GURPS is a trademark of Steve Jackson Games.  All rights
reserved.
Highlander is a trademark of Panzer/Davis Productions. All rights
reserved

Some information contained herein is was adapted from the
Highland.Faq file, administrated by Debbie Douglass
(ddoug@dl5000.bc.edu).

And from the other GURPS Highlander game by Eric P. Isaacson &
Travis Sparkman



     "From the Dawn of time we came; moving silently down through
the centuries, living many secret lives, struggling to reach the
time of the Gathering; when the few who remain will battle to the
last.  No one has ever known we were among you... until now."

                             -- Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez
                                896 BC - 1541 AD

     You are immortal.  You have the power of the Quickening.  It
flows though you like a river of life.  It calls you to combat.
It pulls you to the time of the Gathering, when only the
strongest will be left.  The Quickening gives you the strength to
fight through the ages.  There can be only one!

Table of Contents

Introduction 

Characters

Powers of the Quickening

The Quickening

Getting Quickening

Holy Ground

The Gathering

The Prize

Physiology

Immortals and their Swords

Immortal Combat

The Watchers

LopFest 2000

Highlander Worlds


Introduction

     This game is based on the Highlander universe (Highlander,
Highlander the Series, and Highlander III).  Because Highlander
II contradicts the other two Highlander movies and the entire TV
series, it has been exempt as a separate movie taking place in an
alternate, rather silly, universe.
     
     Highlander is not a good name for this game, as the
Highlanders are actually Conner and Duncan Macloed.  A better
name might be "the Gathering" (but this has been taken by a card
game) or  "the Quickening" (but that sounds lame).  "Immortals"
might also work, but again, this has been taken by another game
system.
     
     It is highly recommended that you see both Highlander movies
(That is, Highlander I and III) and watch the series to get a
feel for the world.  If you wish, you could call the pilot
episode for Highlander the series (that is, Highlander: The
Gathering) Highlander II, but this usually confuses people, so
don't do it in public.  There are not too many contradictions
between the Highlander movies and series (if you exempt
Highlander II-The Sickening) so the information that follows will
cover all of them.
     
     It is also necessary to crossover Highlander with other
GURPS source books to get a proper background world (see section
on Highlander Worlds).


Characters
     Character types will depend on what world the characters are
in (Modern, Western, Swashbuckler, Middle Ages, etc.).  Skills
must also be appropriate to that world (no Computer Operation
skill in 1783).  However, most immortals will have skills from
previous ages such as Armory, Riding, and of course Weapon:
Sword.
     
     In GURPS most characters start out with 100 points.  This is
far too low for the Quickened immortals.

300 points - New Immortal
     The PC is a newly realized immortal and may only have a few
kills (if any) to his credit. He will grow in points quickly as
he makes new kills, and will hopefully have a long future ahead.
Most characters should start at this level.  Richie is a new
immortal.

400 points - Low Immortal
     The PC has several kills, maybe even one major kill.  His
skills have progressed greatly, but he is still easy pickings for
greater immortals.

600 points - Standard Immortal
     Most immortals are on this level, but starting PCs should
not be allowed to begin on this level.  This character would be
several hundred years old, and have a great many skills at a very
high levels.  This is the level of Duncan and Connor Macloed.

800 points - High Immortal
     Only a few immortals get this powerful.  The character would
probably be over a thousand years old.
     
1000+ points - Great Immortal
     It is unlikely any immortal, except the last few will be
this powerful.  At this point, the immortal's Quickening power
may start to extend itself into the very nature of the universe.

Advantages
     Most standard advantages are available to immortals.  Magic
and Psionic advantages are not allowed unless these fit into the
game world.  Almost all immortals should get Alternate Identity
in a modern or futuristic world.  There is one advantage all
immortals must get -- Quickening.

Quickening                      200 points first level
                                 60 points per extra level
     All immortals must get this advantage.  It counts against
your total points so a 400 point character will have only 200
left to use on other things.  It is a combination of Unaging,
Fast Regeneration, and other special abilities.  A much more
detailed description of what Quickening is and what it does is
described below.
     Unaging (50)
     Fast Regeneration (50)
     Secret:Immortal (-20)
     Code of Honor:Immortal (-10)
     Special Resurrection (45)
     Sense Immortal (10)
     Charge Sword (35/level)
     Distract (5/level)
     Pain (10/level)
     Fear (10/level)
     Sterile (-5)
     Breathe Water (10)
     Breathe Earth (10)
     Vulnerability: Decapitation (-20)
     Special Instant Healing (10)
     Animal Power (10)

Contact: Watcher                 10 points
     The immortal has a Watcher friend who acts as an informant.
This Watcher can be very valuable, giving warnings, hints,
suggestions, and information about the whereabouts of other
immortals.  The Watcher puts his life in jeopardy by doing this,
so he may require his immortal to do something for him from time
to time.

Disadvantages
     An immortal can have almost any disadvantage as long as it
is not contradictory to being immortal.  Disadvantages like Old
Age, Epilepsy, Hemophilia, and such are not allowed.  Immortals
may have lost limbs, eyes, etc. as they cannot grow these back.
Codes of Honor, Vows, and Secrets are common.  There is still a
forty point max on disadvantages.

Skills

Meditation             M/H
     This is the ability to relax and enter a state of mediation
and peace.  An immortal can do this in any position, but he must
be very relaxed and not be distracted.  He is somewhat vulnerable
to attacks. It takes five minutes to enter meditation.  Reduce
this to 4 minutes at skill level 12, 3 minutes at skill level 14,
and 2 minutes at or above 16.
     
     While meditating, an immortal can double his range to sense
immortals, call an animal power (if the animal is nearby), or
rest to lose fatigue points (lose 1 fatigue point every five
minutes).  He can only do one of these activities per mediation
session, however.

Concile Sword          M/VH
     With this skill, an immortal can hide his or her sword
somewhere on his or her person.  On a successful skill roll, the
sword is hidden and cannot be seen unless his person is searched.
There is a +4 to the skill if the immortal is wearing a trench
coat, monk's robe, or other such garment.

Immortal Lore          M/H
     This is historical and legendary knowledge regarding
immortals.  Some humans can have this, such as the Watchers, and
for immortals this skill is generally restricted to a maximum of
12.  Immortals do not know everything about their kind and only
learn what their mentor tells them and what they learn on their
journey through the ages.  However, old immortals have more
knowledge than younger ones.  For every 50 years the immortal's
been around, he can raise his skill ceiling in Immortal Lore by
one point.  Thus, a 400 year only immortal can have a max
Immortal Lore level of 20.

     Watchers can get any skill level, as they have huge archives
of knowledge available to them.  Some immortals are Watchers,
such as Methos, and they can do likewise.


Powers of the
Quickening
     Below is a listing and description of all the powers an
immortal has with the Quickening.  Range and power will increase
with each level of Quickening.  The first two are listed more
comprehensively in other GURPS source books (Aliens or Supers)

Unaging
     The immortal will not age beyond the age at which he "died"
for the first time.  Make a note of his apparent age and his real
age.

Fast Regeneration
     The immortal will regenerate one hit point per minute.  He
cannot heal lost limbs, but organs (except sensory organs) will
heal.

Code of Honor: Immortal
     This mainly focuses around the fact that no immortal will
fight on holy ground.  It also dictates that immortals are only
to be killed by sword and fighting should only be done by sword.

Secret: Immortal
     You are immortal, and the public should not know about it.
You must try to keep this fact secret at all cost.  You may tell
close friends (and spouse if you marry), but the public must
never know.  Other immortals will know you are immortal, as well
as the Watchers, but that is of no consequence to your secret.

Special Resurrection
     This is similar to resurrection in GURPS Supers.  However,
it is limited by the fact that an immortal will not come back to
life until his hit points have healed above 0, as per fast
regeneration.  An immortal will also not come back to life if his
head was severed, destroy, or his body was destroyed (see
Immortal Combat).

Sense Immortal
     This is the ability to sense other immortals at a distance.
When two immortals are 2d6x10 yards apart they will sense each
other (GM rolls, and tells the PC when he senses the other one).
Immortals do not have an individual signature, so it is
impossible to distinguish between immortals based on their
Quickening.  However, Quickening power level can be identified on
a successful IQ-4 roll.  This may help to identify an approaching
immortal.
     
     This can also be used to sense or "know" holy ground when it
is near.  Holy ground can be "known" at a range of 1d6x50 yards,
but does not cause a stir in the immortal's Quickening like it
does when another immortal is near.  On holy ground, the
immortal's range to sense other immortal's is extended to 1d6x50.

Charge Sword
     This power allows an immortal to focus his Quickening power
into his sword, thus boosting the damage that is done.  When
immortals fight with charged swords, an explosion of sparks and
arcs of electricity can be seen when the blade strikes metal or
another blade.

     The Level is the level of power for charging a sword and
must be less than or equal to the immortal's Quickening Power.
An immortal with Quickening level 4 can only use Charge Sword
levels 1-4.
     Level     Bonus
      1        +1d
      2        +1d+2
      3        +1d+3
      4        +1d+4
      5        +2d
      6        +2d+2
     Usage of this power causes 1 point of fatigue per level, per
minute of use.

Distract
     This is the ability to shake another immortal's (or
mortal's) consciousness.  It can distract an immortal from
meditation, from firing a gun, or any other activity.  The
subject must be in visual range.  The attacker must make an
unmodified IQ roll to attack with Distract.  If he succeeds, the
subject must make a will roll minus the attacker's Quickening
level.  Distraction can only be done once a minute (or once every
60 combat rounds).  It can be done to mortals as well as
immortals.

Pain
     This is a powerful form of Distract that allows the immortal
to actually shock the target's conscience.  He can do this to
both mortals and immortals.  It is similar to Mental Blow (B169)
but not quite the same. The target must also be in visual range
for this to work.
     
     The attacker must make an unmodified IQ roll to attack with
Pain. If he succeeds, the subject must make a will roll minus the
attacker's Quickening level. If he fails, he is hit by a wave of
pain. The target is distracted as above and stunned until he can
make a successful health roll to come out.  The target will also
lose fatigue and might take actual damage.
     
     Pain cannot be used until Quickening level 4 is achieved.
At that point Pain will do 1d6 points of fatigue to the target.
At level 5 Quickening it will do 2d6, and at level 6, 3d6 points
of fatigue.  Once the target's fatigue has been reduced to zero
any remaining points will be transferred as actual damage and the
target will fall unconscious.  No further attacks can be done on
an unconscious foe.  Pain can only be done once a minute at max
(or once every 60 combat rounds).

Fear
     Fear only works on normal mortals and animals.  It causes a
mortal to suddenly fear the immortal who is using Fear.  The
mortal will retreat or run away in terror if possible.  To attack
with fear, the immortal must make an unmodified IQ roll. To
resist the effects of Fear, the mortal must make a will roll
minus the immortals Quickening level.  The target must be in
visual range.

Sterile
     Immortals are incapable of bearing children.

Breathe Water
     The immortal can breathe underwater, fresh water or sea
water.  Thus, immortals cannot drown.

Breathe Earth
     The immortal can extract air from earth to breathe.  This is
why immortals do not keep dying when they are buried unless they
are somehow crushed or trapped.

Vulnerablity: Decapitation
     Normally, everyone is vulnerable to this.  However,
immortals are immortal, and normally would be invulnerable to
death by decapitation (by definition of immortality).  This means
that if an immortal losses his head, in anyway, he is dead for
good.
     
Special Instant Healing
     An immortal my opt to burn-up some of his Quickening power
to instantly heal all damage and immediately come back to life if
he is "dead".  All wounds are healed immediately in a shower of
sparks and lightning.
     
     The immortal will lose 10 cp from his Quickening advantage.
For instance, if the immortal was at Quickening level 4 (380 cp
total),  he would be knocked back to level 3 but have 370 cp.  He
would only need 10 more cp to regain the lost level.  If the
immortal was at level 4 but had 400cp in the advantage, he would
still be at level 4 with 390 cp.
     
     The immortal must have at least Quickening level 2 to do
this.

Animal Power
     Immortals can also call the Quickening power of animals into
their being to get other special abilities.  The immortal must
enter meditation to do this and must be in visual range of the
animal he is to match.  Below is a listing of animals and the
special ability the immortal can get from them.  The ability
lasts until the immortal stops using it or until it is logically
over.
     
     Stag - (or other related beast, like a gazelle)
          Run at fifty miles per hour (25 move), half fatigue from
          running.

     Bear - (or other large, strong beast, like a gorilla)
          Double natural ST (not cyber-boosted strength).

     Eagle - (or hawk, or other sharp-eyed bird)
          +5 vision roll.

     Fish - (or any swimming sea creature like sharks, or whales)
          Triple swimming speed, an automatic success on all
          swimming rolls.

     Cat - (or other feline creatures, like lions and tigers)
          Grants night-vision, 1/2 penalty for darkness.  Lasts
          until it is light again, or until the immortal wills it.

     Bull - (or ox, or donkey)
          Gives a +5 to will roll.

     Some of these animals may be hard to find in high-tech
cities and on other planets.  In the cyberpunk future, some may
be extinct (like the stag or eagle).


The Quickening
     The Quickening is what makes an immortal immortal.
Quickening resides in all life forms, from humans to bugs and
from birds to whales. Unlike most creatures, an immortal's
Quickening is thick and heavy, a swirling pool of Quickening
energy.  In combat, when another immortal dies, this whirlpool
effect pulls the dead immortal's Quickening into the victor's
pool, like a magnet.
     
     Quickening itself is invisible.  But, the effects of the
Quickening energy can been observed when an immortal dies in the
violent transfer of power from the loser to the victor.
Quickening gives immortals a connection with other immortals.  It
allows them to sense when another immortal is nearby and give
them the ability to affect other's life energy.
     
     In combat, the Quickening of the two Immortals swirls
together in an invisible vortex of energy.  When one of the
immortals beheads the other one, it causes a release of the
loser's Quickening. The Quickening from the dead immortal is
attracted to the winner like a magnet.  However, not all of the
Quickening will enter the winner.  The winner will only receive
part of the Quickening (approximately 20%).  Some of it will
spread out into the world and will be absorbed by the life forces
of nature.  Should an immortal be killed when there are no other
immortal around, his Quickening will be lost.
     
     When a Quickening occurs, all electrical things nearby like
computers, lights, watches, laser guns, cybernetics, etc. will be
fried and rendered useless.  When the Quickening is released from
a powerful immortal (over 3rd level), the blast of energy will
also blow out all nearby glass and might jump start and burn out
vehicle engines.  Thus, killing an immortal near a thermonuclear
power plant is a BAD IDEA!
     
     The most used ability is the ability to sense other
immortals. This is achieved by an immortal feeling the Quickening
of another immortal when it starts to interact with the edges of
his own Quickening.
     
     It is also possible for immortals to use the Quickening to
affect the Quickening of others (mortals and immortals alike).
The usual effect is a disturbance in the target's state of being.
Some powerful immortals can even cause pain.

Getting Quickening
     When an immortal wins in combat and kills another immortal,
he will receive some of the losers power.
     
     If the victor is more powerful than the loser, he will not
receive any bonus to his Quickening power.  However, if the loser
was more powerful, take the difference between the cp allocated
to their quickening power, divide it by 4, and add it to the
victor's cp for Quickening power.  This cp can only be used to
increase his level of Quickening.
     
     Example 1. The winner had Quickening level 4 and the loser
had level 3.  The winner gains no more Quickening power.
     
     Example 2. The winner had quickening level 3 and the loser
had level 4.  The winner had 340cp allocated to Quickening (level
3, but only 40 cp away from level 4).  The loser had 410cp
allocated to Quickening (level 4, but only 30 points away from
level 5).  The difference is 70cp.  Divided by 4 and rounded up
is 18.  So the victor gains 18 cp for his Quickening power.  Now,
he has 358cp in Quickening.  Still at level 3, but only 22 cp
away from advancing to level 4.
     
     Remember, each level of Quickening after the first
level costs 60 points.  You cannot buy Quickening normally (that
is, with cp your earn during the course of the game).  It can
only be increased by the above method.
     
     If the loser had skills which the winner did not have, the
winner will receive that skill, but only at a quarter of the cp
value, with a minimum of .5 cp.  For instance, the loser had 4
points in Metallurgy, and the winner does not have that skill at
all.  After the Quickening, the winner has 1 point in Metallurgy.
     
     If the loser had a skill which the winner had, but was at a
higher level than the winner's (point wise), the winner will
receive 1 cp toward that skill, no matter what the difference
between the two skills was.  For example, the winner had a 4 cp
in Old French. The loser had 8 cp in Old French.  After the
Quickening, the winner will have a total of 5 cp in Old French.
If this does not raise the skill to the next level, the cp should
be saved as it can be used to help raise it later.

Holy Ground
     The immortal's code of honor will not allow immortals to
fight on the holy ground of any religion (churches, temples,
graveyards, etc...).
     
     Holy sites are nodes of Quickening energy which tethers the
Earth to the rest of the universe.  These tethers of Quickening
intertwine the suns, planets, and other astral bodies.  Human
beings have been using these locations for ages as their holy
ground because they can subconsciously feel the cosmic importance
of the area.
     
     Even the most evil immortal will not break the tradition of
never fighting on holy ground. Immortals can fight on holy
ground, it's just not a good idea.  If an immortal is killed on
holy ground, his Quickening is absorbed by the energy of the holy
site.  The victor will also lose some of his Quickening.  The
Quickening which was entwined in combat gets pulled into the mass
of Quickening.  Instead of gaining Quickening, the winner looses
Quickening!
     
     In game terms, the victor will lose 10% of the cp allocated
to his Quickening power.  This may or may not drop him a level,
but it will hurt. If he had Quickening Level 3, with 330cp, he
would lose 33 points leveling him with only 297cp.  That drops
him to level 2.  Ouch.

The Gathering
     The Gathering is the period of time when the last of the
immortals are drawn together for final combat.  In the movies
this was 1985. But for game purposes, the Gathering will not
occur until the last portion of the game (be it 1588 or 2243).
Also it should be noted that Connor Macloed does not have to win
the Prize.  This is a game, and the characters should have a
chance at the Prize (but it is not advisable for them to fight
Connor or the Kurgan).
     
     The time of the Gathering should be discussed by the GM and
players.  Remember, after the Prize is won, the game is over.
The winner will rule the universe which would make the player as
powerful than the GM!  After this time is set, the players can
adventure around and have fun until that time.  If the characters
are killed before then, new characters should be made.  When the
Gathering occurs, the fighting will get even heavier until only
the PCs and maybe a few others remain.
     
     When the last immortals are the PCs, it gets really
interesting.  The PCs must turn and fight each other (unless
there is only one PC). This should be very interesting, as the GM
can just sit back, smile, and watch the players and their
characters hammer it out.
     
     As the winner takes the head of the last immortal he will
undergo the Great Quickening.  He will become one with the
universe (like what happened to Macloed in Highlander I).  See
below for more details on the Prize.
     
     The characters could conceivably fight it out before the
Gathering.  After all, they will have to do it eventually.
However, this makes a bad game, with the players constantly after
each other.  It is better for them to cooperate until the
Gathering.

     Remember, in the TV series a lot of good immortals got along
with each other and went on many exciting adventures together.

The Prize
     The final Prize is obtaining all of the Quickening that has
been passed from immortal to immortal.  This would increase the
winner's powers to super-immortal strength.  He could control all
of the Quickening in the world, including the thoughts and
emotions of humans and animals. If the winner were to take
advantage of the holy site's "universal nodes", he would rule the
entire universe.
     
     Now that's a prize to fight for.

Physiology
     An immortal will "die" from anything that would have killed
a mortal (i.e. getting shot).  You must still make Health rolls
to see if the immortal "dies" from a potentially fatal attack, as
normal.  Also, immortals feel pain, so you must also make Health
rolls to see if they remain conscious after being wounded.
Getting high pain threshold as an advantage would be a great
idea.
     
     However, unlike mortals, an immortal will regenerate and
"come back to life".  They have fast regeneration meaning that
they will recover one hit point per minute.  If the immortal was
killed, and his hit points are below zero, he will not awaken
until the points rise to zero or higher.  If he is killed before
he reaches zero (for some reason or another), he will awaken
after the first point is healed.  An unconscious immortal must
make a Health roll once a second to attempt to wake up just as
any other normal character would.
     
     Immortals cannot heal lost limbs like arms, hands, legs, or
feet.  Nor can they regenerate lost eyes.  They can heal damaged
eyes, but not an eye that has been totally destroyed.  However, a
lobbed off part may be reattached by holding it against the stump
(either by hand or using a cast and brace).  Neck scars are
permanent for some reason, but other scars will go away.  Lost
internal organs will grow back.  In an age of cyber-technology,
new limbs can be grown and attached. Clones and brain tapes do
not work perfectly (see section on cyberpunk).
     
     Immortals cannot have children.  This is not to say they
cannot try...  But, they cannot carry on their family line.
     
     A pre-immortal will think he is a normal mortal until he is
killed for the first time.  After a couple of hours he will come
back, healed, and will not grow any older.  In time he will meet
other immortals who will teach him what it means to be an
immortal (like Macloed meeting his mentor Rameriz, and Duncan
teaching Richie).


Immortals and their Swords
     A sword is the best way to ensure that when an immortal
takes the head of another immortal he will be close enough to
receive the Quickening.  Immortals are very good swordsmen, as
they have had a long time to practice.  As they practice and get
more Quickening, their skill in swordsmanship will build up
extremely fast.  Most immortals are more familiar with swords
than they are with guns.  In ultra-tech worlds, however, they
could switch to force swords and sonic blades. In cyberpunk, mono-
edged swords should be quite popular.

Immortal Combat
     As you know, an immortal can only be killed when his head is
severed from his body.  However, this also includes having his
head destroyed in anyway as we will see.
     
     Combat is resolved as normal.  When an immortal takes damage
he must make health rolls to remain conscious and to keep from
"dying".  If an immortal takes a hit that would have killed a
mortal man, he will be temporarily killed, but will come back to
life once he has regenerated his hit points past zero, unless his
head was taken.  Immortals can be knocked out, but recover from
this as normal.
     
     The head must take HT/2 cutting damage to be severed from
the body.  This will kill an immortal, no questions asked.  It is
a -3 roll to strike the neck and do this.
     
     However, immortal combat is a special case.  Most often the
attacker will have to have the foe at an advantage to do this.
The foe (loser) must be disarmed, incapacitated, restrained in
some way, or have made a silly slip up. Otherwise, if he can
still parry, he will automatically parry any neck or head attack.
Facial attacks may be done, but only to "scratch the cheek".
This may seem unrealistic, and it is, but it is more in line with
the action as seen in the Highlander movies and series.  Duncan
has never taken a head unless these conditions were met.
     
     If the head is totally destroyed in any other way, the
immortal will also die.  The head must take hits equal to HT*2 to
be totally destroyed even though he will probably "die" or fall
unconscious before this point, unless the weapon did that much
damage in the first hit.  For instance, firing a grenade or
missile into an immortal's head would probably kill him.
     
     An immortal will die if his body is totally destroyed. For
instance, a nuclear blast, or being hit by an antimatter beam.
At    -HTx5 the immortal's body will be in bad shape, but it can
heal.  An immortal can regenerate his body even after it takes
more than -HTx5 when the damage is impaling, cutting, or
crushing, up to -HTx25.  He cannot regenerate burn or explosion
damage that has exceeded -HTx10.  He cannot regenerate
disintegration damage that has exceeded -HTx5.  An ultra-tech
world would be very dangerous indeed, even for an immortal.
     
     When a limb is crippled, it may get lobbed off. Most
crushing and impaling attacks will not slice off a limb unless it
was very powerful.  Most cutting and disintegration attacks will.
It is up to the GM to make the final decision.  Remember, if the
limb is quickly reattached and held on by stitches or a cast, it
will heal together, or a clone replacement can be manufactured in
ultra-tech worlds.

The Watchers
     The Watchers are a secret society of mortal men and women
who observe and record the activities of immortals.  For
thousands of years, the Watchers have made records of whose
killed whom, the history, exploits, and intentions of every known
immortal. Recently, the entire archives of the Watchers was
copied to a CD-ROM format.  It was destroyed, but there was a
backup which is now lost.

     Recently, the Watchers have made contact with the immortals.
Many immortals have a direct Watcher benefactor who aides them
from time to time, gives them advice, and sometimes sets up
meetings and battles between immortals.  However, the Watcher
oath states that they are not to interfere.  Recently, the
Watchers have been doing a great deal of interfering.  Some have
even starting killing immortals.

     It is questionable how long the society of Watchers will
last now that they have come to light.  With the lost Watcher
Archive CD-ROM still at large, it is questionable how long the
secret of the immortals will remain a secret.

LopFest 2000
And How to Avoid it
     A big problem with a game such as GURPS Highlander is that
it can easily become a hack and slash game.  Kill immortals, get
more powerful.  Pick on mortals, cause havoc, and kill more
immortals to get more power to do more of the same.  Welcome to
LobFest 2000: Where both the character and the player loses his
head.

     To keep this from happening, the GM must be ready with a
good, strong game plot, lots of characterization and NPCs
(mortals and immortals) to interact with, not hack with.
Watching two or three TV episodes should show what I mean by
this.  In a typical episode, several good immortals get together
to solve a problem.  Perhaps a bad immortal is after one of them,
as is the case most of the time, or it could be something else
entirely.  An investigative reporter is on their trial looking
for a story, a sleuth has traced a chain of decapitation murders
to one of the PCs.  A mystical item has been discovered by some
mortals (or yes, an evil immortal) and the PCs have to get it or
destroy it.  The PCs finds one of his old priceless possessions
which was stolen a hundred years ago in a museum and he and the
rest of the gang go out to steal it back.  And so on.  There are
thousands of none-hack-and-slash possibilities.

     Another problem is the one-on-one combat rule.  If there are
five players, this means, to be fair, there must be five one-on-
one combats against evil immortals in each adventure so that the
PCs will gain power at about the same rate.  This is obviously
not possible.  It would make the game purely hack and slash, and
eventually boring.

     There should be only one, two at the very max, immortal
combats per game, if any at all (none is really best).  One
character will have a combat in one game.  The next game when it
is time to fight the evil immortal, a different character will
step forward to fight.  Then, the next game, the next character
will engage in the immortal combat.  Of course, if one of the PCs
is killed, the next PC (if he is around, which he should not be!)
will have to fight that immortal, either in that game or an
upcoming one.  It is perfectly fine to let the bad guy go, of
course.

     During a one-on-one combat, the other players should not be
around, though they can be.  A single immortal will not attack a
group of immortals, because even if he fights them one-on-one, he
will eventually get worn down.  If the group shows up, the bad
guy will probably run away.  A weaker PC immortal may be nearby
if the bad guy sees him as insignificant.

     As always, it is incredibly important to keep the PCs from
becoming power hungry.  The best way to do this is let them each
take some heads to get their power up, but put them on more down
to earth (or wherever) adventures.  Keeping their secret is
always an adventure.

Highlander Worlds
     In order to have a proper game world, you must cross GURPS
Highlander over with another world.  Below are some examples.

Historical
     This is easy--the immortals are still fighting it out in the
past.  Anyone of the many GURPS historical world books would be
perfect for this: Connan, Camelot, Aztecs, Imperial Rome, Robin
Hood, Vikings, Old West, China, Celtic Myth, and so on.

Modern
     This is the default Highlander world (as seen in the movies
and series).  Espionage, Special Ops, and High-Tech could all be
useful in a late TL7 game world.  Keep in mind that in this
world, the Quickening will have some very bad effects on
electronic technology.  At very late TL7 it would cost 10 times
the normal price to make an electronic device optical, so it can
be immuned from the Quickening.

The World of Darkness
     A popular option is to cross Highlander with White Wolf's
World of Darkness universe.  The three main books for the World
of Darkness have been adapted by GURPS.  These are GURPS Vampire:
The Masquerade, GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and GUPRS Mage:
The Ascension.  With these books, a campaign can be run with
immortals, vampire, mages, and werewolves.
     
Edited excerpt from Eric P. Isaacson text on GUPRS Highlander,
which may also be an excerpt from Hank Driskill and John Gavigan
Highlander for the Storyteller system.

     Immortals have a unique place in the World of Darkness in
that they are without clans, or tribes; in effect, they are
loners,  wildcards, and mavericks. They are also human with all
the emotional baggage that comes with being human. They differ
from humans in only two ways: they live a really, really long
time and they possess the Quickening, a life force which keeps
them alive and allows them to do some pretty amazing things. And
Quickening is unlike Vampire Disciplines in that the Quickening
abilities cannot be taught and can only be increased by taking
another Immortal's head and with it their Quickening (with which
the victor can channel this Quickening to his abilities,
effectively increasing them).

     Quickening also conveys some automatic advantages, at least
where vampires and mages are concerned. Because of the powerful
nature of the Quickening, immortals cannot be blood bound, nor be
turned to Ghouls, and they certainly cannot be turned into
Kindred. Mages, too, cannot affect an immortal's Quickening --
their Prime energy is considered immutable. The only exception to
this is if a mage is within range when one immortal takes the
head of another; then the mage, if he won a contest of skills
(against the victorious immortal's IQ), could steal the escaping
Quickening from the victor and steal a bit of the victor's as
well (same as if they were in a holy site). Too, Immortals are
not affected by the effects of the Life sphere (beneficial or
not) or any other healing ability.

Supers
     By definition, immortals are supers.  However, if there are
other supers in the world, the immortals could join them or fight
against them!  The Quickening is just another super-ability, and
some immortals may have other powers as well.
     
Psionics
     If  the immortal's Quickening powers are not good enough for
you, you can make them psionic immortals!  GURPS Psionics is a
good source book to use for this, or you could use the Basic Set
and place them in yet another game world.  Mind Sword would be
great to have!

Fantasy and Magic
     In this world (the world of Yrth, the Mad Lands, or one of
your own making) magic is real.  Use the normal rules for magic
as seen in the Basic Set, Magic, Fantasy, and Fantasy II.  Magic
can also be incorporated into other game worlds if desired.
There is a significant amount of magic in Highlander.  The
Sorcerer from Highlander III is prime example, and numerous
magical items and magical sites have been discovered in the
series.

Horror
     This is an interesting crossover.  It is usually set in
modern times, but can be crossed with any game world.  In this
setting not only are immortals prevalent, but supernatural
creatures from unearthly realms lurk in our world.  They can be
anything from ghost to living dead ghouls to the unspeakable
horror that man should never have unearthed.  Watch "Tales from
the Crypt" or read H.P. Lovecraft to get some good ideas.  If you
want cyberpunk horror, try crossing Highlander and Cthulhupunk
(boy, talk about cross genre! GURPS Highlander/Cthulhupunk -- the
Cyberpunk-Ancient Horror-Science-Fantasy-Supernatural-Low Life
Role Playing Game!)

Time Travel
     Highlander is in itself a journey though time.  You could
start in the past and work forward though time.  Or, it is
possible to get frozen in ice, or buried under ground (like the
Sorcerer), and come out centuries later.  In high-tech worlds you
could undergo cryogenic storage to journey to the future.  But,
if you want real time travel, you need a real time machine.  This
can be supplied in the far ultra-tech future or by a modern or
near future Super's gadgeteer, or maybe even a modern mad
scientist.

Cyberpunk
     This is a very interesting (and complex) option.  Just move
the time of the Gathering ahead about a hundred years, and allow
the characters to move on into the 21st century.  Now they can be
tough, chromed out, hardwired, razor edged, mono-sword welding,
street punk immortals.  This provides several basic problems.
The first is that when the Quickening occurs, all cyberwear will
be shorted out.  At TL8 it cost 5 times normal cost to optically
wire cyberwear (or anything else) to make it immune from the
Quickening.  At TL9 the cost is times three.
     
     Another question that may pop up is: "Can immortals make
clones and brain tapes to become really immortal?"
     
     The answer is yes.  However, the clone will not have the
Quickening powers, nor will the brain tape.  If your real body is
killed and your clone with the brain tape is awakened, you will
be just like all other mortals.  Tough luck.  There is no way to
transfer Quickening to a clone.  Clone body parts may be used to
help replace lost limbs, and this poses no problems.
     
     For cyberpunk you could use the GURPS Cyberworld for an okay
(but relevantly low-tech) cyberpunk world.  You could also make
up your own if you like.

Space and Aliens
     Just step up the time of the Gathering a few hundred years
and journey into TL9 and 10.  There are numerous world books
available on space and aliens.  Such worlds as Uplift, Terradyne,
War Against the Chtorr, and even some of Atomic Horror, would
make a good background.
     
     Of course, GURPS Space, Aliens, Space Atlas 4, and Robots
would make a good base to create your own worlds and aliens.  You
could also put it in modern times and have an Atomic Horror
scenario of an alien invasion!  Anyway you want to put it, it
boils down to Immortals In Space.
     
     Now that I think about it, there could be immortal aliens!

Ultratech
     If you want to really get into the sci-fi stuff, an
ultratech world is for you.  There are not too many far future
source books available, so you will probably have to make up the
world.  In an ultratech world, GURPS Ultratech will undoubtedly
be very useful as would Space, Cyberpunk,  Vehicles, and Robots.
The same technological problems are encountered in an ultratech
world as in cyberpunk and modern times.  The Quickening destroyed
electronics and clones will not have the Quickening powers.  At
TL 10 the cost to optically wire electronics is double price.  At
TL 11 most devices are optical (usually.  If not, it price is
just the same).  At TL 12 and above, it can be deemed that
another form of energy conduction has been discovered (like
quantum tunneling circuitry, pure kinetic energy conduction, or
something else).  The problem of clones can never be solved.  One
really neat thing about an ultra-tech world (TL 11 and beyond) is
that most immortals will use a force sword because they are so
much more powerful.


Well that's it.  Be immortal and have at it!


Who Wants to Live Forever? - Queen