Fan Races!!

[KLM]

I'd put down the stats for my intergalactic sex kittens, but I think someone would sue me... anyhoooo....

Pleasurer RCC from DMB2 ?

Of course if your variant is not just another reduntant
RCC...

Adios
KLM

[DhAkael]

Intergalactic sex-kittens?
They wouldn't happen to be like the Kiirn from 'Rifts: Manhunter' would they?

[taalismn]

Schlega
The Schlega are a reptilean race non-native to the Three Galaxies, but who have gained accesss to it through Center on Phaseworld, from their homeworld of Trleg, a warm, temperate world of small polar ice caps, and large, shallow seas. The Schelga are an advanced species, technologically, have space travel, and have begun to appear in greater numbers in the Three Galaxies, especially as mercenaries.
The Schlega are often compared to the Seljuk; reptilean powerhouses with a strong magical background and warrior ethos. However, while the Seljuk have turned their backs on magic, the Schlega are inherent magic-users, able to cast spells and augment themselves with magic, as well as being highly resistant to magic.
The Schlega are a warrior race with a strong ethnocentric honor system similar to the Japanese code of Bushido. Rather than wage all-out war on their homeworld, the Schlega conduct strictly regulated warfare in a fashion similar to the Aztec ‘Flower Wars’....though these conflicts are no less bloody to the participants than open war, Schlega codes of conduct prevent non-combatants from being harmed, the battles from spilling over the designated zones, and anyone too badly injured to continue fighting is removed from the field. The victor in these conflicts, known locally as ‘Wars of Decision’, claims the spoils, such as territory, resources, and technologies, and the losers are obligied to give in(or face the combined wrath of the rest of the factions). Entire cities may change hands as borders change as a result of the Wars of Decision; residents are given a short period of time to decide whether they will leave re-drawn territories or stay and support their new rulers(unti the previous regime or another raises the forces and funds for another War of Decision to take back the land). Surprisingly, there is little bloodshed or animousity as a result of these conflicts, more a familiar sense of rivalry more akin to professional sports challenges...Any real tyrant who abuses honor and fair play in both the execution of a War of Decision, and in the administration of territories so won, tends to find himself facing mutiny among his troops, and a mounting line-up of challenges from other factions.
Adding a further twist to the Schlega code of combat is that only physically intact and ‘perfect’ Schlega may participate; permanently crippled Schlega are consigned to civilian status. Anything less than a ‘perfect warrior’ participating in the combats is considered both an insult to the cause and a dishonor of national/factional pride. Schlega permanently maimed in combat, beyond the ability of medicine and magic to heal, were taken off the rolls of active warriors who could participate and could not enlist for future combats. Though not viewed with disgrace(indeed, many were honored for their sacrifices), the crippled Schlega were considered as having in effect ‘paid their dues’, and were farmed out to civilian life. However, in a race as obsessed with perfection, honor, and their warrior credo as the Schlega, adapting to noncombatant life was a trial few adapted to well. Though many found careers in support roles, training and armoring new Schlega warriors, it was not uncommon for critically injured Schlega to ccommitt ritual suicide soon after a war, rather than face the prospect of being sidelined in future conflicts.
With the introduction of bionic replacements to Schlega technology, this began to create a problem in the fact that there were now hundreds, if not thousands, of survivors of ritual combat who could arguably be as powerful and fit for combat as the unmaimed Schlega champions, but who were not allowed to take part in the Wars of Decision.
C(yborg)-Schlega(known as “Ormen”) are not allowed to participate in the Schlega combats as representatives of their people; though not discriminated against in civilian life, they are seen as ‘imperfect’ for the honorable role of combat. Attempts to form a second tier of ‘CyberShadow Wars’ mirroring the Wars of Decision but involving only cyborgs failed to catch on with the Schlega who saw them as poor imitations and ‘spoiler’ fights between those who couldn’t abide by the Wars of Decision. However, combat against NON-SCHLEGA is perfectly acceptable, so Ormen were appointed the roles of front-line defenders against extraterrestrial aggression, or outfitted as nationalist mercenary forces and sent offworld to fight for money. This has provided an effective(and lucrative) outlet for the still fierce warrior urges of thousands of disenfranchised Schlega warriors. Ormen legions have begun to appear in war zones throughout the Three Galaxies, including on both sides of the TGE/FWC conflict, and on both sides of the Golgan insurgencies.
Each national faction has its won distinctive cyborg frame design, though they all tend to share a common chasiss design.
Interestingly enough, on those few occasions when Schlega cybermercs of different factions have found themselves on opposing sides, they have reverted to their traditional Schlega ways. Soldiers will stop an offensive to greet their fellow countrymen, engage in common prayer, then either have a single one-on-one combat between a pair of chosen champions, or a series of matches between selected cyberwarriors, while the others watch. Regardless of the odds favoring one side, if the other side wins these combats, the losers abide by the outcome.
Alignments: Any, but most(80%) are Principled or Aberrant
Lifespan: 90 years; ironically Ormen full conversions may live 2-3 times that .
Size: 5-6 ft tall, weight 300-500 lbs
Gender: Heterosexual; females are placental, giving birth to 1-2 offspring at a time, sometimes as many as four, after a ten month gestation period. Children are raised in familiar nuclear families until they reach maturity(typically15-17 years of age).
Physical Description/Appearance:
Muscular bipedal reptiles with a hunched over posture, broad shoulders, stub tail, large, long arms ending in three-fingered claw-hands, and a large, heavy, head with protruding jaw. The head is typically thrust forward and below the level of the shoulders, though it can be raised to look around. Skin is smooth and leathery, with a green-gold cast, while the eyes are typically dark green or gray; regional/racial variations include freckling, scale patterns, and lighter/darker coloration. Warriors of the Wars of Decision frequently go into battle wearing light armor and elaborate skin paint patterns, or permanent tattoos, while non-warrior Schlega favor robes and tunics, or vests with tools appropriate to their trades.

Disposition/Attitudes:
Warriors with a strict code of honor. Schlega know their place in society and abide by it; rarely will a Schlega challenge a law or ruling, and when they do, they are committed to proving the righteousness of their stance, or the error of the law. Offworld, they will be more lenient and prone to violating laws, but will obey and honor any deal made under their own legal system.
Despite their hideous contenances, Schlega can be quite charming and polite, carrying themsleves with an air of nobility and a paladin’s demeanor. They are accepting and tolerant of others, but make a distinction between the way others do certain tasks(eespecially warfare and law) and how the Schlega do it(with the underlying hint that the Schlega do it better).
Ormen tend to be more severe and taciturn, and even more devoted to upholding honor and proper conduct. Some, however, walk a fine line between suicidal bravery and cold, clinical ruthlessness from the loss of their magic powers and status as ‘perfect warriors’.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 2d6+6
ME:2d6+6
MA: 2d6+10
PS: 5d6(considered Superhuman)
PP: 2d6+10
PB: 1d4+6
PE: 3d6+12
SPD: 2d6+5
(ISP) By Psionic Class
(PPE): 2d6x10+30+P.E.
Hit Points:----
SDC:----
MDC: 2d6x10 +2d6 MD per level of experience
Horror Factor: 14 (Ormen drop to 10)
Natural Abilities:
*Megadamage Beings
*Immune to Bio-Manipulation, Magic Illnesses, and other magic that directly affect the body’s functions, including magical transformation circles and spells.
*Bite---Powerful jaws inflict 2d4 MD per bite
Vulnerabilities:
*Schlega are resistant to spells that physically manipulate or alter the body, including healing spells; Heal Wounds and Restore Limb do NOT work on Schlega.
*Stone---Weapons of stone(such as granite and marble) do DOUBLE damage(or equivalent damage in MD) to non-Ormen Schlega.
Psionics:
01-18 Major Psychics; Select 8 psychic powers from Sensitive or Physical
19-35 Minor Psychics; Select 3 psychic powers from Sensitive or Physical
36-00 None
*Ormen lose psionics the same as other cyborgs.
Magic: Natural Magic Users; Schlega know/quickly learn 1d6 spells each from every spell level 1-7, General Spell Magic. Additional spells require taking a magic OCC; reduce the range and damage of ‘inherent’ magic spells by HALF as the individual focuses on their new magic specialization, unless they select duplicate spells as part of their repetoire, in which case spell specifics remain unchanged.
Cybernetics/Bionics:
Schlega who receive cybernetics or bionics are considered to be either civilians or among the ranks of the C-Schlega/Ormen.
Ormen Full-Conversion Bionics follow a common plan, with variations according the faction the convertee belonged to. The basic chassis resembles the main torso of the Robotech ‘Gladiator’ Destroid, with broad shoulders and forward thrusting chest, except instead of a gun cluster hidden under the center plate, there’s the Schlega-Ormen’s face, underneath a raisable armored visor(often stylized into a fearsome monstrous mask). Two shoulder hardpoints can be fitted with medium bionic weapons(including machine guns), and a retracting back hardpoint holds an heavy bionic weapon(such as a multi-shot mini-missile launcher or recoilless gun).
The numerous Frumor Clan Ormen-pattern typically carries machine guns on bother shoulders, with biped legs fitted with large tread units. Clan Mowog favors faceplates pattened after animals, and a four-legged centaur frame below the waist. Clan Horce Ormen have extra-long legs and a backpack rail gun. Other variants exist among other clans.
Available OCCs: Any, but most combat-oriented Schlega select equivalent Grunt, Technical Officer, or Military Specialist, with the skill modification that power armor and robot piloting are NOT available. Juicers, Glitterboy Pilots, Crazies, and CyberKnights are NOT available.
Magic OCCs are also available, predominately Elemental Warlocks, Ley Line Walkers, and Combat Mages. Mystics are primarily found in civilian life.
Ormen, of course, begin life anew as Techno-Headhunters or Partial/Full-Conversion Cyborgs
Culture:
Caste society with a strong and prominent warrior class(though any social caste can select and send warrior-representatives to the Wars of Decision; it’s simply that most don’t bother to, instead training a professional warrior class for the duty); each caste elects its own representatives to a nationalist faction assembly where the various social classes vote on matters of importance, including Wars of Decision with other factions. They have no territorial ambitions offworld, and are content to hold their home system and a few outposts in neighboring desert systems they are developong for resources. Technologically, they are roughly equal to the Central Alliance(Early Starfaring Age), with advanced bionics.

[Aramanthus]

Another nice RCC! Great job Taalismn!

[shiiv-a]

i concur

[taalismn]

Thank you....Once again, when researching what exactly a 'Flower War' was, I was amazed at the complexities and subtlies of real sociology and history....

[taalismn]

It's the urge to Create...or Procreate...Or simply to play God and set free the minions we've created, or wish to create, and let them loose on the Megaverse!

Now, if I could get around to actually illustrating some of my many species, and more folks would toss in their Fan Races....We could really have a netbook of substance here!

So I encourage you all...Got an idea? An inspiration? An overlooked barfly race that's hardly fit to polish the boots of the spacefarers walking by? A powerful stranger from a far off land, intent on exploration or conquest? A people who may hold the key to a bold new future, or a species whose Golden Age has long passed, save as a lesson to the modern day?
We've gone on this long, so we're obviously waiting for you....[/img]

[taalismn]

another interesting race....

Thank you...we try extra hard to evolve new races as fast as we can, to present them here for your purposes!

[taalismn]

But honestly, while I have many more in the line-up, what would YOU folks like to see...More powerful movers and shakers? Cannon-Fodder? Station-Trash? Ancient races? Neo-Munchkins? Demonic beings? Minions of unspeakable gods? Your new best friends?

[KLM]

For my part I would like a bunch of "boring"
SDC races, with some quirks in their history.

You know, the "cultural cannon fodder" - the
Joe Averages.

Adios
KLM

[taalismn]

For my part I would like a bunch of "boring"
SDC races, with some quirks in their history.

You know, the "cultural cannon fodder" - the
Joe Averages.

Adios
KLM

I'll see what I can do...but any help will be greatly appreciated...

Let's see what I can lug up for the little guys....

[taalismn]

Nice! I can almost see their canyon homes....something similar to the wind- and water-sculpted canyons of the American SouthWest...
Magically-oriented, but not terribly powerful, and not exactly ambitious to abuse their powers or exert their influence on others...

Great!

[shiiv-a]

let see .. without a calculator ... i'll leave the technical stuff to them that like it ...

1 pound = 454 grams .. or 2.2 pounds = Kilo

[taalismn]

An experiment in a 'Joe Average' race...

The Phleg
The Phleg were once a physically robust, creative, innovative people native to the planet Phegisgia, who seemed poised for galactic honors, before they fell victim to their own diminished expectations. Nearly a thousand years ago, the Phleg had conquered poverty, internal dissident, almost all disease, had laid the foundations for a well-ordered extrasolar society, and had just begun to venture out into the universe. However, rather than make the great leap onwards, they turned their backs on the stars, and retreated back to the comforts of their homeworld, and have been spiralling downwards ever since.
The exact causes of the collective retreat from the normal evolution of most technological species in the Three Galaxies remains vague; but somehow the Phleg, after ordering their society and conquering their domestic problems, decided that either the risks and costs of expanding to the stars were too great and too daunting, or else what they could see didn’t match their expectations of how the universe should be. Some xenosociologists blame the turn in Phleg consciousness on the discovery that their interstellar neighbors, particularly the TransGalactic Empire, were so much greater, racially stronger, tougher, and more intelligent than the Phleg were, so why bother? Other xenohistorians note that even as the Phleg were building their first starships, average grade scores and skill aptitudes were declining courtesy of the Phlegs’ global internet entertainment networks....The Phleg just became too distracted and dumb to maintain a high-tech interstellar society.
Instead, the Phleg have retreated into a reclusive, sedentary global lifestyle that promotes nearly full-time participation in the global network of entertainment simulations. In what would arguably be the last great technological work of their society, the Phleg set up a nearly entirely automated social services system that woulld provide for every citizen, and would service the needs of the communities with push-button ease. Effectively freed from meaningful and necessary labor, their needs served by multiple-redundancy robotic systems that could be serviced by a mere handful of trained technicians, the bulk of Phleg society could turn their attention to artistic and aultruistic causes....instead, they have submerged themselves in non-stop virtual reality simulations, video games, and on-line living-by-proxy.
In due time this has resulted in a society of shut-ins that has increasingly turned its backs on physical labor, face-to-face social interaction, and even exercise. Virtually everything is done online...What was once done vai telenetwork for convenience, is done because nobody can conceive of doing it any other way. What was once therapy, is now lifestyle. Virtual Reality has become superior to True Reality for the Phleg....Feel you’re too ugly, too unfit to go outside? Don’t bother, whip up a full0interaction VR avatar and go online, met other people via hookup, do your work from home via remote, shop in VR sim stores, and have the goods shipped to your apartment, where automated kitchen systems cook and prepare it, then deliver it to your home entertainment pod. Get sick? Your HomeMed will instantly relay your up-to-the-second medical data to the nearest hospital medcomp, which will consult the databases(or, even a live doctor) and advise your home systems on treatment. If necessary, robodroppers will deliver robotic treatment equipment to your home, and a telerigged physician will oversee the operation...You can recover in the comfort of your own home! Then you can go back to being the Lord of REggalcrik on the Omniversal World Game network!
This has led to a once robust people becoming pallid, weak, fat, shadows of their former selves...Where theyy were once the equal of Humans in physical prowess and mental endeavor, they have become totally apathetic to the world outside their doors....They live cradle to grave surrounded by the comforts of Standard Living, distracted by mass-media and ready-satisfaction from their comfortably routinized and sanitized society. Interest in academics has plummeted, innovation, aside from software improvements, has declined...Even the birthrate has declined, maintained precariously by computer matchmaker services, sperm banks, surrogate parenthood clinics, and robotic midwivery. And even then, the Phleg are becoming divorced from those realities....it is not uncommon for a Phleg woman to deliver her babies under pain-killing sedation, while simultaneously losing herself in a VR sim of some strenous physical activity.
Outside their VR rigs and climate-controlled game pits, the Phleg are increasingly helpless to reality, emerging from their domociles, blinking in bewilderment at the world around them. While almost all Phleg can perform hundrreds of game-actions a minute while hooked up, once faced with a real world situation, they are pretty much dumbfounded. The Phleg have become victims of their own labor-saving and leisure tech.
Most people agree that unless something is done to light a fire under the Phlegs’ increasingly fat posteriors, the race is going to pass on from sheer apathy within another thousand or so years. It’s only a matter of time before even the marvelously engineered Phlegian automated infrastructure begins to break down, and people begin to starve to death. Interestingly enough, it looks like the one thing that could keep the Phleg from dying out in the future is the TransGalactic Empire. Three hundred years ago, the TGE just walked in and took over the running of Phegisgia’s spaceport facilities, orbital systems, and have increasingly taken the manangement of urban systems in hand. By that time, the Phleg had become so apathetic and so used to delegating manual labor tasks to robots and immigrant workers, they simply congratulated each other via conference call on making such a good deal, and returned to their sim-worlds.
The TGE isn’t doing this out of the goodness of their own hearts, of course. For the most part, the Phlegs are just too pathetic and weak to make good slaves, and under any other circumstances, the Kreeghor Elite would have ordered Phegisgia used as an exercise in orbital bombardment for their fleets, and turned over the recycling of the wreckage that was once a civilization to the Engineering Corps. However, the TGE had discovered that for the fraction of the cost of a sophisticated artificial intelligence fire control system, they can just rig a Phleg into an VR rig, attach IV feeder tubes and a catheter system, slip in the occasional treat, and the Phleg will just keep playing their games and VR sims, only this time their games will direct Imperial weapons and other hardware. If a Phleg controller dies, it’s a simple matter to remove the body, hose down the couch, and slide another player in. The ‘living coffin farms’ of Phegisgia also provide the TGE with a captive population and source of low-cost software, communications encryption and decryption, and computer patchwork; all the TGE has to do is pre-empt a game or teleconference line, set a problem in as part of the game or required work, and the Phleg just churn away at the request, little knowing that they’re breaking a FWC cipher, or writing the targetting software for the next generation of city-buster hellstrike missiles. TGE Legionaires consider duty on Phegisgia a soft assignment; simply overseeing imported slave workers, riding patrol between quiet dormitory and residential complexes, and staring at the occasional porcine local out for a stroll or odd errand.
Though there have been several attempts to reach the Phleg and incite them to action over their effective enslavement by the TGE, the efforts have fallen flat(and in one case, it is rumored, cost the life of a young CosmoKnight)....The Phleg have either shrugged off the direness of their predicament, shoved the whole problem to a backburner to be considered later, or have foisted the problem off on somebody else. Those few Phleg who have taken exception to the undue influence of the aliens now running their society have proven wholly ineffectual at their efforts outside their VR rigs to foster resistance and have quietly picked up and dealt with. As far as the rest of Phleg society is concerned, if a few of their colleagues disappear, drop oput, and maybe change identities(who’s to say the missing Phleg haven’t just changed their e-names? Has anybody actually SEEN them? Thought so....), it’s no crisis that requires overturning all of civilization...Besides, as the planetary population gradually drops, and strain on available resources lessens, the food supplies become better....
Because of both their sedentary lives and the TGE hold on their planet, Phleg are very rarely encountered offworld(or even outdoors)...A few are encountered every now and then; either the rare political dissident who’s escaped offworld, a member of the dwindling skilled elite Phegisgia abroad to attend a technology conference or trade-show, or the odd liberated slave trying to make a living in a world grossly unfamiliar to them.
There’s rumors that before the TGE took over Phegisgia that a sect of a few thousand Phleg calling themselves the ‘Permastrad’, or ‘The Fit Ones’, a cult fanatically devoted to old-fashioned health, exercise, and diet, managed to escape offplanet and seek refuge elsewhere. These Permastrad are vehemently anti-tech, especially any sort of VR or electronic enteritainment, practice ‘traditional’ pastimes such as literacy and handcrafts, avoid processed foods, and hold religiously to stiff exercise regimens. The Permastrad are roughly equal to Humans in physical stats, and are far more outgoing than their Phleg cousins.
Alignments: Any
Lifespan: 110 years, courtesy of their advanced medical technology; without it, the average Phleg would be lucky to live past 60 before succumbing to poor circulation and coronary disease.
Size: 5-6 ft tall, 200-300 lbs
Gender: Heterosexual
Physical Description/Appearance:
Phleg may be distant cousins of Orcs; they are squat-build humanoids with thick necks, large heads, slit noses, and beady dark eyes. Ears are flat against the sides of the head, and the mouth is large and rubber-lipped, but the jaw lacks prominent incisors. Phleg have soft, pale skin, and a muscle definition that can only be called ‘mushy’, like a permanent state of babyfat. Hair is sparse, and mostly confined to the backs and sides of the head(over 40% of Phleg are completely bald).
Permastrad are considerably better-built, with leaner physiques, well-defined msuculature, and heroic-builds. Their skins are also considerably ruddier and leathery from physical work. They represent what the Phleg once were.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Immersed in their VR rigs, Phleg tend to be like hyperkinetic humans on their favorite drug...brash, bold, creative, playful, and reckless....After all, if one gets ‘killed’ one just reboots the game or finds another forum. Many are boastful and outgoing, very social(including bullying), and eager to prove how great they are in whatever corner of the Worldnet they lay claim to.
Outside their VR worlds, Phleg tend to be timid, lazy, easily spooked, and easily intimidated. It’s like they’ve just been sent to Hell....Many will just stand and stare at their surroundings, either puzzled as if in a dreamworld, or terrified by the dawning realization that this is all REAL. About 40% of all Phleg suffere from agoraphobia, and 98% of all Phleg are Addicted(Internet/Computer Games/Virtual Reality).
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 3d6
MA: 2d6
PS:2d6
PP:2d6
PB:2d6
PE:2d6
SPD: 2d6
(ISP):---nil
(PPE):2d4
Hit Points: P.E. number + 1d6 per level of experience
SDC: 3+ those gained from OCC and physical skills
MDC: By Armor only
Horror Factor:----
Natural Abilities:
*VideoGame/Sim Masters---As physically pathetic as the Phleg are, they are MASTERS of videogames and VR sims; for VR game/ interfaced combat purposes, Phleg get a SPECIAL P.P. of 4d6, to determone bonuses to strike, dodge, parry, roll, and all else, but ONLY when interfaced. Phleg also get a bonus number of attacks per melle equal to their IQ/4(round down)...so a Phleg with IQ 12, gets +3 APMs in addition to skill training, but only when using a vdeogame-like interface or weapons system(video display and joysticks, or robot weapons station...not having to manually haul around a heavy machine gun on its mounting).
Similarly, any computer-related work, such as programming, text-messaging, and reconfiguring software takes HALF as long for a Phleg to accomplish; they also get (+10%) to computer-related skills and (+5%) to Electrical and Communications skills.

*Game Burn----While a Phleg might be winded after a single flight of stairs, hooked up and in VR thay can push themselves to work/play without sleep for periods that would leavve normal human beings in comas....A Phleg can remain awake, without drug assistance, and alert without ill effects, for their PE X 5 in hours, and push go about a week with only a two-hour catnip per 24 hours, before feeling normal sleep deprivation effects(must then resume a normal 7-9 hour sleep regiment to retain alertness and health). This allows Phleg marathon gamers and programmers to do the ‘burn’, their eyes glued to their VR sets for DAYS.....

*Disadvantage: Poor Physical Condition----Because of the sedentary lifestyle practiced by the Phleg,Physical Skills cost TWO skill selections each, and Wilderness Skills cost FOUR selections each. The Phleg may select certain physical skills, such as Hand to Hand combat at a normal one-to-one skill selection ratio, but the bonuses will ONLY apply when the character is in VR combat(in other words; Qreg the Phleg may select Hand to Hand Combat: Expert, equivalent, for the bonuses it provides his Avatar Warmonger Alb on-line, for the two ‘other’ skill selections it would normally cost him, but in order to actually practice the skill so he can kick the ass of his nemesis and neighbor Grall, who lives down the hall from him, it will take FOUR skill selections...Likewise actual physical skills like weight lifting and swimming that actually require him to get off the couch and put down the game remote cost TWO skills...whipping Qreg into shape is going to require a LOT of effort).

Psionics: None; they can hack into your e-mail, but they can’t read your mind.
Magic: You kidding? Outside of “Grand Master Wizard Match’ in VR, the Phleg laugh at the notion of maic actually existing.
Cybernetics/Bionics: Limited to medical implants and Headjacks. On Phegisgia, ‘going commando’ means going into VR using only manual controls, rather than direct mental link.
Available OCCs: 90% of all Phleg are effectively Vagabond Scouts/Civilians, with the remaining 20% being Operators, Body Fixers, and other skilled professionals. Formal Men-at-Arms professions haven’t existed on Phegisgia in over 500 years(aside from the ‘Warlords’ on the Worldnet VR sims).
RCC Skills:
Weapons Systems(VR games)(+20%)
Math: Basic(+10%)
Computer Operation(+15%)
Computer Programming(+10%)
Culture:
Democratic non-expansionists; though one is lucky if any election attracts more than a 20% voter turnout. Mostly, leadership has been taken up in popular society by VR ‘warlords’(essentially videogame master players) and political-hack bloggers. Prestige is measured by how far one has advanced in virtual-world gaming, new multi-media tricks, software writing, and new hardware.

[KLM]

Taalism: Again, good job

Adios
KLM

[taalismn]

Taalismn, nice one but what's with that name... my first glimpse at it, I thought 'what?! Phlem???!!!"

Ah...I THOUGHT that was too obvious....Phleg..."Phlegmatic"...which pretty much sums up these folks...

[taalismn]

just thought of something.... Is there a translator/interpretor RCC/OCC?

Rogue Scholar...just take LOTS of language/literacy skills and Research....Though deciphering a previously unknown language may take a lot of work and some real roleplaying (plus an advance in experience level)....Psychic abilities would help, too, but only if the people whose language you're trying to learn allow it....or aren't naturally psi-resistant...

[taalismn]

Another 'common guy' race....

Ouli
(aka ‘Rutabaga Men’, ‘Land Jellyfish’)
Ouli are small, hyper-energetic sophonts native to Denagava VIII, that came to the attention of the greater Megaverse when a CCW survey ship crashlanded on the planet. Most of the crew might have died from their injuries and exposure on the rermote and exposed plateu they set down on had not thousands of the local sapients, who had seen the vessel go down, organized several expeditions, and at great risk to their own safety, trekked to the crash site and rendered what aide they could to the aliens. When CCW relief ships arrived, they found an alien society that had not quite entered their Industrial Age or explored all their planet yet, but that had mounted a massive relief effort across what was to them an unexplored wilderness to offer assistance to equally unknown, and potentially dangerous, aliens...then kept up a sustained landbridge of convoys to bring the injured out to more hospitable climes and ferry in compatible supplies to the remaining aliens and engineers working with them to repair the damaged survey craft. The sheer magnitude of the altruistic effort impressed CCW diplomats and xenosociologists, and the CCW elected to make formal conflict with the Ouli’s own waiting diplomatic teams. Soon after, the Ouli were formally introduced to galactic society.
Oulie society, which promotes social interaction and cooperation, has made it easy for the Ouli to extend their enthusiastic and gracious treatment of strangers to the aliens from offworld. Despite their size relative to other alien species, and their other physical shortcomings, the Oulie are a people determined to be helpful and compassionate. Oulie inveritably show up on spacecraft rescue squads and humanitarian relief organizations. They are naturally drawn to groups, cooperating readily with one another, and work well in teams. Their home culture is one of mutual assistance and cooperation, and they are determined to carry on this cultural trait in their dealings with other beings. This has occasionally led to problems, especially when the Oulie are dealing with beings of evil disposition and alignment; their naivete can lead to them being taken grievous advantage of, or inadvertantly assisting and/or harboring criminals and enemy agents. More experienced Ouli learn to spot those who seek to mislead them(especially when the Ouli overcome their normal reluctance to telepathically probe others and learn the particulars of telepathic contact with alien minds), but their peaceful natures may still mean they are unable to take appropriate action against a monster or enemy in timely fashion. For the most part, the peoples of the Three Galaxies see the Ouli as friendly, peaceful, unonstrusive, and occasionally annoying, folk.
However, what many do not know(but some suspect) is that there is a tiny minority of Ouli who are NOT good-hearted eager altruists, but who are self-serving opportunists....normally identified early and pressured into group-therapy or kept under control by their peers, with the openning of Ouli access to the Megaverse, these aberrant Ouli can now escape into Galactic society. Thus, there are now a number of Ouli professional pickpockets and safecrackers at large in the Three Galaxies, as well as, it is rumored, even an Ouli assassin.
Alignments: Good, but a tiny minority(2%) are Selfish or even Evil.
Lifespan: 75 years
Size: Body about 2-2.5 feet in diameter, with tentacles that stretch about 1-2 feet
Gender: Hermaphrodites; frequently have matings of four or more individuals to produce 2-4 eggs per individual.....the group stays together to raise their shared offspring. Children stay with their family group, growing in size and tendril-number, until age 12-15, when they are considered to be mature.
Physical Description/Appearance:
A small onion-shaped sack of grey flesh with no apparent internal bones, one large cyclopean amber eye on one side, a top crown of several dozen thin manipulatory/sensory tentacles, and a bottom skirt of four times as many longer tentacles used for ambulation and manipulation. The mouth is located on the underside, between the numerous tentacles, inside a ‘rose’ of folded lips. Six concealed nostrils on both the underside and topside of the body vent from multiple airsacs/multiple small lungs around the midsection of the body under the thick skin. Ouli use a combination of psionics and whistling vocalizations to communicate.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Ouli are pacifistic, energetic, intensely curious, and spirited little beings who can, in their eagerness to be friendly and help out, strike many as naive or annoying. They work well with groups, quickly assessing situations and assembling the necessary talent and equipment to deal with a problem, or at least reporting these needs to their companions.
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6+1
ME: 3d6
MA: 4d6
PS: 2d4
PP: 4d6
PB: 2d4
PE: 3d6
SPD: 4d6
(ISP): 4d6 +M.E. +1d6 per level of experience
(PPE): 4d6
Hit Points: 2d6+P.E. +1d6 per level of experience
SDC: 22+ those gained from OCC and physical skills
MDC: By Armor, Technology, or Magic
Since making contact with the more advanced races of the Three Galaxies, the Ouli have had EBA suits designed for them of light megadamage plastics. The standard model looks like a suede softball with an armored porthole and rubber ‘fronds’ sprouting from the top and bottom, and has 40 MDC, plus 1 MDC per tentacle. Another version is made of clear plastic for maximum visibility, and has 20 MDC main body(plus 1 MDC per tentacle).

Horror Factor: Unless you have a fear of ambulatory root vegetables, most people don’t find Ouli very frightening.

Natural Abilities:
*Leathery Integument---Ouli skin is leathery and tough, with an Armor Rating(A.R.) of 8

*Multiple Tentacles---The Ouli have over fifty finger-width tentacles, each covered in fine hairs like a gecko’s footpad, allowing them to grip onto objects and surfaces, and cling/climb like insects, even up sheer walls and across ceilings.

*Advanced Sense of Touch---Ouli tendrils also have a very fine sense of touch, allowing them to even distinguish color by touch. +15% to skills requiring a precise touch, such as Lock Pockets, Pick Locks.

Psionics: All Ouli are considered Minor Psychics and possess the following Sensitive Psi-Powers:
*Empathy(no cost to communicate with other Ouli)
*Telepathy(no cost to communicate with other Ouli)
*See Auras(no cost to communicate with other Ouli)
Additional powers may be acquired by taking a Psychic OCC

Magic: Ouli can and do use magic, with a strong tradition of shamanistic and mystic-class talents in their society. Charms, fetishes/medicine bundles, and amulets are common personal possessions among Ouli.

Cybernetics/Bionics: None

Available OCCs:
Ouli gravitate towards Scholarly professions such as BodyFixer, Operator, Scholar, and Vagabond Scout. Many become Spacers and Planetary Scouts out of sheer wanderlust. Men of Arms class Ouli are virtually unknown. May chose to select a Magic or Psychic OCC; Mystics, Shamans, Mystic Herbalists, Physical Psychics, and Sensitive Psychics are relatively common.
RCC Skills:
Climbing(+25%)
Prowl(+12%)
Swimming(+5%)
Culture:
Democratic world government(formed shortly after Contact) to deal with the greater Three Galaxies community. Technology has risen to an early 20th century electronic age, but most Ouli continue to live simple lives with little or no technology, aside from public library/school computer access, public communications, and an improved public transport/food distribution network.

[taalismn]

oh! I like this one! I am copying this one down... by the way, is it Oily or Oulie?

hardly...their skin is actually kinda dry....
But they're nifty little buggers and good for annoyingly upbeat 'happy little helper' characters....

[taalismn]

I love the world over veiw Taalismn I'm going to have to start addding a little more to goverments when I post more races.

Glad to help....I gotta start looking at more exotic governance forms as well, especially for beings with more exotic biologies....

[taalismn]

No stats, but a setup between two 'average Joes' for HLS...

Valar-Ryzel/Syndian Zone(Anvil Galaxy)

Syndians-----Freespacers
Syndians are a human-sept variant, physically identical to baseline Humanity, except for a patch of thick fur at the base of the skull, which many Syndians grow out long and plait into a ponytail. The Syndians inhabit a small cluster of five worlds on the edges of Central Alliance space, where the Syndian coreworld and its colonies form the Syndian Republic.
The Syndians have been blessed with worlds possessing abundant natural resources, which they have had the foresight to carefully manage. They are also fortunate in being strategically positioned near forming trade routes servicing an exceptionally large region of re-developing breakaway nations of the former Golgan Republik. With traditional trade lanes re-routing around the increasingly more belligerent Republik, the Syndians stand to make a fortune from transitory trade coming through their region of space. The Syndians have encouraged their spacial industries and a spaceborne society---massive offworld space stations and colonies have led to generations familiar with, and trained, in space piloting, exploration, and spacecraft design and maintenance, though, being a peaceful people, they have had little need, or experience, in space combat and warship design.
That changed when their increasingly aggressive neighbors, the elven Valar-Ryzell, who had been agitating for decades for a piece of the Syndians’ prosperity, attempted to invade. Though they hadn’t fought a major war in several centuries, and had maintained only a token military, the Syndians had sufficient warning to rebuild their armed forces and re-orient their merchant marine academies to military training in the years preceding the Valar-Ryzell declaration of war. They were also able to buy warships and material from other powers, particularly the CCW, to bolster their space navy while their own industries converted over to war production. Thus, when the Valar-Ryzell came across the declared borders of Syndian-claimed space, the Syndians weren’t particularly surprised. The Syndian fleet did take substantial losses early on in the conflict, but they proved quick studies of their own mistakes, and the survivors quickly moved up to reverse the gains of the Valar-Ryzellian invaders. Within a matter of weeks, inspired Syndian tactics and strategy had the Valar-Ryzell on the defensive, and barely six months later, the Empire was in full retreat, deep-penetration Syndian raiders already hitting rear-echelon Imperial facilities and reserves.
Cooler heads prevailed, and with a combination of astute diplomacy and grudging admission of respect for their opponents, the Valar-Ryzellians called a truce, withdrawing back across the border, and negotiating for the return of POWs. The Syndian high command breathed a sigh of relief; the worst had passed. However, many Syndians, hardended by their experiences in the ‘flash-war’, saw the Ryzellian truce as merely a ploy on the part of the Empire to buy themselves time to rearm and regroup. While many Syndian spacers saw the renewed and expanded peace talks as a step towards a normalization of relations, and the return to a period of trade expansion, others saw the talks as, at worst, a ruse, and pushed for the Syndian armaments program to continue full-bore, figuring that the Syndians were best off negotiating from a position of unassailable strength. Grudgingly, the Syndian government has agreed with the hardliners, keeping the talks going in all good faith, while the same time retaining wartime-level research, development, and production of new Syndian warships.
When the traditional Valar-Ryzellian society collapsed in the fundamentalist Kadavist takeover, the Syndians were little prepared for what came next. Besides suddenly losing relations with a government the Syndians were certain was going to be around for some time, Syndian border units began seeing what amounted to civil war breaking out in systems across the declared truce zone. Valar-Ryzellian military ships and units well-known to Syndian military intelligence were becoming increasingly involved in skirmishes and outright mutiny against the new units of the new Kadavist government, and intercepted communications told of massive roundups, arrests, and trials of ‘old-guard’ military personnel. Then defectors, often accompanied by civilians, began making their way across into Syndian space; even entire warships, battered and limping from fighting off the new militant security forces sent to take control of them, approached the Syndian frontier posts, requesting asylum.

The Syndians are now in an unusual and precarious position; now nominally allied with many of the same soldiers they were fighting less than a decade ago, their frontier increasingly being swamped by Valar-Ryzellan refugees fleeing the horrors sweeping their homeworlds, and the little-understood threat of the Kadavist regime brewing up a dark storm, many Syndians are wondering if this isn’t all some twisted Valar-Ryzellan plot to stage a new invasion of their space. Others are wondering if the time might not be ripe to form a combined Syndian-Valar-Ryzellan star nation, re-incorporating the old Ryzell worlds into a greater Syndian state when they finally get ‘liberated’. And still others wonder if talk of ‘liberation’ and ‘unification’ isn’t premature, fearing what they’ve heard about the Kadavists...and consider if perhaps they shouldn’t seriously ask the Central Alliance, the CCW, or even the Republik for military assistance in dealing with the threat building across their borders.

Valar-Ryzell-----Warriors
The Valar-Ryzell are an elven-sept variant of baseline Elfkind who inhabit a large swath of space adajacent to the human-inhabited Syndian Republic. They are identical to baseline Elves except in having slightly more muscular(or in the case of females, buxom) builds and taller stature.
The Valar-Ryzell have, until fairly recently in their history, had a traditionalist society with a neo-feudal culture dating back to their pre-space eras. Aristocratic bloodlines hold most of the wealth and power, inheriting position and responsibility, but a fair amount of demotion of incompetence, and the establishment of new aristocratic lines by promotion, by royal decree for great services, from the lower classes, has kept the bloodlines fairly vigorous, and the balance of power and wealth stable. A Royal Family, the culmination of the many mergers and conquests that finally unified pre-space Valar-Ryzalla, holds the top position, attended by multiple tiers of advisors and bureaucrats. The military is most supportive of the royal system, with a number of long-established warrior bloodlines and dynasties...however, the military also sees the greatest number of new nobility awarded positions in the upper classes, as lower-class soldiers are raised in status as reward for bravery.
In traditional Valar-Ryzell society, slavery is legal, but is rigorously policed and legislated with multiple protections and responsibilities for both the chattel and the owner. Individuals may pay off their bankruptcy by selling themselves into slavery, or may seal an important deal by committing themselves (or willing proxy) as slaves of the other party; in effect signing an ultimate oath of fealty in placing themselves at the disposal and mercy of another. Abuse of the terms and spirit of an indentureship can lead to serious charges and penalties levelled against the offender, possible annulment/reparation of the indentureship, and, in some extreme cases, reversal of the indentureship(the owner essentially becoming the property of the former slave), while the owner may expect certain duties of his/her servent, and may transfer ownership to another if those duties aren’t met.
The Valar-Ryzell have had a protracted conflict with their smaller, but more affluent, Syndian neighbors that only fairly recently flared into open armed conflict, As wars go, the First Valarryzell-Syndian War was rather civilized; the fighting was confined to deep space actions, and few civilian lives were lost. Despite initial gains, however, the Valar-Ryzellians soon found themselves handily outmaneuvered by the Syndians. and the Empire soon realized they’d bitten off more than they could chew. Before the war could escalate to bloodier strategies, the Valar-Ryzellians called a truce, many of their military command having acquired a grudging respect for their opposite numbers in the Syndian Guard.
Sadly, what the leadership of the Valar-Ryzell didn’t realize was that the move to war was largely instigated by a fringe group within the empire. What had once been a group of fringe cultists dabbling in dark magic on the edges of public concern and attention, had unexpectedly grown in power and influence over several decades, possibly due to some dark force moving behind them. The Kadavists, using careful mind control(both propaganda and psychic) and growing political influence, had moved from the lunatic fringe into the mainstream, and had used the war with the Syndians to further discredit the Valar-Ryzell Empire and its military. What had been a relatively low-casualty conflict was ballooned by Kadavist propoganda into an embarassing and humiliating defeat of unprecedented scale, the traditional military made out to be antiquated relics and thundering idiots of the worst kind, who had lost out to a bunch of soft-gutted mercantile retreads. The hated Sydian merchants had even dared to strike at targets well inside sacred Ryzellian territory!
When several members of the Royal Family disappeared only to later re-appear in the Kadavist camp, parroting Kadavist doctrine, and several public referendums came back with sweeping pro-Kadavist outcomes, the balloon went up for many of the more politically astute in the Empire. Their fears proved justified when the Kadavists contrived to place their supporters in several key poisitions, then used several internal crisises to declare what amounted to martial law.
Now that they’re in power, the Kadavists’ dark side is showing itself. The Kadavist leadership has begun remaking the Empire into a traditional fundamentalist state, but reports have filtered out of the regime’s enemies and critics being ritually tortured and sacrificed in obscene dark rites. The traditional protections afforded citizens and slaves have been rescinded, and mass involuntary impressments have taken place, along with the seizure and forced inprisonment of leading citizens. Already, several Valar-Ryzell colony worlds have risen in open revolt, only to come under immediate and brutal attack by the newly formed Ryzalli Soul Fire Brigades, fanatically loyal warriors without mercy. Meanwhile, many former Empire military units and refugees have fled across the truce zone , seeking sanctuary of their former foes in the Syndian Republic. A few Valar have even gone so far as to offer themselves as slaves to their former opposite numbers, essentially swearing themselves body, soul, and resources, to the Syndian cause. Part of this is pure pragmatism; the Syndian Republic is certainly the Kadavists’ next target after they take care of their own dissidents first, and a stronger Republic will be better able to resist(and ideally defeat) the Kadavist regime.
As darkness grows in the heart of Valar-Ryzellian space, the neighboring systems watch nervously for the start of what promises to be a far bloodier conflict...

[taalismn]

A bunch of little guys with attitudes....

Rypt
“Hey, notthing personal, big guy, but you’re just a bigger target here...what say you, you hang back here and give us cover fire, and -we’ll- take out that bunker. Don’t worry, with us looking after you, you’re not getting shot on these mean streets!”
-----Freleyc Yoddic, Sergeant, Rypt Expeditionary Force, to CCW Marine, during joint peacekeeping and urban pacification operations on Fliun IV.

The Rypt are a small terrier-sized sapient species that have something of a racial chip on their shoulders. They evolved on rocky and mountainous Rovoyip, where their ancestors fought larger native predators(and each other) for control of the deep, warm, valleys of the planet where the vegetation(and food) was richest. In time, the Rypt passed through their period of nationalism, developed the technology to colonize the high plateaus and cold mountains, and eventually attained the status of spacefarers. They have currently colonized two worlds outside their own solar system, and are looking to acquire additional territory for future needs.
The Rypt are astonishingly strong for their size; their anatomy tends towards power-packed muscles(some human xenobiologists have compared it to the strength-to-weight ratio of ants and other insects), making for strong and fast little sentients. While they appear to have exoskeletons, in reality thay have very stiff, leathery-plated skin with chitionous surface scales...their light skeletons are more akin to carbon-fiber rods than anything else, so they’re very tough as well. It also means that despite their size, the Rypt can handle the hand weapons of larger species quite well(as any trooper who has watched a Rypt guardsman lean its weight against the recoil of an auto-fire assault rifle and walk its fire quite effectively down a street, can attest). They are also remarkably composed as a race, with strong wills and mental attitudes; looking down the slobbering maw of a charging predator that’s many times bigger than themselves hardly scares them; not being able to ram a spear down its conveniently open mouth and throat does....
Rypt have a tendency to make enemies(though their enemies may not regard them as such), especially where size is concerned....It’s almost as if the Rypt have a cliche inferiority complex tied to their size....A couple of centuries ago the Rypt were approached by a Ratling delegation, wanting to interest them in being members of a coalition of smaller-statured species united as a power bloc; it turned out to be an elaborate scam that cost Rypt supporters some serious face and billions of credits and earned the Ratlings the everlasting suspicion and festering dislike of the Rypt. Floopers are also disliked; the Rypt have recollections of a disasterous ‘circus tour’ of Floopers that flopped...Dwarves are regarded in much the same way as the Dwarves regard Elves; haughty goody-two-shoes that are too stuck up about their own ingenuity for their own good. Oddly enough, they get along well with larger races(anyone above 5 feet tall), but will be eager to prove that they can keep up with anything.
Oddly enough, the Ratling Coalition debacle has worked to bring the Rypt out into more extensive relations with the rest of the Megaverse. Needing to make up the financial shortfall from the scam, Rypt corporations and mercenary units have made a number of lucrative alliances and deals with other species, especially larger-statured beings (in whose societies and perceptions the diminutive Rypt stature is proving an asset). Rypt workers are finding prospects in construction, mining, technical repair work, and private security, while Rypt soldiers are coming into demand for mercenary, special operations, and counter-insurgency work.
Interestingly enough, the Rypt homeworld is also home to a substantial population of monstrous Waghalters(see Land of the Damned: Chaos Lands)...Given the superficial resemblance between the Rypt and the Waghalter, some xenobiologists have wondered if the Rypt aren’t somehow related to the Waghalter, much as Homo Sapiens humans are related to ancient Gigantopithicus or Ogres...However, the Rypt are quick to point out the many anatomical differences as well as the obvious mental differences, though they do admit that the presence of the savage Waghalter contributed to the Rypt sense of defiance against larger creatures.
Rypt space is heavily patrolled; the Rypt buy a lot of combat equipment from other powers and modify it to their smaller statures(great investment when they buy a destroyer-class ship that counts as a troop cruiser from their standpoint). Most Rypt governments also maintain a citizen-militia, requiring all eligible adults to regularly train and serve with the military as a condition of citizenship.
Alignments: Any
Lifespan: 70 years
Size: 18-24 inches tall, 6-10 lbs weight
Gender: Heterosexual
Physical Description/Appearance:
Insectoid bipeds with long, thin, reedy limbs, bulbous torsos and head, large protrudant eyes, articulated mandibles, and long thin antennae. The feet have long, reverse-curving arches, and wide spatulate feet, while the arms are thin and end in long-fingered four-digited(three fingers and a thumb) hands. Rypt are endoskeletal, but they are covered by a thick chitinous natural body armor. Eyes tend to be dark red, the chitinous skin a lustrous dark red, brown, or rusty orange, tending to darken and freckle with age.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Feisty and aggressive. Tend to regard other small-statured sapients as competition, and most larger statured beings as buffoons. Work well with larger races, especially if it gives them a chance to show off what they can do that the larger(and by Rypt definition, clumsier) races can’t. Aren’t easily phazed by danger, and tend to see threats as challenges. Self-conscious, and tend to act with exaggerated bravado if they feel they’re being disrespected or mocked....
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 2d6+6
ME: 2d6+10
MA: 2d6
PS: 3d6+6
PP: 3d6
PB: 2d6
PE: 2d4+4
SPD: 3d6+6
(ISP): By Psionic Class
(PPE): 3d6
Hit Points: 45
SDC: 3d4x10
A.R.: 14
MDC: By armor or technology
Horror Factor:-----
Natural Abilities:
*Leaping---Can leap up to 8 ft straight up or 20 ft across from a standing start; +50% with a running start, and can survive drops of up to 20 ft without harm.
*Peripheral Vision---Have an arc of vision 40% wider than human-normal, +1 to Perception, and to +1 initiative if being ambushed.
*Antennae Powers---Radar sense out to 1 mile/5,000 ft, half that distance under close/crowded conditions. Gets +1 to strike and +1 to initiative, and suffers no penalties in total darkness, but smoke and other airborne particulates may negate its effectiveness.

Psionics: Standard
Magic: None currently practiced, but if they could be convinced of its existance and usefulness, they could learn magic OCCs.
Cybernetics/Bionics: Current Rypt medical technology is limited to basic medical prosthetics and implants. Have no objection to cybernetic/bionic technology, but more advanced hardware would have to be customized for them. Recently, smaller secondary bionic arms with P.S. rating 10 have been made recently available to the military and adventurers, and are proviong quite popular.
Available OCCs: Any
Culture:
The Rypt homeworld is divided into several democracies and representational governments(including two constitutional monarchies and a socialist state), with slow movement towards a single unified global government, akin to the United Nations or North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) of Earth, with regard to mutual defense...However, the Ratling Debacle has put the brakes on fullunification, as the pro-unification advocates who pushed for ratifying the Ratling scheme were disgraced, and their cause given a black eye. Currently, the various Rypt factions are happy to take a slow road, while compartmentalizing any future damage done to the Rypt economy to only those nations who have misdealings with offworlders.
Generally considered to be enlightened imperialists with modest ambitions with regard to expansion.

Technology:
Similar to Early Starfaring Age, but the size of the Rypt means that their hardware tends to be much SMALLER....A standard Rypt one-being starfighter is the size of an old Terrestrial air-launched cruise-missile/LRM(about 20-21ft long), carries four rapid-fire pulse lasers(5,000 ft range/3 miles in space----or 30 miles Kitsune Values, 1d4x10 MD per triple pulse per single gun, 4d4x10 MD for all four firing simultaneously) has 200 MDC main body, and can fly at speeds of Mach 3 in atmosphere/Mach 6 in space, and has a +3 to dodge due to its small size and agility. May have 2-4 short range missiles(or bombs) slung on external pylons.
A standard Rypt ‘corvette’ is the size and general shape of an old Japanese WW2 midget submarine(about 86 ft long, 7 ft in diameter, with conning and airfoil fins protruding out an additional 5 ft) with a crew of 18 beings, 400 MDC main body, and an armament of two heavy cruise missiles, two heavy lasers(5 mile range/15 miles in space----or 150 miles Kitsune Values, 4d6x10 MD per blast), four point defense lasers(5,000 ft range/3 miles in space----or 30 miles Kitsune Values, 1d4x10 MD per triple pulse per single gun), can fly at speeds of Mach 4 in atmosphere/Mach 8 in space , and comes with sensor-stealthing armor(only a 25% chance of being detected). All in all, roughly equivalent to a Heavy Fighter of other, larger, races.

[Aramanthus]

Those are some very nice RCCs. I like them all!

[taalismn]

average joes quite rightly describe these.... nevertheless interesting.


I have been thinking.... may be there should be a race of navigators leaving at certain ends of expanses or voids who help navigate ships through the phenomenons for a fee....

WEll, I have some folks along similar lines...as well as a Navigators' Guild of sorts(nothing like the Frank Herbert Spacers' Guild)....

[Aramanthus]

Sounds interesting. I'd love to see that Taalismn.

[taalismn]

Hmmm...they'd have to have some natural affinity for sensing spacial anormalities, unusually reliable clairvoyance, or maybe a Superpower like Probability Alteration or Dumb Luck....

[taalismn]

Sense Anomalies would be great!

Hmmm...now we need find a particular need for that ability to have evolved(or a pressing need for it to be genetically engineered into the DNA) in the species...Planet in a zone of troubled space/time? Exotic energy field? Constant Rift activity(no, wait, that's Rifts Earth and the Shifters, Ley Line Walkers, and Temporal Mages).

[shiiv-a]

*snorts back giggles from behind a hand*

good one

[Aramanthus]

LOL Good one!

[taalismn]

Now there's an alien belief system I've been kicking around...
What if....taking the idea of 'there's nothing new under the sun' to an extreme...taking human beliefs in a cyclic universe one step further...an alien race that comes to beleive that their universe is one closed system with no beginning and no end,,,and one soul....so that EVERY living thing in it is, was, and will be, everyone/thing else at some point in the neverending cycle of the universe...So, you who read this, if ypu were of this species, are actually me, or you were in a previous cycling, or will be in a future cycle, all sharing the same space/time so all the incarnations of the one-self interact and form the effective illusion of many...
The point of this?To this alien species, the result is the nothing less than collective godhood when the One perceives itself simultaneously as the One and the Many...or, perhaps, having filled every niche that its many lives have perceived, and having found no other lifeforce separate from itself, the One life reaches the end of its universe, finds no one else, not even a god, and to give itself meaning(and so as not to create a paradox) rekindles creation to create itself and start all over....

This is a ultimate navel-staring worldview that is about as ALIEN as I'm willing to go.....and I'd need plenty of aspirin trying to consider the elvolving social ramifications if such a belief became windspread in an alien culture....

[taalismn]

Either that, or it's a philosophy designed to make heads explode...

No, wait. There are weirder and even less comprehensive philosophies being practiced in the world today...

Again, reality trounces fantasy....

[taalismn]

yes, the human mind is a strange and (sometimes dangerously) wonderous thing.

It's the alien within ourselves...

[Aramanthus]

Alien inside? I think that might be an interesting idea to pursue.

[9voltkilowatt]

Last I saw of my inner alien it was beatin' feet back the crab nebula. Little freak still owes me a carton of smokes.

[taalismn]

Coloye Dopamen
“Protest all you like...that test cylinder is quite resistant to damage; we’ve tested it with MUCH stronger species than your own...But I really don’t see why you’re so upset...I mean, besides the modesty issue, and I assure you that your alien body form does NOT stimulate me in any way, you’re getting exactly what you came here for...detailed information on what goes on inside our laboratories...I assure you, I’ll describe everything that we do to you and share the results with you...you’ll have my COMPLETE attention during our drug trials...now, you can’t have access any better than that, can you?”

The Dopamen live on a humid, low-gravity world, Coloye, deep within the massive jungle covering the planet. The Dopamen actually make their homes in the deep roots and planetary rock at the bottom of the jungle, in concealed underground communities. The jungle above supplies them with the fungoid and herbal chemical base stocks with which to fuel their best-known industry; drugs. There is some evidence to suggest that the Dopamen are not native to Coloye, but instead originated several sectors over on a world still now in the throes of a ecological catastrophe-induced ‘great winter’, judging from the glaciated high-tech ruins and a biologically-similar race of primitives found on the planet. If so, it is likely that the Dopamen were refugees, who fled the collapse of their world and colonized Coloye via slow-boat(non-FTL relativistic craft).
The Dopamen are excellent bio-chemists with a specialization in pharmecology. Unfortunately, the Dopamen have decided that there is less profit to be had in developing medicines, and have instead chosen to focus on concocting narcotics, intoxicants, and toxins for sale to the galactic black market and criminal cartels. Dopamen ‘cookers’ have become infamous as developers of such chemical hells as Jungle-Jumpee(a physical performance enhancer), KreeghorKrak, NumbNoggin, SkullShava(a particularly potent Noro-specific narcotic), TingleDust, and PhazePaste(a skin-absorbed hallucinogenic gel).
There are a few good-natured Dopamen who do legitimate work in medicines and medical products and who do immense good in the galactic community---Ironically, many of these altruists are supported back home by the same drug cartels who use the good works of those biochemists they cannot suborn to their organizations, as a protective umbrella, deflecting criticism and demands by more radical elements in the law enforcement community to simply take over Coloye altogether and stamp out the Dopamen drug trade.
The other trade the Dopamen deal in is slaves....either using their drugs to brainwash and sedate sentient beings for the slave market, or taking slaves to be shipped to their homeworld as biological experiment subjects, as the Dopamen seek new and more exotic ways to screw with others’ biochemistry. Those unfortunates who have been kidnapped by the Dopamen can expect to spend the rest of their(short) lives locked in biostasis lab cages, being forcefed, by various means, different cocktails of alien drugs, and the results observed, until they die of a reaction/overdose.
When travelling abroad, Dopamen prefer to travel either in their own smuggler-rated spacecraft, or in the company of hired muscle. They like stunners, chemical weaponry, and poison-dart throwing projectile weapons, tipped with their own special concoctions.

The Dromecci---The Dromecci are a notorious cartel-faction of the Dopamen who are particularly heavily involved in the narcotics and slave trades. Among their pecularities are a tendancy to change the design of their environmental suits from time to time, to conceal their racial identity and confuse any witnesses. The Dromecci also pursue a warped version of galactic law that they use to ‘justify’ their practice of taking slaves....they often sign contracts or ‘treaties’ with various criminal groups and other organizations(ideally those with legitimate cover identities), then use the ‘treaty’ to abduct their allies’ enemies(or anyone associated with them) under the guise of ‘enforcing’ that treaty under galactic law...The victims are then subjected to a ‘trial’ where they are read the (trumped-up) charges, and then, without any opportunity to challenge the charges(or even speak up in protest), ‘sentenced’ to “compensatory labor’ or ‘public service at the discretion of the proper bonding authorities’(i.e. emslavement). The Dromecci may even file deliberately vague reports of their ‘legal actions’ to authorities(most likely out of the way outposts). It is not known if this practice of the Drommeci is due to some religious belief within the group, or a perverse form of entertainment for them, in thumbing their noses at the galactic law enforcement authorities, but it puts a ghoullish and disturbing spin on the galactic slavery problem. The Drommeci are believed responsible for a number of disappearances of government officials and their families, as well as reports of missing witnesses in several important criminal trials.

Alignments: Any, but most(90%) are Evil and Selfish(Anarchist)
Lifespan: 80 years
Size: 6-7 ft tall, 160-200 lbs
Gender: Heterosexual
Physical Description/Appearance:
Tall, lanky humanoids with oversized arms and pale white skin with sparse short body hair. Their heads tend to be long-skulled, with large, wide, flat, pug-noses, rounded chins, bulldog-like jowled jaws, gill-like ears, and large, silver-irised eyes. Dopamen prefer to wear thick rubbery diving-suit-like environmental body armor that both protect them from jungle toxins and their own experiments, and help conceal their identities.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 3d6
MA: 2d6
PS: 3d6+2
PP: 3d6+3
PB: 1d6
PE: 3d6+3
SPD: 3d6
(ISP):By Psionic Class
(PPE): 3d6
Hit Points: P.E. +1d6 per level of experience
SDC: 1d6x10 +20 SDC, plus skill and OCC bonuses
MDC: By armor
Horror Factor:-----
Natural Abilities:
*Acute Senses of Taste and Smell--Equivalent to a Dogboy; recognize specific odors 70% + 4% per level of experience, Recognize poisons/drugs 50%+4% per level of experience

Psionics: Standard. The Dopamen have experimented with various psychic-enhancement/dehibilatation drugs, and have recently introduced a Psi-Cola-like drink to the market.

Magic: The Dopamen are not known to practice magic, but Alchemy and the ability to produce magic-affecting/acting drugs is one field the Dopamen have shown an interrest in. Samples of magic-imbued substances, like faerie foodstuffs, command black market prices from Dopamen biochemists interested in studying(and replicating) their effects.

Cybernetics/Bionics: Dopamen can receive cybernetics and bionics, but most prefer not to, except as medical prosthetics. Dopamen are capable(and willing) to perform Juicer conversions for other races(another sideline they are criticized for), but rarely ever take the route of chemical augmentation themselves.

Available OCCs: Any, but most Dopamen likely to be encountered will be Rogue Scientists(biochemists), Space Pirates, Runners, or Galactic Tracers.

RCC Skills:
Identify Poisons and Toxins(+15%)
Climbing(+10%)
Prowl(+5%)

Preferred Equipment:
Dopamen wear baggy, diving-suit-like environmental armor (60-70 MDC) with built-in anti-gravity belts/medallions that allow them to float/fly under normal terrestrial gravity. They also like dart and chemical weapons, and Dopamen security forces and pirates have developed specialized projectile munitions and ‘jab sticks’ that can penetrate even MDC armor in pinpoint breaches and inject drug darts or gas without damaging suit integrity(the better to take hostages alive)(these weapons can be similar to those used by the COALITION BIOWARFARE DIVISION, RIFTER #18).

Culture:
High-Tech Non-Interventionists with a Democratic Government...on paper. In reality, the drug cartels run the government and most governance comes down through their hierarchy, with elections determined more by special interests money(the cartels and their muscle) and by rampant graft. Roughly 30% of the total populace works directly for the cartels, while the other 70% are at least influenced by them in one way or another.
Access to the Coloye homeworld is restricted; the Dopamen mostly want everybody else to stay away...given the difficulties of navigating the Coloye solar system(several large gas clouds and semi-permanent solar storms make travel hazardous), and finding the Dopamen cities under the massive cover of vegetation, it’s no small wonder few outsiders have dared(and succeeded)...Of course, those who crash are simply enslaved by the syndicates and never seen again.
Coloye has only light ‘normal’ commerce with the rest of the Three Galaxies; the planet exports some lumber and jungle/agricultural products, medicines, and phytochemicals, and imports mainly electronics(while the cartels buy heavy weaponry, spacecraft, and security equipment).

[Aramanthus]

That is a cool RCC Taalismn! Just one thing you have the 8 to close to the ).

[KLM]

Überfisch

Sharks. Intelligent sharks. The species (actually several species,
like hammerheads, whites, blues and tigersharks) hail from the
Corkscrew galaxy and have a long, bloody history - they
claim to have archeological evidence of a working Überfisch made
FTL drive more than 1.1 million years old.

While all along the 3 Galaxies one can find evidence of their presence,
yet their last Golden Age was just a few thousands year ago,
when they ran an extensive Dominion in the Corkscrew Galaxy.

Unfortunately for them, and perhaps luckily for the 3 Galaxies,
the up-and-coming Kreeghors of the Age fought a long and
dirty war against them - and won.

Today they are scattered in the 3 Galaxies, and do not form a
coherent civilisation. This, their rootlessness and relatively
small numbers qualify them a dying species. Problem is, that
according to written sources, they hade dosens of such
low-tides in their history (all followed by an exploding Imperium).

However... Well, before going further, we have to know their
origins a bit more.

The Überfisch (or Royal Fish in Trade 4, similar as humans call
themselves primates) evolved on an ocean planet (destroyed
quite early in their history). The planet is said to have a rather
large number of telekinetic races - and soon the Space Sharks
became the dominant predator, hunting in packs.
Their lack of arms was compensated by telekinetic ability,
and their senses even surpass of the sharks of the Earth.
It is presumed, that they begun to use metal tools and weapons
forged in underwater volcanoes ( with telekinetics it is rather easy),
and since they are able to sense electric current and gravitons
building a technological civilisation was relatively easy.

Most individuals range for 2 to 3 meters in lenght, thought
4 meter long Space Sharks are not unknown. Their weight
ranges from 65 to 150 kg, but again, outstanding individuals
can reach 600+ kgs.

Their telekinetic ability easily compensates the lack of arms,
thought on land they have to use walking aquariums, similar
to the In'Valians exoskeletons, thought insect-like multilegged
or CG driven flying suits are also known.
Given the fact, that they naturally live in a three dimensional
enviroment, qualifies them among the best space pilots.

They can emitt a broad range of sounds, and can hear ultrasonics
too (actually, most of their bodies funtion as movement and
hearing sensor). They also can sense gravitonic fields (in conjunction
with telekinetics) and electicity, thought however sensitive,
they cannot manipulate it.

The species is considered psionically active and powerfull,
but their abilities are rather narrow. Noros claim, that their
potential could be extended to the full range of psionic powers,
but fortunately, the Space Sharks as a whole do not seek
this way, preferring to rely on high technology and "natural"
abilities.
Also, in their history they had a long war with a now extinct
psionic race, the Cerebrites (reminincent of the Earth's "Grey"
UFO-s), therefore - as a species - they usually find "true" psionic
races disgusting... Especially, when some of them identify the
K!ozn as their arch-enemy, the Cerebrites (actually, the
psionic parasite "Dark Cerebrites").

The species is also capable to use magic, but since it is not
easy wave your hand if you have fins, but you have a high
tech civilisation around, they do not learn magic as a rule.

Überfisch are viviparous, giving birth to d8 little fish, as often as
twice a year (they enjoy sex almost as humans, but birth control
usually means cannibalism). Those creatures are about a feet
long and weight about 4 pounds. The four different species
can and do interbreed, then progeny is then rarely more
than 2 or three, and always a pure specimen (no hybrids).

While - since the psionic nature of the race - the offsprings
have some knowledge imprinted, they are feral and have
a mental level of a chimpanzee untill they mature (about
their age of 3 standard years).
Untill that age, they are left in a (controlled) wild enviroment,
yet about 30% of them die before maturing. Reaching the
minimum weight of 60 kgs, their internal temperature begins
to stabilise around 35,6 degrees celsius, their brain begins to
develop into the cold, ruthless intellect the Überfisch are dreaded for.

It is worth to notice, that they reach sexual maturity before that, and
about 30 percent of them never begin to show the higher intellect.
Space sharks usually let those "spoiled ones" live and reproduce,
since their offsprings are normal. Also, spacefaring Überfish, when
they bear "babies" either drop them at the first "kindergarden" planet
or station, or put them into suspended animation (since they
are rather primitive in that stage, it is relatively easy to freeze
them... Well, easier than mammals, that is).

There is no such thing as parent-kid relationship. Those who reach
mental maturity, are however quickly and efficiently integrated
into one of the "clans" - they call those part megacorporation, part
hunting pack like organisations "Fins". Fin names like Bloodvortex,
Icetooth Grin, Steel Fang, etc.

Their internal organisation is highly hierarchic, but plenty of
room given for the fierce competition. Space sharks wiev their
society as a near perfect meritocracy.

As of today, fins compete almost as much with each other
(at least wiev each other as rivals as other species), as with
outsiders, thought since the Three Galaxies are a large place,
they tend to avoid each others territory, and if they are not
endanger each others "hunting ground" can and do work
well together.

Some Überfisch fins work like megacorporations, and if
they someday combine their economical and technological
strenght, they will easily outclass NE. But this will not happen
tomorrow, as a few fins work quite well with the megaversal
arms dealers as suppliers or subsidiaries.
Their most coveted products are starships, weaponry, shields
and some very sophisticated sensory systems, thought they
deal with every conceivable product, and contributed a few
important breakthroughts in biology/medicine/genetic fields.

----------------------
To be continued.

Adios
KLM

[taalismn]

KLM...wowwowowowowwowowwowwowowowowwowow.....

I almost didn't feel tempted to make any lawyer jokes!

NIfty stat-less, but intriguing nevertheless, species!

[taalismn]

he pulled a fast and lengthy one on us.

Yep, but it was good stuff, and if I'm hardcopying something to print, I want it to be worth the printing resources!

[Aramanthus]

That is a cool RCC KLM! I like it! I alwaus wanted to have the little umlot above your U on our keyboards.

[taalismn]

Wonder what their national anthem is...

(cue theme from 'Jaws'...)

[taalismn]

Sadly, the bad lawyers (or at least the self-interested ones) seem to have more public visibility than the genuine idealists...though it can be arguied that the practice of law, like the practice of politics, has a certain corrupting influence, and thus pure idealism has no place in the successful practice of law....

Thus, alien sharks have an advantage in that by nature, they already have the 'eat or be eaten' attitude already as second-nature to them, and thus they don't have to go through the stage of having their idealism cruelly shattered and disillusionment set in before they can truly be effective in their profession...

[KLM]

Gives a whole new meaning to the term "loan shark"...

----------------

Space Sharks, continued:
Other SS Fins are acting as mini-states, mercenary corps,
or even as criminal organisations.

Also, it must be noted, that while they are the embodiment
of opportunism, they have a strong subconscious pack
mentality, and a strong code of behaviour.
Therefore assassinations, hostile takeovers, (corporate) wars
and even duels are more or less controlled in form.

Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 3d6+6
MA: 2d6 (+10 for intimidation purposes)
PS: 3d6 (*)
PP: 2d6+6 / 4d6 (**)
PB: 2d6
PE: PS+6 (*)
Spd: 5d6 in water, d6 for short range crawling in land

(*) When rolling for PS, each and every 5 or 6 means
you can add that to the total, and reroll, up to the racial
maximum of 30. This is the base number for the PE
stat too, but skill and OCC bonuses thereafter modify the stats
separately - this system simulates the giant individuals.

(**) The first PP stat is for body movement, like
swimming, biting, etc, the second stat is for telekinesis,
which is also used for controlling stuff.

High stats are attributed to the high level of attrition
during early years.

ISP: ME*10 ISP, +10/level
PPE: 2d6
SDC: 30 + skill and OCC bonuses
MDC: by armor only
Horror factor: meeting one in water is HF 10, a pack of 4 is HF13...
Also, their "walkers" are frequently designed with intimidation
in mind.

Natural abilities:

Enhanced sense of smell/taste in water, can track with 50%+3% per level
Electromagnetic, motion and gravitonic sense, IQ+PP meters in radius
Bite: 3d6 SDC + PS bonus
Tail slap: d6 SDC+ PS bonus
Aggressive: +3 to initiative, +3 vs horror factor
Frenzy: the taste of blood, or the thrill of combat sometimes
induces frenzy, save vs. 10 minus ME bonuses.
Rough skin: Natural AC 8

Contrary to popular beliefs, space sharks do not need to
swim to breathe, but do need about 3 or 4 hours per day to
sleep. They can survive on land suprisingly long, about 1
minute per PE stat before losing consciousness, and about
the same time in coma.
Keeping their gills wet can extend this period twofold.

Enhanced three-dimensional thinking: +10 to sensor and
piloting rolls, +2 to dogfight and dodge rolls involving three
dimensional manouvering.

Psionics: The equivalent of Mind Block Auto defense (always on),
Telekinesis super to begin with, and on second and each subsequent
level they can choose one of the following:
- Resist fatigue
- Presence sense (in their "sensory range")
- See the invisible (in their "sensory range", presence sense needed as
a prerequisite)
- Nightvision
- Sixth sense (in their "sensory range", presence sense needed as
a prerequisite)
- Summon inner strenght
- Resist cold
- Resist thirst (triples "dry endurance")
They regain ISP at a phenomenal rate, ME+1/lvl per hour of activity,
triple that number asleep.

There are rumors circulating that Überfisch can be "awakened"
for further psionic talents - making them one of the most
potent psionics in the known Megaverse, but if so, those awakened
fish keep it to themselves.

RCC: skills
(in addition to OCC skills)
- Can speak and are literate in the Überfisch language,
which covers the infrasonic, audible and ultrasonic range,
and the written form is very reminiscent of the runic
alphabets, consisting 68 letters. 80%
- They can easily learn additional languages, but
can only speak them with -30% (but understands and can write
perfectly) due their underwater nature.
- Swim 80+PP %
- Water survival (wilderness survival in sea) +5%
- HtH Basic
- WP Paired (can operate two independent objects
by telekinesis, but taking this skill multiple times means
one additional object and one additional - telekinetic! -
action per melee)
- Computer operation
- Robots and power armor +10% (for their walkers)

Aviable OCCs:
Fish at arms (borgs yes) , Scholars and adventurers.
Magic OCC's are super rare, except a non-psionic
Mystic variant.

Technology:
Out of water, SS-s are using walking fish tanks, which are
quite bigger than the human counterparts (ie.: Power armor),
meaning they cannot reach confined spaces.
They can overcome this problem by using telekinesis or
remote controlled drones.
Most Royal Fish walkers are actually SDC constructions,
and as a backup can be moved by the owners' telekinesis.
They are also packed with equipment, like a high-tech swiss
army knife.

Their technology is operated by telekinetic touch-sensitive
controls, usually place under a transparent cover. Datajacks
(often wireless) are common.

Überfisch are famous for their translator, standard for walkers,
because most model are equipped with a holographic projector,
which uses a "puppet" to talk to. The holographic puppet's
race is choosen for the partner the Shark is talking to, and
rather accurately shows mimics and gesticulation. Most models
talk Trade 4 with a German accent - hence the Überfisch term.

------------------------
Adios
KLM

[Aramanthus]

Very nice addition!

[taalismn]

More averge joes....

Dweelie-Space Merchants
The Dweelie are a race of space-adapted rodentoids. Whether by natural evolution or deliberate genetic engineering(or more likely a combination of both), the Dweelie are well-suited for life in micro-gravity; so much so that they find living in anything greater than 0.5%(or even 0.05%) of normal terrestrial gravity to be a stressful experience, especially as they age. Under normal terrestrial conditions, Dweelie are virtually helpless, but in their home environment in microgravity, Dweelie are startlingly fast and agile, and their extra hands and prehensile tails give them a decided advantage in zero-gee maneuvering and combat.
It is not known where the Dweelie originally hailed from; their homeworld has been lost to the mists of time and the vagaries of Dweelie wanderlust. They have, however, been travelling the stars for millenium, crawling between stars with relativistic drives and generation ships, then adopting FTL and wormhole travel as they came into contact with other species. They are perfectly at home living in space, and most Dweelie assume that that has always been the case for their race. While tehy have modern FTL drives, they tend not to move very fast(in fact, they adopted artificial gravity technologies in order to INSULATE themselves from the accelerations of modern drive systems, rather than generate gravity for crew comfort. Given a choice, Dweelie prefer to take the scenic route in their travels, but if work or danger requires it, they can goose their ships to high speed and pop into FTL with the best of Runners.
Dweelie are primarily nomadic, having no fixed place of residence, though many clans at one point settle down and build outposts on asteroids or out of defunct spacecraft; these ‘stations’ become anchor points of itinerant clan wanderings; places where they can find safe harbor, trade goods and services, make deals, and arrange to acquire new crew and secure marriages.
Dweelie society is family/clan-based, similar to Gypsy clans of Earth. They are matriarchies, with a single eldest female presiding over an extended family through male lieutenants and younger females, all of whom live on a common ship or space habitat. If a clan is particularly prosperous and owns several ships, the next senior matriarchs may be given command and allowed to split excess population to form a splinter clan. Likewise, young males of talent may be allowed to take a ship or other assets as dowry to marry into other clans and secure alliances and trade agreements. Likewise, if times become tough for a clan, they may split up, in hopes of keeping at least a portion of the lineage still solvent, though this action is taken reluctantly, given the risks to smaller families.
Dweelie are open minded and tolerant of other species, and show no prejudice towards others. Being well-versed in the dangers of space, they are quick and willing to offer assistance to other spacetravellers, but are also quick to remind rescuees that altruism doesn’t come cheap. Depending on the degree of difficulty and risk incurred while assisting others, the Dweelie may demand immediate payment, as soon as convenient, or may hold the assisted parties to a debt or owed favor to be repaid at a later date. Dweelie have long memories for such dets, and may even trade them to other clans, to be used years later. Conversely, a Dweelie who has been assisted will consider himself in debt to his benefactor(s), even if the assistance was entirely altruistic; the individual, and by extension, the clan, will remember the debt and honor it accordingly.
Accordingly, most Dweelie ships will have special sections set aside for gravity-accustomed beings. The Dweelie will rarely visit/use these sections themselves, conducting most business there via comlink or telepresence rig.
Dweelie, for the most part, are pacifistic and nonconfrontational types who prefer to avoid trouble, but they will fight if cornered and threatened, and they are surprisingly proficient at space combat, often using modified(or concealed as) tools and scavenged weapons systems.
Though artificial gravity technologies have left the Dweelie and their antiquated tech behind in most cases, Dweelie have built up a small, but prosperous, trade as free merchants and zero-gravity workers, manning long-haul carriers and asteroid mining operations, more often than not for a fraction of the operating costs of hiring ‘gravity well’-born workers and crew. They frequently operate as a ‘coast guard’ of sorts, waiting on station for emergency calls to render humanitarian aide(though the less-scrupulous Dweelie outfits are in this mostly for salvage). For the most part, Dweelie are honest, hardworking, folk, but some are miserly skinflints and horsetraders out to gouge as much profit out of a situation as possible, and some have even turned to space piracy for a living.

Recently, a number of Dweelie clans have been in negotiation with several Eandroth clans on several worlds across the Three Galaxies, to form a partnership of sorts. Given the similarities between the two peoples, in that they are both matriarchial societies with strong family values, the Dweelie hope to acquire surface-savvy allies; the desert locations the Eandroth favor are often perfect for spaceports, laser-launch arrays, and drop-pod zones, and having strong and powerful warrior-oriented Eandroth males as a surface rescue and security force would be a plus, while the Eandroth would get free transport between worlds, and access to high technology(and accompanying training) in return. If a successful deal is brokered(and the senior Eandroth Matriarchs who have been approached with the idea have been receptive to it), then Eandroth could start showing up on Dweelie ships and stations within a few years.

Alignments: Any, but most(85%) are Principled, Scrupulous, or Unprincipled
Lifespan: 120 years
Size: 4 ft, plus tail can stretch an additional 4-5 ft
Gender: Heterosexual
Physical Description/Appearance:
Resemble short, rotund, kangaroo rats with thick short fur, full articulated hands on both forepaws and short rear arm-legs, a long prehensile tail, small, black beady eyes with multiple nictating eyelids, long whiskers, and small ears. Fur colors range from black to pale gray/white, with speckling and stripe patterns not uncommon.
Elder Dweelie, especially the Matriarchs, become large and more spherical, with very delicate bones, as they become steadily more attuned to life in zero-gravity.
Disposition/Attitudes:
Physical Attributes:
IQ: 3d6
ME: 3d6
MA: 3d6
PS: 2d6
PP: 4d6
PB: 3d6
PE: 4d6
SPD: 6d6 in zero gravity; 1d4 under terrestrial gravity
(ISP): By Psychic Class
(PPE): 2d6
Hit Points:P.E. +1d6 per level of experience
SDC: 10 + those gained from OCC and physical skills
MDC: By Armor
Horror Factor: It’s a floating fuzzball!
Natural Abilities:
*Polarized Vision---Dweelie eyes have a combination of protective nictating eyelids and special pigmentation cells that act as natural sunglasses---Dweelie CANNOT be blinded by Blinding Flash or flash-bang grenades or similar glare.
*Prehensile Tail---A Dweelie’s tail is long and dextrous. Though not as capable of fine manipulation as a hand, the tail can still grip objects by winding around them, and can anchor the Dweelie to handholds and larger objects.
*Extra Hand-Feet----In place of feet, Dweelie have fully articulated hands on their lower limbs. This gives them an extra +1 APM
*Ambidexterity---Dweelie have full use of all four hand-limbs, giving them an extrea +1APM(total of +2 APM)
*Resistant to Cold---have a thick layer of cartilege and subcutaneous fat that serves as a natural insulating layerl they can handle freezing temperatures well down to -50 degrees F. without need of protective clothing, Take HALF damage from cold-based attacks.
*Sensitivity to Pressure Changes-----Dweelie can immediately detect and accurately gauge changes in atmospheric pressure, as well as use their whiskers to accurately tell what direction local airflow is moving in(useful for detecting leaks and decompression)....Furthermore, Dweelie do not suffer from altitude sickness or bends due to more efficient blood gas transfer mechanisms, autonomic cardiovascular protections, and genetic acclimation to thin air and low pressures.
*Radiation-Resistant---Dweelie tissue can tolerate heavy exposures to radiation without damage; +3 to save versus radiation-imposed damage
Vulnerabilities:
*Micro-Gravity Beings---Dweelie are more accustomed to micro-, and ideally zero-, gravity environs, so being under the grip of terrestrial gravity is hard for them.....for anything greater that 0.5% of Earth Normal gravity, they suffer the following penalties; ALL bonuses, APMs, P.S., P.P. and P.E., drop by HALF...speed drops to 1d4, and Dweelie spending four or more days under ‘heavy’ gravity must make a save versus their M.E. on any additional days to perform skills without a -5% penalty, from the distraction of feeling SO HEAVY and sluggish causes them....
Psionics: Standard
Magic: None
Cybernetics/Bionics: Dweelie have nothing against cybernetic implants, but won’t go for more radical bionic augmentation, if they can avoid it. Most will have 1d4 implants, typically headjack accessories and sensory augments.
Available OCCs: Favor high-tech deep space-oriented professions, such as Spacers, Fleet Officers, and Runners.
RCC Skills:
Movement: Zero Gravity(+8% per level of experience)
Oxygen Conservation(+20%)
Vacuum Survival(P.E. +30 seconds+10 seconds per level of exeprience; Dweelie are better suited to this than most other beings)
Hand to Hand: Zero-Gee(+1 to Dodge and Roll in zero-gee)
Skills of Note:
Communications, Technical, Electrical, and Mechanical skills get a +5%
Space Oriented skills, such as EVA(ExtraVehicular Activity), get a +5%
Dweelie take Wilderness and other similar planetside(such as Horsemanship) skills at -15%
Culture:
Matriarchal society of peaceful merchants. Family- or clan-based, with extended families owning/operating ships or asteroid/space-habitats.

[taalismn]

Space Possums.....

[taalismn]

Well....we've already done fleas(the NaiBead), Space Uglies covers slugs and squid, ...we need a good pigeon-based alien race(or are Gargoyles the megaversal pigeon-equivalent?). Vampires being the mosquito equiv...and we already have space-wasps....
Hmmm...space barnacles?

[Chaos]

Another winner taalismn, I'm liking the Average Joe series it appeals to me greatly


[OFF TOPIC] I love the new ship in your Sig Darkmax that thing is sweeeeeeeeeet [/OFF TOPIC]

[taalismn]

Hmmm...maybe I need something like the Fodderoids(as in CANNON fodder)...the alien species nobody knows comes from where, nor what they do exactly, but they wind up getting beaten and blown up by everybody, are present at darn near every accident, and always seem to catch the shot everybody thought was a clean miss...

ZZzhoooovvvv...

"Wow, man, that was lucky! That misfire could have killed somebody if it hadn't have gone in clear, open, sky!"

*zorch*gah!.....vvvvvwwwwwhhhhhhhEEEEEEEEE.....THUD....

"Okay....so maybe the guy with the optical cloak and the jetpack would disagree with that statement..."

[KLM]

Hmmm...maybe I need something like the Fodderoids(as in CANNON fodder)..

An idea... Imagine a hive where the workers are more or less mindless,
as the Xicitix, for example, but the Queen is intelligent - and is willing to
produce disposable soldiers for a "reasonable" fee.

For an additional touch, make them cyberenhanced, so that they
can be programmed for some simple skills too...

...but since we are talking about the Joe Average series, make those
poor bugs hail from a low gravity enviroment - ie: SDC creatures,
needing assissted exoskeletons for normal gravity (in conjunction with
cybernetics/bionics).

Adios
KLM