A rather different thing while I do a lot of internal tinkering with the treasure machinery. This was written knowing it would never see publication. The specific works it draws from are in the public domain, but just barely, and since the character is the subject of multiple franchises which aren't in the public domain yet, it would be a substantial risk for Pyramid to publish it. My editor just doesn't need the headaches. So here, then, is a GURPS take on everybody's favorite early 19th century Mexican swashbuckler.
1. Another peculiar parallel between Zorro and Batman is that neither had an underground hideout in the original printed material but had one added at the movies.
The Curse of Capistrano
Not all swashbucklers are pirates or musketeers. Some come from Los Angeles. The greatest swashbuckler Southern California has ever produced was Don Diego de la Vega, better known as Zorro, decadent caballero by day, defender of the defenseless by night. Though he has been the subject of countless books, films, and so on, this is a take on him as he is depicted in “The Curse of Capistrano,” the 1919 novella in which he originally appeared.Diego
Don Diego de la Vega is the only child and heir of the Vega
family, an aristocratic family of Alta California (a province encompassing most
of the modern state of California and the American Southwest) in the early 19th
century. The Vegas are second only to the governor in wealth and power, or
possibly even on an equal footing. The Vegas’ holdings include a sizable
plantation in the vicinity of the town of Reina de Los Angeles and a luxurious
second home in the town itself.
Diego is 25 years old, of average height and build, notably
handsome, well-read, and an elegant dresser. He’s also wealthy in his own right
and heir to an even larger fortune. He’d be prime marriage material if he
weren’t utterly bloodless. The word “unmanly” is sometimes used, though less in
the sense of being effeminate and more in a sense somewhere between cowardly
and mechanically dispassionate. He’s protective of his health and hygiene close
to the point of hypochondria and avoids physical exertion as much as possible.
He seems bored by just about everything, yawning almost constantly. He dislikes
hearing about violence and seems entirely happy to avoid it himself at all
costs regardless of how his more hot-blooded contemporaries see him. Indeed, if
asked if he would fight Zorro if they should meet, he observes that he has a
lot of money but only one life, so he would be content to be captured and
ransomed. He approaches the prospect of marriage as a tiresome obligation
imposed on him by his family. Rather than wooing a proposed wife with the
traditional expedients of song and poetry, he proposes to send out servant
skilled with the guitar rather than serenading her himself, and he puts the
question to her as little more than a business transaction. However, he’s not
without skill at social “combat.” He tweaks the region’s frequently
brutal soldiers without quite getting to the point of delivering insults which
would obligate him to fight a duel.
Zorro
Zorro is a mysterious figure in the Robin Hood mode. The authorities consider him a bandit and highwayman, while he is a hero to the poor and the church, who suffer the government’s depredations. He started his activities near the town of San Juan Capistrano, earning the nickname “the Curse of Capistrano.” However, he’s been seen throughout southern California. He brutalizes those who swindle and mistreat the poor, the clergy, and even disadvantaged members of the aristocracy. Given the province’s corrupt government, he’s got no shortage of targets.
Zorro’s most visible characteristic is that he wears a mask of
black cloth. This mask covers his whole face, with slits cut for his eyes. It
is loose at the bottom, allowing him to lift it in order to eat, drink, and
kiss pretty girls. That, along with a cloak, constitutes the entirety of his
costume beyond conventional street clothes and a sombrero appropriate to his
class. He is a master swordsman capable of defeating even skilled opponents, a
fine shot with a pistol (of which he usually carries one; oddly, no one in
Zorro’s 19th-century California, including soldiers, seems to carry long arms),
a good unarmed combatant, and a skilled acrobat, leaping and climbing with
great agility. He’s been known to use a whip, though only to chastise
wrong-doers rather than as a serious weapon.
Zorro is also a clever tactician, outsmarting and evading large
parties of pursuers when he can’t defeat them directly. When he stops to talk,
he’s eloquent and follows a certain code of honor. He’ll happily
humiliate opponents, but won’t use lethal force if they’re at a significant
disadvantage (for example, recovering from injuries, illness, or excessive
drink). He usually fights alone, though the constant failure of the authorities
to capture him often leads the soldiers who chase him fruitlessly to complain
that he commands an army of brigands, and late in “Curse of Capistrano” he
convinces a body of caballeros to join him against the corrupt governor.
Don Diego de la Vega/El Zorro
407 points
ST 13 [30]; DX 15 [100]; IQ 13 [60]; HT 12 [20].
Damage 1d /2d-1; BL 34 lbs.; HP 13 [0]; Will 14 [5]; Per 14 [5];
FP 12 [0].
Basic Speed 6.5 [0]; Basic Move 6 [0]; Parry 13; Dodge 9.
Advantages
Combat Reflexes [15]; Handsome [12]; Reputation +4 (the poor and devout of Alta California, only as Zorro) [7]; Status 4 [15]*; Wealth (Filthy Rich) [50]
Disadvantages
Code of Honor (Defend the poor and the church) [-10]; Secret (Is
actually Zorro) [-30].
Quirks
Unmanly (as Don Diego) [-1].
Skills
Acting (A) IQ+2 [8]-15; Acrobatics (H) DX+2 [12]-17; Area
Knowledge (Alta California) (E) IQ+3 [8]-16; Brawling (E) DX+2 [4]-17; Climbing (A) DX [2]-15; Cloak
(A) DX+2 [8]-16; Connoisseur (Literature) (A) IQ [2]-13; Diplomacy (H) IQ [4]-13; Fast-Draw (Sword) (E) DX+2 [8]-17; Fast-Talk (A) IQ-1 [1]-12; Intimidation (A) Will [2]-14; Pistol (E) DX+3 [12]-18; Rapier
(A) DX+5 [20]-20; Riding (Horse) (A) DX+2 [8]-16; Savoir-Faire (A) IQ [2]-13; Stealth
(A) DX+3 [12]-15; Tactics (H) IQ+2 [8]-15; Whip (A) DX+2 [8]-17.
* Includes +1 Status from Wealth
Notes
Diego, when using his Zorro identity, typically carries these
items:
·
MAS Pistolet
AN IX, 17.1mm Flintlock (GURPS High-Tech, p. B90)
[Belt] Acc 1, Range 50/550, 1d+2 pi++. $250, 2.9 lbs.
·
Heavy Cloak
(p. B287) [Torso]
DB 2. $50, 5 lbs.
·
Rapier (p. B273) [Belt]
thr+1 imp. $500, 2.75 lbs.
·
Whip (2 yards)
(p. B274) [Belt]
sw-2(0.5) cr. $40, 4 lbs.
Diego owns several swords, some of which are remarkably ornate,
but wears them rarely and then only as fashion accessories. Zorro’s sword does
not have a notable appearance, but could conceivably be of superior quality.
Diego can certainly afford the best.
Diego’s secret is in effect up until the final chapter of “Curse
of Capistrano.” At the end of the story, a body of rebelling caballeros
pressure the governor into granting Zorro, whoever he may be, a pardon, making
it safe for Diego to reveal himself. Up until that point, no one know Diego’s
secret, and afterwards its revelation earns him the respect of everyone but the
governor. A post-Capistrano Diego de la Vega might have the governor as a
low-level Enemy (who might work against him in secret, but certainly not
openly) and the same positive reputation enjoyed by his Zorro identity.
The text of “Curse of Capistrano” leaves a number of things up to
interpretation. For example, Zorro’s (literal) signature move, slashing a Z
onto his opponent, appears precisely once in “Curse of Capistrano,” though
tales are told by an unreliable narrator that he’s done it before. At any rate,
it’s entirely possible that the Zorro of the original story doesn’t have the
Initial Carving maneuver, counting on defaults from his very high skill to see
him through. However, a more cinematic version probably
does.
Zorro frequently fences with one opponent while holding a pistol
at the ready in his left hand to keep back his opponent’s comrades. At no point
does anyone test Zorro’s ability to pay attention to two things at once, let
alone his aim while distracted, but assuming he’s not bluffing (not a safe
assumption; Zorro repeatedly fools his opponents), that might justify
Peripheral Vision.
He also appears comfortable working in the dark, attacking
torch-bearers while lurking in dark rooms and letting his enemies come to him
or using a few moments of cloud in front of the moon to duck off of
well-trodden paths when being chased at night. A few levels of Night Vision
aren’t clearly called for, but would be justifiable.
In the course of “The Curse of Capistrano,” Zorro makes a pact
with a group of young caballeros to fight against the corrupt government. They
could justify a body of Allies, but since they don’t show up until late in the
story, which means they don’t appear until very
late in Zorro’s career, he usually wouldn’t have them.
Enemies
Part of Zorro’s success might be attributed to his enemies not
being particularly competent. Most soldiers are clearly mooks, easily outfenced
in a few passes and outfoxed in a chase. One character, Sergeant Gonzales, seems typical.
Gonzales is passionate and at least moderately competent as a fighter and
leader, but he tires easily, possibly on account of his weight, and frequently
lets his emotions get the better of him, so he's easily distracted, tricked, or goaded into making mistakes.
Zorro also enjoys the enmity of many of the region’s wealthy
land-owning caballeros. But whatever martial abilities the caballeros may have,
they have short attention spans, and their hunts for Zorro quickly turn into
excuses to stop somewhere on the road for wine and boasts of how they’ll catch
the fox, and they're sufficiently fickle that Zorro can turn them from enemies into allies with a good speech.
At the Movies
The first film adaptation of a Zorro story came out just a
year after “The Curse of Capistrano.” 1920’s The Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks as Diego, altered
several details of the story and added elements which have become a standard
part of Zorro lore. For example:
In the movie, Don Diego has recently come to Los Angeles from Spain; in “Curse
of Capistrano,” there’s no suggestion he’s ever left California. The Z-shaped
slash which Zorro inflicts on his enemies becomes more prominent, with three
examples in the first scene alone. The mask, however, is smaller, shrinking
from full-face coverage to a superhero-style domino. It joins an all-black
outfit and a fake moustache to make a more effective disguise than the
abbreviated mask might otherwise provide. Also, the time frame is a bit more
clear. Where the story merely post-dates the establishment of missions in
California and subsequent colonization, making any date in the first third or
so of the 19th century, The Mark of Zorro
is clearly set in the 1820s, which would put it just after Mexico’s
independence from Spain. Finally, the Diego of the movie is furnished with a
trusted servant who knows his secret and an underground hideout beneath his ancestral mansion,
with the passageway concealed behind a grandfather clock. Although The Dark Knight Returns sets the
portentous deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne after the 1940 Tyrone Power
version, it’s clear that Batman was more influenced by the earlier film [1].
Sources
Zorro has appeared in scores of stories, films, comics, and TV
series. Most of those are still protected by copyright. However, the original
“The Curse of Capistrano,” published as a five-installment serial in 1919, is
in the public domain and freely available from a number of sources (for
example, http://archive.org/details/TheCurseOfCapistrano_538).
The Douglas Fairbanks The Mark of Zorro,
which created the enduring visual image of the character, is likewise in the
public domain (for example, http://archive.org/details/markofzorro-1920).
1. Another peculiar parallel between Zorro and Batman is that neither had an underground hideout in the original printed material but had one added at the movies.
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