GURPS Who's Who 2 : More of History's Most Intriguing Characters

by MASTERS PHIL

• ISBN13: 9781556344077
• ISBN10: 1556344074
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-11-01
• Publisher: Psi

Summary

-- Complete descriptions and character stats for 52 more of the most intriguing people in history!
-- Well-researched and clearly written...a fine demonstration of the educational value of roleplaying.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(1)
About the Compiler	3	(1)
About GURPS	3	(1)
The Character Conversion Process	4	(2)
Selection Criteria	4	(1)
Realism	4	(1)
Game Mechanics	4	(2)
The Ancient World And The Dark Ages	6	(22)
Who Might Have Been?	7	(1)
Sargon II (Sharru-kin) (mid-8th century B.C.-705 B.C.)
Usurper of Assyria, mighty in war and stern in government	8	(2)
Nebuchadrezzar II (Nabu-kudurri-usur) (late 7th century B.C.-562 B.C.)
Last of the great kings of Babylon	10	(2)
Pythagoras (c.570 B.C.-c.480 B.C.)
Brilliant early mathematician-and mystic prophet of number	12	(2)
Archimedes (287 B.C.-212 B.C.)
Absent-minded engineering genius of the ancient world	14	(2)
Hannibal (247 B.C.-183 B.C.)
Superb Carthaginian general, rightly feared by Rome	16	(2)
Cleopatra (69 B.C.-30 B.C.)
The Serpent of the Nile and Queen of Kings	18	(2)
St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
Bishop and controversialist, father of medieval Christian thought	20	(2)
Attila the Hun (400-453)
``Scourge of God,'' or overblown bandit chief?	22	(2)
Shield Jaguar Lord (It's in Balam Ahau) (647-742)
Taboo-twisting Mayan lord, great in war, peace, and lifespan	24	(2)
Li Po (701-762)
Noted Chinese poet and individualist	26	(2)
The Middle Ages and Renaissance	28	(26)
Who Might Have Been?	29	(1)
Rodrigo Diaz (El Cid) (1043-1099)
Hero of the Spanish defense against the conquering Moors	30	(2)
Maimonides (1135-1204)
Doctor, philosopher, jurist, theologian	32	(2)
Chinggis [Genghis] Khan (1162-1227)
Quantitatively greatest of all world conquerors	34	(2)
Marco Polo (1254-1323)
The traveler who brought the East back to Europe	36	(2)
Roger de Flor (1260-1305)
Ruthless mercenary and would-be ruler	38	(2)
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
Poet of undying love, Inferno, and Paradise	40	(2)
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)
In fourteen hundred and ninety-two	42	(2)
Richard III (1452-1485)
Brutally usurped king, or Shakespearean monster?	44	(2)
Suleyman (Suleiman) the Magnificent (1494-1566)
Greatest of the great Ottoman sultans	46	(2)
Granuaile (Grace O'Malley of Connaught) (1530-1603)
``Grace the Gambler,'' pirate queen of Connaught	48	(2)
Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582)
The fiery soldier who began the unification of Japan	50	(2)
Matteo Ricci (1552-1610)
Jesuit scholar, master of the memory palace, and missionary to China	52	(2)
Enlightenment and Industry	54	(40)
Who Might Have Been?	55	(1)
Samuel de Champlain (1570-1635)
Noted French explorer and Father of Canada	56	(2)
Nzinga (1582-1663)
African queen, mistress of ritual and politics	58	(2)
Charles I (1600-1649)
Romantic loser of the English Civil War	60	(2)
Ninon de Lanclos (1623-1705)
Courtesan, intellectual, and patroness of the arts	62	(2)
Aphra Behn (1640-1689)
Spy turned first female professional English author	64	(2)
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Gravity, calculus-and much more	66	(2)
Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717)
Innovative scientific artist and traveler	68	(2)
Le Comte de Saint-Germain (1710-1784)
Brilliant confidence trickster (or master of the uncanny?)	70	(2)
James Cook (1728-1779)
Master navigator, perfectionist explorer	72	(2)
Goethe (1749-1832)
Widely-admired intellectual-a romantic polymath	74	(2)
Horatio Nelson (1758-1805)
The Royal Navy's presiding genius, victor of Trafalgar	76	(2)
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (1763-1844)
Talented, unreliable Napoleonic general-and opportunist	78	(2)
Napoleon (1769-1821)
Charismatic conqueror, shaper of his age	80	(2)
Cheng Shih (1775-1844)
Mistress of the China Seas-history's greatest pirate?	82	(2)
Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884)
Pioneering private detective and spymaster	84	(2)
Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885)
Iron-willed victor of the American Civil War	86	(2)
William Walker (1824-1860)
``Gray-Eyed Man of Destiny'' scoundrel or ``friend to the oppressed''?	88	(2)
George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876)
Much-admired glory hound and menace to his own troops	90	(2)
John Wesley Hardin (1853-1895)
Possibly the fastest gun in the West, with a body-count to match	92	(2)
The Twentieth Century	94	(32)
Who Might Have Been?	95	(1)
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
America's most energetic president?	96	(2)
E.W. Barton-Wright (1865-?)
The get-rich-quick schemer who brought Judo to Europe	98	(2)
Harry Houdini (1874-1926)
History's greatest escape artist	100	(2)
Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Soldier, writer-and Britain's wartime leader	102	(2)
Josef Stalin (1879-1953)
``Man of Steel'' with a crushing grip on Russia	104	(2)
Robert Goddard (1882-1945)
Pioneer of rocketry	106	(2)
Richard E. Byrd (1888-1957)
Polar explorer and pioneer aviator	108	(2)
Adolph Hitler (1889-1945)
Presiding dark genius of the Nazi regime	110	(2)
Erwin Rommel (1891-1944)
Germany's WWII master of tactics and strategy	112	(2)
Manfred von Richthofen (1892-1918)
The Red Baron, Ace of Aces	114	(2)
Charles ``Lucky'' Luciano (1897-1962)
Shaper of the Syndicate, capo a tutti capo	116	(2)
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
Man of action and honored author	118	(2)
John von Neumann (1903-1957)
Mathematical genius of unparalleled breadth	120	(2)
Robert E. Howard (1906-1936)
Master of pulp fantasy, creator of Conan	122	(2)
Sid Vicious (1957-1979)
Archetypal punk, doomed by living the lifestyle	124	(2)
Appendices	126	(2)
Other Significant Figures	126	(2)
Index	128