Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 25 STR 15 14- Lift 800 kg; 5d6 HTH Damage [2] 23 DEX 39 14- OCV: 8/DCV: 8 23 CON 26 14- 18 BODY 16 13- 18 INT 8 13- PER Roll 15- 20 EGO 20 13- ECV: 7 23 PRE 13 14- PRE Attack: 4 1/2d6 10 COM 0 11- 8 PD 3 Total: 8 PD (0 rPD) 8 ED 3 Total: 8 ED (0 rED) 4 SPD 7 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 10 REC 0 46 END 0 43 STUN 0 Total Characteristics Cost: 150 Movement: Running: 8"/16" Leaping: 5"/10" Swimming: 5"/10" Cost Powers & Skills 5 "Not Fearful Like The Others": +10 PRE; Only To Resist PRE Attacks (-1) 6 "Fierce Elemental Logic Of The Savage": Mental Defense (10 points total) 4 "Cat-Like Speed": Running +2" (8" total), END 1 16 "Always Carried The Fight To The Enemy": Running 8", Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); Only To Make A Half Move (-1/2) 3 "He Was Like A Sea-Creature Himself": Swimming +3" (5" total), END 1 6 "Keen Senses": +2 PER with all Sense Groups 5 "Feline Gifted Eyes": Nightvision 1 "Remain Under The Surface Twice As Long As An Ordinary Swimmer": LS (Extended Breathing: 1 END per Turn) Perks 9 Ka-nu, Pictish Ambassador And Councilor: Contact (Contact has very useful Skills or resources, Very Good relationship with Contact) 14- 20 Brule The Spear-Slayer: Follower (100-point base) 15 "I Am King!": Fringe Benefit: King Talents 9 "Perfect Coordination": Ambidexterity (no Off Hand penalty) 16 "A Wild Rage Surged Up In Him And The King Of Valusia Went Berserk": Berserk Fury 6 "Bleeding From Wounds On Cheek... Arms... Legs": Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED) 22 "From The Corner Of His Eye He Saw A Blur Of Movement": Danger Sense (self only, out of combat, Function as a Sense) 15-/13- 10 "Slew A Foe At Each Blow": Deadly Blow: +1d6 (any circumstances, any HTH weapon) 3 "He Was Like A Sea-Creature Himself": Environmental Movement (no penalties in Water) 14 "Nerves And Sinews Of Steel And Fire": Fearless 10 "Back-Stroke Shore Through The Neck-Cords Of Another": Follow-Through Attack Skills 20 "Over-Whelmed By A Whirlwind Of Steel": +4 with HTH Combat 2 AK: The Seven Empires 11- 3 AK: Valusia 13- 2 AK: Zalgara 11- 3 Acrobatics 14- 3 "Kull Handed Over The Bracelet": Bribery 14- 3 "Contemplated Matters Of State": Bureaucratics 14- 3 CK: Valusia 13- 3 "Caught The Vines And Swung Down Them": Climbing 14- 3 Fast Draw (HTH) 14- 2 Gambling (Board Games) 13- 3 "Replied To All The Formal And Laudatory Phrases": High Society 14- 0 "Swore In His Own Language": Language: Atlantean (idiomatic) 5 Language: Valusian (idiomatic; literate) 3 Persuasion 14- 3 Riding 14- 3 "Easily And Silently As A Leopard": Stealth 14- 3 Tactics 13- 3 "Trained Eyes Easily Followed The Course Through The Grass": Tracking 13- 0 TF: Equines 3 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Thrown Knives, Axes, and Darts Total Powers & Skill Cost: 253 Total Cost: 403 200+ Disadvantages 15 Hunted: Thulsa Doom, sorcerer 8- (As Pow, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Harshly Punish) 20 Hunted: Serpent Men 11- (As Pow, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Capture) 20 Psychological Limitation: "I Give You My Word—Which Is Never Broken" (Common, Total) 15 Psychological Limitation: "Kull Was Not Interested In Women... War And Conquest Held His Attention" (Common, Strong) 15 Psychological Limitation: Hates/Hunts The Serpent Men (Common, Strong) 5 Social Limitation: Atlantean Barbarian (Frequently, Minor, Not Limiting In Some Cultures) 113 Experience Points 403 Total Disadvantage Points
Background/History: Originally a wild and uncivilized barbarian from Atlantis, Kull, the man who would eventually don the crown of Valusia, has had a long and tumultuous history. Captured by the Lemurians, he served two years as a slave in their galleys, before escaping to live as an outlaw in the hills surrounding Valusia. Captured again, he spent time first in a Valusian dungeon, then as a gladiator in her arenas, then a solider in her armies. His skill at arms allowing him to rise to the rank of commander, he eventually killed tryannical King Borna and took the crown for himself.
Now, Kull tries to hold the crumbling and slowly decaying empire together. He’s rebuilt the armies, reorganized the mercenaries, put down several rebellions, and broken an attempted invasion. The granaries are full, the merchants rich, and the people at peace. And yet, the populace complain, mostly because Kull is a foreigner, a barbarian from Atlantis. As for Kull, he’s sworn to remain king until his last breath, for once he goes, Valusia and the rest of the Seven Empires will go with him.
Personality/Motivation: Kull is a curious figure. Used to battle and bloodshed, his patience is often tested by the ways of statecraft, although he does his best to be fair and just in his decisions. At the same time, he finds himself questioning himself and the world around him. To him, the world of Valusia is like a dream, and there are times where he wonders if he, or his world, is real, or not just a figment of someone’s fevered imagination. Unlike Howard’s far more famous barbarian, Conan, Kull can be deeply contemplative, giving great thought to metaphysical matters Conan would dismiss with a shrug. “What is areal” is a question often debated in discussed in Kull stories.
Quote: "He dreamed a dream and fulfilled it. Because he was a great fighter and a savage swordsman, because he was crafty in battle, because the barbarian mercenaries loved him, he became king. Because he is a warrior and not a politician, because his swordsmanship help him now not at all, his throne is rocking beneath him.”
Powers/Tactics: As with many of Howard’s characters, Kull is strong and fast. He’s of huge size, with strength to match, and has smashed heavy tables with a single blow of a massive fist. In battle he moves constantly, with a speed that belies his bulk, and can easily kill a man with each blow of his sword. His durability is almost superhuman, allowing him to survive encounters that would kill a lesser man. At the same time, he’s a canny warrior and no fool on the battlefield or in the throne room.
Appearance: Kull is a huge man, possible taller and heaver than Conan. He is described as tall, broad shouldered and deep chested, with a massive, yet lithe build. His skin is brown from the sun, while his eyes are gray and his hair black. His sheer size is considered unusual, at least for the people of Valusia. He clothes tend to be proper for a king of Valusia and he will don full armor for battle (if possible).
Designer's Notes: The precursor to Conan, Kull shows Howard’s swords-and-sorcery in its infant stages. Influenced by Lord Dunsany’s stories , such as The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth, Kull’s world is mysterious and strange, fading slowly to be lost in the great Cataclysm that will birth the Hyperborean Age (fittingly, the Atlanteans, Kull’s people, will eventually become known as Cimmerians). Kull himself is quite unlike the live-for-the-moment Conan. Philosophical, although still capable of mass slaughter with as sword, Kull ponders questions Conan would never bother to ask.
Kull’s character sheet was developed from the Del Rey Robert E Howard collection Kull: Exile of Atlantis. As with my other character sheets derived from the Del Rey REH collections, I used only what was presented in the stories themselves.
(Kull created by Robert E Howard, character sheet created by Michael Surbrook)
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