Fan Races!!

Dimension Books & nothing but..

Moderators: Immortals, Supreme Beings, Old Ones

User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

H.P. LOvecraft...I can't take the Boston subways or drive through Providence(or Rhode Island for that matter) without thinking of the man...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

If I lived or even visited out that way I would be doing the same thing. Thinking of HP Lovecraft.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

Because he is the father of modern horror. And I've always wanted to see that area of the US.
Last edited by Aramanthus on Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Hey..."Pickman's MOdel'...one of the great classics of "Okay, I'm not looking at Boston the same way ever again..."
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Not if you think of H.P. as an OPTIMIST with a bright sunny disposition....
then you REALLY start worrying....

Just to balance those thoughts, I'll have to come up with some GOOD-aligned Alien INtelligences....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

Pickman's model? Taalismn could you explain that one. I'm not sure about it.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
KLM
Knight
Posts: 3629
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2004 8:23 am
Location: Hungary

Unread post by KLM »

Darkmax wrote:I have been wondering whatever happens to the good aligned intelligences, be it supernatural or alien.


They usually join a "club" and start themselves calling
a pantheon.

I guess the reason why there are so few "good" aligned
AI-s (or gods for that matter), is the fact that once a being
stops thinking about humans as "people" (and in their case,
never was thinking about them like that), their - relative -
aligment is not good.

For example I like chicken - roasted. Probably no bird
will classify me as a "good aligment" higher intelligence,
so I can be of "aberrant evil" at most. And face it,
vegetarians are as in minority, as "human-loving"
MIs. Oh, and while MIs usually plan for millenia, and
do generally do not like to take as high risks as humans
they are not near as polite with their kind as humans
are with our kind (this includes Pol Pot too).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
taalismn wrote:Ah, but since the possibility exists for sentient fruitflies, somebody's going to have to consider EVA procedures for them...


Sooo... Back to topic.

How about a hivemind of several thousand fruitflies as an
intelligent race?

Adios
KLM
But still, one of the most basic rules for survival on any planet is never to upset someone wearing black leather - This is why protesters against the wearing of animal skins by humans unaccountably fail to throw their paint over Hell's Angels.
- Terry Prachett

Small font: use ctrl+c and copy it, so you can read. But since it is in small fonts, it is not important. I am not a NE salesperson.
User avatar
KLM
Knight
Posts: 3629
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2004 8:23 am
Location: Hungary

Unread post by KLM »

Darkmax wrote:too many insect baddies in Palladium.
It's becoming a staple.


Why a _bad_ guy, I mean fly?

These "good" alien intelligences don't necessarily feed on the lower lifeforms, no?


At least not in an appearently harmfull way.

They do accept PPE sent by prayers (after
all, most believers do not need PPE), and
they can also be emotion-vampires, but
do not feed on fear... Or maybe they are,
the fear of damnation or whatever...

So yeah, they do not kill lesser intelligent
beings for sustenance (or just for the fun
of it).

Adios
KLM
But still, one of the most basic rules for survival on any planet is never to upset someone wearing black leather - This is why protesters against the wearing of animal skins by humans unaccountably fail to throw their paint over Hell's Angels.
- Terry Prachett

Small font: use ctrl+c and copy it, so you can read. But since it is in small fonts, it is not important. I am not a NE salesperson.
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Aramanthus wrote:Pickman's model? Taalismn could you explain that one. I'm not sure about it.


HPL story of the same name.....Man visits a friend in the old section of Boston, who has apparently fallen on hard times,...though the man(Pickman) has made a name for himself as an avant-garde painter...of decidedly nightmarish and ghoulish images...The old friend visits the painter in his basement studio and finds the man thin, frazzled, and clearly out of sorts(and possibly mad), and obviously wanting to get rid of him as quickly as he can...apparently, he's working on his latest masterpiece, covered in his backroom studio, which has a back wall draped in canvas....The visitor manages to catch a glimpse of the work,(so mindpoppingly HIDEOUS that the viewer immediately knows that Pickman is insane!), whereupon Pickman goes NUTS!, gibbering to get the man out of the building as soon as possible...and as the door closes, the visitor catches a last glimpse of the drapes at the back of the room twitch aside to reveal a hole going into the bowels of the earth...and the fact that, as the visitor later relates in horror while describing the subsequent collapse of the building and hs friend's mysterious disappearance, that Pickman was painting his horrors FROM LIFE!!!!!
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

KLM wrote:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
taalismn wrote:Ah, but since the possibility exists for sentient fruitflies, somebody's going to have to consider EVA procedures for them...


Sooo... Back to topic.

How about a hivemind of several thousand fruitflies as an
intelligent race?

Adios
KLM


Using the rules in Powers Unlimited 2 you can build gestalts of insects....shouldn't take too much tinkering to give them reasonable skills as an RCC, rather than a transferred human intelligence...
And in the Aliens Unlimited Galaxy Guide we have the Krayt, giant insects who actually get MORE intelligent the more there are of them around...and actually work fine in groups of other beings....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

No...HPL has rarely been successfully brought to the screen, though the Cthulu Society did do an excellent amateur 'silent-film' version of it for DVD....He has, however, had a strong influence on horror, and many 'X-File' episodes have an HPL-feel to them.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

Thank you Taalismn! Now i remember seeing the short story. But I have yet to read it. Someday I'll read it.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Darkmax wrote:i need to snatch my library card back from my 2-year old son.... he's been hogging it for the past year! :D



NOw that's what we in the library profession consider to be a good start...He already recognizes a library card as a GOOD thing...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Darkmax wrote:you must be joking... 99% of my last year's library borrowing list was racked up by his truly! :D


Hey, as long as he has your permission to use your card....
We start 'em out early over here...in fact, one of the favorite topics of discussion is that we're thinking(on an individual town-by-town basis) of offering library cards to EVERY (human) member of a household when they move into our town as residents...part of a 'welcome to the community' package...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Scuti!-!
(aka ‘Prawn-People’, ‘Lobstahmen’, ‘Carvers’)
The Scuti!-! are a race of anthropoids who evolved from land-dwelling crustacoids on the forested world of *Tu-!ang*. The early Scuti!-! made their homes carving out burrows in stone and the large hardwood trees that dot the planet. They are omnivorous, but subsist primarily on a vegetarian diet(their intestinal tracts have enlarged appendixes that allow them to process heavy cellulose content into energy), supplemented with animal protein(mainly rodents, small reptiles, and fish).
Scuti!-! are natural burrowers and carvers, using their sharpened chitin and delicate touch to chew and whittle wood, and work away stone in ways both utilitarian and artistic. They first became tool users when trying to find new ways to more efficiently cut and work harder woods and stone. At about the same time, they also began forming societies, evolving an agrarian society(though hunter-gatherer societies are still fairly common on *Tu-!ang*), and have been experimenting with cities and capitalism.
Scuti!-! are typically pacifistic, hard-working, gentle folk who take pride in craftwork and a simple work ethic. They are fairly tolerant of other peoples, with a live-and-let-live attitude, and are fairly timid in social confrontations, but they also aren’t afraid to defend themselves if need be. Their skill with craftwork means that they are fond of well-made tools, weapons, and traps of quality. Many an enemy, expecting to take the ‘primitive’ arthropods by surprise, have fallen to razor-sharp quartz arrowheads, or become entangled and crushed in elaborate wicker-weave trap-nets and counter-balance stone bludgeons.
A few communities of Scuti!-! have been transported to Rifts Earth, where they have gravitated towards the dense woods of the American NorthWest, East Coast, and jungles of South America. Despite their lobster-like appearance(or rather because of it), the Scuti!-! have been hunted for food by other beings, but the few who have actually partaken of Scuti!-! flesh have found it bitter and repulsive in taste. Most humans(wrongly) regard the Scuti!-! as monstrous bug-like d-bees, but wilderness scouts, Native Americans, and a few wilderness communities know the gentle Prawn-People as cane-weavers, artisans, and craftsmen in wood and stone, and will trade with them for finished woodcrafts and stonework(including quartz and obsidian knife blades).
Alignments: Any, but 80% are Good or Unprincipled
Lifespan: 90 years on average, though some have lived as long as 150 years
Size: Stand about 4 ft tall and 6 ft long when mature, and weigh 140-190 lbs. Females are slightly larger and heavier(about 20% more)
Gender: Heterosexual. Females carry 1-4 soft-shelled eggs in birthing pouches kept oxygenated and filled with nutrient pap on their tails, hatching out juveniles after 6 months. The young contimue to cling to their mother’s back and tail, feeding on the same nutrient pap, before being weened at six weeks and start taking solids. Generally regarded as reaching biological maturity at 10 years(about the time of their first 2-year molt).
Physical Description/Appearance:
Resemble a cross between a weta and a giant land-dwelling crayfish, covered with articulated chitinous plates, with four long land legs giving the being a centauroid carriage. The four forelimbs are shorter and carried mantis-like against the chest, and sport delicate hands with four-digited grips(can be covered by chitinous ‘gauntlets’ or claws). Four stalked eyes and three pairs of long delicate antennae jut from the arrow-shaped head. Scuti!-! shell is typically a dull green-grey, darkening with age, though other earth-tones are possible. As the Scuti!-! ages and moulting becomes less common, the shell may develop mottling, rough texture, and protrudances from the otherwise smooth surface.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Timid, hard-working, soft-spoken, fairly tolerant of others. Tend to avoid confrontations. Appreciate craftsmanship and hard work, and are honest tradesmen who deliver on what they promise.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 3d6
MA: 3d6
PS: 2d6+4
PP: 3d6
PB: 2d6
PE: 3d6
SPD: 4d6
(ISP): By Psionic Class
(PPE): 3d6
Hit Points:3d6 +PE
SDC: 1d4x10 SDC +1d6 SDC after every molting after age 18(yes, older Scuti!-! can become minor megadamage beings)
MDC:------
Horror Factor:-----
Natural Abilities:
*Carapace---The tough Scuti!-! carapace has 1d4x10 SDC, and an AR of 14.

*Climbing---The Scuti!-! can climb exceptionally well with a skill of 90% courtesy of the hooks and spikes on their legs and forelimbs

*Ultra-sonic Hearing---The long antennae of the Scuti!-! are acutely sensitive to ultrasonic frequencies, and they can both hear and transmit modulated ultrasonics above the human range of hearing(Dog Boys can hear them, however). They also act as motion detectors, able to pick up movement in a 50 ft radius(HALF penalties if fighting in darkness/low light conditions).

*Body Weapons(Minor Superpower)----The Scuti!-! can exude a thick dark resin from the joints on their forelimbs and shape the resin as it hardens into a varety of sharp cutting edges, hooks, blades, gouges, scalpels, and picks. A simple blade does 1d4 SDC, while a full forearm ax/saw does 3d6 SDC

*Moulting---For the first 8 years of their lives, Scuti!-! undergo a six-month moulting cycle, that slows down to an annual moult afterwards for the next 15-20 years. After age 30, the Scuti!-! will only molt every two years as their growth slows down, and moulting becomes less and less frequent the older the Scuti!-! becomes. Moulting is preceded by about 1 week of increasing itchiness, agitation, and discomfort, signalling the need to seclude oneself and undergo the 1d4 hour shell-shedding ordeal. The newly molted Scut!-! afterwards feels debiltated and weak, and is at 1/3 its original SDC for 1d4 days while its soft new shell hardens and strengthens(generally, the experience is like having a full-body cold for a human). Traditionally, moulting is a private affair, but some more progessive/radical Scuti!-! communities and societies have ‘moulting coaches’ or ‘molting clinics’ where assistants help in the shell-shucking process. Special ungents, exercises, and dietary supplements may also be used to speed the shell hardening process afterwards and quicken recovery.
Psionics:Standard
Magic: Scuti!-! have the potential for magic, and those who do elect to take it up are Mystics(50%), Technowizards(25%), Shamans(15%), and other(10%)
Cybernetics/Bionics: None. Because of their molting process, Scuti!-! cannot benefit from cybernetics and bionics they would lose anyway in their next molt.
Available OCCs:
Scuti!-! gravitate towards rustic provisions, such as wilderness scouts, vagabond scouts, and outdoorsmen, but a few have become operators and technowizards.
RCC Skills:
Carpentry(+10%)
Whittling(+15%)
Culture:
Technologically, the Scuti!-! were early Iron Age on their homeworld, and were experimenting with waterwheels and large sail craft, but those on Rifts Earth have become familiar with modern metallurgy, steel tools, and modern weaponry.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Pineshinauti
Pineshinauti are massively obese marsupial ursinoids who hail from Pinelshaooww, a rugged world that is scoured by intense-force hot winds(possibly due to an unusual confluence of the Planes of Elemental Fire and Air...predominately Air...on their world). Life on Pinelshaooww has learned to either bend with the wind, ride with it, or hunker down under it....the sentient Pineshinauti have chosen to hunker down. Incredibly bulky bipeds, they use a combination of massive weight and an innate ability to gravitationally anchor themselves to one place, to hold against the wind(it’s also claimed that the great folds of fat around their guts actually fall down to the ground and produce a ‘suction’ effect from air pressure. Secured in place, the Pineshinauti then use their telescoping arms to harvest other lifeforms blown by the wind around them
Despite their massive bulk, Pineshinauti are amazingly fast and agile; they can actually bounce with incredible power....since they can barely waddle with their great weight, their rocket-like leaping ability allows them to move fast between gusts of wind.
Despite the inherent hazards of their world, the Pineshinauti managed to develop societies and civilization, with tribes and factions communicating via magic or thrown message balls and hand-gliders riding on the wind, fighting with one another using wind-borne spears and catapults, and developing cities and communities around natural windbreaks where artificers could build goods and structures without fear of their work being blown away. The Pineshinauti had evolved to the age of gunpowder when they came to the attention of the galactic community; a passing starliner had to make an emergency landing on the planet, and several rescue ships were almost lost to the high speed winds scouring the planet, when the locals took a hand in the rescue effort. Since then, a small amount of trade has openned between Pinelshaooww and the outside galaxies, and a small high-tech community and spaceport has grown up around one of the larger wind-free oasises...ringed by wind-turbines and villages/enclaves of clans and nations eager to attract offworld business. Another spaceport, built by another major faction on the planet, is beginning to attract some offworld trade as the galactic market begins to feel out the potentials on Pinelshaooww.
Since then a few Pineshinauti have ventured out into the cosmos to see what life without near perpetual wind is like, and to make their fortunes. Many find jobs as slow-moving bodyguards, night watchmen(since, once they choose their ground, it’s nearly impossible to make them move), and as mercenaries. A few make excellent money as Combat Athletes, especially in baseball-like games(their skill in throwing things is INCREDIBLE), boxing, and wrestling(a favorite tactic of Pineshinauti wrestlers/gladiators is to perform a bouncing knockdown strike with their massive bulk, then sit down on top of their downed opponent and anchor themselves in place with their Immovability ability until the opposition squirms free, pries loose, or, more often, concedes the fight).
Alignments: Any
Lifespan: 70 years
Size: 5-6 ft tall(at wide), 1d4x1,000 lbs
Gender: Heterosexual...Females will litter 2d4 young who will stay protected in a pouch for their first six months before crawling out and taking up grips on their parents, gradually forming strung-out chains between senior family members until their anchoring ability develops.
Physical Description/Appearance:
Obscenely fat porcine humanoids with bulging torsos, massive feet, long arms, and small heads. Pineshinauti are covered in short, dense, wire-like white-brown fur, and leathery brown skin. Their heads are small, with blunt snouts and flapped nostrils, large mouths with both canine teeth and grinding molars(they are omnivorous), and double-lidded brown-gold eyes. Hands end in wide-palmed six-fingered hands, while the feet are broad and six-toed.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Generally laid back, cautious, and very patient. They are very perceptive and observant of their surroundings(you never know when the local surroundings are going to throw a baseball-sized rock at near sonic velocity at you). When they decide to do something or seize an opportunity, they move FAST before conditions change from optimal and leave them at risk. Tend to be close to family and friends...because family and good friends will catch and hold you if you slip and fall.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 3d6
MA: 3d6
PS:4d6+6(considered to be Supernatural)
PP: 4d6+6
PB: 2d6
PE: 4d6+6(considered to be Supernatural)
SPD: 1d6/ 5d6+12 bouncing
(ISP)-----
(PPE): 3d6
Hit Points:----
SDC:---
MDC: 6d6x10 MD +2d6 MD per level of experience
Horror Factor:-----
Natural Abilities:
*Natural Major Megadamage Beings; P.S. and P.E. are considered to be Supernatural.
*Limited Stretching Ability----Pineshinauti arms have a nested elastic structure that allows their arms to stretch to great lengths, allowing the Pineshinauti to compensate for their inability to bend over. A mature Pineshinauti’s arms can stretch up to 15 ft
*Super Bouncing---They may waddle at a crawl, but man can those Pineshinauti JUMP! This natural ability is identical to the Superpower of the same name in all respects, especially the ability to survive being bounced across the landscape by explosions and high winds. Their bouncing can move them at 5d6+12 Speed rating, they are -2 to strike/grab due to their weaving motion(-5 to strike if rapidly ricocheting down an alley or corridor), can scale walls and alleys by bouncing between the walls, survive falls of 40 ft per level of experience, take 1/10 normal damage from explosions, impacts, and high speed strikes, jump up t0 6 ft per level of experience(twice as high if dropping from a six-story ‘falling start’, and can perform a Bounce/Ricochet attack similar to a Body Block/Tackle with Knockdown.
*Immovability---Similar to the superpower of the same name. Pineshinauti can simply anchor themselves in place with a thought. To move a Pineshinauti from their place will require a supernatural P.S, greater than the Pineshinauti’s P.E. plus 2 per level of experience. Unlike the power, the Pineshinauti can maintain this indefinitely until knocked unconscious or killed.
*Weathersense---Pineshinauti have an almost supernatural sensitivity to weather...they can accurately guage windspeed and direction with 90% accuracy, and can predict foul weather, including high winds, rain, and snow as much as 1d4 hours in advance, with 70% accuracy. On other worlds, they are less certain, the accuracy dropping by HALF, but with time and experience, they can gain a +5% per level of experience as they learn a world’s weather.
Psionics: None, outside those inherent to mage-classes.
Magic: Magic-capable; Perhaps one in every three hundred Pineshinauti has some magical ability; particularly Mystics, Shamans, Air/Fire Elemental Warlocks, and Alchemists. May learn other schools as they become aware of them and are exposed to other forms of magic.
Cybernetics/Bionics: Pineshinauti find cybernetics and bionics rather disquieting and disgusting...You actually WANT pieces of metal and what we’d consider debris stuck in your body?
Available OCCs: Any except Robot/Power Armor Pilots, Spacecraft Crew, and other high-tech intensive OCCs....Most wandering Pineshinauti encountered will be Vagabond Scouts, Rogue Scholars, Bounty Hunters, Headhunters, Combat Athletes, and the like.
RCC Skills:
W.P. Small, Thrown
Skills of Note:
Because of the scarcity of surface water, Pineshinauti CANNOT swim.
Preferred Equipment:
On their homeworld, Pineshinauti like fletchette guns(blunderbuses that spew high-velocity sprays of airfoil shrapnel) and throwing knives/irons. Throw-nets and grappling hooks are also popular weapons/tools. Pineshinauti offworld have come to love energy weapons and personal transports like anti-gravity disks.
Culture:
Gunpowder-age on their homeworld; nationalist factions with smaller communities/subdivisions drawn along extended family lines. Magic is often used to ‘landscape’ and channel the local winds, and create sanctuaries and oasises, while more conventional technological means use quick-setting cement and concrete to create windbreaks and storm shelters.
Last edited by taalismn on Fri Jan 12, 2007 6:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

That is an interesting thing to know about Singapore! Thanks for that insight Darkmax!

Those are some nice Races Taalismn! Thank you for sharing them.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

You're welcome, the both of you! Both for the info on Singapore's library policies and the compliments on my latest minions!
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Darkmax wrote:Taalismn, from the way I look at it, you could have started an entire setting with those races! :D


One of these days I'll finish the Federation of Sapients Species Catalogue...that was a psuedo-setting I started back in elementary school before I'd (or anyone here) had heard of roleplaying, and I was just becoming aware of Star Trek....I just started creating races like other people create imaginary friends, and from time to time I've revisited them, refined them, added more to them(I'm convinced that we're more blindly imaginative as kids),and the ideas behind them have matured bit by bit....Back in college, they finally started making the transition to RPG format, but that project has tottered along...

Oh well, one day the Imperial Vadishah and their Myriapod allies will stride forth onto the internet stage...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

But let's keep 'em coming! Anybody got any more ideas...concepts, dreams we can flesh out...or random rolled we can develop a galactic niche for? Maybe a previously unknown high-powered society looking to make some waves, a young up and comer looking to fit in, a slave species making its bid for freedom, a small unknown backwater folk who find themselves unwitingly the crossroads and crux of empires?
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

Cool I'm looking forward to seeing it Darkmax!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

So say we all...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Darkmax wrote:give me a few more hours of work. :)


tick-tock, tick-tock,tick-tock, :fl:
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Okay...when did the Central Alliance steal a TGE DReadnought? Or did ypu mean the Free Worlds Council...

Nifty little energy beings...Perhaps related to the Phantoms of Phazeworld?

Are they hunted or actively hunt other energy beings? Perhaps have alliances with some, or alien pantheons?
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

Other than the little itty bitty slip up it looks pretty AWESOME! Good Job Darkmax!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Darkmax wrote:
They are now in the process of choosing to guide the younger races, mostly incognito.

I left all these out to facilitate the RCC as a tool for the GM.


Ah...,GM Proxies...plus being powerful and old ypu can make them occasionally annoying..."Why, in my day, when I was younger, we had only giant blue stars! None of these yellow and orange 'main sequence' midgets! Why, we could listen to the echoes of the Big Bang without radio telescopes!"
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Yep....Meanwhile the REAL ancient alien species are just content to keep plugging away at what allows them to survive so well without getting entangled in the whole 'Light vs Dark' controversy...
This is why cockroaches are the TRUE Ancients...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Darkmax wrote:You can kill them all, but they'll always return with more! :eek:


There's only one massive collective psychic cockroach intelligence that connects billions of bodies....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Darkmax wrote:EEEWWWWW!!!!

I can see the collective housewives mentality going to work! :D


It's an ancient war that's been waged for millenia...the stakes; home sanitation and the ability to walk through your own house without feeling you're being watched by dozens of little eyes....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

...and more every minute!
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

There's a little-explored aspect of the Alien INtelligence RCC...using vermin as spies....Maybe phrased as a variant of the 'FRagment Essence' power...only it's a minor presence divided among HUNDREDS, if not MILLIONS, of smaller minds...the vermin don't benefit from this 'pact' except maybe in the form of a good feeling stimuli 'reward' or maybe a nudge towards food, and the Alien Intelligence has to deal with limited inputs(and has to deal with the vermins' limited mindsets), not to mention wadding through HOURS, if not DAYS, of crawling around other peoples' basements and wastebaskets, but it gets a spy in a lot of locations.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Pinarii
(aka ‘Pinheads’)
Pinarii are a race of tall, spindley, gangly-limbed humanoids who are often confused, at a distance, with the Quick-Flex aliens, owing to their elongated, slim, physiques and flowing movements. However, their pale off-white skin and large, bulbous heads, have resulted in them recieving the rather unflattering nickname of ‘Pinheads’ in reference to bowling pins.
The Pinarii are native to the Three Galaxies and were one of the races subjugated by the Golgan Republik as part of their ‘buffer zone’ against invasion. The Pinarii were just beginning to experiment with space travel technology when the proxy warships and mercenary troops of the Golgans arrived, and quickly conquered their people. Or, rather, ‘co-opted’ would be a better description.
For centuries, Pinarii society had been dominated by a proto-military feudalism not unlike that of the German Confederation states of Earth before the formation of a united Germany; hundreds of small kingdoms feuding and warring with each other, politics dominated by a military aristocracy that formed alliances and changed allegiances through an elaborate network of political treaties, marriages, and smoke-filled backroom deals. Those in military service tended to receive the best education and access to political connections, and some form of military service was mandatory for any real social advancement. Fortunately, warfare tended to be low-key, brush war affairs, and many would-be social climbers(especially the offspring of the elite) managed to avoid real military service with a few well-placed and substantial bribes. Uniforms, dress armor, and archaic sidearms were the dress of choice, indicating one’s social standing and place in the pecking order. When the normally social-shaking industrial revolution struck Pinar, the elite quickly coopted the means of industry, and managed to remain ahead of the curve of technological development. Still, tensions were rising among the working population, and the old order could see the handwritting on the wall. Massive reforms and organizational re-ordering on the scale of the revolutions that swept Earth in the wake of the American Revolution were in the offing, and the days of the old order were numbered.
Thus, when the Golgans invaded, and it became apparent that the aliens were intent not on genocide, but control, the aristocratic classes seized the opportunity by immediately suing for peace, offering up the planet and its resources in return for a peaceful occupation...with their enlightened supervision, of course. Astonished at their good turn of fortune, the Golgan administrators agreed, extending the protection of their garrisons to include the major families of the Pinarii elite, who continued to direct planetary affairs, backed by alien approval, alien technology, and alien armaments.
Becoming part of a greater cosmic community has both enriched and impoverished the Pinarii. Enriched it in that the Pinarii now have access to an entire universe of other cultures and their technologies. Impoverished it in that the old ruling elite now have a nearly unbreakable lock on power on the Pinarii homeworld, and have quashed radical thought and popular philosophies. Unable to fight the law at home, many talented and radically-minded Pinarii are choosing to flee their homeworld, in hopes of founding colonies away from the influence of the elite ruling families and their Golgan overlords. In the long run, this ‘brain drain’ will likely force the Pinarii homeworld to become more and more dependent on the Golgans’ technological charity for survival, and could bring the ruling elite down, but only in a very long protracted socio-economic slump.
More than a few Pinarii adventurers have come to Rifts Earth, and a number of Pinarii communities have formed in parts of the planet. A notably large number(several thousand) have settled in the American Northeast and many have joined the GNE. These Pinarii tend to hail from the lower classes and disenchanted lesser nobility, who have taken inspiration from the more enlightened of the industrial societies of Rifts Earth, where the voting franchise and power lie with the workers. Many of these inspired adventurers have dreams of returning to their homeworld and importing long-overdue revolution to their home society, while the more pragmatic look also to do so with imported alien technology and armaments. The discovery of their immunities to mind control and other influences has made them invaluable to many on both Rifts Earth and in the Three Galaxies as soldiers against supernatural threats and as arbitrators in societies where mind control and ‘undue influence’ is a very real problem to fair dealings....

Alignments: Any
Lifespan: 90 years
Size: 5-6+ ft tall; many upper-class Pinarii top 7 ft tall. Weight is generally 10% lighter than humans of equal height.
Gender: Heterosexual(Males and Females), with a bimonthly estrus cycle.
Physical Description/Appearance:
Tall, gangly humanoids with long slender arms and legs ending in four-digited hands and feet. The head is narrow-necked, ballooning to a rounded, oval vertical teardrop shape. Don’t appear to have either ears or olfactory sensors, but possess both fair senses of hearing and smell! Skin is smooth and suede-like, with a pale off-white color. Females can be distinguished by broader hips, buxum chests, and larger eye pupils.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Similar to human beings. Upper class renegade Pinarii will be very polite, courteous, curious, and well-mannered, with a developed sense of responsibility, and eagerness to prove themselves. Lower class Pinarii will have a grudging and subdued disrespect of anything that smacks of police surveillance, or police state politics.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 3d6
MA: 2d6
PS: 3d6
PP: 3d6+4
PB: 2d6
PE: 3d6
SPD: 3d6+4
(ISP)---By Psionic Class
(PPE): 3d6
Hit Points: 1d6+ PE+1d6 per level of experience
SDC: 20 SDC + plus gained from OCCs and physical skills
MDC: By armor or magic
Horror Factor:----
Natural Abilities:
*Infrared Vision---Pinari can see in the infrared end of the spectrum, including the beams of active IR vision systems.
*Vision----Have slightly weaker vision than humans in terms of distance(about 3/4 normal human distance) but better peripheral vision.
*Impervious to Control & Possession---It didn’t become apparent until the Pinarii left their world and came into contact with other species that the Pinarii are naturally immune to effects of mind control and domination; they cannot be possessed by magic, pisonics, supernatural, or superpowered means of mind control. ‘Teflon souls’ is what one psychic called them.
*Advanced Healing---Pinari heal three times as fast as human normal, are +4 to save versus poison and disease, and can actually regenerate, albeit slowly, lost limbs and appendages; takes about a week for a finger to regrow, a month to regrow an arm to functionality, and three months to regrow a leg, but damage to the head or torso CANNOT be regenerated.
Psionics: Standard
Magic: None currently, aside from legend and sideshow magic, but they have the potential
Available OCCs: Any
RCC Skills:
Upper class Pinarii will know 1d6 additional languages(each at +15%) and Lore: Galactic(+5%), while ALL PInarii speak/read Golgan at +10%
Cybernetics/Bionics: None on their homeworld, but Pinarii are not averse to cybernetic or bionic augmentation...however, most born higher on the social scale regard extensive augmentation as dangerous and detrimental to pesonal character, and will NOT go for anything beyond medically-mandated biosystems or minor implants. Furthermore, because cybernetics and bionics often interfere with their regenerative abilities, most Pinari will forego getting a bionic arm or leg in favor of letting nature take its place and regrow a replacement.
Notable Equipment:
Because body armor is equated with aristocracy and social standing(much as it was in medieval Europe), Pinarii like body armor, seeing it as high-class fashion....Thus, even low income workers are likely to own a set of metal grieves and a cuirass(back- and breat-plate) while higher-placed aristocrats will own more elaborate, intricately decorated suits of lacquered and engraved full body plate-mail(SDC and AR values will be similar to Terran suits of armor)...More recent technological developments have seen teh development of lighter, tougher plastics(increase SDC by 20-30% and reduce weight and physical penalties by 10-20%), while modern-day aristocrats will have full EBA megadamage armor...The highest-ranked of the Golgan-appointed government currently regard power armor as high fashion, and megadamage fabrics as ‘casual wear’.
Culture:
Golgan Satrapy-appointed Hereditary Aristocracy holding a stranglehood over labor and production.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Chaos
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 202
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2005 11:10 pm
Location: I'm inside your PC!
Contact:

Unread post by Chaos »

Darkmax wrote:another masterpiece by Taalismn.


What else can anyone say, another great job mate :ok: :ok:
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

It looks very nice! Thanks for that new RCC Taalismn!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Darkmax wrote:another masterpiece by Taalismn.

I was thinking of making the Jyn an alien race that comes from a micro-universe.... where their sun is the size of one of our marbles. however, the energy output is still equivalent to that of a "full-sized" star. :D


Well, the random rolls I did had several pocket dimensions as 'secondary mediums' within a larger crystalline dimension, shot through with planet-sized vacoules and channels of moving air and fluid...So the Jyn could be from such a 'planetary dimension'...that leaves room for a lot of other normal-sized critters and mining of materials to come from other sectors of it...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Magu RCC
(I can’t...I can’t tell you who these were originally meant to parody...I tried, but they found out...no, it wasn’t Palladium...and they threatened me...threatened me with agonizing, humiliating, prolonged torture and death....Now I can’t mention them...can’t even THINK of them without seeing those glowing cigarette butts nearing my eyes....Can’t even look at ki-........immature felines...without shivering and needing medication....So I altered names and places to protect...well, to protect ME...
Now why’s there a bunny rabbit with a switchblade lurking outside my window?)

“Hi-Hi Floppy.....”
“AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

The Magu(pronounced ‘Mag-GOO’) are a race of large-headed, seemingly pacifistic lupinoids that most human septs find irresistably cute. Despite their diminutive and feeble-looking physiques, they are actually quite tough, incredibly strong, and mentally resilient, and evolved from small, energetic, pack-hunting carnivores on their homeworld. Magu seem to see further into the red spectrum than humans, and thus red and pink seem to predominate in their color pallete; the lupinoids seem obsessed with the colors, though they do not evidence any sign of being blue-green blind. Magu are impressive natural major psychics, but a high level of mutation means a higher than average ratio of Master Psychics in their species....Their psionic potential, combined with their natural toughness, makes them incredibly dangerous as individuals, and outright deadly when operating in well-organized paramilitary units. It is believed that the Magu evolved on a harsh, high-gravity world where they achieved dominance over larger native predators by using their psionic abilities to lure them with the illusion of helplessness, then stunning their prey and attacking unexpectedly at close range. Cooperative pack tactics allowed the proto-Magu to take down quite large predators, insuring security and a steady supply of food. The development of technology, and ultimately intergalactic spaceflight, has allowed the Magu to expand their hunting horizons.
Not that anyone (or nearly anyone) outside the secretive Magu worlds suspects this. Most of the megaverse knows the Magu as goofy-looking, incredibly cute, nearly mute, and very friendly little beings that have trademarked their image on items with broad appeal to youngsters of most humanoid species.
The reality of it is, the Magu are an aggressive, expansionist species that has infiltrated itself into a large number of world lines, particularly humanoid societies, through aggressive marketting of their racial image, particularly to younger generations. This helps establish trust and early brand-name recognition in human young, making them that much more susceptible to Magu manipulation later in life. The Magu work hard to disguise their true nature, or at least downplay the true extent of their abilities, ambitions, and operations...this prevents the effective organization of opposition to them both by commercial rivals and by planetary governments, and further magnifies the element of surprise on those few occasions when the Magu are compelled to use brute force. And the Magu are VERY effective when it comes to the use of force, being both well-organized and well-equipped, further empowered by predator ferocity. Anyone who has faced a crimson-uniformed cadre of BloodBunnies weilding HappyHappyBangBang chain-gun rifles and Sparkly Joy melee zapsticks can attest that the experience is one not easily forgotten, even with therapy and counseling. Unfortunately, there are few witnesses to this side that don’t recant their testimony or disappear soon after....The Magu are very profficient at intimidating, mindwiping, or ‘relocating’ those who know too much about their operations.
As it is, the Magu are up-and-coming rivals to Naruni Enterprises with their dimension-spanning business empire However, while the Naruni have focused on weapons production and sales, the Magu have concentrated on consumer goods, though they have not neglected the arms market...again targetting the younger populace with such goods as Love’ems Zap Rods, FlowerPower Liquid Knuckles Mace Sprayers, Love Tap Vibroblade Hockeysticks, Snuggy-Wuggy BodyArmor, and HappyMind subliminal message music boxes. As the consumer population matures, the Magu carefully maneuver them to the more powerful lines of products, weapons, and services, either bearing the blatant imprint of the Magu national corporations, or produced by subcontractors or companies in which the Magu hold a (mind)controling interest. It is rumored that most, if not all, Magu commercial products contain secret microcircuits that allow the corporate overlords to track and listen in through the products.
The Magu were known to have visited Earth in its pre-Rifts period, and apparently had begun to slowly establish a commercial presence there through the marketing of ‘Hi-Hi Floppy’ merchandise. Magu economists believed that in the long run, Earth could be a major client and continual source of profit, but the Coming of the Rifts cut further development of their Earthside franchise short. For over a century, the Magu have stayed away from the dangerous dimensional nexus, but recent reports that civilization has begun re-establishing itself, and the fact that rival Naruni Enterprises has taken in an interest in the world, have caught the Magus’ attention, and have them currently considering launching a new infiltration effort to Rifts Earth. Several scout units have already been dispatched to check up on the situation and assess the business opportunities(actually pretty dim; the collapse of continental mass-media and large retail chain stores will make re-establishing the old-style merchandising set-up nearly impossible), though early reports of the elimination of their nearest pre-Rifts commercial competitors for the same markets has made a second invasion all the more attractive.
Alignments: Any, but most (70%) are Aberrant
Lifespan: 300 years on average
Size:2-3 ft tall, 20-40 lbs
Gender: Heterosexual
Physical Description/Appearance:
Small, squat humanoids with extremely short stubby arms and legs, ending in paw-hands, and a large head as wide across as the shoulders. The head sports two large floppy ears on top, two small wide-spaced button-black eyes, button nose, small whiskers, and little buckteeth. Skin is snow-white, covered in fine white fur, with some variant shades of pink. Despite the pudgy appearance of their flesh, they are actually quite muscular and flexible, with a layer of protective spongy tissue that serves to obscure the retractable finger/toe claws until extended for grasping or slashing, while their large heads conceal their scimitar teeth and powerful jaw muscles.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Quiet, playful, and friendly, but actually quite cunning and manipulative. Love the young of other species(particularly humans), but will certainly maim any adults who get too nosey and interfere with the Magus’ business. Driven by predator instinct to hunt and play.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME:3d6
MA:4d6+6
PS:4d6+6(considered to be supernatural)
PP:3d6
PB:3d6
PE:4d6+6
SPD:3d6+2
(ISP) ME+6d6 +1d6+1 per level of experience
(PPE): 3d6
Hit Points:---
SDC:----
MDC: (Megadamage Beings) 1d6x10 MD +2d4 MD per level of experience, +10+3d4x10 MD from High-Gee background
Horror Factor: Have an ‘Awwww...so CUUUUTTTEEE” factor of 14 on children and most adults. Those who have seen the other face of the Magu react with a traditional Horror Factor of 14.
Natural Abilities:
*Heavy Gravity Beings
*Acute Nightvision-100 ft
* Acute Hearing---Can hear whispering from 500 ft away, and hear in ranges similar to a Dog Boy’s.
*Retractable Claws---+2d4 to melee damage, +5% to Climbing skill
*Power Bite---3d6 on a bite +P.S. bonus
Psionics:(Major)
*Telepathy
*Empathy
* Detect Psionics
* Mask I.S.P.
* Mind Block
* Levitation
* Resist Fatigue
* Ectoplasmic Disguise
* Telekinetic Leap

*Psionic Invisibility
*Empathic Projection
Magic: Has some magic potential, but less than 10% of the total population possesses any natural spell casting abilities.
Available OCCs: Any, but offworld franchise/infiltration agents will tend towards military professions. Psionic OCCs are particularly common, such as Psi-Ghost, MindMelter, and Psi-Mechanic.
Skills of Note:
Magu speak/read 2d4 additional languages(usually that of target species) at +10%
Cybernetics/Bionics: Magu can accept bionics and cybernetics, but most prefer not to take augmentation that is obvious or interferes with their (impressive) psionic abilities.
Culture: Enlightened Imperialists(Advanced Space Age)
Enemies: The Splugorth and Naruni Enterprises are the Magus’ biggest rivals. The Magu have also supposedly engaged in war with B’harnee cultists and the Teletubby Covens. They find Flopper to be a delicacy, especially when eaten raw...
Allies: Prefer to associate with humans and other races who find them cute(and thus easy to manipulate and coerce into buying lots of Hi-Hi Floppy merchandise).

Notes on Magu technology:
The Magu prefer to conceal their advanced technology behind innocuous-looking fascades; their weapons are often disguised as candy canes, toy wands, cosmetic compacts, and other harmless-looking objects. Larger facilities, such as spacecraft and facilities, will be more thoroughly disguised and concealed as landscape features or regular vehicles...The Magu are experts at camouflaging anything that doesn’t fit with their ‘cute and harmless’ commercial image.
Magu weapons technology is roughly equal to Naruni, the TGE, or the CCW, under the disguise.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

That is a very interesting RCC! I like it!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
KLM
Knight
Posts: 3629
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2004 8:23 am
Location: Hungary

Unread post by KLM »

Ouch.... LoL...

The Magu have a real world inspiration, aren't they?

:D

Adios
KLM
But still, one of the most basic rules for survival on any planet is never to upset someone wearing black leather - This is why protesters against the wearing of animal skins by humans unaccountably fail to throw their paint over Hell's Angels.
- Terry Prachett

Small font: use ctrl+c and copy it, so you can read. But since it is in small fonts, it is not important. I am not a NE salesperson.
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

I thought they did too.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

KLM wrote:Ouch.... LoL...

The Magu have a real world inspiration, aren't they?

:D

Adios
KLM



NO, their original name was the Sanri((phut!)THUMP! *TWANG*THUD!crumble4651815gkf qwfyufgolTFDSTAKTFE77WOQR793497.....


nO! tHEY WEREN'T ORIGINALLY CALLED THE 'sANRIMMME'! nO SIR, NOT AT ALL! :heart: :heart: :heart:

('futzing lousy save, murcus....you couldn't even disable the 'caps' button...now make yourself useful and help me with the body....')
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Actually I thought it sounded childish and harmless... :D
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Hey...Ectoplasmic Disguise...he COULD be one of them, you know....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Alpha 11
Palladin
Posts: 8227
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2005 4:14 pm
Location: Northwood, ND

Unread post by Alpha 11 »

:lol: Man! This is getting funny! :lol:
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

LOL!!! It is a funny topic though!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

I thought it was funny too, until those ki---I mean, those small people----started in with the bamboo splinters and rock salt.....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
shiiv-a
Adventurer
Posts: 789
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 2:55 pm
Comment: I see people as people first, anything else is secondary
Location: BC, Canada

Unread post by shiiv-a »

alright .. the bare bones of the race.

this is the Fox pilot with the wacky ship with the crystalline growth that has a few noses outta joint. the GM at the time wanted to make sure that the Psi superstar could know EVERYTHING about hte race without TLAKING to the 'pilot' .. know the tech and things like that ... the ship had a growth that prevented that and actually alerted the pilot that someone was 'tampering' ...

anyways .. the bare bones OF the actual race is as follows

Kankorian Foxes of Outland Magnolian System

RACIAL BACKGROUND FOR THE WORLD -=- Galactic Average stats / almost superhuman / humanoid-canine / hi-grav / double jointed / resistant to energy weapons / advanced space age / no magic on the 'homeworld' but learnable IF a teacher is found / peaceful expansionists.

3d6 / 400 sdc / +4 ps, +10 spd, +15 sdc / 5'4" - 5'11", 110 sdc, +8 ps, -2pp, spd*3 / 79% to escape some bonds/ 46% to escape other bonds, +2 roll / 1/4 damage from most damage .. 1/2 if magical in nature.
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

You could always pour vinegar on those wounds too! :D
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

Hmmm...low megadamge critter....good reason to run or invest in good armor, and the high-gee speed bonuses help....Double-Jointed...hmmm...having a flexible phsyical structure heps when ypu're in danger of doing harm to yourself from falls in a high-gee field(just pop that dislocated shoulder back in and start running again...and resistance to energy weapons? Maybe their homeworld has a lot of electrical activity...or many of the plants and animals use electrical shock or organic lasers as defense? Until the Magnolians developed high-tech land clearing.... :D
Last edited by taalismn on Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Unread post by taalismn »

NeaSyak RCC
“I’m doing a little advanced research project on interspecies-intergender bonding....will you be my lab partner?”

“Thanks for the vault codes, sucker! Hope you weren’t pinning too many hopes on a continued career in military intelligence!”

The NeaSyak are winged supernatural humans often categorized under the general(and erroneous) grouping Homo Infernalis Succubi...the order of winged demonic females broadly called Succubi( not to be confused with the reptilean shapechanging Dar’ota)....
The NeaSyak are a people without a culture; their remaining oral history tells that they had a sophisticated and established society until they got caught up and dragooned into a monumental war of cosmic proportions. Details are scant, but the NeaSyak were employed as soldiers in a centuries-long series of apocalyptic battles against other supernatural beings across cosmic landscapes, dealing great destruction on their enemies, but taking hideous losses in return(especially after their early successes meant they were specifically targetted by the other side’s heavy guns). Ultimately the NeaSyak were used up as a people, their culture shattered, their homeworld lost to outside invasions, the artifacts and creations of their society either destroyed in the war, or taken by their ernstwhile ‘masters’ when it became apparent that the NeaSyak were chaffing at the cost of the war to their people. Too few in number to play a significant role in the machinations of their overlords anymore, the NeaSyak finally dropped from the ranks of the demonic armies, and were discarded, to wander the Megaverse, and try to survive as best they can.
As a result, most NeaSyak carry a bitterness towards the rest of the universe; having been historically exploited and abandoned, the NeaSyak mostly believe that they are justified in doing what they must to survive, or get what they want, even if it hurts other people. There are a few truly evil and deranged NeaSyak who feel that their interests are best served through murder and terror, and a few altruistic ones who feel the way to re-establish themselves as a people is through peaceful co-existance, tolerance, and striving to do good by others, but most NeaSyak are self-serving opportunists, just trying to get by. It is these opportunists who use seduction, extortion, theft, and violence, both physical and magical, to gain what they want. Unfortunately, it is these tactics and the general attitude of conceited self-interest that promulgate and promote the image of the NeaSyak as demonic succubi.
A number of NeaSyak have come to Rifts Earth to try their luck and seek adventure. Unfortunately, these latecomers already have a strike against them due to misidentification and association with the Nightwind(aka Demon Seductress) demons that played a bloodthirsty role in the chaotic days immediately following the Coming of the Rifts. The descriptions and cautionary tales of those erotic and murderous beings typically surge to the fore in any encounter between the human(oid) populace of Rifts Earth and the opportunistic NeaSyak, who find that their standard come-on tactics more often result in them being attacked. While this has no doubt stopped many of the more self-serving or just plain evil NeaSyak in their tracks(and often dead in them), more than a few well-intentioned NeaSyak have been tortured and murdered for their candor.

Alignments: Any, but most (85%) are Selfish
Lifespan: 200 years
Size: 5-6 ft tall
Gender: Only female NeaSyak have been encountered; whether male NeaSyak similar to the females exist or have all been killed off, the males are sexually dimorphically unlike the females(and not recognized as such), or if the NeaSyak possess a reproductive mechanism similar to the Altaran Blind Warrior Women, is unknown. Several NeaSyak have used the theme of ‘dying race in need of men to survive’ as part of their come-on scams.
Physical Description/Appearance:
Appear as slender-build, buxom, devastatingly attractive human(oid) females with atypical demonic features; small horns, pointed ears, large bat wings sprouting from the back, elongated canines, and a pointed tail. Wings and hair tend to be dark colored, skin pale in color, but as many variations exist in NeaSyak as in normal human beings.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Most are cynical, embittered opportunists who feel the universe has mistreated their people....Passionate and emotional, but afraid to allow their trust to be abused, or their emotions toyed with. If they chance onto something good that they can hold on to, they’ll defend it with their lives, but they take betrayl and mistrust very personally. They tend to have a soft spot for humanoid children...they see them as innocent and guileless, and good-aligned NeaSyak will treat them like their own....Evil NeaSyak will seek to gain their trust and manipulate them to do their bidding, and mold their psyches away from the path of their parents.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6+3
ME: 2d6+6
MA: 2d6+12
PS: 3d6+6(considered Supernatural)
PP: 2d4+18
PB: 2d6+14
PE: 2d6+12(considered Supernatural)
SPD: 4d6+20(x2 flying)
(ISP): By Psionic Class
(PPE): P.E.x2 +28
Hit Points:----
SDC:----
MDC: 1d6x10+2d6 MD per level of experience+physical skill modifiers
Horror/Awe Factor: 11
Natural Abilities:
*Natural Megadamage Beings
*Retractable Claws--2d4 + P.S. bonuses
*Slashing Prehensile Tail---2d6
*Quick, alert; +3 to initiative, +1 to dodge, in addition to P.P. and physical skill bonuses.
* Advanced Hearing---Can hear very faint sounds( small animals creeping about, a person breathing, whispered conversations across a room, heartbeats), and are +1 to initiative, even in darkness.
*Bio-Regeneration--3d6 MD per melee round(!), and impervious to diisease and poison.
*Winged Flight(x2 Speed)
Bonuses: +1 save vs psionics, and +2 save vs insanity
Psionics: Standard
Magic:
*Limited Metamorphosis---Can transform into a human version of its natural appearance, 8 hours +1 hour per level of experience, twice per day.
1d6+3 spells from General Magic levels 1-4
Cybernetics/Bionics: None; as much as some NeaSyak adore body-piercings, anything more is considered to be disgusting, and interferes with their supernatural abilities anyway.
Available OCCs:
Most (60%) NeaSyak pursue careers as rogues, bounty hunters, and criminals, but 15% become rogue scholars, doctors, and scientists, seeking to understand more about themselves and other species. Another 15% have elected to study additional realms of magic. The remaining 10% run the gamut from paladins and ninjas to starship captains and planetary scouts.
RCC Skills:
Language/Literacy: 1d4 languages, each at +15%
Seduction(+10%)
Disguise(+10%)
1d4 Rogue Skills, each at +10%
W.P. Knife, Chain, or Whip

Equipment/Weapons of Choice:
NeaSyak are fond of concealed switchblades, throwing knives, and butterfly blades(for those occasions when simply clawing is too messy), whips, and chain weapons, that can be concealed among(or AS) clothing. In high-tech settings they have come to love hold-out pistols, palm-sized explosives, and vibroblades. Also attracted to artifact magic and Techno-wizardry.
Culture:
Solitary wanderers; rarely do more than 1d4+1 NeaSyak ever congregate together for any long period of time.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Aramanthus
Monk
Posts: 18712
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
Location: Racine, WI

Unread post by Aramanthus »

Nice RCC. I can see a lot of them becoming the muscle for certain peoples of Phase World.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"

"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."

"As you will it, your Grace."

HH....FIE
Post Reply

Return to “Rifts®: Dimension Books”