SolCannibal wrote:That's kind of like "planet of hats schtick, for machines" in sci-fi, mostly alongside abducting people to be their new users/masters or some conundrum that leads into a sort of god-like ur machine merging with organics or acquiring qualities from them, find some way to "transcend beyond parameters" V'ger style.
"Okay, what we basically did was drag it back down to our level..." <<"....does not computte...does not compute......does not compute...oh, maker, the SMUT!...">> "Put it oiut of its misery?" "I'll pull the plug."
-------------
"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"
SolCannibal wrote:That's kind of like "planet of hats schtick, for machines" in sci-fi, mostly alongside abducting people to be their new users/masters or some conundrum that leads into a sort of god-like ur machine merging with organics or acquiring qualities from them, find some way to "transcend beyond parameters" V'ger style.
"Okay, what we basically did was drag it back down to our level..." <<"....does not computte...does not compute......does not compute...oh, maker, the SMUT!...">> "Put it oiut of its misery?" "I'll pull the plug."
"No, not THAT one." "Why does it have one of these in the first place?!" "Backdoor security?" "There's nothing secure about inserting..." "Ok, stop. Let's leave at that." "I'm using the EMP, it's cleaner."
“Oh gods! The -teeth-! The teeth!”
-Suit transmission from an EVA worker encountering a Chugganath in its native environment.
“Damn (products of improbable miscegenation) things ate through my ship’s hull like it was peanut brittle! I had to abandon ship and take to the lifepods without hardly any time to grab my belongings! Counted myself lucky to have gotten away with my life and that the (triple)damn monsters didn’t eat my lifeboat! I barely made Velgerlport and had to hawk what little I had on me to get myself some quarters and rations! Then, about a few months later, when I’m sweating a job as a rock-assayer to earn a ticket out of the sector, I see some of the stuff I left behind on my ship being sold at a pawnshop! (Blasphemous) rock-fykkers weren’t just eating my ship, they were robbing me blind! Pirates! Pirates all!”
“Help! Somebody! HELP ME!!! AIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!”
The screams echoed around the shadow-dappled cargo hold enclosure where a naked female human was suspended chained and spreadeagled, screaming in the grip of several rugged-skinned tentacled orbs crawling over her trembling limbs and making suggestive gestures and teeth-snapping postures. Saliva dripped profusely from radial jaws lined with jagged teeth; they had just reduced the prisoner’s equipment and garments, armored spacesuit included, into steadily dissolving confetti. More of the monsters arrived to slither around the captive as if to measure flesh content and taste. In the rippling shadows she lost track of how many of the rolliing and crawling monstrosities pushed and shoved to get at her.
Thus the prisoner did not notice one particularly big one roll away behind her and through an open hatchway, down a hallway, and around a corner, to stop just short of several sets of humanoid legs and their owners. “Okay, we softened her up for you. Doing that was fun, but that germanium you promised us is better.”
The figures gave an affirmative nod; not that it meant anything to the tooth-ball, lacking the same sort of body to interpret the nuances of body language, but it could read minds just fine.
The tentacled ball of teeth gestured back at the hold, from which a fresh round of screaming and pleading for mercy was coming. “She’s ready to tell you everything about her smuggling operation off your asteroid in return for you ‘rescuing’ her from us. Just give the younglings three more dhats to get the acting bug out of their systems, then turn on the steam; they’ll have some fun taking their showers and tanking up some moisture before scampering off and then you can go in and start asking your questions. I’ll wait around the door making hungry noises if you need some reinforcement, but it will cost you extra if I’m called in.”
The Chugganath are free-space dwelling exolifeforms. Far from being voracious ‘monsters of the void’, they are quite intelligent and can learn the languages of other lifeforms. Chugganath can survive atmosphere and gravity, but they are most comfortable in micro-gravity and zero-gee. They are, by the evidence, an ancient species, who have spread through a fair arc of the Thundercloud Galaxy by normal space(relativistic) means, and they may have arrived from extragalactic origins. It is not known if they are a naturally evolved species that had a SLOW progression to sophancy, or were deliberately engineered as space-dwellers.
Despite their fearsome appearance, Chugganath are not carnivorous predators; they are instead lithovores who subsist on a diet of minerals and metals. Their diamond-sharp teeth are for chewing through rock and metal. They can taste minerals with the skill of an accomplished gourmet and are excellent asteroid prospectors and miners.
Chugganath fly in space using a combination of organic ion drive and mild gravitic manipulation. For longer trips, groups of Chugganath will take an asteroid or cometary nucleus, burrow into it, and cobble together powerful impulse rockets to accelerate the asteroid on an extrasolar trajectory. The Chugganath will then take shifts lying dormant and being awake, slowly eating the asteroid like worms inside an apple, until they arrive at another promising solar system, whereupon they abandon their depleted ‘canoe’ for fresh pastures. This process takes many thousands of years, but more recently Chugganath have learned to hitch rides on FTL starships, despite the discomfort of traveling superluminal.
The Chugganath are often misidentified as a Splugorth subspecies(or creation) though as far as the Chugganath know(or care) there is NO relation between the two species.
Though the Chugganath generally avoid(and are harmless to) other species, they are not above occasionally pirating other species’ ships and constructs for materials/food, and take full advantage of their fearsome appearances(to others) to frighten and intimidate. Some Chugganath actively collaborate with others such as pirates and asteroid miners.
Alignments: Any
Life Span: 500 years(not including time spent in hibernation; with that, there are Chugganath with chronological ages in the tens of thousands of years).
Size: 2-5 ft wide(female-phase Chugganaths can be up to 10 times that size). Their tentacles can stretch out up to 30 ft.
Gender: Hermaphrodites that switch genders as needed. When two Chugganath meet, one elects to be the female and goes on a feeding binge, the elected male helping provide the female with food. The female can increase size and weight by up to ten times, becoming nearly immobile before brooding and producing 2-8 offspring, after which the female sheds any remaining excess mass and returns to a neutral gender-state. Once the children are weaned, the pair typically divide up the children, take their respective entourages and leave each other to seek other feeding grounds and mating opportunities.
Physical Description/Appearance:
A yard-wide leathery ball, dominated by a circular mouth lined with jagged teeth. A dozen tentacles sprout from the body. The creature has no visible sensory organs. They can speak acoustically using internal gas bladders normally used for storing reaction mass; they speak with a belching squelching tone.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Despite their very alien nature, Chugganath can come across as diverse in personality as any human. Most are aloof and standoffish, but those who associate most with the ‘airbreathers’ and ‘gravity-slumpers’ often come across as curious, snide, cunning, greedy, or intellectual. They are expert scavengers in deep space, and many acquire collections of salvaged weaponry and equipment.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 2d6+6
ME: 2d6+13
MA: 2d6+6
PS: 5d6+12 and considered to be Supernaturally strong
PP: 2d6+13 in zero gee
They are less agile in gravity fields; under 1.0 g, they are effectvely 3d6.
PB: 1d4
PE: 3d6+20
SPD: Can crawl under 1.0 g at 1d6+4
Can fly in zero-gravity at. Can accelerate up to Mach 3/ MPH, at their P.E. x5 MPH/minute and brakw/decelerate at a similar rate.
(ISP): 6d6 + M.E, + 1d6 per level of experience
(PPE): 5d6
Hit Points:----
SDC:----
MDC: 2d6x10 +2d6 per level of experience. Each tentacle(12) has 6d6 MDC+1d8 per level of experience
Horror Factor: 14
Natural Abilities:
*Space Native---Can live in space/raw vacuum. A natural ion drive pushes them up to speeds of Mach 3. They often use gravity slingshot maneuvers to boost ther speed higher, as well as use artificial boosters to increase their speed still higher. It’s been claimed that Chugganath can survive reaching a sustained 10% of light speed.
*Silcate Physiology----Effectively immune to intense radiation, pathogens, toxins and extremes of heat and cold.
*Enhanced Senses---Despite having no visible sensory organs, Chugganath can sense the world around them in great detail; they can ‘see’ far-off starlight with their skins, ‘smell’ electromagnetic fields(can detect radar and motion detector beams), and ‘hear’ radio waves and radiation. They also can ‘feel’ gravity fields around them, including perturbations in the mass of materials caused by denser metals and minerals. +2 to Perception.
*Advanced Sense of Taste(Minerals)----Can discriminate between and identify common substances with 70%+5% per level of experience proficiency, and can identify exotic tastes and minerals at 30%+5% per level of experience. +10% to Geology and Chemistry: Analytical skills.
*Regeneration----Chugganath heal damage at a rate of 1d6 MDC per hour.
*Natural Radio/Radar----Chugganath have natural radio with an effective range of 10 miles per level of experience in atmosphere and 100,000 miles per level of experience in space. They can also ‘hear’ across the radio spectrum, but would require appropriate communications skills to decrypt signals.
*Hibernation---To save on resources, and save on the tedium of traveling between planets and stars, Chugganath can go into deep states of hibernation. In such a state, they can go for hundreds, even thousands, or years inert(they are sometimes mistaken for small ice-rich and minneral-laced asteroids, much to the shock of the prospectors who awaken them).
Psionics:(Minor Psionics)
Chugganath have Telepathy and five additional powers from the Sensitive category of psionics. They save as MINOR psychics.
*(Special) Long Range Telepathy----Chugganath can communicate with other Chugga’ by special long range telepathy; this costs the same as regular telepathy, but instead of range measurable in ft, range is in x10,000 MILES. If in a gravity field, this is reduced to x100 miles.
Magic:
The Chugganath are a magic-using culture; one in every 54 has the abilities of a Spacial Mage.
Vulnerabilities:
*Particle Beams---Particle beam weaponry does DOUBLE damage to Chugganath.
*Deep Water---While Chugganath cannot drown in the conventional sense, deep water poses a real hazard to them; they cannot swim but instead sink like rocks.
*Gravity---Gravity is generally a bummer for Chugganath; under even a 0.5 g field, they lose much of their accustomed speed and agility, and are limited to crawling or rolling around on the ground/deck.
*FTL Travel----Chugganath find superluminal flight acutely uncomfortable. Every time one travels faster than the speed of light they must roll versus psionic attack or lapse into a psuedo-coma for the duration of the flight. Upon emergence from FTL, the Chugganath begins to recover, but will be groggy and mentally sore; HALF all ability ranges, damage, bonuses and skill proficiencies for 1d10 hours. Even those who make their saving throw versus unconsciousness and stay awake for the flight will be at a similar HALF effectiveness and have NO bonuses to initiative; if asked they may describe the experience of FTL as akin to listening to somebody scraping asphalt or slate in the background while one is trying to concentrate.
Only Chugganath Spacial Mages are immune to this when traveling FTL by magic means.
Cybernetics/Bionics: None. Most metals and plastics used in cybernetics and bionics are considered snack foods by the Chugganath
R.C.C. Related Skills: Select 4 skills from the following categories, plus an additional 1 at levels 3, 6, 9 and 12.
Communications: Any(+5% to Radio skills)
Domestic: None
Electrical: Any(+5%)
Espionage: None
Mechanical: Any(+5%)
Medical: None
Military: Any
Physical: Any except Swimming and SCUBA.
Pilot: Any except Bicycles , Aircraft and FTL Spacecraft
Pilot Related: Any(+10%)
Rogue: None
Science: Any(+10% to Astrophysics)
Technical: Any
Wilderness: None
Weapons Proficiencies(W.P.): Any
Secondary Skills: The character also gets to select 4secondary skills from those listed, plus at levels, , and . These are additional areas of knowledge that do not get the advantage of the bonuses listed in parentheses. All secondary skills start at the base skill level.
Experience Tables:(Use Dragon Exp. Tables)
Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 6(+any gained from taking a hand to hand combat skill )
(Bonuses are in additio to any from physical and skill attributes)
Initiative + 1 in space/microgravity
Dodge + 1 in space/microgravity
Strike +1
Roll +2, + 3 in space/microgravity
Pull Punch +2
Entangle +3
Bite 1d8 MD
Restrained Tentacle Strike ---Minimum of 2d4 SDC-5d6 SDC
Full Strength Tentacle Strike ---Minimum of 1d4 MD- 3d6 MD
Power Tentacle Strike(2 attacks) ---Minimum of 2d4 MD-1d4x10 MD
Tear/Pry 2d4 MD
Crush/Squeeze(2 attacks)4d4 MD
Culture:
Chugganath form pods of 1d6x10 individuals nomally, working small asteroids, and keeping in touch with other groups by radio or telepathy. If and when a Chugga desires to leave a group, they will try to arrange a rendezvous with another pod in advance before starting out.
Larger groups congregrate and join forces to work on larger common projects like asteroid ark-ships.
Chugganath recognize and can use technology, though they rarely produce larger technological artifacts for themselves. They have learned about the usefulness of mechanical and electrical systems, and most are accomplished blacksmiths, using cobbled-together solar concentrator furnaces and scavenged reactors.
The Chugganath are preyed upon by, and prey in turn on, Asteropids(see Aliens Unlimited Galaxy Guide, pgs 124-125).
The Justicene Exiles dislike the Chugganath, for stealing away salvage and resouce finds the Exiles covet for themselves.
Belters and Chugganath have complicated love/hate relationships with each other; both are freespacers ‘living off the land’ and they often compete for the same resources. At worst, the Belters see the Chugganath as intrusive vermin, while the exoforms regard the Belters as invasive species; ‘wet-rockers’ who have no business claiming the Chugganaths’ resources. This has led to a number of ‘rock wars’ with the two sides seeking to push each other out of rich pickings.
In better circumstances, Belters regard the Chugganath as supremely well-adapted to life in deep space and a sort of ideal. The Chugganath may respect the ‘gravity well crawlers’ for their persistance and ingenuity in working to live in a environment so deadly to their kind. Under such impressions, Belters and Chugganath can form powerful cooperatives in developing resources.
-------------
"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"
Most interesting beings indeed - it beggars the question of what might happen if a group of Chugganath spatial mages putting their minds together ever manages to cobble up or tinker some form of workaround their people's issues with superluminal flight.
The realization that some groups of "wetrock natives" have access to weapons technology capable of blowing up planets - and making billions to trillions or more of asteroids in the process - could also lead to all kind of complications, though considering their usual resource limitations when no loot is available and long lifespan, it could take anything from centuries to dozens of millenia for something to actually come up from it even if they did.
SolCannibal wrote: ↑Fri Jan 12, 2024 5:52 pm
Most interesting beings indeed - it beggars the question of what might happen if a group of Chugganath spatial mages putting their minds together ever manages to cobble up or tinker some form of workaround their people's issues with superluminal flight.
The realization that some groups of "wetrock natives" have access to weapons technology capable of blowing up planets - and making billions to trillions or more of asteroids in the process - could also lead to all kind of complications, though considering their usual resource limitations when no loot is available and long lifespan, it could take anything from centuries to dozens of millenia for something to actually come up from it even if they did.
"We wanna eat planets!"
"Why?"
""Just because it sounds interesting."
-------------
"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"
Sensuan Human Variant
“If humans are the vermin of the megaverse, Sensuans have to be counted as one of the ‘fancy-vermin’ bred for show purposes, as some are wont to do.”
“Zel’s a damn good thief with a right light touch on the pocketing and picking and safe-cracking, and he can be counted on not to hurt anybody in a caper..though he gets kind of enthusiastic tying people up...though I gotta watch him and remind him to be serious about things. One female security guard and he almost exchanged contact numbers for a later assignation when I caught him before he gave out any details. Sensuans....yeesh.”
“Awww, it took some doing to get both of them out of their clothes, but it looks like those two are going to be preoccupied, tied and tangled up like that! Those febosh-fiber ropes are soft but strong, and the ....stimulant...effects of the febosh oils will distract them for awhile. That just leaves just the two of us for now; I’ll just have to seduce you myself in the meantime. When they’ve worn each other down, we can ravish both of them....just as I planned.”
--A Sensuan ‘matchmaker’ reveals her insidious plot to set up a foursome.
“If you ever have to negotiate anything important with a Sensuan present on the other side, here’s a helpful hint; wear gloves and nose plug-filters, Any time you find yourself staring at the Sensuan, think about Splugorth porn. Seriously, I’ve had more agents give away more than they should have in contract negotiations because the other party brought a Sensuan to sit in on their side and just exude happy airs. And there’s nothing illegal about it.”
“Okay, yes, I know the rumors about Sensuans, and I can understand you parents’ concerns about hiring any in an educational role, but there have been, aside from those rumors, NO hard documented accounts of Sensuans abusing their mentor positions with regards to their underage students. I’ve spoke at length with both the new hires and their former employers and am assured that there will be nothing unethical in their conduct or performance.”
Sensuans are a genetically-engineered Human variant that has begun appearing in the Megaverse, specifically the Three Galaxies. It is unknown how the Sensuans came to be specifically; the most common theory is that they were bred to be a servitor caste, not unlike the Casserine, Tetrakian, and Vinobe human-septs or the elven Calians. Another theory, based on tales in what there is of Sensuan culture, is that they evolved out of a utopian post-want Human splinter-culture that chose to submerge itself in sybaritic decadence, free love, and the pleasures of the flesh, and modified themselves either consciously or unconsciously to better enjoy, without thought of how it would effect their descendants.
Sensuans appear as humans in the prime of health, with almost comically-exaggerated physical attributes(especially sexual features), almost visibly radiating charisma and sexuality. A notable feature is that their hair strands are hollow and many play host to symbiotic bacteria that are bioluminescent, often to a quite bright intensity(this can sometimes be used to gauge the Sensuan’s emotional state). However, this isn’t always as a reliable way of identifying them, as many disguise their hair with dye-jobs, and many metroworld social scenes have lumi-hair fads on a regular basis, making this aspect of Sensuan biology almost more of a disguise.
Whatever their origins, however, the Sensuans were either raided or wholly conquered by a more aggressive species, possibly a Splugorth Minion race, as the Sensuans first appeared in the liberated slave-stock of a Splugorth outpost world. They’ve since appeared in Splugorth slave markets and other ports engaged in human slave trafficking.
The Altess regard Sensuans with a degree of visible disdain, either seeing them as failed efforts at longevity, or wince-inducing reminders of the perils of lives spent in idleness. This hasn’t stopped the Altess from employing Sensuans as servants and effectively pets, but no sane Altess would trust a Sensuan with any real responsibility.
Needless to say, Sensuans are popular in businesses in the Paradise Foundation worlds. More than a few pleasure guilds employ(or seek to employ) Sensuans.
Alignments: Any, but most(60%) are Good in alignment, with another 30% following into Unprincipled, 6% into Anarchist, and the remaining 4% in Evil(utterly self-absorbed). No Diabolical Sensuans are KNOWN to exist, though possible through extreme insanity.
Life Span: 150 years
Size: 5-7 ft tall, 100-280 lbs on average
Gender: Hetereosexual, emphasis on the sex...similar to regular human beings.
Sensuans CAN breed successfully with other human variants(including ogres), and in fact are known for their easy and painless births, allowing female Sensuans to recover very quickly and get back to the party scene. Male Sensuans are considered high-endurance ‘studs’.
Physical Description/Appearance:
Human beings in the prime of health, with comic-hero-style physiques. They age very gracefully, and look good well into their 100s, When their ends come, they degenerate quickly(Dying ‘in action’ is a common end-goal of most Sensuans).
Sensuan hair will(70%) feature swaths or strands of bioluminescence; colors ranging from glowing gold and red-violet to cool bright blues. These patches can be bright enough to read by (and be easily seen in darkness). They cannot be turned off, but can be covered with hair dyes and head coverings.
Sensuans also tend(95%) to have odd eye colors, such as gold, purple, jade, and orange.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Hedonistic pleasure-seekers, ever eager for the next roll in the hay, bounce in the bed, or score on the mats. Most(65%) can be considered bisexual. They can range in their eagerness from merely flirty to this-could-be-considered-just-short-of-sexual-harassment. Most Sensuans, however, are reasonable enough that they will accept ‘no’ for an answer and try their luck elsewhere with somebody more willing and open. While they may express loyalty to a chosen mate, Sensuan attitude is very flexible, and polyandry is common. On the extreme (alignment) end, however, Sensuans can get scarily passionate and obsessive about pursuing goals and objects they desire, such as the attentions of specific individuals, though stopping just short of outright criminality(unless the Sensuan has gone completely insane).
Like the Larmack, Sensuan Humans regard physical labor as a necessary, but onerous, evil. Though very athletic, if something physical isn’t enjoyable, they try to avoid it. They’ll only work to sustain themselves and get the resources to keep their hedonistic lifestyles going. If they can, they’ll leave work to others. If they absolutely must work at something, they’ll try to make it as fun as possible...often with surprising results.
Sensuans tend to be pacifistic and nonaggressive, and that may explain how they became a slave race. Only the most dire of circumstances, or insanity, will get a Sensuan to take aggressive and harmful action, but aggressive and kinky action is acceptable. While not outright cowards, Sensuans are not adverse to an expedient retreat, especially if it means they live to enjoy another day.
Sensuans DO have a few hard-set moral lines they will NOT cross; children and adolescents are NOT to be harmed, anybody below the age of consent is OFF-limits, and if it’s not enjoyable for both parties, BACK OFF.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 1d6+7
MA: 2d6+12
PS: 2d6+6
PP: 2d6+13
PB: 2d6+14
PE: 3d6+20
SPD: 3d6+6
(ISP):---
(PPE): 4d6
Hit Points: P.E. +1d6 per level of experience
SDC: 34
MDC:----
Horror Factor:---
Natural Abilities:
*Heigtened Senses of Smell and Taste----Sensusans have well-developed snses of small and taste. They can judge the quality of foods and drinks by these, making them accomplished cooks, perfumers, trouble-sniffers, and interviewers. They can also pick up on plenty of non-visual cues about people.
(Taste)---- Can discriminate between and identify common substances with 70%+5% per level of experience proficiency, and can identify exotic tastes and poisons at 30%+5% per level of experience. +10% to cooking ability.
(Smell)--100 ft range, Recognize specific odors: 70%+4% per level of experience, recognize poisons/chemicals by smell: 50%+4% per level of experience, recognize specific person: 50%+3% per level of experience, track by scent: 40%+3% per level of experience every 200 yards. In circumstances where smell can come into play: +1 dodge, +1 initiative.
*Tactile Sensitivity----- Sensuans have very acute tactile senses and can pick up on very fine details by touch, and are very aware of their surrouding environment by feel. Can identify fabric and materials alone by touch; 60%+2% per level of experience, detect very slight differences in texture, such as hidden portals(70%+2% per level of experience), changes in temperature (60%+2% per level of experience), has penalties for fighting blind of only -5, is +10% to skills requiring a deft touch, such as Pick Pockets, Palming, Demolitions, Juggling, Pick Locks, Forgery, Massage, etc.. and is +1 to Dodge/Roll.
*Motion Detection---Hollow hairs on the head and body can register changes in air pressure around the Sensuan; 30 ft radius, +1 on initiative, parry, dodge, and roll.
*Nightvision---While it’s often been said that Sensuans have ‘bedroom eyes’, in fact they have better than average low-light vision, being able to see in total darkness some 80 ft and in low light conditions out to 200 ft.
*Living Anatomy(Sense)---Sensuans have such a knowledge of human anatomy that they can pick up on, with a glance, all sorts of signs and indicators about a person that others would miss, This is the ability to read another person’s body language, behavior, and physiological signs and discern information, such as the subject’s emotional and mental state, general physical health, and whether the person is lying(01-60% reasonably sure. 61-89% uncertain, 90-00% dead-on correct). Gets First Aid at 80%+2% per level of experience, +10% to any medical skills the Sensuan may take.
Also gets a +3 to Pull Punch. Instead of the damage bonuses normally associated with this power, the Sensuan gets a called Knockout pressure-point strike on an unmodifed strike roll of 16-20.
*Pheromones----Sensuans literally ooze sex in the form of olfactory cue chemicals in their sweat and saliva. +10 to MA/PB, +10%(+15% if delivered by a kiss to nose or mouth) to Seduction rolls for 3 hours per day. Normal effective range is 60 ft in well-ventilated conditions, but in less well-ventilated areas like a closed conference room or hall, the effect can reach for hundreds of ft. A save versus non-lethal poison HALVES effects, a successful roll versus mind control negates it.
*Resistance to Addiction----Sensuans are not easily addicted to chemicals; they easily shake off chemical dependencies and do not suffer hangovers, +1 to save versus poisons/toxins, and chances for addiction are only 25% of what would be normal for a human being.
*Disease Resistance----Sensuans have very efficient immune systems; effectively impervious to normal diseases, +1 to save versus magic disorders and poisons/toxins.
*Double-Jointed--- Sensuans are VERY flexible. +10% to Escape Artist, +1 roll with punch, fall, or impact.
*Fatigues at HALF the normal human rate.
*Fertility Control----Sensuans of both genders have conscious biological control of their fertility/virility. Unwanted/unexpected pregnancy/paternity just isn’t a thing with them.
Psionics: None; no potential
Magic: None; no potential
Cybernetics/Bionics: If they have a choice, Sensuans avoid implants, unless they increase their personal pleasure.
Available OCCs:
Sensuans find it hard to concentrate long enough to pursue any occupation seriously. No military or hard scholarly/academic/technical professionals. They gravitate towards professions that alow them to indulge their passions.
Surprisingly, many make excellent physical education instructors, teaching gymnastics, swimming, and sports, while others are excellent art and music teachers. The more serious-minded Sensuans make good physical therapists and psychiatric aides. Professional Athlete, Entertainer, Floater, Vagabond Scout are among the most common OCCs available to Sensuans. More criminally-minded Sensuans can fall into the roguish ‘gentleman thief’ and seductress professions.
RCC Skills:
First Aid at 80%+2% per level of experience
Dance(+15%)
Seduction(+15%)
Disrobe(Self/Others)---Arguably, nobody’s more proficient at shedding clothes than a Sensuan. (+15%). Base Skill: 40 % + 5% per level of experience, +15% if used on oneself.
Skills of Note:
Domestic skills get a +10%
Medical Skills get a +10%, but limited to Holistic Medicine, Sports Medicince, Paramedic(counts as THREE skill choices), Massage and Psychology(counts as TWO skill choices).
Physical skills get a +10%(where applicable), due to the Sensuans’ very physical orientation. Combat-wise, Sensuans never get anything more aggressive than Martial Arts, but may be interested in ‘soft’ martial arts like Tickle-TeeHee, Street of the Red Lanterns Wrestling, or Screaming Squirrel.
Culture:
Little of a larger Sensuan culture can be discerned, but Sensuans in groups tend to form flexible multi-partner sexual congresses. Children born of these extended unions are raised in common(and tend to be spoiled rotten).
-------------
"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"
Endroll/Rakshatra-meenu---Aquatic D-bees(Monster species)(NPC RCC, not recommended as a Player Character)
(aka ‘Rakshatra-meenu’, ‘Sea-thuggees’)
“Yeah, going for the center of one of these crawlies is a good idea, but do it quick and by surprise. If they see you coming and figure they’re doomed, or they know they’re going to die, they’ll detach all their remaining limbs just before you skewer them. Now you got a bunch of squirming murderous limbs to deal with.”
The Endroll are a species of nonhumanoid aquatic d-bees that seek conquest. They are known to have made several appearances on Earth preRifts, attacking coastal communities along India’s west coast, during which the local population came to call them ‘Rakshatra-meenu’. These early forays were beaten back and the Endroll disappeared from human keen, either retreating to deep sea sanctuaries or to some watery dimension. With the Coming of the Rifts, the Endroll have returned, with a currently small, but growing, presence in the western Indian Ocean. They may have established a series of bases/enclaves underwater from which to launch probing attacks. They have come into conflict with the Daityas(Pantheons of the Megaverse, pg. 142) and the Lemurians. They also do not seem to get along with Lorica Wraths, because the latter prefer murder to conquest and enslavement.
Little is known of Endroll culture, but they seem to favor a warband society; individuals gather in large groups under a strong and charismatic leader and go off in search of other cultures to invade and subjugate. It is not known if these warbands are representative of the mainstream Endroll society or are offshoot expeditionary forrces split off from a more organized home culture.
The Endroll are even more infatuated with the depiction of stars as five-pointed than humans, and they see human use of five-pointed stars as proof that humans regard the Endroll as superior lifeforms. The Endroll are heavily influenced by their brand of astrology, and all significant campaigns are influenced by cosmological forecasts(though they don’t innterpret them the same way as Humans do).
Endroll are mentally endurance-wise weak, but still psychically able; it is said that the leader of one of the largest early attacks was capable of particially advanced astral projection. While scouting in astral form, it became cut off from its body and stranded on Earth when its people retreated back to their home dimension. After wandering bodiless for some time, the Endroll warlord underwent a change of heart, repented of its aggression against humanity, and was subsequently reincarnated as a human being.
During their early pre-Rifts attacks, the Endroll restricted their combat to hand to hand, using their superior strength and reach to grapple human prey and strangle or crush them. Later encounters saw the Endroll use weapons such as spears, nets, and thrown darts, and the most recent reports have them learning to use modern energy weaponry they have acquired.
Alignments: Any, but most(96%) are Evil
Life Span: 110 years
Size: At full extension, an Endroll can measure 18 ft across. Their center body is only about 2 ft thick, but they can stand on their tentacle arms to about 5 ft tall. They weigh on the order of 400-700 lbs
Gender:
Hermaphrodites that produce hundreds of eggs at a time. Only roughly 10% of viable hatchlings survive to maturity.
Physical Description/Appearance:
Resemble large five-limbed brittlestar starfish with tentacles 7-8 ft log. Typically banded in black and ruddy colors. They have no obvious eyes, but can still see/sense all around themselves. They communicate telepathically, but can hear/feel vibrations normally. They are omnivorous, but seem to prefer a meat-heavy diet.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Avaricious predator culture. They rarely communicate wtth others, and then typically only to intimidate and browbeat ‘inferiors’.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 1d6+7
MA: 2d6+2
PS: 4d6+18(Supernatural)
PP: 2d4+16
PB: 1d6
PE: 3d6+20
SPD:(Running) Can slither along at 4d6
(Swimming) 16 MPH, no depth limit
(ISP): M.E. +6d6, +1d6 per level of experience
(PPE): 6d6
Hit Points:---
SDC:----
MDC(SDC in SDC realms): (Core) 2d4x10
(Limbs)(5) 1d6x10 each
Horror Factor: 12
Natural Abilities:
*360-degree Peripheral Vision---Endroll are very difficult to sneak up on, thanks to their many small eye-cells dotting their radial bodies.
*Track By Scent----Endroll can pick up on chemical traces in the air and water. 70% to track by scent.
*Moton Detection---Can sense mootion in a 50 ft radius of their body. They thus suffer no penalties to be ambushed from behind or in darkness, unless it is a ranged attack from outside the sensory radius.
*Amphibious---Endroll can survive out of water and move about on land, but can only last their P.E./2 in days before they need to return to water to rehydrate. If they cannot return to water, their regeneration healing ability drops to 4d6 points of damage per day/24 hours, CANNOT regenerate lost limbs, and start losing 2d6 SDC/MDC per 12 hours.
*Regeneration---Endroll can regenerate 1d4x10 points of damage per day/24 hours, and can regrow entire limbs within 48 hours.
*Detachable Limbs---Endroll can detach their arms and send them slithering snake-like() as organic robots into confines they cannot otherwise fit. These detached limbs are restricted to whipping( 4d6 SDC) and strangulation attacks( 2d6 Hit Point damage per melee of strangulation). Each detached limb has the equivalent of HALF the Endroll’s normal Supernatural PS , 3 APMs and moves equal to a speed of 5d6. They cannot be re-attached to the main body(the Endroll simply regenerates the lost limbs) and expire after 6 hours.
*Astrological Influence----Astrology is so much of an influence on the Endroll that it has psychosomatic effects on them. They will often cast astrological horoscope readings before undertaking a planned campaign or battle. If the Endroll makes a successful Astrology roll before entering combat, they get a +1 on initiative for the first 2d6 melees, so bolstered is their confidence.
Psionics:(Major Psychics)
- Telepathy(no ISP cost between Endroll, costs regular when communicating with non-Endroll)
-See Aura(No ISP cost)
-Sense Dimensional Anomaly
-Six Physical powers of choice
About one in every 50 Endroll will possess extra psionic abilities(+1d6x10 ISP):
-Astral Projection
-Psi-Sword
-Psychic Body Field
Magic: While not observed, it seems likely that the Endroll likely have some Shifter ability among them.
Bonuses: (In addition to attribute bonuses)
+1 Perception
+4 Initiative
+2 Strike/Parry
+3 Dodge
+2 Roll with impact
+3 Entangle
+7 save vs Horror Factor
+2 save vs Mind Control
Impervious to gases and poisons.
Available OCCs: None(with the possible exception of Shifter)
RCC Skills:
Swimming 98%
Navigation: Underwater 98%
Climbing(+15%)
Prowl (+15%)
Astrology (+15%)
Hunting(+10%)
W.P. Knife
W.P. Spear
W.P. Thrown
W.P. (Three Ancient of choice)
Skills of Note:
Can select 7 other skills from the following categories: Physical, Pilot:(limited to Boats and Water Scooters), Technical(any), Weapons Proficiencies(Ancient and Modern), and Wilderness (+15%).
Experience Table: Use the Horune Pirate table
Culture:
Little is known of Endroll culture, save that they are profoundly influenced by astrology and feel that they are a superior form of life to others. They form large warbands under a common leader/warlord to launch attacks on new territories. They may have conquered and enslaved other land-dwelling species.
-------------
"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"
Looking at those guys it just crossed my mind - "where did all the Aquatic demons from Hades go?" - those guys could be quite a strategic edge for Modeus & his ilk, specially considering i can't remember any water-dwelling race of Deevyls or lesser Dyvalians.
But then it crossed my mind that due to the elemental weirdness of their own dimension lakes are kind of rare and actual seas made of water almost unheard of in Hades, meaning that the race is probably very small in numbers, quite niche in presence and of pretty limited use for other demons in their own dimension.
The Demon Lords have little to no reason to think of sea/underwater exploration (unless contacted by aquatic sapients) on their own and since the average Aquatic (I.Q.1D6+4) is dense like a lead ingot, the chances of anyone realizing an opportunity to exploit and improve their lot among their people or relevance in the Minion War slim to nil.
(Add to that and their vulnerability to fire and honestly, the fact Aquatics are considered lesser demons instead of Fallen or even Netherbeasts stands as an artifact of inertia and inatentiveness more than anything)
Yeah, and there goes the idea of a whole new front(ier) to explore in the Minion War, unless some evil Lemurian, Naut'yll or cetacean high level shifter comes up with this sort of plan.
Hr’rk--Minor Minion Species
(aka ‘Ki-dawgs’, ‘Wurmboyz’) “Swaggering little ratworms they are, with egos heavier than their bodies. But they like swinging those plasma-spears and you’re just as dead if you get hit with one fired by a ratworm as by a Kittani, so you have to be careful, especially since the Kitti-apes like assigning their new sub-minions to policing the backwaters.”
“They’re minions. They’re in the way. They’re underfoot. They’re distractions and ammo-sponges. That’s what makes them really dangerous. While you’re wasting your shots on the small-fry, the other minions like the Kydians are rolling up your flank or getting your range.”
“They’re effectively Splugorth-affiliated smallkin. Our own smallkin have expressed a grudging hatred of them.”
The Hr’rk are a little-known Splugorth minion-species employed by some of the lesser Splugorth to police their domains.
The Hr’rk evolved as a minor- predator-parasitic species on their homeworld. Packs of proto- Hr’rk would lie in wait to ambush larger prey, springing from concealment to overwhelm their targets. The proto- Hr’rk proved TOO good at this, and their predatory abilities soon outstripped the availability of their traditional food-species, forcing the Hr’rk to go after larger animals. Here, though, their stunted stature ran into a snag; the Hr’rk lacked the speed and endurance to keep up with the larger beasts on their homeworld. To close the gap, the Hr’rk turned to tool use.
In order to get around their mobility issues, the Hr’rk devised humanoid walker-vehicles that allowed them to more effectively hunt larger prey. It was these clever mechanisms that bought them the attention of the Kittani. The Splugorth Kly’lyth generously allowed its Kittani servants license to uplift the Hr’rk as minions.
The small size of the Hr’rk allows them to get inside heavy machinery more easily, and the Kittani thus use the Hr’rk as technicians and laborers. However, in general, the Kittani regard the Hr’rk much the same way as the Spliugorth regard the Kittani themselves; useful underlings, gifted with the occasional boon of advanced technology or biowizardry, but ‘guided’(kept controlled) by the elder Minions from advancing too far or getting ambitious. The Hr’rk are handy thugs for keeping less sophisticated slave species in order and as cannonfodder for fighting more substantial opposition.
For their part, the Hr’rk see themselves as being a favored species, especially since other Minion-species are much larger than themselves. They see this as a sign that they are valued(out of proportion to how they are REALLY regarded)instead of realizing that they are seen as organic tools and cannonfodder.
The Hr’rk have been observed serving with the contingents of several Splugorth operating in the Thundercloud Galaxy and it is assumed that the Hr’rk are being traded as a minion-species. Not all Splugorth employ them, though; Splynncryth does not, reportedly because his own Kittani are less impressed by them.
Alignments: Any, but most (75%) fall in the Aberrant Evil category
Life Span: 70 years
Size: 2-3 ft long, 10-15 lbs
Gender: Heterosexual. Reproduction is sexual, and the 1-6 young in a litter generally mature sexually in 10 years. There is a gender ratio of males to females of 17:1, which is further widened by the fact that 30% of females are sterile.
Physical Description/Appearance:
Resemble crossed between salamanders and naked mole rats; an elongated slender body with short spindly limbs, large head(their large bald pates draw comparison to their Kittani patrons’ hairless skulls---hence the nickname ‘Kittani dawgs’), small eyes, and large saber-teeth. They are yellow-orange in color, with wrinkled skin. Females are 50% larger than than the males. Hr’rk are surprisingly quick and agile, but small and physically weak. They haven’t fully become upright bipeds, instead having a hunched-over and bowlegged posture(their fully upright bipedal hunt-frames were based on the stance of the scorec, a vicious and fast babboon-like predator native to the Hr’rk homeworld).
Hr’rk are omnivorous, but favor a diet heavy on meat and blood.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Hr’rk see themselves as a warrior species; aggressive, hungry, and adept at stalking and bringing down prey much larger than themselves. They see the Kittani patronage of them as a sign that they are destined for greater things(it’s never occurred to the majority of them that they’re being played for chumps), and this has emboldened them to a high degree. They are cunningly clever at devising mechanisms in pursuit of prey or in defense of their nests.
Male Hr’rk are the more aggressive and eager to prove themselves as warriors, hunters, and field-leaders. Females are more sedate, generally content to stay home and produce pups, while managing the homefront, but are no less ambitious to improve their clan/bloodline’s fortunes, either through political maneuvering or designing superior hunting gear. A few females eschew home-life and daringly join the males in the hunts, but with exception of the sterile females, these ‘queens’ wind up being surrounded by bodyguards of males.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 2d6+3
ME: 3d6
MA: 3d6
PS: 2d4
PP: 2d6+8
PB: 2d4
PE: 2d6+6
SPD: 1d6+5
(ISP):(By psionic class)
(PPE): 2d4
Hit Points: P.E.+1d4 per level of experience
SDC: 12
MDC:-----
Horror Factor:-----
Natural Abilities:
*Well-Developed Sense of Smell---Hr’rk can pick up on chemical traces in the air and ground and track by smell. 70%
*Bite--2d4 SDC
*Leaping--Hr’rk can leap their P.S. in ft straight up/across
Psionics: Standard, though females have a +15% greater chance of acquiring psionics over the males.
Magic: None; the Hr’rk have the potential, but are too narrowly focused on their current way of doing things to take up magic(if they did, it would likely be technowizardry). Their technological bent has been encouraged by their Kittani patrons(and the Kittanis’ Splugorth overlords would not permit them to teach their underlings magic anyway).
Cybernetics/Bionics: Minor cybernetic implants only
Hr’rk Hunter-Tinker
RCC Skills:
Native Language/Literacy: (Native Language) 98%
Language: Gobbley(+5%)
Mathematics: Basic
Radio: Basic(+5%)
Pilot Robots & Power Armor(limited to Halk or specially-adapted models)(+5%)
Robot Combat: (Basic)(limited to Halk or specially-adapted models)
Mechanics: Basic(+5%)
Robot Mechanics(+5%)
Electronics: Basic(+5%)
Trap Construction(+10%)(Females get a +15%)
Tracking:(Animals)(+10%)
Tracking:(Humanoids)(+10%)
W.P. Knife
W.P. Two of choice
Hand to Hand: Basic(can be upgraded to Expert for the cost of two ‘other’ skills)
Skills: Select 6 ‘other skills at Level One, plus an additional 1 at levels 3, 6, 9, and 12.
Communications: Any
Domestic: Any
Electrical: Any
Espionage: Any, except Disguise and Impersonation
Mechanical: Any
Medical: First Aid and Paramedic only(the latter counts as two skills)
Military: Any
Physical: Any, except Acrobatics and Gymnastics
Pilot: Any, except Spaceships
Pilot Related: Any(+10%)
Rogue: Any
Science: None
Technical: Any
Wilderness: Any(+5%)
Weapons Proficiencies(W.P.): Any
Secondary Skills: Select 3 secondary skills at Level One, plus an additional 1 at levels 2, 4, 7, and 10.
Experience Tables: Use the Psi-Stalker tables
Culture:
Evolved from pack-predators, with a hive society much like that of the mole-rats they resemble. Gender dimorphism(the females are half again as large as the males) and a high ratio of males to females(17 to 1) means that male Hr’rk must compete for the sexual attention and reproductive favor of the females. Matriarchs rule the pack and free males try to make their way into the attention and privilege of the matriarchs by being successful hunters(or, ideally, successful inventors AND hunters using the equipment they’ve created). This has evolved into the more fertile females acquiring male harems who often become integrated ‘teams’ building and protecting the family-clan fortunes. While the females may be constantly breeding/brooding, while the males construct, hunt, and fight, it is the females who often do the more cerebral and theoretical planning and designing, especially of the home ‘nest’ defenses. Sterile females have more freedom to attach themselves to the retinues of the fertile breeders or join the males in the front lines as they wish, but also cannot hold matriarch status due to their infertility.
Hr’rk ‘Halk’ Mechanical Exoskeleton
“Halks are almost always bright red in color. It seems to be a cultural thing for the Hr’rk who regard red as a color to be feared, but it makes their soldiers stand out very well and easily targeted.”
“I wonder why the Kittani don’t just give the Hr’rk K-Universal armor modified for them and be done with it, but I guess it’s a case of not giving your minions anything good enough to be used against you effectively. That seems to be a pattern with the Splugorth.”
This is a humanoid exoframe that the Hr’rk use to put themselves on a more equal footing with larger, more mobile, species. The Kittani have assisted the Hr’rk in upgrading their ‘halks’ with megadamage materials and more advanced power systems, but the basic goon-squad Halk that one is most likely to encounter is still fairly basic and unimpressive.
Halks are humanoid in shape, with barrel chests where the Hr’rk pilot sits, a dome-like head with a vision slit and antennae horns, and spindly limbs.
Halks are typically armed with a plasma spear or shock-rod.
In the realms of the Splugorth who employ Hr’rk minions, these suits can be found policing the lesser worlds and slave camps.
Type: K/Hr’rk Halk
Class: Light Infantry Power Armor
Crew: One Hr’rk
M.D.C. By Location:
Hands(2) 20 each
Arms(2) 80 each
Legs(2) 90 each
Head 50
Main Body 100
Speed:
Running: 40 mph max. However the act of running does not tire the operator out and the maximum speed can be maintained indefinitely.
Jumping: The powerful robotic legs are strong and capable of leaping 10 feet high or 18 ft lengthwise. A running leap adds 50% to distance/height.
Flying: Not possible without a jet pack
Underwater: The Halk CANNOT swim, but sinks like a rock . It is limited to running along the bottom at 10 MPH, maximum depth limit of 150 ft.
Statistical Data:
Average Height: 6 ft
Width: 2.5 ft at shoulders
Length: 1.3 ft
Weight: 500 lbs.
Power System: Nuclear w/ 5 year energy life
Physical Attributes: Equal to Robotic PS. 25.
Market Cost: In theory it should be possible for the Halk-suit to be adapted for other Size Level 1-2 sophonts to use, but Halks are so fit for the Hr’rk that it would be prohibitively expensive to make the necessary modifications. Thus captured/salvaged Halk-suits can only be considered valuable for parts or scrap.
Systems of Note:
Standard Power Armor Systems
Weapons Systems:
1) Plasma Spear---Standard issue weapon to the Hr’rk-Halk minions is this combination melee and ranged weapon.
Range:(Spear) Melee
(Plasma Blast) 2,000 ft
Damage:(Spear) 2d4 SDC un-powered strike, 2d4 MD fully energized strike
(Plasma Blast) 3d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited linked to the Halk’s power generator
Once separated from its host power armor, the spear has enough battery capacity for 50 blasts
2) VibroClaws
Range: Melee
Damage: 2d6 MD
3)Use of Handheld Weapons---The Hr’rk-Halk can use other infantry-scaled weaponry.
4) Hand to Hand Combat
Restrained Punch 6d6 SDC
Full Strength Punch 1d4 MD
Power Punch(2 APMs) 2d4 MD
Kick 1d4 MD
Variants:
Depending on the loyalty and achievements of individual Hr’rk-Halk units, and the largesse of their Kittani overlords, Halks may be fitted for faster speed, be equipped with jetpacks, received sensory upgrades, or receive additional weapons(typically arm-mounted blasters).
Hr’rk ‘Trabler’ Robot War-Walker
“The thing looks and moves like the ‘robo-mules’ used by many polities as infantry support, so it often comes as a surprise to learn the things are manned. Just as often the disembarked Hr’rk are more dangerous outside their vehicle, especially if they’re wearing their war-suits, than they were inside their walking boxes.”
“Hey, look, they got trablers out as coffle escorts! Let me take our Farlanes out around their flanks and do some armor-busting! I bet we can snake a few micro-missiles upside their engine manifolds and start us a wurmboy barbecue!”
-----Anonymous Greater New England Smallkin robot-jock squad leader, on encountering a Hr'rk-escorted slaver column
The ‘Trabler’ is a fairly crude four-legged robot vehicle, effectively a light tank, in service to the Hr’rk minions. In comparison to the rest of Splugorth Minion equipment, and especially Kittani robotics, the Trabler is almost embarrassingly crude, slow and inefficient. However, they are also cheap to produce and allow the diminutive Hr’rk a presence on the battlefields of the megaverse without allowing the Hr’rk to be a possible rebellious threat to their alien benefactor-overlords. As the Hr’rk cannot provide the more advanced systems for themselves, they are dependent on their Kittani patrons to provide them. Against less advanced cultures, the Trabler can pose a real threat, and their use in occupation and pacification forces allows the Splugorth to deploy their more powerful Minions elsewhere.
The Trabler has a crude, boxy main hull carried on four articulated robotic legs. What look like two large headlights on the prow of the machine are really short range area-or-effect plasma cannons. Mounted atop is a turret with a pulse laser and a rail gun of Kittani manufacture. An extendable grappler claw can be deployed from under the machine to retrieve objects or act as a tow/drag hookup.
Inside the hull is space for thirteen Hr’rk without armor, or three Hr’rk in -Halk-suits. One Hr’rk drives, one mans the turret guns, and the third serves as an additional gunner or systems operator.
Armor is considered low-quaiity compared to Kittani equipment, but regarded as appropriate and adequate for low-tier minions. Unlike other vehicles in the megacosmos, the Trabler lacks a reinforced crew compartment; in order for the Halk-suits to fit.
Power is provided by a power armor-grade nuclear power cell.
Despite the weaknesses of their rides, the Hr’rk are happily enthused about the Trablers, perhaps not realizing that they’re deathtraps in the sights of real opposition.
Trablers are unknown on Rifts Earth(Splynncryth‘s Kittani are critical of the Hr’rk and have not made bid to acquire their services), but several other Splugorth Intelligences do employ the minions, so the war-walkers have appeared in the Three Galaxies. United Systems Alliance forces, especially their own Smallkin, have encountered the Hr’rk machines and were not duly impressed with them.
Type: K/Hr’rk Trabler
Class: Quad-legged All-Terrain Robot Combat Vehicle, Light
Crew: 3 Hr’rk(or other Size Level 1-2 sophonts) and 1-10 un-armored Hr’rk, or three Hr’rk in Halk-suits and no passengers.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 200
Plasma Cannons(2, front) 70 each
Top Turret 95
-Pulse Laser 60
-Rail Gun 80
Grapple Claw 50
Legs(4)* 100 each
*Can move effectively on three legs, but not on two.
Height: 3.2 ft , 7 ft with legs fully extended
Width: 6.8 ft
Length: 8 ft
Weight: 2,000 lbs
Physical Strength: LiftingCarrying Strength is equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 30.
Cargo: Small space in the interior for appropriately-sized gear for the Hr'rk.
Additional cargo can be slung on the outside of the vehicle, but will be vulnerable to the elements and weapons damage.
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 10 year energy life
Speed:
Running: 45 mph max.
Jumping: Not possible
Climbing: Not possible, but can crawl up a 35-degree slope.
Flying: Not possible
Underwater: The Trabler CANNOT swim, but sinks like a rock . It is limited to running along the bottom at MPH, maximum depth limit of 150 ft.
Market Cost:
In theory it should be possible for the Trabler to be adapted for other sophonts to use, but Trablers are so fit for the Hr’rk that it would be prohibitively expensive to make the necessary modifications. Thus captured/salvaged Trablers can only be considered valuable for parts or scrap.
Systems of Note:
Standard Power Armor Systems, plus:
-Normal Light/IR Headlights
-Grapple Hook, Line & Winch---The Grapple Claw can detach and be played out at the end of a 300 ft cable(capable of hauling 1,2 tons of weight), allowing the Trabler to lower itself down slopes or extricate itself from rough terrain.
Weapons Systems:
1)Plasma Cannons(2, front)---What look like two large protruding headlights at the front of the hull are really two short range plasma-sprayers. These are fearsome antipersonnel weapons against ‘soft’ targets and are often used to burn down buildings and clear obstacles, often setting them ablaze to scare prey/insurgents out of hiding and flush them from cover.
Range: 1,500 ft
Damage: 6d6 MD, or 4d6 MD to a 10 ft-wide area.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
2)Pulse Laser---Mounted in the light turret with a 360-degree arc of fire. This is a cruder economy model of the Kittani K-4 Pulse Laser, itself a knockoff of a Wilks design.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD single shot, 1d6x10 MD
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
3) Rail Gun---Mounted in the light turret with a 360-degree arc of fire. This is the Kittani K-500 rail gun.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 6d6 MD pr 30-rd burst
Rate of Fire:: EGCHH
Payload: 3,000 rd drum.
In the alternative, the rail gun can be replaced with a grenade launcher:
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: 6d6 MD to a 12 ft-wide area. Can also fire smoke, chemical and incendiary rounds.
Rate of Fire:: EGCHH
Payload: 150 round drum
4) Hand to Hand Combat
Kick 1d4 MD
Body Block/Ram 1d4 MD
Claw Strike 2d4 MD
Variants:
Most variants on the Trabler swap out the various weapons for other types, such as flame-throwers, chemical sprayers, ion projectors, or grenade launchers. Some have been observed to mount a mini-missile launcher(three shots).
Some models have been made amphibious, able to motor along on the water’s surface at 15 MPH
-------------
"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"
Trexians----Nomadic Star-Children
“Putting a Trex in charge of the hydroponics seemed like a good idea at the time, except that we now have to set up a crew schedule rotation to provide teams to cut back the overgrowth! ”
“Don’t count on any long term commitments from Trexian hirees; they tend to get restless in any one position or location; something tells them after awhile to hit the starlanes again, looking for that something. They’ll serve out a contract, but if the need to search out that ‘something’ hits, they’re gone the moment the contract expires. If you’re really really lucky, that ‘something’ might just be your place, but don’t count on it.”
Trexians are a humanoid species that may be related to the Star Elves, Jungle Elves, or faerie folk, given their elven features. They have begun appearing in small numbers across the Three Galaxies.
Trexians are a nomadic species, who roam space freely. They claim to have extragalactic, possibly even extradimensional, origins, and that they originally hailed from a paradise world...before it was destroyed by a force of Darkness they refer to only as The Scourge. However, before their homeworld was destroyed, the great intermeshed gaiaistic life-force that nurtured the Trexians and harmonized them with their environment, transformed them to better survive in the greater universe and gifted them with a portion of itself. Even as the physical body of their homeworld was being destroyed, the Trexians were dispersing to the megaverse, each carrying a bit of their world’s life-force as a light to comfort them and as a means of spreading the joy that was their homeworld.
Besides being adapted to survive in space, Trexians also have abilities they attribute to them being carriers of what they call the Light of Life; abilities that promote beneficial growth and healing, that they ascribe to their original homeworld’s ecological ‘mother-soul’.
These abilities make the Trexians much sought after as healers, terraformers, and farmers, and the less scrupulous seekers will use any means, including enslavement, to keep the nomadic beings chained in place and hard at work earning their captors coin and other benefits. The Splugorth would LOVE to have more Trexians as slave stock, the StarHunters ABHOR Trexians because they are both humanoids and spreaders of life, The Necrons see them as tarnished holy beings, and will seek to capture and ‘cleanse’(i.e. brainwash and enslave) them to the cause of the Necrons. There are also those who believe that the Trexians possess some part of the essence fo the Cosmic Forge, and seek to take it for themselves, or pry the secrets of the Forge out of the Trexians, making the gentle nomads targets for slavers and over unsavory types.
Most Trexians are Good in alignment and nature, but a few are more Selfish-inclined, seeking only to benefit themselves. A few have dipped to Miscreant or Aberrant Evil as a result of being traumatized or embittered by their experiences, especially at the hands of others. No Trexian has been -known- to fall to Diabolic evil.
Trexian Legends:
*World-Link---A favorite tale of the Trexians is that at some future time, if enough Trexians and descendants with the gift of the Light of Life get together, they will be able to spontaneously will their original homeworld, or a facsimile of it, into being. What number of Trexians is deemed enough is unknown, as is when is the ‘right time’.
*’Right Ones’----There’s a legend that scattered around the megaverse are beings who are soul-companions to the displaced Trexians; whether as lovers, life companions, boon friends, or coworkers, these ‘right ones’ fit ‘just right’ with individual Trexians to produce magnified effects of goodness (‘right ones’ often factor as a necessary element in making the World-Link prophecy come to pass). Finding a ‘right one’ is one of the few things that can make a Trexian give up their nomadic ways and settle down. Finding and persuading one’s ‘right one’(especially if the latter do not know they are a ‘right one’) is the problem for the Trexians.
*Ancient Enemy---Many Trexians fear that the Scourge is still out there, hunting for those who escaped it. Some have reported encountering alleged agents working for the Scourge.
*EShemar Connection?----Some EShemar react strangely around the few Trexians they’ve encountered, as have the Trexians in return. It’s been described as a feeling of deja vu, almost as if the two very different sophont species recognize each other. Some think that it’s because the two peoples share a common origin...or perhaps a common enemy.
*Shared Longevity/Immortality---It is said that Trexians can endow others with increased life spans or even immortality. Certainly those close to Trexians enjoy improved health and may thus have less stressful lives, but the verdict is stll out on the extreme longevity or immortality. This, the rumors persist of the chosen companions of Trexians living for centuries or millennia, and Trexians are among those species often targeted by those seeking to defer their mortality.
Alignments: Any, but most(82%) are Good or Unprincipled
Lifespan: 800 years, but can be around a lot longer thanks to their Hibernation ability(see Natural Abilities)
Size: 4-5 ft tall, 85-120 lbs
Gender: Heterosexual Mammalian
Gestate internally and carry to term like normal placental mammals. Children reach sexual maturity at roughly 25 T-years.
Interestingly, Trexians CAN interbreed with other humanoids, but through a complex ritual known as the Consexus that requires another Trexian of either sex to join in the sharing of life energies and DNA. It is thought that this is another miracle wrought by the powers of the Light of Life. The result is always another Trexian, but with noticeable features of the non-Trexian.
Physical Description/Appearance:
Slender-build elven humanoids with pointed ears, pixy-ish features, wild multi-colored hair, and jewel-like eyes. Skin ranges in color from a dark pink to a light purple. Eyes are typically sapphire blue or violet in tint.
Trexians tend to eschew much in the way of clothing and will only wear the functionally and nearly mimimcl necessary to get by in polite society; females typically favor two-piece shorts and halter-tops, while males are often sporting jackets or vests that bare their chests, and tight pants or shorts. If necessary, for work or disguise, they’ll wear more.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Most Trexians are carefree nomads who love unfettered traveling, seeing new sights, seeing new people, and seeking opportunities to have fun. Even the most evil Trexians will have a (malicious) prankish sense of humor . Trexians prefer to avoid trouble, and will run away given half a chance. Trexians, given work they love, are tireless, enthusiastic workers(sometimes TOO enthusiastic), but otherwise they will be very laid-back(one employer described them as being ‘gifted slackers’). They rarely show full-blown rage, but can hold grudges. Violence is generally to be avoided, and a Trexian will resort to it, especially killing violence, only as a last resort.
Selfish and Miscreant Trexians are out for themselves,. Depending on their degree of self-absorption, they see nothing wrong with benefitting themselves and lining their own nests/pockets at the expense of others. Aberrant Trexians have a sense of commitment to loftier ideals, usually centered around the betterment of the Trexian species as a whole, but again at the expense of others.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 3d6
MA:2d6+12
PS: 3d6+4
PP:1d6+23
PB: 2d6+14
PE: 4d6+20(considered to be Supernatural )
SPD: 3d6+5
(ISP):-----
(PPE): 6d6
Hit Points:-----
SDC:-----
MDC: 1d4x10+P.E.
Horror Factor:----
Instead have an ‘Awe Factor’ of 12
Natural Abilities:
*Space Native---Trexins are perfectly at home in raw vacuum and do not need to breath.
*Light of Life--Trexians possess a sort of super-vitality that they called the ‘Light of LIfe’ that they can use to heal or enhance life processes in others.
- Accelerate Plant Growth---Simply being around plants(of the no-sentient/motile varieties) a Trexian can increase their rate of growth and improve their health. At level one Trexinas can subconsciously DOUBLE plant growth around them, and for each subsequent level of experience advancement, can +x1 the rate again(so at level two, the plant growth is x3 the plant’s normal growth rate, at level three, it’s x4, and so on. The Trexian can even improve on this if and when they make a CONSCIOUS effort to do so, DOUBLING that rate(so spending an entire melee and all APMs, at level 2, they can increase/accelerate plant growth x6 the normal rate).
-Heal Wounds---Trexians can, with a touch, heal 3d6 points of damage(SDC or MDC) instantly.
-Bolster Health--With a touch, a Trexian can banish another’s fatigue, give their immune system a boost(effectively immune to normal disease for 24 hours), and improve their health saving throws(+2 to save versus poisons and +5% save vs death).
-Life Blast-Touch---Similar to the spell of the same name, with similar effects to creatures vulnerable to positive life energy. 1d6 points of damage and Horror Factor 16 to undead like mummies and liches, 1d4x10 of damage to vampires, 3d6 SDC/HP or 2d6 MDC to necromancers, drives off banshees and ghouls, and de-animates animated dead. The Trexian can deliver this attack as many rimes as they have hand to hand attacks.
Has similar POSITIVE effects as well similar to the Life Blast, though these are usually delivered with a friendlier pat, caress, or kiss. +3 on initiative, +1 on all combat rolls, +1 APM, and +1 to all saving rolls for the first melee round, then +1 on initiative, +5% on all skill rolls, and +10% save vs death, for the next half hour. The Trexian can so ‘bless’ one person per melee round and it takes up all their APMs that round.
*See Auras---Trexians can see and read another living being’s aura.
*Enhanced Senses---Trexian hearing is twice as acute as normal humans’, they can see slightly further into both ends of the spectrum(natural nightvision of 600 ft) and they are immune to glare/flash blindness.
*Hibernation---Trexians can put themselves into a state of suspended animation, surrounded by a softly glowing shell of ‘hardlight’(P.E. x2 in MDC). In this state they do not need nourishment, water, or air. Duration is effectively limitless; some Trexians have been known to drift between the stars in hibernation for centuries before being discovered or making meteoric planetfall(the shell can survive atmospheric reentry).
*Natural Linguists---Trexians can pick up new languages remarkably fast, if exposed to them long enough. After one week of exposure to a spoken language, they can acquire it with a base skill of 70%. Written languages take a little longer; 1d4 weeks before gaining a basic Literacy skill of 60%.
*Supernatural Endurance Bonuses: Impervious to Disease and Poisons(including drugs and alcohol; Trexians recover from hangovers a whole LOT faster than normal folk), impervious to normal levels of hot and cold(hence the clothing optional).+4 save vs possession and Horror Factor, +2 on all other saving throws, regenerates 2d6 points of damage a minute, and can regenerate entire limbs in 1d4x10+6 days. Solar radiation has NO ill effect on them.
Psionics: -----None
Magic:
Trexians do not practice any sort of magic beyond their own abilities.
Cybernetics/Bionics: None; Trexians have no problems with others getting medical or augmentative artificial implants, but it’s not for themselves.
Available OCCs: Trexians favor occupations that allow them to travel light and satisfy their curiosity; the Manhunter Floater is the most common, followed by the Vagabond Scout.
No military OCCs are possible.
RCC Skills:
Gymnastics or Acrobatics(choose one)(+15%)
2 Physical skillls of choice(+10% where applicable)
Navigation: Space(+15%)
Mathematics: Basic & Advanced(+15%)
2 Domestic skills of choice(+20%)
Skills of Note:
Domestic skills get a +15%
Culture:
Liberal, free-spirited nomads. Even their home culture, by all accounts, was very flexibly structured, with only a few basic laws. They love art and performance, athletics and dance, cooking and decorative clothing, and making things pleasant. There is no discrimination between the sexes, free-love and a common interest in the welfare of any children prevail, and strangers are simply friends one has not ye gotten to know, unless proven otherwise. One Earth anthropologist compared Trexians to ‘hippy summer of love flow-children’.
Trexians learn weapons skills with more of an eye on them as recreation, rather than destructive function, perhaps to ease their reservations about violence. That means that any W.P. a Trexian learns will often be accompanied by incorporating some artistic performance flourish into their practice(sword-dancing of taking a sword weapons proficiency for example, or learning trick-shooting with a firearm).
Naturally, creatures of Evil and un-life hate, hate, HATE Trexians, while more Selfish beings seek to enslave and exploit them.
Among the Trexians’ allies are Biomancers, Mystics, Lemurians, and similarly nature-oriented and free-spirited people. Sensuans are always seeking to hook up with a Trexian if an opportunity presents itself. EShemarrians are at least polite to them, Floppers regard them as ready friends and Iborians are always ready to welcome a Trexian as an assistant, however temporary. Trexians are gagga about Millennium Trees and would likely take up permanent residence in them if not for the habitual Texian wanderlust kicking in. AS it is, a threat to a Millennium Tree is one of the few things that will make a Trexian go full-bore serious combat-aggressive.
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"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"