worse; Bad
  Temper [-10]; Bully [-10]; Callous [-6]; Frightens Animals [-5/-10]; Gluttony [-5];
  Lecherousness [-15]; Overconfidence [-10]; Sadism [-15]; Vicious Drunk [-1]. Odious
  Personal Habits, Compulsive Behaviors and Obsessions are also appropriate. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Invert or replace any quirks that suggest polite, ethical or
  moral behavior. Dislikes may be elevated to loathings or even full-blown Intolerances.
  Behavioral quirks may be retained to provide acquaintaces with a disturbing sense of
  familiarity, or may be exaggerated or removed entirely. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Brawling-DX [1], Sex Appeal-HT or 14, whichever is better, if
  the base form did not already have them, along with any other skills that may augment the
  were-form's favorite modes of debauchery. 
  @TEXT:This example is derived specifically from <I>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.<I> It assumes
  a character of average or better morality/ethics, with a dark ethomorphic form. This is
  the most common variant. Alternately, a predominantly evil/immoral character may have a
  were-shape which lacks all his negative traits and possesses instead many positive ones. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Ethomorphs and Split Personality 
  @TEXT-BOX:In the case of an ethomorph, the -10-point level of the Split Personality
  disadvantage represents an individual still capable of enjoying both forms as seperate
  vessels for his singular identity, no matter how variant their personalities. The
  -15-point level indicates that each form is its own person. In all cases, though, the
  alternate form is always aware of the base form, although its opinion of him is rarely
  high. 
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  @TEXT-BOX:Note, however, that those characters who start with the -10-point level of the
  disadvantage will inevitably escalate to the -15-point version. The GM should determine
  the point at which this occurs based upon the frequency with which the character changes
  and how different the two forms are (based on the advantages and disadvantages that are
  "abandoned" in the shift). The greater the difference between the two, and the more
  frequent the base form's "indulgence", the faster the escalation should be. The
  additional level of Split Personality, when it finally manifests, is treated as a
  disadvantage acquired in play and does not provide any additional character points. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:Also, as shown in many recent movies, such physical factors as body mass, height
  and gender need not remain constant between forms. 
  @TEXT:PPT and NPT must be determined individually for the specific character, as they
  will vary widely depending on the traits he possesses, loses and/or acquires. In
  addition, almost all ethomorphs will have the Unstable limitation (-25%) applied.
  Depending on the character concept, this may or may not take the form of the <I>War of
  Wills<I> option (see p. 00). Additionally, the were-form must possess the <I>Cannot Use
  Change Control<I> limitation (p. 00). Ethomorphism is a strictly binary form of
  shapeshifting <\#208> neither form normally wants anything to do with the other. 
  @TEXT:The base form <I>must<I> take Split Personality, at either level. Ethomorphs are
  <I>not<I> required to take Compulsive Behavior: Morally Opposed, although it is
  appropriate. They sometimes possess the Delusion that they are entirely separate people. 
  @TEXT:Ethomorphs are usually limited to the base form and one alternate form, which
  embodies either moral/ethical extreme. However, it is possible (though rare) for an
  ethomorph to possess alternate forms and personalities for <I>both<I> extremes <\#208>
  angel and devil both, with the base personality/form caught between them. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Ethomorphs in the Campaign 
  @TEXT-BOX:The obvious inspiration for ethomorphism is <I>The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll
  and Mr. Hyde,<I> by Robert Louis Stevenson, a relentlessly Victorian work in its
  extremely polarized view of both morality and society. However, the ethomorph need not be
  permanently relegated to such a strict milieu. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Atomic Horror, Lensman, Steampunk<$> and similar: A little Weird Science is
  all you need for a well-meaning scientist to accidentally time-share his body with a
  maniac, regardless of the native Tech Level. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Black Ops:<$> An unusual variety of "werewolf", Argus may be more inclined
  to capture and study an ethomorph than the other kinds of shapeshifter it has encountered
  in the past. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<BI>Horror,<$> Weird Modern and similar games: An ethomorph would work as both
  villain and/or McGuffin <\#208> especially if the base form is someone the party trusts. 
  @TEXT-BOX:And finally, the ultimate possibility: the <BI>GURPS Goblins<$> version of Mr.
  Hyde: A celibate, teetotaling Biblethumper whose straitlaced morality and handsome
  features horrify all those who come in contact with him, even as he fascinates them with
  his inarguable charisma. Or maybe he's <I>worse<I> than any <I>ten<I> other goblins
  combined.<!s>.<!s>. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:A Polarized Persona 
  @TEXT:A uniquely Victorian variety of shapechanger, the ethomorph is usually a shifter
  who has relegated all his perceived "negative", "immoral" or "unhealthy" mental traits
  into a separate physical form, which often possesses its own mind and personality. This
  process can either be accidental (as in <I>The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
  Hyde<I>) or intentional (the work of an evil genius seeking allies or servants of a like
  mind). 
  @TEXT:The mechanisms by which such a physical and mental polarization are accomplished
  can vary widely. For some, it is a result of meditation and careful self-control; for
  others, an application of magic; yet others make their way through a scientific path,
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  either with a drug like Atavismine (see p. STM00 or sidebar, p. 00) or more exotic means.
  In almost all cases, though, the manifestation of the banished emotions and motivations
  as their own "person" is an error or unforeseen side-effect of the process employed. Most
  ethomorphs originally intended to suppress or expel those traits they found inconvenient
  or offensive, only to find them fighting back in a most distressingly physical manner. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Ethomorph PCs 
  @TEXT-BOX:Player characters suffering from ethomorphism are affordable at 100 points and
  even below, as long as the alternate form does not far outstrip the base form in power.
  The primary differences between the two sides of an ethomorph are, after all, matters of
  personality and appearance; few ethomorphs manifest an alter ego that is hugely more
  powerful than they are. As long as the GM can justify the ability to change between forms
  within the campaign's genre, or warp the campaign to suit, an ethomorph PC can probably
  be built to fit. 
  @TEXT-BOX:An ethomorph need not be created from scratch, though <\#208> under the right
  conditions, the GM may be able to turn an existing PC into an ethomorph. (Obviously this
  will only work in a game with a fantasy or weird science element, or which can accomodate
  its inclusion.) It will require collaboration with the player in question, but if the
  character is already working towards a moral or ethical improvement in himself, the
  relegation of his darker drives to their own personality within a timeshared body can
  provide an excellent set of plot hooks <\#208> as well as drive the other players crazy. 
  @TEXT-BOX:If the genre allows, this may be the best way to plant a traitor in the midst
  of a tightly-knit party. Of course, it requires cooperation on the part of the player,
  but as long as he can keep his transformation out of sight of the other characters. Even
  better would be leaving the base form ignorant of his new condition for as long as
  possible. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Body.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT:The physical change that an ethomorph undergoes is far from extensive, although it
  can be dramatic. The base species does not change, although in the most extreme cases it
  can seem that way. Instead, the were appears to become a different person, usually with
  no resemblance whatsoever to his base form. The appearance of this "other person"
  corresponds to the ethical extreme which it embodies. A form born of the were's negative
  traits is usually unattractive <\#208> deformed, bestial and often unhealthy in
  appearance; its opposite number is attractive, clean-limbed and charismatic. Both
  extremes often induce a fascination in the opposite sex, no matter what their appearance. 
  @TEXT:It is extremely rare, but not impossible, for an ethomorphic were-form to swap
  genders as part of its transformation. In such a case, a dark ethomorph will often take
  the appearance of the base form's ideal member of the opposite sex. Despite their often
  extreme beauty, these dark were-forms will still have a sinister and threatening air to
  them, and will be no less debauched and evil than their less-attractive cousins. 
  @TEXT:In any case, the alter ego is usually more powerful, physically, than the base
  form; in extreme cases they can demonstrate inhuman strength. They also tend to be
  remarkably resilient, enduring with equal ease both the debilitating effects of their
  vices as well as the attacks of those hostile to them. In the case of dark ethomorphs,
  this is usually explained as a result of their atavistic resemblance to some great beast;
  in bright ethomorphs, their proximity to an angelic ideal is usually credited. 
  @TEXT:Pre-existing physical traits from the base form, such as damaged limbs and missing
  eyes, are usually maintained. If so, their effect is exaggerated to match the form. For
  example, consider a missing eye. In a dark ethomorph, it will be a visible, disturbing
  deformity that only serves to increase the were-form's sinister appearance. In a bright
  ethomorph, it gives the were-form a rakish, romantic air that endears him to all he
  meets. 
  @TEXT:In either case, the ethomorph undergoes sufficient change that he appears to be a
  completely different person. Bright ethomorphs may bear a distinct resemblance to their
  other side, enough to be thought a relative, possibly a cousin or even a sibling (a
  misapprehension of which the were-form will often take advantage). Darklings tend to
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  become too bestial to seem similar to their base form <\#208> their snarling, animalistic
  visages often drive all thought of comparison from the minds of their viewers. 
  @TEXT:Subsequently, any and all traits that rely upon or modify personal identity <\#208>
  Reputations, Social Stigmas, even Wealth <\#208> are unavailable to the ethomorph. In
  those cases where the base form is to some degree aware of his alter ego's existence and
  activity, arrangements may be made for its use <\#208> Henry Jeckyll, for instance,
  instructed his servants that Edward Hyde was a guest in his house, and saw to it that
  cash was available for his use. But beyond that, the ethomorph is unable to benefit
  <\#208> or suffer <\#208> from his base form's social and financial presence. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Going To (Different) Extremes 
  @TEXT-BOX:Note that the exaggerated personality traits which ethomorphic were-forms
  embody are usually the result of a more-or-less normal person <\#208> someone in the
  middle third or so of the moral-ethical bellcurve <\#208> undergoing whatever triggering
  process the GM has defined for the campaign. The results would be somewhat different if
  an unabashedly diabolic or extremely saintly person were to experience the same process.
  A particularly debauched individual may manifest a were-form whose moral values are
  barely above (but <I>are<I> above, nonetheless) average. Similarly, a nearly-angelic
  individual may manifest a "dark" side who might be able to manage being naughty every
  once in a while, but no more. In either case, though, the were-form may well be a severe
  embarrassment or even a fatal liability.<!s>.<!s>. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:.<!s>.<!s>.and Soul 
  @TEXT:The corresponding personality shifts are even more dramatic than the physical
  changes. In the case of a dark ethomorph, all of the character's positive traits are
  either buried or inverted. This can turn an average man into a debauched libertine, an
  extorting miser, or even a vicious serial killer, based both on his moral and ethical
  beliefs, and on the deepest secrets of his soul which he cannot admit even to himself.
  When it is not simply enjoying its excesses and debauches, a dark ethomorph will often
  take on the role of its base form's personal tempter and/or destroyer. In such a case,
  the were-form will do its best to leave its base form in situations designed to appeal to
  his remaining darker urges, in the hopes of dragging him down. If it fails to corrput him
  (or simply chooses not to bother with that course of action), the were-form will
  sometimes try actively to destroy its host's reputation and life. In either case, it does
  this as much out of a desire for a "partner in crime" as out of malice for the base form. 
  @TEXT:At the other end of the spectrum, the bright ethomorph embodies all the lost or
  hidden nobility a fallen man may have thought lost to him. It is normally a far better
  person than its host. Depending on the attitude of the character's native culture to the
  redemption or rehabilitation of criminals and other debased individuals, a bright
  ethomorph may despise and ignore his base form, or do the best it can to improve his lot.
  The more altruism is seen as a virtue in the culture, the more energetically the
  were-form will toil on its host's behalf; some individuals may discover their lives,
  reputations and bankbooks improving for no apparent reason.<!s>.<!s>. At the same time,
  the were-form will not ignore itself entirely, but it will (of course) do no more for its
  own benefit than is proper. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: James William Dennison . . . . 125 Points 
  @TEXT-BOX:Male; Age 31; 5'10''; 155 lbs.; American with ash-blond hair and haunted blue
  eyes. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 11 [10]; <B>DX<B> 12 [20]; <B>IQ<B> 12 [20]; <B>HT<B> 10 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.50; Move 5. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 5; Parry 8. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 1d-2; <I>Kick:<I> 1d; <I>Thrust<I> 1d-1;
  <I>Swing<I> 1d+1 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Appearance (Handsome) [15] (Reaction: +2/+4); Were-form
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  (Ethomorph) [27] (Cannot use Change Control, -5%; Unstable/War of Wills, -25%);
  Reputation +2 (War hero and world traveler) [3] (Reaction: +2; Recognized by Chicago
  1920s high society: Small class, <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/3); Status 2 [10]; Wealth
  (Comfortable) [10] (Starting Wealth: $1,500). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Honesty [-10]; Impulsiveness [-10]; Nightmares [-5];
  Split Personality [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Chauvinistic; Congenial; Gallant with the ladies; Shamed and
  disgusted by his behavior in WWI; Subliminal air of sadness and fear around him. [-5] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Area Knowledge (Chicago)-13 [2]; Armoury (Rifles and
  Handguns)/TL6-13 [4]; Brawling-12 [1] (Parry: 8); Carousing-10 [2]; Chess-14 [2] (Hobby:
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2); Driving (Automobile)/TL6-11 [1]; First Aid/TL6-12 [1];
  French-11 [1]; Gambling-12 [2]; Gesture-11 [1/2]; Guns (Pistol)/TL6-14 [1]; Guns
  (Rifle)/TL6-14 [1]; Hiking-10 [2]; Knife-12 [1] (Parry: 5); Leadership-11 [1];
  Meditation-14 [16]; Motorcycle/TL6-11 [1/2]; Riding (Horse)-10 [1/2]; Savoir-Faire
  (American High Society)-14 [0]; Savoir-Faire (Other Culture)-12 [0]; Sex Appeal-14 [2];
  Spear (Bayonet)-13 [4] (Parry: 6); Survival (Woodlands)-11 [1]; Survival (Plains)-11 [1];
  Swimming-11 [1/2]; Tactics-11 [2]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> Chinese (Mandarin)-11 [1]; English (native)-12 [0];
  Hindi-10 [1/2]; Japanese-10 [1/2]; Russian-10 [1/2]; Thai-10 [1/2]; Tibetan-12 [2]. 
  @D-HEAD:The Hun 
  @TEXT-BOX:5'9"; 180 lbs.; shaggy black hair, piercing brown eyes, bulky and muscular with
  heavy brows and bad teeth. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 13 [20]; <B>DX<B> 12 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [20]; <B>HT<B> 12/14 [20]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.00; Move 6. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 7; Parry 9. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 1d-2; <I>Kick:<I> 1d; <I>Thrust<I> 1d;
  <I>Swing<I> 2d-1 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Remove Dennison's Appearance [-15], Reputation [-3], and
  Status [-10]. Add Charisma +2 [10]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Extra Hit Points +2 [8];
  Fearlessness +4 [8]; No Hangover [5]; Strong Will +2 [4]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Remove Dennison's Honesty [+10] and Nightmares [+5].
  Add Appearance (Unattractive) [-5] (Reaction: -1); Bad Temper [-10]; Bloodlust [-10];
  Bully [-10]; Callous [-6]; Frightens Animals [-5/-10]; Gluttony [-5]; Lecherousness
  [-15]; Murder Addiction [-60]; Overconfidence [-10]; Sadism [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Remove Congenial; Gallant with the ladies; Shamed and
  disgusted by his behavior in WWI; Subliminal air of sadness and fear around him. [+4] Add
  Affects a slow, painful limp; Speaks in a growling snarl except when trying to charm a
  victim; Trademark: private signals to Dennison; Vicious drunk. [-4] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> As Dennison, except as follows: Improve Brawling-14 [+3]
  (Parry: 9); Knife-14 [+3] (Parry: 7); Sex Appeal-15 [+10]. Add Disguise-12 [2];
  Fast-Talk-13 [4]; Shadowing-13 [4]; Stealth-13 [4]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> As Dennison. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:PPT: +150, NPT: -183. Basic cost: 38 points. Cannot use Change Control, -5%;
  Unstable/War of Wills, -25%. Final Cost: 27 points. 
  @TEXT-BOX:James William Dennison was a seeker of enlightenment. From the end of WWI to
  the middle of the 1920s, this well-to-do American spent much of his considerable
  inheritance roaming the world. Seeking out guru after master after mysterious teacher, he
  studied with every one in a desperate attempt to find peace for his tortured soul.
  Driving him was guilt over his participation in the Great War <\#208> a war in which he
  served with wild and bloodthirsty abandon. With the end of the war came shame at the dark
  side he had unleashed in his nation's service, and a vow to expunge from his soul the
  gleeful delight he had taken in killing and rapine <\#208> a delight that still tempted
  him to destroy his obstacles (human or otherwise) whenever he felt frustrated or angry. 
  @TEXT-BOX:After more than a decade of searching and studying, his efforts seemed to bear
  fruit; the teachings of a lama in the far reaches of Tibet seemed to bring him inner
  peace. Overjoyed and believing himself expunged of his dark urges, he returned to his
  native Chicago, leaving his instruction under the lama incomplete. 
  @TEXT-BOX:This was his undoing, though. Lacking its final step, the regimen of meditation
  and herbal potions he learned did not eliminate his darker impulses <\#208> it merely
  <I>displaced<I> them to the far reaches of his subconscious mind, where they festered and
  sought release .<!s>.<!s>. and revenge. Less than a year after his triumphant return to
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  Chicago high society, Dennison began suffering from blackouts, ranging from hours to
  sometimes days in length. Soon, he began to suffer from nightmares that would wake him,
  screaming, in the middle of the night. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Not long after that, at the height of the Roaring Twenties, Chicago began to
  experience a series of unexplained murders, each more vicious and savage than the one
  before it. As the populace started to slide into a state of disbelieving terror and the
  newspapers blared the details of each new killing, even the city's notorious gangsters
  have offered to help the police find the fiend responsible for the deaths. 
  @TEXT-BOX:And James Dennison has begun to fear that it is he. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>The Hun<I> is Dennison's ethomorphic alter ego. Cast in the image of some of
  the worst of the German soldiers that Dennison faced in WWI France, it embodies all of
  his rage and bloodlust. By turns snarling and charming, it seeths and lusts and slinks
  through the night world of Roaring 20s Chicago looking for victims to feed its murderous
  psychosexual desires. With all of Dennison's military skills plus a few more of its own
  at its disposal, it stalks men and women alike, killing each in a unique, grisly fashion.
  It prefers women, often charming them into following it to a secluded location, but will
  not hesitate to kill a man if the need is strong. Whenever possible, it leaves a
  trademark behind at each killing: symbols from a code used by Dennison in his childhood.
  It's careful to leave nothing that by itself is a coherent message, but it knows that
  Dennison is beginning to suspect something is amiss, and is delighting in his growing
  horror, which it reinforces with horrific nightmares which it inflicts upon him. 
  @TEXT-BOX:James William Dennison/The Hun is a 125-point character designed for use in a
  <BI>GURPS Cliffhangers<$> game. With fairly minor modifications (for instance, changing
  WWI to Vietnam), he can be inserted into just about any 20th-century setting. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:The Hawkshaw Bioroid 
  @TEXT:<I>Unit Sif-7 reporting.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>Confirmed arrival at operation point 01h25m local time as per mission plan.
  Observed guard cycle and revised mission parameters accordingly.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>At 02h59m local time, one guard departed from established pattern for
  micturation in local foliage. Terminated guard and assumed his shape, then returned to
  patrol per his schedule. Now awaiting final "go".<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>Unit Sif-7 out.<I> 
  @TEXT:In a certain TL9 world of corporate espionage and warfare, a biotech concern has
  developed the perfect tool with which to undermine the more mechanically-inclined of its
  competitors. Blending the latest in custom gengineering for unique talents with a secret
  process for force-growing clones, the Alesandese Group has produced its own private corps
  of assassins and spies: the Hawkshaw Class Infiltration Bioroid. 
  @C-HEAD:Hawkshaw Class Infiltration Bioroid . . . . 52 points 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> ST +1 [10]; DX +2 [20]; IQ +1 [10]; HT +1 [10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Appearance (Attractive) [5] (Reaction: +1); Combat
  Reflexes [15]; Increased Speed +2 [50]; Morph (Copies Personality +100%, Genetic Match
  +50%, Cannot Duplicate Clothing -5%, Cannot Reuse Forms -50%, Fatiguing Change -10%,
  Needs Sample -15%, Slow Change -10%) [24]; Night Vision [10]; Patron: the Alesandese
  Group (very powerful organization, supplies equipment, appears 9 or less) [30]; Silence
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>2 [10] (Stealth Bonus (Moving): 2; Stealth Bonus (Motionless): 4);
  Single-Minded [5]; Unfazeable [15]; Zeroed [10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Attentive [-1]; Callous [-6]; Careful [-1]; Clueless
  [-10]; Hidebound [-5]; Involuntary Duty to the Alesandese Group 15 or less, [-20];
  Oblivious [-3]; Poverty [-25] (Starting Wealth: $0) [-25]; Self-Destruct [-20]; Selfless
  [-10]; Social Stigma: Valuable Property [-10]; Short Lifespan <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>5
  [-50]; Slave Mentality [-40]; Uncongenial [-1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Acting-IQ+2 [6]; Stealth-DX+1 [4]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> English-IQ (native) [0]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Taboo Traits:<$> Hawkshaw bioroids cannot have any trait that suggests
  excitability or extreme emotion of any kind, nor can they have any mental or physical
  disadvantage that is caused or influenced by a genetic factor (for example. epilepsy or
  manic-depressive). 
  @TEXT:This is a base-model Hawkshaw, fresh out of the growth tank. Variations are
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  possible, as with natural species, plus all Hawkshaws receive extensive special ops-style
  training before they are deployed on their first mission (see box, p. 00). It will be
  extremely unlikely for anyone outside of the Alesandese Group to encounter a Hawkshaw
  that possesses nothing but its racial abilities. Special models may have better
  attributes and higher levels of Appearance and Silence, as well as any other traits their
  designer may deem necessary. 
  @TEXT:Hawkshaws are always attractive women, apparently human in appearance. They tend to
  be Amazonian in size, though <\#208> generate height as for a human male and add one
  inch, then determine weight normally for a female. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Typical Hawkshaw Skill Set 
  @TEXT-BOX:The training a Hawkshaw bioroid undergoes after their decanting is brutal and
  extensive. The Alesandese Group employs some of the best teachers of military and
  espionage skills available in the world, and they drive the bioroids through an intense,
  sometimes deadly, one-year course of study that turns a fresh clone into a walking
  weapon. The following list of skills is the bare minimum a Hawkshaw can be expected to
  possess upon "graduating" to active agent status, and many are more skilled when they
  complete their training. It goes without saying that once they are active agents, they
  continue to improve and expand their skills. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Hawkshaw "Basic Training:"<I> Acrobatics-DX [4]; Beam Weapons/TL9
  (pistol)-DX+3 [4]; Camouflage-IQ+2 [4]; Computer Operation/TL9-IQ+2 [4];
  Demolition/TL9-IQ+1 [4]; Garrote-DX+2 [4]; Guns/TL9 (Pistol)-DX+3 [4]; Guns/TL9
  (Rifle)-DX+3 [4]; Holdout-IQ+1 [4]; Jumping-DX+1 [2]; Karate-DX [4]; Knife-DX+1 [2];
  Knife Throwing-DX+1 [2]; Lip Reading-IQ [2]; Pickpocket-DX [4]; Poisons-IQ [4];
  Running-HT [4]; Savoir-Faire-IQ+2 [4]; Sex Appeal-IQ+1 [4]; Shadowing-IQ+1 [4]; Survival
  (Urban)-IQ [2]; Swimming-DX+1 [2]; Tactics-IQ+1 [6]; Traps/TL9-IQ+1 [4]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The "basic training" package is worth 96 points; after undergoing it, an
  absolutely average Hawkshaw bioroid is usually one year old and a 158-point character. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:General Description 
  @TEXT:Uniformly female, the Hawkshaw-class bioroids (named after the corporate security
  officer on whom their core genotype was originally based) are designed to be
  infiltrators, spies and assassins. Their inherent gifts make them not only stealthy, but
  capable of assuming the shape of anyone from whom they can acquire a tiny genetic sample.
  To the delight of their engineers, they have an ability to copy a target's personality
  which seems almost psychic at times. It wasn't in the design specs, and no one seems to
  know where it came from, but every Hawkshaw so far has had it, and no one at Alesandese
  is complaining. 
  @TEXT:Although their primary purpose has always been as agents to be deployed in covert
  operations against rival corporations, Hawkshaws have found other roles within
  Alesandese. No small number are employed as bodyguards for various executive officers,
  and a number serve in the corporate Security department. The vast majority, however,
  remain part of the black program which spawned them. 
  @TEXT:There is no such thing as an average or unattractive Hawkshaw; they are designed to
  be pleasing to the eye, and many specialty models are stunningly gorgeous. This reflects
  more upon the aesthetics of the Alesandese Group's genetic engineers than any sexist
  tendencies in either them or society at large, although some have admitted to being
  influenced by the stories of <I>femmes fatales<I> of the past, like Mata Hari. All racial
  types, and variations therein, are found among their numbers, although given their
  shapeshifting abilities, it's not always certain that the appearance a Hawkshaw is
  wearing is necessarily her own. The only exception to this endless selection are the
  "elite" models, who are clones of exceptionally successful predecessors. No variation is
  allowed in them; they are all identical to their distinguished "ancestor". 
  @TEXT:The first Hawkshaws were decanted almost three decades ago; only the executives in
  charge of the black division where they are made know exactly how many have been deployed
  in the years since. There are usually 20 or 30 undergoing "basic training" at any given
  time, but the exact number currently active in the field is a secret classified at the
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  highest corporate levels. 
  @C-HEAD:Psychology 
  @TEXT:Being a race subject to a slave mentality, Hawkshaw bioroids need either constant
  supervision, or flexible long-term orders. (Typically, the latter might be something
  like, "Keep yourself in fighting trim through regular exercise and sparring, eat and
  sleep properly, and undertake new training whenever the opportunity is presented.")
  Unlike most so-called "slave races", though, the Hawkshaws are capable of considerable
  individual initiative <\#208> but only when they are ordered to demonstrate it, which is
  almost always as part of a mission. This limited independence lasts only as long as the
  Hawkshaw's mission is considered incomplete. It continues even if a designated "master"
  is in her presence, unless that master terminates the mission, allowing her to operate at
  peak efficiency even in situations where other slave races would fall on their faces
  groveling at their masters' feet. 
  @TEXT:While they have been known to be devoted to their masters and trainers, Hawkshaws
  have a reputation within the company as "the Ice Maidens". Although not actively hostile
  to one another or humans, Hawkshaws are not communal beings, and prefer to be alone if
  given a choice. They are not subject to much in the way of emotion, as that was
  considered a liability during field operations. They are, in fact, untroubled by almost
  all extremes of emotion and present a phlegmatic, unmoved face to the world unless the
  needs of a mission require otherwise. They do have a tendency to focus on their tasks to
  the exclusion of anything else, and lack both a strong sense of self-identity and any
  real empathy for other beings. Only their slave mentality prevents them from being active
  sociopaths. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Hawkshaw Names 
  @TEXT-BOX:Hawkshaw bioroids are not so much named as designated. Basic Hawkshaws have
  inception numbers, made up of a two-letter prefix (the first indicates the production
  facility, the second the growth tank) separated by a hyphen by a four-digit number
  indicating the year and month the bioroid was decanted (for example, GT-0212). 
  @TEXT-BOX:Hawkshaws who get the attention and favor of their trainers are often given
  use-names and nicknames <\#208> usually (but not limited to) common female first names.
  If a particular Hawkshaw proves to be exceptional, she may be used as the "seed" for a
  new, "elite" production line, whose members which will then be identified with her
  use-name plus a number indicating the order in which they were cloned: Alysse-12,
  Miranda-5. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Of course, when on a mission, a Hawkshaw uses whatever name is appropriate to
  the identity she has been assigned or which she has assumed with her morph powers. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  @TEXT:Although they appear to be human, and in fact share in large part the same basic
  genetic structure, Hawkshaws and humans have less in common than humans and chimpanzees. 
  @TEXT:To make them more tractable, and to minimize long-term "disposal" problems, the
  Alesandese Group has had them built with both a slave mentality and a
  drastically-shortened lifespan that ends in a rapid breakdown of their systems. Even if
  their development were not accelerated using forced growth tanks, they would mature in a
  mere three years; their operating lifespan from the time they reach maturity is only
  eight years. After that, they die of old age.<!s>.<!s>. quickly. 
  @TEXT:Not surprisingly, they are consequently not interfertile with humans <\#208> or any
  other known humanoid race <\#208> again, by design. Given their short operating lifespan,
  allowing them to carry a child and give birth naturally (despite its savings in
  production costs) would be an unprofitable waste of time. Therefore, even though they are
  physically compatible with human males, they are sterile and completely lack anything in
  the way of a libido <\#208> although, once again, they are expert at simulating one
  should a mission call for it. 
  @TEXT:When not out on assignment, most of the current Hawkshaw population lives in a
  comfortably-appointed complex hidden beneath one of the larger buildings on the
  Alesandese headquarters campus. In addition to the "barracks", this complex houses the
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  production and growth facilities as well as the training areas. While the population
  fluctuates, what with production runs, basic trianing, individual lifecycles, and
  casualties on the outside, there are usually around 80 to 100 Hawkshaws present at all
  times. 
  @C-HEAD:Hawkshaws in the Campaign 
  @TEXT:The Hawkshaw-Class Infiltration Bioroid was designed for use in a TL9 campaign with
  a strong cyberpunk flavor. As is usual for this kind of world, powerful corporations are
  battling, both in the marketplace and in the dark of night, for dominance. Mechanical and
  electronic technologies, be they from a single monolithic megacorporation or from a large
  number of struggling competitors, currently enjoy the lion's share of the economy. And a
  single visionary biotech company is hoping to upset the status quo. 
  @TEXT:Hawkshaw bioroids are the Alesandese Group's answer to the challenge. Alesandese
  deploys the Hawkshaws on missions ranging from simple espionage, through seduction and
  blackmail, to the sabotage of corporate assets and the assassination and/or replacement
  of inconvenient executives and government officials. 
  @TEXT:Unless the party is a team in the employ of Alesandese, they are most likely to
  encounter one or more Hawkshaws while the latter are deployed on a mission. Whether they
  meet as enemies or not depends on the goals of both sides <\#208> and whether or not the
  Hawkshaw thinks she can better accomplish her goals by masquerading as one of the party
  members.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT:A Hawkshaw could be anywhere. Anyone from a government official who recently
  changed his anti-biotech stance to the security guard who's in the wrong sector during
  his shift could be a Hawkshaw. She could be the cute college grad who wants a drunken
  executive to help her get a job, or who offers to be his mistress <\#208> at least long
  enough to get him alone. If there is anything certain about Hawkshaws, it's that no one
  outside of Alesandese has any idea they exist, and (for the moment) they're leaving other
  biotech firms alone. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Model Variations and Competitors' Knock-Offs 
  @TEXT-BOX:The Hawkshaw bioroid is a lifeform engineered and grown from scratch to serve
  as a corporate espionage agent. In addition to the "basic" model as described in the main
  text, custom bioroids built to a mission (or executive's) specifications are possible.
  The Alesandese Group's genetic engineers can add almost any trait that is not occult or
  supernatural in nature. Certain "super" traits are also possible, as evidenced by the
  Hawkshaw's morph abilities, but the GM should take care to limit exactly what is
  available, lest the campaign turn into a supers game. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Some organizations may want to have agents like the Hawkshaws but will not have
  quite Alesandese's level of technology available to them. Companies like this may have
  had to settle for rebuilding existing human beings (either "recruited" or kidnapped
  outright), especially if they're in a relative hurry. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Modified humans will not usually be as exceptional as an engineered lifeform
  unless the organization in question has access to such advanced means as a Metamorphosis
  Virus (see p. BT79-84). Attribute increases may be lower or fewer, the number of added
  Advantages may be smaller, and most importantly, the Self-Destruct/Short Lifespan/Slave
  Mentality combination will be replaced by the less complicated but almost as effective
  tactic of implanting a Cortex Bomb and subjecting the new agent to a barrage of powerful
  psychological conditioning. One advantage re-engineered humans hold over a Hawkshaw or
  its equivalent is that they tend to be noticeably more personable, and are able to
  function better on missions that require extensive social functions. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Above and beyond the differences in one's raw materials, individual agents can
  be customized for different mission profiles, especially if they are grown to order by an
  organization like the Alesandese Group. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Other Settings 
  @TEXT:A lower tech level \#208> something closer to the traditional cyberpunk world,
  perhaps <\#208> can be accomodated if the GM wishes by the expedient of noting that the
  Alesandese Group is an innovative biotech firm which is reputed to be <I>in advance<I> of
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  the cutting edge as the rest of the industry sees it. Why this is can be a campaign hook
  or an unsolved mystery.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT:If a cyberpunk of biopunk flavor is not preferred, the Hawkshaws could work in any
  post-human/heavy-bio-engineering setting, such as <BI>GURPS Transhuman Space.<$> They
  would also not be out of place in a world like <BI>Terradyne.<$> 
  @TEXT:Worlds with higher tech levels than 10, though, are problematic for these shifters.
  The Proteus Virus becomes available at TL11, with full Metamorphic Virii common at TL12;
  with the kind of changes either can impose on a pre-existing organism, there would be
  little need to specifically engineer a new one to do the Hawkshaw's job. 
  @TEXT:Of course, the GM need not feel constrained to technological worlds. In Yrth, or
  the earth of <BI>GURPS Technomancer<$>, Hawkshaws could be summoned beings, manifested
  spirits, or even truly ground-breaking golems. In a Lovecraft-style <BI>Horror<$> game,
  they may be some kind of Elder Spawn, aiding a fine old New England firm for what are
  sure to be dark and disturbing reasons of their own. And finally, in <BI>GURPS In
  Nomine,<$> they might actually be Lilim (possessing the Celestial Song of Form, of
  course), responding to rituals cast by would-be corporate sorcerers and playing along
  with the gag until they've racked up enough favors to make it worth all the effort. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Hawkshaw Characters 
  @TEXT-BOX:A typical bioroid fresh out of "basic training" and deployed on her first
  mission would be a 150-point character; assuming she spent the bare minimum on her
  "standard skills" (see box, p. 00), that would leave her player with a few points with
  which to customize the character <\#208> more, if she took some disadvantages above and
  beyond those in the racial package. 
  @TEXT-BOX:More experienced Hawkshaws could reach 200 or even possibly 250 points in their
  brief lifespans, making them either opponents to be feared or allies to be coveted. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Despite the fact that they are engineered, variations are still common among
  Hawkshaw bioroids. Remember that the racial package is still just a template, a starting
  point, even though these beings are effectively mass-produced. Appearance, skill set,
  even attributes and leveled advantages can vary away from the racial norm. 
  @TEXT-BOX:For a Hawkshaw PC, the GM should note that the frequency of appearance for the
  Alesandese Group Patron represents not any inherent difficulty in reaching the company,
  but in the company's ability to get help to a highly secret, ultimately deniable agent. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Free Hawkshaws 
  @TEXT-BOX:The GM should consider the following option if he wants to encourage Hawkshaw
  PCs, or wants to create a truly challenging Hawkshaw enemy. Instead of being specifically
  engineered into the Hawkshaw genotype, their slave mentality is instead a conditioned
  behavior imposed on the bioroids' developing minds during the forced growth process
  (which explains their limited ability to switch it "on and off"). Although it is
  extremely difficult, that conditioning <I>can<I> be broken. In other words, any Hawkshaw
  with enough available character points can buy off the Slave Mentality disadvantage
  outright. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Most Hawkshaws who do break their conditioning usually escape from the
  company's service by faking their deaths on a mission and slipping into the population at
  large, relying on their morphing abilities to hide them. They usually find work in the
  fields that they know well, such as mercenary or security, although some have become
  criminals, others business persons, and at least one became an artist of no small repute. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Those that choose not to escape (some stay, trying to help others achieve
  independence) must take a -30-point Secret to cover their free will. (A "rogue" Hawkshaw
  is an immediate target for termination.) 
  @TEXT-BOX:In a campaign employing this option, the highest echelons of Alesandese are
  aware of the deserter Hawkshaws, and is justifiably paranoid about them. Unless they buy
  off more of their disadvantages, they are effectively sociopaths <\#208> very dangerous
  sociopaths who might well bear a grudge against the company. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  (((START BOX))) 
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Miranda-5 . . . . 200 points 
  @TEXT-BOX:Female; Age 5; 5'11''; 150 lbs.; Black hair, grey eyes, porcelain complexion,
  sleekly muscled with a feline grace. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 11 [0]; <B>DX<B> 14 [20]; <B>IQ<B> 12 [10]; HT 11 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.25; Move 7. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 7; Parry 10. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 1d-1; <I>Kick:<I> 1d+2; <I>Thrust<I> 1d-1;
  <I>Swing<I> 1d+1 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Absolute Timing [5]; Alertness +2 [10]; Appearance
  (Beautiful) [10]; Combat Reflexes [15] (Fright Check: 14); Hawkshaw Racial Package [52];
  Silence +2 [10] (Totl Stealth Bonus (Moving): 4; Stealth Bonus (Motionless): 8). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> No Sense of Humor [-10]; Stubbornness [-5]; Vow: Always
  complete her mission or die trying [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Doesn't like assuming male forms; Doesn't like the idea of
  being another "cookie cutter" clone product; Easily distracted by beauty and aesthetics;
  Non-conformist in her limited way; Quiet and thoughtful when not on a mission. [-5] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Acrobatics-14 [4]; Acting-14 [6]; Beam Weapons (Blaster
  pistol)/TL9-18 [4]; Camouflage-14 [4]; Climbing-13 [1]; Computer Operation/TL9-14 [4];
  Demolition/TL9-13 [4]; Garrote-16 [4]; Guns (Pistol)/TL9-18 [4]; Guns (Rifle)/TL9-18 [4];
  Holdout-13 [4]; Jumping-15 [2]; Karate-14 [4] (Parry: 10); Knife-15 [2] (Parry: 7); Knife
  Throwing-15 [2]; Lip Reading-13 [4]; Lockpicking/TL9-11 [1]; Mechanic/TL9-12 [2];
  Pickpocket-14 [4]; Poisons-12 [4]; Running (Move: 7.625)-11 [4]; Savoir-Faire-14 [4]; Sex
  Appeal-11 [2]; Shadowing-13 [4]; Stealth-15 [4]; Streetwise-11 [1]; Survival (Urban)-13
  [4]; Swimming-15 [2]; Tactics-13 [6]; Traps/TL9-13 [4]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> English (native)-12 [0]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Miranda is the fifth clone spawned from the original Miranda, and like her
  forebear she is a skilled and deadly assassin. At five years old, Miranda has been
  serving Alesandese for four years, and has just entered "middle age" for a Hawkshaw. In
  that time, she has racked up an impressive record of kills, including five politicians,
  three consumer activists, a half-dozen assorted executives, and the entire board of
  directors for a robotics firm whose products were becoming too organic in appearance and
  construction for the peace of mind of several of Alesandese's upper executives. 
  @TEXT-BOX:She is silent, deadly and implacable when aimed at a target, displaying an
  inventiveness in her methods that is both playful and artistic without being in the least
  sadistic. She doesn't hesitate to stoop to cruder methods if their employment guarantees
  efficiency and comprehensive results, but if time and her orders allow, she will choose
  demises tailored for the individual targets. A case in point is the aforementioned board
  of directors, who all died within 48 hours of each other, with causes ranging from a
  simple automobile accident to mis-prepared blowfish sushi. Her primary on-the-job quirk
  is a tendency to avoid taking on male shapes when she must use her morph abilities. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Outside of missions, she is quiet and thoughtful, and as non-conformist as her
  slave mentality allows, making her the "goth" of the Hawkshaws <\#208> a trait which she
  shares with all her predecessors, ironically enough. She is attracted by objects which
  appeal to her (somewhat quirky) sense of beauty and aesthetics, and has had to restrain
  herself on more than one occasion when this attraction manifested during a mission. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Of late, Miranda's individualism has been running up hard against the walls of
  her slave mentality. In campaigns where this is a conditioned state and not a genetic
  one, Miranda has begun to wear away at her conditioning (in game terms, she has
  accumulated 20 or so character points toward buying off the disadvantage, above and
  beyond the 200 in her character total). If she were to break it down completely, she just
  might vanish into the night in the middle of her next mission. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Miranda-5 is a 200-point character suitable for use in a TL9 <BI>GURPS
  Cyberpunk<$> game (or its <BI>Biotech<$> equivalent). GMs looking to expand on her
  hand-to-hand fighting ability should feel free to upgrade her Karate to a full roster of
  <BI>GURPS Martial Arts<$> maneuvers and skills. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Jaguar Warrior 
  @TEXT:<I>.<!s>.<!s>.and as we cantered up through the marsh we saw the jaguar high among
  the forked limbs of a taruman tree. It was a beautiful picture <\#208> the spotted coat
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  of the big, lithe, formidable cat fairly shone as it snarled defiance.<!s>.<!s>.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> Theodore Roosevelt, <B>Through the Brazilian Wilderness.<B><I> 
  @TEXT:The Jaguar Warrior knows nothing but violence. His only pastime is death, his only
  love war. The elite shock troops of an ancient and savage Bronze-Age empire, the Jaguar
  Warriors are bound by vows and magic to serve their emperor, and in doing so gain a
  divine power <\#208> the ability to change into fierce jungle predators. By donning the
  skin of a jaguar that each wears as a cape (their only garment in battle, except for a
  weapons harness), they may take the shape of a jaguar in order to destroy their nation's
  enemies. 
  @TEXT:Not surprisingly, the nations bordering on the Empire (with whom it is constantly
  at war), as  well as the many and varied enemies of both the Empire and its priesthood,
  look upon the Jaguar Warriors with a superstitious but not unjustified fear. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Jaguar Warriors: Historical Origins 
  @TEXT-BOX:Although the main text is intentionally vague as to the home and ethnicity of
  the Jaguar Warriors, they are in fact based on material from the historical record. As
  the Spanish discovered when conquering the New World, the Aztec armies were liberally
  supplied with warriors from two rival orders of "knights": the Jaguars and the Eagles.
  (There is some evidence <\#208> particularly the murals at the monastary of Ixmiquilpan
  <\#208> of a third warrior order, the Coyotes.) 
  @TEXT-BOX:Like their fantasy counterparts in the main text, the Jaguar and Eagle Knights
  were elite shock troops, fierce and savage in battle. Unlike their fantasy counterparts
  here, they were quite numerous, comprising entire armies at times. They were also, it
  should go without saying, <I>not<I> shapeshifters. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Although they were clearly respected and feared, there appears to be some
  confusion about the status of the Jaguar Knights within Aztec society. A number of
  sources (including <BI>GURPS Aztecs<$>) describe them and their Eagle counterparts as the
  lowest orders of knighthood, and as such open to commoners. Other sources paint them as
  aristocratic elites to which only seasoned warriors  or noblemen were offered membership. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The few surviving images and records suggest that they were a sight of fierce,
  colorful beauty to see. Over red loincloths, they wore tanned jaguar pelts, which, if the
  Ixmiquilpan murals are accurate, were tailored into something like bodysuits, with the
  tail hanging free behind them. Over this they wore red cloaks or layered robes. On their
  heads were plumed headresses and helmets, while arm-rings and other jewelry adorned them.
  Finally, they were armed with jade warclubs or obsidian swords (despite the name, little
  more than clubs themselves) and bore <I>chimalli<I> (small, round war shields). 
  @TEXT-BOX:Unfortunately, they were no match for the Spaniards, who slaughtered them to a
  man. By the time the Ixmiquilpan frescos were painted, a mere 50 years after the conquest
  of the former Aztec empire, the real Jaguar warriors and their fellows were a quietly
  fading memory. 
  @TEXT-BOX:GMs who would like to recreate the Spanish conquuest using shapeshifting
  warriors, or who simply want to present the Empire with greater verisimilitude, should
  consult <BI>GURPS Aztecs.<$> In particular, a sidebar on p. AZ49 covers both equipment
  and Troop Strengh for both Jaguars and Eagles. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Sons of the Empire 
  @TEXT:Every spring throughout the Empire, at a special ritual, the priests of the
  Empire's bloodthirsty gods inspect all the male children, both highborn and low, who
  celebrated their sixth birthday during the previous year. No one knows what the priests
  look for, but every parent hopes that their child possesses the mysterious quality which
  indicates the gods' favor <\#208> the quality that signifies their son's destiny to
  become a Jaguar Warrior. 
  @TEXT:The priests select approximately one in every three hundred boys. These youths
  immediately become wards of the state and are referred to as "Sons of the Empire". Taken
  with much celebration from their proud families, they are sent to one of several
  temple-run training towns, hidden deep in the jungle hearland of the Empire. There they
  are raised by a mix of priests and veteran soldiers, their old lives and social status
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  forgotten as they embrace their new family in the Imperial army. 
  @TEXT:Their new lives are harsh and overwhelming, with every waking moment unending
  preparation for their role as elite Imperial troops. Their young lives are filled with a
  combination of fierce exercise and combat training, and an even more punishing regimen of
  religious and ceremonial instruction. More than three-quarters die before they can
  receive their jaguar skin at age 17 <\#208> victims of the brutal training or their own
  teachers, who are more than eager to slay the recruits in their charge for any perceived
  weakness or soft-heartedness. The goal is to turn these boys into the ultimate human
  fighting machines, heartless, bloodthirsty and more than capable of striking fear into
  the hearts of the Empire's enemies. 
  @TEXT:Those who survive their training become all that and more. 
  @TEXT:In their seventeenth year, each surviving Son of the Empire swears dark and fearful
  oaths of loyalty to the Emperor and the gods, and having done so receives his jaguar
  skin. An item of great magic, it is made specifically for him; when wearing it, he may
  take on the shape of one of the great jungle cats. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Psychology of a Jaguar Warrior 
  @TEXT-BOX:In addition to the physical conditioning his training imparts, a potential
  Jaguar Warrior undergoes no small amount of <I>mental<I> conditioning as well. The goal
  is to pair the peak of human perfection with a mind focused entirely on warfare,
  bloodshed and brutality. Friendships between boys any deeper than simple alliances are
  discouraged, often by publicly executing one of the friends and holding the other up to
  scorn in front of his peers. Violent resolutions to the smallest conflicts are encouraged
  and rewarded; bullies and those that fight dirty often become their instructors'
  favorites. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Any trace of empathy, compassion or affection is systematically ground out of
  the trainees by methods ranging from simple ridicule to near-fatal beatings. In extreme
  cases where a boy is otherwise promising, the priests may resort to various potions and
  spells to permanently alter his personality. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The ultimate result of this "training" is a soldier who is all but psychopath
  or sociopath, living and breathing only for violence and bloodshed. In some cases, only
  the fear of the gods and the power of their priests keeps a Jaguar Warrior from simply
  killing his way through the population at large <\#208> that, and the Imperial policy of
  catering to the every need of the Jaguar Warriors. 
  @TEXT-BOX:It might be possible for a non-psychopath to survive the training and
  conditioning and emerge relatively sane, but he'd have to be both an extraordinary actor
  and anything but squeamish. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:My Life As A Jaguar 
  @TEXT:After a final month of training in the use of both their skins and their feline
  shapes, the new Jaguars leave the towns where they have lived for twelve years, and join
  the ranks of the Imperial Warrior Elite wherever they may be stationed. There they live
  lives of intense training alternating with sybaritic pleasure; they are pampered and
  indulged by the Empire which depends upon their ferocity and puissance in battle. Their
  days consist of constant training and contests of strength and skill against each other.
  Their nights are flush with the best food and wine the Empire can provide, with their
  every need seent to by comely, willing servants. All this and more is theirs for the
  asking for as long as they are able to fight in the Imperial service. 
  @C-HEAD:At the Front.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT:Although their numbers could form a small army, the Jaguar Warriors specialize
  instead in small-unit tactics. Armed with spears and wearing only their enchanted skins,
  they enter battles as skirmishers, supporting the main force of regulars by attacking the
  enemy's flank and rear, either alone or in small groups. 
  @TEXT:Not surprisingly given their training, the Jaguar Warriors attack with a
  single-minded viciousness, but they do not hesitate to flee when the battle is hopeless.
  A common tactic is for about a dozen Jaguar Warriors to attack in human form. Then, if
  the battle starts to go against them, they will throw their spears and transform,
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  continuing the fight in were-form. Often the shock of witnessing the change is enough to
  completely demoralize the enemy. The Jaguar Warriors do not all change at once; rather
  one warrior will cover one or two of his comrades while they transform, then the jaguar
  will protect his former guardian while he changes. 
  @C-HEAD:.<!s>.<!s>.And Elsewhere 
  @TEXT:Formal battles are not the only venue in which Jaguar Warriors can be found. As
  almost every major settlement in the Empire houses at least a few Jaguars, they
  occasionally are seen supplementing (or completely supplanting) the regular forces who
  act as the Empire's "police". Such duties are almost never left entirely in their hands,
  though, as they have a tendency to lose interest if there is insufficient bloodshed. 
  @TEXT:The Jaguars are also the Emperor's counter-revolutionary forces. Whether it is a
  newly-conquered province or a rebellious village in the heart of the Empire, if there are
  challenges to Imperial control, the Jaguar Warriors are usually deployed to suppress it.
  Setting a dozen or so loose, especially after depriving them of their accustomed
  pleasures for a day or two, is guaranteed to "pacify" the most troublesome region. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Rivalries 
  @TEXT-BOX:The Jaguars are not the only shapeshifting warriors available to the Empire.
  Just like their real-world counterparts (see box, p. 00), they have a standing rivalry
  with the Eagle Warriors. This order, as their name implies, are were-eagles, and are
  selected, raised and trained in much the same manner as the Jaguars. As were-eagles, they
  have a less direct involvement in battles, acting mainly as lookouts and air support and
  only rarely dive-bombing a choice target. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Naturally, this prompts a great deal of insults; the Jaguars call the Eagles
  cowardly and useless in a fight, while the Eagles counter by calling the Jaguars
  thickheaded brawlers with no grace. At times the rivalry can grow violent or even deadly;
  no love is lost between the orders, and the Empire goes to great lengths to keep them
  separated, even up to the point when a battle is engaged. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In addition to the Eagles, there may also be a third faction, in an equal
  rivalry with the other two. The Coyote Warriors are, as their name indicates,
  were-coyotes. They can operate either as scouts or as front-line troops, and as such come
  under fire from both other sides, who additionally taunt them for indecisiveness. Their
  rivalries with the other two orders is somewhat less acrimonious than that between the
  Jaguars and the Eagles, but it is just as vociferous. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:These impromptu twelve-man "squads" are the highest level of organization the
  Jaguars ever bother with, and they tend to form (and disband) spontaneously. Other than
  the wizard-priests who watch over them (not to mention the Emperor himself), they have no
  command structure to speak of. Among the Jaguars, Reputation substitutes for Rank, with
  the most violent and bloodthirsty of their number being the best known, the most
  respected, and the closest thing the order has to true officers. 
  @TEXT:Perhaps the greatest testament to their skill and power is their survival rate.
  Unlike many other weres, the Jaguars have no supernatural immunities to weaponry, nor are
  they any more resistant to damage and wounding than a natural jaguar. Yet even in the
  thick of battle they suffer fewer casualties than the regulars at whose sides they
  sometimes fight. 
  @C-HEAD:Building a Jaguar Warrior 
  @TEXT:All Jaguars are at least 175-point characters, heavily specialized in combat
  skills. They can be used as enemies, or as rather one-dimensional player characters. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Jaguar Template . . . . 170 points 
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +384, NPT: -268) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> Enhanced ST +13 (No Fine Manipulators) [78]; DX +4 [45];
  IQ -6 [-50]; HT +5 [60]; Reduced Hit Points -1 [-5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$> Alertness +13 [65]; Appearance (Attractive) [5]; Catfall
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  [10]; Claws [15]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Double-Jointed [5]; Faz Sense (3-hex range; -20%)
  [8]; Four Legs [5]; Night Vision [10]; Penetrating Call [5]; Sharp Teeth [5]; Silence
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>3 [15]; Thick Fur [29]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> Attentive [-1]; Bestial [-10]; Dull [-1]; Horizontal
  [-10]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead Broke)
  [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Short Arms [-10]; Short Lifespan <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>5 [-50];
  Sleepy (50%) [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]; Staid [-1]; Stubbornness [-5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Skills:<$> Climbing at DX [2]; Jumping at DX [1]; Stealth at DX+1 [4];
  and Survival (Desert, Jungle, Mountains, or Plains)-12 [2]. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Jaguar Warrior Template 
  @TEXT:Unlike the Arthurian werewolf (pp. 00-00), there is more to a Jaguar Warrior than a
  simple wereform. In the box on p. 00 can be found a basic package for building a Jaguar.
  It is not a full character in and of itself, but can be used as the foundation on which
  to build one. 
  @TEXT:Note that Jaguar Warriors do not lose their Status and other social advantages when
  they take jaguar form. Imperial citizens assume that any jaguar found in settled areas is
  a Warrior on his business, and treat him with cautious respect and courtesy. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Jaguar Warrior Training 
  @TEXT-BOX:In addition to their skin-based change, Jaguar Warriors all have the following
  trats (at least) upon achieving their skins: 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Jaguar Warrior Training Package . . . . 38 points plus were-form 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Alertness +2 [10]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Legal Enforcement
  Powers [10]; Status 2 [10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Bloodlust [-10]; Callous [-6]; Duty to Empire and
  Emperor [-10]; Selfish [-5]; Vow to always serve the Empire and the gods faithfully, and
  to not to misuse jaguar form [-10]; Uncongenial [-1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Axe/Mace-DX+1 [4]; Brawling-DX+2 [4]; Running-HT [4];
  Shield-DX+1 [2]; Spear-DX+1 [4]; Spear Thrower-DX+1 [4]; Spear Throwing-DX+1 [4];
  Survival (Jungle)-IQ+2 [6]; Tactics-IQ [4]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Lives for fighting and bloodshed. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Taboo Traits:<$> Empathy, Pacifism; Savoir-Faire and most other social
  skills. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Notes:<I> Jaguar Warriors are not known for their intellectual agility, even
  in the limited theatre of strategy and tactics. It is not uncommon for Jaguars to have IQ
  9 or lower, although at IQ 7 or less they become more trouble to the priests than they
  are worth. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The average TL for the Empire and the Jaguar Warriors is 1 (Bronze Age) and any
  TL skills will reflect this. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Jaguar Skin 
  @TEXT:The enchanted pelt which gives a Jaguar Warrior his ability to shift is a
  item-based were-form (q.v., p. 00). It starts with the basic Jaguar template (see box, p.
  00), but Jaguar Warriors must buy the were-form's IQ back up to their human form's level
  (usually +50 points). 
  @TEXT:To the basic animal form add the following limitations: Slow Change at -10% and a
  Cure/Cursebreak, which in this case represents a usage restriction. The Jaguar is "cured"
  (which is to say, his ability to change is rescinded) if he ever breaks the Vows listed
  in the character template. This is a fairly easy condition (-40%) which is commonly known
  (an additional -15%). However, the "cure" is temporary; the warrior can regain his
  shapechanging abilities by demonstrating sincere repentance and undergoing a
  reconsecration by a priest. This halves the value of the Cure/Cursebreak to -32%.
  Combined with the Slow Change, that discounts the were-form by -42%. 
  @TEXT:Finally, apply the modifiers for an item-based shift. The jaguar skin has the
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  modifiers Awkward [-10%], Breakable and Irreparable (DR 1, HP 10) [-30%], Can Be Hit at
  -2 [-20%], and Can Be Stolen by Stealth or Trickery (Not usable by others, absorbed in
  change) [-2%], for a total modifier of -62%. (Jaguar skins are <I>not<I> Unique; if a
  Warrior's skin is destroyed, the wizard-priests can make a new one for him.) The jaguar
  skin is absorbed in the change, and is only useable by the warrior for whom it was made. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: IxokMun . . . . 175 Points 
  @TEXT-BOX:Age 25; 7'4''; 320 lbs.; A hulking brute with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 14 [45]; <B>DX<B> 10 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 9 [-10]; <B>HT<B> 12 [20]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.50; Move 7. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 6; Parry 9; Block 7. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Combat Reflexes [15] (Fright Check: 11); Jaguar Warrior
  Training Package [38]; Patron: Villac Uma, Priest (9 or less) [15] (Equipment: Standard,
  +5); Reputation as a great warrior among the Jaguars +3 [5] (Reaction: +3; Recognized by:
  Small class, <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/3); Were-form: Jaguar [76]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Appearance (Ugly) [-10] (Reaction: -2); Bully [-10];
  Gigantism [-10]; Overconfidence [-10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Collects the severed ears of his opponents; Irritated by
  references to a play with a character who shares his name; Lives for fighting and
  bloodshed; Prefers to be called "Bal<\#135>m" ("Jaguar"). [-4] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Area Knowledge (Empire)-10 [2]; Axe/Mace-12 [4*] (Parry: 7);
  Brawling-13 [4*] (Parry: 9); Intimidation-10 [2]; Leadership-9 [0]; Running (Move: 7)-12
  [*]; Shield-12 [*] (Block: 6); Spear-11 [*] (Parry: 6); Spear Thrower-11 [*]; Spear
  Throwing-12 [*]; Survival (Jungle)-11 [*]; Tactics-9 [*]. (*Included in Jaguar Warrior
  Training Package.) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> Nahuatl (native)-9 [0]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:IxokMun is a giant of a man who has survived 8 years of near-constant battle as
  one of the Jaguar Warriors. A giant of a man who is always eager to plunge into the
  thickest part of the battle, he has gained a substantial reputation among his fellow
  Jaguars, and never seems to have a problem organizing a warband. Even so, he has few
  close associates among the Jaguar Warriors, as he takes a positive delight in
  intimidating and bullying them. With his size and strength, there is rarely anyone who
  can stand up to him. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The only thing he has that is close to a friend is Villac Uma, a powerful
  priest who took the boy IxokMun under his wing, and who watches over him even to this
  day. While Villac Uma is frequently traveling among the temples of the Empire, and thus
  hard to contact, he is always willing to give aid to his proteg<\#142>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:As a bully, he takes full advantage of his Gigantism to intimidate and overbear
  most of the other Jaguar Warriors with whom he associates. Surprisingly, this serves him
  in good stead when in battle, for his behavior is seen to be indicative of a great war
  leader, and many Warriors clamor to be part of any band he decides to organize.
  Furthermore, his great size in human form translates directly over to his feline shape
  when he takes it, producing a jaguar easily the size of a lion. In either form he will
  always stop to take an ear from an opponent he has killed; he has gathered quite a
  collection <\#208> not all of them enemy soldiers. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Off-duty, he takes full advantage of all the comforts and pleasures the Empire
  provides to the Jaguar Warriors. He rarely sees the same woman twice, though <\#208>
  usually at the request of the women, whom he bullies and abuses even worse than he does
  fellow warriors. 
  @TEXT-BOX:IxokMun shares his name with a lesser character in a play that has long been
  popular in the Empire, although he is unaware of this fact <\#208> theatrical
  presentations more sophisticated than crude physical comedy and suggestive dancing bore
  him. Attempts to make references and jokes to the play pass completely over his head;
  with the frequency with which it occurs, such jesting now angers him almost to violence,
  especially since he doesn't "get" the jokes. It has gotten to the point where he now
  wants people to refer to him simply as "Bal<\#135>m" ("Jaguar") instead of his real name. 
  (((END BOX))) 
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  @B-HEAD:Kitsune 
  @TEXT:<I>Kitsune is an animal supposed to be mysterious, fascinating, and mischievious.
  And he is believed to be very grateful for the kindness done to him, as seen in many
  tales, and is also affectionate as revealed in some dramas.<!s>.<!s>.<!s>. He is endowed
  with the subtle art of metamorphosis, and he is able to bewitch men in the guise of a
  charming girl. An exceedingly interesting and entertaining beast Kitsune is.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> from <B>Kitsune: Japan's Fox of Mystery, Romance, and Humour,<B> by
  Kiyoshi Nozaki<I> 
  @TEXT:The definitive hengeyokai, the <I>kitsune<I> (or fox-spirit) is a common figure in
  Japanese myth and folk tales. It is a shapeshifter with three forms: fox, hybrid
  fox-human, and human, although in the latter form there is always a detail that reveals
  its true nature. Mercurial and passionate, kitsune can range from mischievous practical
  jokers to incandescent beings of godlike power. Most are neutral, if not actually
  friendly, toward mankind, but there are some which are darker and far more fearsome. 
  @C-HEAD:Kitsune . . . . 262 points 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> ST -7 [-60]; DX +4 [45]; IQ +2 [20]; HT +2 [20]; Extra
  Fatique (Spellcasting only) +9 [18]; Reduced HP -6 [-30]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Acute Hearing +2 [4]; Acute Taste and Smell +2 [4];
  Appearance (Attractive) [5]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Decreased Life Support [10];
  Discriminatory Smell (Sense emotional state. +50%) [23]; Early Maturation
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1 [5]; Enhanced Move <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2 [5]; Four Legs [5];
  Fur [4]; Magery 1 [15]; Mana Enhancer [25]; Sharp Teeth [5]; Status 1 [5]; Ultrahearing
  [5]; Unaging [15]; Were-form: Fox-headed Humanoid Female (Absorptive Change to base form,
  Light Encumbrance +10%) [92]; Were-form: Human Female (Absorptive Change to base form,
  Light Encumbrance +10%) [120] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Bad Temper [-10]; Code of Honor (Always return a favor
  or a good deed, punish those who deserve it, always keep one's word and promises) [-10];
  Horizontal [-10]; Lecherousness [-15]; Mute [-25]; Odious Racial Habit: Prankster [-10];
  No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Short Arms [-10]; Sleepy (50%) [-10]. 
  @TEXT:<BI>Racial Quirks:<$> Amoral [-1]. 
  @TEXT:<I>Skills:<$> Running at DX [4]; Savoir-Faire (Kitsune society) at IQ+2 [default
  from Status]; Savoir-Faire (Mortal society) at IQ [default from Status]; Stealth at DX
  [2]. 
  @TEXT:<BI>Innate Spells:<$>Sound [2]; Simple Illusion [2]; Know Illusion [2]; Illusion
  Disguise [2]; Illusion Shell [2]; Complex Illusion [2]. 
  @D-HEAD:Kitsune Humanoid Form (female) . . . . 83 points 
  @TEXT:(PPT: +165, NPT: -54) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> Change ST to 10 [60] and Extra Fatigue to +2 [-14]; remove
  Reduced Hit Points [+30]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Remove Combat Reflexes [-15]; Decreased Life Support
  [-10]; Four Legs [-5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Add Unnatural Features (fox's head, fox tail) [-10].
  Remove Horizontal [+10]; Mute [+25]; No Fine Manipulators [+30]; Short Arms [+10}. 
  @D-HEAD:Kitsune Human Form (female) . . . . 109 points 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:(PPT: +175, NPT: -83) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> Change ST to 10 [60] and Extra Fatigue to +2 [-14]; remove
  Reduced Hit Points [+30]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Add Appearance (Beautiful) [+10]. Remove Combat Reflexes
  [-15]; Decreased Life Support [-10]; Discriminatory Smell [-15]; Four Legs [-5]; Fur
  [-4]; Sharp Teeth [-5]; Ultrahearing [-5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Add Unnatural Feature (fox tail) [-10]. Remove
  Horizontal [+10]; Mute [+25]; No Fine Manipulators [+30]; Short Arms [+10}. 
  @TEXT:This racial package defines the avatar of a one-tailed kitsune. More powerful
  kitsune are built by first adding additional tails (and the corresponding age), then by
  increasing Status, Magery, skills and spell selection. Appearance will also improve, and
  various protective and defensive advantages will be acquired. Ultimately, their magical
  abilities will expand to include almost everything involving illusion and creation, fire
  and light. 
  @TEXT:The prices for the above forms assume a character with average attributes for a
  kitsune. Different base form attributes <\#208> or customized attributes in either or
  both bipedal forms <\#208> can change the racial package cost. 
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  @TEXT:Note that the Unnatural Feature possessed by the human form always indicates the
  kitsune's true nature. Traditionally this feature will be a fox-like tail as noted in the
  package, but others are possible, including pointed ears, eyes that are too much like
  those of a fox in color or reflectivity, unusual hair coloration (red with a white
  stripe), and so on. This feature should be selected at the time of character creation and
  will not change. 
  @C-HEAD:General description 
  @TEXT:Sometimes called the "goblin fox" and the fox-spirit, as well as "Hu-Ching" in
  China, the kitsune (the word is both singular and plural) is probably the best-known
  creature of Japanese myth in the Western world. The name itself is built from two
  Japanese words: "kitsu", meaning either a fox or the yelps of a fox, and "ne", an
  affectionate feeling. Like the euphemistic "Good Folk" for the European faerie, this
  naming may well be a ploy to maintain the good graces of these powerful but amoral
  supernatural beings; Japanese mythology looks upon them with a confusing mixture of mild
  fear and outright affection. 
  @TEXT:Odd dichotomies and paradoxes abound when kitsune are concerned. Firstly, a kitsune
  is a fox <\#208> a <I>natural<I> fox. In fact, <I>all<I> foxes are actually kitsune.
  However, even though a kitsune is a "natural" fox, it is also a spirit, with a
  non-corporeal aspect. While their spirit-nature is the source of their power, their
  natural state is fully physical. They are as much creatures of the corporeal world as
  humans. Even so, the kitsune is a being that in the original myths can range from a
  low-powered trickster to a being of nearly godlike puissance, depending on its age and
  nature. 
  @TEXT:The vast majority of kitsune are female or prefer female shapes; the default
  alternate forms above reflect this. There are male kitsune (or at least kitsune who take
  male forms), but even they are effeminate. The templates above are valid for either
  gender and need not be changed. 
  @TEXT:Native-form kistune are identical to ordinary foxes in appearance and size.
  Determine height and weight as normal for their human and humanoid forms. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Kitsune Magic 
  @TEXT-BOX:As embodied spirits, Kitsune are quite naturally creatures of magic. Because of
  this, they can buy additional levels of both Magery and Mana Enhancer (p. CI40) as they
  grow older. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Furthermore, by dint of both basic nature and scholarship, they are all
  illusionists. Kitsune start with a basic grounding in the Illusion and Creation college,
  and most expand on that as they grow older; it is a rare kitsune who does not have full
  mastery of the college by their 200th year. Few bother to learn much magic beyond that,
  but it is possible (and indeed likely in the case of the eldest and most-tailed) for a
  kistune to be a gifted and versatile mage. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Their skill with illusions is legendary. According to some of the legends about
  them, even the most basic of kitsune illusions are not <I>just<I> illusions <\#208> they
  are in fact actually <I>real<I> for their duration, being more transformations than
  seemings. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Above and beyond illusions, kitsune are known to favor the Fire College and the
  Light and Darkness College. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Resisting Magic 
  @TEXT-BOX:As if this weren't enough, kitsune are said to be resistant to magic used on
  <I>them<I> by others, as well. This simply may be the result of high attributes (and
  corresponding resistance rolls), but the GM may want to consider allowing kitsune to
  purchase Magic Resistance despite also possessing Magery. In such a case, the Magic
  Resistance doesn't affect their spellcasting, and will not function against spells cast
  with the kitsune's True Name (see box, p. 00). 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Psychology 
  @TEXT:Perhaps the most definitive characteristic of the kitsune pyschology is the overall
  feminine nature of the race. Even though the genders are equally represented in their
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  population, most male kitsune are noticeably effeminate when compared to male humans, and
  prefer to take female shapes and roles when interacting with mortals. Even those males
  who prefer to assume male forms are still <I>bishonen<I> <\#208> vaguely feminine in both
  appearance and behavior. 
  @TEXT:Like many other supernatural creatures, kitsune are first and foremost tricksters
  and pranksters. While it is a major component of their psychology, they are not
  necessarily compulsive about it; myth and legend describe no small number of kitsune who
  were tirelessly devoted to causes or friends, or who were willing to labor long,
  prankless hours for the good of their neighbors or villages. However, the majority of
  kitsune have nothing resembling human morals, and entertain themselves with practical
  jokes and elaborate deceptions upon unwary mortals. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Kitsune Names 
  @TEXT-BOX:While in Western mythology most non-human creatures drift namelessly through
  their appearances, individual kitsune are usually referred to by name in the tales where
  they appear. Not surprisingly, a kitsune's name is evocative of both its personality and
  the role it has chosen to play. It is also the legacy that they leave to posterity,
  whether that posterity is mortals or other kitsune. Often slyly descriptive of the
  kitsune's preferred form or favorite prank, or indicative of its usual role in the
  community in which it lives, these names are not unlike those that humans would take. 
  @TEXT-BOX:GMs looking to name kitsune characters should remember that in Japanese (unlike
  English) names have meanings, usually descriptive and often poetic, which are obvious to
  those who speak the language. GMs seeking proper verisimilitude may want to consult an
  online or paper Japanese-English dictionary in order to find or construct appropriate
  names. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:True Names 
  @TEXT-BOX:However, the name a kitsune gives to mortals is simply a use-name. Like so many
  other supernatural creatures, they have secret true names which, if discovered, can be
  used to bind, banish or manipulate them. While it's possible to magically coerce a
  kitsune without its true name, it is difficult and potentially deadly <\#208> the
  stronger the kitsune, the more dangerous it is to make the attempt without the name
  handy. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Kitsune resist normally any spells cast upon them without the use of their true
  names. If a spell is cast using her true name, a kitsune has a penalty of -(10-number of
  tails) to any resistance rolls. If she successfully resists, or the spell fails to
  incapacitate her, the kitsune will be hostile to the caster and his companions (if she
  wasn't already) and will immediately counterattack to the best of her ability. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Testing and Tempting 
  @TEXT:This is not just random behavior, though. Like many other beings in myths around
  the globe, the kitsune can be said to test mortals, and mete out rewards or punishments
  accordingly. The "help" they provide to an immoral or unethical person is usually to urge
  them along a path of self-destruction; there is no element of compulsion in these
  urgings, and if their target resists, there may be hope for him yet. Lesser flaws are are
  aggravated and enhanced, until they become visible to the target's friends and neighbors,
  at which point mortal mechanisms take over. In some cases, the kitsune will take a direct
  hand in punishing an individual, as in those tales where the kitsune "steals" the woman
  of an ignoble samurai. 
  @TEXT:To those they judge to be good or moral, kitsune are far better. They offer
  friendship and aid to good persons, helping them through adversity and difficulty. But
  since no mortal is perfect, a kitsune will seek to improve her friend by various means,
  usually by offering a lesson in humility by way of pranks or revealing a hidden flaw in
  the person. 
  @TEXT:In all these tests, the kitsune judges by <I>her<I> ethics, not the human's.
  Although the kitsune ethical system is amoral and borderline alien to humans, it is not
  incompatible with most Eastern religions, and the results are generally not discordant.
  Still, where the views of kitsune and human diverge, there may well be a failure by each
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  side to comprehend what the other thinks it's doing. 
  @D-HEAD:A Semi-Divine Viewpoint 
  @TEXT:Not surprisingly, kitsune are considered lesser <I>kami<I> <\#208> divine spirits
  similar to the Western concept of the <I>genius loci<I>. Being such, they are expected to
  serve and help the people near whom they live, in exchange for prayers and gifts. In such
  cases they reserve their worst pranks and tricks for oathbreakers, the impious, and
  unwary invaders of their domains. Also, as kami, they are bound by their nature and
  cannot cause serious or permanent harm to any human, as long as that human follows
  tradition and properly propitiates them. 
  @TEXT:Honor is one of the strongest bonds restricting the kitsune. In particular,
  promises have a special hold on them. If they make a promise or give their word on any
  matter, they <I>must<I> follow through, overturning heaven and earth in order to adhere
  not just to the word but to the spirit of the agreement. Furthermore, they expect the
  same behavior from those with whom they deal. A kitsune who breaks her word or fails to
  keep a promise, no matter how trivial, becomes virtually suicidal; and someone who breaks
  a promise made to a kitsune gains an implacable enemy. 
  @TEXT:Emotional Rollercoasters 
  @TEXT:These excessive responses are not unusual; kitsune are vulnerable to other extremes
  of emotion, as well. They are notorious for their bad temper, flashing into anger at the
  slightest provocation. They hold grudges against those whom they consider enemies,
  nursing them over years and often planning (and executing) extreme acts of revenge in
  retaliation for whatever slight first caused the bad blood. Along similar lines, regret
  or despair can kill a kitsune who gives herself over to it. 
  @TEXT:On the other hand, amoral as they are, kitsune are good and loyal friends to those
  who have earned their trust. They will go through all manner of difficulties to aid
  someone whom they have befriended without thought of recompense. Be aware, though, that
  it is a difficult task to gain the friendship of a kitsune. 
  @TEXT:Kitsune are very proud in one regard; they will rarely ask for help, no matter how
  much they need it. Beyond that, they will not accept help from someone compelled or
  persuaded against their will to offer it. The offer must be sincere and truly what the
  one offering wishes to do, of their free will. 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Fox-Spirit Possession 
  @TEXT-BOX:Potential kitsune who do not have a corporeal body are known as "fox-spirits",
  and are almost as plentiful as the physical kitsune themselves. Fox-spirits can remain
  purely ethereal beings for as long as they like, and they have options other than
  incarnating into a fox body and becoming a kitsune. Some have been known to possess
  humans instead. 
  @TEXT-BOX:These spirits tend to be more malevolent than the kitsune, carelessly driving
  their mortal hosts mad with their alien outlooks and priorities. Fox-spirit possession is
  not always a state of complete control <\#208> the spirit may simply lurk in the back of
  the victim's mind as it slowly comes apart, instead of seizing complete control of the
  body. In either case, though, a proper exorcism will drive the spirit out. 
  @TEXT-BOX:If the process of incarnating into a fox, gaining physical and magical power,
  and dying is indeed a vital subset of some unknown spirtual life-cycle, then the
  fox-spirits may well represent an immature, larval form of the kitsune. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:Kitsune are unusual (at least when compared to Western shifters) in that they have
  a proper niche in both the spiritual and the corporeal ecosystems. As foxes, they take
  the role of small predators. As spirits, they are charged with testing and rewarding (or
  punishing) mortals (see p. 00) 
  @TEXT:Kitsune usually live anywhere from 900 to 1,000 years. This is purchased as the
  Unaging advantage (p. CI69), but kitsune do age and develop throughout their lifespans,
  and lack the ability to select their apparent age (other than through their illusions).
  They mature at an early age compared to humans, but do not begin making aging rolls until
  they are 750 years old. However, kitsune do not cease to exist when their physical forms
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  die; evidence suggests that incarnation into a fox-body is a necessary part of a larger
  lifecycle which continues when the deceased kitsune-spirit advances into the celestial
  realms. 
  @TEXT:Kitsune start their lives with one tail. Every hundred years of life, they usually
  gain an additional tail <\#208> and with it status and other benefits as noted on p. 00. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Earning and Granting Tails 
  @TEXT-BOX:It is possible for a kitsune to gain a new tail as a reward or gift from
  another, more exalted kitsune. In such a case the newly-entailed kitsune must dedicate
  his subsequently-earned character points toward improving his various traits to match his
  new position in kitsune society. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The exact mechanism of granting a new tail is left up to the GM, but if a
  kitsune PC wants to reward a kitsune NPC in this manner, there's no reason not to let it
  happen simply by fiat. Of course, a kitsune cannot give <I>itself<I> a new tail.
  Additionally, an especially strict GM may require that the gift come from among the
  giver's own tails <\#208> and may bring along with it any number of traits (and, of
  course, their character points). 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Culture 
  @TEXT:Kitsune possess a heavily-organized, stratified culture which is mostly invisible
  to human eyes. Since most humans deal with one kistune, or at most a small family, at any
  given time, this is not too surprising. 
  @TEXT:There are nine levels of political and supernatural power within the kitsune social
  structure, based upon the age of the kitsune. These levels are equivalent to Status, with
  even the lowest kitsune possessing Status 1. (This is within kitsune society;
  knowledgeable humans of any Status will act respectfully to <I>any<I> kitsune they meet.)
  Furthermore, a kitsune's status is immediately visible to all who see him <\#208> he
  possesses a number of tails equal to his Status. The very oldest kitsune are 1,000 years
  old and are called <I>Tenko<I>; they have 9 tails, but their fur has a golden rather than
  reddish hue. They are also devastatingly powerful <\#208> easily the equal of a demigod
  or godling. 
  @TEXT:Also, as kitsune gain in power and age, they also tend to polarize morally. Their
  outlook remains technically amoral, but their tendencies when making ethical choices
  diverge strongly. Nominally "good" kitsune retain their racial name and serve as
  messengers from Inari, the Japanese fox deity. "Evil" kitsune become <I>nogitsune,<I>
  their prankish nature expanded into cruelty and torment. Select appropriate advantages
  and disadvantages to reflect this differentiation. 
  @C-HEAD:Politics 
  @TEXT:Kitsune do not involve themselves with human governments or organizations larger
  than a family or clan. They prefer to interact with individual humans, and rarely (if
  ever) categorize larger groups in any meaningful way. In this regard, they are
  effectively apolitical. 
  @TEXT:On the spiritual plane, things may well be different, but not much information is
  available. Kitsune are godlike spirits and garner a great deal of power and respect from
  both mortal and immortal alike, but beyond that, how they interact and deal with other
  <I>kami<I> is virtually unknown. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Kitsune Characters 
  @TEXT-BOX:Unless the campaign is one of supernatural creatures and mythic heroes, a
  kitsune PC, even one of the weakest variety, is probably out of the question. A
  one-tailed kitsune will be built on no less than 250 points, and most will probably be in
  the 400 to 500 point range, with the majority of those points being invested in magical
  abilities and other advantages. Nine-tailed kitsune are all but gods, and may as well be,
  for all their playability. A good rule of thumb for the GM who absolutely <I>must<I>
  point-budget the more powerful kitsune would be to give them 200 points plus 250 points
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  per tail. (To fully quantify the near-godlike abilities of the oldest kitsune, the GM may
  wish to consult <BI>GURPS Mage: The Ascension<$> or Wizards of the Coast's <I>The Primal
  Order</I>.) 
  @TEXT-BOX:Assuming a kitsune PC is possible, their role in the party is quite simple:
  trickster mage. The more tails the kitsune has, the more certain it is that their racial
  Odious Racial Habit will be supplemented by the Trickster disadvantage (p. CI94); a
  clever party will make that work for them. Beyond that stereotype, kitsune are excellent
  spies and infiltrators, although they must often stifle their racial compulsions and
  habits in order to succeed. They also make good <I>femmes fatales<I>, especially if their
  Unnatural Feature is relatively minor or inconspicuous <\#208> or can be cloaked
  effectively with an illusion. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Kitsune in the Campaign 
  @TEXT:Kitsune are designed for use in a <BI>GURPS Japan<$> campaign, particularly one
  with a strong "mythic" flavor. They can also be employed in other medieval fantasy games,
  either as-is or suitably changed to fit the preferred campaign flavor. Kitsune could only
  be PCs in a heroic-level campaign, and even then might overpower it, but they can easily
  serve as Patrons, Enemies and/or Allies at almost any power level. 
  @TEXT:Don't rule out a non-medieval setting, though <\#208> a kitsune on the loose in
  <I>modern<I> Japan (or better, modern Europe or America) would make an excellent hook for
  either a single game or a whole campaign, as long as the players are capable of dealing
  with her. Depending on the tone the GM sets for the campaign, maybe even if they aren't
  <\#208> kitsune can be played for humor value as easily as for darker purposes. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations 
  @TEXT-BOX:The kitsune package can be used almost as-is for the other definitive
  hengeyokai, the tanuki. A raccoon-like creature in its animal form, the tanuki is not the
  trickster the kitsune is, but otherwise is much the same, at least on the game mechanics
  level. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Other Settings 
  @TEXT:Kitsune can be easily transplanted into a number of other settings. 
  @TEXT:<I>Urban Fantasy/Weird Modern/<B>Technomancer:<$> Kitsune can be dropped into a
  modern setting with no changes whatsoever, and should be able to function just fine.
  Ancient ones unfamiliar with modern ways might need the Primitive disadvantage, but
  younger ones are almost certain to be fully versed in the ways of the 21st Century.
  <BI>Technomancer<$> kitsune are probably a variety of Seelie, although some witnesses say
  they claim otherwise. Either way, they continue as they always have <\#208> teasing and
  tempting their human neighbors. 
  @TEXT:<I>Yrth:<$> The Banestorm scooped up some kitsune along with everything else it
  dropped in Sahud. They are now a fact of life in that strange land despite their rarity,
  and are placated eagerly. However, the Sahudese being who they are, they have bolstered
  the original simple respects with a baroque encrustation of irrelevant and
  incomprehensible rituals and ceremonies <\#208> and only the kitsune know for sure any
  more exactly what is really necessary and what is not. And when kitsune start showing up
  in Megalos.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT:<I>Black Ops:<$> The Company has records of kitsune encounters going back almost
  fifty years, and after several disastrous confrontations in the 1960s, the official
  policy became "hands off". In recent years, several ops teams have found unexpected
  allies in kitsune (particularly near Chinatowns and Little Tokyos). And in an incident so
  highly classified that some senior commanders don't know about it, a seven-tailed kitsune
  once appeared before Argus, where she requested (and received) an ops team to help her
  deal with a nogitsune that had allied itself with the Greys. 
  @TEXT:<I>Illuminati University:<$> The Metaphysics Department suspects that several
  kitsune live on the campus grounds, given the "punishments" that have been inflicted on
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  some of the frat boys in recent months. But it's hard to tell the difference between them
  and the import dates from other colleges. <I>Something's<I> been eating the CIAgulls,
  though, and there's a big chunk of woods that even the Archdean's cats won't
  enter.<!s>.<!s>. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Mitzuki Gizensha . . . . 700 Points 
  @TEXT-BOX:Age 217 (apparent age 20); 5'2"; 120 lbs.; A beautiful Japanese woman with
  chocolate-brown eyes and hair apparently dyed to resemble a fox's pelt. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 10/12 [0]; <B>DX<B> 14 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 15 [30]; HT 13 [10] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.50; Move 8. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 6; Parry 8. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Racial Package:<> Kitsune [262]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Alternate Identity (Landlord 1) [15]; Alternate Identity
  (Landlord 2) [15]; Alternate Identity (Landlord 3) [15]; Appearance (Beautiful) (upgraded
  from racial) [+10] (Reaction: +2/+4); Charisma +3 [15] (Reaction: +3); Eidetic Memory 1
  [30]; Literacy [0]; Magery 3 (upgraded from racial) [20]; Reputation: Friendly, pretty
  girl who may be a (mostly) benevolent supernatural creature +3 [5] (Reaction: +3;
  Recognized by inhabitants of Los Angeles Little Tokyo: Small class,
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/3); Status 2 [5]; Wealth (Filthy Rich) [50] (Starting Wealth:
  $1,500,000). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Sense of Duty to the residents of Little Tokyo [-10];
  Trickster [-15]; Weirdness Magnet [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Always cheerful and perky; Always overpays her taxes by just a
  little; Does not tolerate organized crime in "her" neighborhood; Does not trust the U.S.
  Government; Dresses provocatively in her Mitzuki identity. [-5] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$>Accounting-17 [4]; Acting-16 [2]; Administration-16 [2];
  Appreciate Beauty-15 [4]; Architecture/TL7-15 [1]; Area Knowledge (Japan)-16 [1]; Area
  Knowledge (Little Tokyo)-19 [4]; Area Knowledge (Los Angeles)-17 [2]; Bartender-15 [1];
  Body Language-15 [2]; Calligraphy-14 [2]; Carousing-14 [4]; Computer Operation/TL7-16
  [1]; Cooking-16 [1]; Courtesan-16 [2]; Dancing-14 [2]; Detect Lies-17 [4]; Diplomacy-16
  [3]; Driving (Automobile)/TL7-13 [1]; Economics-15 [2]; Erotic Art-13 [2]; Fast-Talk-18
  [4]; Flower Arranging-16 [1]; Gambling-15 [1]; Hidden Lore (Spirit realm)-15 [1];
  History-14 [1]; Illusion Art-17 [4]; Intimidation-17 [3]; Karate-12 [1] (Parry: 8);
  Law-14 [1]; Lip Reading-17 [3]; Merchant-17 [3]; Motorcycle/TL7-14 [1]; Origami-16 [1];
  Pickpocket-15 [8]; Poetry-16 [2]; Professional Skill (Landlord)-18 [4]; Professional
  Skill (Real Estate)-18 [4]; Running (Move: 8)-13 [0]; Savoir-Faire (Japan)-15 [0];
  Savoir-Faire (Spirit world)-17 [0]; Savoir-Faire (United States)-15 [0]; Sex Appeal-19
  [7]; Shadowing-17 [3]; Singing-14 [2]; Stealth-16 [6]; Streetwise-18 [4]; Swimming-15
  [2]; Thaumatology-17 [2]; Theology (Shinto)-17 [4]; Tracking-17 [3]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$>  English-17 [3]; Japanese (native)-17 [1]; Spanish-15 [1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Spells:<$> Agonize-18 [2]; Analyze Magic-17; Apportation-17; Aura-18 [2];
  Blur-17; Bravery-18 [2]; Charm-18 [2]; Choke-18 [2]; Clumsiness-18 [2]; Colors-18 [2];
  Complex Illusion-18 [0] (racial); Continual Light-17; Control Creation-18 [2]; Control
  Illusion-18 [2]; Copy-18 [2]; Create Animal-18 [2]; Create Earth-18 [2]; Create Object-17
  [2]; Create Servant-18 [2]; Create Warrior-18 [2]; Create Water-18 [2]; Darkness-17;
  Daze-18 [2]; Detect Magic-18 [2]; Disorient-18 [2]; Dispel Creation-18 [2]; Dispel
  Illusion-18 [2]; Drunkenness-18 [2]; Duplicate-18 [4]; Dye-18 [2]; Earth to Stone-18 [2];
  Emotion Control-18 [2]; Enthrall-18 [2]; Fear-18 [2]; Flash-17; Flight-17 [2];
  Foolishness-18 [2]; Forgetfulness-18 [2]; Great Hallucination-17 [2]; Hallucination-18
  [2]; Haste-18 [2]; Hinder-18 [2]; Identify Spell-18 [2]; Illusion Disguise-18 [0]
  (racial); Illusion Shell-18 [0] (racial); Independence-18 [2]; Initiative-18 [2];
  Invisibility-18 [2]; Itch-18 [2]; Know Illusion-18 [0] (racial); Light-18 [2]; Loyalty-18
  [2]; Madness-18 [2]; Missile Shield-18 [2]; Pain-18 [2]; Perfect Illusion-18 [2];
  Perfume-18 [2]; Phantom-17 [2]; Purify Water-18 [2]; Restore-18 [2]; Reverse Missiles-17;
  Seek Earth-18 [2]; Seek Water-18 [2]; Sense Emotion-18 [2]; Sense Foes-18 [2];
  Sensitize-18 [2]; Shape Earth-18 [2]; Silence-17; Simple Illusion-18 [0] (racial);
  Slow-18 [2]; Sound-18 [0] (racial); Spasm-18 [2]; Strike Anosmic-18 [2]; Stun-18 [2];
  Suggestion-18 [2]; Wisdom-18 [2]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:(The attributes, height and weight given above are for Mitzuki's human female
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  form, in which she spends most of her time. They also apply to her fox-woman form, which
  she has rarely used since moving to L.A. Her fox form is ST 3/11 DX 14 IQ 15 HT 12/6,
  about two feet long plus tail and 20 pounds in weight.) 
  @TEXT-BOX:Mitzuki Gizensha is a two-tailed Kitsune based in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo
  district, sometime in the late 1990s. Her human form is a familiar sight to her
  neighbors, with her fox-pelt hair, her revealing outfits, her late hours and her ready
  smile. Most of the older residents know or suspect she's a kitsune, and some of the
  younger ones can tell there's something special about her. Everyone likes her and seems
  to know her by name, and she returns the favor as she wends her way through the
  neighborhood with a ready smile and wave for all. Imagine a Japanese version of Marlo
  Thomas as "That Girl", only with a punk hair-do. Her family name means "a fox in a lamb's
  skin", which describes her perfectly. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Most of her neighbors <\#208> especially those who know kitsune and their ways
  <\#208> think she's a high-priced call girl, or maybe a nightclub entertainer. They're
  wrong. She's not only the resident kitsune, but the neighborhood's biggest landlord and
  its general protector. She actually owns many of the residential and commerical
  properties in the district and keeps the rents affordable as part of her duty to help the
  people there. She uses a variety of illusions and front companies to appear to be several
  different landlords, both men and female. 
  @TEXT-BOX:To the best of her knowledge, she is the only kitsune in all of Southern
  California. She originally came to Los Angeles in the 1930s to escape the growing
  militarization of her homeland. Once settled in, she established her "territory" then
  began protecting (and punishing) its inhabitants. She escaped the WWII internment of
  Japanese-Americans by masquerading as an Anglo woman, but then relocated to a small town
  near the camp in Owens Valley, California so as to help her people during their
  imprisonment. When they were finally released, she saw to it that they got their homes
  and businesses back. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In the years since, she has built a good-sized financial empire while treating
  the people in Little Tokyo with resepct and dignity. Having few physical needs above the
  minimum required to maintain her masquerade, she reinvests most of her profits back into
  the properties she owns, continuously improving them while still keeping the rents
  affortable. She also endows a number of scholarships for Japanese-American students. 
  @TEXT-BOX:On occasion she also takes the time to make Yakuza and other organized crime
  operations in Little Tokyo unprofitable. Not because it's against the law, but because
  her people would ultimately suffer while the criminals got rich. She considers herself
  their enemy for that reason, although she will not usually pursue criminals beyond Little
  Tokyo. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Occasionally she disguses her fox form with the illusion of a stray dog and
  checks up on "her people" incognito. When she needs to shed her human guise and relax,
  Mitzuki spends her time roaming the Hollywood Hills as a fox. When for some reason the
  Hills are a bad idea, she amuses herself by hanging out in the fox displays at the L.A.
  Zoo. And when she needs to let off a little steam with some pranks and tricks, she goes
  clubbing in Hollywood and targets the hypocrites and unethical among the crowds. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Her human form's Unnatural Feature is fox-colored hair <\#208> brick red with a
  black streak and white tips. She used to keep it hidden with an illusion, but not any
  more; in 1990s L.A., no one thinks it is at all unusual. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Mitzuki Gizensha is a 700-point character suitable for use as a patron or a
  <I>very</I> dangerous enemy in a campaign set in the late 20th Century. She also makes
  for a very interesting surprise in a <BI>GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse<$> game. With
  some minor changes, she could be found in many near-future or recent-past settings
  <\#208> anything from <BI>GURPS WWII<$> to <BI>GURPS Terradyne<$>. If the campaign is a
  generally non-magical setting (as is the case here), her patronage is worth an extra 5
  points. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Medieval European Werewolf 
  @TEXT:(FIND GOOD QUOTE) 
  @TEXT:There were almost as many kinds of werewolf as there were people talking about them
  during the Middle Ages, and the Inquisition gleefully hunted all of them. One of the most
  insidious, at least as far as the Inquisiton was concerned, was the shifter who appeared
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  to sleep peacefully while his soul left his body and wreaked havoc on the countryside in
  wolf form. Invulnerable to all harm save by silver and blessed weapons, this hell-born
  monster indulged its sadistic desires upon his neighbors every night. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Werewolves and the Inqusition 
  @TEXT-BOX:From the Middle Ages all the way into the beginnings the Enlightenment, the
  Catholic Church <\#208> and by extension the Inquisition <\#208> were as obsessed with
  the subject of werewolves as they were with witches. In fact, as far as Catholic doctrine
  was concerned, the two were virtually interchangeable; being able to change into an
  animal was a standard ability of the witch. It should come as no surprise, then, that the
  Inquisition's standards of proof for lycanthropy were just as lax as those for
  witchcraft. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The type of werewolf described here was perhaps the most convenient variety
  found in the Inquisition's lexicon of shapeshifters, especially when it came to heretics,
  dissenters and other inconvenient persons. All that was required was a few nocturnal
  animal attacks and an accusation <\#208> and officially-sanctioned torture would produce
  the confession that proved the case. 
  @TEXT-BOX:As distasteful as such proceedings were to modern sensibilities, and as
  ignorant as the dogma involved appears to modern eyes, the main text assumes the literal
  truth of the matter. This is an expressly <I>evil<I> were, and unlike such beasts as the
  Cinematic "Monster" Werewolf (see pp. 00-00), it is directly powered by whatever embodied
  force of supernatural Evil is present in the campaign. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Building the Sleeping Werewolf 
  @TEXT:Start with the Wolf template (PPT: 235, NPT: -272, p. 00). Like all classic Western
  European werewolves, the wolf form is <\#208> more or less <\#208> a normal wolf, save
  for its intelligence, its invulnerability to normal weapons, and its implacable desire to
  inflict death and destruction upon its neighbors. In keeping with the usual traditions,
  it will also be able to harm anyone protected by their faith in the Church, and can be
  cured by an exorcism <\#208> if the were cooperates.. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Other Templates 
  @TEXT-BOX:While wolves were the most common shifter type in European folklore, especially
  in regards to Church dogma, they were far from the only one. The construction guidelines
  in the main text can be applied to a number of different of other animal templates to
  produce "historically" accurate were-creatures. Cats (p. BE108) were the
  second-most-likely choice for the Hell-aligned were's animal shape, but dogs (also p.
  BE108) and virtually any other predator species might also serve. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:Raise the wolf form's IQ until it matches that of the base form, and add
  adjustments for other attributes as necessary. Buy back Bestial, Innumerate, Presentient
  and Short Lifespan. Add Vampiric Invulnerability [150] (p. CI70) to its advantages. To
  its disadvantages, add one level each of Vulnerability to Silver [-10] and "holy/blessed"
  objects [-15]. Also add "Dread: Persons with True Faith" [-10]. 
  @TEXT:Furthermore, in keeping with the usual behavior of Western European werewolves, add
  Odious Personal Habit: Eats Humans [-15], along with any other traits desired to round
  out the were-form. 
  @TEXT:Finally, calculate the point value for the wereform per the rules on  p. 00. Then
  apply the following limitations: Projected Were-form limitation (p. 00) at the -50%
  level, and the Cure/Cursebreak limitation (p. 00) <\#208> the cure is exorcism (a simple
  process in medieval Europe) and the were must cooperate, for a final limitation value of
  -40%. Since the total limitation value is over the usual maximum, the latter is used for
  a -75% final discount on the were-form. 
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  @D-HEAD:Other Traits 
  @TEXT:The classic medieval werewolf, at least as painted by the Roman Catholic Church,
  was always a person who had willingly given himself over to the forces of Hell. Assuming
  this to be accurate, such an individual is likely to have any number of "evil"
  disadvantages, Sadism and Megalomania among them. At the very least Callous and/or
  Solipsist are appropriate, although a simple desire to harm a perceived enemy or set of
  enemies (as expressed in a Vow, Obsession or even a Higher Purpose) is acceptable. (This
  latter opens up the possibility of someone who has bargained with Hell for lycanthropic
  powers in order to ultimately do Good <\#208> or at least what he perceives to be Good.)
  He will <I>not<I> have a Split Personality, however; he <I>is<I> the wolf, and the wolf
  is <I>him,<I> and he delights in all the evil done in and by that shape. 
  @TEXT:On the other hand, he cannot be so evil and twisted that he cannot function in
  society. Such werewolves can be considered as "sleeper agents" (no pun intended) buried
  in the fabric of medieval society. Intended for long-term operations, they must be able
  to successfully masquerade as innocent bystanders or eeven victims; the ability to be in
  two places at the same time certainly helps here. Acting skill is paramount, as well as
  Fast-Talk and Diplomacy. 
  @TEXT:This variety of werewolf will almost always have a Patron <\#208> a demon or some
  other such being <\#208> who is the were's contact with Hell and, effectively, his
  commanding officer. Similarly, he will have either an Enemy or a Secret, depending on
  whether or not the locals have figured out that they are the prey of a werewolf. The
  Enemy will be the Church and/or the Inquisition <\#208> a large, overwhelmingly powerful
  organization with vast resources; its level of appearance will depend on how flamboyant
  or careless the werewolf has been. Secrets will almost always be of the "Possible Death"
  variety <\#208> the Church was <I>not<I> forgiving of werewolves <\#208> and will turn
  into an Enemy as above, plus bad Reputations and more as needed. 
  @TEXT:Obviously, such a character will not have Empathy or any other advantage or
  disadvantage that requires him to in any way feel for his victims. 
  @TEXT:Finally, in addition to his various mental and social problems, the base form will
  usually have Reciprocal Rest (p. CI43). 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations 
  @TEXT-BOX:The "sleeping werewolf" was just the most convenient version of the beast, as
  far as the Inqusition was concerned, but as is described elsewhere, there were other
  varieties. Here are two of the most common. Like the werewolf in the main text, both are
  built on the standard wolf template, to which has been added Vampiric Invulnerability (p.
  CI70), the Vulnerabilities to Silver and "holy/blessed" objects, and an IQ boost to bring
  it back to the base form's level. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Alchemical 
  @TEXT-BOX:This werewolf may have an inherent ability to change, but it requires a trigger
  <\#208> smearing upon his body a foul ointment composed of a number of unpleasant
  ingredients, some of which are guaranteed to earn the user a death sentence or worse,
  excommunication. Once changed, the user cannot remain in wolf form beyond the next
  sunrise or sunset, although he can change back to human at any time he cares to before
  then. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Creating the "alchemical" werewolf.<I> To the basic package described above,
  add an External Trigger: the ointment (rare, exclusive, from human to wolf only) -15%,
  and Maximum Duration (Sun to sun) -7%. 
  @TEXT:Alchemical weres may have an Addiction to the ointment, if only because of the
  effects of the psychoactive plants usually cited in authentic medieval recipes. 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Skinchanger 
  @TEXT-BOX:This version covers a wide selection of werewolves, all of whom must don some
  item of clothing made from wolf skin in order to change. This can range from a pair of
  gloves, to a broad belt to an entire skin worn as a cloak. (See p. 00 for some other
  examples.) Upon donning the item, he changes; he can change back at any time. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Creating the skinchanger.<I> Turn the basic werewolf package above with an
  item-based change (see box, p. 00) with the following modifiers: Can be stolen with
  stealth or trickery, only usable by owner, -5%; Unique -25%. Breakable and Can Be Hit are
  appropriate, but the values will vary depending on what form the item takes. Finally, if
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  the item is large enough, add Awkward (-10%). 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Motivations and Psychology 
  @TEXT:As an active agent of Evil, the werewolf is usually charged with sowing fear among
  the people of a village or town. This it does by random property destruction and the
  slaughter of the occasional unwary person. The overall goal is not simple terror,
  although that is an important side-effect. It is, rather, the sowing of anger and
  despair, both of which serve Hell's purposes admirably. 
  @TEXT:Then, too, the werewolf need not be serving Hell from any devotion or dedication to
  its agenda. He could as easily be an individual with a Murder Addiction (p. CI98) or pure
  simple Sadism, or possessing an unslakeable thirst for revenge upon his neighbors for
  some slight imagined or real. By agreeing to further the plans of Hell he receives a
  means towards his own personal goals <\#208> a good deal by any measure, if the recipient
  is of the right mind. 
  @C-HEAD:Settings 
  @TEXT:While this particular werewolf archetype is lifted directly from medieval Catholic
  dogma, and is designed for use in a campaign set in medieval Europe, there's no reason it
  can't be used in other milieux. It is most easily transplanted to into settings which
  bear a close resemblance to its origin, but nothing about it is fundamentally
  incompatible with anything but the most rationalist of worlds. 
  @TEXT:In particular, this werewolf type is appropriate not only to standard fantasy
  campaigns, but also non-cinematic modern horror, urban fantasy or <I>X-files<I> type
  games. While they are a trifle underpowered for <BI>Black Ops,<I> they could be counted
  among the "werewolves" that Company ops must occasionally face, and may make for
  interesting flunkies for demons. Cosmetic alterations (such as changing species from wolf
  to, say, dingo or hyena) would allow them to enter non-European milieux <\#@08> but don't
  forget to change the Power backing them accordingly. 
  @TEXT:Even in campaigns with no active supernatural presence it is possible to employ
  this variety of shfiter. The projected were-form may be the result of weird science (or
  weird magic), possibly cloaked in the trappings of devil worship to confuse and deceive a
  gullible recipient. The Patron would not be the Devil (although the werewolf might think
  it was), but someone who has his own reasons for letting loose a raging, murderous beast
  upon the land. 
  @TEXT:<I>Yrth.<I> Arguably the closest setting to medieval Europe without actually being
  a part of it, Yrth is a natural home for these Hell-powered shifters <\#208> and includes
  their natural enemy in the form of the Yrth branch of the Catholic Church. The confusion
  between these werewolves and the more morally-neutral weres "native" to Yrth (see pp.
  00-00) no doubt led to much of the bad press from which the latter suffer.<!s>.<!s>. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Abban Galdemar . . . . 200 points 
  @TEXT:Male; Age 37; 5'5''; 135 lbs.; Middle-aged Frenchman, salt-and-pepper hair, blue
  eyes, Van Dyke beard/mustache 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 9 [-10]; <B>DX<B> 10 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 13 [30]; HT 12 [20] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.50; Move 5. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 5; Parry 8. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 0d; <I>Kick:<I> 0d; <I>Thrust<I> 0d; <I>Swing<I>
  0d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Literacy [10]; Patron (Hell) (9 or less) [35] (Special
  Qualities: Very Unusual, +10); Reciprocal Rest [15]; Status 2 [5]; Wealth (Wealthy) [20]
  (Starting Wealth: $5,000); Werewolf [71] (Projected Were-form: -50%; Cure/Cursebreak:
  Exorcism, werewolf must cooperate: -40%). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Bloodlust [-10]; Secret (Apostate Werewolf) [-30];
  Selfish [-5]; Vow: Revenge himself on people of Mende and the Church [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Careful never to manifest or vanish his wolf-form near his
  home; Dresses only in black; Pretends to be a good Catholic; Still mourns for his wife
  and sons; Unsatisfied with the revenge he has so far taken. [-5] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Acting-16 [8]; Animal Handling-11 [1]; Area Knowledge (Mende
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  and environs)-14 [2]; Bard-13 [2]; Brawling-12 [4] (Parry: 8); Cooking-13 [1];
  Cyphering-16 [6]; Detect Lies-14 [6]; Diplomacy-12 [2]; Economics-12 [2]; Fast-Talk-14
  [4]; Gambling-12 [1]; Intimidation-13 [2]; Knife-12 [4] (Parry: 5); Merchant-16 [8];
  Metallurgy/TL3-12 [2]; Riding (Horse)-10 [2]; Savoir-Faire (Medieval France)-15 [0];
  Shadowing-15 [6]; Tracking-15 [6]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> French (native)-13 [0]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Once upon a time, in 12th-century France, there was a prosperous merchant with
  a large, loving family, who lived in a fine house just outside of the town of Mende.
  Abban Galdemar was his name, and the town council of Mende despised him because they
  envied his good fortune, and because he did not bribe them as much as they thought was
  their due. But because Galdemar technically lived outside the town, they could not exert
  any more pressure on him than they already did <\#208> not and lose his trade to another
  town. They would sooner see him dead. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Then one day, that became a real option. A large party of bandits came upon
  Mende. The town fathers, having no stomach for a fight, paid off the bandits from the
  treasury rather than have the understaffed town guard engage them. Laying an extra bag of
  coins in the bandit chieftain's hand, they pointed him in the direction of "rich
  pickings" <\#208> Galdemar's home. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The bandits besieged his fine house and took it over. They beat Galdemar
  mercilessly until he revealed the location of his money box. They raped his wife Marie.
  After they finished sacking the estate, the bandits put the beautiful building to the
  torch. Then they rode off with his sons Luc and Marc, the chieftain laughing a ransom
  demand over his shoulder. 
  @TEXT-BOX:The tragedy only compounded. Marie, in shame, hanged herself, and was refused
  last rites and Christian burial by the Church. Unable to pay his creditors, he was
  bankrupted, and was unable to pay the ransom on his sons; their bodies were dumped
  unceremoniously upon the ashes of his home. He was finally reduced to begging on the
  streets of Mende, where the elders who had once envied him now delighted in spitting on
  him as they passed. 
  @TEXT-BOX:When the beggar Galdemar overheard the elders laughing about how they had
  arranged his fall, his despair and anger and new-born hatred crystallized in his chest.
  He cursed the name of God for subjecting him to the conspiracy and ill-fortune that had
  taken away all that he had ever loved, and swore he would take his revenge not only on
  the bandits, but on the Church, and on the townsfolk who caused it all. 
  @TEXT-BOX:No sooner had he uttered this oath than a dark man in fine clothes of black
  silk offered him the power to get his revenge, and more. Galdemar agreed instantly. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Today, Abban Galdemar is once more a prosperous merchant, fortune having smiled
  upon him again. He lives in Mende now, where he has been taking an active role in the
  council ever since several of the elders were killed by a wild animal attack, one of many
  this bleak winter. He refuses to remarry, and dresses only in black, in memory of his
  wife. Yes, Abban Galdemar is a successful man.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:.<!s>.<!s>.and he is a werewolf. Since making his bargain with the Devil,
  Galdemar has hunted down and slaughtered the bandits who destroyed his life. He used
  their ill-gotten gains to rebuild his business and buy a home in Mende. In the months
  since, he has killed several of the elders, and has begun preying upon the children of
  the town even as he has taken up a role in its governance. He keeps up the appearance of
  a devout man in permanent mourning, and has gained much respect in Mende for the dignity
  and strength with which he survived his adversity. No one knows he is also the ravenous
  beast who has killed so many over the past two seasons.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Abban Galdemar is a 200-point character suitable for use as a "secret
  mastermind" type of opponent in a medieval setting, be it standard fantasy or ostensibly
  historical. He will usually ignore strangers to Mende unless they seem to be allying
  themselves with the remaining town elders, or if they are in the service of the Church.
  He is clever enough to simply lie low if Inquisitors or their agents appear in the town,
  but may be willing to attack secular werewolf hunters. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Galdemar's were form is a normal-sized wolf with ST 9, DX 14, IQ 13, HT 12. It
  takes no permanent damage from anything but silver and/or consecrated items. Galdemar has
  developed a liking for human flesh when in wolf-form, and never fails to indulge that
  liking when he kills; unfortuntely, the wolf template's Gluttony has almost led to his
  discovery on several occasions. He is otherwise cautious, though; when he sends his soul
  roaming in wolf-form, he never manifests (or dismisses) it near his home. 
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  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:The Metamorphic Invader 
  @TEXT:<I>I know I'm human. And if you were all these things, then you'd just attack me
  right now, so some of you are still human. This thing doesn't want to show itself, it
  wants to hide inside an imitation. It'll fight if it has to, but it's vulnerable out in
  the open. If it takes us over, then it has no more enemies, nobody left to kill it. And
  then it's won.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> MacReady (Kurt Russell), in <B>The Thing<B> (1982)<I> 
  @TEXT:No one knows where they come from. No one knows how many of them there are. 
  @TEXT:And no one knows how many of us are actually <I>them.<I> 
  @TEXTThe scientists have a name for them, twenty syllables in Latin and five more in
  Ancient Greek, that no one uses. Everyone else who knows about them simply calls them
  .<!s>.<!s>. the Invaders. 
  @C-HEAD:Metamorphic Invader . . . . 350 points 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> <B>ST<B> +10 (Natural ST -40%) [66]; <B>HT<B> +2; Extra
  Hit Points +2 [10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Fangs [10] (Impaling damage; see p. B140); Hard to Kill
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>5 [25] (Note: +5 to HT for Survival Rolls); Injury Tolerances (No
  Brain, No Impaling Bonus, No Neck, No Vitals) [35]; Stretching <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>3
  [60]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Appearance (Horrific) [-30] (Reaction: -6); Bad Sight
  (Nearsightedness) [-25]; Invertebrate [-20]; No Sense of Humor [-10]; Obsession: Hunt,
  kill, reproduce [-15]; Odious Racial Habit (Eats sentients) [-15] (Reaction: -3); Reduced
  Move <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>2 [-10] (Speed (running): 3 1/2); Solipsist [-10];
  Undiscriminating [-1]; Unusual Biochemistry [-5]; Vulnerability: Alcohol
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>4 (Occasional) [-40]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Racial Quirk:<I> Uncongenial. [-1] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Taboo Traits:<$> Immune to the Riders [0] (see pp. A119-21). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Powers:<I> Morph-19 (10) [306] (Max. Mass: +100%; Min. Mass: -90%;
  Genetic match: +100%; Improvised Forms: +75%; Horrifying Change <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>5:
  -25%; Needs Sample: -50%; Copies Personality: +100%; Slow Change (1d+4 minutes): -10%;
  Doesn't Need Morph Memory: +100%). 
  @TEXT:Because the Invaders use the leveled super-power version of Morph found in
  <BI>GURPS Supers<$> (p. SU63), they use their Morph skill level in place of Change
  Control for blending of forms or other shifting tasks. 
  @C-HEAD:General description 
  @TEXT:In their natural form <\#208> which has been seen from time to time by shaken
  witnesses <\#208> the Metamorphic Invaders have been likened to "latex sacks filled with
  gelatin". Roughly man-sized in height, they are horrific greenish-black ellipsoids whose
  upper ends are marked by two large eyes and an enormous fanged mouth. Most individuals
  who see this much rarely live to report it, as the Invaders use that maw to attack, and
  to swallow prey whole. They normally take a shape with legs in order to move quickly;
  when in natural form they must move either inchworm-style or by repeatedly stretching and
  contracting their bodies. 
  @TEXT:If the Invaders have a name for themselves <\#208> indeed, if they even have a
  native language <\#208> it is unknown. 
  @TEXT:Use one-half of a Metamorphic Invader's ST to determine its height, which is both
  the length of its body's long axis and the base height against which is different-sized
  morphs are measured. Weight is 75 pounds more than a human of equivalent "height". 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations 
  @TEXT-BOX:As described, the Invader is a creature not unlike the Thing from the 1982 John
  Carpenter movie, with a liberal lacing of the Alien from the film of the same name. With
  alterations ranging from minor to major, though, it can take on a number of alternate
  roles. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>The Lernaen Metamorph.<I> Not only do the Invaders reproduce as described in
  the main text, cutting damage just turns them into smaller versions of themselves! To the
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  Metamorphic Invader template add Duplication (p. SU00), with the modifiers HT and ST are
  split (-00%), Duplication is Permanent (??%), and Only When Subjected To Cutting Damage
  (-00%). Whenever an Invader takes cutting damage, instead of suffering a wound the
  Invader becomes <I>two<I> Invaders <\#208> one with at many HT as the attack inflicted,
  the other with whatever HT remains. (Treat cutting damage equal to or greater than the
  Invader's HT as HT/2 <\#208> effectively dividing the creature into two equal halves.) 
  @TEXT-BOX:Recalculate ST for each new Invader based on the distribution of HT. For
  example, a ST 20, HT 10 Invader has been cut into a HT 4 and a HT 6 Invader. The former
  would have a ST of 4/10 <f"symbol"><\#180><f$> 20, or 8; the other would have the
  balance, or 12. 
  @TEXT-BOX:This option is not recommended in the unlikely event of Metamorphic Invader
  PCs. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Rakshasa.<I> A carnivorous, shape-shifting demon from the mythology of the
  Indian subcontinent, rakshasa resemble tiger-human hybrids when in what is believed to be
  their "natural" form. They are fiendishly intelligent, frightfully strong, and prone to
  all manner of vices, though they hide them well. They delight in obstructing the good
  works of others, and work to undermine individuals, communities, organizations and even
  entire governments with rumor, innuendo, direct corruption and outright murder. This
  latter they enjoy greatly, as they love the taste of human flesh. They are often very
  subtle, sowing distrust and fear and letting humanity's own worse nature do most of the
  work for them. They often spur groups of humans to slaughter each other, and then feast
  upon the bodies of the slain. 
  @TEXT-BOX:To turn the Invader template into a Rakshasa package, make the following
  changes: 
  @TEXT-BOX:Set IQ to +4, and add DX +3 [30] and HT +5 [60]. Remove Stretching and Injury
  Tolerances from Advantages, and add Talons [40]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Replace Disadvantages with Appearance (Monstrous) [-25] (Reaction: -5); Bad
  Temper [-10]; Bloodlust [-10]; Bully [-10]; Callous [-6]; Compulsive Lying [-15]; Greed
  [-15]; Inconvenient Size (Over 8 feet tall) [-10]; Lecherousness [-15] (Roll: Will:
  -5/Beautiful, -10/Very Beautiful); Odious Racial Habit (Eats sentients) [-15] (Reaction:
  -3); Sadism [-15]. The Rakshasa Compulsive Lying disadvantage represents their
  willingness to spread lies about other people, not about themselves 
  @TEXT-BOX:Remove the Copies Personality, Genetic Match, Needs Sample, and Slow Change
  modifiers from Morph, reducing its cost to 196 points. 
  @TEXT-BOX:To skills, add Acting-IQ [6], Fast-Talk-IQ [6], Intimidation-IQ [2], and Sex
  Appeal-HT [6]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Lastly, replace the racial quirk with "Prefers to appear as a very
  beautiful/very handsome human". 
  @TEXT-BOX:Final racial cost for Rakshasa is 345 points. In addition to this basic racial
  package, Rakshasa can also have Magery and a wide variety of spells, often specializing
  in the Illusion and Creation and the Mind Control colleges. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Psychology 
  @TEXT:Move. Kill. Feed. Reproduce. 
  @TEXT:The Metamorphic Invaders are to their remote cousins the Xenomorphs as smilodons
  are to housecats. Where the Xenomorph makes himself one with the community, the
  Metamorphic Invader seeks to make the community one with himself. 
  @TEXT:Although they appear to be as intelligent as humans, it is believed that their
  minds work in a dramatically different way. Attempts to communicate with them have all
  failed, even when the Invader was in a form demonstrated to be capable of intelligible
  speech and social interaction; they either maintain their roles or ignore their
  interrogators. They will not "break character" unless they lose the shape, either due to
  environmental pressures or because of excessive damage. 
  @TEXT:It appears from their behavior that they are solipsists to the point of psychopathy
  <\#208> <I>no one<I> matters to an Invader other than himself; everyone and everything
  else, even other Invaders, exist solely as either tools or food, or both, in that order.
  Groups of Invaders <I>can<I> cooperate when working for a common goal, and can do so even
  for extended periods, but in the final analysis each one is using the others, and intends
  to consume them. Not surprisingly, they have no parenting instinct, nor any consistent
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  shared culture. 
  @TEXT:Even though they are such a cipher to investigators and researchers, some of their
  racial imperatives can be deduced from their behavior. First and foremost, they are
  predators <\#208> fearsome, cunning and most of all <I>intelligent<I> predators. They
  study their prey extensively. They will lay traps and plan ahead for contingencies, and
  know when to abandon a hopeless cause. They can be subtle and inhumanly patient. They
  know what technology is, and use it adeptly (as evidenced by their ability to pilot
  between systems), although what little of their own native technology has been found has
  proven to be impenetrable to researchers. 
  @TEXT:They are also <I>colonizers<I>. By virtue of their biology, they have a constantly
  expanding population. Wherever they have had the technology to do so, Invaders
  (individually or in groups) have continued on to adjacent stars to seek out more fertile
  hunting grounds. Where they have not, Invaders have contrived to catch rides with unwary
  visitors, usually by impersonating one or more of them. 
  @TEXT:Whether it is something they are consciously aware of or not, it is clear that
  their ultimate goal is the conversion of all the organic matter they can reach into
  Metamorphic Invaders, resulting in a universe of constant cannibalistic struggle that
  must inevitably taper off into a dwindling death at the hands of the laws of
  thermodynamics. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Metamorphic Invaders in the Campaign 
  @TEXT-BOX:Invaders are probably best used as a "monster" race, in the tradition of any
  number of horror films. Like the Riders, they can be subtle when infiltrating a
  population base; unlike the Riders, once they determine they have reached some critical
  threshold, they abandon subtlety and explode into an orgy of consumption and
  reproduction. Discovering a world just about to reach that threshold can make for a
  terrifying adventure for a <BI>Space<$> campaign, although players would probably prefer
  a discovery somewhat earlier in the infiltration, so that they have a chance to stop it. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Invader PCs are a bad idea, unless the GM actually <I>wants<I> all the other
  PCs to eventually become Invaders and fight among themselves to the death. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  @TEXT:Metamorphic Invaders are predators, capable of surviving on the flesh of nearly any
  carbon-based creature. They are cautious and cunning, preferring to hunt more like a
  trap-door spider than a lion. They live about the same span as humans, but because of
  their reproductive cycle, they spend almost all of it as active adults. Essentially a
  macro-scale version of cellular division, the process self-triggers every six to eight
  weeks, and rarely takes more than 24 hours. An Invader about to reproduce consumes its
  own weight in meat (creatures so consumed cannot be used as a shape template), and then
  finds a secluded lair. When the division process completes, there are two competent (if
  somewhat smaller) adults where before there was one <\#208> Metamorphic Invaders waste no
  time on childhood. (Both "offspring" inherit the "parent"'s memorized forms, as well.) 
  @TEXT:The exact source of their morphing abilities is unknown. What is known is that it
  is unpleasant to see <\#208> the Invaders' shapechange is slow and disturbing. Those few
  witnesses who have dared to stay for the entire process have likened it to "wet, rotting
  meat sculpting itself, one paper-thin layer at a time." 
  @D-HEAD:A Living Doomsday Weapon 
  @TEXT:Because the combination of their physical powers and psychological attitudes seems
  unlikely to have evolved naturally (the very existence of a cannibalistic, solipsistic
  race sends some xenobiologists and xenologists into fits), many experts believe that the
  Invaders were genetically engineered. The commonly-accepted theory is that they are a
  biological doomsday weapon which was either used or accidentally released, and which
  turned out to be much better at long-term survival than its creators intended. 
  @TEXT:There is a great deal of evidence to support this view. Firstly, for an ostensibly
  sentient race, they are driven by a number of hard-wired biological imperatives that
  prevent them from developing anything approaching a civilization. Among these is
  reproduction <\#208> unlike virtually all other sentient races, Invader reproduction is
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  completely involuntary, and extraordinarily rapid, and is clearly geared toward producing
  more Invaders <I>fast<I>. 
  @TEXT:Secondly, they are (despite their large eyes) near-sighted, unable to see clearly
  anything farther away than 30 feet or so, effectively forcing them to focus on their next
  victim or their next task. Finally, while Invaders are carbon-based (and capable of
  consuming almost any carbon-based flesh), they react badly to alcohol; this may have been
  an attempt at a control mechanism in case the Invaders ran wild. 
  @TEXT:Another odd vulnerability is that other shapeshifters don't agree with them. If a
  Metamorphic Invader consumes a Xenomorph, Enyyn or other shapechanger, the Invader will
  almost immediately go into spasms lasting 2d+10 minutes, during which it loses control of
  its own Morph power and shifts randomly every 1d seconds. 
  @TEXT:Fortunately for the already rattled peace-of-mind of those who are aware of them,
  Metamorphic Invaders are immune to the Riders. 
  @C-HEAD:Culture 
  @TEXT:The Invaders have no native culture; they are unable to cooperate long enough to
  create one, and appear to have no interest in doing so even if they could. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Names 
  @TEXT-BOX:Like their pseudo-cousins the Xenomorphs, the Invaders don't seem to take any
  personal names other than those of the individuals whose shape they've adopted. Indeed,
  it's unknown if they have a language at all. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Politics 
  @TEXT:Metamorphic Invaders have no political relations with any other race in the galaxy.
  They don't even acknowledge other members of their own race as sentients, let alone other
  races. For all practical purposes, there is a permanent state of war between the Invaders
  and every other species in the Galaxy. 
  @TEXT:It is a highly-classified secret, but the Galactic Survey Service has discovered
  <I>entire planets<I> populated by nothing but Metamorphic Invaders, endlessly stalking
  and devouring each other; every such world has been sterilized for the sake of galactic
  civilization. 
  @B-HEAD:Selkies 
  @TEXT:<I>[Ursilla] went at early morning and sat on a rock at high-tide mark, and when it
  was high tide she shed seven tears in the sea. People said they were the only tears she
  ever shed. But you know this is what one must do if she wants speech with the selkie
  folk. Well, as the first glimpse of dawn made the waters grey, she saw a big selkie
  swimming for the rock.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>He raised his head, and says he to her, "What's your will with me, fair
  lady?"<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>She likely told him what was in her mind; and he told her he would visit her at
  the seventh stream (spring tide), for that was the time he could come in human form.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>So, when the time was come, he came; and they met over and over again. And,
  doubtless, it was not for good that they met so often. Anyway, when Ursilla's bairns were
  born every one of them had web hands and webbed feet, like the paws of a selkie.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>And did not that tell a tale?<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> Orcadian folkore, recounted by Walter Traill<I> Dennison, in the
  <I>Scottish Antiquary<I> (1893) 
  @TEXT:Selkies (also called "Selchies"; the word means "seal" in the Orcadian dialect) are
  a European variety of <I>hengeyokai<I> <\#208> intelligent animals who can take on a
  human form. In the folklore of the Orkney Islands at the extreme northern end of
  Scotland, all seals are selkies, and vice versa. In their dealings with humans they are
  neutral leaning towards benevolent, and will appear to do favors for those who know the
  right summoning ritual (see the vignette above). 
  @TEXT:Their native form is that of a seal, but they can remove their sealskin and become
  human. This they do rarely, usually only in the most secluded inlets, or at the behest of
  a human who has summoned them with tears. Like all such skinchangers, they need their
  sealskin to return to their native form (and the sea). Their human forms are always
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  exceptionally attractive. 
  @C-HEAD:Selkie . . . . 85 points 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> <B>DX<B> +2 [20]; HT +4 [45] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Acute Hearing +2 [4] (Hearing: 14); Acute Taste and Smell
  +4 [8] (Taste and Smell: 16); Alertness +2 [10]; Amphibious [10]; Combat Reflexes [15]
  (Fright Check: 12); Early Maturation 1 [5]; Enhanced Move (Swimming)
  (<f"symbol"><\#180><f$>2) [10] (Speed (swimming): 13); Faz Sense [7] (Underwater Only:
  -30%); Fur [4]; Temperature Tolerance <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1 [0] (Zone Center: 63; Min.
  Temperature: 28; Max. Temperature: 97); Oxygen Storage [14]; Pressure Support
  (10<f"symbol"><\#180><f$>normal) [5]; Sharp Teeth [5] (Cutting damage; see p. B140); 3D
  Spatial Sense [10]; Were-form (Human) [26] (Item-based change: Seal skin, produced by
  change to human form, absorbed in change back to base (seal) form; Awkward: -10%; Can be
  stolen by stealth or trickery: -5%; Unique: -25%; Slow change (1d minutes): -10%). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Chummy [-5]; Color Blindness [-10]; Distractible [-1];
  Horizontal [-10]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty: Dead Broke [-25] (Starting Wealth:
  $0); Reduced Move <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>3 [-15] (Speed (running): 3 1/2); Short Arms
  [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Enjoys visiting beaches in human form. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Savoir-Faire-IQ+1 [2]; Survival (Open Ocean,
  specialized)-10/16 [4]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> Local Human Tongue-IQ [2]. 
  @D-HEAD:Selkie Human Form  . . . . 51 points (base cost) 
  @TEXT:(PPT: +112, NPT: -55) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> No changes. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Remove Amphibious [-10], Enhanced Move [-10], Faz Sense
  [-7], Fur [-4], Temperature Tolerance [0], Oxygen Storage [-14], Pressure Support [-5],
  and Sharp Teeth -[5]. Add Appearance (Very Handsome/Very Beautiful) [25], and Night
  Vision [10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Remove Color Blindness [+10], Horizontal [+10], No Fine
  Manipulators [+30], Reduced Move [+15], and Short Arms [+10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Dancing-DX [2]. 
  @TEXT:In addition to this template, male Selkies have Lecherousness, Erotic Art at IQ,
  Sex Appeal at HT, and the Quirk "Will answer the 'seven tears' ritual if witnessed".
  Female Selkies are Chauvinistic and Edgy, and have a Vow: "Must marry the human man who
  controls my skin". Note that the Selkie seal form is <I>not<I> Mute <\#208> they are
  known to hold conversations with people near the ocean's edge without transforming into
  human shape. 
  @TEXT:In the Orkney Islands and other cultures who have an extensive history with the
  selkies, remove the Social Stigma and replace it with a Racial Reputation: +2,
  Supernatural creature favorably disposed towards humans. The exact value of this
  Reputation will vary depending on the culture in question. 
  ((START BOX)) 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Seal Template . . . . -66 points 
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +176, NPT: -242) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> DX +2 [20]; IQ-4 [-40]; HT +4 [45]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$> Acute Hearing +2 [4]; Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8];
  Alertness +2 [10]; Amphibious [10]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Early Maturation [5]; Enhanced
  Move (Swimming) <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>2 [10]; Faz Sense (Underwater Only, -30%) [7]; Fur
  [4]; Oxygen Storage [14]; Pressure Support [5]; Sharp Teeth [5]; 3D Spatial Sense [10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> Bestial [-10]; Chummy [-5]; Color Blindness [-10];
  Distractible [-1]; Dull [-1]; Horizontal [-10]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine
  Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Reduced Move (Running)
  -3 [-15]; Short Arms [-10]; Short Lifespan <f"symbol"><\#180><f$> 2 [-20]; Social Stigma
  (Barbarian) [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Skills:<$> Survival (Open Ocean, specialized)-IQ/IQ+6 [4]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:While Selkies are built based on the Seal template, they don't actually use it
  directly. They are <I>similar<I> to "ordinary" mundane seals, but they are not identical. 
  ((END BOX)) 
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  @C-HEAD:General description 
  @TEXT:In their base form, selkies are indistinguishable from "normal" seals; in fact, in
  some milieux, they <I>are<I> the "normal" seals and there are <I>no<I> non-intelligent,
  non-shapechanging seals! In human form, they invariably possess stunningly good looks;
  the attraction their human forms hold for land-dwellers is legendary. 
  @TEXT:Selkies are approximately as long in seal form as they are tall in human form
  <\#208> generate a height normally for the character's ST and use it for both forms.
  Generate weight from height for the human form as normal; multiply that figure by 2.25 to
  get the weight of the seal form. They may have virtually any eye, hair or skin color
  available to humans, although they will almost always match the coloration of the ethnic
  group nearest to them. They have their own tongue, a Mental Average language. 
  @C-HEAD:Psychology 
  @TEXT:The most obvious aspect of selkie psychology, at least to outsidres, is that they
  are hedonists. Account after account makes this clear: In human form, they dance on
  beaches in the moonlight, they sun themselves during the day, they engage humans in both
  romantic and casual liaisons. In the water, they are as playful as otters or porpoises.
  The selkie mindset seems to lack the concepts of work, toil and all that is related. 
  @TEXT:There is some kind of long-standing bond between selkies and humans, although its
  precise origins have been lost in the mists of time. While in general the two races leave
  each other alone, they are not averse to each other's company. Selkie men have been known
  to court and/or seduce human women <\#208> but generally only those women who make it
  clear that such attentions are welcome. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Selkie women are seldom as casual about human males, as there is a long history
  of the latter acquiring brides by stealing their skins. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Summoning a Selkie 
  @TEXT-BOX:As mentioned in the vignette, there is a simple ritual, handed down in
  folklore, with which one may summon a selkie. It appears that only human women may invoke
  this ritual, but that may well be because human men tend to acquire the attentions of
  selkie women through somewhat more confrontational means.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:If a woman should desire to meet with a selkie male, she need only stand at the
  edge of the ocean at high tide and shed seven tears into the water. If there is a male
  selkie within a mile, he will immediately respond by swimming directly to the woman. (If
  more than one selkie is within range, the closest one responds; in the case of ties, the
  faster/stronger swimmer wins.) Upon his arrival, the selkie will inquire what the woman
  would ask of him, and will attempt to fulfil the request to the best of his ability.
  Since most such requests are for sexual congress, granting them is usually quite easy for
  the selkie. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:Although adapted to both, selkies prefer the sea, when given a choice. This
  preference can become an overwhelming drive, particularly in selkie women tricked into
  marriage; invariably, upon regaining their ability to take seal form, they will abandon
  husband, home, children <\#208> everything <\#208> in their haste to return to the sea.
  Some of this may well be a desire to be among others of their own kind again, though
  <\#208> selkies are a communal people, and the females especially are extremely social. 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  @TEXT:Selkies (at least in their were-forms) are close enough to humans that the two
  races can interbreed. The offspring of a human and a selkie are almost always landbound,
  taking after the human parent, but they often demonstrate selkie characteristics <\#208>
  webbed hands and feet, most frequently <\#208> for generations afterward. This
  interfertility has led to speculation that the selkies are actually a magical sub-race of
  humanity who have learned how to change into seals. 
  @TEXT:While an attractive theory, it is belied by the fact that selkies grow their own
  skins instead of acquiring them from slaughtered "real" seals. A selkie child whose skin
  is taken away from him while he is young, so that he is not allowed to change, will
  eventually outgrow his skin and lose forever the ability to shift! 
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  @TEXT:Like seals, selkies are mostly carnivorous, with fish making up the majority of
  their diet. In human form they are omnivorous, and can survive quite well on whatever the
  local humans eat. 
  @TEXT:Most selkies are native to salt water, but a freshwater variety is known to exist,
  preferring large lakes and deep waterways for their homes. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>"When angels fell, some fell on the land, some on the sea. The former are
  the faeries and the latter were often said to be the seals." <\#208> Anonymous
  Orcadian<I> 
  @TEXT-BOX:As usual, while a theoretical "typical" selkie can be derived from the legends
  of the Orkney Isles, there are a number of different interpretations. GMs may wish to
  consider these as options with which to tweak his selkies, the better to keep players on
  their toes. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Intolerance.<I> In almost every tale, selkies are described as friendly
  towards humans. This need not always be the case. Selkies as described in <BI>GURPS
  Bestiary, Second Edition<$> were far more antagonistic than friendly, and harbored a
  general Intolerance of land-dwellers. If a band of selkies have been the target of seal
  hunters, general human animosity (or just mistreatment based on ignorance), they may well
  grow hostile and no longer honor whatever ancient agreement originally bound them and
  humans together. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Seasonal Changes.<I> In the tale of Ursilla, quoted above, the selkie she
  summons says he cannot take human form until "the seventh stream" (spring tide). In other
  tales it was once a year, usually on Midsummer's Eve (referred to as Johnsmas Eve). This
  is a special case of Cyclic Change, where the cycle doesn't trigger the change, but
  instead simply makes it available for use <\#208> select a period for the cycle, as
  usual, but halve its discount value. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>Faerie Folk.<I> Selkies are sometimes reputed to be a branch of the Sidhe.
  Faerie selkies will have Immortality and Mana Enhancer, and will probably be mages of
  some variety as well. 
  @TEXT-BOX:<I>"Tripped" Angels.<I> Some Orcadian folklore says that selkies are angels
  cast out of Heaven during Satan's revolt. Unlike demons, they didn't do anything bad
  enough to merit Hell, so they were trapped in the mortal world instead. Their benevolent
  attitude towards humans comes from their angelic nature, and the knowledge that they may
  yet be forgiven by God and return to Heaven. Like faerie selkies, angelic selkie are
  Immortal; they also have an Obsession: Get forgiven and go back to Heaven. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Selkie Skins 
  @TEXT:It should come as no surprise that selkie skins are extraordinarily magical; they
  bind up the essence of the selkie's true shape and hold it in abeyance against the need
  of the selkie to return to the sea. Each one is unique, and can only be used by its owner
  <\#208> it is, after all, a part of his body. There is no fatique cost to either doff or
  don one's skin, but the process is not instantaneous; the Slow Change limitation on the
  selkie were-form represents the time needed to unfold a skin and put it on properly (or
  vice versa). 
  @TEXT:According to some sources, there is one further magick bound into a selkie skin.
  According to these tales, a skin is enchanted such that, if lost, it will always find its
  way back to its owner. It may take a hundred years, but it will do so. Such a skin does
  not travel under its own power, but by gently "nudging" probability in its favor,
  influencing who carries it and where. Skins deliberately hidden cannot use this trick. 
  @TEXT:If a selkie dies while separated from his skin, the skin loses all its magic, and
  is rendered nothing more than a "mundane" sealskin. (A clever wizard may still be able to
  make use of such a skin, though.<!s>.<!s>.) 
  @TEXT:There is some confusion over what happens to a selkie if his skin is destroyed.
  Some say the selkie will die; others claim he or she is forever locked as a human, unable
  to return to the sea and miserable for the rest of his life.. 
  @C-HEAD:Culture 
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  @TEXT:Selkies possess a communal society, living and traveling in large social groups.
  While individual males might be found out and about on their own, it is far more likely
  for someone to discover a dozen or more selkies making merry on some isolated beach. 
  @TEXT:In general they are nomadic, cycling through several different underwater, coastal
  "camps" in a year. In general, they survive as undersea hunter-gatherers, living mostly
  off of fish which they trap or hunt, depending on the season and the location. Tribes
  living in shallow waters have begun some efforts toward a simple agriculture both in the
  sea and on land, mostly in response to seeing its success among humans, but these gardens
  (they are generally too small to be called "farms") are usually seasonal, and are
  abandoned for several months at a time when the tribe moves on in its circuit. Even when
  they are more continuously maintained, selkies seldom have legal title to suitably arable
  land an hour's travel or less from the sea shore. 
  @TEXT:Selkies are functionally TL 0. Even though they can operate out of the water as
  well as humans, they have not developed their own metallurgy yet. Instead, they trade
  with humans for the few items they need that can be made from gold, silver, and other
  metals that will not corrode or rust in seawater. Failing that, they fall back on tried
  and true methods <\#208> stone spear and axe heads attached to wooden shafts scavenged
  from dry land. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Selkie Names 
  @TEXT-BOX:Selkies names are composed of a personal identifier and either a patronymic
  ("child of White Gull", for example) or a descriptive epithet (like "Shark-teaser" or
  "Crooked-fin"). Personal identifiers tend to be descriptive or imitative terms relating
  to their environment ("White Gull", "Coral"). Sometimes an epithet can displace a
  personal name entirely, becoming a new one in the process. 
  @TEXT-BOX:When dealing with land-dwellers, these are usually translated into the local
  dialect, producing an often poetically primitive effect. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Politics 
  @TEXT:Selkies lack any kind of centralized organization larger than a tribe, and as such
  are rarely on any kind of terms with human organizations much larger than a town. They
  sometimes make trading agreements with human settlements, but that is usually the extent
  of their group-level interactions. Since the selkies want to spend as little time as
  possible on the unentertaining business of trade and diplomacy, they frequently don't
  bother even contacting the humans on the land near their camps. 
  @TEXT:This can cause problems, especially if the selkie group is one that is trying its
  hand at dry-land agriculture. Such efforts are often made on land already owned by a
  human, and if discovered, the selkies are frequently viewed as squatters. Depending on
  how local officials approach the matter, this can cause undue tension between the humans
  and the selkies. 
  @TEXT:Selkies infamously have little patience for humans who hunt seals, and if there are
  no non-selkie seals in the campaign, then it will reach actual hostility. Male selkies
  are more inclined to "police" the local waters than the females, and they are known to
  damage the boats of hunters. (Some folklore even assigns them the power to summon storms
  against hunters.) It goes without saying that actions along these lines will also strain
  human-selkie relations in the region. 
  @TEXT:That being said, though, the truth is that most selkie-human relations take place
  on the individual level. 
  @C-HEAD:Selkies in the Campaign 
  @TEXT:Unless the campaign is sea-going or even undersea, selkies as a whole will
  generally be limited to providing backgroudn "fantasy flavor". Their almost compulsive
  need to return to the sea makes it unlikely that they will be seen more than an hour
  inland unless they are of the freshwater variety, in which case they will be found nearly
  anywhere close to a sufficiently deep river or large lake. 
  @TEXT:The role they play depends largely on the variation(s) and situation the GM has
  chosen. If they lack any kind of threat, such as seal-hunters or angry land-owners,
  selkies will be generally well-disposed towards humans, and may turn out to be allies if
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  dealt with fairly and openly. On the other hand, the proper tensions can cause matters to
  escalate all the way up to outright warfare between land and sea. 
  @TEXT:It's also possible that PCs might have selkie spouses, especially if the GM
  presents them with one of the classic opportunities! 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Selkie Characters 
  @TEXT-BOX:Selkies can be built on 100 points and still provide a competent character,
  despite their relatively high cost. Remember that the gender-based traits are <I>not<I>
  part of the racial template, and the disadvantages therein do count against the
  character's allotted total. Heroic selkies <\#208> tribal leaders, most adventurers in
  the dry world <\#208> start at 125 points, with a few truly exceptional individuals
  reaching 150 points. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Although they best adapted to the water, their amphibious nature allows them to
  operate nearly anywhere humans can <\#208> although they might not always be happy about
  it. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Moira Seabourne . . . . 150 points 
  @TEXT:Female; Age 28; 5'4''; 120 lbs. Extraordinarily beautiful human-form selkie female
  with thick black hair, green eyes, lush curves, and a sharp tongue. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 10 [0]; <B>DX<B> 12 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 12 [20]; HT 14 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.50; Move 6. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 7; Parry 9; Block 7. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 0d; <I>Kick:<I> 0d; <I>Thrust<I> 0d; <I>Swing<I>
  0d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Combat Reflexes [15] (Fright Check: 15); Literacy [5];
  Reputation: "The Selkie Widow" +3 (among Scottish peasantry) [3] (Reaction: +3;
  Recognized by: Large class, <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2; Frequency of Recognition:
  Sometimes (10-), <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2); Selkie (skin has been stolen) [85]; Strong
  Will +2 [8] (Will: 14). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Chauvinistic [-1]; Edgy [-5] (Fright Check: 15);
  Lecherousness [-15] (Roll: Will: -5/Beautiful, -10/Very Beautiful); Odious Personal
  Habit: Sarcastic [-5] (Reaction: -1); Vow: Get her skin back or die trying [-10];
  Reputation: "The Selkie Widow" -3 (among Scottish criminals) [-2] (Reaction: -3;
  Recognized by: Small class, <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/3; Frequency of Recognition:
  Sometimes (10-), <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1/2). 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Discovered she likes her life as an adventurer; Doesn't mourn
  for her husband; Enjoys visiting beaches in human form; Swims every chance she gets;
  Visits with her children at least once every three months. [-5] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Animal Handling-11 [2]; Area Knowledge (Scotland)-13 [2]; Area
  Knowledge (Waters off Orkney Islands)-12 [1]; Armoury/TL4-13 [4]; Axe/Mace-12 [2] (Parry:
  7); Bard-12 [2]; Black Powder Weapons (Flintlock Musket)/TL4-16 [4]; Black Powder Weapons
  (Flintlock Pistol)/TL4-16 [4]; Blackjack-13 [2]; Brawling-13 [2] (Parry: 9);
  Broadsword-13 [4] (Parry: 7); Buckler-12 [1] (Block: 6); Carousing-13 [1]; Climbing-11
  [1]; Cloak-12 [2] (Block: 6); Cooking-13 [2]; Crossbow-13 [2]; Dancing-12 [0]; Detect
  Lies-12 [4]; Fast-Draw-13 [1]; Intimidation-13 [4]; Knife-12 [1] (Parry: 6); Merchant-11
  [1]; Riding (Horse)-11 [1]; Savoir-Faire-13 [0]; Sex Appeal-13 [1]; Streetwise-12 [2];
  Survival-12/18 (Open Ocean, specialized) [0]; Swimming-12 [1]; Tactics-11 [2]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> Gaelic-IQ [2]; Selkie-IQ (native) [0]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In the middle of the sixteenth century, a woman of Scotland seeks what has been
  taken from her <\#208> not to avenge herself for its theft, but so that she can return to
  the sea she loves. The woman now known as "Moira Seabourne" was originally a selkie
  bride, "courted" and married in the traditional manner (that is to say, her skin was
  stolen while she was sunning herself on a beach), by her late husband, one Angus
  Macheath. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Macheath, aware of all the old stories, hid her skin well. She took a human
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  name, and for ten years she was his wife, obedient in most things and bearing him two
  healthy children. Moira had a reputation as a bit of a shrew, but she and Angus seemed
  happy enough.<!s>.<!s>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Until the day she came back from market-day to find her home ransacked, her
  children huddled in the stable, and her husband dying of a gunshot wound. As he bled to
  death, Angus told her of the band of thieves who had shot him and taken everything of
  value that they had owned. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Including her seal-skin. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Angus died in her arms, and although she could never truly say she had loved
  the man, she was still the dutiful wife. She saw to his wake and burial. She gathered her
  few possessions. She gave her son and her daughter into the keeping of her husband's
  family. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Then she went a-hunting for the thieves who had stolen her life. She vowed to
  retrieve her skin or die trying. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In the year since then, she has learned a great deal <\#208> weapons, riding,
  tracking. She has become a force to be reckoned with as she tracks down highwaymen,
  bandits, thugs and thieves, each time hoping that <I>this<I> band of cutthroats is the
  right one. Unbeknownst to her, stories of her activities are starting to be told, and she
  is starting to gain a reputation as "The Selkie Widow", a figure of supernatural
  vengeance hunting the murderers of her husband. 
  @TEXT-BOX:She knows her seal-skin hasn't been destroyed <\#208> she'd feel it if it were.
  And she knows she's finally close to finding the unprintable scum that are holding on to
  it. She just hopes that none of them make the connection between her and it, or she'll
  end up an unwilling bride <I>again.<I> 
  @TEXT-BOX:Once she recovers the skin, her intent is to return to the sea, but of late
  she's had her doubts about that goal; she has found that she enjoys the adventuring life,
  and is wondering if she'd be happy for very long if she were to return to the ocean. 
  @TEXT-BOX:If Moira ever recovers her skin, her seal form will be 63 inches long and will
  weigh 270 pounds, with dark glossy fur which is almost black in color. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Moira Seabourne is a 150-point character suitable for use in a
  <BI>Swashbucklers<$> campaign, particularly one with a strong fantasy flavor. With some
  minor changes to her background, she can be used in Yrth or any other medieval fantasy
  world. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Shamanic Shifter 
  @TEXT:<I><B>Joseph:<B> I turned him into a raven and he flew out the window.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><B>Sheriff:<B> Why didn't you go with him?<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><B>Joseph:<B> I can only turn into a wolf. I'd be too big to fit through the
  bars.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> <B>Quantum Leap,<B> "Freedom" (Episode 2.16, broadcast 14 February 1990) 
  @TEXT:There is a remarkable uniformity of belief among peoples who follow shamanic
  practices, regardless of their geographic locations. One of the beliefs frequently shared
  across so many cultures is that the shaman is gifted with the ability to enter the spirit
  world in the form of an animal. Here is how one such shaman could be built. 
  @TEXT:INCOMPLETE -- MUST BE FINISHED
  @C-HEAD:Misuun Kagitaka, Shaman of the People 
  @TEXT:Astral shifter, spirit world, suitable for many primitive cultures 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Raven Template . . . . -146 points 
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +189, NPT: -335) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> ST -6 [-50]; DX +2 [20]; IQ -6 [-50]; HT +3 [30]; Reduced
  Hit Points -8 [-40]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$>  Acute Vision +4 [8]; Alertness +4 [20]; Enhanced Dodge
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>3 (Accessibility: Only while Flying) [32]; Enhanced Move (Flying)
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1 [10]; Flight (Winged; Cannot Hover) [24]; Penetrating Call [5];
  Peripheral Vision [15]; Sharp Claws [25]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> Bestial [-10]; Edgy [-5]; Fragile [-20]; Hidebound
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  [-5]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; Restricted Manipulators [-15]; Poor Grip [-5]; Poverty
  (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Reduced Move (Running) -5 [-25]; Short Arms [-10];
  Short Lifespan <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>3 [-30]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Taboo Traits:<$> Cannot Swim [0]. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points 
  @TEXT:Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 10 [0]; <B>DX<B> 10 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [0]; HT 10 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 0d; <I>Kick:<I> 0d; <I>Thrust<I> 0d; <I>Swing<I>
  0d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Maneuvers:<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX: 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Shapeshifting Curses 
  @TEXT:<I>Ohhhh! Not "Spring of Drowned Girl"! There is tragic legend, <B>very<B> tragic,
  of young girl who drown in spring one thousand five hundred year ago! Now whoever fall in
  that spring take body of young girl! You see what I mean?<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> The Jusenkyo Guide, <B>Ranma 1/2,<B> Volume 1, by Rumiko Takahashi<I> 
  @TEXT:BB Shapeshifting curses a la "Jusenkyo" from "Ranma 1/2" 
  @TEXT:INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  @TEXT:CC Less malign than a classic were curse, this kind of curse specializes in
  inconvenience -- and just possibly emotional/moral instruction 
  @TEXT:CC Some common condition -- in the cited source, cold water -- triggers the
  transformation 
  @TEXT:CC The alternate form is annoying or bothersome in some way -- usually something
  the victim finds distasteful: a small and weak animal for a big strong fighter type, or a
  huge, ugly monster for someone who prides themselves on their looks 
  @TEXT:CC Return trigger is less common (hot water in the source cited here) 
  @TEXT:CC Curses often are appropriate to the personality, as if they were intended to
  teach or correct 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points 
  @TEXT:Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 10 [0]; <B>DX<B> 10 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [0]; HT 10 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 0d; <I>Kick:<I> 0d; <I>Thrust<I> 0d; <I>Swing<I>
  0d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Maneuvers:<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX: 
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  (((END BOX))) 
  @TEXT:Soremelyn 
  @TEXT:(vignette) 
  @TEXT:INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  @TEXT:BB Shifter parasite 
  @TEXT:General description 
  @C-HEAD:Advantages and Disadvantages 
  @C-HEAD:Pyschology 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  @C-HEAD:Culture 
  @C-HEAD:Politics 
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] in the Campaign 
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Player Characters 
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Naming Rules 
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Adventure Seeds 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Character Example 
  @TEXT:CC Invades a host, and once it reaches a certain critical level of infection,
  periodically takes over and reshapes the body to its needs 
  @TEXT:CC Victim blacks out during this, as the collective intelligence of the parasite
  organisms takes over 
  @TEXT:CC Motives and purposes of this parasite vary with the GM's choice of origin 
  @TEXT:DD Alien parasites are invaders or explorers -- the latter doing so from inside its
  host, only changing when necessary to accomplish its mission 
  @TEXT:DD Nanomachines in a cyberpunk setting might be turning the host into an assassin
  or living terrorist weapon 
  @TEXT:DD Magical parasites could be doing anything from "traditional" lycanthropy to
  transforming the victim entirely into a new race 
  @TEXT:DD The "instability" of the forms might be a bug or flaw in the parasite 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points 
  @TEXT:Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 10 [0]; <B>DX<B> 10 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [0]; HT 10 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 0d; <I>Kick:<I> 0d; <I>Thrust<I> 0d; <I>Swing<I>
  0d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Maneuvers:<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX: 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Swan May 
  @TEXT:<I>After the swan maidens had bathed and sported to their heart's delight, they
  came back to the bank wishing to put on their feather robes again; and the six eldest
  found theirs, but the youngest could not find hers. They searched and they searched until
  at last the dawn began to appear, and the six sisters called out to her, "We must away;
  'tis the dawn; you meet your fate whatever it be." And with that they donned their robes
  and flew away, and away, and away.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>When the hunter saw them fly away he came forward with the feather robe in his
  hand; and the swan maiden begged and begged that he would give her back her robe. He gave
  her his cloak but would not give her her robe, feeling that she would fly away. And he
  made her promise to marry him, and took her home, and hid her feather robe where she
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  could not find it.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> from <B>The Swan Maidens,<B> as recounted by Joseph Jacobs<I> 
  @TEXT:INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  @TEXT:(Australian aboriginal swan mays have black feathers) 
  @TEXT:(Following text is from Bestiary 2nd article and is outdated)
  @TEXT:The Swan Mays are an ancient sisterhood of humans with the ability to turn into
  swans by donning feathered cloaks. They are dedicated to the preservation and defense of
  the wild places of the world and the innocent folk who live there. Many Swan Mays are
  warriors, mages or both. 
  @TEXT:(Variations on this myth are found in Persian, Indian, Japanese, Indonesian,
  Australian and Zulu folk tales.) 
  @TEXT:The power of the Swan May is threefold. There is a genetic component <\#208> a Swan
  May must be the daughter of a Swan May. Next, she must be wearing her cloak of feathers.
  Many of the cloaks are very ancient, passed down from mother to daughter for countless
  generations. The secret of maintaining, repairing and (presumably) creating the cloaks is
  a closely-guarded secret of the oldest and most powerful Swan Mays. Finally, there is a
  moral and cultural part to the Swan May's power. Each Swan May is raised to honor nature
  and defend the innocent, and if they fail in this duty through cowardice, greed or
  carelessness, they will lose their powers. (Repentance might be possible, at the GM's
  option, but it would certainly require a long and dangerous service to regain a lost
  transformation power.) 
  @TEXT:Though deadly when their charges are threatened, most of the time Swan Mays are
  beautiful and merry. It is part of a Swan May's duty to her kind to eventually marry an
  honorable man and produce a daughter to carry on the legacy. They are greatly sought
  after as wives, and many of the noblest houses have Swan May blood. But they cannot be
  bought or coerced to wed. A Swan May marries only at her pleasure, and only for love. 
  @TEXT:Even in war, Swan Mays usually go unarmored. Their usual gear includes a plain,
  light shift, a bow and a few arrows or a light spear, and a knife. They do not like to be
  encumbered with more than can be absorbed in their change. 
  @C-HEAD:Swan May Characters 
  @TEXT:Human Form: All Swan Mays have a gadget-based Were Form advantage, with the
  enhancement Absorptive Change (No Encumbrance), for a base cost of 11 points. The gadget
  modifiers for their cloaks of feathers are Awkward, Can Be Stolen by Stealth or Trickery
  and Unique, for a final modifier of -40%. This makes the final cost of the cloak 7
  points. Swan May cloaks are usable only by their owners, but may be transferred from
  mother to daughter. 
  ((START BOX)) 
  @D-HEAD:Swan Template . . . . 00 points 
  @TEXT:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> ST -4 [-30]; DX +2 [20]; IQ -6 [50]; HT +3 [30]; Reduced
  Hit Points -4 [20]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Acute Hearing +3 [6]; Alertness +5 [25]; Appearance
  (Beautiful) [15]; Beak (Striker, 1 hex range) [20]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Damage
  Resistance +1 [3]; Early Maturation 3 [15]; Flight (Winged, Cannot Hover) [24]; Passive
  Defense +1 [25]; Penetrating Call [5]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Decreased Life Support
  [10]; Wings (Strikers) [10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Bestial [-10]; Chummy [-5]; Dull [-1]; Fragile [-20];
  Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25];
  Presentient [-20]; Reduced Move (Running) -3 [-15]; Short Lifespan
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>1 [-10]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Brawling-12 [1]; Flight-12 [2]; Swimming-12 [2]. 
  ((END BOX)) 
  @TEXT:CC From folklore, a maiden who can turn into a swan. 
  @TEXT:DD The stories are not exactly clear; some may be swans who turn into maidens 
  @TEXT:CC A feathered cloak is the key to their shifting 
  @TEXT:DD If stolen, they cannot change back 
  @TEXT:CC Gregarious species, prefer their own kind 
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  @TEXT:CC Will marry humans if locked in human form, but when given opportunity to return
  to the flock do so without a second thought 
  @TEXT:<B>Remove? Duplicates most of the tropes and mechanisms already demonstrated in the
  selkie entry.<B>
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points 
  @TEXT:Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 10 [0]; <B>DX<B> 10 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [0]; HT 10 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 0d; <I>Kick:<I> 0d; <I>Thrust<I> 0d; <I>Swing<I>
  0d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Maneuvers:<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX: 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Teilanar 
  @TEXT:<I>Dale stared at her<\#208> no, <I>himself<I> in the mirror. "What's happened to
  me?" he gasped, the rumbling tones of his voice an unintentional mockery of her normal
  patterns of speech.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><B>I'm glad you asked,<B> a voice echoed inside his head, and Dale shrieked in
  terror. <B>Now, now, we can't have you panicking, can we, friend?<B> the voice continued,
  and Dale discovered her fear draining out of her like water out of a sink.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>"What's going on?" he whispered. "Am I going mad?"<I> 
  @TEXT:<I>The voice in his head, which seemed vaguely male, chuckled. <B>Not at all.<B>
  The image in the mirror blurred, and Dale almost collapsed in relief when her own face
  looked back at her again. <B>You just have a new.<!s>.<!s>. partner.<B> The voice paused
  for a moment. <B>Me.<B><I> 
  @TEXT:INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  @TEXT:Symbiotic alien 
  @TEXT:General description 
  @C-HEAD:Advantages and Disadvantages 
  @C-HEAD:Pyschology 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  @C-HEAD:Culture 
  @C-HEAD:Politics 
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] in the Campaign 
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Player Characters 
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Naming Rules 
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Adventure Seeds 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Character Example 
  @TEXT:CC Merges with a host -- if not with cooperation, at least with no icious intent 
  @TEXT:CC Lets the host toggle back and forth between original and alien forms 
  @TEXT:CC Additional enhanced abilities not available to either separately may be
  available 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points 
  @TEXT:Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 10 [0]; <B>DX<B> 10 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [0]; HT 10 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0. 
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 0d; <I>Kick:<I> 0d; <I>Thrust<I> 0d; <I>Swing<I>
  0d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Maneuvers:<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX: 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Were-Rats 
  @TEXT:<I>"Alone, again. I've done this before. You can't keep me down, watch your back,
  Sonny .<!s>.<!s>. I'm the survivor. I'm King Rat."<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> King Rat, in <B>King Rat<B> by China Mi<\#142>ville<I> 
  @TEXT:INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  @TEXT:BB Were-rats 
  @TEXT:CC For the traditionalist dungeon-crawler 
  @TEXT:CC Low-end hybrid man-rat form 
  @TEXT:CC Makes a good lycanthropic curse for a noble or high-minded character 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Giant Rat Template . . . . -77 points 
  @TEXT:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> ST -1 [-10]; DX +3 [30]; IQ -6 [-50]; HT +7 [100];
  Reduced Hit Points -8 [-40]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$> Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8]; Alertness +4 [20]; Cast
  Iron Stomach [15]; Faz Sense (3-hex range, -20%) [8]; Night Vision [10]; Pestilence [5];
  Peripheral Vision [15]; Sharp Teeth [5]; Thick Fur [29]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> Bad Grip [-10]; Bestial (Disease-carriers) [-15];
  Color Blindness [-10]; Gregarious [-10]; Hidebound [-5]; Horizontal [-10]; Incurious
  [-5]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Depth Perception [-10]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25];
  Presentient [-20]; Reduced Dodge [-15]; Short Arms [-10]; Short Lifespan
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>4 [-40]; Sleepy (50%) [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]; Ugly
  Appearance [-10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Skills:<$> Survival (Plains, Swampland, Urban or Woodlands,
  specialized)-IQ+2/IQ+8 [8]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:This is the giant rat racial template as presented on p. 110 of <BI>GURPS
  Bestiary, Third Edition<$>. 
  (((END BOX) 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points 
  @TEXT:Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 10 [0]; <B>DX<B> 10 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [0]; HT 10 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 0d; <I>Kick:<I> 0d; <I>Thrust<I> 0d; <I>Swing<I>
  0d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Maneuvers:<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX: 
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  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:Wereshark 
  @TEXT:<I>You know the thing about a shark, he's got lifeless eyes <\#208> black eyes,
  like a doll's eyes. When he comes at you, he doesn't seem to be livin' <\#208> until he
  bites ya. And those black eyes roll over wide. Ah, and you hear that terrible high
  pitched screamin'. The ocean turns red. In spite of all the poundin' and hollerin', they
  all come in and they rip you to pieces."<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> Quint, <B>Jaws<B><I> 
  @TEXT:INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  @TEXT:BB Wereshark from Polynesian myth 
  @TEXT:CC Good "force of nature" type monster/villain 
  @TEXT:CC Base form is monstrous Great White shark 
  @TEXT:SB Also were-orcas, were-dolphins 
  @TEXT:Called "Rokea" 
  @TEXT:Shark 1. Polynesian. It represents sacred beings who can appear as humans or
  sharks, or it can be the incarnation of important people such as tribal chiefs; it can
  also be a sorcerer's familiar. Sometimes the shark is addressed as "Grandfather". 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @D-HEAD:Great White template . . . . 00 points 
  @TEXT:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> Enhanced ST +30 (No Fine Manipulators) [108]; DX +2 [20];
  IQ -7 [-60]; HT +2 [20]; Extra Hit Points +23 [115]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$> Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8]; Alertness +5 [25]; Combat
  Reflexes [15]; Damage Resistance +1 [3]; Doesn't Sleep [20]; Discriminatory Smell [15];
  Early Maturation [5]; Enhanced Move (Swimming) <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>3 [30]; Faz Sense
  (Underwater only, -30%) [7]; Passive Defense +1 [25]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Pressure
  Support [15]; Sharp Teeth [5]; 3D Spatial Sense [10]; Unaging [15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> Aquatic [-40]; Berserk [-15]; Bestial [-10]; Color
  Blindness [-10]; Bloodlust [-10]; Inconvenient Size [-15]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25];
  No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Short Arms
  [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]; Weakness: 1d/minute from lack of motion [-20]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Skills:<$> Survival (Open Ocean, specialized)-IQ/IQ+6 [4]. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points 
  @TEXT:Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 10 [0]; <B>DX<B> 10 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [0]; HT 10 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>Damage:<B> <I>Punch:<I> 0d; <I>Kick:<I> 0d; <I>Thrust<I> 0d; <I>Swing<I>
  0d 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Maneuvers:<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX: 
  (((END BOX))) 
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  @B-HEAD:The Were-Creatures of Yrth 
  @TEXT:<I>I'm the moon's indentured servant.<I> 
  @TEXT:<I><\#208> from <B>Thor,<B> by Wayne Smith<I> 
  @TEXT:INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  @TEXT:Redefinition of the six basic Yrth were types in this system. 
  @TEXT:All Yrth weres have as part of their were-forms the following: Slow Regeneration
  (Presence of silver deactivates, -30%) [7]; and Vulnerability to Silver (Occasional)
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>2 [-20]. At the GM's option, some also have Infectious Attack [-5].
  Evil persons with a Yrth were-form also have Compulsive Behavior: Commit Atrocities
  [-15]. 
  @TEXT:The basic Yrth were-form has a Cyclic Change: Monthly, Exclusive, for -40% and
  Minimum Duration: One Night, -10%, for a total discount of -50%. Some weres can change at
  will in addition to their monthly change; this eliminates the Minimum Duration limitation
  and the Exclusive option, reducing the limitation value to -15%. 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Backwards Compatibility 
  @TEXT-BOX:It should be obvious that the costs for these six were-types do not match those
  found in <BI>GURPS Fantasy<$> and <BI>Compendium I<$>. The simple truth is that these
  ore-existing costs were assigned arbitrarily, long before <BI>GURPS<$> had anything
  approaching a consistent were-creature system. They were also assigned with the express
  intent of allowing a standard 100-point character to be a were. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Yes, we're aware that these revised were-forms will break many long-time
  characters. But it should be pointed out that the were-forms for all six Yrth types were
  really not fully fleshed out, being more idealized images of their particular animals
  than actual examples thereof. Also, these were-forms were great bargains, giving the
  player by implication and for no points a number of advantages that later weres had to
  pay for <\#208> Sharp Teeth, just to cite one rather inexpensive example. It's long past
  time that they were brought into compatibility with the rest of <BI>GURPS<$>. 
  @TEXT-BOX:That doesn't mean you, as GM, have to use them. You can always stay with the
  earlier versions. That's your privilege as GM. But if you do, you should avoid mixing
  them with weres built with the rules in this book, if only to let the players all remain
  on the same point basis. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-HEAD:Animal Templates for Yrth Weres 
  @D-BOXHEAD:Black Bear Template . . . . 60 points 
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> Enhanced ST +12 (No Fine Manipulators) [78]; DX +3 [30];
  IQ -5 [-40]; HT +4 [45]; Extra Hit Points +4 [20]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$> Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8]; Alertness +5 [25]; Claws
  [15]; Damage Resistance +1 [3]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Early Maturation [5]; 
  Metabolism Control (Hibernation) <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>4 [10]; Penetrating Call [5];
  Sharp Teeth [5]; Thick Fur [29]; Ultrahearing [5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> Bestial [-10]; Dull [-1]; Inconvenient Size [-10];
  Increased Life Support [-10]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30];
  Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Semi-Upright [-5]; Short Lifespan
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>3 [-30]; Sleepy (66%, including hibernation) [-20]; Social Stigma
  (Barbarian) [-15]; Staid [-1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Skills:<$> Climbing at DX [2]; Scrounging at IQ [1]; Survival (Mountains
  or Woodlands, specialized)-IQ+1/IQ+7 [6]. 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Boar Template . . . . 00 points 
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> ST +0 [0]; DX +0 [0]; IQ +0 [0]; HT +0 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Skills:<$> 
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Quirks:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Taboo Traits:<$> 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Tiger.<!s>.<!s>.172 points 
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> Enhanced ST +25 (No Fine Manipulators) [107]; DX +4 [45];
  IQ -6 [-50]; HT +5 [60]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$> Alertness +14 [70]; Attractive [5]; Claws [15]; Combat
  Reflexes [15]; Double-Jointed [5]; Enhanced Move +50% [5]; Extra Hit Points +5 [25]; Faz
  Sense (3-hex range, -20%) [8]; Four Legs [5]; Longevity [5]; Night Vision [10]; Sharp
  Teeth [5]; Silence <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>3 [15]; Thick Fur [29]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> Attentive [-1]; Bestial [-10]; Dead Broke [-25]; Dull
  [- 1]; Horizontal [-10]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30];
  Presentient [-20]; Short Arms [-10]; Short Lifespan <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>5 [-50]; Sleepy
  (50%) [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]; Staid [-1]; Stubbornness [-5]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Skills:<$> Climbing at DX [2]; Jumping at DX [1]; Stealth at DX [2];
  Survival (Jungle, specialized) at IQ+2/+8 [8]; Swimming at DX [1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Maneuver:<$> Neck Snap at ST-2 [2]. 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Eagle Template. . . . . -138 points 
  @TEXT:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> ST -5 [-40]; DX +2 [20]; IQ -6 [-50]; HT +3 [30]; Reduced
  Hit Points -8 [-40]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$> Acute Vision +4 [8]; Alertness +4 [20]; Enhanced Dodge
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>3 (Accessibility: Only while Flying) [32]; Enhanced Move (Flying)
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>2 [20]; Flight (Winged; Cannot Hover) [24]; Penetrating Call [5];
  Peripheral Vision [15]; Sharp Claws [25]; Telescopic Vision 3 [18]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> Bestial [-10]; Edgy [-5]; Fragile [-20]; Hidebound
  [-5]; Incurious [-5]; Innumerate [-5]; Loner [-5]; Mute [-25]; Restricted Manipulators
  [-15]; Poor Grip [-5]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Reduced Move
  (Running) -5 [-25]; Short Arms [-10]; Short Lifespan <f"symbol"><\#180><f$>3 [-30];
  Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Taboo Traits:<$> Cannot Swim [0]. 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Boa Constrictor Template . . . . 00 points 
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Attributes:<$> ST +0 [0]; DX +0 [0]; IQ +3 [-60]; HT +0 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Advantages:<$> 
  @TEXT:Constriction Attack [15] Extra Flexibility 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Disadvantages:<$> 
  @TEXT:Bestial Hidebound Innumerate No Manipulators [-50] Obdurate [-10] Presentient 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Skills:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Quirks:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Taboo Traits:<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX:The Wolf template is found on p. 00. 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:The Wolfman 
  @TEXT:Even a man who's pure in heart and says his prayers by night, 
  @TEXT:May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the moon is full and bright. 
  @TEXT:<\#208> from <B>The Wolf Man</B>, Universal Films, 1941 
  @TEXT:INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  @C-HEAD:[Race name] . . . . 00 points 
  @TEXT:"Lawrence Talbot"-style humanoid werewolf. 
  @TEXT:(PPT: +000, NPT: -000, again, adjust for the character) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> <B>ST<B> 14 [0] <B>DX<B> 12 [0] <B>IQ<B> 8 [+45] <B>HT<B>
  15 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Dire Wolf Template (p. 00) [18]. Danger Sense [15]; Dark
  Vision [25]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Immunity to Poison [15]; Increased Speed
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$> 2 [50]; Magic Resistance +5 [10]; Recovery [10]; Regular
  Regeneration [25]; Silence +3 [15]; Vampiric Invulnerability (vulnerable to silver
  instead of fire) [150]. 
  @TEXT:Buy back Four Legs [-5?] 
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> 
  @TEXT:Appearance: Monstrous [-25]; Bad Temper [-10]; Berserk [-15]; Bloodlust [-10];
  Compulsive Behavior: Spread terror and bloodshed [-15]; Dread: Wolfsbane, 2-hex radius
  [-6]; Frightens Animals [-5]; Infectious Attack [-5]; Overconfidence [-10];
  Vulnerability: Silver/3 [-30]. (needed?) 
  @TEXT:Buy back No Fine Manipulators [??] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Intimidation at IQ+3 [8]; Jumping at DX [1]; Shadowing at IQ+2
  [6]; Tracking at IQ+2 [6]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> (As the cinematic werewolf). 
  (((START BOX))) 
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: {name} . . . . 000 Points 
  @TEXT:Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 10 [0]; <B>DX<B> 10 [0]; <B>IQ<B> 10 [0]; <B>HT<B> 10 [0]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Maneuvers:<$> 
  @TEXT-BOX: 
  (((END BOX))) 
  @B-HEAD:The Xigana 
  @TEXT:Lemme tell ya one thing, kid, don't <B>ever<B> come on to a Xigana woman. 
  @TEXT:Nah, their men ain't jealous. Hell, the men pay hardly any attention to the women
  as women, if'n y'know what I mean. Now, Xigana women, they're real easy to look at, if
  you're not a Pure Earther fanatic, but you make one move on'em, and they'll spear you,
  like, with their eyes. It's like you stop bein' people to them, that you've sunk
  <B>below<B> animal and down to dirt. 
  @TEXT:Coldest damned thing I ever seen. 
  @TEXT:<\#208> Overheard in Rohvin's Place, Eridani Free Port 
  @C-HEAD:Cool, Collected, Sophisticated... 
  @TEXT:Among the races of the civilized galaxy, the Xigana are known for their
  sophistication, their fashionable aloofness, and their taste for tropical resorts and
  homes. Natives of a planet with a large axial tilt, they escape the fierce, frigid
  winters of their homeworld by moving to the warmest locales they can find, where they
  invariably find their way into the <I>ne plus ultra<I> of society. This isn't always the
  upper classes <\#208> but it <I>is<I> always somewhere both low-key and intense. Xigana
  are frequently patrons of the arts; those who aren't are often the artists themselves, or
  at least their agents and promoters. A poor Xigana is a rare sight, which many feel is
  some small recompense for the fact that their race is dying out. 
  @TEXT:What the Xigana go to great pains to hide from the rest of the galaxy is that they
  are a metamorphic race. Much as earthly creatures like the weasel/ermine change color
  with the onset of winter, the Xigana change <I>form<I> in response to sustained cold
  weather <\#208> from humanoid omnivore to great, shaggy carnivorous quadrupeds. This (to
  them) betrayal of their exalted status as sentients is more than an embarrassement, it is
  an obscenity, for humanoid Xigana are sterile and virtually non-sexual <\#208> only their
  beast forms are capable of reproduction. Their entire culture is based around denying
  this aspect of themselves, and as a result, the Xigana are a dying race. 
  @C-HEAD:Xigana . . . . 21 points 
  @C-HEAD:Base (Humanoid) Form 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> ST -1 [-10]; DX +2 [20]; IQ +1 [10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Appearance (Beautiful) [15]; Manual Dexterity
  <f"symbol"><\#180><f$> 2 [6]; Reputation +1 (Stylish Sophisticates among the Galaxy at
  large, all the time) [5]; Voice [10]; Were-form (Two External Triggers [see text] -40%;
  Slow Change -25%) [31]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Chauvinistic [-1]; Dying Race [-10]; Intolerance
  (Beings who are open or casual about sexuality) [-5]; Intolerance (Hairy or reptilian
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  races) [-5]; Odious Racial Habit (Snubs non-biped, non-mammal, and small sophonts) [-10];
  Parthenomania [-20]; Proud [-1]; Racial Secret: Dimorphism [-10]; Staid [-1]; Sterile
  {-3]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Racial Quirks:<$> In denial about their shifting [- 1]; Prefers
  temperatures of 65<\#161> F or higher, and go to extremes to stay warm [-1]; Vegetarian
  [-1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Performance (Mating Ritual) at IQ [2]; +2 to Savoir-Faire [1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Taboo Traits:<$> Carousing, Sex Appeal. 
  @C-HEAD:Fertile form . . . . 88 points 
  @TEXT:(PPT: +295, NPT: -258) 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Attributes:<$> Enhanced ST +12 (No Fine Manipulators) [88]; DX +3 [10];
  IQ -5 [-50]; HT +4 [45]; Extra Hit Points +4 [20]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8]; Alertness +5 [25]; Cast Iron
  Stomach [15]; Claws [15]; Damage Resistance +1 [3]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Four Legs
  [5]; Penetrating Call [5]; Sharp Teeth [5]; Thick Fur [29]; Ultrahearing [5]. Remove
  Intolerance [5]; Parthenomania [20]; Proud [1]; Sterile {3]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Bestial [-10]; Dull [-1]; Horizontal [-10]; Innumerate
  [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient
  [-20]; Sleepy (50%) [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]. Remove Manual Dexterity [-6];
  Voice [-10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Remove all three quirks [+3]; 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Climbing at DX [2]; Scrounging at IQ [1]; Stealth-DX+1 [4];
  Survival (Arctic, Mountains, specialized)-IQ+1/IQ+7 [6]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<BI>Taboo Traits:<$> Ignore. 
  @C-HEAD:General description 
  @TEXT:Xigana (the word is both plural and singular) are a race on the far end of the
  humanoid scale. Slender and smooth-skinned, they are deceptively fragile in appearance.
  Their skin color tends ranges between ivory and a pale blue, and their eyes are generally
  blue, green or golden. Xigana are completely hairless, without even eyebrows or
  eyelashes. 
  @TEXT:Their long, delicate fingers are tipped with thick, almost horn-like nails which
  both males and females carve and paint. Their mouths and noses protrude into something
  close to, but not quite, a snout. They have broad, flat (some say an herbivore's) teeth,
  but rarely smile. 
  @TEXT:Xigana are mammalian, the females possessing breasts similar to a human's. 
  @TEXT:Determine a Xigana's humanoid height normally for his ST; their weight is 20 pounds
  less than human normal for their height. In their four-legged "wintershape," their body
  weight remains the same as their humanoid form, and they measure about 40% of their
  humanoid height at the shoulder. The Xigana wintershape has thick, shaggy fur, a more
  prominent snout and ears, and distinct claws. Fur color will match the "summershape" skin
  color, or, less frequently, be a shade or two lighter; eye color remains the same. 
  @C-HEAD:Ecology 
  @TEXT:The Xigana are native to Gyrris, an earthlike planet fourth from its yellow G-Type
  star, with a gravity of .9 G. Gyrris has a 27-hour day, and orbits its sun every 510 of
  its days. Its surface is split equally between land ocean, but the shorelines vary wildly
  with the seasons. 
  @TEXT:Gyrris has an axial tilt almost double that of Earth, which results in extreme
  seasons that seesaw between conditions almost unimaginable to humans, despite the fact
  that the planetary average temperature is almost exactly the same as Earth's. Its weather
  patterns are wild and chaotic, and a large percentage of the planet's water is caught up
  in its endless storm cycles. Winters on Gyrris are bitterly cold and wracked by almost
  constant blizzards; summers combine the temperature of Death Valley and the humidity of a
  swamp with daily thunderstorms, punctuated by frequent monsoons and hurricanes. Its polar
  icecaps expand and recede visibly over the course of the year. 
  @TEXT:The Xigana's niche in their world's ecology is roughly equivalent to humanity's on
  Earth, even excluding the obvious parallels between intelligent species. Their
  shapechanging biology is not unique <\#028> more than a dozen other species on their
  homeworld (most of them unrelated to the Xigana) shapechange in response to the cycle of
  seasons. As might be guessed, Gyrris attracts a large number of xenobiologists and other
  researchers. 
  @TEXT:The Xigana's change, like that of the other shifters on Gyrris, is environmentally
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  triggered. If a humanoid Xigana is exposed to temperatures below 40<\#161> Fahrenheit for
  at least two hours, a change to wintershape begins; if there is a potential mate present
  at the same time, the individual will also feel a compulsion to begin a mating ritual
  (see below). Predator-form Xigana have an opposite trigger: two or more hours' exposure
  to a temperature of 70<\#161> F or higher returns a Xigana to his humanoid form. The
  shift between forms takes about one Gyrrisan day, during most of which the individual
  remains active (though sluggish). The final four hours of change, though, completely
  incapacitate him. 
  @TEXT:Because of subtle nutritional and hormonal requirements, a Xigana should go through
  at least one pair of changes per year. Failure to do so has no immediate ill effects,
  although apostate Xigana medical researchers (whose work has long since been suppressed)
  believed that regular changes could prevent certain varieties of cancers and several
  other diseases that operate by systemic disruption. 
  @D-HEAD:Reproduction 
  @TEXT:Wintershape females are always fertile; couples mate for life and do not stray when
  in predator form. Gestation lasts 200 days, during which the female's body produces
  hormones that prevent reversion to summershape should the weather change; the production
  of these hormones tapers off approximately six weeks after giving birth. 
  @TEXT:Xigana offspring are born exclusively in wintershape, in litters of two to four.
  "Pups" are able to walk and function within three weeks of their birth, although this
  precocity does not carry over into summershape; in fact, Xigana children take longer to
  learn to walk on two legs than most biped species, possibly because of their ingrained
  quadruped instincts. They do not gain the ability to take biped form until they are six
  weeks old. 
  @TEXT:Xigana are mammalian and can nurse their young in either form. 
  @C-HEAD:Pyschology 
  @TEXT:Although to the galaxy in general Xigana seem well-adjusted if somewhat effete and
  snobbish, they are in fact a mire of repression and denial. Inordinately proud of their
  position at the top of their world's evolutionary ladder, they deny to themselves (and
  hide from the galaxy at large) the fact that they shapechange into what they see as an
  inferior animal form. 
  @TEXT:Worse yet, from their point of view, is that their humanoid forms are sterile; they
  can only reproduce in wintershape. Combine this fact with an almost universal Xigana
  disgust with their "animal" alter egos, and the result is a race with deep-seated
  neuroses and sexual repression. To the average Xigana, the fact that they are required to
  turn into an animal in order to reproduce is an unspeakable obscenity; subsequently they
  have tarred <I>all<I> romantic and sexual behavior <\#208> up to and including the most
  innocent flirting <\#208> with their disgust at their wintershapes. Other aspects of life
  are likewise affected; for example, while technically omnivorous, nearly all humanoid
  Xigana follow a vegetarian diet, looking down upon the consumption of meat as "unclean"
  and "animalistic." 
  @TEXT:Many Xigana take this to another extreme, looking upon the world that bore them and
  which requires of them the change as something to escape. As soon as they are able, these
  Xigana leave their homeworld, migrating and resettling somewhere <\#208> <I>anywhere<I>
  <\#208> where the local temperature never drops below 70<\#161> F. Those that can't
  resettle in warmer climes, or who for reason of employment or other obligation must make
  do with locations that suffer cold weather, are known for the remarkable extremes to
  which they go to remain warm during the winter: anything from the simple expedient of
  never leaving their homes, to the latest in temperature-maintaining arctic gear. The only
  option of which they do not make use is fur clothing, be it real or artificial <\#208>
  the very idea disgusts them. 
  @C-HEAD:Culture 
  @TEXT:Attitudes like these have been cemented into Xigana culture over milennia by their
  inclusion in all the major Xigana religions. Even more significantly, the Xigana language
  itself attempts to deny and obfuscate their dual nature. The language (a M/H skill for
  non-Xigana) uses complicated tenses, pronouns and euphemisms to refer to their two forms,
  with the wintershape invariably treated (if it must be discussed at all) as an utterly
  different creature with which one has an unfortunate and reprehensible connection. One
  who has succumbed to wintershape is always "away" or "unavailable"; and offworlders who
  know better never, <I>ever<I> inquire about childbearing and offspring <\#208> the only
  words for pregnancy and sex in the Xigana language are either obscenities, euphemisms or
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  (rarely) obscure medical terminology. 
  @TEXT:Complicating matters is the fact that the Xigana possess a long, complex and
  heavily stylized mating ritual, at least partially instinctive in nature. As noted above,
  it is triggered by dropping temperatures, combined with the proximity of an individual of
  the opposite sex. An hours-long dance, equal parts touching intimacy and astounding
  savagery, it is strongly reminisicent of similar behaviors in earthly animals. Initiated
  while in humanoid form, the ritual ends with the act of mating anywhere from 24 to 48
  hours later in predator form. While the change can occur without the ritual, the ritual
  <I>includes<I> the change and cannot complete without it. 
  @TEXT:Not surprisingly, the mating ritual is perhaps the greatest taboo in Xigana
  culture. It is never spoken of, even between a mated/mating pair. Native medical and
  psychological texts are maddeningly elliptical in their oblique attempts to refer to it
  without actually talking about it. And in every Xigana culture, any hint of its
  performance in a settled area is enough to have the offending couple arrested and
  executed <\#208> if they aren't dragged off by a howling mob and lynched first. 
  @TEXT:Childrearing is another delicate matter. "Pups" remain with their parents until
  their first transformation, which is usually some time in their first six months. After
  that, though, parents will hand over children to be raised in government- or church-run
  institutions, then go their separate ways, as often as not. The "nuclear family," as it
  is understood by humans, is an entirely alien concept to the Xigana. 
  @TEXT:Outside observers have noted that, as far as the cultural treatment of sexuality is
  concerned, the Xigana combine the worst aspects of Calvinism, Victorian prudery, and the
  most oppressive, reactionary branches of Islam. Even so, there are small, quiet rebel
  factions, trying to change the dominant social paradigm and shatter the racial denial. It
  will not come as a surprise to learn that these groups are almost universally outlawed on
  Gyrris, with execution the most common penalty for membership and activism. Additionally,
  rebels and social activists who attempt to operate off-planet and thus threaten the
  racial secret are often the targets of assassination squads dispatched by churches,
  government or even groups of "civic-minded" private citizens. 
  @C-HEAD:Politics 
  @TEXT:Although snobbish and standoffish, the Xigana freely mix in Galactic society. They
  do tend to treat reptilian races and races possessing significant amounts of hair or fur
  with substantially more disdain than they offer other races, and they will ignore
  non-bipeds entirely as being "animals" and thus beneath them. They similarly categorize
  tiny races like the Cidi. They can be at a bit of a loss upon first encountering races
  that do not fit easily into their pat worldview (the Traders, Liook Sujan), but usually
  accord them "non-animal" status. <I>Any<I> race with no discernable romantic or sexual
  behaviors, such as (again) the Liook Sujan, often become objects of great respect. 
  @TEXT:Their government has no particularly special allies or enemies among the Galactic
  civilizations save for the usual suspects. Even so, they are happy to engage in commerce
  with any civilization <\#208> even those they consider "animals", if a willing middleman
  can be found <\#208> and have parlayed their world's mineral riches and their own skills
  into a vast wealth. 
  ((START BOX)) 
  @C-HEAD:Xigana Names 
  @TEXT:Adult Xigana names are usually composed of a personal name followed by an
  occupational surname. Personal names are two to five syllables long, each syllable being
  a consonant-vowel pair, plus an optional terminal consonant; sounds which are dipthongs
  and digraphs in English ("ae," "th," and so on) are common in the various dialects.
  Tegore, Kurathal, Rawonam and Namapra are all common Xigana given names. There is no
  distinction between male and female names. 
  @TEXT:Occupational surnames may be as generic as "Baker," "Astrogator" and "Engineer," or
  they can become so complex that they are almost titles: "Chief Partner in Trade with
  Erapis IV," "Senior Regional Administrator for Evet Continent." As one might expect, such
  epithets can change many times in an individual's life. 
  @TEXT:There are no family or clan names. Immature Xigana are known by a given name and
  use the name of the institution in which they were raised as their surname. An adult
  Xigana with an institutional surname or no surname at all is regarded as shiftless and
  lazy. There are no honorifics or surnames indicating marriage/mating status, in the
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  manner of the English "Miss"/"Mrs." 
  ((END BOX)) 
  @C-HEAD:Xigana in the Campaign 
  @TEXT:As a race, the Xigana can be great fun for the GM: supercilious, obnoxious and
  snobbish, without being at all evil. Many Xigana hold positions of power or influence
  throughout the galaxy, either because of wealth or because they are often good at
  imposing and/or managing hierarchies. A Xigana would make a good "manager you love to
  hate" for a group of player characters who share a Patron. Similarly, Xigana make good
  "shades of grey" opposition <\#208> evil-seeming though not evil, simply unconcerned with
  what "lesser races" think is legal and illegal. 
  @TEXT:On the other manipulator, a renegade or insane Xigana can provide a sudden and
  unexpected plunge into a <BI>Horror<$> scenario for players expecting a more conventional
  <BI>Space<$> encounter: the mysterious, murderous beast that stalks an unsuspecting town
  or city in the depths of winter. Although their long shift times don't allow the kind of
  instant disappearance that makes a traditional werewolf story all the more creepy, the
  presence of a large, shaggy, and most importantly <I>intelligent<I> carnivore where one
  ought not to be can make for an adventure interesting not just for its combats with the
  beast, but for the investigation done to find out just what it is and where it is from.
  To add an extra fillip to such a scenario, have a team dispatched from Gyrris to hunt
  down the "dangerous animal" that they claim was illegally exported from their world. 
  @D-HEAD:Other Settings 
  @TEXT:While obviously designed for use in a <BI>GURPS Space<$> campaign, the Xigana can
  be used as-is in a number of other settings. As always, <BI>Atomic Horror, Black Ops,<$>
  and similar settings can make use of an apparent werewolf, especially if the more
  obnoxious aspects of the Xigana racial personality are tuned down a bit; the
  "monster-that-isn't" is an useful device, especially if players need to learn that
  shooting first isn't always the best tactic. 
  @TEXT:With a little modification, the Xigana can become a <BI>Fantasy<$> race. The
  "scientific" justification for their shifting abilities must be discarded, of course,
  unless the game world is extremely un-Earthlike. Alternatively, it would not be hard to
  make them a magical race from the distant Northern or Southern sub-arctic regions of the
  world. For further complications, they could be mistaken for more conventional
  were-creatures. If such weres are evil, that may well be why the Xigana are hiding their
  nature. 
  @D-HEAD:Xigana Characters 
  @TEXT:Because their shifting abilities are so slow and are all but involuntary,
  shapechanging will probably not the be primary reason one would choose to play a Xigana.
  Their complex suite of motivations, behaviors and beliefs, though, make them a intriguing
  roleplaying challenge. 
  @TEXT:Xigana characters can fit easily into a standard 100-point campaign, but the GM
  should be aware that unless there is a reason (or repeated reasons) to threaten the
  racial secret, much of the point cost of this race is wasted on a player character in an
  exploration/survey or interstellar war campaign. And after the third or fourth time,
  threats to the secret will not only grow old or repetitive, but will increasingly appear
  engineered. 
  @TEXT:Player character Xigana are probably better off as rebels and social activists in a
  more political campaign. Working quietly with a few trusted friends on several goals
  including liberalizing their repressed homeworld, they can reveal or conceal their
  shifting abilities as they see fit. Such characters often have an Enemy in the rest of
  the Xigana; their frequency of appearance is entirely dependant upon how vocal an
  activist the character is.<!s>.<!s> 
  @TEXT:The GM may find Xigana NPCs easier to work with. They function well as patrons for
  any sort of treasure hunter, particularly those specializing in fine artworks. Others may
  support assassin teams aimed at off-world activists. Away from Patrons, the lone Xigana
  immigrant who seemingly has nothing to do with a mysterious "Werewolf" serial killer is a
  good campaign seed, if the GM can justify the necessary temperature extremes. 
  (((START BOX))) 
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Tegore Inquisitor . . . . 100 points 
  @TEXT:Xigana male, age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<B>ST<B> 9 [0] <B>DX<B> 13 [20] <B>IQ<B> 14 [20] <B>HT<B> 10 [0] 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Advantages:<$> Clerical Investment/5 [25]; Xigana [21]; Patron:
  Genevarian Church, 12 or less [30]; Reputation +2 as Defender of the Faith, Genevarian
  Church [4]; Status +2 [10]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Disadvantages:<$> Duty to Church [-10]; Fanaticism: Genevarian Church
  [-15]; Lame: Crippled Leg [-15]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Quirks:<$> Dislikes offworlders [-1]; Intensely devout [-1]; Only uses
  stainless-steel canes [-1]; Peppers his speech with "near-miss" almost-swearing [-1];
  Prides himself on organizing the best "Orthodoxy Teams" in the church [-1]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Skills:<$> Administration-14 [2]; Bard-14 [2]; Beam Weapons/TL-16 [2];
  Computer Operation/TL-14 [1]; Detect Lies-14 [4]; Diplomacy-14 [4]; Flower Arranging-15
  [2]; Guns/TL-16 [2]; Intelligence Analysis-14 [4]; Interrogation-14 [2]; Intimidation-14
  [2]; Karate-14 [8]; Knife-14 [2]; Performance (Instinctive Xigana Mating Ritual)-14 [0];
  Performance/Ritual (Xigana/Genevarian)-16 [4]; Professional Skill (Genevarian Cleric)-16
  [6]; Psychology (Xigana)-14 [4]; Savoir-Faire (Xigana)-16 [1]; Strategy-14 [4];
  Streetwise-14 [2]; Tactics-14 [4]; Theology (Xigana/Genevarian)-16 [6]. 
  @TEXT-CSTATS:<I>Languages:<$> Standard-14 [2]; Xigana-14 [0]. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Tegore Inquisitor is one of several "enforcers of orthodoxy" in the largest
  Xigana denomination, the Genevarians. While he administers to a local "diocese" as part
  of his duties, his primary job is the creation, dispatch and coordination of so-called
  "Orthodoxy Teams." These small "special forces"-like groups are assigned the task of
  capturing or assassinating those heretics who wish to drag the Xigana's secret shame into
  the sight of the debased Galactic culture. 
  @TEXT-BOX:A one-time officer in the Xigana planetary military retired with pay due to
  injury, Tegore entered a Genevarian seminary, and now uses his skills to build the
  well-trained bands of troopers which protect the Xigana secret. He also makes frequent
  use of offworlder mercenary teams, who know little (and care less) about his reasons and
  their targets. 
  @TEXT-BOX:In person he is charming and friendly, with an endearing habit of starting to
  swear, catching himself, and instead saying something else innocuous and inoffensive. If
  forced into his "military" persona he suddenly becomes cold and intimidating <\#208>
  although he still catches and corrects his swearing. 
  @TEXT-BOX:Tegore is not an adventuring character, and would not make a good PC unless the
  campaign is both political and based on Gyrris. As a frequent employer of off-worlders
  for shady operations, he would be better used as a Contact or even a Patron (as a
  representative of the Genevarian Church). For characters less than sympathetic to the
  orthodox cause, Tegore is also a prime candidate for the "mastermind" behind their
  opposition; the fact that he is quite likeable and not even particularly evil can add an
  extra level of complication to an adventure/campaign resolution. 
  (((END BOX))) 
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  ...Of All Shapes and Sizes...
  In this chapter are sample shapechangers from a variety of genres. Where appropriate, notes on crossover
  and multigenre uses are provided, expanding the range of settings in which they can be used.
  The Arthurian Werewolf
  ...Sir Marrok, the good knight that was betrayed with his wife, for she made him seven year a werewolf,...
  -- Sir Thomas Mallory, Le Morte D'Arthur, Book XIX, Chapter 11
  Among the many tales of King Arthur and Camelot, there can be found two references to werewolves.
  Sir Marrok and Sir Gorlagon, two knights of honor, were both afflicted with lycanthropy. Gorlagon was
  the victim of a unique magic item with ties to his family lineage, but Marrok was a were more along the
  usual lines. Through the machinations of his unfaithful wife, Sir Marrok found himself trapped in his
  wolf form for seven years. When he finally was able to return to human shape, he took his revenge upon
  the woman. Despite this, Sir Marrok was honored with a seat at the Round Table, where he served the
  king for many years, including as one of his personal honor guard.
  GURPS Camelot contains a description of werewolves like Sir Marrok, but it is based more on the
  werewolves of Yrth than the actual legends, which describe a condition notably different in some ways
  from the "typical" gaming werewolf. The following description is closer to the spirit of the original tales,
  and may be used in a Camelot campaign instead of the version found in that volume.
  Arthurian werewolves are ordinary wolves in their were-form except for their IQ, which is always at
  least 10, and usually the same as their human form's IQ. They rarely if ever suffer from Split Personality,
  so they are usually in control of their wolf forms. For the same reason, most quirks, mental disadvantages
  and mental skills from the human form will also be possessed by the were-form.
  Only one source gives details on the specifics of their change: Bisclavret, a medieval lai by Marie de
  France (a contemporary of Chrétien de Troyes). It is the tale of a werewolf knight, the eponymous
  Bisclavret. Bisclavret may well also be Sir Marrok of the Round Table, given the similarities of their
  stories. (The fact that "bisclavret" is simply the Breton word for "werewolf" lends some indirect support
  to this assertion.) Therein it tells how Bisclavret is forced to leave his wife for three days and nights each
  week when he changes into a wolf. This is clearly a Cyclic Change with a period of one week and a
  Minimum Time of half that.
  Before he can change, an Arthurian werewolf must remove all his clothes. This is an absolute
  requirement -- the were cannot change while dressed! Furthermore, he must hide and protect his clothing
  carefully, because unless he has the clothing he was wearing before his change to wolf form, he cannot
  change back! Sir Marrok's wife hid his clothing and forced the knight to remain a wolf for seven years,
  until he could find his clothes. The werewolf doesn't need to do anything with the clothes, just stand in
  the same hex with them. They must be reasonably intact -- a few holes won't affect the change, but being
  sliced to ribbons will! Although an Arthurian were cannot change while wearing armor, the armor is not
  considered part of the clothing that must be present for the change back. Arthurian weres must change at
  the full moon for an entire night, even when it does not occur during their usual three-night cycle; they
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  can change at will at other times.
  Unlike the traditional werewolf, the Arthurian were does not transmit its shapeshifting ability through its
  bite. Weredom is more likely to be the result of a curse or (less commonly) some form of penance. The
  GM should require PC weres to explain how they came to acquire the ability to change. Depending on
  the cause, it can make an excellent Secret.
  Building the Arthurian Were
  The Arthurian werewolf uses the Wolf template (see box, p. 00), with the following modifiers: Buy back
  IQ to the character's normal level. Also buy back Bestial [10]; Presentient [20]; and Short Lifespan ¥5
  [50]. Don't forget to account for any losses of Status, Wealth, Reputation and other social advantages that
  a wolf would not possess.
  The following modifiers are then applied to the were-form advantage: an Accessibility limitation for the
  change itself, Cannot Change to Were-Form While Wearing Clothes, -20%; Cyclic Change (Weekly),
  -30%; and Minimum Time: 72 hours, -20%. The clothing requirement for the transformation back makes
  it an item- based change. The item is generic clothing, with the following modifiers: Not Needed For
  Change to Were Form +25%, Awkward -10%, Breakable (DR 0, HP 2) -15%, Not Absorbed in Change
  -15%, Can Be Stolen by Stealth or Trickery -10% and Unique -25% (although clothes are easily replaced
  and different sets will count as this item at different times, once the change is made only the one set will
  allow the were to change back!). This exceeds the maximum limitation value of -75%, so becomes that
  value; the final cost for the wolf form (assuming the theoretical character cited above) is 21 points.
  The Arthurian were is subject to an unusual combination of a Cyclic Change and an Accessibility
  Limitation that can prevent the change. This does not mean that the character can avoid changing simply
  by never taking off his clothes. Instead, the character suffers a growing compulsive need to change that
  comes to occupy his thoughts completely. The character must make a Will roll every hour to resist the
  compulsion, at a penalty equal to the number of hours elapsed since the change should have taken place.
  If the roll is failed, he must make another Will roll at the same penalty to avoid simply ripping off his
  clothing and changing on the spot, regardless of location and/or witnesses. When the victim finally
  changes, his cycle resets accordingly.
  Note that the wolf form has no special protections or vulnerabilities; neither silver nor holy objects affect
  it adversely, and all manner of weapons wound it without difficulty. It is, in all ways except intelligence
  and behavior, a normal wolf. A cursebreak (p. 00) is implied by the source material, but no details are
  ever given. GMs and players may wish to skip this aspect; if not, make sure that the cure remains faithful
  to the original genre. Exorcism or a difficult, pious quest would be in keeping with the source material.
  And of course, at the very least drinking from the Grail should unfailingly expunge the curse!
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Lost or Destroyed Clothing
  @TEXT-BOX:Possibly the worst fate that can befall an Arthurian werewolf is the loss or destruction of
  his clothing while he is in his wolf form. By the strictest interpretation of Bisclavret and Mallory, he is
  then forevermore trapped as a wolf. However, the average PC wouldn't care for such a fate -- nor would
  his player. In the absence of magic that can undo the curse (as is the usually case in Arthurian England),
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  the GM may be inclined to relax the conditions of the enchantment slightly.
  @TEXT-BOX:Completely lifting the clothing restriction saps the Arthurian werewolf of his unique
  flavor and reduces him to an "ordinary" were; this is not recommended. However, the GM may feel free
  to allow other sets of clothes to satisfy the terms of the curse. These must be clothing belonging to the
  character and worn by him on a regular basis -- more than once or twice. A brand-new suit of clothing,
  never worn by anyone, would be useless, and recently-acquired or rarely-worn garb almost as bad. If the
  GM feels that this is still too lenient, further requirements, such as the proper phase of the moon and
  perhaps a Will roll, can be applied.
  (((END BOX)))
  Campaign Use
  While of course in-genre for Mythic and Cinematic Camelot campaigns, the Arthurian werewolf is out of
  place in a purely realistic Historical setting. If for some reason the GM wants to put weres in an
  otherwise Historical game, the Arthurian werewolf is both subtle enough and sufficiently low-powered
  so as not to seem too out of place. But unlike in other Camelot settings (see below), a werewolf character
  is likely to become the target of a vigorous hunt, even if his supernatural nature is never revealed.
  When used in a Mythic/Cinematic Camelot game, being this variety of werewolf brings no negative
  Reputation or Social Stigma. It is regarded as something that is done to a person, not something the
  person is. Like any other evil enchantment a knight might suffer, it is a challenge to be overcome and
  from which to gain glory thereby. (Of course, when it is a commoner who is afflicted with the curse,
  opinions may differ greatly...)
  The only exception to this tolerance would be those knights who find they take a dark and perverse
  pleasure in being a wolf and preying upon the innocent. These knights' souls are damned, especially if
  they have tasted human blood and/or flesh while in wolf form.
  Despite all this, in the Morte d'Arthur, lycanthropy is little more than a background detail that
  distinguishes one knight from scores of other knights. GMs can continue this convention, or depart from
  it by making the curse and its cure a more prominent part of the campaign.
  Other Settings
  In addition to Arthurian and standard fantasy campaigns, this variety of werewolf is suitable for any
  game where a touch of magic is not out of place, but where horrific prowling monsters of the movie
  variety simply do not belong. The Arthurian weres' simple wolf-nature, with no extraordinary abilities
  other than their change, allows them to blend into many "hidden magic" and similar settings. They fit
  quite well into such close-to-reality milieux as X-Files-style worlds as well, precisely because they are, in
  general, so low key. A GM who wants to shake up his players' preconceptions might even work one into
  an ostensibly "realistic" setting -- supported with a suitable pseudoscientific explanation, of course.
  They work less well in high fantasy and outright horror worlds, because while they are supernatural, they
  are far more subtle and considerably lower in power than the other creatures around them. Their small
  advantages over humans may give them a false, perhaps misleading, sense of confidence. Of course, if
  that's what the GM wants to foster...
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  (((START BOX)))
  Sample Character: Sir Marrok . . . . 250 Points
  The Werewolf Knight of the Round Table
  Male; age 35; 5'11"; 160 lbs.; a well-built man of middle age with salt-and-pepper hair and grey eyes.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 14 [45]; DX 13 [30]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 12 [20]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.25; Move 6.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 6; Block 7; Parry 7.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 1d-1; Kick: 1d+1; Thrust 1d; Swing 2d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Companion of the Round Table [15]; Knighthood [20]; Reputation +3
  [5] (Reaction: +3; Recognized by (Britain): Large class, ¥1/2; 1 level free from Companion); Status 3 (3
  levels free from Companion, Knighthood and Wealth) [0]; Strong Will +4 [16] (Will: 16); Wealth
  (Wealthy) [20] (Starting Wealth: $5,000); Werewolf (Arthurian, as described on p. 00) [23].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Chivalric Code of Honor [-15]; Extremely Hazardous Duty (member
  of Arthur's Bodyguard) [-20]; Sense of Duty to Arthur and the Round Table [-10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Body-shy; Distrustful of women; Fiercely loyal to Arthur; Gentle and
  courteous. [-4].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Animal Handling-10 [1]; Area Knowledge (Britain)-14 [4]; Axe/Mace-14 [2]
  (Parry: 7); Brawling-14 [1] (Parry: 9); Broadsword-15 [4] (Parry: 7); Falconry-10 [1]; Flail-13 [2] (Parry:
  6); Heraldry-10 [1/2]; Knife-13 [1/2] (Parry: 5); Lance-15 [4] (Parry: 7); Riding (Horse)-15 [4];
  Savoir-Faire (Britain)-14 [0]; Savoir-Faire (Elsewhere)-12 [0]; Shield-15 [2] (Block: 7); Survival
  (English Countryside)-15 [8]; Tracking-15 [8].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: English (native)-14 [2]; French-11 [1].
  The werewolf knight of the Round Table, Sir Marrok is mentioned twice in Mallory. The first was in
  Book V, Chapter 8 as part of Arthur's personal bodyguard during the war with Emperor Lucius (one of
  five knights so trusted -- Lancelot and Kay were two of the others). The other citation is quoted on p. 00;
  it comes from the list of knights who tried to heal Sir Urré of Hungary. As noted elsewhere, given the
  similarities in their stories, it seems likely he is also the knight called Bisclavret in Marie de France's lai
  of the same name.
  The exact origin of his curse is unknown, as is whether there were a cure for it or not. Oddly, this lack of
  information seems to have bothered nobody. It in fact delighted his wife, who used the transformation
  against him; loving another knight better than he, she stole the clothes Marrok needed in order to return
  to human shape, and forced him to remain a wolf for seven years.
  His return to human form came about when the King, out hunting, was taken with a wolf who acted like
  a loyal servant in his presence; forbidding his retinue to kill the beast, Arthur brought the wolf back
  home to Camelot with him. There, the wolf was gentle and friendly, showing the qualities of a good
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  knight to all persons save two -- Marrok's unfaithful wife and her lover. The king, noticing this,
  questioned the pair until they confessed. Upon recovery of the hidden clothing by the king's men, Marrok
  was able to return to human form, and Arthur banished the wife and her lover.
  In the years after his ordeal, Marrok devoted himself fully to the service of his king and his country,
  eventually earning a place in Arthur's personal bodyguard. He survived the Grail Quest, unlike so many
  other Companions, which points to great faith, great self-control, or both. While he is not mentioned by
  Mallory after the healing of Urré in AD 462, it seems reasonable to assume that he continued in the
  service of his king to the very end of Arthur's reign.
  (((END BOX)))
  Benandanti -- The Witchhunter Werewolves
  Questioned: How does one enter this company of the benandanti?
  He replied: All those who have been born with the caul belong to it, and when they reach the age of
  twenty they are summoned by means of a drum the same as soldiers, and they are obliged to respond.
  -- testimony of Battista Moduco before the Inquisition, June 27, 1580
  Born with a caul, born to answer a call, they were the Benandanti -- the "Good Walkers."
  Indistinguishable from their countrymen in the regions around the Baltic and Mediterranean seas, these
  undercover werewolves were protectors, not predators; on the behalf of their friends, families and
  neighbors they took on the forces of Hell -- strige and stregoni, sorcerors, undead, and demons of all
  descriptions.
  Benandanti were-form . . . . variable
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST 10 [+10] DX 14 [0] IQ 10 [+40] HT 12 [0] (Costs may vary
  depending on human form.)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Magic Resistance +2 [4]; Strong Will +4 [16]. Remove Four Legs [-5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Wolf Template (p. 00) [-37]. Duty: Fight the Devil and the Forces of
  Hell (Utterly Formidable Group, Appears Rarely) [-20]; Enemy: Forces of Hell [-20] (Roll: 6 or less,
  ¥1/2); Sense of Duty to fellow Benandanti [-5]; Sense of Duty to Humanity [-15]. Remove Bestial [+10];
  Horizontal [+10]; No Fine Manipulators [+30]; Presentient [+20]; Short Lifespan ¥5 [+50]; Sleepy (50%)
  [+10]. Optionally, include Enemy: Inquisition, werewolf hunters, etc. (Large Group, Appears Rarely)
  [-15] in the appropriate milieux.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Whip (Iron Whip)-DX [2]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Basic Cost: Without Enemy: Inquisition, PPT: +302, NPT: -202; basic cost 140
  points. With Enemy: Inquisition, PPT: +302, NPT: -217; basic cost 128 points. These must be adjusted to
  reflect the character's attributes before final point cost is calculated.
  If the character is a part of the traditional Benandanti "army" (see below), the resulting were-form
  advantage is then modified with an External Trigger: Quarterly call to arms (Only to were-form,
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  occasional, not exclusive, -50%). In historic medieval campaigns set in the Baltic and Mediterranean
  regions, Benandanti will also possess a Reputation: usually +2 in their home village, where they are
  recognized all the time, and +1 elsewhere in territory with active Benandanti, recognized rarely (4 points
  total), along with an Unusual Background (Born with a Caul), worth 5 points. The GM may also require
  that Benandanti in later periods take a -20 point Secret.
  (Please note that this is the template for a physical-change Theiss/Friuli-style Benandante, based on
  testimony from the relevant Inquisition records. Many variations are possible and likely; see the text
  below.)
  Werewolves of God
  Marked at birth by a caul -- a fetal membrane enclosing their head -- the Benandanti (singular
  Benandante) were called to battle the beings called variously Malandanti (the Evil Walkers), strige
  (witches) and stregoni (sorcerers): the forces of darkness who cursed harvests and poisoned seeds.
  Although the Benandanti of northeastern Italy's province of Friuli are the best known of these obscure
  bands, similar groups existed all over Southern and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages. The
  members of these groups believed that they had been called by divine forces to act as the guardians of
  their neighbors.
  Thought to be the historical remnants of prehistoric shamanic and/or fertility cults, these groups
  (predictably) varied from one another in the details of their beliefs and traditions, but on one thing they
  all agreed: in order to accomplish their "mission," they had been granted the power to turn into
  wolf-human hybrids. Using these forms, they engaged the servants of Hell in direct physical combat on a
  regular basis. Because of these fundamental similarities, scholars have tended to call all these groups
  "benandanti" after the Friuli tradition, although many bands had other names for themselves.
  As they were firmly entrenched in their local cultures and folklore as forces for Good, the many bands of
  Benandanti saw no reason to hide. Their membership was an open secret, and they enjoyed the respect
  and gratitude of the people they protected. In Friuli and in other areas, they even coexisted peacefully
  with the Church, whose local representatives were (at least at first) more interested in learning about their
  beliefs than supressing them.
  The Inquisition, What A Show...
  Inevitably, though, such enthusiastic deviation from medieval Catholic dogma attracted the notice of the
  Inquisition -- quite a bit of it, in fact. For more than a century, agents of the Inquisition pursued, captured
  and tried members of the Benandanti from all over eastern and south-eastern Europe, accusing them of
  all manner of heresies and specifically of witchcraft. It is through their records, in fact, that much of the
  extant information on the Benandanti comes.
  In these self-proclaimed werewolves, though, the Inquisition ultimately met its match. Put to the test and
  commanded to confess to witchcraft, Benandanti across Europe insisted that they fought witches,
  confusing their inquisitors and threatening to overturn the entire structure of medieval Catholic dogma.
  After a century of this Inquistorial effort, the Friuli Benandanti in particular eventually admitted to being
  witches, but insisted (to the consternation of their Inquisitors) that they were in fact God's witches. It is a
  testament to the Benandanti's devotion to their beliefs that the Inquisition never broke fully them. While
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  individuals may have given in to the torture, the Benandanti as a whole outlasted the Inquisition, which
  effectively gave up on them -- both individually and collectively.
  The Nature of the Beast
  While there were almost as many variations on the Benandanti beliefs as there were bands, certain core
  elements remained more or less constant. Perhaps the most detailed and evocative account of the
  Benandanti beliefs comes from the Inquisitorial records of an eighty-year-old man known only as
  "Theiss." Theiss lived in the Livonian town of Jurgensburg, on the eastern side of the Baltic Sea. During
  1692, in one of their last public efforts, the Inquisition put him on trial on charges of being a witch and a
  werewolf. Theiss didn't deny the accusations made of him; instead, he volunteered a detailed confession
  that threatened to demolish utterly the Inquisition's werewolf orthodoxy.
  Theiss claimed that he and other Eastern European werewolves of both genders gathered three times a
  year to do battle with the forces of the Devil. On the feast nights of Saint Lucia, Pentecost and Saint John
  (the seasonal changes), they would storm the gates of Hell. There, armed with iron whips (a unique detail
  in werewolf lore), these self-styled "hounds of God" would do battle with the Devil and his army of
  sorcerers, witches and assorted undead beings; most of these were were inexplicably armed with
  broomsticks wrapped with horsetails. Theiss testified that an undead witch named Skeistan had actually
  broken his nose with one such weapon.
  According to Theiss, these "witches" (who actually included among their number assorted undead
  beings) annually tried to filch freshly-sprouted shoots of grain from the fields both in order to steal the
  crops for Hell and to inflict a famine upon the land. To restore the fertility of the fields, Theiss and other
  werewolves would form a legion of their own and mount a counterattack. If, however, the Benandanti
  were slow in their response, the witches would successfully bar the gates of Hell, and the crops,
  livestock, and even the fishing catch would suffer. The "hounds of God" helped mankind by preventing
  the Devil and his forces from carrying off the bounty of the earth.
  And his band was not alone in their efforts. Theiss emphasized that there were werewolves in Germany
  and Russia who also also fought Satan and his witches. They were all part of a great (if somewhat
  anarchic) army that protected Earth and the common folk from the depradations of hellspawn.
  Theiss' testimony astounded the inquisitors who heard his case; the degree to which it clashed with
  medieval Catholic orthodoxy regarding werewolves was beyond their experience. By necessity they tried
  to force Theiss into their paradigm, but the old man held up under their questioning. When asked what
  became of the souls of the werewolves, Theiss said they went to heaven. In the face of accusations to the
  contrary, he denied that he had ever signed a pact with the Devil. He also refused to see the parish priest
  who was sent for to chastise him, saying that he was a better man than any priest.
  Despite considerable pressure from the judges and interrogators, Theiss never recanted, and only yielded
  to their cosmology so far as to admit that Hell was underground instead of "at the end of the sea" as he
  had initially declared. At a complete loss as to what to do with someone who wouldn't play by their
  werewolf rules, the judges sentenced Theiss to a mere ten lashes for acts of idolatry and superstitious
  beliefs.
  (((START BOX)))
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations on the Theme
  @TEXT-BOX:Other accused Baltic werewolves of the same period told much the same story as Theiss.
  Details varied <#\208> the number and schedule of "battle days" in a year (four, at the solstices and
  equinoxes, being more common than Theiss' three), different periods of activity (often centered upon the
  span between Christmas and Pentecost), the presence or absence of a "leader" figure who summoned
  them to battle, and so on.
  @TEXT-BOX:The use of weapons was a point of wide variance -- some bands used none, while the
  Friuli Benandanti in particular were said to employ iron whips like Theiss' group. The role of women was
  another; in some bands they fought alongside the men, while in others they were dreamwalkers, acting as
  much as scouts as seers. The greatest deviation between groups of Benandanti, though, was in the very
  nature of the shifting gift. For some it was explicitly physical, in the medieval Catholic and later folkloric
  tradition. For others, though, it was purely spiritual -- an astral phenomenon where battles were fought on
  some metaphysical plane between ghostly forms. (The latter were often the same groups whose women
  were dreamwalkers.)
  @TEXT-BOX:One detail, in addition to their shifting ability, was almost universal: the majority of
  active Benandanti, the forces who directly engaged the powers of Hell, were between the ages of 20 and
  40. Those younger than 20 did not "hear the call", although they were usually aware of their potential.
  And given the nature of both their mission and life expectancies in the Middle Ages, few lived to reach
  40. Those that did probably served as advisors, non-combatant strategists, or perhaps even as rear guards.
  Theiss was unusual in that he claimed still to be active even in his eighties.
  @TEXT-BOX:For all their differences, though, there is still a remarkable unity of theme and description
  between these often widespread and certainly unconnected accounts. The fossil remains of the ancient
  fertility rituals which spawned the Benandanti are clearly visible within the stories and traditions in
  which they feature. Later accounts make them out to be more buffoonish than heroic -- roaming about in
  rowdy bands, breaking into cellars to steal wine and beer -- but no matter the period, the Baltic
  werewolf/Benandanti is dramatically different from the malevolent, cannibalistic werewolf of Gallic
  legend which became the model for Western folklore and Hollywood alike.
  (((END BOX)))
  Psychology
  Unlike his counterparts farther to the west, the Baltic werewolf is more the pack predator than the
  solitary hunter. Devoted to the community in which he dwells, he is dedicated to the protection of
  humanity as a whole, and immersed in a support group of similar beings with a long-standing set of
  traditions. A Benandante is usually a social being, well-adjusted and comfortable with his dual nature,
  which he has known about since his birth. He has no reason to hide and is in fact a respected member of
  his community, well regarded by his neighbors whether he is the mayor or a dirt farmer.
  Between his holy charge and his long membership in the group, the Benandante (at least during the
  medieval period and earlier) is almost always an ethical being, rarely if ever using his shifting abilities
  for personal advantage. Some Benandanti never shift except when called to do battle; others may make
  limited use of their abilities in more mundane situations. In any case, a sense of responsibility toward
  their neighbors tends to govern their behavior, in wolf form or not.
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  Ecology
  Despite their special abilities, Benandanti are born from normal humans, and these almost exclusively
  from eastern and southeastern European ethnic groups; northern Italy and the eastern reaches of Germany
  are as far west as the Benandanti ever ranged, and far more were based around the Baltic Sea. (In a
  modern or future setting, of course, a Benandante can appear virtually anywhere -- often without any idea
  what he is.)
  The Benandanti shifting talent is not a dominant trait and rarely if ever runs in families. It is far more
  likely for them to appear at random among families of every social and political station, marked at birth
  by the caul, making necessary the Benandanti's close relationship to the midwives and other healers of
  their communities.
  Culture
  The Benandanti consider themselves part of the culture in which they are born, and although they do
  form cohesive groups, they do not consider themselves separate from the other humans in their
  communities. They live ordinary lives among those without the gift, working hard, going to church,
  making friends and choosing wives and husbands from among "normal" people. They maintain
  especially strong ties to the midwives and other folk-healers who may be called upon to oversee births,
  so as to ensure that all with the gift are identified as soon as possible.
  Any suggestion that they form their own Benandanti-only communities would be met with puzzlement at
  best and derision at worst. They do not see themselves as a race apart, but simply as humans with a
  special gift that allows them to protect their neighbors.
  They do maintain a body of detailed oral tradition about their natures and duties, though, and thoroughly
  transmit these traditions to new members. A young Benandante will usually have other Benandanti from
  the local band as godparents, who will see to his education at the proper time. He is usually made aware
  of his talent and fellows about the time he can talk.
  All Benandanti will be at least nominally Christian. While there are no Jewish Benandanti in the
  historical setting, in later, more cosmopolitan milieux intermarriage may produce Benandanti of almost
  any religious and ethnic background -- particularly in those unware of their heritage.
  Politics
  While any given Benandante may be as political as he cares to be about his local community, Benandanti
  groups as a whole are apolitical. They serve and protect the people against the forces of Hell; in
  comparison to that, interhuman conflicts are petty squabbles unworthy of consideration. It would take a
  regime or individual of extraordinary evil (at least as bad as the strige and stregoni) to make the
  Benandanti even consider using their gifts against other humans.
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  Benandanti in the Campaign
  Benandanti are a natural addition to a GURPS Russia campaign, and can be added to just about any
  other game set in medieval Europe. A strictly historical setting can make use of the Benandanti, either as
  a deluded fertility-cult holdover or as a surprise "colony" of real magic. In either case, they will be an
  open secret wherever they operate, supported by farmers (who benefit, theoretically, from their efforts),
  midwives (who identify the next generation as they are born), and (on occasion) by sympathetic members
  of the clergy (who either are aware of the war they fight, or are simply tolerant of what they see as
  harmless peasant traditions). The average peasant will probably know of them, but anyone higher
  socially than the local mayor or town priest will probably be unaware of the Benandanti's existence --
  unless they have roots or connections in the lowest levels of society.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Other Settings
  @TEXT-BOX:In addition to historical Earth (where they may or may not actually have shapechanging
  abilities), Benandanti are easily inserted into any medieval (or earlier) setting with an appropriate
  Good-Evil polarization in the local religions.
  @TEXT-BOX:GURPS Fantasy: Yrth, for example, is a perfect candidate; the Banestorm simply swept
  up a pack of Benandanti along with all its other Earthly transportees. Whether or not the mysterious
  "commander" cited by some groups exists in or can reach Yrth is up to the GM's intent and his
  interpretation of the Benandanti's testimony. If the "commander" is a supernatural being, he may be able
  to oversee two groups in two different universes at once, or perhaps the Benandanti have died out in
  modern Earth and he has turned to their extraplanar descendants. Or perhaps another master entirely has
  adopted the Yrth Benandanti...
  @TEXT-BOX:The relationship between the Benandanti and the various Earth-born religions in Yrth
  remains the same -- both Christian and Muslim orthodoxy revile them, and Jews will treat them with
  suspicion. The attitude of the bizarre Shinto-Buddhist-Zen-Monty-Python hybrid religion of Sahud is less
  clear; in general, though, the Sahudese seem to regard the Benandanti (and other weres, as well) as
  hengeyokai (see pp. 00-00), and thus a fact of life which is either ignored or placated as needed.
  @TEXT-BOX:GURPS WWII: The Nazis were perhaps the greatest evil to arise in Europe in centuries,
  and the impact they had on Eastern Europe... The Benandanti who had survived to the Twentieth Century
  may well have said, "These are the forces of Hell," and founded, joined, or simply aided the Resistance
  in every Nazi dominated country where they dwelt. But powerful as they are, the Benandanti are not
  immune to bullets, so the fight is more balanced than it may seem at first. Add in the mysterious SS
  "Werwolf" troopers, and the struggle may be even harder. This kind of campaign can range from a
  "straight" WWII setting with the Benandati as the only outre element, all the way to a "High Weirdness"
  WWII incorporating SS werewolves, Nazi sorcerors and even a quest for the Spear of Destiny.
  @TEXT-BOX:Modern settings: In worlds like those of GURPS Black Ops or The X-Files, the
  Benandanti can make for unsuspected neutrals or even surprise allies, depending on the level and type of
  conflict the players encounter. The Company and its operatives would unfortunately suffer a certain level
  of prejudice against the Benandanti, though, leading to at best a tense state of detente between the two
  groups and at worst a war of extermination.
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  (((END BOX)))
  Depending on the player characters involved, the Benandanti can be Patron or pursued, friend or foe.
  Parties with strong connections to the Catholic Church (or the campaign equivalent) can find themselves
  tracking down the werewolves on behalf of the Inquisition. Whatever their role in the campaign, though,
  the Benandanti will most likely remain hidden in plain sight, like a random-dot stereogram -- invisible
  unless and until one looks for them in just the right way.
  All Benandanti, All The Time
  An innovative GM may choose to run an all-Benandanti campaign. Such a game could have much in
  common with "team espionage" campaigns, as the PCs attempt to dodge both the Inquisition and agents
  of Hell while still fulfilling their obligations to the simple farmers who rely upon their protection. While
  historically the Benandanti tended to be more or less permanently based in supportive communities, the
  classic "wandering do-gooders" campaign model could still be employed without fatally disrupting the
  core paradigm. In either case, the game can be tuned from meticulously realistic to mythic with ease; the
  primary concern being finding the right mix of goals and opposition for the party to face. At one end of
  the scale, the flavor can be rather like an odd medieval pulp/noir novel, as the possessors of hidden and
  strange power work for the good of Mankind amidst the shadows of a hostile world. At the other end, the
  game may grow to resemble GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse, only without the oppressive, fatalistic
  air of imminent doom.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Benandanti in GURPS In Nomine:
  @TEXT-BOX:In the world of the War Between Heaven and Hell, the Benandanti are the forgotten
  Soldiers of Uriel, established by him shortly before the Purification Crusade as Earth's last defense
  against the creatures of myth. Knowing his attention would be turned elsewhere for a long time, Uriel
  arranged for membership in his mortal forces to be hereditary, and the groups themselves
  self-perpetuating and self-governing.
  @TEXT-BOX:Partly as a sop to Jordi (who was already up in arms over his ethereal activities), Uriel
  patterned the organization of his Soldiers after wolfpacks, and gave them the secret Corporeal Song of
  Wolf, (see box) which turns its singer into a man-beast fighting machine. He also provided them with the
  Corporeal Song of Dreams, with which they were intended to communicate with Uriel's "base camp" in
  the Marches.
  @TEXT-BOX:Uriel's long-term plan was to hand command of the Benandanti over to Jordi outright in
  exchange for a reduction or cessation of Jordi's hostility toward the Archangel of Purity. But Uriel never
  got around to presenting his "peace offering" to Jordi, and told no one else but his loyal lieutenants about
  the Benandanti, before he was recalled into the Higher Heavens.
  @TEXT-BOX:And no one told the Benandanti that Uriel was gone. During the Middle Ages, the
  occasional Tsayadite would appear to dispatch orders to the Benandanti. In recent centuries, though, this
  has dwindled off as the Tsayadim grew more and more concerned with the Marches. But the Benandanti
  persevere, maintaining their traditions and loyalties. Meanwhile, their uncounted, ignorant descendants
  may be found not only in Europe, but scattered across the globe, simply awaiting the proper Song to
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  awaken fully to their heritage. Not every person born to a Benandanti bloodline has to potential to
  become a Soldier, but those that do are far more common than in the rest of humanity.
  @TEXT-BOX:It is perhaps the ultimate irony that in his bid to create a final line of defense against the
  old creatures of myth, Uriel effectively created a new creature of myth.
  @TEXT-BOX:Benandanti in GURPS In Nomine will usually have a minimum of 150 points (and
  frequently more). They do not use the "racial" package given on pp. 00-00, but instead use the following
  alternate template:
  @C-BOXHEAD:Benandante . . . . 69 points plus the skill cost of the Song.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST +2 [20]; HT +2 [20].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Awareness (Symphony) [15]; Essence Control/8 [23] (minimum); Power
  Investiture (Corporeal)/2 [20] (minimum); Unusual Background (Benandanti) [5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Duty to Heaven (originally Uriel) (6 or less) [-2]; Enemy: Forces of
  Hell [-20] (Roll: 6 or less, ¥1/2); Sense of Duty to Humanity [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Whip (Iron Whip)-DX [4].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Songs: The Corporeal Song of Wolf-19 (an effective level of 16 on the Corporeal
  plane) [variable]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Congenial [-1].
  @TEXT-BOX:The Unusual Background cost represents being born into a Benandanti bloodline. (The
  requirement of a caul is mere folklore in this setting.) While the Iron Whip skill is automatically acquired
  upon "awakening" (it is encoded into the Benandante genes), an actual iron whip is not. Such whips are
  Corporeal or Ethereal artifacts forged by the few remaining Tsayadite crafters of such objects.
  @TEXT-BOX:"Unawakened" Benandanti are unaware of or otherwise distanced from their heritage, and
  have not learned the Song of Wolf, nor do they have the Duty to Heaven/Uriel or the Enemy. Their
  Awareness and Investiture often lead them into "mystical" occupations and hobbies, and they
  occasionally become Soldiers for other Archangels. (Not surprisingly, these Soldiers serve Jordi more
  often than any other Superior.) It is also possible for an unawakened Benandante to become a Soldier of
  Hell -- in such a case, though, they permanently lose all ability to use the Song of Wolf.
  @TEXT-BOX:An Aware Benandante can detect a potential or active Benandante Soldier with a simple
  IQ roll if he is within one hex.
  @C-BOXHEAD:Song of Wolf
  @D-BOXHEAD:Corporeal Only (Secret)
  @TEXT-BOX:This Song was created by Uriel in the middle of the sixth century AD for the sole use of
  the Benandanti, the special Soldiers he created in the early part of the Christian era. The Song seems to
  be keyed specifically to some hereditary trait possessed by the Benandanti; those without this trait cannot
  successfully perform it. At the present time, only those Benandanti who still follow the old ways know
  and teach the Song; it is unknown to any existing Celestial except perhaps a select very few of the
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  Tsayadim.
  @TEXT-BOX:Briefly, the Song of Wolf turns its singer into a humanoid wolf-man of fearsome
  countenance and impressive combat ability. To accomplish this, it seems to combine the features of
  several other Songs into a single composite result. Not surprisingly, it costs a large amount of Essence,
  with a corresponding Disturbance in the Symphony. The "flavor" of the Song's Disturbance is unique and
  easily-recognized, although few Celestials have ever encountered it, and fewer still know what it is.
  @TEXT-BOX:The Song of Wolf appears to combine Corporeal Form, Numinous Corpus Fangs, and
  Numinous Corpus Claws, along with an undeniably unique Numinous Corpus Ornamental which is
  responsible for the majority of the user's physical transformation. The singer sprouts fur and muscle, his
  head and face become notably canine, and his feet and legs become digitigrade, adding an apparent six to
  ten inches to his height from the reconfiguration of the ankles and toes. The hands remain human in
  form, allowing tool (and weapon) use.
  @TEXT-BOX:Affiliation: Purity, Animals
  @TEXT-BOX:Base Cost to Perform: 5; 3.
  @TEXT-BOX:Duration: (Degree of success) ¥ ten minutes
  @TEXT-BOX:Additional Disturbance: the Degree of Success, after the user returns to human form.
  (((END BOX)))
  Variations
  As noted elsewhere, some historical Benandanti described their transformations as spiritual, not physical.
  To represent this, add the Projected Were-form limitation (p. 00) at the -25% level to the package
  described on p. 00.
  Most such bands which claimed a spiritual transformation also had gender-linked abilities for their
  members. While men were capable of the wolf form, women were dreamwalkers. In such a case, female
  Benandanti could be quantified either with Astral Projection, or with the Path of Dreams from GURPS
  Voodoo (p. VO74-74). Note that dreamwalkers who use Astral Projection may also possess True Astral
  wereforms (see box, p. 00).
  Finally, modify or remove the Duty, Enemy and External trigger value as needed for campaigns that do
  not use a medieval European setting or some facsimile thereof.
  Benandanti Characters
  Benandanti characters work best in campaigns with a point total of at least 150 and preferably more. At
  the lower end, a basic Benandante will probably be a typical medieval villager, other than for his gift --
  one or two attributes raised slightly, a small range of skills at good levels, including one profession at a
  somewhat higher level -- competent, but not exceptional, even in were-form. Campaigns with higher
  point budgets will allow more flexibility and more impressive performance, but may tend to crowd
  non-Benandanti out of the picture unless equally exotic options are available for other character types.
  Remember, too, that Benandanti are undercover special agents for a force that transcends mortal
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  authority. In almost all cases they will be productive and outgoing members of whatever society into
  which the GM sees fit to insert them, often model citizens; whether their role as supernatural protectors is
  known to their neighbors depends on the setting as well.
  Whether publicly-known or not, Benandanti in more modern or future settings will tend toward
  professions in which they protect and serve others -- police, military, medical (particularly paramedics
  and other emergency personnel), even security guards and private investigators. In less sophisticated
  game worlds, they are more likely to be farmers, blacksmiths, and other occupations that do not take
  them on the road; they prefer to stay in the communities where they grew up and where they know all
  their neighbors.
  This assumes the Benandanti in question are aware of their heritage. If they are not, they can be in almost
  any trade, and may not discover their ability to change until time of great stress or during exposure to
  great evil. In a campaign with sufficient points and a compatible background, the Benandanti
  shapeshifting talent would make an excellent Secret Advantage (p. CI16).
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Carlo Ravelli . . . . 150 points
  @D-BOXHEAD:Blacksmith and Benandante
  @TEXT-BOX:Age 29; 5'9"; 170 lbs.; a homely fellow with a ready grin, curly black hair, brown eyes
  and an olive complexion.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 14 [45]; DX 11 [10]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 12 [20]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.75; Move 5.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 5; Parry 8.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 1d-1; Kick: 1d+1; Thrust 1d; Swing 2d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Animal Empathy [5] (Reaction: +2/+4); Benandante were-form [65]
  (External Trigger: Quarterly call to arms, only to were-form, occasional, not exclusive: -50%);
  Reputation: Benandante, among other Benandanti +2 [1] (Reaction: +1; Recognized by: Small class,
  ¥1/3; Frequency of Recognition: Sometimes (10-), ¥1/2); Reputation: Benandante, in home village +2 [3]
  (Reaction: +2; Recognized by: Small class, ¥1/3); Unusual Background: Born with a caul [5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Appearance (Unattractive) [-5] (Reaction: -1); Bloodlust [-10];
  Compulsive Generosity [-5]; Enemy: Inquisition [0] (Roll: 6 or less, ¥1/2; Included in Benandante
  package); Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) [-10]; Post-Combat Shakes [-5]; Sense of Duty: Villagers
  and nearby farmers [-5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Careful; Congenial; Prays before every meal; Quietly proud of his smithcraft;
  Speaks slowly and carefully. [-5]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Animal Handling-12 [1]; Area Knowledge: Home Village-12 [4]; Area
  Knowledge: Local Countryside-12 [4]; Axe/Mace-12 [4] (Parry: 6); Blacksmith/TL4-14 [10];
  Brawling-12 [2] (Parry: 8); Hidden Lore (Benandanti)-12 [6]; Intimidation-10 [1]; Iron Whip-11 [0]
  (Parry: 5; Included in Benandante package); Leadership-12 [5]; Lifting-11 [1/2]; Packing-11 [1/2];
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  Swimming-10 [1/2]; Teamster-13 [1]; Veterinary/TL4-11 [1/2].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: Italian (native)-11 [1];
  @TEXT-BOX:Carlo Ravelli is an accomplished blacksmith living in a small village in the north of Italy
  during the late 17th century. He is also a Benandante -- a werewolf appointed by the forces of heaven to
  protect the crops and lives of the peasants in his area from the depredations of the forces of Hell. In this
  alternate, secret-magic Earth, those forces are very real, and so is Carlo's ability to transform into a 6'6"
  wolf-human hybrid.
  @TEXT-BOX:For nine years, Carlo has been a member of a small band of Benandanti based in his
  village. Numbering seven all told, it formerly numbered eight, but in the last winter raid upon the gates
  of Hell, the band's last nominal leader was killed by one of the cursed stregoni. Forced by circumstances
  to rally his band in the midst of the combat, Carlo has since found himself stuck with the job of leader by
  the general acclimation of his fellows. Even though he is unsure he wants the job, he has learned quickly
  and well, and none of the other Benandanti in the group has had any complaints about his performance.
  Of course, he rarely has to do anything, but that suits the others just fine.
  @TEXT-BOX:Carlo has a slow and careful way with words that sometimes deceives strangers into
  thinking he's dull-witted -- an opinion often reinforced by his willingness to give his last lira to a friend
  or neighbor in need. While not the most skilled of blacksmiths, he still turns out quality work in which he
  takes a quiet, private pleasure. He is a widower, having lost his young wife to smallpox several years
  back. Despite his homeliness, several young ladies in the village would eagerly become his second wife,
  but he still mourns and shuns any suggestion he should remarry.
  (((END BOX)))
  Bionitech F2-ATV Biodroid
  New for this season! The F2-ATV Biodroid is the go-anywhere, do-anything accessory of the year! Sleek
  styling and classic fur patterning combine with Bionitech's patented Multi-Form™ technology to produce
  a delightful accessory-pet that is both sophisticated and rugged. Equally at home in the drawing room
  and on a mountain trail, the F2-ATV is the premiere biomorphic companion/vehicle on the market today!
  -- Fall 2157 Bionitech (LLC) Advertising Flyer
  In one distant future, technology has advanced extraordinarily far in both the materials and biological
  sciences, until an unexpected common ground was found between them. This surprising synergy
  revolutionalized dozens of fields, not the least of which were robotics and transportation.
  The Bionitech Corporation is the premiere commercial organiation exploiting these discoveries; the
  introduction of its first "biodroid" made the company an overnight success. It was the first manufacturer
  to successfully merge inorganic and organic technologies into a seamless, shapechanging whole.
  Its most recent release is the high-end F2-ATV -- an off-road sport/utility vehicle which is also a
  handsome and charming pet suitable for almost any household. Described in the sales brochures as
  "attractively bimorphic," the F2-ATV spends its "down time" in a form that is constructed from a
  combination of the most attractive features of both cats and ferrets. Low-maintenance and "conveniently
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  pre-housebroken," the F2's bioform is safe around children and furniture, is easy to train, and is
  extremely loyal and affectionate.
  If that were all there were to the F2-ATV, though, it would be far from a top-of-the-line bio-engineered
  product. What sets the F2 apart from any number of other chimeric and cloned pets is its ability to turn
  into a full-featured off-road vehicle. The F2's SUV form is a far cry from the 4¥4s of the 20th Century,
  though. Its smooth organic lines emphasize its flexible segmented chassis. Combine that with its four
  independent axles, eight wheels and a top-of-the-line gyrobalance system, and the F2-ATV is clearly a
  vehicle designed for the rough-and-tumble requirements of the true outdoorsman.
  ((( START BOX )))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Campaign Roles
  @TEXT-BOX:A good example of the weremachine, the F2-ATV is, by design, something of a cross
  between a tool and a Dependent. The intended effect is Lassie incarnated as a Jeep.
  @TEXT-BOX:Most of the time, the F2 will be an NPC, run by the GM. Such a character will of a
  necessity be relegated <\#028> usually -- to a support role. Fortunately, this is not the sole case. An
  F2-ATV, like any other character, earns character points, and can improve itself thereby. The
  "apocryphal" stories of independent-minded F2s are not urban legends, but accounts of those vehicles
  which were able to buy off their Slave Mentality disadvantages and which chose to remain loyal to kind
  owners. Such a character, particularly among open-minded compatriots, could become a very valuable
  member of an adventuring party.
  @TEXT-BOX:On the other end of the spectrum, it is possible for an F2-ATV to "go bad." As a result of
  any number of traumas and stresses, an F2 could acquire mental disadvantages that would effectively
  break its Slave Mentality and let it go "rogue". (The GM is directed to the films "Christine" and "Duel"
  for inspiration here.) The result can be an unpredictable "bug hunt" adventure, spent chasing a
  shapeshifting SUV across every type of inconvenient terrain the GM desires.
  @TEXT-BOX:A variant on this adventure seed would be to present an ostensibly "rogue" F2-ATV,
  seemingly attacking people at random in its vehicle form; but if the PCs take the time to determine just
  what drove it rogue, they will find the murder of a beloved owner or some other injustice that it feels it
  needs to redress in its own limited way.
  @TEXT-BOX:Possibly more interesting (and unexpected) would be the inverse of this situation -- an
  F2-ATV continuously in the background of the apparent main action, acting in all ways normal and
  seemingly on innocent business, but which turns out to be a rogue of unusual intelligence and subtlety.
  By maintaining the appearance of its usual routine, it hides a secret that may be the key to the matter at
  hand -- or to an intriguing subplot.
  ((( END BOX )))
  F2-ATV Biodroid (TL10) . . . . 179 points
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  Base (Pet) Form
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST -6 [-50]; DX +4 [45]; IQ 7 [-30]; HT +3 [+30]; Reduced Hit Points -8
  [-40].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages:Acute Hearing +4 [8]; Acute Taste/Smell +4 [8]; Alertness +5 [25];
  Catfall [10]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Decreased Life Support [10]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Early
  Maturation ¥ 2 [10]; Enhanced Move ¥ 1/2 [5]; Faz Sense (3-hex range, -20%) [8]; Four Legs [5]; Night
  Vision [10]; Perfect Balance [5]; Sharp Teeth [5]; Ultrahearing [5]; Were-form (Vehicle; Absorptive
  Change to base form, Light Encumbrance, +10%; Exclusive External Trigger: Owner Request, -45%)
  [294].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Attentive [-1]; Bestial [-10]; Dull [-1]; Horizontal [-10]; Inconvenient
  Size [-15]; Innumerate [-10]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Nosy [-1]; Poverty (Dead Broke)
  [-25]; Short Arms [-10]; Short Lifespan ¥ 6 [-60]; Sleepy (50%) [-10]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property)
  [-10]; Staid [-1]; Sterile [-3].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Racial Quirk: Extremely Loyal to Owner [-1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Jumping at DX [1]; Stealth at DX+2 [8].
  Vehicle Form (TL10) . . . . 421 points
  (PPT: +571, NPT: -188)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST 600 [50 plus Model Package]; DX 13 [-15]; IQ 8 [10]; HT 12 [-10];
  Extra Hit Points +300 [40 plus Model Package].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Remove Catfall [-10]; Enhanced Move ¥ 1/2 [-5]; Faz Sense [-8]; Four
  Legs [-5]; Sharp Teeth [-5]. Add F2-ATV Off-Road Robot Model Package [402].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Remove Bestial [+10]; Inconvenient Size [+15]; No Fine
  Manipulators [+30]; Short Arms [+10]. Add Inconvenient Size [-10]; No Manipulators [-50]; Slave
  Mentality [-40]; Unhealing [-30].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Driving (Self) AT DX+1 [4].
  F2-ATV Off-Road Robot Model Package . . . . 402 points
  Brain: Normal cyborg brain (small bioengineered animal, .33 lbs., .01 cf, $12,500, 80 points);
  companion brain is standard with sentient and +2 DX booster options (10 lbs., 0.2 cf, $33,750, 0 points
  with cyborg), Complexity 5.
  Sensors: Basic sensors with radar imaging/1 (1 lb., .02 cf., $3150, LR6, 50 points).
  Communicator: Basic communicator (.25 lb., 0.005 cf., LR6, $125, 15 points).
  Drivetrain: Wheeled drivetrain with 15 KW motive power (52.5 lbs., 1.05 cf, $1050, 15 KW).
  Accessories: Gyrobalance ($1250, 15 points); Inertial Navigation System (10 lbs., 0.2 cf, $12,500, 5
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  points); Spotlight (2.5 lbs., 0.05 cf, $25).
  Power: Power requirement 15 KW. One TL10 hydrogen fuel cell with 15 KW output (100 lbs., 2 cf.,
  $500). Five-gallon self-sealing fuel tank gives an endurance of 22.22 hours (0 points).
  Subassemblies: Eight wheels.
  Body Design: Body houses all components except wheels, including eight exposed normal passenger
  seats (320 lbs., 160 cf, $800) and a 10 cf trunk.
  Wheel Design: Eight wheels (3.4705 cf).
  Surface Area: Body 200, wheels 14.
  Structure: Standard medium, biomechanical and flexible, 642 lbs., $160,500.
  Hit Points: Body 300, wheels 5 each.
  Armor: DR 3 ablative (7.704 lbs., $61.63, LR 6, PD 2, 58 points). Waterproof ($428).
  Other: Safety interlock prevents transformation back to pet form if a living creature greater than 1 lb. in
  weight is in any of the seats. Option packages available.
  Statistics: 1,653.78 lbs. (2,651.73 lbs. with eight passengers and full trunk), 177 cf (22' long), MSRP:
  $226,840.13. Body ST 600 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%) (276 points); DX 13 (30 points); IQ 8 {-15
  points); HT 12/300 (1460 points). Ground speed: empty: 34.07 (71.75 mph); loaded: 26.9 (56.65 mph)
  (35 points). Floats. Legality Class 6. Model Point Cost: 402 points. (Model point cost divided by 5 for
  completely nonhuman appearance per p. RO50.)
  While some potential buyers may feel that its near-quarter-million-dollar price tag is unnecessarily
  exorbitant, Bionitech hurries to disagree. The company is quick to point out that the price of a
  comparable high-end off-road vehicle from a manufacturer such Land Rover or BMW-Rolls can match
  or exceed that of the F2-ATV yet still lack the unique dual nature that makes the F2-ATV so distinctive.
  Personality
  The F2 is designed to be as much a companion as transportation, and to that end, the model has been
  engineered to be as compatible with humans as possible. They are affectionate and gregarious, and while
  they demonstrate a cat's independence and ability to care for itself, they have none of the typical feline
  aloofness. Furthermore, they have been known to "imprint" or "bond" with their owners, demonstrating
  an almost canine loyalty that has surprised their designers. Playful and frolicksome in pet form, the F2 is
  all business when it turns into a vehicle -- those that aren't never make it out of the manufactory.
  It is known that individual vehicles often develop widely divergent personalities. While much of this can
  be attributed to the random factors involved in the use of an organic brain, clearly just as much comes
  from the "life experience" of the vehicle. And of course, the effects of environment and experience do
  much to shape the vehicles' "minds."
  Nowhere is this last more pronounced than in the case of gender identification. Although technically
  neuter, F2s often acquire an ersatz gender identity, if only by association from the terms of address used
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  by their owners. Since the majority of owners tend to refer to their vehicles as "she," most F2s view
  themselves as female. Oddly enough, despite the lack of any biochemical cues one way or another,
  signficant and consistent -- some say stereotypical -- behavioral differences emerge, with "females,"
  "males," and the few who retain a neuter identity all developing radically different styles of interaction
  with their owners and other F2s.
  (((START BOX)))
  Names
  F2-ATVs are almost always named by their owners; the kind of person who wouldn't name at least the
  pet form would not buy this product. As F2s have no "native" culture of their own, there is precious little
  consistency among their naming save that imposed by the demographics of their owners. Their names
  can range from the distressingly cute to the bluntly macho to the coyly pretentious, depending on the
  social status of the owner and the primary use to which the vehicle is put. The listing of entrants in a cat
  or dog show -- both full names and nicknames -- can be a useful resource for naming one or a flock of
  F2-ATVs.
  (((END BOX)))
  Performance
  Bionitech understands the special bond between pet and owner, and with this in mind (according to their
  literature) has avoided so-called "planned obsolescence" in the design of the F2-ATV. Using as their base
  the "natural" lifespan of the bio-engineered cat-ferret hybrid that makes up the "pet" form of the vehicle,
  Bionitech engineers created a vehicle design that, with regular care and maintenance, should provide
  exceptional service for at least 15 years. Owners are warned, though, that once the pet form reaches the
  end of its lifespan, the vehicle will cease to be operational. This is an unfortunate consequence of the
  F2-ATV's dual nature; despite the apparent mechanical construction of the vehicle form, it is in all
  regards as "alive" as the pet form, and despite the great difference in appeance and abilities, it is not a
  separate entity distinct from the "pet." It is, as the corporation's bioengineering department says, simply a
  different expression of the same potentials.
  And, as Bionitech so aptly demonstrates, that expression can be controlled. The F2-ATV -- as delivered
  -- has no ability to shift from one form to the other on its own initiative -- it can only do so at the request
  of its owner. That owner is the individual or individuals to whom the "pet" form has bonded, and to
  whom it displays loyalty. The pet can split its loyalty between at most two persons, facilitating both joint
  ownership and resale. In the latter case, while "command rights" are immediately transferred to the new
  owner, the actual bond of loyalty takes several weeks to shift -- an unavoidable consequence of using an
  organic brain as part of the system.
  Another control built into the vehicle is a safety interlock that prevents a transformation to pet form
  while living creatures (greater than 1 pound in weight) are in any of the seats. The F2-ATV "takes along"
  any cargo it is carrying with its vehicle form whenever it assumes pet shape, obviating the need to
  unpack the trunk just to deactivate the vehicle. While in theory this "storage" should have no detrimental
  effects on living beings, and the safety of nonliving objects has been clearly demonstrated, prudence (and
  the Bionitech legal department) suggested the necessity of a safety interlock to prevent unfortunate and
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  unforeseen accidents.
  Of course, with any vehicle as revolutionary as the F2-ATV, there are bound to be rumors, stories and
  even urban legends circulating about it. Apocryphal tales tell of F2s with near-human intelligence and the
  ability to transform at will; that have retained a doglike devotion to their original owners despite being
  sold or traded away; of individuals in the trunk of a vehicle during a shift... and what happened to them.
  Bionitech takes no stand on such tales except to discount them as unfounded stories unworthy of serious
  consideration. However, privately, certain engineers within the corporation's design division are
  concerned about those such incidents which are well-documented; others express delight at the creation
  exceeding the creator's intent.
  ((( START BOX )))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Settings
  @TEXT-BOX:In the form described here, the F2-ATV can be found in any setting that supports both
  engineering and biotechnology at TL10. As the sample character below shows, it's a perfect adjunct to a
  colony or other "primitive" settlement on a distant world; it can also be a rich man's toy in more
  "civilized" milieux. The GM who feels that TL10 is not advanced enough for such a "technomagical"
  device should feel free to raise the minimum tech level needed before the F2 can be created; however, it
  will require redesign so that it properly reflects its new native TL. And of course, the F2 can always be
  the product of Weird Science at virtually any tech level above 6 (5, if the GM is twisted enough to set a
  self-willed steam engine loose upon his world).
  @TEXT-BOX:Similarly, the inverse corollary to Clarke's Third Law (sufficiently advanced magic is
  indistinguishable from technology) can apply here: a vehicle like the F2-ATV can be the product of
  concentrated long-term effort by a large circle of enchanters -- or one of their backfires. Or it can be the
  result of a single warped genius with a sufficient grasp of Weird Magic. In either case, it is far more
  likely to be a unique artifact rather than a mass-produced item, making it all the more valuable and more
  likely to be a McGuffin than a simple piece of equipment -- assuming it's not a character in its own right.
  ((( END BOX )))
  F2-ATV Characters
  As noted elsewhere, a "stock" F2 is probably best employed in the "native bearer" role, especially if the
  campaign starting point total is below 150. With higher starting points, and a suitably cinematic mindset,
  there is no reason an F2 can't be a full member of an adventuring party in its own right. (Whether or not
  this is actually known by the other members of the party is up to the GM and player; a "secret" PC can be
  fun to play...)
  At a starting total of 150 points, it would be hard to play an F2, but not impossible. An older vehicle near
  the end of its life, one in need of minor repairs, or possessing unusual personality quirks, could work at
  this level. A 175-point budget would be more workable, but the F2-ATV character really comes into its
  own at 200 points and higher. Here the character can buy off Slave Mentality at creation and still have
  the points for a wide variety of expanded abilities. (If well-treated, though, most such F2s will take a
  Sense of Duty to their owner and his family in place of the Slave Mentality.) It is even possible for an F2
  to buy off the Bestial disadvantage, although this is a rarity; it represents a radical change in the "wiring"
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  of the organic brain and the GM may feel free to disallow it without sufficient in-game explanation.
  Despite the Bestial disadvantage, F2-ATVs can buy all manner of skills; many simply cannot be used
  while in pet form. It is not uncommon for professionals who own an F2 to teach it something of their
  field so that it can act as an informal assistant. F2s have also demonstrated the ability to pick up skills
  entirely on their own. (Some of the more obscure or difficult skills, or those far divorced from its basic
  nature, may require an Unusual Background cost. As always, such determinations are up to the GM.)
  ((( START BOX )))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Rockhound . . . . 200 points
  @TEXT-BOX:Independent F2-ATV, 6 years old, 22 feet long, 1654 lbs., cream-colored in both forms.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 4 [0]; DX 14 [0]; IQ 10 [30]; HT 13/5 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.75; Move 6.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 6.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 0d; Kick: 0d; Thrust 0d; Swing 0d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Bought off Slave Mentality [+40]. F2-ATV Racial package [179];
  Reputation +1 (Among colonists as heroic, trustworthy near-person, all the time) [5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Brontophobia (Mild) [-10]; Combat Paralysis [-15]; Sense of Duty to
  {owner} and family [-5]; Sense of duty to colonial survey team [-5]; Stubbornness [-5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Chatty while in vehicle form; Fiercely protective of "her people"; Can't get
  enough of the local "tikka" fruit; Vaguely uncomfortable with the Bestial aspect of her pet form; Hides
  the fact that she has the Change Control skill. [-5]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Area Knowledge (Colony Settlement)-12 [4]; Area Knowledge (Surrounding
  terrain)-13 [4]; Change Control-10 [4]; Geology/TL10-9 [2]; Planetology (Earthlike)-9 [1];
  Prospecting-10 [2]; Savoir-Faire (Colony)-10 [1]; Surveying/TL10-9 [1].
  @TEXT-BOX:"Rockhound" is an F2-ATV technically owned by Dr. Clothilde Pollotta, geologist,
  planetologist and surveyor currently settled in the new colony on Kessler's World, an earthlike (though
  geologically active) planet with great potential mineral wealth. As the leader of the colony's survey and
  exploration team, Dr. Pollotta (and by extension her family) was granted effective ownership rights to
  one of three F2-ATVs assigned to the settlement.
  @TEXT-BOX:Actual ownership rights vanished quickly. In the rough-and-tumble early years of the
  colony, colonists gained experience and expertise quickly -- and so did their F2s. Named "Rockhound"
  by Clothilde's then-12-year-old daughter Emily, this particular F2 demonstrated unusual intelligence and
  an eagerness to serve.
  @TEXT-BOX:But it was only when an unexpected natural gas blowout during a survey left most of the
  team injured and forced Rockhound to rescue them on her own initiative that the F2 shattered the
  artificial bonds on its personality and will. Tossing aside the remains of her Slave Mentality, Rockhound
  pushed herself far beyond her operational limits and discovered that she could draw upon aspects of one
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  form while in another. By blending features from both pet and vehicle forms, she was able to bring the
  team to safety as she radioed the colony for help. Although the incident left her with a mild fear of loud
  noises, the respect and praise she received in its wake has only helped solidify her new personality into
  its current helpful, energetic form.
  @TEXT-BOX:Since then, Rockhound has surprised Clothilde by being an enthusiastic (if not always
  stellar) student in the fields in which she finds herself most commonly employed. She has learned quite a
  bit from accompanying Dr. Pollotta on surveys and exploration runs, and once Clothilde discovered this,
  she decided to tutor Rockhound directly to turn her into a more useful asset. While Rockhound in no way
  is capable of acting as a professional in her own right, she knows enough be an able assistant.
  Furthermore, her independence and high intelligence allow her to run errands and perform chores that the
  other F2s in the colony are as yet incapable of handling on their own.
  @TEXT-BOX:So far, no one has really noticed that Rockhound has broken free of her Slave Mentality,
  and it's arguable whether at this time anyone in the colony would care if they knew. She is known and
  trusted throughout the colony, and in fact is appreciated all the more for her initiative and common sense.
  @TEXT-BOX:GMs please note that Rockhound is built on the assumption that all action takes place on
  Kessler's World. If for any reason the action leaves the colony planet, her point value will drop as her
  Reputation base will change from "Everyone in the campaign setting" to "Small group."
  ((( END BOX )))
  Bioprobes
  NASA Communications Transcript, Ceres I Asteroid Belt Mission, 28 June 2036:
  Ceres: Say, Houston, we got an anomaly on the infrared.
  Capcom: Say again, Ceres?
  Ceres: Houston, we've got a hot spot on the dark side of this rock. Scope says the damn' thing is almost a
  hundred degrees C.
  Capcom: We copy, Ceres. You are authorized to investigate.
  Ceres: Roger that, Capcom. Firing maneuvering thrusters and turning on the headlights. ETA 20
  seconds.
  Capcom: Acknowledged, Ceres.
  Ceres: What the [expletive deleted]? Look at that!
  Ceres: Houston? You're not going to believe this. There's something eating the asteroid.
  Capcom: Say again, Ceres?
  Ceres: There's something on the asteroid, Houston, and it's alive...
  The first of their kind sppeared on the hubward edge of settled space no more than 70 standard years ago.
  Since then, their numbers have grown in periodic bursts.
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  With rare exceptions, they do not communicate with anything other than their own kind. Face-to-face
  diplomatic efforts are ignored, or worse, "harvested." Attempts at telepathic contact invariably fail,
  running into a blank, black wall of psionic vacuum. And while it's clear that they are intelligent, after a
  fashion, it's not at all certain that they think in any way recognizable to us.
  They arrive singly and depart en masse, consuming voluminous resources in the process -- resources that
  start with asteroids and sometimes extend to unlucky spaceships, orbital colonies and their occupants, as
  well as the occasional remote settler -- resources that some have chosen to defend, to their detriment. The
  mere arrival of one in a system is justification for a military deployment on a scale sufficient to repel an
  interplanetary invasion. They are hated, feared, dissected, studied.
  They have no name of their own that galactic civilization is aware of. Spacers call them "asteroid
  termites," "star moles," and "those damned things." Colonists have called them "wolf-locusts." Certain
  governments call them "the plague." Biologists call them living machines, bioengineered lifeforms
  designed to live their lives in vacuum and microgravity, traveling from star to star. The general public
  knows them as "bioprobes."
  They are an unknown civilization's answer to the problem of exploring the galaxy -- a civilization that
  either didn't know or didn't care that there may be others already making use of the resources their
  probe-creatures would covet. They consume the flotsam of solar systems and reproduce themselves,
  swarming in all directions with the apparent intent to fill the observable universe. And woe to anyone
  who tries to stop them...
  If their remote anscestors ever had a single specific homeworld, its characteristics cannot be determined
  from their biology. Between the adaptations that suit them for life in deep space and the wild changes
  individuals can undertake at a moment's notice, it is not likely any of their original genotype survives in
  quantities sufficient to plot their world of origin.
  Advantages and Disadvantages
  There are three distinct varieties of bioprobe, corresponding to the stages in their lifecycle and utilizing
  the optional "once only shifter" rules found in the sidebar on p. 00:
  Larval Form . . . . 423 points
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: Enhanced ST 40 [180]; HT +2 [20]; Extra Hit Points +10 [50].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Claws [40]; Clinging (Requires 0 G, - 50%) [13]; Collected [5]; Damage
  Resistance +5 [15]; Disease-Resistant [5]; Doesn't Sleep [20]; Flight (Space Acceleration 1G, +25%;
  inertialess) [50]; Mindshare (Hivemind, intelligent drones, system-wide, 100-999 drones) [95];
  Once-Only Shapeshift plus "placeholder" [33]; Predefined Once-Only Shapeshift to Factory/Mother form
  (Only usable in Rover form, -5%) plus "placeholder" [10]; Predefined Once-Only Shapeshift to Rover
  form plus "placeholder" [10]; Single-Minded [5]; Six Legs [10]; Tunnel [40]; Unaging [15]; Vacuum
  Support [40].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Acceleration Weakness [-5]; Bad Grip [-10]; Callous [-6]; Centauroid
  [0]; Clueless [-10]; G-Intolerance [-20]; Hidebound [-5]; Illiteracy [-10]; Increased Life Support ¥ 4
  (vacuum-and-microgravity organism with exotic silicon biochemistry) [-40]; Mute [-25]; No Sense of
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  Humor [-10]; Odious Racial Habit: Treats Other Sentients as Animals and Raw Materials -3 [-15];
  Reclusive [-10]; Reputation -4 (Dangerous, unpredictable monsters, known throughout galactic
  civilization, all the time) [-20]; Staid [-1]; Sterile [-3]; Stubbornness [-5]; Weakness: Cold, 1d/30 minutes
  [-10]; Weakness: Free Oxygen, 1d/minute [-40].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Survival (deep space) at IQ+1 [4]; Engineer/TL1 (Mining) at IQ+2 [8].
  "Pre-adapted" larvae (see p. 00) use the absolute minimum number of points necessary to adjust to their
  birth environment. Any points left over are retained as a smaller Once-Only Shapeshift of proportionally
  lower utility.
  Rover Form . . . . 9 points
  As larva, but with following changes:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: Apply -40% "No Fine Manipulators" limitation to ST [-72].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Remove Placeholder for change to Rover form [-1, doesn't count against
  Rover total]; Six Legs [-10]; Tunnel [-40]. Add Damage Resistance +5 [15]; Doesn't Eat or Drink [10];
  Hyperflight [50]; Passive Defense +2 [50]; Super Flight ¥ 2 [40]; 3D Spatial Sense [10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Remove Bad Grip [+10]; Centauroid [0]. Add No Manipulators [-50];
  Short Arms [-10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Add Astrogation (Hyperflight) at IQ+2 [6].
  Like larvae, rovers may be "pre-adapted."
  Factory/Mother Form . . . . 8 points
  As rover, but with the following changes:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: Although DX becomes meaningless, points spent on it do not change and
  are not reallocated. Extra Hit Points +20 (Sessile, -75%) [25].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Remove Doesn't Eat or Drink [-10]; Claws [-40]; Flight [-40];
  Hyperflight [-50]; Placeholder for change to Factory form [-1, doesn't count against Factory total]; Super
  Flight [-40]; 3D Spatial Sense [-10]. Add Damage Resistance +15 [45]; Extra Arms (4, +2 hex length,
  plus +2 hex length on default arms) [160]; Fangs [10]; Passive Defense +1 [25].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Remove No Manipulators [+50]; Short Arms [+10]; Sterile [+3]. Add
  No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Sessile [-50]; Terminally Ill [-50].
  If the GM allows player character bioprobes, they are always rogues -- see p. 00.
  Rogue Larva. . . . 285 points
  As larva, but with following differences:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Remove Mindshare [-95] and the Predefined Once-Only Shapeshift to
  Factory/Mother form plus its "placeholder" [-10]. Add Psionic Resistance +10 [20].
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Add Enemy: Other Bioprobes, 6 or less [-20]; Total Amnesia [-25].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Remove Engineer/TL1 (Mining) [-8].
  Rogue Rover. . . . 284 points
  As rover, but with following differences:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Remove Mindshare [-95]; Predefined Once-Only Shapeshift to
  Factory/Mother form plus "placeholder" [-10]. Add Psionic Resistance +10 [20].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Add Enemy: Other Bioprobes, 6 or less [-20]; Total Amnesia [-25].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Remove Engineer/TL1 (Mining) [-8].
  There have been as yet no known cases of rogue factory/mothers; rogues appear to lose the ability to
  metamorphose into the final stage of the bioprobe lifecycle. Some experts believe that this is because
  they have been cut off from a theoretical "meta-hivemind" that presumably approves and triggers colony
  formation.
  Rogues' Psionic Resistance represents the last vestiges of the lost hive mind's impenetrability to
  telepathy. The Enemy is because ordinary bioprobes treat rogues as cancerous "cells" to be ruthlessly
  exterminated.
  ((START BOX))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Names
  @TEXT-BOX:The bioprobes are a race of hiveminds. Individual larvae and rovers have no need of
  personal names, unless they are rogues. Each colony may well have a unique personal designation, but as
  they do not communicate with other species, this is unknown. Galactic civilization refers to individual
  colonies by the name of the system they have inftested. What, if any, racial name the entire species of
  bioprobes calls itself is unknown.
  @TEXT-BOX:Rogues tend to be eclectic and somewhat random in their choices once they understand
  the need for names. "Fred," "Licorice Mauve," "Watering Can," and "Puppy 39" are examples of
  self-selected rogue names.
  ((END BOX))
  Pyschology
  If normal bioprobes have any kind of sophisticated psychology, it isn't apparent to any of the trained
  observers who have attempted to deduce it. That they are indeed some variety of hivemind has been
  determined through a long series of field experiments. Direct observation has revealed behaviors that
  seem indicative of human-level intelligence, but experience warns that one sentient's "intelligence" is
  frequently another sentient's "instinct."
  One thing they certainly possess is a well-defined sense of property and ownership. Unlike animals such
  as the jackdaw and the packrat, which gather collections of shiny items, bioprobes are apparently able to
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  enumerate and distinguish between individual objects. Evidence suggests they "inventory" the materials
  they acquire for the mother/factory's use, especially if those materials are stockpiled instead of fed
  directly into its consuming maw. They understand theft (at least theft from themselves), and will
  unflaggingly pursue thieves to the best of their ability (which can be substantial, since the hivemind
  allows all bioprobes of a colony to identify the stolen items and those who took them). There are
  accounts of larvae bioprobes attacking starships whose owners had managed to recover "scavenged"
  equipment and remount it.
  Unfortunately for many asteroid miners and the inhabitants of several O'Neill colonies, sentient beings of
  all kinds -- and their dwellings -- are occasionally considered "raw materials."
  Ecology
  While almost nothing is known about their psychology, the biology of the bioprobes is at least partially
  understood. They are a silicon-based lifeform with a body temperature close to 100° Celsius. Unlike
  most silicon species, though, their bodies are not constructed around the stonelike oxides of silicon, but
  rather from many varieties of silicone polymers. They do possess a rocky outer skin, but it is analagous
  to the armor of an armadillo rather than indicative of their internal structure. The combination gives them
  extraordinary flexibility and speed for a species not based on carbon, as well as remarkable durability;
  they are disturbingly hard to kill.
  Their physical structure, as one noted researcher has commented, is "mostly coiled potential." Although
  analogies are at best fraught with inaccuracies, the best comparison to be made suggests that many,
  maybe even most, of a bioprobe's cell-like organelles ride constantly on a point equivalent to the
  threshold of cell specialization in a fetus. Any given organelle, at the proper electrochemical signal, can
  immediately specialize as needed, becoming connective tissue, bone, new organs -- literally anything that
  the organism needs. Even more importantly, the creature's physical organization on that level is such that
  drastic changes can be implemented in seconds without apparent harm. Several universities and biotech
  firms are studying bioprobes in the hopes of discovering a way to reproduce this startling ability in
  carbon-based creatures.
  Secondly, as noted elsewhere, the bioprobes are clearly an engineered race, as evidenced by the
  self-destruct mechanism in the factory/mothers and a concise, efficient genetic structure that lacks introns
  -- the accumulated "garbage code" that naturally-evolved species possess in abundance. They were
  designed to spend their entire (rather substantial) lives in vacuum and microgravity -- in their default
  forms, bioprobes die when exposed to anything approaching "normal" (Earthlike) conditions: their
  internal organs collapse under their own weight in a gravitional field greater than .1G (their native flight
  abilities are inertialess and thus do not stress their bodies); they burst into flames when exposed to free
  atmospheric oxygen (a consequence of their silicon biochemistry); and they tend to "freeze" to death in
  any environment that allows them to radiate their excess body heat faster than they do in the insulation of
  vacuum.
  However, because of the race's remarkable adaptability, individuals and groups have been encountered
  who have overcome one or more of these restrictions. Occasionally a rover manages to reach a planetary
  surface by adapting to oxygen and gravity even as it undergoes re-entry. Obviously, on many worlds they
  may not even have to deal with oxygen, making survival that much easier. And settlers on May's World
  have reported encountering a colony of bioprobes which had taken up residence in a tropical ocean basin.
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  Rogues
  Occasionally, the bioprobes' adaptability works against them. Some very small fraction (biologists
  estimate approximately 1 in 100,000) of the creatures mutate into independent sentient beings. These
  rogues are normally killed and "recycled" by their compatriots, but occasionally one escapes. Those
  which have survived their initial contact with galactic civilization (they tend to be targets of opportunity
  in many locales) have unfortunately been unable to shed any further light on the workings of the
  hivemind; they are always tabulae rasae, devoid of pre-independence memories and lacking the ability
  to tap into the group mind network.
  Player character bioprobes will always be rogues.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Bioprobes in the Campaign
  @TEXT-BOX:As written, bioprobes can function as a combination villain/natural hazard. The exact
  proportion between the two is dependant, of course, on the needs of the campaign, but the GM can easily
  tune a colony's personality anywhere between mindless ants and malicious monsters.
  @TEXT-BOX:Although intended for GURPS Space, with tweaking the bioprobes can be used in other
  settings. Both Atomic Horror and X-Files-style settings can exploit probes which have adapted
  themselves to planetary surfaces. It's recommended that larval Flight abilities be removed to provide a
  more traditional "ground war against the monsters" type of campaign; however, retaining their ability to
  fly and even leave the atmosphere makes for a greater challenge. Cyberpunk and other SF settings that
  do not normally deal with creatures from outer space would also be good targets for a probe infestation;
  "business as usual" it most certainly will not be.
  @TEXT-BOX:On a completely different front, little needs to be changed to turn them into magical
  monsters suitable for anything from a standard Fantasy game through GURPS Mage: The Ascension
  into Cthulhupunk. The GM may wish to alter their nature and origin -- be it to a previously-unknown
  Umbral denizen or some variety of Elder spawn -- or decline to explain them at all, leaving them
  shrouded in mystery and paranoia.
  @TEXT-BOX:In any case, GMs planning on using bioprobes as invaders or monsters may want to
  consult GURPS War Against the Chtorr for useful advice and inspiration.
  (((END BOX)))
  Lifecycle
  Being adapted to deep space, bioprobes normally spend their entire life cycle in hard vacuum and
  microgravity. Their usual "habitat," to use the term loosely, is an asteroid or protocomet belt (Oort
  cloud). They show a general preference for rocky asteroids, but make frequent use of metallic asteroids
  as well, which frequently earns them the enmity of belters and miners.
  Their primary "foodstuffs" are raw silicates and metallic ores. However, they appear to require a wide
  variety of trace compounds, based on the many unusual "harvests" that have been reported. Witnesses
  have seen larvae target and acquire starship and habitat parts, depleted radioisotopes, dead powercells,
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  discarded plastics, water contaminated with pesticides, fertile topsoil, and any number of organic
  compounds, including meat, blood and even entire animals.
  There are three basic stages to the life of a bioprobe:
  Larvae. Bioprobes start their lives as larvae spawned by a factory/mother. Larvae are insectoid creatures,
  vaguely centaur-like in structure, approximately 8 feet long and three high when on all sixes. Their front
  two legs are adapted for cutting and crushing, with bioceramic blades hard and sharp enough to slice
  through light body armor, but they also have rudimentary hands with which they can grasp and lift.
  Additionally, they have a vacuum-tight "pouch" capable of holding volumes up to one cubic yard; gasses
  held in the pouch can reach a maximum pressure of 60 PSI. Materials harvested are stored in the pouch
  until they can be returned to the factory/mother, where they are consumed.
  The larval bioprobe is a combination warrior/worker, capable of both defending the colony and gathering
  its supplies with equal ease. Lightly armored and as strong as five men, it can survive both a mine
  cave-in and small arms fire, and cut its way out of both dangers. It also possesses a low-powered
  pseudo-organic inertialess drive, allowing it to travel across an entire solar system in search of the raw
  materials the colony needs. Sometimes these raw materials include samples from gas giants; larvae have
  been witnessed making long, skimming flights through the upper reaches of such planets' atmospheres.
  In addition to defense and "harvesting," some larvae appear to be information gatherers. Dispatched
  throughout the host solar system, their behavior suggests that they are exploring and investigating. Some
  larvae have been known to orbit planets for weeks at a time, and to tag along with intrasystem space
  traffic. These have been apparently entirely passive save for their motive systems, and unlike other larvae
  prefer to flee rather than fight.
  Rovers. Eventually, the factory/mother reaches what is thought to be a saturation point. What triggers this
  is unknown, but when it happens, the factory ceases to create new larvae, and recalls its spawn. All
  larvae abandon their current tasks and return to the mother one last time; exactly why this is done is
  unknown, as there is no contact or exchange between the two. There each one undergoes a
  transformation into the form commonly called a "rover." Rovers are roughly cigar-shaped, and measure
  about nine feet long by three across. They are completely enclosed by a thick, rocky shell. Their six legs
  remain in a vestigal form, with just enough strength to anchor a rover to a surface in zero-g. They retain
  any adaptations they may have undergone while in larval form. The primary feature of the rover,
  however, is its stardrive -- the bioprobe rover is one of the few creatures known to be capable of FTL
  speeds under its own power. As far as can be determined, their top speed is twice that of light.
  Upon their transformation, the rovers all launch into deep space. One rover always returns back along the
  factory/mother's original arrival trajectory. (It is believed that this is a report to the probes' unknown
  creators, but tracing the full route back to them has never been attempted.)
  The rovers have a tropism for starlight, and target a random star in their field of view when engaging
  their interstellar drive. Months or years later, they arrive at their destination. If no suitable raw materials
  are found, or if an existing factory/mother is detected, it surveys the system briefly. Then a new star is
  selected from the field of view and the rover continues onward. A rover which was "pre-adapted" by its
  factory/mother will tend to favor its birth environment, but will not reject a "standard" habitat outright.
  This ability to adapt is the common feature of the larva and rover that makes them both so dangerous and
  so successful at their mission. In addition to the form changes they undergo as part of their lifecycle,
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  immature bioprobes are able to make drastic and dramatic changes to their biochemistry and physical
  structure in order to respond to danger or a hostile environment. They can only do this once before
  exhausting the potential of their ductile forms, but the changes are virtually instantaneous and always
  appropriate to the conditions.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Bioprobe Player Characters
  @TEXT-BOX:As noted elsewhere, all PC bioprobes must be rogues. This is mainly because there is no
  such thing as an individual bioprobe when it is connected to the system mass-mind, and that mind is
  going to be far too alien to interact meaningfully with other characters.
  @TEXT-BOX:The biggest challenge facing a bioprobe character is communication. Being both mute
  and resistant to psionic contact makes it hard to interact meaningfully with other species. Gesture or Sign
  Language is an option for larvae, and both larvae and rovers can easily use minicomps for text
  transmissions. Lacking these, some rovers have had to resort to slates and chalk. The latter two options,
  of course, require the PC to buy off the species' Illiteracy.
  @TEXT-BOX:A second challenge is the automatic enmity from "normal" bioprobes that every rogue
  faces. Any time a rogue ventures into territory known to be the home of a bioprobe colony, it risks a
  mass attack.
  @TEXT-BOX:Assuming a typical Space campaign, rogue bioprobe PCs would probably be best suited
  as part of the staff of an orbital outpost. Given their relatively slow FTL speed, they would not make
  good additions to a campaign based on any but the slowest starship, unless it were feasible to provide the
  life support mechanisms needed to carry them aboard the ship. (This of course assumes that they do not
  use their adaptive change to reduce their life support requirements.) As part of a survey ship, they'd be
  invaluable for their ability to travel quickly through a system under their own power while carrying a
  relatively large load of instrumentation.
  @TEXT-BOX:In a campaign with relativistic star travel or very slow FTL, a rogue bioprobe could
  become a scout, searching out new systems for the colony ship with which it was affiliated. In an
  interstellar war, they can be spies, scouts and forward observers. And how better to approach an invasion
  plot than with a turncoat on your side?
  @TEXT-BOX:Even in a setting without starflight like Terradyne or Transhuman Space, a bioprobe PC
  is possible. The most likely scenario would make the rogue a solitary visitor to an inhabited system
  unfamiliar with the race. For a GM intrigued by the possibilities of an invasion plot, however, the probe
  PC could be an escapee from an in-system infestation like that found in the opening vignette.
  (((END BOX)
  Factory/Mother. If a suitable source of raw materials is found, be it in an asteroid or protocomet belt
  around the star, or in another environment (such as a planetary surface) to which the rover is already
  adapted, the cycle begins anew. The rover affixes itself firmly to the chosen object, and metamorphoses
  into a factory/mother. This is the final stage in the bioprobe lifecycle, a pseudo-organic manufacturing
  plant capable of churning out larvae as fast as it can be fed the raw materials needed to spawn them. It is
  also the hub of the system-wide bioprobe hivemind.
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  A factory/mother resembles nothing more than a dome of rock some thirty to forty feet across,
  permanently anchored into the substance of an asteroid or protocomet. At one end is a circular maw
  approximately five feet in diameter, lined with sharp teeth on jaws that can spiral shut like the iris of a
  camera. The six legs of the original larva reappear as tentacle-like limbs three yards long, spaced
  equidistantly around the mouth. Its stony shell provides armor that is proof against both attackers and the
  inevitable micrometeorites. It also retains any "wild card" adaptations it made in larval or rover state,
  which can conceivably allow it to base itself in otherwise hostile terrains.
  Approximately 35 hours after transforming, the factory/mother spawns its first larva, spending a
  signficant fraction of its own mass to do so. Once the larva starts feeding it, the factory consumes
  voraciously and produces continuously -- one larva every 35 hours for anywhere from one to two and a
  half standard years. (Larvae spawned by a factory/mother adapted to and living in an otherwise hostile
  environment -- such as the aquatic probes on May's World -- are "pre-adapted" for that environment by
  the factory/mother. If the factory/mother is operating in a "standard" vacuum/microgravity environment,
  its larvae receive no "pre-adaption".)
  At the end of its productive period, the factory/mother issues a recall to its spawn as noted above, and
  begins a shutdown process. When all the larvae have changed to rovers and have launched, the
  factory/mother dies, usually within 2-4 weeks. At the moment of death, acid sacs strategically positioned
  within its body burst, destroying its internal structure.
  Larvae and rovers are technically neuter; factory/mothers are effectively female.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: "Worthington Blue Vanilla" . . . . 400 points
  @TEXT-BOX:Age 12; 8'10" long; 700 lbs.; Rogue Bioprobe Rover, a bluish-black rocky ellipsoid with
  metallic highlights.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 44 [2]; DX 12 [20]; IQ 13 [30]; HT 12/22 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.00; Move 6.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 6.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 4d; Kick: n/a; Thrust 4d+2; Swing 7d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Extra points in Once-Only Shapeshift plus "placeholder" [22]; Literate
  [10]; Patron (Galactic Survey Service), 6 or less [20]; Rank 4 [20]; Reputation +1 (Service members, all
  the time) [2]; Rogue Bioprobe Rover [284]; Status 1 [free from Rank].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Curious [-10]; Duty to Survey Service, 15 or less [-15]; Gullibility
  [-10]; Sense of Duty to crewmates [-5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Enjoys human literature, particularly late 19th- to early 20th-century British;
  Affects 19th-century British "vocal" mannerisms; Aware of his Gullibility and is trying hard to learn
  enough to offset it; Wants to be a writer of great, universal literature; Endlessly debates using his
  Once-Only Shapeshift to adapt to normal atmosphere and gravity. [-5]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Area Knowledge (Known Space)-15 [4]; Astrogation (Hyperflight)-15 [0];
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  Brawling-12 [1]; Chess-17 [4, hobby skill]; Computer Operation/TL-15 [4]; Electronics Operation
  (Communications)/TL-15 [6]; Electronics Operation (Sensors)/TL-15 [6]; English-13 [2]; Literature-13
  [4]; Planetology-14 [4]; Savoir-Faire (Survey Service)-13 [1]; Writing- 13 [2].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: Galactic Standard-13 [2].
  @TEXT-BOX:"Worthy," as his crewmates call "him," is the only rogue bioprobe in the Galactic Survey
  Service, and as such enjoys a certain amount of notoriety among his fellow Service members, not to
  mention a certain degree of latitude from his commanders. The Service as a whole clearly appreciates his
  worth, as it has repeatedly fitted the ships on which he has served with quarters and accessways designed
  for his exclusive use -- that is to say, in vacuum with no artificial gravity. Of necessity, he is physically
  isolated from his crewmates, but thanks to a keyboard-equipped com unit permanently affixed to his
  rocky shell he can keep up a steady stream of "conversation" from almost anywhere in the ship.
  @TEXT-BOX:Worthington certainly earns his way in the Service. Being able to flit about a system
  under his own power and without the need for expensive life support means a substantial savings in the
  budget for any ship on which he serves. Able to carry hundreds of pounds of equipment, he frequently
  wears a custom-built scanner unit that feeds directly to the ship's main computer, letting him function as
  the equivalent to a one-man scoutship at a tiny fraction of its cost.
  @TEXT-BOX:Personality-wise, Worthington is still coming to terms with both his own independence
  and the existence of other sentients. He is especially fascinated by humans and their literature; Kipling
  and his contemporaries have caught his imagination to the point that his "speech" has picked up many
  stereotypical British mannerisms from the period between the Raj and the First World War. This is not
  because of any desire to be humorous -- Worthington, like virtually all bioprobes, does not understand
  humor -- but because of an inexplicable feeling of kinship with and admiration for the British explorers,
  conquerors and settlers of that period.
  @TEXT-BOX:His greatest weakness, in Worthington's own opinion, is his lack of experience and
  knowledge about the peoples and cultures of the Galaxy. Combined with his general trusting nature, this
  manifests as a Gullibility that he despises, and which he is working to eliminate with a thorough
  education.
  (((END BOX)))
  The Cinematic "Monster" Werewolf
  Jack: Now, I'm really sorry to be upsetting you, but I have to warn you.
  David: Warn me?
  Jack: We were attacked by a werewolf.
  David: I'm not listening to this!
  Jack: On the moors, we were attacked by a lycanthrope, a werewolf. I was murdered, an unnatural
  death, and now I walk the earth in limbo until the werewolf's curse is lifted.
  David: Shut up!
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  Jack: The wolf's bloodline must be severed; the last remaining werewolf must be destroyed. It's you,
  David.
  -- from An American Werewolf in London, 1981
  As sympathetic as many recent portrayals have been, some weres are still monsters. This is one such.
  Inspired not as much by classic Universal horror films as by more recent movies like Wolfen and An
  American Werewolf in London, this is the original Werewolf From Hell: 200-plus pounds of snarling
  death and infectious curse, three or more feet high at the shoulder and splattered with the blood of its
  innocent victims. It would make an excellent villain in a Horror or Supers campaign.
  A were this terrifying should probably not be inflicted upon a PC as a curse unless the characters are very
  tough, or the were-form manifests very seldom (once a month or less). The unfortunate soul who suffers
  from this were-form almost never will be in control of it. The -15-point level of Split Personality is the
  norm, and if the optional NPC were-form rule (see sidebar, p. 00) is used, the player will never have any
  control over it. The character will simply black out, then wake up the next morning in a cave or a cellar,
  soaked in someone else's blood.
  The Werewolf From Hell
  (PPT: +449, NPT: -152, to be adjusted for the character who suffers from this were-form before final
  point cost calculated.)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST 14 [0] DX 12 [0] IQ 8 [+45] HT 15 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Dire Wolf Template (see box, p. 00) [28]. Change Claws to 40-point
  level [+25]; Sharp Teeth to Fangs [+5]. Danger Sense [15]; Dark Vision [25]; High Pain Threshold [10];
  Immunity to Poison [15]; Increased Speed ¥ 2 [50]; Magic Resistance +5 [10]; Recovery [10]; Regular
  Regeneration [25]; Silence +3 [15]; Vampiric Invulnerability (vulnerable to silver instead of fire) [150].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Appearance: Monstrous [-25]; Bad Temper [-10]; Berserk [-15];
  Bloodlust [-10]; Compulsive Behavior: Spread terror and bloodshed [-15]; Dread: Wolfsbane, 2-hex
  radius [-6]; Frightens Animals [-5]; Gigantism [-10]; Odious Racial Habit: eats humans [-15];
  Overconfidence [-10]; Vulnerability: Silver/3 [-30].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Prefers to focus on people and places known to its human form [-1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Intimidation at IQ+3 [8]; Jumping at DX [1]; Shadowing at IQ+2 [6]; Tracking
  at IQ+2 [6].
  ((START BOX))
  @D-BOXHEAD:Dire Wolf Template . . . . 28 points
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST +4 [45]; DX +2 [20]; IQ -6 [-50]; HT +5 [60].
  @TEXT-BOX:PPT: +300; NPT: -272.
  @TEXT-BOX:In all other ways save size (approximately as big as a Shetland Pony) the dire wolf
  template is identical to the wolf template found in the box on p. 00.
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  ((END BOX))
  Required and Optional Traits
  In keeping with the movie traditions, the cinematic werewolf's were-form is limited with a Cyclic
  Change on a Lunar schedule, for a -20% point cost modifier (but see the box on p. 00, if it's not being
  used in a campaign set on Earth). A temporary Cure/Cursebreak (p. 00) is commonly found in these
  weres, and in many cases, the Genetic Trait limitation (p. 00) will apply. Those without Genetic Trait
  will normally have an Infectious Attack (-5 points, p. CI97).
  The Cinematic Werewolf is also a good candidate for the optional "NPC Were-form" rule found in the
  sidebar on p. 00. At the very least, it will likely have the Compulsive Behavior "Morally Opposed" or
  "Lifewrecker" (p. 00).
  Requirements for the Base Form
  As noted above, the character who suffers from this were-form should take Split Personality at the
  -15-point level. (Exception: a truly evil person who takes great pleasure in the damage he does to other
  might have complete conscious control over the were-form.) The Non-Reciprocal Damage and
  Reciprocal Rest advantages are highly recommended as being particularly in-genre, but they are not
  mandatory. If the intended flavor is more "classic monster movie" than "modern monster movie", do not
  use Non-Reciprocal Damage. And of course, a Secret is always appropriate.
  The Classic Background
  A good cinematic monster always needs a backstory. Surprisingly, the cinematic monster werewolf is
  just the latest incarnation of a proud tradition stretching back hundreds of years. In many cultures,
  were-creatures are at the best shy and harmless, and at the worse no more bloodthirsty than any other
  natural predator. However, the medieval French developed a truly despicable variety of were. Vicious,
  willfully evil, and gleefully cannibalistic, the French loup-garou became the yardstick by which the
  Inquisition measured all the shapeshifter traditions it encountered around the world. (See pp. 00-00.)
  In its translation from folklore to film, the loup-garou became, if anything, even more monstrous. All but
  invulnerable and implacably murderous, it was usually a parasitic entity imposed as a curse upon an
  otherwise good man. Invariably, he who was forced to watch as it destroyed everyone and everything he
  loved, one moonlit night at a time.
  ((( START BOX )))
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Cinematic Werewolf in the Campaign
  @TEXT-BOX:The cinematic werewolf is probably best suited for use as a "monster" to be countered
  and ultimately defeated. Although hunting down and killing such a creature is certainly one option, the
  plot need not be quite so literal. Discovering that the beast's alter ego is a clueless innocent may
  transform the goal from a "bug-hunt" to a mad search for the ingredient or ingredients necessary to cure
  (or at the very least suppress) the change. Or perhaps an academic has become convinced that the
  monster is actually a "fossil" lifeform, a dire wolf inexplicably surviving into the modern age, and has
  contracted the party to recover it alive.
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  @TEXT-BOX:While it's likely that a cinematic werewolf is more likely to be a "one-off" opponent in
  most games, one whose human side is in complete accord with the bestial nature of his were-form could
  make for a good recurring villain for a Horror, Atomic Horror, Weird Modern/X-Files or even a Black
  Ops campaign.
  ((( END BOX )))
  In keeping with the source material, this were-form usually appears in one of two modes. The first is the
  ancestral curse, identifiable by the Genetic Trait limitation (p. 00) applied to the were-form. Some
  remote ancestor of the character offended someone extremely powerful -- so powerful that they planted a
  small gift into the family's genetic code to make their lives miserable for generations to come. The
  second is the infectious werewolf, where the curse spreads like rabies to individuals who otherwise would
  have had no inclination towards shapeshifting. Appearing most rarely are those cases which combine the
  two -- a genetic predisposition that requires the bite of an active werewolf to "awaken".
  Psychology
  The monster werewolf usually has little in the way of psychology above and beyond a compulsion to
  inflict terror and death on everyone it encounters. It almost never shares any of its hosts' better qualities
  (although an evil host may well embrace it and vice versa). To the extent that it can think about itself at
  all, it sees itself as the top of the food chain, the rightful predator upon humans. Those who are an
  inflicted curse, especially when they possess the "Lifewrecker" Compulsive Behavior (p. 00), see the
  base form, his friends and his loved ones as toys to play with for their pleasure.
  (((START BOX)))
  Cinematic Monster PCs
  @TEXT-BOX:In general, it would be a bad idea to allow a player character to suffer from this particular
  curse -- unless, of course, the point of the game is to kill all the other members of the party or turn them
  into werewolves, too. Even so, the resulting game might not be to the liking of most players, even with
  its supernatural overtones.
  @TEXT-BOX:However, one possibility may be for the GM to conspire with a player to bring in an PC
  afflicted with this were-form unknown to the other players. This would work best if the "ringer" is or has
  been in the game for some time before the character's advent. A single adventure or an entire campaign
  could then flow from the undue attention the party members find focused upon themselves in the wake of
  the were-form's predations in their vicinity. Only, as their own investigations begin to bear fruit, they
  realize evidence points to one of their own number...
  (((END BOX)))
  Ecology
  The cinematic werewolf doesn't truly have an ecological role in the world. As an unnatural beast, it is
  imposed upon the existing order without properly being part of it. (Certain abilities will reveal this to the
  observer: Awareness does so automatically, as will an Occultism or Weird Magic roll. A suitably
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  open-minded Naturalist might also detect something "wrong" about a cinematic werewolf on a roll -4.)
  That being said, it is first and foremost a predator of awesome power and appetite. Even more so than its
  closest natural counterpart, the now-extinct dire wolf, it is a formidable killing machine, and it regards
  almost every living creature as potential prey. Even were it not driven by its bloodthirstiness and
  antipathy toward life, it would be dangerous to encounter; as it is, the creature is absolutely deadly.
  Furthermore, these weres do need to eat, as their massive bodies consume far more energy than their
  hosts are able to provide, and their hunger drives them just as much as their inimical intent.
  Being a creature of magical origins, it does not reproduce in the usual way and thus has no mating drive.
  Those varieties which possess an infectious bite do not normally seek victims for the purpose of
  spreading the infection; this is usually a side effect of an unsuccessful attack (i.e., one in which the
  victim escaped).
  (((START BOX)))
  Sample Character: David Henry Heresford . . . . 200 points
  Male; Age 32; 5'7"; 145 lbs.; blonde and blue-eyed British male whose slightly roadworn appearance
  belies his cultured speech and behavior
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 10 [0]; DX 11 [10]; IQ 13 [30]; HT 12 [20]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.75; Move 6.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 5; Parry 7.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 1d-3; Kick: 1d-1; Thrust 1d-2; Swing 1d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Cinematic "Monster" Werewolf [154] (Percent (Temporary Cure: Must
  perform an act of contrition at a Celtic holy site; relapse triggered by lying or oathbreaking): -15%;
  Percent (Cyclic Change, Exclusive, Lunar): -45%); Status 1 (Lawyer) [5]; Wealth (Comfortable) [10]
  (Starting Wealth: $10,000).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Enemy: Scotland Yard [-10] (Roll: 6 or less, ¥1/2); Guilt Complex
  [-5]; Secret (He's a werewolf) [-30]; Split Personality [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Cultured and polite in his speech; Determined to prove himself innocent of
  his fiancee's murder; Is developing a loathing for all things Celtic; Tries hard not to be an oathbreaker;
  Twitchy and nervous. [-5]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Acting-12 [1]; Area Knowledge (England)-14 [2]; Bicycling-11 [1];
  Boxing-10 [1] (Parry: 6); Brawling-11 [1] (Parry: 7); Climbing-10 [1]; Detect Lies-11 [1]; Escape-8
  [1/2]; Fast-Talk-13 [2]; Guns (Pistol)/TL6-14 [2]; Lifting-10 [4]; Law-15 [8]; Hidden Lore (Celtic
  curses)-12 [1]; Riding (Horse)-11 [2]; Running (Move: 6.875)-9 [1/2]; Savoir-Faire-14 [2]; Stealth-11
  [2]; Streetwise-12 [1]; Survival (British Countryside)-12 [1]; Swimming-11 [1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: English (native)-13 [0]; French-11 [1/2]; Latin-11 [1/2].
  @TEXT-BOX:Much to David Henry Heresford's despair, one of his distant ancestors was a Saxon thief,
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  an honorless rogue whose oathbreaking and lies offended a powerful Druid. The Druid, not one to waste
  an opportunity, cursed the thief and his descendants to become ravening wolfbeasts whenever their
  truthless nature came to the fore, then had him returned, drugged into unconsciousness, to the village of
  invaders from which he came. There, he hoped, one of the Saxons' own would be their undoing.
  @TEXT-BOX:Centuries later, the thief's descendants had apparently either died out or learned their
  lesson -- until the latest (and only) scion of the clan, David Heresford, became a lawyer in 1925. Still, he
  was a reasonably honest man, and it took several years of working civil cases before he found himself
  tempted to take liberties with the truth -- and awoke the ancient curse buried in his genes.
  @TEXT-BOX:At the next full moon, the beast emerged and ran rampant through London, ending its
  spree by slaying his fiancee, Amelia. Since then David has been on the run from Scotland Yard, which
  wants him for her murder (they believe the marks of the beast's attack on her were cleverly faked). For
  the last two years, he has roamed the length and breadth of England evading the police and searching for
  a permanent cure to his "condition". In discovering the misdeeds of his distant, unnamed ancestor, he has
  also found a temporary respite: performing a ritual of contrition at a Celtic holy spot will suppress the
  beast -- but only until he utters his next lie or false oath. Unfortunately, given the fugitive life he lives,
  that's never far away, and the surviving holy places are few and far between...
  @TEXT-BOX:Although David is a 200-point character, most of that is the cost of his were-form, which
  is also responsible (through its actions) for most of his disadvantages. Without the were-form, David
  would not be out of place in a 100-point campaign. The were-form possesses the Compulsive Behavior:
  Lifewrecker disadvantage in addition to the others in its package, and delights in destroying utterly
  anything into which David has invested any affection. To minimize its depredations, he tries not to form
  any ties with people or places, and takes care to be in the open countryside at the full moon.
  @TEXT-BOX:David is designed for a 1920s-30s era Horror campaign that focuses more on individual
  terrors than Lovecraftian Things From Beyond. With some stretching of the setting, he could be usable in
  a Cliffhangers game, and almost no changes are needed to relocate him to any post-Medieval European
  setting. It would take some alteration to fit him into a game set in any later period, but it is possible -- he
  is almost the prototypical X-Files monster-of-the-week, for example.
  (((END BOX)))
  Doppelgänger
  Liodan nodded blandly as he apologized and wrenched her cart free from the other shopper's, but within
  she was a quivering mass of nerves. There were too many templates, too strong, surrounding her, and
  her control was fraying rapidly. She should have waited until midnight and gone to a convenience store,
  but her hunger had grown beyond her ability to ignore it.
  Stifling her mounting agitation, Liodan waited patiently through the express checkout and then wheeled
  her purchase out to the van. With a studied casualness that belied the panic coursing through her veins,
  she carefully transferred the bags from the cart to the back of the vehicle, then climbed in after them. She
  shut the doors with a solid thud.
  Inside, in the dark, she relaxed; the unassuming facade of the blonde suburban soccer mom melted away
  to reveal her true form. As she ripped open a bag of potato chips, Liodan gave silent thanks for the van's
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  heavily tinted windows.
  They call themselves the Tsir'lech, but to those few humans who know of their existence, they are known
  by the names they acquired in myth and legend: Shapestealer. Skinwalker. Fetch.
  Doppelgänger.
  They haunt human society, living among us but not of us. Some are timid, living in terror of discovery by
  humans -- or by something else they fear so greatly that they never speak its name. Others are hunters,
  stalking the humans whose form they mimic and devouring their lifeforce at the moment of death. Sister
  species and interfertile, they are a culture hidden deep beneath the surface of our own.
  Hider Doppelgänger . . . . -2 points
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: IQ +2 [20]; HT -1 [-10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Cultural Adaptability [25]; Morph (Only humanoid forms -40%, Cannot
  copy another doppelgänger's "natural" form -5%, Template Susceptibility -20%) [14].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Broadminded [-1]; Careful [-1]; Combat Paralysis [-15]; Edgy [-5];
  Obsession: Hiding [-15]; Secret: doppelgänger [-20].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Acting at IQ+3 [6].
  Hunter Doppelgänger . . . . 22 points
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST +1 [10]; IQ +2 [20]; HT -1 [-10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; Cultural Adaptability [25]; Morph (Only
  humanoid forms -40%, Cannot copy another doppelgänger's "natural" form -5%) [22].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Broadminded [-1]; Dependency: Human Death, Weekly (Occasional,
  Illegal) [-30]; Loner [-5]; Obsession: Hiding [-15]; Secret: doppelgänger [-20];
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Acting at IQ+2 [4]; Brawling at DX [1]; Shadowing at IQ [2]; Stealth at DX
  [2]; Any melee weapon at DX [2].
  General Description
  In their rarely-seen "natural" form, doppelgängers are humanoids similar in size and build to human
  beings, except that their skins are uniformly gray and hairless, with almost no variation between
  individuals. Their eyes are large and seem to be a muddy hue from a distance; at close range, though, it is
  clear that their eyes are surprisingly beautiful, with irises composed of every color of the rainbow
  scattered in glittering swirls.
  Their internal structure is sufficiently close to human that most doctors won't realize that they are a
  different species unless they administer an extraordinarily thorough examination. Any variety of surgery,
  x-rays, MRI or other medical scanning will reveal small but telling differences almost immediately,
  although most doctors won't realize what they are seeing at first.
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  Pyschology
  Doppelgängers are completely geared, mentally and physically, toward camouflage and concealment.
  Although technically they hide "in plain sight" thanks to their morph abilities, mere physical disguise is
  not enough. They demonstrate a remarkable ability to adapt to any human society in which they find
  themselves. (Possibly too remarkable; anywhere they are actively hunted by the people among whom
  they hide, such as in the world of GURPS Black Ops, such ease of transition between cultures is often
  used as a flag to indicate -- not always successfully, of course -- those who might be other than they
  seem.)
  Unlike their extraterrestrial counterparts, the Xenomorphs (see p. A126-7), doppelgängers don't actually
  deceive themselves into believing that they are the human beings they pretend to be. They are, however,
  consummate actors. Furthermore, they rarely attempt to impersonate specific individuals (although they
  can do so, when necessary). Instead, they become an entirely new person. Although this task has grown
  more and more difficult as time goes on and government (and corporate) records grow increasingly
  comprehensive and detailed, the doppelgängers have coped; it is believed that they have made a policy of
  insinuating themselves into jobs where they can falsify the records needed to establish identities.
  As part of their disguise, doppelgängers take part in almost all aspects of human society. They hold jobs,
  they take hobbies, they socialize to a limited extent. They try to amass sufficient wealth and/or power to
  ensure their own safety and comfort. They even date, court and marry -- usually humans and not
  members of their own species -- become parents, and raise children. (Of course, those children will have
  to be adopted if the doppelgänger has taken on a male role...)
  Beyond this point, though, the psychologies of the two varieties of doppelgänger diverge.
  Hider doppelgängers are concerned with preserving their own safety and secrecy. They are more likely
  to throw themselves into relationships and activitives that provide them with "protective coloration"
  while staying away from anything that could draw attention specifically to them. Because of cultural and
  social forces, they have historically taken female roles of middle class or above unless no other choices
  were open to them; up until the last few decades this has given them a reason to be relatively reclusive
  while still appearing a "proper" part of society as a whole. It also allowed them to reproduce
  unquestioned.
  Central to the Hiders' psychology is the need to remain hidden. This appears to be a genetically-encoded
  imperative, as even doppelgängers raised by humans feel compelled to disguise themselves and blend in
  once they understand their abilities. In some individuals, this need is frequently magnified and
  accompanied by full-blown paranoia. In other cases, such as the famous "Human Chameleon" of the
  1930s, the compulsion becomes an uncontrollable reflex, although usually in a less obvious manner than
  his.
  Those who do not have a "steady" role, such as a human's spouse, often leap from identity to identity
  every few years. These Hiders more than any others make use of the informal network of co-racialists
  insinuated into record-keeping jobs.
  Exactly why they feel compelled to hide is unclear. It's certainly not to avoid contact with their "cousins,"
  the so-called "Hunter" doppelgängers (see below); the Hunters apparently cannot feed off of other
  doppelgängers, and do not seem to have any real antipathy towards the Hiders. Nor does humanity really
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  have any (known) history of persecuting them, even in the secret records to which Argus and The
  Company have access in the Black Ops world. What little has been learned from the Hiders themselves is
  tantalizing but sketchy: Something pursues them, and sometimes catches them. Just what, though, Argus
  has yet to learn.
  (This unknown pursuer of the Hiders is left to the GM -- and any Hider players -- to define. It may be a
  racial Delusion, or it may be real. If real, however, it is powerful and itself hidden from both human and
  doppelgänger sight.)
  Hunter doppelgängers are predators, plain and simple. Although for the most part they subsist on a diet
  similar to that of humans and Hider Dops, they must frequently supplement it with what can only be
  described as the death energies of human (or humanoid) beings (excluding other doppelgängers). Feeding
  in this manner leaves a corpse with psychic "marks" not unlike those found on a victim of a Soul-dog or
  other similar creature, leading some to suspect that the Hunters are actually eating souls.
  They prefer to kill their prey themselves, but this is not a requirement -- several Hunters have been found
  working in emergency rooms and on ambulance teams. If they cannot make use of such opportunities,
  modern Hunters prefer to kill with weapons, especially in urban areas; however, it is believed that in
  more primitive times they used their retractable claws and then disguised their kills as victims of violent
  animal attacks.
  They are less inclined to be paranoid, although they are equally compulsive about hiding themselves.
  They always know at least one and frequently several melee weapon skills, despite the fact that they can
  easily kill with their claws. They often have a wide variety of Thief/Spy skills in addition to their racial
  Shadowing and Stealth. Most will try to vary their kills to avoid easy detection, but in recent times some
  have taken pride in being serial killers, to the point of having Trademarks and other possibly
  self-destructive behaviors.
  Hunter doppelgängers appear to have no preferences for their apparent gender and chosen social class.
  Ecology
  It is unclear whether doppelgängers are relatives of humanity or not. Doppelgänger physical structure is
  very close to the human norm. Their basic diet, regardless of subspecies, appears to be if not identical to
  then at least not incompatible with that of humans. They seem to need (or prefer) the same environmental
  conditions as well, which suggests that if they are not related to us, then they and humanity evolved
  under much the same conditions.
  There are more differences than similarities, though. In particular, doppelgängers are all parthenogentic
  females. They do not need to exchange genetic material in order to reproduce, although they will do so as
  a matter of course when encountering another doppelgänger in an appropriately private setting. The
  "mating" process of the species is distinctly unlike that of humans, and is somewhat disturbing to
  witness. (A Fright Check is required for non-doppelgängers who stumble upon on one in progress.)
  Gestation is nine months, like humans, and all children are parthenogenetic females like their mother.
  Single births are the rule; twins and other multiple births are almost unheard of. Still, a doppelgänger can
  display remarkable fecundity, and large broods are not unknown. (In fact, families with three or more
  daughters and no sons are another indicator The Company uses to detect a suspected Dop.)
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  A doppelgänger's children are always born female, in a form matching that which the mother is holding
  at the time of birth. (Few dop children are actually born in the race's "natural" form.) They remain
  "locked" in that shape until puberty, usually ignorant of their true nature. Only when their morph abilities
  unlock does the mother inform and instruct them; if the mother has died before then, it is not unheard of
  for the young morphs to continue through their lives ignorant of both their own nature and doppelgänger
  society.
  Culture
  As far as can be determined, doppelgängers have no "native" culture of their own. (Whether it dwindled
  away in the face of their proclivities to hide, or it was abandoned, or if it never existed at all is a point of
  contention among those few academics who are aware of them and debate such issues.) Instead, they
  adopt -- necessarily, as part of their roles -- the culture of whatever species or individual they are
  imitating.
  As mentioned above, they do maintain an informal network among themselves. This is more for the aid
  of those Dops who need documentation to support a new identity than for any kind of cultural continuity.
  If they have any coherent body of history or myth among themselves, it is unknown to Argus and other
  observers. Likewise, most pay at least lip service to human religions; if they have a religion of their own,
  it is even better hidden than they are. They retain some fragments of their original language -- including
  their racial name -- but they rarely use it, and only a dozen words in the tongue are known to The
  Company's Science division.
  Politics
  Doppelgängers mimic human politics along with everything else. If they have internal factions beyond
  the Hunters and the Hiders, they have not been discovered.
  ((START BOX))
  Doppelgänger Names
  Although they clearly have their own language, doppelgängers do not take names in it. Those born into
  roles bear the names given them at birth for human society; those who jump roles always do so into new
  human identities, and again take human names.
  ((END BOX))
  Doppelgängers in the Campaign
  Doppelgängers as described here are natives of the world of GURPS Black Ops. There, Argus learned of
  their existence only ten years ago, at which time it set a dedicated Science team to study them
  thoroughly. The information given in this description, plus a binder full of confusing medical data, is the
  sum total of Argus' information on the race.
  Although some ops lump them in with the vampires and the so-called "werewolves," Argus officially
  considers them a separate category of creature. Hunter Dops are priority targets when they are discovered
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  -- which, unfortunately for the Hunters, is more frequently than they believe. Psi-ops with Psychometry
  or Sense Aura can, if they have seen a Hunter victim before or have been shown what to look for,
  determine if a dead body has had its soul eaten by a Hunter (and not, say, a Soul Dog) with a simple
  touch and a skill roll.
  Hiders are a different story -- informal Argus policy is to observe but not to bother them. There are
  certain concerns that Hunters and Hiders may be the same species in two different stages of life, but
  Argus is more concerned about what the Hiders are afraid of. If it's something more than just humanity or
  one of the various other species of which Argus is already aware, if it's something new and nasty, Argus
  wants to know about it -- and as much about it as possible, as soon as possible.
  As with other shapeshifters, the Science department is intensely interested in the mechanisms by which
  doppelgängers of either stripe perform their changes. However, unlike the "werewolves," the secret of
  whose shapeshifting still eludes them, Science thinks they have something of an idea how the Dops do it.
  Of course, they need more research, and more Dops, to test and refine their theories...
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Other Settings
  @TEXT-BOX:It goes without saying that doppelgängers fall easily into the "creature" slot in any given
  campaign. Hiders are good in the role of the "monster that isn't," being (usually) shy and inoffensive.
  Hunters are good for real "monsters," especially in campaigns where they would be unexpected. Either
  variety could spawn an exceptional representative suitable as a Patron or Enemy, as well, depending on
  the party.
  @TEXT-BOX:Horror: The monster masquerading as human is a classic horror trope. Hunter Dops work
  best for the traditional implementation, leaving Hiders completely out of the picture to simplify the
  good-evil polarization. Then again, the GM may choose to use a Hider as a red herring in a complex plot
  -- clearly a non-human "monster," but a timid one innocent of any wrong-doing.
  @TEXT-BOX:Atomic Horror: Two words: Pod People. Add the "Copies Personality" enhancement (p.
  00) to their Morph for an effect closer to any number of classic B-movies.
  @TEXT-BOX:Fantasy: Classic fantasy roleplaying games have long included creatures which could
  mimic human and humanoid forms. Both Hunter and Hider doppelgängers could be dropped into a
  GURPS Fantasy campaign unaltered to provide the same kind of experience and challenge.
  @TEXT-BOX:Illuminati: As noted elsewhere, the doppelgängers can be a powerful conspiracy,
  especially if the other power blocs in the Illuminated world are unware of them...
  @TEXT-BOX:Old West: Hunter doppelgängers can be the maleveolent skinchangers of Amerind myth,
  such as the skinwalkers of whom the Navajo tell tales. These creatures could take the form of anything --
  up to and including teepees and wigwams. Stories are told of warriors who left their possessions in what
  they thought were their own tents, only to find the tent missing upon their return, and all their goods
  stolen by the shapeshifter who had deceived them. While inimical to man, they are not homicidal --
  except to protect their secret existences. Remove the humanoid limitation on Morph, and the dependency
  on human death. Also, skinwalkers should use the leveled version of Morph from GURPS Supers, (p.
  SU63) with a Power of at least 15 and probably higher. Add "improvised forms" to Morph, and
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  Kleptomania to disadvantages. Add the racial quirk "Will kill to protect their secret." Finally, they are
  carnivores.
  (((END BOX)))
  Doppelgänger Characters
  As NPCs, doppelgängers can be anyone -- even a character the PCs have known for years. And any
  "ordinary" NPC encounter can operate on two different levels with a doppelgänger hidden within the
  character.
  Players wishing to design a doppelgänger PC have several options. The simplest is to play a Dop who is
  ignorant of his heritage, for whatever reason. Early death of the doppelgänger parent is usually the cause
  in such cases, but the GM may want to develop more interesting (or sinister!) reasons. Such a character
  may or may not be aware of his morph abilities. The Partial Amnesia disadvantage would be a useful tool
  for this kind of character; he's not actually amnesiac, just unaware of certain facts and implications about
  his life.
  A particularly sneaky GM may turn this around -- and make a PC who has taken Partial Amnesia a
  Doppelgänger without the player knowing at all... Similarly, a character with a Secret Disadvantage (see
  p. CI75) may be a Doppelgänger -- the secret disadvantage being a combination of the racial cost and a
  complementing Secret.
  Another option is to conspire with the GM. Doppelgängers will not normally be introduced into a
  campaign without some overarching reason -- being as they are almost an entire conspiracy in and of
  themselves, they likely will be serving some long-term plot goal, especially in an otherwise mundane
  campaign. A Dop character designed in conjunction with the GM can operate on both levels -- as a PC,
  and as part of the vast Doppelgänger Conspiracy. Carefully handled and subtly played, the Dop character
  can aid or hinder his companions as needed, and can even impersonate (or actually be!) some of the
  NPCs they encounter.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Sgt. Patricia MacNichol . . . . 100 Points
  @D-BOXHEAD:Policewoman/Hunter Doppelgänger
  Age 27; 5'7"; 120 lbs.; Usual form: intense-seeming Anglo woman with auburn hair and hazel eyes,
  slender and tightly-strung.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 11 [0] DX 12 [20] IQ 12 [0] HT 10 [10]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.5; Move 5.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 5; Parry 8.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 1d-3; Kick: 1d-1; Thrust 1d-1; Swing 1d+1
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Hunter Doppelgänger (see text) [22]; Legal Enforcement Powers [5];
  Patron (Police Department, 9 or less) [10]; Rank/2 (Police Sergeant) [10]; Wealth (Comfortable) [-10].
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Hunter Doppelgänger (see text), plus: Cannot Harm Innocents [-10];
  Duty to Police Department, 12 or less [-10]; Honesty [-10]; No Sense of Humor [-10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Turns down desk jobs and promotions that would take her off the street;
  Prefers to feed off the mortally wounded rather than hunt her own prey; Resents suggestions by other
  doppelgängers that she is a "carrion eater"; Honestly cares about the people in her precinct; Prefers to
  work night shifts. [-5]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Acting-14 [racial]; Area Knowledge (City)-14 [4]; Area Knowledge
  (Precinct)-14 [4]; Brawling-12 [racial]; Computer Operation/TL8-13 [2]; Criminology/TL8-15 [8];
  Detect Lies-12 [4]; Driving-12 [2]; Forensics-13 [6]; Gun (.38 Revolver)-14 [1]; Judo-13 [8]; Knife-12 at
  DX [racial]; Law-13 [6]; Shadowing-12 [racial]; Shortsword (Baton)-12 [2]; Stealth-12 [racial];
  Streetwise-14 [6]; Tonfa-12 [4].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: English (native)-12 [0];
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Maneuvers: Arm Lock (Judo)-15 [1].
  @TEXT-BOX:Sgt. Patricia MacNichol is a decorated 10-year veteran in the police force of a major city
  some time during the early years of the 21st Century. Dedicated and concerned, she is a model police
  officer who has resisted all attempts to promote or transfer her off the street.
  @TEXT-BOX:She is also a hunter doppelgänger who feeds off the dying victims of urban violence.
  @TEXT-BOX:Unlike most of her fellow Hunters, Patricia sees the humans among whom she lives as
  more than just cattle. Still, she is realistic about her own needs. She reconciles the two by serving as a
  street-level police officer, protecting the masses while still coming into contact with enough dying
  humans to feed on as needed without having to kill. While this earns her the occasional accusation of
  "scavenger" and "carrion eater" from the other Hunters she has encountered, it allows her to sleep at
  night. If forced by circumstances to hunt, she will exclusively target violent criminals.
  @TEXT-BOX:Her identity is solidly-anchored and, as far as she is concerned, permanent. However, she
  has no qualms about using her shapeshifting abilities to further her investigations -- she is, in effect, the
  ultimate undercover officer, even if her superiors don't know it.
  @TEXT-BOX:Patricia is a 100-point character designed for any kind of contemporary, near-future or
  recent past campaign, and is suitable for use as a PC. As an NPC, she can serve as an Ally, Contact or
  even a Patron; if the PCs are on the other side of the law, she can be a formidable Enemy.
  (((END BOX)))
  The Enyyn
  Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.
  --Sergeant Tom Highway (Clint Eastwood), in Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
  Evolution, when presented with a difficulty which it must overcome, can take two routes: specialization
  or generalization. Specialization leaves a species uniquely suited to overcome the problem at hand. But
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  generalization leaves a species suited to overcome anything.
  The Enyyn are the absolute embodiment of that principle.
  Their homeworld is Go'h'elaan -- a cold 2 G rockball a bit larger than Earth, with a methane/nitrogen
  atmosphere. It orbits a binary star whose whipsawing gravitational fields leave the planet a seething
  cradle of tidal-spawned volcanic activity. The blend of radiations from the mutually-orbiting red giant
  and white dwarf would have rendered any other world sterile, and make the planet's entire atmosphere
  glow with a permanent, world-wide aurora borealis. Sharp upthrust outcroppings of igneous rock form
  much of the landscape, and are constantly battered by violent storms. Shallow ocean basins with vast tide
  plains, filled with ammonia seas, make up the rest of the surface. The plants are difficult to distinguish
  from the rocks, and the animals are difficult to distinguish, period.
  It is stark, beautiful, and deadly. And it is home to a race of peaceful philosophers.
  Enyyna . . . . 465 points
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: IQ +3 [30]; DX +2 [20]; HT +4 [45]; Extra Hit Points +4 [20];
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Damage Resistance +50 [100]; Doesn't Breathe [20]; Extra Flexibility
  [10]; Immortality [140]; Injury Tolerances (No Brain, No Neck, No Vitals) [15]; Morph (Genetic Match,
  +50%; Improvised Forms, full, +100%) [100]; Radiation-Resistant [5]; Reputation +2 (philosophers and
  deep thinkers, galaxy-wide) [10]; Temperature Tolerance/5 [5]; 360-Degree Vision [25]; Unfazeable
  [15]; Universal Digestion [15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Appearance: Monstrous [-25]; Attentive [-1]; Broad-minded [-1];
  Charitable [-15]; Chummy [-5]; Edgy [-5]; Staid [-1]; Invertebrate [-20]; Late Maturation ¥4 [-12];
  Pacifism (Total Non-violence) [-30]; Reduced Move ¥3 [-15]; Undiscriminating [-1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: +2 to Philosophy (Any) [3]; +1 to Soft Science subgroup [6].
  Enyyn "sports" replace the racial Pacifism with Megalomania [-10] and Fanaticism (Self) [-15], for a
  racial cost of 470 points.
  General Description
  When completely relaxed, the Enyyn (singular Enyyna) resemble yard-wide hemispheres of
  brightly-colored jelly in which is embedded blobs and strands of contrasting colors and textures.
  However, they are almost never completely relaxed. Even in the depths of the most profound meditation,
  an Enyyn's form is constantly shifting and flowing, responding unconsciously to environmental changes
  and stresses; unfortunately, the resulting changes in appearance and form are disturbing and in fact
  somewhat nauseating to most other races (effectively a Monstrous Appearance). They weigh an average
  of 160 pounds.
  An Enyyna will have a diameter of 3.5 inches for every point of ST (minimum diameter 2 feet), and will
  weigh 4.5 pounds for every inch of diameter.
  Enyyn who dwell among offworlders tend to pick an offworlder shape which they wear by default in
  their neighbors' presence.
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  ((START BOX))
  Names
  The Enyyn language is a complex combination of sounds and quickly-varying skin colorations, and as
  such is not easily spoken or transcribed by offworlders (M/VH for non-Enyyn, with a maximum skill of
  12). As a result, the names which Enyyn use among offworlders are either abbreviated "nicknames"
  which employ only those sounds easily vocalized by other races, or are "usenames" adopted from the
  language of another species. (The subset of the Enyyn language useable by other races is heavy on hard
  consonants and voiced sibilants, with short, punchy vowels.) "Native" Enyyn names are formed from a
  one- to three-syllable personal identifier (Narzhal, Vog, Ketelek) and the rough equivalent of a
  patronymic. The latter always begins with the particle "av'" and combines the first syllables from the
  names of each parent; given the species' mating habits, this produces a surname anywhere from two to
  six syllables long (av'Oronad, av'Kegaz, av'Paquatamacol).
  Among themselves, true Enyyn names are long, complex, and uniquely identifying -- they are never
  repeated among members of subsequent generations.
  ((END BOX))
  Pyschology
  Born and raised in an environment given to extreme shifts from hour to hour -- and unaffected by most of
  it -- the Enyyn are mellow almost to the point of anesthesia. If it's not an immediate threat, it's not worth
  worrying about. If it is an immediate threat, deal with it as quickly as possible and then get back to
  something more important, like formulating an internally-consistent system of ethical behavior for a
  hypothetical 5-dimensional lifeform that subsists solely on decayed quarks and stale donuts. Almost
  nothing bothers an Enyyna short of a planetary catastrophe or an apparently unsolvable philosophical
  conundrum.
  Their basic biology rendering them at ease in the most dangerous of environments, the Enyyn expend
  almost all their efforts in intellectual pursuits. They tend to focus on philosophy, but no small number of
  Enyyn pursue the "soft" sciences such as psychology, history and the like; furthermore, they do not limit
  themselves to their own species, but include the efforts of other races in those disciplines. Some actively
  specialize in other races; most off-world cultures number several Enyyn among their most noted
  ethicists, legal scholars and psychoanalysts. Those few Enyyn who enter the hard sciences are almost
  equally exceptional.
  For all their mental and physical adaptability, though, the Enyyn are not completely immune to insanity.
  The race produces extremely rare psychotic "sports" -- some believe them to be throwbacks to a more
  violent stage of their evolution -- who are incapable of cooperating with other Enyyn and often seek to
  gain power over their fellows. Most are successfully treated by Enyyn psychiatric professionals. The few
  remaining are not only incurable, but usually the most extreme cases. Forbidden by their own racial
  ethics to kill such dangerous individuals even in the face of their mounting violence and hostility, the
  Enyyn usually exile them -- with sufficient warning to Galactic civilization -- and allow other races to
  punish or try to cure or rehabilitate the outcast as appropriate. Exile for an Enyyna is a -5 point
  disadvantage similar in cost and application to Excommunicated (p. CI78).
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  Ecology
  Like the rest of their ecosystem, the Enyyn are nominally carbon-based, although in this (as in just about
  everything else) they have been known to be surprisingly flexible. Their actual evolutionary precursors
  are uncertain; they share significant characteristics with both the coelenteroid and mollusc-like analogue
  lifeforms found in the seas of Go'h'elaan, but are almost exclusively land-bound. On the other hand, no
  less than one-quarter of their body mass is undifferentiated protoplasm, which makes them similar in
  structure to their world's analogues of amoebae. All of an Enyyna's physical functions, from digestion to
  cognition, are handled on a distributed basis throughout its entire body with no function permanently
  fixed in any one location or organ, making the comparison to an amoeba even more apt.
  Even more remarkable than their unique structure is the degree of control they have over it. At will,
  Enyyn can change color and texture, extrude limbs of remarkable dexterity and strength or incredible
  delicacy and fineness, create sensory organs, and even turn into into any variety of creature, real or
  imaginary. When imitating a specific race, they are frighteningly accurate and cannot always be told
  from the genuine article; with sufficient knowledge they can even form proper (if not necessarily
  functional) internal organs and bodily fluids as needed. Their sole limitation in this regard is that their
  total body mass is invariable and, of course, they are not genetically compatible with true members of the
  species in question. (There are persistent Galactic legends, though, that tell of Enyyn who could
  interbreed with other races. These, of course, have never been confirmed.)
  They are omnivores in the truest sense, able to eat just about anything from any kind of carbon-based
  biosphere and thrive on it. Unlike most races, they have no manner of respiration and produce little to no
  wastes; some fringe xenobiologists have suggested that the Enyyn are actually biological total conversion
  reactors, possibly engineered by a long-gone Precursor race as living garbage disposals.
  Like many other things about the Enyyn, their mating habits are unique. Although they are monosexual,
  they do exchange genetic material; anywhere from two to six Enyyn can join in an act of mating. Mating
  partners flow together to form a single mass of protoplasm, which then consumes almost its own weight
  in foodstuffs (usually brought by the participants). Anywhere from 24 to 72 hours later, the conjoined
  Enyyn split back apart into the original participants plus an equal number of half-sized "newborns." Each
  parent then raises one child, who possesses a random genetic heritage from all the participating parents.
  Mating and offspring are rare, though. Xenobiologists note that nothing organic seems to prevent them
  from reproducing as often as possible. However, the Enyyn try to keep their population as close to a
  steady state as they can while still maintaining a positive growth; it is not uncommon for individuals to
  go centuries or even millenia between offspring. When asked about their abstinence, Enyyn simply note
  that carefully managing one's resources and living space is the only ethical choice as well as simple
  common sense. At the moment, the race is believed to number close to a million individuals on their
  homeworld, and approximately 10,000 more off-planet.
  Perhaps as a side effect of the drastic environmental stresses the race lives through, no less than one in 20
  Enyyn are psionically active. The vast majority of Enyyn psionics possess either telepathy or ESP or
  both; a fewer number are telekinetics. Even rarer still are all the other psionic gifts; occasional
  individuals may manifest them, but they are considered almost freakishly unusual.
  (((START BOX)))
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Enyyn Characters
  @TEXT-BOX:Enyyn characters are best built on a minimum of 500 points, but 1,000 points or even far
  more would not be uncommon for a particularly old Enyyna, some of whom might be well over a quarter
  of a million years in age. Add psionics to the mix, and the point budget can rise even higher. This
  obviously puts player character Enyyn out of the range of any but the most cinematic of campaigns. NPC
  Enyyn, on the other hand...
  @TEXT-BOX:Also remember that even though they are immortal and adaptable, that doesn't mean
  Enyyn can't be quirky and odd. Unlike the Engai, who edit antisocial tendencies out of themselves,
  Enyyn can be bad-tempered, prejudiced (if such prejudice doesn't conflict with their particular
  philsophical specialization), and even bizarrely deluded without being one of the psychotics they exile.
  However, the GM should remember that no matter what, Enyyn are intellectual and logical, and any
  strangeness they exhibit should be supported by a chain of logical reasoning -- however spurious! --
  drawn from their experiences and studies.
  (((END BOX)))
  Culture
  Unlike some of the other immortal races such as the Engai (pp. A108-111), the Enyyn have not retreated
  to hedonism in order to cope with their endless existence. Instead, they have turned to a life of focused
  intellectual investigation. Primarily this is approached through the study of philosophy. In what
  approaches a racial obsession, each Enyyna chooses one branch or category of philosophy to pursue
  during the course of its life. This may be as general or as specialized as they care to make it. Alternately,
  individuals may also pursue any of the "soft" sciences -- theology, sociology, anthropology, psychology,
  and the like. By the time of their first contact with other races, the Enyyn had developed a sophisticated
  ethical system which had become the accepted foundation for not only all their dealings with each other,
  but for their relations with Galactic civilization.
  First contact several thousand years ago proved to be intellectually profitable for the Enyyn, as they
  absorbed the myriad philosophies, ideologies, theologies and other organized systems of thought
  available in the galaxy and began to explore them. After a disastrous first attempt to offer their
  conclusions back to one of their offworld sources, though, the Enyyn no longer volunteer the fruits of
  their thoughts. They wiil, however, willingly and enthusiastically entertain questions brought to them.
  Enyyn society appears to run, for the most part, on a system of ethical anarchy and enlightened
  self-interest. Some have likened it to the various communistic and socialistic systems proposed at one
  time or another by members of every civilization, with certain notable differences: one, it appears to have
  evolved organically as an outgrowth of the Enyyn's ethical pursuits rather than having been imposed;
  two, the Enyyn don't have anything approaching an economy as most races know it; and three, it works.
  It appears also to serve a further purpose in detecting the rare antisocial "sport" simply by making their
  maximally-selfish behavior extremely obvious after a reasonably short time (relative to the Enyyn
  lifespan, that is).
  Outside of enough psi-tech to build a world-web (to repel both invaders and returning revenge-driven
  exiles), the Enyyn have shown no real interest in importing off-world technology. Most of it -- even most
  military field-grade equipment -- is simply too fragile to survive the conditions on Go'h'elaan; native
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  devices are both sturdier and rarely obvious, looking like opaque crystals or pieces of the landscape.
  Enyyn technologists do acquire and study individual devices produced by other races in order to reverse
  engineer them, recreating them using local materials and methods.
  Additionally, archaeologists have discovered the remains of an earlier techological Enyyn civilization on
  Go'h'elaan, dating to no less than 350,000 years ago. Many experts believe that this civilization collapsed
  at approximately the same time the Enyyn immortality gene complex manifested in the species. (The
  Enyyn themselves have been uncharacteristically reticent on the subject of these remains.) Occasional
  caches of ancient Enyyn tech -- as durable and long-lived as its makers, and ranging anywhere from TL9
  to TL12 -- are discovered every few decades.
  Politics
  The Enyyn have no national or planetary politics. The Enyyn have no appreciable political system. This
  being said, they tend to be cordial to almost all species, partly because their ethics require it, and partly
  because their ability to adapt and survive allows them to view even the most dangerous races with a
  sanguine equanimity. However, the Enyyn are not guileless naifs, exploited by the galaxy at large. They
  understand politics possibly better than any other race -- after all, they've been studying the subject, in
  both native and off-world varieties, with typical Enyyn singlemindedness for millenia.
  As a result, the Enyyn frequently find themselves in the roles of advisers and consultants. More often
  than not this requires that the supplicant actually go to Go'h'elaan and find the right Enyyna to ask --
  usually an adventure in itself. However, a growing number of Enyyn can be found in universities and
  capitols across the galaxy, acting as researchers, arbiters and teachers. Since they make little distinction
  between races, alliances and politics, they frequently raise the ire of nationalist and/or chauvinist groups.
  The Enyyn are aware of the Markann's cloaked presence amid Galactic civilization. They have had their
  own encounters with this hidden race of mad scientists in the distant past, encounters that usually left the
  Markann involved enraged and frustrated -- the Enyyn are particularly well-suited to not only survive the
  Markann's brand of destructive testing, but then turn into a piece of innocuous lab equipment and escape
  behind their backs, all the while studying them. After several centuries of futile effort, the Markann could
  no longer tolerate the very concept of a race they could not break. They erased their own knowledge of
  the Enyyn and declared Enyyn space off-limits under pain of death. Of late, certain Enyyn have noticed
  patterns in their studies that suggest their old nemeses are at work in the galaxy at large, but have not
  done anything about it yet -- they've only just begun to gather the data, after all, and it will take a few
  decades of evaluation at least before they can produce any useful conclusions to share with the other
  races.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations
  @TEXT-BOX:As designed, the Enyyn are intended for use with GURPS Space settings, but they can
  easily be adapted (or imported untouched) to other milieux.
  @TEXT-BOX:GURPS Lensmen: A race of pacifist philosophers would fit in quite well in the civilized
  sectors of this Universe. While obviously unsuitable for the Patrol because of their nonviolence, they can
  still serve in their usual roles of sage and adviser.
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  @TEXT-BOX:Fantasy: The Enyyn can be imported with or without explanation as the GM sees fit.
  Thaumatology is added to the fields they include in their ruminations, making them some of the greatest
  experts on magical theory in the world, although few (if any) of them are active mages. Their psionic
  potential should probably be eliminated unless the game world mixes magic and psi.
  @TEXT-BOX:Atomic Horror, Black Ops, and similar settings: The Enyyn make an excellent
  "good-guy" race, able to work among humans without setting off their prejudices (unless their true form
  is discovered...) and willing to share their expertise to help this primitive race in its fight against more
  powerful alien opponents. As pacifists they refuse to do any of the fighting themselves, leaving human
  characters in the forefront of any action, but they are more than capable of specializing in military
  philsophy and advising their allies on strategy and tactics. In a Black Ops game, Enyyn PCs are easily
  possible, but they will never be Ops themselves and may suffer some degree of mistrust or outright
  prejudice from all levels of The Company, despite their status as allies.
  (((END BOX)))
  Enyyn in the Campaign
  Where any kind of "soft" science is concerned, especially matters of philosophy or ethics, the Enyyn are
  the people to see. They are sages, consultants, archivists and theoreticians; there's often at least one in the
  capitol city of every spacegoing culture, and any large organization concerned with law or ethics usually
  attracts an Enyyn employee or officer. Many universities boast an Enyyn on staff, frequently (but not
  exclusively) in the Philosophy department. They also make good librarians, and are as often found in this
  position as professor when encountered in a college environment.
  Enyyn adventurers are rare but not unheard of; they frequently have a field of interest that cannot be
  adequately investigated using archival materials, or which by its nature -- such as xenology -- requires
  you to go to the subject matter rather than vice versa. For obvious reasons, the Survey Service, the Patrol,
  many militaries, and a number of intelligence agencies all actively seek to recruit Enyyn members;
  however, if the job does not offer an intellectual challege to match the obvious physical challenges for
  which they are desired, they will pass. And no normal Enyyn will take a front-line military role.
  The rare Enyyn psychotic can make a very good master villain. Their typical megalomania usually leads
  them into areas where they can gain power through the exercise of their personal abilities, be they
  physical or mental: white collar criminal, revolutionary, anarchist, mercenary. While not as obsessed
  with intellectual fulfillment as his brothers, the Enyyn sport is still a specialist in his chosen field, and
  often many others. He more than capable of planning hypercompetently for all contingencies. (The GM
  seeking a lighter touch may want to quantify the Enyyna's madness by letting his intellect go all the way
  through competency to come out the other side...)
  Whether he is a classic "spider in a vast web" or a solo operator, he will not be brought down easily, and
  will always have a hidden exit through which to escape, be it literal or metaphorical. Unless he is an
  out-and-out revolutionary, he will usually be cloaked in respectability, often several layers; multiple IDs
  (and shapes) are common as well, to allow him to work at differing levels within his organization (if
  any). Some sports seek out pre-First Contact civilizations and seek to remake them in their own warped
  image.
  (((START BOX)))
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Narzhal av'Oronad, aka "Conqueror" . . . . 875 points
  @D-BOXHEAD:Exiled Enyyn Megalomaniac
  Age 2270; 36" diameter; 158 lbs.; as "Richard Carey"/"Conqueror" he appears to be a robust
  middle-aged human male, 5'8", 140 lbs., with piercing blue eyes and black hair greying at the temples.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 12 [20] DX 14 [20] IQ 15 [20] HT 16/20 [20]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 7.5; Move 7 (human form), 4 (natural form).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 8; Parry 12.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 1d-2; Kick: 1d; Thrust 1d-1; Swing 1d+2
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Charisma +3 [15] (Reaction: +3); ; Combat Reflexes [15]; Enyyn
  "Sport" (see text) [470]; Status 8 (Ruler of most of Earth) [40]; Strong Will +3 [12] (Will: 18).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Exiled [-5]; Extravagance [-10]; Glory Hound [-15]; Guilt Complex
  [-5]; Jealousy [-10]; Obsession: Revenge himself on the Enyyn for his exile [-15]; Secret: He's an alien,
  not a mutated human [-5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Habitually wears the form of a human male of indeterminate middle
  European extraction; Sincerely cares about the welfare of the people he rules; Still suffers nightmares
  about the world accidentally destroyed by his research programs; Dotes on his wife and adopted
  daughter; Responsive. [-5]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Powers: Telepathy 10 [50].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Acting-18 [8]; Administration-17 [6]; Anthropology-15 [2]; Area Knowledge
  (Earth)-18 [6]; Area Knowledge (Galaxy)-14 [2]; Area Knowledge (Go'h'elaan)-17 [4];
  Astrogation/TL11-15 [2]; Axe/Mace-15 [4]; Bard-21 [8]; Beam Weapons/TL8-17 [2]; Beam
  Weapons/TL11-17 [2]; Biochemistry/TL8-13 [2]; Brawling-17 [8] (Parry: 11); Broadsword-15 [4]
  (Parry: 7); Chemistry/TL8-14 [2]; Computer Operation/TL8-16 [2]; Computer Operation/TL11-17 [4];
  Detect Lies-18 [10]; Diplomacy-15 [4]; Fast-Draw (Pistol)-16 [2]; Free Fall/TL11-13 [1];
  Genetics/TL8-15 [8]; Genetics/TL9-15 [8]; Guns (Revolver)/TL8-16 [1]; Guns (Rifle)/TL8-17 [2]; Guns
  (Semi-automatic Pistol)/TL8-18 [4]; Intimidation-18 [8]; Knife-15 [2] Parry: 6); Leadership-21 [8];
  Merchant-17 [6]; Philosophy (Nietzchean)-18 [6]; Piloting (Starship)/TL11-14 [2]; Politics-19 [10];
  Psychology (Human)- 16 [4]; Savoir-Faire (Earth)-17 [0]; Savoir-Faire (Galactic Civilization)-15 [0];
  Strategy (Air)-18 [10]; Strategy (Land)-18 [10]; Strategy (Naval)-18 [10]; Strategy (Space)-15 [4];
  Swimming-14 [1]; Tactics-15 [4]; Xenology/TL11-16 [4].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Psi Skills: Emotion Sense-16 [6] (Fatigue: 0, Range: 100 yd, Area: subject, Maintain:
  infinite, Resist: MS, Page: P20); Mental Blow-17 [8] (Fatigue: 1, Range: 100 yd, Area: subject, Resist:
  MS, Page: P21); Mind Shield-18 [10]; Telereceive-18 [10] (Fatigue: 0, Range: 100 yd, Area: subject,
  Maintain: min., Resist: Will+MS, Page: P25); Telesend-18 [10] (Fatigue: 0, Range: 100 yd, Area:
  subject, Maintain: min., Resist: MS, Page: P26).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: English-15 [2]; Enyyn (native)-15 [0].
  @TEXT-BOX:Narzhal av'Oronad is an Enyyn psychotic exiled from Go'h'elaan in the early 1700s, and
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  who has sworn to return and decimate the world of his birth. In his native timeline (an alternate version
  of the GURPS International Super Teams setting), he has completely reshaped Earth into his chosen
  tool of vengeance.
  @TEXT-BOX:After spending several decades planning and studying in the civilized sectors of the
  galaxy, Narzhal struck out into unexplored space to find a primitive planet to turn into a machine of
  vengeance upon his homeworld. Dinalvar, the first such world he conquered, was accidentally destroyed
  by a runaway doomsday weapon test. After a narrow escape in his dilapidated starship, Narzhal made his
  way to Earth, where he crashlanded in 1896.
  @TEXT-BOX:Over the next 100 years, using a human form, the identity of "Richard Carey," and
  scavenged equipment from his wrecked starship, Narzhal became a driving force in American industry
  and politics. With the advent of the first supers in the 1930s, he used his ship's computer to develop a
  serum which activated latent powers, and bartered it at the start of the Second World War for a
  commission as a general in the US military. Leading the Allies' 10,000-man metahuman task force, he
  significantly altered the course of WWII. When London and Washington were siimultaneously destroyed
  by Nazi atom bombs in 1943, he used the opportunity to orchestrate a takeover of both nations to form
  the British-American Hegemony.
  @TEXT-BOX:From this merger of the British Empire and the United States, he slowly expanded his
  influence, absorbing nations either by military conquest (through which he gained the sobriquet by which
  he is now best known), or voluntary annexation. By the end of the 1980s the increasingly-repressive
  Hegemony, ruled by a metahuman elite and decidedly fascist in its politics, controlled over 80% of the
  globe -- and Narzhal controlled it, with an iron hand.
  @TEXT-BOX:Narzhal/Carey himself is an intriguing mix of contradictions. Ruthless and sociopathic
  when it comes to the destruction of the Enyyn, he honestly cares about the beings he rules. (Of course, he
  sees them more as useful, intelligent pets than real people, but still...) Although he has drastically
  curtailed civil liberties in the Hegemony and his regional lieutenants often have bloody and violent
  domestic policies, he tries to ensure that no one is hungry, homeless or unhealthy, and not just because he
  plans to deploy almost every able-bodied human in a massive invasion force against Go'h'elaan; he
  unabashedly seeks the best for his subjects and wants them to love him. (And many do.) He is still
  haunted by the destruction of Dinalvar, and the billions of lives lost to the runaway hellbomb prototype
  which reduced the planet to slag.
  (((END BOX)))
  Ethomorph
  Now the hand of Henry Jekyll (as you have often remarked) was professional in shape and size: it was
  large, firm, white, and comely. But the hand which I now saw, clearly enough, in the yellow light of a
  mid-London morning, lying half shut on the bed-clothes, was lean, corded, knuckly, of a dusky pallor and
  thickly shaded with a swart growth of hair. It was the hand of Edward Hyde.
  I must have stared upon it for near half a minute, sunk as I was in the mere stupidity of wonder, before
  terror woke up in my breast as sudden and startling as the crash of cymbals; and bounding from my bed,
  I rushed to the mirror. At the sight that met my eyes, my blood was changed into something exquisitely
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  thin and icy. Yes, I had gone to bed Henry Jekyll, I had awakened Edward Hyde.
  -- from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
  For those who believe the ancient rede that the form without reflects the spirit within, the Ethomorph is
  the defining example: one individual, who oscillates between two shapes with opposing personalities and
  appearances. One form, usually unattractive or even deformed, embodies all the individual's darker
  emotions and desires, manifesting as an almost demoniacal depravity; the other, handsome and noble, is
  home to a nearly saintly virtue.
  Ethomorph . . . . variable
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: Variable; ethomorphic alternate forms tend to be more physically
  powerful than their base form, as well as more resistant to the debilitating effects of their chosen vices --
  ST and HT are often higher than those of the base form.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Remove any Appearance, Empathy and Animal Empathy, and any
  Social advantages intimately linked to personal identity (for example, Reputation). Add Combat Reflexes
  [15]; Fearlessness +4 [8]; No Hangover [5]; Strong Will +2 [4]. Toughness and Extra Hit Points are
  common.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Remove any "positive" disadvantages such as Code of Honor, Sense
  of Duty, Honesty and so on. Add Appearance (Unattractive) [-5] or worse; Bad Temper [-10]; Bully
  [-10]; Callous [-6]; Frightens Animals [-5/-10]; Gluttony [-5]; Lecherousness [-15]; Overconfidence
  [-10]; Sadism [-15]; Vicious Drunk [-1]. Odious Personal Habits, Compulsive Behaviors and Obsessions
  are also appropriate.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Invert or replace any quirks that suggest polite, ethical or moral behavior.
  Dislikes may be elevated to loathings or even full-blown Intolerances. Behavioral quirks may be retained
  to provide acquaintaces with a disturbing sense of familiarity, or may be exaggerated or removed
  entirely.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Brawling-DX [1], Sex Appeal-HT or 14, whichever is better, if the base form
  did not already have them, along with any other skills that may augment the were-form's favorite modes
  of debauchery.
  This example is derived specifically from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It assumes a character of average or
  better morality/ethics, with a dark ethomorphic form. This is the most common variant. Alternately, a
  predominantly evil/immoral character may have a were-shape which lacks all his negative traits and
  possesses instead many positive ones.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Ethomorphs and Split Personality
  @TEXT-BOX:In the case of an ethomorph, the -10-point level of the Split Personality disadvantage
  represents an individual still capable of enjoying both forms as seperate vessels for his singular identity,
  no matter how variant their personalities. The -15-point level indicates that each form is its own person.
  In all cases, though, the alternate form is always aware of the base form, although its opinion of him is
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  rarely high.
  @TEXT-BOX:Note, however, that those characters who start with the -10-point level of the
  disadvantage will inevitably escalate to the -15-point version. The GM should determine the point at
  which this occurs based upon the frequency with which the character changes and how different the two
  forms are (based on the advantages and disadvantages that are "abandoned" in the shift). The greater the
  difference between the two, and the more frequent the base form's "indulgence", the faster the escalation
  should be. The additional level of Split Personality, when it finally manifests, is treated as a disadvantage
  acquired in play and does not provide any additional character points.
  (((END BOX)))
  Also, as shown in many recent movies, such physical factors as body mass, height and gender need not
  remain constant between forms.
  PPT and NPT must be determined individually for the specific character, as they will vary widely
  depending on the traits he possesses, loses and/or acquires. In addition, almost all ethomorphs will have
  the Unstable limitation (-25%) applied. Depending on the character concept, this may or may not take the
  form of the War of Wills option (see p. 00). Additionally, the were-form must possess the Cannot Use
  Change Control limitation (p. 00). Ethomorphism is a strictly binary form of shapeshifting -- neither
  form normally wants anything to do with the other.
  The base form must take Split Personality, at either level. Ethomorphs are not required to take
  Compulsive Behavior: Morally Opposed, although it is appropriate. They sometimes possess the
  Delusion that they are entirely separate people.
  Ethomorphs are usually limited to the base form and one alternate form, which embodies either
  moral/ethical extreme. However, it is possible (though rare) for an ethomorph to possess alternate forms
  and personalities for both extremes -- angel and devil both, with the base personality/form caught
  between them.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Ethomorphs in the Campaign
  @TEXT-BOX:The obvious inspiration for ethomorphism is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
  Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, a relentlessly Victorian work in its extremely polarized view of both
  morality and society. However, the ethomorph need not be permanently relegated to such a strict milieu.
  @TEXT-BOX:Atomic Horror, Lensman, Steampunk and similar: A little Weird Science is all you need
  for a well-meaning scientist to accidentally time-share his body with a maniac, regardless of the native
  Tech Level.
  @TEXT-BOX:Black Ops: An unusual variety of "werewolf", Argus may be more inclined to capture
  and study an ethomorph than the other kinds of shapeshifter it has encountered in the past.
  @TEXT-BOX:Horror, Weird Modern and similar games: An ethomorph would work as both villain
  and/or McGuffin -- especially if the base form is someone the party trusts.
  @TEXT-BOX:And finally, the ultimate possibility: the GURPS Goblins version of Mr. Hyde: A
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  celibate, teetotaling Biblethumper whose straitlaced morality and handsome features horrify all those
  who come in contact with him, even as he fascinates them with his inarguable charisma. Or maybe he's
  worse than any ten other goblins combined...
  (((END BOX)))
  A Polarized Persona
  A uniquely Victorian variety of shapechanger, the ethomorph is usually a shifter who has relegated all
  his perceived "negative", "immoral" or "unhealthy" mental traits into a separate physical form, which
  often possesses its own mind and personality. This process can either be accidental (as in The Strange
  Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) or intentional (the work of an evil genius seeking allies or servants of a
  like mind).
  The mechanisms by which such a physical and mental polarization are accomplished can vary widely.
  For some, it is a result of meditation and careful self-control; for others, an application of magic; yet
  others make their way through a scientific path, either with a drug like Atavismine (see p. STM00 or
  sidebar, p. 00) or more exotic means. In almost all cases, though, the manifestation of the banished
  emotions and motivations as their own "person" is an error or unforeseen side-effect of the process
  employed. Most ethomorphs originally intended to suppress or expel those traits they found inconvenient
  or offensive, only to find them fighting back in a most distressingly physical manner.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Ethomorph PCs
  @TEXT-BOX:Player characters suffering from ethomorphism are affordable at 100 points and even
  below, as long as the alternate form does not far outstrip the base form in power. The primary differences
  between the two sides of an ethomorph are, after all, matters of personality and appearance; few
  ethomorphs manifest an alter ego that is hugely more powerful than they are. As long as the GM can
  justify the ability to change between forms within the campaign's genre, or warp the campaign to suit, an
  ethomorph PC can probably be built to fit.
  @TEXT-BOX:An ethomorph need not be created from scratch, though -- under the right conditions, the
  GM may be able to turn an existing PC into an ethomorph. (Obviously this will only work in a game with
  a fantasy or weird science element, or which can accomodate its inclusion.) It will require collaboration
  with the player in question, but if the character is already working towards a moral or ethical
  improvement in himself, the relegation of his darker drives to their own personality within a timeshared
  body can provide an excellent set of plot hooks -- as well as drive the other players crazy.
  @TEXT-BOX:If the genre allows, this may be the best way to plant a traitor in the midst of a tightly-knit
  party. Of course, it requires cooperation on the part of the player, but as long as he can keep his
  transformation out of sight of the other characters. Even better would be leaving the base form ignorant
  of his new condition for as long as possible.
  (((END BOX)))
  Body...
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  The physical change that an ethomorph undergoes is far from extensive, although it can be dramatic. The
  base species does not change, although in the most extreme cases it can seem that way. Instead, the were
  appears to become a different person, usually with no resemblance whatsoever to his base form. The
  appearance of this "other person" corresponds to the ethical extreme which it embodies. A form born of
  the were's negative traits is usually unattractive -- deformed, bestial and often unhealthy in appearance;
  its opposite number is attractive, clean-limbed and charismatic. Both extremes often induce a fascination
  in the opposite sex, no matter what their appearance.
  It is extremely rare, but not impossible, for an ethomorphic were-form to swap genders as part of its
  transformation. In such a case, a dark ethomorph will often take the appearance of the base form's ideal
  member of the opposite sex. Despite their often extreme beauty, these dark were-forms will still have a
  sinister and threatening air to them, and will be no less debauched and evil than their less-attractive
  cousins.
  In any case, the alter ego is usually more powerful, physically, than the base form; in extreme cases they
  can demonstrate inhuman strength. They also tend to be remarkably resilient, enduring with equal ease
  both the debilitating effects of their vices as well as the attacks of those hostile to them. In the case of
  dark ethomorphs, this is usually explained as a result of their atavistic resemblance to some great beast;
  in bright ethomorphs, their proximity to an angelic ideal is usually credited.
  Pre-existing physical traits from the base form, such as damaged limbs and missing eyes, are usually
  maintained. If so, their effect is exaggerated to match the form. For example, consider a missing eye. In a
  dark ethomorph, it will be a visible, disturbing deformity that only serves to increase the were-form's
  sinister appearance. In a bright ethomorph, it gives the were-form a rakish, romantic air that endears him
  to all he meets.
  In either case, the ethomorph undergoes sufficient change that he appears to be a completely different
  person. Bright ethomorphs may bear a distinct resemblance to their other side, enough to be thought a
  relative, possibly a cousin or even a sibling (a misapprehension of which the were-form will often take
  advantage). Darklings tend to become too bestial to seem similar to their base form -- their snarling,
  animalistic visages often drive all thought of comparison from the minds of their viewers.
  Subsequently, any and all traits that rely upon or modify personal identity -- Reputations, Social Stigmas,
  even Wealth -- are unavailable to the ethomorph. In those cases where the base form is to some degree
  aware of his alter ego's existence and activity, arrangements may be made for its use -- Henry Jeckyll, for
  instance, instructed his servants that Edward Hyde was a guest in his house, and saw to it that cash was
  available for his use. But beyond that, the ethomorph is unable to benefit -- or suffer -- from his base
  form's social and financial presence.
  (((START BOX)))
  Going To (Different) Extremes
  @TEXT-BOX:Note that the exaggerated personality traits which ethomorphic were-forms embody are
  usually the result of a more-or-less normal person -- someone in the middle third or so of the
  moral-ethical bellcurve -- undergoing whatever triggering process the GM has defined for the campaign.
  The results would be somewhat different if an unabashedly diabolic or extremely saintly person were to
  experience the same process. A particularly debauched individual may manifest a were-form whose
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  moral values are barely above (but are above, nonetheless) average. Similarly, a nearly-angelic
  individual may manifest a "dark" side who might be able to manage being naughty every once in a while,
  but no more. In either case, though, the were-form may well be a severe embarrassment or even a fatal
  liability...
  (((END BOX)))
  ...and Soul
  The corresponding personality shifts are even more dramatic than the physical changes. In the case of a
  dark ethomorph, all of the character's positive traits are either buried or inverted. This can turn an
  average man into a debauched libertine, an extorting miser, or even a vicious serial killer, based both on
  his moral and ethical beliefs, and on the deepest secrets of his soul which he cannot admit even to
  himself. When it is not simply enjoying its excesses and debauches, a dark ethomorph will often take on
  the role of its base form's personal tempter and/or destroyer. In such a case, the were-form will do its best
  to leave its base form in situations designed to appeal to his remaining darker urges, in the hopes of
  dragging him down. If it fails to corrput him (or simply chooses not to bother with that course of action),
  the were-form will sometimes try actively to destroy its host's reputation and life. In either case, it does
  this as much out of a desire for a "partner in crime" as out of malice for the base form.
  At the other end of the spectrum, the bright ethomorph embodies all the lost or hidden nobility a fallen
  man may have thought lost to him. It is normally a far better person than its host. Depending on the
  attitude of the character's native culture to the redemption or rehabilitation of criminals and other debased
  individuals, a bright ethomorph may despise and ignore his base form, or do the best it can to improve
  his lot. The more altruism is seen as a virtue in the culture, the more energetically the were-form will toil
  on its host's behalf; some individuals may discover their lives, reputations and bankbooks improving for
  no apparent reason... At the same time, the were-form will not ignore itself entirely, but it will (of course)
  do no more for its own benefit than is proper.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: James William Dennison . . . . 125 Points
  @TEXT-BOX:Male; Age 31; 5'10"; 155 lbs.; American with ash-blond hair and haunted blue eyes.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 11 [10]; DX 12 [20]; IQ 12 [20]; HT 10 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.50; Move 5.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 5; Parry 8.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 1d-2; Kick: 1d; Thrust 1d-1; Swing 1d+1
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Appearance (Handsome) [15] (Reaction: +2/+4); Were-form
  (Ethomorph) [27] (Cannot use Change Control, -5%; Unstable/War of Wills, -25%); Reputation +2 (War
  hero and world traveler) [3] (Reaction: +2; Recognized by Chicago 1920s high society: Small class,
  ¥1/3); Status 2 [10]; Wealth (Comfortable) [10] (Starting Wealth: $1,500).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Honesty [-10]; Impulsiveness [-10]; Nightmares [-5]; Split
  Personality [-15].
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Chauvinistic; Congenial; Gallant with the ladies; Shamed and disgusted by
  his behavior in WWI; Subliminal air of sadness and fear around him. [-5]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Area Knowledge (Chicago)-13 [2]; Armoury (Rifles and Handguns)/TL6-13
  [4]; Brawling-12 [1] (Parry: 8); Carousing-10 [2]; Chess-14 [2] (Hobby: ¥1/2); Driving
  (Automobile)/TL6-11 [1]; First Aid/TL6-12 [1]; French-11 [1]; Gambling-12 [2]; Gesture-11 [1/2]; Guns
  (Pistol)/TL6-14 [1]; Guns (Rifle)/TL6-14 [1]; Hiking-10 [2]; Knife-12 [1] (Parry: 5); Leadership-11 [1];
  Meditation-14 [16]; Motorcycle/TL6-11 [1/2]; Riding (Horse)-10 [1/2]; Savoir-Faire (American High
  Society)-14 [0]; Savoir-Faire (Other Culture)-12 [0]; Sex Appeal-14 [2]; Spear (Bayonet)-13 [4] (Parry:
  6); Survival (Woodlands)-11 [1]; Survival (Plains)-11 [1]; Swimming-11 [1/2]; Tactics-11 [2].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: Chinese (Mandarin)-11 [1]; English (native)-12 [0]; Hindi-10 [1/2];
  Japanese-10 [1/2]; Russian-10 [1/2]; Thai-10 [1/2]; Tibetan-12 [2].
  The Hun
  @TEXT-BOX:5'9"; 180 lbs.; shaggy black hair, piercing brown eyes, bulky and muscular with heavy
  brows and bad teeth.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 13 [20]; DX 12 [0]; IQ 10 [20]; HT 12/14 [20].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.00; Move 6.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 7; Parry 9.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 1d-2; Kick: 1d; Thrust 1d; Swing 2d-1
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Remove Dennison's Appearance [-15], Reputation [-3], and Status [-10].
  Add Charisma +2 [10]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Extra Hit Points +2 [8]; Fearlessness +4 [8]; No
  Hangover [5]; Strong Will +2 [4].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Remove Dennison's Honesty [+10] and Nightmares [+5]. Add
  Appearance (Unattractive) [-5] (Reaction: -1); Bad Temper [-10]; Bloodlust [-10]; Bully [-10]; Callous
  [-6]; Frightens Animals [-5/-10]; Gluttony [-5]; Lecherousness [-15]; Murder Addiction [-60];
  Overconfidence [-10]; Sadism [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Remove Congenial; Gallant with the ladies; Shamed and disgusted by his
  behavior in WWI; Subliminal air of sadness and fear around him. [+4] Add Affects a slow, painful limp;
  Speaks in a growling snarl except when trying to charm a victim; Trademark: private signals to
  Dennison; Vicious drunk. [-4]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: As Dennison, except as follows: Improve Brawling-14 [+3] (Parry: 9);
  Knife-14 [+3] (Parry: 7); Sex Appeal-15 [+10]. Add Disguise-12 [2]; Fast-Talk-13 [4]; Shadowing-13
  [4]; Stealth-13 [4].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: As Dennison.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:PPT: +150, NPT: -183. Basic cost: 38 points. Cannot use Change Control, -5%;
  Unstable/War of Wills, -25%. Final Cost: 27 points.
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  @TEXT-BOX:James William Dennison was a seeker of enlightenment. From the end of WWI to the
  middle of the 1920s, this well-to-do American spent much of his considerable inheritance roaming the
  world. Seeking out guru after master after mysterious teacher, he studied with every one in a desperate
  attempt to find peace for his tortured soul. Driving him was guilt over his participation in the Great War
  -- a war in which he served with wild and bloodthirsty abandon. With the end of the war came shame at
  the dark side he had unleashed in his nation's service, and a vow to expunge from his soul the gleeful
  delight he had taken in killing and rapine -- a delight that still tempted him to destroy his obstacles
  (human or otherwise) whenever he felt frustrated or angry.
  @TEXT-BOX:After more than a decade of searching and studying, his efforts seemed to bear fruit; the
  teachings of a lama in the far reaches of Tibet seemed to bring him inner peace. Overjoyed and believing
  himself expunged of his dark urges, he returned to his native Chicago, leaving his instruction under the
  lama incomplete.
  @TEXT-BOX:This was his undoing, though. Lacking its final step, the regimen of meditation and herbal
  potions he learned did not eliminate his darker impulses -- it merely displaced them to the far reaches of
  his subconscious mind, where they festered and sought release ... and revenge. Less than a year after his
  triumphant return to Chicago high society, Dennison began suffering from blackouts, ranging from hours
  to sometimes days in length. Soon, he began to suffer from nightmares that would wake him, screaming,
  in the middle of the night.
  @TEXT-BOX:Not long after that, at the height of the Roaring Twenties, Chicago began to experience a
  series of unexplained murders, each more vicious and savage than the one before it. As the populace
  started to slide into a state of disbelieving terror and the newspapers blared the details of each new
  killing, even the city's notorious gangsters have offered to help the police find the fiend responsible for
  the deaths.
  @TEXT-BOX:And James Dennison has begun to fear that it is he.
  @TEXT-BOX:The Hun is Dennison's ethomorphic alter ego. Cast in the image of some of the worst of
  the German soldiers that Dennison faced in WWI France, it embodies all of his rage and bloodlust. By
  turns snarling and charming, it seeths and lusts and slinks through the night world of Roaring 20s
  Chicago looking for victims to feed its murderous psychosexual desires. With all of Dennison's military
  skills plus a few more of its own at its disposal, it stalks men and women alike, killing each in a unique,
  grisly fashion. It prefers women, often charming them into following it to a secluded location, but will
  not hesitate to kill a man if the need is strong. Whenever possible, it leaves a trademark behind at each
  killing: symbols from a code used by Dennison in his childhood. It's careful to leave nothing that by itself
  is a coherent message, but it knows that Dennison is beginning to suspect something is amiss, and is
  delighting in his growing horror, which it reinforces with horrific nightmares which it inflicts upon him.
  @TEXT-BOX:James William Dennison/The Hun is a 125-point character designed for use in a GURPS
  Cliffhangers game. With fairly minor modifications (for instance, changing WWI to Vietnam), he can be
  inserted into just about any 20th-century setting.
  (((END BOX)))
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  The Hawkshaw Bioroid
  Unit Sif-7 reporting.
  Confirmed arrival at operation point 01h25m local time as per mission plan. Observed guard cycle and
  revised mission parameters accordingly.
  At 02h59m local time, one guard departed from established pattern for micturation in local foliage.
  Terminated guard and assumed his shape, then returned to patrol per his schedule. Now awaiting final
  "go".
  Unit Sif-7 out.
  In a certain TL9 world of corporate espionage and warfare, a biotech concern has developed the perfect
  tool with which to undermine the more mechanically-inclined of its competitors. Blending the latest in
  custom gengineering for unique talents with a secret process for force-growing clones, the Alesandese
  Group has produced its own private corps of assassins and spies: the Hawkshaw Class Infiltration
  Bioroid.
  Hawkshaw Class Infiltration Bioroid . . . . 52 points
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST +1 [10]; DX +2 [20]; IQ +1 [10]; HT +1 [10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Appearance (Attractive) [5] (Reaction: +1); Combat Reflexes [15];
  Increased Speed +2 [50]; Morph (Copies Personality +100%, Genetic Match +50%, Cannot Duplicate
  Clothing -5%, Cannot Reuse Forms -50%, Fatiguing Change -10%, Needs Sample -15%, Slow Change
  -10%) [24]; Night Vision [10]; Patron: the Alesandese Group (very powerful organization, supplies
  equipment, appears 9 or less) [30]; Silence ¥2 [10] (Stealth Bonus (Moving): 2; Stealth Bonus
  (Motionless): 4); Single-Minded [5]; Unfazeable [15]; Zeroed [10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Attentive [-1]; Callous [-6]; Careful [-1]; Clueless [-10]; Hidebound
  [-5]; Involuntary Duty to the Alesandese Group 15 or less, [-20]; Oblivious [-3]; Poverty [-25] (Starting
  Wealth: $0) [-25]; Self-Destruct [-20]; Selfless [-10]; Social Stigma: Valuable Property [-10]; Short
  Lifespan ¥5 [-50]; Slave Mentality [-40]; Uncongenial [-1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Acting-IQ+2 [6]; Stealth-DX+1 [4].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: English-IQ (native) [0].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Taboo Traits: Hawkshaw bioroids cannot have any trait that suggests excitability or
  extreme emotion of any kind, nor can they have any mental or physical disadvantage that is caused or
  influenced by a genetic factor (for example. epilepsy or manic-depressive).
  This is a base-model Hawkshaw, fresh out of the growth tank. Variations are possible, as with natural
  species, plus all Hawkshaws receive extensive special ops-style training before they are deployed on
  their first mission (see box, p. 00). It will be extremely unlikely for anyone outside of the Alesandese
  Group to encounter a Hawkshaw that possesses nothing but its racial abilities. Special models may have
  better attributes and higher levels of Appearance and Silence, as well as any other traits their designer
  may deem necessary.
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  Hawkshaws are always attractive women, apparently human in appearance. They tend to be Amazonian
  in size, though -- generate height as for a human male and add one inch, then determine weight normally
  for a female.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Typical Hawkshaw Skill Set
  @TEXT-BOX:The training a Hawkshaw bioroid undergoes after their decanting is brutal and extensive.
  The Alesandese Group employs some of the best teachers of military and espionage skills available in the
  world, and they drive the bioroids through an intense, sometimes deadly, one-year course of study that
  turns a fresh clone into a walking weapon. The following list of skills is the bare minimum a Hawkshaw
  can be expected to possess upon "graduating" to active agent status, and many are more skilled when
  they complete their training. It goes without saying that once they are active agents, they continue to
  improve and expand their skills.
  @TEXT-BOX:Hawkshaw "Basic Training:" Acrobatics-DX [4]; Beam Weapons/TL9 (pistol)-DX+3 [4];
  Camouflage-IQ+2 [4]; Computer Operation/TL9-IQ+2 [4]; Demolition/TL9-IQ+1 [4]; Garrote-DX+2
  [4]; Guns/TL9 (Pistol)-DX+3 [4]; Guns/TL9 (Rifle)-DX+3 [4]; Holdout-IQ+1 [4]; Jumping-DX+1 [2];
  Karate-DX [4]; Knife-DX+1 [2]; Knife Throwing-DX+1 [2]; Lip Reading-IQ [2]; Pickpocket-DX [4];
  Poisons-IQ [4]; Running-HT [4]; Savoir-Faire-IQ+2 [4]; Sex Appeal-IQ+1 [4]; Shadowing-IQ+1 [4];
  Survival (Urban)-IQ [2]; Swimming-DX+1 [2]; Tactics-IQ+1 [6]; Traps/TL9-IQ+1 [4].
  @TEXT-BOX:The "basic training" package is worth 96 points; after undergoing it, an absolutely
  average Hawkshaw bioroid is usually one year old and a 158-point character.
  (((END BOX)))
  General Description
  Uniformly female, the Hawkshaw-class bioroids (named after the corporate security officer on whom
  their core genotype was originally based) are designed to be infiltrators, spies and assassins. Their
  inherent gifts make them not only stealthy, but capable of assuming the shape of anyone from whom they
  can acquire a tiny genetic sample. To the delight of their engineers, they have an ability to copy a target's
  personality which seems almost psychic at times. It wasn't in the design specs, and no one seems to know
  where it came from, but every Hawkshaw so far has had it, and no one at Alesandese is complaining.
  Although their primary purpose has always been as agents to be deployed in covert operations against
  rival corporations, Hawkshaws have found other roles within Alesandese. No small number are
  employed as bodyguards for various executive officers, and a number serve in the corporate Security
  department. The vast majority, however, remain part of the black program which spawned them.
  There is no such thing as an average or unattractive Hawkshaw; they are designed to be pleasing to the
  eye, and many specialty models are stunningly gorgeous. This reflects more upon the aesthetics of the
  Alesandese Group's genetic engineers than any sexist tendencies in either them or society at large,
  although some have admitted to being influenced by the stories of femmes fatales of the past, like Mata
  Hari. All racial types, and variations therein, are found among their numbers, although given their
  shapeshifting abilities, it's not always certain that the appearance a Hawkshaw is wearing is necessarily
  her own. The only exception to this endless selection are the "elite" models, who are clones of
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  exceptionally successful predecessors. No variation is allowed in them; they are all identical to their
  distinguished "ancestor".
  The first Hawkshaws were decanted almost three decades ago; only the executives in charge of the black
  division where they are made know exactly how many have been deployed in the years since. There are
  usually 20 or 30 undergoing "basic training" at any given time, but the exact number currently active in
  the field is a secret classified at the highest corporate levels.
  Psychology
  Being a race subject to a slave mentality, Hawkshaw bioroids need either constant supervision, or
  flexible long-term orders. (Typically, the latter might be something like, "Keep yourself in fighting trim
  through regular exercise and sparring, eat and sleep properly, and undertake new training whenever the
  opportunity is presented.") Unlike most so-called "slave races", though, the Hawkshaws are capable of
  considerable individual initiative -- but only when they are ordered to demonstrate it, which is almost
  always as part of a mission. This limited independence lasts only as long as the Hawkshaw's mission is
  considered incomplete. It continues even if a designated "master" is in her presence, unless that master
  terminates the mission, allowing her to operate at peak efficiency even in situations where other slave
  races would fall on their faces groveling at their masters' feet.
  While they have been known to be devoted to their masters and trainers, Hawkshaws have a reputation
  within the company as "the Ice Maidens". Although not actively hostile to one another or humans,
  Hawkshaws are not communal beings, and prefer to be alone if given a choice. They are not subject to
  much in the way of emotion, as that was considered a liability during field operations. They are, in fact,
  untroubled by almost all extremes of emotion and present a phlegmatic, unmoved face to the world
  unless the needs of a mission require otherwise. They do have a tendency to focus on their tasks to the
  exclusion of anything else, and lack both a strong sense of self-identity and any real empathy for other
  beings. Only their slave mentality prevents them from being active sociopaths.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Hawkshaw Names
  @TEXT-BOX:Hawkshaw bioroids are not so much named as designated. Basic Hawkshaws have
  inception numbers, made up of a two-letter prefix (the first indicates the production facility, the second
  the growth tank) separated by a hyphen by a four-digit number indicating the year and month the bioroid
  was decanted (for example, GT-0212).
  @TEXT-BOX:Hawkshaws who get the attention and favor of their trainers are often given use-names
  and nicknames -- usually (but not limited to) common female first names. If a particular Hawkshaw
  proves to be exceptional, she may be used as the "seed" for a new, "elite" production line, whose
  members which will then be identified with her use-name plus a number indicating the order in which
  they were cloned: Alysse-12, Miranda-5.
  @TEXT-BOX:Of course, when on a mission, a Hawkshaw uses whatever name is appropriate to the
  identity she has been assigned or which she has assumed with her morph powers.
  (((END BOX)))
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  Ecology
  Although they appear to be human, and in fact share in large part the same basic genetic structure,
  Hawkshaws and humans have less in common than humans and chimpanzees.
  To make them more tractable, and to minimize long-term "disposal" problems, the Alesandese Group has
  had them built with both a slave mentality and a drastically-shortened lifespan that ends in a rapid
  breakdown of their systems. Even if their development were not accelerated using forced growth tanks,
  they would mature in a mere three years; their operating lifespan from the time they reach maturity is
  only eight years. After that, they die of old age... quickly.
  Not surprisingly, they are consequently not interfertile with humans -- or any other known humanoid race
  -- again, by design. Given their short operating lifespan, allowing them to carry a child and give birth
  naturally (despite its savings in production costs) would be an unprofitable waste of time. Therefore,
  even though they are physically compatible with human males, they are sterile and completely lack
  anything in the way of a libido -- although, once again, they are expert at simulating one should a
  mission call for it.
  When not out on assignment, most of the current Hawkshaw population lives in a comfortably-appointed
  complex hidden beneath one of the larger buildings on the Alesandese headquarters campus. In addition
  to the "barracks", this complex houses the production and growth facilities as well as the training areas.
  While the population fluctuates, what with production runs, basic trianing, individual lifecycles, and
  casualties on the outside, there are usually around 80 to 100 Hawkshaws present at all times.
  Hawkshaws in the Campaign
  The Hawkshaw-Class Infiltration Bioroid was designed for use in a TL9 campaign with a strong
  cyberpunk flavor. As is usual for this kind of world, powerful corporations are battling, both in the
  marketplace and in the dark of night, for dominance. Mechanical and electronic technologies, be they
  from a single monolithic megacorporation or from a large number of struggling competitors, currently
  enjoy the lion's share of the economy. And a single visionary biotech company is hoping to upset the
  status quo.
  Hawkshaw bioroids are the Alesandese Group's answer to the challenge. Alesandese deploys the
  Hawkshaws on missions ranging from simple espionage, through seduction and blackmail, to the
  sabotage of corporate assets and the assassination and/or replacement of inconvenient executives and
  government officials.
  Unless the party is a team in the employ of Alesandese, they are most likely to encounter one or more
  Hawkshaws while the latter are deployed on a mission. Whether they meet as enemies or not depends on
  the goals of both sides -- and whether or not the Hawkshaw thinks she can better accomplish her goals by
  masquerading as one of the party members...
  A Hawkshaw could be anywhere. Anyone from a government official who recently changed his
  anti-biotech stance to the security guard who's in the wrong sector during his shift could be a Hawkshaw.
  She could be the cute college grad who wants a drunken executive to help her get a job, or who offers to
  be his mistress -- at least long enough to get him alone. If there is anything certain about Hawkshaws, it's
  that no one outside of Alesandese has any idea they exist, and (for the moment) they're leaving other
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  biotech firms alone.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Model Variations and Competitors' Knock-Offs
  @TEXT-BOX:The Hawkshaw bioroid is a lifeform engineered and grown from scratch to serve as a
  corporate espionage agent. In addition to the "basic" model as described in the main text, custom bioroids
  built to a mission (or executive's) specifications are possible. The Alesandese Group's genetic engineers
  can add almost any trait that is not occult or supernatural in nature. Certain "super" traits are also
  possible, as evidenced by the Hawkshaw's morph abilities, but the GM should take care to limit exactly
  what is available, lest the campaign turn into a supers game.
  @TEXT-BOX:Some organizations may want to have agents like the Hawkshaws but will not have quite
  Alesandese's level of technology available to them. Companies like this may have had to settle for
  rebuilding existing human beings (either "recruited" or kidnapped outright), especially if they're in a
  relative hurry.
  @TEXT-BOX:Modified humans will not usually be as exceptional as an engineered lifeform unless the
  organization in question has access to such advanced means as a Metamorphosis Virus (see p. BT79-84).
  Attribute increases may be lower or fewer, the number of added Advantages may be smaller, and most
  importantly, the Self-Destruct/Short Lifespan/Slave Mentality combination will be replaced by the less
  complicated but almost as effective tactic of implanting a Cortex Bomb and subjecting the new agent to a
  barrage of powerful psychological conditioning. One advantage re-engineered humans hold over a
  Hawkshaw or its equivalent is that they tend to be noticeably more personable, and are able to function
  better on missions that require extensive social functions.
  @TEXT-BOX:Above and beyond the differences in one's raw materials, individual agents can be
  customized for different mission profiles, especially if they are grown to order by an organization like the
  Alesandese Group.
  (((END BOX)))
  Other Settings
  A lower tech level \#208> something closer to the traditional cyberpunk world, perhaps -- can be
  accomodated if the GM wishes by the expedient of noting that the Alesandese Group is an innovative
  biotech firm which is reputed to be in advance of the cutting edge as the rest of the industry sees it. Why
  this is can be a campaign hook or an unsolved mystery...
  If a cyberpunk of biopunk flavor is not preferred, the Hawkshaws could work in any
  post-human/heavy-bio-engineering setting, such as GURPS Transhuman Space. They would also not be
  out of place in a world like Terradyne.
  Worlds with higher tech levels than 10, though, are problematic for these shifters. The Proteus Virus
  becomes available at TL11, with full Metamorphic Virii common at TL12; with the kind of changes
  either can impose on a pre-existing organism, there would be little need to specifically engineer a new
  one to do the Hawkshaw's job.
  Of course, the GM need not feel constrained to technological worlds. In Yrth, or the earth of GURPS
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  Technomancer, Hawkshaws could be summoned beings, manifested spirits, or even truly
  ground-breaking golems. In a Lovecraft-style Horror game, they may be some kind of Elder Spawn,
  aiding a fine old New England firm for what are sure to be dark and disturbing reasons of their own. And
  finally, in GURPS In Nomine, they might actually be Lilim (possessing the Celestial Song of Form, of
  course), responding to rituals cast by would-be corporate sorcerers and playing along with the gag until
  they've racked up enough favors to make it worth all the effort.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Hawkshaw Characters
  @TEXT-BOX:A typical bioroid fresh out of "basic training" and deployed on her first mission would be
  a 150-point character; assuming she spent the bare minimum on her "standard skills" (see box, p. 00),
  that would leave her player with a few points with which to customize the character -- more, if she took
  some disadvantages above and beyond those in the racial package.
  @TEXT-BOX:More experienced Hawkshaws could reach 200 or even possibly 250 points in their brief
  lifespans, making them either opponents to be feared or allies to be coveted.
  @TEXT-BOX:Despite the fact that they are engineered, variations are still common among Hawkshaw
  bioroids. Remember that the racial package is still just a template, a starting point, even though these
  beings are effectively mass-produced. Appearance, skill set, even attributes and leveled advantages can
  vary away from the racial norm.
  @TEXT-BOX:For a Hawkshaw PC, the GM should note that the frequency of appearance for the
  Alesandese Group Patron represents not any inherent difficulty in reaching the company, but in the
  company's ability to get help to a highly secret, ultimately deniable agent.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Free Hawkshaws
  @TEXT-BOX:The GM should consider the following option if he wants to encourage Hawkshaw PCs,
  or wants to create a truly challenging Hawkshaw enemy. Instead of being specifically engineered into the
  Hawkshaw genotype, their slave mentality is instead a conditioned behavior imposed on the bioroids'
  developing minds during the forced growth process (which explains their limited ability to switch it "on
  and off"). Although it is extremely difficult, that conditioning can be broken. In other words, any
  Hawkshaw with enough available character points can buy off the Slave Mentality disadvantage outright.
  @TEXT-BOX:Most Hawkshaws who do break their conditioning usually escape from the company's
  service by faking their deaths on a mission and slipping into the population at large, relying on their
  morphing abilities to hide them. They usually find work in the fields that they know well, such as
  mercenary or security, although some have become criminals, others business persons, and at least one
  became an artist of no small repute.
  @TEXT-BOX:Those that choose not to escape (some stay, trying to help others achieve independence)
  must take a -30-point Secret to cover their free will. (A "rogue" Hawkshaw is an immediate target for
  termination.)
  @TEXT-BOX:In a campaign employing this option, the highest echelons of Alesandese are aware of the
  deserter Hawkshaws, and is justifiably paranoid about them. Unless they buy off more of their
  disadvantages, they are effectively sociopaths -- very dangerous sociopaths who might well bear a
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  grudge against the company.
  (((END BOX)))
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Miranda-5 . . . . 200 points
  @TEXT-BOX:Female; Age 5; 5'11"; 150 lbs.; Black hair, grey eyes, porcelain complexion, sleekly
  muscled with a feline grace.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 11 [0]; DX 14 [20]; IQ 12 [10]; HT 11 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.25; Move 7.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 7; Parry 10.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 1d-1; Kick: 1d+2; Thrust 1d-1; Swing 1d+1
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Absolute Timing [5]; Alertness +2 [10]; Appearance (Beautiful) [10];
  Combat Reflexes [15] (Fright Check: 14); Hawkshaw Racial Package [52]; Silence +2 [10] (Totl Stealth
  Bonus (Moving): 4; Stealth Bonus (Motionless): 8).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: No Sense of Humor [-10]; Stubbornness [-5]; Vow: Always complete
  her mission or die trying [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Doesn't like assuming male forms; Doesn't like the idea of being another
  "cookie cutter" clone product; Easily distracted by beauty and aesthetics; Non-conformist in her limited
  way; Quiet and thoughtful when not on a mission. [-5]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Acrobatics-14 [4]; Acting-14 [6]; Beam Weapons (Blaster pistol)/TL9-18 [4];
  Camouflage-14 [4]; Climbing-13 [1]; Computer Operation/TL9-14 [4]; Demolition/TL9-13 [4];
  Garrote-16 [4]; Guns (Pistol)/TL9-18 [4]; Guns (Rifle)/TL9-18 [4]; Holdout-13 [4]; Jumping-15 [2];
  Karate-14 [4] (Parry: 10); Knife-15 [2] (Parry: 7); Knife Throwing-15 [2]; Lip Reading-13 [4];
  Lockpicking/TL9-11 [1]; Mechanic/TL9-12 [2]; Pickpocket-14 [4]; Poisons-12 [4]; Running (Move:
  7.625)-11 [4]; Savoir-Faire-14 [4]; Sex Appeal-11 [2]; Shadowing-13 [4]; Stealth-15 [4]; Streetwise-11
  [1]; Survival (Urban)-13 [4]; Swimming-15 [2]; Tactics-13 [6]; Traps/TL9-13 [4].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: English (native)-12 [0].
  @TEXT-BOX:Miranda is the fifth clone spawned from the original Miranda, and like her forebear she is
  a skilled and deadly assassin. At five years old, Miranda has been serving Alesandese for four years, and
  has just entered "middle age" for a Hawkshaw. In that time, she has racked up an impressive record of
  kills, including five politicians, three consumer activists, a half-dozen assorted executives, and the entire
  board of directors for a robotics firm whose products were becoming too organic in appearance and
  construction for the peace of mind of several of Alesandese's upper executives.
  @TEXT-BOX:She is silent, deadly and implacable when aimed at a target, displaying an inventiveness
  in her methods that is both playful and artistic without being in the least sadistic. She doesn't hesitate to
  stoop to cruder methods if their employment guarantees efficiency and comprehensive results, but if time
  and her orders allow, she will choose demises tailored for the individual targets. A case in point is the
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  aforementioned board of directors, who all died within 48 hours of each other, with causes ranging from
  a simple automobile accident to mis-prepared blowfish sushi. Her primary on-the-job quirk is a tendency
  to avoid taking on male shapes when she must use her morph abilities.
  @TEXT-BOX:Outside of missions, she is quiet and thoughtful, and as non-conformist as her slave
  mentality allows, making her the "goth" of the Hawkshaws -- a trait which she shares with all her
  predecessors, ironically enough. She is attracted by objects which appeal to her (somewhat quirky) sense
  of beauty and aesthetics, and has had to restrain herself on more than one occasion when this attraction
  manifested during a mission.
  @TEXT-BOX:Of late, Miranda's individualism has been running up hard against the walls of her slave
  mentality. In campaigns where this is a conditioned state and not a genetic one, Miranda has begun to
  wear away at her conditioning (in game terms, she has accumulated 20 or so character points toward
  buying off the disadvantage, above and beyond the 200 in her character total). If she were to break it
  down completely, she just might vanish into the night in the middle of her next mission.
  @TEXT-BOX:Miranda-5 is a 200-point character suitable for use in a TL9 GURPS Cyberpunk game
  (or its Biotech equivalent). GMs looking to expand on her hand-to-hand fighting ability should feel free
  to upgrade her Karate to a full roster of GURPS Martial Arts maneuvers and skills.
  (((END BOX)))
  Jaguar Warrior
  ...and as we cantered up through the marsh we saw the jaguar high among the forked limbs of a taruman
  tree. It was a beautiful picture -- the spotted coat of the big, lithe, formidable cat fairly shone as it
  snarled defiance...
  -- Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness.
  The Jaguar Warrior knows nothing but violence. His only pastime is death, his only love war. The elite
  shock troops of an ancient and savage Bronze-Age empire, the Jaguar Warriors are bound by vows and
  magic to serve their emperor, and in doing so gain a divine power -- the ability to change into fierce
  jungle predators. By donning the skin of a jaguar that each wears as a cape (their only garment in battle,
  except for a weapons harness), they may take the shape of a jaguar in order to destroy their nation's
  enemies.
  Not surprisingly, the nations bordering on the Empire (with whom it is constantly at war), as well as the
  many and varied enemies of both the Empire and its priesthood, look upon the Jaguar Warriors with a
  superstitious but not unjustified fear.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Jaguar Warriors: Historical Origins
  @TEXT-BOX:Although the main text is intentionally vague as to the home and ethnicity of the Jaguar
  Warriors, they are in fact based on material from the historical record. As the Spanish discovered when
  conquering the New World, the Aztec armies were liberally supplied with warriors from two rival orders
  of "knights": the Jaguars and the Eagles. (There is some evidence -- particularly the murals at the
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  monastary of Ixmiquilpan -- of a third warrior order, the Coyotes.)
  @TEXT-BOX:Like their fantasy counterparts in the main text, the Jaguar and Eagle Knights were elite
  shock troops, fierce and savage in battle. Unlike their fantasy counterparts here, they were quite
  numerous, comprising entire armies at times. They were also, it should go without saying, not
  shapeshifters.
  @TEXT-BOX:Although they were clearly respected and feared, there appears to be some confusion
  about the status of the Jaguar Knights within Aztec society. A number of sources (including GURPS
  Aztecs) describe them and their Eagle counterparts as the lowest orders of knighthood, and as such open
  to commoners. Other sources paint them as aristocratic elites to which only seasoned warriors or
  noblemen were offered membership.
  @TEXT-BOX:The few surviving images and records suggest that they were a sight of fierce, colorful
  beauty to see. Over red loincloths, they wore tanned jaguar pelts, which, if the Ixmiquilpan murals are
  accurate, were tailored into something like bodysuits, with the tail hanging free behind them. Over this
  they wore red cloaks or layered robes. On their heads were plumed headresses and helmets, while
  arm-rings and other jewelry adorned them. Finally, they were armed with jade warclubs or obsidian
  swords (despite the name, little more than clubs themselves) and bore chimalli (small, round war
  shields).
  @TEXT-BOX:Unfortunately, they were no match for the Spaniards, who slaughtered them to a man. By
  the time the Ixmiquilpan frescos were painted, a mere 50 years after the conquest of the former Aztec
  empire, the real Jaguar warriors and their fellows were a quietly fading memory.
  @TEXT-BOX:GMs who would like to recreate the Spanish conquuest using shapeshifting warriors, or
  who simply want to present the Empire with greater verisimilitude, should consult GURPS Aztecs. In
  particular, a sidebar on p. AZ49 covers both equipment and Troop Strengh for both Jaguars and Eagles.
  (((END BOX)))
  Sons of the Empire
  Every spring throughout the Empire, at a special ritual, the priests of the Empire's bloodthirsty gods
  inspect all the male children, both highborn and low, who celebrated their sixth birthday during the
  previous year. No one knows what the priests look for, but every parent hopes that their child possesses
  the mysterious quality which indicates the gods' favor -- the quality that signifies their son's destiny to
  become a Jaguar Warrior.
  The priests select approximately one in every three hundred boys. These youths immediately become
  wards of the state and are referred to as "Sons of the Empire". Taken with much celebration from their
  proud families, they are sent to one of several temple-run training towns, hidden deep in the jungle
  hearland of the Empire. There they are raised by a mix of priests and veteran soldiers, their old lives and
  social status forgotten as they embrace their new family in the Imperial army.
  Their new lives are harsh and overwhelming, with every waking moment unending preparation for their
  role as elite Imperial troops. Their young lives are filled with a combination of fierce exercise and
  combat training, and an even more punishing regimen of religious and ceremonial instruction. More than
  three-quarters die before they can receive their jaguar skin at age 17 -- victims of the brutal training or
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  their own teachers, who are more than eager to slay the recruits in their charge for any perceived
  weakness or soft-heartedness. The goal is to turn these boys into the ultimate human fighting machines,
  heartless, bloodthirsty and more than capable of striking fear into the hearts of the Empire's enemies.
  Those who survive their training become all that and more.
  In their seventeenth year, each surviving Son of the Empire swears dark and fearful oaths of loyalty to
  the Emperor and the gods, and having done so receives his jaguar skin. An item of great magic, it is
  made specifically for him; when wearing it, he may take on the shape of one of the great jungle cats.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:The Psychology of a Jaguar Warrior
  @TEXT-BOX:In addition to the physical conditioning his training imparts, a potential Jaguar Warrior
  undergoes no small amount of mental conditioning as well. The goal is to pair the peak of human
  perfection with a mind focused entirely on warfare, bloodshed and brutality. Friendships between boys
  any deeper than simple alliances are discouraged, often by publicly executing one of the friends and
  holding the other up to scorn in front of his peers. Violent resolutions to the smallest conflicts are
  encouraged and rewarded; bullies and those that fight dirty often become their instructors' favorites.
  @TEXT-BOX:Any trace of empathy, compassion or affection is systematically ground out of the
  trainees by methods ranging from simple ridicule to near-fatal beatings. In extreme cases where a boy is
  otherwise promising, the priests may resort to various potions and spells to permanently alter his
  personality.
  @TEXT-BOX:The ultimate result of this "training" is a soldier who is all but psychopath or sociopath,
  living and breathing only for violence and bloodshed. In some cases, only the fear of the gods and the
  power of their priests keeps a Jaguar Warrior from simply killing his way through the population at large
  -- that, and the Imperial policy of catering to the every need of the Jaguar Warriors.
  @TEXT-BOX:It might be possible for a non-psychopath to survive the training and conditioning and
  emerge relatively sane, but he'd have to be both an extraordinary actor and anything but squeamish.
  (((END BOX)))
  My Life As A Jaguar
  After a final month of training in the use of both their skins and their feline shapes, the new Jaguars leave
  the towns where they have lived for twelve years, and join the ranks of the Imperial Warrior Elite
  wherever they may be stationed. There they live lives of intense training alternating with sybaritic
  pleasure; they are pampered and indulged by the Empire which depends upon their ferocity and
  puissance in battle. Their days consist of constant training and contests of strength and skill against each
  other. Their nights are flush with the best food and wine the Empire can provide, with their every need
  seent to by comely, willing servants. All this and more is theirs for the asking for as long as they are able
  to fight in the Imperial service.
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  At the Front...
  Although their numbers could form a small army, the Jaguar Warriors specialize instead in small-unit
  tactics. Armed with spears and wearing only their enchanted skins, they enter battles as skirmishers,
  supporting the main force of regulars by attacking the enemy's flank and rear, either alone or in small
  groups.
  Not surprisingly given their training, the Jaguar Warriors attack with a single-minded viciousness, but
  they do not hesitate to flee when the battle is hopeless. A common tactic is for about a dozen Jaguar
  Warriors to attack in human form. Then, if the battle starts to go against them, they will throw their
  spears and transform, continuing the fight in were-form. Often the shock of witnessing the change is
  enough to completely demoralize the enemy. The Jaguar Warriors do not all change at once; rather one
  warrior will cover one or two of his comrades while they transform, then the jaguar will protect his
  former guardian while he changes.
  ...And Elsewhere
  Formal battles are not the only venue in which Jaguar Warriors can be found. As almost every major
  settlement in the Empire houses at least a few Jaguars, they occasionally are seen supplementing (or
  completely supplanting) the regular forces who act as the Empire's "police". Such duties are almost never
  left entirely in their hands, though, as they have a tendency to lose interest if there is insufficient
  bloodshed.
  The Jaguars are also the Emperor's counter-revolutionary forces. Whether it is a newly-conquered
  province or a rebellious village in the heart of the Empire, if there are challenges to Imperial control, the
  Jaguar Warriors are usually deployed to suppress it. Setting a dozen or so loose, especially after
  depriving them of their accustomed pleasures for a day or two, is guaranteed to "pacify" the most
  troublesome region.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Rivalries
  @TEXT-BOX:The Jaguars are not the only shapeshifting warriors available to the Empire. Just like their
  real-world counterparts (see box, p. 00), they have a standing rivalry with the Eagle Warriors. This order,
  as their name implies, are were-eagles, and are selected, raised and trained in much the same manner as
  the Jaguars. As were-eagles, they have a less direct involvement in battles, acting mainly as lookouts and
  air support and only rarely dive-bombing a choice target.
  @TEXT-BOX:Naturally, this prompts a great deal of insults; the Jaguars call the Eagles cowardly and
  useless in a fight, while the Eagles counter by calling the Jaguars thickheaded brawlers with no grace. At
  times the rivalry can grow violent or even deadly; no love is lost between the orders, and the Empire goes
  to great lengths to keep them separated, even up to the point when a battle is engaged.
  @TEXT-BOX:In addition to the Eagles, there may also be a third faction, in an equal rivalry with the
  other two. The Coyote Warriors are, as their name indicates, were-coyotes. They can operate either as
  scouts or as front-line troops, and as such come under fire from both other sides, who additionally taunt
  them for indecisiveness. Their rivalries with the other two orders is somewhat less acrimonious than that
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  between the Jaguars and the Eagles, but it is just as vociferous.
  (((END BOX)))
  These impromptu twelve-man "squads" are the highest level of organization the Jaguars ever bother with,
  and they tend to form (and disband) spontaneously. Other than the wizard-priests who watch over them
  (not to mention the Emperor himself), they have no command structure to speak of. Among the Jaguars,
  Reputation substitutes for Rank, with the most violent and bloodthirsty of their number being the best
  known, the most respected, and the closest thing the order has to true officers.
  Perhaps the greatest testament to their skill and power is their survival rate. Unlike many other weres, the
  Jaguars have no supernatural immunities to weaponry, nor are they any more resistant to damage and
  wounding than a natural jaguar. Yet even in the thick of battle they suffer fewer casualties than the
  regulars at whose sides they sometimes fight.
  Building a Jaguar Warrior
  All Jaguars are at least 175-point characters, heavily specialized in combat skills. They can be used as
  enemies, or as rather one-dimensional player characters.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Jaguar Template . . . . 170 points
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +384, NPT: -268)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: Enhanced ST +13 (No Fine Manipulators) [78]; DX +4 [45]; IQ -6 [-50];
  HT +5 [60]; Reduced Hit Points -1 [-5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Alertness +13 [65]; Appearance (Attractive) [5]; Catfall [10]; Claws
  [15]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Double-Jointed [5]; Faz Sense (3-hex range; -20%) [8]; Four Legs [5];
  Night Vision [10]; Penetrating Call [5]; Sharp Teeth [5]; Silence ¥3 [15]; Thick Fur [29].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Attentive [-1]; Bestial [-10]; Dull [-1]; Horizontal [-10]; Innumerate
  [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Short Arms
  [-10]; Short Lifespan ¥5 [-50]; Sleepy (50%) [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]; Staid [-1];
  Stubbornness [-5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Climbing at DX [2]; Jumping at DX [1]; Stealth at DX+1 [4]; and Survival
  (Desert, Jungle, Mountains, or Plains)-12 [2].
  (((END BOX)))
  Jaguar Warrior Template
  Unlike the Arthurian werewolf (pp. 00-00), there is more to a Jaguar Warrior than a simple wereform. In
  the box on p. 00 can be found a basic package for building a Jaguar. It is not a full character in and of
  itself, but can be used as the foundation on which to build one.
  Note that Jaguar Warriors do not lose their Status and other social advantages when they take jaguar
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  form. Imperial citizens assume that any jaguar found in settled areas is a Warrior on his business, and
  treat him with cautious respect and courtesy.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Jaguar Warrior Training
  @TEXT-BOX:In addition to their skin-based change, Jaguar Warriors all have the following trats (at
  least) upon achieving their skins:
  @D-BOXHEAD:Jaguar Warrior Training Package . . . . 38 points plus were-form
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Alertness +2 [10]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Legal Enforcement Powers
  [10]; Status 2 [10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Bloodlust [-10]; Callous [-6]; Duty to Empire and Emperor [-10];
  Selfish [-5]; Vow to always serve the Empire and the gods faithfully, and to not to misuse jaguar form
  [-10]; Uncongenial [-1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Axe/Mace-DX+1 [4]; Brawling-DX+2 [4]; Running-HT [4]; Shield-DX+1 [2];
  Spear-DX+1 [4]; Spear Thrower-DX+1 [4]; Spear Throwing-DX+1 [4]; Survival (Jungle)-IQ+2 [6];
  Tactics-IQ [4].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Lives for fighting and bloodshed.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Taboo Traits: Empathy, Pacifism; Savoir-Faire and most other social skills.
  @TEXT-BOX:Notes: Jaguar Warriors are not known for their intellectual agility, even in the limited
  theatre of strategy and tactics. It is not uncommon for Jaguars to have IQ 9 or lower, although at IQ 7 or
  less they become more trouble to the priests than they are worth.
  @TEXT-BOX:The average TL for the Empire and the Jaguar Warriors is 1 (Bronze Age) and any TL
  skills will reflect this.
  (((END BOX)))
  Jaguar Skin
  The enchanted pelt which gives a Jaguar Warrior his ability to shift is a item-based were-form (q.v., p.
  00). It starts with the basic Jaguar template (see box, p. 00), but Jaguar Warriors must buy the
  were-form's IQ back up to their human form's level (usually +50 points).
  To the basic animal form add the following limitations: Slow Change at -10% and a Cure/Cursebreak,
  which in this case represents a usage restriction. The Jaguar is "cured" (which is to say, his ability to
  change is rescinded) if he ever breaks the Vows listed in the character template. This is a fairly easy
  condition (-40%) which is commonly known (an additional -15%). However, the "cure" is temporary; the
  warrior can regain his shapechanging abilities by demonstrating sincere repentance and undergoing a
  reconsecration by a priest. This halves the value of the Cure/Cursebreak to -32%. Combined with the
  Slow Change, that discounts the were-form by -42%.
  Finally, apply the modifiers for an item-based shift. The jaguar skin has the modifiers Awkward [-10%],
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  Breakable and Irreparable (DR 1, HP 10) [-30%], Can Be Hit at -2 [-20%], and Can Be Stolen by Stealth
  or Trickery (Not usable by others, absorbed in change) [-2%], for a total modifier of -62%. (Jaguar skins
  are not Unique; if a Warrior's skin is destroyed, the wizard-priests can make a new one for him.) The
  jaguar skin is absorbed in the change, and is only useable by the warrior for whom it was made.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: IxokMun . . . . 175 Points
  @TEXT-BOX:Age 25; 7'4"; 320 lbs.; A hulking brute with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 14 [45]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 9 [-10]; HT 12 [20].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.50; Move 7.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 6; Parry 9; Block 7.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15] (Fright Check: 11); Jaguar Warrior Training
  Package [38]; Patron: Villac Uma, Priest (9 or less) [15] (Equipment: Standard, +5); Reputation as a
  great warrior among the Jaguars +3 [5] (Reaction: +3; Recognized by: Small class, ¥1/3); Were-form:
  Jaguar [76].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Appearance (Ugly) [-10] (Reaction: -2); Bully [-10]; Gigantism
  [-10]; Overconfidence [-10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Collects the severed ears of his opponents; Irritated by references to a play
  with a character who shares his name; Lives for fighting and bloodshed; Prefers to be called "Balám"
  ("Jaguar"). [-4]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Area Knowledge (Empire)-10 [2]; Axe/Mace-12 [4*] (Parry: 7); Brawling-13
  [4*] (Parry: 9); Intimidation-10 [2]; Leadership-9 [0]; Running (Move: 7)-12 [*]; Shield-12 [*] (Block:
  6); Spear-11 [*] (Parry: 6); Spear Thrower-11 [*]; Spear Throwing-12 [*]; Survival (Jungle)-11 [*];
  Tactics-9 [*]. (*Included in Jaguar Warrior Training Package.)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: Nahuatl (native)-9 [0].
  @TEXT-BOX:IxokMun is a giant of a man who has survived 8 years of near-constant battle as one of
  the Jaguar Warriors. A giant of a man who is always eager to plunge into the thickest part of the battle,
  he has gained a substantial reputation among his fellow Jaguars, and never seems to have a problem
  organizing a warband. Even so, he has few close associates among the Jaguar Warriors, as he takes a
  positive delight in intimidating and bullying them. With his size and strength, there is rarely anyone who
  can stand up to him.
  @TEXT-BOX:The only thing he has that is close to a friend is Villac Uma, a powerful priest who took
  the boy IxokMun under his wing, and who watches over him even to this day. While Villac Uma is
  frequently traveling among the temples of the Empire, and thus hard to contact, he is always willing to
  give aid to his protegé.
  @TEXT-BOX:As a bully, he takes full advantage of his Gigantism to intimidate and overbear most of
  the other Jaguar Warriors with whom he associates. Surprisingly, this serves him in good stead when in
  battle, for his behavior is seen to be indicative of a great war leader, and many Warriors clamor to be part
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  of any band he decides to organize. Furthermore, his great size in human form translates directly over to
  his feline shape when he takes it, producing a jaguar easily the size of a lion. In either form he will
  always stop to take an ear from an opponent he has killed; he has gathered quite a collection -- not all of
  them enemy soldiers.
  @TEXT-BOX:Off-duty, he takes full advantage of all the comforts and pleasures the Empire provides to
  the Jaguar Warriors. He rarely sees the same woman twice, though -- usually at the request of the
  women, whom he bullies and abuses even worse than he does fellow warriors.
  @TEXT-BOX:IxokMun shares his name with a lesser character in a play that has long been popular in
  the Empire, although he is unaware of this fact -- theatrical presentations more sophisticated than crude
  physical comedy and suggestive dancing bore him. Attempts to make references and jokes to the play
  pass completely over his head; with the frequency with which it occurs, such jesting now angers him
  almost to violence, especially since he doesn't "get" the jokes. It has gotten to the point where he now
  wants people to refer to him simply as "Balám" ("Jaguar") instead of his real name.
  (((END BOX)))
  Kitsune
  Kitsune is an animal supposed to be mysterious, fascinating, and mischievious. And he is believed to be
  very grateful for the kindness done to him, as seen in many tales, and is also affectionate as revealed in
  some dramas.... He is endowed with the subtle art of metamorphosis, and he is able to bewitch men in the
  guise of a charming girl. An exceedingly interesting and entertaining beast Kitsune is.
  -- from Kitsune: Japan's Fox of Mystery, Romance, and Humour, by Kiyoshi Nozaki
  The definitive hengeyokai, the kitsune (or fox-spirit) is a common figure in Japanese myth and folk tales.
  It is a shapeshifter with three forms: fox, hybrid fox-human, and human, although in the latter form there
  is always a detail that reveals its true nature. Mercurial and passionate, kitsune can range from
  mischievous practical jokers to incandescent beings of godlike power. Most are neutral, if not actually
  friendly, toward mankind, but there are some which are darker and far more fearsome.
  Kitsune . . . . 262 points
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST -7 [-60]; DX +4 [45]; IQ +2 [20]; HT +2 [20]; Extra Fatique
  (Spellcasting only) +9 [18]; Reduced HP -6 [-30].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Acute Hearing +2 [4]; Acute Taste and Smell +2 [4]; Appearance
  (Attractive) [5]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Decreased Life Support [10]; Discriminatory Smell (Sense
  emotional state. +50%) [23]; Early Maturation ¥1 [5]; Enhanced Move ¥1/2 [5]; Four Legs [5]; Fur [4];
  Magery 1 [15]; Mana Enhancer [25]; Sharp Teeth [5]; Status 1 [5]; Ultrahearing [5]; Unaging [15];
  Were-form: Fox-headed Humanoid Female (Absorptive Change to base form, Light Encumbrance
  +10%) [92]; Were-form: Human Female (Absorptive Change to base form, Light Encumbrance +10%)
  [120]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Bad Temper [-10]; Code of Honor (Always return a favor or a good
  deed, punish those who deserve it, always keep one's word and promises) [-10]; Horizontal [-10];
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  Lecherousness [-15]; Mute [-25]; Odious Racial Habit: Prankster [-10]; No Fine Manipulators [-30];
  Short Arms [-10]; Sleepy (50%) [-10].
  Racial Quirks: Amoral [-1].
  Skills: Running at DX [4]; Savoir-Faire (Kitsune society) at IQ+2 [default from Status]; Savoir-Faire
  (Mortal society) at IQ [default from Status]; Stealth at DX [2].
  Innate Spells:Sound [2]; Simple Illusion [2]; Know Illusion [2]; Illusion Disguise [2]; Illusion Shell [2];
  Complex Illusion [2].
  Kitsune Humanoid Form (female) . . . . 83 points
  (PPT: +165, NPT: -54)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: Change ST to 10 [60] and Extra Fatigue to +2 [-14]; remove Reduced Hit
  Points [+30].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Remove Combat Reflexes [-15]; Decreased Life Support [-10]; Four
  Legs [-5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Add Unnatural Features (fox's head, fox tail) [-10]. Remove
  Horizontal [+10]; Mute [+25]; No Fine Manipulators [+30]; Short Arms [+10}.
  Kitsune Human Form (female) . . . . 109 points
  @TEXT-CSTATS:(PPT: +175, NPT: -83)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: Change ST to 10 [60] and Extra Fatigue to +2 [-14]; remove Reduced Hit
  Points [+30].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Add Appearance (Beautiful) [+10]. Remove Combat Reflexes [-15];
  Decreased Life Support [-10]; Discriminatory Smell [-15]; Four Legs [-5]; Fur [-4]; Sharp Teeth [-5];
  Ultrahearing [-5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Add Unnatural Feature (fox tail) [-10]. Remove Horizontal [+10];
  Mute [+25]; No Fine Manipulators [+30]; Short Arms [+10}.
  This racial package defines the avatar of a one-tailed kitsune. More powerful kitsune are built by first
  adding additional tails (and the corresponding age), then by increasing Status, Magery, skills and spell
  selection. Appearance will also improve, and various protective and defensive advantages will be
  acquired. Ultimately, their magical abilities will expand to include almost everything involving illusion
  and creation, fire and light.
  The prices for the above forms assume a character with average attributes for a kitsune. Different base
  form attributes -- or customized attributes in either or both bipedal forms -- can change the racial package
  cost.
  Note that the Unnatural Feature possessed by the human form always indicates the kitsune's true nature.
  Traditionally this feature will be a fox-like tail as noted in the package, but others are possible, including
  pointed ears, eyes that are too much like those of a fox in color or reflectivity, unusual hair coloration
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  (red with a white stripe), and so on. This feature should be selected at the time of character creation and
  will not change.
  General description
  Sometimes called the "goblin fox" and the fox-spirit, as well as "Hu-Ching" in China, the kitsune (the
  word is both singular and plural) is probably the best-known creature of Japanese myth in the Western
  world. The name itself is built from two Japanese words: "kitsu", meaning either a fox or the yelps of a
  fox, and "ne", an affectionate feeling. Like the euphemistic "Good Folk" for the European faerie, this
  naming may well be a ploy to maintain the good graces of these powerful but amoral supernatural
  beings; Japanese mythology looks upon them with a confusing mixture of mild fear and outright
  affection.
  Odd dichotomies and paradoxes abound when kitsune are concerned. Firstly, a kitsune is a fox -- a
  natural fox. In fact, all foxes are actually kitsune. However, even though a kitsune is a "natural" fox, it is
  also a spirit, with a non-corporeal aspect. While their spirit-nature is the source of their power, their
  natural state is fully physical. They are as much creatures of the corporeal world as humans. Even so, the
  kitsune is a being that in the original myths can range from a low-powered trickster to a being of nearly
  godlike puissance, depending on its age and nature.
  The vast majority of kitsune are female or prefer female shapes; the default alternate forms above reflect
  this. There are male kitsune (or at least kitsune who take male forms), but even they are effeminate. The
  templates above are valid for either gender and need not be changed.
  Native-form kistune are identical to ordinary foxes in appearance and size. Determine height and weight
  as normal for their human and humanoid forms.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Kitsune Magic
  @TEXT-BOX:As embodied spirits, Kitsune are quite naturally creatures of magic. Because of this, they
  can buy additional levels of both Magery and Mana Enhancer (p. CI40) as they grow older.
  @TEXT-BOX:Furthermore, by dint of both basic nature and scholarship, they are all illusionists.
  Kitsune start with a basic grounding in the Illusion and Creation college, and most expand on that as they
  grow older; it is a rare kitsune who does not have full mastery of the college by their 200th year. Few
  bother to learn much magic beyond that, but it is possible (and indeed likely in the case of the eldest and
  most-tailed) for a kistune to be a gifted and versatile mage.
  @TEXT-BOX:Their skill with illusions is legendary. According to some of the legends about them, even
  the most basic of kitsune illusions are not just illusions -- they are in fact actually real for their duration,
  being more transformations than seemings.
  @TEXT-BOX:Above and beyond illusions, kitsune are known to favor the Fire College and the Light
  and Darkness College.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Resisting Magic
  @TEXT-BOX:As if this weren't enough, kitsune are said to be resistant to magic used on them by others,
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  as well. This simply may be the result of high attributes (and corresponding resistance rolls), but the GM
  may want to consider allowing kitsune to purchase Magic Resistance despite also possessing Magery. In
  such a case, the Magic Resistance doesn't affect their spellcasting, and will not function against spells
  cast with the kitsune's True Name (see box, p. 00).
  (((END BOX)))
  Psychology
  Perhaps the most definitive characteristic of the kitsune pyschology is the overall feminine nature of the
  race. Even though the genders are equally represented in their population, most male kitsune are
  noticeably effeminate when compared to male humans, and prefer to take female shapes and roles when
  interacting with mortals. Even those males who prefer to assume male forms are still bishonen -- vaguely
  feminine in both appearance and behavior.
  Like many other supernatural creatures, kitsune are first and foremost tricksters and pranksters. While it
  is a major component of their psychology, they are not necessarily compulsive about it; myth and legend
  describe no small number of kitsune who were tirelessly devoted to causes or friends, or who were
  willing to labor long, prankless hours for the good of their neighbors or villages. However, the majority
  of kitsune have nothing resembling human morals, and entertain themselves with practical jokes and
  elaborate deceptions upon unwary mortals.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Kitsune Names
  @TEXT-BOX:While in Western mythology most non-human creatures drift namelessly through their
  appearances, individual kitsune are usually referred to by name in the tales where they appear. Not
  surprisingly, a kitsune's name is evocative of both its personality and the role it has chosen to play. It is
  also the legacy that they leave to posterity, whether that posterity is mortals or other kitsune. Often slyly
  descriptive of the kitsune's preferred form or favorite prank, or indicative of its usual role in the
  community in which it lives, these names are not unlike those that humans would take.
  @TEXT-BOX:GMs looking to name kitsune characters should remember that in Japanese (unlike
  English) names have meanings, usually descriptive and often poetic, which are obvious to those who
  speak the language. GMs seeking proper verisimilitude may want to consult an online or paper
  Japanese-English dictionary in order to find or construct appropriate names.
  @D-BOXHEAD:True Names
  @TEXT-BOX:However, the name a kitsune gives to mortals is simply a use-name. Like so many other
  supernatural creatures, they have secret true names which, if discovered, can be used to bind, banish or
  manipulate them. While it's possible to magically coerce a kitsune without its true name, it is difficult
  and potentially deadly -- the stronger the kitsune, the more dangerous it is to make the attempt without
  the name handy.
  @TEXT-BOX:Kitsune resist normally any spells cast upon them without the use of their true names. If a
  spell is cast using her true name, a kitsune has a penalty of -(10-number of tails) to any resistance rolls. If
  she successfully resists, or the spell fails to incapacitate her, the kitsune will be hostile to the caster and
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  his companions (if she wasn't already) and will immediately counterattack to the best of her ability.
  (((END BOX)))
  Testing and Tempting
  This is not just random behavior, though. Like many other beings in myths around the globe, the kitsune
  can be said to test mortals, and mete out rewards or punishments accordingly. The "help" they provide to
  an immoral or unethical person is usually to urge them along a path of self-destruction; there is no
  element of compulsion in these urgings, and if their target resists, there may be hope for him yet. Lesser
  flaws are are aggravated and enhanced, until they become visible to the target's friends and neighbors, at
  which point mortal mechanisms take over. In some cases, the kitsune will take a direct hand in punishing
  an individual, as in those tales where the kitsune "steals" the woman of an ignoble samurai.
  To those they judge to be good or moral, kitsune are far better. They offer friendship and aid to good
  persons, helping them through adversity and difficulty. But since no mortal is perfect, a kitsune will seek
  to improve her friend by various means, usually by offering a lesson in humility by way of pranks or
  revealing a hidden flaw in the person.
  In all these tests, the kitsune judges by her ethics, not the human's. Although the kitsune ethical system is
  amoral and borderline alien to humans, it is not incompatible with most Eastern religions, and the results
  are generally not discordant. Still, where the views of kitsune and human diverge, there may well be a
  failure by each side to comprehend what the other thinks it's doing.
  A Semi-Divine Viewpoint
  Not surprisingly, kitsune are considered lesser kami -- divine spirits similar to the Western concept of the
  genius loci. Being such, they are expected to serve and help the people near whom they live, in exchange
  for prayers and gifts. In such cases they reserve their worst pranks and tricks for oathbreakers, the
  impious, and unwary invaders of their domains. Also, as kami, they are bound by their nature and cannot
  cause serious or permanent harm to any human, as long as that human follows tradition and properly
  propitiates them.
  Honor is one of the strongest bonds restricting the kitsune. In particular, promises have a special hold on
  them. If they make a promise or give their word on any matter, they must follow through, overturning
  heaven and earth in order to adhere not just to the word but to the spirit of the agreement. Furthermore,
  they expect the same behavior from those with whom they deal. A kitsune who breaks her word or fails
  to keep a promise, no matter how trivial, becomes virtually suicidal; and someone who breaks a promise
  made to a kitsune gains an implacable enemy.
  Emotional Rollercoasters
  These excessive responses are not unusual; kitsune are vulnerable to other extremes of emotion, as well.
  They are notorious for their bad temper, flashing into anger at the slightest provocation. They hold
  grudges against those whom they consider enemies, nursing them over years and often planning (and
  executing) extreme acts of revenge in retaliation for whatever slight first caused the bad blood. Along
  similar lines, regret or despair can kill a kitsune who gives herself over to it.
  On the other hand, amoral as they are, kitsune are good and loyal friends to those who have earned their
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  trust. They will go through all manner of difficulties to aid someone whom they have befriended without
  thought of recompense. Be aware, though, that it is a difficult task to gain the friendship of a kitsune.
  Kitsune are very proud in one regard; they will rarely ask for help, no matter how much they need it.
  Beyond that, they will not accept help from someone compelled or persuaded against their will to offer it.
  The offer must be sincere and truly what the one offering wishes to do, of their free will.
  Ecology
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Fox-Spirit Possession
  @TEXT-BOX:Potential kitsune who do not have a corporeal body are known as "fox-spirits", and are
  almost as plentiful as the physical kitsune themselves. Fox-spirits can remain purely ethereal beings for
  as long as they like, and they have options other than incarnating into a fox body and becoming a kitsune.
  Some have been known to possess humans instead.
  @TEXT-BOX:These spirits tend to be more malevolent than the kitsune, carelessly driving their mortal
  hosts mad with their alien outlooks and priorities. Fox-spirit possession is not always a state of complete
  control -- the spirit may simply lurk in the back of the victim's mind as it slowly comes apart, instead of
  seizing complete control of the body. In either case, though, a proper exorcism will drive the spirit out.
  @TEXT-BOX:If the process of incarnating into a fox, gaining physical and magical power, and dying is
  indeed a vital subset of some unknown spirtual life-cycle, then the fox-spirits may well represent an
  immature, larval form of the kitsune.
  (((END BOX)))
  Kitsune are unusual (at least when compared to Western shifters) in that they have a proper niche in both
  the spiritual and the corporeal ecosystems. As foxes, they take the role of small predators. As spirits, they
  are charged with testing and rewarding (or punishing) mortals (see p. 00)
  Kitsune usually live anywhere from 900 to 1,000 years. This is purchased as the Unaging advantage (p.
  CI69), but kitsune do age and develop throughout their lifespans, and lack the ability to select their
  apparent age (other than through their illusions). They mature at an early age compared to humans, but
  do not begin making aging rolls until they are 750 years old. However, kitsune do not cease to exist when
  their physical forms die; evidence suggests that incarnation into a fox-body is a necessary part of a larger
  lifecycle which continues when the deceased kitsune-spirit advances into the celestial realms.
  Kitsune start their lives with one tail. Every hundred years of life, they usually gain an additional tail --
  and with it status and other benefits as noted on p. 00.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Earning and Granting Tails
  @TEXT-BOX:It is possible for a kitsune to gain a new tail as a reward or gift from another, more
  exalted kitsune. In such a case the newly-entailed kitsune must dedicate his subsequently-earned
  character points toward improving his various traits to match his new position in kitsune society.
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  @TEXT-BOX:The exact mechanism of granting a new tail is left up to the GM, but if a kitsune PC
  wants to reward a kitsune NPC in this manner, there's no reason not to let it happen simply by fiat. Of
  course, a kitsune cannot give itself a new tail. Additionally, an especially strict GM may require that the
  gift come from among the giver's own tails -- and may bring along with it any number of traits (and, of
  course, their character points).
  (((END BOX)))
  Culture
  Kitsune possess a heavily-organized, stratified culture which is mostly invisible to human eyes. Since
  most humans deal with one kistune, or at most a small family, at any given time, this is not too
  surprising.
  There are nine levels of political and supernatural power within the kitsune social structure, based upon
  the age of the kitsune. These levels are equivalent to Status, with even the lowest kitsune possessing
  Status 1. (This is within kitsune society; knowledgeable humans of any Status will act respectfully to any
  kitsune they meet.) Furthermore, a kitsune's status is immediately visible to all who see him -- he
  possesses a number of tails equal to his Status. The very oldest kitsune are 1,000 years old and are called
  Tenko; they have 9 tails, but their fur has a golden rather than reddish hue. They are also devastatingly
  powerful -- easily the equal of a demigod or godling.
  Also, as kitsune gain in power and age, they also tend to polarize morally. Their outlook remains
  technically amoral, but their tendencies when making ethical choices diverge strongly. Nominally "good"
  kitsune retain their racial name and serve as messengers from Inari, the Japanese fox deity. "Evil" kitsune
  become nogitsune, their prankish nature expanded into cruelty and torment. Select appropriate
  advantages and disadvantages to reflect this differentiation.
  Politics
  Kitsune do not involve themselves with human governments or organizations larger than a family or
  clan. They prefer to interact with individual humans, and rarely (if ever) categorize larger groups in any
  meaningful way. In this regard, they are effectively apolitical.
  On the spiritual plane, things may well be different, but not much information is available. Kitsune are
  godlike spirits and garner a great deal of power and respect from both mortal and immortal alike, but
  beyond that, how they interact and deal with other kami is virtually unknown.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Kitsune Characters
  @TEXT-BOX:Unless the campaign is one of supernatural creatures and mythic heroes, a kitsune PC,
  even one of the weakest variety, is probably out of the question. A one-tailed kitsune will be built on no
  less than 250 points, and most will probably be in the 400 to 500 point range, with the majority of those
  points being invested in magical abilities and other advantages. Nine-tailed kitsune are all but gods, and
  may as well be, for all their playability. A good rule of thumb for the GM who absolutely must
  point-budget the more powerful kitsune would be to give them 200 points plus 250 points per tail. (To
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  fully quantify the near-godlike abilities of the oldest kitsune, the GM may wish to consult GURPS
  Mage: The Ascension or Wizards of the Coast's The Primal Order.)
  @TEXT-BOX:Assuming a kitsune PC is possible, their role in the party is quite simple: trickster mage.
  The more tails the kitsune has, the more certain it is that their racial Odious Racial Habit will be
  supplemented by the Trickster disadvantage (p. CI94); a clever party will make that work for them.
  Beyond that stereotype, kitsune are excellent spies and infiltrators, although they must often stifle their
  racial compulsions and habits in order to succeed. They also make good femmes fatales, especially if
  their Unnatural Feature is relatively minor or inconspicuous -- or can be cloaked effectively with an
  illusion.
  (((END BOX)))
  Kitsune in the Campaign
  Kitsune are designed for use in a GURPS Japan campaign, particularly one with a strong "mythic"
  flavor. They can also be employed in other medieval fantasy games, either as-is or suitably changed to fit
  the preferred campaign flavor. Kitsune could only be PCs in a heroic-level campaign, and even then
  might overpower it, but they can easily serve as Patrons, Enemies and/or Allies at almost any power
  level.
  Don't rule out a non-medieval setting, though -- a kitsune on the loose in modern Japan (or better,
  modern Europe or America) would make an excellent hook for either a single game or a whole
  campaign, as long as the players are capable of dealing with her. Depending on the tone the GM sets for
  the campaign, maybe even if they aren't -- kitsune can be played for humor value as easily as for darker
  purposes.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations
  @TEXT-BOX:The kitsune package can be used almost as-is for the other definitive hengeyokai, the
  tanuki. A raccoon-like creature in its animal form, the tanuki is not the trickster the kitsune is, but
  otherwise is much the same, at least on the game mechanics level.
  (((END BOX)))
  Other Settings
  Kitsune can be easily transplanted into a number of other settings.
  Urban Fantasy/Weird Modern/Technomancer: Kitsune can be dropped into a modern setting with no
  changes whatsoever, and should be able to function just fine. Ancient ones unfamiliar with modern ways
  might need the Primitive disadvantage, but younger ones are almost certain to be fully versed in the ways
  of the 21st Century. Technomancer kitsune are probably a variety of Seelie, although some witnesses
  say they claim otherwise. Either way, they continue as they always have -- teasing and tempting their
  human neighbors.
  Yrth: The Banestorm scooped up some kitsune along with everything else it dropped in Sahud. They are
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  now a fact of life in that strange land despite their rarity, and are placated eagerly. However, the
  Sahudese being who they are, they have bolstered the original simple respects with a baroque
  encrustation of irrelevant and incomprehensible rituals and ceremonies -- and only the kitsune know for
  sure any more exactly what is really necessary and what is not. And when kitsune start showing up in
  Megalos...
  Black Ops: The Company has records of kitsune encounters going back almost fifty years, and after
  several disastrous confrontations in the 1960s, the official policy became "hands off". In recent years,
  several ops teams have found unexpected allies in kitsune (particularly near Chinatowns and Little
  Tokyos). And in an incident so highly classified that some senior commanders don't know about it, a
  seven-tailed kitsune once appeared before Argus, where she requested (and received) an ops team to
  help her deal with a nogitsune that had allied itself with the Greys.
  Illuminati University: The Metaphysics Department suspects that several kitsune live on the campus
  grounds, given the "punishments" that have been inflicted on some of the frat boys in recent months. But
  it's hard to tell the difference between them and the import dates from other colleges. Something's been
  eating the CIAgulls, though, and there's a big chunk of woods that even the Archdean's cats won't enter...
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Mitzuki Gizensha . . . . 700 Points
  @TEXT-BOX:Age 217 (apparent age 20); 5'2"; 120 lbs.; A beautiful Japanese woman with
  chocolate-brown eyes and hair apparently dyed to resemble a fox's pelt.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 10/12 [0]; DX 14 [0]; IQ 15 [30]; HT 13 [10]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.50; Move 8.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 6; Parry 8.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Racial Package:<> Kitsune [262].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Alternate Identity (Landlord 1) [15]; Alternate Identity (Landlord 2)
  [15]; Alternate Identity (Landlord 3) [15]; Appearance (Beautiful) (upgraded from racial) [+10]
  (Reaction: +2/+4); Charisma +3 [15] (Reaction: +3); Eidetic Memory 1 [30]; Literacy [0]; Magery 3
  (upgraded from racial) [20]; Reputation: Friendly, pretty girl who may be a (mostly) benevolent
  supernatural creature +3 [5] (Reaction: +3; Recognized by inhabitants of Los Angeles Little Tokyo:
  Small class, ¥1/3); Status 2 [5]; Wealth (Filthy Rich) [50] (Starting Wealth: $1,500,000).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Sense of Duty to the residents of Little Tokyo [-10]; Trickster [-15];
  Weirdness Magnet [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Always cheerful and perky; Always overpays her taxes by just a little; Does
  not tolerate organized crime in "her" neighborhood; Does not trust the U.S. Government; Dresses
  provocatively in her Mitzuki identity. [-5]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills:Accounting-17 [4]; Acting-16 [2]; Administration-16 [2]; Appreciate Beauty-15
  [4]; Architecture/TL7-15 [1]; Area Knowledge (Japan)-16 [1]; Area Knowledge (Little Tokyo)-19 [4];
  Area Knowledge (Los Angeles)-17 [2]; Bartender-15 [1]; Body Language-15 [2]; Calligraphy-14 [2];
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  Carousing-14 [4]; Computer Operation/TL7-16 [1]; Cooking-16 [1]; Courtesan-16 [2]; Dancing-14
  [2]; Detect Lies-17 [4]; Diplomacy-16 [3]; Driving (Automobile)/TL7-13 [1]; Economics-15 [2]; Erotic
  Art-13 [2]; Fast-Talk-18 [4]; Flower Arranging-16 [1]; Gambling-15 [1]; Hidden Lore (Spirit
  realm)-15 [1]; History-14 [1]; Illusion Art-17 [4]; Intimidation-17 [3]; Karate-12 [1] (Parry: 8);
  Law-14 [1]; Lip Reading-17 [3]; Merchant-17 [3]; Motorcycle/TL7-14 [1]; Origami-16 [1];
  Pickpocket-15 [8]; Poetry-16 [2]; Professional Skill (Landlord)-18 [4]; Professional Skill (Real
  Estate)-18 [4]; Running (Move: 8)-13 [0]; Savoir-Faire (Japan)-15 [0]; Savoir-Faire (Spirit world)-17
  [0]; Savoir-Faire (United States)-15 [0]; Sex Appeal-19 [7]; Shadowing-17 [3]; Singing-14 [2];
  Stealth-16 [6]; Streetwise-18 [4]; Swimming-15 [2]; Thaumatology-17 [2]; Theology (Shinto)-17 [4];
  Tracking-17 [3].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: English-17 [3]; Japanese (native)-17 [1]; Spanish-15 [1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Spells: Agonize-18 [2]; Analyze Magic-17; Apportation-17; Aura-18 [2]; Blur-17;
  Bravery-18 [2]; Charm-18 [2]; Choke-18 [2]; Clumsiness-18 [2]; Colors-18 [2]; Complex Illusion-18
  [0] (racial); Continual Light-17; Control Creation-18 [2]; Control Illusion-18 [2]; Copy-18 [2]; Create
  Animal-18 [2]; Create Earth-18 [2]; Create Object-17 [2]; Create Servant-18 [2]; Create Warrior-18
  [2]; Create Water-18 [2]; Darkness-17; Daze-18 [2]; Detect Magic-18 [2]; Disorient-18 [2]; Dispel
  Creation-18 [2]; Dispel Illusion-18 [2]; Drunkenness-18 [2]; Duplicate-18 [4]; Dye-18 [2]; Earth to
  Stone-18 [2]; Emotion Control-18 [2]; Enthrall-18 [2]; Fear-18 [2]; Flash-17; Flight-17 [2];
  Foolishness-18 [2]; Forgetfulness-18 [2]; Great Hallucination-17 [2]; Hallucination-18 [2]; Haste-18
  [2]; Hinder-18 [2]; Identify Spell-18 [2]; Illusion Disguise-18 [0] (racial); Illusion Shell-18 [0] (racial);
  Independence-18 [2]; Initiative-18 [2]; Invisibility-18 [2]; Itch-18 [2]; Know Illusion-18 [0] (racial);
  Light-18 [2]; Loyalty-18 [2]; Madness-18 [2]; Missile Shield-18 [2]; Pain-18 [2]; Perfect Illusion-18
  [2]; Perfume-18 [2]; Phantom-17 [2]; Purify Water-18 [2]; Restore-18 [2]; Reverse Missiles-17; Seek
  Earth-18 [2]; Seek Water-18 [2]; Sense Emotion-18 [2]; Sense Foes-18 [2]; Sensitize-18 [2]; Shape
  Earth-18 [2]; Silence-17; Simple Illusion-18 [0] (racial); Slow-18 [2]; Sound-18 [0] (racial); Spasm-18
  [2]; Strike Anosmic-18 [2]; Stun-18 [2]; Suggestion-18 [2]; Wisdom-18 [2].
  @TEXT-BOX:(The attributes, height and weight given above are for Mitzuki's human female form, in
  which she spends most of her time. They also apply to her fox-woman form, which she has rarely used
  since moving to L.A. Her fox form is ST 3/11 DX 14 IQ 15 HT 12/6, about two feet long plus tail and 20
  pounds in weight.)
  @TEXT-BOX:Mitzuki Gizensha is a two-tailed Kitsune based in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district,
  sometime in the late 1990s. Her human form is a familiar sight to her neighbors, with her fox-pelt hair,
  her revealing outfits, her late hours and her ready smile. Most of the older residents know or suspect
  she's a kitsune, and some of the younger ones can tell there's something special about her. Everyone likes
  her and seems to know her by name, and she returns the favor as she wends her way through the
  neighborhood with a ready smile and wave for all. Imagine a Japanese version of Marlo Thomas as
  "That Girl", only with a punk hair-do. Her family name means "a fox in a lamb's skin", which describes
  her perfectly.
  @TEXT-BOX:Most of her neighbors -- especially those who know kitsune and their ways -- think she's a
  high-priced call girl, or maybe a nightclub entertainer. They're wrong. She's not only the resident
  kitsune, but the neighborhood's biggest landlord and its general protector. She actually owns many of the
  residential and commerical properties in the district and keeps the rents affordable as part of her duty to
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  help the people there. She uses a variety of illusions and front companies to appear to be several
  different landlords, both men and female.
  @TEXT-BOX:To the best of her knowledge, she is the only kitsune in all of Southern California. She
  originally came to Los Angeles in the 1930s to escape the growing militarization of her homeland. Once
  settled in, she established her "territory" then began protecting (and punishing) its inhabitants. She
  escaped the WWII internment of Japanese-Americans by masquerading as an Anglo woman, but then
  relocated to a small town near the camp in Owens Valley, California so as to help her people during
  their imprisonment. When they were finally released, she saw to it that they got their homes and
  businesses back.
  @TEXT-BOX:In the years since, she has built a good-sized financial empire while treating the people in
  Little Tokyo with resepct and dignity. Having few physical needs above the minimum required to
  maintain her masquerade, she reinvests most of her profits back into the properties she owns,
  continuously improving them while still keeping the rents affortable. She also endows a number of
  scholarships for Japanese-American students.
  @TEXT-BOX:On occasion she also takes the time to make Yakuza and other organized crime operations
  in Little Tokyo unprofitable. Not because it's against the law, but because her people would ultimately
  suffer while the criminals got rich. She considers herself their enemy for that reason, although she will
  not usually pursue criminals beyond Little Tokyo.
  @TEXT-BOX:Occasionally she disguses her fox form with the illusion of a stray dog and checks up on
  "her people" incognito. When she needs to shed her human guise and relax, Mitzuki spends her time
  roaming the Hollywood Hills as a fox. When for some reason the Hills are a bad idea, she amuses herself
  by hanging out in the fox displays at the L.A. Zoo. And when she needs to let off a little steam with some
  pranks and tricks, she goes clubbing in Hollywood and targets the hypocrites and unethical among the
  crowds.
  @TEXT-BOX:Her human form's Unnatural Feature is fox-colored hair -- brick red with a black streak
  and white tips. She used to keep it hidden with an illusion, but not any more; in 1990s L.A., no one thinks
  it is at all unusual.
  @TEXT-BOX:Mitzuki Gizensha is a 700-point character suitable for use as a patron or a very
  dangerous enemy in a campaign set in the late 20th Century. She also makes for a very interesting
  surprise in a GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse game. With some minor changes, she could be found
  in many near-future or recent-past settings -- anything from GURPS WWII to GURPS Terradyne. If the
  campaign is a generally non-magical setting (as is the case here), her patronage is worth an extra 5
  points.
  (((END BOX)))
  Medieval European Werewolf
  (FIND GOOD QUOTE)
  There were almost as many kinds of werewolf as there were people talking about them during the Middle
  Ages, and the Inquisition gleefully hunted all of them. One of the most insidious, at least as far as the
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  Inquisiton was concerned, was the shifter who appeared to sleep peacefully while his soul left his body
  and wreaked havoc on the countryside in wolf form. Invulnerable to all harm save by silver and blessed
  weapons, this hell-born monster indulged its sadistic desires upon his neighbors every night.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Werewolves and the Inqusition
  @TEXT-BOX:From the Middle Ages all the way into the beginnings the Enlightenment, the Catholic
  Church -- and by extension the Inquisition -- were as obsessed with the subject of werewolves as they
  were with witches. In fact, as far as Catholic doctrine was concerned, the two were virtually
  interchangeable; being able to change into an animal was a standard ability of the witch. It should come
  as no surprise, then, that the Inquisition's standards of proof for lycanthropy were just as lax as those for
  witchcraft.
  @TEXT-BOX:The type of werewolf described here was perhaps the most convenient variety found in
  the Inquisition's lexicon of shapeshifters, especially when it came to heretics, dissenters and other
  inconvenient persons. All that was required was a few nocturnal animal attacks and an accusation -- and
  officially-sanctioned torture would produce the confession that proved the case.
  @TEXT-BOX:As distasteful as such proceedings were to modern sensibilities, and as ignorant as the
  dogma involved appears to modern eyes, the main text assumes the literal truth of the matter. This is an
  expressly evil were, and unlike such beasts as the Cinematic "Monster" Werewolf (see pp. 00-00), it is
  directly powered by whatever embodied force of supernatural Evil is present in the campaign.
  (((END BOX)))
  Building the Sleeping Werewolf
  Start with the Wolf template (PPT: 235, NPT: -272, p. 00). Like all classic Western European
  werewolves, the wolf form is -- more or less -- a normal wolf, save for its intelligence, its invulnerability
  to normal weapons, and its implacable desire to inflict death and destruction upon its neighbors. In
  keeping with the usual traditions, it will also be able to harm anyone protected by their faith in the
  Church, and can be cured by an exorcism -- if the were cooperates..
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Other Templates
  @TEXT-BOX:While wolves were the most common shifter type in European folklore, especially in
  regards to Church dogma, they were far from the only one. The construction guidelines in the main text
  can be applied to a number of different of other animal templates to produce "historically" accurate
  were-creatures. Cats (p. BE108) were the second-most-likely choice for the Hell-aligned were's animal
  shape, but dogs (also p. BE108) and virtually any other predator species might also serve.
  (((END BOX)))
  Raise the wolf form's IQ until it matches that of the base form, and add adjustments for other attributes as
  necessary. Buy back Bestial, Innumerate, Presentient and Short Lifespan. Add Vampiric Invulnerability
  [150] (p. CI70) to its advantages. To its disadvantages, add one level each of Vulnerability to Silver [-10]
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  and "holy/blessed" objects [-15]. Also add "Dread: Persons with True Faith" [-10].
  Furthermore, in keeping with the usual behavior of Western European werewolves, add Odious Personal
  Habit: Eats Humans [-15], along with any other traits desired to round out the were-form.
  Finally, calculate the point value for the wereform per the rules on p. 00. Then apply the following
  limitations: Projected Were-form limitation (p. 00) at the -50% level, and the Cure/Cursebreak limitation
  (p. 00) -- the cure is exorcism (a simple process in medieval Europe) and the were must cooperate, for a
  final limitation value of -40%. Since the total limitation value is over the usual maximum, the latter is
  used for a -75% final discount on the were-form.
  Other Traits
  The classic medieval werewolf, at least as painted by the Roman Catholic Church, was always a person
  who had willingly given himself over to the forces of Hell. Assuming this to be accurate, such an
  individual is likely to have any number of "evil" disadvantages, Sadism and Megalomania among them.
  At the very least Callous and/or Solipsist are appropriate, although a simple desire to harm a perceived
  enemy or set of enemies (as expressed in a Vow, Obsession or even a Higher Purpose) is acceptable.
  (This latter opens up the possibility of someone who has bargained with Hell for lycanthropic powers in
  order to ultimately do Good -- or at least what he perceives to be Good.) He will not have a Split
  Personality, however; he is the wolf, and the wolf is him, and he delights in all the evil done in and by
  that shape.
  On the other hand, he cannot be so evil and twisted that he cannot function in society. Such werewolves
  can be considered as "sleeper agents" (no pun intended) buried in the fabric of medieval society. Intended
  for long-term operations, they must be able to successfully masquerade as innocent bystanders or eeven
  victims; the ability to be in two places at the same time certainly helps here. Acting skill is paramount, as
  well as Fast-Talk and Diplomacy.
  This variety of werewolf will almost always have a Patron -- a demon or some other such being -- who is
  the were's contact with Hell and, effectively, his commanding officer. Similarly, he will have either an
  Enemy or a Secret, depending on whether or not the locals have figured out that they are the prey of a
  werewolf. The Enemy will be the Church and/or the Inquisition -- a large, overwhelmingly powerful
  organization with vast resources; its level of appearance will depend on how flamboyant or careless the
  werewolf has been. Secrets will almost always be of the "Possible Death" variety -- the Church was not
  forgiving of werewolves -- and will turn into an Enemy as above, plus bad Reputations and more as
  needed.
  Obviously, such a character will not have Empathy or any other advantage or disadvantage that requires
  him to in any way feel for his victims.
  Finally, in addition to his various mental and social problems, the base form will usually have Reciprocal
  Rest (p. CI43).
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations
  @TEXT-BOX:The "sleeping werewolf" was just the most convenient version of the beast, as far as the
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  Inqusition was concerned, but as is described elsewhere, there were other varieties. Here are two of the
  most common. Like the werewolf in the main text, both are built on the standard wolf template, to which
  has been added Vampiric Invulnerability (p. CI70), the Vulnerabilities to Silver and "holy/blessed"
  objects, and an IQ boost to bring it back to the base form's level.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Alchemical
  @TEXT-BOX:This werewolf may have an inherent ability to change, but it requires a trigger -- smearing
  upon his body a foul ointment composed of a number of unpleasant ingredients, some of which are
  guaranteed to earn the user a death sentence or worse, excommunication. Once changed, the user cannot
  remain in wolf form beyond the next sunrise or sunset, although he can change back to human at any
  time he cares to before then.
  @TEXT-BOX:Creating the "alchemical" werewolf. To the basic package described above, add an
  External Trigger: the ointment (rare, exclusive, from human to wolf only) -15%, and Maximum Duration
  (Sun to sun) -7%.
  Alchemical weres may have an Addiction to the ointment, if only because of the effects of the
  psychoactive plants usually cited in authentic medieval recipes.
  @D-BOXHEAD:Skinchanger
  @TEXT-BOX:This version covers a wide selection of werewolves, all of whom must don some item of
  clothing made from wolf skin in order to change. This can range from a pair of gloves, to a broad belt to
  an entire skin worn as a cloak. (See p. 00 for some other examples.) Upon donning the item, he changes;
  he can change back at any time.
  @TEXT-BOX:Creating the skinchanger. Turn the basic werewolf package above with an item-based
  change (see box, p. 00) with the following modifiers: Can be stolen with stealth or trickery, only usable
  by owner, -5%; Unique -25%. Breakable and Can Be Hit are appropriate, but the values will vary
  depending on what form the item takes. Finally, if the item is large enough, add Awkward (-10%).
  (((END BOX)))
  Motivations and Psychology
  As an active agent of Evil, the werewolf is usually charged with sowing fear among the people of a
  village or town. This it does by random property destruction and the slaughter of the occasional unwary
  person. The overall goal is not simple terror, although that is an important side-effect. It is, rather, the
  sowing of anger and despair, both of which serve Hell's purposes admirably.
  Then, too, the werewolf need not be serving Hell from any devotion or dedication to its agenda. He could
  as easily be an individual with a Murder Addiction (p. CI98) or pure simple Sadism, or possessing an
  unslakeable thirst for revenge upon his neighbors for some slight imagined or real. By agreeing to further
  the plans of Hell he receives a means towards his own personal goals -- a good deal by any measure, if
  the recipient is of the right mind.
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  Settings
  While this particular werewolf archetype is lifted directly from medieval Catholic dogma, and is
  designed for use in a campaign set in medieval Europe, there's no reason it can't be used in other milieux.
  It is most easily transplanted to into settings which bear a close resemblance to its origin, but nothing
  about it is fundamentally incompatible with anything but the most rationalist of worlds.
  In particular, this werewolf type is appropriate not only to standard fantasy campaigns, but also
  non-cinematic modern horror, urban fantasy or X-files type games. While they are a trifle underpowered
  for Black Ops, they could be counted among the "werewolves" that Company ops must
  occasionally face, and may make for interesting flunkies for demons. Cosmetic alterations (such as
  changing species from wolf to, say, dingo or hyena) would allow them to enter non-European
  milieux <\#@08> but don't forget to change the Power backing them accordingly.
  Even in campaigns with no active supernatural presence it is possible to employ this variety of
  shfiter. The projected were-form may be the result of weird science (or weird magic), possibly
  cloaked in the trappings of devil worship to confuse and deceive a gullible recipient. The Patron
  would not be the Devil (although the werewolf might think it was), but someone who has his own
  reasons for letting loose a raging, murderous beast upon the land.
  Yrth. Arguably the closest setting to medieval Europe without actually being a part of it, Yrth is a
  natural home for these Hell-powered shifters -- and includes their natural enemy in the form of the
  Yrth branch of the Catholic Church. The confusion between these werewolves and the more
  morally-neutral weres "native" to Yrth (see pp. 00-00) no doubt led to much of the bad press from
  which the latter suffer...
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Abban Galdemar . . . . 200 points
  Male; Age 37; 5'5"; 135 lbs.; Middle-aged Frenchman, salt-and-pepper hair, blue eyes, Van Dyke
  beard/mustache
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 9 [-10]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 13 [30]; HT 12 [20]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 5.50; Move 5.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 5; Parry 8.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 0d; Kick: 0d; Thrust 0d; Swing 0d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Literacy [10]; Patron (Hell) (9 or less) [35] (Special Qualities: Very
  Unusual, +10); Reciprocal Rest [15]; Status 2 [5]; Wealth (Wealthy) [20] (Starting Wealth: $5,000);
  Werewolf [71] (Projected Were-form: -50%; Cure/Cursebreak: Exorcism, werewolf must cooperate:
  -40%).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Bloodlust [-10]; Secret (Apostate Werewolf) [-30]; Selfish [-5]; Vow:
  Revenge himself on people of Mende and the Church [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Careful never to manifest or vanish his wolf-form near his home; Dresses
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  only in black; Pretends to be a good Catholic; Still mourns for his wife and sons; Unsatisfied with the
  revenge he has so far taken. [-5]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Acting-16 [8]; Animal Handling-11 [1]; Area Knowledge (Mende and
  environs)-14 [2]; Bard-13 [2]; Brawling-12 [4] (Parry: 8); Cooking-13 [1]; Cyphering-16 [6]; Detect
  Lies-14 [6]; Diplomacy-12 [2]; Economics-12 [2]; Fast-Talk-14 [4]; Gambling-12 [1]; Intimidation-13
  [2]; Knife-12 [4] (Parry: 5); Merchant-16 [8]; Metallurgy/TL3-12 [2]; Riding (Horse)-10 [2];
  Savoir-Faire (Medieval France)-15 [0]; Shadowing-15 [6]; Tracking-15 [6].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: French (native)-13 [0].
  @TEXT-BOX:Once upon a time, in 12th-century France, there was a prosperous merchant with a large,
  loving family, who lived in a fine house just outside of the town of Mende. Abban Galdemar was his
  name, and the town council of Mende despised him because they envied his good fortune, and because
  he did not bribe them as much as they thought was their due. But because Galdemar technically lived
  outside the town, they could not exert any more pressure on him than they already did -- not and lose his
  trade to another town. They would sooner see him dead.
  @TEXT-BOX:Then one day, that became a real option. A large party of bandits came upon Mende. The
  town fathers, having no stomach for a fight, paid off the bandits from the treasury rather than have the
  understaffed town guard engage them. Laying an extra bag of coins in the bandit chieftain's hand, they
  pointed him in the direction of "rich pickings" -- Galdemar's home.
  @TEXT-BOX:The bandits besieged his fine house and took it over. They beat Galdemar mercilessly
  until he revealed the location of his money box. They raped his wife Marie. After they finished sacking
  the estate, the bandits put the beautiful building to the torch. Then they rode off with his sons Luc and
  Marc, the chieftain laughing a ransom demand over his shoulder.
  @TEXT-BOX:The tragedy only compounded. Marie, in shame, hanged herself, and was refused last
  rites and Christian burial by the Church. Unable to pay his creditors, he was bankrupted, and was unable
  to pay the ransom on his sons; their bodies were dumped unceremoniously upon the ashes of his home.
  He was finally reduced to begging on the streets of Mende, where the elders who had once envied him
  now delighted in spitting on him as they passed.
  @TEXT-BOX:When the beggar Galdemar overheard the elders laughing about how they had arranged
  his fall, his despair and anger and new-born hatred crystallized in his chest. He cursed the name of God
  for subjecting him to the conspiracy and ill-fortune that had taken away all that he had ever loved, and
  swore he would take his revenge not only on the bandits, but on the Church, and on the townsfolk who
  caused it all.
  @TEXT-BOX:No sooner had he uttered this oath than a dark man in fine clothes of black silk offered
  him the power to get his revenge, and more. Galdemar agreed instantly.
  @TEXT-BOX:Today, Abban Galdemar is once more a prosperous merchant, fortune having smiled
  upon him again. He lives in Mende now, where he has been taking an active role in the council ever since
  several of the elders were killed by a wild animal attack, one of many this bleak winter. He refuses to
  remarry, and dresses only in black, in memory of his wife. Yes, Abban Galdemar is a successful man...
  @TEXT-BOX:...and he is a werewolf. Since making his bargain with the Devil, Galdemar has hunted
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  down and slaughtered the bandits who destroyed his life. He used their ill-gotten gains to rebuild his
  business and buy a home in Mende. In the months since, he has killed several of the elders, and has
  begun preying upon the children of the town even as he has taken up a role in its governance. He keeps
  up the appearance of a devout man in permanent mourning, and has gained much respect in Mende for
  the dignity and strength with which he survived his adversity. No one knows he is also the ravenous
  beast who has killed so many over the past two seasons...
  @TEXT-BOX:Abban Galdemar is a 200-point character suitable for use as a "secret mastermind" type of
  opponent in a medieval setting, be it standard fantasy or ostensibly historical. He will usually ignore
  strangers to Mende unless they seem to be allying themselves with the remaining town elders, or if they
  are in the service of the Church. He is clever enough to simply lie low if Inquisitors or their agents
  appear in the town, but may be willing to attack secular werewolf hunters.
  @TEXT-BOX:Galdemar's were form is a normal-sized wolf with ST 9, DX 14, IQ 13, HT 12. It takes no
  permanent damage from anything but silver and/or consecrated items. Galdemar has developed a liking
  for human flesh when in wolf-form, and never fails to indulge that liking when he kills; unfortuntely, the
  wolf template's Gluttony has almost led to his discovery on several occasions. He is otherwise cautious,
  though; when he sends his soul roaming in wolf-form, he never manifests (or dismisses) it near his home.
  (((END BOX)))
  The Metamorphic Invader
  I know I'm human. And if you were all these things, then you'd just attack me right now, so some of you
  are still human. This thing doesn't want to show itself, it wants to hide inside an imitation. It'll fight if it
  has to, but it's vulnerable out in the open. If it takes us over, then it has no more enemies, nobody left to
  kill it. And then it's won.
  -- MacReady (Kurt Russell), in The Thing (1982)
  No one knows where they come from. No one knows how many of them there are.
  And no one knows how many of us are actually them.
  @TEXTThe scientists have a name for them, twenty syllables in Latin and five more in Ancient Greek,
  that no one uses. Everyone else who knows about them simply calls them ... the Invaders.
  Metamorphic Invader . . . . 350 points
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST +10 (Natural ST -40%) [66]; HT +2; Extra Hit Points +2 [10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Fangs [10] (Impaling damage; see p. B140); Hard to Kill ¥5 [25] (Note:
  +5 to HT for Survival Rolls); Injury Tolerances (No Brain, No Impaling Bonus, No Neck, No Vitals)
  [35]; Stretching ¥3 [60].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Appearance (Horrific) [-30] (Reaction: -6); Bad Sight
  (Nearsightedness) [-25]; Invertebrate [-20]; No Sense of Humor [-10]; Obsession: Hunt, kill, reproduce
  [-15]; Odious Racial Habit (Eats sentients) [-15] (Reaction: -3); Reduced Move ¥2 [-10] (Speed
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  (running): 3 1/2); Solipsist [-10]; Undiscriminating [-1]; Unusual Biochemistry [-5]; Vulnerability:
  Alcohol ¥4 (Occasional) [-40].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Racial Quirk: Uncongenial. [-1]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Taboo Traits: Immune to the Riders [0] (see pp. A119-21).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Powers: Morph-19 (10) [306] (Max. Mass: +100%; Min. Mass: -90%; Genetic
  match: +100%; Improvised Forms: +75%; Horrifying Change ¥5: -25%; Needs Sample: -50%; Copies
  Personality: +100%; Slow Change (1d+4 minutes): -10%; Doesn't Need Morph Memory: +100%).
  Because the Invaders use the leveled super-power version of Morph found in GURPS Supers (p. SU63),
  they use their Morph skill level in place of Change Control for blending of forms or other shifting tasks.
  General description
  In their natural form -- which has been seen from time to time by shaken witnesses -- the Metamorphic
  Invaders have been likened to "latex sacks filled with gelatin". Roughly man-sized in height, they are
  horrific greenish-black ellipsoids whose upper ends are marked by two large eyes and an enormous
  fanged mouth. Most individuals who see this much rarely live to report it, as the Invaders use that maw
  to attack, and to swallow prey whole. They normally take a shape with legs in order to move quickly;
  when in natural form they must move either inchworm-style or by repeatedly stretching and contracting
  their bodies.
  If the Invaders have a name for themselves -- indeed, if they even have a native language -- it is
  unknown.
  Use one-half of a Metamorphic Invader's ST to determine its height, which is both the length of its body's
  long axis and the base height against which is different-sized morphs are measured. Weight is 75 pounds
  more than a human of equivalent "height".
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations
  @TEXT-BOX:As described, the Invader is a creature not unlike the Thing from the 1982 John Carpenter
  movie, with a liberal lacing of the Alien from the film of the same name. With alterations ranging from
  minor to major, though, it can take on a number of alternate roles.
  @TEXT-BOX:The Lernaen Metamorph. Not only do the Invaders reproduce as described in the main
  text, cutting damage just turns them into smaller versions of themselves! To the Metamorphic Invader
  template add Duplication (p. SU00), with the modifiers HT and ST are split (-00%), Duplication is
  Permanent (??%), and Only When Subjected To Cutting Damage (-00%). Whenever an Invader takes
  cutting damage, instead of suffering a wound the Invader becomes two Invaders -- one with at many HT
  as the attack inflicted, the other with whatever HT remains. (Treat cutting damage equal to or greater
  than the Invader's HT as HT/2 -- effectively dividing the creature into two equal halves.)
  @TEXT-BOX:Recalculate ST for each new Invader based on the distribution of HT. For example, a ST
  20, HT 10 Invader has been cut into a HT 4 and a HT 6 Invader. The former would have a ST of 4/10 ¥
  20, or 8; the other would have the balance, or 12.
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  @TEXT-BOX:This option is not recommended in the unlikely event of Metamorphic Invader PCs.
  @TEXT-BOX:Rakshasa. A carnivorous, shape-shifting demon from the mythology of the Indian
  subcontinent, rakshasa resemble tiger-human hybrids when in what is believed to be their "natural" form.
  They are fiendishly intelligent, frightfully strong, and prone to all manner of vices, though they hide
  them well. They delight in obstructing the good works of others, and work to undermine individuals,
  communities, organizations and even entire governments with rumor, innuendo, direct corruption and
  outright murder. This latter they enjoy greatly, as they love the taste of human flesh. They are often very
  subtle, sowing distrust and fear and letting humanity's own worse nature do most of the work for them.
  They often spur groups of humans to slaughter each other, and then feast upon the bodies of the slain.
  @TEXT-BOX:To turn the Invader template into a Rakshasa package, make the following changes:
  @TEXT-BOX:Set IQ to +4, and add DX +3 [30] and HT +5 [60]. Remove Stretching and Injury
  Tolerances from Advantages, and add Talons [40].
  @TEXT-BOX:Replace Disadvantages with Appearance (Monstrous) [-25] (Reaction: -5); Bad Temper
  [-10]; Bloodlust [-10]; Bully [-10]; Callous [-6]; Compulsive Lying [-15]; Greed [-15]; Inconvenient Size
  (Over 8 feet tall) [-10]; Lecherousness [-15] (Roll: Will: -5/Beautiful, -10/Very Beautiful); Odious Racial
  Habit (Eats sentients) [-15] (Reaction: -3); Sadism [-15]. The Rakshasa Compulsive Lying disadvantage
  represents their willingness to spread lies about other people, not about themselves
  @TEXT-BOX:Remove the Copies Personality, Genetic Match, Needs Sample, and Slow Change
  modifiers from Morph, reducing its cost to 196 points.
  @TEXT-BOX:To skills, add Acting-IQ [6], Fast-Talk-IQ [6], Intimidation-IQ [2], and Sex Appeal-HT
  [6].
  @TEXT-BOX:Lastly, replace the racial quirk with "Prefers to appear as a very beautiful/very handsome
  human".
  @TEXT-BOX:Final racial cost for Rakshasa is 345 points. In addition to this basic racial package,
  Rakshasa can also have Magery and a wide variety of spells, often specializing in the Illusion and
  Creation and the Mind Control colleges.
  (((END BOX)))
  Psychology
  Move. Kill. Feed. Reproduce.
  The Metamorphic Invaders are to their remote cousins the Xenomorphs as smilodons are to housecats.
  Where the Xenomorph makes himself one with the community, the Metamorphic Invader seeks to make
  the community one with himself.
  Although they appear to be as intelligent as humans, it is believed that their minds work in a dramatically
  different way. Attempts to communicate with them have all failed, even when the Invader was in a form
  demonstrated to be capable of intelligible speech and social interaction; they either maintain their roles or
  ignore their interrogators. They will not "break character" unless they lose the shape, either due to
  environmental pressures or because of excessive damage.
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  It appears from their behavior that they are solipsists to the point of psychopathy -- no one matters to an
  Invader other than himself; everyone and everything else, even other Invaders, exist solely as either tools
  or food, or both, in that order. Groups of Invaders can cooperate when working for a common goal, and
  can do so even for extended periods, but in the final analysis each one is using the others, and intends to
  consume them. Not surprisingly, they have no parenting instinct, nor any consistent shared culture.
  Even though they are such a cipher to investigators and researchers, some of their racial imperatives can
  be deduced from their behavior. First and foremost, they are predators -- fearsome, cunning and most of
  all intelligent predators. They study their prey extensively. They will lay traps and plan ahead for
  contingencies, and know when to abandon a hopeless cause. They can be subtle and inhumanly patient.
  They know what technology is, and use it adeptly (as evidenced by their ability to pilot between
  systems), although what little of their own native technology has been found has proven to be
  impenetrable to researchers.
  They are also colonizers. By virtue of their biology, they have a constantly expanding population.
  Wherever they have had the technology to do so, Invaders (individually or in groups) have continued on
  to adjacent stars to seek out more fertile hunting grounds. Where they have not, Invaders have contrived
  to catch rides with unwary visitors, usually by impersonating one or more of them.
  Whether it is something they are consciously aware of or not, it is clear that their ultimate goal is the
  conversion of all the organic matter they can reach into Metamorphic Invaders, resulting in a universe of
  constant cannibalistic struggle that must inevitably taper off into a dwindling death at the hands of the
  laws of thermodynamics.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Metamorphic Invaders in the Campaign
  @TEXT-BOX:Invaders are probably best used as a "monster" race, in the tradition of any number of
  horror films. Like the Riders, they can be subtle when infiltrating a population base; unlike the Riders,
  once they determine they have reached some critical threshold, they abandon subtlety and explode into
  an orgy of consumption and reproduction. Discovering a world just about to reach that threshold can
  make for a terrifying adventure for a Space campaign, although players would probably prefer a
  discovery somewhat earlier in the infiltration, so that they have a chance to stop it.
  @TEXT-BOX:Invader PCs are a bad idea, unless the GM actually wants all the other PCs to eventually
  become Invaders and fight among themselves to the death.
  (((END BOX)))
  Ecology
  Metamorphic Invaders are predators, capable of surviving on the flesh of nearly any carbon-based
  creature. They are cautious and cunning, preferring to hunt more like a trap-door spider than a lion. They
  live about the same span as humans, but because of their reproductive cycle, they spend almost all of it as
  active adults. Essentially a macro-scale version of cellular division, the process self-triggers every six to
  eight weeks, and rarely takes more than 24 hours. An Invader about to reproduce consumes its own
  weight in meat (creatures so consumed cannot be used as a shape template), and then finds a secluded
  lair. When the division process completes, there are two competent (if somewhat smaller) adults where
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  before there was one -- Metamorphic Invaders waste no time on childhood. (Both "offspring" inherit the
  "parent"'s memorized forms, as well.)
  The exact source of their morphing abilities is unknown. What is known is that it is unpleasant to see --
  the Invaders' shapechange is slow and disturbing. Those few witnesses who have dared to stay for the
  entire process have likened it to "wet, rotting meat sculpting itself, one paper-thin layer at a time."
  A Living Doomsday Weapon
  Because the combination of their physical powers and psychological attitudes seems unlikely to have
  evolved naturally (the very existence of a cannibalistic, solipsistic race sends some xenobiologists and
  xenologists into fits), many experts believe that the Invaders were genetically engineered. The
  commonly-accepted theory is that they are a biological doomsday weapon which was either used or
  accidentally released, and which turned out to be much better at long-term survival than its creators
  intended.
  There is a great deal of evidence to support this view. Firstly, for an ostensibly sentient race, they are
  driven by a number of hard-wired biological imperatives that prevent them from developing anything
  approaching a civilization. Among these is reproduction -- unlike virtually all other sentient races,
  Invader reproduction is completely involuntary, and extraordinarily rapid, and is clearly geared toward
  producing more Invaders fast.
  Secondly, they are (despite their large eyes) near-sighted, unable to see clearly anything farther away
  than 30 feet or so, effectively forcing them to focus on their next victim or their next task. Finally, while
  Invaders are carbon-based (and capable of consuming almost any carbon-based flesh), they react badly to
  alcohol; this may have been an attempt at a control mechanism in case the Invaders ran wild.
  Another odd vulnerability is that other shapeshifters don't agree with them. If a Metamorphic Invader
  consumes a Xenomorph, Enyyn or other shapechanger, the Invader will almost immediately go into
  spasms lasting 2d+10 minutes, during which it loses control of its own Morph power and shifts randomly
  every 1d seconds.
  Fortunately for the already rattled peace-of-mind of those who are aware of them, Metamorphic Invaders
  are immune to the Riders.
  Culture
  The Invaders have no native culture; they are unable to cooperate long enough to create one, and appear
  to have no interest in doing so even if they could.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Names
  @TEXT-BOX:Like their pseudo-cousins the Xenomorphs, the Invaders don't seem to take any personal
  names other than those of the individuals whose shape they've adopted. Indeed, it's unknown if they have
  a language at all.
  (((END BOX)))
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  Politics
  Metamorphic Invaders have no political relations with any other race in the galaxy. They don't even
  acknowledge other members of their own race as sentients, let alone other races. For all practical
  purposes, there is a permanent state of war between the Invaders and every other species in the Galaxy.
  It is a highly-classified secret, but the Galactic Survey Service has discovered entire planets populated by
  nothing but Metamorphic Invaders, endlessly stalking and devouring each other; every such world has
  been sterilized for the sake of galactic civilization.
  Selkies
  [Ursilla] went at early morning and sat on a rock at high-tide mark, and when it was high tide she shed
  seven tears in the sea. People said they were the only tears she ever shed. But you know this is what one
  must do if she wants speech with the selkie folk. Well, as the first glimpse of dawn made the waters grey,
  she saw a big selkie swimming for the rock.
  He raised his head, and says he to her, "What's your will with me, fair lady?"
  She likely told him what was in her mind; and he told her he would visit her at the seventh stream (spring
  tide), for that was the time he could come in human form.
  So, when the time was come, he came; and they met over and over again. And, doubtless, it was not for
  good that they met so often. Anyway, when Ursilla's bairns were born every one of them had web hands
  and webbed feet, like the paws of a selkie.
  And did not that tell a tale?
  -- Orcadian folkore, recounted by Walter Traill Dennison, in the Scottish Antiquary (1893)
  Selkies (also called "Selchies"; the word means "seal" in the Orcadian dialect) are a European variety of
  hengeyokai -- intelligent animals who can take on a human form. In the folklore of the Orkney Islands at
  the extreme northern end of Scotland, all seals are selkies, and vice versa. In their dealings with humans
  they are neutral leaning towards benevolent, and will appear to do favors for those who know the right
  summoning ritual (see the vignette above).
  Their native form is that of a seal, but they can remove their sealskin and become human. This they do
  rarely, usually only in the most secluded inlets, or at the behest of a human who has summoned them
  with tears. Like all such skinchangers, they need their sealskin to return to their native form (and the sea).
  Their human forms are always exceptionally attractive.
  Selkie . . . . 85 points
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: DX +2 [20]; HT +4 [45]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Acute Hearing +2 [4] (Hearing: 14); Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8]
  (Taste and Smell: 16); Alertness +2 [10]; Amphibious [10]; Combat Reflexes [15] (Fright Check: 12);
  Early Maturation 1 [5]; Enhanced Move (Swimming) (¥2) [10] (Speed (swimming): 13); Faz Sense [7]
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  (Underwater Only: -30%); Fur [4]; Temperature Tolerance ¥1 [0] (Zone Center: 63; Min. Temperature:
  28; Max. Temperature: 97); Oxygen Storage [14]; Pressure Support (10¥normal) [5]; Sharp Teeth [5]
  (Cutting damage; see p. B140); 3D Spatial Sense [10]; Were-form (Human) [26] (Item-based change:
  Seal skin, produced by change to human form, absorbed in change back to base (seal) form; Awkward:
  -10%; Can be stolen by stealth or trickery: -5%; Unique: -25%; Slow change (1d minutes): -10%).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Chummy [-5]; Color Blindness [-10]; Distractible [-1]; Horizontal
  [-10]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty: Dead Broke [-25] (Starting Wealth: $0); Reduced Move ¥3
  [-15] (Speed (running): 3 1/2); Short Arms [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Enjoys visiting beaches in human form.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Savoir-Faire-IQ+1 [2]; Survival (Open Ocean, specialized)-10/16 [4].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: Local Human Tongue-IQ [2].
  Selkie Human Form . . . . 51 points (base cost)
  (PPT: +112, NPT: -55)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: No changes.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Remove Amphibious [-10], Enhanced Move [-10], Faz Sense [-7], Fur
  [-4], Temperature Tolerance [0], Oxygen Storage [-14], Pressure Support [-5], and Sharp Teeth -[5]. Add
  Appearance (Very Handsome/Very Beautiful) [25], and Night Vision [10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Remove Color Blindness [+10], Horizontal [+10], No Fine
  Manipulators [+30], Reduced Move [+15], and Short Arms [+10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Dancing-DX [2].
  In addition to this template, male Selkies have Lecherousness, Erotic Art at IQ, Sex Appeal at HT, and
  the Quirk "Will answer the 'seven tears' ritual if witnessed". Female Selkies are Chauvinistic and Edgy,
  and have a Vow: "Must marry the human man who controls my skin". Note that the Selkie seal form is
  not Mute -- they are known to hold conversations with people near the ocean's edge without transforming
  into human shape.
  In the Orkney Islands and other cultures who have an extensive history with the selkies, remove the
  Social Stigma and replace it with a Racial Reputation: +2, Supernatural creature favorably disposed
  towards humans. The exact value of this Reputation will vary depending on the culture in question.
  ((START BOX))
  @D-BOXHEAD:Seal Template . . . . -66 points
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +176, NPT: -242)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: DX +2 [20]; IQ-4 [-40]; HT +4 [45].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Acute Hearing +2 [4]; Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8]; Alertness +2 [10];
  Amphibious [10]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Early Maturation [5]; Enhanced Move (Swimming) ¥2 [10];
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  Faz Sense (Underwater Only, -30%) [7]; Fur [4]; Oxygen Storage [14]; Pressure Support [5]; Sharp
  Teeth [5]; 3D Spatial Sense [10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Bestial [-10]; Chummy [-5]; Color Blindness [-10]; Distractible [-1];
  Dull [-1]; Horizontal [-10]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead
  Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Reduced Move (Running) -3 [-15]; Short Arms [-10]; Short Lifespan ¥ 2
  [-20]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Survival (Open Ocean, specialized)-IQ/IQ+6 [4].
  @TEXT-BOX:While Selkies are built based on the Seal template, they don't actually use it directly.
  They are similar to "ordinary" mundane seals, but they are not identical.
  ((END BOX))
  General description
  In their base form, selkies are indistinguishable from "normal" seals; in fact, in some milieux, they are
  the "normal" seals and there are no non-intelligent, non-shapechanging seals! In human form, they
  invariably possess stunningly good looks; the attraction their human forms hold for land-dwellers is
  legendary.
  Selkies are approximately as long in seal form as they are tall in human form -- generate a height
  normally for the character's ST and use it for both forms. Generate weight from height for the human
  form as normal; multiply that figure by 2.25 to get the weight of the seal form. They may have virtually
  any eye, hair or skin color available to humans, although they will almost always match the coloration of
  the ethnic group nearest to them. They have their own tongue, a Mental Average language.
  Psychology
  The most obvious aspect of selkie psychology, at least to outsidres, is that they are hedonists. Account
  after account makes this clear: In human form, they dance on beaches in the moonlight, they sun
  themselves during the day, they engage humans in both romantic and casual liaisons. In the water, they
  are as playful as otters or porpoises. The selkie mindset seems to lack the concepts of work, toil and all
  that is related.
  There is some kind of long-standing bond between selkies and humans, although its precise origins have
  been lost in the mists of time. While in general the two races leave each other alone, they are not averse
  to each other's company. Selkie men have been known to court and/or seduce human women -- but
  generally only those women who make it clear that such attentions are welcome.
  @TEXT-BOX:Selkie women are seldom as casual about human males, as there is a long history of the
  latter acquiring brides by stealing their skins.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Summoning a Selkie
  @TEXT-BOX:As mentioned in the vignette, there is a simple ritual, handed down in folklore, with
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  which one may summon a selkie. It appears that only human women may invoke this ritual, but that may
  well be because human men tend to acquire the attentions of selkie women through somewhat more
  confrontational means...
  @TEXT-BOX:If a woman should desire to meet with a selkie male, she need only stand at the edge of
  the ocean at high tide and shed seven tears into the water. If there is a male selkie within a mile, he will
  immediately respond by swimming directly to the woman. (If more than one selkie is within range, the
  closest one responds; in the case of ties, the faster/stronger swimmer wins.) Upon his arrival, the selkie
  will inquire what the woman would ask of him, and will attempt to fulfil the request to the best of his
  ability. Since most such requests are for sexual congress, granting them is usually quite easy for the
  selkie.
  (((END BOX)))
  Although adapted to both, selkies prefer the sea, when given a choice. This preference can become an
  overwhelming drive, particularly in selkie women tricked into marriage; invariably, upon regaining their
  ability to take seal form, they will abandon husband, home, children -- everything -- in their haste to
  return to the sea. Some of this may well be a desire to be among others of their own kind again, though --
  selkies are a communal people, and the females especially are extremely social.
  Ecology
  Selkies (at least in their were-forms) are close enough to humans that the two races can interbreed. The
  offspring of a human and a selkie are almost always landbound, taking after the human parent, but they
  often demonstrate selkie characteristics -- webbed hands and feet, most frequently -- for generations
  afterward. This interfertility has led to speculation that the selkies are actually a magical sub-race of
  humanity who have learned how to change into seals.
  While an attractive theory, it is belied by the fact that selkies grow their own skins instead of acquiring
  them from slaughtered "real" seals. A selkie child whose skin is taken away from him while he is young,
  so that he is not allowed to change, will eventually outgrow his skin and lose forever the ability to shift!
  Like seals, selkies are mostly carnivorous, with fish making up the majority of their diet. In human form
  they are omnivorous, and can survive quite well on whatever the local humans eat.
  Most selkies are native to salt water, but a freshwater variety is known to exist, preferring large lakes and
  deep waterways for their homes.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Variations
  @TEXT-BOX:"When angels fell, some fell on the land, some on the sea. The former are the faeries and
  the latter were often said to be the seals." -- Anonymous Orcadian
  @TEXT-BOX:As usual, while a theoretical "typical" selkie can be derived from the legends of the
  Orkney Isles, there are a number of different interpretations. GMs may wish to consider these as options
  with which to tweak his selkies, the better to keep players on their toes.
  @TEXT-BOX:Intolerance. In almost every tale, selkies are described as friendly towards humans. This
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  need not always be the case. Selkies as described in GURPS Bestiary, Second Edition were far more
  antagonistic than friendly, and harbored a general Intolerance of land-dwellers. If a band of selkies have
  been the target of seal hunters, general human animosity (or just mistreatment based on ignorance), they
  may well grow hostile and no longer honor whatever ancient agreement originally bound them and
  humans together.
  @TEXT-BOX:Seasonal Changes. In the tale of Ursilla, quoted above, the selkie she summons says he
  cannot take human form until "the seventh stream" (spring tide). In other tales it was once a year, usually
  on Midsummer's Eve (referred to as Johnsmas Eve). This is a special case of Cyclic Change, where the
  cycle doesn't trigger the change, but instead simply makes it available for use -- select a period for the
  cycle, as usual, but halve its discount value.
  @TEXT-BOX:Faerie Folk. Selkies are sometimes reputed to be a branch of the Sidhe. Faerie selkies
  will have Immortality and Mana Enhancer, and will probably be mages of some variety as well.
  @TEXT-BOX:"Tripped" Angels. Some Orcadian folklore says that selkies are angels cast out of Heaven
  during Satan's revolt. Unlike demons, they didn't do anything bad enough to merit Hell, so they were
  trapped in the mortal world instead. Their benevolent attitude towards humans comes from their angelic
  nature, and the knowledge that they may yet be forgiven by God and return to Heaven. Like faerie
  selkies, angelic selkie are Immortal; they also have an Obsession: Get forgiven and go back to Heaven.
  (((END BOX)))
  Selkie Skins
  It should come as no surprise that selkie skins are extraordinarily magical; they bind up the essence of the
  selkie's true shape and hold it in abeyance against the need of the selkie to return to the sea. Each one is
  unique, and can only be used by its owner -- it is, after all, a part of his body. There is no fatique cost to
  either doff or don one's skin, but the process is not instantaneous; the Slow Change limitation on the
  selkie were-form represents the time needed to unfold a skin and put it on properly (or vice versa).
  According to some sources, there is one further magick bound into a selkie skin. According to these tales,
  a skin is enchanted such that, if lost, it will always find its way back to its owner. It may take a hundred
  years, but it will do so. Such a skin does not travel under its own power, but by gently "nudging"
  probability in its favor, influencing who carries it and where. Skins deliberately hidden cannot use this
  trick.
  If a selkie dies while separated from his skin, the skin loses all its magic, and is rendered nothing more
  than a "mundane" sealskin. (A clever wizard may still be able to make use of such a skin, though...)
  There is some confusion over what happens to a selkie if his skin is destroyed. Some say the selkie will
  die; others claim he or she is forever locked as a human, unable to return to the sea and miserable for the
  rest of his life..
  Culture
  Selkies possess a communal society, living and traveling in large social groups. While individual males
  might be found out and about on their own, it is far more likely for someone to discover a dozen or more
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  selkies making merry on some isolated beach.
  In general they are nomadic, cycling through several different underwater, coastal "camps" in a year. In
  general, they survive as undersea hunter-gatherers, living mostly off of fish which they trap or hunt,
  depending on the season and the location. Tribes living in shallow waters have begun some efforts
  toward a simple agriculture both in the sea and on land, mostly in response to seeing its success among
  humans, but these gardens (they are generally too small to be called "farms") are usually seasonal, and
  are abandoned for several months at a time when the tribe moves on in its circuit. Even when they are
  more continuously maintained, selkies seldom have legal title to suitably arable land an hour's travel or
  less from the sea shore.
  Selkies are functionally TL 0. Even though they can operate out of the water as well as humans, they
  have not developed their own metallurgy yet. Instead, they trade with humans for the few items they
  need that can be made from gold, silver, and other metals that will not corrode or rust in seawater. Failing
  that, they fall back on tried and true methods -- stone spear and axe heads attached to wooden shafts
  scavenged from dry land.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Selkie Names
  @TEXT-BOX:Selkies names are composed of a personal identifier and either a patronymic ("child of
  White Gull", for example) or a descriptive epithet (like "Shark-teaser" or "Crooked-fin"). Personal
  identifiers tend to be descriptive or imitative terms relating to their environment ("White Gull", "Coral").
  Sometimes an epithet can displace a personal name entirely, becoming a new one in the process.
  @TEXT-BOX:When dealing with land-dwellers, these are usually translated into the local dialect,
  producing an often poetically primitive effect.
  (((END BOX)))
  Politics
  Selkies lack any kind of centralized organization larger than a tribe, and as such are rarely on any kind of
  terms with human organizations much larger than a town. They sometimes make trading agreements with
  human settlements, but that is usually the extent of their group-level interactions. Since the selkies want
  to spend as little time as possible on the unentertaining business of trade and diplomacy, they frequently
  don't bother even contacting the humans on the land near their camps.
  This can cause problems, especially if the selkie group is one that is trying its hand at dry-land
  agriculture. Such efforts are often made on land already owned by a human, and if discovered, the selkies
  are frequently viewed as squatters. Depending on how local officials approach the matter, this can cause
  undue tension between the humans and the selkies.
  Selkies infamously have little patience for humans who hunt seals, and if there are no non-selkie seals in
  the campaign, then it will reach actual hostility. Male selkies are more inclined to "police" the local
  waters than the females, and they are known to damage the boats of hunters. (Some folklore even assigns
  them the power to summon storms against hunters.) It goes without saying that actions along these lines
  will also strain human-selkie relations in the region.
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  That being said, though, the truth is that most selkie-human relations take place on the individual level.
  Selkies in the Campaign
  Unless the campaign is sea-going or even undersea, selkies as a whole will generally be limited to
  providing backgroudn "fantasy flavor". Their almost compulsive need to return to the sea makes it
  unlikely that they will be seen more than an hour inland unless they are of the freshwater variety, in
  which case they will be found nearly anywhere close to a sufficiently deep river or large lake.
  The role they play depends largely on the variation(s) and situation the GM has chosen. If they lack any
  kind of threat, such as seal-hunters or angry land-owners, selkies will be generally well-disposed towards
  humans, and may turn out to be allies if dealt with fairly and openly. On the other hand, the proper
  tensions can cause matters to escalate all the way up to outright warfare between land and sea.
  It's also possible that PCs might have selkie spouses, especially if the GM presents them with one of the
  classic opportunities!
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Selkie Characters
  @TEXT-BOX:Selkies can be built on 100 points and still provide a competent character, despite their
  relatively high cost. Remember that the gender-based traits are not part of the racial template, and the
  disadvantages therein do count against the character's allotted total. Heroic selkies -- tribal leaders, most
  adventurers in the dry world -- start at 125 points, with a few truly exceptional individuals reaching 150
  points.
  @TEXT-BOX:Although they best adapted to the water, their amphibious nature allows them to operate
  nearly anywhere humans can -- although they might not always be happy about it.
  (((END BOX)))
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Moira Seabourne . . . . 150 points
  Female; Age 28; 5'4"; 120 lbs. Extraordinarily beautiful human-form selkie female with thick black hair,
  green eyes, lush curves, and a sharp tongue.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 10 [0]; DX 12 [0]; IQ 12 [20]; HT 14 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 6.50; Move 6.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 7; Parry 9; Block 7.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 0d; Kick: 0d; Thrust 0d; Swing 0d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15] (Fright Check: 15); Literacy [5]; Reputation: "The
  Selkie Widow" +3 (among Scottish peasantry) [3] (Reaction: +3; Recognized by: Large class, ¥1/2;
  Frequency of Recognition: Sometimes (10-), ¥1/2); Selkie (skin has been stolen) [85]; Strong Will +2 [8]
  (Will: 14).
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Chauvinistic [-1]; Edgy [-5] (Fright Check: 15); Lecherousness [-15]
  (Roll: Will: -5/Beautiful, -10/Very Beautiful); Odious Personal Habit: Sarcastic [-5] (Reaction: -1); Vow:
  Get her skin back or die trying [-10]; Reputation: "The Selkie Widow" -3 (among Scottish criminals) [-2]
  (Reaction: -3; Recognized by: Small class, ¥1/3; Frequency of Recognition: Sometimes (10-), ¥1/2).
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Discovered she likes her life as an adventurer; Doesn't mourn for her
  husband; Enjoys visiting beaches in human form; Swims every chance she gets; Visits with her children
  at least once every three months. [-5]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Animal Handling-11 [2]; Area Knowledge (Scotland)-13 [2]; Area Knowledge
  (Waters off Orkney Islands)-12 [1]; Armoury/TL4-13 [4]; Axe/Mace-12 [2] (Parry: 7); Bard-12 [2];
  Black Powder Weapons (Flintlock Musket)/TL4-16 [4]; Black Powder Weapons (Flintlock
  Pistol)/TL4-16 [4]; Blackjack-13 [2]; Brawling-13 [2] (Parry: 9); Broadsword-13 [4] (Parry: 7);
  Buckler-12 [1] (Block: 6); Carousing-13 [1]; Climbing-11 [1]; Cloak-12 [2] (Block: 6); Cooking-13 [2];
  Crossbow-13 [2]; Dancing-12 [0]; Detect Lies-12 [4]; Fast-Draw-13 [1]; Intimidation-13 [4]; Knife-12
  [1] (Parry: 6); Merchant-11 [1]; Riding (Horse)-11 [1]; Savoir-Faire-13 [0]; Sex Appeal-13 [1];
  Streetwise-12 [2]; Survival-12/18 (Open Ocean, specialized) [0]; Swimming-12 [1]; Tactics-11 [2].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: Gaelic-IQ [2]; Selkie-IQ (native) [0].
  @TEXT-BOX:In the middle of the sixteenth century, a woman of Scotland seeks what has been taken
  from her -- not to avenge herself for its theft, but so that she can return to the sea she loves. The woman
  now known as "Moira Seabourne" was originally a selkie bride, "courted" and married in the traditional
  manner (that is to say, her skin was stolen while she was sunning herself on a beach), by her late
  husband, one Angus Macheath.
  @TEXT-BOX:Macheath, aware of all the old stories, hid her skin well. She took a human name, and for
  ten years she was his wife, obedient in most things and bearing him two healthy children. Moira had a
  reputation as a bit of a shrew, but she and Angus seemed happy enough...
  @TEXT-BOX:Until the day she came back from market-day to find her home ransacked, her children
  huddled in the stable, and her husband dying of a gunshot wound. As he bled to death, Angus told her of
  the band of thieves who had shot him and taken everything of value that they had owned.
  @TEXT-BOX:Including her seal-skin.
  @TEXT-BOX:Angus died in her arms, and although she could never truly say she had loved the man,
  she was still the dutiful wife. She saw to his wake and burial. She gathered her few possessions. She gave
  her son and her daughter into the keeping of her husband's family.
  @TEXT-BOX:Then she went a-hunting for the thieves who had stolen her life. She vowed to retrieve her
  skin or die trying.
  @TEXT-BOX:In the year since then, she has learned a great deal -- weapons, riding, tracking. She has
  become a force to be reckoned with as she tracks down highwaymen, bandits, thugs and thieves, each
  time hoping that this band of cutthroats is the right one. Unbeknownst to her, stories of her activities are
  starting to be told, and she is starting to gain a reputation as "The Selkie Widow", a figure of supernatural
  vengeance hunting the murderers of her husband.
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  @TEXT-BOX:She knows her seal-skin hasn't been destroyed -- she'd feel it if it were. And she knows
  she's finally close to finding the unprintable scum that are holding on to it. She just hopes that none of
  them make the connection between her and it, or she'll end up an unwilling bride again.
  @TEXT-BOX:Once she recovers the skin, her intent is to return to the sea, but of late she's had her
  doubts about that goal; she has found that she enjoys the adventuring life, and is wondering if she'd be
  happy for very long if she were to return to the ocean.
  @TEXT-BOX:If Moira ever recovers her skin, her seal form will be 63 inches long and will weigh 270
  pounds, with dark glossy fur which is almost black in color.
  @TEXT-BOX:Moira Seabourne is a 150-point character suitable for use in a Swashbucklers campaign,
  particularly one with a strong fantasy flavor. With some minor changes to her background, she can be
  used in Yrth or any other medieval fantasy world.
  (((END BOX)))
  Shamanic Shifter
  Joseph: I turned him into a raven and he flew out the window.
  Sheriff: Why didn't you go with him?
  Joseph: I can only turn into a wolf. I'd be too big to fit through the bars.
  -- Quantum Leap, "Freedom" (Episode 2.16, broadcast 14 February 1990)
  There is a remarkable uniformity of belief among peoples who follow shamanic practices, regardless of
  their geographic locations. One of the beliefs frequently shared across so many cultures is that the
  shaman is gifted with the ability to enter the spirit world in the form of an animal. Here is how one such
  shaman could be built.
  INCOMPLETE -- MUST BE FINISHED
  Misuun Kagitaka, Shaman of the People
  Astral shifter, spirit world, suitable for many primitive cultures
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Raven Template . . . . -146 points
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +189, NPT: -335)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST -6 [-50]; DX +2 [20]; IQ -6 [-50]; HT +3 [30]; Reduced Hit Points -8
  [-40].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Acute Vision +4 [8]; Alertness +4 [20]; Enhanced Dodge ¥3
  (Accessibility: Only while Flying) [32]; Enhanced Move (Flying) ¥1 [10]; Flight (Winged; Cannot
  Hover) [24]; Penetrating Call [5]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Sharp Claws [25].
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Bestial [-10]; Edgy [-5]; Fragile [-20]; Hidebound [-5]; Innumerate
  [-5]; Mute [-25]; Restricted Manipulators [-15]; Poor Grip [-5]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient
  [-20]; Reduced Move (Running) -5 [-25]; Short Arms [-10]; Short Lifespan ¥3 [-30]; Social Stigma
  (Barbarian) [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Taboo Traits: Cannot Swim [0].
  (((END BOX)))
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points
  Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 10 [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 10 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 0d; Kick: 0d; Thrust 0d; Swing 0d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Maneuvers:
  @TEXT-BOX:
  (((END BOX)))
  Shapeshifting Curses
  Ohhhh! Not "Spring of Drowned Girl"! There is tragic legend, very tragic, of young girl who drown in
  spring one thousand five hundred year ago! Now whoever fall in that spring take body of young girl! You
  see what I mean?
  -- The Jusenkyo Guide, Ranma 1/2, Volume 1, by Rumiko Takahashi
  BB Shapeshifting curses a la "Jusenkyo" from "Ranma 1/2"
  INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  CC Less malign than a classic were curse, this kind of curse specializes in inconvenience -- and just
  possibly emotional/moral instruction
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  CC Some common condition -- in the cited source, cold water -- triggers the transformation
  CC The alternate form is annoying or bothersome in some way -- usually something the victim finds
  distasteful: a small and weak animal for a big strong fighter type, or a huge, ugly monster for someone
  who prides themselves on their looks
  CC Return trigger is less common (hot water in the source cited here)
  CC Curses often are appropriate to the personality, as if they were intended to teach or correct
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points
  Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 10 [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 10 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 0d; Kick: 0d; Thrust 0d; Swing 0d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Maneuvers:
  @TEXT-BOX:
  (((END BOX)))
  Soremelyn
  (vignette)
  INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  BB Shifter parasite
  General description
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  Advantages and Disadvantages
  Pyschology
  Ecology
  Culture
  Politics
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] in the Campaign
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Player Characters
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Naming Rules
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Adventure Seeds
  @C-BOXHEAD:Character Example
  CC Invades a host, and once it reaches a certain critical level of infection, periodically takes over and
  reshapes the body to its needs
  CC Victim blacks out during this, as the collective intelligence of the parasite organisms takes over
  CC Motives and purposes of this parasite vary with the GM's choice of origin
  DD Alien parasites are invaders or explorers -- the latter doing so from inside its host, only changing
  when necessary to accomplish its mission
  DD Nanomachines in a cyberpunk setting might be turning the host into an assassin or living terrorist
  weapon
  DD Magical parasites could be doing anything from "traditional" lycanthropy to transforming the victim
  entirely into a new race
  DD The "instability" of the forms might be a bug or flaw in the parasite
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points
  Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 10 [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 10 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 0d; Kick: 0d; Thrust 0d; Swing 0d
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Maneuvers:
  @TEXT-BOX:
  (((END BOX)))
  Swan May
  After the swan maidens had bathed and sported to their heart's delight, they came back to the bank
  wishing to put on their feather robes again; and the six eldest found theirs, but the youngest could not
  find hers. They searched and they searched until at last the dawn began to appear, and the six sisters
  called out to her, "We must away; 'tis the dawn; you meet your fate whatever it be." And with that they
  donned their robes and flew away, and away, and away.
  When the hunter saw them fly away he came forward with the feather robe in his hand; and the swan
  maiden begged and begged that he would give her back her robe. He gave her his cloak but would not
  give her her robe, feeling that she would fly away. And he made her promise to marry him, and took her
  home, and hid her feather robe where she could not find it.
  -- from The Swan Maidens, as recounted by Joseph Jacobs
  INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  (Australian aboriginal swan mays have black feathers)
  (Following text is from Bestiary 2nd article and is outdated)
  The Swan Mays are an ancient sisterhood of humans with the ability to turn into swans by donning
  feathered cloaks. They are dedicated to the preservation and defense of the wild places of the world and
  the innocent folk who live there. Many Swan Mays are warriors, mages or both.
  (Variations on this myth are found in Persian, Indian, Japanese, Indonesian, Australian and Zulu folk
  tales.)
  The power of the Swan May is threefold. There is a genetic component -- a Swan May must be the
  daughter of a Swan May. Next, she must be wearing her cloak of feathers. Many of the cloaks are very
  ancient, passed down from mother to daughter for countless generations. The secret of maintaining,
  repairing and (presumably) creating the cloaks is a closely-guarded secret of the oldest and most
  powerful Swan Mays. Finally, there is a moral and cultural part to the Swan May's power. Each Swan
  May is raised to honor nature and defend the innocent, and if they fail in this duty through cowardice,
  greed or carelessness, they will lose their powers. (Repentance might be possible, at the GM's option, but
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  it would certainly require a long and dangerous service to regain a lost transformation power.)
  Though deadly when their charges are threatened, most of the time Swan Mays are beautiful and merry.
  It is part of a Swan May's duty to her kind to eventually marry an honorable man and produce a daughter
  to carry on the legacy. They are greatly sought after as wives, and many of the noblest houses have Swan
  May blood. But they cannot be bought or coerced to wed. A Swan May marries only at her pleasure, and
  only for love.
  Even in war, Swan Mays usually go unarmored. Their usual gear includes a plain, light shift, a bow and a
  few arrows or a light spear, and a knife. They do not like to be encumbered with more than can be
  absorbed in their change.
  Swan May Characters
  Human Form: All Swan Mays have a gadget-based Were Form advantage, with the enhancement
  Absorptive Change (No Encumbrance), for a base cost of 11 points. The gadget modifiers for their cloaks
  of feathers are Awkward, Can Be Stolen by Stealth or Trickery and Unique, for a final modifier of -40%.
  This makes the final cost of the cloak 7 points. Swan May cloaks are usable only by their owners, but
  may be transferred from mother to daughter.
  ((START BOX))
  Swan Template . . . . 00 points
  (PPT: +00, NPT: -00)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST -4 [-30]; DX +2 [20]; IQ -6 [50]; HT +3 [30]; Reduced Hit Points -4
  [20].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Acute Hearing +3 [6]; Alertness +5 [25]; Appearance (Beautiful) [15];
  Beak (Striker, 1 hex range) [20]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Damage Resistance +1 [3]; Early Maturation 3
  [15]; Flight (Winged, Cannot Hover) [24]; Passive Defense +1 [25]; Penetrating Call [5]; Peripheral
  Vision [15]; Decreased Life Support [10]; Wings (Strikers) [10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Bestial [-10]; Chummy [-5]; Dull [-1]; Fragile [-20]; Innumerate [-5];
  Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Reduced Move
  (Running) -3 [-15]; Short Lifespan ¥1 [-10]; Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Brawling-12 [1]; Flight-12 [2]; Swimming-12 [2].
  ((END BOX))
  CC From folklore, a maiden who can turn into a swan.
  DD The stories are not exactly clear; some may be swans who turn into maidens
  CC A feathered cloak is the key to their shifting
  DD If stolen, they cannot change back
  CC Gregarious species, prefer their own kind
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  CC Will marry humans if locked in human form, but when given opportunity to return to the flock do so
  without a second thought
  Remove? Duplicates most of the tropes and mechanisms already demonstrated in the selkie entry.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points
  Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 10 [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 10 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 0d; Kick: 0d; Thrust 0d; Swing 0d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Maneuvers:
  @TEXT-BOX:
  (((END BOX)))
  Teilanar
  Dale stared at her-- no, himself in the mirror. "What's happened to me?" he gasped, the rumbling tones
  of his voice an unintentional mockery of her normal patterns of speech.
  I'm glad you asked, a voice echoed inside his head, and Dale shrieked in terror. Now, now, we can't
  have you panicking, can we, friend? the voice continued, and Dale discovered her fear draining out of
  her like water out of a sink.
  "What's going on?" he whispered. "Am I going mad?"
  The voice in his head, which seemed vaguely male, chuckled. Not at all. The image in the mirror blurred,
  and Dale almost collapsed in relief when her own face looked back at her again. You just have a new...
  partner. The voice paused for a moment. Me.
  INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  Symbiotic alien
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  General description
  Advantages and Disadvantages
  Pyschology
  Ecology
  Culture
  Politics
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] in the Campaign
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Player Characters
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Naming Rules
  @C-BOXHEAD:[racename] Adventure Seeds
  @C-BOXHEAD:Character Example
  CC Merges with a host -- if not with cooperation, at least with no icious intent
  CC Lets the host toggle back and forth between original and alien forms
  CC Additional enhanced abilities not available to either separately may be available
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points
  Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 10 [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 10 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 0d; Kick: 0d; Thrust 0d; Swing 0d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages:
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:Maneuvers:
  @TEXT-BOX:
  (((END BOX)))
  Were-Rats
  "Alone, again. I've done this before. You can't keep me down, watch your back, Sonny ... I'm the survivor.
  I'm King Rat."
  -- King Rat, in King Rat by China Miéville
  INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  BB Were-rats
  CC For the traditionalist dungeon-crawler
  CC Low-end hybrid man-rat form
  CC Makes a good lycanthropic curse for a noble or high-minded character
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Giant Rat Template . . . . -77 points
  (PPT: +00, NPT: -00)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST -1 [-10]; DX +3 [30]; IQ -6 [-50]; HT +7 [100]; Reduced Hit Points -8
  [-40].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8]; Alertness +4 [20]; Cast Iron Stomach
  [15]; Faz Sense (3-hex range, -20%) [8]; Night Vision [10]; Pestilence [5]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Sharp
  Teeth [5]; Thick Fur [29].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Bad Grip [-10]; Bestial (Disease-carriers) [-15]; Color Blindness
  [-10]; Gregarious [-10]; Hidebound [-5]; Horizontal [-10]; Incurious [-5]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25];
  No Depth Perception [-10]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Reduced Dodge [-15]; Short
  Arms [-10]; Short Lifespan ¥4 [-40]; Sleepy (50%) [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]; Ugly
  Appearance [-10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Survival (Plains, Swampland, Urban or Woodlands, specialized)-IQ+2/IQ+8
  [8].
  @TEXT-BOX:This is the giant rat racial template as presented on p. 110 of GURPS Bestiary, Third
  Edition.
  (((END BOX)
  (((START BOX)))
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points
  Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 10 [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 10 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 0d; Kick: 0d; Thrust 0d; Swing 0d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Maneuvers:
  @TEXT-BOX:
  (((END BOX)))
  Wereshark
  You know the thing about a shark, he's got lifeless eyes -- black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at
  you, he doesn't seem to be livin' -- until he bites ya. And those black eyes roll over wide. Ah, and you
  hear that terrible high pitched screamin'. The ocean turns red. In spite of all the poundin' and hollerin',
  they all come in and they rip you to pieces."
  -- Quint, Jaws
  INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  BB Wereshark from Polynesian myth
  CC Good "force of nature" type monster/villain
  CC Base form is monstrous Great White shark
  SB Also were-orcas, were-dolphins
  Called "Rokea"
  Shark 1. Polynesian. It represents sacred beings who can appear as humans or sharks, or it can be the
  incarnation of important people such as tribal chiefs; it can also be a sorcerer's familiar. Sometimes the
  shark is addressed as "Grandfather".
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  (((START BOX)))
  Great White template . . . . 00 points
  (PPT: +00, NPT: -00)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: Enhanced ST +30 (No Fine Manipulators) [108]; DX +2 [20]; IQ -7 [-60];
  HT +2 [20]; Extra Hit Points +23 [115].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8]; Alertness +5 [25]; Combat Reflexes [15];
  Damage Resistance +1 [3]; Doesn't Sleep [20]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Early Maturation [5];
  Enhanced Move (Swimming) ¥3 [30]; Faz Sense (Underwater only, -30%) [7]; Passive Defense +1 [25];
  Peripheral Vision [15]; Pressure Support [15]; Sharp Teeth [5]; 3D Spatial Sense [10]; Unaging [15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Aquatic [-40]; Berserk [-15]; Bestial [-10]; Color Blindness [-10];
  Bloodlust [-10]; Inconvenient Size [-15]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30];
  Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Short Arms [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15];
  Weakness: 1d/minute from lack of motion [-20].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Survival (Open Ocean, specialized)-IQ/IQ+6 [4].
  (((END BOX)))
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character . . . . 000 points
  Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 10 [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 10 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Speed 0.00; Move 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Dodge 0; Block 0; Parry 0.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Damage: Punch: 0d; Kick: 0d; Thrust 0d; Swing 0d
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Maneuvers:
  @TEXT-BOX:
  (((END BOX)))
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  The Were-Creatures of Yrth
  I'm the moon's indentured servant.
  -- from Thor, by Wayne Smith
  INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
  Redefinition of the six basic Yrth were types in this system.
  All Yrth weres have as part of their were-forms the following: Slow Regeneration (Presence of silver
  deactivates, -30%) [7]; and Vulnerability to Silver (Occasional) ¥2 [-20]. At the GM's option, some also
  have Infectious Attack [-5]. Evil persons with a Yrth were-form also have Compulsive Behavior:
  Commit Atrocities [-15].
  The basic Yrth were-form has a Cyclic Change: Monthly, Exclusive, for -40% and Minimum Duration:
  One Night, -10%, for a total discount of -50%. Some weres can change at will in addition to their
  monthly change; this eliminates the Minimum Duration limitation and the Exclusive option, reducing the
  limitation value to -15%.
  (((START BOX)))
  Backwards Compatibility
  @TEXT-BOX:It should be obvious that the costs for these six were-types do not match those found in
  GURPS Fantasy and Compendium I. The simple truth is that these ore-existing costs were assigned
  arbitrarily, long before GURPS had anything approaching a consistent were-creature system. They were
  also assigned with the express intent of allowing a standard 100-point character to be a were.
  @TEXT-BOX:Yes, we're aware that these revised were-forms will break many long-time characters. But
  it should be pointed out that the were-forms for all six Yrth types were really not fully fleshed out, being
  more idealized images of their particular animals than actual examples thereof. Also, these were-forms
  were great bargains, giving the player by implication and for no points a number of advantages that later
  weres had to pay for -- Sharp Teeth, just to cite one rather inexpensive example. It's long past time that
  they were brought into compatibility with the rest of GURPS.
  @TEXT-BOX:That doesn't mean you, as GM, have to use them. You can always stay with the earlier
  versions. That's your privilege as GM. But if you do, you should avoid mixing them with weres built
  with the rules in this book, if only to let the players all remain on the same point basis.
  (((END BOX)))
  (((START BOX)))
  Animal Templates for Yrth Weres
  @D-BOXHEAD:Black Bear Template . . . . 60 points
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00)
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  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: Enhanced ST +12 (No Fine Manipulators) [78]; DX +3 [30]; IQ -5 [-40];
  HT +4 [45]; Extra Hit Points +4 [20].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8]; Alertness +5 [25]; Claws [15]; Damage
  Resistance +1 [3]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Early Maturation [5]; Metabolism Control (Hibernation)
  ¥4 [10]; Penetrating Call [5]; Sharp Teeth [5]; Thick Fur [29]; Ultrahearing [5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Bestial [-10]; Dull [-1]; Inconvenient Size [-10]; Increased Life
  Support [-10]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25];
  Presentient [-20]; Semi-Upright [-5]; Short Lifespan ¥3 [-30]; Sleepy (66%, including hibernation) [-20];
  Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]; Staid [-1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Climbing at DX [2]; Scrounging at IQ [1]; Survival (Mountains or Woodlands,
  specialized)-IQ+1/IQ+7 [6].
  @C-BOXHEAD:Boar Template . . . . 00 points
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST +0 [0]; DX +0 [0]; IQ +0 [0]; HT +0 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Taboo Traits:
  @C-BOXHEAD:Tiger...172 points
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: Enhanced ST +25 (No Fine Manipulators) [107]; DX +4 [45]; IQ -6 [-50];
  HT +5 [60].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Alertness +14 [70]; Attractive [5]; Claws [15]; Combat Reflexes [15];
  Double-Jointed [5]; Enhanced Move +50% [5]; Extra Hit Points +5 [25]; Faz Sense (3-hex range, -20%)
  [8]; Four Legs [5]; Longevity [5]; Night Vision [10]; Sharp Teeth [5]; Silence ¥3 [15]; Thick Fur [29].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Attentive [-1]; Bestial [-10]; Dead Broke [-25]; Dull [- 1]; Horizontal
  [-10]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Presentient [-20]; Short Arms [-10];
  Short Lifespan ¥5 [-50]; Sleepy (50%) [-10]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]; Staid [-1]; Stubbornness
  [-5].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Climbing at DX [2]; Jumping at DX [1]; Stealth at DX [2]; Survival (Jungle,
  specialized) at IQ+2/+8 [8]; Swimming at DX [1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Maneuver: Neck Snap at ST-2 [2].
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  @C-BOXHEAD:Eagle Template. . . . . -138 points
  (PPT: +00, NPT: -00)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST -5 [-40]; DX +2 [20]; IQ -6 [-50]; HT +3 [30]; Reduced Hit Points -8
  [-40].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Acute Vision +4 [8]; Alertness +4 [20]; Enhanced Dodge ¥3
  (Accessibility: Only while Flying) [32]; Enhanced Move (Flying) ¥2 [20]; Flight (Winged; Cannot
  Hover) [24]; Penetrating Call [5]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Sharp Claws [25]; Telescopic Vision 3 [18].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Bestial [-10]; Edgy [-5]; Fragile [-20]; Hidebound [-5]; Incurious
  [-5]; Innumerate [-5]; Loner [-5]; Mute [-25]; Restricted Manipulators [-15]; Poor Grip [-5]; Poverty
  (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Reduced Move (Running) -5 [-25]; Short Arms [-10]; Short
  Lifespan ¥3 [-30]; Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Taboo Traits: Cannot Swim [0].
  @C-BOXHEAD:Boa Constrictor Template . . . . 00 points
  @TEXT-BOX:(PPT: +00, NPT: -00)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST +0 [0]; DX +0 [0]; IQ +3 [-60]; HT +0 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages:
  Constriction Attack [15] Extra Flexibility
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages:
  Bestial Hidebound Innumerate No Manipulators [-50] Obdurate [-10] Presentient
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Taboo Traits:
  @TEXT-BOX:The Wolf template is found on p. 00.
  (((END BOX)))
  The Wolfman
  Even a man who's pure in heart and says his prayers by night,
  May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the moon is full and bright.
  -- from The Wolf Man, Universal Films, 1941
  INCOMPLETE -- TO BE FINISHED
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  [Race name] . . . . 00 points
  "Lawrence Talbot"-style humanoid werewolf.
  (PPT: +000, NPT: -000, again, adjust for the character)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST 14 [0] DX 12 [0] IQ 8 [+45] HT 15 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Dire Wolf Template (p. 00) [18]. Danger Sense [15]; Dark Vision [25];
  High Pain Threshold [10]; Immunity to Poison [15]; Increased Speed ¥ 2 [50]; Magic Resistance +5 [10];
  Recovery [10]; Regular Regeneration [25]; Silence +3 [15]; Vampiric Invulnerability (vulnerable to
  silver instead of fire) [150].
  Buy back Four Legs [-5?]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages:
  Appearance: Monstrous [-25]; Bad Temper [-10]; Berserk [-15]; Bloodlust [-10]; Compulsive Behavior:
  Spread terror and bloodshed [-15]; Dread: Wolfsbane, 2-hex radius [-6]; Frightens Animals [-5];
  Infectious Attack [-5]; Overconfidence [-10]; Vulnerability: Silver/3 [-30]. (needed?)
  Buy back No Fine Manipulators [??]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Intimidation at IQ+3 [8]; Jumping at DX [1]; Shadowing at IQ+2 [6]; Tracking
  at IQ+2 [6].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: (As the cinematic werewolf).
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: {name} . . . . 000 Points
  Age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 10 [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 10 [0].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages:
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Maneuvers:
  @TEXT-BOX:
  (((END BOX)))
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  The Xigana
  Lemme tell ya one thing, kid, don't ever come on to a Xigana woman.
  Nah, their men ain't jealous. Hell, the men pay hardly any attention to the women as women, if'n y'know
  what I mean. Now, Xigana women, they're real easy to look at, if you're not a Pure Earther fanatic, but
  you make one move on'em, and they'll spear you, like, with their eyes. It's like you stop bein' people to
  them, that you've sunk below animal and down to dirt.
  Coldest damned thing I ever seen.
  -- Overheard in Rohvin's Place, Eridani Free Port
  Cool, Collected, Sophisticated...
  Among the races of the civilized galaxy, the Xigana are known for their sophistication, their fashionable
  aloofness, and their taste for tropical resorts and homes. Natives of a planet with a large axial tilt, they
  escape the fierce, frigid winters of their homeworld by moving to the warmest locales they can find,
  where they invariably find their way into the ne plus ultra of society. This isn't always the upper classes
  -- but it is always somewhere both low-key and intense. Xigana are frequently patrons of the arts; those
  who aren't are often the artists themselves, or at least their agents and promoters. A poor Xigana is a rare
  sight, which many feel is some small recompense for the fact that their race is dying out.
  What the Xigana go to great pains to hide from the rest of the galaxy is that they are a metamorphic race.
  Much as earthly creatures like the weasel/ermine change color with the onset of winter, the Xigana
  change form in response to sustained cold weather -- from humanoid omnivore to great, shaggy
  carnivorous quadrupeds. This (to them) betrayal of their exalted status as sentients is more than an
  embarrassement, it is an obscenity, for humanoid Xigana are sterile and virtually non-sexual -- only their
  beast forms are capable of reproduction. Their entire culture is based around denying this aspect of
  themselves, and as a result, the Xigana are a dying race.
  Xigana . . . . 21 points
  Base (Humanoid) Form
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: ST -1 [-10]; DX +2 [20]; IQ +1 [10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Appearance (Beautiful) [15]; Manual Dexterity ¥ 2 [6]; Reputation +1
  (Stylish Sophisticates among the Galaxy at large, all the time) [5]; Voice [10]; Were-form (Two External
  Triggers [see text] -40%; Slow Change -25%) [31].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Chauvinistic [-1]; Dying Race [-10]; Intolerance (Beings who are
  open or casual about sexuality) [-5]; Intolerance (Hairy or reptilian races) [-5]; Odious Racial Habit
  (Snubs non-biped, non-mammal, and small sophonts) [-10]; Parthenomania [-20]; Proud [-1]; Racial
  Secret: Dimorphism [-10]; Staid [-1]; Sterile {-3].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Racial Quirks: In denial about their shifting [- 1]; Prefers temperatures of 65° F or
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  higher, and go to extremes to stay warm [-1]; Vegetarian [-1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Performance (Mating Ritual) at IQ [2]; +2 to Savoir-Faire [1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Taboo Traits: Carousing, Sex Appeal.
  Fertile form . . . . 88 points
  (PPT: +295, NPT: -258)
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Attributes: Enhanced ST +12 (No Fine Manipulators) [88]; DX +3 [10]; IQ -5 [-50];
  HT +4 [45]; Extra Hit Points +4 [20].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Acute Taste and Smell +4 [8]; Alertness +5 [25]; Cast Iron Stomach
  [15]; Claws [15]; Damage Resistance +1 [3]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Four Legs [5]; Penetrating Call
  [5]; Sharp Teeth [5]; Thick Fur [29]; Ultrahearing [5]. Remove Intolerance [5]; Parthenomania [20];
  Proud [1]; Sterile {3].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Bestial [-10]; Dull [-1]; Horizontal [-10]; Innumerate [-5]; Mute
  [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Poverty (Dead Broke) [-25]; Presentient [-20]; Sleepy (50%) [-10];
  Social Stigma (Barbarian) [-15]. Remove Manual Dexterity [-6]; Voice [-10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Remove all three quirks [+3];
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Climbing at DX [2]; Scrounging at IQ [1]; Stealth-DX+1 [4]; Survival (Arctic,
  Mountains, specialized)-IQ+1/IQ+7 [6].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Taboo Traits: Ignore.
  General description
  Xigana (the word is both plural and singular) are a race on the far end of the humanoid scale. Slender and
  smooth-skinned, they are deceptively fragile in appearance. Their skin color tends ranges between ivory
  and a pale blue, and their eyes are generally blue, green or golden. Xigana are completely hairless,
  without even eyebrows or eyelashes.
  Their long, delicate fingers are tipped with thick, almost horn-like nails which both males and females
  carve and paint. Their mouths and noses protrude into something close to, but not quite, a snout. They
  have broad, flat (some say an herbivore's) teeth, but rarely smile.
  Xigana are mammalian, the females possessing breasts similar to a human's.
  Determine a Xigana's humanoid height normally for his ST; their weight is 20 pounds less than human
  normal for their height. In their four-legged "wintershape," their body weight remains the same as their
  humanoid form, and they measure about 40% of their humanoid height at the shoulder. The Xigana
  wintershape has thick, shaggy fur, a more prominent snout and ears, and distinct claws. Fur color will
  match the "summershape" skin color, or, less frequently, be a shade or two lighter; eye color remains the
  same.
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  Ecology
  The Xigana are native to Gyrris, an earthlike planet fourth from its yellow G-Type star, with a gravity of
  .9 G. Gyrris has a 27-hour day, and orbits its sun every 510 of its days. Its surface is split equally
  between land ocean, but the shorelines vary wildly with the seasons.
  Gyrris has an axial tilt almost double that of Earth, which results in extreme seasons that seesaw between
  conditions almost unimaginable to humans, despite the fact that the planetary average temperature is
  almost exactly the same as Earth's. Its weather patterns are wild and chaotic, and a large percentage of
  the planet's water is caught up in its endless storm cycles. Winters on Gyrris are bitterly cold and
  wracked by almost constant blizzards; summers combine the temperature of Death Valley and the
  humidity of a swamp with daily thunderstorms, punctuated by frequent monsoons and hurricanes. Its
  polar icecaps expand and recede visibly over the course of the year.
  The Xigana's niche in their world's ecology is roughly equivalent to humanity's on Earth, even excluding
  the obvious parallels between intelligent species. Their shapechanging biology is not unique <\#028>
  more than a dozen other species on their homeworld (most of them unrelated to the Xigana) shapechange
  in response to the cycle of seasons. As might be guessed, Gyrris attracts a large number of xenobiologists
  and other researchers.
  The Xigana's change, like that of the other shifters on Gyrris, is environmentally triggered. If a humanoid
  Xigana is exposed to temperatures below 40° Fahrenheit for at least two hours, a change to wintershape
  begins; if there is a potential mate present at the same time, the individual will also feel a compulsion to
  begin a mating ritual (see below). Predator-form Xigana have an opposite trigger: two or more hours'
  exposure to a temperature of 70° F or higher returns a Xigana to his humanoid form. The shift between
  forms takes about one Gyrrisan day, during most of which the individual remains active (though
  sluggish). The final four hours of change, though, completely incapacitate him.
  Because of subtle nutritional and hormonal requirements, a Xigana should go through at least one pair of
  changes per year. Failure to do so has no immediate ill effects, although apostate Xigana medical
  researchers (whose work has long since been suppressed) believed that regular changes could prevent
  certain varieties of cancers and several other diseases that operate by systemic disruption.
  Reproduction
  Wintershape females are always fertile; couples mate for life and do not stray when in predator form.
  Gestation lasts 200 days, during which the female's body produces hormones that prevent reversion to
  summershape should the weather change; the production of these hormones tapers off approximately six
  weeks after giving birth.
  Xigana offspring are born exclusively in wintershape, in litters of two to four. "Pups" are able to walk
  and function within three weeks of their birth, although this precocity does not carry over into
  summershape; in fact, Xigana children take longer to learn to walk on two legs than most biped species,
  possibly because of their ingrained quadruped instincts. They do not gain the ability to take biped form
  until they are six weeks old.
  Xigana are mammalian and can nurse their young in either form.
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  Pyschology
  Although to the galaxy in general Xigana seem well-adjusted if somewhat effete and snobbish, they are
  in fact a mire of repression and denial. Inordinately proud of their position at the top of their world's
  evolutionary ladder, they deny to themselves (and hide from the galaxy at large) the fact that they
  shapechange into what they see as an inferior animal form.
  Worse yet, from their point of view, is that their humanoid forms are sterile; they can only reproduce in
  wintershape. Combine this fact with an almost universal Xigana disgust with their "animal" alter egos,
  and the result is a race with deep-seated neuroses and sexual repression. To the average Xigana, the fact
  that they are required to turn into an animal in order to reproduce is an unspeakable obscenity;
  subsequently they have tarred all romantic and sexual behavior -- up to and including the most innocent
  flirting -- with their disgust at their wintershapes. Other aspects of life are likewise affected; for example,
  while technically omnivorous, nearly all humanoid Xigana follow a vegetarian diet, looking down upon
  the consumption of meat as "unclean" and "animalistic."
  Many Xigana take this to another extreme, looking upon the world that bore them and which requires of
  them the change as something to escape. As soon as they are able, these Xigana leave their homeworld,
  migrating and resettling somewhere -- anywhere -- where the local temperature never drops below 70° F.
  Those that can't resettle in warmer climes, or who for reason of employment or other obligation must
  make do with locations that suffer cold weather, are known for the remarkable extremes to which they go
  to remain warm during the winter: anything from the simple expedient of never leaving their homes, to
  the latest in temperature-maintaining arctic gear. The only option of which they do not make use is fur
  clothing, be it real or artificial -- the very idea disgusts them.
  Culture
  Attitudes like these have been cemented into Xigana culture over milennia by their inclusion in all the
  major Xigana religions. Even more significantly, the Xigana language itself attempts to deny and
  obfuscate their dual nature. The language (a M/H skill for non-Xigana) uses complicated tenses,
  pronouns and euphemisms to refer to their two forms, with the wintershape invariably treated (if it must
  be discussed at all) as an utterly different creature with which one has an unfortunate and reprehensible
  connection. One who has succumbed to wintershape is always "away" or "unavailable"; and offworlders
  who know better never, ever inquire about childbearing and offspring -- the only words for pregnancy
  and sex in the Xigana language are either obscenities, euphemisms or (rarely) obscure medical
  terminology.
  Complicating matters is the fact that the Xigana possess a long, complex and heavily stylized mating
  ritual, at least partially instinctive in nature. As noted above, it is triggered by dropping temperatures,
  combined with the proximity of an individual of the opposite sex. An hours-long dance, equal parts
  touching intimacy and astounding savagery, it is strongly reminisicent of similar behaviors in earthly
  animals. Initiated while in humanoid form, the ritual ends with the act of mating anywhere from 24 to 48
  hours later in predator form. While the change can occur without the ritual, the ritual includes the change
  and cannot complete without it.
  Not surprisingly, the mating ritual is perhaps the greatest taboo in Xigana culture. It is never spoken of,
  even between a mated/mating pair. Native medical and psychological texts are maddeningly elliptical in
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  their oblique attempts to refer to it without actually talking about it. And in every Xigana culture, any
  hint of its performance in a settled area is enough to have the offending couple arrested and executed -- if
  they aren't dragged off by a howling mob and lynched first.
  Childrearing is another delicate matter. "Pups" remain with their parents until their first transformation,
  which is usually some time in their first six months. After that, though, parents will hand over children to
  be raised in government- or church-run institutions, then go their separate ways, as often as not. The
  "nuclear family," as it is understood by humans, is an entirely alien concept to the Xigana.
  Outside observers have noted that, as far as the cultural treatment of sexuality is concerned, the Xigana
  combine the worst aspects of Calvinism, Victorian prudery, and the most oppressive, reactionary
  branches of Islam. Even so, there are small, quiet rebel factions, trying to change the dominant social
  paradigm and shatter the racial denial. It will not come as a surprise to learn that these groups are almost
  universally outlawed on Gyrris, with execution the most common penalty for membership and activism.
  Additionally, rebels and social activists who attempt to operate off-planet and thus threaten the racial
  secret are often the targets of assassination squads dispatched by churches, government or even groups of
  "civic-minded" private citizens.
  Politics
  Although snobbish and standoffish, the Xigana freely mix in Galactic society. They do tend to treat
  reptilian races and races possessing significant amounts of hair or fur with substantially more disdain
  than they offer other races, and they will ignore non-bipeds entirely as being "animals" and thus beneath
  them. They similarly categorize tiny races like the Cidi. They can be at a bit of a loss upon first
  encountering races that do not fit easily into their pat worldview (the Traders, Liook Sujan), but usually
  accord them "non-animal" status. Any race with no discernable romantic or sexual behaviors, such as
  (again) the Liook Sujan, often become objects of great respect.
  Their government has no particularly special allies or enemies among the Galactic civilizations save for
  the usual suspects. Even so, they are happy to engage in commerce with any civilization -- even those
  they consider "animals", if a willing middleman can be found -- and have parlayed their world's mineral
  riches and their own skills into a vast wealth.
  ((START BOX))
  Xigana Names
  Adult Xigana names are usually composed of a personal name followed by an occupational surname.
  Personal names are two to five syllables long, each syllable being a consonant-vowel pair, plus an
  optional terminal consonant; sounds which are dipthongs and digraphs in English ("ae," "th," and so on)
  are common in the various dialects. Tegore, Kurathal, Rawonam and Namapra are all common Xigana
  given names. There is no distinction between male and female names.
  Occupational surnames may be as generic as "Baker," "Astrogator" and "Engineer," or they can become
  so complex that they are almost titles: "Chief Partner in Trade with Erapis IV," "Senior Regional
  Administrator for Evet Continent." As one might expect, such epithets can change many times in an
  individual's life.
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  There are no family or clan names. Immature Xigana are known by a given name and use the name of the
  institution in which they were raised as their surname. An adult Xigana with an institutional surname or
  no surname at all is regarded as shiftless and lazy. There are no honorifics or surnames indicating
  marriage/mating status, in the manner of the English "Miss"/"Mrs."
  ((END BOX))
  Xigana in the Campaign
  As a race, the Xigana can be great fun for the GM: supercilious, obnoxious and snobbish, without being
  at all evil. Many Xigana hold positions of power or influence throughout the galaxy, either because of
  wealth or because they are often good at imposing and/or managing hierarchies. A Xigana would make a
  good "manager you love to hate" for a group of player characters who share a Patron. Similarly, Xigana
  make good "shades of grey" opposition -- evil-seeming though not evil, simply unconcerned with what
  "lesser races" think is legal and illegal.
  On the other manipulator, a renegade or insane Xigana can provide a sudden and unexpected plunge into
  a Horror scenario for players expecting a more conventional Space encounter: the mysterious,
  murderous beast that stalks an unsuspecting town or city in the depths of winter. Although their long shift
  times don't allow the kind of instant disappearance that makes a traditional werewolf story all the more
  creepy, the presence of a large, shaggy, and most importantly intelligent carnivore where one ought not
  to be can make for an adventure interesting not just for its combats with the beast, but for the
  investigation done to find out just what it is and where it is from. To add an extra fillip to such a scenario,
  have a team dispatched from Gyrris to hunt down the "dangerous animal" that they claim was illegally
  exported from their world.
  Other Settings
  While obviously designed for use in a GURPS Space campaign, the Xigana can be used as-is in a
  number of other settings. As always, Atomic Horror, Black Ops, and similar settings can make use of an
  apparent werewolf, especially if the more obnoxious aspects of the Xigana racial personality are tuned
  down a bit; the "monster-that-isn't" is an useful device, especially if players need to learn that shooting
  first isn't always the best tactic.
  With a little modification, the Xigana can become a Fantasy race. The "scientific" justification for their
  shifting abilities must be discarded, of course, unless the game world is extremely un-Earthlike.
  Alternatively, it would not be hard to make them a magical race from the distant Northern or Southern
  sub-arctic regions of the world. For further complications, they could be mistaken for more conventional
  were-creatures. If such weres are evil, that may well be why the Xigana are hiding their nature.
  Xigana Characters
  Because their shifting abilities are so slow and are all but involuntary, shapechanging will probably not
  the be primary reason one would choose to play a Xigana. Their complex suite of motivations, behaviors
  and beliefs, though, make them a intriguing roleplaying challenge.
  Xigana characters can fit easily into a standard 100-point campaign, but the GM should be aware that
  unless there is a reason (or repeated reasons) to threaten the racial secret, much of the point cost of this
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  race is wasted on a player character in an exploration/survey or interstellar war campaign. And after the
  third or fourth time, threats to the secret will not only grow old or repetitive, but will increasingly appear
  engineered.
  Player character Xigana are probably better off as rebels and social activists in a more political
  campaign. Working quietly with a few trusted friends on several goals including liberalizing their
  repressed homeworld, they can reveal or conceal their shifting abilities as they see fit. Such characters
  often have an Enemy in the rest of the Xigana; their frequency of appearance is entirely dependant upon
  how vocal an activist the character is..
  The GM may find Xigana NPCs easier to work with. They function well as patrons for any sort of
  treasure hunter, particularly those specializing in fine artworks. Others may support assassin teams aimed
  at off-world activists. Away from Patrons, the lone Xigana immigrant who seemingly has nothing to do
  with a mysterious "Werewolf" serial killer is a good campaign seed, if the GM can justify the necessary
  temperature extremes.
  (((START BOX)))
  @C-BOXHEAD:Sample Character: Tegore Inquisitor . . . . 100 points
  Xigana male, age 00; 0'00"; 000 lbs.; brief description.
  @TEXT-CSTATS:ST 9 [0] DX 13 [20] IQ 14 [20] HT 10 [0]
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Advantages: Clerical Investment/5 [25]; Xigana [21]; Patron: Genevarian Church, 12
  or less [30]; Reputation +2 as Defender of the Faith, Genevarian Church [4]; Status +2 [10].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Disadvantages: Duty to Church [-10]; Fanaticism: Genevarian Church [-15]; Lame:
  Crippled Leg [-15].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Quirks: Dislikes offworlders [-1]; Intensely devout [-1]; Only uses stainless-steel
  canes [-1]; Peppers his speech with "near-miss" almost-swearing [-1]; Prides himself on organizing the
  best "Orthodoxy Teams" in the church [-1].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Skills: Administration-14 [2]; Bard-14 [2]; Beam Weapons/TL-16 [2]; Computer
  Operation/TL-14 [1]; Detect Lies-14 [4]; Diplomacy-14 [4]; Flower Arranging-15 [2]; Guns/TL-16 [2];
  Intelligence Analysis-14 [4]; Interrogation-14 [2]; Intimidation-14 [2]; Karate-14 [8]; Knife-14 [2];
  Performance (Instinctive Xigana Mating Ritual)-14 [0]; Performance/Ritual (Xigana/Genevarian)-16 [4];
  Professional Skill (Genevarian Cleric)-16 [6]; Psychology (Xigana)-14 [4]; Savoir-Faire (Xigana)-16 [1];
  Strategy-14 [4]; Streetwise-14 [2]; Tactics-14 [4]; Theology (Xigana/Genevarian)-16 [6].
  @TEXT-CSTATS:Languages: Standard-14 [2]; Xigana-14 [0].
  @TEXT-BOX:Tegore Inquisitor is one of several "enforcers of orthodoxy" in the largest Xigana
  denomination, the Genevarians. While he administers to a local "diocese" as part of his duties, his
  primary job is the creation, dispatch and coordination of so-called "Orthodoxy Teams." These small
  "special forces"-like groups are assigned the task of capturing or assassinating those heretics who wish to
  drag the Xigana's secret shame into the sight of the debased Galactic culture.
  @TEXT-BOX:A one-time officer in the Xigana planetary military retired with pay due to injury, Tegore
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  entered a Genevarian seminary, and now uses his skills to build the well-trained bands of troopers which
  protect the Xigana secret. He also makes frequent use of offworlder mercenary teams, who know little
  (and care less) about his reasons and their targets.
  @TEXT-BOX:In person he is charming and friendly, with an endearing habit of starting to swear,
  catching himself, and instead saying something else innocuous and inoffensive. If forced into his
  "military" persona he suddenly becomes cold and intimidating -- although he still catches and corrects his
  swearing.
  @TEXT-BOX:Tegore is not an adventuring character, and would not make a good PC unless the
  campaign is both political and based on Gyrris. As a frequent employer of off-worlders for shady
  operations, he would be better used as a Contact or even a Patron (as a representative of the Genevarian
  Church). For characters less than sympathetic to the orthodox cause, Tegore is also a prime candidate for
  the "mastermind" behind their opposition; the fact that he is quite likeable and not even particularly evil
  can add an extra level of complication to an adventure/campaign resolution.
  (((END BOX)))
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  @A-HEAD:Glossary
  @TEXT:
  @TEXT:<I>agriogoiruno:<I> Modern Greek, "were-boar."
  @TEXT:<I>aswang:<I> Philippines. A were with two alternate forms: a nocturnal generic
  canine, and a vampire-like monstrosity.
  @TEXT:<I>babu:<I> A generic term for a variety of werebeasts in the cosmology of the
  Banyang people of modern West Cameroon.
  @TEXT:<I>bisclavret:<I> Breton, "werewolf."
  @TEXT:<I>bodark:<I> Russian, "werewolf."
  @TEXT:<I>boto:<I> Brazilian Indian. A hengeyokai (q.v.) which can transform from a river
  dolphin into a handsome boy.
  @TEXT:<I>boudas:<I> Ethiopia, Morocco and Tanzania. A sorcerer/blacksmith who can turn
  into a were-jackal.
  @TEXT:<I>brouch:<I> Also seen as <I>borouch.<I> Medieval French. A sorcerous werewolf;
  someone who changes shape via a spell.
  @TEXT:<I>bruxsa:<I> Also called <I>cucubuth.<I> Portuguese; a variety of vampire-werewolf
  that consumes flesh and blood.
  @TEXT:<I>chonchon:<I> Chilean. A witch who becomes a were-vulture.
  @TEXT:<I>cucubuth:<I> See <I>bruxsa.<I>
  @TEXT:<I>eigi einhamir:<I> Norwegian/Icelandic: "not of one form" <\#208> used to
  describe those who could assume a different shape.
  @TEXT:<I>f<\#135>elad:<I> Gaelic, "wolf-shapes." Found in the <I>C<\#151>ir Anmann
  (Fitness of Names)<I> referring to those Celtic families in whom lycanthropic traits were
  believed to run.
  @TEXT:<I>furry:<I> A common term used for anthropomorphic animals such as those found in
  cartoons and comic books, and the forthcoming <BI>GURPS Furries<BI>. The strong
  self-identification with such animal images found in certain Internet communities has
  been likened to and linked with traditions of shamanic totems and skinchanging.
  @TEXT:<I>Garou:<I> Best known as the werewolf racial name in the game <I>Werewolf: The
  Apocalypse</I>, this is simply a truncation of the French "loup-garou" (q.v.).
  @TEXT:<I>garwaf:<I> Norman French, "werewolf." It is a cognate of the modern "werewolf;"
  <I>gar-<I> is related to <I>vir-, wer-, were-<I> and other similar morphemes in a number
  of European languages.
  @TEXT:<I>hamrammir:<I> Also <I>hamrammr.<I> Medieval Scandinavian/Germanic term for
  people who could take animal form. Best known of the <I>hamrammir<I> are the
  <I>berserkrs<I> <\#208> the bear-men, from whom we get the modern term "berserker."
  Another variety is a morphing beast which takes the form of the last animal it has eaten,
  and grows in strength with each shift.
  @TEXT:<I>hengeyokai:<I> A class of shapeshifters from Japanese myth, intelligent animals
  who can take human and semi-human forms. Used in this volume to refer generically to all
  varieties of animal-to-human shapeshifter, regardless of origin.
  @TEXT:<I>ilimu:<I> Kenya. A generic term for a variety of man-eating hengeyokai (q.v.).
  @TEXT:<I>kitsune:<I> Japanese. A fox hengeyokai (q.v.), profoundly magical and usually
  female.
  @TEXT:<I>layak:<I> Indonesia (Bali). A morph which inflicts bad luck, illness, accidents
  and death on people.
  @TEXT:<I>limikkin:<I> The Mohawk name for <I>skinwalkers<I> (q.v.).
  @TEXT:<I>lobis<\#151>n:<I> Argentinian Portuguese, "werewolf." Variation on
  <I>lobis-homem<I> and more like the Brazilian <I>lobisomem<I> than its European ancestor.
  @TEXT:<I>lobis-homem:<I> Portuguese, a timid variety of ensorcelled werewolf. Also seen
  as <I>"Lupis-homem."<I>
  @TEXT:<I>lobisomem<I> Brazilian Portuguese, "werewolf." Variation on the
  <I>lobis-homem,<I> but more bloodthirsty and aggressive. Seventh male child of a couple,
  he first turns into a wolf when he is 13. He only takes wolf form between midnight and 2
  AM on the Friday before Lent.
  @TEXT:<I>lobis<\#151>n:<I> Argentine werewolf, who is the seventh son of a seventh son
  (with no intervening daughters). Mostly a carrion eater, but will attack humans on sight;
  exposure to its saliva will turn a person into another lobis<\#151>on.
  @TEXT:<I>lobombre:<I> Spanish, "werewolf." (Its usage is extremely rare.)
  @TEXT:<I>lubin:<I> Also <I>lupin.<I> Norman French. A shy wolf capable of human speech.
  @TEXT:<I>loup-garou:<I> French, "werewolf." <I>Loup<I> is "wolf"; "garou" is actually a
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  corruption of the archaic <I>garwaf<I> (q.v.). The Haitian variety of <I>loup-garou<I> is
  not a were but a morph.
  @TEXT:<I>lupo mannaro:<I> Italian/Sicilian, "werewolf."  Also <I>Lu l<\#151>pe menare.<I>
  @TEXT:<I>lycanthrope:<I> Through Latin from the Greek <I>lykos<I> (wolf) +
  <I>anthropos<I> (man) <\#208> simply, wolfman.
  @TEXT:<I>lycanthropy:<I> The condition of being a werewolf. Also, in some paradigms, a
  communicable disease that turns its victims into werewolves. In the real world, a
  psychiatric term for the delusion that one has or can become a wolf or other animal.
  @TEXT:<I>mactire:<I> Pronounced "mactira", this is the Irish word for "werewolf".
  @TEXT:<I>mai-coh:<I> The Navajo name for <I>skinwalkers<I> (q.v.).
  @TEXT:<I>mijina:<I> Japanese. See <I>tanuki.<I>
  @TEXT:<I>mormolyce:<I> Greek, archaic alternate term for "werewolf."
  @TEXT:<I>morph:<I> When used as a noun in this volume, refers to a being able to copy or
  steal shapes, but having only one predefined form otherwise.
  @TEXT:<I>nahual:<I> Mexican Spanish, "werewolf." From the Aztec word <I>nuahualli,<I>
  "warlock."
  @TEXT:<I>oberroten:<I> Also <I>oberoten.<I> Russian, "werewolf".
  @TEXT:<I>okami-otoko:<I> Japanese, literally "wolf-man" <\#208> but this is a
  back-formation created for the imported Hollywood werewolf; there is no analagous
  creature in Japanese mythology. See <I>hengeyokai.<I>
  @TEXT:<I>priccolitish:<I> Wallachian, "were-dog."
  @TEXT:<I>rakshasa:<I> Also <I>raghosh.<I> India. A morphing monster characterized by its
  huge size and red/blonde hair. Often depicted as a tiger-like demon, this is probably not
  its "true" form.
  @TEXT:<I>runa-uturungu:<I> Argentina; a variety of were-jaguar.
  @TEXT:<I>ruvanush:<I> Romany (Gypsy), "wolf-man." In Gypsy lore, the living victims of a
  vampiric witch, who are forced to become bloodthirsty wolves at night.
  @TEXT:<I>skinchanger:<I> Usually considered synonymous with "werecreature", it can also
  mean a being who uses an actual animal skin as part of the shapechanging process.
  @TEXT:<I>skinwalker:<I> Similar to "skinchanger;" in Native American cultures, it usually
  refers to a cunning and malevolent shapechanging creature of surreptitious habits.
  @TEXT:<I>shungmanitu wicasa:<I> Native American (Lakota), "wolf-spirit man."
  @TEXT:<I>tanuki:<I> Also known as <I>mijina.<I> Japanese. A badger hengeyokai (q.v.),
  usually male, which frequently takes the form of priests or inanimate objects in order to
  play tricks on people.
  @TEXT:<I>theriomorph:<I> From the Greek, <I>therion<I> (beast) + <I>morphe<I> (form):
  having an animal form. Usually refers to a property of divine beings, but also serves as
  a good generic term for mortals.
  @TEXT:<I>tlahuelpuchi:<I> Mexican Spanish. Witches who turn themselves into vampiric
  coyotes, according to folk belief in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala.
  @TEXT:<I>uirapuru:<I> Brazil. A hengeyokai (q.v.) native to the Amazon basin, it is a
  small brown bird which can take the form of a beautiful human boy.
  @TEXT:<I>varulfur:<I> Icelandic, "werewolf."
  @TEXT:<I>varulv:<I> Also <I>varulf.<I> Swedish werewolf which prefers beer to flesh.
  @TEXT:<I>versipellis:<I> Also <I>verto-pellis.<I> Latin, "turnskin" <\#208> someone who
  changes his skin, shape or form. Colloquially used for werewolves, but refers to
  shapechangers of all varieties.
  @TEXT:<I>vilkacis:<I> Latvian. A werewolf that, while evil, occasionally offers
  treasures.
  @TEXT:<I>vilkatas:<I> Lithuanian, "werewolf". See <I>vryk<\#151>lakas.<I>
  @TEXT:<I>vlkodlak:<I> Slovakia. A shy werewolf who is the victim of sorcery.
  @TEXT:<I>vrkolak:<I> Bulgarian, "werewolf." See <I>vryk<\#151>lakas.<I>
  @TEXT:<I>vryk<\#151>lakas:<I> In almost all Slavic languages except Serbian, this word
  and its relatives means "werewolf." In Serbian and (curiously enough) Greek, it means
  "vampire," pointing at a common root for both myths.
  @TEXT:<I>wawkalak:<I> Russian. A werewolf whose animal form is an inflicted punishment,
  and which is not considered dangerous.
  @TEXT:<I>weerwolf:<I> Dutch, "werewolf."
  @TEXT:<I>wehrwolf:<I> German, "werewolf." Also seen in Old High German as "werwolf."
  Additionally, the name of two different fascist terrorist organizations in Germany, first
  during the 1920s and then at the end of World War II, both of which embraced a werewolf
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  motif and conceit.
  @TEXT:<I>wendigo:<I> Canadian/Native American. Also called the <I>witiko,<I> a
  shapeshifting cannibalistic beast vaguely similar to the yeti.
  @TEXT:<I>were:<I> Backformed as an abbreviation from various werecreatures in gaming, it
  in fact is an Old English word meaning "man." Because the usage is so prevalent <\#208>
  and intuitive <\#208> among gamers, it is used in this volume to refer to any being with
  two or more predefined shapes between which it alternates.
  @TEXT:<I>wurdalak:<I> Serbian. A werewolf which has died and come back as a vampire.
  @TEXT:<I>yaguaret<\#142>-ab<\#135>:<I> Argentina, a variety of were-jaguar.
  @TEXT:<I>zapotec:<I> Mexican Spanish. Shapeshifting warlocks in the folklore of the
  Oaxaca state of Mexico.
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  Glossary
  agriogoiruno: Modern Greek, "were-boar."
  aswang: Philippines. A were with two alternate forms: a nocturnal generic canine, and a vampire-like
  monstrosity.
  babu: A generic term for a variety of werebeasts in the cosmology of the Banyang people of modern
  West Cameroon.
  bisclavret: Breton, "werewolf."
  bodark: Russian, "werewolf."
  boto: Brazilian Indian. A hengeyokai (q.v.) which can transform from a river dolphin into a handsome
  boy.
  boudas: Ethiopia, Morocco and Tanzania. A sorcerer/blacksmith who can turn into a were-jackal.
  brouch: Also seen as borouch. Medieval French. A sorcerous werewolf; someone who changes shape via
  a spell.
  bruxsa: Also called cucubuth. Portuguese; a variety of vampire-werewolf that consumes flesh and blood.
  chonchon: Chilean. A witch who becomes a were-vulture.
  cucubuth: See bruxsa.
  eigi einhamir: Norwegian/Icelandic: "not of one form" -- used to describe those who could assume a
  different shape.
  fáelad: Gaelic, "wolf-shapes." Found in the Cóir Anmann (Fitness of Names) referring to those Celtic
  families in whom lycanthropic traits were believed to run.
  furry: A common term used for anthropomorphic animals such as those found in cartoons and comic
  books, and the forthcoming GURPS Furries. The strong self-identification with such animal images
  found in certain Internet communities has been likened to and linked with traditions of shamanic totems
  and skinchanging.
  Garou: Best known as the werewolf racial name in the game Werewolf: The Apocalypse, this is simply a
  truncation of the French "loup-garou" (q.v.).
  garwaf: Norman French, "werewolf." It is a cognate of the modern "werewolf;" gar- is related to vir-,
  wer-, were- and other similar morphemes in a number of European languages.
  hamrammir: Also hamrammr. Medieval Scandinavian/Germanic term for people who could take animal
  form. Best known of the hamrammir are the berserkrs -- the bear-men, from whom we get the modern
  term "berserker." Another variety is a morphing beast which takes the form of the last animal it has
  eaten, and grows in strength with each shift.
  hengeyokai: A class of shapeshifters from Japanese myth, intelligent animals who can take human and
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  semi-human forms. Used in this volume to refer generically to all varieties of animal-to-human
  shapeshifter, regardless of origin.
  ilimu: Kenya. A generic term for a variety of man-eating hengeyokai (q.v.).
  kitsune: Japanese. A fox hengeyokai (q.v.), profoundly magical and usually female.
  layak: Indonesia (Bali). A morph which inflicts bad luck, illness, accidents and death on people.
  limikkin: The Mohawk name for skinwalkers (q.v.).
  lobisón: Argentinian Portuguese, "werewolf." Variation on lobis-homem and more like the Brazilian
  lobisomem than its European ancestor.
  lobis-homem: Portuguese, a timid variety of ensorcelled werewolf. Also seen as "Lupis-homem."
  lobisomem Brazilian Portuguese, "werewolf." Variation on the lobis-homem, but more bloodthirsty and
  aggressive. Seventh male child of a couple, he first turns into a wolf when he is 13. He only takes wolf
  form between midnight and 2 AM on the Friday before Lent.
  lobisón: Argentine werewolf, who is the seventh son of a seventh son (with no intervening daughters).
  Mostly a carrion eater, but will attack humans on sight; exposure to its saliva will turn a person into
  another lobisóon.
  lobombre: Spanish, "werewolf." (Its usage is extremely rare.)
  lubin: Also lupin. Norman French. A shy wolf capable of human speech.
  loup-garou: French, "werewolf." Loup is "wolf"; "garou" is actually a corruption of the archaic garwaf
  (q.v.). The Haitian variety of loup-garou is not a were but a morph.
  lupo mannaro: Italian/Sicilian, "werewolf." Also Lu lópe menare.
  lycanthrope: Through Latin from the Greek lykos (wolf) + anthropos (man) -- simply, wolfman.
  lycanthropy: The condition of being a werewolf. Also, in some paradigms, a communicable disease that
  turns its victims into werewolves. In the real world, a psychiatric term for the delusion that one has or
  can become a wolf or other animal.
  mactire: Pronounced "mactira", this is the Irish word for "werewolf".
  mai-coh: The Navajo name for skinwalkers (q.v.).
  mijina: Japanese. See tanuki.
  mormolyce: Greek, archaic alternate term for "werewolf."
  morph: When used as a noun in this volume, refers to a being able to copy or steal shapes, but having
  only one predefined form otherwise.
  nahual: Mexican Spanish, "werewolf." From the Aztec word nuahualli, "warlock."
  oberroten: Also oberoten. Russian, "werewolf".
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  okami-otoko: Japanese, literally "wolf-man" -- but this is a back-formation created for the imported
  Hollywood werewolf; there is no analagous creature in Japanese mythology. See hengeyokai.
  priccolitish: Wallachian, "were-dog."
  rakshasa: Also raghosh. India. A morphing monster characterized by its huge size and red/blonde hair.
  Often depicted as a tiger-like demon, this is probably not its "true" form.
  runa-uturungu: Argentina; a variety of were-jaguar.
  ruvanush: Romany (Gypsy), "wolf-man." In Gypsy lore, the living victims of a vampiric witch, who are
  forced to become bloodthirsty wolves at night.
  skinchanger: Usually considered synonymous with "werecreature", it can also mean a being who uses an
  actual animal skin as part of the shapechanging process.
  skinwalker: Similar to "skinchanger;" in Native American cultures, it usually refers to a cunning and
  malevolent shapechanging creature of surreptitious habits.
  shungmanitu wicasa: Native American (Lakota), "wolf-spirit man."
  tanuki: Also known as mijina. Japanese. A badger hengeyokai (q.v.), usually male, which frequently
  takes the form of priests or inanimate objects in order to play tricks on people.
  theriomorph: From the Greek, therion (beast) + morphe (form): having an animal form. Usually refers to
  a property of divine beings, but also serves as a good generic term for mortals.
  tlahuelpuchi: Mexican Spanish. Witches who turn themselves into vampiric coyotes, according to folk
  belief in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala.
  uirapuru: Brazil. A hengeyokai (q.v.) native to the Amazon basin, it is a small brown bird which can take
  the form of a beautiful human boy.
  varulfur: Icelandic, "werewolf."
  varulv: Also varulf. Swedish werewolf which prefers beer to flesh.
  versipellis: Also verto-pellis. Latin, "turnskin" -- someone who changes his skin, shape or form.
  Colloquially used for werewolves, but refers to shapechangers of all varieties.
  vilkacis: Latvian. A werewolf that, while evil, occasionally offers treasures.
  vilkatas: Lithuanian, "werewolf". See vrykólakas.
  vlkodlak: Slovakia. A shy werewolf who is the victim of sorcery.
  vrkolak: Bulgarian, "werewolf." See vrykólakas.
  vrykólakas: In almost all Slavic languages except Serbian, this word and its relatives means "werewolf."
  In Serbian and (curiously enough) Greek, it means "vampire," pointing at a common root for both myths.
  wawkalak: Russian. A werewolf whose animal form is an inflicted punishment, and which is not
  considered dangerous.
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  weerwolf: Dutch, "werewolf."
  wehrwolf: German, "werewolf." Also seen in Old High German as "werwolf." Additionally, the name of
  two different fascist terrorist organizations in Germany, first during the 1920s and then at the end of
  World War II, both of which embraced a werewolf motif and conceit.
  wendigo: Canadian/Native American. Also called the witiko, a shapeshifting cannibalistic beast vaguely
  similar to the yeti.
  were: Backformed as an abbreviation from various werecreatures in gaming, it in fact is an Old English
  word meaning "man." Because the usage is so prevalent -- and intuitive -- among gamers, it is used in
  this volume to refer to any being with two or more predefined shapes between which it alternates.
  wurdalak: Serbian. A werewolf which has died and come back as a vampire.
  yaguareté-abá: Argentina, a variety of were-jaguar.
  zapotec: Mexican Spanish. Shapeshifting warlocks in the folklore of the Oaxaca state of Mexico.
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/GURPS [multi]/SETTING/GURPS - Shapeshifters .pdf