The Si Fan Assassins ================= STR DEX CON BODY INT EGO PRE COM PD ED SPD REC END STUN 15 14 15 15 10 0 15 10 8 3 3 6 30 40 CV DCV PHA 5(6) 5 4,8,12 Automaton, Can't Be Stunned LS:Arabic, fluent Shadowing 13- Fam. w/ Melee Weapons Fam. w/ Small Arms Fam. w/ Missile Weapons +1 level w/ All Combat Disadvantages [15] Watched by Si Fan 14- [15] Drug-crazed, zombielike, concealable, strong reaction [10] Dependent on Hashish every 5 hours or takes 3D6, uncommon [10] Reputation 11- Murderous Fanatic Characteristics 62 + Skills 38 = 100 Total = Base 50 + Disadvantages 50 Boxers ================= STR DEX CON BODY INT EGO PRE COM PD ED SPD REC END STUN 10 11 12 10 10 10 10 10 3 2 2 4 24 21 CV DCV PHA 4 4 6,12 Fam.w/ Firearms Fam. w/ Common Melee Weapons Variable 3-point skill (such as Combat Driving, Demolitions, Tactics, Fam. w/ Heavy Weapons, +1 Combat Skill Level) Disadvantages -- [15] Watched by Si Fan 14- Characteristics 8 + Skills 7 = 15 Total = Base 0 + Disadvantages 15 Dayaks ================= STR DEX CON BODY INT EGO PRE COM PD ED SPD REC END STUN 10 11 18 10 10 10 15 10 3 4 2 6 46 24 CV DCV PHA 4(5) 4 6,12 + 3 inches Swimming (5 inches total) Transport fam. w/ Boats KS:Knots 11- PS: Diving 12- Concealment 11- Contortionist 11- LS:Malay, native Tracking 11- Survival 11- Fam. w/ Knives Fam. w/ Blowgun +1 level w/ Blowgun Disadvantages -- [15] Watched by Si Fan [10] Unfamiliar w/ Civilization Characteristics 25 + Skills 25 = 50 Total = Base 25 + Disadvantages 25 Dacoits ================= STR DEX CON BODY INT EGO PRE COM PD ED SPD REC END STUN 13 14 12 10 10 11 13 10 4 2 3 5 24 23 CV DCV PHA 5(6) 5 4,8,12 Acrobatics 12- Animal Handler 11-:Creepy Crawlies Climbing 12- Concealment 12- Lockpicking 11- LS:Hindi, native Shadowing 11- Sleight of Hand 12- Stealth 12- Streetwise 8- KS:Poisons 11- +2 inches Running (Total 8 inches) Fam. w/ Common Melee Weapons Fam. w/ Missile Weapons +1 level w/ Knives Disadvantages -- [15] Watched 14- by Si Fan [15] Obeys Orders [10] Distinctive Looks:Dacoit, concealable, strong [5] Reputation 8- Thief Characteristics 31 + Skills 38 = 69 Total = Base 25 + Disadvantages 44 Nubian Bodyguards ================= STR DEX CON BODY INT EGO PRE COM PD ED SPD REC END STUN 25 11 15 13 10 10 15 8 10 3 2 8 30 34 CV DCV PHA 4(6) 4 6,12 +2 levels w/ Hand to Hand Combat Fam. w/ Common Melee Weapons Fam. w/ Pistols LS:Arabic, native PS:(Varies, e.g., Valet, Chauffeur, Cook) KS:(Varies w/ Secondary Profession, e.g. Cooking, Oriental Poetry, City Knowledge Talent: Combat Sense 11- Disadvantages -- [15] Watched 14- by Si Fan [15] Obeys Orders [15] Giant Characteristics 50 + Skills 20 = 70 Total = Base 25 + Disadvantages 45 Thugs ================= STR DEX CON BODY INT EGO PRE COM PD ED SPD REC END STUN 18 11 14 10 10 10 13 10 8 3 3 7 28 26 CV DCV PHA 4(5) 4 4,8,12 Disguise 12- Climbing 11- Concealment 11- LS:Tamil, native Stealth 11- Streetwise 8- Thugee Maneuvers: Grab, Choke, Escape Fam. w/ Garrote Fam. w/ Noose +1 level w/ Thugee +1 level w/ Noose Disadvantages -- [15] Watched 14- by Si Fan [15] Fanatic [10] Reputation 11-: Religious Assassin [5] Distinctive Looks: Thug Characteristics 35 + Skills 34 = 69 Total = Base 25 + Disadvantages 44 The Si Fan is a federation of various Asian murder cults, overseen by a Council of Seven and directed by Dr. Fu Manchu. The doctor once boasted that this secret murder society was older than Buddhism, but several of its current component groups are of much more recent origin. Members include former Chinese Boxers, Burmese dacoits (robbers), Syrian and Persian Assassins, Indian Thugs (Phansigars), Tibetan warrior monks, Nubian wrestlers, and Indonesian tribesmen. Members of the Council of Seven wear silver rings with emerald settings for identification. "Boxers" derive their title from a mistranslation of the name of their secret society, The Society of Righteous Fists. The organization flourished in northern China during the late 1800s and was dedicated to ridding China of foreign meddlers, notably the British. Recruiters held public demonstrations to convince their audiences that members were immune to European bullets. Members murdered Christian missionaries and their converts, but when an army of Boxers marched on the capital to drive out the foreign diplomatic corps, a coalition of colonial powers (including the Japanese) invaded and eventually defeated them. The invaders captured the Empress Dowager and restored her to power, and the influence of the Boxers waned rapidly. The Boxers make up the rank and file of the Si Fan: soldiers, couriers, front men. Dacoits are members of a thieves' guild with religious links to the Phansigars. Masters of stealth, knifeweilding and poison, the dacoits are Fu Manchu's most commonly used assassins. He calls in other elements of the Si Fan mainly when he needs a specialist. One of their favorite techniques is to introduce a venemous bug or reptile into a sleeping victim's room, then withdraw the beast by means of a thread once its work is done. Dacoits often are garbed only in loincloths and small, tight turbans. Members from the Indian branch have a religious symbol tattooed on their foreheads. The Assassins are a Shiite Moslem sect founded c.1090 to deal with Christian Crusaders and Sunni Moslem "heretics." Members perform their crimes under the influence of hashish and will keep fighting until incapacitated. The order is ruled by an autocratic grand master traditionally known as The Old Man of the Mountain. Assassins are probably the newest members of the Si Fan since the British only recently gained control of the Mideast. They are the society's shock troops; on missions a sober lietenant will direct one or two drug-crazed slayers. Thugs are a religious fraternity of robbers and murderers who strangle their victims as sacrifices to the Hindu goddess of destruction Kali. They traditionally waylaid wealthy travelers by disguising themselves as holy men or merchants. They were (supposedly) repressed by the British between 1829 and 1836, when 300 members were executed. Tibetan warrior monks are the classic, mysterious martial artists whose hand-to- hand combat ability is alleged to be mystically augmented. They wear shapeless brown robes with deep cowls that hide their faces. Not much else is known about them; although they hold a prominent position on the Council of Seven, warrior monks are rarely employed on missions. Malaysian Dayaks, tribesmen native to Borneo, are employed by the Si Fan for their skill with ropes and boats and their diving ability. Nubians act as bodyguards and personal servants for society officers; Fah Lo Suee usually has a couple of them nearby. One element conspicous by its absence is the ninjas of Japan. There are several reasons for this. Japan, in contrast to other Asian nations, is a successful and prosperous world power in the 1920s and '30s. Since being forced to trade with the Americans, the Japanese have welcomed Westernization not only is Nippon not under foreign domination, but it is well on its way to becoming a colonial power itself. Despite talk of a pan-Asian prosperity zone, the Japanese are as eager as the Europeans to carve up Asia for fun and profit. The Japanese view the Western nations as rivals rather than oppressors and are traditional enemies of the Chinese, Koreans and Russians. Also, the ninja clans are clannish. They keep to themselves to avoid prosecution when they aren't being hired on the sly by Japanese politicians for espionage missions. They have professional secrets to protect and a long history of government service to be proud of. Ninjas may be despised as honorless criminals in Nippon but they're as patriotic as the next guy. Why should they throw their lot in with a bunch of foreigners? A third reason ninjas aren't Si Fan members is that Western writers (such as Sax Rohmer) didn't know about them in the pulp era. They were truly a secret society. Note that with the exception of the Tibetan monks, most Si Fan agents aren't martial artists. Europeans had heard rumors about Chinese Kung Fu (Wu Shu), but the only Oriental fighting style they were really familiar with was Japanese jujitsu, which came to the West as the sport, judo. ===================== Hero System write-ups by Kevin Scrivner