Physical Description: Human male. 5', 7" tall, weights 140 lbs. Chunky build. Dark brown hair (usually unkempt and already thinning). Brown eyes. Long mustache. Hairy body. 18 years old, but looks older.
Attributes: ST 11 [10], DX 14 [45], IQ 12 [20], HT 10 [0]
Speed: 6 / Move: 6 / Dodge: 6
Damage: TH 1d-1, SW 1d+1
Advantages: Alertness +1 [5], Clinging [25], Night Vision [10], Unusual Background [10]
Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Thieves) [-5], Compulsive Carousing [-5], Delusion (Son of Hermes) [-5], Greedy [-15], Odious Personal Habit (Boasting) [-5], Status -1 [-5]
Quirks: Distrusts women, especially widows. Dislikes cold temperatures. A "night person." Gives coins to beggars. Careful.
Skills: Acrobatics-12 [1], Architecture-10 [0.5], Camouflage-12 [1], Carousing-9 [1], Knife-15 [2], Lockpicking-10 [0.5], Merchant-10 [1/2], Net-12 [1], Netmaking-13 [0.5], Poison-13 [6], Stealth-13 [1], Streetwise-11 [1], Traps-13 [4]
Important Possessions: Knives and sheaths, melee net, cloth vest, silk pants, sandals, leather jacket and pants, lockpick set, sack, poisons, lab equipment
Total Points: 100
Yes, Arachnos is a thief, and proud of it. Why not? After all, his father is the divine patron of thieves.
As Arachnos' mother, Xylia, told the tale, his father is no less than Hermes himself. The god chanced upon her playing the lyre and was smitten immediately by her remarkable beauty and talent. To avoid detection, he changed them both into spiders.
The resulting pregnancy ruined Xylia's upcoming nuptials with an elder in her village. Her ashamed father, the local physician, banished her.
She found her way to Athens. Nearly starved, Xylia was taken in by the Red House, the finest brothel in the city. She had fewer of the usual duties, because she often entertained with music and assisted with medical chores.
Much of Arachnos' early life was spent "on the streets" with the other brothel children. At 13, he fell down a shaft while exploring an abandoned warehouse. He desperately reached for a handhold on the wall and actually stopped his descent just by touching and clinging to the smooth surface.
Arachnos had always believed wholeheartedly in his mother's story about being the son of a god and that life-saving episode clinched it. His once-handsome face bears the marks of many of the fights brought on by his boasting and attitude.
After his mother passed away over a year ago, Arachnos moved into his
own apartment. In the beginning, he survived by selling the gifts acquired
by his mother. Recently the wealth of the city's upper echelon (some of
whom he remembered visiting the brothel) tempted him. Believing that divine
offspring are entitled to claim the tribute due their parents, he began
his thieving career.
Planning is everything to Arachnos. He prefers to work on new moon nights, when his exceptional eyesight gives him the greatest advantage. Before he strikes, he studies the intended victim's place for guards, entrances, daily routines and so on. When he goes in, he doesn't linger and he always keeps his escape route in mind.
He dispenses his gains as soon as possible and never keeps any of the objects he steals. Presently, he sells everything to one certain fence, who doesn't give Arachnos the best price but is safe and discrete. Arachnos needs more experience to judge what is valuable.
While on the job, he likes the protection of leather. He blackens his face, hands, and feet to hide in the darkness better. He wears his net around his waist, two large knives (one poisoned) on a chest belt, one small poisoned knife sheathed behind his back (a constant wherever he goes), lockpicking tools in a belt pouch, and he carries a sack. He's aware of how important speed and silence are. so he minimizes his encumberance. However, his greed can and has won out.
Arachnos is a burglar, not an armed robber or assassin. Violence is a last resort. He rationalizes poison use because it ends fights silently and quickly. He has better things to do than risk capture or death.
He works alone, since he has yet to find a worthy partner.
Although Arachnos has openly boasted of some daring raids he made throughout the city, the local authorities haven't bothered him yet. This could be the result of divine help, but most likely they don't believe his lineage and the exploits he claims. He is cautious not to boast too much, as he doesn't want the gods to think he is guilty of hubris.
Arachnos is friendly and sociable, but he has no real friends, just other tavern-goers. His romantic relationships have been short-lived and unmemorable; true love is not in his vocabulary.
His one-room apartment is small and sparsely furnished: a bed, a chest and a worktable with equipment for mixing poisons. He has two coin bags cached inside the room, one behind a hidden wall panel and the other under a loose floorboard beneath the bed. Each of these two spots is protected with a springloaded poison pin.
His prized personal possession is a custom black vest. Its front is decorated with a multi-colored net pattern; its back has a red lyre silhouette. He rarely wears a shirt underneath it, exposing his hairy chest and arms. He prefers to wear loose-fitting silk pants and sandals. In general, he hates to be confined by his clothing.
Arachnos strongly prefers to stay in his element -- the city. He will occasionally foray outside to pick up plants for his poisons, but he plans his trips to be back in by nightfall. He has never traveled away from the Athens area. He has no desire to visit his grandparents or their village.
Neither extravagant nor miserly with money, he tries to help the "down and out" by dropping some coins whenever he can. Arachnos remembers his mother saying how such stray coins kept her alive. It's his way of returning the gods' favors (and acting Olympian himself).
As an NPC or PC, Arachnos is useful any time an extraordinary second-story
man is needed. Characters can be introduced to him by a mutual acquaintance
or by just by hearing him boast in the local watering hole. If they want
his services, he will check out their backgrounds and plans as much as
possible. If the risk is worthwhile, he will want to be an equal partner,
not just an employee, One certainty is he will never "prove himself"
to anyone. They can find someone else if they don't believe in his abilities.
Other possibilities include using him as as an underworld Contact or as
an Enemy for a PC thief.
Designed for the Greco-Roman era, he would work well in any fantasy
setting by tweaking his origin to match the appropriate god. For more modern
or future periods, Arachnos' powers could derive from the side effects of
a love charm or an experimental fertility drug.
As they are closing the tavern, the merchant Luprides babbles drunkenly about a treasure hidden by a Thracian cult in a nearby cave. He lost one expedition going after it and deems it too dangerous to finance another. "Too many traps," he slurs to the party, "especially all those pitfalls."
Soldiers swarm into several taverns, arresting everyone (including the PCs). A few hours later, one of the king's personal guards arrives muttering "They will have to do." He separates the PCs and Arachnos from the other unfortunates, saying, "Listen up! Sparta has kidnapped Dionsthenes, the king's favorite philosopher. He's being held in the Marble Tower. Bring him back and each of you will be rewarded. Don't even think about failing. Go!"
Hermes has heard Arachnos brag once too many times this evening. "My son would like to travel" he smirks. He grabs Arachnos from behind and whisks him to Corinth, Athens' fiercest rival. A voice sears through the thief's brain, then fades. "Make friends quick — you'll need them" it says.
All original material copyright © 1998 Michael McGarel. Feel free to use in your personal games, but this material cannot be distributed for commercial reasons in any form without the express written consent of the author.
GURPS® is the registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games. No infringement is intended.
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