"Number of Mahars Needed to Game Pellucidar?" Topic

Let's say you were going to set a game in Pellucidar. The way I see it, such a game would not be masses of armies but closer to teams of 3-5. So, how many figures for Mahars would you need?

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How sure are the Mahars of their superiority? Pretty sure for a good reason.

Probably just one per team, especially if three characters. Two if five characters.

Regards, the Gorb

I agree, 1 Mahar and a bunch of
Sagoths

Yeah, the Mahars are the super villians and the Sagoths are the mooks…
Didn't the Mahars have some sort of hypnotic mind control they could exact over their enemies?
I'm thinking of that scene where one progressively eats that girl in the lake, and she submits to it.

Hi everybody,

I am planning on running an "Astounding Tales" Pellucidar game at the end of next month. I plan to use somewhat more than 3-5 models, more like two dozen 'extras' plus three characters on each of the three sides. The Mahars I was going to create as Heroic Level characters, with bad fighting abilities, but high smarts. She would be able to use her 'Mahar's Evil Eye' ability to transfix 1 model with a successful smarts roll(target hero characters may make a Smarts roll to break free, and be allowed to attack the transfixed model for free hits. So I'd say one Mahar, Hooja, and I'm not sure who the third would be, hopefully a named Sagoth or traitor native, but possibly another Mahar. As long as the Mahars are balanced against the number of Heroic Characters, I think(hope) everything will work out okay.

What game system are you going to use, and what are the stats for the Mahars you've decided on? I was going to post later to ask you all for "Astounding Tales" stats for Mahars, but since this subject has come up, ask now:)

Tempest Raiko

Look at the extensive description of the Mahars towards the bottom of this page:

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You have to have a few Thipdars too . . . :)

Venusboys3, here is a reply to your reference of that gruesome scene:
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Venusboys3,

Here it is . . .

"Once they were below much longer than usual, and when they came to the surface I was horrified to see that one of the girl's arms was gone--gnawed completely off at the shoulder--but the poor thing gave no indication of realizing pain, only the horror in her set eyes seemed intensified.
The next time they appeared the other arm was gone, and then the breasts, and then a part of the face--it was awful. The poor creatures on the islands awaiting their fate tried to cover their eyes with their hands to hide the fearful sight, but now I saw that they too were under the hypnotic spell of the reptiles, so that they could only crouch in terror with their eyes fixed upon the terrible thing that was transpiring before them."
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Tempest Raiko:

When I eventually get around to putting together a game based on Pellucidar, I would use .45 Adventures.

Have you located something suitable for the Sagoths?

Mysterioso

I guess it all depends on which Sagoths you want . . .

Are you trying to go by ERB descriptions and illustrations (gorilla-like), or are you trying to go with the movie type (pig-like)?

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CC:

I'd like my Sagoths Gorilla-like.

The piggy-faced version from the film did nothing for me.

You'd think, what with the prevalence in pop culture, miniatures of upright Gorillas would be easy to find but I have never really seen any.

Mysterioso

Mysterioso,

I agree with you entirely.

Shoot me an email. I recently heard of something that may solve this problem, though it is a bit down the road.

CC
daniel DOT martinez1 AT sbcglobal DOT net

johncarlbuechler.com/tarzan

I never saw this show (Indeed, never even knew it existed.) but it has some pretty neat concepts for Mahars. (If the thing on the left is the Sagoth, that is pretty well done too.)

So who out there makes Mahars in 25mm? The only thing I can think of is the HeroClix "Sauron" figure.

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Here are a couple of links to WizKids' "Mage Knight" ape models, that I will be using as Sagoths. You can sometimes get these in lots for very cheap on Ebay. Some glue to stop the bases from turning and some flock should fix them right up for gaming, I hope.

Best of luck with your Pellucidar gaming,
Tempest Raiko

For Sagoths . . .

Prepainted plastic is not my thing but, if you are going the plastic route, would a little GreenStuff hair on the heads and upper backs of these (and brown paint) do it for you?

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At least you get more variants than other plastic sets I've seen.

CC

Sketch of Mahars:

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Good close-up here:

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Well, I've found a sculptor to do some 28mm scale Mahars for me.

Pics: mid-January-ish.

For sale: April-ish.

Not that I'm very good at predicting the future…

-Alex

So here's where I started with the Mahar design – Frazetta, the master:

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The second picture is of Thipdars, Pteranodons, but I still found it inspirational. The only bits of Frazetta's Mahar illustration that I don't like are the hips/legs, and I think the head needs a fin on the back, like the Thipdars in the second picture.

It took me awhile to figure out how to make the legs look how I wanted – Frazettas are too human-like, I wanted them to look different. At first, I thought to try something raptor-ish:

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But that ended up looking too much like just an animal, even with opposable thumbs.

Then I thought of a different solution:

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I'll post another update to this thread shortly… :)

(*edit – I should mention that the artwork is not my me, they're the sketches that the sculptor is working up with my input)

I'm answering the first post.

I'd say go with about 3 Mahars figures. Throw in about 15-30 Sagoths, enough to make a good gilak-hunting party.

You might want to throw in some Thipdars too. They also worked for the Mahars.

Mahars, Sagoths and Thipdars, oh my.

Pretty soon all my dreams will have come true. What then?

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I wonder what connection, if any, the Sagoths have with the Oparian men.

Maybe the Sagoths are Atlantean descendants too?